Oh Really?

Posted on February 12, 2008 by Phil Kadath

Here is something of note, at least for those not yet familiar with pro-civil rights groups who focus on firearms

Ray Schoenke, president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (ASHA) wrote a blog post about the amicus brief they filed in Heller v. DC. Here is an excerpt

Instead of playing this game and picking one of these sides, we have taken what I think is a unique approach in arguing that the language of the Second Amendment does not support pitting individual rights against group rights. We argue that just like the rest of the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment is a blend of both individual rights and community rights, with each depending on the other. And, we think it’s pretty obvious that “a well-regulated militia” actually depends on individual recruits who have familiarity and training with firearms. The brief we submitted today, which was written by some of DC’s most experienced Supreme Court lawyers, argues that the individual right to bear arms is essential to the collective public interest in a “well regulated militia,” and that the DC Gun Law is not authorized under the DC Home Rule Act – which according to our lawyers gives the Supreme Court a non-Constitutional basis to affirm the decision of the lower court that found an individual right to keep and bear arms.

We think our distinctive approach, focusing on the DC Home Rule Act, protects the gun rights of hunters and shooters, while maintaining the rights of communities to enact laws to protect its citizens. That’s critical to us as we know that community safety is very important to a majority of hunters.

Now, before you click on the link I’ll provide in just a moment, you should know that the ASHA is an anti-civil rights group that masquerades as a pro-civil rights group. They are for micro-stamping ammunition and mandatory lock-ups of firearms in the home, as well as letting the FBI have access to the NICS system and among other things. They are against .50 caliber rifles and guns that look like assault rifles, and the private transfer of firearms between law-abiding adults.

The ASHA does not have a blog, so where do you suspect that the above blog post was published?

Don’t wave your mouse over this link until you guess. Have fun reading the comments section.

Posted in Freaks, Mutants, and Morons | 6 Comments

China 1 – UK 0

Posted on February 12, 2008 by Phil Kadath

First the Archbishop of Canterbury falls to his knees for Sharia, now this?

Britain kow tows to China as athletes are forced to sign no criticism contracts

British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract promising not to speak out about China’s appalling human rights record – or face being banned from travelling to Beijing.

The move – which raises the spectre of the order given to the England football team to give a Nazi salute in Berlin in 1938 – immediately provoked a storm of protest.

The controversial clause has been inserted into athletes’ contracts for the first time and forbids them from making any political comment about countries staging the Olympic Games.

It is contained in a 32-page document that will be presented to all those who reach the qualifying standard and are chosen for the team.

From the moment they sign up, the competitors – likely to include the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips and world record holder Paula Radcliffe – will be effectively gagged from commenting on China’s politics, human rights abuses or illegal occupation of Tibet.

Prince Charles has already let it be known that he will not be going to China, even if he is invited by Games organisers.

When Prince Charles has more balls than the home office, that is saying something significant.

Posted in Evil walks the earth | 1 Comment

Microstamping

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Phil Kadath

There has been a decent amount of news in the GunBlog community about recent attempts to get Ammunition Microstamping regulations passed in the various states.

Jerry the Geek did a round up of them here (just click the clink and keep scrolling).

Unfortunately he missed one. It was easy to miss, and so did I until I did an unconventional search in the Washington State Legislature website.

HB 3359 – Concerning Pistol Ammunition

Section 1: Beginning January 1, 2010, all pistol ammunition manufactured in the state, imported into the state, or kept or offered for sale, sold or transfered in the state, must be coded ammunition as defined in RCW 9.41.010.

RCW 9.419.010 is then listed at the bottom of Page 7 with the requirements needed to meet the definition of “Coded Ammunition”. They include alphanumeric identifiers etched into both the base of the projectile and the inside of the case of the round.

HB 3359 also calls for a new section to be created in the Washington State Department of Licensing that will license and list all sellers of ammunition. These sellers will have to take information from the buyer during every ammunition purchase (alphanumeric identifier on the ammunition, the name, DOB and driver’s license or other state issued ID of the ammunition purchaser, to be entered on an as yet uncreated new state registration form which the licensed seller has to keep for three years from the date of purchase).

While it only mentions it as a future part of the bill, it does request a “Centralized Ammunition Database” to be created to maintain these records indefinitely.

The bill’s writer and primary sponsor is Democrat Al O’Brien (LD-1) serving northeast King and south Snohomish Counties. I find it strange that a Marine would write a bill such as this, but I guess John Murtha is a dick as well.

It is co-sponsored by three other Democrats, one them being of my senior House member, Democrat Dennis Flannigan. I’m currently in the process of attempting to tame down my letter a bit, lest he find me unhinged.

But spread the word on this to anyone you know in Washington. HB 3359 is currently sitting still doing nothing, but it HAS been introduced which means it could, like Herpes, lie dormant for a couple years before it gets ugly.

———-

And since we’re spreading words about gun law, spread this one around too: Support HR 4900 in the US House of Representatives.

Introduced by Representative Steve King (R-IA) in December before the Christmas break, it will reverse the “Feature Creep” of the BATFElchers back to where they were in the early 80’s.

I’m still looking for a US Rep who’ll write a bill that questions the need for the IRS to buy Remington 870’s for “Customer Service” reasons, but HR 4900 is a start.

Posted in Have Gun, Will Travel | 4 Comments

Ribbate Challenge

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Phil Kadath

We’ve discussed the frogs that seemed to have recently inhabited Capital Hill here before and I offered some suggerstions of what to do with the money.

Now Joe has come up with a challenge to all of you who haven’t yet decided where you will be relieved of your $$$.

Buy a rifle and ammo for Boomershoot and I’ll give you a free entry into Boomershoot 2009. Limit of one entry per rifle and no more than five free positions will be given away. You must purchase the rifle between now and June 1, 2008. The rifle and ammo must be capable of at least regularly connecting with the boomers at the 375 yard line. This means your ordinary hunting rifle, carbines, and pistol caliber rifles won’t qualify. Heavy barrel AR-15’s will. It should have at least a 4X (10X or greater is recommended) scope on it but I won’t be holding that against you because people have connected with red-dots and iron sights, it’s just not easy. Ammo is going to have to be match grade.

Get on the stick as this is too good a deal for you to miss! Hell, if it is anything like regular Boomershoot sign up, it’ll be gone within a week of the checks being cut.

Switching to spur track on the same topic, I must admit that I didn’t consciously notice it until the Insta-man linked to Matt J. Duffy, but politicians AND the media completely stopped talking about the deficit as soon as the idea for these Ribbate checks popped up. In news reports, the debate questions, etc..

Coincidence? I think not.

And lastly, in a Letter to the Editor, Barry Hughes of Lake Tapps, WA wrote and got printed a LttE that hits on the point and will surely be bringing the Seattle Times some follow-up letters.

I hope everyone who gets an “economic stimulus check” enjoys spending my money. I am one of the “elite” rich people: My wife and I have a combined yearly income of just over $200,000.It took several decades with both of us working hard at our full-time jobs (we are in our mid-40s) and spending hours and hours at night school furthering our education, but we have now made it to the promise land! At least, that’s what many would have you believe. Oh sure, we are always going out for drinks with Biff and Contessa at the Seattle Yacht Club — not!

We are regular people: We work long hours every day, we help our kids with their homework at night, our house is average, our cars are nothing all that special. Once a year we try to take a vacation somewhere fun, and we save 15 percent of our income for retirement.

Bill and Melinda Gates we are not. We don’t get any special tax breaks and we pay much, much more in actual dollars in taxes than a person (or couple) who earns, say, $50,000 a year. Yet for some reason, we are excluded from getting this “tax rebate.”

How dare anyone say that we “don’t need it”! Need has nothing to do with it! If you paid taxes and I paid taxes, why am I the one being excluded? — especially when I may have paid more taxes than you!

This forced redistribution of wealth just galls me. My family is being punished because my wife and I work hard and save our money? How is this fair?

The really sad part of all this is that ultimately all of that “economic stimulus money” is just gonna end up right back in the pockets of the “truly” rich when the checks start getting cashed and the money is quickly spent. Biff and Contessa might just go shopping for a new yacht.

Rest easy, Barry, you white male oppressor. Obamageddon will make sure you get what you are due.

Posted in Order of the imperial upraised middle finger. | 2 Comments

Still Undecided: Part One

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Phil Kadath

The next dilemma is thus: While McCain says he hasn’t begun thinking about this, its damn well time that should start, so who should this presumptive (R) nominee pick as his Veep?

Or, more importantly: Who is he going to have to choose to make you choke back the bile and actually vote for him?

Talk about staying home and cleaning yer guns on Tuesday, November 7th all day long, but if you were truly serious, you’d have them sight-checked cleaned by Sunday the 5th. Real life will show up sooner than we all think and I’m not one to care for an Obama or HRC in the Oval Office and would like to have a reason to actually mark my choice on a ballot “For” someone to go there for once in my life.

Stephen Green, the Vodkapundit said it perfectly

McCain’s pick for vice president might be the most important decision any nominee has ever made.

Also, McCain is not a young man and the voters will begin to notice it soon if this fact has escaped them so far. You seat McCain next to Obama and he is going to look ancient. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past the leftists to photoshop a white suit and hat onto McCain to make him look southern gentry-like in the hopes to sway ubran centrists into their pit of liberal guilt.

My first choice, of course, would be for Fred Thompson. He is also the only person in the crop of (R) Presidential candidates I’d accept. Not only do I like his policies and think that he may be able to keep McCain in line, but he could win the must have Southern states. He was splitting the religious votes with Huckabee and I think they’d side with him over Obama down there. He and McCain have been pals for years and I think that Fred has to be high on his list. Will Fred accept? I couldn’t tell you, though Fred did endorse McCain last week.

Another person I like is Steve Forbes. McCain opened up a sucking chest wound during one of the recent debates when he said he didn’t know much about the economy. Forbes doesn’t have that problem. While it may be a CNN poll, a CNN poll over the weekend showed that the top concern of most registered R’s is the economy. He also has the “Washington Outsider” cred that a lot of independent voters are seemingly looking for. Plus, he’s got the Flat Tax plan and a being Veep he’ll have a seat in the Legislative Branch to pass it around.

I was reminded of Forbes by Pat Toomey, President of the Club for Growth, writing in the WSJ. Toomey has a few other candidates for the Veep spot, though other than DeMint (R-SC), I don’t know that much about any of them, so none excited me.

However, as Michael Graham points out, the media is playing full-on Identity Politics this election season, even to the minor detriment of the Dems. When we get a non-caucasian or a woman standing next to McCain on the debate stage, they’re gonna play this all to hell. Put two white men on the (R) ticket and they could use it to beat anyone who votes for them over the head with. There will be no winning that game by ignoring it.

So, The Anchoress has put five-term New Mexico Representative Heather Wilson’s name in the hat.

A distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1982 and the first Air Force Academy graduate to serve in Congress, Heather was a Rhodes Scholar and earned her masters and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University in England.

As an Air Force officer she worked with our NATO allies and in the United Kingdom. Then in 1989, she became Director for European Defense Policy and Arms Control on the National Security Council staff at the White House.

You can read the rest at the above link.

Another woman possibly in the hunt would be Alaska’s Governor, Sarah Palin. Any woman who hunts and eats Caribou is OK with me.

In the double minority points column, Condoleeza Rice’s name has been brought up repeatedly. Most recent being the Real Clear Politics’ Write-In Veepstakes, where she took a commanding First Place finish. While I’d like it, the media would replay the taken out of context “Who could have expected terrorists to attack with commercial aircraft” line over and over until people were hearing it in their sleep.

Also in the Veepstakes, J.C. Watts and Michael Steel’s names came in rather highly (2nd and 4th respectively), but I don’t see any significant amount of political capital with either of these two, though it shouldn’t count them out of the running completely. Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal tied with Fred in 6th place of the poll (along with Romney and Charlie Crist), but I believe that state needs Jindal to scrub out the corruption too badly to consider yanking him into national office.

I’m open to any other suggestions y’all might have. Drop them in the comments.

But just take this into account: Local leftists, riding high on Obama’s crushing of Hillary in the WA-D caucuses have begun wondering “Where will Republicans flee to?”, presumably after the (D) candidate wins. I’ve seen this posed at the DUMB and other leftist sites in recent weeks, and while they all claim this is just them being cheeky, I wouldn’t put it past them to get oddly dangerous.

Like I said at the beginning, clean yer guns, but you should also make an honest attempt at not having to use them.

Posted in Count ANY Vote | 6 Comments

Still Undecided: Part Two

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Phil Kadath

Last Wednesday, I asked y’all which was more dangerous

The idealogue who has ideas and will stop at nothing to enact them, no mater how stupid or dangerous the ideas are, or

The power hungry, but highly intelligent person who wants only to extend of their own power?

Now, we’re currently tied in the negotiations on this with two comments going for each.

The reason I asked this was I was looking to go a-caucusin’ this weekend, but like I said yesterday, I was backing up on bile after reading party platforms and just couldn’t go through with it.

I still get the chance to vote in the primary one week from tomorrow though, so I’m just going to let you know that these ideals still apply, only now were talking about Huckabee as the former example, verses McCain as the latter one.

The Washington State Republican Party is full of short-bus riding mofos, as can be witnessed by the results being contested by Huckabee after the state party chair himself announced a winner with only 87% of the vote in (there was around 200 votes separating McCain and Huckabee and still 1500 or so to count). Hell, even before the R’s had 20% of their votes reported, some CNN commentator who used to live in Washington was able to tell the CNN news chick running the show that the WA-R’s had their heads up their asses as an organization (and even with this jackassery, the 2004 Gubernatorial candidate, Dino Rossi, was still able to beat Gregiore).

So, the Dem delegates were decided on Saturday and my vote on a D-ballot won’t matter for squat, I’ll have to make a choice on the 19th: Vote for an (R) I don’t support to give second half of the WA-R delegates to, the first half being given out to whomever wins Saturday’s caucuses, or skip the R-Pres Primary and vote on an Independent ballot for everything else being decided that day.

Any and all suggestions for this moral dilemma are welcome.

Posted in Count ANY Vote | 1 Comment

Sunday time

Posted on February 10, 2008 by Phil Kadath

It always seems to go too fast, as of late, so make it slow down with Victor Davis Hanson’s latest

I was watching on television last week both Barack Obama and his wife Michelle speak about the supposedly depression-like conditions in the US, and a people strapped by students loans, near hungry, and without hope of betterment. Neither said anything of substance, though both were engaging, effective speakers. Still, never has so much talent been invested in saying so little.

If you were to believe them, we are in a sort of “It’s A Wonderful Life,” Frank Capra-era housing depression, not a boom-and-bust cycle where for the last five years, rival television shows proliferate on “flipping” houses (in which strapped investors and rookies borrow against rising equity to put in granite counters and stainless steel appliances for quick flip sales).

I have developed a bad habit up in the Sierra (Huntington Lake is hardly Tahoe) of asking strangers about their playthings—big boats, jet-skis, jacked-up four wheel-drive trucks with chrome struts that require a ladder to enter, all-terrain vehicles, recreation vehicles, racing-type snow-mobiles, etc. Most of these toys cost several thousand dollars. I am struck by the background of most that I meet who are driving them: the owners are electricians, cops, plumbers, teachers, government inspectors, etc. So far very few lawyers, doctors, and investors.

Count me in the “jacked up four-wheel drive trucks” category here in the next couple day. Most likely I will not be needing a ladder for entry, but I am already questioning my ability to swing my legs up those extra few inches when I’m wearing my flannel-lined Carharts.

He’s right when he’s talks about “The Toys”.

Folks are having to sell their toys, which they really couldn’t afford in the first place, because they didn’t buy them outright, they used their credit. Now they’re in debt and the toys have to go. This, along with the constant media line of “how bad it is out there” that makes them feel like we’re living in 1929. Stupid self-pitying freaks.

The other scenario I’m seeing is the need to sell the “old toys” to buy the new toys. That was how it was when I was brought up, but I’m hearing my co-workers bitch about how they really wanted to keep it for the son (or wife, or nephew, or the neighbor kids, etc.) and I’m just about sick of it.

They can’t keep they’re current Tonka truck AND get a new one, and it is the government’s fault.

Actually, it is the government’s fault, though not because the economy is beginning to slow down, but because tax rates are too damn high. I did the taxes up for the wife and I last weekend: Between Withholding, SSI and Medicare, there was 30% taken right off the top. Add in the state, county and local bullshit taxes and I’m losing 45% of my income to some government department. And that is not even counting the near 10% sales tax! The Mom, who is retired, drove cars around for a local dealership and made a whole $600 in the fiscal year of 2007. The fed took 1/3 of it last week.

I tell this to these guys and they get jacked up the right direction for a couple days until they hear some media bullshit and get their attitude gets spun 180 degrees and I have to remind them again of where the problem is really at.

Bah!

I’d like for them to spend some time playing Guess Which Collectivist Said It at The People’s Cube

But since I can’t tell them about it until the work week, why don’t you give it a shot.

Have a good Sunday. And now if you’ll excuse me, it’ll be 08:00 very soon (20:00 for me) and it’s time for grilled Flat Iron steaks and beer.

Posted in Life in the Atomic Age | 2 Comments

They be decidin’ and stuff

Posted on February 9, 2008 by Phil Kadath

Yes, today is the day for Washingtonians to decide whom the Washington State Democrat Party is going to support for President on the (D) ticket.

And yes, actual Primary voting won’t be taking place until Tuesday, February the 19th, and that is fine, because with the Washington State Democrat Party, the voters don’t matter unless they’ve taken the party pledge and they can mail them requests for money.

Because Democrats love the Caucus!

But not everyone is happy with it. Here are some Letters to the Editor on the subject

My wife and I are very frustrated with the caucus system.

My wife, a public librarian, has to work on Saturday, as do many other civic-minded people. I have sporting commitments with our three children.

Instead, a different demographic of folks with different ideas will decide who will be our Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

I will vote in the primary, but what real good does that do? The decision will already be made.

Julian Slane

And another one expressing frustration with the “Pick a Party” ballot we have to use

Good grief! We use an absentee ballot and find we must vote either Democrat or Republican. No choice for the undecided.

Now I read in The Times that the Democrats will not pay any attention to the ballot votes that come in and will use only what the caucuses decide.

Our election process in the state of Washington is in jeopardy.

Robert Ely

This guy must not be a Democrat. He’s thinking too logically

As an independent, I am effectively barred from the voting public; I’m too liberal to be a conservative and too conservative to be a liberal.

I am already on too many mailing lists, and I automatically get on one if I must choose Republican or Democrat. But then, I’m not an extremist: I’m too fat to be thin, too thin to be fat, too tall to be short, but too short to be tall, too poor to be rich, but too rich to be poor.

In our present either/or society, is it any wonder the country is polarized?

C. Wight Reade

I was actually thinking about going out this morning to play with the Dems’ process, seeing as how The Maverick vs. The Schuckster contest doesn’t interest me.

Then I took a read of the Washington State Democrat Party’s platform that I’d have to pledge to forward. After recovering from repeatedly throwing up in my mouth, I deicided to stay home.

Way to be Democratic about things, Democrats!

Posted in The Left is Never Right | 1 Comment

The Soundboard: Special Saturday Big Pimpin’ Edition

Posted on February 9, 2008 by Phil Kadath

So it seems I slept through another media brouhaha yesterday

A distasteful comment about Chelsea Clinton by an MSNBC anchor could imperil Hillary Rodham Clinton’s participation in future presidential debates on the network, a Clinton spokesman said.

In a conference call with reporters, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson on Friday excoriated MSNBC’s David Shuster for suggesting the Clinton campaign had “pimped out” 27-year old Chelsea by having her place phone calls to celebrities and Democratic Party “superdelegates” on her mother’s behalf.

Yaaawn. Always the victims, those Clintons.

Yaaawn again.

Anyway, this track was going to be the Thursday tunage until the Romney thing broke. Good thing that HRC’s staff found something for me to tie it too, because I was grasping at straws for one on Thursday.

Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others – The Smiths

Buy it here, and then you can decide what the “bigger” stands for.

Its cold, blustery and rainy for the forseeable future up around these parts. I’m predicting a Smiths marathon weekend whilst I contemplate a Morrissey/Marr Presidential ticket.

Posted in Color me confused, Kewel! | Leave a comment

Preparing for a lifetime

Posted on February 9, 2008 by Phil Kadath

Of getting his ass kicked.

The issue of being transgender usually pops up with students in high school. However, a 2nd grade boy wants to dress as a girl and be addressed with a girl’s name.

“As a public school system, our calling is to educate all kids no matter where they come from, what their background is, beliefs, values, it doesn’t matter,” said Whei Wong, Douglas County Schools spokesperson.

Wong says the staff at one of Douglas County’s schools is preparing to accommodate the student and answer questions other students might have. In order to protect the child as much as possible, 9NEWS has chosen not to reveal his school or other names that might identify the child.

He’s what, eight years old? How can someone who hasn’t even hit puberty yet “know” he wants to be a girl?

Well, actually, looking at the university acceptance rate statistics on a female versus male level, maybe he’s setting himself up for the Ivy League? Will they still be accepting male applications for college by the year 2018?
Found at the AoSHQ

Posted in Freaks, Mutants, and Morons | 1 Comment