OMG! AWB!

So, here we go. Yet again. The whole thing is getting tiresome, and I've got a sneaking suspicion I haven't heard the last of it.

It works like this:

1. Someone in the current administration says, "hey, wouldn't it be great to bring the Assault Weapons Ban back?"


2. People on the internet (or Bob over in accounting, who "knows guns"), who have no clue how politics works, go into apoplexy. They start screaming that the Last Days have come, and discuss how they're going to cope. Usually this involves the phrase, "from my cold dead hands."


3. I am regaled, via internet and in person, by these people. I get hoarse and very sick of explaining political reality to them.


4. It turns out that the comments made by said official turn out to have no real gravity or effect.


5. Internet people come down off the roof, grumbling that we "dodged a bullet...this time."

Eric Holder made the remarks as a follow-up to a letter sent last week, which urged President Obama to pass a new ban. It was written and signed by 53 Democrats, all of whom seem to have only recently realized that we share a border with a corrupt third-world country.

Some days, I'm proud of my government.

Georgia has joined Arizona, California, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Washington in reaffirming her sovereignty. As many as 29 states are expected to pass similar resolutions this year.

Why is this such a big deal? Because the Federal government has trampled all over the Tenth Amendment and forgotten its place. In case you slept through civics class (or if they don't teach it anymore), the Tenth Amendment reads:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The whole purpose of the this amendment was to structure Federalism with a slant towards the States. The Federal government is supposed to be the agent of the States, and therefore subordinate to them.

Of course, it doesn't seem to work that way anymore, does it?

Are you prepared?

Fact: The Mayan calendar ends in 2012!

Fact: Pseudoscientists and late-night radio DJ's agree that a previously unseen planet called Nibiru will impact the Earth in 2012, wiping out most life on the planet!

Fact: This will present a major inconvenience for many.

Coincidence or PROPHECY???

The government has failed to act on this threat!

In fact, the GOVERNMENT has not even acknowledged that there IS a threat!

This is proof of a VAST CONSPIRACY to protect the rich and privileged!

Don’t be left out in the cold when the comet comes in 2012!

Aramchek Global Contingency Consulting has the solutions you need to protect yourself and your family from the bother and nuisance of the End Times.

Call today, and ask any associate for details and pricing. We also handle corporate accounts.

Maloney v. Cuomo and Incorporation

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has returned a verdict in this case, and they've found that New York's ban on nunchaku does not violate the 2nd Amendment.

No word yet as to how this effects chigiriki, shuriken or tonfa.

OK, I'll be nice.  The story is that James Maloney was arrested on 08/24/2000 for possession of nunchaku, a misdemeanor in New York.  The weapons charge was dismissed the following January, and Maloney pled guilty of disorderly conduct.

In 2003, Maloney filed a complaint alleging that the seizure of his weapon violated the 2nd Amendment.  Though the Supreme Court found in District of Columbia v. Heller (pdf of decision) that Washington's categorical ban on handguns was unconstitutional, the question of incorporation remains.

The Road: One must always pretend something among the dying.

I'm probably reading far too much into this book, but it seems to invite such scrutiny. Its emotional impact is blunt, yet strangely reassuring. At its heart, this is a story of a man's love for his son, but McCarthy has chosen the most adversarial setting possible.

Mixed in through the text are odd words and turns of phrase, some of which seem random or invented. The one that stands out most, however, is "salitter."

I knew I'd heard it before, but I couldn't place it. Turns out, it was used by Jakob Böhme in his 1612 book Aurora to describe the "substance of God."

H.R. 45

The sky is not falling, people. Really.

So, H.R. 45 has been proposed and sent to a House committee for review. Big whoop. So does Carolyn McCarthy's revised Assault Weapons Ban. Every year, like clockwork, she throws it out there, and every year it withers on the vine.

This is no different.

Don't mess wit da Stillers

So, it's 27-23. Bookies are losing millions on that tiny spread tonight.

Of course, this was a game of slim margins and surprise upsets. The Cardinals started well by scoring early, but like the Steelers, their defense was sorely lacking.

Did-that-just-happen moments included Harrison's 100-yard interception (the longest in NFL history, if I'm not mistaken) and Santonio Holmes' just-by-inches touchdown, which yanked Arizona's lead in the last three minutes.