Archive for the 'News You Can Use' Category

Front Sight in Receivership: At 11 a.m. Monday, Front Sight Firearms Training Institute and its president, Ignatius Piazza, went into receivership. All financial transactions involving the firearms training facility – from accepting payment for classes to paying staff and vendors – must take place through a court-appointed administrator. The facility and all assets have been seized by the court, down to the hundreds of firearms included as part of new members’ benefits. However, despite the ruling, this weekend at Front Sight everything was “business as usual,” according to Operations Manager Rick Morello… (I have always been skeptical of Front Sight’s marketing, dating from their first mailing I received when they and I were still in California. I was not shocked in the least when a list member, who is a graduate of multiple Front Sight courses, described the operation to me as a Ponzi scheme, about six years ago. The gist of the lawsuit, as I recall, was the failure of Front Sight to deliver the homes that were promised in what Piazza claimed would be “the safest community in America.”)

http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2009/May-15-Fri-2009/news/28773367.html

Tools for Fighting Back!

Those at The Atlas Society want you to fight back, to express both your moral outrage and your hopes for a better future, and to be more effective.

On their website you will find a wealth of information and insight about Atlas Shrugged. You’ll find clear explanations of Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, by expert writers. You’ll find an arsenal of intellectual ammunition needed to prevail against the assault on your freedom.

Atlas Shrugged is still incredibly popular, five decades after its publication, because it offers a dramatic moral defense of the right to individuals live for their own sakes and a vision of a benevolent society based in reason, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Atlas Shrugged at 50: a Tribute in The New Individualist

All about Atlas Shrugged: expert analysis, plot synopses, and more

The revolt against taxes: collected Atlas Society commentary

Is Atlas Shrugging today? Hard-hitting commentary from The Atlas Society

Edward Hudgins, “Ragnar Shrugged.”

Edward Hudgins, “Atlas Chased.”

Edward Hudgins, “Atlas Forced into Early Retirement.”

Thor Halvorssen, “Is John Galt Venezuelan?”

What is “Going Galt?”

Going Galt!! (Courtesy of the Atlas Society -  http://www.atlassociety.org/)

“Tea parties.” “Going Galt.” You’ve probably seen a growing number of references to these in the media, online, and on signs at rallies reacting to new government spending and controls.

The Boston Tea Party was a rebellion against excessive government. Today’s “tea parties” say “no” to spending without limit and the government takeover of our lives.

“Going Galt!” If you’ve read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, you appreciate the parallels between today’s disintegrating world and the events depicted in that prophetic novel. Atlas Shrugged is the story of how productive people went on strike, withdrawing their services in protest against a society that damned them for being productive and expropriated the fruits of their labor.

The ideas in Atlas Shrugged can be powerful moral weapons to roll back the forces of repression and irrationality. The Atlas Society is your premier source for information on those ideas. We’ve compiled this page to help you understand the whole “Going Galt” phenomenon.

What is “Going Galt?”

* “Going Galt” doesn’t simply mean getting angry. That would be “Going Postal.” It means having righteous indignation at the injustice of a political system that bails out individuals and institutions for irresponsible behavior and at the expense of those like you who prosper through hard work and personal responsibly.

* “Going Galt” means asking in the face of new taxes and government controls, “Why work at all?” “For whom am I working?” “Am I a slave?”

* “Going Galt” means recognizing that you’re being punished not for your vices but for your virtues.

* “Going Galt” means recognizing that you have a moral right to your own life, the pursuit of your own happiness, and thus to the rewards you’ve earned with your labor.

* “Going Galt” means recognizing that you deserve praise and honor for your achievements rather than damnation as “exploiters.”

* “Going Galt” means recognizing that you do not need to justify your life or wealth to your neighbors, “society,” or politicians, or bureaucrats. They’re yours, period!

* “Going Galt” means recognizing that the needs of others do not give them a claim to your time, effort, and achievements.

* “Going Galt” means shrugging off unearned guilt, refusing to support your own destroyers, refusing to give them what Ayn Rand termed “the sanction of the victim.” It means taking the moral high ground by explicitly rejecting as evil the premise of “self-sacrifice” that they sell to you as a virtue— in fact “self-sacrifice” is an invitation to suicide.

So, what can we do?  See the next post.

Not much according to recent study in Blacksburg VA. Check it out here.

Hey, did you order your pancakes this morning? No syrup – just secure carry  with a proven design.

Helena, Mont. (AP) - Montana is trying to trigger a battle over gun control – and perhaps make a larger point about what many folks in this ruggedly independent state regard as a meddlesome federal government.

In a bill passed by the Legislature earlier this month, the state is asserting that guns manufactured in Montana and sold in Montana to people who intend to keep their weapons in Montana are exempt from federal gun registration, background check and dealer-licensing rules because no state lines are crossed.

That notion is all but certain to be tested in court.  Read more here.

When I was young, Pontiac meant exciting automobiles, notably the Bonneville, the GTO, the Firebird. They were in demand. Not so much lately.

Any plans to return Pontiac to the heavy-horsepower days of the ’70s ended as gas prices rose and Congress prepared stricter fuel economy rules for the industry.

General Motors, struggling too stay afloat, will announce the end of the Pontiac brand.

Pontiac’s current role in GM seems mostly to be to support GMC and Buick by providing a brand under which Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealers could sell non-luxury cars, filling out what then becomes a full-line showroom.

An official announcement is expected Monday, April 26th, 2009.

Seems lately, we’ve had to let go of many of the things we valued in our youth.

It’s a reminder to appreciate what we have while we have it.

So long, Pontiac, so long.

The British government is about to criminalize politically incorrect jokes. Children have been taken to the police for innocent remarks seen as “racist.”

The right of free speech is under a wet blanket in Britain unless you’re a member of some kind of underclass or minority.

The article below from “The Australian” highlights the harassment of a columnist who protested an anti-hunting rally by saying, “If you are a black vegetarian Muslim asylum-seeking one-legged lesbian lorry driver, I want the same rights as you.”  Serious charges were pending for 4 months and it took 5 years to clear his name.

What the hell is going on? Read this.

This is nearly a 3-year old story, but I’m posting it because I’m impressed with straight talk and this is a great example.

Gary Delagnes, head of the San Francisco Police Officers Association tells the media the truth about a good policeman and felon who caused his death during a high-speed chase. The link to the press conference is below. Don’t you wish we could count on straight talk from all sectors of our government?

Officer Nick Birco was killed July 26, 2006 when his patrol car was struck by a van carrying persons involved in an earlier robbery.

http://mfile.akamai.com/12948/wmv/vod.ibsys.com/2006/0728/9591734.300k.asx

We’re not a democracy, we’re a republic. In times like these, the distinction is important. Here’s an informative and thought-provoking short column by Walter Williams that invites you to consider the difference. Which do you want? Democracy or republic. Check it out.

BTW, happy TAX DAY!

While many pontificating pundits were pronouncing their points of view on how to handle the pirates, the entire evolution was handled with a head shot – three to be exact.

I can’t tell you how many times while watching some TV cop drama where the bad guy is holding a gun to some pretty woman’s head, I yell at the TV, “shoot ‘em in the head, shoot ‘em in the head, you idiot!”  Yeah, real life is different from TV, I know. What you can do at the range, might be 4 times as hard when the adrenaline is pumping, but a head shot always seems a tempting way to save the day and save the life of the hostage.

Clearly, that was the solution off the coast of Somalia when the Seal snipers did what was called for, and did it as they had trained to do.

Sometimes a head shot is the simple solution.

You might enjoy this article from the Washington Post.