Friday, November 27, 2015

Rabid anti-gunners pitch fear to gullible Americans

A new, calculated attempt to infringe on gun rights is underway in Washington DC.

Democrats now push for legislation they say will forbid suspected or known terrorists from buying guns in the U.S.

But there's an ugly, totalitarian side to what these Dems are pushing.

Via National Review:
You will note, I hope, that Reid, Schumer, Jentleson, and co. are not proposing to place restrictions on those who have been “accused,” “charged,” or “convicted,” but upon those who are “suspected.” They are not referring to those who are working their way through the judicial system, but to those who remain outside of it. They are not seeking to limit the rights of those who are out on bail or awaiting trial, but those who have not so much as been handcuffed. Loudly and proudly, they are arguing in favor of removing fundamental rights from anyone whose name has been written down on a list. 
A right denied, without due process. A right denied because some bureaucrat includes a name on a list. Sound good to you?

If government deems a "suspected terrorist" too dangerous to buy a gun, shouldn't said government take steps to remove said "suspected terrorist" from the streets?

As it is, the anti-gun Left seems willing to have "suspect terrorists" walking among us, because it allows the Left to play to public fears as it pushes for legislation to diminish our rights and freedoms under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Idiocy abounds on the Left

It's like the Left can't do enough to undermine American interests and safety at home.

And when it comes to efforts to import large numbers of Islamic "Syrian refugees", the Left continues to pour on efforts to herd the sheeple in its desired direction.

I noticed this headline and byline the other day:

"Experts: Yes, Anti-Refugee Rhetoric Helps ISIS" By Sally Kohn 

Go to the link if you want to wallow in Leftist propaganda, I'm not going to indulge it here.

But I will note the notoriety of the article's author.

Sally Kohn also lobbied the public via CNN to give the iffy-at-best, and later debunked "hands up, don't shoot" credence.

Kohn also claimed if you do something nice for her, you're obviously a racist.

Sally Kohn's either an idiot, or is someone who delights in luring others into idiocy. Maybe some of each.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Prepping the turkey

Mrs. T. M. Crouch, of Ledyard. Connecticut pouring some water over her twenty-pound turkey on Thanksgiving Day, 1940.

U.S. Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information photo collection, Library of Congress.

Additional photos from this 1940 Thanksgiving Day set.

Thanksgiving Day, 1885

A periodical illustration from 1885:



Library of Congress notes:
Illustration shows President Cleveland standing at the head of a table with his cabinet officers around the table at placemats labeled "Bayard, Manning, Garland, Whitney, Lamar, Endicott, [and] Vilas" as Puck delivers a large turkey on a platter labeled "With Compliments of all Good Citizens"; a notice on the wall in the background states "Public Office is a Public Trust". The centerpiece on the table is labeled "Prosperity".
Maybe some of the prosperity would return in our present day nation if those holding public office also aspired to being worthy of the public's trust.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Evolving chaos, pitched as progress

"The US has boundary problems — and not just with illegal immigrants (whoops, undocumented visitors). A mighty flux of standards and principles is symptomatic of an economy in freefall. Nothing is settled. All values are put up for re-negotiation. Steamrolling and bullying are the new fair play. Foundational ideas, such as the first amendment, erode under a flood of special pleadings. There is no center left to hold." - James Howard Kunstler

Immigrants don't have to vote to sway elections

America's big Democrat controlled cities are losing population.

As jobs go away, as the cities decline, those who can often move out. Sometimes they move to nearby suburbs, sometimes they flee to a more prosperous region.

This explains why Democrats eagerly cut corners to recruit massive numbers of immigrants and refugees into America.

 Congressional representation is based on total population, not just citizen count.

Immigrants and refugees are a quick way for Democrat controlled cites to boost their sagging populations, and maintain congressional clout.

In other words, immigrants and refugees don't have to become citizens, don't have to vote to play part in swaying elections or strengthening threatened clusters of the Democrat political power base.

Marxists. They don't make 'em like they used to

"One of my grandfathers served in World War I. My step-grandfather served in World War II. My sixth great grandfather enlisted in the American Revolution when he was only thirteen. These great men did not fight so we could simply relinquish our rights to the enemy within our borders. That enemy is the Marxists who run our public universities. If you are a Marxist and I just offended you, well, that’s tough. I guess they don’t make communists like they used to." - UNC-Wilmington Criminology Prof Mike Adams, in a lecture to students, as reported at Independent Journal.

Are we vetting, or simply enabling "Syrian refugees"?

The UN does the initial vetting of Syrian refugees bound for the U.S.

By so doing, the U.S. has outsourced what may be the most important part of the vetting process. 

Case can be made that the  way things are now, the process actually coaches refugees, so their answers are slick and alibis tight by the time an American screener conducts his/her first interview with a refugee candidate.

Sneaky Democrats. Back with another gun control push

So-called progressive Democrats are seeking another beachhead in their war to negate our God-given, constitutionally protected rights.

Democrats are already making a play for more gun control as part of a bill supposedly intended to "vet" Syrian refugees. 

If Democrats craft a bill to deny gun sales to suspected terrorists, who gets to decide what criteria is used to define suspected terrorists?

The U.S. Attorney General.

Democrats, of course, couch their play as simply "closing a loophole" to prevent gun violence.

But there's term for a government that can strip someone of their rights without due process, and without recourse.

It's called a tyranny.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

That's a long walk...

It's being reported that five more "Syrian refugees" have been detained trying to cross our southern border. 

Seriously?

Walking from Syria to Berlin is one thing, but getting from Syria to Laredo makes for one humongous (and wet) hike.

Any chance that if "Syrian refugees" have the means to get from Syria to Mexico, and up to our southern border,  maybe these "refugees" aren't as destitute or endangered as guys like Obama or Kerry contend?

Best I can tell, Mali is a country-wide "gun free zone"

Not much to be found, even on the Internet, about gun laws in Mali.

However, National Review reported in 2003 that "the guns" were collected and destroyed at a UN sanctioned gun burning ceremony. Never mind that any destroyed gun could be easily replaced through illicit sourcing, propaganda and ceremony became the driving focus.

More recently, earlier this year in fact, Mali celebrated its culture of officially keeping good people disarmed by televising a major anti-gun showcase. While apparently not reported in most media,outside Mali, program details can be found on Facebook:

Musical performances by top Malian artists such as Mamadou Dembelé dit Dabara, the Amanar Group from Kidal, in the North of the Country, Mah Kouyaté n°1, Maman Sidibé n°1, Alou Sam, Djalou Damba, Pay Camara and Nahawa Doumbia were interposed with theatrical sketches about the dangers of the illegal possessions of arms by civilians, the dangers of local arms crafting and the role of women and youth in the fight against the proliferation of small arms. The sketches were lively performed by “la Famille Sissoko”, a popular group of comedians.

The write-up appears to be posted as part of, or in conjunction with, a UN Disarmament page.

And so it appears Mali has its own Moms Demand Action types continually warning of the dangers and menace of anyone, even lawful civilians, with guns. In Mali, that means warring against smuggled or home-brew guns, apparently because, if there ever was such a thing, lawful firearms trading ended long ago.

If anyone has more info or intel on gun control measures in Mali, or on any illicit gun trade there, please feel free to share.

Like I said, what's on the web is scarce, and seemingly incomplete. Maybe Mali doesn't want to let on how ineffective national gun control can be at disarming folks.


Update: H/T to David Codrea's War on Guns blog for linking to this which says, in part:
In Mali, the right to private gun ownership is not guaranteed by law...
In Mali, civilians are not allowed to possess weapons of war.
In Mali, private possession of fully automatic weapons is prohibited.
In Mali, private possession of semi-automatic assault weapons is prohibited.
In Mali, private possession of handguns (pistols and revolvers) is permitted under licence...
In Mali, only licensed gun owners may lawfully acquire, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition.
Applicants for a gun owner’s licence in Mali are required to establish a genuine reason to possess a firearm, for example demonstrating a need for protection...
Licensed firearm owners in Mali are permitted to possess a limited quantity of smoothbore and rifled ammunition fixed by the Minister in charge of Internal Security...

Post updated 11/23/2015 at 8:50 am EST 

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Cat pics. Very old cat pics

If you think comical photos of cats in human situations are something new, think again.

I came across a bunch browsing online collections at the Library of Congress.

Here's just a few:

Cats with a canon, 1914

Cats with a camera, 1888

Cats decorating a Christmas tree, 1906

Slow and stealthy

A Soviet built Polikarpov Po-2 is the only biplane ever credited with downing a jet fighter in combat, says Wikipedia.

Po-2 biplanes were used by NK to run "bed check Charlie" night air raids on US troops in the Korean War.

Made of wood and cloth, its radar signature was quite stealthy. And boy was it slow.

Seems an American throttle-jockey over Korea allowed his Lockheed-built F-94 to stall out and crash when he tried to slow down enough to blast the slow NK foe.

The source article about the F-94 incident appears to be only accessible with an Air Force Association membership, something I don't have.

Grier, Peter. "April 15, 1953". Air Force Magazine, Air Force Association, June 2011, p. 57.


What a Po-2 looks like in flight, via YouTube...



The Po-2 is also noted for its role in World War II where female Russian pilots flew them in night raids to harass opposing German forces, thus the term "Night Witches" noted on the video.

When an Islamic stoning violates America free speech...

You may recall an incident from 2012 where some Christian activists were stoned when their presence stirred discord at an Islamic themed public festival. 

There's an update to the story.

Independent Journal is among online media to note:
During the 2012 Arab International Festival in Dearborn, Michigan, Christian evangelists were “stoned” by Muslim attendees.  
Following the attack, during which angry Muslims threw bottles and other items at the evangelists, the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) filed a lawsuit on behalf on their behalf against Wayne County and the Sheriff’s Office for failing to protect the Christians’ First Amendment rights.  
In late 2014, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court dismissed the suit, saying the Sheriff’s Office acted lawfully when it threatened to arrest the Christians if they refused to leave the festival.  
Last week, the full Circuit Court reversed the decision, ruling in favor of the Christian group on all counts...
Yes, the "Christians" in Dearborn that day may have been crass and provocative in their "evanglistic" approach, but their behavior fell far short of hurling bottles and other debris.

In case you're wondering what it looked like to be on the receiving end of the "stoning", here's video from the Dearborn incident:

American Freedom Law Center via YouTube.com

The incident happened three years ago, but serves to raise a valid question as the Obama administration currently ramps up unpopular efforts to import and resettle as many as 100-thousand "Syrian refugees" a year into the U.S.

Do we really need to import large numbers of "refugees" or other immigrants who have been raised up among cultures, or are potentially otherwise ingrained with notions, where behavior like "stoning" is deemed normal public behavior or accepted religious practice?

Dearborn no longer holds an annual Arab Festival, citing prohibitive insurance premiums after what happened in 2012.

Still not a serious effort

Evidence continues to mount that the so-called "air war" against ISIS is little but a public relations ploy to ease western political constituencies.

The Washington Free Beacon notes:
U.S. military pilots who have returned from the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq are confirming that they were blocked from dropping 75 percent of their ordnance on terror targets because they could not get clearance to launch a strike, according to a leading member of Congress.
Even the French claim to have delivered 20 bombs on-target one day last week is small potatoes.

On yesterday's Don and Doug radio program, Don Dickinson recounted calling in air strikes by American F-4s in support of ground troops in Vietnam in 1972. According to Don, his calls for air support would have easily resulted in something exceeding a puny 20 bomb strike.

Typical airstrike "back in the day" might have delivered 32 or more bombs, according to Don. And the number of bombs dropped would have compounded with multiple airstrikes during the course of a day.

Back to the phoniness and ineffectiveness of the present air campaign against ISIS, you may have also seen this: Prior to an air raid on an ISIS fuel depot, the U.S. gave 45 minutes advance warning, allowing truck drivers (and perhaps some trucks) to flee prior to any bombs being dropped.

While the Obama administration deems ISIS truck drivers to be "non-combatants," Don asserts this is a direct contradiction to the way the role would be interpreted in most theaters of operation. Anyone who knowingly supplies direct aid or logistical support to an enemy should be considered a fair target.


Friday, November 20, 2015

How to handle ISIS

Quick, clean, move on.

Kinda like the scene from Indiana Jones.


Obama, on the other hand, would give the swordsman 45 minutes warning that Indy would be packing a firearm.

H/T Josh Bernstein on FB. 

Thursday, November 19, 2015

The O in the Hat


I do not like Obama's scam.

I do not like it, Uncle Sam-I-am.

I do not like

his refugee plan.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Buy ammo for that new gun

Empty ammo shelves
Early 2013
Americans keep buying more guns.

The media says it's the Paris terror attacks driving this latest sales spurt.

Really, the reasons are too numerous to recount here.

But whatever your reason for buying (or keeping) a gun, remember a gun's no better than a rock without ammo.

Looks to me like we're in a pretty good ammo buying window. Most retail shelves and online sellers are well stocked, and prices are back down to levels we've not seen in a couple years.

Retail ammo shortages have coincided with the past couple presidential election cycles.

Don't be someone caught short if it happens again.

This should come as no surprise

We keep closing coal-fired power plants to our own peril.

Winter's yet to arrive, yet "over demand" has the UK already experiencing frequent power outages.

Are we close to the kind of insanity the Brits have placed themselves in?

Probably so.


Previous posts;

If you like your electricity, you can keep it

More coal plants going away

Obama administration begins turning off the lights

Obama's EPA shutting down more coal plants



Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Republicans roar. Call me skeptical

After 31 state governors said "no" to having Syrian refugees airlifted into their states for resettlement, it's kinda like the Congress had to get in the game.

From the Washington Post:
Republican leaders on Tuesday called for a “pause” in admitting Syrian refugees into the United States, citing national security risks in the wake of the Paris attacks.
So what's Congress going to do? Form a task force, study the issue, is today's declared course of action.

Is the Congress really gong to accomplish something here? Or do we once against get blustery Republican grandstanding, only to be followed with "compromise" (caving to Obama's plan).

Remember, Republicans played a big part in appropriating the money for the resettlement that they now say they're opposed to.

Why wasn't the issue studied in depth before Congress provided funding?

Refugees, circa 1919

This is what "refugees" used to look like.

The photo was taken in Turkey, in 1919, in the era following the oft denied Armenian genocide.

According to its description at the Library of Congress, the photo shows Armenian and possibly Turkish women with children, picking up wool to take home and weave into clothing for orphans. The women with their faces covered may be Armenian converts to Islam.


Focus on the photo.

Its subjects are in sharp contrast to the well-fed, reasonably well dressed young men who dominate today's images of alleged "refugees" who claim to have come out of Syria.

Raids in Belgium

Those investigating last Friday's deadly terror attacks in Paris are now conducting a series of raids in Belgium.

Belgium's long had a problem with Muslims hot for Jihad.

Ten years ago this month, a Belgium born woman carried out a suicide bomb attack on U.S. troops in Iraq.

Ten years ago this month, police in Belgium were carrying out raids as that bombing was being investigated. 

Monday, November 16, 2015

Are you shopping early?

I'm seeing some "black rifle" variants priced below $600. Others, while priced a bit higher, are still less than we've seen 'em in years.

Is this the year one finally shows up under your tree?

Ammo also makes a great stocking stuffer.

Supply is better than it's been in a while, but you may still have to hunt around some to find .22 Long Rifle.

While we're on the topic of Christmas, ho ho ho, if this isn't quite the Santa of Christmas past:

Click Photo to Enlarge

Let it sink in...

"The West itself, including America, is a circus of soft targets. The softest ones are between our ears." - James Howard Kunstler

PC insanity

This is the insanity of politically correct Europe: Europeans are afraid of being labeled fascist if they won't accept Muslims who have beliefs and embrace practices more menacing than those of the Nazis.

Islam has a history of seeking world domination, what we're witnessing are a couple of new incarnations of its theme of conquest.

Some, like ISIS, pursue a quick, knock-down, shoot and slash campaign.

Others are willing to conduct a more gradual campaign of attrition, overpowering other populations by Muslim migration and high birth rates.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Did they get any takers?

"Citizens, turn in your weapons"
From our archive


Police in Greensboro, NC asked at least a thousand people to turn in their guns yesterday.

Not a buy-back, just turn 'em in. 

Update: Greensboro's apparently made the pitch before.  So far, I see no reports documenting any drop-offs at yesterday's event.

Tit-for-tat

It seems Russia noticed America's recent west coast sub-launched missile tests.

In just a matter of days, Russia did a double-launch demonstration of its own, with its launches coming only seconds apart.


Typical Cold War games. But, as I've asked before, is the cast of community organizers we currently have running DC really up to the task of matching wits with Russia in true Cold War?

Saturday, November 14, 2015

If there's one, there are others

Europe best remain on ultra-high alert after a bust on an Autoban on November 5th.
German police are scrambling to discover whether they inadvertently prevented another Islamist from joining the Paris massacre, after they arrested a man driving with a significant cache of weapons heading to Paris.
There were arms enough in the car to have doubled the size of the terrorist force that hit Paris Friday night.  Or perhaps they were destined for some other eight-man terror squad already in place for a completely separate series of attacks.

France firearms shortage

Saw this as a comment under a Facebook post:
A friend of my son is former French military. He and his family are in a French village where all of the police have been mobilized and sent to Paris. He and some old farmers have been deputized by the mayor to protect the village as the French populace is largely unarmed except those with vintage weapons grandparented in or those who didn't turn in their weapons after military service. The civilian population of France is virtually unprotected.
Never, never, ever, ever allow American citizens here in the U.S. to be compromised into a similar vulnerable disarmed position.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Paris under attack

Man, claiming to be Syrian, says he was recruited by ISIS to be part of Paris attacks, reports Fox News.

Seven separate sites or venues targeted, 60 or more may have been killed in the attacks, according to some reports.

Probably easy for ISIS to move and hide strike teams when Europe's awash in waves of Syrian migrants, more than a million arriving this year alone.

Three million more are expected to arrive next year. 

Amherst insanity

Students at Amherst College in Massachusetts join in and double down on the bizarre brand of student activism now sweeping some U.S. campuses. 

Among other things, students at Amherst demand an end to hurtful rhetoric like "all lives matter," as well as the silencing of those who dare advocate for free speech. 

Think I'm kidding?

From the Amherst protesters list of demands that accompany protests being held on campus:
President Martin must issue a statement to the Amherst College community at large that states we do not tolerate the actions of student(s) who posted the “All Lives Matter” posters, and the “Free Speech” posters that stated that “in memoriam of the true victim of the Missouri Protests: Free Speech.” Also let the student body know that it was racially insensitive to the students of color on our college campus and beyond who are victim to racial harassment and death threats; alert them that Student Affairs may require them to go through the Disciplinary Process if a formal complaint is filed, and that they will be required to attend extensive training for racial and cultural competency.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Heard from Ted lately?

It would appear the so-called mainstream media is under-reporting on the Ted Cruz presidential campaign.

Analysis by both The Atlantic and the Washington Post say so.

Via Politico:
The Atlantic tracks candidate mentions on cable TV. Over the past 100 days, Cruz ranks ninth among all presidential candidates from both parties, well behind Chris Christie and just above Kasich. Christie may begin to get some traction, but he was relegated to the undercard debate in Milwaukee and is looking to throw a Hail Mary in New Hampshire. Kasich wants to complete the same unlikely pass in the same place. 
Maybe the mentions of Cruz have picked up lately? No. Over about the past 30 days, he’s still ninth, just ahead of that juggernaut Martin O’Malley. 
Well, Cruz is still pretty low in the polls, and coverage tends to follow the polling. Maybe that’s it? No. A Washington Post analysis specifically looked at the amount of cable TV coverage devoted to each candidate compared with his or her position in the polls. It found that Cruz got 60 percent less coverage than you’d otherwise expect from July through October.  
From October to November, as the seriousness of his campaign has become even more evident, the disparity has gotten worse. According to the Post, “He’s on the air 70 percent less than his polling would suggest, even as he’s climbed past [Jeb] Bush and into fourth place in the race.” 
Perhaps MSM, along with GOPe, hope Cruz will just go away if they ignore him long enough.

If so, methinks MSM and GOPe overestimate their influence after years of flagrantly abusing the public's trust.

"Modern Educayshun"

Here's a seven minute film you may view as satire, but in light of events in recent weeks, it may be closer to reality than many would have previously imagined.

1st Amendment be damned

Someone hurt your feelings? Call 911.

A campus email sent to Mizzou students earlier this week.


Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Finally, a Mizzou protester is profiled

I finally got to see one of the University of Missouri student activists profiled.

Son of a railroad VP who makes $8 million a year.

Hat-tip to Twitter:

People's Tribunals?

Gets even more bizarre when you see who supports the idea... and what they'd love to see targeted:

Via Breitbart:
Bill Ayers called the idea of a “people’s tribunal” against the NRA “beautiful,” and Bernardine Dohrn nodded in agreement. Both Dorhn and Ayers were leaders in the Weather Underground, a violent offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society, whose goal was the overthrow of the United States’ government.
Is this the kind of hopey-changey stuff Americans who voted for Obama were looking for?

When you look up "revolution" in a dictionary, it is oft defined as "fundamental change."

Perhaps we have, indeed, entered the Twilight Zone...

What happens when a childish bully has the power to ban all that offends him?

It seems Rod Serling was well ahead of his time in outing the menace we've come to call today's political correctness.

Click here for a few scenes from "It's a Good Life," a Twilight Zone episode first broadcast in November 1961.

Obama's TPP remains a threat

Obama's much promoted Trans Pacific Partnership is beginning to show itself to be about as well written as Obamacare or the Obama's Iran deal.

There's reportedly something called an MFN clause within the proposed, which has already raised alarms by at least one Australian expert, notes the UK Guardian
Essentially, an MFN clause is tantamount to a classic wipeout move. It would enable foreign corporations from TPP states to make a claim against Australia based on the ISDS provisions in any other trade deal Australia has signed, no matter which country it was signed with. That means it does not matter how carefully the TPP is drafted: foreign investors can cherrypick another treaty Australia has signed, and sue the Australian government based on the provisions included in that treaty. Kahale has described MFN as “a dangerous provision to be avoided by treaty drafters whenever possible” because it can turn one bad treaty into protections “never imagined for virtually an entire world of investors”. 
Meanwhile, there's another odd report floating around overseas. I can't find it reported in American MSM, but it's reported without equivocation by Russia's Sputnik news service:
The United States invites Russia and China to become part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement if they are open for cooperation, US State Secretary John Kerry said Monday. Countries all over the world, including Russia and China, are welcome to join various US-proposed initiatives, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, Kerry stated in an interview with Mir TV channel.
Sure, the Russians like to play spin games. But the sad fact is, American corporate media is just as bad, sometimes worse, in the present age.

Odds are, if TPP comes to be a ratified, working agreement, the harm it does to the Ameirican economy will continue well after Obama and Kerry are out of office.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

A green cap with a red star would complement her image

Clutching a Little Red Book, too, might add to the campus authority attitude she seems to carry.

Update: Says here the bully prof has been asked by the Mizzou J-School to pack her bags.

Update: While Prof. Click has resigned from a courtesy appointment at the J-school, I can's ascertain if her status at Mizzou's Mass Comm dept remains status quo.

Welcome to fundamentally transforming America

Here's a treat. A 1976 comic from the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China.

What better way to teach children to betray family elders than to provide a tick-tock example in comic book form.

Once unthinkable in America, does the example now seem so far fetched?

On Friday's Don and Doug program, we'll dig into the overt actions seeking fundamental change at the University of Michigan, Here's a taste of where we'll take the discussion:

Don't bother trying to justify what's happening at #Mizzou by comparison to 1960s college style protests, there are few similarities. But there are some deep contrasts that can be made; among them, in the 1960s, administrators had the moral courage to stand up to Marxists and Maoists bullies.  
One more contrast, without giving away all this week's program content, in the '60s, protesters claimed their actions to be about wider freedom. Today, what's happening on campuses like Missouri or Yale is about crushing dissent, and mandatory enforcement of uniformity of thought.  
What's happening at #Mizzou is the latest incarnation of #Occupy. And an off-shoot of #BlackLivesMatter. An attempt to instill chaos, and destroy social framework, for the sake of pursuing ambigious goals triggered by events either inconsequential in their original form, or twisted into narratives that don't match the original incident.
Friday's Don and Doug starts at noon eastern on BlogTalkRadio.  And yes, that's Friday the 13th.

Same game, different setting

Welcome to the modern, America university campus.

Via Twitter:

Monday, November 9, 2015

Breast feeding mom had a gun. And she used it.

Shot twice, a young mother returned gunfire, and survives an attempted home invasion. Her baby, unharmed. 

Mizzou Madness

I'm only half-way watching the  madness taking place at the University of Missouri.

But as a casual onlooker,  I've noted:

There are protesters who are acting as bouncers, keeping media away from interviewing protesters. Seeing as though Mizzou is supposely home to one of the nation's foremost schools of journalism, I find it odd those on campus revile the media in this manner.

Also, if protesters are being shielded from the media, how do we know these are even Mizzou students on the protest line?

American higher education is now feeding on its own. It would appear Gramsci's strategy of a long march though western institutions succeeded in wresting control, but continues on, vastly overshooting its mark, undoing any advantage gained in achieving its stated goal.


Via Twitter:

Cutting out the middle man

In this case, the "middle man" being the ever more vulnerable U.S. dollar.

China announces that the Swiss Franc will become the seventh major world currency that will be allowed direct conversion to the yuan, bypassing the need to first convert to U.S. dollars. 

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Hillary and the Hindenburg

Via Chris Muir's Day By Day Cartoon:


The beginning of counter-reform, or the beginning of a break-up?

Hat tip to Mike at Sipsey Street for noting and linking to this:
Oregon County Passes Initiative Allowing Sheriff to Void Gun Control Laws If He Thinks They’re Unconstitutional
The legislatures in so-called Red States need to get ahead of the curve with similar kinds of action.

1) It might slow down DC's anti-gun and other liberty-crushing initiatives.

Or, perhaps on a more practical level,

2) It begins to build a resistive, even secessionist, mindset.

There will be no slowing the advance of liberty-crushing big government until said government begins encountering real, sustained protests and push-back. It's just not in tyranny's nature to retreat without being forced to. 

Saturday, November 7, 2015

The Invaded States of America

Forget assimilation. Immigration activists believe us to be a conquered country.

It appears one group's already drawn up a list of demands as conditions for our nation's surrender.

Except they call the demanded terms for our surrender a "Bill of Rights for Undocumented Americans." 

Seriously. The madness has to stop. These illegal immigrants don't want to live among us. They want to rule over us. Or at least side with other political factions who aspire to similar socialist totalitarian ambitions.

Taking back the night, my introduction to night vision gear

Most of us overlook the dark. We're accustomed to it. Our sense of normalcy accepts it.

At night, we have streetlights and other outdoor lighting, so we feel like we're seeing what's around us.

But that sense may be more an illusion than reality.  We tend to focus on what we see, overlook what we can't.

In recent months I've seen some critters just a couple hundred yards or less from my house. An owl, a fox, maybe a coyote. My  car headlights caught the four legged ones dashing across the street in the dead of night. The owl was sitting smack-dab in the middle of the street just after dawn.

Also,  in a subdivision only about a mile away, there's been some late night burglary attempts. Forced entry or otherwise, bad guys have gained entry through basement doors while home owners slept on second floors.

Each of these circumstances have triggered me to notice the darkness more, taking time to see how quickly artificial light gives way to shadows and opaqueness in the still of the night.

Curiosity got the better of me. So I finally indulged in some basic, budget night vision gear.

The first try was an Equinox Z 4.5x40 digital monocular from Bushnell. Kind of a disappointment. First off, I'm farsighted, and to focus any kind of sharp image with my eyes, I had to wear reading glasses.  The eyepiece put off almost glaring light, and with irregular terrain in my neighborhood, the 4.5 minimum magnification was awkward, in need of constant refocus. Also, because of the magnification,  the field of view was uncomfortably narrow.  Strikes me, it's a device better suited to open fields and long distance viewing. Not completely sure if the focus issue was a defect or design flaw, I shot an email to Bushnell. I didn't really get a clear answer to my question, but on their advice, I've returned the unit to where I bought it.

While evaluating the digital unit, for comparison, I grabbed a Bushnell Equinox 2x28 refurbished monocular through eBay.  The wider field of view is more practical for scanning tree lines and fence lines, or getting perspective as I look up the street where the critters were spotted. The Equinox 2x28 is a Gen 1 analog unit using a traditional intensifier tube (don't expose an uncovered lens to daylight when turned on). This is more to my liking, and can be focused to a sharp enough image without wearing glasses despite my farsightedness. Ambient light (street lights, porch lights) around the neighborhood allows me to make out objects 200 or more yards away without using the built-in infrared light. We've been in a long rainy streak, so I haven't been able to evaluate use under pure moonlight/starlight conditions.

Clearly, this isn't a Gen 2 or Gen 3 device. It's not police or military grade. But it does provide vision in what would otherwise be blind darkness.  And yes, I find this Gen 1's clarity completely acceptable.

Fact is, I liked the little Equinox so much, I nabbed a used, older Bushnell 2.5x42 Gen 1 device off eBay when I saw bidding was absurdly low.  Paid about 40 bucks delivered. The viewfinder image is a tad grainy, and the IR light not as bright (it is an older, used device). But working with ambient light, the image provided isn't as green as the newer unit, seems a bit easier on the eye. The older unit was made in Russia, the new Equinox came from China.

Really wished I'd taken the leap into night vision when I was managing close to 20 rental properties, most of them in declining neighborhoods. I now feel it's almost must-have gear to surveil one's yard and neighborhood.  These things could also prove indispensable post-storm or in any other grid-down situation to take a quick look around without lighting up the night with a traditional flashlight, without disturbing one's natural night vision.

One more perk about having night vision devices that see infrared: They'll let you know if anyone else nearby is using IR. That alone seems like a must for hunters to help protect against mis-identification in the field.

Now that I know what fits my needs, I might be tempted to pick up another unit, while dedicating one of my existing ones to my work truck.

I'd love to hear from others who have experience with gear of similar type and range, especially from those who have budget devices they'd love to rave about.

Ironic

America had far fewer obese people back in the era when a candy bar could be pitched as "good food."

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Confiscated guns

The city of Atlanta has more than 10-thousand confiscated guns. By law, the city's supposed to make them available for resale to licensed collectors or dealers. But, according to a TV news report, the city says that's something it has never done. 

A serious matter of miscalculation

“Public opinion on guns seems to be going in the same direction as it did on same-sex marriage,” (George Mason University professor of public and international affairs  Bill Schneider) wrote. “The religious right lost the fight against same-sex marriage. The gun lobby may lose the fight to stop reasonable gun-control laws.

Indeed, at least some anti-gun crusaders appear to have thrown caution to the wind. If gay marriage can be forced on a nation, why not "reasonable" gun control (which, according to Hillary Clinton appears to include voluntary "buy back" style confiscation).

A classic case of anti-gun overreach appears to be revving up.

Would be gun-grabbers believe resistance to their cause is collapsing.

Their naive miscalculation will surely have serious consequences if they continue on present course.

Fall colors

"He had a smile on his face, he was having fun"

Knife wielding California campus attacker identified as Faisal Mohammad. 

Strategies applied in America's decline

If you wonder why America continues to slide toward collectivist ruin, here's a list of colectivist strategies being used to make it happen.

Once you see the list, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to cite examples of how you've seen the strategies applied.

Threats to the Constitution

"I have come to realize that the Constitution is the root of virtually all our problems in America," says "Blake", at the UC Berkeley BSU (Black Student Union?) blog.

Viewing the Constitution, circa 1920
From a blemished glass negative, Library of Congress
The title of his post is A New Constitution or the Bullet.

The radical Left has wanted to scrap the U.S. Constitution for a long time. And yes, it still does.

This is part of the danger posed by a Convention of States currently proposed by conservative activists intent on adding certain amendments to the Constitution.

COS advocates insist such a convention would be narrow in scope, and immune from being hijacked for broader constitution altering purposes. But their insistence may have all the protective substance of a "gun free zone."

Just like law breaking transgressors turn gun free zones into killing fields,  don't expect enemies of the Constitution to play fair if any kind of Constitution-altering door is opened in this present age of increasing lawlessness.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Sit a spell, take your shoes off...




He looks so at home on the porch, I hate to disturb him.


Maybe if I got him a Pilgrim hat, he could stay put through Thanksgiving.


Hillary keeps pushing a gun control theme

Maybe Dems will get smart,and throw some cold water on Clinton and her anti-gun enthusiasm. 

Conservatives scored again

Even the Washington Post takes notice.

Conservative candidates did well in yesterday's off-year elections. 

So why is it Republican elites in DC continue to attack and vilify conservative voters?

Why does party establishment insist the only way it can win elections is by pushing mediocre moderates or thinly veiled progressives who fool no one?

"Passing time on the way to collapse, and some points to ponder while we wait."

That's the advertised theme of this week's (November 6) Don and Doug program. 

Assuming things are still standing by show time.

Sure, another five to ten years of this madness may lie ahead. 

Conversely, we're so far into debt and dysfunction, things could all fall apart in the twinkling of an eye. 

Disney money strays from roots once vested in tales of liberty

The anti-gun left continues its infatuation with Abigail Disney's anti-gun documentary that chronicles an evangelical minster who now talks the talk of gun control.

As noted previously, Disney is Walt Disney's grand niece, an heir to the Disney fortune.

Anyone here remember when Disney was synonymous with good, clean family entertainment, and clearly in sync with America's traditional values?

"He Answered Freedom's Call"
Johnny Tremain DVD cover
Among the Disney tales told on wide and small screens alike is that of Johnny Tremain, a work of historical fiction set at the time of the dawning American revolution.

You may remember the tale. Johnny's an apprentice silversmith who injures his hand in an accident. And through a series of events that follow, becomes familiar with the rebel patriots of Boston.

Sparks Notes offers a spoiler for those unfamiliar with the story, when Johnny becomes acquainted with Doctor Warren, a patriot who's also a doctor:

"Although he cannot promise that Johnny will ever be a silversmith again, he assures Johnny that he will soon be able to fire the musket that Rab bequeathed to him before dying."

If you've been to Walt Disney World in Florida, you may have noticed a real life replica of something featured prominently in Disney's telling of the Johnny Tremain story: The Liberty Tree.

You may have even dined on traditional American fare at the park's nearby Liberty Tree Tavern, part of the park's Liberty Square.

How much longer before such namesakes are deemed offensive to the politically correct, and demands are made they be banished from the park? After all, these namesakes serve to remind us how the American Revolution really got rolling when colonists rose to oppose the the confiscation of arms by forces of the king.

One more thought: Any guesses how Disney's telling of Swiss Family Robinson would have turned out had the Robinsons taken a more "progressive" approach, and established their island as a "gun free zone"?

Obama era money games

Debt ceiling? No problem.

Just keep any debt over the limit off the books until Congress makes it legal.

The Washington Examiner notes:
The U.S. national debt jumped $339 billion on Monday, the same day President Obama signed into law legislation suspending the debt ceiling. 
That legislation allowed the government to borrow as much as it wants above the $18.1 trillion debt ceiling that had been in place. 
The website that reports the exact tally of the debt said the U.S. government owed $18.153 trillion last Friday, and said that number surged to $18.492 on Monday.
President Obama praises the big budget and removal of debt caps approved by Congress as "a responsible, longer term budget process." Obama and Congress, with a Republican majority, are complicit in this fiscal malfeasance.


Previously noted: Ruh-roh. Something's stuck.

And Washington's prevailing attitude continues to be, don't worry, be happy. They tell us to trust them, they're the professionals. 

 

If you haven't raised the blinds in a while...

No telling what you'll find when you do.