Which is the more dangerous sport?

Florida high school basketball player, 18, dies after collapsing during practice | Fox News:

An 18-year-old Florida high school basketball player died on Saturday after collapsing at practice a day earlier, one of his former coaches says.

 When I respond to people who want to sign up for my "Introduction to USPSA" class, I include the following boilerplate text:

"IPSC competition is safer than high-school football."

Perhaps I should widen that comment; perhaps I should say "safer than high-school athletic sports."

I've never seen anyone die on the Playing Fields of IPSC.

Which is more than we can say about Florida High-School Basketball.

Doctor Strangelove

Report: US came close nuclear disaster in 1961 | General Headlines | Comcast:

LONDON (AP) — A U.S. hydrogen bomb nearly detonated on the nation's east coast, with a single switch averting a blast which would have been 260 times more powerful than the device that flattened Hiroshima, a newly published book says. 

 In a recently declassified document, reported in a new book by Eric Schlosser, the supervisor of the nuclear weapons safety department at Sandia national laboratories said that one simple, vulnerable switch prevented nuclear catastrophe. 

The Guardian newspaper published the document on Saturday. 

Two hydrogen bombs were accidentally dropped over Goldsboro, North Carolina on Jan. 24, 1961 after a B-52 bomber broke up in flight. One of the bombs apparently acted as if it was being armed and fired — its parachute opened and trigger mechanisms engaged. Parker F. Jones at the Sandia National Laboratories analyzed the accident in a document headed "How I learned to mistrust the H-Bomb."

 "The MK39 Mod 2 bomb did not possess adequate safety for the airborne-alert role in the B-52," he wrote. When the B-52 disintegrates in the air it is likely to release the bombs in "a near normal fashion," he wrote, calling the safety mechanisms to prevent accidental arming "not complex enough."

And we thought the Bay of Pigs was scary!

Obama says fight for gun laws 'ought to obsess us'

Obama says fight for gun laws 'ought to obsess us' | Political Headlines | Comcast:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Sunday memorialized the victims of the Washington Navy Yard shooting by urging Americans not to give up on a transformation in gun laws that he argued are to blame for an epidemic of violence. "There is nothing inevitable about it — it comes about because of decisions we make or fail to make," Obama said. Reprising his role of the nation's consoler in chief after yet another mass shooting, Obama issued a call to action on gun control measures that failed to pass earlier this year [emphasis added] and show no new momentum in the wake of last week's rampage at a military installation just blocks from the Capitol.

"Our tears are not enough," Obama told thousands gathered to mourn at the Marine Barracks. "Our words and our prayers are not enough. If we really want to honor these 12 men and women, if we really want to be a country where we can go to work and go to school and walk our streets free from senseless violence without so many lives being stolen by a bullet from a gun, then we're going to have to change."

Obama said when such senseless deaths strike in America, "it ought to be a shock to all of us, it ought to obsess us [emphasis added]. It ought to lead to some sort of transformation."
But, Obama said, "nothing happens. Alongside the anguish of these American families, alongside the accumulated outrage so many of us feel, sometimes I fear there is a creeping resignation that these tragedies are just somehow the way it is, that this is somehow the new normal. We cannot accept this. As Americans bound in grief and love, we must insist here today there is nothing normal about innocent men and women being gunned down where they work."
He said no other advanced nation endures the kind of gun violence seen in the United States, and blamed mass shootings in America on laws that fail "to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people."
"What's different in America is it's easy to get your hands on a gun," he said. He acknowledged "the politics are difficult," a lesson he learned after failing to get expanded background checks for gun buyers through the Democratic-controlled Senate this spring. Obama had proposed the measure after the shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School killed 20 first-graders and six staff.

...

Apologies for the extended quote. I kept reading and couldn't find a place to quit quoting the article.

It is just that all, ALL, of this quote completely ignores the fact that mass shootings are not restricted to American shopping malls, as my last article demonstrates.

In America, we are inflicted by the odd single evil idiot (Jerk?  Ass-hat?) who decides that a crowded public "Gun Free Zone" (school, church, shopping mall .. whatever) is the perfect place to "go out in a blaze of glory".

In other places in this sad world, the evil idiot brings his friends along, too.  It's not individual dementia; it's massive political/social/religious dementia which causes the murder of innocents.

Evil is as Evil does.  We will never get rid of Evil.

Politicians may make fart noises noises about The Evil Gun, but deep inside they know that the mere passage of guns will not change societal ills.  Changing Society ... might.  And they have the power to change society, but not the will.

It's easy to pass laws against Evil.  Everybody does it, and too the same lame effect.  Which is to say, passing laws against guns is ineffective at best.  Chicago knows it, but they still try to legislate against guns instead of gangs:

Chicago Police Chief Calls for Nationwide Assault Weapon and High-Capacity Magazine Ban

On Thursday, 13 people were shot and injured in a park in Chicago. The shootings were carried out by an “assault style rifle” with a high-capacity magazine, both of which are already banned in the city of Chicago. Nevertheless, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy has called for a nationwide ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

“Illegal guns drive violence. Military-type weapons, like the one we believe to have been used in this shooting, belong on a battlefield, not on a street or in a corner or in a park.”

Chicago was named the murder capital of the United States by the FBI on Thursday, and has had more homicides this month than several states yearly total for 2011.

 Yes, that's the Same Chicago where Raum Emmanuel went to be elected Mayor .. and even he isn't smart enough to fix the problems!


And ..  the Governor of Illinois isn't smart enough to figure it out, either:

 CBS) – Gov. Pat Quinn says he would consider using state resources to help combat Chicago street violence.
Speaking about this week’s mass shooting in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, Quinn says he’s open to talking with Mayor Emanuel or Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy about supplementing Chicago law enforcement with state police or the Illinois National Guard.
He said he’s had no specific conversations but noted state police are helping patrol in East St. Louis, another city that has its challenges with violent crime

SO:
The MAYOR of Chicago, the CHIEF OF POLICE of Chicago, and the GOVERNOR of Illinois ... have no idea why innocents in Chicago keep getting shot, and they're really nervous because it makes them look bad.

Let's look at this in just a slightly different way:  Chicago has perhaps the most repressive anti-gun laws in the greatest/most free country in the world, and they don't know why their citizens keep getting shot!  Why do they have one of the highest murder rates in the country?

Hmmm .. guns are illegal.  Gangs are illegal.  Gangs have guns.  Honest citizens don't have guns.

Nope. I give up, too.  I can't see any logical connection.

After all, it's illegal to have guns because "y'all might hurt yourself".  The only  people with guns are cops and crooks.   Why are 3-year old children being murdered in Chicago?

Makes no sense to me.

Obama says that the fight for gun laws "ought to obsess us"?

Seems like it does.
______________________________________________

There are a few people who are looking closer at "people control" than at "Gun Control", however:

"Get Homicidal Maniacs Off The Streets"

The nation's mental health system is "in complete breakdown," resulting in not enough of the mentally ill being committed to psychiatric hospitals, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre told NBC's "Meet the Press."

"If we leave these homicidal maniacs on the street ... they're going to kill," he said. "They need to be committed is what they need to be. If they are committed, they're not at the Naval Yard."

The question is too complicated for a mere few to force changes in society ... which is much more difficult than passing new Gun Control laws: ....  Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., the co-author of a bill to expand background checks to more gun purchasers, acknowledged the bill remains stalled in the Senate. He told CBS he has no intention of renewing his effort to pass the measure in light of the Navy Yard shootings unless he seems movement on the part of the opponents of the bill.

"I'm not going to go out there and just beat the drum for the sake of beating the drum," he said. "There has to be people willing to move off the position they've taken, and they've got to come to that conclusion themselves."

Makes no sense to me. 

I Agree with John Kerry!

Terrorist Attack at Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya:

Today's terrorist massacre of so many innocents is a heartbreaking reminder that there exists unspeakable evil in our world which can destroy life in a senseless instant. I want to express my deepest condolences - and the condolences of our entire nation - to the families and friends of the victims in Nairobi today. While the casualty count is still to be determined, we know already that there are at least 30 innocent men, women, and children dead and 60 injured, including several American citizens. We have offered our assistance to the Government of Kenya and stand ready to help in any way we can.

[emphasis added]

How refreshing it is that America's Premier Idiot (save "The One") has acknowledged that these mass shootings are the logical consequence of Evil People doing Evil, rather than the preposterous example of guns driving good people into a killing frenzy.

Is it possible that John Kerry has been driven sane by a shopping mall slaughter committed on somebody else's soil?

No, I don't think so either.  It's all just more Politics

ARPC Match; September, 2013

The 2013 IPSC season is winding down in Oregon ... kind of ... but you couldn't tell it by the September match at Albany.  There were 66 competitors at the match.  For reasons too complex and boring to go into, I didn't compete but I did show up toward the end of the match to watch a couple of people shoot.  Also, I had a half-dozen people in the last couple of month's "Introduction to USPSA" class who I had hoped will complete their certification, and I wanted to see how they did.

In the actual event, only 2 of the recent class participants actually competed.  Note that this is the final phase of Certification Training; each participant must complete a scheduled match without incurring a Match Disqualification (violation of a Safety Rule) before the training is deemed to have been successfully completed.

The two class members were "Hodgins" (because he looks so much like the Bug&Slime Guy on the television show"BONES") and his partner, Kelsey.  A young couple, they were typical of the people who show up for class:  enthusiastic, gun-savvy, and with great gun-handling skills.  (More on this later.)  I didn't get to watch "Hodgins" shoot, but Kelsey looked like she had been doing IPSC matches for years on the one stage I witnessed.   It was a six-target stage with movement between shooting positions ... looked like a Classifier, although I can't name it right now.   Her last two shots were snake-eye A-zone hits, and she wasn't wasting a lot of time;  she was focusing on accuracy, which is exactly what she was suppose to be doing.    I was impressed by her no-nonsense "Get It Done" attitude.  No nervousness,  just having fun and being safe.  The accuracy was a pleasant bonus.  (She seemed more nervous during the class than at the match!)

Funny Stories:
No-Shoot Targets are Penalty Targets.  We all know that they are introduced into a stage design in order to force the competitors to tighten up on their accuracy.  Almost invariably, the no-shoots (or "WHITE targets ... the backside of IPSC targets are colored white, as opposed to the 'shoot targets' which are brown in color found on the front side) are strategically placed so they they overlay at least a portion of one or more 'shoot targets'.

This confuses and confounds many of us 'average shooters' because we have to slow WAY down to focus on accuracy.  The better shooters shrug it off, because they ALWAYS shoot accurately.  In fact, at this club the top shooter is often Gene, with second place being the real race.  There are a half-dozen very good shooters (usually Master class) who really have to fight it out amongst them.  This race is complicated by the division in which they choose to compete at any given match.  A few stick with Open gun, while a few have chosen the more 'challenging' divisions; on example was Bill the Elder who chose to compete in Single-Stack Division shooting a 9mm (Minor Power) pistol.  No surprise that Bill won Single-Stack, because he is just that good.

But in this case, Trevor -- who is always working hard at everything he does -- allowed himself to get distracted by the White Target on one side of his final stage.  He ended up with a "D-hit" and a Miss, but as he told me later "... at least I didn't get a No-Shoot!"

That was sufficient to put him down a slot; Yawn got 2nd Place and predictably Gene won the match "overall".

On the other hand, my old friend Whitefish (so nicknamed for his penchant of selecting white-target-seeking bullets) actually shot a clean match!  No misses, no penalties!  It's not QUITE as unusual for him to shoot a clean match than it is for me, but rare enough that it's worthy of notice.

Unfortunately, he did have on single little .... incident.

You know those new magnetic magazine carriers which are guaranteed not to drop a mag until you SLIDE it off the surface?  He had positioned one on his gear belt a bit too close to his holster.  Apparently, it had not occurred to him that this was problematic, until he drew on one stage and caught the muzzle-brake (or forward end of the slide ... not clear in the telling) on the magnet.  He tugged and tugged, he could tell that he had cleared the holster, but he could not raise the pistol!

Finally, he looked down and saw that it was stuck on the magnet.  It was no great chore to then 'slide' the gun off the magnet and commence shooting, but he lost several seconds of stage time trying to resolve the UNIQUE problem.

When he told me this story after the match, I asked him to please photograph his equipment belt when he got home and send me the photo.  He demurred, saying: "I moved the magnet to the back of my belt, and that's where it's going to stay!"

Then he and I and Mike the Revolver Guy swapped stories about using race-gun holsters and failing to unlock the gun before drawing.  Think: grown men swearing while pulling their holsters (and underwear) toward their armpits.  No, it's not a pretty picture.

Gun-Handling Skills:
At the pre-match "Introduction to USPSA"class conducted the weekend preceding the class, there was one young woman who had a very limited amount of experience with shooting, especially with a pistol.  She participated in the Classroom Discussion and demonstrated a good understanding of the rules and procedures, but Classroom work is all intellectual; it doesn't test actually physical skills, nor does it necessarily lead to safe shooting practices.

Due to limitations of time and resources, there was no way she could be incorporated into the class without taking away from the other participants, all of whom were experienced   So she graciously sat through the entire 3-hour class while waiting for her friends to finish ... including the guy who owned the car that was going to take her home.

I advised them then to register her into the "Basic Handgun" class offered by the club on a monthly basis.  And for myself, I will alter my 'boilerplate' instructions to New Students to emphasize that the "Introduction to USPSA" is an ADVANCED class, and only open to participants who have sufficient experience and expertise to meet the minimum requirements.

Until a while ago, I had expected that the applicants for the class would go through the Discipline Director first, and he would ascertain their experience and qualification.   Essentially, he would question the people who wished to take the class, and if they were not qualified he would direct them toward the training which more accurately built their skill-sets.  The club has re-organized, and we haven't got all of the "vetting process" resolved.  Since this young woman was an adolescent (17) I had required that she be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian .. and so she was.  I explained to her and her attendant parent that I could not allow a tyro to participate in the Live Fire Exercise, so she was relegated to the Peanut Gallery while she watched others (including her drive) shoot.

No, IPSC is not a Spectator Sport.  She was very patient, but had it been me I would have been quietly fuming.  She had to watch everybody else have fun shooting, and she didn't even get to gear up!

This business of training shooters is an iterative process, and often the instructors learn as much as do the students.  For every potential student (those who express an interest by the process of contacting me to register for the class) I send a several-page "Boilerplate".  This supposedly covers all the questions and requirements which may be helpful to the students.

Unfortunately, I have not yet thought to revise it to specify that the class was available only to "EXPERIENCED" pistol shooters.   Nor have I identified the class as an "ADVANCED CLASS".

I shall revise the Boilerplate to emphasize that requirement, and I do hope that this will serve to avoid disappointment to future attendees.

There's always something that can be improved in every course of instruction.  The trick is to identify it before discovering that one has just disenchanting a prospective Competitor,

911 Blogmeat ( a little late, I know)

911
I'm still mad as hell!

SYRIA
Volunteerism ... not my job.

COLORADO
Good for you (voting out the leftests)  Bad for you (flooding)
Is there a connection?  I hope not.  God IS on 'our side'.  I know, because He told me so!
God controls floods, and we can do little about it;  
Citizens control Government.  Learn this, shady left-leaning power-mad bottom-feeding arrogant politicians!

WASHINGTON –  The historic Colorado recall election that resulted this week in two Democratic lawmakers being ousted from office was seen by many as a rebuke to their support of gun control legislation. The head of the Democratic Party had a different take. 
"This was voter suppression, pure and simple," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement. 
Schultz claimed the elections in Colorado on Tuesday "were defined by the vast array of obstacles that special interests threw in the way of voters for the purpose of reversing the will of the legislature and the people."
But Republicans says that's nonsense. And they sharply dispute the claim that if more people were able to vote, the Democrats would have survived the recall. 
Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer tweeted: “Dems lose BOTH seats in CO..  cue@DWStweets sore loser rhetoric" -- a reference to Schultz' comments. 
Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler's office also questioned Schultz' argument. 
"When you look at the results of this recall election, when more people showed up, Democrats got crushed," he told Politico. "So why she has any credibility whatsoever just blows me away when she says stuff that's just completely contradicted by facts on the ground." 
On Tuesday, voters in Colorado successfully recalled Senate President John Morse, by 51 percent to 49 percent, and Sen. Angela Giron of Pueble, Colo., by 56 percent to 44 percent.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/12/gop-calls-out-dems-over-accusation-voter-suppression-in-colorado-recall/?intcmp=trending#ixzz2eig7IsVQ

Okay, it's clear that Democrats are more interested in form than in substance.  Or, stated another way ... they don't care if they support the will of the public,  all they want to do is to RULE, and they're willing to risk their careers in the mad pursuit of power!

(Of course, Republican Politicians are no better.)

" ...the vast array of obstacles that special interests threw in the way of voters for the purpose of reversing the will of the legislature and the people."?
Perhaps Colorado requires the voters provide proof of Citizenship and Identity"?
 Well, yes, I agree; that would provide a major obstacle for 'many"
 would-be voters in Colorado.

For a candid view from a Colorado resident, check out the entirely unbiased comments of Michael Bane:
x

Blogmeat: September 7, 2013

I had the most AMAZING week this week!

For the past several weeks, I have been fighting a cold.  A Summer Cold .. which (as we all know) is the Very Worst Kind.

It started out with a cold sore on the lips, and that's not a good sign.  The cold sore went away after a week, but I still kept coughing, sneezing, and I felt like crap  ("Ague")  Yes, my nose was runny and it never seemed to stop.  Hard to get any sleep at night with all of that going on.

In fact, it lasted for six weeks!

I finally decided, in concert with my personal physician, that it might be a Allergies, rather than a cold, which was causing my distress.

Then .. Thursday .. it rained!

No more runny nose.  No more coughing, and strangely enough no more rash or red skin!

So .. okay, it's all about Allergies.  Pollen, or dust in the air?  Who knows.  The thing is, the rain knocked it all down so I could breathe (and sleep!) again.


THEN I got a call from an old Army Buddy whom I haven't seen for a while.  He's got two shot-up legs and walks 5 miles a day; I never got a scratch in Viet Nam (if you don't count Bamboo Poisoning, which took 5 years to clear up) and I love to rehash our mutual experiences.  The good part?  He had it MUCH worse than I did!  The bad part?  I spent the whole year Over There; he spend like 15 days.

Well .. but he spent a few years in the hospital, and went through a lot of operations.  Each one made it better, though, and he seems to move pretty good now, within limits.

Also, I got a recommendation from my landlord for a WiFi Router, which I got a good price on at Amazon, and I installed it today;  it works just fine, and I can use my Laptop while I'm watching TV without incurring charges on my StupidPhone.

I got to renew my vehicle registration online .. no waiting in line.  That's always A Good Thing, isn't it?  I thought so

Finally ... I taught my Introduction to USPSA class today.  Four students ( a couple didn't show, which I have come to expect .. they best know how to schedule their personal time).  Most of the folks who attended were 'savvy', had good gun-handling skills.  They were smart, personable, and nobody EVER made 'a bad move'.

Some classes, there is at least one person who is just not 'clear on the concept'.  Not today.  I tend to do faux "DQ" calls when a student violates a Safety Rule.  (I don't really send them home, but I announce it loudly, so they face the chagrin of their fellow students; it's a "difficult"  training technique, but if new students don't get a negative feedback they don't know how bad it is to be unsafe when you're "Runnin' & Gunnin'".)  It didn't happen today; everyone was entirely safe, entirely aware,  and entirely aware of where the muzzle and trigger are. 

There are classes when I feel as if the best I can do is to correct major deficiencies, and hope the accept the lessons.  This class, I didn't feel that I had to use 'superlatives' to reward them.  Simply pointing out the positives was enough to keep them going; they didn't have safety issues at ALL.

Unfortunately, one of the five students was a 17 year-old young woman who, as it turned out, didnt;' have any significant experience shooting a pistol.  I had to disallow her to take part in the Live Fire Exercise.  No choice; it would have taken too much time trying to teach her Basic Hand-gunning Skills, and this is an Advanced Class.   I wasn't aware until we all met that she didn't know how to shoot a pistol,  so I couldn't let her shoot.  Her Mom and her Mom's Boyfriend were there, but they hadn't realized that she couldn't learn gun-handling skills in a 3-hour class.  So she  patiently sat through the classroom segment, and participated; but she couldn't actually touch a gun, and I'm sure the last two hours were completely boring to her.  This is NOT a Spectator Sport!

Fortunately, she got to watch other people, with various levels of skill, try to deal with increasingly challenging tests, so perhaps she (and her mother, and the BF) got to see why the "Introduction to USPSA" class requires a basic minimum of experience that she just didn't have.

Then my Saturday was over.  I came home, showered, rested .. and then I installed my new Wi-Fi Router.  I can use my Laptop again, and don't have to worry about the slow response of the Hotspot from my Stupid phone!

Okay, that's all pretty boring for you.  But I'm jazzed that everything that happened to me this week worked out well.

Is it just me?  Am I the only one who rates my life on a week-to-week basis instead of Day-by-Day?

You get happiness where you find it.  For me, it was in the final bit of Schadenfreude I uncovered  this morning.

The local "Streets Program" has workers fixing sewers and storm drains, and repaving streets in the summer.  I'm fairly well resolved to accepting the Alternate Routes when the streets & intersections are closed for repairs .. which never last less than 3 days.

But it rained, Thursday!

When I drove through that major intersection Friday, I found it was closed.

The heavy rain Thursday had flooded the intersection.  The repairs to the storm-drain system apparently failed, as it has never failed before.  The intersection was closed .. I had to take a bypass-route.

The shovel-leaners spent 3 days 'fixing' the storm drains .. and it didn't survive the first thunderstorm?


Yes!  Score one for the folks whose taxes pay their wages!

Sometimes, you just KNOW that these guys with the shovels and the "street closed" signs are entirely clueless.

Okay, it WAS "Shadenfreude"!

Assault Weapon Ban: nothing new here, except ....

Deconstructing the “Assault Weapon Ban” Fiction of the American Political Science Review:

Oh, dear. It seems that the American Political Science Review did a lousy job of refereeing a pseudo-academic study, Cross-Border Spillover: U.S. Gun Laws and Violence in Mexico. 

The study was brought to us by Joshua Keating from Slate, which is merely guilty of being a hack e-zine.

 Keating’s article is primarily the result of an uninformed reporter assuming that academics in soft social sciences actually engage in more than bias-reinforcing navel-gazing. Put bluntly, he doesn’t have the background to write intelligently about the subject, which is sadly a common truth for most journalists. Keating’s inability to do more than parrot what he’d like to believe is merely exacerbated by the inflammatory image chosen to accompany the article.

... except the only thing here is that which all of us who were affected by the Assault Weapons Ban is that it didn't accomplish a thing!

Most of us have quit wondering "Why did they even bother?"   The entire Political Fiasco was nothing more than 'feel-good' legislation intended to make it appear that lazy politicians were actually "DOING SOMETHING!"

Politicians are like Summer Colds: annoying, apparantly veering from low-key presence to sneezes and sniffles and maybe you miss a couple days of work.  Then you shrug your shoulders and go on with your life, knowing that next year you'll go through the same thing for no reason and no permanent change in your life.

And .. there's no cure for Politicians, either.

This article, self-described as a deconstruction, worked just fine.  Hard tell how many of us read it, though, then shrugged and went on with our life.

ITEM:  The Assault Weapon Ban had no clear-cut goal, except the announced one of reducing violent crime by removing murder-guns from public hands.
RESULT:  No murder rates were affected by removing murder guns from public hands.  In fact, most of the guns which were most 'restricted' were not previously involved in violent crime, and so .. what did they expect would happen, after the interveiws were over?  Oh, the authors would get re-elected?
CONCLUSION:  Nobody every lost any money by underestimating the intelligence of the American Voting Public.

ITEM:  Manufacturers noted that specific firearms were identified by brand/model name and/or specific 'deadly' features.
RESULT: Manufacturers either changed the model name, or changed/deleted the named cosmetic features, and continued to sell the same firearm for the same price
CONCLUSION:  Two parts:  First, Politicians are naive; Second, Politicians never look at the consequences OR the result of the laws they pass, they only look at their press clippings.  Here's a possible third conclusion:  the negative press clippings never make it into their scrap-books, so they believe there were no negative press clippings.

ITEM:  Main Stream Media sources (AKA: "Useful Idiots") are so busy sucking up to politicians, they tend not to evaluate their performance.
RESULT: MSM to this day thinks that the reason why the Assault Weapons Ban was repealed after ten years is because of the Evil Conservatives with try to the Evil Capitalists who brought us "Assault Weapons"  (and refrigerators and typewriters) instead of acknowledging that the only reason the AWB was passed was because Conservative demanded that if the Liberals couldn't prove an improvement in ten years, the Law would be "Sundowned".

CONCLUSION:  MSM and Politicians (and here we're specifically talking about Liberal Feel-Good Politicians) don't really care whether their high-profile issues negatively affect honest law-abiding citizens more than people who are going to break the law 'anyway', they just want to be seen as trying to "Do Something".  Because they believe it will look good on their resume. And the sad fact is, it does!  These same Maroons are getting re-elected, and the same sycophantic civilians are still writing op-ed pieces for the New York Times.

So, What's It All Mean, Dean?
It doesn't mean nothing.  Politicians imposed a ten-year moratorium on such inconsequential "Assault Weapon"n features as bayonette lugs, flash hiders, magazines with a capacity of over ten rounds, pistol grips on rifles ... etc ad nauseum.  All arbitrary, all obviously non-sensical, but because some IDIOTS had elected other IDIOTS to National Office, honest and law-abiding citizens had to put up with "work arounds"

During this period (1994 - 2004), I personally came into possession of a number of magazines with a capacity of over ten rounds ... including 25-round pistol magazines.  It was entirely legal, and I never misrepresented myself.  Nobody ever asked me if I had a criminal record because even if I HAD been a criminal, it would have been legal for me to buy them.

I used these Nefarious Tools of Crime to miss both cardboard and steel targets with ease, laughing all the time because even though I was forced to admit that I can't hit the broadside of the barn with a pistol, I was still defying the law of the land!  I HAD EM!  AND IT WAS LEGAL!

A slap in the face for Clintons (one and all), Kennedy, Kerry,  Lautenberg, and McKinnea and all of their Alphabetically Ordered/Politically Correct/Clue-less Ilk!


These political hacks couldn't write a sound law if their lives depended on it.  We all knew it.  We grumbled, we complained (some of us whined; most of us whined and did it anyway)  because we resented feeling like criminals for doing something which was legal .. but still proscribed.

The nice thing about this very late article is that someone is publishing a non-blogger article that says what we have been saying for decades:

What a bunch of maroons!

POST SCRIPT:

Bwa-hah-hah-hah-hah!

Iraq and Iran sign onto The War Against Syria

Iraqi officials, militants warn of threat to US | World News | Comcast: BAGHDAD (AP) —

Iranian-backed Shiite militias are threatening to retaliate against American interests inside Iraq if the United States goes ahead with strikes against the Tehran-allied government in neighboring Syria, according to Iraqi security officials and militants themselves. 

Iraqi officials say they are taking the warnings seriously. The threats, which come as President Barack Obama's administration and Congress debate possible military action over the Syrian regime's alleged use of chemical weapons, risk exacerbating an increasingly deteriorating security environment inside Iraq. 

Cleric Wathiq al-Batat, who leads the Mukhtar Army, a shadowy Iranian-backed militia, said his forces are preparing for a strong reaction against the interests of the U.S. and other countries that take part in any Syria strike. He claimed that militants have selected hundreds of potential targets, which could include both official American sites and companies "associated with the Americans."

Is this really just a not-so-subtle way of getting Iran to commit to blatant Anti-American policies .. so we (American Military) can use their actions as justification to attack Iran?


That's the  gist which has been floating around the Internet (and the MSM) lately.

The supposed scenario is that as the war against Syria expends into retaliatory strikes against Iran as well, other middle-eastern nations will joing in ... sufficient of the to expand the War Against Syria to a global war.

Is this "A Good Thing"?

No.

War is Not Good.  I've been to war; it sucks.  It was bad enough when the demonstrably-bad Republicans were micro-managing the war against Viet Nam.

What will Global War look like when various Nuclear Nations enter?

Not a pretty sight.  People are going to get killed in any war, but this Democratic Adventurism is going to lead to National Adventurism .

Read: Total War, all over the place.

There is a "camel's nose under the tent" process in the wings, here, and America should be girding itself for this Total Committment.

Oour Dear Leader is leading us down the Garden Path, and he knows not what my occur.

Why?

Because he is an idiot with delusions of establishing a Viable War Record, and going down in the history books for his own personal glorification.

My Son The Squid is in the Navy, and I can picture many scenarios where this President may put him In Harms Way.  He has five children, My Son The Squid, and if he dies in an unjust war ... I don't know what we will do.

Mine is not the only family who is wondering how we would survive without our young man.

It seems to me that Our Dear President is not paying attention to the Butcher's Bill which his actions may create.

I'd rather have a slothful, incompetent leader (can we say  "Biden"?) than an ambitious incompetent leader (Obama) making National Policy.

No You Can't .. Part II

Obama facing rank-and-file resistance to Syria plan, despite endorsements | Fox News: ed. Salmon made his comments minutes before the start of the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. The congressman also said the administration doesn't appear to have the House votes right now. "I don't think a majority of the Republican conference will support this," Salmon said. "And I suspect some Democrats will defect." Earlier in the day, Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash tweeted: "If members of Congress care at all what constituents think, they will not authorize strikes in #Syria. "Never seen an action w/ less support."

President Obama notched several incremental victories this week in his push for congressional approval of a strike in Syria -- winning the support of congressional leaders and, on Wednesday, the backing of a key Senate panel. 

But the president and his allies on the Hill are facing evident headwinds from rank-and-file members still not convinced that it's in the U.S. interest to launch missiles at Syria. 

"It's going to be very difficult for [the president] to convince me the United States should be involved," Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., told FoxNews.com. "I'm not seeing any threat to our national security." 

Some of the strongest voices in opposition are coming from the Republican wing of Capitol Hill. Secretary of State John Kerry got a grilling from skeptical Republicans during the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday afternoon; the hearing was far more contentious than one on the Senate side a day earlier.

 While leaders of the Republican-led House said Tuesday they would support a strike as punishment for Syrian President Bashar Assad's recent chemical weapons attack, many conservative members are openly opposed -- or at least undecided. 

 STRIKE ON SYRIA:

What does that mean .. "Strike on Syria"?

Missiles? Bombers?  Boots on the Ground?

Nobody seems to know, yet, exactly what kind of "retaliation" (for evils NOT committed against American Citizens) seem most appropriate by Our American President.

One thing is sure, though; President Obama seems determined to make his "War Time Legacy" based on an attack on a foreign country (which has not demonstrably attacked us first).

Will we send rockets?  Well we send bombers?  Or will we send American soldiers to invade this Middle-Eastern country?

Does it matter?

"I don't think a majority of the Republican conference will support this," Salmon said. "And I suspect some Democrats will defect." 

 Earlier in the day, Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash tweeted: "If members of Congress care at all what constituents think, they will not authorize strikes in #Syria. "Never seen an action w/ less support." 

I've never met a political who impressed me by what he "tweeted", and I couldn't  have less respect for anyone who expected that Twitter was a viable venue for political comment ... but just because the Congressman is clue-less about social websites, that doesn't mean he is clueless about political issues.

I remain adamant  in thinking that assaulting Syria, in any manner, because their president poisons his constituents ... is not within the prevue of the United States Constitution.  Color me pink, but I always thought that the Military arm of the United States had a mandate to protect American sovereignty .. not American Presidential Preferences.

Until it can be shown that Syria represents a threat to America, I think America should stick to its own knitting.

Or, as I may perhaps have said before:

"What a bunch of Maroons!

No, you can't

President Obama wants to bomb Syria back to the stone age.  He's having a LITTLE bit of trouble selling this to congress.

Why shouldn't he?

President Clinton responded to the bombing of a navy ship, sending a Tomahawk Missile to destroy either an aspirin factory, or a single camel.  Hmmmmm ... either way he ended up looking ineffective.

Tomahawks are very effective reducing, for example, Bagdad to rubble, but it didn't look all that good on Television.

President Al Gore was against Bush's actions, and .. oh, wait.  He never got to be President.  Now he's giving talks about Global Warming.  Well, God knows it's hot here in Geekistan today; 80 degrees, which is entirely unseasonable.

Oh, wait; it's entirely seasonable.

Well, President Kerry is against the Military. 

Oh, wait; he isn't.  He's Secretary of State, and ... hmm he's still against the Military.

Well, the Military has never done a bit of good for the American People.

Except, perhaps, during World War II, but that's a minor point.  But perhaps that's why he wants the United States of America to bomb Syria, because they sent "Freedom Fighters" to bomb New York.

Oh, wait; they didn't.  Those people were Saudi's, and our allies.  We don't want to bomb them.

But when Saudie citizens destroyed the Twin Towers of New York, they were wrong!  Are we agreed on that?

Bombing Syria is an entirely different thing, isn't it?

I'm just wondering, how is that different? 

Perhaps because bombing New York was an effort by "Private Enterprise" (aka: Al Queda), and bombing Syria is an effort by a Government.  We are a nation of Laws, and our laws tell us that we cannot bomb another country without a declaration of war.

So, we're going to war because a middle-Eastern country poisons it's own people?

That's what Saddam Husein did, and President Gore/Kerry/Obama were entirely against that process.

I'm really quite confused about the mechanism by which a sitting president can convince Congress to allow American troops to bomb another country.  Especially since President Obama, President Gore, and President Kerry were so adamantly against the American invasion of Iraq.

Is it not so much the actions, but the political party that makes the decision, that makes the difference?

Thank GOD we're being ruled by the Democratic Party, led by a political hack who has never had any experience in making a living other than being a "Community Organizer" and being a first-term U.S. Senator!

I'm so glad that Our President Obama holds his high office because he represented Chicago .. home of Drive By Shootings!

Oh.  Drive By Shooting?  Okay, That makes it all clear to me now.

Please, do as you will Mister President.  I have full faith in your judgement.

I'm so glad that you were elected on the basis of your offer of HOPE, and CHANGE!

: Shooting the S**t; or .. "Snakes Scare the S**T Out Of Me!"

Mausers, Medicine, & Motorcycles: Shooting the S**t
   From Mouser Medic's Blog for April 7, 2013:

So what does one do when tired of shooting a small target with poor feedback? Horse shit. Stands out great against yellow and green grass, misses are easily seen by the chunks of dirt flying in the air, and hits are, well, very easily seen as the material flies better than the dirt does. Revolvers at 100 yards keep it interesting.

But there are things more engaging blasting horse apples at long distances. Like having a copperhead pop up while crossing the creek recovering targets at the end of the day. Two men emptying revolvers into water a couple feet away, without prior planning or coordination, is very interesting indeed.

Shooting at Snakes:  The Pacific NorthWest includes some excellent snake country.  Nested rattlers along a fenceline (where we pretty much HAD to cross), and walking past a Umatilla County sagebrush and hearing that distinctive "I'm Gonna Get You, Suckah!" rattle.  Those moments are engraved in your Lizard Brain forever!

No harm, no foul.
The "Nested Rattlers" story?  True fact. My 3-man deer-hunting party was moving together to the other side of the hunting area, and when we got to a fence we found three timber-rattlers curled together in the sun, right where we had intended to cross the fence.  The grass was high, the sun was high, the fence was there and we wanted to be on the other side.  So we ignored the snakes, they ignored us, and we got safely through the fence during the mutual "cease fire".

Pistols as "Snake guns"
Note that shooting at a snake with a Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Magnum is singularly unrewarding, unless you have taken the precaution of building some "snake rounds" with #7 birdshot held in place with Toilet Paper Wads held in place with a generous dollop of paraffin.  Note also that the wax tends to melt in the temperatures which encourage Brer Snake to shake his boogie.

I actually loaded up some Snake Rounds according to this formula, for an Antelope Hunting trip to the Cheyenne area in or about 1990.  As it happens, I never DID find any Rattlers on this trip, but I tested the pattern against a telephone pole and discovered that at a six-foot standoff distance, that 7-1/2" barrel allowed the shot to spread over more than one foot, and the density was erratic at best.


At other times, I've responded (after the obligatory "JUMP FOR THE SKY" reaction) to rattlers with a variety of weaponry. 



Rifles as "Snake Guns"
The old Conventional Wisdom that you can point the barrel of a gun at a snake, and he will self-align his head with the bore?  I tried that one day when I was hunting Jack Rabbits in Southern Eastern Oregon, and got the Buzz Warning.

After I recovered from my initial fright, I stood ten feet away, extended the .25-06 with one hand and waited for the snake to 'extend'.  He did, I pulled the trigger, and ...  I never did know where the snake went.  Didn't find any blood, nor any body parts.  But the snake was GONE from Grant county, and I strutted back to the pick-up truck with the mien of a true conqueror.

Unfortunately, my hunting companions (my father and my Uncle) were lounging by the truck, watching me as I quartered the sagebrush patch, and they evinced great amusement when they saw me elevate six feet vertically and 20 feet back when I got The Buzz.   From a standing start.

 I had only recently returned from an extended vacation in Viet Nam, and I was perhaps too finely tuned to 'threat warnings'.  It was embarrassing, but I had by then learned the old saw about "Any engagement you walk away from, is a win".

The Ultimate Snake Gun
Actually, my experience as a high-school student was probably the most rewarding one.   At least, in terms of "Geek 1/Snake 0" scoreboard stats.

Upland Bird hunting in the rocky sagebrush of Umatilla County, I got buzzed by a cranky old rattler in the heat of the day.  He was close to his hidey-hole in a jumble of rocks, and did the Full Presentation.  He was coiled, hissing, looking me right in the eye and had that tail shaking like he was fully ready to strike.

I was packing a Winchester Model 12 in 12 gauge, with 1-1/2 ounces of #7 shot in a hand-loaded 2-3/4" AA hull, and a full-choke barrel.   I didn't jump, didn't even think about it.  I dropped the muzzle, snap-shot without looking at the sights, the barrel or the alignment.  Just .. BLOOEY!

Ten minutes later, I still hadn't found more than one piece of Old Mr. Rattler.  Only found a 3" piece of his backbone, with no skin on it.

That was when I learned to love the Twelve-Gauge Shotgun.

A few years later, that mind-set served me well in Vietnam.  Snakes or Charley Cong ...  it's not something you think about.  Identify the threat, remove the threat.

I have to admit, though, that Rattlers have always scared me a whole lot more than black pajamas and a silly-assed AK47.

WH confident on winning Hill support on Syria but uses 'flood the zone' to get votes | Fox News

WH confident on winning Hill support on Syria but uses 'flood the zone' to get votes | Fox News:
Published September 01, 2013 FoxNews.com 

The Obama administration, bolstered by evidence the Syrian government used lethal sarin gas on its own people, expressed confidence Sunday that Congress would back President Obama’s decision for a military strike on the Middle East country.

However, the president and his inner circle worked furiously over the weekend to win congressional support, appearing on Sunday shows, holding classified briefings and making calls to Capitol Hill leaders. 

A senior administration officials told Fox News that the president, Vice President Joe Biden and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough made phone calls on Sunday to senators and House members urging them to vote in favor of the authorization of military force in Syria. 

The official called the lobbying effort a "flood the zone" strategy, in an apparent acknowledgement of just how hard winning Capitol Hill approval will be. 

The effort was preceded by Secretary of State John Kerry blanketing the Sunday shows and administration official proceeding with a round of weekend briefings, as Capitol Hill lawmakers said Obama may not have the votes right now.

 Am I the only one who is amazed .. astounded .. that John Kerry is 'behind' the current (democratic) president's drive to attack a middle-eastern country for gassing citizens?

I'm reminded of the Iran situation several years ago, when then-president Bush (a Republican) proposed attacking Iran for the exact same thing.  Kerry, the well-known anti-war activist ("I was for it, before I was against it") and notorious war criminal (see his testimony on VietNam War activism) notoriously confronted the President because "there was no evidence" of gas attacks .. even though there was.

Today?

"Hey, no problem Brother."


Personally, I was uncomfortable when President Bush sent troops to Iraq.  Democrats, however, used the word "quagmire" until it became The New Black.  That send me back into support for The War on Terrorism; their bad!


Now, "The New Black" is "BOMB THEM INTO THE STONE AGE;  LET GOD SORT THEM OUT!"


Am I the only one who is getting tired of USA investing American troops into regime change efforts?

Where's the United Nations?   And where's Israel?  It's their neighborhood.  Aren't we paying them enough money to support their military?

If the president is Dithering, and the Secretary of State is contradicting his historical opposition to Regime Change ... WTF are these people doing?  Really?

UPDATE:

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria on Sunday derided President Barack Obama's decision to hold off on punitive military strikes, but also took precautions by reportedly moving some troops and military equipment to civilian areas.

The Obama administration countered that its case for military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is getting stronger, saying it now has evidence that the toxic gas allegedly used in strikes on rebel-held areas was the nerve agent sarin.

The administration predicted Sunday it will obtain congressional backing for limited strikes. After days of edging closer to military action against Syria, Obama suddenly announced Saturday he would first seek approval from Congress, which gets back from summer break Sept. 9.

---

Our Dear Leader doesn't know what he's going to do next.  Is it any wonder that Syria is not intimidated?  I'm not enchanted with the idea that American Troops may attack a country which has NOT attacked us ... but when a President announces a "red line" which must not be crossed, and then waffles on his promises of aggressive attacks .. isn't this the definition of a Paper Tiger?

Father charged in BB gun shooting death of 18-month-old boy | Fox News

Father charged in BB gun shooting death of 18-month-old boy | Fox News:

An 18-month-old Georgia boy is dead after being shot in the chest with a BB gun and his father has been charged with felony murder, police say.
The toddler’s father, Jesse Sellers, 23, reportedly told police he was playing with the gun when it accidentally went off, MyFoxAtlanta.com reported. Sellers has been charged with second-degree cruelty to children and felony murder.
 Police say six people, including three children, were in the home at the time of the shooting.
Witnesses reported seeing Sellers running out of the apartment yelling for help and directing paramedics when they arrived.
Police say the child was taken to Grady Hospital and later died.

Full Disclosure:
When I was 15, I had a pellet pistol.  CO2 charged, and .22 caliber, it was not something which should be treated with disdain.

My sister was then dating a young man only a few years older than myself, who treated himself to complete access to our parents' home.  He wandered into my room, found my pellet pistol, and took it into my sister's bedroom.  Apparently he wanted to see how powerful the air blast was, so he pointed it at the palm of his hand, pulled the charging-handle to half-cock, and pulled the trigger.

After he had been released from the hospital, with stitches on both sides of his hand (the .22 pellet apparently went 'clear through', he confronted me.

"I can't believe you left a loaded gun just laying around!"  he said.

I replied:  "It was a pellet gun, in my private bedroom, and you have known me long enough to know that I don't have any 'unloaded' guns!".

---

I was lucky, and he was lucky, that we both learned valuable lessons from that not-too disastrous experience.

I learned that no gun is safe unless it was locked up.
He learned that every gun should be treated as loaded, that he should never point a gun at anything he was not willing to destroy, and he should keep his finger off the trigger until he was ready to shoot something.

(Sound familiar?  As in .. the Three Rules of Firearms Safety?)

Going back to the original story, we are looking at a 'man' (of no great maturity) who considered a mere "pellet gun" as no threat. Consequent to his poor gun-handling skills, he shot and killed his son.

He was obviously 'distraught' by the injury incurred to his child, and I have not doubt that he regrets his 'playful' actions.

Here's a summary:
Guns don't have a history of having "....accidentally went off...".  That happens when you pull the trigger.  Suggestion:  don't pull the trigger, don't kill your child.  It isn't the gun; it's the shooter.

----

Seems pretty simple in retrospect, but the man-child with his finger on the trigger obviously didn't understand the concept.

While I have always been "for" firearms ownership rights, I'm also the first to concede that there are some people who just shouldn't be allowed within touching distance of a firearm.  Firearms, unfortunately, include the Barret .50, machine guns, pistols, shotguns, .22 training rifles, and (sadly, in this case)  BB-guns.

So, what's the answer?  Is it to outlaw farearms, right down to a bb-gun?

I don't think so.  Had this man-child been trained, he would have known better to handle a bb-gun in such a manner that it would "accidentally" go "off:".  And at the same time, he would have known to not assume that the "firearm" was unloaded.  Finally, he would have made sure that while he was handling the gun, it would at no time have been pointing toward another person.

There are THREE basic rules of Firearm Safety.  This dipshit disobeyed all three of them, at the same time, and he killed a little boy.

Here are the crimes he has been charged with:

1. Second degree cruelty to children
2. Felony murder

Here are the crimes he should have been charged with; unfortunately, they are not covered by existing law:

1. being ignorant; he didn't know any better
2. being stupid; didn't know he didn't know any better
3. handling a loaded firearm when other people were in his presence; see (1) and (2)

We could extend all of this even further, but you get the idea.  The Atlanta police did the best they could with existing law, and it should suffice.  Getting this IDIOT off the streets is probably the best outcome of this tragedy.

Here's a question for the readers:  Do you think this will get any where NEAR the publicity that the Travon Martin case received?

NO?  Why not?  It's not just a matter of accidental homicide, nor of 'black on black' shooting.  It's a matter of stupidity, of lack of training, of lack of judgement.

What do you want to bet that this murder (for it is murder, if by in-adventure) doesn't make it to the record books.  Doesn't make it to the headlines of any newspaper in the world?s

My personal opinion?  I know the guy must be devastated by the consequences of his ill-advised actions.  And I'm sure he would do anything to take it back.

I'm thinking that The Reverend Al Sharpton will call for his execution.


No .. probably not.
x
x
x

This ain't your father's Popeye

Popeye by Lee Romao | Ink Butter™ | Tattoo Aftercare

5 Of The Cheapest States To Own A Car | Bankrate.com

5 Of The Cheapest States To Own A Car | Bankrate.com:

Oregon tops Bankrate's list as the cheapest place in the country to own and operate a vehicle. Drivers here pay $2,204 to own and operate a car each year. That may be a surprise in a place where gas prices have frequently jumped above $4 per gallon. 

The Beaver State gives drivers a break with no state sales tax. Kelley Blue Book estimates the combined vehicle fees in the state amount to just $157 per year. That's the lowest in the country. 

Oregon motorists also drive less than in most other states. That drives down what they spend on gasoline each year. The average yearly cost of gasoline in Oregon was $942 per driver in 2012, while it was $1,020 nationally. 

 Insurance premiums are also relatively low at $724 per year.

 Don't tell California residents that it's a lot cheaper to live in Oregon; too many of their retirees are moving here, already (and have been doing so for decades).

The whole thing about 'no state sales tax' is a continuing issue in Oregon.  State lawmakers have been trying to initiate a State Sales Tax in Oregon for fifty years .. on a nearly bi-annual basis.  They present bills, it comes up for a vote (mandated by the state constitution), and their constituents keep voting it down.   And voting against the sponsors of the bills, as often as not, the next time they come up for re-election.



Another issue; when I lived in Washington State, and in California State, when we renewed our vehicle license the cost was based on the value of the car.  It had nothing to do with the usage, only with car value.  Apparently, most states figure if you can afford a decent car, you can afford to let the state milk you for the privilege.  Actually, even when I drove junkers in those states, the licensing fees were higher than that for a luxury car in Oregon.  We're talking double-digits for biannual licensing fees in Oregon, and everybody pays the same.


There are other benefits to living in Oregon.  New Jersey and Oregon have two things in common; no state sales tax, and service stations cannot require you to pump your own gas.  No other states in the union combine these benefits.


There's a joke about New Jersey:

"California has the highest ration of attorneys per capita than any other state.  New Jersey has the highest ration of toxic waste dumps.  Why is that?   Answer:  New Jersey got first choice!"


Where I live, I can drive to the coast to surf in two hours  or to a mountain to ski in three hours.  In five hours I can be in a dessert.   (Not that I do any of these things .. I stay close to home, as do most Oregonians, which is why our annual mileage is so low,  Everything's perfect just where we are, except for the lousy Liberal politics .. so where would we want to go?)


Just something you should know.    Visit Oregon.  Spend lots of money.  Then, go home!

Justice in England; Delayed, and Demeaning

It has been a while since I picked on The Brits (those stalwart defenders of the Bastions of Anti-Gun Laws).   I must be getting soft.

There's so much to abhor in The Late Great British Empire, it's sometimes hard to choose.  Fortunately, my attention was drawn today to an article I wrote in May, 2005 titled "Yob Meat".  About halfway through it, I presented a 'sidebar' instance of one Linda Walker from Manchester.  Her home and family were being harrassed by a gang of YOBs ("BOY", spelled backwards; we call them Hooligans or Juvenile Delinquents a half-century ago) and finally attempted to drive them away during a front-stoop confrontation by firing a pellet-gun at the sidewalk.

Nobody was injured, but as a consequence the teacher Walker was fired from her job and imprisoned!

(Go read the original article for the details;  the "SCOTSMAN" link is still active, although the current date is cited rather than the original date of publication).

While I reread my own article, I wondered .. just what happened to Linda Walker?

According to a 2008 BBC article, they released her from prison:

At a General Teaching Council hearing she was given a reprimand which she must disclose to any employer inquiring about her registration status.
The reprimand will last for two years.
'Learnt her lesson'
Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Walker said: "I am thrilled to bits."
She added that she now wanted to teach adults and hoped to put the incident behind her.
Nadine Bristow, chairwoman of the General Teaching Council committee, said: "The reprimand is appropriate because Mrs Walker has shown insight and remorse into her behaviour - she has said she is ashamed of her conduct."
She said Mrs Walker "appeared to have learnt her lesson".
Mrs Walker taught children with behavioural problems at New Park High School in Eccles, Salford, when the gun incident happened.
She was jailed for six months for possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and affray.
The appeal court later quashed her jail sentence, replacing it with a 12-month conditional discharge. 

DELAYED:
The woman was trying to defend hearth and home and family .. with a pellet gun against a gang  ... and it took four years for England to 'rehabilitate' her back to active status at her chosen occupation (teaching).

DEMEANING:
The council hearing was not convened until  it was 'appropriate':

Nadine Bristow, chairwoman of the General Teaching Council committee, said: "The reprimand is appropriate because Mrs Walker has shown insight and remorse into her behaviour - she has said she is ashamed of her conduct."
She said Mrs Walker "appeared to have learnt her lesson".


Yes, Mrs Walker has learnt her lesson.  She now knows that the only way she can earn a living in her native country is to kowtow to absurd judicial mandate.  She must hang her head, allow her government to shame her publicly for years until she is completely broken.

I'm reminded of Les Miserables and the plight of Jean Valjean, who stole a loaf of bread to feed his family and was sentence to years as a galley slave, rowing ships back and forth while being whipped by overseers.

Okay, that was a little melodramatic.  Not, perhaps, an entirely inappropriate comparison, but over the top anyway.

LESSON LEARNED?:

If anything, I'm personally grateful to George Washington, Nathan Hale, et al, who broke the chains of British rule a couple hundred years ago.  I'm sure that "Oh, to be in England in the Spring" was an appropriate sentiment for British Soldiers in India during "The Raj", but it would break the heart of any 19th Century Tommy who looked at England today.

I've often commented on the British tendency to turn Citizens into Subjects; but in retrospect this looks far to much like being broken by the whip.

Oh .. "1984", that classic novel by George Orwell ..  wasn't Orwell British?  Didn't that have something to do with complete subjugation of the populace by a dictatorial government?  Apparently, Orwell wasn't all that far wrong.  He was only 20 years early in his timeline.  Well, The Brits have always been "conservative" on social issues, haven't they?



There is a lesson here, for America.

M&P Shield Pistol Safety Alert

Shooting Wire:

Smith  Wesson Issues Safety Alert and Inspection Procedure for M&P Shield Pistols 
SPRINGFIELD, MA --- Smith & Wesson Corp. announced today that the Company has identified a condition where the trigger bar pin could damage the lower trigger in certain M&P Shields in a way that may affect the functionality of the drop safety feature of the firearm, potentially allowing the pistol to discharge if it is dropped. 
This Safety Alert applies to all M&P Shield pistols manufactured before August 19, 2013. We believe this condition is largely limited to recently manufactured M&P Shield pistols. However, out of an abundance of caution, we are asking all consumers of all M&P Shields manufactured before August 19, 2013 to immediately inspect their pistols for this condition. 
Any unintended discharge of a firearm has the potential to cause injury, and we ask that you STOP USING YOUR PISTOL IMMEDIATELY UNTIL IT HAS BEEN INSPECTED AND, IF THE CONDITION IS FOUND, REPAIRED

 See the SHOOTING WIRE link at the top of the page for the complete safety warning text.

(... and a supplemental note from Shooting Wire:)

To make it simpler for those of us who find gunsmithing not in our skill-set, there's a video online at MPShieldSafetyAlert.com to give video instructions for inspecting your Shield. 

A Modest Proposal

Justice Department to sue Texas over voter ID law | Fox News: WASHINGTON –

The Justice Department said Thursday that it will sue Texas over its voter ID law and, separately, look for ways to intervene in a lawsuit over the state’s redistricting policies -- in the latest volley in the ongoing dispute between the feds and the Lone Star State.


[Attorney General Eric Holder] ... said the step marks the department’s “continuing effort to protect the voting rights of all eligible Americans.” He added, “We will not allow the Supreme Court’s recent decision to be interpreted as open season for states to pursue measures that suppress voting rights.”

Holder’s announcement follows a June 25 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively removed a vital portion of the Voting Rights Act that required 16 jurisdictions to seek pre-clearance from the DOJ before making any changes to election laws and redistricting laws.

Following the ruling, Holder called the court’s decision and its reasoning behind it “flawed,” and vowed to find other ways within the law to challenge the ruling. He planned to do this by targeting other provisions in the act that would allow plaintiffs to present cases where they were unfairly targeted by the law.

“The Department will take action against jurisdictions that attempt to hinder access to the ballot box, no matter where it occurs,” he said. “We will keep fighting aggressively to prevent voter disenfranchisement.”

I have to admit, I'm not sure what Holder's problem is.   (Okay, we've all been saying that for years now, but I was talking about this specific issue.)

It's this whole "voter disenfranchisement" that confuses me.  I understand poll taxes and literacy tests to have historically been the 'litmus test' of disenfranchisement.

The stationing of two uniformed "New Black Panthers" outside the Philadelphia Ward 4 voting site in 2008 was not, however, "disenfranchisement".  Passive intimidation?  One wonders why else one of them felt obliged to brandish a club, but perhaps that's just his "pacifier".  Holder's Justice Department declined to prosecute the two, having determined that they had broken no laws.

Why, then, is Mr. Holder planning to sue Texas for doing something that other states are allowed to do?  That is, require voters to prove their identity before being given the ballot prepared for that registered voter.   Oh, what a tangled web we weave!

However, if Mr. Holder's fiefdom is permitted to sue Texas for requiring voters to prove their identity, and wins, then perhaps the rest of us can use that precedent to protect our own civil rights.

For example, I am currently required to present government issued photo ID before I am permitted to purchase a firearm.  And the Second Amendment is as clear on my right to Keep and Bear arms as other amendments are clear in protecting voting rights.

I believe that this is an illegal and unconstitutional impediment on my civil rights.  Specifically, it's a deliberate attempt to undermine German-Irish rights in America!   Look to other rights protected by Constitutional Amendments:

• The Fifteenth Amendment extended the right to vote to former male slaves in 1870
• women gained the vote with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920
• American Indians gained the vote under a law passed by Congress in 1924
• The Twenty-Fourth Amendment eliminated the Poll Tax in 1964
•  The Twenty-Sixth Amendment lowered the legal voting age to eighteen in 1972

The national habit of using constitutional amendments for antidisenfranchisement purposes has been well established.  (And yes, I did just coin that word!)

Therefore, if the Justice Department sues Texas and wins, then he has established a precedent for the prevention of any other laws which require the use of a photo ID to prove my eligibility to exercise my constitutional rights. Such as, the right to keep and bear arms.

Obviously, the requirement for me to present a photo ID to rent a motel room or a car, or to cash a check or enter a tavern -- those are not constitutionally protected rights; they're privileges or mere monetary transactions.

So Mr. Holder, I put it to you that the Slippery Slope argument is alive and well in America.  Especially since the only people who would be 'disenfrangised' by this law are those who are attempting to commit voter fraud.

Put up or shut up.

[ apologies and appreciation to Jonathan Swift ]

Ammunition Deficit Redux

not having any in mind other than sharing "What's Happening now" stuff with my sister this morning, I realized that I had just reproduced an earlier Blogspot Comment to my family member.

Not that there's anything all that NEW in here .. I just found it interesting that I was preaching to my Liberal Democrat Family Member, without even thinking about it.

Wow!  Talk about Knee-jerk Reactionism!

Here's how it looks when you just sort of .. seque .. into it:

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I got my gun back!  My gunsmith finished replacing the barrel, the grip, and a lot of other stuff for about $400 parts and $150 labor.  The sights were loose, too, and some other minor issues.  So I have my gun and I can start using it for competition again.

Unfortunately, most of the ammunition reloading components are not currently available.  I have lots of powder because I bought a big job lot (twenty pounds) a couple of years ago.  but I'm running out of bullets, and they are NOT available on today's market.  Nor are primers.  Reason?  When Obama got elected, there was a huge run on guns, ammunition, parts and reloading components.  Much of it [the source of the increased demand is ...] federal ... Homeland Security, and military.  Ammunition component manufacturers are building new plants like crazy, but it will be one or two years before they can gear up to meet the demand.

The reason for shortage?  Demand has sky-rocketted.  When Obama was first elected, we saw an increase in firearms purchases, including reloading components.  Then when he was running for second term, we had almost recovered.  Then Federal agencies started  [to] buy increasing [amounts of] ammunition, in the billions of rounds PER YEAR instead of millions.  And people got scared again, and manufacturers couldn't keep up with the demand.   Homeland Security alone is buying 1.6 BILLION rounds of .40S&W hollowpoint ammunition in the next 3 years .. for training.  Manufacturers place emphasis on government contracts because they KNOW they have the market.  And I can't get bullets, or primers, or brass for my competition pistol, because they [the manufacturers] can't meet the government contracts AND the civilian market demands.

I'm about to quit shooting in competition, because I have less than 1,000 rounds of bullets, which won't last me through the year in even an abbreviated competition schedule.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Partly because I'm frustrated. 

Mostly because I wonder why my government needs ammunition for "Homeland Security" more than I need it for competition.

I don't know what they know that I don't know.

BTW .. hollowpoint ammunition isn't advantageous for training; it costs more to produce than standard ammunition.  It's only advantageous for combat situations.  I'm wondering why Homeland Security needs to specify HOLLOW-POINT ammunition for 'training', as the ballistics are similar to the less-expensive 'standard' ammunition.

Okay, right now you're thinking: "My brother is paranoid!".

At a ratio of one-million-to-one, are there more than 1,000 terrorists who need to be shot at?  With a half-BILLION rounds left over for 'training'?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2013/03/11/1-6-billion-rounds-of-ammo-for-homeland-security-its-time-for-a-national-conversation/

Google it.  I'm just saying ...

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This is probably too personal for publication, but my point is one of consistency;  While I don't mind saying to YOU these paranoid/conspiracy things, I am surprised when I discover that I'm making the same points to my Liberal sibling .. who will NOT consider for a moment that my point of view includes any fact-based reason for concern.

And people wonder why my blogging had diminished dramatically?