Weird things are happening

Good God, I may have to actually start respecting Randi Rhodes. There was a whole kerfluffle the other day regarding a skit on Air America radio (is anyone still listening to it?) that portrayed the President being shot at several times, and rumor hs it that the Secret Service are investigating. So yesterday, Randi says:

"This was just a stupid, stupid bit!" exclaimed Randi Rhodes on yesterday's broadcast on the Air America network. "But, if it crossed the line, then certainly, there must be punishment, and if there is, I want to be punished so that I can actually say 'Equal justice under law.' Anybody that has stepped over this line of law needs to be prosecuted, including me."

*Snerf* Wow, that takes, you know, integrity and stuff. Don't hear a whole lot of that from the LLL (looney liberal left) these days. But it gets better:

Rhodes said she's been contacted by producers of NBC's "Today Show" who want her to provide them the skit to air on national television, along with an appearance by Rhodes.

"How in the world could a bad bit be worthy of a 'Today Show' segment, but the 15 years of talk radio in the wilderness of the conservative AM dial means nothing?" Rhodes asked rhetorically. "You don't become a media whore because now there's an opportunity to get your mug on the freakin' TV. It's not what I'm about."

Somebody please fire Howard Dean's Republican hatin', flyover-country alienatin' ass and put her in charge. If there were more folks like Randi Rhodes in the Democratic party leadership, well, I just might start listening to what they have to say.

A note about gun ownership

Another re-post from the old blog, from 4-9-04:

I wanted to briefly blog about having cleaned my gun for the first time and the fact that our family got a membership to a sporting club, but came upon some comments from a reader. I'm not trying to make a spectacle of him, but I do want to address his points publicly for the purpose of education.

"I will never, for the life of me, understand the fanaticism over guns and linking that to personal freedom and American identity."

In my case it's hardly fanaticism, it's the simple reality that, if ever faced with danger, I will be completely unable to repel it of my own force. I am now responsible for the safety of other people, and I take that responsibility seriously.

"As much as I understand that the founding fathers knew the importance of the right to bare arms (sic) I would also say cop-killer bullets, fully automatic and assault rifles was not what they had in mind."

Who's to say what they had in mind? I believe every person has a right to decide for themselves what they need for protection. Much like the "war on drugs," all these weapons bans have done little to nothing to reduce crime, and have in some cases resulted in a disarmed populace (especially in poor, crime infested neighborhoods) who are now at the mercy of the criminal element, who don't care about gun bans.

"Secondly, the whole argument of empowering people to rise up against an illegitimate government is out of the question now. The strength of our military would easily squash any attempt at insurrection."

If that is the case, then why have we not won the Iraq war? ;)

"There seems to be a lot of ill-spent energy defending the right to own 500 thousand and one handguns but little upset when real civil liberties are endangered (ie Patriot Act)."

If you read about this issue a little more, you'd find that many pro-Second Amendment folks are also wary, if not outraged, about the Patriot Act and the potential for serious abuses of civil liberties.

"Lastly, I would think having a gun around the house puts your children more at risk than some burglar whose only intention is to steal. All the great tragedies that have involved teens and high schools came from kids having access to parent owned armaments."

Since his only intention is to steal, I should be happy to give a burglar my posessions and escape with my life? I simply do not understand that logic. Many rapes, assaults and murders start out as burglaries. Can you read the mind of a burglar? I can't. If I cannot protect myself, who will? The police will only be there after the fact. That is unacceptable to me.

There's a curious thing I've noticed about people who are anti-gun, and that is, in general they have an underlying belief that the average Joe is too stupid to own and handle one safely. The assumption that simply having a gun in my house automatically puts my children at greater risk is ignorant at best, and shows a lack of knowledge of both gun safety and child rearing. My children are in more danger from the kitchen stove, electrical outlets, falling down the stairs etc. ad infinitum, than they are from my safely stored gun. There are millions of responsible gun owners in this country, and my right to defend myself should not be infringed nor questioned because of a handful of idiot parents who don't know how to do the right thing.

"The whole fascination with guns seems inextricably tied to those primitive, Neanderthal emotions, the ones that should be left behind if society is to move forward, even if at a crawl."

There have been a few break-ins in my "nice neighborhood" in the 11 months we've lived here, and I have a responsibility to do what is necessary to protect my family. This point was driven home to me when a friend's house, not far from mine, was broken into in broad daylight by a crackhead. Said crackhead was able to attack my friend and her daughter, attack her husband with a knife, attempt to steal her 2-year-old granddaughter, trash her house, trash their car with a 2x4 and FLEE THE SCENE before the cops arrived. The 911 fairy wasn't able to save them, and the now three-year-old is still traumatized to this day.

I'd say they were attacked by a Neanderthal. If I ever need my "primitive, Neanderthal emotions" to fight back against such a beast, then so be it.

Passing the torch

I found this image of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger clasping hands with Pope John Paul II, and I thought it fitting to highlight his recent election as Pope Benedict XVI. Much is being made of his name selection, with speculation that he will be a champion of peace and ecumenism, things his history as Cardinal do not necessarily point to. I'm not speaking from a position of knowledge here, I'm just summing up what I've read over the last few hours of yesterday and today.

I'm still a little heartbroken about the death of John Paul II. Part of it is nationalistic pride, as my family is Polish and we were all overjoyed to have one of "us" as Pontiff. But the larger part of it is that he was such a beautiful soul. He truly loved every human being, and chose to see the good -- no, he chose to see God in every person he came in contact with. He was full of joy and life, and when his illness overtook him in his final years, he bore his suffering with a grace and dignity I can only hope to strive for in my life, and which makes my wonking about things like trying to keep the house clean oh-so-trivial by comparison.

Anyway, here are some quotes from our new Pope Benedict XVI from the last few years on a variety of topics.

And when I did a search for information using his new name, this link about Papal prophecy came up as number one. I'm making no judgements about this information, but I present it here for some interesting reading about what some in the Catholic church are thinking.

Here is a discussion forum about our new Pope and what it means for the future.

The Jerusalem Post also has a lengthy article on the new Pontiff.

No matter what your faith is, the new Pope has an enormous amount of responsibility, and he is deserving of our prayers in this time of transition.

Weekly Reader

Jeff at Alphecca has his Weekly Check on the Bias up. Enjoy!

I love the smell of cordite in the morning

...or anytime, really. The newest Carnival of Cordite is up. I was very happy to find a link to this book. I have a few girlfriends who are teetering on the verge of coming to the range with me, and this book looks like a great introduction to the idea of self defense and responsible gun ownership. This week's Carnival is chock-full of excellent reading. Enjoy!

It's magically delicious

Head on over to the Countertop Chronicles for this week's Carnival of the Recipies, who kindly linked to our Friday Pie-Blogging. Looks dee-licious over there!

Hey, that's not bad...

You're Betty Grable!


What Classic Pin-Up Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Good thing Rhodar likes the classics... ;)

Celebrate Buy A Gun Day!

Here is a re-post from 04/06/2004:

For me, Buy A Gun Day was Saturday:

Yes, it is quite small. It's rather remarkable, really -- no bigger than my hand. A friend had spotted this gem at a local gun shop and took me out there to see it over the weekend. Admittedly, for as much as I talk smack about exercising my Second Amendment rights, I was rather apprehensive. For one thing, I had never fired a gun before, so what do I know about gun shopping, right? "Oooh, purty. That looks like a gun alright." Second, there is the whole female guns-are-icky-and-I'll-never-touch-one-of-those-things nonsense to get over. It's one thing to talk about it, it's entirely another thing to actually do it. Third, there is the ever-present, can't ignore it no matter how hard I try, Mommy Instinct (I will be bringing something into the house that has the potential to kill my babies).

My friend had his own firearm purchase to work through, so I had some time to think it all over. I had pretty much decided I would be going home with all my money when the shop owner, upon hearing I had never fired a gun before, offered me the opportunity to try before I buy. Now, even knowing that this shop was out in the middle of nowhere, I still felt pretty strange about the whole thing. Then, realizing that this was the perfect opportunity to put Points One *and* Two to bed in one fell swoop, I took him up on his offer. He dug out some ammo, loaded it up, put it in my hand, and told me to aim it a distance away at the ground. I had no clue what to do. It's a good thing that the Tomcat has that curved area at the top of the grip, or I might have held it all wrong and seriously messed up my hand. So, point one scored as a good gun for newbies.

I pointed, arms straight out, like I'd seen on TV and had practiced during countless games of Area 51 in graduate school.

I squeezed the trigger.

It fired. It was *really* loud. I felt the tiny pinpricks of hot powder on my hands and forearms. I think I can still feel it. I looked at my friend and the shop owner, and they urged me to try again.

I did.

And thus my fears were allayed somewhat. I was no longer a "gun virgin."

As you can imagine, there is an adrenaline rush associated with making something go boom. Though it was expected, it was still a little unnerving. Years and years of anti-gun propaganda in the media that guns are bad, guns are evil, guns are dangerous, can result in a bit of cognitive dissonance the first time one shoots. If guns are so horrible, why did I *like* that? And why do I want to do it again? Could I actually hit a target with this? When can I get a membership to a gun club and practice?

Now there is an empowered female to deal with. Rachel Lucas, on her old blog, once wrote a piece on how unnerving (or outright terrifiying, depending on your environment) it can be to be a very petite, physically weaker person. How, given the right state of paranioa, I have to be aware that at any given time, 90% of the population (there are 10-year-olds bigger and stronger than I am) could simply break me and have unfettered access to my house, my car, my body, my children. It sounds over the top, but it's a pretty horrible feeling to know that if a goblin ever broke into my house with the intent to harm me and mine, I would be completely and utterly helpless to stop it.

That thought process quickly dispatched Point Three above. Certainly, guns are dangerous things. You can shoot all the clay pigeons and bullseyes you want, but we all know they also have a grave purpose, and that is killing things. And if my children's lives are ever threatened by another living being, I'll be damned if I'm going to allow myself to be helpless in that situation. I have an enormous responsibility to keep this weapon safe from curious little hands, and great trepidation related to that knowledge. But my desire to protect my children, should the need ever arise, trumps that by a mile.

Riding back home with my newly purchased gun, the Mommy Instinct again peeked out, causing me to think, "I hope I never look back on this day and regret it." But I can't help thinking how much worse it would be if I had come home empty handed and later was unable to protect myself or my family. I am confident in my ability to handle and store this weapon safely. I wish I were as confident that nothing bad could possibly ever happen to us.

Friday Pie-Blogging

Since this blog is called Liberty and Pie, I figure it's about time we did some pie blogging. After all, we here are as 'Murkin as...

Mom's Apple Pie

Combine:

5 1/2 cups sliced apples
1 T lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 T flour
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg

Mix thoroughly, spoon into slightly baked egg-glazed pie crust. I prefer making my pie crusts from scratch using the recipe that comes with Crisco sticks. YMMV.

Topping:

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup room temperature butter

Mix with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Bake at 375 F for 50 minutes or till filling bubbles and topping is golden.

This is actually my Mom's recipe, and I never fail to get rave reviews on it. Enjoy!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Why, you ask? Why, it's April 15th! "Weren't you just wonking that it's tax day?" Yeeeesss, but Aaron so kindly reminded me that it is also Buy A Gun Day. We've been very remiss in promoting this great day for all law abiding citizens, and we will have a link to our new purchase shortly. As usual, we celebrated early. In honor of BAG Day, I'll be reposting some of my gun related stuff from my old, dead, non-exportable to Blogger blog. You have rights, folks. Know them, and exercise them as much as possible.

What are we doing wrong?

Another sad story of a kid snapping:

A 13-year-old pitcher was accused of clubbing a teenage friend to death with a baseball bat, moments after the friend apparently teased him at a concession stand following his baseball team's first loss of the season.

Now Drudge's headline for this was "Teen Accused of Killing Friend With Bat After Game Loss..." which immediately prompted me to think "Oh here we go, they were playing Tekken 5 and some gamer kid freaked out and people are going to scream and cry about video game regulation again." I was very shocked to learn that the game loss was baseball. This is sad and tragic, but brings home this point: It's not all about school shootings. When there's a school shooting, everyone is quick to blame guns, the gun industry, and the legality of guns as the problem. If only there were no guns, there would be no school shootings. Sure, a baseball bat is "single shot," as opposed to a handgun with a 10 round magazine, but I bet if someone was really determined he could whack as many as five heads with a baseball bat before anyone realized what was going on. So, where will the public outcry be against baseball bats? How about hockey sticks? Or cars? Kids kill with cars all the time.

Anyway, that's not why I wanted to write this post. This article got me to wondering a number of things. Here's an excerpt:

The boys had no history of fighting, said Tony Trevino, coach of the Dodgers, which had just defeated the suspect's team, the Angels, when the clubbing took place.

"That's what's so shocking and so appalling," he said. "What happened? What did we miss as a community? What did we miss as parents?"

What, indeed. My kids are very small, and they have yet to endure the social torture that comes with the teenage years in this society, but I wonder what we are teaching them, or not teaching them. Are we teaching our children how to handle stress? Are we teaching them how to handle anger, or any extreme emotion? Coping skills are not innate, they need to be taught and, more importantly, modelled for the child. I try to with my little ones, but I have a long way to go. Note: I am NOT SAYING that the accused's parents did not do so, these are just questions I'm asking about today's families in general.

Ryan Gosporra, 15, said the incident began when Rourke cut in front of the suspect in the snack bar line. Neither he nor Trevino saw the attack that occurred after the last game of the night with about 40 people at the field.

But Trevino, 50, said witnesses told him the two boys teased each other before the suspect pulled a bat from his bag and hit Rourke in the knees, then the head.

What else was going on in this poor boy's life that he could not handle some teasing? Is he always being teased? Bullied? If so, did anyone know or help him out? Was this a response to a pattern of abuse and non-response by adults?

How about his overall stress level? Personally, I can't believe the amount of stress kids are under these days. Participating in three, four, even five sports, plus extracurriculars, plus tutoring, heightened academic pressures, social interconnectedness 24/7 via cell phones and IM, media saturation via video games, TV, iPod and Internet -- when do our children have time to talk about what else is going on in their lives? And all these activities take a lot out of a kid. I'm getting tired just listing it all. When do their brains stop? I would be exhausted if I had to keep up with an average 13 year old's academic and social calendar, and from a full-time working mom of two toddlers who averages about 5 hours of sleep a night, I think that's saying something.

After the attack, Trevino saw the suspect standing against a fence with his parents. "He looked scared. He was in shock," the coach said.

Unlike the animals in this story, which would be a whole different post about morals, values, and the lack thereof, I really feel bad for this kid. I get the sense that even he has no idea what happened and why he did it.

At the playing field Wednesday night, a family friend read a statement from Rourke's parents, who urged people not to demonize their son's attacker.

He "is not a monster. He's a good boy who made a bad mistake. This is a mistake that will haunt both families for the rest of our lives," the statement said.

This is amazing and gracious of the victim's family, and seems to show an understanding of the accused's situation.

I don't have any answers. I have dozens more questions. And there's one overall feeling I carry away from this story; sadness that somehow, we as parents and as a society contribute to the stress that drives kids to do this sort of thing. And we're not doing a damn thing about it.

Daylily Genocide

This is the ubiquitous orange daylily:



Isn't it lovely? Two years ago when we bought our house, I was pleasantly surprised to find I had some growing alongside my garage. How pretty, I thought. The next year, to my annoyance, they had grown twice as large and were starting to intrude into the yard. Oh well, the weed whacker will get 'em. This year, as I cleaned out the flower beds, I found they were trying to take over my daisies and strangle a hosta. I could hear them whispering "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated" to all the surrounding foliage.

Now I didn't hate them at the time, so I set out to merely thin them. I'll pull the stray ones out that are intruding into other parts of the flowerbed, no big deal. So I grabbed one of the smaller ones and tugged. Didn't move an iota. Pulled harder and the stalk came off, leaving the root. Hm, okay, I'll get the garden tools. I bent two of them. Getting irritated, I got my trusty weed puller, the faithful one that has helped me slaughter dandelions over the years. It handled some of the smaller ones, but couldn't budge the larger clusters. Fudge it. Get the spade. Hack, slash, clump, dig, haul. Now I know why they weren't moving -- these things have root systems as big as my head. And they grow along root routes -- they're ALL connected together. And underground are a zillion little bulbs all waiting to sprout into more weeds -- uh, I mean, pretty orange flowers to light up my garden. The previous owners had tried to contain them by placing large slabs of rock around them, but the daylilies just tunnelled their roots under the rocks and came up the other side. Under the rock, solid bulbs and roots. Seriously, I am no stranger to yard work, but I've never met a weed that was as difficult to get up as these damn things. But I got a bucket of twenty for some of the girls at work who want some for their gardens too (suckers!). I'll have to dig up some more and give them away too before they all wise up. I do want to keep a small patch of them, so if anyone has any ideas on how to keep the little buggers contained in one area, let me know.

It's the most annoying time of the year

Tax time is rapidly approaching, and Frank J. has all you need to know about it -- Know Thy Enemy: Taxes.

Better late than never

Jane Galt has a fabulous post on the gay marriage debate in the US, doing a much better job of summarizing my thoughts on the matter than I could:

My only request is that people try to be a leeetle more humble about their ability to imagine the subtle results of big policy changes. The argument that gay marriage will not change the institution of marriage because you can't imagine it changing your personal reaction is pretty arrogant. It imagines, first of all, that your behavior is a guide for the behavior of everyone else in society, when in fact, as you may have noticed, all sorts of different people react to all sorts of different things in all sorts of different ways, which is why we have to have elections and stuff. And second, the unwavering belief that the only reason that marriage, always and everywhere, is a male-female institution (I exclude rare ritual behaviors), is just some sort of bizarre historical coincidence, and that you know better, needs examining. If you think you know why marriage is male-female, and why that's either outdated because of all the ways in which reproduction has lately changed, or was a bad reason to start with, then you are in a good place to advocate reform. If you think that marriage is just that way because our ancestors were all a bunch of repressed bastards with dark Freudian complexes that made them homophobic bigots, I'm a little leery of letting you muck around with it.

This is a lengthy read, but worth it. Many interesting and thought-provoking points of view expressed in her comments too.

I don't know why...

...but I really like this song.

Just for Og.

Don't Forget Your Towel!

Holy shmoly, I just watched this trailer for the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy movie, and it was fabulous. It really captured the flavor of the Douglas Adams books too (of which Rhodar and I are huge fans). This movie better not suck.

The Flanderizing Of America

Jared over at Exultate Justi has an excellent post regarding what is, and is not, a theocracy. I particularly enjoyed his characterization of what "our more enlightened fellow citizens" think of Christianity, having come upon that mindset quite frequently in recent memory. Disturbingly, many of those folks represent themselves to me as Christians themselves. Just so long as it doesn't require them to, you know, *do* anything, I guess. Anyway, go read Jared.

Things that don't make sense

Via The Education Wonks and Number 2 Pencil, we are pointed to a Wall Street Journal article on the ineffectiveness of middle schools. Quoth the WSJ:

Now, a growing body of evidence is showing that preteen students do better when they can remain in their familiar elementary schools for longer -- with better grades and fewer disciplinary problems than their middle-school peers. As a result, many school systems are starting to do away with middle schools and are increasing the number of elementary schools that continue through the eighth grade.

Quite frankly, I never got the point of middle school. I went to Catholic school myself, all of which are K-8 in my area, and I didn't even know what middle school was until I went to high school and some of my new friends told me they went to this strange place. So, we take fifth or sixth graders, who are beginning to reach the heights of insecurity that come with the beginning of puberty, place them in a new, unfamiliar environment at a developmentally challenging time of their lives, expect them to have no problems, and do it all over again in three or four short years? Seems like an awful lot of change to expect any youngster to go through, let alone the kids in large urban areas who often have enough going against them.

Again, from the WSJ:

The shift has its critics, some of whom think adolescents don't belong in the same school with tiny grade-schoolers whom they could easily bully. Many districts seek to address this by creating separate entrances for younger and older children.

I don't really think this is a problem. Bullies are everywhere, and assuming adolescents are going to bully smaller children says a lot about the person making the assumption. In my school, the bigger kids barely interacted with the little kids except to take care of them when need be, and on occasion defend them from bullies their own age or older. I guess you could say that my school, while not overtly promoting it, had a sort of unwritten culture of responsibility, where the older kids were expected to set a good example for and take care of the little kids. Granted, we went to a small school -- my eighth grade class graduated 25 -- but why should we accept the argument (that some wonk will eventually make) that you just can't do that in a big school? Don't try to sell that to me, 'cause I'm not buying.

Another criticism: Some parents have expressed concern that K-8 schools may not adequately prepare kids for high school. Because they often are newer and smaller than traditional middle schools, elemiddle programs can't always offer as broad a range of class subjects and extracurricular activities.

In Baltimore, which has created 30 new K-8 schools, a report showed that in K-8 settings, "students...had less opportunity to take Algebra 1 and a foreign language," which it says are "gatekeeper" courses, or courses that increase the likelihood that a student will attend college.

Okay, A) Do we really have to take Algebra 1 and a foreign language in grade school? And who determined these are "gatekeeper" courses? Is that what they're selling parents? How about teach the kids how to think critically. Teach them how to read for comprehension and write correctly. Treat them fairly in an environment free of speech codes and zero-tolerance nonsense, in which they feel cared for and respected, not churned out of an assembly line. And B) The only thing my tiny K-8 school didn't adequately teach us about getting on in high school is how to get from the basement classroom all the way across the school to the third floor science lab, with a stop at my locker, in four minutes or less. YMMV. Oh, and C) -- and let me spell this out for everyone clearly -- Not Every Child Is Destined To Go To College. Furthermore, College Is Not A Guarantor Of Lifelong Success And Happiness. Please let us stop worshipping at the foot of the Ivory Tower, there are more important things in life, people. I'm looking forward to my kids growing up in a K-8 school, and I think we worry way too much about the future, at the expense of the present.

Hit the Midway...

...for this week's Carnival of Cordite. I really ought to submit something for that soon. Maybe I'll have some purty targets to post tomorrow, if I can get my image uploading to work, that is...

It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine...

Range report: Just got back from my weekly jaunt to the Keystone Gun Club, and had the opportunity to try one of these:

This is a great firearm, and I'd highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for a smaller size for concealability. Granted, I only had time to put about 25 rounds through it (it's a five-shot), but I feel better about the 640 after 25 rounds than I feel about my .32 Beretta Tomcat after 300. I think it will make a fine carry piece, and I plan on shopping for one shortly. One of the gents at the club also recommended these grips for the 640, and I'm told they're available at the Erie Sport Store, so I'll be checking it out soon. This grip sure would be nice too. Hey, a gal can dream... :)

Required Reading

Jeff at Alphecca has posted his handy-dandy Weekly Check On The Bias. Enjoy!

I'm shocked and amazed

I did a search for "fire fighter dress up" while shopping for my youngest son's birthday, and it took until the fourth page of search results to get adult content. I thought I'd get much more pr0n than that. I am pleasently surprised.

It's Carn-Tastic!

"Who needs another blog Carnival," you may ask? You do, especially if it's the Carnival of Cordite. Rich, bloggy goodness chock-full of firearm and Second Amendment info. Remember: everyone needs a t-shirt and a Boomstick.

When guns are outlawed...

...outlaws have free rein. It amazes me how many stories we see like this one, and they seem to be getting more common in England, where it is illegal for a law-abiding citizen to own a gun to defend themselves. This poor woman had been targeted by burglars four times in 18 months. And this guy's fatal mistake was that he said hello to a man who was probably twice his size. Throughout all of history, the stong have preyed on the weak, but we're too civilized for that now, right? Yeah, that gun control in Great Britain makes for a real crime free paradise now, dunnit?