He was one of those people who hated the idea of a war, but there was a nasty job that had to be done, so...
Afterward, he came home and built a life and family. Hardly ever spoke of the war to anyone; the nasty job was done, and he didn't want to dwell on it.
Bye, Ray. I don't think it actually needs to be said, but God keep you.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
And speaking of our "We're the only ones qualified
to tell you the news" media, why the hell aren't they all over possible treason at the State Department?
Two weeks ago, the London Sunday Times broke an exclusive story about FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. For five years, the U.S. government has prevented Edmonds from speaking publicly on what she knows, claiming State Secrets Privilege. The Times got the exclusive on the story, eerily titled “For Sale: West’s Deadly Nuclear Secrets,” by talking to a number of Edmonds’ close associates who were not under a gag order, and by filling in pieces of the puzzle from Sibel Edmonds herself.
According the Times article, the U.S. government sought to gag Edmonds from revealing that corrupt government officials — specifically, State Department official Marc Grossman — were directly involved in the stealing and selling of nuclear secrets to foreign agents. In her role as translator, Edmonds listened in on, or translated, hundreds of secretly intercepted conversations between State Department officials and foreign nationals from 1996 to 2002.
I guess our 'journalists' are too busy kissing Clinton and Obama's butts, and too busy chasing Britney around, to worry about little things like this.
Two weeks ago, the London Sunday Times broke an exclusive story about FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. For five years, the U.S. government has prevented Edmonds from speaking publicly on what she knows, claiming State Secrets Privilege. The Times got the exclusive on the story, eerily titled “For Sale: West’s Deadly Nuclear Secrets,” by talking to a number of Edmonds’ close associates who were not under a gag order, and by filling in pieces of the puzzle from Sibel Edmonds herself.
According the Times article, the U.S. government sought to gag Edmonds from revealing that corrupt government officials — specifically, State Department official Marc Grossman — were directly involved in the stealing and selling of nuclear secrets to foreign agents. In her role as translator, Edmonds listened in on, or translated, hundreds of secretly intercepted conversations between State Department officials and foreign nationals from 1996 to 2002.
I guess our 'journalists' are too busy kissing Clinton and Obama's butts, and too busy chasing Britney around, to worry about little things like this.
There are actually two stories
here, and both of them make the NY Effin' Times look like the untrustworthy rag it is.
First is the main:
Then further down, on the subject of all that toxic mercury the health nannies have been scaring people about for years,
The Times proceeded to warn of the risks for women who might become pregnant and children. It failed to mention that according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), not a single woman of childbearing age or child in the United States has mercury levels anywhere close to unsafe levels.
In fact, it’s impossible for American women to eat enough fish to put their newborns at risk, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Information Services. It analyzed the diets of American women of childbearing years using several available dietary surveys and factored in endless possibilities — such as heavy fish consumption, eating fish varieties with the highest methylmercury levels, repeatedly eating the same fish, and the amounts of methylmercury in a range of commercial fish samples. After 100,000 iterations, they found it was inconceivable for a mother to eat so much purchased fish she’d put her baby anywhere near harm’s way. Dr. James Heimbach, former associate administrator with the HNIS, reported at the FDA Methylmercury scientific meetings that American women “simply are not exposed to levels of methylmercury that would place the newborn children at risk.”
The Times also failed to mention any of the research of the world’s foremost experts on methylmercury and health — even though it has been widely reported and internationally recognized. For more than 30 years, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center, in Rochester, New York, have closely followed populations eating large amounts of fish, including Samoans, Peruvians and residents of the Seychelles, and found no associated adverse effects in adults or children. The most careful and exhaustive, double-blind, longitudinal methylmercury exposure study ever conducted on expectant mothers and children was done on the people of Seychelles. These people have the highest per capita consumption of fish in the world, typically 12 fish meals each week, the same types of fish Americans eat. Even though the Seychelles children get 10 to 20 times more methylmercury than U.S. children, the researchers have tested them for more than 14 years now (using multiple global tests and over 57 endpoints for neurocognitive, language, memory, motor, perceptual-motor, and behavioral functions) and found no detectable adverse effects.
So after all the God-cursed posturing politicians and food nazis lecturing us on the evils of our power plants and scaring hell out of people(remember Alar?), it turns out all the 'terrify people in the name of doing good(as WE see it)' was a large, steaming, maggot-infested pile of what comes out the south end of the northbound bull. That has syphilis.
And the NYeffin' Times once again reminds us of why only they are professional enough, edited enough, fact-checked enough and trustworthy enough totell us what they decide we need to heartell us the news.
First is the main:
We now have a national newspaper create a news story, then report it as news, incorrectly — and, incredibly, that is considered professional journalism.
New York Times bought tuna from twenty stores and select restaurants and had them all tested for mercury levels. What did it find?
All of the tuna it tested being sold commercially in New York had mercury levels nearly ten times below the lowest amount that has been shown might ever pose a danger to the most sensitive population (babies and children) with a lifetime of daily exposure.
Good news, reassuring news, helpful news. There is no evidence of anything to fear.
Then further down, on the subject of all that toxic mercury the health nannies have been scaring people about for years,
The Times proceeded to warn of the risks for women who might become pregnant and children. It failed to mention that according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), not a single woman of childbearing age or child in the United States has mercury levels anywhere close to unsafe levels.
In fact, it’s impossible for American women to eat enough fish to put their newborns at risk, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Information Services. It analyzed the diets of American women of childbearing years using several available dietary surveys and factored in endless possibilities — such as heavy fish consumption, eating fish varieties with the highest methylmercury levels, repeatedly eating the same fish, and the amounts of methylmercury in a range of commercial fish samples. After 100,000 iterations, they found it was inconceivable for a mother to eat so much purchased fish she’d put her baby anywhere near harm’s way. Dr. James Heimbach, former associate administrator with the HNIS, reported at the FDA Methylmercury scientific meetings that American women “simply are not exposed to levels of methylmercury that would place the newborn children at risk.”
The Times also failed to mention any of the research of the world’s foremost experts on methylmercury and health — even though it has been widely reported and internationally recognized. For more than 30 years, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center, in Rochester, New York, have closely followed populations eating large amounts of fish, including Samoans, Peruvians and residents of the Seychelles, and found no associated adverse effects in adults or children. The most careful and exhaustive, double-blind, longitudinal methylmercury exposure study ever conducted on expectant mothers and children was done on the people of Seychelles. These people have the highest per capita consumption of fish in the world, typically 12 fish meals each week, the same types of fish Americans eat. Even though the Seychelles children get 10 to 20 times more methylmercury than U.S. children, the researchers have tested them for more than 14 years now (using multiple global tests and over 57 endpoints for neurocognitive, language, memory, motor, perceptual-motor, and behavioral functions) and found no detectable adverse effects.
So after all the God-cursed posturing politicians and food nazis lecturing us on the evils of our power plants and scaring hell out of people(remember Alar?), it turns out all the 'terrify people in the name of doing good(as WE see it)' was a large, steaming, maggot-infested pile of what comes out the south end of the northbound bull. That has syphilis.
And the NYeffin' Times once again reminds us of why only they are professional enough, edited enough, fact-checked enough and trustworthy enough to
A letter to Europe
from P.J. O'Rourke:
After the events of the 20th century, God, quite reasonably, left Europe. But He's still here in the United States. The majority of Americans are Christians, and Christians can be divided into two kinds, the kind who think you should get Jesus and the kind who think Jesus is going to get you. Mike Huckabee is one of the latter. Then there are the Mormons such as Mitt Romney who believe some unusual things--things that no sensible European like Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, Benito Mussolini, Karl Marx, Emanuel Swedenborg, or Cherie Blair would ever believe.
...
The question of race in America is supposed to be a matter of what one looks like. But it is difficult to comprehend how a political interest group that contains both Al Sharpton and Halle Berry could be based on looks. Barack Obama looks like he was raised in Hawaii. He may have just a good tan.
...
A man can be a Democrat to the core, going into the voting booth to pull the lever with the donkey label no matter what. Then he sees Hillary's name on the ballot. And it all comes back to him . . . the first marriage . . . the time he came home a little late, it wasn't even midnight, and he'd only had four or five beers, and she threw his bowling ball down the storm sewer.
The Republicans will have a hard time coming up with someone who can't beat Hillary Clinton. But I don't put it past them. You may remember Senator Bob Dole in 1996.
...
Mitt Romney is supposed to be my own type of candidate, a true conservative. But Mitt was governor of Massachusetts. This is like applying to be pope and listing your prior job experience as "Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem."
...
Let us not forget Ron Paul who is very popular--with people who stay up all night in Ayn Rand chatrooms, bury Krugerrands in the yard, and think the Trilateral Commission causes sub-prime mortgage foreclosures.
...
The problem for Obama is that, as yet, he doesn't have much political stature. However, there is a "Disney factor" is American politics. Think of America's politicians as the Seven Dwarves. They're all short--short on ethics, short on experience, short on common sense, short on something. But we keep thinking that one of these dwarves is going to save our snow white butt.
...
Who else do the Democrats have? There is, of course, Nobel Peace Prize-winning Al Gore. May I ask you Europeans, are your Norwegians crazy? What does the Nobel Peace Prize have to do with global warming? Did Al forge a truce in the war with the penguins? I'm trying to lead a carbon-neutral lifestyle myself. I've given up cigars. I think Al Gore should give up blowing smoke out his . . .
John Edwards is a personal injury lawyer, the sort of fellow who covers North Carolina with billboards reading, "Y'all May Have Been Malpracticed on by a Doctor and Not Even Know It. Call (800) S-H-Y-S-T-E-R." One of the remaining virtues of European civilization is that you aren't overrun with his ilk. John Edwards should go sue Krispy Kreme doughnuts for making his supporters too fat to get into the voting booths.
Found thanks to Mike
After the events of the 20th century, God, quite reasonably, left Europe. But He's still here in the United States. The majority of Americans are Christians, and Christians can be divided into two kinds, the kind who think you should get Jesus and the kind who think Jesus is going to get you. Mike Huckabee is one of the latter. Then there are the Mormons such as Mitt Romney who believe some unusual things--things that no sensible European like Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, Benito Mussolini, Karl Marx, Emanuel Swedenborg, or Cherie Blair would ever believe.
...
The question of race in America is supposed to be a matter of what one looks like. But it is difficult to comprehend how a political interest group that contains both Al Sharpton and Halle Berry could be based on looks. Barack Obama looks like he was raised in Hawaii. He may have just a good tan.
...
A man can be a Democrat to the core, going into the voting booth to pull the lever with the donkey label no matter what. Then he sees Hillary's name on the ballot. And it all comes back to him . . . the first marriage . . . the time he came home a little late, it wasn't even midnight, and he'd only had four or five beers, and she threw his bowling ball down the storm sewer.
The Republicans will have a hard time coming up with someone who can't beat Hillary Clinton. But I don't put it past them. You may remember Senator Bob Dole in 1996.
...
Mitt Romney is supposed to be my own type of candidate, a true conservative. But Mitt was governor of Massachusetts. This is like applying to be pope and listing your prior job experience as "Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem."
...
Let us not forget Ron Paul who is very popular--with people who stay up all night in Ayn Rand chatrooms, bury Krugerrands in the yard, and think the Trilateral Commission causes sub-prime mortgage foreclosures.
...
The problem for Obama is that, as yet, he doesn't have much political stature. However, there is a "Disney factor" is American politics. Think of America's politicians as the Seven Dwarves. They're all short--short on ethics, short on experience, short on common sense, short on something. But we keep thinking that one of these dwarves is going to save our snow white butt.
...
Who else do the Democrats have? There is, of course, Nobel Peace Prize-winning Al Gore. May I ask you Europeans, are your Norwegians crazy? What does the Nobel Peace Prize have to do with global warming? Did Al forge a truce in the war with the penguins? I'm trying to lead a carbon-neutral lifestyle myself. I've given up cigars. I think Al Gore should give up blowing smoke out his . . .
John Edwards is a personal injury lawyer, the sort of fellow who covers North Carolina with billboards reading, "Y'all May Have Been Malpracticed on by a Doctor and Not Even Know It. Call (800) S-H-Y-S-T-E-R." One of the remaining virtues of European civilization is that you aren't overrun with his ilk. John Edwards should go sue Krispy Kreme doughnuts for making his supporters too fat to get into the voting booths.
Found thanks to Mike
Ah yes, the 'noble warriors of Islam',
sending the handicapped to do their dirty work.
You know, even for a bunch of murdering, terrified of women, self-immolating neolithic goatherds with dire need of Cialis, they've fallen low.
And, of course, the Harry Reid "We've already lost!" clowns are just drooling over this. CF notes:
With tedious predictability, bloggers on the political left jumped with self-satisfaction at the opportunity to write about the attack, "proof" in their eyes, at last, that the "surge" of American forces into Iraq, which they so reviled, was a (blessed) failure.
However, he also notes:
First, it tells us that al Qaeda in Iraq recognizes that attempts to use male suicide bombers and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), their preferred method of suicide attacks for those seeking martyrdom, are no longer effective. These attacks fail because the combination of coalition military forces, Iraqi security forces, and neighborhood militias, known as "concerned local citizens" (CLCs) creating a security system that increasingly works, and makes it very unlikely that these preferred attacks will succeed. There is also some speculation that the influx of would-be foreign suicide bombers into Iraq is drying up.
Today's attacks also tell us that al Qaeda in Iraq is getting very desperate in seeking the high-casualty attacks that they so value. They were forced to scrape the bottom of the proverbial barrel, and use not only women (which they'd prefer to subjugate), but mentally disabled women at that, suggesting that finding willing volunteers is becoming ever more difficult.
It's interesting, both that some lefties are so friggin' happy about these attacks and that the 'noble warriors of the faith' actually believe this will either terrify or delight the Iraqis.
Bah. Both groups deserve each other.
You know, even for a bunch of murdering, terrified of women, self-immolating neolithic goatherds with dire need of Cialis, they've fallen low.
And, of course, the Harry Reid "We've already lost!" clowns are just drooling over this. CF notes:
With tedious predictability, bloggers on the political left jumped with self-satisfaction at the opportunity to write about the attack, "proof" in their eyes, at last, that the "surge" of American forces into Iraq, which they so reviled, was a (blessed) failure.
However, he also notes:
First, it tells us that al Qaeda in Iraq recognizes that attempts to use male suicide bombers and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), their preferred method of suicide attacks for those seeking martyrdom, are no longer effective. These attacks fail because the combination of coalition military forces, Iraqi security forces, and neighborhood militias, known as "concerned local citizens" (CLCs) creating a security system that increasingly works, and makes it very unlikely that these preferred attacks will succeed. There is also some speculation that the influx of would-be foreign suicide bombers into Iraq is drying up.
Today's attacks also tell us that al Qaeda in Iraq is getting very desperate in seeking the high-casualty attacks that they so value. They were forced to scrape the bottom of the proverbial barrel, and use not only women (which they'd prefer to subjugate), but mentally disabled women at that, suggesting that finding willing volunteers is becoming ever more difficult.
It's interesting, both that some lefties are so friggin' happy about these attacks and that the 'noble warriors of the faith' actually believe this will either terrify or delight the Iraqis.
Bah. Both groups deserve each other.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
TT33 Tokarev
Had a chance to shoot one of these a few days ago and-since I helped clean it after- take some pictures. This is one of the Romanian TT33 pistols available now, this one coming from AIM Surplus.
It fires the 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge, a .30-caliber bottleneck pushing a 85-90 grain bullet at 1400-1500 feet per second. Hot little cartridge, same one used in the Czech CZ52 pistol.
It looks a lot like a Browning design; indeed, I've found a couple of descriptions like this:
"It is essentially a slightly redesigned, less polished and somewhat simplified incarnation of John Browning's legendary 1911,". Which isn't surprising, why not copy a good design? Makarov basically did the same thing with the Walther to produce the Makarov pistol, from what I've read. In any case, to specifics:
About 8" long, 4.75" tall, barrel 4.5", weighs about 1.9 pounds.
Single-action semi-auto.
8 round single-stack magazine.
Square-back front post sight, rear notch. Actually better than the original 1911 sights, taller and the blade's a bit thicker.
As originally designed, no manual safety. It does have a half-cock notch on the hammer(I've heard it called a quarter-cock on 1911 pistols), so technically you could carry it with the chamber loaded and the hammer in the notch. You could. Personally, I'd prefer not to. All versions that were imported(so far as I know) were modified with a thumb safety of some design, in this case a vertically pivoting lever mounted below the slide lock:
up is 'safe', down is 'fire'. However, unlike the 1911 safety(which locks the sear) this only blocks the trigger, so cocked & locked carry would be an iffy thing.
We fire this one mostly at about 21 feet with both some Romanian ball and S&B ball. The only problem it had with any was a few of the Romanian cartridges either had the bullet seated a bit far out, or shoulders a bit long, and would not let the slide go into battery. I think the bullet, as when we tried a several of them a second time, they did allow the slide to lock, making me think the bullets set back a touch in the neck the second time. All the S&B ammo cycled through without a problem.
That's about75 rounds, all fired offhand with the usual flyers from getting familiar with it, etc. Once got comfortable with it, it was easy to keep them in the center, helped by this one having a very nice trigger, breaking cleanly at about 5 pounds. This ammo speaks loudly, and in a dim range area gives an interesting muzzle flash. It's actually a comfortable pistol to shoot. The grip is more vertical than the 1911, a bit shorter and more rounded, and the action takes the bite out of that hot little cartridge. I think it's nicer to shoot than the CZ52.
Takedown is interesting. Look in the first picture, see that spring clip? It fits around a pin at the back and slides forward, locking through a groove on that end of the slide lock pin. Push the clip to the rear, push the slide back a touch and the slide lock comes out, then the upper slides forward just like a 1911. Take the recoil spring & guide rod out the bottom of the slide, rotate the barrel bushing 180 degrees and pull it forward, then tip the barrel link forward and the barrel slides out. And then, an interesting difference, the fire control group- hammer, hammer spring, sear and spring- are in a housing that lifts out of the frame.
Cleaned the thing appropriately(the Romanian is corrosive primed) and slid it back together.
This pistol was listed as 'refinished to excellent condition', and it was: the bore bright with sharp rifling, no pitting on the outside, good bluing, no signs of much use. A very nice pistol for the price, and shoots quite well.
If I had one of these for a defense pistol I would NOT use ball ammo: besides the FMJ bullet not expanding, at this velocity overpenetration would be a problem. Wolf makes a hollowpoint for it in their Wolf Gold line, and I think a couple of other brands do also. If they're a good design and upset as they should, that would be a wicked defense round.
Links
Oleg Volk has some nice pictures here.
A history of the cartridge here.
Review of a Polish model here.
A LOT of variants listed here.
Some history on Tokarev here.
Kim's take on it here.
It fires the 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge, a .30-caliber bottleneck pushing a 85-90 grain bullet at 1400-1500 feet per second. Hot little cartridge, same one used in the Czech CZ52 pistol.
It looks a lot like a Browning design; indeed, I've found a couple of descriptions like this:
"It is essentially a slightly redesigned, less polished and somewhat simplified incarnation of John Browning's legendary 1911,". Which isn't surprising, why not copy a good design? Makarov basically did the same thing with the Walther to produce the Makarov pistol, from what I've read. In any case, to specifics:
About 8" long, 4.75" tall, barrel 4.5", weighs about 1.9 pounds.
Single-action semi-auto.
8 round single-stack magazine.
Square-back front post sight, rear notch. Actually better than the original 1911 sights, taller and the blade's a bit thicker.
As originally designed, no manual safety. It does have a half-cock notch on the hammer(I've heard it called a quarter-cock on 1911 pistols), so technically you could carry it with the chamber loaded and the hammer in the notch. You could. Personally, I'd prefer not to. All versions that were imported(so far as I know) were modified with a thumb safety of some design, in this case a vertically pivoting lever mounted below the slide lock:
up is 'safe', down is 'fire'. However, unlike the 1911 safety(which locks the sear) this only blocks the trigger, so cocked & locked carry would be an iffy thing.
We fire this one mostly at about 21 feet with both some Romanian ball and S&B ball. The only problem it had with any was a few of the Romanian cartridges either had the bullet seated a bit far out, or shoulders a bit long, and would not let the slide go into battery. I think the bullet, as when we tried a several of them a second time, they did allow the slide to lock, making me think the bullets set back a touch in the neck the second time. All the S&B ammo cycled through without a problem.
That's about75 rounds, all fired offhand with the usual flyers from getting familiar with it, etc. Once got comfortable with it, it was easy to keep them in the center, helped by this one having a very nice trigger, breaking cleanly at about 5 pounds. This ammo speaks loudly, and in a dim range area gives an interesting muzzle flash. It's actually a comfortable pistol to shoot. The grip is more vertical than the 1911, a bit shorter and more rounded, and the action takes the bite out of that hot little cartridge. I think it's nicer to shoot than the CZ52.
Takedown is interesting. Look in the first picture, see that spring clip? It fits around a pin at the back and slides forward, locking through a groove on that end of the slide lock pin. Push the clip to the rear, push the slide back a touch and the slide lock comes out, then the upper slides forward just like a 1911. Take the recoil spring & guide rod out the bottom of the slide, rotate the barrel bushing 180 degrees and pull it forward, then tip the barrel link forward and the barrel slides out. And then, an interesting difference, the fire control group- hammer, hammer spring, sear and spring- are in a housing that lifts out of the frame.
Cleaned the thing appropriately(the Romanian is corrosive primed) and slid it back together.
This pistol was listed as 'refinished to excellent condition', and it was: the bore bright with sharp rifling, no pitting on the outside, good bluing, no signs of much use. A very nice pistol for the price, and shoots quite well.
If I had one of these for a defense pistol I would NOT use ball ammo: besides the FMJ bullet not expanding, at this velocity overpenetration would be a problem. Wolf makes a hollowpoint for it in their Wolf Gold line, and I think a couple of other brands do also. If they're a good design and upset as they should, that would be a wicked defense round.
Links
Oleg Volk has some nice pictures here.
A history of the cartridge here.
Review of a Polish model here.
A LOT of variants listed here.
Some history on Tokarev here.
Kim's take on it here.
Thanks to Mr. McCarville, I find that the Brady Coalition to Ban Firearms doesn't like our state.
OKLAHOMA STATE LAWS — Click On Law Below For Details
This is the first time I've looked at their site for their rankings on this crap. Interesting. Note that they call for things like "Are only authorized users able to operate handguns?", in other words the mythical 'smart gun'. Which not only doesn't exist, but laws pushing for them have always, I believe, exempted law enforcement. If they actually exist and work, why would you do that?(I know you know; I can't decide whether the Brady Coalition to Ban Firearms doesn't, or doesn't care. Probably the latter)
And 'Ballistic Fingerprinting', which has been such a spectacular failure in NY and MD. And worked so badly in the study that CA dropped the idea.
And things worded in the most dishonest and nasty way, such as "Is deadly force allowed to be a first resort in public?" Of course, they do think that, if you're attacked, you must do everything down to and including crawling on your belly and licking the shoes of your attacker before you consider any kind of violence. That is, except for the BCTBF members who think you should never be allowed to use force to protect yourself. Which idea is working so well in Britain.
In short, if your state
Hasn't trashed the 2nd Amendment completely,
doesn't make you wait for a gun you buy,
doesn't make you get a license to be allowed to buy,
doesn't limit the amount of ammo you own,
doesn't make you wait to be injured(or killed) before 'lethal force' is an option,
doesn't make you register your arms,
doesn't demand your guns be of a non-existant 'smart' type
etc.,
then YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE CHILDRENN!
I, on the other hand, am very happy to say to the Brady Coalition to Ban Firearms, "Screw you, nanny." We care about people, including the chilluns("Grab that extra brick of .22's, we want plenty when we hit the range, kids"),and about freedom. Which you don't.
OKLAHOMA STATE LAWS — Click On Law Below For Details
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This is the first time I've looked at their site for their rankings on this crap. Interesting. Note that they call for things like "Are only authorized users able to operate handguns?", in other words the mythical 'smart gun'. Which not only doesn't exist, but laws pushing for them have always, I believe, exempted law enforcement. If they actually exist and work, why would you do that?(I know you know; I can't decide whether the Brady Coalition to Ban Firearms doesn't, or doesn't care. Probably the latter)
And 'Ballistic Fingerprinting', which has been such a spectacular failure in NY and MD. And worked so badly in the study that CA dropped the idea.
And things worded in the most dishonest and nasty way, such as "Is deadly force allowed to be a first resort in public?" Of course, they do think that, if you're attacked, you must do everything down to and including crawling on your belly and licking the shoes of your attacker before you consider any kind of violence. That is, except for the BCTBF members who think you should never be allowed to use force to protect yourself. Which idea is working so well in Britain.
In short, if your state
Hasn't trashed the 2nd Amendment completely,
doesn't make you wait for a gun you buy,
doesn't make you get a license to be allowed to buy,
doesn't limit the amount of ammo you own,
doesn't make you wait to be injured(or killed) before 'lethal force' is an option,
doesn't make you register your arms,
doesn't demand your guns be of a non-existant 'smart' type
etc.,
then YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE CHILDRENN!
I, on the other hand, am very happy to say to the Brady Coalition to Ban Firearms, "Screw you, nanny." We care about people, including the chilluns("Grab that extra brick of .22's, we want plenty when we hit the range, kids"),and about freedom. Which you don't.
Well, I guess they were bored:
probably no children to molest or enough women to set up brothels.
Spectacular prehistoric depictions of animal and human figures created up to 6,000 years ago on Western Saharan rocks have been vandalised by United Nations peacekeepers, The Times has learnt.
Archaeological sites boasting ancient paintings and engravings of giraffes, buffalo and elephants have been defaced within the past two years by personnel attached to the UN mission, known by its French acronym, Minurso.
Graffiti, some of it more than a metre high and sprayed with paint meant for use for marking routes, now blights the rock art at Lajuad, an isolated site known as Devil Mountain, which is regarded by the local Sahrawi population as a mystical place of great cultural significance.
Used to be, anyway.
Julian J. Harston, the UN’s representative of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara and head of Minurso, said that he had been shocked by the scale of the vandalism. After visiting two of the sites, including Devil Mountain, this week, he said: “I was appalled. You’d think some of them would know better. These are officers, not squaddies.” The UN would take action against any officers “kind enough to leave their calling card. We will report it to the troop-contributing countries. We can move them.”
That's punishment, all right!
...Minurso staff have felt entitled to destroy elements of Western Sahara’s and the Sahrawis’ cultural heritage, despite being aware of UN ethics in peacekeeping, and in breach of legislation enshrined in the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.”
Them Conventions really got teeth, don't they?
It concludes: “Minurso personnel have played a major role in damaging archaeological sites, and such staff are engaged in the systematic defacement of valuable archaeological sites over a large area . . . the recent damage at Lajuad is unprecedented.”
The vandalism will reignite the debate about the conduct of UN peacekeepers after a series of scandals. Last January the UN admitted that more than 200 of its troops had been disciplined for sex offences, including rape and child abuse, in the preceding three years; in May it emerged that Paki-stani peacekeepers had been trading weapons with Congolese militia.
UN Peacekeepers: Defacing History That Others Won't!
Added: I was thinking about the line as a mystical place of great cultural significance. I wonder if there's some reason they couldn't say 'as a holy place.'
Spectacular prehistoric depictions of animal and human figures created up to 6,000 years ago on Western Saharan rocks have been vandalised by United Nations peacekeepers, The Times has learnt.
Archaeological sites boasting ancient paintings and engravings of giraffes, buffalo and elephants have been defaced within the past two years by personnel attached to the UN mission, known by its French acronym, Minurso.
Graffiti, some of it more than a metre high and sprayed with paint meant for use for marking routes, now blights the rock art at Lajuad, an isolated site known as Devil Mountain, which is regarded by the local Sahrawi population as a mystical place of great cultural significance.
Used to be, anyway.
Julian J. Harston, the UN’s representative of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara and head of Minurso, said that he had been shocked by the scale of the vandalism. After visiting two of the sites, including Devil Mountain, this week, he said: “I was appalled. You’d think some of them would know better. These are officers, not squaddies.” The UN would take action against any officers “kind enough to leave their calling card. We will report it to the troop-contributing countries. We can move them.”
That's punishment, all right!
...Minurso staff have felt entitled to destroy elements of Western Sahara’s and the Sahrawis’ cultural heritage, despite being aware of UN ethics in peacekeeping, and in breach of legislation enshrined in the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.”
Them Conventions really got teeth, don't they?
It concludes: “Minurso personnel have played a major role in damaging archaeological sites, and such staff are engaged in the systematic defacement of valuable archaeological sites over a large area . . . the recent damage at Lajuad is unprecedented.”
The vandalism will reignite the debate about the conduct of UN peacekeepers after a series of scandals. Last January the UN admitted that more than 200 of its troops had been disciplined for sex offences, including rape and child abuse, in the preceding three years; in May it emerged that Paki-stani peacekeepers had been trading weapons with Congolese militia.
UN Peacekeepers: Defacing History That Others Won't!
Added: I was thinking about the line as a mystical place of great cultural significance. I wonder if there's some reason they couldn't say 'as a holy place.'
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Be it noted
the amount of habanero that just makes a pot of chili nice & warm, makes the same size pot of stew a touch on the hot side.
Good, though. Especially with cornbread.g
Good, though. Especially with cornbread.g
Another reason Britain ought to go back to having a death penalty
Islamic extremist gang 'plotted to kidnap British Muslim soldier and behead him like a pig'
An Islamist fanatic plotted to snatch a British Muslim soldier from the streets and film him being beheaded "like a pig" in a lock-up garage, a court heard.
Parviz Khan, 37, built up a terrorist cell in Birmingham and planned to kidnap the soldier before filming his "ghastly" death for release to the media.
The attack was designed to cause "panic and fear" amongst the Army and the wider British public.
...
Leicester Crown Court was told that the terror cell had sent money and equipment to Pakistan for the use of terrorists trying to kill British soldiers on the Afghan border.
Prosecutor Nigel Rumfitt QC said Khan wanted to get "physically involved" in the bloodshed but was prevented by "his bosses overseas" because his supply operation was so valued.
Instead, the court heard, he hatched the plot to kill a soldier in the UK.
Such lovely people, aren't they?
Thanks to Theo for pointing this out.
An Islamist fanatic plotted to snatch a British Muslim soldier from the streets and film him being beheaded "like a pig" in a lock-up garage, a court heard.
Parviz Khan, 37, built up a terrorist cell in Birmingham and planned to kidnap the soldier before filming his "ghastly" death for release to the media.
The attack was designed to cause "panic and fear" amongst the Army and the wider British public.
...
Leicester Crown Court was told that the terror cell had sent money and equipment to Pakistan for the use of terrorists trying to kill British soldiers on the Afghan border.
Prosecutor Nigel Rumfitt QC said Khan wanted to get "physically involved" in the bloodshed but was prevented by "his bosses overseas" because his supply operation was so valued.
Instead, the court heard, he hatched the plot to kill a soldier in the UK.
Such lovely people, aren't they?
Thanks to Theo for pointing this out.
Monster Hunter International
Finished it last night. Good book, well worth getting hold of.
Remember I said I found myself delaying finishing it for the same reason as the last Dresden book? Something struck me about it: it read similar to the first Dresden book, Storm Front. Not the same story, similarities in being a first book. Not a bad thing, that was a good book too, and look where it led.
Remember I said I found myself delaying finishing it for the same reason as the last Dresden book? Something struck me about it: it read similar to the first Dresden book, Storm Front. Not the same story, similarities in being a first book. Not a bad thing, that was a good book too, and look where it led.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Yup, gummint health care
is gonna be great.
Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.
And if I remember right, Governor Sibelius has been a bit hostile to CCW, but she's all a-twitter over this:
“Fight your way through six different exciting locations in hopes of being granted parole,” the box reads. “Escape prison riots in the yard, slip glass into the mob boss’s lasagna in the cafeteria, steal painkillers from the nurse’s desk in the Infirmary, avoid being cornered by the Aryans in the Shower Room, fight off Latin Kings in Gang War and try not to smoke your entire stash in the Hole.”
So what influences from a buttoned-down Democratic upbringing led to a sexually charged board game with gang names like Zulu Nation, Texas Syndicate and Nazi Lowriders? A game that stipulates that “a guard finds you after you sold him some bad crack. Lose a turn and 50 packs” or “You slipped in the shower. Big mistake. Proceed to infirmary”?
Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.
And if I remember right, Governor Sibelius has been a bit hostile to CCW, but she's all a-twitter over this:
“Fight your way through six different exciting locations in hopes of being granted parole,” the box reads. “Escape prison riots in the yard, slip glass into the mob boss’s lasagna in the cafeteria, steal painkillers from the nurse’s desk in the Infirmary, avoid being cornered by the Aryans in the Shower Room, fight off Latin Kings in Gang War and try not to smoke your entire stash in the Hole.”
So what influences from a buttoned-down Democratic upbringing led to a sexually charged board game with gang names like Zulu Nation, Texas Syndicate and Nazi Lowriders? A game that stipulates that “a guard finds you after you sold him some bad crack. Lose a turn and 50 packs” or “You slipped in the shower. Big mistake. Proceed to infirmary”?
Ah, the wonders of multi-culturalism
and its effect on gays.
I wrote before about the idiocy of groups like 'Queers for Palistine' demonstrating for a group that would, at the least, beat the crap out of them and tell them "Change or die." Well, here's some of what that good old tolerance for the 'poor muslims' has brought.
Not very long ago, Oslo was an icy Shangri-la of Scandinavian self-discipline, governability, and respect for the law. But in recent years, there have been grim changes, including a rise in gay-bashings. The summer of 2006 saw an unprecedented wave of them. The culprits, very disproportionately, are young Muslim men.
It’s not just Oslo, of course. The problem afflicts most of Western Europe. And anecdotal evidence suggests that such crimes are dramatically underreported. My own partner chose not to report his assault. I urged him to, but he protested that it wouldn’t make any difference. He was probably right.
The reason for the rise in gay bashings in Europe is clear – and it’s the same reason for the rise in rape. As the number of Muslims in Europe grows, and as the proportion of those Muslims who were born and bred in Europe also grows, many Muslim men are more inclined to see Europe as a part of the umma (or Muslim world), to believe that they have the right and duty to enforce sharia law in the cities where they live, and to recognize that any aggression on their part will likely go unpunished. Such men need not be actively religious in order to feel that they have carte blanche to assault openly gay men and non-submissive women, whose freedom to live their lives as they wish is among the most conspicuous symbols of the West’s defiance of holy law.
...
Alas, it is now very clearly the opposite. The number of reported gay-bashings in Amsterdam now climbs steadily year by year. Nearly half Muslim, the city is a front in the struggle between democracy and sharia, under which, lest it be forgotten, homosexuality can be a capital offense. Things have gotten so bad there that even on the part of the exceedingly politically correct, there has been a degree of acknowledgment that something has changed, and is still changing. After a group of Amsterdam Muslims beat up Chris Crain, the six-foot-five editor of the gay newspaper The Washington Blade, in May 2005, the head of the Netherlands’ leading gay-rights organization admitted that tolerance of gay people in that city was “slipping away like sand through the fingers” and that “gays and lesbians are less willing to walk hand-in-hand because they might be beaten up.”
I can testify that this is true. Yet politicians, journalists, activists, and others who cling to the multicultural mindset can’t bring themselves to acknowledge the Islamic foundations of all this bullying. Instead, they offer the same kind of nonsense that was served up by a Human Rights Watch spokesman after the Chris Crain incident. “There’s still an extraordinary degree of racism in Dutch society,” that spokesman said. “Gays often become the victims of this when immigrants retaliate for the inequities they have to suffer.”
Yeah, the muslims are ALWAYS the victim. Not just in their own eyes, but in the eyes of the PC-at-all-costs brigade. This is in Amsterdam, mind you, where they've bent over backwards to the point of no longer having a spine to show their 'tolerance'. Which, at this level is more accurately known as their society death wish.
In any event, another mayor, London’s Ken Livingstone, has already blazed that trail. In 2004, playing host to Sunni scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who has supported the execution of gay people, Livingstone hailed him as a “progressive.” When gay activists called him on this ridiculous assertion, Livingstone retaliated by putting out a dissertation-length report whitewashing Qaradawi and smearing his critics as racists.
Progressives, aren't they cute?
And for an illustration of a big part of the problem, the unwillingness of so many muslims to criticize anything done by the radical/traditional types, or- if they do speak a criticism- their making excuses for it, no matter what, we go back to Norway:
Perhaps younger, well educated Muslims are more enlightened? Another participant in the University of Oslo debate, Muslim Student Association head Usman Rana, said that he personally didn’t support making homosexuality a capital crime, but that he would not criticize other countries’ practices. “There is unfortunately a tendency in Norway to degrade religious people,” Rana told Universitas, the college newspaper. “It is due to an extreme secularism among the Norwegian public. I fervently hope that our participation [in the debate on the death penalty for gays] helps to create a more nuanced view of Islam. The Norwegian public needs to become more liberal.”
Got it. If you speak out against wanting to make being homosexual a death penalty offense, it means you're 'downgrading religious people', you're not 'liberal' enough. And, again, muslims are the victims, no matter what.
Happily, not all buy into this "We must be the victim, no matter what, no matter who" crap. These folks, for instance, seem quite willing to point things out. And just how much publicity do they get? Damn little, and I'll bet if you asked a lot of 'progressives' why they don't bring them up, you'd hear something along the lines of "We shouldn't criticize, or help those who do criticize Islam, it's insensitive." Even if the people criticizing are trying to keep their religeon from completely devolving to nothing more than a murder cult wanting total power. It's already that to far too many, we need to encourage those who want to save it from that.
I wrote before about the idiocy of groups like 'Queers for Palistine' demonstrating for a group that would, at the least, beat the crap out of them and tell them "Change or die." Well, here's some of what that good old tolerance for the 'poor muslims' has brought.
Not very long ago, Oslo was an icy Shangri-la of Scandinavian self-discipline, governability, and respect for the law. But in recent years, there have been grim changes, including a rise in gay-bashings. The summer of 2006 saw an unprecedented wave of them. The culprits, very disproportionately, are young Muslim men.
It’s not just Oslo, of course. The problem afflicts most of Western Europe. And anecdotal evidence suggests that such crimes are dramatically underreported. My own partner chose not to report his assault. I urged him to, but he protested that it wouldn’t make any difference. He was probably right.
The reason for the rise in gay bashings in Europe is clear – and it’s the same reason for the rise in rape. As the number of Muslims in Europe grows, and as the proportion of those Muslims who were born and bred in Europe also grows, many Muslim men are more inclined to see Europe as a part of the umma (or Muslim world), to believe that they have the right and duty to enforce sharia law in the cities where they live, and to recognize that any aggression on their part will likely go unpunished. Such men need not be actively religious in order to feel that they have carte blanche to assault openly gay men and non-submissive women, whose freedom to live their lives as they wish is among the most conspicuous symbols of the West’s defiance of holy law.
...
Alas, it is now very clearly the opposite. The number of reported gay-bashings in Amsterdam now climbs steadily year by year. Nearly half Muslim, the city is a front in the struggle between democracy and sharia, under which, lest it be forgotten, homosexuality can be a capital offense. Things have gotten so bad there that even on the part of the exceedingly politically correct, there has been a degree of acknowledgment that something has changed, and is still changing. After a group of Amsterdam Muslims beat up Chris Crain, the six-foot-five editor of the gay newspaper The Washington Blade, in May 2005, the head of the Netherlands’ leading gay-rights organization admitted that tolerance of gay people in that city was “slipping away like sand through the fingers” and that “gays and lesbians are less willing to walk hand-in-hand because they might be beaten up.”
I can testify that this is true. Yet politicians, journalists, activists, and others who cling to the multicultural mindset can’t bring themselves to acknowledge the Islamic foundations of all this bullying. Instead, they offer the same kind of nonsense that was served up by a Human Rights Watch spokesman after the Chris Crain incident. “There’s still an extraordinary degree of racism in Dutch society,” that spokesman said. “Gays often become the victims of this when immigrants retaliate for the inequities they have to suffer.”
Yeah, the muslims are ALWAYS the victim. Not just in their own eyes, but in the eyes of the PC-at-all-costs brigade. This is in Amsterdam, mind you, where they've bent over backwards to the point of no longer having a spine to show their 'tolerance'. Which, at this level is more accurately known as their society death wish.
In any event, another mayor, London’s Ken Livingstone, has already blazed that trail. In 2004, playing host to Sunni scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who has supported the execution of gay people, Livingstone hailed him as a “progressive.” When gay activists called him on this ridiculous assertion, Livingstone retaliated by putting out a dissertation-length report whitewashing Qaradawi and smearing his critics as racists.
Progressives, aren't they cute?
And for an illustration of a big part of the problem, the unwillingness of so many muslims to criticize anything done by the radical/traditional types, or- if they do speak a criticism- their making excuses for it, no matter what, we go back to Norway:
Perhaps younger, well educated Muslims are more enlightened? Another participant in the University of Oslo debate, Muslim Student Association head Usman Rana, said that he personally didn’t support making homosexuality a capital crime, but that he would not criticize other countries’ practices. “There is unfortunately a tendency in Norway to degrade religious people,” Rana told Universitas, the college newspaper. “It is due to an extreme secularism among the Norwegian public. I fervently hope that our participation [in the debate on the death penalty for gays] helps to create a more nuanced view of Islam. The Norwegian public needs to become more liberal.”
Got it. If you speak out against wanting to make being homosexual a death penalty offense, it means you're 'downgrading religious people', you're not 'liberal' enough. And, again, muslims are the victims, no matter what.
Happily, not all buy into this "We must be the victim, no matter what, no matter who" crap. These folks, for instance, seem quite willing to point things out. And just how much publicity do they get? Damn little, and I'll bet if you asked a lot of 'progressives' why they don't bring them up, you'd hear something along the lines of "We shouldn't criticize, or help those who do criticize Islam, it's insensitive." Even if the people criticizing are trying to keep their religeon from completely devolving to nothing more than a murder cult wanting total power. It's already that to far too many, we need to encourage those who want to save it from that.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Retired Green Beanie court martialed:
Trial Enjoyed by All
BREVARD, Jan. 19, 2008 – Retired Army Green Beret Smokey Taylor got his court martial this weekend and came away feeling good about it.
Taylor, at age 80 the oldest member of Chapter XXXIII of the Special Forces Association, was on trial by his peers under the charge of “failing to use a weapon of sufficient caliber” in the shooting of an intruder at his home in Knoxville, TN, in December.
...
Taylor said nothing in his own defense, choosing instead to allow his peers to debate the matter. After the trial he said the ammunition was indeed old and added the new information that the perp had soiled his pants as he crawled out of the house.
“I would have had an even worse mess to clean up if it had gone through his forehead,” Taylor said. “It was good for both of us that it didn’t.”
I had to create a 'Disarmament idiocy' link
for this crap.
"I would have stopped him," Knox said. "Because when I went to school, I carried a gun. It was legal; I did it."
Goddard, a Virginia Tech senior who was shot four times in the April 16 massacre, was taken aback, then said: "I feel sorry for you - the fact that you feel you need to protect yourself in every situation.
"You're afraid of crazy situations happening. I've lived through this and I know that I can't continue in my life afraid of things," he said, adding that he put his "full trust" in the police to protect society.
I have to sit here and marvel at the idiocy of this. He's sorry for someone who 'feels the need to protect himself'? SORRY?!? "...I know I can't continue in my life to be afraid of things," but is SORRY for someone who's not afraid, only prepared just in case?
Just frickin' amazing. Of course it fits in with the ADL jumping into the Heller case, commented on by the Pistolero here.
People who think A: there's something very moral about being disarmed and unwilling to protect themselves and B: want the rest of us to be forced into the same mindset, or at least forced to act like it. Wonderful.
"I would have stopped him," Knox said. "Because when I went to school, I carried a gun. It was legal; I did it."
Goddard, a Virginia Tech senior who was shot four times in the April 16 massacre, was taken aback, then said: "I feel sorry for you - the fact that you feel you need to protect yourself in every situation.
"You're afraid of crazy situations happening. I've lived through this and I know that I can't continue in my life afraid of things," he said, adding that he put his "full trust" in the police to protect society.
I have to sit here and marvel at the idiocy of this. He's sorry for someone who 'feels the need to protect himself'? SORRY?!? "...I know I can't continue in my life to be afraid of things," but is SORRY for someone who's not afraid, only prepared just in case?
Just frickin' amazing. Of course it fits in with the ADL jumping into the Heller case, commented on by the Pistolero here.
People who think A: there's something very moral about being disarmed and unwilling to protect themselves and B: want the rest of us to be forced into the same mindset, or at least forced to act like it. Wonderful.
Book update
Monster Hunter International
I'm about 3/4 through it, and I like it. I realized the other day the reason haven't finished it yet, I've been reading it same as I did the last Dresden Files book: don't want it to be over too soon, so haven't been reading the way I usually do.
Soon, soon...
I'm about 3/4 through it, and I like it. I realized the other day the reason haven't finished it yet, I've been reading it same as I did the last Dresden Files book: don't want it to be over too soon, so haven't been reading the way I usually do.
Soon, soon...
More information on the latest SWAT raids gone wrong
Sebastian had this with this link to Balko on this raid. And it does not look good. It looks like they set up the raid based solely on the statement of the informant with no investigation to see if the information was good. Looked a bit more recently and he's got this:
That’s not the case with Frederick. It took five days just to reveal that the police found drugs. We’ve yet to be told what quantity of drugs police found in his home. We do know that they didn’t find the major grow operation described in the warrant. It’s also probably time to start inquiring about the informant whose tip led to the raid. Who is he? Did he have a grudge against Frederick? What exactly did he see that made him think this was a major operation? Does he know enough about marijuana to know what a major grow operation would look like?
He told me a couple of interesting things that didn’t appear in the paper’s interview with Frederick. First, Frederick told the reporter that as the police were taking him out of the house in handcuffs, he told them he was sorry, and that he was scared because his house had been burglarized earlier in the week. According to the reporter, Frederick says the police arresting him then told him they not only knew about the burglary, they knew who had done it. Neither the reporter nor Frederick made the connection at the time that the person who broke in could well also be the informant.
...
More interesting, though, are the comments from neighbors who not only also vouch for Frederick’s credibility, they also say they never heard the announcement the Chesapeake Police Department insists was given before officers forced entry. One was outside at the time of the raid. That’s not to say there was no announcement. It is to say that if someone standing outside didn’t hear it, how could we expect Frederick, who was inside and in bed, to hear it?
among other things.
At this point it looks like the end result of this mess is that an unnecessary 'dynamic entry' was done on lousy reason, with no prior investigation of the information, on the home of a gardener who had a little grass for personal use. Who apparently had NO marijuana growing at all, let alone the 'sophisticated grow operation' the informant claimed. And a lot of other very flaky information as to who did what. Which led the the completely unnecessary raid and the death of a police officer.
Damn.
That’s not the case with Frederick. It took five days just to reveal that the police found drugs. We’ve yet to be told what quantity of drugs police found in his home. We do know that they didn’t find the major grow operation described in the warrant. It’s also probably time to start inquiring about the informant whose tip led to the raid. Who is he? Did he have a grudge against Frederick? What exactly did he see that made him think this was a major operation? Does he know enough about marijuana to know what a major grow operation would look like?
Here’s another scary thought: Frederick says one reason he was frightened was that three days prior to the shooting, someone had broken into his house, rummaged through his belongings, but didn’t take anything. The search warrant says that the confidential informant was in Frederick’s home within 72 hours of the raid. Could it be that the informant was the one who broke into Frederick’s house? Might be worth asking Frederick who was in his home in the previous week.
and this:He told me a couple of interesting things that didn’t appear in the paper’s interview with Frederick. First, Frederick told the reporter that as the police were taking him out of the house in handcuffs, he told them he was sorry, and that he was scared because his house had been burglarized earlier in the week. According to the reporter, Frederick says the police arresting him then told him they not only knew about the burglary, they knew who had done it. Neither the reporter nor Frederick made the connection at the time that the person who broke in could well also be the informant.
...
More interesting, though, are the comments from neighbors who not only also vouch for Frederick’s credibility, they also say they never heard the announcement the Chesapeake Police Department insists was given before officers forced entry. One was outside at the time of the raid. That’s not to say there was no announcement. It is to say that if someone standing outside didn’t hear it, how could we expect Frederick, who was inside and in bed, to hear it?
among other things.
At this point it looks like the end result of this mess is that an unnecessary 'dynamic entry' was done on lousy reason, with no prior investigation of the information, on the home of a gardener who had a little grass for personal use. Who apparently had NO marijuana growing at all, let alone the 'sophisticated grow operation' the informant claimed. And a lot of other very flaky information as to who did what. Which led the the completely unnecessary raid and the death of a police officer.
Damn.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
We need some joys in the evening
from SondraAnd from Seraphic Secret:
1. Israel allowed 50 trucks full of food supplies into Gaza today. Before that, most Gazans had been forced to eat surplus explosives.
2. Palestinians say the supplies of flour and milk Israel allowed into Gaza today were "insufficient"... mostly because they can't figure out how to set them on fire.
3. The European Commission is condemning Israel's actions to stop Palestinian rocket attacks as “collective punishment"... because stopping the attacks unfairly keeps Palestinians from dancing in the streets when Jews die.
4. Israel has shut off all power to Gaza. Apparently, suicide bombers and exploding rockets are not an acceptable payment for the electric bill.
5. Hamas leaders are strongly protesting the move, especially since darkness makes it hard to continue killing people.I'd love to have seen the face of the Arab
when he looked up:
As he grew, he became a key member of the unit, being trained to carry mortar shells.
In the heat of summer, he reportedly learned to work the shower of the unit's bath hut.
On one occasion, Voytek was delighted to find the door ajar - and discovered an Arab who was spying for a raiding party.
The intruder confessed all, and the enemy were rounded up. Hailed a hero, Voytek was given two bottles of beer and allowed to spend all morning splashing happily in the bath hut.
I'll bet he was.
As he grew, he became a key member of the unit, being trained to carry mortar shells.
In the heat of summer, he reportedly learned to work the shower of the unit's bath hut.
On one occasion, Voytek was delighted to find the door ajar - and discovered an Arab who was spying for a raiding party.
The intruder confessed all, and the enemy were rounded up. Hailed a hero, Voytek was given two bottles of beer and allowed to spend all morning splashing happily in the bath hut.
I'll bet he was.
It's not a Righteous Shooting,
unfortunately, but at least the bad guys got hammered.
Despite being temporarily knocked unconscious and then stabbed three times in the head, he said he became "invigorated" by the sight of the attackers threatening his 13-year-old daughter Aisling.
In a rage he wrestled a gun from the arms of one attacker and then beat and chased the masked raiders from his home.
Despite being temporarily knocked unconscious and then stabbed three times in the head, he said he became "invigorated" by the sight of the attackers threatening his 13-year-old daughter Aisling.
In a rage he wrestled a gun from the arms of one attacker and then beat and chased the masked raiders from his home.
The Old Bailey heard how the armed trio turned up at Mr Dwyer's luxury home in Uxbridge, west London, a day after battering to death restaurant owner Helen Chung, 65.
Just a bunch of little choirboys out for a lark, weren't they?
...
"These b**tards were out of control. We were going to die anyway, that's what I thought.
"I thought if I am going to die then I would rather die like a man than a dog. The guy was standing over me with the gun and I thought if I can move the gun with my arm and make the bullet go into the wall I could come up and bash him."
Mr Dwyer described how he pushed the weapon away from his face before rising up to strike his attacker.
"I hit him several times, I hit him plenty," he said.
"The man with the knuckle-duster screamed, 'He's fighting back the b**tard, kill the b**tard, he's fighting back."
Take note of that last(bold mine). These little shits are so used to nobody daring to stand up to them, it's an actual shock when someone does.
But the businessman, who is married to wife Jane and has a second son Shaun, 19, told the court how the pair would not leave and tried to push back into the bedroom.
"So we had another bout of fisticuffs," said Mr Dwyer, "But this time I’m in charge of this battle. I let the door go and let them fall in and then, bam, had a go at them again.
"I have never used a weapon in my life and it was a great feeling. I grabbed the gun and bashed it across the knuckle-duster guy.
"Next thing is they took off and I chased them down the stairs. I bashed knuckle-duster man with the gun and I broke the handle on his head."
The burglars fled empty handed in the car they had stolen from Mrs Chung minutes earlier, the jury has heard.
Mr Dwyer was left with broken ribs in the attack as well as 30 cuts to his body and head including a gaping 3cm wound in his thigh.
What's the one thing that's been pointed out by many over time? The single most important thing is your mindset: if it happens, fight to win no matter what.
Mr. Dwyer, your nation needs more people like you, and if there was a way I'd buy you a drink. It's too bad you don't know how to shoot, you could have punched the tickets of the bastards when you got the gun away from them. Better yet, if your government wasn't so full of GFW nannies you could have had something appropriate of your own.
In any case, as happy an ending as could probably be in Britain these days, brought to you by the Englishman.
Friday, January 25, 2008
On John McCain and
'learning his lesson on immigration'.
The ethnocentrist, border obliteration activist is in tight with the top echelons of the McCain camp. McCain campaign guru Mark MacKinnon is in the foreground. Maybe sending e-mails about their future shamnesty plans with Teddy Kennedy and Lindsay Graham.
...
Hernandez was a close advisor to Vicente “Welcome to North America” Fox and headed up a Mexican bureaucracy called the “Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad.” It was designed to allow Hernandez to travel across the country, meddling with local, state, and federal immigration enforcement on behalf of millions of illegal aliens in America. He lobbied for illegal alien driver’s licenses and Mexico first, defended Mexican bus operators carrying illegal aliens to the USA, and promoted extending banking privileges to illegal aliens.
Miserable, lying politician. And that goes for both of them.
The ethnocentrist, border obliteration activist is in tight with the top echelons of the McCain camp. McCain campaign guru Mark MacKinnon is in the foreground. Maybe sending e-mails about their future shamnesty plans with Teddy Kennedy and Lindsay Graham.
...
Hernandez was a close advisor to Vicente “Welcome to North America” Fox and headed up a Mexican bureaucracy called the “Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad.” It was designed to allow Hernandez to travel across the country, meddling with local, state, and federal immigration enforcement on behalf of millions of illegal aliens in America. He lobbied for illegal alien driver’s licenses and Mexico first, defended Mexican bus operators carrying illegal aliens to the USA, and promoted extending banking privileges to illegal aliens.
Miserable, lying politician. And that goes for both of them.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Idiocy roundup
I've heard a lot of nasty things about New Jersey, and this fits right in:
The administrator walked away when Lonegan said that they had a right to protest a public meeting peacefully and that he wanted to see the board's written policy on the matter. A dozen police officers then insisted that Lonegan move at least one-quarter mile from the school. When Lonegan replied: "Nope," he was handcuffed and placed under arrest. Former Atlantic City Councilman Seth Grossman was likewise arrested for being among those holding signs that read: "No Toll Hikes!!! Repudiate Unconstitutional Debt!" Bold mine
Not enough to say "You can't stand here", they wanted them "at least" a quarter-mile away? What's Jersey for 'bullshit'?
University PC idiocy:
Nor is the University's explanation for its silence remotely justifiable. As best I can tell from the accounts, the University's argument is that it can't describe what specifically was said because it needs to protect the student's confidentiality — but if this was supposedly said in open class, why would revealing the statement jeopardize the student's confidentiality? (The article that quotes Jane quotes her as saying that she "came to [her] professor and said, 'this is crazy'"; presumably she means someone other than Hindley when she says "my professor," but if she did tell him, then I'm still more baffled by how there could be any risk to the student's confidentiality here.)
And at another of our bastions of education:
But in any event, the university doesn't even claim that the student is punished solely because of the alleged threat: It expressly says that part of the reason for the investigation (and, one can infer, the ultimate punishment) was the anti-gay viewpoint of the statements. That's a pretty clear violation of the First Amendment.
But, as we've been told, the 1st only counts if you're not hurting the feelings of a protected group. Or being generally non-PC.
Remember the tiger at the San Francisco zoo? Well, look at this. The damn wall was 1/3 shorter than it should have been. And it looks like there's some other problems there. You know, I don't care if the clowns were yelling at the cat: that makes them jerks, but it does not relieve the zoo of its responsibility in this mess.
On this, I can't decide for certain whether to be worried or not; you could make the case either way, just an unfortunate piece of wording or a sympathizer with the enemy speaking.
The administrator walked away when Lonegan said that they had a right to protest a public meeting peacefully and that he wanted to see the board's written policy on the matter. A dozen police officers then insisted that Lonegan move at least one-quarter mile from the school. When Lonegan replied: "Nope," he was handcuffed and placed under arrest. Former Atlantic City Councilman Seth Grossman was likewise arrested for being among those holding signs that read: "No Toll Hikes!!! Repudiate Unconstitutional Debt!" Bold mine
Not enough to say "You can't stand here", they wanted them "at least" a quarter-mile away? What's Jersey for 'bullshit'?
University PC idiocy:
Nor is the University's explanation for its silence remotely justifiable. As best I can tell from the accounts, the University's argument is that it can't describe what specifically was said because it needs to protect the student's confidentiality — but if this was supposedly said in open class, why would revealing the statement jeopardize the student's confidentiality? (The article that quotes Jane quotes her as saying that she "came to [her] professor and said, 'this is crazy'"; presumably she means someone other than Hindley when she says "my professor," but if she did tell him, then I'm still more baffled by how there could be any risk to the student's confidentiality here.)
And at another of our bastions of education:
But in any event, the university doesn't even claim that the student is punished solely because of the alleged threat: It expressly says that part of the reason for the investigation (and, one can infer, the ultimate punishment) was the anti-gay viewpoint of the statements. That's a pretty clear violation of the First Amendment.
But, as we've been told, the 1st only counts if you're not hurting the feelings of a protected group. Or being generally non-PC.
Remember the tiger at the San Francisco zoo? Well, look at this. The damn wall was 1/3 shorter than it should have been. And it looks like there's some other problems there. You know, I don't care if the clowns were yelling at the cat: that makes them jerks, but it does not relieve the zoo of its responsibility in this mess.
On this, I can't decide for certain whether to be worried or not; you could make the case either way, just an unfortunate piece of wording or a sympathizer with the enemy speaking.
It's official: Some of the boys in blue
are out of their frikkin' minds:
...Hello, F-ing cover fire Gents, get the job done! This is really something that pisses me off, we are breeding a bunch of victimsnot warriors! If your fellow Warrior is going to be on point and he/she takes a round or gun fire???? Lay down SUPPRESSIVE FIRE A.S.A.P. so you can get your fellow Officer out of the kill zone! We out here on LAPD had a bunch of Officers serving a warrant on a 187 suspect and after the knock and notice, he put 7 , 45 caliber rounds from a Glock 21 through the door, and NO ONE in the stack laid down any cover fire!!! WTF???...
Sailor Curt has that post on another SWAT raid gone bad, which has gotten a lot of press on the web the last few days.
I wrote a while back about a magazine with an article about "Dallas SWAT: Street Warriors" and commented on the problem with that mindset; up above you've got one of the aspects of the problem. Freakin' SUPPRESSIVE FIRE? In an urban area? Hello, dumbass, have you heard of danger to innocent people? Like in the house or other apartments? Or down the damn street, depending on weapons and just where they're aimed? In a terrorist incident you MIGHT be able to legitimately argue that, but not here. YOU ARE NOT A SOLDIER: you are SUPPOSED to be a LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. They are NOT the same job.
Among other things Sailor Curt notes "What I found especially interesting was the list of items seized. Note that there is no mention of drugs or drug paraphernalia." And since drugs were the reason for the raid...
By the way, I saw a comment at one site by someone that 8:30 PM isn't too late, people aren't generally asleep, etc. Some shifts I work, that time is about halfway between when I go to bed and get up: I'm sound asleep. Somebody yells "Police!" and then breaks in my door, all I'm going to hear is the door breaking and intruders in my home. Considering how many people work different shifts, that would cover a bunch of folks.
...Hello, F-ing cover fire Gents, get the job done! This is really something that pisses me off, we are breeding a bunch of victimsnot warriors! If your fellow Warrior is going to be on point and he/she takes a round or gun fire???? Lay down SUPPRESSIVE FIRE A.S.A.P. so you can get your fellow Officer out of the kill zone! We out here on LAPD had a bunch of Officers serving a warrant on a 187 suspect and after the knock and notice, he put 7 , 45 caliber rounds from a Glock 21 through the door, and NO ONE in the stack laid down any cover fire!!! WTF???...
Sailor Curt has that post on another SWAT raid gone bad, which has gotten a lot of press on the web the last few days.
I wrote a while back about a magazine with an article about "Dallas SWAT: Street Warriors" and commented on the problem with that mindset; up above you've got one of the aspects of the problem. Freakin' SUPPRESSIVE FIRE? In an urban area? Hello, dumbass, have you heard of danger to innocent people? Like in the house or other apartments? Or down the damn street, depending on weapons and just where they're aimed? In a terrorist incident you MIGHT be able to legitimately argue that, but not here. YOU ARE NOT A SOLDIER: you are SUPPOSED to be a LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. They are NOT the same job.
Among other things Sailor Curt notes "What I found especially interesting was the list of items seized. Note that there is no mention of drugs or drug paraphernalia." And since drugs were the reason for the raid...
By the way, I saw a comment at one site by someone that 8:30 PM isn't too late, people aren't generally asleep, etc. Some shifts I work, that time is about halfway between when I go to bed and get up: I'm sound asleep. Somebody yells "Police!" and then breaks in my door, all I'm going to hear is the door breaking and intruders in my home. Considering how many people work different shifts, that would cover a bunch of folks.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A site you might want to check out
These folks left a comment in my last post about the nonsense in Canada. I've only had a couple of minutes to look over it, but I'll be checking it out further: Muslims Against Sharia.
Also, Iowahawk hassnitched, uh, stolen, uhfound the notes from Ezra Levant's hearing. And Sondra points to some interesting notes from Mr. Levant, including
My lawyer has received two upset calls from the Alberta Human Rights Commission. The first, from Shirlene McGovern herself, complained about the publicity she is receiving. I'm surprised at her reaction -- you'd think someone who regularly interrogates citizens about their private political views would be comfortable with the concept of public scrutiny. Imagine if she actually had to expose her private thoughts, not just her public actions as a government officer.
Yeah, just imagine...
Also, Iowahawk has
My lawyer has received two upset calls from the Alberta Human Rights Commission. The first, from Shirlene McGovern herself, complained about the publicity she is receiving. I'm surprised at her reaction -- you'd think someone who regularly interrogates citizens about their private political views would be comfortable with the concept of public scrutiny. Imagine if she actually had to expose her private thoughts, not just her public actions as a government officer.
Yeah, just imagine...
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
And to touch back on things in Britain,
we find the Home Secretary admitting that it's not quite as safe as she'd claimed:
Jacqui Smith suffered a barrage of criticism yesterday after admitting she would not feel safe walking the streets after dark.
Opposition MPs said the Home Secretary had made an "admission of failure" to the millions of shift-workers who have no option but to brave the threat of violence.
Aides of Miss Smith compounded her gaffe with a desperate attempt to undo the damage by claiming she had recently popped out in the evening to "buy a kebab in Peckham".
In fact, she has round-the-clock police protection.
Kind of like our "You don't need to be armed, just call the police. And ignore the security people who keep my fat ass safe." politicians and celebrities.
She also states She insisted individuals were much less likely to be a victim of crime since Labour came to power, but admitted it was a "big job" to persuade them that towns and cities had not become more dangerous. However, if you look at a response article here, you find this:
The rest of us, of course, who don't enjoy our own personalised police officer, have to play Russian roulette with the risk of being robbed or attacked every time we venture out alone.
Yet the Government's insulting response is to parrot the mantra that crime is going down.
The Home Secretary was at it again when she claimed people were now safer than they had been ten years ago, and that the main problem was to convince them that crime was diminishing.
In other words, the problem was not crime but the fear of crime that was exaggerated out of all proportion.
If this is so, why then does Ms Smith herself feel unsafe when on the streets alone after dark?
The fact is that citizen Smith is right while Home Secretary Smith is wrong. As was revealed yesterday, violent crime by children and teenagers has gone up by a third in only three years, while offences in general by this group have gone up by more than 20 per cent.
And so on. I think it was about two years ago the then-head of the Metropolitan Police made a big speech about how an area had improved so much that 'people don't have to lock their doors'. And was then loudly called a liar and a fool by the people who actually lived there, who would have answered the door with a shotgun if they'd been allowed to own one.
Last week, for example, three teenagers were convicted of the murder of Garry Newlove, who was kicked to death when he confronted them outside his home.
The gang leader, Adam Swellings, had been freed on bail only hours before the killing, despite a history of increasingly violent behaviour spanning more than two years before Mr Newlove's murder.
Yet even though this included the intimidation of witnesses and an attack on a 16-year- old girl, Swellings was repeatedly bailed only to commit more offences - culminating in the entirely preventable killing of Mr Newlove.
What on earth goes through the minds of magistrates who bail someone with this kind of record?
Madam, I'm afraid it's the same kind of bovine excrement that dwells between the ears of your Home Secretary. And a lot of your other political masters.
Jacqui Smith suffered a barrage of criticism yesterday after admitting she would not feel safe walking the streets after dark.
Opposition MPs said the Home Secretary had made an "admission of failure" to the millions of shift-workers who have no option but to brave the threat of violence.
Aides of Miss Smith compounded her gaffe with a desperate attempt to undo the damage by claiming she had recently popped out in the evening to "buy a kebab in Peckham".
In fact, she has round-the-clock police protection.
Kind of like our "You don't need to be armed, just call the police. And ignore the security people who keep my fat ass safe." politicians and celebrities.
She also states She insisted individuals were much less likely to be a victim of crime since Labour came to power, but admitted it was a "big job" to persuade them that towns and cities had not become more dangerous. However, if you look at a response article here, you find this:
The rest of us, of course, who don't enjoy our own personalised police officer, have to play Russian roulette with the risk of being robbed or attacked every time we venture out alone.
Yet the Government's insulting response is to parrot the mantra that crime is going down.
The Home Secretary was at it again when she claimed people were now safer than they had been ten years ago, and that the main problem was to convince them that crime was diminishing.
In other words, the problem was not crime but the fear of crime that was exaggerated out of all proportion.
If this is so, why then does Ms Smith herself feel unsafe when on the streets alone after dark?
The fact is that citizen Smith is right while Home Secretary Smith is wrong. As was revealed yesterday, violent crime by children and teenagers has gone up by a third in only three years, while offences in general by this group have gone up by more than 20 per cent.
And so on. I think it was about two years ago the then-head of the Metropolitan Police made a big speech about how an area had improved so much that 'people don't have to lock their doors'. And was then loudly called a liar and a fool by the people who actually lived there, who would have answered the door with a shotgun if they'd been allowed to own one.
Last week, for example, three teenagers were convicted of the murder of Garry Newlove, who was kicked to death when he confronted them outside his home.
The gang leader, Adam Swellings, had been freed on bail only hours before the killing, despite a history of increasingly violent behaviour spanning more than two years before Mr Newlove's murder.
Yet even though this included the intimidation of witnesses and an attack on a 16-year- old girl, Swellings was repeatedly bailed only to commit more offences - culminating in the entirely preventable killing of Mr Newlove.
What on earth goes through the minds of magistrates who bail someone with this kind of record?
Madam, I'm afraid it's the same kind of bovine excrement that dwells between the ears of your Home Secretary. And a lot of your other political masters.
Oh boy, I think the Canadian Human Rights Commision
needs to do some housecleaning.
Just before they're thrown out on their collective ass.
First, check out what Mark Steyn has up, especially on a clown named Warman.
Then, go to Small Dead Animals, and just start scrolling down, too much stuff to link to each one. For a lot of it, look for 'Warman' again.
After that, if you're interested, go to Five Feet of Fury and- again- scroll down, but especially look at this: a tv show produced by the CBC called (I kid you not) Little Mosque on the Prarie.
And finally, check out this article by Ezra Levant on the currentinquisitionhearings he's facing at the hands of the 'Human Rights Officers':
Early in her interrogation, she said "I always ask people … what was your intent and purpose of your article?"
It wasn't even a question about what we had published in the magazine. It was a question about my private thoughts. I asked her why my private feelings were of interest to the government. She said, very calmly, that they would be a factor taken into account by the government in determining whether or not I was guilty.
Officer McGovern said it as calmly as if I had asked her what time it was.
and
One of the complainants against me is someone I would describe as a radical Muslim imam, Syed Soharwardy. He grew up in the madrassas of Pakistan and he lectures on the Saudi circuit. He advocates sharia law for all countries, including Canada. His website is rife with Islamic supremacism — offensive to many Canadian Jews, gentiles, women and gays. But his sensitivities — his Saudi-Pakistani values — have been offended by me.
And so now the secular government of Alberta is enforcing his fatwa against the cartoons.
It's the same for Mohamed Elmasry, the complainant against Maclean's magazine for publishing an excerpt from Mark Steyn's book, America Alone. Egyptian-born Elmasry has publicly said that any adult Jew in Israel is a legitimate target for a terrorist attack, a grossly offensive statement.
Both the Canadian and B.C. Human Rights Commissions are now hearing his complaints against Maclean's.
One question: what the hell happened to Canada, and can they save themselves?
Just before they're thrown out on their collective ass.
First, check out what Mark Steyn has up, especially on a clown named Warman.
Then, go to Small Dead Animals, and just start scrolling down, too much stuff to link to each one. For a lot of it, look for 'Warman' again.
After that, if you're interested, go to Five Feet of Fury and- again- scroll down, but especially look at this: a tv show produced by the CBC called (I kid you not) Little Mosque on the Prarie.
And finally, check out this article by Ezra Levant on the current
Early in her interrogation, she said "I always ask people … what was your intent and purpose of your article?"
It wasn't even a question about what we had published in the magazine. It was a question about my private thoughts. I asked her why my private feelings were of interest to the government. She said, very calmly, that they would be a factor taken into account by the government in determining whether or not I was guilty.
Officer McGovern said it as calmly as if I had asked her what time it was.
and
One of the complainants against me is someone I would describe as a radical Muslim imam, Syed Soharwardy. He grew up in the madrassas of Pakistan and he lectures on the Saudi circuit. He advocates sharia law for all countries, including Canada. His website is rife with Islamic supremacism — offensive to many Canadian Jews, gentiles, women and gays. But his sensitivities — his Saudi-Pakistani values — have been offended by me.
And so now the secular government of Alberta is enforcing his fatwa against the cartoons.
It's the same for Mohamed Elmasry, the complainant against Maclean's magazine for publishing an excerpt from Mark Steyn's book, America Alone. Egyptian-born Elmasry has publicly said that any adult Jew in Israel is a legitimate target for a terrorist attack, a grossly offensive statement.
Both the Canadian and B.C. Human Rights Commissions are now hearing his complaints against Maclean's.
One question: what the hell happened to Canada, and can they save themselves?
And remember, that miserable bozo McCain
doesn't want to put up a fence.
Aguilar was trying to place spike strips in the path of two vehicles believed to have illegally entered the country from Mexico when one of the vehicles hit him, agent Michael Bernacke, a spokesman for the agency's Yuma sector, told The Associated Press.
And what makes this even worse is if he'd managed to dodge the vehicle, and fired on it, he'd probably have that jackass prosecutor Sutton trying to put him in prison.
Aguilar was trying to place spike strips in the path of two vehicles believed to have illegally entered the country from Mexico when one of the vehicles hit him, agent Michael Bernacke, a spokesman for the agency's Yuma sector, told The Associated Press.
And what makes this even worse is if he'd managed to dodge the vehicle, and fired on it, he'd probably have that jackass prosecutor Sutton trying to put him in prison.
Remember the Chicago lawyer who keyed the Marine's car?
The Emperor pointed to this piece in the Chicago Tribune about the hearing. Some bits from it:
Grodner was late to court for the second time in the case. Grodner called Assistant State's Attorney Patrick Kelly, (Marine Corps/Vietnam 1969-1972), informing Kelly that he would be late to court.
"He wanted to avoid the media," Kelly said Friday. "So he's coming a half hour late."
Awww, he didn't like the attention for some reason.
Grodner told me he'd describe himself as a "radical liberal" who's ready to leave Chicago now with all this negative publicity and move to the south of France and do some traveling.
Let's see, 'radical liberal' = chickenshit vandal. Kind of like those clowns in Olympia and Seattle. And he wants to run away to France. BIG surprise.
During the proceedings, the judge described the offense as anger rose in his voice, especially as Grodner started balking on a plea arrangement he'd made with prosecutors.
"Is this what you did? Yes or no," Judge O'Malley asked Grodner.
"Without knowing, yes," Grodner said, sticking to his I-might-have-done-it-but-didn't-really-mean-it defense.
Ok, this has got to be the most chickenshit part of this. He was CAUGHT keying the car, made bullcrap comments about it, and now says THIS?
O'Malley asked again, in a stronger voice, not that of a judge but of a cop on the street or a Marine who meant business.
"DID YOU KNOWINGLY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THIS CAR?" O'Malley asked.
Grodner bowed his head, meekly, and responded in an equally meek voice:
"Yes," he said.
And after the hearing was over:
We stood outside, in the parking lot, talking for 20 minutes. He smoked, and I didn't. He explained that he wasn't anti-military and why he pleaded guilty.
He's not 'anti-military', but he keyed the car. Because it had Marine stuff on it. Yeah.
"The judge, he's the guy with the black robes," Grodner said. He could have been slapped with a felony, but Sgt. McNulty's family said they wanted to put this behind them and let it go as a misdemeanor.
Translation: "I pled guilty because I was afraid of a trial."
Grodner showed no remorse, and I asked if he'd apologize.
This pretty much sums up the 'radical liberal' lawyer:
"Yes, I'd say, 'I'm sorry if I scratched your car.' It escalated. That's when he wanted me locked up and thrown away," said Grodner, always the victim.
Lying piece of crap. If it had 'escalated' the Marine would have put discipline aside and beat the crap out of you. And you'd have deserved it, you miserable bastard.
A fine representative of the legal profession and liberalism, isn't he?
Grodner was late to court for the second time in the case. Grodner called Assistant State's Attorney Patrick Kelly, (Marine Corps/Vietnam 1969-1972), informing Kelly that he would be late to court.
"He wanted to avoid the media," Kelly said Friday. "So he's coming a half hour late."
Awww, he didn't like the attention for some reason.
Grodner told me he'd describe himself as a "radical liberal" who's ready to leave Chicago now with all this negative publicity and move to the south of France and do some traveling.
Let's see, 'radical liberal' = chickenshit vandal. Kind of like those clowns in Olympia and Seattle. And he wants to run away to France. BIG surprise.
During the proceedings, the judge described the offense as anger rose in his voice, especially as Grodner started balking on a plea arrangement he'd made with prosecutors.
"Is this what you did? Yes or no," Judge O'Malley asked Grodner.
"Without knowing, yes," Grodner said, sticking to his I-might-have-done-it-but-didn't-really-mean-it defense.
Ok, this has got to be the most chickenshit part of this. He was CAUGHT keying the car, made bullcrap comments about it, and now says THIS?
O'Malley asked again, in a stronger voice, not that of a judge but of a cop on the street or a Marine who meant business.
"DID YOU KNOWINGLY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THIS CAR?" O'Malley asked.
Grodner bowed his head, meekly, and responded in an equally meek voice:
"Yes," he said.
And after the hearing was over:
We stood outside, in the parking lot, talking for 20 minutes. He smoked, and I didn't. He explained that he wasn't anti-military and why he pleaded guilty.
He's not 'anti-military', but he keyed the car. Because it had Marine stuff on it. Yeah.
"The judge, he's the guy with the black robes," Grodner said. He could have been slapped with a felony, but Sgt. McNulty's family said they wanted to put this behind them and let it go as a misdemeanor.
Translation: "I pled guilty because I was afraid of a trial."
Grodner showed no remorse, and I asked if he'd apologize.
This pretty much sums up the 'radical liberal' lawyer:
"Yes, I'd say, 'I'm sorry if I scratched your car.' It escalated. That's when he wanted me locked up and thrown away," said Grodner, always the victim.
Lying piece of crap. If it had 'escalated' the Marine would have put discipline aside and beat the crap out of you. And you'd have deserved it, you miserable bastard.
A fine representative of the legal profession and liberalism, isn't he?
This is not a fun day in some ways
First, Fred Thompson just dropped out of the race. Just freakin' great. It's come to the point I have to decide if there are any of these clowns left in the race I can hold my nose for, or just say to hell with it. Unless the Stupid & BackstabbingRepublican party can actually straighten some things up, we're looking at looting politicians screwing us over fast or slow. Some damn choice.
As Kim notes, the ADL has decided that supporting gun bans is "to allow states to protect their citizens’ lives, liberty and property by regulating the purchase and possession of firearms. The League urged the Court to ensure that states retain the ability to keep guns out of the hands of “violent bigots.” I pulled up the ADL site and started to write them, but cancelled it; why bother? They've made it plain, in the past and now, that people like me are considered just as dirty as some clown with a swastika on his arm. I mean, hell, I not only posted that quote from George MacDonald Fraser, I commented that it was true; I'm probably on the same list as Kevin.
Which, mind you, is good company. Screw you, ADL.
Gee, why would we worry about the state of university education, and the politics of professors?
And while this would explain some things about Chavez(Stalin Wannabe, VZ), the basic is still that he IS a Stalin wannabe. And any excuse will do for adding to his power.
And while the sun is shining, it's cold and windy outside. I've got a dozen milk jugs, and the lumber to build a rack to set them up to test the .30 Carbine loads, but not in this weather: numb, stiff hands make accurate shooting difficult and this it to test loads, not me.
To quote Raj Whitehall, "How truly joyous."
As Kim notes, the ADL has decided that supporting gun bans is "to allow states to protect their citizens’ lives, liberty and property by regulating the purchase and possession of firearms. The League urged the Court to ensure that states retain the ability to keep guns out of the hands of “violent bigots.” I pulled up the ADL site and started to write them, but cancelled it; why bother? They've made it plain, in the past and now, that people like me are considered just as dirty as some clown with a swastika on his arm. I mean, hell, I not only posted that quote from George MacDonald Fraser, I commented that it was true; I'm probably on the same list as Kevin.
Which, mind you, is good company. Screw you, ADL.
Gee, why would we worry about the state of university education, and the politics of professors?
And while this would explain some things about Chavez(Stalin Wannabe, VZ), the basic is still that he IS a Stalin wannabe. And any excuse will do for adding to his power.
And while the sun is shining, it's cold and windy outside. I've got a dozen milk jugs, and the lumber to build a rack to set them up to test the .30 Carbine loads, but not in this weather: numb, stiff hands make accurate shooting difficult and this it to test loads, not me.
To quote Raj Whitehall, "How truly joyous."
Monday, January 21, 2008
And as a followon to the previous,
I'll direct you to this article by Mark Stein on the attempted post-birth abortion of free speech being set up in Canada.
If you don't want to read it, I ask you to think about this little excerpt:
Consider this statement, part of the criteria by which the star chamber determines when a Section XIII crime has occurred. What does it look for as evidence?
"Messages that make use of allegedly true stories, news reports, pictures and references to apparently reputable sources in an attempt to lend an air of objectivity and truthfulness to the extremely negative characterization of the targeted group have been found to be likely to expose members of the targeted group to hatred and contempt."
Read that again slowly. Citing news reports, reputable sources, facts, statistics, documentation, quotations, references, scholarly studies, etc., has been "found" to be clear evidence of your "likely" "pre-crime.
Read it. Then the next time somebrainless rat's knackerswell-meaning idiot starts talking about the necessity of 'hate-speech' laws, consider some possible way to make them understand. Or just kick them somewhere sensitive since they may have lost the ability to actually think.
If you don't want to read it, I ask you to think about this little excerpt:
Consider this statement, part of the criteria by which the star chamber determines when a Section XIII crime has occurred. What does it look for as evidence?
"Messages that make use of allegedly true stories, news reports, pictures and references to apparently reputable sources in an attempt to lend an air of objectivity and truthfulness to the extremely negative characterization of the targeted group have been found to be likely to expose members of the targeted group to hatred and contempt."
Read that again slowly. Citing news reports, reputable sources, facts, statistics, documentation, quotations, references, scholarly studies, etc., has been "found" to be clear evidence of your "likely" "pre-crime.
Read it. Then the next time some
A depressing and enraging line of thought
Had a friend from down south visit over the weekend. This was both a good and a bad thing: the Good because it was nice to see them; Bad because I had to clean up(it's not dirty, but messy seems to be my standard operating mode). Overall a nice weekend, but one part far more stressful than I needed and I'd have skipped it if I could.
Friend had never seen the Murrah Building Memorial for the April 19 bombing, and wanted to see it before leaving. I live in Oklahoma City, but I'd never been there. Matter of fact, I'd made a point of not going. I was working that day, and down the road I'll write about what I was doing and what happened on my end, but not now. Let's put it this way, I never went for the same reason I've never watched Schindler's List: I have no desire to get that pissed off. Or angered. Or enraged. Put it as you will.
Night had fallen before we arrived, and as we walked around I did not look directly at the empty chairs, or the names, except in response to a question. Told some parts of the story they hadn't heard. Really, it was about as bad as I'd expected it to be, not only for my reaction to the particular incident, but for the chain of associations it set off.
One of the people responsible died by the executioners hand, one is in prison. But I think there were others, and I don't think McVeigh dreamed- and set up- this on his own. And that started me thinking about our current enemy. About people who speak with enthusiasm of wiping an entire people off the face of the planet. Of people who well send their own children into a restaurant with a bomb around their belly because "You will please god if you kill Jews while you die." Of Beslan. Of the people who want to recreate Beslan, worse if possible, here. People who'll murder a woman for accidentally showing an ankle in the market, or beat them senseless- and maybe kill them- for being out of the house without a male family escort. There's a school a few blocks from my home, and these disgusting excuses for humans would like to take it over and kill everyone in it.
The level of, I don't really have the words for it, 'rage' will have to do, that this causes is almost debilitating, because- barring some flat miracles- I think it'll happen somewhere. Like it was said a long time ago, we have to get lucky a lot; they only have to get lucky once. And when it does, not only will we have to deal with the incident and the aftermath, we'll have to listen to the idiots and freedom-haters tell us how it's our fault, that if only we'd (fill in the damn blank) it wouldn't have happened. And a lot of people, like me, will have to deal with the fact that they cannot individually do anything about it, and that's one of the worst parts.
Friend had never heard of Beslan. Since I'd brought the name up I had to give a basic 'what happened', and I think I nearly made them sick. The told me later that they tried not to think about such things because they couldn't deal with it(they'd made it maybe a third through Schindler's List and left the theater). You know something? I wish I could do that. I wish I could simply not think about it, push those thoughts and the information aside. But I can't.
I'm hoping that there are some amongst the islamists who realize the consequences if they do pull that off here, but I fear that, if there are any, they'll either stay quiet or be ignored. And the followup is that there will be people here who'll work hard to keep us from doing anything about it.
Shit. I need a drink.
Friend had never seen the Murrah Building Memorial for the April 19 bombing, and wanted to see it before leaving. I live in Oklahoma City, but I'd never been there. Matter of fact, I'd made a point of not going. I was working that day, and down the road I'll write about what I was doing and what happened on my end, but not now. Let's put it this way, I never went for the same reason I've never watched Schindler's List: I have no desire to get that pissed off. Or angered. Or enraged. Put it as you will.
Night had fallen before we arrived, and as we walked around I did not look directly at the empty chairs, or the names, except in response to a question. Told some parts of the story they hadn't heard. Really, it was about as bad as I'd expected it to be, not only for my reaction to the particular incident, but for the chain of associations it set off.
One of the people responsible died by the executioners hand, one is in prison. But I think there were others, and I don't think McVeigh dreamed- and set up- this on his own. And that started me thinking about our current enemy. About people who speak with enthusiasm of wiping an entire people off the face of the planet. Of people who well send their own children into a restaurant with a bomb around their belly because "You will please god if you kill Jews while you die." Of Beslan. Of the people who want to recreate Beslan, worse if possible, here. People who'll murder a woman for accidentally showing an ankle in the market, or beat them senseless- and maybe kill them- for being out of the house without a male family escort. There's a school a few blocks from my home, and these disgusting excuses for humans would like to take it over and kill everyone in it.
The level of, I don't really have the words for it, 'rage' will have to do, that this causes is almost debilitating, because- barring some flat miracles- I think it'll happen somewhere. Like it was said a long time ago, we have to get lucky a lot; they only have to get lucky once. And when it does, not only will we have to deal with the incident and the aftermath, we'll have to listen to the idiots and freedom-haters tell us how it's our fault, that if only we'd (fill in the damn blank) it wouldn't have happened. And a lot of people, like me, will have to deal with the fact that they cannot individually do anything about it, and that's one of the worst parts.
Friend had never heard of Beslan. Since I'd brought the name up I had to give a basic 'what happened', and I think I nearly made them sick. The told me later that they tried not to think about such things because they couldn't deal with it(they'd made it maybe a third through Schindler's List and left the theater). You know something? I wish I could do that. I wish I could simply not think about it, push those thoughts and the information aside. But I can't.
I'm hoping that there are some amongst the islamists who realize the consequences if they do pull that off here, but I fear that, if there are any, they'll either stay quiet or be ignored. And the followup is that there will be people here who'll work hard to keep us from doing anything about it.
Shit. I need a drink.
Mossberg 702 Plinkster
Range test
I had the chance to help in the shakeout run of one of these today. If you haven't seen one before, this is a .22lr semi-auto rifle. The one I fired has a blue finish(the above picture is a chromed model), and a polymer stock. Sights are your basic bead front with hood and U-shaped rear notch, with the welcome feature that the rear adjusts for both windage and elevation, both screw adjustments. And (of course) the receiver is grooved for mounting a scope. Cross-bolt safety. The barrel is 18", and the overall length* about 37". It does have a bolt hold-open, which is the magazine follower: after the last round is fired the follower sticks up high enough to block the bolt.
This thing is light. That polymer stock is injection-molded from the looks, and hollow, helping the rifle into a total weight of 4.1 pounds. Durability? Open question, I have no previous knowledge of these so time will tell. The forend does leave the barrel free-floated
The owner said the trigger, as it came out of the box, was pretty rough; apparently that was from some crud left on the hammer & sear surfaces, as after wiping them clean and putting a dab of grease on them, it became much lighter and cleaner. He did not take the fire-control group apart, as he could find no information on doing so. You may notice from the picture, that the receiver/barrel looks a lot like the Marlin Model 60; disassembly is very similar, but the FCG does not look the same.
The weather being cloudy, cold and windy, this was tried out on a 25-yard indoor range. And the lights at the backstop were out, which didn't exactly help with aiming. We tried it out with four different brands: Remington Golden Bullet hollowpoints, Winchester hollowpoints, Federal Champion and Russian Vostok target ammo(had a couple of boxes I bought to try.
The trigger broke cleanly, I'd guess at about five pounds. And the thing ate all the ammo, including the Vostok, with only one bobble. At the very end, I loaded a mag with a few of each, all mixed together, and one of the (I think) Vostok cases didn't clear the bolt before it closed. That was the only problem in about 200 rounds, which isn't bad for an inexpensive rifle on its first outing. Ejection varied from forward and left(a long way forward) for the Remington and Winchester, less so on angle and distance with the Federal, and slightly back and only a couple of feet away for Vostok.
As I mentioned above, with basic sights and not-too-good light I'm not going to state "This is the level of accuracy"; I will say that all these cartridges easily stayed within 1.5" groups. I'd love to put a scope on this and try it at 50 yards with a solid rest.
There was one problem, and that was with the magazine. There's an open slot at the back corner on the left side, and I think that's where the trouble lies. You'd get five rounds in and sometimes something would stick. You'd have to push on the top cartridge and/or on the rims of the cartridges below to get things free. It did this several times. Being new to this, I have no way of knowing if it was this particular magazine, or something in the design.
Overall, not a bad little rifle. Short, light, it ate all ammo tried and showed good accuracy. And the guy picked it up for the price of $99. Not on sale, regular price. Kim has referred to a .22 rifle as a household commodity, and this thing seems to fit the bill: something you could stick in the closet or by the door to deal with pests, or put in the trunk or back of the truck for the same reasons.
*The chrome version has a 21" barrel, and it can be had in a 'Bantam' version with a 2" shorter stock.
I had the chance to help in the shakeout run of one of these today. If you haven't seen one before, this is a .22lr semi-auto rifle. The one I fired has a blue finish(the above picture is a chromed model), and a polymer stock. Sights are your basic bead front with hood and U-shaped rear notch, with the welcome feature that the rear adjusts for both windage and elevation, both screw adjustments. And (of course) the receiver is grooved for mounting a scope. Cross-bolt safety. The barrel is 18", and the overall length* about 37". It does have a bolt hold-open, which is the magazine follower: after the last round is fired the follower sticks up high enough to block the bolt.
This thing is light. That polymer stock is injection-molded from the looks, and hollow, helping the rifle into a total weight of 4.1 pounds. Durability? Open question, I have no previous knowledge of these so time will tell. The forend does leave the barrel free-floated
The owner said the trigger, as it came out of the box, was pretty rough; apparently that was from some crud left on the hammer & sear surfaces, as after wiping them clean and putting a dab of grease on them, it became much lighter and cleaner. He did not take the fire-control group apart, as he could find no information on doing so. You may notice from the picture, that the receiver/barrel looks a lot like the Marlin Model 60; disassembly is very similar, but the FCG does not look the same.
The weather being cloudy, cold and windy, this was tried out on a 25-yard indoor range. And the lights at the backstop were out, which didn't exactly help with aiming. We tried it out with four different brands: Remington Golden Bullet hollowpoints, Winchester hollowpoints, Federal Champion and Russian Vostok target ammo(had a couple of boxes I bought to try.
The trigger broke cleanly, I'd guess at about five pounds. And the thing ate all the ammo, including the Vostok, with only one bobble. At the very end, I loaded a mag with a few of each, all mixed together, and one of the (I think) Vostok cases didn't clear the bolt before it closed. That was the only problem in about 200 rounds, which isn't bad for an inexpensive rifle on its first outing. Ejection varied from forward and left(a long way forward) for the Remington and Winchester, less so on angle and distance with the Federal, and slightly back and only a couple of feet away for Vostok.
As I mentioned above, with basic sights and not-too-good light I'm not going to state "This is the level of accuracy"; I will say that all these cartridges easily stayed within 1.5" groups. I'd love to put a scope on this and try it at 50 yards with a solid rest.
There was one problem, and that was with the magazine. There's an open slot at the back corner on the left side, and I think that's where the trouble lies. You'd get five rounds in and sometimes something would stick. You'd have to push on the top cartridge and/or on the rims of the cartridges below to get things free. It did this several times. Being new to this, I have no way of knowing if it was this particular magazine, or something in the design.
Overall, not a bad little rifle. Short, light, it ate all ammo tried and showed good accuracy. And the guy picked it up for the price of $99. Not on sale, regular price. Kim has referred to a .22 rifle as a household commodity, and this thing seems to fit the bill: something you could stick in the closet or by the door to deal with pests, or put in the trunk or back of the truck for the same reasons.
*The chrome version has a 21" barrel, and it can be had in a 'Bantam' version with a 2" shorter stock.
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, "BuyGloballyLocally 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?
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
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?
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