This could be interesting

The Supreme Court today made a pretty interesting ruling in regards to where federal power ends and the power of the states begins.  The Justices specifically mentioned that an international treaty should not be the basis for restricting a citizen's rights:

But the Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, said Bond "has standing to challenge the federal statute on grounds that the measure interferes with the powers reserved to states. ... (A lawyer appointed to defend the law, once the administration withdrew) contends that for Bond to argue the national government has interfered with state sovereignty in violation of the 10th Amendment is to assert only a state's legal rights and interests. But in arguing that the government has acted in excess of the authority that federalism defines, Bond seeks to vindicate her own constitutional interests."
Kennedy said, "The statute ... was enacted to comply with a treaty; but (Bond) contends that, at least in the present instance, the treaty cannot be the source of congressional power to regulate or prohibit her conduct."

I'm not a lawyer, and I'm sure that someone with a lot more knowledge of the law and how this decision will be interpreted and applied has more insight into this.  But to me this says that the Supreme Court unanimously believes in a distinct limit on the federal government's power under the 10th Amendment.  It also limits how a treaty can be used against us.

There's been a lot of talk about how the 10th Amendment is dead, and for sure it's not as robust as it could be.  But a unanimous decision, including justices appointed by the current administration, just affirmed that there is still some life in the old girl.  That could have a lot of ramifications.

Also, there's been a lot of shouting about the U.N. treaty on small arms and how it could be used as a back door to force through gun control legislation.  The Supreme Court seems to have shot that down before it became a problem.  If a law based on an international treaty for chemical weapons can't be used against someone who chemically burns someone, then it would seem to me that an international treaty that restricts the private ownership, shipment, and sale of firearms could not be used as the basis for gun control laws that curtail our 2nd Amendment rights.

I'm looking forward to seeing analysis from someone who knows what they're talking about, and to see how this is applied.

Game Over, Apple

Fox News is reporting that Apple Computers has filed for a patent for a system that would automatically disable the camera portion of their devices at public events.  Basically, if someone doesn't want you taking a photo or a video of something, they put up special infrared sensors.  The system notices the Apple device, and instructs it to shut down its camera.  The proposed use of the system would be for concerts and such where photography isn't supposed to be happening. 

My guess is that if this is shown to be effective, you'll see similar systems in other mobile devices.  And then you'll see these things mounted on a lot of things that people don't want you to take pictures or video of:

• A police cruiser
• A policeman's equipment belt
• TSA checkpoints
• Political speeches
• And basically anywhere that non-controlled media have taken pictures and video of government officials that are embarrassing

Sorry, Apple, but I refuse to buy a device that has a remote kill switch in its functionality.  Yes, I know, it already has one, and Apple can brick my iPhone anytime it wants to.  But to give that ability to any jackboot who wants to make sure there is less evidence of wrongdoing is out of bounds.

Thanks, but no thanks. If this functionality is in any of the future Apple mobile devices, I'll go with someone else.  Closed systems and liberal politics I can take. Giving anyone else control over what my device can and can't do?  Not so much.

Toy Idea

While chatting with some friends, I had the most awesome toy idea for Christmas:  a new line of action figures called "My Little Mall Ninja".

They could be a set of lifelike poseable dolls, in a variety of ages and sizes. They could come with a lot of accessories, like tricked out AR-15's, drop leg holsters, and lots and lots of knives.

There would include:

• Porkins - The chubby guy who open carries an airsoft Beretta 92 in a drop leg holster and a katana over his shoulder, because that's how operators do it.
• Sid - The skinny kid with bad skin who has three black belts from the strip mall karate school, but gets beaten up for his lunch money. He sports a flaming red buzz cut and an assisted-open lock blade he picked up at the last gun show.
• Paul - The mall cop who carries two bottles of OC, because two is one and one is none, and a brand new Kimber 1911 with not one, but two laser sights on it for the same reason.  He's got two shotguns and an AR-15 in his trunk, which he proudly shows off to the rest of the crew when they come out to get the beer he bought for them.
• Edwina - Every crew needs a lady. This little sprite sports a tight braid of blond and pink hair, a pierced lip, and at least 6 bladed instruments, both for throwing and cutting, at all times.  

All of these are, of course, dressed in OD green, coyote brown, and black.  They sport tactical backpacks for their netbooks, and wear the latest in high tech footwear. For leisure, they could all have tee shirts that have "Death Before Dishonor" or "We Guard Malls" on them.  Of course, they'd still wear their tactical pants, because you just never know.

For accessories, we could have vehicles (mom's old station wagon with add-on fins and loud muffler, tactical used Toyota pickup, and of course, the assault SmartCar), the Galleria Mall playset, and a set of throat mike/ear dick cell phone accessories for communication with your team members at the food court.  And the weapons!  We could have entire lines of doo-dads to strap onto their AR-15's alone!

I ought to call my buddy who works for Mattel.  We could hook up with a factory in China and have these little babies on store shelves by Thanksgiving.

Today's Earworm

I'm in that kind of mood today.

Moving Nightmares

Cracked has a good round up on the horrors of moving yourself, and I have to say that I not only laughed at what they wrote, but also at the memories of every family move we made when I was growing up.

My step-dad worked for the Air Force as a civilian until he got fired for chronic stupidity.  After he and my mother got married when I was 13, we moved 7 times by my 17th  birthday.  Since there was money to be made in moving yourself at the .gov's expense, all of these except one were done by putting everything we owned into his RV, his Jeep CJ-5 on a hitch, and the back of my mother's station wagon, securing it all with strapping tape, then wedging the cats, dogs, and kids into the back of the RV and driving like a madman to get wherever we were headed.

Of course, the sentence in the article that really caught my eye in the Cracked article was this:

Buy a folding chair, a packet of no-doze and a gun. Camp out in front of your moving van; shoot everybody that looks like they need a shower.

You see, my introduction to handguns was my stepfather parking the family caravan behind the seedy hotel we were staying the night at, taking me to the construction area in the next lot over, letting me fire a few rounds from his .41 Magnum revolver, then putting me on guard duty next to the RV for the night.  What he expected to tell the cops if my 16 year old self had put a couple of rounds into the interesting characters who stopped by during the night is beyond me.  I did this for the 3 nights it took to drive from Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Pittsburgh, California.  By the last night in Lake Tahoe, I was ready to do anything that got me arrested, because at least I could sleep in jail.


Needless to say, as an adult, I have been resistant to any idea that included me using a U-Haul.  Every move I've ever done was done with a moving service, and I've never regretted it or fussed about the expense.  

On rough play

No, not that kind.  Get your mind out of the gutter.

I just got done rasslin' with Boo.  Basically, I tickled him and he did something that looked like a miniature version of this:

He was, of course, giggling like a maniacal fiend through the whole experience.  He really takes after his mother.

I've always enjoyed playing rough with my kids.  It's one of the reasons Junior Bear named me DaddyBear in the first place.  Cuddling and hugging are nice, but nothing beats letting a little one pummel you for fun.  It gets out a lot of their aggression, wears them out for bedtime, gives you a stress break, and gives you an excuse to ice down your neck.

Dumbass of the Day

A policeman in Illinois was going through the drive-thru at a McDonalds when he smelled the distinct aroma of marijuana smoke.  Turns out, it was not coming from the teenager who took his money, but from the car in front of him.  After stopping the car, a container of marijuana was found.

Ooops.

I'm hoping that the dimbulb who thought it would be a good idea to fire up a fattie at the McD's drive-thru wasn't driving. Leave aside the issues of whether or not cannabis should be illegal.  It's an intoxicant, and someone driving a car shouldn't be impaired by any drug, legal or not.  Of course, even if he wasn't driving, the driver would have had a contact high, so someone's wrong here no matter what.

Here's my advice:  If you're going to get high and want McD's as your way of dealing with the munchies, get your 3 QuarterPounders, 2 large fries, 3 chocolate milkshakes, and 4 fried apple pies first, take all that home, get high, and then eat your fast food fix in the comfort and safety of your living room.  Don't short circuit the process by getting high in the car.  It's dangerous, and the smell and erratic driving annoys those around you.

I'll believe it when it snows in May

Scientists are now predicting that solar activity may be low for the next decade or so.  They believe that this will cause lower global temperatures, with all of the consequences such a thing can bring.

Forgive me if I don't panic.

When I was a child, the ice age was on its way back.  As a teenager, we were all going to die in a post-apocalyptic nuclear winter.  As an adult, I was told that the planet would grow so warm that millions would starve from the drought and coastal flooding.

Now we're back to lower than normal temps.

I'll wait until I start to see blizzards in May again, and the Ohio freezes solid enough to walk on before I start to give credence to this new theory.

Too Honest for That

We got this in the mail the other day:

One of the local Ford dealerships wants to pay me up to half my purchase price for the Caravan.  As much as I'd love to be rid of that piece of crap, I'm not going to bite.  First, I like not having a car payment, even if I'm about to dump a lot of cash into the POS.  Next, they wouldn't give me anything even close to that once they actually see the DadMobile, so it probably wouldn't be worth the effort. And finally, I wouldn't inflict that pile of junk on my worst enemy unless I knew they were going to set it on fire.  I won't even donate it to the GoodWill because I'm pretty sure they'll spend more getting it to an auction house than they will make from it.

No, my plans for the minivan include Knob Creek, a Ma-Deuce, and as much tannerite as I can afford. Sorry, Mr. Ford Dealer, but I'll have to do you a favor and pass.

Product Placement Win

Saw this tonight when I stopped off to pick up a couple of things Irish Woman needed to make dinner:

That's take-home pizza and cold beer within spitting distance of the front door and the registers.  Everything a guy needs, all in one convenient location.  OK, it's Budweiser in several forms, but if you're going to sit in front of the TV and watch the game while eating pizza and drinking beer, this is perfect.

An Addition to the Blog

Over to the right, I've added a link to Lucky Gunner.  They've been a good vendor to me, and I want to promote a company I like.  I've bought a bit of ammunition from them, done a review for them, and they hosted me at the Memorial Day blogshoot.

But I have to give full disclosure on this:  I've signed up to be a part of their affiliate program.  Basically, if you click on that graphic and buy ammunition from them, I will get a small percentage of what you spend back in compensation for the space on my blog.  If I talk about a shopping experience with them or do another review, there will be links in those posts that point to their site or products that will also be part of the affiliate program.  All funds from this go into the "Buy DaddyBear Shooty Stuff" fund.

I'm going to follow a few rules on this, and I want you all to keep me honest:

1. I am not going to turn into a salesman for Lucky Gunner.  I believe they do a good enough job all on their own.  I'm just providing a compensated link.
2. I will continue to do business with them and will comment on my experience.  I have done a product review for them in the past, and I hope to do more in the future.  But I will always be honest in my assessments and be forthright about my business dealings with LG.
3. If I screw up, I will be honest with myself and you all when called on it.  No "reasoned discourse".

So there you have it.  I'm letting someone advertise on my blog, and I'm setting some ground rules for myself to make sure it stays on the up and up.

Now back to your regularly scheduled content.

Thoughts on Coffee Makers

Over at Cool Tools, Steven Leckart does a quick rundown on a lever-action espresso maker.  You boil water, load the filter, then use two levers to force hot water through the grounds to make your morning espresso.  The simplicity, ease of use and care, and the ability to make a decent cup of espresso after the power goes out really appeals to me.  If I'm going to survive the zombie apocalypse, I'm going to need caffeine.

JP over at Eyes Never Closed recently went halfsies on a Keurig coffee maker, and seems to like it.  As a gadget geek, I've always liked these contraptions.  I first ran into something like this a few years ago when I was visiting a vendor in Germany, and their office coffee pot automagically ground the beans, heated the water, brewed the coffee, and spat it out into a cup.  The coffee was good, the ability to choose what coffee drink you wanted was neat, and hey, I got to push buttons on a machine.

I've had coffee in just about every form that I can think of:  boiled cowboy coffee made over a fire, espresso and cappuccino made by well-dressed Hungarian waiters, Turkish made by an old man on the side of a goat trail outside of Sinop, boiled black mud bought for a couple thousand rubles at a Russian "truck stop", percolated coffee made in silver bullet urns in Lord knows how many Army command posts and offices, Taster's Choice out of an MRE (nasty, but you gotta do what you gotta do, and it's drinkable after mixing in cocoa mix, sugar and creamer, and occasionally - peanut butter), and of course my old stand-by:  the Mr. Coffee on the kitchen counter.

I've tried my hand at a few presses, and didn't like the experience of picking grounds out of my teeth, but I'm probably doing it wrong.  I've never had a chance to try using any of the vacuum brewers, but I have had a few cups out of one, and it was pretty good. 

So, how do you all make your morning wake-me-up?  What's your favorite way to prepare the blessed juice of the bean?

Throw the book at him Part II

After yesterday's rant about some idiot shooting at a bunch of little girls because they were on their lawn, we get this:

... a group of children were playing pranks by ringing the doorbells of neighbors and running away. The neighbors say one man became upset at the prank and fired at the kids. 

One boy was hit by buckshot and was taken to the local children's hospital.  I'm ashamed to say that this happened in Louisville, and I don't even like Louisville!

OK, I tried being nice yesterday, but I realize I was just preaching to the choir.  I'm pretty sure that y'all don't need to be reminded that firearms are a tool for self-defense, fun, and food gathering, not for the discouragement of nuisance pre-teens.   So, please spread this message to our brother and sister gun owners who have, shall we say, issues with anger and self control:

Quit acting like a moron with your bloody firearm!  It is not an instrument of intimidation, revenge, or negotiation!  Quit using them as your first resort in neighborhood and domestic disputes!

Look, I have a temper, a pretty bad one at that.  And I'm as territorial as the next guy when it comes to my property.  But kids are kids. They're going to pull pranks, play where they're not supposed to, and every so often they get on someone's nerves.  Heck, my own kids irritate me, and I have an emotional bond with them.  So I understand getting a little irate when the little darlings from down the lane make a stranger angry.  But for heaven's sake, leave the gun in the gun safe.  A verbal correction, followed by a discussion of the situation with their parents, followed by a call to the police is usually all it takes to make the offending behavior stop.  Worst that happens is that you get to be the grumpy guy in your neighborhood.  Come on over, we have jackets.

I hope the young man who was shot last night comes away from this with nothing but an interesting set of scars to tell his friends about, but I hope the jerk who gave them to him spends a very long time in Eddyville because he let his temper overcome his judgement and grabbed a firearm instead of a telephone.

Like I said yesterday folks, it only takes one dickhead among us to tar us all as dickheads.  If we don't police ourselves, someone else will do that for us, and probably in a way that we won't like.  Please, for the sake of us all, reach out to your fellow gun owners and make sure they know they have a pressure valve through you that doesn't involve shooting up middle schoolers for being obnoxious kids.

Army Birthday

On this date in 1775, the Congress of the 13 colonies created the United States Army.  The U.S. is in a minority of countries, in that it's armed forces, including it's army, can trace their lineage to before the actual creation of the country itself.  While the Army was formed in 1775, the country itself wasn't officially created until the Constitution was ratified in 1789.

The United States Army has had its glory, it's shame, it's elation, and its heartbreak.  Our soldiers have fought in the mud of trenches, the dust of deserts, the spray of the surf, and the snow of mountains.  They fly through the sky, parachute from the heights, drive war machines such as have never been seen before, and of course, they march to the sound of the guns.  Today we have soldiers in one form or another in hundreds of places around the world.  Sometimes their exploits are on the evening news, sometimes we will never know what they do for us.

"I, Daddy J. Bear, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Our armed forces do not swear allegiance to the government, or even to the country.  They swear to protect and defend our Constitution, from which our country flows, and follow orders that are in accordance with regulations.  Never in our history have our soldiers pledged allegiance to a general, or a president, or a party.  That alone goes a long way in explaining why our democracy has never gone down to military dictatorship, as have so many since 1775.  While she has never been truly apolitical, our Army has always followed the example of Washington and refrained from interfering in the conduct of the government.

236 years is a long time for any organization to exist, even one that evolves and adapts as much as our Army does.  I have to admit that I am awed by the thought of the generations of warriors who have come before me, and I envy the generations that will follow me.  So long as the Army remembers its proper role in a healthy republic, the country will be safe.

YGBSM!

A couple of years ago, I wrote about the protests that popped up in the Bay Area after the fatal shooting of a man by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police.  Basically, a man of African heritage was arrested for being part of a fight in a BART station.  The victim was on his belly with his hands behind his back when a BART policeman, Johannes Mehserle, reached to his belt, pulled out his sidearm, and shot him.  The policeman claimed at trial that he thought he was pulling out his Taser, and pulled his pistol instead.

Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 2 years in prison last year.

You read that right, two years in prison for shooting a proned-out prisoner in the back with a .40 calibre handgun.  If Mehserle is telling the truth, he got two years for not knowing the difference in how the grip on a Taser and a pistol feels, not looking at the weapon in his hand while aiming it, and then shooting another human being that was on his stomach with his hands behind his back. 

This past weekend, Mehserle was released from jail in Los Angeles after serving 11 months of his sentence.  He was given time off for good behavior and time served.  That's right, folks.  Shoot a man in the back while he's lying face down on a train station platform, and you'll only be in jail for 11 months. 

Needless to say, there's trouble brewing in the Bay Area.  Peaceful protests have already happened in Oakland and Los Angeles, and I can honestly say that I hope there are more.  Being given such a light sentence and then getting time off because he kept his nose clean is insulting.  Apparently the sentence for Contempt of Cop is death in Oakland, but the sentence for causing the death of a prisoner through negligence is only 11 months.