Based on his studies, Placyk has said the odds of a big primate like a skunk ape wandering Campbell County aren’t very good.

They think it’s not a monkey but don’t know what it is. I am referring to the cryptozoologist, not the critter.

Sometime soon, some one is going to say that this is insensitive:

An organisation in Israel has gained rabbinical approval to train pigs to guard Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Until now, Jewish settlements have been guarded by men with guns and also by guard dogs.

Apparently, I don’t know what negative reinforcement is. Tom tells us. It’s been a while since I’ve had a psychology class.

Junior,

Don’t fight naked. If you do, you will look stupid – even if you’re winning. And it’s just embarrassing, more so if you’re losing.

This rule will be pretty easy to follow for the first part of your life. Unfortunately, when you’re about 22 years old and older, the only things you could potentially get in a fight over will likely involve you (or someone else but most likely you) being naked.

If it does come to fisticuffs, explain to your opponent that you’d like to put clothes on. Odds are he doesn’t want to fight someone naked as much as you don’t want to fight while naked. It really is win-win.

Via Buck, who labels it the fourth branch of government, comes this article on the media’s double standard. Well worth reading:

. . . the real message that we receive is that (1) journalists are above the laws that they demand the rest of us obey, and (2) government needs to grow even larger and more oppressive. Although I doubt that Peter Jennings and his crew would openly admit to my charges, I will demonstrate that despite their protestations, ABC—and mainstream journalists in general—have been partly responsible for the Leviathan State that has proven to be much more effective at oppressing people at home than it has in preventing outsiders from attacking the rest of us.

Another one. A pit bull attacks its owner and the neighbor uses his gun to scare the dog off. If your dog will attack you, you have done some poor socialization. And here’s another media misconception about pit bulls:

The dog ignored Ayala’s shouts, locking its jaws on Oswald, and chewing at the right side of his owner’s face and arm.

Pit bulls do not have the magical ability to lock their jaws. They just have strong jaws.

Tom emails this story:

A man walking his puppy Monday in a local neighborhood was attacked by what appeared to be two pit bulls.

The pit bulls injured the man and killed his puppy, a 6-week-old American bulldog, as they walked in the 1500 block of Republic Street in Over-the-Rhine, WLWT Eyewitness News 5’s Raegan Butler reported.

It’s awful that this happened and the owner of the dogs who attacked the man needs to be held accountable but a few observations:

The opening sentence says they appeared to be two pit bulls. And they even interviewed the owner. Did they not ask the question? Granted, pit bull is not technically a breed but is common terminology for the American Pit Bull Terrier. Was it or wasn’t it?

There is a poll on the page that asks if pit bulls should be illegal to own. As of now, the results are 65% say yes. Abysmal.

One good thing, the article identified the puppy as an American Bulldog. Why is this good? Usually, the media calls them pit bulls too.

Howard Margolius, whose efforts to save his pit bull Cyan from confiscatory Breed Specific Legislation I blogged here, has organized a protest:

We will be protesting outside the Denver City Courthouse on
October 31st, Friday at 12:00 noon! Please join us and support the repeal!

A self-proclaimed ain’t one of them no-gun nuts wrote this article. Some selected excerpts follow to illustrate media ignorance of gun laws and guns:

Every good American needs a rifle to bring home deer and rabbit and squirrel to cook up for supper.

We all need to defend our homes and families from them tourists–um, I mean terrorists.

Ok, useless rhetoric. Whatever.

My question is this:

Why do we, in the general public, need flash suppressors to go after Bambi or fend off some teenage kid trying to swipe our Sony Trinitron?

It’s called the Bill of Rights not the Bill of Needs.

Flash suppressors are used in combat so the enemy can’t pinpoint a night shooter’s location by the flame from the muzzle. Technically, flash suppressors are illegal, but the public can buy “flash hiders” that do just about the same thing.

Uhm, wrong. Flash suppressors are used to disburse the flash to the sides of the rifle instead of straight ahead so that you can maintain site picture without being temporarily blinded by the muzzle flash. A flash suppressor/hider does not actually hide nor suppress a flash. Flash suppressors are not illegal. They are only illegal if on a semiautomatic rifle, made after 1994, that accepts a detachable magazine, and has one of the following characteristics:

Bayonet lug, pistol grip, or telescopic/folding stock.

And why do we general public types need 50-caliber sniper rifles that can kill a man at a range of up to a mile with a round that would blow a hole in a tank at long range?

The most experienced shooter cannot hit a stationary target at a range of one mile. Bear in mind that 22 caliber rifles state clearly on the box that the small 22 long rifle bullet can travel one mile. And at 35 meters, the 50 claiber rifle will penetrate one inch of steel, which is significantly less than long range and the penetration is much less than the five or so inches of armor tanks have. And lets not forget in colonial times the good old Kentucky rifle was popular in calibers of 65 to 70.

Anyway, I mean, is Bambi on steroids now? Was she exposed to gamma radiation, like the Incredible Hulk?

Gun rights are not about hunting but don’t take my word for it:

“The fundamental force behind the Second Amendment is to empower the people and give them the greatest measure of authority over the tyranny of runaway government.” – U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer, 2002

“By calling attention to ‘a well regulated militia’, the ‘security’ of the nation, and the right of each citizen ‘to keep and bear arms’, our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason, I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.” – John F. Kennedy, April 1960

“That rifle on the wall of the labourer’s cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It our job to see that it stays there.” – George Orwell

“The Second Amendment is not about duck hunting, and I know I’m not going to make very many friends saying this, but it’s about our right, all of our right to be able to protect ourselves from all of you guys up there.” – Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, appearing before Representative Charles Schumer’s committee hearings on the assault weapons ban

“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed- unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” – James Madison

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!” – Ben Franklin

“The said Constitution be never construed …to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” – Samuel Adams

“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.” – George Mason, during Virginia’s Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788)

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe.” – Noah Webster, Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia, 1787

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” – Thomas Jefferson

You can reach the author (MICHAEL ZITZ) of the article at mikez@freelancestar.com or at 540/374-5408

Justin tackles the media bias against sentient SUVs.

No really, they apparently have free will.

Jeff has the weekly report on gun bias up and notes the following:

So astoundingly, for only the second time in the past year, we see that while most of the stories linked to by Yahoo are neutral, the remaining articles feature more pro-gun (not more gun control) items than anti-gun (etc.)

The WaPo:

Democratic presidential candidates are distancing themselves from tough gun control, reversing a decade of rhetoric and advocacy by the Democratic Party in favor of federal regulation of firearms.

Most Democratic White House hopefuls rarely highlight gun control in their campaigns, and none of the candidates who routinely poll near the top is calling for the licensing of new handgun owners, a central theme of then-Vice President Al Gore’s winning primary campaign in 2000.

Another thing you’ll see soon if you’re not already is the rhetoric of only enforcing the laws on the books, we don’t need more laws. Actually, we need less. In fact, to make me happy, you can fix gun control by doing the following:

Getting rid of the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994. If you don’t know why, do a search of this site and you’ll see why.

Getting rid of the Hughes Amendment in the 1986 Gun Control Act. The Hughes amendment says that machine guns made after 1986 can’t be purchased as part of the 1934 NFA procedures. This is stupid because it’s merely a matter of cost. At Gun Craft this weekend, I learned that I can purchase a 1986 H&K MP5 for about $10,000. However, brand new H&K MP5s sell to dealers and police for $1,200. If I want one as a citizen, I have to spend $10K or become a dealer. Again, this is the recurring theme of disarming the poor.

Getting rid of the 1934 NFA $200 tax on SBRs, suppressors, and machine guns; and the $5 AOW tax. Taxing a right is illegal.

Note to the NRA, why don’t you guys do something useful and get right on that.

At the bottom of this NY Post article lies this quote:

The London Sun reported today that half of the rockets used in the attack were French weapons produced after the arms embargo against Iraq following the Gulf War.

That could be pretty damning.

So, a bunch of Democratic Presidential candidates get together and . . . stop me if you’ve heard this one . . . spend all their time bashing Bush. At least that’s the way the news portrays it. Do the Democrats (any of them) actually have a plan, other than raising taxes?

It’s easy to criticize the war, or economic policies, or tax cuts but the Dems have no plans that I know of (except Dean wants to raise taxes).

Per this:

Bill Clinton failed, Tony Blair drew a blank and Kofi Annan made little progress. But now a team of Hollywood film stars is about to visit the Middle East on a private peace mission, in the belief that their charms will work magic on the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Brad Pitt, his wife, Jennifer Aniston, and Danny DeVito are among the stars who aim to succeed where world statesmen have stumbled.

Sean Penn didn’t have much of an effect and I doubt these folks will.

I used to get between 6 – 10 spam comments a day. Then I got MT Blacklist and the spam has stopped. Checked the activity log and today four spam comments were stopped.

Met with Les yesterday to try out the new Glock. I loved it. Accurate, never jammed and fun to shoot. But this post is about something better: the lady we met at the range. We met a woman who was (max) four feet, ten inches tall. She was there shooting her Glock 9mm. She had just received her Carry Permit. I love to see women packing.

Via Tom comes this story:

Garner told police that he had to rush the 3-year-old pit bull and her 9 week old puppy to an animal hospital because his father had stabbed them with a sword.

First, this guy is an evil bastard. Second, the article is interesting because (as I’ve mentioned before) the media always points out when dogs are pit bulls (which technically isn’t a breed but is commonly used to refer to the American Pit Bull Terrier) and rarely does it identify other breeds. And the media has misidentified dog breeds as well.

When it comes to dogs, negative reinforcement (i.e., punishing bad behavior) is usually not effective. You should train your dog to respond to a firm No command and when he stops the bad behavior, praise him. However, with some dogs, negative reinforcement is all they will respond to in some situations. If you have a stubborn dog and you have to punish him physically (which you shouldn’t do until you’ve exhausted all other forms of correction), lightly hit him with an open hand on his ribs. Don’t hit him hard, just enough to make a startling noise. That’s really all it takes to get their attention. Honest.

A good letter to the editor in the KNS about the Episcopalian split:

The current schism in the Episcopal and mother Anglican churches is not tenable on the premise that homosexuality is condemned by the Scriptures.

Much of what is practiced in the Christian church is not scriptural but has arisen from a complex interplay of church decree, convention and divine inspiration of historical church leaders.

In the fourth century, the Catholic Church was fragmented. Different bishops emphasized different doctrines. The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke used terms to refer to Jesus that were secular terms also used to refer to men of different stature.

Only the book of John, the past apostolic gospel written, used the term “Lord,” which in the original Greek was reserved only for divinity. The gospels of Thomas and Mary Magdalene described God as being within each of us. The Secret Book of John emphasized the divine interpretation of scripture by men.

In June of 325, Constantine held a summit of bishops at Nicaea to resolve these issues. There was strong impetus to adopt the divinity of Jesus, not just because it was the belief of the emperor but because it would bring the individual churches under the blanket of state financing and eligibility for reparations from various groups that had earlier persecuted Christians.

The New Testament, as we know it, was constructed with the book of John being the seminal Gospel.

The argument could be made that the fundamental tenant of Christianity is, in fact, nonscriptural.

If the church wants to exclude openly gay clergy, that is its prerogative, but then it should not think of itself as a purveyor of truth and defenders of the Holy Scriptures. It should think of itself as a club with bylaws.

WILLIAM H. CULBERT JR.

Emphasis added. I loved it.

StraightWhiteGuy has moved. Make a note of it.

It occurs to me that I haven’t done an original humor piece since September 12 of this year. Guess I’m not feeling it. Bummer. Know any good jokes?

Alex Knapp posts his 20 favorite movies. These are mine. There are probably more but these were the first 20 to pop into my mind (in no order):

1. Unbreakable – Brilliant concept and its minimization of violence was awesome.
2. Unforgiven – Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.
3. Pulp Fiction – I shot Marvin in the face.
4. The Usual Suspects – Kaiser Soze is one scary sumbitch.
5. Raising Arizona – Son, you got a panty on your head.
6. Braveheart – The lord tells me he can get me out of this mess but he’s pretty sure you’re fucked.
7. Big Trouble in Little China – Now this really pisses me off to no end. And I am the only person who thinks this movie is great.
8. The Princess Bride – You seem a decent fellow, I hate to kill you.
9. Memento – Eventually, the huh? goes away.
10. Heathers – I love my dead, gay son.
11. Lethal Weapon – Ushered in the new genre of action movies.
12. Taxi Driver – You talkin’ to me?
13. Forest Gump – merely because you can tune in at any time when it’s on cable and it’ll be entertaining.
14. Full Metal Jacket – Two movies in one.
15. Goodfellas – Gangsta, gangsta at the top of the list.
16. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead – Good witty stuff
17. Rob Roy – No matter how cool it looked, never grab a sword.
18. A Fish Called Wanda – It’s K-K-K-K-Ken coming to K-K-K-K-K-Kill me.
19. Fargo – Just funny looking in general
20. The Ref – Hysterical.

Buck links to an ad by the four million mom march and the VPC that states:

You know and every law enforcement officer in America knows: the 1994 assault weapons ban saved lives.

Apparently, the CDC doesn’t know that; the FBI doesn’t know that because you’re eleven times more likely to be beaten to death; metro police departments know that assault weapons are used in less than 0.25% of violent crime; the FBI also notes that officers are twice as likely to be killed by their own handgun than by an assault weapon; and my personal favorite:

“Since police started keeping statistics, we now know that assault weapons are/were used in an underwhelming 0.026 of 1% of crimes in New Jersey. This means that my officers are more likely to confront an escaped tiger from the local zoo than to confront an assault rifle in the hands of a drug-crazed killer on the streets.”

–Deputy Chief of Police Joseph Constance, Trenton NJ, testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Aug 1993

Source for most of that.

The VPC is one of many groups of people that has to lie to prove their point.

Publicola suffers from half-bakered disease. He goes a while without blogging then posts a bunch of good stuff back to back.

Publicola notes:

On a thread at G&A’s Second Amendment Issues Forum someone asked why some people such as myself are always bad mouthing the NRA.

This will be an attempt to define the issues we have with them.

Read his reasons. I would also add that the NRA concedes defeat from the onset of any legislation and works to catch up. They could be lobbying for legislation to get rid of the assault weapons ban; getting rid of the Hughes Amendment; or lobbying to lower the NFA tax, taxing a right is illegal.

He also notes that:

California has filed a brief in oppossition to Silveira being heard by the Supreme Court.

In short the brief states that the second amendment applies only to the states & it only restrains congress. No individual Right. It brings up other issues, such as the court shouldn’t hear the case because it doesn’t have to (The Court had said that it should refrain from tackling complex constitutional questions until there is a direct & immediate need to do so) & the plantiffs lack standing since they are only contemplating the purchase of ‘assault weapons’ & aren’t specific about possessing any currently.

It seems some prominent law enforcement politicians officials have announced support for renewal of the assault weapons ban. Assuming that you are the type of person who is familiar with guns (police are) and you would oppose assault weapons (which I and most police actually don’t), then you would also know that the current assault weapons ban doesn’t ban assault weapons.

A local vet says that skunk apes don’t eat cats. And that they’re not that big. They are also New World Apes, which means that they are part of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

This vehicle carries only $20 worth of ammunition.

You come across a conspiracy theory and it’s somewhat believable.

Then you blog about it.

Then you read snopes.

Bubba writes:

There you have it. Being the outstanding attorney that he is, Charles E. Young makes a compelling argument. It’s time to up the ante. Time to go All In. Never mind the previous complicated schedule of payments. SKB will match Chuck’s pledge of $500 for the Second Harvest Food Bank if Jim Bob Cooter takes a snap during the Alabama game.

Pledge something for Second Harvest and more importantly for UT football.

CJ has the latest on the monkey that’s killing (and presumably eating) peoples’ cats in Campbell County.