If just 1,367 people sent me $30,000 each, then I would have 41 million dollars.

Which would be nice.

Randy Balko has this overview at Reason Magazine: Tracy Ingle: Another Drug War Outrage.

Read it all.

The militarization of our beloved ‘public servants’ has evidently created an urge to use that capacity.  In the absence of actual need, i.e., in times of domestic peace and tranquility, who would it be safest to attack than some random guy sleeping in his house? 

A S.W.A.T. team should not need justify its existence - even if it had never been called into action.  Like a handgun or a rifle, it’s better to have one and not need it, than to need one and not have it.

But to use it (”it” being a handgun, a rifle or a S.W.A.T. team) where when you don’t need it - that’s where the highest standard of accountability comes into play - for both Citizens and our public servants.

The ‘cut and paste’ warrant with pencil-scratched changes do not indicate good up-front work by those who broke into the sleeping man’s North Little Rock house and shot him FIVE TIMES.

If only there were some document that delineated the limits of Government powers we could refer to in cases like this … a document that had a catchy name:  I think The Bill of Rights has a nice ring to it.  Yea, that’s the ticket.

Traction Control is all set to go meet Glenn Beck, Ted Nugent, Craig Boddington, David Blanton, John Micheal Montgomery, Oliver North, John McCain, Karl Rove and others at the 2A Blogbash.

The Gunbloggers have Press Passes! and will be watching the media coverage with the proverbial un-blinking eyes.

Most likely, I will try to lure the fearful ‘press’ to a day at the range with a wide assortment of blasty goodness and leave them with one question:

“If the smoke starts rising over places where there should be no smoke, would you rather see your homes overrun? Or would you be prepared squeeze a trigger?”.

Follow-on Question: If everyone answered “Yes, to self defense” then what would anyone have to be afraid of?

Armed to kill in national parks?

A rule that would allow visitors to carry loaded guns in US parks should be shot down.

The Christian Science Monitor posts another heavily biased PS-Hit piece (from it’s May 6 edition), saying, “That’s just what the nation’s millions of park visitors don’t need.”. And, “… allowing campers and hikers to become lone rangers is not the way to improve safety in the wild …”.

Evidently, instead of “allowing” Citizens their rights of protection, the CSM would rather force them to be victims.

No thanks.

Screen protector pop-up application needed.

A Hot-Key activated “DON’T TOUCH THE SCREEN!“ pop-up message needed for those who not only point to items on my laptop screen, but cross the border and actually touch the screen!

I hate that.

I have the way-cool 3M privacy filter, but sometimes I remove it when others need to see screen content.  That’s when the screen pokers reveal themselves.

Are YOU a screen poker?  Then STOP THAT.

Usually, I move the screen away from ‘pokers’ and say, “I can’t believe you just jammed a fingerprint in the middle of my pristine 17″ LCD display!”

On the second offense, I re-install the 3M filter and say, “That’s the best $83 of protection I ever bought … so, sorry that you can’t see what you wanted to see, but I bought it because some people insist on poking my screen with their fingers”.

On the third offense, I shut the system down and say, “Sorry, I’ll mail you a print-out and we can discuss it next week.”

The $***(insert million dolllar number here)*** deal can surely wait a couple of extra days while I repair my
 screen.  After all, interest on a milion (at 6%) is only $164.38 per day.  Trashing my $1,700 screen with finger poking is 10 days in the penalty box.

So, what’s up with screen pokers, anyway?

Opponents Criticize Flight 93 Memorial for Using Islamic Symbols

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Opponents of the proposed United Airlines Flight 93 memorial say they’re outraged by a proposed design they say looks like Islamic symbols to commemorate victims in Shanksville, Pa. on September 11th.

They believe the design — a broken circle lined with trees outlining the crash — looks likes an Islamic crescent that points toward Mecca, the Muslim holy city.

Opponents presented a petition filled with 5,300 signatures to stop construction of the memorial in a joint meeting of the Flight 93 Memorial Task Force at the Somerset County Courthouse.

The controversy over the memorial site began when the Flight 93 Advisory Commission announced a memorial design from Paul Murdoch Architects of Los Angles called “Crescent of Embrace,” that included a crescent of maple trees around the crash site.

Some critics say its crescent-shaped design call to mind Islam or subtly include the hijackers alongside the passengers and crew.

The National Park Service, which is managing the construction of the memorial, denied those claims, but changed the design to more of a circle, and dropped the name.

Quoting Alec Rawls at Error Theory, “Finally, more than a handful of Americans will at least know that there is a controversy over the Flight 93 memorial. “

Following up on my previous post, where a man’s inability to read a map was due to “Cultural Alienation,” I thought it wolud be interesting to see what other gems of cultural wisdom might be available from our own David Flick of The Dallas Morning News.

In a word:  Goldmine.

News wins Pulitzer for Katrina photos - Team of 8 honored for capturing human tragedy, devastation
09:38 PM CDT on Monday, April 17, 2006 By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News

To Irwin Thompson, conveying the misery of Hurricane Katrina through photographs required a steady professionalism, guided by human empathy.

Perfectly polite, to crowd’s delight - While in Bush’s church, Keillor shelves partisan book and plays to the pews
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, September 28, 2006 By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News

Like Daniel in the lions’ den, Garrison Keillor, folksy humorist and frequent Bush-basher, came to the president’s home church in Dallas on Wednesday – and survived by playfully rubbing the belly of the beast.

Emphasis added - Ed.  I now thinking of becoming a DMN subscriber, just so I can cancel it.

Cultural alienation led to African man’s death crossing Dallas freeway *

* This was the actual headline for the story until approximately 11 AM, when it was changed to “African man’s instincts led to death on Dallas freeway” - Ed.

01:05 AM CDT on Sunday, May 4, 2008
By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News

Had Musa Bilay been able to read a map, or had he known something about American freeways, he almost certainly would be alive today.

WTF. Over?  Read the whole thing at the title link (if you want).

Is the author now suggsting that we should look for ways to design the interstate highway system to align with the instincts of those from other cultures?  WT-double-F? - Ed.

It seems peeps want pix!  Hard to do on quick notice with the travel, but here we go:

First up, the Before picture:

Next up, the Components:

Barrett BORS Ballistic Computer and Leupold Mark 4 - 8.5-25 x 50mm LR/T Long Range Tactical Mil-Dot Scope.

The software is for changing ballistic charateristics for different ammunition. This is the only sighting system I know of that has an integrated USB port for ballistic data right on the rifle.

After the install:

Ready to add the battery, boot the system and calibrate the settings!

Click all thumbnails for larger size pictures in separate windows.

The UPS tracking notification confirms the Barrett B.O.R.S sighting computer and the Leopold Mark 4 8.5-25×50mm scope (LP54690) are on their way to Traction Control manor.

The Ultimate Evil Black Rifle (EBR) build continues.

Perhaps pics may follow … and perhaps they may not.

Costs to date:  Hyundai-range.

“Yes. Yes, indeed.”

Summary: See it.

Movie Site: http://www.therewillbeblood.com/

The movie itself is based on Upton Sinclair’s book “Oil” which traces the hard  realities and equally hard individuals who produced oil from Texas to California; later to become the founders of Union Oil of California.

“History. True grit.”

(That makes two Three-word Movie Reviews in one.)

Traction Control’s rating: 5 stars

This just in! From our friends at the NRA (with hat tip to the lovely Ashley)

http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/NewsReleases.aspx?ID=10978

U.S. Department of Interior Proposes New Rule Regarding Right-to-Carry in National Parks

Fairfax, Va. - The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), through the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, today issued a proposed rule to amend regulations prohibiting firearms in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. The National Rifle Association (NRA) led the effort to amend the existing policy regarding the carrying and transportation of firearms on these federal lands.

“Law-abiding citizens should not be prohibited from protecting themselves and their families while enjoying America’s National Parks and wildlife refuges,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. “Under this proposal, federal parks and wildlife refuges will mirror the state firearm laws for state parks. This is an important step in the right direction, and we applaud efforts to amend the out-of-date regulations.”

The proposed rule was filed today and will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, and can be found online at:
http://federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2008-09606_PI.pdf>

It provides sixty days for public comment.

These new regulations will provide uniformity across our nation’s federal lands and put an end to the patchwork of regulations that governed different lands managed by different federal agencies. In the past, only Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service lands allowed the carrying of firearms, while lands managed by DOI did not.

The current regulations on possession, carry or transportation of loaded or uncased firearms in national parks were proposed in 1982 and finalized in 1983. Similar restrictions apply in national wildlife refuges. The NRA has long held that amendments to those regulations were needed to reflect the changed legal situations with respect to state laws on carrying firearms.

As of the end of 1982, only six states routinely allowed citizens to carry handguns for self-defense. Currently, 48 states have a process for issuing licenses or permits to allow law-abiding citizens to legally carry firearms for self-defense. Two states do not require permits, 38 states have a “shall-issue” permit process, and eight have a discretionary process for issuing permits.

This move will restore the rights of law-abiding gun owners who wish to transport and carry firearms for lawful purposes on most DOI lands, and will make federal law consistent with the state law in which these lands are located. Fifty-one U.S. Senators sent a bipartisan letter to the Department of Interior (late last year) supporting the move to make state firearms laws applicable to National Park lands and refuges.

“These changes respect the Second Amendment rights of honest citizens, and we are pleased that the Department of Interior is recognizing the authority of state right-to-carry laws,” concluded Cox.

-NRA-

Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military.

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Brazil’s air force on Thursday suspended its search for a Roman Catholic priest who vanished after sailing into the air under a cluster of colorful balloons. The cleric’s family chartered a private plane to continue the hunt.

The Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli has been missing since Sunday, when he lifted off from the port city of Paranagua strapped to 1,000 balloons and wearing a helmet, an aluminum thermal flight suit, waterproof coveralls and a parachute.

Yep.

Linky.

Nicely Done.  1600 Square Feet may be a good low-side starting point to answer the question, “How many guns do you really need?” (That number being, per residence, of course).

h/t to Conservative Scalawag.

Linky.

We all need something we can cling to™.