Single-Issue Voter

(Updated 12/18/23: Complete post below. I think SteemIt might be on its last leg.)
(Originally Posted 12/5/06)

TRIGGER WARNING: Gun Stuff. Pun and reality intended.

I am a gun and freedom enthusiast. I always have been. I first shot a gun, when I was six. I got my first subscription to a gun magazine, when I was twelve. I didn't own an actual firearm until I was 19.

I have been all over the map on politics. I voted Republican, Democrat, Perot (whatever the hell he was), split ticket, registered Libertarian recently, and pretty consistently voted Republican over the past 15 years.

But one thing that has grown inside me is an understanding that I am a single-issue voter. In the simplest analysis, I am a pro-gun voter. But if you talk to my Facebook friends, coworkers, analog friends, and neighbors, you would think that I was a libertarian Republican. That isn't the kernel of my truth - simplified or complexified.

In the end, I am an anarchocapitalist. My favorite U.S. document is the Declaration of Independence, despite its specificity. I love the flawed Bill of Rights. The guarantee of free speak and assembly is sacrosanct and needs no government modifications. But the gun is concrete, it is a tool and tactile.

Though I might pledge fealty to certain rights, a Constitution, or amendments, in the end I vote singularly for the gun.

Replacement Carry Gun: The One To Be Replaced (Part 2)

credit: egunner.com

PREVIOUS POST: Replacement Carry Gun (Part 1)

I've had my Ruger P95 for quite some time. Let's say it's been about 15 years. 

In my last post about a replacement carry gun, I focused on the thickness of the Ruger P95. But it is also the weight that gives me grief. So, here's a look at the dimensions of my Ruger KP95R15.

Firstly, the exact model: KP95R15

"K" means stainless slide and I assume levers and such.

"R" means rail.

"15" means the standard magazines hold 15 cartridges.

So back to the DIMENSIONS.

length: 7.3 inches

height: 5.6 inches

width: 1.4 inches

weight: 27 ounces

SHOOTING IMPRESSIONS:

It is a little thick for my hands. I shoot it best with a vice-like grip front to back with both hands. I literally compress my shooting hand with my support hand. Also, I made my own grip sleeve with a bicycle inner tube, because the grip is a little slick. So, I am looking to also avoid those issues.

MODIFIED CRITERIA:

So, it looks like I am looking at getting a pistol that is thinner, lighter, and has better ergonomics.

NEXT POST: PARSING THE CHOICES

Replacement Carry Gun (Part 1)

The Premise

I've always wanted to get a subcompact like a Glock G26 or - later - a microcompact like the SIG P365. Well, I've never been too quick obtaining a sight picture with really short-barrel handguns. And by fiddling around with my Ruger P95, I realized that I don't have much of a problem with concealing a "full height," "full length" pistol. I canted the pistol just so and viola it disappeared. But it was the width that was giving me grief. The Ruger P95 just dug into me. The thing is just so damn thick with levers and stuff sticking out all over the place.

So I'm now looking for a pistol that is a just about as big but thinner. And of course, there will be other criteria. Let me see ...

Decent capacity. Let's say 10+.

Fits my hand.

Reliable.

Decent sights.

Weight.

Easy on the wallet.

Easy on the eyes.

The (Possible) Choices

Avidity Arms PD10

1911

SIG P365 XL

Ruger Security 9

Glock G43X

Kahr C9

NEXT POST : Replacement Carry Gun: The One To Be Replaced (Part 2)

Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon Boxed 3L

Nose: Burnt tennis balls.

Mouth Feel: Medium bodied.

Flavor: Underseasoned Chuck E. Cheese cheese pizza.

Origin: Chile

Price: Currently on sale $11.99 @ Harris Teeter, Regularly $21.99

"The Ukraine" Became "Ukraine"

What's in a name? 

In the last few years, "The Ukraine" became "Ukraine" - to the best of my knowledge. Why?

People have been admonished for essentially saying that Ukraine was not a country by calling it "The Ukraine." Where did this all come from? Where is it all going?

Ukraine: Origin Story, In Reverse?

Crimea

The Crimea (Oh, God! Not another "The" place!). Okay, so the Crimea Peninsula was gifted to the Soviet Republic of Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev in 1954, because Khrushchev's wife was Ukrainian. Wait, what!?!

Why does Crimea matter in this whole scenario? Well, it seems to be indicative of what happened in the Soviet Union. Whether by design - or by circumstance of their vast numbers in Soviet proper - Russians were resettled or migrated to non-Russian places. Crimea was full of ethnic tartars. Kaliningrad was full of ethnic Germans, Poles, and Baltic nationals. Russians were everywhere, but what did it matter? The Soviet Union was one country. Everyone was communist - comrade.

Soviet Collapse 

So when the Soviet Union fell, Russians were everywhere. But who really cared, right? Everyone had bigger fish to fry. How were families going to put food on the table? Who was going to employee young men, so there wasn't lawlessness or a new revolution? Who was going to keep the nuclear weapons?

In Ukraine, ethnic Russians became Ukrainian citizens. But weren't many ethnic Russian's already Ukrainians before the dissolution of the Soviet federation?

Was the Soviet Union going to be Balkanized like the Balkans?

Pre-Soviet Ukraine

Before the Soviet Union, Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire. Catherine the Great had settled part of The Ukraine and deemed it New Russia. Many major Ukrainian cities were actually founded by Catherine the Great. The Crimean War was a British/Russian War. How Ukrainian was The Ukraine?

Well, let us see.

Ukraine diverged from Russian [...] according to.

What's In A Name? And Why Does It All of Sudden Matter?

So back to resent history. 

"In 1993, the Ukrainian government explicitly requested that, in linguistic agreement with countries and not regions,^[44] the Russian preposition в, v, be used instead of на, na,^[45] and in 2012, the Ukrainian embassy in London further stated that it is politically and grammatically incorrect to use a definite article with Ukraine.^{[3]" - from the Wikipedia Article "Name of Ukraine"}

Referencing the same Wikiedia article, and using my own ability of deduction - or induction - it appears that slavic languages used "na" ("on") and "v" ("in") interchangably before Ukraine became its own country. Also, obviously "the" in English appeared to have been a loose translation of "in" or "on." 

So, "on" seems to indicate a region, and "in" seems to indicate sovereignty. And [nothing] in English is more sovereign than "the."

The Interchangeability of "Equity" and "Equality"

They're not [period]

equality (n) -  the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunity (Oxford Languages)

 equity (n) - the quality of being fair and impartial (Oxford Languages)

Well that sounds just great. But even with - what appears to be - a relatively pair of immutable definitions they are not the same.

Equality is literally a "state of being." Equity is action oriented. It is how you treat another person.
In standard English, equity and  equality are NOT interchangeable. 

Moral Hazard

Society has moved actively into the dangerous realm of mass moral hazard.

moral hazard (n) - lack of incentive to guard against risk where one is protected by is consequences.

Organizations both government, private, and semi-governmental are comforted by the protected virtually signalling. As long as they signal that they are for making people descended from those who were prior oppressed and are by de facto currently oppressed by their definition, then no cost can be spared, and those descended from perceived former oppressors must bare those costs. And definitions be damned. The virtue signalers and guarantors of wholeness will create new language out of old a la George Orwell's 1984.

Look at this explanation of the newspeak, which the definitions have actually been accepted by the full spectrum of politically leanings - though conservatives do not generally accept the goal.

"Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome." - Marin Health and Human Services, Marin County, CA

What a load of crap. But that is where we are. Not only are the real definitions not equal, but the lunatics running the redistribution show have redefined EQUITY. 

Moral Rectification

What should conservatives do? Forget that! What should truth seekers do (Who should be all of us.)? Take the language back. Tell virtue signalers and woke/fake social-justice warriors  and thieves to stop twisting reality.

The Existential Danger of Defending Biden

 To defend the Biden administration is morally damaging. 

It takes so much lying, redirection, and even sheer stupidity to make the Biden junta look effective, responsible, normal, or even reasonable.

I felt bad for Jen Psaki, even though she has been a government shill for quite a while. She was honest enough to know that she was full of crap, when she defended the actions of the Biden junta.

And the same sort of goes for Karine Jean-Pierre. But - but - Jean-Pierre is well out of her depth. She is not smart enough to handle the room, nor does she understand he place as press secretary. She is too quick to anger. And she is too quick to push off questions to the White House counsel.

To be fair Jen Psaki did anger at times and was unfoundedly condescending, because she was peddling in lies and half truths. But Karine Jean-Pierre isn't smart enough, too quick to anger, and possibly to inexperienced for her job. So maybe her intelligence is not a question, though I think anyone with some media experience would be quicker on her feet. Maybe she has just not built up the skills.

For both of them, it seems that they are in moral danger for lying to the world about the general ineptitude, partisanship, portrayed wokeness, special-interest favoritism, etc, etc, etc. How they represent the dangerous Biden junta has helped Biden's handlers to get people killed in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and the U.S. of A., damage people's health through COVID and isolated environmental disasters, destabilized the economy, made almost every U.S. citizen poorer, etc.

photo: CNBC

Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Plays Fair

UPDATED: 3/11/23

He said what he thought. Maybe he was a little clumsy about it, but he stated that if a group of people is hateful toward you, then stop giving them what they want: your deference, your obedience, your attention.

Well, I don't know if that is a fair portrayal of the situation, but I am going to listen to the podcast episodes and find out.

I have a stinking suspicion that though Adam's comments might have been clumsy but that they are not racist, and the media newspaper giants are just pandering to the race hustlers and woke idiots. I guess it really remains to be seen. What will Adams do next? Will something more damning come to light?

The Associated Press's leftist take: Media drop Dilbert after creator's Black 'hate group' remark. 

Well, I listened to Adams's statement, and it did come off as a bit clumsy. But Adams is not taking any guff over this. He is not backing down. He did clarify that he thinks that it is ridiculous to stop helping individuals, but that they organizations and rabble rousers should not get your assistance anymore in attacking others.

Real Coffee with Scott Adams podcast on Rumble.

ChinaDaiiy.com.cn: "Top leadership hails victory over COVID"

"Top leadership hails victory over COVID"

published 2/17/23

"China has secured a major, decisive victory in fighting COVID-19, creating a miracle in the history of human civilization of a country with a vast population successfully prevailing over a pandemic, according to a key meeting of the Communist Party of China on Thursday." - Cao Desheng, ChinaDaily.com.cn

Uh, yeah. The CCP bowed to protests and cranked up the crematoriums. Of course, the CCP also quietly went after the protesters. Tiananmen Square was bad optics.

"China announces rollback of COVID-19 restrictions following protests" - The Hill 12/07/22

"Crematoriums Filled with Caskets Hint at Scale of China's COVID-19 Horror" - Newsweek 12/29/22

"China's authorities are quietly rounding up people who protested against COVID rules" - NPR 1/11/23

ChinaDaily.com.cn: "Xi: Forge new drivers for modernization"

"Xi: Forge new drivers for modernization" by Xu Wen published 2/8/23

"'[Xi said it is not only necessary to achieve a higher level of efficiency than that offered by the capitalist system, but it is also necessary to more effectively maintain a higher degree of social equality.'

"Well, didn't the Soviets have the ability to appear efficient in the wrong things?

"They also showed that they could make almost their entire population live in equity of misery."

- China Daily Comments - Unauthorized (on Facebook) 

 

ChinaDaily.com.cn: Official CPA News

ChinaDaily.com.cn is an official outlet of news from China that is in English. 

As far as I know, there is no easy way to honestly comment on their articles. Of course, you could tweet about them or post on any number of social media platforms, but there are no (relatively) free-speech outlets that allow an honest debate about the content.

In 2010, China Daily played on Facebook for a short amount of time - a month. The page is still there. Most if the posts are photos of western celebrities. But with comments like these, the CCP probably did not see a advantageous future for China Daily on Facebook:

source: Facebook.com

So, is there a convenient way to set up centralized commenting on state-run China Daily articles? Would an unofficial page be allowed on Facebook? Would a blog get by without CCP harassment? Let's see.

ChinaDaily Comments - Unauthorized

Pfizer Gain of Function: Russell Brand's Take

 

YouTube

SHOT Show 2023 and TheFirearmBlog

 TheFirearmBlog has posted tons of info from this year's SHOT Show on their blog and their two YouTube channels. I've almost forgotten to look anywhere else for information.

The Firearm Blog on YouTube

TFBTV Show Time on YouTube

The Firearm Blog

Of course, there is Michael Bane's site, videos, and podcast.

MichaelBane.TV

Triggered! on YouTube

MB.TV On The Radio

And then Classic Firearms - my local favorite.

ClassicFirearms on YouTube

Outside The Warehouse on YouTube

Classic Firearms News

They let FELONS join Memphis PD?

Young Deaths: The List (2023)

UPDATED: 3/7/23

The following is a of list of young people who have died from non-violent and non-drug-induced causes in 2023. The point is to compile a repository of those who might have died from COVID vaccine injury - or even COVID complications.

There seems to be two complications from COVID vaccines and COVID exposure that could lead to cardiac arrest and death: blood clots and myocarditis. There have been claims that myocarditis is caused by a release of enzymes that effect the heart - especially after intense exertion.

Are these deaths being swept under the rug? Well, possibly.

As a starting point, this list will only include those under 30 35 (changed 2/2/23).

YOUNG DEATHS LIST

Siphamandla Mtolo

occupation: soccer player 
age: 29 (dod 3/7/23)
cause: died suddenly (as of 3/8/23)
COVID:
COVID Vaccine: 

source: CNN 

Natalie Curtis

occupation: wheelchair basketball player, business owner 
age: 34 (dod 2/6/23)
cause: died suddenly (as of 2/12/23)
COVID:
COVID Vaccine: 

source: MEAWW

Cartier Woods

occupation: high school student and HS basketball player 
age: 18 (dod 2/6/23)
cause: cardiac arrest
COVID:
COVID Vaccine: 

source: People 

Ataliana Jefferson

occupation: 
age: 33 (dod 1/31/23)
cause: congestive heart failure (chronic since approx. 2019)
COVID:
COVID Vaccine: 

source:

Conner Flowers

occupation: former NFL linebacker
age: 32 (2/9/90-1/30/23)

cause: pending, Lyme disease? (as of 2/3/23 family asked for donations to charity)
COVID:
COVID Vaccine: 

source: ET 

source: Radar 

Clarence Williams

occupation: Cairo, GA police officer 
age: 23 (dod 1/28/23)
cause: died suddenly during foot chase (as of 2/7/23) 
COVID:
COVID Vaccine: 

source: Young Conservatives 

Jessie Lemonier

occupation: former NFL linebacker
age: 25 (dod approx. 1/26/23)

cause: not reported (as of 1/26/23)
COVID:
COVID Vaccine: 

Jeremy Ruehlemann

occupation: model
age: 27 (dod 1/27/23)

cause: possible drug overdose (as of 2/8/23)

COVID:

COVID Vaccine: as least one dose (3/20/21)

source: TechArp 

Sophia "Violet Flowergarden" Diverno 

occupation: YouTuber, equestrian
age: 25 (dod 1/17/23)
cause: unknown "died suddenly" (as of 2/7/23)

COVID:

COVID Vaccine:  

source: Rare.US

Odele Ventimiglia

occupation: 
age: 25 (dod 1/12/23)
cause: not reported (as of 1/26/23)

COVID:

COVID Vaccine:  

Rickson Ronin Williams

occupation: nursery worker
age: 21 (dod  approx. 1/11/23)

cause: undetermined (family believes unknown heart condition as of 2/2/23)
COVID:
COVID Vaccine: 

source: MEAWW 

Hunter Brown

occupation: Air Force Academy cadet, offensive lineman
age: 21 (dod 1/11/23)
cause: pulmonary embolism possibly associated with prior leg ligament surgery (as of 1/27/23)

COVID:

COVID Vaccine: 

source:  Military Times

Young Deaths

Young people seemed to be dying suddenly at an alarming rate. We do have a fentanyl crisis in this country, but what part could the COVID vaccines be playing in their deaths?

Are there studies that show a link between these young deaths and the COVID vaccines? Have any medical examiners come out and said that a death was caused by the COVID vaccine? Are embalmers really discovering blood clots as long as Saudi Arabia's THE LINE in deceased COVID vaccine receivers, as portrayed in "Died Suddenly?" https://rumble.com/embed/pj.v1to6s2/

When someone dies, they usually quickly fade from the media, and in my opinion they often disappear before medical science is given a chance to truly explain his death. So, in an attempt to find out if some of these people died from the COVID vaccine, here is a list with some details and updates that will hopefully shed some light on this supposed crisis. For the time being, the list will be restricted to deaths in 2023

YOUNG DEATHS

[coming soon YOUNG DEATHS list]