11/13/2004
Randomness...
My trunk-gun Yugo SKS came with a log book. I thought this was pretty cool-neither of my other Yugos came with one-so it was kind of ironic that the junker one I bought would have one. Then I noticed something.
The serial number in the book doesn't match the serial number of the rifle.
So, if someone out there has Yugoslav M59/66 S/N 139248, drop me a line. I've got your log book.
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The New CounterCulture
She opens the door to a reveal a riot of George Jones CDs, reflective 'mudflap mama' stickers, empty foil packs of Red Man, and U.S. Marine recruiting posters. In the middle of the room: a makeshift table made from a utility cable spool, bearing a the remains of a gutted catfish.
Read the whole thing.
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Death of Democracy in Belgium
Beautiful Atrocities reports that the largest conservative party in Belgium-the Flemish Bloc, or Vlaams Bloc in Flemish-has been declared a racist organization and outlawed.
The People's Commissariat Belgian Supreme Court ruled that Vlaams Bloc publications constituted 'an intention to contribute to a campaign of hatred.' Apparently in Belgium, publishing official statistics on crime rates, welfare expenditures, & a paper on the position of women in Islam is racist.
Read the whole thing.
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National Ammo Day/Week
Just a reminder...
I'm going to the South Carolina Arms Collectors gun show in Columbia tommorrow. Georgia Arms will be getting some business from me.
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TV Twits with Sand in Their Knickers
The state of Washington just got around to installing metal detectors in the state capitol building. But one of the local TV stations has discovered that, according to state law, the state capitol is not on the list of places where citizens cannot take their concealed pistols, provided they have a permit. And, naturally, they've got sand in their knickers over the whole thing.
The Chapter 9.41 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) is the section of Washington state law governing firearms. RCW 9.41.280(1)(a) turns elementary and secondary schools (but not universities) into Victim Disarmament Zones. RCW 9.41.300(1)(a-e) bars firearms from the restricted access sections of jails, law enforcement facilities, and public mental health facilities, court buildings, places placed off-limits to people under 21 by the liquor board, and the restricted areas of airports. Subparagraph (2)(b) allows local governments to restrict the carrying of guns in any publicly owned and operated stadium, arena, or convention center, unless the person has a CPL.
Back to the TV news story...nowhere could I find in RCW 9.41 where any public legislative buildings, whether it be the state capitol or the city council chambers, are citizens of Washington who are legally allowed to own guns prohibited from carrying those guns, whether openly or concealed. (Yes, Washington allows open carry.)
This story is just another example of the media blissninnies trying to scare the sheeple. There has never, to my knowledge, be a shooting on the Capitol grounds. There was one shooting in Olympia earlier this year, and it was huge local news for weeks. Likewise, I don't know of any shootings in Washington involving a CPL holder. The People have the right to bear arms. The People own that big stone building with the shiny dome on top. So why is it such a big deal that the People can bear arms in a building that we own?
I've been thinking about running for state legislature after I retire from the Army. If and when I'm elected, I'll be sure to make a point of carrying every day while I'm there.
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11/12/2004
Extremely Important Supreme Court Cases
Or, why getting strict constructionist judges and Justices on the bench is critical.
Three different bloggers have called attention to this particular issue. Say Uncle! got the ball rolling when he noted that our erstwhile pro-gun President and his DoJ are asking SCOTUS to overturn the Ninth Circuit Court's ruling in U.S. v. Stewart which said that the Feds power to regulate interstate commerce does not extend to banning the possession of home-assembled machineguns for personal use.
Fuz then noticed the fact that DoJ had linked the case to Ashcroft v. Raich, asking the Court to hold off on granting cert to Stewart until Raich is decided because of the similarity of the points of law being argued. Raich is another Ninth Circuit ruling, this one stating that the Fedgov lacks the authority to govern privately-grown intrastate medical cannabis sales.
Jed at Freedomsight put it together with Wickard v. Filburn. Wickard v. Filburn is the case that pretty much established the Commerce Clause as allowing the Fedgov stick its nose into pretty much anything, as long as that thing "exerts a substantial economic effect on interstate commerce, and this irrespective of whether such effect is what might at some earlier time have been defined as 'direct' or 'indirect.'" Thus Congress could regulate a farmer in Ohio growing wheat to feed his livestock, because the fact that he grew his own instead of buying it effected the national wheat market. So basically, the DoJ is saying that Raich buying Cali-grown marijuana effects the national weed market, and Stewart making his own machineguns effects the national machine gun market, and therefore the Fedgov can regulate both.
Jed also links to a discussion on The Claire Files BBS, where a poster named Alton Speers points out the potential consequences if SCOTUS upholds the Ninth Circuit (speaking about Stewart:
On this case, the USSC has it's teat caught in a wringer because the tax law is indeed predicated on a clear and dear constitutional provision. If Stewart is overturned by the USSC then all laws based on the constitutional authorization to regulate interstate commerce will become easy targets for overturning. The only "out" the USSC will have here is the very narrow reading of the constitution and applying it's provison to the origin of the materials used by Stewart to manufacture his machinegun. If any material or component crossed a state line to end up in Stewart's possession then the USSC will rule that those materials meet the qualifications for interstate commerce and will therefore overturn the 9th's decision. However, this decision based on a very narrow reading of the constitution will have grave consequences. Not only will interstate commerce be subject to greater control but this will greatly enhance the power of government in the area of economic control especially in this era of global trade.
If the 9th's decision is upheld then congress will have to open up the NFA to revision. Furthermore, people all across the country will NOT be FEDERALLY prohibited from building their own machineguns. State laws will remain unaffected until they are challenged based on the Stewart ruling. This will seriously jeopardize the power of the congress. Moreover it will frighten the hell out of the left-liberal blissninny antis.
So, by my read, the decision in Raich will greatly strengthen the case of one side or the other in Stewart. Libertarians of all stripes should be pulling for Raich to win. (I do believe this may be the first time I've been pulling for a Ninth Circuit decision to be upheld by the Supremes.)
Taking the analysis a bit further, especially on the potential impact of Raich, since it actually involves intrastate commerce, rather than just manufacture (or growing) for personal use. If the Court rules in favor of Ms. Raich, that could mean no more 4473s, at least as long as I'm buying from an in-state dealer. The dealer may be buying from an out of state distributor, which would be interstate commerce, but me buying from the dealer would be intrastate, and therefore beyond the Fedgov's regulatory authority.
Yeah, that'd get Sarah Brady's panties in a bunch.
Oh, and does anyone know have any doubts as to why it is critical that we get strict constructionists on the bench?
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Stopping Specter
Spoons has the goods.
Did you know that Specter...
* is a strong supporter of racial preferences?
* opposes almost all kinds of tort reform?
* wants the U.S. to submit to the International Criminal Court?
* opposes any measures to help parents choose to take their kids out of failing schools (although he sent his own kids to private schools, naturally)?
* Tried to recruit Teresa Heinz (now Kerry) to run against Rick Santorum for Congress?
Spoons also has links to NRO, The Corner, and a new dedicated anti-Specter site at RedState.org.
Also courtesy of Spoons, the phone numbers of the current Judiciary Committee Republicans:
Hatch (202) 224-5251
Grassley (202)224.3744
Kyl (202) 224-4521
DeWine (202) 224-2315
Sessions (202) 224-4124
Graham (202) 224-5972
Craig 202/224-2752
Chambliss (202) 224-3521
Cornyn 202-224-2934
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Letter to Senators
Cribbed from Triggerfinger.
I viewed with alarm Senator Specter's recent comments regarding the scrutiny he would apply to nominees for the Supreme Court and other positions within the Judiciary. One of the strongest reasons for supporting President Bush was for the long-term effect he would have upon our court system by appointing judges, and especially Supreme Court Justices, who respect and honor the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution as much as the rest of the bill of rights.
In short, Senator, I am interested in judicial appointees who believe in the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms as an individual right, and as a Constitutional prohibition upon regulation of arms -- whether firearms, swords, knives, or other unspecified "arms".
I do not believe that Senator Specter, who has a C-- rating from Gun Owners of America, will fight for judges who will reverse the trend of courts ruling as if the 2nd Amendment did not exist or was not binding. I do not believe that it is possible for Senator Specter to fight for a cause, and thus a judge, that he does not believe in wholeheartedly.
Considering Specter's inflammatory warning to the President, whose aid he accepted during the primaries but failed to reciprocate, I do not feel he can be trusted to chair the judiciary committee. At a minimum, it must be made absolutely clear to him that he must fight effectively for ALL of President Bush's nominees, not merely those that meet his left-of-where-he-should-be politics.
The single most important and lasting change that the Senate and the President can make in the area of domestic policy is to appoint judges who will respect the 2nd Amendment and rule accordingly. This will begin to undo over a century of racist laws that originated in the quest to deny the right to arms to minorities. Senator Specter has demonstrated himself unworthy to take on that responsibility.
Senator Cornyn, of Texas, would be a suitable replacement if Senator Specter cannot be shown the path of wisdom.
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Libertarian Strength in Washington
Inspired by this post by PunditGuy (HT-Spoons) on the possible role of the Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, Ruth Bennett, as a spoiler in the last remaining undecided election of 2004. (As of 8AM PST today, Rossi (R) leads Gregoire (D) by 3,586 votes with an estimated 82,000 ballots still to be counted.) So I did a little poking around, and discovered an interesting tidbit:
Ruth Bennett got more votes-almost 60,000-than any Libertarian candidate for governor in the other 6 states where the Libertarians had candidates. (The Libertarian candidate in the freeway stop state of Delaware did get a higher percentage-3% to Bennetts 2.2%)
What's also interesting: Badnarik only got a bit over 11,000 votes in Washington. So where did those other 48,000 votes (that Bennett has gotten so far) go in the Presidential election?
On a further note, if Rossi does emerge the winner, I believe Washington will be the first state to have a governor named Dino.
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11/11/2004
I Think I've Finally Arrived...
A commenter has called me a hatemonger.
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Good for Him
Playboy Prince Harry set for spartan life in British Army
LONDON (AFP) - Britain's Prince Harry, who cemented his playboy reputation last month after a scuffle with a photographer outside a nightclub, will endure a tough regime of curfews and no alcohol when he enters the army in January, officers said.
Officer Cadet Wales, as Harry will be known when he enters the British Army's elite Sandhurst Royal Military Academy in the new year, will leave behind his life of luxury and receive no special privileges.
In the British Army, a ground pounder, on top of it. Excellent example being set by young Harry. If I were Prince Chuck, as soon as Harry graduates, i'd bump him ahead of his brother William in the line of succession. Wliiam would have to go into the military himself to regain his place.
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More from the People Who Bring You Tolerance and Diversity
Jihad at San Francisco State
Why is it that, even though the Leftists are always the ones carping about intimidation, and the suppression of unpopular speech, and being afraid of 'brownshirts' (the analog kind,) it generally seems to be they themsleves who actually engage in that kind of behavior?
Chris Finarelli could barely believe his own eyes last Wednesday. As Vice President of the College Republican Club at San Francisco State University, Finarelli showed up at the student union building that morning to help table and distribute literature to solicit new club members after President Bush’s victory the previous election day. What he found was a noisy and menacing mob of over 300 Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and radical leftist students surrounding his club's table being held back by 13 San Francisco State police officers. The police officers were forced to surround the CR's table both in front and in back in order to protect the conservative students' safety.
The previous Monday, the day before the election, the CR's were physically attacked while handing out Bush/Cheney materials in the University’s Malcolm X Plaza. On that day, Victor Traycey, one of the members of the conservative club, was slapped by Nala Gardizi, an Arab woman student who was part of an entourage led by four Palestinian women who accused the conservative students of being responsible for the “murder of Palestinian babies” due to their support for President Bush. In addition, food was thrown at the Republican college students and drinks poured over the campaign materials on their table. Gardizi harangued Victor Traycey that day and even called him “a Nazi,” according to eye-witness reports.
Lee Wolf, another College Republicans member, described one of the women on Monday as shouting, "The only way we can defeat you is to kill as many as possible! I'd rather die a suicide bomber's death than to call myself an American!" He continued, "In my opinion, these were terrorist threats."
I'm not sure if this is just Pinko-Leftist angry idiocy, typical of the Angry Left's usual behavior toward viewpoints they don't approve of, or if the Religion of Peace is making them even more ugly than usual.
However, as seems sadly typical in the Land of Leftist Twit Academia, SFSU adminstrators are leaving the GUPS thugs alone:
SFSU President Robert Corrigan took no action against the GUPS or individual students involved in Monday's assault despite police eye-witnesses and even photographs of the perpetrators. Nor were the GUPS told not interfere with the ability of the College Republicans to exercise their rights of free speech. In fact, during the earlier attack on Monday, the police asked the College Republicans if they would leave rather than arresting their attackers.
...
Campus President Robert Corrigan has a lackluster reputation for meting out discipline to the GUPS despite an earlier attack on Jewish students during a pro-Israel rally at SFSU when the off campus city police needed to be called in to protect Jewish students and escort them to safety. Corrigan did suspend the GUPS for one year, but did not require them to relinquish their office on campus to other active campus student groups. In addition, a Jewish student, Tatiana Menaker, was equally "disciplined" by the administration for responding to her tormentors. Her punishment, as signed off on by Corrigan's administration, was 40 hours of community service, but it stipulated that no such public service could be performed for Jewish organizations. Ellen Griffin told this reporter that Victor Traycey, one of the College Republicans, although he was slapped by Ms.Gardizi, would also be facing the same disciplinary hearing and potential punishment as his attacker despite his being the victim of a physical assault. Such disciplinary procedures can harm a student's academic career.
Dang I wish I was back in SF, just for the day. I could celbrate the entry into Hell of Asshole Arafish by strolling around the SFSU campus with one of these signs:
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11/10/2004
My Proposal for Immigration Reform
Having complained about the President's immigration plan, I'll offer my own proposal:
1. Control the Border
First things first, we have to get control of the border. Give the company that's building Israel's fence a call, and order up a wall that runs from the gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. Good fences make good neighbors.
1A-Controllig the Interior: Once the border is controlled, you can start getting rid of the illegal imigrants who are beyond the border. To assist in this, cut off all federal aid to any state or local government which has so-called "sanctuary" laws which prohibit it's employees from informing federal authorities about illegals, deny their police the authority to arrest illegals for the crime of being in this country illegally, or any other such nonsense.
2. Guest Worker Visas
I have no problem with temporary visas for guest workers, but they have to be conditional-very conditional. First, they have a limited time period-=one year maximum. It must be renewed every time. Overstay, and you don't get to come back for ten years-on a first offense. Second time, you can't come back ever. And to get a renewal, the worker has to have worked full time at least 2/3 of their time in this country. Guest workers would not be eligible for welfare, or unemployment, or government-funded medical care, or education for them or their family. And finally, a guest worker visa does not count toward becoming a citizen. You want that, get a resident visa.
3. Crack Down on Employers
No sugar, no ants. It's that simple. I know privacy advocates are going to squeal here, but set up an IRS/Social Security Administration instant check system for SSNs, kind of like the NICS that is used for gun purchases. This is only to determine if the SSN is valid, and if it belongs to the person who is being hired as opposed to a dead person or someone who was just born last week-nothing else. Right now, if an employee has fake documents, employers have no way of knowing this.
4. Get Rid of Laws That Make Deportation Hard
Entering this country illegally should result in automatic deportation when caught. Exceptions would be made for people fleeing countries such as Cuba or North Korea that would imprison or kill them for trying to come here. And deportation doesn't mean just dump them across the border. They would be taken to the airport in the capital city of their home country and dumped on the tarmac. Or maybe bussed to the President/Prime Minister's home and dumped there. Also, anyone who is awaiting a court date on immigration charges must be kept in custody-no release on own recognizance. We know they won't come back.
5. No More Anchor Babies
No more automatic citizenship to the babies born here to illegal parents. Children of people with permanent resident visas, fine. But if your a guest worker or illegal, your kid doesn't get automatic citizenship.
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President Bush Has the Immigration Stupids
HT to 4RWWs. El Presidente apparently has his head up his butt again.
Powell met with President Vicente Fox, who has made migration reform in the United States a top foreign policy priority.
Translation: Mexico is a giant shithole, and Vincente Fox has made the quicker, easier, exporting of his own citizens his top foreign policy priority. Always easier to complain about the gringo bogeyman than actually try to fix your own country's problems, eh, amigo?
He believes that the millions of Mexicans who work in the United States should be granted legal status, enabling them to live without fear of arrest and deportation.
Translation: Mexico's economy would be even more in the shitter without the money these people send back. So please, please, don't send them back. Fuck you,, Senor Fox. Millions of your citizens have committed, some of them repeatedly, a felony crime in the United States. You're lucky we don't just shove them out the back ramps of C-17s flying over Mexico City.
A more controversial provision - which Powell did not mention - would allow undocumented aliens already in the United States to achieve legal status if they can prove they have employment.
What's really sad is that the illegal immigrants, under this proposal, would be getting beter treatment than legal immigrants. If a legal immigrant is convicted of a felony, he gets deported. Yet all of these illegal immigrants, who are committing a felony just by being here, would be given not just a pardon for that crime, but would get to stay on top of that.
Among other issues, Powell and his delegation discussed Mexico's concerns about treatment of Mexicans on U.S. soil. Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez, who joined Powell at the news conference, said that issue is "a permanent concern" of the two governments.
Well, maybe so many of the Mexican citizens in this country weren't here illegally, and maybe if so many of them weren't violent criminals on top of that, this wouldn't be a problem. Canada has an even longer border with us than Mexico does, and yet we don't have a serious problem with illegal immigrants from Canada, nor is Canada overly worried about how her citizens in this country are treated.
Vincente Fox has some serious balls. His country is such a shithole that its major export is people leaving the country, even breaking laws to do so, and yet he has the balls to tell us that we should just accept it.
Here's my proposal: Everytime a Mexican official visits the U.S., we don't let his plane leave unless it is carrying a full load of apprehended illegals going back home. This includes Vincente Fox.
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11/09/2004
On Little Bit of Gloating...
Via TFS Magnum and the Queen of All Evil.
One last question for all you liberals...
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The Ostriches of the Left
What continues to baffle me about The Left/Democrat Party is their continued inability to figure out that it's their message that's being rejected by the voters. Instead, they continue to blame inefficient GOTV efforts, or the 'youth vote' for not showing up, or the ignorance of the voter (yeah, blame for voter for being a moron. That'll make him like you.), or the evil genius of Karl Rove, aka the reincarnation of Nicolo Machiavelli.
Let's look at recent history:
1992: Bill Clinton wins, but only by a plurality, with Ross Perot pulling votes from Bush Sr. Clinton and Congressional allies start pushing a leftist Democrat agenda, with the AWB of 1994 being the high water mark. Hillarycare goes down in flames, resulting in
1994: Newt Gingrich and the Contract with America. GOP takes Congress. Dems blame better marketing (CwA) and the NRA (at least on that they're right.)
1996: Clinton wins again, with Perot again a factor.
2000: Even with the MSM keeping the economic slowdown under wraps, Bush beats Gore, but narrowly loses the popular vote. Dems bitch about the Electoral College and SCOTUS. Oh yeah, and the NRA and Gore's anti-gun stance.
2002: Running counter to historic trends, the GOP picks up two Senate seats in the mid-term election. Dems still bitching about "selected not elected."
2004: Bush wins, both in the EC and by about 5 million votes. GOP picks up 4 more Senate seats, plus several House seats. Dems complain about "unteachable ignorance" of Middle America.
In all their supposed introspection, the only position the Dems will admit costs them votes is their zest for gun control. But even there they don't change their actual position-they just change their presentation.
If they can't do better assessments, and make honest changes, nothing is going to change for them.
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11/08/2004
SKS Trunk Rifle
I had some time off, and finally got a chance to de-cosmoline the SKS I bought almost 2 months ago to build into a trunk rifle. It cost $70, and was advertised as less than shooter grade.
I've never personally handled one of AIM's shooter grade rifle, but this one is definitely appropriate for a bang-around or trunk rifle. It's ugly. Receiver, trigger group, and magazine serial numbers match, but magazine cover and bolt group numbers don't. Bluing is well worn, especially on the end of the barrel and the grenade launcher (and area that gets a lot of handling in environments such as basic training, with lots of drill & ceremonies going on), and the magazine, which has almost no bluing left on the part that extends beyond the wood of the stock. The bolt has a small amount of pitting on the face, nothing major. Almost the entire upper surface of the bolt carrier has a very light pitting, light enough that you can't feel it, but it gives the top of the carrier a grayish appearance. I'm thinking about replacing it with an Albanian bolt carrier from AIM, just for looks.
The wood furniture was in surprisingly good shape, with very little in the way of dents, dings, or scratches. Unfortunately, in the process of getting the cosmoline off, I got a bit carried away with the Purple Power and removed the stain from the stock as well. My attempt at re-staining it resulted in a dull, ugly brown. It doesn't matter a huge bit to me, since I plan on replacing the stock with a black synthetic anyway, but I'd like to be able to return it to something resembling original condition. If anyone out there can recomend a good reddish stain for Yugo stocks, I'm all ears.
Haven't had a chance to fire the rifle yet, but the chamber and bore both look to be in good condition, with strong rifling and no noticable pitting.
All in all, a heck of a deal.
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