| And so it begins... |
[20 Jun 2009|12:14pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 chipper |
] |
We're leaving to go to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for our annual family vacation.
See you guys in a week!
-Az
|
|
| Why Do Liberals Bleed? |
[18 Jun 2009|02:39am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 contemplative |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
"Berkeley is a city of victims. You try to understand the street people and the criminals and sit down and talk to them and then they hit you on the head and steal your purse. The police come and then you refuse to press charges. The criminals know this and prey on you."
--Unknown Berkeley Police Officer
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/06/why_do_liberals_bleed.html
Click it and read it!
-Az
|
|
| Guns in Parks: The Hoplophobes’ Travel Guide to the United States |
[30 May 2009|10:36pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
accomplished |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
Guns in Parks: The Hoplophobes’ Travel Guide to the United States
by David Kopel
Last week, President Obama signed a bill which, besides changing credit card laws, says that in National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges, the laws about gun carrying will be the same as in the host state. So in Colorado, for example, you will be allowed to carry a concealed handgun in Rocky Mountain National Park, if you have a state-issued concealed carry permit. In Vermont’s Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, you can carry at will, since no permit is required for carry in the rest of Vermont. In New Jersey’ Gateway National Recreation Area, you will need a permit, and since almost no-one in New Jersey except retired police is ever granted a permit, almost no-one will be able to carry there.
The law goes into effect nine months hence, as do the changes in credit card laws.
I was one of seven authors whom the New York Times invited to contribute a short essay on the new law, for the Times’ on-line opinion feature, Room for Debate. All seven essays, from diverse pro/con viewpoints, were pretty good, I thought. The comments from readers, however, were voluminous but often very weak. Many of them consisted of left-over talking points from the gun control debate circa 1971, with assertions that no serious scholar of the gun issue believes. For example, many commenters claimed that it is impossible to use a gun in self-defense, because the attacker (whether a human or an animal) will have the element of surprise, that ordinary people are not competent to use guns for protection, and so on. Yet even the strongest scholarly advocates of gun control acknowledge that there are about a hundred thousand defensive gun uses annually, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which is conducted by the Census Bureau and the United State Department of Justice. (Other scholars argue for higher figures, but the key point is that no informed scholar claims that successful defensive use is rare or non-existent.)
Surprisingly, some of the commenters showed signs of mental illness. One commenter wrote that if he saw someone in a National Park with a gun, he would report the person for making criminal threats. (“Well, watch out, gunnut gunwack gunsels. If I see your gun while I am visiting the parks, I will file a complaint accusing you of threatening me.”)
Now perhaps that commenter himself is just an ordinary criminal, and for many years has been breaking the law by making false accusations against innocent people. On the other hand, the commenter might not have been intending to make a knowingly false report, but instead to have been accurately predicted what he, with complete sincerity, would do. A person’s belief, without a sufficient basis, that other people are committing crimes against him, is a symptom of Paranoid Personality Disorder.
The more common form of apparent mental illness among some commenters was Hoplophobia, which is described in the book Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of Anxiety Disorders. A word of explanation: having a strong dislike or hatred of something is not, in itself, an indication of mental illness. For example, a person hates frogs, considers them disgusting, tries to avoid looking at frogs or touching them, and writes letters to the editor urging that all frogs be exterminated. This is not per se a sign of mental illness. Poor judgment, perhaps, but not a mental disorder.
So the vast majority of people who hate frogs, snakes, spiders, dogs, cats, guns, animals, George Bush, or anything else are not mentally ill.
Something becomes a Specific Phobia, clinically speaking, when it significantly interferes with ordinary life activities. For example, “I turned down a job offer as a ticket-taker at the Natural History Museum, because I am afraid if I might see a child carrying a plush frog toy that was purchased in the museum gift shop.” Or, “I refuse to visit my son who is a chef in a French restaurant, because I know that he has handled frog legs, and I terrified that he might shake my hand.”
Among the New York Times commenters, there were plenty of gun haters, the large majority of whom exhibited no sign of mental illness. Yet several of them wrote that they often visit national parks, enjoyed the visits, but now, because of the new federal law, they would not set foot in a National Park.
Now, as my Times essay had explained, and other commenters had reiterated, the new federal law simply means that the rule inside federal parks will be the same as in the host state. So the odds of running into a person legally carrying a firearm at, say, the Johnstown Flood National Memorial in Pennsylvania would be pretty close to the odds running into a legally armed person while walking down the streets of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
In other words, someone who avoids National Parks because of the new law is saying that he is afraid of being in place where most of the adult population has the legal right to carry a firearm, after licensing, a background check, and safety training. Meaning, of course, 40 of our 50 states.
Having so much hatred, or fear, of guns that you can’t handle the ordinary, daily conditions of 4/5 of the American states would imply a rather significant interference with ordinary activities. That is, a phobia. The specific name for this phobia is “Hoplophobia.” Although Hoplophobia would be a good name for fear of hopping animals such as frogs and kangaroos, the word’s root is “hoplon”—from an ancient Greek shield that could be used offensively or defensively.
A caveat on the diagnosis: The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders includes, as part of the diagnosis for a phobia, that “The person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable. Note: In children, this feature may be absent.” That condition is not met by the New York Times commenters, who appear to see themselves as eminently reasonable, and to consider anyone who would carry a firearm for protection as self-evidently crazy and dangerous. I don’t think that the diagnosis of a phobia should require insight on the part of the phobic. If a person won’t go to public places because he is afraid of balloons, then he would have a phobia, even if he considered himself eminently rational, and could recite statistics about all the people who have been seriously injured by balloons. (As was one of my relatives, when a Mylar balloon in a department store popped, and left her blind in one eye.)
Generally speaking, a mentally ill person has a better chance of being cured if he wants to be cured, and so the first step towards mental health is recognizing that one is mentally ill. So in the interest of perhaps encouraging some Hoplophobes to admit that they have a problem, here is a travel guide to the United States, based on the presumption that a person refuses to go any place where most adults can lawfully carry firearms for protection.
For convenience’s sake, let’s presume that the victim of Hoplophobia lives in Manhattan. Of course most people in Manhattan, including most Manhattanites who hate guns, are not Hoplophobes. But the island is a place to which Hoplophobes often migrate, perhaps as a form of self-treatment, trying to place themselves in a place where their phobia is less likely be triggered.
So starting in Manhattan, you can enjoy the entire Empire State, a large and interesting place. If you feel a desire to leave New York, be extremely careful about heading east. Going into Connecticut will immediately put you in a place where the government routinely issues carry permits to law-abiding, trained adults. In other words, Connecticut is just as dangerous as a National Park.
Vermont is even worse, with no permits even required for carrying concealed handguns. And everyone knows how dangerous Vermont is. New Hampshire and Maine are similar to Connecticut, and must be avoided.
Massachusetts is safe, as long as you cross directly into the state, without going through Connecticut. Rhode Island is good too, providing that you approach it via Massachusetts, or take a ferry from eastern Long Island. A trip through Connecticut would obviously be too risky.
New Jersey is the Hoplophobe’s Garden State. Its licensing practices are much more severe than New York City’s. In New Jersey, not even diamond merchants or celebrities can get carry permits.
From New Jersey, you must go south to Delaware. Do not even think of crossing into Pennsylvania. It is a Shall Issue state for carry licenses, similar to Maine or New Hampshire.
Maryland is also safe, and from there you can go to the District of Columbia, whose very strict gun laws have made it notoriously safe.
If you want to fly to D.C., take a plane to the Baltimore airport, and then rent a car or take a bus. Do not fly to either of the D.C. airports. They are both located in Virginia, and the danger that you could be shot by a gun-crazy Virginian while traveling through Virginia into D.C. is nearly as high as the odds that you will get shot by a gun nut while in a National Park. Stay away from Arlington National Cemetery; it is in Virginia, and the people buried there were gun users.
Needless to say, the entire Southeast is off limits. So is almost everything from Pennsylvania west. It is OK to fly to Illinois, and enjoy that state, since it does not even have procedures for issuing carry permits. The South Side of Chicago is an especially safe place to go, thanks to the handgun ban in the city.
Like Illinois, Wisconsin has no provision for handgun carry licenses, and so was safe until 2005, when the state Supreme Court ruled that people had a constitutional right to keep and carry guns in their place of business. After that, you could still go to Wisconsin, as long as you never entered a place of business. But now, the state Attorney General has advised that people have a right to open carry without a permit, and thus the Badger State is far too dangerous to contemplate a visit.
So is all the rest of the Midwest. So are all the Rocky Mountain states. So is the entire Southwest.
The Pacific Coast is mixed. Washington and Oregon are Shall Issue states. Alaska allows carry without a permit, and besides that, the mere thought of Sarah Palin can trigger anxiety attacks in Hoplophobes.
California is safe, except for some of the rural counties, where sheriffs issue permits to law-abiding citizens. Permits are close to non-existent in Los Angeles, making South Central L.A. an especially safe area for the Hoplophobe.
Permits are also hard to get in Hawaii. So you can visit Haleakala National Park without worrying that someone on the trail up the volcano may have a gun.
In addition, New York’s airports are gateways to the world, and you can travel to many global locations which are even stricter than New York City in their restrictions on gun ownership. You may find Cuba, Darfur, and North Korea to be especially pleasant places.
David B. Kopel is Research Director of the Independence Institute, in Golden, Colorado.
-Az
|
|
|
[21 May 2009|10:12pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
accomplished |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
I have moved my website over to a MUCH better host. If any friends or family would like an e-mail account at my website (yourname@asbrand.com) let me know. I have unlimited POP3 e-mail boxes I can make.
I can also give you an e-mail "forwarder" so that anything sent to "yourname@asbrand.com" gets sent to your "real" e-mail address.
If interested, let me know!
-Az
|
|
| Star Trek... |
[17 May 2009|07:03pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 apathetic |
] |
Saw the new Trek movie today. Didn't hate it. Didn't love it. Mostly just 'meh...
Is like Trek dumbed down for people with short attention spans.
And, I was right. Typical JJ Abrams style of "throw as much crap on the screen at one time to overload the senses..."
-Az
|
|
| The "So-Called" Gunshow Loophole... |
[08 May 2009|05:03am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 irritated |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
There *IS* no such animal as the "gunshow loophole" that the anti-gun bunch are now trying to force down the throats of US citizens.
http://www.i2i.org/main/article.php?article_id=533
Close the gun show loophole, demands Handgun Control, Inc., and its Colorado surrogates. In fact, existing gun laws apply just as much to gun shows as they do to any other place where guns are sold. Since 1938, persons selling firearms have been required to obtain a federal firearms license. The federal Gun Control Act specifically states that a licensed dealer must comply with all laws, including record keeping, when making a transfer at a gun show. 18 U.S.Code 923(j).
If a dealer sells a gun from a storefront, from a room in his home or from a table at a gun show, the rules are exactly the same: he can get authorization from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for the sale only after the CBI runs its instant background check (which often leads to false denials based on CBIs inadequate records).
Conversely, people who are not engaged in the business of selling firearms, but who sell firearms from time to time (such as a man who sells a hunting rifle to his brother-in-law), are not required to obtain the federal license required of gun dealers or to call the CBI before completing the sale.
Similarly, if a gun collector dies and his widow wants to sell the guns, she does not need a federal firearms license because she is just selling off inherited property and is not engaged in the business. And if the widow doesnt want to sell her deceased husband's guns by taking out a classified ad in the newspaper, it is lawful for her to rent a table at a gun show and sell the entire collection.
If you walk along the aisles at any gun show, you will find that the overwhelming majority of guns offered for sale are from federally licensed dealers. Guns sold by private individuals (such as gun collectors getting rid of a gun or two over the weekend) are the distinct minority.
Handgun Control, Inc., claims that 25-50 percent of the vendors at most gun shows are unlicensed dealers. That statistic is true only if one counts vendors who are not selling guns (e.g., vendors who are selling books, clothing or accessories) as unlicensed dealers.
Now, suppose that someone claiming to be a gun collector is actually operating a firearms business. He rents a table at a gun show 50 weekends a year, and sells 20 guns each weekend. Selling firearms at the rate of 1,000 per year, and conducting a business week after week, he appears to be engaged in the business of selling firearms. If this man does not have a federal firearms license, then he is guilty of a federal felony. Indeed, every separate gun sale constitutes a separate federal felony. (The federal laws are section 922 and 923 of volume 18 of the U.S. Code.)
In short, gun shows are no loophole in the federal laws. If a person is required by federal law to have a federal firearms license, then the requirement applies whether or not the person sells at a gun show. And if a person is not required to have a license, then the persons presence at a gun show does not change the law.
The gun prohibition lobbies express outrage that a person can buy a firearm at a gun show without going through the state background check, though this is only the case when the purchase is made from the minority of tables that do not have an FFL. However, even if the non-FFL gun collector sold his gun from his home rather than from a gun show, a federal background check still would not be required.
Why should the location of the sale determine whether a background investigation will be required?
********************
Pass the word along.
-Az
|
|
| Just.....ewwww.... |
[07 May 2009|02:20am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
indescribable |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
-Az
|
|
| Empowered Women |
[02 May 2009|09:28pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
contemplative |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
-Az
|
|
| Times...they are a'changin'... |
[29 Apr 2009|01:21am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 bored |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
For those who want to know, my work schedule is changing. I'll be working WED - SAT nights for the next 3 months. Ugh...
-Az
|
|
| Motorcycle Driver's Test |
[24 Apr 2009|11:21am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
accomplished |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
Well, I passed my Motorcycle Driver's Test with flying colours!
I can now ride anywhere, with a passenger, and in the dark. :)))
|
|
| Pirates (and not the Captain Jack type)... |
[11 Apr 2009|12:00am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
annoyed |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Silence |
] |
Can someone explain to me, again, why our merchant ship crews aren't armed?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/10/somalia.u.s.ship/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pirates in ships are searching for the lifeboat containing four pirates and their hostage -- the captain of a freighter they failed to hijack earlier this week -- according to a U.S. military official with knowledge of the situation.  Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia. The pirates are using ships they have already hijacked and larger ships from which they are launching skiffs, the official said Friday. One of the pirated ships is the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger, seized April 4 off the coast of Somalia. The U.S. military has been monitoring communications between the pirates, the official said. The guided missile frigate USS Halyburton, with helicopter capabilities, has now joined the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge in the area. A third ship, the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, which has a large medical facility on board, will be there within a day.
...grrr...
How about we send some real ninjas over there...?
-Az
|
|
| Are your guns registered? |
[30 Mar 2009|12:15am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
contemplative |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
I am often surprised by the number of people who ask me if I've "registered my guns" with the government. I look at them like a deer caught in a headlight. I'll then ask "Where on earth did you get the idea that our state registers guns?"
They are *convinced* that all states "register guns" and have a database to look up guns on. Apparently the masses get their info from CSI: Miami or some other such nonsensical TV show.
So...I ask you... Can *you* tell me how many states in the USA register guns? Can you name them? Would you think the majority of states register them?
You may just be surprised...
( Click HERE for the surprising answer... )
-Az
|
|
| Gulf Wars XVIII |
[23 Mar 2009|10:21pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
nostalgic |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
Well...as some of you know, we attended Gulf Wars XVIII last week. We returned late last night. I am still exhausted, even after about 11 hours of sleep today.
(if you dunno what Gulf Wars is...it is a huge SCA "war" near New Orleans. If you don't know what the SCA is...google it.)
After spending 3 solid days trying to finish (or finish "enough") on the Viking Slat Bed, I completed it enough to be used late Tuesday night / Wednesday morning (about 2am). Radu and I then began packing the trailer. Our original plan was to leave by 10am. Well...that didn't happen. Around 6 in the morning, I'd finally had enough, and had to go get *some* sleep if I was going to be driving to MS.
Woke up around 10am or so. We finished packing, getting ready, etc., and managed to *finally* get on the road around 4:30pm. Yes...just in time for Rush Hour traffic in Atlanta. Fortunately, we were going against the flow of Rush Hour on I-75. It wasn't until we got to I-285W that we hit traffic. Once we finally made it around to I-20W, it thinned out some and we were rollin'...
Got about an hour down the road, and we decided to stop at a Hardees and grab a bite to eat. Good thing we did, too. After we ate, Radu went out for a cigarette and was checking out the trailer, and noticed something BAD. Apparently we'd put too much weight on the right side, and it caused that side's spring to lower more than the other one...which in turn, caused that side of the trailer to push up against the right wheel. So, the tire was rubbing up against the side of the trailer. Hadn't caused any permenent damage "yet", but it wouldn't make it all the way to site. Luckily the Hardees parking lot was VERY well lit, and we proceeded to unpack the trailer, and move some of the wood to the beds up on top of the van (where the yurt wood was already stored). As we were doing this, a very nice trucker gave us a couple of packing straps to help hold it all down. Took us about 2 hours to get everything re-sorted, re-packed, and ready to go.
The rest of the trip down was uneventful, until we got around Meridian, MS. That's when the fog set in. I don't mean a little fog here and there. I mean "London pea soup thick" fog...! Good thing we had the GPS so we could actually see where we were.
We arrived on site around 3am, and drove past the hotel at the entrance to the campground, and drove around the lake, looking for Troll. We got stopped at what used to be the "back" entrance, which was now the front entrance, and told that Troll was now back up at the Hotel. :-| So, we turned around, and headed back. Finally found troll. No signs anywhere. How the hell are you supposed to know it was there? Got trolled in, and that's when I made my "we're here" post.
Slowly drove back into the campground, trying to find the folks we were gonna be camping with. We roughly knew where they were, but it was so foggy, we couldn't see squat. We stopped at the Bastermark camp (permenent camp, we'd camped with 'em before, so we knew where that was) and entered the Long Hall. Luckily for us, some of the folks we were to camp with were in there partying, so they walked us over to our camp and showed us where to setup.
We drove the van/trailer around there and started unloading. We got the Yurt built and put up, the Beds setup, Radu's wedge tent up, and all the stuff unloaded by around 11am. At this point I'd gone past tired, blown through exhausted, and driving on towards "too tired to sleep". Tori and I drove the van/trailer out to the outer reaches of hell, also known as the parking "lot" (more like a parking pasture with fire ants) and made the walk back to camp. It was Thursday of war, we were tired, cranky, and needed beer. So, we just hung around camp, ate, drank, then walked to merchants and shopped a wee bit.
Speaking of Merchants... A few weeks before the event, my VISA debit card decided it didn't wanna work any longer. The magnetic strip was hosed. So, I asked my bank to replace it. They said it'd take a week or two to get to me, and they'd send the PIN a day or two after. No problem. I had a PayPal debit card linked to the account, so I wasn't worried. I should have been... For *some* reason, my PayPal debit card won't work as a debit card any longer. It'll work fine as a credit card, but it won't let me get cash out. And I made sure the PIN was correct. Luckily, my new debit card from the bank arrived a few days before we were to leave. However...the PIN didn't... In fact, it didn't arrive until Saturday, the last day of the event. So...it did me no good. We had *NO* cash all event long. If a merchant took VISA, it was all good...we got some cool stuff...but not nearly what I wanted to get. And, we had to scrape up change for ice. Grrrrr....
Anyhue... The event was great. I didn't fight at all on Friday (back was still hurting) but I did watch the field battles. I did fight on Saturday in the castle battle, and then joined a William Marshal Tourney hosted by Meridies afterwards. Got no kills in the battle (but helped steal some spears, opened up some shields for my spearmen to get kills, etc.), but I did get 4 kills in the Tourney. Not bad for an old fart who'd not been in armour in a year.
Had about 4 or 5 folks come up to me asking if I was the guy in the Gulf Wars CBS special video from back in 2003. Yep...that was me. One guy even commented "so...I see you are still wearing the same stuff since the CBS special, 'eh?" *grin*
Saturday night, me, the wife, and Radu went out partying. Last night of the war. I took my special bottle of Cuban Rum a friend brought me from Costa Rica when he visited there with his wife. You can't get this stuff in the USA. Drank rum and Diet Dr. Lynn (Ingle's "Dr. Pepper" knockoff) all night. Got toasted. Dunno how I managed to find my way back to the camp, but I did. Passed out in bed and was the last one awake Sunday morning.
We got everything packed up by about 2pm and headed off site. I started out driving, but immediately was nodding off and almost falling asleep. I let Radu take over and I got in the middle seat next to Dasha, and crashed for a few hours. Then swapped off again and drove the rest of the way home. Zhenya was wiped out, and slept almost the entire way.
I have one hell of a sunburn on my face. Looks goofy since I was wearing my headwrap...so the top half of my forehead is white, and from there down is a lobster red. Nose is already peeling.
While I caught up on sleep today, since I had to work tonight, Radu and Zhenya unloaded the trailer and van. Many many thanks to them both. :)
I'm now back at work...and already bored...would rather have been back at Gulf Wars. Can't wait till next year!
-Az
|
|
| Gulf Wars |
[19 Mar 2009|04:21am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 tired |
] |
We finally arrived on site at Gulf Wars. 10 hour trip...should have been 6. Long story...details later.
-Az
|
|
| Court rules that legislator did not mean what he said... |
[17 Mar 2009|11:32am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
discontent |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Computers |
] |
Just exactly how *stupid* can one judge be? You tell me...
http://www.examiner.com/x-5619-Atlanta-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d13-Court-Rules-that-Legislator-Did-Not-Mean-What-He-Said
Court rules that legislator did not mean what he said  GeorgiaCarry.Org Attorney John Monroe serving Rep. Bearden's lawsuit on Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin during a press conference at the airport. In spite of this picture, she initially claimed she was not served. News outlets across the country are reporting that a federal appeals court in Atlanta yesterday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that sought to stop the City of Atlanta from arresting people carrying firearms in the unsecured areas of Atlanta’s airport. The consequence of yesterday’s ruling is that Georgians with firearms licenses who carry firearms at the airport or in its parking lots may risk arrest on felony charges carrying a penalty of up to twenty years in prison and a $15,000 fine. The basis for the judges’ decision is a determination that the new law was not intended to include airports. Ironically, Georgia General Assembly Representative Tim Bearden (R-68), who wrote the new law, is also the plaintiff who filed the lawsuit to enforce it. It is a rare event for the author of a law to be a party arguing in court over what the law means, and it is extremely rare for the court to conclude that the law meant something completely different from what its writer intended. ( The REST of the story... )
|
|
| For My Honey... |
[10 Mar 2009|08:32am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
amused |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sound of Silence |
] |
:)))))
Love you SO much!
-Az
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Feed