The Minuteman

Do Someone a Favor…

Barron Barnett — Sat, 19 May 2012 21:54:32 +0000

And if you build a house and have a sprinkler system installed for the yard, hire professionals to do it. Putting the drain valves for winterization in such a location that one can barely get their hand in is a bad thing. Doubly so when the valves are very stiff.

My hand barely fits between those pipes, each one has a drain valve underneath.

How stiff I hear you ask? To turn them off I actually need to use a stick to properly apply pressure to get them to turn vertical. Turning them back on I have to work it in the opposite direction. Getting the valves started is actually difficult. This year I had one that stuck so hard the handle on the valve broke.

Yes, you read that write, the plastic broke, that’s how stiff it was. To get it to turn I had to resort to using some line and a loop wrapped around the other end of the valve handle. I got it to finish closing however as it closed the line slipped free and I smashed my hand into the side of the box.

Immediately the pain was sharp enough I wondered how bad it was. I stripped off my gloves and thankfully no broken skin. However my thumb was already feeling stiff and immediately after the incident it hurt to move. I splinted it with some scrap wood in the shop and finished the rest of what needed to be done for the sprinkler system.

As I finished up the pain subsided, but the time I got back in the house I could use my thumb again. I’m able to push around on all sides of the impact point without problem. Pushing on the impact point itself however hurts like a bastard. So I’m thinking at this point I just bruised it. I can put pressure through my thumb and grip as well, with only very minor discomfort at the most extreme of movement.

So, yeah, if you’re going to install one, do it right, or hire someone to do it right. If you don’t, the next guy is going to hate you, doubly since he now gets to figure out how to fix your screw up.

In Which I am NOT TJIC

Barron Barnett — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:49:21 +0000

Earlier this week an individual went full wookie. By full wookie I mean he with the the most extreme ends saying that someone doing his job as a paramedic was equivalent of gassing Jews in a death camp.

Here’s the thing. If you want to kill yourself, that’s your business and yours alone. Don’t tell anyone else, just go out back and do it. It may seem cold hearted but by god calling up someone and saying “I’m going to kill myself” is nothing more than a ploy for attention, either in life or death. In death it is done by the guilt caused by those wondering, “Was there anything I could have done to stop them” or even worse, the looks given by family members.

Does someone have a right to take their own life. Yes, that is their decision and their choice. That said, most often suicide is not a rational decision and done out of fear and depression. I have family and friends who have taken their own life and the wake it causes makes me very morally opposed to it. So by god, if you want to kill yourself don’t threaten to do so just do it. Don’t lay a guilt trip on me by calling me up and threatening to do so. Doesn’t mean I agree with their being a law, but the law is there.

If you do call me up you have waved your absolute rights to kill yourself. Why? You decided to involve an outside party. You have decided to involve me. You have no right to force me to be complacent to your plan. You have no right to lay upon me the guilt I will feel every time a family member looks at me for not stopping you.

Do I agree with the fact that we have laws doing all of this, no. Frankly I think Phil’s statements put it better than I could possibly put it myself.

AD’s job boils down to that of a care taker. He could be twice as ineffectual towards people as I am and he still would have had to do what he did. If a person truly understands emotional vampires then they’d realize that he did exactly what the guy wanted him to do, no matter how much the guy pretended to protest.

Even without the law, if you involve me in your plan to head to that undiscovered country who’s borne no traveler returns, I am going to try and stop you. I am going to make sure that this is a calm, rationally thought out decision. Not one made in the heat of the moment of some very bad news because as a friend has said before, “Stuff is stuff.” Stuff can be replaced however a person cannot.

The above isn’t to say I don’t understand why some would want to take their own life. On the contrary, I have seen pain and suffering that I wish upon no other person. Suffering that haunts me and there was nothing that we could do but wait and let life take it’s course as prescribed by the law.

Someone who presents a clear concise rational reason as to why, go ahead, just go out on your own and do it. In fact those who do make it as a rational decision do exactly that. Those who make the threats however are doing anything but. They are as Phil says, emotional vampires. Believe me, it is not a way to make me your friend if you’re not already one. If you are a friend and you make a threat like that, you better be mentally broken because I would assume my friends would know better and just say, “Dude, I need someone to listen than to go full drama queen.”

So the bottom line is this, if you actually want to kill yourself, don’t call me up and tell me you want to. Just go out back and do it. If you’re an attention seeking parasite, then by all means call. If you do don’t be surprised when it turns out just like Ambulance Driver said it would.

SSCC Honorable Mention - Washington DC

Barron Barnett — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:38:51 +0000

Via Uncle we get to see an up and coming state sponsored criminal in the making.

Including an indemnification clause, which means Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy L. Lanier cannot be held liable for actions done on the job, is standard practice in contracts for police chiefs and other government officials, said Leonard A. Matarese, a public safety expert with the International City/County Management Association.

Standard practice? See here's the thing, it's complete horse crap. It's an effort to skate around the laws that cover "under color of law" when an officer does something wrong. Guess what, as an engineer I'm held responsible for my actions. Just the same a cop, no matter their position in the department should be held accountable for theirs. If you can't take it, if you're afraid you might make a wrong decision and can't handle the consequences it's quite simple, get the hell out of the kitchen.

Now it isn't giving her free reign to commit murder while on the job.

The contract states the District “shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless” Chief Lanier in any civil or criminal proceedings so long as she was “properly exercising or performing her duties and responsibilities within the scope of her employment” and “acted in good faith, did not act in a way that violates an applicable law, and did not act in an intentionally tortuous manner.

"Did not act in an intentionally tortuous manner." So in other words you now must have an intent-o-meter to go after her for doing something bad.

Here's the problem with these types of things, including qualified immunity. It is they exist specifically to prevent thinking and bringing consequences to bear on those who decide not to think things through.

I've said it before, but I will say it again. You know who has more of a right to go home at the end of the night to their wife and kids? Any innocent law abiding citizen. More often than not however some innocent is caught up with some cop who instead of thinking just reacts. Well the reaction results in injury or death to the innocent person.

Who is at fault for this? No it's not the officer who committed the act. For you see that would be silly in a world where we blame inanimate objects for the actions of others. You see it was the fault of the department for improper training. No one is actually at fault. Then thanks to things like qualified immunity like that you get incidents like this.

Wait, he was never charged or convicted of a crime. They fired him, but they couldn't prove intent. Maybe in fact that clause does allow for murder.

State Sponsored Criminal Count Honorable Mention: Chief Cathy L. Lanier

Because everyone who works in law enforcement should be able to work outside the law. We wouldn't want them to have to arrest their own you know.

Carry Your Damn Guns...

Barron Barnett — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:00:00 +0000

There is no advanced warning. You don't know when it could happen, and it may not even be for a two legged varmint. The problem could be of the four legged variety. The life you save may not be your own either, but the life of your pet.

According to Lewiston Police, Renee Carter was walking her dogs in front of a home when the Pit Bull ran across the street and grabbed her small dog by the neck. Carter was bit on the arm while attempting to rescue her dog. At that time, a passerby scrambled out of his car to help.

Thankfully there were a couple bystanders in the area who intervened to help. The dog is currently in quarantine for 10 days. Since the attack killed the other animal it has been declared a dangerous animal and if a home isn't found outside the city it will be put to sleep.

That aside, thankfully there were others around to help this woman but that is not a assurance. The only assurance is that this could happen to you and you are not immune and some how special and exempt from the possibility.

Stand tall, be ready, and carry your damn gun.

Favorite Rifle In the Armory…

Barron Barnett — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Robb asks the following question:

What is the most fun firearm you own and why? Which boomstick puts a smile on your face every time you take it to the range? If you have another gunnie coming over, which piece from your armory to you ensure you pack in the bag to show off?

You know, I have a lot of fun toys. All of them put a smile on my face in one way or another. However there is only one I refer to as my baby. There is only one that I lovingly look after like a protective father. Others do experience the bliss that is my baby, but for them it is no where near what I feel settling in behind that stock.

The Very Beginning

Let me tell the story from the beginning. You see, when I was about three and a half years old my dad took me to the range with him. I do not have the luxury of actually remembering this experience. However my father did. My father told me numerous times years later of sitting on his lap and lining up the sights to squeeze that trigger. After which I was grinning from ear to ear. Which that story does strike me as interesting given when I was little me and loud noises didn’t exactly get along. I actually cried at the beginning of Top Gun the first time I saw it… At least so I’ve been told.

I was hooked and as time went on, I would shoot small-bore rifle, shooting was in my blood and life was good. As I began to close towards graduation my dad for a while had been talking about getting me a tack driver as a gift. When my Uncle came to visit for my Eagle Court of Honor we went to the range.

Shopping Around

This range also had the added benefit of being a gun shop. My dad and I both had an idea of what we were looking for as the start of the rifle. After we were done shooting for the day we went out to do some browsing for the rifle that would become my gift.

There was a Savage in .308, don’t much remember the exact model, up in the rack, I handled it and said, “It’s O.K.”. My uncle (no relation to this uncle) and father just shook their head and said, we can get a much better tool than that. I was raised in a family who never skipped when it came to tools. Buy the best you can afford and don’t go cheap.

The guy behind the counter asks, “so what exactly are you looking for?”

My reply, “Something like a Remington Model 700, VS.”

He cracks open the catalog, starts thumbing through it and then asks, “What caliber, .22-250?”

At which point I reply, “.308 Winchester”.

His reply, “Good lord, what are you going to shoot with that.”

This next bit put a smile on my dads face, without missing a beat I said, “Two legged varmints at 500 yards.”

The guy behind the counter kind of chuckled and he delivered to us the cost for the base rifle. We were now working on a plan and how it would be done.

The Gun Smith

Two weeks later we go to the WAC gun show in Puyallup. We meet a local gunsmith who specializes in custom rifles. A man by the name of Brett Evans of Northwest Armswerkes. My dad gets his card and we meet up with him later in March.

We walk through the list of requirements and he begins to spec out a rifle. A rifle that is not like any other. A rifle that will be most assuredly mine and one of a kind. It will be a Remington 700 action, but under the hood it would be anything but stock. Due to popular demand though my rifle wouldn’t be finished for a while. For you see there was a long line of people in front of me. Good things however come to those who wait.

I met up with him mid-summer once he had all the parts in and did a few final selections on things that were choices. After that he was off to the races. At this point though I was off to college.

No Plan Survives First Contact With The Enemy

Originally, my destination was Huston, Texas. That however like most plans, did not survive first contact with the enemy. In this case the dean of admissions at Rice, University. That is a different story for another time, suffice it to say I will never send my kid there and with the attitude I got from the admissions dean and her office staff informed me that was a school I wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

You know, they say most things happen for a reason though and I’m reasonably sure someone had a hand in that. For you see when everything fell apart I defaulted to the University of Washington. It was close to home but whatever I was in college. Come about 4 weeks into the first quarter though my dad was on his way into surgery. Where? The UW Medical Center. It made traveling to see him much easier than if I had been in Texas. The bad news was the cancer had attached itself to things that couldn’t be removed by the time they got there. They had to remove a decent amount of the pancreas, but not all of it could go, some of it was attached to the descending aorta. He began chemotherapy immediately.

Two moths later it was Christmas time, which also means it was in the same time frame as my birthday. On the morning of my birthday my dad said we were heading out to Brett’s.

Delivery

We arrive at Brett’s and it’s like I’m 6 and it’s Christmas morning all over again.

I know, it’s amazing, I still had hair on the top of my head and I was so much thinner! Brett gives me a run down on the rifle. Maintenance issues I need to do. Properly breaking it out of the case to use it, there’s a reason there’s a torque wrench with it. Using the 1907 sling and properly snugging it up.

Four day’s later I’m gifted a pile of ammunition to match the rifle.

In the box was a combination of Federal Gold Medal Match, 168 and 175 grain. As well as Blackhills 168, 175, both regular and moly coated.

The Ending

Sadly my father would never see his last gift to me fire. That summer he was still undergoing chemo and we never made it to the range. I was able to make it to the range once with a friend just before he passed away. I brought home the 5 shot group that was about an inch and a half in size from 200 yards.

He grinned from ear to ear.

I have a few things on the rifle that have changed from it’s a original configuration. I have since put a Mark IV scope with a TMR reticle. Last year I had intended to have the stock changed too, but alas finances stopped that plan. Hopefully come this winter I can take it to Brett to have that work done. If my dad had known what HS-Precision would eventually do, there is no way that stock would have gone on that rifle. The heart will always remain.

I still shoot my baby, the first year I went to Boomershoot that was all I really had. It performed well and I was taking the small bastards at 700 yards. I still do.

For me though, especially with that rifle, shooting is quite Zen. Noise fades away, all I hear is my own breathing and pulse. My attention is focused on those cross hairs, and every time a shot breaks I hear my dad telling me to call it.

Yeah it holds a very special place in my heart and I love that rifle more than any other in my safe. It also gives me a connection back to my roots that the only other rifle could begin to do is my first rifle a Marlin 915Y .22.

Thanks' again dad. It’s the best gift you could have ever given me.

*It came to my attention as I was writing this my dad never had his picture taken with me and the rifle. I am reasonably sure I know why he never handed the camera to Brett. It never occurred to me at the time to do it. My dad’s invincible right, nothing will stop him… Yeah fuck you cancer…

SSCC #333 - DeKalb County

Barron Barnett — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:45:00 +0000

DeKalb County is back again, their previous incidents are here. I've noticed that much of the time bad actions are all within the same area. Take Seattle PD for example. This incident has holy hell written all over it.

A DeKalb County police officer is under criminal investigation after being accused of kicking a woman who was almost nine months pregnant,

What was her grievous offense that provoked a response like that from the officer?

Raven Dozier said she was trying to help her brother calm down during a child custody issue that involved police. She said she started crying and questioning officers after a Taser gun was used on her brother.

The officer claimed he didn't know she was pregnant, possible but doubtful, and that she came at him threateningly. The prosecutors dropped charges against the woman. It really is telling though given the following. It ends up though that Jerad Wheeler is the officer from one of the previous incidents in the count.

Two other complaints about use of force have been filed against Wheeler, including when he allegedly shot a family's dog after responding to the wrong address, the report said.

Considering this officer is too stupid to figure out if he's at the right address and then threatens the home owner, is it really that surprising that he would kick a pregnant woman? I mean he's obviously mentally deficient and heaven forbid they actually can someone who love his Authoritah!

If anyone has information on the third complaint mentioned in the article please contact me. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three or more times is enemy action. At this point he's writing checks his ass can't cash and obviously should not be employed in law enforcement. That just means he'll be promoted and given more Authoritah.

State Sponsored Criminal Count #333: Jerad Wheeler

Because the scowl of a pregnant woman about to pop is so fearsome it requires physical force. Doubly so if she's crying since she's obviously hysterical!

Ear Worm Wednesday–05/16/2012

Barron Barnett — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:04:54 +0000

Today's Earworm, Breaking Benjamin - The Diary of Jane

I’ve highlighted the WTF moment on this page:

YouTube needs to fix their recommendation listing.

Not to mention Rihanna up top. WTF!? Really

Stupid Barely Describes these Actions

Barron Barnett — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Wichita police are investigating an aggravated attempted robbery at a northeast Wichita restaurant that may have been a prank

It happened at the Subway restaurant, 3200 N. Rock, around 11 a.m. Monday. Police said two teenagers, 15 and 16-year-old boys, walked into the building with their hands in their pockets, ordering everyone on the floor.

One of the suspects started counting people on the floor, while two other teenagers ran out of the restaurant, police said. The third teenager ran away a short time later. No one was hurt.

Assuming this is a prank. Talk about a quick way to end up with extra holes god didn't intend for you to have. Is there some type of idiot game going on that is under the radar? Just late last week there was the incident of the kid trying to rob a police station as a "prank".

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three or more times is enemy action. Thing is, I don't believe in coincidence. How this appears is: rob some place, when you get caught, claim it was just a prank. Too bad the judge most likely isn't going to care and neither will the prosecutor.

Lucky doesn't even begin to describe the situation for those kids. They were trying to appear as they were armed and if anyone had decided to react, they could easily be dead. At no fault of the person who was defending themselves.

Seriously, what happened to the bucked of water balanced on the door? When did robbing people become a "prank"? When the hell did our youth become so monumentally stupid?

What Government Does...

Barron Barnett — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:15:49 +0000

I just stumbled across the perfect example of what government does, exemplified in a single quote:

Mark Duffy, who has operated the dairy farm at the state-owned park for 26 years and has a lease with the state to run the stand, said armed Environmental Police officers showed up at stand on Friday evening and stood guard throughout the weekend, turning away customers craving delectable sundaes and frappes.

He's been improving the farm every day for the past 26 years, and all the sudden it's a problem. It reminds me of an incident some friends had after "remodeling" their restaurant. See, there was this crappy ugly board put up in the middle to separate the dining area and kitchen. Instead of leaving it, they ripped it out and actually put in a nice finished wall.

There were no structural or electrical changes involved in the change to the wall. The owner of the property was actually happy with the changes. The state however declared that their inspector must come in for you to have customers. Thou shalt pay us our kick back to do business. They have since got everything straitened out and business is good.

Going back to the original story, I find it telling they sent armed jack booted thugs to do "code enforcement". Have to justify that funding somehow right? No one though for the state is actually saying exactly what codes were violated and what improvements were a problem.

Looking on the bright side though, some kids have gotten an awakening to exactly what government is:

There are 13 high-school and college students who work at the stand who are now without jobs, said Duffy. While there are 140 milk-producing cows at the farm, the ice cream is shipped in from Bliss Bros. Dairy, an ice-cream manufacturer and distributor in Attleboro.

They lost their summer employment because some petty jackbooted tyrant wanted to get his rocks off. On the upshot those young kids who worked there have now received a strong lesson in how government thuggery works. Hopefully it's a lesson they will take to heart and understand the answer to problems is never "more government". Government is nothing more than a necessary evil that should be restrained and shackled as much as possible.

Just remember as well, just because you own the property doesn't mean you can do with it as you please. I had some buddies who while building their place had to play games because they were living there as they built it. You see the state won't allow you to do that. [sarcasm]Your property so what? It's their property and the sooner you figure that out the better. [/sarcasm]

SSCC #331 & #332 - LA

Barron Barnett — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:53:06 +0000

Go read the other details of the incident. This though was the most telling thing about the incident:

"But one thing the second officer said to me right after he took the cuffs off was, 'You know why we did this? You know why we did this, right.'"

Because you're a bunch of authoritarian tyrants. He has pending litigation against your department so you proceeded to harass him and threaten him. Good job fellas on costing the tax payers even more, I just wish it came out of your pocket instead of the public's.

State Sponsored Criminal Count 331: John Doe

332: John Doe

Because the fact that the public can record us to hold us accountable is a serious problem and scourge. To battle this scourge we need CCTV cameras on every corner and unmanned drones flying 24/7 monitoring the public!

A fool and his money...

Barron Barnett — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:54:26 +0000

See the real problem people dislike about those who make more than them, is they're fiscally responsible. Barring those who are our elected representatives. They couldn't save a penny even if it was surgically attached to their body. They'd sever the limb to spend it. But this helps provide a better idea of the issues with fiscal responsibility in this country.

Visa's survey finds that a jaw-dropping $2,635 per prom will be spent by families making less than $30,000 a year. That compares with $842 for families with a yearly income of $75,000 or higher.

Can someone explain to me why the people making less are spending more than the people making more? It doesn't make any sense why someone needs to spend $2,600 on a prom night. I think total I spent about 500 bucks, I didn't rent my tux I bought it, and my buddy and I split a limo. I can still fit in my tux by the way, I actually wore it for my wedding.

I know some parents have trouble telling their kids no, but honestly that's what has brewed this group of spoiled children screaming about the 1%.

Know what pisses me off, me working my ass off, trying to save money, and then being told I need to pay more of my "fair share". Except lets look at who's really profiting from this mess.

Sounds fair to be fiscally responsible and work your ass off doesn't it? You know, I know life isn't fair. Evidently we must be robbed by the state at gun point, try not paying your taxes if you don't believe me, and have money go to a bunch of people who don't want to work and think life's unfair to them. There's random parts of life that are unfair and out of people's control. That's the luck of the draw. However taking someone else's hard earned money isn't you evening the score, it's theft.

Now notice the breakdown of who's going to be spending the most on prom and who's getting the biggest kick backs from the Fed. It all comes down to how much you value the money you earn. If you don't earn your money, you don't really value it since it didn't take blood, sweat, and tears to earn it.

God I need a beer cause this is horse crap.

Wonder If There's Any Rooks...

Barron Barnett — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:52:19 +0000

If you're wondering what I mean by Rooks... Go here. My dad watched the fall of Siagon from the front seat of an EA-6B, VAQ-137 to be exact.

via OldNFO.

In Which Pandora Loses a Customer

Barron Barnett — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:28:07 +0000

So today while at work Pandora crapped out on my phone. When I say crapped out, it refused to play any station. When I restarted the app it looked like it puked all over itself.

For me, music is life while at work. It drowns out the outside noise and prevents unnecessary interruption. I was now in a tail spin and trying to recover. Then I remembered Slacker Radio. It was already installed on my phone so I decided to give it a shot.

Dear lord I should have switched over sooner. The Android app for Pandora was lacking. I couldn’t easily alter stations and add extra artists manually. I couldn’t easily block a whole artist or say ignore this for a month. Well Slacker has all that in their app and I’m much more impressed by their selection algorithm.

After doing a quick initial artist selection I’ve only had to thumbs down a few times. Even more awesome is I can create sister stations that will bring in new artists more regularly as well as less well known music. That way depending on my mood I can lock it to the stuff I know I’ll want to hear, or I can switch into adventure mode and find something new. Not to mention when seeding a station you can easily grab all similar artists as it lists them.

So yeah, that little glitch that Pandora had today at least for me was actually a good thing.

Know What Sucks...

Barron Barnett — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:30:00 +0000

When you have one of those really vivid dreams that seems like months pass.

You actually go to sleep and wake up again and again in the dream. It goes along just like your normal life. It seems like you're actually awake and it's reality.

Then all the sudden your normal reality turns to hell. It goes from dream to nightmare and you don't really know why. You then continue living in hell for a couple months until you actually wake up. The thing is, when you wake up you don't know if you're in the dream or reality. You reach over and discover it was a nightmare and you hold just a little bit tighter not wanting to let go. Afraid for some reason that this is the dream and not reality.

Yeah, last night was one of those nights. Why can't I have awesome dreams like this?

SSCC #330 - BATFEieio

Barron Barnett — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:58:04 +0000

This one came across the wire this weekend.

A felon with a lengthy history of violence against women, Jackson was sentenced to 10 years in prison April 13 for sexually abusing an 18-year-old woman and holding her against her will for days inside a cheap South Seattle motel last year. The woman told investigators Jackson forced her to audition for a porn film and at one point choked her so hard she almost lost consciousness.

What does this have to do with the ATF I hear you ask? Quite simple really.

For all of this, the 34-year-old Jackson would be just another habitual criminal except for one startling fact: He was working the entire time as a paid informant for the Seattle office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The agency made Jackson an informant even though he had come out of prison early last year with a documented reputation as a violent, mentally unstable inmate who had been arrested in nearly every state and posed a serious threat to law-enforcement officers.

It's so good we have geniuses like the ATF around to protect the innocent and law abiding. Oh wait, they criminalize ownership of inanimate objects. Their sole purpose is to make criminals out of as many people as possible. The upshot of hiring thugs like Jackson is it helps intimidate people into compliance.

Besides, as Ry, this was the result of the geniuses behind Gunwalker recognizing their own talent. Normally one needs to be an officer to make the count, but I'm making an exception due to the egregious nature of the crimes committed and the sponsorship by the ATF.

State Sponsored Criminal Count 330: Joshua Allan Jackson (Sponsored by the Seattle ATF Office)

Because sometimes it's better to just hire your thugs from prison and put them on the payroll as an informant. That way when they're caught abusing an 18 year old girl, plausible deniability is that much easier.

Marketing Photo Of the Year

Barron Barnett — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:28:16 +0000

Sarah took the marketing photo of the year at Boomershoot.

Seriously, why are you still here? Go now!

Happy Mothers Day

Barron Barnett — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:52:59 +0000

Since I’ve shown my mom the wonders of RSS she now reads the blog on a much more regular basis. So instead getting one of those online greeting cards instead I can post it right here in the open.

Thanks' Mom. I know it may not have always seemed like it but your nagging paid off. I finally did get my Eagle, sure it was one month before my 18th birthday but I got it.

Sure I got in trouble from time to time. As you know though, it could have always been worse. Besides, would you really want me to be like Small’s at the beginning of The Sandlot. Telling that boy to get into trouble was the best advice she ever gave. Why didn’t you ever give me that pass?

Just remember, when we were upset, maybe there was a good reason. Though I never was this upset.

Most of all, I appreciate if I did anything like this, you and dad both would have whipped my ass. Thanks for doing as Major Payne says:

So thank you!

The Owner of the Car Didn’t Kill Him…

Barron Barnett — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:40:09 +0000

Via Weer’d comes the following (Link Warning as it goes to a site run by Joan and Jason Kilgore. All other links except the quote are safe)*:

The boy was armed with a loaded gun and his face was covered with a t-shirt. He approached a car in the parking lot of an apartment complex and ordered the driver to get out. In response, the driver pulled out a gun and shot the teen at least one time. The teen ran 30 feet, collapsed and died. The teen’s gun was cocked and ready to fire.

This was posted on their “Kid Shootings” blog. A blog they use to dance in the blood of children who die because someone shot them. Here’s a question though, who really killed that kid? I’m of the strong opinion he killed himself. Now someone else actually ran the instrument that caused his death, but it was the child’s decisions that resulted in his death.

Please note, we often hear about “suicide by cop” so how is this really different? Yeah the person may not be intending to die, but that is the risk that is carried by their actions.

That child was ready to kill the owner of that car. The owner did what he had to in order to survive. The kid had a choice though. He could have stayed home and played video games. He could have attempted to steal a different car. I already talked about this previously.

This post by our dear friends in the criminal occupational hazard reduction organization though shows us exactly what their attitudes are. They do not support the law abiding. They do not support and defend the innocent. They do not support and defend those who are forced to defend their life or declare it forfeit and arrive at the gates of heaven.

This post is further evidence of the statements I wrote in my Open Letter To Joan Peterson, who has never responded by the way. The facts are plain and clear though and we are obtaining more data points to support our conclusions. Our opponents hate and despise the law abiding and those who are honest within our society. They rise up and defend robbers, rapists, murders, and anyone who would do harm to another person.

Joan defended the assailant in the Kroger’s incident. Here Baldr Odinson (Jason Kilgore) defends a teenager who took a loaded firearm and threatened someone with it. The teenager was a mere 4 or 6lbs from taking someone’s life. They had done everything else necessary to do the deed other than apply another 4 or 6 lbs. to the trigger. How does one say their intent is anything but possibly fatal to your well being at that point?

As was said by Sean earlier today as well as made a quote of the day:

"I didn't kill him, he killed himself. I just carried the bullet for a while."

It was the choices of that teenager that resulted in his death. Not the gun, not the car he was trying to steal, not the victim who was being robbed.

It is telling since it is well known that the rate of accidents involving firearms has been steadily decreasing. Obviously it’s low enough that they have to resort to posting children who enter a life of crime and discover that life has consequences.

*As a side note I actually left a comment on their blog. I am posting it here as well as linking to this post. Just because they can control the signal on their site doesn’t mean they can block it from the internet.

I guess car jacking and assault with a deadly weapon isn't a crime if you're under 18 in your book.

Do law abiding citizens need to ask for id now when being assaulted and threatened with a deadly weapon before defending themselves?

It's good to see that you're abusing the victim in this case and dancing in the blood of the aggressor to push your political agenda. We can't have honest law abiding folks fight back against someone who had a loaded and cocked firearm pointed at them and threatening them.

Tell me, would a cop ask for ID in that instance prior to shooting them?

That was a reasonable use of force no matter how you cut it. The solution to this problem is simple. Educate your children that there are consequences to your actions. Sometimes those consequences are dire and if you point a loaded firearm at someone attempting to rob them, they're liable to take you seriously. So seriously infact that they will defend themselves which may result in your recidivism rate being effectively reduced to zero.

I look at this as a parenting failure and thank god the victim had a firearm and was able to protect his life. Unlike you, I don't defend people who abuse the good in society. I care about the good and if someone would rather be bad, that's their choice and there's consequences to your choices good or bad.

By the way, I've posted this on my blog too so censoring it won't help.

Quote of the Day–Sean Sorrentino (05/12/2012)

Barron Barnett — Sat, 12 May 2012 20:34:15 +0000

I waiting for a concealed carrier to respond to the old "Why did you kill him?" question with a paraphrase of Mal Reynolds. "I didn't kill him, he killed himself. I just carried the bullet for a while."

Sean Sorrentino – Comment to Quote of the Day – Miguel (05/11/2012)

[Yup, Mal was a very smart and wise man of serious integrity. If you’re unfamiliar with Mal, go now (hulu) (netflix), educate yourself.

I find these two quotes from Malcolm Reynolds though fit me quite well:

"You don't know me, son. So let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you'll be awake, you'll be facing me, and you'll be armed."

Followed by:

Someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill ‘em right back.

On a side note I would totally answer with that after the trial(s)* are done.–B]

*depending on location and legal protection provided to the victim civilly and criminally.

Random Thoughts 5/12/2012

Barron Barnett — Sat, 12 May 2012 20:23:44 +0000

A couple random things things…

I hate yard work. I mean I hate it with a passion. I don’t have an overly large yard, and mowing it I don’t care all that much. But then I have to spray for weeds. Then I have to put down vegetation killer to kill the grass where it shouldn’t be. Then I have to trim all the edges.

There’s ton’s of dead stuff I really need to pull out but I just hate doing yard work. Doubly so since out here it’s either cold and nasty or boiling and oppressive. I got most of the edging done before it became boiling and oppressive. I am planning on spraying weed and feed tonight as well as putting down vegetation killer, but we’ll see if I’m up to it.
While weed whacking and lost in my own thoughts I realized something. The following requires way too much suspension of disbelief.

While many would say time wouldn't slow down with hammy hopped up on caffeine, obviously you have never met a mini-bear. Poor Mr. Eeds was almost over run by them. They were just so damn fast. We lost two waist packs to them as well in under 2 seconds to get at our snack food. Seriously, we put the packs on the ground and bam it was over.

No, the item that is just completely unbelievable can be seen at 0:22. There is no way that a woman that uptight in one of those cookie cutter style neighborhoods would be doing her own yard work. No, she's hiring the local Mexicans to come do her yard work.
I wish I had been able to call in to the Squirrel Report last night. The next thing I am hacking is my lawn mower and that damn button I have to push to go in reverse with the PTO on. If I don’t push the button, the engine dies. That is a problem right now as I need to replace the battery in the lawn mower.
My new phone and ears for shooting is an awesome combo for yard work. I was able to listen to Pandora the whole time while working. As Weer’d says, Dub Step Get’s Shit Done. I came back in after 3 hours and thought maybe it had been one. It’s the power of the Wub! This played while I was rounding up debris on the mower. It was bookmarked for the wife.

I figure with the flute she'll appreciate it.
An additional side note. I’m not going to do the State Sponsored Criminal Count on weekends unless one rolls in and I really feel like doing it. It’s pretty easy to find content for it however it’s my weekend. I don’t like spending my weekend thinking about how badly I’d like to shove my foot right up someone’s ass. Instead I’m going to try and find something else to blog about on the weekends. Besides the wife is going to start having Sundays off on a regular basis now. So she’ll be coming to the USPSA matches more regularly.

Doing that count can be a serious downer.

Quote of the Day - Miguel (05/11/2012)

Barron Barnett — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:43:56 +0000

The problem with Anti Gun idiots is that they are willing to bet everybody else’s life and assorted body parts on their failed Gun Control Theories.

Miguel - Shoot First, Ask Questions Later? Damn Skippy!

May 11th, 2012

[The criminal occupational hazard reduction organizations seem to think that by allowing those who desire to exercise their right to carry it some how forces everyone to carry. I've never quite understood this. What I do understand quite well is that their wants and desires affect everyone's choices for self defense.

Their desire to limit the ability to fight back affects everyone, not just themselves. Currently there is a running theme that we must be able to fully know the intent of an attacker before we defend ourselves.

Umm, I don't think so sparky. If someone is threatening myself or my family I am no longer required to exercise restraint. I don't care if it ends up he just wants my wallet, there is no magic filter to separate a process criminal and a resource criminal. I cannot magically separate by immediate behavior who just wants my wallet and who after taking my wallet wants me dead. The criminal could quite easily retain his life by doing one of two things.

Pick a different victim. See if he picks one of those anti-gunners who doesn't believe in defending themselves it's much safer for the criminal.
No longer participate in a life of crime. If he wasn't robbing and threatening peaceable citizens he wouldn't have to worry about being shot when they defended themselves now would they?

I know there are many people who would blame the person for defending themselves for the death of the criminal. Except that isn't true now is it? There were numerous decisions the criminal made which forced the victim into defending themselves. The criminal made the choices which ultimately resulted in their own death.

If someone threatens me and mine do you think I'm going to take the time to run him through a psychological profile to determine if I should be less afraid?

Hell no, I have already made the decision. I will fight and I will win at any cost to those who threaten or use force against myself or my family. The criminal made the decision to jump in the pit with the tiger. I have no duty to try and determine if he's just bluffing. Shoot first, you bet. If my telling them to stop didn't work, the universal hand signal for go away will. Even if it most assuredly reduces his recidivism rate to 0.

Besides even if the attacker actually shoots first our opponents will claim I did if my body isn't cooling to room temperature by the actions of their main supporters.

A criminal who attacks someone else has no rights during the attack. He surrendered them in perpetrating the attack. He made that choice, not me. -B]

SSCC #329 - Milwaukee

Barron Barnett — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:48:57 +0000

Remember the Wisconsin police chief Ed Flynn who said this?

“My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we’ll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have a right to carry it.”

Well, it has become apparent how he feels the law applies to him and his department. It's no wonder he didn't want the ~~law abiding~~ victims carrying weapons, they might fight back.

Nevertheless, the Milwaukee Police Department is under “the most sweeping investigation… in at least a decade” according to the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal, which also notes 13 former Milwaukee cops have been convicted of federal crimes in the last 7 years. At least seven officers (suspended, not fired) are under currently under investigation for potential sexual assault and civil rights violations stemming from illegal cavity searches. At least one defendant subject to an illegal search has already been released.

See, this is unsurprising from this department. When your chief is making statements like previously seen about how his department should treat law abiding citizens can any of this be surprising.

State Sponsored Criminal Count #329: Ed Flynn

Because police officers can do whatever they want to whoever they want and the law is merely to prevent victims from fighting back.

Via The Agitator

In Which I Apologize

Barron Barnett — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:27:20 +0000

If you have used the Contact Me page to try and get a hold of me since January 1st. I apologize. I didn't realize that was sending email to another domain. That domain was not a part of the migration in January and will be done later this summer.

Because of that email sent to that address has not been forwarded properly, why I am not exactly sure. I just discovered the forwarding was still broken recently and went and checked the form. Yup, it's the bad address.

So if you attempted to contact me using the form since the first of this year, please feel free to hit me again. I didn't get that memo. I tested the form this afternoon and it is in fact functioning correctly.

Again, I'm sorry if you sent me something and I didn't respond. It's not because I hate you*, it's because it never appeared in my inbox.

*Well I might depending on why you contacted me, but I just can't be sure since I don't know that anyone sent me hate mail.

SSCC #328 - Nashville

Barron Barnett — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:35:22 +0000

Before the traffic stop was over, the officer would take $22,000 cash that the man had been planning to use to buy a car -- without charging him with a crime.

I'm willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that money also is already working it's way out of the evidence lockup. As there is no crime tied to the "evidence" there is no reason for it to be retained in inventory.

This is an officer being a dick because he can. The man committed no crime and he had his property confiscated for it. Why not make people prove they're not utilizing their car for illegitimate purposes. I have no duty to provide you a withdrawal slip from my bank without a warrant. Hell I have a box at home I toss spare cash and change in. Over time that's going to grow into a larger value of cash. Fuck banks, they did nothing but tack on fee after fee while I was with them. I've since gone to credit unions but I still don't trust them.

Why am I being forced by an officer of the law to engage in commerce? My response to that dick, "Fuck you I don't have to." May you and your boss end up in prison for deprivation of property without cause under color of law. My only hope is that you're found by someone you put in prison and your transgressions paid for.

State Sponsored Criminal Count #328: Officer John Doe

Because an officer of the law is judge and jury rolled in to one and is free to confiscate property as he sees fit without regard to due process and the law.

via Uncle.

Ear Worm Wednesday–05/09/2012

Barron Barnett — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:34:04 +0000

Missed last week. I intended to make a whole post but I’m waiting for some pictures back from Boomershoot first. So in the mean time, I give you this:

Disturbed – Asylum

*One of the comments for the video:

this is how i feel like on school o.o

I can sympathize. Swallow our bullshit or we’ll feed you to the dogs. It became an art to regurgitate their bullshit while also bucking the system in public school. Now with how out of hand zero tolerance has become, they’ll hang you for just barely bucking.

The Dumb Is Strong With This One

Barron Barnett — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:39:20 +0000

Yeah, here's your laugh for the day.

Police, however, say the 18-year-old walked into the Wilmer Police Department Saturday evening with a white towel covering his hands.

Police Chief Victor Kemp described the incident saying, “Yeah well, a young man walked into the lobby and approached the dispatch window there and told our Communications Officer ‘give me all your money.’”

Son, you just tried to rob a police station. Where in your mind did you think that was a "good idea". You then turned around and said it was a joke. In what world did that seem like a "good idea" as a joke, which I don't believe you by the way.

Thankfully no one was hurt, though I do feel like Darwin was prevented from properly cleaning the gene pool.

On a more serious note folks your average criminal isn't that bright. Now this one I certainly would think ranks below average, but if they were smarter the would have a job and not be stealing stuff. The risk reward matrix on a job is considerably better than being a criminal. Frankly I prefer to continue to tilt the scales on making crime more risky. Sadly though our government has decided to take these high school drop outs and make them TSA agents to legitimize their criminal behavior.

There's just no winning for us is there?

Quote of the Day - Larry Correia (5/9/2012)

Barron Barnett — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:45:32 +0000

I find it highly ironic that the side that wants to grow a government enormous enough to take care of everything, control everything, regulate everything, provide everything, and crush everything thinks of themselves as freedom fighters, while they say the side that wants to make government smaller and less capable are dangerous statists… But I suppose that’s why people came up the term “useful idiot.”

Larry Correia - Hate mail time!

May 7th, 2012

[That right there is QFMFT. He rips apart another idiot here. This idiocy of these folks is down right impressive. It certainly has to be some sort of record.

Honestly I don't know how we are going to solve this problem. We have a large group of people who think they are entitled to other peoples property. They want the state to steal that property for them. I happen to agree with Heinlein that freedom is found on the frontier. Because you can uproot and leave when those seeking entitlements start showing up.

I do not understand how people think they are slaves while wanting the state to basically absorb them as property. My brain goes into an unhandled exception trying to understand that. I fear that no matter what there will be blood because they're going to use force to take what they perceive as theirs. I spent part of my life earning what I have, and you are not going to take my life. Even the poorest in this country have it better than anyplace else in the world. For some reason luxuries have become "rights", what the hell?

I'm going to stop because I feel myself wanting to rant. All I will say is this. Where the fuck is Galt's Gulch? If you find it, let me know because I want to get away from these parasites. -B]

Update: Apparently I'm not alone.

SSCC #325-#327 - Dickson & Fort Lauderdale

Barron Barnett — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:05:20 +0000

Via WizardPC we get two separate but similar incidents.

He not only avoided criminal charges because of this tape, but the tape has also led to the arrest of an off-duty deputy and one police department to change its policies.

But remember, the police don't want you to video tape them while doing their job. Heaven forbid they be held accountable for their actions. As Wizard points out it's not as if there's a pattern of abuse here... Oh wait.

But a video of their confrontation bore so little resemblance to that description that prosecutors dropped the case against Baldeo and decided instead to file charges against Wimberley and Swadkins.

A jury on Friday found Wimberley guilty of two misdemeanors for falsifying his reports. A married father with five years of service as a Broward deputy, Wimberley faces a jail term of nearly two years when he is sentenced June 15. Until then, Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes allowed him to remain free.

Yup, pattern. I know not all officers do things like that. What I do not understand though is why there are "good" officers who so abhorrently dislike the public documenting their behavior. If you're doing a good job and doing everything right, why would you care? Yeah, I understand how it can be edited to look bad, just the same it can save your ass. Also if you have your own video of the incident that helps protect you. Think about that for a second. I have my copy of the record and you have your copy of the record.

Personally I would prefer extra documentation of my interactions with the public. Over time it can paint a clear picture of my attitude and behavior. That can further protect me when someone creates a statement that is completely out of character.

State Sponsored Criminal Count #325: Scott Hull

#326: David Wimberley

#327: Brian Swadkins

Because it's perfectly OK to frame someone if you're an officer of the law. Even more than that, you're free to prevent people from documenting the evidence.

Never Listen to the High School Dropout

Barron Barnett — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:40:14 +0000

This made me all sorts of angry:

Savannah Barry is mad and on a mission. She wants travelers to be warned before they walk through TSA security. "They need to get with the program and have some education across the board for TSA." After participating in a DECA conference in Salt Lake City with several classmates last week, Savannah, who is a type one diabetic and wears an insulin pump 24 hours a day, says she ran into TSA agents who were not prepared to deal with her medical situation. "I went up to the lady and I said, I am a type one diabetic. I wear an insulin pump. I showed her the pump. I said, what do you want me to do? I usually do a pat down - what would you recommend?"

Savannah then showed agents a doctor's note explaining that the sensitive insulin pump should not go through the body scanner. She says she was told to go through it anyway. "When someone in a position of authority tells you it is - you think that its right. So, I said, Are you sure I can go through with the pump? It's not going to hurt the pump? And she said no, no you're fine."

I won't fault the girl here. She has probably been told over and over to trust the government and do what you're told. She has been drilled to the point where she ignored what her doctor said and did what a high school drop out that was too stupid to get a job anyplace else said.

Unsurprisingly it destroyed her insulin pump. Walking into one of those things with electronic equipment is down right dangerous. Ionizing radiation can cause single event upsets in the control systems of the medical equipment. Non-ionizing radiation can have the effect of an EMP causing excessive voltages in circuits. If the device is improperly shielded it will destroy components. Memory devices can also suffer a single event upset.

I don't know which of these incidents occurred, my suspicion is the second. I will say this girl is very lucky she is not dead or hospitalized as a SEU could have resulted in an excess or incorrect dosage being administered. Usually devices can survive one safely, however multiple failures were probably induced simultaneously

This is an expensive lesson and one that everyone needs to heed. Those who work for the TSA are the lowest common denominator of our society. That's why it's full of child molesters, sexual deviants, and thieves. One should not do what they say blindly or without forethought. Remember these people do not care about you or what happens to you. If they could they'd just treat you like cattle more than they already do.

As I've said before, make their lives hell. Sure some will be too stupid to understand but eventually you'll wear them down. On that same note, as you see those responsible for bringing this plague upon us, make their lives hell as well. They are elected representatives and obviously they failed at their job.

Burning effigies should work nicely.

Mirror Mirror On the Wall

Barron Barnett — Tue, 08 May 2012 03:41:52 +0000

Which way should this decision fall?

Yesterday at the match there was also an interesting event that of course as Murphy would have it, I would be the CRO on the stage at that time.

I have attached the stage description at the bottom, but here’s a quick rundown of the stage.

So, as you can see there were two activated disappearing targets, T1 and T9. When the steel was dropped they would appear and disappear. A particular shooter in his effort to strike the target nailed it just after it disappeared.

When I first saw it I thought miss. He began to argue that it was a hit. However when I started to inspect it I maintained my ruling.

The bullet actually struck the back of the target and traveled to the front. If you inspect the front of the target you will see that there is no grease mark from the bullet however one is clearly visible on the back side.

The USPSA rule book states the following:

9.5.8: Hits visible on a scoring paper target or no-shoot, which are the result of shots fired through the rear of the target or no-shoot, will not count for score or penalty, as the case may be.

It begs the question of what happens with a perfect edge hit. The following might apply.

9.5.9: Hits upon scoring or no-shoot paper targets, must completely pass through the target to be considered a valid hit and count for score or penalty.

It could be argued that the bullet did not completely pass through the target. For the edge hit to count it must completely bifurcate the target. I don’t know. In this case it was more back to front so it was easy to call, what if it had been the other way though? Front to back or I hadn’t had that nice piece of wood to help indicate the direction of travel.

Is it impressive, yeah, the question remains though, how the hell do you score it?

Here is the stage description.