in exactly the same way that I support arming every one. It’s just how I am. Dave Kopel thinks so too (via Jeff).
The mass shootings in this country tend to occur at places where people are not armed (by law or policy). They occur in schools and workplaces. No one, for example, ever tries to do a mass shooting at a gun store nor do they try to do mass shootings at police stations. Because there are fucking guns there.
A bunch of us gun nuts headed to Reno for a meet-up and some range time. A good time was had by all. The highlight of the rip for me was using Kevin‘s CMP Garand with mil-surp ammo to ping a steel plate at 400 yards with open sights. Woohoo. We did this at the Palomino Gun Club.
What others are saying:
While there, we all tried live-blogging over at Traction Control. But that didn’t last as we decided we’d rather chew the fat than pixels.
Rivrdog has a range report with some Mosin goodness.
Joe Huffman wraps up meeting the folks. And he has a picture that is destined to become a classic.
We got to hear Dan McKown speak. Dan, you may recall, is the guy who intervened when some nutjob was shooting up the Tacoma Mall. The nutjob’s plan was to go store to store (he had an AK clone and 600 rounds) shooting up the place. That plan ended when Dan confronted him. Dan took 5 rounds of 7.62X39 and is currently in a wheelchair.
Mr. Blasty is showing up all over. Here Mrs. Argghhh is plinking away with him.
Keewee is wrapping up the girly stuff from the event. Shopping? Why shop when there’s shooting and gambling to be done?
I’m anxiously awaiting to see what the Conservative UAW Guy and Neanderpundit say. Those dude’s are seriously funny.
Fodder rounds up the event and has some pics.
I won the door prize and got a really nice Brownell’s range bag.
You have to give Lee Tramel some credit, he knows how to respond to a put down. Last week when County Mayor Mike Ragsdale was on the Gene Patterson show “Tennessee This Week” he referred to Tramel as a, “a produce salesman.”
So what does Tramel do? He kindly sends the Mayor a fruit basket at his office on the sixth floor with a card that reads, “Best wishes from your old friend the Produce Man”.
Supposedly this fruit basket arrived within the hour of Lumpy Lambert’s announcement of a County Commission investigation of Ragsdale. Rumors of fruit flying through the air soon followed. Some say that the Mayor has a problem with his temper. Only the janitor knows for sure.
Betty Bean chronicles all this and more in her article today in the Halls Shopper News, “Six days of ‘Harbergate’”.
I wonder how many fruit baskets will arrive this week? Think Mike Chase will send one?
A little birdie told me that Wayne LaPierre will start blogging today over at NRA News.com. Will keep an eye out.
The gun bloggers went to the range while in Reno. Some pics. That guy in the first couple of pics looks like a total dork. His stance is all wrong and every thing. Who invited him?
Kinda funny how when you go to a blogging event that you neglect the blogging. That’s ’cause there’s poker to play and guns to shoot.
Also, I am apparently the youngest gunblogger alive.
Outside the hotel, a car fire broke out. Your friendly, neighborhood gunblogger at Traction Control took pictures:
No gunbloggers were involved.
From Canada comes these words of wisdom.
Why a concept so basic and so simple as an outright ban on firearms hasn’t been worked out by any country is beyond my comprehension. I completely agree with Kevin Duffy (letter — Oct. 4) that such a ban should be in the works for all civilized nations.
Perhaps we could take the lead on this crucial matter and reclaim our position as one of the best and most civilized countries in the world.
Before we rightly mock this, I have a question. What country has been the most disarmed? Being disarmed due to foriegn occupation does not count.
At the Gunbloggers Rendezvous. Blogging will resume later. Off to a poker tourney.
Advertising is often used to reshape public opinion, to shore up a weakness. When customers complained that the new Beetle was cramped inside, Volkswagen ran a bunch of ads emphasizing how roomy the car was. Everybody knows frozen meals are crappy, which is why there’s a poster on my block telling me some brand of frozen food is so good that chefs don’t want me to know about it. Every company that strip mines brags about how many trees it plants.
The problem here is that everybody knows the truth. The reason people think Beetles are small is because you get a leg cramp immediately upon entering one. Frozen meals are crappy. And strip miners don’t really care about saving trees. In each instance, the advertising message runs directly counter to the widely-known truth. It’s a lie, and the hope is that if they repeat it enough, somebody will believe it.
And that’s why Dennis Hastert held an entire press conference about the Foley matter to say “The bottom line is we’re taking responsibility.”
In that conference, he did everything he could to smear responsibility on as many other parties as possible. He “reached out to the Democrat leader and shared with her some of the ideas”. (When was the last time the Republicans turned to the Dems for help on anything?) He “turned this whole thing over to the FBI … to try to find out what happened.” He also asked the Justice Department, the Ethics Committee, and the State of Florida to help figure it all out. You’d think Foley was Kaiser Sose, a criminal mastermind eluding an international manhunt, rather than a pedophile trying to plea bargain down from jail time to AA meetings.
It is too late for Hastert to take responsiblity. The buck went zooming by months ago. Accountability would have required a real investigation when the problem first arose. Look at his old emails, look at his old instant messages. Interview past pages, his staff and him. This isn’t hard in any way except politically, which seems to be the only thing that mattered to the Speaker.
The National Rifle Association has endorsed Governor Phil Bredesen (a Democrat). Not surprising as the Gov. is pro-gun and not just in that sportsman/hunter kind of way. He signed shall-issue NFA into law:
The sheriff or chief of police of the city of residence of a person purchasing any firearm, defined by the National Firearms Act, 26 U.S.C. 5845 et seq., shall execute within fifteen (15) business days of any request all documents required to be submitted by the purchaser if the purchaser is not prohibited from possessing firearms pursuant to § 39-17-1316.
In other words, your local sheriff cannot deny your application to purchase NFA weapons, like machine guns, suppressors, and short barreled rifles.
Update: They also endorsed Democrat Gov. Bill Richardson.
When I heard that Republicans were backpedaling and pointing fingers, each trying to prove that he didn’t put politics over pedophilia, I wasn’t much surprised. If Foley were a Democrat and the underage boy was an adult woman, I’m sure GOP leadership would have been aghast. Instead, what makes them squirm is the uncomfortable questions more than the allegations they never investigated.
Fortunately, Tom Reynolds has a way to deal with the questions. He brought a bunch of children to his press conference to ensure that the discussion never strayed beyond topics appropriate for the ears of children. You almost have to admire the man for doing something so clever, transparent and brazen.
The sheer shamelessness of such a maneuver tells you all you need to know. These guys have gotten too secure in their power, too comfortable in their incumbency. They’ve destroyed even the pretense of accountability. It’s time to see them gone.
Netvibes looks pretty darn neat. I’ve not played with it yet but will probably start. Via Der Commissar.
Bob Corker also “took 3 pay raises for himself,” according to the ad. This claim is true, but it doesn’t mention that the mayor of Chattanooga’s pay is linked to that of the Hamilton County mayor. When the county commission gives the county mayor a raise, Chattanooga’s mayor gets one as well. The raises Bob Corker received amount to approximately 3% a year (Chattanooga mayor’s pay, 2000-2005 document to be posted soon).
The ad then says Bob Corker froze the pay of Chattanooga’s police and firefighters. That claim is a stretch.
In two budgets, Bob Corker changed the pay structure for police and firefighters. Police and firefighters got small cost-of-living raises instead of their regularly-scheduled moves up the pay scale (Budget FY 2001-2002, Budget FY 2003-2004 documents to be posted soon).
In Mr Stein’s case, he was pounced on as the crew and other travellers looked on. The drama unfolded less than an hour into the flight. As he settled down with a book and a ginger ale, the father-of-three was grabbed from behind and held in a head-lock.
“This guy just told me his name was Michael Wilk, that he was with the New York Police Department, that I’d been acting suspiciously and should stay calm. I could barely find my voice and couldn’t believe it was happening,” said Mr Stein.
Kim notes the Military Channel did. Kim offers his own rankings. I’ll be taking the Military Channels number 1 & 2 to Reno.
Seen at the KNS, The Tennessee Republican Party darkened an image of Harold Ford, Jr. Kinda lame. They also allegedly used code words. Though I’ve opined that I didn’t think Tennessee would elect a black senator, I haven’t seen race made much an issue until now. I’m disappointed it has now shown it’s ugly face.
Conservatives for Corker wants folks to go shill at the Bob Pope Gun Show:
The Bob Pope Gun Show is this weekend, and we need you! We need volunteers on Saturday and Sunday to pass out Sportsmen for Corker Stickers at the event. If you’re willing to help for a few hours either of these days, Tennessee Victory will pay for your admission.
You get free admission. I wonder if you’d also get any hard info on what Corker thinks about gun laws? I doubt it.
Over VV, AC asks:
My question is: under what circumstance is it appropriate to print the word? Obviously, not as a slur but is it okay in other circumstances? Should it be asterisked as though it were a curse word or should one use the political correct term “N-word”?
Now, AC blogs for the man, the MSM, part of the problem. So, he has to cater to the delicate sensibilities of people. I don’t. He asked this question in reference to my post in which I (intentionally) said gays and godless heathens are the new niggers. You, if you were a smart person, probably realized that I was using inflammatory language to reference the widespread dehumanization of blacks by using a derogatory term. You, if you were a dumbass, thought I was a RACIST!!!! (for examples of such dumbassery, see comments at AC’s joint).
And Brittney, who also blogs the man, the MSM, part of the problem, has a pretty funny image here. I thought it was funny. And even thought I may snag a copy. I notice the name of the files was respectthecock.gif. I thought it was funnier. I commented on how funny I thought the name was and she said that was almost the title the post. I assume she thought the people who watch WKRN wouldn’t find it so funny.
If I worked for the man, I couldn’t say things like that. Or talk about a bunch of stuff I talk about here.
This time, at NewsDay.com:
Police and other law enforcement agencies have been told to be on the lookout for two new gadgets — a tiny gun that looks like a key chain trinket and easily could be smuggled onto a plane, and a plastic handcuff key that looks like a pendant.
The NYPD issued a Sept. 29 memo about the factory-produced gun — a 2½-inch-long replica of the Colt Python that, police sources note, can be tossed, along with keys and cell phone, for instance, into a plastic basket before passing through an airport metal detector. The gun has not been found in New York City, authorities said.
Bear in mind some things about this gun (from an earlier post):
They cost $5,000
They’re illegal to import
The ammo is less powerful than an Airsoft pellet
Gunblogger (and a whole lot more) James at Hell in a Handbasket has returned.
And another question: Why will the basically conservative people who think Tom Selleck is a great choice say that it’s terrific for the popular nonentity to stump for unbridled license to guns, but that liberal actors should shut their pie holes?
Every time a Barbra Streisand or Dixie Chick takes a stand, the right screams and hollers and says that actors should act, singers should sing, and that entertainers should firmly place their opinions where the sun don’t shine.
But Tom Selleck, well, that’s another story. Obviously his well-groomed mustache and masterly performance in “Three Men and a Baby” make him just the dude to cross the nation delivering his opinions on this most political of issues.
I admit that I say the same things about Streisand and her ilk. Are we being fair to the voices from the other side?
Over at Nashville is Having Technical Issues with MySQL (scroll down, it’s broken), Brittney ponders staying home on election day:
I can only imagine the reaction of voters who are not part of the political scene to the onslaught of negative campaign ads, with their ominous music and foreboading narrators. It damn near makes me want to stay at home, and I always vote.
Or a post about life, the universe, and everything. But mostly the universe.
This post will be rambling in nature, you’ve been warned.
About once every few years, I go through this phase wherein I ponder the nature of the universe. As opposed to the rest of the time, when I could apparently give a fuck less because I got shit to do. Since this is the first time where I’ve gone through that phase while having a blog, I figured I’d bore the shit out of you err entertain you with it. Now, it’s been a while since I’ve read any Hawking or Sagan, so a lot of this crap is from memory, and mine is usually faulty. If I’m wrong about something, let me know as it may make my pondering easier. So, a few notes on my understanding of the universe based on crap I read many years ago:
1 – At one point in time, there was this big ass thing. Well, we don’t know really if it was big ass but it was massive. And they don’t really know what this thing was but take their word for it, it was massive. This thing may not have actually been a thing either as it currently is viewed as a mathematical concept. Apparently, it was so massive that all the stuff that is currently in the universe comprised this big ass thing, which seems to indicate it was a big ass thing and not a big ass mathematical concept. So, it was probably at least as massive as a 1965 Buick Wildcat. At some point, the big ass thing got so big ass that, instead of crushing itself under its own big assness, it exploded, which makes no sense. But that’s what they say. This explosion (called either The Big Bang or Let there be light, depending on who you talk to) created the universe as we know it. All that stuff in the big ass thing turned into a bunch of small ass things that were immediately hurled out into space – and don’t even get me started on space. Nevermind, I’ll get started on space. That’s the other thing about the universe: sure there’s a lot of stuff in it but there’s more lack of stuff than anything else. They call this lack of stuff space.
2 – At some point all that stuff created will get as far as it can get and then it will turn around and head back to the middle to rejoin the big ass thing that it was once a part of, kind of like a paddle ball. This is referred to (by me, anyway) as a collapse but people who study this crap call it The Big Crunch or Armageddon, depending on who you talk to. This happens due to gravity or invisible men in the sky, again depending on who you talk to. We’re apparently still in the exploding phase of this process as (they say) the universe is getting bigger. Which is good news, I suppose. I mean it beats knowing that we’re collapsing. That’d be depressing. So, at some point, all things will rejoin the big ass thing and we’ll all die at the hands of a mathematical concept.
3 – This process perpetuates, which is to say that this big ass thing explodes, collapses, explodes again, and collapses again. Seemingly, forever.
4 – The universe is definitely finite. Or definitely infinite. There’s some disagreement on that. Regardless, it’s pretty fucking big. It has to be since it holds all our stuff. But I think most people seem to think it’s finite.
5 – The universe is really, really old. It’s so old that we (well, I) can’t even begin to fathom how old it is. It’s been around an estimated 13.7 billion years (± 200 million years).
6 – The universe (and I’m not making this up, I swear I read it in a Hawking’s book) is shaped roughly like a banana. It’s not important to the discussion but I thought you’d like to know. And, of course, it implies that the universe is finite.
So, this leads me to my pondering:
In the life of the universe, I am (heck, the whole of human existence for that matter is) totally insignificant. This, of course, leads me to wonder about my own insignificance. Am I insignificant in the way that feminists are insignificant in elections? Which is to say, I serve no greater purpose? Or am I insignificant in the way a red blood cell is insignificant? Which is to say, that while an individual red blood cell is in fact insignificant, the totality of all red blood cells is quite significant. Or, put another way, am I a cog in well-oiled machine? Or just a byproduct of the machine’s production.
If the universe is, in fact, finite, where the hell is it? If we assume it’s not everything, well, it has to be somewhere. And if it is finite, are there more? And where are they? And will we ever run into another one? And if it is finite, where the hell did all the space come from. And where exactly is it?
If the universe is infinite, then there has to be infinite me’s. Which makes me not insignificant, after all there are an infinite number of me’s out there. Spooky. Also, if it is infinite (which I don’t really buy, by the way), well, I can’t comprehend that as it would still have to be somewhere as far as I’m concerned. And, of course, if it is infinite, the big bang seems to imply that while it is infinite in terms of space, it’s probably not infinite in terms of the stuff in it, which means there likely aren’t infinite me’s out there. ETA: And, if infinite, it may just be a bunch of space with an inifinite number of big ass things exploding and collapsing all the time.
Since it’s really, really old, what was around before it was? You know, what was here, say, 15 billion years ago? Just a big ass thing and some space?
This leads me to my conclusion, which is that the existence of the universe [which seems to be perfectly aligned to create itself, create life, and create cool things (like Double Stuf Peanut Butter Oreos and Buick Wildcats)] indicates the existence of a higher power. Or that everything (including Oreos and Buick Wildcats) is a remarkable series of coincidences. Either seems likely to me.
If there is a higher power, where did it come from? Does God have a God? Does God’s God have a God? And we start the pondering infinite and perpetual loops again. Not only does the universe perpetuate itself, it perpetuates the pondering of itself.
In comments to my original post, Sigivald sayeth:
Is 16 a “young boy”?
That’s the age of consent in DC and in many states (including, I think, those the boys were in when emailed/IM’d), so it’d be legal for Foley to actually diddle the boy in question, which he did not.
Assuming that Sigi is correct, there’s nothing illegal that went down (heh! it’s so easy to toss off some gay jokes – see, I did it again). Now, Foley is likely a dirty old man. And he likely used his position and authority to exert a bit of influence. So, he should go. And it’s not because he’s gay or anything. It’s because his actions were inappropriate for a man in his position (I tell ya, they keep coming).
It’s also looking like the Republican leadership’s supposed knowledge that this was happening was mostly non-existent.
The Big Question: Can America ever be weaned off its love affair with guns?
No. See, unlike the Brits, it would require weaning. In England, it happened despite their gun culture. Bear in mind that England is a country whose press is terrified by BB guns and knives. And check this out:
There’s no question that the gun culture – stemming back to the frontier spirit of the 19th century and justified, at least by gun-ownership advocates, by the Second Amendment of the Constitution – plays a major role in perpetuating the high numbers of violent deaths.
Err, no. The gun culture (of which I am part) plays no role in gun deaths. Criminals do.
Cam says expect more suits from Mayor Bloomberg. I found this interesting:
Expect more cases and out-of-state lawsuits against gun dealers. The $800,000 contract for the James Mintz Group, the P.I. firm hired by Bloomberg, lasts until June 2008.
The ATF says of the simulated purchases (which is a euphemism for committing a felony):
Joe Green, a senior special agent and the New York spokesman for the ATF, questions the initiatives’ effectiveness. “It was useless,” he says. “We didn’t even know they were doing this until the day of the press conference” in May, when the mayor announced his sweeping civil lawsuit against fifteen out-of-state gun dealers he claims sold guns that were traced to New York crimes. “They never told us at all.” Green says that federal authorities subsequently had to sort out whether their own undercover investigations may have been jeopardized. Then again, the ATF might just be angry at Bloomberg for calling it “asleep at the switch” in a news conference
Gunman chose Amish school because it was easy target
I think we should all understand, no proposed law, none that I would think of or none that I’ve seen, could have ruled out this situation
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
Uncle Pays the Bills
 |
|
Find Local
|
