Vin in Canada

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Thu, 23 Aug 2001 12:00:00 GMT

Events in the past may be roughly divided into those which probably never happened and those which do not matter. -- W. R. Inge

and:

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines. -- John Benfield

My Friends of Bear Mailbox page now has a couple more pictures that I took in the evening light. Besides the one to the right, there are individual portraits of the Indian & eagle (403K), the bunny (389K), and a panorama of the whole menagerie (136K). Click on the image for a larger version.

Electronic Freedom Foundation - Russian Programmer to Appear in California Court - Dmitry Sklyarov's arraignment, which was scheduled for this morning, has been postponed until next week, exact time to-be-determined. [newsforge]

Vin Suprynowicz at The Report Newsmagazine (Canada) - That Every Man Be Armed - a speech that Mr. Suprynowicz gave in Edmonton, Alberta, on August 15. Wonderful! Starts off with a couple of stories, then launches into the history of the right to keep and bear arms. Then explains why the word "free" is in the preamble to the second amendment, tells us what "well-regulated" means, and why it's important that every man be armed. [lew]

So let's bring the right to self-defense into play. I have taken out young women, short women, small women, and taught them how to shoot firearms. It's delightful to see their faces. At first it's just fun. They realize it's not going to blow up in their hand; it's not like holding a rattlesnake that is going to turn around and bite them. It's a miracle of the engineering of Western culture that we have come up with these weapons that are extremely reliable, effective, that work properly. But then there's a follow-up. After that initial exhilaration of just experiencing what it's like to knock the tin can off the fence, after that you watch the gears turn in their heads and its wonderful. And you see them go, "If I had one of these and I was the last person to leave the shopping mall at night and the parking lot was dark, I wouldn't have to look around and see if there are any strange men who might approach me." And they feel free, as men are free. Men can't possibly understand what it's like to be a woman and always have in the back of your mind, "Am I vulnerable? Am I going some place where I might get into trouble?"

There would be those who reply "Oh, so women should carry guns and shoot everyone who makes them frightened." No. Do we believe that police officers strap on their arms, load their shotguns in the trunk of their cruisers, then say, "I really hope I get to shoot someone today"? No. But it's a question of deterrence, safety and the right to self-defense.

...

Steve [Kubby] has a great story and I don't think he would mind if I borrowed it. So they are going to arrest him. He is going to be a test case. He knows it. He can't talk them out of it. Once these police forces lock in it doesn't matter what the lawyers have said. But how to communicate with them and explain "We're not violent; we don't have any firearms; we don't want you to break down our door with battering rams, waving guns, frightening our daughter or even our dog. We'll surrender any time and show you where we are growing the stuff. We want to co-operate and have our day in court, but we don't want your drama"?

But how do you get that message to a multi-jurisdictional police force that is hanging in the woods with binoculars? Do you write to the sheriff? The State police? Do you contact the federal drug enforcement administration in Washington? How do you know when you've reached the right people?

So what he did was draw up a letter, "You're right. I'm growing medical marijuana. It's no secret. I've got adrenal cancer. I've got papers from my doctor. If you want a test case that's fine. We're not going to resist so don't break down our doors." And he put that in an envelope and wrote on it "To the Police" and he put it in the garbage and put the lid on the garbage can.

And later in court they used that as part of their evidence! They were pouring through his garbage. I hope they perfumed the thing before they presented it.

Helen Chenowith - Hage at Sierra Times - Speech from the Klamath Falls Fairgrounds - A rousing missive given on Tuesday. [sierra]

And so those who would be politically correct can't debate us on the issue, no, they want to throw rocks. They want to denigrate us personally. Which, you know it was Charlton Heston who said about political correctness, "It's just tyranny with manners." You know Heston went on to say, "I wish for you the courage to be unpopular. Popularity is history's pocket change. And courage is history's true currency." And you have the courage of your convictions. I am so proud of you and so proud to be a part of this program today.

cabextract is a POSIX program to extract the contents of Microsoft cabinet archives. [meat]

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Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair