New Jersey vs The Shooting Wire

Once again, our friend Jim Shepherd of "The Shooting Wire" excoriates an Eastern Seaboard State which has a Big Johnson against the Second Amendment, and once again I quote his thrice-weekly opinion piece supporting the Second Amendment.

[And also, because The Shooting Wire remains determined to provide a "permanent link" to Shepherd's commentary, I am obliged to quote the thrice-weekly commentary in full, in order to provide you with his opinion. Again, I urge you to subscribe to The Shooting Wire to avail yourself of ... in this instance ... his incisive commentary also on "Second Amendment Foundation has filed suit against the District of Columbia in an effort to compel the District to issue carry permits to law-abiding citizens", and "the National Park Service has launched a program encouraging hunters to voluntarily switch to alternative ammunitions and stop using lead bullets. The NPS says the lead's a health threat." You should subscribe to The Shooting Wire here. Do it now!]

Geek take: transparent attempt to undermine the Second Amendment.

Shepherd sez:

Bad Laws, Bad Legislators, Bad Ideas

On Friday, it would be nice to be able to talk about the anticipation with which we all look toward the weekend. After all, it's the most continuous time many of us have to enjoy the outdoors. Some Fridays, unfortunately, that's just not possible.

Yesterday, New Jersey became the fourth state to pass legislation limiting state residents to one handgun purchase every thirty days. We have been told, however, that this isn't legislation designed to be anti-handgun - it's anti-violence legislation.

Right. It's necessary in a state with almost as many firearms regulations as indicted legislators. It's nothing more than "feel-good" legislation. The bill's supporters says it's going to cut of a supply of guns to gangs and others who use straw purchases to do their gun buying for them.

In fact, says Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire NJ, [link added by Cogito Ergo Geek editor] "The only people who need more than 13 handguns a year are legitimate collectors, exempted by the law, and handgun traffickers who need to buy and sell handguns in volume to make a profit from their dirty and damaging and illegal trade."

To their credit, supporters of the bill have managed to keep the wealthy collectors off their backs by exempting "legitimate collectors." They've also kept hunters from having much of a voice in the argument, too. Handguns are illegal for hunting there.

"This premise of this law is a fallacy," stated state Assemblyman Gary Chiusano. [link added by Cogito Ergo Geek editor] "Many New Jersey residents have to wait upwards of 100 days to obtain a pistol permit. So after passing background checks, getting fingerprinted, and paying fees to obtain the permit, which are only valid for 90 days anyway, government is now telling people they can only purchase one handgun in a 30 day window after going through all of this bureaucracy. This bill is pure symbolism."

"In a recent Executive Order, Governor Corzine [link added by Cogito Ergo Geek editor] created a task force to examine New Jersey's firearms laws," said Assembly member Steve Oroho [link added by Cogito Ergo Geek editor] , who volunteered to serve on the task force. "But in less than a month after creating the task force, he is already pushing for new gun laws. The Governor is looking to score political points among his far left constituency in what he probably hopes will one day be a universal ban on private citizens owning firearms."

It's wishful thinking, but any company that manufactures or sells handgun-related products in New Jersey (or Maryland, or Virginia, or California - the other three state with similar legislation) should be in the process of packing and relocating. It's time firearms manufacturers started demonstrating their disapproval with idiotic legislation by removing their contributions to the tax base that pays the salaries of these legislators.

Like I said, wishful thinking.

And like I said:
this is a "transparent attempt to undermine the Second Amendment."

The part of the "... the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" doesn't specify Congress. It isn't just in imposition on "CONGRESS". It's worded such that every governmental entity not only should, but must take heed of this elementary "right of the people".

It is a basic American Constitutional concept that our citizens enjoy certain "unalienable rights". The difference between "Unalienable" and "Inalienable" is significant. (See previous link. Discussion on that difference is available here.)

The concept of "States Rights" is also significant. In the 10th amendment of the Constitution, we discover that:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. "

In this specific case, we see that the Federal Government does indeed, in the incarnation of the Bill of Rights, take precedence over the rights of the individual state.

Here, the State of New Jersey has taken it upon itself to abridge the Second Amendment (" ... Shall Not be infringed") The state has not this permission according the the Constitution, any more than has Washington, D.C. the constitutional permission. As has been established by the Heller Decision of 2007:

1. The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a
firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for
traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.
Pp. 2–53.
(a) The Amendment’s prefatory clause announces a purpose, but
does not limit or expand the scope of the second part, the operative
clause. The operative clause’s text and history demonstrate that it
connotes an individual right to keep and bear arms. Pp. 2–22.
(b) The prefatory clause comports with the Court’s interpretation
of the operative clause.

[emphasis added by Cogito Ergo Geek]

We see here that a state has subdefined the number of firearms which an individual may purchase during an arbitrary period of time. While it may suggest a valid reason for enactment (to prevent 'straw purchases" of weapons for later sale), it still constitutes an 'abridgment' of the right guaranteed by the Constitution.

Despite their obvious good intentions, the legislators of the good state of New Jersey have obviously run afoul of the Constitution of the United States of America. That presumption cannot be allowed to stand without challenge.

Often Underestimated

Many have underestimated the will of the American people

Political Commentary -- Pttuiiii

I am mindful that a lot of the posting I have been submitting lately has been political in nature. (I say that just in case you think I have been sleep-writing.)

This was not the original intention of this blog.

The sad fact is, I've been reading newspapers more frequently than I have been participating in shooting competition, and frankly I have been more appalled by the political events in my homeland than I am by the many reasons I have not been doing as much shooting as I would prefer.

If you find yourself in the same situation, you too may be suffering from "Politiomiolitis", which is loosely defined as ... well, make up your own definition. I'm making up this entire article as I go along, so it's entirely fair.

Here's a piece of Full Discovery:
At one time, I found myself being very grateful to God that my son was not obliged to be drafted into the military. I tried that once. Didn't much like it.

Now my much-beloved son has volunteered to join the military. I am proud of him for his decision, and for the reasons he made that decision, but I am so concerned that he has put himself "In Harm's Way".

Ultimately, almost everything I do is showcased against the background of concern for my children. Perhaps you find yourself applying the same yardstick; perhaps not.

But I look at the ways that politics is poisoning the country of my birth, and I grieve for my children.

I'm old, I won't have to put up with this 'stuff' much longer. I fear that politics may shorten my life, given the Rationed Health Care Bill which looks frighteningly likely to end up looking like the British Health Care System. There are so many other easy-spending bills which seem to be passed without the opportunity for our legislators to even read, even understand the new programs. My son, my daughter, and their children will have to pay for them even if they see no real benefits to these "cloudkookoolandian" attempts at socialism.

And so [sigh] I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with my persistent politicization of Cogito Ergo Geek.

As the saying goes, I love my country but I fear my government. Mostly, I fear that the current administration may historically be viewed as the worst in the past century, and the burdon of correcting these economic and societal errors will be visited upon our progeny.

Our grandparents had to deal with the problems of The Great War ... World War I, "The War to End All Wars".

Our parents faced similar problems recovering from the ill effects of World War II.

We were in charge of The Viet Nam War; the War Against Poverty; and The Great Society -- and we handled it badly. We do not have the luxury or our fore-bearers, we cannot claim to have successfully faced fearful challenges and emerged triumphant. We even elected Jimmy Carter. Who is going to name US "The Great Generation"?

Nobody, and rightfully so.

Now we discover the need to defend ourselves against an administration which is more intrusive that LBJ, less competent than Carter, and sneakier than Tricky Dicky. (Side note: I cast my first ballot against Richard Nixon, because I would not buy a used car from that man. I think it's an honest commentary to assert that I would not buy a condom from Barrack Obama.)

You and I probably will not be the ones who will decide which direction our nation will move in this decade.

We can only hope that we have raised our children well, have educated them to think for themselves, and that they have learned to take counsel of their native good sense to identify and know a charlatan when they see one, reject his attempts to undermine our culture, indemnify his attempts to legislate our country into a Socialist Society, and seek leadership from an as-yet-unidentified leader who relies less on rhetoric and more on the Constitution which has served us so well.

God help us.
-----

PS: yes, I will probably continue to speak out against political measures which, in my opinion, threaten our country and our culture, despite attempts by our new rulers to encroach on our constitutional thought and the exercise our First Amendment rights as if it were a terrorist action.

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

There's something "fishy" about that, all right.




Fred Thompson's frantically paced (perhaps necessarily) take on this subject is available as an audio file here.

The Smallest Minority Drives On

In case you didn't catch Kevin's comment in the sidebar, the Gun Bloggers Rendesvous has found a new organization to handle the ticket sales to benefit Soldiers Angels (see the earlier post explaining their disappointment with the hopolophobic PayPal here).

There's a full update at Kevin's website, so clicky on The Smallest Minority, here and take a look at the pistol they're raffling off.

Kevin's not only a talented writer and a consummate researcher of information, he's a thoughtful and generous person. All the more reason to check his website frequently.

I do.

"Facts Are Stubborn Things" - 5 things I don't like about the Obama Administration

Every day I promise myself not to write about Politics, and every day something new comes up that I just can't ignore. Until, eventually, I find myself writing about another Political subject. The only thing I can do now is to combine them into one great Mega-Blog (similar to BlogMeat) and let it rip.

So, here are the "5 things I don't like about the Obama Administration

#1: Squealing on Your Neighbor:
The White House - Blog Post
- Facts Are Stubborn Things
The White House recently 'encouraged citizens' to report friends and neighbors who say something "fishy" about Obama-Care.

Why?

Isn't this the land of the First Amendment? Remember "Freedom of Speech"? Does this sound like Nazi Germany? (Remember "BusHitler"?)

If people do turn in Bloggers, Email addresses, friends, neighbors, family ... what is Obama going to do with it? Is he going to invite Anti-Obama citizens to the white house for a beer and a chat? Why does the President of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, need to closely monitor -- for example -- Internet Chat? Is he that insecure? Or is he that controlling.


#2: ObamaCare
I've talked about this before. Perhaps the best "Quote Of The Day" is:
"Do you want us to believe that a Government that can't even run a 'Cash for Clunkers' program us going to run one seventh of our U.S. Economy?"
(Note that this is presented under the Democratic National Party proposition that "Town Hall Meetings Are 'manufactured'". This proposition appears to be intended to undermine the verisimilitude of Private Citizens who are willing to stand up to powerful Democratic politicians in a public venue.


#3: Cash For Clunkers
Last weekend ... the first week of the 'Cash for Clunkers' program (which promised to give the consumer up to $4500 toward the purchase of a new car by trading in a fuel-inneficient 'old car') was allocated one billion dollars. The program ran through the first billion in one week. Then they voted another TWO BILLION DOLLARS to continue the program for an unspecified period of time.

On Saturday, I listened to a radio program called "MoneyTalks". It features Economists discussing the day-to-day American Economy. (I would include the URL, but I cant' be sure I have the right program in my search.)

The segment that I heard featured a New Car Dealer who was trying to deal with the new federal laws regarding the "Cash For Clunkers" program.

His point was that he had to get RID of the clunkers, and also to be REIMBURSED by the Federal Government for those clunkers he had accepted as trade (usually at a greatly enhanced price, far above their resale value.)

According to the caller, the whole point of the program was to get the 'Clunkers' off the road. The accepted solution was to send the Clunkers to a junk yard which would crush/smash said Clunkers into a Rubiks Cube of indefinable junk metal.

Unfortunately, according to the Caller, there are "over 400 pages" of Federal Regulations. The junk yard owners in his area were unwilling or unable to interpret the regulations concerning the rendering of "Clunkers" to "Scrap Metal", and therefore he could not even give the "Clunkers" to a scrapyard.

Ultimately, the dealer was forced to accumulate these Clunkers, and daily acquire even more Clunkers (by Federal Law), but until he could dispose of them ... he could not petition for re-imbursement from the Federal Government.

We have heard stories of Dealers who were cycling Clunkers rapidly, and making money off the deal. But I certainly haven't heard a dealer say that he was NOT LOSING MONEY from the "Cash For Clunkers" program. Either before or after it ran out of money.

And by the way, even if the "Cash For Clunkers" program was working, why are we paying for it? Has anyone here voted to spend his taxes on this P.O.S. initiative?


#4: Big Brother Programs: ObamaCare
August 4, 2009: Hitler Jugend reincarnated

"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

The "disinformation" is being defined by the Obama Administration. Essentially, anyone who speaks out about the ObamaCare bill is "Fishy", and should be Reported to the Authorities.

But this isn't about the "Squeal On Your Neighbors" program, its about the National Health Care Bill

We should all be concerned about a bill which is being rammed down the throats of Congress without allowing the congress-persons to even read the bill, let along assimilate the meaning of the various sections of the bill. We already know that it is being pushed by the Obama Administration to be voted on "quickly" (see Senator Arlen Specter's speach being interrupted by the attendees at a Town Hall meeting when he advocates that the bill should be passed "Quickly".)

I have notified my (Democratic) Representative, and my (Democratic) Senator that I would prefer they not vote in favor of any bill which they have not read, fully understand, agree that the measures proposed meet with thefull support of their constituents, and that they not vote along "Party Lines" unless they are certain that the bill would improve the lot of their constituents.

None of my representatives, of course, have replied to my letters. That's okay, I didn't vote for them anyway, and if this P.O.S. bill passes I won't vote for them again.


#5: The Big Lie (Town Hall anger "Manufactured")
The thing that really pisses me off is that we, the "Little People", are finally speaking out in direct dialogue with our political representatives .... and the Democratic Party is spinnin this as "Manufactured Debate".

That is to say, the Vested Interests (Drug Manufactureres, and Medical Community Lobbyists) are influencing what we, "The Little People", say in response to ObamaCare.

This is just the lowest, cut-throat Political Spin-Meistering I can conceive of. Th

The idea that private citizens who are confronting their elective representives in a Town Hall setting because Corporate vested interests have somehow got to them is not only insulting and demeaning, it's downright libelous. But because it is political speach, the scare-mongerers are protected by the First Amendment.

This is the point at which private citizens need to rise up, declare their independence, and excoriate the Democratic Party and the Obama Administration for their underhanded, shady political tactics.

They have been doing that to us for years, and if we don't start hoisting them on their own petards we will find ourselves encumbered with a Regency and so-called "Social Programs" whic not only don't work, but discrimate against the Poor, the Sick, the Lame and the Old.

Interpretation: If Obama can't convince you to change your vote to support him, he can (between the federal law to make all of your personal information made available to the Government, and his Socialist Agenda of "Redistribution of Wealth") tie you up in strings until you are unable to function as an independent Citizen.

--

SWMBO Report: SWMBO and The Tissue Sample

You may recall, those of you who are personally acquainted with SWMBO (She ... Who Must Be Obeyed) that my last update described our outing to San Diego in early July and the news that she had been accepted for an experimental 'genotyping' program out of Massachusetts General.

The first step, after enrolling (which she did a month ago) is to submit a tissue sample to the ancilliary facility at U.C. Irvine.

That "simple out-patient procedure" was performed last week at the local Hospital here in Oregon. It was suppose to have been done on Thursday, but due to a scheduling F...-up error she had to go back on Friday to have it actually performed.

The last time they performed this procedure, almost a year ago, they managed to collapse her lung and, in the words of the lead surgeon "we almost lost her on the table". Consequently, I was not entirely phlegmatic last week, but eventually they did manage to get her into the actual operating room and acquired the tissue sample by the simple process of shoving a horse-doctor needle through her ribcage and sucking "stuff" out of her lungs.

Whew! We're both glad that we got past that procedure okay.

That was Friday, July 31, 2009.

Today (Wednesday, August 5, 2009) I was asking SWMBO if she had any idea when she would get the results of her genotyping.

Turns out there's a story here.

Yesterday -- Tuesday -- she had an appointment with her local Oncologist. He hadn't sent the tissue sample out, yet. Why? Because he didn't have a mailing address.

Fortunately, SWMBO had the business card she had received in Irvine from the interviewer, Doctor Woo. (I may not have spelled that right. When SWMBO says it, it sounds more like "OO" ... no double-u sound, rhymes with "You". But I digress, as usual.)

After making photocopies of the business card, her doctor called Dr. Woo. No answer. No secretary (turns out she was 'at lunch'). No voice mail. Also, apparently, no back-up phone numbers on the card and who knows if there's an email address. Are these people barbarians? No email address?

So SWMBO mentioned to her Oncologist (who, she explained parenthetically, was seeing back-to-back patients all day, every day, and really doesn't have time to be making phone calls while his waiting room as a queue at the front door) that his Office Assistant seemed to have had no trouble making contact with the appropriate people at U.C. Irvine, and if he just turned the problem over to that lady she would probably manage to extract the proper street address where he should send the tissue sample ... which had been sitting in his office for FIVE DAYS!

[emphasis mine. SWMBO is much to refined to raise her voice unless she is the RO at a USPSA match, in which case, you had better "get off your ass and tape these targets". But that's another story.]

At this point in her story, I interrupted SWMB O:

• (me) "Wait a minute. You told him how to run his office?"
• (she) "Uh, well, yes. I guess I did."
• (me) {laughing} "I think he should hire you!"

Okay, so maybe you had to be there.

The point is that the original deal was a vague explanation that it would take "two to four weeks" to process (is the correct word "genotype"?) the tissue sample ... after it arrives.

Which may be a while, because as far as either of us know today the tissue sample hasn't even been sent yet. But I think the local office has a mailing address, and I assume that they have acted expeditiously to get the dreck in the mail.

--

SWMBO was a little chastened when I pointed out that she had told her doctor how to run his office. "I guess I'm a Pushy Broad, huh?" she asked.

"No", I replied.

"I think you are your own best advocate. I think you are a resourceful, dynamic, strong and independent woman who has her best interests at heart and a clearly defined goal; survival. I think this is a marvelous opportunity for you to act as your own advocate. It provides a challenge for your mind and an output for your energy. And it also gives me something that I can do to help. Give me a white pleated skirt and a pair of pom-poms, and I will be your cheerleader."

We negotiated, and I won. No actual pleated skirt, and the pom-poms can be any color combination except Black and Orange (the 'school colors' of my alma mater and my employer).

Then we had a lengthy conversation about the atrocity God had visited upon us by inventing the deplorable color "orange". She likes it, I don't. But then, she grew up in a town where the university and the neighboring town adopted "Black and Orange". Pity, the lovely lady never had a chance.

And you thought it was Easy Being Geek.

Blogmeat Around The World

Once again it's time for me to waste your time, reading about silly things that people do ... just because I can.

Today's BlogMeat has an international flavor. Why should we constantly point out the logical inconsistencies of Those Silly Brits?

Speaking of which, here's TWO reasons why we should be proud that we're not Brits. (Not that we're that far away from them; by my reckoning, Obama will have us marching in lockstep with The Brits before the decade is over.)

Mom in U.K. fined for grieving too long at baby son's funeral
That's right. You have 30 minutes to whine and whimper and generally indulge in a "Pity Party" when your child's to be cremated in Jolly Old England. After that, you're paying for their time. The fine was $173 in this specific instance.

Officials at the crematorium, run by a local English council, impose an extra charge if any funeral runs over its 30-minute slot.

However, the couple's funeral directors said there was plenty of time for the next funeral which was not due to take place for another 50 minutes.

Rouse’s partner, Lee Smythe, said the fee was "sick and disgusting.""Terrie was weeping hysterically," he said. "She just wanted a few extra minutes to say goodbye to our much-loved little boy."

So much for "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain". In this case, he's holding a stop-watch in one hand and an "Over Parking" ticket-form in the other.

Is all tha color too much for you? Are you a "Smallville-kind-of-person"? Do you prefer life to be in black-and white?

No problem. Also from Our British Cousins:

Teen Charged over Harry Potter Bleach Attack
When a bunch of yobs were chatting it up during the matinee at the cinema, one brave British Mother asked them to please be quiet so the rest of the audience could hear the movie.

Apparently incensed by the repressive actions of this Conservative RightWing Nutcase Judgmental Mother ....

... two people in the group followed the family to a nearby restaurant after the screening and threw bleach over the mother's head and back.

She suffered burns to her skin and possible permanent damage to her eyes.

That'll teach her to speak up in public!

What do you want to bet that the 2 Yobs --"Young, Outgoing Boys" -- will receive ASBO's? (Note: "Anti-Social Behavior Orders" are essentially a free-pass for any predator who chooses to 'act up'. They're supposedly a one-time entry-level penalty, about as intimidating as a Parking Citation, but you know The Brits: "It worked so well the last time, this time let's give him another ASBO. Then he'll REALLY be intimidated!"

But we have unfairly singled out The Brits. Let's look at another National Group displaying a frightful lack of Savoir Faire -- India!

Indian Activists Blast Ritual of Dropping Babies Off Mosque Roof

NEW DELHI Rights activists lashed out Friday at local officials who allowed hundreds of infants to be dropped from the roof of a mosque in western India in the belief that the fall — which ends when the babies are caught in a bedsheet — would ensure good health and prosperity for their families.

The ritual at the Baba Umer Durga, a Muslim shrine, is believed to have been followed for nearly 700 years, and each year hundreds of people, both Hindus and Muslims, take part in the ritual.

Local officials told television news stations there had been no reports of injuries.

Who are we, in this multi-cultural world, to say that one culture's practices are less acceptible than ours? Besides, in "nearly 700 years" of this practice, "there had been no reports of injuries"

Well, there wouldn't have been, would there?

Even in The West, we all celebrate "Bouncing Babies".


Still a little too close to home, isn't it?

Now for something really different; let's go to ... CHINA!

Two Rail Passengers Killed After Complaining About Humming

Two passengers have been stabbed to death after they complained about a man humming on a train, say reports in China.

The knifeman was humming along to his CD player when three people in the carriage complained about the noise.

A fight began and the trio wrestled the man to the floor and began beating him, said the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The man — identified only by his surname Yan — then pulled out a blade and stabbed all three of them.

One died on the train, while another died later in hospital.

The third man was taken to hospital and is recovering from his injuries.

Bernie Goetz, where are you when we really need you.

(See, we're really not so different after all, are we?)

Do we need to be a little closer to home? How about this, from Mexico:

Mexico Closes Cancun Beach, Alleges Sand Was Stolen

I knew that Mexico was "poor", but come ON!

No, I'm not going to touch that one. Clicky on the linky, read the story for yourself. It actually does make a scary sort of sense. Kind of.

.
.
.
Okay, okay, I guess we have time and space enough for just ONE MORE Turkey Story. This time, let's go to ..... Turkey:

Turkey demolition goes dramatically wrong as building fails to crumble and rolls onto its ROOF

Not much commentary, no comparisons with, for example, Red Adair or those demolitions explosive experts who took down large urban dwellings within the original footprint. We have grown to blase' about what happens when a building demolition goes 'right'. Here's what happens when it goes 'wrong'.

Pretty kewl, eh?

BTW, here's what it looks like when "implosions" go right:


__________________

Okay, okay, so let's look at how lame we can be (with a little effort) in the U. S. of A.:

How about Liberal radio talk show host speaking of Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh:

Liberal Talk Show Host Wishes "Madness" on Sarah Palin; Death on Rush Limbaugh - Audio 8/3/09
(Link to just the YouTube version here.)

The Smallest Minority Goes to PayPal - NOT!

The Smallest Minority - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Kevin at "The Smallest Minority" (one individual) wanted to contribute a gun for a raffle at the forthcoming "Gun Bloggers Rendezvous", and chose "Soldiers' Angels" to run the ticket sales.

Paypal closed down Soldiers Angel's account ... because of this raffle ... because PayPal is entirely anti-gun.

They (Soldiers' Angels) had to take the raffle off the list of contributors before they were allowed to continue accepting donations from 'other sources'.

Kevin's pissed, Soldiers' Angels may have lost some contributions during the outage, and it appears that the raffle may be 'off' after only 42 contributions had been received.

I have less than $50 in my paypal account. Maybe I'll look around for some better way to send money to worthwhile recipients, such as Day By Day Cartoons by Chris Muir.

Credit Card Fraud Part Deux

Ahhhhh ... that's much better.
I received my new credit card today. It has been exactly one week since it was cancelled, six days since I phoned my Credit Card Provider and requested a new card. (See Credit Card Fraud)

All I had to do was call the 24-hour hotline to get it activated.

Remember how I had to ask all those "security questions" to order a replacment card? Guess what ... they have a whole 'nother raft of "security questions" before they'll activate it.

Actually, they only ask you to "using the number pad on your telephone, type in the first four letters of your mother's maiden name, or enter the four-digit security code for your account if you have provided one".

Let me see, is "JONES" entered as if you're texting, or just punch the same #6 key for both the "N" and the "O"? I tried it both ways, they wouldn't take any of them. So they put on a "Customer Assistance Associate" for the old Third Degree.

I wasn't taking no sass from that child. Spoke Amurruhcun Englitch, but he talked so fast I couldn't make out what he was saying. By the time we finished and he declared my account activated, I had asked him as many questions as he had asked me.

Now all I have to do is go to my online accounts and update them with my new number and expiration date. Oh, yeah, they didn't give me the old expiration date, as they had told me last week.

I'm sure looking forward to explaining why I need to change my credit card number at Amazon. Anybody have the URL for that? Never mind, I'll find it. They don't call me a Geek for nothing.

PS: do you know, my editing software accepted "Amurruhcun Englitch" without calling a spell-checker time out? Surprised me, too. There must be a lesson there. Okay, it's probably because the words are capitalized, but still ... I guess I must be easily impressed.

Free National Health Care, eh?

Pajamas TV - Louder With Crowder - PJTV Undercover: Steven Crowder Investigates CanadaCare...Will ObamaCare Be Any Better? - Video

I found Pajama Media Televison (www.pjtv.com) today and I was very impressed with the quality of the content there.

Especially, I was impressed by a 20 minute 'article' exploring the limitations of Free National Health Care, as experienced in Canada. So I blogged the video so you can see it.

Unfortunately, I have since discovered that "The Smallest Minority" has linked to the same URL, over a week ago, for the same reasons. (Also see "Tell me again why GWB was so stupid." Not related, but ... well, maybe.)

So you can go there and see it, or click on the link at the top of the page.

In summary, the reasons why Free national Health Care doesn't serve Canadians well include:

• Waiting periods in emergency rooms are cited in terms of hours, not minutes
• Health Clinics are not open on weekends
• Even if you want a simple procedure, such as a blood test for tetnus, you almost always have to go to a Family Doctor
• Family Doctors are largely unable or unwilling to take new patients. The waiting list here is years
• If you need to see a specialist, expect to wait for a period of over a year
• Waiting to receive necessary medical care may take so long that the condition you originally wished to resolve may have worsened to an extreme degree .... an ailment which could possible be cleared up with an overnight hospital visit may be put off until it can be resolved only with extreme measures (in one cited case, with multiple amputations)
• The waiting list for 'expensive' testing or procedures (such as an MRI) may be years; that period may be shortened because, well, the people who were in line before you died before they could get help
• The good thing is that any treatment you get, if and when you get it, is 'free'; the bad news is that you pay for it in your taxes (Ontario taxes are 50% - 100% higher than California!) even if you don't need it
• More good news: you CAN go to a "Private Caregiver", although the waiting list is still extraordinarily long; the bad news is that (for example) a blood test can cost nearly a thousand dollars. When you can get in.

You may think I'm making this up, or mis-understanding the situation as represented. Well, I'm just reflecting what I've seen on the video. Before you take me to task, please do invest 20 minutes of your time to see the video.

In the mean time, I'll be researching the question independently. I find this all very hard to believe, although I've read (and written about) similar anecdotal evidence.

One thing is for certain: I won't want my congress-critter voting in favor of any National Health Care Bill (by any name) until they have had the time to read it, consider it thoroughly, and discuss it in session.

Obama, however, seems to want this passed before the Summer is over. He doesn't put as much priority on achieving a consensus as he does on having his will confirmed in law.

Again, I'm a cranky old man who resist change instinctively. It may be just me, but I think this whole National Health Care thing sounds a lot like a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman who demands that you make a decision right now.

That kind of deal presupposes that when you look at the contract in the light of day, you'll see it for the charlatanry that it is.

I'm speaking here of Encyclopedia Salesmen and Snake Oil Hucksters, of course.

How hot is it?

It's so hot that yesterday we had an electrical 'interruption' (something exploded in the green box on the corner) yesterday at 5pm. That was at the end of a one-hundred-degree temperature day -- at 5pm. The house systems surged, but the surge protectors and UPS saved the computer

Tonite at 8pm I had another power surge, at 8pm. Nothing exploded, and I thought that my UPS had saved all the systems. (The temperature today reached 103.)

I got the UPS rebooted, and the router is up. But I couldn't get my desktop to boot. It lost its BIOS. I can't find my system disk, so I'll have to take it into the Puter Hospital tomorrow. They built it, they can fix it. And maybe even find me a boot disk to replace the one I 'miss-filed'.

So I'm in the downstairs dining room, the coolest room in the place (upstairs is still 93 degrees ... 89 with the air conditioner running), and working with my laptop. This may have been one of the better investments I've made lately, along with the router.

I have a towel at my side to wipe the sweat off my brow ... the doors are open, but there's no breeze. And the air conditioners are both upstairs.

Last night I let my air conditioner run all night in my bedroom. It's a portable, so the hose for condensation goes into a one-gallon bucket. When I got up this morning, the bucket was overflowing, soaking the carpet around the air conditioner. I soaked up the excess with towels, which are now in the washer, and let the natural heat of the day dry the carpet. Worked just fine. Wish I could say as much for my desktop.

In another hour it will be significantly cooler outside than in my upstairs bedroom, so I'll turn on the window fan to put some cooler (not cool, except in comparison to the 92 degrees held in the room), and later I'll turn on the air conditioner. First, though, I'll check the drainage bucket. I know there's already a half-inch of water from the hour I ran it early this evening.

The weather service says it will be 100 degrees again tomorrow. Some sources predict the heat will rise to 110 degrees.

It's not really so bad when I'm sitting in front of a computer (except for when the computer dies), but trying to compete in an IPSC match in a gravel-surfaced shooting bay with berms on 3 sides feels like I'm perched at the focal point of a parabolic mirror. Every erg of solar energy is pointing right at me, boring into my soul. It saps my energy and distracts me so I am unable to concentrate on tasks ... such as holding my sight picture on an 8" plate sitting 30 yards away. (Or a "metric" cardboard target's A-zone even when it's a lot closer.)

This kind of heat is said to be predominate for the rest of this week.

I remember being in Vietnam during the hot season of 1969. It was muggy, hot, and we were operating in the areas around Dian and Cu Chi, which were often fairly open. It was bad enough when we were operating as unattached infantry, working our way through areas which alternated between relatively open, and jungle. We sweated all the time, and there was rarely any breeze then, either. We had light field packs and were 'rapidly mobile' which means that we weren't carrying heavy packs with gear weighing 60 pounds or more. but we had to carry so much water and ammunition that it was often difficult to stand up with your gear on your back anyway.

Today, I don't have to carry any gear. In fact, I'm sitting in my dining room in short pants and nothing else. No load to carry, and my biggest worry is that I need to cake my PC to the shop tomorrow. And I'm complaining?

That's a luxury, and as I sit here dripping in sweat, it helps to remind myself how very EASY my life has become.

The sun is going down, and I still have electricity and lights. I can stay up as late as I want.

Back then, my most common fantasy was to sleep on a bare mattress on the floor, with fans blowing cool air over me from all directions. And there were no creepy crawly things sucking my blood as I slept. (You would be amazed at how prevalent leeches were when you slept on notionally dry ground. Especially in the Rubber Plantations, or rather what remained of them.)

Now, I don't have to stand a watch, I'm not in an 'ambush position', there aren't flares in the air or artillary going off in the middle of the night, I'm sleeping in a very comfortable bed.

And nobody is shooting at me.

Compared to that, I'm in Hog Heaven.

God Bless America.

Wedding Party Boogey Down

Wedding Party Boogey Down (click on that to see the video)

Shared via AddThis

I'm as addicted to viral media as anyone, but this one takes me over the top.

What can be more joyful that people who dance at their own wedding?

Sorry about the short commercial before the actual video ... I couldn't fine a source without it.

But I did find this "recreation" of the event, in another venue.

Somehow, I doubt that this is an entirely 'amateur video' situation. Still, the fantasy is little short of charming.

Stick figures in peril

Stick figures in peril: bizarre and confusing warning signs from around the world - Telegraph
As much as I don't like the UK's "Daily Telegraph" (because of their sensationalist and cheezy content), sometimes it's just really hard to resist their sleezy sensationalism.

Here's a few examples of something that we all know and wonder about ... stick figures.


This "Stick Figure", for example, appears to warn the viewer against performing unnatural acts with dump trucks.

On the other hand, is the unnatural acts interpretation a matter of objective thinking, or does it say something about the viewer? I invite you to contribute your own interpretation, as long as it does now reflect negatively on the author ... that would be me, not you. I'm okay, you're subject to intense psychological examination. Right?

Right.


Here's another example, which seems to support the unnatural acts interpretation. I hope you can provide a more logical meaning. Sure, it's probably contrary to continuing a normal sex-life if you allow ... perhaps encourage ... an elephant to step on you private parts. But we should all be aware of those risks without the stick figure.

On the other hand, what about the trunk, eh?





This is another stick figure which illustrates ... what? TP in the commode is okay, but standing up while doing your personal business is not okay?

Or does it suggest that it's 'not okay' to do a double back-flip into the commode as a bizarre version of suicide?

I work on a University Campus, and I have to admit that some of the people who are compelled by immediate personal needs to visit the "Public Loo" just don't seem to understand the etiquette of using a public toilet. Perhaps this indicates that "Ranging Shots Are Not Okay" is a reasonable interpretation of this Stick Figure.

No, that's just too bizarre to write about on a Public Blog. Forget I said that, okay?

Thanks.

These are only three of the NINETEEN stick figures presented in the Telegraph Article. Please remember that I started out saying that the Telegraph website was weird and not my favorite website.

Also, I never said anything about unnatural acts here. If you think I did, it merely reflects your own personal perversity. Not mine.

Dundee July 2009 (Stage 4): "Made in the Shade"

The Jungle Run is particularly difficult to film. At the July Dundee club match, I only got one small video clip, which faded out when the camera was unable to focus on the action.

It seems only fitting that this discontinuous video reflect the audio clip from Wolfman Jack's on-air dialogue with a 13-year-old listener.

Ten IPSC targets, 3 steel at the end, The Hobo Brasser runs in the jungle ... no YouTube version available here..
.

Dundee July 2009 (Stage 5): V2

The fifth stage of the July, 2009 DUNDEE club match provided lots of ways to err, but most of the competitors handled the shooting problem with a minimum of urps.

There were 4 IPSC "Classic" targets, overlayed with no-shoot "penalty targets", on either side of a stacked-barrel barrier. The stage was symmentrical, each side providing the Classic Target arrays, plus steel "Pepper" targets cunningly arrayed so that the competitor couldn't see a Popper until he/she downed the target in front of it.

Pepper Popper, US Popper. Pepper Popper, US Popper. That was the game plan, but many shooters took the larger "Pepper Poppers" first, to reveal the smaller (and usually farther away ... up to fifty feet) U.S. Poppers.

On this 24 round stage, I personally took the right side and then reloaded with another 17-round magazine, giving me a total of 18 rounds for the 8-round array. I ran out of ammo before I could take down the farthest US Popper and declined to reload to re-engage a small, far-away steel target which I had already shown myself unable to hit at that distance.

Others chose a different approach, and almost everyone beat me at that stage.

If I seem to belittle my squad-members in the accompanying video (available at YouTube here), that's misleading. If fact, most people on my squad performed much better than did I, and I was pleased to record their accomplishments on video.

Of course, I also recorded their faults. Perhaps it's that I have a mean streak, but more likely I wanted to depict the difficulties of this "Evil Bill" stage.

You can see this video on YouTube without the musical background here, but you can also view "the whole thing" (although you cannot download it) below.

Dundee July 2009 (6): Way Over There

In the last stage of the July Dundee match, I tried to get as many squad-members on video as I could. We were all fairly ready to go home (or to lunch at Abby's Pizza in Newburg ... Giant Linquica pizzas and beer, yum yum!)

The stage is an odd one: start in the Guard Shack, engage 3 IPSC targets with 3 shots each, knock down the 3 pepper poppers (one of which is 'forward-falling'), and clean the 5 plates on the Texas Star. The stage instructions read: "Start in the Guard Shack, do what you usually do." It assumes we know what that means ... and although there was some ribald humor occasioned by the stage procedures, we did, indeed, do what we usually did. What a great way to end a Summer Match!

I filmed The Hobo Brasser, Erik, and as a change up I even have a video of The Geek doing his Limited best on this 23-round stage with lotsa awkward steel (including a straight-up Texas Star). The video also includes relatively new shooter Mike S., the surprising John M, and the high-light of the squad, Jerry D.

The most interesting part of this match was Jerry D. He was shooting an 'old' STI (black finish, no frills, with a C-more) and he did it very well ... although none of us could remember ever seeing him at a match before.

I finally, on this last stage, asked Jerry why he shot so well when we didn't remember him.

"Well, I haven't shot IPSC since 1990" he replied.

Where was the last match he shot?

"Tri-County", he replied, citing a local club.

The story is, Jerry D. signed up with another local shooter, Rich B., whose membership number is 5*.

"But surely that's a Lifetime membership member, Jerry. What's YOUR membership number?"

He cited a middle 3-digit (5**) USPSA Membership number.

Wow, I thought. The Hobo Brasser and I consider ourselves 'old-timers' in USPSA because our membership numbers are mid-1*,*** but Jerry D is truly one of the Pioneers of USPSA.

"So tell, me, Jerry, why is Rich's lifetime membership so low, but you didn't take the lifetime membership option"

He said, "I thought it was a waste of money to pay for the lifetime membership. I just signed up for the annual membership. I didn't think it would last this long."

For those people who don't think that Practical Shooting is an addictive sport, I have to say ... it's hard to stay away.

This is a 3:25 minute video. There's a raw version of the video on You Tube, but if you want to see it with music, click on the embedded video below. (Match scores available here.)

Crock Match Cancelled

At the regularly scheduled Dundee Club match for July 2009, Match Director and Club President Paul Meiers announced that the planned "Crocodile Dundee Banzaii Ballistic (You Got Bullets?)" high-round-count match would not take place in September of 2009.

"It takes three or four thousand dollars to put on this match" Meier said at the July 25 club-match shooter's meeting. Because there are only a few weeks until the scheduled Labor Day match, Meier said "We are not a big club. We need the match fees to put on this match. We only have 20 shooters signed up so far, and only four of them are local shooters."

Today's email included an explanation from Meiers:

I’m sorry to have to announce I have canceled the 2009 Crazy Croc match. At this time we do not have enough applications to make the match run. We’ve been trying for the past 3 months to bring in applications but this year they just aren’t flowing. I know the primer shortage is one problem for several shooters, there are several big matches in this area this year and Nationals is the following week so many shooters are having to pick their matches. Also looking around at other matches, 2 day matches are having problems. The cost of travel is just too high for many shooters this year.

I know this is going to put some shooters in a bind but I just can’t run a match on a deficit. I don’t have those trillions to play with. We plan to be back next year reloaded and ready to go.

Those who have sent in applications I will shred them and put into the burn pile. I hope to see everyone next year.

For contact information, go to the "Team Croc" website here.

Senate Defeats Conceal-Carry Measure That Divided Democrats - washingtonpost.com

Senate Defeats Conceal-Carry Measure That Divided Democrats - washingtonpost.com

The Senate narrowly defeated today a measure which would have allowed a person with a Concealed Carry Permit in one state to exercise that right in any state of the union. Note that this measure wouldn't have given any protections to criminals ... it would only have de-criminalized concealed carry for honest citizens outside their home state.

From the Washington Post:

An amendment that would have allowed gun owners to carry their weapons across state lines fell just short of passage Wednesday in a vote that revealed deep divisions among the Senate's Democrats.

Supporters included all but two Republicans and 20 Democrats, but the vote of 58 to 39 in favor fell two short of the 60 needed to defeat a filibuster.

...

Offered as an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill, the legislation would have allowed people to carry concealed firearms across state lines, provided they "have a valid permit or if, under their state of residence" they "are entitled to do so." It was considered one of the most far-reaching federal efforts ever proposed to expand gun-permitting laws.

"This carefully tailored amendment will ensure that a state's border is not a limit to an individual's fundamental right and will allow law-abiding individuals to travel without complication throughout the 48 states that already permit some form of conceal and carry," Thune said during Wednesday's sometimes contentious debate.

The NRA, in urging a yes vote, called the amendment "important and timely pro-gun reform."

I have never been particularly fond of Wayne LaPierre, but in a PMSNBC interview he stood up to an obviously antagonistic Talking Head and provided a perspective which is usually missing from Main-Stream Media reports.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Given that the Senate vote was only two votes short of a filibuster-proof decision, I believe that LaPierre is justified in considering this vote a "win", if only as a means of measuring senatorial support which ... just wasn't quite enough to carry the day.

This time.

My home state of Oregon is loath to extend Reciprocal Right To Carry to residents of other states, perhaps in part because Oregon has requirements which are more strict than, say, it's neighboring state of Washington. (This is not necessarily true ... but that's the story we hear from the Governor and other "Blue-State" public officials. And they're sticking to it.) More likely because they're frightened by the idea of people carrying guns, and while by federal law they cannot prevent their own citizens from "Shall Issue" right to carry firearms, they're not about to let some stranger from another state carry here.

I suspect this is the same parochial mind-set which infected the senators from the other states who voted against this bill. No, it doesn't speak well for the Senators from Oregon .. or the other stages who voted against the bill.


We didn't win this one, but we looked good on video. Maybe the next time, or the time after that ...?

Funny thing about congressional voting. Usually 'we' are on the defensive, but this time the shoe is on the other foot.

We only have to win one time. 'They', on the other hand, must win every vote. If they lose just one .. hey, it's a whole new ballgame.

This position feels much more comfortable than the "usual" position we are forced into.

No wonder LaPierre seems so relaxed in his interview.

Credit Card Fraud

Well, that was fun.

I just got off the phone with my Credit Card provider.

My credit card has been canceled.

I didn't know about this when I phoned them ... apparently it was just a matter of fortunate timing that I went online tonight to check my account balance and last statement, and I was nonplussed when I couldn't sign onto my online account.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Earlier tonight I had successfully signed on to the website of the supporting lending institution, but that didn't give me access to my credit card account. Then I attempted to sign onto the URL specifically for credit card information, and it wouldn't accept my logon/password and clicked on "PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING SECURITY QUESTIONS". Which I did, with responses which were appropriate and accurate.

I found myself staring at the Brown Screen of Death:

Unable to identify you in our records
[error message RIO16]

The website would not accept the logonid and password which it had accepted only minutes before.

That left me with no choice but to read the 24-hour help hotline phone number on the back of my credit card.
Note: this number is in teeny tiny font, and if your eyesight is no better than mine I recommend that you get a magnifying glass and read it now, and write it in bigger font size where you won't lose it.

Eventually I was privileged to speak to a Customer Service Representative (CSR), a charming lady from India who speaks very very fast. I'm sure you've spoken to her before, or a close relative of hers, when accessing Customer Service facilities for other on-line services. I know I have, and it has always been difficult to understand them. When I asked her to slow down and enunciate carefully, the conversation was extended several more minutes. But I did understand every word she said.

This is when I learned that my account had been locked. Cancelled. Disconnected. Frozen. Sent to Coventry.

No longer valid.

On the phone, I was required to answer a LOT of "Security Questions", including my current phone number. (They had my OLD phone number, from 3 years ago, which explains why they were unable to contact me before locking the account. Curiously, I had checked my phone number just before they locked me out, and it was correct. Go figure.) They also confirmed my billing address, receipt of hard-copy bills (not happening, will now be corrected), SSN, card number, security code, etc.

The story was that "several accounts have been locked" because they had received charges from payees which were suspected of hacking. Or, to put it more plainly, ID Theft.

Mine was one of them.

The first thing they did was to lock my account.

After they were satisfied that I was who I claimed to be, the musically voiced young lady proceeded to read me the most recent charges:

DBODPOCOLC, July 22, $8.08.

No, I don't recognize that charge.

V KAREFE FON IND, July 22, $1.01
No, that's not familiar either.

MUSIC DOWNLOADS, July 10, $9.95
Okay, yeah. I downloaded an MP3 album from Amazon earlier this month. That one's mine.

Having established that the hatchet-job occurred yesterday (July 22), they asked me to destroy my old credit card and assured me that the bogus charges would be deleted from my bill.

In the meantime, they will be sending me a new credit card, with a new account number, and when I received it I should notify my legitimate online accounts.

Since my card was set to expire almost immediately, I asked about the expiration date. When the 'new old card' expires, they'll send me another new card, with another new account number and a longer expiration date.

That's going to be fun, too. I think I'll just not be buying anything soon if I have to pay by credit card.

There are probably several lessons to be learned from this experience.

• monitor your credit accounts frequently, and carefully
• if you can't access an on-line account on-line, phone your credit card provider immediately
• be assertive when talking to a CSR
• keep track of credit transactions you have made, so if a bogus one appears on your bill you'll know whether it's legitimate
• know how to contact your credit card provider in the not-that-unlikely event that you can't contact them on-line, if that's your usual mode of dialogue
• Don't be, as Elmer Fudd says, "vewwy quiet" ... you are not hunting rabbits, you're hunting wolves and you need help immediately
• Finally, and this is a personal situation, if your online purchase is denied by your credit card provide, this should be a big red warning light. It was for me, and I quit ordering from that 'questionable' vendor. But it still caught me by surprise, because they waited for a month and a week before they sold my credit card.

By the way, it's indicative of something-or-other that the first charge was for $1.01, and the second was for $8.08. The bad guys obviously started small, probably on the premise that if I saw the charges I would ignore them because it wasn't very expensive ... yet.

There's not doubt in my mind that they charges would have been very big, very soon, once they became comfortable with the assurance that I wasn't going to report them to my credit card provider.

I suspect that's what broke their back. They probably hurt a lot of credit card holders very bad, and were reported by their victims. That certainly saved me, because my credit card provider was alert and pro-active. Right now, I don't mind a bit that my credit card account was frozen. I suffered nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Oh, and if YOU get a call from your credit card provider informing you that your card has been locked, and asking you to verify your Security Information ... don't do it. Instead, hang up and then call the number (in teensy tiny print) on back of your credit card. At least you will know who you're talking to.

Check your six, speaking financially.

It's a jungle out there.

Mo Dowd and the Grey Lady

Call me racist, call me a Political Radical of "The Opposite Party" ... but then, I repeat myself.

At least, these two terms are the interchangeable according to New York Times and the Queen of the NYT columnists, Maureen Dowd (when speaking of Conservatives).

Okay, that's what they are ... what am I?

From the American Spectator, here is a 3-page satirical opinion column on the hypocritical racist attitudes and practices & unspoken policies of Mo and the NYT.

You may not find it as funny as I did.