of weapons and carry

[Bladite]

http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2006/march2006/mar06leb.htm#page1

the kerambit gets a nice mention a handful of macadamia nuts says its next on the endangered to carry knife list. stay outside that 30 feet kids.

of special note "In the past, officers making contact with an individual carrying a balisong (butterfly knife) automatically would view the person as a potential threat. They assumed that the subject could produce the weapon rapidly for immediate use. Recently, a number of knives that can be deployed much more rapidly than the balisong and, yet, are legal to carry in most jurisdictions have been marketed to the civilian population. The emergence of the one-handed opening knife presents a much greater threat as someone can draw it quickly from a pocket and open it in less than a second. Some manufacturers design their knives so they open as the person draws it. If suspects have knives clipped to their pockets, they are essentially “on guard” whenever their hand touches the clip. Yet, many officers often fail to recognize this as a threat and may allow a suspect to retain the weapon during an encounter.

Frequently, individuals carry one-handed opening knives in their front pants pockets on the strong side of their bodies. Officers can easily identify these weapons by a metal clip that extends 1½ to 2 inches out of a suspect’s pocket. "

on guard my ass :>

bladite

 

[Mackenzie4856]

Well, there go our rights to carry pocketknives. Good to know they've increased the shoot-someone-with-a-knife range to 70 feet.

oy.

 

[Kevin the grey]

Its a bizarre world amd it gets worse everyday .For years where I live it was believed you could not carry a pocket knife of any description . It was on the news that a workman was arrested for carrying a cardboard cutter . He had no immediate use for it and so was arrested . I talked with a police officer on the weekend and he said no such law existed . It was left to the officers discretion as to whether the knife posed a threat . I would rather have a clear cut law and definition . It is a fine thing to rely upon discretion . Not everyone is discreet .

 

[cavetech]

Ah, Bladite, there go my new loose fitting not tucked in shirts.

 

[JimmyJimenez]

I believe we are in for a very tough time with many more overbearing laws covering these matters.

My biggest concern comes from our upcoming NY State Governor election and our Presidential election in 2008.

Governor George Pataki (a Republican) replaced Governor Mario Cuomo (a Democrat) some years ago here in NY.

Cuomo was a big time anti gun rights guy. Then came in Pataki, and he has been a major voice against gun rights as well, and has managed to sign some major anti gun laws in.

Just when it looked as if we could not possibly do any worse here in NY, we now have Elliot Spitzer running to fill the Governor's position. This "would" actually be our worst case senerio, him being another major anti gun rights guy, (maybe the worse one thus far).

At the Federal level, we have such names as Hillary Clinton and Rudolf Guilliani as presidential hopefuls floating around, and either one would be very bad for our rights (especially our gun rights).

If the only voting choices in the top two political parties is going to be Rudolf (Republican) and Hillary (Democrat), then it will be the first time that I give my vote to a third party Presidential candidate. Though I have given my vote to third party candidates before, it's been for other offices, never for the Presidential position.

I see bad times ahead, at least that is what my crystal ball is saying

 

[The_Shadow]

Vote Libertarian! Vote your conscience, my friend. If we all believe this crap about 'wasted' votes, we will never get rid of the two-parties-one-agenda system. Note that there has not been any difference. We finally got what we thought was a real, true, conservative president, and he turns out to be the biggest spender of them all, borrowing money from Red China to finance a war of agression. All for the honor and glory of Haliburton profits.
No, a third party vote is no wasted vote, if the party really stands for what you believe.

 

[JimmyJimenez]

"No, a third party vote is no wasted vote, if the party really stands for what you believe"


I agree, and it's why I have given third party candidates my vote, just not yet at the Presidential level....................... at least not yet

 

[Fiddleback]

Bob Dole might disagree with you.

 

[JimmyJimenez]

I have never been a Bob Dole fan, and in fact did not vote for a Presidential candidate that year (leaving that position blank on my voting card).

Him losing, Clinton winning, or vise versa, just did not appeal to me either way.

My mistake on that election,............... that I did not vote a third party candidate. At the time, I was disgusted with the two major party candidates, and I had not looked at the third party candidates closely enough to be able to make a good judgement call on them. The result, no Presidential candidate received a vote from me that election year.

I won't make that mistake again.
If there is a candidate running on one of the two major party platforms that pretty closely matches my own views, he/she will get my vote. If not, my homework will be done this time on the third party Presidential candidates, and if one more closely meets my own views and what I think is best for our country, they will get my vote.

Some of my strongest and most important positions are on such issues as:

"True protection" of gun owner rights

Maintaining and advancing our Military power

"Serious" illegal immigration control

A "true" crack down on "pork" spending

Protection of private property, private information, strict limitation of Imminent Domain use.

Strong fight in the war on terror (fighting terrorists wherever they may be)

"True" Government involvement in finding ways to lessen our need for petroleum based fuels.

Using whatever U.S. fuels may currently be available to us. Yes, we have Alaska, if it has oil, set up and pump it out (or any other resources that we may have available to us).

Upholding and strengthening of parent's Rights (both of mother's and father's)

"True" controls in property taxing


And so many other issues that matter to me.

I guess it's only been in my more recent years of voting, that I have realized that there is no shame in voting third party.
The mold of a two party system can be broken, and voting as the other person above mentioned (which is to vote for the person that one truly feels is best for the job and our country) is perfectly the correct thing to do.

Will I find a candidate that matches my views 100%?................ of course not, but I'm hoping to find one that will come much closer than the others, and that person will receive my vote (Republican, Libertarian, or otherwise)

 

[Fiddleback]

I didn't like Dole either. And in addition to that it was Clintons first election vs GHWB that was so affected by Perot. I'm a moron. Ignore me.

 

[The_Shadow]

Jimmy Jimenez, I agree with some of what you say, but as one who has been in Alaska, I gotta say, what people should do is let Alaska decide what to do with itself. Carter made most of the state National Monument(read Useless), and then you have the other side that wants to just trash the state in the name of Oil. The Alaskans would do it differently, and they should be allowed to do what is best for them.

Also, on the 'strong' war on terror, there is only one way to stop this and that is to stop interfering with the Arab world. the US has been in their faces for so long they are sick of us. Leave them alone and let them live their lives! If they come after us, retailiate, but then LEAVE THEM ALONE! Why do we Americans think we can tell everyone what they should do? And then, when they DO it, we get mad if they don't do what we want them to. Such as, Palestine elects Hamas in a free election. We don't like it, so we get ticked at them. Or, Iraq elects a government. The government tells us to go home. We don't even give them the time of day, we just dig in more. Crazy, convoluted logic. Almost makes me believe in conspiracy theories...

 

[JimmyJimenez]

I can respect your views, though we certainly disagree greatly

As for Alaska, though of course they should have their say and their concerns addressed, I strongly believe that we need to use our own resources, while at the same time putting a serious effort in finding new fueling methods.
I hate to sound cruel and all, but for now we need to use whatever stepping stones we can until we get to the other side (the other side being the use of different kinds of fuels altogether). If "one" of those stones happens to be Alaska's petroleum, so beit. I feel strongly about this, but at the same time feel just as strongly that it must be tied with serious research that helps us pull away from oil.

Pulling away from oil would achieve much of what you stated you'd like to see. It would cause us to bother less with the middle east, since they no longer would have something that we desire or need. Funny thing is, if the world was to find enough valid ways to do away with oil, the Middle East would have nothing to offer it, and would probably just be their new reason to hate us Americans,........... (YOU SOB's NO LONGER BUY OUR OIL, AND NOW WE ARE SOME OF THE POOREST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD! AMERICA,........... YOU DID THIS TO US! YOU USED US, AND NOW YOU SPIT US OUT LIKE DIRT!)

Would we leave them alone if we no longer needed their oil?................ No! Not as long as they feel that they need to remove every Jew from the Middle East, and that they need to wipe Israel off the face of the map. Oil is a major sticking point, no doubt, but so is their hate for our ways, our religions, and our friendship to Israel. We would find it hard to just ignore them if some of these countries continue to want to kill people for just converting to christianity and such. We would find it hard to just leave them alone if they continue to show some of the most inhuman ways of treating their citizens. We should not be "THE" police of the world, but we should "lead" by having some compassion for our fellow human beings around the world. We should get involved, with other similarly minded governments, when we see true injustices that can not just be overlooked.

The Palestinians can elect anyone they want, but if what they elect are known terrorists that support suicide bombings and such, and that are no friends of the US, then I for one don't want to see one red cent being given to assist this new government of theirs. Call me crazy, but supporting Hamas should not be on our agenda.

If "Hamas" is what the Palestinian people want,............ fine, but we should not feel the need to have any ties with a government that supports terror against our friends, the Israelis. As far as I'm concerned, they will reap what they sow.
Their Hamas vote surely did not get the middle east any closer to peace.

 

[The_Shadow]

Maybe what I'm asking for is impossible. Maybe things have gone just too far. But, there was a time when America minded it's own business, and that was good. The Monroe Doctrine was a great thing, designed to keep us out of exactly what we find ourselves in today. But, in the rush to make money, we have sidestepped it.
As for having compassion, it's a great idea. Why don't we liberate the North Koreans? That regime is supposed to be worse than Saddam ever was. Why don't we do something about the genocide in Sudan or Uganda? How about the Zimbabwe crisis? THAT government is destroying its' people but we do not lift a finger. You know why. We all know why. We are quick to help when it means cold hard cash. That is the bottom line.
Israel? The ground truth is, Israel is quite an oppresive regime itself. They have wreaked havok on the palestinians since they started. Arabs were tossed out of their homes at gunpoint to make room for Israel without so much as a how-de-doo. You would be upset also if today the army came to your home and threw you out with only what you could carry. You and your family are taken to a refugee camp and told this is your new home. Other people move in to your home and begin new lives while you look on from behind the barbed wire. There are two sides to every story.

 

[JimmyJimenez]

Maybe what I'm asking for is impossible. Maybe things have gone just too far. But, there was a time when America minded it's own business, and that was good. The Monroe Doctrine was a great thing, designed to keep us out of exactly what we find ourselves in today. But, in the rush to make money, we have sidestepped it.
As for having compassion, it's a great idea. Why don't we liberate the North Koreans? That regime is supposed to be worse than Saddam ever was. Why don't we do something about the genocide in Sudan or Uganda? How about the Zimbabwe crisis? THAT government is destroying its' people but we do not lift a finger. You know why. We all know why. We are quick to help when it means cold hard cash. That is the bottom line.
Israel? The ground truth is, Israel is quite an oppresive regime itself. They have wreaked havok on the palestinians since they started. Arabs were tossed out of their homes at gunpoint to make room for Israel without so much as a how-de-doo. You would be upset also if today the army came to your home and threw you out with only what you could carry. You and your family are taken to a refugee camp and told this is your new home. Other people move in to your home and begin new lives while you look on from behind the barbed wire. There are two sides to every story.

To have compassion and to get involved is one thing, but to be "GAWD" is another. We simply have too many truly repressive governments around the world. This is one of the biggest problems we have with our practically useless UN. It is simply filled with bad guys, and these are the folks that are "supposed" to help us in cleaning up the block. Many of these bad situations around the world are brought up in the UN, but to get a vote on doing something about it is often not likely. Be nice to help out the North Koreans, but there are "extreme" realities that make that almost impossible.

You would need a serious effort from many countries willing to join in whatever it would take. It would mean that China and Russia would have to be part of this (totally unlikely). It would mean that we would need a good part of the Korean population to help out internally once action was started (again, highly unlikely, since their closed society has pretty much totally brainwashed their citizens to hate the U.S. and most of the outside world).

What's all this mean?,............... It means that realistically we cannot save the world, but we can make a difference here and there. I know we get involved a lot where our interests are, but that's just a reality. Of course one is more likely to join in on an effort that involves something that in the end will directly affect us here as well. Is it an ugly reality?..... yup, but reality it is.

You may not be able to save every bird after an oil-slick accident, but that does not mean that one should not try and do a realistic attempt at helping as many as possible.

WWII showed us that sometimes it's not a good idea to wait something out too long to see if one should get involved in it. Sometimes the decision has to be made much more quickly in order to avoid bigger consequences, but also one has to know ones limitations (a famous man said that once)

The Israelis are very tough with the Palestinians, but most of it stems from the fact that the Israelis are simply not left alone to live their lives either.

It's not the average Palestinian that has to worry much about getting on a bus or going to the market and getting blown up! This sort of thing can definitely cause one to do things that may look inappropriate.

They have grown to truly hate each other on a very personal level, and that is a reality both sides live with. Israel is only a speck in the middle east, yet they are surrounded by people that want to wipe them off the face of the earth. Yup, that may have made the Israelis a bit ruthless in their own ways. Even though they are surrounded, and even though they get suicide bombings done against them all the time, they sure are some gutsy SOB's that their hating neighbors now think long and hard before even considering another invasion on them. Is Israel perfect?....... oh heck no! Is the US perfect?.............. oh heck no!
But, if it's the common way of the middle east, or our ways here,.............. I pick our ways and our side every time, thank you very much


We see things differently, you and I, and that's perfectly okay
I must admit though,.............. you and I would probably "not" vote for the same Presidential candidate

 

[Bladite]

I can respect your views, though we certainly disagree greatly

As for Alaska, though of course they should have their say and their concerns addressed, I strongly believe that we need to use our own resources, while at the same time putting a serious effort in finding new fueling methods.

they should be left alone, 100% as a last nearly virgin untouch area that *we all* can look forward to someday. as for new fueling methods, we now have methods to extend gasoline mileage a lot. it's happening. we can run on bio-diesel quite well too, and there's ways to keep making "traditional" fuels from gargabe (thermo-catalyst) but the govt actually doesn't seem interested in that, and it's sabotaged from the inside - bad welds my butt ;> it works. big oil is terrified of it.

I hate to sound cruel and all, but for now we need to use whatever stepping stones we can until we get to the other side (the other side being the use of different kinds of fuels altogether). If "one" of those stones happens to be Alaska's petroleum, so beit. I feel strongly about this, but at the same time feel just as strongly that it must be tied with serious research that helps us pull away from oil.

we do not need to rape alaska to keep big oil in power for a few more years. yes, the research is key. if big oil took, oh, 10% of their obscene profits, and tried to find a way to bend to another way to make money (like buying garbage), they would succeed, and could tell the AE to take a hike :> the tobacco industry has diversified a lot. i do believe they could stop makings cancer sticks altogether and profit well anyway.

...Funny thing is, if the world was to find enough valid ways to do away with oil, the Middle East would have nothing to offer it, and would probably just be their new reason to hate us Americans...

the chinese would happily buy all their oil... and india... at reduced prices of course

Would we leave them alone if we no longer needed their oil?................ No! Not as long as they feel that they need to remove every Jew from the Middle East, and that they need to wipe Israel off the face of the map.

whoa there. "we" would probably never leave them alone as long as we were bigger, because PETA, or people's rights, and the mere fact they aren't democratic would bug us... the fact they would still have "internal race" issues is also true. the problem there is that in theory, ANYONE not muslim is not with them, and must be eliminated (or converted) "in theory", that means you (probably), me, them, those, US, we, etc. another pesky issue is that the some of the countries also feel he same way about the enemy. it'll probabl never end there.

...
The Palestinians can elect anyone they want, but if what they elect are known terrorists that support suicide bombings and such, and that are no friends of the US, then I for one don't want to see one red cent being given to assist this new government of theirs. Call me crazy, but supporting Hamas should not be on our agenda.

well, funny, we support israel quite a lot. they're known for almost every single bad thing that is also done to them. they've become the other side, in order to "stay ahead" of the game. they maliciously bulldoze properties not theirs, take property to expand, blow things up as it suits them, commit assassinations and kill civilians with hitech toys we mostly provide them - in retrospect, the palestines are fighting with sticks and cow dung - they're just as oppressed as israel (was). other larger countries have it in for israel of course, and are more of a theat. it's not a winning solution for the USA to be friends to anyone much anymore.

If "Hamas" is what the Palestinian people want,............ fine, but we should not feel the need to have any ties with a government that supports terror against our friends, the Israelis. As far as I'm concerned, they will reap what they sow. Their Hamas vote surely did not get the middle east any closer to peace.

ideally, i'd like the USA to not be friends with any country that actively pursues military agendas against neighbors, but realistically, we have a Resident that promotes that. crap.

bladite

 

[Bladite]

...
The Israelis are very tough with the Palestinians, but most of it stems from the fact that the Israelis are simply not left alone to live their lives either.

It's not the average Palestinian that has to worry much about getting on a bus or going to the market and getting blown up! This sort of thing can definitely cause one to do things that may look inappropriate.

They have grown to truly hate each other on a very personal level, and that is a reality both sides live with. Israel is only a speck in the middle east, yet they are surrounded by people that want to wipe them off the face of the earth. Yup, that may have made the Israelis a bit ruthless in their own ways. Even though they are surrounded, and even though they get suicide bombings done against them all the time, they sure are some gutsy SOB's that their hating neighbors now think long and hard before even considering another invasion on them. Is Israel perfect?....... oh heck no! Is the US perfect?.............. oh heck no!

just to continue a bit...

at this point, after decades of blood feud, both sides really aren't shiny examples anymore. both sides have had loss, things taken from them, and so on. one side has the very best in military gear, and uses it, ruthlessly to smite down and keep the other side at a stoneage level. i feel that one side is definitely the bully these days and doesn't have the good grace to leave someone alone. hell, they've been known to shoot at US.

who started it? does it matter? one side does something, the other side does it back 5x as bad. then pre-emptively does some more. the other side is pissed, and tries to fight back. it'll probably never end. this makes me VERY sad for the human race.

bladite

 

[JimmyJimenez]

I choose the candidates that "I" feel are best for "me" and "my country". If all of our views were identical, we would only need one candidate

My way of looking at things is clear in my eyes. Your way of looking at things may be just as clear in your's................. and yet,............ we disagree

Ain't it so good to be an "American" that can express these differences

 

[The_Shadow]

"Ain't it so good to be an "American" that can express these differences"
You said it! I agree!
Myself, I am a conservative who has become totally disillusioned with conservative politics. Once they got real power, they became exactly what they said they hated, and then some. I mean, to flat out lie to the world and then start a war based on the lies, well that is something I cannot imagine doing. But, Jimmy, I bet you stand behind George 100%. I know other people who do. I even know people who say he hears from God and it is all good. Who am I to say anything? I'm just one guy trying to take his family through life with as little trouble as possible. I watch my country, that started as the result of tyranny, as it becomes more of a tyrant than England ever was. I think that is sad, but what can we do? Vote, pray, and try to live my own life the best way I can. Even after all that, if somebody came to our shores, I would stand with the defenders. There is so much good about this place that even with all the bad things we do it is still a great place to be. Kind of amazing, really

 

[JimmyJimenez]

"Ain't it so good to be an "American" that can express these differences"
You said it! I agree!
Myself, I am a conservative who has become totally disillusioned with conservative politics. Once they got real power, they became exactly what they said they hated, and then some. I mean, to flat out lie to the world and then start a war based on the lies, well that is something I cannot imagine doing. But, Jimmy, I bet you stand behind George 100%. I know other people who do. I even know people who say he hears from God and it is all good. Who am I to say anything? I'm just one guy trying to take his family through life with as little trouble as possible. I watch my country, that started as the result of tyranny, as it becomes more of a tyrant than England ever was. I think that is sad, but what can we do? Vote, pray, and try to live my own life the best way I can. Even after all that, if somebody came to our shores, I would stand with the defenders. There is so much good about this place that even with all the bad things we do it is still a great place to be. Kind of amazing, really

"But, Jimmy, I bet you stand behind George 100%"

I just love it when somebody "thinks" they know what's inside somebody's head without knowing them personally,................. Not!

Okay, do you want to know if I voted for Bush or not?.............. yes, both times.

Do I feel he has handled the job 100% up until now?............... No, it's more like 50/50 (I'm the first to admit, that's not so good). I'm not happy overall with many things he has done, but happy with some other things. Overall, I feel let down on many issues.

Examples of some things that "I'm" not happy with............

*Though I feel a good case can be made for us going into Iraq, I also believe in results. The main war going in went pretty fast by war standards, (where the Iraq Army either lost their battles, or fled, and the government was overthrown). But, the aftermath has been a blunder, IMO. I was hoping that during his second term they would have a well thought out plan to try and gain better results. That has not been achieved, IMO. This is not the military's fault, but the top command (especially Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld).

*The illegal immigration problem is being handled by him like a hot potato, where I would have liked to have seen him take a very hard stance for truly protecting our borders (walls, military and all) and for strong measures against those that hire illegal immigrants.
Amnesty, something I'm not in favor of, but something I could swallow easier if he just took serious steps to secure our borders more properly.

*Katrina,................. a pure embarassment at all government levels.

*Scandals, though every administration seem to have them, this one seems plagued with ugly situations. No matter who did what, it certainly reflects badly on G. Bush's administration.


Some examples of where "I'm" happy with him...............

*I feel the case to go into Iraq was valid, even though we ultimately found no WMD. I base that on the following:
We had a war with this country about a decade before, and the deal was basically for them to do what we say or else we continue with our invasion. The Saddam run government accepted, and that should have been the end of any major problems with this guy and his government. But, after years of playing his game of kicking out the weapons inspectors, letting them back in, kicking them out again, and after upteen UN resolutions that he ignored or went back on, after his military made many attempts at shooting down our planes over in the Iraq area, and after their attempt at assassinating President Bush Sr., yes, he deserved to see that we were not playing around with him a decade earlier, and that UN or not, we would act. How does this play into 9/11,............ not directly at all, but the mindset at that time was no more letting guys like this play with the U.S.

*I agreed with him on his tax cuts, though I had/have some issues with it, for the most part saw it as a good thing.

*I agreed with him on the Medicare prescription drug plan, and though I myself found it a bit confusing at first to get my mom on a plan, the end result has already proven to be a "very" good one for her (she recently paid a few dollars for an almost $800 medication).

*I'm happy that he had our military and paid mercenaries go in and remove the Taliban from Afghanistan rule.

*I like the fact that he did not make any "real" effort to push for the reauthorization of the Assault Weapons Ban, though in my State it was a moot point (NY picking up the law in it's own books). He could have pushed for it, and as we all had hoped, he did not. This was definitely seen as a positive thing by most of his base.


There is much more on both the "like" and "dislike", so a puppet I'm not.

I guess at this point I'm happy with the good, hoping for more good, and accepting the bad (at least until election time, when our voices will loudly be heard again).

Do I regret voting for Bush?............. No, I just wish that he'd be doing a better job on many issues. If I could go back, knowing what I know now, would I have voted for Kerry?............................ NO! Flaws and all, I'd still take Bush over Kerry again.

Oh, by the way, I'm not registered as Republican or Democrat, instead as an independent voter.

We atleast particapate in the process, many Americans don't particapate at all

Was that honest enough for you..........

 

[brokenhallelujah]

Third party? Voted for Nader twice. I am with Bladite and maybe further left leaning when it comes to environmental issues. On everything else... well... I like the idea of the government not feeling it has the right to look up anyone's nose without due process.

As I have said before, "Liberaltarian" probably suits me well.

BTW, drove by a truck burning biodiesel the other day... it DOES smell like french-fries!