Night of Broken Glass

Sixty-Nine years ago was the start of the Holocaust. In Germany, Nazi soldiers and German citizens trashed Jewish homes and shops.

30,000 Jews were arrested and taken to concentration cames. These were the first of over 6 million that would follow.

Never again should a civilized society let this kind of tragedy occur again, and that is exactly what Ahmoud Imanutjub of Iran is wanted to do.

Never forget. Never again.

No 21-Gun Salute at BSU

Bob Kustra has stepped to a new low on his anti-gun agenda at Boise State University. This Veteran's Day (2007) BSU will not allow Military honors in a 21-gun salute citing concerns it might 'scare' people.

Bullshit. Kustra is just about as antigun as they get. I would be surprised if the Honor Guard is even allowed to carry rifles at all. If they do they will be the wood form that are quite obviously not real.

News link here

It has begun

Tonight during Glenn Beck's CNNhn news show I saw my first Christmas based commercial for the season. Garmin GPS fires the first shot. Christmas carols for the next two months.

Remember Remember

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent

To blow up King and Parliament.

Three-score barrels of powder below

To prove old England's overthrow;

By God's providence he was catch'd

With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

Hospital Questions

Tuesday afternoon my wife and I checked into the hospital to have our first baby. Yay congratulations etc, but that's not what this blog is about sorry.

Anyways in the check in process the nurses always ask you a bunch of scripted questions. All of them seemed to be fine except the first one. Or maybe the first one just stuck in my head so much that I forgot all the others.

The first question asked was "Have you tried to limit your alcohol and drug intake?"

That was it, worded that way. First of all that question is extremely presumptive. Second how do you answer it correctly if you don't do drugs or alcohol?

We answered "no" because we don't do drugs and alcohol. The nurse freaked! We calmed her down by saying that we don't do drugs or alcohol.

She said okay "yes you have tried to limit". We said no that's not correct because answering "yes" means that we do drugs and alcohol but have limited them for pregnancy. Saying "yes" puts it on the record that we admit to drug and alcohol use.

Yes, I know medical records are supposedly private and only the hospital would see a yes answer but in this day and age I don't believe anything in a database is private for very long. So a yes answer here is unacceptable to me.

So how do you answer that question properly if you don't do drugs and alcohol? Either way you admit to doing drugs and alcohol. Also lumping the two together causes problems. What if you do drink, but don't do drugs?

Maybe it's just me but I see a problem with these kind of questions.

Warren Jeffs guilty on both counts

No charges have been levied against the husband nor the girl’s parents who are equally culpable.

I accept, but disagree with the verdict. There may have been evidence in the case presented in court that didn’t show up in news reports or blog reports.

My feelings are the State was more after polygamous leader Jeffs then they were after an actual rapist and accomplishes (husband and parents).

9/11/01

I was waking up for work.

My television is my alarm clock and turned on shortly before the Today show reported that apparently an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I didn’t have cable so Today was the only morning news I got ick. I was still pretty groggy so I didn’t think anything of it. I laid in bed for a while longer getting over my sleepiness.

I had my eyes barely open when I saw the second plane hit on live TV. It woke me up and woke me up fast. That moment was one of the moments that divide time into two parts...before this and after this, and after this nothing would ever be the same.

I jumped out of bed and went out to the living room and turned on the TV there, then I went to the other side of the house and pounded on my roommates door. “James get up and get dressed...we’re under attack”. The news STILL had not said it was an attack. James is normally a heavy sleeper when off duty, but today he woke up enough to say “what? who?”

I said I don’t know but two planes just kamakazied the world trade centers.

James got up and instead of putting on his civilian clothes he put on his fatigues. After watching the TV for about 10 minutes he called base. He was told to stand down, but be available at all times. Eventually he did serve in Iraq for a tour, but today he was a civilian just like me, hands tied and unable to do a damned thing about it, even though both of us wanted to. He had no orders, I had no means. Both of us a thousand miles away from anything.

I called my boss and woke him up, told him to turn on the TV, “any channel, it doesn’t matter, you’ll see.” After a few minutes of talking to him on the phone he said to go down to the store and put a sign on the door that said “closed for a day of prayer”.

That’s all we could do that day was pray that it wouldn’t get any worse.

Shooty, No Shooty

The dissident frogman delivers up this soon to be classic video training AP reporters on the difference between bullets and cartridges.

A must see for everyone!

Wrath of the Lich King - World of Warcraft

Blizzard hasn't 'officially' announced it yet, expect that in a few hours, but at Blizzcon information about the next World of Warcraft expansion is available Wrath of the Lich King.

- New dungeons
- New battlegrounds
- New zones
- Level 80!
- New HERO class - Deathknight

Houston, we have a problem.

First let me tackle level 80. We already saw from level 60 to 70 several RAID level dungeons die out. Zul'Gurrob, Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, An'Qiraj(20 and 40), and Nax. Nobody goes there anymore. Then you also have the 5 mans that are mostly ghost towns. 5 man dungeons are different though, people are taking to soloing them for fun. You cannot solo a raid dungeon. Level 60 raid dungeons will stand empty. Now Blizzard is going to do the same with level 70 to 80. Level 70 raid dungeons will stand empty and unused.

Next Hero class. What about the hero classes for the others. Having a single hero class will effectively turn WoW into Pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies. Once people start unlocking Death Knight it will become the alpha-class...or Blizzard will have to nerf the crap out of it to keep it fair. We already saw this in SWG. Blizzard MUST get hero classes for all done before release.

More reading at 1up

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Bill O'Reilly attacks FreeRepublic - Update

In my earlier article found here, Bill O'Reilly attacks FreeRepublic - Most Ridiculous Item of the Day I mentioned several threads that were possible "hits" to the complaints Bill O'Reilly had about FreeRepublic.

Well FReepers were sort of correct. The quotes in question were definitely out of context, but the wrong threads were identified.

For an update straight from the Free Republic spokesperson see this thread:

O'Reilly Factor Provides Free Republic Offending Comments Links

Read the threads linked yourself and make your own conclusions if you wish. I've already made mine.

Free Republic is not a right wing hate site.

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Gun bans in Idaho - WTF

Yea it is a completely foreign experience for me but apparently Mayor Nancy Chaney is considering banning weapons (open or concealed) in public places in Moscow Idaho.

Should note that "public places" is legally defined by all government funded properties, roads and sidewalks included. Some define "public places" as any establishment open to the public. This would include stores and restaurants.

Moscow exploring public gun ban

Mayor Chaney says rash of shooting deaths has led the city to look into its ability to limit arms at public venues

MOSCOW - No guns have apparently been packed into city council meetings here or carried within city buildings or parks, officials said Tuesday.

Nonetheless, Mayor Nancy Chaney said she's asked for a legal opinion on whether the city has authority to prohibit both concealed and exposed weapons in public places.

"We don't want to tread on anyone's Second Amendment rights," Chaney said. "We want to find out what is within our legal prerogative."

City Supervisor Gary Riedner said City Attorney Randy Fife has been asked to seek the opinion from the office of the Idaho attorney general before any additional action is taken. As it stands now, Riedner said, everyone attending a city council meeting could bring an exposed rifle, shotgun or handgun.

"Unless there's authority to restrict it, under state law you can carry an exposed gun," Riedner said. Concealed weapons may also be carried as long as the carrier has a permit issued through the sheriff's office. Idaho also recognizes concealed weapons permits from other states.

Idaho, in fact, is one of the more liberal states when it comes to gun restrictions, said Latah County Prosecutor William Thompson Jr. While guns are prohibited by judicial order at the county courthouse here, Thompson said there are no such prohibitions on other county property. The discharge of a weapon on county property, however, is prohibited, Thompson said. Brandishing a weapon in a threatening manner, such as pointing it at someone, is illegal everywhere unless the act is in self- defense, he added.

District court judges, Thompson said, have authority to regulate what goes on within a courthouse and can prohibit weapons. Former District Court Judge John Bengtson declared the prohibition at the Latah County Courthouse.

Chaney said her concern on city property, in part, stems from the rash of shooting deaths in Latah County over the past five months. She said the May shooting at the courthouse, which resulted in three deaths - including a Moscow police officer - gave her pause about how vulnerable people are in public settings.

She also expressed concern about a trend in some circles to glorify weapons, to the point of armed citizens being encouraged to "swoop in to protect people" during confrontations that should be handled by police.

While firearms are prohibited in schools by state law, in federal buildings by federal law and in county courthouses by judicial order, the city has no obvious authority to invoke such protection, Riedner said.

Once a legal opinion is received from the state, said Chaney, the matter will make its way to members of the city council for eventual consideration of a resolution or ordinance banning or restricting firearms on city property.

I live in Idaho. Idaho is one of the most gun free States in the Union. Our Constitution sets strict gun rights. We in Idaho do have to have a permit to concealed carry, but we can open carry anywhere except limited by Federal laws (Schools, courts, jails, airports, etc).

We have no bans on types of weapons except those listed as "destructive devices", and even those you can get with the right Federal permits.

From Idaho Code we find:

50-343. REGULATION OF FIREARMS -- CONTROL BY STATE. No city may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession or transportation of firearms when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of the state of Idaho.

This means that by Idaho Code the State laws have preemption over the city laws as far as firearms regulation goes. The cities cannot regulate firearms over State laws.

So now we have in Idaho a city that is going off the reservation. I am not happy. You can bet that I'll be on the front lines for this one.

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Bill O'Reilly attacks FreeRepublic - Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Bill O'Reilly trashed FreeRepublic today on his Fox News show as a Right Wing Hate Site.



Bill "claims" that he found posts just today saying "I hate blacks" and "Homosexuals are dogs". Unfortunately Bill didn't do any fact checking.

Seems that both quotes were not from FreeRepublic posters but from news articles that were reprinted at FR.

"Homosexuals are dogs" - This quote came from a thread posted WAY back on March 5, 2001 in response to this article at www.iol.co.za. Seems that President Mugabe of Zimbabwe "is a hate figure for many homosexuals, whom he has branded as "dogs"." (from iol). FReeper Jack Black stated "He certainly should not be arrested for saying homosexuals are dogs." Even that quote is taken out of context. You can read a cached copy of said thread here.

"I hate blacks" - This was actually an article found here. Notice the article is called "I hate blacks" that originally appeared in AsianWeek. The article from SFGate was just reprinted at FreeRepublic.

So two quotes that did not originate from FreeRepublic unless you take them completely out of context.

And that's the most ridiculous item of the day. Welcome to O'Reilly's MySpin Zone.

More as develops...

Free M$-Works....sorta

ZDNet ran a story today that Microsoft was going to go ad-funded MS-Works in the next version. For those that don't know MS-Works is a stripped down basic featured office suite. Think MS-Office without the office.

All fine and good because MS-worksbroke was too expensive anyways. Even at $49.99 retail it wasn't worth it. Why you ask? Enough software for college papers at only $49.99 as compared to the obscene price of MS-Office? So take some crappy suite and put advertisements on it. That's why we use FireFox is to get rid of ads.

As a PSA check out OpenOffice. Free, powerful, low overhead. While it is missing a few advanced features I haven't found anything that an average user would need that is missing.



Check it out. You won't be sorry.
(money back guarantee, not applicable in any areas)

Prison Thriller

What happens when you mix 1500 Filipino prisoners and Michael Jackson's thriller?

The answer on YouTube

When good things go wrong

So I posted an article about the Cessna Skycatcher over at FreeRepublic. Of course someone had to photoshop the panel shot.



I thought it was pretty funny so had to share.

Cessna 162 Skycatcher

Cessna released information on their new entry level plane today. It is the 162 Skycatcher and it is SWEET.

Boasting stick control (instead of yokes), glass cockpit, and carbon fiber frame the Skycatcher is expected to come in at $111,000 price. Yea that seems high but for a brand new plane with avionics that is actually a good price.

Official Skycatcher Site

Oh and you gotta see the panel



Add this baby to my list of things to buy when I win the lottery.

PDF's:
Specs
Brochure

Quoted in Montana Newspaper

Today while reading my usual forums and blogs I found out that I was quoted in Montana's Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

The original article is here: Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Here is their quote of me:

Trevor Majors wrote that his “daughter will NEVER attend MSU nor even step foot on its campus. ... By your new rules my daughter would not even be allowed to carry mace to protect herself from mugging or rapists. I would expect this from the People's Republic of Kalifornia, but not from Montana.”

Here is my original email sent to the Dean of Students Glenn Puffer:

Thank you for clarifying the Montana State University firearms policy. With this clarification I now know that my daughter will NEVER attend MSU nor even step foot on it's campus. By your new rules my daughter would not even be allowed to carry mace to protect herself from mugging
or rapists.

You have created a complete and total victim disarmament zone, and will have one of the most UNSAFE campuses in the United States.

I would expect this from the People's Republic of Kalifornia, but not from Montana.

Mr Puffer must have forwarded my e-mail off to the paper as the paper was not CCed on my mail. No biggy, but at least I was heard.

Gun Free Zones do NOT work. How many more tragedies like VATech have to happen before people realize that?

I hate fast food fries

Okay I actually love fast food french fries but I hate that it doesn't seem like any burger join can actually make decent freaking fries.

One of two things happen.

First, you go in at lunch and the place is busy so they keep pulling the fries 30 seconds to a minute early. This leaves the fries sort of cooked on the outside and half cooked potato mush on the inside. The biggest problem is that sometimes you can't tell they are half cooked till you bite into the first one. Later on in the fry packet you get the one or two fries that were sticking out of the oil so they never really got cooked at all. Half the fry is luke warm, and the other half still has ice crystals inside on the potato mush.

Second thing that can happen is the place is not busy. Fries get cooked through the whole timer but then they sit in the tray under the heat lamp for a really long time waiting for someone to actually purchase them. These fries get stale, soggy, and taste terrible. No amount of ketchup and salt can fix a stale floppy fry.

Fast food restaurants really need to pay attention to their fries. I can get good burgers anywhere, but a good french fry will keep me coming back.

Chauncey Alcorn

This is the staff writer over at the Sandusky Register that published the name off all the concealed weapon permit holders in the surrounding 5 counties.

This is Chauncey's personal information found easily on a google search:

CHAUNCEY ALCORN
16 OLDE VILLAGE RD
NORWALK, OH 44857
(419) 660-5872

Matt Westerhold is the attributed writer. Matt's information also is available easily:

Westerhold, Matt
225 East Ave
Elyria, OH 44035-5634
(440) 329-7157

Difference is that us concealed weapons holders have to prove to the police that we are law abiding citizens. Chauncey and Matt don't have to prove anything to exercise first amendement rights.

Well Chancey and Matt, I'm exercising my first amendment rights.

Enough guns and ammo to start a meth lab!

Yesterday in Horseshoe Bend, ID a man opened his front door and got shot in the leg. The guy called 911. When the police showed up they found 16 guns, several thousand rounds of ammunition, and a meth lab. Probably the guy shot himself.



Our local print media buried the guns part.



Our local television media covered ONLY the guns. The man was a felon so it's illegal for him to purchase, own or even pick up firearms.



The television news coverage was something like this:



Enough guns and ammo to start a meth lab! (not sure exactly how to turn guns into creating drugs but whatever.



Enough guns to start a revolution in a small country! (16 guns? That's got to be a really small country, like maybe survivor island. I figure growing up my father had roughly 25 to 30 guns...guess he wanted to start a revolution in a larger country).



No mention of the Meth lab part...except that he had enough guns to start one.



Yes even in Idaho the anti-gunners are alive and well. I hear Wyoming is nice.

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Walmart and ammunition

I just went to Walmart to buy myself some ammo for my .22 rifle. Weather was nice today so I thought I would go do some plinking. Got myself a box of 550 rounds of .22lr hollow point for less then $10 (the reason I love shooting my .22).



Anyways I got up to the register with my box of cat litter, replacement sink faucet for the bathroom, a tub of boneless bbq chicken, 10 bars of soap, and a box of ammo.



The checkout lady clears everything just fine till we get to the ammo. She says "handgun"? I say "no rifle". Irritated she says "handgun yes or no". "No". "Are you under 18?", "no I'm 35".



"Hope your not planning on shooting anyone"



No normally this might be funny...well no really that isn't ever funny...but this lady was serious asking me that.



Mental note: Next time pay for the ammo in the sporting goods department.

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DC Circuit strikes down DC gun law

From the majority opinion:

[T]he phrase 'the right of the people,' when read intratextually and in light of Supreme Court precedent, leads us to conclude that the right in question is individual.

Today is a good day for America and individual rights.



Opinion Here



Other links:



Cato@Liberty

Free Republic Thread

Instapundit

The BLT

From Domhead.blogger.com

HR 1022 gets a little play

Yesterday sometime HR 1022 picked up twelve co-sponsors. Here is a list of the traitors to the constitution:


Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5]
Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7]
Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2]
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51]
Rep Frank, Barney [MA-4]
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18]
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14]
Rep Meehan, Martin T. [MA-5]
Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8]
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9]
Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29]
Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8]



Please contact your rep ASAP and tell them you completely oppose this legislation.



Here is a link for the bill itself:



HR 1022

Took my Fly Pole to school

I really didn't think it would be a big deal. I'm taking an art class at a local community college to fill out the last of my core credits for a degree.



We were drawing just stuff for one of our projects and I thought to myself I'll go out and get my fly pole and some flies to draw. That's manly, instead of the feathers, sea shells and foofy stuff that all the girls in the class were drawing. (I'm one of the three guys in the class to about 15 women).



So I went out to my car and grabbed my pole. It's kept in the typical fly pole case to prevent it from getting damaged.







I walked in without even thinking about it and the instructor stopped what she was doing and looked at me like a deer caught in headlights.



"That isn't going to hurt anyone is it?"



I looked at her like I didn't know what she was talking about and said "Not unless I pull it out and accidentally smack someone with it." I continued to my work area.



She still looked scared and asked "what is it?!"



One of the girls in the class piped up and said "It's his fly rod!"



About this time I got to my station and started to pull out my rod. The entire time the instructor keeping an eye on me till I got the fly rod out of the case, and only then did she relax.



... sigh. Apparently zero tolerance extents to anything that could possibly look like some form of weapon.



To be fair though after class when I was putting the fly rod back in it's case I accidentally poked a girl walking by.



Oops, guess it did hurt someone. No harm though and the girl said it was her fault.

Every 48 Hours

There is a new "study" floating around Maryland and the internet put out by CeaseFire Maryland. It is called "Every 48 Hours"(pdf). The study was published in September 2006. Quoting the "study":

On average, assault weapons are so frequently used in crime that one assault rifle is traced back to a Maryland crime every 48 hours.

Specifically to arrive at this "every 48 hours" were five "assault" rifles that were traced to crimes between Jan 2, 1998 and Dec 31, 2001, a span of four years. These rifles were the AR-15, M1 Carbine, Ruger Mini-14, HiPoint 9mm Carbine, and Norinco SKS.

Sounds pretty scary. Every 48 hours one of these weapons is used in a crime in Maryland. This study is cited as reference to a new bill in that state to ban assault weapons. This "study" is also very dishonest in it's reporting. Let's take a look at some of the factors.

The study focused on 789 "assault" rifles traced back to crime in Maryland during the dates mentioned above. The five rifles they mention accounted for 508 of these crimes.

The "study" looked at "traced" back to crimes. This is where the "study" is REALLY dishonest. A crime trace involves tracking the serial number of a firearm reguardless of what that firearm was used for. The trace finds out where the firearm came from, and who the supposed owner is. It is the same trace used for vehicle identification numbers (VIN) on stolen and abandoned cars.

So a "trace" on a firearm could be because the firearm was stolen and recovered. A trace on a firearm could be caused by a drug dealer being busted and a firearm found on him or his property, even if the firearm was not in use at the time. This trace is triggered by the drug bust.

These are just two examples of a "trace" that can happen to firearms. Any time a firearm is found during a crime investigation of any kind that firearm is traced even if the firearm itself was not involved in the crime commited.

For more information on BATF gun tracing see this article:

BATF AW 'traces' by Kopel

For examples of the crimes mentioned in the "study" not one of them actually occured in Maryland. The closest in geography was the DC Snipers in 2002 (which incidentally occured DURING the national Assault Weapons Ban that did not expire until 2004). All the examples the study specifically mentioned were national high profile cases.

Before signing on to any gun grabbers claims please research any "study" they cite yourself before jumping on the wagon.

Remember this "study" when HR1022 comes up here in a few months, if it gets out of commitee. I'm sure someone with a D next to their name will bring it up as evidence.

Boise State 13-0. BSU wins the Fiesta Bowl!

The Fiesta bowl could be the best of the 5 college football games.

You heard it here first!

Okay no more sports. Really.

Illegal Immigration Fencing

So you wanna keep a dog in your yard, or keep the neighbor's dogs out of your yard. What do you do? Build a fence.

Now granted some dogs will just dig under the fence and some dogs will stick their paws in the holes in chain link and climb right up over the top. To stop this you put slats in the chain link or use something they can't climb like a standard wood plank fence.

Which ever you choose though you have a fence that will keep the majority of dogs in or out of your yard depending on the purpose of said fence.

The dogs that do get through? Well that's what BB guns are for.