BP Richfield, my idol.
Today’s Earworm
BP Richfield, my idol.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 7, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/07/todays-earworm-298/
Thoughts on the Day
- Got up at oh-my-Lord-thirty this morning. Still going with no caffeine all day.
- Hide the breakables and easily offended.
- Stopped by one of my gun stores on the way home.
- They actually had 3 AR-15’s of one sort or another on the wall, along with several tacticool shotguns.
- However, they were completely sold out of AK variants, as well as magazines for AR’s and AK’s.
- Some AR accessories were to be had, but not much.
- Glocks were nowhere to be found, but Beretta, S&W, and Ruger pistols were available.
- Bolt action rifles and hunting shotguns were available with good numbers and selection.
- People aren’t buying guns to go hunt wabbits.
- Ammunition was available, but expensive.
- Federal FMJ .223 was selling for more than twice what it was going for just prior to the election.
- The half barrel that held 12,500 XM855 5.56 cartridges a few weeks was empty and being used to hold used gun cases.
- Common pistol calibers, in both FMJ and hollowpoint, were available but had a price increase of about 30 to 40 percent from just prior to the election.
- Pistol magazines were available, but not for all of the pistols I could think of while looking at the display.
- A Chip McCormack 1911 magazine was priced at $40, about double what I paid for one last year.
- The gentleman behind the counter said that things were busier than Black Friday every day for weeks, but that since Saturday things have slowed somewhat.
- It’s not back to normal at this store yet, but they can at least keep stock on the shelves.
- After work on a Monday, I observed about the same crowd in the store that I’m used to seeing in there on Saturday afternoons.
- Does this jibe with what y’all are seeing elsewhere?
- Dinner tonight was chicken fried rice made with left-overs.
- Am I the only one who feels funny about scrambling eggs and putting them into a chicken-based dish?
- Fried rice is one of those dishes that seems to be more than the sum of its parts. I swear I only put in enough of the ingredients to make four or five servings.
- I now have enough to feed the Mongol hordes and still have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
- Boo turned his nose up at it, but he at least tasted it. Progress is progress.
- Dinner conversation centered around the gun buying panic and gun control in general.
- In 2005, Irish Woman came very close to putting her foot down and telling me I couldn’t have a gun in the house.
- Now she intelligently discusses gun control and gun safety.
- I’m so proud.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 7, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/07/thoughts-on-the-day-82/
Today’s Earworm
Zydeco may be Cajun for polka, but I’ve never been able to listen to either without smiling.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 6, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/06/todays-earworm-297/
Thought for the Day III
Note to self – A glass container of Carmex lip balm that goes through the laundry in the pocket of a pair of my work pants will make that entire load of laundry smell wonderful.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 6, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/06/thought-for-the-day-iii/
Thought for the Day II
Note to self – Yes, an iPhone, set on vibrate and leaned up against the glass in a kitchen window, does indeed sound like electricity arcing when someone calls you.
Note to self – Put the kitchen back together before Irish Woman wakes up from her nap.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 6, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/06/thought-for-the-day-ii-6/
Thought for the Day
Note to self – Frying pans full of browned meat and onion tend to be rather hot
Related note to self – Find out if silvadene is available over the counter. Also, need to learn to crochet or knit so I can make a set of oven mitts that fit my over-sized paws.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 6, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/06/thought-for-the-day-185/
It’s not about the guns
What is the motivation behind gun control? It’s not about the guns.
Gun control was the proximate cause in the first battles of the American Revolution. Would our revolution have happened in the way it did without the example of the minutemen at Concord and Lexington? These fights started when British authorities decided that it was a good idea to take away weapons and ammunition that American patriots had cached in Concord. Did they do this for the ‘safety’ of the Americans? No, they did it because access to weapons constituted a challenge to their control of the colonies.
The first American gun control laws had their roots in slavery, racism, and opposition to the freeing of African slaves and their integration into our society. Did they try to restrict gun ownership by those of African descent because they were worried that the former slaves would harm themselves with firearms? No, they did it because those who want to oppress do not want the object of their oppression to be able to fight back.
Data from California, the state represented by anti-gun Senator Dianne Feinstein, indicates that the vast majority of crime guns are pistols. Out of 147 guns examined in the report, only 8 were classified as ‘assault weapons’ by California’s draconian definition of such a gun. As many .30-30 caliber rifles were reported as .223, the caliber fired by the AR-15 that Senator Feinstein wants to get rid of nationally. In contrast, over seven times as many weapons in .22 Long Rifle were used in crimes in California in 2009. Will taking my AR-15 or CZ-82 away from me change those statistics? Do the gun control laws in states like California, New York, and Illinois do anything at all to reduce gun crime or crime overall? Or do they just enhance the illusion of control that the states have over their populace?
Gun control is about control, not guns. Modern gun control has been sold to promote “safety”, but hasn’t done much about the guns that criminals use. A law-abiding population that has turned in its guns or submitted to oppressive regulation has no choice but to either depend solely on the state for security or to become criminals themselves when they violate the law to provide their own. They also have no choice when the state forgets its duty to them and starts restricting other rights.
So what is the motivation behind the gun rights movement?
I enjoy shooting for a lot of reasons. Target shooting and plinking are fun. I carry a pistol and keep a shotgun in the house because there is a chance, however slight, that someone might decide that what is ours ought to be theirs. I own hunting rifles because I like the taste of venison. But these aren’t the reasons that I, and a lot of people like me, own guns.
The right to keep and bear arms is important to us because it is our method of last resort to protect all of our other rights. Thankfully, it’s something our country has had to resort to on only a few occasions, but it is there. So long as our government knows that there is a point at which bad conduct will gain them an armed rebellion, they will not cross the bright, clear boundaries that we have made around our other freedoms. Protection and lawful exercise of that right makes it harder to take away.
I believe in gun rights. I also believe in rights to speech, and religion, and fair courts, and being treated as equal to any other man, woman, or child in the eyes of the law. In short, I believe in rights. Gun rights are an important part of that mix for me, but it is just an element in a rich tradition of respect for both my rights and the rights of others. Our right to keep and bear arms is our way of making sure that our government never dares to decide that all of the other rights can be ignored.
Gun control is about control. Gun rights are about rights. Neither one is really about the guns, and we have to keep that in mind.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 6, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/06/its-not-about-the-guns/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on January 4, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/04/todays-earworm-296/
Thoughts on the Day
- That head cold I’ve been fighting since the day after Christmas seems to have migrated into my chest. On a positive note, my sea lion impression is coming along wonderfully.
- My regular doctor was able to squeeze me in tomorrow morning.
- The good side of that is that I will probably start feeling better sometime tomorrow night.
- The bad side of that is that she loves to prescribe shots of steroids, which are injected with much malice and glee into my rump.
- Recipe for surviving the night:
- Sudafed
- Mucinex
- Hot lemon, honey, and bourbon toddy
- Hot shower
- Cough drops
- Warm bed
- Irish Woman has been cooped up at home for two days with a four year old boy, a fourteen year old girl, and a 4 month old black lab puppy with a tummy ache.
- She’s working from home and the kids are still off for Christmas break.
- I’m going to cut her loose tomorrow night so I don’t wake up to see her standing over me with an axe.
- Girlie Bear has purchased her gown for the JROTC formal. It’s not too modest, but not too slinky. She’s also wearing low heels with it, and wants to get her hair and nails done for the event.
- What happened to my tomboy? I distinctly remember having a tomboy who would fight me when I tried to get her into a dress.
- I’m fine. No really, I’m fine. My eye always twitches like this.
- During a meeting today, I remarked that I was “all about being compassionate”. My co-workers asked if DaddyBear was home and if they could talk to him.
- Dear electronics manufacturers – “Up to 8 hours of use on one battery charge” means 7.5 hours, not 5
- Our experiment in canning meat now includes ham, chicken, and barbecue pulled pork. We’ll see how this turns out in a couple of months.
- Apparently my salsa, japaleno dill pickles, and Thai chili dill pickles are a hit. I’ll have to make more of them next year.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 3, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/03/thoughts-on-the-day-81/
News Roundup
- From the “And One For the Horse You Rode In On” Department – Michael Moore, the hero who has been responsible for the survival of the American fast food and corn chip industries in these hard economic times, has published his list of New Year’s resolutions. One of them is to stop saying “I support the troops.” Apparently, those of us who were either suckered into the military because of patriotism or hard economic times should have known better. Basically, because he disagrees with the political decisions that have led to us invading Iraq and continuing our work in Afghanistan, he thinks that people who sign up to wear the uniform are part of the problem. Personally, after looking up what Michael Moore has done to contribute to any solution to any problem in his life and being greatly underwhelmed, I hope that Mr. Moore has a change of heart and goes back to his hobbies of trying to destroy corporations and governments, glorifying communism, and pulling the wings off of rare Amazonian butterflies to season his evening meal.
- From the “Oopsie!” Department – Police in Florida are looking for the source of several training grenades that have been found in a trashcan at DisneyWorld. I agree with the police in that they are probably left over from some training or other. Of course, why grenades are being used in military/police training at DisneyWorld is another question. Next time I visit the Magic Kingdom, I’ll keep my nose open for the smell of burnt gunpowder, flash-bangs, and riot gas.
- From the “Back in the USSR” Department – Russian President Putin has declared that Girard Depardeau, French actor and tax refugee, is now a Russian citizen. Russia has a flat 13% income tax, while France is looking to seize 75% of the income of anyone making more than 1 million euros. Depardeau recently surrendered his French passport and moved to Belgium. You know, it’s kind of sad when Russia has a more sane tax structure than liberal western democracies.
- From the “Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth” Department – Two girls in California are in hot water after it was discovered that they drugged one of the girls’ parents so that they could be on the Internet after curfew. In the realm of temper tantrums, this one will go down as about an 8 out of 10. It’s above getting a tattoo to piss off your father but below the Menendez brothers. Here’s hoping these young ladies get sent to the judicial woodshed and don’t come back for a long time.
- From the “Insult to Injury” Department – The state of Delaware, which provided millions of dollars in grants and loans to Fisker to open an auto factory in the state, has spent several hundred thousand dollars in additional funds over the past few months to keep the lights on for Fisker. If you believe that this money will be repaid, as well as the $21 million in loans previously made by the state, then I have beachside property in Kentucky for you. Apparently, when the Obama administration was picking winners and losers in the green energy market, they picked a lot of losers. This isn’t schadenfreude, ladies and gentlemen. The federal government promised Fisker over half a billion dollars, which we’re all on the hook for. Thankfully, Fisker seems to have crumbled before getting all of that money, so thank the Lord for small favors.
- From the “Oddities” Department – Doctors in Iran are reporting that a man in Tabriz has grown a benign tumor on the surface of one of his eyes that is apparently sprouting hair. It is reported that this condition is not uncommon, and I have to agree. Every father of the girls I used to date gave me the hairy eyeball, so I’m guessing that most of the people so afflicted are middle-aged fathers of teenage daughters. I expect mine to start emerging any time now.
Posted by daddybear71 on January 3, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/01/03/news-roundup-167/
DaddyBear
