August 7th, 2013
I don’t cover the gun scene nearly as much as I should, but there are several stories percolating throughout the gun community this week I thought were worth taking a look at:
In Virginia: More guns, less crime.
Want to read the gun-grabbers messaging playbook? Here it is. Additional commentary from Shall Not Be Questioned and The Gunmag.
This week in Astroturf liberal groups pretending they’re gun groups: The American Rifle and Pistol Association, The Sporting Rifle Association of America, and the American Hunters and Shooters Association.
Alphecca: “If Zimmerman had been pulled over in NY, NJ, MD, CA, or almost anywhere other than the great state of Texas, he’d be in jail on some trumped-up charges. Fortunately, it was Texas.”
Translating anti-gun gibberish into plain English. (Also via Alphecca.)
Maryland joins the parade of stupid (and unconstitutional) gun law states.
When a criminal assailant is beating your brains out, it’s no time to fret over being better armed. (Hat tip: Stuff from Hsoi.)
Borepatch covers a session on the Defense Distributed Liberator pistol at DEFCON.
Reporter talks to people firing AR-15s, forgets to write usual anti-gun claptrap. “It’s just a tool.”
Tags: AR-15, Astroturf, DEFCON, Defense Distributed, Democrats, George Zimmerman Trial, Guns, Marylnd, Texas, Virginia
Posted in Democrats, Guns, Texas | No Comments »
August 6th, 2013
Still catching up, so enjoy your complimentary LinkSwarm and beverage (minus the beverage):
No, the IRS did not target liberal groups like they targeted conservatives.
The scary truth about state and local debt.
The U.S. government has $70 trillion in unfunded liabilities. I don’t happen to agree with everything in that assessment (a situation in which the FDIC would actually have to make good on all $7 trillion in deposit guarantees would pretty much be tantamount to the complete collapse of civilization), but the rest is scary enough.
Powerline’s John Hindraker wonders what the Benghazi cover-up is really about. I still think the secret CIA interrogation center that David Petraeus’ mistress Paula Broadwell claims was there is a strong possibility.
Thanks to ObamaCare, insurance premiums will increase in most states.
How liberals managed to turn wealthy Connecticut into just another broke Blue State.
Obama’s Nixonian scandals just keep churning.
The Black Hole in China’s shadow banks
Washington Post to be sold to Jeff Bezos. But he wasn’t stupid enough to take over existing pension liabilities. Bezos seems to be a liberal, but isn’t an overly active donor for a billionaire.
“Coming this fall on Cinemax: Leathers and Slutbag! They both got nailed by the same slimeball, and now they’re out for justice! Democratic politician not paying you your promised hush money? Call Leathers & Slutbag!”
Tawana Brawley finally starts paying for her 1987 rape hoax.
Liberal race-hustler Rep. Charlie Rangel takes time out of his busy schedule of defrauding the American taxpayer to suggest Tea Partiers are the “same group” who fought for segregation during the Civil Rights movement. Hey, Rep. Rangel, you know what the name of the group that fought for segregation was? The Democratic Party.
Attorney general Greg Abbott nails Texas Planned Parenthood for Medicaid fraud In fact, it was $4.3 million worth of fraud. More from Holly Hansen.
More show trails in Turkey.
Advocates of “green” energy cronyism seem to have found some Tea Party patsies.
On the differences between Austin and Texas.
Ace of Spades offers up an epic takedown of movie critic Andrew O’Hehir. “The man masturbates stupid and ejaculates embarrassment.”
And then does the same on Amanda Marcotte’s theory that men men hate sex and only use it to procreate.
Liberals get firebrand Twitter Gulag Defense Network founder Todd Kincannon’s Twitter account suspended. For all of two days.
Heh:
Tags: abortion, Amanda Marcotte, Benghazi, Budget, Charlie Rangel, China, cronyism, Greg Abbott, Holly Hansen, Jeff Bezos, LinkSwarm, Media Watch, Obama Scandals, ObamaCare, Planned Parenthood, Powerline, Tea Party, Todd Kincannon, Turkey, Washington Post
Posted in Budget, Media Watch, Obama Scandals, ObamaCare, Texas | No Comments »
August 5th, 2013
In the better-late-than-never-reporting department, last week State Senator Ken Paxton made his run for attorney general official. Paxton is probably most famous for running against Rep. Joe Straus for Speaker of the House back when he was a state Rep.
Paxton also touted numerous endorsements of Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Institute, Cathie Adams of the Texas Eagle Forum, Peggy Venable of Americans for Prosperity, state Reps. Tony Dale, Bryan Hughes, Jodie Laubenberg, Scott Turner, Giovanni Capriglione, Jeff Leach of Plano, Scott Sanford, Van Taylor (who’s already announced a bid to replace Paxton in the Senate) and Bill Zedler.
One tiny snag: Paxton initially touted the endorsement of Empower Texans’ Michael Quinn Sullivan. Only problem: Sullivan hadn’t endorsed him. Oops.
Rep. Dan Branch and Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman are already in the race.
Tags: 2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, Ken Paxton, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Republicans, Texas, Tony Dale
Posted in Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
August 4th, 2013
So Ace of Spades linked to this video of someone firing the .950 JDJ, the largest caliber center fire rifle ever made:
As someone with an irrational* desire to own something chambered in .50 BMG, it got me thinking: what other videos of people firing ridiculously large caliber guns are there out on the Internet?
I found some. (NSFW language in many of these.)
How about .577 Tyrannosaur?
.585 Nyati:
.600 Nitro Express pistol:
.600 Overkill:
20mm rifle:
And here’s the top loading version of the 20mm, in case you’re being attacked by multiple tanks at once:
And here’s the recoilless version of the 20mm rifle:
I think the technical word for that is “bazooka.”
And here’s the recreation of a one-mile kill shot with a Barrett M82A3 .50 BMG:
*Irrational in that the use case for such a gun starts to get into things like “Well, I’ve already killed several of the drug lord henchmen attacking my house, now I need to put a round through their engine block to keep the rest from escaping!”
Tags: .577 Tyrannosaur, .585 Nyati, .600 Nitro Express, .600 Overkill, .950 JDJ, 20mm, Barrett .50, Guns, video
Posted in Guns, video | No Comments »
August 2nd, 2013
BlueHost was down for most of the day, so no blogging.
Expect your normally scheduled political rants to resume on Monday.
Tags: PSA, Site Administration
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 1st, 2013
This appears to be the case.
CNN reports that there were allegedly “dozens” of CIA operatives on the ground during the Benghazi attack and the agency is doing its utmost to conceal its involvement.
CNN’s sources say that, since January, some operatives that were involved in the agency’s mission in Libya are being polygraphed monthly to determine who, if anyone, is talking to Congress or the media. Sources describe the efforts as pure intimidation, and say there are threats to end the careers of unauthorized leakers.
This makes Benghazi an ever bigger scandal than we thought, with a government agency actively undermining legitimate congressional oversight in order to cover up either real crimes or its own incompetence.
It also suggests that the CIA was carrying out one (or possibly both) of the secret (and possibly illegal) operations that been widely rumored to be the real reason behind the Benghazi coverup:
They were already running arms (including surface-to-air missiles) to Syrian rebel, well in advance of Obama’s public declaration, or
Benghazi was an extrajudicial center for “harsh interrogation methods” of the sort Obama theoretically banned, as suggested by former CIA Director David Petraeus’ former mistress Paula Broadwell.
Either way, Obama lied, and Americans died to cover up Obama’s lies, and now even more people are being forced to lie, or at least refrain from talking to investigators seeking the truth, in order to cover up the coverup.
Tags: Benghazi, CIA, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Libya, Obama Scandals, Syria
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad, Obama Scandals | No Comments »
July 31st, 2013
Travis McCormick notes that exactly one year ago, Ted Cruz beat David Dewhurst in the 2012 Republican Senate runoff. (He also demolished a number of myths in the process.) And pretty much every day Ted Cruz has been in Washington, he’s confirmed that Texas voters made the right decision.
Can anyone imagine Dewhurst leading the fight against illegal alien amnesty? Or schooling Dianne Feinstein on gun control? (I can imagine Dewhurst voting against gun control, but not leading the fight against it.) Or holding the feet of other Republicans to the fire on conservative principles? (As I said then, “We sent Cruz to Washington to shame Republicans into acting like Republicans.”)
No wonder Cruz is getting buzz as a 2016 Presidential candidate. I don’t see anyone else better on the horizon…
Tags: 2012 Election, David Dewhurst, Elections, Republicans, runoff, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas Senate Race, Travis McCormick
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »
July 30th, 2013
Still getting up to speed, so expect these updates to be a bit random for, oh, the next five weeks or so.
Abbott: The Obama Administration’s Voting Rights Act lawsuit is purely political.
The administration’s approach reveals the Democrats‘ fear that Republican candidates were making inroads with Hispanic voters. Democrats could never “turn Texas blue” if that trend continued, so they got the courts to draw district lines that guarantee Democratic victory in predominantly Hispanic areas.
Instead of allowing the Voting Rights Act to work in a way the Constitution allows, the Obama administration is sowing racial divide to score cheap political points. The president is using the legal system as a sword to wage partisan battles rather than a shield to protect voting rights. This overreaching action undermines the Voting Rights Act and the rule of law. Texas will not tolerate it. So far, neither will the Supreme Court.
Abbot also appeared on Lou Dobbs to discuss voter ID:
He also appeared on the Mike Huckabee show:
And the Mike Gallagher Show:
And Trey Ware’s show on KTSA:
Huckabee, who last endorsed David Dewhurst in the Senate race, endorses Dan Patrick in the Lt. Governor’s race. I’m sure the endorsement had nothing to do with Huckabee’s son doing work for a consulting firm hired by Patrick…
Former state Rep. Ray Keller is running for the Railroad Commission.
Interview with Barry Smitherman
The Houston Chronicle tackles the Lt. Governor’s race by…comparing Twitter statistics for Jerry Patterson and Dan Patrick. I feel dumber merely by having linked to that.
Texas Sparkle endorses Todd Staples for Lt. Governor.
Eric Opiela is running for Agricultural Commissioner. I sort of like his ad featuring a Prius-driving EPA official:
Malachi Boyuls is running for the railroad commission. You don’t see many Malachis in public office these days…
Democrat Mike Mjetland is considering running for Governor.
Tags: 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, 2014 Lt. Governor's Race, Barry Smitherman, Dan Patrick, Elections, EPA, Eric Opiela, Greg Abbott, Jerry Patterson, Malachi Boyuls, Mike Huckabee, Mike Mjetland, Ray Keller, Republicans, Texas, Todd Staples, video, Voter ID
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas, video | 1 Comment »
July 29th, 2013
The July grind is about to turn into the August grind. Enjoy the LinKSwarm while you can:
Mark Steyn on Detroit’s downfall.
America may not be Greece, but neither was Detroit.
Gun Owners are right to oppose all measures, because the goal of gun banners isn’t reducing crime, but the complete confiscation of all civilian firearms.
If Obama ever drew a crowd of 3 million people, the MSM would never stop proclaiming how awesome he is. But when the Pope does it? Meh.
When you shop at Costco, you’re buying ObamaCare.
Is it too much to ask that the director of the freaking 9/11 Museum not hate America?
I guess Anthony Weiner chose Carlos Danger as his sexing pseudonym because it sounds so much cooler than Prematuro Ejaculatoree.
Thanks to Slate, I now know that my twitter sexting pseudonym is “Pablo Kill”.
Maybe the MSM should stop doing fawning spreads on how elegant Huma Abedin is and start asking how she could earn $135,000 as a part-time government employee and still pull down $355,000 as a consultant.
That is, when she’s not playing footsie with Islamic radicals.
And now those Taiwanese animators on Anthony Weiner (possibly not safe for work):
Peaceful Treyvon protestors assault mother taking her 7-year old to the hospital.
A nifty neighborhood crime analysis tool for Austin. (Hat tip: Stuff From Hsoi.)
Given the chance to escape from unions, more than half of Wisconsin union members do just that.
Indonesia is banning bikinis for the Miss World contest. Well, Siberia isn’t having any of that foolishness.
Remembering World War II, Korean and Vietnam war vet and Congressional Medal of Honor winner Bud Day.
Tags: Anthony Weiner, Detroit, Guns, Huma Abedin, Jihad, LinkSwarm, Media Watch, Obituary, Pope, Russia, unions, Wisconsin
Posted in Democrats, Guns, Jihad, Media Watch, unions | 1 Comment »
July 26th, 2013
A little bird has been telling me a few tidbits about the Attorney General’s race, namely:
Ken Paxton is indeed going to run for AG, and will announce his run next week. You might think this is deep insider knowledge, but given this Facebook posting by Paxton…eh, not so much.
By contrast, the manifest lack of enthusiasm for Dan Branch’s Attorney General run among Texas conservatives is palpable. And when the Dallas Morning News labels you “a close confidant of House Speaker Joe Straus,” you’re already starting off on the wrong foot to win over conservative activists.
Tags: 2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, Dan Branch, Elections, Joe Straus, Ken Paxton, Republicans, Texas
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »