Monday, March 29, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 146: The Government Ruins Everything

                        

In This Episode
  • Erin and Weer’d discuss the ATF raid on AutoKeyCards.com,  and a poltifact "fact-check" on Background Checks that is woefully non-factual;
  • David tells us why we need to keep politics out of the classroom when teaching people about firearms;
  • and Matt from Geeks Gadgets and Guns talks about some deceptive marketing in the latest crop of micro 9mm pistols.




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Show Notes

Sunday, March 28, 2021

V5: Nagaraja (my version)

Let's talk about predators.

Predators and prey always exist in unequal numbers; if there are too many predators, they end up eating all of the prey, and then the predators either starve or move elsewhere in search of food. Conversely, not enough predators means that the prey species ends up outstripping its natural resources and, again, either dies off or moves on in search of more food. As in all things, there is equilibrium.

Even vampires must obey this equilibrium or perish. While they have an advantage in that they do not need to kill in order to feed, which both reduces the drain on the prey population and allows for a greater concentration of predators in a smaller area, this is tempered by the disadvantage that vampires are not apex predators and that a suitably startled, informed, and brave percentage of the human population can and do take matters into their own hands to cull the numbers of vampires.

Furthermore, legend has it that in the days of the First City, when kindred ruled over the kine as gods, that there were havens within the High House of Caine for more than 200 vampires. Given the size of cities in the early days of human civilization, this is a great concentration of predators within a small space, and it is only by the strength and will of the First Vampire that the City did not fall to decadent bloodlust.

But think for a moment: 200 vampires, all ostensibly of the third generation as Caine forbid the creation of more; the third generation, from which come the mightiest vampire clans. Don't you find it likely that at least one of those kindred would have succumbed to the pressure of ecological equilibrium and developed a taste for other kindred?

After all, Diablerie had to come from somewhere.

The entire document may be found here.

Normally, this is where I'd place my justification for why I did what I did, but I don't know if anyone ever reads that part of my posts or not. I'll just leave this blank for now, and if anyone wants to know why I made these choices, I'll gladly answer. 

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 145: Bipartisan Outreach and 'Moar Hogg'

                       

In This Episode
  • Erin and Weer’d discuss the follies of anti-gun activist David Hogg's company "Good Pillow";
  • they also rejoice in a very good NPR segment on, of all things, the Pink Pistols;
  • then Oddball gives us his thoughts on a video by Tacticool Girlfriend and Gun Penguin;
  • next, Xander has Independent Thoughts on keeping Second Amendment activism non-partisan;
  • and finally, guest Sean Sorrentino provides us with us his opinion on the anti-gun bill HB8.




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Show Notes

Friday, March 19, 2021

Pink Pistols on National Public Radio


This is a story about how we win. 

Last week I was contacted by someone from National Public Radio who wanted to know if I could put her in touch with a new gun owner (one who bought a firearm for the first time within the past year) who was also queer. 

I was happy to introduce her to Ermiya Fanaeian, who not only restarted the defunct Salt Lake City chapter of Pink Pistols, but was previously a gun-control activist who changed her stance due to the recent uptick in violence against transwomen. 

The result of that introduction is a 5-minute interview by Scott Simon, which aired on March 13. I encourage you all to listen to the interview below, or read the transcript on the NPR website.

 
You may not know it, but this is an amazing step forward for Pink Pistols and Operation Blazing Sword. For years we have struggled to make our voice be heard by those who need it most: queer people who have been told all their lives that guns are bad and all gun-owners are potential murderers, and therefore don't even know that we exist and that the Second Amendment is for them, too. 

All of that changed this week, because National Public Radio is listened to by many, many people on the left, and they heard an obviously left-of-center queer woman telling them that she owns an AR-15 for protection and that they should, too. Just this one interview is better than any advertising we could buy, and so many people will hear it and wonder if maybe they should buy a gun because Ms. Fanaeian has one. 

This is how we win: by normalizing firearm ownership and getting our message to those who need to hear it. I'm proud to have been a part of this, and if you're a Pink Pistol or a volunteer for Operation Blazing Sword, you should feel proud of this too. 


Monday, March 15, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 144: Point and Counter-Point

                      

In This Episode
  • Erin and Weer’d discuss an anti-gun lawsuit/fishing expedition by the State of New Jersey against Smith and Wesson;
  • Xander brings us his independent thoughts on training vs. gear;
  • Matt from Geeks, Gadgets and Guns presents his counter-point that maybe a pistol red dot sight might be a piece of gear that improves your shooting;
  • and David closes out the show with some loving history about the 1911 pistol.




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Show Notes

Monday, March 8, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 143: The Most Tone-Deaf Article Ever Written

                     

In This Episode
  • Erin and Weer’d first discuss a successful court case for the Second Amendment in Washington State, and then the most tone-deaf article ever written, which just happens to appear on the Giffords blog;
  • Xander brings us his Independent Thoughts on prepping and extreme weather;
  • David reviews the KP-15 Polymer AR-15 lower;
  • and then Weer'd fisks "Guns Down America" accusation that the NRA is insurrectionist.




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Show Notes

Main Topic:

Gun Lovers and Other Strangers:

Weer’d Audio Fisk

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Stop. You're Hurting Me.

I hate that I have to say this, but apparently I do:

  • Every time you point at a transwoman and say "That's a man!", you do it to me. 
  • Every time you mock a transperson for not being attractive enough, you mock me. 
  • Every time you body-shame a transperson who is trying to find peace inside their own skin, you body-shame me. 

We can have all sorts of productive and necessary discussions on such subjects as How young is too young to start hormone replacement therapy? or How do we solve the dilemma of biological males dominating girls' sports?, and I welcome those discussions. 

But if your first impulse is to quote Austin Powers, STOP. You are hurting people. You are hurting me.


Now I realize some of you are wondering Why do you care what other people think? or They want to hurt you, why are you letting them know they're succeeding? and I need to tell you that I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this because I have people who are (or at least claim to be) my friends who are nevertheless making cruel anti-trans comments on social media. My judgement is that if I say "You shouldn't do this, it's not right" then they aren't likely to listen to me, because no one likes to be lectured on morality. 

However, if I say "You say you are my friend. Every time you do this, you hurt me. Please stop hurting me," then hopefully, they will see the consequences of their actions as it affects someone they know and will stop doing it. If they still won't stop, then they've just proven they aren't really my friends anyway, and I can remove them from my life with the fist of an angry god. 

In conclusion, because most of the hardest-core anti-transgender people are Christian, I leave you with the words of Jesus Christ Himself:

Matthew 25:31-46: The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”



Monday, March 1, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 142: Let's Make The Second Amendment Non-Partisan Again

                    

In This Episode
  • Erin and Weer’d discuss even more (mostly good) 2A news!
    • Montana is now Constitutional Carry;
    • Fort Fairfield and Paris, Maine are now Second Amendment Sanctuaries;
    • Mayors of large cities are urging Joe Biden to ban guns though executive orders;
    • and Erin was interviewed by a German publication on gun control.
  • Weer'd sits down with Lara Smith to discuss how to best make gun control non-partisan again;
  • and Weer'd brings us an Audio Fisk of a news show that asks "Does Gun Control Work?"




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Show Notes

Main Topic:

Lara Smith interview:

Weer’d Audio Fisk:

The Fine Print


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial- No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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