The Smallest Minority

Interesting Data Point

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 02:46:00 +0000

And Snopes says it's true.

I received via email a copy of this letter to the AARP:

Dear Mr. Rand,

Recently you sent us a letter encouraging us to renew our lapsed membership in AARP by the requested date.

I know it is not what you were looking for, but this is the most honest response I can give you. Our gap in coverage is merely a microscopic symptom of the real problem, a deepening lack of faith.

While we have proudly maintained our membership for several years and have long admired the AARP goal and principles, regrettably we can no longer endorse its abdication of our values. Your letter specifically stated that we can count on AARP to speak up for our rights, yet the voice we hear is not ours. Your offer of being kept up to date on important issues through DIVIDED WE FAIL, presents neither an impartial view we have come to embrace. We do believe that when 2 parties agree all the time on everything presented to them, one is probably not necessary. But, when the opinions and long term goals are diametrically opposed, the divorce is imminent. This is the philosophy which spawned our 200 years of government.

Once upon a time we looked forward to being part of the senior demographic. We also looked to AARP to provide certain benefits and give our voice a power we could not possibly hope to achieve on our own. AARP gave us a sense of belonging which we no longer enjoy.

The Socialist politics practiced by the Obama administration and empowered by AARP serves only to raise the blood pressure my medical insurance strives to contain. Clearly a conflict of interest there!

We do not understand the AARP posture, feel greatly betrayed by the guiding forces that we expected to map out our senior years and leave your ranks with a great sense of regret. We mitigate that disappointment with the relief of knowing we are not contributing to the problem any more by renewing our membership. There are other organizations which offer discounts without threatening our way of life or offending our sensibilities.

This presidential administration scares the living daylights out of us. Not just for our selves, but for our proud and bloodstained heritage. Even more importantly for our children and grandchildren.

Washington has rendered Soylent Green a prophetic cautionary tale rather than a nonfiction scare tactic. I have never in my life endorsed any militant or radical groups, but now I find myself listening to them. I don’t have to agree with them to appreciate the fear which spawned their existence. Their borderline insanity presents little more than a balance to the voice of the Socialist mindset in power.

Perhaps I became American by a great stroke of luck in some cosmic uterine lottery, but in my adulthood I CHOOSE to embrace it and nurture the freedoms it represents as well as the responsibilities it requires.

Your website generously offers the opportunity to receive all communication in Spanish. ARE YOU KIDDING???? Someone has broken into our ‘house’ invaded our home without our invitation or consent.

This president has insisted we keep the perpetrator in comfort and learn the perp language so we can communicate our reluctant welcome to them.

I DON’T choose to welcome them.
I DON’T choose to support them.
I DON’T choose to educate them.
I DON’T choose to medicate them, pay for their food or clothing.

American home invaders get arrested. Please explain to me why foreign lawbreakers can enjoy privileges on American soil that Americans do not get? Why do some immigrants have to ‘play the game’ to be welcomed and others just have to break and enter to be welcomed?

We travel for a living. Walt hauls horses all over this great country averaging over 10,000 miles a month when he is out there. He meets more people than a politician on caffeine overdose. Of all the many good folks he enjoyed on this last 10,000 miles this trip yielded only ONE supporter of this current administration. One of us is out of touch with mainstream America. Since our poll is conducted without funding, I have more faith in it than one which is power driven.

We have decided to forward this to everyone on our mailing list, and will encourage them to do the same. With several hundred in my address book, I have every faith that the eventual exponential factor will make a credible statement to you.

I am disappointed as hell
I am scared as hell
I am MAD as hell, and I’m NOT gonna take it anymore!

Walt & Cyndy
Miller Farms Equine Transport

The sender is another person well past retirement age.

Interesting.

The Slaughter isn't a Bug, It's a Feature

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:22:00 +0000

Bill Whittle on Thomas Sowell's Conflict of Visions:

It took me an überpost. Whittle knocks it out in eight minutes. The rest of this series should be equally excellent.

One Reason I'm a small-"L" libertarian

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:33:00 +0000

Quote of the Day, Robb Allen Edition:

As I've said before, the only difference between the two parties is which side of the cervix they want to regulate.

From a comment at Tam's.

A Farewell to J. Joseph Curran, Jr.

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 02:06:00 +0000

So U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg has overturned Maryland's "May Issue" concealed-carry permit system, stating, on the heels of D.C. v Heller and Chicago v McDonald:

...the Court finds that the right to bear arms is not limited to the home.

--

...the regulation at issue is a rationing system. It aims, as Defendants concede, simply to reduce the total number of firearms carried outside of the home by limiting the privilege to those who can demonstrate "good reason" beyond a general desire for self-defense. In support of this limitation, Defendants list numerous reasons why handguns pose a threat to public safety in general and why curbing their proliferation is desirable.

--

Maryland's goal of minimizing the proliferation of handguns among those who do not have a demonstrated need for them, is not a permissible method of preventing crime or ensuring public safety; it burdens the right too broadly. Those who drafted and ratified the Second Amendment surely knew that the right they were enshrining carried a risk of misuse, and states have considerable latitude to channel the exercise of the right in ways that will minimize that risk. States may not, however, seek to reduce the danger by means of widespread curtailment of the right itself.

--

At bottom, this case rests on a simple proposition: If the Government wishes to burden a right guaranteed by the Constitution, it may do so provided that it can show a satisfactory justification and a sufficiently adapted method. The showing, however, is always the Government's to make. A citizen may not be required to offer a "good and substantial reason" why he should be permitted to exercise his rights. The right's existence is all the reason he needs.

Compare and contrast with former Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran's 1999 manifesto A Farewell to Arms:

The time is now. We must get serious - no more band-aids, no more excuses. The moral fiber of our society will be measured by our response. The problem is not just guns in the wrong hands or a failure to enforce laws already on the books.

--

For me, therefore, the answer is easy. I have added up the costs, and they outweigh the benefits. As a grandfather, I am ready to say enough children have died. In short, I believe that we should no longer allow unrestricted handgun ownership.

--

Thus, our public policy goal should be to restrict the sale and possession of all handguns to those who can demonstrate a legitimate law enforcement purpose or can guarantee that the use of such guns will be limited to participation in a regulated sporting activity. Handgun ownership that advances reasonable law enforcement purposes must be permitted. Individuals with a professional need to have a licensed gun - law enforcement officers, gun collectors, some business owners and certain other professional groups - will continue to keep handguns on business premises or for use on the job. The rest of us, (the rest of you he means) however, must give them up.

--

In the long run, we must go the last mile. These limits must be reflected in the laws by which we govern ourselves. The law must embody the public policy goal of ridding our homes and communities of handguns through restrictive handgun licensing. Handgun ownership which advances reasonable law enforcement purposes can and must continue, but the costs of allowing the rest of us to own handguns are too great. We should endure those costs no longer.

Bear in mind, this was the published opinion of a sitting state Attorney General.

And it was wiped out by the simple statement, "A citizen may not be required to offer a 'good and substantial reason' why he should be permitted to exercise his rights. The right's existence is all the reason he needs."

Take that, J.J.

Good riddance.

Preach It, Sister!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:20:00 +0000

QotD, Tam (who else?) Edition:

All the probulating, door-kicking, snooping and spying, asset forfeiting, and armored personnel carriering has done more damage to this country than a hundred Woodstocks worth of stoners, to say nothing of the obscene profits we have basically legislated into existence for vicious criminal scum south of our borders and in our own cities.

I’d rather my neighbors smoked a bong every day than run the risk of a dyslexic SWAT team taking a battering ram to my front door at oh-dark-thirty. We need to stop burning the village to save it.

It is Not the Business of Government...

In related news, how to make hard-to-obtain Sudafed from readily obtainable street meth.

This WAS Me, Last Week

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:19:00 +0000

I'm out sick for a couple of days, and WTF?!?

On top of that, I'm buried in work. Normal blogging to resume some time in April, probably. I'll post what I can, when I can.

Oh, and if you're interested, the next Bowling Pin match is Sunday, March 11. Hopefully the tables will all remain standing this time.

I'm Giving Them $125

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:33:00 +0000

Bumped. Time is running out to donate.

More information here: FrackNation

You can contribute there.

I was made aware of Kickstarter as a fundraising platform when cartoonist Howard Tayler of Schlock Mercenary fame used it to finance his upcoming board game project.

OK, we're tired of leftist propaganda, time to put our money where our mouths are. It worked with the Starbucks Buycott, Bill Whittle thinks it will work with Declaration Entertainment, I think it'll work here. We need fracking. I'm getting my wallet out.

I'm Not Certain it's THAT Good

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:46:00 +0000

Quote of the Day:

[T]oday's college degree is the equivalent of the 1950's high school diploma. -- Aaron Clarey, Worthless: The Indispensable Guide to Choosing the Right Major

(h/t: Instapundit)

Dear Troubador:

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:46:00 +0000

Right back atcha.

Oh, and I'm not going anywhere. You want me to leave? MAKE ME.

But I suspect you won't.

What happened to that new civility thing, anyway?

It's Kalashnikitty Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 02:14:00 +0000

BUMPED: Eric will be taking orders only until March4!

An email from Eric:

Back again for its quarterly run - the infamous Kalashnikitty shirts! The last run worked out great, but some people missed the order deadline or wanted more after they got their first order. I’ve also been getting a lot of requests lately for shirts. So, I'm going to do a new run of shirts for everyone, and am offering a few new styles!

Here is a link to the many photos I have from people of all ages, races, and sexes (well, OK, sure, there are really only TWO of those, but you never know!) wearing the shirts, as well as some of the styles and colors – if you have a special request please ask – my shirtmaker is very accommodating and can often find different colors, styles, etc.

Click here

to view a Slideshow of various men, women, children wearing various colors and styles of the Kitty, as well as some pics of the shells used.

I will be taking orders until Sunday, March 4 and the order with my shirt maker will go in on Wednesday. I should have the shirts in my hands and shipping out by the end of the third week of March or the next week at the latest and they will ship out immediately by Priority Mail.

Here's the procedure for getting the shirts (this makes it a LOT easier for me to track and ship these things ASAP):

Email me
(erickelly1@verizon.net)

with the following:

1 - Number, color, style (short-sleeve, tank top (Male or Female), baby-doll, long-sleeve, hoodie, or sweatshirt) and sizes you want –

2 - Your name and address

3 - How you would like to pay for them (Check, Money Order, Paypal)

Colors, Styles, and Sizes:

Shirts now come in multiple COLORS – Solid colors are an ash grey (very nice and light), a light pink, olive, and black, plus there are a blue-sleeved and a red-sleeved “patriotic” style, DIGITAL CAMO pattern in Urban, Green, and Desert, and WOODLAND CAMO pattern in Urban, Desert, Blue, Green, and Pink.

Shirts come in multiple STYLES - short-sleeve, long-sleeve, sweatshirt, "baby-doll", tank top (specify male or female), Ladies fitted (like a babydoll style – those are available for the woodland camo colors) and Hoodies. The hoodies have the graphic on the back. They are pull-over style with hoods and drawstrings, and hand-warmer pockets in front on the bottom. Children’s hoodies do not have drawstrings.

NOTE – only the ash grey, black, and pink are available in all the styles – the rest of the shirts are limited in style. All Woodland Camo colors (Green, desert, urban, pink, and blue) can be bought in short sleeved and Ladies Fitted style).

Many sizes to choose from – most shirt styles and colors come in Children’s Small up to Children’s L, and Adult Small up to Adult 2XL. Sizes and colors above 2XL are limited.

Short Sleeve: Ash and Black Child Small up to Adult 5XL, Pink short sleeve Child Small up to Adult 3XL, Camo and Patriotic are available in Adult Small up to 2XL, Olive only in Adult size Small – 3X.

Long Sleeve: Black Adult Small up to 5XL, Ash up to 3XL, and Pink up to 2XL (no camo in Long Sleeve)

Sweatshirt: Black Adult Small up to 5XL, Ash up to 3XL, Pink up to 2XL (no camo in Sweatshirt)

Baby-Doll: from Adult Small up to 2XL (no kid’s sizes) (no camo in Babydoll – these will be "Ladies Fitted" style – not as tight or form-fitting as the Babydoll)

Tank Tops: all colors from Adult Small up to 2XL (no kid's sizes - women's tanks are in a "sport grey", not ash – no men's Pink tanks - no camo in Tank Tops)

Hoodies: the sizes are light pink S - 2X, ash grey S - 3X and black S - 5X. The Children’s Size Hoodies have light pink S - L, ash and black S – XL

PRICING:

Any size (short-sleeve) up to XL is $21.00, 2XL is $23.00, 3XL is $24.00, 4XL and 5XL is $25.00

Camo shirts, including Ladies Fitted – up to XL is $27, 2XL is $29

Patriotic shirts – up to XL is $27, 2XL $29, 3XL is $31

Long-sleeve shirts - up to XL is $25.00, 2XL is $26.00, 3XL is $27.00, 4XL and 5XL is $28.00

Sweatshirts - to XL is $26.00, 2XL is $28.00, 3XL is $29.00, 4XL and 5XL is $30.00

Baby Doll - to XL is $23.00, 2XL is $25.00

Tank Tops - to XL is $23.00, 2XL is $25.00

Hoodies - to XL is $32.00, 2XL is $35.00, 3X $37, 4X $39, 5XL $40 (Camo from Child S up to 2XL are $45 each, 2XL is $48)

Shipping via 2-3 day Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation is $6.00 for 1 shirt, and an extra $2.50 per shirt after that. Hoodies will cost an extra $1 for shipping due to weight.

Check, MO, or Paypal is good for payments. If using Paypal, add 4% to the total payment, including the shipping.

** When you email me your order, include your full name and mailing address. I will email you back with the total.

Thanks again for this opportunity to provide these for you.

erickelly1@verizon.net

Remember, I am not involved in the manufacture or sale of these shirts - I just give Eric advertising space because I think Kalashnikitty contributes to the renormaliziation of America's good gun culture, and gives the anti's heartburn. Please aim all correspondence to ERIC.

Quote of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 17:11:00 +0000

I believe it is now time for Western Christians and non-Christians alike to acknowledge that men such as Alexis de Tocqueville were correct and various concepts such as free expression, freedom of association, and other hallowed concepts of Western civilization simply do not translate outside of Western Christian culture. What was once theoretical is now empirical thanks to more than sixty years of evidence that strongly suggests conventional Western views of human liberty are simply not compatible with non-Christian, non-Western cultures. -- Vox Popoli, The chickens begin to roost

Once again, I'll point you to my October, 2006 post The United Federation of Planets.

Walt Kelly Was More Right Than He Knew

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:04:00 +0000

"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo
In the comments to Tam's Thursday post, The Truest Thing On The Internet, Tam said:

I know a bunch of people who seriously believe that we are on a collision course with Destiny. Unfortunately, they're only a plurality of the people I know.

I don't think that the people who don't know these things are "sheeple" or "useful idiots" (and I've been mulling a post on that topic, actually; I had planned to post it this morning) but I think that a large percentage of people are invested in one sector or another of the status quo.

Being too tightly focused on women's reproductive rights or racial injustice or the defense against Muslim terrorists or the protection of America's economy against immigrants, or whatever, can blind a smart and well-meaning person to broad and overarching trends...

To which Justthisguy asked:

"broad and overarching trends..." Oh, do you mean all those guys in positions of authority who get a charge out of minding other peoples' business and telling them what to do?

And Tam responded:

No.

I mean all those guys who want to fix the problems their constituents beg them to fix. The problem is from the bottom up, not the top down.

Yes, exactly.

And it's not a new problem. It's the reason our Founders set up our Federal government as a Representative Constitutional Republic of limited and defined powers - they looked at history and knew what democracies become. My regular readers - an admittedly tiny, self-selected group of people who are by definition paying more attention to the world around them than the ordinary person - will be familiar with this quote:

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide. -- John Adams

And possibly this one:

Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy. -- Plato

This one was new to me:

Our country's founders cherished liberty, not democracy. -- Ron Paul

Can I get an "AMEN!"?

But here's the key quote:

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education. -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

That's a tall order, and one never yet met.

So our Founders designed a system to circumvent that particular weakness.

And failed.

By the time FDR ran for office, our government was essentially no longer a republic. Passage of the Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of Senators) in 1913 destroyed the last vestiges of our republican form of government in favor of a representative democracy wherein "the people" elect representatives to "fix the problems (their) constituents beg them to fix" in both houses. The freedom to make "wise" (and therefore possibly unpopular) choices in the upper house of Congress had been removed by the 17^th Amendment. Now running for Senate didn't mean you needed the respect of your peers in the House, it meant you needed to promise whatever it took to the populace to get their votes - just like every other politician. Thus Mencken's observation:

A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man. In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.

And since then our government has been the battlefield between two completely incompatible philosophies, one of which has captured the halls of academe, and through that vector, the public education system and popular media, and through those vectors, the voting public - the "us" in Walt Kelly's classic line.

I've harped on the topic of philosophy before, too. The best explanation of the importance of philosophy remains (IMHO) Ayn Rand's speech to the 1974 graduating class of West Point, Philosophy, Who Needs It? Excerpt:

As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation -- or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears....

Philosophy is not a subject formally taught in American primary or secondary schools, it's something one can study on one's own or take as an elective in college. Regardless, our system of education still teaches philosophy, producing subjects with "junk heap(s) of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears" that are reinforced by the popular media that surrounds us.

And we vote.

I don't believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone are guilty of the war. Oh, no, the little man is just as keen, otherwise the people of the world would have risen in revolt long ago! There is an urge and rage in people to destroy, to kill, to murder, and until all mankind, without exception, undergoes a great change, wars will be waged, everything that has been built up, cultivated and grown, will be destroyed and disfigured, after which mankind will have to begin all over again. -- Anne Frank

And instead of penning another 5,000 words, I invite you to (re-)read The United Federation of Planets on the topic of philosophy.

Objective reality is coming, fast. The collision isn't going to be pretty.

Busy

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:26:00 +0000

Sorry about the lack of content. I've been a bit busy recently, and when I do get home blogging has not been high on the list of "things I want to do." I've had some nibbles from people wanting to go shooting (one of them being my niece), so I may be doing a range trip for that soon. My next Bowling Pin match is three weeks away, and I need to build some new tables, or at least one.

I did manage to get a chance to eat lunch in a sit-down restaurant today. I went to the local Cheesecake Factory, which as far as I can tell is never slow. I ate at the bar, since I was by myself and didn't want to wait for a table. While sitting at the bar, I noticed a sign propped up on one of the shelves, kind of off to the side. It was partially obscured by glare from a nearby window, but I could see it had the international "NO" symbol - circle with a slash - on it, but it was black. When the light changed, I saw it said "No Firearms Allowed pursuant to A.R.S. section 4-229" with the "NO" symbol over a pistol.

After lunch (I'd already ordered, and I wasn't carrying. I prefer to remain employed) I talked to the manager about it. I noted that while I normally do not patronize establishments that don't want me, the sign was not conspicuous and that had I not been sitting at the bar I'd have never seen it. He stated that he thought that the placement of the sign was per company policy, but he understood my concern. While there's a "No Smoking" notice on the front door, there is no "No Firearms" sign, and anyone coming in would not know that the establishment doesn't want its customers to be armed. When I got home, I checked the regulations:

4-229. Licenses; Handguns; Posting of Notice

A. A person with a permit issued pursuant to section 13-3112 may carry a concealed handgun on the premises of a licensee who is an on-sale retailer unless the licensee posts a sign that clearly prohibits the possession of weapons on the licensed premises. The sign shall conform to the following requirements:
1. Be posted in a conspicuous location (It wasn't.) accessible to the general public and immediately adjacent to the liquor license posted on the licensed premises. (It was.)

2. Contain a pictogram that shows a firearm within a red circle and a diagonal red line across the firearm. (It was a black & white photocopy. The circle with diagonal was black, not red.)

3. Contain the words, "no firearms allowed pursuant to A.R.S. section 4-229".
B. A person shall not carry a firearm on the licensed premises of an on-sale retailer if the licensee has posted the notice prescribed in subsection A of this section.

C. It is an affirmative defense to a violation of subsection B of this section if:
1. The person was not informed of the notice prescribed in subsection A of this section before the violation. (I wasn't.)

2. Any one or more of the following apply:
(a) At the time of the violation the notice prescribed in subsection A of this section had fallen down.

(b) At the time of the violation the person was not a resident of this state.

(c) The licensee had posted the notice prescribed in subsection A of this section not more than thirty days before the violation.

So the sign was posted next to the liquor license, but it failed the "conspicuous location" requirement, and it didn't have the mandated red circle-with-a-slash symbol, so it was an improper sign. As I explained to the manager, they can certainly invite anyone open carrying to leave, but no one carrying concealed would have any way of knowing that it was company policy to prohibit firearms on the premises, the Cheesecake Factory would have no way to know they were carrying, and they were not in compliance with the law anyway.

He thanked me for my input and said he'd be contacting Corporate. I harbor no illusions that this Cheesecake Factory in particular or the chain overall is going to change their policy (so I don't intend to eat there again), but if they're going to make a stupid decision, they ought to at least follow the damned law.

Hornady Ammo Recall - .500 S&W

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:22:00 +0000

If you've got one of these cannon, you might want to check your ammo stash:

Hornady Manufacturing Company is recalling seven (7) lots of Item#9249, 500 S&W 300gr. FTX Custom Pistol Ammunition. These lots were shipped between September 9, 2010, and October 17, 2011.

Item number 9249, Lot Numbers:
•3101327
•3110256
•3110683
•3110695
•3110945
•3111388
•3111885

Hornady Manufacturing Company ballisticians have determined that some cartridges from Lot #’s 3101327, 3110256, 3110683, 3110695, 3110945, 3111388, 3111885, may exhibit excessive chamber pressures. Use of this product may result in firearm damage and or personal injury.

DO NOT USE HORNADY CUSTOM PISTOL AMMUNITION
ITEM #9249, 500 S&W 300gr. FTX, FROM THE ABOVE LISTED LOT NUMBERS.

Quote of the Day - Joe Huffman Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:01:00 +0000

It doesn't have to make sense. It's just a government rule. -- The View from North Central Idaho

And the interpretation of those rules varies by .gov ~~employee~~ drone.

RTWT.

$134 Billion? Chicken Feed!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:33:00 +0000

Back in June of 2009, I linked to reports that $134.5 billion in U.S. bearer-bonds were seized by Italian authorities from two Japanese men on a train from Italy to Switzerland. Another $116 billion were seized in August of that year. Now the Italians have found another $6 Trillion in bonds in safe-deposit boxes in Zurich, Switzerland.

The bonds in these cases are fakes (which means they're worth about as much as real ones today), but wow. It takes a lot of chutzpah to print six trillion dollars worth of counterfeits.

Almost as much as it takes to print sixteen trillion worth of real ones.

From the comments, if you want to take a fascinating trip down the rabbit hole, check out the Barking Moonbat Early Warning System post on the topic. Fascinating.

Bill Whittle on Education

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:57:00 +0000

Hi! Welcome to the Bill Whittle Fan Club! Here's Bill on the latest in the world of Public Education (where, as Tam has noted, "public" modifies "education" the same way it does "transportation" and "bathrooms."):

tl;dw - "more tax dollars, less educating"

Too Many to Choose From

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:57:00 +0000

Today's Quote of the Day comes from Victor Davis Hansons's Works and Days column The New Commandments on the Barn Wall. There are too many to choose from in that short, pithy, depressing piece, but I'm going with this one:

8) Neanderthals need nerds. The cool gang banger who is knifed on Saturday night suddenly in extremis worships the surgeon who stiches up his liver and kidneys — a target whom he would otherwise have robbed earlier that Saturday afternoon. The thug who strips the copper wire from our streetlights nonetheless assumes a nerdish engineer will keep designing the wiring scheme that runs his car’s CD. For the good life to go on, each illiterate punk demands one corresponding graduate student at MIT to take care of him. When the former outnumber the latter, then civilization usually winds down.

"The worst thing about living in the declining era of a great civilization...is knowing that you are." - R.A. Heinlein

"Help us put construction workers back to work!"

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:52:00 +0000

Chinese construction workers. Here, in the U.S.

Via ABC News, no less.

And in a nod to what Mike Rowe has been saying for quite a while now:

ABC's Chris Cuomo: "Why can't the Americans do it as quickly as the Chinese? What makes them so special?"

Tony Anziano, Cal DOT: "One issue that you will consistently hear every time you go to a fabrication site in this country is that they struggle at this point in time to obtain welders. That is an issue in this country."

So they're bringing them over from China? This makes economic sense?

THIS Might Make Me Want to Try Shotgunning

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:10:00 +0000

And it was invented by the Brits, no less!

The ATS Gnat has been hugely popular in the UK for many years, and has featured in events such as high profile celebrity charity shoots held at most of Britain's most famous shooting grounds, to private parties at country estates. The Gnat Shooting System is unique. Shotgun events normally involve the downing of conventional targets such as clay pigeons or game. We have perfected a high speed, maneuverable, radio controlled drone which takes the sport to the next level.

The aircraft flies at speeds of up to 80 mph, with extremely rapid directional changes and fighter like agility. Controlled by very experienced "pilots", the shooters prey is probably one of the hardest targets they will ever encounter.

My brother is an RC pilot and plane builder. Hey! We can finally share a hobby!

"...not even George Lucas, back when he was sane."

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:12:00 +0000

Bill Whittle explains the decline of Hollywood:

Damn, I love that man.

UPDATE: I was reminded that I used "Han shot first!" way back in 2004 when I wrote "(I)t's most important that all potential victims be as dangerous as they can".

Be Like Han.

Quote of the Day - Engineering Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:39:00 +0000

When engineers find something interesting, it usually involves catastrophic failure....

Carl, Vexxarr's ship AI, Vexxarr comic, 2/6/12

The System Worked as Designed

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:47:00 +0000

Another victim of domestic violence, "protected" by a piece of tissue paper.

Friend of domestic violence victim: "She was afraid of him and he killed her"

Reporter: Corinne Hautala

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) – A 31-year-old mother of two was found dead inside her home in the 3800 block of South Kolb Road.

Tucson Police said it responded to a caller, who told the 911 dispatcher his friend called him and said her ex-boyfriend had just arrived at her home.

When police arrived, officers said they found Claudia Pascual dead and a male suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Another case of "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."

Pascual's co-workers said that Pascual had a restraining order against the gunman. They said after a domestic violence incident she broke up his him and that's when he started to stalk her.

"He was stalking her, followed her everywhere," said Dodge-Harrison. "She couldn't get away from him. She reported it. Nothing could be done. She was afraid of him and he killed her."

Her friends believe the system failed to protect her.

Well, DUH.

9OYS sat down with attorney Mike Piccarreta to ask him, how effective are protection orders?

"Well it's a piece of paper and if somebody doesn't want to follow the law and is bent on harming you a piece of paper isn't going to stop them," he said.

You'll note, it wasn't a cop who said that.

The details in the restraining order will also determine how much police can do.

Pascual's friends said they hope her story will encourage others to seek more protection if they too feel police aren't doing enough.

What can the police do? They're not responsible for protecting you. They can't be.

Pascual’s co-workers said they are determined to turn the tragedy into something good, they want her name to live on. They’re looking into planning fundraisers and raising awareness about domestic violence.

How about about raising awareness of self-defense and firearm training? Think that might help? Think Pascual might have been willing to shoot the guy if she believed she was protecting her two kids?

Quote of the Day - Tam Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:11:00 +0000

The internet has been a goose that has been laying economic golden eggs for an amazing amount of time, considering the continual ham-handed efforts of the government to try and serve itself up some foie gras.

from Wrong on so very many levels

As commenter Windy Wilson observes:

Tam has a lock on uttering pithy, humorous and trenchant one liners like no one since at least Mark Twain, and possibly Ralph Waldo Emerson (who lacked the humor).

Thankfully, the internet means that millions can get a chance to read them.

She Named Him...

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:38:00 +0000

"Dick"