I’m totally doing this…

So on my way to a meeting this morning I was talking with some coworkers and the subject of these stupid decals came up.

I said it was stupid, explained why and hit the end with the classic comment of,

My family walks single file to hide our numbers.

I am not the only one to agree with that sentiment.  Then I had an epiphany and said the following immediately there after.

Me: You know something though, they have those zombie decals and I would totally put those on my rig….

Coworker: But you just said it was stupid and listed off numerous valid concerns.

Me: I never said it would be representative of my family.

Coworker: What the hell would it be then?

Me: Confirmed Kills.

Considering CSGV’s current decent into PSH over the zombie meme(link safe), I seriously will put them on my truck once I get my hands on some.

This is probably a good thing…

So Sebastian made a post about the idiot in Sparks that decided to carry a pocket gun without a holster.  Can we all guess how that ended?  How many of you think that it went bang?

If you thought it went bang, well you were right.  This folks as Sebastian said is why you need to carry your gun in a damn holster.

I only bring that up because Nicholas Dropped a comment which I’m going to re-post here (emphasis is mine):

 Very true. We have morons at our shooting club. Who are questionably not safe. At USPSA matches they are shooting over the berm and into the hill behind it. Our berm is an aluminum sheet with rubber tire bits as a back stop. Very fine for pistol. But shooting over it is unacceptable. As well as keeping their finger on the trigger when they mag change or move to the next target. Really unsafe people. And when you bring it up to them they get all defensive. why do these people not think of being safe? It is the most paranoid thing I do at the range.

To which I replied:

Why are they not immediately DQ’d by the RO. All of those things listed there are explicitly stated in the rules as an immediate DQ.

See rule 10.5.8 and 10.5.10 explicitly on the booger hook bang switch problem while moving.

See rule 10.5.9 explicitly for the booger hook while reloading problem.

See 10.4.1 for shooting over the berm.

As for why they don’t think of being safe often it’s because this is how they have always done it and don’t see a reason to change. They do not understand or comprehend how their actions are unsafe.

If you see that happen at a match, notify the RO. At minimum they should be warned if the RO didn’t see it. If the RO did see it they need to get the boot for the rest of the match. The rules exist to protect everyone. The RO isn’t kicking them out, they kicked themselves out by breaking the rules.

Wow, all that time spent reading the USPSA rule book actually made the crap stick.  As I read his post I immediately recognized each of those instances being an immediate DQ, with explicit rules to cover every instance.  Of the rules listed above there were probably secondary rules they broke as well.

The fact is the RO needs to boot them, period.  I don’t care how you play around in your sandbox at home, but if you walk onto a range at a USPSA event those rules exist for my safety as well as everyone else at the event.

I know there are a lot of people who would hesitate to drop the axe and DQ someone.  Thankfully I haven’t had to do that, though I know one day it will come.  My biggest fear is having to drop the axe on a new shooter.  Which is why as an RO I will give verbal reminders about the booger hook if things start to look questionable with new shooters.

Kevin Imel said it best though during our RO training.

When the day comes when a competitor is DQ’d under your watch, you didn’t DQ him, he did that to himself.

He’s right.  Because honestly it benefits neither the club, nor the shooter to just let him get by with the mistake.  Some mistakes have to be punished in such a way that you NEVER want to repeat them again.  Telling you to pack up your guns for the rest of the day is a good way to do exactly that.

If you see unsafe gun handling, STOP it immediately.  Even if the RO didn’t see it.  The RO’s word is final and it’s his choice to issue the DQ, but at a minimum the issue needs to be brought to his attention.*

*For the most part other observers cannot really see what’s going on so this is mute.  If you are the RO running the shooter your eyes should be focused on that gun and his gun handling.  If you’re looking where he’s shooting you’re looking in the wrong spot.  Your score keeper should also be helping to look for penalties as well.

Letting people get away with unsafe gun handling is bad juju.  Especially if they take it to an area match.  Saying “Well I do it all the time back home,” isn’t going to cut it as an excuse.

So as I was saying, it’s probably a good thing they made me damn near memorize that rule book.  It’s also a good thing Kevin gave that speech saying drop the axe if it happens.

It Is Done…

Looks like I’ll be meeting and hanging out with a bunch of you the beginning of September. Joe mentioned the Gun Blogger Rendezvous last May and I was planning on going.  I saw this and really started itching.

Then I had some unexpected expenses and well the wife an I live in a budget.  We’ve stopped using our credit cards and are paying down our debt as quickly as possible so when I dipped into the savings fund I said, “Well there’s always next year.”

I saw Joe last weekend and we ended up talking about it and his travel plans have changed.  Initially it still seemed like it wouldn’t work and it was going to kill a bunch of extra time since the point of departure wouldn’t equal the point of return.  On the way home from the Boomershoot site I had an idea on how to make that work.  I told Joe I’d let him know this week yea or nay.

Then earlier this week I got an email at work, the company calendar uses photos taken by employees.  I didn’t get a submission in this year because I didn’t have time to prep the photos I was going to submit.  They did however look at my submissions from last year and they want to use some of them.  They pay the employees for the use of the pictures.  It’s not set it in stone, it’s a risk we can take it though because even without it we could do it, it would just be tight.  I suspect it’s one of the following though:

So this morning I dropped my check to Mr. Completely into my mail box along with the GBR-VII form.  My leave request has been approved so at this point I will be at GBR!  So it looks like I’ll be seeing David, Kevin (for the first time since 2009) and Derek (again since 2009) again.  If you’re going, find me and say hi.  Seriously I’m kind of hard to miss.

In Which I Lead By Example

Yesterday was the USPSA match in which I was the Match Director.  I designed all the stages and picked out the qualifier.  Overall I was looking forward to it.  Mainly because one of the stages was going to be the first stage I ever designed.

We got a bit of video of me shooting that stage.

I laugh because someone was glad that I was pissed for “forcing them to shoot this monstrosity” except everyone I talked to loved it and wanted to shoot it again. In hindsight I should have thought of a way to run it backwards.  If you’re wondering about the outburst at the end I looked at the target and saw I broke the perf on a no shoot at the end of the course.

However I’m saddened we didn’t get video of probably the most important thing that happened on that stage.  It happened while the RO was scoring my stage and I was standing right there.  I’m sad I didn’t even take a picture of it.

image

You see that white guy in the middle.  Yeah I shot the little bastard because he wasn’t smart enough to get out-of-the-way.  I drilled two A’s into T2, 2 A’s in to T1, and barely nicked the perf on the No Shoot.  When the RO came through he called Alpha Charlie on the target.  He thought I was outside the perf.  I promptly stopped him and said, “Name redacted, That should be 2 Alpha, 1 No Shoot.”  He looked at the target again and said, “holy crap you’re right.”  The funniest thing is, I didn’t even think twice about it, it was immediate and without thought.

Now I know some of you will think that some how that was in my favor, it was not.  Here’s how the score for that breaks down, if it had been an Alpha-Charlie, I would have gotten 7 points.  With a 2-Alpha, No shoot I get 0 points.  The No Shoot is –10 points, each A is a 5.  If I was a little less ethically inclined I could have taken a 7 point boost on my score for that stage.

It’s not worth it at all.  I’m in this for fun and you know what, if I have to cheat to have fun I’m doing it all wrong.  If I want to stand up on the top of the hill and say I won, by god I want to be proud of how I got there.

I was really sad when I had to call a FTE for the RO I caught as a shooter ran through.  I had actually hoped he was the first guy to just skip the body and take the head shots at an earlier position.  He shot the steel and forgot to hit the other target.

Here’s the match stages, both the descriptions and the Google Sketch Up files.  If you want to use them at your local club feel free to do so.  Just give me credit and I’ll be happy.

That particular stage is 30 Minutes or Less.  It started off being just 30 shots but when I redesigned it to fit in our bays and equipment list I ended up adding a target.

Another interesting story was from the standard I created 4×3.  I designed it specifically so the shooter would have a choice between which hand to use at which distance.  I ended up walking up just after they finished reading the stage description and two of the main shooters shot it strong hand closest, then weak hand when further away.  I promptly recheck the stage description which says the following:

String 1.  Upon start signal from behind F1 engage targets T1-T4 freestyle with one shot each.  Perform a mandatory reload and reengage T1-T4 one hand only.

String 2.  Upon start signal from behind F2 engage targets T1-T4 freestyle with one shot each.  Perform a mandatory reload and reengage T1-T4 with one shot each with the opposite hand.

I thought about it for a minute and promptly talked to the two guys who read the briefing and had shot.  In the back of my head I kind of chuckled at the thought of shooting the course of fire weak hand forward, strong hand rear, but I knew it would immediately cause an uproar.  So I clarified it for everyone and we re-shot those shooters at the end.

I still kind of wanted to hear the collective groan after I shot the course and then read the description for everyone.  If you are into USPSA, learn this now, pick up the description yourself and read it before shooting.  Others may have misinterpreted the rules.

I will say I guess Jigsaw was right when she said I was an honest shooter.

Quote of the Day – The Redneck Engineer(06/27/2012)

Now, for those who tell themselves, “Oh, that could never happen to me. I live in a GOOD neighborhood!’ or “That sort of thing doesn’t happen around here!”, let me tell you about my neighborhood. Most of my neighbors are retirees, many are veterans. Everybody is fairly close-knit, we all look out for each other. This is not a “poor” neighborhood, and while not quite a “rich” neighborhood, crime is all but non-existent here. Defense situations can (and do) happen to almost anyone, anywhere.

The Redneck Engineer Defensive mindsets can prevent defensive shootings.
June 27th, 2012


[First let me say, go read the whole thing.  Seriously, click over there and read it.  It is every man’s worst nightmare come to pass.  This nightmare had a happy ending though in that not even a shot was fired.  Even if it had turned south, it was obvious who had the deck stacked in their favor.

Evil doesn’t call ahead, it doesn’t give advanced notice, and it doesn’t have set boundaries.  While some places may have more frequent incidents no place is exempt from a visit by goblins.  There is a reason I carry a gun, even with how quite it is where I live.   

There is only one person I can absolutely guarantee will always be present when the SHTF.  Myself.  A cop may or not be present, friends may or may not be with me, but one thing is for certain, I am in that situation and the conditions will not magically change.  I have to depend on myself to get out of the situation, just the same ultimately my wife has to be able to depend on herself.  There is no question if danger comes around while I am present, I will be in the middle of that incident.  That however is of no benefit when I am not present.  She must be capable of defending herself from anyone who would wish to do her harm.

I don’t want my wife to have to depend on me.  Far from it actually.  I want my wife to be able to think and act independently so that when the SHTF she knows how to react.  Not only can she react, but I know she’ll be able to have my back without my asking or instruction.

My Spouse has my back - By Oleg Vok

Why would I want that?  See The Redneck Engineer’s story.  He didn’t need to be there and she rocked that situation like a boss. Yeah, it could have been a horrible nightmare, but in the end it had a happy ending.

This however also skips over what he said in his post title, that type of awareness and level headed thinking can mean that there won’t even be a shot fired.  So remember, be careful out there and carry your guns. There’s goblins in them thar hills, remember it.  -B]

h/t Bob S.

An Open Response to Joan Peterson

Joan,

One must be very careful when writing a response.  If you’re not careful you can come across as two possible things:

  1. A hypocrite
  2. Crazy

Your response (link warning) does both of those quite handedly.  So I am not sure you will be able to understand any of this or comprehend the logical reasoning, but as one of the men who is responsible for what the CSGV considers the most offensive response I can’t sit back and ignore this.  I cannot sit back and ignore it as you spread lies and attack those who are my friends.  My comments will remain open as always, and the only thing to be deleted from this thread will be SPAM, personal attacks, and things that wouldn’t be allowed in a decent society.

So first let me apologize since I have no doubt this post is going to go Kevin Baker.  So let’s get the broad facts out-of-the-way.


Fact:  On the 8th of January 2012 there was a  Brady Campaign organized vigil held for victims of Gun violence.  The Brady Campaign defined this vigil as being for victims of gun violence.  This statement was issued in a Youtube video posted December 18th, 2011.

“On January 8th, we’re focusing on people. Real people, men, women, and children.  Mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends and coworkers, Americans, taken too soon by gun violence.  On January 8th we ask you to take part in a nation wide candle light vigil to remember those who have been lost.  And to let our elected leaders know that we want action to prevent these tragedies….”

Those words are right straight out of the video from the Brady Campaign, and the video emphasizes that “Too Many Victims” was just about gun violence.

Update: Further the website (link warning) also stated:

“Imagine stopping a bullet before it kills a child. Impossible? Not with
your help! All across America people are coming together to save lives
from preventable gun violence. Will you join them, and the Brady
Campaign, as we host a nationwide candlelight vigil to honor victims of
gun violence?”

via Joe


Fact:  Weer’d on or about the 28th of December issued a statement that gun-rights advocates should participate and memorialize all violence, not just gun violence.

So on January 8th I ask everybody to post a picture of a lit candle and you carry gun. Because lit candles don’t do a whole lot but cast a meager amount of light…but a loaded gun in the hands of lawful citizens can do wonders to protect innocent lives from harm.

Also “Gun Violence” is a bogus and made-up term, so on January 8th I ask you all to light a candle to stop VIOLENCE, and show you have the means to do just that.


Fact: On the 8th of January a pair of gun bloggers and a group of USPSA competitors created a video of their vigil to violence.  This was a vigil to all violence, not just gun violence.  Shooters iterated how candles don’t stop violence.  One shooter, myself, relayed a personal story.

Both of my parents had defensive gun uses, it wasn’t a candle that stopped the violence, it was a gun.

It closed with remembrance to two victims of violence.

A candle would not have helped Kim’s husband who was stabbed.

Nor would it have helped her grandmother who was violently beaten for her purse.

That video focused on remembering violence and illustrating two important facts.

  1. You don’t have to be a victim.  You can fight back.
  2. There are more victims out there than just victims of “gun violence”.

Fact: There was a very nasty response to our vigil for all victims of violence with our statement of how we refuse to be a victim.

image_2_3

This included name calling and another outing rampage by the CSGV.  The CSGV on their Facebook also twisted words attempting to turn our vigil into something it was not.

CSGV-Correction

image via Miguel


Fact:  The Anti-Rights supporters have a history of threatening rhetoric and ill will towards who have different view points.  Unlike you, when I make a statement, I present facts and evidence to prove it.

CSGV_Harm1

This isn’t a one time occurrence either.

CSGV_Harm2

See this post from Joe as well for even more.


Now lets talk about your response.  Your response towards Jennifer shows your lack of critical thinking.  Writing in red is Joan’s own words.

So Jennifer thinks no one would light a candle for Lydia? Who says? Why didn’t Jennifer come to one of our vigils and light a candle for Lydia? Because she would rather attack the vigils which were in honor and memory of shooting victims. So, Jennifer-sorry you missed our vigils. We would welcome you.

Did you even read the story of Lydia?  Joan, you stated right there in your own words that Lydia wasn’t welcome.  The Brady Campaign video as shown above in the facts that Lydia wouldn’t count as a victim in your vigil.  Lydia wasn’t a victim of “gun violence” so why would she be included?

There is only one option as to why you would want other victim classes to appear at your vigil for gun violence.  You want to dance in their blood as well to make it appear they are victims of gun violence to provide you another political tool.

The real reason you dislike Jennifer’s post is because it shows your bias against other victims of violence.  Jennifer herself is a victim, yet you attack her without thinking about what she is saying.

You specifically call out comments that prove what I have said above.  My personal favorite is that you attacked the comment from A Girl and Her Gun.

That is more powerful than anything Joan or the likes of her could ever say.You are the one I admire. The one who fights for the victims and for the fight against violence. I am immensely thankful I am getting to get to know you. Also, Joan is stupid.

A Girl and Her Gun is another victim of violence Joan.  You even point it out earlier in your post as if some how citing it makes it irrelevant.

The truth is though it’s that other victims of violence make you uncomfortable Joan.  They illustrate that Gun Violence is a horrible metric and ignores a large segment of the population.  Gun violence implies that those victims are some how worth more than someone who was violated without the use of a gun.

You say the following:

These are the people who read my blog and then go and comment on other people’s blogs. These are the people who the NRA represents. These are the people who think they can threaten, demean, name-call, abuse, belittle, and mock. During and after the candlelight vigils  to honor victims of gun violence, the gun rights extremists ramped up their rhetoric.

When did we threaten, demean, name-call, abuse, belittle or mock?  We didn’t ramp up our rhetoric, we called for remembering all victims of violence, not just the one’s you find politically convenient.  Which brings us to the next part of your statement.

Victims make them nervous. They don’t like victims. They say we are “dancing in the blood of victims” when we light candles and ring bells. What’s that all about anyway? It’s a statement made often.

I’m down right offended at that statement.  I absolutely care about anyone who is a victim.  I will do anything and everything to help them recover.  What we don’t like, and despise, is some victims being treated as if they are some how not significant or worthy of notice.  We don’t like the fact that anyone has become a victim in any type of crime.  Victims, the real ones, we love and support.  What we do want to accomplish is to lower the victimization rate.  Where you would prefer the law-abiding disarmed, we would prefer them to fight back.  We are willing to spend our time and money to help people not become victims.

Here is a nice presentation of the differences between our culture and yours with regards to how we treat victims.

Now why would I make a comment about “real victims”?  Well it’s because in your effort to inflate your gun violence statistics you include criminals in your count.  Criminals such as the man who broke into a woman’s house with a 12 inch hunting knife after she just lost her husband.  The woman shot and killed the attacker, yet you include him as a “Victim of Gun Violence”.  You know who was the real victim in that incident?  The poor woman who was not breaking the law and was forced into a situation to defend herself and her child.

Who really cares about victims Joan?  I wanted that woman and her child to survive.  I wanted that store clerk at the Kroger’s robbery to remain unharmed.  You however step up and defend the criminal.  You wanted that poor woman to be shot so she could be another clear-cut victim for you to exploit for political gains.  That’s why you’re a blood dancer.  You prey upon the suffering of others to push your political agenda.  Even with the positive outcome, you actively pursued the incident in furthering gun control.

There is a distinct difference in reaction after a horrible event occurs between our cultures Joan.  While we immediately lower our head in mourning, sad at what we have lost.  You go into overdrive pushing political legislation, giddy inside at the fuel it provides to pull at the emotional strings of the public.  You know when people are emotional they very rarely are thinking rationally.

Then you continue with:

What these folks don’t see is that their rigid resistance to any common sense gun laws that might actually prevent some of the shootings in this country results in more victims. Do they want more shooting victims? It’s odd that they don’t see how failure to do something has resulted in more victims.

That’s the thing Joan, we care about all victims.  Even more than that we want to enable people to have a choice and not be forced into victimhood.  As for the last sentence, your assumption is that doing anything is some how good.  What if you’re actions actually raise violent crime?  Oh that’s right, you would consider more overall crime for less gun crime a win.

And then, cynically, they try to find their own victims. The truth is that there are too many victims and they know it.

Are you questioning whether or not A Girl and Her Gun or Jennifer are victims of violence?  If so Joan, that’s just so wrong it’s not even funny.  You’re less of a victim than they are since they both experienced it in the first person, they have the point of view of your sister, not yourself.  Now if you’re not questioning that, are you saying we can’t find victims of Gun Control?   Because lets ask Suzanna Hupp about that one.  Honestly any victim in a gun free zone is a victim of gun control.  They have had their choice regarding their own self-defense made for them.

There are too many victims and it’s baffling that someone would be saying that victims should be disarmed.

So to the pro gun bloggers who find it amusing to mock victims and survivors of gun violence, your words are here for all to see and they aren’t pretty. They portray a group of people who seem to believe that anything can be written with no consequences. Their voices represent a few loud, obnoxious and offensive people who are attempting to influence public policy in our country. Shame on anyone for listening to the voices of these people. We should all be offended.

Again, you say we were mocking, where were we mocking?  Our words aren’t pretty because we’re telling the truth Joan.  You don’t find them pretty because the facts don’t support your false view of the world.  As for our voices only representing a few loud people, here’s a loud dose of truth.  Our impromptu effort that was completely unorganized resulted in well over a hundred of blog posts talking about victims they know and how they themselves are going to refuse to be a victim.  So if we’re in the minority, why isn’t our video disliked overwhelmingly?

That’s the difference between us Joan, you memorialize the past and twist history to infringe the rights of others.  We on the other hand memorialize, learn, and act.  We learned from our friends and family who were victims.  We learned that there is evil in the world and you don’t know when it will arrive on your door step.

You attempt to shame people for seeking more knowledge on the subject.  Here I am reading your post, I find it deplorable that someone could so readily come to the defense of criminals by attacking the law-abiding, but I’m not saying you don’t have a right to say it.  You’re upset because you don’t want people to see the truth.  You don’t want people to realize that they don’t have to be a victim, that they can fight back, and if they do fight back they can win.  You want us to be silent, well many of us would rather speak up because we find our lives worth it.

And one last thing- I wonder how the bloggers and the people who comment on them would like to see things like this said about them in public? It’s something to consider before posting offensive things about another person. Do people like this think they can say anything on the internet? Do they know the person on the other end of the offensive and rude comment are humans with feelings and families and friends who fear for them when they see stuff like this? There’s the thing about “turning the other cheek” and there’s the thing about “doing unto your neighbors”. Those are things I learned in my church and practice every day.

I don’t hide Joan.  I post blogs under my real name.  If you’re offended by us saying you don’t have to be a victim I suggest some serious therapy.  Who wants more victims in the world?  As for turning the other cheek and doing unto your neighbors, we do that.  We do it better than your side possibly can.

You, you who hate guns, you gave me nothing.
No hope.
No tools.
All that was offered me was a life of fear, of resentment, of bitterness, of dependence…
The gun community has offered me hope and strength, and courage.
They have taught me to have belief in myself.
They have asked nothing of me in return and, yet, I would give them my life.
Funny thing is, they would never ask me to.
This is where I belong.
These are my people.

As for myself personally I stop and help people all the time.  I’m also ready should that person in need of help actually be a predator preying upon the good.  The best compliment I ever received was not even directed at me, it was someone explaining my character to someone else, “He’s an Eagle Scout both literally and figuratively.”  I am the guy that goes and shovels his elderly neighbors driveway and then turns around and helps the single mother next door with hers.  I’m the guy who will get up and Oh Dark Thirty and come get you because you just had an auto wreck and you’re car is totaled.  I am the guy who will go out of his way to help anyone.  I am not the guy however who will stand to the side and let evil triumph.  I am not the guy who will surrender to criminals who have violated me and thus surrendered the right for me to be civil to them.  I don’t know where it says in the Bible that I should surrender Gods greatest gift to a criminal.

I am reminded of a lesson told by OldNFO recently.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.
“One is Evil –  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
“The other is Good –  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Think long and hard about which wolf you are feeding Joan.  Our hand is extended to everyone Joan, any victim can come to us seeking help, and we will help them.  I will live my life with zero regrets and I resent people trying to force regrets upon me.  In the words of Sean Sorrentino:

When I reach the Pearly Gates, I want the first thing I will hear to be “Unload and show clear.” I don’t ever want to hear, “Why weren’t you carrying your gun?” Or worse “Because you weren’t carrying, your wife will be along as soon as her killer finishes up.”

If I were to arrive in heaven prematurely and not have fought every step of the way I feel that god would be disappointed that I would waste such a wonderful gift.  Those who would force others to waste that gift are most guilty of that sin.

I also wonder if these folks have mothers, sisters, children, brothers who see what they write and what they would think about their father, brother, son or daughter writing such vile things on the internet for all to see. At least I know that my integrity is in tact because I don’t choose to deploy tactics such as these. No comments will be published from pro gun activists on this post.

Lastly Joan, my mom does read my blog.  She sees exactly what I write.  Sadly my father passed away, but I know he would be proud of me for standing up to those who would force victimhood on others.  My mom is proud that I am willing to stand up and say what needs to be said despite the fear that I would be disliked for speaking my mind.  Being despised by someone who would force others to be disarmed and strip away their rights is not an insult to me Joan.  It is a badge of honor and one that I will gladly carry with me until the day I die.

As for my integrity I have a very strict set of rules to protect it.  I do so because “Integrity once lost can never be regained.”  As such I never make a statement that I am unwilling to defend in public.  This includes having open comments.  Integrity means being willing to stand up behind that which you say.

I suggest you really think long and hard about your response because you haven’t presented a single element to support your case.  Also those you attack are also standing out in the open willing to freely debate, yet you hide unwilling to defend your position in public.  That is a sign of someone who lacks integrity.