why the gun is civilization.

the munchkin wrangler.

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts…

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Citizens, forget not your duty

If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual state. In a single state, if the persons intrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures for defense. The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair. – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 28

And the Bloody Shirt waves on…..

Another day, another prop from the gun control industry, in the form of grieving parents who are uneducated about the topic they are taking a stand on [or being pushed into]. Queue the bloody shirt.

This case is about a particular weapon, Remington’s Bushmaster AR-15, and its sale to a particular market: civilians.

I’m sure you meant to say citizens. Or perhaps, tellingly….not. 

This case is about the AR-15 because the AR-15 is not an ordinary weapon; it was designed and manufactured for the military to increase casualties in combat. The AR-15 is to guns what a tank is to cars: uniquely deadly and suitable for specialized use only.

The AR platform is the very definition of an ordinary weapon. Just because you desire a utopian vision where firearms technology never surpassed the black powder era, doesn’t negate the fact that the AR platform is a firearm in common use, and a wildly popular one at that. Never mind the fact that whether piston or gas-impingement, the AR rifle is functionally no different than any other semi-automatic rifle…..a genre of technology that has been in existence, inarguably, in mass production since 1862. Never mind the fact that every advancement in firearms technology, from the wheelock to the percussion cap to the bolt action to the revolver to detachable and tube magazines……have been designed foremost for a military purpose….the military often being in the vanguard of technological advancements. Thus, every firearm…including those you would deign to allow the citizen to keep and bear…..are military firearms. 

In fact, we believe that Remington and other manufacturers’ production of the AR-15 is essential for our armed forces and law enforcement.

Wait….you want our law enforcement agencies to be armed with weapons that “increase casualties in combat”???? What exactly would be your reasoning for that? This is where the predictable crickets appear, when after the blather of “weapons designed for the battlefield, shouldn’t be on our streets” meme falls flat. That you would arm only agents of the State with such “ferocious” [your words] with “mass casualty producing” firearms, tells us a bit about your subservience and surrender of your duty as a citizen.

The last thing Daniel’s tender little body would have felt were bullets expelled from that AR-15 traveling at greater than 3,000 feet per second – a speed designed to pierce body armor in the war zones of Fallujah.

Again, queue the battlefield imagery for the predictably stale appeal to emotion. One wonders how versed in firearms these useful idiots are, when they take to the airwaves or the print media, and employ technical terms that they clearly cannot define. “Assault weapon” myth aside……I’d like to know what the Bardens think of how the standard muzzle velocity and muzzle energy of the seemingly protected “hunting rifle” [irrespective of the fact that one can, and many do, hunt with an AR style rifle], stacks up to the standard AR. The Bardens represent the class of activists who, perhaps well meaning, are fundamentally ignorant of the very topic they rail on about; using terminology fed to them by the gun control industry, but without the necessary context with which to come through as educated and serious. These are the folks that get the vapors over ergonomic, cosmetic and safety features of the very AR style rifle they demonize, yet can’t define. Ironically, the self-appointed “gun safety” industry, argues against firearm components that promote safe use. Not to mention that not a single gun control group actually pursues, teaches nor funds actual gun safety. The single largest group that fills that role? The NRA. Also ironically, this OpEd might be the first scripted narrative from the gun control industry that fails to mention the boogeyman of the NRA.

Much like the parents of Jessica Ghawi, Mark and Jackie Barden are the next useful idiots being led by the nose to wave the bloody shirt for citizen disarmament. And just like the Ghawi’s, the Bardens argument fails to meet even the rational basis test. This is why they lose.

 

St.Patrick’s Day in America

It’s that time of year again, when millions of Americans of all races and ethnicities, dress up like cartoon characters and drink themselves stupid.

This is appropriation of a cultural and religious holiday. Where is the outrage from the left. Oh, that’s right….it doesn’t fit the narrative, because the Irish aren’t “people of color”. Forget the history of Irish immigrants being disadvantaged and marginalized…..since they didn’t whine for a ‘safe space’ or one-sided tolerance….it’s OK to turn Saint Patrick into a caricature.

Some additional reading mirroring my take on this day:

– Why I Don’t Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

– Here’s The Alarming Reason Why The PC Crowd Doesn’t Get Outraged Or Offended By St. Patrick’s Day

2nd Amendment Idiocy

The gun control industry of late,  has taken to attempting to use “gun owners” as advocates for their goal of citizen disarmament. Sadly for them however, is the fact that these mouthpieces fail to pass muster……hopefully, to even the most ignorant reader. I invite you to partake of one Mike Weisser, who goes by the laughable moniker “Mike the Gun Guy” on the leftist Huffington Post:

Even though I own more than 60 guns and would hate to see the day that I couldn’t own any more, I have never felt the slightest desire or concern to protect or even believe in the 2nd Amendment as some kind of Constitutional right. Obviously it’s in the Bill of Rights, so my guns are protected by Constitutional stricture whether I like it or not.

At least he follows with:

I’m not a Constitutional expert and I certainly wouldn’t presume to know more about the 2nd Amendment than what has been written by eminent jurists like the late Antonin Scalia or respected scholars like Stephen Halbrook, Sanford Levinson or Don Kates.

But where he’s undeniably…….and unbelievably wrong, is the very next sentence:

But when I look at the 2nd Amendment as an Article in the Bill of Rights, one thing jumps out at me which the gun debate seems to have overlooked, namely, that it is the only Article in the Bill of Rights that protects only a certain group of individuals: people who decide to own guns.

Negative. You’re wrong. You’re actually an idiot. The 2nd Amendment protects the right of citizens to arm themselves for the protection of their nation, their property, or their lives. It is immaterial, whether a citizen decides to own a firearm, it is their right…..just as if the right of a citizen to worship as one pleases, of to speak as one wishes….is not dependent upon the act of doing so. The right remains.

But if I decide not to own a gun, and that decision happens currently to be shared by a majority of Americans, then the 2nd Amendment means nothing to me.

Fine. The Constitutional right remains valid and protected for the rest of the citizenry. This sort of absurdity seemingly knows no bounds….that a right only exists when a plurality, or even an outspoken and well heeled minority…..states that it should be so….is beyond laughable. “Mike the Gun Guy” has always been a puppet for the gun control industry….but this clownish OpEd is beyond the pale even for the Fudds.

Just when you think the Statists can’t get any more buffoonish…..along comes another…….

Depressing Quote of the Day

I am still one of the most oppressed minorities living in the West today.

I am an individual. – Will Franken

The Gettysburg Address – the Donald Trump Version

The Gettysburg Address, as it might have been delivered by Donald Trump. You’re welcome. It was a long time ago – I don’t think anyone can even remember, but I can remember, I have a great me…

Source: The Gettysburg Address – the Donald Trump Version

A perfect storm of satellite internet on the compound, can’t publish directly on WordPress from work, and a general lack of time….has intruded on original posting. But with so much other, more clever pieces to be found, I’ll just borrow and repost for a bit. – CI

No, they will not obey illegal orders! (UPDATED)

I was forced, against my will, to watch the GOP debate last night. I’m over the whole thing, frankly. Same insults, same platitudes, same canned speeches… I know what the candidates sta…

Source: No, they will not obey illegal orders! (UPDATED)

Trump has abjectly failed to follow (as evidenced by his responses) every single tenet of leadership. He has, in my opinion, now surpassed Clinton and Sanders as the most dangerous candidate to be Commander in Chief. Trump will destroy the Republic, and we can only hope that the rest of us can rebuild from the ashes. – CI

Where have all the Hippies gone?

The radical liberal of yesteryear, eschewing government control of their bodies and their lives….preaching free love, natural living and self-determination and self-sufficiency….is extinct. In their place, the left has become a mass of Stalinist sycophants who pursue the criminalization of any action or thought, not approved by the State. 

Think I’m wrong? On what side of the political spectrum exists the opponents of self-defense, home schooling and natural foods? On what side of the political spectrum exists the [by and large] the pursuit of ever encroaching State regulation….the scope and reach of government into every facet of our lives. From town codes, to state surveillance to unpasteurized milk to growing or hunting one’s own sustenance….todays Liberal [rebranded as “progressive”] is the consummate Statist.

Apparently, I’ve become the dirty hippie I used to mock.

IKEA: Land of the Lost

Borrowed and posted at my old Blogger site back in 2009, but as I made my once-a-decade pilgrimage to IKEA yesterday, I thought it appropriate to dust it off.

Welcome to the premiere of Sunday Night Rants. Yes, I know it’s only the afternoon here but it’s night somewhere, so work with me. I envision this as a weekly series but we’ll see. God knows I have the requisite anger but I still have to make the time to put my vitriol on the computer screen.

I begin this rant against the furniture store Ikea. For those who don’t know (I have no idea how many of these hellholes have graced our shores), Ikea, which is Swedish for “stupid f****g Americans”, specializes in modern home decor. Its claims to fame are affordability (you can do a three room apartment for like $43) and the need to assemble 90% of the goods sold there yourself. But let us begin at the uh…ur…beginning.

Yesterday the wife announced that she wanted to go to Ikea to look for a small sideboard for our kitchen. Why Ikea, I have no idea. While I guess that I should have been happy that for once we were not starting by looking at the most expensive thing and working our way down, having been to Ikea once before I was willing to head to Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel and pay the extra jing.

The weather has sucked all weekend so I knew that the place would be jammed with people who had no where else to be…and I was not disappointed. I must admit however that I was looking forward to “parking lot chess”.

I love PLC: the slow, calculated dance of cars in a crowded parking lot, each trying to seek out the elusive perfect spot. You follow people with keys in their hand, you look for reverse lights and then…”SWARM, SWARM”. You nail the gas and try to beat everyone else there. Good fun. Lots of accidents. That was the highlight of the afternoon for me.

Ikea is ingeniously designed. Once you enter, you follow a path on the floor that meanders back and forth, threatening to make little ox-bow lakes of items to make sure you see every single freaking item in the store. There are only a few shortcuts but these are carefully hidden and are all but unknown to all but the most battle hardened Ikeaphiles. (Little known historical fact but the Ikeaphiles were supposed to back up the 300 at the Hot Gates but couldn’t get out of the original store. You pretty much know what happened after that) Once on the path, you are on the way to Mordor and there is no turning back. It would be easier to rush TOWARD the bulls at Pamploma.

When it is crowded like yesterday, you just sort of go with the crowd. If I had a skateboard, I just would have been pushed along, which would have been nice since the store is ginormous and a really long walk.

Ah the crowd. It was like the UN in there which is fine but for the fact that I do not know how to say “have your f*****g conversation to the side of the path instead of causing a two mile backup with your shopping cart you steaming bag of pus” in 26 different languages. Three, possibly four times my wife caught me daydreaming as she yapped with my mother over various bullshit. My dream consisted of me going all Matrix on the crowd with a morning star in one hand and a war hammer in the other as speed metal blared. It made the time pass.

There are few salespeople in Ikea. It is mostly self serve, which further heightens profits…and homicidal urges, as you can never find anyone to help. Should you corner one of the rare (we are talking getting-your-gear-from-a-custom-maker-before-you-die-of-old-age rare here) indigenous high school drop out urban dwellers in a yellow shirt and ask for help you get a blank, vapid stare that positively screams “I traded my brain for meth”.

What you do is take a little piece of paper and a even smaller pencil that are situated everywhere and write down the name, model, isle number and bin number of the item you wish to buy. Yes, isle number and bin number. These are EXTREMELY important if you ever wish to leave Ikea alive with your item. More on this later.

What type of person does Ikea make furniture for you ask? Well, for college students for dorm rooms, first time home or apartment buyers and homeless people, it’s great. Also, I imagine it would be perfect for guys who have had the steely rod of divorce law shoved deep into their rectums and whose various milk crates and shopping carts currently furnishing their hovel were repo-ed by Stop and Shop.

All of the stuff has various Swedish sounding names that just have to be made up as they consist mostly of consonants with an occasional umlaut thrown it. Beechwood abounds. Some of the stuff resembles the packing crates that real furniture is shipped in. But it is inexpensive…and this is still further proof of Mr. Ikea’s genius. If it’s cheap…you can buy MORE!!! I saw a large bin of plastic cubes about one foot square that opened on one end. They were thin, white plastic. They were marked 3 for $5. I had no idea what you would do with them and I’m sure the people surrounding the bin had no idea either…..as they poured them into their carts, one after another. Mr. Ikea, I bow to you.

Now, the fun stuff…the Cavern of Lost Souls or Ikea’s warehouse. A gigantic 5 story tall tool shed of a building. Remember the isle and bin numbers? Here’s how it works. You have to pick up everything yourself as again, there is no help. You go to the right isle, search for your bin and place the box on the cart. Everything is in flat boxes as they are easier to ship and take up less space to store. They can also be heavy. I am sure that many, many people have been maimed or killed by box crushings.

Should you forget your isle or bin numbers….well. Legend has it that there are people who have wandered through the warehouse since it opened years ago. Once in awhile you will see a poster asking for help in finding someone who ventured to get a Kolmstank or a Pupli or a Sklohimple without the numbers….never to return. The worst turn into a Swedish version of CHUD, sustaining themselves on small children and senior citizens, the two most annoying Ikea roamers.

After loading your garbage you take it to the one place the Ikea has positively fortified with workers, the checkout. Again, you must do the work. Place small items on the conveyor belt and leave the boxes on the cart. Oh yeah. You know that 500 lb box that you had a death struggle with not too long ago? You know, the one that is covered with drops of your sweat, some saliva and quite possibly blood. It needs to be facing forward so the bar code can be read by the scanner. They don’t tell you that in the warehouse where it matters but on a little sign at the cashier’s station. Half the people there were groaning as they once more locked horns with the heavy boxes. Funniest were the one’s with four boxes piled high and only the bottom one facing the wrong way. Those people just sat and cried.

Where Mr. Ikea dropped the ball was on his faith in the bottom rung of the American work force. The cashiers were horrific. Ours couldn’t get the credit card machine to work correctly. I hypothezised that her home arrest ankle monitor was interfering with the electronics. You want to bring the Swedish Wave to its knees, pay cash. The whole system crashes. Once more I pondered using my vast professional training to tell Shequeqwa that my purchases were the equivalent of four decks of Mexican brown, two grams of coke and a small rock of meth. She rang us right up.

Today I assembled the sideboard. Took three hours. Didn’t want to shoot today anyway. And before I hear from the figures-a-lawyer-can’t-do-s**t-for-himself crowd, I grew up in the construction business and know my way around a hammer. The cartoon instruction manual is a little iffy and the quality of the components don’t exactly scream “NASA”.

So I implore you to learn from my pain and save yourselves. IKEA is one of the greatest threats to our country since turkey Bacon. They should be nuked from orbit..you know, just to make sure.