My Immortal Soul In Peril

I had a rather spiritual experience yesterday (on a Sunday; how apropos!). Here I was, shopping amidst the crowds at Costco, with little to be happy about with so many people around me. My only source of joy at that point was the case of Spaten Octoberfest Marzen sitting there in my shopping cart. I was going to buy that beer. I was going to take it home and refrigerate it. And I was, by God, going to drink it.

Well, my plan was all well and good, despite each and every checkout line looking like a tribute to the DMV. That is, until I reached the register at 11:54 a.m. CDT with, among other things, my Liquid Happiness. Thank All That Is Holy, that the cashier was attentive to his duties - not that he had a choice, because the computer wouldn't have allowed it - or else I would have been able to purchase that case of beer before 12:00 p.m. in Texas. I would have bought it, walked out into the parking lot, and immediately and irreversibly had my soul wrenched from my body and dragged, kicking and screaming, to the very depths of Hell. Oh, perish the thought!

***********************

Today's motivational spiritual testimony brought to you by the blue laws of the State of Texas, without which the Lone Star State would be able to purchase the damning beverage before high noon.



tweaker

OH NOES!

It appears that I have been Blacklisted!

Blogger North, whom I did not know was stalking me, finally decided that I have offended the world enough with my words and added me to the Gun Blog Black List. You can find me a couple spots down from Marko.

squeeeee!

I'm in good company there!



tweaker

Good with the Bad

I had an experience yesterday that left me with what could be argued as the textbook definition of mixed feelings.

I was putting some gas in my truck yesterday afternoon, right after picking The Little Girl up from after-school care. She was in the passenger seat, and I was standing next to my truck watching the numbers go up faster than I'd like them to. I tossed around just using the cash I had on hand, because I wasn't filling up; that's budgeted for Sunday. I just needed a little. Damn, only $6. That won't get me far in a 400-horse Tundra. Okay, then. Keep the cash for breakfast tacos and coffee, put $20 on the Magic Money Card. Alrighty, then.

I was leaning up against the truck right around the time that I'd normally look on the other side of the pump, around the truck, and then around the parking lot. As I'm watching the numbers go, a guy appears damn-near right in front of me, right between the gas pump and the big column. I snapped to as he very briefly explained that he was kinda stranded and needed some gas. I took just long enough to assess him, his girlfriend who was approaching but 10 feet on the other side of the pump, and a quick way out. I put both hands in my pockets; one on my keyfob to lock the truck, and the other on my wallet.

I was coming home from work, and was not wearing a gun. Fuck.

He didn't get any closer, so I pulled my wallet and backed away from him some. I pulled out the cash I had, handed it to him and said, "Here's six bucks. That oughta get you somewhere. Take care." He accepted it, thanked me, and turned to his girl as they walked away.

*********************

So, mixed feelings. I felt pretty good. Normally, I don't have any cash on me. When I do, it's usually my lunch money for the week (that we budget carefully, else I'll go nuts and have a coronary when I see how much I spent eating out at the end of the month). I didn't think about the rest of the week, or the tacos that I'd miss. I just handed him what I had because being stuck somewhere sucks. I gave him enough for a couple gallons of gas which, in the little car they were driving, oughta get 'em a pretty good way, provided they aren't aiming at L.A. or something. Yeah, I felt pretty good.

I also felt like a fucking idiot for leaving myself wide open to get, well, whatever he might have been there to give. I was caught completely off my guard. If he'd had trouble on his mind, and half a mind to plan it, he could have bum-rushed me before I could have even locked my truck. God only knows how far that could have gone, or what I could have done to defend myself.

Well, that won't be happening again. Eyes open, head out of the clouds. It ain't just me that's counting on me.



tweaker

Bill of what to the who?

No, dude, no. It's the Bill of Rights. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution? The. Bill. Of. Oh, fuck it. Nevermind.

Well, at least one judge in America has heard of it. Between the ruling itself, and his opinion which actually included the words "Orwellian" and "Oceania" (!!!), I'm sure he's probably being investigated for domestic terrorism right now.

Scary times, these.



tweaker

Fun, and the Having of It

There is a little secret - a guilty pleasure, if you will - that I have. One of those things that, when someone else finds out, gets you looked at strangely. There are some out there that share this little secret with me.

I love to solder.

There. I said it. Oh, how I love to solder! I can do it for hours and hours, and never tire of it. The smell of burning flux, the way molten tin/lead looks like mercury, the Building of Things. It's always fun.

My career being in audio, I have built many a cable in my day. Literally thousands upon thousands of TRS, XLR, and RCA connectors found their permanent home on account of me. I build them short. I build them long. I split signals, or bring them back together. I build adapters. Want to connect Device A to Device B? I can build that. Need to get the unbalanced stereo output from your mixer into a line-in on your laptop? Hell, I made one of those yesterday, and I'll make two spares today, because Two Is One And One Is None (and because I get to build it).

Today, I'll build an adapter to allow both channels of a stereo output to combine in the left ear of a set of studio headphones, and both channels of a different stereo output to combine in the right ear of the same headphone. Could that be done with a mixer? Sure, if you want to pay for a mixer. Or, I could build it. Oh, yes. Yes I can.

This is where I stop, because it's even starting to creep me out.



tweaker

My Hero

After an interview with Piers Morgan, who sheds some of his Highness and Mightiness upon him, Penn Jillette wrote an article for CNN.com. I read the article, and decided that, by golly, I loves me some Penn Jillette.

Gotta love a guy who gets his wookie suit on for CNN, had a show called Bullshit, and has a sex dungeon in his house (seriously, he does). I mean I liked him before, but now? Oh, boy:

I don't believe the majority always knows what's best for everyone. The fact that the majority thinks they have a way to get something good does not give them the right to use force on the minority that don't want to pay for it. If you have to use a gun, I don't believe you really know jack. Democracy without respect for individual rights sucks. It's just ganging up against the weird kid, and I'm always the weird kid.

Well, don't that just about nail it?

Mr. Jillette says in the article something I've been saying for quite sometime. "I don't know." You don't have to have a better idea or solution to something before you're allowed to point out that the current idea or solution is wrong. How very libertarian, indeed.

h/t to SayUncle



tweaker

Uh-oh...

Or, oooooohhh, shiny. Can't wait to see how this one goes down. Small, striker fired Beretta in 9mm (.40 capable). Modular (Sig P250, anyone?).

I've been wanting a pocket pistol for a while now. I'll be watching this one very closely.



tweaker

Folks I Look Up To II

There is a list of bloggers I make sure to read each and every day. Most of them have at least something to say daily. Others only update every few days. Others still post many times per day. Each of them unique in their writings and distinct in their foundations, despite the blatantly obvious common thread(s) among them.

One of them is damned good with a camera on top of that, and I'd wager that none who read this blog are unfamiliar with his works. That individual is Oleg Volk. I could literally write thousands of words just to justify the hundreds of links to incredible content that he has provided in defense of firearms ownership. Today, however, he makes a point that not only defends ownership, but whose argument flies directly in the face of gun control by literally using their own argument against them:

…(I)n fact, the misuse of force by criminals and governments is the most compelling reason, far more compelling than sport or hunting, for lawful civilians to stay well armed and trained.

Again, there are a lot of ideas that I agree with that I have believed all along. Maybe if I try real hard and eat my Wheaties everyday, I can write like that.

Oh, and Oleg has only lived in America for 22 years. He lived in Soviet Russia before that. Dude knows first hand what it's like to live under the heel of jack-booted tyranny. Credential enough? Yeah.



tweaker

Folks I Look Up To

There are quite a few bloggers out there that not only get me to their blogs daily, but actually wish I could write like they do. One Miss RobertaX is just such a blogger. Quite the wordsmith BobbiX is, and a fan-friggin-tastic bitter-clinger-flyover-country libertarian bent from which to smith said words is always quite visible in her writings.

Today's post sees some comparison between the current (now, what, four-day-old and counting?) riots in London and the city-fucking that occurred in the City of Angels* back in '92. In a land where self-defense is hard enough with the Law of the Land commanding a significant lack in the best tools for the job, but next to impossible with Scotland Yard coming down hard on those who have the audacity to fight back. Miss Bobbi then draws on the adage:

And armed individual is a citizen. A disarmed individual is a victim.

Truer - or more applicable - words, there are none. But that is merely the statement of fact. The truest justification for the severe application of violence resulting from violence comes from Miss Bobbi in the comments section:

I'm considerably more comfortable with lethal force used against persons in the act of harming others than when it is applied long after the fact.

That, right there, is why I read The Adventures of Roberta X each and every day. Well said, Miss Bobbi.



tweaker

Justice, Except...

So, my eye was caught right away when the headline had the word "Danziger" in it:

Danziger Cops Guilty In Shooting and Cover-up

Well, ain't it about fuckin time? So, I wanted to find out just how guilty they actually got convicted of. Murder? Mass Murder? Let's read some, shall we?

Each defendant faces at least 10 counts, ranging from depravation of rights, to using a weapon under the color of law, to conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Jurors found the officers guilty on almost every count against them.

Uhhh... umm... shouldn't Murdering Someone To Death be the star of the show here? Damned article don't say. I smell something stiiiiiinkeeeeyy! On to more internets, trusty steed!

Jurors did not find that the killing of Ronald Madison rose to the level of murder. And jurors only found Kenneth Bowen guilty of shooting and killing James Brissette.

Did I miss a fucking meeting? Didn't rise to the level of murder? When you deliberately shoot someone that don't need shooting, you have fucking murdered them!!! What in the Wide World of Fuck is wrong with people?!? What kind of degenerate, simpleton, drooling fucktards did they manage to scrape out of the gene pool and into the jury pool to get some mouth-breathers to pass up a murder conviction? FUCK!

And Bowen guilty of shooting and killing, but not murder? You stupid ass-hair! He was convicted of illegally using his fucking gun, illegally shooting someone, and even of shooting and killing someone, and that doesn't qualify for murder?!?





tweaker

Domino Effect

As many of you know, many states have preemption laws for certain delicate areas such as firearms. Basically, the state says that cities, counties, etc. cannot pass laws that are more restrictive than the state law. The idea is that, again using guns as an example, a person who has fulfilled the state's requirement to carry a firearm, is protected from being made criminal by walking into a city where he does something that is legal everywhere else. In the gun community, we refer to that as a "patchwork" of laws, where you never know from one city to the next where something is or isn't legal.

The problems come when a city thumbs its nose at the state preemption laws and passes a city ordinance banning, for instance, (otherwise lawfully) carrying a firearm in a city park. Such ordinances are passed under the guise of public safety, but the state has already addressed the issue and went so far as to specifically forbid the city from addressing it further. The city broke the law, but there's no one to arrest, ticket, try, or imprison for doing so.

The State of Florida finally took steps to enforce its own laws, but in a shocking turn of events the enforcement isn't against the people of the State. Enforcement, for the first time that I am aware of, will be against the people who pass and enforce laws that violate preemption. In Florida, the state preemption on firearms laws was recently given teeth. The new law, which has passed the state legislature and is about to go into effect, actually penalizes lawmakers and enforcers directly and personally.

You read that right: a city councilman will actually be personally fined in the thousands of dollars for taking part in the passing of a law that violates state preemption.

These are the warm and fuzzy feelings I have been getting ever since I heard about the penalties that lawmakers and LEOs would be personally responsible for. In fact, the idea is so far-fetched (given the current view of things) that when I heard about it I had to re-read it a few times to make sure I was reading it correctly, and when I did I wrote it off as a pipe dream that would never see the light of day.

Well, I was wrong. It did, and from that moment, the idea had already transcended just firearm laws. As Robb Allen (who clued me in to the whole thing in the first place and has been all over it ever since) put it:

Why don’t we do this for ALL laws?

Remember, while I may focus on firearms, my end goal is more freedom for all in all facets of our lives.

Yup. These sorts of laws should be on the books from a local town council all the friggin way up to - and including - Washington, D.C. I can see it now: some career Masshole Senator getting slapped with a multi-thousand-dollar fine for pushing unconstitutional law. Robb, again:

Now, one thing I’ve thought about lately is not only is HB45 effective (it’s not even law yet and these people are scrambling to comply) but that it’s a great concept – hold lawmakers and law enforcement officials accountable. Do that, and you’ll see the overbearing state take a step back.

This is the way it should be, people. Accountability does not exist in the creation and enforcement of law. Lawmakers enjoy a perfect world where, no matter how good or bad they do their job, the worst they can expect is to lose an election. Law enforcement can be fired, of course, but qualified immunity protects them from nearly all forms of prosecution for any violation of individual rights - constitutional, even - as long as said violation can be even remotely seen as enforcing the law.

The winds are blowing, and they are of the changing nature. Set sails, ye dogs, and follow them forth. There be hope yet.



tweaker

Tears Will Fall...

... as you get your jollies at the expense of another. In this case, a cat. I hereby decree, this shall be the funniest thing you read on the internet today. CalvinsMom brings it:

The Ass of Terror

A beverage alert of the highest order to you, readers. Enjoy at your peril.



tweaker

They Just Don't Get It, vol. ???

In yet another (not really very) shocking display of not having a fucking clue about even the most basic of economic principles, CNN puts out a headline that, well, you be the judge:

HHS announces free birth control for women in the U.S.

Someone, somewhere, has at least a few functioning brain cells left, because the headline now says:

HHS OKs birth control with no co-pay

That (HHS) is the US Department of Health and Human Services, for those who don't feel like clicking and/or searching. We cater to the lazy here, after all. Anyhoo, HHS hath, in all infinite wisdom likely stemming from its new-found yet sooper-secrit power granted by Obamacare decided that insurance companies cannot charge a single red cent for birth control to be paid by the insured.

And some mouth-breathing fucktard at CNN read that as "free birth control," and if you don't believe me, click the link and actually read the URL.

TAANSTAAFL, motherfuckers. Believe that. Someone, somewhere, will pay for that shit, and it will most likely be the insured when the rate goes up. Dumbasses.



tweaker