ExurbanKevin

Use Your Delusion

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:29:00 GMT

First, it was "Oppostion to SB1070 will turn Arizona blue!"

Now it's "Help us, Obi-Wan Giffords, you're our only hope."

President Obama is eyeing Arizona as one of the few Republican states he might flip in November, but to do that he might need the help of its brightest star: former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D).

Whether Giffords will lend her considerable clout to the president’s reelection campaign remains an open — and exceedingly delicate — question.

But as always, Raul Grijalva rushes in where angels fear to tread.

Grijalva said Giffords could be helpful in southern Arizona, where the Democratic base is. “I think Gabby could be very effective there and statewide because of the goodwill she enjoys right now,” he said.

Never let a crisis go to waste, even if it involves a horrific act of violence. At least he's not calling for a boycott of Gabby's book, so I guess his morals are gradually improving.

Will Gabby Giffords campaign for Obama in 2012? I don't know, and I don't think anyone knows.

Will her involvement flip Arizona from Red to Purple?

Oh. Heck. No.

We interrupt the political coverage for something much more important

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:12:00 GMT

A little perspective on things, because "what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul" ?

There is a split opening up inside the Christian mission community over how the Bible is translated into Arabic.

Mainline Christian organizations are changing their holy scripture to avoid offending Muslims. Not only does this violate their scripture, but it also defeats the purpose of their mission--to share the Gospel. If mainline Christian organizations fear Muslims so much that they have to edit what they believe to be the Word of God, how far can they be from submission?

For example, the verse which Christians use to justify going all over the world to make disciples, thus fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) reads, “Cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit” instead of “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Rev. Bassam Madany, an Arab American who runs Middle East Resources, terms these organization’s efforts as “a western imperialistic attempt that’s inspired by cultural anthropology, and not by biblical theology.”

If this is true, for the parties they are trying not to offend, anything short of Islam -- of professing that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is his messenger -- would be "offensive." This is not making Christianity more palatable. It is de-Christianizing it. It is manufacturing yet another Christian heresy.

Indeed, for many denominations, the validity of baptism depends on the words used: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." No euphemisms, no nicknames: for example, trial balloons aiming to portray a more gender-neutral God have already been burst: the use of "Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier" in baptism has been rejected by the Catholic Church, if not others.

So, what can YOU do?

Educate yourself about extreme contextualization in scriptural translation in the emergent church
Pray for humility and truth to reign over the body of Christ
Sign a petition at change.org asking the organizations involved to keep the doctrine of the Trinity in Arabic and other translations of the Bible.

We'll return to our regular coverage later. Thanks for listening.

Too Fast, Too Furious

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:11:00 GMT

I haven't written much about Fast and Furious here, even though a) I live in Arizona and b) I'm a ~~gun nut~~ shooting sports enthusiast because other blogs are doing a bang-up job (no pun intended) of reportage.

Or maybe I'm just upset that BATFE didn't give me an AK-47. I'm an immigrant. I live in Arizona. I like rifles. C'mon, ATF, What gives?

The biggest issue I've had with this is why? Why would government officials do such a thing. Bureaucrats are a sub-species of human that is generally adverse to such things as adventurism and innovative thinking, and to engage in such reckless, criminal behaviour with such limited, tenuous goals requires a leap of faith that even Kierkegaard would shy away from.

But.

It turns out one of the key players in the Arizona Attorney's office has a long history of hoplophobia, namely former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke.

DeConcini said Burke helped draft the Anti-Drug Assault Weapons Limitation Act of 1989. A five-year battle ensued, ending with President Bill Clinton signing the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which made it a federal offense to possess certain semiautomatic rifles manufactured after the law's passage.

DeConcini said Burke fostered the measure in concert with a key figure in the White House, policy analyst Rahm Emanuel, who years later would become chief of staff for President Obama. Emanuel now is mayor of Chicago.

"Dennis was the one who worked with everyone on the Judiciary Committee to line up these members and votes," DeConcini said. "Dennis had all these pictures of these guns -- the Streetsweepers and the AK-47s. And it passed by one vote. A lot of it was not my eloquence on the bill, it was stuff that Dennis had done."

The law was adopted shortly before Burke left his Senate job for a position in the Clinton White House as a senior policy analyst for law enforcement and drug issues, again working with Emanuel.

According to preserved e-mails, Burke continued handling firearm issues, discussing whether executive orders could be used to extend the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act requirement for background checks.

Whether the anti-gun fervor started by Burke in the late 80's blossoms into a blaze that consumes the Obama administration remains to be seen. But at least we now have an inkling as to how such a reckless and legally questionable policy came into fruition.

May we soon have justice for Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and the hundreds (if not thousands) of innocent people killed by the Department of Justice's reckless actions.

This is my shocked face

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:14:00 GMT

Alternate headline: Washington Post (and others) pull their collective heads out of ... the sand and catch up with reality.

For decades, the prevailing wisdom in education was that high self-esteem would lead to high achievement. The theory led to an avalanche of daily affirmations, awards ceremonies and attendance certificates — but few, if any, academic gains.

Now, an increasing number of teachers are weaning themselves from what some call empty praise. Drawing on psychology and brain research, these educators aim to articulate a more precise, and scientific, vocabulary for praise that will push children to work through mistakes and take on more challenging assignments.

It's as if ~~millions~~ ~~thousands~~ ~~hundreds~~ a few dozen trust-fund babies cried out in terror, and then suddenly became completely irrelevant.

(via A Rock In A Sea Of Chaos)

Just like that rash you can't get rid of...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:46:00 GMT

... we're back. Call your doctor if symptoms persist for more than four hours.

Bloggus Interruptus

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:48:00 GMT

We gotta take a short break to move things around a bit. See you in a week.

Masters of Delusion

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 23:31:00 GMT

Just when you thought the hard left couldn't separate themselves any further from reality, something like this happens.

Arizona, which Messina says was only off the table in 2008 because the Republican nominee, John McCain, was the state’s senior Senator, is the main target in an Obama path to 270 that expands on his 2008 tally of states. Arizona Democrats certainly say the state’s nasty fight over SB 1070 has led to a fired up base that could flip the state into Obama’s column next year, especially with a GOP nominee running with Romney’s baggage when it comes to the Hispanic vote. (Someone like Newt Gingrich may have less of a problem with that slice of the electorate.)

Let's see. SB1070 "fired up the base" so much the Dems were able to replace SB1070's champion, State Senator Russell Pearce, with...

... another Republican.

The Democratic Party can't afford many more wins like that one.

If the Dems think that SB1070 has "fired up their base", let's take a look at what Obama has done to fire up the Republican base in Arizona.

The Obama Administration is suing the state of Arizona over SB1070, and may very well lose in the Supreme Court
Obama's Attorney General sent hundreds of guns to Mexico's drug cartels
Rather than secure the border, Obama's DHS put up signs telling Americans to keep out of America
Obama used Gabby Giffords' shooting as a podium to blast away at his foes in the name of promoting politcal bipartisanship

That's just the direct actions he's taken against the Copper State. We'll leave his complete and utter failure to manage the economy and the housing crisis for another day.

And if the Democratic base is so "fired up", why did the head of the Progressive Caucus have a tough battle last election cycle against a political newcomer?

And if that wasn't enough (and it is) the Dems have to deal with history. (source)

Yeah, that screams "Dem Pickup!" to me....

The Obama campaign can talk about winning Arizona all they want, but their dreams stand little chance of becoming reality. But then again, dealing with reality hasn't been their strength for a long, long time.

The walls are starting to fall.

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:35:00 GMT

Jack Cafferty is not a fan of Eric Holder.

And he's not a fan of George Bush, either, lest anyone think he's being a partisan stooge for the right wing.

It's raining soup out there

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:27:00 GMT

All we need to eat is a bucket and the will to go outside.

Jerry Pornelle's "A Step Farther Out" shaped a lot of my worldview growing up. Not only did he nail what a world with DARPANET/Internet would look like, but he elquonetly and definitely laid out the case that the future of the human race lies in outer space.

(He also takes apart the neoMalthusians of the modern environmental movement, but that's a topic for another post).

And now it looks like the aerospace industry is coming around to the idea that mankind's future in space isn't tied to the government of man, but our innate desire to boldy go.

(Ph.d and former Shuttle Missions Director Mary Lynne) Dittmar writes that she was initially “disinterested” in the idea: The space community had “moved on” from the Shuttle program and commercial shuttle program efforts were nothing new and generally financially unsustainable. Dittmar outlined four prerequisites for a viable commercial space shuttle project:

1) No government money for development or operations

2) A real business without NASA as a customer

3) An ability to reimburse the government for any infrastructure costs involved

4) She would only support a serious effort and a team she trusted.

According to a lengthy report on NASA Spacelight.com, Dittmar not only became a revival supporter and a key liaison in the Shuttle revival plan, but also saw real benefits in the switch to commercial operations.

"One of the advantages of our purely commercial approach is that it allowed our engineers to consider alternative suppliers and advances in manufacturing, materials, processing, and production across the globe and across several industries," Dittmar told nasaspaceflight.com.

The stars, our destination.

Keep safe in the woods

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:59:00 GMT

My family and I went up to Payson over the Thanksgiving holiday to spend time with my parents and visit Tonto Natural Bridge. I have an extensive (and rather large...) "Go Bag" in my car, but I left it behind for this trip because I didn't want it sitting exposed in the cargo area of my wives' Nissan Pathfinder. And while the hike was easy and guided, mistakes can happen on the easiest of trips that can lead to some really hairy situations. I figured I needed something I can keep in my wife's car that'd provide the essentials and be something that we can easily take with us whenever we head into the woods.

Looking around, I realized that the other "pocket survival kits" all have a few things in common.

They're built for areas that have water handy.
They're loaded with candles and other items that would melt in the Arizona heat.
They've stuffed with items only marginally useful over the short-term.
They've got items with expiration dates that need regular replacing.
They're too cheap for their own good.

I wanted a kit that was small enough to carry with me anytime I headed into the woods, provided the basics of outdoor survival in Arizona, didn't have the useless gadgets found in other kits, and I could leave in the car and forget about until (God forbid) I needed it.

Tin
An Altoids box. Aside from duct tape, an Altoids tin may be the most useful thing in the world. They're small, sturdy, lightweight and have at least 22 other uses besides holding breath mints.

Contents (clockwise from top left)
- Water Filter
- 10 feet of paracord
- Emergency whistle
- Button compass
- Ziploc bag
- Flint and striker
- Paper Matches
- Tinder (2 pieces)
- Straw for water filter
- Tool Logic pocket survival tool
- Safety pins, needles (on tool cover)
- Signal Mirror
- First aid kit (2 bandaids, butterfly closure, antiseptic, hand sanitizer)
- Not shown: Ibuprofen, single-edge razor blade

Living out here in the desert, you quickly realize just how important water is for survival, and I was shocked that so many kits neglected clean water altogether in favour of sewing kits, snare wire and fishing tackle. If you've got time to fish, you've got time to get hit with some really nasty water-borne diseases that'll make eating food a moot point. I chose an Altamira water filter over the more-common chloride pills because I didn't want to deal with chemical expiration dates, and if that didn't work, I can always boil water in the tin or put water in the ziploc and sterilize it using UV radiation.

This leads me to an important point: A single point of failure will fail every time. I wanted backups. I have a signal mirror (a small glass mirror backed with duct tape) and a whistle. I have matches and a flint striker. I have a Tool Logic tool in the kit to back up the Leatherman Micra and the CRKT Pazoda that I carry with me every day. I don't have a backup for my Pelican mini-flashlight, but my iPhone does have a flashlight app, and if that fails, well, there's always fire.

The whole kit is about 3 1/4" by 3 1/2" by 1 1/2" and fits easily into a front or back jeans pocket and it's also light enough to not be a burden. Will what I have work for you? Probably not. But the time to think about what WILL work for you is now, not when you're lost out in the middle of the woods.

The cost? $33.

Altoids Tin Survival Kit			$33.00
Aquamira Water Filter	1	$8.00	$8.00
Paper Matches	1	$0.00	$0.00
Flint	1	$8.00	$8.00
Tinder	1	$5.00	$5.00
Whistle	1	$4.00	$4.00
Razor Blade	1	$0.00	$0.00
550 Cord (wrapped around tin)	1	$0.00	$0.00
First Aid Kit	1	$2.00	$2.00
Pocket Survival Tool	1	$5.00	$5.00
Compass	1	$1.00	$1.00
Needle, safety pins	1	$0.00	$0.00
Zip lock sandwich bag	1	$0.00	$0.00