winsor

I consider our invasion of Iraq to be an heroic effort to validate my observation that our only limitless resource is stupidity. That is about the only thing we could have hoped to achieve in the endeavor, and I think said goal was accomplished with flying colors.

I am not anything similar to a christian, and think putting a sick puppy to sleep is the humane thing to do. Your Hebrew sucks. The Mitzvah specifically proscribes murder, not killing per se. Other Mitzvot mandate killing. Also, what Jesus did or did not say is poorly represented in the Christian Scriptures, given that there are neither any first-person or contemporary accounts, and that such accounts as exist are heavily redacted. Could the Conservatives/Pro Death Penalty Christians please elaborate. I do not test out as a Conservative, am concerned about the "fair trial" and burden of proof part of our legal system and, as previously noted, am not a christian. I am, however, happy to elaborate. BSBD, Winsor

I love my son more than life itself, and cannot conceive of rejecting him over something like who he finds interesting when he hits puberty. That's really not my call anyway. My concern was best voiced by my brother's friend David, who explained his marriage as an act of denial, since "nobody wants to be a paraiah." If the kid wanted to undergo sexual mutilation to achieve some kind of "gender change," I would strongly advise against it. As "solutions" go, it seems something other than optimal. Anyhow, just because I am on the same page regarding homosexuality as Andrew Dice Clay ("I don't get it...") does not mean I value someone the less because something trips their trigger that elicits a dial-tone on my part. A good starting point in living an ethical life is "to thine own self be true," and one is no more likely to be an decent human being by virtue of being a breeder. My hope is that my son will remain an honest and considerate human being, and I can only try to set an example. If he turns out to be dishonest and inconsiderate that will wound me; if he turns out to be gay, that will simply puzzle me. BSBD, Winsor

When I was in Spain many moons ago, a youngster saw fit to apply paint to a wall - something to the effect of "Franco leaves something to be desired." The Guardia Civil came upon him, fired 32 some-odd warning shots into him, and drove off. This action was viewed in some circles as a tad harsh, but there were not a lot of volunteers to pick up where the kid left off. IIRC, Spain was remarkably graffiti-free at the time. BSBD, Winsor

And that twelve years ago was not. It was doing far better in 2000 than in 2008 after the Bush tax cuts. Deficit was minimal to non-existent too. Taxes are one issue; bringing Truth, Justice and the American Way to remote parts of the world did not help our balance sheet, either.

It must be nice to live in such a simplified world. I just have trouble shutting my eyes and plugging my ears that tightly. You have reaffirmed my confidence in the malevolent sanctimony to be expected from True Believers (tm). The contempt you engender is well earned.

It may appear that way to some, but the real message of the Bible is best read from the lives it has transformed from evil into a force for good. All else is just a bunch of words on a page. ... The usual gibberish, coming and going.

BTW you are off by two orders of magnitude it it not $6.60 it is $6600. you're telling us that a million dollars divided by 153,000 doesn't equal $6.60? Or are you really valuing Penn State football being so valuable that it's going to generate a BILLION dollars less revenue? I know it's a big program, but return to reality, please. Not to mention 1,000 is three orders of magnitude (count the zeroes).

Everything you attribute to "Christ" was penned by ghost writers who were unknown to him, and their work unauthorized by him. Their work was entirely without original source material. If one was provided with such a slapdash account of anything that was accorded barest modicum of skepticism, it would and should be rejected out of hand. When people desperately want to believe things, they fail to note patent falsehood. The Book of Mormon, for example, is one verifiable falsehood after another, but suspension of disbelief has it as the epicenter of a very successful cult. Same goes for Scientology, Christianity and Islam. What Jesus did or did not do, and did or did not say, has very little - if anything - to do with what is written about the subject. The record is garbled, contradictory and entirely suspect, and the various authors all had massive conflicts of interest. You then wave a magic wand over all this cobbled-together dreck and claim that by a "miracle" it has all become "the truth" (tm). Whatever.

Public health care is to health care what public housing is to housing.

I agree that guns can be useful last resort home defense weapons. So what are the first resort weapons? Harsh language and a cell phone? Real estate - put as much of it as possible between you and trouble. If you are alive to hear someone calling you a coward as you put distance between you and them, you are doing something right. Any time you have to resort to force of arms of any description, you are already in pretty deep kimchee. If there are three of them and you dispatch two before they kill you, do you win? If you put yourself and/or your family at risk in order to duplicate some Hollywood scenario, you have not thought things through. An armed conflict is a crapshoot, and it is ill-advised to bet the ranch on a single pass - regardless of how well you think you have the dice loaded in your favor. Two of the primary rules of combat are: A) Know when to get out of Dodge. And B) Know HOW to get out of Dodge. If you respond to a perceived threat by withdrawing and calling the Cavalry, your odds are about as good as they get. Making split-second life-or-death decisions within seconds of being awakened is an scenario you want to avoid. The cell phone is great for calling in reinforcements once you have reached safety. Whether the problem is an intentional home invasion, a drunk coming "home" to the wrong address or an unexpected family member, you are much better off getting clear and having a trusted LEO sort things out (as a homeowner where I live, one gets the benefit of the doubt - that is hardly universal). If you EVER have to pull the trigger in an armed conflict, trust me, your life will change irrevocably, so I advise doing everything possible to exercise every other available option first. BSBD, Winsor

Note: The .44 Remington Magnum is WAY supersonic. You have to load it to .44 Special ballistics to get below Mach 1, particularly out of an unvented rifle length barrel. It depends greatly on the cartridge and shot placement. I have heard of a "golden BB" shot into the optic nerve channel with a .22LR that dropped a Kodiak, and a Black Bear skull was found with 1 1/4 oz. #4 shot HEALED in the nasal cavity, apparently from taking a full-patch 12 ga. field load point blank in the face. The firearms I have on hand which I am confident I could use to great effect against a Brown Bear - assuming I could get off a shot before being eaten - are .45/70, .338 Winchester Magnum, .458 Winchester Magnum and .460 Weatherby Magnum - all with the right bullets. The .45/70 is a fast handling brush gun, while the others are all MOA heavy hitters. As an aside, the .460 was used by its former owner to dispatch a wounded, charging Cape Buffalo with three rapid shots, any of which were fatal. Mbogo piled up at his feet, which tells me that, in addition to being a brilliant snap shot, he was also phenomenally lucky. It's kind of like getting line stretch in time to avoid impact - you're within the margin of error. FWIW, I have no interest in going up against charismatic megafauna. If they're willing to leave me alone, the feeling is mutual. BSBD, Winsor

Pretty much all of them do. The rub is if the jump is "intentional." If, of course, you were to wear a single parachute because you are simply terrified of flying, that would be entirely acceptable. If, in your highly agitated state you have a communications problem, where the pilot said "nice weather, eh?" but you thought he said "OH MY GOD, WE'RE GOING TO CRASH!," it would be perfectly understandable for you to jump immediately. When the pilot lands and says "has anyone seen my passenger? He got upset and jumped," nobody could blame him. "That parachute is for emergency use ONLY!" "Well, it was an emergency to me..." BSBD, Winsor

Whoah, where does he come off slandering honest, hardworking Communists? They have a tough enough row to hoe without being linked with the likes of Democrats. He definitely owes the Commies an apology.

IIRC, the .30-30 runs at about 40,000 CUP, the same bracket as the .44 RM, so your in the right ballpark. The fact that there is a factory version of the .44 RM 94 Winchester, with no modification of the frame, suggests that the rifle itself will handle the load. I have a Rossi M92 in .44 RM, and it has no problem digesting anything I can load, despite having a much less solid lockup than the 94. As far as being safe with modern rounds, I wouldn't sweat it. SAAMI pressure maxima allow for use in early Model 29s and whatnot that are a sight less sturdy than the Winchester. For a rifle you are using in the boonies, my concern is reliability. Being an apparent conversion, I would like to rule out any tendency to jam. You should be able to load any mix of .44 Spl. round nose, Keith-style SWC, Remington JHP or whatever else you can lay your hands on and have it digest them without a hitch. FWIW, if you have to use it on an Alaskan Brown of any description, you will find it marginal for the task. I consider the .338 Win Mag the bare minimum if you cannot manage to stay well clear of Yogi and Boo Boo, but might consider my 1895 Marlin in .45/70 in a pinch. A .30-30 or .44 RM beats harsh words - but not by much. Anyhow, I suggest you get very familiar with the rifle before you leave, and lay in massive amounts of ammo to stay very, very current. Oh, and have fun with it. BSBD, Winsor

That's interesting, because that's exactly how I felt just prior to my conversion...like a mom dragging a kid out of a toy store without buying anything. But now that I'm here...It's not so bad after all, eh? Good point. Reality is overrated.

It probably will not be a surprise for you to learn that in six years of college and university education, I cannot recall ever having one formal course in logic. The subject was referred to here and there of course. In that case, it is likely that the bulk of what you think is Logic is anywhere from slightly to completely wrong. For example, when someone says disparagingly that something is "just semantics," they are often overlooking Semantics' key role as the study of meaning in the attempt to claim something meaningless. Similarly dismissing Rhetoric, the study of argument (and no, I do not mean the Monty Python variant) and its structure, can serve to bolster a good deal of nonsense. Logic is math, pure and simple. It is not "good" or "bad" in and of itself, but its applications are broad. A particularly good treatment of the subject is Introduction to Logic by Irving M. Copi; it is comprehensive, but not intended to be a light vacation read. A perusal of Wikipedia entries on the various subjects would cover the bases, but there is a lot to be said for following a through treatment from soup to nuts. For a Logician to hear people's idea of "Logic" is akin to a Parisian hearing someone say "pardon my French." There is more to it than just a turn of phrase. BSBD, Winsor

These folks that claim to have no faith puzzle me and have kept me in a quandary for a several years. The only explanation I can deduce is that the faithless have never taken a true risk. That is to say they have never ventured further than what their own minds could conceive possible. One of the key concepts of Logic is definition. There are various types of definition - lexical, legal, technical, precising, and so forth - such that two people can be using the same word without ever touching on the same subject. Thus, when you use the term "faith," it is with a specific meaning that you do not take care to denote. One can be completely devoid of superstition and still be capable of many versions of "faith." Faith can denote confidence without ever crossing the line into belief. One example is, say, skydiving. One need not believe in Odin or Gichimanitou to have faith that their properly packed parachute will operate properly if given the opportunity to do so. Does one take a "real risk" in relying on said faith? You bet your life. This statement demonstrates a profound lack of comprehension of what is Logic. The fact that you use an electronic computer to post such a claim is exquisitely ironic on many levels. It demonstrates faith in applied logic on an operational basis. BSBD, Winsor

The costs associated with pitching Obamacare are akin to warnings not to induce vomiting on some household poisons. Just because further damage may ensue by immediately expelling the toxin does not mean that it is good for you. One would be as well advised to avoid swallowing either the caustic household chemical or the "solution" to health care woes that was rammed down our collective throat. First off, the health care system in the U.S. is badly broken. Having said that, Obamacare is anything but a fix. Rather than addressing any of the real issues we face, Obamacare serves to exacerbate the worst of them, while creating other problems we did not yet have. The political parties in this country take turns showing how badly they can fuck things up, and it's often a tie. Invading Iraq is admittedly hard to top as blunders go, but Obamacare certainly ranks as a world-class exercise in dunderheadedness. Regardless of who gets elected in this go-around, we are beyond screwed. BSBD, Winsor

So, what are you proposing should happen to him? What is the alternative? 47th trimester abortion.

Not hedonistic, just simple logic. If the after life is better, then why not just get on with it now? A hedonist would say, "Give me more pleasure, because that is the only intrinsic good." But isn't that exactly what you all describe heaven as? If it's anything less than pleasurable, why would I want to go at all. And if it is a good thing, then why would anybody suffer this nonsense on earth? Why not just go now? And if God has some rule against that, then why does he want me to suffer? What kind of God is that? As Popeye would say, it's a myskery.

that the same world that considering the UK the butt buddies of the Americans? Tony Blair and George Bush shared the same brain. Oh, bullshit. Just where do you come off claiming either Tony Blair or George (W) Bush had anything to do with a brain - not to mention having one in common? I find the suggestion offensive that people who so gloried in ignorance would sully themselves with anything so pedestrian as a brain.

AR-15s remind me of schnauzers. (Which rhymes with Mausers - go figure.) Col. Cooper referred to them as "poodle-shooters."

I really don't know. I suspect there is no "solution" per se. As you note, one does not need a firearm to cause a real problem. Putting nutcases in looney bins sounds good, but totalitarian organizations (completely unlike the good old US of A, mind you) have been known to abuse the hell out of such policies. The balancing act between public safety and individual rights is a tough one. TSA is much more of a threat to our way of live than Al Qaeda could hope to be. Though I still like "Inglorious Basterds," the screening in Colorado leaves me feeling sick. BSBD, Winsor

I saw a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac...