The Smallest Minority |
|||
|
The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. - Ayn Rand Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most cherished principles and beliefs questioned and in some cases mocked. That psychic discomfort is the price we pay for basic civic peace. It's worth it. It's a pragmatic principle. Defend everyone else's rights, because if you don't there is no one to defend yours. - MaxedOutMama I don't just want gun rights... I want individual liberty, a culture of self-reliance....I want the whole bloody thing. Kim du Toit
|
. . . and so are you Wahabism Delenda Est      Hey, FEC!  BITE ME! I'm a Member of the McCain-Feingold INSURRECTION!    "Jeez, Kevin... calling you an asshole would be a huge understatement, wouldn't it?" -Jack Cluth, The People's Republic of Seabrook (Coming from you, Jack, it's an honor.)  email: gunrightsAT comcastDOTnet INVITATION: If you have never shot a firearm, regardless of your position on the right to arms, and if you live near or visit the Tucson, AZ metropolitan area, I invite you to go shooting for a day. I will provide the arms, ammunition, targets, safety equipment, range fees and instruction. All you have to do is show up. 6 Takers To Date DO YOU LIVE SOMEWHERE ELSE and want to try shooting? Click HERE  Proud Gun-blogging member of the Pajamahadeen since May, 2003!
Debates: "The Commentary" A OLD discussion on gun control between me and an Irishman living in London Start here. UPDATED! Now with archive! Post #1 by Alex, a Guest A multi-post discussion hosted here at TSM My short exchange with Professor Saul Cornell of the Second Amendment Research Center Best Posts: The "Rights" Discussion: What is a "Right?" What is a "Right"? Revisited, Part I Part II Rights, Morality, Idealism & Pragmatism, Part I Part II Part III Part IV The United Federation of Planets Is the Government Responsible for Your Protection? Part I & Part II 1975 in Washington, D.C. vs. 2004 in Canton, Ohio Go Ahead, Rely on the Government for Your Protection The Other Side Liberal vs. Conservative: Both are Necessary The Mystery of Government The Blog that Ate Poughkeepsie Updated and restated as: Of Laws and Sausages Militias A Mistake a Free People Get to Make Only Once The George Orwell Daycare Center This is NOT What I Wanted to Read TRUST The Lying "News" Media, Pt. II Say WHAT? Bias? What Bias? Agenda? What Agenda? The Church of the MSM and the New Reformation Let's See if I Can "Germinate an Intelligent Thought" Here The ACLU Hasn't Changed its Tune They Never EVER Stop It is Not the Business of Government Five Reasons Why It ISN'T They Keep Making Better Fools Five Month Investigation, 10 Tracer Rounds, Two Felony Convictions That Sumbitch Ain't been BORN! On Guillotines and Gibbets England Slides Further Towards Bondage Pressing the "RESET" Button Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothin' Left To Lose A Terrible Resolve The Courts Will Not Save Us Trilogy: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions "Game Over, Man. Game Over." An Important Question And the denouement: Hudson Was Wrong The Dangerous Victims Trilogy: "(I)t's most important that all potential victims be as dangerous as they can" Violence and the Social Contract Governments, Criminals, and Dangerous Victims In the same vein: Those Without Swords Can Still Die Upon Them The True Believers Trilogy: True Believers March of the Lemmings Reasonable People Also in the same vein: Tough History Coming The Culture Trilogy Culture Hubris Weltanschauung And its follow-on: In Re: Culture Technical Dissertations Why Ballistic Fingerprinting Doesn't (And Won't) Work Spin, Spin, Spin Speaking of Teddy Kennedy... This is the Kind of Thing That REALLY IRRITATES ME Questions from the Audience?
BLOGROLL:
PROTESTWARRIOR Some people who are taking the fight to the Left. And some GREAT T-shirts, too. DAILY READS I need a longer day! Day by Day InstaPundit Lileks' The Bleat Mostly Cajun View from the Porch Of Arms and the Law TFS Magnum Ravenwood's Universe Irons in the Fire Say Uncle The Adventures of Roberta X TRUE EXCELLENCE American Digest The Belmont Club Boobs, Injuries, and Dr. Pepper The Volokh Conspiracy Michael Yon Varifrank Eject!Eject!Eject! Eternity Road Oleg Volk ON INDEFINITE HIATUS USS Clueless The Safety Valve Ipse Dixit The Lopsided Poopdeck Acidman (RIP) Skywritings Publicola D.C. Thorton Kim du Toit Personal Effects Smoke on the Water OTHER GUN/RIGHTS BLOGS Airborne Combat Engineer AlphaPatriot Alphecca American Dinosaur A Day in the Life of an Ambulance Driver The Anarchangel Mrs. Anarchangel The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler Argghhh! The Bitch Girls Boots and Sabers The Breda Fallacy Gun Nuts Media Carnaby Fudge Clayton Cramer Cogito Ergo Geek Countertop Chronicles Cowboy Blob Critical Mastiff Cryptic Subterranean Found: One Troll FreedomSight From the Heartland Fun Turns to Tragedy!!! The Geek with a .45 Gunwatch Heartless Libertarian Hecate's Crossroad Hell in a Handbasket Individ Justin Buist's Blog The LawDog Files Lead and Gold Les Jones Live from the (upper) Texas Gulf Coast Mad Ogre The Michael Bane Blog Moral Flexibility Mr. Completely Murdoc Online The Munchkin Wrangler Ninth Stage No Looking Backwards No Quarters Oscar Poppa Outrageous Malfunction Pass the ammo Posse Incitatus Random Nuclear Strikes Reasonablenut Resistance is Futile! Sandcastles and Cubicles SlagleRock's Slaughterhouse Snowflakes in Hell Surly Curmudgeon Texican Tattler The Ten Ring South Park Pundit Triggerfinger The View From North Central Idaho Vox The War on Guns Weck Up To Thees! Wince and Nod Xavier Thoughts .45 Caliber Justice BLOGGERS I'VE MET A Keyboard and a .45  
|
Tuesday, August 31, 2004 Kerry's Combat "V" A lot of people are making serious accusations about John Kerry's DD-214 showing that one of his awards is a Silver Star with Combat "V", since the Navy doesn't award the "V" with the Silver Star - ever. Captain's Quarters blog notes, for example, that "John Lehman denies ever signing the modified citation Kerry's site has prominently displayed for months, and states categorically that he didn't write the additional language describing the engagement." FrontPageMag has two pretty comprehensive pieces on it. Much glee has been take in in a quote by Kerry over the suicide of Admiral Mike Boorda, in 1996. Then Chief of Naval Operations, his wearing of two small Combat "V" clips on medals to which he was not entitled was questioned, and shortly before a planned news conference he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. (From NRO): What did John Kerry have to say at the time about the matter? Let us consult the Boston Herald of May 18, 1996: Veterans said yesterday that although they would take offense at someone falsely wearing a "V" combat pin, they couldn't see how this could drive Navy Adm. Jeremy Michael Boorda to suicide.And let us consult the Boston Globe for the same day: “The military is a rigorous culture that places a high premium on battlefield accomplishment,” said Sen. John F. Kerry, who received numerous decorations, including a Bronze Star with a "V" pin, as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam. “In a sense, there's nothing that says more about your career than when you fought, where you fought and how you fought,” Kerry said. “If you wind up being less than what you’re pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value and self-esteem and your sense of how others view you.” Of Boorda and his apparent violation, Kerry said: “When you are the chief of them all, it has to weigh even more heavily.”My take on the matter? I'm more interested in why there are three different versions of the award (none of which mention a Combat "V") than what appears to me to be a typo that Kerry didn't bother to correct. And Lehman? Does he remember everything he signed? Doubtful. But I'd like to know why Kerry isn't being asked about this by the press. | What Bush Actually Said Of course by now you know that the Left is spinning Bush's comments from the Matt Lauer interview as hard as they can, but here's what he actually said (via Michelle Malkin's blog): Lauer: “You said to me a second ago, one of the things you'll lay out in your vision for the next four years is how to go about winning the war on terror. That phrase strikes me a little bit. Do you really think we can win this war on terror in the next four years?”Will the mainstream media report the entire conversation, or will they just endlessly repeat the line highlighted in red? | Michael Moore Hit the Nail on the Head - Really! In today's USAToday column: Our side is full of wimps who'd rather compromise than fight. Not you guys.And our side has concluded that if your side is in charge it would rather compromise with the Islamists than fight them. Just like the French. No thank you. | KeepAndBearArms.com Under New Management I literally just received this email: KeepAndBearArms.com Under New ManagementSAF and CCRKBA Set to Lead KABA to Brighter FutureSeptember 1, 2004 | Another Classic Example of a Truism As most of you are probably aware, Steven Den Beste is taking a hiatus, probably long-term, possibly permanent. I'm sorry to see that. I certainly understand his reasoning (can't help being envious of the traffic, but he's illustrated the problem very well.) So, of course, his detractors are gleeful: I've been at this a long time. I know what's important, and a pompous ignoramus like Den Beste doesn't qualify. He's a run-of-the-mill, rote, conservative, which means: when it comes to politics and the whole cultural and philosophical underpinning of the thing, he couldn't think his way to the nearest light-switch on the wall with the earnest intent to flip the thing on.Once again proving the old adage that "Those who can, DO. Those who can't, teach. And those who can't teach, criticize." | Note to PJ: James Lileks has Your Number A couple of posts below I respond to a bit of hate-mail from reader "PJ." Well, I wish I'd read this before I wrote my response, because James Lileks has been there, done that: Another Swing Vote: the Sufferers of Sudden Bush Hatred Fatigue Syndrome. Two pertinent excerpts: He's a tool of big oil, small minds. He's a scarily devout Jesus-freak Christian AND the dupe of Saudi Wahhabist puppetmasters. He led the country to war on bizarre and fabricated assumptions -- sure, Clinton made Iraqi regime change standard American policy, but that was just a scarecrow to stick in the field. Plus, George W. Bush is Satan! Just look at the cover of Jim Hightower's book, where the author draws devil horns and scribbles a mustache and goatee on a Bush poster. Bush isn't just wrong. He's bad. Super-extra evil. Get it? GET IT?How scarily similar is that? | I've Said it Before, I'll Say it Again... England is done. Stick a fork in it. Acidman points to this Bloomberg story illustrating, once again, the complete inability of the gun-fearing to see any difference between legitimate and illegitimate gun use (and they have absolutely no sense of humor): Ford's Land Rover Ad Banned by U.K. Regulator on Use of GunMight that be because guns are "fun and cool?" Carmakers in the U.K. often come to the attention of regulators for their portrayal of speed in ads, which the advertising code says must not "encourage or condone fast or irresponsible driving.'' Ford's Land Rover division did not immediately comment on the ban.I shoot all of my guns mostly "just for fun". So? The large number of complaints compares with 427 against an ad for Virgin Mobile Holdings Plc, the highest number Ofcom received this year. Earlier this month, the regulator dismissed the complaints against Virgin Mobile's ad, which portrayed a young man being helped to urinate by an attendant at a urinal.So, let me see if I got this straight: In a country with a population of, oh, 60 million, they receive complaints from 348 people with their panties in a bunch, and have an ad yanked. BUT when 427 people (22.7% more) complain about a DIFFERENT ad, it's NOT yanked. Because there was a different 'gun' involved. What are they putting in the water over there? UPDATE: David Carr of Samizdata comments there: The right to keep and bear arms is not a debate in this country. Nor is it an issue or an idea or an argument. It has all been subsumed into a deep national psychosis for which I see no prospect of any cure.That's what I just said. | Monday, August 30, 2004 Hell, That was EASY I read in this week's Tucson Weekly the obligatory News of the Weird. The story that caught my attention (naturally) was this one: Almost All TrueI had absolutely no problem figuring it out. An appeals court letting a man have a loaded firearm in public? You MUST be joking! It does say something about our laws and court systems, however, that the author thought that the idea was plausible enough to include in the list, doesn't it? | I Think He's Right Mike over at Feces Flinging Monkey has called the election: I'll go way out on a limb and call this one: Bush is going to win this election, and it's not even going to be close.He's got graphs and links and everything, so he must be right... ;-) But I think he is anyway. And here's the quote-of-the-day: The Anybody-But-Bush people are diehard stalwarts this time around, but the Enthusiastic Kerry Supporters Of American could hold their national convention in a Hotel Six.Ayup. | A Reminder to the Left: Ravenwood has illustrated for you the difference between free speech and the abridgment thereof. Note which party is supporting the former for their opponents. I don't see barbed wire anywhere. Do you? | Saturday, August 28, 2004
I Feel Special! I Got Hate-Mail! Reader PJ, who also resides in Arizona, sent me an email today. I've responded, but I had to put it up here. My responses are interspersed in his screed, below: Mr. Baker, Not all of you, certainly, but the moonbat wing has certainly grasped the reins of power in the party. And they're NOT liberals, they're Leftists. (Big "L"). I'm sure Junior Bush and his administration has had a hand in brain-washing the words "Liberal Democrat" into your mind.You are? Let me assure you, four years of Jimmy Carter followed by eight years of William Jefferson Clinton cemented the words "Liberal Democrat" in my mind long before George Walker Bush was tapped by the Republican cognoscenti to be the 2000 nominee for President. And a reminder: Al Gore was "Junior," as in Albert Arnold Gore II. George Walker Bush is the first son of George Herbert Walker Bush. He is not G.H.W. Bush II. Do try to strive for accuracy. Do you always believe everything Mr. Bush tells you?I do not, but I have found him to be much more plainspoken (in all meanings of the word) than previous spinmeisters who have occupied that office. Do you believe every utterance of John Forbes Kerry? He's proven to be deliberately mendacious, you know. Did you duct tape your home when he told us to?Actually, I believe it was Tom Ridge who made that announcement, and no, I did not. Again, strive for accuracy. Did nipple-gate distract you and take your mind off of what was really happening in Iraq?Do you think Bush invented "nipplepgate" or that the Bush Administration simply grasped it as something to wave in America's face? Or do you understand that there is a large percentage of the population that found that incident to be offensive, and the government felt quite a bit of pressure (you remember government - supposed representative of the People?) to respond? And you wonder why I call so many Democrats "Liberals" (Actually, I prefer the term "Leftist" - I'M what used to be called a 'classical liberal' - interested in freedom for all and minimal intrusion by government into our lives.) Do you really believe that stem cell research to help cure diabetes and other illnesses is evil?Haven't read much of my blog, have you? Do you really believe that women who have endometriosis and other “female diseases” should just pray to God instead of getting treatment (like our great commander and chief believes)?Got a cite? You REALLY haven't read much of my blog. That's obvious. I have one request…When you write, please remember that there are two parties: Libertarians and Democrats. Dem's are not going to follow the religious right wing like your current President does.Um, no. There's that accuracy thing again. There are several parties. The two primary ones, and a scattering of ones that can't get anybody elected to office. The Dems aren't going to follow the religious right? That's fine with me. I'm not all that happy with the "religious right wing" myself, being an atheist. I am, however, less enthusiastic about the Socialist mandate of the Democratic party than I am concerned about the Religious Right. He is a dangerous man with a dangerous religious right agenda.You just echoed my favorite Bush criticism. It's a quote I found in a Sacramento Bee piece from May of 2003: "What is a little disconcerting for the French is an American president who seems to be principled," said Jean Duchesne, an English literature professor at Condorcet College in Paris. "The idea that politics should be based on principles is unimaginable because principles lead to ideology, and ideology is dangerous."You're apparently in fine company. Bush is a man with principles based in his interpretation of the Christian religion. Which is, I am convinced, better in a President than having no moral center. We must, I think, agree to disagree here. It is the job of Congress to restrain him if he attempts to push a "Religious Right Agenda." Bush runs the Executive Branch. Legislation is the duty of the Legislative Branch. He needs to be removed from office.Not if the alternatives are John Kerry, Ralph Nader, and Michael Badnarik. We happen to be in the middle of a war that wasn't started by us, and Bush is the only one of that group I trust to prosecute it. There is much I dislike about Bush, but his actions in this war do not rank among them. He dodged Vietnam by going to the National Guard. I don’t know how old you are, but back then, that was about as courageous as going to Canada.Or dodging service as Clinton did? And consistency once again raises its ugly head. I don't blame him for that, and thousands of others didn't either. As I recall, bringing up Clinton's avoidance of the draft during the 1992 election was pooh-pooh'ed because avoiding the draft was considered an HONORABLE thing to do, since everybody on the Left KNEW the war in Vietnam was illegitimate and illegal and horrible. I'd think you'd be PROUD that Bush avoided dropping napalm and killing babies. You see, one of the problems I have with the Left is their absolute inability to be consistent on anything. It's that lack of a moral center thing, I think. At least John Kerry signed up to go to Vietnam, and that is more courageous than anything Junior Bush has ever done in his life (for maybe the exception of giving up cocaine and alcohol).Yes, he signed up, got out of combat just as quickly as he could manage, came back here and (while still an officer in the Naval Reserves) testified that horrible things were going on in Vietnam on a regular basis with the full knowledge of the upper echelons of the military, giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Mr. Kerry stated in the 1971 "Winter Soldier" testimony that Vietnam represented no threat to the U.S., then he stands before the American people and states that as a young man he fought in Vietnam and "defended America." Well, which is it? He testified in the Senate that he was in Cambodia on Christmas of 1968 - a memory SEARED into him - that never happened. Don't tell me how courageous Kerry is. Flying a single-engined jet interceptor isn't exactly a Sunday drive even on "routine" missions. So? Kerry got shot at. Tens of thousands of Americans got shot at in Vietnam. That doesn't qualify them to be President. And if Clinton avoiding the draft wasn't reason to reject him outright for the office, then Bush serving in the National Guard shouldn't be either. Again - try logical consistency. It might give you some insight into conservatism. The great John McCain has stood up for John Kerry and said he is a friend and he has confidence he can handle terrorism and the security of our country.Ah yes, John McCain. The Republican the Democrats wanted as Vice President. As FIRST CHOICE. Lacking a little depth in candidates? The "great John McCain" is responsible for the first really egregious Federal violation of the First Amendment (along with Feingold) in the Campaign Finance Reform Act. I'm pissed at Bush for signing it, and appalled that the Supreme Court didn't throw it out on it's ear. Apparently neither the Congress, nor President Bush, nor SCOTUS can interpret "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech..." I believe Mr. McCain because he is not caught up in the religious right.No, you believe McCain because his position agrees with yours. It's an emotional response. I want to see him out of office. He's done enough damage. I will do everything in my power to remove Junior Bush and his radical right wing agenda out of office.As long as you act within the law, more power to you. I will do what I can to see him re-elected. Just yesterday a stem cell research facility was bombed (more wacky right wing nut-balls).Tell me, are they in any way associated with the Leftist nutballs that trash medical research centers that use animals for testing? (Even stem-cell research?) Or the ones who burn down SUV dealerships and high-end houses that are under construction? It seems that nut-balls are to be found on both sides, eh? Tell me, why is it okay to use stem cells for in-vitro practices, but not to help people with child-hood diabetes?You're shooting at the wrong target here PJ. I'm all for stem-cell research. I think Bush is wrong on this one. But I hold that the problem of radical Islamic nutballs who want to see us ALL dead is the bigger problem here. I'll deal with the stem-cell problem through my congresscritters. They're the ones who write the laws. The stem cells are discarded after the in-vitro process….what’s the difference between in-vitro and stem cell research other than it’s their agenda to produce more children in this world…I would think for an engineer you would be more intelligent than what I am reading on your site.I'd think you'd do more reading before leaping to conclusions. Your views are simply more “brain-washed”, hateful etchings of what Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity spew each day.As opposed to the reasonable, dulcet voices of Michael Moore, Janeane Garofolo, Al Franken, et al? These men are sad, pathetic, dangerous men.Because they say things you don't want people to hear? And I thought the Left was all for Freedom of Speech! Except, of course, when that speech shows the Left up as hypocritical in the extreme. Here's another example of the party that believes in Democracy not trusting the American public's own bullshit detectors. No, according to the Left, Americans are too stupid to be trusted to vote correctly because Limbaugh and Hannity are able to brainwash them, but the Left is unable to do the same. So, again, which is it? Are we to be trusted to make our own decisions, or is the enlightened intelligentsia of the Left to make our decisions for us because we're just too stupid to do so? A stupidity exemplified by the fact that half the nation was willing to vote for Bush over his obvious intellectual superior, Al Gore? Sorry, PJ. The "sad, pathetic, dangerous men" are the ones who don't trust the People. Check a mirror. You sound like a decent guy, but the more I read, the more you frighten me.Good. I'm glad. I would not want to go shooting with you in fear that you might shoot me in the back.That's the difference between us, PJ. I'm apparently something you have no experience with. I am a man of honor and principle. It's the Left that has a long history of shooting people such as me in the back of the head as a means of "re-education." I assure you, if I ever found it necessary to shoot you, you'd be facing me, and you'd be armed. UPDATE 8/30: I received a reply from PJ: "Why am I not surprised?" Hmm... Lack of imagination? | Friday, August 27, 2004 Late Again But at least I found it. (Via Knowledge is Power) Relatively new blogger Varifrank has a damned fine analysis of The Grand Unified Theory Of Vietnam. There's just far too much to excerpt from, but to give you an idea, I saved it to my "Essential Library" file. It's that good. But, in the interest of making sure everyone reads this piece - and I mean EVERYONE, here's a taste: And then, something happened that no one foresaw.By George, I think he nailed it. Please, please, PLEASE read the whole thing. And pass it around to your internet-challenged friends. | The Third SwiftVets.com Ad is Up Here. (Windows Media file.) How are Kerry and the media going to smear Steve Gardner? Ignoring him is apparently out of the question. | "Ghost Voting" and Pressing the RESET Button There has been some discussion over at AR15.com over the California Assembly's passage of AB50 - a bill prohibiting the sale of rifles chambered for the .50BMG round, and requiring registration of currently owned rifles. (Or does it? The bill text I have referenced says "bans the sale of" but this Tri-Valley Herald piece quotes Sandra DeBourelando, principal assistant to the bill's sponsor Paul Koretz saying that acquiring a .50 after Jan. 1, 2005 will require a permit and: It won't be easy to get a permit. You would have to show a good reason why you need it.Of course you realize that the position of the gun-grabbers is that no one needs a .50. She also says: We're not going to confiscate guns.The "yet" is, as always, unspoken. It was reported by the Fifty Caliber Institute that the bill lost on the original vote by a tally of 35 yeas to 36 nays (total: 71 total votes.) Then they revoted using what is known as "ghost voting" - that is, a legislator votes using the pushbutton at his or her desk, then gets up and walks over to the desk of an absent legislator and votes again. You know, like the people who are registered to vote in both New York and Florida can. This time the vote was 45 ayes, 32 nays with four abstentions (total 77 votes, 4 abstentions). Now, granted the number of nays dropped by four, but "ghost voting"?? This spawned, as you can imagine, some outrage over at AR15.com, and this question came up: At what point do we fight? First let me be clear.It is reminiscent of the the Pressing the "RESET" Button essay in this response: I've already started.And this one: (H)earing about "ghost" votes in CA is pushing me a lot closer. That is clear evidence of a tyrranical government.There does appear to be a growing sense that Claire Wolfe's idea of "shooting the bastards" is becoming the only option. At this time the discussion covers five pages of posts. Were I a legislator, I'd be paying attention to the grumblings of the populace. Labels: Reset Button | Where are the Moderate Muslims? Well, some of them are right here at Muslims for Bush (via One Hand Clapping). There's an interview with the founder on this page with some interesting comments, such as: (W)e truly believe that President Bush is good for Muslims. We feel like he is getting a bad rap. A lot of Muslims are going against him not for the right reasons. If there is someone who is very wrong for the job, it is John Kerry. Bush is the right guy for Muslims.And this piece is outstanding, a Q&A for the American Muslim considering who to vote for. Question #14 is my personal favorite, but check #1: Question #1 – Did President Bush go to Iraq for oil?Apparently some Muslims have recognized that the Left has "lost the power of reasoning." Not that it's a difficult conclusion to reach. Interesting stuff, and another reason an atheist like me reads the Rev. Sensing. | Thursday, August 26, 2004 Payback's a Bitch, Ain't It? As the Left is beginning to discover. Chris Muir nails another one in Day by Day.
Students for Academic Freedom Mallard Fillmore has something on the topic as well:
"Tolerance" works BOTH WAYS. | An Example of the Skillful Use of the Broadsword Banagor of Shining Full Plate and a Good Broadsword reviews an excellent comment left on an anti-Nader site, and delivers an "Off-at-the-knees!" stroke of his own. Teaser: Democrats don’t get it. They don’t understand that some people won’t do something no matter how long or hard you talk.THAT'S gonna leave a mark! | Amen, Claire, Amen. Claire, "La Profesora of Moonbatology" and contributor to SondraK.com, has an excellent post up. You need to read the links, too. Here's a teaser, and something I agree with wholly: We lost that war in Viet Nam and the Vietnamese people paid. Dearly. We cannot afford to lose this war through the same mistake of refusing to believe in ourselves and each other. This time, not only will we pay dearly, but the people of many other nations will pay, in turn.Go read it all. Spread it around. | Damn, I Really Want One of These Midway USA has the Alexander Arms 6.5 Grendel AR-15 upper. I want! I want! Check the ballistics chart. I already have a lower with a target trigger. I'd also need this, and a couple of these, and four or five of these, and a few boxes of these, too. Oh, and one of these. I need to win the lottery. (Or I could divorce my wife and marry an heiress, I suppose.) | Boy, Does Kerry Do Nuance or WHAT? Ravenwood has found possibly the seminal example of John F'n Kerry's incredible skill at nuance yet, via the New York Times no less! The truth, which is what elections are all about, is that the tax burden of the middle class has gone up while the tax burden of the middle class has gone downI'm in awe. And it's TRUE! I saw the CBO report that said that the percentage of the total tax burden has gone up for the middle class after the tax cut that let the middle class keep more of their own money! See! See! | Recommended Read (Hat tip, Kim du Toit) Charles Krauthammer (a conservative who happens to think that civilian disarmament is a remarkably good idea - boo, hiss) has written an excellent essay entitled Democratic Realism. Highly recommended. As Kim noted, this is not a piece you can easily excerpt from, but here's a taste: We like our McDonald's. We like our football. We like our rock-and-roll. We’ve got the Grand Canyon and Graceland. We’ve got Silicon Valley and South Beach. We’ve got everything. And if that’s not enough, we’ve got Vegas--which is a facsimile of everything. What could we possibly need anywhere else? We don’t like exotic climates. We don’t like exotic languages--lots of declensions and moods. We don’t even know what a mood is. We like Iowa corn and New York hot dogs, and if we want Chinese or Indian or Italian, we go to the food court. We don’t send the Marines for takeout. | Wednesday, August 25, 2004 Ooooh! Ouch! The site SaintKansas.com has the best Ted Rall slam piece I've ever seen:
(Hat tip, Clayton Cramer's blog.) | Actual REPORTING! The Washington Times has an Assault Weapons Ban article that is ACTUAL REPORTING, in the unbiased "Just the facts, ma'am" style that the media swears is all they do. Connect that to the AWB primer I linked to a couple of days ago, and you have a very powerful education tool for the uninformed. I think Jerry Seper of the WT will probably be fired for not following the AP Stylesheet when writing a firearm-related article. It wasn't misleading or frightening enough. | Monday, August 23, 2004 OK, ONE more: Sometimes I Fear for Our Future Checking my tracking I found a link from a blog I'd never seen before, so I clicked the link. It must have been someone using Blogger's new header-bar with the "next blog" link, because there's no way this blogger actually linked to me. All I have to say is: "WTF, over?" | One More: HMO (black) Humor My dad sent me this one: Q. What does HMO stand for? A. This is actually a variation of the phrase, "HEY MOE". Its roots go back to a concept pioneered by Moe of the Three Stooges, who discovered that a patient could be made to forget about the pain in his foot if he was poked hard enough in the eyes. Q. I just joined an HMO. How difficult will it be to choose the doctor I want? A. Just slightly more difficult than choosing your parents. Your insurer will provide you with a book listing all the doctors in the plan. These doctors fall into two categories - those who are no longer accepting new patients, and those who will see you, but are no longer participating in the plan. But don't worry, the remaining doctor who is still in the plan and accepting new patients has an office just a half-day's drive away, and a diploma from a Third World country. Q. Do all diagnostic procedures require pre-certification? A. No. Only those you need. Q. Can I get coverage for my pre-existing conditions? A. Certainly, as long as they don't require any treatment. Q. What happens if I want to try alternative forms of medicine? A. You'll need to find alternative forms of payment. Q. My pharmacy plan only covers generic drugs, but I need the name brand. I tried the generic medication, but it gave me a stomach ache. What should I do? A. Poke yourself in the eye. Q. What if I'm away from home and I get sick? A. You really shouldn't do that. Q. I think I need to see a specialist, but my doctor insists he can handle my problem. Can a general practitioner really perform a heart transplant right in his office? A. Hard to say, but considering that all you're risking is the $25 co-payment, there's no harm in giving him a shot at it. Q. Will health care be different in the next decade? A. No. But if you call right now, you might get an appointment by then. | Been to Flashbunny.org Recently? Flashbunny.org is a site run by an AR15.com contributor. Wickedly funny and very effective flashmedia movies and photoshopped posters dealing with gun control and politics. (This one's probably his most famous.) Well, Bastiat may not be running a 527, but he wants to ramp up in the period just before the election - and screw McCain-Feingold. However, he needs some help: This is the part of the site where I become like a PBS fundraiser - asking for donations for the site. Why? Because doing what need to be done costs money - something I don't have enough of right now to do this right.I know I'm late, but I hadn't seen this before. Help him out if you can. As he says, give till it hurts - a liberal. | You Have to Ask Yourself: Why is this NATIONAL NEWS?? At the gym this evening I was watching CNN (not my choice, that's what was on the TV) while pedaling away, and one of the stories was about how a Florida father managed to shoot his 31 year-old daughter with a .357, mistaking her for a burglar. It's not on CNN's web page, but they had it also on the newscrawl on the bottom of the screen. The story is available on the web here: Startled father accidentally shoots adult daughter(Yes, everyone has a right to protect their person and property - but don't actually try to. The State doesn't think anyone but they are qualified because a few individuals actually aren't.) But that's NATIONAL NEWS! Yet stories like this one NEVER air on CNN or CBS or NBC or ABC or even FOX: Officials: No charges in Sunday shooting(Gotta get a shot in at that irresponsible "Make My Day" law!) Or this one: Pistol-packer scares thievesOr even this: Senior citizen foils two burglary attemptsYou'd think that last one would be national news material: A 70 year-old man? Two attempts in one night? That's not man-bites-dog enough? I mean, jeeze, you'd think the media has an anti-gun agenda or something. | An Excellent Post Fellow Arizona blogger Jackalope Pursuivant commented on my post about the six people beaten and stabbed to death in Florida last month. My point was that a "gun control" strategy aimed at disarming citizens was obviously wrong - obvious to the point of suspicion. Dan commented that he had answered my somewhat rhetorical question in an earlier post of his own, and he was right. It's a damned good post - read all the links - and the quotation he cites is most appropriate: If you once agree that despotism is a convenient tool for arresting the rise in heinous crimes, you give the government an interest in heinous crimes increasing. It will be careless in its surveillance in order to force you to give it unlimited powers. - Benjamin Constant, Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments | The More of These, The Better Jed S. Baer has his own weekly compendium (this is issue #2) of gun-related items he calls The Weekly Fusillade. Submit your entry for next week's edition. Perhaps I'll enter Those Without Swords Can Still Die Upon Them. | 21 Days Left - So What Did the AWB ACTUALLY DO? Here's an excellent primer - and a test of your understanding - on the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994: The AWB Primer Be sure to take the test at the bottom of the page that opens. Spread this one around to the people who think the law actually accomplished anything. | Sunday, August 22, 2004 Those Without Swords Can Still Die Upon Them Or: Why I Am a 'Gun Nut' First, let me say that despite the source of the quote that names this blog, I am not an Objectivist. While I respect much of what Rand had to say, I hold that she, like all idealists, ignored the influence of reality on her model of ideal human behavior - even though it was obvious from the example of her own life that even she could not live up to her ideals. Nevertheless, Rand propounded many important concepts, such as these: A 'right' is a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man's freedom of action in a social context. There is only one fundamental right (all others are its consequences or corollaries): a man's right to his own life.I concur with much of the above, but the last line I've got some issues with. I've written before, and extensively recently, on the concept of "rights" and what they, in practice, are. My position is that a right is what a society believes it to be, where a "society" is defined as a group of people living in a the same geographic region who share a set of beliefs. Rand proclaims that the one fundamental right is "a man's right to his own life," yet that right has been unrecognized throughout most of human history. Those with power had all the rights, and power was defined as physical might. Rand's ideal of "a right to his own life" is meaningless when those who wield power don't recognize that right, and the individual himself cannot defend it against infringement. An excellent example of this is the medieval idea of droit du seigneur - the supposed right of a feudal lord to have sex with any vassal's bride on her wedding night. But bear in mind: The guy with the sword (or the most sword arms behind him) pretty much has the "right" to have sexual relations with anyone who cannot defend themselves, or is not ably defended by others. Droit du seigneur may have been more myth than fact, but rape and pillage by rampaging barbarians, and later, invading soldiers certainly was factual, and with a far longer history. Steven Den Beste once wrote his list of the four most important inventions in human history: In my opinion, the four most important inventions in human history are spoken language, writing, movable type printing and digital electronic information processing (computers and networks). Each represented a massive improvement in our ability to distribute information and to preserve it for later use, and this is the foundation of all other human knowledge activities. There are many other inventions which can be cited as being important (agriculture, boats, metal, money, ceramic pottery, postmodernist literary theory) but those have less pervasive overall affects.I think Steven is right in his emphasis on what are all communications technologies as being most important, because it is through the exchange of ideas that societies form. Like-minded people organize, others learn from an exchange of information and are able to associate with those with whom they agree. The development of communications technologies allows people from larger and larger geographic areas to associate with others of similar mind - from tribe, to village, to city, to state, to world. The invention of the Gutenberg printing press in the mid 15th Century is responsible for the exchange of more ideas than probably any other in history until the advent of the Internet. For example, the spread of the knowledge and philosophy of the ancient Greeks can be traced to Italian printers who, needing something to sell, printed the works of the Greek philosophers - in Greek, and later in translation - for public consumption. And consume them they did. But what does any of this have to do with weapons? (Other than their being used to subjugate others?) I believe that there are three things crucial to the rise of individual freedom: The ability to reason, the free exchange of ideas, and the ability to defend one's person and property. The ability to reason and the free exchange of ideas will lead to the concept of individual liberty, but it requires the individual ability to defend one's person and property to protect that liberty. The ability to reason exists, to some extent, in all people. (The severely mentally retarded and those who have suffered significant permanent brain injury are not, and in truth can never be truly "free" as they will be significantly dependent on others for their care and protection.) The free exchange of ideas is greatly dependent on the technologies of communication. The ability to defend your person and property - the ability to defend your right to your own life - is dependent on the technologies of individual force. Let us consider for a moment the history of the technologies of individual force. At base, there is simple muscle and fist, and one step above it, the ability to use a club or throw a rock. In this case the strongest and most physically adept get to make and enforce the rules. Generally of this group the smartest strong-man rises to the top, and with the aid of other willing strong-men they cow and control the output of weaker people by recruiting the strongest and killing those who will not yeild. The invention of early weapons such as the sword merely increased the separation of the enforcers from the enforced, as competence with weapons of this type requires extensive training. Give a strong novice a sword and face him against a physically weaker but experienced swordsman, and the novice will shortly be looking at his internal organs spilling from his abdomen. Peasants with pitchforks and scythes are no match against trained soldiers with swords, as history has illustrated repeatedly. Consequently the peasants supplied the labor to support the soldiers who spend their time practicing the skills needed to control the peasants. It's a self-sustaining cycle, or it was for centuries. And then, too, there is war - when groups of these elites fight each other over territory, or resources, or religion, or whatever other reason occurrs to them. In every war, it is the common people who suffer the most, as they are taxed to support the war effort, their property and crops are stolen or destroyed, starvation and pestilence ravage the land, and they and their families are raped and murdered by the invaders or the defenders or both. Again, history has illustrated this too - repeatedly, for centuries, even up to today. The history of civilization stuck to this model for literally thousands of years until there was one significant change in the technology of individual force - the English longbow - and the strategy of its proper use (and believe me, strategic thought is every bit as much of a technology as the yew bow.) From The Medieval English Longbow: From the thirteenth until the sixteenth century, the national weapon of the English army was the longbow. It was this weapon which conquered Wales and Scotland, gave the English their victories in the Hundred Years War, and permitted England to replace France as the foremost military power in Medieval Europe. The longbow was the machine gun of the Middle Ages: accurate, deadly, possessed of a long-range and rapid rate of fire, the flight of its missilies was liken to a storm. Cheap and simple enough for the yeoman to own and master, it made him superior to a knight on the field of battle.Note that last line - "Cheap and simple enough for the yeoman to own and master, it made him superior to a knight on the field of battle." Here's the Webster's definition for "yeoman" as it relates to that sentence: (O)ne belonging to a class of English freeholders below the gentryBelow the gentry - the aristocracy, or ruling class. The guys with the swords. For the first time a simple peasant could be superior to a man trained at arms, armored and astride a horse. To be sure the longbow required a great deal of training and strength itself, and a single archer was no match for an army of knights, but a single archer could best several knights by the virtue of his ability to strike from a distance. However, the critical factor in the technology of the longbow was the need for massed, skilled firepower. Training began as early as seven years of age, and the law of England made it mandatory for all men and boys to train with - and own - the longbow. There were periodic competitions, and only the best were taken to war. Note, however, the striking difference between the top-down rule of the nobility - the knights who were armored and armed with sword, lance, and other contact-distance weapons - and the archers who were otherwise mere peons. But skilled peons, and peons skilled at killing knights. This fact meant that there was to be a significant shift in philosophy, due to man's ability to reason, and the free exchange of ideas. What did it mean to the peasantry when they provided the striking power of the army? No longer relegated to the pike, where the armored knight was king of the battlefield. When they held in their hands the means with which to kill the ruling class? (The ruling class of the other side, to be sure, but a man in armor is a man in armor....) And what did it mean to the ruling class? What did they discuss in their camps at night after a battle? It meant that there was a shift in power beginning in England. The peasants could no longer be simply viewed as a resource and otherwise ignored, and they knew it. In 1215 King John was forced by his Norman barons to sign the Magna Carta - this was before the acceptance of the longbow as a military weapon there, but important in its own right, laying down as a legal reality that the King was subject to the law, not superior to it. More importantly, the text of the Magna Carta was printed, distributed, and read aloud throughout England so that all English subjects could hear it. The information technology of the day was used to spread information so that those who could reason would think on it. And think they did. In 1415 at Agincourt a small, weary, disease-ridden English army consisting of 5,000 archers and 900 men-at-arms - many of whom were suffering from dysentery - faced a French army of over 20,000 - about 10% heavy cavalry. A lot of strategic and tactical factors were involved in the English victory, but the fact remains that 5,000 longbowmen - commoners - decimated the flower of French chivalry that day. This lesson was not lost on the English people. In 1642, after King Charles I proved himself to be a total disaster, the English people supported a revolt against him, and the English Civil War resulted in the execution of Charles - a rather shocking act to the nobility around the rest of the world. More to the point, a man barely more than a commoner himself rose to power through merit rather than heredity. Things were changing. The English longbow had a significant political impact on both the nobility and the peasantry, increasing the power of the latter at the expense of the former. I believe that the longbow and the tactics of its use are responsible for the beginnings of the Western philosophy of Rand's one, fundamental right - the right to one's own life. But the longbow was not to last. It was superceded by the application of gunpowder to war, a technology that I believe was responsible for the true rise of a philosophy of individual rights. For longbows to be effective in battle a massed concentration of bowmen was necessary, and those bowmen had to train from childhood. The advent of effective mobile artillery spelled the end of the longbowman, as cannon could decimate any formation of archers from extended range, and it could do the same to armored knights. The invention of the harquebus also spelled the end of the archer, for while the archer was able to kill or wound accurately out to over 200 yards, the arquebusier didn't require years of training - any poor peon could be conscripted and taught to fire an arquebus in a few days, and then kill nobles and skilled mercenaries with it. The matchlock firearm was introduced early in the 15th Century and didn't supplant the archer until the mid to late part of the century, but the firearm spelled the end of the armored knight. Wearable armor capable of stopping an arrow could be made, but no functional armor could be made to stop a bullet. During that time the power of the firearm and its (relative) ease of use was taken advantage of, as the European nations, when not fighting and killing each other, used the new technologies of transport - the compass, the sextant, good maps, the lanteen sail - to explore and exploit the rest of the world. Firearms technology slowly advanced: the wheellock, the snaphaunce, the flintlock, the rifled barrel, improvements in gunpowder and projectile production. Functional useable handguns were developed, and lighter, more accurate long guns. Each of these developments made firearms more reliable, easier to use, and subsequently of greater lethality. Where before war had been the playground of the ruling class and trained mercenaries, more and more commoners were conscripted into militaries to feed the grinder of war, and the exploitation of the New World and the East. Over the same period - the 15th through 17th Centuries, the study of philosophy was rekindled. Ancient Greek and Roman texts were published on the new printing presses and sold and discussed throughout Europe. Schisms evolved in the Catholic Church with Luther and Calvin. Protestants and Catholics went to war. Now, instead of battling over territory and resources, vast armies battled over Christianity. Plagues spread through Europe, brought by trade and exploration and spread by populations displaced by endless war, decimating those populations, and making the labor of the survivors more valuable to the (surviving) nobility. Note, the firearm didn't make war worse than it had been. Soldiers died on the battlefield as they always had. Death by gunshot is hardly more horrible than by sword, mace, spear or lance wound. People still died, in droves, from disease, from famine, and from being in the wrong place when the armies moved through. The difference now, largely, was that the armies were more and more made up of the people who in the not so distant past had merely been the spectators to (and victims of) the wars - conscripted and trained to operate the new technologies that could be learned in a few weeks, rather than over a lifetime. And those who came home retained that knowledge, and spread it. The knowledge of how to be a pikeman in a pike square isn't very useful to a farmer. The knowledge of how to load and fire a musket can be. They had fought in religious wars. They had seen the merciless death of war and of starvation and disease. They had heard the spreading humanist ideas of the Greeks and Romans, and seen corruption in their Church and in their supposed nobility, and many of them had, quite simply, had enough. The New World offered an escape, the chance to go somewhere where they could have a right to their own lives, and many took it. They took with them the means with which to defend that right: the firearm. And they had much occasion to use it. The European wars followed them. The native locals were none too happy about their arrival in many cases, either. But over time the pressures of colonization abated, and time became available to tinker with inventions and ideas and philosophy. The printing press as of 1750 was 300 years old, and much knowledge was available to those with the time and the wealth and the inclination to seek it out. Texts such as: The Ordinance of William the Conqueror, establishing the first modern separation of Church and State; the Magna Carta noted above; the Declaration of Arbroath wherein Scotland in 1320 claimed independence from England; Machiavelli's The Prince - a cold-blooded and calculating look at how to rule effectively; the various works of Martin Luther and Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion and many more. There was time to reason, the ability to exchange ideas, and the means with which to defend ones person and property - and all of these were necessary to the rise of the power of the individual against the oppressive State. When England in fact became a force of oppression against the American colonies, this tripod became the support under which a people stood up and said "NO!" - and made it stick. The firearm is the tool that makes any man or woman physically dangerous to the trained soldier. (Ask any Revolutionary-era Redcoat. Ask any soldier today in Iraq.) No other weapon is as effective at force-equalization. There is more than a little truth in the sales slogan, "God made man. Sam Colt made them equal." Combine that lethality with rigorous training and formidable armies can be created. Instill in those armies an aberrant philosophical grounding - a coercive religion, a need for "living space," a belief in racial superiority - and aggressive and immoral war will result. A fundamental belief in individual liberty, however, will produce government that fights only when it must, and quits when it believes itself safe. And it will produce an army that will fight with both ferocity and morality - as moral as war allows, at any rate. (Read The Jacksonian Tradition by Walter Russell Mead for more on this topic.) Further, a population that believes in individual liberty, and is armed to defend it, offers a formidable challenge to either invasion or internal usurpation. Individual, private possession of firearms isn't the only thing that permits individual liberty, but it is one of the essential components in a society that intends to stay free. An armed, informed, reasoning people cannot be subjugated. So what do you do if you want to fetter a free people? 1) Remove their ability to reason. 2) Constrain their ability to access and exchange information. 3) Relieve them of the means with which to defend themselves and their property. Which of these seems easiest, and how would it be best accomplished? And best resisted? Labels: one fundamental right | Bang. On. The. Nose. Phelps is right on the money: I just heard John Kerry say:Heh. Indeed.But here's what you really need to know about them. They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the President won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know. He wants them to do his dirty work.Hmm. Moveon is funded by millions of dollars from a Democrat out of Europe. They are a front for the Kerry campaign. And the fact that Kerry won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know. He wants them to do his dirty work. Bravo, Phelps. Bravo. | An Unaswered (and Unanswerable?) Challenge The Rev. Sensing has thrown down a particularly interesting gauntlet: If you support Kerry for president, I invite you to write a guest post for this blog explaining why. Here's why it's a challenge:The original challenge was issued yesterday. This should be interesting. Labels: linkery | An Immediate Payoff... From the aforementioned new blog Ballpoint Sketches comes a link to this LewRockwell.com Steven Yates piece How I Survived Government Schools. I was born in 1962. I can definitely relate. The difference with me was, I conformed. I just did what was required as fast as I could, and then did what I wanted to do. Negative attention was more attention than I wanted to get. I have to admit that I was luckier than Yates, as I had a number of teachers who were quite good at making learning interesting rather than drudgery, but I think that was exceptional, in my case. Still, as with Yates, the majority of my real education came from reading outside the academic environs. | Dept. of Our Collapsing Schools: Another Commentator Via Mostly Cajun (again) comes this excellent explanation of the collapsing public school syndrome. I'm going to post his points just so I have an archive of it here: Every politician seems to feel obligated to come up with a plan to fix public education. Usually this takes the shape of some new program, either funded by tax dollars or as an unfunded mandate. The politician is replaced in some later election, but the program lives on, accreting itself to the school system with other programs like so many barnacles on a ship.The author, George Wiman, has what he thinks is the solution, but you'll need to read the piece yourself and decide if you think that's it. Oh, and George has a blog, too. A pretty good one. Excerpt from one of his posts: Nevermind immortal literature: clearly written communication drives economically productive action. In business, government, education and military, a few well-chosen words can instruct, motivate, unite, and direct the actions an organization must take.No, they are not. | Saturday, August 21, 2004 I Should Have Commented on this a LOT Earlier Blame it on burnout. Remember the six people beaten and stabbed to death in Florida by the four home-invading vermin? The assailants used baseball bats they brought, and kitchen knives they found in the home to kill Erin Belanger, 22 (who received "a beating so vicious that even dental records were useless in trying to identify her"); Michelle Nathan, 19; Anthony Vega, 34; Roberto "Tito" Gonzalez, 28; Francisco Ayo Roman, 30; and Jonathan Gleason, 18. None were armed. The killers were three 18 year-old thugs lead by a career violent criminal out on parole - and in violation of his parole. Note that not one of these six slayings involved a firearm. But remember the words of wisdom from Austrailian professor Tim Lambert over the efficacy of laws banning firearms: 1. Using a weapon is not the only way to defend yourself.Big fucking "IF" there, Tim. If the attackers are armed with baseball bats and carving knives? How does the law prevent that? One loaded pump shotgun or .38 revolver in that house and someone willing to use it COULD have saved some or all of those victims. Not would - COULD. But without a firearm they had no chance at all, because violent predators don't give a damn about the law, but honest citizens do. And I cannot fathom why people cannot understand that simple fact. I have archived a quote from former Senator Malcolm Wallop of Wyoming that is appropriate to this topic: The ruling class doesn't care about public safety. Having made it very difficult for States and localities to police themselves, having left ordinary citizens with no choice but to protect themselves as best they can, they now try to take our guns away. In fact they blame us and our guns for crime. This is so wrong that it cannot be an honest mistake.No, it can't. Troy Victorino, 27 - the instigator of this slaughter - is hardly an atypical example of a murderer. He has a long criminal record with an ever-increasing level of violence. What is atypical is his recruitment of three willing teenage accomplices, but Victorino himself is your typical garden-variety murderer otherwise. Instead of trying to do something about the real problem - repeat, violent offenders - the "ruling class" instead pursues a strategy of disarming the law abiding public. Fit me for a tinfoil hat, but I have to wonder why that is? Because to me, too, it's so wrong that it cannot be an honest mistake. | I AM Going to get a Vacation This Year! I'm going to Kim & Connie's over the weekend of Sept. 11! It's about a 15 hour drive from Tucson to Plano, but what the hell. Hotel reservations are made. Now I've got to load some ammo for Range Day on Sunday, 9/12. I want to meet a bunch of ya! Now, who else is coming? | Friday, August 20, 2004 Hey! Whaddaya Know? The Village Voice IS Good for Something! From a comment left at The Mudville Gazette comes a link to this Village Voice piece that absolutely RIPS Kerry on his chairmanship of the Senate Select Committee on P.O.W./ M.I.A. Affairs. Excerpt: The stated purpose of the special Senate committee—which convened in mid 1991 and concluded in January 1993—was to investigate the evidence about prisoners who were never returned and find out what happened to the missing men. Committee chair Kerry's larger and different goal, though never stated publicly, emerged over time: He wanted to clear a path to normalization of relations with Hanoi. In any other context, that would have been an honorable goal. But getting at the truth of the unaccounted for P.O.W.'s and M.I.A.'s (Missing In Action) was the main obstacle to normalization—and therefore in conflict with his real intent and plan of action.And dig that graphic:
Perhaps I was wrong, and it's not too late for the Dims to "Torricelli" him! I'm sure Hillary is just waiting in the wings to be "drafted" at the last minute and "save the nation." | THIS is Important! Moorewatch is, well, you read what JimK has to say: Right-fucking-on. And I bet Regnery will jump all over it. Please pass this around. (Hat tip, SondraK.) | Here's an Excellent Piece that won't make the Major Media (I'm still not posting much - but at least I'm not not posting at all.) It's entitled The Truth About Guns, from AmericanDaily. Teaser: We recently took the safety course required to obtain a "concealed-carry" permit for a handgun. As residents of the District of Columbia we cannot even legally own a bullet without registering it, and handguns are completely illegal. Yet, since we believe in the Second Amendment, we wanted to have first hand facts.It's a short piece, and to-the-point. Oh, and I also wanted to mention a book I saw referenced over at The Geek's, called Shooters: Myths and Realities of America's Gun Cultures that looks excellent. I'm going to have to pick up a copy. | According to John F. Kerry, I'm Obviously a Paid Stooge of the Republicans Here's the latest SwiftVets anti-Kerry ad. (Windows Media File, sorry for you Quicktime folks.) I'm personally very happy that they're reminding everyone of Kerry's Senate testimony, since Kerry has decided now that his 4.5 months in Vietnam were "honorably" spent "defending his country." BTW, I've been registered as a Democrat ever since I moved to Arizona in 1981. They're welcome to check. Oh, and Dean Esmay is right: Edited to add: If, by chance, I AM on the RNC payroll, YOU'RE BEHIND A FEW YEARS GUYS! | Tuesday, August 17, 2004 The Internet Means a Looooong Memory. (Right after I say "no new posts" I go and prove myself wrong.) The RNC has a pretty damned good commercial out - 12 minutes long - of Kerry on the war in Iraq, in his own duplicitous words. Highly recommended. Pass it around. Real Player Windows Media | Monday, August 16, 2004 Blog Hiatus Sorry, y'all, but for at least the next few days there will be no posting of note here at The Smallest Minority. Life intrudes. My apologies to my regular readers and to whatever new ones have come lately. I'll be back. After all, you're entitled to my opinion! | Sunday, August 15, 2004 Just another "Gullible Gunner," I suppose... Gunner, proprietor of the blog No Quarters sent me the link to this cartoon, in relation to the rather long, drawn-out discussion I had over the previous few months with Tim Lambert of the blog Deltoid. Very apropos, though, as Gunner points out there's no way to know when it was originally drawn. 
The artist, Jim Unger was born in the UK, but started cartooning in Canada in 1974, and retired in 1992. (Must be nice, huh?) So all we know for sure is that the cartoon was 1992 or earlier. | Saturday, August 14, 2004 Lack of Posting... Sorry about the dearth of new stuff, but I've been really busy and had other things to attend to. Were it not for the fact that I had promised to host the Carnival this week, I might not have posted anything at all. I've got a mother of an essay rolling around in the back of my skull somewhere that might actually get out of me tomorrow or the next day, though. Anyway, thanks for bearing with me this week. Expect, however, that the volume of my output will be somewhat reduced for the foreseeable future due to work and other considerations. There's a lot going on that I'd really like to comment on, but I simply have not had the spare time. | Thursday, August 12, 2004 Welcome Instapundit Visitors! Welcome to my humble abode. While The Smallest Minority is the host of the Carnival of the Vanities this week, the normal focus of this blog is on the rights of individuals in general, and the Right to Arms in particular. If this subject holds any interest for you, please take some time while you're here to peruse some of the "Best Posts" linked on the left sidebar of the page. (And, remembering that this IS a Blogspot blog, if the link doesn't take you directly to the post when you click on it, it WILL take you to the proper page. Clicking the sidebar link again on the page that opens should take you directly to the post in question.) Enjoy your visit, leave a comment, and - this is especially important - if you disagree with my position, and feel motivated enough to debate the subject, drop me an email. Or, if you're interested, but uninformed, I'm more than happy to discuss it with you. I've studied my subject for going on ten years now. If they offered a PhD, I'd qualify, and I LIKE to Go on, now, and have a good time! | Tuesday, August 10, 2004 Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends, We're so glad you could attend. Come inside, come inside! Welcome to the 99th Edition of the Carnival of the Vanities. (What did I get myself into?) I've decided to go with a carnival theme this week (there's an original idea!). So let's get to it, shall we? Here they are in the order they were received: First up, the ticket booth!
Elliot Fladen of The Fladen Experience gives us his take on why Voting Third Party Is Not Throwing Your Vote Away. You tell 'em, Elliot! For the entertainment of the kiddies, there's an inflatable boxing ring!
Remember the Shoot the Star game? Where you use an air-powered BB machine gun to shoot out the red star from the center of your target to win a prize?
Well, let Ravenwood take it from there. I know this is a Carnival, but there's some 4H farm animals here too. Here are the prize sheep:
And there's clowns! Little kid clowns!
Food? Of COURSE there's food!
What is this, a Circus? Well, here's a juggler!
From Gun Watch, he has a post that "points out that a liking for guns is perfectly normal among the hunters that human beings evolved as." From Dissecting Leftism, a post that "points out that the Vietnamese "Communist" regime that the Left so loved in the 1960s was in fact a Fascist regime" From Greenie Watch, a post that "reports that acid rain has once again been found to be beneficial rather than harmful" And, finally, from Political Correctness Watch, a post sure to stir up some reaction, entitled "Blatant Anti-White Racism Thwarted in UK" Try to keep all those balls in the air, John, would you? Next up! So you WON the Shoot-the-Star game? And all they gave you was a Dilbert doll?
But you say you "accidentally" shot your little brother in the ear with the BB gun? Well then, its off to the First Aid tent!
It's only a flesh wound. Give him a band-aid and a purple heart! Hey, everybody! It's time for the next Wild West Show!
Whew! That was fun! Hey kids, how about a sack race?
Wanna play tag in some BUMPERBOATS?
Shield the kids! It's the Ambiguously Gay Duo!
Want another Dilbert doll? Step right up and try the Football Toss!
Hey! Look in this tent! A magician's gonna cut off a guy's head!
MAN those Carnival barkers are annoying! They won't shut up, and they won't take "NO!" for an answer.
You've got a blister on your heel? Well, there's the Paramedic's ambulance. Go ask for a plaster.
I'm tired. Let's go in here and listen to the Storyteller for a few minutes.
Say "Hello!" to the nice security guard!
MAN that Oompah band is loud!
Let's ride the rockets!
Next, the FuNHouSE!
I'm HUNGRY again. Let's stop at this trailer and see if they've got some fried chicken!
Wow! Look at all the flags from all the different countries!
Ooh! Pizza! Gotta have a slice!
Damn, that juggler does get around!!
Let's not see the sideshow freaks.
It's all about the kids, you know...
Man, why don't these people learn English? I couldn't understand a word that ticket-taker said!
At least now we can get into the House of Horrors!
Hey! They've got a Hall of Presidents just like Disneyland's!
Salad?!? Who eats a salad at a Carnival? What you want is COTTON CANDY!
And after a long, full day at the Carnival, we head out for the emptying parking lot
That's thirty-three (33!) entries this week. Whew! I'm beat! Another slice of pizza? Well, if you twist my arm... The Carnival of the Vanities continues... August 18th - Fringe August 25th - Ego September 1st - Blogo Slovo September 8th - Food Basics September 15th Silflay Hraka - The Two Year Anniversary September 22nd - The Eleven Day Empire September 29th - Last One Speaks October 6th - Incite October 13th - Conservative Dialysis October 20th - The People's Republic of Seabrook October 27th - The Twins Tell the Truth | Carnival Reminder! Don't forget: The Carnival of the Vanities will be posted here sometime tonight! Get your entries in by 8:00 PM PST so I can include them. I'll be gone tomorrow, so no late entries! Send your entry to gunrights-at-comcast-dot-net (replace -at- and -dot- with the appropriate symbols). I need: Your name or nom de plume The name of your blog and its URL The name of your post (if applicable) and its permalink A short blurb on the subject of your post. Here's hoping I do your stuff justice! | Monday, August 09, 2004 The Four Ways You Can Spend Money Ravenwood discusses a child's first exposure to "government" in the classroom in his post Back to As fast as you can say the Pledge of Allegiance without the “under God” part, the indoctrination begins. The government teacher steps in front of her virtual hostages and promptly delivers the first raw lesson in the power of government. The students are instructed to bring all of their precious school supplies – their property -- to the front of the classroom and put them into a huge box. These supplies no longer belong to them. They are now community property … they belong to all of the class. The teacher, representing the government, will from that point on assume the responsibility of distributing the supplies to the students as they are needed.To which, Ravenwood adds: This year he left out the part where parents who are in the know deliberately buy the cheapest school supplies they can. After all, why buy premium when you know that the government teachers are just goint to take them away. That's socialism for you.Which reminded me of my favorite lesson in economic theory: The Four Ways You Can Spend Money. 1. You can spend your money on yourself: When you do that, you work hard to get the most for your dollar, searching for the best deal on what you really want, or compromising when you just can't afford (or bring yourself to bear the expense of) what you really want. Which explains why I drive a Ford Ranger pickup, and not a Ford GT. 2. You can spend your money on other people: This is what you do when you buy gifts - or in the example above, when you're buying school supplies that will be "shared" by the whole class. The more important those people are, the more you will pay attention to your expenditures. If you don't know or care about them, fuck 'em, they'll get only what you can spare. (But then, I'm an evil Republican. If I were a Democrat I'd say "I'm a little short this week - can you go first?" 3. You can spend other people's money on other people: This is what the government does for its citizens. Normally it just takes your money, and then, well, fuck 'em - they'll get what you can spare. Unless you really need to give a gift to someone important. Like a voting bloc. I mean, it's just money, right? 4. You can spend other people's money on yourself: This is what politicians do. And a lot of bureacrats. And leaders of "charity organizations." And evangelists. (See Option 3 above, re: voting blocs.) Pay raises. Limousines. Office furniture. Travel vouchers. And... Hell, when its other people's money, the sky's the limit! Why else are "government handouts" so popular? I'm handicapped by a severe Ford GT-deficiency! Where's my ADA grant money? And Midnight Blue, or I'll sue! | I Just HAVE to Know... Driving back from a jobsite this afternoon, I listened to Hugh Hewitt's radio show. Hugh read from an AP story where Kerry said that he personally used his Swift Boat to insert CIA agents (plural) into Cambodia - this was after the "Christmas in Cambodia" stories as related in Senate testimony and his letter to the Boston Well, we know Kerry wasn't in Cambodia on Christmas Eve 1968. So I have to ask: Was one of the CIA agents Valerie Plame? | Saturday, August 07, 2004 The ProtestWarriors Strike Again! I LOVE IT! Read the details of Operation Halliburton Defense Force. The protesters then asked us to move across the street - an offer I respectfully declined. Hadi then asked if he moved his group across the street would we follow? I gave him my most sincere promise that we would stay in front of Halliburton where we belonged. At that point he concluded his proposition was an act of concession and gave up on the idea.Much more, with photos! Go read! | One for the Boys I whipped up a Kalashnikitty version for my grandson - I'm doing a pair of iron-on transfers for the grandkids, and the pink one with a bow in the hair just would not do for him.
Labels: Kalashnikitty | OMFG! Allahpundit is... unbelievable. I literally laughed out loud at this one. After the recent brouhaha over Glenn Reynolds' endorsement of the "Celebrate Diversity" T-shirt, Allah has found a way for Glenn to "prove his decency" to the Left. Don't drink or eat anything before opening the link. I would say "Touché," but this was not a touch to the chest with an épée, it's a goddammed axeblow to the skull! All bow to Allah! We are not worthy! | Friday, August 06, 2004 Kalashnikitty T-Shirt Order Info! See the original post below for images. The shirt is a go. Here's all the information (remember, I am NOT FISCALLY INVOLVED IN THIS - I'm just passing on the info.): OK, guys and gals, I just got off the phone with the shirtmaker and the T-shirts are a GO - here's the procedure for getting them (this makes it a LOT easier for me to track and ship these things ASAP)Sorry, ladies, but no baby-dolls, just the standard Tee. So, get those orders off! He's only accepting them until Thursday, 8/12! Labels: Kalashnikitty | "Recovered," My Ass I was going to write a piece on the State of New York confiscating 63 year-old Thad Shank's gun collection, but Ravenwood had done the definitive job of it. I can't add anything. I will NEVER register my guns, nor live where it's required. Period. It's an invitation to the State to find you in minor violation of the rules, and take everything you've got. Fuck 'em. | Standard Bearer for the Unbearable There's a nice turn of phrase, from the New York Daily News's Zev Chafets: Why Bush is going to winAmen. These people don't comprise a majority of the electorate or even Democratic voters (how could they and remain an elite?), but they have convinced themselves that they and their candidate - if packaged properly - will prove irresistibly attractive to lesser Americans.Precisely. They believe they can fool the average gullible idiot into voting for them. After all, it's how the Repubicans win! It's a common theme if you read the DemocraticUnderground.com forums and other Lefty sites. Boston, with its flag-waving and saluting and balloon-blowing was supposed to be a commercial for this new and superior brand of politics. But Americans are expert TV watchers. A lot of them voted with their remotes. Those who did watch weren't impressed. The Democrats' much anticipated post-convention bump turned into a thud. George McGovern got one of those in 1972.As several people have noted, Kerry does better the less you see (and hear) of him. But now he has to be out in public - doing things like faking lunch at Wendy's for a photo-op, getting dissed by some Marines there, and then having a gourmet box-lunch of Shrimp Vindaloo delivered from the local Yacht Club. Apparently Teresa has never had Chili before. Yes, we "little people" will certainly recognize Sen. Kerry's obvious superiority and vote him in as the man best qualified to tell us how best to live our miserable little lives. "Standard bearer for the unbearable," indeed. | I've Noticed This Myself... Frank J. has generated a list of "fun facts" about Democrats that lives up to (or down to) his well-deserved reputation. But this one is my favorite: Democrats are big into class warfare. They also are for gun control which has caused the deadliest firearms to be too expensive except for the rich to buy. So, if class warfare ever goes to blows, it won't last long.Ayup. The rest are almost as good. | Oooh! Here's a BIG One! In relation to the "Rotten Log" post below concerning the "Celebrate Diversity" shirt, another moonbat-with-a-blog wrote another "I'm OFFENDED!" post on it. At least Steve Gillard doesn't use an alias, but he gives links for his moonbat readers to send objection letters to - I suppose - get Reynolds in hot water. Quote: Reynolds has said any number of biased, unfair and truly repellent things on his site. Which is his right. But this crosses a rather broad line. I mean, where does he keep this shirt, next to his Wehrmacht World Tour and Hitler: No More Mister Nice Guy shirts.Hell, I have that question about any number of professors, starting with Noam Chomsky and MIT. Note the invocation of Godwin's Law. Steve continues with a list of contacts for the perennially outraged to write to, including: University of Tennessee Law School Dean Tom Galligan Sen. Randy McNally - head of the Tennessee Senate's Education Committee House Member Les Whittington - in charge of the House Education committee The Memphis Commercial Appeal and the Nashville Tennessean newspapers. Steve says: Just ask them if they agree that a professor at the state's public university should be advertising a shirt which opposes diversity.My. Mouth. Hangs. Agape. How...? Now, when the Right does this, it's called "censorship" by the Left. It's "violation of their First Amendment Right of Free Speech." But when they do it... And, once again, the comments are priceless! (Hat tip, Spoons.) No running commentary this time. It's too tiring. Just go read. Here's a taste: I worry less about that than the minority kid in his class. If that is his opinion, can a minority kid be treated fairly by him. Diversity isn't an opinion, but state policy. Does the university agree he should be opposing state policy on a commercial website?*sigh* The Left leaves me... tired. | John Lott Must Read Me Awhile back I noticed that John Lott had me listed in his blogroll. Not anymore! I feel so special! | Thursday, August 05, 2004 Another Politically Incorrect, Offensive, Racist, Etc. T-shirt! Remember Kalashnikitty? One of the guys on AR15.com was selling a really neat (and unlicensed) shirt last year. I advertised it, and I think he got some good traffic from here. Well, he's thinking about doing another short run of them. The image is this:
UPDATE! Eric is taking orders until 8/12! See the post above for all the info! Labels: Kalashnikitty | Point by Freakin' Point Mike at Cold Fury has written the transcript of the press conference I'd PAY to see. A taste: “Christ almighty, what is it with you people? You’ve spent a couple of years asking why we didn’t prevent 9/11, calling for an investigation, asking ‘how much did Bush know and when did he know it?’ You blamed us for something we failed to prevent after eight months in office, and yet to this day you give the Clinton admin a free pass, even though he had eight years—eight fucking years, people—to do something about al Qaeda and didn’t do one goddamned thing.And it just gets better. No kidding! With links, too! (Hat Tip, my favorite African-American.) | They Can't Have Mine Heartless Libertarian reports that the U.S. military is apparently short about a million "standard capacity" magazines for its M16/M4 weapons. I've got seven myself for my custom-built AR-15, purchased after the so-called "ban" that made manufacturing new ones for civilian consumption illegal, but did absolutely nothing to affect the existing supply except drive up the prices. And I'm a piker. I know there are people who have over a hundred. Unintended consequences... | Wednesday, August 04, 2004 I Wonder If These Guys Get to Run Their Ad Shortly Before the Election? But hopefully everyone will have seen this by then. Several times. You should. | Hey! The Carnival is Coming! Yeesh! It's only a week away! The next Carnival of the Vanities will be hosted by your humble servant right here at The Smallest Minority on Wednesday, August 11. Please submit your entries by no later than Tuesday, August 10 at 8:00PM PDT so that I can To submit, email me at gunrights -AT- comcast -DOT- net (please substitute the proper symbols) with your name or nom-de-plume, the name and URL of your blog, the title (if applicable) and URL of your post of interest, and a short blurb describing the topic. Edited to add: Put "CotV" or "Carnival" in the email title, would you? That way I won't dump it as spam without ever opening it. Another edit: Please, no late entries! I won't be anywhere near a computer with internet access on Wednesday, so what goes up Tuesday night will be IT. (Like I need something ELSE to do!) | See What Crawls Out When You Roll Over the Rotten Log? The barking moonbat wing of the Left has gone bugshit over Rachel Lucas's favorite T-Shirt. Well, Glenn Reynolds owns one, (I own one, too) so Atrios thought it must be racist, and wrote a post about it. Here's his take: Now, Glenn's a gun fan and I imagine he's just celebrating the joys of guns, or whatever, but this shirt is no joke. There's a serious subtext here which is totally obvious to me that I think should be pointed out. Now, I don't think everyone who has purchased a shirt like this has purchased it with the subtext in mind, but nonetheless the message is clear.And your problem with that is....? But no, it means "celebrate diversity" by buying a bunch of different guns. (The "fucking guns" is a dead giveaway that Atrios is not a "gun fan." Please pardon my stating the obvious.) You'll note that the shirt doesn't say "Hey white folk! Celebrate diversity!" Nope, it's an equal opportunity shirt! Everybody join in! All colors of the rainbow, you too can join the nation of responsible citizens who own guns! It's not just for white crackers anymore! But the commenters ran with it. Here's a sample of the bile from the more loving, more caring, colorblind, fuzzy-bunny Left. I read a much darker subtext into that.Nope, they get to buy guns, too! I thought it was more sinister than even your interpretation. I read it as "Celebrate Diversity -- kill a black person."You get secret messages passed to you in your alphabet soup, too, don't you? Maybe Instapoodle can be encouraged to play Russian Roulette more often.Nothing like the Compassionate Left, is there? ...it says to me "kill the black, brown, yellow, red, ...". Sometimes I wonder if women and non-whites just get it, because they have encountered it so much. -- The subtext is much darker and the "kill a nigger because he stole your job because of affirmative action" is even there. (Now it's morphed into "because he stole your JOB." It's a T-SHIRT, you oversensitive idiot.) I think you put as charitable a spin on it as possible, Atrios, but the fact that it took you several hours to decide how to frame your thoughts on it I think is a resonable indicator of how deeply disturbing you find it. The fact that you saw it, reacted in such a way as to say to yourself, "No, that can't be right. They can't mean THAT", and then give them the benefit of the doubt to the extent you reasonably could, well, I think that speaks volumes in and of itself. Your thought processes - if you want to actually characterize them as such - certainly speak volumes about you.Right wingers equate guns with power. Mao: Power grows out of the barrel of a gun. This, the right wing endorses greatly. This is why they are always sore losers in elections. And now MAO is a right-winger? How far left is THIS guy? As for "sore losers," who is it that hasn't gotten over the 2000 election? The message I see is"Here's what you can do with your goddamned diversity!" There is a subtext of hate in that t-shirt. Only what you put there. The fact that the shirt is (I would presume) purposefully vague enough to lend itself to these ugly interpretations, would make me uncomfortable to wear it -- regardless of my stance on gun rights.That's called "freedom of choice" where it comes to freedom of speech. At least this guy's not a complete whack job. How about a t-shirt with "Republican Diversity" as the text--and show a bunch of grave markers? -- The t-shirt celebrates guns and hints how they could be used. If it was worn in public in Toronto it would cause problems because it is a very aggressive shirt.Only because Canada doesn't have a right to free speech, and I could insert a Canadian joke here, but I choose not to. I read it as an anti-minority statement.HOW? Minorities have the same right to buy guns as anybody. One could draw the 'kill Africans' inference, but that's a stretch. These guys are racists and all that, but the point of the T-Shirt is pro-gun rights, and anti-diversity-type legislation, nothing else.No, it's just pro-gun rights. For everybody. Of course this is the same guy who wrote: We need guns, and when the technology permits, we're gonna need automatic guns, or automatic tasers, or whatever. If Bushco wants to become the next Hitler, he's gonna have to answer Mr. Colt - which I don't own *yet*, but I may soon. I'm tired of being scared of some black van screaching up to my front door, with me being defenseless. F that. Come and get me aholes, but first, say hello to my leetle friend!Well, hell! Celebrate diversity and get a Smith & Wesson too, while you're at it! The only person who would wear this shirt is, quite literally, a racist piece of shit.Smile when you say that. There is no doubt that this shirt has a wink-and-nudge racist message behind it, and I think any right-winger would get it.Nope. Only you overly sensitive Lefties. Don't call him racist. He'll pull out the old line "My sister in law is African" routine, which of course is a show stopper.It is, isn't it? Just like the fact that Bush has a black National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. But they can't really be "black" because they're just "house niggers" workin' for da man. More of that Leftist compassion and caring. But wait! There's more! Sorry, but the message of that hideous shirt is pretty clear to me. If it had been beer, I would have thought, ha! Cute! Be diverse in your choice of getting drunk. This is guns, though. And not just guns, hand guns. Be diverse in your choice of killing.We sure do, but the "twisted wingnuts" seem to be on YOUR side, my friend. I thought Glenn was urging us to buy an assortment of guns, go to Africa and shoot as many blacks as possible. The subtext was crystal clear to me and I'm outraged. How do they get away with this!?Because most people don't think like barking moonbats with their The t-shirt, and the entire website, are indicative of mental illness.Funny, I was thinking precisely the same thing about Atrios's site and these comments! I actually saw someone wearing that shirt last night in West Oakland. Someone who happened to African-American. I must say that, in that context, I thought the shirt was fucking phat.There, see? Apparently that t-shirt owner got the idea. But also apparently it's up to the moonbat Left to inform him of just how misguided he must be to wear something so offensive. You're right. It is phat! So of course, that poster must have been a right-wing plant. No I invite Instapundit or anyone else who finds the shirt amusing to don it proudly on the streets of East LA, the Tenderloin, Gary, IN, Detroit or DC (away from the Capitol, of course), especially around 2am.I invite all supporters of gun control to do precisely the same thing! Go to those areas at that time completely unarmed! And tell us just how safe you are! Anyway, there's more, but that's enough and more than enough, don't you think? I did leave a comment of my own, though: First, I own the shirt. It's humorous to me. Second, I do not, did not and cannot interpret it the way (many of) you have. If you want to accuse me of being "a racist piece of shit," I suggest you do it to my face. And third, if you hate that T-shirt, you're gonna loathe this one.The link is to the "72 Virgins Dating Service" T-shirt. THAT drew some traffic! | Sunday, August 01, 2004 Sweet Jeebus's Bleeding Hemorrhoids... Hear about this one? The 42 year-old Australian security guard who was brutally assaulted by a thief wearing brass knuckles who was after the pub receipts she was carrying? She picked herself up, drew her concealed weapon, approached, and then shot the sumbitch. She's been charged with murder! Here's one version of the story: Guard set for murder chargeBungled my ass. She properly intervened. If Karen Brown cannot be found she will be charged in her absence tomorrow morning.Sounds bad, right? However: TV payout will go towards legal defenceDamned good idea, IMHO. And then there's this version: Bashed guard has skull fractured in attackMr. Rasmussen can go suck dead dog farts for all I care. Here's another story on it: Why I killed the robberRight. Only the police should have the power to shoot criminals? "He was murdered," Mr Rasmussen said. "That woman should have torn into that hotel as soon as she alleges she was hit and she should have asked for help. Instead, she advanced on my grandson and shot him in cold blood.No, she was severely injured - by your grandson - and probably disoriented, and still did her job, which was to prevent his escaping with the loot, you prick. "She's just a bitch. Sorry."No, you're an asshole. And I'm NOT sorry. Mr Rasmussen said he was upset by how his grandson -- who has convictions for drugs and robbery -- had been portrayed.Yes, I'm sure he was just a lovable fuzzball as he punched Ms. Brown in the head multiple times. Don't make me puke. He was a perfect fucking ANGEL I bet. But now he's DEAD. "He's never been involved in anything like this in almost 26 years that we've known him. It's not in his nature."Guess the brass knuckles weren't his, either? One thing's for damned sure. He won't be "involved in anything like this" again. Ms Brown underwent further medical tests on Thursday. Detectives are not expecting to speak to her until tomorrow.For a nation founded by cast-off convicts from Mother England, they sure seem to be sucking from the same teat of nanny-state enforced pacifism. For example, try this (unrelated) story: Good Samaritans set upon by gang A NIGHT out in inner-city Brisbane ended in violence for a family of good Samaritans who tried to intervene in a vicious gang attack. The Jackson siblings of Sunnybank found themselves fighting for their lives after standing up to a bunch of "cowardly" youths who brutally kicked a man while he was on the ground at the corner of Edward and Charlotte streets. Dr Peter Jackson, 28, was king-hit and knocked unconscious after running to help the man - who himself ran off and left the Jacksons to face the gang. Brother John, 24, jumped into the fray to help his older sibling, but was overwhelmed by a swarm of angry youths aged 16 to 19 as he desperately tried to reach his stricken brother. Enter sisters Elizabeth, 21, and Bridgette, 19. Trying to avoid blows from the gang of youths, the sisters pulled the attackers off Peter, who was unconscious for more than five minutes. John later expressed disgust that a gathering crowd did not raise a finger to help. "It was really un-Australian to see, but then again that has become the Australian way," he said. "The gutless people watching them in the background couldn't even help two girls." The family had been out to farewell John, who is off to Europe tomorrow, when they saw the gang attack a man by himself. "(Peter) said, 'Get away, get away.' They just started walking away and then one of them took a step towards him and that just launched the rest of them on to Pete," Elizabeth said. "A guy came up and punched him in the back of the head and I think that was when he was knocked out. He went to ground and the guys didn't leave him alone." John said his brother had half the attackers on him and "I had the other half". "Four or five of them cornered me and this massive hit came from somewhere," he said. "I was just getting swamped." Elizabeth said there were "so many people around" who would not help. "So Bridgette and I just went in and literally started grabbing these guys by their hoods and their jumpers," she said. "We were trying to pull them off one by one. One of them took a swing at Bridgette but it missed. "(Afterwards) some bouncers came over after Pete had been on the ground for five minutes. "They just said, 'Oh, he's all right, call the cops,' and just walked across the road." The Jackson clan had no regrets yesterday, and appealed for public assistance to identify the attackers. "I would do it again, definitely," Peter said. "Some of the horrendous brain injuries you are unfortunate enough to see (in medicine) - you just don't wish that on your worst enemy. They are vegetables (and) one or two more kicks and that guy could have been in massive trouble." Police sources told The Courier-Mail the force was 49 staff short in Brisbane City, but due to get 20 first-year constables soon. They said it was a busy night on Saturday. No word on how long it took for the police to show up, assuming they did. Good thing none of the attackers had a weapon, isn't it? Like, say, brass knuckles? Or a knife? Or even *gasp!* a gun? Labels: self-defense, UK | Anybody Looking for a Good Deal? Jim from Smoke on the Water is looking to sell part of his collection to finance a trip. If you're a resident of Tejas, you can use the ELGS™ to purchase "off-paper," or, if you're a resident of another state, he'll ship to your FFL dealer. Jim's looking to sell a Ruger Security-Six, a blued 4" barreled .357 Magnum revolver. Rugers are known for their reliability and ruggedness - if six rounds of hollowpoint don't do it, you can bludgeon the perp to death with it. It is blued with adjustable sights. Jim advises: Now, only one very minute flaw exists in the Ruger I'm selling. A tiny, tiny point of pitting had started on the edge of the trigger-guard before the gun came into my possession. It has been treated, leaving behind a point of lightness in the blueing, which is no larger than the diameter of a fine pencil-lead. Frankly, it's damn near imperceptable, but I'd be less than perfectly honest if I failed mention it.I'd give him an offer myself, but I just blew my accumulated gun-money on a Ruger Single-Six (that cost, retail, almost as much as Jim's opening reserve - so it's a good deal. Go make a bid to SOTW_Jim -AT - hotmail -DOT- com. Replace the -AT- and -DOT- with the appropriate symbols. (DIE, SPAMBOTS, DIE!) | Hive Minds Francis Porretto has another illuminating essay up on the (and I use the term loosely) thought processes of the collectivist Left vis-à-vis Western individualism vs. Islam, in Hive Minds. It's worth your time. (But then, Francis always is.) | | |
