This is Too Cool
Aaron the Liberal Slayer has put up the 2008 Blogger Ticket on the right-hand side of his blog so it’s always on the front page. Thanks, Aaron!
Author: Kevin
Bring ‘Em On
Instapundit has been covering the “flypaper” theory of the American occupation of Iraq acting to draw Islamist militants into conflict with our military there, rather than our civilian population over here. His coverage started back in July, and here’s some more evidence. A New York Times article describing exactly what’s going on:
Iraq luring militants eager to fight U.S.
In much the same way as the Russian invasion of Afghanistan stirred an earlier generation of young Muslims determined to fight the infidel, the U.S. presence in Iraq is prompting a rising tide of Muslim militants to slip into the country to fight, Iraqi officials and others say.
“Iraq is the nexus where many issues are coming together – Islam versus democracy, the West vs. the axis of evil, Arab nationalism vs. some different types of political culture,” said Barham Saleh, the prime minister of a Kurdish-controlled part of northern Iraq. “If the Americans succeed here, this will be a monumental blow to everything the terrorists stand for.”
That’s the idea.
Violence against U.S. troops continued Tuesday. One soldier from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was killed and another wounded when their convoy struck three improvised explosive devices while driving near Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad.
The death brought to at least 57 the number of American servicemen killed in attacks since the end of major combat operations on May 1.
I believe, however, that these men have died doing what they volunteered for – defending their nation. At least they often get the chance to capture or kill the people trying to kill them.
Well-organized fighters
Recent intelligence suggests the militants are well-organized. One returning group of fighters from the radical Ansar al-Islam organization captured in the Kurdish region two weeks ago consisted of five Iraqis, a Palestinian and a Tunisian.
Among their possessions were five forged Italian passports for a different group of militants they were apparently supposed to join, said Dana Ahmed Majid, the director of general security for the region.
The fighters sneak over Iraq’s largely unpoliced borders in small groups, bearing instructions to go to a safe house where they can whisper one password to gain admittance and then lie low awaiting further instructions, according to Iraqi security officials.
As opposed to slipping over America’s largely unpoliced borders in small groups and doing the same thing over here, but to civilians.
Flourishing amid chaos
Iraqi officials say they expect a broad spectrum of Muslim militants to flood Iraq. They believe that Ansar al-Islam, a small fundamentalist group believed to have links with al-Qaida, forms the backbone of the underground network. The group was forced out of northern Iraq by a huge attack during the war.
“All previous experiences with the activities of the underground organizations proved that they flourish in countries with a chaotic security situation, unchecked borders and the lack of a central government – Iraq is all that,” said Muhammad Salah, an expert on militant groups and the Cairo bureau chief of the newspaper Al Hayat. “It is the perfect environment for fundamentalist groups to operate and grow.”
But for how much longer?
The extent of their activities remains cloudy. But Web sites believed linked to al-Qaida are clear enough about the envisaged fight: “The struggle with America has to be carefully managed, the ‘electric shock method’ must be applied, relentless shocks that haunt the Americans all the time everywhere, without giving them a break to regain balance or power.”
Last shocks of a dying electric eel? We’ll see. The difference between the Russians in Afghanistan and the Americans in Iraq is that we’re trying to make their lives better, and the majority of Iraqi’s seem to know this. But you wouldn’t know that from the reporting the major news media is giving us.
If You Really Think Public Health-Care is a Good Idea, Consider Public Housing, Public Restrooms, and Public Pools.
Chuck Asay, Colorado Springs Gazette.
Talk About Standing Up for Your Beliefs!
Via SayUncle, comes the continuing saga of Francis Warin, a Frenchman who moved to the U.S. in 1961 at the age of 30 so he could be a weapon designer. Peripherally involved in a BATF entrapment case (imagine that!) in 1970, he studied the Second Amendment and concluded (as have a large number of gun rights proponents) that it meant what it said, and not what the politicians and the judges said it meant, he first filed a class-action lawsuit that was denied.
Then he got serious.
He manufactured a machine gun (weapon designer, remember) and refused to pay the $200 ‘tax.’ When that didn’t get him arrested, he took it physically down to the local BATF office where they not only didn’t shoot him or stomp on his pets, they didn’t even bother to arrest him. He finally had to embarrass the government by telling his story to a newspaper before they arrested and charged him.
Let’s just say it didn’t turn out like he wanted. The case was U.S. v Warin, and it was one of the worst cases for gun-rights supporters we’ve seen. It was, in fact, a textbook example of the “collective rights” interpretation of the Second Amendment based on U.S. v Miller and other cases subsequent to Miller. (Remember, this was 1975 – as the gun-control movement and the “collective rights” argument was approaching its zenith in the post-60’s, post-Nixon era.)
Mr. Warin was convicted of a felony and received probation with an interesting stipulation: He had the permission of the court to retain his right to arms even though he was a convicted felon because otherwise he’d be out of a job.
So Mr. Warin went back to his job.
In 1999, now retired, Mr. Warin tried to buy a gun from a dealer. He filled out a Form 4473 and, in accordance with the requirements, indicated that he was a convicted felon, but thought that the court decision allowed him to purchase a gun. Wrong again. And he couldn’t get a hearing on it, either. So he apparently intimated to the FBI that he could “bring a bomb” to them. They were not amused. They raided his home (I don’t know if any kittens were stomped – this was the FBI) and took 22 weapons. But didn’t press charges. He fought for return of his property, and lost.
So this time, he manufactured a suppressed .22 pistol and sent it via registered mail to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Toledo. He got arrested again and thrown in jail where he is now on a hunger strike.
I will grant that Mr. Warin has courage and is resolute in his quest for justice. Unfortunately, I don’t expect him to fare any better than John Lee Haney did when he essentially repeated Mr. Warin’s original argument.
What Mr. Warin did, and is doing again is tilting at windmills. Now, at 72 and starving, he looks the part of Don Quixote. We need people willing to tilt at windmills. We need people to be unwilling to move to the back of the bus. We need people willing to stand up for their rights.
And we need to spread the word when they do, not let it languor on page 6 of section Q of the local newspaper.
Make no mistake, this is civil disobedience by someone convinced he is right, and who is willing to pay the consequences of, well let Voltaire say it:
It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.
As for me, I’m an reminded of Claire Wolfe:
It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.
It might not be too late. The next test is Silveira v. Lockyer. Will the Supreme Court hear it? And if so, how will they decide?
Mr. Warin is a brave man, and I honor his grit. I just don’t hold much hope of him winning against this particular windmill.
The Power to Tax = The Power to Destroy
From Keepandbeararms.com comes the link to this story:
Feeling salty over pepper spray
Getting pepper spray in Massachusetts has never been easy. New fees make it even harder. Will local legislators help make the Bay State the ‘spray state?’
In theory, buying a can of pepper spray isn’t really all that hard. In most parts of the country, getting hold of such self-defense sprays poses little challenge for citizens of legal age with $20 in their pocket and a desire to temporarily incapacitate any shady character that comes too close.
Having a relatively speedy Internet connection helps, too.
By just typing the words “pepper spray” into any Internet search engine, dozens of self-defense-related Web sites immediately appear, all of which offer customers the chance to buy personal protection sprays in any number of shapes and sizes.
“It stops your attacker … it hurts them,” promises one such Web site that not only sells pepper spray in the standard aerosol cans, but also caters to customers who prefer to remain incognito. Pepper spray containers in the form of pens, lipstick cases, cell phones and pagers are also readily available to those looking to fend off foes.
“It will slam their eyes shut for 10 minutes while you safely get away,” the Web site continues. “Hours later, you’re safe, and they are left miserable and humiliated.”
Sound unpleasant? You bet. But as the Web site explains, people have a right to protect and defend themselves. Seeing as how pepper spray remains one of the few non-lethal and relatively inexpensive means of self-defense on the market, it’s availability to customers is a no brainer.
Unless, of course, you live in Massachusetts.
Here, carrying even a miniscule vial of aerosol self-defense spray without acquiring it through the proper channels may be considered criminally consistent with smuggling fireworks across the New Hampshire border or illegally downloading music onto computers. Get it, but whatever you do, don’t let anyone catch you with it.
It’s been that way since 1998, when state legislators passed the Gun Control Act, otherwise known as Chapter 180, and made it impossible for anyone in Massachusetts to own a weapon without first being approved for a Firearms Identification Card. Living in a post-Columbine world where serious questions are continually raised about gun ownership, legislators wasted no time in passing Chapter 180.
Still, there are those who feel the law is imperfect – for starters, the fact it required anyone who wanted to buy pepper spray for protection to acquire an FID card. And cough up the $25 fee that went with it.
Earlier this year, with the state in financial turmoil and Gov. Mitt Romney using all kinds of stopgap solutions to try to solve the budget crunch, the FID card registration fee quadrupled to $100. The move not only made it that much harder for anyone in Massachusetts to buy pepper spray, it also fueled a growing sentiment among Bay Staters and North Shore residents that people looking only to protect themselves are instead being penalized.
They are people like Richard Griffith, who recently encouraged his fiancée to consider carrying pepper spray, only to discover that it could take up to 140 days for her to receive her FID Card, not to mention the hassle of being fingerprinted and undergoing a thorough background examination.
To Griffith, the recent fee increase coupled with the state’s already stringent laws regarding pepper spray simply makes little sense. He says it borders on ludicrous when a sea of red tape and prohibitive fees stymie people whose only interest is self-protection. In his eyes, it’s time Massachusetts eased up and made pepper spray more accessible
“I think there’s definitely an anti-self-defense component to all of this,” Griffith says. “I know the people that sponsored Chapter 180 were very well intentioned, but the legislation really seems slapped together.
“I can’t really criticize legislators for wanting to be proactive and wanting to prevent tragedies from occurring, but sometimes I think they do things that are foolish,” he adds. “This is one of them.”
There are signs, however, that some legislators are looking to atone for their officious deeds. State Rep. Bradley Jones, who represents part of Lynnfield, has sponsored a bill that could free pepper spray seekers from having any responsibility to pay exorbitant amounts for an FID card. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen, but Jones believes it would definitely be a step in the right direction.
“I just don’t think it’s necessary (to have these fees), says Jones. “We’re just making it that much more difficult for people. These are non-lethal weapons we’re talking about. They’re just ways for people to protect themselves in a difficult situation.
“I think he need to recognize that instances of physical aggression and sexual violence is far too prevalent,” Jones adds. “Pepper spray is one way for victims to be able to protect themselves.”
(All emphasis mine.)
There’s much more. Here are some appropriate quotes:
Experience teaches us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficent. – Louis D. Brandeis
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. – Louis D. Brandeis
The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their possession any swords, short swords, bows, spears, firearms, or other types of arms. The possession of unnecessary implements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues and tends to foment uprisings.” – Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), Japanese Shogun
“False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Can it be supposed that those who have the courage to violate the most sacred laws of humanity, the most important of the code, will respect the less important and arbitrary ones, which can be violated with ease and impunity, and which, if strictly obeyed, would put an end to personal liberty –so dear to men, so dear to the enlightened legislator– and subject innocent persons to all the vexations that the guilty alone ought to suffer? Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man. They ought to be designated as laws not preventive but fearful of crimes, produced by the tumultuous impression of a few isolated facts, and not by thoughtful consideration of the inconveniences and advantages of a universal decree.” – Thomas Jefferson, quoting Beccaria
“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws.” – Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
“The ruling class doesn’t care about public safety. Having made it very difficult for States and localities to police themselves, having left ordinary citizens with no choice but to protect themselves as best they can, they now try to take our guns away. In fact they blame us and our guns for crime. This is so wrong that it cannot be an honest mistake.” – former U.S. Sen. Malcolm Wallop (R-Wy.)
If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual. — Frank Herbert
Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story, who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim. If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed wait forever. — Lord Thomas MacaulaySorry, but that’s my way of ranting. Or one of them, at least.
If I Had Emotions, I’d be Pleased
According to this quiz I’m Data:
A controlled personality with a vast range of skills and behavior, you are often intrigued by the people and places surrounding you.
Can’t say I’m surprised.
Frank J. Gives Basic Gun Instructions
You’ve GOT to read this! Excerpt:
Here are the different types of guns:
* Revolver: this is a gun with a cylinder that “revolves”
* Semi-automatic pistol: this is a pistol that’s sorta automatic
* Shotgun: this is a “gun” that fires “shot”
* Rifle: I don’t what the hell this is. Apparently it’s rifled or something
* Machine gun: This is a gun that uses a little machine to fire bullets rapidly. Don’t bother looking for the machine; it’s very small.
* Sub-machine gun: Like a machine gun, but it goes underwater.
* Glue gun: Fires hot glue. If you’re creative, it’s great for arts and crafts. If you’re really, really creative, you can kill someone with it.
Sometimes Frank just slays me!
I Wish MY Job Application Looked Like THIS One!
Just received this in e-mail:
WAL-MART Job Application: This is an actual job application that a 17 year old boy submitted to Wal-Mart in Florida .. and they hired him because he was so honest and funny! He now works in loss prevention…
Well, I don’t know if I believe THAT, but it reads good!
NAME: Greg Bulmash.
SEX: Not yet. Still waiting for the right person (or one who’ll cooperate)
DESIRED POSITION: Company’s President or Vice President. But seriously, whatever’s available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn’t be applying here in the first place.
DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that’s not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.
EDUCATION: Yes.
LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle management hostility.
SALARY: A lot less than I’m worth.
MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and post-it notes.
REASON FOR LEAVING: It sucked.
HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any.
PREFERRED HOURS: 1:30-3:30 p. m. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS? Yes, but they’re better suited to a more intimate environment.
MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER? If I had one, wouldn’t I be there?
DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50 Lbs.?: Of what?
DO YOU HAVE A CAR?: I think the more appropriate question here would be “Do you have a car that runs?”
HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITION? I may already be winner of the Publishers Clearing house Sweepstakes.
DO YOU SMOKE? On the job no, on my breaks yes.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS? Living in the Bahamas with a fabulously wealthy dumb sexy blonde supermodel who thinks I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, I’d like to be doing that now.
DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE? Yes. Absolutely.
SIGN HERE: Aries.
Photoshoppers RULE
One of the guys on AR15.com created this faux movie poster, and I just had to put it up here:
That’s OUTSTANDING!