June 2012 – Page 11 – Shall Not Be Questioned

The Menace of Armed Public Urination

They must be getting pretty desperate in the Philly media to highlight “Florida Loophole” stories, given the best they managed to round up for this article was a pair of public tinklers. Clearly Florida permitees are causing chaos on the streets of Philadelphia, or at least contributing to that dank urine smell that permeates some parts of the city.

I’m sympathetic to the notion that maybe a guy with ten prior arrests isn’t the kind of guy you want carrying a firearm in public, but the solution to that is to seek convictions, and as we’ve pointed out many times here, the City of Philadelphia is not in the habit of that until you basically kill somebody. Otherwise it’s catch and release.

Reasons We Don’t Get Legalization of Pot

Some of the folks who argue for it would do better for their cause not to argue for it. If you look at the RKBA movement, it’s generally lead by the people who are most into shooting. Most bloggers either are active competitive shooters, or have been competitive shooters at some point. In other words, shooting is a big part of our lives, so we are quite motivated to protect it. This is probably also true of marijuana legalization. But it presents a problem when having it be a large part of your life interferes with the ability to make good and coherent arguments.

For those of you who still have any doubts as to the miraculous healing powers of cannabis and THC Oil or do not believe that there is an ongoing international effort dead set on keeping this free and 100% organic medicine, along with all organic foods, supplements, and natural medicines from a diseased and dying global population… I am about to BLOW YOUR MINDS……

Apparently the government has a patent on some cannibinoid research. Unfortunately Cannabinoids are a class of compounds, and not necessary compounds which are psychoactive. There’s a fair amount of research into these classes of compounds and their receptors, with a goal to make drugs that can specifically target them. For instance, pot gives you the munchies. That’s a specific receptor. If it could be targeted specifically, it would be beneficial to people who, for medical reasons, need to enhance their appetite and eat more. None of this research is a good reason to legalize pot. In fact, the whole medical marijuana argument is a giant scam.

THC is not difficult to synthesize, and a synthetic version is already availableÂ as a Schedule III Compound, and an inhaler version will soon be on the market. For those who point to natural THC as being 100% organic, I would point out that Hemlock is also 100% organic. So is the extract of the castor bean. Nature can kill you, folks. She makes some of the most potent poisons known to man. While THC is not poisonous, inhaling smoke into your lungs will tend to damage your health.

That said, I support medical marijuana and decriminalization of weed, but just on general freedom principles, rather than on the principal that it’s necessary strictly from a pharmaceutical viewpoint. Some folks in the legalization movement act like if we just unschedule weed, it will be the end of human disease as we know it, and that’s just patently ridiculous.

New Information in Fast and Furious

From Fox News:

A House investigative committee said Tuesday it has obtained new information from wiretaps related to the Obama administrationâ€™s Operation Fast and Furious that suggests high-ranking officials know more than they are telling Congress about the flawed weapons sting.

Of course they did. If this was really a concoction of lower level functionaries, the most politically expedient way of disposing of this scandal would have been full cooperation with the Congressional oversight and heads on a platter. Their reaction almost guarantees there is more to the story than what the DOJ and White House are letting on.

Holder is going to be counting on Congressional Republican leadership not wanting to take forward any repercussions (contempt charges) for his lack of cooperation in the investigation and hearings. Republican leadership is going to be concerned that if pressed, Holder will successfully play the victim in all this, with a media establishment that will be quite happy to help Holder carry his victimhood narrative forward. We’ll see if sometime between now and the election, Boehner grows a pair and goes after Holder directly. But the best hope to punish Holder is to remove them from office in November. I don’t put much faith in the Speaker.

The Law as a Game

When I write about the law or politics being a game, or sometimes even go so far as to say it’s a joke, this is the kind of thing I’m speaking of. A lot of very rational people look at the law and view it as a rational system. Engineers, especially, and people with analytical minds, read the plain language think that’s what it’s supposed to mean, clearly, and surely judges are rational people who will see it that way.

But the law is administered by people, and people, for the most part, suck. The judge in the Walker case is a pretty clear example of an imbecile in a robe who has decided he is the law, and nothing else. In his courtroom, the law is going to be a game at best, and if you don’t wish to play along, a farce. You have to play around his eccentricity. These are the people the Second Amendment is now in the hands of. God help us.

UPDATE: More here.

Wisconsin Recall Election Called for Scott Walker

Pretty much everyone is calling the election for Scott Walker at this point. Bitter alluded to this election earlier, as to whether this was more important than the November election. I tend to think, that in the long term, it is. Walker has stood up to public sector unions by limiting collective bargaining. This attacks the very root of public sector union power, which is getting close to bankrupting a number of states. Those states will surely going to be looking to Uncle Sugar to bail them out of any financial crisis they are likely to find themselves in as a result of these unions running out of other people’s money. The problem is that Uncle Sugar is also running out of other people’s money.

The end of the road is nearing. The New Deal coalition is hitting a hard limit on how much it can suck out of our collective wallets. The question is whether this will end with a bang or a whimper. I think that will largely depend on how well guys like Walker, who are actually willing to challenge the New Deal establishment, fare in their electoral prospects.

How to Get Multiple Civil Rights Lawsuits Started

After someone robs a bank, stop and cuff every single driver at a stoplight headed away from a bank, and search their vehicles.

â€œWe didnâ€™t have a description, didnâ€™t know race or gender or anything, so a split-second decision was made to stop all the cars at that intersection, and search for the armed robber,â€ Aurora police Officer Frank Fania told ABC News.

You can stop someone with reasonable and articulable suspicion a crime has been committed. You can perform a cursory search of the individual and the immediate area for “officer safety.” (See Terry v. Ohio) But if this amounted to RAS I’ll eat my hat.

â€œMost of the adults were handcuffed, then were told what was going on and were asked for permission to search the car,â€ Fania said. â€œThey all granted permission, and once nothing was found in their cars, they were un-handcuffed.â€

So you cuff them first, then ask for permission? I would have told them to f**k off and let me go or get a warrant, but I think most people, in that situation, would just want to get it over with.

The really sad part is, from some brief research, whether handcuffing incident to a stop turns an encounter from a stop to an arrest is of mixed precedent. That means qualified immunity should hold. But that assumes they had RAS to stop at all, and here I think it can be argued that RAS does not exist. Thus, every once of these folks had their Forth and Fourteenth Amendments rights violated, and someone should be held to account for it.

Judiciary House Vote on Preemption Enforcement Passed

Looks like it passed Judiciary 22-3, and then was unanimously reported to the floor. A vote could happen as soon as next week, so follow the link and get calling! I’ll report on the language when it’s up. I don’t have it currently.

My Apologies for the Light Posting

Quarterly meeting today, and this evening is bird eviction. We’ve had a Starling nest in the side of the house. They are fully mature at this point, and upon opening exterior a bit to be able to reach in there, one of the juveniles flew out, and appears to be capable of full flight. I’m giving the mother a chance to fledge the rest of them. I stuck a camera up there the other night, and all the fledges have full flight feathers. Time to go! They have gone well over their standard 21 day nesting period, and the contractor is scheduled to come tomorrow to patch the hole, so I don’t have much choice other than to be the ruthless landlord. Starlings are a nasty invasive species that displaces native bird populations, so I don’t honestly feel too sorry if mama Starling feels like her fledges need a few more days. It’s eviction day. The landlord has spoken.

Which is More Important: Wisconsin or the White House?

Peter posed an interesting question to me today: Which is more important, Wisconsin recall or the presidential?

I had my own answer and reasons and he had his, but I’d be interested to hear your ideas.

The Odd Market of Handmade Gun Crafts

It’s amazing what people can and do sell online these days. I love checking out Etsy sellers for odd gun-related crafts. When I see more and more crafters turning out gun-related jewelry and other products, I see a signal that gun owners have gained enough cultural acceptance that the so-called “reasonable” gun control pushed by anti-gun groups will become more outrageous to even the general public.

For example, when I look at this .300 Win Mag razor, I see a great opportunity to highlight how absurd it is that gun control advocates say it’s a great thing that a Massachusetts person can’t own it without a firearms id card. Because clearly you should have to undergo a background check to own a razor.

It’s not just about novelty gun stuff for the guys. In fact, far more of what you find on Etsy when you search on terms like gun, hunting, or bullet is actually geared for women. I don’t just mean in a way you would expect on a handmade crafting website, I mean products that are truly aimed for women to embrace and showcase their support of gun rights and the pro-gun and outdoor culture.

This bracelet is billed as “Pistols and Pearls”-Elegant meets Edgy. The maker brags that people will take notice and many will compliment. No doubt that the seller wants to make the buyer feel good about the purchase, but I think there’s something to it. I’ve gotten positive comments pretty much any time that I wear something that combines girly-girl with something related to firearms. Although I’m sure if I ran into any of the current Brady Campaign crowd wearing something like this, they would see it as a sign of a dangerous person instead of the novel upcycling project that it really is.

Of course, the ultimate sign that we’re the mainstream may not be from pretty jewelry or novel razors. It may be when sellers start trying to capitalize on anything related to firearms for a profit.

Yes, you can own this single broken clay pigeon for just $3, plus $3 shipping! The seller promises that these broken pieces are “[g]reat for little miscellaneous pieces and parts for whatever your heart desires!” Whatever your heart desires…who can beat that?

Well, if your heart desires some broken clays, I would suggest going to WalMart where you can get a box of 90 for just $2 more than what this Etsy seller wants. Then you can make your own “handmade craft” by breaking them at home…or on a range with a 12 gauge.