Ok, you lucky people, I'm back.

Went to visit family. They're well, I pulled a muscle helping take care of some stuff, and this morning got the word that son and his unit are back in Germany after their 15 months in Iraq. First step: dig out the winter gear, because compared to Iraq it's COLD in Germany right now.

Let's see what's going on... Ok, the Brits have a malfunctioning MG that hasn't been fixed. Even though it's been messing up- as in firing without the trigger being pulled- since 1999?!? Damn.
Suspicions about the gun were first raised in 2003, when the weapon fired at Sergeant Albert Thompson of the 1st Battalion of the Black Watch in Iraq.

He was forced to have his leg amputated below the knee and was awarded more than £1million in compensation.

The MoD blamed the gunner, Captain Tam Henderson, and convicted him of negligence at a military hearing in Basra. He was later cleared on appeal.

An internal report - or Board of Inquiry - into the Thompson incident reveals that ‘undemanded firing’ of the chain gun occurred on at least six other occasions from 1999 to 2004. It concluded that the chain gun ‘is unpopular with many service users primarily due to a perception of reliability issues’.
Ah, but all is well, the brass say so:
An MoD spokesman said: ‘We accept that there are instances of undemanded firing with the chain gun. There are varying degrees of technical problems and mechanical faults.

‘Any problems with the chain gun are investigated immediately and addressed as required. We have confidence in the Warrior chain gun.’
Easy to have confidence in it when you're sitting in an office back in Blighty, isn't it? Found thanks to Theo.

The UN is making another try at an 'arms treaty':
A UN General Assembly panel on Friday overwhelmingly backed steps to draft a treaty establishing international standards for the arms trade.

It endorsed a resolution urging UN member states to consider how to implement "the highest possible standards to prevent the diversion of conventional arms from the legal to the illicit market, where they can be used for terrorist acts, organized crime and other criminal activities."
Considering most of these countries think the peasants having arms of any kind is a crime against their betters, we know where this will be going: "Any ownership of a small arm is to be considered illicit" or some similar crap. Which the Obamessiah would eagerly sign on to.

Oh, this is such a pile of crap:
TOKYO -- Japan's Defence Minister dismissed his air force chief yesterday for writing an essay that claims the country was not an aggressor in the Second World War and was trapped into getting involved by the United States.

Toshio Tamogami's essay will likely upset relations with China and South Korea, which remain bitter about Japan's wartime occupation and say Tokyo has failed to properly atone for its invasion of the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan and China.
Considering the Korean 'comfort women' who were forced into Japanese military brothels still don't have a damned apology last I heard, yeah, I think this probably did and will upset some people. Jeez.

Well, Barack I'll Answer When I Choose To Obama will have a press conference. Wednesday. If he wins. And if the mood strikes to bestow us with the light of his words and countenance. Speaking of Barack I Will Change Your World Obama, the Two Critters lady weighs in. Loudly.

Ok, if it's food, and says 'China' or 'PRC' anywhere, get rid of it.

Yeah, Obama & Co. have done a world of hopey-changey good in Chicago, haven't they?
The deaths are yet another reminder of the bloodshed on Chicago's streets this year - when the city has seen more homicides than both New York and Los Angeles. And they go a long way toward explaining why residents of Hudson's childhood neighborhood say it's not surprising that people may have heard gunfire coming from her family home but didn't bother to call police.

"You hear gunshots day and night, that's nothing new," said Ken Rasheeda, 38, who grew up in the neighborhood, Englewood, where he and his wife are now raising three children. "There's been times I heard gunshots and I didn't think twice about it, it's so common."
But, I thought the Mayor and Aldermen(who have armed guards and guns but the peasants can't) made guns illegal! And nastiness! What happened?
Found thanks to the Coalition.

And on a related subject, a post from Lawdog on smooth and speed; ain't necessarily the same.