Domhead

Operation Gunrunner was funded by the 2009 Stimulus Package

2011-07-07T20:04:00.000-06:00

Reposting here. I am the original author and linking to my original post for timestamp there.

Something about Project Gunrunner (gunwalker, fast and furious) has been bugging me but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

This morning when I woke up I remember seeing Project Gunrunner in a bill that was discussed here. The original thread about it was a rumor thread that HR45 had been rolled into the stimulus package.

In that thread I scanned the text of H.R.1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for gun, firearm, etc and came up with a hit.

I posted in the thread: "Only time “gun” or “firearm” appears is in the part that give $10,000,000 to the ATF for Project Gunrunner. That was H.R. 495, asking for 15,000,000 for Gunrunner".

H.R. 495 that I mentioned never made it out of committee, but it looks as it was to specifically fund Gunrunner.

Instead portions of it were rolled into the stimulus package a month later. That text found in H.R.1 is:

For an additional amount for ‘State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance’, $40,000,000, for competitive grants to provide assistance and equipment to local law enforcement along the Southern border and in High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas to combat criminal narcotics activity stemming from the Southern border, of which $10,000,000 shall be transferred to ‘Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Salaries and Expenses’ for the ATF Project Gunrunner.

Notice that's $40,000,000 for Southern border enforcement, $10,000,000 of which specifically for Project Gunrunner. What does $10 million pay for here? It didn't hire any new agents that I am aware of.

What this tells me is that several congressmen also had knowledge of what Gunrunner was going to entail. This isn't just the ATF and DOJ. This is all levels and areas of government. Even members of the House and Senate knew what Project Gunrunner was.

For proper links and original posting click here

Operation Gunrunner was funded by the 2009 Stimulus Package

Since posting that Mark Levin has mentioned it and it has appeared on several blogs and new sites. Many without credit being given.

BP Oil Spill: Against Gov. Bobby Jindal's Wishes, Crude-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard - ABC News

2010-06-17T18:05:00.000-06:00

BP Oil Spill: Against Gov. Bobby Jindal's Wishes, Crude-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard - ABC News: "Crude-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard"

Got to make sure they got all their life vests you know.

FOXNews.com - Mom: R.I. School Bans 8-Year-Old Son's Patriotic Hat With Army Figures

2010-06-17T12:53:00.000-06:00

Zero tolerance in public schools run amok. At least the kid didn't get suspended or expelled which happens quite frequently over miniature plastic assault weapons.

FOXNews.com - Mom: R.I. School Bans 8-Year-Old Son's Patriotic Hat With Army Figures: "Mom: R.I. School Bans 8-Year-Old Son's Patriotic Hat With Army Figures"

Bought a Gadsden flag

2010-03-22T00:17:00.001-06:00

Even though I'm unemployed and my bank account is running on fumes right now I had to purchase a Gadsden flag.

Should arrive later this week. Wish I had one now.

Don't Tread on Me.

Democracy Denied *** Obama Changing How... | Gather

2010-03-17T14:26:00.001-06:00

Democracy Denied *** Obama Changing How... | Gather

Time to start EBaying

2010-03-05T23:48:00.001-07:00

Gonna have to Ebay off my swag.

Savings account running very very low, and no job offers.

My wife got a job on her second interview. I suck or something.

U.S. Supreme Court Hears Second Amendment Arguments On Chicago Handgun Ban - cbs2chicago.com

2010-03-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

U.S. Supreme Court Hears Second Amendment Arguments On Chicago Handgun Ban - cbs2chicago.com: "Court Hears Second Amendment Debate On City Ban 'If our gun control law is struck down, there will be more guns,' McGrath said. 'Do we want more guns?'"

Yes we want more guns, in the hands of law abiding citizens.

Atheism is not a religion

2010-03-02T18:04:00.001-07:00

Atheism is the lack of a religion. Stop trying to push that your religion is atheism on me. Your freedom of religion is freedom to not have one, and not get in the way of my practicing a religion of my choice. My freedom of religion is to have one and practice how I see fit. Your rights end where mine begin.

Zynga poker

2010-03-01T19:16:00.001-07:00

Been playing Texas HoldEm on Facebook a lot the last few days. Mostly because I'm bored.

I'm greatly amused by at least half the table going all in on the first hand, then getting kicked out.

I always place at least 3rd and get my chips back. Several times I've won against the guy that gets the pot on the all in first hand madness.

Looking for a job

2010-03-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

Looking for a job sucks bad. After 6 years of being a self employed contractor, my contract came to an abrupt end.

So I have my current resume at the major job posting sites. Of course the only response I have had is from telemarketers, MLM "opportunities", and scams.

I'm not dead!

2010-02-23T15:40:00.002-07:00

No I'm not dead, but now that I have more time on my hands I can actually update this blog and start doing some new things with it.

First 100 Days

2009-04-29T11:12:00.006-06:00

I fail

2009-03-20T20:26:00.001-06:00

Yea that's why I don't play the stock markets. DJIA over 7K again for several days? Was 6500 the bottom? Tough to say.

6763

2009-03-02T14:08:00.002-07:00

Last week I predicted 6372 at 10% loss for the week. Might have hit it except there was an upswing last week. Either way final tally is don 351 for the week, 299 of that today, for 5% off for the week 4% of that today.

What happened over the weekend? More bailouts to AIG.

Yea. Revising another 5% for the week puts stocks at 6424 next week.

Still say 5K or lower by May.

Obama going after the guns

2009-02-26T11:38:00.004-07:00

We knew it was an question of when.

Looks like using the Mexican Drug War as an excuse Eric Holder (Obama's AG) has declared that Obama wants to re-enact the Assault Weapons Ban. Of course this time around it will be much, much worse.

Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban

"As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons"..."I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum" (It would "help" stem the flow of guns to Mexico).

Yes ban guns from law abiding citizens in order to "help" stem the flow into Mexico.

"I think closing the gun show loophole, the banning of cop-killer bullets and I also think that making the assault weapons ban permanent, would be something that would be permitted under Heller"

There is NO "gun show loophole". What Holder is talking about is banning private sales of firearms, meaning selling a gun to your neighbor, friend, or in the paper. There are already laws covering if you sell many guns this way as a form of income. Do it without a license and go to jail. Banning these sales would be the same thing as making it so you couldn't sell your car unless you sold it to a dealer and the dealer could sell it to someone else.

There are NO "cop-killer bullets". Throwing this scare tactic term out allows the AG to go after ALL ammo except maybe the lowly .22...until someone uses that to kill a cop. Any caliber rifle has the capability to penetrate a vest. Say goodbye to that 30-30 lever action that's been in your family for 4 generations.

The new Assault Weapons Ban will also include language making it the discretion of the AG as to what guns are designed strictly for sporting purpose. If a gun is use for anything but sporting (police and military), even if it also used in sporting, than it can and will be banned. Say goodbye to a Remington 700 bolt action rifle. It's used by police and military snipers today. Say goodbye to the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500 pump shotguns. They are used by the police and military today.

Haven't even gotten to registration, insurance, and ammo microstamping yet.

Violating Privacy - Again

2009-02-24T10:26:00.003-07:00

Recently a blogger in Arkansas violated the privacy of Concealed Carry Permit holders by releasing their names on his blog. This wasn't a personal blog, this was his blog at the Arkansas Times.

So Max here's what we do.

Max F. Brantley
3210 Edgerstoune Lane,
Little Rock, AR 78205,
501-663-6758
at that same address which may be assessed at $395,364.00

He can also be contacted at work:
Arkansas Times
201 East Markham / Suite 200
Little Rock, AR 72201

Phone: (501) 375-2985
Fax: (501) 375-3623

Google Map. Oh look Street View.

That's a nice house there Max.

7114

2009-02-23T14:52:00.002-07:00

7114 is what the DJIA closed at today.

Expect sub 7 tomorrow. Off 50% from it's high of 14,093 on Oct 12, 2007. The real decline started however when a few things happened.

1) TARP - would have been better to let Fannie/Freddie and crooked banks fail
2) Obviousness that Zer0bama would clench the Democratic Nomination.

Since passing Porkulus stocks have declined 800 points (10.25%)

Losing 10% a week would put DJIA at 6372.25 a week from today, 5,719 next week.

Now I don't think it's going to go down that fast, but expect it, and expect it further.

Zer0bama, BAD for the USA.

Lies of Obama

2009-02-16T14:22:00.001-07:00

During Obama's campaign he made several promises, some of them specifically on the way bills and laws are made.

1. Make Government Open and Transparent
2. Make it impossible for Congressmen to slip in Pork Barrel Projects
3. Meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public
4. No more secrecy
5. Public will have 5 days to look at a Bill
6. You’ll know what’s in it.
7. We will put every pork barrel project online.

ALL SEVEN of these promises were broke during the process of the Stimulus debate and soon to be signing.

President Barack Hussein Obama

2009-01-20T10:37:00.002-07:00

44th President of the United States.

Or is it Barry Soetoro? Barack Soetoro? Barry Obama? Anyways...

What will be done in the first 100 hours or will Obama simply be present while campaigning for his second term?

Things you shouldn't see...

2009-01-19T14:06:00.001-07:00

Yes that is the presidential limo. And yes they were shopping at IKEA.

Bush commutes sentences of Ramos and Compeon

2009-01-19T11:27:00.003-07:00

Today is a great day for justice. Finally after two years and two days President George Bush has commuted the sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

Articles popping up all over the internet as this is breaking news as I type this.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=d95qc3480

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/19/bush-commutes-sentences-border-patrol-agents/

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/19/bush.commute/index.html

Many many prayers have been answered this day.

Fun with Nick Jr. Free Draw

2008-12-16T13:32:00.003-07:00

Saw a post over at FR today that Nick Jr's Free Draw web game thingy was censoring Christmas. So I had to go try it out and find out. Yep it censors Christmas. So I played with it a bit more. Found lots of stuff that got the "Sorry, that word is blocked" message.

Blocked
Christmas
Christ
Christian
Jesus
God
Bible
Constitution
Don't tread on me
9/11
Bush
George Bush

Not Blocked
Islam
Muslim
Jihad
Koran
Qoran
Ramadan
Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama
Martyr

Yea so what kind of PC censorship is Viacom up to here? Notice a pattern at all there?

Nasty mail them here

Here is a list of Viacom stations that are coming off my channel lineup tonight:

CMT
COMEDY CENTRAL
MTV
MTV2
NICKELODEON - NICK JR.
NICK AT NITE
SPIKE
THE N
TV LAND
VH1
VH1 CLASSIC
VH1 SOUL

And Paramount pictures

Later guys, your more recent products suck Sorry, that word is blocked.

Anti-gunner lies - John Rosenthal

2008-11-13T14:32:00.003-07:00

I've done a few of these posts and today I'm going to do another one. Today's rip apart is on an article over at the Huffington Post entitled "What President What President Obama Can Do to Reduce Gun Violence". In it John Rosenthal lays out a 7 point plan to "reduce gun violence".

If you want to read the whole article without my commentary, go clicky.

#1 Mandatory criminal background checks for all gun sales

Current Federal law only requires Licensed gun dealers to perform criminal background checks. Consequently in 32 States "private dealers"/individuals can legally sell guns at thousands of annual gun shows, countless flea markets and yard sales, and out of homes, backpacks, car trunks or on street corners without running a background check or asking to see an ID. Only the first gun sale from a "Federally Licensed" gun dealer requires documentation and all "secondary" gun sales are legally allowed to take place without any paperwork or record keeping. As a result, convicted felons and suspected terrorists can and do buy guns simply because there is no background check required or conducted.

The bolded portion is a lie. Every single gun transaction through an FFL requires paperwork. The first, second, third, etc. Every one of them. As far as the "gun" show sales go it is also false. Legitimate dealers at gun shows have to do paperwork as well. Non-dealers can sell FTF (face to face) but if they sell too many they will get arrested for dealing guns without an FFL. They can also get arrested for selling to felons. There are already laws that cover this.

#2 Require responsible and safe gun storage for all firearms unless they are in the owners direct control

Approximately 40% of American homes have at least one firearm. Most guns used in child accidental gun injuries and deaths and teenage suicides come from within the home. Responsible guns owners safely secure their guns -unloaded and locked unless they are in their direct control. Seventeen States have such a safe-storage/Child Access Prevention requirement and all such states have a lower incidence of gun injuries and deaths among children compared to states without such a requirement.

Again the bolded section is false. To John's credit the rest is true though. This is a matter of good parenting vs bad parenting. Also good gun owners vs idiot gun owners. Don't punish the good guys because of the idiots.

#3 Allow Law Enforcement to maintain and share critical "crime-gun" trace data

Current Federal law prohibits the BATF from sharing crime gun trace data even among law enforcement agencies. In 2000 the BATF used crime-gun trace data to determine that just 1% of licensed gun dealers provided 57% of guns used in crime. Instead of supporting law enforcement efforts to identify and arrest illegal gun dealers, the Bush administration made police the enemy of "gun rights", requiring prison sentences for any police official that shares crime-gun trace data with even other law enforcement.

Bolded section is false. Current Federal law prohibits the BATF from sharing crime gun trace data from anyone except law enforcement agencies. There has never been a documented problem with this information being shared across agencies, they do it all the time.

#4 Restore and improve the Federal Ban on Assault Weapons

The 10 year Federal ban on 19 specific military style assault weapons beginning in 1994 was supported by every major US law enforcement organization representing over 450,000 police officers. Although so called assault weapons make up approximately 1% of the US gun stock, statistics clearly show that they are the weapon of choice by gangs, career criminals and terrorist organizations and disproportionately show up in crimes. The Bush administration let the ban expire in 2004 even though the ban resulted in a dramatic 66% reduction in these weapons used in crime over the 10 year period.

You know the drill. First not every law enforcement organization supported it. Those that did a good portion supported it because they got extra funding (money) in the deal. Second they are NOT the weapon of choice for gangs and career criminals. Something smaller, like a handgun is actually the weapon of choice, and usually something cheap like a Bryco or Jennings so they can dump it without being out a lot of cash. Terrorist organizations? 99% of the time they aren't buying from USA FFL gun dealers. Unless Ahmud Hussein Muhammad over in the mountains of Pakistan is making a trip over to the US to buy his guns...not happening.

#5 Repeal the Federal law giving Immunity to the gun industry

In 2007 Congress and the Bush administration enacted legislation prohibiting the ability to sue the gun industry even for negligence and blatantly marketing to criminals. For instance, the Tech 9 semi-automatic pistol, one of the guns used at the Columbine High School massacre, was marketed as "having a finish resistant to fingerprints", the Hertzel 22 cal handgun is marketed as "capable of penetrating 48 layers of soft body armor" and the Barrett 50 cal sniper rifle with a 2 mile range and designed to penetrate steel, is touted as being able to "take down an aircraft with one shot" and they tell you where to put it. Osama bin Laden bought a dozen of these US made Barrett's when fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan! The gun industry makes, markets and sells inherently dangerous product (like automobiles, knives and drugs- all regulated) and they should be held accountable for their actions.

Oh boy. Tech-9. Resists corrosion and oils from fingers, not resists fingerprints. Corrosion and oil is bad. Hertzel 22 cal? The gun doesn't exist and a .22 sure as hell is not going to penetrate 48 layers of body armor. The Barrett 50 cal is not marketed to take down aircraft. That is something the anti-gunners themselves made up. Nobody is going to hit an aircraft flying with a .50 cal with one shot. Nobody. It's not going to happen.

#6 Enact National Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations for firearms

Congress has prohibited the National Consumer Product Safety Commission from oversight of the gun industry. Therefore guns have NO consumer safety, manufacturing or marketing standards for how they are sold. Consequently toy guns and teddy bears have more regulations on how they're made than real guns that result in an average of 34,000 deaths a year in the US. The gun industry flaunts their "freedom" from regulation and continues to make and sell guns without minimal safety features and in some cases knowingly market their deadly products directly to criminals and terrorists without any accountability. Massachusetts, which is home to Smith and Wesson, the nation's largest handgun manufacturer, enacted the first in the nation Consumer Protection regulations for firearms and such oversight had no negative impacts on legitimate gun makers, dealers or buyers in the State.

The NCPSC handles toys and other products (clothing, cribs, etc) for children. Not guns. The NCPSC is also not a full functioning enforcement branch of government. They are an advisory board. Guns are handled by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) which is a full functioning enforcement branch of the Department of Justice, sister to the FBI and the DEA.

Again the bold is false. The US gun industry does not market directly to criminals and terrorists.

#7 Create incentives for the gun industry to make "personalized guns"

According to gun maker Smith and Wesson, guns could be made with personal recognition technology such that only the intended user could fire the gun. This practical technological solution would save the lives of countless victims of gun violence, accidents and suicides each year. It could also help save the lives of the 17% of police officers killed in the line of duty by a criminal accessing the officer's gun. In fact, in an agreement with the Clinton administration, Smith and Wesson promised to invest a portion of net profits into "personalized gun technology".

Bold is not a lie, but not truthful either. The idea is ahead of our current technology. It can't be done yet. And if it could would be so expensive and problematic even the military wouldn't want it (and they kinda need guns). That's what Smith & Wesson found out with that money they spent on it during the Clinton administration.

So there you have it. Seven more points from the anti-gunners and seven more lies and half truths.

The $1000 Arsenal

2008-11-10T21:26:00.005-07:00

This will be, I think, my longest post yet:

Every now and then I'll see a forum post that someone wants to buy a gun but they don't have one. They'll generally have a few hundred dollars and want to know if they should buy a certain gun or wait till they have more money and buy a different gun. Typically the gun they are thinking of buying is a sub $500 gun of some flavor and the other gun is a $850 or more gun. The answers are usually split. I'm personally in the "get a gun now" camp, then save your money for another one.

Let’s say for the purpose of this exercise the person owns no gun at all and has $1000 to spend. What should they get?

I say more than one gun!

We're going to call this the $1000 arsenal. Now it's not really an "arsenal" as it really isn't very many guns. However the Main Stream Media (MSM) will say an amount of guns greater than 1 is an arsenal.

This arsenal is not for the serious shooter that needs the top end gun for competitions. It's not for sending a lot of ammo down range. There are no battle or service rifles listed. This is for people that don't have much money to spend, but want to get a good mix of firearms together.

Every household should have three firearms at MINIMUM. A pistol, a rifle, and a shotgun. This is NOT optional.

Shotgun

The shotgun is the first purchase any household should make. For utility purposes nothing beats a good 12-gauge shotgun. It can be used to hunt birds, small game, deer, fish (yea don't ask). It can be used as a club, a walking stick (not recommended), a snorkle (don't ask). Finally in a pinch if you really gotta do it, it can be used for home defense. Don't even need to fire a shotgun for home defense as sometimes all it takes is the shnick-schnak sound to scare would be house burglars away.

For the shotgun go with a Remington 870 or Mossberg 500. Both are extremely common so parts are available to order or through cannibalization. Both have several aftermarket accessories available to customize your gun.

Where to buy? Walmart if you really want one brand new. It's going to run you about $350 for a new one on sale. Both are so common that you can pick a random pawn shop and they'll probably have one for well under $200 (I recently paid $79 for a HD model Mossberg 500 and $89 for a USMC Remington 870 short barrel at a pawn shop). They are also very reliable pump-action so even if they seem beat up give it a good cleaning and it's probably gonna fire fine. For shotguns pawn shops are your friend.

For barrel length if you are looking to do any hunting with it get a 26 to 30" barrel. I use a 28" on my shotgun for hunting. For more squirrelly critters a shorter barrel will give you a faster pull time, important if the time you can visibly see the animal can be measured in seconds.

If you are looking at strictly home defense get a 20" barrel. It's short enough to be able to navigate hallways with, but long enough that extension tubes don't stick out past the barrel. Also the 20" can still be used to hunt critters in a pinch if you're good.

R870 or M500 Shotgun $175 estimated

Pistol

This is the second purchase any household should make. Where shotguns are the best utility purpose weapon the pistol is the best portability and concealment weapon. Typical forum posts will say get a .40 or .45 for stopping power. Forget it. The major calibers have two problems. First to get a decent amount of ammo in the magazine the gun is BIG. With a smaller gun cutting down on the ammo amount the recoil will really mess up you're accuracy if you aren't familiar with it. If you don't enjoy shooting the pistol you will never practice with it and it will be nothing but a noise maker if you ever have to use it.

Go with a 9mm for an automatic (semi-automatic really they are NOT full auto) or .38 special for a revolver. Both calibers are large enough to provide stopping power with accuracy, both are fairly common, both are small enough that a compact sidearm will carry more ammo (well the revolver is kinda fixed).

Another trick with pistols is getting one that fits your hand. The ever present, ever popular Glock for example is notorious for its larger grip making it uncomfortable for many people to shoot. Since revolvers don't have a mag well in the grip, they tend to have a really skinny grip, again uncomfortable for some.

For pistols pawn shops are NOT your friend. The markdown for a pistol at a pawn shop is almost non-existent and chances are any pistol sold there is in poor enough condition that it may be unsafe to fire...ever.

Not to mention that the dangerous pistols (Bryco, Jennings) are pawn shop staples. The price tag on a Bryco will look attractive $100 tops, but the price tag when it fails to fire, fails to eject, fires when dropped, fires at random, falls apart, etc etc isn't attractive. And a Bryco will do any or all of the above within the first 50 rounds fired if not sooner. Don't do it.

Find a good local actual gun store that has reasonable prices. Stay away from Cabelas and Sportsman's Wearhouse. Cabelas occasionally will have use pistols but again the markdown for used anything at Cabelas is almost non-existant and sometimes more expensive then new at a good gun shop.

Personally I recommend an automatic pistol as reload time is faster with a spare mag then it is to open the cylinder, dump the brass, put more ammo in, close cylinder. Revolvers are more reliable though as they have less moving parts and don't have to eject brass before putting a new round in the chamber (revolvers don’t have “chambers” per say, yes I know).

Take your pick, but I'm going with the auto.

Brands? Look at Kel-Tec. They are inexpensive enough to buy on budget, yet reliable enough to not be in the same field as Bryco/Jennings. Many will complain that I'm not saying the big names, but really we're on a budget, but still want reliablity. Most people I've run into that say "get a Glock" and put down Kel-Tec will have a hidden Kel-Tec as backup that they aren't telling you about. Kel-Tec also carry a lifetime warrantee.

Get the Kel-Tec first, worry about brand names later.

A new Kel-Tec PF-9 will cost you about $270. Used if you can find one won't be much less, expect $220 to $250.

Rifle

For a rifle we want to go with a large caliber. The purpose of the rifle is two fold. First taking larger game in hunting, and second taking shots at targets at a longer range than they can fire back accurately. The typical 30-06 will do double duty here. It's a very popular round and will take any large game found in North America. Even a marginal 30-06 is accurate enough. We aren’t talking competition shooting where you want to hit a quarter at 500 yards 5 times, we’re talking shooting man sized or larger targets and hitting once. You can get larger ammo of course, but the gun and the ammo gets heavy fast. You can go smaller ammo (like the ever popular .223) but it's game taking capabilities are limited and the effective range is diminished. Save the smaller ammo for another rifle.

Get a bolt action rifle. Stay away from semi-automatic for this rifle. We're looking for double duty firearms and many States do not allow semi-automatic for hunting. A bolt action will also better teach you firing and trigger discipline as you can't just squeeze off a magazine for fun.

Again here where do you purchase? Walmart is your friend if buying new if there isn’t a decent sporting goods store in your area. However much like the shotguns a good bolt action rifle in 30-06 are so common you can pick a random pawn shop and they are probably going to have one available.

A rifle/scope package will run you about $300 if you pick up a Mossberg ATR and scope. For another $100 you can pick up a Remington 700. Either is fine on a budget.

Rifle again

For the second rifle pick up a .22LR. Here we want to pick up a Ruger 10/22. Why a 22LR? They provide little to no recoil, can take small game, getting shot with one will still ruin someone’s day, and most of all you can buy a box of about 1000 rounds for less then the cost of 20 rounds for that 30-06. You can shoot one of these all day long to practice shooting techniques without blowing your wallet.

A Remington 10/22 you can also get several after-market accessories for it including super-sized 50 round magazines.

Remington 10/22 - $250 at most sporting goods stores.

Summary

Shotgun - Remington 870 or Mossberg 500 - $175
Pistol - Kel-Tec PF-9 - $270
Rifle – Mossberg ATR - $300
Rifle – Ruger 10/22 - $250

Total ~$995

Now start picking up ammo. Either buy large at one time or spend $20 to $50 a paycheck on ammo. Either way you want to build up a stock of at minimum 1000 rounds for each firearm, 5000 for the 10/22 (just because it’s cheap).

Rotate your ammo when you shoot. Buy a box, put it in the stock, then shoot from the stock instead of what you just bought. Like food ammo doesn’t like to sit around for long periods of time.

Once you’ve got the $1000 arsenal down then fill in the gaps. A 5.56 or 7.62 rifle of some flavor should be the next purchase you make. On the next purchase buy either the 5.56 or 7.62 that you didn’t buy.

Also consider a battle or service rifle of some form. It doesn't have to be a $2000 modern firearm, even the lowly SKS is acceptable. It ain't the most accurate thing, but they can put up with some abuse. Dirt cheap you can pick up a Mosin-Nagant for about $100 that covers your battle rifle and large caliber.

EDIT: Somehow I missed ruger 10/22 over several reads over the last year /boggle

Cult of Personality

2008-11-06T11:50:00.002-07:00

Here's a video that was done way back in March, 2008. Notice even Chris Matthews at one point in time was pointing out that Obama has had no accomplishments.

Now we have elected him.

Pictures of our dear leader are already starting to be hung:

Chicago

Unknown location

I'm sure there is many more

What you hath wrought

2008-11-05T09:43:00.006-07:00

Forget about being energy independent

With the Dems controlling all branches of government we will not be drilling our own oil. We will not be building nuclear plants. We will not liquefy coal to fuel. We will not convert oil shale to energy. We may build lots of wind mills, but not the power lines to transmit the power. We might even breach dams that provide hydroelectric power...to save the salmon.

We will be even more dependent on nations that are not our friends for our energy requirements.

Energy prices in all forms will skyrocket.

Fuel prices at the pump will be $5 or more a gallon summer 2009. You don't even want to think about the price to heat your house next year. Enjoy this year's prices while you still can.

Corporations will decline

Corporations will stop expansion because of environmental costs given to us by the global warming fanatics.

Cap and Trade will slow production to almost a crawl.

More corporations will go overseas

Obama will raise the corporate income taxes. This will cause more companies to outsource to other nations, costing us more jobs here in the USA.

Personal taxes will go up.

Everyone's taxes will go up. The tax cuts given to us by George Bush shortly after the internet bubble crash and 9/11 recession, the tax cuts that got us OUT of the 9/11 recession, will be rescinded. This will cause everyone's taxes to increase, except on the 40% of the population that doesn't pay taxes.

Obama will further raise the taxes on anyone making more then 97,000 a year. Notice this number just a scant two weeks ago was $250K a year.

Everyone except those who pay no taxes at all will get a tax increase. That means less money in your pockets to pay for the higher costs of living caused by a triple power democrat government.

Forget your retirement

Obama and company will nationalize your 401K's and retirement investments and drop that money into the Social Security coffers. The same Social Security that will be bankrupt in 20 years because the money has been going to the general fund instead of being in a lock box. The same Social Security that even if it wasn't locked up doesn't provide the earnings as even a basic high yield savings account.

All that money? Gone. To pay for more spending by an out of control spending congress, who you just voted back into office.

Hope you like your teapot museums and art parks. You're going to get a lot more of them paid for by your 401K's.

Hope you like them apples...and all your other groceries

If you think none of the above effects you, or somehow you can avoid the above you are wrong.

Because of the increase in energy and fuel costs, the increased production of ethanol (turning food into fuel), the higher taxes, nationalizing of corporations that can't pay their higher exorbitant taxes your cost of living for basic necessities like groceries.

You can expect inflationary increases as well as production cost increases in all forms of every day purchases. Your milk, eggs, bread, everything will increase in cost higher then we have seen before all because of increased costs created by Obama's policies.

There is more

That's just a taste though.

You just voted into office the people that have been causing all the problems of the last 2 years.

You people voted for them. You deserve whatever you get.

And now you can't blame the GOP for it.

Celebrate now, in a year you will be wringing your hands and gnashing your teeth wailing "what hath we done".

This is how liberty dies....

2008-11-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

with thunderous applause

God help us.

2008-11-04T21:39:00.000-07:00

An enemy hath done this

269 - Could it happen?

2008-11-04T14:33:00.004-07:00

I was playing with the maps over at www.realclearpolitics.com and stumbled on this.

Could it happen? You betcha, fairly easily this time around.

Get out, VOTE, and make sure it doesn't.

Bad bad juju right there.

The Lowdown on Acorn

2008-10-01T12:08:00.001-06:00

Yet another video for your education.

2008-09-30T10:58:00.001-06:00

Someone over at Free Republic went and found the documents used in the Burning Down the House video:

V3.0 yanked in the last few minutes.

Subprime Lender Implosion: Bad Omen For Housing Market

Community Reinvestment Act (WikiPedia)

Community Reinvestment Act (PolicyLink)

The Trillion-Dollar Bank Shakedown That Bodes Ill for Cities

First Union Capital Markets Corp., Bear, Stearns & Co. Price Securities Offering Backed By Affordable Mortgages

Fannie Mae Announces Pilot to Purchase $2 Billion of "MyCommunityMortgage" Loans; Pilot Lenders to Customize Affordable Products For Low- and Moderate-Income Borrowers

Going Subprime

Fannie's Perilous Pursuit of Subprime Loans

Chart (pdf): Loans With Affordability Features And Adjustable Rates

Options expert calls Fannie, Freddie shares 'worthless'

Regulators Spin Public to Boost Fannie, Freddie

12th bank failure of the year announced

IMF says US crisis is 'largest financial shock since Great Depression'

New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

John McCain Warned Of Mortgage Collapse In 2005

S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005

Chris Dodd’s Loan Problem

Obama turns to trusted political insider Jim Johnson for key campaign role

Barack Obama advisor Jim Johnson quits under fire

James Johnson resigns from Obama team

Raines's Estate

Advice from Raines

On the Outside Now, Watching Fannie Falter

*Friends of Angelo?

Senior Fannie Mae bosses resign

All Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008

*Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Invest in Democrats

*Obama's ex-boss (Miner, Barnhill and Galland) a Rezko partner

Strong, silent type (Fought red-lining)

Schools in Chicago Are Called the Worst By Education Chief

Obama, Education, and Accountability

Kids' protest highlights rich-poor schools gap in Illinois

The Immigration Debate: Its Impact on Workers, Wages and Employers

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac blind to bubble

4 Fannie Mae senior execs resign

Pelosi: Dems bear no responsibility for economic crisis

Obama Ridicules McCain's Economic Response

Burning down the house

2008-09-26T12:44:00.005-06:00

Been afb (away from blog) for a while. Been working on some other things.

Came by to post this:

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis? V3

Version 1 and 2 have been banned on YouTube. Once by Obama Zombies and once by Time Warner (major Obama contributor).

UPDATE>> V3.0 yanked. V4.0 will probably be up soonish.

Watch it once, then watch it again later when you've digested the info.

Maverick - Barracuda - 2008

There is no other choice

I want an electric car.

2008-06-27T12:16:00.005-06:00

I currently primarily drive a 1999 Chevy Metro that gets about 30mpg in the city. 90% of my driving is in the city. For longer trips I also own a larger vehicle, but only turns about 17mpg.

I don't care about global warming (I don't buy the hysteria hype). I'm not a "greenie" in that I don't recycle, but I do make sure I'm not running power when I don't need to. I also use cost saving devices and features whenever I can.

I do care about the fact that I'm dropping $4.00 per gallon on gasoline making my operating costs on my Metro about 13.3 cents per mile. Two years ago today I was paying $2.85pg for a cost of 9.5 cents per mile, and I thought that was too much. Four years ago today I was paying $1.78pg for a cost of about 6 cents per mile.

I care that the money I'm dropping into my gas tank is going to other Nations besides my own that are not friends, and in some cases I consider enemies (Saudi Arabia, Venezuela).

I care that even if we manage to get ourselves off foreign oil by drilling ANWR or off the coast the US Oil companies will sell that oil on the open world market and a big chunk of it will go to other countries I consider enemies (North Korea, China).

I want off oil.
I want an electric car that gets about or at least 100 miles per charge, that should last me about a week per charge.
It only needs to carry me, and maybe one passenger, I don't car pool.
I want to be able to plug it into my already existing house outlet to charge it up, so I don't have to go to the gas station if I don't want to.
I want an operating cost of somewhere around 6 cents per mile or less, which is what I purchased my Geo to do.
I don't want an internal combustion engine that I have to maintain every 5000 miles (twice per year) in oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs, hoses, belts, etc etc that just add more to operating costs.
I want it to be battery powered, not solar, so I can drive it in inclement weather.
I want to buy it used, not new, so most of the depreciation is already over with and I'm paying a real fair amount for the car.

These are things I said I wanted several months ago when gas hit $3.50 per gallon. I am told the car doesn't exist unless I want a golf cart.

Last night I found out the car I am looking for did exist...

...ten years ago...

...just in time for me to buy a used one...

...but I can't because it was killed.

Who Killed the Electric Car? Is a documentary that deals with GM's EV1 and how it was killed by California consumers, politicians, car companies, and oil companies.

This is the car we needed today, and it was here 10 years ago. It was the answer that neither hybrids nor hydrogen fuel cells can do.

Here is some other links related to the EV1 and Rav4 EV.

http://www.pluginamerica.org/ (Chelsea Sexton's group)
http://www.ev1.org/
http://ev1-club.power.net/

DC vs Heller. 5-4 Heller

2008-06-26T10:17:00.002-06:00

Supreme court rules in favor of Heller 5-4 with Scalia writing the majority opinion.

Held:

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.

This is a great day for the United States and the Constitution. A 6-3 or 7-2 decision would have been much better but at least it wasn't 5-4 for DC

Here is the decision...all 157 pages of it

British Gun Ban Video

2008-06-19T14:51:00.002-06:00

Here is a news report out of Great Britain that looks like it was filed about two weeks ago. Remember that guns are banned in the UK. It started with registration, then banning hand guns, then banning shotguns and rifles, then confiscation. These are many of the same laws and paths that our liberal congress, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, want to have passed here in the United States.

Brady Campaign Dishonesty

2008-06-12T11:33:00.003-06:00

In my continuing series of blog posts about the Anti-Gun groups and their dishonesty today I'm going to talk about the Brady Campaign.

In a recent "press release" article found on their site here: THE THREAT OF .50 CALIBER ARMOR-PIECING SNIPER RIFLES we find a choice sentence.

A government study found that a used .50 caliber BMG sniper rifle can be purchased online for just $29.95

Their reference was a report filed by the GAO entitled "Long-Range Fifty Caliber Sniper Weapons" which mentioned "An Internet search conducted by the minority staff revealed the sale of one used fifty caliber sniper rifle for only $29.95".

The regular retail price of a .50 Cal BMG is right around $6000. Used you might find a working one for around $4000. Anyone who knows ANYTHING about the gun world knows there is no way you are going to find a working .50 Cal BMG for $29.95. You probably won't even find a BROKEN BMG for less then $1000.

So some internet searching of my own comes up with the $29.95 .50 Cal sniper rifle. Click here to behold it in all it's glory.

Well it is a .50 Cal, I'll give the Brady Campaign that. I wouldn't ever wanna fire the thing even the one time it is guaranteed to fire.

Of course the Brady Campaign also had to add in the "crimes" committed with the .50 BMG to shock people. I've already gone over those in a previous post about the Violence Policy Center.

D-Day, June 6th 1944

2008-06-06T16:55:00.001-06:00

No comment needed.

Lights on for prosperity!

2008-03-29T20:15:00.004-06:00

Today is some form of global warming protest crap called Earth Hour. The idea is the liberal kooks turn off their lights from 8pm to 9pm their time.

In counter protest several people (including myself) have elected to turn EVERYTHING on.

25 100 Watt light bulbs
5 computers
2 televisions
2 dvd players
2 vcrs
playstation
stereo
Heater (it’s cold outside)
2 floor fans
3 cars idling
oven cooking dinner
and 500 Christmas lights (still haven't taken them down)

And a wife that now thinks I’m insane.

Unfortunately I couldn't run the lawn mower because if you let go of the handle it turns off. Was too lazy to duct tape the safety bar closed.

Credit cards - a necessary evil?

2008-03-28T12:28:00.002-06:00

When I was young and just considered a legal adult I made many financial mistakes. First I spent everything. Second I ran up credit cards to the point that I couldn't pay them and basically said "screw this" and walked away. Well of course that trashed my credit completely. Oh well water under the bridge.

I grew older and wiser and I said "no credit!" and dealt on a cash only basis. I still haven't been able to save money worth a damn but I'm mostly debt free. I have three current debts: my house, student loan, and a king size bed that I had to buy because my then pregnant wife wouldn't sleep in a small bed with me anymore and preferred the couch.

The house I can't do much with, but I'll post about that later. The student loan I'm paying ever so slowly down. The bed is being paid down off this hugely insane interest rate but soon as it gets below $1000 balance (maybe 3 more months) I'm paying it off in one payment. I have no other short term debts.

In the time between trashing my credit and now I have incurred no new credit except those listed above. None of them are revolving (get to this later).

So I go to refi my house and besides other problems (which I'll get into in another post) I pulled my credit score. 562. OUCH. Well that's actually good for me given that it used to be sub-400, but bad overall. Problem now isn't really past credit, problem now seems to be lack of current credit.

I've gone through my credit file and removed a few things that I have no idea where they came from. I've corrected a few other errors. I've been on time on my payments for the house, student loan and bed for one year and seven months (oldest is the house so going by when I bought it). Should note that in the seven to ten years between my credit fiasco and my buying a house I have had no credit at all, so nothing to pay on and nothing to be late on.

Using a credit simulator if I continue paying on time for another two years my credit score will go up a whopping 30 points to 592. Two years of the same for 30 points which still doesn't get me to 620+ which is what I need to refi my house.

I have no credit cards so I can't simulate paying off or paying down credit card balances. All of my previous credit card experiences have dropped off my report so can't do anything there either.

Using the same credit simulator I find that if I get a credit card of ANY amount my credit score instantly goes up by 10 points (probably because of a new account).

My theory is that if I get a card and make the payments on it for 24 months then my credit score should be right about 602, probably more for the new credit showing paid on time and all.

Dangerous but seems like right now it has to be done unfortunately. The other unfortunate thing is that with a credit score of 562 that limits me to those lamer secured credit or high up front fee cards. Ug.

I hate credit but thanks to credit availability cars and houses cost more then they should, and without credit apparently you aren't getting a house refinanced.

Police and Criminals in an arms race.

2008-03-24T08:57:00.004-06:00

As an object lesson today on the liberal anti-gun media read this news story:

Police race to match criminals' firepower, Congress owns blame

I've talked about other disinformation put out by anti-gunners before.

In the article above the author makes such claims as "More and more police departments now arm patrol officers with military-style weaponry that can match criminals' firepower and even penetrate body armor....the lawmen had warned Congress and President Bush about this very problem in 2004 as they tried in vain to be heard over the pro-gun drumbeat of the National Rifle Association."

The author quotes Police Chief Scott Knight as saying "the firearms of choice for terrorists, drug dealers, gang members and thugs will be back on our streets where once again our officers will be outgunned by criminals.'', then adds "That has come to pass."

Well no it hasn't. Even during the so called "assault weapons ban" the bad guys still got the weapons. In particular this article mentions the West Hollywood Bank Robbery of 1997: "Los Angeles police learned the danger of being outgunned by criminals wearing body armor in 1997, when 11 officers were injured, plus two civilians, in a gun battle with two bank robbers." Well the problem that the author neglected to mention was that incident happened DURING the 1994 to 2004 assault weapons ban. Not to mention that the bank robbers were using fully automatic rifles that have been previously "banned" under a 1984 law.

Early in the article though is the real kicker in the liberal anti-gun bias. The author writes: "Last year saw the largest number of police officers killed on duty in five years, with 69 shot to death" alluding that they were killed by assault weapons (that's what the article is about of course), but doesn't mention the statistical breakdown.

With a simple google search (but I'll save you the trouble) we find this document: Law Enforcement Officer Deaths, 2007. On page four we find that Assault Weapons account for exactly 1 of those 69 deaths. Hand guns account for 51 of the police deaths. I'm not for banning hand guns either because we already know that banning them just makes it so law abiding citizens are defenseless.

Again the liberal anti-gun media misrepresent evidence for their own agenda of taking guns away from the populace. No good has ever come from disarming the law abiding people.

DC v Heller

2008-03-18T12:22:00.002-06:00

Oral arguements in DC v Heller are finished.

Transcript available here at the Supreme Court website.

After listening to the audio I expect a 6-3 decision in favor of Heller.

DC v Heller

2008-03-18T09:28:00.003-06:00

The scene in front of the Supreme Court today. The line started forming at 5:35pm on Sunday March 16...two days ago.

Oral arguments are today. Update links as audio feed becomes available.

Opinion expected in June sometime.

Gary Gygax dies.

2008-03-06T10:17:00.011-07:00

Though I never met the man, one of the major influences in my life passed away Tuesday March 4, 2008.

Gary Gygax was the inventor of the pen and paper game system called Dungeons and Dragons.

I can't remember who or how I got introduced to Dungeons and Dragons but I remember it was around eleven or twelve years old. I remember sitting around my parents kitchen table with a few friends with a giant pile of dice, papers, pencils, books and our imaginations. I didn't realize back then how much of an influence those 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 20 sided dice would have on me all the way to even today.

It wasn't until last year that I finally decided to retire my old pen and paper games because I hadn't picked up the dice for so long and had lost contact with the people I played with regularly. It was a sad day and still occasionally I look at where they used to be on my shelves and think fondly, those were good times.

Gaming for me was like imagining I was part of a story book, instead of simply reading a book. Through gaming, and the progression of pen and paper to computer, I've fought dragons, fought evil, piloted star ships, lived after nuclear war, rescued towns, saved the world, and even witnessed the destruction of worlds (Final beta of Asheron's Call closed with a comet smashing into the planet). We've only been limited by what our imagination (and sometimes programming skills) have been able to conjure up.

Through D&D I was introduced to even more books to read. Two of my favorite book series of all time, Dragonlance Chronicles and Dragonlance Legends were based on Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. I still have the annotated editions with the three books of the trilogies bound together on my bookshelves.

One thing about AD&D and other pen and paper games that a lot of people didn't realize is that we gamers crossed social boundaries to find new players. I remember the geeks and the nerds mixing with the jocks and preps at gaming sessions. People that weren't allowed to even talk to each other at school were sitting at the same table having a great time and cooperating in something that seemed bigger then themselves.

I remember the "great purge" I call it. The 700 club featured D&D saying it was satanic and crap like that. Eventually my church also apparently made some statement against it because my parents went through all my gaming stuff looking for things bad about it. I don't think it was ever actually my church but more like a few of the more...off...members.

It was a tough time for an early teenager (I had to be thirteen to fifteen) to defend his hobby and friendships to his parents, a church, and even schools got into it. Movies were made about the dangers of D&D. All because a small troubled few had problems and the finger pointing went to D&D. Us gamers in our own way knew that it was probably D&D that had kept them sane and kept him socially aware and active. I defended my choices to my parents fine btw, but it still felt like we had to take our gaming underground. My school for example still banned D&D and any pen and paper games.

It was because of Gary Gygax and D&D that I first learned that everyone at one time has to stand up for what they think is right, and stand against what they think is wrong. At fifteen I stood against my parents, the school, and my church against what I thought was wrong in the mistaken believe that Dungeons and Dragons is a bad influence. I saw it as learning cooperation, fair play, sportsmanship, imagination, problem solving, and fun...among many others.

I remember getting up early one Saturday morning to go to my first gaming convention. Hundreds of people from all age groups, all races, and all social classes game together just to play their various pen and paper games. And we were all equals, gathered together by our mutual interests and hobbies. We weren't forced to be together, we chose to be together.

It was through these pen and paper games that I was introduced to computer gaming. I had been around computers because my Dad worked with them, but not really for games. It was a fellow RPG player that introduced me to his C-64 collection of various games. From there I amassed a large collection myself.

Then Microsoft took hold and I got myself a PC just for the new games available. That led to learning DOS so I could install and play the new games...most of the computer version of RPG's that wouldn't have existed without Gary Gygax. There was too many to list or remember, but one in particular was Ultima.

Eventually the Ultima Legacy came to it's height with Ultima Online...the first of what would soon be many Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG). And I've played most of them, including the current World of Warcraft the first officially mainstream computer RPG with over 10 million US subscribers. That is more subscribers then some of the highest rated network televisions shows get.

It was through pen and paper role playing that I had met my closest friends and even some of my closest girlfriends. I don't remember any girlfriend that didn't at minimum pick and and play a game system (nes, snes, playstation, etc) lasting for more then a month or so.

My wife is a computer gamer. We didn't meet through gaming, but it is one of the mutual interests that we have. My daughter will be a computer gamer. I know that as even at four months I have a hard time keeping her away from my keyboard if I'm holding her at my computer.

Because of MMORPG's I've "met" people all over the world that I would not have met otherwise. I remember late one night playing Harpoon Online (now defunct) against a fellow in Russia. I played the Russians and he played USA. I consider myself friends with many of those I've "met" even though I've only communicated with them via game chat or occasionally voice chat.

I didn't care what race, creed, religion, age, social class, or anything. We were all equals, gathered together by our mutual interests and hobbies.

I never met the man, but I am who I am in large part due to Gary Gygax. May he rest in peace.

Boise at High Risk for Bioterrorism? Say what?

2008-03-05T15:47:00.006-07:00

According to a study out of the University of Arizona, Boise, Idaho has a higher risk of bioterrorism then cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, San Fransisco, and lots of other cities.

Sure New York also is high risk, but Boise, Idaho? Come on. I could understand if other cities larger then us were at risk but Boise at risk and not them? That just doesn't make any sense to me at all.

The article put out by Science Daily doesn't help much to shed light on the subject as to why my home town is considered high risk for terrorism.

I guess it's really time to stock up on emergency supplies and food storage. Oh and always more ammo.

Definitely flawed data or the research just through a whole bunch of crap that he guessed on into a computer program and it spit out this obviously flawed map.

Boise? The only thing at high risk west of Texas is Boise?

What a joke.

SB 1441 - was the Idaho CCW on campus bill

2008-02-28T15:15:00.005-07:00

Well the State of Idaho has put forth a replacement bill for the Carry on Campus bill.

This bill is SB1441. Basically it reaffirms already existing Idaho code. It also makes it so counties and cities can have their own regulation on discharging (firing) of firearms, but not carrying.

Sounds good except for that this bill originally started to allow students who hold concealed carry permits to carry their guns on campuses by not allowing colleges to make their own gun laws and instead following State laws.

The new bill instead specifically states that colleges CAN make their own regulations and restrictions:

(c) The authority of the board of regents of the university of Idaho, the boards of trustees of the state colleges and universities, the board of professional-technical education and the boards of trustees of each of the community colleges established under chapter 21, title 33, Idaho Code, to regulate in matters relating to firearms.

Basically this bill now does the opposite of what it was originally designed to do, thanks to the presidents of the Idaho Colleges.

Pissed.

UPDATE: Bill was signed into Idaho Law March 28, 2008. No concealed carry on college campuses unless the school itself allows it (yea good luck with that).

Waukegan mall, Illinois

2008-02-28T12:42:00.006-07:00

Details are still very sparce but an explosion has occured at a Tuxedo shop at Waukegan Mall in Illinois. A few injuries reported, no deaths at this time.

Hopefully this was just a gas leak explosion, but posting for reference as this could be the first of many mall suicide bomb terror attacks.

FBI warns of possible shopping mall attacks

More later as news develops.

UPDATE: As originally thought this was simply a gas leak. I mean why would anyone want to blow up a tuxedo shop...

February 28, 1993

2008-02-28T12:17:00.004-07:00

This is what happens when a government agency, with guns and tanks, and no oversight, decides it just doesn't like a group of people.

Mainstream Linux? Will never happen.

2008-02-27T09:06:00.002-07:00

In my post yesterday I mentioned I might play with Unbutu Linux on one of my spare machines. Well in the process of looking up information to do it I decided that Linux will never be mainstream.

As much as I bash M$ the simple fact is they will always be the dominant OS. Not because of some crooked things or getting rid of the competition. The reason M$ will always be the dominant OS is because of ease of use.

The reason Linux will never be mainstream can be summed up in three lines:

$ ./configure
$ make depend && make
$ sudo make install

No. Mainstream people do not want to go to a command line to compile and install stuff. We want to click on a happy little icon, hit next three or four times, then hit finished.

Now I've been in the command line world. I know how to do it, I've done it before. There is no reason for it any longer with today's computers. Linux has GUI available, but still gotta go to the command line to install it or run it, then gotta go to the command line to install anything onto the GUI, then gotta go to the command line to remove anything, etc etc.

Until Linux gets away from requiring the command line it will never ever be mainstream.

Now all you Mac people are of course going to say that Mac's are easy to use. Yea for the end-user but ever notice that there isn't very much software support for the Mac? Ever try to buy a non-Mac machine with OS/X on it? Go away.

Windows Vista is the Ten Plagues of Egypt

2008-02-26T08:26:00.003-07:00

Window$ Vista is the Ten Plagues of Egypt.

I purchased two brand new Dell notebook computers yesturday. One for my wife and one for me.

We turned them on, did all the setup stuff, uninstalled Norton (the little Satan), installed AVG Free (I almost decided to pay for their full version I like them so much), installed AD-Aware Free, uninstalled all the AoL and Earthlink crap, and installed Firefox, Thunderbird, and OpenOffice.

Then we sat back and marveled at the pretty features of Window$ Vista. And it was good. Then much like the telling of Revelations we slowly discovered that Vista was actually the Anti-Christ and had fooled us.

The notebook computers' processor is twice as fast as our desktops, they have FOUR TIMES as much memory. The notebook computers for all intents and purposes should be running circles around the desktops.

My wife tried to run World of Warcraft and the frame rate was TERRIBLE. Even using synergy was painful as when the mouse was on the client computers it was jumpy and choppy instead of nice and smooth like we were used to. We didn't even bother trying any of our other software (just getting WoW installed on a new computer takes a few hours)

It took pretty much all day (from about 2pm to 10pm) to set up the computers with just the stuff we want and need without all the crap given to us. We decided before going to bed that we were going to have to exorcise Vista from the computers and install our Windows XP in order to get the brand new computers to run to their best performance.

(btw now that I have yet another spare computer I think it's time to mess with Ubuntu or some other Linux flavor)

.50 Caliber Crime? Not so much.

2008-02-25T10:46:00.004-07:00

Hawaii has decided it wants to ban the .50 Caliber rifle. Of course this is nothing but a feel good legislation because high powered rifles in civilian hands scares people...and for no reason other then hype usually by people that have no idea what they are talking about.

Using statements like "The rifle can fire 10 rounds in 10 seconds" (that's actually pretty slow), and "It does concern us -- shooting down airplanes four miles distances" (good luck hitting with that shot...ever and never more than once) the gun grabbers simply try to strike fear into sheep in order to get guns banned.

Well in part of the discussion on this I challenge gun grabbers to cite ANY case where a .50 was actually used to commit a crime (besides war). Someone mentioned to me one Albert Petrosky who used a .50 BMG to kill a cop. I had to research it to find out. Well seems that Petrosky actually used an SKS to kill the cop and never actually fired his .50 BMG in commission of any crime...he just had one is all.

In research of this of course I stumbled on VPC's "Criminal Use of the 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle" page. The VPC much like the Brady Campaign and other gun grabbers use LOTS of dishonesty here.

They list 22 cases where the .50 Caliber was "used to commit crimes" between 1989 and 2007. Think about that for a minute. That's 18 years. 22 cases. That is slightly more than one case per year. Yet this gun is a crime wave menace that must be banned.

Then I decided to look at the "crimes" themselves. I researched every single one of the "crimes" listed. Of the 22 crimes listed only one was definitely the .50 Caliber that may have been used to kill someone. However the problem there is that it is an unverifiable news report. So maybe, maybe not.

The VPC of course lists the Petrosky case I mentioned earlier, but the VPC claims that the BMG was used to actually commit the crime of robbery and subsequently cop killing. This is a lie. The SKS was used, and not the BMG.

Of the 22 crimes listed 12 of those were actually other crimes, but the suspect owned a .50 either in his car at the time or at his premises found later in investigation. In those 12 cases the .50 was not actually used in the crime.

That leaves 10 crimes left over 18 years. Looking further at those 10 crimes we find that a few of them the crime was having a gun while being a felon. Suspects didn't actually use said guns, they just had them as a felon which is illegal. The .50 caliber was among the gun(s) they owned.

One case involved conspiracy to sell 50 .50 Calibers to FARC (a Columbian terrorist organization). Well problem is that the people arrested didn't actually even HAVE an .50 Calibers. They were just arrested for conspiracy to sell them.

The VPC also listed the Branch Dravidian assault in Waco, Texas as a .50 Caliber gun crime. Do I really need to explain this one?

In the end this leaves 3 crimes using the .50 BMG. One of those this guy mounted some .50's to his armor plated bulldozer and drove the bulldozer through several buildings. It doesn't look like the .50s were ever actually fired. Though why would you need to with an armor plated bulldozer.

So two crimes left, and neither of them are verifiable if the shooters actually used their .50 calibers to commit crimes. Verifiable as in the news articles don't exist. One of them still has comments, but the article has long since been pulled so it may have been inaccurate or fake. Either way doesn't exist any longer.

Just like my post last year Every 48 Hours, this is the type of dishonesty that exists with the gun banners. Spin the facts to make things look different then they actually are.

So the question still exists. When has the .50 Caliber actually ever been used to commit a crime that would warrant it's banning?

Hello USMC visitors

2008-02-20T17:53:00.002-07:00

Today while going through my site stats I noticed a visitor from Quantico/Andrews AFB/United States Marine Corps. I won't point out the exact address you visited from or what you searched for to get here. (psst don't buy it they gonna manufacture in China to keep the price down).

Keep up the good work over in Iraq guys. Don't let some of my rantings and links fool ya, I am 100% red blooded prime cut USA American....okay well maybe not prime cut I could hit the gym a few more times a week.

Who has an FFL license?

2008-02-20T14:09:00.003-07:00

Josh Sugarmann, head of the Violence Policy Center. That's who.

Check yourself at the ATF's FFLeZCheck Website. Go ahead and enter the numbers above 1-54-XXX-XX-XX-00725

Now in order to get an FFL you have to have a retail store. Notice also that the address listed is for Washington DC where it is pretty much illegal for regular citizens to buy guns. With the FFL Josh gets to bypass said DC restriction and buy as many guns as he wants. He also gets buy said guns over the internet and through the mail without having to go to an FFL holding retail store.

VPC is also a Tax-Exempt organization 501(c)(3). This means they are not allowed to attempt to influence policy. Besides that however the FFL license held by Josh is reserved for retail establishments who are in the business of making money.

Besides all that having an FFL in Washington DC allowing Josh to bypass the DC Gun ban is nothing short of hypocrisy.

Now that the word is out Josh good luck keeping that FFL and your Tax-Exempt status. Oh yea and those guys knocking on your door to inspect your bound book and retail establishment? Those are the same guys that you and your ilk keep sending after legitimate FFL holders like Red's Trading Post.

Brady Campaign plays Big Oil Card

2008-02-20T09:59:00.002-07:00

Yesterday Peter Hamm, the communications director of the Brady Campaign played the Big Oil Card on Students for Concealed Carry on Campus stating:

We know very clearly that they were organised and they are funded by the gun industry, by the companies that are selling the guns.

This is not some spontaneous, grassroots organisation.

There are more members than there were before Virginia Tech because the gun industry is spending more money to enlist more young people to help them spread the word, that if only we had more guns in America, we'd have less of a gun violence problem.

I am one of the 15,000 members of the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. I have participated in two empty holster carries so far (the two that occurred while I was taking classes.)

I Joined SCCC when there was only a few hundred members. I think maybe they had just over a thousand.

I am NOT a member of the NRA. I have never taken a dime from the NRA. I have never received any orders or directives from any member of the NRA.

I am NOT a member or do I know anyone that works for the gun industry. I have never taken a dime from them, nor do I take orders or directives from them.

All I can say to Peter Hamm is the same thing the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus has said:

PROVE IT.

Naomi Wolf - An End to America

2008-02-19T21:23:00.002-07:00

Someone pointed this lecture out to me today so I sat through it. First let me say that I believe that Naomi Wolf is a flaming liberal, but she is mostly correct. The problem is that she framed her lecture and argument in a liberal democrat Bush Derangement Syndrome mindset. She would have been much more convincing coming from a middle of the road standpoint pointing out efforts and abuses on both sides of the isle (Democrat and Republican).

If Naomi could get out of the BDS Liberal mindset she would probably find herself as a constitutional libertarian...I would hope. Anyways here are Naomi's "10-steps to a closed society".

1) Invoke terrifying internal or external threat.
2) Create secret prison system where torture takes place that is outside the rule of law.
3) Create a paramilitary force.
4) Create a surveillance apparatus into ordinary citizens.
5) Arbitrarily detain and release citizens.
6) Infiltrate citizen groups.
7) Target key individuals.
8) Restrict the press.
9) Recast criticism as espionage and dissent as treason.
10) Subvert the rule of law.

Comments tomorrow. Going to do further research and sleep on it.

Life imitates art....Kucinich UFO and Day By Day

2008-02-19T11:44:00.007-07:00

This one is a little old but I was going back through some old Day By Day Cartoons today just for fun and stumbled upon this gem dated 12/18/2003

Well just about four years later some news reports started surfacing...

Kucinich sees UFO, new book claims
Rep.Dennis Kucinich Acknowledges UFO Sighting
What Kucinich Saw: Witnesses Describe His Close Encounter, Three Throbbing UFOs

I had a good laugh about the connection.

Gun Facts - Heller media brief

2008-02-18T09:51:00.003-07:00

The guys over at GunFacts.info have put together a 18 page PDF file on the DC vs Heller SCOTUS case.

I haven't read it yet but if it's anything like their Gun Facts EBook it will be easy to read, concise, and in FAQ format (question and answer, or myth and fact).

Here is the link: Media Briefing Book on DC vs Heller. And yes it is also free.

Fifteen Principles Which Make for Good and Proper Government

2008-02-18T09:01:00.006-07:00

As an Independent American for constitutional government I declare that:

(1) I believe that no people can maintain freedom unless their political institutions are founded upon faith in God and belief in the existence of moral law.

(2) I believe that God has endowed men with certain unalienable rights as set forth in the Declaration of Independence and that no legislature and no majority, however great, may morally limit or destroy these; that the sole function of government is to protect life, liberty, and property and anything more than this is usurpation and oppression.

(3) I believe that the Constitution of the United States was prepared and adopted by men acting under inspiration from Almighty God; that it is a solemn compact between the peoples of the States of this nation which all officers of government are under duty to obey; that the eternal moral laws expressed therein must be adhered to or individual liberty will perish.

(4) I believe it a violation of the Constitution for government to deprive the individual of either life, liberty, or property except for these purposes:

Punish crime and provide for the administration of justice;
Protect the right and control of private property;
Wage defensive war and provide for the nation's defense;
Compel each one who enjoys the protection of government to bear his fair share of the burden of performing the above functions.

(5) I hold that the Constitution denies government the power to take from the individual either his life, liberty, or property except in accordance with moral law; that the same moral law which governs the actions of men when acting alone is also applicable when they act in concert with others; that no citizen or group of citizens has any right to direct their agent, the government to perform any act which would be evil or offensive to the conscience if that citizen were performing the act himself outside the framework of government.

(6) I am hereby resolved that under no circumstances shall the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights be infringed. In particular I am opposed to any attempt on the part of the Federal Government to deny the people their right to bear arms, to worship and pray when and where they choose, or to own and control private property.

(7) I consider ourselves at war with international Communism which is committed to the destruction of our government, our right of property, and our freedom; that it is treason as defined by the Constitution to give aid and comfort to this implacable enemy.

(8) I am unalterable opposed to Socialism, either in whole or in part, and regard it as an unconstitutional usurpation of power and a denial of the right of private property for government to own or operate the means of producing and distributing goods and services in competition with private enterprise, or to regiment owners in the legitimate use of private property.

(9) I maintain that every person who enjoys the protection of his life, liberty, and property should bear his fair share of the cost of government in providing that protection; that the elementary priing that protection; that the elementary principles of justice set forth in the Constitution demand that all taxes imposed be uniform and that each person's property or income be taxed at the same rate.

(10) I believe in honest money, the gold and silver coinage of the Constitution, and a circulation medium convertible into such money without loss. I regard it as a flagrant violation of the explicit provisions of the Constitution for the Federal Government to make it a criminal offense to use gold or silver coin as legal tender or to use irredeemable paper money.

(11) I believe that each State is sovereign in performing those functions reserved to it by the Constitution and it is destructive of our federal system and the right of self-government guaranteed under the Constitution for the Federal Government to regulate or control the States in performing their functions or to engage in performing such functions itself.

(12) I consider it a violation of the Constitution for the Federal Government to levy taxes for the support of state or local government; that no State or local government can accept funds from the Federal and remain independent in performing its functions, nor can the citizens exercise their rights of self-government under such conditions.

(13) I deem it a violation of the right of private property guaranteed under the Constitution for the Federal Government to forcibly deprive the citizens of this nation of their nation of their property through taxation or otherwise, and make a gift thereof to foreign governments or their citizens.

(14) I believe that no treaty or agreement with other countries should deprive our citizens of rights guaranteed them by the Constitution.

(15) I consider it a direct violation of the obligation imposed upon it by the Constitution for the Federal Government to dismantle or weaken our military establishment below that point required for the protection of the States against invasion, or to surrender or commit our men, arms, or money to the control of foreign or world organizations of governments. These things I believe to be the proper role of government

-Ezra Taft Benson (The Proper Role of Government, 1968)

DC Police Officer Shot While Serving Warrant

2008-02-15T15:05:00.001-07:00

News link at MyFox DC

We have removed guns from the streets of DC. Now DC is the safest city in the Nation.

There are no guns in Washington DC. No never!

Putin on Hillary Clinton

2008-02-15T14:18:00.001-07:00

At a minimum, a head of state should have a head - Vladimir Putin on Hillary Clinton

Zing!

How long till help arrives?

2008-02-15T09:29:00.002-07:00

Let's say you are at a store. Any store will do. You're minding your own business and someone walks in the door, pulls out a gun and starts shooting. How long did it take to injure or kill several people? Estimates range from 5 seconds to 1 minute.

Let's say you are in a college classroom, teaching or a student. Someone walks in the door, pulls out a gun and starts shooting. How long did it take to injure or kill several people? Estimates range from 5 seconds to 1 minute.

Let's say you are at home sleeping. Someone breaks into your house, you wake up, run down the hall, and they shoot you, then take your children. How long did it take? Estimates range from 5 seconds to 1 minute.

What is the average police response time in your city? Los Angelas is about seven minutes, 30 seconds (1995). New York has been ranges from 6.5 to 13 minutes (1996). San Francisco is about 6 minutes (2003)

Now tell me. Which would you rather do if confronted with an armed person who is most definitely shooting other people...or you?

Call 911 and wait for the response?

Or have a way to defend yourself with equal force on force?

Most people I know choose defend yourself and others with equal force.

Teach Yourself Stuff in 21 Days

2008-02-13T14:25:00.005-07:00

I had a new project assigned to me at work that involves me learning ASP.NET. I'm going through one of the SAMS books currently, and thought I would stop, take a break, and make a comment.

First some background. I do Crystal Reporting and SQL development as my employment. I've probably forgotten more about HTML then most people will know (thanks to FrontPage which incidentally is my least favorite program ever written by M$) because I've been involved in the internet since it was black and white (or amber) and didn't usually include pictures. I also do Java, PHP, LUA, VB, Cobol, and I've even done a little Turbo Pascal. I'm sure I forgot a few. Point is that I'm not a programming, nor an internet, idiot.

This brings me to my thoughts. I'm using a SAMS book because I like their structured tutorial format. Instead of authors assuming you know what you need to know and getting into what you want to know the SAMS books start small and work their way up.

However pretty much every SAMS book I have run into have all had one glaring problem. Problems in their code examples. I'm not talking a few here and there, I'm talking about a LOT of problems.

First being that they don't keep the same format throughout the code. Sometimes they will use good tag control, proper locations of say a /font tag. Sometimes they don't and just add the missing closing tags at the end of the page (not that they are needed by then).

Second being "" and no "". Some tags I realize it doesn't matter, but for the love of Pete I wish these authors would stick to one format or the other. Drives me most nuts when they interchange in the same tag. FFS at least be consistent inside the tags.

Finally and the worst being when code examples have code breaking errors. These are things that break the whole program or page. If I'm learning a new language I shouldn't have to be bug hunting. The bugs should already be dead. While I personally and perfectly capable of hunting down a missing > or " someone that is learning from scratch may not be capable of handling it. It's one thing if I am missing the > or ", but when the code example written by the author is, well that's a problem.

I'm done venting. Back to work.

Russia 'will match West in new arms race'

2008-02-08T10:30:00.001-07:00

Times Online posted this article today.

Made me think of something else

Egypt threatens to break border crossers' legs

2008-02-08T09:16:00.001-07:00

This came over the news wires today. Apparently the Egypt foreign minister has warned people attempting to breach the border into Egypt will have their "legs broken".

That's a little brutal, but hey it's Egypt's border, whatever.

The irony in this news article comes in the second sentence...

Egypt faces demands from ... the United States to gain control of the border...

Our government won't even control our own damned border and they are demanding that Egypt control theirs.

Romney Drops Presidential Bid

2008-02-07T12:48:00.001-07:00

In a stunning and sobering move Mitt Romney suspended his presidential bid today. That effectively locks up the nomination for the worst possible GOP candidate John McCain.

I hearby renounce my affiliation with the Republican party.

~~Thompson~~
~~Tancredo~~
~~Hunter~~
~~Romney~~
Huckabee
~~Brownback~~
~~Richardson~~
Ron Paul
Obama
McCain
Hillary

I will not vote for John McCain.

News link at FOX

Gut check

2008-02-06T15:11:00.001-07:00

Well Super Tuesday is over. It's late in the day on Wednesday. I waited until later today to post as I wanted to go over California and crunch numbers of upcoming States and possibilities.

McCain is going to be the GOP nominee. That's all there is to it. If Huckabee drops out now it helps McCain. If Romney drops out now it *may* help Huckabee but Huckabee isn't getting the nomination no matter how much help he gets.

If Romney and Huckabee stay in they could force a brokered convention, but that also gives the nomination to McCain as a brokered convention will stay with the establishment (McCain) and if it looks like not then McCain will call in favors.

Thank you Huckabee for giving McCain the nomination.

Now far as I go I don't get to vote until May 27th. I'm not going to vote unless there is a miracle.

The GOP has spoken and they want McCain. Well I don't want the GOP any longer if they want to vote in a back stabber.

I've voted in every election since I turned 18. I'm not voting in this one because I refuse to vote for McCain no matter what. I don't care who McCain's VP pick would be. Anyone running with McCain is just as much of a traitor to the conservative base of the GOP.

Who cares if Hillary or Obama is the Dem nominee. I'd rather the country go to hell under a Democrat than a Republican.

I'm done unless a miracle happens.

Final Delegate count until a nominee is declared:

GOP
McCain 680
Romney 270
Huckabee 176
Paul 16

DEM
Hillary 818
Obama 730

West Virgina back room deals

2008-02-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I mentioned that in the second string of balloting McCain voters voted against Romney by going for Huckabee and that the real winner was McCain.

Well I was going through some numbers between that post and the news piece I'll link later.

First Ballot
Romney 41
Huckabee 33
McCain 15
Paul 10

Second
Huck 52
Romney 47
McCain 1

14% of McCain went to Huck. Paul's 10% split even to Romney/Huck. It's also possible that ALL of McCain went to Huck and the 1% McCain picked up were Paul people.

I posted over at FreeRepublic:

Something stinks in WV. For second round balloting all the original Huck and Romney voters kept with their candidate.

ALL the McCain voters went to Huck even though their candidate was still in.

Looks like Ron Paul voters went 5, 4, 1 respectively. Paul may have gone 5, 5 and 1% of McCain voters weren’t in on the game.

Either way point being that McCain voters colluded and went 100% to Huck. If McCain’s 15% had gone even 10% Huck and 5% Romney I would believe that was not colluded and self choice, but 14 or 15% (depending on what Ron Paul’s 10 did) is collusion.

The fix was in. McCain could afford to lose WV to Huck but he couldn’t afford to lose it to Romney.

Dirty yes, but legal, and why caucuses suck.

Huck supporters are all cheering and happy right now but I actually feel sorry for Huck because he is gonna get kicked to the curb by McCain when it’s all over and Huck supporters haven’t figured that out.

Well it turns out that I was right. Fox News posted this article sometime after my post and number crunching.

The highlight was:

But before Huckabee’s surprising turnaround in the second round, McCain delegates told FOX News they had been instructed by the campaign to throw their support to Huckabee.
McCain delegate John Vuolo said former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer approached him and other McCain supporters at the convention and told them he had spoken to McCain, and that the best thing to do was to support Huckabee in the hope that Huckabee could beat Romney in this winner-take-all state.

So it looks like my gut reaction and number crunching proved to be correct. McCain sacrificed West Virginia to keep Romney from collecting the 18 delegates.

McCain was the real winner, not Huckabee.

Reason Caucuses SUCK

2008-02-05T13:13:00.001-07:00

In West Virginia today Romney took 41% of the vote in the first balloting.

Now if it was normal primary this would have given him West Virginia's 18 delegates. However WV runs caucuses.

Huckabee came in second and McCain third. If you don't place in the top three you're out, so Paul got dropped.

In the second string of balloting McCain voters voted against Romney by going for Huckabee giving Huck the 51% needed to win the caucus.

West Virginia with 18 delegates goes to Huckabee.

Who was the real winner? John McCain.

It's Super Tuesday!

2008-02-05T08:31:00.001-07:00

Way too many States to list. I'll just update delegate counts tomorrow sometime.

Maine slipped in their GOP Caucuses over the weekend. Romney got something like 52% (for those bad at math that's more than everyone else combined).

Ron Paul ALMOST came in second but was beat by McCain by only a few percentage points. Huckabee came in a distant fourth.

Delegate counts have not been updated to reflect this but I *think* it is McCain 97, Romney 92 making it a dead heat going into Super Tuesday.

California is in play with latest polls showing 38% tie to Romney and McCain.

ABC Blogs Misquote Romney on the NRA.

2008-02-04T15:19:00.001-07:00

In this blog article reporter Jake Trapper quotes Mitt Romney in an interview with Glenn Reynolds and Helen Smith as saying

I was pleased that when I ran for Governor that I received the endorsement of the NRA and I hope to receive their support now.

The actual audio can be found here.

The actual quote was

I was pleased that as I ran for governor, I received the support of the NRA and I hope to receive their support now.

Notice the slight word difference. The ACTUAL wording was "support" but ABC Blogs have his wording as "endorsed". Now the words to some people mean the same thing, but they are not the same word.

According to Merriam-Webster "support" means "to promote the interests or cause of"

Endorse means "to express support or approval of publicly and definitely".

Now the NRA DID support Romney in several occasions. The NRA has NOT endorsed Romney. Romney was speaking the truth.

Some months back Romney did make the mistake of saying "endorsed" instead of "support" and had to clarify. Now with this blatant misquote ABC and several blogs have picked up that Romney claimed "endorsement" again.

Hint to ABC. When you "quote" someone, make sure what you quoted is actually the quote and not put in different words.

Will this matter? No probably not. The people that are hanging on Romney's not 100% pro-gun stance won't care what the difference is. Neither will those that think Romney is a pathological liar.

The GSG-5

2008-02-04T12:56:00.001-07:00

Taking a break from political commentary.

This month sometime the GSG-5 makes it's debut in the United States. Some lucky people (resellers mostly) already have their hands on this new gun.

Image used without permission from Impact Guns

What is the GSG-5?

The GSG-5 is a ground up rebuild of the HK MP5, the difference is the GSG-5 is chambered for .22LR HV ammo making it legal in pretty much all States including California.

Since it is also a new weapons system it isn't specifically named in various Assault Weapons Bans past and current legislation (HR1022).

Finally the GSG-5 comes in at a VERY attractive price tag of $499. That is more expensive then the ever popular Rugar 10/22, but on a new weapons system the price is great.

The GSG-5 accepts all HK MP5 accessories that are not caliber specific so rails, mounts, sights, lights, slings, stocks, etc etc work on the rifle.

Here is a video review over at YouTube

Did I mention $499.

I'm buying one of these when they become available at retail stores sometime this month.

Romney's a Mormon!?

2008-02-04T12:22:00.001-07:00

Well I had my first argument at work today with someone about Romney.

The crux of the argument was that I am supporting Romney because he is Mormon and I'm a Mormon.

Well first of all that is not true. His religion makes absolutely NO difference if I am going to vote for him or not.

She said "bullshit". Okay yelled "bullshit" but yelling saying whatever.

I said I didn't know Romney was LDS until sometime after he declared his candidacy.

She said "bullshit". Okay yelled "bullshit" but yelling saying whatever.

She asked...okay declared actually...that I thought Romney's religion was why people were voting for him.

She said his "religious beliefs would play a part in his presidency". I asked exactly what beliefs would disqualify him as being President. She couldn't answer....at all. Didn't even have a hem and hah to think about. She just knew he was Mormon and that's bad.

Sigh. Whatever. If you can't get past the religion part of any candidate then I don't want to talk to you.

For reference sake Romney was not my first choice...except when he was the only declared candidate besides Rudy.

Here is the full list, in order, including people that dropped out before the season even started.

Thompson
Tancredo
Hunter
Romney
Huckabee
Brownback
McCain

Notice from this list Romney is my FOURTH choice overall.

Religion plays absolutely no part in my decision to support Romney at this time and religion has NEVER played a part in my candidate selection. I'm a little bit more politically minded, active, and informed to fall back on the "what's his religion" question.

I don't care.

The Huckaboom is OVER

2008-01-31T14:41:00.001-07:00

Please for all that is conservative PLEASE drop out of the race Mike.

You're a jovial guy and all but seriously at this point in time you are just spoiling the vote. You're splitting the conservatives down the middle and putting McCain in the front.

You are NOT going to win the primaries, you are NOT going to win the General Election. PLEASE bow out now so that Romney and McCain can have their race.

Every day you stay in makes it more and more likely come January '09 we will be anointing Queen Hillary instead of electing a conservative to the White House.

Everyone else has read the tea leaves and figured it out except you...well and Ron Paul but he's nutty as a loon anyways.

Florida dropouts

2008-01-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well looks like McCain takes Florida on the GOP side putting him out in front. Who would have thought months ago when McCain was thinking about dropping out due to campaign financial problems (that CFR has gotta hurt) that he would be on top going into Super Tuesday.

There has been mixed reports that independents were voting in the Republican primary though. Not sure if that effects anything but the GOP was supposed to be a closed primary meaning that only registered Republicans could vote. Polls show most independents vote McCain.

Rumor mill today is that Rudy is going to drop out and endorse McCain. I'd say not good for Romney except Rudy doesn't have much support.

Hillary took Florida but since Florida jumped cut ahead in line the DNC stripped the DEM Florida delegates. Hillary of course is trying to get the delegates reinstated...that would put her ahead in pledged delegates. So dirty deeds on both sides.

John Edwards is going to drop out today leaving the DEM race between Hillary and Obama.

Delegate count updated:

GOP (needs 1191)

McCain 95
Romney 67
Huckabee 26
Paul 6

DEM (needs 2025)

Obama 63
Hillary 48

Democrat joins 2nd Amentment Caucus

2008-01-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

Congressman Christopher Carney (D-10) became a member of the bipartisan Congressional Second Amendment Caucus, which is dedicated to the right of lawful individuals to own firearms as stated in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“As an avid sportsman, I value the time I spend taking my own children hunting. As a Member of Congress, I know that we must fight to preserve the Constitutional right for individual citizens to keep and bear arms. Hunting and shooting sports are valued traditions in Pennsylvania, and I will always fight to protect the Constitutional right to bear arms,” said Congressman Carney.

The Second Amendment Caucus is opposed to the banning of firearms, their accessories, their manufacture and their importation, and recognizes the right of lawful citizens to carry a weapon both at home and while traveling the nation.

“I have been vigilant to the assaults hurled upon the Second Amendment during my time in office and I joined the caucus to continue the fight,” continued Carney. “The Constitution is clear on this—Americans have the right to bear arms, and I will fight to protect it.”

- source Pocono News

Well that's close Chris but you forget about something. First the 2nd Amendment isn't about hunting and sports (target and trap) usage. It's about people being secure on their own property from the bad guys and a tyrannical government.

You also neglected to mention this tidbit:

Chris opposes the over-regulation of guns owned by responsible Americans. Firearms safety education is an essential aspect of gun ownership, helping create a culture that respects the rights of gun owners and acknowledges their responsibilities. Chris supports a waiting period for handguns and restrictions on certain types of "special" ammunition to help ensure that neither falls into the hands of criminals or terrorists.

- source Chris Carney on Gun Control

Criminals and terrorists both are going to manage to get their hands on handguns and ammunition no matter what kind of laws you pass to keep them out of the hands of law abiding citizens.

Thanks for the help Chris, but you need to go back to 2nd Amendment school for another semester or two.

Florida Primary

2008-01-29T08:32:00.001-07:00

Here we go.

Latest GOP polls putting Florida at a dead heat between Romney and McCain. Rudy and Huck tied for third. So far this election cycle the GOP polls have been almost spot on.

Florida is a winner take all State with 57 delegates up for grabs. That means even if a candidate wins by only 1 vote all 57 delegates go to him. Seems Florida is yet again going to be a huge factor in the elections.

I'm not even going to venture a guess on Florida. McCain did get a late surge partially due to his dishonest claim that Romney supported a surrender date in Iraq...McCain's advert left off the next sentence in Romney's interview where Romney point blank said "I would veto any bill that contained time tables for withdrawal."

For Romney's part he has been gaining momentum ever since Fred Thompson dropped out.

If Romney wins he'll probably have the momentum to take Super Tuesday.

If McCain wins that puts McCain ahead but Romney can hold on till at least Super Tuesday.

If Rudy or Huck win then it becomes an even closer three way race.

If anyone but Rudy wins then Rudy is done.

Stay tuned...

President Hinckley dies at 97

2008-01-28T10:08:00.001-07:00

In a previous post I mentioned that I was LDS.

Yesterday at his home the President of my church, Gorgon B. Hinckley died.

Obiturary found here: LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley dies at age 97

Thomas S. Monson will probably be called as the new President of the LDS Church.

The Prophet is dead. Long live the Prophet.

Mitt Happens - I'm a Flip-Flopper

2008-01-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Mitt Romney is a flipper.

On several issues (okay two, pro-life, 2nd Amendment) Mitt has flipped his views since running for governor of Massachusetts. Both issues he has moved to the right on. Mitt has flipped, but I haven't seen no flop.

I am a flip-flopper.

When Mitt Romney announced his candidacy I originally said "this is my guy...". I knew him from his bailing out of the doomed SLC Olympics and turning it into one of the best Olympics ever. I knew he was a wildly successful businessman.

But the caviet to that was I also said "unless Fred Thompson gets into the race." Now this was well before Fred jumped in, well before rumors started that Fred might jump in. I was one of the first few hundred that jumped onto the "Draft Fred" bandwagon.

Fred dropped out yesterday, so I have flopped back to Romney.

Expect lots of Romney commentary. If Romney isn't your guy well sorry, deal with it. This is my blog I say what I want.

More on the Nevada vote

2008-01-23T08:33:00.000-07:00

In the interest of full disclosure I admit I am LDS. However I keep my religion out of politics and my politics out of religion. The next few posts though I'm going to have to dwell into religion and Romney.

The first of these posts is further looking at the 94% of the Mormon vote that Romney got in Nevada. I'm sure at this point in time (now that we are down to three effectively) Utah, Idaho, Arizona and California LDS will follow suit. States that have already voted we don't have as specific demographic information that we had in Nevada so one can't say if Wyoming for example got 94% of the LDS vote going Romney.

Take your average Mormon who is politically active and would vote in the primaries.

Now you have the front runner choices of Romney, McCain, and Huckabee. Lets say for arguement sake that Romney is NOT a Mormon.

Now who does the Mormon vote for?

Answer is still Romney.

Why? Because Huck and McCain both have record of anti-Mormon rhetoric. Huck posing the fake question of "Don't Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers" and McCain's campaign eluding to the Mormon church supporting Hamas and treating women like the Taliban.

Imo McCain's campaign statements were worse then Huck's supposedly honest(yea right) question.

Enter Romney who hasn't said anything about other candidates religions at all and recognizes that if he was President he would need the prayers of all faiths.

Romney LDS or not out of the three front runners GOP LDS voters are going to vote Romney because of the treatment the other two have given the religion.

Sure there was still Ron Paul, Rudy, or Fred Thompson to vote for but come on...do any of these guys really have a shot? Incidentally Ron Paul did get more of the LDS vote then Rudy, Huck, or Fred combined.

Fred Thompson out :(

2008-01-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

"Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people." - Fred Thompson

Well it was short lived but Fred went All-In in South Carolina and came up short.

~~Fred~~
~~Hunter~~
~~Tancredo~~
Romney
No Vote

We'll see what that does to the Florida Primaries, Jan 29th '08.

The (non) Mormon factor - Romney wins Nevada

2008-01-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

Nevada:

Romney handily won the Nevada Caucus on the GOP side. It didn't take long (all of about an hour) for the mainstream media and blogs to point out that the "Mormon vote" gave Romney the victory.

This is not only incorrect it's also dangerous reporting.

Here is some math on the numbers. 44,315 votes were counted. 51% of those for Romney at 22,646. Source: The Nevada GOP caucus. According to entrance polls Mormons made up 26% of the vote and voted a resounding 95% for Romney. That's about where the MSM and blogs stop at claiming it was the Mormon vote that caused Romney to win.

Lets look at the numbers.

11522 Mormons voted. Of them 10946 voted Romney (the others split McCain and Paul for about 288 each).

If no Mormons showed up at all Romney still would have won:

#1 Romney: 11700
#2 Paul: 5796
#3 McCain: 5362

If the same amount of Mormons voted but split in percentages Romney still would have won:

Total votes (without Mormons)
32793

Percents (without Mormons)
Romney: 35.68
Paul: 17.67
McCain: 16.35

11522 Mormons voted split on percents and added to candidates:

#1 Romney: 15811
#2 Paul: 7832
#3 McCain: 7246

Everyone else needs the Mormon vote, Romney doesn't.

The only way Romney would have lost is if greater than 52% of Mormons voted for a single candidate BESIDES Romney, and it would have had to have been Ron Paul. McCain would have needed 58% of the Mormon vote. That's IF the other Mormon voters ALSO did not vote for Romney. Further down more of the vote you need. For irony, Hunter needed 94% of the Mormon vote to beat Romney. (Hunter dropped out of the race before the SC primaries were closed).

South Carolina:

Nothing really here unexpected. McCain beat Huck. Fred came in third again.

Fred Thompson's Mother is in the hospital currently, don't know how serious. Fred went back to Tennessee and will decide from there to stay in the race or drop out.

Democrats:

Early in the day Nevada was called for Obama with 83% of the vote. As precincts reported in Hillary gained ground and ended up winning with 51%. One of these days the media will learn not to declare a winner until they are REALLY REALLY sure.

Delegate count updated:

GOP
Romney 66
McCain 38
Huckabee 26
Thompson 8
Paul 6
Rudy 1

DEM

Obama 38
Clinton 36
Edwards 18

Playing the Numbers

2008-01-16T12:29:00.001-07:00

Delegate counts again updated in various places. Even CNN is stripping delegates now. Updated sidebar.

GOP (needs 1191)
Romney 46
McCain 19
Huckabee 15
Thompson 6
Paul 2
Hunter 1
Rudy 0

DEM (needs 2025)
Obama 25
Hillary 24
Edwards 18

Michigan Primaries - The Morning After

2008-01-16T08:41:00.001-07:00

Commentary reports starting to come in. Last time I mentioned it I was talking about how commentators were telling Mitt Romney to drop out because he couldn't win (even though he was first in delegate count).

Now commentators have a new spin on Romney...he won Michigan because there was not a credible candidate on the Democrat side so in protest many Democrats voted Republican specifically for Romney. The argument here is of course that Romney is a Democrat and not a Republican.

No mention of course about John "I thought about joining the Democrat party in 2004" McCain.

Of the moderate Republicans (RINO's to hard core 100% conservatives) on the ballots Romney is actually the least RINO of them all.

Makes me wonder if McCain had won the Michigan primary if the commentators would have been talking about Leiberman telling independants and democrats to vote McCain or if they still would have been telling Romney to drop out because he can't win (Romney still would have been in the lead for delegates with a second place showing).

Current delegate count:

GOP (needs 1191)
Romney 36
McCain 19
Huckabee 19
Thompson 6
Paul 2
Hunter 1
Rudy 0

DEM (needs 2025)
Obama 25
Hillary 24
Edwards 18

Michigan Primary - The evening of

2008-01-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Results for Michigan are in:

GOP
Romney
McCain
Huckabee

DEM
Clinton
Undecided

I miss-spoke in my post this morning. Clinton was the only major candidate on the Dem ballot. The choices were between her, uncommited, Kucinich, Dodd, and Gravel. Even being the only major candidate Clinton only managed about 56% with Uncommited coming in at 39%.

Delegate counts updated on right sidebar.

Next stop: Nevada and South Carolina, Jan 19

Blizzard politicians - Ghost Wolf reversal

2008-01-15T16:16:00.001-07:00

Back in the gaming world Blizzard is up to it's usual tricks.

See in patch 2.3 of World of Warcraft a new area opened up and allowed a cool new wolf to be tamed by Hunters. Problem is that only level 70's could tame it and the wolf was only level 30. Had to be 70 to get certain equipment needed. Also needed help from a friend or so.

Well of course hunters were concerned that the pet might not stick around (much like other rare pets) but a post at the Euro Forums aleaved that concern:

While this feature of the Grimtotem Spirit Guide wasn’t exactly intended, it was agreed by the development team that this is a fun use of in-game mechanics, and we therefore have no plans to address this issue - it will still be possible in future for everyone who wishes to tame this NPC to do so. :)

I hope this alleviates your concerns!

So people went about happily taming their Ghost Wolves.

(image stolen without permission from www.maniasarcania.com)

Well now (as usual with Blizzard) we see a complete reversal by Blizzard-US and removal of the Ghost Wolf on 1/14/08 in a STEALTH hot fix. Drysc posted the details over at the US-WoW forums:

Through a hotfix we’ve recently removed the ability to tame a Grimtotem Spirit Guide. Players who have already gone through the trouble of taming the creature will be able to keep them unchanged. This hotfix only removes the possibility to tame this creature from here on.

The removal of the spirit guide has been debated within design discussions for a while now as to what impact the pet and its precedent has on the game.
The unintended nature of the taming, the undead status of the guide, appearance of the wolf in relation to the feel of the hunter class, and the complex processes of taming were all issues touched upon and discussed.

Ultimately the discussions brought us to the conclusion that this should not be a permanent addition to the pet selection available to hunters; however, those that have already tamed them should be allowed to keep them due to their efforts in obtaining one.

This is pretty much identical to what happened with the Serpents in Zul Furrak and Zul Gurrob before they were removed.

1. Yes can keep taming
2. Removed taming ability
3. Removed ability to feed pet (stuck in stable stasis or lose it)
4. Put similar pet in expansion that is easy to get so any joker can have thereby negating it's rare factor.

So how does this tie in to politicians?

Easy during the election say one thing to get people to support you, then after the elections go the flip opposite direction leaving the people that supported you with nothing but an empty sack of crap.

Thanks Blizzard.

By the way I have my wolf, just waiting for another few weeks when Blizzard makes it so I can't feed him.

Michigan Primary - The morning of

2008-01-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

Projections for Michigan today:

GOP
Romney
McCain
Huckabee

This is gonna be close. McCain might have gotten a bump from NH and could pull of a win here. Polls have Romney leading but they are WELL within the margin of error. Think average is about 2pts ahead with if the margins fail could up McCain as far as 6pnts in the lead. Course we saw from New Hampshire on the Dem side that polls can be VERY VERY wrong.

DEM
Obama
Edwards
Clinton

The last week has not been good for Clinton at all. Just when she gets ahead again she opens her yap and says something stupid. Really the best campaign Clinton could run right now is name recognition. Edwards should do well in Michigan playing his class warfare game. Michigan is a pretty blue collar State which Edwards pretends to fit in with...while he's not getting $1000 hair cuts.

Delegate count games

2008-01-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

If you look at the news web sites the delegate counts are off. I mentioned this in an earlier post.

CNN's count is showing pledged delegates, so in my book is accurate. Other places are counting unpledged in their numbers and putting them where they think they will go. Problem with counting unpledged delegates is the numbers will go stray depending on who is counting and who is reporting.

MSNBC is taking ALL of Thompson's, McCain's and Ron Paul's delegates and 5 of Romney's Delegates (these are all pledged BTW) at Iowa and putting them in Huckabee's bucket. Other States seem to be correct.

Fox News is reporting Real Clear Politics' numbers. They seem to be shuffling around the unpledged delegates only (unlike MSNBC who is stripping pledged delegates).

If you look at pledged or shuffle around unpledged then Romney is in the lead for the GOP. It's only if you start stripping pledged that Huck is in the lead.

Michigan Primary today. Results this evening sometime.

Fred Swinging - Target Huckabee

2008-01-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

Caught this on YouTube, didn't watch the debate. Fred opens up on Huckabee.

Where has this Fred been for the last two months?

Delegate changes?

2008-01-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

AP is reporting that the delegate counts are being mixed up. Several sources have my count (including CNN, Reliable Politics and Powerline). However an AP article is putting the count at:

GOP:
Huckabee 31
Romeny 19
McCain 7

Dem:
Clinton 187 delegates
Obama with 89
Edwards with 50

Now without a credit or source on this article I'm going to take it with a grain of salt. Figure the AP wants Huck and Clinton as the nominees and they'll work to get there. We've seen plenty of false stories so far and the actual race has been on for only a week now.

San Fran gets guns back

2008-01-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

The California State Court of Appeals announced today their decision to overturn one of the most restrictive gun bans in the country, following a legal battle by attorneys for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a previous court order against the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

This is a great victory for California, specifically those in the San Francisco area.

Linkage: SF Chronicle

Pushing the dropout rate

2008-01-10T00:10:00.000-07:00

So you've got this candidate who has gone through three primaries. He's placed second, first, then second. Doing so he's grabbed the most delegate count of any of the candidates. The candidate is in the lead, so what do bloggers, news, and pundits say?

That Romney should drop out now. What the fuck. That's all I have to say.

I've counted probably seven different news articles today saying that since Romney didn't place first in Iowa or New Hampshire he's losing and should just drop out now. Idiocy. You would think these so called journalists and professionals would just take the 20 seconds to look at what matters....the delegate count.

Now I'm a Fred supporter (Romney is my third choice after Hunter) but I'm also a realist. Since when does the LEADER of a race drop out.

Come on people grow a damned brain.

Even if Mitt places second in Michigan (which isn't a true winner-take-all) he's still going to be in the lead in delegates.

If this rate continues by the time Super Tuesday rolls around Mitt will have a handy lead and ready to take on Rudy. Rudy btw is doing among the worst but nobody is calling for him to drop out. Even Hunter and Paul have more delegates then Rudy does.

Aftermath - New Hampshire

2008-01-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well Hillary's crying game turned out positive for her instead of it being the Howard (Yeeeaaar) Dean of 2008.

McCain as expected came up first in New Hampshire but not convinced he's going anywhere else.

Results:

GOP:
McCain
Romney
Huckabee

DEM:
Hillary
Obama
Edwards

That puts Romney ahead for delegates and Obama/Clinton pretty much tied (1 delegate difference).

Running Total Delegates:

GOP (needs 1191):
Romney 24
Huckabee 18
McCain 10

DEM (needs 2025):
Obama 25
Clinton 24
Edwards 18

Next stop January 15 in Michigan (Winner take all) both parties.

New Hampshire Primaries

2008-01-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Continuing primary predictions

GOP:
McCain
Romney
Thompson

Thompson will show third again, but the press will skip him and report on Huck and Rudy's placing. Expect Huck to finish third to last from here on out in the primaries

DEM:
Obama
Edwards
Hillary

Hillary may have placed second in New Hampshire except for her almost crying breakdown

Fallout - Iowa

2008-01-04T13:14:00.001-07:00

Supposedly people voted for Huckabee because he is pro-life. Well so is Fred Thompson, but Thompson only came in third and not a 10% leading first.

Supposedly people voted for Huckabee because he is against gay marriage. Well so is Fred Thompson, but Thompson only came in third and not a 10% leading first.

Supposedly people voted for Huckabee because he is a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Well so is Fred Thompson, but Thompson only came in third and not a 10% leading first.

Supposedly people voted for Huckabee because he is for changing the tax code. Well so is Fred Thompson, but Thompson only came in third and not a 10% leading first. I don’t think this was a big voter decision issue but whatever it’s there.

After those issues Huckabee really has nothing, that’s all he’s got. Fred Thompson is the real conservative in the race (yes Duncan Hunter too, but I’m holding out for a Thompson/Hunter ticket).

Even if someone is voting single issue on pro-life they still have Fred to go to, guess Fred just isn’t Christian enough. Every issue that Huck is conservative on Fred Thompson (or someone else) is also conservative on. Everywhere else Huck loses and Fred Thompson wins.

I submit that a large portion of people voted for Huckabee because he is a Baptist Minister and not because of his actual stances. Past pro-life and Baptist Minister a lot of people didn’t even ask.

Welcome to the Carter Part Deux: The GOP Edition.

This is the danger of voting for or against someone's religion. You become blinded to issues that religion does not cover.

Iowa caucus results

2008-01-03T22:09:00.001-07:00

Results are in:

GOP:
Huckabee
Romney
Thompson

Dems:
Obama
Edwards
Hillary

Pregame is over. Game On! Iowa Caucus is today!

2008-01-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well the pre-game is over. Today the game starts in Iowa.

Starting Lineups (alpha order)
Visitors Dems: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson.

Home GOP: Rudy Giulani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson.

Predictions on both sides top three in order:
Dems: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards
GOP: Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson

I think Fred Thompson is going to do better then expected by passing up McCain and Rudy. Mitt and Mike will come in first and second as currently that's where the fighting and free advertisements are.

After Iowa I expect people that missed him to take a second look at Fred. If Fred can beat Rudy and McCain then he'll have perceived traction with the voters and pick up other States in the primaries.

If Fred comes in last (or is beat by Ron Paul at all) his campaign is pretty much done, and so is the GOP.

Go Fred (and bring Hunter with you)!

Night of Broken Glass

2007-11-09T11:49:00.001-07:00

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

2007-11-08T12:16:00.001-07:00

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

2007-11-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-05T10:41:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-23T11:31:00.000-06:00

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.