Re-engineering your mind

In case you didn't know it, the government is waging war on your free will.

The federal government is hiring what it calls a "Behavioral Insights Team" that will look for ways to subtly influence people's behavior, according to a document describing the program obtained by FoxNews.com.

Melting guns in California

Five-thousand guns that came into government possession through various buyback programs were melted down and turned into rebar this week, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Many of the guns were probably junkers. But a photo accompanying the story shows a pile of guns including at least one M-1 Carbine, an AR, and maybe a stock World War II type Mauser.

I've seen post-war knock-off M-1 Carbines like the Iver Johnsons selling for $400 to $500 at gun stores and shows. If the carbine in the photo is military surplus, someone may have traded a gun worth around a thousand bucks for, at most, a two hundred dollar gift card. An AR is also worth anywhere from six hundred to over a thousand bucks in the used market.

Turning in a gun at a buyback may have given some sheeple sellers a warm fuzzy for doing what they thought was the right thing. But many of them could have sold their guns to licensed dealer for a lot more than a grocery gift card. On the other hand, getting gift cards from cops is an easy way for thieves to fence a stolen guns. Government sanctioned buybacks are usually done no-questions-asked.

Another glimpse of reality

Oligarchs and Fascists love big business, but loathe those too small to play into their centrally planned schemes.

Now note Obama's tax plan: Top corporate tax rate, 28 percent; small biz capped at 40 percent.

The Army goes ammo shopping

Looks like the U.S. Army plans to do some shooting with AKs and Makarov pistols.

From the GSA's FedBizOpps website:

The U. S. Army Contracting Command - New Jersey, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, in support of PD Non-Standard Ammunition (PD-NSA), intends to issue a solicitation to all existing Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) holders for Acquisition of Non Standard Ammuntion, Ammunition Related Items & Mortar Weapon Systems to procure the following: 

1. 2,000,000 each 7.62x39mm Ball, delivered to Camp Stanley in Boerne, TX  

2. 550,000 each 7.62x39mm Ball, delivered to Blue Grass Army Depot 

3. 575,000 each 7.62x39mm Blank, delivered to Blue Grass Army Depot 

4. 425,000 each 9x18mm Ball, delivered to Blue Grass Army Depot  

Please note that only contractors that have received previously established Basic Ordering Agreements (BOAs) under W15QKN-12-X-C004 will be issued a solicitation. If you believe you are capable of supplying the abovementioned Non-Standard Ammunition (NSA), please respond to the Government's open and continuous sources sought notice, W15QKN-12-X-C008 and follow the detailed instructions. Responses to the sources sought notice will be assessed to determine the contractor's capabilities, and if determined capable, the contractor will be awarded a BOA. 

I suppose it's possible the army just wants to give soldiers a chance to cross-train with arms found in hostile territories.  Maybe.

After the invasion of Iraq, there were reports of U.S. soldiers making use of captured AKs.

Union fantasy

Looks like SEIU has convinced some gullible, uneducated fast food workers it's in their best interests to strike. Though it appears the strike plan is only in a handful of cities where the collectivist, socialist mindset is strongest.

Yup. Detroit's on the list of targeted cities. Should tell you plenty about the intellectual capabilities of this strike's participants as well as organizers.

Lost capability - as assessed in short and longer terms

Concerning the status of America's space program, or lack of one, Daniel Greenfield writes at Front Page Magazine:

It would have cost $11 billion to keep the Space Shuttle flying until 2015. And that extension would have kept the talent and resources of America’s space program together. Instead it went elsewhere, to Pakistan, to Egypt, to the United Nations and to green energy programs for the Sultan of Brunei. 

“The U.S. for the first time since the beginning of the Space Age will have no way to launch anyone into space,” John Glenn wrote. 

The space program is grounded, Muslim self-esteem is flying high and American self-esteem is low.

Of course, the demise of American's manned space program can't be laid solely at the feet of Obama. At the time of their retirement, America's space shuttles were well past the number of years they were originally intended to stay in service. On the other hand, they never achieved the frequency of flight promised when they were designed in the 1970s. And the fleet suffered two catastrophic failures resulting in the loss of craft and crew.

If I recall, when the space shuttles first came on line, it was projected they would be replaced by a second generation shuttle sometime in the 1990s. No second generation ever came into being.

Tickling ears

It's almost like the Obamas and their team deliberately push the envelope to see how much they can get away with in testing the loyalty of the American sheeple who elected them.

American oligarchy

"The rules of membership in the DC oligarchy explain the behavior of politicians like Paul Ryan or Marco Rubio, who seem to have disappointed the many conservatives who thought that they were reliable supporters of the conservative cause. Ryan and Rubio are rising oligarchs; a review of their careers reveals both of them to be party men who have spent virtually their entire professional lives in the halls of government." - William J. Meisler, writing at American Thinker

Colorado's sloppy gun law

Colorado's more restrictive background check gun law was written, passed and applauded by the Left.

Now it's reported the law is getting in the way of Lefty anti-gun groups that want to hold gun buy-backs.

No one should be surprised. Stuff like this should be expected when lawmakers emphasize emotion over reason, and rush to pass legislation without fully weighing the consequences.

Has America's "gun fever" finally broken?

According to a report at MSN Money, the management at Cabela's seems to think so.

"The gun business is settling to what I would probably assume to be a new normal, which is elevated above history but not at the fever level that we saw recently, and that’s a good thing," Cabela's chief executive Tommy Millner said in a conference call on Thursday.

Anti-missile blimps for Washington DC

This story just strikes me as odd... Are the Washington elites growing increasingly paranoid?

From National Journal:

Within a year, a pair of souped-up $2.7 billion blimps (price includes R&D) will be floated 10,000 feet above the District of Columbia and act as a 340-mile-wide eye in the sky, detecting incoming missiles and the like.  

The design and testing phase for JLENS—the (deep breath) Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, produced by Raytheon, a major weapons manufacturer—is over, relays Program Director Doug Burgess to Popular Mechanics. Now, it is time for implementation.

How come just DC gets the blimp-based shield? If there's a threat, is the seat of government the only place deemed worthy of this extra layer of enemy detection?

Who can get close enough to lob a cruise missile at the Washington DC that traditional detection wouldn't pick up? It's not like cruise missiles are intercontinental... nor are they easily improvised.

Are we talking cruise missiles launched by submarines (the Russians have been more aggressive in east coast patrols in recent years), or are we talking something launched from a improvised merchant ship platform?

Who are the presumed potential cruise missile attackers? Other nations? Terrorists? Rogue U.S. troops attempting a coup?

If it's the Ruskies' new subs that helped justify these new defenses, is this really the time for a president to prioritize reduction in our nuclear capability?

I'd love to have more data points here. The information presented in the root article leaves me with more questions than answers. But my curiosity has been aroused.

CMP remains backlogged on .22 caliber ammo orders

I got an email from the Civilian Marksmanship Program today. It included a note on .22 LR back orders:

AGUILA .22 CAL AMMO. This week we received an unexpected 300 cases of Aguila 419ASVGE and 400 cases of Aguila 419ASVSE. Oldest orders for these two items will be processed next week. This will still leave 5,460 open orders for the standard velocity 419ASVSE and 309 orders for Golden Eagle 419ASVGE. The next shipment is expected in October 2013.

Whether at gun shows, online or at retail stores, .22 caliber ammo remains among the most elusive.

If you plan to give someone a .22 rifle (or pistol) for Christmas, you might want to start scouting now for some ammo to go with it.

Libertarianism is "dangerous"

“This strain of libertarianism that’s going through parties right now and making big headlines I think is a very dangerous thought,” says New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, as he rushes to defend big government surveillance programs that have the ability to pry into each and every one of our lives.

What would the Founders say of man who utters such things?

About those Chicago military exercises

Maybe this week's military training exercises only got scant play in mainstream media, but before wrapping up yesterday, they caught the attention of people on the ground in Chicago - and elsewhere - who posted on social media.

From Twitter:

Blackhawk helicopters flying over my condo in the loop and all news stations are covering the royal birth - what's up? #helicopters #chicago
— Heather Stammen (@HeatherStammen) July 23, 2013

Seeing unmarked helicopters around town? No worries — they're just for military training http://t.co/V8lqvoGjRN
— DNAinfo.com Chicago (@DNAinfoCHI) July 24, 2013

More "battlespace preparation" by the emerging tyranny.... http://t.co/82B0g95yu8
— Matthew Bracken (@MattBracken48) July 24, 2013

Similar military exercises were reportedly conducted in Chicago last year.

Whether in Los Angeles, Miami or Chicago, these exercise are always described in the media as urban training intended to give American fighting forces an advantage when deployed on overseas ops. But how often do military pilots need to buzz America's major cities to be proficient overseas? How many cities the size of Chicago does the military anticipate sweeping into for something other than training?

In an era of tight military budgets when the branches are being told to save every round possible, seems to me these flashy urban displays are a huge waste of money. Or, as Matt Bracken suggests, is there more to these exercises than we're being told?

Privacy is dead

The government appears in full gallop as it moves to expand control and monitor every aspect of our lives.

The U.S. government has demanded that major Internet companies divulge users' stored passwords, according to two industry sources familiar with these orders, which represent an escalation in surveillance techniques that has not previously been disclosed.

CNET goes on to note that, with access to your passwords, there's potential for government to go as far as to impersonate you online.

Commie propaganda, American style

The Communist Party ratchets up its class war rhetoric. Of course, it blames others for our national divide:

The tea party depends on the 99% being divided. They attempt to create divisions between the labor movement, racially and nationally oppressed, women and youth. They depend on fear and confusion.

As I noted yesterday, it's not the Tea Party or conservative candidates that actively seek to segment various constituencies. Barack Obama's 2012 campaign website was specifically designed to segment communities into voting blocks - and included separate gateways for African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and others.

Anti-gun cyber-ops?

The Buckeye Firearms Association, a gun rights group in Ohio, has been hit with a denial of service attack. 

Squirt gun trivia

Did you know squirt guns predate the American Civil War?

William Tecumseh Sherman, who would later rise to the rank of general, invoked the novelty as the war was revving up:

Having long proclaimed that the Union was “sitting on a volcano,” Sherman found the size of Lincoln's estimated military dangerously deficient, saying “Why, you might as well attempt to put out the flames of a burning building with a squirt-gun.”

Ammo maker shifts production practices

Mike Vanderboegh at Sipsey Street notes Hornady is suspending production of some bullet and cartridge types. The company no longer has an off season to produce so-called specialty rounds.

Of course the goal is to increase overall production. But it's bad news for reloaders, or for those who shoot stuff that's not a high demand round.

Obama's boasts and other familiar themes

The president was out today, once again trying to put the best spin possible on his failed policies. Speaking at Knox College, Mr. Obama bragged on job creation:

So you add it all up, and over the past 40 months, our businesses have created 7.2 million new jobs.  This year, we’re off to our strongest private sector job growth since 1999. 

Gotta ask: How many of those new jobs are the result of chopping a former full-time position into two or more part-time ones?

Mr. Obama also took time to invoke class envy themes so familiar during last year's campaign.

Social tensions will rise, as various groups fight to hold on to what they have, or start blaming somebody else for why their position isn’t improving.  And the fundamental optimism that’s always propelled us forward will give way to cynicism or nostalgia.

Was he not the candidate who engineered various group portals on his campaign website, pandering to special interests of targeted constituencies rather than build a campaign with emphasis on a national unity?

Something else he said today gave me a chuckle:

The days when the wages for a worker with a high school degree could keep pace with the earnings of somebody who got some sort of higher education -- those days are over.

You'd think a Harvard educated man like the president would know high schools have never conferred degrees, high school grads get diplomas.

More urban military training ops

This time, Chicago gets the low flying helicopters 'n such. 

According to the Chicago Trib,

U.S. military personnel are conducting training exercises in and around Chicago through Thursday, including flying military helicopters in areas around downtown at night. 

City agencies are providing support for the “routine military training exercises,” according to a release from the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

Earlier this year, similar highly visible exercises took place in Miami, followed by a mock assault on parts of Galveston, Texas.

I'd love to hear exercise planners explain what potential target cities comparable to Miami or Chicago the U.S. military wants to be ready to sweep into.

Packin' in more places

The North Carolina state legislature has approved an expanded list of places persons with permits can legally tote their arms. The Raleigh News and Observer reports:

The Republican-backed bill approved by both the House and Senate on Tuesday allows concealed-carry permit holders to take firearms into bars and restaurants and other places where alcohol is served, parades, and funeral processions as long as owners or organizers don't expressly forbid it...

The bill will also allow concealed-carry permit holders to store weapons in locked cars on the campus of any public school or university, or a state government parking lot. That measure was approved despite the opposition from the police chiefs at all 16 campus in the University of North Carolina system, who fear increased car break-ins and the potential proliferation of gun violence. 

The bill also clarifies state law to say permit holders can carry their firearms on trails, to public recreation areas and playgrounds.

The bill now goes to Gov. Pat McCrory for his signature.

Rescued family fears anti-Zimmerman backlash

Welcome to the fundamentally changed America. Where people fear publicly thanking someone for pulling them from a wrecked, overturned car.

From the UK Daily Mail:

The family rescued by George Zimmerman after a rollover crash in Florida are terrified they will become targets for hate mobs who have made death threats to the neighborhood vigilante. 

Mark and Dana Michelle Gerstle told friends they do not want to talk publicly about Zimmerman for fear they will be accused of portraying him as a hero - and face a backlash from those who consider he got away with murder. 

'They are very grateful to Zimmerman for what he did, but they do not want to get involved,' said a friend, who asked not to be named.    

Detroit frets over... Zimmerman?

Having bankrupted their city, you'd think Detroit city council has enough to worry about close to home.

Apparently not, according to the Detroit Free Press:

The Detroit City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution calling for a federal investigation to see whether civil rights charges are warranted against George Zimmerman, who was acquitted July 13 of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

Anyone have any idea how many times the Detroit City Council has sought federal investigations of self-defense shootings in their own city? It was reported last year that Detroit had a justifiable homicide rate that's 2200 percent higher than the U.S. national average.

Mayors say buh-bye Bloomberg

More than 50 members of Mike Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition have left the group. Some of the mayors are no longer in office, but BuzzFeed Politics reports others quit the group because it became something other than originally advertised:

“The original focus, I thought, was going to be on focusing on better on enforcement of our existing laws, and if anything, we have talked about not getting involved with things like banning assault weapons and banning magazine clips,” said Rockford, Il. Mayor Lawrence Morrissey, who left the group in June because, he said at a town hall meeting, the group had veered from what he originally thought it was about.

The Union Leader, a newspaper in New Hampshire, suggests MAIG change its name to something more accurate: Liberal Mayors Against the Second Amendment.

Poking fun at Detroit's bankruptcy

More than Detroit's bankruptcy takes a hit here. A satirical video by Taiwan-based NMA appears to work in a choom-smoking Obama, and a drone strafing an unwelcome messenger retreating across the White House lawn.

Obama's history with Stand Your Ground

In 2004, Illinois expanded its Stand Your Ground self defense law.

State Senator Barack Obama was a co-sponsor.

Summing things up

"The next Great Depression is happening now. As in the 'thirties, everything is getting better with the single exception of everything. The stock market as a price discovery mechanism is defunct, Detroit and three dozen or so smaller municipal bankruptcies have shown Munis are no longer credible, and the Federal Reserve has gone about as far into the marshlands as it can and found—more marshland. Now the final notice is in the mail." - Ol' Remus at the Woodpile Report

What Eric Holder doesn't tell you

The self defense doctrine of Stand Your Ground was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1921.

Leveling the field

"The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker." - Marko Kloos

Kill switch

A company says it's developed a means to remotely locate or lock a gun. 

Do you really want your firearms configured so a third party could remotely disable your means of self defense?

America's incremental shift to the left

Does Boehner plan a piecemeal surrender on immigration?

Carry-out, EBT style

The New York Post finds a mind-blowing example of public assistance tax dollars at work:

Welfare recipients are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and packing them in giant barrels for the trip overseas, The Post found. 

The practice is so common that hundreds of 45- to 55-gallon cardboard and plastic barrels line the walls of supermarkets in almost every Caribbean corner of the city.

Stand Your Ground

Stand Your Ground laws came about as the result of overzealous prosecutors and, more often, overzealous civil litigation attorneys using their discretion to put the screws to folks who dared use a gun to protect their lives or the lives of their loved ones.

If you think health care costs are high, try defending against a murder rap or a wrongful death case even when evidence is clear it was self-defense.

NBC News notes:

There are three parts to Florida's Stand Your Ground law. It states that a person is presumed to have reasonable fear of imminent death or great bodily harm when using defensive force if an intruder has broken into his or her home or vehicle and is justified in using force; it states that a person does not have a duty to retreat if he or she believes death or bodily harm is imminent; and it provides immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force. 

Suing people who shoot someone else in defense is a huge problem in America. It's damn near an industry unto itself. Even in cases where it the perpetrator of a crime is shot in the commission of a violent assault on someone, the perp's family can still sue unless there's some protection under something like a Stand Your Ground statute.

Even though the litigation is frivolous, ambulance chasing attorneys know, chances are, they can shake out some kind of settlement with a defendant who wants to make the case go away. Especially true if there's any kind of liability insurance in play.

We've seen how the Department of Justice seeks to bend the rules to appease the mob and keep hounding George Zimmerman. Seems to me, for those who believe in an individual's rights, this only enhances the argument in favor of Stand Your Ground.

Stir it up

From Hope n' Change Cartoons:

Stand your ground

The Daily Caller notes:

Black Floridians have made about a third of the state’s total “Stand Your Ground” claims in homicide cases, a rate nearly double the black percentage of Florida’s population. The majority of those claims have been successful, a success rate that exceeds that for Florida whites.

Where I am I?

Up before sunrise this morning to get my 12-year-old  to her team's softball tournament. I watched the sunrise in my rear view mirror as we headed west to the tourney location.

They won two games, and were in a scoreless tie in the middle of game three when the sky opened up.

Within minutes, the field was flooded. Streets were also flooded as we packed up and made our escape soaking wet.

Tonight, we're watching a DVD movie. And have multiple fans going in the garage and another room trying to dry out her gear, and the car where we hurriedly stashed it all in the earlier driving rain.

Tomorrow? She she wants to try out for her middle school team.

Expect light posting this weekend.

"Every time you pick up the phone"

New York's police commissioner says you should be okay with the government intercepting your every phone call. Ray Kelly's been quoted in the New York Post:

“I think the American public can accept the fact if you tell them that every time you pick up the phone, it’s going to be recorded and it goes to the government,” Kelly said. “I think the public can understand that. I see no reason why that program was placed in the secret category.

We do not belong to the government. We have a right to privacy. It's a disgrace the way nanny state types want ever more access to, and control over, our private lives.

"Too much metal"

A Marine is frisked, and even told to shed his dress uniform, by overzealous security screeners.

Where your water dollars go

Governments fret there's not enough money out there to replace or repair aging water mains. But a story on NPR this week made my ears perk up. It featured Greg DiLoreto, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

So, why don't municipalities prioritize water system upgrades?

Well, it's a combination of a variety of things. First off, as I mentioned, we're not adequately funding or investing in our water system. So the first dollar that every utility gets goes towards water quality and meeting the EPA regulations, because you want to know that you can drink water anywhere in this country, whether it's Anchorage, Alaska or Key West, Florida, and it's safe to drink. So every utility complies with the safe drinking water regulations. 

What that means is that what we have left over is what we use for water pipe replacement and repairs and maintenance. And that's where we're coming up short.

I question how much of today's EPA mandates over water quality are really necessary, and how much are overkill. And how many costly and unnecessary hurdles does the EPA put on water systems when they target expansion, improvement or replacement to keep up with existing or growing demand?

Snitchin'

From Chris Muir's Day by Day Cartoon:

While Eric Holder obsesses over George Zimmerman...

Eric Holder overlooks the rising death toll from Fast and Furious.

"Resistance is futile"

"Or so they would have you believe.  It seems as though every time the public tries to resist any governmental intrusion into their lives, they are squeezed even harder.  Little by little, encroachment by encroachment, they are conditioning us not to resist.  They are programming us to associate resistance with terrorism, and conviction with bigotry.  They are implementing a new social and political order by stripping America of its rugged individuality and replacing it with an assimilated collective." - Enola Gay, writing at Paratus Familia Blog

"Putting his cart before the hearse"

From Hope n' Change Cartoons:

More like a police state everyday

Now TSA is searching cars dropped off at airport valet parking by departing passengers - without the owner's knowledge or consent.

Invoking Trayvon in Chicago. Like they don't have problems closer to home?

So, Chicago's top cop invokes Trayvon Martin as he continues to denounce and protest the new Illinois concealed carry law.

"Why don't you ask the family of Trayvon Martin? Seriously. We're setting ourselves up for problems," Garry McCarthy said. 

The mechanics of the new law are just now being put into place. Up until now, law-abiding Chicagoans have been denied a lawful means to carry a firearm for self-defense. You might say, Chicago's been the perfect laboratory to showcase Eric Holder's touted policy of  duty to retreat.

And how's it working out? Huffington Post reports 54 people were shot dead in Chicago during the Zimmerman trial.

Has Eric Holder ever considered it's hard to retreat faster than a speeding bullet?

No conspiracy

San Fran Chronicle chimes in, citing consumer demand that's still driving ammo shortages.

Jimmy Carter on the Zimmerman verdict

Former President Jimmy Carter says the jury in the Zimmerman case made the right decision based on the evidence presented at trial. Carter says we should accept the decision.

Are we there yet?

"A Great Awakening is coming in this country: recognition by the younger generation that it has been thoroughly swindled by prior generations. That it has not happened yet can be attributed to deficiencies within our educational system; a significant portion of our youth is incapable of grasping the plain truth or puncturing political propaganda." - Robert Gore, writing at Straight Line Logic

The new America

"If being stripped of your Constitutional right to defend yourself makes you
more 'safe' according to the government - you might live in a nation that was
founded by geniuses but is run by idiots."

Still rings true, even if the line didn't come from Jeff Foxworthy.

High stakes

Bob Owens notes:

The Crump-Jackson-Martin Lynch Mob may run a high risk of losing their proverbial “bloody shirt” if they attempt to sue George Zimmerman in civil court.

If a civil suit is unsuccessful, plaintiffs could find themselves on the hook for the defendant's legal fees.

Because the financial risk of a civil suit is so great, the justice for Trayvon crowd is apparently counting on the federal government to do its bidding in keeping the Zimmerman feeding frenzy live. And, according to the Orlando Sentinel, the Department of Justice is ready to comply by facilitating a nationwide snitch campaign to dig up any excuse for a federal prosecution.

But is the DOJ campaign really an honest one? Or is it just trying to placate a core Obama constituency - and how far will it go to do so?

A probe by DOJ's FBI last year reportedly found no evidence of racist leanings or intent by George Zimmerman to violate anyone's civil rights.

Want to raise responsible children? Include firearms in their upbringing

A government statistical study once showed kids raised with guns and who'd been given guns by their parents were much less likely to do drugs or commit gun crimes.

Responsibility is something that grows with proper supervision interaction.

Years before that study was written, I was visiting my grandmother's farm as a boy of about nine or ten, and I saw a several boys walking down the dirt road with rifles over their shoulders. "You can tell those are good boys," grandma said. "Otherwise, their parents wouldn't have given them those guns."

Related: Thomas Jefferson on guns and building character

Holder's wish: More restrictions on self defense

The attorney general speaks before the NAACP, saying when a person is threatened in public, a "duty to retreat" should be the law of the land:



Maybe the audience in attendance applauded. But over on Twitter, some folks were less receptive.

Note to Holder: You can't retreat when someone is beating the sh*t out of you.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 16, 2013

Another story out of St. Louis

From: 1960s toy commercial (Matel)

At Examiner.com, Kurt Hofmann notes anti-gun zealots in St. Louis are using toy gun buybacks as part of their anti-gun psy-ops where kids can turn in their toy guns for something more politically correct.

But I gotta ask: How many kids who grew up playing with toy guns in the past became ingrained to be gun-toting criminals as a result?

I'm thinking, for a lot of kids, toy guns and the play they facilitated were a first step to understanding firearms could be used for good or evil. And many a child graduated to a BB gun and then a rifle by their teenage years, learning gun safety and responsibility along the way.

Respect

The new police chief in an Atlanta area county urges respect for firearms. And DeKalb County's Cedric Alexander seems to be standing up for responsible gun owners.

Lucky Gunner "exposed"

Paper in St. Louis digs into an online ammunition seller. Story reads like it wants to whip up suspicions, but is there anything significantly out of place? Or is this just a company that's grown by leaps and bounds because it has an Internet-based business model that works?

Disclaimer: Yes, I sometimes have Lucky Gunner ads posted on the this blog.

Obamacare is a nightmare

Same unions that pushed hard for Obamacare passage now say it's a nightmare.

Our national dysfunction

"A local dysfunction has become a national dysfunction, not because every city has become New York and Chicago, but because the people at the center of power know urban politics, community organizing and racial consciousness theories and little else. Like some Third World communist backwater, we are being governed by men and women with no understanding of anything practical, but a thorough grounding in Marxism-Leninism." - Daniel Greenfield at Sultan Knish

Is it news? Or just government manufactured propaganda?

ForeignPolicy.com reports: U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News to Americans

If the page asks for a log in, I got around it by going in through Google after a search for foreign policy propaganda ban.

Robbery victim dies, but not before...

I'd like to see the Zimmerman second-guessers try to sort this one out.

Obama just can't leave it alone

Whatever else happened, George Zimmerman received bloody injuries at the hands of Trayvon Martin before firing one shot.

So, now Barack Obama says the case should be used to rally against "gun violence"?

Is the president miffed that some folks are able to produce a gun and avoid becoming a fatality themselves?

How many people seriously think Zimmerman would have shot Martin had he not taken a beating and likely believed more was on the way?

Fundraising with Marco

Conservatives see him as a sell-out on immigration, someone who betrayed the values and viewpoints of those who supported his rise to power, but the National Republican Senate Committee seems to see Marco Rubio as its fundraising superstar.

Just another example how the Republicans in DC are out of step with the party's base. Or should I say, the party's former base?

From: NRSC

The Walmart whipping boy

The political Left appears to be ramping up its off-and-on campaign to vilify Walmart.

DC's city council recently voted to keep Walmart stores out of some of its neighborhoods.  And Democrats in Congress even commissioned a study specifically targeting Walmart to justify a hike in the national minimum wage.

But vilifying Walmart won't turn stocker or cashier jobs into career positions.

Used to be, retail jobs were reserved for kids or retirees or a spouse who wanted a little cash to supplement what the family's primary breadwinner brought home. But we've exported so many of what used to be our career jobs, so now we're laying blame because low end retail doesn't provide jobs up to the levels of our former glory.

The other problem is we're turning out huge segments of the population who are ill-challenged for any kind of employment. No one should expect a career level paycheck when they possess no career level skills.

Forty years ago, high school provided enough education to obtain gainful employment. For a variety of reasons, back in the '70s, I called it quits after one semester in college and took a full-time job. I then resumed my studies by taking courses at night, paying my own way as I progressed.

The vilification of Walmart is a distraction. It makes the Left feel good to have a whipping boy. But the problems with employment and employer provided benefits in the U.S. go much deeper. And a lot of the problems can be traced back to government regs and other kinds of tinkering.

.22 rimfire on the shelf

I stopped at an Academy Sports and Outdoors store tonight, and at the customer service desk they had 50-count boxes of .22 LR in stock for $2.19 each.

They also had some 9mm and several different brands of .45 acp in 50-count boxes.

Saturday shoppers hadn't cleaned 'em out as of 7:00pm. This is the first time I've seen standard .22 LR on a shelf since before Christmas. I take this as a sign supply may be catching up with demand.

Nancy Grace is an idiot. Or worse

Nancy Grace joins those harping about no "safety" on George Zimmerman's gun. And she's apparently concerned Z had ammo in it too.

Huffington Post shares details and video.

So Z should have carried locked and empty? And you gotta love the way Grace pulls Zimmerman's dog into a grasp to emote her position more effectively.

How about we get back to proven fact: Zimmerman's gun didn't accidentally discharge despite he was knocked down and his face and head took a pounding. It's also is impractical to load a gun once a pummeling starts. And Zimmerman's gun has a long trigger pull as its safety. It's a common design characteristic of many modern handguns.

Grace is a former prosecutor, so I suspect she understands something of modern handgun designs. In that light, perhaps she's worse than an idiot. She may have intentionally evoked a defective narrative as she targets an uniformed audience gullible enough buy her spin.

A little indulgence

Okay, I've done something way out of character.

I bought one of those little 50cc motor scooters you sometimes see around in urban areas. Used my landscaping trailer to haul it home to suburbia.

Only limited riding so far, about 50 miles worth. I plan is to keep it confined to roads with 25 or 35 mile per hour speed limits. So far so good.

It's amazing how many alternate routes I'm finding by trying to limit myself to side streets. But I'm also noticing few shopping centers or businesses around here have spaces where I can legally park this thing and secure it to something with a chain lock.

Update: For those expressing concern that I'm not wearing a helmet, I only took it off for the photo. If you look, you can see I'm holding it with my right hand.

Judge Nelson's temper tizzy

I really do hate it when Alex Jones and his Infowars make more sense than government officials.

I have no idea to what extent, if any, the White House has applied pressure on the judge in the Zimmerman trial.  But something is clearly not right here. How can a judge badger a defendant like this?

From Infowars:

The hostile exchange began when Judge Debra Nelson asked Zimmerman if he planned to testify. 

Essentially, Judge Nelson told Zimmerman he had the “absolute right to remain silent” but then proceeded to demand he answer her questions interrogation-style while silencing his lawyers. 

Defense attorney Don West twice objected to Nelson’s interrogation, prompting the judge to raised her voice and exclaim, “Your objection is overruled!” in a manner more befitting of an angry parent lecturing a child than a legal professional. 

Both of Zimmerman’s lawyers appeared shocked as attorney Mark O’Mara asked under his breath, “what is going on?” 

Several legal experts and observers said the outburst was unprecedented.

What would public reaction be if an black defendant was badgered like this over his Fifth Amendment right?

Much about the Zimmerman case defies explanation other than political agenda and manipulation.

Bubba's solar folly

When electric bills go up in Georgia, you've got grounds to do some finger pointing at the state's Public Service Commission. Commissioner Bubba McDonald has successfully rammed through a requirement that Georgia Power purchase or generate more solar power.

Can't wait to see what kind of campaign funding McDonald gets from the solar power lobby.

Slow process

A government seldom loses it's legitimacy overnight in the eyes of the people. It tends to be a slow process with occasional flares.

Such was the case leading up to the American revolution. And the end of America's colonial era begs at least some comparison to the kind of governmental shifts and creeping alienation we see underway now.

More cops out of control

After picking up a few grocery items, a university student suddenly finds her vehicle under assault in the parking lot:

According to the Charlottesville Daily Progress, shortly after 10 p.m. April 11, the University of Virginia student bought ice cream, cookie dough and a carton of LaCroix sparkling water from the Harris Teeter grocery store at the popular Barracks Road Shopping Center. In the parking lot, a half-dozen men and a woman approached her car, flashing some kind of badges. One jumped on the hood. Another drew a gun. Others started trying to break the windows.

Spoiler alert: The attackers were Virginia alcohol control cops who apparently mistook the woman's sparkling water for (gasp) beer.

The agents who acted like a gang of felons initially charged the woman with three felonies ater she tried to flee these unknown armed persons and sought the protection of verifiable police officers.  A prosecutor with more sense dismissed the charges, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Keep in mind, this incident happened near the campus of a university founded by Thomas Jefferson. What would Jefferson have to say about the rising level of heavy-handed police practices in the U.S.?

Shooters become more self reliant

Another side effect of the Democrats' push for more gun control: There's been surging interest in reloading.

Big Brother in a panic?

Obama wants more federal snitching to head off more potential whistleblowers.

And under the new rules, failing to snitch appropriately can be subject to prosecution as a criminal offense.

Time's scarce

Can't say I can recall at time when I didn't have time to blog. Suddenly find myself with a bunch of tasks needing immediate attention or close to it.

A bunch of these tasks are mechanical. And axle grease on the fingers isn't a good fit with keyboards.

It won't last forever. Maybe just a day or two.

Selective attention

Over at Hope n' Change Cartoons, Stilton Jarlsberg notes America's mainstream media obsesses over one cry for help, while all but ignoring another.

Gun sales subside

Saw this linked at Sipsey Street: A Washington Times story about how gun purchase levels have fallen off now that concern new gun control measures has subsided. The Times notes only 1.3 million NICS background checks were conducted in Jnne, that's less than half what took place in December.

I suspect some of anxiety may have passed. But the next big push by gun grabbers could just as easily ignite another wave. In the meantime, maybe folks who bought guns are now concentrating on stockpiling ammuntion to feed them. While guns racks beginning to fill out again in many stores, ammo shelves for popular handgun and some rifle rounds seem to get stripped just as fast as they did last January or February.

She's at it again

"Gabby Giffords and her still-weightless astronaut husband are like a gun-grabbing Foghat, eternally playing the state fair circuit of American politics." - Kurt Schlichter writing at TownHall.com

Savage got it all wrong

Radio talk show host Michael Savage appears to be woefully ignorant of concealed carry practice in general, and as well as the KelTec 9, the kind of gun George Zimmerman was carrying the night Trayvon Martin was shot.

Under most circumstances, it makes no sense to carry a self-defense firearm without a round in the chamber. Working a slide can be awkward at times, it's not a step you want to add to an equation when seconds out, and your life hangs in the balance.

Also, the KelTec 9 has no safety device other than a long, weighted trigger pull. There was no safety to engage on Zimmerman's gun. The KelTec is not unique. Glocks have no safety, neither do run of the mill revolvers.

Bad enough that Savage went off half-cocked and got his facts wrong. What's more disturbing is that the Daily Caller repeated them without challenge, failing to check the facts and counter the fallacies.

Just a little more rebellion

No all July 4th events went as organizers first planned.

In Colorado, some folks brought their guns along.

C'mon people, nothing to get excited about here. Guns were one of the things John Adams recommended when he rattled off things future Americans could use to commemorate American independence.

Star Spangled 4th

We were treated to over two hours of non-stop fireworks last night.

No, it wasn't some government sponsored or government sanctioned event. It was a bring-your-own kind of Independence Day celebration that seemed to span for miles along an Atlantic resort town beachfront.

I almost got the idea that folks visiting here from Tennessee or South Carolina cleaned out the inventory of every fireworks store they passed on their way south. And I suspect some of them spent as much or more on fireworks than they spent on an oceanfront condo for the week.

At times, the beach was as smoky as a Revolutionary War battlefield from all the burnt powder.

Some folks around the country had their Independence Day celebrations cut short or cancelled by weather, or by local governments fearing trouble makers, or by the convenient sequester excuse. Others endured their supposed celebrations of independence and liberty under the watchful eyes of police or DHS. But where we were, it was a celebration of the people and by the people, apparently unrestrained by government.

Things quieted down by 10:30. And around 11:15, a pair of official vehicles came up the strip, I suppose to make sure order had self-restored. And by all appearances, it had.

Shortly after sunrise, what appeared to be a survey vehicle made its way down the sand, it bore a sign on its side saying fireworks were illegal on the beach. Apparently what we witnessed last night was an Independence Day celebration with a touch of rebellion. But doesn't that reflect some of the nature of what the holiday is supposed to commemorate?

Jefferson's Declaration and our current statist government

Michael A Walsh at the New York Post lifts a line from the Declaration of Independence:

“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance,” reads one of Jefferson’s indictments against the king. Today, those words nicely cover big government, the intrusive leviathan state and its army of unelected regulators and unaccountable bureaucrats who really run the country.

Living in an America turned upside down

 Via Paratus Familia Blog:

We live in a time that I never thought I would witness.  A time when speaking out of the conviction of your heart can be punishable by law.  A time when believing in and upholding the foundations of our social fabric is considered bigoted and hate-filled.  A time calling a sin a sin can get you stoned in the city gates.  A time when expressing distrust or dissatisfaction with governmental entities can get you audited, jailed or worse.

Poll: Founding Fathers would not be happy

Via Fox News:

A Fox News poll asks voters what the Founding Fathers would think of Washington these days: Fully 82 percent think they would be unhappy with how things are going there.  

That includes 96 percent of those who identify with the Tea Party movement, 95 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of independents and 68 percent of Democrats.

Independence Day

Focusing on family activities over the next few days, so light posting ahead.

Enjoy the holiday, have some fun.

"Takoma Park" - July 4, 1922

But also take time to reflect on the significance of the Independence Day holiday. We dare not let the freedoms articulated then slip away due to our own negligence or inattention.

Here's something I originally posted last year:

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Seeing the fireworks through Adams' eyes

The Independence Day fireworks you enjoy this week are at least a partial fulfillment of the kind of celebration John Adams envisioned when the United States Of America was only coming into being.

The Continental Congress voted approval of an independence resolution on July 2, 1776. On July 3rd, Adams wrote to Abigail Adams the following:

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable , in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. 

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory.

The July 2nd vote is largely overlooked now. Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence as written by Thomas Jefferson on July 4th.

Lake City favorite "discontinued"?

I received an email from Sportsman's Guide that said:

You asked us to notify you when this item became available for purchase: 

# 136360-000-000 - 900RDS .223/5.56 55GR FMJ XM193 W/STIPPER C 

Unfortunately we have been informed that this item will not be available for purchase since it has been discontinued. 

We apologize for any inconvenience. 

If you click the link, you'll see the item in question is Federal .223 (5.56) 55-grain ammo on stripper clips manufactured at Lake City. 

But what's meant by discontinued? Not currently in production? Not being released commercially? No longer vended on clips? Lots of questions unanswered here. Enough qualifiers involved to suggest this isn't a mass outage, but something more highly defined.

It may also mean due to only sporadic availability, Sportsman's Guide is the one that's dropped the item from its catalog.

Still, this particular ammo's been a staple for AR-15 and Mini-14 shooters as long as I can remember. Anyone have additional insight here?

Making your voice heard

Currier and Ives, 1876/Library of Congress

Can it happen here?

A writer at PJ Media asks: Is America in a pre-revolutionary state?

A past observation on the upcoming holiday

"I fear that, for most Americans, July 4 is a celebration of a day off of work, an excuse for fireworks and feasting on barbecue but not a day to celebrate and enshrine the liberties the Founders sought for us. Some of this is the result of dumbed-down schooling, but a large part, I fear, is simple contempt for our founding principles." - Walter E. Williams, August 2002

H/T: War on Guns