Where do they put the groceries?

A lot of my fellow People of the Gun, gunbloggers, and armed citizens expend a lot of time and effort railing against the "government", its "jackbooted thugs", the laws and regulations passed by the aforementioned government, and all the rest. A lot of that sound and fury makes perfect sense, given some of the things our government is doing recently, but I have been trying my best to stay out of the whole mess. Why? Because, when you get right down to the world of gunbloggers, I am a very small fish in a world of juggernauts. However, even though I am a minnow steaming around in a very large pond, I just wanted to take the time to remind a lot of people of something small enough and simple enough that it is often overlooked:

We ARE the government.

And when I say "we", I mean all Americans - gun-owners, hoplophobes, people who do not care about the Second Amendment, and everyone everywhere else on the entire spectrum. You know, the whole "...government of the people, by the people, for the people..." (emphasis added) thing? Yeah, that. You see, the American government did not just spring into being of its own accord, but rather we American citizens created it, and we continue to allow it to exist.

Sometimes, to me, as a part-time Second Amendment activist, it seems as though too many of the "hardcore" activists are spending too much time focusing on convincing their lawmakers to look at something a certain way, explaining what will happen if the police or other law enforcement agencies start behaving unconstitutionally, or otherwise focusing on some nebulous "government", without realizing what I see to be the simple truth of the situation: Convincing the government is not the battle... convincing the people is.

The unfortunate truth of the matter is that talking about shooting law enforcement types is bound to cause neutral observers to either become very concerned, or just tune you out entirely. Yes, in those situations where individuals were talking about those kinds of activities, they were referencing what they would or would not do if those law enforcement types were operating outside the bound of the law and/or the Constitution; but when people start talking about shooting cops, civilians and cops alike start worrying, regardless of the motivations or causality of the situation. It is just a simple truth of the matter. Yes, I know, those situations are purely hypothetical, and no, they were not talking about just randomly shooting people in uniform... but that simply does not matter to the average reader. The second you put "shoot" and "cop" (or semantically equivalent words) in a single sentence, alarms start ringing, regardless of content.

The fact is, those average readers will be completely thrown off by such talk, and the other fact is that we, as gun owners, are not going to win this fight against the hoplophobes of the world on our own. Sure, you might win the battle of shooting down those government operatives who came to unconstitutionally strip you of your right to bear arms (not delving into the arguable futility of such an action), but if you do so at the cost of alienating the populace, you lose the war. It does not matter if you were right. It does not matter that the majority may not have the full picture of what happened. It does not matter that the "government" was wrong. The second you lose the popular opinion, you lose.

And talking about shooting cops, even hypothetically and in what you might be consider to be "appropriate" circumstances, will make you lose that populace.

Mayhap I am a "traitor to the Second Amendment", whatever the hell that might mean, for saying this. If so, so be it. And, yes, I know the majority is not always, if ever, right. But the fact is, if you alienate that majority, it will not just be the clueless lawmakers who will be working against you - it will be the mother and father next door to you demanding that your guns be taken away... Hell, it might even be your own family. Because they, your grocery bagger, your dentist, your car mechanic, and every other American citizen is the American government, and those are the people you are talking about fighting against... and possibly even shooting. Might they deserve it in this carefully-crafted hypothetical situation? Possibly - it is not my scenario. But history is written by the victors, and unless those who are doing the shooting are considerably more organized than I would wager possible among such a wide group of disparate and different-opinioned gun owners, they will not be the victors, and their actions will have been for naught. In fact, those actions would probably cause more damage than good by further eroding the public's image of gun owners and gun nuts. Sure, the shooters will probably feel vindicated (if you feel anything at all when you are dead), but that is a solipsistic self-gratification, possibly at the cost of millions of others' rights and property. Just how much are you willing to pay to be dead right?

Have your line in the sand - I know I have one of my own, though damned if I know where it is at the moment. Be selfish and graphically express it in an intentionally inflammatory way, at the cost of some, possibly significant, fraction of the populace around us. But try not to be surprised when people react negatively to it - even gun-owning people. Because this ongoing struggle we are fighting for maintaining and expanding our gun rights is very much one of public relations, and those are almost never improved by the introduction of bullets, righteously fired or not.

Man Beheaded on Greyhound Bus
Screaming passengers fled in terror from a Greyhound bus as an unidentified fellow passenger suddenly stabbed a man sleeping next to him, decapitated him and waved the severed head at horrified witnesses standing outside.

"He didn't do anything to provoke the guy. The guy just took a knife out and stabbed him, started stabbing him like crazy and cut his head off," said Garnet Caton, 26, a passenger on the Edmonton-to-Winnipeg bus.

Granted, there is very little chance that the victims carrying of a firearm would have allowed him to save himself in this case, but what about other passengers? Would the killer have attempted such an attack had he known there was a probability that other passengers had concealed firearms? Even if he had, wouldn't an alert passenger have been able to stop the attack, possibly saving the victims life? Yes, a lot of "if's", but at least it's a chance.

As people are continually conditioned to allow violent predatory criminals to do as they please, there are fewer out there who possess the mental fortitude to rise up and stand in defense of themselves and their fellow man. If we won't stand to protect ourselves, then who will?

Ironically, this is one of the biggest faults with the arguments of the hoplophobes of the world. Fortunately or unfortunately, the technology behind firearms has already been developed, and once something is created, especially in this day and age of information and advancement, it cannot be undone, no matter how fervently you might wish for it to happen. So, even if we were to assume the best case scenario of the anti-rights activists of the world, and somehow expunge the entire globe of all functioning firearms and bullets, it will not solve the "problem" of firearms. The fact is, I am willing to wager that even someone as unskilled at fabrication and chemistry as I am could, if given a lathe, metal, and a few basic chemicals, produce a functioning slug-thrower - granted, it will probably resemble something along the lines of a zip gun or The Liberator, but even those were and still are deadly. So what are the anti-self-defense types to do? Outlaw lathes, metal, and saltpeter? Well, given the rationality of the rest of their arguments, I guess that would follow...

Unfortunately, deadly weapons are not limited to just firearms. While they are arguably some of the deadliest weapons out there, human ingenuity always has a way of stepping into the equation at the most random of times, and a recent upgrade to the humble knife has made it... impressive.

Behold the WASP Knife. My understanding of its development is that it was initially devised as a self-defense tool for divers, to help them against one of nature's most efficient predators - sharks. Annoyingly enough, firearms do not function terribly well underwater (if at all - they are almost more likely to explode in your hand), and thus spearguns were developed, for both sporting and self-defense purposes. However, by way of close-quarters defense, I understand even those are not ideal - which is why many divers carry knives in addition.

However, this particular knife adds a whole different element to the game, with a 24g gas cylinder built into the handle, and a small gas channel extending down the center of the blade, almost to the point. When the operator depresses the activation button... well, whatever the knife is inserted to... loses, and impressively so. In addition to the obvious impact damage the release of high pressure gasses causes, the gas also comes out amazingly cold, and will freeze any tissues surrounding the penetration point, causing even further damage to the target.

Something tells me an attacking shark at the wrong end of this knife will not only lose the engagement, but also likely either be exploded entirely, or turned into dinner for his brethren after bleeding out into the ocean. However, the same could very easily be said for just about any organic target, and the knife's utility is obviously not limited to just divers and sharks.

Sure, outlaw guns. It will accomplish nothing, even if you were somehow able to entirely expunge not only all firearms, but also all knowledge of how to create them. Humans will still find a way to cause damage to each other, and defend themselves from others causing damage to them... After all, we figured out how to do that with the thigh bones of mastadons, and we will keep managing. The problem, as always, is not the tool or the technology, but rather the mind that decides to misuse it.

Spalding Group founder responds to MoveOn.Org Obama bumper sticker giveaway – will give away up to a million “NOBAMA” bumper stickers.

Louisville, KY July 31, 2008 – Ted Jackson, founder and president of Spalding Group, a principal supplier to the last six Republican Presidential campaigns, official licensee to the 2000 and 2004 Bush-Cheney campaigns, and creator of the McCainStore.com online store, announced today his plan to personally fund the giveaway of up to one million of the hugely popular “NOBAMA” bumper stickers. Jackson is making this independent expenditure to underwrite the overall NOBAMA bumper sticker giveaway expense as a direct response to a MoveOn.org offer of a free Obama bumper sticker.

Spalding Group initially created and recently introduced its NOBAMA product line in answer to overwhelming requests from its hundreds of thousands of customers. Since the line’s introduction, the sale of these items has been unprecedented. When asked about the NOBAMA product line success and his personal one million NOBAMA bumper sticker giveaway, Jackson responded, “MoveOn.Org is an ultra-liberal organization that, in reality, speaks for a very small minority in this country. This isn’t a coronation. As confirmed by recent polls, there are currently an equal number of individuals that oppose Obama as there are that support him, and they want to be heard.”

To receive a free “NOBAMA” bumper sticker, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope and mail the request to;

NOBAMA Free Bumper Sticker
c/o Ted Jackson
2306 Frankfort Ave.
Louisville, KY 40206

“Anyone who knows me or knows my background knows that I’ve been a Republican activist for over 30 years, even before I founded Spalding Group. This is something I personally wanted to do to make a statement along with many others that share my sentiment,” stated Jackson.

About Spalding Group
Founded in 1984, Spalding Group has been a principal supplier for the last six Republican presidential nominees. As 2000 and 2004 official licensee to the George W. Bush for President Campaigns, Spalding Group created the award-winning George W. Bush Online Store, www.georgewbushstore.com. Serving Republicans exclusively, Spalding Group provides campaign materials and services to hundreds of Republican organizations and candidates across the country. Having earned the national reputation as the “Republican Source”, Spalding Group’s primary focus for nearly 25 years has been helping to elect Republicans.

Visit www.McCainStore.com for “NOBAMA Bumper Sticker Giveaway” details.

McCainStore.com is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Your options seem to range from this model:

to this model:

As I was saying to Better Half yesterday, I never really understood why people would do something as permanent as place a political sticker on their car... On the glass, it would at least be removable, but on the fender or body... that makes it considerably more difficult. And even here in Tennessee, there are far too many cars scurrying about, emblazoned with "Hillary '08", or somesuch nonsense. That said, there are a host of other interesting places to stick political campaign stickers, and, if nothing else, taping them to the inside of a window would make it a little easier to remove in the future when, hopefully, I no longer have to worry about the problems associated with the Obamessiah becoming President. *twitches at the thought*

So, for all of you "collectivists" out there, even if you do not come to terms with reality and admit to the error of your ways, people like me still come out ahead - after all, I am now a member of a "well-regulated militia", and therefore my rights to keep and bear arms are protected by the Second Amendment even under the (incorrect and disproven) "collective" interpretation.

Like I said, not really necessary, and not really relevant given that none of the nine justices agreed with the "collective" interpretation, but still... cool.

Talk to USCitizen over at Traction Control if you want one of your own. Thanks, both for the certificates, and the second set - no idea what the United States Postal disService did with the first set.

Now that I am back on dry land, however, something else always seems to take up the time that would otherwise be spent sweating and swearing. Better Half and I decided that we should do something to correct this, and have started an introductory package at a local karate school. I took tae kwon doe for about five years way back before and during high school, and Better Half took a few semesters of it during college, so we figured it was something we could do together. A few thoughts crossed my mind while we were out on the mat, though:

1. I am out of shape, despite all that effort I expended a few months ago.

2. Low stances are a workout all on their own.

3. I am really out of shape.

4. Judo is a beautiful workout, but is murder on the knees if you do not have pants on (I was wearing shorts at the time) and have never done it before in your entire life. See, when you only have one suitcase and one carry-on to pack everything you think you will need for the next sixty days into, workout pants, in the middle of summer, in Tennessee, are not one of those things. And, oh yes, I have gi pants now.

5. ... Yeah.

6. I certainly miss karate / martial arts, and hopefully we will be able to keep going. Sure, I mostly got dragged around the mat by the other people in the class (including a couple black-belts... those were definitely one-sided exchanges), but that is half of how you learn.

Hey, everyone needs to stay in shape, and killing two birds with one stone (by learning self-defense at the same time) seems like a reasonable deal to me.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The sauce for a spicy Italian sandwich was apparently a must have for one Florida man. The man, Reginald Peterson, called 911 twice after a sandwich shop left off the sauce.

Peterson initially called the emergency number Thursday so that officers could have his subs made correctly, according to a police report. The second call was to complain that police officers weren't arriving fast enough.

Subway workers told police that Peterson, 42, became belligerent and yelled when they were fixing his order. They locked him out of the store when he left to call police.

When officers arrived, they tried to calm Peterson and explain the proper use of 911. Those efforts failed, and he was arrested on a charge of making false 911 calls.

To say this mental midget is a shame to his species and his society would be putting it mildly. I can only hope the city of Jacksonville prosecutes him to the fullest extent of the law, but something tells me that will amount to nothing more than a symbolic wristslap. This is unfortunate, given that the two (or more) police officers who had to respond to the call of this imbecile could have been better used preventing actual crimes and such. It is because of idiots like this man that the adage, "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away," continues to hold true.

Hat tip to WizBang.

My financial advisor just authorized me to purchase a brand spanking new desktop to replace my six-year-old Sony COTS POS, and due to some significant technical difficulties with MasterCard's SecureCode system (in that it was completely and utterly down), we had to make the purchase on our debit card. I called, hoping to shift the charge to our credit card (we get points - about as useful as Who's Line's points - from it), and they told me it was impossible... but then gave me free next-day shipping. Works for me.

Also, Tennessee's tax-free days definitely work for me too. Shame they only cover school-related items, but I was able to snag as good a machine as I possibly could and still fit under the tax-free limit... which, when you look at Dell's XPS 630 line, is pretty damned good. Yes, yes, yes, I know it is a Dell... however, after speccing out an equivalent build through NewEgg, and factoring in the significant (about 25%) discount I was able to leverage with Dell, it would cost about as much to build it myself, not counting build time, additional (four-year, in my case) warrantees, and other minor details. Oh, yeah, and not counting my soul, but whatever...

Or, rather, I do know one way to fix it - comment out your SiteMeter code: Just put "<*!--" before it and "--*>" after it (minus the *s), and all will be well. The above page tells you what to look for by way of code specifically.

As for information about this interesting little catastrophe, ironically enough, SiteMeter's own site is... down. Funny, that. Keep an eye on that first link, though - they seem to be keeping tabs on the situation. Then, once it clears up, just go back and remove the comment tags from around your SiteMeter code, and things will be back to normal. If nothing else, it is a lot easier than straight-up deleting the code and having to go find it again.

Update 2: Sitemeter appears to be up and running again, and has been reimplemented on this site without any noticeable errors. Good to hear they were able to fix it.

Trackposted to Perri Nelson's Website , Rosemary's Thoughts , 123beta , Maggie's Notebook , Adam's Blog , Right Truth , Shadowscope , Cao's Blog , Democrat=Socialist , Conservative Cat , Nuke's , Allie is Wired , third world county , Political Byline , McCain Blogs , Woman Honor Thyself , DragonLady's World , The World According to Carl , , Pirate's Cove , The Pink Flamingo , , and Dumb Ox Daily News , thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe .

If you intend to rob me, stab me or punch me in the neck because you think I looked at you funny, I recommend you glance at my waist before lifting the pull tab on that can of whoop-ass.

I may be carrying a handgun.

Nearly everyone in our state can legally keep guns in their home. I am one of the few, the proud, the Georgia Firearms Licensed – one of a reported 300,000 Georgians permitted to carry a gun in public.

Unlike the 9.2 million-or-so Peach Staters who do not possess firearms licenses, I'm legally permitted to carry a gun pretty much everywhere I go – walking my dogs, sipping a latte at my neighborhood coffee shop, buying deodoant at Target.

...

Even though I knew the place would be filled with people openly carrying guns, and that the restaurant welcomed them, I still walked in sheepishly with my gun hidden inside my computer bag. Until I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn't believe it was socially acceptable to openly carry a pistol into a restaurant.

The scene inside amazed me – 40 or 50 people, mostly men, casually socializing in a public restaurant and every one of them had firearms.

I didn't walk in expecting the Wild West, but I definitely expected more of a macho, sausage-party vibe than was apparent. As it turned out, I've been to bar trivia nights that were more menacing.

The closest thing to machismo I encountered was when gunsmith David McDonald sarcastically referred to the high-capacity, 27-round magazine in his semi-automatic pistol as, "the crowd pleaser." He joked that he almost wanted someone to attempt a hold-up of the restaurant that night: "There'd be 500 guns pointed at him, and he'd piss himself."

"There's no blood on the floor," Menkus deadpanned when I told him how surprised I was at the low-key tenor of the celebration. Menkus had a Glock 19 on his waist, and said he was happy about the new law. He believes an armed citizenry is essential to the preservation of civil liberties.

Steve Guldin, an engineer at Lockheed, took a more practical attitude. He carries a concealed weapon when he's not at work, describing it as an insurance policy. "People ask me sometimes if I feel more safe with a gun," he said. "I don't. My risk of being a victim of crime doesn't change if I have a gun concealed."

Having a gun, he said, merely gives him one more option in how he responds – along with fleeing, or calling the police – if he's targeted for a crime. He added that he's never been a crime victim.

Everyone I talked to said they've never attracted any attention from wearing a gun in public. Menkus suggested it's probably because they're mostly middle-aged white guys, and many times people assume they're police officers.

...

I had walked up to the restaurant concerned that something bad would happen because I was carrying a gun. I worried that I'd be confronted by someone, or that someone would call the police. At the least, I expected hostile or fearful stares.

Instead, nothing happened. I realized that I was more aware of my gun than anyone else in the restaurant. I was nervous and terribly self-conscious. My gun was easily visible to about 15 people during dinner. No one paid attention to it.

The only person who acted like it was strange to have a gun in a restaurant was me.

I have to admit, I am rather impressed with the reasonable tone and unbiased nature of the article... maybe there is hope for mainstream journalists after all.

Hat tip to Say Uncle.

Earlier this week, I wrote a post on the shooting that took place at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. In it, I mentioned a Dr. John Bohstedt, who, in addition to being a Rhodes Scholar, graduating from both Oxford and Harvard, and teaching Modern British and Irish history and Riots and Revolutions in Western Europe and the United States (now that is an interesting class title) at UTk, was one of the heroes who succeeded in disarming and disabling the murderer in an amazingly short amount of time.

And, in an amazing stroke of randomness, Dr. Bohstedt dropped by to provide his comments on mine, as well as some of the thoughts going through his mind during and after the attack.

The crazy part, and the reason why I am writing this particular post rehasing everything? Both parties were civil, we exchanged our viewpoints and opinions without the discussion devolving or deteriorating, and, on some points, we simply and politely agreed to disagree. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how discussions and debates on the the internet and elsewhere should proceed, not with pointless namecalling, creative uses of four-letter words, or general-purpose rudeness. Sure, I do not think I changed his mind, but I have no illusions about my argumentative capabilities - the odds of me convincing anyone to do or believe anything are relatively small. But I think/hope I was able to present a good face for myself and other people who decide to carry firearms for self-defense, and we both learned a lot through the conversation (and hopefully will continue to do so, should it go on).

See, folks? People on opposite (or at least different) sides of the fence can still debate, exchange some interesting thoughts, and come away unscathed and still respecting one another. Rare and unusual I know, but it does happen, and it is a pleasure when it does.

Years ago, my family and I happened to live in a little town called La Plata, MD. Wee town. About as middle-of-nowhere as you can get in Maryland. Had schools with "no smoking" signs surrounded by tobacco fields. We moved out shortly after I started college, and shortly after that, the town got pounded by an F5 tornado, to the point where most of the downtown section was destroyed - like I said small town. The miracle of the event was that no one was killed, for which everyone was thankful.

Next town I lived in, nothing happened.

Following that, I happened to move to a little place called Pascagoula, MS. Even smaller town. With a Wal-Mart that had a gun-supply section that would rival most dedicated gun shops. And more rednecks than you could shake an alligator at. Oh, yeah, and I moved there in early 2005. A few months before Hurricane Katrina rolled through. The area I lived in suffered a 15-foot storm-surge, but my saving grace was that my apartment was on the third story of the complex - everything underneath that, however, was a loss. Going back after the storm, I have never before seen destruction of that magnitude before or since. And, to this day, you have no idea how frustrated and annoyed I am at almost all of the focus and attention after the storm being directed at New Orleans - in reality, while that particular town was significantly damaged due to its levees failing, the brunt of the actual hurricane damage was inflicted on the Mississippi Gulf coast. They may have been rednecks, but they lost everything, and NOLA only got most of the attention because of idiotic politics. But, moving on...

Next town I lived in, nothing happened.

Afterwards, we moved to San Diego, CA. Hot (but dry), obnoxious people, really fraking stupid laws, traffic, high cost of living... the list goes on. Oh, yeah, and they have lots and lots and of dry, highly combustible plant material out in the scrub. Lots of it. And it burns. Quite well. Well enough to threaten San Diego sufficiently to convince millions of people (Better Half and I included) to find somewhere else to be. Oh, yeah, and they just had a 5.8 earthquake right up the road, and thankfully after I already bugged out.

Now we are in the next city, and I am really hoping the current trend continues and nothing happens. I just cannot move... ever again.

Either way, I am thinking "Stormbringer" sounds kinda cool... Not very original, I know, but still... (And, yes, I am joking about the name change, but that is one hell of a coincidence chain there...)

However, another part of the problem is spam, and a whole frakking lot of it - my webpage receives between 1000 and 3000 trackback spams on a daily basis. Or, at least, it did.

See, the nifty new TypePad Anti-Spam I installed on my weblog was doing a fantastic job identifying spam trackbacks and filing them accordingly... but those trackbacks still get through to my server, count as a page request, and count towards the sum total of my webpage breaking things. Not good. So I have decided to augment it by reactivating MTAutoBan.

What that little plugin does is takes the IP addresses of anything marked as "spam", and then adds a "deny:" line to my webpage's .htaccess file for that IP. And now to interpret the technobabble - it takes the IP address, the unique identifier for any computer connected to the computer, and basically tells my webpage's server to not show that IP address anything. If that computer were to try and visit my site again, or trackback spam it again, or anything relating to my site, it would be confronted with a straight-up 404 error. Alternatively, I can sand-trap them (send them to a "go away" page), but I like the simplicity of a straight up 404 - yeah, it clogs up my error logs, but that almost gives me a warm fuzzy.

What does this mean to you? Well, if it has already affected you, you are pretty much out of luck anywise. But if, one day, you come to visit this site and it behaves like it is completely broken, unresponsive, or just gone, it means a comment or trackback from you mistakenly got filed as spam (the system does its own little automatic discrimination), and thus you are now banned. Drop me an email at "linoge - at - wallsofthecity.net" and I will do what I can to fix it (which actually is not that hard).

I really, really, really hate spammers. Curl up and die already.