Intermission

Started the day with a nice brunch of bacon and homemade waffles with honey (make the waffles in a batch and then freeze the leftover ones for later use)  and then watched the latest MLP:FIM

Got a new Trav game to play that I've really been looking forward too.

But before that had a little intermission:

Some George T. Stagg and a pipe with a blend of Sunrise and Jaberwoky and a good book.

Nice way to pass a bit of a cool, wet, afternoon.

And now to work on a lil' venison steak for a light dinner.

Another sign zombies have jumped the shark.

When you have folks like this picking up on it.

When Z list internet folks that comment on the strange news pick it up,  yeah it's reached saturation.

I know the vast majority of gun owners into the whole zombie thing take it as a joke or like Zombie Squad as a metaphor.   Though there are shirts like this.

Interesting thing is even on a show with a guy who's "neutral" and a self-proclaimed  Northeast Liberal woman they don't go on about people buying guns for protection. No they're gobsmacked at people wanting protection against imaginary threats, like zombies or goat suckers.

This also shows how culture has an effect.  Where these people aren't gunnies but they have some knowledge of the terms.

Course these are the same guys that don't realize how a hatchet could be drug paraphernalia. Like say a peace pipe.  Though that does raise the question of why wouldn't any other pipe be drug paraphernalia

Though they do take exception to this story, in last week's episode.

Guy in line on Black Friday gets punched in the face,  pulls out a gun, doesn't fire, but people scatter.  Cops are called and say the guy is within his rights, and he gets his gun back (if unloaded). And of course those two complained about "overreaction", while ignoring the whole assault to the face.

But three interesting things  their main complaint was well.  Rule 4 violation.  Risk of a bystander getting hit.  Which is a legitimate concern.

The other was that the two hosts on that little show didn't put 2 and 2 together.  Unlike my link, they said that the guy got his gun back and in either report the cops pressed no charges.  They never outright went "Huh, the cops said what he did was legal and within his rights. How odd."

And finally, like with the first link, there wasn't the knee-jerk reaction against people arming themselves or carrying.   It is a bit hard to go "Why would you ever need a gun when shopping?"  when talking about a story where a guy got physically assaulted and had to defend himself.

Hoyt: Ungovernable

So Sarah Hoyt (also started reading DarkShip Renegades today, so good so far), takes an idea similar to Whittle's  in her essay about the US being Ungovernable.

When people’s lives are made impossible, they find ways to live.  This was true, even in Portugal in the seventies, with a  flourishing black market and most regulations ignored.  How much more true will it be here, at the first signs of true pinching? 

Or take Greece or Italy where cheating on your taxes is considered a national pass-time and every business does a bit of shady work and black and grey markets are just a part of life.

Just look at the attempts to force an online sales tax on the US citizens will go. The more they post, the more illegitimate and most of all the more incompetent their laws are the more people will shrug and ignore them.   Know anyone that's pirated a movie or a book or a game? Even if it's a game they already own?

And Hoyt also takes a similar stance as Whittle to remind people that the government is not the country.  A distinction Statists are naturally opposed to.

So…  after sixty years of creeping statism, they’ve now “captured the flag” – they have actually got all of the important systems sewn up: news, entertainment, education, government.
They think – can you blame them? – that they won. 

I won’t say they can’t hurt us.  They can.  The mechanisms they’ve seized hold of are important and they are – natch – misusing them. 

I’m not saying that this will be easy.  It won’t.  Our economy is likely to be an incredible shambles, and I’ve said before I think we’ll lose at least one city. 

But, listen, the problem with these sons of… Babel is that they might be American, but they’re not American ENOUGH.  If they were, they’d understand “ungovernable” and this willingness for each of us to go it alone (often for common benefit, but on own recognizance, nonetheless) is not a bug.  It’s a feature.  And that it’s baked in the cake of a people who came here to escape the top-down spirit of other places.  Some of the black sheep (or as one friend of mine calls it, the plaid sheep) attitude is genetic, hereditary, inborn.  And enough of us have it. 

Push harder and we escape harder, through crevices they don’t even know are there.  Forbid us from making a living, and we’ll find a way to go around you.  Make it impossible to defend ourselves, and I shudder to think what some of my friends and neighbors will come up with.  Make the economy impossible, and we’ll create another one you can’t reach.  Make regulations too binding and we’ll either ignore them or – more likely – creatively subvert them.
They captured the flag, and they think they captured the nation.  It’s the type of mistake that the bureaucratic mind makes.

And as she points out earlier,  there's no where else for us to go.  So why not?  It's not like there's a choice.  And our "social betters" will always exempt themselves anyway.

Though they'll get off easier when they flout the laws they put on the rest of us, because they've got good intentions.

Like how Mr. A will rant about the need for strict Federal food safety controls, but is all about going to a Farmer's market and buying "natural" beef.  Not to mention his enjoyment of pot.    Remember, you can trust the police to pick and choose who can carry a gun, but not who should go to prison or who gets to use drugs!

Reasons for May Issue

Know how it's really, really hard to get a New York City Carry permit?

Turns your you're wrong.

Had a"fascinating" conversation with Mr. A.    The topic went to May Issue versus Shall Issue.

At first he seemed sensible, going on about how most of the nation was Shall Issue and the subject seemed settled.  Sure if you happen to live in the 40 states with Shall Issue...

But most of the country has migrated to shall-issue over the last 15 years. Isn't this kinda an old, mostly solved issue?

Those of you that have heard these Mr. A stories know the other shoe will drop.  Well first he claimed it was all by the courts, when in reality CCW was by legislature.

Whatever, minor.  But then then I pointed  when I pointed out how a regular Joe can't get a permit in  NYC, Boston, San Fran, LA, New Jersey, or Hawaii (for an incomplete list).  He challenged me.

And this shows a couple interesting things.

1) It's hard to get an "unbiased" source showing how May Issue works. 

Mr. A complained and wanted non "right wing" sources on this.

And what I found was more indirect. Yes I have personal experience living in NY and NJ to draw on.  And know people who live in Massachusetts, but getting the data to show it is hard.

Sure there's Emily Miller's tale of how hard it is to get a gun (legally) in DC, but that's not carry.

And there's the obvious factor that in strict May Issue areas only celebrities and the rich can get permits.

The NYPD charges a nonrefundable $340 to file an application for a gun permit and between $94 and $106 for the collection of fingerprints, even before a background check is begun.
Gun permits aren't easy to get.
"The NYPD is extremely thorough in their investigation," said divorce lawyer to the stars Raoul Felder, who also has a permit to carry. "In other states, you fill out a form, swear you are not a lunatic and you get it."

Easy if you got connections!  But that doesn't directly show how much denial there is.  Sure it obliquity points out that the permits aren't easy to get, and yet celebrities keep getting them.  And  over 300 bucks for the chance to get a permit?  Screw you poor people!

And there's that the Sullivan Law itself says

To qualify under New York's licensing laws, the applicant has to show “a special need for self protection distinguishable from that of the general community or of persons engaged in the same profession.” 

That struck. That directly says some people are above the "general community".
But what gets to me is that it was hard to find data showing that, yeah,  May Issue does deny people their rights.

This is despite, on the face, it being obvious.  The only point of May Issue is to empower the police to deny permits to people who are not prohibited persons.  Therefore May Issue only acts as a restrictive agency or as de facto Shall Issue.

2) Mr. A thinks May Issue favoritism is an NRA conspiracy.

Needless to say, Mr A didn't believe it. Sure celebrities can get gun permits in NYC, and sure those permits are very expensive and selective, but that doesn't mean the police will deny you if you're a normal guy.

 He could not conceive of a "recorded, proven pattern of people being unreasonably and/or illegally denied CCW permit."

Note that under May Issue such a pattern would be legal. Which is.. better?  It's an interesting blindspot.  He doesn't see giving the police such a power as inviting abuse.Thus he doesn't see abuse under May Issue happening.  

Mind, this is also a guy who immediately before this was complaining about how the Politicians, Police, and Justice System conspire to arrest blacks in greater numbers for voter suppression.  

 So he is someone that knows his conspiracy theories when he criticizes the idea that May-Issue States frivolously deny permits:

Honestly, it sounds like the sorta thing the NRA makes up from a couple anecdotes and mostly whole cloth

Get that?  You wanna get a carry permit in NYC or San Fran?  You can! 

Massachusetts residents you don't need to consult this map to make sure you'll have to move before you can get a permit. (Link here) Nope! It's all a clever ruse.

Anyone who says otherwise is part of the NRA conspiracy.  Consider the enormity of such a conspiracy.   Every gun owner in an anti-gun state or who had ever been in an anti-gun state would have to have been in on it.

He thinks that Regular Jane gun owner in Boston can get a carry permit, but instead chooses not to in order to be part of the conspiracy.

But due to a lack of exposure and a regrettable lack of easy evidence, he's able to support this delusion. Because hey, only right wing gun owners complain about it.  And most of them don't even live in those states.

3) Mr. A has scary views on police power.

Now one wonders if he'd even support May-Issue.  Even absent any abuse, the only purpose would be to deny rights to those without due process.   So does he support May-Issue?

Of course!

"May Issue is a pretty reasonable position."

Now square that with the above where he says CCW is  "mostly solved" issue. An why does he think the police should have the power to deny a right?  Well he went into the "people who have committed violent crimes" (Can't getone under Shall Issue) and "people who have serious, long term mental disorders" (again see Shall Issue).

But then he went with a real gem.  Something that yes,  Shall Issue would not cover:

"because you're a scumbag and everyone knows it" is a very good reason, but rarely one that can be legislated into effect

Get that?

Your rights can and should be abridged if "everyone knows" you're a scumbag. Or at least the police know. They don't even have to prove it in a court of law.

Again, not just anti gun.

That was a nice warm day...

Not sure how many more we'll get, but it was handy while it lasted.

Used the chance to get in some running.  Much better than last year when my stamina was 50% less and I stopped in early November.

And now some Italian Sausages from the Freshmarket, cooked up in bacon fat with fresh garlic, and a red and white pearl onion, crushed bay leaf,  cumin, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.

Brown on the stovetop in the fat/oil/butter/ect.  Then put in the oven to finish cooking.   Cast iron pans help but anything with an ovensafe handle works too

Accompanied with some spinach and fresh Italian bread and Irish butter.

It's all about the portions.

Stretch Goal 3 MET!

The final stretch goal has been beaten.

So now no matter what the winner of the Handgonne Drawing will get it all.

You'll get a Jackalope Rifle Company 50 caliber handgonne  and a full kit including:
A supply of 50 call bullets, miscellaneous shot,  patches, lube and fuse, A ramrod, lighter, touch hole pick, and powder measure, ans finally: a powder horn and two pounds of 3F black powder (shipping restrictions apply).

That's not to say we're done.  There's still ten more days and if you donate now, you'll get a chance to win everything you need to use this beautiful handgonne.

But there's also other raffles that are still going on.  And of course there's Erin's Tamaralanch care package project.  Where if you contribute to that *and* get tickets for this raffle your ticket count will go up by 50%.

Contact if you have donated to both projects.

I'd like to thank Speer for donating the handgonne,  Erin for organizing the care packages and drumming up support for this raffle whenever possible, Old NFO and JayG for running herd on all us cats,  Jennifer for keeping all the donations straight, and of course all of you who donated.  However much you donated and whatever you donated.

"We do what we must / Because we can."

Another revealing bit of Mr. A

Well color me shocked.   Mr. A is vehemently anti Israeli too.

In response to this article.  He went went in with this:

Nazi Israel rolls like that. Ya know.. whether its ten years or fifty, Israel is gonna get nuked to shit. Too many motivated states and non-state actors that they just can't stop antagonizing

Yeah, when your very existence is antagonizing....  

And also note how casual the oh-so-progressive and tolerant fellow both Goodwins and shrugs off a Nuclear Holocaust.

And note that Hamas'  repeated, deliberate, and recent rocket barrages against civilians was just shrugged off.  But Israel wants to build somewhere they've held for nearly half a century?  Well that'll get 'em nuked.

I almost wish I had asked him if he thinks Iran is working on a nuclear bomb. And if that was even, you know, a bad thing.   But he's revealed quite enough without me having to say a word.

Like how the Republicans are the real villains here:

 There was progress, grudging but steady.. after 2000 I feel like a lot of the problem was the republican administration's blank check to Israel to do wtf-ever they wanted, which was even more so after 9/11. It used to be the U.S. was something of a check on the worst right-wing tendencies of Israel.

Meanwhile this is the contested piece of land. Just for reference.

The old hates are always so comfortable aren't they?  Especially if you can wrap yourself in the flag of your moral superiority.  Hungary's getting the old boots out of the closet too.