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STFU FOP

Asshole Cops, Government Thugs

Here’s one snippet guaranteed to raise my ire:

The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), together with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), sent a letter to Congress urging them to reject national reciprocity for concealed carry.

The legislation, H.R. 38, is sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson (R) and would treat the concealed carry license of any one state as valid in the other 49.

H.R. 38 is titled the “Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.”

According to the FOP/IACP, “The legislation exempts any person with a valid photographic identification from state or local firearms law who asserts that they are lawfully carrying a firearm under the laws of their own state of residence.”

They claimed that national reciprocity for concealed carry would impact officers’ safety, and it “jeopardizes qualified immunity.” Concerning the latter, they wrote, “Qualified immunity protects officers from civil liability unless they violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights. Any action the officer may take in reaction to the knowledge that the person they have encountered is armed could place that officer in very real legal peril.”

Yeah, well fuck you.  If a state-issued driver’s license is valid (under the Constitution ahem), then so should firearms carriage, if it’s lawful in the traveler’s home state.

Basically, what your organizations are saying is that you cops should be the only ones carrying guns.

Sorry, but that’s not how it works.  Under the same Constitution — which, lest you pricks have forgotten, is something you swore to uphold and protect, despite the possibility of personal danger — We The People have the right to keep and bear arms.   Whether in their home state or not, and whether or not it frightens you.

The fact that some states (and their little minions) behave contrary to the Constitution is irrelevant, and your pathetic fear of armed citizens ditto.

As a general rule, I’m on the side of law and order, but not when it comes to my rights.  So STFU cops, and your bosses likewise.  (Just the word “International” in the chiefs’ organization title grates on me.)

And lastly, you bastards have been abusing your “qualified immunity” for too long anyway, and you deserve to lose it.

Mispronunciation

Grammar Nazism

Just for the hell of it, I’m going to dive into the murky waters of proper pronunciation of words, using this stupid article as a kick-off:

Experts from Unscramblerer.com have revealed the UK’s most mispronounced words.

‘Our research about the most searched for mispronunciations gives an interesting insight into United Kingdom’s culture,’ a spokesperson for the site explained.

‘Exposure to new words through media, music, pop culture and social platforms drives curiosity.

‘People often look up pronunciations if there is a gap between how a word or name is spelled and how it sounds.’

Yeah, well if we’re talking about actual English, fair enough.  But then the idiotic writer lists a few words that aren’t actually English but Gaelic, and they’re names withal — which means I don’t care if I’m mispronouncing them.  (If people want to foist on their children names that contain more vowels than consonants, or vice-versa, they should either stay in their home country or accept the fact that outside fucking Ireland, nobody will know how to pronounce Naimh, Saoirse, Eowyn or Aoife.)

I think David Mitchell has the right idea.

Even better is that when it comes to foreign words used in English, the article contains one egregious example of silliness.  I refer here to the word “gyro”, which according to the DM is supposed to be pronounced “yee-roh” — except that it isn’t.  The proper pronunciation is “chee-ro”, the soft ch consonant pronounced as in the Scottish word for lake, loch  (and not lock, either).  I will confess to using yeeroh  on occasion, but only because the person to whom I’m speaking may not know what the hell I’m talking about, and the essence of communication is that the other person can understand what you’re saying.

And I don’t want to talk about gyros anymore, because just the thought of that peppery grilled lamb meat stuck in a soft (never crispy — that’s Mexican) pita bread with tzatziki sauce and tomato makes me want to eat a dozen of them.  (Back in my pro musician days in Johannesburg, there was a little Mediterranean snack bar called the Paradise Restaurant which sold said delicacies on a 24-hour basis and which were my staple after-gig food.  Great Caesar’s aching stomach, how I miss them.)

Where was I?  Oh yeah, pronunciation.

Until quite recently, I didn’t even know what this “acai” stuff was;  I thought it was some kind of vegan shit.  Also, “Qatar” is some oily Muzzie shithole that one flies through en route* to somewhere decent, so I don’t give a rat’s ass how it’s “properly” pronounced.

And if you don’t know how to say the word “spaghetti” then you shouldn’t be allowed to vote.

*that’s “ahn root” and not “ehn rowt”, you fucking peasants.

 

Who Are They, Again?

Illegal immigrants

I see that the Fish-Eaters wrote something called a “pastoral letter” telling their fellow-travelers that we shouldn’t be deporting illegal immigrants.

Of course, being the modern-day Catholic Church, they couldn’t do that without resorting to a big fat lie, i.e. that ICE is deporting people “indiscriminately”, which of course they aren’t.  In fact, it’s amazing how precisely-targeted ICE deportations have become, going after the convicted criminals as a first priority.  In this, they have been quite successful, ridding the country of a motley collection of rapists, thieves, murderers, drug-dealers and child-traffickers, to name but some of the more egregious criminal career choices.  That along the way ICE has also scooped up some lower-level miscreants — illegal immigrants who’ve only committed that one crime — is not something to be deplored, despite the ecclesiastical wails of the Catholic bishops.

And it didn’t take long before there was an official response, delivered as it happened by a lifelong Catholic.

Glenn Reynolds is of the growing opinion that it’s time to abolish the tax-free status of all “nonprofit” organized institutions, and I’m very much in agreement.  Given how much the various buffet options of Christianity have supported, encouraged and enabled the mass influx of illegal immigrants — Catholics, Lutherans, whatever — I wouldn’t have a single problem if Congress were to pass a law not only prosecuting such efforts, but fining the organizations with proportionate sums to compensate the states for the expenses of providing said illegal immigrants with education, housing and welfare.  (California, New York, Illinois and those of that ilk would be welcome to turn down such penalty income, but I bet they wouldn’t.)

We’ll see how long the various churches would continue this nonsense as their bank accounts rapidly emptied.

Not even the Vatican is that wealthy.

Thursday Landscapes

Travels

London through a rainy bus window, 1997

Apologies for the quality of the pics, but digital photography was in its infancy back then.  My camera was a Sony Mavica, which saved the pics onto an actual CD-RW.

I don’t remember the photo resolution, but compared to today’s standards it was pitiful.  Still, it was the best available at the time.

November 19th Reminder

National Ammo Day

Not that I think anyone sitting on my back porch needs any reminding — and of course, to us every day is Ammo Day (depending on the state of one’s wallet).

But why not a little extra splurge on some gun-fodder?  How can it hurt?

And here are a few suggestions (not recommendations, because of course I get no kickbacks):

Georgia Arms, Lucky Gunner, Gman, FastAmmo, Ammo ASAP, Sentry Ammo, Ammo.com and so on.  Feel free to suggest your favorite outlet in Comments.

OR — and here’s a thought — you could always swing by your local Merchant Of Death store and drop him a few bucks to help keep him in business.  That’s what I’m going to do, later today (hello, Plano’s Gun Master!).  Yeah, it may be cheaper to get ammo online.  But nothing beats the feeling of getting some ammo in your hands, right now.

Ask me how I know this.

Random thought:  why not get yourself just a box or two of ammo that you’ve never fired through your favorite gun before?  My example of what I’d like to try in the old Browning 1885:

Ending It All

Old Age

I remember reading David Niven’s wonderful autobiography The Moon’s A Balloon, back when I were but a callow yoof, and being saddened by Niven’s story about the brilliant actor George Sanders.

Sanders declared that at age 70 he would commit suicide, because “my cock will have stopped working, my memory will be fading and all the joy will have gone from my life.”  And he was true to his word.

The above was sparked by reading this article:

The Kessler twins — a German entertainment duo who became famous both in the US and throughout Europe beginning in the 1950s — have died at 89 after choosing to end their lives together.

The singing and dancing sisters reportedly died together in their home in Grünwald, near Munich.

The Kessler twins once were known for making the rounds on American talk shows and performing with multi-hyphenate entertainment giants, including Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Sammy Davis Jr., among other stars.

Apparently, the sisters ‘no longer wanted to live’ and ‘had chosen to end their lives together.’ 

Here they are back then:

As I said, back in my youth I would not have understood that feeling, that life had passed and now needed to end.

Now, on my 71st birthday, I can understand that feeling a whole lot better.

Before anyone starts reading something else into that statement, let me assure you all that there’s no cause for alarm.  My health is excellent — not just for a septuagenarian, but for a man of any age, my doctor reassures me — and I still have some unfinished business on Ye Olde Bucquette Lystte (patience, Salma).  Please do not concern yourselves.

I truly understand how George Sanders and the Kessler sisters felt — but I don’t feel that way for myself.

We can revisit this topic, however, when I turn 90.