Breda hit the nail on the head. Just go read it.
Author: hsoi
On a home defense tool
What follows is my take on this particular religious war.
When it comes to defending your home, there are many things you can do. Exterior lights (cockroaches don’t like light), dogs, alarm systems (and using them), keeping your doors and windows locked, trimming back the bushes from exterior windows, and things like that. All of these things are good things to do and add to your layer of home security. I would also say that a firearm of some sort is another layer.
When people think of home defense firearms, what typically comes to mind is a shotgun. When I first thought about a home defense firearm a 12 gauge with 00 buckshot was the direction I headed. But recently I’ve encountered some thinking that has changed my mind, and while a 12 gauge is still part of my home defense battery, it’s no longer my go-to gun.
Freedom defined
From Ron Paul:
Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference. Government cannot create a world without risks, nor would we really wish to live in such a fictional place. Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal, because it would require total state control over its citizens’ lives. Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons.
National Reciprocity
Here’s the text of S.371.
I have to say that the notion of national reciprocity is a bit of a mixed issue for me. On the one hand I like it because I think it clears up a lot problems, but on the other it feels like it starts to infringe upon a State matter. But then one can also argue that there’s no problem in honoring the marriage licenses from other States, the drivers licenses from other States, and various other licenses. So why should concealed carry licenses be any different? And I’d have to agree with that.
I like the wording of Sen. Thune’s bill. It clears up problems yet still allows States to have control.
Time to drop a line to Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Hutchison.
Progressive Draw Drill
From Ahab, the Progressive Draw Drill.
Many times my dry fire practice is nothing but this, just drawing, and doing it slowly. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
No office, not bad
Being a software engineer I’m fortunate that my job can be performed anywhere in the world… so long as I’ve got a computer and an Internet connection. As a result, I’m happy to work from home and telecommute full time.
While there certainly are disadvantages to not being in the office, there are also advantages. IM’ing with an office-bound co-worker this morning he tells me about 1. some new computer that another engineering group brought into the office for testing something (dunno what, but apparently the fans are wicked loud), 2. someone had a potpourri thing in the office yesterday and it stunk the place up so bad they had to ask her to remove it. Ah, the joys of the cube farm. The sounds I get are those of my wife and kids working and playing, and the smells of my wife’s cooking. This is quite the advantage. 🙂
This weekend
The weekend’s not yet here but already I can’t not think about it.
Tomorrow night going to see Tesla in concert. I’ve seen them live before and it was excellent. They’ve got talent and ability, thus why they’ve always kept going and didn’t die off after the ’80s were over. I think their “Into The Now” album (2004) is one of their best. Just a damn good rock band.
Then I get home from the concert, get a couple hours of sleep, and then it’s off to the Boy Scouts of America Texas Report To State Parade. My younger son is a Tiger Cub and I’m a Den Leader (again), so we get to head downtown and walk down Congress Avenue with thousands of other Scouts from around the state. It’s actually really neat to see Scouts from all over, and the kids always enjoy being in a parade as well as seeing all the floats and other Scouts.
And I’m sure I’ll have a honey-do list to tend to afterwards, and a nap. 😉
Should be a fun weekend.
My politics
I’d rather discuss religion than politics, but here we are. 🙂
As far back as I can remember, I’ve somehow been involved in politics. My father has been an elected public servant in numerous offices throughout most of my life. And I think it’s because of this that I have some draw to politics and political involvement, but I also just can’t stand it because it’s hit rather close to home in ways that most people never experience and can’t fully understand. If I ever go into politics, it won’t be until after my kids are grown and out of the house.
I may have been raised in a Republican household with conservative ideals, but I’ve moved around the political spectrum in my life. My time in undergrad probably moved me more towards the left, but I think it also pushed me more towards true conservative ideals because being around all those “open minded” people showed me just how closed minded and self-centered folks can be. I guess going “right” was my rebellion 😉
These days tho, I find great disgust with both established political parties.
- The Democrats want to legislate compassion, and use our money to do it.
- The Republicans want to legislate morality, and use our money to do it.
While I see nothing wrong with compassion or morality, I don’t think the force of law should be involved. And if my money is going to be used for moral or compassionate causes, I’d like to control what causes my money funds. The two big political parties want more government, both want to intrude more into your life, both are just corrupt as hell. Maybe they have good intentions, but that’s what paves the road to Hell. I didn’t like Bush and what he, his administration, and the Congress of the last 8 years botched up. So far I do not like what Obama is doing, nor what Pelosi and crew in Congress are up to either. Obama ran on a platform of not being the same as Bush, but all he’s done so far is demonstrate that he’s the same – maybe his corruptness is different, but it’s still corrupt.
If there’s any political group I’d affiliate myself with, it’d be Libertarians. The main reason? I like that US Constitution and think that those that swear to uphold it ought to. My country is a Republic; we grant that some law is necessary to maintain order and allow people to live freely and prosper. But when government gets too big, too intrusive, when it goes beyond its Constitutionally set boundaries, I have a problem with that. See my posting about simplicity; we don’t need more laws, we need to simplify.
For me, it’s about being left alone. Do you like it when people stick their nose in your business? Do you like people bugging you all the time? Do you like people telling you what to do, or forcing you to do things you don’t like? I don’t. And it’s simple. I’ll leave you alone to live your life. All I ask in return is you leave me alone to live my life. Have some respect and consideration for each other, and just leave things alone.
Freedom is letting things be. (Brian Enos)
Tao Te Ching #48
In pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Tao,
every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.True mastery can be gained
by letting things go their own way.
It can’t be gained by interfering.Translation by Stephen Mitchel.
As a software engineer, I understand that “simple” and “easy” are not the same thing; in fact, usually to arrive at simple is very difficult. Antoine de Saint-Exupery said:
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
We live our lives striving for more, collecting more, gathering more. Bigger, better, faster, more. Then how often do we step back and look at what we’ve amassed and feel overwhelmed and wonder how did we get here? Be it the amount of stuff in our houses, or the number of things we do in our lives, our constant running around and “having no time” and “being so busy”.
Strip away, discard. You’ll discover what’s extraneous, you’ll retain what is necessary. The simpler life becomes (or perhaps think of it as the less complicated you make your life), the more we can enjoy it.
Why I’m (now) a gun owner. (Part 4)
So how did this become political for me?
I think the thing is that since the most pivotal day in US history — September 11, 2001 — it’s changed the entire landscape of this country. The whole “we will not live in fear” was and is bullshit because that’s all we do. It’s how our government conducts itself, it’s how things are being robbed from us… all in the name of keeping us safe. I really refuse to fly on an airplane now because it’s ludicrous to have to prove myself innocent and not a terrorist before I’m allowed to ride on an airplane. It’s just unreal. And the so-called security measures are a joke. Constantly violated, selectively enforced, and a load of bunk. I don’t feel any safer, I just feel more violated, more restricted, and a lot less free — but no safer.
I read something from Brian Enos’ website: Freedom is letting things be. Think about that. It’s quite true in so many ways.
But we’re Americans and we can’t let things be. We have to be busy-bodies, we have to stick our noses into everything, and we just can’t leave anything be — especially other people. Think about how little freedom we have, because we don’t let things be.
And politically? Well, since I originally wrote this the DC vs. Heller case decision was handed down by the SCOTUS and yes, it’s an individual right to keep and bear arms. The victory seems almost pyrrhic tho. Look at how much has been lost and will continue to be lost, because people just don’t let it be. But in a way, it’s a start because well… moreso to think what would have happened if they said we individuals did not have a right to protect ourselves. What could that mean?
I look back now at all the various anti-gun reasonings and I just can’t get it. Maybe 15 years ago those would have resonated with me, but they don’t any more. I Googled on “NRA” and found a set of political cartoons that positioned the NRA well, as you typically might expect anti-NRA folks to portray it. And feel that in my prior ignorance I would have agreed. In my current more enlightened state, I just can’t.
Pass more gun laws… that will keep guns out of the hands of criminals. How? Criminals don’t adhere to the law (by definition) so how will more laws keep guns away from them?
Ban guns, that will do it. Look at countries like the UK or Australia. Criminals still get and use them. Or if they can’t, they find something else, e.g. knife-based violence is high. Banning anything won’t stop the thing you want to stop (e.g. violence, killing, death, hurt, pain, suffering), it just finds another avenue to get to the destination.
We ourselves seem to already understand this to some extent. We allow police to carry guns. We allow the military. We seem to understand that to stand on at least equal footing we’ve gotta be equal, or maybe a little greater. Look at how the US builds up our military… we’ve got nukes. That keeps people in their place. Imagine if the US got rid of all their nukes and dismantled the military tomorrow… how quickly would we be attacked on our own soil? No, we can’t stop the problems, we can’t 100% eliminate them from the face of the Earth, but keeping ourselves armed keeps things fairly quiet. So why can’t that parlay down to a smaller scale? To the individual? If you want to commit a crime, you only do it if you’ve got either 1. zero care about consequences, and then that’s a bigger issue to deal with or 2. you only do it if you believe there’s a good enough chance of not getting caught or things backfire or whatever. So if you could figure this Joe is armed, are you really going to mug them?
The sad thing is, evil people exist. They always have, and they likely always will. If you aren’t aware of this, you live a far too insulated life — and if you don’t believe me on that, then go find the “bad part of town” where you live and go walk around there tonight… alone. Now what do you think?
Note that self-defense is far more than just having a gun. It’s being skilled in empty-hand combat. It’s having knowledge and awareness to avoid problems and not get in trouble in the first place. They say things like you shouldn’t do anything different with a gun that you do without one, e.g. if you wouldn’t go into that part of town without a gun, then don’t go there with a gun either. First rule of a gunfight? Don’t get in one. But the thing is, ultimately things may come to that… and wouldn’t you rather have a gun and not need it than need it and not have it? Ask folks in LA in 1992… ask folks in New Orleans after Katrina hit.
Why have a gun? Are you paranoid? Are you afraid? Well, if I am, is that not a good enough reason to have one? Tell the woman with some man stalking her…. she’s afraid, is that not enough of a reason? Do you have a fire extinguisher? Do you have a first aid kit, or at least some Band-Aids? Do you wear your seat belt in a car? What are you worried about? Are you afraid of a fire? or a cut? or a collision? Aren’t they the same sort of thing? Wanting to be prepared in case something horrible happens? Slim chance as it may be, we’re all willing to take a little extra precaution to protect ourselves and preserve our lives… why would being capable of defending yourself be any different?
It’s about hunting and sports. Well, perhaps in part, but ultimately no it’s not. It’s about protecting ourselves from tyranny.
Yeah yeah, Homer Simpson said “If I didn’t have this gun the King of England could just come in here and start pushing you around. Do you want that, well do ya?” But really yes that’s what it’s about. We’re getting to a point where our government is forgetting who it is to serve. The culprit? Ourselves. We refer to those people as “our leaders” but they are not… they are not to lead us, they are to serve us. Of course the best leaders know they serve: Tao Te Ching 68: “The best leader follows the will of the people”. (also see #57). We as a people have given up too much control to a few, and have meddled and fiddled and continue muck with things. We manipulate too much, we mess with the natural order of things, we’re just too much busy-bodies in some ways and too apathetic in other ways. And it comes back to bite us.
Look at any country in the world throughout history. When someone comes to power what’s the first thing they do? disarm and weaken the people. If the people are in equal footing and there’s injustice, the just will rise and conquer. If there’s injustice, the best way to keep injustice going is to weaken the opposing side… keep them oppressed, disarm them. Note that we can’t have unequal footing and justice, since unequal itself is unjust. So the only way to be just really is to be on equal footing. Difficult to achieve, sure, but not impossible. My Taoism is showing I guess. 🙂
But the more “the state” and “others” try to control us, try to force power over us, the less equal we will be. If the state can have massive power and control over us, what will happen? What’s the net consequence of this? How just will things be? We cannot allow for that to happen. The founders of this country knew that if government could become corrupt and need to be overthrown once, it’s well possible it could have to happen again. They did it, they wanted to leave the door open to do it again, should it be necessary. The only way? Arms. So it’s not just about hunting or sport (in fact it’s barely about that… that’s just a side-effect). It’s mostly about protecting ourselves, primarily from government and “rulers”, corruption, and anything else to defend our freedom.
To defend our ability to just be.
But hey, if everyone else just let things be… then we’d all be free, and wouldn’t be having this discussion in the first place.
The crazy thing about this? I originally wrote this back in mid-2008. It’s now the start of 2009, and we’ve had massive government bailout after massive government bailout. An “economic stimulus package” is in the works. There are many things on the horizon that signal massive government growth and intrusion and control into every facet of our lives. Is this good? Is this how a free people live?
So as you can see, I’ve changed. Years ago I was one way. But the past some years I’ve changed. I consider myself a logical person, and as I went through my life experiences and learned about how to take care of yourself, I found my old prejudices and ignorance fading. There’s just a sound logic to taking responsiblity for yourself, be that in providing for yourself or defending yourself and what you believe in. I just listened to all sides of the issue, and I just can’t find logical faults… which is how I’ve ended up where I am now.
