It’s a breaking news story… details are slim at this point, but it seems a Florida citizen with a concealed weapons permit foiled a robbery in a Miami Burger King. Another story here and here but apart from listing the CWP holder as a Good Samaritan, not much more detail.
We’ll see what comes of it.
It took a while to get a response, but yesterday I received an emailed response from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison regarding H.R. 1, the “stimulus act”. Here’s her response in its entirety.
Dear Friend:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.
Our economy is facing dramatic challenges. Financial conditions are rapidly evolving, creating volatility and uncertainty for businesses, small and large, across the country. Tightening credit markets, mounting job losses, and decreased consumer spending are wreaking havoc on the bottom lines of small businesses and the savings of every American household.
In response to the economic crisis, Congressional Democrats unveiled H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the Stimulus bill. After several weeks of debate, a $787 billion package filled with an array of funding for government healthcare, education, energy, and infrastructure programs was agreed upon.
The Stimulus bill passed on a party line vote, with all but three Senate Republicans opposing the bill, and was signed into law on February 17, 2009. I strongly opposed H.R. 1 for three primary reasons.
First, I believe the most effective way to stimulate the economy is to leave more money in taxpayers’ pockets. Instead of providing significant tax cuts, the vast majority of the Stimulus bill focused on dramatically expanding government programs. In fact, tax cut provisions in H.R. 1 only represented 27 percent of the total bill. Furthermore, the few tax relief provisions that were included are likely to be ineffective. The largest tax relief provision in the bill, the Making Work Pay Credit, is a $400 tax credit for individuals and an $800 tax credit for couples that will be distributed though decreased paycheck withholdings. For individuals, this amounts to only an additional $7.69 per week. This meager effort will not stimulate our economy out of the current recession.
Second, I believe any stimulus bill should attempt to expend funding immediately and effectively. Instead, in this bill, of the $311 billion in government discretionary spending, only 11.3 percent, or $35 billion, will be spent in 2009. The remainder of the spending will occur over the next ten years. Stimulating our economy over ten years will not bring immediate relief to those feeling the impact of the economic crisis today.
Lastly, this bill will saddle Americans with a significant amount of additional debt. Our national debt is currently above $10.9 trillion dollars. It is irresponsible for our government to wastefully spend taxpayer dollars by the billions when our nation is operating in the red. In addition, it is unfair to place this mounting financial burden on America’s future generations. I could not support a $787 billion bill that will not provide much-needed tax relief; will not spend the funding immediately and effectively; will not create sustainable, private-sector jobs; and will not address the mounting debt facing our country.
The economic downturn has had a pronounced impact on Texas families and businesses, and I would have supported stimulative measures that were balanced, reasonable in size, and targeted specifically to job creation, keeping people in their homes, and overall economic growth. A better proposal would have emphasized tax relief so that individuals and businesses can have more capital to inject into the economy, and it would have guarded against massive government expansion. History teaches that excessive spending may prolong a recession. Moving forward, Congress must carefully consider the long-term consequences of a fiscal policy premised on borrowing and spending. As Congress continues to consider legislation to address the financial crisis, you may be certain I will keep your thoughts in mind.
For more information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, please visit http://www.recovery.gov <http://www.recovery.gov/> .
I appreciate hearing from you. I hope you will not hesitate to contact me on any issue of concern to you.
Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
http://hutchison.senate.govPLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this message as it is not a valid e-mail address. Due to the tremendous volume of mail Senator Hutchison receives, she requests that all email messages be sent through the contact form found on her website at http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.cfm .
If you would like more information about issues pending before the Senate, please visit the Senator’s website at http://hutchison.senate.gov . You will find articles, floor statements, and press releases, along with her weekly column and monthly television show on current events. You can also sign up to receive Senator Hutchison’s weekly e-newsletter.
Thank you.
My sons like to wear Skechers shoes. To update on the shoe shopping situation, it wound up that the shoes we ended up with ultimately weren’t going to work out… so off we went looking for other shoes. But at least we knew Oldest’s shoe size so why not order online, right? Mom & Oldest went looking online and found just the shoes he wanted. So on the 16th I ordered from skechers.com.
Days went by. I received no status update on the shipping of the shoes. That’s odd. Any eCommerce these days lets you know at most within 48 hours about status. Their website said it was in stock, that all is good… but yet by Friday I still had no idea if they were shipping or not (order status still said “processing”). So on Friday I phoned their customer service to ask. I was told that the shoe was out of stock (huh? what happened to that policy of 48 pairs of every shoe in stock?) and my order would automatically be cancelled soon. O…K…. I broke the news to Oldest and said we’d find the shoes somewhere else.
Then the FedEx man arrived on Saturday with Oldest’s shoes. Hrm.
Then what did I get in my email inbox this morning? A message saying my order had been processed and here’s the FedEx tracking number. I checked the tracking number and apparently the order shipped out of their facility on the 18th.
Wow.
They may have great shoes, but methinks there’s a lot of disconnect in their order processing system. Bug, not feature.
Behold! The ultimate weapon! The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
Oldest likes Monty Python. He gets it. I recall the first time he saw this clip and he got it on both levels: the absurdity of it in and of itself, and the whole religious/Catholic satire. I was impressed.
I find our bodies to be amazing things. They naturally strive for preservation and efficiency. You exercise and work hard for a long time to make physical gains, then you lay off for just a short while and all that work disappears. Our bodies strive to maintain just the level it needs, which is great, but frustrating when it takes so much time to gain and so little time to lose.
One area I see this is my legs, not just in strength but in endurance. In Kuk Sool we strive for low stances. This can look very nice when performing forms (especially on taller and thus longer legged and torsoed people), but moreso it’s a matter of training legs for strength and endurance. You don’t really fight in a low stance, but it’s a lot easier to duck via bending your knees when your legs are strong enough to allow you to do this.
I think what motivates me more than fighting, self-defense, or any sort of martial activity is growing older. I see people much older than me and even people my age, that just can’t get around. Getting off the couch is an effort. Picking something up off the floor is a strain, and they bend from their back then complain of back problems when they right themselves. They haven’t used their body, so they’ve lost it. I don’t want to be this way as I grow older. So, I do my best to just use my body fully in my daily life. If I need to pick something off the floor, I bend at the knees, either squatting or quasi-lunging to do so, but either way using the full range and ability of my body. If I need to stay down for a long time (e.g. scooping out the cat litter box), then I assume some sort of low horse stance while I do so… again, not being bent over at the back and feeling the lumbar pain as I’m down working for so long. Lifting a heavy object? Use the legs, baby. Things like this. Just ensuring that whatever I do in my daily life I do fully (other implications implied).
Doing such things in everyday life won’t turn my legs into something Tom Platz will fear, but it helps to keep my legs and body usable. As I said, the body likes to maintain just the level it needs, so my hope is if I continue to use my body every day at the level I wish to have when I’m 70 years old, hopefully when I get there I’ll still have it.
Looks like rules 1, 2, and 3 were violated here. Not that I’m necessarily broken up about what appears to be a top criminal learning what karma is all about, but it’s still demonstration how not following the rules leads to big trouble.
It’s also demonstration about how not to unload a semi-automatic firearm. To properly unload a semi-automatic firearm you:
Updated: Looks like rules 1, 2, and 3 weren’t the only thing violated… adding drugs and alcohol to the mix too. TXGunGeek (in my comments), it looks like this falls under your “raving idiot” category. And yes I guess there is a reason to point a gun at your head and pull the trigger… to teach others how to be just as stupid as you.
Updated 2: Fixed my typo there… should be tactilely not tactically. Freudian slip? 😉
My friend Ron stopped feeding one of his sons today.
I think it’s a great idea.
I hadn’t thought about doing this specific thing, but I’m going to add it to my agenda for my own kids. I have been allowing Oldest to make more of his own choices mistakes, which is good. He’s got enough knowledge and experience in his head to be given some free reign and jurisdiction over himself. We still guide him and sometimes we have to make the decision for him, but in the end the consequences (good and bad) are his to receive, and any mistakes are his to deal with.
I have felt that when 16 years old comes around, we won’t buy any of the kids a car. If they want a car, they pay for it. I might go in half with them, we’ll have to see how prices are. But things like gas, insurance, money for whatever fun they want to have… they have to get that on their own. Basically, if you want things in life, you gotta work for it and earn it. It’s how life is (or at least, is supposed to be), so get used to it.
Also once they can start to drive I want them to take at least one class at the local community college to get used to how they are. Again, easing them into the real world.
Anyway, thanx for the idea Ron. Good one.
One thing I love about being home so much (side-benefit of the work-at-home situation) is my wife’s cooking.
Not just eating it and eating it 2-3 times a day, but smelling it.
I’ll be sequestered in my office. I’ll be deeply buried in code or debugging or some other software development joy. Then it hits me. Some smell… it has crept its way through the house. It might be the smell of garlic and onions sautéing. It might be bread baking. It might be the wonderful smell of bacon frying. Whatever it is, it’s always a wonderful smell. It’s always a pleasant surprise when it hits. Sometimes I’ll head down to the kitchen to see what’s cooking, other times I’ll just savor the aromas from afar and wait to see what else floats my way so I can try to figure out what she’s up to.
The printer is in my office. I’ll hear it kick in without my initiation, so I know it’s Mrs. Hsoi printing out a recipe she found. I do my best to avoid looking at the printout. I don’t want to know. I don’t want the surprise to be ruined. Let her cook. Let the clues waft my way. The simple please of deciphering the magic she’s performing in the kitchen.
I am a fortunate man. 🙂
Updated: You know how I know my wife reads my blog? I post this. I go get in the shower. I come out of the shower and smell… bacon. Sweet sweet thick cut smoky fatty bacon. She received the above subtle hint.
My wife is awesome.
The mighty Pantera. Just when metal was dying from the rise of “the Seattle scene,” along comes Pantera to kick the world in the ass.
I remember the first time I saw Pantera live. The Bayou, Washington D.C.. They were opening for Wrathchild America, supporting their Cowboys from Hell album. Since I worked in radio at the time, I was backstage talking with the band. I spoke with Phil about the (then) new Peter Steele project. I spoke with Dime, who then was “Diamond Darrell”… he signed my Pantera hat with “Dime” and explained to me his “name change”. Dime was so nice, so friendly.
Their music is like no other. Power. Groove. Emotion. Soul. Strength.
Walk on home, boy.
Was out all day today, thus the lack of blog entries.
One thing I did today was “beta test” some handgun drills/tests. For an idea of what I’m talking about, check here (and the PDF files linked to on that page); those aren’t what I shot today, but it gives you an idea. It’s handgun shooting drills, timed, to assess knowledge and skills.
I have to admit, when I was told I was going to be beta testing the drills I got nervous. I was going to be watched, judged, my performance evaluated. *gulp* Furthermore, I would be shooting with two other gentlemen whose experience and skills are far more vast than mine, so I was just hit with this feeling of pressure and nerves. But a few seconds after that all washed over me I said to myself: “Don’t worry about it. This isn’t a contest. This isn’t to compare you against them or anyone but yourself. Just shoot the best that you can shoot. Take your time and get hits. Be accurate. Don’t rush and try to shoot fast, even if the other guys can and do shoot faster than you, else you will mess up and shoot poorly. So, just stop being anxious and just shoot your best.” Just had to let the wave of nerves and apprehension wash over me, then be washed off me. 🙂
We went out to shoot. I kept my mind calm and didn’t worry about anything. I’d shoot however I’d shoot, and as long as I didn’t work myself up I’d shoot fine. Just focus on that front sight, good trigger press, and that’s all you can do.
We shot the tests. If I remember correctly, I scored a 97%. Was I surprised? A little. I didn’t think I’d shoot that well. What surprised me was that I held my own with the other guys. Not that this was a competition or a need of an ego stroke, but that I’m my own worst critic. I will be hard on myself in assessing my skills, abilities, and knowledge in anything. These guys have always told me I shoot well, and while I never thought they were blowing smoke up my skirt, I didn’t think I was good enough. They might say “You shot that well”, but I knew what mistakes I made, I knew I could do better. But now to see me shoot and hold my own with these guys, it did show me my skills aren’t as bad as I think they are. These guys gave me a neutral measuring stick, so to speak, that I could measure myself against instead of just always telling myself “no not good enough”. Note: I do believe these gentlemen could still outshoot me in competition, don’t get me wrong.
I also know that I did shoot well on my own accord. I just kept to the fundamentals, e.g. “cleardistinctfrontsight-press-cleardistinctfrontsight”. I did NOT look at the target at all while shooting (it’s a habit I’m working to break); I kept my eyes focused on that front sight. Good trigger presses. Stayed relaxed and calm, focused on nothing but myself and my shooting. I was aware of all of this as I was going through the drills, and that made me most pleased. I was especially pleased in that I did not care about how I was performing. All too often I get caught up in how I’m performing and that causes me to screw up the performance. I just shot and didn’t care what happened, at least until well after the shot was over. So that’s what surprised and pleased me most. It was me performing as I should perform, and it paid off. So I was happy. It wasn’t an ego stroke, but it was certainly a good gain of confidence.
In the end, I realized I’m not as bad as I thought I was. Sure I’m still going to be hard on myself, sure I’m still going to work to improve myself. But it was nice to have something that gave me a bit of a reality check, to put things in some sort of perspective.
In related news, I am very pleased with the modifications done by Springer Precision. The improved trigger certainly helped, but what helped most were the sights. There’s no question in my mind regarding today’s drills/tests that I would not have shot as well as I did if I still had those XS Sights on (that may be (part of) my problem… having those XS sights on as long as I did and my shooting sucking as much as it did, that may have brought my confidence and “belief in myself/skills” down). The bright red fiber optic just draws my eye to the front sight. The rear sight is clear and unobtrusive. The sight picture is just great. I do believe having better tools helped me.
I’ve also been working on my grip, especially my left hand. I’m placing my left palm heel a bit higher on the grip/frame, which gets more of my left palm in contact with the frame and allows my left hand to have as far forward a cant as possible. I’m finding a “sweet spot” for where to place my left hand in terms of how it wraps around my right. And I am working with the Todd Jarrett “grip 20% harder” rule. I believe it’s making a difference in recoil management and thus ability to reacquire my sight picture. Heck, I shot some quasi-Bill drills (6 shot rapid fire strings) today and had no loss of left grip, no need to reset my grip, and good sight picture reacquisition and control.
Bottom line for the day: I got a nice idea where my skills are, and that my practice and work is paying off. So with that, off to practice more.
And the sun was shining. The weather was great. I got about 120 miles of motorcycle riding in. A good day.
