Martyred priest

The Vatican confirms a Catholic priest has been beheaded by anti- Assad jihadists in Syria.

Would the White House care to again articulate what it hopes to accomplish by opening a weapons supply spigot to Syrian rebels increasingly dominated by the most intolerant Islamic factions?

Self-center of attention

Remember how Obama inserted himself on the Rosa Parks bus?

U.S. Government/White House photo

Now he's done the same sort of thing with Nelson Mandela's prison cell.

Stasi 2.0

Note the photo here. Germans understand where the NSA is taking us. They're closer to the history of such things.

"Hell to pay"

Residents angry as RCMP seize guns from High River homes

‘It’s just like Nazi Germany,’ says resident.

Update, June 30:  The government evacuates a town. And then agents of the government "force entry" into people's homes and seize their firearms.  Got that?

I was on the road yesterday, and spent some time thinking about this incident as I drove. 

Did a government arms registry list play any part in what houses were chosen? 

There are zero reports of looting mentioned in the news account I linked to. If the town is evacuated, and there's a police security presence, how real was any looting risk? 

Agents of the state, according to the article, had not re-secured these homes after the government break-ins. There's only a future promise that homes would be re-secured. If there was a looting risk, anything else of value left behind by residents was put at much higher risk. Jewelry, tools, coin collections, furnishings, appliances. 

Why would government intentionally create looting targets by breaking into homes and then leaving them open? Will government take responsibility for other missing items? Any chance agents of the state also pocketed a few goodies while protecting unknown entities from an undocumented threat by firearms that had been in otherwise secured dwellings? 

What kind of proof will be required to reclaim ownership? 

If a detailed inventory was kept, and the guns have been removed to safe location, why doesn't government return this collection of private property to its rightful owners? 

No, the gun grab by the RCMP smells to high heaven, and appears to be a knee jerk reaction by a government mindset that takes every opportunity to target gun ownership or to label guns as unsafe. 

From a purely public safety viewpoint, the police have done a grave disservice here. Will residents of towns facing a similar flood threat in the future be as willing to follow evacuation orders if they know the police may soon follow behind to kick in the doors and rummage through their stuff? 

Plans for the 4th

How will your family mark this year's Independence Day?

How about including a parade, flags or fireworks in the mix? And throw in a discussion about what it means to be an American.

It may have lasting impact on your kids and grandkids.

Originally posted Friday, July 1, 2011:

Study: Clear skies on the 4th of July benefit the GOP 

Need proof university researchers have too much time on their hands? 

Take a look at this excerpt from a study done at Harvard that contents clear skies on the Fourth of July create life-long Republicans: 

We find that days without rain on Fourth of July in childhood have lifelong effects. In particular, they shift adult views and behavior in favor of the Republicans and increase later-life political participation Our estimates are significant: one Fourth of July without rain before age 18 raises the likelihood of identifying as a Republican by 2 percent and voting for the Republican candidate by 4 percent. It also increases voter turnout by 0.9 percent and boosts political campaign contributions by 3 percent. Taken together, the evidence suggests that important childhood events can have persistent effects on political beliefs and participation and that Fourth of July celebrations in the US affect the nation’s political landscape.

So it's probably not rain that's the driving force here. The study simply finds exposure to traditional American observances tends to reinforce traditional American values. 

It appears the left has long understood this principle. This explains why the left is so tireless in its quest to water down America's traditional holidays.

And don't think so much in terms of Republican v. Democrat anymore. Think more in terms of a conservative or libertarian traditional American viewpoint v. the fundamentally changed progressive one.

Incompetent government

Sloppy with guns.

Tricks of the anti-gun politics

"The concealed carry bill on (Illinois) Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk gives Chicago and other municipalities ten days upon signage to pass new or updated assault weapons legislation."

Assessing our point and place in history

The June 28th Don and Doug program is now in replay.

I must admit, I ranted way more than usual this week.

Self-appointed "victims" now believe they have some special right to demand law and government bend to their will, and then flaunt their victimhood again as they demand opposing voices fall silent. The anti-gun No More Names bus tour is just one example.

Viewing a larger picture, the Left pushes its agenda by any means necessary, and substitution of emotion for reason is just one trick in their kit. The pace increases as fundamental transformation seems to be sweeping the land.

Many conservatives or libertarians are disheartened, perhaps some even giving up. But the Left is not as entrenched as it pretends to be. Now's not the time to fall silent. If anything, now's the time to speak louder.

Where's our next generation of patriots? Where are those who vowed to carry on for Andrew Breitbart?

A must listen program  from the Don and Doug collection.

The program is available start-to-finish via the On Demand player.

The fight for Liberty has not been defeated

Though it may be going through some repositioning in some sectors.

Jesse Jackson under attack

It seems some folks take offense that Jessee Jackson seemed to speak up in defense of Paula Deen.

What I find most amazing is how Jackson's attackers use the same word that Deen's being destroyed over.

Shooting and shipping

I see a lot of the big online shooting sports retailers are offering some pretty appealing specials on shipping this summer.

Too bad they don't have in stock what most shooters are looking for: Bulk quantities of .22 Rimfire ammo.

You might be a racist if...

A blogger suggests racism is afoot if certain jurors in the George Zimmerman trial see Rachel Jeantel as something other than a credible witness.

From a website called Global Grind:

And if the 5 white jurors (excluding the 1 Latina) are like most white people I know, they are unfortunately not going to like Rachel. They won't understand her, especially not her defensive nature, and this will unfortunately work against her. Even though it shouldn't. 

I can imagine George Zimmerman's defense is just hoping some of those 5 white jurors have some prejudices (as most people do), or hell, are even racist, because if they are, their tactic to make Rachel out to be less intelligent, rather than less credible than she actually is, might actually work.

It is precisely the task assigned to a jury to weight all the evidence and testimony in a trial. It is a juror's duty to weigh credibility of each and every witness presented.

We don't know the jury members impressions of  Jeantel and her testimony. But the writer at Global Grind doesn't even mention the possibility that others on the jury (besides those who are white) may also find Jeantel less than credible. Assuming thoughts and perceptions of jurors based solely on the juror's race or ethnicity seems, well, a tad racist to me.

A new name for Bloomberg's anti-gun campaign

As seen in comments at DefensiveCarry.com:

OMAALGO. One Mayor Against All Legal Gun Owners

Senate passes immigration bill

The Senate's immigration bill passed today 68-32.

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is among the bill's most harsh critics. Not just for its contents, but for how it came to be:

You must know friends that, when the Gang of Eight said there was a delicate balance — a fragile agreement — they weren’t talking primarily about the agreement among themselves — that was secondary. They were referring to the special-interest forces that were in the room writing the bill. Those interests, those forces, had signed in blood. The Gang then signed in blood to fight off any serious ideas that would violate the secret pact.

It's an ugly bill with ugly sponsors and ugly players behind the scenes.

Will the House of Representatives have the moral courage to stand up to what the bill's senate advocates want rushed through before America wakes up and fully understands what's at stake?

When victimhood gets in your face

Victimhood has been installed as some kind of political sainthood by the Left. 

Self-appointed and those anointed by the collective as victims now believe they have some special right to demand law and government bend to their will, and then flaunt their victimhood again as they demand  opposing voices fall silent. 

We saw this exemplified this week at the Georgia Capitol as Bloomberg's anti-gun No More Names tour paid a visit.  But it's a practice the Left exploits in many venues, and to advance many causes.

The Left actively attempts to exploit emotions like pity and sympathy to distract from critical assessment as it attempts to reshape and fundamentally change America.

We'll will give examples and discuss it further on Friday's (June 28th) Don and Doug. 

Show starts 1:00 pm EDT at TalkSouthRadio.com. Listener participation invited at 678-344-9926 or via Twitter @TalkSouthRadio.

Countering tyranny

As bad legislation keeps bubbling up in U.S. Congress, you may want to bookmark the protest poster page at imaksim.com.

This offering's especially appropriate:

Yes, people...

Bloomberg's tour bus has re-emerged.

In Nashville. 

I do like the way they rushed to get the picture out.

Collecting thoughts post-DOMA

The Left's won on some issues this week, as has the right.

Let me borrow a line I saw on Twitter shortly after today's ruling: "When you allow the gov't to define marriage, death, life and insurance ...no one is ever happy."

When you look at all the political theater taking place this week on a massive variety of issues, understand it's a real life thriller pushing a deeper and deeper national divide.

America may be moving forward. But what's it moving toward?

More insanity from the politically correct

It's apparently now racist to publicly display terrorist wanted posters.

"Watertowning"

David Codrea coins a new term.

Fair's fair, right?

How about giving the White House the same treatment as the border?

Since the US Senate feels a complete fence is not required as a security measure along the US border with Mexico, a complete fence around the White House would not be required as a security measure either. 

We petition to remove the White House fence.

Yup. It's a petition at WhiteHouse.gov.

Fool me once...

Via Twitter:

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. RT if you don't want to repeat mistakes of 1986 amnesty! pic.twitter.com/5qEjiCajwM
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 25, 2013

Mmm mmm mmm

From iMaksim.com:

Brutal home invasion caught on nanny cam

A woman in New Jersey is beaten relentlessly by a man who came to rob her home.

There was a home invasion in Loganville, Georgia that might have turned into something like that. But after the Loganville invader kicked in the door, and pursued the woman and her kids who tried to hide in a closet, she shot him.

Do you and your family have a security plan? Stuff like this can happen in the nicest neighborhoods.

Say what?

Connecticut gun-grabbers are now perplexed that a gun maker is leaving their state.

A word from DC

I won't hold my breath. But I find this at least a little encouraging:

“We all know our immigration system is broken and we need to fix it. However, we should be having a full and open debate on solutions, not rushing to finish the bill before Sen. Reid’s artificial deadline." - Sen. Saxby Chambliss R-GA

Thank you Senators Chambliss and Isakson for noting the danger of rushing through unread, flawed legislation.  Any chance some of those senators who voted "yes" on Monday can be made to see the light?

Another gunmaker considers Connecticut departure

Connecticut media report Stag Arms is meeting with economic development officials in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina later this week. 

Moms demand action

Maybe Mike Bloomberg's No More Names traveling gun control activists should demand a better bus.

I didn't see Bloomberg's bus at yesterday's bus tour stop in Atlanta. Later, there was a media report saying while activists made it to the event, the actual bus had "broken down."

Last Friday, the bus was reported as a no-show in Raleigh as well.

Did Bloomberg charter a crappy bus?

Can you have a bus tour without a bus?

For those wanting to see what the MIA bus looks like, Examiner.com recently ran a photo.


Update: Repairs finally done? Looks like the bus made Nashville on June 26.

Zinger!

"I don't think President Obama is here, but I'm sure he's listening in." - Mick Jagger

Crowds subside, but ammo still a big draw at gun show

Another Atlanta area gun show yields a new report from Don Dickinson, who walked the aisles last Saturday:

Gun Show Report
22 Jun 2013

Don Dickinson

This morning I went to the gun show at the North Atlanta Trade Center. This is always a big show with hundreds of vendors. I got there at 8:30 and the line less than 50 yards long. By the time the show opened at 9:00 the line was 150 yards long. This is about a 50% decline in opening line length compared to the last show I attended there on 18 May 2013. The crowd never got big enough to crowd the aisles and was about the size of crowds typical before the fall of 2008 first gun and ammo shock.

Ammunition was far and away the hottest selling item. Many of the first people in the door went directly to the Georgia Arms ammo area and some were bringing out multiple GI ammo cans of their purchases before I got into the show. Center fire ammo was readily available in case lots. I saw off brand but plenty good 9mm for 32 cents a round and .45 ACP for 42 cents a round. Rifle caliber ammo also seemed to be returning to near pre-crisis prices. There was even some .30 carbine to be had 80 cents a round.

There was still no .22LR generally available except from secondary vendors selling their personal stocks at about $60 to $75 for a brick of 500. For this ammo, I saw no improvement since the May show.

There was not a single reloading components dealer at the show. Georgia Arms had some small supplies of bullets and powder as did two private sellers but the overall availability in this category was the lowest I have ever seen at a big show. My assumption is that supply has mostly diverted to the manufacturers of factory ammo.

A new outfit was offering an ammo purchase agreement whereby if you paid about $125 up front you got the right to buy up to $3,000 worth of ammo at wholesale prices if another crisis occurs. The spokesman said they were able to do this because they had bought several big reloading machines in Utah to fulfill the expected demand. It seems to me that a better idea is to get the stocks of ammo you think you need whenever you can. A paper contract to buy ammo is not the same as ammo in the bunker.

Guns were readily available in most types and prices were at or just a few tens of dollars above pre-crisis prices. I saw a man carrying around a pristine blued Ruger Mini 14 with a flash suppressor and a sign that said $550. He told me he had been at the show for over an hour and no one had shown any interest.

ARs and their magazines were abundant and at close to pre-crisis prices. The category weapons still in short supply were highly accurate long range rifles. These have never been in large supply but clearly demand has remained above supply through the length of the crisis so far.

Gun shows are not quite back to normal yet but without another crisis, it looks like they will be there in a few more months. I am not betting on the lack of another crisis either generated by the Democrats or evil doers.

Gun maker eyes NY exit

The Pocono Record reports Kahr Arms is looking to relocate its headquarters from New York to Pike County, Pennsylvania

Bloomberg's bus bunch and the pro-Second Amendment counter presence

For all the hype, a relative handful of folks participating in and in support of the Bloomberg anti-gun No More Names bus tour turned out today outside the Georgia Capitol.

No More Names contingent outside the Georgia Capitol

However, those showing up in opposition the New York mayor's push for expanded firearm background checks appeared to outnumber the bus supporters. And many in the Second Amendment crowd came politely packing.

Ms. Magazine drops anti-gun series

Last week, I posted about one of the dumbest things I've seen in print in a long time; the column in Ms Magazine where an anti-gun zealot said she bought a gun she knew nothing about, and claimed she was going to tote it around for a month to see what happens.

Now the New York Times notes that Ms Magazine will not publish the originally planned follow-up installments in Heidi Yewman's My Month with a Gun series.

According to the comments section under the original article, a Ms representative insists "We have not 'bowed to the altar of guns'.” Michele Kort, noted by the Times to be Yewman's editor at Ms, goes on to say the series will continue, but will move to the Huffington Post.

Bloomberg's "save the perps" bus tour?

Criminals killed by police or by civilians acting in self-defense are among the names read as victims of gun violence by the Bloomberg anti-gun bus tour, according to the Washington Examiner.

Good questions, good demonstrations

Going against the grain of anti-gun political correctness and the myth of saving lives with capacity limits on gun magazines:

As a gun owner, a husband, a father, a citizen, a cop, and a gunfight survivor, I have to ask myself a few questions.  Where does this magic number of 10 bullets, or 7 in the case of New York, come from?  What gunfight/firearms/combat expert provided that number, and what was their basis for determining that number?  What makes the gun control crowd think that limiting magazine capacity to 10 bullets will have any effect of mass shootings? What is the logical basis for that argument? If a network reporter (David Gregory) can so easily break a “high capacity” magazine ban law on national television, what makes anyone even dream that it will stop someone with evil intentions?

Read more at The Bang Switch.

The article links to this video, which gets especially interesting around the 9 minute 39 second mark:

Questions of propriety

Ace of Spaces: Are New York City tax-funded resources being used in support of Bloomberg's Mayors  Against Illegal Guns?

Update:

Buzz Feed Politics says it confirms the finding that New York city servers are holding the Mayors Against lllegal Guns website:

But Bloomberg spokesman Marc La Vorgna said mayors have the right to decide what is in the best interest of the city and therefore there’s no conflict of interest in the city hosting the group’s website. 

“Whoever is mayor of any city gets to decide what the legislative priorities are of that city on the local, state or federal level,” La Vorgna said.

When Bloomberg's No More Names bus tour, a project of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, rolls into Atlanta on Monday, keep in mind this is an endeavor seeking to lobby Georgia's U.S. senators to fall in line with the anti-gun positions of New York's mayor, and that New York City government resources are at least indirectly involved in trying to sway the positions of Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss.

You might be a terrorist if...

Outta Tennessee:

A Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation deputy director warned a group of Maury County residents that unfounded complaints about water quality could be considered an “act of terrorism.”

Toy gun march

Self-described libertarians plan a toy gun march on the nation's capitol.

I'd like to see Democrats try to complain about this one.

Even Barack Obama plays with water pistols.


White House/U.S. Government photo

A little later today

The senate's immigration push along with a new White House attempt to re-start a gun control efforts headline today's Don and Doug program.

And how come a government that refuses to put a wall along our southern border is so eager to build walls along our urban Interstate highways?

Program kicks off at 1:00 pm EDT at TalkSouthRadio.com.

Call-in number for those interested: 678-344-9926.

Direct link to the feed: Click Here (Last week's program continues in replay until this week's show goes live).

Building walls

Why is it the federal government demands "sound walls" be built along urban and  suburban Interstate highways, but the same federal government refuses to erect a wall along our southern border?

Bloomberg's bus is Atlanta bound

The anti-gun No More Names bus tour plans to roll up at the Georgia Capitol at 11:30am on Monday, June 24th.

Ed Stone has more at Examiner.com.

Here's a press release issued on behalf of the anti-gun troupe. Touts their somewhat familiar but un-clarified and unsubstantiated claim that 91 percent of Georgians support background checks.

AP's assessment of DoJ

“judge, jury and executioner”

Fantasy over fact

There's been a rush of nations to sign the UN's Arms Trade Treaty. But do those signing even know what they're signing? Heritage.org notes:

The fact that the world is eagerly signing a treaty that is not yet available in all the U.N.’s official languages says a lot about the magical thinking behind it. It doesn’t matter what the treaty says: What matters to many treaty advocates is how the treaty makes them feel. 

When feelings are substituted for rational assessment, ask yourself why. Feelings can be tricky. What produces a rush or a tingle at first can sometimes morph into a tool for tyranny.

Disclosure

“Does the FBI use drones for surveillance on US soil?”

“Yes.”

From Sen. Ted Cruz

Via Twitter:

Anyone know if President Obama intends to perform background checks on the Syrian rebels before providing them weapons?
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 18, 2013

The Gang of Eight bill handcuffs law enforcement from enforcing our immigration laws.
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 19, 2013

Obama to the Irish: Lay off that Catholic education

Yup. Catholic schools. They cause social discord, according to the prez. And Mr. Obama didn't spare protestant schools when he made his remarks in Northern Ireland.

"If towns remain divided -- if Catholics have their schools and buildings, and Protestants have theirs -- if we can’t see ourselves in one another, if fear or resentment are allowed to harden, that encourages division.  It discourages cooperation," said the president as he addressed a gathering of Northern Irish youth.

It appears the president thinks things are much better in America where most kids attend government schools where the state can control the subject and manner of indoctrination.

If Obama's so bold to snip at faith-based schools in Northern Ireland, what's it say about  his view of church-affiliated schools in America. How about home schoolers?

Will those who violate the president's view of universal government education be increasingly targeted as he and his administration (and perhaps subsequent administrations) move forward with so-called fundamental change in America?

Easy head count

Obama's Organizing for Action held a demonstration calling for more gun control in San Bernardino, California recently.

Only three people showed up.

A couple of questions regarding Syria

Why are so many officials in Washington DC eager to throw in with rebels trying to oust Syria's Assad?

And how critical is ousting Syria's Assad to Islamists seeking to reestablish a Caliphate?

One of our favorite questions

Where is all the rimfire ammo?

My friend Don did some informal calculations earlier this year.

Armed and dangerous

Additional details of the circumstances are reportedly being withheld by authorities, but in an interview with WECT TV, witnesses in Brunswick County, North Carolina describe deputies blasting away in the direction of on-coming traffic in a shooting incident at a DUI checkpoint.

Spray and pray. Seems to the new norm for many in law enforcement. Feel safer?

Now, stop for a minute and imagine if that idiot blogger at Ms. Magazine has rolled up on this roadblock and flashed her new Glock.

Way back when...

There was a time our government used to warn us about evil totalitarians that did back then what our government routinely does to us now.

"Reincarnation"

From the Woodpile Report:

Ol' Remus also notes:

If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about - Our Constitutional rights are not predicated on whether or not we are guilty of "terrorism". The law is very clear, and this is not a negotiable position.  Every American, regardless of government suspicion, has a right to privacy, and is protected from unreasonable search and seizure without probable cause.  Period... Secret courts, secret charges, secret programs targeting entire subsections of the population, were expressly forbidden by the Founding Fathers as totalitarian in nature, says Brandon Smith in this article, Why The Surveillance State Must Be Erased, at Alt-Market.

Amnesty's impact on welfare

From Ace of Spades via Breitbart:

An aide to Rubio shrugged off the possibility of millions of American workers being displaced by amnestied foreign ones. "There are American workers who, for lack of a better term, can't cut it," he said. 

So the Rubio plan for these Americans is just to put them on the dole, then? If they can't cut it working, they'll need money from somewhere, and as American citizens, they still have the right to vote themselves wages for not working, right?

Is it that the politicians advocating amnesty don't think two steps ahead. Or do they just assume we're too simple minded to do it for ourselves?

They did what?

It's being reported the Secret Service has bought a fleet of tractors, and will have people undercover as farmers as part of Obama's Northern Ireland G-8 security plan.

The whole world has to be laughing at this lunacy.

If the man's this paranoid, or if our increasingly delusional government thinks these kind of security measures are really necessary, why not just stay home?

Updating the CBS hacking investigation

The intrusions targeted CBS investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson:

“Whoever was in my work computer, the only thing I was working on were work-related things with CBS were big stories I guess during the time period in questions were I guess Benghazi and ‘Fast and Furious.’ The intruders did have access to personal information including passwords to my financial accounts and so on, but didn’t tamper with those, so they weren’t interested in stealing my identity or doing things to my finances. So people can decide on their own what they might have been trying to do in there.”

Dangerous dogs - and government's response

Residents in North St. Louis County, Missouri say dangerous dogs running wild made it unsafe to jog or walk in their neighborhoods. KMOX reports:

At a town hall meeting Thursday evening, County Animal Control recommended people go out walking with an umbrella, a cane, or a stick.

Heaven knows, county officials would not dare mention a concealed handgun.

If set upon by a pair (or a pack) of pit bulls, I'd hate to think saving my life or limbs depended on an umbrella.

Spotlight on progressive idiocy

Among anti-gun progressives, the dumbest of the dumb seemingly enjoy spotlighting their ignorance.

Take this woman at Ms. Magazine, a self-professed board member of the anti-gun Brady Campaign:

I needed help. I drove to where a police officer had pulled over another driver. Now, writing this, I realize that rolling up on an on-duty cop with a handgun in tow might not have been fully thought through. 

I told him I just bought a gun, had no clue how to use it. I asked him to make sure there were no bullets in the magazine or chamber. He took the magazine out and cleared the chamber. He assured me it was empty and showed me how to look. Then he told me how great the gun was and how he had one just like it. 

The cop thought I was an idiot and suggested I take a class. But up to that point I’d done nothing wrong, nothing illegal.

Sheesh. You couldn't make this stuff up.

If this woman really wanted a gun, and had any sense, her first move would have been a safe handling course, then some range time with a qualified instructor. Once she's handled several types of handguns, choosing one for purchase might be a logical next step.

The writer's trying to mock gun owners and gun ownership. But she's only making herself out to be fool. And a dangerous one.

Stupid is as stupid does. You've just had a candid glimpse into the progressive mindset.

Troubles continue for West Virginia student

Do police really have the power to quell speech?

It appears that talking while wearing an NRA t-shirt in the presence of a cop can mean jail time in West Virginia.

Looks to me like the power hungry state doesn't like to be embarrassed. And seeks exact revenge on those who dare reveal its nature.

Wanna have some fun?

There's a stealthy anti-gun bus tour making its way around the country.

Get on its email list. Maybe even stop by and say hi when it's in your town.

"Happy Father's Day, Patriot:

"I Hope You’re Raising Your Kids to be Righteously Rebellious"

Dems back with another gun control push

CBS DC reports:

“The bill that passes the Senate must include background checks and not a watered-down version of background checks,” Reid said. “We’re not going to let the forces of an extreme minority water down and damage the contents” of the legislation.

Also reported: Joe Biden will hold a gun control event at the White House Tuesday, but details haven't been announced.

Middle East tensions rise after Obama's Syrian move

From Al Arabiya:

King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia cut his holiday in Morocco short and returned to Jeddah on Friday “due to the repercussions of the events that are currently taking place in the region,” the state news agency SPA reported. 

These events are understood to include the American decision to provide military support for the Syrian opposition.

Saudi Arabia has long advocated arming Syrian rebels. Is Obama's decision to do so another bow to the Saudi king?

Most qualified?

Obama nominee for deputy director at CIA has no CIA experience, but does have a resume of reading erotic fiction aloud. 

An Astroturf bus tour?

A Bloomberg-backed gun control bus tour appears intentionally designed so only its information gatekeepers know where it's going. David Codrea notes the stealthy scheduling at Examiner.com:

What this looks like is calculated willing media exploitation -- get the bus tour on the local news, get a lot of exposure from friendly “Authorized Journalists” on friendly turf to create the impression of widespread grassroots support -- and then move on, doing it in a way to minimize the chances of the opposition having time to mount an effective counter-protest.

The suspected tactic reminds met of a pre-packaged immigration rally Al Sharpton had in downtown Atlanta a couple years back. Buses reportedly pulled up, demonstrators unloaded and staged for the waiting media. A short time later, folks loaded back up and moved on.

Another reason gold beats paper

It's termite proof.

A blistering assessment

Via Twitter:

 

thegunwire®‏@thegunwire

LIKE HERPES, THEY KEEP COMING BACK: Democrats Quietly Renew Push for Gun Measures. http://thegunwire.tw/12LLxwr 

•  Reply 
•  Retweet 
•  Favorite 

2:41 PM - 14 Jun 13

Today's "Don and Doug":

It's June 14th. Flag Day 2013.

We're back with a live program at 1:00 pm ET today.

With so many scandals and other issues afoot, we'll try to sort out which are most important, and which may be little more more than distractions.

It's also been nearly six months since Democrats launched a gun control push that ignited a modern day powder alarm among American gun owners. We'll update where we see things as standing on at the six month mark.

Don and Doug can be found at TalkSouthRadio.com. Or you can listen direct by clicking here.

Show runs from 1:00 to 3:00 pm Eastern.  I'll post a link to the On Demand player for start-to-finish playback when the show's over.

Update: June 14th program available here from start to finish.

Ted Cruz is getting noticed

If Ted Cruz didn't scare progressives, the Left wouldn't be piling on in the most ugly ways possible.

Schumer wants to revive gun control push, disses Bloomberg ads

The rift between anti-gun Democrats and the Mike Bloomberg may be widening.

Bloomberg, and his Mayors Against Illegal Guns group, has begun targeting Democrats in the senate who voted against wider firearm transfer background checks earlier this year.

Now it appears Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), one of the senate's most prolific gun control advocates, is taking shots at Bloomberg tactics. Schumer's been talking to TIME:

Frankly, I don’t think Bloomberg’s ads are effective,” Schumer told TIME. “The mayor of New York City putting ads against people in red states is not going to be effective.” Schumer said he’s glad the mayor is running the campaign and emerging as a counterweight to the NRA. But he would do the ads a little differently. One senator, he says, privately confided that constituents shrugged off the spot because an accent revealed the speaker to be an actor.

I assume Schumer's referring to the the Bloomberg ad with a guy holding a shotgun on the back of a pick-up truck. Last I heard, the identity of the guy in the ad was still a closely guarded secret of the Bloomberg organisation.

Schumer shares with TIME an ad script he believes would be more effective. One where a fictional NRA member looks at the camera and says, "That background check ain’t gonna affect me."

Problem is, Schumer knows the background check bill he wants will impact gun ownership and transfers in ways he wouldn't dare acknowledge.  Schumer has nerve. He blasts Bloomberg for ads he says aren't effective. Then he proposes replacing them with ads he knows are even more deceptive and misleading. And that use another phony gun owner to make the pitch.

Rings hollow

FBI Director Robert Mueller tries to shore up support for domestic spying problems by claiming 9/11 might have been prevented as similar programs been in place then.

Really?

Even with the spying programs, Mueller's FBI didn't prevent the Boston Marathon bombings even with Russia trying to tip off the agency about the key perpetrator.

Mueller can go ahead and say snooping might have prevented 9/11. I could say the same thing about arming pilots.

Why this is not the time for immigration reform

We now have a government that a large and growing percentage of Americans no longer trust.

The health care disaster called Obamacare, domestic spying, dishonest attempts to diminish the Second Amendment, the EPA's push to prematurely shut down large numbers of power plants, an IRS political hit-machine, and numerous other varied actions or disclosures over the past few years have taken a heavy toll.

The people feel vulnerable at the hands of a government that has chronic problems with passing flawed laws, and has bureaucratic agencies more aligned with special interests than the general welfare. We have a government that seems to act increasingly comfortable with disregarding the views of the citizens and the Constitutional protections that are supposed to be in place to protect us.

This is the wrong time to push another disaster in the making focused on so-called immigration reform.

What we need is a government that enforces our borders, and protects our Constitution. Not one that looks for excuses to find more people to overburden our already out of control entitlement and social service rolls. Large numbers of immigrants who now come here no longer come to help build the American nation, but who now come to milk the American social welfare system. Government intentionally compounds the abuse by actively recruiting more immigrants into programs like SNAP.

We don't have jobs or entitlement resources for the people LEGALLY here now.

Washington needs to quit pushing ambiguous fundamental transformation and lay off the central planning.  Rather than new legislation, government needs to restore the trust of the American people. The record of the Congress  in recent years is clear. Based on the outcomes of other major bills, the immigration reforms Congress now seeks to enact will leave the nation worse off should they pass.

The big stuff is just too hard to handle

"Most multicultural urban utopias are sliding downhill under a new generation of technocrats who can juggle the numbers and focus on what really matters. Salt in food. Bike shares. Toy gun buybacks. Plastic bag bans. Composting. Obesity programs. Diversity programs. Bullying programs. And forty other mostly irrelevant things." - Daniel Greenfield at Sultan Knish

Ammo buying continues

Stopped by a Bass Pro store at last night just to see what was on the ammo shelves.

Pistol ammo stock was more depleted than I'd ever seen it. Shelves were nearly bare except for:

• Two boxes of .38 Colt Short
• One box of .45 ACP
• Four boxes of .44 Magnum
• A few boxes of .454 Catsull

Rifle ammo was more plentiful and varied but there were still some gaps. Shotgun ammo appears to have nearly caught up with demand with only a few open spots amid mostly plentiful inventory on the shotgun aisle.

It's been nearly six months since Democrats began their gun control push that ignited unprecedented civilian ammo buying and stockpiling across the U.S. And demand continues to outstrip supply.

Granny's got a gun. And she used it.

When seconds count, police are only minutes away. Be prepared to defend yourself, if necessary, before they arrive.

The Washington Times notes:

A Southern California grandmother took a shot at a home intruder with her .357-magnum Smith & Wesson, saving her 85-year-old, wheelchair-bound, World War II veteran husband. 

I'm thinking Mrs. Cooper probably didn't have full power .357 magnum rounds in her revolver. Most .357s, are easier to handle (especially for elderly hands) if loaded with a light grain, standard velocity .38 Special cartridge.

Then again, maybe Mrs. Cooper doesn't mind the recoil of full power .357 load.

Either way, what she had got the job done.

A little rebellion

At Investors Business Daily, the editors there express a belief  Edward Snowden is a traitor for outing secret NSA spying programs.

But in reality, Snowden's actions, based on what we know at this point, might be more accurately described as what Thomas Jefferson described as "a little rebellion":

"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical." Jefferson went on to say, "It is a medecine [sic] necessary for the sound health of government."

Investors Business Daily is critical of Snowden, saying his actions went against legally enacted law. So too were American colonists in violation of properly enacted law when they rebelled against a tea tax.

It is the nature of government to overstep its bounds if allowed to continue on its own path unchecked. For government to remain good in the long run, people of integrity must step forward from time to time in the spirit of Jeffersonian rebellion.

Boehner throws in with Obama

I see House Speaker John Boehner has called whistleblower Edward Snowden a traitor.

I also see Mr. Boehner's assessment has bombed with conservatives and libertarians in social media.

Could be, we've finally reached a place where people are seeing beyond the Dem versus GOP staged theater out of DC that always seems to drag the country at least a little to the left.

People appear to finally be figuring out the struggle at hand is more about a rising totalitarian DC versus the rest of us.

DNA roadblocks

Government agents randomly collecting people's DNA at roadside checkpoints.

Officials say they were voluntary collections.

Does it make you feel safer?

Thanks to NSA revelations...

Others are starting to understand why gun owners have been on edge.

Maryland fails to conduct timely background checks

One of the states that thought it smart to put a bunch of new gun restrictions in place might have been better off just beefing up resources to conduct background checks.

As it stands now, some guns are being sold and are being handed over to the buyers before Maryland gets around to doing the checks. And it's completely legal.

The Baltimore Sun notes:

An unprecedented surge of applications to purchase guns has overwhelmed Maryland's system for checking out the buyers. Dealers are required to wait seven days before releasing a firearm — which in the past has been enough time for the state police to complete the background check. 

Lately, though, it's taken two months or more. Citing state law, some dealers have stopped waiting.

How come gun friendly states don't seem to have these problems?

Are states like Maryland incompetent? Or do they deliberately under staff and ration resources, causing delays as an excuse to run to the feds for more intervention?


Related: Maryland sheriff says state's new gun law violates Second Amendment

Ammo shortage spreads

"Now suppliers in Australia and New Zealand are starting to rumble about the difficulties of finding ammunition and ammo components."

We're apparently gobbling up all the production here at home, leaving little to export.

Slip slidin' away

"Obama, Holder and their bizarre, halfwit cohorts have sailed so far from sight of shore even their cheerleaders have turned against them." - Ol' Remus at the Woodpile Report

The Guardian and its source

The Guardian and its source(s) should be commended for its stories. It is sorely a shame that U.S. media has decayed and seemingly been corrupted to such an extent that this sort of ground breaking journalism about the U.S government had to come from overseas. The Washington Post has come on hard hitting on these same issues, but would it have had the timing and tone it did had the Guardian not delivered a first blow?


Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations

More agenda-driven government abuse

From the Daily Caller:

In April, the EPA admitted to leaking farmers and ranchers’ personal data to environmentalists, and has since redacted some of the sensitive records and asked environmental groups to return the released documents to the agency.

Leno on Obama:

"How ironic is that? We wanted a president that listens to all Americans - now we have one."



With a transcript at Newsbusters.

Are you awake? Are you engaged?

"It is distressing to see an enemy advancing into a country, but it is the only place in which we can beat them, and in which we have always beaten them, whenever they made the attempt. The nearer any disease approaches to a crisis, the nearer it is to a cure. Danger and deliverance make their advances together, and it is only the last push, in which one or the other takes the lead." - Thomas Paine, September 1777

Time to revisit this

Remember Maxine Waters bragging on Obama's database?

One with "information on everything, on every individual in ways that it's never been before."

All collected for the benefit of the Democratic Party, Waters said.



Maxine Waters sounded like an old fool prone to exaggeration when she said this last February.

Now? Still a fool, but maybe more truth in what she said than most realized.

By design

"It’s no mistake that his czars and other appointments are a rag-tag assortment of dirty dealers, traitors, commies, anti-Semites, radicals, and fascist zealots.  Those people didn’t just materialize around him; remember, he sought out this type of person all the way back in college.  That never ended, as we can see all too clearly." - Fuzzy Slippers on Obama and his team

Obama thwarts debate

Obama appears to be rapidly losing support in the media.

Take The Atlantic, for instance:

President Obama kept the data collection in question a highly classified state secret. If it were up to the White House, we wouldn't know of the program's existence, ever. As a consequence, there would have been no debate about its appropriateness. If Obama values debate, he doesn't value it as much as keeping secrets that inevitably make debate impossible. Senators like Ron Wyden plead for an open debate. Obama thwarted them. The president's fans claim that he speaks to Americans like we're adults. Here his White House is treating us like gullible children.

Staples has a change of heart

The policy that excluded firearms related businesses from Staples' promotional contests is no more. It said so on Facebook:

David Codrea at Examiner.com sees the revision as reflecting how shallow much of the support for anti-gun efforts really is.

Coup d'Etat

Rush Limbaugh reflects on the latest revelations about the government's data grab, including data gleaned from everyday communications by average citizens like you and me:

It made me once again understand, folks, what you and I are up against here. There are just way too many people -- and I'm talking about on our side -- who do not want to admit what we face, who do not want to engage or admit or whatever what we really face here. It matters. This kind of stuff matters because of who the people doing it happen to be.

Limbaugh continues:

Herbert Meyer, if I may quote him again, asserted that essentially what's taking place in the United States right now is a coup, not a violent coup, and not a million artistic coup, but nevertheless a takeover of a government, and it's being done by the Obama administration.

It does amaze me how so many people are just coming to this realization. And how many more remain in denial.  Obama told us his goal before he was elected in 2008.  He told us he would fundamentally transform the United States of America.

Obama also said he'd use a giant Homeland Security apparatus to meet and protect his national security objectives, though he never did make clear what those objectives would be. We now know they include scooping up every type of digital record created by folks like you and me.

False flag

Looks like the ricin letters to Obama and Bloomberg and Mayors Against Illegal Guns weren't what they appeared to be.

No "gun nut" arrested in connection with the case.

Just a zombie actress who was apparently trying to frame her gun-lovin' hubby as the couple headed for divorce.

KTBS in Shreveport has the update.

Here's our original post from five days ago.

Really?

"Machetes recalled due to laceration hazard"

Yes, it's an actual headline.

Sign of the times

Wish I knew the backstory here.

As seen near Stone Mountain, Georgia

Credit cards too

Along with everything else, the NSA apparently has a stash-pile for your credit card transactions. At least that's what the Wall Street Journal says.

House tells Big Sis to report back on ammo purchases

From the Daily Caller:

The House of Representatives voted late Wednesday to prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from using taxpayer dollars to buy and stockpile ammunition until they provide a “comprehensive report” to Congress on its ammunition usage, purchase history and contracting practices.

Yes, data was collected under Bush

But look how it's grown under Obama:

Read more about the scope and scale of PRISM at the The Guardian.















Strikes me the NSA spying is like the TSA airport pat downs. Lots of effort wasted on non-threats, while the government refuses to target pertinent profiles.

Hate to say it...

It looks like Maddow and Olbermann (remember him?) were way out in front on the levels of NSA spying.

Of course, back then it was all about "blame Bush." Once Obama was running the show, the Left seemingly lost interest.

Collective dangers

"Nonetheless, once collectivism becomes deeply established, as now under the Bernanke-Obama model, with most of the population depending on direct money from the state and free wealth from Bernanke, it would be very difficult politically to reverse it. As Aristotle predicted, the country will be in a declining or, at best, stationary state." - Economist Noureddine Krichene, writing in the Asia Times.

h/t: Sipsey Street

No big deal

From Hope n' Change Cartoons:

Extenuating circumstances

No Don and Doug show today (June 7). But we expect to be back next week.

I'll continue to blog as usual.

"Lost all credibility"

"Mr. Obama is proving the truism that the executive branch will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it." - The Editorial Board of the New York Times


Update: Part of the original NYTimes editorial has apparently been softened.

P32 fans

Oleg Volk observes: "Keltec P32 pistol in Swiss use"

I gave the P32 a look last year. Liked what I saw.

Three billion calls per day

AP: "The government knows who you’re calling. Every day. Every call."

How can any American feel secure, knowing their government is obsessed with monitoring every aspect of their lives? How much deeper will the surveillance and control go as technology advances?

We're rapidly approaching the age of the digital gulag. Perhaps we're there already.

Totalitarians on the march

The New York Senate has voted to make it felony to "annoy" a police officer.

I kid you not.

The New York State Senate (June 5) passed a bill that creates the crime of aggravated harassment of a police or peace officer. The bill  (S.2402), sponsored by Senator Joe Griffo (R-C-I, Rome) would make it a felony to harass, annoy, or threaten a police officer while on duty.

The proposed law is written as to require actual physical contact. But "annoy" is a dangerously broad term.

The law also presupposes a cop can know the intent of a person in such contact. Seems to me, an accidental brush or bumps in a crowd could result in felony charges. All depends on a cop's tolerance for being annoyed.

More domestic spying

Attention Verizon customers: Obama's got your data.

From The Guardian:

NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily 

Exclusive: Top secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over all call data shows scale of domestic surveillance under Obama

Why did it take British media to break the story?

Sen. Cruz on the IRS

The senator from Texas is using social media to carry his message.

From Twitter:

It's time to #AbolishtheIRS. RT if you're with me! twitter.com/SenTedCruz/sta…

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 5, 2013

Are big government's days numbered?

Greg Gutfield writes at Breitbart:

The IRS scandal, if perceived correctly, spells the end of big government.

Because a group of average Americans mobilized as something delightfully known as the Tea Party, and made their voices heard for the first time, they were targeted. It’s not about the IRS solely, but an administration that used the IRS as its enforcement arm against speech it found disagreeable. 

They used the government to silence opposition. The IRS was their national muscle, used locally, to scare the crap out of you. They’re so powerful, they don’t even need to break your kneecaps. They just break your soul.

And it used to work--but not so much anymore.  I’m thinking (which I do now and again) that if everyone now does what those brave folks did when Obamacare first reared its ugly head, what exactly can the government do now?

I still feel discomfort that it took the Tea Parties (and others) so long to collectively out the abuse, though I do understand many were novices in dealing with the IRS. But why did people who were willing to pack town halls or march on Washington in opposition to Obamacare suffer in silence during IRS inquisitions?

Had we seen the big picture of the abuse last year or the year before, the dynamics of the 2012 election cycle might have shifted considerably. Still, I'm delighted to see the truth finally coming out, and hope this lesson about the nature of big government sticks.

Bias in action

“I can only conclude that many reporters are willfully biased by mainly reporting stories associated with illegal or inappropriate firearms usage only, which results in a negative portrayal of both the Second Amendment, and any American citizens that choose to exercise that right, even if in a responsible manner.” -  Dick Heller, speaking at the National Press Club

At times I wonder if today's media reporting on guns could be compared to those to prosecuted witches in Salem in 1692. Ignorance and superstition fuel prejudice and intolerance.

Shadowy practices

Alias emails are now being outed as standard ops by Obama administration officials.

Noted on Twitter:

Sunstein was suggesting that administration employees blog support for administration under pseudonyms. They ARE Alinsky.
— David Limbaugh (@DavidLimbaugh) June 5, 2013

Double standard

The Washington Free Beacon picks up on a CNN report:

The IRS spent over 4 million taxpayer dollars on a conference in 2010, CNN reported Tuesday evening. The actual amount wasted is unknown because the IRS was not required to keep its receipts, something that they require taxpayers to do.

Israeli defense secrets betrayed

McClatchy reports:

Israel’s military fumed Monday over the discovery that the U.S. government had revealed details of a top-secret Israeli military installation in published bid requests.

Two stories from Bloomberg's Utopia

A 10-year-old boy in Brooklyn exchanges gunfire with home invaders, causing them to flee. NBC New York reports:

When one of the suspects pointed a gun through a doorway, someone slammed the door on the suspect's arm, causing him to drop the gun.  

The boy picked up the gun and fired a shot, but did not hit anyone. The other suspect also fired a shot, according to police, which also did not strike anyone.  

And, gosh darn, is NYC becoming another Chicago?  

Twenty-six people were shot in 22 shootings during the 72-hour period beginning Friday, police said 

Triggering economic impact

An employer in Maryland may take new jobs somewhere else down the road. State of Guns notes:

With no definite plans for the future announced, representatives of the company said that the current Beretta facility will not be relocated, writes Baltimore Sun. On the other hand, the Sun also reports the company is considering alternate locations for three planned expansion operations.

Question is, is Beretta blustering? The company apparently leaves lots of room to back down in its policy statement.

Should it even consider staying in Maryland, a state that's joined those with a highly restrictive firearms laws? 

"John Adams knew facts are stubborn things..."

Karen Kenney of California testifies before Congress about political targeting by the IRS:



Update: One more quick video - with a couple of other speaker highlights:

If TEOTWAWKI comes...

Ol' Remus offers some points to ponder ahead of time:

In a post-collapse scenario, what would you do if mob of violent foragers came your way? Would you and your survival group stand your ground? Would you join with other survivalist groups to face the threat? If you did, what if your combined gardens, live stock and supplies were raided not by roaming looters but by desperate people who themselves had been looted, would you oppose them with force or accept them into your community? What if your combined resources were "requisitioned" by a nearby town for The Greater Good, meaning people who are no worse off than you? What if your firearms and ammunition were also to be 'redistributed'? What if they intend to draft some of your people for labor gangs or to man their defenses? Where do you draw the line? 

History has seen a lot of this and it doesn't end well.

He continues with some of the history at this week's Woodpile Report.

Change of heart?

Journalism Prof Chris Swindell seems to have backed away from his recent anti-NRA rant:

CNS News quotes Swindell:

I ask those people, most of whom are shocked, to forgive my position. I have recently learned from many decent commenters that American freedom is best served with an armed populace, unlike, say Mexico, where guns are banned. I never did like it when people messed up and didn't apologize. I don't want to be that person.

Scavenger nation: An update

I put a rusted out barbecue grill on the curb last night in advance of today's trash collection.

We left the house for about an hour and a half. The grill was gone by our return.

A couple of unfamiliar cars made sweeps through the cul-de-sac later in the evening apparently in search of scrap metal or other salvageable goods. I've seen two more make sweeps this morning.

It's a long running trend I've noted before.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Scavenger nation

I put some stuff on the curb this evening in advance of Monday trash pick-up. A couple of old vacuum cleaners disappeared between my leaving them there and my next trip down with more stuff.

As night fell, I put out some old, inoperable florescent light fixtures, along with a couple of non-working space heaters and some old power tools. Even as I was putting them on the curb, a car stopped and backed up.

A woman got out. Said she'd seen the stuff by the road when she drove her son to Bible study, and she made a point to swing back by. I helped her load the back of her SUV. Every little bit helps these days, she said.

I've seen suburban moms cruise for curbside castoffs before. Old guys in pick-up trucks too. Some trash day mornings, I keep watch and keep count how many cars or trucks make a pass though my neighborhood looking for something to salvage. At least two, sometimes four vehicles make the rounds most collection days.

If you'd told me five years ago that curbside scavenging would become such a common occurrence, I'd have had a hard time believing you.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

It's trash day

So far this morning, at least one pickup and two minivans have cruised through my neighborhood looking for curbside treasure.

One grabbed the old microwave my neighbor threw out.

Another scavenged the metal components of an old crib discarded up the street.

Government wants us to believe economic recovery is around the corner. As long as I see moms in minivans rooting through trash, I know it's not here.

Immigration bill threatens gun rights

From Gun Owners of America:

We had just been through a hard fight to stop gun bans and registration.  And some of you may have even felt the immigration amnesty was not a “gun” issue.

But if the amnesty bill is passed, within 20 years, Washington could be as anti-gun as Albany, Hartford, and Sacramento.

This is because the bill will create at least 11,500,000 new citizens -- but probably closer to 20,000,000 -- and, if history is any guide, they will vote 71% of the time for far Left Democrats like Barack Obama.

Impartial analysts have determined that Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and probably Arizona will never vote for Republicans again. Given this, for the rest of your life, the White House will be occupied by someone who is just as anti-gun and just as liberal as Barack Obama.

Did O just blink?

Obama puts off signing the UN Arms Trade Treaty.

Updating an old Spike Jones song

C'mon. Time to celebrate our fundamental transformation!

Sing along!

When Obama says he's gonna change this place,
We smile, smile right in Obama's face
Not to love Obama is a race disgrace
So we smile, and heil right in Obama's face  

When Jay Carney swears no scandal in this place,
We smile, smile right in Jay Carney's face

When E-Holder says hey'll never lose his place
We smile, heil right in E - Holders face

Are we not the Democrats? Pure progressive Democrats!
Yes, we are the Democrats (super duper Democrats)! 

Is this Forward! land so good?
Would you leave it if you could?
Ja this Forward! land is good
We would leave it if we could!  

We bring the world to order
Fundamental change new order
Everyone of foreign race
Gets amnesty in this place
When we bring to the world dis order... 

For those not old enough to remember the original... It's on YouTube.