American Crossroads: Operation Hot Mic

Very funny, and scary...

Think of the Puppies and Kittens...NOT!

The Crew and myself are big animal lovers.  We both entered college with plans to become veterinarians.  We both are interested in wildlife and domestic animal issues.  We are both charter members of PETA (People for the Eating of Tasty Animals).  That being said, the largest animal "protection" organization in the country is one of the biggest scams ever.  The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is nothing but a radical animal rights lobbying organization.  They do almost nothing for real animals and local animal shelters.  Don't believe me?  Check out the graphic below showing the amount of money that HSUS gave to local shelter according to their 2010 tax returns. Less than one-half of one percent of their annual budget went to support local shelters.

Well devoted readers, what goes around comes around.  According to a story from Jim Matthews, HSUS is going to get a taste of its own medicine:

"In a little-reported ruling by a judge in the District of Columbia earlier this month, the HSUS is going to court to face charges under RICO statues on racketeering, obstruction of justice, malicious prosecution and other charges for a lawsuit it brought and lost against Ringling Brothers Circus' parent company Feld Entertainment, Inc." 

It is possible that this could bankrupt HSUS and potentially send some their top executives to prison. That seems about right for an organization that has fleeced countless good-hearted people who thought they were helping animals in local shelters.  The moral of this story is:  If you want to help local shelters, donate money directly to the shelter.

Monday Musings With The Crew

• Let's get my nomination for this week's Hollywood HoS in first......The usually level-headed and erudite Cher has gone on quite a Twitter rant the last few days.  Calling out Mitt Romney as a "spineless racist", a "cretin", and referring to Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman as " T-baggies", Cher is yet another example of the remarkable tolerance of the left.  Read the whole sordid mess here at twitchy.com.  I'd cut and paste into this space for you, but it makes me throw up a little in my mouth.  

Wieber after failing to qualify

• You'd think the Olympics would be the last bastion of achievement, the last place we'd have to worry about the namby-pamby fairness police.  You'd be wrong.  In a stunning miscarriage of justice, USA gymnast Jordyn Wieber will not compete in the women's all-around final.  Why?  Because the American team is too good.  A new Olympic rule states that no more than 2 gymnasts from each country can compete in the all-around final.  Wieber, the reigning all-around world champion, qualified third in the point standings yesterday.  However, because Americans Aly Reisman and Gabbie Douglas finsihed 1 and 2, Wieber did not make the all-around final.  That event is supposed to be a competition between the top 24 gymnasts in the Olympics, but 22 of those who compete will have finished behind Wieber in qualifying.  Pathetic.  

• NYC Michael "Big Gulp" Bloomberg has his beady little eyes set on baby formula now.  In a bizarre example of true "cradle to grave" governmental interventionism, Bloomberg has decreed that baby formula will be kept under lock and key in hospitals, and not offered to new mothers without some sort of brow-beating by a governmental lackey.  Everybody knows breast-feeding is ideal for new moms and babies, but hey, what about that girl in high school who was so skimpy up top you couldn't even get a real.....but I digress.  The good news is that Sahib will have a detailed analysis of Mad Mike's latest bit of idiocy later today, stay tuned!

• I bet you are having more fun this summer than Wallace Weatherholt.  The 63 year old Florida man took a family out on his airboat for a tour on June 12th.  He dangled a fish in the water to attract an alligator (yeah, I know).  A 9 footer took the fish, and Wallace's hand.  To add insult to gruesome injury, Florida is charging Weatherholt with "unlawful feeding of an alligator".  We all would have been better off if Wallace had dangled Cher over the side of his boat.  Of course if he had, the state would probably be charging him with "unlawful poisoning of an alligator".  

• Hi, this is Sahib.  I just had to add a blurb about the Obama Olympic kiss controversy. Apparently, the first couple were on the kiss camera at a pre-Olympic basketball game in Washington and the first lady rebuffed BHO.  This was what the White House had to say, "spokesman Josh Earnest says the couple didn't realize it was the "Kiss Cam" watching them.  He says they found this out after, when their daughters told them."  Of course, the second time when Moochelle knew the camera was on them, she was very receptive.
  
• Question:  How do you tell if a girl in a bikini is from Texas?

           Answer:

Nanny Bloomberg to Lead Breast-feeding Nazis

Devoted readers of SACSTW know I have tired of people comparing people they don't like to Nazis, but this group has been the target of my ire for years.  Nanny Bloomberg whose central theme in life is that he knows better than you and will use his power in any way he can to coerce or force you to conform to behavior HE feels is best for you, has decided that all women should breast feed their babies.

Now he hasn't gone so far as to outlaw baby formula (unless it's a bottle over 16 ounces), but he wants to impose more stringent controls in NYC hospitals for baby formula than they have for Oxycontin.  According to a New York Post article:

"Starting Sept. 3, the city will keep tabs on the number of bottles that participating hospitals stock and use — the most restrictive pro-breast-milk program in the nation. Under the city Health Department’s voluntary Latch On NYC initiative, 27 of the city’s 40 hospitals have also agreed to give up swag bags sporting formula-company logos, toss out formula-branded tchotchkes like lanyards and mugs, and document a medical reason for every bottle that a newborn receives."

Now I understand there are benefits to breast feeding, but it is not for everyone.  Some people however, do not agree:

“It’s the patient’s choice,” said Allison Walsh, of Beth Israel Medical Center. “But it’s our job to educate them on the best option.”

That sounds reasonable.  They just want to "educate" the stupid women who do not want to breast feed. Right?

"With each bottle a mother requests and receives, she’ll also get a talking-to. Staffers will explain why she should offer the breast instead."

Read that quote again.  "With each bottle a mother requests"  Say a mom and her new baby stay a day and a half in the hospital.  That's 36 hours.  Say the baby is fed every 2.5 hours.  That translates into 14 "educational" sessions for a new mother who has just given birth.  That's not education.  That's harassment. 


A woman I know tried and had difficulty breast feeding her first child and decided to use formula instead.  The breast feeding "educators" or as I call them Nazis made her feel like a child abuser and unfit mother.  When her second child was born, the husband let the nurses know in no uncertain terms were these "educators" to go near his wife.


This was an intelligent woman who knew the potential benefits of breast feeding, but made an educated decision to feed her children formula.  She's the mother and it was her choice.  Now some women may not know about the potential benefits of breast feeding, so educating them is not a bad thing.  Harassing a woman who has made an educated decision to not breast feed IS A BAD THING!


Besides, I thought that it was a woman's right to choose what to do with her body.  Right?  I guess that just applies for abortions.

 

No Surprise! Hollywood HOs Winner Kristen Stewart

Hollywood HOs

Kristen Stewart has taken top billing in two categories recently, unseating the same woman for both.  She is now the highest paid actress in Hollywood and the most famous home-wrecker.  Titles she wrestled away from Angelina Jolie.  

Of course, when Angelina stole Brad from Jen she wasn't co-starring in a movie with her, and Brad and Jen didn't have two small children, but these are minor details.  I'm sure as she matures, Ms. Stewart will chose the families she seeks to destroy with greater consideration. 

The SACSTW  staff psychologist says that recent studies show the chemicals present in the brain at the start of a new relationship interfere with the critical thinking process and the making of rational decisions, or "people lose their minds".  Not that it ever seemed that Ms. Stewart had much of a mind to lose.  

What I really want to see is Kristen Stewart, Angelina Jolie, and Brad Pitt all star in the same movie.  People magazine editors would die from euphoria.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

All Together Now Class.... A Semi-Automatic Is Not A Machine Gun!

This is a Ruger 10/22, on of the most popular semi-automatic firearms in  this country.  It is not an assault rifle (unless you're a squirrel)

Is there any topic that brings out misinformation more overtly than firearms?  Me thinks not.  After Aurora, firearms and the Second Amendment have really taken a beating in the national media.  Even usually factual Bill O'Reilly stooped to idiotic blather about people buying machine guns, semi-automatics, and other "heavy weapons" without the feds being any the wiser.

To echo one of Rush Limbaugh's favorite sayings, words mean things.  Nowhere do words become more misapplied than when it comes to guns.  I have consulted the SACSTW chief armorer, and he would like to clear up a few of the common misconceptions.

Semi-Automatic:  A semi-automatic firearm is one that can fire, extract, and reload one round with each pull of the trigger until the ammunition is exhausted.  If you pull the trigger on a semi-automatic firearm and keep it depressed, the gun only fires one round.  The trigger must be released to "reset" before another round can be fired.

Automatic:  An automatic firearm is one that will continue firing, extracting, and reloading rounds as long as the trigger is depressed, until exhausting the magazine.

Assault Rifle:  By definition, an assault rifle is a selective fire rifle with a detachable magazine, usually used as the primary weapon for modern infantry.  "Selective fire" means the rifle operator can choose between full automatic fire and semi-automatic functioning.  A semi-automatic AR-15 like the one used in Aurora is no more an assault rifle than the .22 rifle your granddad squirrel hunts with is.  Incidentally, not to confuse the anti-gunners with more facts, the "AR" in AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifle, not Assault Rifle.

Clip:  When it comes to firearms, a clip is a device that holds multiple rounds of ammunition together in order to facilitate the process of inserting them into a magazine.

Magazine:  A magazine is the device that contains ammunition and feeds it into a gun's action to be fired.  A magazine can be either a permanent fixture of the gun's structure or detachable.  A gun fires rounds of ammunition from a magazine NOT from a clip.

"Magazine" and "clip" ARE NOT synonymous (that means the same you KCMO grads), and the use of the word "clip" instead of "magazine" is the best indicator that the speaker is not knowledgeable about firearms.

Want some more definitions of firearms terms?  Check out the great glossary at armsvault.com.

Everyone Can Relax, Sandra Bernhard and O'Reilly Have Opined On Gun Issue

Ok, Ok, everyone can just pipe down now on gun control!  One of the great thinkers of our time, Sandra Bernhard, has issued her proclamation via Twitter.  Doesn't that photo just exude sagacity and erudition?  

Sayeth Professor Bernhard:

@BarackObama  I am a supporter mr obama but please reinstate gun control laws over automatic weapons, "courage is what we need to fight #NRA

AND....

watching #democracynow big discussion about gun control and more it's time to stand up to the gun lobby and reinstate gun control now!

Read the story here at twitchy.com.  Sadly, as remarkable as Ms. Bernhard's ignorance is, it is not unique.  Even SACSTW favorite Bill O'Reilly fell into the gun controllers trap on his show Tuesday evening.



Just a few problems with this.  First Bill starts ranting about the availability of "heavy" weapons such as "mortars, howitzers, and machine guns".  Although it comes as news to Bill and Sandra, those weapons ARE regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 and Title II of the Gun Control Act of 1968.  An American most certainly CAN NOT buy a machine gun without the federal government, specifically the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) knowing about it.  Purchasing such a weapon requires an extensive background check including phototgraph and fingerprints, a $200 federal tax stamp (per purchase), BATFE registration, and a signature from the Sheriff or Chief of Police in the locality of the applicant.  Even moving a properly licensed and registered NFA weapon across state lines requires prior written permission from the BATFE.

Of course, those gun control laws assume the purchaser of the weapon is predisposed to follow the law.  That presumption falls a little short when we are talking about most violent criminals, a fact that gun control nuts refuse to acknowledge.

O'Reilly's assertion that you can buy any gun you want at a gun show without reporting of any kind is simply ludicrous and inaccurate.  Bill goes on to wildly exaggerate the amount of ammo the Aurora shooter had stockpiled, claiming he had purchased "60,000 rounds" on the internet.  The actual number is 6,000,. but hey, what's a little factor of 10 between friends?

Then all of a sudden, O'Reilly describes "semi-automatics" and "ammunition" as heavy weaponry.  Pathetic.  Semi-automatic is a phrase that describes many if not most firearms sold in the United States.  Tomorrow we will take a closer look at the definitions of semi-automatic and automatic when it comes to firearms.  Who knows, maybe Bill will read it.  As a Factor fan, I was deeply disappointed with Bill's level of misinformation on this subject.  C'mon Factor, you can do better!