The Dali Lama on self-defense

But if someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, he said, it would
be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun. Not at the head, where a
fatal wound might result. But at some other body part, such as a leg.

Well, I'd say he's on the right track. Now, if you're willing to shoot at someone (no matter what you're aiming at), you're saying that you're willing to risk killing him to keep him from killing you. There is no such thing as a guaranteed incapacitating, but non-lethal gunshot.

So, if you're okay with that, then you might as well play the better odds and shoot for center mass. And if you want to be effective, you'd better practice. And for any of it to matter, you have to be "allowed" to carry a gun for self-defense.

Economic SHTF around the corner

Another relevant quote, for today:

"If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."

Thomas Jefferson

We're about to plunge into stage one of that process.

Smoking Bans

I'm sure you can figure out what I think about smoking bans, but just in case, here's the quote of the day:

"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best." ~ Thomas Sowell

Wanna rate your local LEO? Sorry, it could be dangerous.

So, somebody had the great idea to put up a website where I could rate my cop. It only lists publicly available names of officers (no undercover agents, no other personal information). It allows local people to rate their LEO's. Pretty cool, watchdog-ish idea, huh?

Well the po-po don't think so, and neither did the sites host, godaddy.com. The coppers come out with the usual "fears":

"Having a website like that puts a lot of law enforcement, in my eyes, in danger because it exposes us out there," Officer Hector Basurto, vice president of the Latino Police Officers Association, told ABC television affiliate KGO.

Gosh, wouldn't want anything being "exposed" would you? You know what they say about US when we talk about our privacy? "What do you have to hide?"