http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/04/29/2011042900595.html
Jimmy Carter Goes To Seoul and says:
one of the most important human rights is “to have food to eat and for South Korea and Americans, and others to deliberately withhold food aid for North Korean people… is indeed a human rights violation.”
Yeah. It’s our fault.
I have recently, and for about the hundredth time, been accused of being “obsessed” with firearms. This is one of the more curious accusations that have been hurled my way, for it is simply, and massively, untrue.
Now, for myself and very likely the vast majority of gun owners that many in the hoplophobe community would refer to as “gun nuts” or “obsessed with firearms” or some such, this definition really does not even come close to applying. Even on days when I wear a concealed firearm, I expend less thought on it than I do on, say, my cell phone or my wallet. Does that make me a cell phone nut or a wallet obsessive?
Ok, yes, I have multiple guns. But I have several orders of magnitude more books than guns. My collection of books cost considerably more than my collection of guns. My monthly expenditure on books (and book-like products) outstrips my expenditures on firearms and firearm related products by, again, several orders of magnitude. I bought a book two days ago. I made copies of several book-like items yesterday (and the day before). It has been *years* since I purchased a firearm. I am deep into the process of writing two fairly substantial books, and I’ve written probably a few books worth of other things over the years, and have plans for several more books and book-like products (but no current plans on carving an assault weapon out of a block of steel). Wherever I sleep there are a wide variety of books scattered wildly all over everywhere, within easy reach of theoretical; children, with not a book-lock to be found. So… does all of this make me a dangerous book nut? Will my obvious obsession with the written word cause me to go buggo and destroy a school? After all, assault books like “Mein Kampf” and “Das Kapital” and “The Little Red Book” have killed hundreds of millions of people. Books are dangerous!
I think where the problem comes from is that those obsessed with guns are, by and large, not the gun owners. Sure, there are gun owners who blow vast sums on guns, who stockpile them or make them themselves (as a hobby or a career). But it seems to me the larger number of “gun nuts” are those who are opposed to guns. After all, why would a guy like me mention firearms with respect to politics, but not, say, books in general? It’s really quite simple. Were I to take a stroll through downtown Manhattan, I doubt too much of anybody would give a damn if i did so with a paperback strapped to my hip and an Oxford English Dictionary across my back. But some people would freak right the hell out of I did so with a pistol and a SOCOM-16.
The hoplophobes seem to see *any* positive interest in firearms as the sign of dangerous obsession. For those of us who have firearms and see them not in the mystical terms that the gun grabbers do, but simply as the tools that they are, this is both inaccurate and mystifying. But it is, sadly, politically both popular and supported. For those of you who do not yet see my point, imagine a movement of anti-computer people arose that loudly proclaimed that anyone who wanted to have a computer, or who – GASP! – spent any time at all online or, worse still, discussed online topics, was, in fact, a “computer nut.” Not the people who stood in line for days to be the first goober with an IPad… just anyone with a low-end laptop used to send photos to Granny.
Were such a group of anti-computer goofballs to arise, they’d be soon seen as the nuts that they are. But sadly, if you simply replace “computer” with “firearm” or “handgun,” their position, which is based not in reality but in fearmongering, is politically supported and politically popular.
Here’s a hint: if you see someone simply discussing firearms, talking about which ones they like or would like to have, and your thought is “this person is a gun nut…” chances are, YOU are the gun nut with the unhealthy obsession.
[youtube VIA5aszzA18]
I am the Unwanted Blog(ger), and I approved this message.
Remember this? Turns out the Madison cops and prosecutors actually decided that a death threat against a Republican was worth investigating… and pressing charges.
Woman charged with email threats
The woman in question is 26 year old Katherine R. Windels. Her profession? As it turns out, Elementary School Teacher.
I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.
Take a gander at these articles and try to keep in mind that the Obama administration is the Most Transparentest Administration EVAR.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/07/AR2011030704890.html
… where we learn two things:
1: Obama signed an executive order formalizing a system of indefinite detention for Gitmo prisoners
2: Obama promises to shut down Gitmo.
One of the Constitutional arguements against Obamacare (beyond the fact that there’s nothing in the Constitution saying it’s the job of the government to provide healthcare… thus makign the whole damned thing unConstitutional) rests on the point that Obamacare tells each and every American citizen that they must, under penalty of law, buy insurance from an insurance company. If the government can tell people that they MUST buy one thing, then there’s no reason why the government can’t tell people they MUST buy some other things, and then some other thing, and then that thing over there…
South Dakota got the message.
Here is the text:
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to provide for an individual mandate to adult citizens to provide for the self defense of themselves and others.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
Section 1. Not later than January 1, 2012, each citizen residing in the state of South Dakota who has attained the age of twenty-one years shall purchase or otherwise acquire a firearm suitable to their temperament, physical capacity, and personal preference sufficient to provide for their ordinary self-defense.
Section 2. After January 1, 2012, each citizen residing in the state of South Dakota shall comply with the provisions of this Act within six months of attaining the age of twenty-one years.
Section 3. The provisions of this Act do not apply to any person who is disqualified from possessing a firearm pursuant to §§ 22-14-15, 22-14-15.1, or 22-14-15.2.
If you believe it’s within the power of the US FedGuv to order you to buy insurance, explain why it’s *not* within the power of a stateguv or fedguv to order you to buy a gun. After all, guns are protected under the Constitution (healthcare is not even mentioned) as being a requirement of the militia, and the US federal code defines the militia as every male over the age of 18… and since we’re all modernized people, we can assume a lack of sexism and thus the militia includes all the womenfolk as well.
Remember how Tea Partiers/Sarah Palin/Glen Beck were giving subtle hints to carry out acts of violence against Democrats… and how everyone was supposed to play nice these days? Gentlemen…. BEHOLD:
http://madison.craigslist.org/rnr/2222232713.html
Date: 2011-02-18, 6:49PM CST
First up: if Wikileaks is to be believed, the Obama administration has offered to sell out our British allies. How fun.
A series of classified messages sent to Washington by US negotiators show how information on Britain’s nuclear capability was crucial to securing Russia’s support for the “New START” deal.
Although the treaty was not supposed to have any impact on Britain, the leaked cables show that Russia used the talks to demand more information about the UK’s Trident missiles, which are manufactured and maintained in the US.
Washington lobbied London in 2009 for permission to supply Moscow with detailed data about the performance of UK missiles. The UK refused, but the US agreed to hand over the serial numbers of Trident missiles it transfers to Britain.
If true, this is Big News. But I wouldn’t expect to see much about it on CNN.
Up next: the governor of Tokyo (shouldn’t that be “mayor?” Shrug) apparently wants nukes.
Shintaro Ishihara, 78, a former actor and author who has been governor of Tokyo since 1999 and has frequently provoked anger among Japan’s neighbours, made his latest demand after a diplomatic row sparked by the arrest of a Chinese fishing vessel captain operating in Japanese waters.
“If Japan had had nuclear (weapons), there would not have been any (Chinese encroachment) on the Senkakus,” he said. “And North Korea would not have abducted our citizens.”
Neat. This is sure to go over well.
Religious iconography is apparently alive and well at Reuters.
