So, you thinkyou like the idea of National Health Care

President Nero Obama has included National Health Care as the primary plank in his platform during the Presidential Election in 2008. He won both the Democratic Nomination (over Hillary Clinton, author (along with her husband Bill the Philanderer) of HillaryCare in 1994. Well, Obama is prettier than Hillary so we can't disagree with the Democrats on that point.

But I digress.

If Obama is successful in placing the Federal Government in control of our Health Care ... we're screwed.

Remember, "The Government" (at various levels ... Federal, State and Local) are the people who are in charge of:

• The U.S. Postal Service
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Explosives
• The Department of Environmental Quality
• The Department of Education
• Congress
• The Justice Department
• The Department of State ("HillaryCare Part II")
• The Department of Motor Vehicles
• The Internal Revenue Service
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• Congress, which approved --- and The President --- who initiated T.A.R.P.
  

In the words of Yul Brynner: "Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera".

Are these the peoplewho should be in charge of your Health Service?

No. They're politicians and Bureaucrats, whose only priority is either getting re-elected or Empire Building ... or both. These people would screw up a Wet Dream; I dn't know abut you, but I don't want them to decide whether they should allow their limited resources to be allocated in relief of my medical miseries.

Here's a Case in Point, from our British Cousins:
GP refuses stroke call out

A FAMILY whose father died after medics misdiagnosed his stroke three times and refused a home visit have won an out of court settlement.

... Jeffery Wingrove, 48, died in hospital less than 48 hours after collapsing at home with severe vomiting and crippling headaches.

Too ill to move, his wife Isabelle, 52, rang her out-of-hours GP service run by a privately contracted firm who twice refused a home visit despite her pleas.

Claiming he did not qualify as he was not elderly, they instead offered to fax a prescription for pain killers to her local pharmacy for her to collect.

Paramedics were called as his condition worsened but they misdiagnosed Jeffery with severe vertigo and gave him paracetamol instead.

By the next day Jeffery was in so much pain he was rushed to hospital by ambulance where a scan revealed an infarct on the left side of his brain.

Part of his brain had been severely damaged by a stroke. Doctors attempted surgery but he died the following morning.

‘ All they had to do was come and see him, which my usual GP would have done at the drop of a hat. But it was too much trouble for them. ’

During the subsequent investigation harrowing call recordings were released of Isabelle pleading with the doctor to come and help him.

Isabelle, of Braintree, Essex, said: ”If he had been ill in on a weekday he would still be alive today. They held a gun to his head and they pulled the trigger. He was never given a chance of survival.

”All they had to do was come and see him, which my usual GP would have done at the drop of a hat. But it was too much trouble for them.

”I told the doctor he couldn’t lift his head off the pillow and I had no chance of moving him as he was 6ft tall and I’m only 4’10”.

”I was just ignored no matter how much I pleaded. The hospital told us if he had been treated sooner he would have survived.”

Was this a case of "We're not interested in moving from our comfortable chair", or "Judging from your description, there's no major emergency here", or "We don't have the resources to respond to EVERY call, and we have other things to do right now"?

It's impossible to tell from the limited information given in the article.

One thing is clear, though: the National Health Services is controlled by Bureaucrats and Accountants, not by Medical Experts. Certainly, the people in charge are neither Philanthropists nor Care Givers. If they were, their priorities would have generated a certain sense of Urgency after the second call, certainly after the third telephoned plea for help.

The family won a six-figure out-of-court settlement for clinical negligence from the East of England Ambulance Service and the GP involved last month.

...

The family - Isabelle and sons Marc, 14, and Danny, 23 - intend making a complaint to the General Medical Council about the GP who has not been named.

It is understood the GP no longer works for Primecare.

A spokeswoman for the East of England Ambulance Services NHS Trust said: ”We have co-operated fully with the investigation and do not feel that it is appropriate to comment at this time."

A spokesman for Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust said he could not comment on the specifics of what was a ”terrible tragedy” as the matter was still subject to possible future actions.

Swell. The government (or NHS, which is the same thing) threw the doctor under the bus and washed their hands of all responsibility.

The lesson here is that the poliiticians make the rules, the Doctors are required to abide by them ... and when anything goes wrong, the Doctor gets the axe. Notice that the article does not mention a review of Governmental Policies or Procedures in an effort to prevent recurrence of this kind of tragedy.

Oh, let's call it what it really is: a screw-up of monumental proportions, because England cannot actually afford to run a National Health Service.

This should serve as a warning to we who are about to allow Obama to implement a similar bureaucratic quagmire on we, the Citizens of the United States of America.

Since Obama has saddled us and our children with (more or less) NINE TRILLION DOLLARS of debt (borrowed from the Chinese, who have no love for us), which is (more or less) equivalent to our Annual Gross National Product ... and in the process doubled our National Debt during the First One Hundred Days of his reign administration ... America also cannot afford to fund a National Health Service, either.

Sure, he claims that it will be 'an option', and that it is not intended to replace Private Medical Insurance plays but to supplement those plans available to those who can afford to pay for private insurance.

On the other hand, this is the same President who promised "The most transparent administration in American History", and that he would personally evaluate every bill which was presented to him "line by line" ... and then pushed for T.A.R.P., which was a 1600 page bill, before the members of Congress had time to read it. And doubtless before he had time to read it and discuss it, either. Not that he really cared; the bill fit his personal agenda, and that's the important thing.

---

Judging by the preceding editorial comments, one might arrive at the conclusion that I am becoming increasingly disillusioned about the leadership provided by Obama.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Obama has never served in an executive position in a company which actually produces a product, which is accountable to stockholders (or employees), yet he has the unmitigated gall to presume to take over some of the biggest corporations in the country (eg: General Motors) to the extent that he has arbitrarily assumed the right to fire the CEO, set salaries, and determine the product line which that and other companies can produce.

Obama has committed to the establishment of a "Civilian Corps" with funding comparable to the American Military, with goals and directives which have not yet been determined, which is not accountable to anyone other than Obama, and the membership of which currently seems slated to be obligatory, rather than voluntary.

Hell, even our military is an "All Volunteer" organization, but not the Obama-Crats.

I do not trust the man. He is committed to tax rules which are specifically and clearly designed to accomplish his personal goal of "Redistribution of Wealth". He has established 'forgiveness' tax rules which establishes a Dolist population greater than the producing tax-payers. In fact, those who pay NO taxes will be rewarded with a 'tax rebate', taken from tax-payers.

Does this sound like the actions of a man whose intention is to provide quality Medical Care for lower-earning, retired and otherwise indigent Citizens?

Or does this sound like the actions of a man who wants the Government to control every aspect of our private lives?

I know what I think.

What do YOU think?

Is "The British Model" of Health Care appropriate to a bankrupt First-World Nation?

The British Want Their Rights Back

While I was researching the last article for this blog, I happened upon this YouTube video.

I've posted it before, but it bears repeating because I so often write about the Rights which the British People have given up in the pursuit of A Peaceful Society,s which they clearly do not enjoy today.

The British have lately yielded their Rights in pursuit of a "Peaceful Realm", and have reaped the consequences of a realm which is not only NOT peaceful, but NOT cognizant of a Nation of Free Men.


Those of us who have read the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes are aware that Holmes frequently cautioned his Boon Companion, Doctor Watson, to "Bring your Webley with you, please." Holmes recognized that there are some situations in which possession of a firearm was necessary to the SAFE completion of a legitimate endeavor.

Brits today must acknowledge that, according to their Elected Government, there is NO situation which justifies the possession (let alone the use of) a Firearm. This includes the protection of property, neighbors, family or Self. That is to say, if you resort to a Weapon of any kind to protect these priorities, you place yourself in hazard of legal proscriptions which are legally equivalent to "Assault with a Deadly Weapon?" ... except that if you are the Victim, you have fewer rights than you would have if you were the Aggressor.

To their credit, "The Brits" are not entirely (or universally) ignorant of this distinction. And so a few of them have demonstrated in support of their Civil Rights ... which are NOT supported by current British Law. and has NOT provoked Parliament to adjust current British Law to the default position that a person who is physically attacked has a legal right to defend him/herself.

Parliament has ignored the British Demonstration, and they ("The Brits") continue to find themselves in the unenviable position of NOT being legally permit to defend themselves.

If we (Americans) do not insist that our Second Amendment freedoms are acknowledged and supported by our Government, we may find ourselves engaging in similarly unproductive demonstrations.

Is THIS what we really require from OUR government?

"90% of Mexacan Crime Weapons Come from U.S."

I've never been a fan of Wayne LaPierre, but he said something last month that struck a sympathetic chord in my psyche:

"If the only guys with guns are the bad guys, we're screwed!"

It doesn't get much plainer than that.

Lately, we've heard that ""90 percent of the guns used by Drug Cartels in Mexico came from the United States". (CNN is touting that message.)

Here's what it looks like on You Tube:

Perhaps it's passe' to contradict CNN, but Fox News did just that last Thursday:

There's just one problem with the 90 percent "statistic" and it's a big one:

It's just not true.

In fact, it's not even close. The fact is, only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S.

What's true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency's assistant director, "is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S."

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.

"Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market," Matt Allen, special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told FOX News.

Fox News goes further to suggest:

In 2007-2008, according to ATF Special Agent William Newell, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing. Close to 6,000 were successfully traced -- and of those, 90 percent -- 5,114 to be exact, according to testimony in Congress by William Hoover -- were found to have come from the U.S.

But in those same two years, according to the Mexican government, 29,000 guns were recovered at crime scenes.

In other words, 68 percent of the guns that were recovered were never submitted for tracing. And when you weed out the roughly 6,000 guns that could not be traced from the remaining 32 percent, it means 83 percent of the guns found at crime scenes in Mexico could not be traced to the U.S.

So if they don't come from the U.S., where DO they come from?

Fox lists "other sources", including:

• The Black Market
• Russian Crime Organizations
• South America
• Asia
• The Mexican Army
• Guatamala

Ed Head, a firearms instructor in Arizona who spent 24 years with the U.S. Border Patrol, recently displayed an array of weapons considered "assault rifles" that are similar to those recovered in Mexico, but are unavailable for sale in the U.S.

"These kinds of guns -- the auto versions of these guns -- they are not coming from El Paso," he said. "They are coming from other sources. They are brought in from Guatemala. They are brought in from places like China. They are being diverted from the military. But you don't get these guns from the U.S."

Some guns, he said, "are legitimately shipped to the government of Mexico, by Colt, for example, in the United States. They are approved by the U.S. government for use by the Mexican military service. The guns end up in Mexico that way -- the fully auto versions -- they are not smuggled in across the river."

Many of the fully automatic weapons that have been seized in Mexico cannot be found in the U.S., but they are not uncommon in the Third World.

The Mexican government said it has seized 2,239 grenades in the last two years -- but those grenades and the rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) are unavailable in U.S. gun shops. The ones used in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey in October and a TV station in January were made in South Korea. Almost 70 similar grenades were seized in February in the bottom of a truck entering Mexico from Guatemala.

Here's the way the subject is parsed by Wayne LaPierre, spokesman for the National Rifle Association:

Jim Shepherd, of The Shooting Wire, offers his observations:

Yesterday, I was pleased to notice that "mainstream" media had begun to question the absurd statements being made by US officials concerning the "iron river" of firearms flowing from the United States into Mexico.

For the past weeks, we've heard politicians, bureaucrats and supposedly informed law enforcement officials blame the flow of US firearms into Mexico for that country's reversion back into its old, violent, ways. Today, the other side of our long, common border with the United States looks like some backwater dictatorship. Violence is no longer the exception, it's the rule, with drug cartels fighting it out with each other -and occasionally a corrupt Mexican police force.

Infuriatingly, high-ranking US officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have continued to spout inaccurate statistics that blame the US firearms industry and our retail system for the Mexican violence. They say ninety percent of all the illegal guns in Mexico come from the United States, purchased in legal or illegal transactions, then smuggled into Mexico to arm the cartels.

That is not a statistical fib, it is an absolute bald-faced lie. To repeat something you know isn't true makes whomever repeats it a bald-faced liar as well.

Unfortunately, it demonstrates this new administration's complete and utter disdain for the rest of us. They believe we're as incapable of questioning them as we are of deciding our own futures.

Fortunately, not everyone is buying into the lie.

With Mexican cartel battles involving full-auto rifles, grenades and other military-style weaponry, even the most naive reporter should eventually question officials saying they're being procured in the United States. A reader's note the other day asked "can you get me an address on those Texas gun stores where I can get the machine guns and rocket launchers that are being smuggled into Mexico? I'd like to have some of that for myself."

Finally, some hard questions are being asked.

In San Diego, KGTV television's investigative unit used a forensic firearms consultant to inspect a Mexican army cache of seized weapons. Based on those findings, it was obvious to consultant Marc Halcon that what was being stated by government officials as fact and parroted by reporters was not accurate. In fact, he reported that while US gun shops were getting the blame for supplying the cartels with weapons, the real fact was that many of the high-powered weapons the criminals were using come from the U.S. government. They had been given to the Mexican military to fight the cartels. Instead, it appears they were taken to the cartels by the more than 1,200 soldiers per month who go AWOL from the Mexican army - apparently taking their firearms with them. Since 2000, an average of 16,000 soldiers have deserted.

You do the math on the number of military firearms that could put into circulation.

Thursday, Fox News reported the government statistics, were simply wrong. More disturbingly, they reported, ATF officials didn't seem to be interested in doing anything to correct the inaccuracy.

Truth be told, only a small percentage of the tens of thousands of illegal weapons seized in Mexico each year come from the United States.

The statistic being quoted doesn't refer to the total number of weapons seized, only the ones with marking that allow them to be traced. Tens of thousands of illegal military weapons aren't traced, they're warehoused.

As the old expression goes, there are three kinds of lies: plain old lies, damned lies and statistics.

Still, the Obama Administration (in the person of A.G. Eric holder) seems determined to use this Not Ready For Prime Time moment to build momentum for a rejuvenation of the Assault Weapons Ban. This assumption is based on Obama's past history of support for Gun Control measures which would restrict Second Amendment rights ot by restricting access to firearms per se, but by restricting ammunition availability by enacting laws (eg: Microstamping and Bullet Encoding) which are prohibitively expensive to establish in an industrial manufacturing process.

Even if the Obama administration is too shy to prohibit access to firearms, this might seem to be an attractive alternative to meet the same end. That is, the practical imposition of legal means to meet an illegal objective: "imposition of laws to restrict firearms ownership" by "other means".

Essentially, making ammunition prohibitively expensive has the same effect on Firearms Ownership as making gasoline prohibitively expensive has on Automobile Ownership: if you can't buy gasoline, you can't use your automobile. Similarly, if you can't buy ammunition, you can't use your firearm.


It may be that this entire thesis is flawed; Obama may have no intention to restrict the private ownership of firearms, nor to impose such legal access to ammunition as will render the firearms useless.

Still, the American Public seems convinced. Political Pundits have often expressed the homily that Americans "Vote with their wallets". This is a reflection of the basic tenets of Capitalism (a dirty word in the Obama Admistration.)

What we have seen in the ten weeks since the enshrinement of Barack Obama is that the American Public has rushed to buy guns and ammunition, to the point at which the Manufacturers have been unable to supply the Retailers sufficiently to meet the spike in Consumer Demand.

If all those people who are rushing to buy guns and ammunition had voted AGAINST Nero, he would today be nothing more than than the Junior Senator from Illinois.

Why didn't they "cleave to their Guns and their God" in November?

It's 8pm ... do you know where your Boot Disk is>

When I got back from my Weekend with SWMBO, the first thing I did (after unloading the car) was to turn on my computer. Then I unpacked while it was booting up.

Only it didn't boot up. Instead, I got a message from Norton GoBack (which takes checkpoints during the time the computer is operating) saying that the last checkpoint was 4.3.2009 and the system date is 1.1.07 at 12:39 am. It asked me if the GoBack checkpoint timestamp should be updated, or the system date?

So I updated the system date (today at 5:26pm).

When I confirmed the new system date to be correct, I expected the system to reboot at the last checkpoint version.

Instead, I got a "Load Error! Press a key to reboot ..." error message on the Black Screen of Death.

Pressing a key returned:

DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

What boot disk? My puter has gone for 30 months without a hiccup, and now I'm dead Dead DEAD!

I have Norton 360, antivirus and GoBack installed, so I invoked GoBack on the reboot. The oldest goback checkpoint it was able to find was last Friday ... which was when I turned the computer off. I haven't turned it on between Friday Morning and Sunday Evening,'

Still, my desktop computer will not boot.

Fearing that it had something to do with either the Conficker worm, or the cable modem, I turned off my computer and also turned off (and disconnected) my cable modem "for at least two minutes".

Then I connected my laptop, which has not been connected to the Internet since last September, to the cable modem.

The laptop booted right up.

So for tonight I am able to post to the Blog, and also check my email.

Of course, not all of my bookmarks are available because they are on my desktop computer ... or they are six months out of date.

My agenda for the rest of the night is to (a) do whatever I need to do on my blog, (b) catch up on my email, and (c) disconnect my desktop and put it in the car so I can take it to the local Computer Doctor to see what can be done to 'fix' it.

The good news is, in the final analysis the worst that can happen is that I will lose a little data. Much of the data on my hard-drive is backed up on my external hard-drive.

The bad news is, I haven't backed up the hard-drive for several months. I've been unwilling to crawl under my computer disk to re-connect it, so I can't say that I have less than 1 month new data missing on my backup.

(My data is fully backed up at last monthly on my workstation at the office. I have my priorities.)

If there is a moral lesson here, it is that it is insufficient to have the resources to back up data. We also need to do the actual backup on a regular basis.

The only consolation I have here is that at least two of my 'favorite bloggers' ... Michael Bane and Xavier Thoughts ... have reported computer crashes lately. Both websites reported system outages lasting for several days. It isn't The Geek who experiences Schadenfreud when SHTF. [Shit Hits The Fan]

At least this disappontment provides another excuse for me not to complete my tax return for a few more days.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.

I really don't like my laptop, because the keyboard is so ... tiny. And the function keys aren't where they belong.

Still, I'll do my best to keep up, and to serve as a Bad Example to the rest of the world.

Fire Sale ... NOT!

Okay, so nobody values my most precious possessions as much as I.

I won't sell my stuff for one cent on the dollar (I'll ignore the "Monopoly Money" bid as despicable), I won't leave SWMBO to move to San Francisco (she wouldn't go there any more than I), and I won't vote for Nero for dog-catcher, let alone Leader of the Free World.

On the other hand, it's good that my little April Fool's Post served to show me who my friends are.

Fire Sale

I'm tired of struggling with my reloading press.


I've fought it for months, and the alternative is just not working for me. When it takes me longer to load up enough ammunition for a match that it takes to shoot the match, it verges on more effort than it is worth.

Anybody want to buy a slightly used progressive loading press? Dies and turret assemblies set up for 10mm/.40S&W, .38 super/9x19, and .45ACP. I also have dies for .38 Special, plus an entire turret assembly to go with it (including powder measure). Make an offer.

I don't want to reload any more. The last time I tried it, I tore up my hands ... just when I thought I was past the whole eczema thing. Every time I handle a pistol or try to reload, it just aggravates the condition. A week ago, my hands looked fine. After reloading a lousy 200 rounds, my hands look worse than ever.

Don't need the pistols, either. I have several appropriate for USPSA competition ... write for details and be prepared to make me an offer.

Since I won't be competing in Practical Pistol any more, I won't need this BLOG. I'm shutting it down. This is the last post ... you won't have Jerry The Geek to kick around any more.

Speaking of which, since I won't be competing and I won't be blogging, I won't have my old friends any more. So I won't need this computer -- I won't be getting email. It's probably infected by the Conficter worm anyway. Make me an offer?

Won't need those two Digital Cameras, either. I started the blog, and took the pictures, to illustrate Practical Pistol and Rifle competition, where you won't see me again. Besides, I've lost my Server Host and all the stills and videos from years gone by. One camera is 7MB and one is 10MB density, both are pocket-size Hewlett-Packards with video capability: make me an offer.

Write to me at The Usual Email Address. But write soon ... when I sell the computer, I'll hold a garage sale to get rid of the furniture, move to San Francisco and change my registration from Republican to Democrat so I can vote for Barack Hussein Obama's Second, Third and Fourth term as Dear Leader!

Life's easier, when you're a sheeple.

Tobacco Tax

As if the CONFICKER Worm wasn't enough to plague us, we also have Politicians.

Worms are everywhere we look.

Politicians, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to increase the Federal tax of that Demon Weed ... Tobacco.


As a confirmed Marlboro Man (" I miss my lung, Bob") I am grateful for this venue to vent my anger.

Federal taxes on a pack of cigarettes are now one dollar. Thanks to President Nero, a new law, beginning April 1 (coincidence? I don't think so!) will add about sixty-two cents ($0.62) to the cost of a pack of cigarettes.

Federal Tax Increase: The congressional SCHIP bill signed by President Obama on February 4, 2009 includes an increase in the federal tobacco tax (mostly from an increase in the federal tax by 61.66 cents per pack of cigarettes) and other changes, which the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimated would increase budget revenue by $32.5 billion over 5 years and by $65.6 billion over 10 years.

Why?

Tobacco taxes continue to be a focus of attention for states in 2009, with dual interests: raising state revenue and achieving health public policy goals.

Let us dispose of the "achieving health public policy goals" immediately. If Nero's goals are met by his committed timetable, health insurance will become a national issue within the year. Before the end of his first (and hopefully final) term of office, it will be both national policy and federal law. As a committed Socialist (Nero is, after all, nationalizing the Banking industries and the Automobile industry, even as you read these words), he will follow the National Health example of Great Britain.

In other words, the National Health Service will not provide medical help for overweight (fat) people, nor will it provide life-extending services for old people. Particularly, it will not provide medical health for people who smoke. It's simply "not in the budget". Great Britain (see: Canada) has already learned that a National Health program cannot server it's (involuntary) subscribers and consequently must cut expenses on "fiscally unsupportable patients". Even if these patients could pay for the treatment (again, using the experiences of Great Britain and Canada as models) they will not be allowed access to the facilities because there is no incentive for hospitals and medical care facilities to invest in the expensive machinery, or the not-so-expensive (under Socialism) surgical expertise needed to service "extreme" patient needs.


So when someone tells you that the increase in tobacco taxes is part of the "achieving health public policy goals" effort, just call them either a liar or a fool, and move on.

On the other hand, raising revenue is definitely part of the goals of a politician. Especially such an out-of-control bunch of politicians which have become incumbent under the leadership of Nero.

After all, we have just doubled the National Debt, and have gone from being the most prosperous nation to the most-indebted nation within the short span of Nero's First 100 Days.

And if He has His way, we will see our National Debt tripled before the year is out.

Right now, a carton of cigarettes costs nearly $10 more than it did six weeks ago; that cost will increase another $6.20 tomorrow, which raises the cost from $50 to $57 (approximate).

Let's go back to our earlier question:

WHY?

Answer: Because They Can.

Actually, the money is going to fund the S-CHIP program.

That's right. For "Children who are not otherwise insured" (State Children's Health Insurance Program). "Children", in this case, are defined as 'individuals up to the age of 25 years who are still living at home'.



Here's another question:

Who is this going to hurt the most?

Answer: those who can least afford it.

Not only are the payers of cigarette taxes poorer as a group than the payers of these other taxes, but there are fewer of them. The burden on the lowest-earning 20 percent of households from a cigarette tax is 37 times heavier than if the government raised the money with the federal income tax.

(The above article debunks five specific "myths" about the benefit of increasing taxes on tobacco:

1. Higher cigarette taxes deter youth from smoking.
2. Smoking is harmful and cigarette taxes reduce those harms.
3. Smokers act irrationally in believing smoking has benefits, and the tax corrects for that mistake.
4. Raising cigarette taxes is proper tax policy because smokers impose costs on government and society.
5. We need more revenue.

Well, it must be admitted that with the new "Tax and Spend" policies of the current administration, the money has to come from SOMEWHERE. One can't be criticized too strongly for wondering from where this money is to be found. Still, it's difficult to believe that increasing the tax on tobacco will bring in nine trillion dollars over the next ten years. Are smokers destined to shoulder the burden of the entire national debt?

Wait a minute! In 1994, the Clintons proposed that a fifty cent tax per pack of cigarettes would pay for HillaryCare. I guess, if you're a Liberal, this sounds reasonable.

But then, the Clintons were not Nero.

CONFICKER

IF you can read this, your computer may not be infected.

On the other hand, you may be.

"CONFICKER" is a virus which takes over computers and turns them into 'bots'. Think BORG ("Resistance is Futile; You will be Assimilated.") Rumor has it that it will be activated on April 1, 2009. Really? I don't know, but reliable sources say it's going to happen.


Fox News has a valuable article which defines the obvious symptoms, and what you can do about it, in case you are a victim of this April Fools Day trick (which may or may not be a real threat ... until we get hurt, it's hard to tell whether or not a threat is real.)

One of the characteristics of the bug seems to be that it prevents its victims from accessing the anti-virus websites which offer a 'fix':

One scary thing about Conficker is that it spreads without human involvement, moving from PC to PC by exploiting a security hole in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.

The hole was fixed in October, but if your computer doesn't get automatic updates from Microsoft, you could be vulnerable.

Lots of computer worms disable antivirus outright, which can be a tip-off that something is wrong.

But Conficker doesn't do that. Instead, Conficker blocks infected PCs from accessing the antivirus vendors' and Microsoft's Web sites, so victims won't get automatic updates and can't download the Conficker removal tools that those companies have developed.

So see what Web sites you can visit. If you can navigate the Internet freely except for sites owned by Microsoft or antivirus vendors such as Symantec Corp., McAfee Inc. or F-Secure Corp., your PC might have Conficker or a similar bug.

What are these "blocked sites"?

One of them is the Symantic Anti-Virus website (specifically, this one which deals with Conficker Worm).
Another is the Microsoft Malware Protection Center website; here's the MS warning page on Conficker.

So if you click on these links, and you can't make a connection ... there's a good chance (according to the Fox advisory) that you have a problem.

The computers most at risk are those which are running Microsoft XP or VISTA, and do not automatically receive updates from Microsoft (which should provide the latest 'fixes' to the notoriously vulnerable MS Operating Systems.)

---

There's a moral to this story.

That is, if you do NOT already receive and install MS updates, if you do NOT subscribe to a good Anti-Virus software package, or if you don't have the latest updates, or if you haven't scanned your hard-disk lately, just remember the words of Robo-Cop:

"Secure the computer, or There May Be Trouble."

No, that's not right. What I should have said is: BUY the security software, INSTALL the software, UPDATE the viral profiles regularly, and SCAN your hard-disk often!

PS: If you don't see any updates to this blog by the end of the week, I may be the one in trouble. In that case, I expect one of my many friends to send me the 'fix'. Preferably, without adding insult to my injury.

Earth Hour

Late Saturday Night, SWMBO advised me that we were suppose to be observing "Earth Hour".

This was purportedly "a global event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change."

I said: "Holy Gosh Darn-it, Bat-Girl, we have dropped the ball!"

She replied: "Oh, I don't think so. The lights are out in the Computer Room and the bedroom."

So we turned the computer off.

Introduction to USPSA: April, 2009 (Part III)

I'm changing the parameters for ti Introduction to USPSA class, scheduled for Saturda April 4, 2009.

I'll have a new Demonstrator for that class.

No reflection on "Yawn", who has been a huge help at several classes. In fact, I'm encouraging him to take his enthusiasm for the sport to a new level of volunteerism. I think he would be a fine officer in either the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club, or the Columbia Cascade Section. He's a natural hard-working volunteer. I think his energy and enthusiasm have been wasted by working only as a Demonstrator at the USPSA class. (Yes, it's an important function; but he deserves the chance to grow, and I can't give it to him.)

I want to use the post of Demonstrator to the Introduction to USPSA as an entry post for more volunteers, and toward that end I am inclined to use this function to encourage volunteerism.

It has occurred to me that a Limited-Division Master-Class shooter would be an excellent choice.

Not only can we train a potential Instructor replacement, but it expands the list of folks who are given the opportunity to "Give Back To The Sport".

One of the things I'm looking for, by soliciting the assistance of a new Demonstrator, is to re-evaluate the course Syllabus.

Jan ("Yawn") has been extremely helpful in the past, and he has helped to define the information flow from Instructor to New Shooter. He was a member of my July, 2008, class so he knows what New Shooters need to know.

But it's unfair to call upon his personal time too much, and so I've decided to accept the offer made by Guy early this month.

Guy has been competing in USPSA/IPSC since Christ was a D-shooter, While there is no doubt that he has already Done His Bit with his monthly column on "Reloading" for The Front Sight Magazine, that's no reason why he can't be allocated a spell doing the fun stuff by helping new shooters learn about how to compete in USPSA.

Guy volunteered for the position, I accepted his offer, and he has already confirmed the acceptance.

I've already encouraged a "New Shooter" to assist in this course, working under the assumption that he would provide insight into the issues that other New Shooters would need special insight. Now I'm inviting an Experienced Shooter to provide a contrasting perspective.

It is my hope that encouraging more competitors to Volunteerism will in turn encourage them to volunteer for more 'public offices' within the organization.

Another reason for this change is to encourage 'veterans' of the class to move on to offices of more responsibility. We need to do whatever it takes to encourage a New Generation of administrators in USPSA. These energetic folks can choose to serve at the club, the Section or the National level, or they can switch to the fast-track of taking Range Officer Certification classes and serve on the weekly (0r monthly) local level ... or expand their training to serve as Range Officers at Major Matches.

Even if they go no further than to certify as Range Officers for Club Matches, they will help the rest of us to become more familiar with Competition Rules.

Ultimately, I hope this policy will provide some more administrators at all levels. We do need to encourage competitors to become Range Officers, and we need New Blood at both the Section and Area Level.

Whether they go on to serve at the National Level is up to them. The United States Practical Shooting Association has enjoyed a multi-year boon of qualified, experienced and dedicated people for the past several years. These folks are beginning to retire. If we don't find energetic and qualified (experienced) new candidates determined to ASK to be voted into these positions, we will find ourselves with the same tired, clue-less candidates which we suffered a decade or more ago.

We need new blood. Some folks work toward this goal by encouraging Juniors to enter USPSA competition. But we don't have a program designed to funnel experienced, mature people to Volunteering to take a leadership role.

I'm doing my part to find new people to fill these essential roles. What are YOU doing to encourage volunteerism?

Reloading and Dundee Match

As it happens, I slept late last Saturday morning and didn't even wake up until 8:30am. This was a short half hour before the Dundee match started. Given only 30 minutes to dress, load the truck and drive over anhour to the match, I decided not to compete in this match. So I still have no idea how my newly reloaded ammunition will perform.

There is no image so sad as a temporary reloading press set up to see the morning sun, on a day when the ammo will necessarily stay 'in the box'.

I may have saved myself the trip, and the match fee. I don't even know if the ammunition I loaded so laboriously on Friday will work. I'll test-fire it next weekend before I teach the Introduction to USPSA class at ARPC. If it doesn't perform reliably, I'll have a week before I need to have new ammunition for the ARPC Monthly Match a week from then.

Reloading with a non-progressive press: Part I

Remember how I told you I was having problems with my Dillon XL650, and I was gonna ask them to fix it for me?

Well, I never did get around to it.


That's why I spent the better part of eight hours today loading 200 rounds of 10mm to prepare for the Match later today. (Yes, I am up WAY past the bedtime of any Honest Man to get this task finished, and to "boast" about it.)

Very big grin here. I'm not actually very proud of how long it took me to set up a Lee Turret Press from scratch for a 'new' caliber ... I haven't actually reloaded on that press for a few years, and never for 10mm.

But I did have a LEE Sizing Die (which I used to full-length size 10mm brass ... it is reputed to be 'better than' Dillon or RCBS dies to get the FULL length of the case squeezed down to a diameter which fits in an STI chamber.

I also had several hundred rounds of once-used 10mm brass which had been full-length resized by a vendor, including in the deal a complete primer-decapping and a liquid-tumbling which left the brass shiny-new inside and out.

Anyway, this is grist for the mill of an entirely different (and Geek Length) post about my experiences of the actual process.

For now, it's enough to state that I decided to use my STI Edge in 10mm for the forthcoming match at Dundee (which starts in about 7 hours, and it's an hour driving time --- so I better close this soon so I can get some sleep!).

I may not post on Saturday night; I expect to be entirely worn out. Besides, I don't have enough pictures yet. Nor do I have the results (consequences) of my untimely reloading session.

By tomorrow evening, at a minimum, I expect to be able to provide a "Range Report" on the results of loading ammunition "On Spec" from specifications which are several years old, and which have NOT been tested before the match.

It's all smoke and mirrors. I have need of counsel from a Professional Reloader.

Wish me luck!

ARPC Full Auto Shoot - May 16-17

This year the Albany Rifle and Pistol club (ARPC) will, once again, sponsor it's Annual Spring Full-Auto Shoot.


This is not a match. More like ... a demonstration. Lots of folks with Class 3 licenses will bring their (entirely legal) fully-auto sub-machine guns and machine-guns during this weekend, and for the low low price of Ten Dollars U.S., you can watch.
(Click on the picture for the Full Image)
Not enough for you?

You're in luck.

For a slight additional fee, you can elect to actually SHOOT these here machine guns.

What do you get for your money? Let's look at it the other way around. The owners of the machine guns will set 'em up, provide targets,. load the magazines (or belts) with their own ammunition, and for a price (which probably doesn't exceed, say, $15, but may be lower -- let you shoot at the targets.

Be a Rambo, Smoke 'em if you've got 'em. (No, I'm not implying that you can smoke a stogie while you're smoking the targets. On the other hand, maybe you can. After all, it's an Outdoor Event.)

Directions to the range are provided on the poster (see above). If that is insufficiently explicit for you, you can also find directions and a map here. (Remember that you're expected to go to Oregon, and somehow "intuit" how to find the Interstate "5" freeway. If you can't handle that, you probably shouldn't be shooting Full Auto Firearms anyway.)

Never fired a full-auto gun before? Afraid that you'll embarrass yourself in public?

Don't worry about it. You WILL embarrass yourself, because almost nobody can hit more than one target on full-auto. I've been trained and am experienced (U.S. Army), and I CHS (Can't Hit Shit) on Full Auto.

But still, it's almost "The Most Fun You Can Have With Your Clothes On".

I'll probably be there, at least one day; taking pictures for future blog articles, and meeting folks. Chances are you won't notice me, even if I DO have my "Jerry the Geek" Internet Region shirt on. Believe me, you'll have more interesting things to watch.

Be there or be bored.

(No, it's not like this ...

... It's more like THIS!


Better ... Stronger .. Faster!







[Geek Seal of Approval]

Introduction to USPSA: April, 2009

Once again we're looking forward to the next month, and the possible addition of New Shooters joining the Columbia Cascade Section of USPSA.

That means that, on the First Saturday of the month, I will be found from 1pm to 4pm at the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club (ARPC) teaching an "Introduction to USPSA" match.

By now you understand how much I enjoy meeting these eager New Shooters, and you probably understand how enthusiastically I approach each class.

It occurs to me that, even though I've tried to share my syllabus with others who intend to teach similar classes, I've never codified the information which I provide to students.

Here then, is the note which I attempt to send to each student before the class:

My name is [My_Name]. I've been a member of (and a competitor in) USPSA since 1983. I will be your instructor in the [class_date], "Introduction to USPSA" class.

To complete the certification process, you need to do the three things which [Head_instructor] has already defined. My part is the "#2" thing: "Attend Live Fire Safety Session with one of our instructors."

We have provided this instruction (in my personal experience) for a single person, and for as many as 13 people. Sunny weather seems to bring more people to the range. The medium attendance seems to be 3 or 4 people. As a member of a smaller class (if that so happens), you're lucky because we have more time to attend to the nuances.

USPSA People LOVE to have new shooters. Expect to be welcomed by the 'old' competitors at your first match; we like to see new people.

We want you to feel entirely comfortable, so here's what you will learn on the first Saturday of next month, when you take the class, and (hopefully) the second Saturday of April, when you will complete your certification.

Here is some information so you know what to expect during the Class and during your first match.


Two Things You Need To Know:

1. What the Certification class will be like;
2. What you need to bring, both to the Class and to your First Match.

1: What the USPSA Certification Class will be like:

You will need to bring with you:

• Your completed test
• Handgun (minimum: 9mm)
• Ammunition (minimum: 50 rounds)
• Wear a belt which is wide enough and strong enough to support the 'stuff' you should carry on your belt.
• At least two, preferably four (depending on your magazine limits) Magazines, and sufficient Magazine Carriers which will fit on your belt. You will need to reload at least once in the certification course; you will need to reload at 3 times at your first match. (Note that this varies according to which Division you declare for competition. This is because some Divisions only allow 8 or 10 rounds per magazine, and others have no limits on the number of rounds which can be loaded in your magazines.)
  

Your handgun must fit your ammunition, your ammunition must fit within reload magazines, all reload magazines must fit your gun. This probably seems obvious to you. We'll talk about this in the class.

We will meet at the designated bay on the North Range of the Albany Rifle and Pistol club ... probably bay 3 or bay 5. I'll try to put a sign out in front of the entry to the bay, before your expected 1pm time of arrival.

Bring your 'test'. The first hour of the class will be devoted to discussing the test question, and the various nuances of the test questions. Read the book, know the answers.

After the talking part is through, we will walk you through several scenarios designed to teach you what you need to know about safe gun-handling, and USPSA competition. Note that there will be plenty of opportunities for error. During these exercises, we will faithfully follow the three steps of successful training:

1. Describe the training scenario
2. Demonstrate the training scenario
3. Walk the student through each stage.

You are ALWAYS encouraged to ask question during the class.

The scenarios used to teach you safe Gun Handling skills, and competitive skills (also etiquette and an understanding of the Squadding procedure) are as follows:

1. Stage 1, designed to familiarize you with Standard Range Commands and revisit basic Gun handling skills: Engage one target with one shot. NOTE: also teaches range commands, and the appropriate shooter reactions to errors in understanding;
   
2. Stage 2, designed to re-enforce previously taught skills, also to learn the skill needed to engage multiple targets. Engage two targets with at least two rounds each. The student may reload as needed. A mandatory reload requirement may be included, depending on the mood and whimsy of the Range Officer, to teach you how to reload during moments of competitive stress..
   
3. Stage 3, designed to teach you the principles of safe movement, shooting behind a vision barrier, safe reloading and indexing from one shooting position to another: engage two cardboard targets with at least two rounds (see above), then move down-range to a shooting box behind a Bianchi Barricade (with a shooting box behind it.) . There you will be expected to engage one USPSA Steel Target, and one USPSA Pepper Target, from opposite sides of the Bianchi Barricade. (Note to yourself: always be certain that during movement, you make it obvious to the Range Officer that your finger is NOT on the trigger during these two events.)
   
4. Variations on the above themes, as they seem necessary to the instructor.
   

(1a:) What you need to bring both to the Class:

1. Handgun; caliber 9mm or larger
2. Ammunition, at least 50 rounds.
3. Magazines (if appropriate to handgun, assumed to be a semi-automatic pistol); at least three;
4. Magazine carriers, at least two .. preferably three (for a match);
5. Belt, sufficient to carry holstered pistol, magazines and magazine carriers. At least 1-1/2" wide, sturdy enough to support the weight of the pistol yet withstand the action of drawing the pistol without excessive 'give'.

Again; variations may be included, but these are the basics.

2: What you need to know and bring, to your First Match.

You will need the same equipment to our first match as you need to bring to your orientation class. However, expect that you will need a minimum of 150 rounds of ammunition to successfully complete the match. There will be six (6) stages at the match, with an average minimum round count of 25 rounds per stage. My personal criteria is to bring at least 50% more ammunition than the minimum, which suggests 225 rounds. For your own satisfaction, I strongly suggest that you bring 100% more ammunition than the minimum .. 300 rounds. You'll use it up eventually, so you should seriously consider bringing much more ammunition than you will need for the first match.

Depending on the Division restrictions for ammunition available in each magazine, you will need more magazines than the minimum required to complete a single stage:

• Singlestack (8-rounds maximum per magazine) bring at least 5 magazine (40 rounds available);
• Production or Limited-10 (10-rounds maximum per magazine) bring at least 4 magazines (40 rounds available);
• Limited (either 18 or 20 rounds maximum per magazine) bring at least 3 magazines (54 rounds available);
• Open (up to 30 rounds maximum per magazine) bring at least 3 magazines (75 - 90 rounds available).

The reason to bring MORE magazines than you expect to need is because if you lose a magazine, or experience a failure-to-feed jam, you may need to jettison a magazine. You should ALWAYS bring more ammunition, and more magazines, than you expect to need.

You should bring sufficient magazine carriers to legally carry the maximum number of magazines. Note that you can carry 'extra' magazines in your pockets, and use them after all of the magazines in your magazine carriers have been expended. If this financial investment is excessive to your ability, don't feel that you cannot be competitive. Bring what you have, and expect to "go to the pocket". Still, at least two magazine carriers are strongly advised no matter what Division you choose to compete in.

Procedures:

You should show up at the range by 8am, certainly by 8:30, for a 9am start to the match. This will allow you sufficient time to sign up for the match, and get your gear on and magazines loaded.

The match will start at 9am. There will be a Shooters Meeting, usually given by the Range Master (RM_Name), often followed by a "Walk-Through" of the stages. During the walk-through, the Range Master will describe the requirements for each stage. These requirements are described in you test. You will want to know, and be clear on, the requirements for each stage.

During sign-up you will want to make the statistician aware that you are a New Shooter. If the statistician does not do so, you will want to mark each score sheet (one for each stage) with the comment "NEW SHOOTER". This will help others in your squad to know that you should be the last shooter in your squad to shoot each stage. This is for your benefit; you will be able to watch the rest of the shooters in your squad engage the targets, so you have adequate time and experience to evaluate the best way for YOU to engage the targets on each stage.

Squadding: there is a 'squad sign-up sheet' available in the stats room when you sign up for the match. Find a group of people who you wish to shoot with, and put your name on the same squad sign-up sheet. Look for my name ([My_Name]), or the name of the demonstrator who assisted during your Certification Course. Usually, this is [Demonstrator_Name]. IF another demonstrator worked during your class, look for that person. If those squads are full, it doesn't matter what squad you join as long as they know that you are a New Shooter. Experienced shooters will almost invariably be happy to help you get through your First Match safely.

>From this point on, just ... coast. Your goal is to get through your first match safely. Do not attempt to shoot 'fast';, shoot SAFELY, and your second priority is to conform to the stage procedures. The third priority is to shoot accurately; hit each target with the first shot if possible. Be certain that you can at least engage ("shoot at") each target without running out of ammunition.

That's a lot to remember. Don't feel that you need to remember all of this. We will discuss every point, and demonstrate most of them, during your certification Class. If you have questions, don't feel shy about asking them during any part of the class.

This is suppose to be fun. It's not suppose to be as intimidating as this email probably suggests. Be assured that you will leave your Introduction to USPSA class with all of your questions answered, and you will have plenty of advice (much of it unsolicited) from the members of your squad at your First Match.

All you have to remember is (a) shoot safely, and (b) have fun.

You aren't expected to win your first match. The only expectation is that you will shoot safely, and will become irretrievably "hooked on IPSC" after a single match.

Ask questions. You can reply to this email if you have any concerns which are not already answered.

Looking forward to meeting you on [class_date].

Coulda happened here ... maybe

Blogmeat for March, 2009!

This is devoted to the weird and awful things that "just happened, I don't know why!" around the world,

Chances are, a careful review of the TCPALM ("Florida's Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches") would reveal similarly bizarre stories. Such as here and here and here -- just for example. But tonight we're criticizing 'those other folks'.

So let's be about it.

First, in Indonesia:

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Two Komodo dragons mauled a fruit-picker to death in eastern Indonesia, police and witnesses said Tuesday, the latest in a string of attacks on humans by the world's largest lizard species.

Police Sgt. Kosmas Jalang said 31-year-old Muhamad Anwar was attacked on Komodo, one of four islands where the giant reptile is found in the wild, minutes after he fell out of a sugar-apple tree on Monday.

He was bleeding badly from bites to his hands, body, legs and neck after two lizards, waiting below, attacked him, according to a neighbor, Theresia Tawa. He died at a clinic on the neighboring island of Flores soon after.

Next, two stories from Ireland:

(1) "Naked ******
Paintings Removed" I'm not sure what "taoiseach" means, but two paintings of the Prime Minister of Ireland (Brian Cowen -- naked) have been placed on display in Dublin Art Galleries.

A painting of Mr Cowen holding his underpants appeared in the Royal Hibernian Academy and one of him pictured on the toilet ended up in the National Gallery.

Sounds scandalous, right?

One woman who saw the painting reportedly offered to buy it.

(2) From "The Independent"

Man who shot himself "by accident' is critical":

A WELL-known criminal who is a central figure in Limerick's ongoing feud was in a critical condition on a life support machine last night after he accidentally shot himself.

Feared gangster Philip Collopy (29) from St Mary's Park, Limerick is in the city's Mid-Western Regional Hospital where he has been since he shot himself in the head on Saturday morning.

The career criminal shot himself with a glock handgun at close range in a house at St Munchin's Street, St Mary's Park. He had been inspecting the gun and removed the loaded magazine from it while handling it. However, he failed to realise a bullet was still in the chamber before he discharged the weapon while it was pointed at his head.

(No comments about "Darwinism In Action" or "Chlorine in the Gene Pool" here. Move along.)



Finally, let's hear it for Vietnam, where three men trying to saw through a war-era bomb (apparently an artillery shell, irresponsibly left laying around by those vexatious Americans):

The men, between 19 and 44 years old, were trying to break open a 105mm shell when the blast happened in southern Tay Ninh province on Friday, local policeman Nguyen Minh Kha said.

"The poor men wanted to sell the metal for money. They could not escape the sudden blast,'' he said.

According to earlier figures from the Public Security Ministry, more than 38,000 Vietnamese nationals have been killed and 100,000 injured by explosives left over from the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975.

This is another thing I don't understand. My Vietnam experiences taught me that the Viet Cong were experts at recovering expended 'dud rounds' as the basis of what we then referred to as "Booby traps", and which are now demurely referred to as "IEDs" (Improvised Explosive Devices).

What happened? Have the Vietnamese grown soft? Have they not passed their skills down to the Next Generation? I guess, in this case, we can truly refer to them as "X-Gen".

Yeah, the "Late X-Gen", here.

I can understand the recovery of the metal ... sort-of. But to whom did they plan to sell the explosives?

Never mind, it's all academic now. Except to the three squatting savages with a hacksaw and without a clue ... or (now) contiguous body parts. I have seen the uncomfortable results of too-close consanguinity between Viet Names 'civilians' and Artillary. It's not a pretty sight. Apparently, Capitalistic ingenuity and high-explosives are still a deadly combination.


Okay, I can't let this go without including a couple of stories from the United States:

First, "Miss Cleo" (late of "The Psychic Hotline") is Back! She's bad, she's free, and she's gay.

At a tiny, earth-toned coffeehouse, the fliers advertise mediums and meditations. Wind chimes ring and dream catchers spin.

It's early afternoon. The plush couches sit empty.

And seated at a table, a silver snake earring dangling from one ear, Miss Cleo says she couldn't be happier.

''I'm a proud voodoo woman,'' she says in the thick Caribbean accent that many late-night television viewers can well recall. ``And I make no apologies to anyone.''

Around the turn of the millennium, Miss Cleo was the face and voice of the Psychic Readers Network in TV commercials and infomercials across the country, many of which still live on at Web sites like YouTube.com.

Draped in colorful robes, she urged nighthawks to call in because ``the cards never lie.''

That lasted until the Psychic Readers Network, run by Access Resource Services of Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here., succumbed to a storm of lawsuits from consumers who said they were grossly overcharged.

Cleo, a spokeswoman but never the boss, was sued, too. But she was not found liable.

Ultimately, let's look at Cane-Fu.

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. - Pay no mind to the groans that come with stretching, to hair that is gray or gone altogether. Ignore the cautiousness of their steps and the canes in their hands.

These seniors are ready to fight.

A rainbow of martial arts belts dangles above the mirror along one wall of this small dojo; swords, nunchuks and sickles hang near the front. Punching bags and torso targets line the room, but they'll need none of these. Their weapons are their canes.

At the helm of the class is one of the country's most recognized cane fighters, Mark Shuey, a slight man who, at 62, has hair and skin starting to show signs of age. He has traveled from Lake Tahoe, Nev., to teach this group of 16 how to protect themselves from attackers.

He calls it Cane-Fu.

Cane fighting classes have popped up all over the country, in part due to the influence of Cane Masters, the company Shuey founded that sells wood canes made of harder, thicker wood, to sustain wear and wider crooks to fit around an attacker's neck. Now, it's being offered at dojos and increasingly in senior centers and retirement communities.

(See the link for details and a video. Video also available at AOL.)

"It's a medical device, you need one to get around on. And they do let you on the airplane with it."

Geez, I wish I had thought of that.

I coulda been a contender!

That's it for Blogmeat on Tuesday, March 34, 2009.

Lunge, Parry, Thrust

Thanks to Jim Shepherd at The Shooting Wire, I have here an excellent summary of recent Federal attempts to infringe upon your Second Amendment Rights.

Some of these issues I have already mentioned; some ... not.

First issue: The National Park Service attempt to 'technically' renege on its recent agreement to allow shooting on Park Service land.

Second, reports about the "Springfield Armory Historic Site and Museum" being newly lead by a director who doesn't think that people are interested in "old guns", and consequently may want to shut down many of the services and exhibits. I don't get that one at all; maybe you are more intuitive than I am.

Finally, new Justice Department head Holder is taken to task by 65 Democratic members of congress in response to 'whispers' that the 1994 Assault Weapons band may be re-instated by the Obama Administration. Response: "We never intended to do that AT ALL!" That one I do get. We knew long ago that Obama is no friend of the Second Amendment. Hint: Obama will never directly attack "The Gun Lobby". He hasn't the intestinal fortitude (or has too much Political Ambition) to attack gun owners directly. He will always, always use his henchmen and attempt to maintain a position of "The High Ground". Look for statements such as: "I will not contradict nor oppose members of my cabinet as they go about addressing issues in the way they think best. If Congress sends me a bill addressing Public Safety issues, I will sign it."

Weasel, words, to be sure. Bush did the same thing during his tenure, and it bit him so hard that he still carries teeth-marks on his sit-down. (And well deserved they are!)

Now read Jim Shepherd's latest article:

Lunge.

Parry.

Thrust.

Sounds like the three key elements of fencing, but it's the government moving up- and back - on firearms and ammunition restrictions. Last week, two thrusts, a feint, and some retreat made the week infuriating, but telling to gun owners.

First, the National Park Service bans lead - all lead - on any property under NPS control. Then, the Department of Defense puts ammo brass into a different category for disposal. Rather than being able to sell the spent casings, they'll have to be mutilated.

Two lunges.

The first parry came from Senators Tester and Baucus of Montana - a letter advising them that such an action might have consequences for DoD funding. The DoD quickly issued a clarification saying they weren't really intending to go through with the mutilation, they were going through a process of review because of -you guessed it- the catch-all excuse of all excuses - national security issues.

Now, the National Park Service says its no-lead declaration last week was a "misstep" and the lead ban was for the National Park Service employees and agents only. "You can still use lead shot and lead ammunition. The point of the announcement was to let the public know that internally we want to get away from lead-based products," said Bert Frost, Associate Director of Natural Resource Stewardship & Science for the National Park Service."

Now I got it. Thanks for that clarification. Maybe the next time they close down a shooting area for no apparent reason, we'll find it's only closed to NPS employees and agents.

The latest thrust is a disquieting report we've received concerning the Springfield Armory Historic site and museum. As we reported in last Friday's edition of The Shooting Wire, sources at the NPS tell us there's a new boss at the museum, one who doesn't think people would be interested in "old guns". Consequently, a change of emphasis seems to be taking place there - as in closing down research, reassigning employees and maybe- we're told - even planning to return the weapons to storage.

As we promised last week, we're on the story. And, as expected, we're up against a stonewalling process. But we're still tracking on the story. So, too, is our colleague Michael Bane. They'll find Michael's considerably less patient with bureaucrats, so they can't say haven't warned them.

See a pattern emerging? The process of incrementalism through a ceaseless pushing of the boundaries of tolerance. It's as if the anti-gun groups have studied the advancement process of crabgrass. Once it's in the yard, it's almost impossible to get out without wiping out the yard and starting over. As the anti-gun philosophy seems hard-wired into the current administration's thinking, it doesn't look like relief is in sight.

Sixty five Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent Attorney General Eric Holder a letter last week in which they served notice that they will vigorously oppose any efforts to reinstitute the 1994 ban on select semi-auto guns and magazines. They reminded Mr. Holder that the '94 ban was an abject failure, but don't count on his remembering the warning - or the assault not coming from another quarter. Incrementalism relies on that continued pushing. Politicians have managed to add an element of misdirection, but the ultimate goal is the same- disarming "average" citizens.

And the Illinois Supreme Court has dismissed another baseless lawsuit against a firearms manufacturer. In 2001, a suit was filed against Beretta U.S.A. Corp. following a criminal shooting. The suit, as was the pattern at that time, basically sought to hold the manufacturer liable for the shooting. The dismissal was based on the 2005 Protection in Lawful Commerce in Firearms Act which bars lawsuits against firearms manufacturers and retailers for the criminal misuse by others of lawfully sold firearms.

It's not all good news for gun owners. A federal judge has blocked former President Bush's last-minute rule allowing visitors in national parks to carry concealed weapons.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued the ruling in favor of the three groups bringing a suit against the rule - the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees. Those groups, expectedly, hail the decision as keeping the parks safe for visitors. Hopefully, those visitors won't walk up on any of the illegal drug growers and manufacturers who have discovered the advantages of setting up shop in national parks and wildlife management areas.

(If you are not already subscribed to The Shooting Wire, I urge you to do so here. Geek Rated "Alpha Geek" ... and it don't get no better than that!)

Daniel Patrick Moynihan

I have before, and I will again, make casual reference to the Anti-Gun stance (and legislation) exhibited and proposed by the late Democratic Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

To facilitate our understanding, these are the anti-gun bills which he proposed in a single Legislative session. (I don't have the session number, or the year, immediately available. I'll see if I can research this to our mutual satisfaction 'in the future'.)

S. 152 Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (NY-D)- would increase the tax on handgun ammunition and impose special occupational tax and registration requirements on importers and manufactures of handgun ammunition. To the Committee on Finance.

S. 153 Sen. Moynihan- would prohibit the use of certain ammunition. To the Committee on the Judiciary.

S. 154 Sen. Moynihan- A bill to amend title 18, US Code, with respect to the licensing of - ammunition manufacturers, and for other purposes; To the Committee on the Judiciary.

S. 155 Sen. Moynihan- would require the collection and dissemination of information on injuries, death and family dissolution due to bullet-related violence; require the keeping of records with respect to dispositions of ammunition, and increase taxes on certain bullets. To the Committee on Finance.

S. 156 Sen. Moynihan- would prohibit the manufacture, transfer or importation of .25 cal., .32 cal. and 9 mm ammunition. To the Committee on the Judiciary.

S. 157 Sen. Moynihan- would tax 9 mm, .25 cal. and .32 cal. bullets at 1,000%. To the Committee on Finance.

S. 158 Sen. Moynihan (D-NY)- would regulate the manufacture, importation and sale of ammunition capable of piercing police body armor. To the Committee on the Judiciary.

For our own purposes ... that is, to demonstrate how extreme measures can be proposed by an honorable and conscientious legislature "for our own good", these bills are noted that they were all left to die "in committee" for the simple reason that they were demonstrably too extreme to be acceptable to the voting public.

Let us leave these bills in their rightful place of obscurity, but remember them as a measure of anti-gun rhetoric and extremism.

TSA "Reconfirms" Commitment to FFDO Program

ALPA, Intl. FastRead
(Please click on the above link to read the entire statement in its original form.)

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), in a response to an editorial from the Washington Times, confirms that the dera; Flight Deck Officers program (FFDO), which allows airline pilots to be armed in order to defend against aggressive take-overs of civilian airline planes, is NOT being terminated by de-funding the program. Rather, the program is expected to expand.

This is in stark contrast to not only the WaTimes editorial, but also to early reports that the United States Federal Government has historically made it exceptionally difficult for qualified Flight Deck Officers to take advantage of the opportunity to qualify for the program OR to acquire the training.

During this initial report on Cogito Ergo Geek ("Guns On A Plane"), we noted the difference between an "Editorial" and a news report. We also noted that this "opinion" is "... long on opinion and short on facts."

Historically, Liberal MSM sources have blurred the difference between "News" and "Editorializing". In this specific instance, the (conservative) Washington Times has fallen into the same editorial trap, to its supposed embarrassment.


We're not convinced that this 'expansion' of the program is the original intend of the government; it's possible that the clarification was the direct result of the initial outrage of those writers who took the Times Editorial to be literal fact.

Yes, I am suggesting that the intentions of the Federal Government have been changed in response to public outcry.

However, there is no evidence currently available to support this presumption, so I don't propose it as a valid 'conspiracy theory'.

On the other hand, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me.

Social Security Warning - Not a Current Bill!

Boy, it's sure hard to keep up with the junk mail we get.

This week I received the following email from a well-meaning friend:

SOCIAL SECURITY CHANGES

It does not matter if you personally like or dislike Obama. You need to sign this petition and flood his e-mail box with e-mails that tell him that, even if the House passes this bill, he needs to veto it. It is already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If the government gives benefits to 'illegal' aliens who have never contributed, where does that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working lives?

As stated below, the Senate voted this week to allow 'illegal' aliens access to Social Security benefits.
Attached is an opportunity to sign a petition that requires citizenship for eligibility to that social service.

Instructions are below. If you don't forward the petition and just stop it, we will lose all these names.

If you do not want to sign it, please just forward it to everyone you know.

Thank you!

To add your name, click on 'forward'. Address it to all of your email correspondents, add your name to the list and send it on.

When the petition hits 1,000, send it to comment@whitehouse.gov

PETITION for President Obama:

Dear Mr. President:
We, the undersigned, protest the bill that the Senate voted on recently which would allow illegal aliens to access our Social Security. We demand that you and all Congressional representatives require citizenship as a pre-requisite for social services in the United States.

We further demand that there not be any amnesty give n to illegal aliens, NO free services, no funding, no payments to and for illegal immigrants

(follows: 994 names, with city and state of residence)

With a little help from GOOGLE, I determined to my own satisfaction that this was not a true interpretation of any current bill. I send the following to all of the original recipients of MY email, and I encourage you to pay attention to the cautionary statement:

I think this is not a current bill.

There was some discussion about a similar bill in 2006:
http://www.factcheck.org/article447.html
(Note that this source is dubious, as 'factcheck.org' is a notiously Liberal website.)


The nearest thing to a current bill with reference to Social Security requires a valid SSN.


I see no other current bills which refer to a clause which will allow benefits to illegal aliens ... assuming that these individuals do not have a valid Social Security Number (A Tax Identification Number, which most illegal aliens use to report taxable income, is not sufficient.)

There remains a problem if illegal aliens are able to acquire a valid SSN in their own names. I would rather see a move to tighten up the regulations regarding the assignment of new SSN to "Undocumented Immigrants" (eg: "Illegal Aliens").

---

Please remain dubious about any internet/email 'warning' which does not cite a bill number. Usually these are generated by people who fall within three groups:
1.) they don't understand the bill that they read
2.) they don't realize that the bill is 'old news'
3.) they are deliberately 'scamming' the public just to cause trouble.

I assume that the originators of this email alert fill into the third category. If they are upset about a bill which is three years old, they would still identify the bill. These folks didn't perform that basic requirement, so I can only believe that this represents a deliberate attempt to embarrass recipients/responders, a thousand people at a time.

Also, sending the 'petition' to the whitehouse when it reaches a given number of names (here, 1000 names are required) will inevitably result in more confusion than it would be helpful. Expect that each person forwards the email to 4 or 5 other concerned friends; the petition sign-up will result in tens of thousands of petitions with the same people signing up. Also, petitions are not legitimate without the full residential address. Just giving the town and state does not uniquely identify petitioners.

Finally, we should all be more considerate of our own and our friends' confidentiality. We don't want our names to be displayed across the internet, if only to protect ourselves from Identity Theft.

Please, for your sake and for mine, do NOT proliferate SPAM ... for this is what we see here.

I've just spent 5 minutes researching the subject and came up with links showing that the last time a bill even close to this one is at least three years old, and no current bill comes close enough to the 'warning' to be a definite match.

As concerned citizens, we need to be aware of current pending legislation; but signing 'email petitions' is not the way to respond to offensive bills.

Instead, if you would rally your friends and neighbors, do the research and ALWAYS include the bill number (and date, and applicable text to support your contention that the bill is odious.)

And then, do NOT add your name to a chain-letter. Write directly to your congress-critter. Or better yet, send a snail-mail letter, or phone their congressional office.

Whatever you do, don't send it to me!

Guns on a plane

Washington Times - EDITORIAL: Guns on a plane

After the September 11 attacks, commercial airline pilots were allowed to carry guns if they completed a federal-safety program. No longer would unarmed pilots be defenseless as remorseless hijackers seized control of aircraft and rammed them into buildings.

Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.

The Obama administration this past week diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots.

This looks like completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots....

A recent Washington Times Editorial suggests that President Obama's might be quietly taking steps to undermine the FFDO (Federal Filght Deck Officer) plan which allows some airline pilots to take special training to qualify them to carry firearms on the Flight Deck of airplanes, to defend the flight crew and passengers from Terrorist attempts to take over control of in-flight airplanes. (See: Twin Towers, Penatagon, Pennsylvania, 9/11.)

The article ... and please note that this is an EDITIORIAL, which means it is someone's interpretation and extrapolation of minimal FACTS ... describes the othewise-unsupported conclusion that this is a subtle blow at teh FFDO program.

Well, maybe it is. We note in passing that annual funding for this program is on the order of $15 million, and it's difficult to see where the money is being spent since anecdotal evidence is that pilots pay for their training, on their own time. What has the money been spent on so far?

The assertion that funding is being diverted "... to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots." Our interpretation is that the Obama Administration is adding one more layer of bureaucracy to a program which is already under-funded, unsupported (by Congress, and other layers of the Federal government) and is the "Red Headed Stepchild" of 9/11.

Still, this ... "editorial" ... is long on opinion and short on facts. It's either a "good catch" by investigative reporters, or an unsupportable logical extention proposed by an Editor with an axe to grind against the incumbent administration and it's carefully hidden agenda vis a vis Gun Control.

Doesn't that about summarize the alternatives?

I have a lot more to say on this subject, but rather than to bore you with my personal interpretation I'll just provide the link and allow you to make up your own minds.

A thorough reading of the comments attached to this post will serve to acquaint you with the various 'positions', in response to the article. Although there are a few commentors who seem to be completely Clue-less about the concept of "Concealed Carry", both sides make pertinent points.
'
Usually, the discussion focuses (Rightly, I think) on whether the ruling is significant; and if it is, what does that mean?

I'm not as entirely clueless as I probably sound, but this uncertainty about the factual basis of the EDITORIAL is regretable. I would wish that the author had made a more thorough search on the background, the effect of the ruling, and the consequences. Does this mean that fewer FFDO's will be certified to carry a weapon on the flight deck of commercial airplanes? And what about the efficiency of U.S. Marshals riding (armed) on no more than 3% of the domestic flights?

Oh yes, while I have much to say, I have more to ask. Which is why I'm not saying much, while at the same time suggestion questions for the discerning reader.

Hopefully, during the next few days, more information will become available ... which will allow we few to form an informed opinion.


The best I can say at the moment is;
it seems folly to allow almost ANYONE on board a vessal which can easily be turned into a Weapon of Mass Desruction. (CF: 9/11)

Also, we already know (if we have read our day-to-day News Reports) that the FFDO program is not widely supported among Democratic Congressmen ... who form a majority in both houses.

Finally, we know that Gun Control measures, no matter what name they may hide behind, are only likely to significantly affect the Law Abiding. Terrorists will not be inconvenienced, let alone disuaded' by the potention penalties they may have to pay if they are found having toboard an airplane while in possession of a clearly definable "WEAPON".

Until we have more information, we are lot likely to express an opinion.

Still, it does generate some very interesting questions.