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Tonight’s Nancy

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

As most of you know, we’re trying to contain “the Johnson” to a dedicated thread here and there. For tonight’s edition, a look at now – and then. Looking back, only to move forward!

Today from Stop The ACLU:
Excitable Chucky Now Has A Problem With “America Is Good”

We’ve seen this time and time again applied to other conservatives. But, no one does Glenn Beck Derangement Syndrome quite like Charles Johnson, who names Doug Hoffman the “Glenn Beck candidate”

What exactly does Doug Hoffman stand for? And who is he standing with? Would you believe … Glenn Beck?

At the endorsements page of Doug Hoffman For Congress, we find a link to the “Gold List” at 912candidates.org, consisting of politicians who have “pledged their sacred honor” to uphold the Glenn Beck 9/12 Project’s “9 Principles and 12 Values.”

Charles has a problem with the “9 Principles and 12 Values“? Just the “G-d” one or all of them? Enquiring minds and all.

How about a look down memory lane…

Blogmocracy in Action!
Guest post by: Speranza

Like just about all of us, I am pretty much shell shocked whenever I take a peek at a blog that still goes under the name of “Little Green Footballs”. This is because I recall a place that was not so long ago welcoming, informative, and intellectually stimulating before it became an Orwellian parody of a totalitarian blog dictatorship or William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”. We can speculate all we want over what got a hold of the proprietor there but I want to remember the good times that we had there and will select a few occasions that LGF filled a void in right minded peoples’ lives.

The spring of 2002. Let us recall what the Jews of Israel were going through. Day after day of suicide bombings by fanatical members of the religion of peace. The culmination was the March 27, 2002 suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya that ultimately killed 30 people, many of them elderly Holocaust survivors. Let’s see how LGF covered that event…

And again
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/2637_and_again/
comments/#ctop

(copy and past the link location, to get around the redirect)

Note that there was no moral equivalency, no trying to put things into perspective; it was a call for justice and for the decent people of the world to stand up to monsters. No worrying about Jerry Falwell, Fox News, creationists, etc. Charles Johnson knew which way was up and what the real threat was.

Let us jump ahead 24 months later to March 2004 and American citizens are murdered in Fallujah with their bodies mutilated. Of course Markos Moulitisas (of the Daily Kos) says “Screw them!” What was Charles Johnson’s response?

Is this going to stand?
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/
10427_Is_This_Going_To_Stand/
comments/#ctop

(copy and paste the links)

Again, note the moral clarity, the no nonsense approach. No political correctness or worried about being called out as a “hater”. Charles Johnson was a man I respected and admired. I did not worship him as he was just a man but I felt that it was rare to see someone with so much moral clarity and conviction.

Now, let us go back a couple of weeks in March 2004 to this wonderful event

Charles actually prays to the Lord!

Breaking News: Sheik Yassin Finally Dead!
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/
10267_Breaking_News-_Sheik_Yassin_Finally_Dead!/
comments/#ctop

cj_pray

Of course who can forget the great community we had on election night 2004:

So Long! We’ll Miss You! (Not)
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/
13391_So_Long!_Well_Miss_You!_(Not)/
comments/#ctop

Palestinian Car Swarm Watch Redux
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/
17655_Palestinian_Car_Swarm_Watch_Redux/
comments/#ctop

And finally, the 2008 election debates. A good time was had by all. Even Sharmuta sounded like a conservative (and zombie was there!)

Final Presidential Debate 2008, Thread 6
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/
31586_Final_Presidential_Debate_2008_Thread_6/
comments/#ctop

I hope this trip down memory lane reminds us that although we feel betrayed by the 180 degree turn that LGF has taken, not very long ago it was a great place and had so many wonderful, intelligent, and witty people associated with it. Charles Johnson did provide the format but it was the posters who made the blog.

What are the threads/memories that stand out to you as a testament to the good times? I would have to say any thread with Aisha! ~m

Update:

Posted in Guest Post, LGF | 368 Comments »

CAPTION CONTEST #2

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Blogmocracy In Action

Guest Blogger: Macker

Hello fellow Netizens of the Blogmocracy! Well, a certain movie was released on DVD this week, and y’all who don’t want to wait for Skiffy’s bland version in January should get this! In the meantime, I decided to use this photo from that movie for this incarnation (HA!).

Here it is and have at it!

Cavil (2)

Posted in Caption This, Guest Post, Open thread | 684 Comments »

Saturday Night Weapons Thread

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

Blogmocracy in Action!
Guest post by: Iron Fist

Swords, Wonderful Swords
swords

A few weeks ago now I wrote a bit on knives, especially high-dollar knives. Today I want to touch on knives bigger brothers, swords. Sword making is truly an art form, one that has fewer practitioners as time goes on. It is a difficult, fairly low-demand market, and one where actual functionality of a weapon is not necessarily the primary goal of the smith creating the weapon. Thus we have thousands of low-end, factory made weapons that are of inferior quality that flood the market and satisfy most of what demand is there.

These low –end weapons aren’t necessarily cheap, themselves. Paul Chen, is one such manufacturer, and their weapons approach being of what I would consider acceptable quality. They are definitely of sufficient quality for a weapon that one doesn’t require as a weapon of personal defense (I wouldn’t bet my life on them). I have wanted a Chen Naginata for some time now, but have not been able to justify the money for something that is entirely for decoration (although I refuse to decorate with weapons that are not sufficient to the task for which they are ostensibly designed).

At the more moderate price-point, we have blades by a company named Last Legend. I own a daisho (set of katana and wakizashi; the katana being the long sword and the wakizashi being a short sword. The right to carry such a pair of weapons belonged exclusively to the Samurai cast even before Japan passed the draconian weapons-laws that are still basically on the books today) made by this company. Specifically, I own a pair of their top-end 8192-layer forged dual-steel blades. These are way more than is necessary for simple decoration. They are designed to be used, mostly for cutting competition today. They are, quite simply, weapons I would bet my life on if I had to. Last Legend makes only a small quantity of each of their designs (the pair I own was limited to four hundred blades), so they have a measure of potential as collector’s items as the years wear on. These are not (quite) the best production level katanas available. That distinction probably goes to weapons by Bugai. The price differential easily exceeds 100% of the lesser weapon (i.e. the Last Legend).

Where one goes from there is basically the “godawful expensive and up” market. Hand-made, custom swords with Damascus blades, 10,000 layer blades, exotic steels, cryogenic tempering (Last Legend used to offer the cryo-tempering, but do not appear to any longer. My pair are cryo-tempered), and a host of other options come with that decision. The sky really is the limit, up to and including six-figure weapons by top-ranked smiths adorned with gold and jewels.

All the pretty-pretty doesn’t make the weapons more efficient tools for killing, though. The Last Legend is admirably suited to that task. Owning two, I want to get a third. I really like the Taketoshi design. I will eventually get one if their limited run does not run out first.

(Savage, this one’s for you)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Guest Post, Open thread | 399 Comments »

Telephone Town Halls

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Blogmocracy in action!
Guest post by Tommy Torquemada
 

 
Telephone Town Hall Meetings
======================
Why they are a threat, and how to deal with them
The threat
————–

If you have not yet experienced a “virtual” town meeting hosted by a local politician, just wait a few months.

These carefully choreographed and tightly controlled electronic events are being embraced by politicians, mostly Democrats, as a way to avoid actually dealing with their constituents face-to-face at traditional, real-life town meetings, where they might be exposed to inconvenient questions and impertinent criticisms. Of course, you will never hear these same politicians admit that this is why they like these events so much. They always describe telephone town meetings in glowing, positive terms, claiming that they give them the “ability to reach out to more people”, allow them to “hear the concerns and questions of the voters on important issues.”

The reality, not surprisingly, is just the opposite. These telephone town meetings are more typically an abomination that:

1. Allows the politician to screen out any critical or uncomfortable calls, and accept only easy or supportive questions.

2. Enables the politician to inflict his or her views and positions on vast numbers of voters, while giving the false appearance of listening to the questions and concerns of the electorate.

3. Provides the politician with non-verifiable claims for press releases. (”Representative Moonbat held one of his popular telephone town meetings last night, reaching over 35,000 voters in the 69th District. He answered questions from 25 callers, most of whom expressed concern over the lack of progress in health care reform, and supporting his efforts to help pass this critical legislation.”)

4. Allows the politician to stack the “meeting” with union members or other special interest groups. (These friendly callers can dial-in early and queue up the initial questions, before the politican robo-calls out to other voters in the district.)

5. Allows the politician to claim to be soliciting feedback, using biased, meaningless on-line polls with questions like “Which issue is most important to you? 1. Progressive health care legislation. 2. Effective cap and trade legislation. 3. Saving polar bears from global warming. (These polls can also be used to flag potentially unfriendly callers and allow the screeners to block them from getting through to the politician.)

What Can You Do?
—————————-

When a politician in your area announces one of these telephone town halls, register to take part in it. (Or if you get cold-called to participate in one, accept the call and stay on the line.)

IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE ASKING A QUESTION or trying to confront the politician, that’s okay. STAY ON THE LINE AND LISTEN TO HOW THE WHOLE THING PLAYS OUT. ANALYZE WHAT YOU ARE HEARING AND EVALUATE JUST HOW CONTROLLING AND DISHONEST YOUR “REPRESENTATIVE” IS. In most cases, you will probably be incredulous and horrified at just how creepy these events can be. Listen to the “moderator” and how she or he presents callers. Does the politician get any articulate, critical comments or questions? Or are they all softballs and expressions of support? How many supportive callers identify themselves (either explicitly or inferentially) as members of unions or other special interest groups? Does it sound like the calls are all stacked in the politician’s favor? Listen to any “poll” questions: are they honest, fact-finding questions to gauge the feelings of the callers, or are they phony, biased queries that don’t even give you the option of dissenting from the politician’s stands?

BEWARE: If you intend to try to ask a question (see below), your answers to these polls can identify you as “unfriendly” and ensure that you will NOT get past the screeners. Best to avoid the poll questions altogether.

At the end of the telephone town meeting, how do you feel? Are you disgusted by what you heard? Read the politician’s press releases in the following days regarding the telephone town meeting that you just listened to. Do the claims match your own experience? If you are concerned, write letters to the editor, and also consider writing to your local news media demanding that they investigate the fraud and false claims inherent in this latest assault on the voters. And talk to your detached, moderate friends who tend not to pay attention. They need to be made aware of these electronic forums and exposed to the dishonesty built into them.

IF YOU ARE UP FOR ASKING A QUESTION, you need to play the system.
Remember, if the politician is a moonbat, you will NOT get past the screeners by being honest and saying up front that you want to ask a difficult or uncomfortable question, so be prepared. You need to act like a moonbat and talk like a moonbat, no matter how alien it feels. The screeners are on the look-out for people trying to slip by them, so it’s not sufficient to have a single, prepared, diversionary question. Be prepared to answer follow-up screener questions, and answer them like a true believer. But don’t overact, and don’t allow sarcasm to slip into your voice. Your goal is to convince the screener that you want to ask the politician a friendly question like “Representative Moonbat, I’m very concerned about passing a truly progressive health care bill. Do you support a public option, and if so what are you doing to help ensure that any health care bill includes it?”

If you make it past the screeners, and if the politician actually takes your question, ease into it. If possible, prepare ahead of time, and be very familiar with the politician’s record and past votes. Make sure that you start with a comment related to your screened question, and begin your comment in a friendly fashion, because if they sense that you are setting up for a critical comment, they can and will cut you off before you finish your statement. For example:

[Moderator: "Our next caller is Bob, who has a concern about meaningful health care reform."]

“Hi Representative Moonbat.”

“Hi, Bob”

“I just want say Thank You very much for having this town meeting. I think it’s a great idea.”

“Thank you, Bob, I enjoy having this opportunity to speak directly to everybody in the 69th District”

“Representative Moonbat, I know that you are working very hard to help pass progressive health care reform, and I know that you also have a very strong record in related areas, such as trying to protect our children by introducing strong gun control measures and getting assault weapons off the street…”

“Well, I try Bob, but I wish some of my conservative friends would be a little more helpful on that one, heh heh heh.”

“Right, and I know you’ve tried to protect our civil liberties by opposing the Patriot Act, and since you also voted to continue funding ACORN and to vote against illegal immigration controls and against several National Security bills, I was wondering what other measures you were planning to support in order to weaken this nation and destroy the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”

Of course, this is just an example and you should tailor your own comments to your personal concerns and to your own politician. At this point, you will probably be cut off, but there is a chance that the politician may actually come back with a retort, so be prepared. Nothing will undercut the credibility of your comment faster than being caught off guard and following up with nothing more than an Obamaesque “Uh…uh…Well, uh…”

If you are articulate and convincing, you can use the telephone town hall forum to your advantage and let thousands of people on the phone hear a valid criticism of the politician, probably voicing concerns that they themselves had been feeling.

Further reading
———————–

Although these telephone town meetings have been around for several years, they have only started to become popular in the past couple of years, and many politicians embraced them during the August 2009 recess to avoid confrontational meetings with their constituents regarding health care. Therefore, not a lot of critical reporting has been done, with some notable exceptions listed below. Otherwise, you need to do your own research:

1. Politco’s Erika Lovely wrote a great article on this topic last month:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27404.html

2. Politco also provides a very interesting screenshot of a tele-townhall control panel (in this case, Broadnet Teleforum). It’s worth taking the time to bring up the PDF and carefully examining the displayed information and the controls:

http://www.politico.com/static/PPM43_080219_teleconfscreen.html

The Broadnet Teleforum web site is at:

http://www.broadnetconnects.com/Teleforum.html

This screenshot was provided as part of an earlier (Feb. 2008) Politico article on the subject, written by Josephine Hearn:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8586_Page2.html

3. Another business that is offering tele-townhall services is OrangePoint Communications (http://www.orangepoint.net/town_hall_teleconference.html). It’s unclear if they have their own software, or if they are just a Service Provider making use of somebody else’s product like Broadnet Teleforum.

4. It is enlightening to Google politicians’ press releases describing their use of these electronic forums:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=”telephone+town+hall”+”press+release”

Notice the uniformity of the phrases about reaching out to thousands of voters, getting feedback, and how the on-line polls showed overwhelming support for the politician’s positions.

These telephone townhalls have already, stealthily, worked their way into the political landscape. Most people don’t seem to be aware of them, or how they threaten the feedback traditionally provided by face-to-face meetings with politicians. If you are as concerned about these issues as I am, I urge you to educate yourself about them, pass on what you learn to your family and friends, and learn how to navigate through the system the next time one is offered in your community, so that your politician will be exposed to those opinions that he or she would prefer to ignore.

Tags:
Posted in Blogmocracy, Guest Post | 265 Comments »

Obama’s Ridiculous Attack On FOX News

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Blogmocracy In Action

Guest Post by “TypicalWhitey”

Perusing the headlines today, I am finding a common thread among them: Man up Obama!

Instead of engaging his opposition he has decided to demonize it. I have been seeing this and wondering…why in the world is Obama doing this? What can he possibly gain from this? Does he think this will bring more folks over to his side of the issues?

What I have concluded though is this.

Obama has never, in his entire career, run into real opposition to what he has to say. Think about it, what other candidate could attend a racist church, associate with past terrorists, make comments such as “my grandmother reacted as a typical white person” and remain a viable candidate? The MSM allowed him to explain each of the instances away, being in such awe of his ability to read off a teleprompter.

So therefore, Obama thinks that just by using words, that people will automatically believe him. This has always worked for him in the past. What Obama doesn’t understand about the American people though is the fact that you can only baffle us with bullshit for so long before people start noticing that there isn’t much meat on the bone.

There’s only one thing dumber than picking a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel — picking a fight with people who don’t even have to buy ink. The Obama administration’s war on Fox News is dumb on multiple levels. It makes the White House look weak, unable to take Harry Truman’s advice and just deal with the heat. It makes the White House look small, dragged down to the level of Glenn Beck. It makes the White House look childish and petty at best, and it has a distinct Nixonian — Agnewesque? — aroma at worst. It is a self-defeating trifecta: it distracts attention from the Obama administration’s substantive message; it serves to help Fox, not punish it, by driving up ratings; and it deprives the White House, to the extent it refuses to provide administration officials to appear on the cable network, of access to an audience that is, in fact, broader than hard-core Obama haters.”

The rest of the article.

Does he not notice his approval ratings dropping and his disapproval ratings rising? His advisers must be telling him to attack Fox. They must be telling him that by attacking Fox he will discredit them. Because that is what he is attempting to do.

He apparently has no one who will tell him that this is working against him! That all this is accomplishing is through the roof ratings for his “opposition”!

Instead of discrediting them, he is raising them to the level of the Presidency. He is wasting his time on a news channel, simply because they critique his policies!

This makes him look petty and small. He appears to be a thin skinned and weak; and the LAST thing the American people want in a President is a …..whiner

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Barack Obama, Guest Post, Politics | 317 Comments »

Bret Stephens Agrees: Obama Is An Anti-Human Rights President

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Blogmocracy In Action!

Guest Post by “Delectable”

I have repeatedly stated that Obama is at war with human rights around the globe.  On Blogmocracy, I have called him an anti-human rights president.  He backs the oppression of humanity in every country on earth, without any exception I am aware of.  This great article, written by Bret Stephens, explains this well.

Nobody should get too hung up over President Obama’s decision, reported by Der Spiegel over the weekend, to cancel plans to attend next month’s 20th anniversary celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Germany’s reunited capital has already served his purposes; why should he serve its?

…

China: In February, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton landed in Beijing with a conciliating message about the country’s human-rights record. “Our pressing on those [human-rights] issues can’t interfere on the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis,” she said.

In fact, there has been no pressing whatsoever on human rights. President Obama refused to meet with the Dalai Lama last month, presumably so as not to ruffle feathers with the people who will now be financing his debts. In June, Liu Xiaobo, a leading signatory of the pro-democracy Charter 08 movement, was charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” But as a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Beijing admitted to the Journal, “neither the White House nor Secretary Clinton have made any public comments on Liu Xiaobo.”

Sudan: In 2008, candidate Obama issued a statement insisting that “there must be real pressure placed on the Sudanese government. We know from past experience that it will take a great deal to get them to do the right thing. . . . The U.N. Security Council should impose tough sanctions on the Khartoum government immediately.”

Exactly right. So what should Mr. Obama do as president? Yesterday, the State Department rolled out its new policy toward Sudan, based on “a menu of incentives and disincentives” for the genocidal Sudanese government of Omar Bashir. It’s the kind of menu Mr. Bashir will languidly pick his way through till he dies comfortably in his bed.

Iran: Mr. Obama’s week-long silence on Iran’s “internal affairs” following June’s fraudulent re-election was widely noted. Not so widely noted are the administration’s attempts to put maximum distance between itself and human-rights groups working the Iran beat.

Earlier this year, the State Department denied a grant request for New Haven, Conn.-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. The Center maintains perhaps the most extensive record anywhere of Iran’s 30-year history of brutality. The grant denial was part of a pattern: The administration also abruptly ended funding for Freedom House’s Gozaar project, an online Farsi- and English-language forum for discussing political issues.

It’s easy to see why Tehran would want these groups de-funded and shut down. But why should the administration, except as a form of pre-emptive appeasement?

In Massachusetts not long ago, I found myself driving behind a car with “Free Tibet,” “Save Darfur,” and “Obama 08″ bumper stickers.  I wonder if it will ever dawn on the owner of that car that at least one of those stickers doesn’t belong.

There is more – please read it all!

It is important to be aware that Obama is a self-styled progressive.  The anti-human rights nature of our progressive president shows the cognitive dissonance of the trans-nationalists (or “tranzis”) who pretend to believe in universal ideals of “hope” and “change,” only to then later stand for stagnation and despair when they enter office.
It thus is no surprise that Obama should follow this anti-human rights pattern.  And it is no surprise to me that Obama refuses to use his UN veto against the Goldstone defamation report against Israel. He thus will apparently be pushing for action on the Goldstone Report – including possible sanctions against Israel (a democractic state which adheres to the highest ideals of human rights) - while blocking sanctions against Iran (a thugocracy that shoots its citizens in the streets and rapes and tortures its prisoners).
This is where Obama stands today.  He has revealed himself as the anti-human rights president.  The good news is that others are starting to see this.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Barack Obama, China, Democratic Party, Guest Post, Iran, Israel, Leftists, Politics, Progressives, Tranzis, World | 228 Comments »

The Nightly Nancy – Gimme dat Ding

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

~Blogmocracy in action~
Guest post by: snork!

A few of us have noticed the psycho lab that 1.0 has become since the institution of dings and karma. Well, my dogma (freedom) is peeing on their karma. But to really understand the diabolical device that this is, you first have to understand Pavlov’s dog. When simple-minded creatures learn that they can do something simple, and get instant gratification, they do more of it. After doing it enough, they can be made to salivate on a bell ring. Or a blog ding. And pretty soon, the ding becomes the thing, and they crave them, and can’t explain why. So here’s to the dingbats, Jonesing on the overnight thread:

That’s right, that’s right
I’m sad and blue
‘Cause I can’t use the karma tool
I’m lost, I’m lost
Can’t do my thing
That’s why I sing
Gimme, Gimme Dat Ding ah..

[Refrain]:

[Gimme Dat, Gimme Dat
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Dat
Gimme Dat Ding, Gimme Dat
Gimme, Gimme Dat, Gimme Dat Ding
Gimme Dat, Gimme, Gimme Dat,
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Dat Ding]
(Oh Sing it one more time Momma)

Oh, [Refrain]
(Ah, you ain’t doin’ that late at night)

Ah, what good’s a blogging home
Without a button for dinging?
How well can anybody tell what Dear Leader thinks?
How can you tell which lizard to throw under the bus?
How can you ever hope to know who’s not with us?
Gimme Dat, (Gimme Dat) Ah Gimme Dat (Gimme Dat)
Ah Gimme Dat, (Gimme Dat) Gimme Dat,
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme,
(Ah Gotcha!)

[Refrain]

[Honky Tonk Piano Interlude]

[Refrain]

Ah, what do we really know about the Master of the Dings?
Does anybody really, really know which way he swings?
I crave the dinging like Ed Mahmoud craves the bar.
I need my dings even though this place has gone bizarre.
Gimme Dat, Ah Gimme Dat
Ah Gimme Dat, Gimme Dat,
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme,

[Refrain]
 

Tags:
Posted in Guest Post, LGF, Open thread | 436 Comments »

Caption Contest: Photo!

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Blogmocracy in Action

Guest Blogger: Macker

“OK, Blogmocracy Netizens! I found this going through my stuff…and it’s so zany it deserves a Caption Contest…the very first one here.  Have at it!”

Update by Macker: CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Here are the winners…congratulations!

WIN: song_and_dance_man: “Aye carumba, look at the clock – it’s time to go to the Home Depot space terminal.”
PLACE: osama bin porkchop: “On the next episode of Battlestar Tejano…..”
SHOW: Escovado, who knew which series this was from: “First we have space aliens to fight at moonbase, now we have to deal with illegal aliens!” (From UFO, episode 25: ‘Mindbender’)
HONORABLE MENTION: Irish Ho: “OK amigos one more hand, winner gets Sharmuta for the night.
“What does the loser get?”
“Loser gets sharmuta for the whole month!”

Thank you all for participating!

caption_contest1

Tags:
Posted in Caption This, Guest Post, Open thread | 117 Comments »

Saturday night WEAPON thread

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Blogmocracy in Action
Guest post by: Iron Fist
knife
And now for something a little different.  It is no secret that as weapons go, knives are my favorite weapon.  They offer a tremendous amount of diversity of design.  The steel they are made of, the materials used in the construction of the hilt, the length of the blade, the angle of the hilt all come together to define the weapon.    In no particular order, these are some links for knives.  You can find almost anything you want, from fancy art knives to cheap utility knives for sale on the web.  Enjoy.

http://www.eliteknives.com/index.htm

http://steeladdictionknives.com/store/index.php?osCsid=0a132b2ba2d7bad96f7fe29b4fb95730

http://www.mercworx.com/EN/newitems.html

http://www.spartanbladesusa.com/cart/

http://www.emersonknives.com/

http://www.888knivesrus.com/

http://topsknives.com/

http://www.knifemart.com/browse.asp?ManuID=176

http://www.switchblade-knives.it/

http://www.benchmade.com/

Tags: ,
Posted in Blogmocracy, Guest Post, Open thread | 314 Comments »

Never mess with a man who owns but one gun

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Blogmocracy in Action!
Guest post by JeremyR
guns jeremyr

I’ve included a pic from my collection. Near to far they are a Mossberg 800 in .243, an Eddystone M-1917 30-06, an M1A 308, A Bushmaster Carbon 15 pistol and A Marlin Glennfield 75C .22 which I modified myself back in 1986.

Paraphrased, the saying goes never mess with a man who owns but one gun, chances are he knows exactly how to use it. Those who have read my comments on various blogs, including my own, know by now that I own quite a few more then just one. Its no secret. I began collecting when I was sixteen, and gun smithing when I was twenty two. It is by no means a profession for me, but rather a serious hobby dedicated to freedom.

In the wars that were raged in the early part of the twentieth century, the arms of the soldier were bolt action repeater rifles. Some machine guns were in use, but for the man in the trench, his beloved was a bolt action Enfield, Mauser, or Springfield. Accuracy mattered. The second shot required actions that made follow up placement difficult. As history marched on, newer weapons replaced accuracy with volume. By Vietnam, thousands of rounds were being fired for every enemy killed. Men like Carlos Hathcock reintroduced the art of the single shot kill. Snipers were long a dirty word, and in many conflicts, a sniper captured by the enemy was assured a horrible death. The idea of a hunter of man on an urban field was unfair to many.

A lot of debates are afire these days regarding guns. With the looming threat of congressional action to reinstate the various bans and forge new ones, a run on the bank has ensued. What to buy, what to buy what to buy. The question is enormous. If you have limited funds as many of us now do, the idea of a good black rifle would require a considerable investment of precious dollars and might involve a wait of many months. To what avail? If the dems were to succeed in a ban, one would be forced to act fast in a rapidly shrinking market with a just as rapidly expanding cost factor. Not a good place to be in. Ammo would be limited as well. What to do?

The reasons for owning a gun are many, Home defense, sport shooting and hunting are only three very good reasons to have firearm. Who needs a reason though, isn’t it a constitutionally protected right? We live in troubled times though. The constitution is under assault by evil forces. Make no mistake they have an agenda, and it is not keeping junior from accidentally shooting the kitten either. If you add anarchy prevention and national defense you stand a chance at getting to the crux of the problem. Frankly, everyone should own a gun.

So what gun is the right choice? Any gun store worth its salt will have several hundred to chose from in a range of calibers that boggles the mind. You could go with a black gun, arms such as the venerable AR-15, civilian cousin to the oft derided M-16 mighty mattel. You can opt for an SKS on a budget, or even an old L3A3 CMETE, or other variant of a foreign service rifle.

If you want my advise, and if you’ve read this far, you do, get two guns. Pick out a good well built .22 rifle to plink and practice with. Practice does not make perfect, but it gives you an understanding of why you missed and where to place the next shot. There are several good options out there, the Ruger 10-22 and marlin 60 series families are both great options. Both are well built and have a confirmed reputation for durability and reliability.

The second rifle is the harder choice. A good hunting or varmint grade rifle can be had for a lot less then an AR. Half or less, and if you shop carefully, even as low as 1/6 the price of an AR.

Caliber is another consideration. I recommend something in a popular caliber. We can debate all day the advantages of our pet round. Whether it be the 270 vs 30-06 argument, or comparisons of the 257 Roberts vs the 280 Remington or 6.8 SPC vs 6.5 Grendel, days weeks or years can be wasted on mind numbing commentary. I advise that you pick a caliber that is common and reasonable. No use going bankrupt on a box of ammo. The goal here is to get good and be confident.

Getting to know your weapon isn’t crazy. As part of my training, we would take several weapons and put the parts in a box. With a blindfold on, we would attempt to reassemble those firearms with ever faster times being the goal. Ever see the scene in The Unit where Brown is tested? Its real, we do that. Malfunctions happen in the dead of night when a simple light will draw unwanted attention and bullets. Knowing what to do is as important as shot placement.

Most people are 100 yard shooters. They do not take the time to practice, and therefore anything in the medium range and beyond is a waste of lead. Practice folks, that is what the 22 is all about. With a little effort its possible to group 2 inches at 200 yards with a Ruger 10-22. If my wife can, you can. Don’t pick perfect days to shoot either. Bad things happen at the wrong times for the wrong reasons. I spent an afternoon several months ago with a 40 mph plus cross wind popping Pepsi bottles. I was giving over a foot of Kentucky windage to keep the shots on target.

Red Dawn laid out scenario of a massive invasion by Soviet and Cuban forces. The odds of that happening are slim, unless of course, you live in Georgia Armenia, or any other Former Soviet Republic. If the USA were to be attacked successfully, something would have to be done first to cripple our armed forces. Four years of democrat control of congress won’t quiet do that, but it sure won’t help. Frankly, many evil forces wait for the chance to pounce. We are big, soft, and vulnerable if our military is distracted or depleted. Learning the basics of marksmanship could be essential.

Am I saying the Cubans are waiting? No, I’m not. Other dangers lurk for you and your family. As drug usage increases, and our economy continues to tank, those who live on the fringe of the law are becoming more desperate. If you live on the outskirts of town, on a dark street, or in a bad area, you could be vulnerable. Frankly, thugs can go just about anywhere. The down and outers may see you as wealthy and take covetousness to the next level. They regard your hard earned property as community, and if the law is away, thugs will prey. Best be prepared. Yes, that might be a close quarters encounter, but its one you’d better win. Some years back. A group of narco officers confronted a car load of determined criminals. All members were armed with a high capacity semi auto. All members had at least one spare mag of ammo. The entire dance was caught by a security camera on a nearby building. The festivities began with the bad guys bailing out of their vehicle as the cops exited theirs. With no formalities, both sides drew and commenced to fire. Nearly 180 rounds were fired by five men at a distance of less then fifty feet. There was no cover as they were between the vehicles, not by the doors. The act ended when the bad guys, out of ammo, selected the Jesse Owens option and ran for their freedom. One was tackled on camera while the other made it several hundred yards, returning in cuffs less then a minute later. As I remember it, only one guy was nicked, and it was debatable whether it was a bullet or a glass fragment that hit him. These Police were professionals. That they missed such close shots speaks volumes to the effects of adrenaline on the human condition. That no bystanders were hit also speaks volumes, it was not an empty street.

In any scenario you encounter, chances are you won’t need a hundred rounds unless you plan on missing. A lot. Even if it came to a civil war here at home, you, Joe Average, probably won’t need the thousand rounds of full auto capability we all dream of. Mobs would likely consist of a half dozen at most. Frankly, drugies usually are too paranoid to last in large groups.

In your house, you will face added factors, location of family will be of tantamount importance.

Preparation is physical and mental. Have a plan. Have a back up plan. Be ready, now is not the time for drunken stupor. Know yourself and be confident. You can win only if you train, so my admonition to you is become the man who knows exactly how to use it.

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