Vacation, Armor & 2nd Amendment

After a much needed hiatus from the blog world, I'm back, refreshed and pissy as hell. Sure it's the time of year for joy and peace and whatnot; so why do I feel like ripping someones head off and feeding it to their teary eyed family??

Firstly I'm sick and tired of all the hype about the military's armor issue. News flash for the non-military or "never served our country" crowd - there NEVER was armor on UN-ARMORED vehicles. Let's take a look back in history shall we?

Linn and Ford 2.5T (T=ton) and half-tracks of the 1930's through WWII were ALL un-armored and in fact, most of the names of these vehicles and un-armored in them.


Example: Linn T6 half-track

Jeeps from WWII until the early 1980's - all unarmored. Most of the light infantry and transport vehicles up until after Desert Storm - all un-armored. Even Humvee's, either straight transport, hospital or combat versions - all un-armored.


Look Ma... no armor!!!

The only versions of hummers that had light armor plating (usually on the underside only) was for higher ranking officers transport vehicles. This was to minimize death if running over AP land-mines (similar to the IED's being used in Iraq by the insurgents). No bullet proof glass, are you frigging kidding me? Even Bradley's have light to medium armor and can be disabled by an RPG or well placed IED. Remember, throwing a track off of a tank disables it for further pounding.

What kills me (pardon the pun) about all the hype of armor and bullet proof glass is ludicrous! Idiots who have no idea what is going on are commenting, frankly, out of school. Reality is soldiers die, get wounded, hurt, traumatized etc. Bullet proof glass won't save a vehicle from an RPG. Armor on a HMV will only give a false sense of security to soldiers - it wasn't MADE to be RPG or IED proof. That's what M1A1's are for - and that's why you are trained to do the things you need to do to survive. Stop the sillyness about armor - please. Better intel, more scouting, better CIA spooks and special ops in and around Bagdad will minimize the injured and dead. A better policy of killing anything that moves and kicking some ass instead of playing the political pussy-foot game would be better.

And lastly of course I just read a little piece from A la Gauche that really burned my patootie. Supposedly in this article entitled "Actually, Guns DO kill people" which states some diatribe and vomited nonsense from the CDC (uhh... the Center for Disease Control, so we're saying Guns are a disease? Can I have some antibiotics for that puhleez?) that our precious children under 14 are 12 times more likely to shoot themselves or others... What a load of steamy fecal goodness THAT is. I'm suprised the CDC didn't say that guns are actually possessed by evil spirits and jump out of their cases at night, load themselves and cause mayhem in Washington D.C. Look, we can haggle about the interpretation of the 2nd Amendment and what the founders were trying to say until the cows come home and not get any further than we are today. The fact is, today, U.S. citizens have the RIGHT to own and in some places Conceal Carry a weapon for self protection. Why anyone would GO somewhere where they'd need a .45 is beyond me but that's another topic. That asshats like the CDC or the Brady Campaign which want to disarm every American and make it illegal to own ANY firearm (don't laugh, look at Canada, Britain, Austrailia for starters) is like telling Americans to bend over for a fourty five caliber hycolonic. If guns DO kill people, then I guess Cars also kill people and butter knives also kill people and so does Clorox Bleach, Drano, letter openers, pencils and pens, pins, hair clips, rope and string, wire... I can go on for days. Don't baseball bats kill people too? Fact is, I can bludgeon someone over the head with a laptop and the killing weapon would be a Dell. So Dell is responsible and laptops need to be regulated.



Cut me a break. Get over it - it's not going away and I WILL say it - Thank GOD for the NRA for protecting my right to own a gun - the same way I might say that GOD for the ACLU or the NAACP or any other organization that is a watchdog over our rights. Good or bad - I should be able to tell the President to go F himself (free speach - you may not like it, but I have that right!) and I should be able to own a gun (2nd amendment - like it or not I DO have that right whether or not you agree about the wording or not). That DOESN'T mean that I agree with the NRA on all things - especially when a guy walks into a sporting goods store and asks "Can I see a revolver", then asks, "Is this a good one?" and starts pointing it at other customers (it was unloaded and checked by the clerk before handing it over to the idiot). Yes it's his right to have one but it should be my right to kick his butt for pointing ANY weapon at me for no cause. His ignorance should be commented on and before being allowed to purchase that weapon he should have to take a short 6 hour course on how to properly handle, operate, clean and fire his weapon. In fact the NRA has just such a course - Firearms Basic Training. When the dork was asked what he was buying the weapon for he said, "Home security". First off - you don't buy a handgun for home security; it's too difficult to use under pressure by a novice (let alone an experienced shooter). Anyone serious about home security should spend $250 on a 12 ga. shot gun and a box of shells. Save the other $300 (since a decent handgun is about $500) and take a course on how to not shoot yourself.

Just as a refresher and since the 1st and 2nd Amendments get so much press - the other Amendments should be mentioned and maybe you might learn something.

The First 10 Amendments (Bill of Rights)

1st - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression
2nd - Right to bear arms
3rd - Quartering of soldiers
4th - Search and Siezure
5th - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for takings
6th - Right to a speedy trial, confrontation of witnesses
7th - Trial by jury
8th - Cruel and Unusual punishment
9th - Construction of Constitution
10th - Powers of the States and People
11th - Judicial limits
12th - Choosing the President, Vice President
13th - Slavery Abolished
14th - Citizenship's rights
15th - Race no bar to vote
16th - Income tax authorization (REPEAL IT!!!!!)
17th - Senators elected by popular vote
18th - Liquor Abolished
19th - Women's suffrage
20th - Presidential, Congressional terms
21st - Amendment 18 Repealed
22nd - Presidential Term limits
23rd - Presidential vote for District of Columbia
24th - Poll taxes barred
25th - Presidential disability and succession
26th - Voting age set to 18 years
27th - Cngressional pay increases

Read them all at The US Constitution.net