Happy Memorial Day

and here's something to keep you occupied while the BBQ cooks!



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How's that census going?

Mike V has some comments about the census:

They have been badgering me by phone ever since. Each time I tell them that I have answered the principal question the Constitution requires about how many folks live here and that they are not getting anything else from me.

What are they going to do? Send a cop to my door to kill me if I refuse?

Well, maybe.

I'm waiting for my turn under the gun.

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Ah, the good ole days

h/t Uncle, comes this blast from the past from AAC.

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About those pesky libertarians

Vox Day answers a question posed about how a libertarian society would work:

Libertarianism is a secular defense mechanism against evil; a moral Christian society can tolerate and survive big government much better than a purely secular one due to the limits built into Christian morality. Those limits will be violated from time to time, Man being fallen, but the centuries-long history of hundreds of Christian near-absolute rulers who never once engaged in the sort of routine butchery of their people that secular irreligious rulers regularly do shows that it is secular and immoral societies that are the most in need of libertarian government.

Most folks that I've talked to about libertarian philosophy conflate libertarianism with either anarchism or libertine-ism. Libertarianism isn't about not having any laws, it's about not having laws that have no business being passed in the first place. Ron Paul provides an example with his performance at the Value Voter's debate in 2008.

The question was, 'Should the US pass a constitutional amendment officially making marriage between a man and a women?' Every candidate except Paul answered 'Yes', and there were audible gasps from the audience.

You see, Ron Paul recognizes that the government has no business being involved in marriage at all, so why would he advocate for a constitutional amendment? Government's already involved much more than it has any business being.

Anyway, read Vox' post, and the comments .... he does a much better job than I.

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When seconds count ....

I'm not sure why this took so long:

One neighbor hid in his bedroom, while on the line with 911 for 47 minutes until the SWAT team arrived.

Yes, that a police officer was killed is tragic, especially by someone trying to cover up a collision.

But 47 minutes?!

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Hee hee

This is funny!

h/t RobbAllen

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Never forget remember!

NYC Community Board Votes In Favor of Ground Zero Victory Mosque 29-1

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Advice for Mr Kyl

Rep Kyl (a reported Republican) has proposed new estate tax rules:

It is unclear exactly how the plan would work, but one scenario would allow people to create “prepayment trusts.” They could put assets into the trust for five years and pay a 35% capital-gains tax on the gains of the assets. When the taxpayer dies, the assets would pass to heirs without any estate tax.

I've got a better idea - do away with the estate tax completely.

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Barney Frank is a fucking moron

Frank has some words for the media:

Tongue firmly in cheek, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Tuesday afternoon called on reporters to demand to see the birth certificate of new Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii).

Because Barney Frank is a fucking moron, he doesn't want to acknowledge the differing requirements between a representative and the fucking president. And because Barney Frank is a fucking moron, he doesn't realize that by joining the military, Rep Djou has already shown his actual birth certificate to agents of the US government (in the form of the military).

Fucking moron .....

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The heat is on ...

Pat Toomey needs to find a way to utilize this:

Dick Morris, a former White House adviser to President Bill Clinton, told Sean Hannity on his Fox News show the case is "Valerie Plame only 10 times bigger, because it's illegal and Joe Sestak is either lying or theWhite House committed a crime."

This is just me (and I'm far from an expert) but someone needs to start labeling Sestak as a liar, hard and heavy. Then when he complains, all he needs to do is fully explain himself (including those pesky names!).

It's win-win in my book.

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Channeling Clint

Breda almost has a Gran Torino moment:

A few minutes later, the fire department arrived.

And a few minutes after that my neighbor, lovely woman that she is, marched up to our property line and started hurling threats and cussing me out like a harridan fishwife on a meth bender. (which, come to think of it, might actually have been the case) Due to my history with late-night speed dial, she had assumed it was me who had ratted her out.

She's a much calmer person than I am!

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Umm hmm ....

The typical GOP response to reasoned libertarian thought.

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Detroit reasonable enforcement

After this post, and the information as it trickles out, I have to agree with Radley:

SWAT teams are at their best when they're defusing already violent situations, not when they're creating new ones.

And that would be as a last resort, not the first choice. RTWT.

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Mobs Unions voice their .... opinions

I've seen this in a lot of places, but I'll link to Ace:

Last Sunday, on a peaceful, sun-crisp afternoon, our toddler finally napping upstairs, my front yard exploded with 500 screaming, placard-waving strangers on a mission to intimidate my neighbor, Greg Baer. Baer is deputy general counsel for corporate law at Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), a senior executive based in Washington, D.C. And that -- in the minds of the organizers at the politically influential Service Employees International Union and a Chicago outfit called National Political Action -- makes his family fair game.

Actually, it doesn't.

Now, it's unlikely that a big corporate lawyer has more than a passing knowledge of the gun culture, but it's time corporations started giving a little payback.

You can't tell me that large corporations can't afford to hire a couple of operators to come up with an effective plan to put a stop to this kind of shit.

And I sincerely hope that Mr Baer and his son get familiar with high-capacity military pattern rifles, and quickly.

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Uh oh ...

Can't have the proles recording what we're doing:

Several Marylanders face felony charges for recording their arrests on camera, and others have been intimidated to shut their cameras off. That's touched off a legal controversy.

A man whose arrest was caught on video faces felony charges from Maryland State Police for recording it on camera.

"We are enforcing the law, and we don't make any apologies for that," said Greg Shipley, Maryland State Police.

Video of another arrest at the Preakness quickly made its way online, despite an officer issuing this warning to the person who shot it, "Do me a favor and turn that off. It's illegal to videotape anybody's voice or anything else, against the law in the state of Maryland."

Especially an Only One's.

The proles are complaining ..... the citizens are preparing.

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Cool

And what I call an elegant solution:



h/t Whitebread on Patrol

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Heh

The Onion reports on your range visit:

A man described by eyewitnesses as "unsettled" and "disturbed" walked into the local Guns Galore Shooting Range early Tuesday morning, paid for a half hour's worth of time, and then calmly opened fire on dozens of unsuspecting targets.

Sad ..... so very, very sad.

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This didn't have to happen

Another example of subjects not respecting authoritah:

A routine visit by a U.S. Census Worker on Thursday evening turned deadly when Yuba City police officers shot and killed a woman they said had first threatened the worker with a gun, then later confronted officers with a shotgun.

Now Yuba City, being outside of Sacramento (not to mention in CA) probably doesn't have quite the culture of citizens owning firearms as my neck of the woods. But anytime I answer my door, I'm likely to have my pistol on me, if not in my hand (depending on the hour of the day).

Here's something the po-po and the census need to learn, and quickly (though they probably won't): just because you're from the government or have a badge doesn't mean that you're automatically right, and some folks will resist you.

Census workers need to understand that once someone doesn't want to play their reindeer games, they need to let it be - no amount of gum-flapping is going to change that. Once you see a firearm pointed at you, politely apologize for the intrusion, and let them know that you (or anyone else) won't be back to bother them, and then leave them the fuck alone.

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You don't say?

Seems the Army is having second thoughts:

The U.S. military's workhorse rifle — used in battle for the last 40 years — is proving less effective in Afghanistan against the Taliban's more primitive but longer range weapons.

As a result, the U.S. is reevaluating the performance of its standard M-4 rifle and considering a switch to weapons that fire a larger round largely discarded in the 1960s.

Now that's what happens when you forsake God and His own caliber!

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Keeping with a theme

Via Hot Air, comes this column from NRO, about the Rand Paul 'problem':

Within about 18 hours, Paul told radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham that he would have voted for the law: “I think the South had failed and that the federal government did have a role in endingdiscrimination in all of these practices.” Which is the right answer, politically and substantively. There was no reason to wait decades more until the South haltingly evolved out of its retrograde commitment to the mores of the Confederacy.

This brings up a point and a good illustration of a political reality: you can't reason someone out of a position he hasn't been reasoned into. Gun control folks are the worst about this, and why it's so maddening to have to deal with them.

But it clearly illustrates how government coersion isn't the answer. When the CRA '64 was signed, government coersed businesses to do things that they were not wont to do .... they tried to 'reason' with bigots the only way the government knows how, by force.

To any man who values his liberty, being forced to do something he doesn't want to do only makes him dig in his heels. 40 years later, his sons and daughters may not give a flying fuck about the Confederate flag, but because Daddy has griped about government intrusion all his life, Buffy and Kip stay the family course, getting Confederate flag tattoos and being denied entrance into the Marine Corps.

But had the government merely condemned the practice of segregation, it may have taken a long time, but the South would have eventually come to the realization that segregation is wrong on their own.

And it would have been a reasoned realization ..... one that would have stuck.

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This didn't have to happen

Two police officers killed while interdicting drugs:

Two West Memphis police officers were shot and killed Thursday during a traffic stop along a busy cross-country interstate highway. The local sheriff and his chief deputy were wounded in a later shootout that left a pair of suspects dead.

Officers pulled over a white minivan with Ohio license plates while "running drug interdiction" on Interstate 40 in east Arkansas, said West Memphis Police Inspector Bert Shelton. Two men got out of the van with the assault rifles and opened fire on the officers, he said.

But if drugs were legal, there would have been no need to stop the van now would there?

Notice also that the article doesn't mention if any drugs were even confiscated.

Mala prohibita indeed.

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More on flocking animals

First of all, I didn't mean to impugn Uncle in my earlier post on flocking animals; it's my opinion that he's one of the few who 'gets it' about libertarianism, and the post of his I linked is spot on.

Rather, I was trying to point out how suddenly, seemingly from out of nowhere, there comes a great hoaring mob of ... well ... idiots trying to set Uncle straight. As of this writing, there are almost 100 comments to that post, and it has predictably devolved into trying to teach a pig to sing.

Vox Day has an opportunity to weigh in on this topic, and the larger issue of how most non-libertarians misunderstand exactly what a libertarian is:

This is a wildly incorrect notion of libertarianism and is almost precisely backwards. It is because libertarians understand that people are capable of committing great acts of evil, especially the sort of people who desire power over others, that they wish to prevent government from interfering in people’s lives to the greatest extent possible. We libertarians most certainly do NOT believe that people will do the right thing if left to their own devices, rather, we believe that since most people will do the wrong thing if given power over others, it is in the interests of everyone to make sure that the force multiplier offered by government to those people is as small as possible.

RTWT (including the comments), because he makes a very salient point about the supreme court and 'interpreting' law - remember, the supreme court at one time said that Jim Crow laws were A-OK under the constitution.

Now, in the comments of Uncle's post, I was labeled a troll. Not so ..... I merely made a comment as to the dynamics of the posts' comments, and a snarky bit about the content of those comments. I stand by that comment.

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Even the squishies notice

From Hot Air, a bit of fresh air:

If Daley wanted to demonstrate the wisdom of the Second Amendment, he couldn’t have designed a better demonstration.

RTWT (and watch the video).

I'll paraphrase Mal - 'I got no need to beat you, I just want to go on my way' .... that's the biggest reason for me to keep and bear arms.

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Flocking animals

Idiots are but one example:

But a property owner should decide what otherwise lawful activity occurs on that property. If that property owner wishes to bar entry to his property to white/black/short/gun-toting people, it’s his business.

Even though Uncle doesn't think that property rights are absolute, I think that in a perfect world, they would be. It is my opinion that if you want to open a restaurant that doesn't cater to black folks, then that is your right. But expect to succeed or fail because of that. If you can be successful by being racist, more power to you. But if you try to coerce me into your thought process, I'll resist.

I'm not a real smart guy, but this is a political thought that's what I call, intuitive.

But the comments to Uncle's post show how little thought most people put into their politics.

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Everybody draw Mohammed Day

This is the best I got -















Fuckers.

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Consistency

So in return for this, Phil Bredesen does this, and this.

And Sebastian wonders why I have no respect for the NRA .........

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Why is it .....

... that those who open carry are always referred to as 'activists'?

Sebastian has a post about an 'activist' in Wisconsin was has now been involved in a shooting, leaving one man dead and another paralyzed. Follow the links to see how the media, at least, is portraying the players in all this, including some information about the criminal history of the alleged victims.

Now, I did a quick search for Mr Gonzalez' name at the Journal Sentinels web site, and came up with 5 articles: the three linked at Sebastian's, one announcing Gonzalez' lawsuit, and one where the states DA wrote a memo declaring open carry to be legal.

Now, I did not search the interwebz, mostly 'cuz I'm lazy. I wonder, however, how the JS makes the leap that this fellow is a prominent OC activist? Is he prominent because the JS says he is, or is he really prominent? Or does the JS want to paint Gonzalez as the face of open carry in WI? And in one article, he's listed as an advocate; in another an activist ..... well, which is he?

I think I know how to answer this one. If your thoughts on the subject are that open carry is an acceptable method of carry, and it's legal to do so in your jurisdiction, as long as you don't actually open carry you're an advocate. But if you have the temerity to wear your firearm openly, then you're an activist.

Well thank God for activists; they, like the old west pioneers, take the arrows.

And it looks like the indians are lining up on this one.

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Something interesting

I've never thought about super-criminals, except the ones who are so good that you never hear about them. Phil Elmore has a take on the super-criminal, and what elitists want you to do about them:

You are told that the only way to defeat the supercriminal is to give him what he wants. This is why you shouldn't own a gun or a knife or train in amartial art. These things are useless. You should not object to regulations banning things for which you have no use.

Noted.

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Misplaced priorities

Looks like the feds are going to take some land for homeland security ...... on that deadly Vermont terrorist pipeline:

The red brick house sits unassumingly on a sleepy back road where the lush farmlands of northern Vermont roll quietly into Canada. This is the Morses Line border crossing, a point of entry into the United States where more than three cars an hour constitute heavy traffic.

Three cars per hour, huh? I'd just mine the whole place and be done with it.

The farmer says he's being railroaded, and he is. But it's not like anyone will do anything about it, is there?

Just ask Ms Kelo.

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Heh

This is an interesting ...... subtext:

The document, written in 2002 by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, concluded that state police officers have "inherent power" to arrest undocumented immigrants for violating federal law.

Now, this should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention, since no one in the administration has actually read the 10 page law in Arizona.

Idiots.

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Who would've thunk?

Virginia Tech violated federal law about student safety? Get out:

The U.S. Department of Education found that Virginia Tech broke federal campus security laws by waiting too long to notify students during the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, a report released Tuesday said.

Wow ..... not surprising is that no one in officialdom makes mention that the students following federal law had no ability to defend themselves, instead having to rely on VT.

Bad trade.

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Something to take the edge off

Just don't get too wrapped up .....



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What would you do?

76 year old Helen Pruitt was at home when someone started banging on her back door. As she approached the back door, someone started banging on the front door as well. The others started banging on all the windows.

Oh, by the way ....... it was the police.

At the wrong house. Then she had a heart attack from the stress.

But that's not even the best part:

Police did end up making seven drug arrests relating to the two year investigation, but the DEA is investigating to see how this mix-up happened.

It only took them 2 years of investigation to raid the wrong house.

You know,someone needs to start questioning someones' competence.

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Worth a look

David Codrea pointed out that Jennifer III's blog deserves your attention; I agree.

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You have *got* to be kidding?

The GunRange Loophole?

Juan Cardona-Marquez can't legally buy a gun. He can't shoot one. He can't even touch one without committing a crime.

So how was it that the 22-year-old Milwaukee man - who threatened his girlfriend and was later charged with armed robbery and a string of burglaries - was able to rent a .45-caliber Glock handgun from Badger Guns and practice his aim on the store's shooting range?

Citizens need to start trying to document the three felonies per day that prosecutors and legislators reportedly commit, and let them be the subject of their gargantuanly stupid laws.

That, or open season on hoplophobes. h/t David Codrea

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Let the lawsuits begin!

I really thought I had blogged about this a while back, but I didn't. So, here it is:

Thanks to a jury in Ottawa Hills, Ohio, former police officer Thomas White is facing up to 11 years behind bars: plenty of time to think about the unarmed motorist he paralyzed with an unprovoked bullet more than one year ago.

I'm actually a bit surprised that charges were even filed.

Now, let's see what kind of sentence he gets.

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More reasonable enforcement? Updated!

First this, and now more reasonable enforcement .... how's this for justification:

"Because of the ruthless and violent nature of the suspect in this case, it was determined that it would be in the best interest of public safety to execute the search warrant as soon as possible and detain the suspect ... while we sought a murder warrant,"

The best interest of public safety? Seems like Aiyana is a member of the public ... how safe was she?

And police now use serach warrants to get suspects rather than get an arrest warrant?

I've gotta say, I hope the girls father gets an awesome attorney and takes somebody to the cleaners.

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Update: Someone's got video, and it doesn't support the police version.

Eleventh Commandment

Everywhere you go on these internets, you'll find disagreements aplenty: pro-abortion vs anti-abortion; high taxes vs low taxes; freedom vs slavery. These types of disagreements are of the polarity kind, not of degree.

But within the gun community, there are often sentiments expressed that are essentially this: you have enough gun rights, because to have any more would be wrong.

I believe it's high time we start emulating Ronald Reagan and modify his Eleventh Commandment to read thus: Thou shalt not speak ill of someone exercising their 2A rights.

Whether that's concealed or open carry, handgun or long gun, full-auto or single shot, someone who owns firearms will disagree with whatever you're doing, and let you know in no uncertain terms that it's wrong.

Why is that?

Now, I can understand a good philosophical discussion on the blogosphere about OC vs CC; pros vs cons, that sort of thing. Long guns vs handguns; semi-auto vs revolver. But when the conversation devolves into "Open carriers are setting the movement back 100 years, and they fuck goats to boot", well, someone needs to find a Valium or a shot or 10 of tequila.

Remember the Eleventh Commandment.

Since I'm a 2A absolutist, I'll never say you don't have a right to own a particular firearm, or shouldn't carry in a certain way, or even that you shouldn't fuck goats*. That being said, if I think you're advocating to curtail mine or someone else's rights to do the same, then we have a problem. I subscribe to the Eleventh Commandment philosophy: Thou shalt not speak ill of someone exercising their 2A rights.

Now that in no way means that I won't criticize someone for abusing their 2A rights (or violating the 11th), but being an absolutist, anything that I would consider as abuse would probably roll over into the realm of criminal.

Remember the Eleventh Commandment!

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* as long as the goat is agreeable!

Dear God, but this is sweet!

I didn't think it was possible to mis-understand economics this badly:

"First, I would like to dispute the idea that Eolienne windmills aren't profitable. Once one adds all the subsidies and financial support the industry receives fromthe French government and the European Community, it is losing very little money."

Those wacky Frenchmen ..........

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You don't say!

How come I suddenly want to move to Alabama?



Ooh rah!

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Conflation

Why is it that so many armchair quarterbacks exist in the firearms community?

The guy has a CCW permit and was obviously trying to make a statement about OC. I would tend to think he would be on his best behavior after being asked to leave a mall prior to this little incident… unless he is a total dumbass.

Talk about conflation! Personally, I'm getting a bit tired of this lording over those who don't do things exactly like they do.

Let's look at the specifics:

1. It is legal for citizens to carry a firearm openly in the state of Washington.
2. To carry concealed requires a CCW permit.

Just because you have a CCW permit does not require you to carry concealed; the CCW allows you to carry concealed when concealed carry fits the situation.

Now, what if the accused didn't have a CCW? Would his actions somehow be more palatable to the elitists in the firearms community?

Probably not ..... mustn't scare the white people, you know.

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For your weekend cogitation - Uodated

An example of how the Religion of Peace gets their way:



Read Ace's post ...... very telling.

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Update: Ah, reasoned discourse.

Open carry hystrionics - Updated!

Via Say Uncle comes this report about a fellow charged while open carrying:

It is legal to carry a firearm openly in the state of Washington, but prosecutors with the Vancouver city attorney’s office filed the charge — which makes it unlawful to display a weapon in a manner “that either manifests an intent to intimidate another or warrants alarm” — based on witness observations.

Two of the witnesses hold CCW permits, and they didn't like how the guy was behaving (whaaaaa). Besides a violation of the Eleventh Commandment, it points to how this charge, and the idea behind it, is flawed.

The charge is based on how other people ascribed intent to the actions of another, no matter what the other was intending. Now, there is nothing that you can do in the public sphere that won't offend somebody, no matter how innocuous it is. If I wanted to start mucking up the system, I'd start calling the cops on every blue-hair that looks at me funny, saying I was intimidated. Hey, my feelings about being intimidated are just as valid as anyone elses!

But they'd be no more legitimate. 'I was afraid' and 'He intimidates me' are not valid reasons to charge someone with a crime. I feel intimidated when someone constantly clicks a ball-point pen ...... why can't I press for a charge of intimidation with a 'weapon'?

The point is, charges (any charges) should not occur until someone does something definitely criminal to someone or something, not is simply intimidating to the panty-waists of society.

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Update: The 911 call can be found here ...... you be the judge.

Teh awesomez!

Gov Christie sets an 'authorized journalist' straight:

Gov Christie calls S-L columnist thin-skinned for inquiring about his 'confrontational tone'

Doesn't get much better!

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Once again

Had medical concerns with Spawn 2, then Spawn 1 wanted me to help mow his great-grandmothers yard.

Everyone is fine.

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Motor sports!

Seen on the interwebz, this field-expedient carousel:



My, doesn't that look fun!

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*Facepalm*

If you didn't think that the federal government is out if control, this should make up your mind:

"Plaintiffs' assertion of a 'fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families' is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish," the government has argued.

The 'plaintiffs' want to buy raw milk, for the health benefits.

Now, I have some experience with this, because our family drinks raw milk (note to Feds - go fuck yourselves), and we came to this partially because of Spawn 2's Crohn's disease. We talked it over with her GI doctor, and he didn't have any specific prohibition to it; our biggest problem came with her grandmother.
We solved it when (at Sunday dinner) we asked who around the table had drunk raw milk regularly and every hand went up.

'Nuff said.

This is a classic case of how the government gets involved where it doesn't belong. Widespread pasteurization was an attempt to get fresh milk to troops in war. Then BigMilk got the government to make pasteurized milk mandatory, shutting out all those pesky local competitors. Once again, government getting in the way of commerce.

I want raw milk; my source has raw milk, and will take money in exchange.

That's the free market.

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I wonder ...

If I'm going to enter into a private sale of a firearm, can I access the NCIS and terror watchlist, just to satisfy the PSH-ing liberals?

Didn't think so.

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Pirating is a risky business

The Ruskies have the situation well in hand:

“They could not reach the coast and, apparently, have all died,” the official said.

Heh!

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B-day appeal

Lt Michael Behenna, who (IMHO) has been falsely accused and imprisoned for killing a muslim prisoner, is having a birthday on the 18th of this month.

Please consider sending him a card and well-wishes. And if you want to know more about his case, his website is here.

Lt Behenna's address is:

Michael Behenna, #87503
1300 N Warehouse Rd
Leavenworth, KS 66027-2304

Mojave cross stolen

Hot Air (among others) has the story:

The removal of a cross-shaped veterans’ memorial from the Mojave Desert has angered veterans’ groups and spurred calls for its immediate restoration.

Veteran's groups are offering a reward:

The $25,000 reward is now being offered through the Liberty Institute, which represented the VFW, American Legion, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and American Ex-Prisoners of War in an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case of Salazar v. Buono.

I've got a better idea - these veterans' groups should sell raffle tickets for $10 each, no limit. First prize?

The chance to beat the perpetrators with a rubber hose ....... for a week.

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Update

I was out of pocket yesterday ... my mother was having back surgery so I drove up to be with her and my dad. She's fine, though she can't talk very well yet.

I hope to get back in the swing soon!

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Judging the police?

Say Uncle links to a post that presumes to start holding the police up to a definable standard - seems they don't measure up:

The acts of police must face scrutiny just as the acts of mayors, presidents, senators, or representatives. They act on our behalf. To those who complain that mere civilians cannot presume to judge the actions of SWAT officers because have not walked in their boots, I call bullshit. If we cannot evaluate the actions of those who claim to serve us, we cannot determine whether they are serving us at all, and we cannot determine whether they are breaking laws themselves. The role of servant and served would be reversed.

And I wonder why those citizen review boards haven't stopped any of this?

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Good job!

Seems a Morristown father successfully defended his home against a home invasion:

An alleged female decoy for a pair of heavily armed home-invasion robbers was shot dead early Saturday morning outside the West Hamblen County home of a family featured on a television reality show, authorities say.

Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnagin identified the woman as Holly Ann Repasky, a 29-year-old from Knoxville.

Scott Knight, who lives with his wife, Penny and three children, survived an assault-weapon barrage uninjured and fired the shot that killed the woman, according to Jarnagin.

Good on ya, Scott!

I think it's interesting that the attack was described as an assault-weapon attack, but the police only recovered 13 pieces of brass?

From one of those evil, dangerous spray-n-pray assault-weapons? And the homeowner shot and killed one of them with a .22?

Get out!

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Some quotes ...

I happened across a couple of quotes yesterday while checking Hot Air out, and these caught my eye.

Democrat National Committee chairman Timmy Kaine says this:

“That the Tea Party would consider Bob Bennett — one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate — too liberal just goes to show how extreme the Tea Party is,”

Squishy RINO David Brooks opines:

"This is a damn outrage, to be honest. This is a guy who was a good Senator and he was a good Senator and a good conservative, but a good conservative who was trying to get things done. The Wyden-Bennett bill, which he co-sponsored — if you took the health care economists in the country, they would probably be for that bill, ideally. It was a substantive, serious bill, a bipartisan bill, with strong conservative and some liberal support. So he did something sort of brave by working with Democrats which more Senators should do and now they’ve been sent a message to him don’t do that.

Now I understand Timmy Kaine's reasons for painting the Tea Party as extreme, because that works in his favor.

But Mr Brooks fails to take into account one simple fact: politicians work for us. If their performance isn't up to the constituency's standards, we have the right to replace him.

Apparently his performance wasn't up to snuff.

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I need to stop looking at this stuff ...

Found while surfing ...



In a nearly perfect world, shortly after this 'officer' kneed the woman for the second time, you would see his head explode.

I'm just sayin ....

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More reasonable enforcement

Saw this at Unc's place ... he linked to the video at Reason's web site:



Now, besides this being what I think is waaay overkill, they didn't get anywhere near the amount of maryjane they were expecting (just a personal amount-misdemeanor), the warrant was old, there was a child in the house, and no one resisted (that I could tell).

But I'd like to fisk a comment from over at Uncle's site, one from a commenter going by the name of 'The Cop':

As a cop, I find this disgraceful.

So do I, and so do most reasonable, thinking individuals. Not only that, many probably think it's legally actionable.

I think that one person, just one, should have thought to bring maybe rubber bullets, or even a BONE for the dog if they knew about it, which they most likely did.

Now you're making me think maybe you're not a cop at all. Rubber bullets? Going after a hard-core dangerous drug dealer, a dealer who probably has AK-47's and Uzi's and 9-mils lying around everywhere?

And a bone ... a fucking BONE for the dog! Even 007 would spring for a steak to lure a dog away, but then again, that was for stealthy infiltration type spy stuff, not going after eeeevil drug traffickers and death-merchants.

The police however,did most of the right things in The Raid.

Now we come to the nitty-gritty! "I find this disgraceful .... however". What you mean is "Yeah, but" .... which means 'No', you just don't say 'No'.

I have no doubt that the officers involved ill be found to have followed to-the-letter their departments' policies. And have no fear, when IA takes a look, they'll conclude that given the situation, with 2 vicious, aggressive dogs in the house, and all those drug dealers ..... I suppose they can be excused for little .... exhuberence.

Two weeks' paid vacation ..... so the poor babies can, ya know, decompress.

They acted quickly

Quickly getting into dude's house you mean ..... they started knocking at :32 secs and busted the door at :43 secs. I don't know about you, but i don't answer my fucking cell phone that quickly, let alone someone pounding at my door, yelling words that I may not understand right away. In fact, if I don't understand and you start breaking down my door, you'll most likely come in to a lot of bullets.

read the rights

Yeah, they started asking for a Miranda card at 3:29 (what, can't they fucking memorize the warning, like I did in less than a minute?) and started reading the card they finally found (they're right on top of things!) at 3:40.

kept the child away from harm,

While they were shooting things in the house (those vicious dogs).

and most importantly arrested the suspect.

Must keep our priorities straight .......

The dog, however, could’ve been handled a lot differently.

Amazing as it might seem, I'm not sure that the dogs could have been handled differently. Given that the officers were just following orders, they did what they're trained to do. Drug raid teams can't have a dog-dummy there to keep animals occupied, but what we as citizens can do is start holding police departments accountable for restitution for the loss of the animal. Maybe even a cost + a bit of a fine, especially if police raid the wrong house.

Police are here to help though, and most find them as enemies. We serve to Protect.

I've long since given up on that ... as I see it, police are there to enforce the laws, whether the 'laws' help anyone or not

Who knows from this video maybe while high the guy beat the kid? And maybe even gave the Kid drugs? Who knows. But now the Kid can be put in a better home.

A logical, thinking individual would then ask 'Why wasn't he charged with beating his child, or giving him drugs?' And as far as I can tell, the only danger to the kid due to the his dad having a little pot on hand was the jackboot-wearing thugs with badges.

Certainly was bad for the dogs.

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Here we go again ...

Here is an example of what the pro illegal immigration folks will point to as an example of the white man's inherent racism:

The audio then became much clearer. The camera microphone picked up the following threat from the officer to the detainee:"You got me? I'm going to beat the f***ing Mexican piss out of you homey. You feel me?"About 16 seconds after the officer threatens to "beat the f-ing Mexican piss out of you homey," the uncuffed young man moves his hand to wipe his eye. The officer immediately gives him a violent kick to the head.

To protect and serve ...... and beat you the fuck down if you don't respect mah authoritah.

You.Fucking.Coward.

But he'll get maybe, maybe a weeks' unpaid leave; most likely he'll get some sensitivity training.

Update: The officer apologizes:



And that's why you're a fucking coward - a man of honor would resign immediately and beg forgiveness.

The coward simply pleads not to be fired and says he'll do better - like all serial abusers do.

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For your consideration

Revolution?

Bring it.

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ObamaCare walk/pushback

I'm going to try to keep this thread alive with all of the problems that we intuitively knew about, but are now finding out about for realz (in reverse order).

Uh oh ...... corporations thinking about dropping health insurance and just paying the penalty ... 'cause that's cheaper

And Kathleen Sebelius and the White House received a report from government actuaries, saying that Obamacare would cause premiums to go up across the board. They got it a week before the vote but didn't release it until a month after!

Uh oh ... Peter Orszag tells us what we knew all along. Obamacare will ration care.

Here we see doctors' opinions of ObamaCare - "If you voted for Obama, seek urologic care elsewhere." Don't guess he thinks much of it, huh?

And Democrats do believe in tort reform, just that they want to make it easier to sue Medicaid. Doctor shortage; care rationing? We'll just sue you if you do. Oh, and make it more expensive.

Unpossible! Yeah, when you make it illegal not to buy something, it gets more expensive. Pesky economic laws.

It also appears that ObamaCare doesn't cover children with pre-existing conditions. You'd think that either Dems hate kids, or Obama is clueless. Hard to choose.

And if you weren't aware, we're short on primary-care docs. So adding 40 million new patients shouldn't be a problem ..... we'll just pay the current doctors more. Oh, wait ......

Your premiums will go up, not down. Ron Williams of Aetna says that there "significant additional taxes the industry will ultimately have to pay in the first year." That's not what ObamaCare was touted to have happen.

New tax punishment for employers who provide prescription drug coverage. The change will throw more people onto Medicare's rolls, costing more money rather than saving. Caterpillar and John Deere have notified the SEC that they'll take charges of $265 million for this year ...... total estimated cost to employers? $14 billion. The link has a discussion on static accounting.

New calorie disclosure laws for restaurants with 20 or more locations. For chains with lots of locations (like MickeyD's and such), this will be a trivial thing. For those that aren't quite so big, maybe not so trivial. In the example in the link, Davanni's (who has 22 locations) will incur an estimated $200k cost to list their current menu, to say nothing of adding products. Now, do you think that Davanni's has 200 large lying around for just such an occurence, or is it more likely that they close their 3 poorest-performing locations?

Max Baucus says ObamaCare will help correct the maldistibution of income. Wow, I hope they don't determine that my income was mal-distributed. Of course, we knew it all along.

One of the true believers admits "Hey, maybe we over-promised just a tad on this ObamaCare thing". Gee, ya think?

Of course ...

The federales really don't like it when a judge lets them know that they're full of it:

Federal prosecutors in Detroit are appealing a judge's order to release nine jailed members of a Michigan militia accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

The feds' case won't get any stronger unless the agent in charge of the surveillance for two years starts remembering even the most obvious details about what they've supposedly done.

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It's time ...

for New York City mayor Bloomberg to STFU:

Calling it "common sense," Bloomberg also called for closing the "terror gap" with a federal law that would "block sales of guns and explosives to those on the terror watch lists."

Yeah, 'cause banning guns will keep us safe from explosive? It's only common sense if you're a gazillionaire and you have armed bodyguards to watch over your sorry ass all the time. The rest of us proles will just have to do with our pitchforks and ploughshares.

Lindsey Graham (squish) makes a stab at bringing sense to the debate:

"I believe my right to own a gun shouldn't be infringed because some nut is going to take a gun and use it wrongfully," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

He's right, but that's not really what the debate is about. Mayor Bloomfuck wants it to be a disqualifying event to be placed on either the no-fly list or the terror watch list. The problem with this is that both lists are rather arbitrary in who gets on them, and it's next to impossible to get off either (especially the no-fly list). And the most repugnant thing about them is that the disqualification comes with no adjudication.

Now, for that reason, I say go for it, but I'd have membership to the no-fly or terror lists only have a hold put on a firearm transaction. What this would do is force the governments hand and make them shit or get off the pot. How many Americans would get pissed as hell to find themselves on eiher list, for no reason, with no recourse to be removed?

Don't know ...... but maybe it's time to find out.

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About time

A state decides to allow raw milk sales direct to customers people who want it:

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has indicated he will sign a bill the Legislature passed late last month allowing farms to sell raw milk directly to consumers through 2011. Although the bill is limited in scope, advocates who've worked for years promoting raw milk say legalization in Wisconsin could lead to broader acceptance nationwide.

And I note that it authorizes sales only through 2011.

Yoo hoo ..... it's none of your business!

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The idiocy is astounding

Firearm Freedom Act gets a naysayer spreading PSH, and veto override fails:

A Democrat in the Oklahoma legislature apparently has convinced party colleagues that a state exemption from federal regulations for firearms that are made and kept in the state would be like "giving machine guns to wing nut militia sympathizers."

Figures it'd be a fucking Democrat.

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Breathe ..... breathe

I told my former boss that this was coming, based on rumors I heard over a year ago:

The radical solution most favored by Big Labor is the seizure of private 401(k) plans for government disbursement — which lets them off the hook for their collapsing retirement scheme. And, of course, the Obama administration is eager to accommodate their buddies.

I've gotta say that I know some union boys, and they're pretty good folks.

But if this passes, they'll instantly become thieves, as far as I'm concerned - they'll be treated accordingly.

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Who can out-pander whom?

Ace comes with a blistering analysis of the immigration fence/security/wall issue, and why the GOP will never, never win the Dem's game:

They need to get over that. You can never beat Democrats in a bidding war like this -- if Republicans cave and say "half-hearted enforcement," Democrats trump that with "even less enforcement." If Republicans propose amnestying 1,000,000 illegals a year, Democrats trump that with 2,000,000.

And there's more .... much more. RTWT

And the GOP won't ever do anything about it until the people who vote in primaries start getting the squishes out of office, and putting real conservatives in office.

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Justifiable preemptive force?

In the area, a news story about a middle school student who sneaked his dad's .44 revolver onto the school bus, and attempted to shoot a high school student:

"Possibly some bullying going on from the victim who is the older of the two and it's kind of festered into this conflict," Sergeant Clift said.

Now, I'm generally not in favor of allowing juveniles to carry firearms. But I do acknowledge that 3 years' age difference can be significant when a kid is being bullied. And hey, weren't the Columbine killers bullied? Is it better that a student goes postal in the actual bully, or on the school at large?

And yes, taking a gun to school because someone threw a Twinkie is a bit extreme, but we don't know yet if that was the first incident between these kids.

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This is a bad standard

WTF?

WND contacted the Tennessee recruiting station, and a Marine sergeant explained, "The policy is if a tattoo can be construed by anyone as being gang-related or racially biased, then we can't accept them."

If anyone thinks a tattoo is gang-related or racially biased?! I've seen a lot of tattoos in the Marine Corps, and I've seen lots of tattoos that the sensitive class could constue as gang-related; in fact, if a gang member has ever had a tattoo you could consider that tattoo as gang-related.

If you were in the Marines at any time, please consider an e-mail to the commandant.

Update: Vox agrees.

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JPFO Alert

Gotta admit, this one is pretty good.

An open letter to Ted Nugent.

Damn you, Uncle ..... damn you!

He's just too quick! And has a good link to the concept of battlesight zero/max point blank range.

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Obligatory - record sniper shot

Set by a Brit, breaking a record set by a Canuck - come on, USA:

Hero sniper Craig Harrison, 35, nailed the killers with a rifle bullet each as the pair manned a machine gun - then for good measure let rip a third shot that took out their weapon.
Three shots take out a two-man machine gun crew, and the third takes out the weapon!

Cpl Harrison, you now have a lifetime Man Card!

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Huh ...

Imagine ..... the government not implementing their well thought-out plan:

If U.S. officials had followed up on a 1994 response plan for a major Gulf oil spill, it is possible that the spill could have been kept under control and far from land.

The problem: The federal government did not have a single fire boom on hand.

1994? Wow, that's like, 15 or 16 years ago.

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Didn't see that coming

The military jury in the trial of a Navy SEAL didn't believe the prosecution witnesses:

"I learned that a debrief of the jury revealed that not a single one of the six court members believed either the terrorist or the Navy petty officer. The two verdicts should be respected as conclusively establishing McCabe's innocence," he said. "The command can no longer proceed on a good-faith belief that they are prosecuting a guilty sailor."

Ah, but that's the beauty of being the government - never having to admit you were wrong.

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For immediate release!

I thought as much:

A federal judge has found that all nine members of the Hutaree accused of plotting a violent battle with government forces should be released from custody pending their trials.

Like David says, the government may be able to prove something. But if they were, you'd think the government would have no problem convincing a judge to hold the Hutaree without bond.

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NRA, at it again

From Ed Stone comes this Examiner article about the NRA being against a pro-gun bill:

When the NRA was rebuffed on its proposed amendment, it then began lobbying aggressively against the bill. The local civil rights group GeorgiaCarry.Org was at the Capitol lobbying for SB 308 to pass.

Now, this may be a case of the NRA not realizing that the language they wanted added to SB302 had already passed in SB291. But issn't that one of the NRA's claims to fame? Keeping up with legislatures?

Passin it on

Here's a link you really should check out.

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Told ya so

Here's an addendum to an earlier post, explained by Reason's Nick Gillespie:



h/t Hot Air

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You don't say?

Gabriella Salcedo, a legal immigrant and naturalized citizen, likes the new AZ law:



Heh.

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