Today, my lovely bride-to-be got pulled over by a Department of Public Safety trooper. I won't even get into his attitude and actions while he walked to her vehicle, or during the first half of their conversation.
Instead, I'll focus on the ridiculousness of WHY he pulled her over. She's driving an older Jeep XJ, a vehicle that had a damaged front end from the previous owner "pushing" another vehicle out of a ditch. Needless to say, the front bumper had been replaced. The front bumper has no place to mount a license plate, as it was never intended for these vehicles to have a front plate. In order to mount a plate to the front bumper of these vehicles, one is required to either purchase or fabricate a specialized bracket, or screw the plate directly to the bumper.
While Texas has always had a "two plate" law, the law stated that they simply had to be mounted on the front and rear of the vehicles. Obviously, this was intended so that a license plate could be seen from both the front and rear of the vehicle.
Several years ago, even after lower appellate courts had stated that simply displaying a license plate on the front of the vehicle was sufficient, a man in Texas was arrested for possession with intent and sentenced to 60 years in prison as a repeat offender. What does that have to do with license plates?
The pretext for the search that led to the cocaine being discovered was a frisk search, after being pulled over for not properly displaying a front license plate. It would, of course, be a valid stop...except that state law did not specify WHERE a license plate had to be, only that a vehicle must display one on the front of the vehicle and one on the rear that were visible. The defendant was driving a flashy metallic-blue Chevy Impala with racing stripes and "large wheels". Where the front license plate would typically be located, there was a chrome frame and chrome "blank plate". His state-issued license plate was displayed in the front window.
He was carrying a substantial amount of cocaine on his person, and was a repeat offender. He was sentenced to 60 years. On appeal at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the highest level of criminal court in Texas, directly below the Supreme Court of the United States), the sentence was upheld. The court jumped through all manner of linguistic hoops and did lots of fancy manoeuvring in its opinion that the "spirit of the law" meant that the "front" of a vehicle meant the front-most portion of the vehicle...in other words, a mount on the bumper.
Interestingly, the only differentiation between "front" and "rear" at the time of the statute in question during that case was simply directional. There was no specific mount specified for either front or rear license plates, only that one had to be mounted on the front and one had to be mounted on the rear.
Federal regulations require (and have, for quite some time) that a bumper of any car sold in the USA extend beyond all other surfaces of the vehicle for a specific distance in both the front and the rear...which is one of the reasons why my antique 320i has a bumper sticking out so far that one might sit down and eat lunch off it. Most vehicles, with the exclusion of pickup trucks and Sport Utility Vehicles which are based on pickup truck chassies, have a rear license plate that is not on the rear bumper but rather mounted forward of the rear bumper.
Ironically, the Ford Crown Victoria driven by the state trooper who pulled my fiancée over this afternoon also had a rear license plate not mounted on the rear-most portion of his vehicle. Somehow, our Court of Criminal Appeals managed to ascertain that "front" meant "front-most portion of the vehicle", while "rear" meant "just somewhere you could see it from behind"...but hey, we gotta do what we can to keep them darkies from slangin' dope, right?
Now for the real kicker. After the decision of the TX Court of Criminal Appeals, the "elected representatives of the people" in that brain-trust we refer to as our state congress decided that the license plate law needed to be amended so that everyone mounted a front license plate on their vehicles. It's for the children. Or public safety. Or fighting illiteracy. Or whatever. These sub-geniuses forgot, however, to do one very important thing. They didn't attach a criminal penalty to it, which renders the law totally unenforceable!
Even though more than 80% of this nation's prisoners are in jail for crimes that have no legitimate nameable victim (in other words, they didn't rob, rape, kill, steal from, or otherwise harm another living soul), and the majority of police work involves nothing but generating revenue for our local, county, state, and federal governments, they can't even write a ticket that carries a fine with this one! The legislature didn't determine and proscribe a fine, which means that being pulled over for not having a front plate is completely pointless!
Unless, of course, the officer did it only as a pretext for going on a fishing expedition in hopes of finding something else in the vehicle. While you're letting that sink in, remember that my woman is not only a full-time student at a four-year university, but is also gainfully employed at a community college...and those car seats in the back seat of her SUV were there because she has two elementary-school-aged children. Ironically, she was on her way to pick them up when she was pulled over.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Sitting this one out...
If you know me, you know I love my guns. I've been observed carrying my rifles out to the vehicles by my neighbors so often that the guy at the local kwik-e-mart says I'm now known in the neighborhood as "That crazy old bastard with all the guns".
There's another little fact that you're probably already aware of. I'm one of those people who hates government in just about every form imaginable. So much so, in fact, that the last time I was booked into jail (yet another unlawful arrest resulting in dropped charges...hmmm, why do I hate government again?), the booking officer asked me if I was "one of those 'Republic of Texas' guys" because I didn't want to give the local PD my phone number.
More than I love my guns, and even more than I hate government, I really can't stand people who act like America is somehow different than every other empire in the history of mankind. By this, of course, I mean people who think that somehow government is going to draw a line somewhere and stop going further.
They will lie to you, they will steal from you, they will imprison you, and they will kill you. As it stands, there is nothing you can do about it.
Yesterday, this nation saw its last hope of "changing from within" flicker and die...and it happened on live TV, in front of anyone who bothered to pay attention. Sadly, I'd estimate the percentage of Americans who actually gave a flying fuck about this to be somewhere around 2-3% of the population.
People are pissed off, but what are they to do? As much as I'd love to be able to in a world of perfect justice, I make it a point to stay as far away from any "important" government officials when they travel to this state, so I don't get blamed for shooting someone in the event that it happens. Doing some ignorant shit like that would do nothing but start a total crackdown on everyone, and it would be incremental to the point that most of the population would never notice.
Here's my advice. STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. Stop looking for a savior in this world, unless you're standing in a gun shop or staring at a mirror. More importantly, stop giving a damn about what's going on. It's not like you weren't expecting it to happen. Accept it for what it is.
Take care of you and yours, and make it known that any forceful armed transgression against you and yours will be met with force...but if you are left alone, you will live in peace. Make it known that you accept the fact that even the local PD has tanks, machine guns, snipers, etc. Make it known that you accept the fact that meeting any government agency with force will most likely end with your death. Make it known that you won't take body shots. More importantly, make it known that you'll take no shots at all if they leave you alone.
Bullets, beans, band-aids, and a bible. You should be prepared, because the day will come when you'll need all of it. Everyone else can do their thing, talking all kinds of noise about how they're gearing up for some sort of revolution. Screw you guys, I'm staying home...
There's another little fact that you're probably already aware of. I'm one of those people who hates government in just about every form imaginable. So much so, in fact, that the last time I was booked into jail (yet another unlawful arrest resulting in dropped charges...hmmm, why do I hate government again?), the booking officer asked me if I was "one of those 'Republic of Texas' guys" because I didn't want to give the local PD my phone number.
More than I love my guns, and even more than I hate government, I really can't stand people who act like America is somehow different than every other empire in the history of mankind. By this, of course, I mean people who think that somehow government is going to draw a line somewhere and stop going further.
They will lie to you, they will steal from you, they will imprison you, and they will kill you. As it stands, there is nothing you can do about it.
Yesterday, this nation saw its last hope of "changing from within" flicker and die...and it happened on live TV, in front of anyone who bothered to pay attention. Sadly, I'd estimate the percentage of Americans who actually gave a flying fuck about this to be somewhere around 2-3% of the population.
People are pissed off, but what are they to do? As much as I'd love to be able to in a world of perfect justice, I make it a point to stay as far away from any "important" government officials when they travel to this state, so I don't get blamed for shooting someone in the event that it happens. Doing some ignorant shit like that would do nothing but start a total crackdown on everyone, and it would be incremental to the point that most of the population would never notice.
Here's my advice. STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. Stop looking for a savior in this world, unless you're standing in a gun shop or staring at a mirror. More importantly, stop giving a damn about what's going on. It's not like you weren't expecting it to happen. Accept it for what it is.
Take care of you and yours, and make it known that any forceful armed transgression against you and yours will be met with force...but if you are left alone, you will live in peace. Make it known that you accept the fact that even the local PD has tanks, machine guns, snipers, etc. Make it known that you accept the fact that meeting any government agency with force will most likely end with your death. Make it known that you won't take body shots. More importantly, make it known that you'll take no shots at all if they leave you alone.
Bullets, beans, band-aids, and a bible. You should be prepared, because the day will come when you'll need all of it. Everyone else can do their thing, talking all kinds of noise about how they're gearing up for some sort of revolution. Screw you guys, I'm staying home...
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Break out the fiddle...
Today, the raging fire that will eventually burn America to the ground has officially been sparked off. There were so many people who knew exactly what was going on, that it wasn't even funny. Sadly, in a nation of a few hundred million people, we represent a minority.
We are known by many names. "Moonbats", "Paulbots", "Tin-Foil Hatters", "Nutjobs", "America-haters", and the list goes on and on.
We're called these names by the sheep that simply couldn't wake up and smell the shitstorm that is brewing all around us. We're the ones who hated Bush's policies and Obama's policies equally. We're the ones who still opposed the wars in 2010, just as we did in 2004. We're the crazy guys who eat organic food, know that flouridated water is toxic, and know how to start a camp fire in hurricane-force winds. We're those "crazy" people who stockpiled bullets, beans, and band-aids.
They all laughed when we spoke of media blackouts across the country, regarding Dr. Ron Paul's huge following during the last election. During this election, some of them started noticing.
A huge grass-roots uprising took place in American politics over the past six months. Throughout each and every state primary, massive evidence of fraud and "vote count manipulation" was seen by anyone bothering to pay attention, yet somehow slipped through both the state and federal election officials who are supposed to be fighting this sort of thing.
Today, in Tampa, we saw several changes to official RNC rules that were specifically designed to ensure that Dr. Paul would lose to Mitt Romney. The RNC pushed through a change of the date historically known to be for the official nominating vote. The RNC sued to block several Paul delegates from being recognized by the RNC in accordance with its pre-established rules, taking away delegate plurality in several states. The RNC changed rules regarding a "guaranteed" speaking slot, requiring more plurality-state victories than would have been necessary, resulting in Dr. Paul being forced to either capitulate to a pre-vetted pro-Romney speech and endorsement or being denied a chance to speak at the convention. Paul, of course, would have none of it. While several of these rules were being voted on by the rules committee (in votes requiring a 75% majority of present committee members), a bus transporting pro-Paul committee members was re-routed for over 46 minutes in a loop around Tampa by RNC officials so they could not be present during the vote.
So, here's my take on it. Even if state and/or federal elections officials get involved to investigate the obvious fraud, it will more than likely be whitewashed into oblivion by the same people who perpetrated it in the first place. If these people can rig election laws in their favor (and for that matter, even the elections themselves) at a party primary or convention level, it should stand to reason that they can do it in a general election as well.
The fact of the matter remains, of course, that both Romney and Obama have been bought by the very same campaign contributors. They are both members of the party of the bankers, war profiteers, and the politically corrupt.
After the first few debates, I held little hope that Dr. Paul would ever secure a political victory. The prison industry, the military industry, the pharmaceutical/medical industry, the oil industry, and the financial industry simply wouldn't allow it. These five sectors of our government have combined with private corporations, and they are all in collusion.
Prison/LE lobbies (both private and public sector) spend a ridiculous amount of money ensuring that we are the most imprisoned nation on earth, incarcerating more people per-capita and in sheer numbers than any other nation on this planet. The military industry leads us to wars around the globe, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the conflicts. The pharmaceutical industry keeps ups prisoners within our own bodies and minds, and the banking industry does nothing but sit back and look for new ways to skim its cut off the top when taxpayers end up footing the bill for all of the wonderful new ideas the other industries have to offer.
Romney and Obama share almost identical views on damned near every issue of importance, and refer to these ideas as "American values". Dr. Paul saw the situation for what it was and still is, and did his best to wake everyone up. In that respect, he's already won. It is not his presidency, but rather, his actions backing up his rhetoric, that got people to open their eyes. He said the things that would make a great many "sheeple" think he was totally unhinged...and yet, he had an impressive voting record spanning a few decades, that flew in the face of his detractors.
He's been called damned near every detractive name in the book, but the worst dirt anyone could dig up on him was the racist ramblings that someone else wrote in a newsletter that bore his name. What they hated about him, of course, was exactly that. They couldn't dig up any real dirt about him. He always took the high road in everything he did. He voted against things that went against his conscience, as an American, as a freedom-lover, and as a human being.
Above and beyond all else, he got a great many otherwise "average" Americans talking about a great many very important issues that no one else was willing to discuss. Strangely, this led a lot of his former supporters to the point of abandoning the political system altogether in favor of "anarchy", "voluntaryism", "agorism", or whatever other name you wanted to give it...but, for lack of a better description, it was an abandonment of government after seeing what it was.
I am one of these people. Back in high school, I was an anarchist of a "fuck you, don't tell me what to do!" type. A short time after that, I discovered Dr. Paul. Bear in mind, I'm 33 years old, so the internet wasn't something readily available to me at the time. I used it at school, and occasionally at home, but the internet of 1999 is nothing of what the internet of today happens to be. It took me a great while to discover the works of Thomas Paine, Lysander Spooner, and so many other great minds who wrote about the idea of freedom.
Today, I consider myself a firm believer in the non-aggression principle, because the idea of freedom cannot be boiled down any simpler than that...or, it can't be, from what I've seen in the past several years. I do my best to live by such a philosophy.
As such, the only reason I have bothered to vote in the past few elections have been to see Dr. Paul get re-elected to his office as congressman and to attempt to see him become president. I didn't do this for the reason of thinking that he had some great plan to make government start doing things "the right way". I voted for him, and supported him, because I knew some of his first actions would be dismantling a lot of government programs I disagree with.
Sadly, a lot of people see the action of government as the only "legitimate" way of getting things accomplished. Personally, I see simply ignoring the actions of government as a far more effective and legitimate method of doing things. Unfortunately, a lot of people will agree with me that a particular piece of legislation has no business being "on the books", let alone be responsible for the arrest and/or imprisonment of a person...but refuse to act upon this belief, because it is still considered "illegal". This would change, however, if they were to live in an era where a man in the executive office were to actively nullify or veto legislation disallowing the offensive acts of government. Essentially, it would be as if government were rotting itself from the inside out.
Unfortunately, as we have seen, the game is completely rigged to a degree many of us had never even come close to imagining. Most of us knew there were powerful people at work. We just had no clue they'd have the balls (or the ability) to do it right in front of everyone's noses.
Now here comes the dilemma for people like me. Do we give a write-in for Ron Paul? Do we shift our vote and throw it to Gary Johnson and the Libertarian Party? Do we sit on our asses and eat cheetos, drink beer, and watch South Park reruns?
When I was a kid, MTV told me to "rock the vote". Today, I mock the vote. A write-in for Dr. Paul is as pointless as a vote for Gary Johnson, Mickey Mouse, or Gary Coleman. I hate to sound like a "conspiracy theorist", but if the Powers That Be are going to blatantly and publicly rob a legitimate candidate of the nomination of his party, what's going to stop them from robbing an election from anyone else? Furthermore, if there are enough sheep in this country that are willing to NOT raise holy hell because they won't turn off the television long enough to see that something improper is going on, what's to stop them from legitimately voting for the scumbag who stole the nomination?
For this reason, I've given up all hope for America. I'll sit back quietly and watch it burn. Where's my fiddle?
We are known by many names. "Moonbats", "Paulbots", "Tin-Foil Hatters", "Nutjobs", "America-haters", and the list goes on and on.
We're called these names by the sheep that simply couldn't wake up and smell the shitstorm that is brewing all around us. We're the ones who hated Bush's policies and Obama's policies equally. We're the ones who still opposed the wars in 2010, just as we did in 2004. We're the crazy guys who eat organic food, know that flouridated water is toxic, and know how to start a camp fire in hurricane-force winds. We're those "crazy" people who stockpiled bullets, beans, and band-aids.
They all laughed when we spoke of media blackouts across the country, regarding Dr. Ron Paul's huge following during the last election. During this election, some of them started noticing.
A huge grass-roots uprising took place in American politics over the past six months. Throughout each and every state primary, massive evidence of fraud and "vote count manipulation" was seen by anyone bothering to pay attention, yet somehow slipped through both the state and federal election officials who are supposed to be fighting this sort of thing.
Today, in Tampa, we saw several changes to official RNC rules that were specifically designed to ensure that Dr. Paul would lose to Mitt Romney. The RNC pushed through a change of the date historically known to be for the official nominating vote. The RNC sued to block several Paul delegates from being recognized by the RNC in accordance with its pre-established rules, taking away delegate plurality in several states. The RNC changed rules regarding a "guaranteed" speaking slot, requiring more plurality-state victories than would have been necessary, resulting in Dr. Paul being forced to either capitulate to a pre-vetted pro-Romney speech and endorsement or being denied a chance to speak at the convention. Paul, of course, would have none of it. While several of these rules were being voted on by the rules committee (in votes requiring a 75% majority of present committee members), a bus transporting pro-Paul committee members was re-routed for over 46 minutes in a loop around Tampa by RNC officials so they could not be present during the vote.
So, here's my take on it. Even if state and/or federal elections officials get involved to investigate the obvious fraud, it will more than likely be whitewashed into oblivion by the same people who perpetrated it in the first place. If these people can rig election laws in their favor (and for that matter, even the elections themselves) at a party primary or convention level, it should stand to reason that they can do it in a general election as well.
The fact of the matter remains, of course, that both Romney and Obama have been bought by the very same campaign contributors. They are both members of the party of the bankers, war profiteers, and the politically corrupt.
After the first few debates, I held little hope that Dr. Paul would ever secure a political victory. The prison industry, the military industry, the pharmaceutical/medical industry, the oil industry, and the financial industry simply wouldn't allow it. These five sectors of our government have combined with private corporations, and they are all in collusion.
Prison/LE lobbies (both private and public sector) spend a ridiculous amount of money ensuring that we are the most imprisoned nation on earth, incarcerating more people per-capita and in sheer numbers than any other nation on this planet. The military industry leads us to wars around the globe, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the conflicts. The pharmaceutical industry keeps ups prisoners within our own bodies and minds, and the banking industry does nothing but sit back and look for new ways to skim its cut off the top when taxpayers end up footing the bill for all of the wonderful new ideas the other industries have to offer.
Romney and Obama share almost identical views on damned near every issue of importance, and refer to these ideas as "American values". Dr. Paul saw the situation for what it was and still is, and did his best to wake everyone up. In that respect, he's already won. It is not his presidency, but rather, his actions backing up his rhetoric, that got people to open their eyes. He said the things that would make a great many "sheeple" think he was totally unhinged...and yet, he had an impressive voting record spanning a few decades, that flew in the face of his detractors.
He's been called damned near every detractive name in the book, but the worst dirt anyone could dig up on him was the racist ramblings that someone else wrote in a newsletter that bore his name. What they hated about him, of course, was exactly that. They couldn't dig up any real dirt about him. He always took the high road in everything he did. He voted against things that went against his conscience, as an American, as a freedom-lover, and as a human being.
Above and beyond all else, he got a great many otherwise "average" Americans talking about a great many very important issues that no one else was willing to discuss. Strangely, this led a lot of his former supporters to the point of abandoning the political system altogether in favor of "anarchy", "voluntaryism", "agorism", or whatever other name you wanted to give it...but, for lack of a better description, it was an abandonment of government after seeing what it was.
I am one of these people. Back in high school, I was an anarchist of a "fuck you, don't tell me what to do!" type. A short time after that, I discovered Dr. Paul. Bear in mind, I'm 33 years old, so the internet wasn't something readily available to me at the time. I used it at school, and occasionally at home, but the internet of 1999 is nothing of what the internet of today happens to be. It took me a great while to discover the works of Thomas Paine, Lysander Spooner, and so many other great minds who wrote about the idea of freedom.
Today, I consider myself a firm believer in the non-aggression principle, because the idea of freedom cannot be boiled down any simpler than that...or, it can't be, from what I've seen in the past several years. I do my best to live by such a philosophy.
As such, the only reason I have bothered to vote in the past few elections have been to see Dr. Paul get re-elected to his office as congressman and to attempt to see him become president. I didn't do this for the reason of thinking that he had some great plan to make government start doing things "the right way". I voted for him, and supported him, because I knew some of his first actions would be dismantling a lot of government programs I disagree with.
Sadly, a lot of people see the action of government as the only "legitimate" way of getting things accomplished. Personally, I see simply ignoring the actions of government as a far more effective and legitimate method of doing things. Unfortunately, a lot of people will agree with me that a particular piece of legislation has no business being "on the books", let alone be responsible for the arrest and/or imprisonment of a person...but refuse to act upon this belief, because it is still considered "illegal". This would change, however, if they were to live in an era where a man in the executive office were to actively nullify or veto legislation disallowing the offensive acts of government. Essentially, it would be as if government were rotting itself from the inside out.
Unfortunately, as we have seen, the game is completely rigged to a degree many of us had never even come close to imagining. Most of us knew there were powerful people at work. We just had no clue they'd have the balls (or the ability) to do it right in front of everyone's noses.
Now here comes the dilemma for people like me. Do we give a write-in for Ron Paul? Do we shift our vote and throw it to Gary Johnson and the Libertarian Party? Do we sit on our asses and eat cheetos, drink beer, and watch South Park reruns?
When I was a kid, MTV told me to "rock the vote". Today, I mock the vote. A write-in for Dr. Paul is as pointless as a vote for Gary Johnson, Mickey Mouse, or Gary Coleman. I hate to sound like a "conspiracy theorist", but if the Powers That Be are going to blatantly and publicly rob a legitimate candidate of the nomination of his party, what's going to stop them from robbing an election from anyone else? Furthermore, if there are enough sheep in this country that are willing to NOT raise holy hell because they won't turn off the television long enough to see that something improper is going on, what's to stop them from legitimately voting for the scumbag who stole the nomination?
For this reason, I've given up all hope for America. I'll sit back quietly and watch it burn. Where's my fiddle?
Monday, August 20, 2012
We are all Brandon Raub today.
I think it's time to wake up, every single one of you.
Before I go any further, let's go over a few facts here, kinda like I usually do.
1) American citizens are unlike the citizens of every other nation on earth when it comes to many subjects. Amongst these subjects happens to be the "believability" of the official narrative of the 9/11 atrocity. Most American citizens believe 19 guys from Saudi Arabia were funded by a guy hiding in a cave, and even though they could barely fly Cessna single-engine planes, they were capable of aerobatic stunts that would make the ghost of Orvilles and Wilbur wet themselves. Most Americans believe this, the "cell phone calls" from the airplanes, "burning kerosene and office furniture melted the core structure", and all of the other explanations that defy both logic and physics. I put as much faith in it as I do the official story of the JFK hit.
2) I, much like just about every gun-owning and God-fearing American I've ever met, believes that this nation is long-overdue for a revolution. It is not that I hate America or its people, I hate what it has become. While our Constitution was a great idea, it was either defective since its birth and has allowed for the government we now face or was powerless to prevent it.
3) I, much like a great number of people I know, could very well be diagnosed with "Oppositional Defiant Disorder" or "Antisocial Personality Disorder".
To be diagnosed with ODD, one must be guilty of four of the following traits:
Actively refuses to comply with majority's requests or consensus supported rules
Performs deliberate actions to annoy others
Damn, I must be completely insane!
Now let's look at “Antisocial Personality Disorder”. In order to be diagnosed with APD, one must be guilty of 3 of the following traits:
Well, fuck me! I really must be crazy! I've looked a cop straight in the face on more than one occasion, “Go fuck yourself”...even though I know that the actions placing me in contact with said cop have neither been illegal, nor have they ever harmed another human being, and said cops were acting outside the boundaries of both the law and common decency. I do have a tendency to act on impulse, as evident by every trip I've ever made to Burger King. I've operated numerous power tools without appropriate PPE, I've stood within the 180 plane while others are firing rifles, and I've driven at speeds well beyond the posted speed limit...I do it dangerous! If you piss me off and refuse to leave me alone, I may in fact attempt to kick your ass.
4)Like just about every other person I know, I own more than one firearm. Since my youth, I have known how to properly operate a firearm, having personally learned marksmanship and gun safety at Church Camp and from my father and other older male figures in my younger years. So yeah, I know how to shoot. I've been hunting a time or two, I can shoot a moving animal, and I know how to take a “kill shot”.
So there you have it. I know how to kill a living creature. I am equipped to do so. I am, for all intent and purpose, considered to be suffering from a “mental disorder” according to the DSM-IV. Oh, and I have a very strong dislike of my government.
Here I am, DHS. Come for me. Come for us all. We are all Brandon Raub!
God produced, via the hands of man, two crosses to save my ass. One was carved of dogwood, and the other is stamped in brass. GETSUM!
Before I go any further, let's go over a few facts here, kinda like I usually do.
1) American citizens are unlike the citizens of every other nation on earth when it comes to many subjects. Amongst these subjects happens to be the "believability" of the official narrative of the 9/11 atrocity. Most American citizens believe 19 guys from Saudi Arabia were funded by a guy hiding in a cave, and even though they could barely fly Cessna single-engine planes, they were capable of aerobatic stunts that would make the ghost of Orvilles and Wilbur wet themselves. Most Americans believe this, the "cell phone calls" from the airplanes, "burning kerosene and office furniture melted the core structure", and all of the other explanations that defy both logic and physics. I put as much faith in it as I do the official story of the JFK hit.
2) I, much like just about every gun-owning and God-fearing American I've ever met, believes that this nation is long-overdue for a revolution. It is not that I hate America or its people, I hate what it has become. While our Constitution was a great idea, it was either defective since its birth and has allowed for the government we now face or was powerless to prevent it.
3) I, much like a great number of people I know, could very well be diagnosed with "Oppositional Defiant Disorder" or "Antisocial Personality Disorder".
To be diagnosed with ODD, one must be guilty of four of the following traits:
Actively refuses to comply with majority's requests or consensus supported rules
Performs deliberate actions to annoy others
- Angry and resentful of others
- Argues often
- Blames others for his or her own mistakes
- Has few or no friends or has lost friends
- Is causing constant trouble at school
- Spiteful or seeks revenge
- Touchy or easily annoyed
Damn, I must be completely insane!
Now let's look at “Antisocial Personality Disorder”. In order to be diagnosed with APD, one must be guilty of 3 of the following traits:
- Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest;
- impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead;
- irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults;
- reckless disregard for safety of self or others;
Well, fuck me! I really must be crazy! I've looked a cop straight in the face on more than one occasion, “Go fuck yourself”...even though I know that the actions placing me in contact with said cop have neither been illegal, nor have they ever harmed another human being, and said cops were acting outside the boundaries of both the law and common decency. I do have a tendency to act on impulse, as evident by every trip I've ever made to Burger King. I've operated numerous power tools without appropriate PPE, I've stood within the 180 plane while others are firing rifles, and I've driven at speeds well beyond the posted speed limit...I do it dangerous! If you piss me off and refuse to leave me alone, I may in fact attempt to kick your ass.
4)Like just about every other person I know, I own more than one firearm. Since my youth, I have known how to properly operate a firearm, having personally learned marksmanship and gun safety at Church Camp and from my father and other older male figures in my younger years. So yeah, I know how to shoot. I've been hunting a time or two, I can shoot a moving animal, and I know how to take a “kill shot”.
********************************************
So there you have it. I know how to kill a living creature. I am equipped to do so. I am, for all intent and purpose, considered to be suffering from a “mental disorder” according to the DSM-IV. Oh, and I have a very strong dislike of my government.
Here I am, DHS. Come for me. Come for us all. We are all Brandon Raub!
God produced, via the hands of man, two crosses to save my ass. One was carved of dogwood, and the other is stamped in brass. GETSUM!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
More drug war insanity...
In the wee hours of Thursday morning, a young man by the name of Bryan Bernhardt of Pearland TX was arrested at a gas station. He is currently being held on bonds totalling more than $80,000.00USD at the Brazoria County Jail.
He is charged with a "State Jail Felony" for possession of more than 1/4lb of marijuana but less than 5lbs of marijuana, a crime punishable by up to one year in a "State Jail" facility. He is also charged with possession of mushrooms and some prescription pills, which are felony charges.
Ironically, our state has decided a few years back, to introduce a level of crime not serious enough to send a person to prison...but serious enough to strip away damned near every bit of a person's civil liberties. They have named this level of offense a "State Jail Felony", and have named it by the level of cage they're going to put you in.
Now, let's look at why this man was arrested. According to the police, someone called 911 to say that someone was "driving recklessly". In other words, his manner of driving may have potentially harmed someone else...but didn't. That is, of course, if he was actually doing this in the first place.
Then, he was said to have allegedly "appeared intoxicated", which in most Public Intoxication arrests in Texas, is complete and utter bullshit. It's an excuse to arrest someone who may (or, in several cases, may not) be under the influence of an intoxicating substance when no other probable cause for arrest exists.
In order to be arrested for PI, one must A) be intoxicated on some form of drug not prescribed to him by a doctor, and B) must be considered a safety risk to himself or others. Simply being drunk in public on its own is not grounds for arrest in the state of Texas, per the laws of this state.
The real kicker, however, is what he was arrested for. Plants and pills. Pills are legal for anyone who gets a permission slip signed by a state-licensed dope dealer, and the plants are completely natural. Ironically, he was arrested at a gas station that sells one of the most dangerous drugs on the planet to anyone who has reached the age of 21...and I know this, because I have personally purchased alcoholic beverages from that very store.
Dafuq is going on in this country?
He is charged with a "State Jail Felony" for possession of more than 1/4lb of marijuana but less than 5lbs of marijuana, a crime punishable by up to one year in a "State Jail" facility. He is also charged with possession of mushrooms and some prescription pills, which are felony charges.
Ironically, our state has decided a few years back, to introduce a level of crime not serious enough to send a person to prison...but serious enough to strip away damned near every bit of a person's civil liberties. They have named this level of offense a "State Jail Felony", and have named it by the level of cage they're going to put you in.
Now, let's look at why this man was arrested. According to the police, someone called 911 to say that someone was "driving recklessly". In other words, his manner of driving may have potentially harmed someone else...but didn't. That is, of course, if he was actually doing this in the first place.
Then, he was said to have allegedly "appeared intoxicated", which in most Public Intoxication arrests in Texas, is complete and utter bullshit. It's an excuse to arrest someone who may (or, in several cases, may not) be under the influence of an intoxicating substance when no other probable cause for arrest exists.
In order to be arrested for PI, one must A) be intoxicated on some form of drug not prescribed to him by a doctor, and B) must be considered a safety risk to himself or others. Simply being drunk in public on its own is not grounds for arrest in the state of Texas, per the laws of this state.
The real kicker, however, is what he was arrested for. Plants and pills. Pills are legal for anyone who gets a permission slip signed by a state-licensed dope dealer, and the plants are completely natural. Ironically, he was arrested at a gas station that sells one of the most dangerous drugs on the planet to anyone who has reached the age of 21...and I know this, because I have personally purchased alcoholic beverages from that very store.
Dafuq is going on in this country?
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Black Rifle Hunting in the modern era
As most "gun nuts", "firearm aficionados", "crazy mother****ers with huge arsenals" will already know, every modern "sporting" rifle used for hunting today is based on a design used for killing other human beings on the field of battle.
While some choose to look at this as some sort of sinister ploy to gain acceptance of war machinery in the hearts and minds of us nasty civilians, I choose to look at it as reappropriating battlefield tools for humanitarian uses such as the hunting of food.
In case you don't know me personally, I am very much "anti-war". I know war happens, and it sucks...but to deny the technological advances regarding firearms simply because they were born of war is something I see as no different from denying the advances in modern medicine that also resulted from armed conflict. My point is, the shit works so there's no reason not to use it for our purposes.
Moving right along, I'd like to point out that two of the biggest names in "sporting purposes" firearms have introduced their own line of so-called "tactical" rifles. These are, of course, the Remington and Mossberg brands, who have entered their respective R15 and MMR rifles into the firearms marketplace. While Mossberg appears to be catering more to the small-agency/private-owner tactical market, Remington is catering directly to the hunting crowd by producing rifles with finishes done up in name-brand camo patterns the typical hunter is already familiar with. The R15 rifles also come from the factory with a five-round magazine necessary for hunting according to many states' hunting regulations.
While some may see this as a ploy to get "JoeBob the Militia Nutjob" to buy a new deer rifle, I see it as a natural progression into the era of modern technology. My grandfather, a veteran of WWII, had declared the M1 Garand to be the greatest battle rifle ever devised...while the krauts racking their bolts, he was able to get a round off and then start picking out another target. Today, the Ruger corporation markets the Mini-14 and Mini-30 line of rifles that are based on the action of the Garand and utilize a detachable 20rd magazine, and they are chambered in the Soviet 7.62x39mm and NATO 5.56x45mm rounds respectively. Not only are they widely used by police units and prison guard towers, they are the go-to guns for ranchers and a lot of hunters looking for a light-weight, rugged, and dependable rifle for field use.
Then, we have the AK47 rifle, known the world over as the go-to rifle of choice for terrorists, revolutionaries, and several dozen national armies. Why? Because it works. It works so well, in fact, that it's actually part of the graphic on the flags of three different nations. It is also made by Saiga in Russia as the region's most popular hunting rifle, and is exported to the US of A for the same purposes...while being offered in 7.62x39, 5.56x45, 7.62x51, 7.62x54, and even various shotgun calibers.
Nowadays, since the American public has discovered the modularity and customization potential of the AR15 rifle in the days after the failed "Assault Weapons Ban" of 1994-2004, it seems like everyone and their uncle is producing an AR15 rifle...and the American public is buying them like it's the coolest thing since Led Zeppelin.
While a great portion of purchased such rifles in anticipation of God-knows-what defense needs, a great many more have purchased them as plinkers, collectibles, and more importantly, bonafide hunting rifles.
There are several reasons for this (availability of cheap range ammo, low recoil, ergonomics, etc), one of the biggest reasons is the inherently awesome design. While the direct-impingement gas operating system does leave something to be desired, the rest of the rifle is simply fascinating when one thinks of how incredibly genius the design truly is.
As an integral part of its design, the top of the buttstock is in-line with the barrel, which reduces "muzzle flip" all on its own. Unlike any other "hunting" (or even "paramilitary") rifle I've ever seen, it has a built-in dust cover over the ejection port that will protect the bolt from debris and will open automatically when the rifle is either charged or fired. The original height of its iron sights allow its intended round (as well as the 7.62x51mm, aka ".308 Winchester", round used in the original AR10) to hold the ideal trajectory for a standard round in the ideal range for hunting...which is typically under 300yds.
Now we get into the other aspects of this rifle that originated within the military...namely, the M1913 rail. Commonly known as the "Picatinny Rail", so-named after the US Army Arsenal that first evaluated and tested it, it is as universally-accepted as the USB connection is within the world of computers. Many manufacturers offer rail systems that are proprietary to their brand or model of firearm...but when the aftermarket sees these weapons becoming popular amongst buyers, they don't change the mounting of their accessories. They offer adapter rails so that people can mount a Picatinny-compatible accessory.
The rail interface design allows any compatible accessory to be mounted to any compatible firearm. Long-gone are the days when a rifle needed a custom model-specific mount for a scope, a sling attachment, or any other accessory. Now, you take an Allen wrench or a screwdriver and you mount the accessory while drinking a cold one and watching a baseball game. Flashlights, bipods, laser sights, sling mounts, and even cup holders (yes, I shit you not, I've seen them) are available with a picatinny mount. It's a running joke in my family that you're nobody until you have a picatinny rail mounted on the wall of the head so you have a place to mount your toilet paper dispenser!
Then we get into the "pop the pins and swap" game. With an AR, the lower receiver is separate from the upper by means of two push pins...meaning one firearm can be capable of a multitude of roles. While a heavy long barrel is good for precision shots from a deer stand, a short carbine-length barrel is great for carrying on hog hunts and whatnot when you're walking through the woods.
While a barrelled upper receiver of decent quality may cost you the same as a decent-quality rifle of any other variety (between $400 and $600, typically), this setup has two distinct bonuses. First, you have familiarity with the system. The grip feels the same, the trigger pull is the same, the fire controls are the same, the rifle is slung the same, etc...because it quite literally is all the same. Second, the various upper receivers take up a lot less space in the cabinet, gun case, etc.
Suppose you're taking off to the sticks for a week, and there's the opportunity to go hunt some hogs and practice your accuracy with the deer rifle. You strap up your deer rifle, go hit the range, and get to work on your trigger control, breathing, etc for your accuracy. You're putting rounds downrange into a quarter and feeling good about it. You get up the next morning to go hunt some hogs, and then you strap a lightweight barrel onto your setup so you can walk through the back 40 and go pop some swine. That same rifle you practiced with all afternoon yesterday is now the rifle you're makin' bacon with today.
You want to practice on the range with both? Throw both uppers into the case, you've got room. You want to swap out scopes so you can decide what you're going to use during deer season? Throw both of 'em on the rail, zero 'em in good and tight, and they're both good for when you decide to throw 'em back on the rail. You want to go deer hunting with your rifle, and then put an M4 upper on it to keep the front yard clear of crackheads during a Rodney King riot? You're still good to go. Pop and swap, the end.
Versatility and purpose is the key. Make use of it, it's there for the taking...
While some choose to look at this as some sort of sinister ploy to gain acceptance of war machinery in the hearts and minds of us nasty civilians, I choose to look at it as reappropriating battlefield tools for humanitarian uses such as the hunting of food.
In case you don't know me personally, I am very much "anti-war". I know war happens, and it sucks...but to deny the technological advances regarding firearms simply because they were born of war is something I see as no different from denying the advances in modern medicine that also resulted from armed conflict. My point is, the shit works so there's no reason not to use it for our purposes.
Moving right along, I'd like to point out that two of the biggest names in "sporting purposes" firearms have introduced their own line of so-called "tactical" rifles. These are, of course, the Remington and Mossberg brands, who have entered their respective R15 and MMR rifles into the firearms marketplace. While Mossberg appears to be catering more to the small-agency/private-owner tactical market, Remington is catering directly to the hunting crowd by producing rifles with finishes done up in name-brand camo patterns the typical hunter is already familiar with. The R15 rifles also come from the factory with a five-round magazine necessary for hunting according to many states' hunting regulations.
While some may see this as a ploy to get "JoeBob the Militia Nutjob" to buy a new deer rifle, I see it as a natural progression into the era of modern technology. My grandfather, a veteran of WWII, had declared the M1 Garand to be the greatest battle rifle ever devised...while the krauts racking their bolts, he was able to get a round off and then start picking out another target. Today, the Ruger corporation markets the Mini-14 and Mini-30 line of rifles that are based on the action of the Garand and utilize a detachable 20rd magazine, and they are chambered in the Soviet 7.62x39mm and NATO 5.56x45mm rounds respectively. Not only are they widely used by police units and prison guard towers, they are the go-to guns for ranchers and a lot of hunters looking for a light-weight, rugged, and dependable rifle for field use.
Then, we have the AK47 rifle, known the world over as the go-to rifle of choice for terrorists, revolutionaries, and several dozen national armies. Why? Because it works. It works so well, in fact, that it's actually part of the graphic on the flags of three different nations. It is also made by Saiga in Russia as the region's most popular hunting rifle, and is exported to the US of A for the same purposes...while being offered in 7.62x39, 5.56x45, 7.62x51, 7.62x54, and even various shotgun calibers.
Nowadays, since the American public has discovered the modularity and customization potential of the AR15 rifle in the days after the failed "Assault Weapons Ban" of 1994-2004, it seems like everyone and their uncle is producing an AR15 rifle...and the American public is buying them like it's the coolest thing since Led Zeppelin.
While a great portion of purchased such rifles in anticipation of God-knows-what defense needs, a great many more have purchased them as plinkers, collectibles, and more importantly, bonafide hunting rifles.
There are several reasons for this (availability of cheap range ammo, low recoil, ergonomics, etc), one of the biggest reasons is the inherently awesome design. While the direct-impingement gas operating system does leave something to be desired, the rest of the rifle is simply fascinating when one thinks of how incredibly genius the design truly is.
As an integral part of its design, the top of the buttstock is in-line with the barrel, which reduces "muzzle flip" all on its own. Unlike any other "hunting" (or even "paramilitary") rifle I've ever seen, it has a built-in dust cover over the ejection port that will protect the bolt from debris and will open automatically when the rifle is either charged or fired. The original height of its iron sights allow its intended round (as well as the 7.62x51mm, aka ".308 Winchester", round used in the original AR10) to hold the ideal trajectory for a standard round in the ideal range for hunting...which is typically under 300yds.
Now we get into the other aspects of this rifle that originated within the military...namely, the M1913 rail. Commonly known as the "Picatinny Rail", so-named after the US Army Arsenal that first evaluated and tested it, it is as universally-accepted as the USB connection is within the world of computers. Many manufacturers offer rail systems that are proprietary to their brand or model of firearm...but when the aftermarket sees these weapons becoming popular amongst buyers, they don't change the mounting of their accessories. They offer adapter rails so that people can mount a Picatinny-compatible accessory.
The rail interface design allows any compatible accessory to be mounted to any compatible firearm. Long-gone are the days when a rifle needed a custom model-specific mount for a scope, a sling attachment, or any other accessory. Now, you take an Allen wrench or a screwdriver and you mount the accessory while drinking a cold one and watching a baseball game. Flashlights, bipods, laser sights, sling mounts, and even cup holders (yes, I shit you not, I've seen them) are available with a picatinny mount. It's a running joke in my family that you're nobody until you have a picatinny rail mounted on the wall of the head so you have a place to mount your toilet paper dispenser!
Then we get into the "pop the pins and swap" game. With an AR, the lower receiver is separate from the upper by means of two push pins...meaning one firearm can be capable of a multitude of roles. While a heavy long barrel is good for precision shots from a deer stand, a short carbine-length barrel is great for carrying on hog hunts and whatnot when you're walking through the woods.
While a barrelled upper receiver of decent quality may cost you the same as a decent-quality rifle of any other variety (between $400 and $600, typically), this setup has two distinct bonuses. First, you have familiarity with the system. The grip feels the same, the trigger pull is the same, the fire controls are the same, the rifle is slung the same, etc...because it quite literally is all the same. Second, the various upper receivers take up a lot less space in the cabinet, gun case, etc.
Suppose you're taking off to the sticks for a week, and there's the opportunity to go hunt some hogs and practice your accuracy with the deer rifle. You strap up your deer rifle, go hit the range, and get to work on your trigger control, breathing, etc for your accuracy. You're putting rounds downrange into a quarter and feeling good about it. You get up the next morning to go hunt some hogs, and then you strap a lightweight barrel onto your setup so you can walk through the back 40 and go pop some swine. That same rifle you practiced with all afternoon yesterday is now the rifle you're makin' bacon with today.
You want to practice on the range with both? Throw both uppers into the case, you've got room. You want to swap out scopes so you can decide what you're going to use during deer season? Throw both of 'em on the rail, zero 'em in good and tight, and they're both good for when you decide to throw 'em back on the rail. You want to go deer hunting with your rifle, and then put an M4 upper on it to keep the front yard clear of crackheads during a Rodney King riot? You're still good to go. Pop and swap, the end.
Versatility and purpose is the key. Make use of it, it's there for the taking...
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