Blog
United Nations
The Future of The U.N.?
I agree with Krauthammer; we could first move the occupants of the building over to Rikers Island until they were able to make travel arrangements for their trip back home.
/fl
Politics
Lame Ducks and Left Wings
Obama has repeatedly said that the biggest regret of his presidency was his failure to pass more federal gun laws....
For a guy who says his biggest regret is not passing more gun control laws, President Barack Obama sure is pardoning a lot of criminals who’ve violated the gun laws already on the books.
They almost always live up to their expectations!
/fl
Culture
Humbuggery
noun
1. pretense; sham.
Example:
It's time to connect the dots. Since Illinois has allowed conceal and carry of loaded guns in public, shooting deaths have increased 84% and the number of annual shootings has increased a whopping 94%. [1]Allowing people to hide loaded guns in public has not made us safer.
The above quote, from the Windy City Times would have you believe that it is the citizen's with a "conceal and carry" license that are causing an increase in shootings and shooting deaths. It has been proven that citizen's that have obediently jumped through all of the bureaucratic hoops, including a background check, being fingerprinted and photographed, that are required in order for them to get a permit to carry a concealed firearm are, as a group, more law-abiding than the police.
Instead of depriving law-abiding citizen's of their right to defend themselves, organizations such as Gun Violence Prevention PAC IL need to re-examine the cause of the violence.
Focus on the truth for a change!
/fl
History
Remington Arms Company
A couple of very notable things happened in the year 1816; the great state of Indiana joined the Union, and back East in Ilion, NY, Eliphalet Remington founded a new start-up company under the name E. Remington and Sons. Both Indiana and Remington are still doing well, and making valuable contributions to the USA.
Not only did E. Remington & Sons supply a large proportion of the small arms used by the United States government in the Civil War, but Remington Arms Co. has produced over 10,000,000 Model 870 pump-action shotguns (number 10M went out the factory door on April 13, 2009), and for more than a half-century now has been producing the ubiquitous Remington Model 700 rifle, along with many other model firearms.
Happy bicentennial to both Indiana and Remington!
/fl
Civil Rights
Where Do Civil Rights Come From?
A popular invalid argument about guns that borders on heresy:
Lucy McBath, featured in the documentary The Armor of Light, argues that the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not trump the second commandment of the Bible.
Where to begin?
In the first place, idolatry is definitely a worldwide problem, but I'm not sure what it has to do with this particular argument, except to maybe reveal McBath's confusion.
McBath seems to think that civil rights originate with the government, when in fact our right's are held to be preexisting and "unalienable".
She seems to think that the Second Amendment deals with a 'collective' right that applies only to a "militia", when it is well established and accepted that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right. Read D.C. v. Heller
And, the word "kill" found in some translations of Exodus Chapter 20:13 is a mis-translation; the correct translation's use the word "murder." Read Exodus 20:13. There is a big difference between 'killing' and 'murder'.
Fundamentally, the "Second Commandment" has nothing to do with the "Second Amendment"!
/fl
NICS
An example of why arbitrary lists won't work for NICS
You can sum up all of the reasons why the so-called "terrorist watch list" or "no-fly" list cannot reliably be included in the NICS process with two words; those words are Olga Cox.
For example, Olga Cox, who is listed as "Instructor - Psychology" on the faculty roster of Orange Coast College in California, has openly branded Trump/Pence supporters as "terrorists." Not only that, but she is openly teaching this stuff to her students!
Who is to say that Olga Cox, or someone like her, would not be willing to arbitrarily include the name of anyone who supports Trump/Pence on any secret list — on any list that does not require due process or probable cause? To do so would deprive that person of a civil right guaranteed by the Constitution.
/fl
Safety
The Silent Killer
This is a good time of year to remind ourselves that carbon monoxide is a constant invisible threat around any combustion source, be it cooking, genset, or an upwind neighbor with their motor running.
While the CO threat exists all year long, it is usually this time of year when cruising sailors find themselves in a closed-up cabin trying to stay warm. The RYA has produced a dramatic video reminder of the hazard:
Stay safe!
/fl
Navigation Safety
Rule 5?
When you gotta' go, you gotta' go... but:
Nap Time, a recreational cruising boat, runs into the starboard side of a huge Washington State ferry going from Tacoma to Vachon Island in broad daylight.... it turns out, according to a local TV station, that Nap Time‘s captain, the only person on board at the time, was below, using the head.
Rule 5 of the COLREGS requires that all vessels, shall at all times, maintain a proper lookout. That's why some towboats have a head in the pilothouse. That said, there appears to be room for debate concerning the give-way status in this case. I'm not going to enter that debate because I'm not familiar with the conditions surrounding this incident. But, it's a well known fact that nobody can use the NAVRULES to justify a collision, and there is certainly no justification for ignoring them.
When you're on autopilot, doing your business in the head, with nobody on the helm, hearing 5 short blasts from a 250Hz horn close off the bow is probably more effective than exlax!
/fl
Law and Order
School Safety
Is it possible for left wing ideologue's to make a point without fabrication?
A group calling themselves Sandy Hook Promise recently released a video that is supposed to deal with the problem of school shootings.
"While you were watching Evan, another student was showing signs of planning a shooting" says the video....
Nobody may have noticed any of the ambiguous "signs of planning", but we did notice a guy come through the gym door carrying a bag and a rifle, we watched him drop the bag and rack the action on the rifle — and we noticed that there was nobody around capable of responding to the threat. Why?
The threat in the video could have been neutralized before he got off a single round if there had been a trained responder present.
/fl