Remember "Anagnorisis and Peripeteia"?

It was a post from January of 2010 of a TED talk given by Mike Rowe in 2009.  Mike recently posted the background story of that speech that's worth listening to as well:


He ad libbed that TED speech.  My respect for him has gone up by a factor of ten, and it was pretty high to begin with.

Scaaaaary Numbers!!

Apparently since the Navy Yard shooting has mysteriously dropped off the media radar (because the perpetrator was a mentally-ill Prius-driving Obama supporter - but I repeat myself - who didn't use an AR-15, but rather a Joe Biden-approved 12 gauge shotgun and a handgun he took off a security guard) the New York Times has fallen back on a more reliable drum to beat - one made from the skins of dead children.  Just not ones from Chicago.

Yes, the Times anxiously wishes to inform us that:

Children shot accidentally — usually by other children — are collateral casualties of the accessibility of guns in America, their deaths all the more devastating for being eminently preventable.

They die in the households of police officers and drug dealers, in broken homes and close-knit families, on rural farms and in city apartments. Some adults whose guns were used had tried to store them safely; others were grossly negligent. Still others pulled the trigger themselves, accidentally fracturing their own families while cleaning a pistol or hunting.

And there are far more of these innocent victims than official records show.

A New York Times review of hundreds of child firearm deaths found that accidental shootings occurred roughly twice as often as the records indicate, because of idiosyncrasies in how such deaths are classified by the authorities.

And:

As a result, scores of accidental killings are not reflected in the official statistics that have framed the debate over how to protect children from guns.

For those with an eighth-grade reading level or below (e.g: many NYT readers), a "score" is twenty.

Of course, the Eeeeeeevil NRA must be invoked:

The National Rifle Association cited the lower official numbers this year in a fact sheet opposing "safe storage" laws, saying children were more likely to be killed by falls, poisoning or environmental factors — an incorrect assertion if the actual number of accidental firearm deaths is significantly higher.

And its effects on cowed and mind-controlled legislators:

In all, fewer than 20 states have enacted laws to hold adults criminally liable if they fail to store guns safely, enabling children to access them.

Legislative and other efforts to promote the development of childproof weapons using "smart gun" technology have similarly stalled. Technical issues have been an obstacle, but so have N.R.A. arguments that the problem is relatively insignificant and the technology unneeded.

Because of maneuvering in Congress by the gun lobby and its allies, firearms have also been exempted from regulation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission since its inception.

Is gun. Is not safe.

To give credit where due, the Times does make a passing nod at reality:

Even with a proper count, intentional shooting deaths of children — including gang shootings and murder-suicides by family members — far exceed accidental gun deaths.

But they don't tell you what "far exceed" really means. Nor do they discuss in any way the declining level of accidental death by firearms that has been going on for DECADES - despite the ever-increasing number of firearms in private hands.

Oh, right. I forgot. The other Narrative™ is that those guns are being purchased by fewer and fewer people - mostly aging white males. And perhaps some white Hispanics.

For instance, the Times reports:

Under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures, in fact, gun accidents were the ninth-leading cause of unintentional deaths among children ages 1 to 14 in 2010. (The agency reported 62 such killings that year.) If the actual numbers are, in fact, roughly double, however, gun accidents would rise into the top five or six.

The CDC does report that 62 (that would be three-score and two) deaths of children from infants to 14 were reported in 2010, but this graphic (PDF) does not list accidental death by firearm in the top TEN for any subset of that age group except the 10-14 group where it is, in fact, tenth with a total of 26 (one-score and six) deaths:


(Click for full size.)
However:

308 died as a result of fire.
726 died of drowning.
1,118 died from unintentional suffocation.
1,499 died from vehicular accidents.

And 957 were murdered.

Each death is a tragedy regardless of the cause, but you don't see the New York Times calling for a ban on swimming pools above a certain size.

Often an accident is just that - an accident.  Occasionally it rises to the level of depraved indifference.  I believe that there probably ought to be more prosecutions of negligence in many of these cases - for which laws already exist - but I also think that prosecutors don't pursue them in the belief that juries won't convict grieving parents.

Yes, these deaths are "eminently preventable" - by preventing the private possession of firearms.  (That would be "accessibility.")  Because "just one death" is always justification for the "next step."

Well! That was Fun. What Did I Miss?

I heard something about a mini-fillibuster, and I understand that there's a threat that the .gov may be forced to shut down.

This about covers it for me:



So, how've y'all been?

NO BLOG FOR YOU!

I'm absolutely swamped at work, so there won't be an update here probably until Saturday at the earliest.  Sorry about that, but the free ice cream machine is on the fritz.  Enjoy the archives.  Read the old comment threads!  Ah, the memories...

I Think I'm in Love...

h/t:  American Digest

That Burn Requires Debriding...

Hope n' Change cartoon for Friday, Sept. 20:


Bazinga!

Pima County Gets Its Wrist Slapped

May 5, 2011 the Pima County (Arizona) Sheriff's Office SWAT team put on their battle-rattle, climbed into their armored personnel carrier, and did an early morning raid on a suspected drug distributor's home.  Said suspect was José Guerena, a combat veteran of the Iraq war who worked  third shift at a local mine. Seeing armed men in their front yard, Guerena's wife apparently woke him. He put his wife and 4-year-old son in a closet, retrieved his AR-15 rifle, and prepared to confront what he thought were home invaders.

When the Sheriff's deputies broke open his front door, they saw him in the hallway, armed, and opened fire. Seventy rounds were expended, 22 of them striking Guerena. He never received medical attention. It is believed that he lived for approximately an hour after being shot.

Here's helmet-cam footage of the incident. Check the "professionalism" of the PCSD SWAT team:


Three months after the raid, in which no drugs were found in the Guerena home and no evidence of wrongdoing on his part, no one had been charged with any crime. Guerena's family sued for $20 million. They have been awarded $3.4 million.

José Guerena's crime, for which he paid with his life? Having relatives involved in the drug trade.

Had they wanted to, the Sheriff's department could have arrested him at work and then searched his home at their leisure.  Instead, they suited up and did a "raid."  And an innocent man is dead because of it.

And as Radley Balko documents, this is not an exceptional case, except possibly for the settlement.

More Democrat Flee-Bagging

Reader Grumpy Old Fart left a link in a comment to this story:

During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused to listen to the testimony of Patricia Smith and Charles Woods. Ms. Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, an information management officer killed in the 9/11 Benghazi attack. Charles Woods is the father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who was also killed.

Here's the picture:

The far side of the room, shown empty in the photo, belongs to the Democrats. The only Democrats who stayed were Ranking Member Elijah Cummings and Rep. Jackie Speier.

Had enough yet?

No Shame

Obama in July, 2008:


Obama in September, 2013:

Raising the debt ceiling, which has been done over a hundred times,
does not increase our debt.

Then why do we need to raise the ceiling? Aren't we again "taking out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children" and "driving up the national debt"? What's different now?

The difference is, now he's the President, and under his administration, the national debt has increased from $10.5 trillion in November of 2008 to over $16.9 trillion today, some $200 billion over the current "ceiling," - but through accounting sleight-of-hand by the Treasury, it's been "officially" stuck at $16,699,396,000,000 since mid-May,  an interesting tidbit the MSM hasn't found interesting enough to comment on.

It's like they're protecting him or something.

Diane Feinstein can Bite My Wang

What part of "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press" do you not understand?

"Special privilege"?

Let me repeat:  Tar.  Feathers.

One Person at the Navy Yard Probably Was Shot to Death with an AR-15...

Aaron Alexis.

See?  The AR-15 is the preferred weapon for "legally hunting humans."  "For sport," you understand. 

The shooter just has to be sprinkled with the magic fairy dust of a .gov paycheck.

Yeah, but Austin was Still Part of Texas in 1966...

Quote of the Day from Instapundit:

So, basically, the civilians of Austin, Texas in 1966 were better prepared to respond to a shooter than the Marines of 2013.

Quote of the Day - No Right to Feel Safe Edition

Police...released all the names of the dead — many of them workers whose offices were behind high walls and armed guards, seemingly in one of the safest corners of federal Washington.

They were not safe. The dead were found in the building’s lobby, police said, and on the third and fourth floors.

If someone is willing to die in order to kill you, there is no place that is safe. There is no "right to feel safe," it's an illusion, just as "gun free zones" are an illusion.

So, Let's Review What We Know, Think, Believe About Aaron Alexis

I love modern media and the 24-hour news cycle.

There were three, two, was only one shooter at the Navy Yard.  It was a mid-fifties white male in fatigues, 34 year-old black male - excuse me, "Texan."  He had a rifle, pistol, and shotgun an AR-15 a shotgun.  He entered a secure base using someone else's ID his own ID.  He had a past history of violent behavior, but passed not one, but two background checks very recently to get a "Secret" security clearance.

In other words, we don't know SHIT.

Give it 24-48 hours.

And please, don't judge all Buddhists by the acts of one man.

But feel free to judge all gun owners by the acts of one man!

It's Pretty Bad When Dilbert's Mom Whacks Federal Agents

Scott Adams commented recently on government intrusion:









Gerard Vanderleun says "Funny Now, But Sooner or Later It Will All End in Guns." I think Dilbert's mom probably used poison.

But whatever works....

Edit:  Dilbert outsmarts the .gov again:


Hopefully he scrubbed his mother's records as well.

Had Enough Yet?

Republican conservative columnist George Will was recently interviewed by Reason TV.  In that interview, Will says:

Whatever confidence and optimism I felt towards the central government when I got here on January 1, 1970 has pretty much dissipated at the hands of the government.

I have another example -  Jesse Jackson Jr.:

Although disgraced Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. suddenly developed a "mood disorder" as the feds were about to indict him, he qualifies for generous government disability payments because it's considered a debilitating mental illness.

Of interesting note is that Jackson Jr., sentenced this week to 2½ years in prison for corruption, never showed any symptoms of a "mood disorder" during his 17 years as a federal lawmaker. The mental illness surfaced abruptly last summer as the congressman, a member of Judicial Watch's Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians list, was about to get criminally charged.

--

The late onset of what we now knows is a debilitating mental illness makes Junior eligible to get $8,700 per month in government disability pay, according to a news report that also says the slammer-bound politician can get a partial federal pension of $45,000 despite his transgressions.

That's $149,400 per year. Until, of course, he achieves the "full recovery" promised by his doctors.

Yeah. Right.

Glenn Reynolds uses the phrase "Tar.  Feathers." a lot at Instapundit.  I've reached the conclusion that it needs to stop being rhetorical and start being literal.

Better to Have it and Not Need it...

A young Palmview, Texas woman is now glad that her husband insisted on getting a handgun, and also insisted on her learning how to use it:

She told us she heard a man banging loudly on her front door while another walked around to the back.

"I'm a young woman, I'm pregnant, I'm home alone. I'm not going to answer the door - I mean, I know better," said Alex.

Alex said her husband had just left 20 minutes before. Immediately, she knew something wasn't right and made the split decision to grab her husband's handgun.

"By myself with 911 on one hand and the gun on the other and I'm just a nervous wreck. I don't know what to do ...I yelled and I told the 911 'Oh my gosh, he broke in!'"

Alex said she's never felt comfortable with the idea of using a gun.

Still, her husband insisted on showing her how to use one just a few months ago.

"Nervous...It took me a very long time to pull the trigger and he said, 'when you're in a situation like that- you're not going to think twice,'" recalled Alex.

She said that exactly what happened.

It could have ended very badly.  It did not, because she had a gun and was willing to use it.  I wonder what Piers Morgan would have to say to her.  (Not really.)

Quote of the Day - Can I Get An "AMEN!!" Edition

Seen at Instapundit:

In watching the Obama presidency dissolve before our eyes, there is a cautionary tale to be told. Every presidency falls short of the expectations that the candidate sets. But no man has ever promised more and delivered less than the current occupant of the Oval Office. --  Peter Wehner

A Bill Whittle Two-fer

First, Bill comments on Miley Cyrus:



And then on President Barack Neville Chamberlain Obama:

"How Much for the Blog Little Girl?"

So, a few weeks ago, several bloggers received the same email from a David Smith at GunAuction.com, with the header "We want your blog":

My name is David Smith and I work for GunAuction.com. Your website, http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/ has sparked our interest. Recently we have realized that we are in need of high ranking blogs about guns. Our company is working to build a blog network that will be seen by millions. With gun rights under attack, we want to create an effective network for letting the public know about current legislation, and new gun products. We’ve started some blogs from scratch, but as you know, it will be months before they develop a following. With the work you’ve already done, we would like to acquire your blog so that we can release our content quickly and effectively. In order to maintain your page rank and not alienate your reader base, our intention would be to keep the content of what you have – just use your blog as a base to release even more gun related material.

If you are willing to utilize our content or even sell us your blog, please let me know. Depending on your ranking and quality of blog we would be willing to compensate you accordingly.

David Smith
GunAuction.com

This, as you might imagine, did not go over well in the gunblogosphere. The general reaction was as if the question were this one:


My personal response was short and to the point:

David:

No.

Shortly thereafter, a follow-on email arrived:

Dear Kevin,

Thank you for your response to our proposal. GunAuction.com respects the major contributions that the gun bloggers have and continue to make to Gun Culture 2.0, bringing important new viewpoints and an entire new generation into the broader gun community. Your efforts have allowed the gun community to step beyond “preaching to the choir”.

We support your hard work and we want to help it have even more impact. With the tools below, including our content writers and content exchange with our online gun magazine GunNews, we think we can help your blog grow and you can help our online presence grow at the same time.

We are working on offering more options to bloggers and are open to suggestions. We’ve already identified some options (below) that may work for you. Call me and let’s talk about what works for YOU.

• Banner Ads or Text Links
- We offer this option as a per click program. (I.e., a fee paid for each click-through to GunAuction.com) but are willing to discuss annual lump sums in special cases. We will provide both artwork and guidance on setting the text or art up so you will be compensated.

• Content Sharing
- We provide, at no cost, relevant gun content for your blog, helping both parties build ranking. You would retain editorial control – any financial agreement would need to be individually arranged. This also includes mutual content sharing as an option, where we would exchange articles with you.

• Recruiting Partnership
- We provide a steady income stream for recruiting new users to gunauction.com

• Purchase of blog
- We leave all previous content the same including URL and use our in-house content writers to build readership and online visibility. (Our content writers would post on it daily). Depending on the agreement, you would continue as a contributor.

If this interests you, give me a call. I will also be at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous with the GunAuction bowling ball mortar, leading the Frosty Beverage Initiative in the evenings. If you can’t attend GBR or we’re not able to meet in person, know that I am grateful for your efforts in helping to protect our gun rights. Please contact me through email or phone!

David Smith
GunAuction.com

My response remained the same.

However, GunAuction.com was a sponsor of this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and so I promised to speak to Mr. Smith if he was one of the attendees - and he was.  He's the young gentleman standing here, next to the bowling ball mortar his boss brought along to the event:


As you can see, he's a young(er) guy, and after talking with him I think I can say confidently that he was hired for his enthusiasm and search-engine tech savvy, and NOT for his experience and feel for the blogosphere - the gun blogosphere in particular. He had a hard time understanding why those of us who had gone to all the trouble to create our blogs would not be interested in selling them!

"How much for the little girl?"

I am convinced that no insult was intended (that was pretty much a given, anyway) but the tone-deaf nature of the email and its follow-on was precisely that: tone-deafness. He really didn't get it. Isn't the internet for making money? So, while Linoge has sworn an oath to the third generation of GunAuction.com's descendants, I'm willing to cut the kid a little slack. Everybody's new at their job once.

By Request - Your Moment of Zen

Here you go:



(Click for full size)

9/11 - Does it Seem Like Twelve Years?

Twelve years ago, I was in a car traveling to the Ford plant in Hermosillo, Mexico when the first airliner struck the World Trade Center.  When we arrived at the facility and entered the lobby, a security guard came up and asked if we were aware of "what is going on in the States?"

Needless to say, our meeting that morning was cancelled, and we immediately headed back for the border.  During the entire drive we kept trying to tune in radio stations to get more information.  We heard the report of the Pentagon impact, and then the collapse of each WTC tower.  We weren't sure if we'd get across the border that day, or even that week, and since we'd only planned on a day trip, this wasn't encouraging, but by the time we arrived, the border had reopened.  The line was an hour long, but it did move, and we got home.

My reaction was surprise that it had taken as long as it did before we were hit, and shock at the effectiveness of the attack.  I knew that the reaction to the attack would be swift, and probably severe.

I did not expect a decade-plus of war.  I certainly did not expect said warfare to extend into the second term of our current President, much less expansion of that warfare.

Last year's attack on the Benghazi consulate?  Not a shocker, but the total lack of reaction from Washington was.  "What difference does it make?"  Seriously?


And now Obama wants to strike Syria?


Awhile back on Facebook, someone asked for a one-word description of the Obama presidency.  Most all of the responses were derisive, scatological, or merely angry.  My response was descriptive:  "transformational."  After all, the man said in October 30, 2008 that we were "five days away from fundamentally transforming" the United States.  Five years into his Presidency, I'd say that's the one campaign promise he has most definitely kept. 

Play with the Bull, Get the Horns

It looks like Colorado's recall efforts have been successful.  The Denver Post is reporting that Senate President John Morse has been unseated in the recall election.  State Senator Angela Giron lost her seat by an even wider margin.

Looks like Bloomberg wasted a bunch of money. The linked Mother Jones piece from Monday states:

The idea that bucking the NRA meant an almost-certain political death has always been a myth. With all eyes on Colorado, people might just finally take notice.

Not so mythical after all.  Perhaps now more politicians will take notice.

Good on ya, Colorado!

Home Again

Got home about 4PM.  Another great Rendezvous, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Completely.  There will be a couple more updates once I get all my pictures and the (very) few videos I took uploaded, but let me start you with this one - the four fastest times from the steel shoot on Saturday, at least from the people who actually turned in their score sheets:


Jaci and Robert were drawing from the holster, Derek was drawing from CONCEALMENT. I was shooting from low-ready, but I was shooting a REVOLVER.  Yes, I am VERY happy with how I shot the Smith that day.

The guys from Gunauction.com brought professional-quality video and still equipment and there promises to be some really good coverage from them on the GunNews.com site that I will be stealing borrowing or linking to when it goes up.  I'll also be writing about my conversation with David Smith, the guy from Gunauction who wrote that "We want your blog" email that caused such a fuss.

However, tomorrow comes early and I have to drive 101 miles back up to Phoenix in the morning, so this is it for me today.

0-For-8

Gun Blogger Rendezvous VIII is winding down.  The pizza dinner and prize raffle was last night, and once again I didn't win a gun.  However, Crimson Trace really came through in the prize department this year.  I got one of their Railmaster universal-mount green lasers, and a certificate for anything in their catalog.  I also found out that I had the best aggregate time in the steel shoot for the day (the two actual competition shooters either didn't shoot the course, or didn't turn in their timesheets.)  Not bad for an old guy with an iron-sighted revolver.

I'll have much more to report, pictures and links later after I get home.  Now I need to finish packing, go get breakfast, and then launch some bowling balls WAY the hell downrange!

Seriously, y'all need to come to this thing next year.

GBR Day 3 - And a Blast is Had by All

Just got back from the steel shoot, where I'm quite pleased how well I shot my S&W 327. I loaned my new(er) Kimber Target Match to the guys from Gunauction.com, along with my 3/4 full .30 caliber ammo can of reloads. The three of them burned through around 400 rounds, and the gun ran fine all day except for a little bit of user error on the part of one of them who is new to all of this (but is a natural, once he got the idea).  An empty ammo can later, and lots of smiles all around.

I've got time for this post, a quick shower, and then it's time for pizza and door prizes, and the raffle benefiting Soldiers' Angels.

Now don't you really wish you were here?

GBR Day 2

I'm in the Hospitality room with a crowd of bloggers and vendors (pictures hopefully to follow), blogging from my iPhone (which sucks as a blogging tool, but hey, it's what I've got.)  Had a great breakfast provided by the NRA, a GREAT day at the range, and now it's Show-n-Tell. Tactical Solutions has brought one of pretty much everything in their catalog. I want one of their 10/22 barrels!

Blogging like this is painful, so I'm going to stop now and listen to the presenters.

The Word That Dare Not Speak Its Name

"Registry."

So, the NRA has joined the ACLU in a lawsuit against the NSA?  Does that give anyone else this image?



Or is it just me?

GBR Day 1

It's 5:15 PM and the first day of GBR is underway.  Just got back from the Roop County Cowboy Shooter's range where they're holding a major shoot this weekend, but were more than kind enough to let us step in and shoot some of their guns and ammo.  I got to whack some 400 yard steel with a very heavy-barreled Remington rolling block in .45-70, and some closer steel with a lever gun chambered in .50-100-450.  They even let me play with my 16" stainless Rossi 92 chambered in .45LC.  But any day where someone lets you shoot their guns with their ammo is a good day in my book.

Bill from Daily Pundit got in the first post of the day from the site.

Now I need a shower and back down to the Hospitality room!  Don't you wish you were here?

RENO!

I'm in Reno - 13 hour and 40 minutes, 870 miles, two and a half tanks of diesel, but I'm here!  Just ate dinner ( notice I didn't say anything about stopping to eat?)

#firstworldproblems - The peel-n-eat shrimp at the buffet hasn't been deveined.  (Yes, I ate before posting.)

Dr. Grover Furr - An Example of Recto-Cranial Inversion

Dr. Furr is a professor of medieval English literature, yet he writes books on Russian history, specializing in the period where Stalin was in power.  Mass murder under Stalin?  Never happened, he says:



So all those Kulaks that starved to death?  Not Stalin's fault or did they just not happen at all?

This guy teaches college students.  And, I imagine, he has tenure, so he'll never have to worry about working another day in his life.

Packing for the Rendezvous

No, no writing got done this weekend.

So here's a Bill Whittle video:



Looks like he's got the message down pat now.