One Down...

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/08/14/pawlenty/
http://www.670kboi.com/rssItem.asp?feedid=112&itemid=29708801

Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the GOP primary race this morning.  Michelle's win in the Ames Straw Poll seems to have been a sever blow against his campaign.  He was initially hoping to show growth, and his 3rd place finish did that.  However, after he looked things over more closely, he realized that loss against Bachman was significant enough to end his run.

Now, for my opinion on the events:

First, and foremost, I'm glad to see one of the more liberal of the contenders back out of the race.  This gives me marginally more hope for having a properly conservative candidate. 

Second, I didn't see where Romney finished.  If he did well, the MSM would be blasting that all over the front pages, trying to sell us on how wonderful that socialist is.  The fact that he's NOT out there, tells me he did badly enough that they don't want to talk about it.  WAY TO GO IOWA!!!!

Third, Bachman winning the poll suggests to me that the people (of Iowa, at least) do want a real conservative in.  Unfortunately, I have my doubts about Michelle being a strong president.  She has potential, and I'd certainly take her over many others who are a possibility, but I do have my doubts.

Fourth, this is the best news to me from the weekend, Governor Perry is in.  He announced yesterday, and he couldn't have made me more happy.  He has a solid record of conservative policies, conservative voting, conservative solutions, etc.  As the field currently stands, he's the most conservative with the most experience, and best record.

Please, share your thoughts about the weekend's events, the debate last week, or anything else related to the GOP nomination race.

Fascinating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDaKzQNlMFw

I love this stuff.

California Open Carry

Source:
http://www.weerdworld.com/2011/morning-video-2/

This gem from Weerd.  The video is very to-the-point, and it is amusing to listen to Portantino.  He's so far out of touch with reality that it's hard not to feel sorry for him.  As Weerd says:

Great arguments if you’re an emotional hand-wringer. Not much if you ever….you know…think.

Do you want to reduce crime?  Do you want to see people take personal responsibility?  Do you understand that the police have neither the ability nor the obligation to protect each and every individual citizen in each and ever circumstance throughout the course of a day?  Do you have the ability to think critically and apply logic?  If your answer to any of these is 'Yes' the odds are that you are in favor of enabling the private citizen to take an active stand the protection of his person, his family, and his property.  This means repealing the legislation which prevents individuals from performing those duties.  This means drafting and enacting legislation which supports the law-abiding, and protects them from criminal and civil liability when engaged in the act of defense (see Castle Doctrine laws).  

At the end of the day, the nanny-stateism that is rampant in this country is doing nothing to better the lives of our citizens, but rather is doing more to hinder freedom, and take responsibility away from people who are more than capable of behaving like adults.  The problems which need to be addressed are with those who intend others harm, not the idea that any sort of inanimate object is to blame.

Thanks for the video, Weerd.  Fantastic.

Debating on the Internet

Debate:

https://www.facebook.com/ChristianPost.Intl/posts/10150258757723635

Yes, I know debating on the internet is silly.  It's more effective to use a wall as a stopping device for one's head repeatedly.  However, that said, it is still very fun to debate people in such a forum occasionally.  I have been engaged (briefly) with a few people who don't understand basic political or economical science.  It's rather amusing, feel free to check out the debate and join in if you like.  Or, post here your thoughts on the debate.

The basic context of said discussion is the president's refusal to understand that the S&P changed the rating of the US because of his poor leadership.  Instead he's choosing to blame others, use scape goats, and even deny that the rating deserved to change.  Can't have it all, either it should change, or it shouldn't, not a combination of 'it shouldn't and it's someone else's fault that it did.'  It doesn't work that way.

Anyway, please weigh in!

Jumping at Shadows

Source:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-virginia-tech-lockdown-4-20110805,0,3215763.story

Most of you, by now, have heard about this incident.  Back in 2007 there was a mass shooting at the school.  While that was a sad, and even unfortunate incident, it has had the effect of making people at the school jumpy and afraid.  Rather than encouraging the students, faculty, and others to be aware of their situation, and prepared to handle it, they are skittish.  One person, who saw something they weren't even certain about having seen, led to a lock-down of the school, a massive amount of expense to the school, local tax payers, and emergency responders.  This comes with the additional side-effect of putting many officers into play in a non-issue, and leaving other areas un-patrolled, and reducing the response time to any other issue.  

In what world does it make sense for the masses to live in perpetual fear?  In what world does it make sense for people to blindly rely on the reactions of someone else to save their lives?  But most importantly, in what world is it the business of one person what any other person is or is not carrying on their person?  If you are worried about someone else carrying a weapon, train yourself in their use, and be prepared to do something about it yourself.  Otherwise, shut your mouth, stop whining like a nitwit, and leave the rest of us to live our lives the way we want.

Camping Trip

     This past weekend I went on a camping trip.  I haven't done a proper camping trip in many years.  Those of you who know me well will understand that this is the sort of thing I really enjoy.  Being outdoors, experiencing the call of nature, breathing fresh air, not dealing with traffic, and all the other things associated with getting back to basics are very appealing to me.  

    This trip, I went to one of the state parks in PA.  It was peaceful considering how full the campsite was.  There was one group of people who insisted on being louder than they needed to be, but they were far enough away that it wasn't terribly distracting.  

     I purchased a new tent for this trip (my old one was...well, let's just say it's not in the best shape these days).  All I can really say about this tent is that I love it.  

• Standing upright in a tent is a wonderful thing.  Being able to walk around, upright, is even better.  
• Large windows allow a tremendous amount of airflow to pass through the tent.
• Setup of the tent was extremely easy considering the size.  Two adults, first time setup, took less than 30 minutes in a stiff breeze.  That was the worst part, without the wind it would have been 15 minutes.
• Storage for a variety of things, some pockets built into two flaps, allowing for phone, wallet, keys, etc to be kept safe and organized without fear of being lost.  
• There is an e-port to allow an extension cord to be run into the tent to power electronic devices, charge phones, or whatever.  We used a site without power, as that's part of the joy of being camping, is not depending on electricity for everything.  However, that is a nice feature for the back-yard-camp-outs, and other uses the tent would have.

We borrowed a Coleman camp stove for the trip, and as always, I enjoyed using the white-gas stove.  Very useful stove for burning without any toxic emissions.  White-gas is safe to use in a tent, or anywhere, without risk of CO poisoning.   The one we took had the electronic ignition, which was very convenient, but with having matches and a lighter, there would have been no issues if that was not working.  I am definitely going to purchase one of their dual fuel stoves for myself in the somewhat near future.  They have basically updated the white-gas stove to be able to burn either white-gas OR regular unleaded gasoline.  I will stick with the white-gas, unless I'm in a 'worst case scenario' and that fuel is not available.

Beyond those couple toys, we had the basic camping supplies (sleeping bags, pie irons, knives, etc), and it made for a very relaxing trip.  We rented a motor boat for a few hours and tooled around a portion of the lake (We did not have enough time to cover the entire lake, it's surprisingly large!), swam for a while, read, got engaged, made some s'mores, and other outdoorsy camping activities.

Now it's time to start planning the next trip!

Light Posting

Sorry for the light posting.  I've had a very busy couple of weeks, the last week being especially so.  I'll provide more details in the future as to what I've been busy doing in the future.
Stay tuned, I'll be writing some posts this week.