My tooth hurts. I have to find a new place to live and a way to afford it by mid February. And now my own brother is being a royal pain in the behind.

So here’s the deal. Over lunch I try to get ahold of Mom, the financial person in the family with over 20 years in banking. Nobody answers at home, so I call her cell. My brother picks up. After explaining how things suck and how I’m trying to figure out how to pay for it all, he tells me to get my tooth fixed before he shows up on December 5. After failing to sufficiently express the problem of preferring a roof over my head to a fixed tooth, he hung up on me - watching baseball is more important. I tried seven more times to get ahold of Mom. Nobody picked up.

Voicemails were left in both places explaining that a failure to communicate which does not end by noon tomorrow will cause me to fill the tank on my car and drive the five or six hours down to go see them. With my luck I’d get stuck someplace along the way.

One. More. Thing.

My ex-girlfriend and current roommate has decided along with her family that it’s time to move on. They’re leaving Las Vegas for numerous reasons and I can’t say I blame them at all.

February looks to be the time for the move and I’m hoping I can find a way to afford a new place. The downpayment will be the biggest expense, but I’ve also had help the last four years paying the rent, too.

Wish me luck

Hat tip to Lex

Have fun!

This charming little news report just adds one more reason to the extensive list of Why Parrothead Jeff will never move to Phoenix. Go on, watch it. It’s only 2:36 long.

Some call people like me racists for wanting to wall off the border and shut the Mike Foxtrot down. Sorry, that don’t fly anymore. I know I won’t stand for it and I know others are waking up.

So here’s what I gather all wrapped up nice and neat. The same Federal Government that refuses to defend you wants to disarm you. It’s getting dangerous out there. Keep a weapon handy. I will.

No, this won’t affect me. Guess what? I don’t give a flying F**K. It’s WRONG. It’s UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

But these days I guess that doesn’t matter anymore to elected officials.

We already have programs for those who want to do this. Boy Scouts. Coast Guard auxiliary. RACES. ARES. American Red Cross. Hell, look into your local law enforcement reserves.

Anyone else wonder how long it will take until these three months for 18 to 25 year old citizens become “re-education” that all will be required to attend?

As the Jawa Report says, “Who Knew It Was Prophetic?”

Pardon me while I go puke.

Hat tip to Stop The ACLU

The more I thought about it the more I realized that I had to have screwed something up worse than usual. A bit of testing and I found that when I removed a plug-in that wasn’t working anyway I had taken away something that was being used by a line or two of code in the comments file which completely broke the functionality

After removing the offending code from the comments file, I’m happy to report that all is well again and posts are open for comment

Have fun!

I was surprised to see the following in my work email, sent by a co-worker to the entire company. Surprised because this place is pretty business like. I’m also glad to see this hit our in-boxes.

In honor of all those who served (and currently serve), fought and/or lost their lives to protect U.S. interests overseas and protect our freedom,

Thank you.

In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, became the focal point of reverence for America’s veterans.

Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation’s highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as “Armistice Day”.

Armistice Day officially received its name in America in 1926 through a Congressional resolution. It became a national holidiay 12 years later by similar Congressional action. If the idealistic hope had been realized that World War I was “the War to end all Wars,” November 11 might still be called Armistice Day. But only a few years after the holiday was proclaimed, war broke out in Europe. Sixteen and one-half million Americans took part. Four hundred seven thousand of them died in service, more than 292,000 in battle.

Armistice Day Changed To Honor All Veterans

Realizing that peace was equally preserved by veterans of WW II and Korea, Congress was requested to make this day an occasion to honor those who have served America in all wars. In 1954 President Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day.

On Memorial Day 1958, two more unidentified American war dead were brought from overseas and interred in the plaza beside the unknown soldier of World War I. One was killed in World War II, the other in the Korean War. In 1973, a law passed providing interment of an unknown American from the Vietnam War, but none was found for several years. In 1984, an unknown serviceman from that conflict was placed alongside the others. To honor these men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, The 3d U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil.

A law passed in 1968 changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.

The performers were great as were the static displays. Communications broke down now and again with the whole volunteer gig, but I had a wonderful time overall.

I promise to write more soon, but here’s some pictures in the mean time Clicking on a picture will open the full size picture in a new window. The full size pictures are not small, so it might take time to load them. I’ve only got the digital camera pics uploaded (need to get film developed) and all of them can be seen in my gallery where you can see the rest of this past weekend’s digital photos.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Parrothead Jeff

Gorgeous F-16C Block 52 from the Thunderbirds on static display

The Red Bull P-38 taxis down the flight line

Warbirds at the end of the rainbow

An F-104 at the end of the rainbow

Gimme a neural interface with my online world! Yep, I can only imagine how homes and cars would be if this technology were mass produced. And airplanes!

What will really be exciting to me is the thought of photorealistic worlds in 3D with thought control

Hat tip to Defense Tech

See y’all tonight!

Also, if everyone agreed that the best course of action was to go the route of a search warrant, why are the ASPCA and the cop still there? And if this agreement had been made before the police arrived, why did he stay? And on top of that, where does the ASPCA have any reason to call the cops if they offered a solution (search warrant) and it was accepted? I could go on and on here.

Here’s the videos:

Something to think about as you watch the euphoria…

The people have spoken. Some have lied and cheated. In the end, the result is that Barack Hussein Obama will be sworn in as President on January 20, 2009.

I just hope the change isn’t as bad as I fear it will be.

I’ve asked for 30 round magazines for my AK for my birthday. I don’t think we’ll be able to buy them for much longer. I’m also looking at buying an AR-15 ASAP.

Here’s hoping McCain pulls one out tonight.

Not only should we see the FCC going after the host and the station for the profanity, but this should be seen as publicly calling for the death of another human being. If the tables were turned, the host conservative and the object of the declaration liberal, I doubt a second would be wasted in shouting it to the ends of the earth by the big media.

Hat tip to the Jawas

Still, here’s the next best thing

The Ohio congressman said the last thing the country needs is to have a “chicken” in the White House. The comments, first reported in the Miami University of Ohio’s student newspaper, alluded to Obama’s record of voting “present” 129 times as a state lawmaker

A big thank you and round of applause for John Boehner for telling it like it is. We sure could use more of this!

After all, wasn’t he elected to vote on issues by his constituency?

Hat tip to The Jawa Report

Enjoy

Try that, Mr. Obama, and you may well see a second Civil War which would make the first one look like a walk in the park. You see, more and more states are becoming disenchanted with the mighty Federal Government. Concealed carry laws are a state matter with no interstate implications. States may choose to honor concealed carry permits of other states or not to. This ain’t like driver’s licenses, a fact which continues to puzzle me. But getting back to the States’ displeasure with the Feds and the People’s discontentment with the same, look no further than Oklahoma for an indication of the current state of affairs. Oklahoma’s State House of Representatives recently passed a resolution (.rtf file) which reads:

STATE OF OKLAHOMA

2nd Session of the 51st Legislature (2008)

HOUSE JOINT

RESOLUTION 1089 By: Key

AS INTRODUCED

A Joint Resolution claiming sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over certain powers; serving notice to the federal government to cease and desist certain mandates; and directing distribution.

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”; and

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and

WHEREAS, the scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and

WHEREAS, today, in 2008, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and

WHEREAS, many federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and

WHEREAS, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE OF THE 2ND SESSION OF THE 51ST OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:

THAT the State of Oklahoma hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.

THAT this serve as Notice and Demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.

THAT a copy of this resolution be distributed to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate of each state’s legislature of the United States of America, and each member of the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation.

51-2-9466 SD 12/31/07

Page

Req. No. 9466

I don’t care if the Oklahoma State Senate didn’t pass it, that’s some serious language for any legislative body to consider, let alone approve. Nowhere does the Constitution grant the Federal Government the power to regulate concealed carry or anything of the sort. Hell, as far as I can see, the National Firearms Act of 1934 is unconstitutional. I don’t care if it only taxes the transactions on certain types of weapons, I care that it does so with no regard to whether the sale is intrastate or interstate. Don’t even get me started on the Gun Control Act of 1968 or parts of the Firearms Owner Protection Act of 1986. These laws are invalid as I see it due to their infringements on the Tenth Amendment.

I’m no fan of Prohibition, but I’d argue that at least it was done right. The Eighteenth Amendment was passed and ratified and Prohibition became part of the Constitution making it more than just law and therefore allowed Prohibition to exist in equal standing with the Tenth Amendment.

I’d challenge anyone who’s read this and who has heard Obama in his own words to explain to me how his national ban on the concealed carry of firearms would be constitutional. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and read that Tenth Amendment again. Think for yourself.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Looks like a U.S. UAV just created another job opening in Al Qaeda yesterday. Applicants must be dedicated, good with advertising, and unafraid of inbound Hellfire missiles

I also have to thank the crew of the UAV that sent him on to the next plane of existence for saving us a boatload of $$$

Hat tip to Lex

Thanks again for your great work

I’m also glad someone caught the last demo I got to see on film too.

Now it’s just memories and visiting them when and where I can. The one at the March Field Air Museum is one of my favorites.

I figure I’ll get to sleep in a couple of hours after that.

Welcome to FABULOUS Las Vegas, Nevada

Eiffel Tower - Paris, Las Vegas

Sandys in hot at Aviation Nation 2007

I remember when the Commander, “Boss” as the #1 pilot is known, was removed temporarily for investigation many years ago. He was cleared and returned. Sounds like this is worse.

It’s a sad day for the Blues.

Here’s what happened:

Sadly, no legal charges will be filed against the thief or his parents, so the electrical charge will be all he gets.

Great discussion here!

I’ve got to agree, but I also think that rights and freedoms need to be more broadly acknowledged and respected in some areas. My personal pet peeve is the Second Amendment and the way I feel it has been eviscerated over the years.

I am an expatriated Californian. I moved to Nevada almost four years ago - October 26, 2004 to be precise. I will not move back if I can at all help it. Their firearms laws are one of the reasons. In fact, they’re probably the biggest reason.

In California, there’s a waiting period and one new handgun a month. Here in Nevada, you can buy a gun and take it home the same day. If you live in Clark County, you have to register handguns (not great, but livable) and your first handgun has a 72 hour waiting period. I purchased my AK-47 at The Gun Store on Tropicana. After an instant (and I mean instant) background check, I handed over my Visa card and walked out with my rifle and two 30 round magazines. The rifle and each of the magazines are a felony to posses in California. I only have one handgun (had to wait for that one), but my next one will be an in and out one stop deal. I might buy two on my next trip. Nevada trusts its citizens.

In California, it’s very difficult to get a concealed carry permit and it’s illegal in most places to carry a gun openly. Nevada has “shall issue” permits for concealed carry - if they can’t find a legal reason you should not be allowed to have a carry permit, they have to give you one. It’s also legal to open carry anywhere in the state.

Switchblades are banned in California and are illegal to transport across state lines for commercial purchases under federal law. They’re not legal to carry in Nevada, but at least you can own them here Smile

And one of my favorite subjects - NFA weapons Twisted Evil These are weapons covered under the [url]National Firearms Act of 1934[/url]. These include machineguns, silencers, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, destructive devices, and “any other weapons” which are generally disguised firearms. There are ways to own these in California (actually ways to own anything - you have to have the money and connections), but again Nevada trusts its citizens. As long as you follow the federal law, fill out the Form 4, send in the fingerprints, passport photos, $200 check and all, and you get that transfer tax stamp on your copy of the Form 4 you’re good. You can have a silenced machinegun (yes, I want one but I don’t have $18,000), a mortar, or a fully functional main battle tank.

I know that in quite a bit of this country, many people would die of shock if they knew this to be true. People don’t realize what that Second Amendment means, regardless of what some politician or a group of lawyers in black robes says it means.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Here’s a link to a high resolution scan of the original Bill of Rights:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Bill_of_Rights_Pg1of1_AC.jpg

I’ll let you decide for yourselves. My personal opinion is that it is meant to give the citizenry access to the full complement of military arms and that I should be able to have anything that isn’t classified - like an F-86 with live guns for example. Remember that in the time of the founders the militia was every able-bodied male between a certain set of ages. This is codified in law and has not been repealed, so is still in effect. They were expected to show up if mustered with their own arms and those arms were to be consistent with military arms in common use.

I have no problem discussing any of my lawful activities (not that there are unlawful activities to discuss Wink ) so I have no problem saying that I currently own my Yugo AK-47 (actually an M70AB1 with full wood stock), a Steyr M95, a Swiss K-31, a 1946 Mosin Nagant M44, a 1928 Mosin Nagant 91-30, a Marlin Model 60 .22, and a Hi-Point C9 pistol. I regularly go out in the desert and have fun shooting all of them Cool I will also have no problem using them in the defense of myself or others. I hope to purchase an AR-15 sometime in the near future, too.

There’s something that has always perplexed me about a license to carry concealed. If the “full faith and credit” clause means that every state has to accept every other state’s driver’s licenses, why doesn’t it mean the same thing for all other licenses - like concealed carry Confused

If you’ve read this far, thanks! My closing thoughts: Firearms and knives are inanimate objects. They’re tools. I won’t do this because it’s not really responsible or even reasonable, but I could load every one of my guns, chamber a round in each, move the safeties to the fire position and nothing more will happen unless someone puts a few pounds of pressure on a trigger. I could lay every knife in existence on a massive surface and nothing will happen unless someone exerts their will on one. It is the intent and the actions of the user that are important. We hear that we need to ban this gun or that gun or carrying guns because of crime. That’s punishing the law abiding for the actions of the criminals. It’s treating citizens as if we’re third graders who all get their paste taken away because a couple of kids were eating theirs. Sure, these rights have limits. Nobody should be able to threaten another with a weapon without good cause. Nobody should be able to act recklessly with a weapon. We should still be allowed to own them and carry them as is our God given right which is acknowledged in the Constitution of the United States of America.

I’m just glad someone made fun of them in a really great way

Great post there, TC

I got to thinking some more about it and there’s something that was brought to mind about the whole rights thing - oh yeah, guns too :wink;

The concept I wish to discuss is prior restraint and its connection to the aforementioned rights and their limitations. I can’t recall right now just where I read the article or who wrote it, but I recall the substance quite clearly.

First, let’s examine some things that people do which are not covered as rights. Practicing medicine or law is not a right. People must be licensed to do these things. Driving a car is not a right. Flying a plane is not a right. The government can by force of law prevent you from doing any of these things unless you jump through their hoops. They have a prior restraint on them. You must have a license to drive a car or fly a plane and those vehicles must be registered and insured.

Next, let’s look at the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Pretty simple when you read it, right?

Following the First Amendment, we now examine the Second Amendment:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Again, very simple and easy to understand.

Now we add in the concept of prior restraint as applied to the above amendments.

Many states (CA), counties (Clark County, NV) and cities (Chicago) have laws on the books requiring at least registration of handguns. Some of the other laws regarding firearms include not being able to carry a gun (or any other weapon) at all, requiring a license or a permit for ownership or purchase, restrictions on transportation, and severe limitations on the types of firearms or other weapons which can be legally owned. This is prior restraint on the free exercise of rights acknowledged in the Second Amendment.

People accept and applaud these prior restraints. They think they are made safer by them. No matter that felons are prohibited from ownership as they have proven themselves to be incapable of responsible conduct. It also doesn’t matter to them that by definition criminals do not care for these laws, thus the laws only serve to disarm the lawful in the face of the lawless. No, to them it does not matter that this God Given RIGHT which is recognized by the Second Amendment is written right there into the RULES ON HOW THE COUNTRY SHALL BE RUN.

But now how about the First Amendment?

Can you only imagine if similar laws were enacted with respect to the First Amendment “for the public good” or “to prevent violence” or for any other reason? What would be the public reaction if printers, computers, or pen and paper were made to require a license to own or to carry? What if the government decided that no average citizen has the right to own and or use a printing device which is capable of so many pages per minute, so must be prohibited from owning that printing device? What if the government decided that being able to reach a certain number of people is enough, so you don’t need a website which is accessible by anyone in the world? Or how about if they limited the size of signs which could be carried in public?

People talk about the fire in a crowded theater argument as well as the libel and slander angles. The thing is that there is no prior restraint. Nobody duct tapes the mouths of people entering a theater. Nobody has any legal method of preventing someone from libeling or slandering another. THE ACTIONS ARE PUNISHED, NOT THE ABILITY OR MEANS OF COMMITTING THE ACTIONS.

Consider a possible prior restraint on part of the Sixth Amendment.

Quote:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Nobody thinks to license jurors, but what if they did? What if the defendant were compelled to pay for the licensing of jurors or be forced to forgo the benefit of this Constitutional Protection? What if someone accused of a crime were presented with a requirement to pay a fee for every witness brought on their behalf or every subpoena issued on their behalf?

Sure, rights have limits. But are they really rights if prior restraint is applied? I don’t think so.

Just so everyone’s clear, a barrel shroud is a cover that protects a person from burning himself or herself on the barrel of a firearm. If you think only semi auto or full auto firearms get hot, I’ll be glad to demonstrate how quickly the barrel on my bolt action rifles climb in temperature. Incendiary is a word which means that something will start a fire. Incendiary ammunition is available to the public in some places. .50 BMG caliber rifles were created first by Ronnie G. Barrett who intended them for use in long range target shooting. They were not intended for the military, but were adopted by the military a while after they appeared. Oh, one other thing - some people do hunt with .50 BMG rifles. They hunt BIG game. Still, they hunt legitimately.

Now, on with the ignorance!

I can’t watch anymore - my IQ is shrinking and the duct tape is threatening to fail and allow my head to explode.

Katey, if you’re reading this, thank you for your contributions to sanity in North America. As an expatriated Californian, I think I can partially understand what you’re going through up there. Please keep fighting the good fight and I wish you the all the best!

As an owner of a semi-auto AK-47 (OK, it’s technically a Yugoslavian M70AB1 but it’s a blood relative of the AK), I get a lot of interesting reactions from people when they find out about it. Usually it’s either of the “What do you need THAT for???” or the “Do you plan on having any deer left to cook???” variety. My answers are that I need it about as much as anyone needs a Ferrari in the city, but it sure is fun and that I don’t know what they’re talking about with respect to the deer as the 7.62×39 is a low powered round. Yeah, it looks mean (especially with the bayonet fixed) and thirty rounds is a larger magazine than most people are used to, but it’s basically a low-powered, semi auto rifle like many others such as the Ruger Mini-14 and Mini-30.

I came across this video on You Tube which makes my point in a most excellent fashion and saves me the money I’d have spent on the w