World Examiner

Children and Guns: Disney Preps Kids for American Gun Culture, Shooting Fun

New Disney ride blends American tradition and high-tech to create new shooting adventure in CA and FL parks.  No spud gun indoctrine likely since Mr. Potato Head is carney, but addition of this latest shooting adventure certainly runs counter to the zero tolerance nonsense in schools.  At our local Anaheim park in the 1990s, I was disappointed when they removed an interactive old-west style video game (politics, I suspected) so this new trend (based on market research at fairs apparently according to the article) is welcome--first Buzz Lightyear, now this new one also based on Toy Story.  Link: News: Shoot 'em Disney ride gets sneak peek | ride, games, disney, game, story - OCRegister.com.

The ride is due to open in late June at the Anaheim theme park in the same spot where midway games used to be in the boardwalk area underneath the California Screamin' roller coaster. Disney officials gave reporters a sneak peek at the technology at the company's Concept Lab in Glendale and showed the entrance to the Anaheim ride; the attraction is now largely constructed. The same ride will begin in Walt Disney World in Florida in May.

Communists Beating US in Toilet Technology

Two examples, difficult to ignore:

1.   1000-stall public restroom in China.

2.   NASA buys $19,000,000 Russian toilet system.

The Red Tide over Lake Reagan

Just when exactly did we arrive at the current "Red State/Blue State" terminology?  Is Lake Reagan now the Red Sea?  I avoid the new terminology and I don't like it.  Red is strongly associated with the socialist left, and blue is known to connote sincerity.  Obviously, the terminology in vogue now is bass ackward (at least to the extent conservatives remain in the GOP).  For quite awhile I've wondered about this as the electoral maps I recall from years past (Lake Reagan, for example) are the other way around.  I finally got around to googling (blatant genericide, mea culpa) the issue, and found this.

Sitemeter reports unusual visitor from Iran (LOL)

This is kind of spooky yet almost has me laughing my head off.  My sitemeter has logged Middle East visitors before, but never an Iranian trying to assemble an AK-47.  (Maybe the potato gun how-to video helped - so glad to be of service.)  Mah-mood-ahm-in-a-jihad, if that was you, google this.  (Just kidding :-)

Download: iran_google video_how_assemble_ak47.htm

In the beginning was the 1911 - Northeastshooters.com

(Via Kim du Toit.)  Hilarious, but essentially true. Read the whole thing:

Link: In the beginning was the 1911 - Northeastshooters.com. Excerpt:

In the beginning was the 1911, and the 1911 was the pistol, and it was good. And behold the Lord said, thou shalt not muck with my disciple John's design for it is good and it worketh. For John made the 1911, and lo all of his weapons, from the designs which I, the Lord, gave him upon the mountain.

Just Desserts Pending

Link: News 8 :: KFMB Stations, San Diego, California.

A shooter entered Extraordinary Desserts on Fifth Avenue in San Diego Saturday night and opened fire on a group of patrons, killing one man and injuring another in the presence of their wives.

KOGO AM 600's Mark Larson (blog) talked about this on his show today, asking listeners what they would do.  Several callers brought up concealed carry, and other callers said they would tackle the shooter.  (CCW permits are generally considered more difficult to obtain in San Diego than they are just to the north here in adjacent Orange County.)

Shooting as networking

Link: Shooting hits spot as networking tool - Sunday Times - Times Online. Excerpt:

PUT down those golf clubs and go for your gun: shooting is fast becoming the social networking sport of choice.

In Britain, no less.

Search Engine Ranking

Google "boob examiners" and guess who is on top?

Link: boob examiners - Google Search.

[Ranking (slang): 1. To complain. 2. To engage in carping criticism.  (Often used with on: Stop ranking on me all the time.)]

[Search Engine (slang): 1. Google]

Can small arms be a check on government?

Link: The Volokh Conspiracy - James Madison, Gun Nut:#171608.  Excerpt from an anonymous comment on Volokh Conspiracy, responding to a contention that small arms could not effectively check the power of a better-armed government:

Small arms such as a single-shot deringer, a semi-automatic pistol, .22 revolver, a bolt action rifle, a modern military type rifle, heck, couldn't even a simple knife be considered a potential check on government, or at least on those who govern? Looking at history it would appear to me that small arms are quite capable of being a “check” on those who govern.

$20bn gas project seized by Russia

Link: $20bn gas project seized by Russia | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited. Excerpt:

The Sakhalin-2 project is scheduled to start operations in 2008 and involves finding and producing oil and gas near Sakhalin island, formerly known only as a penal colony during the tsarist and Soviet eras.

Some of my wife's family spent time on this scenic island (guests of Stalin).  Not all of them returned.

UPDATE: Oops - am informed family was sent to Solovetsky Island, another such gulag.

U.S. dollar facing imminent collapse?

Link: WorldNetDaily: U.S. dollar facing imminent collapse?.  Excerpt:

This week, in an unusual move, the Bush administration is sending virtually the entire economic "A-team" to visit China for a "strategic economic dialogue" in Beijing Dec. 14 and 15. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are leading the delegation, along with five other cabinet-level officials, including Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. Also in the delegation will be Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

Expert estimates M3 (which the Fed recently stopped publishing) to be growing at close to 10%, and thinks this meeting is to slow an inevitable decline in the dollar resulting from expected Chinese reposition.

gadgetorama - Mouse or Gun Trigger?

Link: gadgetorama - Focus on a news item.  Excerpt:

"Japanese company Sigma has developed a radically different mouse called the SGM2 presentation mouse. It works like a gun's trigger by letting the user control the screen with their thumb (using a trackball) and trigger finger."

Not sure I like this.  May ingrain some bad habits (e.g., finger resting on trigger while not pointed in), especially for us gunbloggers.

POTATO GUN HOW-TO VIDEO

Link: CRIME, GUNS, AND VIDEO TAPE: Gun control? Control This!.

WorldNetDaily: Supreme Court lies rerun by Internet watchdogs

Link: WorldNetDaily: Supreme Court lies rerun by Internet watchdogs.  Excerpt:

"Millions of people go to snopes.com and truthorfiction.com to get the straight scoop on Internet and other legends," DuBord, pastor of Lake Almanor Community Church, said. "However, in the case of describing the depictions of Moses and the Ten Commandments on the Supreme Court, they are perpetuating their own forms of cultural and revisionist myth."

Poisoned ex-spy warns Putin from beyond grave | Reuters.com

Link: Poisoned ex-spy warns Putin from beyond grave | Top News | Reuters.com.  Excerpt:

"You may succeed in silencing one man. But a howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. May God forgive you for what you have done," Litvinenko said in a statement read out by friends.

Carlsbad Current-Argus - Gun ornament draws outrage

Link: Carlsbad Current-Argus - Gun ornament draws outrage.

"The governor doesn't find it humorous or clever to display weapons that are responsible for taking hundreds of lives each year as if they are decorations," she said.

Pennsylvania governor's spokeswoman who called this Christmas ornament "twisted" appears clueless about the lives saved by guns, let alone their importance in preserving Western Civilization, including Christianity.

SignOnSanDiego.com: Toy guns sold by vendors may face ban

Link: SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Metro -- Toy guns sold by vendors may face ban.

Ice-cream vendors in San Diego who sell toy guns out of their trucks may face a new ordinance under consideration by the City Council.  (H/T to Gun Watch.)

Last Night's Eagle Scout Alumni Reception (Orange County Council)

Last night I attended the Orange County Council's inaugural Eagle Scout Alumni reception.  Over 200 Eagles attended the event, held at a local automotive museum.  After so many years, it was fun to be a Scout again.  At my table sat three generations of Eagles from the same family.  In attendance were many who became Eagle in the 1940's, 1930's, and even one (Robert Boucke, see picture) awarded Eagle in 1927!  To stand together and again recite the Scout Oath and Scout Law, meant a great deal to many who attended.  There are big plans for Scouting in Orange County, including completion of a magnificent new outdoor educational facility.

Idaho city council promotes gun ownership

Link: United Press International - NewsTrack - Idaho city council promotes gun ownership.

"The Greenleaf, Idaho, City Council has passed a resolution urging homeowners to own guns for emergency situations."

Nobel winner Milton Friedman dies at 94 | Chicago Tribune

Link: Nobel winner Milton Friedman dies at 94 | Chicago Tribune.

"Milton Friedman, a brilliant champion of free-market economics and individual freedom who almost single-handedly altered the boundaries of public debate on an array of national issues, died today in San Francisco. He was 94."

China sub secretly stalked USS Kitty Hawk battlegroup

Link: China sub secretly stalked U.S. fleet - Nation/Politics - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper.

"Additionally, military intelligence officials said Adm. Fallon has restricted U.S. intelligence-gathering activities against China, fearing that disclosure of the activities would upset relations with Beijing."

Yet they allowed a Chinese diesel sub to get within striking distance undetected?  My wife and I toured the Kitty Hawk a few years ago during a high school reunion.  I would like to see it again, sir.

LaPierre: Honoring Veterans

Link: Honoring Veterans.

LaPierre on the NRA's long relationship with veterans and how the NRA helped save Britain.

Eagle Scout Alumni Reception

Link: Eagle Scout Alumni Reception.

"The Orange County Council is inviting all Eagle Scouts to attend our county-wide inaugural Eagle Scout Alumni Reception on November 16, 2006 at Joe’s Garage and Automotive Museum in Tustin.....The reception will be a great way for Eagle Scouts to network and to learn more about the exciting Scouting programs of the Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America."

Of Arms and the Law: Historical quirk about BATFE

Link: Of Arms and the Law: Historical quirk about BATFE.

For anyone not sure what to call the BATFE, or ATF, or BATF or ATFE or whatever, David Hardy clears up the confusion, possibly.  (Alternative appellations for this agency may be screened by Comments filter.)