Friday, February 01, 2013

SCANDALOUS PHOTO: Most Dangerousest Assault Weapon Evah

What kind of madman dreams up a weapon like this?

USB key, ballistic calculator, pill bottle sights, shoulder thing that goes up, snorkel silencing device, forward grip, 120-round high capacity snake magazine.

Dangerous… we need to keep these out of the wrong hands.

An assault magazine with compensating suppressor? How can these still be LEGAL? DOES DIANNE FEINSTEIN KNOW ABOUT THIS???


Hat tip: BadBlue Guns.

HARRY REID TO DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Sorry, Grandma, But the Dog Ate Your Assault Weapons Ban

I'll give the Democrats this much: they rarely engage in internecine warfare. But Harry Reid's debt to the National Rifle Association runs wide and deep.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) took a pass on directly supporting the most talked about Democrat-sponsored anti-gun legislation in Washington. The bill, sponsored by California’s Dianne Feinstein (D, CA), would renew and enlarge a federal ban on assault weapons.

Feinstein’s legislation was introduced to great media fanfare last week, but this week Reid told reporters that he’d bring other legislation to the floor and allow it to undergo what promises to be a lengthy amendment process.
Reid declined to commit to bringing Feinstein’s bill to the floor even though that bill was publicly supported by the Democrat’s second and third ranking senate members.

Senate Leader Reid praised Senator Feinstein for her enthusiasm for her bill but suggested hers wasn’t the only game in town. “We’re going to have votes on all kinds of issues dealing with guns, and I think everyone would be well advised to read the legislation before they determine how they’re going to vote,” he said to reporters.

As part of that process, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D, VT) also announced plans to hold hearings on gun violence.

One would hope this news will begin to stabilize the prices of my favorite toys.


JUST LIKE THE NLRB: Lawless EPA "thumbing its nose" at nation's second highest court #Bastiat

Yesterday the EPA became the second arm of the Obama administration to execute a rhetorical middle-fingered salute to a federal court.

Just days ago the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), responding to a federal Appeals Court that found the president's recess appointments were illegal, said that it would ignore the court's order and continue business as usual.

On Thursday, the EPA replied to another federal Appeals Court decision. The court had just thrown out the agency's mandate to the oil industry that it use non-existent biofuels; the EPA in return metaphorically spit in the court's face.

Days after a federal appeals court said the Obama administration is setting overly optimistic production quotas for the struggling biofuels industry, the government issued new standards Thursday that raise production estimates for 2013.

New standards announced by the Environmental Protection Agency require production of 14 million gallons of so-called cellulosic biofuels made from grasses and woody material. That's up from an 8.7 million-gallon requirement in 2012 -- when actual production was near zero.

An oil industry representative said the Obama administration was thumbing its nose at a ruling last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The court threw out the 2012 mandate for cellulosic biofuels, saying it was based on wishful thinking rather than accurate estimates for an industry the Obama administration wants to encourage. Administration officials have said that increased use of biofuels could lower greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, as well as lower U.S. dependence on foreign fuel.

"The court recognized the absurdity of fining companies for failing to use a nonexistent biofuel," said Bob Greco, director of downstream operations for the American Petroleum Institute, the principal lobbying group for the oil and gas industry... Greco said he was astonished that EPA would nearly double the mandate for biofuel in 2013. "EPA needs a serious reality check," he said, calling the mandate a "stealth tax on gasoline" and an "egregious example of bad public policy."

This administration is engaging in, as Frederic Bastiat termed it, "legal plunder":

It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.

What are the consequences of such a perversion? It would require volumes to describe them all. Thus we must content ourselves with pointing out the most striking.

In the first place, it erases from everyone's conscience the distinction between justice and injustice. No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree...

...imagine that this fatal principle has been introduced: Under the pretense of organization, regulation, protection, or encouragement, the law takes property from one person and gives it to another.

...how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Then abolish this law without delay, for it is not only an evil itself, but also it is a fertile source for further evils because it invites reprisals. If such a law — which may be an isolated case — is not abolished immediately, it will spread, multiply, and develop into a system.

The person who profits from this law will complain bitterly, defending his acquired rights. He will claim that the state is obligated to protect and encourage his particular industry; that this procedure enriches the state because the protected industry is thus able to spend more and to pay higher wages to the poor workingmen.

Do not listen to this sophistry by vested interests. The acceptance of these arguments will build legal plunder into a whole system.

The entire federal government has, at least by Bastiat's definition, become a monolithic apparatus designed to facilitate legal plunder. From General Motors to Solyndra and the Stimulus to Obamacare, the taxpayers' trillions have been stolen -- "legally" -- and directed to the president's political backers.

It is a recipe for disaster and a societal model that cannot long survive.


Hat tip: BadBlue News Service.

INTERESTING CHART O' THE DAY: Inflation vs. Gold, 1915-2010

In order to pay for excessive government spending, the United States and other countries around the world are busy printing money. This practice, known as "debt monetization", is the precursor for inflation. Sometimes, in fact, the act of paying sovereign debt by printing money can lead to hyperinflation and currency collapse; the Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe's recent experience being two noteworthy examples.

I was thinking to myself how a typical investor might be able to profit from a sudden burst of inflation. After all, the printing can only go on so long before a currency becomes a joke. We also know that America's most recent bout of severe inflation took place during the Carter administration.

Knowing that gold and silver are bellwether commodities that tend to march inversely against a devaluing currency, I decided to compare those metals against CPI to determine whether any obvious trends could be discerned.


History tells us that timing a peak is well nigh impossible. Perhaps once gold and silver go parabolic it will be time to sell. And given this administration's march to currency collapse, parabolic it will go.


Hat tips: Wikipedia: Consumer Price Index by Country and MacroTrends.

Larwyn's Linx: Things I learned today

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Things I learned today: Wisdom
Ladies Against Senator Sleaze-Bob: Malkin
CHICAGO: The true causes of Chicago’s insane orgy of violence: GSL

The Worst 80 Seconds of Chuck Hagel’s Hearing: Beacon
Why Isn't Gun Control Working in Chicago?: Exam
The Sandy Hook Video You Won't See on TV: GVP

DHS Report: Mass Shooters Prefer Handguns, Unlikely To Be Veterans: Ace
Lindsey Graham uses his powers for good on Chuck Hagel: Lane
A Blow to Obama’s Imperial Presidency: Foundry

Economy

Surprise: Glitch in Obamacare pricing families out of health insurance: Cove
Obamacare’s Union Shills Now Having Second Thoughts: LoneCon
Americans Buy Nearly Half a Billion Dollars Of Gold, Silver In January: SHTF

Rubio’s Amnesty: A Path To Oblivion For The GOP: Coulter
Real Border Control Has to Come First in Any Immigration Deal: Rasmussen
A Needed Stimulus For Our Robust Keynesian Recovery: MOTUS

Scandal Central

FOUR DOMINICAN HOOKERS Confirm They Attended Sex Parties With Sen. Bob Menendez: GWP
Dominican prostitute: Sen. Bob Menendez ‘likes the youngest and newest girls’: DC
Menendez rushes to pay private-jet tab after FBI raid: Hot Air

So It Starts… Injured Army Vet is First Victim of New York’s Abominable Gun Law: LibertyZone
IRS: Cheapest Obamacare Plan Will Be $20,000 Per Family: CNS
Anti-gun protestor a convicted rapist: Buckeye

Climate & Energy

The EPA vs. Reality : NRO
Senate GOP Battles Obama’s NLRB Appointees: NRO
Coal blamed as China chokes on smog: BBC

Media

ChiComm hackers infiltrated the New York Times? Why, aren't they both on the same team?: WyBlog
Feel Good Story Of The Day: Piers Morgan Loses To No Name RuPaul In TV Ratings: WZ
Bracken: Review Of Martino’s “Resistance To Tyranny”: Western

Another Blacks-on-White Philadelphia Beat Down: When is a Hate Crime NOT a Hate Crime?: UrbanGrounds
Weimar Krugman:‘We Can Print the Money’: CNS
Heller case attorney: NY 7-round limit “clearly unconstitutional”: LI

If You Don’t Think ‘Jailbait Hookers’ Is Headline News, You Don’t Know News: RSM
If Ezra Klein were any more stupid we’d have to elect him to public office: Wisdom
David Mamet: Assault Weapons Ban is an Appeal to the Ignorant: Ammoland

World

Ted Cruz blasts Hagel over interview agreeing that America is the world’s bully: Scoop
Hagel Supports Nuclear Disarmament... of the United States: Foundry
Rancher: No, The Mexican Border Isn't Secure: HapBlog

Hagel’s 7 Worst Moments in Round One: Beacon
Hagel on the "Jewish Lobby": NRO
Professor Hagel’s Georgetown syllabus littered with anti-Israel authors: Beacon

McCain SLAMS Hagel Over Iraq Surge: Lid
Rubio says No to Hagel Nomination: PJM
Yes, Venezuela Has Banned All Guns: And What Good Has That Done Its People?: Extrano's Alley

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Exploring the Grand Canyon on Google Maps: Googleblog
NYU synthesizes crystals with lifelike behavior under light: Engadget
Americans are voting with their wallets on guns: GSL

Cornucopia

Qatar Hero Algorical Returns to Explain his Theory of Everything: MOTUS
FOUND: Childhood Photo of Ben Bernanke: Reaganite
Poll: For First Time A Majority Of Americans Believe Government Is Threatening Their Freedom: MenRec

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Stand and Fight

QOTD: "Modern economies are too complex to be reliably modeled; their connections and correlations are loose and imprecise, the second- and third-order effects largely immeasurable, the fickle vagaries of individual and aggregate human behavior utterly unknowable. Put an economist in a powerful government job and provide levers that can be pulled to start the printing presses, set reserve requirements, fiddle with the Fed funds rate, expand the Fed’s balance sheet, and deliver indecipherable communiqués, and that economist will feel compelled to pull those levers.

He or she, like a monkey with a typewriter, might even give us Shakespeare (or Adam Smith) on occasion. But mostly that economist will spout gibberish, a mélange of untested and potentially counterproductive measures that unleash all manner of unintended consequences.

Were the meddling to actually remedy the targeted deficiency, it might well be at the cost of dangerous feedback loops and unexpected ripples growing beneath the surface into the incipient waves of tomorrow’s much larger problems." --Seth Klarman, "Why Ben Bernanke Is Like A Monkey"

Thursday, January 31, 2013

DAZZLING: Composite Hurricane Map: 1851 to 2010

Spotted at Australia's Courier-Mail, stunning graphics created by information architect John Nelson map every tropical typhoon, cyclone and hurricane since 1851:

The storm map offers an unusual perspective of the Earth from below, centered on Antarctica, with the rest of the planet unfurling around the southern continent like flower petals.

While the Caribbean is the clear global hot spot for tropical storm activity, the major southern hemisphere active zone is across Australia's north, with cyclones forming everywhere between Mozambique and Tahiti...
...Mapmaker John Nelson, mapping manager for data visualization company IDV Solutions, told Our Amazing Planet why the map's oddball point of view was the best way to tell the story of the data.

"When I put it onto a rectangular map it was neat looking, but a little bit disappointing," he said.

The unusual perspective beautiful showcases the curving paths the storms make across the world's oceans...

It reveals that tropical storms abhor the Equator, and can never cross it.

Nelson's map employs US government data on tropical storms and hurricanes from 1851 through 2010.

Interestingly, the "proportionality of storm severity looks to be getting more consistent year to year with the benefit of more data." In other words, warmal colding appears to have no effect on storms, just as it has no impact on temperatures.


OH, MY: NBC blacks out Hagel's disastrous confirmation hearing

NBC is America's answer to the Soviet Union's Pravda. It serves as an unofficial public relations arm of the Obama administration. It has been caught -- on numerous occasions (e.g., here, here, and here) -- editing video and audio clips to advance the Statist agenda.

And it routinely censors news. Like today, when President Obama's nominee for SECDEF, Chuck Hagel, beclowned himself in a Senate hearing that was, by turns, embarrassing and horrifying.

And how did NBC handle Hagel's denouement?


When the going got tough -- for instance, when Lindsey Graham eviscerated Hagel's "Jewish Lobby" nonsense -- NBC simply blacked out the disastrous performance.

That didn't stop the hemorrhaging; even the progressive kooks are disgusted with what must be the worst confirmation hearing on record. The only way this dim, prejudiced, and terrorist-appreciating hack should get into the Pentagon is with a ticket for one of their guided public tours.


PATRIOTS: America's Sheriffs Are Standing Tall Against the Left's Full-Throated Attack on the Constitution

Thankful for...

Champaign County Sheriff: The problem isn’t guns or magazines, it’s the mentally ill:

Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh has weighed in on the hysterical call by Democratic Party leaders to ban guns, limit magazine capacities and impose all sorts of other restrictions both in Springfield and in Washington, D.C. ... While he doesn’t come out and say he’s not going to enforce further gun bans, he does cover a number of points that are just common sense around here:

• Right to carry will deter crime.
• America’s favorite rifle, the AR-15, isn’t criminally misused around here.
• Magazine capacity isn’t an issue.
• Cops here, including him, support law-abiding citizens’ right to carry and possess firearms of all sorts.
The real problem for his department is mental health issues.

NY Sheriff’s PBA blasts Cuomo, Legislature over NY SAFE:

...Our objections to the legislation are numerous and begin with the process under which the bill was voted on in the Senate. It is deeply disturbing to our membership, as public servants and Citizens of the state of New York, the manner in which this legislation was brought to the Senate for vote...

...It is our understanding that many Senators had approximately 20 minutes to read the legislation before being forced to vote on it and note that the bill was brought before the Senate and voted on so quickly that its authors failed to make provisions for the exemption of police officers or the National Guard with respect to the new magazine-capacity requirements. Having reviewed the legislation and given the time constraints, it is our conclusion that there is no possible way any normal person could have read the entire bill and understood its implications prior to voting on it. They most certainly could not have requested and received the input of their constituency and considered their opinions in the matter which is the most basic tenet of a representative government. The entire process was one of secrecy and of intentional withholding of information from the public. We condemn this in the harshest terms. Had there been an opportunity for the public to exercise their right to be involved in the legislative process prior to the bill being voted upon, We would have offered a letter of opposition. Instead, we find ourselves in the rather unique position of opposing legislation after it has been passed. Our membership believes we were denied one of the most basic rights of a democracy by this process and we cannot and will not accept this type of behavior from our
elected officials...

...The SCSDPBA reminds the addressees that “assault weapons,” which are banned under the new legislation if they have 1 military­-type feature, were responsible for 5 out of 769 homicides in New York last year or .007% – hardly a public safety crisis for our state... While it may come as a surprise to the authors of the legislation, most semi-automatic pistols do in fact come with a pistol grip, making nearly every semi-automatic pistol an assault weapon and thus subject to registration on a yearly basis...

...In recent days, we have also become aware of published reports describing a large and growing movement within our state of citizens who have apparently announced their intention of non-compliance with the new statutes as they relate to assault weapons and registration. With an estimated 1 million assault rifles in existence throughout New York, it is beyond comprehension that the legislature and the Governor would needlessly place police officers in a position where they might be called upon to confiscate the previously lawfully owned property of an American citizen. There can be no denying the potential danger this prospect places law enforcement in and once again strongly suggests a bill that was rushed to passage without aforethought or any regard for its potential implications. We cannot excuse this and do not appreciate our very safety being sacrificed for political gain.

Milwaukee Sheriff: Calling 911, Waiting Not Best Option for Defense:

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. has released a 30 second public announcement calling on the citizens of Milwaukee to familiarize themselves with a firearm and aid the police in defending life between the time they dial 911 and the time the police arrive.

Colorado: Sheriffs Say No to Proposed Gun Control:

Late last week, the County Sheriffs of Colorado (CSOC) drew a line in the sand in defense of the Second Amendment, telling elected officials in the Centennial State that they will not support any of the proposed gun restrictions.

These devoted public servants understand better than most the efforts necessary to preserve and advance public safety interests for the community as a whole. The CSOC also made it clear in their statement that they welcome dialogue, in the wake of recent tragedies, that relates to protecting the public. However, they ardently assert that they “…do not believe these tragedies should be used as the backdrop to advance gun control legislation.”

The CSOC specifically cited their direct opposition to the gun grabbing efforts in Denver, being led by extremist organizations like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" (MAIG). The so-called “common sense” measures being weighed by these out-of-town extremists include a ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles, arbitrary limitations on magazine capacities, the ban on bulk purchases of ammunition, a statewide database for concealed carry permit holders, unnecessarily restrictive mental health checks and the criminalization of law-abiding citizens through the prohibition of private firearms transfers.

Sheriffs Push Back on Obama Gun Control:

More than 90 sheriffs from mostly rural counties say they won't enforce what they deem unconstitutional gun laws from the Obama administration or Congress... The sheriffs sent open letters to President Obama and began a media effort to "stand up against the unconstitutional gun control measures being taken," according to the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association... The Texas-based group released a list of 90 sheriffs who oppose Obama's gun-control efforts. The list includes sheriffs from more than 20 states as well as sheriff's associations in Utah and New Mexico.

Utah sheriffs pledge their lives against Obama’s gun grab:

We respect the Office of the President of the United States of America. But, make no mistake, as the duly-elected sheriffs of our respective counties, we will enforce the rights guaranteed to our citizens by the Constitution. No federal official will be permitted to descend upon our constituents and take from them what the Bill of Rights — in particular Amendment II — has given them. We, like you, swore a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and we are prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation.

Kentucky Sheriff Vows to Uphold Constitution, Not New Gun Control Laws:

Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman has some advice for federal officials attempting to confiscate legal guns held by citizens in his jurisdiction: “go ahead, make my day.” ... “My office will not comply with any federal action which violates the United States Constitution or the Kentucky Constitution which I swore to uphold,” Peyman said. “Let them pull that stuff in other places if they want, but not in Jackson County, Kentucky.”

Oregon Sheriff Says Won’t Enforce Un-Constitutional Gun Laws:

An Oregon sheriff has sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden saying his department will not enforce any new gun laws it considers unconstitutional... “We are Americans,” Mueller wrote. “We must not allow, nor shall we tolerate, the actions of criminals, no matter how heinous the crimes, to prompt politicians to enact laws that will infringe upon the liberties of responsible citizens who have broken no laws... In summary, it is the position of this Sheriff that I refuse to participate, or stand idly by, while my citizens are turned into criminals due to the unconstitutional actions of misguided politicians."

I applaud these patriots and am thankful for their service and loyalty to the Constitution. If only our legislators possessed such integrity.


Larwyn's Linx: The Senate Hearing on Gun Control

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

The Senate Hearing on Gun Control: Pagunblog
Rahm Emanuel Goes After 1st And 2nd Amendments: IBD
A Line In The Sand?: TL in Exile

Cruz educates Senate on gun violence in its ‘fact free zone’: Scoop
Illinois Concealed Carry Bill Revealed: No Chicago Carve-Out: TAG
Applying Conservative Principles To Immigration: Rubio

Good luck, Herr Obama/Biden: Denninger
It’s High Noon: We The People vs Obama: NoisyRm
Betsy McCaughey on Beating Obamacare: AmSpec

Economy

Unexpectedly! 4th quarter GDP cratered after Obama reelected: WyBlog
Austerity: US Ends 2012 With 103.8% Debt To GDP: ZH
NAACP President: 'Black People Doing...Worse' Under Obama: Breitbart

What I Learned in the Poverty War: City Journal
AP Ramps Up the Excuse-Making in Report on GDP Contraction: Bizzy
Shocking? SEIU Parking Lot a “Center of Illegal Drug Activity’: LUR

Scandal Central

Pedophile-gate story stubbornly not going away.: Moe Lane
Report: Menendez backer targeted by FBI: Hill
Suspect Shot and Killed in Attempted Home Invasion in Fairborn, Ohio: AmPower

Cuomo: Gun Control Would Have Never Happened If Public Was Allowed to Review It: MenRec
Colorado Energy Office Misspends Millions in Stimulus Funds: Foundry
HookerGate: Is FBI Raid Connected to Menendez’s Dominican Jailbait Scandal?: RSM

Climate & Energy

The EPA's Lisa Jackson: The Worst Head of the Worst Regulatory Agency, Ever: CEI

Media

Read LaPierre's testimony before Senate Judiciary Committee on 'Gun Violence': NRAILA
Cuomo's Approval Drops 15 Points After Major Gun Control Push: WS
Infiltrating National Review Summit: Mission Accomplished: Cube

The Tyranny Before Us: Miller
The Fundamental Things: Driscoll
Media Double Standard Protects Sen. Menendez: AIM

DHS Study on Mass Killers: Bad Hygiene, Semi-Automatic Handguns: MagNote
Source Claims to Have Witnessed Obama’s “Awkward Attempts” at Skeet Shooting: Nice Deb
Video: Jay Carney blames Republicans for the terrible economic report, of course: Hot Air

World

Rand Paul says vote on amendment to stop sale of F-16s to Egypt is TODAY: Scoop
The real haters: Obama and Hagel: Glick
Colorado H.S. Students Recite Pledge Of Allegiance In Arabic One nation under Allah: WZ

Walk for Life vs. Roe v. Wade birthday party: Abortion showdown SF: Zombie
Israeli airstrike targeted convoy of trucks inside Syria, US and regional officials say: Fox
Classic Hagel: Glick

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Twitter Now The Fastest Growing Social Platform In The World: Global Web Index
BlackBerry unveils BlackBerry 10 and its first two devices, the Z10 and Q10: NextWeb
NY Times says Chinese hacked paper's computers: ABQ Journal

Cornucopia

NJ Sen. Menendez outsources underage prostitution services, underage American hookers outraged: AWD
U.S. Government Claims - Just Like The Nazis - That The Truth Is Too Dangerous To Disclose: Alt-Market
NFL legend Dan Marino had a love child with CBS employee in 2005: Post

Image: "Walk for Life vs. Roe v. Wade birthday party: Abortion showdown SF"
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Elizabeth Warren Wiki

QOTD: "Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals. Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families.

...we need to be honest about what works and what does not work. Proposals that would only serve to burden the law-abiding have failed in the past and will fail in the future.

Semi-automatic firearms have been around for over 100 years. They are among the most popular guns made for hunting, target shooting and self-defense. Despite this fact, Congress banned the manufacture and sale of hundreds of semi-automatic firearms and magazines from 1994 to 2004. Independent studies, including a study from the Clinton Justice Department, proved that ban had no impact on lowering crime.

And when it comes to the issue of background checks, let’s be honest – background checks will never be “universal” – because criminals will never submit to them." --Wayne LaPierre

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

FACT SHEET FOR LIBERAL IGNORAMUSES. We'll speak slowly and avoid big words, I promise.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation offers the following excellent list of Modern Sporting Rifle Facts. No, they're not "assault rifles". They're Modern Sporting Rifles.

The modern sporting rifle, based on the AR-15 platform, is widely misunderstood. Why? Confusion exists because while these rifles may cosmetically look like military rifles, they do not function the same way. Also, groups wanting to ban these rifles have for years purposely or through ignorance spread misinformation about them to aid their cause.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation asks you to be an informed gun owner and to use the following facts to correct misconceptions about these rifles. Remember, that if AR-15-style modern sporting rifles are banned, your favorite traditional-looking hunting or target shooting semi-automatic firearm could be banned, too.

• AR-15-platform rifles are among the most popular firearms being sold. They are today's modern sporting rifle.

• The AR in "AR-15" rifle stands for ArmaLite rifle, after the company that developed it in the 1950s. "AR" does NOT stand for "assault rifle" or "automatic rifle."

• AR-15-style rifles are NOT "assault weapons" or "assault rifles." An assault rifle is fully automatic -- a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.

• If someone calls an AR-15-style rifle an "assault weapon," he or she either supports banning these firearms or does not understand their function and sporting use, or both. Please correct them. "Assault weapon" is a political term created by California anti-gun legislators to ban some semi-automatic rifles there in the 1980s.

• AR-15-style rifles look like military rifles, such as the M-16, but function like other semi-automatic civilian sporting firearms, firing only one round with each pull of the trigger.

• Versions of modern sporting rifles are legal to own in all 50 states, provided the purchaser passes the mandatory FBI background check required for all retail firearm purchasers.

• Since the 19th century, civilian sporting rifles have evolved from their military predecessors. The modern sporting rifle simply follows that tradition.

• These rifles' accuracy, reliability, ruggedness and versatility serve target shooters and hunters well. They are true all-weather firearms.

• Chamberings include .22, .223 (5.56 x 45mm), 6.8 SPC, .308, .450 Bushmaster and about a dozen others. Upper receivers for pistol calibers such as 9 mm, .40, and .45 are available. There are even .410 shotgun versions.

• These rifles are used for many different types of hunting, from varmint to big game. And they're used for target shooting in the national matches.

• AR-15-style rifles are no more powerful than other hunting rifles of the same caliber and in most cases are chambered in calibers less powerful than common big-game hunting cartridges like the 30-06 Springfield and .300 Win. Mag.

• The AR-15 platform is modular. Owners like being able to affix different "uppers" (the barrel and chamber) to the "lower" (the grip, stock).

And, they are a lot of fun to shoot!

Indeed.


Hat tips: Willie and BadBlue Gun News.

TWEET THIS: Twitter now fastest-growing social network in the world

Interesting chart over at Global Web Index:

Contrary to popular perception, Twitter has always been more of a niche social network in most countries around the world. In our first wave of research in July 2009, we estimated that Twitter had just 35.47 million monthly active users across the markets covered at the time. Twitter, however, is shaking off that niche status with impressive style, and as we being 2013, it is the fastest growing social platform on the planet.

GWI.8, the Q4 2012 dataset from GlobalWebIndex, shows that the number of active Twitter users grew 40% from Q2 2012 to Q4 2012. This is equal to 288 million monthly active users (claimed to have used or contribute to Twitter in the past month) across the 31 markets currently researched by GWI (representing nearly 90% of the global internet population aged 16 to 65). That marks a whopping growth rate in active users of 714% since July 2009.

An incredible 21% of the global internet population now use Twitter actively on a monthly basis...
...As the chart below shows, the way people are using Twitter is changing in two respects. Firstly, it is becoming a passive source of discovery for users and secondly, users are using more as a tool or service rather than a pure social service. Amazingly, only 51% of active users claim to have posted a tweet in the past month. This means that half the active user base is just reading, reacting or using Twitter as a source of discovery. The caricature of the average Twitter user banally talking about what they had for breakfast is dying...
...All of these changes in usage underline the changing nature of Twitter (and the broader social media landscape) from a peer-to-peer or personal publishing platform, to the social infrastructure that links our internet experience across multiple devices and allows us to use the internet more efficiently. It’s quite possible that the majority of Twitter users in future will have very little or no interaction with the Twitter web page, and only use it through third party apps, aggregation services, operating system integration or via connected devices such as your TV...

I don't know about all of this newfangled Twitter stuff. I'm still banking on Friendster making a comeback.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.

SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS LIKE CHUCK HAGEL

Caroline Glick continues to wake up the useful idiots who believe that Barack Obama is a friend of Israel, which remains the last best hope for Western Civilization in the Middle East.

I think it is pretty amazing that AIPAC is keeping mum on the fact that Obama has nominated a Jew hater and Israel basher to serve as the next Defense Secretary. As I've said before, Hagel's appointment is a far greater threat to the US military than it is to Israel. But still, it is pretty obscene that Obama is getting away with appointing this character to serve as the Pentagon chief.

Today, the estimable Adam Kredo at the Washington Free Beacon reported another classic Hagelian anti-Israel slur and libel. Back in 2003 he gave an interview to his hometown paper saying that Israel "keep[s] the Palestinians caged up like animals."


And of course, this is only one of countless examples of Hagel's animus towards the Jewish state and its Jewish supporters in the US... Israel is better off expanding its own defense industries than depending on Hagel for spare parts.

As to the US military, ...the movement to assign women to frontline combat unit is not about advancing women. It is about destroying the US military. The fact that Obama didn't even need for Hagel to enter office before taking his first swipe at the military shows just how grandiose his plans for gutting US military capabilities in his second term are.

To be clear, as a woman who served as an officer in the IDF for 5 and a half years, and worked as an embedded reporter with an all male US infantry unit in Iraq, I have to say that I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with women serving in combat. But the purpose of last week's decision wasn't about permitting women to fight on the battlefield. They already do. It was about social engineering and weakening the esprit d'corps of the US military. As Saul Alinsky taught his followers the goal is never what you say it is. The goal is always the revolution.

Delegitimizing and weakening Israel is only one part of the "revolution." Israel will survive Obama and Hagel and Kerry and Brennan.

But that doesn't mean we and our supporters in the US should keep silent about their hostility just because we know we can't block their appointments. By pointing out their radicalism, we are at a minimum sending out the necessary warning about what their future plans will likely involve. And that is important, because the more they are criticized the weaker they will feel.

As historian Trevor Loudon has proven through exhaustive research, Barack Obama's real goal is to strip the United States military bare. Hagel's appointment simply confirms that ugly reality.


ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER TRAGEDY: Curiously, gun control capital of the U.S. is also its murder capital

It's enough to make you sick. No matter how badly their gun-control policies fail, no matter how many people die, Democrats will keep pushing and pushing and pushing their dictatorial agenda.

Yesterday a talented 15-year old -- an Honor Roll student who had performed in the presidential inauguration ceremony earlier this month -- was shot and killed in the Chicago neighborhood just blocks from her home. And, once again, Chicago is on track to suffer more than 500 murders this year.

CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports the victim, 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, was taking shelter from the rain with a group of 10 to 12 teenagers under a canopy in Vivian Gordon Harsh Park on the 4500 block of South Oakenwald Avenue around 2:30 p.m., when someone jumped a fence, ran up to them, and opened fire.

...Just days before, Hadiya performed with her high school band at President Obama’s inauguration.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Hadiya’s mother, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, to try to offer a measure of comfort...

...CBS 2′s Suzanne Le Mignot reports the park where Hadiya was shot is just blocks from King College Prep High School — where she was an honor student, volleyball player, and majorette with the school band.

...Police said Hadiya had no gang affiliation and likely wasn’t the intended target. Several of the teens with her at the time, however, were believed to be gang members.

According to the Stuffington Roast, Chicago -- which has the strictest gun control laws in the country -- is far more dangerous than Afghanistan.

"If only one child can be saved"?

And Rahm Emanuel, who serves as mayor of the most violent city in America, wants to tell the rest of America about the importance of banning guns?

I've got an idea, Rahm: why don't you drink a big tall glass of Shut-Up Juice and start letting law-abiding citizens carry weapons? And then watch your crime rates go down as the gang-bangers your "Great Society" pals have spawned will have no earthly idea who's packing heat.

As it stands in Murder-town, only criminals bent on violence have guns while law-abiding citizens are reduced to cowering in fear or begging for their lives.

That's why concealed carry laws have been proven to reduce gun violence, over and over and over again, in city after city and state after state. Try and read a book for a change, you statist kook, before you dare tell us how to live our lives. Schmuck.


Larwyn's Linx: Obama Demagogues Immigration

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Obama Demagogues Immigration: Shapiro
"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.": Crime File News
Oregon Sheriff Writes to Joe Biden: Sentinel

The Imperial President Weighs in on Illegal Immigration: Virtuous
The Rising: Liberty's Torch
Do Not Comply: TL in Exile

Amnesty gang to law-abiders: You’re chumps!: Malkin
The real cost of immigration “reform” — our freedoms: LI
Colorado: Sheriffs Say No to Proposed Gun Control: NRAILA

Economy

California at Twilight: Hanson
"We Are Going To Kill The Dollar" Says Obama Senior Official: Mish
Report: Geico drops coverage of gun part maker: USA Carry

Have You Seen Ted Cruz’ Letter To Rahm Emanuel?: HayRide
Ted Cruz encourages banks to leave Chicago because of Emanuel: DC
Gunships Over Miami: SHTFplan

Shamnesty punishes legal immigrants:: Twitchy
Remember Obama's tax hikes on the rich to pay debt? He's spent it all.: IBD
What well-regulated means: Owens

Scandal Central

Surprise: Democrats Have No Intention Of Securing The Border Before Amnesty: Cove
London Daily Mail: Obama Approved Use of Chemical Weapons In Syria to Blame on Assad: Atlas
$125 Mil in “Improper” Medicare Payments for Illegals, Prisoners: JW

Report: FBI raids office of Florida doctor linked to Sen. Menendez: Times
OH Natl. Guard Reacts to 2nd Amendment “Domestic Terrorists” in Mock Disaster Drill: Nice Deb
EPA Scandal Continues To Broaden As EPA Flouts Court Order, Fails To Turn Over Emails: Cowboy

Climate & Energy

Draft IPCC Report Shows 20 Years Of Overestimated Globull Warming: Cove
Al Gore: Why no, I’m not a hypocrite for selling Current TV to oil emirs.: IHTM
Chinese Group Approved To Buy Ailing, Taxpayer-Funded A123 Systems Battery Firm: GreenCar

Media

Figures. Obama Campaign Goes to NBC for Donations: GWP
The ‘40 Percent’ Myth : Lott
WaPo: Assault-weapons ban is probably DOA: Hot Air

CBS's Kroft on Why Obama Does 60 Minutes: 'He Knows We're Not Going To Play Gotcha With Him': NB
Hah! Dana Loesch Pulls Out AR15 Lighter on Piers Morgan Show : GWP
Mag Pushes Fake Picture of Obama Skeet Shooting... Then Deletes It: WS

Fox News Fights Back Against Obama Smear: Commentary
How’s that women-empowering sexual revolution thing working out for you?: DTG
"If It Only Saves One Life": Tales From a Tribble

On Bias, Yet Again: Ace
Mark Levin to begin regular appearances on Hannity going forward: Scoop
Sotomayor’s autobiography whitewashes radical college years: CDN

World

The best friend our enemies could have: Genghis John Kerry, Secretary of State: WyBlog
Report: Starving North Korean Villagers Resorting to Cannibalism: Breitbart
France and African Allies Sweep Northward after Seizing Timbuktu: Cutting Edge

Britain's infernal cocktail of hate: Phillips
Immigration Reform Is a Farce: RWN
Egypt: Rape squads of Tahrir Square, Muslim Brotherhood "state-backed gangs" are terrorising women: Atlas

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

DARPA's 1.8-gigapixel cam touts surveillance from 20,000 feet: Engadget
86,800 network printers open to the whole internet - is one of them yours?: Sophos
Google Open Source Program Manager Chris DiBona: Best of Both Worlds: Linux Insider

Cornucopia

Obama Signs Executive Order Moving Center to the Left: Cube
Hey, Liberals, I Had an Epiphany!: RtPlanet
Weiner probing possibility of political run: Post

Image: London Daily Mail: Obama Approved Use of Chemical Weapons In Syria to Blame on Assad
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Ammo and Gear Shortages

QOTD: "California has changed not due to race but due to culture, most prominently because the recent generation of immigrants from Latin America did not — as in the past, for the most part — come legally in manageable numbers and integrate under the host’s assimilationist paradigm. Instead, in the last three decades huge arrivals of illegal aliens from Mexico and Latin America saw Democrats as the party of multiculturalism, separatism, entitlements, open borders, non-enforcement of immigration laws, and eventually plentiful state employment.

Given the numbers, the multicultural paradigm of the salad bowl that focused on “diversity” rather than unity, and the massive new government assistance, how could the old American tonic of assimilation, intermarriage, and integration keep up with the new influxes? It could not.

Finally, we live in an era of untruth and Orwellian censorship. It is absolutely taboo to write about the above, or to talk about the ever more weird artifacts of illegal immigration — the war now on black families in demographically changing areas of Los Angeles, the statistics behind DUI arrests, or the burgeoning profile of Medi-Cal recipients." --Victor Davis Hanson

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Infiniti Q50 -- the forthcoming replacement for the G37...

Personally, I would take a rain-check on the reported hybrid and diesel nonsense:

Feast your eyes upon the all-new 2014 Infiniti Q50. Say what you will about Infiniti's new Q and QX naming system, but after looking at the new Q50 unveiled today at the Detroit Auto Show and checking out its feature list, we're having a hard time coming up with any additional criticisms. The highlights of the Q50, which goes on sale this summer in the US, include the eye-catching design, innovative cabin technology and a fuel-efficient hybrid model.

The Infiniti G has always had a focus on leading-edge styling, and its replacement is no different... Compared to the current G Sedan, the Q50 is longer, wider and lower than its predecessor, and it's also more aerodynamic with a drag coefficient of just 0.26, putting in between the Chevrolet Volt (0.28) and the Toyota Prius (0.25).


...There are also numerous apps that come preloaded into the system, and a new i-Key feature allows the car to recognize up to four different keys, allowing each driver to customize as many as 96 vehicle settings. As for the rest of the interior, it gets the same styling we've come to expect from Infiniti.

The base engine for the Q50 is carried over from the G37 with a 3.7-liter V6 producing 328 horsepower and 269 pound feet of torque, but the big news in the powertrain department is the addition of a hybrid model. Using a similar system to what is now known as the M35h (soon to go by the Q70 name), the Q50 Hybrid is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 paired to a 50 kW motor and compact lithium ion battery to give a total power output of 354 hp. Fuel economy estimates were not released for the hybrid, but in the M35h, this system is rated at 27 mpg city and 32 mpg highway; being newer and lighter, we wouldn't be surprised to see much better numbers for the Q50 version. Both versions of the car use a seven-speed automatic with rev matching, and the Q50 will come standard with rear-wheel drive and offer all-wheel drive as an option. Additional powertrains will eventually be added for global markets, but these have not been announced either.

A separate report last week confirms that the G37 Coupe will be replaced with a Q50 iteration, but photos of said configuration are scarce indeed.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

If we can only save one life? How about 1,200 lives?

Joe Biden and Barack Obama routinely resort to the Statist's traditional rhetoric in pushing their anti-Constitutional agenda.

The quote they frequently employ -- "if it saves only one life" -- is demonstrably specious.

Last month, ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) released statistics on the tiny fraction of illegal aliens who were actually deported in 2012.

Just this small slice of the illegal alien population was determined responsible for:

1,200 murders

5,550 rapes and other sexual offenses

40,000 drug crimes

36,000 DUIs

Thousands of murders. Thousands of rapes. Thousands of sexual assaults. Thousands of pedophiles. Thousands of drug crimes. Thousands of DUIs.

If it only saved one life?

These Leftists are the lowest of the low.


JUST PERFECT: Cuomo and his Statist Oath-Breakers Don't Even Know Which Guns They've Banned

Bob Owens explains:

In 30 pictures describing “pistols that are not assault weapons,” the NY SAFE web site incorrectly identifies 6 of 30 handguns presented by name, and 16 of 30 by type.


...NY SAFE serially confuses a rifle’s caliber with its model, and worse, can’t tell the basic difference between a rifle and a shotgun...


...or tell the difference between a weapons that are legal, yet function identically as “evil assault weapons”...


...… and we’re supposed to take them seriously? It would be laughable, other than the fact that if you mistake the NY SAFE Act web site a being a competent guide, you could end up in prison for violating the NY SAFE Act since the Web site and the actual law have very little in common...

And these are the masterminds who think they can prevent psychopaths from committing violent acts through unconstitutional restrictions on law-abiding citizens?

No wonder New Yorkers -- in huge numbers -- say they will defy this flatly unlawful idiocy.

Perhaps Mayor Bloomberg and the rest of the elites should disarm first, just to show the citizens how it's done.


Hat tip: BadBlue Guns.

EXCLUSIVE: New Photos of President Obama Skeet-Shooting Unearthed

We finally have confirmation that President Obama does indeed "do skeet-shooting all the time."

Cub Reporter Biff Spackle cannot reveal how he acquired these photographs because he can not -- and will not -- disclose sources or methods.




If the editors of The New Republic wish to secure reproduction rights, please call the BiffPhone at 997-555-1212.


Larwyn's Linx: You Are the Enemy

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

You Are the Enemy: LibertyZone
Massachusetts Governor wants to erase Second Amendment: Ammoland
Police gun buyback overwhelmed with private buyers: CNS

Strategery: Rants & Other Refinements
Feinstein wants more than your assault weapons: ProWis
San Diego Police Chief: We Can Disarm Americans Soon: Ammoland

Economy

What Amnesty Means For The Country: 7 Million New Welfare Recipients: RWN
Craigslist Ad Shows Reality Hitting Obama Voter Right in the Wallet: HySci
Tax-Exempt Firm Gets $600 Million Profit Flying First Class: Bloomberg

Sequestration: $150 Billion in Budget Cuts to Avoid Gutting Military: Foundry
As GOP pushes amnesty, Dems pull immigrants into welfare state: Malkin
Civil Resistance: Some Things to Ponder: Ammoland

How Can Anybody Run A Business With This Going On Outside?: HayRide
Obama Administration Repositioning DHS Ammunition Depots: GWP
Obama meets with law enforcement to talk guns, not illegals: CNN

Scandal Central

Obama: DC Appeals Court NLRB Ruling Has No Impact: Breitbart
Black Americans Suffering Violent, Racially Motivated Attacks: Where’s Jesse, Al & Toure?: RWN
Child Prostitute Habit No Biggie for Dem Senator Robert Menendez: MB

Climate & Energy

Washington and business brace for an Obama wave of regulations: Hill
More job cuts loom as SolarWorld seeks debt restructuring: SustainableOregon
Has Belgium Cracked the Problem of Storing Wind Power Electricity?: OilPrice

Media

Dereliction: 60 Minutes Ignores Benghazi For Obama/Clinton Love-Fest: Breitbart
Bam! Kirsten Powers blasts Obama’s Fox-bashing and likens ‘60 Minutes’ interview to ‘state-run media’: Twitchy
Barack Obama on the media: Politico

A Maxim, The Law, And The State Of The Nation: Torch
Fox News’ van Susteren fires back at Obama: Times
An Interview with James O'Keefe: RWN

Gun Restrictions Punish the Rational and Responsible for Acts of the Irrational and Irresponsible: ObjStd
Bitterly Clinging to Fable, WH Has No Plans to Release Non-Existent Obama Skeet-Shooting Photos: JWF
Brock’s Glock: In anti-gun DC, Media Matters gave bodyguard illegal weapons to guard founder Brock: DC

David Gregory to Paul Ryan: You know, no one supports you: CainTV
Speaking of Lethal Weapons: Koch's Tour
Announcing "The Conversation": Breitbart

World

Hamas Talibanizes the Gaza Strip: Gatestone
Report: Obama in 2nd term to call for dividing Israel to create Palestinian state within 1967 borders: Scoop
Hillary: “Not Enough Money For Security in Benghazi”. But Plenty For Kindles, Art, Mosque Building, Etc.: WZ

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

The growth-stage tech success recipe: Fortune
Barracuda Networks confirms exploitable backdoors in its appliances: NetSec
The biggest 1080p phone so far: Pantech's 5.9-inch Vega No. 6: Engadget

Cornucopia

SAGging Towards Gomorrah: MOTUS
Organized Labor Seeks to Unionize Politicians: Cube
It's like a gun, only smaller.: View from the Porch

Image: Facebook Group Calling for Assassination of Sarah Palin Surpasses 3,300 Members
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: 2/23/2013 Will Be A Day of Resistance

QOTD: "To attack the NRA as “venal” or an organization as “Nazis” is a casual and indirect way to express contempt for millions of Americans and their beliefs while maintaining plausible deniability.

It is a lot like attacking the “Jewish lobby” while avoiding the charge of anti-Semitism. It is disturbing but unsurprising that a liberal Jew like Feinstein would fail to understand that.

My father is a Holocaust survivor and an NRA member. If more Jews had been armed during the Holocaust, there might have been more dead Nazis and fewer dead Jews by the end of the war.

Is it Feinstein’s intent to imply that people like my father are venal for wanting to make sure that the words “never again” mean exactly that?" --Eric Gollub via Ed Driscoll

Monday, January 28, 2013

UPDATE: Status of Gun Industry

Interesting status report from Valley Guns in West Virginia:

Status of gun industry

Attention F.B. fans: to follow will be several IMPORTANT Info updates about the status of the gun industry currently, followed by an INVENTORY UPDATE: We traveled to Texas for Industry meetings concerning the shortages, here's what we were told.

Smith & Wesson-is running at Full capacity making 300+ guns/day-mainly M&P pistols. They are unable to produce any more guns to help with the shortages.

RUGER: Plans to increase from 75% to 100% in the next 90 days.

FNH: Moving from 50% production to 75% by Feb 1st and 100% by March 1. Remington-Maxed out!

Armalite: Maxed out.

DPMS: Can't get enough parts to produce any more product.

COLT: Production runs increasing weekly...bottle necked by Bolt carrier's.

LWRC:Making only black guns, running at full capacity...can't get enough gun quality steel to make barrels.

Springfield Armory: Only company who can meet demand but are running 30-45 days behind.

AMMO: Every caliber is now Allocated! We are looking at a nation wide shortage of all calibers over the next 9 months. All plants are producing as much ammo as possible w/ of 1 BILLION rounds produced weekly. Most is military followed by L.E. and civilians are third in line.

MAGPUL is behind 1 MILLION mags, do not expect any large quantities of magpul anytime soon.

RELOADERS... ALL Remington, Winchester, CCI & Federal primers are going to ammo FIRST. There are no extra's for reloading purposes... it could be 6-9 months before things get caught up. Sorry for the bleak news, but now we know what to expect in the coming months. Stay tuned, we'll keep you posted...

Related commentary from Bob Owens:

They didn’t know when they’d be getting anything back in stock, from magazines to rifles to pistols. Manufacturers were running full-bore, but couldn’t come close to keeping up with market demand. It wasn’t just the AR-15s, the AK-pattern rifles, the M1As, and the FALs that were sold out. It really hit me when I realized that the World War-era M1 Garands, M1 carbines, and Enfield .303s were gone, along with every last shell. Ubiquitous Mosin-Nagants—of which every gun store always seems to have 10-20—were gone. So was their ammo. Only a dust free space marked their passing. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Every weapon of military utility designed within the past 100+ years was gone. This isn’t a society stocking up on certain guns because they fear they may be banned. This is a society preparing for war.

Barack Obama, Dianne Feinstein and the rest of the Statists have done more to promote gun ownership than the NRA ever did. Well done, Democrats!


Hat tip: Wanda.