Were Beggars Choosers?

I've been asked for my thoughts on this:

5 Taxpayer Handouts the Bundys Receive While Railing Against Government “Tyranny”

With the caveat that I won't have time to research the claims and that I'm totally shooting from the hip, here's my gut reaction:

1. It looks like Ammon did take out an SBA loan. What I don't know is if government actions in terms of taxes and regulations made that more of a defensive response than hypocrisy. If it was the latter, I won't make excuses for him.

2. and 3. Government has presumed control over a lot of land under "powers" not specifically defined and delegated.

4. The accuser presents no evidence the Bundys availed themselves of this.

5. Leave it to government to spend tens of millions of dollars on hunting predators when it could be a money-making venture. Again no evidence is presented that the Bundys benefited from this, and the likelihood is, had they or someone at their direction just gone out and shot some of the listed animals, they'd have been setting themselves up for federal charges.

So my thoughts are, without a lot more substantiation, this looks like another pile-on hit piece. Right now, only one out of five appears to be partially sticking.

SCOTUS Decision on Counting Illegals Highlights Betrayal of Government’s Purpose

The question before the court was a distraction anyway, from government not just failing, but actively subverting the whole purpose behind its existence, and the whole reason “consent of the governed” has been presumed. The real question, and one that must be answered before the cultural terraforming is complete, is “Who should be admitted into the Republic in the first place?” The follow-up is “What criteria determine citizenship eligibility?” [More]

With an 8-0 ruling that illegals count toward apportionment, will the new player even matter?

A Matter of Perspective

Today's shooting serves as notice that when it comes to gun violence, no place is immune. [More]*

Really, "reporter" Rob Masson?  That's what you took away from a situation even the police have deemed to be a legitimate act of self-defense?

I guess we should just be thankful you didn't call the gun owner a "vigilante."

[Via Keith B]

* Quote transcribed from video.

The Scouring of the Shire

Grigg sees an analogy. [More]

Being somewhat of a Tolkien purist, I found the films disappointing in many ways, but none more so than by the deliberate omission of that vitally important part of the story.

[Via Keith B]

Thinking Inside the Box

Now that's "progressive" living! [More]

And the Opposite Day world they're intent on enabling will provide plenty of opportunities for further innovation along those lines  -- think of the accommodations as "micro-pods":

Cosmo Girls

I don't know what's worse -- them or Cosmo Boys. [More]

If guns are a deal-breaker, there is no deal. Any man so desperate he will let a woman emasculate him is no man, and she won't respect him anyway. Why should she?

Just ask Sean. Not that it was all that hard for Charlize to make a fool out of someone who did most of the work himself.

As I asked last time I brought this up:

Shouldn't you gals be parroting "progressive feminist" talking points while obsessing on your breast size and reading up on "lovemaking positions to drive him wild"?

Men and women of substance encourage and cherish confidence and capabilities in each other.

We're the Only Ones Top Dollar Paid Enough

Former Leadville police chief Michael Leake is accused of pawning about 11 guns that belonged to the department and keeping the money. [More]

My trust is shattered. First Chumlee and now this.

[Via cydl]

Now You See It, Now You Don't

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer ... said the gun, being promoted online by a Minnesota company calling itself Ideal Conceal, “is just a disaster waiting to happen.” [More]

If they see a gun, they object. If they don't see a gun they object.

They insist on having it both ways, and then accusing people who object of not being willing to "compromise."

Still, as long as Schumer's on a tear, maybe somebody had better warn him about these other disguised weapons...

Driven by Demand

Demand for Bilingual Workers Increasing in Florida [More]

Well, heck then -- open the floodgates and then amnesty for all!

Because the alternative -- of having universities focus less on Black LGBT Social Justice studies and more on what the economy has a need for -- is just too horrible to contemplate!

Up in Smoke

When the smoke cleared, nobody was arrested for participating in a large and blatantly illegal marijuana smoke-in outside the White House. [More]

Think the feds are going to Bundy them, and round them up later?

If They're Not Human...

...then what's the moral objection to treating them as commodities to exploit? [More]

What? They already do?

Still, why not go the next step, and intentionally plant, nurture and harvest?

And if they're not human, and since there seems to be some debate on what to call them, what's the objection to "subhumans"...? Isn't that what we're told they are?

Maybe, when they're shrimp-sized, serve ... call them "delicacies" ... on ice with party toothpicks and cocktail sauce at fashionable "progressive" soirees ... ?

I mean, since they're not human...

Mission: Possible

Wikileaks Reveals IMF Plan To "Cause A Credit Event In Greece And Destabilize Europe" [More]

Let me guess: Barney's gonna hide inside a trunk that Willy carts into the Bank of Greece, Phelps and Cinnamon are going to pose as auditors, and Rollin is going to don a wig and rubber mask, and pose as the finance minister.

Where Surrender is Customary

“Tolerance and respect for the customs of the countries we serve are part of the values of our company,” an Air France spokesman said. [More]

"When in Rome," eh?

Do you see that happening when they come to you?

The Arduous March

Generations have been raised in a Stalinist personality cult of ignorance, fear, submission and deprivation. Purges have been successful at removing not just potential rivals, but any not sufficiently subservient. And even if you could find leaders who have not been compromised, or whose spirits have not been broken, there’s one other reality the Communist regime has been successful at imposing in its closed society: What “progressives” here call “common sense gun safety laws.” [More]

Welcome to North Korea, where the leader is packing on the pounds, his favored sycophants enjoy special material privileges, guns are the exclusive province of enforcers, and the common people in "Everytown," who have neither the means nor the will to rise up, are told they'll have to eat roots and to die if so instructed.

How very "progressive."

"The Arduous March" is my newest GUNS Magazine "Rights Watch" column.

And a curious coincidence -- no sooner does this get posted than India.com publishes an unconfirmed report quoting Defence Ministry sources that Un is dead or injured. Also curious: The Twitter account posting that information has been suspended.