I Offended The Twitter

I don't read Twitter that often. For me, it's mainly a consolidation point from which to share blog posts, my beer check-ins on UnTappd, and the cigar pictures I upload to Instagram. As such it took me a few days to realize something was amiss.

I got an error when I tried to share the Glenlivet post but didn't think much about it at the time. Then I kept seeing the same posts at the top of my feed. At first, it didn't stand out, as there is a lot of repeated sharing on the platform. Then I noticed that the timestamps of the posts I saw had stopped on August 26. That's when I noticed that my Following count was zero, down from about 400. Well, that would explain why I saw no new content, but not why I was locked out from posting.

The mystery remain unsolved until I mentioned the issue to Colleen and she tried to view my Twitter feed. That's when I learned the account was "restricted."

I am not sure what caused the outrage. This is a screenshot of the last post Twitter allowed. Do the censors dislike Rocky Patel cigars or scotch?

After that post Twitter blocked me from posting anything further. They also will not allow me to follow anyone. Apparently alcohol, tobacco and firearms melt the Twitter-flakes. Of course, no notification came from Twitter, and my profile page gives me notice of the restriction. I've inquired via their customer support form, but expect no support whatsoever.

Truth be told, for the past week I haven't really missed Twitter either.

Straw Safety

High capacity packages!

Right there on the aisle where a child could get hold of them.

Open Carry is Constitutional

So says the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment guarantees a right to openly carry a gun in public for self-defense, finding that Hawaii overstepped its authority to regulate firearms possession outside the home.

The ruling by a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, makes the San Francisco-based court the sixth U.S. circuit court to interpret the Second Amendment that way and could set the issue on a path toward the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not taken up a major gun rights case since 2010.

The fact that this comes from one of the most liberal and anti-rights Appeals Court in the nation must have the leftists breaking out in hives.

Wouldn't it be funny if this ruling was upheld by SCOTUS and the snowflakes started demanding we carry concealed because seeing a gun scared them so much?  Sweet, sweet, schadenfreude.

See "U.S. appeals court upholds right to carry gun in public."

The 2nd Amendment as White Privilege

The lengths to which the social justice warriors snowflakes go to manufacture outrage never ceases to amaze me. To some, even the natural right to self defense is construed as white privilege.

A gun is a gun, no matter who holds it. NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch is fond of making this point, arguing that firearms act as the “great equalizer,” even among historically marginalized groups. But these statements are aspirational, not descriptive. Gun ownership is less common among African-Americans and Hispanics than whites, and more common among wealthier Americans than poorer ones. The financial and bureaucratic barriers to gun ownership, explained one California police officer, tend to disadvantage the same people who would supposedly be most empowered by the availability of tools of self-defense. “People don't live in dangerous neighborhoods by choice—they often can't afford to live anywhere else,” he said, noting that the task of obtaining a concealed carry permit, which most states require their proverbial Self-Reliant Good Guys with Guns to have, can be a cost-prohibitive one. "Citizens who want to do everything right can’t afford to legally protect themselves.” The cultural proliferation of guns has transformed the “right” of self-defense into a luxury available only to those who can afford it.

Not surprisingly, this tripe was published by GQ, the home of the American metrosexual. The author goes on to explain that the costs of firearms, ammo, training, licensing (!), and even cleaning supplies, make gun ownership unobtainable for non-whites in America.

Among all the facepalm-inducing "logic" in the article, the complaints about licensing fees is exceptionally ironic. Gun laws have their roots in racism, and licensing fees are put in place, with the sole purpose of creating hardship, by the same type of people who incessantly complain about inequality.

The author claims that the "luxury" of gun ownership is unobtainable by non-whites. The basic premise of his writing exhibits racial bias. Blinded by his anti-gun agenda, he fails to see his own racism. There is no logic in leftist thinking.

The author equates having the means to afford a gun to inequality, rather than the result of labor, effort, or choice. But that's how the left sees everything actually. If you don't like something, label it a "privilege" or even "racist." He concludes thusly,

I can’t fault anyone who wants to do all that they can to protect themselves and their loved ones. I respect the decisions of responsible, thoughtful people who use their resources to learn how to use a gun for that purpose. But I am troubled by the fact that doing so is a privilege—another way in which America's culture of guns is most dangerous for the most vulnerable people who live in it.

See "Owning a Gun in America Is a Luxury" for the rest of the diatribe. Try not to choke on your morning coffee.

Must Watch: Gov. Matt Bevin

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin gives a perfect response to a thinly veiled allegation of hypocrisy from an "independent consultant."

Like Virginia Delegate Nick Freitas, Governor Bevin reminds us there are still a few politicians out there who value freedom and honesty, and who are not afraid to speak out.

President Kennedy on the Defense of Freedom

President Kennedy's Commemorative Message on Roosevelt Day, January 29, 1961.

"Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of America, cannot succeed with any lesser effort. "

A Democrat no less. In the era before snowflakes.

Must Watch: Delegate Nick Freitas

Listen to this blast of truth from Virginia Delegate Nick Freitas regarding the lies and deceptions of the left.

Freitas's words triggered the snowflakes across the aisle and they ran from the room with hurt feelings. They demanded a recess, apparently to recover in their crying rooms.

Delegate Freitas is challenging our current leftist representative for the Virginia Senate seat.

Jefferson On Freedom

"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem."

Roughly translated as "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery," the phrase was used by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison, on January 30, 1787. I find it quite applicable today considering the current anti-gun, anti-freedom movement being fostered on our nation by the weak and ignorant, only some of which are actually children.

I'm sure the phrase is doubly triggering for today's snowflake generation, since they also find this Founding Father to be offensive to their sensitive natures.

The Black Target "Problem"

The “No More Black Targets” Campaign is, apparently, a movement to eliminate the use of black targets at gun ranges. Or, I think it is. Honestly, I am not sure if this is a serious movement or an exceptionally well-played internet troll. From the website...

An academic study published by University of Illinois researchers drew together findings from 42 different studies on trigger bias to examine whether race affects how likely a target is to be shot.

"What we found is that it does," Mekawi told NPR's Arun Rath, who covered the story.

"In our study we found two main things: First, people were quicker to shoot black targets with a gun, relative to white targets with a gun. And ... people were more trigger-happy when shooting black targets compared to shooting white targets."

The claims of liberal snowflakes often border on the absurd, but this is the first time I've ever heard of race being applied to cardboard. If race is applicable to non-living objects, then we must take into account that most guns are black as well. It then follows that what we actually have is a black-on-black crime issue, rather than an issue of racism.

On the other hand...

I looked through the alternative target gallery on the site. If #NoMoreBlackTargets catches on, the hippie community may soon feel targeted as well.

#safetypin

The precious snowflakes have, quite appropriately, chosen a diaper pin as their symbol of unity. I'll rely on another sort of "safety pin."