I kind of like this roundup thing

so I'll keep it going.

First, (and I already told you this) Hillary Clinton is a socialist without the courage or integrity to admit it:
According to the New York Times, Hillary Clinton says that if she becomes president the federal government will take a more active role in the economy “to address what she called the excesses of the market and of the Bush administration.” Scary stuff for anyone who still believes in the free market.

Second, remember a few days go, the post on canaries in the coal mine?
The government officers who entered the sprawling, country club-like complex were ostensibly looking for a stash of weapons and for evidence of “subversive activity.” They found neither. In the subsequent days, the Venezuelan Jewish community’s umbrella organization, the Confederation of Israelite Associations of Venezuela, fired off a statement denouncing the raid as an “unjustifiable act” aimed at creating tensions between the community and the government of socialist President Hugo Chavez.
Ooooh, yeah, Chavez will really straighten up! A statement has been made! Especially considering this:
Jewish communal leaders also believe that another element might be at work. Sultan noted that Tarek al Assaimi, a former far-left student leader whose father was the representative of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party in Venezuela, is the deputy Interior and Justice minister in charge of internal security and, as such, could have been involved in initiating the raid.

Third, George Clooney: Messenger of Peace. Question is, will the Messenger do anything about the child abusers and porn rings? Or are they not worthy of notice by the Messenger when it's UN personnel doing it? And that mass murder/slavery thing in Darfur, it's really annoying, isn't it, Georgie?

Fourth, Kevin has one of his pieces up, this one on media bias and the blindness of so many media weenies to it. Which includes this quote from Bernard Goldberg:
"I understand how you feel," I told him, trying to diffuse a bad situation. "But I didn't say anything in the piece about how even you, Andrew, have agreed with me about the liberal bias."

Instead of calming things down, my comment made him go ballistic. "That would have been like raping my wife and kidnapping my kids!" he screamed at me.
Talk about a telling statement...

Fifth, will you third-world peasants stop trying to become un-Gaia-friendly? Your betters like it so much better with you living in dung huts.

Sixth, "Buy GloballyLocally Grown!"

And finally, some information on how the gun and self-defense bans in England have helped matters:
Violent crime rate wasn’t the only type of crime that skyrocketed. As a matter of fact, gun crimes period increased. Read that again: handgun crime increased. Gun control utterly failed. AsBBC reports in 2001, “[a] new study suggests the use of handguns in crime rose by 40% in the two years after the weapons were banned.” The crime rates didn’t stop there. AsBBC reports in 2003, “Gun crime has risen by 35% in a year, new Home Office figures show. There were 9,974 incidents involving firearms in the 12 months to April 2002 - a rise from 7,362 over the previous year.”
...
Other forms of crime increased too. As the same BBC article in 2003 reports, “Overall crime in the year to September was up 9.3%, with domestic burglary up 7.9%, drugs offences up 12.3% and sex offences up 18.2%.”
Amazing how that works, isn't it?

It should not surprise me that this piece of walking crap

is from California. Poor little baby caught lying, and demands he face no penalty for it.
Alvarez, an elected representative to the Three Valleys Municipal Water District, said last year at a water district meeting that he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his deeds as a Marine.

After admitting he never served in the military, he was charged with violating the Stolen Valor Act. He pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge.

Alvarez's lawyer Brianna J. Fuller argued in the motion to dismiss, which will be heard Jan. 14 in federal court, that "protecting the reputation of military decorations" is not a compelling enough reason to place "restrictions on false statements."

I'm guessing you actually know this, you miserable bastard shyster, but this is not to 'protect the reputation' of a decoration: it's to punish stinking bastards like your client for claiming they served at this level and were decorated for it.

Your abscess on the ass of mankindclient couldn't simply lie, oh no, he claimed not only to have been a Marine, but to have committed such an act of bravery as to be noted by the Medal. And now he thinks it 'not fair' that he pay the price for his lies.

Make you a deal: all charges dropped, and we offer a selection of Marines the chance to make their displeasure with him known. How 'bout that?

The Last Testament of George MacDonald Fraser

is found here. And I very much thank Sondra for linking to it, as I hadn't seen it before.

I'll just take note of two things here. The first:
Furthermore, it makes grieving part of the national culture, as it was on such a nauseating scale when large areas were carpeted in rotting vegetation in "mourning" for the Princess of Wales;
Shortly after the death, I was at the Scottish country dance group that used to run every Thursday night, started and run by a gentleman named Ellis. He'd emigrated here after WWII(once mentioned, looking at my bike, that he'd been a motorcycle messenger in the Royal Greenjackets), set up a tailor business and did quite well. Just before the night ended a guy mention to Ellis that "There's a card downstairs at the bookstore that people are signing to send to the Royal Family, if you want to sign it." Ellis just looked at him and said "Why?" It shocked the guy, Ellis was supposed to be ready to run right down and put his signature on the card. But Ellis was of Mr. Fraser's generation, and that didn't happen.

The other:
Whether the public can be blamed for letting them pursue their ruinous policies is debatable.

Short of assassination there is little people can do when their political masters have forgotten the true meaning of the democracy of which they are forever prating, are determined to have their own way at all costs and hold public opinion in contempt.

I feel I speak not just for myself but for the huge majority of my generation who think as I do but whose voices are so often lost in the clamour.

Damn. It's a good thing this was printed now; I can see a variety of politicians and bootlickers having cows over that passage and demanding 'something be done' about him for saying it if he were still walking around. Especially since it can be argued to be quite true.

Ah well, he was a good man.

Roundup time

Digging around, remember the "We're all gonna get Mad Cow Disease and Die!" dance a while back? Not so fast, Guido. Lots of "Everybody who eats meat isn't dying, but we might still be in danger" stuff, with this at the end:
But Frances Hall, of the Human BSE Foundation said she would rather see researchers focus on developing a test that could pick up early signs of the test in those who were affected.

"I don't think estimates of numbers makes a lot of difference to people who have been affected, or people who are worried about it." Bold mine

That's part of the damn problem: a lot of media weenies worked damn hard to scare people to death over it. And if you're one of the unlucky few the numbers mean little; if you're one of everyone else, they point out just how overblown this was.

Next, something on the atrocity against free speech known as the Alberta Human Rights Commission:
...Levant was the clear winner in the debate and that offended Soharwardy, who marched down to a Calgary Police station and demanded that they arrest Levant for offending him during the debate and simply discussing the cartoons in the media.

After the officers explained that they didn’t do that in Canada, Soharwardy filed a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. The Commission is made up of individuals appointed by the government to hear human rights complaints. The commissioners are a mish-mash of lawyers, nurses, politicians, engineers, who may or may not have direct legal experience. It costs nothing to file a complaint, so Soharwardy could avail himself of it at no charge while the defendant bears the cost of his defense.

Wonderful, isn't it? Any jackass of the legions of the perpetually offended clown who feels 'offended' can complain at no cost to themselves, and- if nothing else- try to bankrupt whoever offended them. I remembered something about these people, and dug this up:
"'I told him that it seemed to be an abuse of the Human Rights Act for someone to try and use it as an instrument of censorship. And when I said that, on the phone, there was a pause and then he said, in a somewhat astonished tone: "But the Human Rights Act is about censorship." Then it was my turn to be silent on my end, because I found that breath-taking. For the Human Rights Commission's own mediator to acknowledge that censorship was the purpose of their Act."

Next up, Insty pointed to this at the Huffer-Puffer site, summed up by this:
At one end of the spectrum, former Senator Gary Hart warns that Democrats are vulnerable and unprepared. "The ghost of Karl Rove will raise the specter of terrorism and swift boat whomever the Democrats nominate. The fear card is the last resort of the collapsing W. coalition," he said.
GARY FREAKIN' HART!?! "The ghost of Karl Rove"?!? "The fear card"?!? As Lawdog might say, Sweet Shiva, these people are nuts! And this:
Similarly, Brookings Institution foreign policy scholar Ivo Daalder argued, "Terror and fear are the only things the Reps can run on -- and so they will. Every Democrat knows that. But the country is clearly hunkering for a leader who can also address their real and current fears, which are economic first and foremost. So the Democrats have to talk about these issues, which surely aren't peripheral to the voters. That doesn't mean that they should not talk about national security -- they should, they do, and they will."
Well, Ivo, I've got to tell you something: I have concerns about the economy, but that thing about the people who want to kill us all, that kind of takes a serious position, too. Being the dumb guy in flyover country that I am. Damn, this is enough to make me wonder if these people have had their shots.

Speaking of which, Peters has this on the 'study' the NYEffin' Times put out on vets:
To a darkly humorous degree, all this reflects the Freudian terrors leftists feel when confronted with men who don't have concave chests. But it goes far beyond that.

Pretending to pity tormented veterans (vets don't want our pity - they want our respect), the Times' feature was an artful example of hate-speech disguised as a public service.

The image we all were supposed to take away from that story was of hopelessly damaged, victimized, infected human beings who've become outcasts from civilized society. The Times cast our vets as freaks from a slasher flick.

The hard left's hatred of our military has deteriorated from a political stance into a pathology: The only good soldier is a dead soldier who can be wielded as a statistic (out of context again). Or a deserter who complains bitterly that he didn't join the Army to fight . . .

Lastly, this from Michelle Malkin on the 'housing crisis'. Which I'm not all that impressed with, so far as a lot of the people being whacked by it.(I'm very concerned with how it screws with the economy). When I was looking for a house, I was pre-approved for a loan that was, let us say, rather generous. As in "I can make payments on a loan that size. If I don't eat too much or buy any clothes for the next few years." I only looked at houses that I could afford the payments on. I've got damn little sympathy for someone who 'bought' a house they couldn't really afford the payments on, or got one of those idiot 'interest only for x years' loans. Especially when they start whining now that everyone else should bail them out.
And let us not forget the idiots who approved these loans, and the ones who made them, who are now coming around with their hands out: Screw you, dumbass.

Dirtbag lawyer who keyed Marine's car

GUILTY.

Go read the whole thing at BlackFive. I will put two of the comments from WP91 at the courthouse, because it's just too good not to:
The case was called at 13:33, and the Defendant did not show up. There were 2 heavy hitter State's Attorneys here to handle it. The Judge increased his bond to $20,000.00 or 10 percent cash, and put out a warrant for his arrest.

The Defendant called at 13:40 to say that he will be a half an hout late and was waiting for the media to leave. The Judge said in open court that if he does shows up he will be taken into custody, and if he doesn't he is fair game for any law enforcement agency that wants to pick him up. Will report further developments as warranted.

Which was followed by:

The update: At 1400 hours the defendant showed up, and was told that he was half an hour late. The Judge stated on the record that the defendant had done the same thing during the previous court date, and he said that the defendant called and said that wanted to wait for the media to leave. The Judge said "That is not the way I run my courtroom." He increased the bail and took him into custody and told him to try and work out a deal with the State. About 25-35 marines and assorted military were there.

The case was recalled at 14:22, and the State said that the defendant had asked for permission to put his belt and such back on. The Judge said, "Treat him like all the other prisoners." The defendant was brought out and the plea deal that they had worked out was entered into the record.

The Judge asked him if he had committed the specific acts he was accused of. The defendant hemmed and hawed, and the Judge raised his voice to make him say yes or no. The defendant agreed, and the Judge read the facts into the record. Several times, the Judge said if there were no deal, he would be given a court date just like any other defendant, and he could try and make bail soon.

The deal: 1 year Social Service Supervision, restitution of 600 dollars to be paid to Social Services and which would go to the Injured Marine Semper Fi fund, to be paid by February 25th, 2008, and $50/month in supervision fees.

The Judge then, in as angry a voice as I have ever heard him use, scolded the defendant, saying that the Marine license plates the complaining witness had were not vanity plates or about ego, but the proceeds go toward the Marine and Navy scholarship fund for the children of fallen soldiers, sailors and marines. These Marines protect his very existence "so people like you can enjoy their freedom." He further said that the reason there were so many in the courtroom and so much public interest is that the Marines have a tradition since 1775 that "No Marine gets left behind." Several Hoorahs in the courtroom.

And then the deal was done, and he was taken away by the sheriffs to be released later. Bold mine

Ah, the scent of self-righteous asshole roasting on an open fire...

They found Bun-Bun

Or a close relation, at least

As a follow to yesterday's note about Coburn

endorsing McCain, Senator Coburn was on a local show on KTOK at four this afternoon giving his reasons. To say I was unconvinced would be a rather drastic understatement.

Which I noted in the e-mail I sent to the Senator's office a few minutes ago, as a followup to the one yesterday asking, in polite terms, "What the HELL is wrong with you?" After hearing at the end of the interview that he and his family are on a ski vacation, I'm tempted to think one of two things:
There's some kind of deal with McCain for some reason(God knows what, but odd things do happen), or
Coburn ran into a tree- headfirst- shortly before thinking "McCain is the man!"

In either case, damn.

I read of this atrocity known as H.R. 1955 before,

and- having lost track of it- just got whacked with this and this. Just bloody wonderful. Especially since I found out my Rep. Mary Fallin voted for it. I had to find that out at GovTrack(which I now have bookmarked). I also found this:
Oct 23, 2007: This bill passed in the House of Representatives by roll call vote. The vote was held under a suspension of the rules to cut debate short and pass the bill, needing a two-thirds majority. The totals were 404 Ayes, 6 Nays, 22 Present/Not Voting.

When the congresscritters 'suspend rules' to cut debate like this, it's usually not a good thing for us. And yes, I'm telling her what I think of it.

And just to make my day complete, I found out that Sen. Coburn has endorsed McCain for President.

Appropriately for both, it's overcast, cold and raining outside.

I once read of an early Islamic scholar saying "All history before Islam

is without merit", something along those lines. Apparently it an especially important view when Jews are involved in the history.
"The government is in the final stages of constructing a dam in southern Iran that will submerge the archaeological sites of Pasargad and Persopolis - the ancient capital of the Persian Empire," the report states. "The site, which is considered exceptional in terms of its archaeological wealth and historical importance, houses the tomb of the Persian King Cyrus."

Cyrus, who lived from 576-530 BCE, liberated Babylonian Jewry from their exile in the famous Declaration of Cyrus (mentioned in the book of Ezra in both Hebrew and Aramaic).

You'll note the Iranian scholars are asking the ICC to do something. I'd suggest they not hold their breath on that.

Well, one guy got some restitution for being slimed

by the PC Police.
A former BBC presenter has won damages after being wrongly arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred for "light-hearted" remarks at a country fair.

Robin Page, who hosted TV's One Man And His Dog, fought a five-year campaign to clear his name after being locked up in a cell for his jokey introduction to a pro-hunting speech.

He told a meeting in Framptonupon-Severn, Gloucestershire, in 2002: "If you are a black, vegetarian, Muslim, asylum-seeking, onelegged lesbian lorry driver, I want the same rights as you."
OOOH, he said something INSENSITIVE!
Two officers from Gloucestershire Police travelled to Cambridgeshire to arrest Mr Page at his cattle farm.

He was held in a cell at a police station for 40 minutes before agreeing to be interviewed without a lawyer present.

Mr Page, 64, said yesterday: "I was told I had committed a 'hate crime', interviewed under caution-and given police bail."

No charges were brought but he was never given any explanation for his treatment.
"...agreeing to be interviewed without a lawyer present." Isn't that interesting?

And after receiving a settlement,
"Annoyingly, the police sent my cheque in an unstamped envelope.

"I had to go to my local post office to pay £1.24 to pick it up. I'm not all that convinced it was a mistake."

He said the Freedom of Information disclosures had also revealed he was on a police "homophobic incident record" and he fears his name has not been removed.

He said: "How can you be included on a homophobic incident record for using the word lesbian once in a speech? It is just incredible. Political correctness is the new McCarthyism."

Police hate to be asked "Don't you have any actual crime to deal with?" But those involved in crap like this should have it asked of them. Often.

Of course, they'll probably consider it 'hate speech' and write you a ticket.

Thanks to Theo for pointing this out.

Jeff transcribes what the miserable socialist

hoplophobes say, so you don't have to sit through this crap.

Senator Clinton, when you ran for the Senate in 2000, you said that everyone who wishes to purchase a gun should have a license, and that every handgun sale or transfer should be registered in a national registry. Will you try to implement such a plan?

CLINTON: Well, I am against illegal guns, and illegal guns are the cause of so much death and injury in our country. I also am a political realist and I understand that the political winds are very powerful against doing enough to try to get guns off the street, get them out of the hands of young people.
...
And we need to enforce the laws that we have on the books. I would also work to reinstate the assault weapons ban. We now have, once again, police deaths going up around the country, and in large measure because bad guys now have assault weapons again. We stopped it for awhile. Now they’re back on the streets.
Lie, bullshit, etc. What else would we expect from Clinton?

RUSSERT: Senator Obama, when you were in the state senate, you talked about licensing and registering gun owners. Would you do that as president?

OBAMA: I don’t think that we can get that done. But what I do think we can do is to provide just some common-sense enforcement. One good example — this is consistently blocked — the efforts by law enforcement to obtain the information required to trace back guns that have been used in crimes to unscrupulous gun dealers.

That’s not something that the NRA has allowed to get through Congress. And, as president, I intend to make it happen.

No mention, of course, that law enforcement agencies were against the measure he speaks of(Uncle and Kevin, among others, have covered that); much better to blame the NRA for not 'caring about the victims', etc. Along with the obligatory
And it is very important for many Americans to be able to hunt, fish, take their kids out, teach them how to shoot.

And from Edwards:
...And I think it is enormously important to protect people’s Second Amendment rights.

I don’t believe that means you need an AK-47 to hunt. And I think the assault weapons ban, which Hillary spoke about just a minute ago, as president of the United States I’ll do everything in my power to reinstate it. But I do think we need a president who understands the sportsmen, hunters who use their guns for lawful purposes have a right to have their Second Amendment rights looked after.
As Jeff says, "Well thank you very much but I think I have the right to decide for myself what I’ll hunt or sport shoot with."

And all these clowns, as noted above, are being very careful to talk about the rights of 'hunters and sportsmen' as their way of dumping the real core of the 2nd.

Quote of this day,

borrowed from Kevin:
"...if one does accept the plausibility of any of the arguments on behalf of a strong reading of the Second Amendment, but, nevertheless, rejects them in the name of social prudence and the present-day consequences produced by finicky adherence to earlier understandings, why do we not apply such consequentialist criteria to each and every part of the Bill of Rights?"
Sanford Levinson

A quick note of two levels of nanny-state BS

First, from Britain:
Ministers are planning to implant "machine-readable" microchips under the skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of the electronic tagging scheme that would create more space in British jails.

Amid concerns about the security of existing tagging systems and prison overcrowding, the Ministry of Justice is investigating the use of satellite and radio-wave technology to monitor criminals.

But, instead of being contained in bracelets worn around the ankle, the tiny chips would be surgically inserted under the skin of offenders in the community, to help enforce home curfews. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, as long as two grains of rice, are able to carry scanable personal information about individuals, including their identities, address and offending record.
Undoubtedly as a field test before admitting the idea issaying that safety and security demands all subjects have these injected.

The other is this idiotic 'code of responsibility' Bergen Community College demands of all students. Years ago, I heard someone on a radio show say something idiotic and then claim that the criticism of it was 'censorship'. Kids were in the truck with me and I explained that this is the United States, and that means two things:
I have the right to say what I think about what you say, it's freedom of speech, not censorship.
I have to acknowledge your right to speak your piece; that does not mean I have to respect you or your views.
Somebody needs to remind this campus idiotPresident Ryan of those things.

Finish the draw! Modified

When you're practicing drawing your sidearm, there's a natural inclination, when you bobble the grip or pull or whatever, to stop, holster, and try it again.

Stop that.

Finish the draw. No matter how badly you mess it up, finish the draw. If things go to hell and you grab, you get no chance to do it over, so get used to correcting as you go. If your grip isn't perfect, if your draw isn't quite right, if your shirt or jacket gets in the way, whether you're using a pocket carry or belt or in-the-waistband holster or shoulder rig or whatever, finish the draw. Fix it as you go, every time.

If you ever need it for real, pretty doesn't matter, perfect doesn't matter: getting the sidearm out, aimed and speaking accurately does. So get used to things going wrong. Finish the draw, every time.

Added:
In the comments Panday said something very, very true: As the old saying goes, "Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast".

Oh, yeah. I should have specified in the original post, "You start learning this slowly. Reach, get a correct grip, draw, etc.... Once you have the motions down, once you understand what you're doing and how and you start working on speed..." Beginning any new physical activity you start slow.

The most amazing pistol man I've ever personally seen was Capt. Dan Combs of the OHP, who I've mentioned before. Spooky-fast and accurate(with damn near anything). He said that when starting this he began by moving slowly, making sure he had each motion right, and once he had that locked in he began speeding up. The time I saw him he would hold a foam coffee cup on the front lip of his holster, flip it down to the ground and draw & blow it up before it hit. Then, commenting that "Trooper ( ) says that's just luck, so let's try it again," would do it again. Only this time he'd deliberately miss the first shot and blow the cup with the second, still before it hit the ground. And he did this with a S&W Model 19(polished action, no other mods) and a standard-issue Sam Brown belt & holster.

Start slow and get it right. Then, when working on speed and positions, finish the draw.

I hate to say this, but

GodDammit, some of these people need to be horsewhipped. In public. Then have salt thrown on their back.
He said the Special Agent in Charge, Jody Keeku, asked for a re-test and specified that the tests use "soft primered commercial ammunition."

"FTB has no standardized testing procedures, in fact it has no written procedures at all for testing firearms," Savage said. "They had no standard to stick to, and gleefully tried again. The results this time...'a machinegun.' ATF with a self-admitted 50 percent error rate pursued an indictment and Mr. Olofson was charged with 'Unlawful transfer of a machinegun.'. Not possession, not even Robert Kiernicki was charged with possession (who actually possessed the rifle), though the ATF paid Mr. Kiernicki 'an undisclosed amount of money' to testify against Mr. Olofson at trial," Savage said.
...
"Haanstad claimed the law does not exempt a malfunction. He claims that it states 'any weapon that shoots more than once without manual reloading, per function of the trigger is a machinegun.' To clarify when I was on the stand, I asked him, 'Are you saying if I take my Great Granddaddy's double barrel out and I pull one trigger and both barrels go off, it's a machinegun?' He went back to … 'any weapon that shoots…'" Savage said.

Lawyers and FBI and ATF agents. And we're supposed to TRUST these people? About ANYTHING?

Uncle, you ruined my whole morning when I read this.


Added: I believe a lawyer takes an oath to 'uphold the law' in any state, and I think someone in the Justice Department takes an oath to the same effect: therefore, any lawyer working for the government who acts to prevent a defense attorney from presenting information proving his client innocent of the charged crime should be disbarred. At the least. For a start.

Kim points out

a petition you should check out.

See if you can spot the conflict of interest

in this.
The Government will launch an overhaul of the system next week, which will put pressure on doctors and nurses to identify more "potential organ donors" from dying patients. Hospitals will be rated for the number of deceased patients they "convert" into donors and doctors will be expected to identify potential donors earlier and alert donor co-ordinators as patients approach death.

But Mr Brown, who carries a donor card, has made it clear he backs an even more radical revamp of the system, which would lead to donation by "presumed consent". The approach is modelled on that of Spain, which has the highest proportion of organ donors in the world.
Yeah, having the authorities assume you wanted to give up your body parts would tend to raise the number of 'donors'.

What, you thought you should have a say in what happens to your parts after you shuffle off this mortal coil? Oh no, silly peasant, WE know better than YOU what should be done.

It admits to a possible "conflict of interest" between medical staff, trying to save lives and those keen to ensure every possible organ is harvested. Dr Kevin Gunning, an intensive care consultant at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, and a member of the UK Transplant's advisory group, said the measures could put doctors and relatives under pressure. "If, as a doctor you have turned your thoughts to your patient being a donor when they are still living, that is a real conflict."
Damn, you think maybe?

Dr Bruce Taylor, of the Intensive Care Society warned that early indicators of death were not reliable. "The only way to be sure is to do all the tests which show brain stem death; anything in advance of that is only a prediction."

But Chris Rudge, of UK Transplant, the authority in charge of organ donation and transplant, insisted patients would not be considered as donors at any point where survival was possible.

Uh huh. Sure. I'm really going to trust that, aren't I?

My quote of the day.

Or however long it takes me to post another one:
In an ideal world, karma would decree that these irritating and dangerous activists be taken behind the woodshed by a dozen minutemen reenactors for a momentous ass-kicking- with a post-beating lecture on the Founding Fathers, of course. But the world is far from perfect. Instead, these wardens of well-being are endlessly trotted out on morning and cable news programs, issuing distraught statements about the societal catastrophes that are ice cream and Girl Scout Cookies.

David Harsanyi

There's a reason someone once referred to Jews as

'canaries in the coal mine'.

This is the first I've read of this crap. Though not really surprising, and wouldn't be even if Chavez weren't sucking up to the Iranians.

That'd be a choice to face: which to do, arm up or leave the country? Assuming they'll let you leave.

For a preview of what a Romney administration would bring

take a look at this stinking betrayal, er, backstabbinglegal filing in the DC gun ban case.

This is one of a number of ways in which Bush has turned into a big disappointment, and coming from someone who didn't have a great amount invested in him to start... I still think he was a better choice than Gore or Kerry, but I'm sick to death of having to choose the lesser of two weevils.

And a Romney administration, I have no doubt, would be even worse on the 2nd Amendment.

On the Shiflett situation

Instapundit had a link to this story, in which the sheriff now says something about why he considered Shiflett a threat calling for using a tac team, including saying that officers went to the door and he refused to talk to them. Then, through Codrea I found this, which- surprise!- has a somewhat different story.

Three things make it hard for me to simply accept the official line from the sheriff & company. First is how it's changed from 'there were reasons, but I can't tell you any right now', to the current for using the team. Second, that it fits into the "We gave you an order, peasant!" attitude of far too many people in positions of authority- here the paramedics, the 'human services' people and the Sheriff's Office, including
Jim Bradford, a court clerk in Garfield County, said it was a juvenile matter and he could not comment on any aspect of the case, and he declined to allow WND to leave a message for Garfield County Magistrate Lain Leoniak, who signed the order. I really like that 'declined to ALLOW' part, don't you?
Third, that there are so many cases over the last few years of tac teams being used when there's no damn need for them. When it's happened a bunch of times before, you tend to get kind of cynical about the "We had to do it for officer safety" line.

We'll see how this shakes out in the end. Personally I still hope for the officials involved to be sued, although the sheriff's personnel are probably protected: tac teams personnel have killed people, both accidentally and unnecessarily- not counting property damage and people being terrified and sometimes abused- and gotten off the hook. "They were following procedures" and such seems to cover a whole range of sins.

I have two final thoughts for now:
I have lost a lot of my trust in law enforcement over the last few years, between abuse of authority, abuse of tac teams, the FBI sending people to prison to protect informants, ATF lying in court and faking tests and doing other things(Pistolero reminded me of this), the whole damn range, with them so many times getting away with it with little or no penalty.
Second is, I really, Really hate having to write the first.

If you are one of those who wonder why so many of us

say unkind things about BATFE, Dave Codrea points to this article on their rigorous testing procedures:
"Len told me," Whitesides reveals, "that the access locking plate had as much to do with firing automatic as the sight on the end of the barrel. Cooney's not a technician, he's an enforcement officer."

Cooney admitted that he had never even disassembled and inspected the rifle, but had written his report based on test-firing the weapon. Savage then disassembled it on camera, displaying the broken parts, as the BATFE agent fell silent, looking increasingly embarrassed.

As he should. He almost destroyed a man's life, and he didn't even know what he was doing.

Just bloody marvelous, isn't it? I'll try to find it later, about a year ago there was an article noting that a man in a similar situation finally forced at BATFE official to admit- in court, under oath- that they had no standard tests or testing procedure for such matters; they just went by what the 'experienced agent' decided was a proper test. Supposedly they started writing the manual shortly after this, but that may just have been window dressing. And considering this kind of crap has been going on for a long time, and that Sullivan, who Ted Kennedy(Miserable Human, MA) desperately wants as permanent head of the agency seems to think this kind of crap is just fine, we should be very happy for those senators who've been unwilling to roll over and pass his appointment.

This one brings back

a memory. No, I didn't answer the door naked(well, once, but- nevermind), a friend sort-of did.

Back in my time in college, one member of the group I ran around with was a girl whose warm weather uniform was cutoffs and a tank top. No bra, of course. Didn't walk around flashing people, that was just what she was comfortable in when it was hot. One day she heard something outside, looked out the window and saw a couple of the earnest young men in white shirts and black pants & ties on bicycles in the street, heading toward the door.

She thought a moment along the lines of "How the hell do I get rid of them?" She must've been a bit flustered, because I'd always thought she'd open the door, yell "F*** Off!" and slam it, or something equally brief. In this case, when they knocked she opened the door and kind of lounged against the frame, arm on the frame side up and said "Yesss?" in her best voice(she demonstrated when she told the story; there oughta be a law against something like that). Two very flustered young guys sputtered and hemmed a minute, then one said "We'd like to talk to you about the book of Mormon."

She leaned a little further over- which must've come damn close to popping something out of the top- and said "Really? I'm Church of Satan myself." in the most "are you edible?" tone she could put on.

They left. The house, the street and- apparently- the neighborhood.

What can I say, Leslie had a gift.

I think another roundup is in order

In the "Britain down the toilet" and "Idiot Judge" combined categories, we have this:
Paul Hannam, 39, was beaten unconscious as he attempted to defend 12-year-old son Josh from an unprovoked assault outside a Chinese takeaway.
...
But incredibly Judge Timothy Clayson let the four yobs charged over the attack walk free from Bolton Crown Court with suspended jail terms. He said it was because they saved the cost of a trial by pleading guilty.
You just can't make crap like this up.

Next, in the "Why the hell were any of those boats still floating?" section, we have the opinion of Ralph Peters:
On Sunday, the Iranians tested us. We failed. They'll probe us again. And every time we fail to react decisively, we raise the number of future US casualties.

Remember the USS Cole? You bet the Iranians do. They plan to better that attack by an order of magnitude.

For almost 70 years, we've deployed the finest navy in the history of the world. But it looks increasingly as if we've gone from "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" to "Will this interfere with my next promotion?"
Two things: first, whatever idiot gave the orders that both let the Iranians get that close(200 Freakin' Meters!) AND let them get away should have their rank stripped and be thrown out of the service. Second, we can be sure it was some high-ranking idiot who cares more about politics(and his star, or next star) than about the men and ships. Who, for that reason also, ought to be made to walk a damn plank.

In the "ATF Follies", it seems that Acting Director Sullivan isn't exactly winning friends and influencing people. At least not the way he wants to. (found this one through Uncle)

And we have a new entry in the "Harry Reid Is A Statist Prick With A Thin Skin" field:
Richard Viguerie, a conservative “grassroots” lobbyist, defines the legal gobbledegook as follows:

“Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill currently before theSenate, would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists. Section 220 would amend existing lobbying reporting law by creating the most expansive intrusion on First Amendment rights ever. For the first time in history, critics of Congress will need to register and report with Congress itself.

“The bill would require reporting of ‘paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying,’ but defines ‘paid’ merely as communications to 500 or more members of the public, with no other qualifiers.

Lamppost, rope, politician...

And finally, in the "Best Description of the UN" category, this from Theo.

And on a personal level, one description of a not overly good day:
Up all day yesterday.
Go to work with(due to circumstances) about 1.5 hours sleep, work beginning at midnight.
Don't try to sleep during the day because A: I tend to get headaches when I take naps, and B: it'll mess up my being able to sleep tonight.
In a state of worn-out this afternoon, hear the report of the booby-trapped house killing six troops. In the region where you think the offspring is. That's not good to hear at any time, exhaustion just makes it worse.

Speaking of misuse of a SWAT team(and other things)

as Kevin says, read this. Be fully prepared to be so pissed your vision blurs.

The paramedics who entered the home without permission, the sheriff, the 'social services' weenie, the magistrate, ALL should be sued for everything they have or will have. There is flatly no excuse for this bullshit. I'm especially pissed at the sheriff over this part:
The sheriff said the decision to use SWAT team force was justified because the father was a "self-proclaimed constitutionalist" and had made threats and "comments" over the years.

However, the sheriff declined to provide a single instance of the father's illegal behavior. "I can't tell you specifically," he said.

"He was refusing to provide medical care," the sheriff said.

However, the sheriff said if his own children were involved in an at-home accident, he would want to be the one to make decisions on their healthcare, as did Shiflett.

"I guess if that was one of my children, I would make that decision," the sheriff said.

But he said Shiflett was "rude and confrontational" when the paramedics arrived and entered his home without his permission.
He was "rude and confrontational" when the paramedics arrived and entered his home without his permission." Well, no shit, you sorry attempting-to-cover-my-ass excuse for a lawman. You should not be carrying a badge if this is how you normally conduct business, and you fully deserve to be vilified for this crap.

Assuming the 'sheriff' was at all justified in even going to the house, this called for a deputy showing up with a court order, NOT THE EFFING SWAT TEAM BREAKING IN THE DOORS AND STICKING GUNS IN FACES.

What Sailor Curt says...

Excellent! Got my copy in the mail today!

Now I just need to make time to read it.

Time for another roundup

Mexico is pissed at us. Again. Because we won't collectively kiss their ass and open our border.
MEXICO CITY, Jan. 7 -- Mexico's foreign minister accused U.S. presidential candidates Monday of worsening an already "adverse climate" for Mexican migrants and vowed to redouble efforts to protect the rights of her country's citizens now living and working in the United States.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a conference for Mexican diplomats here, Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa Cantellano said "being effective in the defense and support of the migrants implies treating them the same way whether they are in Mexico or outside of the country." She did not specify what steps would be taken.
Miss Cantellano, there's a name for your 'migrants' who snuck over the border: Illegal Aliens. And the primary right they have is to be thrown the hell out of this country. Screw you and the horse you rode in on. And you'll just love this:
But Calderón and his top lieutenants have been increasingly willing to complain about U.S. politics, even as they push the U.S. Congress to approve President Bush's proposed aid package to help Mexico fight drug cartels, one of the largest bilateral proposals in history.
You go right ahead and complain, Mr. Calderón, at the same time you're begging for all that money, and a good many of us will tell you to kiss our ass.

Next, bodies in a lot of German cemetaries aren't decaying, they're turning to wax.

McCain is now saying he'll secure the borders. Everyone who believes him stop smoking that crap and return to reality. He also says "Osama bin Laden is complaining the Sunni tribes are coming over to our side," he said of Iraq. "By the way, I will get Osama bin Laden. I will follow him to the gates of hell. He is someone who must be brought to justice." I'm afraid he'd have to go a bit further than the gates; Ossie has been roasting in a lower level since he assumed ambient temperature(the pieces of him, at least) at Tora Bora. But it makes a nice sound bite from the nasty little bastard.

I don't watch the debates, so I hadn't heard this piece of garbage before:
The most disappointing answer came from Barack Obama, the frontrunner in the race and a candidate who touts himself as one who would end political polarization in Washington and forge bipartisan solutions. But he's not likely to produce any bipartisanship on Iraq.

Obama claimed the decision by Sunnis in Iraq to embrace American forces was a response to the Democratic capture of Congress in the 2006 election. Sunnis in Anbar province "started to see, after the Democrats were elected in 2006, you know what?" They saw the likelihood of a withdrawal of U.S. troops and feared they "would be left very vulnerable to the Shias," Obama said. So they joined the Americans.
I can't decide if he was simply trying to make the nutroots a little happier with him, stupid enough to actually believe this or throwing this out because he thought it made himself sound Great Leader-ish.(Yeah, I know, I should listen to the damn things, but most of the time I just can't stand to)

Speaking of Obama, if you have the stomach for one of the most suck-up articles you'll ever read, go here. For example:
He hopes to move America beyond the social ructions of the 1960s and away from a foreign policy built by leaders who do not understand what it is like to be on the receiving end of US power.

Mr Obama suggests that the victims of Darfur, gazing up at a helicopter containing fact-finding senators, will feel hatred rather than gratitude. His supporters believe that the election of a president such as him will single-handedly transform the attitude of a Muslim student sitting in a madrassa in Pakistan.
Besides the "May we kiss your ass, oh Great One?" attitude of the article, don't you just love that quote? Never mind that the 'victims of Darfur' would really like to be on the receiving end of US power, by us stomping the raping, murdering, slaving dirtbags who prey on them. Or at least giving them some weapons and training so they can protect themselves. If they feel hatred for 'fact-finding senators' it's because the chickenshits don't want to do anything except talk. and blow hot air. Screw you, Obama.

And we have the Times advising President Bush to be careful about giving the Iranians a chance to 'tweak our tail'. If the Iranians are stupid enough to actually try something while he's over there, I don't think they'll like the result. First, I doubt the Navy has any orders not to be 'overly confrontational' like the Brit Navy did: the boobs try to take some of our people and the fight will be on(and I'm pretty sure the Navy- and everyone else- is gaming it and updating plans just in case). Second, I'm fairly sure the Iranians have a leash on their more demented* people, having a pretty good idea what'll happen if one of them actually does something seen as an attempt on Bush. The Pres. has pissed me off immensely on a number of points, but I very much doubt he'd tell our forces not to act in the event of such.

I think that about covers it for now. Especially since I have boomsticks to clean.

If you want to give Fred Thompson an assist,

take a look here.

Got a couple of things in the background I'm not thrilled about, but compared to the other candidates? On both sides? I have to go with Fred.

Well, along with losing the blogroll

switching to the new Blogger template also dumped Sitemeter. Which means, over the past few days, I must have lost count of at least three people looking at the place.

But it's back on now. And I got a few more people back on the blogroll.

Now, to borrow from Kim, excuse me, for I'm off to the range.

If this is indeed the 'honor killing' it appears,

I want to know why the whole bloody country hasn't had this on the news:
Gail Gartrell, the sisters’ great-aunt, said Saturday that Mr. Said had physically abused the two girls for years. Around Christmas, the girls’ mother – Ms. Gartrell’s niece – had fled because of Mr. Said’s threats to kill the girls after he learned they had boyfriends, she said.

“She ran with them because she knew he would carry out the threat,” Ms. Gartrell said. “This was an honor killing.”

She said her niece returned after Mr. Said told her that he would move out so they could reconcile. Within a few days, she said, the girls were dead.

I don't care where they're from, I don't care how much education they have, anyone who would consider murdering his own children due to family 'honor' is a fucking goatherd in his soul. A barbarian, murdering, backwards, foul excuse for a man.

I may be being a bit unfair, maybe the news has covered it well, but I hadn't heard a damn word about it until I happened to click on Michelle Malkin's site today.

So is this all hysteria, or are the flourescent bulbs

this dangerous?





















Energy-saving light bulbs are so dangerous that everyone must leave the room for at least 15 minutes if one falls to the floor and breaks, a Government department warned yesterday.

The startling alert came as health experts also warned that toxic mercury inside the bulbs can aggravate a range of problems including migraines and dizziness.

So the people pushing these say there's so little mercury it's not a real problem, and the other side says it's a virtual booby trap in the house.

Ain't this all fun?

England continues down the path of blaming objects

instead of people for what people do.
Police arrested two men last night in connection with London's second teenage murder of the new year . The arrests came amid fresh demands for tougher laws to tackle the capital's growing problem of knife crime.

People, it ain't 'knife crime', it's CRIME. With or without a weapon. Catch the bastards who do these things and lock them up and keep them there.

But they won't do it, because it would mean actually holding individuals responsible for their actions, and their government and chattering class just won't: it would rape their worldview to do so. So it'll just keep getting worse.

And please take note of this(bold mine):
Norman Brennan, of the Knives Destroy Lives Campaign, reiterated his demand for a mandatory five-year prison sentence for anyone who carries a knife unreasonably. His call came as Islington borough police commander Bob Carr called for automatic prison sentences for anyone found carrying a knife.
How much you want to bet that 'unreasonably' will wind up meaning 'at all, for any reason'? It wouldn't make any real difference in the crime rate if they did this, partly because there's a fair chance that anyone who was actually convicted wouldn't spend the whole time in jail, and partly because any honest citizen carrying a knife to open packages or cut line or whatever would be more likely to wind up in prison than, say, actual bad guys.

Kind of a general roundup

For instance, what do you do when the fish turns out to be bigger than the boat?

The Goreacle must be weeping with all the global warmering going on.

The Brit government has figured out how to fix their health care system: Treat Yourself, which should go along quite well with not allowing overweight people treatment. Or diabetics above a certain age. Etc.

Also from the Brit government, art pieces for the MoD. Instead of icky things like ammo and parts.

Ah, the peaceful, reasonable progressives.

And if this is what the French call a 'relatively calm night', the bad parts of Iraq and Afghanistan should make them feel right at home.

And if you pre-ordered a copy of Monster Hunter International, they're in the mail.

Mr. Garand's rifle

makes it to Sebastian. I've said it before, the M1 is one of my most favorite boomsticks. Especially when someone looks around just as the clip ejects and lands on the brim of your hat.

And tonight I have a new term: Celery Fisking:
Fisking this article would be like eating celery. It requires more energy to chew it up than you get from digestion - i.e. a losing proposition.

And Sebastian points to a very good article: What really happens in a gunfight? A couple of quotes from this, the first on sights:
The other trend that I have noted in regards to the use of sights is the actual configuration of the sight itself. I have noted two distinct categories of individuals who remember using their sights; they are those that used long guns and those that used a revolver. The reason for the long gun use of sights seems to be directly related to responding as one is trained. All that I spoke with advised that when they saw the threat facing them, they brought the gun up until their cheek connected with the stock and the fired. None of the people I spoke with advised that they had ever been taught to fire their rifle or shotgun from the hip. When asked why they remember their sights, a common response was, "Because they were shoved up in front of my face."

Revolver shooters continuously told me things like, "I remember that big red (or orange, or green) front sight coming right up in front of my eyes and laying right on his chest." For those of us who broke into defensive shooting using revolvers, we can remember how well that red front insert contrasted with the wide black rear sight on our Smith & Wesson Model 66 or Ruger Security-Six. Those of us who did not have such an insert would usually paint our front sight with some high visibility color. Think about what is now available on semi-automatic pistols. We now have to line up three dots or we have to place a dot on top of a bar, all of which I believe is too complicated for our eyes to do quickly. The revolvers simple, but contrasting, sight system was easy for the eyes to use under stress.

First time I had the chance to seriously play around with a pistol with night sights, I noticed this. If I were to put such on the project 1911, I'd want a standard rear sight and a front with the biggest, brightest dot I could get: as somebody said, "In the dark you just put that dot between the bad guys shirt pockets and pull the trigger."
The other quote is in the 'weird things that happen' category:

The most dramatic wound that I ever personally saw involved a woman who was shot in the head by a .357 Magnum. I was a patrol deputy and responded to a public housing project on the report of a shooting. I arrived at the same time as the medic crew and found a white female sitting on the sofa with a dimpled hole in her forehead.

There was a similar wound on the back of her head. As I spoke to her at the scene (to find out who shot her, not to further my personal research) I was told that she had been in an argument with her live-in boyfriend when he picked up a snub-nosed .357 revolver and shot her in the forehead. She advised that her head, "Slammed back and I fell back onto the sofa. I have been sitting here ever since. I have a big head ache." It later turned out that the 158-grain jacketed semi-wadcutter bullet used in the shooting had spilt the lobes of her brain finer than any surgeon could have hoped to. The bullet left a hole in the rear of her skull, which was patched in some way. This victim was released from the hospital and then refused to testify against her boyfriend. ("I still love him.") He was prosecuted anyway. This incident remains one of the strangest things that I have ever seen.

Even MORE reason not to vote for Obama

Supports national law against carrying concealed weapons, with exceptions for retired police and military personnel.

Along with info on a bunch of other candidates, thanks to Kevin

George MacDonald Fraser

We lost a good one today.

I shall now give examples of gratuitous stupidity

from all over the place. Like here:
More than 200 soldiers on their way home from Afghanistan had to strip off their uniforms on the tarmac at Birmingham International Airport and don civilian clothes before being allowed access to the terminal building.
Which is compounded by
An MoD spokesman said: "We can confirm the incident occurred but because everyone is on leave, we have not been able to discover who gave the order.

From down under:
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, a member of the Labor team which ousted conservative prime minister John Howard in a November election, wants filters in place to shield children from online porn and violence.

Under the plan, Internet service providers would provide feeds filtered free of pornography and other inappropriate material to houses and schools.

From closer to home:
"hilary clinton and barak hussein obama cannot win, and they are put in place to assure a victory by mitt romney... this is the plan of all the insurance companies that are owned by Mormon interests. It is unfolding as the mormon church planned over the last fifty years." --
and
36) "(News of killings is) not good for us, but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back." -- Democratic Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, explains the upside of murders in his city
Too many others here to just pick a few, although #30 demonstrates that it's not just idiot 'progressives' with stupid things to say. Although, just from personal pissed-offedness I'll use this one:
7) "Through every Abu aib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform....We pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?...[T]he recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary — oops sorry, volunteer — force that thinks it is doing the dirty work." -- The Washington Post's William Arkin

I'm sure my son and the others in his unit, sitting somewhere with no privacy, no showers and etc. are really interested in where their 'obscene amenities' are. I have to admit that, despite the 'let it go' I try to give Idiot Celebrities & Co., I have a strong desire to find this clown and put a boot up his ass.

And as my last pick for the moment(there's sure to be more material later tonight after the mess back east), if Huckabee is dumbass enough to pick a fight with Rush for no good reason, knowing just exactly how it'd be answered, why does anyone think he's smart enough to run the White House?

Mr. Huffman's family had lots of shirts for Christmas

For instance























I know some politicians we should send this to. They haven't earned a shirt, just printed on a nice card.

Delivered in the box with the mini rail, tar and feathers.

And the new year begins

How truly joyous. "...postelection violence that has killed more than 300 people, including dozens burned alive as they sought refuge in a church."

I don't know about you, the night itself was good here. Spent the evening with some friends I hadn't seen in a while. No encounters with drunk and/or stupid drivers, no annoying drunks(that I noticed, at least), just a fun evening.

Now I need to work on the blogroll.

Also from Theo, this public service announcement

When you care enough to send the VERY best

you get results.
Royal Marines crept into position as the fanatics partied the night away just hours after Ms Bhutto was killed in Pakistan.
The bash was being held in ruined compounds a few hundred yards from Our Boys’ remote base in Kajaki.
Ragtag Taliban sentries tried to hit back with machine gun fire – but stood no chance against the heroes of 40 Commando’s Charlie Company.

Marines, meet thugs. Thugs, meet Marines; you can die now.

Troop Sergeant Dominic Conway, 32 – who directed mortar rounds – grinned: “It must have had quite a detrimental effect on their morale.”

Sgt Conway, from Whitley Bay, Tyneside, said of the Taliban lair: “It used to be their backyard and now we’ve made it ours.”

I just love a happy ending.

Thanks to Theo for pointing this out. And yes, this deserved notice, New Year's Eve and all.

Before I go, an update on the son

He called Christmas day, which was rather nice. Between last I heard about a month ago and now, kind of breaks down like this:

In a new base, he can't say where.
Doing something, he can't say what.
No showers, because the prefab unit being shipped in from wherever the hell they get them from was part of a shipment that go hijacked.
But the do have a field kitchen, so not eating MREs all the time.
No space for anything, so "don't send anything else right now".
And busy as hell, which means not enough sleep.

So cold(it's kind of chilly there right now), smelly and tired, but alive and kicking.

On the subject of boobs,

since Kim brought it up, I'll throw out the following:

I like them.

Pleasing size depends entirely on how they fit the lady in question.

I think that women who get Stetson-size implants, like those on the next-to-last photo in Kim's post, are either making a fortune stripping or have rocks in their heads. Possibly both.

Ladies, if you decide to get a boost, or have a touch of some other cosmetic surgery done because it makes you feel better, you go right ahead. But: if you think that big boobs are required for beauty, you're wrong; or if some male of the species hints- or flat-out says- that you need to get a boob job to make him happy, then you should remove yourself from his presence immediately, because jackass sometimes tends to rub off on you.

And now, having been invited to visit some friends for New Years, no posting barring something I just can't pass up(arrests, illustrations of the above or other big news) till after the first.

Note to self:

do not screw with the blog template when just home and tired.

Blogroll, etc., will return when I have time to put things back together properly

I just can't pass up this dirtbag lawyer story

found here, and all over the local airwaves. Short version: lawyer found guilty by the state bar association of various unethical things, including exchanging sex with a client for legal work. He was just on the air saying that he 'blamed his enemies for causing these charges to be prosecuted against him'(well, duh! as my daughter used to say) and that 'he will ask the state Supreme Court to impose a penalty less drastic than disbarring'. Again, what clown caught in something like this hasn't asked for a less drastic penalty? Seems to be a shortage of lawyers caught in such things willing to say "I screwed up bigtime, and I deserve the fullest penalty."

Oh, hell, I can't let it go: this is a LITERAL case of a lawyer screwing his client.

First off, here's what part of my little pecan tree looked like

after the ice stopped forming:























The ice on top of the husks there is about 1/2" thick. I thought I was going to lose a couple of branches off it, but it held.

Second, I've got to show you the neat flashlight I got for Christmas



















My parents ordered it from somewhere. It's a grand total of 1.5" long, 1.25" wide and about 9/16" thick. Two leds on the front instead of bulbs

















and a crank on the side to charge it


















It says one minute cranking will give about five minutes of light, which seems about right. Not something for a primary emergency light, but damn handy to stick in a glove compartment or console or whatever.

Is there no end to the stupidity of the globular warmering

idiots?
There is a poetic justice to this of course. It is conservatives who are giving us the candidates who steadfastly refuse to have the nation take steps that could slow the pace of climate change, so it is appropriate that they should bear the brunt of its impact.

The important thing is that we, on the higher ground both actually and figuratively, need to remember that, when they begin their historic migration from their doomed regions, we not give them the keys to the city. They certainly should be offered assistance in their time of need, but we need to keep a firm grip on our political systems, making sure that these guilty throngs who allowed the world to go to hell are gerrymandered into political impotence in their new homes.

So this clown thinks that A: it's us Globular Warmering Deniers who'll be flooded or droughted out because of us not worshipping at the Alter of the Goreacle believing in their Holy Cause and B: if their dream for the future were to come about, we'd simply stand quietly while the True Believers 'gerrymander us into political impotence'.

Got news for you, guy: First, your dream ain't coming true. Second, if some oddball circumstance did cause us to have to move, you need to remember two things:
We would not stand for being 'gerrymandered into impotence' in our new homes, and(a big one) if you think we'd leave our arms behind when we moved, then you have even fewer working brain cells than I thought. Just try kicking up into line: you won't like the result.

And isn't it just like a tolerant, fair-minded 'progressive' to plan on keeping political opponents from actually having a say in things?


Added: Just found this at Michelle Malkin: check out the other good progressive things this nitwit is involved in.

And one last thing from Tim Blair before I go:

Communists still control-the-news hypocrites:
There was no time to switch from the €22 (£16) "rich man's dish" to a more modest platter of kippers, because Sahra Wagenknecht had already been caught on camera in the act of betraying her own political ideals.
So the photogenic MEP for Germany's Left party set about trying to destroy the evidence of what happened that night in the Strasbourg restaurant Aux Armes in a manner that has sent ripples of scorn across Germany.
...
According to Uca, the photographs of Wagenknecht cracking into her lobster had been erased from the camera when it was returned to her the following day.
...
clearly embarrassed Wagenknecht - who was brought up on the works of Marx and Engels, joined the East German communists in 1989, and allegedly mourned the fall of the Berlin Wall - has admitted both to eating the lobster, and erasing the pictures.

But she defended her actions.

"I don't do anything that I say others shouldn't do," she told the daily TAZ. "On the contrary, I'm fighting for a society in which everyone can afford to eat lobster."

As to why she erased the pictures? "I didn't like them," she said.

Let's see, miserable communist acting like a miserable communist; is anybody surprised?

This just in:

Intellectuals have large holes in head. Or will as soon as the Taliban gets hold of them.

Right now I'm visiting my parents and hadn't planned on doing any blogging, but I saw this when checking some sites and just couldn't not comment on this crap:
I wonder where he stands on the pointed question that Amis recently put to his impeccably liberal audience at the ICA: 'Do you feel morally superior to the Taliban?' (Only about a third raised a hand to say they did, a nice demonstration of relativist liberal guilt.)

That's bad enough. There's also a slight problem with the response:
Eagleton lets out a sharp laugh. 'I certainly hope I am morally superior to people who believe in slaughtering innocents. But what I object to is the dangerous fudging of the line between the Muslim world and the Taliban, and the easy moral superiority that leaves us blind to our own crimes, or the crimes done in our names. It is an obvious point, but one still worth making, that it was our own barbarism and colonialism in the Middle East that has helped to create these situations in the first place. Amis and Hitchens have become perversely silent on the crimes of Western civilisation. Western civilisation has produced enormous advances, but not to see the darker side of that, not to see the barbarism of the West, and not to see that at a time when we are killing thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan, seems extraordinarily naive.'

Couple of points in this: First, I don't think it matters one damn bit what the U.S. or Britain did x years ago; the fact is our influences would have spread no matter what. In the past, did varous things done cause problems with various muslim or muslim-influenced countries? Yes. Does that justify a bunch of self-detonating neolithic goatherds blowing up people in the name of God? Hell no. Nice excuse, and it makes a lot of people feel better because they can blame their own country(if you're western) or outside influences(if you're a perpetual-victim muslim) for the problems, but not realistic. Lots and lots of Busddhists and others affected by, for instance, the British Empire in past years but you don't see a lot of them running around screaming "Death to those who insult whatever!" And, as I said, Coke and jeans and movies and whatever would have been spreading and causing problems for medieval-minded nuts even if our only contact with a country had been selling movies and books and whatever.

Second, the 'but not to see the darker side of that, not to see the barbarism of the West, and not to see that at a time when we are killing thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan, seems extraordinarily naive.' crap. That sounds an awful lot like "We're blowing up and shooting terrorists and islamist murderers, and that's just as bad as blowing up people in the market. Or torturing and murdering kids in school. We're just as bad as they are!" Which is, to put it bluntly, bullshit. From a clapped-out bull. As someone put it in a different reference, when innocents have died from Israeli military actions, it's been accidental, something they work hard to prevent; when it happens from Hamas & Hizballah and Co., it's what they're trying to do, and if you can't see that difference, then you have great big rocks in your head. And a really sick outlook on life.

I have what will apparently be a big surprise for Mr. Eagleton: given a choice, we wouldn't be there. I don't know anybody who actually wants to have troops in Iraq or Afghanistan, or a number of other places. Given a choice, we'd let them sink or swim on their own, and considering the dependance most of these places have on the west for an awful lot of things it'd mostly be sink. Which would let a lot of people salve their conscience by moaning about how "The rich countries are not helping these people!", etc. But the people in charge- in some cases the people who were in charge- wanted to control us, still do in some cases, and that we like even less. So we had to act.

Which means we've got friends and family in uniform in places they'd rather not be, doing work they'd rather not do. And we have to listen to people blame us for the fact that people like Ahmadinnerjacket would like to kill everyone in Israel, and for that matter most of the rest of the non-islamic world. But then, the latter would be true no matter what. We're what the wahabi nutcases blame for islam not ruling the world, so sooner or later we'd have been their target for terrorism, no matter what happened in the past.

And I have to note another post

at Thirdpower's place:
Anti Gunner- "What shortcoming are you Gun Nuts trying to compensate for?"

Pro Gunner- "I am compensating for the fact that I can't throw a rock at 1000 feet per second."

Peace on earth, etc., is temporarily suspended this day

to mention the new guy at CeaseFire PA. Who is denying, whining(death threats from us gun nuts, of course: check the comments), and CFPA is engaging in Reasoned Discourse about him.

Just wonderful, isn't it?

On this Christmas eve

there's two things I'd like to post. The first has been around a while, but it deserves to be up again:
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
Sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... An American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat .
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right"
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."




The other is some song lyrics. If you've never heard this by Trace Adkins, you ought to look it up:
Arlington
I never thought that this is where I'd settle down,
I thought I'd die an old man back in my hometown,
They gave me this plot of land, me and some other men, for a job well done,
There's a big white house sits on a hill just up the road,
The man inside he cried the day they brought me home,
They folded up a flag and told my mom and dad, we're proud of your son

[Chorus:]
And I'm proud to be on this peaceful piece of property,
I'm on sacred ground and I'm in the best of company,
I'm thankful for those thankful for the things I've done,
I can rest in peace, I'm one of the chosen ones, I made it to Arlington

I remember daddy brought me here when I was eight,
We searched all day to find out where my granddad lay,
And when we finally found that cross,
He said, "son this is what it cost to keep us free" Now here I am,
A thousand stones away from him,
He recognized me on the first day I came in,
And it gave me a chill when he clicked his heels, and saluted me.

[Repeat Chorus]

And everytime I hear twenty-one guns,
I know they brought another hero home to us

We're thankful for those thankful for the things we've done,
We can rest in peace, 'cause we are the chosen ones,
We made it to Arlington, yea dust to dust,
Don't cry for us, we made it to Arlington


Enjoy your family and friends, remember those at the sharp end of the spear, Merry Christmas to you.

Kevin's been working on one of his serious pieces,

and it's up here. It begins:
Welcome to another of my patented dissertation-length essays. (Consider yourselves forewarned.) This one is about perception and propaganda; about conviction, communication, conversion. It is, to some extent, about a documentary film, but more it is about government, about war, about politics, about history.

It's largely concerned with a '2005 Sundance Film Festival award-winning documentary' film. Considering the kind of things that's been Sundance award winners, you can probably guess the slant. Long piece, very much worth going through.

I'll just note part of a comment by Markadelphia:Reality is what you make it, Kevin. There are many people in the world who want peace. Someday they may succeed. What if it happens? As long as people believe that war is inevitable, it will be. Ever read On War by Clausewitz?
Two things about this bother me. One is the 'reality is what you make it' noise. The other is the standard-issue 'many people want peace, what if they succeed?' stuff. I've mentioned before having known a number of 'peace at any price' people, and I suspect Markadelphia fits that mold. Peace over freedom, peace over anything. I tend to not know if they're simply well-wishing people who don't want to see some things, or if they're actively deluding themselves. I want peace, surely; I don't know much of anyone(outside the enemy) who doesn't. I also want freedom; and if we say "We'll do anything for peace, including giving up parts of our freedom", we're screwed. I do think anyone who advocates that is, intentionally or not, on the side of the enemy. If they want the peace of slaves, they can have it, I and mine do not want and will not accept it.