Those are some well-trained giraffes. I wonder if they’re floral?

Allen West horrified by Calvin Klein model: ‘I was like ewww, you know?’

Former Rep. Allen West, one of the most outspoken and least effective members of the House in recent years, has a new gig doing an online talk show, where a whole new side of the Florida Republican is coming to light.

Writing for Yahoo! News, reporter Chris Moody spotlights some of the more comical exchanges West has shared of late with co-hosts Michelle Fields and John Phillips, including one quip where he recounted seeing a Calvin Klein advertisement on television featuring a male model. “I was like ewww, you know?” he said.

The subscription-only show is run by Pajamas Media (PJTV), a conservative website that features pay-to-access commentary on the news. West’s addition to the PJTV lineup makes him easily the best known among the group, but also the most unpredictable.

How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb?

Two: one to hold the giraffe, and the other to fill the bathtub with brightly-colored machine tools.

Flo’s happy & um amazed.

I mean like for some people, that were the subject of the previous thread, this video would be total pr0n.

Fox News host grills NRA on magazine ban: ‘How many more lives would have been saved?’

After playing some video of parents of victims speaking to CBS News, Kelly noted that they had made a “powerful” argument that “if Adam Lanza, the shooter at Newtown, had not had 30 round magazines — if he had only had 10 rounds in these guns — more children would have lived.”

“The people who are going to do horror and terror, they aren’t going to cooperate,” the NRA chief replied. “All you’re going to do is make the law books thicker for the law-abiding people. From the very start, my thought has been about how little this had to do with keeping kids safe and how much it has to do with this decades-long agenda against firearms that some in the political class and the media have had.”

“You hear the parents and the spouses of those killed — there were 20 children and six adults killed,” Kelly pointed out, bringing LaPierre back to the point of high-capacity magazines. “Eleven children had a chance to escape as that guy reloaded. And the one man is saying there, if he had to reload five times instead of one time, how many more lives would have been saved?”

“That is, to me, the most compelling argument,” the Fox News host added.

“My response is criminals aren’t going to have less,” LaPierre insisted. “One round in the hand of someone who is going to do horror too many.”

Gee Wayne, maybe making sure its harder for people to get that one round might be a good fucking idea then.

re: #5 Vicious Babushka

I mean like for some people, that were the subject of the previous thread, this video would be total pr0n.

I find these giraffes very attractive. //

Good evening lizards.

Image: nR6Ew7m.gif

re: #6 Kragar

Fox News host grills NRA on magazine ban: ‘How many more lives would have been saved?’

Gee Wayne, maybe making sure its harder for people to get that one round might be a good fucking idea then.

Well she made him stay on point and it was a pretty good interview, but that was hardly a “grilling”.

re: #6 Kragar

Fox News host grills NRA on magazine ban: ‘How many more lives would have been saved?’

Gee Wayne, maybe making sure its harder for people to get that one round might be a good fucking idea then.

Wayne just keeps recycling the same argument: Criminals aren’t going to obey the law. Yes, genius, we know that. But was Adam Lanza a criminal prior to Newtown? Or his mother, the one who was legally purchasing the arsenal he ended up turning on her and then two dozen children and teachers?

re: #6 Kragar

Fox News host grills NRA on magazine ban: ‘How many more lives would have been saved?’

Gee Wayne, maybe making sure its harder for people to get that one round might be a good fucking idea then.

Those innocent deaths have been forgotten. Or they’ve been turned into something that the creepy scary people I live next door to use. They use. These gun nuts are using those 1st graders to their BENEFIT.

Horrific

re: #11 Stanley Sea

What do you mean?

re: #6 Kragar

“You hear the parents and the spouses of those killed — there were 20 children and six adults killed,” Kelly pointed out, bringing LaPierre back to the point of high-capacity magazines. “Eleven children had a chance to escape as that guy reloaded. And the one man is saying there, if he had to reload five times instead of one time, how many more lives would have been saved?”

Lanza reloaded at least six times.

They also located in the area of the shootings six additional 30-round magazines, three of which were empty and the others containing 10, 11 and 13 live rounds. There was one 30-round magazine on the gun.

re: #13 goddamnedfrank

Lanza reloaded at least six times.

Archivists are useful folks to have around:

Archivist saves and squirrels away each and every discussion forum message. Do you remember having a bad day back in 1996 when in one of your messages you may have said a few things that were…well, perhaps a little…hasty? Don’t worry, Archivist still has it and will post it to the forum if you begin to get the upper hand in battle. Archivist can be a very effective and fearsome Warrior.

Charles, video feed isn’t loading for me…

Wait, they still have segregated proms…in Georgia?!

re: #12 Dark_Falcon

What do you mean?

That someone can have an arsenal that can kill that much.

re: #15 Dancing along the light of day

Charles, video feed isn’t loading for me…

According to Darthstar, you may be in the video. Or it might be some of your poor relations. :D

Each kid was killed legally, 10 or 12 bullets. In 5 minutes. Legally,.

re: #17 Stanley Sea

That someone can have an arsenal that can kill that much.

The actual killing was all done by one pistol and one rifle; no other weapons were used at the school. The firepower of modern weapons is only shocking to those who are encountering it fir the first time. It was the actions taken with that firepower the comprised the horror.

re: #15 Dancing along the light of day

Charles, video feed isn’t loading for me…

Click on where it reads “Vimeo.”

re: #20 Dark_Falcon

The actual killing was all done by one pistol and one rifle; no other weapons were used at the school. The firepower of modern weapons is only shocking to those who are encountering it fir the first time. It was the actions taken with that firepower the comprised the horror.

It was pretty damn shocking to those kids and their parents. The nation…

Good night. The defense that the NRA and their puppets (you!) defended and totally buckled down upon the deaths of 20 kids with more bullets in their bodies than I don’t know what.

Remember the kids killed. Remember the circumstance.

re: #19 Stanley Sea

Each kid was killed legally, 10 or 12 bullets. In 5 minutes. Legally,.

That’s a stupid thing to say! They were murdered, and you know it. To say that they were “killed legally” would be to state the preposterous idea that Adam Lanza’s actions were somehow justified or excusable, because those are the only two situations in which a civilian can “kill legally”,

re: #24 Dark_Falcon

That’s a stupid thing to say! They were murdered, and you know it. To say that they were “killed legally” would be to state the preposterous idea that Adam Lanza’s actions were somehow justified or excusable, because those are the only two situations in which a civilian can “kill legally”,

All I hear now is that the arsenal and the guns that Lanza had we’re a ok. Therefore legal murder. No gun control you say? Deal with it

It’s a sad night for Chicagoland: Roger Ebert has died.

re: #24 Dark_Falcon

That’s a stupid thing to say! They were murdered, and you know it. To say that they were “killed legally” would be to state the preposterous idea that Adam Lanza’s actions were somehow justified or excusable, because those are the only two situations in which a civilian can “kill legally”,

He had a legal weapon and sported legal ammo. He had the legal right to own them and use them. Somewhere in his mind the killings were justified and he had the wherewithal to do what he did with legal tools.

re: #25 Stanley Sea

All I hear now is that the arsenal and the guns that Lanza had we’re a ok. Therefore legal murder. No gun control you say? Deal with it

No, ma’am! Someone unlawfully killing with a gun someone else lawfully owned is not, repeat NOT, “legal murder”. To suggest it is is to stand the law on its head.

re: #19 Stanley Sea

Each kid was killed legally, 10 or 12 bullets. In 5 minutes. Legally,.

Yes..My little brother has collected guns and stuff his whole life and I trust him completely..He is a hunter but has enough weapons to arm a squad of Marines. We are close but guns never interested me that much..He loves ‘em.
I respect that about our responsible gun owners that understand and respect all the aspects about owning guns in the USA.
That said…
I know the emotions of this period is very high. The pain for so many probably equaled the feeling on 911 that morning. Raw..Senseless..Loss and also importantly questioning the root causes of this violence upon us.
one bullet or a thousand kills children.. I’m not sure it’s a matter of quantity of firepower or the Time to kill. ( It takes a millisecond to vaporize a city )
I think some of the root cause is what we have become as a people and all the laws in the world won’t help if we lose our way.
Lennon said it best.. Come Together ..

Personally think we’re approaching the argument over magazine size from the wrong angle. Arguing Newtown over the grounds of hypotheticals, i.e. what might have happened had the proposed laws been in effect, is snarled with the inability to go back and actually test. Better instead to focus such arguments on the facts that we do have, namely that states that have strict gun control laws have lower rates of gun-related deaths than states with looser laws.

Privately, investigators wondered whether the reloading habit was influenced by the endless hours the quiet, withdrawn loner spent playing violent, first-person shooter video games, the Courant reported.

I’m not sure I buy this theory, but the unrealistic magazine management ubiquitous to FPS games does foster that habit inside the games themselves. In real life unfired rounds don’t magically return to a pool that autofills the next magazine.

re: #27 blueraven

He did not, however, own them. Whatever reason he had for his rampage was a load of insanity and crap.

Murder is murder, and the idea of “legal murder” is completely off-base.

re: #31 goddamnedfrank

I’m not sure I buy this theory, but the unrealistic magazine management ubiquitous to FPS games does foster that habit inside the games themselves. In real life unfired rounds don’t magically return to a pool that autofills the next magazine.

True enough. There are a few FPS games, America’s Army comes to mind, that do enforce magazine management and penalize you for ejecting mags with unfired rounds by either subtracting them from the total pool or instead putting the half-filled mags back into rotation.

re: #28 Dark_Falcon

Good Evening, DF. Did you have a chance to check out that article I pointed you to last night?

re: #32 Dark_Falcon

He did not, however, own them. Whatever reason he had for his rampage was a load of insanity and crap.

Murder is murder, and the idea of “legal murder” is completely off-base.

Well he could have owned them, if his mother had sold them to him in a private transaction. But the NRA doesn’t want background checks so…fuck it.

re: #28 Dark_Falcon

No, ma’am! Someone unlawfully killing with a gun someone else lawfully owned is not, repeat NOT, “legal murder”. To suggest it is is to stand the law on its head.

Ah…using a gun someone else lawfully owned.

There’s trouble here, there’s always been trouble here.

The proliferation of guns, the stupid gun culture. The everyone including Lanza & Gabby’s shooter. Total fails in common sense gun ownership - but NO our gun rights!!!!

re: #29 HoosierHoops

Yeah.

re: #34 William Barnett-Lewis

Good Evening, DF. Did you have a chance to check out that article I pointed you to last night?

Yes, I did. It was good as far as it went, but it was also obviously incomplete, with a huge chunk of its middle gone. But that is not your fault, and I thank you for posting it.

My fact related to it for tonight is the following: While some T-55s built for export lacked NBC protective systems, all T-72s were equipped with such systems, whether for export or not. The reason was that the NBC protection was something incorporated into the already-designed T-54, producing the T-55. By contrast, the ‘PAZ’ NBC protection system was integral to the design of the T-72, and building export tanks without the system would cost more than leaving the system in place.

re: #33 Targetpractice

True enough. There are a few FPS games, America’s Army comes to mind, that do enforce magazine management and penalize you for ejecting mags with unfired rounds by either subtracting them from the total pool or instead putting the half-filled mags back into rotation.

Which goes to the point that games can act as operant conditioning. If they didn’t the US Army wouldn’t have had such a long standing interest in using video games for training:

A version called The Bradley Trainer (also known as Army Battlezone or Military Battlezone) was also designed for use by the U.S. Army as targeting training for gunners on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.[2] Approaching Atari in December 1980, some developers within Atari refused to work on the project because of its association with the Army,[3] most notably original Battlezone programmer Ed Rotberg.[4] Rotberg only came on board after he was promised by management that he would never be asked to do anything with the military in the future.

I think we should have a lucrative amnesty. Like the Aussies did. We need more $$$$$ tho. (We have noooooo money says the GOP)

Pay for the guns. Get them off the streets. Start anew.

Reading the RWNJ fear tho….well, that’s the other angle, but Chicago!!!

re: #36 Stanley Sea

Ah…using a gun someone else lawfully owned.

There’s trouble here, there’s always been trouble here.

The proliferation of guns, the stupid gun culture. The everyone including Lanza & Gabby’s shooter. Total fails in common sense gun ownership - but NO our gun rights!!!!

Mothers are known to have blind spots where their sons are concerned. And mental heath matters are quite thorny.

I understand that you feel strongly, but please don’t fling phrases such as “legal murder” around in this matter. It cuts off the possibility of dialogue and turns the exchange into a flame war.

re: #39 goddamnedfrank

P.S. If you’ve ever played Bradley Trainer on MAME then you already know how much the Atari programmers hated that project. No levels to clear and the only way to end the game is through friendly fire.

re: #42 goddamnedfrank

P.S. If you’ve ever played Bradley Trainer on MAME then you already know how much the Atari programmers hated that project. No levels to clear and the only way to end the game is through friendly fire.

Well, I know LTC Burton (USAF) hated the game…

re: #41 Dark_Falcon

Mothers are known to have blind spots where their sons are concerned. And mental heath matters are quite thorny.

I understand that you feel strongly, but please don’t fling phrases such as “legal murder” around in this matter. It cuts off the possibility of dialogue and turns the exchange into a flame war.

Sorry. But the NRA, our most outspoken entity, nothing wrong happened here, nothing. Therefore NRA legal.

re: #44 Stanley Sea

Sorry. But the NRA, our most outspoken entity, nothing wrong happened here, nothing. Therefore NRA legal.

They don’t want Adam Lanza background checks.

DF do you want to stop the Lanza’s the Holmes? Well, how?

re: #45 Stanley Sea

They don’t want Adam Lanza background checks.

They wouldn’t have prevented this in any case, since it was not Adam Lanza who owned the guns and nothing in his mother’s life would have disqualified her under Instant Check. Checks were run for at least some of her purchases and they came back clean.

Conversely America’s Army wasn’t really greeted as that much of a controversy at all. There’s a few ways to view this, there are loads more programmers now, so finding ones that don’t morally object to working on military training and recruiting games is easier. Also, in the early eighties there was still a ton of war weariness from Vietnam, people in general viewed the military with more ambivalence and in many cases outright hostility. However I think our society, while reducing overall crime and homicide rates, has become more militaristic.

One major modern revelation in the field of military psychology is the observation that this resistance to killing one’s own species is also a key factor in human combat. Brigadier General S.L.A. Marshall first observed this during his work as the Chief Historian of the European Theater of Operations in World War II. Based on his innovative new technique of post-combat interviews, Marshall concluded in his landmark book, Men Against Fire, that only 15 to 20% of the individual riflemen in World War II fired their weapons at an exposed enemy soldier.

Marshall’s findings have been somewhat controversial, but every available, parallel, scholarly study has validated his basic findings. Ardant du Picq’s surveys of French officers in the 1860s and his observations on ancient battles, Keegan and Holmes’ numerous accounts of ineffectual firing throughout history, Paddy Griffith’s data on the extraordinarily low killing rate among Napoleonic and American Civil War regiments, Stouffer’s extensive World War II and post-war research, Richard Holmes’ assessment of Argentine firing rates in the Falklands War, the British Army’s laser reenactments of historical battles, the FBI’s studies of nonfiring rates among low enforcement officers in the 1950s and 1960s, and countless other individual and anecdotal observations, all confirm Marshall’s fundamental conclusion that man is not, by nature, a close-range, interpersonal killer.

The existence of this resistance can be observed in its marked absence in sociopaths who, by definition, feel no empathy or remorse for their fellow human beings. Pit bull dogs have been selectively bred for sociopathy, bred for the absence of the resistance to killing one’s kind in order to ensure that they will perform the unnatural act of killing another dog in battle. Breeding to overcome this limitation in humans is impractical, but humans are very adept at finding mechanical means to overcome natural limitations. Humans were born without the ability to fly, so we found mechanisms that overcame this limitation and enabled flight. Humans also were born without the ability to kill our fellow humans, and so, throughout history, we have devoted great effort to finding a way to overcome this resistance.

re: #46 Stanley Sea

DF do you want to stop the Lanza’s the Holmes? Well, how?

Sad truth: You can’t. Not all of them. Suppose you find some draconian manner making it perfectly legal to seize all privately owned firearms in the US. Then what? The all-time worst school-related mass killing was done decades ago, with bombs in schools. Harris and Klebold brought propane bombs with them to Columbine and might had done a hell of a lot more damage had they not been amateurs at bomb-making.

There’s always gonna be those folks who slip through the cracks, who don’t get help and who finally decide to take out their misguided anger or hatred on others. Most we can do is try to manage the size of the body count.

re: #46 Stanley Sea

DF do you want to stop the Lanza’s the Holmes? Well, how?

Sorry but you first. Explain how you think you can stop him - without a constitutional amendment that will never happen short of a civil war - and then we can continue.

You don’t have to _like_ reality but it remains the same either way. The 2nd amendment exists. Either live with it or try to change it. But recognize that changing it would cost as many lives as the last time for far fewer lives saved.

re: #47 Dark_Falcon

They wouldn’t have prevented this in any case, since it was not Adam Lanza who owned the guns and nothing in his mother’s life would have disqualified her under Instant Check. Checks were run for at least some of her purchases and they came back clean.

Perhaps background checks should include quantity of firearms purchased?

re: #47 Dark_Falcon

They wouldn’t have prevented this in any case, since it was not Adam Lanza who owned the guns and nothing in his mother’s life would have disqualified her under Instant Check. Checks were run for at least some of her purchases and they came back clean.

No control. No hope. Crazies and angry people have total access in the name of liberty. Good luck.

re: #51 CarleeCork

Perhaps background checks should include quantity of firearms purchased?

Not sure how this helps when in both cases one gun did all the damage.

re: #52 Stanley Sea

Is that really what our Founding Fathers intended? Total access?

re: #53 goddamnedfrank

Not sure how this helps when in both cases one gun did all the damage.

It wasn’t one gun, it was multiple bullets (over 150) that did the damage.

re: #47 Dark_Falcon

They wouldn’t have prevented this in any case, since it was not Adam Lanza who owned the guns and nothing in his mother’s life would have disqualified her under Instant Check.

For that matter would anything have disqualified Lanza himself?

re: #21 Gus

Click on where it reads “Vimeo.”

You are being saved from a downding, out of kindness…..

Controversy peddler Simcha Jacobovici treads slightly more mundane but still profitable waters:

Controversial Filmmaker Claims to Reconstruct Biblical Faces

Ever wonder what you might have looked like thousands of years ago? A new documentary series called Lost Faces of the Bible uses what its proponents call “myth-busting archaeology” as well as cutting edge facial reconstruction to offer a picture of life during Biblical times.

“Delilah,” the first episode of the series, which airs Saturday night on Canada’s Vision TV, reconstructs the head and face of a Philistine woman the show’s producers compare to the Biblical Delilah. The original skull, part of a collection at Tel Aviv University, was from 3,000 years ago. By the end of the program, the skull becomes a vividly-detailed model of a woman’s face that features a prominent nose and an elaborate hairstyle.

“This is the first time ever that Biblical faces are reconstructed much the way that police go to forensic artists to reconstruct a face,” Simcha Jacobovici, the executive producer of the series told The Media Line. “We’ve put flesh to bone on faces of people who actually lived in Biblical times.”

Jacobovici, an award winning filmmaker, is a controversial figure in Israel. One of his films, Brother of Jesus, claimed that the James ossuary, a bone box with an ancient Aramaic inscription that read “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” was authentic. Scholars and the Israeli authorities claimed the inscription was a fake.

More recently, he produced Nails of the Cross, which claimed that two iron nails excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority in 1990 were the very nails used to crucify Jesus. In the end, his claim was not that they were the very nails used in the crucifixion, but only that it is “possible” they were. In this case too, say archaeologists, his science is suspect.

[…]

Even in Canada there is plenty of magick-book fixation - just add “Bible” to a show and increase your viewership.

re: #54 CarleeCork

Is that really what our Founding Fathers intended? Total access?

He’ll no. They were talking about protection against the Brits. Not today’s Interp, (mine) our neighbors

re: #55 CarleeCork

It wasn’t one gun, it was multiple bullets that did the damage.

What? All the kids were killed in Newtown by the one AR and in Tucson by the Glock. One gun each time. Lanza killed himself with a second gun, a pistol, but that’s incidental, all the real damage was done by a single firearm.

re: #56 goddamnedfrank

For that matter would anything have disqualified Lanza himself?

Based on what we’ve heard so far? No. Never admitted to a mental hospital or listed as undergoing treatment, so mental illness wouldn’t show up on a background check. No criminal record that’s been found or alleged, so again he’d pass. Really, the only thing that stopped him when he did try to buy a gun was his refusal to undergo a check.

re: #57 Dancing along the light of day

You are being saved from a downding, out of kindness…..

WHERE’S THE COVERAGE!!?? Don’t know what you mean.

re: #56 goddamnedfrank

For that matter would anything have disqualified Lanza himself?

Holy shit. Arsenals not allowed !!??

In archeology, the default position appears if one can tie in a major magick-figure then you’ll get more press… which is true:

Ancient site unearthed in Ur, biblical home of Abraham

Myths die hard.

re: #54 CarleeCork

Is that really what our Founding Fathers intended? Total access?

Despite what many want to believe, yes.

First weapons were different then. But far more important to them was the utter fear they lived with about standing armies. The Crown and Cromwell both had standing armies to enforce their will. The FF really believed that by using a militia model where every freeman owned as much weaponry as was necessary, they could avoid having a standing army. The Revolution, the War of 1812 & the American Civil War all proved, repeatedly and with malice, that the militia concept was not just flawed bud dangerously deadly to a democratic government. The 2nd Amendment remains, none-the-less, to this day enshrining this fallacy of the founding fathers.

They would look at the deaths today and say that, yes, it was a small price to pay to avoid a standing Army. Unfortunately due to the way our nations laws are created, we have the worst of both systems bedeviling us.

Ok, we’ll just hang tight and hope our neighbor isn’t the next multi round legal gun owner who looses their shit.

Sweet dreams

Fucking nutjob at work blasting talking points at me on my way out the door. Obama’s taking our guns to take over America. Round up the Mayday parade blah blah blah. I get so sick of that shit.

re: #65 William Barnett-Lewis
You really need to read the writings of our FF. They had specific definitions of what a militia consisted of, regardless of what our “Supreme” justices have ruled.

According to our FF, women had no right to bear arms, and neither did men under the age of 16, or over the age of 50.

They were very specific.

PS I want bazookas, missiles and grenades. See where that gets me.

re: #62 Gus

Can you mail me a linky? I can’t get vimeo to work! And I has a sad!

re: #67 Amory Blaine

Fucking nutjob at work blasting talking points at me on my way out the door. Obama’s taking our guns to take over America. Round up the Mayday parade blah blah blah. I get so sick of that shit.

Too bad real life doesn’t have an equivalent of Facebook’s “block” feature.

re: #68 CarleeCork

Excuse me, but I have. The Federalist papers as well as the anti-Federalist papers. I have also read the Militia Acts of 1792 as well. More than a few other documents of interest, to include the manuals used by militias from 1777 through the end of the ACW. Yes, they were quite specific, but I am not sure you understand what that means.

Try again.

re: #71 William Barnett-Lewis

Excuse me, but I have. The Federalist papers as well as the anti-Federalist papers. I have also read the Militia Acts of 1792 as well. More than a few other documents of interest, to include the manuals used by militias from 1777 through the end of the ACW. Yes, they were quite specific, but I am not sure you understand what that means.

Try again.

So, how did they define a militia? Please share.

re: #65 William Barnett-Lewis

Despite what many want to believe, yes.

First weapons were different then. But far more important to them was the utter fear they lived with about standing armies. The Crown and Cromwell both had standing armies to enforce their will. The FF really believed that by using a militia model where every freeman owned as much weaponry as was necessary, they could avoid having a standing army. The Revolution, the War of 1812 & the American Civil War all proved, repeatedly and with malice, that the militia concept was not just flawed bud dangerously deadly to a democratic government. The 2nd Amendment remains, none-the-less, to this day enshrining this fallacy of the founding fathers.

They would look at the deaths today and say that, yes, it was a small price to pay to avoid a standing Army. Unfortunately due to the way our nations laws are created, we have the worst of both systems bedeviling us.

And has been noted here before, by freetoken and myself, the fear generated by Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army has never entirely gone away in any Anglosphere nation. France has the CRS, and organized force of roit police that live in barracks apart from the population. Neither the US, nor the UK, nor Australia, Canada, nor New Zealand would ever tolerate such a body, and all those nations have legal systems with strong aspects devoted to protected the rights of the citizen against state excesses and reserving law enforcement solely for police and federal agencies, and not for the military.

re: #71 William Barnett-Lewis

Excuse me, but I have. The Federalist papers as well as the anti-Federalist papers. I have also read the Militia Acts of 1792 as well. More than a few other documents of interest, to include the manuals used by militias from 1777 through the end of the ACW. Yes, they were quite specific, but I am not sure you understand what that means.

Try again.

To add to that: you don’t have to like the ideas laid out in those documents, folks, or how they came into the Constitution via the 2nd Amendment. But the fact remains that the issue of access to arms was so important that it was written into the fundamental law of the United States. Only a constitutional amendment could excise it, and such an amendment cannot be peacefully passed.

re: #72 CarleeCork

So, how did they define a militia? Please share.

If you want to know, read the sources.

Or use google. I’ve touched on this far more than once here.

Try to learn what you are able to. Then ask again.

Good night before I get truly furious at the ignorance here.

re: #72 CarleeCork

So, how did they define a militia? Please share.

You’re the one who made the assertion. Where in the founding father’s documents is the right to bear arms restricted by gender or age range?

re: #69 Dancing along the light of day

Can you mail me a linky? I can’t get vimeo to work! And I has a sad!

re: #69 Dancing along the light of day

Can you mail me a linky? I can’t get vimeo to work! And I has a sad!

Or try this.

Giraffes at the Guggenheim! WOOT!

re: #75 William Barnett-Lewis

If you want to know, read the sources.

Or use google. I’ve touched on this far more than once here.

Try to learn what you are able to. Then ask again.

Good night before I get truly furious at the ignorance here.

I have two books in my library, I don’t trust google to always be accurate. Try to learn what to trust, then advise again.

Asshole. Don’t assume ignorance.

re: #79 Dancing along the light of day

Giraffes at the Guggenheim! WOOT!

Looks like the Guggenheim but I wasn’t sure when I saw the pool. :D

re: #79 Dancing along the light of day

Giraffes at the Guggenheim! WOOT!

You wouldn’t think they could fit outside of the tallest areas. ;)

re: #74 Dark_Falcon

To add to that: you don’t have to like the ideas laid out in those documents, folks, or how they came into the Constitution via the 2nd Amendment. But the fact remains that the issue of access to arms was so important that it was written into the fundamental law of the United States. Only a constitutional amendment could excise it, and such an amendment cannot be peacefully passed.

If it ever came to pass that tho-thirds of the House and Senate and three fourths of the states are in favor of repealing the 2nd Amendment then it would happen more or less peacefully, because that would mean popular support was overwhelmingly behind repeal. So it’s more a matter of practicality, not going to happen for quite a long time yet.

It’s slower than bejeezus to load, but I am loving it!

re: #80 CarleeCork

I have two books in my library, …

Then quote from them. Raw assertions are lame.

re: #84 Dancing along the light of day

It’s slower than bejeezus to load, but I am loving it!

If you click on HD it turns off HD.

Laguna Beach Soundtrack - “Atherton - California”: youtu.be/cfs_cnsFr_8

— Gus (@Gus_802) April 5, 2013

Pool is an Olympic one, see the underwater window? And the height of the diving board? I’d be so askeered to dive!

re: #50 William Barnett-Lewis

Sorry but you first. Explain how you think you can stop him - without a constitutional amendment that will never happen short of a civil war - and then we can continue.

You don’t have to _like_ reality but it remains the same either way. The 2nd amendment exists. Either live with it or try to change it. But recognize that changing it would cost as many lives as the last time for far fewer lives saved.

The difference between the US and other countries is in the attitude toward guns. Countries like Canada have fairly high gun ownership but lack the love affair Americans seem to have with lightweight, rapid fire, killing tools. As was done with cigarettes, that gun culture has to be denormalized.

Small, seemingly ineffective steps like banning large capacity clips and toughening up background checks will start the ball rolling toward that denormalization. The NRA knows this, which is why they’ve adopted the publicity tactics of the anti-AGW groups.

I miss California. Again.

Evening, Lizards!

I am currently toasting the last few minutes of my 30’s with a nice Moscato wine. Where the hell did the time go? It’s hard to believe I’ve made it this far. Here’s to the next decade. :)

re: #83 goddamnedfrank

If it ever came to pass that tho-thirds of the House and Senate and three fourths of the states are in favor of repealing the 2nd Amendment then it would happen more or less peacefully, because that would mean popular support was overwhelmingly in favor. So it’s more a matter of practicality, not going to happen for quite a long time yet.

True, that’s the best way to put it. Amending the Constitution requires overwhelming support, by design (inevitable given some of the balancing acts the document contains (especially as originally written)).

re: #85 goddamnedfrank

Then quote from them. Raw assertions are lame.

You made the ASSertion that the 2nd Amendment granted the absolute right of gun ownership to women and children. You need to provide the proof.

I find that amazing since women weren’t allowed the right to vote until 1920.

re: #90 Gus

I miss California. Again.

California wants you back.

re: #94 freetoken

I always loved the bumpersticker
“Welcome to California, now go home”
(But, Gus could stay)

Oasis - Wonderwall: youtu.be/9DvRCykzHy4

— Gus (@Gus_802) April 5, 2013

re: #89 Walking Spanish Down the Hall

The difference between the US and other countries is in the attitude toward guns. Countries like Canada have fairly high gun ownership but lack the love affair Americans seem to have with lightweight, rapid fire, killing tools. As was done with cigarettes, that gun culture has to be denormalized.

Small, seemingly ineffective steps like banning large capacity clips and toughening up background checks will start the ball rolling toward that denormalization.

Handguns are responsible for more than 80% of firearms crime. In the tobacco analogy small, seemingly ineffective steps would be the equivalent of focusing on hookahs and snuff. That’s not what actually happened though, activists went straight to the meat of the problem, cigarettes, because they wanted to be effective instead of ineffective. The anti smoking forces realized that being ineffective was a sucky strategy.

Canada has no capacity limit on magazines designed for rimfire rifles and exempts rimfire rifles from their assault weapons law. Canada focused on handguns from the beginning because they wanted their policy to be effective, not sucky.

re: #93 CarleeCork

You made the ASSertion that the 2nd Amendment granted the absolute right of gun ownership to women and children.

No I didn’t. Do fuck off now.

re: #98 goddamnedfrank

No I didn’t. Do fuck off now.

Yes you did. Are you now backpedaling and saying our FF did NOT include women and children as part of a militia?

And that was just ugly, you fuck off.

Hannity On Rutgers Coach: ‘I Kind Of Like Old-Fashioned Discipline’
Excellent!
I’ll stop by your studio and chuck basketballs at you.

re: #99 CarleeCork

Yes you did. Are you now backpedaling and saying our FF did NOT include women and children as part of a militia?

You must be confusing me with either WBLIII or DF. You made the first assertion regarding the founding fathers in re: #68. Then you said, cryptically that you had two books in your library. At this point you can either quote from your sources or not, I really couldn’t care less in light of your acting like such a sniveling dumbshit.

Buck Owens - A-11

re: #101 goddamnedfrank

You must be confusing me with either WBLIII or DF. You made the first assertion regarding the founding fathers in re: #68. Then you said, cryptically that you had two books in your library. At this point you can either quote from your sources or not, I really couldn’t care less in light of your acting like such a sniveling dumbshit.

I have the writings of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. I am not going to waste my time trying to convince you that women were allowed to be members of a militia before they were allowed the right to vote or own property.

Dumbass.

Good night all, peace out.

Six Days on the Road - Boxcar Willie

re: #103 CarleeCork

I have the writings of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. I am not going to waste my time trying to convince you that women were allowed to be members of a militia before they were allowed the right to vote or own property.

Dumbass.

I never made any assertion whatsoever. I asked you one question in re: #76 regarding the RTBA, not the militia, although I take it now that you conflate the two. I am not William Barnett-Lewis who actually claimed to have read the Federalist Papers, Militia Acts, etc and called you out. If you don’t even know who you’re talking to why should anybody take your raw assertions about the contents of your library seriously?

Jerry Reed - East Bound and Down: youtu.be/uHZJej98_T0

— Gus (@Gus_802) April 5, 2013

Cugat, from his days with RCA, when they had pioneered some better recording practices:

re: #108 freetoken

Cugat, from his days with RCA, when they had pioneered some better recording practices:

[Embedded content]

Joe Stampley - Roll on Big Mama

I ended up in Colorado because of Colin Fletcher, Ansel Adams, and Joe Stampley.

And John Denver.

John Mayall - California

Just because!

re: #72 CarleeCork

So, how did they define a militia? Please share.

I don’t recall where I got this, it could very well have come from someone here. This is the Massachusetts Militia Laws from 1807.

re: #114 freetoken

¡Me gusta mucho! ¿Quién es la cantadora?

re: #116 wheat-dogghazi

¡Me gusta mucho! ¿Quién es la cantadora?

Lucrecia

Spill the Blood on acoustic. Gewurztraminer spritzers.

re: #118 freetoken

Gracias!

Nat Cole is great, too, but his Spanish accent is not so hot.

re: #115 Single-handed sailor

I don’t recall where I got this, it could very well have come from someone here. This is the Massachusetts Militia Laws from 1807.

Still haven’t seen anywhere where membership in a militia is a prerequisite for one to possess the RTBA. In fact the 2nd is constructed the other way around, the “right of the people to bear arms” is presented as a prerequisite for a well regulated (which has been shown to mean “properly functioning” in other period literature) militia, which is in turn “necessary for the security of a free state.” The fact that it’s written the way it is, corollary first antecedant second, doesn’t change any honest diagram of the sentence.

re: #117 freetoken

I found her on Soundcloud. Thanks for the intro! I like her style.

Gun ownership is particularly high compared to other common items. For example, in 813 itemized male inventories from the 1774 Jones national database, guns are listed in 54% of estates, compared to only 30% of estates listing any cash, 14% listing swords or edged weapons, 25% listing Bibles, 62% listing any book, and 79% listing any clothes. Using hierarchical loglinear modeling, the authors show that guns are more common in early American inventories where the decedent was male, Southern, rural, slave-owning, or above the lowest social class-or where the inventories were more detailed.

The picture of gun ownership that emerges from these analyses substantially contradicts the assertions of Michael Bellesiles in Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture (Arming America). Contrary to Arming America’s claims about probate inventories in seventeenth and eighteenth-century America, there were high numbers of guns, guns were much more common than
swords or other edged weapons, women in 1774 owned guns at rates (18%) higher than Bellesiles claimed men did in 1765-1790 (14.7%), and 87-91% of gun-owning estates listed at least one gun that was not old or broken.

In fact single women and widows could, and did own property in the 1700s and 1800s, it was married women who had to surrender control of everything to their husbands (which, yes, was fucked up.) I don’t know where this myth that only militia members could legally own guns came from, but it’s utterly wrong.

1700s-early 1800s: Under common law, an unmarried woman can own property, make a contract and sue or be sued. A married woman gives up her name and all her property to her husband.

See, citing sources is easy. There’s really no reason to refuse to, unless you can’t.

Wha?

Power for the cooling system for a storage pool for fuel was restored after a two-hour break at reactor No. 3, and there was no immediate danger from the breakdown, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that operates Fukushima Dai-ichi in northeastern Japan.

Work to put up nets to keep out rats and other animals at Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in northeastern Japan inadvertently caused the power outage, TEPCO spokesman Akitsuka Kobayashi said. Details were not clear, and the outage was still under investigation.

A dead rat found near a switchboard was suspected of the power outage last month that led to a cooling system not working for two days at the plant.

I kind of wonder how seriously Japan is taking this whole thing. As fucked up as the Soviet Union’s response to Chernobyl was, at least they cleared the low hurdle of not having their response plan get all bunged up by rats, and they were busy at the time totally imploding as a nation. At this point I sort of expected Japan to have a game plan for dealing with another earthquake and tsunami hitting the region, maybe some kind of massive sea wall or sarcophagus or something. Instead they’re putting up rat netting.

re: #89 Walking Spanish Down the Hall

The difference between the US and other countries is in the attitude toward guns.

Guns are seen by many not just as tools or recreational toys: they are a fetishistic symbol of the Triumph of Good over Evil and of Patiots over Tyrants.

Cold Dead Hands and all that, you know…

Good luck in even trying to have a rational discussion about them, much less take reasonable action on them.

re: #48 goddamnedfrank

Most of the studies of soldiers firing to miss have been severely criticized and aren’t really to be taken as solid fact.

re: #127 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Most of the studies of soldiers firing to miss have been severely criticized and aren’t really to be taken as solid fact.

A lot of it has to do with their inability to hit anything even if they were aiming at it in the first place…

re: #128 Sol Berdinowitz

A lot of it has to do with their inability to hit anything even if they were aiming at it in the first place…

It’s hard to shoot things.

Found some fucking awesome zippos from Vietnam though:

Image: N6c5gEy.jpg

Image: yMmPtIk.jpg

Image: Hbgiu2F.jpg

I see one of the outrages du jour will be Obama’s remarks about Kamala Harris.

Are we entertained yet?

LOL DERP FAIL

Lmao @ #libs. “That #Obama sign in your yard might as well say ‘Yes, I’m stupid.’” #tcot #tgdn #Conservative twitter.com/JamieLee0817/s…

— Jamie (@JamieLee0817) April 5, 2013

MOAR DERP

You know who would oppose fathers marrying sons? Big government types. Keep them from getting their hands on estate taxes.

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) April 5, 2013

re: #132 Vicious Babushka

You know who would oppose fathers marrying sons? Big government types. Keep them from getting their hands on estate taxes.

Well, at least he has gotten off the animal f*cking thing and moved on to incest…

re: #123 goddamnedfrank

In fact single women and widows could, and did own property in the 1700s and 1800s, it was married women who had to surrender control of everything to their husbands (which, yes, was fucked up.) I don’t know where this myth that only militia members could legally own guns came from, but it’s utterly wrong.

See, citing sources is easy. There’s really no reason to refuse to, unless you can’t.

GDF, You did good work last night, but your use of material that takes down Michael Bellesiles was perhaps your best moment. Thank you for that.

BBT

Good morning all. I see GDF & DF were more willing to engage than I was last night.

Remember when the Allies lost WWII because the M1 Garand rifle only held 8 rounds and the M1911 pistol only held 7?

Actually there are more than a few recorded instances where troops died because of the low capacity and the enblock clip design of the M1 Garand. While it was the best available semi-auto battle rifle at the time, it did have it’s flaws and low capacity was one of them. This was especially true in the battles in North-West Europe.

re: #137 William Barnett-Lewis

Actually there are more than a few recorded instances where troops died because of the low capacity and the enblock clip design of the M1 Garand. While it was the best available semi-auto battle rifle at the time, it did have it’s flaws and low capacity was one of them. This was especially true in the battles in North-West Europe.

Main flaw being that it was a block clip, you could not top it up during a lull in the shooting.

The BAR suffered from small (20-shot) magazines, but larger magazines would have led to overheating unless it had been equipped with an interchangeable barrel.

re: #137 William Barnett-Lewis

Actually there are more than a few recorded instances where troops died because of the low capacity and the enblock clip design of the M1 Garand. While it was the best available semi-auto battle rifle at the time, it did have it’s flaws and low capacity was one of them. This was especially true in the battles in North-West Europe.

Low-capacity is relative since a KAR98 could only hold five.

*FACE PALM*

Newtown Connecticut: Now officially the most unpatriotic place in all of the USA #tgdn #tcot #UniteBlue

— PaleolithiCon .026% (@bitterclingerpa) April 5, 2013

re: #138 Sol Berdinowitz

Main flaw being that it was a block clip, you could not top it up during a lull in the shooting.

LOL, okay. I love people who’s entire knowledge about period firearms comes from playing Medal of Honor and other WWII FPS games.

DERP
Because Canada defines “Crimes against persons” differently than US.

Canada has 2x as many rape victims as the US.How’s that gun control working out for women in Canada? #NRA is.gd/qLeI8H #TGDN

— End Gun Free Zones (@GunFreeZones) April 5, 2013

re: #141 goddamnedfrank

LOL, okay. I love people who’s entire knowledge about period firearms comes from playing Medal of Honor and other WWII FPS games.

I just read about WWII a lot.

Alex Jones’ Infowars.com courageously asks the question the NWO-controlled lamestream media won’t touch:

Is Kim Kardashian naming her new baby after the Illuminati?

re: #50 William Barnett-Lewis

Sorry but you first. Explain how you think you can stop him - without a constitutional amendment that will never happen short of a civil war - and then we can continue.

You don’t have to _like_ reality but it remains the same either way. The 2nd amendment exists. Either live with it or try to change it. But recognize that changing it would cost as many lives as the last time for far fewer lives saved.

WTF? This country’s not going to have a civil war with a million deaths over stricter gun laws. Why you’re echoing the patriot movement’s fantasy predictions of civil war I have no idea. The underlying cultural split was totally different 150 years ago, comparisons to the Civil War are misplaced.

re: #145 palomino

WTF? This country’s not going to have a civil war with a million deaths over stricter gun laws. Why you’re echoing the patriot movement’s fantasy predictions of civil war I have no idea. The underlying cultural split was totally different 150 years ago, comparisons to the Civil War are misplaced.

There are thousands of nuts out there looking for an excuse to get out there and use all that pent-up firepower they have stored in their basements. They will hang it on any “cause” that presents itself.

re: #30 Targetpractice

Personally think we’re approaching the argument over magazine size from the wrong angle. Arguing Newtown over the grounds of hypotheticals, i.e. what might have happened had the proposed laws been in effect, is snarled with the inability to go back and actually test. Better instead to focus such arguments on the facts that we do have, namely that states that have strict gun control laws have lower rates of gun-related deaths than states with looser laws.

Same thing applies when comparing nations to one another.

But maybe that’s all just a coincidence.

For some reason the NRA’s argument runs along these lines: gun restrictions, magazine limits, background checks, etc. probably won’t fully solve the problem, so let’s do nothing. Yes, it’s the great can’t-do American spirit in action. (“Might not work, why bother trying.” -Orville and Wilbur Wright)

re: #143 Sol Berdinowitz

I just read about WWII a lot.

You know how I know you’ve never actually held or shot a Garand? The whole can’t be topped off myth was created by game designers trying to force multiplayer weapon balance. You can in fact discharge a partially spent Garand clip, that’s what the button on the side of the receiver just left of the bolt does, hold the bolt back and press the button to eject. You can also hold the bolt back and insert single rounds to top off. It is true that it’s easier to shoot a Garand empty and then reload, but then it always is with all firearms because in real life extractors don’t know when not to fling an unfired round into the dirt and magazines don’t magically refill themselves from a single pool of ammunition.

re: #147 palomino

For some reason the NRA’s argument runs along these lines: gun restrictions, magazine limits, background checks, etc. probably won’t fully solve the problem, so let’s do nothing. Yes, it’s the great can’t-do American spirit in action. (“Might not work, why bother trying.” -Orville and Wilbur Wright)

It is not an argument, it is just blustering, obfusticating and doing everything it can to stop any reasonable steps towards gun control legistlation.

re: #146 Sol Berdinowitz

There are thousands of nuts out there looking for an excuse to get out there and use all that pent-up firepower they have stored in their basements. They will hang it on any “cause” that presents itself.

Oh, I have no doubt that there would be carnage. But to compare it to the nation’s bloodiest conflict is a huge overstatement. The gun nuts have no organization, no army, they’re mostly older and not trained for combat. This isn’t a situation where two militaries will duke it out over the course of years leading to a million deaths.

It’s more a situation where a bunch of gun nuts will get themselves and others killed. Which wouldn’t be a civil war; it would be a politically motivated crime spree, also known as domestic terrorism.

Jobs numbers are in. THEY SUCK.

88,000 new jobs for March.

re: #139 Feline Fearless Leader

Low-capacity is relative since a KAR98 could only hold five.

Squad level tactical decisions drove many of these choices.

Kar98 was seen simply as a defense for the Squad’s real firepower, the MG34 whereas in the US squad, the rifleman was seen as the real base of firepower and was only supported by the BAR or M1919 as needed.

By the end of the war the Germans were rapidly abandoning that model for something closer to the US model based on the StG-44 with it fully automatic capability and it’s large 30 round magazines. During the Bulge battles, for example, is when those capabilities showed up the flaws of the M1 Garand.

re: #151 sagehen

Full rundown. Bad numbers generally for March, but the January and February figures were significantly revised upwards:

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised from +119,000 to +148,000, and the change for February was revised from +236,000 to +268,000.

.

re: #150 palomino

Oh, I have no doubt that there would be carnage.

I am more worried about a major-major natural and/or man-made catastrophe, especially one that calls for the government summoning the National Guard…there will most certainly be goombahs out there taking potshots at the “occupation forces”.

re: #140 Vicious Babushka

Well, his twitter name identifies him correctly. He’s stuck in the Paleolithic.

re: #148 goddamnedfrank

You know how I know you’ve never actually held or shot a garand? The whole can’t be topped off myth was created by game designers trying to create multiplayer weapon balance. You can in fact discharge a partially spent Garand clip, that’s what the button on the side of the receiver just left of the bolt does, hold the bolt back and press the button to eject. You can also hold the bolt back and insert single rounds to top off. It is true that it’s easier to shoot a Garand empty and then reload, but then it always is with all firearms because in real life extractors don’t know when not to fling an unfired round into the dirt and magazines don’t magically refill themselves from a single pool of ammunition.

Actually, it was a criticism made about the design when it was initially offered in competition for becoming the main US infantry rifle. Along with the usual concerns about an infantryman just shooting off all his ammo as quickly as possible and then retreating.

(Which has probably been a criticism about any man-portable missile system since the sling. :P )

re: #136 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

Remember when the Allies lost WWII because the M1 Garand rifle only held 8 rounds and the M1911 pistol only held 7?

My Colt 1911 still only holds 7 in the factory mag, tho’ I did purchase a couple 10 round mags but they mess up the profile of the guns what with that little extra poking out the bottom of the grip. But I got them for practice shooting at the range/dads farm anyway so it doesn’t matter.

re: #125 goddamnedfrank

It’s about TEPCO. The problem has always been about TEPCO and its incompetence in handling emergencies at its facilities. The government oversight is lacking, but it looks like TEPCO simply can’t deal with basics. Multiple power outages because rodents have chewed through wiring? Seriously? That’s the excuse they’re giving?

Now, consider the alternative - that they don’t know why the backups are failing or improper procedures/materials were used. That’s far more damning actually.

re: #158 lawhawk

It’s about TEPCO. The problem has always been about TEPCO and its incompetence in handling emergencies at its facilities. The government oversight is lacking, but it looks like TEPCO simply can’t deal with basics. Multiple power outages because rodents have chewed through wiring? Seriously? That’s the excuse they’re giving?

Now, consider the alternative - that they don’t know why the backups are failing or improper procedures/materials were used. That’s far more damning actually.

Why do you hate the Free Market?

/

re: #156 Feline Fearless Leader

Actually, it was a criticism made about the design when it was initially offered in competition for becoming the main US infantry rifle. Along with the usual concerns about an infantryman just shooting off all his ammo as quickly as possible and then retreating.

(Which has probably been a criticism about any man-portable missile system since the sling. :P )

The original design by Mr. Garand used a 10 round enblock clip of .276 Peterson cartridges which would have been the first modern intermediate cartridge had we adopted it. It would have been far more effective, in both Europe and the Pacific, than the over powered .30-06 or the under powered .30 Carbine.

However, in yet another display of his shortsightedness & incompetence, Chief of Staff MacArthur refused to allow the .276 project to go forward due to the stockpiles of ammunition left over from WWI. As a result, Garand redesigned his rifle - making it much bigger & heavier in the process - to fire the .30-06 in an 8 round enblock clip instead. It’s a fascinating look at “what might have been”. Only the possibility that we could have avoided both the M14 & M16 disasters by adopting the FAL in 7mm Nato in the ‘50’s comes close.

I just took the corporate Sharepoint Site Administrator Training and now I am a certified Sharepoint Site Administrator!

Actually I was a Sharepoint Site Admin 2 years ago without having to watch this silly Powerpoint presentation, but now everybody has to go through it.

CurtisK (@zonkerpa) tweeted at 5:56 AM on Fri, Apr 05, 2013:#NRA plan to arm teachers is absurd. #UniteBlue twitter.com/ZonkerPA/statu…

— Poppa/Willie (@PoppaWillie) April 5, 2013

re: #161 Vicious Babushka

Oh good. So now if I have a question about SP, I know who to come to! :)

re: #160 William Barnett-Lewis

The original design by Mr. Garand used a 10 round enblock clip of .276 Peterson cartridges which would have been the first modern intermediate cartridge had we adopted it. It would have been far more effective, in both Europe and the Pacific, than the over powered .30-06 or the under powered .30 Carbine.

However, in yet another display of his shortsightedness & incompetence, Chief of Staff MacArthur refused to allow the .276 project to go forward due to the stockpiles of ammunition left over from WWI. As a result, Garand redesigned his rifle - making it much bigger & heavier in the process - to fire the .30-06 in an 8 round enblock clip instead. It’s a fascinating look at “what might have been”. Only the possibility that we could have avoided both the M14 & M16 disasters by adopting the FAL in 7mm Nato in the ‘50’s comes close.

Supposedly there was resistance to the STG-44 design in Germany due in part to the huge stocks of 8mm Mauser (7.92mm) that they had. Though you’d expect that you could use them in the MGs — but then you get the lovely logistics issue of needing separate ammo for your rifle and squad MG.* (Not to mention SMGs if your squad has them. Plus blank rounds if you are using rifle grenades. And rounds for you bazooka, 60mm mortar, etc. etc. etc.)

* - Which the US got with the M16/M60 combo until the SAW came out.

re: #161 Vicious Babushka

I just took the corporate Sharepoint Site Administrator Training and now I am a certified Sharepoint Site Administrator!

Actually I was a Sharepoint Site Admin 2 years ago without having to watch this silly Powerpoint presentation, but now everybody has to go through it.

Does your company website Sharepoint pages now get a little Babushka-Cat icon in the corner? ;)

re: #156 Feline Fearless Leader

Actually, it was a criticism made about the design when it was initially offered in competition for becoming the main US infantry rifle.

How serious can a criticism be that isn’t rooted in reality? Anyway the internal magazine was mandated by the ordnance board itself and the only other serious competition, the Pederson rifle, also used an en bloc clip. The Thompson Auto-rifle used an external box magazine, but washed out early as a genuine hazard to anybody in the path of the ejected brass.

re: #160 William Barnett-Lewis

However, in yet another display of his shortsightedness & incompetence, Chief of Staff MacArthur refused to allow the .276 project to go forward due to the stockpiles of ammunition left over from WWI. As a result, Garand redesigned his rifle - making it much bigger & heavier in the process - to fire the .30-06 in an 8 round enblock clip instead. It’s a fascinating look at “what might have been”. Only the possibility that we could have avoided both the M14 & M16 disasters by adopting the FAL in 7mm Nato in the ‘50’s comes close.

If Pederson’s ammunition hadn’t required a lubricated coating it might have been adopted, probably a good thing that nobody had to find out how well it held up in South Pacific heat and grime.

re: #162 Vicious Babushka

The absurdity isn’t the arming of teachers, placing armed security guards in schools. That’s plenty bad enough, but the absurd part is that the NRA wants background checks on anyone who they want to put into those security roles.

If background checks are needed for security positions in school, and are necessary conditions, why the continued opposition to universal background checks now after backing them as they back in 1999 when LaPierre went before Congress and indicated NRA support for universal background checks.

Of course, since then, the NRA has done everything possible to block the most sensible measures that could keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them.

Fearmongering is what the NRA does. They cater to the most paranoid, feeding the delusion by purposefully misstating the purpose of the background checks, how the current background check system works, and that federal law specifically prohibits creating a database based on sales - it doesn’t create permanent records.

And at the same time, GOPers complain about the lack of federal prosecutions of those who the current background checks reject - ignoring that they’ve cut DOJ budgets and shifted DOJ priorities to counter-terrorism and other matters, limiting how much the DOJ can do. Moreover, federal prosecutions will frequently take a back seat to local prosecutions, especially if the local/state law imposes higher penalties. Why do a federal prosecution if the locality can get a higher criminal sanction (eg. federal law says up to 5 yrs for crime X, but the state law imposes 5-10).

re: #47 Dark_Falcon

They wouldn’t have prevented this in any case, since it was not Adam Lanza who owned the guns and nothing in his mother’s life would have disqualified her under Instant Check. Checks were run for at least some of her purchases and they came back clean.

Adam Lanza was 20 years old and living at home. Those guns were as much his as they were his mother’s. He was an adult in the eyes of the law. He could have, and very likely had, bought many of the magazines he carried himself because he was an adult, in the eyes of the law. His mother bought the guns, yes. When I was young my parents bought guns, and they’d say, “Treat it with respect when you use it.” because they knew and accepted that it was household property, not just their responsibility, but the responsibility of anyone who handled the weapons (and yes, all guns are weapons, period).

Stop blaming his mother. She was a victim too…of guns she purchased for her son. Legally.

And yes, Stanley’s right. The murder of these kids was committed with legal means (even if the act itself is against the law).

re: #125 goddamnedfrank

Oh, blame the dead rat…right. Billions of dollars in technology and one dead rodent is what brought the whole thing down. God we’re fucking pathetic…how did we ever make it to the top of the food chain. A dead rat. Jesus.

Srsly Tepco?
Srsly?

re: #168 darthstar

And yes, Stanley’s right. The murder of these kids was committed with legal means (even if the act itself is against the law).

By this measure aren’t pretty much all murders committed by legal means?

re: #166 goddamnedfrank

re: #160 William Barnett-Lewis

If Pederson’s ammunition hadn’t required a lubricated coating it might have been adopted, probably a good thing that nobody had to find out how well it held up in South Pacific heat and grime.

I do think that had the project moved ahead, a different way of dealing with that, perhaps the fluted chambers of later designs, would have been found. Garand and Pederson were both genius designers on the level of Browning or Saive but not as well known.

re: #168 darthstar

The Newtown massacre points out a couple of things.

If lawful owners are limited to 10 round max clips, the shooter’s mother would probably have complied and limited the rounds available. That could have potentially reduced the death toll. That’s the rationale behind the CT firearms law they just enacted.

Background checks wouldn’t have prevented this particular event, but it could prevent others. Again, the CT firearms law now requires universal checks.

If these measures reduce the amount of gun violence - whether it’s murders, shootings (and all the related health care costs), or suicides, they’ve done their job.

And none of these firearms laws violates anyone’s 2d Amendment rights. They still can own firearms legally. They can still purchase as many as they want in their lifetimes. They can stockpile and run on ammo to their budget’s desire.

Everything the NRA is doing to oppose these measures is obstructionism and pandering to the paranoid.

re: #166 goddamnedfrank

How serious can a criticism be that isn’t rooted in reality? Anyway the internal magazine was mandated by the ordnance board itself and the only other serious competition, the Pederson rifle, also used an en bloc clip. The Thompson Auto-rifle used an external box magazine, but washed out early as a genuine hazard to anybody in the path of the ejected brass.

re: #160 William Barnett-Lewis

If Pederson’s ammunition hadn’t required a lubricated coating it might have been adopted, probably a good thing that nobody had to find out how well it held up in South Pacific heat and grime.

Good question. But I pointed it out mainly as something that was said at the time and is not simply something from modern computer games. I think it was just part of the “rifleman” fixation in the 1900-40 period that a few armies had. (US and UK for instance.) Accurate and relatively slow fire (topping off a round at a time), with the capability of having 5-10 rounds if something like a “mad minute” is needed. The Lee-Enfield and Springfield 1903 fit this methodology fairly well.

Though it is obvious the US Army wanted something better by the 1930s since they did the competition that led to the Garand.

re: #173 lawhawk

And none of these firearms laws violates anyone’s 2d Amendment rights. They still can own firearms legally. They can still purchase as many as they want in their lifetimes. They can stockpile and run on ammo to their budget’s desire.

Everything the NRA is doing to oppose these measures is obstructionism and pandering to the paranoid.

I know. It’s pretty pathetic. And why anyone would want to defend the NRA is beyond me.

OT, but this just in.

reuters.com

A federal judge has ordered the FDA to allow over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill to any woman (or girl), regardless of age.

Expect the right wing to explode in anger any minute now.

re: #175 darthstar

I know. It’s pretty pathetic. And why anyone would want to defend the NRA is beyond me.

Because we cannot have a rational debate about guns. They are a fetish symbol of the Trimph of Good over Evil and of Patriotism over Tyranny.

To support gun control is to support Evil and Tyranny over Good and Patriotism.

End of discussion, start of shouting match.

re: #170 Varek Raith

Heh.

news.discovery.com

@jrubinblogger GOP made 2012 about Obamacare - and lost: lost presidential election, lost seats in Congress? Wanna try that again?

— lawhawk (@lawhawk) April 5, 2013

Hmm…

Scott Brown contemplating US Senate run. In New Hampshire.

re: #171 goddamnedfrank

By this measure aren’t pretty much all murders committed by legal means?

Adam Lanza was a legal owner of the weapon in the eyes of the law. Had he not killed his mother, she would not be facing charges. As assault rifles aren’t registered, she could, if she could speak, say that the weapons were his. But as assault rifles aren’t registered, those who seek to defend the NRA try to water down this tragedy with the weak argument that Adam Lanza stole property he already posessed. As if the possibility that he acquired the weapons illegally makes any difference at all.

re: #180 Feline Fearless Leader

Hmm…

Scott Brown contemplating US Senate run. In New Hampshire.

He’s got a truck. He knows how to get there.

re: #177 Sol Berdinowitz

Because we cannot have a rational debate about guns. They are a fetish symbol of the Trimph of Good over Evil and of Patriotism over Tyranny.

To support gun control is to support Evil and Tyranny over Good and Patriotism.

End of discussion, start of shouting match.

We can, but there’s a big gap between all or nothing. And where’s the compromise? What will anti-gun people give up in return? Playstations?

I just “love” it when interfering Christians tell me who’s pro-Jewish and who isn’t.

whitehousedossier.com/2013/04/05/whi… Tell me again why most Jews voted for Obama when he disses them? #tcot #tgdn #lnyhbt #pjnet

— Kim(@luckycat76) April 5, 2013

re: #173 lawhawk

If these measures reduce the amount of gun violence - whether it’s murders, shootings (and all the related health care costs), or suicides, they’ve done their job.

And if they don’t and the intentional homicide rate and gun crime rates climb from current historic lows? Up or down I’m not sure this is the right measure, background checks are just good policy no matter what, but we shouldn’t kid ourselves, we’ve done nothing about handguns which are the real crux of the problem.

re: #182 darthstar

He’s got a truck. He knows how to get there.

Durka dur!

Do they ever do pleasant stories for NPR’s Storycorps?

Drafted to Fight for the Country that Hurt Him.

Breaking news - and one that is going to cause a complete meltdown on rightwing sites everywhere:

Judge orders morning-after pill available without prescription

(CNN) — A federal judge in Brooklyn has ordered the FDA to make the morning-after birth control pill available over the counter to people of any age without a prescription, overturning a decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to require a prescription for girls under 17 years old.

The FDA said it couldn’t comment because it is an ongoing legal mater.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended last year that oral contraceptives be sold over the counter without a prescription in an effort to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in the United States. Opponents of prescription requirements say prescriptions can delay access to the drug.

Okay…I just heard about Grumpy Cat (who doesn’t look all that grumpy) and don’t get the big deal…but this is pretty funny.

Image: 526983_10151593994638322_1138764829_n.jpg

re: #184 Vicious Babushka

Tell me again why most Jews voted for Obama when he disses them?

This is just another RW talking point along with “How can blacks continue to vote for Democrats, the party of the KKK and George Wallace?”

Shop that sold gun to mother of Newtown shooter loses its license huff.to/16wI40m

— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) April 5, 2013

The report at HuffPo doesn’t quite explain why, and some will claim that this is due to the Newtown shooting, but this particular store had all kinds of inventory problems - thefts and unaccounted missing weapons.

re: #191 lawhawk

The report at HuffPo doesn’t quite explain why, and some will claim that this is due to the Newtown shooting, but this particular store had all kinds of inventory problems - thefts and unaccounted missing weapons.

Further proof of an Obama coverup, obviously.

/

re: #185 goddamnedfrank

Ordinary handguns are not going to be banned. Capacity and rate of fire limits will apply. But I see no reason to discount ordinary law enforcement actions as the best solution for a lot of the gun violence. The drug and gang side of things for instance. Cut that violence via better drug policy and strong anti gang actions and you are heading in exactly the right direction.

You make a great point. The vast majority of gun deaths are not these aberrational mass shooting. They are the one or two here and there a night in violent gang infested neighborhoods.

We are looking at this exactly backwards. Focusing on the day to day deaths will net more lives saved than focusing on Lanza and his ilk. Those crazy bastards will just gin up something else deadly like an IED.

Really cut gang activity and you cut gun deaths and reinvigorate the neighborhoods that need it most.

BBABL

re: #184 Vicious Babushka

I just “love” it when interfering Christians tell me who’s pro-Jewish and who isn’t.

“The Irish are the Jews of Europe. So say it once and say it loud, I’m frum and I’m proud…”

In lieu of background checks, would the NRA be okay if we just required gun sellers to ask potential buyers if they think the president is a Muslim. If they say no, then they’re probably sane enough to purchase a weapon.

re: #193 Political Atheist

Ordinary handguns are not going to be banned. Capacity and rate of fire limits will apply. But I see no reason to discount ordinary law enforcement actions as the best solution for a lot of the gun violence. The drug and gang side of things for instance. Cut that violence via better drug policy and strong anti gang actions and you are heading in exactly the right direction.

You make a great point. The vast majority of gun deaths are not these aberrational mass shooting. They are the one or two here and there a night in violent gang infested neighborhoods.

We are looking at this exactly backwards. Focusing on the day to day deaths will net more lives saved than focusing on Lanza and his ilk. Those crazy bastards will just gin up something else deadly like an IED.

Really cut gang activity and you cut gun deaths and reinvigorate the neighborhoods that need it most.

BBABL

People either forget or deliberately overlook the fact that most of the mass shootings are also carried out with normal capacity handguns. Patrick Sherrill carried out the highest body count “going postal” incident using a couple of 1911s.

Birther gets $177k fine for wasting court’s time.

re: #196 goddamnedfrank

People either forget or deliberately overlook the fact that most of the mass shootings are also carried out with normal capacity handguns. Patrick Sherrill carried out the highest body count “going postal” incident using a couple of 1911s.

Actually, anti gun legislation people are happy to point that out.

They stoned people in the bible. Have we banned rocks?

re: #194 Decatur Deb

“The Irish are the Jews of Europe. So say it once and say it loud, I’m frum and I’m proud…”

I thought the Jews are the Jews of Europe. Whatevs.

re: #199 Vicious Babushka

I thought the Jews are the Jews of Europe. Whatevs.

Always thought the Committments line might miff some of the millions of African-europeans.

re: #180 Feline Fearless Leader

Hmm…

Scott Brown contemplating US Senate run. In New Hampshire.

Maybe sooner or later he’ll find a state that likes him!

re: #198 darthstar

Actually, anti gun legislation people are happy to point that out.

Then why aren’t they actually legislating on that basis? Handguns are the problem, nobody’s doing anything about them.

re: #188 RadicalModerate

You and I are only ones bringing up the morning-after pill. Everyone is talkiing guns.

re: #202 goddamnedfrank

I’m assuming the idea is to get something passed and upheld with popular support, as a precedent for cracking down further on other kinds of guns.

re: #202 goddamnedfrank

Then why aren’t they actually legislating on that basis? Handguns are the problem, nobody’s doing anything about them.

slippery slope, ban handguns and pretty soon we have people marrying goats

/

re: #202 goddamnedfrank

Then why aren’t they actually legislating on that basis? Handguns are the problem, nobody’s doing anything about them.

Totally pissed at the entire gun debate. It’s a textbook example of political ineptitude from my progressive side, climaxing in the Feinstein screwup. One year after Sandy Hook the number of deadly weapons in circulation will have increased sharply, and the political capital needed to fix a lot of problems will be sharply reduced.

DERP

Another proud, responsible gun owner. #UniteBlue —————- twitter.com/LeeGoaa/status…

— Lee Goaa (@LeeGoaa) April 5, 2013

re: #204 iossarian

I’m assuming the idea is to get something passed and upheld with popular support, as a precedent for cracking down further on other kinds of guns.

So if it doesn’t work and the homicide rate climbs again gun control advocates can point to their failure as a reason to listen to them again? That makes sense. Again this is exactly what the anti-smoking advocates didn’t do, instead they focused on the biggest problem, cigarettes. They didn’t start off with an ineffective piecemeal strategy targeting only pipes and hookahs.

re: #206 Decatur Deb

What do you think the screwup was? I’m genuinely interested to think about what could have been done differently.

The way I see it, a majority of Americans are heavily irrational* about guns, and the manufacturing industry preys on that irrationality to successfully oppose any kind of legislation restricting their ownership and use.

* In that they claim in polls that they’d like to see restrictions such as background checks, but will never actually vote for a candidate on that basis.

re: #208 goddamnedfrank

So if it doesn’t work and the homicide rate climbs again gun control advocates can point to their failure as a reason to listen to them again? That makes sense. Again this is exactly what the anti-smoking advocates didn’t do, instead they focused on the biggest problem, cigarettes. They didn’t start off with an ineffective piecemeal strategy targeting only pipes and hookahs.

Supreme Court though. Nothing’s going to happen unless the five freaks think they might actually get dragged out and burned at the stake for striking down whatever gets put in front of them.

re: #208 goddamnedfrank

So if it doesn’t work and the homicide rate climbs again gun control advocates can point to their failure as a reason to listen to them again?

Anyway, I’m not trying to pick a fight here, but this has been a fact-free debate from day one. Whether a policy “works” or not in the first few years is likely to be a matter of spin only.

re: #207 Vicious Babushka

I would rework that to say:

“Just because you have the right to own a gun and have children, doesn’t mean you are responsible enough to have either.”

Fun fact: There are now more Gingrich, Limbaugh, & Trump ex-wives than Democratic Senators who don’t support #marriageequality. #lgbt

— Gabe Ortíz (@TUSK81) April 5, 2013

re: #210 iossarian

Supreme Court though. Nothing’s going to happen unless the five freaks think they might actually get dragged out and burned at the stake for striking down whatever gets put in front of them.

Being rational is now defined as intimidating SC justices into ruling the way you want them to. Nice.

re: #214 goddamnedfrank

Being rational is now defined as intimidating SC justices into ruling the way you want them to. Nice.

All I’m saying is that for anti-gun legislation to be upheld by the SC, it’s going to have to have massive popular support. My rhetorical embellishments are just that - I do not advocate violence against anyone.

re: #209 iossarian

What do you think the screwup was? I’m genuinely interested to think about what could have been done differently.
..snip

Overreach. The history of the AWB that came and went shows the shallowness of the political support for this direction. If we had settled for a magazine limit or gun-show loophole fix it might have flown. All the shouting has done is enrich the gun industry, put more guns in the hands of fanatics, and lessen the chances of improving congress and the
Supreme Court.

re: #193 Political Atheist

We are looking at this exactly backwards. Focusing on the day to day deaths will net more lives saved than focusing on Lanza and his ilk. Those crazy bastards will just gin up something else deadly like an IED.

Really cut gang activity and you cut gun deaths and reinvigorate the neighborhoods that need it most.

BBABL

I agree. Another thing that is needed, then, is for it to be acknowledged that guns are hazards, they are risks, and urging people to get them or treat them as just another piece of sport fun is foolish. Most people don’t need guns, and yet we have this gun culture that basically says that everyone out there should be packing.

Crime is down, mass shootings are not a common event. The real gun problem we have in the US is accidents and suicides. They’re not a high rate compared to the number of gun owners, but the problem is that we have shitloads of gun owners, most of them with no actual need for the guns they have.

The sooner that we can change our gun culture from “Whoo hooo hold my beer and look at this” to “These are weapons, they deserve respect, and they are not toys”, the better. But there’s a gigantic cultural mound to scale there.

What right wing insanity?

AFA’s Buster Wilson says he is “staying neutral” on whether it’s OK to “shoot down US Marshals” bit.ly/11sXDXm

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) April 4, 2013

There’s only one right answer. You don’t “stay neutral” on something like that.

FAIL.

re: #216 Decatur Deb

Fair enough.

re: #206 Decatur Deb

Totally pissed at the entire gun debate. It’s a textbook example of political ineptitude from my progressive side, climaxing in the Feinstein screwup. One year after Sandy Hook the number of deadly weapons in circulation will have increased sharply, and the political capital needed to fix a lot of problems will be sharply reduced.

Feinstein should not have been allowed to say a single word by the leadership. Once she became the “face” of it, any chance of passing anything, much less anything meaningful, disappeared.

There should have been a number of individual bills covering each proposed reform and introduced by a blue dog. Then each could have been debated on it’s merits and had a chance to get enough votes to pass.

But the Democratic party has made a pattern of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory like this for a very long time now.

re: #220 William Barnett-Lewis

Heh, it wouldn’t have mattered.
Any gun regulation would’ve bee met with extreme hostility.
You know, like it is every damn time with the national gop.

re: #215 iossarian

All I’m saying is that for anti-gun legislation to be upheld by the SC, it’s going to have to have massive popular support.

Popular support can get the Supremes to recognize a Constitutional Amendment like the 14th covers what it didn’t before, i.e. interracial and hopefully gay marriage. It’s a (deservedly) harder sell to try and get them to eliminate something specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights. When popular support is at the right level then Congress and the States can try to repeal the 2nd, until then the Supremes may restrict it further within limits but they’re not going to simply will it away.

re: #217 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

the problem is that we have shitloads of gun owners, most of them with no actual need for the guns they have.

Because the NRA would have us believe that guns in the hands of “Good People” and “Patriots” will help defend us all against Evil and Tyranny.

And, by extension, reducing the number and availability of guns will only aid the spread of Evil and Tyranny.

So tell us again why you hate everything that is Good about America…

/

re: #220 William Barnett-Lewis

Feinstein should not have been allowed to say a single word by the leadership. Once she became the “face” of it, any chance of passing anything, much less anything meaningful, disappeared.

There should have been a number of individual bills covering each proposed reform and introduced by a blue dog. Then each could have been debated on it’s merits and had a chance to get enough votes to pass.

But the Democratic party has made a pattern of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory like this for a very long time now.

Yup. Shows the weakness of ‘legislating-from-horror’. We couldn’t maintain an AWB after someone shot the most popular Republican of a generation.

re: #224 Decatur Deb

We somehow couldn’t get a universal background check at a time when the NRA was claiming that it supported one. Now, they oppose even that meager step.

re: #224 Decatur Deb

Yup. Shows the weakness of ‘legislating-from-horror’. We couldn’t maintain an AWB after someone shot the most popular Republican of a generation.

Shot him with a cheap pistol. The problem is we never actually target the problem.

re: #221 Varek Raith

There was some centrist support for increasing restrictions until she became the “voice” of those restrictions. She is well known as someone who wants the UK’s policies here and there is almost no one willing to help her take even a step on that path.

It’s not just the GOP, though they didn’t help as always.

Rumors causing ammo to fly off store shelves. Rumors that the government is “hoarding” ammo, or that the government is about to impose more draconian restrictions.

The most ridiculous thing is those claiming that the government is hoarding ammo, buying it up to create a shortage and cut off the supply. These folks are so paranoid at this point to be impervious to all facts, reason, and logic:

Some government critics attributed shortages to federal purchases of bullets, accusing officials of trying to hoard a billion rounds and disarm the populace.

“Department of Homeland Security and the federal government itself is buying up ammunition and components at such a rate, it’s causing artificial shortage of supplies for the regular consumer,” said Jesse Alday, a state corrections officer who was buying a couple of boxes of primers at Hunter’s Haven.

“They’re buying it up as fast as they can, for reasons they’re not officially willing to admit or go into. — They’re not willing to come up with any answers as to the reasons behind why they have enough ammunition on the U.S., on our own home soil, to wage a 25-year war,” he said. “That’s kind of strange.”

Keane, whose group includes manufacturers, said the reports of massive federal purchases were not true.

The government routinely buys products in bulk to reduce costs and Homeland Security has said the latest purchases are no different.

Last year, the department put out bids for a total of about 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition over the next five years. The rounds are to be used for training, routine weapons qualification exercises and normal duty by various department agencies.

It’s strange because it’s simply not true.

These are the same folks who think that the DHS was buying 2700 tanks (they aren’t tanks, aren’t for the DHS, and it was for the Marine Corps), but the meme will simply not die.

re: #222 goddamnedfrank

Popular support can get the Supremes to recognize a Constitutional Amendment like the 14th covers what it didn’t before, i.e. interracial and hopefully gay marriage. It’s a (deservedly) harder sell to try and get them to eliminate something specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights. When popular support is at the right level then Congress and the States can try to repeal the 2nd, until then the Supremes may restrict it further within limits but they’re not going to simply will it away.

I think of it like the healthcare bill. I genuinely think Roberts was swayed by the general movement in which things were going, despite the public being split on the measure.

The Law isn’t as cut-and-dried and systematic as lawyers sometimes like to claim it is.

re: #229 iossarian

The Law isn’t as cut-and-dried and systematic as lawyers sometimes like to claim it is.

It depends.

re: #229 iossarian

I think of it like the healthcare bill. I genuinely think Roberts was swayed by the general movement in which things were going, despite the public being split on the measure.

I think Roberts just got pissed off at Kennedy acting like he owned the Court and decided to stick it to him. There’s very little reason to think any of the Justices gives a shit about popular opinion. There’s very little reason that they should, that’s not their job.

DERP
Who says it’s not Teh Juice?

Airline enshrines Sharia: if Muslims don’t want pork, NOBODY gets pork. wtim.es/14T7gSD

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) April 5, 2013

Dog walk—BBL

Good morning lizards!

re: #232 Vicious Babushka

What’s the big deal? It’s not like airline food is so wonderful anyway, and you’re on the plane for only a few hours. Does Bryan need a pork fix every hour, or something?

re: #215 iossarian

All I’m saying is that for anti-gun legislation to be upheld by the SC, it’s going to have to have massive popular support. My rhetorical embellishments are just that - I do not advocate violence against anyone.

Um, a bunch has already been held up, and we got an explicit call from at least one SCOTUS Judge for more regulation. The angry and the spin docs take words and twist them. What is out is blanket bans like what we saw in DC and Illinois. Every California gun law has passed legal muster. Many never made it to a SCOTUS level hearing as we know. Because lower courts ruled and that was that. 10 round limit, tight registration and configurations limits of semi auto rifles. Universal B/G check with a deliberate un necessary delay.

According to the polls the U-B/G check has massive popular support. I don’t think for a second that would fail to hold up.

re: #232 Vicious Babushka

I think it’s referring to a Daily Mail report about Quantas, and it also involves no longer serving alcohol. Quantas just entered into a deal with Emirates Airlines. But these relate to flights to/from ME.

Airlines flying in/out of ME, Jakarta, and several other spots do not stock alcohol on those flights either.

But that ignores the fact that most airlines here in the US have canned on-board meals in most cases (particularly hops less than cross-country). Or they impose extra charges for meals - like being in business/first class.

re: #236 Political Atheist

Um, a bunch has already been held up, and we got an explicit call from at least one SCOTUS Judge for more regulation. The angry and the spin docs take words and twist them. What is out is blanket bans like what we saw in DC and Illinois. Every California gun law has passed legal muster. Many never made it to a SCOTUS level hearing as we know. Because lower courts ruled and that was that. 10 round limit, tight registration and configurations limits of semi auto rifles. Universal B/G check with a deliberate un necessary delay.

According to the polls the U-B/G check has massive popular support. I don’t think for a second that would fail to hold up.

These are very good points. Maybe Deb is right and we should just have gone for the gun show loophole and magazine limits.

Idle speculation: I think there’s a fair chance we’ll get a fairly restrictive form of gun control, and the gun favoring crowd will not like it but won’t be able to stop it.

I’m becoming more and more convinced that we’re going to see an active attempt at what amounts to insurgent rebellion by a smallish group of… I really don’t know what to call them, really. Aryan Brotherhood is part, but so is the patriot movement and the sovereign citizenship. They’re entangled with the Tea Party in much the same way as the Weather Underground was entangled with the SDS. Add in their connection to Mexican gun cartels, and I think an explosion is coming.

IF it happens, then it’ll strip the balance wheel. Anyone trying to defend gun ownership is going to have to go out of their way to show they’re not a closet sympathizer. If they were TP or part of that in any way, they won’t be able to do it. NRA membership might be problematic the same way thanks to the current leadership.

The sad thing is that this is sorta the modus operandi of the Tea Party. No Compromise sounds great except it means All or Nothing which, when betting against the house (the majority) tends to result in nothing. Idiots.

re: #231 goddamnedfrank

There’s very little reason to think any of the Justices gives a shit about popular opinion. There’s very little reason that they should, that’s not their job.

There is vanity, and the human desire to be thought well of by posterity, but your position is probably closer to correct than mine.

re: #237 lawhawk

I think it’s referring to a Daily Mail report about Quantas, and it also involves no longer serving alcohol. Quantas just entered into a deal with Emirates Airlines. But these relate to flights to/from ME.

Airlines flying in/out of ME, Jakarta, and several other spots do not stock alcohol on those flights either.

But that ignores the fact that most airlines here in the US have canned on-board meals in most cases (particularly hops less than cross-country). Or they impose extra charges for meals - like being in business/first class.

Zedushka and I flew business class to Amsterdam on Delta and then to Israel on El Al. The kosher food in Delta business class sucked, probably because the crew just wasn’t used to preparing it, it was pretty much the same food you get in coach, just more of it and more room to eat it. The food & service on El Al was great.

re: #241 Vicious Babushka

Zedushka and I flew business class to Amsterdam on Delta and then to Israel on El Al. The kosher food in Delta business class sucked, probably because the crew just wasn’t used to preparing it, it was pretty much the same food you get in coach, just more of it and more room to eat it. The food & service on El Al was great.

I’ve flown United, American and All Nippon Airways between China and the US. ANA had by far the best service and food, and I swear the seats were more comfortable. And they give you slippers and a hot towel in the morning, even in coach!

re: #238 iossarian

These are very good points. Maybe Deb is right and we should just have gone for the gun show loophole and magazine limits.

Those could have been passed and even, with difficulty, gotten through the House. But you have to use the right language - regulate not restrict or ban. However the ability to even do that much was destroyed the moment when Feinstein introduced her bill. The Senate Majority Leader is almost as incompetent as the Speaker of the House & those two, more than anything else, are why nothing is getting done on the People’s business.

re: #238 iossarian

The hard thing seems to be to drive a wedge in between the congress and NRA/gun maker money. We may have more votes than money. And let me say we finally have a better alternative to HCI for our effort. (Go Gabby)

re: #242 wheat-dogghazi

I’ve flown United, American and All Nippon Airways between China and the US. ANA had by far the best service and food, and I swear the seats were more comfortable. And they give you slippers and a hot towel in the morning, even in coach!

Did Asianna (sp?) to Saigon when we adopted. Now that was exquisite food and service in biz class. I’d be willing to fly if I could afford at least that minimum.

re: #228 lawhawk

Rumors causing ammo to fly off store shelves. Rumors that the government is “hoarding” ammo, or that the government is about to impose more draconian restrictions.

The most ridiculous thing is those claiming that the government is hoarding ammo, buying it up to create a shortage and cut off the supply. These folks are so paranoid at this point to be impervious to all facts, reason, and logic:

It’s strange because it’s simply not true.

These are the same folks who think that the DHS was buying 2700 tanks (they aren’t tanks, aren’t for the DHS, and it was for the Marine Corps), but the meme will simply not die.

We are such a nation of paranoid bed-wetters, it makes me embarrassed sometimes to admit I’m American.

It’s getting to the point where I’m not worried if someone is going to shoot up the mall when I’m there, I’m worried when it’s going to happen.

And at the end of the day, it’s driven in large part by people who are pissed off that a black guy is President.

Fuck guns, and fuck the people who prioritize them above all else.

re: #245 William Barnett-Lewis

Did Asianna (sp?) to Saigon when we adopted. Now that was exquisite food and service in biz class. I’d be willing to fly if I could afford at least that minimum.

Flew Malaysian Air from LAX - KL and back (via Taipei) a few years ago. Very good food and service in business class there as well. And paying the extra cost for that leg of the trip was a no brainer given the length of time in the air and fact that I basically do not fit well in coach seating.

re: #244 Political Atheist

The hard thing seems to be to drive a wedge in between the congress and NRA/gun maker money. We may have more votes than money. And let me say we finally have a better alternative to HCI for our effort. (Go Gabby)

The money-in-congress thing is obviously a perennial problem, not just with guns. It’s a fundamental flaw in American public life.

re: #247 Feline Fearless Leader

In reading travel blogs I get the impression that US airlines’ business model is Greyhound, while foreign airlines’ model is Cunard.

re: #249 wheat-dogghazi

In reading travel blogs I get the impression that US airlines’ business model is Greyhound, while foreign airlines’ model is Cunard.

Note to self and everyone else: DO NOT FLY ON SPIRITAIR. EVER. TAKE ANOTHER CARRIER, RENT CAR, TAKE BUS, WALK.

re: #246 Mattand

We are such a nation of paranoid bed-wetters, it makes me embarrassed sometimes to admit I’m American.

It’s getting to the point where I’m not worried if someone is going to shoot up the mall when I’m there, I’m worried when it’s going to happen.

And at the end of the day, it’s driven in large part by people who are pissed off that a black guy is President.

Fuck guns, and fuck the people who prioritize them above all else.

I am curious a bit what happens in 2016 when the nuts no longer have a black POTUS to rant and rave about. And I think that the GOP might not be able to turn down the volume of rhetoric. They’ve played the “traitor”, “patriot”, and “socialist” cards so hard that any backing down will be viewed by the rabid base as betrayal. One of the side effects of continually polarizing the debate as good vs evil is that you can’t easily slide towards compromise once you’ve backed yourself into the corner.

re: #249 wheat-dogghazi

In reading travel blogs I get the impression that US airlines’ business model is Greyhound, while foreign airlines’ model is Cunard.

Wait for the new model of charging on a per pound basis (passenger + luggage.)

;)

re: #252 Feline Fearless Leader

Wait for the new model of charging on a per pound basis (passenger + luggage.)

;)

Timely.

Samoa airline introduces pay-by-weight pricing