Friday, October 2, 2015

Gun facts about Australia

I decided to write this to clarify the facts on the Australian gun ban since liberals like to lie in the media. If you look at the australian governments stats on their own site here : Australia Gun Stats , you will see that after the gun ban/confiscation/disarmament in 1996, crime skyrocketed. Sexual assaults went up, armed robberies went up, unarmed robberies went up, kidnappings went up. Innocent civilians were unable to defend their families and property against criminals who still had guns.

Now, when things started to change for the better was around 2002/2003 when australians realized that they actually needed guns to protect their families, children and property from bad guys. Crime got so bad, then from 2003 until current day 2015, firearm ownership in Australia has increased dramatically. Up almost 40% in the last few years. Australia Gun Ownership Increases

And with that increase in gun ownership has come drastically lower robbery rates and slightly lower murder rates. Basically the same results that history has always shown time and time again. Criminals don't like to deal with armed families. They want helpless victims. Let's think about it, would you want your daughter facing a 320 lb rapist with her bare hands. Or would you want her to have a gun and be trained how to use it. It is kind of a no brainer.

In all fairness, Australia has never really had a big murder problem, anyway. So there are the facts for you.

Another quick page to look at is this one with 6 charts of crime before and after gun bans in various countries. All 6 of the gun bans resulted in higher crime and murders. Gun Bans Before and After.

Almost there ....

Just got back from Chile. I took Wyatt back down after he worked with me this summer. He is doing a good bit of programming in java and making games. We had a good time together this summer. Tres, Wyatt and I were pretty active every day after work playing basketball, swimming, running and more. I miss climbing and jui jitsu, though. Pucon was amazing as usual. I went kayaking one day after work with a friend. Beautiful clear water. Met some more expats down there as our network grows. Abs came back with me to get her ortho work done. She will be getting them off soon. And then hopefully we can be reunited as a family. Tortuga got approved for her temporary visa. yeahhhh.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Balls Hot Here

Man, I forgot how hot Georgia gets in the summer. Not fun when you don't have AC in your van. lol Wyatt came back to the US with me to work on his programming and spanish. Some of his stuff is pretty impressive for his age. Just have to figure out how to harness it and make some money.

I took abbey down and got her settled in to Pucon. It rained every day on my short trip. Tested my work phone down there. Worked like a charm. The internet is awesome. Took jak to a hot spring one day. It was as nice as pagosa springs.

Everyone is still struggling with the spanish. It is not easy. I guess it just takes time. Got the car in our name finally. Found a decent mechanic in town.

Wyatt and I went up to Gehrigs last weekend. Great time. Good food, sailing, kneeboarding, hail storm, good times. Did a little grappeling with Gehrig. Fun times.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Whirlwind Trip to Chile

Wow, I was expecting to go see Monica and the boys for 2 weeks and get residency and a bank account. It turned out to be a month and we moved from Los Angeles to Pucon in the shadow of the volcano. It is a beautiful area with a 40,000 acre lake and climbing. There are more expats there, so language is not as big of a barrier, but we still need to learn spanish. The boys settled into their new school and we rented an awesome place on the lake. We made some great contacts down there and it definitely feels like home. And there is a great ashtanga yoga instructor in town. That is a big plus.

The boys all tested for their karate belts before we moved. There was not a whole lot of stuff to move since we have really simplified our lives over the last year. Not much junk.

Monica made a kick butt sweater. She amazes me sometimes. She seems to really like it down in Pucon. The active volcano villarrica is pretty neat. It glows at night because the lava is at the top.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Climbing again

It is nice to be climbing again. Thanks Greg Allen for dragging my busy butt out to the crag. I also met some new climbing partners. Gary and I have been climbing a little in TN. And then burly Tommy Caldwell, who reminds me of myself a few years ago. Oh, and before I forget, Shufords smokehouse has never tasted better. MMMMMMMMMMM. Looks like we are heading up tomorrow to send some lines. Jamestown, Twall, lookout.

Abs and I have been juice fasting a bit this month. It is not really a fast because you are getting plenty of nutrients, but you feel good. Although you crave things. Jui Jitsu is awesome. I keep hurting myself, but I can't help it. Too much fun. I wish I had started young. I jacked up my neck for a couple of weeks. Old injury, but keeps getting aggrevated.

I really miss Monica and the boys. Longest we have ever been apart. God has me here for a reason I think. Just not sure what it is. Or I am being too stubborn to follow Jehovahs path for me. It does seem like he has been leading me down this path. It is just scary and committing. Kind of like climbing.

Jenn and I went to Nashville last week for Essendants conference. Very good. I learned a lot. And met a couple of cool bands. Little big town and Parmalee.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Back From Chile

Abs and I just got back from Chile a week ago. We got turtle and jak settled in. They know enough to get around and shop for groceries, but they all need to learn a whole lot more spanish. We went to the beach one day north of Concepcion. It was a pretty cool beach. Cold water. Saw a tarantula on the drive back.

We took the kids out to the mountain lake in laja national park. What a beautiful place that is. Pretty stunning scenery. And the closest ski resort.

Mikey and Wyatt found a great fish restaurant in the heart of the mercado. Great fried fish and the marisca is out of this world. And it is cheap. But we mostly eat at the house. Fresh fruit is very cheap down there right now.

I started clearing out brush and trees down by the river. Going to turn that into a paradise once I am there. Plenty of rocks to build stuff with too.

Got the high speed internet hooked up. It is definitely fast enough to work off of. And there are other options if I need them. Juan's friend said he would lease me a desk in his place if I needed it. He has fiber optic lines in there.

I really enjoyed the trip this time. I can see myself living there one day. Going to terrace the whole property into gardens and stone walls. Maybe put a store at the bottom to sell stuff.