Sunday, January 31, 2016

How Many Conspirators is Too Many?

This link is courtesy of Screw Loose Change. I don't understand the math of it, but I'll take their word for it since they're not saying loony tune stuff about 9/11.

He then looked at the maximum number of people who could take part in an intrigue in order to maintain it. For a plot to last five years, the maximum was 2521 people. To keep a scheme operating undetected for more than a decade, fewer than 1000 people can be involved. A century-long deception should ideally include fewer than 125 collaborators. Even a straightforward cover-up of a single event, requiring no more complex machinations than everyone keeping their mouth shut, is likely to be blown if more than 650 people are accomplices.

And how many people would have to have been involved in the 9/11 conspiracy? About half the people in the United States. 

Saturday, January 30, 2016

The Winding Down of the Bundy Gang

Still a few deadenders left in the Malheur Refuge.

The last holdouts in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff say they now want pardons for everyone involved before they'll leave the headquarters where they're holed up behind police roadblocks.

"Before we leave, every single one of the people involved in this operation should be pardoned," occupier David Fry said in a feed posted to YouTube just before noon Friday.

Can't imagine what would make these four holdouts think they have such a strong hand that they can make these demands. Wanted to put this link up because of the video showing the inside of the refuge. It makes me feel good because I'm not a great housekeeper myself. I feel at home with clutter but not quite as at home with as these folks.

UPDATE: Want to add this Post Star link because I have few comments and I want to highlight another commenter's opinion.

I've watched this video numerous times over the past couple days, and am still not convinced this was justified. The police officer that was almost hit actually left his position of safety in the parked police vehicle and jumped out at the car. Why? Did he fire at the vehicle then? Finicum comes out with hands extended. Its hard to say why his hands go down, he could have been asked to show if he had a gun and was lifting his jacket. But what I think happened is he was shot by one officer, both his hands lower to the same spot. And he starts wobbling on his feet. then the 2nd officer comes from behind and shoots him at point blank range with what appears to be a rifle. I'd add, if he had missed, the bullet would've gone directly at the other officers at the scene. Where's the hands up, don't shoot outrage now. Until I see a video with audio to know what directions the officers were yelling at him, I'm not convinced he was intending to try and shoot anyone.

There's no convincing some people. 

Uncommon Sense with David LaCarte

Just going to link to this podcast because there were a few statements I'd take exception with.

At 17:50 Matt is going on about how it's just Greens that show up to protest with the Vets for Peace. LaCarte points out to him that there are Dems and Greens, no word on any Reps. Another nail in the coffin of Dems and Reps being the same animal.

Donkeys and elephants both have four legs, but that does not make them the same animal.

At 44:20 Matt goes on a strawman rant about how Democrats don't want to address gun control, they just want to screw with rifle attachments or some goddamn thing.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Miscellaneous Letters and Such

First up, Scott Bauberger.

As for those who say our small arms can't stand against a government with missiles and nukes, you only need look to Vietnam. We lost to a bunch of civilians with garbage guns. 

Since I'm old enough to remember the most major problem we had in Vietnam was not winning hearts and minds, I'll point out that it may be a major problem in your strategy too, Scott. If you'll look at the recent attempt to do whatever they were trying to do by the Bundy Gang you may see it. They were told to go the fuck home from the minute they showed up. And the government doesn't need missiles and nukes. Overwhelming force alone counts for a lot. 

A couple of sad missives today. Luella says:

This letter is addressed to all Republicans. Our slogan should be “Dump Trump.” He is a lying, foul-mouthed, bigoted bully. Some of you find him amusing because he says anything he wants to, no matter whom he hurts. I would be ashamed to have him as president of our country.

We have Marco Rubio in the wings. He is young but not too young. He is also smart, good-looking and a gentleman. He has the strength and youth and new ideas to make our country strong once more.

So to all you loyal American Republicans, once more with feeling! “Dump Trump!”

Rubio is smart, but not too smart. He's good-looking,but not pretty. He's a gentleman, but a tough guy. Blah, blah. 

And here's Bill.

So "The Donald" was afraid to be questioned by Megyn Kelly in the Republican debate. Mr. Tough Guy with the fluffy hairdo shows his true colors as a loudmouth bully who backs down and takes his toys and goes home when he can't get his own way. This is the guy who is going to take on Putin, ISIS, the entire Mexican government and make us great? Forget about it.

You can both expect to be the subject of some nasty tweets from The Donald. 

And we had Congresswoman Stefanik in The Chronicle this week. First off, she made the statement that neither Trump nor Cruz will be the nominee for president. I'd love to make a substantial bet on that. They point out that she has no basis for that prediction and made no endorsement.  

And on a scale of 1 to 10 she gave President Obama a solid 4. They neglected to ask her for a grade for the president she worked for. 

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Masada or No Masada

There are still some holdouts in the Malheur refuge. These might be the deadenders Rummy was referring to. I'm willing to accept that there may be some legitimate grievances that people in the Western states have with the US government. I pride myself on being open-minded. This was a clusterfuck from the start, though. The fact that there are people like David Fry and Colonel Green Beret Joseph Stetson with records sealed by Ron Reagan supporting the movement doesn't give them much credence.

 David Fry, an Ohioan who is among the remaining armed occupants of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, said he is prepared to die during the siege.

"I'll pass on and move on to the next life. I don't know (how it will end), but I'm willing to go that far,'' Fry told The Plain Dealer in a brief phone interview Wednesday.

"Obviously they are murdering people at this point. They've been doing it for a long time now, and you guys are watching it.''

And maybe we'll still be talking about your epic final days 2000 years from now. 

Decades after Jesus’ death, Zealots engineered a revolt against Rome. The uprising was brutally stamped out and ended with Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 AD. Survivors fled to Masada, a fortress built by Herod near the Dead Sea. Today, the excavated remains of Masada have become a national symbol for all Israelis.

But, probably not.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

The Limits of Tolerance

I'm sorry to see that Robert Finicum lost his life to his beliefs.

Finicum "took off" in the pickup with the remaining passengers. He said Payne and Cox described encountering a police roadblock about a mile north on the highway and apparently tried to get around it, becoming stuck in the snow.

"When he exited the vehicle, the rear wheels were still spinning," McConnell said. "He charged at law enforcement" and was shot.

My sorrow is mitigated by the joy I feel over the arrests of a number of the Bundy Seditionists.  

And here is a link to the new leader of the pack. 

Jason Patrick, a former roofer from Georgia, finds himself the leader of the remaining occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

He said Wednesday that he isn't sure how the occupation, now in its 26th day, will end, but still hopes for a peaceful resolution.

May I suggest you come out with your hands up and no weapons?

Police have cut off the refuge headquarters, 30 miles southeast of Burns. Roadblocks near the bird sanctuary's entrance stop traffic going in, but police have encouraged anyone at the refuge to leave.

Roughly six miles away, police set up a secondary roadblock, threatening to arrest anyone but landowners who try to go past.

It's not as easy as some may believe to take on a tyrannical government. 

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Do you have a Black Hawk helicopter? Do you have armored vehicles? I saw somewhere a guy suggesting that the effort was going to be like the Viet Cong. See, there the problem is that you need the people on your side. Did the Bundy Gang ever have that? No. 

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Good News Tuesday

Not sure which is number one good news. I'll go with two of the miscreants from the Center for Medical Progress getting hit by a whoopsie doodle verdict which I didn't know could happen. Then, I'm not a lawyer.

A Texas grand jury investigating allegations of misconduct against Planned Parenthood after the release of covertly-shot videos about the use of fetal tissue from abortions has instead indicted two antiabortion activists who made the videos, authorities said Monday.

David Daleiden, 26, director of the Irvine-based nonprofit Center for Medical Progress, was indicted by the grand jury on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs, Harris County Dist. Atty. Devon Anderson said in a statement.

And that's a Texas grand jury. 

In other really great news, Zephyr Teachout is going to be running to replace the odious Chris Gibson in the district below me. I wish she had moved to my district, but I believe that in Mike Derrick we have a good candidate as well. God willing, not a blue dog. And yes, the GOP has already started with the carpetbagger bullshit.

Teachout moved to the district 10 months ago, to a home in Dutchess County, where she had beaten Cuomo by 17 points. That was weeks after incumbent Rep. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) announced his early retirement, and Democrats immediately started scouting local talent

And there's good news from Oregon. Someone has been arrested. Some fine folks are being attracted to the Burns area to join up with the Bundy Gang. 

A 54-year-old Woodburn man who said he wanted to be the Bundys' personal guard has been arrested after saying he wanted to kill federal agents.

Authorities responded to Hines Market on U.S. 20 late Monday morning on a report of an armed man who was saying he wanted to join the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupiers and "help with killing federal agents," according to a post on the Harney County Sheriff's Office's Facebook page.

Don't miss the video. He's a colonel and a Green Beret and his records were sealed by Ronald Reagan. Probably worked with Ollie North when he was in Central America. I really believe they should have tased him. These Oregon cops are way too laidback. 


Sunday, January 24, 2016

Ammon Bundy:Constitutional Scholar

Or not.

A bedrock claim of the small group led by Arizona businessman Ammon Bundy is that the Constitution limits federal ownership of land. As a result, they say, the federal government is violating Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 by illegally holding about 76 percent of Harney County.

But scholars say Bundy and his followers are misreading the Constitution.

"You have to read the entire document and not just the clauses and provisions that you think support your case," said Elizabeth Wydra, chief counsel of the nonprofit Constitutional Accountability Center, which monitors legal application of the Constitution.

I've encountered other constitutional scholars in comment threads. It's hard to believe how many are around. Unfortunately, I am not one. I do believe that all land as it was acquired (stolen from Native Americans) became property of the US government. 

Bundy told an FBI negotiator Thursday that his group already is examining land records to identify previous owners. But which records they're researching isn't clear.

Officials at the Harney County Assessor's Office, which tracks property ownership, and the Clerk's Office, which keeps the record of deeds, say no one in recent weeks has approached them to examine the records.

Be careful what you don't wish for.

The wildlife refuge, with headquarters about 30 miles southeast of Burns, is a symbol of Bundy's overarching demand. He wants the land turned over to the county.

But Harney County isn't interested in becoming the refuge's landlord.

"If they gave it to us, where would the money come from to operate that?" said Steve Grasty, Harney County judge, a non-judicial position that operates the same as chair of the county commission.

The refuge employs 17 people to handle day-to-day operations. The entire Harney County county government full-time workforce numbers 102. Grasty said operating the refuge would cost millions that the county doesn't have.

The county's options would be limited, he said, including laying off employees to free up money for refuge management, closing the refuge or selling off parcels of the refuge to raise money.

Bundy acknowledged this week when talking to an FBI agent that he didn't know what practical steps he could take to get the refuge land and buildings out of federal control.

"We could put more thought to that," he said.

That last statement would probably make a great epitaph for pretty much anyone in the Bundy Gang. 

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Palin Gives Christine Flowers a Sad

I'll just link to the piece at the Post Star. I wasn't that familiar with her, but looking at some of her work online gives me a good idea where she's coming from. Way out in right field.

But now, with her embrace of a man who ridiculed the POW who made her possible, I’m forced to question my judgment, and her motives. And that makes me sad beyond belief. 

Strangely enough, her sadness makes me happy. What a bastard I am. When I'm happy I write to the editor, though.

     I'd like to thank the Post Star for running the commentary by Christine Flowers. Also big thanks to the German people for the word schadenfreude. Finding it hard to conceive of someone who passed the bar believing in Sarah Palin for 8 years led me think it was a parody. Since a web search convinced me it was not satirical, there are a few points I disagree with. The overall essence of liberals' disagreement with John McCain and Palin is one of them.
     
     "Liberals won't forgive (McCain) for running against the first black president." Not to pick nits, but it was Willard Romney who did that. McCain gets kudos from us libs for choosing Palin and imploding his campaign by raising valid questions about his judgment. If those of us on the left have a problem with him, it's that he seems ready to deploy U.S. forces against anyone at any time. As for his former running-mate, her endorsement of Donald Trump was a hallucinatory word stew that Dr. Seuss could only have dreamed of concocting. I enjoyed it huuuugely!
     
     I wouldn't expect Flowers to realize this, but Trump is the natural by-product of what the Republican Party has become. Did anyone have a problem with his birther theories back in the day? He's the result of the steady diet of rightwing, extremist folderol being fed to the GOP base. She states, "I'm forced to question my judgment, and her motives. And that makes me sad beyond belief."

     Well, sadder but wiser, I hope.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Sarah Palin Standing Up for Battered Women and Victims of PTSD

No, I'm kidding.

How else can you reconcile her decision at Wednesday’s rally to take her son’s recent arrest on domestic violence charges and blame it, effectively, on Obama. She cited her son’s post-traumatic stress disorder from military service — no small matter, of course — and then implied that Obama’s handling of America’s veterans and the way they are cared for led her son to, according to a police report, punch his girlfriend in the face, kick her in the knee and threaten suicide with an AR-15 rifle.


She made no comment about the woman, who police say hid under a bed in the Palin home crying. She made no reference to the many soldiers who suffer PTSD and don’t commit violent assaults. She made no reference to the fact that, despite this country’s pitiful treatment of veterans and their mental health, she is a millionaire entertainer who could undoubtedly afford to get her son the best treatment available.

Mother of the year. Forever.

Here's a nice editorial by Brandon Friedman that discusses Palin's comments.

The suffering is primarily internal. This is why veterans who live with PTSD are far more likely to harm themselves than they are to hurt others.


Area Miscreants

This is from the department of arming up makes you safer in your castle.

A New York City man who was arrested last week for a December knifepoint home invasion at a Glens Falls home has been charged with selling cocaine.

Coke dealer? Home invasion? Maybe the gun fetishists have a point about being armed.

 No injuries were reported, and police said the incident appeared drug-related.

Then again, maybe not. Maybe not being a competing drug dealer or someone who stiffed a drug dealer or whatever the whole story here is, is a good way to not have a nut with a gun break into your house.

BTW, I'd like to once again thank the governor for the SAFE Act. If this was Texas, both of these ne'er-do-wells would likely have had guns. Thanks Andrew! 



Bundy Gang: Day ?

It's somewhere around 3 weeks. Just want to link to an editorial in The Oregonian.

Here's what's clear: Unchecked disregard for federal law and public property, combined with cunning media manipulation, rewards delusional behavior among people whose lives are otherwise spent enjoying discounted grazing rates on lands own by American taxpayers.


Here's what's really clear: It's really time to go.

A sustained tolerance for the occupation at this point won't do. Measured but aggressive actions should be taken, among them cutting off power to the refuge headquarters and engaging armed ranchers arriving to join in Finicum's signing ceremony, now set for Saturday – itself a potential civic disruption that legally warrants investigative action. Among other things, continued tolerance would likely be the encouragement Finicum and Bundy need for their standoff to metastasize among the errant across the American West, with Oregon the unwitting epicenter. A heavy-handed crackdown by law enforcement is discouraged, meanwhile, as it would likely trigger bloodshed, creating martyrs among the occupiers and dooming essential public discourse about the role of public lands and the right of all Americans to enjoy them.

Arrest these jackasses!

Also on this subject is Rex Huppke who does not so much want to arrest them. 

Dear fellow patriots:
I applaud your bold overtaking of a remote, unoccupied federal building in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. (OK, technically the "federal building" looks more like a cozy stone cabin, but that takes nothing away from the aforementioned boldness.)


Without question, your clearly defined objective of staying in the building for years to come and doing patriotic things there is right in line with the constitutional ideals envisioned by the Founding Fathers. I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of unoccupied federal wildlife refuge buildings."


Your rebellion brings to mind that great moment in American history, weeks before the Revolutionary War began in 1775, when two unemployed patriots, Abner Farnsworth and Phineas Snotgarden, formed their own militia and occupied a large rock outside Lexington, Mass., for a full five days, after which they got bored and left.

There's much more. Go. Enjoy.

 

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

How Can He Lose Now?

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Don't miss Sarah's full speech here.

How ‘bout the rest of us? Right wingin’, bitter clingin’, proud clingers of our guns, our god, and our religions, and our Constitution. 

And Cicero wept.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Greens For Donald?

Well, maybe not. It seems that even The Donald is not gonzo enough.

(O)ne of Trump's Iowa precinct captains has disowned his candidate's anti-Muslim comments on the grounds that 9/11 is an inside job and Muslims are thus not to blame 

Do Members of Vanilla ISIS Work?

This guy for instance seems to have a lot of time on his hands.

In the YouTube video, Jon Ritzheimer explained tearfully why he was going to miss Christmas with his 3- and 5-year-old daughters in Arizona to protest on behalf of ranchers in a remote corner of Oregon.

Don't worry about it Jon. I'm sure your wife has found someone else by now and your kids are calling him Daddy. I love that whole Tokyo Rose thing. You have to go and read the whole thing to get a feel for what a paranoid, neurotic, psychotic dickhead this guy is. 

From Oregon Live, what we need to know for Friday. The hostage takers were supposed to announce plans for releasing their hostages today. So far. Not so much. 

For anyone interested in doing so, here's a petition asking President Obama to please arrest these assholes and charge them with something. Anything really.

Here's Charles Pierce on the shipment of dildos to Oregon:

What is wrong with you people? Do you think people sent candy penises to Washington at Valley Forge? Do you think the Constitution was written with a dong-shaped quill pen? Do you believe Button Gwinnett was into vibrators, or Stephen Hopkins into leather? OK, you might have a point with old Ben Franklin, but that's no reason to take the fight against the tyranny of bird sanctuaries as lightly as this. They hand you freedom and you hand them a dildo? Ungrateful bastids, the lot of you.

I have no problem with the Gang being made a laughingstock, but I'd still like to seem some actual charges as well.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Elise Contracts Obama Derangement Syndrome

I actually got this story on Congresswoman Stefanik on Notcongressman Matt Funiciello's FB page. Hat tip to you, Matt.

In response to President Obama's address, Stefanik says while there is room for working across the aisle, she disagrees that the union is stronger than when Obama first took office.

Yeah, I can see someone who doesn't recognize that things are better now than in January 2009 is going to "work across the aisle."

Virtually every claim they made about Obama turned out to be wrong, whether it was how 
Obamacare was going to bankrupt the economy (not to mention kill off old people), how he was driving gas prices through the roof, hecouldn’t create American jobs, he was going to take away your guns, he was lettingIran obtain nuclear weapons and letting Ebola sweep our shores, how he gave the Benghazi stand down order, and unleashed the I.R.S. on his enemies.

All of it turned out to be wrong. (Obama being a Muslim and a socialist, too.)

Under Obama, the stock market’s up more than 9,000 points, the unemployment rate has nearly been cut in half, and USA Today reports that drivers in many states may soon see gas stations advertising $1 per-gallon fill-ups.

Mike Derrick, please beat her and become my congressman. While you're at it, make sure to call a loon a loon.

Thank you for supporting our campaign and joining our movement to bring common sense solutions to Washington.

Very nice! I stand with common sense over not common sense every time.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Random Gun Violence Post

Went to the Gun Violence Archive and looked at the last 72 hours. Since I'm interested in the Texas Experiment, I happened to click on this.

Someone tried to take the money from Oliver without exiting the vehicle.

However, Oliver, who was armed, pulled his weapon, and that's when people inside the car also pulled a gun and Oliver was shot, according to HPD. 

This was in Houston and he was making the money drop for McDonald's. Just give them the money! If he hadn't been armed he would likely still be alive. Is it reasonable to think the guy is going to take the money and then just shoot him for no reason.

And here's two recent cases where fear-mongering has left people less safe in their homes, or at least left their children less safe. In Florida, a woman shoots her daughter.

A Florida woman who fatally shot her daughter mistakenly thought the 27-year-old was a home intruder, authorities say.

The sleeping woman woke up when she heard a noise and saw a figure coming toward her late Tuesday night, said Sgt. Denise Roberts, of the St. Cloud Police Department. The figure was approaching quickly, Roberts said, and didn’t say anything.

“The homeowner fired one round at the subject,” a news release on the shooting states. “The subject was later identified as the homeowner’s daughter.”

In Cincinnati, a father shoots his son. 

A Cincinnati father accidentally shot and killed his 14-year-old son after he investigated what he thought was a burglary in his home Tuesday, police said.

Stop telling people they are unsafe in their own homes.

Link to Leonard Pitts piece at the Post Star. 

Bundy Gang Update

Just a few links from Oregon Live.

Here's Jon Ritzhimer having a fit over inappropriate gifts. Self-reliance isn't just an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson you know, Jon.

If I lived in Burns, I'd have to think about actually arming up myself.

Police and community members say the menacing is real and has been going on for weeks. 

There are a number of incidents at that link. It may not be the actual militia that are involved. It could just be that they draw a bad element. So, apparently on Friday they are going to let the town know when they'll stop holding it hostage.

The armed militants occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge announced Tuesday morning that they will drive into Burns at the end of the week to hold a community meeting and inform residents when they will leave.

BTW, I do think that Ammon Bundy would make a great running mate for whoever wins the Republican nomination for prez. 

Doolittle Link 

Monday, January 11, 2016

Checking In On Matt

I had to look back and see when my last Funiciello post was. It's been over a month, so I guess we're due. I try to limit it to one a month or so. Obsession behavior is never pretty. Note my many gun posts.

So, the Post Star has a short bit about a lady who has announced she's going to run as a Green Party candidate in the mayoral race in Glens Falls in 2017.

Patti Gray Whann recently enrolled in the Green Party as she solidified her decision to run for Glens Falls mayor in 2017.

“To be a registered independent, you’re not a party and you have no line,” 

To me that sounds as though it's possible that she's running as a Green because it's a low bar to entry onto the ballot. I could be wrong and it could be that she is dedicated to Green Party principles. Call me a skeptic when it comes to the fact that she has worked for the McCain/Palin and Romney/Ryan tickets.

Gray Whann was a local organizer in Saratoga Springs for Republican John McCain’s first presidential campaign in 2000, and she represented the Republican viewpoint at a presidential candidate proxy debate in 2004 at Crandall Public Library.

Now, of course I realize there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. To some there isn't anyway. Kudos to Ms. Whann for driving an alternative fuel vehicle anyway. Moving on toward Matt.

 “Although I haven’t gotten my cute little postcard back from the Board of Elections yet, I filled out my (voter registration) paperwork and put it in the mail.”

I did leave a comment at the site and I'm proud of myself for resisting the urge to say something snarky about not asking MF for help on that. 

On Tuesday last, (Funiciello) went to vote and was told that "he didn't exist." It was unclear from listening to the show whether he was allowed to vote or not. (He wasn't) He wasn't on the voter rolls, but if he was actually registered, he should have been able to vote by affidavit. My belief is that he screwed up in registering and was not allowed to vote for that reason.

I could also have warned her about the conspiracy inherent in the Board of Elections against Green, Libertarian, Socialist, The Rent's Too Damn High and any other party not wearing blue or red jerseys.

So what I really wanted to get to here was MF's comment on the article. 

And I am very proud of her and happy to welcome her officially as a new member to the Green Party.

And I'm happy that he's happy. I did want to point out that she has run for office before. 

Gray Whann was a long-time Republican who became an independent in 2013, when she was considering a run for a Common Council seat in the 2nd Ward.

She was the Republican candidate for the 3rd Ward Common Council seat in 2009, and lost to incumbent Democrat Scott Watson.

Yes, she's run for Common Council and lost as a Republican and is now running for mayor as a Green. The nonsense is strong in this story. If you can't win running for the lower office, try for a higher one. But just to bring the nonsense on home, here's Matt!

Patti has done a great job with the GF Collaborative and, should she run for Mayor, she will certainly be doing so with my full support!

Matt Funiciello's radio show lead-in starts with some bullshit like, "take off your red or blue jersey because it's time for uncommon sense." Ms. Whann has announced, essentially, that she is going to run for mayor of Glens Falls. She has no announced opponents yet. 

Councilman at-large Dan Hall, a Democrat; Water and Sewer Commissioner Nancy Underwood, an Independence Party member; and former 1st Ward Supervisor William Brown, a Conservative Party member, have said they are exploring the race.

My question then is, mustn't you be wearing a green jersey if you are giving a candidate your full support based on nothing other than the fact that she is running on the Green Party line? He doesn't know what her positions or anyone else's are. And you have to overlook the fact that all the potential opponents at least have some experience. 

I'm big on word definitions. I always try to make sure a word, "means what I think it means," before I use it. So here's the definition of un

a prefix meaning “not,” freely used as an English formative,  

I hate nonsense and try to use common sense myself. I can only speculate that uncommon sense is the opposite of common sense and would therefore be not common sense. The more I look at the things MF says, the more I realize that the name of that radio show is impeccable.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

This One's For You, Smith29-2

I'm tired of leaving links at the Post Star site, so just going to do a little blog posting today. Once again want to give a Hometown thumbs up to Kathleen Parker. When they're right, you gotta acknowledge it. So here's commenter Smith29-2:

The one thing I get sick and tired of hearing is the "gun lobby'. You know who the gun lobby is? Gun owners, the elderly veteran who lives down the street, fought in Korea or WWII who hunted his whole life, never got in trouble. He's the gun lobby. The father who just got his kid a .22 rifle, he's the gun lobby, the woman who bought a handgun because after fourth or fifth time her ex violated the order of protection and realized that the ten minute plus response time from the cops after she called 911, she's the gun lobby. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the suck ups to both and their like in the media would have you believe the gun lobby are rich executives, they're not. The gun lobby is everyday people, people who are sick and tired of being treated like criminals for doing nothing wrong. Gun sales are the highest they've ever been, why? Because of the lack of response from the GOP and being treated like criminals for exercising a right they have.

I did leave a comment on the Home Depot shoplifter shooter. As to the father who just bought his kid a .22, guess I could have mentioned the father of Dylann Roof and the mother of Adam Lanza. I'll just point out this guy who's also the NRA.

Authorities discovered a laundry list of weapons and ammo in Stockert’s truck which included an unloaded 12-gauge pump shotgun, a bolt-action rifle, 289 rounds of .22 caliber long-rifle bullets, 71 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition and two rounds of .223 rifle ammunition, plus a 12-inch machete and an 18-inch billy club.

The Congress can't approve that money for mental health soon enough. 

Thank You Texans

I've been remiss in extending my thanks to the people of Texas for so enthusiastically agreeing to take part in the experiment involving total firearm insanity. How total? Here's the Texas AG:

The attorney general of Texas said late Monday that banning guns in college dorm rooms violates the state's newly approved "campus carry" law,...

"If a public institution of higher education placed a prohibition on handguns in the institution's campus residential facilities, it would effectively prohibit license holders in those facilities from carrying concealed handguns on campus, in violation of the express terms of Senate Bill 11,"

Sure it may sound crazy to you, Don't worry though. It's not open carry, it's concealed carry.

“When people hear campus carry, they’re like ‘Oh my gosh, guns are going to  be all over campus’ but it’s really not going to  be that way,” Christopher Lee says. He’s student body vice president at UNT in Denton. “Students aren’t just going to be walking around with guns on their hips.”  

Oh my gosh indeed.

Only those 21 years and older can get a license.

Thank God for that anyway. In fairness:

The UNT task force studied Colorado, the state with the most years of campus carry law – 12. There had been few campus gun incidents there.

I'll be thankful to be watching from the relative safety of upstate NY.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Assorted Links On Guns

In no special order. Here's Tbogg:


We’re tired of lunatics bursting into schools and slaughtering screaming 6-year-olds with assault weapons.

We’re tired of weekend warriors strutting around Home Depot looking for toilet plungers while dressed like they’re setting out on a midnight raid to capture Osama bin Laden; AR15 at the ready in case someone jumps the line at the self-check out.

We’re tired of heavily-armed home-schooled Constitutional scholars who steal or occupy property belonging to all Americans because… freedom. They’re not patriots, they’re gun-packing thieves — and not very bright ones at that.

But mainly we’re tired of dying from gunshot wounds.

Tom had the deaths at my next link at 157. It's at 205 when I just looked. It'll pretty much rise by the minute though, so look fast. Another link from that piece contains a wealth of studies refuting the stupidity of ho so much. 

Lots of good stuff there, but just to point out two stories: 

Despite the astronomical odds against being killed, this fear of home invasion often drives people like Becca Campbell of Ferguson, Missouri, to gun ownership. This past November, Campbell was riding home in a car with her boyfriend after purchasing a gun, preparing for the unrest expected to follow the grand jury decision about whether to pursue criminal charges against the policeman who killed Michael Brown. She joked that “we’re ready for Ferguson,” waving the gun. Distracted, the boyfriend ran into the car ahead of them, and the gun fired, killing Campbell.

And:

In light of the overwhelming evidence that guns are a public health threat, gun advocates often retreat to an “it could never happen to me” mentality. This worldview is tragically mistaken. Consider the case of Veronica Dunnachie. She was, by many gun advocates’ definition, a good gal with a gun. A strident voice for gun rights, she was an open carry advocate, dedicated to expanding the unlicensed open carrying of firearms. In Texas, open carry is currently restricted to long guns; she pushed to include handguns. She frequently attended rallies and protests organized by Open Carry Tarrant County (an offshoot of Open Carry Texas). In a domestic dispute on Dec. 10, she allegedly shot and killed her husband and stepdaughter.Horrified, Dunnachie called a friend, telling him she “had just done something bad” and, at his urging, checked herself into a nearby mental health clinic.

To just end on a light note:

Black Op Arms owner Mark Limoges showed up for his interview with CNN sporting a special edition AR-15 like one that the company had recently presented to Trump.

“This is an exact replica of the gun we gave Mr. Trump,” he explained. “It has our Black Ops Arms symbol on it with our Black Ops Arms symbol on the handrail. And the other side, we have the ‘Live Free or Die’ with the American flag on the handrail.”

For the remainder of the five minute interview, Limoges continued to hold the weapon across his chest, pointing it upwards.

He's going to make them pry it from his cold, dead fingers.

“Most of the people that come in [to the gun store] are real nervous about what Mr. Obama is going to do to limit their chances of getting weapons,” he said.

That's because they're nuts who listen to propagandists. 

Link to a piece on Chris Gibson, gun fetishist for governor. Shout to Kathleen Parker

It is one thing to be in the pocket of the National Rifle Association. It is another to do nothing and then assume a superior posture of purposeful neglect, as though do-nothingness were a policy and smug intransigence a philosophy.

That's beautiful. I'm going to definitely steal that. 

Sunday, January 3, 2016

It's Like Woodstock for Wingnuts

Please arrest them and charge them with anything you can think of. They got away with their bullshit at the Bundy Ranch. If we are to be nation of laws, they must be dealt with.

A group of militants broke into and seized the federally owned headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, The Portland Oregonian reports.

They can't be allowed to continue. 

Ammon Bundy once helped his father repulse the government in an armed showdown on a Nevada desert. He was Tasered for his effort.

Ryan Payne, an electrician from Montana, joined that same standoff and boasted of organizing civilians into sniper squads that drew a bead on federal agents.

And not long ago, Jon Ritzheimer worried the FBI with his threatening rants against Muslims in Arizona and elsewhere, according to press reports.

Thank God for this.

The Hammonds don't want to be part of the outsiders' cause, and neither do many in Harney County.



Doolittle link.

Charles Pierce link.

Link from Ray Cranston at Shaw's place. Hungry, hungry terrorists