And that's enough happy talk.

Here have some doom.



Watch the whole thing, down to the manufacturing jobs that cannot be filled. High unemployment and a labor shortage. And then the demographics. In Alabama 1/3 of their skilled workforce is over 55.

And then remember that something like this is tossed around by all the "smart" people as a big chuckle.

I do have a graduate degree, but in engineering. I got a job in the field and I'm no longer in debt, not even my car. I also don't look down on "hand workers" given my parents are truckers and have had jobs ranging from construction to real estate to farming.

I also never thought I was entitled to a job or that I could coast to a degree or that I was "better". I was also only able to afford college (remember the no debt thing) by scholarship, work, and the sacrifices my parents made for me. Which is a debt that I cannot truly repay but will gladly bear.

Via Carteach0

Winning? (Part Whatever II)

As some can guess, I got back from Buffalo and have been thinking about it some.

NYS laws for handguns are quite hideous. CCW (which is may issue and often comes with target only or hunting limits) is required to even posses a handgun let alone carry. There is no reciprocity and no non-resident permits. There's also no person to person sales and the requirement for a purchase slip from the state for each handgun bought.

It's a system that quite handily pushes aside anyone with a casual interest or from out of state.

Frankly, I'm amazed it's even legal in New York to rent a handgun. Still people are going through the process. Which at least in western New York, even in Buffalo, is getting faster and somewhat easier.

I am seeing an attitude change where even in mixed company with people who don't shoot and have never touched a gun, seeing ammunition and talking about firearms does not cause a rote gun control response.

I'm thinking that maybe the gun control movement has a generational divide. Or maybe firearms are renormalizing into the culture. The conceal carry change has been huge and it could be spreading. People stuck in May Issue states can see what it's like in Shall issue states and despite the anti's claims the streets haven't yet run red with blood.

And as bad as the state is, NYC is far far worse. Permits that are home-only, carry restricted to friends of city hall, and limit of one gun purchase every 90 days regardless of type.

Edit: And before I forget here's a post Unc's that also got me thinking along those lines. 47% of US households own a gun. And a post of Jay G's on *Another* Compact Single Stack 9

From the standpoint of someone who grew up in the late 1980s and came of carrying age in the bad ol' Clinton years, it is nothing short of amazing to see so many guns dedicated to concealed carry now. Back when I first got my permit in 1994, we had the J-frame, the Detective Special, Baby Brownings, and the Makarov for small guns, and not much more. Now the options are staggering, as are the number of states in which one can legally tote them...

Some Perspective.

Gun Safety from Cracked.

5 Terrible Things You Can't Stop Your Children From Doing.

Number 2 is about firearms.

Writer John Cheese has worries about his children and firearms.

Now, here's where things really start making me nervous. Every contact my kids have had with guns has been on a fantasy level. Playing Halo and Modern Warfare on the Xbox. Playing with their Nerf guns, which are designed to be shot at humans ... the newest set is comprised of Velcro darts that stick to special T-shirts.

I'm not one of those people who thinks that movies and games turn ordinary people into raging psychopaths, shooting up schools while shouting out the Ten Commandments. But I'm also not ignoring the fact that the only lesson they've had about guns so far is, "Point at a human and pull the trigger to make fun occur."

Sounds like a problem. How does this man confront the issue?

So this year, I went back on my word and got them BB guns for Christmas. Yes, it's not quite the same thing as a 12-gauge shotgun, but it makes me feel a lot better knowing that I can teach them about gun safety without the fear of becoming a newspaper headline.

It's yet another compromise, and you've probably noticed that's pretty much the running theme of this article.

Depending on the ages of his sons the BB gun makes perfect sense. And once they learn and grow maybe a shotgun would become appropriate. But the key is again teaching gun safety. So that when his sons are with friends, or when they're older they'll know how to use a firearm safely.

My point is, I think every single person reading this has a similar story. Yep, violence is bad. Nonviolence is awesome. But you want to tell me that there's never a time to fight? Bullshit.

The first time my own kids encountered a bully, I had to sit down with them and tell them as honestly as I could that they should never go out starting fights or specifically looking for one. But if they found themselves in a situation where nobody could help, they wouldn't be in trouble with me or their mom if they had to throw punches in order to protect themselves.

No, it's not always the best solution. But, standing there and taking punches while nobody comes to your rescue is the quickest way to tell a bully, "You can do this to me anytime you want. I'm easy prey."

And that lesson doesn't stop when you become and adult.


And then there's this bit at the start.

So, when Clusterfuck approaches them, what are they supposed to do? It's really goddamned easy for me to tell my kids, "Just say that you don't want to be friends any more." Sure. Have you ever done that? Looked somebody right in the eyes and said, "I can't talk to you because a third party has determined that you're a bad person."

Okay, now imagine being a ten year old boy and not only having to say that, but also having to explain to your group of mutual friends that either Clusterfuck goes, or he goes.

At least as parents they're in an authority figure. It's far harder when a peer pulls rank with a mutual friend. And it's worse on said mutual friend because they're been placed in a situation of emotional blackmail. Distance and past history also makes it harder, but when someone has proven by his actions to be... unreasonable cutting off contact is the only action.

Though not being in Buffalo made things easier for me in many ways.

But Cheese's ending line is rather poinent on that too.

So yes, kids, sometimes the world is an imperfect place, riddled with assholes. And no, we won't always be there to protect you. If we're not honest about that as parents, what good are we?

Rule 4: Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

MythBusters crew, you guys really screwed up here.

They were test firing a cannon at some water barrels and missed. Thankfully no one was hurt, but there's a reason ranges are limited on the kind of ordinance you can use and what is a safe direction to fire.

And they also report that this was a "misfire". So that's a violation of rule 1 and a potential violation of rules 2 and 3.

1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

There's a reason it takes breaking at least 2 rules for something bad to happen. Depending on the details the Mythbusters could have broken all four (at the very least they broke 2). 4 is especially important since the cannon ball bounced out of the range.

They were very lucky no one got hurt. This also shows that for a group that has been doing this for years and normally has a pretty good safety record that complacency and sloppy safety *will* catch up to you.

One lesson that can be taken from this is the importance of range capacity and limits. What size projectiles can the range's berms, walls, whatever soak up. What angles of fire are acceptable. How much kinetic energy can be used before there's a risk of a projectile ricocheting or bouncing out of the range. How far can a projectile reasonably travel if it is not stopped.

Another interesting thing was the reaction. Last night I was with a mixed crowd when I learned of this story. Those who were more on the gun control side or even just inexperienced with guns were more willing to make excuses for the Mythbusters. While those that were pro-firearms or at least knowledgeable placed the blame on those operating the canon.

The former group treated it like some sort of natural disaster or random accident and underscored how hard the situation would be to repeat. They saw the weapon itself as some sort of actor, bearing some of the blame. One person even pointed to the house that got hit and blamed California building codes.

Meanwhile the latter group admitted that randomness played a big role but that was besides the point on where the responsibility lay. The Mythbusters clearly violated safety rules when operating a large firearm. The weapon was only a danger when people started playing with it in an unsafe manner.

Link via Ace.

Quote of the day... me?

Yes I made Weerd's Quote of the day.

Here's my reaction to a childish morality play on why we need "gum control".
An anti named Baldr likens gun control to a school trying to clean up gum.

Once again we see that the Anti’s dream world is the school. A place of total top down order and control where no mater who started a fight both parties are equally punished, where anything can be banned, and most importantly where there are two classes of people: the teachers and the children.

That they don’t see people as adult citizens but instead as children that *need* the guiding hand and wise judgment of the Mrs. Cali’s of the world.

On further thinking it's even worse.

Say you want to go from a “strong gum control” class (gum is banned) to a “weak gum control” class (studends can chew gum)? You can’t! Not without the administration’s permission. Internal Passports Ho!

Also students don’t elect teachers, administration, or have any say in school spending or policy. The only representative “government” they have are powerless student councils and a figurehead of a Class President.

Weerd's original post also has a good deconstruction of the anti's mentality too.

Now they ask.

The New York Times is asking if maybe the police are getting a bit too militarized.

Geee... I wonder what gave them that idea.

Hat tip Glenn Reynolds.

Nanny Bloomberg's Empire... State

Bloomberg's getting even more out there...

While bragging about how his city is like a nation unto itself, with it's own diplomatic representation, and state department, Bloomberg says this.

I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world.

There you have it, militarization of the police from the mouth of NannyBloomberg himself.

And what nation is the Number seven that Bloomberg's mighty gendarmerie would supplant? Why the US. And how big is the US Army? 550,000

Wait... so the NYPD has more than half a million people on the payroll?

Well no. The NYPD has about 44,500 officers, auxiliary officers, and school safety agents.

Only off by over an order of magnitude eh Bloomberg?

Gross gross delusions of grandeur aside. This very man who crowing about the mass numbers of gunmen in his employ is the head of and financier of the leading Anti-Second Smendment Rights organization in the country.

Isn't it great when a "great leader", who has broken term limit rules to stay in office, brags about his power?


And Bloomberg's crusades against salt and transfats and other nannying nonsense is also well known.

As Weer'd is wont to say, they're not anti-gun, but anti-freedom.


Bloomberg antigun? Clearly, he loves armed people... but only if they've taken the "king's shilling" as it were. In fact, he seems to wish that he had a literal army of guys with guns at his beck and call.


Via: Uncle