Saturday, November 19, 2011

You want a fine example of how effed-up the EU is?

Brussels bureaucrats were ridiculed yesterday after banning drink manufacturers from claiming that water can prevent dehydration.

EU officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.
Their reasoning?
Prof Brian Ratcliffe, spokesman for the Nutrition Society, said dehydration was usually caused by a clinical condition and that one could remain adequately hydrated without drinking water.

He said: “The EU is saying that this does not reduce the risk of dehydration and that is correct.
So, apparently, you should be able to absorb enough moisture from the air that you don't need to drink water... or something...

THREE EFFING YEARS they took to study the matter and give out this conclusion. Britain, if you can, get the hell out. Or at least ship all the Martinis and Webleys and H&H doubles over here before the EUnuchs take you down with them.

Anne Hathaway: one more idiot celebritute

sucking up to people who say they despise her.

Hey, Hathaway, you actually feel that way? How much of that $50+ million have you donated?

That worked rather nicely

Friend had an old parkerized pistol that looked, well, bland. Dry. So gave it a short version of the process Xavier did: took the grips off, wiped it all over with grease and put it in the oven on 'warm' for a couple of hours and let it cool down, then wiped the excess off.

It almost looked refinished; the parking looked much better and more even, and darker. Says when has a chance he'll break the pistol down to remove all the springs and do the full procedure just to make sure the grease has a chance to soak all the way in.

At what point does someone tell Holder "This is a SUBPOENA,

Mr. AG, it is NOT optional for you to obey it."?
In anticipation of the subpoena, Holder said on Tuesday that the Justice Department would review it and "I'm sure we will undoubtedly comply with them."

Howzabout a warrant for contempt for the crap he's pulled already?

Realizing a lot of Stupid Party members don't worry much about gun owners,

it's still a bit of a bother that various people have asked Romney, in various ways, about Romneycare, but I don't think ANYBODY has asked him flat-out "You pushed for a bragged about some of the worst anti-gun-ownership laws in the country as Governor; how can we trust you not to push for the same things nationally if you're elected President?"

"The Libya war was run by a Democrat,

so it's THE MOST SUCCESSFUL THING AROUND!!!" Etc.

I wonder if that includes the al Qaeda flag flying over the Libyan capital? And the move to sharia law?

Seems like you give him a chance and Chris Matthews- Tingles to

you- does a fine job of showing what an asshole and excuse for a reporter he is; just takes someone who'll actually point it out and not let him get away with crap.
At one point, Matthews asked Elder “What is the purpose of this conversation?” — later adding, “I’m trying to be polite, and I come on your show because you invited me.”

“No, no, no, no,” Elder replied. “You called us and you asked to come on. I didn’t invite you.”

While we're at it, every one of these jerks running the EPA

should be in the line for tar and feathers.

Either these people are so corrupted by the idea of- I'm not really sure what, or they actually want to destroy this country, and this is one of their steps.

For instance...

IN this anniversary year of the 1911,

yeah, this would be kind of neat to have. WWII ammo still in the can.Link

Friday, November 18, 2011

First, from a friend:

My wife just said "You never know when a woman is giving wise council or just having a bad hormonal day."


Second, relayed by Tam,
New Jovian Thunderbolt on what would have happened if the alleged White House shooter had ducked into a Tea Party rally rather than an Occupy Wall Street encampment:
Sarah Palin would still be in Gitmo.

Third,



"Cat? What cat? Where?"

Weer'd has some point on HR822

and some of the hoplophobe and gun bigot arguments against it. All good, but I'm going to take one line of one of the bigot argument then his response. Argument:
And there are always other, less-lethal weapons, that you don’t need a permit for.
And part of Weer'ds' response:
Of course Baldr is an anti-gun shill in Oregon which is pretty damn nice when it comes to gun ownership, and overall freedom. Here in Massachusetts, the most popular less lethal weapons, Electronic Stun Devices, and Pepper Spray are heavily restricted. The Stun Guns and Tasers are outright illegal here, and you can only posses pepper spray if you have a gun permit. Also while there is a Class D LTC that is $25, shall-issue and only covers chemical sprays, the whole legal classification of a tin of pepper as “Ammunition” means that if a college student gets jumped by a drunk frat boy, and she escapes sexual assault because she pepper sprays him…she’ll be expelled for carrying “ammunition” on campus.
Which, besides pointing out some of the idiocies of law in the PROM, knocks the 'don't need a permit for' argument out the window; hard to say that when virtually ANYTHING actually intended as a defensive weapon requires permits and fees and other bullshit in some places.

Again, we are reminded that the "License guns just like cars" demand from the hoplophobes and bigots is bullshit: if you actually did gun licensing just like a drivers license they'd shit their pants and give birth to armadillos.

Purple ones.

Both at the same time.

Further from (fG)Britain,

The Oxford city council has ruled that every taxi must be outfitted with a CCTV for the express purpose of recording passenger conversations that are to be held for 28 days in case the police wanted to conduct an investigation in which the footage might prove useful.
'In case'. 'Might prove'.

Barring a miracle, Britain is gone as a free nation.

Oh wow, Sheldon must be having a cow

A second experiment at the European facility that reported subatomic particles zooming faster than the speed of light -- stunning the world of physics -- has reached the same result, scientists said late Thursday.

The "positive outcome of the [second] test makes us more confident in the result," said Fernando Ferroni, president of the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics, in a statement released late Thursday. Ferroni is one of 160 physicists involved in the international collaboration known as OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion Tracking Apparatus) that performed the experiment.

While the second experiment "has made an important test of consistency of its result," Ferroni added, "a final word can only be said by analogous measurements performed elsewhere in the world."
They're saying "We need more tests, done by different people to cross-check this", which is what science- real science- demands. And if it does check out...

Let's look at a line from Holder on Gunwalker:

Holder has said he did not know about Fast and Furious and should not have been expected to, given the large number of operations that take place under the DOJ umbrella.
Ok. So, supposedly, an operation that involved violating national borders, corrupting the NICS system run by the FBI, and other such goodies involving DHS and IRS and DEA is somehow so low on the list of priorities that the AG shouldn't be expected to know about it? Really?

Reason #37 the People's Republic of MA is a place I would NEVER (updated:DA Jon Blodgett)

live:
Whose side are you on? And whose side do you think the Massachusetts legal system is on?

McKay knows. Here’s a guy who, everyone agrees, was in his own home with his family when a neighborhood druggie tried to break into his truck and steal his tools. These are the tools McKay uses to put food on the table for his three kids.

In addition to a rap sheet, the druggie had a nightstick and a knife. McKay had his fists and a family to defend. The good news is that the good guy won and the crook ended up with a broken jaw.

The bad news is that it happened in Massachusetts.

“I honestly expected the DA to just drop the case,” McKay’s attorney, Richard Chambers Jr., told me after yesterday’s arraignment in Lynn District Court. “Instead, they boosted the charge to aggravated assault — a felony!”

Vs.
He finally gets busted by sheer coincidence — nearly hitting a squad car. Police say he blew a solid .14 in a Breathalyzer and what’s his defense? Onyango, a proud legal citizen of Kenya, says his OUI arrest violated his Fourth Amendment rights.

Which brings us to the horrifying truth about the political system in Massachusetts: If you had to bet next month’s mortgage on which of these two defendants will get the better deal — Anthony the American, or Omar the Illegal — wouldn’t you put every penny on Obama’s uncle?

Anthony’s got everything against him. He’s a citizen, he works for a living and he believes in individual responsibility — protecting his own family with or without government health.

Uncle Omar, on the other hand, laughs his way through court, snickering at the idea that he’s going to be held responsible for driving drunk. After all, he’s never been held responsible for all his other offenses. Why would Massachusetts start enforcing the law on him now?

Update: the Irishman knows:
In addition, the DA’s office announced that they were going to request the “victim’s” medical records. That’s right: DA Blodgett thinks the repeat drug offending, night-stick-carrying, knife-wielding would-be robber is a “victim.”

Why is the DA pushing this case? Because they want to send the message loud and clear. As a Swampscott police spokesman put it: “We don’t urge anybody to (fight back). We want them to call us.
Got that? The minions of the People's Republic want you to stand there and be robbed or raped or murdered and not fight back because they don't want you to. And if you do, they'll screw you over as badly as they can.

The sticker someone had is right: Massachusetts: Live Free or Live Here

DA Jon Blodgett
You, sir, are a miserable little statist piece of crap; if you had any sense of honor you'd be ashamed of yourself.

But you don't, do you?

Well, this is encouraging as hell

The reason for my decision to pull the plug was excruciatingly simple: I could no longer tell my clients that their monies and positions were safe in the futures and options markets – because they are not. And this goes not just for my clients, but for every futures and options account in the United States. The entire system has been utterly destroyed by the MF Global collapse. Given this sad reality, I could not in good conscience take one more step as a commodity broker, soliciting trades that I knew were unsafe or holding funds that I knew to be in jeopardy.

The futures markets are very highly-leveraged and thus require an exceptionally firm base upon which to function. That base was the sacrosanct segregation of customer funds from clearing firm capital, with additional emergency financial backing provided by the exchanges themselves. Up until a few weeks ago, that base existed, and had worked flawlessly. Firms came and went, with some imploding in spectacular fashion. Whenever a firm failure happened, the customer funds were intact and the exchanges would step in to backstop everything and keep customers 100% liquid – even as their clearing firm collapsed and was quickly replaced by another firm within the system.

Everything changed just a few short weeks ago. A firm, led by a crony of the Obama regime, stole all of the non-margined cash held by customers of his firm. Let’s not sugar-coat this or make this crime seem “complex” and “abstract” by drowning ourselves in six-dollar words and uber-technical jargon. Jon Corzine STOLE the customer cash at MF Global. Knowing Jon Corzine, and knowing the abject lawlessness and contempt for humanity of the Marxist Obama regime and its cronies, this is not really a surprise. What was a surprise was the reaction of the exchanges and regulators. Their reaction has been to take a bad situation and make it orders of magnitude worse. Specifically, they froze customers out of their accounts WHILE THE MARKETS CONTINUED TO TRADE, refusing to even allow them to liquidate. This is unfathomable. The risk exposure precedent that has been set is completely intolerable and has destroyed the entire industry paradigm. No informed person can continue to engage these markets, and no moral person can continue to broker or facilitate customer engagement in what is now a massive game of Russian Roulette.

Makes that line about 'invest in canned goods, guns and ammo' even less of a joke, doesn't it?

So a friend posted the '8 Demands of the 99%(plus add one of your own)"

and they go like this:
Tax Wall Street for gambling with our money. Pass the financial speculation tax.
Doesn't say what that is; dug around, it's a financial transaction tax of 0.5 percent on Wall Street trading. Yeah, that's going to encourage people, isn't it? Especially since that 'gambling' includes lots of peoples retirement funds and such...
Support education. Put teachers back in classrooms and ease the crippling burden of student debt.
"Pay off my student loans! It's not fair I should have to! And take more money in taxes and give it to schools!"
Keep working families in their homes. Pass a mortgage relief plan that puts the needs of homeowners above the greed of mortgage bankers.
There are honest people in trouble; there are also people who bought far more than they could afford and don't want to have to pay it back or lose the house; no mention of taking account of the differences.
End too big to fail. Rein in the big banks NOW and hold the people who caused the financial crisis accountable.
Does that include Barney Frank & Co.?
Fair share of taxes from the 1%. End the Bush tax cuts for the 1% and close corporate tax loopholes.
And if you're not rich but got benefit from those cuts? Well, you should be screwed for the benefit of the 99%!(how they work that math I don't know)
Businesses should invest in jobs. Corporations must stop sitting on their profits and start hiring again here in America.
"I don't care if the economy says don't do it, I want government to FORCE you to hire people!"
Extend unemployment insurance. Millions of Americans are still out of work, and unemployment insurance is a vital lifeline.
They mean 'extend it AGAIN'. And again. And again...
End corporate control of our democracy. Abolish "corporate personhood" and restore full voting rights to real people.
I'm not sure I understand this one at all; among other things, when did voting rights get taken away from 'real people'?

Notice how much of this consists of "We want to use the force of government to take from THOSE people what they earn and give it to people WE decide need it!"?

Just what caliber lance for windmills?

Thursday, November 17, 2011

"Mr Romney, I seem to recall that e-mails between government officials

are supposed to be kept for some period as official records; which makes me wonder what you didn't want people to see."Link

Speaking of 'settled science' that actually isn't,

Sifting through earth northwest of Seattle, he uncovered something extraordinary - a mastodon bone with a shaft jammed in it. This appeared to be a weapon that had been thrust into the beast's ribs, a sign that humans had been around and hunting far earlier than anyone suspected.

Unfortunately for Gustafson, few scientists agreed. He was challenging orthodoxy with less-than-perfect evidence.

For almost 35 years, his find was ridiculed or ignored, the site dismissed as curious but not significant.

But last month, a team that re-examined his discovery using new technology concluded in the prestigious journal Science that Gustafson had been right all along.
Which brings to mind the yelling over Kennewick Man; which included a bunch of people, primarily members of/affiliated with Indian tribes that really didn't want those bones being more closely studed.


Found here, thanks to the uncivilized Irishman

Some words from Congressman Crockett,

which definitely apply still:
"There is one thing now to which I will call your attention. You remember that I proposed to give a week's pay. There are in that House many very wealthy men – men who think nothing of spending a week's pay, or a dozen of them for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of those same men made beautiful speeches upon the great debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased – a debt which could not be paid by money, particularly so insignificant a sum as $10,000, when weighed against the honor of the nation. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it."

So just how much virus information SHOULD be openly published?

Scientists say they do think hard about these issues. Princeton's Lynn Enquist, editor in chief of the Journal of Virology, says he and his colleagues carefully considered whether to publish a flu study submitted to the journal that appears in the December issue.

"You have to say, 'Is there more benefit than there is risk?' and that was our judgment on this one, that that was indeed the case," says Enquist.

In that experiment, researchers had taken a bird flu gene and put it in the swine flu virus that started spreading between people a couple of years ago. Mice infected with this lab-created virus got very, very sick.

But Enquist says, this altered virus didn't spread easily. And he points out that this kind of virus combination could happen as bird flu circulates out in nature
.
Couple of years back, I think in this book, there was a section talking about the problem; at a symposium some Australian virologists put up a display on how they'd modified the DNA of a mousepox virus and turned it into a 100% killer. One of the people attending looked it over and just about had a stroke at both the implications for other viruses and that they'd posted this up where ANYONE walking by could read it.

You can tell the gun bigot bureaucrats are getting nervous:

in less than two days they went from
Officials say the administration is concerned about the potential clash between gun owners and encroaching urban populations who like to use same land for hiking and dog walking.

“It’s not so much a safety issue. It’s a social conflict issue,” said Frank Jenks, a natural resource specialist with Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, which oversees 245 million acres. He adds that urbanites “freak out” when they hear shooting on public lands.
...
BLM actually invited the fight, seeking the council’s comments. But officials suggested to Whispers that no changes are being planned to the draft regulations.

Over five pages, the draft BLM regulations raise concerns about how shooting can cause a “public disturbance.” They also raise worries about how shooting and shooters can hurt plants and litter public lands.

to

Our goal is to leave lands open to shooting,” said an Interior official for the Bureau of Land Management, which is drafting guidelines to deal with the growing clash between skittish urbanites moving to western wilderness areas and America’s tradition of letting gun owners shoot targets on public lands. [Read: Obama Pushing Shooters Off Public Lands.]

“We don’t want to have to close any areas,” said an official as BLM provided Washington Whispers with a statement clarifying the developing guidelines.

“We are in no way interested in banning recreational target shooting, hunting, or fishing—on the contrary, our goal is to develop guidance that will help land managers maximize and preserve opportunities for recreational shooting,” said the BLM statement.
Translation: "We thought we could shove this through, but the rednecks and gun nuts screamed at the politicians, and the politicians actually told us 'No'!"
You get the feeling they're worried about what might happen to them after the next election or something...

Words from Gene Simmons

Among others:
People say things like: "Oh, you make so much money. What do you need any more for?"

Well, actually, b*tch, I never asked for your opinion. I'll let you know when I have enough money.

And a thought occurs:

if fracking can supposedly cause earthquakes, why don't we see lots of them in the region around Fort Sill, in southwest OK? When the redlegs are live-firing the big guns you can feel the impacts for miles(especially the 8" stuff); and they've been using these ranges for decades.

So Chesapeake Energy is playing games to trash coal

in hopes of pushing up markets for natural gas. Just friggin' wonderful.
Knowing that the junk science war against fracking has just begun, it’s more than frustrating to know that the frackers are willing to do the same to another innocent party.

Chesapeake’s problem is not the coal industry. Its problem is the radical environmentalists who are purposefully blocking U.S. economic recovery and growth in part through their war against fossil fuel production. A growing economy would actually require more energy, including gas, and gas prices would rise as demand increased.

We need to develop all forms of energy: coal, gas, oil, nuclear, wind, solar, whatever. Energy is not the zero-sum game — swap coal for gas — that McClendon seems to think it is. And paying the enemy to employ junk science is not the right way to gain friends and influence people.
I've told people who accuse me of not wanting progress because- well, I hate Mother Nature or clean air or something- when I've pointed out what a crock a lot of 'clean' energy is, "Look, if someone finds a way to make solar panels that a hundred square feet of which will power a home all day without costing enough to build another house, or a motor fuel that can start replacing gasoline now without needing a new car to use it, I'll be thrilled; I LOVE the idea of telling the oil ticks "Guys, we no longer need your oil; bye." But it has to be something we can use NOW, not a decade or two in the future(or more) AFTER someone discovers it, and this 'green' energy crap doesn't cut it. Unless you want to trash civilization back to the early days of civilization, WE NEED OIL AND GAS AND COAL." And we do; having Chesapeake playing footsie with the enviroweenies to try and pump up their market is idiotic.

Yes, if we get rid of EVERYONE in Congress

we lose some good ones; but look at all the slimeballs we'd remove.

And that doesn't even touch on the excuse-makers for Rangel and Dodd and so forth.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Cadillac of Shotguns

is right; $1800 each?

One like bothers me:
"We fired this weapon for five hours straight at training and then we just wiped the guns down because they don't get dirty," Hutcheson said.
So either they're coated with Non-Stick Unobtanium or Mr. Hutcheson is full of crap.

Damn, I'd forgotten about National Ammo Day

I find it interesting that the Brady Bunch calls this

'a horrible and tragic gun violence victim', but doesn't seem to have much to say on the little bastard being a gang-banger and drug user. And getting killed while 'probably stopping off to buy a joint'.


Different subject, but: crashed Spitfire is found, the guns intact and in pretty good condition. Using parts of all built one that successfully fired, and then
The machine guns will now be made safe and join the rest of the aircraft on permanent display in Londonderry, where Wolfe was based, a city on the edge of Europe that played a pivotal role in the war.
'Made safe' probably meaning welded and/or cut. Damn.

A new Colt gatling gun;

This fits under the heading "If I had the money to get one, I'd have a living room big enough for this to be displayed in the corner. When it's not in use."

They knew. Everybody knew. This one email proves it.

This email. Sipsey Street Exclusive, indeed.
For those who can't go to SSI, I'm going to post most of this:
"They should probably hire a media expert anyway to assist them in explaining the 2000 firearms and the possible connection in the murder of the Border Patrol Agent." -- Glenn W. Cook, 17 December 2010.
This story is based on a William LaJuenesse piece on FOX this afternoon which mentioned, but did not completely put into context, an email written two days after the murder of Brian Terry by Glenn W. Cook. Once I found out of the email's existence, I checked my sources until I located one. I will say that I did not get it from anyone at FOX.

Let me begin by introducing Glenn W. Cook.

Glenn Cook is the Deputy Chief of the Special Prosecutions unit of the Criminal Division, Department of Justice, Southern District of Texas in Houston.

From the DOJ website:
...
Mr. Cook has handled all manner of sensitive cases in his area of operations, many of which are regularly reported up the chain of command to the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, Lanny Breuer.

Sources report that before the Terry murder in December 2010, ATF agents in El Paso -- in the Southern District of Texas, that is, in Glenn Cook's part of the world -- had made a seizure of weapons that turned out to have been from Operation Fast and Furious, then being run by David Voth and Hope MacAllister in Group VII in the Phoenix field division of ATF. This OCDETF task force was supervised by Assistant United States Attorney Emory Hurley.

Voth and MacAllister, backed by Hurley and the Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division William Newell, repeatedly refused to cooperate with the Texas agents working the case, thereby crippling their the case. Not surprisingly, Texas refused to take no for an answer and kicked the problem upstairs, to Mr. Cook.

Two days after the murder of Brian Terry, Charlie Smith, the ASAC of the Dallas Field Division forwarded the email from AUSA Cook to the senior ATF supervisor at the Phoenix ATF Field Division, Jim Needles.

Needles, you may recall, was present at the 11 March 2011 meeting with Lone Wolf Trading Company owner Andre Howard and his attorney, Larry Gaydos. From my story about that meeting:

There were a number of things that Howard and Gaydos knew going into this meeting, according to the sources. Howard knew that the two Kalashnikovs that had been found at the Terry murder scene traced back to his shop. He also knew that a "third gun" had been found at the scene, and that it was an SKS that traced back to Texas. These facts he knew from ATF agents directly after the Terry killing.

Yet, to a man, the DOJ and ATF participants in the meeting sought to reassure Howard and his attorney that none of the weapons found at the murder scene had come from Lone Wolf and, more incredibly, they maintained that all of the weapons that had come from Howard's gun shop had been interdicted before they went across the Mexican border.

Howard, the sources say, had previously been told that by Hurley and at this meeting that falsehood was backed up by Morrissey.

"They were in a complete state of factional denial," said one source, adding, "They kept insisting that everything Dodson and the other whistleblowers were saying were lies," and that "the real truth would come out in the trials of the straw buyers."

According to a source familiar with the recollections of the meeting by its participants, "There were people in that room, and not just Gaydos and Howard, who knew that . . . it was bullshit and completely ridiculous."

Notes taken by Tonya English, at least those turned over to the Oversight Committee, do not reflect those statements, however. Although English was reported to have taken "copious notes," according to one source, the notes turned over to the committee are said to be a mere list of meeting participants. This column attempted to contact Ms. English and other meeting participants by email about the discrepancy, but as of this writing they have not responded.

Where did the notes go? "I guess you'll have to ask English that," said the federal source. "It isn't the first document that disappeared in this investigation and it won't be the last."

Ironically, according to all the sources, AUSA Hurley, while denying the obvious, admitted an even more dangerous fact.

"Howard told the meeting that he knew there was a third gun found at the scene and that it had been traced," said one source, adding, "Hurley admitted that there was but said that neither it nor the AKs came from Lone Wolf so Howard didn't have anything to worry about."

Neither Howard nor Gaydos was that stupid. It was also in early March that Howard began taping ATF Group VII supervisor Hope MacAllister, tapes where MacAllister also admits that there was a third gun.

"I think Gaydos knew that DOJ was taking a completely untenable position," said one federal source. "Factually, it just was not credible."


When Needles received the forwarded email, he must have run, not walked, it to his immediate superiors, including Newell and Hurley.

Here is the text of the email. I will post the pdf link here when it is up later this evening.

From: Smith, Charles E.
Sent: Friday, December 17,2010 7:01 PM
To: Needles, James R.
Subject: FW:

FYI

Charlie Smith
ASAC
Dallas Field Division
(LARGE BLOCK REDACTED)

From: Cook, Glen W.
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 2:14 PM
To: Smith, Charles E.
Cc: Cook, Glen W.
Subject:

Charlie,

I advised AUSA Russ Leachman through SAs Steve Hall and Curtis Williams to provide me with a Grand Jury Subpoena for RAC David Roth and Holly in Phoenix to obtain the required evidence needed in our investigation here. AUSA Leachmnan has now advised the AUSA in Phoenix that the ATF agents here need access to the case in Phoenix since the ATF Phoenix office refuses to provide us with the evidence.

I wish that Leachman would have given those subpoenas to me but if the AUSA in Phoenix refuses to comply then maybe Phoenix should start preparing their explanations for the way that they conducted their straw purchase cases there. They should probably hire a media expert anyway to assist them in explaining the 2000 firearms and the possible connection in the murder of the Border Patrol Agent.

Thanks,

Glen


First of all, "David Roth and Holly in Phoenix" actually refer to David Voth and Hope MacAllister. Cook simply got it wrong. This is confirmed by a source of mine, who states:

"It is an email about Dave Voth and Hope MacAllister, after they had Newell call HQ and Dallas Field Division to have them stand down on following up on an El Paso seizure. The Dallas Field Division would have had the "cartel associates" that Phoenix claims as their success story over a year earlier."


Now, let's review. In order to compel the cooperation of Voth and MacAllister, Cook is threatening to have them subpoenaed by the grand jury! By forwarding this to Needles, Charlie Smith is giving Needles the heads up -- "Get off the track, the train's coming."

But it is this that is remarkable:

"(I)f the AUSA in Phoenix refuses to comply then maybe Phoenix should start preparing their explanations for the way that they conducted their straw purchase cases there. They should probably hire a media expert anyway to assist them in explaining the 2000 firearms and the possible connection in the murder of the Border Patrol Agent."

And Cook writes this off-handed threat to Phoenix only two days after the murder of Brian Terry! How does he know the number of weapons? How does he know that this stems from the way Phoenix "conducted their straw purchase cases"?

What, then, are we to conclude from this? Well, I'll tell you.

They knew.

EVERYBODY in ATF and DOJ along the border knew, and they knew it before the murder of Brian Terry, for it obviously is no surprise to the highly-placed AUSA Cook, and he doesn't mind using this common knowledge to achieve the desired result from Phoenix.

One more thing.

Sources tell me that in any dispute between DOJ AUSAs, there is a "deconfliction process" that is "written in stone." "All such disputes automatically get kicked upstairs," said one source, and "certainly would be known immediately to the head of the Criminal Division." Meaning, of course, Lanny Breuer. "Also, Holder would have been briefed about it," said the source.

One more thing to ask Breuer and Eric Holder about in the 8 December hearing.

If they're smart (and I don't consider them dumb), the committee investigators will have a subpoena ready for Glenn W. Cook as well.
Yeah, Holder and Breuer and everybody else knew. We know that the FBI jiggered the NICS checks on people to allow firearm buys by people who can't legally buy guns(hell, can't even legally touch one), and if you think the FBI Director didn't at the least know about it, then I have a bridge in New York to sell you*. We know that one of the people right in the middle of running this mess is a longtime friend and subordinate of Napolitano. And now this.

Oh yeah, they all knew. Assuming the Stupid Party 'leadership' has the balls, I wonder how many people are looking at perjury charges right now?
Codrea has a copy of the email here


*Until the OWS clowns burn it or blow it up

It's unpossible that he shot at the White House:

if he's got that criminal record he can't get a gun, it's illegal! And in DC, at that!


And it was about to get worse.Bloomberg would have looked even weaker if he didn’t thwart an OWS threat to storm the New York Stock Exchange, a massive action that was planned for tomorrow, multiple sources said.

“His Wall Street friends wouldn’t stand for it,” one source said.

The OWS eviction was actually planned for weeks — but it was only on Sunday that Bloomberg finally decided to pull the trigger, during a secret meeting at Gracie Mansion with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Fire Commission Sal Cassano, Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway and Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo, sources said.


And yet more delights promised by some OWS members:
Ain’t no more talking, They got guns we got bodies. They got bricks we got rocks. Let’s see what they got. [Young man in the background] They got missiles, we got bombs. I want them…I want them to make that decision so they can see…in a few days you going to see what a molotov cocktail can do to Macy’s.


Well, yeah, if Kagan had any real ethics she'd already have recused herself from the case; but since it appears she lied about this in her confirmation hearings, I doubt she has. And the party that makes excuses for and supports Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and Pelosi and Rangel sure won't hold her to any real standard.


If this information is correct, not only does the OWS movement in Oakland have nazis as members, it has them- or, at the least, Jew-hating clowns- in high position in the teacher's union.


You have to prioritize risks and benefits:


Lawdog had a post a while back on just why the hoplophobes and gun bigots are lying when they say guns should be treated like driving/owning a car; Uncle points out that, with a law trying to do just that, they're crapping their pants.


TSA demonstrates, once again, that this is all about theater.


"If only we had gun laws like (formerly Great)Britain, things would be so nice! Let's just ignore the crime rates and that those laws don't stop criminals from getting guns..."


I haven't tried Slipstream lube, but I can still pretty much guarantee that this was NOT caused by the lube. ANY lube.


Yeah, if the PRC hits the wall, it'll get real interesting.


And, I need to go to the store. And do some loading. And make one last effort to find the !#)(*#$&&&^ screw that fell of the table the other night and vanished into the ether.

The other day someone played part of that Sandusky interview,

and I can only come to these conclusions:
He doesn't have a lawyer, or
He doesn't listen to his lawyer,
His lawyer is looking for a way out of representing him, or
His lawyer figures this fits into some kind of insanity plea.
I'm not sure if 'amazing' or 'disgusting' is the best descriptive

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Further proof that A: BATFEIEIO has NO FREAKING BUSINESS (updated)

making law by fiat, and B: Just how chaotic and stupid firearms laws are. Combine the two and you have this idiocy
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives FirearmsLink Technology Branch has deemed “Chore Boy copper cleaning pads, along with fiberglass insulation,” a firearm, subject to registration and a $200 transfer tax, an official letter obtained recently by Gun Rights Examiner reveals. The response to an attorney inquiry by John R. Spencer, Chief, Firearms Technology Branch, offers one of the more creatively restrictive assessments since ATF declared a shoestring to be a machinegun.
In case you doubt, read the link; yes, they actually did do that.
Update: Cramer has some more information, including this:
It turns out that if you have a registered silencer, and you (not the licensed manufacturer of the silencer) replace the worn out parts inside with a Chore Boy pot scrubber (which is essentially the same material as the silencer comes with from the manufacturer), you are in violation of the law. Worse: if you keep Chore Boy pot scrubbers and you own a silencer, you have in your possession unlawful silencer materials, and are in violation of the law.


Speaking of idiocy, I'm going to ste- borrow a post from Sipsey on one of the earlier follies on the subject of 'suppressors'; it's a long one:
To all retail customers:

On January 2010 American Tactical Imports Inc received official notification from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives that the original barrel shroud (aka: fake suppressor) supplied with your GSG 5 SD model must be replaced. It has been determined that this shroud is regulated under the National Firearms Act. American Tactical will provide a replacement shroud at no charge for each GSG 5 SD model sold or currently in inventory.

Consumers in possession of a GSG 5 SD model with the original shroud in place on the firearm are now in violation of the NFA. To avoid continued violation of the NFA, ATI asks that all persons in possession obtain a replacement shroud as soon as possible. We anticipate arrival of the new shrouds to begin by the middle of February 2010.

IMPORTANT: THE ORIGINAL SD MODEL SHROUD MUST BE RETURNED ACOMPANIED BY THE FIREARM SERIAL NUMBER BEFORE A REPLACEMENT SHROUD IS ISSUED. THE DIAMETER OF THE SD SHROUD IS 1-9/16”. DO NOT RETURN THE SMALLER CARBINE SHROUD.

WHAT TO DO:

If possible return your old shroud to the dealer where purchased and show him this notice. The shroud will be returned to ATI along with a list of serial numbers from the guns that the shrouds were removed. ATI will send replacements to the dealer for pick up at your convenience; ATI will be sending replacements as fast as logistics allow. If your dealer is out of business or difficult to reach, or you purchased your gun used, from a consumer, return the shroud directly by US mail or UPS to American Tactical Imports Inc. 100 Airpark Drive Rochester, NY 14624.

PLEASE TRY NOT TO CALL US. We will provide comprehensive information on our web site www.americantactical.us , and www.ar15.com or by e-mail to atiexchange@americantactical.us

REMEMBER, INCLUDE THE FIREARM SERIAL NUMBER WITH EACH SHROUD OR A REPLACEMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED.

This action IS NOT being instituted through any fault and is strictly due to NFA compliance. American Tactical will assume the responsibility to satisfy the requirements in an effort to minimize the impact on our customers and protect your investment.

We at American Tactical Imports Inc. sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by this unfortunate situation.

Sincerely,
Anthony DiChario
President C.E.O. retailcandoc.021210



This is what I found most interesting from the Q&A below:

We at ATI only have an official ruling on the can its self as being now classified as a real silencer. ATF has not issued any official documents regarding this publicly or to ATI, other than having their lawyers approve the statement that starts this thread for consumers. (Emphasis supplied, MBV) I wish I had a 'here's the official word!' doc from ATF to give you, but it appears at this time I will not be getting one, or be allowed to show you what I already have.


So, the Chief Counsel's Office is up to their old CYA secretive tricks again.

Here is the Q&A following the statement on the same ARF-com thread:
How much more is the replacement going to weigh? Is the finish any better on the new one. Mine chips the paint if you look at it wrong. Will it look the same when installed on the rifle?

The original SD fake suppressor weight .45 LBS (7.2 ounces). The new fake suppressor weight .5 LBS (8 ounces) so there's not really too much difference in the overall weight. Looking at the new one next to the old one, the finish looks the same. The modification is completely internal, there is no change in the guns appearence with the new fake suppressor.


OK, since this applies ONLY to the GSG5/SD does this mean that the standard GSG5-carbine is in the clear???? Or is the fate of the GSG5-carbine "yet to be determined"??????????

As it stands right now it is only the SD can that is being effected by the mind changing at ATF.


Another damn delay on getting an SD conversion kit!

Tell me about it


And I am to be responsible to ship it back? I would like you to pick it up

At this time, we would like you to return it to the dealer where you bought it from. That way we can get them in bulk from the dealer and ship replacements to one location. How it gets to your dealer is up to you.


interesting, brings up a couple of questions, wasnt it passed before importation? and what reason do they give?

Yes it was. I even have a letter I'm not allowed to share where they revoked our permits for being approved in error. The brunt of this entire situation is on ATI here, please don't look for an official letter to be issued to the public by the ATF because I get the feeling they will not.


just curious, what will the replacement shroud look like? will it be the smaller version, or something completely different?

Nope, dead ringers. In fact, the modification can be done at the factory on the original version, which is why we're not destroying them. Cost saving.


Is there an issue with the carbine models?

Not yet. Doesn't mean that they won't change their ruling on that either at this time though.


isnt the carbine and the SD the same thing besides "girth"? i cant see why they would have changed the design without letting ATI know about it.....even thought they already changed the finish

This is the real kick in the groin here is that there has never been an alternate 'version' of the fake suppressor. The carbine version was a hollow shroud when it went in for testing, all the guns have hollow cans. Same for the SD. I think what's bothering me the most is that field agents have told dealers (I have several different accounts of this) that the can was originally solid and that it was altered at some point in time. Sorry fellas but EVERY SINGLE GSG-5 AND GSG-5SD HAS A HOLLOW CAN. It's the only way they were ever made. Also to pre-empt some questions too, THERE ARE NO APPROVED CANS ON ANY SD THAT IS IN THE COUNTRY. All the new GSG-522 guns, when they come out will have the new style can.


Does the fake can actually reduce the dB ?

Mikey threaded one onto the 5P and shot a bunch of rounds. Nope, there is no noticable change in dB. I don't think ATF even tested it before revoking our licenses.


I know that "we must comply or else" but seriously, what is the reason behind this? Is it based on potential? Should we stop selling 2 liter colas and baby bottle nipples?

When we met with the ATF about this in january one of their field agents showed us how to make a suppressor out of a bottle of water that was on the table. Granted, we have seen fake cans come in on gun repairs that have definitely been altered and maybe they seized a gun with an altered one, i really don't know. They contacted us about it way back in November and it's all been slowly building up, but other than letting us know that we imported over 13 thousand guns that they have now decided are NFA firearms, telling us to formulate a plan for a recall/swap out and sending agents here to monitor our movements on this, they're not really telling us a whole lot.


Isn't the end of the barrel even with the muzzle end of the "can"?

Yes, doesn't matter apparently.



What reason did they give for the can falling under NFA?

Actually, I do have this, kind of, although the wording of the law and their reasons only kind of match up if you squint and tilt your head to the side a bit. Here is what the referenced in their letter regarding the re-testing of the shroud;

"As you are aware, the GCA, 18 USC $ 921 (a) (24), defines 'firearm silencer' as follows:

"....any device for silencing, muffling or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part intended only for use in such assembly or fabrication."

General characteristics of known firearm silencers include:
1 Ported inner tube (bleed holes)
2 Expansion chambers
3 Baffles or washers which create seperate expansion chambers
4 sound dampening material such as foam, steel wool and other materials
5 End Caps
6 Encapsulators

The previously submitted GSG-5SD barrel shroud incorporates a large expansion chamber and integral end caps and, therefore, was classified as a firearm silencer."

That's what they said.



so to me at least, the jury is still out on the issue of whether or not the standard carbine is effected by this as ATI has yet to state that it absolutely is not.

This is accurate. Right now we have to wait to see what ATF tells us to do.


what a bunch of shi+. Doesn't the ATF have anything better to do than come after firearms owners who own guns that THE ATF APPROVED IN THE FIRST PLACE??

Right on brother.


and HOW long am i gonna be without a can? well, i guess we have to ask when the replacement will be available first.....

Well, that is hard to say. My first shipment of replacment cans is going into US Customs tomorrow. Got about 1500. The manufacturer over seas can pump out a few thousand a month and of course they all have to be paid for. As previously mentioned, unfortunately, all the fine details are not 100% solidified on how we're doing all of this and what the ATF tells us we can and cannot do. Case in point, the ATF is issuing an amnesty period for consumers but hasn't decided what that is yet, but we had to go live with the news because of what their field agents are telling store owners. Decisions are coming from the higher up ATF brass but on site execution is being handled by field agents from Buffalo on the local level. Needless to say, lets hope one hand knows what the other is doing.


OK, so this doesn't make a lot of sense. If we remove the NFA regulated device and ship it, aren't we in further violation? If this device has suddenly become an NFA regulated item, isn't it more adviseable to destroy the device vs. shipping it? If I ship an "illegal" device via the USPS, haven't I just committed a whole entire series of additional felonies? Where is the actual ATF ruling?Do we have any kind of drop-dead date for compliance? I can't just take a silencer and ship it anywhere I'd like, if this device is now considered by legal definition a silencer––what your asking us to do is illegal. We need a whole lot more information on this issue.

I should think you would ask customers to remove and destroy the device, then supply a new one vs. returning and trying to ship an illegal device

I think your first sentence says it all my friend. ATF says that we are to export all fake silencers back to Germany. Each one we receive will have to be connected to the firearms serial number and manually accounted for by the ATF. We lucked out that the interior sleeve can be added to the old design so once we start shipping quantities back to Germany they can be retro-fitted to the new design so hopefully we'll have some good turn around on getting larger quantities of cans. Receiving back the cans at our facility for inventory and packing is the ATFs call, so I can't imagine they would hold you for shipping the can when it's what they have instructed.


Where is the actual ATF ruling?

We at ATI only have an official ruling on the can its self as being now classified as a real silencer. ATF has not issued any official documents regarding this publicly or to ATI, other than having their lawyers approve the statement that starts this thread for consumers. I wish I had a 'here's the official word!' doc from ATF to give you, but it appears at this time I will not be getting one, or be allowed to show you what I already have.


^^HOLY SHIT. u r right.

now, we are screwed sideways!!!

I will wait till I get a certified letter from the ATF that can accompany the "NFA Item" back to ATI.


Be prepared to not receive that letter, although I understand why you would want it. I want it too. The fact of the matter is that from April 2009 thru November 2009 we had a total of 5 approved permits to import the GSG-5SD, Cans individually for repair and the SD Conversion kit and those are now all revoked because of the changed decision. Rulings change and we as the importer, distributors, dealers and you as the consumer have to comply to their revision no matter if 'someone' is willing to admit fault or not. Once we physically mail letters to the dealers who have received GSG-5SDs from our distributors then it will be on the consumer to get the original can back, which really sucks a lot. But, if you keep your original fake can and in like, idk, two years get busted by an ATF guy for still having it, you'll be in some trouble.


The ATF should issue expedited approved form 1's

A nice wish, but don't count on it.


If the shop the weapon was purchased from is also a dealer that can legally sell silencers and other NFA items that would be a step in the right direction. In Iowa, I am not allowed to own a silencer unless I'm an approved LE or Mil user with the appropriate paperwork from the agency I work for. This still doesn't get around the fact that I don't have the appropriate ATF paperwork and am now magically in possession of a device that is banned in my state and there are maybe 1 or 2 FFLs in the whole state that deal with NFA devices.

This is where things are really hairy right now, especially because the ATF has told us they will offer an amnesty period but they have not said how long it will be. With everything having to be pushed up on getting this info out (thanks field agents) ATI is still dealing with setting up the distributors on this. Then we need to work with the dealers. Then we'll really be ready to deal with consumers. Unfortunately, it's not a perfect world. We're just trying to figure out which instructions given on which day from which division of ATF are the ones we need to follow with nothing but a silencer ruling on paper.

I still have yet to see the actual ATF ruling or when this is to be completed.


I recommend that you contact NFA branch of ATF at (304) 616-4500 and ask them for this. I have no response from the ATF that they are going to issue this at all to us or the general populace. They did make us remove quite a bit of dialogue regarding the ATF from our letter before their lawyers would let us make a statement.

exact reason the ATF disliked the fat SD can is known

One big hollow expansion chamber, end caps. That's it. I get irked by the wording in the ruling I put up in this thread a few lines up. It says expansion chambers-plural, we have expansion chamber-singular. Doesn't matter, they changed their minds, revoked my import licenses on original models and here we are.


Just curious, if this is such a big deal and all why no mention of this on the ATI webpage? Why is it that the only way you can find out about what is potentially a big problem is to stumble upon the notification here and here only? If you do a web search with the words GSG-5 SD and ATF you get nothing at all about this. I am curious as to how something like this is ever going to get out to the owners of these? Looks like we will have several folks in violation of the ATF's ruling and have no idea that they are.

Unfortunately, Brent who updates the website is out sick, so hopefully he will be back tomorrow and we will have our home page updated. Again, we were pressed into kicking off this information sooner than we were really ready to because of field agents auditing dealers and telling them some not so correct or definite information. ATI is in the process of tracking down every SD starting with our distributors. We then have to track from our distributors to the dealers, then from dealers to consumer. ATF is making us follow the course of, run it by ATF and wait for the ATF to approve the methods of action with their legal department. This is not a fast turn around unfortunately. As we know more I will be updating you on here and we will be updating our site once Brent is back.

If I didn't answer your questions let me know, but I hope that you have read all of this because as you can see, ATI doesn't really have a lot of answers right now either. We're taking it a day at a time and moving forward as we are directed to by the ATF.


Okay, folks.

Now here's some questions ATF doesn't want you to ask:

Who in the ATF Firearms Imports Branch approved this in the first place? I mean, they didn't come into the country without the ATF's approval, right? OK, which incompetent moke did it? Or rather, which politicized moke in the Chief Counsel's Office decided after the fact that the Brady Bunch wouldn't like what had already been approved?

Understand, they way they're telling it now, someone in this agency approved for import 13,000 unregistered suppressors. Don't they get to like lose their hall pass to go to the john unescorted, or something? Who reimburses the huge costs of this cluster-coitus that will be incurred by the manufacturer, the importer, the dealers and the customers? You gonna pay them back, Little Jimmy?

Yeah? I thought not.

Mike
III

So, between Obama not having the balls or integrity to decide

before the next election whether to build the pipeline or not may have screwed us no matter what he eventually decides. If he ever does.

Under the heading of 'settled science' we have crystals

that don't act like people thought they should:
Shechtman, 70, from Israel's Technion institute in Haifa, was working in the United States in 1982 when he observed atoms in a crystal he had made form a five-sided pattern that did not repeat itself, defying received wisdom that they must create repetitious patterns, like triangles, squares or hexagons.
Wow. New stuff, amazing stuff. Except
"People just laughed at me," Shechtman recalled in an interview this year with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, noting how Linus Pauling, a colossus of science and double Nobel laureate, mounted a frightening "crusade" against him, saying: "There is no such thing as quasicrystals, only quasi-scientists."

After telling Shechtman to go back and read the textbook, the head of his research group asked him to leave for "bringing disgrace" on the team. "I felt rejected," Shechtman remembered.
Well, the good doctor will have a Nobel Prize to set on his desk. And he's handling this a bit better than I might; there'd be strong temptation to cut a "I don't have to go back to the book, I'm REWRITING it you bastards" video after the way he was treated.

The Guerena family is suing

for wrongful death.

Yeah, discovery on this is going to be real interesting. For the family. For the sheriff's office and tac team, the word might be more like 'nightmare'.


So Officer Lupo is a liar, and committed perjury, but still has his badge? The department and prosecutors just won't want him to testify in court in the future? And we're supposed to trust ANYTHING that comes from these clowns?


Some real interesting developments and projects for military use. On the 'chameleon' camouflage, especially at a distance or in low-light conditions you wouldn't have to have perfection: if it just blurs/makes indistinct the wearer it makes him a much more difficult target.


So Veep Biden thinks the corrupt Corzine is the smartest guy he knows; and he helped Obama design the bailouts? And do other things? No wonder things are so effed up.


As Insty says, "Faster, please." My knees would love the help. And this for heart trouble...


"Shut up, I'm busy," Mayor Rahm explained.


Why do we think a lot of academics suck? Well...
The professor, who specializes in constitutional law, wrote the email last week in response to a university drive to collect items for U.S. troops, like sunblock and sanitary products. He also wrote that sympathy for American troops in harm’s way is “not particularly rational in today’s world.”


In Gunwalker news,
Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department sought to manipulate reporters’ coverage of Operation Fast and Furious during the days preceding a November 1 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, new emails obtained by The Daily Caller indicate.

Emails between senior Justice Department officials and investigators in the office of Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley show that congressional staffers leading the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious requested information about Operation Wide Receiver — a Bush administration program – and other similar cases, more than a full month before the DOJ leaked information to selected media outlets on October 31.

That Halloween document dump from the DOJ seemed calculated to depict Grassley’s investigation as partisan in nature.
...
It appears Holder’s team didn’t answer any of the investigator’s questions. Instead, the Justice Department held the information and related documents until the night before Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer was scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Those documents showed Breuer was at least partially responsible for Fast and Furious. Breuer subsequently issued a statement apologizing for not stopping the ATF agents leading Fast and Furious from implementing the same failed tactics used in Operation Wide Receiver — information he confirmed he had in April 2010.

The DOJ selectively picked which news outlets received the leaked documents, and which documents were released
.





And, totally unrelated to news but in the 'Woof' category,

So Sondra found a list of proposed OWS demands;

how many "Screw freedom, we want the gummint in control!" points can you find? I'll pick a few:
Repeal the Taft-Hartley Act. Unionize ALL workers immediately.

Raise the minimum wage immediately to $18/hr. Create a maximum wage of $90/hr to eliminate inequality.

Create a single-payer, universal health care system.

Pass stricter campaign finance reform laws. Ban all private donations. All campaigns will receive equal funding, provided by the taxpayers
.

And just to have some good double-taxation,
Institute a negative income tax, and tax the very rich at rates up to 90%

Create a 5% annual wealth tax for the very rich
.

Ban the private ownership of land.

Make homeschooling illegal. Religious fanatics use it to feed their children propaganda.
And(you KNOW they'd get to it)
Ban private gun ownership.
Yeah, can't have some armed peas-uh, counterrevolutionary non-persons disputing you taking their land and homes away from them, now can you?

And they think the represent 99% of the population...

Tasers and stun guns and muggers and drunk students,

oh my.

Which reminds me: few years back knew a lady who, due to a combination of stubborn/stupid/problems with authority, liked to go cruising through a couple of parts of town, late at night, where she had no business being. The cops quickly got to recognize her, of course, and she got pulled over several times, the conversation usually winding up as
"What are you doing here? You've got no business here, and you could get hurt."
"I can go anywhere I want to! Nyah!"
(I know; I told her myself; she didn't listen to me, either)

One night she came over to visit, and started the talking with "I hate that cop!"
Which one?
Seems the night before she'd been cruising, got pulled over, and somewhere in the "You could get hurt doing this" talk she said "I'm safe, I've got a stun gun!"
"Oh, those things don't work, let me show you." He took the stunner, stuck it on his hip, triggered it and stood there while it buzzed a couple of seconds, handed it back. "See? They don't work."
Now THAT made an impression. Why, here was the gadget she'd counted on if someone did attack her, and it didn't work!"
"So when I got home I was fooling with it, and I stuck it on my hip and pushed the button and I thought I'd died! I wound up on the floor, and it HURT! How'd he do that?"

I didn't help, sitting there laughing my ass off; I finally got out "D, he stuck it on his wallet. The shock can't get through all that."

The look on her face.

Finally, "Why did he do that?" Shock and amazement and some wonder in her voice.

"He was trying to get you to stop cruising late at night in a place where you could get your dumb ass raped and murdered, and he'd have to find the body."

No, it didn't help. She kept doing it until the night she had an accident(probably had added a beer or two to the attitude) and damn near died.

On lotteries and bears

Monday, November 14, 2011

Mrs. Obama, why don't you let us deal with our kids' palates

and you & your friends just piss off?

Altoids tins:

all kinds of uses.

I've used them for flint & steel sets(holds striker, flint and charcloth), for small first-aid and emergency kits, and for general storage of stuff.

Found linked over at Uncle

"What? If a womans boobs are hanging out

men will focus on them? Whoda thunk it?"
Which connects somewhat with this and some of the linked posts; which boil down to "Men can't think like women, so you have to make allowances for the poor dears." For instance,
  • Asking a man how he feels is like asking him about quantum physics. He has no idea how to process that question. (Rather, ask him what he thinks.)
    Oh, we can process it; and we know it's often a booby trap to get us to say something not 'right' that can then be used to beat us over the head with. Or,
  • Well, when men are working they are doing just that: working. They are singularly focused. Women, though, can do 100 things at once. We can participate in a conference, notice we need a manicure, write a to-do list AND wonder what our boyfriend is doing - all at the same time. That would make a man's head explode.
  • Yeah. Right. Sure. Single-minded cavemen, that's us. Incapable of handling multiple things unless they're v e r y s i m p l e.

    Ref the first thing in this post, they had to do a study? Years back, when one of daughter's friends had been bitching about 'guys staring at me', etc., I told daughter "Well, if 'X' doesn't like the attention, why's she wearing a skirt that ends just below her crotch, and/or a top open to the waist and no bra? She damn well knows that makes guys look, and if she says it bothers her she's lying; otherwise she wouldn't dress that way."

    About Tulsa

    Big show, but you could tell the economy is wearing on things: you usually see an empty table or two, but there were more than I've seen before. And people attending, numbers were down: not as obvious on Saturday, but on Sunday...

    Seems like some people are worse about asking high prices on things, too, though that's just my impression(Attention: just because it's a nice 'X', made by 'Y' sixty years ago, doesn't mean somebody's going to pay THAT for it).

    Got to go in for a while Friday afternoon during setup, and observed a One Houndpower Wheelchair; lady in what appeared a racing-type chair holding a leash attached to the harness of a ~50-pound dog, who was happily pulling her along at a trot. He must've been quite used to it, as he kept a nice, straight path and allowed no distractions to pull him off line.

    And I got to see my remaining Grail firearm for the first time: a S&W K32 Target Masterpiece. Looked like had never been fired, in the box, $2200. Which means it will remain a Grail piece for some time to come. Apparently those that were actually used by people are still in the family and they're not turning loose; the others, either bought as investments or just never used, are going for premium prices. This is the least-costly one I've seen and the first I've physically seen; all I've seen online have had asking prices about $2300 and up. And for a pistol I want to actually take out and Linkshoot... nope.

    And I saw something else: Coonan was there with a display of their .357 Mag autopistols. Impressive. Solid, welll-fitted, well-balanced. One of the guys had his as one of the display pieces, says has ~5k rounds through it and it still felt tight and smooth. Oleg Volk has a bunch of pictures on his site. Something I'd definitely like to have down the road.

    Sunday, November 13, 2011

    Yes, I'm still around

    No, I'm not in hiding. Yes, the busy has now eased off. Yes, I went to the Tulsa gun show. More on that tomorrow, but I will say that, on Saturday, my Gunwalker t-shirt got a lot of attention, ranging from "Did you get it here?" to laughter to, from a couple of people, "Did you hear what Holder said the other day?" I'm going to start carrying some printed slips with his address on them; even without that, I think I got him some business.

    In the meantime, having had time to look around a bit, the Labour Party in Britain did even more to screw things up- actively- than already known.


    On the Gunwalker Follies,
    Stonewalling. Few public officials have been less forthcoming than Holder, whose constantly shifting excuses for F&F all boil down to: the dog ate my homework.

    Holder at first denied knowing much of anything, then said he’d only learned of the operation (which ran 2009-2010) at the start of this year, when in fact he’d been briefed much earlier -- and then said he didn’t read the briefing memos because, hey, he’s a busy guy.

    Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa became so frustrated with Holder’s slow-walking of requested Justice documents that last month he issued subpoenas for reams of them, as well as for the AG to testify for the third time before Congress, which he did Tuesday.

    “I want to be clear: Any instance of so-called ‘gun walking’ is unacceptable,” said Holder piously before blasting critics for playing “gotcha” games. He also said he knew nothing about Dodson’s smear, and dodged questions about it.

    Worst of all, he refused to apologize for the death of a Border Patrol agent killed by a Fast and Furious weapon.
    And we know that, after getting his ass ripped for that last, he 'apologized' to the family; by sending a letter to Politico.


    A teacher at a $14k/year private school takes the little bastards to OWS; I wonder if they realize their families are part of the '1%' OWS would like to hang? And i wonder how much the teacher makes?


    And that's it for now; I need some tea, and some booze later, and to clean up the mess I dropped in the living room floor. Oh, and the way the Security Staff greet me so joyously after I've been gone a couple of days? "Oh, you're back. Wag. Feed us."