I need a cup of coffee to start the morning. Without it, I start dragging by mid-morning and begin caffeine withdrawal soon thereafter.
The video below is about how to make coffee when you are camping. However, you could use the same methods if you’ve lost power or having to bug out due to a disaster natural or otherwise. As long as you can heat water, you can make coffee regardless of whether you go with instant, French press, or the cowboy method.
The answer to that headline is not much if the billionaire in question is New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
At a press conference held in conjunction with the Conde Nast Celebrates Editorial Excellence: Toast To Editors, Writers And Contributors event, Bloomberg said that our interpretation of the Constitution must change “to allow for greater security” to stave off events like the Boston Marathon bombing.
From the Observer.com’s Politicker column:
“The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,” Mr.
Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. “But we live in a
complex word where you’re going to have to have a level of security
greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws
and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.”
I, for one, prefer the “olden days” before we had America’s scold and nanny as mayor of New York City.
Never one to miss a chance to push gun control and show his disdain for the Second Amendment, he had to add comments about guns.
The mayor pointed to the gun debate and noted the courts have allowed for increasingly stringent regulations in response to ever-more powerful weapons.
“Clearly the Supreme Court has recognized that you have to have different interpretations of the Second Amendment and what it applies to and reasonable gun laws … Here we’re going to to have to live with reasonable levels of security,” he said, pointing to the use of magnetometers to catch weapons in city schools.
“It really says something bad about us that we have to do it. But our obligation first and foremost is to keep our kids safe in the schools; first and foremost, to keep you safe if you go to a sporting event; first and foremost is to keep you safe if you walk down the streets or go into our parks,” he said. “We cannot let the terrorists put us in a situation where we can’t do those things. And the ways to do that is to provide what we think is an appropriate level of protection.”
I know some of the wealthy are somewhat arrogant just like many politicians are arrogant. However, when you cross extremely wealthy with politician you get a special kind of arrogance and Mike Bloomberg is the epitome of it.
MrColionNoir is starting to grow on me. I’m not hip nor urban nor, unfortunately, young any more but I can still appreciate the way he can communicate a message in effective and simple terms. I think it was a brilliant move by the NRA to add him to their stable of commentators on gun issues.
In his latest, he takes direct aim at the use of the buzzwords “responsible” and “reasonable” by the Obama Administration to push background checks. He then turns to Vice-President Joe Biden and Biden’s advice on guns and gun safety. It gets even better from there.
I came across this video of the AK-12 in action courtesy of the KitUp blog. It looks like an nice upgrade to the basic AK-47/74.
As to what they are saying, I don’t have a clue. It could be, “take this, Dzhokhar!”, for all I know. Still, the shooting is interesting. I’m guessing a Russian version of 3-Gun.
It appears that Sen. Dianne Feinstein has trained at the Joe Biden School of Tactical Shooting and Self Defense. She was a guest of Chris Wallace on FoxNews Sunday. He asked her whether in light of the lockdown in Watertown, Massachusetts with the bombing suspect still on the loose, would people have liked to have guns. Watch her answer below.
I guess we should be happy she didn’t suggest the person go out on their porch and fire the shotgun in the air. Given the scenes of the police going door to door, bursting into houses, forcing people out, etc., that might have been a death wish.
H/T Dave Kopel
I came across this little tidbit this morning which contains some good news for reloaders. It is from the AccurateShooter.com daily bulletin and contains news of powder shipments to online retailers.
Here’s good news for reloaders. Some large shipments of propellants were delivered in the last week, and we are starting to see supplies of some popular powders start to catch up to demand. Third Generation Shooting Supply received a very large order of Alliant Powders in one-pound containers, including the popular Reloader series. If you need RL15, RL19 or RL22 you may be able to grab some before it’s gone. TGSS has already sold nearly a ton of RL15 this week.
Natchez Shooters Supplies is featuring Vihtavuori powders, and the Natchez inventory system is showing supplies “in stock” for many of the most popular Vihtavuori powders including N320, N133, N135, N540, N150, N160, and N165. All these powders (including 8-lb jugs of N133) are shown “in stock” as of this morning, but we caution that things change quickly!
Links to retailers and more details are at the link above. Perhaps this is a sign that supply is starting to catch up with demand.
For the last few days since Manchin-Toomey was defeated all we’ve heard is about the big bad NRA and the “gun lobby” as if it were some monolithic object. The other thing being bandied about by the gun prohibitionists is that the NRA leadership are merely tools of the gun manufacturers.
This is utter bullshit and we all know it.
An article I read within the last few days gave credit where credit is due – to you and me and everyone else in the trenches who wrote letters, made calls, talked to friends, and sent faxes. This same article pointed out that the leadership of the NRA responded to what they were hearing from the grass roots and not the other way around. If Wayne LaPierre is steadfast in opposition, it is because we have pushed him in that direction. As to the manufacturers, they respond to their consumers. A gun maker that supports gun control measures would lose their customer base a’la Smith and Wesson. I really wish I remembered where I read this article and I wish I had bookmarked it.
I think the statement by Chris Cox of the NRA-ILA is recognition that the strength of the NRA come from the grass roots. I think Chris is correct that the fight is not over.
While both sides in the gun control debate regroup after our victory in the Senate earlier this week, I want to give credit where credit is due. The credit for Wednesday’s defeat of gun control goes to the countless gun owners and other Americans who drew a line in the sand–who sent emails and letters and made phone calls to their U.S. senators, urging them to protect private firearm transfers, semi-automatic firearms, and the magazines that millions of Americans own for self-defense.
There is no question that you shocked the enemies of liberty two days ago. Going into Wednesday’s votes, they thought victory was within reach. Many in the media had pushed the idea that resistance to the gun control agenda was futile, and some of our more aggressive adversaries may have started to believe their own propaganda. I’m sure some had convinced themselves that the intensity of their anger toward gun owners was all that was necessary to assure victory.
But you and your fellow gun owners proved them wrong. As you know, the best Americans do what they have to do, not for personal praise, but because it’s the right thing to do. They do what has to be done not only for themselves, but for their fellow Americans today and for generations of Americans to come. Nevertheless, on behalf of all of us at NRA headquarters, I want to thank you for answering the call.
As you know, however, we can take only measured comfort from this week’s success. In his bitter response to the Senate’s votes, President Obama said that this fight is far from over, and that’s the one thing that he is right about.
Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), sponsor of the gun control bill debated this week, has promised to bring his bill up at a more opportune moment. Obama’s “Organizing for America,” billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Gun Guns,” and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ “Americans for Responsible Solutions” will focus their efforts on defeating pro-Second Amendment senators in 2014.
I say to those groups and their leaders, that pro-Second Amendment senators stood with us and we will stand with them, as we have with other elected representatives who have supported the Second Amendment before them.
Over the last generation, gun owners have had tremendous success advancing our cause. The refusal of the Obama administration and anti-gun radicals in Congress to attack us during Obama’s first term is a testament to our strength. They became emboldened by Obama’s reelection and over the last four months, we have weathered an anti-gun public relations campaign as severe as any we have experienced. And we have won the first legislative battle at the national level.
Our adversaries are well-funded, though, and as determined as any we have seen before. The fight ahead will be as difficult as this organization and the gun owning community has ever faced. Prepare for what’s ahead. Every gun owner will be needed on the team. Elected officials who support the Second Amendment will be subjected to a well-financed, cleverly conceived campaign designed to convince them that they are on the wrong side of history. Our job and yours will be to expose that claim for the fraud that it is. Please find strength in the knowledge that the victories best savored are those that are hardest fought, and encourage our friends in Congress to do the same.
Thank you for all you did to win this fight, and for your readiness to win the fights that will come.
Modern day journalists have this obsession that borders on compulsion to balance any comment that could be be remotely considered “pro-gun” with one from a gun prohibitionist.
Thus, it isn’t surprising that David Trinko of the Lima (Ohio) News reached out to Ladd Everitt in an article entitled “Few mechanical differences found between AR-15s, hunting rifles.” The article noted that there were few differences between an AR-15 and the Ruger Mini-14 given that both use the same .223 Remington cartridge, both are semi-automatic, and both have detachable magazines.
As most readers of this blog would agree, the major difference between the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14 is in the action. The former uses a direct gas impingement system while the latter uses a gas operated piston. The rest of the differences are just cosmetic. Not so says Everitt.
Those additional features are really at the heart of the debate about gun violence in America, says Ladd Everitt, director of communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence in Washington.
“They’ll tell you these features are pieces of plastic and are merely scary-looking. They’re just cosmetic,” Everitt said. “That’s just nonsense.”
The article goes on to note that Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 would ban firearms with more than one of the following features: folding or telescopic stock, pistol grip, bayonet mount, flash suppressor, or grenade launcher. The article mistakenly says S. 150 hasn’t gotten out of committee yet. It has and is supported by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) because “those additional features on AR-15s” concern them.
“The world’s not affected by scary looks. It’s specific features and
what they do,” Everitt said. “Pistol grips, the specific purpose is to
keep level and steady during repeated fire. A flash suppressor is to
disguise sniper fire at night. A barrel shroud keeps your hand safe
while firing round after round so it doesn’t heat up and burn your
hand.”
While Everitt is correct that the barrel shroud does provide a heat shield, the rest of his statement is full of nonsense. Pistol grips in a variety of shapes and sizes have been on bolt action rifles for many a year. Look at this page of McMillan stocks – every one has a pistol grip and each one is intended for a bolt action rifle. The main purpose of a flash suppressor is to keep the shooter from being blinded at night by the flash – not to disguise “sniper fire”.
Finally, Everitt gets around to discussing semi-auto versus full auto and magazine size.
The speed someone can repeatedly fire a semi-automatic rifle makes it just as dangerous as a fully automatic weapon, Everitt said.
“It’s a nonsense argument that you can’t hold down the trigger so it’s safe,” he said. “You can fire as quickly when you repeatedly press the trigger. It’s highly insulting to those who are victims of gun violence.”
Instead, much of the debate centers on how many rounds should be allowed in a magazine for a semi-automatic weapon. The 1994 law only allowed 10 rounds per magazine. Feinstein’s proposal also used the number 10.
“No one in the world needs more than 10 rounds at a time unless you’re hunting humans,” Everitt said.
Let’s be clear about one thing. All firearms used improperly are dangerous. It doesn’t matter if you have a single shot Cricket or an AR-15 with a standard capacity magazine as either could be used to kill or injure. That said, if I am protecting my loved ones from a pack of home invaders, I’d prefer to have the AR-15 with multiple standard capacity magazines. More and more, home invasions involve multiple invaders. Furthermore, tests of the 5.56 round show less over-penetration than with most pistol calibers.
There are experts and then there are propagandists who like to portray themselves as experts. The first are useful and the second are useless. Ladd Everitt is in the second category.
Buried in the news of the week amongst the Senate votes on gun control and the bombing at the Boston Marathon with the subsequent manhunt for the Chechen bombers, was the defeat of one of Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors in Gainesville, Florida. The last time I had reported on Mayor Craig Lowe, he had just been arrested for driving under the influence with property damage.
In the run-off election for mayor of Gainesville, Lowe lost to former City Commissioner Ed Braddy.
In a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a margin
of more than two to one, the Republican Braddy defeated the Democrat
Lowe by almost 10 percent of the vote. With all 35 precincts reporting,
Braddy had 7,258 votes (55 percent) to Lowe’s 6,007 (45 percent).
Lowe was one of the 30 mayors featured in a recent MAIG video demanding “a plan”.
While Lowe’s DUI undoubtedly played some role in his defeat, Braddy attributed his win to a campaign message of making Gainesville more affordable for both people and business. He also pledged to run a more open City Hall.
While campaigning, Braddy said that differing or contrary viewpoints were not welcome under Lowe’s leadership. He said the city should do away with more restrictive rules on public comment at City Commission meetings, including the requirement to sign up in advance to speak at the 6 p.m. time for general comment.
“City Hall is open to the people,” Braddy told a cheering group of supporters at The Warehouse restaurant. “The people will be welcomed at City Hall.”
Why am I not surprised to read that Mayor Lowe wasn’t open to differing or contrary viewpoints. That seems to be the modus operandi of all gun prohibitionists.
Normally, I like infographics. Used correctly, they convey a lot of useful information in an understandable format. However, they can be misused.
An example of infographic misuse is shown below. It comes from Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors and their Demand Action project.
What the infographic doesn’t tell you is that Harry Reid (D-NV) set the bar at 60 votes for any amendment to S. 649 to forestall any efforts at a filibuster. It was part of the motion to proceed to consideration of the bill and to accelerate the discussion. Otherwise, there would have been 30 hours of debate and Harry Reid didn’t want the details of Manchin-Toomey subjected to that much sunlight.
Moreover, their argument that five senators representing four states which comprise 1.4% of the US population is specious. You could make the equally valid argument that the six senators from three states – Vermont, Rhode Island, and Delaware – put Manchin-Toomey over the 50 vote mark. These three states, by the way, represent a mere 0.8% of the US population.
Jame Taranto of the Wall Street Journal in his Best of the Web Today column calls these efforts “a thuggish majoritarian rhetoric”. It helps put this infographic – which is nothing but authoritarian propaganda – into perspective.
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