Rape, Guns, and the Left

With the debate in Colorado over guns now effectively over, I now have a new understanding why the Left dislikes guns and their seemingly baffling mindset on self defense.
The simple truth is that the Left has utter and complete disdain for the individual. So deep is this contempt, that the very concept of NOT using the State for absolutely EVERY facet of life, including the defense of it, is unthinkable.

What brings this fact to the front? The way that the Left argues about perhaps the most violent and heinous crimes that can be committed, rape. At the very center of the civilized human is their sexuality. It is where they can connect with the very base of their animal side, yet in the act, express the highest of emotional evolution, love. It is allowing an other human being access into your body. It is intimate. It is the very closest two people can be.
Rape destroys the intimacy. It violates the self. It forever mars the act with violence and violation for the rest of the one who was raped's life. It is a crime that strips the very soul from the body.

So, how do you defend yourself against this act? How can you prevent it? Well... If you are on the Left you defend against rape by:

• Telling your attacker that you have a disease or are menstruating.
• Vomiting or urinating 
• Scream
• Use the buddy system

My very favorites are "Passive resistance is your best defense", "Be realistic about your ability to defend yourself", and "Understand that some actions on your part might lead to more harm."  In other words "Lie back and think of England" as the rape occurs.  Would this be the advice that you give a loved one of yours?

What I find most fascinating is that some of the biggest supporters for the disarming of the law abiding public are women's empowerment groups, like the National Organisation for Women.  How does making women defenseless empower them?  Is there nothing MORE empowering that the ability to protect one's self, property, and loved ones from harm?  No!  Says NOW.  The state should be relied upon for that.  This mindset baffles me.  I advocate for empowered women, only to have them cower behind the State?

How is this more empowering than this???

I don't understand. An empowered woman is one that is confident in herself and in her abilities to live on her own. If I have daughters, I want them to be the woman in the second picture.

Then it dawned on me. It isn't that the Left wants women cowering behind the state. It is that the want to extinguish the thought of individuality from the public mindset. Guns, and self-defense are the ultimate expression of the individual. When you own a gun, you own the ability to ultimately disagree and stand up to the state. Gathering like minded people to your cause, and you have the ability to overthrow the state.
Defending yourself against harm is the ultimate repudiation of the social contract of the state. By defending yourself, you are stating that the state does not own you. YOU own you. This statement says to all, I am a sovereign person, and I will defend my sovereignty.

This declaration of sovereignty is what the Left is so afraid of. If you decide that the defense of your person is up to you, you may start thinking that other things are up to you as well. Once that happens, their power, derived from the eroding of personal sovereignty, begins to crumble. So, for the Left, it is indeed preferable that you "lie back and think of England," and remain a surf of the state, than to take up arms, defend your person and step in to the light of freedom. Indeed, it IS morally superior to be raped. For if you defend yourself, you take away their power.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Things are about to hit the fan in Cyprus. Cyprus is a small country that is suffering from Greece's financial woes. It is a member of the EU, and the EU has laid an ultimatum at their feet. The EU will bail out Cyprus, but only if Cyprus is willing to participate in their own bailout. So, the Government of Cyprus has decided that it will seize 10% of the "rich's" cash deposits in banks.
Who is the rich? Anyone with an account that has more than about $26,000.
Of course there is some push back on this, and it looks like the number will be pushed up to 100,000 Euros, that is the maximum that is insured by the EU bank. The thought being that anything over the insured amount is fair game.

What is this doing? It caused an immediate run on all of the banks in Cyprus. So much so that the Government of Cyprus ordered all banks, and ATMs, to be shut down until Thursday 3/21/2013. What is going to happen on Thursday? Anyone with a bank account is going to be trying to pull their money out. The banks are going to close and Cyprus will have riots on their hands. The government will have caused their own banking system to collapse.

This is spooky just because it is actually happening in the Western world. What is more spooky is that Politicians here in the United States are thinking that this is a really good idea. They already tax interest income, what about taking a percentage of the account? Again, you only do it on the "rich." The problem is, that it prevents ANYONE from saving ANYTHING. You think we have a retirement problem now? Start doing this crap.

I have to admit that this has really got me spooked. I would like to say that our government would never pull a stunt like this, but with all of the talk on Capital Hill of taxing 401(k)s and ending the Roth IRA and IRA exemptions, I don't know if there is anywhere that I can keep money without forking over a huge chunk of it to the Government. I am frightened that I won't have anything to live on when I am older. It might be time to buy gold coins and bury them in the yard.

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Bought a Car

Well... about a month ago, the wife was driving down a crowded road, not really paying attention, and rear ended another car. Then the car behind her rear ended her. Then the car that she hit was pushed in to the car in front of that. Smash bash and crash. The insurance company decided that our car, a 2004 Toyota Carolla was a total loss. After being a one car family for a week or so, we decided that we needed a new car. Since I was already looking, and she was the one to wreck the car, we decided it would be MY new car!! YAY!!!!

I drove a bunch of cars. My criteria was that I wanted a navigation system, all wheel drive, good gas mileage, and an automatic transmission with a fun manual option.

Pretty much I drove everything in my previous blog post, except I didn't drive the Cadillac, too expensive and no AWD, and I also drove an Infinity G37 and a Volkswagen Passat. I mainly drove the Passat, because my dad just bought one and really like it... It didn't have AWD, but it has really really great gas mileage, and was the only diesel I drove.
The navigation system was cool, but a little plain. What was really nice about it was that the navigation system put an arrow in the center console of the instrument package with information on when your next turn was and what direction you should turn. That was very handy, and it keeps the driver's eyes in the right places when using navigation.

I liked the Volvo, and it was the first car I drove. The things I didn't like about it were... all of the safety selling points. It breaks for you, it won't let you drive to fast, it is the ultimate back seat driver. What was very cool, though, was all of the extras that all of the sensors and cameras gave you. It had software to recognize speed limit signs, for instance. So, where a conventional navigation system would just show you the normal speed limit, the Volvo could show you the speed limit in a construction zone, because it could read the sign. Very cool.

The Infinity... It was a V6 and got the worst gas mileage out of all of the cars I drove. That and it didn't ride nicely. And the styling sucks. Booo. I didn't like it.

The main contenders were the BMW 335 and the Audi A4. I know I looked at an A5 in the previous post, but after looking at the A5 and the A4, you realize that they are viturally the same car, except the A4 is less expensive and has four doors. All of the features that you can get in an A5 you can get in the A4.
So... Same features, same engine, same gas milage, less expensive sticker price, less expensive insurance, AND the styling is virtually the same except for two extra doors. No brainier. A4 wins over A5.
I really really liked the Audi. The model I drove had navigation, quattro AWD, an 8 speed transmission, and the sport package with paddle shifters! At first, I liked the ride. It drives very smoothly. I didn't like what seemed to be a lack of power off of the stop. You hit the gas and the car lethargically starts to move, then kicks you in the ass as it takes off. It was kind of annoying. Then I put it in to manual "sport" mode. Now that I had control over the transmission, and this auto stick was by far the best auto stick I have ever used, it was just like I was driving my manual transmission. I could keep the car in first gear a bit longer to make use of the higher RPM and keep the power where I wanted it. Lots and lots of fun.
The navigation system was the best I have seen, but a real pain to configure. Like the VW, understandable since Audi is owned by VW, navigation information is presented in the center of the instrument panel. But unlike the VW, the center is a full color screen with better resolution. This console will show you which lane you should be in, and if the road is a left with a quick right or whatever, it will present this in the center console. Very super duper cool!!
The nav system is also integrated with Google Earth, so you can be looking at satellite images with a 3D representation of the city you are driving in. That was really nifty.

BMW has seemed to give itself over to technology. Everything, and I do mean everything, is electronic. It is kind of annoying. To take it out of gear you press a button. To park, you press a button. Buttons buttons buttons buttons.
The ride is nice but a little stiff. I wanted a smoother ride. The BMW that I drove was the "sport" option with navigation, AWD, and 8 speed transmission. No paddle shifters in this car, the auto stick manual mode was on the floor. This car also had a Heads Up Display with your speed and navigation instructions. Super super super cool.
The auto stick... SUCKED. According to the sales guy, when you shift the car puts your request in to a queue and will shift if the computer feels that it is ok to. This way, the sales guy said, you save your transmission and your gas millage. No. I don't like it. If I shift I want it to SHIFT. I want a manual feel in the transmission.

So, after some wheeling and dealing, I purchased the Audi A4. The car that I drove was in a color I didn't like, so I had to wait for one in silver to show up.


It has the MMI Navigation, the sport package, and 8 speed AWD. Lots and lots of fun.
I am getting to know the car now, and liking it more and more everyday.