Armored Facilities Manager

4:31pm: Carroll St Coffee in 30 mins
I'm gonna be at Carroll St Cafe at 5pm. Anyone want to join me for a beer/coffee? It's a nice day...

3:29pm: Dallas Cowboys...
The Cowboys have a retirement community in Nevada...who knew?!

11:54am: Obama Guns, Grass roots and astro turf....
sappersgt has a 2nd blog. Castrorum.Blogspot.com. He has a good post up delineating the grass roots (think of the plastic kind, you know, astroturf) movement that Sen Obama has sponsored alongside his 'support' of the 2nd amendment. baikonur posted a reference to another site, Pajama's media talking about the same.

The key thing to understand is that, rather than discussing law on it's merits, Obama and the Joyce Foundation PAID for legal briefs which twist logic and history to re-paint established case law or legal principles. Such briefs are then used to support court decisions by judges deciding people's fates. One of the biggest problems we have is the Humpty Dumpty treatment of the Constitution and established law.

3:47pm: What is a Right....
Bill Whittle has a nice piece up at Pajama's TV. Something I've found puzzling when told as a response to discussion on the right to bear arms is that "that the government shouldn't go around giving people guns". Apparently, a LOT of people think a right is something that should be provided to you, free of charge. That's not what it is.

Bill Whittle on the subject

12:41am: Obama vs McCain...
A thought just occurred to me based on how some answers were answered or not....

Sen Obama is a better actor, more polished more svelte, great when he has lines to work with. Not so great when he has to improvise bit still polished. Very lawyerly....(that's not a plus in my book)

Sen McCain is a better poker player. In a cruel and dangerous world of realpolitik, he'd be the tougher negotiator when he's playing for what he may or may not have. Across the table from Putin, sending ambassadors to the UN and envoys to meet with Iranians or North Koreans at neutral ground.... and threatening to send a carrier to park off the coast or have the Marines knock down the door (or have the 'sekret squirrels' and alphabet agencies do their thing).

10:49pm: Debate...Oct, 7, 2008...
Oct 7, 2008 - Presidential Debate notes

Question: Fastest and best way to bail out of Economic ruin?

Sen Obama first Failed economic policies of the last 8 years. ["balderdash, still going after that DAMN stupid talking point".]

Step 1 is the rescue package and strong oversight and get money back to the tax payers.
Step 1? tax cuts for middle class
Long term healthcare and energy system
[no step 2?]

( Read more... )

1:28pm: That video, it's back....

1:06pm: Now THATs a wood working project...

12:09pm: Splashover...
So, I've alluded here and elsewhere to how, the arguably unconstitutional enforcement of some Federal and state/local laws relating to firearms results in infringement not just on the 2nd amendment but also on the 4th and 5th. Here's an example that's been ruled on at least in the preliminary stages where a woman, who still sore about more than a score of women and children killed over lack of payment of $200 taxes.

Karen Kilpatrick was stopped by Pensacola Police at the behest of the BATF. She had driven a van near their office on Pensacola with "Remember the Children of Waco" And "Boo ATF" written on the windows in some form of paint. The Police stopped her, detained her and waited on the ATF agent to arrive, handing her documents (license, etc) over to the agent. Who then questioned her, took possession of her legally carried firearm (in her purse) and searched her. The 'interview' took an hour, the search yielded nothing and the agent let her go with a warning to wash her windows after handing her firearm back unloaded.

There's the usual back and forth, but the basic points the ATF agent made was that the van was seen driving around their offices building, had the signs and the date was the anniversary of the end of the Waco Siege, the language on the Van made the government workers 'nervous'.

The ACLU is representing Ms Kilpatrick and sued the ATF agent and the US on the basis that the stop violated her 1st, 4th and 5th amendment rights.

There's been a summary Judgement by a Federal Court judge dismissing the charge of violation of due process. But the complaints of infringement of Free Speech, unlawful arrest, and unlawful search are supported. The judge also denied the Agent's claims of qualified immunity, so he's on the hook personally for this still.

Interestingly the ATF agent opined that she needed to be stopped because she had a CCW permit (apparently informed over the phone by the Pensacola PD).

Looks like the ACLU is finally doing something right. They might yet get back into my good graces.

1:09am: Correction...
On my earlier post where I cited the roll call vote for HR 1424. I had the wrong roll call vote. I'm still not sure what it was I was referencing, but it was from the correct day. I guess it was for an amendment. The as passed roll call vote is referenced here at govtrack.us.

My Congressional Representative, Hank Johnson, did in fact vote for it. He'll be getting a nasty gram as soon as I have time to compose something that's not overly polemic.

Boy, I need to work on that spot check. hellsop pointed out a March Date for that Roll call vote which was funny. I poked around a bit and figured out the issue.

HR1424 was the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. It was passed in the house on Roll Call Vote# 101. The House 'Bail-out' bill failed in the house back earlier last week on the 29th. The Senate, took HR1424, shoved the 'bail out' language into it, passed it then handed it back to the House to concur with. They did, hence Roll Call Vote 681. That was the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

What a confusing way to run a government.

9:57pm: Steyn on Biden...
"When Regular Joe Six-Pack Bluecollar Biden tried to match [Sarah Palin] on the
Main Street cred, it rang slightly wacky. 'Look,' he said, 'All you have to
do is go down Union Street with me in Wilmington or go to Katie's Restaurant
or walk into Home Depot with me, where I spend a lot of time.' Why? Is he
moonlighting as a checkout clerk on the evening shift? Or is he stalking
that nice lady in Lighting Fixtures? As for Katie's Restaurant, ah, I'm sure
it was grand but apparently it closed in 1990. In the Diner of the Mind, the
refills are endless, and Sen. Joe is sitting shootin' the breeze over a cuppa
joe with a couple other regular joes on adjoining stools while Betty-Jo, the
sassy waitress who's tough as nails but with a heart of gold, says Ol' Joe,
the short-order cook who's doing his Sloppy Joes just the way the senator
likes 'em, really appreciates the way that, despite 78 years in Washington,
Joe Biden is still just the same regular Joe Six-Pack he was when he and
Norman Rockwell first came in for a sarsaparilla all those years ago. But,
alas, while he was jetting off for one-to-one talks with the Deputy Tourism
Minister of Waziristan, the old neighborhood changed. In a conventional
presidential environment, Bidenesque fake authenticity would be enough. Up
against Sarah Palin's authentic authenticity, I'm not so sure." ---Mark Steyn

He also has interesting observations on the McCain Campaign that seem solid at first glance, but then I'm not a highly paid political campaign advisor so what do I know.

11:11am: Dow heating up.....
Just in the wrong way...

Heard at work among my computing peers:...

"Bail out bill fails early last week, stocks rise, bail out bill passes,
stocks fall....hmmm"

Me thinks this isn't working the way Congress thinks it does....

12:09pm: Is this wahat passes for tolerance?
Sandra Bernhard issued a blistering warning to Sarah Palin during a performance of her new one-woman show.
The Republican V.P. nom would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers" if she enters Manhattan, Bernhard said. Palin is said to be making a campaign stop in New York next week.

Is this what passes for tolerance? In the 2004 election we saw the left and Senator Kerry trying to make an issue of the Cheney's Homosexual Daughter. Why was that? The family has come to terms with their daughter which, is presumably what the Left wants families to do. Accept homosexuals for what they are, YET they use it as a wedge point when the right does in fact adopt the principles.

We see people trying to make issues with the Palin family's daughter. Yet the left also wants us to all accept pregnant teens and not make them feel as if they are a pox on society (they're not) yet, there was a concerted effort there. Some even tried to conflate Gov Palin's pregnancy with that of her daughter Bristol. Some even went as far as blaming Gov Palin for her child's Downs syndrome as due to teratogenic effects rather than actually looking at the real causes of what causes downs. It's genetic, more likely in older women but utterly unrelated to prenatal care and health of the mother during the pregnancy.

Is this what passes for intellect and progressive thinking on the left?

Here we have Governor Sara Palin, a woman who has survived on her own merits, succeeded on her own merits and broken the glass ceiling that Hillary said existed (despite the fact that we had a previous woman VP candidate in the form of Geraldine Ferraro). I'm seeing a great deal of bile, vitriol and disdain for an apparently successful woman from supposedly tolerant and accepting people on the left. And they can't even maintain their dislike for the woman stand on policy, it has to be embellished with childish ridicule and appellations. What dismays me is the practical eating of their own young that the Democrats are doing in their efforts to show Gov Palin as a horrible person, let alone a substandard candidate.

Is this what passes for tolerance in the left? Where does this hate come from?

10:35pm: Bail out Bill Roll Call Vote:
Note that we were told wednesday that Bush is a lame duck president. One friend is angry that it was stated as a Mandate from same. You'll note we have a Democrat controlled congress.I see it as a typical reaction of a largely statist government. Some Republicans and most of the Democrats voted for this large expansion of federal ownership of capital.

House Roll Call vote

Yeas 263
Democratic 172
Republican 91

Nays 171
Democratic 63
Republican 108


Senate Roll Call vote

Yeas 74
Nays 25

10:03pm: Biden just suggested putting NATO troops on Lebanon.

HOW? It's an alliance there to defend members of said alliance. NO war/attack/threat for a member state and it's rare to get them to go somewhere.

12:39pm: 451 pages. What the hell?
Why can't they keep it on point and simple, functional? No they have to make it a HUGE monstrosity of a bill making review prior to it's vote impossible. As Dave Hardy over at Arms and the Law says, " You can tell how hastily it was drafted by the fact that many parts refer to amending or deleting "section ___" without saying section of what statute.
"

It has 150 pages of revenue code modifications as well. Including an exemption for manufacture of wooden arrows? What???!?

PDF version of H.R. 1424

I say not only no, but HELL no for this legislation.

6:37pm: The power of the internet...
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending



By STEVEN A. HOLMES
Published: September 30, 1999
In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

( Read more... )

2:21pm: $700 Billion horse pill fails house vote
The House defeated the financial intervention bill by a vote of 205 to 228.

Draft version. I can't locate the HR # after a cursory search, but the thing is 110 pages. I can't say I'm happy about the amount of pork that's been dumped on top of this bill.

I do think we need some sort of bill, but it needs to be what's absolutely necessary not some random number a staffer picked out of the air and proceeds payed back need to go straight to paying back down the budget.

5:47pm: Tool love...
I bought an 18 Gauge brad nail gun the other day. I've been using it to install the moulding that I've been adding/repairing/repainting in the sun room. I'm in heaven. What initially took me 30 minutes per strip with a hammer, a nail set and nails takes less than a minute with the brad nailer. Once I got a feel for depth settings it's as consistent as a well nail gun.

Good tools are just so nice to have.

(Now to lay hands on a finish nailer for slightly larger projects where 18 gauge brad nails aren't quite up to snuff.)

11:57pm: johnbutler posted this over on his blog. I think he was expecting more discussion. Perhaps we can get some here.

Pretty much the definitive work (so far as I've seen) on how the mortgage market was utterly fouled up.



Between the last post I made and this, I'm a bit more than slightly angry that the 3 page bill for the Mortgage bialout has transformed to a 47 page bill and now, last I've heard, over a 100 page bill. Apparently groups like ACORN are going to get 20% of the funds that are paid BACK to the federal government from the bailout. Those funds need to go back to the budget and need to be used to pay down the debt.

11:38pm: More on Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac....
The current financial crisis with the housing market. Watch Obama BLAME the current crisis on republicans and President Bush.



Here's direct rebuttal and HIS party members saying that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are fine. That the Regulation to correct and put both under closer regulatory scrutiny. Again, note that above, Sen. Obama says the Republicans and their failed philosophies created this problem. Remember, above he says that Deregulation caused this problem. He couldn't be further from the truth in his statements.

1:49pm: Obama Truth Squad. Now with Law Enforcement!
The Obama Campaign in at least Missouri is using local law enforcement to get out the message. Specifically to respond to ads that are aired and the campaign deems is false. They're using at least two district attorneys, sheriffs officers and police.

Law enforcement figures as part of your campaign truth squad? 1st Amendment principles? Sure they haven't violated it yet, but they're veering dangerously close. What effect would you expect if a sheriffs officer came by and had words with your company on the content of your news story or advertisement?

11:02pm: music geekery...
On a lighter note,

Rodney McKay is an Eno 'fan'...heh.

10:06pm: Debate thoughts...
I missed the first part of it, gonna have to check the streams...

Jim/John? Senator...you know who you're debating right?

Sen McCain is NOT hammering Sen Obama on the critical details. Raising taxes isn't going to help the economy AT ALL.

Iraq, AQ was there. Sen Obama just doesn't understand who AQ was.

Afghanistan. Does Sen Obama actually understand what a brigade is? 3 Brigades, is less than a Division.

Sen McCain Knows his military details (go figure, he's a Former Naval Officer). He know's his numbers too.

Sen Obama, Nobody talked about attacking Pakistan? Take them out? What's that mean in the context of Pakistan? Send flowers?

Some of the Cross Border attacks are Pakistani military does that factor for either of them?

Pakistan is not a simple place to just put shiney new Democracy in place. There's a reason the previous presidents fled.

Doesn't have a seal yet....ouch.

Is Sen Obama invoking Kissenger? Isn't Kissenger second only to Karl Rove for status as "evil" figures of the world for liberals?

Sen McCain is starting to hammer on Sen Obama on foreign policy and naivete.

McCain does a zinger on Pres Bush. "I looked into his eyes and saw K G B."

How did Sen Obama (edit and Sen McCain) get from Russia and relations with Russia and the problems in Soviet Georgia to domestic energy research? Increasing US oil supplies isn't going to affect Russian territorial gains. Russia sells energy to Europe.

Continental Attack, tough question (personally I expect such an attack at some point)

Sen Obama - No Nuclear Missile threat?!? What? Taep'o-dong-2 4,000-4,300km range, hello? Dear Leader or his heirs?

Sen Obama - Iraq, you want to keep focusing on the past. What about finishing Iraq?

6:43pm: Red Herrings....
How many of my military friends who've seen combat or 'stressful situations' (or not) would view the following with a bit of distaste? Lets expand that to EMS responders and Cops. You've seen death and destruction, therefore, you're more likely to crack and THUS more likely to be unsuitable for positions of critical responsibility.

"John McCain's being a POW does not make him more qualified to be our president, it makes him LESS qualified."

Basically the gist is that his treatment in Vietnam as a POW makes him more likely to crack and use the Football in ways not appropriate. ie he has latent PTSD that makes him unfit for his presidency.

Discuss.