Wednesday, April 28, 2004
You might recall real Americans. They're back.
Reader Heartless Libertarian gave me the heads up on this story.
Quote:
------------
ZAHN: According to "The Los Angeles Times," there have been so many Marines wounded in Fallujah that there is actually a backlog of Purple Hearts. What does that do to the morale of troops?
PETERSON: Well, it's surprising, to be honest. ... I have spoken to a lot [of Marines] who have been engaged in some of these firefights. In fact, I was in one of the combat surgical rooms where they were working on a couple of these guys.
Two of them had been ambushed, not where the main fight is going on tonight, but their unit had been ambushed east of Fallujah. And seven people rolled in. There were two that had gunshot wounds. And they pulled a huge slug, a bullet, out of the leg of one of the Marines. And another one had a bullet wound right through the back.
And, amazingly, they were trying to convince their commanders that they were ready to go and go back out. I have been really surprised at ... the high degree of morale that these Marines have shown. Remember, they have only been here for a month and a half. Many of these units that are here now engaged in the initial invasion last year and were in Iraq for several months.
Now they're back. But they seem to be engaged. They're taking casualties. But it's really surprising. You don't see much head-dragging or anything like that. I mean, you know, what you see is kind of more encouragement for these guys.
And, for example, the one who had the gravest -- the bullet in and out through his back -- was trying to convince his commander that he'd be back. And his commander actually promised him that his spot was still going to be there. Another soldier who was injured in that huge firefight yesterday who I spoke to earlier this morning, he wanted to get back out there. But the only problem was, was that half his shoulder was missing around his firing arm.
But he was convinced he would be able to sit there on a roof and not have to run anywhere and he could contribute that way. So it's been surprising. But ... the Marines that are here certainly appear to be geared up for whatever the future holds.
------------
My God. I am choked to tears.
In continually trying to relive their heady days of the Vietnam war era, the Left is stuck in a groovey feel good timewarp, and fundamentally does not grasp that THIS is what America really is.
America is football players who walk away from million dollar contracts to help drain the swamp. America is the 30 mile long solid line of emergency equipment from as far away as Virginia headed into NYC on 9/11. America is Marines who just don't CARE if half their shoulder is missing, they want to get back into the action.
So, Kerry can prevaricate over whether he threw medals or ribbons, whatever. It doesn't matter. We know who he and the Left is, and what they're about, and we have passed them on.
The Left's days are numbered.
Praise Vishnu.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45  
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Guest Post
Because I'm up to my ass in sawdust, I'm going to let Reader BlackFork6, who is hopping mad, slip into the guest slot, for some uninhibited ranting (and arguably raving):
Quote:
--------------
I am snot-slinging MAD over the NRA catalog in the snail mail today, featuring, on its cover....two PC models with SHOTGUNS broken ever-so-correctly over their shoulders. Same kind of BS on the column photos to go with editor Keefe in the American Rifleman. Same thing, same thing, same thing....
It's LAME guys. Can we get above room temperature?
I cringe when I see Cheney or Heston in those photos waving a musket. Hello? Are we the National Musket Association? Are we the National Scattergun Association? Or are we the freaking National RIFLE Association?
Where's your bolt gun, Lapierre? Where's your AR-15 that thousands of your members shoot in competition, Heston? Where the heck is your deer rifle, at LEAST. Why aren't we giving Cheney an AK and mentioning to him that he will be a FELON if his president signs the AWB bill as he promised? Do you think this is Ducks Unlimited? Hello folks....Second Amendment?
Can we roll back off our heels and be who we ARE, fellows?
BlackFork6
Distinguished Rifleman
High Master, NRA Highpower Rifle.
PS: Check out the Creedmore Sports Catalog. The snail mail one. Champions. With RIFLES.
--------------
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Monday, April 26, 2004
Progress Report...
As my Readers can tell, there's not been much ranting of late, as my time is completely occupied with preparing Freedom House for the transfer of my flag.
With the help of the Mighty and Egregious Charles, I was able to finish the office framing and get most of the panelling done over the weekend. I finished the panelling today, and prepped the floor, which I will knock out tomorrow, along with the trim work, and the closet doors. Then the office per se will be finished, and I can then start on the shelving and cabinetry, which should take Wednesday and Thursday.
We were originally planning to pack Friday, and actually move on Saturday, but we're going to push it off for a week. Either way, the matter is complicated by the fact that I'm assuming the office of Official Mad Scientist of my new employer a Monday from now.
It's been said that there's no rest for the wicked. I must have been incredibly evil in a previous life.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Our Default Assumption...
Is that most politicians are liars. So seldom are they documented as such.
Kerry Interview:
Quote:
---------------
"I gave back, I can't remember, 6, 7, 8, 9 medals," Kerry said in an interview on a Washington, D.C. news program on WRC-TV's called Viewpoints on November 6, 1971, according to a tape obtained by ABCNEWS.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Kerry has denied that he threw away any of his 11 medals during an anti-war protest in April, 1971.
---------------
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Friday, April 23, 2004
Hero Down
{via Drudge}
Pat Tillman KIA in Afghanistan.
We've lost a LOT of heroes these last few years, but few walk away from multi million dollar NFL contracts to fight for the freedom of folks he's never met.
Never let them say Americans are only about money and oil.
Never.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Tool Five.
{An unscholarly and entirely questionable history, images courtesy Home Depot, who now has more of my money than I care to think about.}
Back in the lost mists of time, the first proto human picked up a stick, used it to beat a lizard over the head, and then ate it.
Humanity had invented Tool One.
Meanwhile, across the valley, about 5 minutes later, a different fellow picked up a rock, nailed a bird with it, and then ate it.
Humanity had invented Tool Two.
A couple of thousand years later, someone got the bright idea to sharpen the rocks and sticks, and thus invented Tools Three and Four.
Our ancestors, being pretty dim, took another ten thousand years to figure out that if you strapped the rock to the stick, you wound up with a whole new order of tool. If they tied a plain rock to the stick, they invented Tool Five, which we call a hammer. If the rock was of the sharp variety, then they invented Tool Six, which we call an axe.
And that was basically it, for about fifty thousand years till someone figured out the whole metal smelting thing. Once they had that down, they decided that rocks sucked, and replaced their axe and hammer heads with the metal variety in pretty short order.
I'm pretty sure the result was probably shaped more or less like this:
{Yeah, I know it's a rubber mallet. STFU, OK?}
until maybe 5000 BC, when they went to something that resembled this:
Then, during the Industrial Revolution, they decided that it was pretty cool to both drive and pull nails with the same tool, and you ended up with this:
So, considering that the Hammer is Tool Five, what I really want to know is, why did it take them so long to get it right?
Readers, I present The One True Hammer (Of Antioch):
Put the weight forward? DUH!
Give the handle a slight curve, similiar to that of a katana, for the same reason of increased leverage? DUH!
Why in hell hasn't Tool Five looked like this for about 3000 years?
Once you get used to the funky angles, you'll never go back.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Quick Roundup On Iraq
{thanks to Instapundit}
From the moving birthday reflections of an Iraqi::
----------------
I wasn’t like this before. I was afraid most of the time. I have always looked for safety above all. I lost faith in the whole world and I wasn’t ready at all to make the slightest sacrifice for the sake of others. I was trying to leave my country and find a better job in a safe place, BUT, The brave solders (who don’t hold shares at Halliburton or Bechtel) who crossed seas and oceans and came to my country to fight for our freedom -and don’t anyone dare say the opposite, as I met so many of these soldiers and had hundreds of letters from them and there families and I know their motives; they fight for their country’s safety and for our freedom and they are proud of what they are doing- gave me the faith and showed me that man should not care only about himself, his family or his country, these are not enough to make a human being. These guys are MUCH better than me because I have to fight for my issue and they fight for me. They deserve the respect of the world and so do the people who support them. They always give me hope to go on no matter how difficult it seems.
----------------
Robert Altman illustrates that Baghdad is not what you see on the nightly news, in Like Mike
---------------
There is also a particular fascination not only with things American, but with Americans themselves. If you tell someone from Baghdad that you are from America, you are likely to be met with excitement and the common exclamation: "I love America." They will want to know where you are from in America, and what you think of Iraq. Without prompting, they will tell you what their lives were like under Saddam, and how they have changed. And their children are likely to be drawn to the American soldiers — waving, smiling, and running to meet them. For those whose impression of Iraqi sentiment has been shaped by the nightly news, the Iraqi response to Americans may be the biggest surprise to come from a trip to Baghdad.
---------------
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Today's Update....
Well, I've been framinating...I'm almost done, thank the Diety of your choice. {Or a random one, if you prefer not to choose}
Progress was slower today, as I'm doing the tricky bits along the wall where the oil tank lives. Basically, I'm walling in the tank, and rigging that section of the wall to flip upwards on pins for maintenance. Next to that will be about an 8 foot closet. Then, lo and behold, I've got the sump pump, followed by about a foot and a half of dead space, which forms a second closet, useful only for the sump pump and uh, I guess maybe a broom or vacuum cleaner. I sure in hell can't fit the gunsafe in it.
The longest uncomplicated stretch of wall on that side? 12 inches. Yeesh.
For those of you who wonder aloud, I finishing 1/4 of the basement for my office. After all, I need a place to hatch and pursue my capitalistic schemes, don't I? The other half was already finished in that oh so groovy knotty pine from the late 50's. The remaining 1/4th will continue to be utility and storage.
Quote:
------------
"There goes another one..."
-Imperial gunner noting the departure of another escape pod from the blockage runner Tantive IV, at the beginning of Star Wars IV
------------
Word is confirmed of yet another refugee ejecting from the dark and fascist state of NJ. Please welcome THR's Anklpocket to Red America.
Yay!
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Monday, April 19, 2004
Too Pooped To Post Much...
That's what happens when you frame out walls all day. Measure, cut, pound, drill, nail, all day long, over and over and over again. After a few hours of this, you start becoming deranged, thinking thoughts like, "I am the Framinator: I will FRAME THESE WALLS, without pity, remorse, or fear."
Perhaps the coolest bit was when GeeketteWithA9mm showed up with Corbin T. Dog, after I had gotten a few of the new walls up. Her jaw dropped. "You, you.. you can like, BUILD STUFF. That's so COOL! Why didn't you tell me you could...BUILD STUFF?" I paused in my framing (not that I was showing any pity, remorse, or fear, mind you) long enough to absorb the adulations and strokes to my manly ego, as was my due.
I've always found it refreshing to work with my hands, and give the old noggin a break. There's something indescribably satisfying about turning a pile of raw materials into something of value, durability, and if not beauty, then at least of competent execution.
The thing that does suck is that all this framing, painting, and running amok has seriously cut into my shooting time/budget. The Ramset Tool, while powder actuated, just isn't cutting it.
I acknowledge this isn't terribly interesting news. Fortunately, a Reader has saved my ass, by sending me a link to a Worthy, Short, and Sweet Essay.
{Thanks, Reader! If it weren't for my Readers, I'd just be some gun toting Constitutionalist conservative hippy ranting at length to no one. :) }
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Update....
As you can guess from the context, I'm up to my asshole in alligators, prepping Freedom House for May 1st, the day I transfer my Flag. I've made 6 trips to Home Depot since Friday, they're getting to know me on sight, Molon Labe hat and all. I've met most of the immediate neighbors, and they're all nice, friendly people.
In fact, the difference in people's general friendliness is rather striking. Folks smile & say hi, unlike most folks East of the Delaware. It's really amazing the difference a mere 15.8 miles makes.
In other news, I found some time to nearly finish reading Barnett's Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty. I'm pretty much on the last chapter. Frankly, having read the book has generated a great deal of work for me to do on this blog.
First, the book deserves a detailed report in its own right, and I'm going to restrain myself from trying to do so in this post. Whatever I write here, tonight, exhausted after whamming nails all day won't do it justice. Suffice it to say Barnett makes an compelling case for the legitimacy of the text of the Constitution, natural rights, the overal Liberty of the People, He demonstrates clearly how the current judicial doctrine of the presumption of Constitutionality is not consistent with the text of the Constitution in light of the 9th and 10th amendments, and that the judicial doctrine of the presumption of Liberty is well founded historically, legally, and ethically.
Second, I'm going to let the book soak in, so that it will have its proper impact on the promised essay Rendezvous with History.
Third, it has sparked another idea, not found in the book itself, that will need some gestation time "under the radar" before I roll it out in public.
Finally, I've landed a new gig! The corporation in question can't afford my full rates, but they've rolled out what red carpet they have, and I'm now the Official Mad Scientist (a role I was born for) at .... well, let's just keep them out of this, shall we?
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Friday, April 16, 2004
Pennsylvanians.
That'd be us.
We have the deed to prove it.
{cue O Fortuna}
Freedom House Is Ours.
I'll be busy these next weeks building a basement office (so that I'll have a proper place from which to engage in my evil capitalist activities), moving all our stuff, getting the old house on the market, filing for driver's licenses, tags, carry permits, car insurance, and, of course, shopping for my belated BAG day/celebratory gun(s).
And yes, I've already located the nearest gunshop. It's about a mile away, and it has a GIANT sign that screams GUNS! all over it it, unlike it's NJ counterparts, which have small, discreet signs that meekly proclaim We sell guns (mostly to the police, and reluctantly to citizens). Please don't vote us out of existence.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Thursday, April 15, 2004
And Since We're Talking About Property...
Allow me to introduce my hero of the day: Hernando de Soto
Quote:
-----------------
It?s not hard to understand why Marxist (search) radicals found de Soto?s ideas so dangerous. They threatened the monopoly the political left (Marxist and non-Marxist) held over solutions to the problems of the world?s poor. For years, statist development experts had sought top-down solutions, operating under the implicit assumption that poor people in the Third World were largely incapable of entrepreneurship. De Soto utterly rejected that patronizing viewpoint, and, beginning in his native Peru, focused on the lack of formal property rights as the source of poverty in poor countries. As an author and an activist, and later as adviser to Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (search), de Soto worked to bring impoverished Peruvians out of the shadow economy, and unlock their potential for wealth.
-----------------
The article explains a lot more....
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
1 Day To Closing on Freedom House...
Busy, busy!
Homeowners insurance policy? Ka-Ching!
Packers? Ka-Ching!
Movers? Ka-Ching!
Electricians? Ka-Ching!
Carpenters? Ka-Ching!
Miscellaneous Fuck You Fees*? Ka-Ching!
Freedom House: Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching!
Standing peacably in the street with your sidearm lawfully tucked into a holster?
Priceless.
*Definition:
-------------------
Fuck You Fee. (fuk yu fe)
A fee charged for mysterious, insubstantial or amorphous reasons.
Buyer: "Hey? What's this fee for?"
Seller: {random polite bullshit that is a euphimism for :} "Fuck You. I'm charging it because I can, and you can't do dick about it."
-------------------
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Hey! Osama!
You want Europe to surrender?
Am I supposed to feel anguish because you didn't offer the US the same deal? Do you think I'm wringing my hands over this?
Fuck You.
Even our weiniest Euro pals second the motion.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Fallujah Couture
(photo courtesy FoxNews)
A Marine models the latest style of insurgency hat, which doubles as a rocket launcher.
This improvised thing was found in an insurgent's weapons cache. One of the obvious advantages is that the operator gets +3 on initiative, due to Marines laughing their asses off whenever they see a bad guy running around the battlefield with one of these on their heads.
(Note the lack of guards on the triggers)
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
A Quick Note...
I've been tracking and comparing the headlines on CNN.com vs. Fox.com over the last couple of days, especially with regards to the travesty we call the 9/11 commission.
It might be just me, but it seems that Fox is picking headlines that tend to incriminate the administration, and CNN is picking more neutral terms.
If I had time, I'd take a deeper look, as this might represent a shifting of editorial tones of one or both networks.
During the opening stages of Gulf War II, it seemed that Fox was providing the least biased coverage, but during the 9/11 commission, it looks like CNN is taking the lead.
Considering recent discussion on the 'Net concerning CNN's crumbling market share, it's entirely possible that they're paying ever so slight attention to the increasingly obvious public cynicism concerning the press. {Hat tip to Instapundit for the link}
The presses well documented blatant bias to the Left is, IHMO, one of the major reasons why the ideology of the Left continues to have any traction in the American imagination at all. Had the press been truly fair and unbiased, I'm certain there would have been a lot more expose' on why socialistic tendencies are morally, ethically, and economically bankrupt approaches that just don't work.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Disgraceful.
{via Drudge}
'We should put this S.O.B. up against a wall... and pull the trigger.'
Nice.
Sigh. There's too many people today who believe the GWB and Pals are a greater threat to us than the Islamofascists.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
From the GOA:
Congress to TSA: Arm More Pilots or Suffer Consequences
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
Gun Owners of America alerted you in January to legislation that
would soon be introduced by two pro-gun legislators, Senator Jim
Bunning (R) of Kentucky and Rep. Joe Wilson (R) of South Carolina.
Last week, both legislators announced the introduction of their
bills at a press conference that was attended by GOA and several
pilot organizations.
"These pilots are the last line of defense against hijackings," Sen.
Bunning said. "They very well may be the only thing that stops the
Air Force from having to shoot down a plane full of passengers."
Both S. 2268 and H.R. 4126 are entitled the "Cockpit Security
Technical Corrections and Improvements Act of 2004" (or "Cockpit
Security Act" for short). This legislation would require that 90%
of all pilot/applicants be trained and certified within six months
of passage. This short time frame will put pressure on the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to encourage training
by private facilities -- a measure which has been consistently
resisted by the TSA.
The TSA has set up numerous roadblocks that have severely restricted
the number of pilots who can carry firearms. Initially, the
administration certified fewer than 100 pilots. Many applicants
were "flunked" because they expressed reservations about TSA policy,
and elaborate and redundant physical and psychological exams were
used to deter pilots who had already been certified to fly planes
containing hundreds of passengers.
Only one training facility was authorized by the TSA at a remote
site in New Mexico, making it needlessly inconvenient for most
pilots to participate.
According to an explosive news story by CNSNEWS.COM, when pilots
began to complain to the Congress and the media about problems with
the program, they were threatened with fines and dismissal from the
program.
The TSA also implemented an absurd "lock-box" requirement, which
forces a pilot to carry his firearm outside his person until the
flight deck door is sealed. Pilots who are "deadheading" must place
their lock boxes in the cargo area. This has led to firearms being
lost, mishandled or stolen.
One pilot with years of federal law enforcement experience told a
reporter that, "Pilots go down [to the cargo hold] to get the gun
and the baggage handlers have already been in the belly... and the
gun is on its way to baggage claim. The [pilots] then have to get
back up into the airplane, go down out of the terminal, down to
baggage claim and hopefully find their gun on the carousel."
The Bunning-Wilson bills will require that pilots carry their
firearms when they deboard their planes -- repealing the awkward
"lock-box" procedure and putting thousands of additional certified
law enforcement officers on the streets of America’s major cities.
"Tens of thousands of armed pilots are a real deterrent and
defense," Sen. Bunning stated. "A few thousand are not."
This would be the third time that Congress has passed bills forcing
the TSA to implement an armed pilots program. "[The TSA will] get
the message or they'll lose their money for the program," Bunning
added. "We'll put it somewhere where it will get the job done."
The current bills also allow for pilots with military or law
enforcement experience and proof of firearms proficiency to be
deputized immediately.
Opponents of this legislation hate the fact that average citizens
(that is, pilots who may or may not have law enforcement training)
are being allowed to carry firearms on planes. This is pro-gun
legislation that advances freedom in the right direction.
ACTION: Please ask your Representative and Senators to cosponsor
this legislation. You can contact your legislators by visiting the
Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send them a pre-written
e-mail message.
----- Pre-written message -----
Dear
Now that Senator Jim Bunning and Rep. Joe Wilson have introduced the
Cockpit Security Act, I encourage you to add your name as a
cosponsor to this legislation if you have not already done so.
Among other things, this legislation would require that 90% of all
pilot/applicants be trained and certified within six months of
passage.
I find it absurd that our planes are still undefended for the most
part, even though Al Qaeda has continued to issue threats against
our safety.
It is very important that our airplanes be adequately defended, so I
urge you to add your name as a cosponsor to this bill. Please let
me know what you intend to do. Thank you.
Sincerely,
****************************
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
BAG Day Is Nearly Here!
I've been awfully busy running amok, but Aaron reminds us all that
Buy A Gun Day is nearly upon us.
This will be a very special BAG day for me, as it will be my first gun purchased as a free man in a free land, and I intend to make it something special to commemorate our escape to freedom.
The choices are dizzying! Shall it be a backup handgun, perhaps something tiny and massively concealable for use when behind enemy lines? The thought of simply buying one without a purchase permit is a heady thought indeed. Perhaps I should go in the other direction, and buy a something huge, scary, and explicitly banned in NJ?
Perhaps a SPAS-12, one of the most frightening looking shotguns ever designed needs to live in my safe. Yeah....a SPAS. I'm starting to like that idea.
Take that, DiFi!
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
What's Up
There's a fair amount of stuff happening behind the scenes here.
-Biz negotiations: Some exciting new projects are in the offing.
-Freedom House: We go to settlement on Freedom House this Friday. Much to do in the meantime. The plan is to settle the house Friday, paint and do construction the following week, and move in the week after that, if all goes well.
-Major Essay Cooking!
There are great forces in play. Normally, the sum of historical vectors follows a more or less linear course. Once every generation or so, they all converge on a chaotic vortex, and the outcome is up for grabs.
We've all got a Rendezvous With History.
Gimme time on this one, I've gotta get it right.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Monday, April 12, 2004
Mad Ogre's Little One...
{via Bill St. Clair}
Got hurt. He's OK now, thanks to the efforts of a a lot of specialists, and the diety of your choice.
(Scroll to Apr 10, HELL.)
The bills are likely to be large, and without coverage, it's coming straight out of his pocket. If you can, toss him a few bucks via paypal, ogre-at-madogre-dot-com.
There's never a better cause than a hurt kid.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Friday, April 09, 2004
Whenever North Korea Feels Lonely and Ignored...
They threaten to nuke someone.
Whenever my 2 year old feels lonely and ignored, she threatens to pee on something.
The parallels are not a coincidence, I think.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Dave Kopel
The real lesson of the Alamo.
Quote:
-------------
The attitudes expressed in the "Texan War Cry" profoundly shaped American culture, and, even in the early 21st century, these ideas are at the core of the American gun culture: A true man will use a firearm to protect women from predators. The free people of a nation must defend it personally, with their own arms. Professional soldiers — "hirelings" in the pay of unfree governments — are morally and military inferior to American freedom fighters. Dying in defense of freedom is better than living under tyranny. And the quintessence of freedom — the precise reason why the stars of liberty shine — is the patriot's rifle.
These attitudes did not start with the Alamo; their roots precede the American Revolution. Yet it would be a serious mistake to underestimate the influence of Alamo imagery on almost every generation of American youth. The Texan War of Independence helped ensure that the moral lessons of the American Revolution were not seen as one-time events, but the recurring facts of the eternal struggle between freedom and tyranny.
-------------
Amen.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Victor Davis Hanson's Friday Sermon
Western Cannibalism:
Eating each other while our enemies smile.
As usual, there's too many good quotes to pick as the best, so here's one from among many:
Quote:
--------------
Out of all the recent chaos emerges one lesson: Appeasement of fundamentalists is not appreciated as magnanimity, but ridiculed as weakness — and, in fact, encourages further killing. A shaken Spain elected a new government that promised to exit Iraq. In return, the terrorists planted more bombs, issued more demands, and then staged a fiery exit for themselves. France, as is its historical wont, triangulated with the Muslim world and then found its fundamentalist plotters all over Paris. The Saudi royals thought that they of all people could continue to blackmail the fundamentalists — until the suicide-murderers turned their explosives on their benefactors and began to blow up Arab Muslims as well. General Musharraf once did all he could to appease Islamists — and got assassination plots as thanks.
--------------
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Lt. Smash On Iraq Events
The Objective
It's short and sweet, and I won't steal any thunder by quoting it. Go ahead and read it for yourself.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Sure, there's no media bias...
GRRRRRR!
crash
breakage
Quote:
-------------
Scalia, who was appointed to the bench by President Reagan in 1986, told students that the Constitution's true meaning must always be protected.
"The Constitution of the United States is extraordinary and amazing. People just don't revere it like they used to," Scalia told a full auditorium of high school students, officials, religious leaders.
He said he spends most of his time thinking about the Constitution, calling it "a brilliant piece of work."
-------------
At this point, most of you are wondering what's wrong with that, and if I've gone completely mad or not.
Rest assured, Scalia's comments are music to my ears. The reason I'm pissed is that they're mentioned as an afterthought at the very bottom of this piece of dogshit reporting that strives mightily to imply hypocricy and heavy handed jack bootedness on Scalia's part.
A man's preferences that his public appearances not be recorded is his prerogative, and has NOTHING TO DO WITH FREE SPEECH AT ALL.
The fact that either some reporter didn't get the message, or that a staffer neglected to make the "no recordings" announcement is regrettable, but hardly news.
I'm disgusted with attempt to paint one of the few remaining judges to even try to uphold his Oath to the Constution with this brush.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Happy Birthday, Bill!
AREA MAN CONFRONTED WITH A 45; DEFENDS SELF WITH TOY AIRPLANE
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
The Gonzales Group
Kevin Baker notes that Hudson was wrong. It's not game over.
He reminds us that in the course of the movie, Hudson rediscovers his spine, and our last glimpse is of him gleefully discharging his weapon, laying what waste he can to his enemies.
Those of use who are paying attention and are aware of what's going on feel a certain degree of gloom, doom and futility. For the most part, we are people of action. We vote, we write, we speak to people at every chance we can get. We join the NRA, GOA, and state groups. We give our money to groups that support our causes, and despite all this, we see that glorious thing that is America spinning further and further away from us.
In light of the evidence before our eyes, we (erroneously) conclude that these activities have no effect, that they are futile, and that the deck is stacked hopelessly against us.
I've said it again, and again, and again:
Democracy works for whoever shows up.
The things we've done, the letters, the faxes, the emails, they all have impact. They change the course of the river of history.
I spent some quality time on the phone yesterday with a fellow from the GOA, discussing a particularly heinous proposal for a Pennsylvania AWB.
Sidebar:
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There's no support for it at this time, it's not likely to go anywhere. I'm on the hot list in case it twitches, and y'all will know if it twitches 5 minutes after I do.
----
In the course of that conversation, I asked if we, the online community, actually had an impact with regards to S. 1805, not only with the legislators themselves, but with the strategy of the NRA.
Rough Quote From Memory:
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"Oh, there is no doubt the NRA changed their strategy in response to grassroots pressure, and you guys had a lot to do with that."
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If anything, we suffer from a dearth of imagination. We know that there's a lot of middle ground between what we've done, and the need to overtly take up arms, but few courses of action that seem substantially effective suggest themselves.
Like Hudson, it's time for us to rediscover our own spines. If we look over our shoulders and down, we'll find that it's right where it's always been, between our heads and our asses.
More importantly, it's time to engage our imaginations, and stride forth into that middle territory of activism to make our stands.
Enter Reader Airboss, who's recent trip to Austin not only bears fruit, but suggests a course of action.
Airboss has suggested that his ad-hoc group be named The Gonzales Group, after the first battle of the Texas revolution, which was centered on a cannon. Here's the flag the townsfolk flew:
Folks back then didn't tend to know Greek, but the spirit of "Molon Labe" is evident.
Here's the step by step course of action suggested by Airboss and his ad-hoc crew:
Lobbyism by Ad-Hoc Concerned Citizen Committees
Since Democracy seems to work for people who show up, it's time to show up in great numbers.
Sure, there's a lot of apathy, but there's also a lot of US who aren't. What we need to do is bring some "force multipliers" into play.
Let's also do something that is feasible, on a workable scale. We recognize that organizing a million freeman march, or any similiar mass protest is a pain in the ass, but organizing a 5 man ad-hoc committee of concerned citizens is a different thing altogether.
If one person has an impact, a five person team will have a greater impact.
A five person team who show up for face time has a lot more impact.
A LOT of 5 man teams, all advocating for Liberty, is irresistible.
Resistance isn't futile for us. It's futile for the politicians.
1) Find 3-5 People who are of like mind in your state. You don't have to see exactly eye to eye, you don't have to be friends, but you do have to be able to work together on an ad-hoc basis. You may or may not already know 5 people, and if you don't, you'll have to actively seek them out.
2) Identify the Liberty/Gun issues that are most pressing, relevant, and actionable in your region In dark & fascist places, you're most likely going to be fighting defensive actions, trying to prevent something heinous from being enacted. In more enlightened climates, you'll be able to propose things to move FORWARD, along the lines of additional reforms and decriminalizations.
3) Formulate Your Proposal. You don't have to write a bill, that's for professional legal eagles to do. What you DO have to do is have a clear, bullet pointed list of what it is you want to achieve, and be prepared to talk about it, and handle obvious objections.
4) Identify 3 Legislators In Your State Friendly To Your Issue. (Ideally, you also want to know who your 3 biggest enemies are, but that will make itself apparent in time)
5) Call them up, and create a relationship with them. Initially, you'll be creating a relationship with a staffer in their office. THOSE are the guys to know, they inform their legislator on the issues. Your initial goal will simply be to get your name recognized, which will come with time and contact. Eventually, you'll be wanting a sit down with the legislator to discuss your proposals. Pace yourself. Relentless consistency is the key.
Find your Freedom Buddies, and form up.
How long can they really last with everyone shouting Show me the Freedom! every time they turn around?
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
I'm not going to liveblog it...
But for those of you who are interested, Condi's 9/11 Testimony Streams can be picked up here.
Thanks to Reader KB who reminded me this was up today.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Bill Whittle On Fallujah
Chin Up.
I stand in more silent awe than usual.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Regarding the Sandbox
Yep, there's a lot of fighting going on in these last couple of days, and there will be more in the near future.
That is what we're there for: to eliminate the prior monstrous regime, and subsequently to help midwife a stable, peaceful democracy in its place.
We knew walking in the door that not everyone was going to be with the program, and that we were going to have to crack some heads to make it happen.
As to why this is happening now, my semi informed take on the matter is that the mullacracy of Iran feels the hot breath on their necks from the massively under reported riot/uprisings.
Fearing for their power base, they want to stir things up, in what will hopefully be their last gasp.
Perhaps dominoes will fall in the middle east, starting in Baghdad, and ending in Riyadh, by way of Tehran.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Yep, Appeasement is a valid strategy for dealing with terrorists.
Terrorists Planned Second Madrid Attack
Quote:
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Suspected terrorists who died in last weekend's blast had planned another major attack in Madrid (search), possibly during this week's Easter celebrations, a court official said Wednesday.
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And the sad thing is, the Spanish have already surrendered, and now they're stuck with an officially socialist government.
Poor saps.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
A Feast For The Starving...
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm currently reading Randy Barnett'sRestoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty (Hint: Obtain and read it. Nowish.)
I've been withholding commentary, as I really want to finish the book and allow it to percolate thoroughly into my thinking. It's slow going though. With biz, blog, and family, my reading time tends to be limited to well after midnight, and more contemplative moments upon [reverb]The Throne of Power and Might[/reverb].
Because of that, and the timeliness of the topic, I'm going to have to emit my thoughts on it in a piecemeal, rather than integrated fashion.
So far, I'm near the end of the fourth chapter, and it's given me a whole lot of insight as to how we got where we are. I can't say there are any suprises in the larger picture, but the details that Prof. Barnett fills in as he makes his case sometimes are.
Randy Barnett, in true, lawyerly fashion, lays the groundwork for his case, one block of solid granite at at time, going all the way back to the fundamental question, "how can any Constitution or system of government create a general duty of conscience to obey its laws?"
He answers the question quite satisfactorilly.
My Summary: (There's a lot I had to leave out, this is 3 chapters worth of integrated material that completely covers every tangent I could think of)
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"In order for a system of government to form a duty of conscience to obey its laws absent actual unanimous consent (which, as a practical matter, is impossible to obtain), it must have built into it functioning safeguards to protect those Natural Rights retained by the people."
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It goes without saying that when the safeguards of the Rights retained by the people no longer function reliably, the legitimacy of any such government is ultimately cast into doubt.
To be certain, there is a dawning awareness among politicians and judges that reindeer games with the Bill of Rights is undermining the authority and legitimacy of the Republic. A few posts earlier, I quote evidence of this, from the Nordyke v King dissent, which I repeat here:
Quote:
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No liberties are safe if courts can so easily erase them, and no lover of liberty can be confident that an important right will never become so disfavored in popular
or elite opinion as to be vulnerable to being discarded like the Second Amendment.
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What I did find both surprising and illuminating is a significant chunk of the mechanism that has gotten us to the place where Justice Scalia observes
Quote:
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It is literally true that the U.S. Supreme Court has entirely liberated itself from the text of the Constitution.
We are free at last, free at last. There is no respect in which we are chained or bound by the text of the Constitution. All it takes is five hands.
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What had happened is that during the 80’s a series of debates amongst academicians culminated in what was perceived at that time as a devastating blow against interpreting the Constitution in light of "original intent". Because it was determined that original intent could not be reliably divined, "originalism" was declared dead, and thus we find the genesis of the mighty morphing "living Constitution" liberals are so eager to torque into whatever shape pleases them. Professor Barnett deftly deals with the objections to "original intent" by showing that an alternative, interpreting the Constitution in light of the "ORIGINAL MEANING of the TEXT" does not run afoul of the objections raised to "original intent", and serves as a means to get us back on track.
In light of this background, I am now a great deal more sympathetic to the NRA's reticence to try a Supreme Court approach to resolving our 2nd Amendment issues.
There cause for hope, however. All things academic that have an impact on the real world usually do so on a 5-10 year delay. (Interestingly, I've noted that techniques of Engineering typically originate in the real world, and impact academia on a 5-10 year delay) What I think we are seeing is that there is a very real shift towards interpreting the Constitution in light of the original meaning of the text, but it hasn't fully percolated into and suffused the real world yet.
Unfortunately, these things do take time, and whatever we can do nurture this kindled flame we must do, lest it be stillborn. I'll be discussing what we can DO in later posts.
In the meantime, I heartily recommend that folks grab hold of this book and start reading. (By that same token, I hope the rest of the book lives up to its promise)
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Publicola on Nordyke v. King
Publicola discusses judicial tyranny via the issuing of rulings based on precedent that flies in the face of the text of the Constitution.
Quote:
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What we have is a judiciary that keeps building on very bad decisions even when the judges disagree with those decisions. Some will say this is a triumph of the rule of law or the impartiality of the courts. I disagree. I'm more inclined to say it's a sign of failure of the rule of law & shows the bias of the courts.
...
This demonstrates not only their personal prejudice in the matter but a deference to the government rather than the constitution. When a judge who openly agrees that the 2nd amendment protects an individual right feels compelled to abide by a system that whittles all the substance from said amendment he is not acting impartially. What he's doing is showing deference not to the constitution but to the courts.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Return of the Delegation
Reader Airboss, one of a delegation of 9 concerned citizens, reports that his meeting with Texas state representative Suzanna Hupp to discuss further CHL reforms was a great success.
Originally scheduled for 45 minutes, Rep. Hupp was reportedly so involved that the meeting ran to an hour and a half. This suprises no one, as concealed carry reforms are her main issue, and to a large degree, she's personally responsible for a great deal of the restoration of the 2nd Amendment we all enjoy.
Reforms discussed were "Vermont carry", open carry, car carriage, universal recognition of out of state permits, liability reform, and decriminalization of "failure to conceal" and carriage in certain pointlessly prohibited areas.
Considering the backstory of the whole scene, I have to say that sometimes, our Republic does in fact work as advertised, when the right people show up.
Well done gang!
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
A whole lot of thoughtful discussion...
Is continuing over @ Kevin's, as everyone delves deeper into An Important Question
If you haven't checked in there recently, please do so, lots of updates and something like 50 (!) comments.
I find Ipse Dixit's post The Fulcrum to be particularly insightful.
Quote
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I think Kevin may be surprised by my answer: The Bush Administration isn't the hinge on the cell door. At most, this Administration represents a new keyring for the keys to the locks on the cell door.
If I was required to name one single thing as the actual hinge upon which that cell door swings, I'd place it two generations ago: The Supreme Court opinion in Wickard v. Filburn. Filburn was an Ohio farmer assessed a US$100 fine for violating the federal government production's quotas (a New Deal regime intended to prop up the price of farm products by limiting production) by farming 9/10th of an acre more wheat than his allotment. Filburn contested the fine on the grounds that he grew the wheat for his own consumption and was not, therefore, within the purview of Congress' Interstate Commerce Clause authority.
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Quote:
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But only a handful of the provisions in the {Patriot} Act come close to being as great an insult to our Constitutional rights as, say, the so-called "Assault Weapons Ban" (which is, of course, adored by a large percentage of the same people who are currently wringing their hands over the PATRIOT Act).
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There's a whole lot going on, get on over there!
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Soaring Dissent
I awake, and in Dead SlugMeat Mode (R)(TM)(C), I shamble out to my office to see what news the night has brought.
Barron Du Toit offers soaring hope in the form of a growing number of dissenting judges who comment at length upon the Second Amendment (pdf)
These are not timid, tentative statements. These judges dissent in clear, clean language that brightens my morning under the blue, wind scrubbed sky.
Quote:
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KLEINFELD, Circuit Judge, dissenting from denial of rehearing
en banc:
I respectfully dissent. I join fully in Judge Gould’s superb
dissent, which explains coherently and most admirably why
the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep
and bear arms.
Our court has erased 10% of the Bill of Rights for 20% of
the American people. No liberties are safe if courts can so
easily erase them, and no lover of liberty can be confident that
an important right will never become so disfavored in popular
or elite opinion as to be vulnerable to being discarded like the
Second Amendment.
------------
This morning, I don't feel so lonely standing on the barricade of Liberty.
We are not alone.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Monday, April 05, 2004
Required Reading
Shame on me for not posting this before.
I've bemoaned the death of real civics lessons in the school, (as opposed to socialist studies) and have attempted to remedy that in some small part via this blog.
I have also bemoaned the lack of rigorous training critical thinking skills, and yet, I have offered very little in the way of a remedy.
Well, hear ya go. This is probably one of the most complete online guide to identifying and refuting fallacies that I've come across.
BOOKMARK the page, and refer to it as needed.
These are the power tools that have made humanity great.
Quote:
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A fallacy is, very generally, an error in reasoning. This differs from a factual error, which is simply being wrong about the facts. To be more specific, a fallacy is an "argument" in which the premises given for the conclusion do not provide the needed degree of support.
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I think, in the future, I shall hyperlink fallacious statements to the appropriate fallacy in this guide, and urge all other bloggers to do the same.
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