winsor

I dunno. I have never made if past about 10 seconds of any 'reality' teevee show, so I can only guess what it would be like to watch one.

You have a fascist frontrunner of the Republican Party defending anti-constitutional policies on National TV and neither you nor your buddy Rush have condemned the statement. Yet, here you come on this 100% partisan issue and make comments. I think that says enough. Fascism, though associated with the Austrian Corporal, was actually the brainchild of Benito Mussolini. Though The Donald has precious little in common with the backgrounds of 'The Leader' (Il Duce in Italian or der Führer in German) of either groups, his bombastic nonsense is remarkably similar. He strikes me as being less like his Austrian counterpart's tendency to tantrum - laden diatribes than to the Italian's bullying bravado. While I make no apologies for my loathing of Islam, I am not on board with the suggestion that such discrimination should be institutionalized. Such policies are, ironically enough, typical of Sharia, and it is hard to criticize something that you espouse. The fact that such a candidate is the front runner in any major party speaks badly for where we are as a country. Having said that, Hillary Clinton makes Tricky Dick Nixon look like a study in good natured honesty, so I think we're screwed either way. BSBD, Winsor

Anyone who was a Boy Scout understands the principle of "Be Prepared."

So therefor it shouldn't be marketed or produced at all? Make both, and have the opportunity to pick the one that's appropriate. Having followed this thread, it seems that the problem with "smart" firearms is not so much the technology involved as it is the enlightened legislation associated with its implementation. I think it was 60 Minutes that did a piece on it. The problem appears to be that, once a new, improved technology is commercially available, anything that does not include this wonderful new advance is immediately and harshly proscribed. The problem is then that by marketing the new technology you screw anyone who does not choose to adopt it. The death threats should be treated as criminal; the closest I ever come is to hope that, say, Diane Feinstein should choke on a chicken bone. The issue is not freedom of choice. If it was, there would not be a problem.

Which generally makes the weapons significantly harder to acquire and/or not as effective. Both a deterrent in the long run. What frightens me is the prospect that firearms will be made as illegal and unavailable to malevolent types as, say, heroin and cocaine.

Why not? The safer table saw is significantly more expensive, yet there is a market for it. Why should that preemptively be stopped for guns? I could imagine that as a parent with young kids in the house, you may want to spend more money on a gun that can only be fired by 1 specific person. I have a table saw of the older, careful operation required, variety. I could not justify the price of the fantastically safe version for the amount of use it gets. There is a "no guns" policy at my house. We are not so much worried about the kid getting shot as him telling the wrong person "my mom keeps a Webley Fosbury Automatic Revolver in the kitchen - it's really cool!" and having the place broken into by someone whose interest in collectible firearms was piqued. Having him want to show off something he thinks is cool is a bad idea as well. Luckily he can't kick start the Harley yet. BSBD, Winsor

Judaism is a tribal identity with traditions based on Bronze Age superstition. One can be an atheist and still a Jew; rather a few observant Jews and Rabbis are atheists. The track record in family records is, indeed, one of serious dysfunction, and I do not recommend using it as anything but a set of bad examples. BSBD, Winsor

I see what side of the long running dispute you are on. There is any dispute? Only by the uninformed, I am sure. Sure is, actually the Belgian claim is pretty unlikely. It would involve poor people experimenting with very expensive product. In Belgium, if you try something and it does not work, take a more unlikely approach. Often, when you get it to work it is by going full batshit crazy. If the Belgian claims seemed plausible, they would not be likely. Welcome to Belgium.

I see what side of the long running dispute you are on. There is any dispute? Only by the uninformed, I am sure.

Kind of like American Patriotism. You are either with us, or against us. Freedom fries baby! Pommes frites are BELGIAN! Freedom fries? Bah!

It seems rather a few of the more popular terrorist organizations claim to be strictly for prophet, come to think of it.

Religions are all communicable forms of mental illness. Some are more virulent than others, and Islam pins the meter. I am not defending the pathology of any of the descendants of Abraham. At least those inbred familial malfunctions are not touted for general consumption.

Yeah you may think that. But I don't think the US is far away from having widespread support for restricting the 2nd amendment for Muslims or those that look like it. I think listing Islam as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center would be a start. If Germany was to compare the Koran and Mein Kampf (it's hard to say which is worse), they would treat Islam the same as Third Reich nonsense. This is to say that if you are followers of either, you can be put in the slammer for failing to keep it to yourself. There are movements of Islam whose proclamations amount to criminal conspiracy and/or treason, and those that don't meet that standard come close. Don't get me wrong, the Cult of the Magic Jewish Zombie is not much better - if at all. If you consider that the Tanakh is but a compilation of superstitious Bronze Age lore of a big, dysfunctional family, it falls into a slightly different category. Most Rabbis of note take it with a grain of salt, and more than a few are functional atheists. Islam? Religion of peace my ass. They are all followers of a perverted psychopath (or psychopathic pervert, if you prefer), and the Koran ("recital") does not give ANY leeway in adherence to the faith. You're either on the bus or off the bus. BSBD, Winsor

Have you forgotten Mali, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, The Philippines, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, hell even China has extremest Muslims... In all of these countries there have been attacks. This is literally a global problem. Islam is one of my least favorite forms of communicable mental illness. If it weren't for its tendency toward fecundity, its virulence could be limiting. Perhaps its inherent malevolence is its greatest selling point to those who gravitate to evil posing as virtue.

No. Anyone who expects Obamacare to be viable would do well to study arithmetic (not a required subject at Harvard Law). Running the numbers is enlightening.

I saw a video on TV news of someone being shot (once with a 9mm) for refusing to drop a knife, and considered it a display of rank amateurism on the part of the cop. A taser would have done the trick with no risk to law enforcement of the population, and I know a few cops who would have disarmed the hell out of the guy with a PR-24. This incident was downright obscene. One round to drop the kid would have been excessive. Using his prostrate body for target practice thereafter should land the badge carrying perp behind bars for the rest of his life. Anyone who participated in protecting the criminal in blue should become a civilian immediately. This is the kind of behavior that gives third world law enforcement a bad name. BSBD, Winsor

It's like saying I prefer cholera to plague. I do not mean to speak highly of either.

My reaction to people wearing Muslim regalia is the same as my reaction to people wearing swastikas. If anything, Nazis have more to recommend them. BSBD, Winsor

The training I provided was to use one syllable, either 'freeze!' or 'halt!' as you prefer. If they turn and run away while their hands in plain sight, let them go. If they turn away and you lose sight of either hand such that they could be reaching for something, shoot to stop. You can not afford to find out if they were reaching for a cell phone, a pocket bible, a Lorcin 9mm - or they just had an itch they wanted to scratch - if they then turn around. The whole Michael Brown thing is nonsense. The fact that he was not armed is immaterial - if Dick Butkus (or his modern equivalent) was coming at me with malice and aforethought, while ignoring the threat of lethal force in the process, I would be impressed if he could be dropped before ripping me apart. I have one advantage that the cop in Ferguson did not - I can ethically run away as rapidly as possible. I could then call 911, and the cop who responded would not have that option. Of all the cops I know, not one does not dread having to resort to lethal force, and those who have had to do so have nightmares about it. When unsuccessfully attacking an armed individual, the cause of death is effectively suicide. Give it a rest. BSBD, Winsor

It seems like the Republicans no longer even need to hide behind the "dog whistle", they just say it straight out. Okay so the Republicans are certified fuckheads. It would be nice of the Democrats were willing to be outdone on that score.

Since reports have had potential jihadists coming across our Southern border, I read the title as "Progress and Wetbacks in the War on Terror." My bad.

You're on to something. Obama did mention campaigning in all 57 states. 60, actually. There's the State of Confusion, State of Fear, Solid State, State the Obvious...

Mit Vergnügen

In the Holy Roman Empire there were occupations that were forbidden to Jews, and those that were forbidden to Christians. It wasn't a matter of what one wanted, it was the law.

Why not do it again? They might have had a good reason then, there might be a good reason again in future. A little bit of background. German forces, during the Ludendorff Offensive came tantalizingly close to defeating the allies in 1918, and among the key reasons for the armistice were the strikes and riots in Kiel. These strikes and riots were organized by Communists, who were, in fact, largely Jewish. Communism itself was an outgrowth of Ashkenazi Judaism, where survival in the Pale depended on a collective society. This worked fine for Jews in the East, but not so well in Western Europe. There was a huge difference in perspective between largely assimilated Jews in Western Europe and those who came there from Slavic areas. By the time Germany was printing Deutsche Mark notes in denominations starting in the billions, the population had been subjected to periods of starvation, by seriously annoyed adversaries, on and off since the Great War blockades. Accounts are spotty, and getting accurate data on how many died of starvation and starvation related issues is difficult, but any metric is in the hundreds of thousands, with a high approaching a million. After the collapse of the Mark, Germany was a net exporter of food. If you did not have hard currency, you did not buy any. If you had goods that had inherent net worth, you were okay. Jewelers, goldsmiths and the like, and people who kept their funds in a form that could be easily transported, like gold and silver coins, could buy all the food they wanted. These people were often Jews. Even though there is a tradition of feeding the hungry in Judaism, when trying to weather the storm for one's own family, the amount that could be spared for the starving families in the neighborhood had little effect. Thus, the standpoint of people in the '30s who had not quite starved to death in the '20s went a little like this: A) We damned near won in 1918, and YOU ASSHOLES stabbed us in the back! (slightly true) B) We did not surrender, we marched home UNDER ARMS! (true) C) We were starving, and I had to watch my family members succumb while YOU ASSHOLES were well fed, warm and well clothed. (kind of true) D) Payback is a motherfucker. (all too true) Were there Jews that fought and died with the best of them in German trenches? Absolutely, any deutsche Soldatenfriedhof has graves with Magen David proportional to the Jewish population of Germany at the time. Did this make up for the perceived treachery of Jews. Not hardly. Was the Holocaust justified? It kind of depends on who you ask. An unfortunate reality is that there are only two kinds of people in this world, Us and Them. When any group seeks to differentiate themselves, even for the best of reasons, they set themselves up to be defined as Them at one time or another. When push comes to shove, and the decision must be made if Us or Them will prevail, I'm afraid Them will lose. Nothing personal. BSBD, Winsor