Month: July 2011

Defending the Weak

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Unless I’m very much mistaken, the “Grim” who penned the recent Blackfive piece, Defending the Weak is the very same Grim who said “It’s most important that all potential victims be as dangerous as they can.”

Commenting on the recent mass-murder in Norway, Grim reiterates:

When (the shooter) began shooting, everyone ran.
 
That last factor alone is responsible for almost all of the dead.  A tight group of young men taught to run at danger instead of away from it could have overpowered him almost at once.

As that did not happen, he had a clear field of fire and a target rich environment.  As that started a panic, probably some were trampled and others drowned.  The police did not arrive for a long time, giving him time to finish what he had begun — but the police will never be around when one of these mass killings happens, unless it is targeted at them specifically.  It is always easy to find a soft target if you want one, even in a police state.

The key lesson to mass shootings is that the whole of our societies must remember their duty to fight for the common peace and lawful order.  We must all do it.  We must train for it, and we must equip ourselves as well as the law and our natural abilities permit.  This is the duty of a citizen.  It is a duty that cannot be delegated to the police or to the military.  It must be borne by all of us.  We must train our sons for this duty also.  In a dangerous world, this alone is what makes civilization possible.

I refer once again to Sir Robert Peel’s Nine Principles of Modern Policing, specifically Rule 7:

Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

Western civilization has abandoned the idea that the safety of the public is incumbent on the public itself.  It’s not just the police who should maintain that relationship.  Relationships go both ways.

Yes, had a group of young men charged the shooter, some of them would have been wounded or killed.  But no one charged the shooter, and literally dozens are dead.

Edit:  It would appear that I’ve disturbed James Kelly again.   Good.

Quote of the Day – Inevitable History Edition

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There are any number of significant contributory factors to the societal collapse now looming in front of us. Ken Royce and L. Neil Smith both make a compelling case that this all started with the Federalist’s Constitutional coup, but I think there are three things that inevitably doomed the USA.
1) the establishment of centrally controlled, state funded, mandatory public education, (AKA the Prussian system, or Progressive education) which got into high gear around the turn of the 20th century. This system was overtly designed to indoctrinate the young and to prevent the propagation of unwanted memes infiltrating from Eastern Europe. Our modern education system is designed to teach conformity and obedience, and it largely works as intended.
2) the establishment of the Federal Reserve Bank, the final and successful attempt to give control of the money supply to the ruling oligarchy, and thus to confer control of the economy to the Fed.
3) the amendment to allow personal income tax, which required a heretofore unheard-of intrusion into private affairs, and allowed enormous transfers of wealth to the government.

After those three events had occurred, we were doomed.

By “Historian” in a comment to Welcome To The New Captain Tammany H. Plutocrat Seawater Economy. I can’t say that I disagree with any of that, except to say that the public education system – established as noted for the reasons noted – was suborned by people who had absorbed the very Eastern European memes that it was established to prevent.

IOUSA

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This morning, while making biscuits and sausage for breakfast, I watched the 2008 documentary I.O.U.S.A. on Netflix. It tells the story of the national debt up through 2008, noting that in 2000 that debt was about $5.6 trillion. By 2008 it had rocketed to just over $10 trillion.  We’re now arguing about raising the debt ceiling above its current limit of $14.294 trillion, because if we don’t, the government will “run out of money” on August 2 of this year.

The projected national debt for 2012 is in excess of $16 trillion dollars – 100% of the GDP.

In the eight years of the Bush (43) administration, our government managed to not quite double the national debt, adding nearly $5 trillion.

In less than three years of the Obama administration, our government has added over four trillion dollars more.

It’s an exponential, unsustainable curve.

Tam is quite right, Obama is “the biggest threat to American civil liberties since… since George W. Bush!”

The documentary is available for viewing on YouTube and BlipTV. An updated 2010 YouTube version, IOUSA Solutions, is also available – and rings the warning bells even louder.

Here’s the first piece of that later update:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5dT2uwj5jA?rel=0]

And Now for Something Completely Different

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Haven’t posted in a week, and now I’m going to rant about a crappy product.

I bought a Logitech Harmony One universal remote control back in March from Amazon.  Somehow, one of my grandkids broke it earlier this week.  Not a mark on the casing, but the LCD screen is broken.  I contacted Logitech’s Customer abuse Service department via email, and followed their instructions to the letter, going so far as to take a picture of the display and attaching it to an email for their study:

Here’s their response:

Dear Kevin,

Thank you for contacting Logitech Customer Care.

I understand that it can be frustrating when the screen on your Harmony remote is damaged. I am glad to have something to offer you.

Thank you for providing the photo of your remote. Unfortunately, this does appear to be physical damage to the screen, which is not covered by the hardware warranty. Also, Logitech do not provide repairs.

However, as an existing Logitech Harmony customer whose remote is experiencing a hardware issue that is not covered, you are eligible for a 50% discount** on a brand new Harmony remote from our online store.

If you are interested in this offer, please let me know and I will issue you a promo code that can be used on Logitech.com.

** Valid only for a new Harmony remote. The code is not valid for refurbished units, sale prices, bundles or any other Logitech products, and will not apply to taxes or shipping costs. Valid for 30 days, for a single use. It will not work if you add anything else to your shopping cart, and it will become invalid if you choose one remote, apply the code, then change your mind and go back to choose a different remote.

Thank you once again for contacting Logitech Customer Care.

Here’s my response:

Let me see if I understand this offer.

My LCD display is, obviously, broken.  However, there is no damage to the touchscreen nor to the opaque portion of the remote housing indicating how the LCD screen was broken.  This however, is NOT covered under warranty, nor does Logitech offer repair of this remote at any price. 

The price I paid for this remote through Amazon.com back in March was $167.52 –  no small amount for a remote control.  You offer me 50% off a NEW unit, but only if I purchase through your online support center – where the list price is $199.99 (plus freight).

So you want me to pay an additional $100+ for another apparently over-delicate, irrepairable piece of crap with a useless warranty?  This one lasted just over three months.  I don’t think I want to drop $100 four times a year, thank you very much. 

Perusing the one-star reviews at Amazon I discover that mine is by far not the only unit to suffer a similar fate.  I think you need to look at redesigning the mounting of the LCD panel so that it can take some shock.  My review of your product will be going up at Amazon shortly, and also at my blog.

Which I’ve just done.

Strongly recommend against the Logitech Harmony One.

Anybody got a suggestion for a replacement?

Match Report – Bowling Pins, 7/10/11

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Turnout today was, to put it mildly, light.  That’s too bad, because while the humidity was up, the temperature just wasn’t that bad.  Five people showed up to join me, and between us we had thirteen guns – six of them .22 pistols.

Last month’s centerfire winner John Higgins took it all this month, going undefeated with his Mk II and his 9mm Witness.  Cliff Reed was the Major caliber winner with his Norinco 1911, but he couldn’t outshoot John, and lost the final match, two to one.

At the urging of the few who did attend, next month we’ll have a separate revolver class – .38 Special (or .357’s shooting .38’s) will be Minor caliber.  .357 and larger will be considered Major.  I’ll be bringing my Model 25 Mountain Gun in .45 Long Colt.  Hopefully there will be at least three other shooters with wheelguns.

The next match is August 14.  Signup at about 8:00 AM, first rounds downrange by 8:20.  See you there!