There's a silver lining in every casket!

I was just thinking about how the Sandy Hook Massacre* can be a teaching moment, aside from the one about our absolute NEED for MORE GUNZ!

There are probably few, if any, online "Baby Coffins 'R' Us" type websites. All of those parents who, in addition to beating themselves up for not teaching their kids the Sacred Four Rules of Gunz--and making sure that they had a Glock in their daypack when they got on the schoolbus AND having to go online and order an SUV load of gunz'n'ammo so's they can make sure that this will never happen,
AGAIN?
 
Y'know what else they had to do? They had to find those special hobbit dimensioned   Kiddie Kaskets for their babeez, the babeez that they let down by not making sure that Eddie Eagle Pre-K was part of the child's curriculum.

I see a great opportunity here, for an entrepreneur with vision, marketing skills and and the ability to do quick turn arounds in those times when the customer is dying to get their hands on product**. And, btw, have you seen the available stock from companies like this:
http://www.trappistcaskets.com/products/caskets/childrens-caskets/

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooring!

Yeah, sure if your kid was fast trackin' for the convent or seminary, great choices. But, if you want my opinion, what you need to do is speak to what the kid woulda wanted. I'm seein' caskets with motifs like this:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.popgeezer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dale_Earnhardt_3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.popgeezer.com/?p%3D22491&h=768&w=1024&sz=304&tbnid=vzVVYCtSje1N6M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__n6lDFQ8Sai5xvjuHRPqwqEl9V0E=&docid=gyesrOLyIq7u1M&sa=X&ei=uXrcUJydI8ay0QGok4DYBg&ved=0CDoQ9QEwAA&dur=60

or this:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.picgifs.com/glitter-graphics/glitter-graphics/hello-kitty/glitter-graphics-hello-kitty-509410.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.picgifs.com/glitter-graphics/hello-kitty/&h=310&w=320&sz=31&tbnid=ICTInAhy8WQQrM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=107&zoom=1&usg=__G0xLNT-Pi6stf9kV5hyNc5Pe3VI=&docid=g2tfVfNbrqqAzM&sa=X&ei=d3vcUK2WLfGL0QGbxYD4DA&ved=0CD0Q9QEwAg&dur=158

or even this one:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://joelamoroney.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/gi_joe_flint-magnet.jpg&imgrefurl=http://joelamoroney.com/2008/06/20/gi-joe-and-bible-translation/&h=430&w=312&sz=43&tbnid=RQIF174ZY_qcNM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=70&zoom=1&usg=__jN47n8RQCzkRM8B7msZJit5rmy8=&docid=nK1pi6A9q-__9M&sa=X&ei=xHvcUMbwC6GU0QHWpYHoCw&ved=0CEbu4Q9QEwBw&dur=2541

I know, I know, some people are going to say, "TOOOOOO soon!", well, that's what they said about selling those hankies dipped in John Dillinger's blood after Jedgerhoover, the ultimate "Good guy with a gun", burned him down like a Hobo Jungle shanty.

Besides, I can tell you from experience that there is no easier mark than a bereaved ‘rent, you can take that to the bank.

There's something else that I think should not be overlooked, here.

Those kids were all from decent homes, some of them quite affluent. Ya gotta wonder how many of them had a 529 college fund? Well, ya'do, doncha? Anyway, when the beneficiary (hereinafter referred to as "the kid") dies, guess what, you get the money back! I'm guessing that you gotta pay taxes on it, unless you put it in post tax or re-invest it in something like munibonds or some other sheltered vehicle. Now, who's gonna know alla the ins'n'outs of how to handle that "deadfall" of free cash? YOU, that's who.

IF you have had the foresight to bone up on 529 rules and all of the ways to beat the IRS outta their blood money (sorry, I couldn't help myself).

So, you got a few grand that you weren't expecting to see, ever? Why not put it to work? You can invest in those taxfrees or those silly "Green" stocks, not me. I'd be puttin' my money in a growth market. Gunzmakin' is boomin', if you'll pardon the expression. But there's other places to park that cash. Howzabout Baby Body Armor? Starting with Kevlar underoos and goin' right up to Ceramic vests and ballistic projectile helmet like these:
http://www.unitedshield.com/delta_ballistic_helmet.htm
only half-pint sized for your little soldi--, oh, I'm sorry, my bad.

Well, I hope that these suggestions will be taken in the spirit in which they were given and that allathem folks who let their babeez go to school without they don't got no gunz will rethink their priorities. Cuz, y'know that book, "Why Johnny Can't Read"? Well, I don't know why YOUR Johnny can't read, but I know why the 20 tykes from Newtown can't; because their DEAD, that's how come.

I'm thinking of writing a book, "Why Johnny (and Joanie) Can't Triple-Tap The Classroom-O-Perp". It will be an indictment of the sad state of MurKKKin edumikashun where we teach kids usesless shit like music and painting when they should be learnin' about wound ballistics, combat entry/clearing techniques, battle field first aid and the like.

Moms and dads, you owe it to yourselves and your surviving little ones. Emphasize the NEW 3R's, Readin', Recconoiterin' and Rapid Response--with one of these suuuhweeeeeeeeeeeet LWRCI SPR***--it ain't your daddy's M16 (or your son's M4).
 
“Duck and cover”, my ass. As that commiefushcia fella  said at the Constitutional Convention  of 1787, and I’m quoting from the King James Version, here:
 
“Save a child by whackin’ a perp with a “9”, keep him safe,  for today. Teach a tyke how to handle HIS “9” and his own affairs, he’ll be safe, 4evahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
 
 
 
* Or as Weenie LaPutrid and his lot like to call it: "The Newtown, CT demonstration of people being slaughtered because they're too STUPID to arm themselves in primary schools"
** It will also be a plus for the prospective franchisee to have NO gag reflex, I'm just sayin'.
***http://www.lwrci.com/articles/GAAS-100026-LWR-lr.pdf

 

Why do we put up with this shit, part Duh! Apples and fruit cocktails of manufactoids

 

Where was I...?

Oh, yeah, the overlap of various demographics and their relation to the former states of the CSA.

So, there's a lot of overlap between places where the concept of "christian behavior" is highly valued and the practice of it are not cohabiting AND the areas that have the fewest inhibitions re: blowing away people that are, well, bad, for lack of a better word.

Since, I began this particular screed and today, the threads at most of the blogs I go to have heated up somewhat considerable with both pro and anti- firearms regulation comments. There are three basic sorts of comments/commentors.

The first, the people like myself, who make no secret about thinking that it's well past the time for some sort of genuine regulation of firearms in the U.S. That such a thing is unpopular with many, if not most gun owners is an assertion that I will accept as a fact, without any evidence to back them.

Those assertions I will not accept as fact, without evidence to back them, include, but are not limited to:

I am safer because others own guns.

More guns = less crime.

There are somewhere between 1.5 and 2.5 million DGU's per annum.

Cars are more dangerous than guns and yet we don't want to outlaw cars.

There are just too damned many guns out there and NOTHING can be done about THAT, so there!

Gun owners are, as a group, more safety concious, less inclined to be criminals, drunkards, domestic abusers or other types of persons that are dangerous to be around--than those who don't own guns.

That the people who stockpile firearms and ammunition--especially those items that are designed, specifically, as anti-personnel (as in just for killing people)--are going to defend me and the rest of the commonweal from government abuse.

That the 2nd Amendment is well, just, like forever and any attempt at regulation is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and, and, shut up, that's why!

Now, when I say, evidence is required to back up assertions like those I delineated above, I don't mean "evidence" that is either anecdotal or apochryphal, that has NO DATA TO BACK UP ITS CONCLUSIONS (Yes, John Lott, I've got you in my crosshairs!) or has incredible (as in, not believable*) "statistics" and "data".

There are dozens of published studies (if not hundreds) on firearms ownership and firearms crimes, accidents, injuries and fatalities in the U.S. and abroad that rely on the following conditions:

1.) Verifiable data which can be traced to primary sources (e.g.,government or other official publications, peer reviewed industrial/academic journals).

2.) Rational and widely accepted methodologies

3.) The input/findings/opinions of acknowledged authorities in the subject being studied.

4.) Unbiased, honest assessments and inclusion of both favorable and unfavorable (in the minds of the authors/underwriters) data. IOW, no cherry picking of data or starting the process with a desired outcome in mind and “working backwards”.

5.) A lack of reliance on funding/support by individuals/organizations with a financial or other stake in the outcome of such a study.

6.) Independence from any person or groups which might cause a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest in the gathering, assembling and publishing of the researchers/authors findings.

to arrive at conclusions which are falsifiable/refutable.

When those criteria are considered and the conditions of them met, the conclusions of such studies are likely to be honest, accurate and unbiased.

Exemplars of the studies that satisfy those conditions outlined above include such publications as the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports; reports by the Centers for Disease Control, the Journals of the AMA and similar publications from U.S. and international law enforcement and other governmental and medical organizations.

Exemplars of the “studies” which do not satisfy those conditions include the work of John Lott (baldface liar and fabricator of “facts” and “data” to support his conclusions), Gary Kleck, et al (apparently unfamiliar with the need to be rigorous in examining ALL data from a cited source, the NCVS and a guy whose methodology is extremely suspect) and James D. Agresti (complete fucking whackjob, conspiracy theorist, AGW denialist, historical revisionist and teabaggist apologist).

Unfortunately, the “studies” of those three persons are the ones most often used by the gunzloonz in their rationalization of and attempted defense for their delusional and dangerous proclivity for amassing quantities of firearms and ammunition far in excess of any genuine need for such.

Statements such as, “Every 13 seconds an American gun owner uses a firearm in defense against a criminal” are plastered on websites. The figure, 2.5 million, is used by many gunzloonz as a reliable statistic when talking about their need for gunz. That the numbers are not backed by anyone EXCEPT Gary Kleck and John Lott is not surprising to anyone who takes the time to look at the many critiques of their studies by sociologists, economists, law enforcement organizations and others who actually have considerable experience and expertise in the field.

So, what might we infer from teh gunzloonz use of, “iffy”—at best—conclusions drawn by people in studies that are critiqued, unfavorably, by many more people than critique those studies favorably—especially when those doing the critiquing are actually trained and experienced social scientists, statisticians, economists, law enforcement and medical professionals—are relying on faith, rather than empirical knowledge in the field.

Faith, while it may be a source of comfort to those who have it, is useless when the situaation at hand depends upon a rational inquiry of its nature to arrive at a clear conclusion about how to proceed in dealing with that situation.

NEXT: Gunzligion and Gunzilla

You kin haz my gunz when you can pry them--wait, you gave out my fucking address!!?

Well, while I'm waiting to glaze the ham, the spuds are roasting and the broccoli awaits its baptism by steam, I'm reading the newstoobz and I come across this.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/newspaper-publishes-gun-owners-names-addresses-215214269--abc-news-topstories.html

21k+ comments/replies.

I only looked at a few of them. Looks like teh gunzloonz are upset.

Now, why would they be upset? They claim that they respect ALL of the amendments, that they are concerned with the lst through the 27th Amendment. Yepper.

It seems that their unrestricted, inalienable RIGHT to have, hoard and fetishize teh gunz is the only right that IS that way.

How dare those scumbags at that rag exercise their legal right to obtain public infornation.

Why it's like those scumbag unions spending union funds to promote a political agenda while corporations are forbidden from doing the same thi--. Um, wait.

What  I find interesting is that the same people who like to tout the 2.5M annual DGU's (and base that ridiculous estimate on the "fact" that just brandishing a pistol will deter/prevent a criminal from ciminalling) are whining about being "outed". I would think that if the potential for being shot by someone who owns a gun in public is such that it deters crime then only a complete imbecile would think of entering the home of a gun owner that is KNOWN to be a pistol packin' peacemaker.

Aren't those people that have pistols the defacto guardians of "polite society"? I mean, these are the guyz like Greg Camp and Weer'dybeardy that proudly carry teh gunz to the Starbucks, the grocery store, the school parking lot or a sporting event like a NE Patriots football game? Aren't they the eagel-eyed, ice water veined, steely nerved, hyper focused people that can detect criminuls and criminul activity with their GPS*, throwing down and double-tapping the bad guys with a 9 or a Colt Peacemaker or Dragoon, afore he gets the drop on 'em? What are they worried about?

The ONLY people who are named in the report are those with "handgun or pistol" permits, according to the article, because they're the only ones whose names and addresses are on file with law enforcement--and are public records. In New York, owning a long gun that is not restricted (for instance, fully automatic weapons) requires no registration.

I don't see a massive wave of home invasions occurring as a result of the newspapers "hit piece expose". I do see two possibilities.

The first is that a lot of people who've been leaving loaded, unsecured gunz all over their houses might decide it's a good idea to secure those weapons, invest in a decent alarm system and do some real planning instead of fantasizing about shooting the bad-o-perps like fish in a barrel.

The second possibility is that a lot of people, finding out their neighbors are packin' heat might let them know that their homes are off limits to people who carry gunz on their persons and that their children are not going to be allowed to go to a home where pistols might be present.

Just one other little piece of information for the gunzloonz who might be lurking.

Some time ago, I mentioned that you guyz like to talk tough about guyz like me comin' to git yore gunz (something I've never even contemplated) but you ignore the obvious--that the people you really have to worry about in gummint--if they actually exist--are the ones who monitor your websites and chatrooms and know where you live and what you own in the way of gunz. Do you remember that?

Well, the other shoe, dropping now, is that not ALL burglars are morons. The smart ones take advantage of modern technology and public records. Oh, dear.

*   Gunzloonz Perp Sensors

Merry December 25 th

Merry CKCFN*, to all!
 
Gosh, here it is two days before ChannuKwanChrisFestiviaNalia and I have so many things yet to do. There's trimming the tree--Buddy's been out marking them for months now--and as soon as somebody pulls out and heads for gramma's house? Time to get out the Poulan and save some cash!
 
There's also all of that last minute shoplifting to do.
 
You know how they say some people are hard to buy for? That's silly. They're only hard to buy for if you give a shit what they get. Once you're over being a "Yuletide People Pleaser", it's easy-peasy.
 
I usually sit down a few weeks before CKCFN Day and make a list of all of those people who have shown me kindness over the year, I then resolve to work up some better sob story for the next time I see them, "Beg smarter, not harder", that's my new mantra. So, anyway, after I make that list, I make another, much shorter, list of all of the folks that I HAVE to get a gift for, because, well, just because.
 
I take the list and sit down with a cup of coffee-laced rum and think about what I would like to have if they were buying something for me and, upon realizing that there's no way I can afford any of that shit, I head for "Best Kept Secrets", our local store that sells "experienced" clothing and home furnishings. I spend hours looking for matching novelty salt and pepper shakers, "I'm with Stupid" t-shirts that aren't too badly worn or stained, Packard-Bell micro-cassette answering machines that still work, pretty much (hey, those things are gonna be the next big, "retro" collectible--true story).
 
Ahhh, two days go by so fast. It is now CKCFN Day and I have not yet completed my shopping for gifts. Oh, well, there’s always next year.
 
As many of you know, Buddy the Wonderdog** is an adoptee, he moved in with me about 18 months ago and we spend a lot of time doing male bondage stuff. We have each other’s “back” (except I can scratch mine; otoh, Buddy can li.., well, nevermind). You may imagine my surprise when I was informed recently that Buddy is NOT a mongrel. I was under the impression that he was half dachshund and half Godknowswhatsorta Terrier, a Derriere. But, just a couple of days ago I received a registered letter from Barkin’ Dogs, Inc., the parent company of Hush Puppy Shoes. And what a letter.
 
It seems that Buddy was one of a litter of four identical pups, the result of a group of geneticists crossing Buddy’s pops, a terrier with his moms, a 9 banded Armadillo*** (making him an “Dachsadillo” or an “Armahund”, I’m not sure which). The object of the breeding program was to have 4 little identical fur bearers to make a pair of gloves and a pair of slippers.
 
Not only would they be warm and comfy, but the little button noses are sooooooooooooooooo cute. Also, the armadillo side of the family would have been contributing outsoles for the shoes and palm pads for the gloves. I am glad to finally know why I could never get Buddy’s Kevlar vest off when I wanted to give him a bath.
 
Sadly (or happily, from the Budster’s pov), however, it was not to be. The lab was,  raided by a group of PETA Pumpkin Eaters (the militant vegetarian bio-ethicist splinter group) . All of the records of the experiment were destroyed, the scientists involved were forcibly converted to Chinese slipper wearin, tofu eatin’ burgerhaterz in re-education camps and the pups, Buddy, Binky, Bozo and Biteme (yeah, that one, he’s got some serious ‘tude!) were set free and spirited away from the facility. It was hoped that they might be reunited with their birth parents but Pops had gone outside to relieve himself one afternoon and inadvertently done so on the compounds 440V security fencing. Mom’s meanwhile had wandered out of the compound by digging under the fence (them ‘dilloes, they got some AWSUM claws for diggin’ up the bugz’n’stuff ) and was crossing the 4 lane when a good ‘ol boy in his F150 came tear-assin’ down the road. He saw the critter and laid on the horn at the same time he slammed on the brakes. Moms, she did what armadillii are prone to do when they are surprised, she jumped straight up in the air. She became, briefly, a hood ornament ; she is now a much admired handbag.
 
So, bereft and orphaned, Buddy and his bros hit the road. Binky and Bozo got jobs in Hollywood, as stunt doubledoubles. They send a post card, once in a while, and Buddy always enjoys hearing about their escapades in LaLaLand. Biteme is a working sit-up comedian. He’s been on the Gravy Train Circuit for years, doin’ kennel and grooming salon openings and says he would KILL for shot at a show on Animal Planet.
 
Buddy was on his way to being a circus dog, but ran into a snag. He was in one of those Dog’n’Pony shows for a few months, as an understudy. Then, one day, the lead dog, Biscuit Eater. got distemper (well, that was the story, anyway—between you and me?—he was puttin’ somethin’ in the water bowl and it WASN’T water) and the dog wrangler decided to put Buddy in the show. Well, they groomed him and did his nails, brushed out his tail and they were gonna put him in a tutu—a TUTU fer the luvvapete? Well, he took one look at that rig and he was outtttttttttttttttttttttaa there!
 
He spent some time on the street, fell in with a gang of car chasers and got addicted to catnip  (it was a bad; two, three cans of Alpo a day, habit). So, there he was jonesin’, doing unspeakable things with cats and skwerls just so’s they’d hook him up and it was so sad. There’s no way of knowing for sure, but I gotta guess that if Buddy hadn’t run into me he’da been in doggie heaven (or worse!) a long time ago.
 
One afternoon, I was sittin’ on the front stoop, “takin’ the air” as folks like to say, and comin’ towards me, I see this thing that looks like an animate dust mop. It walks right up to me, sniffs the cuff of my levis and lifts a leg—such powers of discernment in a supposedly dumb animal. Hell, Buddy’s like that pig with the wooden leg (that’s a whole ‘nother story); I quickly jerked my leg outta harm’s way and decided that I had to try to save him.
 
It was hell for a couple of weeks. He’d gotten away from bein’ housebroke, he only wanted to eat chili with extra jalapenos and he kept stealing my beer when I wasn’t looking. I thought I was gonna have to have him, well, best not to go there. Anyway, it all worked out. He came out of rehab with a new leash on life—and THAT’s the shaggy dog joke!
 
 
 
As I write this, Buddy, having performed his sole duty as a roommate—pooping outside—is relaxing on his little bed, with his blankie, on HIS rocking chair. And I just now gave him his Christmas present from Alex and Colleen. He thinks he died and went to his idea of doggie heaven Hydranthalla!
 
Okay, so, the stuff about the armadillo, that’s all true (up (source:  http://apps.caes.uga.edu/urbanag/index.cfm?storyid=2685) except for the stuff that I made up.
 
So is everything else, sorta.
 
I got my Christmas present yesterday, from the VA, they gave me the MRI on my lower back that I’ve been trying to get for the last several years. Hopefully they will find out what’s making life more difficult than I would prefer it to be. I’m not crippled or anything (well, I may be around the bend, mentally) but I have trouble standing up straight unless I have something to lean on, like a bar—and then, after a while, I have a hard time standing up straight WITH a bar to lean on.
 
Anyway, life is good. I have great friends, wonderful family—all over the country and a faithful furry companion to make me get up and leave the house at LEAST 3 times a day to “take the air”.
 
Thanks to all who sent me cards, letters and photos, I’m currently re-purposing the refrigerator doors and expect to have the changeover done by mid to late June.
 
It was great seeing everyone in July, although I was only able to drive about half of you nuts (so many stories to make up and so little time to tell them). My house is airtight, sheetrocked and finished enough for those who like to camp indoors. I’m going to put a 10 pound bone in ham in the oven in a few minutes and buddy and I will enjoy a feast later (he does not get ham, but he loves roasted sweet potatoes) and then we’ll go see who we can harass.
 
I wish all of you the happiest of holidays and a newer, bigger and much improved 2013.
 
Peace and love from your favorite dope.
 
Terry
 
 
*     ChannuKwanChrisFestiviaNalia , don't you just love acronyms!

 

**    As in, “I wonder where he’s left his latest “present” for me to find.

 

*** Armadillos (oes, ii, ae?) usually have four virtually identical babeez.—true story./ There are, btw, lots of “true stories” in my writings, some are true as in factually, others are true as in metaphorical, allegorical, political or Bunyanesqe sortaways. I beg the readers’ indulgence in the matter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My very special "Shout at" to Weenie LaPutrid

As I look at things like this:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/sandy-hook-elementary-school-shooting-victims/story?id=17984685#

and this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2012/dec/16/sandy-hook-shooting-victims-pictures

and this:

http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2012/12/15/the-religion-of-love-shows-its-true-colors-after-newtown-massacre/untitled-1/

and, of course this:

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/12/transcript_statement_by_nation.html


Weenie LaPutrid's massive Notpology to the grieving families, friends and colleagues of those killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.

I feel the need to be polite and respectful to those who lost loved ones in the senseless act of selfishness that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtownl, CT and the memories of those murdered there.

I also feel the need to be impolite and disrespectful to the liars, idiots and paranoic conspiracy theorists who think that their FREEDOM to be able to own and carry weapons--weapons which have have no genuine purpose, aside from allowing such cowardly and horrific acts as the shootings in Newtown--outweighs the rest of society's right to enjoy FREEDOM from being shot by some deranged individual with one of those weapons.

That LaPutrid's  gunfomercial is rife with spunskewed bullshit, baseless assertions, cherry-picked facts and figures, misleading allusions, half truths and outright lies ( a fair number of which were debunked within an hour of the speech by, of all people, the MSM--will wonders never cease!) is not a surprise. That is to be expected from a mendacious, duplicitous, mercenary piece of shit like Weenie. The fact that he made no pretense at feeling anything for the victims (his several sentence opening notwithstanding) is also not a surprise; sociopaths can only fake empathy for so long, after all.

No, those things are not surprising. What WAS surprising was that people who have in thrall to that lying fuckbag and his GMRL* actually stood up on their hindlegs and fucking barked. I suspect that any number of them, having satisfied their need to appear to give a fuck about their constituents' actual needs and desires, will be back to their usual sycophancy on Dec. 26th. That so many PAID journalists called Weenie out for his hubristic, pugnacious and fallacious statement is to be applauded but not that much--it is their job, after all.

I find this list of things:

TRENDING NOW

1. 01 Ryan Freel found dead
2. 02 Tebow to Jaguars
3. 03 Truck falls through ice
4. 04 Trojan horse cancer strategy
5. 05 Potatoes help Wi-Fi
6. 06 Blackjack dealer stabs another
7. 07 Ronnie Wood married
8. 08 Derek Fisher waived
9. 09 Flight lands due to fire
10. 10 Cholesterol drug

 

to be somewhat less than encouraging, in terms of keeping the heat turned up on the cowards at the NRA and their toadies in Congress and the various state leges. I will reserve a larger round of applause for the MSM until AFTER they hound these sons-of-bitches into admitting that they share responsibility for this carnage or out of whatever comfortable sinecure they are currently enjoying.

As for the KKKrazzeepants "preppers" and other gunzloonznation KKKonspiracy theorists I don't hold out much hope for them coming to their senses. If the OTHER 90% of owners of firearms break ranks and isolate them, there is some chance of changing the way we do things where teh gunz are concerned.

So, on tuesday, December 25th, when so many of the Bullets&Bibles crowd are opening up the packages with their new Glocks, Bushmasters, Barretts and Berettas and going, "Oooooooooooh, Aaaaah, lookahere, honey! This'uns got that new BABYJESUS laser sight so's you can be thinkin' GOODLY, GODLY thoughts, whilst you're whaKKKin teh "goblins" out there in the big, ol', dangerous world!", the rest of us will be enjoying opening less deadly if no less exciting gifts from our friends and family. Well, we and the gunzloonznation folks will be enjoying our "Tree" on that morning.

These young people**:

- Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06, female
- Daniel Barden, 9/25/05, male
- Rachel Davino, 7/17/83, female.
- Olivia Engel, 7/18/06, female
- Josephine Gay, 12/11/05, female
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06, female
- Dylan Hockley, 3/8/06, male
- Dawn Hochsprung, 06/28/65, female
- Madeleine F. Hsu, 7/10/06, female
- Catherine V. Hubbard, 6/08/06, female
- Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05, male
- Jesse Lewis, 6/30/06, male
- James Mattioli , 3/22/06, male
- Grace McDonnell, 12/04/05, female
- Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60, female
- Emilie Parker, 5/12/06, female
- Jack Pinto, 5/06/06, male
- Noah Pozner, 11/20/06, male
- Caroline Previdi, 9/07/06, female
- Jessica Rekos, 5/10/06, female
- Avielle Richman, 10/17/06, female
- Lauren Rousseau, 6/1982, female (full date of birth not specified)
- Mary Sherlach, 2/11/56, female
- Victoria Soto, 11/04/85, female
- Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06, male
- Allison N. Wyatt, 7/03/06, female

though, they won't be opening anything, ever. They have had their collective futures decided for them, by a troubled young man who did not receive whatever it was that he needed and compensated for that lack by destroying the lives of all of those he killed and many of their friends and family.

So, this is all I got for Weenie LaPutrid and his his lobby for the merchants of death.

"A child is born in Bethlehem, while 20 die in Newtown.

Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards men, except...
 

Fuck you Wayne LaPierre, you fucking fucker. Fuck you and every filthy fucking lie that you have told in the service of your paymasters and the ReiKKKwing of the GOP. I sincerely hope that you are someday able to experience the horror, the loss and the feeling of absolute helplessness that is visited upon the survivors of those killed by people like Mr. Lanza or others who cannot solve their problems without killing people with firearms. It is also my earnest wish that  you and your relentless assault on those who would promulgate sane and responsible regualation of fireams will be found, finally, by reasonable firearms owners in the U.S. to be the gibbering insanity of a madman and that you might finally be pushed back under the stone from whence you crawled.".

so--h/t to the Bee Gees--it's only words and words are all I have to make those bastards pay.
 

You know what? Having said that, I don't feel better, but I do feel like I can take that off my "bucket list".

Why do we put up with this shit?

Why do we put up with this shit?  The lies, distortions and deranged thinking of the NRA and their gunzloonz disciples--why do we not say, "No. Enough, it's time to stop the insanity."?

 

This:

"Out of respect for the families, and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts before commenting," the NRA said in its statement."

is from here (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/nra-breaks-silence-horrific-senseless-newtown-massacre-214755738--politics.html)

Out of respect. Bullshit. Out of shame? highly unlikely. Out of some nagging sense that lying for a living might have a down side? Nah.

Because they knew that the shitstorm that erupted after friday's massacere in Newtowne, CT, last weekend would have been "The Perfect Storm" of deserved derision and contempt from most of the people who live in the U.S. or are even aware of what happened--including most of the people who own guns? Yeah, more believable, by far.

Wayne LaPierre turned what was a cottage industry of pandering to the paranoid gunzloonies worried about their penis substitutes being taken away by the MAN into a hugely profitable (for him and a few other folks) industry. He has made millions of dollars for himself and the firearms industry, by playing to the fears of a small but frighteningly well armed, unregulated militia

Actually Wayne's Warriors are more like the "Regulators" of the period between the U.S. Civil War and the beginning of the 20th Century. They're well armed and full of self-righteousness about their mission to ensure the arming of every man, woman and child in the U.S. That they are dead wrong would be hilarious if they weren’t so deadly (and had such lousy impulse control).

You're reading this and thinking, "Damn" That democommie, sometimes he just doesn't know when he's a little "over the top". Well, in this case, I do—and I’m not.

In my "conversations" with teh gunzloonz, ESPECIALLY over at mikeb’s blog,  I have been told many, many times that there is no age limit on when someone can own a gun--and that there can't ever be one. Perhaps that is why they don’t think that a toddler killing a sibling or themselves with an improperly secured, loaded gun is a cause for concern.

I have been told many, many times that "An armed society is a polite society", with no data to offer in support of such a nonsensical premise. Quite the contrary in fact, there are numerous reports, daily, about people with guns--especially handguns—issuing threats, menacing others and, unfortunately shooting them.

I have been told many, many times that the fact that a majority of U.S. suicides are accomplished with a gun is misleading because they would kill themselves, anyway, using a different “tool”. People who’ve actually done a study of the situation, like these folks (http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/160/10/929.full) disagree and DO have some data to work with.

I have been told many, many times that I am SAFER when there are more guns in my neighborhood, despite that many very well armed places—Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq come to mind—experience horrific violence, involving LOTS OF GUNZ.

I have been told many, many times, particularly after every mass shooting since, at least, Columbine that the way to prevent school shootings, church shootings, shootings in government buildings and every other imaginable venue is to ARM teachers, public servants, parishioners and pastors and, well, EVERYFUCKINGBODY! This is said without any elaboration of who will be paying for the training, arming and tracking of such a program. 

I have been told many, many times that there are DGU’s (Defensive Gun Use) , thousands of them every day, in the U.S.  I see, very rarely, any news coverage of those DGU’s and find the idea that the NRA wouldn’t have a website dedicated specifically to trumpeting the success of their plan to arms the entire U.S. population a huge success, with the stories of those millions of DGU’s  retold to their fawning admirers. Such a website does not exist, afaia. The primary reason for that is most probably because there aren’t enough legitimate DGU’s for them to launch one. It would be like me starting a blog about the accomplishments of Michelle Bachman.

I have been told many, many, many, many, way too fucking many times that gun owners, as a class are more responsible, more law abiding, more cognizant of what constitutes danger and how to deal with it (ALWAYS using a gun in some way). The thousands of reported incidents involving guns and the idiots who shoot inanimate objects, themselves, their friends and their loved ones while cleaning, showing or fooling around with UNLOADED weapons gives the lie to that meme.

I have been told all of the above, and a number of other things that PROVE “gunz are good”  by fervent gunzloonz, many of them hundreds of times and yet, when pressed they have NO genuine statistical data to back up any of these “factual statements”.

What they consider to be settled law and established fact is, in reality, nonsense that they wish was true. It is also nonsense that is out there in gunzloonzland because it’s been put there by the NRA and assorted groups/individuals which stand to make money from the arms business or who have an axe to grind with government. 

President Obama, during his presidential campaign of 2008, spoke off the cuff—inadvertently telling the truth—when he said this:

(April 6, 2008): “You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

 

during a campaign appearance in Pennsylvania.

Since November, 2008 the religious right; militant opponents of immigration; anti-tax ,  anti-gay, anti-choice groups; conspiracy minded Obama haters, formerly silent racists and pro-gun fanatics (the gunzloonz) have spawned the Teabag Party, The Minuteman Militia and other groups whose sole purpose is to obstruct the U.S. government’s efforts to reform immigration, tax, firearms and equality legislation or overturn existing laws.

I think it is not a coincidence that the states that have permissive firearms laws and “Stand your ground” laws of some sort are also states that are opposed to women having freedom of choice and the ability to have an abortion on demand.

A comparison of a map of those U.S. states with “Stand your ground/Castle doctrine” laws* and those with laws restricting a woman’s freedom of choice in reproductive matters** show that while not all states with the latter also have the former, few if any that have the former don’t have the latter.

It is also important to note that most anti-science legislators at both the state and federal level come from those states with both sets of laws in place***.

Many of those states with “Stand your ground/Caste doctrine” laws, anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-evolution science (and science in other areas) laws and attempts by lawmakers to put into law practices which violate the U.S. Constitution’s “Anti-establishment” clause were in the CSA, the confederate states that seceded from the union in 1861. Of all states in the former CSA only four do not have “Stand your ground” laws****/*****. Of those four without stand your ground laws, three do have “Castle doctrine laws”. And of those without one of those two laws only VA appears to have “duty to retreat”.

Hmmm, this is gonna take a LOT longer than I thought. I’ll be back with more on this, later.

In the meantime, this:

http://www.readyholster.com/blog/

is what gunzloonery is all about, the fetishization of firearms, ammo, accessories and memorabilia.

I wonder if they’d like to send an e-card with that photo and a note about how they’re making the U.S. a safer place for all of us to the people who lost children and other loved ones in the massacere at the Sandy Hook School in Newtowne, CT, last Friday?

*               http://pursuitmag.com/united-states-stand-your-ground-and-castle-doctrine-laws-by-state/                  

 

**             http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/15/1/gpr150114.html

***          Best piece I can find with a quick search is here (http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/15/1/gpr150114.html) I’ll update it when I find a better one.

****        http://pursuitmag.com/united-states-stand-your-ground-and-castle-doctrine-laws-by-state/  (this and the following link are to differing maps, ymmv on which is more accurate.

*****       http://www.readyholster.com/blog/stand-your-ground-gun-laws-infographic.

New T-shirt, billboard and bumper sticker

My entry for the Anti-NRA message


"If you have to carry a gun, the terrorists have already won."

Also, why don't the Pro-regulation (not "anti-GUNZ") folks take a page from the Anti-choice playbook (no, not shooting people we disagree with!) and show up at the next congressional hearings on "Gun Control" with great big glossy signs with photos of dead PEOPLE on them to let the congresscritters know that we know that they know what's really goin' on and we're sick and fuckin' tired of them pretending that they dont.

Lies, damned lies and statistics

Ah, at last, some perspective.
 
This post’s title is part of a quote often attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, but according to this source (http://www.twainquotes.com/Statistics.html) is the work of Mr. Leonard H. Courtney. The quote is often used by people who don't trust numbers that are crunched by someone with an axe to grind.
 
So, we are now getting some news about the horrific crime in Connecticut, at a primary school, just yesterday.  The article is here (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-connecticut-school-shooting-20121215,0,4744013.story)
 
Now, as I said, some perspective.
 
This:
 
"On Saturday, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. H. Wayne Carver said all the victims at the school were killed up close with a rifle and were shot more than once. All six adults killed at the school were women. Of the 20 children, eight were boys and 12 were girls. All the children were 6 or 7 years old.
 
The tragedy plunged Newtown into mourning and added the picturesque New England community of handsome colonial homes, red-brick sidewalks and 27,000 people to the grim map of towns where mass shootings in recent years have periodically reignited the national debate over gun control but led to little change."*
 
gives us some numbers to work with.
 
The gunzloonz over at mikeb's place, chief among them, Greg Camp, Orlin Sellers, TS and Frail Liberty are very consistent about one thing. They constantly tell us that there are very few gun owners that commit crimes, statistically speaking. The numbers of massaceres, spousal/S.O. shootings, "accidental discharges" and the rest of the cases that involve people being shot, many of them killed by guns are, according to them, statistically insignificant.
 
I suppose that they're right. I mean, it was ONLY 28 people who died. More people than that die of natural causes, every single day in a lot of states, not just Connecticut, so there’s nothing special about 28 people dying in one day in the state of Connecticut.
 
And the guy who did the shooting only shot most of the kids 3-7 times, with an AR-15 (or some variant thereof) according to CT's Chief M.E. Hey, it couldabeen a lot worse. He coulda used a .308 or something that woulda just turned those little kids into humanburger. I mean HUGE fuckin' exit wounds**! And it was only a semi-automatic weapon--NOT A GODDAMNED ASSAULT RIFLE OR MACHINE GUN!--shooting puny little .223 rounds***. So, all those crybaby liebral parents of theirs will get most of their kids' bodies back in big enough chunks to put in a casket. Just imagine what he might have done with his AR converted to full auto with one of them kits you can buy off the internet—wowza! They coulda put them tykes' remains into a Happy Meal box!
 
There are, according to the news report, about 27,000 people in Newtowne, CT. It is pretty easy to do the math. 27,000 people in the town--27 dead people (we won't count Mr. Lanza, cuz he wasn't murdered). So, it's a measly 1 person per thousand that was killed--that's .001 if you're one of them "stats" geeks.

UPDATE:  That's about 100/100K--a wee bit higher than average for the U.S. killed by teh gunz rate.
 
Let me type that number, again, .001.  That is a ridiculously small number. And yet the anti-gun people are screeching about the time being NOW to do something about guns.  C’mon, get a grip.
 
Do you know how many kids drown in bathtubs, every year? Huh, do ya? Well, it’s more than 18, that’s for damn sure.
 
Do you know what your blood alcohol level’s gotta be to get your license to drive a car yanked (and driving is a privilege not A RIGHT!)?  I didn’t think so.  Well, it’s gotta be at least .01 or more everyplace in the the U.S.  Compare that to .001 and let me know how you want your .0099 change. 
 
Do you know how many MurKKKan heeroez were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan?  Well, I don’t either, but it was a LOT.
 
So, now that we have some perspective and know that you’re less likely to die in a Connecticut middle school than you are if you go to Iraq, drink about 8 “40’s” of Budweiser and take the TransAm out for a run or, hey, even take a damned bath****? Well, don’t you feel like a real idiot for sayin’ “Guns are the problem”?
 
If only that poor woman, Ms. Lanza had had a gun of her own when her deranged son went on his rampage she coulda shot him, before he killed all of those other people. Furthermore…wait, what’s that? She DID have teh gunz and she got shot anyway? So, her gunz musta been locked up somewhere that only she had the ability to open with a key or a combination lock? Right, ummm, apparently not.  Well, who’s gonna expect that their own child would bust a cap on ‘em with their own piece; I mean that prolly happens like, NEVER.  No wait, I know… um, she, she had the gunz out and was just checking to make sure that they were all workin’ okay and her kid (he was a college graduate, prolly from oneathem commieliebral colleges) and had been exposed to allathat anti-gunz rhetoric that they make them teach there. So, he finally saw some gunz and he just SNAPPED, ‘cuz he was never taught how to use teh gunz when he was a babee and now he’s dead because of it.  GODDAMN COMMIE GUNZGRABBERZ!!
 
Pardon me, I got a little carried away there, but it just overcooks my grits when some friggin’ antigunz sumbitch starts just makin’ shit up to make gunzloonz look bad.
 
 
 
 
*            Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. Not while Wayne LaPierre is being his selfless self at the helm of the NRA—the only organization keepin’ MurKKKa FREE!
 
 
**          Mr. Lanza apparently did shoot his mother in the face to the extent that authorities could not easily identify her.
 
***        Greg Camp who is the resident arms aficionado, weapons historian, armorer, ballistics expert and human behaviorist (although he does not trust anyathem damned mental health professionals) assures me that the  AR-configured rifle and the many similar weapons that its design influenced is just a carbine, shooting a .22 caliber slug (source: http://mikeb302000.blogspot.com/2011/11/gun-idolatry-m16.html). It is not, per Mr. Camp, a “Main Battle Rifle” or “Assault Rifle”.
 

****     I had some stats from John Lott and Gary Kleck but the dog ate them.

20 children, six adults is NOT a fucking statistical anomoly

Dave von Ebers put a post up earlier today about the massacere of 20 school children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school (http://davescornertavern.blogspot.com/2012/12/no-words.html?showComment=1355525958231#c6558721610714820688).

 

My neice and her family are near the town in which the shootings took place, they are all physically okay--for that I'm grateful. But the gratitude is lodged in a very small corner of my heart which is otherwise filled with rage.

 

My comment at Dave's blog

___________________________

 

 

Dave:

I got rage. I got rage against the NRA and their toadies. I got rage against the idiots who prate on and on about their sacred 2nd and the RIGHT that shall not be abridged. I got rage against a congress and dozens of state legislatures who are too cowardly, too greedy for the lobbying dollars, too wedded to the idea that being elected is more important than doing their fucking JOB--to provide for the common good. I got rage for people who lie and say that gunz will make you safer. What I don't got is a magic wand, beans, potion or anything else that will right a wrong, raise the dead, unmake a horrible crime against society.

The truth is that I don't WANT anything magical. I want people to take an interest in the conduct of their government and take responsibility for their actions and the actions of those people that they help to elect.

I don't want the impossible. I want the possible, and I want it now.

I'm an atheist but if I believed in GOD, I would beg a curse from him, upon the heads of the NRA, to afflict them with the fear, pain and sense of loss that their irresponsible jingoism has brought into a Connecticut classroom.

Wayne LaPierre is likely to be sitting at a posh dinner table tonight, having some nice food and wine, maybe smoking a good cigar. I hope that reprehensible piece of shit is fully aware at some point in his life, and has time to ponder it fully before he dies, that everything he has is purchased with the blood of the innocents.

The obscenity that is the murder of 20 young children and six adults in a Connecticut school is not, as so many gunzloonz like to say about the increasingly frequent mass shootings in this country, statistically insignificant. It is truly an abomination, one made possible by the propagandizing of the NRA, a whore to the firearms industry and a congress that for far too long has ignored the problem inherent in having no coherent federal firearms policies.

The cowards who demonize those of us who call for safe and sane use of firearms, including regulating them, will, I am quite sure, not be out bragging about boxing the ears of the anti's tonight. No, they'll skulk at their keyboards for a day or two until Weenie LaPutrid gives them some fresh red meat and then continue on the road to Armageddon.

If I had prayers for the innocent I would offer them. But all I've got is the rage.

Southern Beale has a post up about Christmas (what, too soon?) and this was going to be my reply but I thought I'd spare her the hordes of people who might descend on such a blasphemous screed on HER blog. Here, I never have to worry about KKKrazzepants mofo's making comments even weirder than the shit that I write.

So, go read her original post--and other stuff, she writes good stuff.

Start here:

http://southernbeale.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/its-beginning-to-feel-a-bit-like-christmas/#respond

and poke around.

My  comment reply to her OP.

You know what's even better than having Louis Armstrong's music playing on the PA in malls in the Middle and Deep South (or, for that matter, the rest of the U.S.)? It's having, finally, a country where non-whites can shop, work, manage and own businesses in those malls. That's what I can be grateful for this year. Maybe next year, they'll have a mass teh GAY wedding ceremony in a mall in Mississippi--well, maybe not next year.

Did you know, btw, that NONE of the Magi were married? There's this:

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wise-men-ancient-text-differs-bible-tale-magi/story?id=12460820&page=2

which posits that they may have been Chinese; so, does that mean that they would have bought jade, bubble tea and Mushu pork, instead of gold, Frankincense and Myrrh? I wonder if they might have been an early CE version of this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_Eye

sent to help JESUS get the whole robe thing down.

You know who else never married? Hey, I'm not making any accusations, I'm just asking questions.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Gunz

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/bob-costas-seeks-to-clarify-controversial-gun-comments

I started this post on the day after Bob Costas made comments on Sunday Night Football, related to the death of a KC NFL player who, before taking his own life, killed his girlfriend (and mother of his child).  The NRA's response to this? As you might imagine, Ol' Weenie LePutrid is comin' out with the "Obama wants to haz YUR GUNZ!!"

Well, aside from the fact that it's a complete fabrication and a deliberate misrepresentation  of current U.S. firearms ownership policies....

So over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars, Ed Brayton put up this post:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/12/10/obamas-coming-for-the-guns/#more-13586

On the comments thread I left this comment:
________________________________________

Weenie LaPutrid makes the top 25 list, here:

http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/Top25.html

He comes in sixth, the first three on the list are doctors who are, ostensibly involved with organization that SAVE lives. Fourth place goes to  the President of the Jim DeMint Propaganda..., er, I mean The Heritage Foundation. In Fifth is the head of the Bigot Scouts of America.
I'll bet when they all get together for their annual meetings, the reptilican disillluminati have a good time yankin' Ol' Weenie's chain about bein' the third best paid. I mean, wtf, he lies just as much as they do (and about as convincingly, at least to people who actually use their brains to think). he should be as well compensated.

The NRA wants unfettered freedom and ZERO responsibility. I'll bet the beverage alcohol and tobacco industries--to name but two of the bidnetheth out there that cater to people who do things that might get them or others killed--ask their lawyers and lobbyists why they can't get that sweet deal for them.

No liabilities attach to people selling guns that are used to kill and maim. No liability insurance is required for those who own firearms and have them disappear and turn up later at a crime scene. Dozens of "accidents" involving "unloaded" or "I keep the gun on the nigntstand, for home protection. I have no idea how the three year old got his hands on it and shot his snotty older sister." scenarios go unprosecuted as they are "horrible, unforseeable tragedies" instead of "negligent manslaughter"* or some other category of crime.

Gunzloonznation** loves to say that Ol' Weenie does what he does just because he loves his 2nd Amendment Freedumbness. Bullshit, follow the money.

with a pair of footnotes which are at the bottom of the page.

Then a commentor, Dingojack--from Australia--asked about the upcoming Zimmerman trial, scheduled for next June.

I answered his question with one comment about the trial and the "Stand your ground" laws in Florida.
____________________________________________________

Dingojack:
The FL case ( I assume you mean the Zimmerman murder trial) is scheduled for next June. This one:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/28/us/florida-music-shooting/index.html
is of more recent vintage, about two weeks ago. The shooter claims, after telling someone to turn down their loud music (he was in the parking lot of convenience store, not his own property or property for which he had responsibility or control) got some backchat from one of the youths, returned to his auto and grabbed his trusty semi-auto pistol and fired 8 or 9 rounds into the car, killing one youth–the one who gave him the backchat. He is, of course, invoking the “Stand your ground” law and saying that HE saw a shotgun in the car, which the poleece–being the moronz that they are–couldn’t find when they searched the vehicle in which the decedent’s body was found.
___________________________________________________________

and a second post about the lie that a lot of gunzloonz like to tell about places like the U.K. and Australia being "Free fire zones" for armed criminals.
_________________________________________

(Dingojack)

I'm told, btw, that you people down in Oz fear for your lives 'cuz you don't can haz teh gunz and are virtual sheep being lead to slaughter by your Gunzhatin' gummint. I know it's true in the U.K. where they had almost THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MURDERS*** committed with something other than a pointed or edged weapon in 2011. By way of contrast, the U.S. state of AZ had ONLY 222 murders**** committed with firearms in the same period. So, there--everbody knows "Gunz don't kill people, Gunzhaterz kill people by keepin' them from hazzin' teh gunz!'.
_______________________________________________________________

There are many, many people with whom I disagree on a wide range of subjects but I find that gunzloonznation guyz are the ones most likely to have read nothing beyond the rantings and railings of their own cheering section. Here's a hint, fellas, if it comes out of Weenie LaPierres liehole it's not worth much in the marketplace of truth.




* Compare and contrast this story : http://www.azcentral.com/news/free/20121208pennsylvania-gun-store-boy-shot-killed-mercer.html with the death early last Saturday of the Dallas NFL player who died in an automobile accident while in a car being driven by a teammate who was arrested for DUI. If that death is adjudged the result of a DWI the penalties are severe, up to and including life in prison (99 years, actually). This is not to get into the area of civil litigation which will probably result in the offender being bankrupted by wrongful death lawsuits--whether he wins or not.

** This is NOT the responsible firearms owner--even those with whom I disagree about their need for ccw--but those who equate ANY regulation with the sort of bullshit that LaPutresence peddles as a fait accompli waiting only for sufficeint transport and nancybooted FEMA jackthugs to start the door-to-door collectin'.



***     http://www.citizensreportuk.org/reports/murders-fatal-violence-uk.html

****   http://www.azdps.gov/About/Reports/docs/Crime_In_Arizona_Report_2011.pdf

NB Math is not my strong suit--more like a leopard print thong, if you get my drift--but I extrapolated from the data provided to come up with figure of 222 firearms related murders. Somebody can check my calculations and haul out the steel edged ruler if I'm wrong.l

Why I'm not brokenhearted and bereft at my lack of comments

In my several years of blogging and commenting I have been on blogs that receive thousands of comments on a SINGLE post and on blogs that don't have any comments, by design or otherwise.

It seems to me that, blogging, like journaling or writing poetry, is often a way for a person to simply put their thoughts into words. In writing (or speaking) we employ the use of syntax, grammar and various organizing prinicples. In writing we also need to be aware of punctuation and spelling if we intend to be understood*.  So, blogging is in the first instance, for many folks, a private process made public. For some it's a way to raise money or attempt to influence others in areas of social policy, political activism or other areas.

My blog draws a very small number of comments these days. It would be nice to have some thoughtful persons commenting--whether they agree with me or not--and offering their "two cents". Otoh, back when I allowed commenting without moderation I had to come in with a broom and dustpan every few hours to sweep up the merde mots that were left by some seriously deranged people (gunzloonz, almost exclusively). I decided after a year or more of that sort of nonsense that moderation was required. Since then I have had exactly three comments by those clowns.

I might wonder if they were "boycotting" my blog to hurt my feelings; if that's their aim? Please, oh, please do not throw me into the briar patch, fellers!

To those of you who lurk without commenting:

If it's because of the commenting process being a pain in the ass, sorry, but I think it's necessary to keep the shitbombs at a minimum. If it's because you like to pop in occassionally, read a bit and say, "Yep, same ol' crazy democommie.", then, enjoy.





*   Obviously I misspell a lot of words.  Most of the misspelling is deliberate and done for effect, I'm quite sure that it annoys the shit out of a lot of people--that makes me smile.

Paragon? Pariah? We report, you decide

Well, I see that Rushbo Limpboy has weighed in (that is not a "FAT" joke. Rush is a fat joke.) in the recent shooting by an NFL player of his girlfriend and then himself.

Well, I guess that Rushbo will never shoot at least four women--the FOUR that he's been married too; but he must have been one dangerous mofo between weddings.

A perfect marriage ceremony for gunzloonznation:

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now lock'n'load!".

Could give a whole new meaning to the phrase, "shotgun wedding".

Rushbo sez he's looked at all the stats on single parenting and what it does to people, so I guess he's a stat's oriented guy.

I wonder if he's seen the stats on obesity* and it's effect on both span and quality of life?

I wonder if he's looked at the stats on serial marriage addicts**. If not being married means that you're more likely to get murdered than it must be a real bitch for Rush when he's between marriages to women whose gag reflex can, after all, only be stifled for so long--no matter how much money hubby's got. Maybe that's why Rushbo rushes off (hey that's a play on words, "Rushbo rushes", neat ain't it!?) to the Dominican Republic with a supply of boner pills every so often.

I'm also curious to know whether Rushbo has regained his hearing*** since he stopped eating oxycodone tabs like they were M&M's****. 

Yeah, Rush is a guy who I want to take advice from--oh, wait, no I don't. He's a flaming asshole, a serial adulterer, oxyaddict, congenital and pathological liar and all around fuckbag. I wonder when he's going to announce his run for public office.

*      "one in three heart attack or stroke deaths and one in 12 cancer deaths in the US are due to being overweight or obese.(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090319224823.htm)


**     "A state's education levels, for example, tend to be associated with the median age at marriage and the multiple-marriage patterns of its residents. In states with high shares of college-educated adults, men and women marry at older ages, a finding supported by other research indicating that highly educated individuals marry later in life. In states with low shares of college-educated adults, adults are more likely than average to marry three or more times. In states with low income levels, men are more likely than average to have been married three or more times. (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1380/marriage-and-divorce-by-state)


***     "Oxycontin addiction can also lead to emotional difficulties in the long run, including the incidence of delusions, hallucinatory effects, and even the onset of delirium when long-term addiction occurs. Cognitive processes may also be disrupted, leading to disorientation and confusion, particularly during the withdrawal phase. Due to alterations in natural brain chemistry, prolonged Oxycontin use can also trigger mood swings, clinical depression, panic attacks and sleep disorders." (http://www.milestonesranch.com/psychological-effects-of-oxycontin-abuse-and-addiction/)
and
"The auditory nerve the stems from the ear to the auditory part of the brain, carrying sounds from the outside world to the brain to be processed and heard. When the auditory nerve is damaged, the result is a loss of hearing slightly, or almost completely. It is believed that oxycontin can cause hearing loss if it is overdosed. Current media speculates that talk show host Rush Limbaugh lost a great deal of his hearing due to his drug abuse of Vicodin and oxycontin, thus furthering the tie between oxycontin and hearing loss. (http://www.healthfitnesswellbeing.com/hearing_loss/causes/oxycontin.htm)

****   I guess that considering Rushbo's ongoing battle with the bulge and his need (yes goddamn it, he NEEDS several grams of oxycontin a month) for Rush's Little Helpers, he could confuse one for the other (http://bulkecandy.com/landing/m&m%20white/white-mms.html?gclid=CM20j7XmhbQCFQqe4AodUi0AFw). Just a word to the wise, Rush; if your blood sugar spikes after you do a handful of them, it's not your meds. If you go into a coma and die--it is.

Bob Costas hates MurKKKa!

Once again I have mikeb302000 to thank for getting my juices flowin'.

He has a post up about the murder/suicide in K.C., one involving a football player and a woman he lived with, on the day before yesterday.

In the process of making a notpology to the gunzloonz guyz over there--mikeb302000 wrote something I didn't agree with--but I missed it and was, rightfully called to task for it.

It occurred to me to look up what Bob Costas had said during the halftime festivities at Arrowhead last night and that prompted this:
_____________________________________________

Shit. I forgot to ask if the NRA had already sent out a petition for you guyz to sign; one that demands that NBC fire Bob Costas for having the temerity to speak his mind on NATIONAL TELEVISION about his views on gunz.

Oh, wtf, am I talking about, Weenie LaPutrid would never say anything like:

"(People) didn’t tune in to listen to Bob Costas in a way make excuses for a murderer, whining about his social agenda of gun bans in the middle of a football game, and that’s why he’s getting the reaction that he’s getting."

Except he did.

See, here's the thing; if Bob Costas had said,

"If only that woman who let herself get killed because she was too stupid to have a gun had busted a cap in that bozo's ass she'd still be alive. Or if Romeo Crenell wouldahad hiz gunz wit him, he wouldn't have to wait for that crazy bastard to kill himself--he coulda shot him as soon as he saw that he had a gun!"

I doubt that Weenie or Teddyteabagz or the rest of gunzloonznation would have been moved to attack him for taking time out of an important NFL broadcast to bleat about gunz.

I particularly enjoyed Weenie's saying that Costas comment:

"make excuses for a murderer".

Obviously Ol' Weenie's an ace deconstructionist of Mr. Costas comment, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uOi7If0zW9s

I just don't remember hearing Costas say, at any time during that 1:32 "RANT*" of his at halftime of the Dallas/Philadelphia game, that the murderer had an "excuse" for killing anyone. I just watched it, again, to see if there was some subliminal stuff that I might have missed--I have special tinfoil subliminal hippieliebral speech detectors--in his 92 seconds of "ranting*". Nope, sorry, no, nothing there.

So, looks like Ol' Weenie might have been MAKING SHIT UP. Well, wtf, when you rely on the likes of John Lott for your "statistics" shit like that is bound to happen.

All of this is just in service of giving you fellers a little perspective.

I say something that turns out to be WRONG and you boyz are all over that shit (I only thank GOD that I didn't say something like, "The gunman was armed with some kind of "assault rifle" and he had lots of extra clips fulla bullets"--boy, I'd NEVER live that down!)  So, anyway, I was wrong and since I'm almost as widely read as Greggie's masters thesis it's gonna affect the balance of powers. I can see why there's such a furor over it.

Otoh, a guy like Weenie, who is an experienced public speaker, a responsible executive and a guy who knows the power of words just happens to tell a little bit of fib to his several million readers--yeah, there's some equivalency for ya. I wait, with low anticipation for the gunzloonz greek chorus to castigate Ol' Weenie for his loose use of language.

*    As Lloyd Benson might say if he were still alive, "Folks, I've known some ranter in my time, and that was no rant".

** He actually used his own words for just over 52 seconds of the piece, reading/reciting from memory a portion of Jason Whitlock's comments from Whitlock's "FOX Sports" column, written the day after the murder/suicide for the remaining 40 or so seconds of the piece.

___________________________________________

You can go here:

http://mikeb302000.blogspot.com/2012/12/jovan-belcher-commits-murder-and-suicide.html?showComment=1354575574869#c1572037432554705637

to read the whole thread if you like, I find it somewhat tedious. 

Trump calls drop in popularity survey ’total bull@!$%#’

Trump calls drop in popularity survey ’total bull@!$%#’

No, I'm not a KKKristianist, really, I'm not

It seems that I don't really need to go looking for things to write about. Other blogs that I go to provide a near inexhaustible source of solar corona level Burnin' Stoopit comments for me to work with.

This latest one is actually a series of comments made by a Mr. Anthony McCarthy over at Southern Beale's blog (and my rebuttals--some of them a bit sharpish).
____________________________________________________

McCarthy:

"The secular government is quite a different thing and, I’d contend, the problem of it pandering to the greed of the powerful is derived, in part, from the suppression of the moral force that used to be provided by people who took what Jesus taught seriously."

Moi:  The U.S. government does not now have, nor has it ever had a charter to be other than "secular".  Your comment is either disingenuous or you have never read the U.S, Constitution.

McCarthy:  "Here, in our recent successful marriage equality fight the large number of churches and clergy who supported equality were crucial in convincing people to vote for equality."
Since we don't know where, "here" is, there's really no way to check your claim. If it was in any red state then it's highly likely they were voting in opposition to their church's stance.
"I’ve seen the increasing secularization of society matched by an increasingly right wing, materialist, self-centered country."

Moi:  You need new glasses. The movement of the Overton Window, ever further to the right, has been driven by neo-cons and fundamentalist religiowhackos of one stripe or another--working in concert.Your comment neglects the demonstrable fact that the U.K., France, Italy, Germany and Scandanavia are all "secular": countries (despite the fact that several of them have official religions) and rightward is not the direction of their slow drift into hell.

Several countries come to mind when I think of "religious" gummints. Off the top of my head; Russia, Afghanistan and Uganda come to mind. Russia is being run by Putin who's getting very cozy with the Orthodox Church's hierarchy (he threw them a nice bone with the "Pussy Riot" trial and conviction). Afghanistan, it's lie West Virginia on steroids--and just a bit fundy. Uganda, from the madness of Idi Amin Dada to this:
http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/ugandan-president-repents-of-personal-national-sins/
Ugandans are being helped along, in their efforts to make being GAY a capital crime, by none other that Scott Lively, a former ReiKKKsminister of the Calfornia KKKlaven of the AmeriKKKanner Family Association AND current president of Abiding Truth Ministries, a lovely Neo-KKKristianist organization in California.

So, I think you need to spend a little more time studying and a little less time parroting NSK. (the Newnited States of KKKristianity) talking points.

I know that Southern Beale is a polite and refined person; I am neither where the subject of telling the truth is concerned. What you and your fellows posit as "GOD's will" is actually "GOD swill".
_________________________________________________

I don't generally go to the blogs of the commentors on other people's threads but in this case I wanted to check and see what Mr. McCarthy was putting up at his own place.

Well the first post I see has him equating the religious right with the materialist "left" (his scare quotes) .  You may go there (http://zthoughtcriminal.blogspot.com/) and read it for yourself.

Now, I don't know Mr. Mcarthy, so I don't know if the referenced post is typical of his work, but it is a load of crap.

Equating the likes of the KKKristian ReiKKK (who are ministers without portfolio--but, boy, do they have BIGASS collection baskets--of the GOP these days) with the goofs on the fringe of the fringe of the left in the USA is either woefully naive or deliberately disingenuous. There is no equivalence in numbers or in their aims and goals. The uninformed/misinformed fringe lefties are, in general, NOT authortarian top-down gummint types. They are far more likely to be anarchists, eschewing government (foolishly) and chasing the pink unicorn rainbow of racial, ethnic and religious/non-religious equality. The vast majority of public "christian" figures in the U.S. are hawkers, shills and snake oil salesmen. They rally their sheeple against the democrats in the election booth and against the "other" from the pulpit. They don't dislike teh GAY or uppity women--they fucking HATE THEM because "those people" represent a threat to their hegemonic dreams.

UPDATE

As a result of continued correspondence over at Southern Beales' blog on this issue, I penned a response.

Southern Beale:
 

I have no problem, none whatsoever, with people having faith in whatever deity they wish to believe in.

I have an enormous problem with ANYONE who thinks that religion has been the thing that has been most uplifting element of human society. That is, quite simply, preposterous. I also consider this statement:

“The belief that you have to give up things you don’t want to, that you have to do things you don’t want to and you have a binding moral obligation to recognize the needs and rights of people you would either not like or be indifferent to requires a force that can’t be found in sufficient quantities to change behaviors outside of religion.”

to be an insult , implying that I or anyone else who is “secular” lacks an adequate level of morality to be a decent human being.

As you point out, in the south, it was the black churches who were those that acted on the issue of  civil rights (my bad, I thought that was very self evident). It would be disingenuous to assert that those churches acted purely from a desire to be "good christians". The pastors of those churches and the willing members of their flocks were, and rightly so, motivated as much by their desire for equal treatment under the law and in society at large as they were by any "christian" impulse. Their commitment to the cause was, in many instances, informed and bolstered by their christian beliefs. It was also a fact that the churches in presenting a generally united front in the battle for civil rights were practicing a form of machine politics. When Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 he was doing so, largely, for  personal reasons, including establishing his legacy as a stateman. There was also, of course, the undeniable fact that there was a large bloc of black voters who had been a “swing” constituency for some years; bringing them to the side of the democrats was also a factor in his using his skills as a former majority leader to help pass both the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. 

Throughout the period from the 1830’s until at least 1965 many southern churches' religious leaders used their pulpits to agitate AGAINST equality for non-white U.S. citizens. Wallace, Maddox, Helms, Thurmond and hundreds of other prominent segregationists—all professed Christians—fought against the notion that black Americans were equal to whites.

At present, those same black christian churches are among the most resistant to the notion that teh GAY have an expectation of and deserve equal civil and legal rights with the rest of U.S. residents. I find that stance--and it is based, by them, on their “Christian” faith--hypocritical and deeply offensive.

I am friends with and related to many self-professed Christians. I view their actions and hear them speak and find them to be no better or worse than any of my atheist or agnostic friends. Otoh,  I find the churches to which a number of them belong—the RCC, Baptist, Mormon and a number of fundamental evangelical congregations to be anything but honest, compassionate and inclusive.

If Mr. McCarthy wants to think that HE cannot function as a decent human being in society without being prompted/compelled to do so by his Christian faith, that would be his problem. I don’t need GOD or any supernatural agency in my life to make me do what’s right or to know the difference between right and wrong.

I don’t hate Christians. I despise organized religion, of every variety.

And, I have no time for KKKristianist apologia, regardless its source.