In the news today.

I'm having trouble finding any good news. Maybe someone can shoot some my way.

We've got the Greens who want to declare one of our most prolific species as endangered. Yes, Koalas are doing their best Panda impersonation in some areas but (and I'm no lawyer) if you declare them endangered then aren't they protected everywhere,... like... in the places that you can't throw a rock without hitting one? Such legislation would lock up just about every acre of land with a gum tree on it but I suppose that's the point. I guess our kids will have to build their houses in the desert...

Having had the knife surgically removed from his back our former Prime Minister is talking sense regarding protectionism while our current Prime Minister pulls in the opposite direction. Her plan? Un-viable Australian companies should have their wares forced on other (formerly) viable Australian companies. Is she playing at some kind of patriotic angle knowing the harm she'd cause or is she just that stupid? Then again I shouldn't credit her with having the authority to write her own script. How naive. I'm just now slapping my own wrist.

Meanwhile, the Eurozone is in dire straits and despite the many predictions made about a U.S. default it may turn out that the death of the E.U. is the crisis that finally drags us down the tube. Greece has been teetering on the edge for a long time and there's now talk of them leaving the E.U. Whichever way you cut it these are not things that tend to happen when prosperity is in the air.

If you know anyone that lived through the Great Depression then you ought to have a chat with them. They, more than anyone else alive, understand that the best minds of the day armed with a thousand history books and unprecedented levels of technology still created a situation that resulted in mass poverty for millions of previously well off first world citizens. 

It's happening again,

                      so prepare like it's 1928.

A beacon of restraint.

Well, our quaint firearms laws once again vilify the victim and send a message to the criminal class, "we are indeed legally helpless against your thuggery". At least his sentence was suspended. What a world. We give this guy a battle rifle in Vietnam and tell him to kill commies for democracy. Now, we tell him he can't pick up a shotgun to defend his own land and livelihood. I now know the feeling of national shame, even if I'm a part of the minority in that regard.

On a happier note I picked up two rifles today after jumping through a half dozen authoritarian hoops. I'd heard stories about how some police officers go less by the letter of the law and more about "what they feel comfortable with" but I experienced it in full yesterday and it opened the floodgates of my anger toward our loss of freedom. Apparently four dynabolts through the base of a gunsafe into dense concrete does not constitute "securing against easy removal" to the officer in question. 

"It wiggles a fair bit at the top, doesn't it...", was the response. "Is there a reason you didn't bolt it to the wall?"

"Well...", says I. "The wall is made of crappy cinder block. If those bricks survived the dynabolts they certainly wouldn't survive a concerted effort to lever the safe away from the wall..."

"But I've never seen one wobble at the top like this..."

I read out loud from the piece of paper she'd just handed me regarding my responsibilities as a firearms owner.

"The receptacle must be bolted down or otherwise secured in such a fashion as to prevent easy removal."

"Yes", says she. "I'm not satisfied that this is the case here..."

I take a deep, calming breath. I wanted desperately to respond, "well why don't you go ahead and show me just how easy it is to remove?" At times like these you start weighing your desire to fight the man against practicality. The wise voice tells you that fighting the man at his own game is for mugs, especially when you live in a small town where the law enforcement officers aren't likely to forgive and forget.

"Tell you what", says I. "I'll bolt it to the wall if it makes you feel better..."

Perhaps sensing that I spared her an hour of argument and a call to her supervisor (on his day off) she shared in the spirit of diplomacy.

"In that case", she replied, "I'll fax the paperwork straight away."