tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29578926400578869502024-02-21T04:51:29.211-08:00FreeThinkerGay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.comBlogger1055125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-58824804058052079822016-04-23T12:06:00.002-07:002016-04-23T12:06:30.007-07:00Bathrooms, Definitions and Reality<b>Transgender:</b> A person who, most often in conjunction with qualified medical providers, finds that their psychological gender or identity is not synchronized with their physiology (the way their body is laid out), often resulting in severe stress to the person involved. More clinically, this is often referred to as <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/gender-dysphoria" target="_blank">Gender Dysphoria</a>.<br />
<br />
Gender Dysphoria has been recognized as a valid phenomena since 1980, with the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/science/gender-dysphoria" target="_blank">Encyclopedia Brittanica offering a particularly good summation</a>. This phenomena should not be confused with transvestitism nor drag performances - the same person *MAY* engage in behaviors commonly associated with all three patterns, but nothing implies that "because one does drag, one MUST be transgendered or transvestite.<br />
<br />
A further common misunderstanding is that "Transgender" somehow means "gay." If only things were that simple. Heterosexuals can be TG, as can gay/lesbian/bi folks...and considering that set of implications (particularly post-op) is usually where my head begins to spin and I smile nicely and, until compelled to do otherwise by reality, accept folks for who they say they are, and move right on along my merry way. Rule of No Touchie and all that. <br />
<br />
<b>Heteronormative:</b> Bad things happen when Womens Studies or Social Science majors are allowed near dictionaries, not unlike having a nurse with tuberculosis working the asthma ward. <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heteronormative" target="_blank">Heteronormative</a> is a puffed up way of describing the idea that heterosexuality is the only legitimate form of sexuality and that all others are somehow lesser or deviant. The term, while shorter than the explanation, doesn't seem especially intuitive to me. <br />
<br />
<b>Cisgender: </b>I'm going to stick with Merriam-Webster here and hope they don't hate me for it. <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/cisgender-meaning" target="_blank">"Someone whose internal sense of gender corresponds with the sex the person was identified as having at birth."</a> This has absolutely *nothing* to do with whether a person is gay or not. A gay, bi, lesbian or straight person can all be cisgender (the simple, easy and cheap option) with equal fortune/misfortune if they are lucky enough to be dealt that card by the fates. It, like getting the transgender card, is a matter of luck - not choice. <br />
<br />
<b>Gay:</b> A male that is attracted to other males at a romantic or sexual level. Yes, there are a whole bunch of different kinds of Gay dudes - give up the stereotypes, don't be a SJW. Just as there are a whole bunch of different views, personalities and philosophies within the Latino, Black and Asian communities (and also similarly, with loud victimhood advocates trying to claim the spotlight as the "true community representatives"), the Gay community contains everything from cops to lumberjacks to lawyers and to hair dressers - even actors and pianists. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Lesbian:</b> A female that is attracted to other females at a romantic or sexual level.
Yes, there are a whole bunch of different kinds of Lesbian gals - give up
the stereotypes, don't be a SJW. Just as there are a whole bunch of
different views, personalities and philosophies within the Latino, Black
and Asian communities (and also similarly, with loud victimhood
advocates trying to claim the spotlight as the "true community
representatives"), the Lesbian community contains everything from cops to
lumberjacks to lawyers and to hair dressers - even actors and pianists. <br />
<br />
<b>Heterosexual:</b> That most common of orientations (there must be an AWFUL lot of hetero cards in that playing deck), boys that like girls and girls that like boys when it comes to romance and happy naked times - usually on a fairly exclusive or locked in basis. (No, six pack conversions DON'T count). <br />
<br />
<b>Bi-Sexual:</b> In a more perfect world, twice the chance of a date on a Friday night. In our sadder world, these are boys and girls that're perfectly ok waking next to or romancing persons of either traditional gender - and usually get heightened suspicion from members of the Lesbian, Gay and hetero communities based on insecurities around fidelity (they have TWICE the opportunities to cheat on me!), "oh, you're just going through a stage.." and other issues. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Non-Binary Gender: </b>Arguably a cultural phenomenon as much as anything. Someone who either doesn't fit (or doesn't believe they fit) the cultural roles and stereotypes of either gender, instead combining characteristics of both. The most obvious stereotypes relate to sissy boys and butch girls (tomboys) to use increasingly archaic terms, but in todays less restrictive environment more and more folks are saying some variant on "BUGGER OFF! I am who I am!" and stomping off to be their own selves, usually while rather annoyed about the whole affair. This term is still being defined, particularly amongst the SJW sorts and the more esoteric discussions involve a great deal of silliness.<br />
<br />
<hr />
Ok, this was going to be a very different post. Then @kurtschlicter and @winningatmylife chimed in on related topics on Twitter and I was forced to admit that, if I'm trying to be charitable, that an explanation of terms is necessary just so folks aren't talking past each other. I'm not a social scientist, a womens studies major nor remotely a SJW - but sharing common terms at least improves the chances of communication vs shouting past each other.<br />
<br />
Grr. The phrase "do your own research" keeps leaping to mind.Definition time is now done.<br />
<hr />
<br />
<br />
Let us define our fundamental premises here. LGBT folks insisting on pushing the boundaries of "acceptance" ever further outwards? Y'all annoy the bejeezus out of me. Just for a bit, give it a rest and let the mainstream catch up - backlash is bad, m'kay? See: North Carolina.<br />
<br />
Y'all denying the existence or validity of transgender existence, promoting hatred or fear of T-folks, and generally rolling about in the pig shit of ignorance whilst trying to smear that same shit on everyone in arms reach? You, too, just piss me right the hell off.<br />
<br />
Given that it is unlikely that a shower of dreadfully well-targeted meteorites will simultaneously take you *all* out - generally reducing the level of whininess in the world - what say we examine reality and propose a solution. Ideally, any proposed solution should inflict educational levels of unhappiness upon activists on both sides - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Frogs_Who_Desired_a_King" target="_blank">King Stork</a>, if you will.<br />
<br />
For the most part, <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2015E2/Bills/House/PDF/H2v4.pdf" target="_blank">North Carolina HB 2</a> has been - to be kind - ill-read and poorly reported. It addresses bathroom usage, but more as icing on the cake rather than substance. <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/katiecouric/the-north-carolina-bathroom-bill-hb2-explained-172020141.html" target="_blank">Katie Couric</a> writes reasonable summary of HB 2's actual effects, and the National Review provides a worthwhile <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/433423/north-carolina-house-bill-2-bathroom-bill-common-sense" target="_blank">balancing commentary </a>to the frantic hand-wringing of LGBT leadership and the Left. HB 2 is with equal certainty badly written, as are most of its clones in other states. <br /><br />The goals of each party are fairly straightforward - the Trans community, understandably, desires a place to defecate and urinate (and where appropriate, change clothes and shower) in safety. Similarly, the "traditionalists" (for lack of a better descriptor) desire a place for themselves, their loved ones and those they believe they have a "duty to protect" to defecate and urinate (and where appropriate, change clothes and shower) in safety.<br />
<br />
The problem lies in the existence of multi-user single-gender facilities for these activities that our society, rightly or wrongly, trains us to believe are not only shameful (requiring privacy) but cause us to be substantially more at risk while engaged in said activities. It does not help that there are actual predators that take advantage of persons engaged in such for a variety of criminal purposes.<br />
<br />
The "safety" of single-gender multi-user facilities is largely exaggerated, if not entirely illusory, as shown by the vast number of arrests for voyeurism (peeping tom, for the unwashed), rape and assorted other inappropriate behavior in and around these environments. Despite this, many folks still believe that security and safety can be found in a sign posted on a wall and either a rule or statute barring persons of a given gender from a particular area. This is not supported by the evidence - at best, it filters the law-abiding, the stupid and the lazy - not the truly dangerous. <br /><br />In short, Security Theater writ small and stinky. BUT THE FEELS!<br /><br />Conversely, T-folk using the restrooms of their birth-gender - particularly and especially during and post-transition are at substantially elevated risk of physical and sexual assault (and potential arrest), and understandably displeased with the notion of being coerced to enjoy this heightened risk. Thus the push, however ill-advised, for access to restrooms appropriate to the gender they are currently living. <br />
<br />
The concern of the Traditionalists are less about TG folks than about losing their largely mythical safety blanket (that is far cheaper to build and maintain than single-user facilities) and that predators will slip through this portal opened for TG folk to do their naughty predator thing. Most don't seem to care about, believe in or hold any special malice for the TG. As obnoxious as the second is, it ain't bigotry - it is denial of reality. <br /><br />On the other side, TG activists believe in and loudly proclaim that they have the one true vision of moral purity and rightness - and any that might disagree are reason-free bigots with only the vilest of motivations and possible arachnid ancestry. Argument by insult, rather than reason or logic. <br /><br />As hinted at earlier, a pox upon both. May the leaders of both hand-wringing and bed-wetting factions suffer cataclysmic projectile diarrhea until they calm the heck down, and reject competitive tantrum throwing in favor of reason. <br /><br />Instead, I propose a solution set based in reason, logic and irritation. These people (both sides) have annoyed me. <br /><br />1) The ban of multi-user changing or bathroom facilities in new construction, requiring an equivalent number of single-user facilities. Yes, it's more expensive, but you dolts started this thing - the both of you.<br />
<br />
2) A $1 per roll tax on toilet paper to subsidize the conversion of legacy structures with multi-user facilities to single-user facilities. You like to start $#^$ so much, you can pay for it through your clean-up.<br />
<br />
3) A reduction of the required number of toilets/urinals in new and legacy construction by 50%. This is both to save money on legacy rebuilds AND because y'all annoyed me and deserve to be punished by having to do the pee-pee dance in the hallway.<br />
<br />
We may not be able to sell #3, but we can try. These folks deserve the dance.<br />
<br />
Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-26389882443208087202016-03-12T08:25:00.001-08:002016-03-12T08:25:12.201-08:00On Freedom of Speech<span class="_Tgc"> <b><i>"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." </i></b></span><br />
<b><i><span class="_Tgc"><br /></span></i></b>
<b><i><span class="_Tgc"> - First Amendment, U.S. Constitution</span></i></b><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">The trumpkins and others seem to be making a great deal of noise about the Trump Rally shut down the evening of the 11th (last night, to me) in Chicago - idiots on both sides are crying out "First Amendment! First Amendment!"</span><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">They are idiots, all of them. </span><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">The First Amendment (and courtesy of the 14th Amendment and SCOTUS, all lesser political bodies) prohibits Congress from (among other things) abridging freedom of speech. </span><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">It does not shield speech from the actions or words of our fellow citizens or private organizations thereof - there are other laws relevant to such things, but by the time those are up for discussion the 1st Amendment is clean off the table. </span><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">Did a government or government agent try to censor or suppress your speech (aka freedom of expression)? If not, you do not have a "speech" case under the 1st Amendment. </span><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">So what about those other areas of law? </span><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">If some large lunged type follows you about screaming "OOOK! OOOK! OOOK!" every time you try to speak, you probably - depending on local law - have a case for harassment, and maybe to question their sanity in front of a judge.. Not a First Amendment issue.</span><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">If you show up in someones living room at two in the morning and start belting out "Eskimo Nell" at the top of your lungs you are not exercising freedom of speech. You are exercising breaking and entering, trespass, possibly burglary and being a bloody nuisance - the homeowner with a shotgun and members of and the local law enforcement agency will have things to discuss with you. None of your actions here are protected by the 1st Amendment.</span><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">If someone puts on a large public event and wishes to exclude a person or class thereof, they can. They are exercising <b>their </b>1st Amendment rights to control their message. </span><br />
<span class="_Tgc"><br /></span>
<span class="_Tgc">Finally, if you go spelunking in bears dens and get mauled after poking the bear with a sharp stick - play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Still not a First Amendment issue.</span>Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-33094972959899295042016-03-10T08:02:00.002-08:002016-03-10T08:02:21.150-08:00No. Genitalia are not a pass for assaultive behaviors.<span><span></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>"It is morally wrong to initiate the aggressive use of force." </span><br /><br /><span>That's
where I base my take on it. If someone initiates force against me (hit,
bite, stab, club, use projectile weapons against me, etc) their gender
is utterly irrelevant to the discussion. Bringing an immediate halt to
the bad behavior, regardless of gender/race/orientation or wearing of a
beanie is at that point the critical goal of the day - by whatever means
seem the best bet to do the job, ideally before I qualify for hospital
time. </span><br /><br /><span>The same goes for a valid (believable to a
reasonable person and actually achievable) threat. A person waving a
knife and screaming "I'm a gonna stab you" qualifies - a person waving
in their hands in the air and screaming "I'm a gonna puree you with my
Imaginary Blender of Death" not so much. The knife-waver gets a
three-dot discussion, the "Blender-Wielder" gets my undivided attention
lest the situation change and a phone call for the kids with the nets. </span><br /><br /><span>"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."</span><br /><br /><span>Women
are not stupid simply by virtue of being women. Just as with men, some
are dumb as rocks and some are geniuses with the majority falling
between.</span><br /><br /><span>Women are not fragile flowers incapable of
homicide, assault, poisoning or a wide variety of other criminal
activity that must be protected (because they are too
stupid/weak/helpless/vapid to protect themselves) not only from the
world but from themselves. Women are, in fact worthy of the same respect
we accord any man and - upper body strengthy aside - as tough or
tougher as most men. </span><br /><br /><span>Women, too, can play stupid
games. And earn stupid prizes. And as far as I can tell from the
outside, women have a *broader variety* of stupid games available to
them amongst themselves and with our cultural set-up. </span><br /><br /><span>Just
as with men, they may get the stupid prize awarded at random by the
fates - or they may try and knife someone and get shot. </span><br /><br /><span>"Don't start none, won't be none."</span><br /><br /><span>We
all know there exist asshats in the world that undermine that statement
as a description of reality - but we also know that the *ideal* begins
with us. That if we work to avoid initiating either the use or threat of
use of force in our own actions (to the extent practical) that the odds
of things going rodeo drop off something fierce. The flip side is that
one must be prepared for those on a different page. </span><br /><br /><span>So.
I don't run about randomly hitting folks, nor do I favor others doing
so - and that applies to either gender. I don't generally engage in
horseplay - the potential for truly exciting response in the case of
misunderstanding is generally not acceptable from my viewpoint. Not
surprisingly, I don't encourage others to engage in horseplay for that
and *other* reasons (unless folks know each other REALLY well, a
"playful tap" can have bad or lethal effects on a pre-existing
condition...). </span><br /><br /><span>And no, women don't get a special "It's Ok to physically abuse GC" license because *genitalia*.</span></span></span></span>Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-75097071088682257742016-03-10T08:00:00.002-08:002016-03-10T08:00:40.013-08:00Format ChangeFolks who screw with templates and other folks blogs...suck. That will be all.Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-72552249803074756752016-02-16T08:57:00.003-08:002016-02-16T08:57:40.261-08:00The Cheesy Grits...<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
Cheesy Grits
</h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
A three-way recipe, after we made all three variants of these cheesy grits disappear rapidly last weekend during a gathering. It has
nothing to do with low carb, and everything to do with delicious. <br />
<br /><b>Ingredients</b><br />
<br />
5 cups chicken broth<br />
1 1/4 cups uncooked quick cooking grits*<br />
16 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (roughly 2 cups)<br />
1/4 cup whipping cream (unwhipped)<br />
1 tsp sriracha sauce**<br />
1/4 tsp ground red pepper<br />
1/4 tsp ground black pepper<br />
3 large eggs<br />
<br />
For meat<br />
Option A: 1 can hickory smoked spam, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices<br />
Option B: 1.5 lbs breakfast sausage, cooked and drained***<br />
Option C: 1.5 lbs <a href="http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2016/02/i-think-they-liked-my-mex-mix.html">Peter Grant's Mex Mix</a><br />
<br />
Preparation<br />
<br />
Step 1:<br />
Verify you have all the ingredients for your intended mode of destruction. <br />
<br />
Step 2:<br />
Butter a 9x13 glass or ceramic baking dish.**** Put meat of choice in
even layer in bottom of pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.<br />
<br />
Step 3:<br />
Bring chicken broth to a boil in a Large saucepan.***** Gradually whisk
in grits, bringing back to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer,
stirring occasionally, until thickened. (While grits are thickening, in 1
cup glass measure, mix whipping cream, hot sauce, black pepper and red
pepper vigorously with a fork or small whisk. Set aside.<br />
<br />
Step 4:<br />
When grits have thickened, add cheese. Stir Vigorously! Large whisk
works well. Keep stirring until glop is not lumpy. Add cream mix. <br />
<br />
Step 5:<br />
In seperate bowl, stir together the three large eggs. Stir into grits
mix until thoroughly mixed. Pour into 9x13 pan over meat of choice.<br />
<br />
Step 6:<br />
Cook at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes. After baking, remove and let
rest for 10 minutes. Cut with spatula and serve to the hovering crowd.<br />
<br />
*stone ground grits can be substituted. Increase liquid to 6 cups & cook time to 60 minutes<br />
**other and inferior hot sauces may be utilized, with predictably inferior results.<br />
***drained is important! It avoids setting the stove on fire!<br />
****Use of metal baking dish will result in cursing, soaking, scrubbing, more cursing, and more scrubbing. <br />
******Not medium, you fool!<br />
.****** Failure to allow resting time may result in second or third degree burns.
Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-54550598511889996782016-02-15T19:06:00.002-08:002016-02-15T19:06:43.798-08:00A Weekend Away...Plans...evolve.<br />
<br />
Thursday afternoon found me in Bugscuffle, TX rapidly surrounded by friends, fellowship, food and a far healthier political and social environment than I am used to enjoying. Mine hosts were accommodating, the quarters most excellent and the company could have been little better.<br />
<br />
Over the weekend I enjoyed some great lasagne, a batch of jambalaya from a roughly 90 year old recipe, and a wide variety of other culinary pleasures - and got to share several versions of my baked cheesy grits (one now known as "Tex-Mex Shepherds Pie") with friends, and even introduce a long-time southerner for the first time to that quintessential southern delicacy, the lard shortening biscuit.<br />
<br />
One friend had an amazing new adventure, a kidney stone, that he seems eager to avoid repeating. He seems to be recovering well, and what with one thing or another my planned Sunday departure morphed to a Tuesday afternoon departure.<br />
<br />
I had the opportunity to tour a gorgeous early Craftsman era mini-mansion (and only damaged myself slightly lurching through a subterranean tunnel therein) in astonishingly good shape after years of neglect - almost all of the original woodwork present, and only moderate weather damage.<br />
<br />
Y'all know who you are. Thank you for a wonderful weekend(ish). I hope to see you all again soon, and ideally before October.<br />
<br />
While as with any venture there were some bumps in the road, I am deeply grateful for this time away from home.<br />
<br />Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-21281155208288513552016-01-27T06:50:00.002-08:002016-01-27T06:50:26.320-08:00On Trump, ElectionsOn Trump: Our nation has survived Andrew Jackson, Ulysses Grant and (soon) Obama as President. We have survived an administration that set up Concentration Camps Lite. <br /><br />While Trump (at least in his public personality) is a brash, bare-knuckled candidate of no great depth (and clearly not my preference), if he is elected President the world will not end nor will the Republic collapse. <br /><br />Enough with the hand-wringing, panic-mongering and bed-wetting. <br /><br />Let us grow up and accept that, with the exception of Huckabee and Santorum, that any of the GOP field would be better for our nation than O'Malley, Clinton or Sanders. Within that paradigm, it remains that various GOP candidates (and perhaps Bozo the Clown) would be likely to provide better Presidential service than Trump - the key point is even Trump, unfortunate as he appears, seems likely to provide the nation substantially less destructive leadership than the (D) on offer - a do-gooder, a likely felon and a lunatic. Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-25113729612530300632016-01-03T17:05:00.003-08:002016-01-03T17:05:41.275-08:00OccupyOregonA few brief words on the <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/oregonninnyhammers?source=feed_text&story_id=10153810538688695"><span class="_58cl">#</span><span class="_58cm">OregonNinnyhammers</span></a>.
The BLM station in question is at a wilderness location, well isolated
from any population centers (cutting way the heck down on risk to
bystanders). Casualties to media, regardless of who inflicts them,
should be considered self-inflicted (don't be going where cranky armed
people are in dispute, m'kay?).<br />
<br />
If LE is doing their jobs (and
we've not seen anything to the contrary), they have established a secure
perimeter and cut all utilities (water/power/etc) to the facility and
set up a nice warm camp for themselves. Given the sites isolation from
civilization and the local weather conditions there is absolutely no
hurry about anything.<br />
<br />
Work smarter, not harder. In this instance, let the weather do the work for you.<br />
<br />
Urban adventures, where non-media bystanders are at risk, are an
entirely different kettle of fish and may actually justify intervention.
An isolated federally owned medium-sized cabin in the wilderness isn't
worth a single person suffering a hangnail, let alone getting
shot/killed barring significant new data.Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-63391813912122754292015-12-30T19:04:00.000-08:002015-12-30T19:04:03.616-08:00Texas, Open Carry and PSH*My* friends in Texas are generally above average in cluefulness. I'm just blessed that way. They are not anticipating blood in the streets come the wee hours of New Years 2016 as Open Carry (the crippled pusillanimous version) becomes the law of the land in the Lone Star State.<br />
<br />
Regrettably, many Texans are not nearly as well-informed and could not be bothered to actually look at how Open Carry actually works in the <a href="http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/nov/18/marion-hammer/there-are-45-states-allow-open-carry-handguns-form/" target="_blank">45 states</a> where it is already legal - in many cases for decades. Others are just anti-gun and, having lost their argument in the Texas Legislature, seek to re-hash it in the press amidst great hand-wringing and public pants-shitting hysteria - some going so far as to advocate "Swatting" persons lawfully engaged in Open Carry in the Great State of Texas.<br />
<br />
For this second crowd - whether of the stupid faction or the malignantly evil faction - I have but a simple suggestion: "Knock it the fuck off!"<br />
<br />
Texans just aren't that unique (Sorry, folks). They aren't uniquely evil, stupid nor incompetent. They have not discovered exciting new ways of cranial rectal infarction. In fact, Texans tend to be a bit friendlier and more direct than similar folks in the damp and soggy NW. It may be that the rain makes folks grumpier, passive-aggressive and foolishly lib-prog - but that is another discussion.<br />
<br />
Yet, out here in Washington we've had Open Carry for decades - not the neutered Texas version turning up on Friday where someone needs to hold a concealed pistol license and have training - but the real deal where if you can own it you can carry it. It only requires a license (with no training requirement) to carry concealed.<br />
<br />
Surprisingly enough there hasn't been blood in the streets, nor has there been mass hysteria. As with any other lawful practice where someone will buy themselves an invitation to go away, a stern talking to by local gendarmes or in truly special cases manage to stupid themselves right into a cell. <br /><br />I'm not aware in the period where I've been present and cognizant (30+ years) of an Open Carry critter getting ventilated by a cop that couldn't tell the difference. <br /><br />The main difference between carrying out here and back in Tx under the pre-1/1/16 regime is that I don't need to fret if my shirt gets blow open in the wind out here. It's the same gun, carried in the same holster, with the same number of spare magazines. There is *no* functional difference, unless I'm being consciously showy and using a Hollywood style buscadero holster (a darned rare occurrence, as playing ambassador eats time). <br /><br />So. If you are honestly ignorant, stop wringing your hands and educate yourself on how Open Carry has worked in 45 other states. If you are a malice-filled SWAT-monkey eager to risk getting folks killed to push your toxic agenda of harassing law-abiding gun owners - I hope every single misfortune you wish on us strikes you, thrice over. Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-64549493994575752732015-12-30T11:11:00.000-08:002015-12-30T11:11:13.903-08:00Falling forward....In contemplating the tragic circumstances in Roseburg, San Bernardino, Colorado Springs and elsewhere - where terrorists, loons and terrorist loons went on homicidal rampagesone is faced with multiple choices in how to react.<br />
<br />
You can tear at your hair and gather sack cloth and ashes for a rousing session of emotionalism with a strong theme of "there ought to be a law!" and "we need more gun control!" This lacks a certain amount of rationality, maturity or likelihood of actually accomplishing anything in terms of preventing shootings, mass shootings or the heat death of the universe. Murder is already very, VERY illegal (as is assault with a deadly weapon) and yet another law seems dreadfully unlikely to deter bad actors from acting badly.<br />
<br />
You can campaign to address parts of the problem. While overall violent crime is down, mass murder is never a good thing and worthy of extra effort. This approach is somewhat more productive, if a bit long term and speculative. In this model you can work to improve immigrant screening, better fund domestic intelligence efforts, improve the availability of mental health care (and reduce the practicaly and perceived stigma of seeking out such care), seek to limit over-criminalization and work to isolate demonstrably violent bad actors - all this is to the good.<br />
<br />
Despite the generally worthwhile nature of this approach (and I'd argue that if naught else, you score moral brownie points for such efforts), such long-term efforts fail to address the immediate "crap happening right here, right now" range of situations. These longer term efforts fail to address "What is the right action should it all go south right there in front of me?"<br />
<br />
"Can't happen to me..." really kind of sucks as a plan. It may be unlikely, but the fates may make the choice to crap in YOUR hat one fine day and assuming that you are magically immune doesn't really prepare you for a better outcome than dying messily. Thinking it through and talking it over with folks you respect might at least allow for the chance of a substantially improved endgame.<br />
<br />
Sometimes the very best option left on the table is to decide to die falling forward - the exits are blocked, the bad actors have numbers and logistics on their side, and life just generally sucks and appears to be a short term phenomena. A "sucks to be you" kind of day, if you will. The best option you have is to take down as many hostiles as you can on your way to the funeral parlor - if nothing else, every hostile you take down is one that is unlikely to ever get all anti-social with someone else in the future.<br />
<br />
The key to doing this successfully is having made the decision, far in the past, just what the bar is for your personal final charge to glory - how bad does it all have to be before honor outweighs survival?<br />
<br />
Give it some thought, and then some prayer you never find yourself in a situation so fouled up that it becomes a practical consideration. Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-7257975903540893792015-12-24T09:11:00.003-08:002015-12-24T09:11:38.785-08:00GC's Rules of Serious Social InteractionLet's be really clear - I come at this from a lay perspective and my rules are based in that, not in years of gun-fighting, training, brawling or any of that other fun. I've been largely content to observe and learn from those who HAVE had those experiences, and the below is based on THAT and my own eccentric system of ethics and goals.<br />
<br />
YMMV.<br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><br /><span>1) Be where the trouble isn't.</span><br /><span>2) Failing #1, RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!</span><br /><span>3)
If, having failed at #1 and #2 being impractical for
medical/moral/practical reasons - swiftly prepare to open fire at the
center of what you can hit.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>4) Repeat as needed until threat abates. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>Saying bad words with greater or lesser vigor at any point in this ritual is entirely your choice. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>Often #1 is fouled by other considerations ranging from "the only decent cheese shop in town is in the middle of the hood!" on up to "I'll be damned if I'll be intimidated out of my own city." How rational those motivates may be is a question left for the reader. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>If one MUST violate #1, try to avoid playing Lady Godiva. Don't go skipping naked through the crime zone with a bag of gold in one hand while singing "tra-la-le, please victimize me." Either be the visually baddest of the badasses on the block (and able and willing to back that up), or strive to fade into the background or as C/W singer Ray Stevens puts it "I just lead a quiet little life, sing my little songs, and don't do anyone harm" as you do your thing and get the hell out. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>Option 2 is fairly self-explanatory. Running away doesn't work terribly well if you are medically fouled up, aged or are entangled with mini-humans (or other critters) you cannot morally abandon. Using offspring and elders as bear food ("you don't have to the fastest - you just have to be faster than the next one the bear is chasing") is frowned on in most societies. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>The third option is best employed when things have gone thoroughly to hell, quite possibly to the point where survival is no longer a likely option. At this point, MANY considerations go right out the window as the goal shifts from de-escalation and conflict avoidance to conflict termination and acquisition of a sufficient honor guard. *</span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span></span><span><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>A gun isn't a magic wand. Some folks take a whole lot of persuading when you are trying to educate them on the virtues of non-aggression and require repeated high velocity lessons. Sometimes hostiles bring their friends, who ALSO require additional education. Thus is the lesson of GC's rule #4. <br /><br /><i>*The notion that ones status in hell is determined by the number of enemies that one slays in ones final battle - your "honor guard." Often attributed to Robert A. Heinlein. </i></span></span></span></span>Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-57404451140061701342015-08-31T07:04:00.000-07:002015-08-31T07:04:09.169-07:00I ain't dead yet...Situational awareness.Just running the Red Queens Race, which sort of gets in the way of regular blog entries.<br />
<br />
Tam's post on <a href="http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2015/08/checks-watch-only-twenty-years-to-go.html" target="_blank">situational awareness</a> kicked over the writing thing for me though. Was down in Pioneer Square last week after being trapped in traffic and discovering a need for dinner - and the only surviving Cajun joint in Seattle is down there - and I like a real jambalaya.<br />
<br />
Now, historically Pioneer Square has been a tad rough around the edges. Its cleaned up a fair amount from the bad old days of the 19th century when hookers were dropping flower pots on the heads of passers-by, looting the bodies and selling said bodies onto the UW Med School of the day for use as cadavers.<br />
<br />
These days you just have the occasional shooting, stabbing, mugging and drunken brawl. It's become a combination of a social workers dumping ground and Frat Boy Central (with a few bars that would best be described as either catering to the late stage alcoholic or the super-annuated frat boy/girl trying to recapture their youth by re-enactment). Events are not unpredictable - you have a whole bunch of desperate and often addicted folks through whom you are dragging high-value and frequently inebriated potential targets. <br /><br />Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I was down there at Marcela's and it was a lovely summer evening - I'd finished my meal and decided to take a little stroll to work off the pecan pie. It was, after all, still light out and in general things don't get frisky till after sunset. Also, at 6'2" and reasonably well filled out many of the frisky seem to be of the view I would make a poor target.<br />
<br />
Walk was pleasant enough, but I realized a couple of things.<br />
<br />
1) I'd gotten too comfortable. I'm used to hauling my iPhone 6 around in a breast shirt pocket and semi-visible. Various skanky sorts wandered up to ask if they could "use it" - which had me firmly saying "no, but thank you for asking" while reaching for various tools with a reasonable degree of subtlety. In the future, phone carry position will be more discreet.<br />
<br />
2) This was the first time I'd been down to Pioneer Square *alone* in years. Alone seems to make a significant difference to the local predators. I think I will do any future solo Pioneer Square strolls closer to high noon, regardless of how lovely the evening.<br />
<br />
As Tam puts it - situational awareness is a constantly honed skill and it has a shelf life. If 95% of your existence happens around semi-safe locations in secure offices, malls, homes and other locations - you may have mal-adjusted assumptions and outdated data. <br /><br />It seems to me Pioneer Square is, yet again, trending friskier. Protocols modified accordingly.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-67807864724427174182015-06-21T14:31:00.002-07:002015-06-21T14:31:09.606-07:00Same sex marriage, Tolerance, MYOB, Get Off My Lawn & the ConstitutionAs we grind towards a SCOTUS decision on same sex marriage, various socially conservative folks and organizations are suffering from an epidemic of pants-wetting and chest-beating.<br />
<br />
In introduction, I'd point to the ever instructive tale <a href="http://www.abelard.org/e-f-russell.php" target="_blank"><i>"And Then There Were None"</i></a> authored by Eric Frank Russell in 1951 that introduced the term MYOB (Mind Your Own Business) to the language and, to a significant extent, the philosophical landscape.<br />
<br />
As with many things, MYOB is a multi-edged sword, as I'll explore later. Hang on tight...this may be a rough ride. <br />
<br />
I. MYOB<br />
<br />
Until quite recently (on a historic scale), government more or less ignored the notion of who got married to whom. After the Civil War a variety of anti-miscgenation (no interracial marriage) statutes popped up, and in the early twentieth century heyday of eugenics the whole marriage license thing (i.e., "folks are too stupid to decide who to marry on their own! Government MUST STEP IN!") popped up.<br />
<br />
However, beyond ensuring that participants in a marriage are competent and consenting adults entering into a civil contract of their own free will government has no legitimate role in deciding who can and cannot get married and its sole legitimate service is as a civil registrar and default adjudicator of disputed dissolutions.<br />
<br />
Civil marriage, essentially a rather convoluted contract between two competent and consenting adults<sup>1</sup>, is a legal construct defining the obligations, privileges and responsibilities of those engaged in it (who gets the kids, what happens to property, survivorship, tax and legal rights, etc) and is somehow recorded in an official manner.<br />
<br />
Some argue that even the default agreements defined by civil marriage should be dropped in favor of individually negotiated contracts of union, thus further lessening state involvement. See <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2015/06/06/alabama-republicans-kill-bid-to-scrap-marriage-licenses/" target="_blank">Alabama</a> for recent efforts in this area.<br />
<br />
The ethical argument is that civil marriage should be available to all competent and consenting adults, in such configurations as such adults believe will ensure their happiness - with neither subsidy nor penalty imposed by the state.<br />
<br />
Religious marriage is an entirely different kettle of fish - a private institution whose activities, within exceptionally broad parameters, are protected by the provisions of the First Amendment. When little matters (say, human sacrifice or the use of peyote as sacraments) do come up for legal debate, they are held up against the harshest form of constitutional examination - "strict analysis" wherein the state actor (usually the folks saying "No. Human sacrifice is NOT ok." or "Peyote is bad, m'kay?") have to sell the judges (or SCOTUS) on the notion that not only is there some kind of compelling state interest, but that the state solution to that "interest" is the least possible infringement on the right in question (here, freedom of religion).<br />
<br />
Religious marriage can be considered either a second layer on the wedding cake, or a second sheet cake set parallel on the table to the first. Churches have performed marriages not recognized by the state, Churches have performed marriages not recognized by other churches, and the states have sanctioned marriages not recognized by various churches.<br />
<br />
All well and good.<br />
<br />
Each faith, within those very broad limits, gets to do its own marriage thing - but that marriage thing, by itself, bears no legal weight. This is also all well and good. Just because a particular faith doesn't like it if a Jew and a Catholic get hitched, or two muslim dudes (or dudettes) tie the knot, or when a Wiccan and a Buddhist of indeterminate gender get married to each other - doesn't mean that those things shouldn't happen - just that a particular faith cannot be compelled to honor or celebrate such unions.<br />
<br />
Under such a relatively minor shift from our historic paradigm, everyone - more or less - wins.<br />
<br />
<br />
Also under the shield of First Amendment protections is the right of people to make statements either celebrating or denigrating either a specific marriage ("YAY!" v. "Jason and Maria - the syphilitic leper marries the sociopathic nymphomaniac, we can but hope they do not reproduce") or a group of marriages as an entire class ("Same Sex Marriage is Bad!", "Inter-racial Marriage is bad," or even "Marriage as a broad general concept is bad!") - and then have those who disagree vigorously respond with criticism and unkind words.<br />
<br />
<br />
II. You MYOB, too.<br />
<br />
MYOB is a game everyone can play. Just be cause you marry someone that - for religious, practical or many other possible reasons - I consider exceptionally bad for either you or for society (or both), doesn't mean I get to do anything more than kvetch about it (and I should probably hold my tongue and let you discover your errors on your own). As long as everybody playing the marriage game is consenting, competent and adult - it's none of my business. (Note that offspring and policy regarding same should be considered a separate argument). <br />
<br />
III. Not everyone does it your way, nor should they have to...<br />
<br />
Look. There are a bunch of different ways to do the marriage/family thing out there. So long as you start with competent and consenting adults - from a "does the .gov need to get involved" point of view, as a default you and yours should be allowed to go to hell in your own special and personalized way.<br />
<br />
IV. Legal thoughts from a lay person<br />
<br />
1) Yes. There are exceptions, with some states and nations permitting substantially sub-adult marriages. There are fights about "what's an adult?" and "what does competent mean???" and the ever popular "what's consent?" You'd think all these questions would be well settled, but no - even in the United States there are significantly different definitions for each of these terms.<br />
<br />
2) Isn't marriage, and regulation of it a state level issue? Yes, yes it is. But two factors come into play - "Full faith and credit" and the broader requirement that states act within the bounds of the U.S. and their state constitutions. And off we go to Federal court....<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>What would you propose? </b><br />
<br />
Get the state entirely out of the marriage business and limit their role to that of licensing and regulating private contract registrars (not unlike domain registrars), and beyond that dealing with the bad actors inherent to any situations where you have large numbers of humans interacting. Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-47919860779788398452015-06-21T14:09:00.001-07:002015-06-21T14:09:30.922-07:00A few thoughts on the special snowflakes....or "Are folks engaged in long arm open carry the particularly badly behaved drag queens of 2A?"<span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g" data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0"><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$text0:0">So.
Tell me how a bunch of drag queens showing up at a Catholic church and
mid-service throwing a major hissy advances the cause of LGBT rights? </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$text1:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$text3:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$text4:0">Or how would that same group of semi-theoretical drag queens, showing up at someones house, kicking in th</span></span><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text0:0">eir
door, and starting to do a full-out drag show in the middle of the
living room of a very startled resident improve LGBT relations with the
broader community and protect and restore LGBT civil rights? </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text1:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text3:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text4:0">Finally,
how would our same bunch of drag queens - now riding rental elephants
complete with golden howdahs - crashing the local St. Paddy's day parade
as a surprise participant improve LGBT rights/causes/etc?</span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text5:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text7:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text8:0">In
the first two cases, well before we would even have the discussion
"well, how does this advance the cause and why was it a very bad idea?"
we'd likely be having a lovely discussion of trespass on private
property and breaking and entry...only then to discuss "gee, tell me
again how this was such a great idea??" as the matter came up for
hostile discussion the subsequent year in Olympia. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text9:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text11:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text12:0">Any
of the above would be counterproductive for the LGBT community (to put
it mildly) and would merit (and likely receive) scathing criticism from
that community. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text13:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text15:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$text0:0:$text16:0">Something roughly equivalent, less the elephants & drag queens & golden howdahs, resulted in a Supreme Court decision (</span><a class="" data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$range0:0" dir="ltr" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/94-749.ZO.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/94-749.ZO.html</a><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text0:0">) making clear that not only does a group have a right to associate freely - but that it has the right to refuse to associate. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text1:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text3:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text4:0">This,
perhaps, was not the intent of the LGBT activists - to score a SCOTUS
decision effectively sanctioning their exclusion. This might, perhaps,
be a lesson for those in the 2A community. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text5:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text7:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text8:0">In
other words, a group holding a private event (we'll get back to that
shortly) has the right to insist on only admitting those it likes, that
display "proper attire" (whatever said group might think such is) or
persons that bring boxes of really good belgian chocolate. It may also,
barring other provisions of law, ban from their event any person or
class of persons the organizers feel either offensive or somehow
compromise the First Amendment protected message of the organizers. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text9:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text11:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text12:0">You
will note the above uses "group" - not "LGBT" group. This is a game
everyone can play, and was originally used to deny the right of a bunch
of the LGBT Irish folk the right to march or participate in the Boston
St. Paddy's parade - a private event. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text13:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text15:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text16:0">Now, to our next question - WhAT IS A PRIVATE EVENT!!!!???</span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text17:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text19:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text20:0">Now is a good time to grab an adult beverage and hang on tight. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text21:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text23:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text24:0">A
private event is some kind of event not sponsored or substantially
organized by any governmental organization or paid for with government
funds that has not been (for the most part, it gets a bit gray here)
publicized as a public event. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text25:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text27:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text28:0">As
long as said event is held on private property and doesn't somehow
violate other law(human sacrifice, as an extreme example, is considered
poor form no matter where or at what kind of event you propose to do it
at), participatory restrictions are pretty much fair game (consult your
attorney for the few and odd exceptions). </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text29:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text31:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text32:0">A
public event is *not* a private event. It happens when an event is
announced as a public event or, in most cases, is a government sponsored
thing (This comment applies ONLY to WA, and recognizes MANY
exceptions). A public event or activity sponsored by a private body is
still able to engage in some of the same restrictive practices that a
private event may lawfully enact, but not all. IANAL - it's easier to
"just not go there" and refrain from discriminating. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text33:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text35:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text36:0">In
WA, only Governmental bodies (specifically
state/county/muni/odd-critters) are completely barred from most forms of
discrimination - against gender/orientation/color/ethnicity/religion
and, under separate statute, the lawful carry of firearms within the
bounds of statue and precedent. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text37:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text39:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text40:0">Now,
the complex concept - you may believe (and even be correct) that you
have the right to do something. That doesn't mean that the "something du
jour" is a remotely good idea, isn't counterproductive, and might not
look an *awful lot* like a false flag from the hostiles - but you have
the *right* to do the "something du jour.*</span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text41:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text43:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text44:0">It
doesn't mean you should. It doesn't provide some kind of magic fairy
dome immunizing you against criticism, even harsh criticism -
particularly from those you claim to be helping who are in fact or
believe they have been injured by your "something du jour." And it
doesn't mean you have any right at all to demand support from those who
you neither consulted, actively derided or simply ignored if it doesn't
work out well.</span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text45:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text47:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text48:0">It
doesn't even mean that you are sufficiently festive in your "something
du jour" that others - who if consulted and/or respected might otherwise
have been neutral or even on your side - may not take steps
(legislative or otherwise) to neutralize what they see as an active
hazard to the well-being and rights of the community du jour (LGBT, 2A,
Square Dance Association...fairly universal rule). </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text49:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text51:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text52:0">When
that happens, everyone loses. Years long division that make working
together well night impossible are formed, which serve only to ease the
work of the hostiles (this is equally true whether we are talking
2A/LGBT/Warthog Breeders Association). </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text53:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text55:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text56:0">As
someone with a wee bit of knowledge and experience of both the LGBT
community and the 2A community - the LGBT community is "blessed" with
its fair share of do-gooding "we want it all right now or will accept
nothing" folks (aka "No Justice, No Peace"), and attention whores. The
2A community is equally blessed, heaven help us. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text57:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text59:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text60:0">Neither
community really benefits (beyond the "See crazy Uncle Sally over
there? The one with the torch and pitchfork? Would you rather work with
me or with him?" effect) from the non-consultative "in your face" my way
or the highway approach. It can be useful as a last resort, but even
then usually carries all kinds of backlash that can end up as a Pyrrhic
victory.</span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text61:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text63:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text64:0">The
position "because four OC folk were denied access to a small Pride
event I shall never again support gay rights for anyone" is a bit beyond
the pale. It means you would never be able to work with potential
allies, such as Pink Pistols. It means you would have difficulty working
with pro-gun Libertarian folks. It is extending ones foot, drawing ones
1911, and opening fire upon the extended appendage. It also fails a
fundamental concept of gun safety - target identification. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text65:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text67:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text68:0">A
far more productive approach might be to simply show up at the proposed
site of the 2016 event for a *obscenely early in the morning picnic*
with roughly a 100 or so of your best friends, OC'ing or CC'ing
pistols, while wearing Pride shirts or Pink Pistols shirts (PP does not
discriminate re orientation - if you shoot safely and not at them, they
simply don't care)...and simply decline - politely - to vacate as you
are present to attend a public event and to celebrate Pride held in a
public place. If pushed, retreat to surrounding sidewalks and begin to
pamphlet against bigotry. </span><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text69:0" /><br data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text71:0" /><span data-reactid=".1j1.1:4:1:$comment372756942930222_373132572892659:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$text72:0">Getting
inside folks heads can neutralize hostiles, befriend fence-sitters, and
build relationships that may be useful in pushing common causes
forward.</span></span></span></span></span></span>Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-57859996347681728642015-06-17T19:57:00.002-07:002015-06-18T14:17:14.085-07:00Guilt by AssociationFor some time now, the vast majority of "mass shooters" <s>have been some variant on "progressive Democrat"</s>, and for the most part tetched in some fashion.<br />
<br />
Does that mean we should round up <s>Democrats</s> <b>folks of a given</b> <b>political/religious/philosophical bent</b> and keep them in camps for the safety of the general public? Or that we should preemptively incarcerate all mentally ill persons?<br />
<br />
Of course not - but this is what our anti-gun opponents would wish on lawful gun-owners: collective punishment for the misdeeds of the few.<br />
<br />
Doesn't a tiny part of you whisper "What's good for the goose?"<br />
<br />
<i>[Alright. Since I wrote this post based on recollections of some articles from a few months back, it appears that the underlying assumption (or at least the provability thereof) that mass shooters skew (D) has been debunked pending further data. Mea Culpa. The fundamental theme, however, that individual bad acts are, in fact, individual and it is wrong to engage in collective punishment or tar an entire demographic with the actions of a few sick or evil persons remains. So there.] </i>Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-51881487604931793232014-12-04T05:30:00.000-08:002014-12-04T05:30:02.990-08:00Farewell, SeattleI don't shop downtown anymore.<br />
<br />
The guy that does my hair operates down there, and I'm still planning to see him - during daylight hours - but for the most part, I'm done. There are some splendid restaurants down there, but I can find adequate substitutes elsewhere. If I must, I can catch a weekend lunch.<br />
<br />
From stupid-high sales tax to miserable parking, from increasing street crime to de-policing and from prices inflated by a nanny-style city government eager to seize on the latest expensive PC trend - I'm done. <br />
<br />
The reality is there are less expensive and less painful choices at lower risk of encountering frisky street criminals - we call them "suburban malls" where parking is plentiful and free, prices are lower and the amount of hassle about what kind of bag you can have and how much the city will insist you be charged for the privilege of a bag to carry your merchandise in are simply non-problems.<br />
<br />
For the same reason I do my grocery shopping in White Center, I'm moving my shopping for other items to suburbia with only the occasional trip for exotica into downtown (the annual gathering of the Christmas Gag Gifts at Pike Place Market, for instance).<br />
<br />
Seattle appears eager to follow Detroit into the pit - I'm not eager to go along for the ride, or to fund it any more than I can avoid. Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-86964364944113335642014-12-03T06:30:00.000-08:002014-12-03T06:30:01.069-08:00Protest or Riot?As a former activist, I not surprisingly have a few thoughts...<br />
<br />
A protest involves a bunch of people gathering and expressing their views verbally, waving signs, making speeches and generally being a pain in the neck. It can be a force for good, a force for chaos, a force for evil - or some combination thereof. But what a protest doesn't include is breaking people and things (that is what occasionally happens to protesters, not what they do).<br />
<br />
A riot, on the other hand, is a bunch of folks that get busy about looting, arson, assault and the occasional homicide - and merits lethal response.<br />
<br />
I suggest that in many instances the Ferguson and Ferguson inspired melee's have crossed that critical line - and that the appropriate response to looters and other violent felons involves utilizing all force necessary to bring their criminal activities to a screeching halt.<br />
<br />
Free speech ends well before buildings are burning, witnesses are dying and the looting has begun.<br />
<br />
I suggest that things have a fair chance of getting *far* more festive if police are not allowed to step in and end this - soon. Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-86956500641843672042014-12-02T23:14:00.002-08:002014-12-02T23:14:47.430-08:00It concentrates the mind most wonderfully..<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>"When a man knows he is to be hanged...it concentrates his mind wonderfully" - Samuel Johnson</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>“Some wiseacre once said that the prospect of
death concentrates the mind wonderfully, but I’m here to tell you that
the chance to work for a reprieve concentrates it a whole heap more.” </b></span></blockquote>
Since January I've been dealing with cancer and cancer treatment, and with my initial diagnosis I should be pushing up daisies about now. Happily, round one of treatment was moderately successful and I am optimistic about round two....<br />
<br />
However, while cancer is a right bastard, it brought gifts even as it loomed in the wings....<br />
<br />
I've learned how many folks love me and support me. I've been blessed with friends and family and co-workers that support me even in my more dramatic moments. I've been granted (slowly, because it wasn't an easy lesson for me to learn) the opportunity to truly appreciate the Louis Prima song, "Enjoy Yourself!"<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JYpOb-PQyNg" width="420"></iframe>
There is a LOT of truth in that joyous ditty. None of us know when we're going to go, or (with certainty) how - but sometimes you get a wakeup call. Keeping on keeping on when your miserable and not accomplishing much isn't such a great choice - we only know with any certainty that we're going around but the once, and... well, the song says it better than I...<br />
<br />
Life's short. Don't throw responsibility to the winds, but don't forget to allow a bit of joy into your world.. <br />
<br />
<br />Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-25068717320381535322014-08-05T09:05:00.002-07:002014-08-05T09:05:07.835-07:00Need I really say more?<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OOgd9hitEAE" width="560"></iframe>Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-4414010506562403792014-08-01T06:59:00.001-07:002014-08-01T06:59:29.526-07:00Helping out the D.C. Council on Gun LawsDear Mayor Gray & Council Chairman Mendelson -<br />
<br />
I understand you've suffered some reverses with your regime of gun bans, confiscations and prosecutions. Palmer v. D.C., while unlikely to uproot a fundamentally flawed systems of elitist beliefs, must certainly give pause to any reasonable person committed to the rule of law. <br />
<br />
For good or ill, however, you have been granted a 90 day grace period to develop a set of gun laws for your jurisdiction that are, in fact, actually constitutional. This is not a disaster, rather, it is an opportunity.<br />
<br />
Look around at what has worked elsewhere in the country. Look to Seattle, a city of roughly the same population, and to Portland, OR (with somewhat lower population) and even to Salt Lake City - and look specifically at their per capita rates of violent crime (it is, after all, the number of injuries and deaths caused by unlawful violence that counts - not the mechanism by which those injuries and deaths are caused, barring a clear correlative relationship).<br />
<br />
I would offer, out of good will, the following as notions for a proposed ordinance:<br />
<br />
1: Recognizing that firearms on federal property are already thoroughly regulated by the federal government, the D.C. city leadership need take no action beyond passing what is essentially a revenue measure, duplicating federal statute.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"It shall be unlawful for any person to have in their possession any weapon on or in any federally controlled property where federal law bars such possession. Persons violating this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by not more than 364 days in custody and a fine not to exceed two thousand and five hundred dollars. This ordinance shall not apply to any person covered by the federal LEOSA statute, a member of the United States Military on active duty, any person honorably discharged from the U.S. Military nor any person holding a valid license from the political subdivision in which they are resident permitting them to lawfully carry a firearm."</i></blockquote>
<br />
2. Recognizing that "gun free zones" are, at best, historically counter-productive it should also be recognized that declared "gun-free zones" are best avoided.<br />
<br />
3. Recognizing under both evolving federal constitutional jurisprudence indicating that lawful carry of arms is a fundamental constitutional right and that further, in jurisdictions that while previously forbidding such that upon legalization of lawful carry of arms that blood has not run in the streets, that crime has not skyrocketed and that the sky has not fallen.<br />
<br />
Further, it not having been shown that living outside of the District makes persons uniquely evil or incompetent, and further that it is a reasonable analysis that issuing authorities in other jurisdictions are both competent and cognizant of public safety, it is reasonable to recognize the permits of such other jurisdictions and their political sub-divisions. Thus, the following carry ordinance is suggested primarily as a revenue generator:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"The Washington, D.C. Chief of Police shall issue to any citizen of the United States or a lawfully present alien therein not otherwise disqualified by federal law a permit to carry readily concealable small arms either openly or concealed about their persons in all places within the District not specifically forbidden by specific District ordinance or Federal statute upon payment to the Chief of Police of the sum of $150 and the successful completion of a background check or the passage of ten days from the initial application to the chief. The Chief shall have the authority to, in circumstances of unique risk to the applicant or their immediate family to grant an emergency permit to carry readily concealable small arms. </i><br />
<br />
<i>Further, similar permits issued by any of the United States, its territories or the political subdivisions of the States or Territories shall be recognized as being entirely valid within the District while the holders of such permits are either in transit through the District, visiting the District for periods of less than thirty days or while temporarily resident in the District for up to sixty days. Such permits shall also be valid for any federal elected official or their immediate staff who maintain a primary residence outside of the District."</i></blockquote>
<br />
4. Given that every known form of wrongful violence performable by humans with or without the use of small arms of any sort is already unlawful under numerous statutes, no further commitment of time or effort is required in this arena.<br />
<br />
The above measures and policy recommendations should serve the District well. Short of issuing hand grenades to the felonious population of the District, it is difficult what policy measures could do much worse than the status quo ante. Certainly, recognizing the right of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves from the criminal and the crazed as said citizens go about their lawful business seems unlikely to cause any great harm - other than to the criminals and the crazed seeking to prey upon them.Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-76020044388838776452014-07-26T20:33:00.003-07:002014-07-26T20:33:36.000-07:00One piece at a time....One piece at a time, but it sure did cost SAF a whole bunch of dimes and an awful lot of time. Palmer v. D.C. just came down and it's a lulu. Best I read it is that at least for now, Constitutional Carry is the order of the day in D.C. - till, say, Monday...<br />
<br />
When the D.C. Council probably meets in emergency session and has kittens. The decision would seem to *require* them to license carry outside the home, and to treat residents and non-residents just alike in the licensing process.<br />
<br />
Of course, if their actions after Heller and Chicago's after McDonald are any guide (and I think they are) they'll try and draw up the most offensive and expensive way to comply with the decision while thoroughly discouraging legal gun ownership and lawful carry.<br />
<br />
In any instance, we can thank the kids over at the Second Amendment Foundation and the Two Alans (Gottlieb and Gura) for a major victory that will likely open a lot of doors. Don't forget to send them a thank you card, maybe with something...nice, folding and green...tucked away inside. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, down in Florida the 11th Circuit belted one out of the ballpark with a decision that the Florida law (Doc's v. Glocks) was in fact constitutional and that health care professionals could not harass gun owners, pry about whether somebody owned guns unless it was for a clinically relevant reason and that they could lose their license to practice if they engaged in such misconduct.<br />
<br />
Not a lot of linky here (at least right now) but we'll see later on. <br />
<br />
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<br />Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-33493747149774013702014-07-15T18:00:00.000-07:002014-07-16T05:54:05.110-07:00All Bran Muffins<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is one I actually grew up with, or reasonably close - and now, when whimsy (or a little too much dairy) strikes I make up a batch... </span></div>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-vxAR8VnCy74e-OU0F37Xf98pvpEi9Z-pZYklcCg_hRmeAV-HjZ_37f206NVc3yH4yD0_2sF_427dSyPczDOwg6Y45BH1U5WqykmLk-nU1tH1tAu2bBg2guQW7jgw4JjCSEGbRhkx5g/s1600/all_bran_muffins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-vxAR8VnCy74e-OU0F37Xf98pvpEi9Z-pZYklcCg_hRmeAV-HjZ_37f206NVc3yH4yD0_2sF_427dSyPczDOwg6Y45BH1U5WqykmLk-nU1tH1tAu2bBg2guQW7jgw4JjCSEGbRhkx5g/s1600/all_bran_muffins.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">All Bran
Muffins</span></span></h2>
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<br /></div>
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Kellogg's all-bran cereal <br />
1 1/4 cups milk <br />
1 egg <br />
1/4 cup oil <br />
1 1/4 cups flour <br />
1/2 cup sugar <br />
1 tablespoon baking powder <br />
1/2 teaspoon salt</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Add egg
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well-buttered muffin pans.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bake at
400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until golden brown.</span></div>
Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-59278664304130053302014-07-05T09:28:00.001-07:002014-07-05T15:17:31.866-07:00A few thoughts on Seattle Pride 2014I'll both qualify myself and make clear that I'm not entirely objective about Seattle Pride right up front - I'm alumni. I've co-chaired a Pride here, run Safety (security) for one, led a wee rebellion against the organizers of another, and participated in the resistance to taking Pride away from its community (moving it downtown, away from our community and our businesses that need our support).<br />
<br />
For several years after Pride moved downtown, I got my Pride fix in Portland - because it felt more like a real Pride event nestled in its community rather than an artificial spectacle thrust into a sterile business district. I began attending Pride in Seattle again perhaps two years ago.<br />
<br />
This year was the first Pride I can recall where I felt concerned for my physical safety, and where I questioned whether (aside from the crowd on the sidelines) I was attending an LGBT event.<br />
<br />
Before the event started, a bunch of pseudo-Phelpsian semi-Christian anti-gay religious protesters were marching up and down the route, roughly two dozen strong - complete with megaphone carefully telling us we were all going to hell if we did not repent and spontaneously turn straight, celibate or both. This did not go over terribly well.<br />
<br />
They were unescorted by any sort of security or police presence, agents provocateur dowsing a crowd of roughly half a million with emotional gasoline and then playing with matches. <br />
<div>
<a href="http://instinctmagazine.com/post/seattle-drag-queen-stands-anti-gay-protesters-trying-disrupt-start-pride-parade-0">
<img align="right" border="0" src="http://instinctmagazine.com/sites/instinctmagazine.com/files/styles/large/public/images/blog_posts/Jonathan%20Higbee/2014/07/01/seattle_0.jpg?itok=D9tGBg8U" height="320" width="192" /></a></div>
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The crowd was unamused. However, when drag queen Mamma Tits and others stepped up and began to remonstrate with the undesirable, members of the crowd began to step off the sidewalks and form barricades against the interlopers and in support of the drag queens (this would've been in the third pass of the pseudo-phelpsians).<br />
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I've occasionally hinted to straight friends that "never screw with a drag queen" was a really good life rule, on the order of "don't leap from tall cliffs into spike lined pits." Neither one works out well.<br />
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DefCon 1 had, for a Pride Parade, been achieved and count down begun. (Suggested reading: <br />
<a href="http://instinctmagazine.com/post/seattle-drag-queen-stands-anti-gay-protesters-trying-disrupt-start-pride-parade-0" target="_blank">Seattle Drag Queen Stands Up To Anti-Gay Protesters Trying To Disrupt Start Of Pride Parade</a>)<br />
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500,000 angry folks - no matter how butch or nelly, and regardless of sexual preference or gender - are more than any police department, and certainly more than mall rent-a-cops - can handle. If that many angry folk suddenly decide to express their fury, proper police protocol *should be* "RUN! RUN FOR THE HILLS" as they won't accomplish anything other than getting themselves stomped flat.<br />
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Fortunately, someone suddenly had an epiphany - and like magic, a few bike cops appeared and escorted the hateful sorts from the route.<br />
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Things never should have been allowed to get to DefCon1 or nor should it have required an epiphany to keep downtown from burning.<br />
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Simple rule. Don't drive a crowd of 500,000 to fury or allow others to do so. Corollary rule: don't let other folks do that, either.<br />
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Riots don't start with an entire crowd suddenly being struck peeved...they start with 20-30 folks who've "just had enough" and a single punch thrown, drag queen shoved or just the wrong word used. If they are surrounded by folks sufficiently emotionally wrought up (with joy or sadness or whatever, it really doesn't much matter which) the riot tends to spread like wildfire.<br />
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I am confused by what to me seems like the negligent inaction of the organizers. That they didn't have their own internal security sweep these goons from the route, surround them or apparently request SPD to do either speaks to either vast ineptness, a complete ignorance of crowd dynamics or a degree of ideological blindness that should preclude them from ever again leading an event more complex than a kindergarten lunch line.<br />
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And then we have the Seattle Police Department, that large department going through the throes of <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023610869_policingdeclinexml.html" target="_blank">de-policing</a>, that merry process where front line officers stop showing initiative or enthusiasm. Instead, under de-policing officers simply serve out their shifts - rigidly following "the book", refraining from rushing to calls (after all, if they arrive while festivities are still in progress they might have to use *force* and be subjected to onerous procedures at high risk to their careers), do not initiate citizen contact unless a felony is clearly in progress directly in front of them (see last for reasoning), and stop volunteering for overtime (say, parade duty). Remote alleys become remarkably well-patrolled between calls, as do under-utilized parks and other areas not known for a measurable crime rate. <br />
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De-policing doesn't happen simply because a few officers think it would be grand mischief to commit a <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/darkbright/rants/mutiny.html" target="_blank">white mutiny</a>. It requires an otherwise well-organized organization of individuals of average or above average intelligence with a strong sense of self-respect and professionalism, and that such group of persons rightly or wrongly perceive themselves not only to have been wronged, but insulted. Crapped upon, if you will.<br />
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SPD has had a federal monitor imposed on it, foreign leadership solicited, been publicly derided and berated by their political superiors, harshly criticized by the press and placed under what many feel are deeply impractical constraints counterproductive to the departmental missions of crime suppression and keeping the peace. <br />
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A white mutiny is, shall we say, less than completely surprising. <br />
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The officers I saw at Seattle Pride 2014 were not engaged in preventative activity or any form of crowd control, were disproportionately in the closing years of their careers, and did not appear to be significantly athletic. They were quite successful at traffic control (blocking the route with amazing frequency to move Duck Tours/Metro/Sound Transit Buses across said route), but beyond that their presence was both the sparsest and the most subdued I've ever seen at a Pride event.<br />
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The failure to intervene constructively (escorting agents provocateur from the route) before the crowd became combustible would bear an amazing resemblance to de-policing or white mutiny. "Why yes, we were respecting their First Amendment Rights...right till the beatings began..." would be well inside that kind of approach, right along with "No, once the beatings began, there was nothing we could do without violating our Use of Force policy...."<br />
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Fortunately, someone with either sense or some remaining sense of professionalism intervened before it became necessary to make such excuses.<br />
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<b><i>"Gee, GC, that sounds like a really bad scene! But surely all else went well!"</i></b><br />
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Not so much. At the last moment, before things burst into flame, somebody clueful arranged for the Hatezoids to be escorted from the route...and the Parade kicked off...at 11 a.m. (remember that time).<br />
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Now, before folks get all festive and start screaming "MISOGYNIST HERETIC! MISOGYNIST HERETIC! READY THE STAKE!" let me be very clear that I love the Dykes on Bikes and their more recent and sillier iteration "Hooters on Scooters."<br />
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I love them as an individual - they are a proud tradition of joyous abandon that should lead every Pride Parade. I love them as a former organizer because, done right, 60+ screaming motorcycles will get folks off a parade route like nothing else imaginable - but they MUST go first down the route, with a certain amount of alacrity, or you will end up with overheated dead motorcycles all up and down your route. I even found the be-shirting to be rather depressing (whatever happened to electrical tape and courage?) and I am not noted for my enthusiasm for seeing hooters (especially super-annuated ones) waving in the breeze.<br />
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Dead motorcycles are bad - they kind of get in the way of a parade. <br />
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HOWEVER, it shouldn't take them half an hour to pass a given point. It shouldn't involve screaming motorcycles rolling up and down Fourth at what looked an awful lot like 50+ mph. And it shouldn't involve pedestrians (including children) waltzing through the middle of the motorcycle drill (thanks SPD! Thanks rented Pride security!). And while I'm clearly opposed to dumping a motorcycle into a crowd at *any* speed, I'm of the view that dumping a bike into a crowd while pushing 35mph is significantly less bad than doing so while pushing 50mph.<br />
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I've also observed that standing on the seat, rather than the pegs, while performing all of the above and waving ones ass in the air does not contribute significantly to improved control of the bike du jour. <br />
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Glad you're cute. Glad you feel cute. Glad you're free. Glad you're proud. Now, please don't kill us - not even by accident, not even with the best of intentions.<br />
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<b><i>"BUT SURELY GC, ALL ELSE WAS WELL!!"</i></b><br />
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Well...<br />
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This is where I return to my normal analytical mode when it comes to Pride. Because the exciting/scary bit pretty much came to a screeching halt (thankfully) with the arrival of the more sedate Hooters on Scooters and another 20 minutes of two wheeled drill (for a total of 50 minutes of such).<br />
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<b>The Parade was slow. Like a snail on quaaludes kind of slow. </b><br />
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The current system of selling the front end of the parade to the highest bidder with contingents of unlimited size has led to huge commercial and political contingents moving slowly near the front end that move *very slowly*. The Parade began at 11am - and was still going strong when I left at 2:30 p.m. No parade should *ever* last more than 3 hours. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>George Takei was a great Grand Marshal.</b><br />
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Well, of course. What did you expect?<br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
<i><b>The Parade felt...like a slightly festive SeaFair. </b></i><br />
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Yes. Between the commercial and political elements, and the various tedious governmental agency representatives the uniqueness of our community got washed out and lost - the drag queens, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the bar floats, the leather community, BOHGOF and the sense of community seemed lost; so dispersed as to be almost irrelevant oddities at the parade they founded and that claims to represent their community.<br />
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Bah. Humbug. Terror and boredom is *not* what a Pride Parade should be about. <br />
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<br />Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-50795054624007598082014-06-22T19:46:00.003-07:002014-06-22T19:46:33.818-07:00A gay bashing in NH<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">An acquaintance recently shared that he'd been verbally harassed for being gay at a business up in New Hampshire. He's a decent sort, aside from being regrettably liberal in his politics (many perfectly good folks are liberal and after life and experience, recover - moving on to a healthy libertarianism or some form of fiscal conservative/social liberal stance). Because I'm a rather wordy sort, I'll respond here and post a link. My comments are in bold.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">I was
the recipient of an anti-gay confrontation two nights ago which hit me
hard. I will post about it but quite frankly, I cannot handle all of the
well intentioned, "you should have's" that everyone will post.</span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"> I know
what I should have done. I should have verbally fought back or gone to
the police or demanded a response from the management. But I didn't. I
froze. I fucking froze. I continued<span class="text_exposed_show"> to
take the bullying and did nothing. And now I live with the knowledge
that "I could have" done something and didn't.</span></span></i></blockquote>
<b><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">I'm
sorry you had to put up with that sort of experience. But it happens -
we live in an imperfect world where bigotry persists, with the main
variables being how obvious and how physically dangerous any individual
incident of bigotry may be</span>. As a bonus, any verbal confrontation or resistance may, utterly unpredictably, devolve into physical violence - putting you at risk of hospitalization or worse.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Bigots (and bullies of other sorts) are predators, and when faced with a predator you have three choices as valid responses - fight, flight or freeze. All high-mindedness aside, when you've been designated as prey by these creatures (and usually there isn't a lot of clarity whether they intend emotional harm, physical harm or simply to drive you from their presence) it is deeply unlikely that educational efforts or reason will do you any good at all (or persuade them of the error of their ways). <br /><br />Flight is an absolutely great solution, if it still works for you (for me, it's more an exercise in comedy - run 100' or so and fall over gasping isn't a valid safety strategy, exactly). Fight, whether it is a verbal confrontation (and unless you are a hulking behemoth that can persuade the bullies/bigots du jour by your mere physical presence that physical interaction is a dangerously bad choice - verbal confrontation can escalate to physical with blinding speed and horrifying results) or a "right from the start" physical assault is the most socially beneficial strategy. </b><br />
<br />
<b>Regrettably, consideration of the realities of physical self-defense (particularly with *tools* to balance inequalities in physique, age, health and numbers) - which any rational person must factor into deciding on whether verbal confrontation is "worth it" - is both discouraged in the LGBT community (leading, all to often to well-meaning folks finding themselves in well over their head) and in the state of your recent domicile ("All I'm saying is that...we really try and discourage people from self-help." - Martha Coakely, MA Atty Gen. re the father who punched out the guy he caught <a href="http://massbackwards.blogspot.com/2008/07/massachusetts-style-justice.html">molesting his 4-year-old son</a>). </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>More pithily, "don't let your mouth write checks your ass can't cover" is almost always good advice, followed with equal pithiness by "when seconds count, the police are only minutes away." Police are dandy at investigation and prosecution - but usually arrive well after the fun is done and injuries are accumulated. You are responsible for your own safety and that of those you care for until the nice officers meander up to the scene. </b><br />
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<b>Finally, "Freezing" is what prey do - and unless you are lucky, can result in visit to hospitals or morgues. </b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> What started the verbal
assault against me? The aggressors were quite clear. They read my
license plate as I drove into the sandwich shop. It is "EQL MRG".
(Equal Marriage) and amazingly they got it. Then they saw my "rainbow
belt" which they called out as confirmation of "the type of person I
was."</span></span></blockquote>
<b> Outside of protected enclaves, even today, simply being ourselves is an act of courage. To do so deliberately defenseless and unable to effectively flee (whatever the reason) is either an act of courage, an exercise in near-delusional optimism, deep-seated ignorance or just plain old-fashioned dumb - or some combination of all of the above.</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> It wasn't even a rainbow, for god sake, it was a cotton green and
orange stripe. But that was all they needed. And what is even worse,
this happened in the town in NH that I was buying my house...directly
across the street. My real estate broker, who is gay as well, said
something as disturbing. He said, "Tom, you'll be registering your car
in NH. Get a regular license plate." Stiff upper lip is all I keep
telling myself. I am still shaking after two days.</span></span></blockquote>
<b> You can still go to the police and file a report. You can complain to management/ownership but realize that they are very likely nearly as powerless to intervene as you found yourself - recall that any confrontation (even by management) can get physical and create vast liability for the business (so can failure by the business to intervene, in a bit of a catch-22). The businesses best course if they observe that the behavior is objectionable and unwanted is usually to call the police - who on national average are a minimum of 11 minutes away. Swing your fist into a pillow - how long did that take? How does that divide into 11 minutes? </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>The societal benefit of fighting back, such as it is, is that it persuades bullies and bigots that we are not submissive and easy targets - and of calling bigots on their bigotry. Personally it's a little more complex - 10:1 are bad odds (so is 2:1, for that matter); pushing 50 and in ill health v. pushing 20 and built like an NFL tackle is also bad odds. <br /><br />You can tilt the playing field in your favor. But the choice to carry a weapon (and do so lawfully) is one that requires serious examination of your ethics and priorities, study of local law on use of force (not mandatory study in most areas, but deeply prudent) and ideally *quality* training (target practice AND training vastly superior to that required for a Concealed license). <br /><br />These are personal choices. You have my best wishes as you make them, and I am happy to either answer any questions within my expertise or pass you on to those brighter and more knowledgeable than I. And yes, I have contacts in MA that could help out if you choose to explore more active/effective personal safety strategies. <br /><br />Again, I am saddened that you had this experience - though unsurprised.</b>Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957892640057886950.post-12525963197825655902014-06-12T07:24:00.002-07:002014-06-12T07:24:15.304-07:00Iraq & the Middle EastBuilding an islamic super-state in the middle east run by a bunch of religious fanatics that stretches across the smouldering remains of Iran, Iraq and Syria is clearly not in the best interests of the United States, Western Europe or the resurgent Czarate of the Russian Federation with its multiple islamic occupied territories.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Middle-East-map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Middle-East-map.gif" height="222" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wikipedia</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That Turkey, a NATO alley, should become an isolated island of comparative sanity in the cauldron of religious fanaticism, tribalism and assorted madness that makes up the modern middle east is similarly not a good thing.<br />
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It's not such a great thing for the folks unfortunate enough to live there, what with being subjected to a regime run by fanatics operating according to a particularly bloody interpretation of Sharia law liberally sprinkled with rampant tribalism. <br />
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Having already included "abandoning Iraq according to a publicly announced political schedule" among its many foreign policy faux pas, the sensible thing for any administration with the brains that God gave a microcephalic duck and the morals of as good or better than those of the average rattlesnake to do would be to sigh heavily, mobilize and intervene on a massive military scale before we found ourselves compelled to do so anyway at far higher cost.<br />
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Instead we will likely see hemming, hawing, and self-stimulatory rituals performed by this administration even as an entire new set of killing fields emerges under a regime already alleged to be sponsoring mass be-headings in captured cities in northern Iraq. As women are stoned for the crime of being raped. And as LGBT folks are routinely executed for being LGBT folks.<br />
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Under the self-righteous narcissism of the current administration we are likely to see the occasional platitude, perhaps even a taking of diplomatic notice. But relief for the suffering, protection of our allies defense of fundamental human rights will have to wait for 2017.<br />
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Dammit.<br />
<br />Gay_Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11829842245704692674noreply@blogger.com2