Obama is the New Bush!

US launches four airstrikes against Islamic militants in Iraq | Fox News:
(August 09, 2014)

This is the third round of airstrikes against Islamic State forces by the U.S. military since they were authorized by President Obama to protect U.S. personnel and Iraqi religious minorities facing a possible "genocide."
 The latest strikes comes as President Obama prepared Americans for a sustained military involvement in Iraq, saying the United States is ready to continue with air strikes to protect U.S. diplomats and citizens and others under attack from the Islamic State terror group.
 "I don't think we’re going to solve this problem in weeks," the president said on the South Lawn of the White House Saturday. “This is going to be a long-term project.”

What was the quote?  At "Change.gov"?

Encouraging Political Accommodation

"Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that the U.S. must apply pressure on the Iraqi government to work toward real political accommodation. There is no military solution to Iraq’s political differences. Now is the time to press Iraq’s leaders to take responsibility for their future and to invest their oil revenues in their own reconstruction ..."

"There is no military solution to Iraq’s political differences ..."

The alternatives seem a lot slimmer now, don't they Barry?  How's that whole "Hope and Change" thing working out for you, now that your finger is on the trigger?

... and now that they're shooting at you, your political view has changed more than you had hoped, eh?

We're looking forward to the day when you actually invite "W" (now that we can say that again) to the White House to discuss "alternative" approaches to the War in Iraq.

You thought you entirely avoided the problem, since GW Jumped The Shark for you.  Surprise!  The Great Shark is still alive and predatory, but now it's YOUR problem!

"Schadenfreude Much?"

Not really.  We've all just been waiting for you to notice the feces and the fan.

So tell me, Mister President . .. how does it FEEL to realize that the Real World's definition of  'Hope and Change' isn't the same as  completely rejects YOUR definition?

The Never-Ending Story

The common perception is that the argument about the 2nd Amendment is between Conservatives and Liberals.

But is it, really?

I did a follow-up on the August 05, 2014, Opinion Article by an Oregon Physician -- Dr. Perry Grossman -- who essentially stated that we need to re-write the Second Amendment to accommodate the changes in technology since "colonial days".  He introduced all the usual fallacious arguments about 'the founders" who never expected hi-cap mags, semi-auto pistols, etc.  He either didn't read HELLER or chose to ignore the decision of the Supreme Court.  (Well, he may have read MILLER but failed to read the background.)

My follow-up was to read all of the 961 comments to his article; a daunting task, and frustrating.   Amusing, though, in a way.

The usual suspects said the usual things, and the usual hard-core liberals demonstrated their determination to stick to The Party Line about guns.

But during that process, I found links to not one, but TWO articles from Liberal writers who actually had managed to address constitutional issues dispassionately.  (Disclaimer: I actually only read about 600 comments; most of the time, it was an exercise in futility on the level of "teaching the horse to sing".)

Allow me to present to logical, rational arguments for the Second Amendment proposed by admitted Liberals who think that all of the constitutional amendments are equally valid.

FIRST:  from The Daily KOS (!):
 "Why Liberals should love the Second Amendment":
July 04, 2010, by   by
Kaili Joy GrayFollowfor Daily Kosx

   The argument here is that we should all love the Second Amendment as we do the First Amendment, and for the same reasons.   The author has obviously read the Constitution dispassionately, but has also read case law (which cannot be said for commenters on Doctor Grossman's article.)

SECOND, from a blog named KONTRADICTIONS was titled "Dear Gun Control Advocates: 6 Ways to Make a Better Argument".

This is a much more personal document.  The author presents it as "talking points" for Liberals who want to impose Gun Control on honest citizens without sounding like liars.  Unfortunately, the author has a firm grip on Reality, which often shows:

I wish I had a dollar for every Democratic politician and commentator that has looked into a television camera over the past few months and said, “No one is trying to take your guns away!”

Allow me this humble suggestion: The best way to convince the American public that you’re not interested in taking guns away is to stop talking about taking guns away.

Tap - Rack - Bang! (Immediate Action)

I'm a mean teacher.

(Clarification:  I teach an "Introduction to USPSA" class.  I never know what level of expertise has been achieved by my students until we start shooting in the "Live Fire" segment of the class.)

Last weekend I had three students attending the "Safety" class ... where we also teach gun-handling, fast.accurate shooting, competition techniques and Range Etiquette.

We start the Live Fire portion of the class with the simplest possible exercise, which is designed to familiarize the student with the Range Commands, and their expected responses.  They are asked to respond appropriately to the following standard Range Commands:

• Make Ready
• Are you ready?
• Stand By ...
• [after 1-3 seconds, Range officer's timer goes BEEP!]
• If you are finished, unload and show clear
• If clear, hammer down and holster
• The range is clear

Pretty simple, huh?

You would be amazed by the number of failures can occur during that simple exercise, when only ONE shot is required.

______________________

I don't look good naked any more!

FreeThinker: Need I really say more?:

I apologize to my bretheren who think that their "body image" no longer meets their expectations:  The "I Don't Look Good Naked Any More" video is shamefully self-derogative.

I'm proud to say that I don't look any worse naked than I did 20 years ago!


On the other hand, I didn't look that good naked 20 years ago.

Glocks: Is This (S)Trip Necessary?

Borepatch: Negligent Discharge:
(August 05, 2014)

A guy shoots himself in the hand while trying to field-strip a Glock, because of the take-down procedure?  Give me a break!

Any one of us can have a negligent discharge. Get out of sequence and pull the trigger on a weapon we think is empty. Like a car accident, it's a statistical possibility. I especially don't like the Glock takedown procedure for this reason. To take off the slide for cleaning, you pull down two small pins that protrude from the frame just under the muzzle, then pull the trigger.

Excuse me?  You have to pull the trigger before completely dismantling a Glock?  I was not aware of this.  Can someone who knows a lot about Glocks confirm this?

Here's the original story about a man who shot himself while trying to field-strip a Glock.

I don't like Glocks because, well, I'm a self-confessed 1911 bigot.  I've tried to shoot Glocks from time to time (it's like people who quit smoking ... new Glock owners want to convert you!) but  they never fit my hand.  I'm sure it's Ergonomics more than anything else, as the grip angle is just enough different from what I have grown accustomed to by over 30 years of competition that I'm too old to change.

But this ... the suggestion that you have to pull the trigger on a Glock before you can complete the field-strip/take-down on a Glock?

That's something else.
So if you have more expertise in Things Glock, I hope you will contribute something in the COMMENTS section.

Because, from where I sit, it sounds like a serious safety issue, if you have to pull the trigger on a Glock to perform a Field-Strip.

Another of the "Only Ones" ...

Police firearms instructor shoots himself in hand during lesson | Fox News:
(August 04, 2014)

A firearms instructor for a Texas police department accidentally shot himself in the hand during a shooting lesson, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.  Hewitt Police Department Sgt. Heath Vanek is expected to miss at least two months of work while recovering from surgery to repair the wound to his left hand sustained by his 9-mm. pistol, Police Chief Jim Devlin said, according to the paper.  Devlin said the incident, which occurred last month, happened when Vanek, an 11-year veteran of the force, was teaching his family to shoot a pistol and how to clear the chamber of a semi-automatic. He was shot in the hand during the demonstration, Devlin reportedly said.  Vanek has been the firearms instructor for the Hewitt Police Department for at least the past five years, the chief said. Devlin said he will need to review the outcome on an internal investigation before deciding what action, if any, should be taken.

What action should be taken?
First, find a new Firearms Instructor.

David Codrea should be all over this one!

2012 - Deja Vu All Over Again?

Scientists report Yellowstone supervolcano bigger than previously thought | Missoula Local News - NBCMontana.com:
(July10, 2014)

 "And these giant eruptions in Yellowstone – the supervolcano, if you wish -- probably last many, many months, maybe even years," Smith said. Not only that, they're huge, thousands of times as large as Mount St. Helens.
Smith and his students use seismographs to map the magma pool underneath Yellowstone's volcano and satellites to determine how much the land swells or bulges.  They found that the magma is, "2.5 times larger than we had originally imaged," Smith said. The magma movement is signaled by earthquakes. Smith mentioned the 4.8 magnitude Norris-area earthquake that damaged Lake Hotel last spring. "It's the biggest earthquake in 30 years."
 So, how likely is it that the big one will blow soon? "If we were to have another big eruption, it would affect a large area, on the order of several states,” Smith said.  “But, as I said, that probability is very, very, very, very small. In my calculations, it's .0001 percent.

Read the hopeful comments.  It's a push whether they are for, or against the eruption.   Ghosts of  Harry R. Truman and Woody Harrelson!