Thursday, January 31, 2013

The price of self-defense


   General Legal Considerations for Use of Firearms in Self-Defense

Wherein the author makes a number of important points. 

Not the least of which is the cost to you if you pull out that gun and use it, 
whether or not you feel, or in fact are, justified in using it. And it doesn't matter 
if you are home in a secured residence and the bad guys chainsaw their way in. 
It will still be very expensive.
The firearm should be the very last resort!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A Tail of cows


                                                                RIP Mergatroid

I'm sure you have all read this, but here it is again!  I am looking on the net for the tapes of the Iraqi cows.

Political science for farmers.


DEMOCRAT

You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
You push for higher taxes so the government can provide cows for everyone.


REPUBLICAN

You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?


SOCIALIST

You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.


COMMUNIST

You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.


CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE

You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.


BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE

You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then
pours the milk down the drain.


AMERICAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows.
You are surprised when one cow drops dead.
You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing
expenses.
Your stock goes up.


FRENCH CORPORATION

You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.


JAPANESE CORPORATION

You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty
times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.


GERMAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk,
and run a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.


ITALIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.


RUSSIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.


TALIBAN CORPORATION

You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk
production but use the money to buy weapons.


IRAQI CORPORATION

You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.



POLISH CORPORATION

You have two bulls
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.


BELGIAN CORPORATION

You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.


FLORIDA CORPORATION

You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black
one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best
looking cow.


CALIFORNIA CORPORATION

You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegal.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders .


'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have..'
-Thomas Jefferson -

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Old Kodachrome photos

February 1943. Working on the horizontal stabilizer of a “Vengeance” dive bomber at the Consolidated-Vultee plant in Nashville. 4×5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.

Here is a collection of seldom seen photos, in Kodachrome color, from the WW11 era, and found on Pavel Kosenko's Russian blog.     The color and clarity is incredible. These are gleaned from the website www.shorpy.com . www.shorpy.com is good for using up lots of your spare time.

Not to be missed!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

beaver and elk

This was a few weeks ago, but I thought it was an interesting photo of a couple of cows in the air.  

I got some videos of the herd off of one of the cameras today, but they are mostly washed out  night time shots of some bulls snorting, licking, and blowing on the camera. It is not the camera with the "black" infrared flash, and they are attracted to it, especially when the camera is set for video, as the flash is then on for a long time.


This is a small dam they have started on the overflow ditch to the second pond. They built it last night.  I tore it out today. The rock on the left is almost the size of my head. The last dam they built here was full of these rocks. I think they add them to hold down things as they are building. I haven't had any luck with my traps and snares yet. I'm still learning and they are staying ahead of me, except for one small beaver I found floating dead in the last dam they started. I don't know what killed him, it wasn't me. So far the water has stayed down below the hole they made in my dam, thanks to the US Fish & Wildlife folks that brought a track hoe and cleaned out the over flow ditch. As long as I keep clearing the beaver's construction projects, I think my dam will hold until summer when we can repair it. All this help is due to the pond turtle population here. 


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

British Gun Collector’s 350 Shotguns Seized


                        

                          

                               British Gun Collector’s 350 Shotguns Seized


“We are not talking peanuts. It’s a life’s work,” said Mr. Young to the Oxford Times.
Mr. Young’s gun license was revoked in 2008 when he made an inappropriate comment over the phone to a council member:
Mr. Young believes that his collection might be one of the biggest in the country. Some of the guns date back to the 18th century.  To make matters worse, the police have devalued the guns and believe they are worth around £65,000 ($101,116) but Mr. Young says they are worth £350,000 ($544,740). Quite a difference.
Can't happen here? Don't count on it.  The majority  of his collection holds no more than two shots, has no clip or magazine, and many are works of art. As they say in merry olde England, "In for a penny in for a pound"  Eventually it will come down to the fact that a gun is a gun!  
Thanks to http://www.gundigest.com/

A parable you may have heard:
The Camel's Nose In The Tent !
One cold night, as an Arab sat in his tent, a camel gently thrust his nose under the flap and looked in. "Master," he said, "let me put my nose in your tent. It's cold and stormy out here." "By all means," said the Arab, "and welcome" as he turned over and went to sleep.
A little later the Arab awoke to find that the camel had not only put his nose in the tent but his head and neck also. The camel, who had been turning his head from side to side, said, "I will take but little more room if I place my forelegs within the tent. It is difficult standing out here." "Yes, you may put your forelegs within," said the Arab, moving a little to make room, for the tent was small.
Finally, the camel said, "May I not stand wholly inside? I keep the tent open by standing as I do." "Yes, yes," said the Arab. "Come wholly inside. Perhaps it will be better for both of us." So the camel crowded in. The Arab with difficulty in the crowded quarters again went to sleep. When he woke up the next time, he was outside in the cold and the camel had the tent to himself.
Author unknown

Saturday, January 12, 2013

The Remains and Ruins of Detroit


                                                   
                                               Chernobyl?  Nope. Detroit!

If anyone has seen those photos of Chernobyl after the disaster, I have to say that these pictures of Detroit may look very familiar.   This happened in 1986,

but

Detroit is still dying.

The remains of Detroit, a Time photo essay.

                               and
worth a look...

The Ruins of Detroit by Marchand and Meffre


A article from Pravda on our "current events"



Thanks to Zeta Woof  for the following link.  From:   The American Thinker  where the article is summarized very nicely. Perhaps we can learn from someone else's history if not our own.


Source:
Pravda to Americans: 'Never give up your guns!'



Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Thomas Sowell


I like this guy. There is a lot of truth in what he says. There are many more quotes linked to the first one.  Here are a couple to get you started.

It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it. Thomas Sowell


What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long. Thomas Sowell 

One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.Thomas Sowell 



From Wikipedia:
Thomas Sowell (born June 30, 1930) is an American economistsocial theorist, political philosopher, and author. A National Humanities Medal winner, he advocates laissez-faire economics and writes from a conservative and libertarian perspective. He is currently the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover InstitutionStanford University. According to Larry D. Nachman in Commentary magazine, he is considered a leading representative of theChicago school of economics.[1]
Sowell was born in North Carolina, but grew up in HarlemNew York. He dropped out of high school, and served in the United States Marine Corps during theKorean War. He received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1958 and a master's degree from Columbia University in 1959. In 1968, he earned hisdoctorate degree in Economics from the University of Chicago.
Sowell has served on the faculties of several universities, including Cornell University and University of California, Los Angeles, and worked for think tanks such as the Urban Institute. Since 1980 he has worked at the Hoover Institution. He is the author of more than 30 books.

Friday, January 4, 2013

A Ban on assault hammers next?



Can it be?  Lets hope logic prevails in the coming year.


Don't believe it? Click here:

According to the FBI annual crime statistics, the number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs far outnumbers the number of murders committed with a rifle.


 In 2005, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 445, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 605. In 2006, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 438, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 618. 
And so the list goes, with the actual numbers changing somewhat from year to year, yet the fact that more people are killed with blunt objects each year remains constant.
For example, in 2011, there was 323 murders committed with a rifle but 496 murders committed with hammers and clubs. ...Another interesting fact: According to the FBI, nearly twice as many people are killed by hands and fists each year than are killed by murderers who use rifles.
The bottom line: A rifle ban is as illogical as it is unconstitutional. We face far greater danger from individuals armed with carpenters' tools and a caveman's stick. 

Thanks to:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/01/03/FBI-More-People-Killed-With-Hammers-and-Clubs-Each-Year-Than-With-Rifles

Urbie Green


The incomparable Urbie Green
Best listened to on vinyl. Stop by some time.




         I'm Getting Sentimental over you

My favorite ballad


                                         

Herb Bruce - Trombone

One of the most versatile and talented trombonists  I'm aware of, and a fellow Urbie Green aficionado. 
Herb Bruce 
A truly nice guy (modest too) and I am proud to have him for a friend. Here are a few videos I found on U-tube that he didn't tell me about. Well worth a listen.

                            



                              Scherzo for Trombone and Band 2008


                                          The Herbicide Jazz Band

                                                            Rehearsal Take: Granada


                                                  The Lord's Prayer




                                                  LIMEHOUSE BLUES

   Herb Bruce on trombone, Jeff Phillips on a Roland RD700GX and PK5 bass pedals Kevin Danz-drums

internet laws




Internet laws, or Why I don't get involved in very many discussions and usually resist the urge to comment.
(Found somewhere in a series of comments and duly plagiarized)

Godwin’s Law
The most famous of all the internet laws, formed by Mike Godwin in 1990. As originally stated, it said: "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."
This now applies to guns and gun control.
Poe’s Law
"Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor  it is impossible to create a parody of fundamentalism that someone won't mistake for the real thing." 
This also applies to gun control.
Rule 3
States: "If it exists, there is porn of it."
There is even tractor porn.
Skitt’s Law 
Expressed as "any post correcting an error in another post will contain at least one error itself"
I think this is erronious. 
Scopie’s Law
States: "In any discussion involving science or medicine, citing Whale(dot)to as a credible source loses the argument immediately, and gets you laughed out of the room." First formulated by Rich Scopie on the badscience(dot)net forum.
Well, they do have a cool boat!
Danth’s Law (also known as Parker’s Law)
States: "If you have to insist that you've won an internet argument, you've probably lost badly."
Nobody ever wins one anyway.
Pommer’s Law
Proposed by Rob Pommer on rationalwiki(dot)com in 2007, this states: "A person's mind can be changed by reading information on the internet. The nature of this change will be from having no opinion to having a wrong opinion." 
Now I understand!
DeMyer's Law
States: "Anyone who posts an argument on the internet which is largely quotations can be very safely ignored, and is deemed to have lost the argument before it has begun." 
"I believe the above is in quotes!"
Cohen’s Law
Proposed by Brian Cohen in 2007, states that: "Whoever resorts to the argument that ‘whoever resorts to the argument that... …has automatically lost the debate’ has automatically lost the debate."
Also in quotes. 

The Law of Exclamation
First recorded in an article by Lori Robertson at FactCheck(dot)org in 2008, this states: "The more exclamation points used in an email (or other posting), the more likely it is a complete lie. This is also true for excessive capital letters."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Thursday, January 3, 2013

    Jelly Roll Morton - Hyena Stomp



                                                                To bring in the new year!
                                                                      Recorded in 1927

                                                                          Hyena Stomp

    To remind us not to take things too seriously!

    Wednesday, January 2, 2013

    PATTI PAGE

    RIP Patti!


                                                       Marking the end of a more innocent era.