I went to the gun show to see if the rumors of panic were true and found people calmly determined to protect their rights.
It's been more than six months since I last went to our local gun show. It's hard to argue that I don't already have all the guns I need. If I go to another show it should probably be to sell some of the extras. But after hearing rumors about panic buying in anticipation of a feared nationwide gun grab under the new Democratic administration, I thought I should go and see how things looked on the front lines of the battle to preserve gun rights.…
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Article comments
226 - Jet
To clear some confusion, it in itself is not a device, though there are devices attached to it.
227 - STM
I bet it's one of those indoor plant growing things that give you herbs and what not :)
I prefer the garden. Less above-ground cables.
228 - Jet
Huh?
229 - Jet
My little sister when we were kids tried to keep one in her easy-bake oven once, but the moisture kept blowing out the light bulb.
230 - Jet
I supposed that if we wanted to veer back onto subject, I've found some work better while being held at gunpoint...
... but then after a while it gets so used to the treats that they become ineffective.
a moot point at best.
231 - Jet
Probably because the only weapon I own is a b.b. gun
232 - Jet
YOU'RE having trouble? After copying and pasting #204 I still don't know what David Beckham's mother has to do with it...
...or even if most of it is really in English!
233 - Jet
#204 Part II
Sport
England Beat Bangladesh By 7 Wickets.
England Beat South Africa 25 - 6.
Frank Bruno Comes Home.
Pie
John Rustic, Heavy, Fresh Jelly, Round Side, Coarse Meat, Tasty.
Score 7.5
Kevin
Soggy Pastry, Peppery, Heavy, Enjoyed It, (Wilson's?).
Score 7.0
Bob
Tasty, Enjoyed It.
Score 7.5
Mark
Solid, Heavy, Fatty, Tasty.
Score 8.0
Phil
Shame About Pastry, Not Enough Pepper, Nice Jelly.
Score 8.0
Summary
Fetcher Phil
Fetch
Cryer's Price 65p
Average 7.4
Can someone translate this?
234 - STM
Jet: "England Beat South Africa 25 - 6 ... please translate. etc"
This is a rugby score. Which means this is a really old report, since South Africa absolutely smashed England at Twickenham last weekend.
Apart from the cricket result against Bangladesh and a story about Frank Bruno going home to the UK, the other stuff is about the testing, tasting and scoring they're doing on a whole range of pork bloody pies.
Only the Poms could have a pork-pie appreciation society. They're every bit as mad as Americans, just in a different way.
235 - Clavos
Sure.
It's the judges' comments and grades of the various entries in a pork pie baking contest.
236 - Jet
Should I be offended at Stan's continous use of the word "Pom"?
237 - Clavos
Should I be offended at Stan's continuous use of the word "Pom"?
Nah. He's an Aussie, they're still learning the language, so that's the best he can do when referring to Britons.
But, he's a good guy--no need to be offended.
238 - Jet
Okay, I've looked it up, got confusing answers, some even say they don't have pork-what the hell is a pork pie? I've even heard them mentioned on Are You Being Served a few times.
Is it like a mince meat pie that doesn't have meat? Or sweetbreads that are really...
239 - Jet
Never mind, I've suddenly lost my appetite...
A common variation on the common pork pie is the gala pie; a pork pie with a hard boiled egg in the centre. Gala pies are often baked in long, loaf-type tins, with multiple eggs arranged along the centre. The so called "long egg" in Gala pies is actually made of several eggs. The yolks are separated from the whites and the yolks are then poured into a long tube-shaped mold in which they are cooked. The hard yolk is removed from the mold then put inside a larger tube-shaped mold and the egg whites are poured round the outside of the hard yolk. The whole thing is then cooked again to harden the whites around the yolk. This is then removed from the mold thus producing one very long hard-boiled egg.
240 - Christopher Rose
Pork Pies are pretty revolting, Jet. What you want is a really good Steak and Kidney Pie and Chips from a chip shop or a Beef and Ale Pie and a good pint down the pub!
241 - Jet
Then why does Doc Dread miss being able to find them in California?
242 - Christopher Rose
I have no idea! Foul and fatty things they are!!
243 - Dr Dreadful
You know, a pork pie is a tricky thing. It's entirely possible to make one that is, as Chris opines, a pastry-clad ball of ingestible Armageddon*. (Avoid those from corner convenience stores.) But done right, it can be utterly sublime.
The spiritual home of the pork pie is Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. Get one that originated there and you can't go far wrong.
And yes, steak and kidney, beef and ale, beef and potato, cheese and onion, chicken and mushroom and numerous other varieties of pie are pretty damn tasty too. But can you get them in California? Can you buggery.
* Using parts of the pig that even the pig's mother didn't know it had.
244 - Dr Dreadful
A common variation on the common pork pie is the gala pie; a pork pie with a hard boiled egg in the centre. Gala pies are often baked in long, loaf-type tins, with multiple eggs arranged along the centre.
Oooh, I love those! You're making me homesick, Jet...
And have you ever had a Scotch egg?
245 - bliffle
In San Francisco they are celebrating a major milestone in gun freedom. 30 years ago Dan White loaded his .38 snubnose and grabbed some extra rounds and proceeded to City Hall to do battle with his political enemies, namely a liberal and a queer. He slipped in thru a basement window to avoid the metal-detectors and proceeded to the mayors office where he demanded a meeting with Mayor Moscone, a flaming liberal.
Dissatisfied with the meeting he pulled the pistol and pumped 5 shots into the Mayor, killing him, but clearly demonstrating responsible gun ownership by carrying the pistol with the hammer down on an empty cylinder.
Standing over the dead mayor, he reloaded and proceeded to Supervisor Harvey Milks office and gunned that flaming queer down.
At trial he defended himself by saying he was poisoned by too much junk food: the "twinkie" defense. The jury was sympathetic and he only got 5 years.
But Dan White wasn't finished killing, yet. Two years after release he killed himself.
246 - STM
OK, after that happy little report, can I just say that I did have a nice fat slice of one of those long pork pies with a hatrd boiled egg in it at work the other day. Smothered in hot English mustard. Pretty nice.
But like Doc and Rosey, I've had some shockers. I discovered them in the pubs in England when I was a young bloke and have had a hankering for them ever since, but you do have to get a good one.
My fave, however, is beef, bacon and mushroom - with tomato sauce (ketchup). That's a pie and a half, that. Beef and guinness is pretty good too.
As for Bliff's post on Dan White, weren't there near riots in SF after the sentencing? Blame the system for not dispensing justice in that case. Two murders and he gets five years. That can be the trouble with jury trials, although I'd hate to see them go as they are a cornerstone of our justice system - and the odd wrong decision doesn't negate their veracity.
We've had one situation in Australia this past few weeks where a case certainly wasn't proven beyond reasonable doubt - a very old murder all based on circumstantial evidence that was very iffy - but the case has been dragged out in coroner's court and in the media for the past 13 years, so that might have been prejudicial.
The jury found the accused, who had been free on bail because the perceived weakness of the case, guilty. He might well have done it, but the evidence was so shaky, everyone's scratching their heads about the verdict. He'll probably be freed on appeal though. Simply, in the eyes of most observers, there was reasonable doubt and the state was borderline in meeting the burden of proof.
It works both ways I guess.
You're never going to have a system that relies on the judgment of 12 ordinary people get things right 100 per cent of the time.
In this case, the accused would likely have been found not guilty if he's opted for a trial by "judge alone", which is an option here if you want and in certain circumstances is probably a better guarantee of an impartial verdict. Again, itdepends on the judge.
The avilability of a firearm was an issue in Dan White's case, yes, but perhaps White also made a deal with SF prosecutors to plead to the lesser charge? At the time, I couldn't believe he didn't get life considering the fact his actions pointed to a high degree of intent.
247 - Jet
I was going to ask about the Scotch thing, but I was afraid he'd explain what Haggis was...
248 - Jet
DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU'RE EATING SOMETHING!!!
Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish.
There are many recipes, most of which have in common the following ingredients: sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours.
Haggis somewhat resembles stuffed intestines (pig intestines otherwise known as chitterlings or the kokoretsi of traditional Balkan cuisine), sausages and savoury puddings of which it is among the largest types. As the 2001 English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique puts it, "Although its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour."
249 - Cindy D
Pork Pies are pretty revolting, Jet. What you want is a really good Steak and Kidney Pie and Chips from a chip shop or a Beef and Ale Pie and a good pint down the pub!
Christopher melts my heart (or my stomach--not as appealing)!
I stopped off in London just to try and find a good steak and kidney pie (well partly to find one) in 2004 or 2005. I couldn't find one! At least not in the area where the Dungeons of London attraction resides.
I perfected an excellent steak and kidney pie in the 80s after returning from a month in the U.K. But I'd still love to have one in England.
Never had a pork pie. Now if I could only turn Christopher into an Anarchist. We might have the perfect male specimen.
250 - Cindy D
Jet,
While I was separated from my one true love, for about ten years, I was a subscriber to one or two of the international personal dating sites.
I wondered why the Scottish men always said, as some sort of advantage, that they had their own teeth! This was standard in a dating ad for Scots in their 30s. Then, I started looking at Scottish cuisine. I noticed that nearly every dish called for either 3 lbs of sugar or 3 lbs of lard or both combined with 3 lbs of salt!
Everything is haggis with a few alterations of ingredients, depending on whether it is a desert!
251 - Dr Dreadful
The London Dungeon, Cindy? What on earth were you doing there, of all places?
But yeah, that whole London Bridge/Southwark area is a bit of a dead zone. You'd have needed to either forge further into the suburbs or cross the river, where there are some good pubs and restaurants in the City that probably would have been able to serve you a decent steak and kidney.
And unfortunately, Chris is too much of an unrepentant capitalist to be very promising anarchist material!
252 - Christopher Rose
It's true that I am something of a modest entrepreneur but I don't see how that automatically rules out being an anarchist. Indeed, during the UK punk era and beyond, I moved in fairly anarchic circles and worked with archetypal anarcho-punk bands like Crass, Poison Girls and Zounds, although my fundamentally more hedonistic tendencies possibly prevented me from fully committing to the Anarchist ideal.
253 - Jet
Ah Chris, get out an live a little. Doc, she was probably retrieving her leather she left the last time she was there.
254 - Christopher Rose
Jet, I don't understand what you mean; I've been living it large for more years than I can remember!
255 - Jet
"my fundamentally more hedonistic tendencies possibly prevented me from fully committing to the Anarchist ideal."
Ahhh Chris get out and live a little
256 - Christopher Rose
I think you've got that backwards, Jet.
257 - Jet
Won't be the first time
Won't be the last
258 - Cindy D
Jet,
LOL, "retrieving her leather". That's funny. I have more of a D.H. Lawrence type of make-up though.
And Dr.D,
I got a deal at the London Bridge Hotel there. At the time anything was double the dollars I had. I didn't want to pay $400 a night for a room. Besides, I had been to the Dungeons of London in the 80s and I loved it. I am a sucker for all attractions. Like the Jorvik Viking Center with its smellarama. Imagine real smells of the Vikings! What a treat this feature is as the ride transports you through a Viking home and into the yard, where you are told that the Vikings used their yard for a toilet.
It turns out the Dungeons of London changes its set up and it wasn't what I remembered. (sigh) Plus, no steak and kidney pie. It was a bust.
And Christopher,
No problem. You are welcomed to be an entrepreneur in our new Anarchist society. You just have to avoid having any slaves.
No reason Anarchists can't have fun. Perhaps we'll all be able to do all the fun things only the rich could.
259 - Cindy D
In fact, I am going to bestow upon Christopher the title of "Honorary Anarchist". It seems to me he has the makings of a good Anarchist in there.
Who knows, perhaps he'll grow into it and drop the Honorary part. There is always hope!
260 - Christopher Rose
So you'd like to be my slave then, Cindy?
Not sure I can do honour on account of my rampant hedonism!
261 - Cindy D
Stubbornness--another good quality for an Anarchist!
262 - Glenn Contrarian
Um, Cindy -
Didn't you say that I was stubborn, implying that was a bad thing?
263 - Cindy D
Glenn!
Shhhh. I'm trying to recruit! Everything is relative! LOL