This Blog Belches Carbon

Hardly a day goes by when we aren't informed that yet another part of life considered by the woke to be racist, or damaging to the climate, or some other imagined offense. Not too surprisingly, even wildfires are deemed both climate damaging AND racist. 

So I wasn't shocked, amused actually, to find out a German "environmentalist" group is warning about the dangers to our health created by blogging.

According to a study by Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD, physicist at Harvard University and environmental activist, an average website causes about 0.02g (0,0008oz.) of carbon dioxide for each visit. Assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 3,6kg (8lb.). 

Adding to my concern, even this meager blog generated 45,000 visits last month, tripling the alert threshold of the European group.

Thanks to Borepatch for alerting us to the danger.

Cheers!

The Derp Runs Deep With This One

This might possibly be the most inane thing I've read online all week, if not all year. In a Letter to the Editor in our local bird cage liner, entitled "Police need more clearly defined rules of engagement"...

All police departments should have very clearly defined rules of engagement, with an emphasis on the use of non-lethal devices, i.e., Tasers and rubber bullets, before guns are discharged. And they should all have their body cameras turned on.

Perhaps you remember a time when the police always fired a shot in the air and shouted “Stop! Police!” before they shot at someone. What has happened to this idea? I haven’t heard it mentioned for years, nor have I seen it used in any of the videos showing police shootings.

Is “protect and serve” still in effect as police forces become more militarized?

It's distressing that people who are incapable of telling the difference between TV and real life walk free in the streets. Such a disconnect with realty can be a dangerous thing. Sadly, this is just the sort of failed logic we see from those most vocal about "gun control." Gun control and anti-police sentiments walk hand in hand these days. These people have absolutely no idea about guns or self-defense yet seek to place restrictions on the rights of others. In their distorted reality they think that defending yourself denies "due process" to criminals. As is typical of the left, they have greater concern for thugs than for innocent people. This letter writer seems to care little about innocent bystanders who may be injured or killed by the falling bullets from those "shots in the air."

This is why it's generally better to ignore arguments from the left, you can't argue using logic when the concept is lost on them.

It's Coming, Prepare Well

This video from the so-called "antifa" movement, i.e. communist thugs, has been making the gun blog rounds. Folks are finding it easy to mock them for the obvious safety violations and poor marksmanship. The derision is well deserved.

At the same time, freedom loving Americans should take heed. Even poorly aimed bullets hit something or someone. Most street thugs aren't skilled marksmen, but they still kill people everyday.

There have been numerous violent encounters initiated by these criminals already and it's likely to escalate. Just last week a community in Oregon surrendered and cancelled their annual parade because terrorists threatened violence against participants. Too bad there weren't enough patriots, or willing cops, in the town to provide a defense against the criminals. In Berkeley recently, we saw law enforcement intentionally ignore the violence. The sad truth is the police have no duty to protect you, despite the slogan, and when the rule of law breaks down they will likely be more interested in their own safety, and that of their families, than yours.

The "antifas" are no less a threat to this country than the islamic terrorists we've been fighting for years. Indeed the two groups even share some of the same goals. Stay alert. And carry your damn gun.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The leftists around the country are becoming increasingly violent. Recent events in Berkeley are typical of what passes for "tolerance" and "peace" among the liberals and democrats.

I find it hardly coincidental that the de facto leader of the left for the last eight years devoted himself to releasing criminals and terrorists from prison, and disparaging the police, while at the same time striving to disarm law abiding citizens. Thankfully, he largely failed with the latter task.

Now we clearly see the legacy of the previous president. Unlike any president of the past, he is publicly supporting the violence, even when out of office.

A friend recently remarked, "You all want a shooting war? You're going to get a shooting war." I do pray he is wrong.

While watching the videos of the anarchy posted online, the lack of police interference is noticeable in many cases. Frankly, there's often little they can do against organized violence. I've said it time and time again, when it comes to your safety, you are on your own. It's a good time to recall the wise words of Jeff Cooper.

"The police cannot protect the citizen at this stage of our development, and they cannot even protect themselves in many cases. It is up to the private citizen to protect himself and his family, and this is not only acceptable, but mandatory."

Five O'Clock Friday: Thanks Famous Actors

Aren't you glad we have all these super smart people making sure we don't screw up?

Without the Hollywood elites and those obviously intelligent professional athletes warning us about how oppressed we are, we'd surely be lost.

So Much Stupid

Just when you think liberals can't get anymore ridiculous...

We're also very very lucky that the attackers tried to use explosives rather than guns.

— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 19, 2016

It's hard to imagine anyone reaching that level of stupid without serious drug abuse or inbreeding.

Perhaps Hayes is joining Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in being "grateful that nobody got hurt." 

On Independence Day

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America 

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. ...

So many people today seems to have forgotten the reason these words were written. On this Independence Day, I've been reflecting on the ongoing and ever-increasing attacks on freedom by the obama administration and comrades over the years. The left's ongoing war to strengthen their hold over free Americans has reached a level of oppression unmatched in recent history. We find ourselves fighting yet another war against tyranny.

The president and his conspirators — some willing, some just useful idiots — have recently pulled out a favorite tool of oppressive regimes throughout history. In the past weeks the enemies of freedom have shown their true colors through an unabashed promotion of secret "lists" to which they can add Americans, with no due process, or even knowledge, by the affected citizen. Not content with failed and ineffective attempts to track terrorists, those in power now seek to use their secret lists to deny Constitutional rights to law-abiding citizens. Of all this administration's attacks on the Constitution and our freedom over the years, none could be more dangerous than this. It's telling when we realize that this latest attack on freedom is opposed by both the NRA and the ACLU.

Let's celebrate our nation's history, and the liberty and prosperity it provides. This is still the greatest nation that has ever existed. God had blessed us for over 200 years. Unfortunately there are those who seek to destroy what has been built. Many in and out of government seem to forget, or choose to ignore, the Founding Fathers' precept that they gain their authority "from the consent of the governed." So as we celebrate our first break from an overbearing government two hundred and forty years ago, we must be ever mindful of the threat we face today from within our own government. Today's holiday serves as a warning as much as a celebration. We've had reason to be concerned for years, but to still deny the threat now is both foolhardy and ignorant.

Enjoy the celebrations. And pray for the future.

The Fantasy World of Liberals

Like many folks this morning, I was in a online discussion regarding gun control when the "no semi automatic/automatic weapons" argument came up. So I asked if they thought people should only be able to defend themselves with revolvers, figuring the poster was just using the terms without understanding their meaning. Until she replied:

"If Detective Callahan can do it with a revolver, I'm sure it's ok."

And just when I think I've heard all the arguments.

Commander in Deceit

"Dana Loesch strikes back at the president's extreme overreach by shedding light on his dishonest history of enforcing existing gun control legislation. The "Commander in Deceit" continues to empower and enable gang members, felons and repeat offenders … while the only people he continuously punishes are law-abiding citizens."

Buying Your Rights

Meme of the week.

Infantilism Has Replaced Liberalism

The trouble with the left.

Buffalo burgers, "damned delicious as well."  Heh.

Hitler Reacts to Gun Control Failure

I imagine this is how Boomberg reacted when he realized that some U.S. Senators have actually read the Constitution.

H/T to Michael Bane.

The Collectivist State

The latest groupthink from the left claims that responsibility for educating children belongs to "the community," not parents. In a "Lean Forward" propaganda piece, MSN resident Marxist Melissa Harris-Perry makes the claim, "We haven't had a very collective notion of these are our children, so part of it is we have to break through our private idea that kids belong to their parents." This collectivist proclamation should be a wake up call for every responsible citizen, parent or not.

The idea that we should allow the "collective" to educate our children is dehumanizing and wholly evil. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church states:

The right and duty of parents to educate their children is “essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; and it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others”. Parents have the duty and right to impart a religious education and moral formation to their children, a right the State cannot annul but which it must respect and promote. This is a primary right that the family may not neglect or delegate.

After the initial outcry, some tried to make the claim that the Harris-Perry's comments were taken out of context. In fact, when the story first came out, I was almost ready to give it a pass. However, by her own admission, we learned that her statements were indeed interpreted correctly. She stood her ground recently with these remarks:

This isn’t about me wanting to take your kids, and this isn’t even about whether children are property. This is about whether we as a society, expressing our collective will through our public institutions, including our government, have a right to impinge on individual freedoms in order to advance a common good. And that is exactly the fight that we have been having for a couple hundred years.

"Collective will," as promulgated by the state schools. Sort of like this:

Robb over at Sharp asa Marble summed it up quite succinctly, "This is why I own guns."

Next, The Water Ban

Based on what passes as "logic" by those who are pushing for "gun bans," it can't be that far off.

"Wild Things" and Assassination

Here's an excerpt from a 2010 interview that "Wild Things" author Maurice Sendak did with Gary Groth of The Comic Journal.

SENDAK: Bush was president, I thought, “Be brave. Tie a bomb to your shirt. Insist on going to the White House. And I wanna have a big hug with the vice president, definitely. And his wife, and the president, and his wife, and anybody else that can fit into the love hug.” 

GROTH: A group hug. 

SENDAK: And then we’ll blow ourselves up, and I’d be a hero. [Groth laughs.] To hell with the kiddie books. He killed Bush. He killed the vice president. Oh my God. 

GROTH: I would have been willing to forgo this interview. [Sendak laughs.] 

SENDAK: You would have forgotten about it. It would have been a very brave and wonderful thing. But I didn’t do it; I didn’t do it.

I am happy that we never purchased a single one of these books when our son was growing up.

The current occupier of the White House reads "Where The Wild Things Are" at the 2009 White House Easter Egg Roll.

Eating the dog? No wonder he's a fan of the book!

An Act of War

The rhetoric out of "Occupy Oakland" movement is calling for a blockade of America's west coast ports on December 12.

Occupy Oakland calls for the blockade and disruption of the economic apparatus of the 1% with a coordinated shutdown of ports on the entire West Coast on December 12th. The 1% has disrupted the lives of longshoremen and port truckers and the workers who create their wealth, just as coordinated nationwide police attacks have turned our cities into battlegrounds in an effort to disrupt our Occupy movement.

This out of touch movement has declared their desire to disrupt the economy of our nation, prevent critical supplies from reaching their destinations, as well as prevent thousands of American workers from earning a living. In any country in the world, a blockade of a nation's ports or a disruption of the the country's supply lines is an act of war. This tactic has been used throughout history by nations and terrorists alike. Now the radical left-wing movement within the U.S. is preparing to employ this tactic against our Nation. This could get interesting.

AP Photo - Occupy Oakland Nov. 3, 2011

Cretins, we grow weary of you. Seriously.

Jack Daniel's Supports the Troops

Last month we read that Jack Daniel's was being attacked by entitlement-loving socialists. Now comes the news the distiller is doing something sure to raise the ire of the left even more — supporting our troops.

Tennessee whiskey maker Jack Daniel's is donating more than $100,000 to pay for plane tickets and travel funds for soldiers at Fort Campbell, Ky., to spend the December holiday season with their families all over the country. 

The distiller is also asking the public to make additional contributions that could help hundreds of cash-strapped soldiers who otherwise would be stuck at the post on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line. Donations can be made to the Operation Ride Home campaign online at www.jdoperationridehome.com.

 See Jack Daniel's Funds Travel Expenses for Soldiers for more.

H/T to Jay over at MArooned.

"Entitlement" Attack Hits Distiller

Iconic distiller Jack Daniel's is being attacked by the same dangerous thinking that we've recently seen espoused by those "occupying" parks and streets in cities all over America. A Lynchburg, TN resident is making the outrageous claim that the local government is "entitled" to take more of the money earned by the only industry in town.

“We are entitled to more money from the only industry in the county – Jack Daniel’s distillery,” said Charles Rogers, a 75-year-old retiree and self-described “concerned citizen” of Moore County – home to Lynchburg and Jack Daniel’s.

Rogers wants the proposed tax to pay the bills for new schools, roads, bridges, even a new water treatment plant.

Rogers says Moore County is “entitled” to more money because Jack Daniel’s used bucolic images of small-town life in Lynchburg to sell its product. And as Norman Rockwell made a living off of his iconic images of Americana, so too should Lynchburg, according to Rogers.

If Mr. Rogers thinks that people buy Jack Daniel's simply for the "bucolic images" he probably believes that Häagen-Dazs is made in a scenic town in Denmark.

Were it not for Jack Daniel's there probably wouldn't be a Lynchburg, Tennessee. The company is the largest employer in the county and supports a tourism industry that probably keeps every other business in the town alive. If anything, Moore County owes thanks to Jack Daniel's for the county's prosperity.

Rogers claims the distiller could simply raise the price of their product and pass along the new tax. In other words, he feels that not only is the county "entitled" to the distiller's profit, but is entitled to collect from everyone who buys the product, where ever they live.

This sort of thinking is like a creeping infestation that is slowly destroying our country. People who subscribe to this entitlement mentality no longer wish to strive for success, instead they scheme to take from others what they can't, or won't, earn for themselves.

See "Jack Daniel's Faces More Taxes From Cash-Strapped Hometown in Tennessee" for more on this infuriating story.

Change Through Violence

I don't pretend to understand what the Occupiers want. Apparently neither do they. On the Occupy Wall Street web page they admit there "is NO official list of demands." The only commonality among the participants seems to be they want free stuff. But I do understand HOW some of them want to bring about change. A Wall Street Journal poll found that one-third of those polled support the use of violence to bring about their agenda, what ever that might be.

Never wanting to let a crisis go to waste, the Europeans have taken up the occupy meme. In Rome we see the results.

Remember how upset the left became when a Florida pastor merely threatened to burn a book valued by muslims? Apparently their feigned respect for holy symbols doesn't apply to Christianity.

This can only end badly.

On the bright side, it's a safe bet that Catholics aren't going to be rioting and beheading people over the destruction of the Blessed Mother statue.