The Smallest Minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. – Ayn Rand
I would REALLY like to win the next Powerball lottery drawing, because for Earth Day I’d REALLY REALLY like to celebrate by purchasing my version of the Ford EarthFucker™ – the SVT Raptor:
411Hp, 14MPG.
I like my rather sedate 2006 2WD Toyota Tundra, but I REALLY WANT this truck.
Unfortunately, the Tundra is paid for, and I am not interested in making payments on a new vehicle.
Thus: I must win the lotto.
UPDATE: No one won the Powerball drawing Saturday.
Wednesday, then!
Governor Brewer signed the bill.
Beginning some time in June, I believe (90 days after the legislature adjourns the current session), any non-prohibited person in Arizona may carry a concealed firearm without a permit. This includes visitors from other states.
And now there are three.
Far out!
U.S. military warns of oil production shortage by 2015
The U.S. military thinks we’re one step closer to peak oil, the point at which oil demand will forever outstrip oil supply, and therefore we’re one step closer to fighting over the last rusting cans of gasoline like so many scraps of meat. On the plus side, we’re also one step closer to finally equipping our cars with superchargers and massive gas tanks rigged with explosives a la Mad Max and his archetypal peak-oil sled, “the last of the V-8 Interceptors.”
RTWT. (h/t Glenn)
I hope my M14 comes in by then . . .
Europe should be getting these for a while:
(Click for larger)
We might get some global cooling out of it, too, even though volcanoes produce massive amounts of “greenhouse” gasses.
I’ve had a couple of inquiries about the Taurus that I bought, and then shortly later traded in last year. BAG day 2009 I bought a 605 2″ barreled, blue, snubby .357 revolver. It sat for a few weeks before I had a chance to take it to the range. I actually loaded it up and put it in the console of my pickup for a while, even before I tried it out on the range.
I was later reminded of a scene from the film The Ghost and the Darkness:
You went into battle with an untested weapon?
Thankfully, I didn’t.
On that first trip to the range I brought both .38 Special and .357 Magnum loads. Factory loads. I haven’t handloaded .357 in a while, and I pretty much never load .38. The first cylinder of .38’s went fine. On the second, the lockwork locked. Solid. On the second shot.
I had a revolver with three live rounds in it, and I couldn’t fire them, and I couldn’t get it to open up.
The three fired rounds looked fine. The projectiles hadn’t backed out of the cases or anything, the mechanism was just LOCKED. I suspected the “safety” lock, but I had the key, and THAT wasn’t it, or at least I wasn’t able to use the key to clear the problem. I ended up taking the gun home and DISASSEMBLING it. I blew it out with carb cleaner, in case something was loose inside the lockwork, I lubed everything lightly, reassembled, and it worked fine – empty.
Another trip was made to the range. Again .38’s were loaded. On the second round, it locked up again. By playing with the cylinder and hammer I was able to fiddle with it and get it unlocked. I loaded up some .357’s. ONE round, and it was locked up. I was able to get it open, but I was DONE with it. A five-shot revolver that only goes “BANG” at most TWICE is useless.
It sat on my desk in paperweight mode for quite a bit while I debated either returning it for warranty repair, or trading it in. I finally decided on trading it in. Hey, it was hardly used!
Once the trade was agreed to, I told the dealer about the problem. “You can’t trade in a defective gun!” he said. “Why not? You sold it to ME that way!” I replied. We agreed to knock $50 off the trade-in value for them to handle the warranty return, and I came home with a (perfectly functional) Kel-Tec PF9.
I don’t think I’ll be buying another Taurus.
Today is B.A.G. day – “Buy a Gun” Day. B.A.G. day was created by blogger Aaron back in 2003. I’ve participated many times. In 2004 I bought a Makarov. 2005, a S&W Model 60. 2006 brought a Winchester ’94 in .45 Colt (a month early, but still. . . .) I missed in 2007, but in 2008 I bought a scope instead of a gun. Last year I bought a Taurus revolver. (Got rid of it, too, traded it in on a Kel-Tec PF9 that actually goes ‘BANG’ every time I pull the trigger.)
This year? Well, this year I’m still waiting for my Ted Brown M14. He has the receiver. He’s expecting the barrel shortly. The stock is on order.
And still I wait . . . .
Reported recently in an Arizona paper comes these statistics on concealed-carry permits in Arizona:
BY THE NUMBERS: CONCEALED
WEAPONS
• Total number of permits in the state as of April 4: 154,279
• Number of permits suspended: 1,785
• Number of permits revoked: 1,011
• Number of women who have a permit: 33,053
• Among women, the 50 to 59 age group has the largest number of permits at 9,050.
• Number of women over the age of 80 who have permits: 177
• Number of men who have a permit: 125,582
• Among men, the 60-69 age group has the largest number of permits at 28,380.
• According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, some of the revoked or suspended permits may have been reinstated since the state started keeping records in 1994.
• The four counties with the largest number of permits in the state: Maricopa: 81,375; Pima: 25,246; Yavapai: 9,521; Mohave: 8,726
So, out of 154,279 permits issued, 1,011 (0.655%) have been revoked.
The largest groups taking advantage of concealed carry permits are older men and women.
There are some feisty octogenarian ladies in this state.
Somehow, 33,053 + 125,582 = 154,729
Society is, always has been and always will be a structure for the exploitation and oppression of the majority through systems of political force dictated by an elite, enforced by thugs, uniformed or not, and upheld by a willful ignorance and stupidity on the part of the very majority whom the system oppresses.
But that’s just me. – author Richard K. Morgan
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul, can always count on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw
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The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money. – Alexis de Tocqueville
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A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. “Alexander Tytler”
So the news is out that this year 47% of households in this country pay no income tax. One (AP) story (which I won’t link) states:
The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.
In other words, the government “redistributes wealth” from the upper 60% to the bottom 40%. (And it’s still not enough!)
And what is the result of this?
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 31% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. . . Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance.
CNN reports that 46% approve of Obama’s job performance. CBS puts his approval rating at 44%. Gallup says 48%.
Ladies and gentlemen, I think we’ve hit rock-bottom on Obama’s popularity unless and until he’s caught in bed with either a live boy or a dead girl, as the old saying goes.
That 44-48% is bought and payed for – with my tax money and yours.
According to the George Mason University US Elections Project, about 62% of the voting-eligible population in the US turned out for the 2008 election. More than a third of the eligible population didn’t vote.
I am going to be fascinated to see the results of the 2010 election. But almost definitely not happy. Billy Beck is right – we’re not voting ourselves out of this.
