I know!

Maybe the girls of OWS should have a slut walk! Or walk in groups, rape whistles in hand. Or, hey, maybe they could all wear burqas!

Free, but not easy.

Or, perhaps, just perhaps...they could aspire to the same liberty of the Tea Party protester shown above.

(h/t Snarkybytes)

remember all those rapes at Tea Parties?

Yeah, me neither.

But a bunch of self-proclaimed feminist pacifists all working for social justice and fighting for human rights and equality are reportedly, at least in some small way, condoning rape?* What? How? This cannot possibly be true!

But no, it's not fake - and it seems to be a trend. The organizers of Occupy Cleveland (where there has been a documented rape) are planning to "reach out" and offer counseling so that another such incident will not occur.

So, yeah - the Occupiers' answer to rapists in their midst seems to be holding hands around the drum circle chanting, "Rape is bad, mkay?" while passing a bong, crapping on police cars and begging for someone else to pay off all those student loans (that they voluntarily took on, mind you) for their womyn's studies/interpretive dance degree. Oh, and they also insist that rapists will not be "welcome" at Occupy events. Shunned by hippies, that'll teach 'em.

The 99% does not speak for me.

* Rape-rape, you know.

well, darn

I was going to try to learn how to sew (again...for like the 5th time and after almost failing Home Ec) but it seems I'm not allowed to shop for fabrics and notions at Jo-Ann's.

Totally Stupid, Actually

The TSA let this woman get on an airplane with a tiny gun shaped object!

Barely.

And just imagine, the government allows these people to feel up your grandma.

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man up, lady

"....photos of a very young girl toting a Ruger 10/22 carbine, for example, or the young woman in her wedding gown holding an antique pistol are unsettling."

Seriously?

h/t Unc

this year's hot new accessory

I do not know what the heck goes on at New York's fashion week...

But at least they've got Rule 3 figured out.

(if you've got time and/or a serious case of boredom, hit that link. Much WTFLOLery.)

watch for signs

This photo was taken behind the library by MikeW when I was giving him and Alan a little "Life of  Breda" tour around Willoughby and its environs.

As you can see, two of our local youths are taking a break from their myriad skateboarding adventures. Exhausting work being that cool, you know. Also, I suspect the tight pants restrict circulation and therefore blood oxygenation. (To the brain, mostly.) This popular daily hangout area is actually the library's back parking lot, reserved for library employees. The window on the left is where our intrepid library director is able to survey her domain, the door on the right is where employees enter and exit the building and on the wall between them is a sign that reads:

"NO Skateboarding or Rollerblading Permitted"

I'm sure you can imagine why I don't put much faith in the sign that is on the front of the building.
It looks a lot like this:

so, tell me...

how do the participants of slutwalks ("rape is caused by evil misogynists and not my miniskirt") feel about women carrying firearms for self defense?



Oh.

Never mind.

happy now, Allen Schulman?

Good thing neither of these women in Canton, Ohio were carrying a gun - someone could have really gotten hurt.

when prevention isn't

Hardly seemed possible, but they've finally found something more useless than a whistle.

Getting raped? Be sure to arm yourself with a smartphone - because the White House will soon have an app for that.

Kimber J. Nicoletti-Martinez, director of multicultural efforts to end sexual assault at Purdue University, has some design suggestions:

“Maybe people could add more components to it to ask people to confront their beliefs,” about what causes sexual assault, she said—like building an app that resembles Angry Birds. “Is there some kind of bird you can fling against misogynistic attitudes?”

Sigh. 

Isn't there some sort of device that would fling heavy metal projectiles at high rates of speed directly at, and hopefully through the vital organs of, your attacker?

(Radical idea, I know, but I suspect it could be very effective.)

Still too loud

Shhhh...

But thanks for thinking of me, Mr. Sorrentino - perhaps I'll join the Luckygunner fun next year.


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Sorry I missed you!

 Oh, how I wish I'd known they were there.

Anyway, this is the sort of thing you get when people who don't know much about guns talk about guns on TV. Here's some highlights, although I'd suggest you watch the whole thing.

Megan McCain, 3:25 - "I felt compelled to be a new face, or just another face because I don't think you see a lot of young women talking about Second Amendment rights and gun ownership."

And here I thought Meggy Mac was 'net savvy. Poor thing, maybe I should email her. (However, I suspect I'm not nearly fabulous enough for her, despite my being famous on the interwebz.)

Also? "Semi assault rifle"? Seriously? It's cute how you make up words, Megan. Too bad they make you sound like an ignorant anti-gunner.

_________________

Rachel Maddow, on the Tuscon shooting, 4:49 - "But Jared Loughner would have only had 10 shots if the NRA hadn't pushed for the assault weapons ban to expire, including that ban on those clips."

Oh, dear...where do I begin? Has Rachel never heard about dropping a MAGAZINE and reloading?

Interesting how Megan quickly aligns herself on the high capacity magazine issue with Dick Cheney, who should probably shut up about it too. Especially now, after his name was used over and over as some sort of "Look! I really am a real Republican!" mantra in this video. Sheesh.

_________________

6:18 - Neither Rachel nor Megan know what the "gun show loophole" even IS.

_________________

Rachel Maddow, 9:27 - "Let's start with the small things like if you're on the terrorism watchlist, you can't buy a gun." 

How does Rachel think that watchlist is created? Hell, at this point, I might even be on that list. I never cease to be amazed at the trust some people have in the wisdom and the motives of their government. 

_________________

Aaaand, Meggy Mac closes the segment with another "semi assault rifle" quote. Sigh.

_________________

But I'll be fair...it really wasn't all bad. Both ladies like to shoot and Ms. McCain makes all the right noises - how most gun laws only punish law abiding gun owners, how guns serve as an equalizing force for women, how training and education is an important part of gun ownership. Still, they both have a long way to go and it would have served them both well to speak to real women with guns. I hear there were quite a few in Pittsburgh that weekend.

*Thanks to John Richardson at No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money for sending me this link. Even though I think my head near exploded the 1st time I watched it.

how it starts...

A local reporter takes a CCW class...

...I wasn't packing heat, but I was weighed down by a bellyful of well-worn biases about the kind of person who wants to strut around armed.

Considering her previous experience with guns, I'm not surprised.

fair warning: the CCW article sometimes sounds just as ignorant as you might expect and also uses some of those scary anti-gun buzz words but it's an initial, honest step for a woman who admits both her bias and her fear...so good on her. In fact, this article probably sounds a lot like some of my very first attempts at gunblogging. I sincerely hope she keeps shooting (and writing about it!)

the camel's nose*

If you believe that a Muslim woman who suffers weekly beatings from her husband, has endured martial rape on demand, and who desperately wants a divorce and the custody of her children does not deserve the exact equal protection under the law as your sister or your best friend then, by all means - please keep insisting that permitting Sharia into any one of these United States is about freedom of religion.**

However, you'd do well to keep in mind that Sharia doesn't allow freedom of religion.
___________

*the camel's nose

**go ahead, ask Britain how well Sharia has worked.

...what?

Bloggers can get a lot of email. We laugh at the jokes you send us, respond to comments and answer questions if we can, but sometimes...

Well, sometimes, we get things like this:

Hello,
I want bellow 600 Series Blow Gun do you offer them and what is the price?Also what types and sizes do you carry and what is the price?Please advice bellow.
Regards.

Pressure Rating: . . . . . . . . . 150 PSI
Operating Temperature: . . . . 32° to 175° F
Body: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Die Cast Zinc
(Chrome Plated)
Nozzle: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brass
Thumb Grip: . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vinyl
Internal Components:. . . . . . Brass

My finely tuned librarian instincts immediately made me want to help locate this blow gun, so I googled the specs. I was disappointed to learn that this is some sort of pneumatic tool and not a fancy blow dart gun. Phooey.

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One thing before I go...

I just wanted to say that Tracee Larson is no gunchick, but a low-down lying astroturfing lefty liberty-hating shill.

We're on to you, sweetcheeks. Time to start contemplating the ol' memory hole.

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Two great things...

...that really don't go great together.

Yeah, I know what it looks like, but it's really a holster for your iPhone.

by the book

Seems a gun law in Iowa has some librarians reaching for their smelling salts. One even went so far as to say the new law "scares the bejesus" out of her and another just doesn't understand open carry. She asks, "Why would anyone want to carry a gun in plain sight in a public place? For the power, to scare people, for the rush?" (To which I would answer: "Honey, that's called projection bias. Look it up.") *

Naturally, libraries are trying to find a way to loophole themselves out of following the new law because they believe patrons would "be concerned" if they saw law-abiding citizens carrying guns in the stacks. They insist that libraries are just like schools and should be exempt in the same way.

Except...they're not. Aside from containing books and other educational materials, libraries are not like schools. At all. As far as I'm aware, schools do not allow just any stranger in to wander the building, interact with the staff, and use the facilities. Libraries are no more secure than the street corner.

And yet people cling to their naive belief that because a library is filled with children's storyhours and a wholesome book-filled goodness it is a safe, happy place where an act of self-defense would be unthinkable:

Sheriff Hildebrandt had reservations, especially about allowing people to carry guns into bars. "[It] seems to be a recipe for disaster," he said.

As for libraries, "I have served nearly 20 years on our local library as a trustee, and it seems to me that weapons in a library are unnecessary.

Sure, they're unnecessary. Until you really, really need one.

_______________________

*None of their reactions surprise me, of course. I'm hip to library administrators, yanno. (also, wow! I wrote that in 2007. That's like 20 blogyears ago!)

first, without the second

Here I am, sitting in a place that is considered to be a bold and unyielding champion of the First Amendment. In the fight for free speech, libraries brook no compromise. All information should be available to anyone who wants it. Banned books are proudly displayed, controversial meetings are hosted, and if you need information, librarians will go to great lengths to find it for you. We search all available resources, check the catalog, request interlibrary loans, scour databases, try keyword after keyword, narrowing the search until (at last!) an answer is found. And libraries will do this all without judgment - because it is your right to say and know and read whatever you want and we will damn well help you do it.

And yet this place, according to the sign on the door, is more than happy to deny me my Second Amendment rights.

side job

If people are so eager to get rid of guns, I think I'm going to become a "spiritual adviser" in my spare time.