World Events, and Range Report, Pt. 1
It seems that I've missed another revolution, or rather two of them. Kyrgyzstan has ousted its sitting pro-Moscow president and freed the leader of the democratic opposition- the story may be found here. This revolution has been added to the previous revolutions in Georgia, the Ukraine, and Lebanon. Some pundits are declaring this an "annus mirabilis" for Democracy- in addition to the above revolutions, free elections in Afghanistan, Iraq, and an upcoming election in Egypt seem to be confirmation that the End of History is upon us, and the global tide of democracy is sweeping away the evils of tyranny.
Of course, never being one to accept good news unconditionally, I must ask what democracy is. The answer, it seems nowadays, a system of governance based on popular election. Fair enough, but what about the liberal in liberal democracy? By liberal, of course, I don't mean Noam Chomsky or other socialistic nonsense, but rather the Latin root of the word, libertas, which puts the weight of responsibility on individuals. This seems to be on the wane, and there's a replacement- what I call "Jimmah-Democracy"
Jimmah Democracy is named, of course, for the most inept president of the US, Jimmy Carter. After failing miserably at the presidency and nearly destroying the economy, he built a few houses for poor people and became a saint. He then went about during the '90s and negotiated with various "rogue states" to stop doing assorted naughty things. He managed to again fail miserably at every turn- his peace efforts in Haiti, attempting to keep Kaptain Korruption Mssr. Aristide in power ended up in a revolution, his Middle East peace process at Oslo spawned two Palestinian Intafadas, and his deal to keep North Korea nuke free gave NK vital breathing space that allowed them to build nuclear weapons.
During the 2004 election, he sat next to the Leni Riefenstahl of the modern era, Michael Moore, and made many crazed comments and supported more than a few conspiracy theories.
King Jimmah's specialty nowadays is certifying "elections" in various nations, including Hugo Chavez' crazed Venezuelan state. His criteria for certifying seems to be based on "so long as we don't see you beating up voters then you're A-OK" and little else. Sometimes, leaders might have to make pronouncements about the importance of "Human Rights", but nothing too difficult for the world's leading tinpot dictators. Having Jimmy Carter certify your election is one of the qualifiers for the "third world despot club", the other being aid money from the European Union.
Jimmah-democracies the world over have two common characteristics- the first is semi-free elections (not usually involving more than one political party). The other is lip service to a concept of "human rights", which is a nebulous entity which everyone agrees is good, but no one agrees exactly on what's involved. There is a vast disparity in the definition of human rights between industrialised and non-industrialised nations. Industrialised nations seem to be required to set up a high-tax welfare state, whilst non-industrialised states only have to reduce the numbers of dissidents they shoot.
The common thread of so-called "human rights" is that they revolve around the state- they are services provided by the state, rather than things that the state must refrain from interfering with. This is disturbing, as "human rights" do not serve as a buffer against the excesses of the state. Far from it- the "human right" of universal, subsidised health care gives the state leave to regulate everyone's health, as it ends up paying for it.
Of course, until now people in the US have been able to live in a more-or-less true liberal democracy. However, things are about to change. First, it seems that some idiot has decided to make Jimmah chair of the Electoral Reform Commision. In a line straight out of the whacky world of Chris Lim, he says that his Commission will "define an electoral system for the 21st century". Jimmah, along with Tom Daschle, are focusing on "inclusiveness issues", which might lead to Federal Legislation granting felons the right to vote, again bashing the principles of Federalism and overriding state law. Of course, it's no mistake that felons overwhelmingly tend to vote Democrat.
In two more theatres, we find that the Supreme Court is using "emerging trends" and the "overwhelming weight of international opinion" against the practice. Though there is debate whether juveniles can be held responsible, Justice Kennedy's opinion has no place in the Supreme Court. US Law is based on our Constitution and previous jurisprudence, not what the EU thinks of our system of law. Thanks to this precedent, more "international norms" of human rights that are unconstitutional can now be considered and adopted in American Jurisprudence.
Another action that has drawn my ire is the Terry Schaivo case. We're all familiar with the back-story. The courts have taken it upon themselves to introduce Euthanasia as an acceptable practice in the US and have ordered the death of Mme Schiavo, despite the wishes of Mme. Schaivo's parents. As a result, she's being starved to death. That is one of the most horrible ways to die anyone can endure. Perhaps international standards such as the terrifying Groningen Protocols for the Involuntary Euthanasia of Children that allows doctors to Euthanise children with "terrible suffering or incurable disease" up to the age of 18 will guide our future. After all, with human rights your health is under the complete control of the state. If they find it more cost-effective to pump you full of lethal chemicals than keep you alive, it's their prerogative.
More on this phenomenon will follow at a later date.
Now, at last, some happy news. We are currently on our Spring Break, and I have taken advantage of our local shooting range at Beech Fork WMA. I've taken the old Enfield out three times now, and enjoyed a good day's shooting each time. Here is my range report.
First, a primer on the weapons and ammunition used. I took three rifles out to the range.
The rifles are, from left to right, a Winchester Model 61 in .22WRF, Nick's sporterised Mauser Kar98k in 8x57JS, and my very own SMLE No. 4 Mk 1 in .303 British, with spike bayonet.
Here are the three types of ammunition- .22 WRF, 8x57JS, and .303 British. Obviously, .303 British is the best of the three.
Apparently someone wasn't too concerned with cleanup.
My younger brother testing out the Kar98k.
Your humble correspondent with the Enfield.
Shooting went quite well. Here's a target from later in the week:
In honesty, this was a shorter range target, but it wasn't too bad.
To close, a picture of our Axolotl.
Of course, never being one to accept good news unconditionally, I must ask what democracy is. The answer, it seems nowadays, a system of governance based on popular election. Fair enough, but what about the liberal in liberal democracy? By liberal, of course, I don't mean Noam Chomsky or other socialistic nonsense, but rather the Latin root of the word, libertas, which puts the weight of responsibility on individuals. This seems to be on the wane, and there's a replacement- what I call "Jimmah-Democracy"
Jimmah Democracy is named, of course, for the most inept president of the US, Jimmy Carter. After failing miserably at the presidency and nearly destroying the economy, he built a few houses for poor people and became a saint. He then went about during the '90s and negotiated with various "rogue states" to stop doing assorted naughty things. He managed to again fail miserably at every turn- his peace efforts in Haiti, attempting to keep Kaptain Korruption Mssr. Aristide in power ended up in a revolution, his Middle East peace process at Oslo spawned two Palestinian Intafadas, and his deal to keep North Korea nuke free gave NK vital breathing space that allowed them to build nuclear weapons.
During the 2004 election, he sat next to the Leni Riefenstahl of the modern era, Michael Moore, and made many crazed comments and supported more than a few conspiracy theories.
King Jimmah's specialty nowadays is certifying "elections" in various nations, including Hugo Chavez' crazed Venezuelan state. His criteria for certifying seems to be based on "so long as we don't see you beating up voters then you're A-OK" and little else. Sometimes, leaders might have to make pronouncements about the importance of "Human Rights", but nothing too difficult for the world's leading tinpot dictators. Having Jimmy Carter certify your election is one of the qualifiers for the "third world despot club", the other being aid money from the European Union.
Jimmah-democracies the world over have two common characteristics- the first is semi-free elections (not usually involving more than one political party). The other is lip service to a concept of "human rights", which is a nebulous entity which everyone agrees is good, but no one agrees exactly on what's involved. There is a vast disparity in the definition of human rights between industrialised and non-industrialised nations. Industrialised nations seem to be required to set up a high-tax welfare state, whilst non-industrialised states only have to reduce the numbers of dissidents they shoot.
The common thread of so-called "human rights" is that they revolve around the state- they are services provided by the state, rather than things that the state must refrain from interfering with. This is disturbing, as "human rights" do not serve as a buffer against the excesses of the state. Far from it- the "human right" of universal, subsidised health care gives the state leave to regulate everyone's health, as it ends up paying for it.
Of course, until now people in the US have been able to live in a more-or-less true liberal democracy. However, things are about to change. First, it seems that some idiot has decided to make Jimmah chair of the Electoral Reform Commision. In a line straight out of the whacky world of Chris Lim, he says that his Commission will "define an electoral system for the 21st century". Jimmah, along with Tom Daschle, are focusing on "inclusiveness issues", which might lead to Federal Legislation granting felons the right to vote, again bashing the principles of Federalism and overriding state law. Of course, it's no mistake that felons overwhelmingly tend to vote Democrat.
In two more theatres, we find that the Supreme Court is using "emerging trends" and the "overwhelming weight of international opinion" against the practice. Though there is debate whether juveniles can be held responsible, Justice Kennedy's opinion has no place in the Supreme Court. US Law is based on our Constitution and previous jurisprudence, not what the EU thinks of our system of law. Thanks to this precedent, more "international norms" of human rights that are unconstitutional can now be considered and adopted in American Jurisprudence.
Another action that has drawn my ire is the Terry Schaivo case. We're all familiar with the back-story. The courts have taken it upon themselves to introduce Euthanasia as an acceptable practice in the US and have ordered the death of Mme Schiavo, despite the wishes of Mme. Schaivo's parents. As a result, she's being starved to death. That is one of the most horrible ways to die anyone can endure. Perhaps international standards such as the terrifying Groningen Protocols for the Involuntary Euthanasia of Children that allows doctors to Euthanise children with "terrible suffering or incurable disease" up to the age of 18 will guide our future. After all, with human rights your health is under the complete control of the state. If they find it more cost-effective to pump you full of lethal chemicals than keep you alive, it's their prerogative.
More on this phenomenon will follow at a later date.
Now, at last, some happy news. We are currently on our Spring Break, and I have taken advantage of our local shooting range at Beech Fork WMA. I've taken the old Enfield out three times now, and enjoyed a good day's shooting each time. Here is my range report.
First, a primer on the weapons and ammunition used. I took three rifles out to the range.
The rifles are, from left to right, a Winchester Model 61 in .22WRF, Nick's sporterised Mauser Kar98k in 8x57JS, and my very own SMLE No. 4 Mk 1 in .303 British, with spike bayonet.
Here are the three types of ammunition- .22 WRF, 8x57JS, and .303 British. Obviously, .303 British is the best of the three.
Apparently someone wasn't too concerned with cleanup.
My younger brother testing out the Kar98k.
Your humble correspondent with the Enfield.
Shooting went quite well. Here's a target from later in the week:
In honesty, this was a shorter range target, but it wasn't too bad.
To close, a picture of our Axolotl.
posted by The Admiral at 7:31 PM
1 Comments:
Kraut Rifle>j00
ololololololol
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