Sunday, February 13, 2005

Cerebral Misfire...Signing Off

This will be my last post on CEREBRAL MISFIRE, at least for awhile. As many of you know, I am in the process of moving. This means my DSL is about to be shut off, and thus my blogging will be at a standstill.

I hope to come back. I have enjoyed the experience immensely. For one, it has helped me hone my writing chops. Nothing helps a writer more than to practice.

For another, it has allowed me to spout off about stuff I believe and care about. And people actually READ what I had to say. How cool is that? I hope that I provoked some thought out there, one way or the other. I also hope that those of you who stopped by enjoyed yourselves. I sure had a great time writing it. It gave me something to do late at night while the sugar gliders scampered about the room.

Yet another interesting aspect of the blogging was to find some kindred spirits out there. Benjamin and Kirk, though we’ve never met, are what I’d actually go so far as to call friends. Again, how cool is that?

I’ve also found that I’m not alone in the world. There are people who hold the same ideals, morals, values, etc. that I have. They also have the same concerns and problems. This is a great thing to me.

I’ve discovered perhaps the greatest tool for a truly free press in blogging. We’ve seen the bloggers take down at least two mainstream media big-shots, and it appears more are surely doomed to follow. This is truly good. It’s high time somebody knocked the legs out from under these idiots.

At any rate, I’d like to leave anyone stopping by a list of my frequently-read blogs. Stop by and check them out. In no particular order:

http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/
A good Second Amendment website

http://imao.us/More fun with the Second Amendment, as well as a truly warped sense of humor. I like that in a person.

http://www.kimdutoit.com
The granddaddy of all gun bloggers. I’ve learned much form the Master.

http://www.limpidity.org/blog/
Kirk’s website, deep in the heart of Maryland. His wife Liz’s blog is also accessible from here. It’s always a fun read, and they seem like great people. I’ve got to give props to Kirk for bothering to teach me some blogger etiquette, when I was getting rolling on this thing. I never DID get a blogroll up and running. Maybe when I return to blogging, I’ll be better prepared. At any rate, my thanks goes out to Kirk.

http://reasonablenut.blogspot.com/Benjamin’s website. Again, this guy took a new blogger under his wing, and helped teach me the do’s and don’ts of the blogging world. It was much appreciated, as were all the comments and suggestions. This is another person that I really feel like I’ve gotten to know through this blogging stuff.

http://cowboyblob.blogspot.com/
More fun with the Second Amendment.

http://www.michellemalkin.com/Great news and opinion, on subjects that the MSM won’t cover until they have to. Most notably in the areas of homeland security and immigration. I hit it several times a day.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/
Probably the best of the political blogs during the election. They are still great about taking the MSM to task. God bless ‘em.

http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php
Great site for homeland security, and why pro-Israel is the only way to go. Well-worth your time to read several times per day.

http://www.homestead.com/prosites-prs/index.html
The greatness of Michael Savage. Again, he covers things that don’t get much mainstream media time.

http://www.newsmax.com/
Great for what’s happening in the world that the liberals don’t want you to know about.

http://washingtontimes.com/
Ditto. I don’t care who owns them, it’s a great newspaper with a conservative slant.

http://www.hughhewitt.com/index.htm
The Graddaddy of all blogs. Also a great talk show, if you're fortunate enough to live in an area where you can get it. He was kind enough to link one of my postings during the election. He must not have actually READ my stuff....

http://www.lonewolfdist.com/
Buy some interesting stuff for your Glock, your plastic pal that’s fun to be with....

http://flametoad.com/
Paul's site, if he would only POST on it every once in awhile.....

At any rate, it’s been a pleasure. The email address is going kaput within a day or so as well.

I hope to come back to blogging in the future. I can safely say that I’ll be out of commission for a few months, at least. Check back for updates from time to time.

I’ll leave you now with words of wisdom, which will serve you well in the years to come:

“Never pet a burning dog.”

—Kyle the Infinitely Opinionated

Thursday, February 10, 2005

"The World Is Collapsing Around Our Ears..."

But these brave souls are trying to do something about it. Specifically, they are setting up their own patrols on our Southern border, as a protest to Crap Monster Bush about his idiotic guest worker program.

The article notes that Border Patrol agents are being shot at more and more frequently, which I posted on a few days ago. One law enforcement official noted that it was possible the posse might come under attack.

They probably will be carrying better guns than the Border Patrol.

More power to them. I don’t think the evil government has any right to tell them they cannot patrol the border. I hope this goes well, and they manage to round up about ten million of the lawbreakers.

Another Reason To Tighten Border Security

This article, if true, seems to suggest even the moderates among the Muslims are out to kill the infidels. It makes sense. The article does rightfully point out specific passages in the Qu’ran about killing us infidels, no exceptions.

I hope that’s not the case. I hope there are moderate voices who say wiping out people of other religions is a bad thing. I have to wonder, however. How can one ignore the plain meaning of their holiest of books? How can they? It doesn't sound very peaceful, from what I can tell.

In light of these two articles, what can we the people do about it? I suggest the first article shows some folks on the right track: protect ourselves. The government sure isn’t going to do it. That leaves us average Joes to it.

I have stressed on this site the fact that we cannot rely on anybody but ourselves when it comes to self-defense. Hence the term "self-defense." The police won’t get there until it is too late, as will the FBI, DEA, ATF, or any other random combination of letters one might contrive.

So we’ll keep a sharp eye out. Even if the government won’t allow its police force to racially profile, we’ll do it for them. Even if they don’t want to police the border, we’ll cover it. Ultimately, it’s on our shoulders, as it should be.

Criminals Want You Unarmed

As do the terrorists, insurgents, or not-nice people, whatever the hell the mainstream media has labeled them this week.

This little article points out an armed household is a lot safer. Criminals don’t want to break into places where they know they might be shot. Makes sense to me.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Civil Discourse---NOT!!

The great Kim Du Toit has a link on his site to an article worth reading, from the Belmont Club.

The upshot: there can be no civil discourse between the Left and the Right, and it’s only going to get worse. I posted on this same subject a couple of months ago, and I tend to agree. There’s just no common ground.

I add a caveat: I think some lefty moonbats are actually motivated by the best of intentions. They aren’t deliberately communists, they just happen to land in that camp with their social concerns. Those people I can get into a civil discourse with, usually.

Then there’s the rest of them. With this lot, I find the following preventing us from having any sort of meaningful conversations:

1. Elitism of the worst sort: They are smarter than the rest of the country, and they must save us from ourselves. They look down their noses at the so-called Red States, or anyone who espouses a conservative point of view. This ties in to #2.

Basically, the liberal view is that we are not smart enough to understand how wonderful communism really is, and they have to force it down our throats.

Since they view us as little better than talking amoebas, liberals have no respect for our points of view. It’s hard to respect anything an inferior creature has to say, isn’t it?

The elites think that allowing all of us to vote is like allowing the animals at the feedlot to cast a vote.

2. Educated idiots: I have learned from painful experience that an education doesn’t do squat about teaching people the way the real world works. My law school experience highlighted this. We were drilled in theory more than practicality. Some of this isn’t a bad thing: knowing why our laws are set up the way they are is pretty important. Understanding why the Framers set up the Constitution the way they did is pretty important. However, there was not as much emphasis on actually teaching me how to practice law. I didn’t learn anything about that until I worked for other lawyers. I came out somewhat unprepared for the actual job I was supposed to be doing. I didn’t really know how the legal world worked.

Most of the liberal elite have no idea what day-to-day living is like in America. A trust fund baby has no business telling a rancher in South Texas how to do his job. Liberals seem to have little experience with how the real world works. They instead want to impose a socialistic utopia on the rest of us, with no idea why it will never work. The theory just looks good in a book.

This is also why we need to hire electricians, cowboys, and small business owners to represent us in Washington. They actually know how bad professional politicians screw things up for the rest of us. Enough of the Kennedys and other political families. Unless you work for a living, you have no business telling the rest of us how to run our lives. Even worse, you have no business passing laws that tell us how to run our lives.

3. Intolerance and Bigotry: Sorry, but you liberals are the most intolerant buttholes I’ve ever come across. I mean that in the nicest way one could possibly mean “butthole.” For example, look at how conservative groups take fire on universities. If they don’t march lockstep with the pinko-commie agenda, they are silenced by the moonbats who run the universities. So much for the free exchange of ideas. Free speech for everybody but conservatives.

I think the universities do this sort of thing for a reason: they know their idiotic ideas can’t survive in the real world. Unless they ruthlessly suppress conservative thought, their ideas will die in the cold light of logic and common sense.

At any rate, liberals are quick to call conservatives racist, elitist, uncaring, or anything else that sounds in the pejorative. I call to your attention the shameful conduct of Robert Byrd against Condoleeza Rice. If the Democrats really were the progressive party they’d like you to think, why wouldn’t they celebrate the first black woman to hold the office of Secretary of State? Answer: because she’s not a liberal.

This ties into point #1, but basically: they hate us.

That’s why they will never acknowledge when conservatives pull things off like free elections in Iraq or Afghanistan. Their hatred blinds them to the good things conservative thought brings about.

4. Cognitive dissonance: Every time the Right proves itself right, it creates a headache for the lefties. They can’t believe the ignorant barbarians of the Right actually have ideas that work. It kills them. They are seeing their whole commie utopia collapse around their ears. It’s like a kid finding out the truth about Santa. Instead of facing the truth, they stick their heads in the sand and deny it vehemently.

Even the presentation of cold hard facts will not deter them. Some moonbat posts in my comments section on occasion. Look at those discussions. Even documented facts don’t deter these people from their beliefs. That’s because they can’t stand the thought of conservatives actually being right.

5. No respect for the Higher Power: It sort of puts a cramp on the style of liberalism if there is a God. Consequently, it’s much easier to justify sex and drugs if they just pretend God doesn’t exist. If there’s not an afterlife, and if your deeds here on Earth go unanswered for, why not do whatever feels good? One of the worst aspects of our society is the marginalization of God.

Sorry, atheists. But we got where we are in this country by the principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition. We don’t expect you to believe in or worship what we do. But we do expect, and rightly so, some respect for it. You wouldn’t be free to protest the Ten Commandments if the Founding Fathers hadn’t been God-fearing men.

Anyway, it’s going to come down to out and out war between the commies and the conservatives. There’s really no middle ground where both sides can find commonality. This country ain’t big enough for the both of us. This is also why space exploration is so important. Everybody needs their own planet, if we’re to keep from killing each other.


Saturday, February 05, 2005

"Good Evening, Mr. Bond"

Everyone give Benjamin over at reasonablenut a nice round of applause. He picked up a nice Walther PPK. I notice he didn’t post anything tonight. He’s probably out hunting Blofeld and martinis (shaken, not stirred) even as you read this. Most will recognize the Walther PPK as the sidearm of James Bond, 007. Those who didn’t missed out on how hilarious the sentence before last really was. Uncultured heathens.

If I haven’t mentioned this before, the PPK and PPK/S are really great little guns. The PPK is a bit smaller, and holds one less in the magazine than the PPK/S.

They are pretty accurate for such tiny guns. The fixed barrel design seems to be more accurate than other automatic designs. They are made in the .380 caliber, as well as the .32. The .380 seems to be the most popular of the two. I sort of prefer it myself. For the uninitiated out there, a .380 is essentially a shortened 9mm Luger. Hence its euro-designation of 9mm short. (Or 9mm Kurz, if you are of Germanic extraction.)

On paper, the .380 seems to have roughly the stopping power of a .38 special. What you trade off in mass you make up for in muzzle velocity. Theoretically, of course. I’d not care to be hit with either.

The Walther in question has a manual safety and decocker. It also has a hammer, which allows the shooter to have the option of shooting single-action. I really do prefer this sort of action on a gun. It allows the shooter to carry with a manual safety engaged. If the safety fails, there is a relatively heavy trigger pull before going boom. I think this probably helps reduce accidental discharges. The 1911 fans are already howling, probably saying something along the lines of, “keep your finger off the trigger and you don’t need the safety.”

Very true. However, guns are much like ice cream: there’s a variety that fits everyone’s palate. I gravitate towards DA/SA autos with manual safeties. They make me happy. Sue me.

Back to the Walther. The new ones are stainless steel. This makes them somewhat heavier than I would like. However, it makes them pretty easy to clean. I hate cleaning guns, so anything that helps along those lines is very much appreciated. The gun’s weight does make concealability somewhat of a problem. It tends to drag down whatever the bearer is wearing. On the other hand, its size makes it pretty easy to hide it in a small pocket.

At any rate, I’m happy for the guy. Anybody who gets a new gun deserves congratulations from all of us. Along with extreme jealousy, of course.

You know you’re getting older when....

You sneeze and separate a rib. Holy crap, that hurt. Still does. This never would have happened if I had still been in my 20's.

I dread 40 like you would not believe. 30 was terrible enough.

Friday, February 04, 2005

But They're Just Breaking The Law To Make Better Lives For Their Families...

Yeah. Sure they are. That’s why they are arming themselves and shooting at our Border Patrol agents. This sounds suspiciously like an armed invasion to me.

The Border Patrol is reporting an increase of shots fired at our BP agents. The shots are coming from across the border, and are the work of drug or alien smugglers.

Bush the Crap Monster spoke last night about his vaunted guest worker program. It’s just amnesty in a sugar-coated package. Anyone really think the guest workers will leave after they get here? Our Immigration department is pretty horrible when it comes to rounding up people who have stayed on past their visas. What makes Bush think that adding more people to keep track of is going to work out any better? Some of the more famous ones Immigration lost track of crashed an airplane into some big buildings in New York. Perhaps you heard about it.

Counter-snipers would put a quick stop to all of this foolishness of our agents coming under fire. That is, if our government actually cared about the well-being of its people, and didn’t mind shooting dead those who would cause us and its own agents harm. I maintain that a government that will not act to preserve its people’s best interests is not a legitimate government at all. Right now, the U.S. government is about as legitimate as a crack baby.

I say again: build a wall across the border. Put troops on it. Arm them to the teeth. Turn loose ravenous animals in the no-man’s land. The border can be defended. We just have to accept that we are going to royally hack off La Raza, LULAC, MALDF, and their ilk.

Tough. They are our enemies as well, and should probably be treated as such. If they are supporting and advocating illegal acts, that’s not exactly protected First Amendment speech. It’s definitely against the best interest of our country.

Write and call your congressmen today. Tell them Bush is an idiot on border security, and tell them in no way will they receive your vote if they go along with this madness any more.

Also, demand counter-snipers for our Border Patrol agents, along with better guns, tanks and flamethrowers. Assault helicopters aren’t a bad idea, either. A genetically engineered, 400 ft. tall, radioactive, fire-spewing dinosaur would also make a nice guard dog on the border. Maybe even a pair of them.

It never hurts to ask.....

(Hat Tip: Michael Savage's website and radio program)

Thursday, February 03, 2005

"Respect My Authority!"

One of the biggest dangers I have found in our free society is abuse or misuse of authority. We see this just about every day. I think one universal aspect of all conservatives is that we want less governmental involvement in our lives. We think this way for good reason: the more power the government has, the more likely they are to abuse it. Our Constitution was drafted to strengthen individual rights; those that the government could not take away under any circumstances. This is not as cut and dried as it sounds.

I would focus this rant specifically on a local branch of the government; one that everyone has probably had some dealings with in the past. This will not be praiseworthy, and will probably draw some ire. I will also lament the lack of positive attention on another segment of our population; one that most laymen despise.

It is not my intention to denigrate police officers as a whole. They perform a difficult job, in which their very lives are in danger on a daily basis. They have in their ranks some of the finest people in the world, who would never do any of the things I will mention here. As a whole, however, they are probably prone to abuse their authority more than any other public servant. The sad thing is, most Americans turn a blind eye to it, unless they are directly affected.

One of the problems with police officers is that they are not paid enough. The low pay scale means that the best and brightest can be discouraged from the service. This is not to say that there are not dedicated, talented individuals who do the job. There certainly are. Unfortunately, the number of those who serve because they feel a higher calling is limited.

I do not mean to stereotype; I speak from only my own experience. However, most of the law enforcement personnel in my hometown were ignorant bullies in school. They grew up to be ignorant bullies with badges and guns. All that was required was a high school education and completion of a police academy.

Their true colors ran deep. One classmate of mine should have never been given authority over a chamber pot, much less made a police officer. His career as a city policeman was marred by scandal. Somehow, he made it into the Texas Department of Public Safety, and became a highway patrolman. His career there was short-lived as well, for sexual scandal. Ironically, he was drummed out of the DPS for the same reasons he was fired as a city policeman. How in the world did he make the cut for a supposedly more elite unit?

I firmly believe lack of education is a critical factor in the abuses of power committed by police officers. Again, I draw this conclusion based only on personal observations. I have noticed that in bigger cities, where policemen are required to have college degrees, the abuses of power are much lower.

An additional problem arises with law enforcement. The presumption of innocence is sometimes lost. As a result, police often take drastic measures to make sure they nail the “bad guys,” even if it means they do something illegal. What is the harm if they put a bad person away, right? Why not plant some evidence? Why not break in without a warrant and search the place? Why not lie a little, if it means putting the bad guy away?

What if it is not a “bad guy” they have in their sights?

Take for instance a recent case, ripped straight out of the headlines. An elderly couple had accumulated several dogs over the course of their long lives. The woman bred show dogs. After years of raising dogs, the city police came out and instructed the couple to get rid of all but four of their animals within the city limits.

Initially, this was not a problem. The couple owned some land in the country, and they decided to relocate the dogs. However, these were not dogs that could be left in a pen outside. These small animals were used to being indoors, and would die outside quickly. The couple obtained an old semi-trailer, and converted it to house the dogs inside, within small cages. They went to the shelter several times a day to water and feed the animals, and to let them out for exercise. Since it was winter, they had to heat the shelter. They called the gas company to hook up a propane heater.

The gas worker reported to the county sheriff’s department that the couple were cruelly treating their animals, despite the fact that he did not observe the animals himself. The sheriff’s department tried to obtain a warrant to seize the animals.

Search and seizure warrants must be supported by probable cause. The sheriff’s department had none. They only had the gas worker’s supposition that animals were being abused. One judge refused a warrant based on this testimony. So an intrepid deputy took it upon himself to enter the couple’s property without their knowledge, consent, or a search warrant. The property was about 7 miles in the country. The deputy then walked 300+ yards from the front gate into a grove of trees to where the shelter was, unlatched the secured doors and entered the shelter. The shelter was not observable from the road. He then went back to town, and filled out another affidavit alleging animal abuse. He took the warrant to another judge, one that was only in office for less than two full months. The new judge happily signed the warrant.

Anybody care to take a guess whether or not the sheriff’s action was legal?

During this time, the couple went about their lives, with no knowledge of the hell they were about to go through.

The old couple then were surprised by a veritable circus. The sheriff’s department showed up en masse to seize their animals. All were taken away to the animal shelter. To add insult to injury, the sheriff’s department brought along a friendly reporter from the local newspaper, who snapped pictures, and wrote a very pro-law enforcement story. Much of which was factually incorrect.

Various motions to suppress the search warrant were filed. The problem was, the warrant was not on file anywhere. No copies of the supporting affidavit were conveniently located until the day of the trial on this matter. The officer who executed the warrant was conveniently sent out of town until the hearing. In the meanwhile, the county shelter “accidentally” executed the couple’s cat, who had also been seized in the raid.

A compromise was reached, and the couple were able to reclaim half of the animals seized, without the necessity of trial. Case law was somewhat ambiguous on the matter. There was a split of authority as to whether the county could retain custody of the animals, despite the fact they had been seized unlawfully. So they faced a real problem. Roll the dice and have a hearing, and possibly lose all the dogs? Or work a compromise, and get some of the animals back?

Bear in mind the dogs were elderly, some were over 20 years. These dogs were like members of the family. The deal brokered made sure that none of the animals were killed. All were to be adopted. The old couple had to spend time and money building cages the county deemed “humane.”

The couple also faced threats of whether or not the city would cite them for no proof of rabies vaccinations. These were dogs who only went outside to use the restroom.

This is abuse of authority, to put it mildly. The sheriff’s department seized the animals illegally. However, the couple still faced other legal consequences, even though they were the innocent party. They were forced to make a deal, or face the possibility of losing all their animals.

Had the sheriff’s deputy been schooled in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, there is a good possibility that he would have known his methods were illegal, to say the least. It didn’t really matter, in the end. Once the state had the couple in its clutches, they could bring all sorts of nasty pressure to bear on them.

This is why an educated police force isn’t a bad thing. This is also why criminal defense attorneys are the ultimate line of defense in keeping the government from becoming too powerful. If no one had forced the state’s hand, the couple would have been completely railroaded. They still got a raw deal, but it could have been much, much worse.

Criminal attorneys are universally despised. Everyone wonders why they can defend scumbags. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of defending not the person, but the rights that person has.
I believe that criminal defense attorneys are necessary to make the state jump through all of the proper hoops. If the rights of one criminal are taken away, it sets a precedent. Before too long, even innocent people are railroaded by law enforcement.

I hear the arguments and the justifications for this sort of action. The standard line is, “Well, I don’t do anything. I have no problem with the police searching my property. I have nothing to hide.”

Well, what if they do not just search the property. Suppose they are so convinced they have themselves a bad guy that they plant evidence? Suppose they knock in your door in the middle of the night with a trumped-up warrant?

If it could happen to them, it could happen to any one of the rest of us.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

"Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers...."

More useless trivia. Where did that phrase come from? Don't resort to Google, either. A giant, hearty pat on the back for all that get it.

I just think it's a great random phrase to throw out on occasion.

“Of Course You Know; This Means War”

Bugs Bunny nailed it. Mexico has decided that Prop. 200 in Arizona (a measure denying voting rights to illegal aliens, among other things) is illegal. They will seek to fight it in US courts.

If that doesn’t work, they intend to go to the world courts. That lets you know what kind of trouble we’re in from the rest of the world. Our rights and freedom mean nothing to the rest of the world. Mexico seems intent with flooding us with every lawbreaker they can fling over the border. They want us to pay for their health care, their education, and anything else they can stick us with. They want us to have an “open society”, whatever the heck that is.

This one world, uni-government thing is a crock of crap. Mexico can eat hot death.

This is an invasion. It should mean war.

Enough. Stop the madness, and get our borders protected. Guards, walls, dogs, and whatever else we can stick down there.

It seems the great Rush Limbaugh has come over to the dark side, and has begun calling for more secure borders. Glad to have the most powerful voice in talk radio on the side of the angels. It makes me think even more highly of him. He’s flying in the face of the party, at this point.

NEW ITEM FOR SANTA’S WISH LIST

A car flamethrower. They say it’s nonlethal. That’s ok. Hopefully, it will illuminate the carjacker enough that he can be shot.

The above items were found off Michael Savage’s website. It’s a great resource.

A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS

Everyone likes to cuss lawyers. That is, until they actually need one. It occurs to me that lawyers are a lot like handguns. They are handy to have around, because if you need one, you need one badly. When you do need one, you want the best you can get.

Anyone else think the Iraqi elections are a pretty good sign? It’s not over yet, but this is a great thing. The first free elections over there in 50+ years. How can anybody not be happy with that outcome??

I heard on the radio that John Kerry missed over 100 days in the Senate due to his campaigning and whatnot. It is the law that his pay should be docked accordingly, and that he should refund what he had already been paid. He refused. Courtesy of the Jerry Doyle show.

Hillary Clinton has begun moving herself to the middle, slowly but surely. She’s definitely positioning herself for the Presidential candidacy in 2008. She’s bashed Bush on illegal immigration (this is the first time I’ve agreed with her on ANYTHING), mentioned God and prayer constantly, and bought herself an assault weapon. Just kidding. The first two she actually has done.

I think there is no more resounding affirmation for conservatism than by observing Hillary move right. She’s trying to get voters by coming over to our side a bit. Talk about a dark day for the world if that demon ever makes if into office.....