Where Have I Been?

So, somehow I just discovered the webcomic Failure to Fire, which just today had its first anniversary.   I spent some time last weekend reading from its inception.  Main character works in a gun shop.  Warning:  The strip is occasionally NSFW.

For the People of the Gun, it's freaking hilarious.  Strongly recommended.

Tech Bleg: EeePC Chromebook?

I have an EeePC 900A that I bought four years ago, and shortly after I got it I put Ubuntu on it. It's been running like that since, but I understand it's possible to install the Chrome OS on a bootable thumb drive and make it a Chromebook. All I use it for is web surfing and blogging when I'm on the road. I tried going to Hexxeh and using their latest and greatest (build 4028) - no bueno. Doesn't seem even try to boot from the thumb drive.  (And yes, I think I have that part set up properly.)

Anybody successfully done this on a 900A and know which build works?

Bueller? Bueller?

Vacation Starts NOW

OK, I'm off for the next TEN DAYS!!! Maybe I can get a LITTLE writing done before I head off to Gun Blogger Rendezvous VIII.

Quote of the Day - Oblivious to the Obvious Edition

Other people have fisked this Salon.com Slate.com op-ed, If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person, I just want to pull a QotD from the comments:

i am a teacher. the line " But it seems to me that if every single parent sent every single child to public school, public schools would improve. This would not happen immediately. It could take generations. Your children and grandchildren might get mediocre educations in the meantime, but it will be worth it, for the eventual common good. " took me aback. generations? we should not send kids to private schools so the children of this nation get mediocre education until public schools improve? are you nuts? are you a drug addict? mediocre education? hundreds of years of MEDIOCRE education would be the death of america. you think government is bad now? wait for the students with mediocre educations to be government leaders. -- "yiersan"

It would appear that "yiersan" has a problem manipulating the Shift key (or thinks he/she/it is the second coming of e.e. cummings), but aside from that, "hundreds of years of MEDIOCRE education would be the death of america. you think government is bad now? wait for the students with mediocre educations to be government leaders."? Not been paying attention, have we? We've had eleven decades of "mediocre" (I would say pathological) education, and the product of that education is running the nation NOW.  How the FUCK do you think we GOT HERE?!?

I Love My People...

Erin Palette writes a powerful post.  Short excerpt:

God bless the Internet. Online, people judge you by the quality of your output, and not by appearance. They get to know your soul before they let the prejudices of the eyes and the flesh influence their judgement. It was on the internet that I finally found not just acceptance, but solace: people liked me for me, and they weren't looking at me or judging me. I was safe. I had found my armor, my mask, my perfect little seashell, and I polished its interior until, shining like a mirror, I could fool myself into thinking my social prison was boundless and infinite.

A mirrored cage is still a cage.

Thus I toiled, happy in my self-induced solitude, until I stumbled upon the world of the gunblogs. All it took was for me to say "Hey, I like shooting too!" and suddenly I was one of you. It didn't matter what I looked like or who I wanted to have sex with; I was part of the Tribe of the Gun. That I could write well only made me popular, but it didn't make me any more likable.

And that's when I noticed the walls of my cage were keeping me from meeting people who wanted to meet me, and that made me ache in ways I thought were no longer possible. I had rediscovered loneliness.

Slowly... very, very slowly... I started to come out of my shell. I decided to take a chance on people who seemed like good sorts, expecting that every time I made myself vulnerable that I would be hurt beyond my capacity to recover.

This never happened.

RTWT.

As Breda once said on an episode of Vicious Circle:

I'm one of those people - I like people, I'm personable, but I don't really have "friends" friends, because I just don't connect to people really that well. But then blogs happened, and I found a whole group of people that I fit in with because I'm weird and they're weird in kinda the same way, and yea for our mutual weirdness. So, thank you for being weird with me.

Can I get an "AMEN!"?

No Wonder the Scots Want Independence!

I Will Not Register

Wirecutter has the story.  RCOB.

And I will never voluntarily set foot in California again.

UPDATE:  Reader Stephen R notes that in the comments at Wirecutter's place, people are questioning the validity of the story since no one can find the supposed change in the law.  I found the original NPR story which does mention the $24M budget increase for gun confiscation, but does not mention a law change, and the apparent source, InfoWars.com which states:

In 2011, a gun confiscation sweep across 43 counties over a six week period resulted in over 1,200 firearms seized from 723 people.

Later on, the state can easily expand the list of "prohibited persons" to include even people who are behind on their state taxes or did not pay their toll fees on time.

Which, of course, someone took to mean that they had.

Still, have you seen what can earn you a felony conviction these days?

Quote of the Day - Our Collapsing Schools Edition

A three-fer.  First, from Sippican Cottage:

You see, there are no public schools in America that I know of. They're reeducation camps for people that weren't educated in the first place, maybe, or little prisons, or pleasure domes for creepy teachers, or places where tubby women work out their neuroses about eating on helpless children at lunchtime -- but there's not much schooling going on in school. A public school is a really expensive, but shabby and ineffectual, private school that collects their tuition with the threat of eviction from your house.

I grew up in the same town as Horace Mann. I know all about public schools. The concept is as dead as a Pharaoh. The idea that universal literacy and a coherent public attitude toward citizenship would result in a better life for the country as a whole was a sweet one, and it worked for a while, until they "fixed" it. They've been fixing the hell out of it for over half a century now. They fixed it the way a veterinarian fixes dogs, to my eye.

Second, from Salon.com:

This amazing drive and capacity to learn does not turn itself off when children turn 5 or 6. We turn it off with our coercive system of schooling. The biggest, most enduring lesson of our system of schooling is that learning is work, to be avoided when possible.

And third, from John Taylor Gatto, a repeat:

The secret of American schooling is that it doesn’t teach the way children learn, and it isn’t supposed to; school was engineered to serve a concealed command economy and a deliberately re-stratified social order. It wasn’t made for the benefit of kids and families as those individuals and institutions would define their own needs. School is the first impression children get of organized society; like most first impressions, it is the lasting one. Life according to school is dull and stupid, only consumption promises relief: Coke, Big Macs, fashion jeans, that’s where real meaning is found, that is the classroom’s lesson, however indirectly delivered.

The decisive dynamics which make forced schooling poisonous to healthy human development aren’t hard to spot. Work in classrooms isn’t significant work; it fails to satisfy real needs pressing on the individual; it doesn’t answer real questions experience raises in the young mind; it doesn’t contribute to solving any problem encountered in actual life. The net effect of making all schoolwork external to individual longings, experiences, questions, and problems is to render the victim listless. This phenomenon has been well-understood at least since the time of the British enclosure movement which forced small farmers off their land into factory work. Growth and mastery come only to those who vigorously self-direct. Initiating, creating, doing, reflecting, freely associating, enjoying privacy—these are precisely what the structures of schooling are set up to prevent, on one pretext or another.

As I watched it happen, it took about three years to break most kids, three years confined to environments of emotional neediness with nothing real to do.

Quote of the Day - Uplifters Edition

Everything the professional uplifters do for the poor is but pruning the branches, instead of hacking at the roots of the problem. -- Christopher Orlet, The American Spectator, In Another Country

The subtitle of the piece is "How do we make people want to be successful?"

I'd like to know how we make people want to be free.

Need Some Aloe Vera for that Burn?

Mike Rowe, star of Dirty Jobs, narrator of Deadliest Catch and other TV shows, spokesman for Ford and supporter and promoter of the skilled trades, does a Pulitzer-prize quality fisking of a piece by one Steve Kloosterman on MLive.com, Question of the Day: Are bad jobs good for the economy and people who work them?

It's all good, but I loved his opening:

Steve Kloosterman, MUSKEGON, MI – Most of us can tell a story about a job from hell somewhere in our past. There’s the first job, the one we took because our parents said, "You can't hang around the house all summer long." Maybe it was at a fast food place or in a retail outlet.

Mike Rowe – First of all, Steve, the Dirty Jobs Code of Conduct contains a Damnation Clause that clearly and unequivocally states that my photo "can not be used in conjunction with any satanic reference, including but not limited to Lucifer, Hades, Old Scratch, Hell, Perdition, Beelzebub or Honey Boo Boo."

Secondly, jobs don't come from hell. They come from people with money who are willing to pay other people to work for them.

Thirdly, I have worked in both fast food and retail and neither one reminded me of the Netherworld. (Although the Taco Bell drive-through at 2 a.m. does smell vaguely of brimstone and sulphur.)

And it just gets better from there.

Gun Porn Desecration

I need eye bleach.  International Harvester M1 Garand, hand carved maple stock, polished, blued, jeweled.

TAKE MY MONEY!!

Peter Dinklage and Summer Glau?  HELL yes!

"Brace Yourselves for a Helluva Ride"

Saw this and had to share it:


Good speech!  Looks like a new cast of The Big Bang Theory will be graduating in a few years!

Quote of the Day - "What if He's Lying?" Edition

Via Instapundit, this comes from a Dana Milbank op-ed in the WaPo, The price Gina Gray paid for whistleblowing:

Obama came into office pledging transparency and professing admiration for government workers who expose abuses. But his administration has pursued more cases under the 1917 Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined (including the prosecution of National Security Agency workers who tried to register their objections through “proper” channels). And the alleged intimidation of would-be whistleblowers goes beyond those involved in sensitive intelligence. For example, diplomat Gregory Hicks told a House committee that he was demoted because he gave congressional investigators a description of the attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya, that was at odds with the official version of events.

A lot of people, not just David Sirota, are beginning to ask if they're being lied to. Even Noam Chomsky is admitting it.

Too little, too late, but it's at least a little rewarding to be able to say "Told you so." 

Grimm

A United Auto Workers Fairy Tale by Mike Patterson:

Once upon a time, in Chattanooga a young girl made her way to work, picking flowers to add to her basket of posies which she plucked with fingers and cheeks so rosy.

“Where are you going,” came a sudden voice from the shadows, “on such a bright day as this?”

“Just to work, kind sir,” she answered, “and off I must go or my shift I will miss.”

“You don’t want to go there,” said the voice with a growl. “Not without my help.” And he stepped from the bush as she let out a yelp. “So you work at the factory,” said the half beast/half man, “toiling on the line of assembly for the company plan.”

“That is my job,” said she. “Which I do every day, and for which I’m rewarded with benefits and pay.”

“So you believe,” said he, “a bill you’ve been sold, bundled in a bow with the lies you’ve been told. The truth is your superiors design to oppress, to use and abuse, which crimes I can redress.
Bring you with me to your factory, and I can bargain for you collectively.” He squinted his red eyes at her. “More pay you will see and benefits too, will be your reward for paying my due.”

“Actually,” said Volksmaiden, “entry-level workers at Volkswagen AG make almost exactly what comparable workers get at unionized General Motors.”

“In addition,” she continued, “the President’s signature health care law has undermined your argument to be able to provide me with superior health benefits. In fact, three major labor bosses have written a letter to Congressional leaders complaining that the legislation they supported has now made the type of health plans that unions negotiate ‘unsustainable.’”

“Well,” stuttered the beast, “what I can promise to thee for accompanying me is peace of mind and job security.”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” replied Volksmaiden. “According to WorkplaceChoice.org, the unionized Big Three Detroit auto companies have shed hundreds of thousands of jobs in the last dozen years, in large part because of burdensome union work rules, while non-union factories like we have here in Chattanooga have created thousands of jobs throughout the South.”

“Uh, uh … OK, it’s true,” growled the beast. “It’s not for your benefit I am here, you see. It’s the King, the King! Who’s hungry for fees!”

“Tell Bob, no thanks,” said Volksmaiden. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” she said, “my ride is here; it’s a Passat, driven by my grandmother. It was Car of the Year, you know, according to Motor Trend. A success, Mr. Wolf, that for you spells…

…The End.”

Last weekend I watched the documentary Detropia, about the downfall and decay of the city of Detroit. Very early on the statistic that Detroit's population has dropped from 1.8 million to under 700,000 over the last two decades was presented.  We were introduced to George McGregor, president of UAW Local 22, who takes us on a driving tour of multiple closed auto plants, and one that is still open - an American Axle Manufacturing plant that, we're told, is one of the few that hasn't been moved out of the country. A bit later, McGregor, in a meeting with (I assume) UAW stewards, presents AAM's last proposal for a contract in which there are substantial pay cuts to workers. The unanimous response: send it back without voting on it.

The plant closed.

So no pay is better than less pay. Check.

And people wonder why unions in this country (with the exception of public-sector unions) are dying?

Two Weeks

...until Gun Blogger Rendezvous v8.0!

If you haven't made your plans yet, you're running out of time!  Once again, here's the schedule of events from Mr. Completely:

Wednesday, September 4^th

6:15 PM. For those arriving on Wednesday, KeeWee and I and some of the other early arrivers are planning on having dinner at the El Dorado Buffet Restaurant. The El Dorado is part of the same giant casino complex as the Silver Legacy and the Circus Circus. The El Dorado Buffet is at one end of the complex. The Silver Legacy is in the middle, and the Circus Circus is on the opposite end.

Thursday, September 5^th

8:30 AM. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality Room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
1:15 PM. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Cabela’s.
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Guided tour Cabela’s and browsing/shopping. Buy ammo? Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel.
6:00 PM. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.
Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 6^th

8:00 AM. NRA Sponsored breakfast in our Hospitality room. NRA representative will be speaking to us over breakfast.
9:00 AM. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.
9:45 AM – 2:00 PM. At the range.
4:00 PM – 5:45 PM. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Manufacturers and show new stuff, and attendees show neat things too!
6:00 PM Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to Dos Gecko’s Mexican Restaurant for dinner sponsored by Gunlawsbystate.com and Brian Ciyou.
7:15 PM (Approx) Ray Carter from the Second Amendment Foundation and Brian Ciyou from Gunlawsbystate.com, will talk to us, and other industry, shooting sports, and legal aspect folks will follow.
7:45 PM Double Elimination Pistol competition in Hospitality Room using the Optical Computer Aided Training Simulator from Outwest systems, using real guns shooting lasers instead of bullets. An OCAT System will be awarded to one of the competitors by random drawing!
Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Saturday, September 7^th

8:00 AM Gunauctions.com sponsored Breakfast in the Silver Legacy Hospitality room.
9:00 AM Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, Western Nevada Pistol League Action Pistol bays at the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting, a demonstration of the live fire version of the OCAT system, and more.
9:45 AM – 2:00 PM At the range.
5:00 PM – 6 PM Short presentation by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
6:00 PM NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.
Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Sunday, September 8^th

8:00 AM Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast
9:00 AM Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, Western Nevada Pistol League Action Pistol bays at the Pyramid range for some fun with the Black Powder bowling Ball Mortar from Gunauctions.com, and some other surprises you won’t want to miss!
9:45 AM – 1:00PM At the range.

I've been every year and enjoyed myself immensely, mostly by getting to hang around with people who like what I like and want to talk about it. All the shooting is great, but the BS sessions in the Hospitality Room are the reason I go.

Hope to see you there!

Obama Lied, Privacy Died

Well, it looks like there are cracks starting to form in the media dike.  David Sirota writes in Salon:

I guess it’s possible Obama has merely been “wrong” but has not been lying. But the implications of that would be just as bad — albeit in a different way — as if he were deliberately lying. It would mean that he is making sweeping and wildly inaccurate statements without bothering to find out if they are actually true. Worse, for him merely to be wrong but not deliberately lying, it would mean that he didn’t know the most basic facts about how his own administration runs. It would, in other words, mean he is so totally out of the loop on absolutely everything — even the public news cycle — that he has no idea what’s going on.

I, of course, don’t buy that at all. I don’t buy that a constitutional lawyer and legal scholar didn’t know that the FISA court is secret — aka the opposite of “transparent.” I don’t buy that he simply didn’t see any of the news showing that spying is happening in the United States. And I don’t buy that he didn’t know that there is evidence — both public and inside his own administration — of the NSA “actually abusing” its power.

I don’t buy any of that because, to say the least, it makes no sense. I just don’t buy that he’s so unaware of the world around him that he made such statements from a position of pure ignorance. On top of that, he has a motive. Yes, Obama has an obvious political interest in trying to hide as much of his administration’s potentially illegal behavior as possible, which means he has an incentive to calculatedly lie. For all of these reasons, it seems safe to suggest that when it comes to the NSA situation, the president seems to be lying.

Still, this is just Salon.com. Now, if the New York Times publishes something like this, the remainder of The Won's term would be interesting - in the Chinese curse meaning of the word.

Quote of the Day - Samizdata Edition

(N)ever in human history has there been a smaller percentage of humanity living one failed harvest away from communal starvation. Is the divide between rich and poor actually increasing and more extreme than, say, in the eighteenth century? Or any time before then actually? In reality never has a larger percentage of humanity been, by any reasonable definition, middle class, than right now.

The fact large areas of poverty exists at all in our technologically advanced age is a dark miracle wrought largely by state imposed impediments to trade, disincentives to employ, insecurity of private property title and many other government policies of the sort Matt Damon (that tireless supporter of state education whose children are in a private school) strongly approves of.

Perry de Havilland, Neill Blomkamp must be living in some parallel universe

Quote of the Day - Hypocrisy Edition

Seen on the Book of Face:

Obama wants Catholic institutions to provide birth control and abortions.  Does this mean he will force Muslims to serve alcohol and bacon?

Inquiring minds want to know!

RCOB

Presented w/o comment, as seen on Facebook:



For those unfamiliar with Olivia.