More Intermezzo
It's 3:00 on Saturday. I have the house to myself, as Jenny is at a retreat. I am working all day tomorrow at Festival, so today's the bumming around the house, getting shit done day. Luke invited me out to their stately manor for pizza, pool, and badminton, all of which sound absolutely grand, but I have taken a rain-check for next weekend, as I don't think we have any plans really laid out. So as for me by myself, I stayed up too late as usual, but not too terrible, and I got a good night's sleep, and then got to it. Slowly got to it, but got to it nonetheless. It does help when you're not waking up sick; I was fighting off what turned out to be a summer cold (I was convinced that it was allergies, until my brother and I compared symptoms, and yeah, that's where THAT came from. I mean, allergies are a thing, and you are literally dusting pollen off of your outdoor surfaces, but I'm not someone who usually has allergies, that's the thing. So it's like, where the hell did this come from? I usually have a bit of a sniffle every now and again, but that's about it. And I take a Claritin every morning to keep that moving along. The problem is, we live in a world where if you have "the sniffles", or "a sniffle", people lose their shit because they are just terrified of the covid. And I have an opinion on that (don't I always) to discuss too, but we'll get to that in good time.
So here's where things are at. I woke up, and had pizza. Not too much pizza; I'm really trying to get back on track with my PersonalPoints (formerly SmartPoints)... I have been with WW for a whiile now, because my wife found the program rather easy to work with, and she was seeing results. As was I; when I actually kept up on the smartpoints, and I was going to the gym regularly, I mean, I was losing 2-4 pounds a week! It's like, and I know that every day is not a perfect win, but it's like, all you have to do is stay within those points (and track accurately), and keep moving, and yeah. It works. I'm living proof. But then COVID hit, and the gym closed down, and we couldn't go anywhere, and our weekly workshops closed down, and all you could really do was sit on your ass and eat take-out. I know I'm not the only one who gained the "covid 19" (it's a playful take on the freshman 40), but it is rather obnoxious, because I was actually doing really well... But I'm not perfect, self-improvement is always a journey, what I have a terrible habit of doing is blowing my point budget right out of the water, and then it's like, well, I've fucked the week, why even bother tracking, and then I just start back up again Thursday morning, which is my weigh-day. So yeah, trying not to do that this week. And every day, every week I keep it back on track, so much the better. So yeah. Getting back to my point, I had a reasonable amount of leftover pizza, a tea, and I watched Friday's episode of Gutfeld. And this is another takeaway; we have really been trying to watch less TV; there's nothing wrong with watching a bit of TV, but it's like, if there is laundry to be done, or a floor to vacuum, or plants to water, let's do those things instead of sitting for three, four hours in a row emptying out the DVR... Especially with the outside. A pond is a bit of work; the mulberry tree shitting berries into it is constantly clogging the filter, I'm skimming it off every day with the net, doing the filter every other day, I mean, it's a lot. But it needs doing in order to keep the pond and everything healthy, and that was an investment, but I'll tell you what, when you're sitting out there and just listening to that water trickle, occasionally seeing a bit of a fish as they swim by (they're growing, but still really quite small), and just looking at the manicured lawn, the healthy flowers, the rapidly growing vegetable plants, listening to the windchimes, I mean, you just sit back in the comfortable outside chair, and you dig it, you really do. It's a very good thing we've created out there; I took what came with the house, and I've added my own twists and essence to make it my own. And it's all turning out just grand. Gah, I keep going off on sidetracks. Watched Gutfeld, and then I got to some work inside, and as of this sitting, the dishes should be just about done, the dryer should be finished, the washer should be about halfway there. There's a loaf of bread in the breadmaker that will be ready in about 2 hours, and I'll probably knock out a second one to put in the freezer. I love that about standard hearty loaf-bread; it freezes just fine, and comes out just as fresh as it went in; you would never know that it had been frozen. During all of this, I have also attacked the pile of mail on my desk, sorting through the junk (and again, with the amount of crap that people pay to have delivered through the mail, how on earth is the Post Office perpetually hurting for money?!?), and getting the relevant bills paid and ready to be posted. I will eventually be taking a shower and getting dressed, as I need to hit Lowe's for replacement filter pads for the pond filter. Which they don't have at the Madison Heights store, so I'm either going to have to hit Sterling Heights or Warren; it's showing that they are in stock there. I don't even know where the hell the Sterling Heights Lowe's is; I think in that big shopping development at 14 and VanDyke? I don't know, I'm sure I'll find it, and I'm sure I'll find construction, because every road in Macomb County, except Dequindre, which so badly needs it, is under construction. And again, I'll have to be in bed at a sensible hour, because I'm working 14 hours straight through tomorrow, and that takes it out of you, especially when it's supposed to be another 90 and humid day. But I took Monday off, because I'm just not 23 anymore, and it takes me a little while to bounce back. Can I do it, oh absolutely. Do I have it in me, yes indeed I do. But is it as easy as it used to be? No, no it surely is not.
One of the benefits of living in the suburbs, being the king of your own castle, is that you're isolated from the generally accepted problems of the big city, where you are just a cog in a machine renting a bit of space; a human-sized locker in the subway, if you will. And one of the benefits of not having socialist-media, is that you don't have to be bothered with the hysteria of other people. So, of course, I watch the news. But the joy with that is that you can watch it... or not. Like, if you have social media, for the vast majority of people, they are downright addicted. It's a rabbit hole, you just keep scrolling and scrolling, doomscrolling, they call it on Alt 98.7's Church of Lazlo afternoon drive-time show. I have a tumblr, and this LiveJournal, yeah, I'm not exactly what you would call with the social media. With the news, I can choose to turn it on... or not. I can choose to click into that app... or not. And I'm choosing not. Because I'm told that outside, in cities around the country, people are losing their fucking minds. Absolutely losing their fucking minds. I mean, it was a double whammy that people, unfortunately, are just not getting, they are just not understanding what they're mad about, that's the most messed up thing. But that doesn't stop them from protesting and being pissed off, because if they actually understood what had just happened, actually took a pause instead of just letting the media tell them that they're mad now, angrier than they've ever been now, well, they just might not be so mad. First, because it came first, is the New York gun thing. Now, here's how a CPL works in Michigan. And note, that's CPL; concealed pistol license; it applies to pistols. I cannot, for example, stuff my AR down my pant leg and say I'm concealed carrying. Don't know why you would want to do so, but that's neither here nor there. Michigan is a "shall issue" state. Which means that the state SHALL ISSUE a CPL to someone who has met all of the requirements for same, AND does not have anything in their history that would preclude them from getting a CPL... OK, with me so far? If you've done everything you're supposed to, AND there's no reason you should NOT be allowed to have one, then there is no reason that the State of Michigan could decide not to grant you one. Now. Was it a particularly "hard" process, well, that depends, I suppose. In my experience, I gave up the majority of a day on the weekend to sit in classroom instruction with my family and someone who knows what the hell they are talking about. And that was a hell of a class; it's not like there's a quiz you have to pass, because why would there be? Knowing the parts of your gun and being able to recite them from memory is in no way relevant to whether you're going to be a responsible CPL owner. Nor is it reasonable to expect you to know the law, every verse and note, about what Michigan has on the books regarding guns, gun rights, castle doctrine, and so on. The class laid it out, clear as crystal, what you're signing on to. My biggest takeaway, and there were a great many, was what he said right off the get; we are people who are choosing not to be victims. But like I said, it was a heavy class. Know this, I have spent the majority of my young life terrified of war. Because if there's a war, you might get called to fight; just because we haven't had a draft in decades doesn't mean that we can't have one; all men still have to register for it. I was scared of going to war and being killed, but I was even MORE scared of having to go over somewhere and kill other people. Because that's not how I was raised. That's not how anyone is raised. People hear that you have a CPL, nay, even multiple guns, that you go shooting on the weekends, combine that with being a white male and a Republican, and yeah. They assume that you're some sort of type, and it's hardly flattering. But what it all boils down to is that I, like just about any gun owner, the last thing I ever want to do is shoot a gun at anything more than a deer, because they are delicious. And hand to God, I don't even know if I could do that; I guess we'll see whenever that time comes to pass. It is my hope that I NEVER have to raise a weapon in self-defense, but it it's a choice between me or them, or worse yet, my family or them, yeah, you picked the wrong man to mess with. I don't want to be an agressor, that's not in my nature, nor is it in most people's, but I have no intention of being a victim. But getting back to it, this is a serious responsibility, and our instructor, who was a former cop, and I believe also served in the military, if memory serves, made that perfectly clear. And then we had to go shooting, to prove that we knew how to control our gun, that we knew how to safely operate it in a self-defense scenario. And then we had to spend more money, because all of the before costs money, to fill out the application and file it in person at our County Clerk's office, with the certificate of completion. And then we had to spend more money to get fingerprinted, and have a full background check run with the feds, and so on and so on, and then several weeks later, a little card shows up in the mail, which is good for five years, and says that you can concealed-carry your pistol... So hard, well, not particularly on the face of it, and in my opinion, but the strange thing is, there is nothing precluding me, and it would not cost me a dime, to carry my gun on my hip. If it is visible, well, we're talking about a Constitutionally protected right, it's when you are concealing it that you have to jump through several hoops to have that privilege.
So what's the deal with New York? Well, they have a myriad of gun laws; I believe they have a permitting process, so even just having a gun on you without the proper paperwork is illegal. But the biggie is the CCW/CPL, whatever they have; in New York City, they are what is called a may issue state. So, first off, it's illegal to have a loaded handgun on you without the carry permit. But the carry permit is may issue; you have to plead your case as to WHY you feel the need to carry a loaded firearm, and then it's up to them to decide if they will issue you a license. And I've got a news flash for you; they are not terribly gun-friendly there in NYC. So the manufactured outrage right now is based, as near as I've heard summarized, that the Supreme Court struck down this law that's been on the books for like a hundred years, and of course, that means MORE GUNS ON THE STREETS, which we are told by the media is bad... Well, what you're dealing with here is ignorance of concept; first off, just because a law has been on the books for a century does NOT make it constitutional. And the Constitution, despite what you have been told, is actually quite clear on this. To paraphrase, because the security of the country is wholly dependent on a well-regulated militia, AKA, the people, the right of the people to HAVE AND BEAR arms shall not be infringed. Remember, militia was fighting just as much as regular army for the revolution; if we were to have depended solely on the continental army, we'd all be speaking English english right now, because there were just not enough people... But when you start adding farmers who know how to shoot, bankers with pistols, and so on, this entire nation fought for its freedom, and it won. I'm not trying to go into a history lesson, but again, pretty clear; it's important, even vital to have a responsibly armed populace, so their right to do so, and pay attention to this part, all of you in the back, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. It does not say "shall be allowed in certain circumstances". It does not say "with the following list of 1700s-era weapons". It does not say "unless the gun looks scary, in which case it shall arbitrarily be banned"... Well-regulated militia is in there, and that pertains to the people. But that's not even the most important part; the why does not matter. We've already established that these rights are inalienable, and enumerated, and one of those rights is to keep and bear arms, and it is specifically called out that it SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. Period. End of story. So New York has a law on the books that is in direct violation of the Constitution. I wish to exercise my right to keep and bear an arm, and by the way, whether it's for self-defense, or "just because" really doesn't matter, again, this is not a conditional right, the Constitution is beautifully clear in its simplicity. The State tells me that I cannot do this, because they don't like the reason I gave... That's an infringement. I mean, this is really just the first step, because again, shall not be infringed, it's a cut and dried statement, and is the answer to any "but what about" scenario that you can really give me. The law was blatantly unconstitutional, and that law was shot down, as it should have been years ago.
Now, Roe v. Wade. I will take this opportunity to say that this is, for me, a glorious day in our history, and one that I never thought I would see in my lifetime. But it's not about that, Jesse Watters said it perfectly, this is not a win for conservatives, this is a win for the Constitution. Because here's the deal. Roe v. Wade was determined to be the law of the land due to a pretty lousy stretch of an interpretation of a couple clauses of the Constitution, by a stack of liberal justices. Even the vaunted and "notorious" RBG had stated on numerous occasions that this was bad legislation off the get, and probably would not hold up to a re-evaluation. But you see, this is what we could call legislating from the bench, and it's something that numerous Presidents and Congress' have done in the past. You don't want to make a hard decision about something? Kick it off the the Supreme Court. Let them deal with it. And that's not how this is supposed to work. We're supposed to create laws, laws that are in accordance with our Constitution. And if someone challenges the legitimacy of this law, then it is up to the Courts to determine whether or not it passes Constitutional muster. In this case, the Court saw, quite clearly, that there is no "right to abortion" enumerated in the Constitution. There is, in fact, a lot of stuff in there about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and how that shall not be infringed either, and by the way, that doesn't come with an age limit. But I digress. The question is, what just happened here. And while it is perfectly obvious what did indeed just happen yesterday, the vagina-hat wearers who have been all ginned up by CNN and The View and the like are getting it wrong every time. You see, they'll say "Abortion was made illegal"... But that's not what happened. There were two takes I saw in the last couple days that stuck with me, and one of them was "so here we go again, democrats are burning down democrat run cities in democrat run states where abortion is still legal anyway..." Whaaaaa?!?
Here's another one that people really have a hard time with, the deliniation between a democracy and a republic. And a representative democracy... is a shitshow. Now, a republic runs on democratic principles; majority rule and so on. But we are a republic of states, it's in the name, the UNITED STATES of AMERICA... As in, we're the states of America. We are united. We are one country, but we are a country of fifty individual states. The government is responsible for the things that make a nation a nation; commerce and trade, defense, finance and money, things like that. Imagine if every state had different money and a different exchange rate, or if California was allied to Germany in WWII, but the rest of us were against them. That doesn't work. That's not a country. But other than the things specifically enumerated in the Constitution and other documents, the rest of this stuff is supposed to be left to the states. Why, for example, do we have a national board of education. What purpose does it serve? Because the Framers understood, even with such a young country, that this was a large and very different land, and a one-size-fits-all approach did not work. Let's say the federal government made a law based on where they are, which is outside Virginia. It's generally quite hot and muggy, but they have cold days too. So they pass a law, saying that all dwellings shall have a single fireplace. OK, that's fine for Virginia, a single fireplace can counteract the temperate winters that they get... Up here in Michigan, thanks, we've got one warm room, and a frozen house otherwise. Down in Florida, they're sitting there wondering what the hell this thing's for, and why do they need it? It's a bit of a humorous example, but the idea hopefully comes across. Every state is different, dealing with their own challenges. Passing their own laws, based on their own people. What this just did is kick the issue back to the states, which is where it should have been in the first place. Regardless of my personal feelings, or the teaching of my faith on abortion (and the former was in place long before the latter affirmed them), it is not the place of the Supreme Court to determine whether or not abortion is or should be legal. That's not in their wheelhouse. If it's not breaking a Constitutional principle, then it is up to the states to decide. That's the point. If you don't like the overwhelming laws of your state, you can attempt to change them. Or you can move. I could not, for example, live in California. Everything that state stands for is basically directly against what I believe in. And a dyed-in-the-wool LA liberal is not going to like Florida, I can tell you that, or a great many of the Southern bible belt states. Not gonna be their cup of tea. Michigan's always been a purple state. There are things I don't agree with, but there are things that I do, and while it swings left and right, it usually lands somewhere in the middle, which is a place that I can tolerate. California, for example, has a law on the books saying abortion is specifically legal, this is something that has been in place before Roe v. Wade, if memory serves. Michigan has a law that says it is not, but that law is currently being reviewed by the State supreme court.
So there are a couple takeaways here. First. Just because something is legal does not mean that it has to be easy... or convenient. OK, let's say Michigan does indeed outlaw abortion. So you have to pack up and drive to Chicago. You can take the train. It's not that far. And if you want to be an abortion doctor, well, it sounds like you're gonna be heading to a state that allows that sort of thing. But that really opens up a huge deal with the "pro choice" movement, their choice is really one option; abort the baby. Where is, for example, the outrage that there is not mandatory maternity/paternity leave on the books for all employers? Or mandatory day care, or so on, or so on... Yes, having a baby is tough. It's not easy. I don't even have one yet, and I know that. And looking past anything that explains why you got to where you are, as a two-job single mother, just to throw an example, instead of saying, oh, that's hard, we'll just abort, how about providing the care and support to make this hard job easier on the parent? Where is the call for that? We talk about healthcare, we talk about how much we care about women, but it only applies to one decision. As we say in so many things in public services, you have to use ALL the tools in your toolbox. Let's say you have webworms on your crabapple tree. What do you do? Well, if you have Japanese Beetles in your lawn, you spray, so I would say that you spray? Wrong. You have multiple tools. In this case, you cut the branch off. It's affecting one part of one branch, cut it off, and the tree is fine. You can't do that with the lawn, you have to go bigger, so the two jobs require two different tools. So we talk about caring for women, we talk about womens health, do women not get colds? Do women not need support? Is all we can offer to a pregnant woman infanticide? That's it? That's what we've been fighting for? Sounds pretty narrow-vision to me. So, I work with a woman who I greatly respect. We are friends. And she was a wreck yesterday, because of this. Because I'm sure, in her mind, she sees her daughter being raped and being forced to carry a baby to term, or any one of the other horror stories we are told will happen if we can't have abortion on demand. And there's just so much wrong with that. So very much. But it's what she knows. It's probably all she's ever known. My body, my choice, and so on. Lies and catch phrases created to justify a terrible evil. But that's the other take I saw; people learned these beliefs and opinions over time, and they can unlearn them with time. And that's heartening. Because I was really a little disgusted, becasue it was like, you love your daughter. You love your grandbaby. And I'm sure if we got into it, and the hypothetical came out, what if your daughter chose to abort instead of have your grandchild, and the answer would be that she would completely support her, yadda yadda yadda, but the truth would be that she would be freaking devestated. Absolutely so. It's like, you're so upset about something that doesn't affect you or yours, and you're upset about the wrong thing, because what you're upset about didn't actually happen in the way that you're upset about, oh and by the way, being of a certain ethnicity, you're someone who the entire concept of planned parenthood was designed to exterminate... and you supported this? But again, when it's all you've known, and you've been fed a lie, that takes time to undo, but it can be undone. And finally, what if the shoe was on the other foot?
The problem with the left is that they only agree with choice... if it's a choice that they agree with. Let's go back to the gun thing. What has happened is that now, those law-abiding citizens who want to carry a gun for self defense... in a city that is riddled with murders, assaults, and crime, are able to do so. I would also point out that people who are carrying them illegally... were already doing so before this law was passed, and I can guarantee that they didn't apply for a permit, hence ILLEGAL! This is why gun control laws only serve to confound law-abiding gun owners! But anyway... If you, and this is important, please pay attention, if you do not wish to do so, that's fine, you don't have to... We went through this with the masks, the vaccines, all of it. How it should be: I want to carry a gun, so I can, and you don't want to carry one, so you don't have to, and we keep on keeping on. How they want it to be: I want to carry a gun... but you don't like guns, so nobody should be allowed to carry a gun ever. And I would point out the irony and hypocrisy, about how a party who is obsessed with "equality" espouses anything but. If I CAN do something, and you are NOT FORCED TO DO SOMETHING, then we're both enjoying an equal amount of freedom around the choice for that particular thing. If YOU get your way, and I am NOT ALLOWED to do something... then that's not equality. You've clearly got more in this relationship. Now yes, would I like to see abortion banned at the federal level, yes I would. The movement that supports it is based on lies and misinformation, it's murder, plain and simple. My opinion. Also would point out, that's another problem we have in this society; the lack of ability to handle opinions you don't agree with. You have two choices if you don't agree with that last sentence. You can get all pissed off and try to "school" me, which isn't going to work, because both of our minds are made up, we're not going to see eye-to-eye on this, nor are we going to change each other's opinion... or you can just disagree, and move on. Maybe you don't follow this blog anymore, maybe it's just something we don't talk about. Again, I'm sure that yesterday, both of us in that office had opinions about each other running through our heads. Her less than gracious "something happened today... which I'm sure you heard about, and I'm SURE you're HAPPY about", when I asked her if anything was the matter, kind of set that clue out there, but besides that, nothing was said. We went about our day. Like civilized human beings. But getting back to it. My original point, what if it was on the other foot. What if the Supreme Court somehow mandated a law (this is grossly unconstitutional, but stick with me here), that everyone in this country was going to be baptized Catholic. Cool. That's great for me, and the 70 million (give or take) other Catholics in the country. But it's gonna be a real bitch if you were raised Baptist, or any one of the other Protestant denominations... Or Jewish, with a deep and rich ancestry that has stood the test of time and faith for millennia. Or Islamic, or Buddhist, etc., etc., but that's the law, there's a Catholic in the White House, so you'd best get to some rosary rattling. Now, how does this apply. The issue is one of faith, and belief; you don't have to be a Catholic to oppose abortion. You're running a business. You try to do the good thing, so you provide health care to your employees, and that shit ain't cheap. But you exclude abortion coverage, because you're either devoutly religious, or maybe not even that, but it's just something that you are morally opposed to on just every level; that's a dealbreaker. You're mature enough to understand that these are your employees, not your children, and what they do outside of work is their business... but that doesn't mean that you have to endorse, agree, or pay for it. OK. Mature adults being mature, you know what you're signing on for when you are employed by this person, sounds like we're OK, right? No. Because advocacy groups, as soon as they get wind of this, are going to sue you rotten because you're discriminating against women's healthcare, and so on... and so on... And because this was, until recently, considered to be the supreme law of the land, even though it's conflicting with several other articles, there's going to need to be a reckoning. And even if a court upholds it, they'll just sue again; look at that convent that's been sued like 6 times, and FYI, lawsuits are expensive. Because again, this is where the problem really lies; this should be live and let live, you do you, I'll do me, and we'll get along, or not. But no. I'll do me, and you don't like that, so you're going to try to destroy me and my ilk. You're athiest, you don't want to be anything, especially Catholic, how dare they force you to do that... Not cool. You're Catholic, and you cannot in any way, shape, or form, put forth your money to pay to end the life of a child. But you're forced to do so... The principle... is the same. Exactly the same.
There's just so much wrong with all of this in general. People are upset because they believe that this is right, because the entire narrative has been to lie about it to make it acceptable. For decades. And it worked. People have no understanding of the concept of a republic, so they're completely upset about the wrong thing; let's not even look at how this is a wonderful thing for a variety of reasons, put a pin in that and just focus on what these people believe, they're lamenting a change that didn't actually happen. And the pearl-clutching and garment-rending is all but palpable. But then, that's like the other thing; OMG, there's going to be more guns on the streets, we're not safe. But that's another narrative of the left, that guns are just these scary, terrifying things, that just murder people with impunity. Like, what is the definition of "assault rifle"? The best they've ever been able to come up with is the vague description "scary looking gun", and an arbitrary list of parts. Because of the media, you generally get a picture of an AR in your head when you are thinking of an "assault rifle", shoot, you probably assume that that's what AR stands for (it's not)... It is... a rifle. So to the first point, I should think that ANY gun being pointed at you would be a "scary looking weapon"... I can get a Glock much like my own, in magenta, in teal, they even had one done up in Hello Kitty. Cerakote is an amazing process. Pink with the white flowers, and Hello Kitty with her little handbag smiling at you. Not particularly scary. But like mine, it will shoot 17 9MM bullets just as fast as I can pull the trigger. And mine's flat black. Because it's the same gun. And I don't care if it's teal or black or what, looking down the barrel of anything is scary, next question. Oh, well all that stuff, all that military stuff... So usually, this refers to a couple of things. First, there's the shroud around the barrel. It's perforated metal. In the case of my AR, which is this guy...
it is beautifully done with the screaming eagle motif, stars, and the word freedom. Now, what is its purpose? Why is it there? The barrel is only as thick as that end bit, so why all this extra scary looking metal? Ok, if you know nothing about guns, like a good gun owner (and I'm no expert), I'll walk you through this. You are going to shoot at something. You are holding the handle with your right hand, with your trigger finger ready to pull the trigger... This gun is heavy. It is not a pistol. The stock is up against your shoulder to provide stability (because when you shoot, it kicks back a little), but there's an awful lot of metal on the front there. So what does one do? Two-handed grip. Like just about all long-guns.
Aha! And the purpose for that barrel shroud that you're using as a handguard, is to manage heat. The barrel becomes extremely hot, like, it'll burn the shit out of you after running 30 rounds through it. Hell, after running 60, the barrel shroud on mine was becoming noticeably warm. You need to give them time to cool down. But regardless, that's what it's there for, it dissipates heat, AND acts to protect you so you don't burn the hell out of your left hand while you are stabilizing the gun. And the rail, well, you'll notice on both pictures, that's there to mount things to. Like sights. So you can see what you're shooting at, and you're not just spraying bullets in the general direction of what you're trying to shoot. As we here on the right say, gun control means using two hands! Because the AR platform is so customizable, with barrel lengths, different shrouds, and what have you, it would be very difficult to have any kind of universal standard on where the holes are supposed to go to put your optics on, be they iron sights, a red or green dot system, or a scope. The scary looking thing here is called a picatinny rail. Accessories can be mounted to that rail, and anywhere on that rail, so you can get your sights or optics put where you need them to be, more on that in a second. And finally, well, what's that pointy bit on the end there? That's scary looking, is that a bayonet, can you stab someone with it? Well, I'll grant you, on my Unique AR Screaming Eagle model, it is in fact pretty pointy. The stock photo above looks like it would be less pointy, so that actually takes the bayonet question out of it... It's a flash suppressor. Much like your internal combustion engine, a bullet is launched from its cartridge (the brass bit that comes flying out of the side of the gun; the bullet is just the pointy bit at the end) by way of an explosion. You hit the trigger, the firing pin hits the primer, it lights the powder, there's nowhere else for that force to go, so it blows the bullet down the barrel of the gun and toward the intended target. But there's a lot of force in there, in a house explosion, for example, there's not just a boom, and then the explosion hands you pieces of brick and plaster. There's fire! Big old fireball. Well, same principle, an explosion is an explosion. So all that fire's going to come shooting out of the end of the barrel with the bullet. The flash suppressor is designed to cut down on that, so you don't have this happening...
If you're in a defensive situation, well hey, good luck hiding when you're telegraphing where you are with fucking fireballs; might as well send off a couple flares for good measure! Also, when you're on the range, that shit is just obnoxious. So that's what that thing does. It keeps that from happening. And those are your scary bits. See, the thing is, an AR is just a rifle. That's all it is. It shoots rifle bullets, out of a rifle barrel, I mean, if the thing had a wooden stock and iron sights, sure, it would look more like your BB gun from when you were growing up, or those single-shot bolt action .22s that anyone who ever went to camp will have shot at some point, but it's still shooting the same bullets as the scary looking counterpart. Again, I think mine looks sharp as hell, with the eagle motif and everything, but if it was flat black, or made of wood, it wouldn't change anything about it.
I don't know how I went down the gun black hole, but whatever, we're along for the ride; I've got my mechanical keyboard hooked up, so the words are flying out of my hands here at my desk. So here's the thing. I'm no gun expert. I'm not. I advocate strongly for the second amendment, and I think that every American (mentally stable, let's clarify) should have a gun. Again, my personal opinion, you can agree or not. Or at the very least, have experience with guns; besides the fact that my parents owned a hunting rifle or two, I also shot at Boy Scout summer camp. But getting back to it, even though I think this, I respect that some people just might not want one, or anything to do with one. I maintain that the latter is because we have been told that these are just horrible frightening devices of murder and war, but regardless, you don't want to go shooting, you don't have to, so don't. That's the difference. Choice. Equality in choice. So when I talk about going to the range, if I am in fact NOT some gun expert, or gun guy, what's that all about? And no, let me reiterate; I have never been to a gun show. I don't competition shoot. I don't have a subscription to Guns and Ammo. But I do like to shoot, and it's twofold. So number one, it's fun. It's an exciting sport. It requires skill, patience, I mean, it's not brute force, you're not going for how hard or how much you can shoot, you're going for accuracy. Honing skills, Which brings me to the second point; it's about gun safety. One of the criteria for renewing your CPL, because yes, on top of all that, you have to renew it every five years with the Clerk's office, is that you need to have expended a certain amount of hours doing just that. No, there's no signoff sheet for the range, or anything like that, but what it all boils down to is this; it is in everyone's best interest, that if you are going to shoot at something, in the intended case of a CPL, an attacker coming at you, that you hit them, and only them. That you don't wing them and take out your neighbor, or blow a hole through the piano, or put one right between the eyes of your neighbor's dog... The more you hone a skill, the better you get at it. Now, I said this before, it is my hope that I never have to raise any one of my weapons in self-defense. I don't ever want to be put in that situation. I can't imagine being, for example, in Kyle Rittenhouse's shoes, in general, but especially at that age. I don't ever want to be in that situation... but if I am, I intend to survive. But getting back to it, it's about safety. It's about skill. I talked about the sights on the rail, and moving them where you need them, and all that. I sighted in my AR at the range. Didn't plan to, but when I shot, it was very well grouped, very consistently... about two inches below the bullseye or so. Adjust. Fire five rounds. Pull the target in and inspect. Send the target back out. Adjust more. Fire five rounds. Pull the target in and inspect. And so on. Because I want to make sure that when I am aiming the little red dot at something, that the bullet goes where the little red dot is. That's the point. I could very easily, in fact, with my eyes closed, send a hail of bullets flying in the general direction of the target. Hell, law of averages says I'll probably hit it with at least a couple rounds. But that's hardly accurate, and it certainly isn't safe, especially if that target is an armed threat in a crowded grocery store or something. We go to the range to hone this skill, a skill that we hope to never have to use, but that we want to be accurate if we're ever called up to that. And, again, shooting is an amazingly fun sport, and really very relaxing.
Earlier on, when entering a description, I said "like a good gun owner"... This is important. Now, humans are humans, you can't paint gun owners with one broad brush as the left likes to do. I mean, I am just as satisfied and happy when I'm dressed up and at a good Mahler concert, or a broadway musical, as I am in t-shirt and jeans spraying lead down the range. People are all very different. And you will no doubt, well hell, my uncle is a great example, he thinks that any gun that isn't his gun... is shit. My Glock, for example, I paid too much for, and he can shoot his Colt, or whatever the hell he has, more accurately. OK, great. Good for you. So anyway, like anything, like any sport or hobby where there are enthusiasts involved, you are going to run into those people who are experts, know everything, and talk down to you, because of course, you have the wrong gun, with the wrong sights, and you're using the wrong brand of ammo, and you're shooting it wrong, and so on. But in my experience, well, I haven't run into one yet. The first time we were out shooting at the range, and I mean, I've never been to a gun range before in my life, not an indoor one anyway, I had to ask Cas how to put the bullets into the magazine of my Glock. I didn't know how. I had never done such a thing before. Now there are times when friends give each other shit. I'm a smartass, and I hang out with plenty of other smartasses. But there is also a time to recognize that a friend is asking what he knows is a really stupid question, but it's coming from a place of just never having done that particular thing before. So he showed me. No shit, no guff, not even a chuckle. And I really appreciated that. Any gun I have bought (and that would be a sum total of three), any ammo, whatever, any conversation I've had with anyone, so let's just go ahead and broad-brush them as "gun people", has been respectful. Helpful. Because we're all part of a common club. And again, just like Jeeping, just like football (I assume), just like craft beer (better example), when you're into a hobby, you're part of a community, and there are plenty of people who are going to be shitty experts, and talk down to you, but when you're dealing with "gun people", I have to say, it's a great equalizer, and "these people" have been some of the nicest, realest, most down-to-earth people I have ever had the privilege, and it has always been a privilege, to associate with.
Right, second loaf of bread is doing its bread-thing, and I'm getting hungry, so it's time for dinner.
So here's where things are at. I woke up, and had pizza. Not too much pizza; I'm really trying to get back on track with my PersonalPoints (formerly SmartPoints)... I have been with WW for a whiile now, because my wife found the program rather easy to work with, and she was seeing results. As was I; when I actually kept up on the smartpoints, and I was going to the gym regularly, I mean, I was losing 2-4 pounds a week! It's like, and I know that every day is not a perfect win, but it's like, all you have to do is stay within those points (and track accurately), and keep moving, and yeah. It works. I'm living proof. But then COVID hit, and the gym closed down, and we couldn't go anywhere, and our weekly workshops closed down, and all you could really do was sit on your ass and eat take-out. I know I'm not the only one who gained the "covid 19" (it's a playful take on the freshman 40), but it is rather obnoxious, because I was actually doing really well... But I'm not perfect, self-improvement is always a journey, what I have a terrible habit of doing is blowing my point budget right out of the water, and then it's like, well, I've fucked the week, why even bother tracking, and then I just start back up again Thursday morning, which is my weigh-day. So yeah, trying not to do that this week. And every day, every week I keep it back on track, so much the better. So yeah. Getting back to my point, I had a reasonable amount of leftover pizza, a tea, and I watched Friday's episode of Gutfeld. And this is another takeaway; we have really been trying to watch less TV; there's nothing wrong with watching a bit of TV, but it's like, if there is laundry to be done, or a floor to vacuum, or plants to water, let's do those things instead of sitting for three, four hours in a row emptying out the DVR... Especially with the outside. A pond is a bit of work; the mulberry tree shitting berries into it is constantly clogging the filter, I'm skimming it off every day with the net, doing the filter every other day, I mean, it's a lot. But it needs doing in order to keep the pond and everything healthy, and that was an investment, but I'll tell you what, when you're sitting out there and just listening to that water trickle, occasionally seeing a bit of a fish as they swim by (they're growing, but still really quite small), and just looking at the manicured lawn, the healthy flowers, the rapidly growing vegetable plants, listening to the windchimes, I mean, you just sit back in the comfortable outside chair, and you dig it, you really do. It's a very good thing we've created out there; I took what came with the house, and I've added my own twists and essence to make it my own. And it's all turning out just grand. Gah, I keep going off on sidetracks. Watched Gutfeld, and then I got to some work inside, and as of this sitting, the dishes should be just about done, the dryer should be finished, the washer should be about halfway there. There's a loaf of bread in the breadmaker that will be ready in about 2 hours, and I'll probably knock out a second one to put in the freezer. I love that about standard hearty loaf-bread; it freezes just fine, and comes out just as fresh as it went in; you would never know that it had been frozen. During all of this, I have also attacked the pile of mail on my desk, sorting through the junk (and again, with the amount of crap that people pay to have delivered through the mail, how on earth is the Post Office perpetually hurting for money?!?), and getting the relevant bills paid and ready to be posted. I will eventually be taking a shower and getting dressed, as I need to hit Lowe's for replacement filter pads for the pond filter. Which they don't have at the Madison Heights store, so I'm either going to have to hit Sterling Heights or Warren; it's showing that they are in stock there. I don't even know where the hell the Sterling Heights Lowe's is; I think in that big shopping development at 14 and VanDyke? I don't know, I'm sure I'll find it, and I'm sure I'll find construction, because every road in Macomb County, except Dequindre, which so badly needs it, is under construction. And again, I'll have to be in bed at a sensible hour, because I'm working 14 hours straight through tomorrow, and that takes it out of you, especially when it's supposed to be another 90 and humid day. But I took Monday off, because I'm just not 23 anymore, and it takes me a little while to bounce back. Can I do it, oh absolutely. Do I have it in me, yes indeed I do. But is it as easy as it used to be? No, no it surely is not.
One of the benefits of living in the suburbs, being the king of your own castle, is that you're isolated from the generally accepted problems of the big city, where you are just a cog in a machine renting a bit of space; a human-sized locker in the subway, if you will. And one of the benefits of not having socialist-media, is that you don't have to be bothered with the hysteria of other people. So, of course, I watch the news. But the joy with that is that you can watch it... or not. Like, if you have social media, for the vast majority of people, they are downright addicted. It's a rabbit hole, you just keep scrolling and scrolling, doomscrolling, they call it on Alt 98.7's Church of Lazlo afternoon drive-time show. I have a tumblr, and this LiveJournal, yeah, I'm not exactly what you would call with the social media. With the news, I can choose to turn it on... or not. I can choose to click into that app... or not. And I'm choosing not. Because I'm told that outside, in cities around the country, people are losing their fucking minds. Absolutely losing their fucking minds. I mean, it was a double whammy that people, unfortunately, are just not getting, they are just not understanding what they're mad about, that's the most messed up thing. But that doesn't stop them from protesting and being pissed off, because if they actually understood what had just happened, actually took a pause instead of just letting the media tell them that they're mad now, angrier than they've ever been now, well, they just might not be so mad. First, because it came first, is the New York gun thing. Now, here's how a CPL works in Michigan. And note, that's CPL; concealed pistol license; it applies to pistols. I cannot, for example, stuff my AR down my pant leg and say I'm concealed carrying. Don't know why you would want to do so, but that's neither here nor there. Michigan is a "shall issue" state. Which means that the state SHALL ISSUE a CPL to someone who has met all of the requirements for same, AND does not have anything in their history that would preclude them from getting a CPL... OK, with me so far? If you've done everything you're supposed to, AND there's no reason you should NOT be allowed to have one, then there is no reason that the State of Michigan could decide not to grant you one. Now. Was it a particularly "hard" process, well, that depends, I suppose. In my experience, I gave up the majority of a day on the weekend to sit in classroom instruction with my family and someone who knows what the hell they are talking about. And that was a hell of a class; it's not like there's a quiz you have to pass, because why would there be? Knowing the parts of your gun and being able to recite them from memory is in no way relevant to whether you're going to be a responsible CPL owner. Nor is it reasonable to expect you to know the law, every verse and note, about what Michigan has on the books regarding guns, gun rights, castle doctrine, and so on. The class laid it out, clear as crystal, what you're signing on to. My biggest takeaway, and there were a great many, was what he said right off the get; we are people who are choosing not to be victims. But like I said, it was a heavy class. Know this, I have spent the majority of my young life terrified of war. Because if there's a war, you might get called to fight; just because we haven't had a draft in decades doesn't mean that we can't have one; all men still have to register for it. I was scared of going to war and being killed, but I was even MORE scared of having to go over somewhere and kill other people. Because that's not how I was raised. That's not how anyone is raised. People hear that you have a CPL, nay, even multiple guns, that you go shooting on the weekends, combine that with being a white male and a Republican, and yeah. They assume that you're some sort of type, and it's hardly flattering. But what it all boils down to is that I, like just about any gun owner, the last thing I ever want to do is shoot a gun at anything more than a deer, because they are delicious. And hand to God, I don't even know if I could do that; I guess we'll see whenever that time comes to pass. It is my hope that I NEVER have to raise a weapon in self-defense, but it it's a choice between me or them, or worse yet, my family or them, yeah, you picked the wrong man to mess with. I don't want to be an agressor, that's not in my nature, nor is it in most people's, but I have no intention of being a victim. But getting back to it, this is a serious responsibility, and our instructor, who was a former cop, and I believe also served in the military, if memory serves, made that perfectly clear. And then we had to go shooting, to prove that we knew how to control our gun, that we knew how to safely operate it in a self-defense scenario. And then we had to spend more money, because all of the before costs money, to fill out the application and file it in person at our County Clerk's office, with the certificate of completion. And then we had to spend more money to get fingerprinted, and have a full background check run with the feds, and so on and so on, and then several weeks later, a little card shows up in the mail, which is good for five years, and says that you can concealed-carry your pistol... So hard, well, not particularly on the face of it, and in my opinion, but the strange thing is, there is nothing precluding me, and it would not cost me a dime, to carry my gun on my hip. If it is visible, well, we're talking about a Constitutionally protected right, it's when you are concealing it that you have to jump through several hoops to have that privilege.
So what's the deal with New York? Well, they have a myriad of gun laws; I believe they have a permitting process, so even just having a gun on you without the proper paperwork is illegal. But the biggie is the CCW/CPL, whatever they have; in New York City, they are what is called a may issue state. So, first off, it's illegal to have a loaded handgun on you without the carry permit. But the carry permit is may issue; you have to plead your case as to WHY you feel the need to carry a loaded firearm, and then it's up to them to decide if they will issue you a license. And I've got a news flash for you; they are not terribly gun-friendly there in NYC. So the manufactured outrage right now is based, as near as I've heard summarized, that the Supreme Court struck down this law that's been on the books for like a hundred years, and of course, that means MORE GUNS ON THE STREETS, which we are told by the media is bad... Well, what you're dealing with here is ignorance of concept; first off, just because a law has been on the books for a century does NOT make it constitutional. And the Constitution, despite what you have been told, is actually quite clear on this. To paraphrase, because the security of the country is wholly dependent on a well-regulated militia, AKA, the people, the right of the people to HAVE AND BEAR arms shall not be infringed. Remember, militia was fighting just as much as regular army for the revolution; if we were to have depended solely on the continental army, we'd all be speaking English english right now, because there were just not enough people... But when you start adding farmers who know how to shoot, bankers with pistols, and so on, this entire nation fought for its freedom, and it won. I'm not trying to go into a history lesson, but again, pretty clear; it's important, even vital to have a responsibly armed populace, so their right to do so, and pay attention to this part, all of you in the back, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. It does not say "shall be allowed in certain circumstances". It does not say "with the following list of 1700s-era weapons". It does not say "unless the gun looks scary, in which case it shall arbitrarily be banned"... Well-regulated militia is in there, and that pertains to the people. But that's not even the most important part; the why does not matter. We've already established that these rights are inalienable, and enumerated, and one of those rights is to keep and bear arms, and it is specifically called out that it SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. Period. End of story. So New York has a law on the books that is in direct violation of the Constitution. I wish to exercise my right to keep and bear an arm, and by the way, whether it's for self-defense, or "just because" really doesn't matter, again, this is not a conditional right, the Constitution is beautifully clear in its simplicity. The State tells me that I cannot do this, because they don't like the reason I gave... That's an infringement. I mean, this is really just the first step, because again, shall not be infringed, it's a cut and dried statement, and is the answer to any "but what about" scenario that you can really give me. The law was blatantly unconstitutional, and that law was shot down, as it should have been years ago.
Now, Roe v. Wade. I will take this opportunity to say that this is, for me, a glorious day in our history, and one that I never thought I would see in my lifetime. But it's not about that, Jesse Watters said it perfectly, this is not a win for conservatives, this is a win for the Constitution. Because here's the deal. Roe v. Wade was determined to be the law of the land due to a pretty lousy stretch of an interpretation of a couple clauses of the Constitution, by a stack of liberal justices. Even the vaunted and "notorious" RBG had stated on numerous occasions that this was bad legislation off the get, and probably would not hold up to a re-evaluation. But you see, this is what we could call legislating from the bench, and it's something that numerous Presidents and Congress' have done in the past. You don't want to make a hard decision about something? Kick it off the the Supreme Court. Let them deal with it. And that's not how this is supposed to work. We're supposed to create laws, laws that are in accordance with our Constitution. And if someone challenges the legitimacy of this law, then it is up to the Courts to determine whether or not it passes Constitutional muster. In this case, the Court saw, quite clearly, that there is no "right to abortion" enumerated in the Constitution. There is, in fact, a lot of stuff in there about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and how that shall not be infringed either, and by the way, that doesn't come with an age limit. But I digress. The question is, what just happened here. And while it is perfectly obvious what did indeed just happen yesterday, the vagina-hat wearers who have been all ginned up by CNN and The View and the like are getting it wrong every time. You see, they'll say "Abortion was made illegal"... But that's not what happened. There were two takes I saw in the last couple days that stuck with me, and one of them was "so here we go again, democrats are burning down democrat run cities in democrat run states where abortion is still legal anyway..." Whaaaaa?!?
Here's another one that people really have a hard time with, the deliniation between a democracy and a republic. And a representative democracy... is a shitshow. Now, a republic runs on democratic principles; majority rule and so on. But we are a republic of states, it's in the name, the UNITED STATES of AMERICA... As in, we're the states of America. We are united. We are one country, but we are a country of fifty individual states. The government is responsible for the things that make a nation a nation; commerce and trade, defense, finance and money, things like that. Imagine if every state had different money and a different exchange rate, or if California was allied to Germany in WWII, but the rest of us were against them. That doesn't work. That's not a country. But other than the things specifically enumerated in the Constitution and other documents, the rest of this stuff is supposed to be left to the states. Why, for example, do we have a national board of education. What purpose does it serve? Because the Framers understood, even with such a young country, that this was a large and very different land, and a one-size-fits-all approach did not work. Let's say the federal government made a law based on where they are, which is outside Virginia. It's generally quite hot and muggy, but they have cold days too. So they pass a law, saying that all dwellings shall have a single fireplace. OK, that's fine for Virginia, a single fireplace can counteract the temperate winters that they get... Up here in Michigan, thanks, we've got one warm room, and a frozen house otherwise. Down in Florida, they're sitting there wondering what the hell this thing's for, and why do they need it? It's a bit of a humorous example, but the idea hopefully comes across. Every state is different, dealing with their own challenges. Passing their own laws, based on their own people. What this just did is kick the issue back to the states, which is where it should have been in the first place. Regardless of my personal feelings, or the teaching of my faith on abortion (and the former was in place long before the latter affirmed them), it is not the place of the Supreme Court to determine whether or not abortion is or should be legal. That's not in their wheelhouse. If it's not breaking a Constitutional principle, then it is up to the states to decide. That's the point. If you don't like the overwhelming laws of your state, you can attempt to change them. Or you can move. I could not, for example, live in California. Everything that state stands for is basically directly against what I believe in. And a dyed-in-the-wool LA liberal is not going to like Florida, I can tell you that, or a great many of the Southern bible belt states. Not gonna be their cup of tea. Michigan's always been a purple state. There are things I don't agree with, but there are things that I do, and while it swings left and right, it usually lands somewhere in the middle, which is a place that I can tolerate. California, for example, has a law on the books saying abortion is specifically legal, this is something that has been in place before Roe v. Wade, if memory serves. Michigan has a law that says it is not, but that law is currently being reviewed by the State supreme court.
So there are a couple takeaways here. First. Just because something is legal does not mean that it has to be easy... or convenient. OK, let's say Michigan does indeed outlaw abortion. So you have to pack up and drive to Chicago. You can take the train. It's not that far. And if you want to be an abortion doctor, well, it sounds like you're gonna be heading to a state that allows that sort of thing. But that really opens up a huge deal with the "pro choice" movement, their choice is really one option; abort the baby. Where is, for example, the outrage that there is not mandatory maternity/paternity leave on the books for all employers? Or mandatory day care, or so on, or so on... Yes, having a baby is tough. It's not easy. I don't even have one yet, and I know that. And looking past anything that explains why you got to where you are, as a two-job single mother, just to throw an example, instead of saying, oh, that's hard, we'll just abort, how about providing the care and support to make this hard job easier on the parent? Where is the call for that? We talk about healthcare, we talk about how much we care about women, but it only applies to one decision. As we say in so many things in public services, you have to use ALL the tools in your toolbox. Let's say you have webworms on your crabapple tree. What do you do? Well, if you have Japanese Beetles in your lawn, you spray, so I would say that you spray? Wrong. You have multiple tools. In this case, you cut the branch off. It's affecting one part of one branch, cut it off, and the tree is fine. You can't do that with the lawn, you have to go bigger, so the two jobs require two different tools. So we talk about caring for women, we talk about womens health, do women not get colds? Do women not need support? Is all we can offer to a pregnant woman infanticide? That's it? That's what we've been fighting for? Sounds pretty narrow-vision to me. So, I work with a woman who I greatly respect. We are friends. And she was a wreck yesterday, because of this. Because I'm sure, in her mind, she sees her daughter being raped and being forced to carry a baby to term, or any one of the other horror stories we are told will happen if we can't have abortion on demand. And there's just so much wrong with that. So very much. But it's what she knows. It's probably all she's ever known. My body, my choice, and so on. Lies and catch phrases created to justify a terrible evil. But that's the other take I saw; people learned these beliefs and opinions over time, and they can unlearn them with time. And that's heartening. Because I was really a little disgusted, becasue it was like, you love your daughter. You love your grandbaby. And I'm sure if we got into it, and the hypothetical came out, what if your daughter chose to abort instead of have your grandchild, and the answer would be that she would completely support her, yadda yadda yadda, but the truth would be that she would be freaking devestated. Absolutely so. It's like, you're so upset about something that doesn't affect you or yours, and you're upset about the wrong thing, because what you're upset about didn't actually happen in the way that you're upset about, oh and by the way, being of a certain ethnicity, you're someone who the entire concept of planned parenthood was designed to exterminate... and you supported this? But again, when it's all you've known, and you've been fed a lie, that takes time to undo, but it can be undone. And finally, what if the shoe was on the other foot?
The problem with the left is that they only agree with choice... if it's a choice that they agree with. Let's go back to the gun thing. What has happened is that now, those law-abiding citizens who want to carry a gun for self defense... in a city that is riddled with murders, assaults, and crime, are able to do so. I would also point out that people who are carrying them illegally... were already doing so before this law was passed, and I can guarantee that they didn't apply for a permit, hence ILLEGAL! This is why gun control laws only serve to confound law-abiding gun owners! But anyway... If you, and this is important, please pay attention, if you do not wish to do so, that's fine, you don't have to... We went through this with the masks, the vaccines, all of it. How it should be: I want to carry a gun, so I can, and you don't want to carry one, so you don't have to, and we keep on keeping on. How they want it to be: I want to carry a gun... but you don't like guns, so nobody should be allowed to carry a gun ever. And I would point out the irony and hypocrisy, about how a party who is obsessed with "equality" espouses anything but. If I CAN do something, and you are NOT FORCED TO DO SOMETHING, then we're both enjoying an equal amount of freedom around the choice for that particular thing. If YOU get your way, and I am NOT ALLOWED to do something... then that's not equality. You've clearly got more in this relationship. Now yes, would I like to see abortion banned at the federal level, yes I would. The movement that supports it is based on lies and misinformation, it's murder, plain and simple. My opinion. Also would point out, that's another problem we have in this society; the lack of ability to handle opinions you don't agree with. You have two choices if you don't agree with that last sentence. You can get all pissed off and try to "school" me, which isn't going to work, because both of our minds are made up, we're not going to see eye-to-eye on this, nor are we going to change each other's opinion... or you can just disagree, and move on. Maybe you don't follow this blog anymore, maybe it's just something we don't talk about. Again, I'm sure that yesterday, both of us in that office had opinions about each other running through our heads. Her less than gracious "something happened today... which I'm sure you heard about, and I'm SURE you're HAPPY about", when I asked her if anything was the matter, kind of set that clue out there, but besides that, nothing was said. We went about our day. Like civilized human beings. But getting back to it. My original point, what if it was on the other foot. What if the Supreme Court somehow mandated a law (this is grossly unconstitutional, but stick with me here), that everyone in this country was going to be baptized Catholic. Cool. That's great for me, and the 70 million (give or take) other Catholics in the country. But it's gonna be a real bitch if you were raised Baptist, or any one of the other Protestant denominations... Or Jewish, with a deep and rich ancestry that has stood the test of time and faith for millennia. Or Islamic, or Buddhist, etc., etc., but that's the law, there's a Catholic in the White House, so you'd best get to some rosary rattling. Now, how does this apply. The issue is one of faith, and belief; you don't have to be a Catholic to oppose abortion. You're running a business. You try to do the good thing, so you provide health care to your employees, and that shit ain't cheap. But you exclude abortion coverage, because you're either devoutly religious, or maybe not even that, but it's just something that you are morally opposed to on just every level; that's a dealbreaker. You're mature enough to understand that these are your employees, not your children, and what they do outside of work is their business... but that doesn't mean that you have to endorse, agree, or pay for it. OK. Mature adults being mature, you know what you're signing on for when you are employed by this person, sounds like we're OK, right? No. Because advocacy groups, as soon as they get wind of this, are going to sue you rotten because you're discriminating against women's healthcare, and so on... and so on... And because this was, until recently, considered to be the supreme law of the land, even though it's conflicting with several other articles, there's going to need to be a reckoning. And even if a court upholds it, they'll just sue again; look at that convent that's been sued like 6 times, and FYI, lawsuits are expensive. Because again, this is where the problem really lies; this should be live and let live, you do you, I'll do me, and we'll get along, or not. But no. I'll do me, and you don't like that, so you're going to try to destroy me and my ilk. You're athiest, you don't want to be anything, especially Catholic, how dare they force you to do that... Not cool. You're Catholic, and you cannot in any way, shape, or form, put forth your money to pay to end the life of a child. But you're forced to do so... The principle... is the same. Exactly the same.
There's just so much wrong with all of this in general. People are upset because they believe that this is right, because the entire narrative has been to lie about it to make it acceptable. For decades. And it worked. People have no understanding of the concept of a republic, so they're completely upset about the wrong thing; let's not even look at how this is a wonderful thing for a variety of reasons, put a pin in that and just focus on what these people believe, they're lamenting a change that didn't actually happen. And the pearl-clutching and garment-rending is all but palpable. But then, that's like the other thing; OMG, there's going to be more guns on the streets, we're not safe. But that's another narrative of the left, that guns are just these scary, terrifying things, that just murder people with impunity. Like, what is the definition of "assault rifle"? The best they've ever been able to come up with is the vague description "scary looking gun", and an arbitrary list of parts. Because of the media, you generally get a picture of an AR in your head when you are thinking of an "assault rifle", shoot, you probably assume that that's what AR stands for (it's not)... It is... a rifle. So to the first point, I should think that ANY gun being pointed at you would be a "scary looking weapon"... I can get a Glock much like my own, in magenta, in teal, they even had one done up in Hello Kitty. Cerakote is an amazing process. Pink with the white flowers, and Hello Kitty with her little handbag smiling at you. Not particularly scary. But like mine, it will shoot 17 9MM bullets just as fast as I can pull the trigger. And mine's flat black. Because it's the same gun. And I don't care if it's teal or black or what, looking down the barrel of anything is scary, next question. Oh, well all that stuff, all that military stuff... So usually, this refers to a couple of things. First, there's the shroud around the barrel. It's perforated metal. In the case of my AR, which is this guy...
it is beautifully done with the screaming eagle motif, stars, and the word freedom. Now, what is its purpose? Why is it there? The barrel is only as thick as that end bit, so why all this extra scary looking metal? Ok, if you know nothing about guns, like a good gun owner (and I'm no expert), I'll walk you through this. You are going to shoot at something. You are holding the handle with your right hand, with your trigger finger ready to pull the trigger... This gun is heavy. It is not a pistol. The stock is up against your shoulder to provide stability (because when you shoot, it kicks back a little), but there's an awful lot of metal on the front there. So what does one do? Two-handed grip. Like just about all long-guns.
Aha! And the purpose for that barrel shroud that you're using as a handguard, is to manage heat. The barrel becomes extremely hot, like, it'll burn the shit out of you after running 30 rounds through it. Hell, after running 60, the barrel shroud on mine was becoming noticeably warm. You need to give them time to cool down. But regardless, that's what it's there for, it dissipates heat, AND acts to protect you so you don't burn the hell out of your left hand while you are stabilizing the gun. And the rail, well, you'll notice on both pictures, that's there to mount things to. Like sights. So you can see what you're shooting at, and you're not just spraying bullets in the general direction of what you're trying to shoot. As we here on the right say, gun control means using two hands! Because the AR platform is so customizable, with barrel lengths, different shrouds, and what have you, it would be very difficult to have any kind of universal standard on where the holes are supposed to go to put your optics on, be they iron sights, a red or green dot system, or a scope. The scary looking thing here is called a picatinny rail. Accessories can be mounted to that rail, and anywhere on that rail, so you can get your sights or optics put where you need them to be, more on that in a second. And finally, well, what's that pointy bit on the end there? That's scary looking, is that a bayonet, can you stab someone with it? Well, I'll grant you, on my Unique AR Screaming Eagle model, it is in fact pretty pointy. The stock photo above looks like it would be less pointy, so that actually takes the bayonet question out of it... It's a flash suppressor. Much like your internal combustion engine, a bullet is launched from its cartridge (the brass bit that comes flying out of the side of the gun; the bullet is just the pointy bit at the end) by way of an explosion. You hit the trigger, the firing pin hits the primer, it lights the powder, there's nowhere else for that force to go, so it blows the bullet down the barrel of the gun and toward the intended target. But there's a lot of force in there, in a house explosion, for example, there's not just a boom, and then the explosion hands you pieces of brick and plaster. There's fire! Big old fireball. Well, same principle, an explosion is an explosion. So all that fire's going to come shooting out of the end of the barrel with the bullet. The flash suppressor is designed to cut down on that, so you don't have this happening...
If you're in a defensive situation, well hey, good luck hiding when you're telegraphing where you are with fucking fireballs; might as well send off a couple flares for good measure! Also, when you're on the range, that shit is just obnoxious. So that's what that thing does. It keeps that from happening. And those are your scary bits. See, the thing is, an AR is just a rifle. That's all it is. It shoots rifle bullets, out of a rifle barrel, I mean, if the thing had a wooden stock and iron sights, sure, it would look more like your BB gun from when you were growing up, or those single-shot bolt action .22s that anyone who ever went to camp will have shot at some point, but it's still shooting the same bullets as the scary looking counterpart. Again, I think mine looks sharp as hell, with the eagle motif and everything, but if it was flat black, or made of wood, it wouldn't change anything about it.
I don't know how I went down the gun black hole, but whatever, we're along for the ride; I've got my mechanical keyboard hooked up, so the words are flying out of my hands here at my desk. So here's the thing. I'm no gun expert. I'm not. I advocate strongly for the second amendment, and I think that every American (mentally stable, let's clarify) should have a gun. Again, my personal opinion, you can agree or not. Or at the very least, have experience with guns; besides the fact that my parents owned a hunting rifle or two, I also shot at Boy Scout summer camp. But getting back to it, even though I think this, I respect that some people just might not want one, or anything to do with one. I maintain that the latter is because we have been told that these are just horrible frightening devices of murder and war, but regardless, you don't want to go shooting, you don't have to, so don't. That's the difference. Choice. Equality in choice. So when I talk about going to the range, if I am in fact NOT some gun expert, or gun guy, what's that all about? And no, let me reiterate; I have never been to a gun show. I don't competition shoot. I don't have a subscription to Guns and Ammo. But I do like to shoot, and it's twofold. So number one, it's fun. It's an exciting sport. It requires skill, patience, I mean, it's not brute force, you're not going for how hard or how much you can shoot, you're going for accuracy. Honing skills, Which brings me to the second point; it's about gun safety. One of the criteria for renewing your CPL, because yes, on top of all that, you have to renew it every five years with the Clerk's office, is that you need to have expended a certain amount of hours doing just that. No, there's no signoff sheet for the range, or anything like that, but what it all boils down to is this; it is in everyone's best interest, that if you are going to shoot at something, in the intended case of a CPL, an attacker coming at you, that you hit them, and only them. That you don't wing them and take out your neighbor, or blow a hole through the piano, or put one right between the eyes of your neighbor's dog... The more you hone a skill, the better you get at it. Now, I said this before, it is my hope that I never have to raise any one of my weapons in self-defense. I don't ever want to be put in that situation. I can't imagine being, for example, in Kyle Rittenhouse's shoes, in general, but especially at that age. I don't ever want to be in that situation... but if I am, I intend to survive. But getting back to it, it's about safety. It's about skill. I talked about the sights on the rail, and moving them where you need them, and all that. I sighted in my AR at the range. Didn't plan to, but when I shot, it was very well grouped, very consistently... about two inches below the bullseye or so. Adjust. Fire five rounds. Pull the target in and inspect. Send the target back out. Adjust more. Fire five rounds. Pull the target in and inspect. And so on. Because I want to make sure that when I am aiming the little red dot at something, that the bullet goes where the little red dot is. That's the point. I could very easily, in fact, with my eyes closed, send a hail of bullets flying in the general direction of the target. Hell, law of averages says I'll probably hit it with at least a couple rounds. But that's hardly accurate, and it certainly isn't safe, especially if that target is an armed threat in a crowded grocery store or something. We go to the range to hone this skill, a skill that we hope to never have to use, but that we want to be accurate if we're ever called up to that. And, again, shooting is an amazingly fun sport, and really very relaxing.
Earlier on, when entering a description, I said "like a good gun owner"... This is important. Now, humans are humans, you can't paint gun owners with one broad brush as the left likes to do. I mean, I am just as satisfied and happy when I'm dressed up and at a good Mahler concert, or a broadway musical, as I am in t-shirt and jeans spraying lead down the range. People are all very different. And you will no doubt, well hell, my uncle is a great example, he thinks that any gun that isn't his gun... is shit. My Glock, for example, I paid too much for, and he can shoot his Colt, or whatever the hell he has, more accurately. OK, great. Good for you. So anyway, like anything, like any sport or hobby where there are enthusiasts involved, you are going to run into those people who are experts, know everything, and talk down to you, because of course, you have the wrong gun, with the wrong sights, and you're using the wrong brand of ammo, and you're shooting it wrong, and so on. But in my experience, well, I haven't run into one yet. The first time we were out shooting at the range, and I mean, I've never been to a gun range before in my life, not an indoor one anyway, I had to ask Cas how to put the bullets into the magazine of my Glock. I didn't know how. I had never done such a thing before. Now there are times when friends give each other shit. I'm a smartass, and I hang out with plenty of other smartasses. But there is also a time to recognize that a friend is asking what he knows is a really stupid question, but it's coming from a place of just never having done that particular thing before. So he showed me. No shit, no guff, not even a chuckle. And I really appreciated that. Any gun I have bought (and that would be a sum total of three), any ammo, whatever, any conversation I've had with anyone, so let's just go ahead and broad-brush them as "gun people", has been respectful. Helpful. Because we're all part of a common club. And again, just like Jeeping, just like football (I assume), just like craft beer (better example), when you're into a hobby, you're part of a community, and there are plenty of people who are going to be shitty experts, and talk down to you, but when you're dealing with "gun people", I have to say, it's a great equalizer, and "these people" have been some of the nicest, realest, most down-to-earth people I have ever had the privilege, and it has always been a privilege, to associate with.
Right, second loaf of bread is doing its bread-thing, and I'm getting hungry, so it's time for dinner.