Gun Control Informational Forum 2/27

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a gun debate between 4 student groups on the UW campus.

It was quite interesting, but if you follow the gun control debate, it was much of the same talking points, just done in a much less professional manner. Here's how I would sum up the talking points of the debate:

College Republicans: Guns are good. They help save lives. Here's some statistics.

Socialist Alternative: THE WHITE MAN AND CAPITALISM ARE CAUSING ALL THIS GUN VIOLENCE! Here's some statistics.

Young Americans for Liberty: We have a right to have guns, all guns. Here's some statistics.

Young Democrats at UW: People are dying right now because of those evil black assault rifles that are only designed for mass killing as well as those evil magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Here's some statistics

The debate in itself was poorly done. It was only one hour long and the first 30 minutes was taken up by opening statements. There was only one planned question, then time for two audience questions before closing statements. I may only be a little bitter because they didn't ask my question.

Before closing statements, the word "constitution" was used only once, and it was used within the word "unCONSTITUTIONal." If there was any reference to the the constitution, or "rights," it was spoken of briefly and the argument ended at "it's our rights, so there." If you can believe this, my question was on the purpose of the 2nd amendment. I was assuming that the answers would sound something like this:

College Republicans: The 2nd amendment was designed so that citizens could protect themselves from bad guys.

Socialist Alternative: THE 2ND AMENDMENT WAS DESIGNED FOR THE WHITE MAN TO OPPRESS THE SLAVES AND IT SHOULD BE ABOLISHED! CAPITALISM IS BAD!!

Young Americans for Liberty: The 2nd amendment was designed so that citizens could fight off a tyrannical government.

Young Democrats at UW: The 2nd amendment was designed so that Americans could keep single shot, muzzle-loading muskets locked in a safe with a trigger lock. There's no real purpose behind it.

Alas, I was never able to affirm my predictions. Maybe next time.

Washington Senate Bill 5737

Somehow I have yet to talk about guns on my blog (unless you count a video about shooting cops), which is very interesting. I'm not sure why, because I like them and think they are very important. Here's something that you should at least know about.

Washington State Senate Bill 5737 (SB 5737)

This bill is your feel-good legislation in response to the national outcry against gun violence. Somehow, the legislators in Washington think that by banning "assault weapons" from law-abiding citizens, we will all be safer.

Because I don't know who actually reads this thing, I don't know where you as the reader may stand on the gun issue. Either way, this is an important bill to be aware of.

Here's a link to the entire bill (it's actually pretty short, it wouldn't hurt you to read a bill, you know)

Here's a quick summary of the main parts of this bill:

First, the definition of an "assault weapon" is any semi-automatic pistol or semi-automatic or pump-action rifle or shotgun capable of accepting a detachable magazine, and also includes - a number of things that almost every semi-auto weapon has. (Read section 1 (20) for all the info)

If you are unfamiliar with what semi-auto means, it basically means that only one round is fired for every pull of the trigger.

This bill says that you may not manufacture, possess, purchase, sell, or otherwise transfer ANY "assault weapon." The exceptions to this are those that were legally owned prior to the bill (if signed), but in order to keep them, the weapons must be registered and remain on the person's property or at a licensed firing range. That's it.

Now, the good news is that the bill has a very rare chance of passing, and if it does, it will most likely be quickly seen as unconstitutional thanks to the Supreme Court case D.C. v. Heller.

Where I Get My News

Often I'll ask people if they watch the news. If they say no, then I know that they are most likely uninformed. If they say yes, then I know that they are most likely either misinformed or still uninformed on important issues.

I would highly encourage you to get your news from the internet.

"But...but...but...You can't believe everything you read on the internet"

Yes, yes. I know you can't. But you're implying that you can believe what you see on TV, and if you believe that, you're fooling yourself.

The internet is a wonderful thing because you get news from EVERY angle and you can make your own conclusions, rather than the talking head on TV telling you what is happening. Also, most mainstream news websites look something like this:


Kim Kardashian Wore a Red Dress to the Oscars!
Obama uses executive order to destroy the 2nd amendment while Congress increases the debt ceiling for the 75th time this month while Ben Bernanke claims that we need to do away with the debt ceiling all together because it serves no useful purpose.



So, without further ado, a list of where I get my news from (These are all currently on my bookmarks bar):

1. The Drudge Report

This is by far the best "all around" news site. This website doesn't write any of their own news article, but scours the web and posts links to important news articles. If I could convince you to check just one website once per day, this would be it.

2. The Daily Paul

This website is my addiction. This is one of the biggest forums formerly dedicated to Ron Paul. Notice that this is a forum, not necessarily a news site, but the owner of the website, Michael Nystrom, posts all the "newsy" things and posts them on the homepage. I will also point out that the "Paul" in the title of the webpage is written "P.Au.L" - which stands for "Peace-Gold-Liberty."

3. Reality Check / Full Disclosure

The name Ben Swann may ring a bell. I posted one of his videos back on November 17. He works for a local news station out of Cincinnati, Ohio and does a segment called "Reality Check" where he digs through everything to find out what people are saying are true or not. Think of it as snopes for journalism. He is a true voice of reason in investigative journalism. He recently started his own side show sort of thing called "Full Disclosure." You'll notice that "Full Disclosure" site is a FaceBook website, which as you know I don't have. The Daily Paul always keeps me up on what Ben is up to and all his latest videos. If you do still have Facebook, "like" him (Ben Swann WXIX) to get all his updates for both Reality Check and Full Disclosure.

Fun fact about Ben Swann: He was home-schooled through what is called "accelerated education." His mother home-schooled all 10 (yes, 10!) children with this method which resulted in all 10 (yes, 10!) children graduating high school at 11, getting a college degree at 15, and a master's at age 16. Read more about it here. (It really is interesting)

4. Lew Rockwell

This is similar to the drudge in the sense that it is a bunch of links to others' blog posts, but still good stuff. Lew Rockwell is the chairman/CEO of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. This is a heavily leaning libertarian/Austrian economics website.

5. Yahoo

That's right - yahoo.com is on my bookmarks. This is my "what's the mainstream news saying" website. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you'll find the comments section. You should read those.

So there it is. I occasionally will glance at the other mainstream news just to see what's being put out there. To my conservative friends, please stop watching FoxNews. To my liberal friends, please stop watching MSNBC.

Any places that you would add to get news from?

When Should You Shoot A Cop?

If that title doesn't grab your attention, I'm not sure what will. This is a great video I found that I highly recommend you watch before you answer "NEVER!"

"When evil is 'legal,' become a criminal. When oppression is enacted as 'law,' become a lawbreaker." - Larken Rose

Note* -There is a "bad word" written (not spoken) at 7:42
 

More to come on the upcoming gun legislation, it's coming quickly.

Why I'm Leaving FaceBook

As the new year approaches, everyone has their own resolutions like working out at least once every three hours or only eating lettuce for the entire year.

I have a few goals myself, but I also understand that I will never be able to accomplish some of them if I continue to waste time on the internet - FaceBook being one of the main culprits. I do "waste time" on other sites, but they are for the most part informational - news, 'how-to's, etc. Those don't bother me as much.

With that I give you my 5 reasons for deleting my FaceBook account:

1. It's a waste of time.

For me. It may not be for you. I'm not telling you that you need to delete yours, but I do think that you should at least consider it. I can't tell you how many times I've needed to get something done and somehow keep ending up on FaceBook. If I want to accomplish certain things, I need to remove needless distractions.

2. It does not cultivate close relationships

I have a good friend that will occasionally call 'just to chat' and 'see how I was doing.' When he first started doing it, I thought it was kind of weird. "Can't you see what I'm up to on FB?" Well, come to find out that we actually have a good friendship because we actually talk (crazy, right?) rather than just look at each others' profiles. Relationships can be deeper than online, and I would like more of them. So if you'll miss me on Facebook, call me. e-mail me, come visit, we'll go out to lunch...something of that nature.

3. I don't care what you ate for breakfast
    I don't care that you're going to bed
    I don't want to play a game
    I don't want to look at the latest funny cat picture/video
    Need I expand on this?

4. It's dangerous

Not to sound paranoid, but I don't like the fact that Facebook tells the world where you're at, or where you've been. The whole world can see that you're on vacation for a week and won't be home at all. Oh, cool.

5. It's creepy

Not to sound paranoid again, but does no one else find it a little creepy that all the ads always seem to relate to the last thing you googled or they relate to common web pages that you visit? You have absolutely no privacy on Facebook. The world wide web does not need to know where I'm located at a certain point in time and it does not need to know every detail of my life.


I am in no way trying to persuade you to do the same. I understand there are some good aspects to FaceBook, but for me, the cons outweigh the pros.

Happy New Year!

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

For those that are unaware, last Monday Keri and I were informed that we would no longer be able to have our own children.

Four days later, and I'm still not sure how I'm suppose to react.

My first reaction to the news was tears, then quickly became "God is in control, and he has a reason for this." I truly do believe this is true, so how can I be sad about God's plan? Is there a contradiction there?

Can we be sad about God's plan, and yet still trust it?

Well if we believe that God is sovereign over all, and we shouldn't be sad about God's plan, then that would mean that sadness and mourning would be wrong.

Obviously this can't be the case:

Matthew 5:4 - "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted"
     
Job 1:20 - "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped."
      (I did shave my head on Tuesday, but it wasn't as a sign of mourning)

John 11:35 - "Jesus wept"
      In response to his friend, Lazarus', death, Jesus Himself wept for him. Why would he do that if 1) He could have kept him from dying and 2) knew that He was about to raise him from the dead?


So here's my bottom line: I'm sad, and yet I trust Him.

When starting a family, Keri and I always said that we would have kids until He stopped us, thinking that we'd probably end up with our own TV show and a sponsorship from Pampers; but here we are, done after two kids.

"Hey all you kids waiting to be adopted: Watch out! We're coming for you..."

Well, gee...

Looks like my wife let the cat out of the bag that I had a blog going. Sorry, but you probably won't find any recipes or preschool ideas here if that's what you're looking for.

I sure do love that woman though...