chuckles48

Gun control illogic

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:39:26 GMT

So, we begin this discussion with an AP article highlighting the occasional practice of police departments actually _selling_ seized guns to acquire better capital goods (like, say, squad cars, communications systems, and bullet-proof vests).

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/mar/14/ap-exclusive-pentagon-gun-was-memphis-police/
The money quote is this:
John Timoney, who led the Philadelphia and Miami police departments and served as New York's No. 2 police official, said he doesn't believe police departments should be putting more guns into the market.

"I just think it's unseemly for police departments to be selling guns that later turn up," he said, recalling that he had once been offered the chance to sell guns to raise money for the police budget.

Fine. By that logic, we should also ban police departments from selling surplus vehicles. After, cars kill _far_ more people than firearms in the US. For them to facilitate that is simply unseemly.

Astroturfing? Move the left, always to the left...

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:31:31 GMT

So, last year there were quite a few accusations being thrown around about the tea party movement being an astroturfed effort led by a small number of conservative Republican operatives. That whole bit has pretty much been smoked at this point - anybody who still believes that based on the facts that are out in the public record really needs to put down the crack pipe.

But, never to be outdone, the left has decided to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. We now have the "Coffee" party, which is supposedly a non-political movement to "heal" the country.

There's two problems with this:

First, the person behind the Coffee Party movement is (a) a well-documented Obama operative, and (b) a strategy analyst for the New York Times. Riiiight.

Second, we get an interesting case out of Chicago, where members of the there-local Coffee Party are admitting, openly, that it's put together by non-locals. You know, imported "community organizers".

http://bigjournalism.com/wthuston/2010/03/14/the-phony-coffee-party-astroturfing-continues-msm-looks-the-other-way/

Chuck Schumer wants a national ID card

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:38:50 GMT

The latest reason why we need one is to protect against illegal immigration. But, as my old bud Jim Harper points out, once it's in place and required for that purpose, it will be used for many more things. Financial services, medical services, housing...and eventually as an internal passport.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/03/09/sen-schumers-immigration-reform-is-a-national-id/

Looks like they're starting to sharpen knives for Andrew Cuomo

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 07:52:00 GMT

Having already brought down Cong. Massa, Charlie Rangel, and the Gov. of NY.

http://pajamasmedia.com/eddriscoll/2010/03/04/and-speaking-of-new-york-gone-wild/

Couldn't happen to a nicer scion.

For those of you who missed it, Kirsten Dunst does cosplay...

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:08:10 GMT

Heh. Chinese scientists decry life without Google

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:53:23 GMT

'Research without Google would be like life without electricity,'
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/02/26/1717254/Losing-Google-Would-Hit-Chinese-Science-Hard

And a really interesting article on government jobs, pensions, and the price we pay for them

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:17:51 GMT

http://reason.com/blog/2010/02/21/even-more-on-the-coming-war-ov

I must say, that school board story is just horrifying. _90%_ of their budget problem is increases in retiree benefit costs.

And here's an example where the Right sees a conspiracy where there isn't one

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:12:06 GMT

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/02/025646.php

Let's start with the headline: "Are the Democrats Coming After Your Savings?"

Looking over the article, one would think that the proposal is to loot 401Ks and IRAs, and hand them to the government in return for a promise of a steady income stream.

Lemme be honest. I deal with annuities every day. What are they? They're privately-held contracts, issues by insurance companies. They provide a regular stream of income off either (a) a lump sum payment, or (b) a series of investment payments over time.

Because they're issued by insurance companies, they face rather more stringent backing requirements than anything that, say, the Federal government faces.

Social Security, for example, is backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government. That's it.

Your bank account is backed by the FDIC, theoretically to $250,000. Of course, they only have to have 10% cash reserves, so if you had $250K in the bank, you'd get $25K/year over 10 years.

Insurance companies don't get those luxuries. They have to have _dollar for dollar coverage_ for their exposure.

Moving 401Ks, as they mature/get rolled over, into annuities (and there's some pretty damn spiff ones out there - they are definitely not what you might think they are any more), is something I do on a regular basis. And they provide guarantees and protections that the US Government, or the FDIC, would run screaming in terror from. Why? Because that's what's required these days.

The one thing I don't like, on the potential side of this, is the Feds trying to dictate what is, and isn't, an acceptable annuity. That's just stupid. But, bottom line? I like annuities a lot more than I like 401Ks. Because I can protect your money in an annuity from something like the market drop in 2008. And I can't do that, in a 401k.

Interestingly enough, conservatives are much more gay-friendly than many people realize

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:40:58 GMT

Take a look at this poll from CPAC. They polled attendees on what the top priorities were. Stopping gay marriage didn't come in dead last, but close. Ranking combined #1 and #2 choices, it polled (total) an abysmal 1%.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/02/21/cpac-straw-poll-just-one-percent-list-stopping-gay-marriage-as-a-top-priority/

Which more-or-less jibes with what I've been saying about Prop 8 in California. Minds _are_ changing, but frankly the gay community needs to be less "in your face" about the issue. Their tactics seem designed to do the maximum amount of damage to their own side.

A less confrontational approach would quite probably have significantly different results. But I've been saying this for over a year now, and it seems like nobody's really listening.

So, rather than just staying within their means, it's more appropriate to villify the masses

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:17:36 GMT

I must fundamentally disagree with the Honorable Chief Justice. He seems to feel that the legislature should impose whatever programs it sees fit, rather than living within the means available. I'd have to say the man has put the cart before the horse.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/20/BA6I1C4G8B.DTL

Bill O'Reilly seems to have forgotten to read the Constitution

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:11:22 GMT

http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/02/bill-oreilly-supports-gun-confiscation-during-weather-emergencies-video/

Orrin Hatch demonstrates how out of touch the mainstream GOP really is

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:48:07 GMT

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2010/02/orrin-hatch-how-not-to-engage-the-tea-party-movement.html

He's even got the TPM causing electoral defeats - prior to the TPM even existing.

A couple days ago, Breitbart warned that a concerted "smear the Tea Partiers" move was afoot

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:08:05 GMT

It appears to be launching even as we speak. The piece I posted earlier linking Amy Bishop's murderous spree to the TPM. This interesting piece from the Washington Post (courtesy of hawkfist).

What's next?

Gotta love this guy. If you don't understand something, smear it

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:20:32 GMT

What I love is this guy's desperate attempt to turn Amy Bishop (the gal who shot up a tenure meeting in Alabama, killing 3 and sending more people to the hospital), into a racist - and then attempting to somehow link that to the Tea Party movement.

http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/02/inevitable-tea-party-and-amy-bishop.html
underlying article:
http://trueslant.com/jonathancuriel/2010/02/17/race-in-america-does-racism-explain-the-%E2%80%98tenure-shooting%E2%80%99-and-tea-party-movement/

First off, let's be clear: Amy Bishop was a crazy b*tch, who apparently has killed before, and had it covered up, courtesy of parents-with-pull, and a sympathetic DA. She's been implicated in other attempts, as well. Now she's going to die for her troubles, likely (Alabama isn't too lenient on that kind of thing, and I think they'll have a hard time proving non compos mentis).

That the three people she managed to kill were all non-white doesn't make her a racist. She also shot, and critically wounded, a white guy. She tried to shoot a white gal. She tried to shoot a lot of white people. But her gun jammed, and she failed.

Finally, _there is no link to the Tea Partiers, except in Mr. Curiel's deranged mind_. Amy Bishop's political views were, if anything, polar opposites to the Tea Partiers. She believed in all the things they DON'T. So, if anything, she's a reflection of the sickness in the progressive mindset, not otherwise. And frankly, I don't think that - she's just simply a crazy, homicidal nut, who is an ongoing menace to society.

And, if you're planning a trip to China,

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:38:58 GMT

Remember that you're going to a worse police state than E. Germany. Approximately 3% of the populace are in the employ of the surveillance apparat.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7195592/Chinese-police-admit-enormous-number-of-spies.html

European firms looking at pulling out of China

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:36:01 GMT

Because the Chinese are robbing them blind, and they're sick and tired of it.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7197087/UK-businesses-threaten-to-pull-out-of-China-over-protectionism.html

Yet another reason not to buy French-originated wine

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:32:04 GMT

Because what is on the label and what is in the bottle may well not be the same thing.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100217/bs_afp/wineindustrydrinkfranceustrial

Political transparency? What's that?

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:27:52 GMT

So, yesterday a group calling themselves "Level The Playing Field 2010" launched an attack ad aimed at Meg Whitman. Mind you, I'm not a fan of Meg's, but this is a bit much.

Here's the Level The Playing Field 2010 website. If you cruise around a bit, you will note that there is absolutely _no_ information about who's putting this together. Even the "about" tab on their website simply continues the attacks on Ms. Whitman, without bothering to mention who's behind this.

So one would think you could find out some information from the FPPC, right? Actually, no. Other than the filer's phone number (which points to Steven Jay Kaufman at Kaufman Downing LLP, an LA-area law firm), there's nothing on file with the Secretary of State's office - including who's funding all this garbage.

Mostly at this point I'd like to see who's providing the funding. But I find it rather ridiculous that a political group can mount an attack like this, and be so totally opaque to public scrutiny.

It's for the children

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:56:00 GMT

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_14395829

I look forward to seeing how many unconstitutional policies are proposed to "protect the children".

Let me be blunt. I grew up in an unsafe environment. Where I played, mountain lions roamed and rattlesnakes were common. I grew up learning to be respectful of predators, to always have a stick to hand, that it took a minimum of 10 minutes for police, fire, or a medic to get to me, and that the Sheriff's department generally couldn't find someone if they didn't want to be found.

Did any of this teach me to rely on myself? Oh, yeah. Just a bit.

More on the NBP investigation: Justice tells Congress to STFU, Conyers rolls over

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:49:04 GMT

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/09/caged-panther-investigation/

If you supported Pelosi, this is what you supported. If you voted for Obama, this is what you voted for.

Don't have any illusions.

That whole "too much corporate money in campaigns complaint?

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:44:55 GMT

Been saying that it would do nothing more than counterbalance the large amounts the unions already pour in.

Now I've got documentation of how heavily the unions work to launder their contributions:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/09/anti-tea-party-web-site-scheme-funnel-funds/

The most recent backers of the Patriot Majority and Patriot Majority West, which helped fund the APPC and thus the Tea Party site, form a veritable Who's Who of the country's top labor unions: the Service Employees International Union, Change to Win, the Communications Workers of America, the National Education Association, the Teamsters Union, the United Food & Commercial Workers Union and others besides.

But by far the largest donations have come from a collection of unionized government workers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) -- which in 2008 alone donated $5.8 million to Patriot Majority and another $4.1 million to Patriot Majority Midwest.

YGBSM #47: Stanford busts the $50K/year line

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:40:29 GMT

Yeah, that's just to _go_ there.

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14367659

Interesting chat with the na-daughter

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:27:36 GMT

She and I are a lot alike in a number of ways. Dealing with being bipolar, strong resistance on some issues, very bright, high expectations, low BS tolerance... there are some pretty damn good reasons we click together as strongly as we do.

So it's very interesting sitting and talking with her when she's having a high-stress day. I've always held that stress is a variant on "in vino, veritas". Stress is like wine - the true person shows through, and you find out what someone's really like.

What I'm finding is that she's an awful lot like I was, oh, 15-18 years ago. She's stressing over things I stressed over. She's worried about things I worried about (though expressed in vastly different ways). She's even reacting the same way I did over similar issues (ask me sometime why I don't run conventions anymore, for example).

Kinda interesting to me to be able to give her a couple decades worth of perspective. Not sure if she's going to _accept_ it, mind you. ;)

But, in the end, she knows I'm there for her if she needs to talk, or vent, or cry, or what have you.

If this is what parenting really is, I guess it's what I've been wired for, and never realized it till now.

I love this kind of thing: You just can't make it up.

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:07:01 GMT

DoJ runs an add looking for 10 experienced trial lawyers, with assorted targeted disabilities including mental retardation.

http://volokh.com/2010/02/03/seeking-qualified-mentally-retarded-lawyers/

If someone put that in a story, they'd be told they were over the top. Truth is definitely stranger than fiction.

An amusing look at "racists" in the Tea Party movement

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:07:00 GMT

And how someone can become a leader mostly by saying so, and by being part of the political slant that a hostile press wants to push.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/dale-robertson-no-friend-of-ours/2/