The Southern Poverty Law Center is now equating those who support the Second Amendment with racists. This irritates me to no end. They ignore the fact that gun control laws in this country began as laws to keep firearms out of the hands of minorities. This march is not targetted at just Obama. It is targeted at all parts of the federal government as a message that we will not stand for infringement of our rights. If the NAACP/LULAC/NOW or any other rights groups marched on Washington, would they be saying that it is not needed because Obama has no intentions of restricting their rights? I have a real problem with how they are saying because the Second Amendment rights movement has won a few victories we should sit down and shut up.
Disappointed in the NRA
The NRA has endorsed Rick Perry for Texas Governor. Don’t get me wrong. He has been a strong supporter of gun owners’ rights. However, there is a more ardent supporter of the individual right to bear arms, Debra Medina. By endorsing Perry now, they have shown that they prefer to support the safe option. If they wanted to endorse Perry, they should have done so after the primaries. This shows that the NRA really supports the status quo, not strengthening support for our Second Amendment rights.
Heres something to frighten you
The Intellectual Property Fight That Could Kill Millions
The hothouse environment of Indonesia is ground zero for a potential bird flu pandemic. But a fight over ownership of flu genes is blocking the efforts to track deadly infections on the move.
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Of the 141 human bird flu cases in Indonesia reported to the WHO, 115 people have died, a death rate of more than 80 percent. Put another way, bird flu in Indonesia is about 8,000 times as deadly as the swine flu virus now making the rounds, according to global health expert Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.
As frightening as these statistics seem, the figures are based on spotty reporting from Indonesia’s Health Ministry, which means the actual number of infections and deaths might be substantially higher. Through the first three quarters of 2009, Indonesia failed to report any flu cases at all, even though the Food and Agriculture Organization (a body of the United Nations that monitors avian influenza in birds) has found the infection to be deeply entrenched among fowl in 31 of the country’s 33 provinces and endemic in Java, Sumatra, and Bali.
Now, if this spreads to the first world, will it be as deadly? Most likely it won’t. However, it will be much more deadly than swine flu.
Bad Customer Service
I went to Bass Pro Shops to look at a rifle I’m thinking of getting. After waiting an unreasonable amount of time (in which several other people gave up), I gave up. Apparently, it takes 3 people to help 1 person buy a shotgun. I’ll just take my business elsewhere.
If You Lower Your Carbon Footprint, The Terrorists Win
Osama Bin Laden calls for renewed action against the USA because of global warming
CAIRO – Osama bin Laden sought to draw a wider public into his fight against the United States in a new message Friday, dropping his usual talk of religion and holy war and focusing instead on an unexpected topic: global warming.
The al-Qaida leader blamed the United States and other industrialized nations for climate change and said the only way to prevent disaster was to break the American economy, calling on the world to boycott U.S. goods and stop using the dollar.
So, I think I will burn some stuff this weekend to increase my carbon footprint.
Mmmmm…. Apples
As some of you may know, I’m a fan of apples (the fruit, not the electronics). Well, I found the Wood’s Cider Mill website. They sell boiled cider, cider jelly and cider syrup. All of these products are made by boiling fresh pressed cider over a wood fire and condensing the product. I’m thinking I might be making an order in the near future. I’ve been seeing some cooking shows using their products, and I want to try some of the recipes (and some of my own). I think I might be able to make a killer pork loin with a cider glaze. Also, the boiled cider apparently can be used as an apple juice concentrate.
Some further thoughts on the Texas Governor’s Race
With Massachusettls election of Brown to the US Senate, I am thinking that Farouk Shami and Debra Medina both have a better chance of getting elected. Some people say that Brown’s win is about health care or President Obama. I disagree. I think it was a reflection of people’s anger with politics as usual. There is a feeling of antipathy toward current office holders of both parties. Neither party has truly listened to the moderates who swing elections. I think the overall election results in November will be very interesting.
My Thoughts on the Primary Races for Texas Governor
I’m giving my thoughts on the current major party candidates for Texas Governor (mainly from a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and a libertarian). Please forgive any incoherence or typos, I’m on muscle relaxers for my injured shoulder and having problems typing.
Republican candidates:
- Current Governor Rick Perry – Fiscally he has been OK. Unlike many states in the USA, the Texas government is not really having a problem with the current economic problem causing tax income shortfalls. This can be partially attributed to Texas not having an income tax. However, the man is in love with selling our highways to foreign companies so they can build toll roads. He also tried force a Texas girls to get a new vaccine produced by a company that he has close relations with. All-in-all, I think he is more likely to win than any of the other candidates. In my opinion he is a symbol of the Big Business/Big Government Republican part of today. I would like to see him go.
- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison – A tiny bit more centrist than Perry, she is what I call Perry lite. She may talk about supporting the Second Amendment, but she has said that she supports a renewed assault weapons bill. However, she does not ignore her constituents. Her actual voting record is different than this statement. This means I can’t really trust her. This means I will not vote for her.
- Debra Medina – She is a newcomer to running for public office. However, she was her county’s Republican Committee Chair. She has interesting ideas about reducing/eliminating property taxes. She has also stated in the past that she would like to see Texas secede from the union. I will not vote for a secessionist. However, I do hope she will inspire the party to move back toward a small business and small government stance.
Democratic candidates:
- Former Houston Mayor Bill White – I don’t know much about him. I do (sorta) remember a news story where he wanted the Houston Police Department to arrest anyone carrying a firearm in their vehicle without a concealed carry license after the Texas legislature made it legal. Also, he joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns (an anti-gun group that seeks to make civilian ownership of guns illegal). As you can already guess, I won’t be voting for him.
- Farouk Shami – This is a very successful businessman who states on his website he supports the Second Amendment. I really can’t find much real information on the man. I doubt I would vote for him.
- I see that others are listed as running as Democrats, but can’t find any information.
I’m not really looking at the third party candidates. Depending on who gets the major party nominations, I will probably vote for the Libertarian party candidate as a protest vote. Can someone actually give me candidates I would be happy to vote for? For a little bit, it looked like the Democrats might have had someone. But, they talked him and Kinky Friedman out of running for Governor.
8 Year Old Cub Scout On Terrorist Watch List
The TSA says there are no children on the the ‘no-fly’ and ’selectee’ lists. Yet, little Mikey Hicks (a frequent flyer), has been getting patted and searched since he was 2. Is it any wonder that I find these lists and their proposed expanded usage troublesome.
After Aramageddon
The History Channel had a show on called After Armageddon. It is about what happens with a small family in southern California after a flu pandemic wipes out 80-90% of the human population. They show them making plenty of mistakes. There are also some good tips put in the show by experts. And, I can tell when they decided to stop listening to the experts. They had humanity choosing to shun technology and live a more peaceful and satisfying agrarian lifestyle with much knowledge being “lost.” I call bullshit on this. There will be a massive drop in technology. But, there will also be a rise back. There are still plenty of libraries, and it is not like people will have forgotten that these things are possible. Will there be groups that for whatever reason choose to shun technology? Yes. And, they will be outproduced and find themselves subsumed into the groups that successfully bring back technology.
