We have one more week in which we must endure the onslaught of ads by these politicians. I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive. If I have to seen any more of McCain on T.V. I just might throw the remote through the fuckin thing. We do not need that formaldehyde filled Muppet and his kindergarten side kick “running” this country. On the flip side, the more I read about Obama the less enthusiastic I am about him. I’m pretty disgusted by his stance on “gun control”. His health insurance plan as well as tax plan are doomed to failure. His one redeeming plan, which I think is a very fine idea in theory, is giving people who attend college a kick back for public service. The only thing we know for sure is no matter which guy is in charge, this country is in for some pain in the upcoming years. This past summer was a taste of the energy crunch we’re going to experience and the markets are surviving on one bubble after another. The only way to “solve” the energy problem is through technology. The free market system is quite different. If the government steps in, it’s no longer a free market…so even if it’s saved…the free market ideals are destroyed in the process. Part of that whole philosophy is this up and down trend that we are currently experiencing. It’s unfortunate that so few can effect so very many…on a global scale now really.
Does anyone really care that Al Frankin used to be a comedian? Does that effect his ability to man a public office? As I’ve experienced in the fairly recent past…people seem to tie leadership ability to some arbitrary sense of morality. If a guy says “fuck” in public…clearly he can’t lead… mean while the people in power are free to take it up the ass from a hot poker behind closed doors and still be perceived effective. I personally would like to be lead by someone who didn’t try and impose some set of morals. Having to judge things like that get in the way of making important decisions. Having to be concerned with what some random group of morons might think really fucks up the decision making process.
Why are men not men anymore? Why do we have to sugar coat everything we say because someone might interpret it in some way that is less than flattering…and why do we care? Every day we work with people that make us uncomfortable or that we flat out don’t like. Does that inhibit you from performing your job duties? If it does…you clearly need a new position. We don’t have to like each other to work together, but you do need to separate emotion from reason…so few people can take that step. I find myself in several disagreements with co-workers about various things we have strong opposing opinions about…but it hardly effects our working relationship. I expect to be able to get in to a shouting match with someone one minute and have us both still work together effectively the next. If you can’t handle that you need to remove yourself from the workforce.
A couple of news stories worth looking at today…
An 8 year old shot himself to death by mishandling an Uzi at a gun show. Obviously it happened, so asking “how could this…” is a moot point. I’m thinking the gun must have been setup for a 3 round burst or fully automatic. I could see how it’s possible for him to squeeze the trigger over and over as the gun bounced out of control…esp if it popped out of his hands or twisted his fingers around. As the gun bounces off of each shot the energy causes the chain reaction. It’s not like the movies where you drop a semi auto and it keeps going off, but if he got his fingers caught in there I could see it happening. I would like to know what the details of the event were. In either case, the how’s are pretty much irrelevant…it did happen. The guardian with the child as well as the person that was “manning the booth” should be drug out in the street and shot. I’m all for educating children about guns, the little monster loves to shoot…but you have to take an active part in their education. Giving them anything more powerful than a “1 at a time pea shooter” is far too dangerous. Sam shoots a .22, it’s a single shot (and bright god damn pink, thanks to my mother). It’s got a bolt that you drop, but you also have to manually cock the firing pin. She’s learned that you drop the bolt, put it to your shoulder…take aim…get a steady base then cock the weapon. On one hand this isn’t the best because it trains her to drop the bolt and it’s not yet ready to fire (most bolt actions would be cocked with the bolt dropped), but it gets the idea in her head to take aim and be ready to fire -before- you cock the gun. It should be an easy transition between the two styles of guns later on.
A 12 year old was injured during a hunting accident, he apparently fell with the shotgun and shortly there after fired without checking the barrel. Obviously, the blow back got him. Again, this is an education issue that deals squarely with the mentor more than the child. At 12 the child should not be alone and in most (if not all) states can’t be alone. The guardian should have instructed him to unload the gun, check the barrel and reload…then carefully touch off a round (or in most cases…do it for him to minimize the danger to the child) to be sure the barrel is clear.
Both cases demonstrate a lack of teaching by the guardians and unfortunately the students suffered the consequences. The barrel issue could have easily happened to anyone, but it still should not be over looked. Every day you are out in the field is a training opportunity. Anytime the subject turns to firearms there is going to be a training opportunity. Training, training and more training are the only ways to combat things like this. The issue with the Uzi is just disgusting. No child should have been handling that weapon. The recoil from a pistol is too much for a child’s wrists to handle. At best, it would have kicked back and he’d have smacked himself in the face with it.
Two pretty disgusting events, both could have been wholly prevented by training. Things like this are tragic on two fronts…the kids potentially lose their lives and they provide more ammunition to further restrict guns.