Each politician should have to wear a suit with his major donors like NASCAR racers
How'd That Get There, Daddy?
Governor Deval Patrick signed a budget yesterday that imposes more than $1 billion in additional taxes on Massachusetts residents and visitors, most of it through the first increase in the state sales tax in 33 years, even as he declined to rule out a future boost in the state gas tax.Got that? $1 billion in new taxes isn't enough to feed the Leviathan. We need more, more, more. The state's appetite for your tax dollars is a ravenous glutton, one that can never be sated by a mere sales tax alone. We were sold a false bill of goods: Support the sales tax increase and the tolls/gas tax won't go up. Only the ink wasn't even dry on the sales tax increase (New Hampshire, you're welcome BTW) when the talk of increasing the tax on gasoline (you know, what we use to drive to New Hampshire to avoid the sales tax) started.
Patrick, whose earlier proposal for a 19-cent-per-gallon increase in the gasoline tax was largely ignored by the Legislature, continued to make the case yesterday that the tax could be necessary to put the state’s transportation network on sounder financial footing.
Is it just me, or does that man have a lot of tax-signin' pens on his desk? That is all.
Old School
Yes, that is an actual, honest-to-goodness "BELL SYSTEMS PROPERTY" rotary phone from 1968 (in the comments to Tam's post, I had erroneously stated that I thought the phone was older). I retrieved this from my grandmother's house when she passed in 2002; it had been sitting in the garage for about 20 years. It replaced a much older rotary phone in the late '60s or early 70s, a concession to my grandfather's advancing age and hearing loss - there's an adjustable volume control in the handset.
1960s state of the art, baby!
One of these days I'm going to drive my nerd butt down to Radio Shack and get the adapters needed to convert this to a standard house jack. I don't know if it would be easier to find a converter and put one of the four-pronged plugs on the end (remember those? Weren't those the damnedest things ever?) and then get the adaptor to a standard plug.
And then I'm gonna call every single automated voice-mail hell-customer service number I can think of, because I've got a rotary phone, beeyotch!
Heh. That is all.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Some of those seated in the pews of New Bethel Church here Saturday night, their firearms tucked to their sides, saw themselves as modern-day pioneers.
“This country started by people gathering together in churches and complaining about taxation and about their current government, King George III, taking armaments that they had,” said Chesley Kemp, 61, a family doctor with his Kimber .45 Auto at his side.
(CNN) -- Infomercial pitchman Billy Mays died at his Tampa, Florida, home Sunday morning, authorities told CNN.News reports claim that he may have suffered a bump on his head from a rough landing that may or may not have have contributed to his demise. Since there is trauma, police cannot rule out foul play. Given the nature of Mays' TV pitchwork, a police spokeperson called a conference to ask for assistance in ruling out foul play.
The 50-year-old known for his shouting OxiClean ads was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. The Hillsborough County medical examiner will perform an autopsy, Tampa police Lt. Brian Dugan said.
Carry Ammo
That's a 158 grain .357 Magnum, a 95 grain .380 ACP +P, and a 230 grain .45 ACP, all jacketed hollowpoints. These fill, respectively, the Snubbie from Hell, the P3AT, and the G30. All are (or were, given the past six months or so) readily available and affordable for practice; all feed reliably in their intended arms. I'm more comfortable relying on the .357 Magnum or .45 ACP for self-defense, but the .380 ACP will do in a pinch in a package that's small enough to take anywhere.
So what's your favorite/preferred caliber for self-defense?
That is all.
PICO RIVERA, Calif. — Authorities in the Los Angeles area say three people have been killed and seven others injured in a drive-by shooting outside a pizza restaurant where a motorcycle group was hosting an event.How could this happen? According to the Brady Campaign, California has the highest ranking of all 50 states for gun laws. There should be essentially no gun violence in the state of California, what with their state license required, "universal" background check (I assume this is separate from the NICS check, as other states get a 0 for not having it), one-handgun-a-month law, etc. yielding a score of 79 out of 100 for 2008 (MA got a 54, NJ got a 63, and NY a 51).
Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Keith Ho says 10 people gathered in the parking lot of the restaurant in Pico Rivera were shot at from a moving vehicle Saturday evening.
This day wasn't just seized, it was wrestled to the ground and choked into submission...
That is all.
Winchester Model 1400
The 1400 had a relatively short run from 1964 to 1994. This particular gun is a semi-automatic 16 gauge shotgun chambered for 2¾" shells. The general consensus on the 1400 is that they're not quite as nice as the Remington 1100, but generally a solid semi-auto shotgun that can be had for cheap money.
I just wish 16 gauge ammo wasn't rarer than hen's teeth so I could put this fine shotgun through its paces...
That is all.
My Blogfather JayG, who not only was the prime mover getting me to start this little corner of Al Gore's Intarwebz, but who has been insanely generous with his time, advice, and range time. Jay, you already know how much I appreciate all you've done, but I wanted to say it anyway.Awww, shucks. I'm only too happy to help. Besides, we need to get together to fling lead soon. Besides the 2nd Annual NE Blogshoot, that is...
Lawmakers shocked by the brutal beating of little Nathaniel Turner allegedly at the hands of his father are pushing anew for the death penalty as the only punishment that fits the sickening crime.
“The way that boy was beaten and tortured, it’s unconscionable. It’s deplorable,” said House Rule Chairman John J. Binienda (D-Worcester). “I would definitely vote for that.”
[Speaker of the House Robert] DeLeo, who has supported the death penalty in votes taken on the House floor, declined to comment last night. Other members of his leadership team, including Majority Leader James Vallee (D-Franklin) and assistant majority leader Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy) have also backed the death penalty in previous votes.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - One person was killed and a second injured during a home invasion early Wednesday morning in south Nashville.
According to police, the invasion happened around 2 a.m. on Moss Landing Drive in Antioch. Police said two suspects were waiting outside when two residents arrived home. The suspects forced the residents inside and held them at gunpoint.
At one point there was a struggle for the gun and that is when police said the suspect was shot and killed and one of the residents was wounded.
ROME, Italy (CNN) — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi denies allegations that he paid prostitutes to attend parties he hosted at his various homes.Right off the bat he's lying. He's been married - he's paid for sex before. Most likely dearly...
In an interview with Italian magazine Chi, the 72-year old denied he had ever paid for sex.
Now that's Italian!“I’ve never paid a woman. I never understood where the satisfaction is when you’re missing the pleasure of conquest”
Sweet Sixteen's in Less than 10 Years, Daddy
(CNN) -- Ed McMahon, the longtime pitchman and Johnny Carson sidekick whose "Heeeeeeerre's Johnny!" became a part of the vernacular, has died.Rest in Peace, Ed. Obviously your liver - the butt of much of Johnny's ribbing - wasn't in as bad of a shape as we thought. Either that, or you were already pickled and that's what kept you alive so long...
McMahon passed away peacefully shortly after midnight at the Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center, his publicist, Howard Bragman, said Tuesday
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A mystery surrounding the whereabouts of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was apparently solved late Monday when a Sanford spokesman said he was hiking along the Appalachian Trail.
"I apologize for taking so long to send this update, and was waiting to see if (we had) a more definitive idea of what part of the trail he was on before we did so," Joel Sawyer said in an e-mail to reporters.
Sanford's whereabouts were unaccounted for Monday when he stepped out of the public eye following a bruising session with the state Legislature. Even his wife, Jenny, said she did not know where he was, The Associated Press reported, according to The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina.
Hi Jay,
So I'm surfing around and bump into your site by accident. A brief look and I think to myself - another motherfucking Obama hating well armed fanatic. But hey, MArooned is a good name, and the MA part is kinda clever...I should read more carefully. And I must say you seem like a smart guy, with some intelligent people commenting on your posts. I especially liked the Justice for All discussion - much more thoughtful than the usual talk radio crap, IMHO.
Anyway I am a history graduate student. I think American historians have missed the importance of the gun culture in the first hundred years, as well as the gradual disarmament of the general populace in the next hundred. So I some questions for you, and anyone else who might care to answer:
When the constitution was ratified the adult male population, (not including slaves and some other categories), constituted a militia. People owned muskets and rifles. Towns and cities typically owned some artillery. I suppose an individual could own an artillery piece if he really wanted to. The point is that an effective military unit could be formed at short notice without any assistance from the state or federal government. Hence the 2A was a tremendous barrier to government tyranny.
Over time this has changed. The right to bear arms is curtailed - we may only purchase certain weapons, certain kinds of ammo and so forth. The most effective weapons are restricted to the military. The functional equivalent to the old musket is the modern assault rifle - supplemented I would say by other automatic weapons, anti-tank and anti-air missiles, grenades and grenade launchers, and so forth. The equivalent to the cannon is of course tanks, apc's, jet aircraft, and various kinds of artillery.
So the questions:
1. Is the populace, in comparison to the government, essentially disarmed?
2. Is the 2A effectively gutted by the government monopoly on the most powerful weapons?
3. Should the NRA be lobbying not just for gun rights but for the restoration of local militias armed with the most modern military weapons?
Tim
1. Essentially disarmed? No. We still have a wide variety of options readily available, and even more if one has the time, money, and/or connections.
2. Yes and no. To the best of my knowledge, private individuals can't own functioning tanks or fighter jets; however there's a pretty big discussion on the original intent of the founding fathers as to whether the 2A means all arms or just small arms. Personally, I fall into the "whatever you can afford and not screw up with" category, but that's me.
3. Should they? Hell yes. Will they? Hell no. The NRA is nothing if not practical, and lobbying for "ZOMG TEH MACHINE GUNZ!!!!" will bring them naught but pain. Better to work to repeal the dumbest of the dumb gun laws and halt further encroachments than to go out on a limb for FA (full auto) or explosives.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.There are some who argue that as long as the American people are allowed to own single-shot .22 rifles, the Second Amendment is intact (I disagree, most vociferously one can imagine). Others (and I fall squarely into this camp) firmly believe that "shall not be infringed" means what it means; that the average American should be allowed the same tools available to the government. If the private citizen can afford their own armored personnel carrier, power to them. If they want to stockpile machine guns, rocket launchers, or .50 caliber sniper rifles, go to town. Only punish the misuse of these items, not the potential.
You watch that clip and you can see that several studio sets are going to be needing new seat cushions - these people were behaving like Traci Lords at a big dick convention.
The state’s highest court plans to review the constitutionality of a recently challenged state law that requires gun owners to lock their weapons, making it the first test in Massachusetts of a landmark US Supreme Court ruling that Americans have the constitutional right to own guns and stow them as they see fit.
The SJC decided to review the law less than a year after a Lowell District Court judge dismissed firearms charges against a Billerica man whose handicapped son was accused of shooting a BB gun at a neighbor and who then showed police officers where his father kept other unlocked weapons.
Harvey Silverglate, a civil liberties lawyer in Boston, who argues that the Second Amendment should apply to the states.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – A day after former President George W. Bush seemed to criticize the Obama administration for departing from a number of his anti-terrorism policies, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs fired back.
Asked about Bush's remarks during Thursday's press briefing Gibbs had a simple response. "We won," Gibbs told reporters.
I *Think* That's Enough...
MESA - An attempted home invasion early Thursday ended with one person dead and a police investigation.
According to the Mesa Police Department two Hispanic males broke in to a home near Baseline Road and Stapley Drive around 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
The home owner opened fire on the men and the home invasion ended in the death of one of the suspects and the other seriously injured.
So the robbers rounded the home owner and the rest of the folks in the house (according to the TV coverage) into a room... that contained a shotgun. LOL! Bad luck, robbers. Good job, homeowner!
WASHINGTON — The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants the flyswatter in chief to try taking a more humane attitude the next time he's bedeviled by a fly in the White House.
PETA is sending President Barack Obama a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher, a device that allows users to trap a house fly and then release it outside.
So—what’s the right thing to do for a parent who believes in the value of responsible gun ownership, the futility of prohibition measures, and the right to self-defense (even if it’s against imaginary giant spiders?) How do I reconcile my personal beliefs, the rules of gun safety, and my kid’s inability to fully understand the concepts of death and killing?
Directed interest is DEFINITELY the way to go. That’s what I’ve done with TheBoy, and it’s turned out great.
You get a chance to drill the Four Rules into their heads until they know them in their sleep. They learn safe and proper gun handling. Most importantly, IMHO, they learn that guns are not objects to be feared, but tools with which one must exercise care and caution.
No fear.
No sweeping under the rug.
Just “Here it is. Here’s how you handle it responsibly. Any infractions and it gets taken away”.
Trust me on this one. Once you’ve relieved Quinn of his favorite Nerf gun, Star Wars blaster, or cap gun for the nth time, he will rapidly equate “pointing gun at Lyra” with “gun goes bye-bye”…
And I’ll close with this shot: http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv330/stuckma09/MagicKingdom021.jpg
Notice the placement of TheBoy’s trigger finger…
Yeah. We needed to drop a hundred large on signs exhorting MA drivers to "drive carefully"... Okay, that's enough depressing/infuriating news for now...
That is all.
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