Standard Mischief

Update 28apr09: Scrappleface does it better, funnier and less cheesier.

Chris Core mp3 (was first broadcast on WTOP) Wading Into The Gun Issue

I heard his segment on the way home. When I got a second I pounded this out and sent it. I didn’t have the luxury to listen to it again because it had yet to be posted on their site. Now is is.

Hi Chris,

I listened with interest your segment on WTOP today (Tuesday April 21). It’s so rare to get a balanced opinion about our first freedom from what normally gets broadcast on WTOP, so I want to thank you for being almost there. WTOP’s always-lopsided coverage of that bill that would give DC residents an unconstitutional way to elect a senator while forcing the District to recognize their citizens’ Second Amendment rights is but one example. I believe your co-hosts always address that one as a “…bill to weaken DC’s gun laws…”.

One of your points was that President Obama doesn’t seem that anti-RKBA (Right to Keep and Bear Arms). While it’s true that the President has not spoken much about America’s first freedom, the facts still make RKBA supporters extremely wary. Consider the following:

- President Obama has had an existence before running for the President, and during that time he was unashamedly anti-gun.
- He’s even been a Director on the board of the Joyce Foundation for 8 years. Wikipedia and other sources should have the poop on this gang, the way it was subverted from a charitable organization to it’s present form of funding just about every anti-freedom group on the planet. Everyone from the VPC (who’s head guy holds one of the very few Federal Firearms Licenses in the the District) to funding dozens of “objective” anti-gun studies at universities and hospitals
- President Obama had a chance to sign on to a “friend of the court” letter in support of Heller, but declined. When the decision came out for the pro-freedom side last June he then said that he “supported the Second Amendment”, whatever that means. Waffle.
- Even though he supposedly supports the Second Amendment, he’s called on reinstating the so-called “Assault Weapons Ban” in his policy papers on Whitehouse.gov. Think about this for a moment. If the Second Amendment is an individual right, and if it mentions a “well-regulated (well-drilled, practiced) militia”, and if it doesn’t say a thing about hunting, target shooting, or collecting, perhaps it’s possible that those cosmetically-challenged, semi-automatic, self-loading copies of the fully-automatic firearms used and carried by our self-defense forces might be one of the most-protected types of firearms?

Your second point is that somehow the industry has been “whipping-up” firearms sales. I was disappointed that you did not cite any sources, undoubtedly swallowing someone else’s line – hook, line, and sinker. While there may be some industry ads around, by and large the boom in sales spontaneously occurred after the election. No one’s whipping anyone up into a frenzy except Mr “Bitter and Clingy” himself. If it is the industry, perhaps GM and the rest of the economy needs to stand up and take notice of how it’s done.

While our current President may want to ban anything gun-like, I’m sure he’s well aware of the political cost of trying to do so. President Clinton himself blames the “AWB” for his party’s crushing defeat in the following midterm elections. Most of the people with a (D) after their name who have an inkling to ban things know enough that it’s a election-losing issue at the moment. Most of the remainder (Blue Dog or otherwise) are pro-freedom supporters themselves. I’m pretty sure that the President doesn’t want to stall the rest of his agenda by trying to take us back to the days of un-ergonomic stocks, bans on “that shoulder thing that goes up”, and complete and utter bans on firearms with the dreaded cleaning-rod attachment.

Yours in freedom,

Standard Mischief

I did the BWI loop trail the other day. It’s detailed here and elsewhere. Because working at the startup really cuts into my workout time, I had the same second-day nausea and loss of appetite from having a hugely calorie deficient bike ride. With regular exercise this does not happen, but you gotta bike and bonk a bit after slacking off.

I’m trying to get some motor-vation today but all I can manage is this post. The problem with the first link above is that there’s no data that would let you know how old the info is. Blogs, or at least mine are immune because every post is dated.

I did this trip about a year ago, and I’m happy to report that someone has put up signs so it’s a bit easier to keep on the loop. I’ve felt the urge before to spray-bomb the entire loop in orange marker paint. Still, in my GPS notes that follow, I’ve tried to mark out the major turns to keep you on track.

It was a nice day yesterday. The average “serious” speed cyclists on the trail were as rude as ever (I swear, it’s like the bastards think you are fscking Lance Armstrong and the only way they can beat you is to sneak up and pass you silently and suddenly). These idiots are probably only eclipsed by the typical Young Hippie Bicycle Fanatic (of Critical Masshole fame). Motto: “share the fucking road except for those god-damn pedestrians!”

Now you know why I like to keep off the beaten track.

Anyway, I ought to make a clue sheet or something. Tough. Assume the following is going around the loop clockwise:

39.16260,-76.66355 – Start and end point. Parking. Good plane-spotting area.

39.15938,-76.68412 – A 7-11 with gas pumps. All the usual stuff here but be extra careful crossing the high-traffic street. Better yet, stop here first, before parking at the trailhead.

39.17782,-76.69032 – Left turn here

39.17822,-76.69305 – Right turn here

39.19095,-76.69146 – Left turn here

39.19035,-76.68082 – Bear left. Do not bear right and cross the bike-bridge over Aviation Loop unless you want to do the dead-end spur that goes to the main terminal.

39.19132,-76.68034 – If you want, you can go off the trail at this point, and go left on Elkridge Landing Road for 550 feet, (there’s a trail on your side of the road, no need to cross), to a McDonalds (food, free refills, tap for water at the soda fountain) You are about half-way around the loop at this point.

39.19349,-76.67067 – Bird watchers might see an Emu or two behind the chain link fence.

39.19389,-76.66678 – Not a lot of plane action, because of a less popular runway, but otherwise an outstanding overlook.

39.19626,-76.66509 – Farm. Horses. Sculpture in stainless steel.

39.19478,-76.65619 – Rail track crossing

39.16141,-76.64547 – Decision time. If doing the loop clockwise, veer off to the right at this point. If going on to the Baltimore and Annapolis Trail, then go ahead and cross the bridge across I-97 (a/k/a Glen Burnie Bypass).

…or why I should have slept in on Saturday.

This is what I woke up to Saturday morning. It’s essentially our President saying all the right things about fiscal responsibility. This is the very same President that continued – just like the last Administration – spending like a drunken sailor. Spending those TARP funds, (which stands for Troubled Asset Relief Program), on anything and everything except troubled assets. The Administration that paid off ACORN with a omni-pork bloated spending bill almost as soon as Obama’s term started. The Administration that transmogrified General Motors into Government Mistakes, combining the very worst parts of Workfare and Amtrak, (together at last).

While I don’t believe a single good sentiment the President says, it does tell me that his speech writer has at the very least stood up and taken notice of the huge grassroots protest against government fiscal irresponsibility that happened this April 15th, whether they’ll willing to admit it or not.

There’s apparently a government issued report. Issued today. The media is all over it.

(Oh, and I think some people got together today to drink tea or something. It was a protest, I think)

Ahh, lapdog media. Where have you been? It’s been like, what? Eight plus years? Right? How’s the ad revenue lately? Tell me that story again how the Anointed One wrote his own speech that one time!

Update 20Apr09: Triggerfinger says that Janet Napolitano has been forced to apologize over that report.