Fisking the NY Daily News ... it's too much fun

The New York Daily News has its panties in a bind, and the resultant whining BEGS to be made fun of.  Why?  Because they're idiots, devoid of sense, and SCREAMING to be spanked on their naked butt-cheeks!

Not for nothing did the National Rifle Association pump $38 million into electing Donald Trump President and another $24 million to secure the grip of Republicans in the Senate.  Within grasp now looms a trophy long sought: federal legislation that would, if passed by Congress, extend the right to carry a concealed firearm in any one state, no matter how minimal the licensing standards, to all 50.

Here's the original article.   It's a rare screed which takes too much space to display the ignorance of the author:

But I'll do it anyway: one of my favorite things (besides kittens and mittens) is disemboweling New York Editorials.    It's a cheap shot but I don't feel guilty about pointing out the logical fallacies of East Coast Liberals.

Let us proceed with the evisceration:

The statements of the author of the NYDN article are identified by color;

My statements are embedded in indented paragraphs and black bold.

The point is, the NRA calls for identical concealed-carry laws in all states, so that a person who can legally carry a concealed firearm in his/her home state is not subject to arrest or harassment in a neighboring (or any other) state.   The author objects on the grounds that state laws are, and should be, more stringent than federal laws.

Here is the screed, with my embedded arguments.


The NRA’s dead aim - NY Daily News:

No matter how readily another state arms individuals already known to law enforcement as prone to violence, New York would have to allow its permit holders to carry a hidden pistol in public, overriding state law allowing gun permits only to those with the temperament and need for a firearm.

The Second Amendment applies to all peoples, all states, and carries the same weight as the right to have an abortion: whether you agree with it or not, it is the National Creed and it trumps (excuse the pun) State Laws.   If you're an adult, not a felon, and you are in control of your emotions (not a lunatic), your constitutional right to possess and carry a firearm is guaranteed.

 How the NRA's grades for pols shape U.S. gun policy So it would go for New Jersey, and Connecticut, and other states with stringent safety-focused prerequisites for carrying guns. Trump promised “national right to carry” as part of an absolutist Second Amendment agenda that would leave in place gargantuan loopholes in existing background checks for gun buyers, which allow anyone — convicted felons and the mentally ill among them — to purchase firearms on the internet or at gun shows without interference. 

This is a lie.
There are no "loopholes" in the Second Amendment.
 Convicted felons MAY have their 2nd Amendment rights reinstated after release, if they have not been convicted of violent felonies ... "Forgers" are not considered violent felons, for example.  Their 2nd Amendment rights MAY be reinstated upon application and case-by-case approval, but this is a federal issue and not affected by any National Rifle Association influence.

 Even someone on the FBI’s terrorist watch list can stroll into a gun store without impediment if his or her criminal and mental health records are clean. That’s a rare, perhaps the only, loophole Trump has hinted at a willingness to close.

You may have overlooked that constitutional thingie called "Due Process".
That means that nobody is subject to arbitrary evisceration of their Constitutional Rights.
So you may not agree with my politics, but you can't deprive me of my liberties without taking me to court and proving (to the satisfaction of a judge or jury, and while I'm protected by legal counsel) that I have forfeited my rights by my illegal actions.
People get on the FBI's Terrorist Watch List because of suspicion.   They are there because a governmental agency has deemed them worth of special attention.  If they were found to be guilty of  a crime, they would be arrested.  And Prosecuted.  

Short of that level of confidence, nobody loses their Constitutional Rights. 

Suspicion is an heinious thing, and if you use that as your guide to abbrogating the rights of others ... I think you are a stinker and should not be allowed to exercise your First Amendment Right to Free Speech.
How do you like them apples?

 Atop that tinderbox the President-elect girds to pile what amounts to carte blanche for gun owners registered in states with barely-there licensing hurdles to traipse armed through states with much stricter conditions for carrying firearms in public. Every now and then, a poor, well-meaning tourist gets arrested at an airport for violating the law; pleas for leniency follow. The possibility of armed tourists and other visitors roaming streets where open- and concealed-carry is now heavily restricted is problematic enough, making cops’ jobs that much harder

Now you're just ranting ... and doing a darned poor job of it, too!
You talk about 'barely-there licensing hurdles', which I assume refers to the criteria to qualify for Concealed Handgun License (CHL) in the individual states.

I agree that we need to define reasonable criteria, but the national trend is that if you're not a convicted felon you haven't lost your Constitutional "Right To Keep And Bear Arms", so most states would issue a permit to a non-felon.   The local laws vary: as an example, some states restrict CHL owners from bearing arms in an environment where liquors are served as their primary income (bars, rather than restaurants)  But other states do not have this restriction, assuming that anyone who is sufficiently responsible to carry a handgun is sufficiently responsible to remain sober while doing so.
But your comments about a " .., a poor, well-meaning tourist gets arrested at an airport for violating the law ..." is very much to the point!
Why should that passerby (someone who has a ticket on a plane from Maine to Texas, but the plane is rerouted through New Jersey and the cops arrest the flier because he has a firearm in his checked luggage) be persecuted because his firearms are legal in Maine and Texas, but not in New Jersey

But that’s not even the main threat national right-to-carry reciprocity, as it’s called, would unleash. Because many states with especially lenient laws, such as Florida and Utah, invite outsiders to obtain their firearms permits, the federal law would as much as demolish New York’s common-sense limits. Live in New York, get a Florida permit — and, via the internet, a gun. 

And now, besides being ill-informed, you're just wrong.
 Buying a gun over the internet is illegal.  just as having a handgun in certain areas is illegal.   You can make contact with someone who owns a gun and wants to sell it over the internet, but the actual transaction must be made through a licensed dealer, who is required to perform a  background check through the National Instant Check System before completing the transfer.  I know, because I sold a pistol to an internet contact last year and it was a legal transfer; like all responsible gun owners, I was aware of the legal requirements and abided by them.

And oh .. by the way?  New York's "Common-sense limits" are neither common nor sensible.  They are anti-constitutional, onerous, disruptive, and contrary to the interests of your average citizen.  You don't agree?  How many OTHER states impose those illegal infringements on their citizens?  How's that "No Guns" thingie working for your citizens who have no defense against the thugs who don't obey the laws?   And don't get me started talking about Chicago, and Maryland, with some of the most restrictive laws and the most unrestricted thugs!

Needless, heartless, pointless: Blood would spill, because the gun manufacturers bought friends in Congress and now in the White House, because no one had the spine to take a stand. 

The Senate must. 

You know, they said the same thing when Florida opened their doors to legal, responsible gun owners to carry a concealed weapon.
What really happened was ... nothing.  Except crime went down, because muggers were aware that their victims might be prepared to defend themselves.
Blood will run?
Hasn't happened yet.    Well, except for the blood of bandits who run unchecked when robbing businesses, and the mild-mannered customer in the corner blows their brains out before they can kill the clerk.  That happens.
It's the new Cost of Doing Business for Bad Guys.
I call that a good thing.

Please don't let the screen door hit you in the rear on your way out!

"IF TRUMP WINS THE ELECTION, I WILL LEAVE THE COUNTRY!"

(a list of Liberal Celebrities who think we care whether they stay or leave)

There are a plethora of other websites which have published lists of prospective "Ex Patriots", but they are largely redundant and this list seems to include most of them.

The funny thing (and I mean funny in the sense of 'amusing', not 'odd' is that there are no follow-up stories of "Celebrities Who Have Actually Left The Country Since Trump Won!"

These 23 Celebrities Said They'll Leave The Country If Trump Wins - Catherine Dunn:  *
   1, Jon Stewart 
   2. Chelsea Handler 
   3. Neve Campbell 
   4. Barry Diller 
   5. Lena Dunham 
   6. Keegan-Michael Key 
   7. Chlo Sevigny 
   8. Al Sharpton 
   9. Natasha Lyonne 
 10. Eddie Griffin. 
 11. Spike Lee
 12. Amber Rose   
 13. Samuel L. Jackson 
 14. Cher  
 15. George Lopez  
 16. Barbra Streisand 
 17. Raven-Symon
 18. Whoopi Goldberg  
 19. Omari Hardwick
 20. Miley Cyrus 
 21. Ruth Bader Ginsburg  
 22. Amy Schumer 
 23. Katie Hopkins

I recall a similar list when "W" won the presidency, and as far as I can tell nobody actually left then, either.

One funny thing about this list, is that I don't see Alec Baldwin on the list;
he was on the "George W. Bush Ex-patriot list"  back then.
He didn't leave either.   In fact, he disavowed the rumors!

I wonder how many of the current list of Bail-Out Big Names will follow in Baldwin's "Flunk-out Footsteps" this year?


* I make no claims to the veracity of the reporting.  In fact, I don't even know who half of these people ARE or why anyone cares whether they stay, or leave  (I recognize 11 names).
 But I do find it amusing that all of them are Democrats.   I don't recall any Republicans "threatening" to leave America if a Democrat was elected to the highest office in the land.   I may be mistaken, but I'm never wrong.

Also, it's interesting that the article cites "23 celebrities", but the LINK cites "10 celebrities".  My guess is that the list grew as other opportunists jumped on the non-committal Band Wagon.

Staged Photos: Why "The Mirror Online" is not a valid news source.

Iraqi woman guns down ISIS commander as bloody revenge for making her a sex slave - Mirror Online:

Consider This "News Photo" published on "The Mirror":

"The woman, believed to be be a member of the Yazidi-Kurdish minority, shot dead senior Islamic State commander Abu Anas, according to Iraqi satellite TV network Alsumaria News"

Never mind the text of the news article:
... it's unrelated to the photo, except that the photo suggests to demonstrate a female firing a "machine gun" which may or may not have had anything to do with the headline.

Look at the belt!
There are three rounds  in the extended belt .... in alternating loops feeding the gun.   WTF?
You can't feed a belt-fed machine gun when there's a break in the belt!

Then there are a series of empty loops (or links).  Then there is a six foot length of belt dragging through the dirt until it's draped over a short wall of sandbags.

This is obviously not a .50 caliber (12.7mm) M2 Machine Gun ... looks like an M60 (7.62mm) variant, but there's still a LONG length of  'links' trailing out of the gun, and the M60 (also M2) don't leave a chain of links on the 'ejection' side of the gun.   They spew out "one at a time" to the right side of the gun, scattering indiscriminately.

Nobody runs a crew-served weapon without the Assistant Gunner, whose jobs include:

1. hump extra ammunition,
2. ensure that the feed of ammunition to the gun is not interrupted by failure to link the next belt to the in-gun belt;
3. identify and direct fire to priority targets;
4.  let the gunner know when the barrel is overheating;
5.  with the gunner, help replace the barrel when it gets too hot; and
6.  MAKE SURE THE AMMUNITION ISN'T FOULING THE GUN by introducing plant fibers, dust/dirt or other environmental elements at the gun site.

That last part includes not dragging the feeder-belt through the muck and the blood and the dirt .. which will jam a hot crew-served weapon faster than you can say "Oh, Drat!"

Sure, the photo wouldn't be possible if you had an AG crouched on the left side of the gun; you wouldn't be able to see the gun.  And it's a much more dramatic photo with a single brave female gunner, with a chain of ammunition dragging through the dust and a chain of links (ammunition expended) on the right side of the gun.

It's just ... wrong!

It offends my sense of right, for the cause of presenting a very dramatic photograph supporting the theme of the story.

It's still wrong.

...

Okay, I'll go take my meds now.

Hey! Who are you calling crazy?

This guy says he's officially crazy, but he still managed to buy, be trained in the use of, and carry a firearm.(H/T: GUNFEED)

I'm not sure he's more emotional than the guy's I've seen at a match, throwing their magazines downrange because they're disappointed at their performance; but if he says he's a lunatic, I'm willing to take his word for it.

But ..... interesting.

I have a mental disorder. This is what happened when I tried to buy a gun.:
My brain is a massive ocean of too much information. Without my medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it’s easy for me to get lost in the undertow. No matter how hard I try to fight the current, I still get overwhelmed and distracted by every strange texture I feel beneath my feet. This never goes away.

Fortunately for me, he lives on the 'other side' of the continent.

In Massachuttes?

"The Most Transparent Administration In History"? Depends on

Apparently, if you want to live in a country free of corruption, you must move to Greenland.


The Most Corrupt Countries | FindTheData:

Though they didn't crack the top 30 list, Transparency International wrote in a report that the level of perceived corruption in Australia, Brazil, Libya, Spain and Turkey has risen dramatically. Also, note that these countries that made the list are all characterized by some sort of violent social or political conflict.

[Australia??? Really?]

The scale of the issue is huge. Sixty-eight per cent of countries worldwide have a serious corruption problem. Half of the G20 are among them.Not one single country, anywhere in the world, is corruption-free.

Which are the most corrupt (definition?) countries in the world?
(See the interactive 'world corruption map' here.)

Very large scale version of the map here.


From the (2015) report by Transparency, International:

Five of the 10 most corrupt countries also rank among the 10 least peaceful places in the world.In Afghanistan, millions of dollars that should have gone on reconstruction have been reportedly wasted or stolen, seriously undermining efforts to sustain peace.
Even where there’s not open conflict, the levels of inequality and poverty in these countries are devastating.
In Angola, 70 per cent of the population live on US$2 a day or less. One in six children die before the age of five – making it the deadliest place in the world to be a child. More than 150,000 children die each year. But not everyone’s suffering.
Dubbed Africa’s youngest billionaire, Isabel dos Santos made her US$3.4 billion fortune from the national diamond and telecommunications business. She’s also the president’s daughter.

NOTA BENE:
(I've tried to embed the map, but it just doesn't link to BLOGGER all that well;, which is why you may see a large blank space below.   It appears that even the original source is not quite as 'transparent' as one would wish.    I've carefully removed all embedded code which requires a security code to actually access the map by means other than going to the originating website.)

The girl dances a helluva lot better than I ever did ...

Video of girl with Down syndrome doing dance routine goes viral | Fox News:

A 6-year-old girl with Down syndrome didn’t let rejection from a local dance studio get her down. Instead, Ana Malaniuk found a new space that welcomed her. A video of the Canadian girl dancing went viral, gaining over 11,000 views since being posted in late March.

... and she's more personable, too.

MAINE: Grandmothers Against Gun Violence

Grandmothers Against Gun Violence to meet | March 24, 2016 | www.timesrecord.com | The Times Record:

BRUNSWICK — The new Maine Chapter of Grandmothers Against Gun Violence will hold their first meeting April, 3, 1 p.m. at the Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant St. The meeting is open to anyone interested in helping to stem the surge of gun violence. 

Anyone in the Maine area is encouraged to attend and report back to this website, so that we will all know how it turns out.

My best guess (channeling my "Carnac The Magnificent" moment) is that Grandma will bake chocolate chip cookies with macadamia nuts, and I would attend if I was within 2000 miles of the event.

I love chocolate chip cookies, but my grandmother never liked me.
 (Grandma always had good taste; her cookies did not).

SpaceX Rocket Destroyed on Way to Space Station

I was born in 1945.

I grew up listening to "Space Rangers"  (who flew the space skies in the rocket ship "Polaris")  on the radio.

Who knew that, in my lifetime, headline stories such as this would become so common-place that they would receive so little attention?

SpaceX Rocket Destroyed on Way to Space Station, Cargo Lost | Inc.com:

An unmanned SpaceX rocket carrying supplies to the International Space Station broke apart Sunday shortly after liftoff. It was a severe blow to NASA, the third cargo mission to fail in eight months. The accident happened about 2  minutes into the flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida. A billowing white cloud emerged in the sky, growing bigger and bigger, then fiery plumes shot out. Pieces of the rocket could be seen falling into the Atlantic like a fireworks display gone wrong. More than 5,200 pounds of space station cargo were on board, including the first docking port designed for future commercial crew capsules, a new spacesuit and a water filtration system.

Life is worth the living, because you can never guess what's going to happen tomorrow ... which has become today.

Competition Shooting IS safer than High School Football

Can we prevent high school football deaths? - CNN.com:
(October 23, 2015)

(CNN)On Thursday night, Bogan High School football player Andre Smith was hit during the last play of the game, his relatives told CNN affiliate WLS. The 17-year-old Chicago student collapsed while walking off the field and was taken to a hospital, where he passed away early Friday. An autopsy is expected later this week. Smith's was the seventh high school football-related death this season. According to an analysis from the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research database, about 12 high school and college football players die every year. The leading cause of death isn't football-related trauma, but sudden cardiac arrest.

[emphasis added]

As many of my readers know, I instruct a class in Competitive Pistol Shooting (USPSA/IPSC ... look it up) and every month I teach from 1 to 15 people how to SAFELY use loaded pistols in an aggressive  competitive environment.

When people sign up for my class, I send them a list of equipment requirements and provide some verbiage about the sport.  One of the things I tell them is:

"IPSC competition is safer than High School Football!"

But it's heartbreaking when I go online to confirm that statement, and recent events have sadly proved that teens + football = "dead children".
 (Liberals indulge in outrageous statements to make a point, so I will too.)

Strangely, I have seen young people compete with loaded guns with 'nearly' a zero-injury safety record.  (* disclaimer below)

Wish I had said this!

Alleged intent of gun control vs. actual observable goals - Oleg Volk:

Gun control is unacceptable because it actively degrades defensive capabilities of non-violent people. They view a peaceful person with a pistol as a bigger problem than a violent person with bare hands or a shank, while the opposite is true. Degrading or eliminating the ability to protect self and family from human or animal predators is an utterly evil purpose. By design – not as an accidental side effect – gun control makes people helpless, fearful and dependent on the authorities who promise safety but cannot deliver it. The only way a person could be kept mostly safe by authorities is with the level of protection afforded to the president. Strange that the politicians enjoy their armed bodyguards instead of dismissing them to “reduce gun violence”.

RTWT

Peasants With Knives!

Death Toll in Xinjiang Coal Mine Attack Climbs to 50:
(September 30, 2015)

The death toll in a knife attack orchestrated by alleged “separatists” at a coal mine in northwestern China’s troubled Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has climbed to at least 50 people—including five police officers—with as many as 50 injured, according to local security officials who say nine suspects are on the run.

While the American Government is still striving heartily to ban the private ownership of guns, 'separatists' groups in China have moved to a more primitive weapon:

as in: 'if we can't shoot ya. we'll cut ya!'.

People in America poo-poo folks who think that pistols, rifles and shotguns are valid weapons to defend American Freedoms against a totalitarian government.  They say things like:

"Oh yeah, the government has tanks and planes and machine guns, and you're going to do WHAT with your puny little pistol?"

Strangely enough, governments have very little defense against outraged citizens who have any means at all to express their grievances.  Look at this picture from the original article; this is the military that is being attacked by 'peasants with knives'.

The "Chinese Separatists" may be a bunch of loonies, but they may also be "the mouse that roared".

The American Revolution started with not that much more in the way of weaponry.

Speed Kills! (OH, sorry; it's the Other Way Around)

Speed the 150-year-old tortoise dies at San Diego Zoo | Fox News: SAN DIEGO – One of San Diego's oldest residents has died. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Galapagos tortoise known as Speed has been euthanized at an estimated age of more than 150 years. ...  The massive tortoise had been in geriatric decline for some time. 

There has to be a great punchline to this story.  Damned if I know what it is.
Your suggestions (in Comments) are solicited.

Self-Guided Bullets ... no, really!

DARPA demonstrates breakthrough in self-guided bullets | Fox News:
(April 29, 2015)

“True to DARPA’s mission, EXACTO has demonstrated what was once thought impossible: the continuous guidance of a small-caliber bullet to target,” Jerome Dunn, DARPA program manager said in the release. “This live-fire demonstration from a standard rifle showed that EXACTO is able to hit moving and evading targets with extreme accuracy at sniper ranges unachievable with traditional rounds.”

Holy Moly, Batman!  Was it only a couple of days ago (April 28) that I was joking about curving bullets?   I guess the folks at DARPA are reading my blog .. no wonder my stats are up this week!




 I'm going to use this as my Primary Alibi at my next IPSC match.

Miss the target?

Damn EXACTO bullets!  The target wasn't moving, no wonder I missed it.

Walk a mile in my shoes

Lagniappe's Lair: Cop-Basher Gets Police Shoot/Don't Shoot Training.: In Missouri City, Texas, police put a local loud-mouthed cop-hating professional protester through some of the same "Shoot/Don't Shoot" training that their officers go through, and it looks like he got a bit of a wake-up call.


I'm VERY impressed with this video essay.

Things look a lot different from the OTHER side of a Violent Confrontation.

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!

A Shot Rings Out

Gun Safety Group Pressures Key GOP Senators In Dramatic TV Ad:
(July 28, 2014)

Is the NRA paying Michael Bloomberg to make their point for them?

The gun safety group funded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will air a dramatic television ad in three key states and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to pressure key Republican senators to support new gun restrictions for domestic abusers. The 30-second ad by Everytown for Gun Safety features a man trying to break into his ex-wife's house with a gun as she frantically calls the police. The man kicks the door in, grabs the woman's crying baby and points the gun at the woman's head. The gunshot can be heard as the video cuts out and directs viewers to text a number for information about stopping violence against women.

Oh, here's the 31-second video; no need to go to the link:




The scenario: an angry ex-husband breaks down his ex-wife's door, grabs their child away from her, and when the ex-wife protests ... a shot rings out.

We are left not knowing if the husband shoots the child, the wife, or both.

Still, it's not a scenario which has never happened in this country.  Or most countries.

The wife is presented as a helpless but brave (if ineffectual) terrified woman. The husband is an out-of-control Paranoid with delusions of WTF ... who knows?.

One wonders if this terrifying scenario couldn't lead to a less-bad conclusion.

For example:

What if the wife had a gun, and was not afraid to use it in defense of herself and her child?

That "shot rings out" can have a less ominous note.  Even the most recalcitrant Libro-Tard can get the message:

RoboCop is protecting our Border -- The Northern One!

Step Away From The Camera -- Or There Will Be Trouble!

Is this the 21st Century's version of "The War of Northern Aggression"?

After all the controversy about our Southern border and the easy access by illegal aliens .... what's with the recent series of assaults on American citizens attempting to re-enter their country while returning from a trip through Canada?   The assailants?   The U.S. Border Patrol!

Incident one: Alaska

Troop leader: Federal agent pointed gun at Boy Scout | Local News - KCCI Home:
(July 23, 2014)

DES MOINES, Iowa —Boy Scouts from Troop No. 111 witnessed an intense chain of events after one of their members snapped a picture of a federal officer working the border entry point.

Short version of the story:  a troop of Boy Scouts from Iowa attempted to enter Alaska after the end of their tour through Canada.  A member of the troop took a picture of the Border Patrolman, who got all panty-wadded and told him that it was illegal to take the picture.  Prison, fines, etc.  Scared the troop leader, even.  Then the Federal Agent insisted that they unload ALL their gear and luggage so it could be searched.

While they were attempting to comply, the patrolman took exception to one boy who grabbed a suitcase "without authorization" ... and pointed his loaded handgun at the kid's head.

Wow!  What if the kid had a kilo of Mexican Black Tar Heroin in his suitcase (as is not infrequent at the Southern Border)???

Oh, by the way: the Border Patrol says it never happened.
 (... and if it did, you can't prove it because we've got the pictures.)

But there are some pictures, taken during the search, to prove at least THAT part of the story.



Incident two: Maine

Border Agents Harassed My Family, Forced Me to Delete Recording, 'Because' - Reason.com:
(July 24, 2014)

 At the Jackman, Maine, border crossing into the United States, I get interrogated about what I have in my car. And not just the three juicy Canada-bought clementines, either. "What is your relation to these children?" brusquely demands the young border guard who examines my two daughters' passports and my own. They do have their mother's last name, and they do look somewhat Asian. I'm white. Maybe he's curious. So I don't give him any lip.

A reporter from Reason Magazine "We Deal in Lead, Friend!"  (Lead Stories, that is) wrote that when he was "harassed" by a dubious Border Patrolman, he tried to record the encounter on his IPhone.  The Main RoboCop twisted his arm to confiscate the cell phone.

"Never mind. Follow me into lane one, please. We're going to have to search your vehicle. Please give me your driver's license."
I hand it to him, then park the car in the area he indicates.
"Now please get out of the car and follow me inside."
I grab my iPhone off the dash, hit the record button, and tell him politely: "For my protection, officer, I'm now recording what's happening." He stays silent. I step out of the car, and without warning, he physically attacks—that is, he wrestles the phone from my hand, twisting my arm in the process. I'm stunned.

When the reporter asked why it was illegal to photograph Border Guards during the incident, the response was: "Because".   After the reporter agreed to delete the video from his IPhone, he and his children were released.   Sort of, like "Free Range Chickens".  The problem was not their nationality nor their credentials, but that they had the effrontery to photograph "Border Agents" during the performance of their duties.

Both of these incidents were intensely intimidating to the victims (reminder: all American Citizens) who were able establish their identities and their citizenship.  When they were allowed the opportunity.

Are you contemplating a vacation tour of Colorful Canada this summer?  Plan to come back to America?

Now, if you were not a credentialed American, and you were crossing our SOUTHERN border?

No problem.

There is a moral to this story, but I fail to see it.

Soldiers demand right to roll up sleeves; GENERALS turn blind eye. "Good Training!"

Army guns: Soldiers demand right to roll up sleeves | Fox News:

Spc. Milt Perkins and dozens of other Army soldiers are reportedly ready to roll — their sleeves, that is.
 Perkins, a 26-year-old operating room specialist for a combat support hospital, wants Army brass to allow him to roll up the sleeves of his Army Combat Uniform (ACU) to catch a hint of much-needed breeze at Louisiana’s Fort Polk. But Army soldiers have been denied that pleasure for roughly a decade, since the ACU replaced the Battle Dress Uniform. Troops in the other U.S. services, meanwhile, are allowed to roll their sleeves, most notably leading to the Marines’ “suns out, guns out” mantra.
 “I sweat every day when I walk to work,” Perkins told Army Times. “You get sticky.”
 Army officials told the newspaper that the ACU top was designed to protect soldiers' for
  “When it’s hot in Louisiana, we should be able to roll up our sleeves," Perkins said.

Oh Geez!

I remember being in NCO School in Georgia, in 1968.  We sweat in the morning and we sweat in the night, and the only thing that kept us going was the certainty that we would be in Viet Nam sometime in the next few months ... and this was Good Training!  We were suppose to spend some time in Panama, for "aclimation", but we never went there.  This was the closest the Army could come to Viet Nam, and we were glad to get the time suffering.  At least nobody was shooting at us.

And the Army encouraged us to Roll Up Our Sleeves!

Remember the 12-mile march we took in August, at Fort Benning?  We had a Green Beret dude marching with us ... he dropped out at the ten-mile mark.  He was too proud to roll up his sleeves.

The air was like wet cotton balls.  You couldn't breathe .. we all just wheezed.  And we sweat like frigging pigs!

When the march was over, I asked my buddy to turn in my rifle, 'cause I was too pooped to move.  I made the mistake of drinking half a canteen of water ... and I had cramps all night long, because that was the Wrong Thing To Do.  But I still fell asleep in my bunk, and I slept for 12 hours, until Reville the next morning.

Now the Army won't allow Grunts to roll up their sleeves .. because the new designed uniforms don't "look right" that way?

If you have never been in the Army, you probably wouldn't understand.  But that IS the way the Army works.  If it's regulations, it's STUPID!

The funny thing is, when they sent me to Viet Nam, we in The Field always drew our uniforms from the quartermaster corps.  They clothing they issued us was .. rags.  You never had all the buttons.  We never were issued underwear ... talk about a bunch of swinging dicks!

Elbows and knees out ... barely enough buttons to close our fly.  And the shirts?  we didn't mind that there were only one or two buttons, 'cause more exposure to our chests allowed us the ventilation that we needed very much.

We only had two pairs of socks, and we needed to change them twice a day to avoid Trench Foot. I came down with "Bamboo Poisoning" (horrid runny purple/yellow lesions on my arms, legs, hands, face and feet) which stayed with me for a year after I returned from 'overseas'.

But there were no policies then, about providing adequate uniforms to the troops in the field.

Apparently, the Army hasn't changed a bit.  If there is a way to make one's servitude more uncomfortable, the Generals will turn a Blind Eye to any suggestion to make it more comfortable to do our duty.

In truth, I can't imagine why the Army won't provide uniforms which are comfortable in "sultry climate" conditions.  The old story about "Good Training", I guess.

One thing is sure: the people who make the rules are, still, not the people who have to suffer.

You got to ask yourself why America is relying on a 'Volunteer Army' to defend this Nation.  If everybody knew what petty crap they would have to endure once they were 'admitted' into the Army, nobody would ever volunteer.

Damn sure *_I_* wouldn't!

The Lamest Anti-Gun Article EVER!

Google Glass Guns=Disaster - The Daily Beast:

If you've ever seen an inexperienced "sportsman" try to shoot a sitting bird ... and miss .. then you will appreciate the total gigglement elation I felt upon reading this very inexpert attempt to criticize an industry, a culture and sporting venue which seems ENTIRELY outside her experiential background.

TrackingPoint, a company manufacturing precision-guided firearms—or firearms designed to turn even mediocre shooters into the best of crack shots with the help of embedded digital technology—is apparently ushering in a “new era in augmented marksman ability,” according to their concept video. In the video, a bearded man wearing Google Glass combines the nerdy with the deadly by shooting with a massive firearm at orange targets, while making it a point not to look at them.

Um ... okay.

Originally, I started a lengthy rejoinder based on what I though was the point of the original article.

And I realized .. the article had no point.  None at all!

The Author (one "Jamelle Dumalaon" ... which was not attributed on the article,  but in a sidebar which will probably have been deleted when you read this) managed to write a 500+ word article which had no point, but only a theme:  anything having to do with guns is "bad".

How can we tell?  Let me quote, briefly:

Unsurprisingly, gun control advocates are not amused—and it’s not just because deliberately not looking while shooting is in itself a very uncomfortable concept, and not just because it might be too soon to introduce ideas on how to make guns cooler. Rather, some say gun manufacturers apply a double standard when it comes to applying technology to guns.

("... uncomfortable concept; make guns cooler"... wait, it gets better!)

then .. no segue at all, the next paragraph reads:

“Gun companies have no problem with 21st-century technology if it’s used to enhance the lethality of their products,” says Ladd Everitt, communications director at the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “But if you try compel them to use technology to improve gun safety, they turn around and sue you.”

WTF?
We have no idea what point the author is trying to make, but she does  (somehow) work in the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.whom she manages to depict as being more concerned about being sued, than Stopping Gun Violence!

[You Go, Girl!]

The two next paragraphs cite the NSSF (bad!) lawsuit against Microstamping laws in California, and then that "... smart handguns ... have been criticized as well".

You'll have to work it out for yourselves, because I couldn't manage to determine which issues the author determined were GOOD or Bad:

• Microstamping  (whatever that is)
• Smart Handguns
• Criticing Smart Handguns

I have never heard of this writer before (and why do I think I'll never hear of her again?) ... but please, Daily Beast ... do keep her on staff.

I need a reason to continue reading your stuff, and she is the most refreshing writer I've ever seen there.

"Gaslighting"

Bill Whittle: Gaslighting @ AMERICAN DIGEST:

You're not crazy. 

The Obama Administration will just keep GASLIGHTING you until you think you are.

Obscure much lately?

Go watch the video.

*(H/T: The Ace of Spades)