An Old Friend

This weekend evolved (devolved?) into one wherein I've been well ahead of my minimal apartment and bill-paying duties, with a sudden surplus of time, and living as I am now downrange in the People's Socialist Democratic Republic of California, well behind enemy lines and having been TDY here for a full year now.  

For anyone wondering, secretly or openly, what would prepare someone to contend with moving from the Midwest to California for a job in these Latter Days, I would recommend you read the following.   

I find myself serendipitously with a surplus of time to 'assassinate'.  

For me, California is a sort of love / hate thing.  "But the weather is so bitchin', Dude."  

Yes, it is.  And today is proof in certainty of that.  Off-shore flow has boosted the temperatures and removed the Summer chill you find in more windy parts of the Bay Area.  

Aviation types know this as CAVU.  

Locals call this 'Delta Weather', wherein you sail up the San Juan or Sacramento Rivers into the Delta, anchor, and party until you can not party any further, or are arrested; this is not competitive 'sailing weather' on the Bay.  

So, driving to one of my routine watering holes, I noted that under the 'law of infinite probability', several songs suddenly sequenced into rotation on my legacy iPod (plugged into my car's USB feed) that I had not heard for decades.  Seemingly, by divine providence.  

The one song that tripped my trigger was Def Leopard's 'Gods of War' from their Hysteria Album.   Driving West on CA-4 in my Honda Fit (32 mpg hammer down, 40 mpg if you drive like you are in Wisconsin - which I'm not), I suddenly flashed-back to when I first arrived in the Bay Area, way back in March 1989, when I left a rockin' job at Rockwell Autonetics in Anaheim working as a Manufacturing Engineer on the PeaceKeeper Strategic Ballistic Missile, to take a job with a boutique Aerospace & Defense company in Concord California (right before peace broke out, the Berlin Wall came down, and Congreff and Bill Clinton extracted a well-deserved 'peace dividend'),.  

At the time, I had a collection of motorcycles, and not much more.  My Alpha bike was a 1987 Suzuki GSXR-1000R, trimmed in blue and white.   

I would explore the roads by swinging a leg over the Beast, and taking various back-roads to find interesting places.  

The One place I latched onto early on was to take the McEwen Road exit to Port Costa.  The destination is the Warehouse Cafe.  

So, I detoured to vector to the Warehouse.  

As I sit here, it is an anachronism which has not appreciably changed in the 30 years since first landing.  A unique place.  One of my all time favorites.  It is a place where bikers, yuppie scum, professionals, sports fans, and all manner of humanity; they all get along.  

You can sit and watch the ships travel on the river, and the passenger trains pass by, from an establishment that was a warehouse in the 1870's, and now is a Class I dive bar today.

This is one day I'm enjoying immensely.  Old Friends are good thing.  

California Progressive Progress

Washington Post: These California agents are coming for your guns

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/these-california-agents-are-coming-for-your-guns/2018/02/24/b72fb252-183a-11e8-92c9-376b4fe57ff7_story.html 

Snappy headline.  And timely, too.  

And as an added bonus, foreign nationals (with no background check, entry inspection, or visa) are officially welcome to enter the State of California and are and harbored from ICE and the USBP by State authorities (the State Attorney General has threatened to prosecute anybody who cooperates with ICE), all the while the CA DoJ six-person gendarme squad is going door to door looking for guns.  

Granted, I support removing firearms from felons.  Makes sense.  Good move.  But the level of effort here seems unserious.  Six officers - for the entire State of California?  They will realistically need hundreds of agents to be effective.  And MRAP’s, too.  

And I would also observe that recent mass shootings caused by the bloodthirsty NRA (in Parkland Florida, Sutherland Springs Texas, Charleston SC) all were preventable, had our government institutions done their job, and followed current law.  

Clearly, what the Progressive Left and media (I know, I repeat myself here) are clamoring for, and what we desperately need, are more legal restrictions on firearms, because the current law is not enforced by those entrusted to enforce it.  

But after reading the piece in WaPo, I would take a step back and wonder why the Governor Jerry Brown and the benevolent legislature in Sacramento,  

• pardoned convicted Illegal aliens to prevent their deportation, 

• removed mandatory sentencing guidelines for using a gun in a crime, 

• now allow convicted felons to vote, 

• pushed early release of violent felons from prison, 

• now registers anyone with a driver’s license (including illegal aliens) to vote.

Remember, the US Federal Constitution requires the census only to count people residing in the States (not US Citizens), and therefore each illegal alien is not only a potential voter, but added representation in Washington DC.  Those poor rubes in North and South Dakota are each stuck with only one measly Representative.  Iowa only has four Representatives in the US House.  They would otherwise have more (representatives in DC) if it were not for the non-citizens residing in California.  

It would seem that (in California) the law is a tool, to be used to achieve your Progressive Left agenda of building liberty snuffing, wealth transfer (Progressive Left Socialist) paradise, with an out-sized political influence in DC.  

Public safety does not enter into it.  

It's politics, all the way down.  

Zusammenstöße, Georgia Tech Edition

So, a self-declared “non-binary” gender dissident, Scout Schultz, who is somehow affiliated with the LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM “movement” (and seemingly down with “The Struggle" on campus), walks around with a Leatherman knife menacing street pedestrians last evening, and the police are called.  

The police show up, and the subject (seemingly deranged) menaces the police and screams “shoot me”, and the police shoot and kill the subject as he approaches the cop.  Classic “Suicide by Cop”.  

Intrepid News Media report (CBS This Morning) the subject was holding a “tiny” pocket knife, and the cop is now being openly asked why he did not use non-lethal force on the subject wielding a ‘tiny' knife.  You know, Tazer the guy, or throw a net over him like they did before 1980.  Or pepper spray.  Or transactional analysis (TA) “I’m ok, you’re ok, fuzzy warm dynamic therapy.”    

The subject’s Facebook is festooned with Southern Poverty Law Center, Black Lives Matter, Atlanta Antifacists, It’s Going Down, and Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America ‘likes' (the subject’s Facebook account has been subsequently suspended).  I’m all in for free speech; to afford fools the means to self identify.   

500 students get in touch with their inner feelz, and have a peaceful memorial, and a peaceful march to the police station.  Fine.  This is what the school system has produced.  ibid. - Free Speech   

Then, the Antifa “FIGHT BACK” banner waiving crowd appear to do some Ultraviolence, and torch a police cruiser, smash windows, and beat the Oppressor Cops of Georgia Tech.  

CBS This Morning covers Scout Schultz’s father, William Schultz, who was trotted out by yes-justice.com (which seems to be an ambulance-chasing race hustler organization, looking for a new gig) and sporting a greasy pony tail looking disheveled and unshaven but in a spiffy loaner sport coat, and and the father openly questions why the police shot his “obviously mentally deranged” son.  It is clear the fruit did not have far to fall from the tree.  

I had a sort of Robert Bergdhal (Bowe Bergdhal’s father) flashback moment.  You know.  Kinda' like when you throw up a little in your mouth.  

Unlike in Baltimore, Berkeley and Charlottesville, where the leadership ordered police to “stand down” to allow the “justice involved youth” some 'room to burn' (which I call Verbrennungraum Zusammenstöße), the rednecks in Georgia clamp down on the violent protest and make arrests.   

So, it’s all the fault of the cis-heteronormative bigoted Police that Scout Schultz is dead.  Lawsuits ensue.  

Welcome to Weimar America.  

Quality Assurance

SIG is a good company (quite unlike Remington’s leadership, in my opinion).  But this latest recall is disturbing:  

https://www.ammoland.com/2017/09/sig-sauer-safety-warning-recall-notice-limited-number-rifles/ 

This follows the SIG MCX™ recall, the so-called “voluntary upgrade" of the SIG P320, and is accompanied by the Ruger Mark IV™ safety recall.  Sturm-Ruger is also a good company.  

I do Quality & Reliability as a profession, though few notice these days.  

I witnessed how you take the North American Rockwell B-1B from LRIP (Low Rate Initial Production) of 4 shipsets in 6 months to 4 per month in under a year.  And improve quality.  

I witnessed how the Northrop production of the Internal Guidance Module (IMU) for the “Peacekeeper” (MX) ICBM was assumed by Rockwell international for systemic quality issues, because the USAF trusted the Anaheim Operations to get it right.  The MX IMU was so precise it was reportedly able to detect magma movement in the earth.  In the 1980’s.  Boeing purchased the defense business in 1996 following breakout of peace following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and subsequent painful consolidation (remember the "peace dividend?").   

I witnessed how automation of a manual processes, absent consideration of design, always fails.  To be successful, automation drives improvement into the design, results in improved quality, and better controls in the supply chain through "quality deployment."   

I witnessed how you take the Systron Donner Gyrochip™ (Automotive Quartz Rate Sensor or AQRS) from 300 per month (for Cadillac Luxury Car Division) to 12,500 to 25,000 per month (for VW, BMW, Ford of Europe, Daimler Benz, et al) in 12 months - while maintaining a better than 50 ppm failure rate (we were at 24 ppm in year one after launch - 50 ppm triggered a $1,000,000 penalty clause in our contract).  

As an (so-called) industry professional, I used to get Aviation Week, free of charge, and would always first read the very last section that published the findings of NTSB airline crash investigations.  I have an appreciation of scientific forensic failure analysis (or F/A).  The NTSB is exacting.  This should be required reading for serious manufacturing people.  

I have taught failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) to design and manufacturing engineers.  

To the point, I witnessed the ramp Toyota Motors underwent when the Great Recession hit, and General Motors and Chrysler went bankrupt, shed market share, and Toyota (the world leader in automotive quality and lean manufacturing) gobbled up market share, and expanded production to address it.  I saw the multiple recalls, which horrified senior Toyota leadership who previously did not have experience with such.  The "stuck accelerator” issue was blamed on floor mats that allowed the accelerator pedal to latch into full-throttle, resulting in the deaths in 2009 of an off duty state trooper and his wife in California (who incidentally the wife was the HR Manager of Systron Donner).  

Toyota Leadership failed to understand the emerging reports and make corrective action, and instead decided (upon the advice of their US legal counsel) to fight claims in court.  Leadership failure.  

A business ramps production, the methods and procedures currently in place to assure quality are taxed.  Because more often than not, they [control methods] are put in place over time with no foresight as to the ongoing maintenance penalty, and prospective scalability of the control methods.  This includes employee learning curves, training and role classification, and demonstration of skill competencies and proficiencies.  

Simply put, Quality Control for steady-state is not scalable, and Leadership often assumes the manner by which quality is assured currently can be used at higher rates of production; this is not so.  Management's emphasis is on compliance (especially in the FDA related space), however outside of the Semiconductor industry (SEMI) there are seldom active reviews and implementation plans to modify, simplify, and invest in changes to control methods to allow quick ramping, and a smaller Quality Assurance footprint.  

And (in my humble opinion) this is what happened to Toyota, and is happening to the firearms manufacturers who spooled up to offer new products and greater volume during the Great Gun Control fears during the Barak Obama years.  

California AB 785

“California Hate Crime.”  

https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/ca-legislature-approves-bill-disarm-misdemeanor-hate-crime-offenders/ 

It appears the intrepid legislature in the Democratic People's Republic of California are moving to to disarm misdemeanor "California Hate Crime Offenders".  You know, take their guns away.  Because, Hate.  As defined by the Progressive State of California.

Comrades.  

Crimes perpetrated by haters.  You know.  Republicans, Feral Libertarians and the ilk.  And privileged white cis-heteronormative gun owners who criminally fail to express the proper pronouns when speaking to non-binaries, gender-fluids or gender dissidents.  They are haters too.  And Nazis, and people who collude with Russians to throw elections.  Conspirators.  Hateful unindicted co-conspirators, too.  And people who have filed for divorce (there must be some hatred just below the surface there)!  And people with restraining orders.  And parking tickets with hate crime modifiers.  And those hateful souls delinquent in their tax submittals, and those environmental hate criminals polluting Gaia Earth who do not correctly segregate their recycling and composting materials into the proper trash bin.  And anyone who uses the improper Nomenklatura.  

I say that the enlightened California Legislature should not stop here with the Second Amendment.  

While the Second Amendment is a fundamental, specific, enumerated right, there are a host of other dangerous rights that need to be suspended for those convicted of DoublePlus UnGood CrimeThink, such as these:

Freedom of speech, and worship 

Right of peaceable assembly and petition

Exclusion of establishment of a state religion

Due-process and the right to an attorney

Protection from self-incrimination or double jeopardy

Prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment

Protection from unwarranted search and seizure 

And against having to board government troops in your home (3rd Amendment)

I say, for all the haters out in California, expand AB 785 to include forfeiture of the other protections in the Constitution.  

Why would you stop at the Second Amendment?  

The Increase in Entropy in the USA

I have been reading, with some interest, opinion and conjecture that the country is headed towards a schism, a new “Civil War”.

Victor Davis Hanson <here> points to the continued open nullification of federal immigration law by “sanctuary cities” similar to what the South did with respect to civil rights for blacks in the Jim Crow era.  Dennis Prager <here>, Rev. Dr. Susan K. Smith <here>, David Horowitz <here>, all openly speculate.

And now, I read this:

REPORT: Flyers distributed in San Diego calling for the genocide of the “white” race:

     http://www.10news.com/news/mysterious-filers-threaten-genocide-of-the-white-race

The Virginian, Robert E. Lee, detested the vitriol and bombast of the South Carolinas leading up to the Civil War, people he called “fire breathers”.  He did not want a Civil War.  Had Virginia not seceded from the Union, he would have fought for the Union, and today arguably would have been a widely revered general instead of now having communities, goaded by Black Lives Matter, remove all vestiges of the Confederate role in the Civil War from the public, with statues of Robert E. Lee being defaced and removed altogether.

For a people so comparatively well off (compared to the balance of the world’s population) it seems incongruous that we would have such a low threshold to violence.  People with nothing more to loose find it very easy to revolt.  People of means usually consider the loss of their family, wealth, power, and status before moving to take power away from the government or rage against "the other".

Yet, there is a long history of civil disobedience and riots in the time line of the nation.

Looking at the Wiki of US Riots over time, you get the accurate sense that the 1960’s (53) and 1970’s (30) were a sad time.  I remember.

You also get the sense that this decade (2010’s, 32 major riots recorded so far) is on track to at least match both prior decades.  The list for 2010’s conveniently omits the 2011 flash mob riot in West Alles at the 2011 Wisconsin State Fair, the 2011 flash mob riot in Des Moines at the Iowa State Fair, and the several flash mob riots in Chicago (3,000 “youths” at the Ford City Mall, 400 “youths” at Navy Pier, 400 “youths” along the Magnificent Mile, and in 2010 the North Avenue Beach closure which outwardly appears to have been suppressed in the press - by the City leadership?).  When you reclassify “wilding youths”, not only in Chicago, but Philadelphia, Louisville, and across the large cities as “riots” then you get a feeling that record is in fact larger.

This review does not include the violence against police in Dallas in 2016, but you get a similar flashback to the Texas Tower shooting in Austin Texas in 1966.

I doubt we're headed for a Civil War, but depending on how we deal with what is to come in the waning years of this decade, we could be in for a bumpy ride.

Fake news is "killing people's minds", says Apple boss Tim Cook

From The Telegraph

Made-up news reports trying to promote a particular agenda gained huge traction on social media in the US during the election.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/02/10/fake-news-killing-peoples-minds-says-apple-boss-tim-cook/ 

“It has to be ingrained in the schools, it has to be ingrained in the public,” said Mr Cook. “There has to be a massive campaign. We have to think through every demographic.

Well, Comrade Cook.  

Might I be so bold to suggest that the view expressed here smacks of US “rubes” being too ignorant to parse the truth from the noise.  

And this therefore requires enlightened visionaries (such as yourself) to block and cleanse the various social information streams of incorrect content for the benefit of these poor souls.  

Further Comrade Cook, the public school system, which has spent far too much time inculcating young minds to forego critical thinking in deference to Social Justice, is cranking out Millennial snowflakes incapable of civil discourse or rational thought based on facts, logic, and tempered by reason, with a measured appreciation for human history.  

Instead, Comrade Cook, you seem to believe this current process in the US school system needs to be cranked up to 11 - Spinal Tap style.  

Might I also suggest you figure out how to make Apple’s MacBook Pro upgrades better, as higher end Windows computers are quickly approaching parity with your offering, and my mid-2010 laptop will not last indefinitely.  

Comrade. 

I Don't Understand...

On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said President Donald Trump was “splitting” the country apart with what she called “a blizzard of executive orders and memorandums.” 

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/02/05/feinstein-trump-splitting-america-apart-with-blizzard-of-executive-orders/ 

So, let me get this straight.  

The 44th President can’t deal with the Congress because it is controlled by the Republicans since the country (not the Russians) moved to give them control in 2014.  Note: Ronald Reagan was successful and he had a Democrat Congress for eight full years (both chambers).  

The 44th President makes good on his threat to use a “pen and a phone” issuing a blizzard of executive orders and memorandums, many of which represent a lack of fidelity to his oath to “faithfully execute” laws, even ones he does not like.  

The country elects Donald Trump (for better or worse), and Trump starts dismantling the executive orders of the previous President.  

Now, the Democrats, having lost complete control of the federal government claim Trump is “splitting” the country apart.  They increasingly sound like the old-Confederate secessionists.  

They’ve drummed out virtually all of the Blue Dog Democrats of their formerly “big tent” political party, and the whacky Progressive Left and the full-on Socialist-Marxists are thumb wrestling for control of the Party, hoping to eradicate the few Blue Dogs still in the Party who disagree with their myopic focus on bathrooms and sex organs (at least the Bernie crowd had some exuberance; the rest of the Party has failed to reach the all important first step of the 12-step program — the recognition for a need to change).  

I don’t trust the Republicans either.  

But it was telling during the campaign that the establishment Republicans were working feverishly behind the scenes to throw the race to Hillary, because Trump represented an uncouth and uncontrollable unknown; at least Hillary was fully known, and would have turned the government into an ATM for corruption, and that was music in the ears of both Parties.  

Well, Dianne Feinstein et al. -- keep up the hyperbole, melt downs, and nausea inducing outrage over everything, everywhere 24/7/365.  All.  The.  Time.  

Do you want more Trump?  Because this is how you get more Trump.  

How utterly Progressive...

USS Peleliu (LHA-5) to be used as a homeless shelter in San Francisco?  

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/09/07/former-san-francisco-mayor-proposes-using-mothballed-aircraft-carrier-to-house-homeless/ 

Hey, I’ve got an idea.  

We can use the USS Missouri (BB-63) as an outreach center and youth hostel for the transgendered, and for LGBTQI pride celebrations (it can be re-painted with rainbow colors, instead of that tacky boat-gray). 

And, we can use the USS Iowa (BB-61) as a methadone dispensary and Opioid Treatment Center.  And, we can use the USS Yorktown (CV-10) as a Syrian Refugee processing center, like Ellis Island, but only with much smaller doors.  

The USS Intrepid (CV-11) can be used as a 'safe space' for those who are easily triggered and constantly offended by thoughts and speech which differ from their own.    The USS Midway (CV-43) can be used as a re-education Gulag for those in the population who deny the Global Warming Orthodoxy (the hull will have to be renamed the USS Torquemada).   

Just think “out of the box.”  

SECDEF Ash Carter

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said many times that the majority of enlisted military recruits come from just six states, and he would like to see a more diverse and inclusive recruitment pool.  Southern States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Georgia plus mostly-Western States of Idaho, Arizona, Maine, Hawaii and Alaska are screwing the Diversity & Inclusion pooch.  Ash Carter has his eye on Texas and Kentucky, too.  

http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/925081/force-of-the-future-aims-to-increase-militarys-geographic-diversity 

"We need many more recruits from the Pajama Boy regions of the nation across the Fruited Plain, so that our goals of counteracting deleterious effects of the rampant cis-heteronormative culture in the Military can be accelerated.”   

"We will be immediately be sending our Armed Forces recruiters into the Bath Houses of San Francisco, Coffee Bistros in Seattle, and the Blood Plasma-for-Ca$h locations in Milwaukee to offset this geographic bias polluting the enlisted makeup of these US Armed Forces.”  

CNN

CNN Reporter Brianna Keilar's feed was cut when she departed from 'The Narrative’

http://ijr.com/2016/07/657157-cnn-reporter-spilled-the-beans-about-hillary-during-live-broadcast-right-and-then-the-feed-gets-cut/ 

CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC-LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM, FOX, NPR, CNBC - they all have a narrative to push, and most newspapers are in bed with one or both political parties, too.  The WikiLeaks from the DNC demonstrate the coordination to manipulate the “news.” 

Crowdstrike reports that the DNC leaks have the fingerprints of the Russian FSB and / or GRU (not a Bulgarian hacker), and it appears that Russia has chosen their candidate: Trump.  

From Foreign Policy Magazine:

Larger implications. Last month, the DNC and security firm CrowdStrike reported that hackers likely working on behalf of two Russian intelligence agencies had broken intoDNC servers and made off with opposition research and email messages. After that report, a hacker calling himself Guccifer 2.0 stepped forward and took responsibility for the hack, saying he had nothing to do with Moscow’s intelligence services. But Guccifer is most likely a fiction created by the GRU, Russian military intelligence, and the FSB, the successor group to the KGB, to mask their role in the hack — and the subsequent attempt to influence the U.S. election.

The hackers. One group, FANCY BEAR or APT 28, obtained access in April, while the other, COZY BEAR, or APT 29, first entered the network in the summer of 2015. A good place to start to get a handle on all this is the New York Times’ Adrian Chen’s June 2015 in-depth look at Russian troll and hacker factories.

Politics. The Clinton campaign has taken the opportunity to tie the Trump campaign as closely as possible to the Kremlin, with Clinton’s campaign chief, Robby Mook, tellingABC News Sunday that “it’s troubling that some experts are now telling us that this was done by the Russians for the purpose of helping Donald Trump.” The Trump campaign rejected such accusations.

Russian connections. Last week, FP’s Dan De Luce and Paul McLeary wrote that Trump has surrounded himself with advisors who have had direct business ties to Moscow, including campaign manager, Paul Manafort, a onetime consultant to the pro-Moscow former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych. One of his military advisors, retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, was invited to sit at Putin’s table at a December dinner in Moscow sponsored by RT, the government-funded news network, and Carter Page, a former consultant to Russia’s state-owned gas giant, Gazprom, has suggested Washington is to blame for raising tensions with Moscow over Ukraine. Trump’s surrogates also successfully watered down language in the GOP platform to remove calls for arming Ukraine’s forces against pro-Russian separatists.

You throw on top of this, the little fact that six big companies control 90% of the media in the US, and you once again (in my opinion), have the case where “Big-ism,” or anything with a “big” in front of it (big Government, big Business, big Labor, big Media etc.) is not good for the Republic, or the Body Politic.  Big-ism results in leverage to engage in influence peddling, and the US government and political parties (especially our Maximum Grifters, Hillary and Bill) are harvesting money to provide quid quo pro to whomever greases the machine.  

BREAKING: MA Attorney General Maura Healey bans sale of so-called "assault weapons”

From the Boston Globe

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/07/20/the-loophole-mass-assault-weapons-ban/eEvOBklTriWcGznmXqSpYM/story.html 

"The [Evil, Wicked, Dastardly] gun industry has found a way to exploit our laws, a loophole of potentially horrific proportions. And it’s time we act."  "In the face of utter inaction by Congress, states have a duty to enact and enforce laws that protect people from gun violence. "

The Massachusetts AG reserves the right to expand the definition of "assault weapons” beyond what was enacted into law by the Massachusetts legislature, to include firearms which the AG deems to be copies, likes, similar to or having the same operating system, or somewhat functional nature to that defined in the law.

This closes a “loophole” that allowed guns not defined in the law as “assault weapons” to be sold in the Commonwealth.  

“Assault weapon”, shall have the same meaning as a semiautomatic assault weapon as defined in the federal Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(30) as appearing in such section on September 13, 1994, and shall include, but not be limited to, any of the weapons, or copies or duplicates of the weapons, of any caliber, known as: (i) Avtomat Kalashnikov (AK) (all models); (ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil; (iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70); (iv) Colt AR-15; (v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR and FNC; (vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9 and M-12; (vi) Steyr AUG; (vii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22; and (viii) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as, or similar to, the Street Sweeper and Striker 12; provided, however, that the term assault weapon shall not include: (i) any of the weapons, or replicas or duplicates of such weapons, specified in appendix A to 18 U.S.C. section 922 as appearing in such appendix on September 13, 1994, as such weapons were manufactured on October 1, 1993; (ii) any weapon that is operated by manual bolt, pump, lever or slide action; (iii) any weapon that has been rendered permanently inoperable or otherwise rendered permanently unable to be designated a semiautomatic assault weapon; (iv) any weapon that was manufactured prior to the year 1899; (v) any weapon that is an antique or relic, theatrical prop or other weapon that is not capable of firing a projectile and which is not intended for use as a functional weapon and cannot be readily modified through a combination of available parts into an operable assault weapon; (vi) any semiautomatic rifle that cannot accept a detachable magazine that holds more than five rounds of ammunition; or (vii) any semiautomatic shotgun that cannot hold more than five rounds of ammunition in a fixed or detachable magazine. 

You see, the law does not mean what is written into statutes.  The law is a “living and breathing” document, that can mean much, much more than what the words say, and can be interpreted by caring and impassioned public servants with Progressive Values to mean whatever the hell they want it to mean.  

You know, like with a pen and a phone.  

This decree pretty much bans all semi-autoloadinglong rifles from being sold in the state of Massachusetts.  

Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ 3)

In the article, which in my view is not terribly well written, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ 3) speaks to "Right wing extremists” (who he remarkably compares to the Orlando Pulse shooter) and the clear and present danger (my words) to public lands, pointing to the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon at the beginning of this year.  Mr. Grijalva is the US House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member. 

“The growing threat of violence and terrorism by anti-government groups is a threat that demands timely congressional attention and action, yet the Republican leadership has willfully ignored that threat in the wake of a deadly attack this weekend in Orlando,” he said. “Americans are against demanding action from Congress to prevent dangerous people from accessing deadly weapons to kill innocent Americans.”

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/2016/06/20/congressman-public-lands-under-attack-by-right-wing-extremists/?singlepage=true 

And he conflates firearms ownership with public land use and feckless Republicans and “Right wing extremists” a.k.a. terrorists.  That is an awfully large brush he tars many, many people with, especially in the West.  

Also, I suspect perhaps Mr. Grijalva may be wanting to hitch a ride on the Orlando shooting; in the words of Rahm Emanuel, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” 

The feds own 30% of the land in the US, most of it out west.  The article also does not mention changes that have occurred in public land use policy in the last 30 years, and how that may be factoring into lives of private citizens who had prior land use agreements with the government either unilaterally rescinded or modified class-action. 

Also, brutish administrative rule making by the EPA, effective August 28, 2015, is suddenly vastly redefining what landowners can do on their own property.  This is evidenced by the illegal (my opinion) rule making from the Obama EPA creatively “reinterpreting” the Clean Water Act away from statutory language of “navigable waterways” to the new “WOTUS” or Waters of the US, where ponds, lakes, wadis, depressions or ravines where water may temporary collect or flow, temporary wetlands and any stream, culvert natural or manmade, that the EPA deems would have an effect on downstream navigable waters (on both public land and private property).   

This reinterpretation morphing the Clean Water Act into WOTUS pretty much encompasses the whole country in what amounts to a large land grab from landowners and the States who thought they were in charge of managing their lands (why, yes, you my buy your ‘own' property, but you first must solicit from Glorious Bureaucracy permission to, you know, do anything with it - and the State DNR’s, well, you report now to us).  The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on June 1st that private landowners have standing and can join the lawsuit by the States to challenge the legality of this particular expansion of Federal oversight.  

And notably nowhere in the article was any mention of the public land adjoining Mexico, where ,for one example, the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is posted as off limits to US Citizens, as control has effectively been ceded to the Mexican Drug Cartels.  Other areas include Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Sonoran Desert National Monument, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and the Coronado National Forest.  

Where is Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva’s commentary on this public land use issue?  Where is the Department of Interior?  

If Mr. Grijalva wants to explore the origins of the problem with “Right wing extremists,” I suggest he and his power hungry colleagues (in both parties) take a long, sober look in the mirror.  

Be afraid. Very afraid

With all of the lugubrious chatter blathering away on TV since the Orlando shooting, I’ve taken to exercising my rights, and hitting the TV kill switch and jumping into my paltry but eclectic collection of books to re-ground myself.  

We have achieved rhetorical apogee, or what I prefer to call “Maximum Orwell.”  The comments from our elected leaders (so-called) give me pause.  Behold.

“We must not use due-process as an excuse to support mass murder,” – Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY)   Ahh yes.  That pesky Fifth Amendment.

“Law abiding citizens just shouldn’t have to carry a gun,” but when asked about armed security in Washington D.C. he [Rangel] said “Well, that’s a little different. I think we deserve… I think we need to protected down here.” – Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)   Ahh yes.  Animal Farm, where some animals are more equal than others, and laws apply only to the ‘little people,’ and not the impotent people, like Hillary.  

“We have to make sure people are vetted, we got to have background checks, and we have to make sure you aren’t on the no fly list. That’s two very simple principles,” – Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)    I have only one word to describe that statement, “Simply amazing.”  

“After 9/11 we limited suspected terrorists from accessing planes. Doing same [for] guns is common sense,” – Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)  Good point.  There are a lot of black market planes changing hands without background checks.  

“Due Process is killing us,” – Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)   Ahh yes.  ibid. 

"We’ve got to make this clear, constant case that Republicans have decided to sell weapons to ISIS,” Murphy said, using an alternative term for the Islamic State militant group. “That’s what they’ve decided to do. ISIS has decided that the assault weapon is the new airplane, and Republicans, in refusing to close the terror gap [emphasis mine], refusing to pass bans on assault weapons, are allowing these weapons to get in the hands of potential lone-wolf attackers. We’ve got to make this connection and make it in very stark terms.” – Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)  Terror gap.  First there was the Bomber Gap in 1954.  Then the Missile Gap in 1957.  Then in 1969 came The Gap store.  Then came the Gap Band in the 1970’s.  Then in 1980 came Kim Kardashian and her Gap(s).  Today, we have the Terror Gap.  I believe we have enough Terror today, and I personally believe we really don’t need to close this particular gap.  

“We can fix the problem with the innocent person.” – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)   when talking about the secret government No-Fly, No-Buy ’terror watch list’ being tied to the National Instant Background Check System (or NICS, used to verify firearm background purchases)  

"The Second Amendment only protects the people who want all the guns they can have. The rest of us, we've got no Second Amendment. What are we supposed to do?” – Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY)   Please.  Don’t ask.  

"Congressman Giffords' life was saved and so many others' when very valiant folks stood up to defend themselves and protect themselves, and they did it with ballpoint pens.” – CO State Sen. Jessie Ulibarri (D-Adams County) while testifying on Jan. 28th 2011 before the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee that guns are unnecessary for self-defense when so many effective weapons are already handy.   I suppose we now need ballpoint pen control laws?  

"Well, you know, my shotgun will do better for you than your AR-15, because you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door.” – US Vice President Joe Biden   I say give the poor man a break - will everyone?  I mean, you would not criticize a Golden Retriever for not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, would you?  Besides, I just hang the Jehovahs Witness sign on my front porch, and that seems to work just fine.  

"We have federal regulations and state laws that prohibit hunting ducks with more than three rounds. And yet it's legal to hunt humans with 15-round, 30-round, even 150-round magazines.”  Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)    She has a good point.  I’ll have to check the California State DNR bag limit for people next time I’m California.  

"If you ban them in the future, the number of these high-capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available.” – Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)   So, the Colorado magazine ban will cause bullets to deplete?  Fascinating.  

And my personal favorite:

This stuff writes itself.  

References

http://redalertpolitics.com/2016/06/24/7-stupidest-things-democrats-about-gun-control-during-the-sit-in/ 

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/06/16/joe-manchin-lets-mask-slip-due-process-killing-us/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/06/20/chris-murphy-republicans-have-decided-to-sell-weapons-to-isis/

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2016/06/daniel-zimmerman/comes-anti-gun-political-theater-no/ 

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gun-shots/2013/07/9-dumbest-gun-control-quotes-politicians-and-celebrities

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2016/06/robert-farago/hillary-clinton-take-gun-rights-away-americans-fbi-investigation/