sigmtnman

I've been thinking about one too. Get one and let us know how they are. My pusher has a black and an OD green one for $1769. You found them any cheaper?

But, but it's ok as long as it doesn't affect me.

Have you ever fired a pf9?

This is very important.

I have a db9 with a couple of hundred rounds through it with no issues. As far as a death grip, I'd say that all of these pocket 9s requires a very firm grip in order to function correctly. The pf9 I used to have was the same. I'm not saying there are not some "bad" ones out there but the reliable feeding of semis is generally related to the shooters grip.

~Andrew Carnegie

congrats!

NSFW!

Thus my time dilation comment earlier in the thread.

Thanks Lester for the lucid post. For starters, I'd rather there not be a creation week in school. By the same token, I'd prefer that all scientific theories be presented as observations that are generally agreed up given current perspectives, though unverifiable as 100% fact. This is often trivialized and it the main falling down point in my mind. How can evolution ever be proven given our limited frame of reference? Has anyone been around long enough to verify that radiometric dating is accurate? I recall discussions about decay rates actually changing in different environments. Is that change enough to impact the technique? Who knows for sure given that no one had been around long enough to prove or disprove it. Science is full of it's own invisible dog proofs. Just because folks get endless grants to come up with tests to try to prove the existence of those invisible dogs and scientists agree for a time that the data supports the invisible dog, there is always a chance that the dog really didn't exist and in fact it was an invisible cat. As we continue to find smaller and smaller building blocks, why should we not believe in larger entities than us?

Of course many people of religious faith are just as guilty as those of the faith of "modern science". Aspects of our universe will always be unknowable due to our limited frame of reference. Magic is just not being able to comprehend the process behind something mostly due to perspective and limits in frame of reference. Science and religion do not have to be mutually exclusive.

It's Hubris. Theories have come and gone with new evidence and change of reference. Academic Science is funded by grants which requires that data be crafted to prove the theory to get more grants. Anyone who upsets the status quo and questions accepted theory is generally ostracized by the scientific community. "Peer review" is often used as a mechanism to accomplish this. Is peer review needed? Yes. Is it perfect? No. The problem seems to be with scientists and their own hubris. There are not many folks who are willing to accept that something they have believed or championed for a good portion of their life may be incorrect. See Dan Shechtman and Quasicrystalline structures for such an example. http://www.architectmagazine.com/blogs/postdetails.aspx?BlogId=mindmatterblog&postId=106076

FWIW. My degree is in Geology. While I am not proud of it, there was a time in my life where I was an agnostic mostly due to the false dichotomy presented by the dogma of modern science. After learning enough varied topics it made it made it easier to understand that Genesis fits very well with the how some scientific theories explain the creation of the universe and life. It really only takes understanding time dilation, dimensions and frame of reference for religion and science to coexist. To seriously oversimplify the concept, one really need look no further than computer programming and holograms or particularly the popular sim video game to understand that it is possible for a person to create something from nothing and then splendor in watching it grow. Professors and graduate students feverishly preach popular theories, while selectively using research data to support further theories based on them. At the same these folks ostracize anyone who questions or challenges these popularly accepted theories, stifling true science and understanding. They can not risk their reputations and the golden goose of grants. As far as the fossil record, having studied paleontology, I'd suggest folks study up on the cambrian explosion.

Do they have yellow rice?

So, where do they get their cuban bread? Authentic cuban bread has to have a palm frond on top when baked. Guessing the sauce was mojo sauce.

In the day of proactive laws and law enforcement it is.

Yea, even though he didn't like his m&ms with peanuts.

You left off the Is.

That could get messy!

Thanks for taking the time to explain what you meant and I agree with you. Tax cuts for stimulation make no sense to me since without decreasing the size of government, as you point out. Tax cuts because we should not have so big of a government meddling does. Deficit spending causes the inflation which then becomes a hidden tax as we are both aware. I'd posit that the way keyne's theories were implemented hid the problem much like a shell game. Obviously autonomous spending is what drives an economy, but to think that it can just be brought from the aether goes against common sense and the laws of nature. Unnatural dollars appearing out of thin air chasing resources, regardless of the source, equals inflation. The government gave nothing of actual value to get the dollars to pay for projects which then goes into pockets of people. The government backed loan programs unnaturally provides money to high risk persons without the risk or concern of not being payed back. That in effect is a creation of money out of thin air to chase finite resources. This is my understanding of why money must be backed by some sort of commodity that requires actual labor in order to produce it and thusly giving it inherent value. I'll add more later...

The tribe most people are raised in today is the Federal School tribe with a topping of the TV reality. In many cases parent are forced to work to provide food, electricity and shelter due to inflation, while many choose to work to have nice things instead of taking the time to raise and educate their kids. The potlatch cultures sound like pay it forward sort gone wrong. You would think that actions could be of as much value as "stuff" given as gifts. Don't know anything about them though other than what you just described. I'd say the giving thing was different in a time when most things given were more than likely made by the giver. In our age of disposable consumerism the giving seems to be just taken for granted do due the lack of time necessary to pick up trinkets from wal mart created on the backs of cheap labor. I always found this bit from Monty Python humorous:

Do-gooders do not see themselves as such. They see themselves as merely putting required restraints on other peoples activities. Of course, the do-gooder is without sin and is infallible and knows what is best for society. What is really sad is that many times the do-gooder, without knowledge, falls under the control of those who "affect to trade" for the good of society while benefiting from said trade. People die in car wrecks, seatbelts should be mandatory. People die on motorcycles, helmets should be mandatory. Kids die falling off bicycles, bicycle helmets should be mandatory. People die from gunshots, guns should be banned. Someone gets a bad plumber, all plumbers should be licensed. People get sick and die because they can't afford healthcare, govt should provide universal healthcare. People are homeless because they can't afford a house, the government should provide housing. Workers don't like their pay, they form a union and strike for more money instead of acquiring different skills and changing to a job that pays more or starting a business providing the well paying jobs they wish to have. etc, etc, etc. On down the slippery slope till we are bubble wrapped social/communist/collectivism.

The problem you seem to have with it is how you define personal freedom as opposed to how the libertarian defines personal freedom. The libertarian believes that your freedom ends where another persons freedom begins. This absolutely precludes freedom from including murdering, rape, theft and anything else that directly affects another persons freedoms. What the libertarian believes is that you cannot and should not regulate things or behaviors that do not have a direct impact on someone else. Those are the laws that lead to socialism/communism/big government. If your behavior which is not regulated affects another persons property, then you are liable for the outcome, regardless of the actions which led to the outcome. Your argument is exactly why we are not allowed to carry guns without privilege, licensing, etc. A section of society has decided that guns cause violence and that they should be highly regulated or illegal. This is regardless of the fact that either negligence, intent to harm another person or bad luck was the true reason. No where have I suggested unbridled anarcho-capitalism and I don't understand why you are hung up on that.

Which laws that impact individual freedom are necessary and what would be used as the basis for determining them, keeping in mind that freedom ends where another persons chin/nose begins? (Murder, rape and theft do not fall under individual freedom as they directly impact another person's freedom)

Yes, I am familiar with Keynesian economics but in listening to Milton I gathered that while he thought he was brilliant, he did not completely agree with his ideas and points out that the government has no business doing deficit spending and creating inflation. Perhaps I misunderstand him but at 4:38 in that Gold standard video you posted he starts talking about the Fed having enough gold to back more dollars, but they did not do so. He then goes on to talk about how keynesian economics has caused inflation and how it was a godsend for politicians and condemns it extended use. Here is a video with the rest of what he was saying in the Gold Standard vid. I've never paid close enough attention to his monetary policy ideas over the last few years, I've been trying to learn more about it and economics, since it relates directly to liberty and conversely, serfdom.