Prof Jacobson reposts a fine article ...

.
... on sitting down in the snow:

Conservatives face a choice. Yield to “progressive” policies which, once implemented will take a generation to undo, or stand on principles of free enterprise, individual liberty, and capitalism? Giving in is much easier, but in the long run more costly. We can learn a lot about the power of standing on principle from Anatoly Sharansky ….

Sharansky sat down in the snow after the Soviets, who had just released him from 10 years of prison, had taken his cherished book of Psalms as they were leading him on the tarmac to the plane that would take him to freedom.

He wanted his book back.

They gave it to him.

WHY are rank-and-file Republicans not demanding that the elected GOP start actually acting like conservatives? Considering the GOP caves at every opportunity against those that are in opposition to them, is it not reasonable that they might be pursuaded to conform when they are in opposition to those who elected them in the first place?

pm

Sorry for the blogging disruption ...

.
... you've no idea how loud a buggered laptop fan can be until you have a buggered laptop fan!

Maybe I'll get a new desktop box for my birthday ...

pm

Popular Science ...

.
... eschews debate:

Comments can be bad for science. That's why, here at PopularScience.com, we're shutting them off. It wasn't a decision we made lightly. As the news arm of a 141-year-old science and technology magazine, we are as committed to fostering lively, intellectual debate as we are to spreading the word of science far and wide. The problem is when trolls and spambots overwhelm the former, diminishing our ability to do the latter....

As Vox said, it's not that the science is (or isn't) settled, it's because their writers can't advance arguments that can withstand scrutiny.

If you think back to 6th grade science class, there is nothing about most current science that remotely resembles the scientific method. h/t Vox Day

Movie review: Tha Art of the Precision Rifle

.
I know, not exactly a fall blockbuster!

I've got Magpul's Art of the Tactical Carbine and have enjoyed it, so it was natural that when the opportunity presented itself to get Art of the Precision Rifle I jumped.

In the video, Travis Haley and Chris Costa (along with two other shooters) spend some time with Todd Hodnett at Accuracy 1st, a precision shooting camp in west TX. Todd and his company consults and teaches military and law enforcement, as well as civilian shooters. He's developed a system on getting quick, accurate shots on target at extended ranges as well as ballistics programs and graphic aids to help the shooter.

One of the most interesting things Hodnett demonstrates on the video is the capability of his ballistics program to 'true' the computations based on real-world conditions. As an artilleryman in a former life, I immediately recognized the process as equivalent to 'registering' and artillery piece. The registration process is one in which you take into account things that your gunnery solution can't (such as things like cant of the piece). His program has the ability to adjust the predicted solution to match what the bullet is actually doing based on current conditions.

Add to this a facility in west TX in which he can allow students to shoot at ranges up to 2K meters in all directions and you've got a slow-paced yet exciting video (the Mile Shot is particularly intersesting).

If you can find the video to borrow I encourage it ..;. when I win the lottery, I'll be taking a class!

pm

The IRS ...

.
... gets caught again:

When the IRS starts targeting political dissent for scrutiny, they have stopped being a revenue collector and have become instead a political enforcer.  That’s dangerous for all Americans, and Congress needs to demand and enforce immediate reform in the IRS. 

I've got a better idea. If you're ever contacted by the IRS, tell them you'd be happy to meet in your attorneys office. If they show up, sit down, draw a handgun and lay it on the table.

Now lets talk.

Our society is doomed because we've taken all of the consequence out of bad actions. Jefferson warned us this would happen.

pm

Athis makes a certain amount ...

.
... of sense:

Laws should be written in comportment with human behavior. It is normal human behavior to shoot a fleeing punk in this situation. The law should therefore bless it.

The law should not be an ass.

The law should be written to make sense to the common man, not the exceptional one. Perhaps an exceptional man places so much value on the life of the man who just beat him, threatened him with a shotgun, and stole his fortune that he would rather let a fleeing robber escape than fire a shot at him.

The story is about the French jeweler who is facing charges for shooting a fleeing man who had just robbed him and his store.

Some who know economic theory would tend to agree. The thought that possessions aren't worth someone's life is only valid if you believe that possessions just appear out of thin air. The things you have (unless you've stolen them) you've obtained by trading portions of your life for money, money that you then used to get your things. So one could make the case that by taking your things, a robber is taking a part of your life. I tend to agree.

How much of your life would you be willing to part with before you started shooting?

pm

Alan of the squirrel report ...

.
... posted this picture on his facebook page:




As a former artilleryman, this made me laugh. Hip-pocket arty like mortars are capable of surprising accuracy, but they're still area weapons. It's hilarious that these gents are trying to 'lay' their piece when they really don't care exactly where the shell lands!

pm

Handguns for women bleg

.
I was listening to one of Deviant Ollum's presentations about firearms and defense (watch it, it's good), and I heard something that made me think. Thus my bleg ...

When it comes to women and firearms, what 6 handguns would you select for a new female shooter to try at a range. Do not consider caliber, but do tale similarity between models into account (don't pick a Colt Commander and a Kimber Pro Carry).

During Deviant's Q&A, Mouse made the suggestion for women to go to a range and rent a bunch of guns (while noting that gun ranges have a vested interest in making you feel welcome). It made me think about a range putting together an 'Absolutely New Shooter' package with 6 handguns and appropriate ammo, priced at, say $100.

If you think that 6 is too many (or too few) make your case. Also make suggestions about price point (I don't go to an indoor range ... I have property on which I can shoot) since I don't know what a range charges.

pm

She's wrong ...

.
... about so many things:

Here's what matters for the future of gun control: Advocates needed to send a signal that politicians could vote for gun control without fear of ending their careers. Instead, they sent the opposite message.

As shown in Colorado, gun-control support is truly a mile wide and an inch deep; even though they're well-funded gun control advocates can't deliver squat.

As much as I may not like them, the NRA knows wht it's about come election time.

pm

It's good ...

.
... that sometimes there's accountability:

Former cop Joshua Colclough admitted Friday that he shot her unarmed son dead, during a botched drug raid that ignited racially charged tensions across the city.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and accepted a four-year prison sentence . . . 

There's video, though I haven't watched it (sometimes you just don't need to see yet another innocent gunned down).

Maybe all of the pinhole cameras showed that the DA had no choice.

pm

Who'd have thunk ...

.
... that law enforcement, when watched, is more polite?

Earlier this year, a 12-month study by Cambridge University researchers revealed that when the city of Rialto, California, required its cops to wear cameras, the number of complaints filed against officers fell by 88 percentand the use of force by officers dropped by almost 60 percent. Watched cops are polite cops.

I remember when a local law enforcement agency first got cameras, and when it came to bolstering the cop's version, cameras were the greatest thing since sliced bread. When cameras went against the cop's version, not so much. Lawdog, on Alan's Vicious Circle, talks a bit about how the camera is your friend or your enemy, depending on your actions.

pm

This one from Hot Air ...

.
... inadvertently shows why the GOP will always lose:

Take, take, take, wind industry — I have few doubts that what started as a five year exemption will be extended, and then extended another time after that, and another after that…

The exemption in question is the one granted to wind turbine companies which gives them a free pass when protected birds are killed by the spinning turbine blades, and it's up for renewal.

Now, if Republicans try to stop the exemption, they'll be tarred as being against clean energy and not caring about granny having electricity to run her vaporizer ... and they'll cave.

But Republicans won't even consider labelling Democrats as eagle-killers and not caring about endangered species. Nor would they consider agreeing with any conservation organizations who are against the wanton slaying of protected birds. Imagine the press release that the WWF or the Sierra Club would release naming the GOP as their friend in the fight to Save the Birds!

But no, the exemption will be extended ... because the GOP are wimps.

pm

Vox points out a truism ...

.
... mixing cultures doesn't necessarily end in happiness:

This multi-generational societal devastation is the cost of giving in to the multiculturalist dogma of half-savages like Jemisin and fatherless, clueless hypocrites like Scalzi. 

RTWT

Vox has long beaten the drum of Vibrancy and how it is destined to destroy western Civilization.

pm

Aaron's monthly opportunity ...

.
... to win stuff.

Go. Enter. Maybe win something ... I don't mind!

pm

This open carry incident is a bit old ...

.
... but that doesn't mean I can't comment:

The 23-minute video was posted the YouTube on Aug. 24. It shows three men sitting outside a San Antonio Starbucks displaying rifles. Several passersby stop and talk to the men. At least one woman stops to take video on her cell phone.

Police eventually showed up after they received a call from a woman who claimed she was “freaked out” by the display of weapons. Officers approached the men, questioned them about the situation and told the gun holders they needed to leave.

Legally, they were doing nothing wrong (their rifles were unloaded). But based on one woman being 'freaked out' about 3 men exercising their rights, well, none of that shit in my garden!

First, I have a real problem with having how someone feels dictating what I can or can't do. My example (not a very good one) is that if I intend insult and none is taken, no foul; if I don't intend insult and insult is taken the problem is with the insulted.

Second, as evidenced by the video, the three gentlemen were ... well ... gentlemen. They were respectful, they didn't raise their voices, they didn't even go into the typical 'Am I being detained' schpiel that you see a lot. they even told the police that they had tried to call the police in the area to give them a heads up about what they were planning (that they got an answering machine at the number they called - wrong - is beside the point). And they called the Starbucks to make sure that there were no restrictions by the store to them following state and federal laws.

In short, they did everything they could do outside of sending Royal Messenger Marvin ahead to announce their arrival to make those who might have to deal with them aware.

And it even looked like the young officer was at least empathetic to their cause, making sure the gents had the correct phone # in case they tried again. Of course, you should always get the name of who you talked to if you call a business about any kind of activism.

pm

I know Sebastian doesn't think much of these laws ...

.
... but the devil is certainly there:

Now the MSSA is preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court with the hope of convincing the court to overturn its previous decisions. The implications of a favorable ruling in this case reach far beyond the ability of individuals to avoid $200 tax stamps with 80% lowers and homemade suppressors. It will affect every aspect of federal regulation, business, and state legislation.

And it would.

If precedent is established that the states have the sole power to regulate purely state-intended commerce (that is, non-interstate commerce),then a whole system of federal regulation is in danger.

Which is why, after Scalia shut Alan gura down with his crazy-talk about Priveledges and Immunities in McDonald, cert will either not be granted or it will lose. Can't be following the constitution now, can we?

pm

I have arrived!

.
I've been banned for 12 hours on Facebook.

The Facebook group 1 Million Moms Against Gun Control (1MMAGC) has been having a bunch of problems with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense (MDA) complaining about the way 1MMAGC treats MDA' founder, Shannon Watts (aka Shannon Troughton). It seems that Ms Watts has a CV in public relations and Democrat activism and she's appalled that any group opposed would bring up that she just might be a queen of astroturf.

1MMAGC has gotten a ruling from Facebook that Shannon Watts is a public figure as relates to Facebook policy and that they shouldn't have any more problems with MDA getting 1MM put into the 12-hour time out.

But yesterday, Hypocrisy and Stupidity of Gun Control posted a link to Miguels fine research on Shannon Watts, whereupon they were promptly put into timeout. Before the Facebook action, I was able to re-post what Hypocrisy had posted.

My turn was yesterday ... got out of timeout around 8:00 yesterday evening.

I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to prevent the same from happening in the future; all I can say for sure is that if she's the one responsible for my being banned, Shannon Watts is a miserable, thin-skinned, whiny bitch.

pm

PS: Yes, I immediately re-posted the link!

This concept ...

.
... is a very interesting one:

For the weapon to be protected by the federal constitution, citizens must to be able to “keep” it and to “bear” it — and also to discriminate with it. This is why a handgun is quite obviously protected while a cruise or nuclear missile is quite obviously not.

I'm on record as being a 2nd amendment absolutist, leaving the fact that high-yield conventional and nuclear weapons are simply out of economic reach of most citizens to regulate their use. The idea that one must be able to discriminate (selectively target) with a protected arm is a novel one.

If you consider the discrimination argument as controlling, then most arms that utilize an explosive would be outside of constitutional protection since they are indiscriminate weapons. One could make the argument, however that these weapons aren't typically used for target practice outside of a designated firing range, but rather in a combat scenario where combatants aren't directing fire at non-combatants.

But that argument is way in the future. It's uplifting to hear that at least one justice doesn't automatically agree that some NFA arms are taboo.

pm

I know I shoudln't be surprised ...

.
... but hearing confirmation is just chilling:

Fortunately for me, when my county's sheriff found out that they were purposefully putting my life in danger on bad calls, he ordered his deputies to come and back me up, no matter what. 

This from a letter to Radley Balko, following the release of his new book, from a retired female police officer.

I had no doubt that such behaviour went on in the LE community; still, it's heartbreaking to know that those who swore (or at least went through the motions) to protect will actively try to harm one who follows the law.

pm

Just saw this ...

.
... while checking my feeds:

On August 22, 1992, Dale was an HRT Operator tasked to a mission in which he found himself facing armed adversaries. His thoughts were not only on the situation at hand, but the tragic death of a child and a U.S. Marshal. During this type of confrontation when people die, you don’t have the ability to pick sides, they are drawn before you arrive. Dale did what he was trained to do as a sniper / observer. He was fortunate not to have to take a life at this engagement. Special Agent Horiuchi made the regrettable shot, a mistake for which he will never be forgiven. Of the FBI Agents assigned to the Ruby Ridge tragedy, Dale has been one of the most outspoken. He has delivered dozens of presentations to more than 1000 civilians titled “Mistakes and Lessons of Ruby Ridge”.

This is a statement by Steve Troy, who owns Troy Industries and who has hired Lon Horiuchi's spotter/sniper Dale Monroe. During the congressional hearings of Ruby Ridge, Monroe defended Horiuchi and stated that he was ready to take the same shot.

Has no one heard about H-S Precision?

pm