Paintball this Saturday - October 27th

We'll be playing paintball this Saturday, October 27th at Dripping Springs at 9am. The weather dude says it will be low of 51 and high of 75 with sunshine. Holy crap! This will be the best weather we've had since - I dunno - last February??

Since it's so close to Halloween, we are going to have a few horror scenarios we'll be running, so be ready for some ghoulish action. I am also going to bring out the full battle load with mortar, bazooka, and everyone's soon to be best friend and worst enemy - depending on which direction the paint is flying - the heavy MG. That's right folks, a steadi-cam-like set-up can't be too far behind . . . 10 meters . . that's impossible . . . that's inside the room!

Let me know if you are planning on making it or coming out as a guest (gear is very limited).

Remember just because it is cooler, we still need water, so make sure to bring out your water and your rucks. We may also want to run some games with radios this weekend, so if you have one or more bring them out.

This is the best time of year to be out in the woods. Let's take advantage of it before it gets hot again - probably next game. :)

If you are coming up from San Antonio and want to meet up at my place to caravan up - we'll be leaving from the Orion Farm at 7:45am.

The Experience of Office?

I am not a huge fan of Rudy Giuliani. I am more or less a single issue voter and I would have to say his treatment of my issue has been overall pretty crappy.

However, despite my misgivings about him, I am downright frightened of Hillary Clinton. Giuliani made a great point about her experience in a news flash I read on Drudge and I am wondering why more folks aren't picking up on this:

R. GIULIANI: "Honestly, in most respects, I don't know Hillary's experience. She's never run a city, she's never run a state. She's never run a business. She has never met a payroll. She has never been responsible for the safety and security of millions of people, much less even hundreds of people.

"So I'm trying to figure out where the experience is here. It would seem to me that in a time of difficult problems and war we don't want on the job training for an executive. The reality is that these areas in which - maybe there are
some areas in which she has experience but the areas of having the responsibility of the safety and security of millions of people on your shoulders is not something Hillary has ever had any experience with."

Truth be told, Hillary basically came into office off name recognition and really doesn't have any experience running anything. She was an associate at a law firm in Arkansas. We all saw how wonderfully that worked out for the country.

However, no one is talking about this. But then again - when is the last time someone did have relevant real-world experience and wasn't just another wishy-washy politician saying whatever they thought would get them elected?

I don't really pay enough attention to really comment, but I think most of the candidates are pretty bad in this race and it's amazing how close the 'politics' are on these supposedly different sides of the political fence. Pro-war Democrats? Anti-gun Republicans?

Be that as it may, I refuse to fall into the vote for this person, so this person doesn't get elected mindset that has plagued American voters for the past generation or so.

If we really do want change for the better, we'll have to support real people that are outside of the Establishment's political machine.

23 skidoo

"The most thoroughly and relentlessly Damned, banned, excluded, condemned, forbidden, ostracized, ignored, suppressed, repressed, robbed, brutalized and defamed of all Damned things is the individual human being. The social engineers, statisticians, psychologists, sociologists, market researchers, landlords, bureaucrats, captains of industry, bankers, governors, commissars, kings and presidents are perpetually forcing this Damned Thing into carefully prepared blueprints and perpetually irritated that the Damned Thing will not fit into the slot assigned to it. The theologians call it a sinner and tries to reform it. The governor calls it a criminal and tries to punish it. The psychotherapist calls it neurotic and tries to cure it. Still, the Damned Thing will not fit into their slots. "

- From The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Wilson

Power to the People . . . Tech People

TenSix Redz sent me over this great bit about the libertarian nature of folks in the technology sector and how a more distributed model of government may soon be on the horizon.

Technology Will
Change Politics From Top Down To Bottom Up
from the but-it-won't-be-pleasant-in-the-meantime dept

Sometimes people wonder why so many people in the tech industry tend to fall into more of a "libertarian" viewpoint on things. Perhaps it's because they realize the empowering nature of technology to do away with the need for many more centralized top down structures. The reason that we often have big top down structures is because there was no efficient way to spread the control outwards, so you consolidate power at the top allowing someone else to make decisions for a large group of people as their "representative." However, technology erodes some of that, by creating more efficient means of communication, breaking down the need for such top down control. We see it many different aspects. Companies today are more fluid, with a much more bottom up approach. Products and services that involve a bottom up approach are becoming more popular (and more useful) every day. So it's only a matter of time until the same thing happens to the government.

It's almost surprising to find out that there's a high ranking politician who recognizes this. Apparently the UK's Tory leader David Cameron made exactly that point, noting that politicians need to let go, and let the technology distribute tasks out to citizens, rather than trying to control everything centrally. Of course, it's one thing to say it and another thing altogether to do it. Those who came up through the "old" way, which grants more power and control at the top freak out at the idea of giving up that control. You see it today with the way Microsoft reacts to open source, the way the RIAA reacts to Napster, to the way newspapers react to citizen journalism. They close up, circle the wagons and talk about how important that control is -- though, not in those terms exactly. Instead, they trash the quality of the more chaotic bottom up system, missing the point that it's not about the average quality, but the the abundance of options that make quality more personalized. The same thing will happen in politics as well. Many people get into politics (or get hooked on politics) because of the power that comes with it. Getting them to give up that power won't be easy by any means. But it will happen. It'll just mean a period of rather painful adjustment.

His emphasis above.

All and all I think that the power of technology to allow different voices to be heard and express themselves is a great thing (well, duh!). Unfortunately also I think the downside of all of this is that The Man is probably not be very excited about these changes to their tradtional hold on things. Though I think this will be a time of great opportunity for freedom, but there will be an equal opportunity for the rights of the people to be stomped about in the name of preserving order, tranquility, right of the landowners, etc.

Ahem . . . I digress.

I think the "age of the Internet" hasn't even really begun.

Just keep an eye out for the hunter-killers.

A liberal's lament: The NRA might be right after all

By Jonathan Turley

This term, the Supreme Court may finally take up the Voldemort Amendment, the part of the Bill of Rights that shall not be named by liberals. For more than 200 years, progressives and polite people have avoided acknowledging that following the rights of free speech, free exercise of religion and free assembly, there is "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." Of course, the very idea of finding a new individual right after more than two centuries is like discovering an eighth continent in constitutional law, but it is hardly the cause of celebration among civil liberties groups.

Like many academics, I was happy to blissfully ignore the Second Amendment. It did not fit neatly into my socially liberal agenda. Yet, two related cases could now force liberals into a crisis of conscience. The Supreme Court is expected to accept review of District of Columbia v. Heller and Parker v. District of Columbia, involving constitutional challenges to the gun-control laws in Washington.

The D.C. law effectively bars the ownership of handguns for most citizens and places restrictions on other firearms. The District's decision to file these appeals after losing in the D.C. appellate court was driven more by political than legal priorities. By taking the appeal, D.C. politicians have put gun-control laws across the country at risk with a court more likely to uphold the rulings than to reverse them. It has also put the rest of us in the uncomfortable position of giving the right to gun ownership the same fair reading as more favored rights of free press or free speech.

The Framers' intent

Principle is a terrible thing, because it demands not what is convenient but what is right. It is hard to read the Second Amendment and not honestly conclude that the Framers intended gun ownership to be an individual right. It is true that the amendment begins with a reference to militias: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Accordingly, it is argued, this amendment protects the right of the militia to bear arms, not the individual.

Yet, if true, the Second Amendment would be effectively declared a defunct provision. The National Guard is not a true militia in the sense of the Second Amendment and, since the District and others believe governments can ban guns entirely, the Second Amendment would be read out of existence.

Another individual right

More important, the mere reference to a purpose of the Second Amendment does not alter the fact that an individual right is created. The right of the people to keep and bear arms is stated in the same way as the right to free speech or free press. The statement of a purpose was intended to reaffirm the power of the states and the people against the central government. At the time, many feared the federal government and its national army. Gun ownership was viewed as a deterrent against abuse by the government, which would be less likely to mess with a well-armed populace.

Considering the Framers and their own traditions of hunting and self-defense, it is clear that they would have viewed such ownership as an individual right — consistent with the plain meaning of the amendment.

None of this is easy for someone raised to believe that the Second Amendment was the dividing line between the enlightenment and the dark ages of American culture. Yet, it is time to honestly reconsider this amendment and admit that ... here's the really hard part ... the NRA may have been right. This does not mean that Charlton Heston is the new Rosa Parks or that no restrictions can be placed on gun ownership. But it does appear that gun ownership was made a protected right by the Framers and, while we might not celebrate it, it is time that we recognize it.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors.



From -

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/10/a-liberals-lame.html



Check the original posting to see all of the comments.



It gives me hope yet for America.

Paintball this weekend at Miller Ranch - 10/6/2007

We'll be playing paintball this Saturday, October 6th at Miller Ranch at 9am.

For those who have missed the last few games and/or have been living in a cave, this is likely the last game we'll get to play at the ranch before it moves over to the new owners. We'll be shooting some video and taking a lot of pics, so make sure you wear your hollywood-action-movie gear. :)

Let me know if you are planning on making it or coming out as a guest (gear is very limited). We ran some great scenarios last time and had a blast. If anyone is interested in running the paintball mortar and/or rocket launcher this weekend hit me up offline - I'd like to get these dusted off and get some paint on them.

Depending on how many folks show up, we'll probably run most of the games campaign-style, so bring your ruck and plenty of water. We may also want to run some games with radios this weekend, so if you have one or more bring them out.

Also - since the front of the ranch is under new ownership, make sure you come in on the Mitchell Drive side.