Guns permits surge in Massachusetts

From the Boston Globe:

The number of gun permits issued in Massachusetts surged by more than 15 percent over the past two years, reversing nearly a decade of steady declines and marking a pronounced departure for a state known for its antigun sentiment.

The magnitude of the rise, evident in nearly every corner of the state, surprised law enforcement officials, and gun advocates and opponents alike.

Some saw it as an echo of similar spikes across the country after President Obama’s election, when heavy gun sales were attributed to fears that he would impose strict new gun laws. But with more women and elderly residents signing up for gun classes in Massachusetts, many said the increase here has also been driven by worries about crime and a growing sense of vulnerability in the wake of the financial collapse and lingering fallout of the damaged economy.

“I think it’s a sign of the times,’’ said Mike Burchman, who teaches gun courses in Hop kinton, where the number of permits rose 25 percent. “There’s a general insecurity, and people are looking for personal protection. In the past two years, I’ve seen a real shift.’’

The increase in Class A permits - the largest and broadest category of gun license - amounted to a jump of more than 28,000 statewide to about 224,000 as of last month, according to data provided by the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

The number had previously been dropping, from about 239,000 in 2001 to 192,000 in 2007. Class A permits, commonly called “a license to carry,’’ are the only permits that allow individuals to carry concealed guns and own all types of legal firearms.

Among those who recently got a permit was Ryan Fairbanks, a 23-year-old National Guardsman from Haverhill. Guns were anathema in his childhood home, he said, but a few weeks ago he got a permit and bought a gun to protect himself.

...

Law enforcement officials said that, while the sharp increase in permits is unexpected, it does not portend any increase in gun violence.

“We’re concerned about criminals with guns, not law-abiding citizens,’’ said John A. Grossman, undersecretary of forensic science and technology for the state Office of Public Safety and Security. “It’s the illegal gun trafficking we’re really focused on.’’

Police chiefs and district attorneys echoed that, saying they see few crimes committed with legally licensed firearms. ...

Read it here. Even in Massachusetts, a state overrun with anti-gun liberals, ordinary folks can see the writing on the wall.

Going for a drive. Or a boat ride

Tonight's amphibious auto - the Water Car:

Yeah, that'll work ... or maybe not

From the Lone Star State, comes this news from Fort Hood:

Fort Hood officials announced Thursday a new command policy regarding registration requirements for privately-owned firearms was signed into effect Tuesday by Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, III Corps and Fort Hood commander.

The policy, and Fort Hood Regulation 190-11, requires all service members and their families living, residing or temporarily staying at Fort Hood to register any privately-owned firearms kept on post with the Directorate of Emergency Services, a Fort Hood press release states.

The announcement comes more than a month after the Nov. 5 massacre on post claimed the lives of 13 and injured more than 30 – victims were shot by a soldier using a privately-owned firearm.

The new policy details how soldiers, family members and even civilians must go about reporting privately-owned weapons being taken on post.

"Service members living in barracks or in post temporary housing must notify their immediate commander of the possession of POFs and keep the weapon in their respective unit arms room in accordance with Army Regulation 190-11 and Fort Hood Regulation 190-11," the policy reads.

Under the new policy, service members and their families living, residing or temporarily staying at Fort Hood are required to immediately notify DES of any "sale, purchase, trade, gift, exchange or any other action that changes the ownership or long-term possession of a POF kept on the installation."

Besides detailing the responsibilities of service members, the policy additionally states that "all persons, whether service member or civilian, who intend to transport a privately-owned firearm onto Fort Hood must first register that firearm with DES."

It goes on to state that when entering Fort Hood, all persons are required to declare to access control point personnel that they are bringing a privately-owned firearm onto the installation.

"POFs being transported onto Fort Hood will, at all times, be accompanied by post registration documentation and are subject to inspection," the policy states.

The announcement Thursday specified that the new policy is "punitive in nature" and applies to all III Corps and Fort Hood service members, major subordinate units, tenant activities and family members across Fort Hood. ...

Read it here. A ridiculous, utterly ineffective, yet entirely predictable policy response. Perhaps Fort Hood entrance gates should have signs requesting all mass murderers to please check in with base security before commencing their murderous rampages. Pretty please?

Nevada U.S. senate candidates on gun control

From David Codrea:

Regular readers are familiar with the gun rights questionnaire, designed to elicit unequivocal answers from candidates about exactly where they stand on the right to keep and bear arms. It's proven a useful tool at separating those with the political courage to be leaders from those who would instead rely on meaningless platitudes, and those who think they deserve power without having to make an account of themselves to gun owners.

We've used the questionnaire in a number of races throughout the Republic so far, but have given special focus to the 2010 Nevada contest for U.S. Senate.

Why?

Because polls show incumbent Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is vulnerable to challenge. It would be a major victory to demonstrate that one of the most powerful political figures in the country can be defeated by an unequivocal gun rights supporter. ...

Read it here, with links to the candidate responses of those who have answered the questionnaire.

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude -- Jingle Bells, the hard way:

Will 2010 be the next 1775?

So asks Coordinated Illumination, comparing the similarities of our current times to those that preceded the American Revolution:

The years 1765 and 1775 are interesting to ponder.
About Two-hundred and forty years ago. About 10 generations.

1765 was a year that was much like 2009. The majority of Americans “woke-up” to the realization that their government had become tyrants, obsessed with controlling them to control the products of their labor. Governments are instituted among men to secure the blessings of Liberty, not to enslave themselves.

1765 was the year that changed everything.

1765 Timeline

• March 22 The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act, which is the first direct tax levied from Great Britain on the American colonies.

• March 1765 Parliament passed the Quartering Act, as an Amendment to the Mutiny Act, which had to be renewed annually by Parliament. The Quartering Act required Colonies to quarter and provision British troops.

• August 26 In protest of the Stamp Act, Bostonians destroy home of lieutenant governor Thomas Hutchinson

• October 17 The Pennsylvania Gazette reports that a Mr. McCullough, the Distributor of Stamps for the Royal Colony of North Carolina, has resigned his post in protest of the Stamp Act. A Dr. Huston is appointed to the position.

• November 1 The Stamp Act goes into effect in the 13 colonies, in order to help pay for British military operations in North America.

• December 12 The Pennsylvania Gazette reports that Dr. Huston, the recently instated Distributor of Stamps for the Royal Colony of North Carolina, has resigned his post in protest of the Stamp Act.

Like 2009, 1765 was a year that transformed America.

Some bureaucrats resigned, but there were plenty of quislings to take their place. ...

Read the rest here. As the old Chinese curse goes, "May you live in interesting times." We indeed live in interesting times, and they may get a whole lot more interesting in the coming years.

They call her Slingshot Girl

Tonight's fun-with-bungees video:

Rube Goldberg would have loved it

Tonight's secret knock lock:

So long, US Dollar, it was nice knowin' ya

From Karl Denninger, on the increasing probability that the US Dollar will lose its status as the world's reserve currency, and the effect of that loss [all emphasis in original article]:

... Today's lesson in falsity is the announcement, long rumored, by the Gulf States that they will be forming a common currency, breaking the formal and informal dollar pegs that have controlled the price of oil and kept the petro-dollar recycling mill operating, allowing The United States to force our inflationary policies down the Arabs' throats.

“The Gulf monetary union pact has come into effect,” said Kuwait’s finance minister, Mustafa al-Shamali, speaking at a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit in Kuwait.

The move will give the hyper-rich club of oil exporters a petro-currency of their own, greatly increasing their influence in the global exchange and capital markets and potentially displacing the US dollar as the pricing currency for oil contracts. Between them they amount to regional superpower with a GDP of $1.2 trillion (£739bn), some 40pc of the world’s proven oil reserves, and financial clout equal to that of China.

Potentially displacing my tailfeathers. That displacement is now assured.

Oh, and it doesn't stop with just money either:

The GCC also agreed to create a joint military strike force – akin to the EU’s rapid reaction force – to tackle threats such as the incursion of Yemeni Shiite rebels into Saudi territory earlier this year.

They nevertheless repeated on Tuesday that “any military action against Iran” by Western powers would be unacceptable.

Well there you have it.

China will be next with a Pan-Asian common currency and exchange system. The rumblings have been coming from there too, and they'll be followed by action - if for no other reason than that with the unpegging of oil from the dollar there is no longer any reason for China to continue to maintain a dollar hegemony of its own, and in fact doing so could be extremely damaging to China's economy.

Bernanke is entirely responsible for this. By encouraging the bubble economy during Greenspan's time in The Fed (Bernanke was the chief agitator for 1% interest rates - and holding them too low during the early part of the 2000s) and trying to restart the bubble economy this time around through both ZIRP and intentional distortions through the credit markets, shielding those who made bad decisions while cramming the inflationary pressures down the throat of trading partners, Bernanke has guaranteed the loss of global reserve currency status for The Dollar. ...

Read it all here.

California sheriff supports armed citizens

From the Fresno Bee:

The best gift for a law-abiding citizen this Christmas might be a concealed-weapons permit.

Even though Fresno police always are putting out press releases that claim crime is down, the city doesn't feel safe. Nor does it appear safe. Not on my side of town, at least. Not south of McKinley Avenue.

Look, there was a time when I believed that more guns led to more violence.

Now, in my gut, I have to agree with Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims. She says that a society is safer when responsible people bear arms.

"I think it's a good idea to keep the bad guys guessing so that they never know when they're coming up against a citizen who is carrying," Mims says.

Under California law, each sheriff can issue a concealed-weapons permit to anyone with a clean record who has "good cause." Some sheriffs are stingy with permits. Others, such as Mims, believe the permits should go to any eligible person.

For Mims, " 'Good cause' is, I can't put a deputy sheriff with every single citizen." ...

Read it here. According to the article, Fresno County under Sheriff Mims now accounts for almost 10% of all CCW permits in California, and the sheriff reportedly carries permit applications in her car to hand out to residents who want to apply for one. Now that's a pretty pro-self defense sheriff. And in California, no less.

Sure footed

Tonight's balancing act, mountain goat and monkey edition:



That's pretty incredible balance.

IANSA and the UN want you disarmed

From NRA News:

Illinois gubernatorial candidates on gun control

From the anti-gun mid-western hellhole, better known as Illinois:

The Associated Press recently asked candidates for Illinois governor questions about gun-control legislation.

Here are highlights of their answers:

QUESTION: "Would you sign or veto legislation banning the sale and possession of semiautomatic assault-style weapons in Illinois?"

...

QUESTION: "Would you sign or veto legislation allowing concealed-carry for handguns?"

Article here, with each candidate's response. With the exception of a couple of Republican candidates responses, all the rest -- Republicans, Democrats, and Green party -- appear to suck. If you have the misfortune to live in Illinois, you might want to take a gander at their responses.

The armed Swiss

Today's citizen militia video, on the armed Swiss (the narrator appears ignorant of guns, so disregard the Sig 550's "designed to destroy anything standing within its 400 meter trajectory" description):

The Odd Couple, animal edition

Tonight's animal odd couple:

Obama's big sellout

From Left-leaning Rolling Stone, comes this article by Matt Taibbi on Obama's economic team:

Barack Obama ran for president as a man of the people, standing up to Wall Street as the global economy melted down in that fateful fall of 2008. He pushed a tax plan to soak the rich, ripped NAFTA for hurting the middle class and tore into John McCain for supporting a bankruptcy bill that sided with wealthy bankers "at the expense of hardworking Americans." Obama may not have run to the left of Samuel Gompers or Cesar Chavez, but it's not like you saw him on the campaign trail flanked by bankers from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. What inspired supporters who pushed him to his historic win was the sense that a genuine outsider was finally breaking into an exclusive club, that walls were being torn down, that things were, for lack of a better or more specific term, changing.

Then he got elected.

What's taken place in the year since Obama won the presidency has turned out to be one of the most dramatic political about-faces in our history. Elected in the midst of a crushing economic crisis brought on by a decade of orgiastic deregulation and unchecked greed, Obama had a clear mandate to rein in Wall Street and remake the entire structure of the American economy. What he did instead was ship even his most marginally progressive campaign advisers off to various bureaucratic Siberias, while packing the key economic positions in his White House with the very people who caused the crisis in the first place. This new team of bubble-fattened ex-bankers and laissez-faire intellectuals then proceeded to sell us all out, instituting a massive, trickle-up bailout and systematically gutting regulatory reform from the inside.

How could Obama let this happen? Is he just a rookie in the political big leagues, hoodwinked by Beltway old-timers? Or is the vacillating, ineffectual servant of banking interests we've been seeing on TV this fall who Obama really is?

Whatever the president's real motives are, the extensive series of loophole-rich financial "reforms" that the Democrats are currently pushing may ultimately do more harm than good. In fact, some parts of the new reforms border on insanity, threatening to vastly amplify Wall Street's political power by institutionalizing the taxpayer's role as a welfare provider for the financial-services industry. At one point in the debate, Obama's top economic advisers demanded the power to award future bailouts without even going to Congress for approval — and without providing taxpayers a single dime in equity on the deals.

How did we get here? It started just moments after the election — and almost nobody noticed. ...

Read the rest here. Taibbi feels suckered by the HopeyChanger-in-Chief. Boo hoo. As Bruce Willis said in Die Hard, "Welcome to the party, pal!"

The Wooden Mirror

Tonight's interactive art - Daniel Rozin's wooden mirror project:



Neat.

Not exactly scraping by

At least if you work for the FedGov. From Mish comes this USA Today article, on the Hope and Change gravy train for federal government employees:

The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data.

Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months — and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.

Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector.

The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available.

When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.

The trend to six-figure salaries is occurring throughout the federal government, in agencies big and small, high-tech and low-tech. The primary cause: substantial pay raises and new salary rules. [emphasis added] ...

So not only do we have massive expansion of the federal government, we have massive salaries to go along with all that hiring. According to the article, the average FedGov employee rakes in over $71K, while the average private sector employee gets less than $41K. That's ass backwards, ain't it, given that government doesn't produce a dime of wealth; they're a cost center, not a profit center. And remember, those figures don't include the generous pensions and benefits that FedGov employees get. So not only do the FedGovvies make more in pay, they have better pensions and benefits.

Meanwhile, the official (and likely understated) broad unemployment rate is over 17% and likely headed higher.

Think of Barack Obama as the anti-Robin Hood of his time: He robs from the poor, and gives to the rich.

How to eat a chicken wing

Tonight's dining skills video, chicken wing edition:

The day the dollar died, Parts V, VI, VII

Weekend reading from John Galt, the continuation of his speculative fincton series, The Day the Dollar Died:

Part V: “A New Day of Economic Justice for All”

Part VI: “Pass Me the Butter and Blueberry Syrup, Please”

Part VII: Security for Liberty for All

See this post for links to Parts I through IV.

The Mom Song

Tonight's musical interlude - The Mom Song (sung to the tune of the William Tell Overture):

Your money, hard(ly) at work

Via Mish, comes this report (PDF) from Senators McCain and Coburn, entitled Stimulus Checkup, on the 100 latest ways the administration is spending your hard-earned dollars. An example [footnotes omitted]:

12. Broadband Map That May be Obsolete by the Time It’s Complete ($350 million)

In just a few short years, taxpayers will be able to log onto a government website and find out if broadband services are available in their neighborhood. Using up to $350 million in stimulus funds, the Department of Commerce (DOC) will build a broadband inventory map, though some experts say it is too expensive and possibly unneeded. The DOC is awarding grants to organizations that will help create a national map of all areas with access to broadband Internet services. While individual telecommunications companies already have such information publicly available on their websites, this website would consolidate the information and provide users with a one-stop shop. The State of North Carolina already produces a statewide broadband map for $275,000 per year, which is a fraction of the amount to be spent by DOC. When asked about whether $350 million was a reasonable amount, Rory Altman at Altman, Vilandrie & Co., a broadband mapping consultant, said the amount was "ridiculous" and that his firm could produce a nationwide map for $3.5 million. ...

A website with a map of areas with broadband ... for a mere $350,000,000! What a bargain! And one private consultancy quoted in the report said they could do it for a mere $3,500,000, or one hundred times less than the government is spending. Must be that Keynesian "stimulus growth multiplier" they're always talking about. Although maybe they should rename it the growth demultiplier. Basically, one dollar of private investment produces the same amount as one hundred dollars of government spending. Sounds about right.

To be sure, not all the highly stimulative projects are so costly as simple government websites displaying information that's already publicly available from other sources. For example, the very next entry:

13. Grant to Fund Search for Fossils . . . In Argentina ($1.57 million)

Move over Indiana Jones! Penn State University is sending a team of researchers to search for plant fossils in Patagonia, Argentina using a $1.57 million stimulus grant from the National Science Foundation. Patagonia has been a hotbed of fossil research since remains of one of the largest dinosaurs, the Puertasaurus, was found there in 2006. Now, researchers are interested in unearthing fossils for plants that went extinct at the same time as the dinosaurs, hoping to understand the region's biodiversity, as well as "whether an ancient rainforest environment was present in Patagonia."

Clearly an astoundingly good use of American taxpayer dollars (at least in the mind of an Obama bureaucrat) -- those extinct dinosaurs and ancient rainforests can't study themselves, you know. And the "scientists" will no doubt be able to squeeze even more dollars from the American taxpayer by showing that, if only the dinosaurs had voted Democrat so many millions of years ago, they would be alive today and enjoying full social security benefits in that lush ancient rainforest, which will forever be preserved by the Dems' Cap-and-Trade plan.

Some stimulus projects, however, seek to find answers to the really important questions confronting our nation, such as

51. Study On Why Young Men Do Not Like Condoms ($221,355)

Indiana University professors received $221,355 in economic stimulus funds to study why young men do not like to wear condoms. The research will "advance our understanding of…the role of cognitive and affective processes and condom application skills in explaining problems with condom use in young, heterosexual adult men," and to create "education strategies tailored to the needs of individuals who have trouble using condoms effectively."

Seems like those professors don't know economic stimulus from erectile stimulus. But hey, you're paying for it, so what do they care! Although admittedly, at a paltry $220 grand, it's pretty much a drop of semen in the proverbial $787,000,000,000 stimulus bucket. That's the price you pay for electile dysfunction, America.

Read the report here to see some of the many stimulating ways our beloved government is spending your money. Your money, hardly at work.

Model model train

Tonight's model of a model train:

What's another trillion or two? Dems look to increase federal debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion

From Politico:

In a bold but risky year-end strategy, Democrats are preparing to raise the federal debt ceiling by as much as $1.8 trillion before New Year’s rather than have to face the issue again prior to the 2010 elections.

“We’ve incurred this debt. We have to pay our bills,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told POLITICO Wednesday. And the Maryland Democrat confirmed that the anticipated increase could be as high as $1.8 trillion — nearly twice what had been assumed in last spring’s budget resolution for the 2010 fiscal year.



The leadership is betting that it’s better for the party to take its lumps now rather than risk further votes over the coming year. But the enormity of the number could create its own dynamic, much as another debt ceiling fight in 1985 gave rise to the Gramm-Rudman deficit reduction act mandating across-the-board spending cuts nearly 25 years ago. ...

Read it here. A trillion is 1 followed by twelve zeros. Remember the zero part, because when the wizards in Washington are done, that'll be what the U.S. Dollar will be worth.

Name that car

Tonight's interactive quiz - Name that car.

Off to the reeducation camps, Minnesota edition

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune, via Ed Morrissey at Hotair:

Do you believe in the American dream -- the idea that in this country, hardworking people of every race, color and creed can get ahead on their own merits? If so, that belief may soon bar you from getting a license to teach in Minnesota public schools -- at least if you plan to get your teaching degree at the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus.

In a report compiled last summer, the Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group at the U's College of Education and Human Development recommended that aspiring teachers there must repudiate the notion of "the American Dream" in order to obtain the recommendation for licensure required by the Minnesota Board of Teaching. Instead, teacher candidates must embrace -- and be prepared to teach our state's kids -- the task force's own vision of America as an oppressive hellhole: racist, sexist and homophobic. [emphasis added]

Read it all here. Apparently, the task force believes that teachers must embrace race, class and gender identity politics in order to be effective teachers:

The report advocates making race, class and gender politics the "overarching framework" for all teaching courses at the U. It calls for evaluating future teachers in both coursework and practice teaching based on their willingness to fall into ideological lockstep.

The first step toward "cultural competence," says the task group, is for future teachers to recognize -- and confess -- their own bigotry. Anyone familiar with the reeducation camps of China's Cultural Revolution will recognize the modus operandi.

The task group recommends, for example, that prospective teachers be required to prepare an "autoethnography" report. They must describe their own prejudices and stereotypes, question their "cultural" motives for wishing to become teachers, and take a "cultural intelligence" assessment designed to ferret out their latent racism, classism and other "isms." They "earn points" for "demonstrating the ability to be self-critical." ...

...

The goal of these exercises, in the task group's words, is to ensure that "future teachers will be able to discuss their own histories and current thinking drawing on notions of white privilege, hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity, and internalized oppression."

Future teachers must also recognize and denounce the fundamental injustices at the heart of American society, says the task group. From a historical perspective, they must "understand that ... many groups are typically not included" within America's "celebrated cultural identity," and that "such exclusion is frequently a result of dissimilarities in power and influence." In particular, aspiring teachers must be able "to explain how institutional racism works in schools." ...

Apparently, only the ideologically pure need apply for a teaching license in Minnesota. According to the article, the task force's report also has provisions for teacher reeducation and ongoing indoctrination.

As for actual subject matter expertise and competence in subjects like mathematics and science? Who knows -- I guess the task force puts that in the nice to have, but not absolutely necessary category.

Got homeschooling?

Selecting the right hymn

Tonight's humor:

A Baptist minister was completing his sermon on temperance. With great emphasis, he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I’d take it and pour it into the river."

With even greater emphasis he said, "And if I had All the wine in the world, I’d take it and pour it into the river."

And then finally, shaking his fist in the air and in his best fire-and-brimstone voice, he said, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I’d take it and pour it into the river."

Sermon complete, he sat down.

The choir leader stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, nearly laughing, "For our closing song, let us sing Hymn 124, 'Shall We Gather at the River'."

:)

Green acres: The next hot neighborhood

From the Wall Street Journal:

In June, 40-year-old Shane Dawley and his 36-year-old wife, Rhonda, uprooted themselves and their four boys from their suburban Atlanta rental home and bought an old five-acre farm in Ogdensburg, Wisc. Their goal: Flee the rat race and adopt a more self-reliant lifestyle amid the troubled economy.

While Mr. Dawley, who had worked at a parking garage, hasn't found a full-time job yet, he's been working on nearby farms learning new skills (one person paid him with an old John Deere tractor), and his family is raising chickens while learning to garden and hunt.

"Our generation has never seen anything like this," says Mr. Dawley of the economic downturn. "Fear sometimes is a good thing and will push you to do things you ordinarily wouldn't."

While urban and suburban real estate is still generally under pressure, the rural market is holding up better in many areas, thanks in part to buyers such as the Dawleys. Sometimes dubbed "ruralpolitans," these city and town dwellers are looking at land as their new safe investment, one they hope could prove more stable than their jobs and 401(k)s—and provide a better lifestyle.

Motivations can vary, but typically there are three groups: young people buying land as an asset or investment, with vague hopes to live on it someday; exurban commuters who have jobs in big towns or cities but want to escape the sprawl; and back-to-the-land types who want to dabble in hobby farming. While the 76 million-strong baby boomers eyeing retirement represent the largest ruralpolitan segment, they're being joined by a growing contingent of 20-to-early-40-somethings freshly imprinted by this recession's pain. ...

Read the rest here. The author, Wendy Bounds, has written a follow-up piece, From Versace to Chainsaws, on her own move from the big city to a more rural life.

But what about the planet?

From the UK Telegraph, on the incongruity of the participants of a "Global Warming" conference utilizing 1,200 carbon-spewing limos and 140 private jets to get around:

On a normal day, Majken Friss Jorgensen, managing director of Copenhagen's biggest limousine company, says her firm has twelve vehicles on the road. During the "summit to save the world", which opens here tomorrow, she will have 200.

"We thought they were not going to have many cars, due to it being a climate convention," she says. "But it seems that somebody last week looked at the weather report."

Ms Jorgensen reckons that between her and her rivals the total number of limos in Copenhagen next week has already broken the 1,200 barrier. The French alone rang up on Thursday and ordered another 42. "We haven't got enough limos in the country to fulfil the demand," she says. "We're having to drive them in hundreds of miles from Germany and Sweden."

And the total number of electric cars or hybrids among that number? "Five," says Ms Jorgensen. "The government has some alternative fuel cars but the rest will be petrol or diesel. We don't have any hybrids in Denmark, unfortunately, due to the extreme taxes on those cars. It makes no sense at all, but it's very Danish."

The airport says it is expecting up to 140 extra private jets during the peak period alone, so far over its capacity that the planes will have to fly off to regional airports – or to Sweden – to park, returning to Copenhagen to pick up their VIP passengers.

Article here. According to the conference organizers themselves, their little shindig will spew a sizable amount of carbon (not to mention a lot of hot air):

... According to the organisers, the eleven-day conference, including the participants' travel, will create a total of 41,000 tonnes of "carbon dioxide equivalent", equal to the amount produced over the same period by a city the size of Middlesbrough. [emphasis added]

Global Warming conference attendees, heal thyself! There is, notably, one freebie that the conference big wigs might, uh, perk up for:

And this being Scandinavia, even the prostitutes are doing their bit for the planet. Outraged by a council postcard urging delegates to "be sustainable, don't buy sex," the local sex workers' union – they have unions here – has announced that all its 1,400 members will give free intercourse to anyone with a climate conference delegate's pass. The term "carbon dating" just took on an entirely new meaning. [emphasis added]

I guess we can chalk that up to professional courtesy, although I suspect the local prostitutes are simply out of their league when it comes to screwing others.

I guess he likes shark fin soup too

Tonight's shark story from Down Under (where it's summertime):

Mumbai terror attack documentary

Today's film, an HBO documentary on the last November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India (48 minutes long). The documentary includes audio of the terrorists' calls with their handlers in Pakistan, evidently recorded by the Indian intelligence services:

Killing Slaughterhouse

From Reason Magazine on the upcoming Chicago gun ban case, and the possibility that the Supreme Court will overturn its own 1873 Slaughterhouse Cases precedent as part of finding that the Second Amendment applies to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment's 'privileges or immunities' clause:

... As Damon Root explained at Reason back in February, getting rid of Slaughterhouse and restoring the 14th Amendment to its originally intended reach would do more than just make room for imposing Second Amendment restrictions on state governments: “The 14th Amendment was specifically designed and ratified to protect a sweepingly libertarian idea of self-ownership. That idea includes the right to acquire property, run a business, and buy and sell labor without unnecessary or improper interference by the government.”

And that’s exactly why Gura’s kill-Slaughterhouse move is so controversial. Some of the amici briefs in the case—meant, remember, to support his victory in McDonald—have even argued strenuously against the main means Gura is relying on to win.

Since, as Gura wrote in the brief, “In 1868, the ‘privileges’ and ‘immunities’ of American citizenship were popularly understood to include a broad array of pre-existent natural rights believed secured by all free governments, as well as the personal rights memorialized in the Bill of Rights,” some right-leaning legal scholars and organizations that want to vindicate the Second Amendment are afraid of a Court emboldened via the Privileges or Immunities Clause to do some serious thinking—and acting—on the basis of such a “broad array of pre-existent natural rights.” ...

Read the article here.

Optical illusion

Tonight's optical illusion:

Well, at least they're starving healthy

From the Big Apple, comes another bitter dose of nanny's medicine:

When a small church comes to the Bowery Mission bearing fried chicken with trans fat, unwittingly breaking the law, they’re told “thank you.” Then workers quietly chuck the food, mission director Tom Bastile said. [emphasis added]

“It’s always hard for us to do,” Basile said. “We know we have to do it.” ...

That's because the city's law banning trans fat applies even to food donated to food banks and soup kitchens. So that fried chicken has to go into the dumpster, rather than hungry bellies. What a waste. Tell me again how smart and compassionate the New York City elites who support and/or pass laws like this are again?


[Via Ride Fast & Shoot Straight]

Are you really unemployed?

Today's explanation of government unemployment counting:




[Via Mish]

Life / death clock

From the California NRA affiliate, comes the Life / Death Clock, giving a statistical perspective of firearms versus other causes of death, as well as the number of lives saved by firearms (click on image below to view the live clock):

Musical interlude -- Dancing Queen

Tonight's sing-along blast from the past -- Swedish group Abba's first performance of their hit Dancing Queen, for Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf on the eve of his wedding to Silvia Sommerlath on 18-Jun-1976. Enjoy!

Law enforcement trainers support self-defense for Chicagoans

The two major national organizations of law enforcement trainers, the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), joined by the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI), have filed an amicus brief in the Chicago gun ban case pending before the Supreme Court in support of the citizen's right to self-defense with firearms and against the Chicago gun ban.

The ILEETA/IALEFI brief, authored by noted Second Amendment advocate David Kopel, focuses on the failure of Chicago's draconian gun ban to reduce crime, and contains lots of tables and stats for the stats geeks. The amicus brief can be read here. As an item of trivia, the head of ILEETA, Ed Nowicki, is a retired Chicago cop.

Other signatories of the brief include the Southern States Police Benevolent Association, Texas Police Chiefs Association, Law Enforcement Alliance of America, Congress of Racial Equality, Claremont Institute, and Independence Institute, in addition to several professors and academics.

Notably, both ILEETA and IALEFI also supported the pro-individual rights side in last year's historic Supreme Court Heller case, which invalidated Washington, D.C.'s gun ban.

As a member of both ILEETA and IALEFI, I am quite pleased that they have once again joined the side of the citizenry, and individual human rights, over the tyranny of gun control and the tyrants who support citizen disarmament.

NBPA, SEIU's IBPO side with anti-gunners in Chicago gun ban case

From David Codrea, who has been exposing the various anti-gun groups who have signed the Brady Center's amicus brief against the people's right to self-defense in the Chicago gun ban case (McDonald v. Chicago) pending before the Supreme Court. The latest two anti-gun groups:

In Why do SEIU enforcers oppose you having guns?, Mr. Codrea examines the International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO) anti-gun position:

... By their signing of the Brady brief, the IBPO is endorsing edicts forbidding the keeping and bearing of arms by any but the "Only Ones" as "reasonable." I'm sure by now those of you who have visited their site will have noticed they are part of a greater Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and may be wondering if the recent beating of a state worker at an SEIU meeting because he "wanted to expose alleged corruption within the union," and the earlier "smashing a black man on the cement and calling him n*****" at a town hall meeting may help explain why they might consider citizen disarmament to be reasonable--at least from the perspective of their self-interest . [links omitted] ...

And in Black police group endorses same anti-gun edicts imposed by slave owners, Mr. Codrea exposes the vile anti-gun position of the National Black Police Association (NBPA):

Here's the crux of what we need to know about them from their "Positions" page:

HANDGUN CONTROL. The NBPA supports national handgun legislation prohibiting further manufacturing of handguns, and limiting their sales, possession, and use. [emphasis added]

Ugh. Looks like the NBPA's fully on-board with serving the white massa's racist gun control agenda.

Obama's "Safe Schools" czar's recommended reading list for kids

From Gateway Pundit, comes this insanity [links omitted]:

Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings was the founder, and for many years, Executive Director of an organization called the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). GLSEN started essentially as Jennings’ personal project and grew to become the culmination of his life’s work. And he was chosen by President Obama to be the nation’s Safe Schools Czar primarily because he had founded and led GLSEN (scroll for bio).

GLSEN’s stated mission is to empower gay youth in the schools and to stop harassment by other students. It encourages the formation of Gay Student Alliances and condemns the use of hateful words. GLSEN also strives to influence the educational curriculum to include materials which the group believes will increase tolerance of gay students and decrease bullying. To that end, GLSEN maintains a recommended reading list of books that it claims “furthers our mission to ensure safe schools for all students.” In other words, these are the books that GLSEN’s directors think all kids should be reading: gay kids should read them to raise their self-esteem, and straight kids should read them in order to become more aware and tolerant and stop bullying gay kids. ...

...

Out of curiosity to see exactly what kind of books Kevin Jennings and his organization think American students should be reading in school, our team chose a handful at random from the over 100 titles on GLSEN’s grades 7-12 list, and began reading through.

What we discovered shocked us. We were flabbergasted. Rendered speechless.

We were unprepared for what we encountered. Book after book after book contained stories and anecdotes that weren’t merely X-rated and pornographic, but which featured explicit descriptions of sex acts between pre-schoolers; stories that seemed to promote and recommend child-adult sexual relationships; stories of public masturbation, anal sex in restrooms, affairs between students and teachers, five-year-olds playing sex games, semen flying through the air. One memoir even praised becoming a prostitute as a way to increase one’s self-esteem. Above all, the books seemed to have less to do with promoting tolerance than with an unabashed attempt to indoctrinate students into a hyper-sexualized worldview.

We knew that unless we carefully documented what we were reading, the public would have a hard time accepting it. Mere descriptions on our part could not convey the emotional gut reaction one gets when seeing what Kevin Jennings wants kids to read as school assignments. So we began scanning pages from each of the books, and then made exact transcriptions of the relevant passages on each page.

Are we exaggerating, or misconstruing quotes that could be interpreted a different way? No: Read the passages below and judge for yourself. There’s no wiggle room. The language is explicit, the intent clear. [emphasis added] ...

Read the whole sordid thing here [Note: sexually explicit language at link]. This is what the government's point man on "safe schools" wants to ram down the throats (or perhaps up the asses) of your children. One more reason to homeschool your kids if you possibly can.

Hungry? How about a penguin

Tonight's animal video - Paul Nicklen describes his most amazing experience as a National Geographic photographer:

CSU student board votes to support campus carry

From the Rocky Mountain State [thanks to reader Jim P. for the link]:

FORT COLLINS - Only a few universities in the country allow students to carry guns on campus, and one of them in Colorado is considering a change.

At Colorado State University in Fort Collins, public safety experts and the president's cabinet support a gun ban.

Before the decision is made, however, the school wants to hear what students think.

Wednesday night, the student governing body voted 21-3 in support of keeping CSU a conceal-and-carry campus. Five student senators were absent or did not vote.

The student leaders will now submit their resolution to the CSU president for consideration.

Author of the bill, CSU Junior Cooper Anderson said, "We wrote this bill because we felt that a student should have the right to self defense on campus. We don't believe that crime stops at a campus' borders."

CSU spokesperson Brad Bohlander says the Public Safety Team and the president's cabinet are united against the issue.

"More availability and more access to weapons on a highly populated college campus can potentially lead to more negative incidents," Bohlander told 9NEWS.

Besides Utah, where universities aren't allowed to ban guns, CSU is one of only a handful of universities across the country allowing concealed weapons.

CSU has never had a violent gun incident on campus.

"I think whenever you create a gun-free zone, you have an opportunity for criminals to act with impunity," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said. [emphasis added] ...

Article here. The CSU president and his cabinet are united against the fundamental human right of their students to defend themselves from unlawful criminal violence. There, fixed it for them. Note that the CSU student board vote was 21 to 3 in favor of campus carry. Seems like the students have more common sense than their school administrators. I also like the Larimer County sheriff's common sense (but politically incorrect) quote.

Supremes schedule Chicago gun ban oral arguments

From CBS News:

The U.S. Supreme Court has set a date to hear the landmark civil liberties case that will determine whether the Second Amendment prohibits state and local governments from enacting stiff anti-gun laws.

Oral arguments in the lawsuit, McDonald v. City of Chicago, will be held on the morning of March 2, 2010. A decision is expected by late June or early July. [emphasis added]

It's also worth noting the amicus briefs that have been filed in the last week or so in support of the Second Amendment Foundation and other groups challenging Chicago's handgun restrictions.

Read it here. Hopefully the Court will release the audio of the oral arguments shortly after their completion, as it did last year with Heller. You can read the various amicus briefs here.

From Meccania to Atlantis, Part 13

From Brussels Journal, comes some weekend reading. An excerpt:

... There is hardly anything as catastrophic to society as the giant fraud of a government stealing its subjects’ earned wealth in order to paper over the vast crater landscape of two generations’-worth of the rulers’ own corruption and incompetence. But when this comes in tandem with the government’s stealing also the social capital of its subjects via dysfunctional immigration and the coddling of hostile and criminal minorities, then the destruction is for the ages: the sack of Nineveh, of Rome, of Washington.

The strongest, most admired country in the world until just a few years ago is now a cautionary tale of the wages of sin and stupidity told to Chinese schoolchildren.

A nation that works for a living can weather perhaps even such great storms. But the jobs of the American lower class have been outsourced to imported Mexicans. The jobs of the American middle class have been exported to China and India. The jobs of the American upper-middle class have been taken from the white males who held them by merit, and given to resentful identity groups that hold them by the fiat of the government’s preferred skin colors and favored genitalia. And the jobs of the American upper class have been reprogrammed from leadership and service, to ripping off the less clever via lawyering, banksterism, and padding one’s golden CEO parachute, and then expiation via funding and leading socialist NGOs.

A freefalling dollar cannot help by increasing exports, when you have off-shored your manufacturing, and your main industries are predatory lawsuits, selling shoddy American housing to Salvadorians with faked mortgages, and marketing financial weapons of mass destruction worldwide. And a falling dollar is not a good inducement for the world to keep buying dollar-denominated U.S. debt. The cessation of that buying has such dire consequences to the United States that Chinese strategists have named them “the nuclear option.” ...

Read it all here.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall ...

Tonight's mirror prank:

Instructional Billboard

Via Coordinated Illumination, comes this photo of an instructional billboard spotted in Missouri:

North: Fiat Currency Money Printing Leading to Decentralization and Operational Secession

Dr. Gary North gives us his take on the Fed, gold, and the revolution that may take place. A snippet:

... The classic situation that precedes a political revolution is when a government has promised benefits to large numbers of people, and then it reneges on the benefits.

For years, things seem to be getting better. The government takes credit for things getting better. Then things then get unprecedentedly worse. This happened immediately before the French Revolution. It happened immediately before the Russian Revolution. It happened a decade before the American Revolution. We forget about this.

The American Revolution began in response to relatively mild increases of taxation that were required to pay for British troops in the United States. The French and Indian War (1757–63) had eliminated the threat of the French, so the Americans assumed that they would be the beneficiaries. The British government decided that Americans should pay for the quartering of troops in the colonies, in order to defend the new western borders against any future incursions by the French. The Americans had thought it was going to be no taxes and lots of new land. The British imposed new taxes and restrictions on the westward movement of the population. Then came the Stamp Act of 1765. That was all it took for the beginning of the end of the British Empire in North America. It began to erode the legitimacy of the British Empire in the eyes of North American British citizens. As the legitimacy of the regime declined, the opportunity for Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, and other anti-imperialists made possible the American Revolution.

Revolutions in the past have been through the centralization of power. The one exception to this was the American Revolution, but that exception only lasted for five years: 1783–1788. The Constitution centralized power enormously in comparison to the Articles of Confederation. After 1788, the process of centralization increased relentlessly. There is not a single period in American history from 1789 until this year in which there was any serious reduction of Federal power.

The French Revolution and the Russian Revolution centralized existing hierarchical systems that were already more centralized than other countries in the West.

A political revolution aimed at capturing power in Washington is inherently self-defeating. It will simply add to the existing process of centralization that has gone on since 1789.

A political revolution has to involve the transformation of the legal order. Without a transformation of the legal order, there is no revolution. There is only a coup. It does not pay to run a coup. A revolution favoring freedom must involve something like a return to what existed in the days of the Articles of Confederation. If this is not the direction of the revolution, then it will simply be business as usual.

It is not good enough to reform the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve System must be abolished. This is the proper approach of thinking about the revolution. Ron Paul has written a book called The Revolution. He has also written a book called End the Fed. This is the correct approach. We must not try to strengthen the system, or reform the system, or make the system more efficient. We must abolish the system, agency by agency.

Ultimately, this could mean secession. ...

Read it here.

How do you pronounce that?

Tonight's pronunciation guide - The Name Engine provides the phonetic pronunciation for unusual names of sports and entertainment personalities, politicians, place names, etc., along with the audio of the name being spoken. Click on image to go there:

Tomato growing, the new career advice

From Jeff Clark, on his remarks to high schoolers on Career Day:

... "Every year, I'm asked about how best to prepare for a career in finance," I started my speech. "And for the past six years, I've suggested taking courses in statistics, human psychology, behavioral finance, and demographics. Today, however, I'm going to give you the same advice I've given my children, the same advice I've given my friends, the same advice for which people pay me thousands of dollars every year..."

I paused just long enough to notice the students were on the edge of their seats. The faculty, standing in the back of the room, stopped whispering to each other. The parents stopped texting on their Blackberries and sipping their lattes, anticipating the wisdom I was about to provide.

"If you want to be successful in life," I said, "learn to grow a frickin tomato."

I then explained to my audience how the government is devaluing the dollar, how the politicians are catering to the lowest common denominator of the population, how the "let's get everything I can for myself right now" society is leading to the destruction of this once-great country, and how if you want to take care of yourself and your family in the future... you need to learn to grow a tomato.

"Take care of yourself," I said...

Take responsibility for the welfare of your family and of your close friends. Don't count on the government. The Constitution of the United States of America does not guarantee health care. It doesn't guarantee home ownership. And it doesn't guarantee cash for clunkers.

You are not entitled to a prosperous life. You are not guaranteed to live better than your parents. In fact, yours is the first generation ever in the history of this great republic that will not do so. ...

Read it here.

Two articles on the dollar's fall

From the UK Telegraph:

... The trade-weighted dollar has lost 22pc since March. One reason is that, since the spring, the Federal Reserve has been printing money like crazy – both to bail out Wall Street and service America's rapidly growing debt.

Sophisticated investors have also been exploiting America's ultra-low 0.25pc interest rate to borrow cheaply in dollars, switch these borrowings in currencies where returns are higher, then pocket the difference. This so-called "carry trade" has flooded foreign exchange markets with US currency.

The dollar fell particularly sharply last week, though, as traders were reminded of the patently obvious – that the White House actually wants the dollar to fall. US Treasury officials have lately taken to staring into the TV cameras, puffing out their chests, then stating: "We are committed to a strong dollar." That's nonsense, of course, because a weaker currency boosts US exports and lowers the value of America's external debt.

When the minutes of the Fed's latest policy meeting were published on Tuesday, describing the dollar's decline as "orderly", the markets rightly took that as confirmation of America's "benign neglect" approach – with intervention to support the dollar unlikely. The minutes also showed the Fed's key committee members voted "unanimously" to keep interest rates at rock-bottom for "an extended period" – another reason to sell.

In addition, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the fund that safeguards US bank deposits, warned that the number of "problem" banks grew in the third quarter, leading to speculation it could seek a credit line from the US Treasury. That would mean more borrowing and money-printing, concerns which sent the dollar even lower.

Yet "benign neglect" is fraught with danger. A weak US currency makes commodities more expensive (seeing as they're priced in dollars). It was when the dollar hit an all-time low of $1.60 against the euro during the summer of 2008 that oil soared to $147 a barrel. Expensive crude damages the economy of the world's biggest oil user. And as the dollar falls, America's huge commodity imports cost more, making the trade deficit even worse.

On top of all that, a falling dollar makes it even more difficult for the US government to meet its massive borrowing needs. Just to service existing debt, America must sell $205bn of Treasuries this year, a total set to hit more than $700bn a year by 2019 – even if annual budget deficits shrink. Selling long-term sovereign debt, in a currency expected to fall, is not easy. [emphasis added] ...

Read it here. And from Yale B-school professor Jeffrey Garten, writing in the Financial Times:

The two most significant structural consequences of the recent financial debacle are the massive deficits and debts of the US and the shift of economic power from west to east. There is only one effective way for governments to address the combined impact of both: press for a sea change in currency relationships, especially a permanently and greatly weakened dollar.

The roots of this situation are well known. The American budget deficit of this past fiscal year reached 10 per cent of gross domestic product, the largest since the aftermath of the second world war. Meanwhile, the net external debt of the US nearly tripled last year to $3,500bn and it is projected to increase by nearly $1,000bn every year for the next decade. All this underestimates the problems of a country where unfunded liabilities for baby boomer entitlements are in the stratosphere, infrastructure deterioration is scandalous and many large states are out of money. To close the gaps, taxes would have to be raised to sky-high levels and spending brutally slashed. It would take a miracle if America’s political system – one rife with vicious partisanship and riddled with well-financed special interests – could do either, let alone both.

Washington will therefore have little choice but to take the time-honoured course for big-time debtors: print more dollars, devalue the currency and service debt in ever cheaper greenbacks. In other words, the US will have to camouflage a slow-motion default because politically it is the easiest way out.

There is another factor pushing America towards a weaker dollar: lacking the domestic consumer demand that came with the unrestrained credit of the past 15 years, the US is desperate to find buyers abroad, especially in emerging markets where the middle class is growing and infrastructure requirements are soaring. A cheaper dollar could make US products and services more competitive.

...

A much cheaper dollar is a sad development for the US, even though it is inevitable. It will make the US poorer, since Americans will pay higher prices for everything they buy from abroad – clothes, computers, cars, toys, food, you name it. It will make the US military presence abroad more expensive, since the cost of contractors and local suppliers will escalate in dollar terms. It will slow imports, removing competition that is essential to hold down the general price level in America, thereby making inflation more likely. It will send the wrong price signals for a country that prides itself on creating sophisticated, highly valuable products, for a low dollar will encourage producers to compete on price more than quality. It will diminish the political influence and prestige that the US has had while the dollar has been king. [emphasis added] ...

Read it here.

Congressional candidate LTC Allen West

Don't know the guy, but I like what he says [thanks to Tom O. for the link]:

Stop, thief!

Tonight's animal theft video:

Denninger: North Korea and Currency Devaluations

From Karl Denninger, on North Korea's 100 to 1 devaluation:

Here's what just happened over in North Korea:

TOKYO -- Chaos reportedly erupted in North Korea on Tuesday after the government of Kim Jong Il revalued the country's currency, sharply restricting the amount of old bills that could be traded for new and wiping out personal savings.

...

The revaluation replaces 1,000 won notes with 10 won notes, but strictly limits the amount of old currency that can be exchanged, news reports said.

100:1.

You had $100,000, you now have $1,000.

You had $100,000,000 (one hundred million), you now have one million.

Oh, and if you tried to cheat by taking it out of the system, only $40 of it is exchangeable - the rest is worth nothing.

Yes, this is North Korea, and Kim Jung-Il isn't exactly a nice guy.

Now let's ask the question nobody wants to ask:

Is America proceeding inexorably down a path where "the wise guys" - that would be Bernanke, Obama, Geithner - have such a plan "in their back pocket" if the dollar should happen to decline precipitously? If the market refuses to buy bonds and they can't finance spending $1.5 trillion more than they take in via taxes?

Remember, Henry Paulson had drawn up the "TARP/EESA" plan in his back pocket six months before he locked Congress in a room one dark September night in 2008 and used it to extort $700 billion of taxpayer money to bail out the banksters on Wall Street, coordinating that with $11 trillion more of Fed and Treasury "commitments." He lied about it being a "necessary immediate response" to an "unforeseen" circumstance - the truth is that he drew up his evil plan and then waited for an appropriate time when he could ramrod it through Congress under threat of martial law.

I'm sure you think it won't happen again, right? We got "change" in November of 2008, yes?

ARE YOU SURE, CONSIDERING THAT YOU ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THE $12 TRILLION THAT THEY MANAGED TO STEAL THE FIRST TIME? [all emphasis in original]...

Read it all here. You should also read the full Washington Post article on the devaluation that Mr. Denninger links to and quotes from above. As Mr. Denninger points out, the U.S. ain't North Korea. But do you trust the clowns at the helm of Obamanation to not keep those printing presses working overtime and run the dollar into the ground at high speed?

James Wesley, Rawles, who runs the excellent and popular SurvivalBlog.com website has, among other things, for some time advised his readers to stock up on non-perishable, barterable tangibles as a store of wealth, rather than holding that money in cash (or equities, bonds, etc.). (See Mr. Rawles' description of some of his barterable tangibles here). Obviously some of your money will need to remain in fiat currency to pay bills, etc., but should the dollar crash or be devalued (same effect), those tangibles can be used as barter items, or for extending Christian charity to friends and neighbors and those less fortunate.

Seems like a wise idea, and those who haven't already started doing exactly that may wish to consider doing so with at least a portion of your funds ASAP, as time is of the essence. Note that barterable tangibles means items like essentials, tools, and other useful items. It does not include crap like big screen flat-panel TVs and other useless consumer entertainment electronics.

By the way, at least a couple of readers of this blog have lived through a currency devaluation firsthand. For those who have never lived through a currency devaluation, understand that it just happens. One day your money's worth x, the next day it's worth x/n (relative to other currencies; in the North Korean example above, to a "new won" that's now the new official currency, with limits on the amount that you can convert from old to new), where "n" is some (typically integer) value greater than 1. Unless you have inside information, the first time you'll learn of it will be via the news. If you haven't already prepared for such an eventuality, it will be too late at that point.

More green hypocrisy

From the UK Times, via Insty:

Hypocrisy is the vice we find hardest to forgive, but it’s also the one we most enjoy discovering in others. And nothing piques our interest more than eco-hypocrisy as practised by the “green” celebrities who have been spouting green virtue but spewing out hundreds of tons of carbon from their private jets or multiple holiday homes around the globe.

There was Sheryl Crow, who had called upon the public to refrain from using more than one square of toilet paper per visit (“except on those pesky occasions when two or three are required”) and who was leading a Stop Global Warming concert tour across America. It was revealed that while Crow travelled in a biodiesel tour bus, her 30-person entourage followed in a fleet of 13 gas-guzzling vehicles.

John Travolta notoriously encouraged the British public to do its bit to fight global warming — after flying into London on one of his five, yes, five private jets (one of which is a Boeing 707). In 2006 his piloting hobby produced an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions, more than a hundred times the output of the average Briton, according to the Carbon Trust.

It is less well known that Tom Cruise — who has campaigned for the LA-based environmental group Earth Communications Office — also has an air fleet and a licence to pilot his five planes, including a top-of-the-line customised Gulfstream jet he bought for his wife, Katie Holmes.

Harrison Ford, who is vice-chairman on the board of Conservation International, voices public-service messages for an environmental federation called EarthShare, and once shaved his chest hair to illustrate the effects of deforestation, is another hobby pilot. He once owned a Gulfstream but now makes do with a smaller Cessna Citation Sovereign eight-seater jet, four propeller planes and a helicopter. ...

Much more celebrity "do as I say, not as I do" here. And from National Review, we learn that the chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is quite the frequent flyer and has evidently never heard of video teleconferencing:

In order to save the planet from global roasting, it seems entirely reasonable to ask Mr. and Mrs. Joe Peasant to subordinate their freedom of movement to an annual "carbon allowance" preventing them flying hither and yon and devastating the environment. As Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, explains:

Hotel guests should have their electricity monitored; hefty aviation taxes should be introduced to deter people from flying; and iced water in restaurants should be curtailed, the world’s leading climate scientist has told the Observer.

Rajendra Pachauri? Hey, if you're manning the VIP lounge at Heathrow, that name may ring a bell:

Dr Rajendra Pachauri flew at least 443,243 miles on IPCC business in this 19 month period. This business included honorary degree ceremonies, a book launch and a Brookings Institute dinner, the latter involving a flight of 3500 miles.

Wow. 443,243 miles. How many flying polar bears does Dr. Pachauri kill in an average quarter? [emphasis added] ...

These deplorable hypocrites always seem happy to lecture us on how we should live our lives, while they fail (often extravagantly) to follow their own advice. Perhaps they're merely experts at showing us how to set a bad example. Or maybe they think the rules shouldn't apply to them, only to us peasants.

Anvil, meet black powder

Tonight's obscure use for black powder -- anvil shooting:

Battle rifle basics

Michael Gaddy shares his thoughts on battle rifles and why you need one [links omitted]:

While anyone with an elementary knowledge of firearms recognizes the advantages of a handgun for concealed and close quarters defense use, the time where a battle rifle could be used for self-defense is rapidly approaching. The size and weight of a handgun provides many advantages but these factors also become a liability if one is forced to defend themselves at a distance of more than a few yards. While there exist handguns used for hunting and target shooting, those are not usually carried or used for self-defense and their effective range is still limited, especially when compared to a battle rifle.

Everyone, with the possible exception of those who still believe answers to our financial woes can be found within the democrat or republican paradigm, know that eventually those economic issues will lead to chaos in this country. When that happens, some 40 million plus who have been told by politicians that they are "entitled" to the property of others will use whatever means available to forcibly take that which they want. The logical scenario will see these folks banding together, most likely in roving bands. They will use numbers and force to steal what others who have seen this coming have set aside for themselves and their loved ones. This criminal activity very possibly could happen with the blessing of the government, for those who are stockpiling food, water, guns and ammunition are already being demonized. The Lever Act of 1917 gave government control over food and fuel storage amounts; it can and will happen again.

Using the events that occurred after Hurricane Katrina as a template, one can see that those who were armed were able to secure themselves and their property on several occasions by simply displaying a firearm when confronted by these roving bands of criminals. Of course after this happened the government moved to forcibly disarm law-abiding citizens. Simply stated, the criminals in government moved to protect their brotherhood among the street gangs and criminal element by disarming law-abiding citizens. This explains in vivid detail why the government continually seeks to disarm the public: it is easier to steal from and enslave those who are unarmed. Considering the police in New Orleans became thieves themselves continues to blur the distinction between government employees and thieves. ...

Read the rest here.

The coming of Caesar

From economist Mark Hendrickson, writing in New Jersey's Cape May County Herald:

We have a problem. This could be “the big one”—bigger than coping with the Ahmadinejads, Kims, and Chavezes of the world and bigger than our current economic woes. Our republic, our society, may be heading for a crackup. We are bankrupt, both financially and politically.

The source of the problem is democracy. Decades of so-called “progressive” thought have led us to abandon the limited-government, constitutional republic established by our founding fathers. In the name of putting more power into the hands of "the people," the government has arrogated sweeping powers.

There is a famous passage (possibly cobbled together from several separate statements and authors) that explains democracy’s fatal flaw, the inherently self-destructive element that caused our founding fathers to distrust democracy (Google “James Madison on democracy” for more):

“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.” ...

Read the rest here. When articles like this start showing up in small mainstream media outlets (in socialist New Jersey, no less), you know the anxiety level is rising fast. The author concludes thusly:

When a financial crackup occurs, those who have been taught to depend on government will demand continued government benefits. If government fails to provide them, those demands could turn violent. On the other hand, if government moves to confiscate a significant chunk of whatever wealth remains in the hands of an already-hurting middle class, then millions of peaceful, law-abiding, hard-working Americans may finally reach the breaking point and rebel, as our forebears did in the 1770s, against a government viewed as abusive and oppressive.

How bad could it get? If the social order breaks down, civil unrest could disrupt markets and shortages of essential goods could occur. The resulting chaos could trigger martial law. A strong leader—a Caesar—could institute some sort of command order. Millions would resent it, but it would be accepted, because the alternative—civil conflict, chronic disorder, and impending starvation—would be intolerable. In such a calamity, Caesar would be the lesser of two evils. The American Republic and Constitution would join earlier democracies in the ashbin of history.

God help us.

A caesar-like (but likely communist) dictator emerging from a societal collapse is certainly a possibility, although it's but one possibility. There are others. A civil war, for example, caused by the imposition of the very martial law that the author mentions. Martial law might entail wholesale confiscation (i.e., theft) of property, and the attempted confiscation of guns to disarm the people. Such a move would almost certainly ignite a shooting, bloody, and brutal civil war. On the plus side, such a war might even result in the restoration of our constitutional republic, albeit at great cost in lives (including those of the tyrants and their agents and enablers, they should note).

Perhaps a civil war could even be avoided, should the military interpose itself on the people's behalf against the would-be tyrants, refusing to obey the tyrants' commands, and forcibly removing them from office. Who knows?

The possibilities are myriad, and the path we will take uncertain, as is the timing. No path exists, however, that is pain free, and much hardship and suffering, economic and possibly otherwise, likely await us all.

By the way, how are those preps going?

BFA seeks volunteers for 'Social Strike Force'

From Buckeye Firearms Association:

We all like to think that if you present the truth, people will flock to it. Unfortunately, that's not the way it works in the real world.

Success in any political battle requires "spreading the word," aggressively and relentlessly. This is especially true with gun rights. To win hearts and minds, to get pro-gun candidates elected, and to assure good gun laws are passed and bad gun laws are defeated, we must get our message out to as many people as possible.

Today, one the most powerful and efficient means of spreading the word is sharing pro-gun stories on social sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

If you use these sites, you already know the power they wield and how they could help Buckeye Firearms Association generate more readers and supporters. In one recent month, we got about 11,000 hits from StumbleUpon alone!

We need patriots like YOU to join our Buckeye Social Strike Force.

The Buckeye Social Strike Force is a team of smart, dedicated pro-gun patriots who use the power of social bookmarking to share stories that appear on our website with millions of other citizens in Ohio and around the U.S.

Here's how it works ...

Read it here.

Hunting for Yuppies

From the New York Times:

THE call to forge deeper connections with the food we eat has pulled thousands to the nation’s farmers’ markets, sprouted a million backyard seedlings and jump-started an interest in scratch baking, canning and other county-fair pursuits.

Now add hunting to the list. Novice urban hunters are forming classes and clubs to learn skills that a few generations ago were often passed down from parent to child.

Jackson Landers, an insurance broker by day, teaches a course here called Deer Hunting for Locavores. Mr. Landers, 31, started the classes earlier this year for largely urban adults who, like him, did not grow up stalking prey but have gravitated to harvesting and cooking their own game.

He tailored his course to food-obsessed city people with lessons on deer biology, habitat and anatomy, and rounded out his students’ education with field trips to a firing range to practice shooting and a session on butchery and cooking. One of the last lessons covered field dressing a freshly killed deer. As the students gathered around, Mr. Landers produced a hunting knife and explained its gut-hook feature, which promised to open the deer “like a zipper.”

“I’d never fired a gun before,” said Michael Davis, 44, a graphic designer and a student in the class. “I grew up in Southern California. We surfed, we didn’t hunt.”

But Mr. Davis, a self-described foodie, said he needed to understand what it means to hunt for food.

“I think going through my life without at least experiencing that most primal thing of hunting would be cheating,” he said. ...

Read the rest here.