I couldn’t agree more with you Jack about being factual when it comes to defending second amendment rights. Every conversation I have with an anti-gunner I follow up with citations (whether on the spot or most often by email) to back up my statements. I despise people who argue off the cuff with emotion and are not able to back it up with data, I’ve determined never to do the same.

For the guy that was having trouble deciding whether or not to go to college for a 4-year program. Seriously consider Jack’s comments about community college. I have an engineering degree for which the first two years I went to my local community college, this ended up being one of the best decisions I made for my higher level education and indirectly my future career. I found the caliber of student that transferred from my community college into my local 4-year university (think $30k/year school known for engineering and science) to be much better than the students that started as a freshman in the 4-year school. I would spend a lot of time with these students reviewing fundamental math and physics which they should have learned either in high school or freshman year in college. Remember that four year universities spend a lot of time on research, for your lower level courses will at many times be taught by teacher’s assistant’s/grad students; they could give a shit about you, most of them are doing it because they have to and not because teaching is their passion. At my community college I always had access to my professors and they taught all the classes themselves, always.

Let me also give you a different spin on this. There were a couple guys in my engineering sciences program at the community college I went to that already finished a 2-year electronics degree. They were typically the better students in class and by far the best in the lab sessions since their electronics degree is very hands on practical vs typical engineering degree which covers more theory. Since these guys already had their 2-year electronics degree they had jobs in the electronics field so, relative to most other students, they had a substantial income while going to school…..in fact some of them were being sent to finish their engineering degree and their company was paying for the tuition! At a community college I believe (at least for technical trades) that, relative to a sophomore at a 4-year university, you have a much better chance of coming out after two years with a skill set that’s employable.

Look my friend, I almost didn’t finish high school due to bad grades resulting from lack of interest. I decided to try engineering using the low cost approach: community college. I found my passion there and excelled at that school, the following four year university and my following employment as an engineer. By my mid 20’s I was making a six figure salary and already had several patents to my name. Please don’t read this as bragging, it’s not, I’m just trying to make the point that it’s about you, your desires and passion and your ability to transmute those into something tangible. Don’t let anyone tell you that you need a 4-year education to make that happen and don’t think that a community college is a place for those who didn’t make the cut for 4-year universities, it’s a low dollar way to discover your unknown abilities.

http://www.redding.com/news/2013/jan/02/authorities-shingletown-shooting-a-classic-case/

http://lubbockonline.com/crime-and-courts/crime/2013-01-03/homeowner-shoots-2-men-during-early-morning-attempted-burglary#.UOs32-RCsuV

http://cjonline.com/news/2013-01-02/kansas-homeowner-shoots-suspect-during-home-invasion#.UOQ6E052Trc.facebook

Engineering, my 3 oldest sons have engineering degrees. First one software engineering and was working on a masters in computer science. As he was doing all kinds of cool stuff on the side, a recognized expert in his field, he decided to not finish his masters.
2nd one has a degree in electrical engineering and just finished a masters in computer science.
3rd one has a degree in mechanical engineering and his masters is focusing on robotics, he is finishing up his thesis, was going for his PhD but decided he has all the classes he wanted to take and wants to be out making/designing stuff.
4th son had fun with college life, started into engineering and realized that was not what he wanted to do. He is currently doing volunteer work for a few more months, then working and possibly back to college if he finds what it is he wants to do.
3rd on will have paid all his expenses on his own and graduate with cash in the bank and no loans. All are great students, ACT scores in the 30’s. But the one who went to a 4 year engineering university in a nearby state from the start is the only one which could do so.
All had scholarships of some kind right out of high school, but they don’t transfer to other schools, and it is hard to get one as a transfer student. Even if your classes transfer, most engineering schools want you to take their classes and it will likely take you longer.
Check out the university you choose, scholarships at a university should be first choice if working on a degree.
Some universities focus on hands on projects more than books and lectures, if your first class has you buy a robot kit instead of a book, that is a good thing. Some high schools better prepare their students for college than others. Ours offers engineering classes starting in middle school.
Seems to be a shortage of engineers, students who are independent thinkers. Some are very good at following directions, working on a group project. But those who come up with new ideas, better ways of doing things are always in demand.
Military often offers deals for those who join and get engineering degrees although none of my sons went that route.
Some of my kids have done better far away from home than others, big difference between a couple hundred miles away and a couple thousand.
I think all kids should be out on their own before getting married, before starting their career, etc.

Folks – – HR 6725 died on Dec 31, 2012. Don’t strain you milk over HR 6725 anymore. Go to http://www.popvox.com. There you can keep up with all current federal legislation. Sign up and voice your opinion on any and all bills currently being considered in both the House and Senate.

I don’t have anything to add. Just wanted to drop by and tell you that I really enjoyed the show today.

Switch

Under Alaska state law, all able bodied citizens not in the military are part of the unorganized militia and can be called on by the governor to defend the state. I would assume that over states have similar laws on the books.

AS 26.05.010. Alaska Militia Established.

(a) The militia of the state consists of all able-bodied citizens of the United States and all other able-bodied persons who have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, who reside in the state, who are at least 17 years of age, and who are eligible for military service under the laws of the United States or this state.
(b) The militia is divided into two classes:
(1) the organized militia, consisting of the Alaska National Guard, the Alaska Naval Militia, and the Alaska State Defense Force; and
(2) the unorganized militia, consisting of all qualified persons available for service but not serving in the organized militia.
(c) The adjutant general may, by regulation, prescribe the maximum age for eligibility in the militia.

AS 26.05.110. Governor May Order Unorganized Militia Into Active Service.

In the event of imminent invasion by a foreign power and for the same reasons set forth in AS 26.05.070 , if the governor has ordered into active service all of the available organized militia or if the organized militia is in active federal service, the governor may order the unorganized militia or any portion of it considered necessary into active service, and have them perform military duty for the state subject to this chapter, as the circumstances require.

Great show, Jack!

I want to share my experience of showing “good cause” to the state when applying for a concealed carry permit. I have carry permits in both Washington State and Oregon. Since I reside in Washington State, I was required by Oregon to provide a letter stating my “good cause” for wanting a permit. Just like you, my reason is to protect myself and my family. I work in Oregon, and many of my family members live there as well; so, I’m in Oregon often. This reason was good enough for them, apparently, and I was allowed an appointment to turn in my application and have my fingerprints taken at the Sheriff’s office.

I agree that having such a clause gives individual states too much power in deciding to whom they will issue permits. Fortunately for me, Oregon was reasonable in this case, even though I live in SW Washington.

State of Oregon, under title 32 chapter 396.105 (3): The unorganized militia shall consist of all able-bodied residents of the state between the ages of 18 and 45 who are not serving in any force of the organized militia or who are not on the state retired list and who are or who have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States; subject, however, to such exemptions from military duty as are created by the laws of the United States.

RE: Community college advise to prospective engineering student:

There is nothing inferior about going to a CC for the first two years of engineering, especially for taking care of differential, integral and multivariable calculus plus linear algebra and if possible differential equations. Physics and some other basics can also be taken at the CC. You are right that the level of difficulty in a 4 year university is more than at a community college and at first it feels like jumping into a frozen lake when you transfer. However, the level of difficulty at a 4 year universities, especially those with prestigious reputations in a field, is due to weed out classes like the basic engineering math that are made unnecessarily hard to thin out the students in the major. Also, a lot of these courses are taught by graduate student TAs with horrible accents and/or poor teaching skills and in classrooms easily exceeding 50 people. It is best to take the basics at a small CC and ask a lot of questions and get involved with faculty– usually doctors and masters with lots of years of experience. That was my experience, albeit in a different major but in a 50,000 plus student university.

http://fox40.com/2013/01/02/old-sacramento-security-guard-describes-new-years-eve-shooting/

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/01/02/security-guard-recounts-old-sacramento-shooting-after-confronting-gunman/

It troubles me deeply how this particularly story has been all but swept under the rug, with most media sources now focusing only upon the murders and not the valor of the security guard featured above, Stefan Walton. Although he saved any number of lives, after it was discovered that he was not authorized to carry a gun at work, I have seen the news downplay what he did in virtually every story thereafter (just Google Old Sacramento shooting). One thing that is especially noteworthy is that although there were literally hundreds of extra police in the streets outside, on account of it being New Year’s Eve, a single armed citizen was what it took to stop a bad guy from killing more people.

On Monday I shook Stefan Walton’s hand at my good friend Daniel Ferrier’s memorial service, following a seven gun salute in his honor (as an Iraq War army veteran). We were both too emotional to talk, but I managed to thank Stefan for what he did, before he made his way over to Dan’s brother to apologize for not doing more.

I don’t think you need to convert your entire IRA to a Roth. With a little bit of planning you can convert only part of your IRA to a Roth per year.

Convert only enough to keep you from going into the next tax bracket. For large IRAs, do this several years in a row until its completely converted.

http://www.invesco.com/pdf/PRC-RINSI-1.pdf

To provide some feedback- No, the NRA isn’t supporting the “NRA Members” bill. Here’s the quote from the representative when it was introduced back in December:
“The NRA as an organization is out of step with its membership on many commonsense gun safety measures. Polling shows nearly two-thirds of NRA members support the five simple ways to improve gun safety included in this bill,”

and

“The NRA’s absolutist position on gun issues is an impediment to the safety and security of the public. This legislation is designed to highlight that schism, offering popular proposals even NRA members support to prevent more gun-related tragedies.”

http://oldtownalexandria.patch.com/articles/moran-introduces-nra-members-gun-safety-act-70c198ee

Jack,

I live not far from Loganville, GA where the home invasion you mentioned took place. The invader was armed with a crowbar and broke through three locked doors to get to the woman and her children. I don’t think he was there just for a burglary. Good thing she was armed.

He had been confronted in front of another home in another neighborhood earlier in the day by a woman. Apparently, he wasn’t going to be stopped again.

About 2/3 of the way through the show now… lol… I can advise, as a holder of a MS degree in engineering that Jack’s thoughts are pretty spot on to what I would advise.

Couple things I’d suggest additionally:

1) Rather than going to a community college the first two years, go to a state university the first two years. Jack is spot on that it will be hard mentally & work-wise to transfer from a 2 year CC to a 4 year Uni, but start at a state Uni for the first 2 years. If you can & want to finish the 4 years at the state Uni, fine (see point 2), but if not, transfer to a “higher ranked school” for the last two and it won’t be as much of a problem.

2) In engineering, the prestige of the school is not the critical. I went to a private school for undergrad, but it was by no means well known. In grad school I found myself on equal footing with people from Brown, Harvard, Yale, etc. I was just as smart as them, and now in the real world, employers don’t care about the name of the school, they care about what you can do. Do not pay a shitload more just for a name – it’s not worth it.

3) It’s hard work, but if you want to be an engineer, it’s worth it & needed. US engineers are worlds above any foreign competition. That’s not to say companies never hire the foreigners on the cheap, but if they do, they are going to get cookie cutter robots who do not think outside of the box.

4) Blend. Companies today may take a generic engineer, but they’ll get excited over an engineer who also has a background in biology, for example. Or genetics. Or finance (if you want to move up the business ladder). Or that can speak Russian or Portuguese. Realize that the people who make the big bucks today & are in big demand are masters of more than one discipline – so don’t skimp on your minor and choose “basket weaving” – make it count.