From Once Upon a Win: Shel Silverstein.
Where the Sidewalk Ends was one of my favorite books when I was a kid, and I still love it. We’ve own most of his books and all the kids love reading them.
One that I love to recite at the kids from time to time:
Teddy said it was a hat,
and so I put it on.
Now Dad is saying,
“Where the heck’s the toilet plunger gone?”
If you want facts about guns, visit the Gun Facts Website.
All it does is present myths about guns, then refutes them with documented facts and statistics, often with that data coming from neutral and/or anti-gun sources.
So sure, maybe it’s part of the lies, damn lies, and statistics of the “pro gun lobby/agenda”. But then let’s see documented facts and evidence to the contrary.
Via SayUncle I learn about Gun Free Kids. They are, of course, against concealed carry on campus.
America’s colleges and universities are under attack from the gun lobby.
We’ll ignore the fact they’re under attack by crazy people bent on hurting innocent students.
The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus is writing to colleges and universities across the country to alert them of the threat and to urge them to band together to oppose the gun lobby’s agenda to push guns into college campuses.
The is no agenda to push guns into college campuses. All there is is a movement to break down artificial legal barriers that keep law-abiding citizens from engaging in law-abiding activities, such as self-defense. Look, Virginia Tech already had policies prohibiting guns on campus, but that didn’t stop Cho Seung-Hui from going crazy. I dare say the only thing that could have stopped crazy would have been an armed student willing to shoot back. But instead all we have are sheep and wolves, and if there are any sheepdogs on campus the law forced them to leave their teeth elsewhere.
The case against guns on campus is strong. There are many reasons why it would be dangerous to introduce guns into colleges and universities.
- Arming students would make campuses more dangerous every hour of every day
- Armed students would be accountable to no one
- Arming students would not deter the rare campus shooting
- Academic debate cannot flourish in a room full of guns
- There are better ways to make college campuses safer
Ok….
You’re not going to stop violence and evil by banning guns; in fact, gun bans tend to lead to increases in crime (why? because Joe Citizen is now too weak to adequately fight back). Guns are merely a tool, and guess what? That tool works great in the hands of The Good Guys against Bad Guys! The Good Guys obey the law, so pass a law to ban guns, now the Good Guys won’t have guns — but The Bad Guys still will.
This group’s tag line is “protecting families from gun violence”. But as I look around their website, I fail to see how they’re doing anything to protect me and my family from gun violence, or even just plain old violence. I’d like them to explain that better. All I see right now are a lot of emotional appeals, no facts, and no real substance as to how they’re protecting anyone from anything.
I don’t deny there are stupid people out there, that there are dangerous people out there, that there are evil people out there. That these people are out to cause harm to innocent lives. And many times these people choose guns as the tool by which they inflict their harm. And when they go to inflict their harm, they have demonstrated they don’t care about social norms, standards, laws, ordinances, agreements, boundaries, signs, or you and your well-being. If you wish to abridge these people, I’m all for it. But until you can present me (y’know, one of The Good Guys) with some failsafe and foolproof way to keep them from injuring me, my family, my friends, and other good people in this world, please don’t cripple me and rob me of my choice of tools.
It might take a little while, but if you contact your elected public servants eventually you should get a reply.
I just received a reply from one of my Senator’s, John Cornyn on the topic of Eric Holder for AG. Here’s the full text of his reply email.
Thank you for contacting me regarding the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General of the United States. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this issue.
After carefully studying Mr. Holder’s record as Deputy Attorney General, I remain doubtful regarding his judgment and ability to operate independent from political influence. Additionally, I have concerns that Mr. Holder’s record demonstrated a failure to understand the profound threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism. And I remain troubled by his apparent hostility to the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
During Senate Confirmation, Mr. Holder’s answers to the questions posed by the Senate Judiciary Committee failed to alleviate my concerns. During his testimony, Mr. Holder avoided giving a full and candid account of his actions regarding former-President Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, the clemency offered to 16 terrorists, and other matters that gave rise to my concerns about his judgment and independence.
My utmost concern, however, is that Mr. Holder fails to fully understand the unique challenges and threats posed to our country by radical Islamic terrorism. I fear that Mr. Holder is not prepared to lead the Justice Department at a moment when this nation is waging an asymmetric war whose battlefield extends across the globe and onto U.S. soil. While I was pleased that Mr. Holder testified that protecting America from attack would be his most important job as Attorney General, his public statements regarding the War on Terror often betray a willingness to advance ideological rhetoric without fully appreciating the sensitivity and complexity of a particular issue.
For these reasons I opposed the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although I am disappointed that on February 2, 2009, Eric Holder was confirmed by the full Senate to be Attorney General of the United States, I hope that he will study the important issues facing his Department carefully and independently, and will use power responsibly—and not simply cater to the extreme voices on the left.I appreciate the opportunity to represent Texans in the United States Senate. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2934
Fax: (202) 228-2856
http://www.cornyn.senate.gov
While Cornyn isn’t batting 1000 in my book and I shouldn’t expect him to mesh 100% with me, overall he’s not too bad and I’ve been pleased with his stances and voting record.
Suicidal Tendencies, California skater punk turned metal edged fury. A band that, on the surface seems like something to be afraid of (the sound, the anger, the name of the band), but when you get into the music, it’s got a lot more to offer.
I love the lyrics of the entire song, but I especially the rant at the end of this song:
Just ‘cuz you don’t understand what’s goin’ on don’t mean it don’t make no sense.
And just ‘cuz you don’t like it don’t mean it ain’t no good.
And let me tell you somethin’:
Before you go takin’ a walk in my world, you better take a look at the real world, ‘cuz this ain’t no Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
Can you say “feel like shit”?
Yeah maybe sometimes I do feel like shit.
I ain’t happy about it, but I’d rather feel like shit than be full of shit.
And if I offended you? Oh I’m sorry but maybe you need to be offended.
Well here’s my apology, and one more thing: Fuck you!Because you can’t bring me down.
Suicidal!
The first album I could call my own was Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry. My little sister gave it to me as a Christmas present one year (probably back in 1984). And a record no less. I believe I still have it in my closet somewhere (tho no record players in the house any more).
My mom took one look at the album cover and hated it. So of course that made it even more awesome to me. 🙂
I loved the music videos (back when MTV was actually cool). I loved the music even more. What got me was not just that the music was heavy yet melodic (i.e. you could sing along with it), but there was some sort of artistic point to it and even a message! And what made the lyrical content doubly cool was the surface presentation that belied the real message.
Their song “Burn In Hell” is a perfect example. It’s all heavy, sounds forboding with those opening droning minor chords and Dee Sinder’s low voice speaking out an invocation that sounds like he’s inviting you through the Gates of Hell for an eternity with The Dark Lord. And of course, the fact the song is titled “Burn In Hell”! Hell! Burning! Looks nice and scary on the album sleeve, especially to parents and the PMRC. So of course, to a teenager this is totally cool!
But then you listen to the song and what Dee’s really singing about:
You can’t believe all the things I’ve done wrong in my life.
Without even trying I’ve lived on the edge of a knife.
Well I’ve played with fire, but I don’t want to get myself burned!
To thine own self be true, so I think that it’s time for a turn… before I burn in Hell.
So he’s talking about how he’s been living a life on the road to Hell, but he’s waking up and realizing that this isn’t good. He doesn’t want to suffer and pay for his sins. He realizes that he better change and clean up his ways. But he doesn’t just stop there:
Take a good look in your heart (and) tell me what do you see?
It’s black and it’s dark; now is that how you want it to be?
It’s up to you, what you do will decide your own fate.
Make your choice now, for tomorrow may be far to late… and then you’ll burn in Hell.
Now he’s calling you, the listener, out. He’s calling for self-examination. He’s seeing the bad in your life and calling you out to change your life. There’s no forcing, it’s your choice, and whatever you choose there will be consequences. Remember, this is in the context of heavy metal, which is all about sex, drugs, rock and roll, drinking, debauchery, Satan worship (or at least faking it for record sales), and basically living that destructive lifestyle. And here’s Twisted Sister coming out with a message rather contrary to the style yet still within the mode of the style. It was all really cool, and still is.
These days, Twisted Sister is still going strong but with a different sort of happy message:
And Lita Ford too! It’s great to see their sense of humor is as strong as ever, never taking things too seriously and just having fun.
The first “dynamic” technique you learn in Kuk Sool is called Maek Chi Ki:
The set is about hand strikes to particular points. Some are pressure points, some are not; the intent is to hit places on the body where you can do the most damage. For instance, strikes to the temple, strikes to the side of the neck (jugular vein), soft cavities. When people say “hit him in the face”, that’s not specific enough. Side of the jaw? chin? to the nose (and then upwards, into, downwards?), temple, crown, ears. Learn to go for specific places, increasing your chance of hitting them and doing maximum damage.
Now, no one attacks this way (with a kick and punch), but as a teaching tool it strives to help teach distance, timing, footwork, movement, blocking, avoiding. While the set seems very simple, it’s one well worth practicing over and over, working to get as fast as possible while staying highly accurate.
One interesting thing about this particular presentation of the set is the contents of the set. As Maek Chi Ki is taught today, the set differs in about half of the strikes/techniques. What the video shows is an old version of the set, and if you have a copy of Dr. He-Young Kimm’s Kuk Sool book, you’ll see his version is the same as what’s shown in the video. I don’t know when or why the set changed, but it did. IMHO, there’s merit in both. Take a look around the 1:41 point in the video (after the 4-knuckle strike to the windpipe). The two techniques at that point in the video are single-hand techniques: same hand blocks then strikes. I’m unaware of any modern technique in Kuk Sool that formally teaches that.
Government is good at only one thing: it breaks your legs, hands you a pair of crutches, and says, “See, without us you wouldn’t be able to walk.”
from Harry Browne
Here’s the Second Amendment News Roundup for February 12, 2009.
Meta-blogging I guess.
Stuff From Hsoi 