Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Latest Stupid Tactic from The Brady Campaign

The Brady Campaign, or The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence as they like to call themselves these days (makes them seem more "official" and "credible," I guess) have recently launched a brand-new website that they say will educate the people to a terrible danger that they all face - "assault clips."

That's right, "assault clips." No, not "assault weapons," but "assault clips." (Never mind the fact that there's really no such thing as an "assault weapon," but that it's just a term made up by the media to inflame and terrify the public...we won't even go there.) These terrible things, for those of you who don't know, are what the morons at the Brady Campaign say are responsible for the Tuscon, Arizona shooting this year. And there's even a spot where you can sign an online petition to be sent to The Great Pretender, which says: "We need your leadership to ban deadly assault clips like the kind used in the Tucson Massacre which killed six and injured 13 in just 16 seconds."

I'm sorry, I thought it was a human being pulling the trigger; guess I was wrong all along. Silly me.

Let's talk about the glaringly obvious error on the part of the morons at the Brady Campaign first, shall we? Let's talk about the difference between a "clip" and a "magazine."

It's really very simple: a "clip" is a 'U' shaped piece of metal which holds the individual rounds in a group which can then be easily loaded into a clip-fed rifle, such as the M-1 Garand. A "magazine" is an enclosed containter into which are fed the individual rounds, one at a time, one on top of the other horizontally. Once full, the magazine is then inserted into the weapon; in the case of a pistol, it's inserted into the bottom of the grip; with a rifle, it's inserted into a slot on the underside of the weapon. Once the last round has been fired, the empty magazine is then manually removed - manually removed - and replaced with a full magazine.

Now that the basics are out of the way, let's talk about why this new direction of the Brady Campaign is stupid at best, ludicrous and misleading at worst.

First and foremost, they have created a new device with which to terrorize the people - the "assault clip." As I've said before, there's no such thing as an "assault rifle;" no military in the entire world uses that classification for ANY of the rifles in their inventories. It's a term made up by the liberal media for the sole purpose of terrorizing the public into believing their one-sided point of view, and to give credence to an otherwise uncredible story. Now the Brady Campaign has gone one step further with the creation of the "assault clip." And the part in their website in which they claim that "assault clips" were responsible for the Tuscon shooting is nothing short of stupid. A living, breathing human being who had purchased his weapons legally, passing all of the requirements and background checks along the way, used his legally-purchased weapons with his legally-purchased ammunition and his legally-purchased high capacity MAGAZINES to commit a crime by shooting those people.

The weapon didn't do it; the MAGAZINES didn't do it, the HUMAN BEING did it. I mean, really, Sarah Brady, what part of that is so hard for you to understand?

And we won't even talk about the fact that this criminal jumped through all of the federal hoops currently in place to purchase his weapon and ammunition, and how that simple fact proves without any shadow of a doubt the one fact that remains unchanged no matter how you try to spin it: GUN LAWS DO NOT WORK. They never have, and they never will.

Aside from all of this, if you look at the "logic" the Brady Campaign is using, trying to ban high-capacity MAGAZINES by saying that they will prevent gun violence is like saying that you can reduce the number of DUI fatalities by making the gas tanks in cars smaller. The only thing a smaller capacity MAGAZINE will do is make the criminal carry another one with him - and that ain't all that hard to do, you know. Slip into a pair of khakis with cargo pockets on the legs, and you can carry a whole shitload of low-volume MAGAZINES and reload to your heart's content.

All of this hoorah that the Brady Campaign is trying with this new tactic is just another version of the same tired, old tactic they've been trying all along. In sales lingo, it's called the "foot in the door" tactic - you get your foot in the door and get the customer to listen to you, and then you can sell him whatever you want. It's the same thing here, the same thing that "Slick Willy" Clinton and his band of merry idiots tried during his reign of terror - if you can get just one thing, just one small thing passed, then you move on to the next thing which is just a bit bigger, and when that's passed you move on to the next thing, which is just a bit bigger than that, and before long you've reached your goal, one foot in the door at a time.

And the goal of the Brady Campaign and all of the liberal idiots in Congress is the total elimination of private weapon ownership - which means a repeal of the 2nd Amendment, taking away your right to protect yourself from those who would do you harm.

Including your own government.

In case you forgot, the Founding Fathers included the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights because the British king tried to take their weapons away from them so he could impose his will on them and they'd have no way to fight back, and they didn't ever want the new government to be able to do the same thing - ever. "Slick Willy" Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Sarah Brady, and Barack NObama all want to do just that - they want to take away our means of protection, and they're trying to tell us that they're doing it 'for our protection.'

Which brings me to my last point about that stupid website. There's a video posted there that starts with the words "SENSIBLE GUN LAWS SAVE LIVES" emblazoned across the screen. One has to wonder several things at this: first, how can ANY gun law "save lives" if PEOPLE BREAK THE LAW? In that case, the ONLY person that the gun law will protect you from are LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS.

I don't know about you, but to me, that just doesn't make sense.

The other thing you have to wonder about is this: if the Brady Campaign is calling for "sensible" gun laws, are they saying that the 25,000 gun laws already in effect across the nation are NOT "sensible?" Well, then, if that's the case, then by all means let's get rid of them! I mean, if they don't make sense then they're useless and should be eliminated, right?

Well, that one kinda backfired on ya, didn't it, Sarah Brady?

When all is said and done, it comes down to some simple facts that no amount of fabricated facts, made-up nomenclature, or spin-doctoring of statistics can dispute, and those are:

1. Gun laws don't work, because criminals don't obey the law.

2. Gun laws cannot "protect" you, because criminals don't obey the law.

3. There is no such thing as a "sensible" gun law, because criminals don't obey the law.

4. And lastly, the ONLY thing that CAN protect you is a gun.


It's as simple as that.

IHC

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Harley-Davidson and The End of an Era

This past week brought some very bad news for the diehard "old skool" Harley-Davidson riders out there. If you're a biker you know the guy I'm talking about - the guy who's first bike was an old Knucklehead or Shovelhead that he got either for parts or in trade for an old car, who taught himself to take the thing apart and fix it no matter what was wrong with it, the guy who absolutely refuses to even consider an electric start on his bike but would rather stick with the old kick-start, and who considers anyone who can't fix their own bike a "poser." (And if you've been following my blog, then you know my feelings on the use of that term and others like it...but I digress.) For these old guys, the end of the world as they know it was announced quietly last week, and many of them may not even have heard it, the news was released so quietly.

So what was this devastating news, you ask? Simple: Harley-Davidson confirmed last week that the entire 2012 lineup of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, with the exception of the Sportster XR1200, would be - hang on to your hats - WATER COOLED.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, the era of the air-cooled V-twin motorcycle engine has officially come to a close. Harley-Davidson was the ONLY bike manufacturer out there who steadfastly refused to convert their powerplants to water-cooled, but the changing times - and steadily more restrictive emission standards - have finally caught up with them.

For some of us, this was no surprise. When I was working at the local Harley shop as a salesman in 2007, the District Manager told us that the water-cooled engine in the V-Rod was such a big hit that the MoCo was working on incorporating that powerplant into the Touring lineup, and that we'd see it on the salesfloor by 2012, "if not sooner." My only question is, "What took you so long?"

My only complaint about Harley-Davidson bikes (aside from the price) is that the engines were NOT water-cooled. Air-cooled engines are fine as long as you're moving, but as I found out in the Biketoberfest traffic jam of 2003, an air-cooled engine absolutely WILL overheat when you're stuck in traffic. Then you get to pull the bike over to the side and sit for about an hour or so until the engine cools down enough to ride it - and you better pray that the traffic has cleared by then, or in about 20 minutes you get to repeat the whole thing all over again.

Been there, done that, and it ain't fun.

As I see it, the MoCo really had no choice in this for two reasons: first and most importantly, the only way to ensure that their engines can comply with the ever-tightening emission standards being put in place by the EPA is to make them water-cooled. Water-cooled engines have much lower emissions that air-cooled engines, and the only noticeable difference in the negative aspect is that the engine isn't quite as loud.

No biggie there - a quick trip to the local bike shop and a set of Vance & Hines pipes later, and you've got all the sound you need. I put a set of Hard Krome Double D's on a Suzuki Marauder in '02, and you could hear the bike coming from half a mile away.

But on the positive side, a water-cooled engine puts out more power than an air-cooled engine of the same size.

Hear that, gearheads? MORE POWER. I can almost hear Tim Allen grunting in the background.

For those of you who think that a radiator will ruin the looks of the bike, have a little faith, willya? The folks at the MoCo aren't idiots, and they've designed the water systems to be as unobtrusive and unnoticeable as possible. Sure, you'll be able to see it, but in some cases you're going to have to look for it to find it.

Personally, I'm all for this. I will readily admit that it'll be nice to be able to ride a Harley and NOT have to worry about getting stuck in traffic and having the motor overheat on you for a change. Of course, there will be those that will take the stand of, "Harley-Davidson is a bunch of traitors! I'll never buy another Harley again for as long as I live!"

Hey, if that's the way you feel, more power to you. No one's gonna twist your arm and come begging you to buy a new Harley, so get over it. You wanna stick with your old Shovel, then that's just fine with me. Like I've said before, I don't care WHAT you ride, as long as you RIDE.

As for Harley-Davidson and the new engine, all I can say is this: Welcome to the 21st century, and it's about damned time.

IHC

Friday, April 1, 2011

I'll Just Never Understand

And I don't want to. Because if I understand how people can be so incredibly, terribly cruel to such a loving, loyal animal as a dog - or to ANY animal, as far as that goes - then that means I have something of what they have inside of me.

And that's something I don't EVER want.

The last time something that happened in the world consumed this much of my concious and subconcious thought was on September 11, 2001. Aside from that, I can't remember anything that has engraved itself on my heart and soul as much as the plight of the miracle dog, Patrick. Every chance I get I find myself picking up my smartphone, going to Facebook, and checking for updates on his condition. And each time I see a new picture of him and notice more glisten to his fur, more meat on his bones, and the ever-increasing brightness in his eyes, it makes me smile - and sometimes it makes me cry, because I remember what happened to him in the first place.

And then I get mad. I get mad at the BITCH who did this to him, the BITCH who in her own weak, useless defense said that she "couldn't take care of him" so she TIED HIM TO A RAILING AND THEN LEFT THE STATE FOR A WEEK! She said she tied him there hoping that "someone would take him."

Excuse me, BITCH, but just how stupid do you think we are??? What, was it too much effort to climb your fat ass into your car, take Patrick with you, and drive him over to the ASPCA and give him to them? Was that too much trouble? Obviously it was. Well, now your fat ass is sitting in jail, right where you belong, and when your time for trial comes I hope the judge hits your dumb, fat ass with the maximum sentence. You deserve just as much mercy as you showed Patrick - NONE!

And if you want proof that in some cases stupidity is hereditary, then check out her mother's Facebook page and see what that ignorant cow has to say about it. Oh, and don't be surprised at this, but she and her friends now say that this whole thing is all about race - it's the "white media" and the "crackerz" making a big deal out of nothing, and the the BITCH is innocent of any wrongdoing. Be warned, though, you may need a translator to be able to read it as it is the most perfect example of the butchering of the English language into "ghettospeak" that I've ever seen.

The whole thing - what was done to Patrick, the BITCH's weak defense, and her mother's equally weak and racist comments - disgusts me to no end.

But I'm going to try and put all that behind me, and concentrate instead on the progress that Patrick is making, and that's quite a lot. It gives me great comfort and makes me happy to see he's getting better with each passing day, as evidenced in the pictures posted on his Facebook page. God bless the people at Garden State Veterinary Services for taking care of him!

And I still hope the BITCH rots in hell.

IHC