October 2011 – Page 12 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Adulthood Sucks Doesn’t It?

You’d think this entitled and ridiculous lot was the first generation of Americans to get out into the real world and find out the going isn’t as easy as it was with mom and popÂ taking care of you. Just looking at her expenses:

She went into way too much debt in college if that’s what she’s paying in student loans. I can sympathize, since I did the same thing. But I spent the first few years out of college living with my dad and paying down the loans until I got them to a reasonable level to refinance them.
550 is about what I pay in utilities for a house with two people living it… if I count as a “utility” an iPhone plan and high speed internet. Actually, I don’t think I hit 550 with even that. She must have a nice cable package too.
She pretty clearly has a new car if she’s paying 505 a month. My insurance is about 100 a month. I don’t have a car payment because I paid it off several years ago. Maybe she doesn’t really need a new car? I’ve bought cars for 3000 in cash that have run for years afterwards.
Her commute is 65 miles? Jesus! I draw my boundary at 50, and my earning potential is about twice hers. Maybe move closer to your job? Not like you have to sell a house and cover a mortgage or anything.

Just not feeling the sympathy. Who I do feel sympathy for in this generation are the kids who graduated from college and can’t find jobs, because the economy isn’t producing any for them. It’s been several graduating classes now that have hit the job market during this financial crisis, and unemployment among young people is sky high.

But even there, they voted for Obama in large numbers, and his health care fiasco is a big reason companies are reluctant to hire right now, because all anyone knows about it is that it’s definitely going to be expensive, and probably a lot more expensive than anyone really thinks. How’s that hope and change working out for you now?

Loophole == Anything We Don’t Like

From a Brady press release praising Jerry Brown for signing various gun control bill:

The Governor signed AB 144 by Assembly Member Anthony Portantino (D-La CaÃ±ada-Flintridge) to ban the open carry of handguns in California and he also signed AB 809 by Assembly Member Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) to close a loophole in state law that required the destruction of long gun sales and transfer records.

How is a state law requiring the destruction of records a “loophole” in any sense of the word? Now if you excuse me, I need to go close the tall grass loophole in my yard, so it’s not so difficult when it’s time to close the leaf loophole.

Gun Safety in Schools Circa 1956

An excellent photo essay of pictures from Life MagazineÂ of a gun safety program being taught by an Indiana game warden. Contrast that today where even making a finger gesture in the likeness of a gun is likely to get your kid on the wrong end of zero tolerance policies.

Righthaven on the Ropes

Couldn’t have happened to nicer people. Apparently they are now such a credit risk they can’t even get money to put up a bond to cover attorneys fees they owe to someone they sued. I hope Clayton manages to recover his improperly extorted settlement.

Fudging the Numbers

Looks like Ramsey and Nutter are fudging the murder numbers in Philadelphia to make this year not look like quite the disaster it’s actually been. It’s worth noting that Philadelphia’s response to the same financial crisis everyone else is facing was to cut police and firefighters first and foremost.

A Cynic on the Media

I assume the worst when I see a headline like this: Too much gun-related crime in Tennessee

So imagine my surprise when I see the editorial ends with this:

We want all of our law-abiding people to feel safe. But it is highly inadvisable to pursue that goal by abridging the gun rights of responsible citizens.

That makes it vitally important to impose firm, meaningful sentences on those who use guns while committing crimes.

It’s Time to Vote Again

I’m pretty sure I started measuring years by Election Day instead of New Year’s Day shortly after college. That said, there are local and county offices up for grabs in Pennsylvania, and today is the deadline to get your registration updated. Remember that it’s not just about first time registrations. If you have moved, or if you want to change your party affiliation, it’s the same process to get yourself up-to-date.

That said, I wondered what kind of crap would turn up if I typed “vote” into Amazon.

It turns out that books against the electoral college are pretty popular. Might I suggest one from a former professor with whom I regularly butted heads on issues like campaign finance reform, our systems of elections, and just about every other matter of public policy? I’m tempted to pull out some of my books on the subject to refresh myself on the topic since Pennsylvania is looking to re-work the system.
Vote Democrat chocolate molds are available. Hmm, I wonder how many votes you can buy with chocolate? If it’s a lot, then maybe I could make a version for “Vote Pro-Gun!” It’s probably not as cheap as a mailing for a candidate, but if it’s more effective, then who am I to argue?
While they are cute, I don’t think you’d have as much luck winning votes with the Vote Republican cuff links.
A Vote for Murder – Previously the name of a Murder, She Wrote book, now an ATF operation.
An 11-year-old dated election decor set still priced at over $10 is available for all of you looking to relive the great Bush v. Gore days. Hell, if I were trying to market this, I’d reach out to history & civics teachers for their year 2000 lesson plans. Somewhere around here, I have a signed thank you card from Katherine Harris. I don’t think I’ll ever cease to be amused by it.
To finish on this theme of corrupting America’s youth with the sins and crime of politics, you can’t possibly skip out on the Hail to the Chimp party video game. If you want to abuse your children with a lesson on how to win the Electoral College, it looks like this game could be used to fit the bill.

I don’t know if there will be a day when I’m not amused by the randomness of what you can find on Amazon or any of the big online retailers. Who knew these things existed?

Home Made Rifles

On a CNC machine. As Uncle says, “Gun control is no match for technology.” It’s amazing to me that people still think you can stop criminals from getting guns, and pooh pooh the idea that even if you instituted a comprehensive ban, they’ll just be made in garages. Uncle has proof that it’s not that hard, especially with modern technology.

My friend Jason has a CNC machine in addition to the 3D printer we made an almost working 30 round magazine with.Â He been bugging me to try to fix the program that’s used to calculate the tool path for his CNC machine so he can turn out an AR-15 receiver on it. He’s quite capable, but doesn’t have the time. Even now, though, I’m not sure I do either. Finding a job is turning out to be close to full time work, and then I’m developing a game of sorts, also in Python.

Interestingly, a Python programming contract job just fell in my lap today, for which I threw my resume into the ring. We’ll see how that goes. I’m more of an IT systems guy than a developer, but beggars can’t be choosers, and if I can pay the bills for six months while I find a more permanent gig, that’s fine by me. I had been eschewing contract work, but there’s a lot more of it out there than full time employment.

Is Gun Control Racist?

Professor Adam Winkler takes a look at the topic, in an article over at the Daily Beast:

Actually, the gun-rights websites are on to something. As I discovered in researching my new book Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America, for much of our history, gun regulation has been tainted by the stains of racism and discrimination. Today, the story is more complex than the simplistic slogans of gun-rights advocates. But there is no denying that racial politics have profoundly shaped Americaâ€™s gun laws.

Professor Winkler is not someone I’d classify as being on our side, but he’s intellectually honest, which puts him in contrast with some of our opponents in the various gun control groups. I may not agree with him on everything, but I can respect his point of view, and his willingness to honestly engage people on both sides of the issue.

Fuel Planning Fail

If this guy’s fuel planning skills were as good as his water landing skills, the plane might have come through. A pilot was delivering a plane, a twin engine Cessna 310G, from Monterey, California to Hilo, Hawaii, when he ran out of gas:

Thanks to the wonders of these modern internets, you can see that a few days ago, he tried the same flight and had to turn around. Here is the track of the actual flight. He almost made it, crashing into the water just short of Hilo.

Specs suggest a Cessna 310G shouldn’t be able to fly to Hawaii. I’m guessing there must be some kind of spare fuel system you can rig up to essentially turn the thing into a flying gas tank. I guess it’s cheaper to fly the plane than to ship it, but I’m also guessing that particular fact wasn’t countered with the high probability of having to ditch the plane in the drink if, despite all your modifications, you’re still really tight on fuel and maybe had a bit more headwind than you accounted for starting out.