FedCare For Thee, But Not For Me

Old Grouch spotted a WSJ article about a vote in a U.S. Senate Committee:

On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment courtesy of Republican Tom Coburn that would require all Members and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan. Yet all Democrats -- with the exceptions of acting chairman Chris Dodd, Barbara Mikulski and Ted Kennedy via proxy -- voted nay.

I would like to think that Chris, Babs and Teddy have seen the light, but I fear that it is more likely that they are True Believers.

National Reciprocity

The New York Times has once again demonstrated its knee-jerk opposition to armed self-defense by licensed adults in yesterday's editorial, Gun Crazy In The Senate. The editorial cites a study by the Violence Policy Center:

Between May 2007 and April 2009, people holding concealed handgun permits killed at least seven police officers and 44 private citizens, according to a new study by the Violence Policy Center, a gun control advocacy organization. Other examples of crimes committed by concealed-carry licensees are plentiful.

Alphecca has an outstanding post on this and I recommend it. I will only add that:
1) the VPC study is based on news reports, not official records
2) the VPC study does not say how many of these 51 deaths involved guns.
3) the VPC study does not say how many of these incidents resulted in arrests.
4) the VPC study does not say how many of these incidents resulted in convictions.

One of Jeff's links goes to a Volokh Conspiracy discussion of this same subject from four months ago. The discussion string contains wonderful links to CCW resources. But the best comment was this one, which neatly encapsulates the attitude of the NYT towards CCW:

"From a certain point of view" the rate of violent crime by CCW permit holders approaches 100%. That point of view being that it is a malum in se violent crime for a private citizen to carry a handgun, and that the permit doesn't make it a non-crime, but merely a crime that has been legalized by a barbaric government.

Jungle Jim's Spice Rack

You may have heard about the amazing inventory of hot sauces carried by this unusual food store in Fairfield, OH. I estimate that they have 40-60 lineal feet of shelf space dedicated to quirky, off-brand hot sauces. But if you know where to look, up top behind the smoked glass cover, you will find the "adults-only" hot sauces, with names and labels that are best left to the imagination.
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Woodchuck Or Wolverine?

From a comment on the Coyote Chronicles, advice on how to tell the difference between a woodchuck and a wolverine:

"I'll be looking forward to seeing how much wood he can chuck, when he commences to chuck wood."

Nicely put! QOTD.

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Jungle Jim's

I'm sitting in a sidewalk chair at the Starbuck's outside Jungle Jim's World of Food in Fairfield, Ohio. I'm sipping a small coffee and watching the clouds scoot by. OK, and the Kenworths, too. And the Muzak is playing Sam & Dave's "Hold On, I'm Comin'". A perfect start ... Hey, now they're playing Buddy Holly! ...to a perfect day.

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"Guardian Angel"

An email from VCDL reports on an attempted hold-up in Richmond, VA:

On Saturday [July 11], a violent criminal shot a store clerk, had the customers in the store lined up, and while reloading his revolver told the customers that he was going to kill them all.

Then a person open carrying a single-action Colt .45 came in and shot the criminal in the stomach, saving at least six or seven lives.

http://tinyurl.com/n2m9vq

Open-carrying a single-action Colt .45.

Day-um!

Thomas Jefferson 'Down Under'

Via David Codrea comes word of this interesting group Libertarianz. They're New Zealand libertarians. Seems like an ideal place for it, actually. They've got a website, and look who's quoted on the front page:

Yes, it's our own, our very own Thomas Jefferson.

Now, author Robert Heinlein didn't think much of New Zealand. He visited the place in the 1950's.

You know, the word "loathe" is tossed around rather casually these days, but here I think it would be accurate to say that Heinlein absolutely loathed New Zealand; despised it; couldn't wait to leave. Heinlein advised others to stay away, as far away as possible, lest the evil Kiwis devise some sort of tractor-beam and pull in loose travelers.

Heinlein et ux were so desperate to leave New Zealand that, rather than wait for the next steamer, and despite her pathological fear of flying, they actually took an airplane out of there.

New Zealand does seem to have improved substantially since then.

Cross-Dominant?

When I was into shotgunning, being cross-dominant (right-handed and left-eye-dominant) was a problem. But here is a video from the BBC on the movement to relax gun laws in Tennessee (they're agin' it, by the way) where the pistol shooter appears to be cross-dominant.

Any instructors out there know if being cross-dominant is a major problem in pistol shooting?

h/t The Smallest Minority. Excellent post, by the way; absolutely outstanding. RTWT

How Cats Control Humans

From LiveScience.com.

Damn Right It's Ugly!

Xavier found this picture of an EAA Witness racegun.

Good Lord, how could someone do something like that?

Women and AR-15s... in New Jersey?

Sebastian at Snowflakes In Hell found this wonderful story about Women's Day At The Range in Vernon, NJ. Three hundred women showed up to shoot pistols, .22 rifles, shotguns and AR-15s.

Three hundred!

Ultimate Geek-Out

Morse code practice on my Blackberry. Talk about starting a fire by rubbing two lighters together!

Now I want to blog from Morse code.

Tesla's Birthday

Today is the birthday of visionary scientist Nikola Tesla.

Wired Magazine.

h/t Clue Meter.

Concealed Carry Traffic Stop In Virginia

From the bulletin of the Virginia Citizens' Defense League comes this first-person account:

I just wanted to report a pleasant encounter I had with a Fairfax County PD officer who stopped me a couple weeks ago (for a burned out headlamp). Even though I know we CHP holders aren't required to notify, I choose to do so, as I have a number of friends who are cops, and from their testimonial -- and my own personal experience -- the more "at ease" an officer feels, the less likely I am to get a ticket!

As the officer approached my window, I handed him my license and CHP, and informed him I was armed. His immediate response was a casual: "Oh, that's fine." He handed the CHP right back to me, asked for my registration, and went back to his vehicle to run my info. After returning (and giving me a verbal warning about the burned-out light), he and I had a pleasant chat about his experiences with CHP holders, how his system reports that we have them, and the upcoming gun show in Chantilly.

Aw, Crap!

Fotos that make you say, "Aw, crap!"

Some are shocking, some are funny, some are weird.

From Notoriously Conservative.

h/t Hell In A Handbasket.

Corona y Corona

Today I went urban mountain-biking near my home. Looking at these pix, you would never guess that they were taken inside the Beltway.


This is an intriguing building. What does AOC stand for? Hint: it has something to do with aviation.

And after a hard 2-hour slog, relaxing with Corona Extra and Corona Gorda.

Bugging The Wimmin's Room

Labrat links to the most amazing essay and discussion about why feminists loathe Sarah Palin. Over four hundred comments. You won't be disappointed. As a man, this sort of bare-knuckles brawl rarely reaches my radar screen.

Preach, Sistah!

OK, OK, here's a little appetizer. Commenter "pm317":

I too am childless by choice and went after a career. The grand prize I went after (my tenure) was denied mostly because of the shenanigans of a few (bad) women who thought my success would diminish theirs, what with their A-list school credentials.

Same thing with Palin. Imagine a hillbilly like her (which is what they think of her) running away with the grand prize. They conveniently forget how they shot themselves in the foot last election. Or may be that adds to their resentment.

Edit: wait, wait, wait! I've gotta put this in. Referring to a feminist website called Jezebel, commenter "Sonia" says:

“murk that c—” means “fuck that bitch” in gangster slang. she’s saying she wants to punish Palin with her…hm. cock? which is clearly a feminist statement. Jezebel is wack, yo.

God only knows what kind of ads Google is going to link to me tomorrow morning. I apologize in advance.

Who Are These People?

Let's spin the dial on the Way-Back Machine to 1969.

Recognize them now?

Daily News.

Sovereign Brown

I visited the U.S. Cemetery in Alexandria today. It was a beautiful day and the grave sites are impeccably maintained.

These are all Civil War soldiers.

This is a view of the back of the grave markers. Some of the soldiers' wives opted to be buried alongside their fallen husbands when they passed away, and their names are inscribed on the back of the markers.

One of the headstones was larger than the others and this piqued my curiosity.

Fourteen years, six months and a day.

I Googled his name and found that his two brothers had also died during the Civil War.

"He was a true patriot and a good soldier."

Hussein’s Gun May Go on Display at Bush Library

It's a Glock 18C, the 9mm select fire gun - see selector on left rear of slide.

Those dictators have all the fun!