Eris: 1997-2014

My last year in the Navy, a friend and I got an apartment since the ship was scheduled to be inport the majority of that time due to overhaul and SLEP.  The place felt empty though.  I found what was missing while doing my usual rounds of the San Diego malls.  In a pet shop which I liked to browse through, one day I saw a little, bright-eyed, grey and brown tabby kitten. "Yeah", I thought, "No home is complete w/o a pet" and I had always had pets around up until I went into the service.
So that evening, my roommate and I drove back there and picked her up.  On the way back, we stopped at his sister's place.  I had the kitten in a box for transport (she didn't like that).  When I took the box out and set it on the hood, I pretended like it was almost more than I could lift and leaned against the bumper making the car lower.  Sister asked 'What the hell is in there?" right before I lifted out a tiny ball of fuzz.  The landlord was not happy as we hadn't cleared it w/ them first but they couldn't resist a cute little fuzzdart so she got to stay.
Then a name.  My roommate wanted to name her 'Puppy' but I had a better one.  What name would fit a ball of chaos?  Eris.  Goddess of Discord.
Her first few weeks in the apartment.

She spent about the first year of her life there, happily peeing in my beanbag, shredding rolls of paper towels, and eating ham, her favorite food.  One of our favorite games was hide and seek.  I would chase her into the kitchen where she would hide in a cabinet which was her 'safe' spot. Then I would go and hide in one of about three places. She would come out after a bit, try and find me, and then I would chase her back into the cabinet.  One time I hid in a different spot and she couldn't find me.  Through a peep hole, I watched her check one, then another, and finally the third spot w/o locating me.  She then slowly walked back into the living room, obviously upset, and let out a piteous mewl. I jumped out, startling her, and the chase began again. 
At one point, I did end up spending about a month in Washington state.  A mutual friend watched the apartment/took care of Eris while we were gone.  When I got back, I was outside talking to the landlord and heard a ruckus coming from the apartment.  I looked up and Eris had shoved through the blinds, hearing my voice. She let out a MEOW that could probably be heard blocks away and met me at the door.  She didn't leave my lap the entire weekend.

When I got out in June of '98, we took a very long trip in a Uhaul back to the People's Soviet.  Between her unhappy meowing and the squeeking of a foam cooler, kitty almost didn't make the trip.  She finally settled down, alternately sleeping under the bench seat or sitting on the dashboard.  She did pick up an unfortunate habit of wanting to sit on my lap with the rest of her body through the steering wheel.
We spent the next few years either living at my folks (her first experiences w/ dogs and other cats) or in various college apartments where the 'family' started growing, along w/ her waistline, eventually reaching near 20 lbs, before settling into the 'Trailer' and an ever growing herd o' kitty where she lived for near 10 yrs.

Some of her favorite places was sitting on my lap w/ as much of herself draped across the keyboard as she thought she could get away with, nesting in some blankets next to (or on) my head while I was sleeping, and any shelves with clothing she could shed on.  Over the last few years, she'ld lost some weight and arthritis was bugging her somewhat but overall she remained a content kitty.

A few weeks ago, I found a lump on her chin.  The vet said it was cancer and that w/ her advanced age, she wouldn't be able to handle chemo or surgery. They gave us some steroids and antibiotics to try and stem the growth.  Since then she went from soft canned food to tuna to finally in-vitro fluids and me feeding her baby food w/ a syringe over the weekend as the tumor grew.  Of course over the weekend.

Her last night w/ her daddy

 This morning I took her to the vet where she spent her last moments in my arms. I'm having her cremated so she can spend even more time w/ me as I sit in my cave.

I miss my Eris kitty.

Chicago Weekend

Obviously the NRA is holding their annual meeting in Chicago:

At least five people were killed and another 11 were wounded in overnight gun violence in Chicago, bringing to more than 50 the number of people shot in the city over the holiday weekend so far, according to police.

And the police are involved as well:

Chicago police shot and killed a 16-year-old boy as he hid under a car in the Gresham neighborhood, one of five people shot by officers in the city over 36 hours, according to authorities.

Now the police are claiming he refused to drop the gun he was holding but a witness claimed he was 'surrendering'.  Which story is true?  I don't know but there is the usual apologetics from the family:

She acknowledged that he’d had trouble with the law but didn’t think he was a “notorious gangster.”
The boy would sometimes accompany his grandmother to church, his family said.
“He was a good young man,” Utendahl said. “He didn’t deserve to be gunned down.”

No, he wasn't.  He was a 16yr old running the streets w/ a gun and already had a criminal record.  He wasn't 'turning himself around' nor was he on his way to church. 

Wonder why certain Chicago neighborhoods have gang/drug/violence problems? This is part of it right here.  It's got nothing to do w/ the NRA, 'Gun Lobby', or lawful firearm owners.

20 and 193

Those aren't your winning lottery numbers, those are losing numbers in Chicago.

The 20+ is how many were shot in Chicago celebrating the 4th of July.  Mostly the usual idea:

gunfire was exchanged between cars  (iow gangs)
arguing with at least two people in a van (iow gang/drug)
Someone in a passing car opened fire (iow gang)
the shooter opened fire from inside a passing car (iow gang)
described the shooting as a drive-by (iow gang)
the man was throwing gang signs

And the weekend's just started. But Rahm and Quinn think it's more important to keep honorably discharged veterans w/ no criminal record disarmed than deal w/ violent gangs. 193 people have filed suit against the state for denial of a CCW license and no explanation.

After taking a firearms training course, paying a host of fees, and submitting fingerprints for a background check that he ultimately passed, Michael Thomas was puzzled when he was notified earlier this year that a special review board had denied his application for a concealed carry license.

Thomas, a former Air Force reservist who said he routinely carried a gun during military service and has never had a run-in with the law, is one of more than 800 people who have been denied licenses by the board, which meets behind closed doors and keeps its records and reasoning secret, even from applicants who are denied.

Due process.  Just one more element of the BOR oppose to try and keep lawful citizens disarmed.

$1,558,000

That's how many IL/Cook Cnty/Chicago tax dollars are going to be going into the hands of the lawyers to pay for the latest round of anti-gun politicians trying to keep lawful citizens disarmed. Never mind all the tax payer paid lawyers spending thousands of man hours on this instead of actually prosecuting crimes. Of course this won't be the end of it as they will spend hundreds of thousands more to try and litigate it down a few thousand dollars. Not to mention Quinn's $55m 'anti-crime' debacle that lined the pockets of many a Chicago political donor.

These are the same people that tell us we need our taxes and fees raise otherwise the schools will be shut down and the police will be laid off. 

THIS is the reason I will never support ANY tax or fee increase.  No matter how much more is taken from my wallet, the politicians will find a way to divert or waste it leading to calls for more tax/fee increase demands.  And for those who keep voting these politicians in, remember this when that next round of school funding cuts comes around. 

4th of July

That's about the way I feel about it right now for various reasons.

Culture?

What kind of 'culture' produces people like this?

INKSTER, Mich. (AP) — A man accused of killing a 2-year-old Detroit-area girl shot her in front of her father to torture him, state police said Thursday....
Besides murder, Jackson is also charged with attempted murder, torture and other crimes. Kamiya's father, Ken French, 34, and a family friend, 12-year-old Chelsea Lancaster, were also shot and are in a hospital.

But this wasn't just one sided.

 There has been bad blood in the past between the two men including Jackson being shot in April at an after hours club. This was apparently a payback.

And then we had another honor roll student in Chicago:

CHICAGO — A 13-year-old Chicago boy is being held in a juvenile facility on charges he shot three teens. 

 No 'youthful indiscretion' here. He intentionally walked up to the three in order to kill them.

As much as anti-gun fanatics like to blame 'gun culture', 'insurrectionists', the NRA, etc.  That's not where not so isolated events like the ones above are stemming from.

Brady Campaign: Details Don't Matter

It's the meme that's important.

In their latest fundraising campaign, they bring up the spectre of a murder from 15 years ago:

Fifteen years ago today, my brother and I went out for a bike ride while our father, Ricky Byrdsong, jogged alongside us. I never thought a simple outing through our neighborhood would end with my father dying before my eyes.
Just three blocks from our home, my father was shot and killed by a violent man, a Neo-Nazi with a criminal record that prohibited him from buying a gun. Despite the fact that he failed a background check, my father’s killer bought two handguns from an unlicensed private seller with no questions asked.
The frustration that remains today is that my father’s death could have been prevented…

It's true, the murderer, Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, WAS a prohibited person and had been refused a sale at a licensed dealer.  He then went to an unlicensed dealer who was under investigation by the BATFE.

CHICAGO — A central Illinois gun dealer who allegedly sold a white supremacist the two weapons used in a deadly Fourth of July weekend shooting spree was charged Wednesday with selling firearms illegally.

Note that.  Illinois.  What do you need in Illinois to own or purchase a firearm?  A FOID card. So did Smith get refused and then go through the 'loophole'?  Why no, no he didn't:

According to Illinois police, the state issued Smith a gun owner's ID card two weeks before the shootings because a background check did not reveal an order of protection filed by an ex-girlfriend. Let's enforce existing laws! The problem was confusion over middle initial problems, said officials.

So even though Feissinger was already breaking the law by 'being in the business' w/o a license,  it wasn't 'no questions asked' since Smith HAD A STATE ISSUED LICENSE to own a firearm because the ISP screwed up... again.

So obviously the solution is to pass MORE laws that won't be followed and the authorities will drop the ball on. 

One completely true statement from the email though:

P.S. Congress still ignores us

And this is part of the reason why. Not only the dishonesty of the email but the fact they're still living like it was their heyday over a decade ago.  Virtually noone knows who 'Jim Brady' is anymore so even their name is irrelevant today.

Bloomberg Buying IL Rep Kelly Pays Off

So Bloomie buys a US House seat for $2.2m.  Unsurprisingly Rep Kelly does exactly what she's been paid (by Bloomberg) to do, push for gun control.

She put out the 'Kelly Report' which contains about every trope, meme, and myth in the anti-gun playbook. Smart guns, suicide, assault weapons, sandy hook, columbine, international comparisons, 'high-income' countries.. you name it, it's in there.  Just about the only thing missing is a study 'proving' gun owners have small penises. In fact, it's mostly a collection of Joyce Foundation funded 'studies' by bought and paid for anti-gun hacks like Hemenway, Cook, Webster, etc.

One of the first highlights:

GUN VIOLENCE IS A UNIQUELY AMERICAN PHENOMENON

Followed by the arbitrary terminology of 'Developed' and that stupid bit comparing cities to countries.

Then the classic lie from the VPC about machineguns = assault weapons:

Similarly, in Switzerland, active duty officers in the Swiss Army are issued assault rifles and are allowed to keep their rifles either in a local armory or in their homes. However, the Army does not issue ammunition to soldiers who opt to keep their guns in the home. Once their service is complete, their rifle must be registered with the government and converted to semi-automatic mode. Additionally, in Switzerland, assault weapons are completely banned for civilians,

There is so much factually wrong w/ that I don't know where to begin but note the claiming that 'assault weapons' are full/select fire weapons of the military.

Then we get into the Kellerman myth of Colonial/early US:

In 1792, the first U.S Congress enacted the Uniform Militia Act , which required all able-bodied white male citizens under 45 to possess a musket. However, tough restrictions were imposed on the sale of ammunition, the storage of gunpowder and the dis - charge of arms in towns and cities. In some instances, militiamen were even prohibited from traveling with a loaded weapon.

And it wouldn't be complete w/o reference to the 'Wild West' banning guns:

Fast forward to the frontier towns of America’s Wild West in the mid-to-late 1800s, and gun regulations were stricter than the laws we have on the books today.

Do I even need to mention what the 'conclusions' are to get the streets filled w. rainbow farting, gumdrop pooping unicorns?

This is what $2m buys you in Congress. 

Jon Stewart: Supporting Firearms Same as Supporting Kiddy Porn

Yeah.  Comedy at its highest.Now I have a sense of humor.  The 'National Raygun Assoc.' from Futurama, the Simpsons spoof, all the bits on King of the Hill.... Hilarious.  This though?  Too many people forget he's a 'comedian' and not actually a newscaster.

It's also pretty much default for arguments FOR gun control.  No real facts or support, only insults, lies and libel.

Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart apparently sees a parallel between the political clout of Japan’s defenders of animated child rape and the National Rifle Association. Stewart made the connection Thursday night following a segment on “The Daily Show” about the recent vote by Japan’s upper house of parliament to finally ban the possession of child pornography.