Wild Card/Saturday — 5/9/09

39 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  tarynahecker on May 09 at 6:45 a.m.

  But they don’t have their margarita license yet, Dave. You will have to take mom across the street to the Whitehorse or Linger Longer to buy her a mother’s day beer.

• 

  Kage_Mann on May 09 at 7:10 a.m.

  If it gets too crowded in CDA, I’d have to consider moving to Spirit Lake.Alot of us need more space and maybe, I need a bigger house. ;-)

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  Arch_Druid on May 09 at 9:22 a.m.

  Figured I’d use this Wild Card to discuss a couple of fairly wild-eyed letters published in the S-R today. One is from Curtis Stone who froths over anyone disagreeing with the NRA and their leftist paranoia about the new administration. Then he accuses me of not understanding the first thing about the 2nd amendment. And that is probably because he has no grasp on its original intent himself. It is the second part of the second amendment that the NRA makes the most use of, taking it out of context with the rest of what is in fact the full reason why James Madison in particular wished an armed citizenry: the establishment of a citizen militia to rise in defense of a free state.

  But, those citizen militias were replaced by standing armies created by Congress by the 19th century. The private ownership of guns was not exactly established in the U.S. Constitution, but the PRIVATE use of guns from the founding of the colonies forward to protect one’s life and property and to sometimes engage in “gentleman’s duels,” was a given. At no time have I ever disputed gun ownership, given the history of this nation and the violence that often wracked it, as necessary to the protection of one’s property and life.

  But I will dispute the NRA desiring to arm itself to the teeth “out of fear of the gvt.” And use the second clause of the second amendment in particular to seek out a collection of toys that would be better suited for armed insurrections than useful in hunting or merely self-protection. And that there can be any kind of defense or apologia for this kind of radical leftist thinking. The letter I responded to at the time, the writer in question acted as though with the present administration, we were about to become a totalitarian state where standing armies would be turned against “defenseless” citizens. Who by the way are mostly armed. Would that have been a code phrase for looking for an excuse to begin some kind of war against the current administration? To change one’s own gvt through acts of violence because the NRA was among the special interests that lost in the last election? That would surely implicitly spell out an extreme leftism in a so-called “pro-second amendment” organization. Where they are no longer willing to defend a free state or a democratic process, but rather their own toys.

  But Stone also engages in a degree of error about the very nature of the guns he advocates for the possession of. MACHINE GUNS were never placed on the market for individual use. Therefore, MACHINE GUNS were never banned by the 1930s for the manufacture of and personal sales to, private individuals. But, the Thompson SUB MACHINE GUN where the inventor tried to sell it to the gvt for MILITARY USE, also sought to market the same weapon for PRIVATE GUN OWNERSHIP. The reason why it was ultimately banned was because it was a weapon of choice by ORGANIZED CRIME.

  The AK47, the Soviet equivalent of the M16 is NOT a machine gun. Nor was it ever designed to BE a machine gun. It is called light a armament, capable of firing short bursts of full automatic fire. A machine gun by distinction is mounted and continuously fires from a belt loaded with live rounds. Essentially, the same principle that lay behind the development of the Thompson SUB machine gun and the modern semi to full automatic military weapons such as the M16 and the AK47 is in design. And the design of the spring-loaded “clip” (embarrassed here, not recalling the correct name just now) that continually feeds new rounds into the chamber as the last round is fired. As someone who is experienced with guns, having been in the military, does know the difference between a hunting rifle and a shot gun, does know the difference between a revolver and a semi-automatic pistol, I should think that Stone would even be better informed than I am on these matters. His ignorance defeats the intent of his letter.

• 

  nic on May 09 at 9:28 a.m.

  Anyone know of a Cd’A park that has dandelions growing in it?

• 

  Arch_Druid on May 09 at 9:31 a.m.

  As for the other writer, he now claims that at least his reason for going to a TEA party was to protect private property. Really? Then when city councils were bending to the will of commercial interests, condemning neighborhoods and evicting home owners so that they could simply “take” the property for the use of business ventures, where was the national outcry for very real threats to private property that was taking place during the GW years? Nary a TEA party in sight.

  Obama hasn’t exactly made it a declaration that he will “nationalize” private property. Watching Shields and Brooks on the “News Hour” last night, Mark Shields was wondering why the banks that engaged in a lot of shenanigans wasn’t getting the same worst-case treatment as did GM. If what Shields is bemoaning being true enough, it was never Obama’s intent to “nationalize the banks” beyond pushing for regulations to possibly limit risky behavior. And that those public/private partnerships are only as far as he is actually willing to go. So again, you just have to wonder where some of these people to have been to come out with these TEA party excuses now?

• 

  chatterbox on May 09 at 9:44 a.m.

  nic-
  We have dandelions growing in our backyard. It’s not a park, but it is close to the public golf course. You’re welcome to them.

• 

  EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 11:59 a.m.

  I’ll use this wild card to throw out a warning to all
  you Hucksters. Identity theft is a very fast growing
  threat to all of us. When you use your debit/credit
  cards to pay for services/items, check the card
  number listed on the receipt. The receipt should
  NOT have the complete card number but only
  the last four digits. Some small business have
  not upgrade their software to show the last four digits
  only. This situation is a thief’s delight…. :(
  I had this happen this morning at Down-the-Street
  Restaurant in Post Falls. Be warned..

• 

  EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 12:04 p.m.

  nic-
  Like “chatterbox”, I also have a bumper crop
  growing in my yard….free for the pickin….. :)

• 

  Cindy_H on May 09 at 1:05 p.m.

  Nic: Come to Spokane. We’ll BBQ and I’ll make cookies. You can take home all the dandelions you want!

• 

  Bent on May 09 at 1:53 p.m.

  I spent this morning catching a buzz…check it out:

  http://bentsbeergarden.blogspot.com/2009/05/catching-buzz.html

• 

  Charlie on May 09 at 2:00 p.m.

  Good start EagleKeeper44, also a good idea to purchase a good shredder to destroy anything with your name on it. My wife even takes our names off catalogs and shreds them and don’t forget those blank check your credit card companies send you. If someone wants to put the strips back together, they will have to sift the kitty litter our first.

• 

  Cindy_H on May 09 at 3:32 p.m.

  <– (Sam’s portrait of us)
  I know it’s not Mother’s Day yet, but I already received my favorite gift. Sam came home from school yesterday and presented me with a card. In addition to the gorgeous artwork, he wrote in painstaking nine-year-old penmanship:
  “Dear Mother,
  You are kind and loving. The unique thing about you is you’re more beautiful than any mom in the world. Your spaghetti is better than any other pasta. You have been there for me always. You led me through these good years, and the times when I was scared, and you held me close and calmed me. Thanks for being my mom.
  So here’s to you Mom— a woman of many talents, a pretty, loving, honest, awesome, happy, caring, cool, super and radical mom.
  Happy Mother’s Day,
  Sam.”

  *My heart is full*

• 

  wheels on May 09 at 3:46 p.m.

  Off to Spokane for dinner at Luigis and see Spamelot.Heard nothing but great reviews and looking fwd to an evening of laughter,good food and fun with friends.Kroc center is fabulous.

• 

  hmoffsuite on May 09 at 4:08 p.m.

  Another tip for preventing identity theft. Don’t use a mailbox if it is at the end of the driveway or someplace like that. Mail theft out of personal mailboxes is common and if you were to leave mail for pickup in the box, it might be picked up by someone other than the postman. Best solution, if feasible, is to use a PO Box.

• 

  EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 5:46 p.m.

  Good points “HMO” & “Charlie”…. just goes to
  show we all have to do as much as we can to
  stay ahead of the Bad guys…..OK, maybe not
  ahead of but make it harder for them to do
  their dasterdly deeds….

  Cindy H, you are blessed with a caring an
  sensitive youg man. Take GOOD care of him,
  he is very special……… :)
  
  What a wonderful world this would be if all were like him……….

• 

  EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 5:48 p.m.

  oops….. should read “young man”

• 

  hmoffsuite on May 09 at 7:42 p.m.

  I just watched Obama give his ‘bit’ at the National Correspondants dinner tonight. He was really great. If you don’t see the re-run, be sure to at least read the transcript of the speech he gave. I am sure it will be up on the web shortly. He welcomed “all the bright, young, fresh faces in party now……. Like Arlan Specter” The writing was supurb for the ‘gig’.

• 

  hmoffsuite on May 10 at 7:09 a.m.

  I haven’t run across a full transcript of Obamas ‘bit’ last night but here are a few more tidbits. He was very good.

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/09/AR2009050902802_pf.html

• 

  Arch_Druid on May 10 at 7:38 a.m.

  One reason I could vote for the man, because he can be extremely funny. I was at work, so must have missed it.

• 

  Jim_Macklin on May 11 at 2:10 p.m.

  Facts certainly do get in the way of opinions.
  An AK-47 is a Soviet military fully automatic select-fire combat rifle. An SKS [the SKS is semiauto only]fires the same ammunition, the Russian 7.62x39 mm cartridge that is just a little less powerful than the old .30/30 deer rifle similar to what John Wayne carried in the movies. [To be accurate, John Wayne carried a Winchester 1892 in .32/20 caliber, the .30/30 was in the 1894 Winchester]
  There are very few real AK47s in the country, most of what is seen are cosmetic look-alikes and semi-auto only and approved by the BATF.

  The Supreme Court wrote a very good history of and explained why they ruled that the Second Amendment is an individual right. They explained that historically, a formal militia, known as a “select militia” was what the authors of the Constitution did not want. That select militia is now known as the national Guard and it is part of the Army, not the militia.

  Armor piercing? Any centerfire rifle that can be legally used for deer hunting will penetrate any vest commonly used by police. But here in Wichita, KS a few years ago, a deputy sheriff was killed with a .25 ACP when his killer used the simple expedient if pressing the gun to his neck above the vest.

  BTW, ownership of machine guns and other restricted weapons is now legal in Kansas and about 40 states as long as the federal requirements are followed. In the 70 years or so since the Federal government began restricting machine guns, there has not be a recorded crime with such a weapon, except for one that was by a policeman. [This is an old stat, anybody is free to research it]

  In all the cases of mass murde, the only reason the killer could do what they did was not that they had “an assault weapon” it was because they were the only person there with any weapon.

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