Saturday, February 02, 2013

Because I'm too tired to get outraged tonight, tab-clearing time

Sandra Fluke is a friggin' idiot drama queen.


New York sheriffs ain't happy:
Whíle there are some areas of the legislation that the union finds encouraging, such as addressing glaring shortcomings in the mental health system, by-and-large, our membership finds the legislation to be little more than a thinly-veiled attempt at regulating lawful gun ownership out of existence. From the manner in which the legislation was negotiated in secret, to the fashion in which it was brought to the Senate floor for vote, there was nothing about the process that was transparent or that took into consideration what cannot be disputed that law-abiding gun owners are not and have not been the source of criminal activity.


The calculus of genocide


And they bitch at us about nasty language.
Just like the idiots calling Bush a nazi; if they actually believed we were this bloodthirsty and uncaring, they'd be scared to death to say this crap.


More on the Trentadue case


AP wants to fight NBC for the "Fake up the news" crown


And a note: the argument I mentioned the other day, the lady kept insisting we need to 'try gun control, and if it doesn't work we can change it.  Don't you care enough to find out if it works?'
Pointed out- repeatedly- it HAS been tried, and it hasn't worked.  Didn't matter "We have to do something!"  Apparently even if we know it won't work.
To borrow from Quint, it's enough to piss off the Good Humor man.

“That senator also likes the youngest and newest girls,”

the woman wrote on April 21, 2012, according to an English translation provided to The Daily Caller by a native Spanish speaker.

“In the beginning he seemed so serious, because he never spoke to anyone, but he is just like the others and has just about the same tastes as the doctor, very refined. I think they were taking us more often to get us checked [medically] because of him.”
But worry not!  He's a bigshot Democrat, so no problem.
At least the media thinks so, because some of them knew about this before the election and didn't say a word.
A lot of the media STILL won't say a word.

And tell your "Right-wing media!  Untrustworthy!" friends that this part comes from ABC(who actually is finally reporting on it):
Federal agents raided the West Palm Beach eye clinic of a longtime friend and political supporter of Sen. Robert Menendez earlier this week after a document shredding truck was observed at the building, following attempts by FBI agents to question Dr. Salomon Melgen about his relationship with the New Jersey Democrat, according to federal officials familiar with the investigation.
Seems that Menendez very hurriedly 'paid the doctor back' for the flights AFTER he heard about the investigation.  Very honest of him, what?


Friday, February 01, 2013

A little more on Mother Jones' bullcrap

in their mass-shootings article:
So, what we have is national legislation aimed at 35 weapons that were used in 25 instances over 31 years in a nation that contains approximately 300 million guns. What's more, the last time this ban went into effect, it failed to stop the acquisition and use of over a third of all assault weapons used in mass shootings since 1982. This legislation is likely to be wholly impotent to stop mass violence—the catalyst for this legislation.
As he says, they're making the case AGAINST a new AWB.
Bet it really pisses them off to hear that.

Why don't we trust people like Feinstein & Co.?

Another reason why:
According to the bill, any semiautomatic firearm that uses a magazine — handgun, rifle or shotgun — equipped with a “pistol grip,” would be banned. That sounds like a limitation, but it is not.

A pistol grip (on page 2) is defined (on page 13) as “a grip, a thumb-hole stock, or any other characteristic that can function as a grip.” In other words, the gun list does not matter. It is a smokescreen designed to distract people from the true meaning of the bill. And it has done a magnificent job. It worked!

This is along the same lines as the 'any weapon capable of accepting a magazine of greater than' crap; since virtually ANY magazine-fed arm is 'capable of accepting, guess what?

I truly do despise these bastards.

And now stuff starts coming out about Obama's nominee for ATF head

A former director of the Minneapolis FBI office sent a letter this week to members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee denouncing B. Todd Jones' performance as U.S. attorney in Minnesota as they prepare to consider his nomination to director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Donald E. Oswald, 54, a self-declared Democrat and supporter of President Obama, said he felt "morally compelled" to alert the committee about what he describes as Jones' "atrocious professional reputation within the federal law enforcement community" in Minnesota.

"He was, and still remains, a significant impediment for federal law enforcement to effectively protect the citizens of Minnesota from violent gang, drug and gun activities," Oswald wrote in an eight-page, single-spaced letter
.
This is going to hurt Jones, I think; having a former SAIC come out and call him a corrupt jerk isn't exactly what Obama and Holder want people to hear.

And on that mess in Milwaukee I mentioned a couple of days ago,
“If these reports are accurate, your ability to provide this leadership is in serious doubt,” the letter from the congressional members to the acting head of the ATF said. “You promised to ‘hit the reset button’ when you became acting director. Instead, it appears as though you have hit the ‘repeat’ button, as the Fearless Distributing sting was created and conducted entirely under your stewardship.’”
Maybe, just maybe...


I was informed last night, by someone who thinks registering guns 'just like cars'

is a sensible idea, that information from a 'mostly right-wing site' like PJ Media cannot be trusted, but stuff from Mother Jones is without flaw.
Yeah, that took some wrapping-of-the-mind around.
Also, she devoutly believes that line that 'the militia was formed to keep Indians and slaves in line', no other purpose.


Oh, and the Clinton AWB cut crime, magazine size needs to be limited, etc.


Ever used the Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black?  Color you get depends on the alloy you use it on, but it's like a lot of cold blue: treat the metal, rinse and dry, then oil and let it sit overnight; it ages well.


Couple of things on 'can gun control reduce violence?'
from War on Guns
from this article, link found at DoOT(I think; I scanned a lot of stuff the past hour)


On my best days I can approach this level of use of the language, but it's rare:
Dear New York City: If only there were some way I could possibly convey to you how little of a ____ I gave about your dead ex-mayor, I would, but I'm afraid that my amount of concern strays dangerously close to the Planck length, and is therefore so tiny that it's hard to convey to physicists, let alone drama or business majors.


Kevin takes on a Constitutional law specialist who appears to be very special.
And teaching, Deity help us.


Speaking of Mother Jones:
So did Hitler and the Nazis really take away Germans' guns, making the Holocaust unavoidable? This argument is superficially true at best...

Um, yeah, another way to put it is: “yes.”

Thursday, January 31, 2013

A letter from Sen. Coburn in reply to concerns about Feinstein & Co.

Thank you for contacting me regarding firearms and the Second Amendment.  There are few issues more controversial in our society or more central to any discussion on freedom’s foundation. 
 
Let me say from the outset that my response to you is not unique.  As you may know from previous correspondence, I take very seriously my responsibility to thoughtfully respond to each letter or email individually.  In this situation however, due the high volume of mail and my desire not to keep you waiting, I want to more generally share with you the principles that guide me in reviewing any legislation related our Second Amendment rights.  With that in mind, please do not hesitate to write again with further comments.  You can be certain I will personally receive your comments and respond to any additional concerns. 
 
As you know, the discussions now ongoing in Washington regarding guns are driven largely by the senseless murders that occurred in Newtown and Aurora this past year.   Unfortunately, the kind of unspeakable violence we saw on those darks days has become all-too-common in our society today.  While I think most of the solutions being offered look more at symptoms than the real disease, I do think it is entirely appropriate for our nation to take a hard look at itself and seriously examine the causal factors behind violent outbursts. 
 
First and foremost, this discussion on reducing violence must begin with one unshakable principle—our Constitution is the single greatest protector of life and liberty, and must not be infringed upon.  The same Bill of Rights that upholds the value of each and every human life also recognizes our inherent right to protect ourselves.  I reject any notion that one right must be sacrificed to strengthen the other.  In fact, I believe it is just the opposite.  This has been my guide throughout my time in the senate, and I think my record demonstrates that no other Senator has stood more firmly or alone in advancing these principles.   If you are interested in learning more, you can view my legislative record online at http://1.usa.gov/UGN28K and http://1.usa.gov/XoG6eT.
 
With this as my guide, I do believe there is a legitimate need to examine our current system for keeping guns out of the hands of those who are already prohibited by law from possessing such weapons—felons and those adjudicated as a “mental defective.”  While no legislation can stop every act of violence, including the tragedies of the past year, we should work within our constitutional authority to make these systems actually work.   And the truth is, there is a gap in current policy that allows these already-prohibited individuals to skirt the law and purchase weapons.  A large number of guns are sold outside of the current background check system and I believe we must re-examine our approach.
 
In reality, the current National Instant Check System (NICS), which is used by firearm sellers to determine whether a prospective buyer is eligible to purchase firearms, is incomplete and failing to achieve its desired results.  This is particularly true for those persons who have been adjudicated as a “mental defective,” and are supposed to be included in the NICS Index.  As a physician, I believe our nation must do more to ensure those with mental illnesses who are a threat to themselves and others have access to treatment and are prevented from accessing firearms. To this end, officials at every level of government must examine our compliance with current laws and policies aimed at achieving this. In 2007, Congress passed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act (P.L. 110-180) which established incentives for state, local, and tribal governments to increase the compliance of states reporting seriously mentally ill persons to the NICS system. However, a July 2012 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that these incentives have not been implemented, and the law has not achieved the intended purpose of improving the reporting rates of mental health records by states. As of October 2011, only 12 states had made substantial improvement in reporting, while almost half of the states, including Oklahoma, had barely made any progress in this area. While states have primacy in passing laws and establishing policies on how to submit records to the NICS index, Congress should review, and amend if necessary, the recently passed NICS Improvement Act to ensure that it achieves it intended purpose of properly identifying and preventing access to firearms for those who are prohibited from it.
 
In the weeks ahead, I am willing to listen to and discuss this issue with anyone who wants to seriously deliberate it.  We have much to gain from the discussion, including examining the obvious impact of violent media, the breakdown of the family unit, the lack of available mental health options, and the failure of the current administration to prosecute gun crimes.  It may surprise you to learn that prosecutions of federal guns crimes have dropped dramatically in recent years, and I believe Congress has a duty to hold the President and his Justice Department accountable for this lapse.  
 
As I enter these discussions, I do so with a firm commitment to our Constitution and the individual right to keep and bear arms.   There are no easy answers, but I do not believe we have anything to fear from an open, honest debate.
 
Thank you again for your message.  If you have additional concerns, I do hope to hear from you soon. 
 
 
Sincerely,
Tom A. Coburn, M.D.
United States Senator
 
Thoughts to be added later

Tab clearing,starting with Gunwalker news

Deal near on Holder contempt charges?

Some sort-of  punishment for those involved in Gunwalker?


Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius violated federal law by campaigning for President Obama on the taxpayers’ dime, but now that initial violation has the Democratic National Committee and an HHS aide in the spotlight for related alleged infractions.


One of Obama's favorite domestic terrorists calls for gun bans; no word as to whether she wants bombs decriminalized.


Troops respond to the gun bigots


Wind turbine falls over in 50mph winds; sucker would never last in OK.



Remember, this is the THIRD TIME they've caught NBC/MSNBC

screwing with video to show people what they WANT them to see, not what actually  happened.
And Martin Bashir is just big a dirtbag as Piers Morgan.
More of the professional media we're supposed to trust.


Medea Benjamin: "Free speech is very nice, as long as you say what we want said."
Take a look at the rest, because this is what the left/socialists/communists mean by 'responsible speech': You shut up, and we get to say what we want.


Some good stuff to show people who buy the Evil Assault Rifle crap.
Also that Joe Biden is a friggin moron, but if you don't know that by now...



Wednesday, January 30, 2013

All these cop shops getting APCs and M16s are bad enough,

But what the hell are they going to do with M14s?
The Cartersville Police Department, which has an armored personnel carrier and 17 M14 rifles.
•The Doraville Police Department, which has an armored personnel carrier.
•Newnan PD, which has an armored personnel carrier, 15 M16s and 12 M14s.
•Clayton County PD, which has a helicopter, an armored truck, 11 M16s and five M14s.
•Cobb County PD, which has an armored truck, 106 M16s and eight M14s. Cobb also has a second armored vehicle, which it bought using federal grant funds.

Even without those, Biden is full of crap. Which we already knew, but still.

Another "I'm a gun owner, BUT-" Updated

from, this time, a confessed 'liberal'.  One of the responses:
Gee, wouldn’t it be nice if the world had exactly zero guns in it?  Then your daughter could fistfight her rapist.


What?  Federal agents may have lied and connived and set people up?  Who would have imagined such a[cough-Fast and Furious-hack] thing?


Ah, the Senate: special privileges for hoplophobes, gun bigots and Democrats.


Update: just found this at Uncle's place.  Assuming you're willing to wade through a "I WAS a gun owner, BUT-" that's so loaded with bullshit it could be sold by the bag, go take a look.  I'm going to use one of the prize pieces of crap here:
I had my shotgun at the ready that spring night because there had been three break-in attempts on our house in as many months, the last in the early afternoon while my girlfriend was home. I don’t think they realized she was there — the car wasn’t in the driveway — and when they tried to kick down the door, already damaged by someone with a crowbar a couple weeks prior, she called the cops, then me.

I got there before they did and found her hiding in the bathtub, the front door in splinters around the hinges and a couple of shotgun shells lying on the porch. Presumably, whoever tried to break in had dropped the ammo while attempting to get inside.
I called my landlords to give notice and took my gun out of its case, removed the trigger lock and put it in that closet. The feeling of safety this gesture gave me was quite real.
So he put it in the closet.  Which one?
We’d already had a series of scary close calls, but this time I was ready: I had staged my shotgun and a box of shells in a broom closet right by the back door, next to the umbrellas.

While my girlfriend called the police, I ran into the kitchen and looked out the window just in time to see-"
Kind of amazing, really. If you were worried about people kicking in the door, would you put your scattergun IN THE CLOSET NEXT TO THAT DOOR?
As Unc says, Man the fuck up, Nancy. And keep your gun loaded to avoid those problems.  And, I would add, don't leave it where you did.
Added: aside from the 'couple of shotgun shells on the porch' which interests me, there's the time factor: she called the cops, then him, and he beat the cops there?  But now he's decided that having a gun is dangerous?  Damn.

Apparently being fired for pushing fake photos didn't get Piers Morgans' attention;

or he just likes lying about people.
As to what he was lying about, we're back to NBC faking video; wonderful journalists, aren't they?


More wonders from the BATFEIEIO; the clowns the President wants to give MORE money and MORE power to.
But the effort to date has not snared any major dealers or taken down a gang. Instead, it resulted in a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun landing on the streets of Milwaukee and the agency having $35,000 in merchandise stolen from its store, a Journal Sentinel investigation has found.

When the 10-month operation was shut down after the burglary, agents and Milwaukee police officers who participated in the sting cleared out the store but left behind a sensitive document that listed names, vehicles and phone numbers of undercover agents.


 On the 'getting old sucks' front, I spent about the last two weeks going from a little cough, to so stuffed-up that when I coughed it felt like the front of my skull wanted to come off and a throat that felt like I'd been gargling carpet tacks, to it finally easing off.  No fever or throwing up, at least.  But it's taking a while to get over this crap; I don't recover as fast as used to.
At least I can (mostly) breathe through my nose again.

Just how badly is Californicated?

"He was not a murderer!  Whites wrote that!  He was a California Hispanic Freedom Fighter!"
A California school district is defending its decision to name a new elementary school after an infamous murderer – by calling him a hero and a role model to children. The decision has infuriated many parents and law enforcemetn officers.
Obligatory references to slave-owning founders and that murderer Reagan follow.



Bleep, look what Oleg found!

 What-the-hell-is-it here.




Tuesday, January 29, 2013

From a few years back, still valid:

“Perhaps more important than the physical disarmament the government is attempting is the  moral disarmament that accompanies it. If we accept the view that the American people cannot be trusted with the material objects necessary to defend their liberty, we will surely accept as well the view that the American people cannot be trusted with liberty itself…. By disarming, we will confess to our government that we no longer aspire to sovereignty, and wish our rulers to take up this burden in our stead. We will be signaling with great clarity that we wish to be comfortable slaves — and slaves, at least, we will soon become.”
Found here, with some analysis of what the 'suspension for finger guns' crap is really about. 


It's end of January, and there's some rain outside.  Which, this being Oklahoma, is accompanied by a tornado watch.
For some reason it can't just bloody rain here...


Monday, January 28, 2013

"What? You expect ME to trust to the regular cops, like I tell the commoners to do?

Stockton, go let that peasant know I'm not pleased!"


Contrast with
My father once told me: son, the single biggest mistake me and your grandad did was to surrender our guns in 1949 when the communists made gun ownership illegal. You paid for our mistake and I am sorry for that.

Now I have a 22 year old son and I am making ANYONE who wants to come to my home take my guns away A PLEDGE:

YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY GUNS. BE READY TO DIE IF YOU TRY AS I AM ALREADY PREPARED TO GIVE MY LIFE TO STOP YOU.
I WILL NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE MY FATHER AND GRANDFATHER DID.
I WILL NOT LET MY SON TO LIVE IN SLAVERY LIKE I DID. I WILL NOT LET HIM RISK HIS LIFE FIGHTING ANOTHER REVOLUTION TO OVERTHROW ANOTHER DICTATOR BECAUSE I WAS A COWARD AND GAVE UP INTO YOUR DEMANDS.

I owe that to my son. And I owe it to all the people who died for liberty in December 1989.

So help me God
.


Snork...
Thank you Senator Feinstein, that line should go down in history with other memorably phrases such as the following:

At least some of these statist bastards are honest about it

Not that that reduces the enormity of their offense.
San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne is fully supportive of the Obama/Feinstein gun grab, and says if lawmakers play it right Americans can be completely disarmed within “a generation.”
Well, I have three things to say:
1. Lansdowne, you're a miserable little oathbreaker, and you suck.
2. No.  HELL no.  And I wonder if you plan on going door-to-door to seize private property, or if you're like every other little shit gun bigot who plans on sending other people to do it.
3. If you think the bad guys would pay attention to your desires, you're too damn stupid to be wearing that uniform.

His betrayal of his oath is especially nasty when compared to this:

As to the people clowns like Lansdowne, Feinstein and Schumer are calling more and more names,
And yet the NRA has multiple millions of individual members — whom the left and the media are increasingly attempting to characterize as “fringe extremists.”   Along with just about anyone who stands up to constitutional abuses of any kind.

To which I’d say, people like Feinstein should be more careful about who they describe as venal extremists. Because at some point, those newly-minted venal extremists might just figure that, if they’re going to be cast in that role anyway, they may as well throw themselves into the performance.

Now we get to the racist gun bigots:
Farrakhan went on to say that the Second Amendment has little relevance in modern society, stating that the constitutional right to bear arms is outdated.
This from a clown who's surrounded 24/7 by his 'Fruit of Islam' bodyguards, and don't you wonder just what all they're carrying?
And if they bother with permits and such?


I get to eat at Chileno's again!

You might remember I'd written to them about their new 'no carry' signs on the doors.  I just received this :
After reading the e-mails that were sent to us, we have decided to change our policy on "no weapons". We have changed our signs to now say "No Open Carry". We will receive the new signs sometime next week.
We agree with your reasoning and acknowledge that we rushed into our first decision without considering the facts that have been mentioned by many of you.
Being a family friendly restaurant, we do not believe in allowing guns to be seen by children or their families while they enjoy their meals. That is why we will keep "No Open Carry" as our policy.
We are truly thankful that you took the time to write to us and let us see the issue through your point of view.
We do not want to lose you as customers and are now confident in this new policy.  We hope to see you back in our restaurants soon! 
If you have any concerns, please feel free to contact us.
Thank you,

They read the e-mails, and they actually considered what we had to say; and they changed the policy.  What more can you ask for?

Sunday, January 27, 2013

On the current bike

Going on three years back, the bike I’d had for almost 14 years developed a nasty problem of the “Do I want to spend the money and time fixing this?” type. I decided no. So the next decision was “Do I want another bike?” Well, hell yes. So started looking around. That bike was a Kawasaki Vulcan 750, and I’ll admit that if they’d still made that model I’d probably have bought another one and switched the seats and a few other things around before selling the old. But they dropped the 750 and went to a 900, which followed what seems to be the current design for cruisers: bigger than has to be and heavy. And I didn't like the style.  No-go there.

Sport bikes are a no-go, too. I’d ridden sons’ Ducati, and the performance was wonderful: fast, maneuverable, solid as a rock on the road. But the seating position sucked, after 30 minutes or so it started killing my hands and wrists*.  They also tend to be more maintenance-intensive, and while working on things can be fun I'd rather be riding than wrenching.

While I was looking son came home on leave. We did some more digging on the Vulcan, confirming to me that I didn’t want to do what would be required to fix it. So it went on Craigslist and found a new owner**, and the search continued. For about two days.  At which time he stopped by(friends to visit and such, didn’t spend all his time with family) and said “I saw a bike over at Performance you ought to look at.” So went and looked. Honda VFR800 sport-touring: 800cc fuel-injected engine, ABS brakes and a number of other things, including risers on the handlebars that gave a much more upright seating position. So took my helmet back over for a test drive. And I liked it. Pretty good on comfort(which I care about a lot more than used to), maneuverable, lots of power***- CONTROLLABLE power- for the highway… so I worked out numbers, and decided to bypass my too-often "Well, I'll wait and think a bit" which often leads to "Crap, it's gone!"

 I have to admit, it looking so much like a sport bike I probably wouldn't have tried it on my own, but son tried it out and strongly recommended I give it a try.  Glad he did.

Haven’t made some of the trips I’d planned(yet), but have made a few short ones. I changed the seat for a Sergeant with better padding, put sleeves on the grips, and got the trunk; otherwise it’s just been normal maintenance. Yes, there are lots of things you can get and do to up horsepower and torque; not planning on any of them. As it sits, I’ve yet to be in a place straight enough and empty enough to open it up all the way, and it’s got lots of ‘go’ available. As in “I can break the highway speed limit before I reach the end of most ramps” go without firewalling it; so while I like the idea of “Hey, I get this kit and put on the supercharger and it’ll double the horses!’, what would I do with them?

I mentioned the fuel injection and antilock brakes, it also has VTEC. Four valves per cylinder: below 6700 rpm it only uses two, you hit that point and it starts using all four. There’s a surge of power, the exhaust note deepens, and you know you’ve poked the beast with a stick. And he wants to run.  It's a little addictive.

Once I learned the ‘how to take it off’ pattern on the fairing it doesn’t take long to remove it for work and put it back on. The only real PITA there is the clips: they’re a plastic unit, push in the center and they unlatch. They also get beat up or broken easily, especially those on the bottom; found replacements(MUCH less expensive ones) here. Aside from that, no problems. The trunk in the ‘lift the front’ post is a Givi Monolock I lucked into at the shop where I bought the bike(Performance Cycle in Bethany, good place): display, needed to move it so it went for about half-price. And it’s been one of the handiest things I’ve ever bought. Also picked up a set of soft saddlebags for trips(have you seen what hard bags COST? For bloody fiberglass or plastic boxes and mounts? Jeez!)


I have to mention, I’d told the guys it wasn’t a big rush on the tires as they still had some decent tread left, which would take me through the next couple of weeks no problem. When I dropped the wheels off he got a funny look on his face when he looked at them, and I had to elaborate that there was still decent tread over on the sides. I think he formed An Opinion of me.

*Yes, I know the ‘use your back, legs and abs to hold your weight’ thing; my hands are beat-up enough that it doesn’t help long.

**Showed up with a friend to look it over; friend looked like the archetype of ‘Old Biker Who Can Fix Anything On Wheels’; I don’t doubt they got it back on the road.

***I long ago came to the conclusion-especially on bikes- that "More power and torque than I may need is a LOT better than  'not enough' "

One "Don't really believe it", and one "He doesn't get it"

Or maybe "Doesn't WANT to get it."
First, I have problems believing Obama goes skeet shooting.
Second, ALL he mentions it the 'tradition of hunting'; either doesn't understand or doesn't want ANYBODY to understand that the 2nd Amendment isn't about hunting.

Same thing with Feinstein; lots of words about hunting and 'guns suitable for'.