jdaze-things-blog

[jdaze-things-blog]

Food for thought if you care to read. This is not mine, but copied from another blog. However I wholeheartedly agree with it.

This is facts, not false Facebook and twitter memes

Bryce Bowling

February 21 at 9:31pm

·

Someone told me today that they were shocked that I haven't given my viewpoint on the gun debate. I was going to stay out of it, but honestly, it's been a week of the same garbage, so I'm going to speak on this briefly (well, not so briefly ..... here goes).

A Point-by-Point primer on the gun debate (from a legal gun owner and father)

I have 2 little girls in school right now. I am a member of the NRA, I shoot competitively, and I own a lot of guns. But if you told me that giving up all of my guns would ensure there would never be another child murdered by a lunatic, I would voluntarily give them up in a heartbeat. I think most legal gun owners would do the same. Would it help? No.

The only thing I have seen on TV and rampant on Facebook for the last week is how we must ban AR-15's. I've actually seen some destroying or turning in their AR-15's to law enforcement for some unknown reason.

Most people screaming for a rifle ban couldn't pick an AR-15 out of a lineup if it saved their life. Most people can't tell you the difference between automatic weapons (which, by the way, are illegal without heavy licensure) and semi-automatic. Most can't tell you what an "assault rifle" is - mainly because that's a "BS," made-up term. So, I'm going to present some facts - backed up by evidence and statistics - to help paint a picture of why banning a weapon will do nothing. I ask you gun control advocates to keep an open mind as you read (if you choose to read). But at the same time, I will offer a suggestion on something I have written the White House and our State Senator about that has the potential to help. So, here we go - facts and stats 1st:

-The USA has, by far, the highest per capita gun ownership in the world. What is per capita gun ownership? Basically, when measured by number of guns owned per 100 residents - the USA leads the list at 90. 90 guns owned per every 100 residents.

-The estimate is that a total over 360 million guns are privately owned in the US. 15 million of those 360 million are AR-15s.

-The AR in AR-15 does not stand for Assault Rifle and it doesn't stand for Automatic Rifle either. The AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle, after the company that developed it in the 1950s. "Assault" is a verb - not a noun - assault is what you do with a weapon.  I can assault you with a stick (it doesn't make it an "assault stick" or maybe it does). I own an M4 (a beefed up, full bolt version of the AR-15), and yes, for all the people that say "why do you need that?", I do hunt with it depending on the hunt. I also shoot competitively - not only with my rifles, but with shotguns and pistols.

-Have you heard that these "assault rifles" are used in the majority of homicides? I heard that - this week. On the news. Is it true? Not even close. According to the FBI, rifles of all kinds account for 3% of firearm homicides. Clubs, hammers, hands, fists and knives are all used to kill much more frequently than a rifle. According to FBI statistics, you are 3 times more likely to be stabbed to death than to be killed with a rifle.  Don't think you can mass kill with a knife? Just 3 years ago, a group of 3 men in China went on a killing spree in a train station. They killed 33 and wounded 130 more. Not a single gun was used - they only had knives.

-Contrary to what news outlets like to convey, the vast majority of mass shootings involve pistols.  How many CNN anchors have you heard this week claiming the AR-15 to be the "weapon of choice for mass shooters?" Again, more "BS." In a review of mass shootings from 1982-2012, 66 percent of the weapons used in mass shootings were pistols.  That same review found that only 14% of weapons used in "mass shootings" would qualify as an assault weapon under the definition used in a 2013 bill sponsored by Dianne Feinstien (D-Calif).

-In a secondary review of mass shootings from 1982-2017, about 1/4 of mass shootings involved a rifle (of any type - including but not limited to the AR-15), almost 1/4 of mass shootings were performed using a garden variety shotgun. Well over 1/2 of all mass shootings in that same time period used pistols only.

-The Va Tech shooter killed more than double the amount of students recently killed in Florida. He only used pistols. No rifles were used in that spree ( http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/us/16cnd-shooting.html ).

So, will banning the AR-15 do anything? No, and here's why. A person dead set on committing murder doesn't care about your law. If he can not legally buy an AR-15, he'll get one illegally, on the black market. Remember he/she is a criminal; they don't care about your law. So, let's play devil's advocate and say we confiscate, and even eliminate all AR-15s and similar rifles, and they aren't available - even on the black market. The criminal will still mass murder - using a shotgun. Remember, almost as many mass shootings have involved garden variety shotguns. So, we'll ban, confiscate and destroy shotguns. OK, the criminal will move to pistols - banning the rifle or shotguns will simply change the 66% of mass shooting being with pistol to 90+%. So, ban the pistols then. They'll move to knives, they'll go on the dark web and find instructions that allow them to make a bomb (capable of killing and maiming hundreds at a time) that they can make out of household items in less than 10 minutes.  Banning an AR-15 simply takes it out the hands of the legal gun owners. It won't keep it out of the hands of criminals - and even if it does, it will simply drive them to change the instrument. It's like taking away the truck they would use to drive to the mass shooting. They'll find another way ( maybe a box truck rented from Home Depot - https://tinyurl.com/y9p4cqlm ).

So, what about people that buy it legally and then snap? Ahh, there's where the problem lies.....and there is where we can make a difference. How?

Everyone likes to yell "gun control," but no one seems to be able to give a detailed answer on what that means (outside of ban, ban, ban!). We have gun control laws now. The problem is they aren't enforced. And now that the details start to emerge we can see how many red flags were overlooked with this kid in Florida. He told people he was going to do this. He was reported to the FBI. Twice! He was treated in a mental health facility for psychiatric illness and yet he was still able to purchase this weapon legally. That is absurd. This is the heart of the problem.

Show me a mass shooter in recent memory that has not had a documented history of psychiatric illness. I am a physician and I'm all for following HIPAA guidelines but we must lighten up on HIPAA guidelines and merge the ICD-10 diagnoses codes for mental illness from the electronic medical record to the FBI Background Check National Database so that individuals who have a history of psychiatric illnesses that predispose them to homicidal and suicidal tendencies, are kicked out of the system just as any felon would be.  If I smack my wife, she reports it, and I go a month later and try to buy a gun, I can't.  But I can threaten to kill people, actually promise to be a "school shooter," even be treated for schizophrenia and still LEGALLY purchase a firearm.

In an effort to enact some form of change, I have written both the President and Tennessee State Senator Lamar Alexander. (Who of you would have ever thought the first time I'd write our President or Senator would have been in the name of gun control?) Will it fix everything? No way, but it's a start, and it does have the power to prevent a person with schizophrenia from walking in to Bass Pro Shop and leaving with an AR-15 and 500 rounds in 20 minutes. Please recall, most every person who committed a mass shooting in recent memory obtained their gun legally.  There's no excuse for that.

Until we enforce our current gun laws and do everything possible to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, this problem will not change. And it has to change. It just simply doesn't change by targeting a weapon that looks "scary." I hope I've opened a few eyes here.

Disclaimer: These are my views. They may not be your views. I won't get in to a verbal sparring match with you over this. If you'd like to talk more about this, call me. I'll have you over to my house and we'll discuss it. I'll provide the cigars.

[jdaze-things-blog]

Think about how lucky you are... O.K., here's the deal. This for all you whiny asses who think "you lost" and you want to cry or protest because you're unhappy. You have the privilege (yes privilege) of living in one of the few countries in the entire world where you have the opportunity to vote as you choose, win or lose. In many countries, the result is a given, and if you don't support the winner, well, too bad, cupcake. In some countries, even in the so-called democratic, western hemisphere, if you speak out against a candidate, you are jailed................or shot. You have no voice. Is that what you wish for? Protest because of wrongdoing is good, protest, and destruction of the property, that will be needed to feed, and house your family is wrong. Protest because you did not get your way, means you are a whiny adolescent five year old, that your Mama should have beat your ass. If you want more change, work for it and go to the polls in four years and hope your party wins. Grow up, use that education that your Parents or your (yes your) government is paying for, for good, not to show that you want attention like a two year old.

[jdaze-things-blog]

General question for tumbler peeps.

A 12 panel drug screen checks for presence of THC,(Cannabis) as an illegal substance in your system. In other words you test HOT.

Marijuana is legal in Colorado and other states for personal use.

Do the drug tests in those states still test for it, and if you’re hot, what is their recourse????

[jdaze-things-blog]

The site of Andersonville Prison and battlefield. Ofically known as Camp Sumter. It was only in use for 14 months during the Civil War. During that time it housed 45 thousand Union prisoners, Almost 13,000 died from the harsh conditions.

It is an eerie place, to me, anyway, and I���ve talked to others who have the same vibrations. Tour in the early evening, just before closing, you can feel the closeness of the air, and almost (?) hear the cries of the prisoners, and the dying.

[jdaze-things-blog]

I like old cemeteries. I especially like National Cemeteries. They are not just resting places, they are a living memorial to those who, through the history of our nation, fought, and died for our freedom

This is San Antonio National Cemetery. Grave sites of heroes go back to before the Texas Independence. It is closed now for new interments. As you walk through, and read the various headstones, you wonder, what life was like for these heroes, and their families. Some grave sites are multiple, husbands wives, and in a few cases, their children. Not necessarily buried at the same time, but added for eternity. If you like history, a good walk.

[jdaze-things-blog]

As a member of a group that honors the fallen military heroes, We received a request yesterday for another. “one of the 22″ So sad.

Keep the flame going for those we have lost to suicide. 

[jdaze-things-blog]

Harvest Moon

[jdaze-things-blog]

Drinking and driving is bad for your health

If someone drinks, gets totally plowed, and gets behind the wheel of a car, there is a great likelihood that they will crash and be injured, die, or kill some innocent person, by running a stop sign.

If a stoner gets behind the wheel, he/she will sit there and wait for it to turn green.

[jdaze-things-blog]

Marijuana does not kill, you can’t smoke enough.

you can put a person in a room, give them a hundred rolled joints and tell them to smoke them.  After the forth (or so) one;

They’ve lost their lighter

eaten everything in the house

curled up with the dog (or cat) and

gone to sleep

[jdaze-things-blog]

ROAD TRIP

As we grow older (not up) we appreciate the times we get to explore the country more.

Leaving in 20 or so days on a road trip across the south and southwest.

Places I’ve always wanted to see, but did not have the time or money.

Going into Texas, see the Alamo, and the Riverwalk, The Texas statehouse, and the mountains to the west and desert areas. All new to me. Might go see the farmlands of Oklahoma and that area, not much of an itinerary, just where it takes me for two or three weeks.

Lots of opportunities for pictures of this place we call home. Forests, mountains, rivers, and yes, national monuments. You can see something different than anyone else, It’s how you look at it

I’ll post some when I get back home.

[jdaze-things-blog]

  THIS Is The Easiest Way To Make Cannabis Coconut Oil            

 Using coconut cannabis oil is an extremely versatile way to get a healthy dose of cannabis.

The version of cannabis coconut oil I am going to show you is super easy to make. It’s also a fantastic way to use excess trim, kief or hash. The great thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t take forever, like a lot of other ones do. Instead of simmering the oil and cannabis for 8-12 hours, this version gives you a potent, tasty canna oil in a fraction of the time.

This cannabis coconut oil can either be used by the spoonful as medicinal dosage, as a rub for aches and pains, or as an addition to your favourite food recipes.

After trying several different methods, I found coconut oil works much better than butter. One reason for this is, it retains more THC, it is more versatile than butter, and it is better for your health.

What you’ll need:

cheesecloth

metal strainer

bowl

Something (preferably glass) to store the canna oil

decarboxylated cannabis  (20 grams)

unrefined coconut oil (1 cup)

(To decarboxylate the cannabis, break it up into small pieces, but not fine. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Line sheet with cannabis in a single thin layer. Heat oven to 220F/105C. Bake for 25 minutes, checking to make sure cannabis is dry, but not burnt. If you are using fresh clippings, time might be a bit longer.)

Step 1- Combine Cannabis and Coconut Oil

Mix together the cannabis and coconut oil in a small saucepan over the lowest heat seting.

When the coconut oil melts, let the mixture simmer uncovered, while stirring occasionally. Do this for about an hour.

Also, if you want to do this in a crockpot, instead of on the stove, just set it to its lowest setting as well, and simmer for 2 hours.

Don’t stress if your canna oil comes out very green, or not very green. However much green is in the  oil is only relative to the amount of chlorophyll present, not THC.

Step 2- Strain The Mixture

To strain the mixture, use 2 layers of cheesecloth, placed in a strainer, over a large bowl or measuring cup.

Pour the hot oil and cannabis mixture into the cheesecloth.

Let it rest for an hour, then squeeze out the rest by hand.

Any leftover pulp doesn’t hold much (if any) medicinal value, so feel free to compost it.

Step 3- Cooling and Storing

After straining your canna oil, pour it into a glass bowl or jar and leave unopened at room temperature until it begins to solidify. It is very important to remember to leave it uncovered, so you avoid developing condensation, which grows bacteria.

Once your canna oil is completely cooled, place your lid or top on your container and store in a refrigerator, or a cool, dark place. This will stay good for up to a year.

Don’t worry if yours doesn’t look like this. Some are more green, and darker, depending on how finely you ground your cannabis.

*If you are unfamiliar with how your body will respond to cannabis coconut oil, start out with a small amount and give yourself time to process the medicine. For example, if you make a batch of 12 brownies and use this recipe to replace the oil, you would take 1/4 of a brownie, wait 1-2 hours and see how you feel. You can’t overdose on cannabis oil, but some can experience uncomfortable sensations if they consume too much.*

[jdaze-things-blog]

this is so weird. I knew people like that