Robo-Calls Now Illegal?

I heard the other day that robo-calls would be illegal, starting today. Sounded good to me, I hate those damn things.

Well, poking around the 'tubes today, I find my elation short lived:

Automated "robocalls" that come from companies will become illegal starting on September 1. Any company that places unsolicited or automated calls to consumers in an attempt to sell products will be violating the law and subject to a fine of up to $16,000 per call. Some exceptions apply. Banks, telephone carriers and charities are allowed to call consumers, and calls from politicians or public service announcements* will be allowed through.

Emphasis mine, with double emphasis on the politicians. Looks like robo-calls are illegal, except to the ones whose abuse of the system led to public outcry in the first place.

* PSA's are the only valid reason for a robo-call. I've gotten two at the house. One to inform me school was being dismissed early due to snow, and one to alert me that a mentally handicapped man had gone missing in my area. Both are perfectly acceptable reasons to use robo-calls. Continue Reading

The NFL - Anti Gun, Anti Military? - Update

Here's the latest:

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tells us that, after conferring with the league’s military liaison, the 12-member Color Guard will be permitted to remain in the stadium and watch the game.

The amazing part of this story is that the initial complaints arose from the mistaken belief that the league used to allow the Color Guard to stay, and that all of a sudden the procedure changed. Instead, the pre-existing procedure was that the Color Guard watched the game with the rest of the 2,000 extras who take part in pre-game and halftime festivities.

Sounds good to me. Like Chuck says:

we can’t think of 12 of the 2,000 who deserve to be inside the building more than the members of the Color Guard

Damn skippy.

....

I mean, first, they're blatantly anti gun, as is their commissioner.

Now, they kick the US Marines to the curb (emphasis mine):

My youngest Marine called me this morning. In the course of the conversation he made mention of being part of the Color Guard for the ceremonies at the Super Bowl. He has been part of other Color Guards at other games and has been able to enjoy the entire game after presenting the Colors. HOWEVER, this will not be the case this time. The 12 man/women color guard will be presenting the Colors and then will be escorted out of the stadium and therefore not allowed to see the game.

You gotta be shitting me. This should come back to bit them in the ass, big time. I can now state, unequivocally, that I'll never buy another piece of NFL gear again.

I wonder if the Military Exchange System has heard about this?

(h/t Insty)

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Now I Agree With Bill Schneider

On this one bit, he's right:

I’ve learned that most gun owners aren’t hunters and some have nothing but scorn for hunters because we’re soft and care about other amendments. So, they mock us, calling us Elmer Fudds.

Emphasis mine.

Of course, that's the only part of his diatribe against gun owners I agree with. Ride Fast does an excellent job taking apart the rest of it.

But.

I've always had a nagging little pain concerning the term "Fudd". I don't know where it came from, probably from one of those big gun boards I can't get on because I can't get my name approved (I haven't tried all that hard, really). While Ride Fast says it's used in a joking manner, I don't see it that way. It's a slur, like any other. Elmer Fudd is arguably the dumbest cartoon character ever conceived. Grouping a whole section of gun owners that way is stereotyping, plain and simple.

I understand where the sentiment comes from - the perception that hunters sold gunnies down the river over the assault weapons ban and other gun control measures. However accurate the perception is, it's done now. Grow the hell up.

If we're really concerned with the rights of all gun owners, if we're really concerned with "eating our own", then that term needs to go away. It's not helping, and it's giving our opponents a wedge issue to use against us.

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Advice for Brett Favre (Weekend Football Blogging)

Remember this post:

Brett Favre Retires

It's the one where I swear my undying loyalty say less than kind things about the Green Bay Packers' icon.

Well, as anyone who even remotely follows the NFL knows, Brett has decided to "unretire", further showing he doesn't give a rat's ass about his team or teammates.

Listen, Brett, you're retired. Go get a hobby, open a restaurant, or become a high school football coach. Hell, become a porn star, if that's what you want. You legacy is in place, all you'll do by coming back is risk dorking it up. If you go to another NFC North team, you're picture will replace Benedict Arnold's as the worst American traitor ever (at least in Wisconsin). Even if you go to some other team (lord knows there are some who would take ya), you're taking a huge risk. You might be able to pull it off, but most likely you'll wind up invoking the image of Joe Namath the Ram, or Johnny Unitas the Charger. If you're lucky, you might pull off a Joe Montana the Chief, but that would involve playoff wins at your new place.

That's not the way to go, Brett.

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On Carrying Concealed

MadRocketScientist has a good post on concealed carry. He lists something the anti's just don't get:

-I can not verbally reveal to anyone that I have a firearm in a manner that could be considered threatening, intimidating, or otherwise hostile without the existence of a credible threat.

-I can not visually expose my firearm in a manner that could be considered threatening, intimidating, or otherwise hostile without the existence of a credible threat.

-I can not draw my firearm in any manner without the existence of a lethal threat.

-I can not discharge my firearm for any reason without the existence of a lethal threat.

Yeppers, you got that right.

Found the pointer in comments over at Robb's place. Continue Reading

Manners & Doing the Right Thing

Kim du Toit points to a small, everyday thing that can make your day a whole lot better.

Something like holding the door for a lady.

It reminded me of something that happened a few weeks ago on the Navy base here. I was with my girlfriends granddaughter, Kris, running errands on the base. The sun had just set, and as we left the gas station, I noticed a car in an odd place, lights on, seemingly parked.

As we passed, I notice the car wasn't parked, it had cut the corner too quickly and run off the road. Normally, this would be no big deal, but it had been raining and the car had become stuck in the mud.

If you've ever been on the base (or most any base), you know it's a ghost town on Sunday evenings. I turned around and went to see if I could help.

The eldery, stuck gentleman had to have been a Korean War vet, if not WWII. He had indeed cut the corner short (poor lighting in that area) and wasn't quite axle-deep in mud. Lucky for us he was driving a really small car, and after rocking it a bit, we pushed it right back out onto the pavement.

He then asked me where the air terminal was, I regretfully informed him the air terminal had been closed since the Navy took their flyboys to Pensacola in the '90's. He then asked for the billeting (lodging) office, which I led him to easily enough. After a thanks from him and a Merry Christmas from me, we went on our way, with that same warm fuzzy Kim talks about in his post.

What got me, however, was Kris' reaction to what had transpired. She'd obviously never seen this before. She wanted to tell everyone she knew, shout it from the mountaintop as it were. After getting over a small bit of confusion, I have to say the warm fuzzy grew just a bit.

It's good to show a kid that doing the right thing isn't just a theory you learn in church or from your parents, it's something that actually happens from time to time. Continue Reading