Because the ever intelligent authorities are concerned about us shooting someone right now and not in 49 hours, the two day "cooling off" period for my Sig Sauer Paul Nelson Commemerative P220 .45 is counting down. As I type, we've got about 47.45 hours to go.
Anyway, I figured it'd be a good time to review some gun statistics, just in case anyone hostile to the 2nd article of the Bill Of Rights is in the house (so to speak).
~120,000,000 people in the United States believe having a gun in the house is better than having no gun in the house
~There are 300,000,000 privately owned guns in the United States
~The lowest number of defensive gun uses recorded is 800,000 per year
~The highest number is between 2,5000,000 and 4,000,000
~That means that on the low side, there's a 1 in 375 chance you'll defend yourself with a gun in the next year
~On the high side, that's a 1 in 75 chance
~There are 13,000,000 crimes committed every year
~There are 1,300,000 crimes committed every year with a gun
~That means there's a 1 in 23 chance you'll have a run in with crime in the next year
~That also means there's a 1 in 230 chance you'll have a run in with gun crime in the next year
~There are 1,500,000 violent crimes committed every year
~There's a 1 in 200 chance you'll be the victim of violent crime in the next year
~There are roughly 17,000 homicides each year.
~There are roughly 10,000 gun homicides each year
~That means you have a 1 in 17,500 chance of being murdered in the next year
~You have a 1 in 30,000 chance of being murdered with a gun in the next year
~66% of all homicide involves criminals killing criminals
~There are roughly 30 child firearms deaths each year
~The 1 child gun death per hour statistic comes from increasing the age of childhood to 24
~Most homicide is committed by males aged 16-24, and is related to the drug trade
And the most concerning of all statistics, and the main reason the Founders listed the human right to keep and own weapons of military significance in the Bill Of Rights:
~There were 120,000,000 civilians murdered by their own government in the 20th century.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Liberalize Me
So there's this guy on public radio this morning who wrote a book called Conservatize Me.
Capitalizing on the success of that moron Morgan Spurlock's movie Supersize Me (supposedly the magnum opus of anti-fast-food thinking, all it does is show the predictable result of being stupid), John Moe writes Conservatize Me to try and get inside the minds of right-wingers (anyone being right of Marx being a NeoCon to him) by taking in nothing but right-wing politics and media for an entire month.
Why is it rank-and-file Republicans and Libertarians are always stereotyped as rednecks?
Anyhoo, I tried to duplicate the experiment within the confines of my own mind. I tried to get inside the head of a liberal for about 45 minutes.
It was hard. I generally don't think the world owes me anything, and I obviously had to adjust THAT. Then there was that whole "hatred of the successful and wealthy" attitude to get used to. I knew I was getting somewhere when the words "proletariat" and "bourgeois" and "wage slave" started coming more naturally to me. I also started developing a fondness for Cindy Sheehan, Ted Kennedy, the Dixie Chicks, and Al-Jazeera.
Thus suitably prepared in the liberal mindset, I tried to envision utopia. It needed the following criteria:
~All basic needs are provided. Food, shelter, basic furniture.
~Work is not necessary.
~Healthcare is absolutely free for all.
~Dentalcare is absolutely free for all.
~Education is free.
~College is free.
~Entertainment is provided.
~No one can have access to weapons of any kind.
~Only the police can protect you.
~The police are everywhere.
~Authority makes all the decisions for you.
~A few of your rights are protected.
~There are strict rules, designed to keep everyone safe.
~Any attempts to change the system outside of political means are punished.
~Anyone can join the society.
~Societal benefits last from the time you come in until the time you leave or die
Ye Old Lightbulb went on at this point. Not a dawning flicker, mind you. Someone, somewhere, just threw another 6 rods on the nuclear reactor and the lightbulb lit up like a Christmas tree covered in strings of 1,000,000 candlepower bulbs. The illusion ended, and I was left with the realization that...
Such a place exists on earth! The liberal utopia is here!
Wait for it...
The liberal utopia, the state the Democrats and other assorted socialists want to create, the state the embodies all the virtues listed above is...
You knew this was coming, didn't you? I mean, is this IT or is this it?
It's prison.
Capitalizing on the success of that moron Morgan Spurlock's movie Supersize Me (supposedly the magnum opus of anti-fast-food thinking, all it does is show the predictable result of being stupid), John Moe writes Conservatize Me to try and get inside the minds of right-wingers (anyone being right of Marx being a NeoCon to him) by taking in nothing but right-wing politics and media for an entire month.
Why is it rank-and-file Republicans and Libertarians are always stereotyped as rednecks?
Anyhoo, I tried to duplicate the experiment within the confines of my own mind. I tried to get inside the head of a liberal for about 45 minutes.
It was hard. I generally don't think the world owes me anything, and I obviously had to adjust THAT. Then there was that whole "hatred of the successful and wealthy" attitude to get used to. I knew I was getting somewhere when the words "proletariat" and "bourgeois" and "wage slave" started coming more naturally to me. I also started developing a fondness for Cindy Sheehan, Ted Kennedy, the Dixie Chicks, and Al-Jazeera.
Thus suitably prepared in the liberal mindset, I tried to envision utopia. It needed the following criteria:
~All basic needs are provided. Food, shelter, basic furniture.
~Work is not necessary.
~Healthcare is absolutely free for all.
~Dentalcare is absolutely free for all.
~Education is free.
~College is free.
~Entertainment is provided.
~No one can have access to weapons of any kind.
~Only the police can protect you.
~The police are everywhere.
~Authority makes all the decisions for you.
~A few of your rights are protected.
~There are strict rules, designed to keep everyone safe.
~Any attempts to change the system outside of political means are punished.
~Anyone can join the society.
~Societal benefits last from the time you come in until the time you leave or die
Ye Old Lightbulb went on at this point. Not a dawning flicker, mind you. Someone, somewhere, just threw another 6 rods on the nuclear reactor and the lightbulb lit up like a Christmas tree covered in strings of 1,000,000 candlepower bulbs. The illusion ended, and I was left with the realization that...
Such a place exists on earth! The liberal utopia is here!
Wait for it...
The liberal utopia, the state the Democrats and other assorted socialists want to create, the state the embodies all the virtues listed above is...
You knew this was coming, didn't you? I mean, is this IT or is this it?
It's prison.
Random Reflections Pt13
51. If a mountain were to slide down and annihilate a town, that would not be evil. Evil requires consciousness, the willful act to violate the rights or life of another who has not harmed you.
If that mountainslide were to be willfully caused by a person, that would be evil. For society to continue, evil must be punished in proportion to the damage it has inflicted upon society. I say in proportion because too weak a punishment would be the exact same as no punishment at all, and two harsh a punishment would establish tyranny.
This is not law. Laws change, year to year, regime to regime. This is justice.
Law is not written for the good. The good carry the Law in their hearts. Law is written for the bad, so that society may, as a whole, bear the responsibility of enacting justice. Written law is meant to mirror the Law that good men carry in their hearts. But law is written by men, who can be evil, venal, and corrupt. Thus law, like any tool, can be used for good or ill. Laws change, year to year, regime to regime. Simply because a law IS, doesn’t mean it embodies justice. It may be an unjust law. Similarly, actions which enact justice may not be enshrined in the law.Laws change, but justice is justice.
52. I know life is short, whatever time you get is luck. – Neil McCauly, “Heat”
It’s going to sound trite, but don’t wait until you’re dying to start living like it. Within reason, do what you want to do NOW. Or work towards it. The sooner you realize that, the happier your life will be. But I can't MAKE you realize it - you have to want it, you have to have that "aha moment" all by your lonesome.
53. Heroes are not people who save lives. Otherwise, doctors giving flu shots at grocery stores would be heroes.
Heroes are people who RISK their own lives to save others. Who show uncommon valor or bravery to help their fellow men. We talk so much of heroes today, and few other people we apply the heroic adjective to actually deserve it.If, as I have said before, that choice is the only thing worthy of respect, then risking your life with no obligation to do so, knowing that your death, possibly, will have absolutely no merit is worthy of the descriptor “nobility.” There aren’t too many heroes like that these days.
54. Free people will never be equal. People forced to be equal will never be free.
In a condition of freedom, people will never be equal. There will be people who are better than others at certain things. There will be people who get ahead in life when others don’t. Lest we all forget, we are still animals, beholden to the same animal impulses, and we’re still living in a civilized jungle, where the laws of nature still hold some sway. This is FREEDOM. It’s a dangerous, scary thing.We can do our darnedest to equalize housing conditions, income, diet, healthcare, whatever. But in doing so we MUST take from those who are successful, and make beholden to us those who we would raise up.
We can have freedom, or an attempt at absolute equality, but we can’t have both.
(Notice I’m not talking about equality of rights. Everyone’s inalienable human rights should be protected, with no one’s rights greater or lesser than another’s.)
55. There’s been some grumbling in my state’s government recently about how all our college graduates are drifting out of state. There’s also been some grumbling by our college graduates about how tuition rates are unreasonable. Leaving aside the fact that no one in the state should have to pay for the education of a child that is not their own (and would likely have plenty of money to pay for their child’s education if they weren’t paying for everyone else’s), how about this for a plan: Each student can only receive tuition aid if they agree maintain a 3.0 grade point average and will remain in the state for 4 years after graduating.
We all get what we want then, except for the elderly and single people who are putting their neighbor’s kids through college.
If that mountainslide were to be willfully caused by a person, that would be evil. For society to continue, evil must be punished in proportion to the damage it has inflicted upon society. I say in proportion because too weak a punishment would be the exact same as no punishment at all, and two harsh a punishment would establish tyranny.
This is not law. Laws change, year to year, regime to regime. This is justice.
Law is not written for the good. The good carry the Law in their hearts. Law is written for the bad, so that society may, as a whole, bear the responsibility of enacting justice. Written law is meant to mirror the Law that good men carry in their hearts. But law is written by men, who can be evil, venal, and corrupt. Thus law, like any tool, can be used for good or ill. Laws change, year to year, regime to regime. Simply because a law IS, doesn’t mean it embodies justice. It may be an unjust law. Similarly, actions which enact justice may not be enshrined in the law.Laws change, but justice is justice.
52. I know life is short, whatever time you get is luck. – Neil McCauly, “Heat”
It’s going to sound trite, but don’t wait until you’re dying to start living like it. Within reason, do what you want to do NOW. Or work towards it. The sooner you realize that, the happier your life will be. But I can't MAKE you realize it - you have to want it, you have to have that "aha moment" all by your lonesome.
53. Heroes are not people who save lives. Otherwise, doctors giving flu shots at grocery stores would be heroes.
Heroes are people who RISK their own lives to save others. Who show uncommon valor or bravery to help their fellow men. We talk so much of heroes today, and few other people we apply the heroic adjective to actually deserve it.If, as I have said before, that choice is the only thing worthy of respect, then risking your life with no obligation to do so, knowing that your death, possibly, will have absolutely no merit is worthy of the descriptor “nobility.” There aren’t too many heroes like that these days.
54. Free people will never be equal. People forced to be equal will never be free.
In a condition of freedom, people will never be equal. There will be people who are better than others at certain things. There will be people who get ahead in life when others don’t. Lest we all forget, we are still animals, beholden to the same animal impulses, and we’re still living in a civilized jungle, where the laws of nature still hold some sway. This is FREEDOM. It’s a dangerous, scary thing.We can do our darnedest to equalize housing conditions, income, diet, healthcare, whatever. But in doing so we MUST take from those who are successful, and make beholden to us those who we would raise up.
We can have freedom, or an attempt at absolute equality, but we can’t have both.
(Notice I’m not talking about equality of rights. Everyone’s inalienable human rights should be protected, with no one’s rights greater or lesser than another’s.)
55. There’s been some grumbling in my state’s government recently about how all our college graduates are drifting out of state. There’s also been some grumbling by our college graduates about how tuition rates are unreasonable. Leaving aside the fact that no one in the state should have to pay for the education of a child that is not their own (and would likely have plenty of money to pay for their child’s education if they weren’t paying for everyone else’s), how about this for a plan: Each student can only receive tuition aid if they agree maintain a 3.0 grade point average and will remain in the state for 4 years after graduating.
We all get what we want then, except for the elderly and single people who are putting their neighbor’s kids through college.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
McCain-Feingold Violation Post!
The only race I'm really passionate about this year is Mark Green vs. Jim Doyle for WI governer. I hope Green wins and Doyle loses. I hope Doyle has a very painful run in with crime, regardless, since he is ultimately responsible for disarming everyone in this state outside their home. Note, for anyone official who finds their way here:I WILL NOT be the cause of any crime directed at our evil governer. I would simply do a Snoopy-style happy-dance.
I hope John Gard wins and Steve Kagen loses, simply because Gard is a Republican and Kagen is a Democrat. They're both *a swearword first introduced to me by my aunt, years ago, one that starts with "a" and rhymes with "brass poles"* but at least Gard's party isn't actively opposed to the Second Amendment.
I'm voting strictly on who gives me the most time to prepare for war (want peace?). The Democrats will go off the cliff at 90mph. The Republicans will take a little less time to get there, only travelling at a leisurely 60mph, but they'll still go over eventually.
Meanwhile, Herb "The Fa****" Kohl is running pretty much uncontested for Senator. I don't call him that because I disrespect gay people - their life choices are none of my dang business, and I simply don't care. I call him that for the same reason I call John Kerry "Hanoi John." Can't figure out a better nickname for someone I have less than no respect for.
Bush wasted all his "credit" on the occupation of Iraq (and no, we should not be there) instead of actually making the American people even freer at home, and has screwed things up bad enough that the whole country is polarized against the Republican party. This year they ain't gonna be voting based on issues, they'll be voting based on who's NOT a Republican. I hope I'm wrong.
No matter who wins, it's gonna be an ugly 2 years until the Presidential election. Then, there's a good chance it'll get even uglier. Ugly on a scale like we have not yet seen ugly.
I hope John Gard wins and Steve Kagen loses, simply because Gard is a Republican and Kagen is a Democrat. They're both *a swearword first introduced to me by my aunt, years ago, one that starts with "a" and rhymes with "brass poles"* but at least Gard's party isn't actively opposed to the Second Amendment.
I'm voting strictly on who gives me the most time to prepare for war (want peace?). The Democrats will go off the cliff at 90mph. The Republicans will take a little less time to get there, only travelling at a leisurely 60mph, but they'll still go over eventually.
Meanwhile, Herb "The Fa****" Kohl is running pretty much uncontested for Senator. I don't call him that because I disrespect gay people - their life choices are none of my dang business, and I simply don't care. I call him that for the same reason I call John Kerry "Hanoi John." Can't figure out a better nickname for someone I have less than no respect for.
Bush wasted all his "credit" on the occupation of Iraq (and no, we should not be there) instead of actually making the American people even freer at home, and has screwed things up bad enough that the whole country is polarized against the Republican party. This year they ain't gonna be voting based on issues, they'll be voting based on who's NOT a Republican. I hope I'm wrong.
No matter who wins, it's gonna be an ugly 2 years until the Presidential election. Then, there's a good chance it'll get even uglier. Ugly on a scale like we have not yet seen ugly.
There's the chance...
...actually a good chance, that I'll be laying some money down on that Sig Sauer P220 .45ACP pistol this afternoon. It's not the nicest looking pistol ever, it's definitely got some miles on it, but it's in good condition and I've been handling it for nearly a year (possibly more). When I pick it up, I'll have bought 2 more magazines and a few boxes of Winchester Silvertips to go with it.
It will be the first gun I've ever named. I plan on calling it the "Paul Nelson Commemerative 45." Paul Nelson is an anti-freedom Republican running to unseat a Democrat Rep. in my state, who says he'd support a draft if we went to war with North Korea. We can only hope he loses, though the alternative is almost as nauseating.
Paul, I'm gonna have a .45 with your name on it!
It will be the first gun I've ever named. I plan on calling it the "Paul Nelson Commemerative 45." Paul Nelson is an anti-freedom Republican running to unseat a Democrat Rep. in my state, who says he'd support a draft if we went to war with North Korea. We can only hope he loses, though the alternative is almost as nauseating.
Paul, I'm gonna have a .45 with your name on it!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
See you in another life
Lot's of updates goin' on here recently. I wish this one was going to be a fun one.
A guy I know died two days ago. He was one of our friends at Gander Mtn. He knew us by name, watched out for cool stuff he thought we'd like, would shoot the breeze for an hour if we stopped in. He was the one who sold me my carbine and was absolutely honest in all his dealings.
Sunday, October 15th 2006 he died of pneumonia, a complication of spreading pancreatic cancer, which he'd had for 3 years. He wasn't expected to live 6 months past the diagnosis, but beat the odds to the point where when he finally gave up the ghost, his doctors now want to know every single detail of his lifestyle.
Besides once experimenting with Navaho (Navajo?) Indian medicine, the one lifestyle point that everyone contributes his longevity to was his enduring good spirit. To my knowledge he never once anticipated dying. He just kept fighting, kept his cheer up, kept living. He was planning on going varmint hunting in Montana in Summer 2007. That he'd outlived his expected "expiration date" by 2.5 years didn't factor into the equation, he planned ahead and expected to be there.
We'll miss you Don, and we hope you're still as happy as you always were.
A guy I know died two days ago. He was one of our friends at Gander Mtn. He knew us by name, watched out for cool stuff he thought we'd like, would shoot the breeze for an hour if we stopped in. He was the one who sold me my carbine and was absolutely honest in all his dealings.
Sunday, October 15th 2006 he died of pneumonia, a complication of spreading pancreatic cancer, which he'd had for 3 years. He wasn't expected to live 6 months past the diagnosis, but beat the odds to the point where when he finally gave up the ghost, his doctors now want to know every single detail of his lifestyle.
Besides once experimenting with Navaho (Navajo?) Indian medicine, the one lifestyle point that everyone contributes his longevity to was his enduring good spirit. To my knowledge he never once anticipated dying. He just kept fighting, kept his cheer up, kept living. He was planning on going varmint hunting in Montana in Summer 2007. That he'd outlived his expected "expiration date" by 2.5 years didn't factor into the equation, he planned ahead and expected to be there.
We'll miss you Don, and we hope you're still as happy as you always were.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Media
Since I managed to escape from Hardware 2 early this evening, I got to watch CSI: Miami. For once it was a treat. A real pro-freedom message tonight.
The gist was thus:A councilman is found dead, a developer is stealing people's homes with eminent domain, and a corrupt judge is looking on.
Lots of good stuff. Eminent domain (the kind detailed by the fascists on the Supreme Court recently), received a brutally thorough smackdown. Kinda nice to hear the good guys talking about law in a bad light. The POLICE carrying it out got roughed up by a main character (so much for just-following-orders!) The corrupt judge was sent to prison, and it turns out the equally corrupt eminent-domain-swing-vote councilman was greased by a kid who's house was going to be stolen. The kid did it with a folding pocketknife no less, in a blitz ambush that probably would've had Marc MacYoung wincing, nodding, and saying "Well, yes, that IS how that's done."
They were VERY careful to show the various violent and confrontational actions taken by the outraged and displaced victims (the homeowners, not the ones who got what they deserved) as wrong, preferring instead to advocate a legal means of vengence. Specifically:Let Horatio Caine dig up dirt on them.
The real world more than likely does not contain Horatio Caines, so I preferred to read the message tonight as "How NOT to get caught."
I probably won't get so much enjoyment out of television again until I go see The 300 in theaters. Watch the good (but fuzzy) trailer here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6124436450423739706&q=300+%2B+trailer&hl=en
Well, that's not entirely true. Lost, House, and Prison Break will be on between now and then, and Miami Vice will be coming out, so I will enjoy myself to a great degree before THe 300 is released.
The gist was thus:A councilman is found dead, a developer is stealing people's homes with eminent domain, and a corrupt judge is looking on.
Lots of good stuff. Eminent domain (the kind detailed by the fascists on the Supreme Court recently), received a brutally thorough smackdown. Kinda nice to hear the good guys talking about law in a bad light. The POLICE carrying it out got roughed up by a main character (so much for just-following-orders!) The corrupt judge was sent to prison, and it turns out the equally corrupt eminent-domain-swing-vote councilman was greased by a kid who's house was going to be stolen. The kid did it with a folding pocketknife no less, in a blitz ambush that probably would've had Marc MacYoung wincing, nodding, and saying "Well, yes, that IS how that's done."
They were VERY careful to show the various violent and confrontational actions taken by the outraged and displaced victims (the homeowners, not the ones who got what they deserved) as wrong, preferring instead to advocate a legal means of vengence. Specifically:Let Horatio Caine dig up dirt on them.
The real world more than likely does not contain Horatio Caines, so I preferred to read the message tonight as "How NOT to get caught."
I probably won't get so much enjoyment out of television again until I go see The 300 in theaters. Watch the good (but fuzzy) trailer here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6124436450423739706&q=300+%2B+trailer&hl=en
Well, that's not entirely true. Lost, House, and Prison Break will be on between now and then, and Miami Vice will be coming out, so I will enjoy myself to a great degree before THe 300 is released.
Saga of the BAG Day Gun Pt3
At last posting, my BAG day junker rifle was FTFing, FTEing, and despite a wiggly handguard (which I pointed out to him THREE times, along with descriptions of the necessary replacement part), the gunsmith at Gander Mtn said the only problem was my Wolf ammunition.
Having decided in the affirmative upon his incompetence after he suggested the remedy to be $1/rd Federal ammunition, I set about correcting the problem myself. A replacement gas valve was located and ordered.
After a sufficiently bad dad at work on Friday, I return home to find that my gas valve has arrived. I happily discard the packaging, do some minor stripping to the front of my rifle, and replace the old gas valve with the new. Reassembling the rifle, I determine that the handguard STILL wiggles. This does not bode well. I start investigating replacement handguards online.
Saturday my dad and I decide to take my rifle out to a public range not far from where we buy our wonderful and wonderfully illegal fireworks. (Actually, it's legal to buy them, not legal to set them off, which of course, we would never do. Nope, not us, not once, not never.) After an hour of driving, we return home, not having found the range.
Today my brother and I took the rifle out to our regular range. I load up the magazine, snap the bolt shut, and hold the rifle at waist level (one can never be too sure with repaired junker guns, and I'd rather take an exploding receiver in the kidney than in the eye - I KNOW how powerful these things are). My first shot bucks the gun up in my hands, I pull the trigger again...and...click. No dice. This is good actually. Seems whereas before it was short-stroking, now it's stroking far enough to re-cock the gun, but not far enough (or too fast) to eject. My brother hammers the bolt back and chambers another round. I pull the trigger.
*BOOM*
*Tinkle tinkle tinkle*
The sound of a steel case skittering off concrete has never sounded so good. I ran through the rest of the magazine while trying to determine if I was too much of a gentleman to go back and laugh at the Gander Mtn gunsmith. I think I am. Not sure yet though.
Having decided in the affirmative upon his incompetence after he suggested the remedy to be $1/rd Federal ammunition, I set about correcting the problem myself. A replacement gas valve was located and ordered.
After a sufficiently bad dad at work on Friday, I return home to find that my gas valve has arrived. I happily discard the packaging, do some minor stripping to the front of my rifle, and replace the old gas valve with the new. Reassembling the rifle, I determine that the handguard STILL wiggles. This does not bode well. I start investigating replacement handguards online.
Saturday my dad and I decide to take my rifle out to a public range not far from where we buy our wonderful and wonderfully illegal fireworks. (Actually, it's legal to buy them, not legal to set them off, which of course, we would never do. Nope, not us, not once, not never.) After an hour of driving, we return home, not having found the range.
Today my brother and I took the rifle out to our regular range. I load up the magazine, snap the bolt shut, and hold the rifle at waist level (one can never be too sure with repaired junker guns, and I'd rather take an exploding receiver in the kidney than in the eye - I KNOW how powerful these things are). My first shot bucks the gun up in my hands, I pull the trigger again...and...click. No dice. This is good actually. Seems whereas before it was short-stroking, now it's stroking far enough to re-cock the gun, but not far enough (or too fast) to eject. My brother hammers the bolt back and chambers another round. I pull the trigger.
*BOOM*
*Tinkle tinkle tinkle*
The sound of a steel case skittering off concrete has never sounded so good. I ran through the rest of the magazine while trying to determine if I was too much of a gentleman to go back and laugh at the Gander Mtn gunsmith. I think I am. Not sure yet though.
I Smell Bacon
Or: The Pig Fell In The Mud
When last we interacted with the thin blue line, a city bus driver had, with no proof or witness or investigation, gotten our family charged with a $185 dollar fine which the police lowered to $85 for cooperating.
So:My dad calls back, asks the pig at the desk to go through it all once more. Turns out, the bus driver incorrectly recorded the streetnames. Whether he saw correctly or not, he definitely did NOT see it at those coordinates (one intersection over). So dad asks if the bus driver could've shut his lights off before the illegal manuever (my mom freezes around buses and red lights) and forgotten about it (having so many better things to concentrate on OTHER than writing down a license plate, make and model of a car, etc.). He then adds that to be informed about only the fine a week later means its the word of a citizen against a city official. The cops gives a variation of the didn't-work-for-the-SS routine of "We're only following orders." Says they can't have a squad car follow every bus and that bus drivers can, legally, accuse you of anything without proof and have you fined without an investigation. Not in so many words for that last part though.
My dad says we want to contest it. The cop says that given the bus driver screwed up the location, and the city just does NOT have the resources to go to court over an $85 traffic violation, they'll just drop the whole thing.
No fine.
Never underestimate the stupidity, incompetence, or maliciousness of anyone working in city government. Yes, they didn't fine us. No, it wasn't because they saw the error of their ways and have decided to become born-again good public servants. It was because they didn't have a dang thing and knew it.
When last we interacted with the thin blue line, a city bus driver had, with no proof or witness or investigation, gotten our family charged with a $185 dollar fine which the police lowered to $85 for cooperating.
So:My dad calls back, asks the pig at the desk to go through it all once more. Turns out, the bus driver incorrectly recorded the streetnames. Whether he saw correctly or not, he definitely did NOT see it at those coordinates (one intersection over). So dad asks if the bus driver could've shut his lights off before the illegal manuever (my mom freezes around buses and red lights) and forgotten about it (having so many better things to concentrate on OTHER than writing down a license plate, make and model of a car, etc.). He then adds that to be informed about only the fine a week later means its the word of a citizen against a city official. The cops gives a variation of the didn't-work-for-the-SS routine of "We're only following orders." Says they can't have a squad car follow every bus and that bus drivers can, legally, accuse you of anything without proof and have you fined without an investigation. Not in so many words for that last part though.
My dad says we want to contest it. The cop says that given the bus driver screwed up the location, and the city just does NOT have the resources to go to court over an $85 traffic violation, they'll just drop the whole thing.
No fine.
Never underestimate the stupidity, incompetence, or maliciousness of anyone working in city government. Yes, they didn't fine us. No, it wasn't because they saw the error of their ways and have decided to become born-again good public servants. It was because they didn't have a dang thing and knew it.
Scary Morning
I'm yanked from a deep sleep by the sound of something shattering.
It's 0-Dark-Hundred in my room. It's dark outside, I can't see a thing. Something in the rest of the house woke me up.
The first thought through my head is "How can this be happening AGAIN?!" The second is "They are NOT getting away with it this time!" Well, there were a few more cusswords in those thoughts, but this is a website for everyone, so...
I'm out of bed in a heartbeat, discard the idea of taking my carbine (even high as a kite on adrenaline at God-Knows-What-Time in the morning, I still allow for the possibility of another explanation), and hold my open knife down by my leg. There's light coming under my door and I think "That's bloody bold of them." I open my door, see my dad a few feet ahead of me, hurrying down the hallway - now I know something's up.
I follow him out into the dining room, see my mom in the kitchen, see the time on the clock (6:07) , and everybody turns to look at me. I said "I heard something shatter."
My mom had dropped something - that was the noise I heard. I return to my room (I get up at 6:30) and go back to bed. Won't be going to sleep though: My hands are shaking.
I absolutely hate the idea of being party to violence.
It's 0-Dark-Hundred in my room. It's dark outside, I can't see a thing. Something in the rest of the house woke me up.
The first thought through my head is "How can this be happening AGAIN?!" The second is "They are NOT getting away with it this time!" Well, there were a few more cusswords in those thoughts, but this is a website for everyone, so...
I'm out of bed in a heartbeat, discard the idea of taking my carbine (even high as a kite on adrenaline at God-Knows-What-Time in the morning, I still allow for the possibility of another explanation), and hold my open knife down by my leg. There's light coming under my door and I think "That's bloody bold of them." I open my door, see my dad a few feet ahead of me, hurrying down the hallway - now I know something's up.
I follow him out into the dining room, see my mom in the kitchen, see the time on the clock (6:07) , and everybody turns to look at me. I said "I heard something shatter."
My mom had dropped something - that was the noise I heard. I return to my room (I get up at 6:30) and go back to bed. Won't be going to sleep though: My hands are shaking.
I absolutely hate the idea of being party to violence.
Random Reflections Pt12
46. I’ve never heard of anyone being robbed at the shooting range.
Just think about it - Multiple instances of usually expensive items, which beyond resale value have great occupational use for an aspiring thief, often tended by just one or two people, who are far more interested in viewing holes in paper hundreds of yards away than keeping track of their $500-$1500 investments laying on the table next to them.
And despite all that lax security, despite the major incentives, I’ve never heard of one instance of anyone’s guns being stolen at the range. And doesn’t more guns equal more crime? You’d think the gun range would be a MAGNET for the criminal class. Why isn’t it?
Nah, the obvious answer can’t be the right one.
47. Riffing on school shootings a little more, why is it that whenever some little wacko flies off the handle and kills someone the predictable response is always “He was bullied. Where were the social workers?”
Bullying is a bad thing. I’ve dealt with it some in my life. And it seems to me that as long as we allow their unconstitutional, completely useless existence, schools should be safe places for kids.
But: Would these kids find it necessary or desirable to shoot up a school IF they were allowed to respond in an appropriate fashion to their tormentors? But no: Jack a bully in the face a couple of times and you’re getting booked for assault and battery and expelled from school.
But instead, we turn a blind eye to the bullying, dang near criminalize the resulting fisticuffs, and then we can’t imagine how things could’ve gone so wrong when these tormented youths, forced against their will to spend 8 hours inside a concrete box running around to the Prussian equivalent of Pavlov’s bell finally explode in an unjustifiable and evil surge of repressed rage.
48. I hate the way most TV portrays men. For the most part, men are portrayed as arrogant, ignorant, lustful, socially insensitive clods.
Look at the classic sitcom Home Improvement. The basic plot goes thusly: Family breadwinner Tim Taylor does a whole host of stupid, dangerous things at work. He comes home and causes a major disturbance by getting in an argument with his wife – which is ALWAYS caused by him being wrong and unable to admit it, or completely ignoring his wife’s feelings. After fumbling around a bit in the dark (so to speak) he’s enlightened by his genius neighbor, usually to the tune that he needs to listen to his wife more and quit obsessing over himself or his tools and (though I hate to say this) ignore his some of his male instincts and behavior. He goes into his house, misapplies his neighbor’s sayings, and begs his wife’s forgiveness, understanding, and tells her to go ahead with whatever it was he was too blind and stupid to take a shine to in the first place.
Or watch any episode of According To Jim. Much the same situations, same portrayal of men. Heck, most any sitcom you can think of shows husbands and fathers as completely out of touch with their family, and usually obsessed with projecting a stereotype of maleness.
Now, reverse the gender roles, and tell me it would be as well received. Tell me there wouldn’t be a public outcry to the tune that it’s stereotyping women in a negative way. Tell me there wouldn’t be hate mail, demonstrations, boycotts, and finally an apology or cancellation.
Most men strive and sacrifice for their families, usually with very little thanks or recognition. This is not the norm on TV. And yes, it is television – so what, right? What lessons do people take away when they constantly see MEN being held up as objects of ridicule, the wonderful and defining differences between them and women being scorned as old-fashioned or out-of-fashion or stupid? Yes, there are traditional roles for men and women in society. That doesn’t mean that women should be kept barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen, it means that MEN are usually the ones to run the household, and that’s the way things have been for thousands of years, in any society worth noting (find me one instance of a matriarchal society worthy of the label "Civilization"). It’s almost human-bloody-nature. When MEN as heads of households are held in scorn and contempt, and their NECESSARY roles in their childrens’ and significant others’ lives negated by social assistance and scorn, it’s no wonder we have a skyrocketing problem with out-of-wedlock births and broken homes. The simple presence of a male role model, teaching them traditional values of honor, loyalty, hard work, and respect (especially for women) is invaluable for boys – I would propose that it is as damaging to have a large percentage of our young male youth raised solely by their mother as it would be to have a large percentage of our young female youth raised solely by their father. Each gender needs close role-models for its gender, and you chip away at some of the validity of that by ridiculing one or the other.
Best sitcom ever was Malcom In The Middle. At least there both parents were portrayed as equally insane.
49. Like Christians never being able to outrun the Crusades, I’ve come to the conclusion that constitutional government will never outrun slavery.
Speak of the wonderful freedom guaranteed (not granted) by the Bill Of Rights – the other side brings up slavery. Speak of the wisdom and courage of a handful of men in creating, out of thin air, a style of limited government never before seen on earth – the other side brings up slavery. Speak of following the Constitution as the only way to achieve legal, righteous government – the other side brings up slavery.
Yes, slavery was bad. Yes, it was antithetical to hold people in servitude while espousing the cause of freedom.
HOWEVER: In the eyes of the majority of the people back then, blacks were not viewed as anything more than property. To speak of giving them freedom was like speaking of giving one’s carriage freedom. This is not an excuse, it’s an explanation. Furthermore, in order to create and continue a union that guaranteed freedom to the MAJORITY of its citizens, the founders had to pander to certain…special interests. Despite a good number of them believing black should be free, we would not have the freest country on earth if the founders had’ve stood on pure principle and demanded equality for everyone RIGHT NOW. They realized that the union had to be preserved, else NO ONE be free.
Yes, that was a terrible decision to have to make. But frankly, I’m glad they made the decision they did – that decision guaranteed that we’d have the freedom some day to sit back and call them dead white men and bigots and racists.
To conclude: The prevailing attitude towards blacks, mixed with the necessity of preserving the union led to the perpetuation of slavery. It was a fault of the day, not of the men of the day. Their failings in no way taint the beauty of the gift they gave us.
50.Yet again, it is time to be insensitive. *sigh* You’ve been warned.
If I were presented with a lineup of the Halloween decorations of fifty domiciles, I could, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, pick out which belonged to duplexes, and which belonged to houses.
For some reasons, duplex dwellers buy really expensive, massive, and totally ugly lawn decorations, mostly the inflatable variety. One would think, if you live in a duplex, it’s generally because you can’t afford a house. So why decorate with dozens of expensive (and horrendous) blow up dolls and tinfoil headstones and fog machines.
Not that I’m saying every duplex yard contains ugly Halloween decorations, or that houses don’t occasionally go overboard (there’s one in my neighborhood that is an absolute eyesore any time there’s a holiday), but in my experience, people living in duplexes have a monopoly on the ugly lawn ornament trade.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
I Smell Bacon
Or: Run-Ins With The Pigs Part 2.1
So, yesterday my dad receives a letter in the mail from the Green Bay police department stating something to the effect that a car registered to him (as the head of the household) violated traffic laws and he owes $185 dollars; if you require information before we shake you down, or you wish to contest this charge, call ***-***-****. (Notice the use of the emotional-charged phrase "shake you down?" That's called fore-shadowing.)
Not having been pulled over for anything recently, every driving member of the household is a mite perplexed.
My dad calls the number and receives a rundown on the charges against one of the family members. Apparently my mom turned in front of a bus. Still no recollection of having been pulled over or charged with any form of crime. Confusion all around.
Now,given the police departments previous public relations debacle with my family (taking 11 minutes to respond to an attempted home invasion 7 years ago, taking 7 minutes to get to our house when a neighbor had a heart attack (despite the standard presense of four black and whites in the area), and sending 3 B&Ws, an unmarked, and 4 armed, vested up pigs to arrest my brother for fireworks ten days before the 4th, when resounding explosions could be heard all night long for 3 weeks prior), you can probably guess that this is about to take a bad turn. It takes a lot to awe me when it comes to government incompetence, disinterest, or downright malicious behavior slash law.
I have been suitably awed.
Seems no cop was ever involved, no traffic citation ever issued, no crime ever recorded, no one ever charged. See, the bus driver wrote down the license plate, submitted it to the police department with a complaint, and without so much as sending one of the boys in blue over to get a statement, the city proceeded to charge our family nearly $200.
Without taking a statement.
Without charging anyone with a crime.
Without informing anyone of the charges against them before levying punishment.
All on one person's say so.
Because we called, were polite, and decided to cooperate, they've generously lowered the fine for the unsubstantiated, undocumented crime by $100.
Let me see if I can lay this all out in plain language, in case there's any miscommunication leading to misunderstanding here: A bus driver can write down the license plate number of any car on the road, submit it to the police with a complaint about the driver's conduct, no investigation is ever performed, no communication is innitiated, and then based on one person's word, an unsuspecting person can be fined nearly $200.
Now, does that seem...I don't know...right? Just? The way a fair and equitable government should conduct its business?
Stay tuned for breaking developments in "I Smell Bacon:Run Ins With The Pigs Pt2!"
So, yesterday my dad receives a letter in the mail from the Green Bay police department stating something to the effect that a car registered to him (as the head of the household) violated traffic laws and he owes $185 dollars; if you require information before we shake you down, or you wish to contest this charge, call ***-***-****. (Notice the use of the emotional-charged phrase "shake you down?" That's called fore-shadowing.)
Not having been pulled over for anything recently, every driving member of the household is a mite perplexed.
My dad calls the number and receives a rundown on the charges against one of the family members. Apparently my mom turned in front of a bus. Still no recollection of having been pulled over or charged with any form of crime. Confusion all around.
Now,given the police departments previous public relations debacle with my family (taking 11 minutes to respond to an attempted home invasion 7 years ago, taking 7 minutes to get to our house when a neighbor had a heart attack (despite the standard presense of four black and whites in the area), and sending 3 B&Ws, an unmarked, and 4 armed, vested up pigs to arrest my brother for fireworks ten days before the 4th, when resounding explosions could be heard all night long for 3 weeks prior), you can probably guess that this is about to take a bad turn. It takes a lot to awe me when it comes to government incompetence, disinterest, or downright malicious behavior slash law.
I have been suitably awed.
Seems no cop was ever involved, no traffic citation ever issued, no crime ever recorded, no one ever charged. See, the bus driver wrote down the license plate, submitted it to the police department with a complaint, and without so much as sending one of the boys in blue over to get a statement, the city proceeded to charge our family nearly $200.
Without taking a statement.
Without charging anyone with a crime.
Without informing anyone of the charges against them before levying punishment.
All on one person's say so.
Because we called, were polite, and decided to cooperate, they've generously lowered the fine for the unsubstantiated, undocumented crime by $100.
Let me see if I can lay this all out in plain language, in case there's any miscommunication leading to misunderstanding here: A bus driver can write down the license plate number of any car on the road, submit it to the police with a complaint about the driver's conduct, no investigation is ever performed, no communication is innitiated, and then based on one person's word, an unsuspecting person can be fined nearly $200.
Now, does that seem...I don't know...right? Just? The way a fair and equitable government should conduct its business?
Stay tuned for breaking developments in "I Smell Bacon:Run Ins With The Pigs Pt2!"
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Random Reflections Pt11
41. Please, for your own sake, never cough while drinking orange juice. You won’t be able to breathe for about a minute, you’ll cough violently for fifteen minutes, and your throat will taste like vomit for at least twice that long. Please, just don’t.
42. It may sound contrary to already posted Reflections, but I really don’t care if you’re overweight. Like Jefferson said about religion – “It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” Long as you’re happy with your life, so am I. I just get a little torqued when you blame someone or something other than yourself for being overweight. As long as we all accept responsibility for our lives, everything’s cool.
43. I can understand 15 MPH speed limits around elementary schools. You never know which screaming, insensible critter is going to follow their own inner voice and do a nose-dive into the street.Around middle and high schools however…it’s a different story. You should’ve learned that the big, fast things can hurt you. Lowering the speed limit is an insult to both our intelligences, and it’s being unfair to Mr. Darwin.
44. A group in Wisconsin, the benighted state in which I live (but far more intelligent, legislatively, than CA or most of the east coast) is pointing to Cuba’s mandatory HIV testing as the reason for their low HIV/AIDS problem, and proposing that a similar program be adopted here.
These mush-minded despots actually seem to be gaining some Congressional traction in Madison. And according to the call-in show on Wisconsin Public Radio, everyone else in the state thinks it’s a good idea.
NO! Absolutely NO! You do NOT make criminals of people based on their unwillingness to submit to medical testing. You do NOT get to do whatever you please simply because you can hoodwink a majority of the populace into accepting whatever you can justify with the excuse of public safety. You do NOT go door to door rounding people up for bloodtesting for any reason. And by god, you do NOT darken my doorstep. There’s one solution for people who demand part or all of your body, and in this case, my solution is very much like theirs’ – small pieces of metal, inserted into the skin.
45. All year long we tell kids: “Don’t take candy from strangers.” Then Halloween comes along and we tell them: “Go, take candy from strangers.” What’s up with that?
42. It may sound contrary to already posted Reflections, but I really don’t care if you’re overweight. Like Jefferson said about religion – “It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” Long as you’re happy with your life, so am I. I just get a little torqued when you blame someone or something other than yourself for being overweight. As long as we all accept responsibility for our lives, everything’s cool.
43. I can understand 15 MPH speed limits around elementary schools. You never know which screaming, insensible critter is going to follow their own inner voice and do a nose-dive into the street.Around middle and high schools however…it’s a different story. You should’ve learned that the big, fast things can hurt you. Lowering the speed limit is an insult to both our intelligences, and it’s being unfair to Mr. Darwin.
44. A group in Wisconsin, the benighted state in which I live (but far more intelligent, legislatively, than CA or most of the east coast) is pointing to Cuba’s mandatory HIV testing as the reason for their low HIV/AIDS problem, and proposing that a similar program be adopted here.
These mush-minded despots actually seem to be gaining some Congressional traction in Madison. And according to the call-in show on Wisconsin Public Radio, everyone else in the state thinks it’s a good idea.
NO! Absolutely NO! You do NOT make criminals of people based on their unwillingness to submit to medical testing. You do NOT get to do whatever you please simply because you can hoodwink a majority of the populace into accepting whatever you can justify with the excuse of public safety. You do NOT go door to door rounding people up for bloodtesting for any reason. And by god, you do NOT darken my doorstep. There’s one solution for people who demand part or all of your body, and in this case, my solution is very much like theirs’ – small pieces of metal, inserted into the skin.
45. All year long we tell kids: “Don’t take candy from strangers.” Then Halloween comes along and we tell them: “Go, take candy from strangers.” What’s up with that?
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Riffing on school shootings
Or: Smart stuff for students
Some *expletive* walks into a one-room Amish schoolhouse, kicks the teachers and boys out, zipties the girls, and shoots 5 of them in the head before eating his own pistol.
According to his notes, he picked the Amish schoolhouse because he knew he wouldn't face any resistance from the inhabitants (apparently victimhood is Godly to them or something) and because there weren't any police in the community.
As Lawdog http://thelawdogffiles.blogspot.com said, for all the resistance they offered up, he could've walked in with a pliers or a baseball bat and the outcome would've been the same.
Fortunately, the Victim Disarmament gang has kept relatively quiet over all of these murders. The call right now is for better mental health screening at schools. Me personally, I think they're waiting to spring the Victim Disarmament on us as soon as their socialist candidates get voted into office by the Anybody-But-Bush crowd in a little less than 2 months.
As promised a few posts prior, I'm now going to speak on self-defense.
My dad's a highschool chemistry teacher at a public school, and he says the invasion drills they practice are death. Tip the flimsy desks up, cower behind them, turn the lights off, pretend no one's home...never mind the fact that any intruder will KNOW the classroom isn't empty simply because it's the middle of the day. To that end, my dad has decided to turn the "stop or I'll say stop again" drill on it's head. He makes it known to his students that he has access to the chemical closet, and in the unlikely event that there's ever an invasion, anyone coming through the door is getting a beakerful of nitric acid in the face.
THAT, ladies, gentlemen, and assorted transgender beings is taking responsibility.
To return to Lawdog for a moment, he recently had a controversial post to the effect that you and ONLY you can truly be responsible for your safety. You can't be paid off, you're always there, and with the proper mindset, you can never be truly disarmed, only incovenienced.
Principal Klang in southern Wisconsin realized that, and while unarmed, fought an armed intruder to protect himself and his charges, and sacrificed his life so that many more could live.
The Amish in Pennsylvania did not realize that (or if they did, they chose the Godly route of being shot in the head) and so 5 of them died.
The 6 girls held captive in Colorado did not realize that, and they were assaulted, and one of them was killed.
Do NOT depend on anyone else to save you. Only you are responsible for you. To abdicate authority over your life is foolhardy and a burden on everyone else.
Therefore, I propose that if you are a parent, you send your kid to school with a knife. If you are a student, I propose that you buy a knife and carry it with you.
I was going to do a post on my knife eventually, but I might as well do it here.
My fully-serated Spyderco Endura is with me all the time. If I'm alive and awake, it's clipped to the back of my belt, where only the most thorough of patdowns could find it (and even then, probably not, likely only if I was strip-searched). If I'm alive and asleep, it is less than a foot away from my hand. I carry it everywhere I do not expect there to be metal detectors. My employer would fire me if they found out - I carry it anyway. My knife is always with me - I no more consider it a tool than I consider my hand a tool. I can tell you where the discolorations on the handle came from, the mars on the blade. I have beat that knife up and it's still as sharp and reliable as the day I got it.
It is utterly reliable and dependable. I would bet my life on my knife's ability to perform, with as much hesitation as I would (and do, in case of emergency) bet it on my battle-rifle: Specifically, no hesitation at all.
It's not necessary to buy a $400 knife like a Kerambit or a Benchmade butterfly, or a Microtech Halo. It is however necessary to buy a $50-$80 knife. Any full-size knife lower in price, or sold at the mall is probably crap. It should be thin and light enough to carry all day long, and not print in a pocket, and you should be able to forget that it's there. It should have a blade at least 3 inches long, with a handle at least an inch longer than that. Serrations are IMO better than none, but it's a matter of personal preference. It should have a point on the end of it (you laugh, some knives don't have a hardly any point). It should NOT be a switchblade or butterfly knife. You'll have an easier time explaining to Officer Bacon that knife you have in your pocket is a "utility knife" if it's a rather innocent looking folder than if it's a genuine Italian stilleto with "da switch."
(Yes, if you have to, LIE about your knife. To anyone. God/Nature/Other Himself/Herself/Itself gave you the right to carry it. Everyone else's opinion on the topic is secondary, and should only matter to you based on the amount of harm they can inflict on you. Anyone who would prohibit you from defending yourself does not deserve your respect. (Look up L. Neil Smith's excellent Murder By Gun Control for his three adjective diagnosis those who would prevent self defense.))
Similar to what you carry, where you carry it is another concern, and should partially dictate what you carry: If you're a student, like me, there are lots of places to hide a knife on your person. If you're required to maintain a professional appearance (ie shirt tucked in, tie, etc), it'll be a little harder, though behind-the-belt carry like mine would be easy with a suit coat. Think of everywhere BUT the pockets first.
Of equal importance to carrying a knife for defense is knowing how to retreat. Face it, unless you're a captive and can manage to puncture his - the school shooter's (or any shooter's) - anatomy while he's distracted, your knife is of less usefulness than being able to get the heck out of Dodge BEFORE you become a captive. Look at all the exits from whatever building you're in. Try and figure out how to get out through any of them, from anywhere, without attracting attention. Now figure out how to do it in a panic, in the middle of a panic. Back routes are good, and every school has them, especially colleges. Explore. Walk around. Think about it.
Your mind is your only weapon. It is the only tool you can never be deprived of. Use it to keep yourself and others safe. It's the only thing you can depend on.
Some *expletive* walks into a one-room Amish schoolhouse, kicks the teachers and boys out, zipties the girls, and shoots 5 of them in the head before eating his own pistol.
According to his notes, he picked the Amish schoolhouse because he knew he wouldn't face any resistance from the inhabitants (apparently victimhood is Godly to them or something) and because there weren't any police in the community.
As Lawdog http://thelawdogffiles.blogspot.com said, for all the resistance they offered up, he could've walked in with a pliers or a baseball bat and the outcome would've been the same.
Fortunately, the Victim Disarmament gang has kept relatively quiet over all of these murders. The call right now is for better mental health screening at schools. Me personally, I think they're waiting to spring the Victim Disarmament on us as soon as their socialist candidates get voted into office by the Anybody-But-Bush crowd in a little less than 2 months.
As promised a few posts prior, I'm now going to speak on self-defense.
My dad's a highschool chemistry teacher at a public school, and he says the invasion drills they practice are death. Tip the flimsy desks up, cower behind them, turn the lights off, pretend no one's home...never mind the fact that any intruder will KNOW the classroom isn't empty simply because it's the middle of the day. To that end, my dad has decided to turn the "stop or I'll say stop again" drill on it's head. He makes it known to his students that he has access to the chemical closet, and in the unlikely event that there's ever an invasion, anyone coming through the door is getting a beakerful of nitric acid in the face.
THAT, ladies, gentlemen, and assorted transgender beings is taking responsibility.
To return to Lawdog for a moment, he recently had a controversial post to the effect that you and ONLY you can truly be responsible for your safety. You can't be paid off, you're always there, and with the proper mindset, you can never be truly disarmed, only incovenienced.
Principal Klang in southern Wisconsin realized that, and while unarmed, fought an armed intruder to protect himself and his charges, and sacrificed his life so that many more could live.
The Amish in Pennsylvania did not realize that (or if they did, they chose the Godly route of being shot in the head) and so 5 of them died.
The 6 girls held captive in Colorado did not realize that, and they were assaulted, and one of them was killed.
Do NOT depend on anyone else to save you. Only you are responsible for you. To abdicate authority over your life is foolhardy and a burden on everyone else.
Therefore, I propose that if you are a parent, you send your kid to school with a knife. If you are a student, I propose that you buy a knife and carry it with you.
I was going to do a post on my knife eventually, but I might as well do it here.
My fully-serated Spyderco Endura is with me all the time. If I'm alive and awake, it's clipped to the back of my belt, where only the most thorough of patdowns could find it (and even then, probably not, likely only if I was strip-searched). If I'm alive and asleep, it is less than a foot away from my hand. I carry it everywhere I do not expect there to be metal detectors. My employer would fire me if they found out - I carry it anyway. My knife is always with me - I no more consider it a tool than I consider my hand a tool. I can tell you where the discolorations on the handle came from, the mars on the blade. I have beat that knife up and it's still as sharp and reliable as the day I got it.
It is utterly reliable and dependable. I would bet my life on my knife's ability to perform, with as much hesitation as I would (and do, in case of emergency) bet it on my battle-rifle: Specifically, no hesitation at all.
It's not necessary to buy a $400 knife like a Kerambit or a Benchmade butterfly, or a Microtech Halo. It is however necessary to buy a $50-$80 knife. Any full-size knife lower in price, or sold at the mall is probably crap. It should be thin and light enough to carry all day long, and not print in a pocket, and you should be able to forget that it's there. It should have a blade at least 3 inches long, with a handle at least an inch longer than that. Serrations are IMO better than none, but it's a matter of personal preference. It should have a point on the end of it (you laugh, some knives don't have a hardly any point). It should NOT be a switchblade or butterfly knife. You'll have an easier time explaining to Officer Bacon that knife you have in your pocket is a "utility knife" if it's a rather innocent looking folder than if it's a genuine Italian stilleto with "da switch."
(Yes, if you have to, LIE about your knife. To anyone. God/Nature/Other Himself/Herself/Itself gave you the right to carry it. Everyone else's opinion on the topic is secondary, and should only matter to you based on the amount of harm they can inflict on you. Anyone who would prohibit you from defending yourself does not deserve your respect. (Look up L. Neil Smith's excellent Murder By Gun Control for his three adjective diagnosis those who would prevent self defense.))
Similar to what you carry, where you carry it is another concern, and should partially dictate what you carry: If you're a student, like me, there are lots of places to hide a knife on your person. If you're required to maintain a professional appearance (ie shirt tucked in, tie, etc), it'll be a little harder, though behind-the-belt carry like mine would be easy with a suit coat. Think of everywhere BUT the pockets first.
Of equal importance to carrying a knife for defense is knowing how to retreat. Face it, unless you're a captive and can manage to puncture his - the school shooter's (or any shooter's) - anatomy while he's distracted, your knife is of less usefulness than being able to get the heck out of Dodge BEFORE you become a captive. Look at all the exits from whatever building you're in. Try and figure out how to get out through any of them, from anywhere, without attracting attention. Now figure out how to do it in a panic, in the middle of a panic. Back routes are good, and every school has them, especially colleges. Explore. Walk around. Think about it.
Your mind is your only weapon. It is the only tool you can never be deprived of. Use it to keep yourself and others safe. It's the only thing you can depend on.
Saga Of The BAG Day Gun Pt2
To recap, my BAG Day gun thinks its a bolt action. FTEx, FTEj. It thinks it's a bolt-action. The gun-smith at Gander Mtn says it works perfectly well, I just had it set wrong. I set it right and wrong, and it still thinks it's a boltie.
So. I take it back today, with MY ammunition. He fires 4 rds of mine vs 4 rds Federal, and says that my Wolf is sticking in the chamber - I need to buy $20/20rd boxes of Federal to fix the problem. Never mind the fact that the gas tube is dang near falling off, a fact I've informed him of 3 times, once before I brought the rifle in, once when I took it in, and once when I picked it up. Nope, this cheap, junker gun, designed to be used by an illiterate peasant who probably peed in the action to keep it from freezing has developed a highly sophisticated and expensive palate now that it's on American soil.
I'm currently trying to contact a guy online about a replacement gas valve. Mine is too short, hence the gas tube wiggle, hence the escaping gas, hence the short-stroking, hence the bolt-action mentality.
Oh yeah and: My dad left his 1911 with the gun-smith. Apparently it came out of the factory with a burr on the ramp/in the barrel that is aggravated every time the gun cycles, to the point when it's FTFing nearly every round 2 years after manufacture. This gun was expensive enough that it should be point-and-click every time.
So. I take it back today, with MY ammunition. He fires 4 rds of mine vs 4 rds Federal, and says that my Wolf is sticking in the chamber - I need to buy $20/20rd boxes of Federal to fix the problem. Never mind the fact that the gas tube is dang near falling off, a fact I've informed him of 3 times, once before I brought the rifle in, once when I took it in, and once when I picked it up. Nope, this cheap, junker gun, designed to be used by an illiterate peasant who probably peed in the action to keep it from freezing has developed a highly sophisticated and expensive palate now that it's on American soil.
I'm currently trying to contact a guy online about a replacement gas valve. Mine is too short, hence the gas tube wiggle, hence the escaping gas, hence the short-stroking, hence the bolt-action mentality.
Oh yeah and: My dad left his 1911 with the gun-smith. Apparently it came out of the factory with a burr on the ramp/in the barrel that is aggravated every time the gun cycles, to the point when it's FTFing nearly every round 2 years after manufacture. This gun was expensive enough that it should be point-and-click every time.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Range Day
With my brother. More on that presently.
When last we saw my BAG day gun, it was being worked over by the gunsmiths at Gander Mtn. because it thought it was a bolt-action (and not a very good one at that) instead of a semi-automatic. Failure to extract or eject. According to everyone I asked, gas was escaping through a wiggly gas tube, and the lack of gas was short-stroking the bolt.
So, I give the gunsmith my gun, explain that yes, this gun can be set to fire cartridges or grenades (w/ blanks) and it's set on cartridge setting and not still not ejecting. (If you know guns, you probably have some idea of the gun of which I am speaking).
Gander Mtn says turnaround is 2 weeks. A week and a half goes by. I stop in on Monday, ask what's up. Apparently their military-surplus guy is on vacation, he'll be back next Tuesday. Next Tuesday comes and goes. I call on Thursday, say I thought I was supposed to get a call on Tuesday. Their response: "No one told you that."
We manage to get things squared away. They'll definitely give a call next Wednesday. Wednesday comes and goes. Thursday I call. "It's the next one up, I just cleared my bench for it. We'll call on Saturday.
Saturday comes and nobody calls. I've been eyeing a Sig 220, so I stop in to fondle it and ask about my BAG day gun. It's finished, you can pick it up on Sunday.
I pick it up on Sunday. $15 and 12rds of maintence later, the smith says I set it on grenade launcher, it's perfectly fine. I tell him one of his employees did that, I watched him fiddle with it when I handed over my rifle. No no, your mistake. Fine.
I take it out today, and dang, if the thing doesn't STILL think it's a bolt-action. On both regular AND grenade launcher setting.
We'll be going back. And I want my $15 back or a free fix.
EDIT:I suppose I should mention, the gun fires fine. It's dead-on at 25 yards, about 5 inches low center at 50, though I think I'm messing up with the aim because there was no discernable difference between rest shooting and standing shooting.
Oh yeah and the shooting shed we fire from got struck by lightning. I was outside about 5 feet away, standing next to a metal light pole at the time. I am SO lucky to be alive right now.
When last we saw my BAG day gun, it was being worked over by the gunsmiths at Gander Mtn. because it thought it was a bolt-action (and not a very good one at that) instead of a semi-automatic. Failure to extract or eject. According to everyone I asked, gas was escaping through a wiggly gas tube, and the lack of gas was short-stroking the bolt.
So, I give the gunsmith my gun, explain that yes, this gun can be set to fire cartridges or grenades (w/ blanks) and it's set on cartridge setting and not still not ejecting. (If you know guns, you probably have some idea of the gun of which I am speaking).
Gander Mtn says turnaround is 2 weeks. A week and a half goes by. I stop in on Monday, ask what's up. Apparently their military-surplus guy is on vacation, he'll be back next Tuesday. Next Tuesday comes and goes. I call on Thursday, say I thought I was supposed to get a call on Tuesday. Their response: "No one told you that."
We manage to get things squared away. They'll definitely give a call next Wednesday. Wednesday comes and goes. Thursday I call. "It's the next one up, I just cleared my bench for it. We'll call on Saturday.
Saturday comes and nobody calls. I've been eyeing a Sig 220, so I stop in to fondle it and ask about my BAG day gun. It's finished, you can pick it up on Sunday.
I pick it up on Sunday. $15 and 12rds of maintence later, the smith says I set it on grenade launcher, it's perfectly fine. I tell him one of his employees did that, I watched him fiddle with it when I handed over my rifle. No no, your mistake. Fine.
I take it out today, and dang, if the thing doesn't STILL think it's a bolt-action. On both regular AND grenade launcher setting.
We'll be going back. And I want my $15 back or a free fix.
EDIT:I suppose I should mention, the gun fires fine. It's dead-on at 25 yards, about 5 inches low center at 50, though I think I'm messing up with the aim because there was no discernable difference between rest shooting and standing shooting.
Oh yeah and the shooting shed we fire from got struck by lightning. I was outside about 5 feet away, standing next to a metal light pole at the time. I am SO lucky to be alive right now.
Random Reflections Pt10
36. Argh. I hate to keep going on religion like this, but there’s something I must comment on in the news today.The pope recently did a speech, like he usually does, the theme this time being that violence was incompatible with God, and quoted an old Byzantine guy’s comments that at that time, Islam had been spread by the sword.
Whereupon radical Muslims across the world call Islam a religion of peace and further call for the killing of the pope, the bombing of the Vatican, and the killing of even more Christians. Whereupon Muslim leaders explained that Muslims take their religion very seriously and we have to be sensitive to that.
Is it any wonder that Muslims think there’s a war on against their religion? Like it or not, the vast majority of people who commit terrorist acts are Muslims, and they’re using religious excuses to call for our deaths.
Not that all Muslims do that – but the vast majority of people who do that are Muslims. There’s a fine line there. It’s just as reasonable to say that the majority of people who commit crimes are black, but the majority of black people aren’t criminals.
The Muslim community has been sadly lacking in the spinal area when it comes to the more crazed members of their faith. We hear lots of “Islam is a religion of peace” but very little “Those who pervert our faith for an excuse to kill people are insane dogs.”
What you don’t punish, you subsidize. What you subsidize, you encourage.
Again, it’s no wonder they think we hate their religion – like it or not, their religion only receives airtime whenever a believer picks up a sword or a gun or a block of C4, kills some people who were just minding their own business, and then issues a statement that everyone who’s not Muslim should die. That’s the “brand” we’re seeing advertised right now. You don’t like it – rebrand your product.
37. I’d just like to state, for the record, that I hate Bush. He signed the McCain-Feingold bill into law, which prevents me speaking my mind about a candidate in the paper or on tv or on my own website. I am currently a criminal for doing just that. He banned the importation of FAL and AK47 kits, and has not rolled back ANY of the +25,000 laws illegally restricting my right to keep and carry anything I want for my own protection against thugs of the common or jackbooted variety. He signed into law the Patriot Act, which grievously violates the 4th Amendment among others. He has had American citizens held in prison without cause, without notification of the charges against him, without the notification of their families. And those are just the examples I can come up with at the moment that can affect ME. He’s invaded a country for bad reasons, without a declaration of war. He’s had foreigners tortured by other foreigners for suspected links to terrorism.
There’s one punishment for treason on a scale that grand, and folks, it ain’t a slap on the wrist.
However: I am perfectly willing to acknowledge the good things he has done. He has, in a faltering and somewhat wrongheaded manner prosecuted those who would attack America throughout the world, as he should. He has, in a faltering and somewhat wrongheaded manner attempted to secure the American nation and economy from the wave of invaders (their reasons for invasion mean not a thing) pouring over our southern border.
He’s done a few good things, for which he deserves credit. The majority of the country would just rather focus on the bad things he’s done, of which there are many. Yes, he’s done bad things – we know already! It’s not being a jingo-istic, right-wing chickenhawk to admit the man has done some good things.
This is what’s known as Bush-Derangement syndrome online: Previously rational human beings driven to a fit of frothing anger any time George Bush Jr.’s name is mentioned. He is not the font of all that is evil in the world. His successes deserve proportional airtime with his failures.
I’m absolutely sick of hearing EVERY-BLOODY-WHERE on tv, radio, internet, and carrier pidgeon how Bush personally thanked the 9/11 hijackers and that Michael Moore snuck into his secret mountaintop headquarters to film his meetings with the Zionist cabal of Haliburton and that he cut a few dollars from the massively inflated and ineffectual education budget so minorities won’t get a good education and that he wants to conquer the world with his moon based Laser Of Death. GROW UP!
38. People don’t understand something about war. I have to thank U. S. Grant, evil though he may be, for giving me this understanding. What they don’t understand is this – it’s hell. I mean that, and not in the trite, sound-byte way. War is the sum of all evils in the world. It is the highest sacrament we can pay to the devil.
You see, war isn’t about right and wrong – it’s about winning or dying. It’s about killing the enemy until they can’t fight anymore. And to so completely devastate the enemy that they can’t hurt you, you have to go all out – you have to attack and attack and attack without ANY regard for any life, enemy or civilian. You have to fight a war like an animal, or you will lose, because all the other guy has to do is outlast you (and if you’re not willing to commit to a war, it won’t take long). We can clear Baghdad of jihadists, all we need to do is firebomb it like we did the large cities in Japan. But we’re not willing to do that.
And if you’re not willing to go whole hog, to destroy and kill everything, then you’re doing nothing but encouraging your enemies. They will grow stronger despite your minor victories. It is absolutely fatal to engage in war without the will to do anything to win it.This is why war must be avoided if at all possible. Because it is every horrible thing human beings can do to each others, the sum of all evil. Because to win a war, you have to make good people suffer, you have drive good people to do things they should never have to do, you have to put good people in situations where it is kill others or die themselves, or allow others to die so that others may live.
War IS hell.
39. No matter the good it does, I have come to the realization that the Christian religion will never be able to live down the Crusades. Criticize the violence some might say is inherent to another’s religion (and we all know which religion that is) and point out that most places as practice it are roughly 1000 years behind in the development of civilization – you hear about the Crusades and you’re hypocrites. Stand up against the invasion of Iraq for religious reasons – you hear about the Crusades and you’re hypocrites. Good God, we know about that already, get over it!
The crusaders and their kin have been dead a thousand years, their actions in no way taint what we do today.
40. Wow, I didn’t think I’d get to 40. Just think how big a milestone 50 will be.
There are multiple levels of programming in a computer. There’s the stuff you see and interact with. There’s the operating system that runs behind it. And behind that, there’s the BIOS and all the hard-coded code that keeps all the chips and parts in synch with each other and running without tripping over their feet.
You can change the visible stuff with relative ease. The operating system…a little harder, but it can be done. But the stuff you REALLY don’t want to screw with is the code behind that. Mess with the BIOS and hard-coded instructions at your own risk – like as not you’ll crash the computer, and it’ll be “lights on, nobody home.”
People are just the same. You can force a change in their visible behavior with relative ease. For a little more effort, you can change what they believe. But deep down, we’re still all animals. We’re just animals who can choose. And when you screw with the animal instincts and impulses and behavior, you’re begging for trouble.
You can attempt to change the programming that runs behind our conciousness – but you will affect absolutely no change whatsoever and will do unimaginable worlds of destruction.
Whereupon radical Muslims across the world call Islam a religion of peace and further call for the killing of the pope, the bombing of the Vatican, and the killing of even more Christians. Whereupon Muslim leaders explained that Muslims take their religion very seriously and we have to be sensitive to that.
Is it any wonder that Muslims think there’s a war on against their religion? Like it or not, the vast majority of people who commit terrorist acts are Muslims, and they’re using religious excuses to call for our deaths.
Not that all Muslims do that – but the vast majority of people who do that are Muslims. There’s a fine line there. It’s just as reasonable to say that the majority of people who commit crimes are black, but the majority of black people aren’t criminals.
The Muslim community has been sadly lacking in the spinal area when it comes to the more crazed members of their faith. We hear lots of “Islam is a religion of peace” but very little “Those who pervert our faith for an excuse to kill people are insane dogs.”
What you don’t punish, you subsidize. What you subsidize, you encourage.
Again, it’s no wonder they think we hate their religion – like it or not, their religion only receives airtime whenever a believer picks up a sword or a gun or a block of C4, kills some people who were just minding their own business, and then issues a statement that everyone who’s not Muslim should die. That’s the “brand” we’re seeing advertised right now. You don’t like it – rebrand your product.
37. I’d just like to state, for the record, that I hate Bush. He signed the McCain-Feingold bill into law, which prevents me speaking my mind about a candidate in the paper or on tv or on my own website. I am currently a criminal for doing just that. He banned the importation of FAL and AK47 kits, and has not rolled back ANY of the +25,000 laws illegally restricting my right to keep and carry anything I want for my own protection against thugs of the common or jackbooted variety. He signed into law the Patriot Act, which grievously violates the 4th Amendment among others. He has had American citizens held in prison without cause, without notification of the charges against him, without the notification of their families. And those are just the examples I can come up with at the moment that can affect ME. He’s invaded a country for bad reasons, without a declaration of war. He’s had foreigners tortured by other foreigners for suspected links to terrorism.
There’s one punishment for treason on a scale that grand, and folks, it ain’t a slap on the wrist.
However: I am perfectly willing to acknowledge the good things he has done. He has, in a faltering and somewhat wrongheaded manner prosecuted those who would attack America throughout the world, as he should. He has, in a faltering and somewhat wrongheaded manner attempted to secure the American nation and economy from the wave of invaders (their reasons for invasion mean not a thing) pouring over our southern border.
He’s done a few good things, for which he deserves credit. The majority of the country would just rather focus on the bad things he’s done, of which there are many. Yes, he’s done bad things – we know already! It’s not being a jingo-istic, right-wing chickenhawk to admit the man has done some good things.
This is what’s known as Bush-Derangement syndrome online: Previously rational human beings driven to a fit of frothing anger any time George Bush Jr.’s name is mentioned. He is not the font of all that is evil in the world. His successes deserve proportional airtime with his failures.
I’m absolutely sick of hearing EVERY-BLOODY-WHERE on tv, radio, internet, and carrier pidgeon how Bush personally thanked the 9/11 hijackers and that Michael Moore snuck into his secret mountaintop headquarters to film his meetings with the Zionist cabal of Haliburton and that he cut a few dollars from the massively inflated and ineffectual education budget so minorities won’t get a good education and that he wants to conquer the world with his moon based Laser Of Death. GROW UP!
38. People don’t understand something about war. I have to thank U. S. Grant, evil though he may be, for giving me this understanding. What they don’t understand is this – it’s hell. I mean that, and not in the trite, sound-byte way. War is the sum of all evils in the world. It is the highest sacrament we can pay to the devil.
You see, war isn’t about right and wrong – it’s about winning or dying. It’s about killing the enemy until they can’t fight anymore. And to so completely devastate the enemy that they can’t hurt you, you have to go all out – you have to attack and attack and attack without ANY regard for any life, enemy or civilian. You have to fight a war like an animal, or you will lose, because all the other guy has to do is outlast you (and if you’re not willing to commit to a war, it won’t take long). We can clear Baghdad of jihadists, all we need to do is firebomb it like we did the large cities in Japan. But we’re not willing to do that.
And if you’re not willing to go whole hog, to destroy and kill everything, then you’re doing nothing but encouraging your enemies. They will grow stronger despite your minor victories. It is absolutely fatal to engage in war without the will to do anything to win it.This is why war must be avoided if at all possible. Because it is every horrible thing human beings can do to each others, the sum of all evil. Because to win a war, you have to make good people suffer, you have drive good people to do things they should never have to do, you have to put good people in situations where it is kill others or die themselves, or allow others to die so that others may live.
War IS hell.
39. No matter the good it does, I have come to the realization that the Christian religion will never be able to live down the Crusades. Criticize the violence some might say is inherent to another’s religion (and we all know which religion that is) and point out that most places as practice it are roughly 1000 years behind in the development of civilization – you hear about the Crusades and you’re hypocrites. Stand up against the invasion of Iraq for religious reasons – you hear about the Crusades and you’re hypocrites. Good God, we know about that already, get over it!
The crusaders and their kin have been dead a thousand years, their actions in no way taint what we do today.
40. Wow, I didn’t think I’d get to 40. Just think how big a milestone 50 will be.
There are multiple levels of programming in a computer. There’s the stuff you see and interact with. There’s the operating system that runs behind it. And behind that, there’s the BIOS and all the hard-coded code that keeps all the chips and parts in synch with each other and running without tripping over their feet.
You can change the visible stuff with relative ease. The operating system…a little harder, but it can be done. But the stuff you REALLY don’t want to screw with is the code behind that. Mess with the BIOS and hard-coded instructions at your own risk – like as not you’ll crash the computer, and it’ll be “lights on, nobody home.”
People are just the same. You can force a change in their visible behavior with relative ease. For a little more effort, you can change what they believe. But deep down, we’re still all animals. We’re just animals who can choose. And when you screw with the animal instincts and impulses and behavior, you’re begging for trouble.
You can attempt to change the programming that runs behind our conciousness – but you will affect absolutely no change whatsoever and will do unimaginable worlds of destruction.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Recent Events Pt3
So, some new information on the shooting of the principal in Wisconsin. Turns out the perpetrator had been given in-school detention for smoking. He made the statement to a friend that he doubted the principal would live past homecoming, whether before or after the detention has not been stated.
The shooter was 15.
Now, before we go any further, what makes a 15 year old kid, with their whole life ahead of them, throw it away by murdering the principal over a detention? How does one make that...LEAP...from detention to murder? How do you justify that to yourself, and then choose to commit the crime? He knew he'd be caught, he knew he was torpedoeing the rest of his life over a couple hours sitting in the school office...how...what...
He's an animal. Unless it comes out that the principal was torturing him or threatening to kill his family, he should be tried as an adult, convicted, and at the very least be given life in prison without possibility of parole.
Now we turn to the actions of the not-guilty. The janitor who wrestled the shotgun away...did so BEFORE the kid shot the principal. He took it, the kid started digging in his pockets for the .22 revolver that became the murder weapon (don't bother to look for the Million Mom March or VPC to start calling THOSE assault weapons), and the janitor, now armed with possibly the most devastating close-quarters-combat weapon ever devised does...what exactly?
Does he shoulder the shotgun and blow the clearly armed miscreant off his feet? Does he fire a warning shot and yell for the student to drop and kiss the pavement?
No. Now that he's ARMED, he RUNS out the front door.
A quote of the unfortunately late Jeff Cooper's springs to mind: "An unarmed man can only run from evil. And evil is not defeated by fleeing." Or something like that.
So:Our little *expletive* takes his .22 revolver, enters the principal's office, and is immediately engaged in a scuffle for the weapon. During the course of which, the brave principal takes shots to the leg, chest, and head, and STILL manages to remove the weapon from the criminal.
The principal died of his injuries 7 hours later. If it hadn'tve been for the headshot, I think he'd still be with us.
I'll be blogging on school shooting/invasion preparedness drills in the near future, but I recommend you turn your eyes upwards towards Mr. Cooper's quote once more. It bears multiple readings.
The shooter was 15.
Now, before we go any further, what makes a 15 year old kid, with their whole life ahead of them, throw it away by murdering the principal over a detention? How does one make that...LEAP...from detention to murder? How do you justify that to yourself, and then choose to commit the crime? He knew he'd be caught, he knew he was torpedoeing the rest of his life over a couple hours sitting in the school office...how...what...
He's an animal. Unless it comes out that the principal was torturing him or threatening to kill his family, he should be tried as an adult, convicted, and at the very least be given life in prison without possibility of parole.
Now we turn to the actions of the not-guilty. The janitor who wrestled the shotgun away...did so BEFORE the kid shot the principal. He took it, the kid started digging in his pockets for the .22 revolver that became the murder weapon (don't bother to look for the Million Mom March or VPC to start calling THOSE assault weapons), and the janitor, now armed with possibly the most devastating close-quarters-combat weapon ever devised does...what exactly?
Does he shoulder the shotgun and blow the clearly armed miscreant off his feet? Does he fire a warning shot and yell for the student to drop and kiss the pavement?
No. Now that he's ARMED, he RUNS out the front door.
A quote of the unfortunately late Jeff Cooper's springs to mind: "An unarmed man can only run from evil. And evil is not defeated by fleeing." Or something like that.
So:Our little *expletive* takes his .22 revolver, enters the principal's office, and is immediately engaged in a scuffle for the weapon. During the course of which, the brave principal takes shots to the leg, chest, and head, and STILL manages to remove the weapon from the criminal.
The principal died of his injuries 7 hours later. If it hadn'tve been for the headshot, I think he'd still be with us.
I'll be blogging on school shooting/invasion preparedness drills in the near future, but I recommend you turn your eyes upwards towards Mr. Cooper's quote once more. It bears multiple readings.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Recent Events Pt2
Colorado School Shooting
Seems the hostage taker at the Colorado high school didn't get ventilated by the police.
Pity.
I would've liked it to have NOT been his idea.
What's not being discussed is why the gunman was the only man with a gun in the school. See, us law abiding folks generally, uh, abide by the law. Meaning, when the law says "Don't Carry Guns" we usually leave our pistols at home. Those that do not abide by the law, and choose to place themselves outside of society by causing harm to innocents will do whatever they dang well please. They'll do things like bring guns into schools, shoot people, take hostages, molest hostages, kill hostages...very much like the reprobate in Colorado did. While those that follow the laws do not bring guns to school, and because of their nature, do not engage in the acts that Mr. BadGuy did.
Simplifying that paragraph, if you prohibit people from arming themselves, the good people do so. If you prohibit people from arming themselves, the bad people will not. And then the bad people will have absolutely free reign to do whatever they damn well please. Ask Teresa Halbach about that.
What dismays me even more than the faculty members (or, heavens to Betsy, the students) not putting two rounds in Mr. BadGuy's center mass followed by another to the third eye is that no one used any other weapons to subdue him. Guns are merely the easiest way to dispatch Mr.Badguy - knives, pens shoved into various weakpoints like ears and throats, belts, or even feet all produce the same result in the end. And unless the captives were bound, it sounds like there were, er, several opportunities where he was distracted enough that SOMEONE could've tickled his brain with a Bic.
Give a kid a good knife, it may just save their life.
Another School Shooting
Elsewhere in the world, my state to be specific, several faculty members and students found they had the cajones to STOP a school shooting. Far south of where I live, a torqued off 15yo walks into school with a shotgun, shoots his principal once, and is promptly subdued by a janitor and other students.
A few notes on this:
1. A longgun is what you bring when you mean business. To achieve a guaranteed kill with a handgun, you have to shoot A LOT. Yes, two or three shots usually does it, but to be sure, going to slide-lock is recommended. A shotgun or mid-caliber rifle at room distances should produce the same effect (a kill) in one shot.
2.Contrary to popular opinion, unarmed people (and I'm SURE one person was using something as a weapon) were able to stand up to a villain armed with probably the deadliest close-range weapon ever invented and LIVE. And subdue him. If you comply, you will end up injured. If you resist and are unarmed, you are slightly less likely to be injured. Resist while armed, and your chances go WAY up. Crime statistics bear this out time and time again.
3.If anyone among those heroes was armed, we'll never hear about. You ever hear about the school shooting where the principal went back to his car, got his gun, and stopped the shooter? Or the school shooting where two students with rifles subdued the attacker? Don't worry, most haven't. Of the roughly 800 stories generated about each of those incidents, only around 40 per mentioned any defensive action by anyone other than the police, even while the vast majority noted the make and model of the attacker's weapons. In the "2 students with rifles" story, most articles mentioning the action taken by the students say that they "tackled him." Why do you think that is?
Seems the hostage taker at the Colorado high school didn't get ventilated by the police.
Pity.
I would've liked it to have NOT been his idea.
What's not being discussed is why the gunman was the only man with a gun in the school. See, us law abiding folks generally, uh, abide by the law. Meaning, when the law says "Don't Carry Guns" we usually leave our pistols at home. Those that do not abide by the law, and choose to place themselves outside of society by causing harm to innocents will do whatever they dang well please. They'll do things like bring guns into schools, shoot people, take hostages, molest hostages, kill hostages...very much like the reprobate in Colorado did. While those that follow the laws do not bring guns to school, and because of their nature, do not engage in the acts that Mr. BadGuy did.
Simplifying that paragraph, if you prohibit people from arming themselves, the good people do so. If you prohibit people from arming themselves, the bad people will not. And then the bad people will have absolutely free reign to do whatever they damn well please. Ask Teresa Halbach about that.
What dismays me even more than the faculty members (or, heavens to Betsy, the students) not putting two rounds in Mr. BadGuy's center mass followed by another to the third eye is that no one used any other weapons to subdue him. Guns are merely the easiest way to dispatch Mr.Badguy - knives, pens shoved into various weakpoints like ears and throats, belts, or even feet all produce the same result in the end. And unless the captives were bound, it sounds like there were, er, several opportunities where he was distracted enough that SOMEONE could've tickled his brain with a Bic.
Give a kid a good knife, it may just save their life.
Another School Shooting
Elsewhere in the world, my state to be specific, several faculty members and students found they had the cajones to STOP a school shooting. Far south of where I live, a torqued off 15yo walks into school with a shotgun, shoots his principal once, and is promptly subdued by a janitor and other students.
A few notes on this:
1. A longgun is what you bring when you mean business. To achieve a guaranteed kill with a handgun, you have to shoot A LOT. Yes, two or three shots usually does it, but to be sure, going to slide-lock is recommended. A shotgun or mid-caliber rifle at room distances should produce the same effect (a kill) in one shot.
2.Contrary to popular opinion, unarmed people (and I'm SURE one person was using something as a weapon) were able to stand up to a villain armed with probably the deadliest close-range weapon ever invented and LIVE. And subdue him. If you comply, you will end up injured. If you resist and are unarmed, you are slightly less likely to be injured. Resist while armed, and your chances go WAY up. Crime statistics bear this out time and time again.
3.If anyone among those heroes was armed, we'll never hear about. You ever hear about the school shooting where the principal went back to his car, got his gun, and stopped the shooter? Or the school shooting where two students with rifles subdued the attacker? Don't worry, most haven't. Of the roughly 800 stories generated about each of those incidents, only around 40 per mentioned any defensive action by anyone other than the police, even while the vast majority noted the make and model of the attacker's weapons. In the "2 students with rifles" story, most articles mentioning the action taken by the students say that they "tackled him." Why do you think that is?
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Reflections On Current Events
Health Inspector Video
Courtesy of The Smallest Minority http://smallestminority.blogspot.com, we get this fine video of what happens when people draw their lines in the sand further and further back. Watch, but lock up anything that could damage your monitor 'aforehand. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVACCaVxYEk&eurl=
At least he had the brains and guts to bring along a video camera. They really don't like it when their work winds up online. Only thing better would be getting the home addresses, work addresses, telephone numbers, car profiles, email addresses, driver's license and social security numbers, and photographs of those involved in the criminal trespass, and then posting them online. Everywhere you can think of. Sports sites. News sites. Adult interest sites. Gun sites. Goth sites. Democratic Underground. Dating sites. Sites for people recently released from prison. Bathroom walls in gas stations with the byline "For a good time."
Let's hope Mr. Cameraman winds up with all the property previously owned by Mrs. Health Inspector, who winds up spending the next ten years in the pen.
Treason In The House: Or, Reasonless, Warrantless Searches Of Children
Look for H. R. 5295 on http://thomas.loc.gov/ if this link doesn't work: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:2:./temp/~c109XZ2ysO::
Basically, it says that since schools are such nasty places, we need to set rules defining how to search children without warrants. The only type of searches not permitted are invasive - the precedent for which is set by the New Jersey Supreme Court which ruled that only cavity searches are invasive. Or so says public radio.
School Shooting In Colorado
Apparently a gunman wanders into a highschool, fires a handful of shots, the students flee, he hides with two teenage girls as hostages. Most recent development: He shoots a hostage, the police put him down. Rehabilitation by reincarnation - works every time.
I say apparently because: It could not have happened. School zones are gun free, totally. The law prevented anyone from bringing a gun onto the premises. Therefore, since law is so effective, no gunman.
Non-sarcastically, this is NO excuse to pass legislation restricting anyone's unalienable right to defend themselves (ie victim disarmament, or "gun control"). It sounds harsh, but I DON'T CARE what happened, I DON'T CARE how anyone feels, my rights are not dependent on others' good behavior.
No Shooting This Week
I've been getting out to the range every week to fire 50 rounds through my battle-rifle. I go with just my brother (we only get one day a week when our days-off coincide), I use my rifle, he takes a .22 of some variety, we spend two hours total, everyone goes home happy. This week
we detoured around construction on the way to the range. And: Spent 1.5 hours cruising the countryside, looking for a way home. Ran through an entire Bon Jovi CD looking for the range and then the highway home, wound up following a dump truck into town.
I've budgeted completely for my 2 new battle-rifles in November. Now I'm looking at that Sig 220 I wrote about last year. It's still there, and I still want it.
Courtesy of The Smallest Minority http://smallestminority.blogspot.com, we get this fine video of what happens when people draw their lines in the sand further and further back. Watch, but lock up anything that could damage your monitor 'aforehand. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVACCaVxYEk&eurl=
At least he had the brains and guts to bring along a video camera. They really don't like it when their work winds up online. Only thing better would be getting the home addresses, work addresses, telephone numbers, car profiles, email addresses, driver's license and social security numbers, and photographs of those involved in the criminal trespass, and then posting them online. Everywhere you can think of. Sports sites. News sites. Adult interest sites. Gun sites. Goth sites. Democratic Underground. Dating sites. Sites for people recently released from prison. Bathroom walls in gas stations with the byline "For a good time."
Let's hope Mr. Cameraman winds up with all the property previously owned by Mrs. Health Inspector, who winds up spending the next ten years in the pen.
Treason In The House: Or, Reasonless, Warrantless Searches Of Children
Look for H. R. 5295 on http://thomas.loc.gov/ if this link doesn't work: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:2:./temp/~c109XZ2ysO::
Basically, it says that since schools are such nasty places, we need to set rules defining how to search children without warrants. The only type of searches not permitted are invasive - the precedent for which is set by the New Jersey Supreme Court which ruled that only cavity searches are invasive. Or so says public radio.
School Shooting In Colorado
Apparently a gunman wanders into a highschool, fires a handful of shots, the students flee, he hides with two teenage girls as hostages. Most recent development: He shoots a hostage, the police put him down. Rehabilitation by reincarnation - works every time.
I say apparently because: It could not have happened. School zones are gun free, totally. The law prevented anyone from bringing a gun onto the premises. Therefore, since law is so effective, no gunman.
Non-sarcastically, this is NO excuse to pass legislation restricting anyone's unalienable right to defend themselves (ie victim disarmament, or "gun control"). It sounds harsh, but I DON'T CARE what happened, I DON'T CARE how anyone feels, my rights are not dependent on others' good behavior.
No Shooting This Week
I've been getting out to the range every week to fire 50 rounds through my battle-rifle. I go with just my brother (we only get one day a week when our days-off coincide), I use my rifle, he takes a .22 of some variety, we spend two hours total, everyone goes home happy. This week
we detoured around construction on the way to the range. And: Spent 1.5 hours cruising the countryside, looking for a way home. Ran through an entire Bon Jovi CD looking for the range and then the highway home, wound up following a dump truck into town.
I've budgeted completely for my 2 new battle-rifles in November. Now I'm looking at that Sig 220 I wrote about last year. It's still there, and I still want it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)