"tis the season to be jorry ra ra ra ra ra rara ra!" - The Christmas Story
Yes, tis the season.
To be 'jorry'? Sure, why not?
As we prepare to receive a series of heartfelt explicitly-religious-non-specific 'Happy Holidays' wishes at store entrances across America, I'd like to take a moment to thank the Obama Administration for its part in creating the vibrant religious-non-specific holiday Economy we enjoy today.
"Thank you President Obama for everything you have done to make our Yuletide bright!"
I'm sorry, what did you say? You think I'm kidding in my praise of the policies of the man whose greatest claim to fame is the fact that he is not GW Bush?
Oh, for shame! I'm being completely serious.
There are some sectors (I'd use the phrase 'Points of light' but I think someone already did this already) of the economy which are growing at a truly goofy rate.
You might even say that business, in selected industries, is literally booming...
From ABC News Online, December 2nd, 2011: "Americans were big spenders on Black Friday."
Okay, thanks to ABC News for this truly engaging report!
What? You want details as to where the 'big spending' took place?
Well, okay... here they come!
Continuing with the report online: "Numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show an all-time one-day high for background check requests from gun buyers last Friday. There were 129,166 requests to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)–a third more than the previous record of 97,848 on Black Friday 2008, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said.
On Black Friday last year, there were 87,061 requests."
...
The reason for the uptick is not clear. “You do see spikes when stuff happens like that shooting in Arizona,” said Ritzer, referring to the shooting of Sen. Gabrielle Giffords in January. “I don’t know what the scare is right now.”
Gun buyers may be on a shopping spree partly because of the economy and its impact on the criminal justice system, suggested Andrew Arulananbam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association. “They read in the headlines stories about prisoners having furloughs and law-enforcement being laid off,” he said. “They realize it’s going to be up to them to protect themselves and their families.”
But Caroline Brewer, a spokeswoman for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said the Black Friday sales surge “might say something about marketing” but didn’t reflect actual patterns in U.S. gun ownership.
“The trend that has been observed for decades now is that fewer and fewer Americans own guns, but those who do own continue to add to their stock,” Brewer said.
She cited the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey, which found that household gun ownership hit its peak in 1977, when 54 percent of American households reported having any guns. By 2010, this number had dropped to 32 percent.
Huh? Funny that gun ownership peaked in 1977, isn't it? What was going on in 1977 that made people feel like they had to go out and purchase weapons?
Who, or what, did we feel that we needed to protect themselves against way back then? The mind empties as clouds reverse their direction and time rolls back to...
1977
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| Jimmy Carter, Time Magazine's Man of the Year, January 3, 1977 Publication |
The one place gun sales is relatively flat however is in Kennesaw, Georgia - just up the road aways from James Earl Carter's hometown of Plains, Georgia. Why the associated sluggishness in their gun business in 2011? Since 1982, each head of household is legally required to own a firearm.
In fact, according to CityRating.com: The city violent crime rate for Kennesaw in 2009 was lower than the national violent crime rate average by 78.87% and the city property crime rate in Kennesaw was lower than the national property crime rate average by 39.33%.
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| Let's All 'Go Green' with Kennesaw!!! |
In 2009 the city violent crime rate in Kennesaw was lower than the violent crime rate in Georgia by 78.7% and the city property crime rate in Kennesaw was lower than the property crime rate in Georgia by 49.76%.
Since most everyone in Kennesaw is already armed, there's no great rush to purchase more weaponry (no matter what the nice lady quoted from the Brady Center says).
Twenty-nine years after passing its mandatory gun ordinance, Kennesaw continues to enjoy a statistically-low crime rate. In spite of Media predictions in 1982 that the entire town would turn into the OK Corral following the adoption of the law, it appears that the bad guys are 'shopping elsewhere' this, and the past 28 Holiday Seasons.
Americans across the United States are rushing into gun shops to purchase weapons, presumably, for personal, and home, defense (just in time for Christmas???).
The last big jump in gun sales? 2008, following President Obama's election - not that his election had anything to do with it.
2008
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| Barack Obama, Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2008 |
It is all just an unexpected coincidence - nothing more should be read into it.
Yeah, okay...
Perhaps I should not be giving the President credit for moving this sector of the Economy, after all? Maybe the credit actually goes to Eric Holder and his Fast and Furious Team? Yes, those folks moved some serious iron on behalf of munitions manufacturers and drug lords south of our border. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
I'll leave you with a couple of visuals today as I possess no further coherent thought on the above. Oh, I could ramble on, but that is for another day when I have more time, more sleep, and more humor. As I conclude this Monday morning, I find myself woefully short on all three.
While looking for artwork for the above post, I tripped across the following photos.
Please enjoy them. I did...
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| "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake" Santa visits Kennesaw, Georgia Yeah, he's packin' |
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| Liberals keep talking about 'Diversity', but I'm not sure that this is what they meant... |
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| I made this one myself at www.despair.com You can make a poster too! Once you figure out how to get to the DIY portion |
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| No, nothing to do with today's post, but I've had it on my desktop for about six months an I'm getting tired of looking at it - now it's yours! Ho, ho, ho! |
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