Saturday, April 30, 2005
Blogging Through Tears.
Friend and Reader Airboss, aka Stephen Herod, proprietor of the mysterious Area .45, has suddenly passed from our company, but not from our brotherhood or hearts.
I'll miss him deeply.
Considering that my phone would usually light his caller id up shortly after posting items of interest to him, and knowing that this time it won't happen, I hesitate to click "Publish Post".
That's all I can say right now, and it doesn't do him the honor and justice he deserves.
Damnit.
Rest in peace, my friend.
{Publish Post.}
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Posted By: geekWithA.45  
Friday, April 29, 2005
Heh. The Governator Gets Behind The Minutemen...
Gov. Praises 'Minuteman' Campaign
Quote:
-----------
"It's just that our federal government is not doing their job. It's a shame that the private citizen has to go in there and start patrolling our borders."
-----------
Too bad he's such a GFW RINO otherwise.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
This Guy Actually Did What We All Wanted To Do....
I Punched Saddam In The Mouth.
I found this article linked over @ the Nation of Riflemen forum @ Kim's place.
Quote:
-----------
I was so angry," says Samir, who immigrated to St. Louis eleven years ago after fleeing Iraq. "I began cussing at him, calling him a motherfucker, a son-of-a-bitch -- you name it. I told him I was Shiite from the south and was part of the revolution against him in 1991. I said he murdered my uncles and cousins. He imprisoned my father.
-----------
Samir, we salute you.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
That Tired Song and Dance...
We all know the words to the song:
"They're will be blood on the streets!"
"People will be shooting each other over parking spots!"
"It'll be like the OK Corral!"
The steps to the dance dance is the faint of heart grasping their cheeks, widening their eyes, pulling their hair and running around in circles bleating screaming until they fall over.
Whenever this particular song is heard and dance can be seen, you can rest assured that the topic is some bit of legislation that removes some impediment to a citizen's defense of self and loved ones.
In this case, it'd be the removal of the retreat requirements, recently enacted in Florida.
Here's an article from the GFWs @ the BBC: Florida to expand law on gun use
Oh, the temerity of not legally requiring honest people to yeild the streets and flee from evil!
This is, of course, an element of liberal schizoid architecture of faux patriarchal benevolence. Their position on just about any topic is that because humans can't be trusted to act with honor in their own best interest, they, the enlightened and benevolent, must wield the power of the State to protect us from ourselves. If we don't give them the power they crave, civilization will collapse, and it'll be a Mad Max world. After all, civilization is brittle, and they, the annointed, are the only ones holding the thin line.
Feh.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Thursday, April 28, 2005
If I'm Not Mistaken...
Chris Muir, {He Who Rocks}
Shouts out to his fans in the RKBA community.
Here's the whole series, in it's full glory:
Day By Day:
Sounds like a shout out to The High Road to me.
And this looks like a shout out to GWA45 Readers.
Then again, I might be reading more into it than is actually present.
Either way:
Chris Muir Rocks.
[wayne and garth mode]
We're not worthy! We're not worthy! ;)
[/wayne and garth mode]
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Guy Smith's RKBA Initiative....
Guy Smith, author of the ever worthwhile Gun Facts booklet took the initiative to collect some funds (I contributed) and distribute his booklet to San Francisco area reporters ahead of the SF handgun ban referendum this coming November.
I applaud Mr. Smith for his efforts. It is exactly this sort of personal, grass roots initiative that makes things happen.
He writes to his contributor list:
-----------------------------------
This past Monday morning, 100 copies of Gun Facts were sent to reporters throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Thanks to your generosity, we may well drive a wedge in between the media and gun confiscation groups.
The goal of this campaign was to plant the seeds of doubt about the varsity of the Brady Campaign, AGS, VPC, and other organizations with dubious integrity.
----[Snip]-----
Anyway, we sent Gun Facts to:
48 newspaper reporters
3 radio commentators
42 television reporters5
to reporters at PBS affiliates
Question:
What else can we do? I've been told that the Chinese business community in San Francisco would be steadfast against the ban. There may be other visible and vocal wedge groups. I'd like to see these groups approached, coached, fueled and activated as November approaches. Any suggestions -- or any leadership volunteers -- should be presented soon.
-----------------------------------
I supported Guy in this despite my reservations. My reservations were not in the least bit with Mr. Smith or his booklet, but rather concerning the receptivity of the press to the message. Historically, the press has chosen sides, and it's not ours.
I have grown somewhat cynical regarding the activities of our enemies. Like many who believe that agents of the state should not have a monopoly of arms, I dwelled for a while in that place where I believed that if it could just be explained clearly enough, then our legislators and press could be made to understand, and thus on the virtue of the argument, would cease their hostilities.
Well, I got over it, and the slow motion epiphany that our enemies did not operate from ignorance gave way to the cynical hypothesis that they operated from a place of fundamental dishonosty regarding RKBA, and that by process of elimination malice and malfeasance are the primary factors in operation, hidden behind veils of patriarchal benevolence.
This remains my current operating assumption, and will remain so, until I see sufficient evidence otherwise. (As a consequence of this, I relegate press and legislative educational efforts to a low priority status, a triage that I'm beginning to recognize might need to be re-assessed.)
Nonetheless, I see glimmers of hope.
I believe it was Frederick Douglass who said that "Power concedes nothing without force."
In this case, the former near monopoly on information formerly enjoyed by the MSM has been broken by alternative media, (of which blogs are an important element) and the more farsighted captains of those endeavors realize that they must change to remain relevant.
This opens doors of possibility.
If the media ceases hostilities*, then the forces of organized gun bigotry will lose their spot at the podium, and without the podium, percieved public sentiment will eventually follow suit. Sniffing the wind, legislators will also be more amenable, and perhaps even authentically embrace RKBA beyond the duck shooting sporting photo opportunity.
I look on this as a great experiment, and I look forward to seeing the outcome. It might just could be that something like Gun Facts that sparks the fire that tilts the scales.
[young Fronkenshteen]
It. Could. Work!
[/young Fronkenshteen]
If there are any Readers over in that neck of the woods, it sounds worthwhile to see if you can dig out some time to help Mr. Smith out.
*I've always found it amusing that the Left, citing chains of ownership and corporate structure, asserts that the MSM is a creature of the Right, conveniently disregarding every analysis of the actual content the MSM generates that demonstrates a distinct bias to the Left. What was it I said a few posts earlier about taking direct measurements? In any event, the Left's rationalization on this subject is necessary to maintain other interlocking elements of the architecture of their schizoid break with reality, but that, as they say, is the topic of another post.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Public Service Message...
From The GOA
{Geeks Note: I KNEW there was something I liked about Bolton. But then again, anyone who can make a Democrat wail and gnash has to be doing at least a FEW things right! }
-------------------------------------------------
Ask Your Senators to Support Pro-gun Nominee
-- Senate vote coming soon
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
Thursday, April 21, 2005
You may have heard the firestorm over John Bolton. He's a State
Department official who has now been nominated to be the next US
ambassador to the United Nations.
He's a surprising choice, really. Bolton is unashamedly pro-gun. He
has gone to bat for gun owners and the Second Amendment, and has not
hesitated to look foreign tyrants in the eye while giving them the
classic "from my cold, dead fingers" speech.
In 2001, Bolton defended American gun owners by stating our country
would oppose any UN effort to regulate non-military firearms or any
effort that would "abrogate the constitutional right to bear arms."
Because of his stand, Bolton is credited with destroying any hope
other nations had of achieving a consensus on gun control. The media
around the world was outraged:
* "US blocks small arms controls," reported the BBC in July of 2001.
* "Washington Challenges UN Attack on Small Arms Trade," stated
Reuters.
* "U.S. will not back a U.N. arms-control plan," said the Cox News
Service.
The culprit? In every article, John Bolton was the man who was
fingered. His blistering speech before the UN gun grabbers angered
many around the globe.
It's no wonder that one of the strongest opponents of the UN --
former Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina -- has spoken so highly
of John Bolton. "Bolton is the kind of man with whom I would want to
stand at Armageddon," Helms said, "if it should be my lot to be on
hand for what is forecast to be the final battle between good and
evil in this world."
Not surprisingly, Bolton's nomination is being STRONGLY opposed by
the far left in this country. Dozens of liberal diplomats and
organizations have opposed Bolton.
A coalition of more than 60 ex-diplomats signed a letter addressed to
Senators in opposition to Bolton, and groups like Citizens for Global
Solutions -- a UN front organization -- say that Bolton is the "wrong
man for the job" because of "his history of derision for the United
Nations."
No doubt, most of us would consider that a positive criterion! But
not the Brady Center... they are critical of Bolton and have accused
him of "kowtowing" to pro-gun groups.
The more one looks into the players who are opposing the Bolton
nomination, the more one sees that he has all the right enemies.
What is, perhaps, surprising is that his nomination has met some
resistance from the right. Some conservative opponents argue that
Bolton has made seemingly "pro-UN" comments and that he's hobnobbed
with internationalist types.
But when one looks at the statements he has made over his career --
plus his actions in defense of our nation and the resulting enemies
that he has engendered -- one does not get the picture that Bolton is
one of the UN’s biggest cheerleaders:
* "The (U.N.) Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If
it lost 10 stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference," Bolton
told a global government audience in 1994.
* Bolton spearheaded U.S. opposition to the International Criminal
Court, declaring that the day he signed the letter withdrawing the
U.S. signature on the treaty was "the happiest moment of my
government service."
* And then there're his enemies. The very liberal Senator Paul
Wellstone of Minnesota, who died in a plane crash in 2002, was a
staunch opponent of Bolton, saying that, "He has not supported the
critically important role of the United Nations." Moreover,
Wellstone faulted Bolton for asserting "there is no such thing as the
United Nations [but rather] an international community that
occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world and
that is the United States."
* And don't forget the group of ex-diplomats that are strongly
opposing Bolton. They fault Bolton on many counts, including his
"insistence that the UN is valuable only when it directly serves the
United States."
Wouldn't it be great if every State Department official had this view
of the United Nations!
Realistically, gun owners should not think that, in supporting
Bolton, he will go to New York to reform the UN. Unfortunately, he's
not going to do that as UN ambassador. But he will defend our gun
rights. And as long as this country remains in the UN, there are
very few qualified officials in our government today who will support
our gun rights as strenuously as Bolton.
He's been proven under fire, and his record speaks volumes regarding
his commitment to the Constitution.
Ultimately, Gun Owners of America supports getting the United States
out of the anti-gun UN. Rep. Ron Paul has introduced a bill to do
exactly that, and GOA has supported this legislation (H.R. 1146) many
times in the past.
While GOA has issued alerts in support of H.R. 1146 in years past,
the sad truth is that there has never been more than 80
Representatives who have been willing to join Paul in getting us out
of the UN. There is still a lot more work to do in building support
for this legislation.
Until we are successful in removing the United States from the global
organization, we can only hope that our ambassador there treasures
the interests of the United States over the global community -- and
values our Constitution and Bill of Rights, as well.
John Bolton is that man.
ACTION: Please contact your two U.S. Senators and ask them to
support the confirmation of John Bolton as our ambassador to the
United Nations. You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action
Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send the
pre-written message below to your Senators.
-----Pre-written letter-----
Dear Senator:
The United Nations has been no friend of the United States. The
General Assembly is controlled by thugs and dictators. And now, they
are trying to impose gun control on a worldwide basis, including the
United States.
Historically, the worst tyrannies on earth used strict gun control
laws to disarm their citizens before taking power away from the
people. Fortunately, America has an opportunity to have a UN
Ambassador who believes in freedom and understands that governments
should never have a monopoly of force.
I urge you to support the nomination of John Bolton as our next UN
Ambassador.
Sincerely,
****************************
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Sigh...
I'm not particularly old.
I was born in the late 60's. That means that I remember men walking on the moon, gun advertisements in "normal" publications, and a gun section in every major department and sporting goods store.
I remember looking forward to my 16th birthday, because that's how old you needed to be in CT to get your own rifle. Sadly, we moved to Jersey before then, and I was annoyed to learn the age was 18.
Many of the Elders from Whom I draw Wisdom and Knowledge tell tales of buying their first handguns, at age 12, from policemen.
And today....today, I'm working with a young man, soon to get his NJ FID, who worries that the rifle he wants will be banned before he has the opportunity to buy it.
That just ain't right.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Random WTF?!?
Exploding Toads
Good grief.
Quote:
--------
More than 1,000 toads have puffed up and exploded in a Hamburg pond in recent weeks, and scientists still have no explanation for what's causing the combustion, an official said Wednesday.
...
"It looks like a scene from a science-fiction movie,
--------
And Concludes..
--------
In the meantime, city residents have been warned to stay away from the pond.
--------
Sounds like a good idea to me.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Foreign Convictions No Longer A Firearms Disability...
Notes Arms and The Law....
Money Quote:
--------------
Past foreign convictions for crimes punishable by more than one year’s imprisonment may include a conviction for conduct that domestic laws would permit, for example, for engaging in economic conduct that our society might encourage.
--------------
Bingo!
American society encourage things like, oh, say...."private entrepreneurial activity", "freedom of speech", "women driving/voting/going to school", "the keeping and bearing of arms", "hiding Jews" and "shooting the Nazis who are trying to kill said Jews", whereas other societies call these activities "felonies punishable by more than a year in jail, and sometimes torture followed by ritual public execution".
Also Quote:
--------------
Thus, the key statutory phrase “convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” somewhat less reliably identifies dangerous individuals for the purposes of U.S. law where foreign convictions, rather than domestic convictions, are at issue.
--------------
I would take the position that this whole law is poorly written, and if the intent was to gauge some level of dangerousness, then the measure of how long a person might be sentenced for is pretty distant from, and completely independent of, what it is that they're trying to measure. After all, there are some pretty innocuous things one might be convicted of that are normally punished by a fine, but the law provides for the possibility of lengthy prison sentences for flagrant violators.
Accepting for the sake of this argument the propriety of barring "dangerous" individuals from arms, I've seen state statutes that do a much better job at it, either by listing the sorts of applicable offenses, or by making reasonably clear blanket statements along the lines of "crimes of force that have caused, or threatened to cause serious bodily injury to another person".
The bottom line is that if you want to measure something such as "dangerousness", then measure it as directly as you can. If you use an indirect measure, then you're not measuring what it is that your after, and you're guaranteed to eventually get into trouble when the factors affecting the thing that you're actually measuring change.
For example, legislatures might decide that letting the parking meter run out is a huge public problem, and open up the possibility of a few years in the clink.
Also, the Supreme Court might decide that foreign courts don't count, and people convicted in foreign jurisdictions of things our society massively discourages, such as "rape", "child molestation", "murder" and "genocide" might suddenly find themselves firearms eligible again.
Distressingly, Justice Scalia dissents, going all textual on us, noting that "any court" means "any court". This illustrates one of the limits of textualism, in that it presumes adequate care on the part of the text writer. It highlights an interesting conundrum: given this and many other examples from legislative acts, we observe a great deal of sloppiness on the part of legislative construction, while at the same time, we must presume that no such sloppiness exists on the part of the Founders when it comes to the Constitution. This can lead to a strange place where judges would be called to judge some texts as being more sacrosanct than others.
Those are waters that if not carefully navigated can lead to arbitrary caprice and chaos.
I suspect this is the situation Scalia intends to avoid, but nonetheless, I think he still whiffed on this one, bigtime.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Monday, April 25, 2005
You Gotta Love It:
Day By Day:
Chris Muir Rocks.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Sometimes, Life Gives Us Surprising Opportunities...
My birthday being last week, I took the day off to go hang out with the Mighty & Egregious Charles.
Naturally, this involved shoveling a pile of guns and ammo into the trunk.
On the way to the range, we stopped off at Seneca Arms in PA to grab some ammo. Thoroughly enjoying the place, I noticed that unlike most gun shops which either charge MSRP or a premium, Seneca arms was charging more like the actual street price for it's merchandise.
As I wandered among the gunracks, my eye caught the distinctive profile of a Marlin Camp Carbine, and instinctively grabbed it. Charles was following along behind me, and chuckled. "I did the same thing too when I first saw it, but it's only a 9." I checked the tag, and sigh, alas, it was indeed only a 9.
As I was placing it back on the rack, I saw, hiding in the shadows, another camp carbine. Quickly comparing bores, I saw that it was BIGGER.
"That's a 9. But this one....isn't"
In a flash, I had a nearly PERFECT specimen of the fabled Marlin Camp Carbine, Model 45 in my hands.
Even though I'd been remiss in my BAG day duties, I wasn't expecting to buy a gun that day, even though it was my birthday.
I marvelled at the thing, thoroughly taken with its beauty, lightness, balance and overall gun-ness.
Checking the pricetag, I knew I'd be an absolute ass to put the rifle back on the rack. Still, I was hesitant.
The days in which I rolled in dough aren't at the moment, although I did have some reserves I could dip into, considering how reasonable the pricetag was. I was also extremely hesitant considering how I had not gotten along with Kim's Camp 45, and I was wondering if I was about to buy a gun that I just didn't get along with, for whatever idiosyncratic reason.
My reservations notwithstanding, I checked the bore and the rest of the gun over, and I could find no reason to reject it. The only anomaly was that every Camp 45 I'd ever seen had a checkered stock, whereas this one was smooth, sleek and beautiful. It even came with a factory magazine.
Plunking Ids & credit card upon the counter, I set about filling out the yellow forms, hesitation be damned.
Arriving @ Charles' gun club, I gave it a final check out, and loaded up a mag. Taking up a nice solid stance, I unleashed my first shot at a bullseye target some 15 yards away.
I blinked at the target in disbelief. It was pristine. Virgin. Untouched.
"God damn. Where'd it go?" Either the sights were WAY off, or the Camp & I are just not destined to be together.
Grumbling, I mounted the gun again, and took another shot. A .45 caliber hole appeared in the 9 ring. Grabbing my binoculars out of my bag, I could see that my first shot was about 5 millmeters off dead bleeping center, in the black where I couldn't see it.
Idiot smiles plastered themselves upon my face as I enlarged the hole to about an inch.
What a great, FUN little gun!
It wasn't until several mags later that I began to notice that it was also a FILTHY little gun, spewing gunspooze and smoke out of every possible opening, more often than not spitting random guncrap back into my face. That's a fairly common thing being a lefty, and a detail I had forgotten about when shooting @ Kim's.
Examining the mechanism closely, I noticed that it was a pure blowback design, without any apparent attempt at lockup. When Charles took his turn with the rifle, I observed the mechanism in detail, and noticed that as it cycled, there was still a pronounced orange glow at the breech, as if the round had just barely finished combusting.
Doing a bit of research, (and information is pretty hard to find) it seems that the Camp 45 used the same recoil springs as the 9. Given the difference in power betweent the two loads, this was preposterous. The story I get is that Marlin was planning to replace the 11 lb factory recoil spring with something stiffer, on the order of 16 or 21 pounds, but the production of the rifle was canceled before that took effect.
Fortunately, Wolff Gunsprings still makes them, and they're on order.
As I drove home, I mentally tried to sort out where in the scheme of things the Camp belonged besides its obvious role as Happy Fun Plinker" that also happened to be politically correct in most jurisdictions. I reflected that pistol caliber carbines occupy a rather strange tactical niche.
For the most part, PCCs have been entirely displaced by AR format carbines, and for good reason. 30 rounds of 62 grains with muzzle velocities of 2700 fps+ gives you a longer range, and lots of tactical flexibility compared to 8 rounds of standard pressure 230 grainers that may or may not go supersonic in the longer barrel, despite it's greater punch at short ranges against unarmored opponents.
At the end of the day though, a simple, reliable, light and easy to use long gun certainly has its place in anybody's armory.
What can I say?
I'm a thoroughly happy camper.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Saturday, April 23, 2005
And A Hearty Fuck You Goes To...
The Best Buy Corporation,
For adamantly refusing to sell me a radio unless I gave them my name and address.
Here's how it shook out:
My sweety, the beautiful and formidable geeketteWithA9mm dropped into Best Buy last week to pick up my declared desire for a birthday present, a Sirius Satellite Radio to keep me company on the weekly long hauls back and forth between Freedom House & Corporate HQ.
Not being certain which one I wanted, she took the saleman's advice and snagged me a $200 BestBuy Gift Card.
Here's a rough transcript of my interaction with the cashier & subsequent managers:
Chipper Teenage Cashier Girl: "May I have your phone number?"
This is common enough at a lot of places. Retailers want keys to link together purchases, and can mine a lot of information on buying trends and purchase patterns if they can define a household in a granular manner. This is also the purpose behind most grocery store discount cards. For the most part, this is a fairly benign activity, requiring the voluntary cooperation of the consumer. It's also an activity that I routinely decline to participate in.
Me {out of long habit}: "Nope. I don't give that out."
CTCG: "Uh...the cash register says I have to get your address for this product."
Me: {knowing that satellite radio needs a subscription, and thinking this would set me up on the spot} Ok, That's G-e-e-k W-i-t-h...uh, this signs me for the subscription, right?
CTCG: "Uh, no, it's just for our records..."
Me: {a slight frost creeping into my voice} "Then you don't need it."
The nature of a retail business relationship is straightforward.
The consumer pays the money, the retailer vends the product, and they go their separate ways.
To be certain, there are variations on the retail relationship in which it is valid and just to collect the purchaser's name and address. For example, when paying by check, it's a reasonable request, given the possibility that the bank might not honor the check. That's also reasonable if the store offers direct credit or a tab. Third party credit, such as Visa or Mastercard, is a different matter, however. That's a three way business relationship, governed by two separate contractual relationships. In that scenario, the actual issuer of credit is entitled to the purchaser's particulars, but not the merchant, who is not assuming the credit risk.
In this case, I was preparing to pay with an anonymous pre paid gift card, which is cash equivalent. In any event, the means of payment wasn't at issue.
CTCG: {shrugs, pokes at cash register trying to bypass the screen} "It won't let me do it. Let me get my manager."
I look at the line behind me, to guage the level of irritation forming. None seems to be evident, yet.
The first manager, some sort of cashier key carrier arrives. He's a man in his mid 20's, who quickly gathers the scoop from the chipper cashier girl. "The machine won't let me ring this up without his name and address, and the customer doesn't want to give it." The manager pokes at it a bit, scanning some additional material before he turns to me.
Mid 20's guy: "You have to give your name and address to buy this product. It's so that Sirius knows that you got the product from us."
Me: "Your company's arrangements with its vendors are not my problem. I am not a party to those transactions. Are you refusing to sell me this radio unless I give you my name and address?
I cock my eye towards the young man, wondering is he has any understanding of what he's doing. A quick 360 sweep shows that there's some staff idling on the edge of earshot that weren't there before.
Mid 20's guy: {gulp} "I can't sell it to you...."
Me: {pure malevolent ice} "Get the store manager."
Mid 20's guy: "Ok, but he's just going to say the same thing."
That's fine. I just want it agreed to at all levels that this is how they want to play it.
Apparently, Best Buy's run into problems at the registers frequently enough that they have a set play. With no words or signals being exchanged, the CTCG flips her light off, and the extra staff that had been gathering smoothly guided the people in line behind me to registers at the far end of the store, both for their convenience, and also to prevent them from being exposed to whatever scene unfolds in the next few minutes.
As I wait, I consider my options. Frankly, I'd simply like to buy my radio and be on my way, and I tempted momentarily to give in. After all, it's really not all that big a deal if after I sign up, Sirius matches that subscription to a particular Best Buy store.
But it's fucking presumptious to insist.
That settles the question for me. Under the circumstances, they're simply not entitled to the information, and it's important to close the feedback loop. The policy is not acceptable, and it will cost them sales and customers, starting with me, right here and now.
My inner strategist has been running in the back of my mind, and has been marshalling the most devastating array of threats and arguments it can muster on short notice, and has begun slotting them into their bins for instant use.
I wave them off. There's a definite limit to how much energy I'm willing to expend on convincing a merchant to take my money in exchange for his merchandise.
The manager swings into view. He is a giant man in his mid 30's, easily 6' 8" and 280 pounds, a touch of flab on a powerful frame. He gives off the confident "problems cannot possibly exist in my presence for long" body language of a roadhouse bouncer. I'm not a fan of these macho pissing contests, but some people rely on them as an opening play.
I draw myself to my full nonslouching height, and levelly return his gaze, setting my aura to "Even unarmed, I've defeated punks like you in the dojo, so zip your dick back up and forget about it. There's no pissing contest here, it's not going to happen".
He regards me right back, and sees that I'm not impressed, so he changes tactics.
Manager/Bouncer: "Well, sir, I hear that you're refusing to sign up for the Sirius service. We want you to understand that we would never sell your address out..."
The effect is briefly confusing, until I realize that he's trying to be condescending, reassuring, and intimidating all at the same time. This key insight provides me with the perspective that this is actually comical. As there was business at hand to conduct, I deny external expression to the part of myself that has just fallen over laughing.
Me: "Actually, several of your staff have already stated that this information isn't used to sign up for the Sirius subscription. Is this true? (It was) And as for selling my address, the question of whether or not third parties may gain access to the information is entirely irrelevant, because you're not entitled to it either.
Manager/Bouncer: "The address is used so that Siruis will know that..."
Me: "Your staff has already explained that. Again, this is not my problem, and it is not acceptable that you should make it my problem. Are you going to sell me the radio or not?"
The manager/bouncer says nothing, and makes no move to unlock the register. He's waiting to see if I'm going to crack. I don't crack. I hand him the radio, saying, "I don't need this product from you."
A line has been crossed. BestBuy has lost a customer, the manager knows it, and doesn't care enough to try to do anything about it. He takes the radio and walks, without a word.
The remaining problem is that of the damned gift card. Gwa9 has sunk $200 into the thing, so I immediately switch to a strategy that has worked in the past. I have some other small selections, so I indicate that the girl should ring them up. When she's done, I tell her that I want to cash out the balance. She explains that she can't do that, it's printed on the card, and she's right.
Shit.
I roll my eyes, muttering an oath, as I shove the card back into my wallet.
To her credit, the cashier girl is appropriately apologetic. I immediately let her off the hook, explaining that she'd behaved correctly, and that I had no complaint with her.
On the way home, I'm fuming. I have no desire to do business with Best Buy ever again, and I shall not. I am equally determined not to let them have my money for free, and so I'm not going to do anything as rash as toss the card. I'm going to extract each and every penny from the card in merchandise, or regift the damned thing.
Either way, Best Buy has obtained the last dollar they will ever get from me and mine.
Lessons learned:
- Don't buy Gift Cards. From Anyone.
Their terms have changed, and they now lock the full dollar amount to a retailer, which is not to the advantage of your giftee. You're not doing them any favors, and they know that you've taken no more effort than say, writing a check.
- Don't do business with Best Buy.
This is simply the most egregious example I've encountered as to how they fail to value their customers.
Oh, and Best Buy? I got a better deal direct from Sirius.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Constitution 2020 Symposium: "Liberal Rehabilitation"
Sweet smoking Jesus, put the breakables away before clicking!
What Liberals Want
A progressive conference on the Constitution sheds light on the real stakes involved with the judiciary.
by John Hinderaker
Quote:
--------------
ON THE SECOND DAY of the conference, a panel on "social and economic inequality" continued to sound the theme that the Constitution should require the enactment of liberal legislation.
...
The left makes no secret of its intentions where the Constitution is concerned. It wants to change it, in ways that have nothing to do with what the document actually says. It wants the Constitution to enshrine its own policy preferences--thus freeing it from the tiresome necessity of winning elections. And how will the Constitution be changed? Through a constitutional convention, or a vote of two-thirds of the state legislatures? Of course not. The whole problem, from the liberal perspective, is that they can't get democratically elected bodies to enact their agenda. As one of the Yale conference participants said: "We don't have much choice other than to believe deeply in the courts--where else do we turn?" The new, improved Constitution will come about through judicial re-interpretation. It only awaits, perhaps, the election of the next Democratic president.
--------------
Much of the article focuses on the Liberal agenda of "perfecting" the Constitution by enacting FDR's "Second Bill of Rights" {a.k.a "Free Shit"}
Quote:
-------
...which would recognize a right to "a useful and remunerative job"; sufficient earnings to provide "adequate" food, clothing, and recreation; a "decent" home; a "good education"; and "adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.
-------
It's pretty clear that if this were achieved, in conjunction with the current rape of the original bill of rights, the long awaited conversion of America to a socialist hellhole would be complete.
The article concludes:
-------------
The stakes couldn't be higher.
-------------
This is the maximal understatement of all time.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Oh, Joy.
Soros To Lesser Leftist Scum: Be Patient
Quote:
-----------
George Soros told a carefully vetted gathering of 70 likeminded millionaires and billionaires last weekend that they must be patient if they want to realize long-term political and ideological yields from an expected massive investment in “startup” progressive think tanks.
The Scottsdale, Ariz., meeting, called to start the process of building an ideas production line for liberal politicians, began what organizers hope will be a long dialogue with the “partners,” many from the high-tech industry. Participants have begun to refer to themselves as the Phoenix Group.
-----------
Like we need more shennanigans a la the Joyce Foundation.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Better Late Than Never...
Ravnwood Pays His Taxes, and Has Buyer's Remorse
Quote:
---------
What do I get for my 35%? Well for starters....
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Monday, April 18, 2005
PopeWithA.45....
The College of Cardinals has not yet elected a pope, so now's my big chance. ;)
Seeing as I'm theoretically qualified, being male, having been baptized Catholic as an infant, and never having filed all the papers and gone through the red tape to get myself officially kicked out*, it could happen.
{
*Note:
Anyone ever baptized as a Catholic remains on the rolls until dead or excommunicated, even if you've not set foot into a church in 20 years.
Getting officially excommunicated is a tremendous pain in the ass. Publicly dueling Jesuits to an impasse over papal infallibility for example, is not sufficient.
Essentially, you've got to run around and document yourself unrepentantly and knowingly teaching a recognizable heresy, and THEN file a LOT of paperwork.
I mean, who the hell wants to spend a weekend on a streetcorner with a camcorder preaching oh, say... Apollinarism?
Sounds too much like work to me.
}
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Fun Quotes From The NRA Convention:
Quote:
------------
"When a man is in trouble or in a good fight, you want to have your friends around, preferably armed."
-Tom DeLay
------------
And of course, Ted Nugent unchained:
------------
With an assault weapon in each hand, rocker and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent urged National Rifle Association members to be "hardcore, radical extremists demanding the right to self defense."
...
He drew the most cheers when he told gun owners they should never give up their right to bear arms and should use their guns to protect themselves if needed.
"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em!" he screamed to applause. "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."
------------
I'm sure GFW's all around the world have collectively pooped their collective pants.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Fellow Blogger
Dave Markowitz asks if I've seen the online freedom of speech act yet.
The answer is yup, and I think we oughta get behind it.
The reason I can't get terribly excited about these thing is that I recognize an act of cruft when I see one, and although such an act would alleviate a fundamentally bad law, I truly hate to add to the skyscraper built of scotch tape, spit and chickenwire that is the federal statutes.
Still, it'll do till things can be set to rights.
The other reason I'm not horribly excited about it is that this sort of thing has caught me at a low ebb of energy and tolerance.
Normally, I'd be a complete and enthusiastic advocate of using any and every means at our disposal to increase the scope of liberty, but maintaining high levels of enthusiasm becomes a tiresome game, from which one must take an occassional rest.
That, incidentally, is yet another function of the second amendment.
We can rest briefly, while retaining our vigilance, knowing that if all were to turn to shit and darkness, there's still plenty we can do about it.
To look at it another way, and come at it from a completely different point of view, you could think of it as
Save A Hapless Schlub: Support the Online Freedom of Speech Act.
The hapless schlub being saved is of course the poor schmuck (who never bothered reading his oath to support and defend the Constitution) they'd send around with McCain-Feingold arrest warrants.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
You Might Have Already Seen This...
Account of pirates being slain by yachtsmen using ramming and shotguns to good effect.
The Mighty and Egregious Charles notes that
Quote:
--------------
The ramming vessel was called
Gandalf, and the shotgun-firing one was called Mahdi.
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and will have a friend fill your ass with buckshot."
--------------
Thus Spake The Mighty and Egregious One.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
A Belated Ornate Hat Tip...
Goes to [ornateHatTip] Dave Markovitz [ornateHatTip] and others who referred me to the case of Ortiz vs. Commonwealth (1996), wherein the PHL AWB was thouroughly shot down in flames thus:
Quote:
---------------
Next, appellants claim that various decisions of this court require that home rule municipalities may be restricted in their powers only when the General Assembly has enacted statutes on matters of statewide concern.
...[blah blah blah]...
...for the matters at issue in this case are substantive matters of statewide concern. Article 1, Section 21 of the Constitution of
Pennsylvania provides:
"The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned."
Because the ownership of firearms is constitutionally protected, its
regulation is a matter of statewide concern. The constitution does not provide that the right to bear arms shall not be questioned in any part of the commonwealth except Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where it may be abridged at will, but that it shall not be questioned in any part of
the commonwealth. Thus, regulation of firearms is a matter of concern in all of Pennsylvania, not merely in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the General Assembly, not city councils, is the proper forum for the imposition of such regulation. For the foregoing reasons, the order of Commonwealth Court is affirmed.
---------------
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Friday, April 15, 2005
Death & Taxes...
A fitting topic for tax day.
The warped offspring of this unholy matrimony is of course, DEATH TAXES.
Instituted at the tail end of the progressivist era, estate taxes are essentially a half assed implementation of the third plank of the communist manifesto, which is to abolish the inheritance of property.
The motivation of this was, of course, to interfere with the intergenerational accumulation of private resources, also known as property, a concept anathema to the virtuous communist mind.
After all, a good little communist needed to be undistracted and freed from the travails of accumulated property for his own self interest, no matter how enlightened or not that would be, so that he can virtuously go about working for the good of the collective.
But I digress.
Even in it's half assed form, estate taxes are pretty effective at interfering with the intergenerational accumulation of property, and tend to play hob with small and medium business ventures, as a going concern can be put into a position of fiscal liability as the result of the death of a principal.
That being said, with all the wrangling on the Hill indicating a decent chance of getting rid of the damned thing, I'm hopeful.
Perhaps it's worth a letter to your congressional delegation.
Of course, the Democrats true to form, cast about their same old tired kneejerk reaction:
Quote: (Washington Times){emphasis mine}
--------------
Republicans argued that the tax levied on estates after an owner dies particularly hurts small businesses and family farms, while most Democrats complained the bill would only help the rich. That money, they say, should instead be used for other purposes, such as helping stabilize the Social Security system.
"This is about helping the wealthiest of the wealthy," said Rep. Jim McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat.
--------------
There it is, in one short black and white paragraph.
Estate taxes affects everyone who has gone diligently and prudently through their life working hard and bettering their condition along the way. The accumulation of property is an inevitable by product of living a productive, virtuous life.
The only way to avoid estate taxes is to pretty much fuck up and die with only a trivial estate to pass on, which is apparently what the Donks want us to aspire to.
X% of someHugeNumber will always be greater than X% of someSmallNumber.
Duh.
When those figures are taxes that are no longer levied, Democrats view this as "rich people getting more benefit", and will wring their hands and howl in agony at the thought that someone might actually be secure in their property unmolested.
The only way to make this fair, in their world view, is to use a sliding scale progressive tax, which causes those with more property to pay even MORE tax.
They're not satisfied with, say, a flat 10% tax, theoretically exposing someone who makes $10k a year to a $1k tax bill, and someone who makes $100k a year to a $10k tax bill. What they want is for the person who makes $100k a year to pay nearly $40k, and the person who makes $10k to get off scott free.
And that, incidentally, is the second plank of the communist manifesto.
This sort of devotion to class warfare, property redistribution rhetoric is one of the many reasons I've grown to despise Democrats.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
When statements go unchallenged...
It's pretty fair to say they've gained wide acceptance.
For example, if you say "I think it's fair to say that highway speeding tickets are now more about revenue than safety", you'll see a room full of nodding heads. If there is a dissenter present, you can be assured that it's a senior representative of a legislative or law enforcement agency whose mission is to deny the statement in toto.
It's a contention that you'd probably never be able to prove in a court of law, as it's more likely the organic growth of circumstances that have given rise to the situation, rather than the result of conspiracy. Furthermore, if you take them to task on it, their response would be a predictable hymn to public safety to which the only valid reply would be "Uh huh. Yeah. Right. Bullshit."
Nonetheless, when you look at the sum of vectors of the behaviors behind it, you can see that the assertion is largely true.
Longtime Readers have heard me rant at length before on the fact that NJ routinely posts troopers on an average every 5 miles or so along the turnpike.
Over the last year of running the 95 corridor south, I've noticed a similiar trend in Maryland.
What the hell is it with Blue States?
I digress.
Fortunately, {knock wood}, I've never been pulled over on my super commutes.
The general pattern I've noticed is that a cruiser will pull up from behind, and cull a random driver from the herd for ticketing. Often, the driver in question's running a little faster than the bulk of traffic, which runs well above the limit, and so drivers learn the lesson to not be the fastest car in the pack. Just as often though, the driver in question's just chugging along with everyone else, not doing anything discernably different from anyone else, and this consistent observation clues you in to the fact that getting pulled over on the highway is almost entirely a lottery benefiting the state.
So, I'm cruising along, having just dialed up Airboss on my headset, and there's a perturbance in the traffic pattern up ahead. The even, regular flow has shattered into turbulance, as folks light up their brakes and jockey for position. Instinctively, I do the same, getting the heck out of the left lane, and gathering some open space around myself. I can't see what's going on up ahead, but I want some maneuvering room, and some options.
What I see is a pair of stat(ist) cruisers in the median, with a trooper pointing to the guy next to me, making muscular "pull over" gestures.
This is the third time I've seen this.
I'm in a state of mini RCOB. {would that be a pink curtain of blood? Dunno}
Fortunately, Airboss had just picked up and figured out it was me, before I blurted out my reaction:
"You god damned LAZY son of a bitch!
Get your over muscled, underbrained ass into your cruiser and chase the guy down, before you cause a multi car pileup.
You want the revenue? Fucking work for it, just like the rest of us.
You don't get to pick our pockets for free."
Once I've explained the cause of the outburst, Airboss is in full agreement.
There is something deeply and profoundly wrong when the police simply wave people over as fast as they can to fill their coffers.
Airboss suggested that they simply make done with it, and setup roadside nets with signs instructing drivers to fling their wallets into them.
At least that way, they won't get anyone killed.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
BAG Day Gun....
I guess I have to balance out all the cheaters out there who bought their BAG day guns early, and buy mine late.
Makes sense though, as the only thing the IRS is getting from my tax guy today is an extension notice.
:)
What I want is a fun gun, of the pimp/barbeque variety, something silky and tactile in .45lc (naturally...)
Something like this oughta do, though I'd probably ditch the fake ivory grips, and get fake mother of pearl instead:
Say whatcha like about Bill Ruger selling us out on large cap mags, his company sure makes some purty six shooters. Maybe that's their way of begging forgiveness.
Of course, if the Ruger Co _really_ wants to grovel for forgiveness, they can send me and all my Readers one of these babies via a local FFL. ;)
Then, maybe, just maybe, we'll nominate a comittee to form an opinion as to whether we should appoint a blue ribbon panel to contemplate whether we should engage the question as to forgiving Ruger.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
A Standing Ovation Is In Order...
For THR's Control Group, who tells us that There Are No Barbarians At The Gates
A tiny taste:
-----------------
....But this vision has worked so well that it has been all but forgotten. We have become so complacent in our security that we have forgotten what provides it. We have collectively bought into the notion that someone else should protect us, that the government's job is to provide security. We have forgotten that we are the government - by the people - and that no one will protect us but us - for the people. This has been easy to do, because we are unthreatened. There are no unexplored continents teeming with barbarians ready to invade. We have developed a civilization so adept at wielding military might that none dare invade, for fear of being utterly annihilated. We have done this by concentrating authority over and responsibility for the mechanisms of violence in a comparatively small group of people, who decide when and where we should employ them, and it has proven to be effective.
Surely this means we are safe! The barbarians will not attack, they cannot attack, because the certainty of retribution, swift, sure, and complete, must dissuade any nation from designs upon our sovreignty. The barbarians have been cowed, and we march bravely into the future. For the first time in human history, there are no barbarians at the gates!
Indeed, there are no barbarians at the gates - the barbarians are through the gates and within the walls. They fly planes into skyscrapers in New York, they detonate bombs beneath day care centers in Oklahoma City, they execute students in Columbine.
So let's talk about needs. This is what I need:
...
-----------------
Readers know that I rarely give the standing O, so don't settle for just a taste.
Get the whole feast.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Rust.
I coulda been blogging all week, but for the damnable low grade fever I'd been running.
I coulda ranted on at length about the latest "Buy a Law Review Symposium, and Send Copies of The Proceedings To Every Judge" outrage that the Joyce foundation recently pulled off.
I could also point out that No matter what Dean says about Donks & Guns, , they're pretty much full of shit, until such time as they publicly eject the usual suspects from the party, and offer to roll back GCA '68.
I didn't.
I tried to sleep it all off, missing out on the first glorious days of spring to grace Freedom House.
When the weekend came, I could have blogged, or worked on the secret project.
I went to the range instead.
It was the first glorious Saturday of the year, and I'd not been shooting since...well, since Kim's. And those weren't even my guns.
No, the guns weren't rusty. I'm far too anal in their maintenance for that. I'm the one who'se rusty. I figure I haven't taken the M1A out for spin since....December? January?
God. That's sad.
Too sad to let stand.
Wondering if my zero was even valid anymore, I loaded up my first mag, and let loose, not having much expectation.
Oh, yes.
That's much more like it.
Grins and smiles, as I immediately fell back in love with my favorite rifle. Ooooh, yes, I was getting some of what I came for.
Knowing I can do better than that, I decided to spend a little quality time with the rest of the mag, rather than just sort of rip them off in a nonchalant aimed sort of way.
Better, much better.
Still, there's a lot of rust going on. This is what I used to to when shooting that rifle every week (or every other at worst):
Sigh.
Still, I feel a lot better about my riflery than I did at Kim's.
To outsiders, these hole punched paper circles are a mystery. To our wives, they're some sort of bizarro trophy.
But we gunnies know better.
They're not bits of errant paper in need of discipline, or trophies to hang on the fridge.
They're credentials.
And they need to be renewed periodically.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Lovebirds...
A bit of background....
Mondays & Tuesdays are rough, especially after a wet, miserable, gloomy weekend trapped in the house with two sick kids.
I slog 3 or 4 hours through traffic from Freedom House to Alexandria, VA, attend to a solid day's worth of work, crash in a hotel, (a fairly nice one the company has a standing account with), attend to another solid day's worth of work, and slog the 3 or 4 hours back to Freedom House in the middle of the night, so as to miss most of the traffic. (This week, Delaware decided to close rt 95 for some reason, and route us through East ButtFuck, putting an extra half hour that I desparately needed for sleep onto my trip. I guess they needed the tourism dollars.)
I've done this pattern for years and years, even before my current gig. I don't sleep as solidly as I like when I'm away from home. I miss my sweetie by my side.
------------------------
Noticing the rose petals strewn before the door of the room next to mine, I figured someone was having some sort of a romantic thing going on. No biggie, I thought, as I tossed my bags on the bed, and my .45 into the safe. (I still haven't sorted out my VA CCW, and am generally reluctant to alarm the public with open carry unless I deem there to be good cause) I head out, and hit the street, in search of dinner.
Strolling back in around 9, I'm looking forward to a few hours of undisturbed solitude serving the forces of good and make some headway on my secret project.
Round about 9:30, I hears some giggling, freely mixed in with vociferous...er...expressions of passion.
I shrug, and turn back to my work. It's none of my business, and it's nothing I haven't heard before.
These sorts of impassioned moans and utterances were common, everyday occurrences in the thin walled dorms at college, and one tends to filter them out automatically. You'd hear the neighbors having at it fairly frequently.When I was a campus cop, I spent a fair chunk of time assigned to patrol the campus's all women's dorm, which was primarily populated by freshman women whose mothers worried excessively about their virtue. I guess the joke was on the moms. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, the cinder block hallways would echo and resound with rafter shaking sound effects normally found in porn flicks. Well, I digress, but the point I was making is that I'm fairly jaded about such things.
By 10 pm, the noises from the next room have escalated to full throated crescendoes, invoking velocity and vector preferences, exortations to higher and more preposterous levels of gymnastic performance, affidavits of prowess, and ultimately repeated supplications to God Himself.
I raise my eyebrow at the unusual volume, but shrug again. Far be it from me to disturb lovers in prayer.
After a while, the SFX winds down, and that, I think, is that.
A half an hour later, the whole scene starts winding back up. Again, I'm nonplussed. With all the rose petals strewn about outside the next room, it's obviously some sort of special occassion, and a second round is to be expected.
An hour and a half or two and somewhere between six and eight thunderous crescendoes later, I regard the wall, and the people beyond it with a certain grudging respect. Having THAT good a time takes perseverance, dedication, stamina, and a fair amount of concentration, not to mention a certain willingness to ignore soreness.
A little after midnight, it's quiet, and I'm exhausted from a long, long day, so I change for bed, open the safe, and toss my .45 under the pillow. Just as my head hits, they're starting again.
Around 1:30, I hear the muffled sounds of a radio in the hallway. I'm obviously not sleeping, so I put my eye to the peephole to see what's going on. At this point, a part of me is half wishing it's a team of firemen with hoses to cool them off. Shoving such uncharitable thoughts aside, I note the hotel manager, who's knocking on the door, asking them to turn the tv down.
The couple abruptly goes silent, and sheepishly admit that the TV isn't on.
Redfaced, the manager retreats in disarray, and apparently the couple returned their attention to attending to the business at hand.
To their credit, I think they really tried. The volume was pretty muted until they reached the next series of Theological Invocations, and after that all bets were off and they went rip roaring along for the ride.
I contemplate changing rooms, but it's awfully late, gathering up all the crap I'd managed to strew around the room would be inconvenient, and besides, I rationalize, this can't POSSIBLY go on for much longer.
The last time I looked at the clock, it was 2:43 am, and they were still at it.
I awake in darkness and silence, thinking, SHIT! I am NOT asleep! The clock says it's 4 am. As I roll over to try to recapture whatever dream was in progress, I hear a brief eruption of vocalizations next door.
I guess they needed to fit in a 4 am quickie.
The cursed clock goes off at 7, but I'm too dead to hear or respond to it. I wake up naturally at 8, thinking that it sucks to be late to work two days in a row. As I hurriedly gather my things.....
Yeah. You guessed it.
Our Champions are at it again.
Offering a solemn nod of acknowledgement and respect to the people on the other side of the wall, I get my dead slugmeat ass into gear and head for the door, wondering if some sort of plaque ought to be placed in their room, commemorating their heroic achievements.
And that, Readers, is why I'm going to bed early tonight, to catch up on my sleep, and why posting is so scattered.
.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Sputtering Blogwarning...
Posts will come in infrequent batches for a while. In addition to my usual overload o' stuff, I've gotta A) get my shit together so my accountant can do my taxes and B) work on my secret project, which is an in deptch analysis of voting and registration trends in PA.
I've uncovered some _very_ interesting threats, and some equally interesting opportunities, but I've gotta finish running the numbers to see if it bears out.
Then I'm gonna get the info where it needs to be, and STFU.
:)
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
VMI Professor vs. Post Realityists Modernists
Worthwhile, Amusing Read
{h/t: THR}
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Propaganda Recognition 101...
Back when I was a lad, many public schools still took their job seriously, and as part of their mission did their best to prepare us to be fully functioning citizens of a | |
