Curses! Foiled Again!

Move completed!

2010-04-05T20:55:00.003-04:00

I have now moved over to Wordpress. Point your links to: "http://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/".

I'll leave the old one up, but all the posts and comments should have been migrated successfully to the Wordpress site.

An experiment

2010-04-04T14:03:00.006-04:00

Update 2010-04-05: After some consideration and experimentation, it looks like I'll end up migrating to Wordpress. It seems to have more and better features built in. I'll keep posting here for a little while, till I get things set up at the new site and can notify anyone who has me blogrolled that I know about (which may even be before my next real post).

Status Update: Redirect temporarily disabled while I work on things.

I've been looking for a while now for a way to make my blog more mobile-friendly. I've noticed that, while the layout I'm using works fairly well with my Palm Pre, it's not really optimal. Then one day I went to Gun Nuts Media on my phone and saw they have a mobile version that comes up automatically on my phone and realized that was what I was looking for. Alas, it turns out that Gun Nuts Media is on WordPress, and Blogger doesn't have that option. It seemed I was out of luck.

Looking into it again, in the vain hope that Blogger had joined the 21st century, I found a link to Flurp. Flurp converts a blog to a mobile friendly format (with a couple of different layouts for different phones). You can either insert code in the blog header that redirects mobile browsers to the mobile site automatically, or you can add a link to the mobile version. It's still in alpha, but it seems to work pretty well (though it does cut titles short after only about 15 characters on the iPhone version).

Right now, I've set it up to automatically redirect. I may change that in the future, depending on how it affects my usage and depending on any feedback I get from you, my readers.

Update on Westboro Protest

2010-04-01T12:57:00.003-04:00

Image by Robb Allen

Updating the situation:

There will be a counter-protest.

About 30 people circled together inside Owens Dining Hall Saturday afternoon to discuss a unified response. The meeting, led by Student Government Association president Brandon Carroll, tossed around several ideas in handling the church.

“We want everybody on the same page,” Carroll said.

[...]

The group voted, agreeing that a counter-protest will be formed.

It looks like the main victim of their protest will be Morgan Harrington.

Church officials said they were not protesting the 2007 shootings, saying they were “coming for the event that happened last month,” referencing slain student Morgan Harrington. A 20-year-old education major, Harrington was found in late January 2010 after going missing in October 2009 while attending a Metallica concert in Charlottesville, Va.

I still find it strikingly coincidental that this will be exactly one week before April 16.

Tech's LGBTA community has taken the opposite approach - ignore them and don't give them the reaction they're looking for.

The LGBTA community has also shown outrage about the church’s protest. Aimee Kanode, a senior humanities, science, and environment major at Tech and president of Tech’s LGBTA said she would not attend the protest, as she has work on the day of the protest.

“These people are awful, appalling, despicable,” Kanode said. “My method is to just ignore them. Me wasting energy on those people is not worth my time.” Kanode said that while the group would not officially organize for the protest, several members and officers would be in attendance. Kanode said she advised her members to “be smart about it.”

The bastards are probably hoping to distract from other events, too.

Another concern for community members is the potential for the protest to take away from other events for the day. Among the events scheduled for April 9 include a memorial for David Seth Mitchell, a US Marine killed in Afghanistan and Tech’s Relay for Life event, which is a fundraiser for cancer research.

They're trying to get their money's worth out of this trip, it seems. Scum.

A Good Start

2010-04-01T12:35:00.002-04:00

This is how you fight piracy

NAIROBI, Kenya – Suspected Somali pirates fired on a U.S. Navy warship off East Africa early Thursday in what appeared to be a ransom-seeking attack on an American guided missile frigate, officials said.

The USS Nicholas returned fire on the pirate skiff, sinking it and confiscating a nearby mothership. The Navy took five pirates into custody, said Navy Lt. Patrick Foughty, a spokesman.
[...]

The U.S. Africa Command said the five pirates seized Thursday would remain in U.S. custody on board the frigate for now. The Nicholas is home-ported in Norfolk, Va.

Seizing or sinking the mothership and taking the pirates prisoner works a whole lot better than just letting them go. Hopefully, these pirates will go to jail for a long time.

My Rage-O-Meter is Pegged

2010-03-30T20:57:00.004-04:00

Image by Robb Allen

The Westboro Bastards (I refuse to call them Baptist, or a church) are (supposedly*) coming to Blacksburg on April 9 to protest.

Phelps' followers notified town officials in a letter Monday that the group planned demonstrations at three locations around town, including the Blacksburg Jewish Community Center and Blacksburg High School.
Another location, near the Virginia Tech campus, was also identified.

Demonstrating near the high school seems pointless - it's been closed since the gym roof collapsed in February.

After the April 16, 2007, shootings at Tech, Phelps threatened to protest at the funerals of the 32 students and faculty slain that day. Then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell, now the governor, issued a warning that anyone willfully disrupting funerals in Virginia could face charges. Those protests never materialized.

As I remember it, a radio station bought them off with an interview - giving them airtime in exchange for them canceling the protests. While I despise the idea of giving scum like that airtime, it was probably the best thing to do for the sake of the families. (I also think that if they had tried to protest those funerals, someone would have been killed. The pain and grief in town then was a hair's breadth from flashing over to rage as it was - there's a good possibility these bastards would have started a riot just by being there.)

It looks like one protest is planned to be across the street from a gift shop operated by a gay couple. I wonder if that's deliberate (they may not know)?

This warms my heart, though:

A Facebook page advertising a counterprotest organized by Tech students and others had drawn more than 4,500 members by Thursday afternoon. More than 1,500 of those members indicated they would attend a counter-rally.

To those planning to attend: Be careful. They have a history of provoking people and then suing anyone who acts out against them, and they carry video recorders.

(* They have a history of announcing protests and then not showing up. Looking at their schedule, I think they do plan on being here - their schedule (I won't link to them. If you want to see it, you'll need to Google it.) puts them in Charleston, WV in the morning, Lawrence, KS from 1130 to 1200, then three separate protests in Blacksburg starting at 1300. I doubt they would go from WV to KS for just a 30 minute protest and fake the 2 1/2 hours planned here. Also, it doesn't leave them enough time to get from WV to KS - it's a 12+ hour drive, and I doubt that group could get through airport security and fly there within the roughly 4 hours the schedule allows. Charleston to Blacksburg, on the other hand, is only about a 2 1/2 hour drive. It's much more likely the Charleston and Blacksburg protests are real, and the KS one is a red herring.)

Our efficient, well-run government

2010-03-28T11:11:00.004-04:00

Phony products by phony companies get government Energy Star approval.

Fifteen phony products — including a gasoline-powered alarm clock — won a label from the government certifying them as energy efficient in a test of the federal "Energy Star" program.

Investigators concluded the program is "vulnerable to fraud and abuse."

Really? It's "vulnerable to fraud and abuse?" No kidding!

But the General Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, said Energy Star doesn't verify claims made by manufacturers — which might explain the gasoline-powered alarm clock, not to mention a product billed as an air room cleaner that was actually a space heater with a feather duster and fly strips attached, and a computer monitor that won approval within 30 minutes of submission.

So, in a program involving tax credits and rebates (i.e. taxpayer money), the government doesn't bother to actually verify the claims those credits and rebates are based on. Even worse they don't even bother to find out what it is they're certifying!

"EPA officials confirmed that because the energy-efficiency information was plausible, it was likely that no one read the product description information," GAO said.

And they lie about it!

According to the GAO, the EPA and Energy Department told investigators in briefings that although the program is based on manufacturers' certifying their products meet efficiency standards, that efficiency is ensured through aftermarket tests and self-policing.

Remember, this is the same government that is now in charge of our health-care system. Be afraid, be very afraid.

You'd almost think they were prepared, or something

2010-03-22T13:21:00.002-04:00

Another Health Care Bill story that warms my heart.

Less than 24 hours after the House of Representatives gave final approval to a sweeping overhaul of healthcare, attorneys general from several states on Monday said they will sue to block the plan on constitutional grounds.
Republican attorneys general in 11 states warned that lawsuits will be filed to stop the federal government overstepping its constitutional powers and usurping states' sovereignty.
[...]
Ten of the attorneys general plan to band together in a collective lawsuit on behalf of Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington.

It's good to see quick action on this. And Virginia isn't left out, either.

Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, who plans to file a lawsuit in federal court in Richmond, Virginia, said Congress lacks authority under its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce to force people to buy insurance. The bill also conflicts with a state law that says Virginians cannot be required to buy insurance, he added.

The governor must have signed that bill in the last day or so - the last time I checked, it hadn't been signed and therefore wasn't the law. Other states are doing the same.

In addition to the pending lawsuits, bills and resolutions have been introduced in at least 36 state legislatures seeking to limit or oppose various aspects of the reform plan through laws or state constitutional amendments, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

So far, only two states, Idaho and Virginia, have enacted laws, while an Arizona constitutional amendment is seeking voter approval on the November ballot. But the actual enactment of the bill by President Barack Obama could spur more movement on the measures by state lawmakers.

Maybe this massive government expansion will be killed in the courts.

Health "Care" Roundup

2010-03-22T08:33:00.003-04:00

Well, they did it. The Democrat Party bucked the voters, opposed public opinion, and inflicted a massive socialist health insurance system on us.

This story warms my heart. The media is already talking about how this will hurt the Dems.

The initial blush of President Barack Obama's health care triumph immediately gives way to a sober political reality — he must sell the landmark legislation to an angry and unpredictable electorate, still reeling from the recession.
Voters may not buy it.

And that could mean a disastrous midterm election year for Obama and his fellow Democrats.

Some are saying that after the Repubs get control of Congress back, they can repeal this insanity. While I agree that they could, I think pigs growing wings and joining the avian family is far more likely. Obama will never sign a repeal, and I doubt they'll get the numbers to override a veto. By the time we have a President who may be receptive, there will be a massive bureaucracy in place, working against repeal in order to protect itself. Let's face it - when was the last time the government made itself smaller?

And now, here's a quick roundup of coverage by the bloggers I frequent. They'll probably say anything I could, and do it much better.

Nicki at The Liberty Zone is rightfully furious.

Robb at Sharp as a Marble has a simple reminder for us.

Sebastian at Snowflakes in Hell has several posts, reminding us that there should be consequences for those who voted for this monstrosity, that it's not completely over yet, and starts looking to what the next steps should be. He shows us that some are looking to present a united fight against this even after it's signed.

Another rightfully angry post, this one by Atom Smasher at Men Are Not Potatoes.

A Conservative Shemale reminds us that it's not the end of the world, or even the country, and offers us some comfort. I'm not quite as confident about this as the person she quotes, but that's more due to some of the specifics of the bill than the principle that is quoted.

Brigid at Home on the Range has a simple message that we should all remember eight months from now.

Tam at View From the Porch give us a little (but only a little, in my opinion) hyperbole.

Michael Bane posts a quote that shows that wisdom can come from any source, and gives us some other words of wisdom.

That's all I have for the moment, but it's still early this morning. I may do an update later, if I have time.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

2010-03-18T11:55:00.004-04:00

Somali pirates attack a Dutch warship:

Troops aboard the Dutch warship HNLMS Tromp fired warning shots Wednesday off the coast of East Africa as suspected Somali pirates in two small skiffs raced toward their warship, the EU Naval Force said.

After the pirates realized they had made what spokesman Cmdr. John Harbour called a "rather silly mistake," they turned around and fled. EU Naval Force personnel tracked down the two skiffs and a third suspected mothership, finding ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades on board, said Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force.

But that's not the stupid part. This is:

The two skiffs were destroyed and the pirates were set free on the mothership after it had been cleared of weapons. [emphasis mine]

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?

Do they really expect that to stop - or even slightly discourage - these human cockroaches from going right back out and attacking another ship? They probably had replacement skiffs and weapons before the end of the day! If you want to stop piracy, you have to actually punish the pirates! Hanging from the yardarm is a good start.

One of these days, someone is going to get really serious about fighting pirates. Until then, well, we have this idiocy.

RIP Capt. Oveur

2010-03-15T14:08:00.002-04:00

Actor Peter Graves dies at 83.

Victor has your vector, and you have clearance, Clarence.

Another reason DADT should be repealed

2010-03-13T16:03:00.008-05:00

She followed the rules and stayed in the closet - and someone else outed her to the military, so now she's been discharged under DADT.

Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian. The 28-year-old's honorable discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy came only after police officers in Rapid City, S.D., saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and told the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base.

[...]

Newsome was at work at the base at the time and refused to immediately come home and assist the officers in finding her partner, whom she married in Iowa — where gay marriage is legal — in October.
Police officers, who said they spotted the marriage license on the kitchen table through a window of Newsome's home, alerted the base, police Chief Steve Allender said in a statement sent to the AP. The license was relevant to the investigation because it showed both the relationship and residency of the two women, he said.
[...]
In the complaint filed last month with the department, ACLU South Dakota said police had no legal reason to tell the military Newsome was a lesbian and that officers knew if they did, it would jeopardize her military career.

Newsome, who was discharged in January, said she didn't know where the marriage license was in her home when police came to her house on Nov. 20 and claims the officers were retaliating because she wouldn't help with her partner's arrest.

This was blatant retaliation, despite the police department's claims that once they knew they "had" to tell the military. They knew that giving that information to her superiors would destroy her career - it's not like DADT is a secret. Telling the military she's a lesbian could do nothing to help them bring in her partner, the only possible goal was to hurt Newsome for not cooperating.

This is another example of why DADT is just wrong. You can follow the rules, staying deep in the closet and keeping any relationships a deep, dark secret, but if someone else outs you to the military, your career is destroyed anyway.

We already make gays and lesbians hide who they are for their entire military careers. Should we also make them take a vow of celibacy and eschew all romantic relationships for as long as they serve? I might support that - but only if we require heterosexuals to do the same thing.

Update: A little research prompted by a debate going on over at A Conservative Shemale has revealed that we actually do effectively make gays and lesbians take a vow of celibacy when they join the military. From the actual DADT law (10 U.S.C. 654)

(b) Policy.— A member of the armed forces shall be separated from the armed forces under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense if one or more of the following findings is made and approved in accordance with procedures set forth in such regulations:

(1) That the member has engaged in, attempted to engage in, or solicited another to engage in a homosexual act or acts

[...]

(3) That the member has married or attempted to marry a person known to be of the same biological sex.

[omitted sections deal with exceptions to the law]

So gays who join the military can't have a romantic relationship (after all, even kissing or holding hands by two men can be considered "a homosexual act or acts"). I stand by my original conclusion: I might support that - but only if we apply it to heterosexuals, too.

What?

2010-03-10T17:56:00.004-05:00

Here's news to me - the U.S. Department of Education has "combat training and protocol[s]" that require short-barreled shotguns. What the heck does the Dept. of Education need combat training and protocols for? Raids on unauthorized homeschoolers?

(h/t SayUncle)

Oh, HELL No!

2010-03-09T14:29:00.002-05:00

Real ID 2.0, anyone?

Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.

Can you think of a better way to unite large numbers of conservatives and liberals than this? I mean, Real ID has states passing laws making it illegal for state agencies to comply with parts of the RealID Act. Why?

Under the potentially controversial plan still taking shape in the Senate, all legal U.S. workers, including citizens and immigrants, would be issued an ID card with embedded information, such as fingerprints, to tie the card to the worker.

Potentially controversial? What planet were they living on when Real ID was being debated? Do they really think Americans have changed enough that quickly for this to not stir up a rain of fecal matter?

Also, unless there's a central database that the information is checked against every time the card is read, I predict it will take less than six months for criminals to crack the code on the cards and start making fakes that read with biometrics matching whoever they decide to give the card to. Less than a year to spoof it, if there is a database (unless some .gov idiot leaks the whole bloody database on a 'lost' laptop, sooner).

"It is fundamentally a massive invasion of people's privacy," said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. "We're not only talking about fingerprinting every American, treating ordinary Americans like criminals in order to work. We're also talking about a card that would quickly spread from work to voting to travel to pretty much every aspect of American life that requires identification."

Exactly. Just like social security numbers were only supposed to be used for Social Security purposes. It will spread to everything.

(h/t A Conservative Shemale)

Yet more Climate Change shenanigans

2010-03-05T13:56:00.003-05:00

Now it's NASA/GISS cooking the numbers.

Now a new "Climategate" scandal is emerging, this time based on documents released by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in response to several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suits filed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). The newly released emails further demonstrate the politicized nature of climate science, revealing a number of questionable practices that cast doubt on the credibility of scientific data provided by NASA.

[...]

In another email, he reveals that NASA had inflated its temperature data since 2000 on a questionable basis. “[NASA's] assumption that the adjustments made the older data consistent with future data… may not have been correct,” he says.

[...]

Unfortunately, it seems that the discrepancy privately highlighted by Dr. Ruedy was not coincidental, but part of a broader pattern of misrepresentation on the part of GISS. Between 2002 and 2005, GISS chief James Hansen issued press releases headlined "2005 Warmest Year in a Century;" "2006 was Earth's Fifth Warmest Year;" and "The 2002 meteorological year is the second warmest year in the period of accurate instrumental data." In other words, global warming is happening and that immediate action is necessary.

[...]

In fact, further corrections revealed by the emails indicate that U.S. temperatures on average had only increased by 0.5 degree Celsius since 1934, rather than 1 degree, as originally claimed.

There's more - you should go read the whole thing. Remember - even in science - where there's money involved, there's politics involved.

(h/t SayUncle)

Repeal of Virginia's restaurant CHP ban passes

2010-03-02T18:05:00.003-05:00

According to the VCDL Blog, SB334, repealing the ban on concealed carry in restaurants, passed the House today unchanged with a vote of 72 to 27! It should be in front of the Governor McDonnell in a week or so. He has indicated in the past that he would sign such a bill, so it's pretty much a done deal.

McDonald v. Chicago - Oral arguments today

2010-03-02T09:30:00.005-05:00

Update: Analysis: 2d Amendment extension likely (from SCOTUSBlog)

This is troubling, though:

The dominant sentiment on the Court was to extend the Amendment beyond the federal level, based on the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of “due process,” since doing so through another part of the 14th Amendment would raise too many questions about what other rights might emerge. [emphasis mine]

Why is that relevant? Or, to echo a point Mr. Gura made at one time, the SCOTUS should be concerning itself with what the Constitution means, not whether it’s a good idea to follow it.

-----
Just a reminder, oral arguments in McDonald v. Chicago are at 10:00 today. Apparently, SCOTUS has decided they will not release the audio, but the transcript should be available later today.

Holy Bullshit!

2010-03-01T23:50:00.006-05:00

This fills me with a sick rage.

They ride around seeking out girls who they feel sinned by wearing revealing clothing (anyone who isn't dressed in an ankle-length skirt with a shirt buttoned up all the way and a kerchief covering her hair, apparently), and pass out repugnant pamphlets blaming rape victims for the actions of deranged lunatics who seek power by sexually violating women!

One passage from the pamphlet reads:

“Scripture tells us that when a man looks on a woman to lust for her he has already committed adultery in his heart. If you are dressed in a way that tempts a men to do this secret (or not so secret) sin, you are a participant in the sin,” the leaflet states.“By the way, some rape victims would not have been raped if they had dressed properly. So can we really say they were innocent victims?” [emphasis mine]

Nicki hits the nail on the head:

The only difference between these drooling, frothing zealots and their Taliban counterparts is that they haven't gained enough power to start stoning women to death for provocative dress yet.

I hope I never run into one of these idiots. Testing the limits of my self-control is not a good thing, and I really don't need to deal with an assault trial - but someone who tries to tell me a rape victim brought it on herself because of the way she was dressed stands a good chance of losing many teeth. Though I would push for a jury trial if I lost that battle, since I doubt the jury selection process could find 12 people around here who would vote to convict.

Oh, and on a separate note (from the same post at Nicki's) - Pat Robertson, you really need to drink a big tall glass of STFU, you evil piece of revolting buzzard excrement.

Quote of the Day - 1 March 2010

2010-03-01T23:31:00.002-05:00

From Tam, remembering her office's first Win95 install:

"You mean all the machines in the office have a browser icon on the desktop?"

"Yes," she replied.

"And a fat pipe right to the Web?"

"Uh-huh."

"And this seems like a good idea to you?"

If only we knew.

A School Shooting, and a Heroic Teacher

2010-02-23T22:49:00.004-05:00

There was a school shooting in Colorado today:

One male and one female were shot at about 3:30 p.m. outside Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton, Jefferson County Sheriff's office spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said. Both students were taken to a nearby hospital and were expected to survive.

Student Steven Seagraves said he was about 10 feet away when an adult approached students and asked them: "Do you guys go to this school?"

When the students said they did, he shot them, Seagraves said.

Seventh-grade math teacher David Benke, a 6-foot-5 inch former college basketball player who oversees the school's track team, tackled the suspect as he was trying to reload his weapon.

Nobody could have blamed Mr. Benke for running for cover. He was unarmed, against someone with a rifle. He saw an opening and took it - at great risk to his own life - to protect his students.

"He was trying to rack another round. He couldn't get another round in before I got to him so I grabbed him," Benke said, recalling that he didn't have time to fear for his life.

They don't say what kind of rifle it was, other than "high-powered" - of course, to the MSM, any rifle is "high-powered." The story says he was reloading, but it sounds more like it may have jammed. I suppose we'll find out later, though I don't expect the media to get it right without getting it wrong at least three different times.

[Update Feb. 24, 2010: NPR says this morning that it was a bolt-action rifle.]

At this time, the shooter appears to have no connection to the school, and no motive has been released.

Good job Mr. Benke, it sounds like you prevented a massacre. Any praise I can offer will fall infinitely short of what you deserve for your courage and quick thinking. Don't beat yourself up because you couldn't stop the first shots - when you have no reason to expect an attack, the attacker will always have the initiative, and the advantage of surprise. You overcame that, and took advantage of a single moment pure, blind luck to save many children.

More Climategate, and other things

2010-02-22T17:52:00.004-05:00

Jenn over at A Conservative Shemale gives us a great multi-subject post today, starting with more problems for the whole global warming/cooling/climate-change thingamabob:

Scientists have been forced to withdraw a study on projected sea level rise due to global warming after finding mistakes that undermined the findings.

[...]

“One mistake was a miscalculation; the other was not to allow fully for temperature change over the past 2,000 years. Because of these issues we have retracted the paper and will now invest in the further work needed to correct these mistakes.”

They didn't "allow fully for temperature change over the last 2,000 years." Doesn't that cover the entire period where any man-made climate change would actually have occurred? That's some "mistake"!

She then links us to an article where the AGW pushers are trying to defend their claims.

[N]one of that gets at the question du jour, which is how big a role humans are playing. Until later on. Lashof and Deans say it’s a big one, and their source for saying so is a government report compiled by the nation’s top science, defense, and diplomatic agencies—NOAA, NASA, the Pentagon, the National Science Foundation, the Department of State (none of which have been marred in scandal)—over the course of two decades, through four presidential administrations.

Notice their source is a government report - they don't say where the agencies got their data for the report. Remember, most of the problems cropping up recently in the whole AGW theory are about problems with the data. It doesn't matter how "nonpartisan" the report is if it's based on corrupted, compromised, cherry-picked, or imaginary data.

She also hits on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, taking us to an article about a study showing that other militaries have found allowing openly gay soldiers to continue to serve has not been disruptive even with rapid transitions.

A comprehensive new study on foreign militaries that have made transitions to allowing openly gay service members concludes that a speedy implementation of the change is not disruptive. The finding is in direct opposition to the stated views of Pentagon leaders, who say repealing a ban on openly gay men and women in the United States armed forces should take a year or more.

Remember, a lot of the people pushing for a "slow" repeal of DADT are the ones who don't want it repealed in the first place - or would prefer to go back to the complete ban that existed before DADT.

She has more, too, but you should go to her blog to read it all.

Bread and Circuses

2010-02-19T13:42:00.004-05:00

Jay G, who is MArooned in the Volksrepublik of Massachusetts, brings us word of the sorry state of public interest, noting that with all the important issues facing the U.S. today, the top headline is Tiger Woods' apology.

As long as we've got our bread-and-circuses, we'll ignore the signposts saying "Hell: 200 miles" all along the way. Distract us with a salacious story of a talented sportsman brought down by his reproductive organs, we'll forget all about the evil in the world, all the crazy, all the many ways our government fails again and again to do what it is supposed to do.
It gets discouraging when you realize that the vast majority of your fellow Americans know the cast of "Dancing with the Stars" but can't name their own Representative...

One of the signs leading up to the fall of Rome was the distraction of the people from important issues and events through the use of rewards and entertainment. This is the origin of the phrase "bread and circuses."

… Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses (Juvenal, Satire 10.77–81)

Roman politicians would attempt to secure votes with cheap food and entertainment, rather than by pursuing sound policy. Eventually the great Republic (and then Empire) declined and fell.

Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. The state of the U.S. is starting to look pretty familiar in some ways.

Crazy...

2010-02-16T14:25:00.004-05:00

It's 27 degrees F, there's still nearly a foot of snow on the ground, but Blacksburg's most enthusiastic bike cop is not only out patrolling on his bicycle, but he's wearing SHORTS!

He's a great guy, but he's absolutely nucking futs as far as this goes (and yes, I have told him that to his face. Many times. Usually when I see him riding his bike wearing shorts in 10 below omg it's freezing weather.)

He's also one of my favorite cops in town, so this is really nothing more than good natured ribbing. :P

Wow.

2010-02-14T16:58:00.004-05:00

I knew the "science" behind global warming was sketchy, and the data questionable, but... Wow.

Just one quote:

“We concluded, with overwhelming statistical significance, that the IPCC’s climate data are contaminated with surface effects from industrialization and data quality problems. These add up to a large warming bias,” he said.

Such warnings are supported by a study of US weather stations co-written by Anthony Watts, an American meteorologist and climate change sceptic.

His study, which has not been peer reviewed, is illustrated with photographs of weather stations in locations where their readings are distorted by heat-generating equipment.

Some are next to air- conditioning units or are on waste treatment plants. One of the most infamous shows a weather station next to a waste incinerator.

Watts has also found examples overseas, such as the weather station at Rome airport, which catches the hot exhaust fumes emitted by taxiing jets.

This really has gone from bad science to a farcical cover-up. Read the whole thing.

[h/t Robb, at Sharp as a Marble]

Bill further restricts sex offenders

2010-02-14T10:51:00.003-05:00

From the Roanoke Times:

Legislation that would further limit where sex offenders can live and expand the list of convictions that activate those restrictions has drawn the ire of civil libertarians and advocates of reforming those laws.

[...]

If enacted, Athey's House Bill 1004 would bar individuals ordered to register as sex offenders for crimes involving a juvenile victim from living within 500 feet of multiple places children are known to frequent.

It would add school bus stops, community parks, playgrounds, recreation centers, public pools and private, parochial and Christian schools to state law, which applies to day care centers, public schools and adjoining public parks.

I have just two comments on this right now:

1) In addition to my next objection, I would have to object to adding school bus stops to the list. They can change from year to year without notice (unless it affects your own kids). What happens to a sex offender who wakes up one morning and finds out they've moved a school bus stop in front of his house? Does he have to move? Can he be charged with a violation immediately even though he wasn't notified? If he does have to move, how long does he have before he can be charged?

2) This objection is actually the most important - even beyond Constitutional considerations. It is, of course, the perennial objection to sex offender registration/restriction laws: If they're so dangerous we have to continually track where they live, and restrict where they can live, work, and travel,

WHY ARE WE LETTING THEM OUT OF JAIL IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

State Censorship

2010-02-12T09:00:00.004-05:00

Update: VT administration rejects Commission on Student Affairs' stance

Any effort to end Tech's contract with the Collegiate Times or its parent company, or to ban student organizations from advertising in the newspaper, "is not in the offing," [university spokesman Larry Hincker] said. "That is not the position of this administration."

Good.

----------

Virginia Tech is threatening to pull funding from the campus paper (the Collegiate Times, or "CT").

The dispute centers upon a CT policy that allows online readers to post anonymous comments at collegiatetimes.com. The [Commission on Student Affairs] and others who support its proposal have objected to reader postings they characterized as racist or otherwise offensive.

[...]

Despite its independence, the newspaper receives free office space and $70,000 annually from the university, Vice President for Student Affairs Ed Spencer said.

The commission would further seek to ban student organizations from using university funds to buy ads in the CT, the letter stated.

Such a move could cripple or shut down the newspaper, which derives the majority of its revenues from ad sales. The newspaper's leadership pushed back publicly Thursday.

Essentially, the university wants to ban all anonymous comments on the paper's website because of some "racist or otherwise offensive" postings (ignoring, of course, the question of just who decides what is racist or offensive). The company that owns the CT is standing its ground, and doing so rather aggressively at this point.

The commission has requested another meeting with CT representatives.

But in a response to [commission chairwoman Michelle McLeese], [Kelly Wolff, general manager of the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, which owns the CT] wrote: "We have advised the Collegiate Times staff to discontinue discussions with CSA members, individually and collectively, on the topic of online comments. ... This is no longer a dialogue; it is coercion.

"We will wait to hear what the commission says. ... But if they are going to pursue this course of action, then we will take legal action," Wolff said in an interview Thursday.

In a purely private enterprise, this would not be a problem - a sponsor can provide or withdraw funding, facilities, or services at will and for any reason (within the limits of existing contracts). Virginia Tech, however, is an agency of the state (which is why they can't ban firearms on campus for anyone other than employees and students, or for specific events).

Note the sentence that I put in bold in the first quote. This actually goes farther than the university just pulling funding and support, they're also seeking to restrict where student organizations (the Fencing Club, the LGBTA, etc.), would be allowed to advertise.

Should an agency of the state be allowed to dictate terms about content to a newspaper? Should they be allowed to restrict where student organizations advertise? Or does this become a First Amendment violation? My first instinct is that this goes to far, and is an unallowable government coercion of media, but I'm not 100% settled yet - I really haven't had time to give it good, thorough, consideration. Opinions?

Avatar

2010-02-10T20:40:00.002-05:00

There's been a lot of discussion about how Avatar is just a CGI remake of Fern Gully (or Pocahontas, or Dances With Wolves, etc.), but I think everyone missed it.

It's just a CGI remake of the Smurfs.

Heh.

Global Warming!!?? F#@K YOU Al Gore!

2010-02-09T18:40:00.005-05:00

That beam wasn't broken before we got over a foot of "Global Warming" dumped on us in a week's time!

That's the old carport/party patio in my backyard. This one:

Damn it!!!

About that Global Warming...

2010-01-30T15:30:00.003-05:00

That's ten inches worth. That I just finished shoveling out of my driveway. Bite me, Al Gore.

Oh, good grief

2010-01-17T10:44:00.004-05:00

Now JFK got shut down because someone went through the wrong door.

A busy terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport was evacuated after a man opened a restricted door and set off an alarm, authorities said, making it the second known security breach at a New York-area airport this month.
[...]
Authorities earlier said the security breach was caused by a passenger who was exiting Kennedy's Terminal 8 and opened a door that was supposed to be used only by airport workers.

There's a simple way to keep people from going through doors that they're not supposed to go through. It's called a lock. There are even ways to make it easy for the people who are supposed to use the door to open it.

If the TSA was actually about security, these basic measures would have been in place years ago. Instead they use signs. Like a terrorist is going to care about the sign that says "Don't go in here, or else."

Authorities were initially unsure Saturday whether the person had been coming or going from the JFK terminal, and they evacuated the secure areas of the building while they investigated. The Transportation Security Administration said its agents and Port Authority police were involved in the investigation. [emphasis mine]

How much damage could a real terrorist have done during that confusion when the authorities didn't know what was going on.

It's not about security, it's about visibility.

Rights versus Convenience

2010-01-11T09:30:00.005-05:00

NPR ran a story this morning about a case being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court today. This case revisits a SCOTUS decision last year.

Until last year, prosecutors in all but 10 states could introduce a notarized affidavit from crime lab experts, attesting to their findings with respect to critical evidence. This document was sufficient to state that, for example, the white powder found on a defendant was indeed cocaine, or that a defendant's DNA matched that found on a rape or murder victim. Forensic analysts only appeared if subpoenaed by the defense.
But in June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that the clause of the Constitution that requires the accused to be confronted by the witnesses against him puts the burden on the state to produce not just paper certificates, but live forensic witnesses, who can be cross-examined. Without these live forensic witnesses, the court decided, forensic evidence cannot be introduced.

The opinion ended up putting actual practice somewhere in the middle - prosecutors must send a notice to the defense that they intend to to introduce an affidavit. The defense can then object to the affidavit being introduced without the witness appearing. If the defendant does not enter an objection, the affidavit is considered sufficient without the witness. This shifts the burden back onto the defendant, but greatly simplifies it by not requiring them to actually go through the more complex process of issuing a subpoena.

Here's the part that concerns me:

Nevertheless, four justices were outraged by the decision, predicting that it would result in a windfall for the defense, huge expense for the states and the release of guilty defendants.

Why do they want to restrict the Rights of the accused based on the expense to the states? Shouldn't a person's Right to face the witnesses against them trump any consideration of convenience and cost-savings of the government? The same government that's prosecuting them?

Only one thing has changed since June. One member of that five-justice majority — David Souter — has retired, and been replaced by Sotomayor. Prosecutors hope that having been a criminal prosecutor herself in New York, Sotomayor will be sympathetic to their cause.

This is why SCOTUS appointments are so important. One Justice can cause a complete reversal of a previous decision. One Justice can tilt the balance of power from the people to the government. One Justice can make the difference in whether you can effectively exercise your rights or not.

Let's not forget that Heller was a 5-4 decision, too.

Some 24 states are asking the court to reverse itself as well, citing backlogs, costs and other problems they say the decision has created.

Again, backlogs, costs, or "other problems" do not matter in the face of a Constitutionally Enumerated Right intended to protect the people from an overzealous or abusive government. Frankly, the decision didn't go far enough - the entire burden should be on the prosecution, and the defendant should not have to do anything for the witness against him to appear at trial.

The Elephant in the Room

2010-01-08T09:23:00.004-05:00

NPR had a couple of stories this morning on airport security and the underwear bomber. While both had some interesting information, I found myself getting angrier the longer I listened. Why? Because they kept ignoring the real breakdown in the whole system. They were going on and on about how the intelligence agencies are "inundated" and suffering from information overload. They went on about the full body scanners that wouldn't have caught this guy even if they had been used. I got mad, because they kept ignoring the real question:

How did a lone traveler, who paid cash and had no luggage for an international flight, get on a plane without additional screening?

See, either of those factors alone are generally considered suspicious, and should warrant additional scrutiny. Both together should be a red flag to screeners that this person should be thoroughly investigated before being allowed on the plane. Add in his religion and national origin, and you should have a Big Giant Red Flag signaling that this person should not get on a plane without a strip search and maybe a body cavity search, too.

This was not a failure of the Watch Lists, or the CIA/NSA/FBI or any other intelligence agency. This was not about the failure to use the full body scanners that were at the airport where he boarded. Yes there were failures at all those levels, but they were all irrelevant in this case. This was a failure on the part of the TSA to recognize basic signs of a suicide bomber. This was a failure to use basic security procedures that would have caught this twit in the absence of all the information that the CIA/NSA/FBI/TLA had. Basic procedures that would have stopped him without relying on all the high-tech gizmos that may or may not work.

It just shows that, as many others have pointed out recently, this administration is fundamentally unserious about real security.

A Four Rules Reminder

2010-01-05T00:14:00.005-05:00

... or, Why the Best Safety is in your Head.

I had a simple little reminder today of why we always, always, follow The Four Rules. Fortunately, there was no ND.

After work, I was changing to go run some errands at the house (since I still haven't been able to get moved in), and went to switch pistols. See, when I'm at work, I wear a suit. But I take the jacket off for most of the day, so I carry my Kel-Tec P3AT in a Crossbreed MicroClip tuckable holster, with my shirt tucked in over it. Virtually unnoticeable, but readily accessible. When I'm not at work, I carry my Taurus PT-145 in a Crossbreed SuperTuck Deluxe. But, I store it in an Uncle Mike's IWB holster. The Uncle Mike's is smaller, and fits in the drawer by my bed, which the Crossbreed doesn't. The Uncle Mike's is easier to put on or take off quickly. If I go on a rescue call in the middle of the night, I can just slip it on, where the Crossbreed takes a little more effort.

Well, I was changing pistols, and I noticed something. When I pulled the Taurus out of the Uncle Mike's holster to slip it in the Crossbreed, I realized the safety was off. Now, out of habit - which I cultivated intentionally - I look at the safety every time the gun is taken out of a holster. I can only assume that it got frobbed somehow in the process of putting it in the Uncle Mike's the night before, or I just missed that it was off.

Now, had I been relying on the safety to keep the gun from firing, there might have been a serious tragedy. But, I know that mechanical safeties can fail, or be manipulated unintentionally, so I also always, always, follow The Four Rules:

Rule 1: The gun is ALWAYS loaded! - In this case, I knew it was loaded anyway.

Rule 2: Never point the gun at anything you do not want to destroy or kill. - It was pointed at the wall, which, while not something I really want to destroy or damage, is repairable. Beyond that wall of the apartment is the brick outside wall and solid earth up to about shoulder level - definitely a safe backstop.

Rule 3: Keep your finger away from the trigger until you are ready to fire. - As always when I'm handling a gun, but not ready or planning to fire it, my trigger finger was indexed along the frame below the slide, and the other fingers were around the grip, giving me a secure hold on the weapon.

Rule 4: Be sure of your target, what is near your target, and what is BEHIND your target. - Since I wasn't planning on firing, this one is not applicable - but see my explanation above on Rule 2. I knew what I was using as a backstop if it did fire, and I knew what was behind it.

It always pays to stop and review The Four Rules occasionally. This time, I got a surprising but harmless reminder of why they exist. Next time, it could be an ND, but if I follow the Rules, it won't be a tragedy.

Sherlock Holmes, as he was meant to be!

2010-01-04T01:05:00.006-05:00

(Warning - contains minor spoilers)

I saw Sherlock Holmes tonight, and I can only agree with LawDog - Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law bring us Holmes and Watson as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle meant them to be. LawDog puts it better than I can:

Is this movie an accurate depiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous literary invention? That depends.

If you are a fan of the Sherlock Holmes of the books, then yes. If you are a fan of the Hollywood version of the detective -- then no.

This is going to come as a shock to some folks, but Basil Rathbone was a lousy Sherlock Holmes.

Sir Arthur penned a Sherlock Holmes who was a young man -- probably in his late twenties, but no older than mid-30's -- who was a genius, yes, but also manic-depressive.

In "A Study In Scarlet", Sir Arthur -- through Dr. Watson -- described how Holmes would be seized by melancholia and would lie upon his sofa, in the dark, for days without speaking or moving; in other stories, Holmes would be "seized by an intensity" and go for days without eating or sleeping, until he fainted.

He is -- as written by Doyle -- an eccentric, who kept his unanswered mail nailed to the mantel with a pen-knife; his tobacco stored in the toe of a shoe; and his cigars in a coal-bin.

He is an addict, who self-medicates his depression with a 7% solution of IV cocaine, with occasional forays into morphia use.

Robert Downey, Jr. does a bang-up job of portraying the Holmes of the books - mania, depression, and all. A man who can fight as well as reason, and is tenacious once the game is afoot.

Jude Law gives us an intelligent, competent, Watson - able to keep up with Holmes' mania, his eccentricities, his reasoning, his secretive planning, who can hold his own in a fight, and who has become familiar enough with Holmes' methods to make his own deductions.

They do take some liberties with the "official" continuity. The movie takes place shortly before Watson's marriage, but there are references to "A Scandal in Bohemia," which took place after his marriage. Watson learns of Moriarty, even though he had not heard of him at the start of "The Final Problem," which also took place after his marriage. There may be other discontinuities, but I'll admit that it's been so long since I read the books that I didn't really notice any.

Despite that, it was a good movie, true to the characters and the spirit of the books. It's made me want to read all the stories again (thank goodness for Project Gutenberg, which has all the Holmes stories - and more - available for free online).

I heartily recommend this movie, for all Sherlock Holmes fans. Go, and enjoy!

Scanners

2010-01-03T02:00:00.002-05:00

Jenn over at A Conservative Shemale points out the the super-duper high-tech body scanners everyone is shouting about in the aftermath of the underwear bomber apparently would not have actually done any good, even if they had been used.

I guess it’s time to state the obvious- There is no one perfect system. We need a defense in depth strategy that is going to have to include some form of profiling.

I'm really starting to like her. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders.

The high-tech stuff does have it's place, but as she said, there is no one perfect system. Consider the body scanners. One weakness - if I understand the system right - is that it doesn't penetrate skin. Now imagine a really fat terrorist, and what he could hide in his folds. (I apologize profusely for that disturbing mental image.) We absolutely need a defense in depth strategy, and it is going to have to include some form of profiling.

The problem is that people hear "profiling" and think "ZOMG, we're going to strip search anyone who looks middle-eastern! Religious persecution!" and immediately shut their brains down and fight it, regardless of what profiles are actually used. So, of course, no politician who cares about getting re-elected (which is pretty much all of them) would ever dream of allowing profiling to happen on their watch.

But profiling does not automatically mean using race or religion based profiles. The underwear bomber would have been caught with a simple profile that had no references to race, religion, or even gender - he paid cash for his ticket (already a red flag), and he had no luggage for an international flight. Either one of those facts should have triggered additional scrutiny and a more intensive search before boarding, both together should have had him pulled aside for a detailed interview and background check.

But, you know, religion and race shouldn't be ignored when creating those profiles, either. If John Smith goes to Pakistan and comes back as Muhammad Abdullah, it should raise suspicions. Abdul Khadar from Terroristan should be asked more than just "did you leave your luggage unattended," and should go through a little more scrutiny than just walking through a metal detector with his shoes off before boarding the plane. Along the same lines, Joe and Jane Jones from Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, traveling with their two year old daughter and three month old infant, are very likely not terrorists, and probably don't need to be strip searched.

As long as you don't let yourself be blinded by the profiles, or allow them to be abused, they can be extremely effective. Just ask the Israelis.

House update - 2009-12-30

2009-12-30T17:28:00.007-05:00

Well, the pre-move in painting was finished a week and a half ago. Here's the living room now:

And the bedroom:

That's a big improvement over before, don't you think? FYI, that's about $300 worth of paint and supplies there - never let anyone tell you painting is "cheap".

I've also changed out the light switch in the bedroom for an electronic dimmer switch with a remote control, and replaced all the old bi-metal thermostats with triac-based digital ones that are accurate and also tell me the actual room temperature.

Amazingly, for Christmas I got a significant amount of 'money' in the form of Lowe's and Home Depot gift cards. Go figure. :)

The mind boggles...

2009-12-28T10:23:00.005-05:00

at this insanity.

But as a progressive, I would sooner lay my child to rest than succumb to the belief that the use of a gun for self-defense is somehow not in itself a gun crime. [emphasis mine]

I have my doubts as to whether that attitude would withstand the test of reality, but the fact that this waste of carbon would even spout such insanity means it's possible. In fact, it seems like he's a True Believer in the "Progressive" agenda:

An alternative to lockdown is immediate exodus via announcement. Although this removes potential hostages and makes it nearly impossible for the shooter to acquire preselected targets, it unfairly rewards resourceful children who move to safety off-site more shrewdly and efficiently than others.
Schools should level playing fields, not intrinsically reward those more resourceful. A level barrel is fair to all fish.

So, not only would he rather see his own children dead than sully himself by using an evil gun to defend them, but he would also follow the "Progressive" doctrine of "equal opportunity must mean equal outcomes" and see all the children dead rather than allow any who can to "unfairly" use their resourcefulness to survive when others might not be able to.

Why is this idiot allowed to teach? Has anyone looked at how he grades his students? If he believes this strongly that "Schools should level playing fields, not intrinsically reward those more resourceful," does he give every student the same grade? Does he grade based on performance, or based on his own little "Progressive" agenda? After all, it's not "fair" for students who work harder or are innately more talented in whatever subject he teaches to be rewarded for their work/ability when the less motivated or less gifted don't do as well.

If this twit had his way, we'd still be reading by candlelight because Edison would have learned as a child that hard work and resourcefulness shouldn't be rewarded, and he would never have bothered trying.

Any teacher who states his belief that resourcefulness and intelligence shouldn't be rewarded because it's not "fair" should immediately be banned from teaching anything for life.

(h/t SayUncle)

Update 2009-12-29:

It's been opined, at Uncle's, at comments in the original source, and by Jenn at A Conservative Shemale (thanks for reading!) that the letter was actually intended as satire. On reflection, I think there's a good chance that they're right. A comment at Uncle's actually links to another letter by the same person

Satire or not, I think the main points of my post here still stand on their own, and anyone who that seems to support that idea. On the other hand, I've actually met people who think like that, and it's written believably enough that I just can't bring myself to dismiss the possibility that it's real.does think like that still should be banned from teaching for life.

I've been wondering when someone would try this...

2009-12-20T00:25:00.004-05:00

Calif. city's police to wear head-mounted cameras

SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose police are testing head-mounted cameras to record interactions with the public.

The technology to build a system like this has been around for a while, now (think cell phone cameras). I'm not surprised someone's finally trying it, and I completely support it. The implementation sounds interesting, too.

Officers are to turn on the cameras every time they talk with anyone. They download the recordings after every shift.

The cameras are the size of a Bluetooth cell phone earpieces and attach by a headband above the ear.

I am, however, skeptical. Since I started working as a paralegal, I've found it extremely dismaying how often the cruiser-mounted cameras "weren't turned on" or were turned off early (in violation of department policy), or "weren't working". I'd guess that roughly 1 in 3 or 4 subpoenas for camera footage actually result in getting a recording. Of those, most don't show anything useful to the defense because officer/suspect interactions tend to take place off camera. I don't mean to imply that it's intentional - the camera is usually pointing forward, and fixed - but there are some cases where I do have to say it's questionable.

The upshot is that I have to wonder how often these head-mounted cameras will "fail" or turn out to have been "unintentionally obscured". I love the idea - just like the cruiser-cams, the purpose of recording these interactions is to protect both the officer and the citizen, and preventing a case from boiling down to a "he said, she said" type of situation - I just wonder how well it will stand up to reality.

Climate Change Summit

2009-12-07T13:33:00.003-05:00

I saw this article on Yahoo today, about how it doesn't look good for the Climate Change Summit. Funnily, I don't see any mention of the evidence that recently surfaced about the massive scientific fraud that's gone into the whole climate change scheme.

It's as if the media is ignoring any evidence that doesn't support the idea of man-made climate change. Somewhat ironic, isn't it.

Cash for Clunkers = Fail: Part 2

2009-12-06T13:26:00.006-05:00

More unintended consequences of Cash for Clunkers hits another part of the auto industry - salvage yards.

Last summer's Cash for Clunkers program has clogged auto salvage yards with a glut of trade-ins that are too damaged to drive but too good to be sent directly to scrap.

The less glamorous side of the auto industry is having trouble digesting the byproducts of the buying frenzy that put nearly 700,000 new automobiles on the nation's roads -- and took the same number off.

The future of millions of usable auto parts is in limbo as a critical deadline looms this winter under the federal program, which had unexpected success on the front end and its funding tripled to $3 billion.

Several salvage yards in the Roanoke and New River valleys are filled with valuable alternators, starters, air conditioning compressors, wheels, body parts, seats and other major interior parts.

But they are still connected to the 1,500 or so used automobiles traded in through the less-than-eight-week program that expired in August.

And many may go to waste if a federal deadline to conclude the program is not extended.

Apparently, there is a six month deadline for salvage yards to strip usable parts from the cars before they must be crushed or shredded. The problem? There were more cars traded than the salvage yards can deal with.

"There is absolutely no way that we can process these vehicles and recycle anywhere near their potential," he said.

He said the volume of trade-ins flooding the salvage industry is three times what the industry expected when it agreed to support the program and to process the trades within six months. With only four months left on many of the clunkers he bought, he's so far only covered his costs to buy the vehicles for about $225 apiece and get them towed to his facility.
Were these normal trade-ins, the unwanted vehicles could simply be sold to new owners. In this case, the engines were destroyed under a federal mandate to take relatively low-mpg vehicles off the road.

But virtually every trade is loaded with fully functional parts. This represents an opportunity that the auto recycling industry wants to tap -- if given enough time.
As it stands now, however, salvage yards say they can't possibly process the vehicles received under the clunker program by their deadline.

If the yards don't get an extension, the vehicles will have to be scrapped before there is a chance to take off all of the parts, cutting short the program's potential economic and environmental effect, Cunningham said.

The way they normally operate seems to be one factor:

While the obvious solution to the problem at hand might seem to be to strip the clunkers and put the parts on a shelf until a buyer comes along, few shops have the time and storage capacity for such a harvest.

They often keep their autos whole or mostly whole and remove a bumper, rearview mirror or the like when someone asks for them.

That makes sense. Most salvage yards are small operations - lots of land, but only a few employees - and stripping a vehicle for parts is pretty labor intensive.

And, of course, the biggest flaw in the whole program is still there, too.

According to Cunningham, "the real clunker junker smoker" is still going down the highway because its owner could not afford the payments for a new car.

What got traded in for the most part were "very nice cars, very above-average. I had Lexuses being traded in," he said. "Eighty percent of the cars that were traded in, easily, would have went straight into the wholesale market to be resold with absolutely no problem getting rid of them."

But without functioning engines and engine replacement forbidden by the guidelines, the industry has turned to what it calls parting the vehicles out.
Salvage yards are finding there's plenty of demand, but they need time for purchasers to show up. Many highlight their inventories on the Web and wait for a potential customer -- a mechanic or do-it-yourselfer -- to come through the door, call or send an e-mail.

People who could afford to own a Lexus were trading them in on the taxpayer's dime? Total. Fail.

Some other unintended side-effects?

Since 84 percent of the trades were SUVs or trucks, a supply glut could depress prices, he said.

In addition, taking 700,000 vehicles out of service is likely to somewhat reduce the demand for the very parts salvage yards now have in ample supply, he added.

Besides, the program didn't do what it was supposed to do, anyway.

According to Cross-Sell, a Lexington, Ky., automotive market analysis company, sales for August and September jumped 16 percent in the New River Valley and 3 percent in the Roanoke Valley, compared with last year.

However, the help was only temporary. Deep declines in sales continued at the program's close. For the first 10 months of the year, sales of new automobiles are down 21.5 percent in the New River Valley and 24 percent in the Roanoke Valley.

I'd like to see a graph of those figures. I bet August and September are just an insignificant bump on a steadily downward line.

Fail.

The joys of home ownership

2009-12-03T22:26:00.024-05:00

As I mentioned in passing in an earlier post, I've been involved in trying to purchase a house. Well, I have succeeded! The closing was on Monday. Tuesday, I took the day off work to do some initial preparation for moving - mainly, changing the locks (the house had been used as a rental property for a while), and painting. It's small, but being single, it's all I really need.

The area under the awning is an enclosed porch. Here it is from the inside.

The solid door in the upper picture is the door leading into the actual house. It comes out in the living room.

The living room. The front door is to the left, just out of the picture. The door straight ahead is looking into the bedroom, and the archway to the right leads to the hallway, with the door on the right leading to the second bedroom (which will be the study).

Looking into the living room from the bedroom. Guess what I've been doing!

The bedroom. The door in the picture leads to the bathroom, which is shared between the bedroom and the study.

The study, looking into the hallway from the bathroom door.

The bathroom, from the bedroom. The door in the picture leads to the study.

And the bathroom from the study.

Here's the little "hallway." The kitchen is to the right, the study to the left. You can just see the back door through the kitchen door.

Looking into the kitchen.

And out from the kitchen.

Looking off the back deck. That old carport on the right has power and light, and you can see the brick grill in the right wall. There's a grape vine growing along the left "wall" too, and when I was first looking at the house, it did have grapes. I may have to learn to make wine!

Here's a closeup of the fence. It looks very picturesque, but it's also starting to come apart in places, so I'm going to have to replace it soon - probably in sections. That little rock wall runs all the way from the street to the carport along the property line, and there are some wild strawberry plants growing in places along the top!

Looking back at the house from the carport.

It's a nice little house. There are hardwood floors throughout. The attic is large enough to be finished if I need a little more space, the yard is big enough to enjoy, but not too big to maintain easily. It has a few little problems, too, but nothing I can't fix myself given enough time.

Now I just have to finish painting so I can move in.

Cognitive disconnect

2009-11-19T08:56:00.004-05:00

Heard on NPR this morning - an Obama supporter talking about Sarah Palin.

"She's a little wet behind the ears, but I think she could make a great president someday."

The mind boggles at the disconnect. I hope her vote for Obama had nothing to do with Palin and only reflected her views on other issues.

Pirates successfully repelled - by GUNS!

2009-11-18T13:41:00.003-05:00

Arming ships to stop pirate attacks works.

Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months and were thwarted by private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship who fired off guns and a high-decibel noise device.

See? Pirates don't want to deal with high-risk targets - ones that can perforate their precious hides with lead. Unfortunately, some people still don't get it.

However, Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said the international maritime community was still "solidly against" armed guards aboard vessels at sea, but that American ships have taken a different line than the rest of the international community.

"Shipping companies are still pretty much overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of armed guards," Middleton said. "Lots of private security companies employee people who don't have maritime experience. Also, there's the idea that it's the responsibility of states and navies to provide security. I would think it's a step backward if we start privatizing security of the shipping trade."

No matter how much you trust other people to protect you, ultimately you are responsible for your own safety. The owners of the Maersk Alabama have at least partially realized that, and addressed it by hiring an armed security team. They have at least realized (through bitter experience) that you cannot rely on people who aren't there - the navies of the world simply cannot provide an armed escort for every single ship on the oceans. When there is a navy vessel close enough to respond to an attack, the pirates just go looking for another victim where there isn't one close enough.

This quote sums it up nicely:

"Somali pirates understand one thing and only one thing, and that's force," said Capt. Joseph Murphy, who teaches maritime security at the school. "They analyze risk very carefully, and when the risk is too high they are going to step back. They are not going to jeopardize themselves."

Sounds like most criminals, to me.

This should NEVER happen

2009-11-18T13:28:00.003-05:00

Hunter's bullet kills Ferrum student.

One Ferrum College student was killed and another injured about 4 p.m. Tuesday by a hunter who apparently mistook them for deer, authorities said.

Three students were collecting frogs for a biology class along a Franklin County-owned trail about a mile west of campus when one of them, a female, was fatally shot in the chest and another, a male, was shot in the hand, a college spokeswoman said.
[ . . . ]
Kimberly Boudinot said over the phone from her home in Irvington, near the Chesapeake Bay, that her stepson Regis Boudinot, 20, a junior at the college, was shot in the hand. She said a bullet had struck the female student, and then entered Regis' right arm before exiting through his hand.

Rule 4: Be sure of your target, what is near your target, and what is BEHIND your target.

It is every hunter's responsibility to make POSITIVE target identification before firing. It doesn't matter if someone is wearing a high-visibility color or not, YOU must make absolutely sure your target is what you think it is before you pull the trigger - no one else can do it for you. That bullet can never be taken back once it is fired, and a life ended by your failure can never be restored. It will weigh on you for the rest of your life.

Be careful, and be responsible out there folks. Hunters are not the only ones in the woods in hunting season.

Caldwell Fields Killings - Update 2009-11-18

2009-11-18T09:24:00.002-05:00

Police seek van seen near time of Caldwell Fields killings.

Investigators are looking for the driver of a silver or gray minivan that was seen parked in the Caldwell Fields lot where two Virginia Tech students were killed in August, they said Tuesday.

According to the article, it is not being considered a suspect vehicle. The van was apparently seen parked there August 26. The killings took place sometime during the evening/night of August 26 & 27.

Anyone who stumbles across this blog and has any information, please come forward.

Holsters

2009-11-12T20:21:00.007-05:00

I've been talking for a while about getting better holsters for my 2 main carry guns. I had been looking at the Comp-Tac M-TAC after hearing good things about it from other blogs, but Comp-Tac doesn't actually make that model, or anything similar, for any gun that I actually own. A quick internet search for something similar took me to Crossbreed Holsters. On Saturday night, I finally took the plunge, and ordered these two holsters.
[click to embiggenate, but beware - it's a cell phone photo]

Delivery was quick. They came in today - less than a week after I ordered them - despite a disclaimer on their site saying "Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. We are a small shop and make them by hand. Thanks for your patience and understanding." I like that kind of service. They also come with a lifetime warranty.

The one on the left is their SuperTuck Del uxe, in black, made for my Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro. The smaller one is the MicroClip, with my Kel-Tec P3AT. The total cost was $140.20 ($58.50 for the MicroClip + $69.75 for the SuperTuck + 11.95 S&H). Not unreasonable for a pair of good, tuckable IWB holsters.

Since I only got them today, I can't really give an in depth review, but they seem to be solidly built and well put together. Since they came while I was at work, I was able to do a "test run" when I got home using the MicroClip (which is intended for wear at work, with a suit), and it seems to be comfortable and secure, and looks like it conceals well. Draw testing shows good retention, but not too much - though the leather backing means I can't get my thumb around the grip until it clears the holster. They offer a "combat cut" on the SuperTuck to alleviate that issue, but not on the MicroClip. I may eventually want to make that modification myself, and maybe on both holsters, but I'll wait to see how the "road testing" goes.

The SuperTuck may need a little adjusting - the (unloaded) Taurus will fall out if you hold it upside-down - but the holsters also come with instructions on how to adjust the retention. I don't plan to do anything until I've had a chance to actually wear it "as is," since it might be just fine once it's inside my belt. We'll see, since my preferred method of disarming myself is to remove the entire holster with the gun still in it (there's less chance of an ND from accidentally frobbing something I shouldn't in the process).

No matter what, they certainly look to be better than these:

That's an Uncle Mike's IWB holster and a BullDog ankle holster. Cheap and functional, and that's about all you can say about them. I've been using the ankle holster five days a week for about 6 months now, and the elastic is just about shot. I also learned that I don't like ankle holsters for anything but a back-up gun anyway, because you essentially have to become immobile to access it. Even if it's just for a moment, that's a bad idea in a real-life situation.

I'll probably have a more in-depth review up in a couple of weeks.

(Silly Gubbmit Agency Disclaimer - Sorry guys, I paid full retail price for everything I've ever gotten from this manufacturer/retailer - the sum total of which consists entirely of these two holsters.)

Negligent, or accidental?

2009-11-12T08:56:00.005-05:00

A little thought exercise, from a story in the Roanoke Times today: "Salem man wounds hunting partner":

A man closes the action on his double-barrel shotgun, and it discharges. The pellets ricochet off a nearby truck and strike his friend in the face and chest.

The way the story is written, the discharge appears to have been the result of a malfunction, not a Rule 3 violation (assuming the paper got the facts right - always a big caveat with the MSM). He (supposedly) knew it was loaded, so there was no Rule 1 violation, and he wasn't actually preparing to fire, so Rule 4 didn't really apply.

I find myself somewhat torn on this one. There was a Rule 2 violation (because there was a truck in front of the muzzle). Metal objects, like vehicles, can cause ricochets. On the other hand, maybe he didn't see it through some trees, or something. Maybe the geography meant the truck was the safest direction to point the gun (though it would be better to leave the action open until reaching a better location in that case).

Ricochets can be hard to anticipate, and even harder to predict, especially when you're not expecting the gun to fire in the first place. Inanimate objects, if you know no one is behind them, are often considered a "safe direction," especially if you don't particularly care about the object and don't expect a discharge.

So what say you, dear readers - negligent, or accidental?

Obama's Priorities

2009-11-06T09:44:00.005-05:00

You should watch the video here. Then you should be angry. Very angry.

At a (presumably) emergency press conference convened to address the Fort Hood shootings, our illustrious President spends the first 2 minutes congratulating people about the conference he's at (based on the comments at the site, it's a Native American conference), and giving a "shout out" to someone in the audience.

That really is a full 2 minutes from the time stamp on the video. A full 2 minutes before he even mentions the tragedy at Fort Hood, at a press conference called specifically for that issue. His friends and cronies are more important to him.

How very presidential. And of course the MSM seems to be ignoring this hideous insensitivity. No mention of it anywhere, and they're apparently editing out that first 2 minutes when they replay the video.

Be angry - and remember this in 2012.

H/T to Ace of Spades HQ, by way of a comment at Patterico's Pontifications, by way of SayUncle.

Election Day 2009!

2009-11-03T11:15:00.003-05:00

Don't forget to Vote today!

I find my self distressingly underprepared for today's election. Part of it may have to do with how much I have going on at the moment. Not only do I work a full-time job as a paralegal, I'm also taking a legal research class at the local community college. I'm an active member of the local rescue squad, and in addition to 8 hours of duty a week, I'm putting together a training on fractures and crush injuries because the state's training budget is dead. The real distraction, though, is that I'm in the process of buying my first house. I don't want to jinx it (knock on wood), so I won't say anymore except that it's more time consuming and nerve wracking than I thought.

A little quick research, though, and I think I've figured out most of my votes:

Governor: One of my main issues this year is Virginia's stupid ban on concealed carry in restaurants. Both candidates have indicated their support for repealing the ban, but my impression is that Bob McDonnell is stronger on other gun rights issues, so he gets my vote.

Lt. Gov.: While I'm definitely in a "throw the bums out" mood when it comes to incumbents, Bob Bolling is the only candidate who bothered to respond to the VCDL candidate survey, so he gets my vote.

Attorney General: Just like the candidates for Lt. Gov., Ken Cuccenilli is the only candidate who bothered to respond to the VCDL candidate survey, so he gets my vote.

Delegate: My candidates for Delegate are Paul Cornett (Independent) and James Shuler (Democrat, incumbent). Like I said before, I'm definitely in a "throw the bums out" mood when it comes to incumbents, and I'm not that fond of Democrats either. Ordinarily, an incumbent Dem running against a new Independent would be the last person I'd vote for. Unfortunately, there's a few problems here. The first one being that I haven't been able to find any information on Cornett except for a few newspaper articles. He's a Virgina Tech student (a senior), and the impression I get from the articles is that he seems to be running because he can, not because he disagrees with any of Shuler's positions. While I don't really trust newspapers, I just can't find any other information about him. Neither candidate responded to the VCDL survey, but I do know that Shuler voted for the repeal of the restaurant CHP ban last year, and also voted to override the Governor's veto of it. That, plus the lack of information on his opponent, means he gets my vote.

Town Council: This is the one I'm the least prepared for. There are 9 candidates for 4 positions on the council, and this is where the "throw the bums out" strategy will come into play the most. Blacksburg has a long history of bad decisions when it comes to attracting businesses to the town. The debacle with the (possible) Wally World at the "First and Main" project was probably the worst. I expect that issue drove off several business that may have been considering moving into town, and the way they drove off Sonic just reinforced the perception. (I don't have links handy, but I'm sure if you Google "Blacksburg Wal-mart" and "Blacksburg Sonic" you'll get the whole story.) First and Main actually has a big banner by the main road saying "[Candidate X] voted against Sonic" - it's that kind of issue in this town. I know one candidate personally, and not only do I agree with a good number of his opinions, I know for a fact that he will change his position if he's shown evidence that he's wrong. That's very important, and yet another reason to vote for him. For the rest, incumbents will be out, but I really don't know enough about the rest. If I can find the Roanoke Times article where they gave their endorsements, that will guide me too - to vote against anyone they endorsed.

Well, that's my thought process (such as it was this year). Again, don't forget to vote!

Quote of the Day - October 14, 2009

2009-10-14T11:55:00.004-04:00

From Weer'd Beard in comments on a Gay adoption post at SayUncle's:

Being from Mass our state has a LOT of problems, Gay Cooties from letting the homos get married isn’t one of them.

I couldn't argue with that, even if I wanted to.

#^$$#%^!!!!!!

2009-10-09T10:20:00.002-04:00

Just found out my dad got laid off - with one year left till he's eligible for retirement.

You can't tell me they don't consider age when they're figuring out who to lay off, whether they're allowed to or not. Bastards.

WTF???!!!

2009-10-09T08:24:00.004-04:00

This is ridiculous.

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.

He hasn't actually accomplished anything! None of these "initiatives" have actually had any success yet! Then there's this:

Nobel observers were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in the Obama presidency, which began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.

Less than two weeks! So he was nominated before he even could have accomplished anything! WTF? Even the AP admits he hasn't actually accomplished what he's being recognized for:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation but recognized initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the U.S. role in combating climate change. [emphasis mine]
[...]
The Norwegian Nobel Committee lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation but recognized initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the U.S. role in combating climate change.

Looks like there may have been some Bush Derangement Syndrome involved, too:

The award appeared to be a slap at President George W. Bush from a committee that harshly criticized Obama's predecessor for his largely unilateral military action in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

I say again, WTF?

Dumb Crook Tricks

2009-10-08T12:00:00.002-04:00

County police investigate reported abduction

Roanoke County police are investigating a reported abduction and attempted bank robbery.

Lt. Chuck Mason said a man walked out of his house in Roanoke County near Vinton this morning and was met by a man with a handgun. He was forced to get into a car and then go pick up a female friend, Mason said.

The three drove to the Valley Bank branch on Starkey Road, and the man with the gun ordered them to withdraw money. While he remained outside, the woman and the other man went into the bank. The man handed the teller a note warning the bank to lock the doors.

If you're going to force someone at gunpoint to do something they don't want to do, don't leave them alone to do it in a place they can get help.

Duh!

Quote of the Day - Tam Strikes Again

2009-09-20T11:49:00.001-04:00

I love Tam. Her mastery of the ancient arts of snark and verbal vizualization seems to be unparalleled in the blogosphere. Even in a short, simple post about a bike ride, she manages to bring her artistry to bear yet again:

So we pressed north on the Monon, some eleven or twelve miles from Roseholme Cottage to the workface of the trail mine, where jets of high-pressure tax dollars are used to hew bike path out of raw native railbed.

Like I said, an artist at work.

Self-defense works

2009-09-20T11:15:00.003-04:00

Via Tam:

Prowling teen gets two shots to chest from homeowner.

A 15-year-old prowler was shot Friday night in a face-off with a South Knox County homeowner, authorities said.
The shooting happened just before 11 p.m. at 837 Lester Road, Knox County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Martha Dooley said. The homeowner, Jonathan Stevens, 20, told deputies he and his wife were watching television and heard their dogs barking.

When Stevens, pistol in hand, walked outside into the driveway with his wife, the teen confronted them with a shotgun, Dooley said.

“He shot twice at the couple,” Dooley said. “He never got in the house. The homeowner shot twice at the suspect.”

Both bullets hit the teen in the chest. The couple weren’t hurt.

The boy ran. Deputies found him lying in the road, Dooley said.

Fifteen years old, and already looking to attack people with a shotgun. No doubt the Brady's will include him in their "tragic child victims of gun violence."

This part is rather chilling:

Three other teenagers lurking outside the home ran, KCSO spokeswoman Ashley Haynes said.

What were four teenage males planning to do to a young couple at gunpoint? Would they have stopped at robbery, or would they have 'entertained' themselves with the man's wife before killing them both?

Even without being shot at right away, that makes it seem like a pretty clear case of self-defense. Remember, despite what the Brady Bunch and most anti-gunners would like you to believe, criminals often will hurt or kill you even if you cooperate (stories collected by Zendo Deb at TFS Magnum). Do you really want to trust your life to the 'honor' and goodwill of someone who is stealing from you and threatening your life?

Even without being shot at right away, this seems like a clear-cut case of self-defense.

Reward increased in killing of two VT students

2009-09-17T11:03:00.002-04:00

Reward in killings increases to $50,000.

Hoping to aid the investigation into the killings of two Virginia Tech students last month, a Lynchburg cardiologist has raised $40,000 in reward money since Labor Day. Adding the $10,000 put up by Virginia Tech, the total reward now stands at $50,000.
[...]
Hoyt said anyone interested in contributing to the reward can make checks payable to the CPD Citizen Support Group, c/o Virginia State Police, 3775 W. Main St., Salem, VA 24153.

I'm starting to worry that this one may remain unsolved.

Terrorists take care of themselves

2009-09-14T18:39:00.009-04:00

I found this video while wandering teh interwebz today. Premature detonation, a la "Achmed the Dead Terrorist" at about 2:43 into the video.

The best part? As the pilots seem to be preparing to attack after the child has wandered away and the device goes off, you hear one say "Nevermind!"

That video gives me the warm fuzzies.

Edit 9-15-09: Fixed the embedded video.

Cash for Clunkers = Fail

2009-09-13T17:17:00.004-04:00

Apparently, the "cash for clunkers" program has had some unfortunate side effects.

While most dealers are grateful for the boost, they're paying for it now with fewer customers. The government rebates drew people into the market who otherwise would have kept driving their clunkers due to uncertainty over the sputtering economy. Those customers might have made their purchases later in the year.

"It was good while it lasted," said Phil Warren, sales manager at Toyota Direct in Columbus, Ohio. "Now we're a little bit concerned about what happens next. The program may have just taken a lot of people out of the market."
Making matters worse, many dealers depleted their stocks with clunker sales, and automakers have been slow to ramp up production to replenish the lots. Grahl says Ford has built the cars he ordered but mysteriously hasn't shipped them. So the selection isn't very good for people who do want to buy.

Gee, it's almost like government interference unbalances the free market or something.

As a result, U.S. sales of cars and light trucks rose to 1.3 million in August, a roughly 30 percent increase from July. But now that the clunkers program is over, industry analysts expect poor September sales, even lower than the July rate.

And then, of course, there is the usual government efficiency.

Kesel, like many dealers, still hasn't been paid for most of his clunker sales.
"Most dealers are in a cash-flow crunch because of the federal government not paying up on this," he said.

Never Forget

2009-09-11T09:00:00.002-04:00

9-11-01
Never Forget

UPDATE; Still no suspects in recent double-murder.

2009-09-03T22:32:00.003-04:00

Update 9-11-09: Task force set up to investigate Montgomery County double homicide.

A multi-agency task force has been formed to investigate the double homicide of two Virginia Tech students.
[...]
The task force is made up of officers from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office; the Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Virginia Tech police departments; the Virginia State Police; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the United States Marshall's Office; and the United States Forest Service.

What a list! It seems like everybody who can be involved is involved. I can see the US Marshals, and the Forest Service - it happened in a National Forest, so it's federal land and under the Marshals' jurisdiction, and the Forest Service is expected - and the FBI, while unexpected, is not surprising, but the ATF? How did they get involved?

Virginia Tech offers $10,000 reward in killings.

Virginia Tech is offering a $10,000 reward for information that helps solve the killings of Tech students Heidi Childs and David Meltzer last week in the Jefferson National Forest.
[...]
Police are following leads and tips, but believe the killings may have been random because investigators have been unable to find a motive.

No leads, no idea if the killer is still around, or if or when he'll decide to kill again.

Be careful, and remember the first step in self-defense is being aware of your surroundings.

Quote of the Day - 3 September 2009

2009-09-03T21:38:00.001-04:00

From Roberta X:

Somewhere around here not too far away, there is some person or entity big enough and mean enough to have depantsed a giant and made it stick.

Yeah, that would worry me, too.

On Self Defense

2009-09-02T12:31:00.005-04:00

Rich at Shots Across the Bow has a good post up about one of the fundamentals of self-defense - avoiding the need to defend yourself. You should read the whole thing, but here are some

Today, my son texted me and asked me how much it cost to get a Handgun Carry Permit. I gave him the ball park figures for the class and the application. He thanked me and told me that his roommate had been robbed at gunpoint the night before.,

Yeah, I called him immediately.

That should prompt a call from any parent.

"Your roommate was robbed by two men with guns right at your front door, on a well lit street, and they got away clean. You live in a bad neighborhood."

This is really the only point I disagree with. While crime happens more frequently in "bad neighborhoods" (which is usually why they're considered bad neighborhoods), it's certainly not limited to bad neighborhoods. This could have happened in the most upscale, hoity-toity part of Beverly Hills or the most run down part of Detroit. This one incident, by itself, doesn't make it a bad neighborhood. Crime knows no boundaries.

"The first step in self defense is being aware of your surroundings." [emphasis mine]

That is the money quote, right there. I'll repeat it - The first step in self defense is being aware of your surroundings. The three steps of self-defense are avoid, evade, fight. You cannot avoid danger if you are not aware of your surroundings before you enter the area of danger. If you take nothing else from his post, take that truth with you.

His final paragraph sums things up nicely.

Anyway, I believe I got the point across to my son that carrying a gun is only one small part of self defense. The first piece is maintaining an awareness of your surroundings, and the people in them. The second is forethought. Have a plan. Know what you're going to do when things go south. The third piece is to have multiple layers of defense, but that's a post for another day.

The idea of awareness as the first part of self-defense is especially important in my town today. It seems there are still no leads in last weeks double homocide in Jefferson National Forest. There is no indication that there is a suspect, and no way to know if the killer is still around or if he's fled the area, if he lives here or was just passing through, if he targeted the victims or if they were randomly chosen, or if it was a one time event or if he'll do it again.

Maintain awareness, please.

(h/t to SayUncle)

Hokies - Be cautious, be aware, be careful!

2009-08-28T00:33:00.009-04:00

Update: Police continue investigation into Virginia Tech students' deaths. Still no suspects. Everybody be careful out there.

A double homocide of two Virginia Tech students Thursday morning.

The bodies were discovered about 8 a.m. by a man walking his dog. Metzler’s body was inside a car; Childs’ was outside, [Sheriff Tommy] Whitt said.
He did not say how many times or where on their bodies they appeared to have been shot. No weapons were found, he said.
[...]
Caldwell Fields is a popular weekend hangout spot for Tech students, authorities said. “We are going to step up our patrols in that area even though we think it was a random act of brutal violence,” Whitt said.

There are apparently no suspects at this time. Whoever did this is still wandering around free, and there's no telling if he's still in the area or not, or if he'll do it again.

Maintaining condition yellow is highly recommended until this killer is found. So is carrying, if you can.

Quote of the Day - 10 Aug 2009

2009-08-10T13:58:00.004-04:00

from DMFA webcomic.

"Friends don't let friends become zombies."

Wow! Some Grade A PSH from Time!

2009-08-10T12:04:00.002-04:00

Now this is some serious PSH. Just in the first paragraph:

The camcorder shakes as it films the thud of thick .50 caliber bullets ripping through a steel plate target in the heat of the Arizona desert. Panning across the jagged rocks and cacti, the camera then focuses on the shooter: a smiling Mexican sitting down on the dust as he uses both hands to fire the huge state-of-the-art weapon that can tear through tank armor. He was the happy customer, having bought the killing machine from an Arizona gun shop for about $21,000. The grainy video was seized by ATF agents in a raid on a weapon traffickers' safe house in Yuma. One man in the film was arrested and faces charges. But the man who showed off his shooting on the video is believed to be south of the border using the cannon-like gun to wage Mexico's relentless drug war.

Lets see:

a smiling Mexican sitting down on the dust as he uses both hands to fire the huge state-of-the-art weapon that can tear through tank armor.

If all it takes to "tear through tank armor" is a .50BMG, why do tanks have to carry that much, much larger gun and use depleted uranium rounds to do the same thing? Why does the A-10 Thunderbolt II need it's 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun, also firing depleted uranium rounds, to do that?

He was the happy customer, having bought the killing machine from an Arizona gun shop for about $21,000.

Loaded phrasing. Bad Reporter!

But the man who showed off his shooting on the video is believed to be south of the border using the cannon-like gun to wage Mexico's relentless drug war.

More loaded phrasing. Don't they teach journalism in journalism school anymore?

Remember, that's just the first paragraph. I haven't even finished reading the rest of it yet. I may do more later.

Show me the Money!

2009-08-10T07:55:00.002-04:00

The bailout money, that is. Seems that nobody can figure out where it all went.

WASHINGTON — Although hundreds of well-trained eyes are watching over the $700 billion that Congress last year decided to spend bailing out the nation's financial sector, it's still difficult to answer some of the most basic questions about where the money went.

Despite a new oversight panel, a new special inspector general, the existing Government Accountability Office and eight other inspectors general, those charged with minding the store say they don't have all the weapons they need. Ten months into the Troubled Asset Relief Program, some members of Congress say that some oversight of bailout dollars has been so lacking that it's essentially worthless.

Everybody who's surprised about this, raise your hand.

Why?

Did you really think such a massive outlay to private companies that were going under because of bad financial practices was not going to be misappropriated and hidden?

Did you really think that the same government "oversight" that failed to notice these companies artificially inflated values and financial reports would be able to keep track of all that money once these same companies got hold of it?

Do we really want the same government that couldn't keep track of the massive TARP funding to be in charge of our health care?

Problems with blogger

2009-08-07T16:05:00.004-04:00

Update 2: Looks like it's working from home, too. Thanks Google!

Update: It seems to be working from work, now. We'll find out about home in about 30 minutes.

Is anyone else getting this? When I try to access my blog page, I get this message:

We're sorry...

... but your computer or network may be sending automated queries. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

See Google Help for more information.

When I go to the help link, it says there may be a CAPTCHA box, but I don't get one, so it says to "contact my service provider" to find where the automated queries are coming from, and they'll give me access when the queries are stopped. I used the "send more information" link, but there's not much there.

The confusing part is, this is happening both from home and from work - 2 totally separate networks and locations, and on computers using two different operating systems (Linux at home, and XP Pro at work), and only with blogger. I can access other Google pages with no problem from the same computers. From home, it started while I was there for lunch, and at work, it started when I got back from lunch.

It's not happening with every blogger site, either. I can access Jay G's blog, but not Tam's. It's also not affecting anything except blogger.

If I try a different access route (from my google accounts page, or from the "new post" link) I can access it, but only once. Subsequent attempts from the same origin point give me the "We're sorry" page again.

Google, if you're reading this, this is a more detailed description than I could give from the help pages. PLEASE FIX IT!!!

Bad news for TGSCOM, Inc.

2009-08-07T11:42:00.004-04:00

According to this story at the Roanoke Times (which appears to be an AP story):

The gunman who killed three women and wounded nine others at a Pittsburgh-area health club bought accessories for a handgun from the same Wisconsin-based dealer that sold a gun to the Virginia Tech shooter.
Forty-eight-year-old George Sodini bought the accessories from TGSCOM Inc. of Green Bay, Wis.

Note that he only bought accessories, not the actual weapons. There's no indication of what kind of accessories, or whether they played a part in (or have any relevance to) the actual shootings.

I fully expect yet another PSH anti-gun editorial from the RT soon, calling for TGSCOM to be shut down, or for banning internet gun sales, or something similar. I'll point it out if I see one.

Update:

TGSCOM Inc. sold a Glock Magloader and a Glock Factory Magazine to 48-year-old George Sodini for $46 in April 2008, company president Eric Thompson said.
It was not immediately clear if Sodini used the accessories during his attack on a health club in Collier Township, Pa., on Tuesday.

So they still don't know if this is relevant, but they're going to report on it anyway.

Pet Peeve #1 - Comparison Shopping

2009-08-02T00:26:00.003-04:00

You know how every once in a while, Yahoo will have one of those "how to save money" or "where you're wasting money" articles on their main page? One thing they like to suggest is "comparison shopping" at the grocery store. You know, comparing price per ounce for an item, which usually shows that the bulk packaging is cheaper, or that one brand in a different size is cheaper than another? It irritates me, because I always find one glaring problem when I try that:

The store's tags are never in the same unit from one brand or size to another.

Just as an example, I had to buy toilet paper the other day. Brand X only came in a pack of 6 rolls, Brand Y only came in a pack of 12. I've used both brands before, and I really don't find one to be better than the other, but it was getting towards the end of the month (and the end of the paycheck), and this wasn't a discretionary - or even precautionary - purchase. So I decided to check the unit price of Brand X compared to Brand Y, and found the problem.

The shelf tag for Brand X listed price per roll. The shelf tag for Brand Y listed price per square foot.

Now, they both listed the total number of ft^2 in the package, and I am capable of doing that kind of math in my head. But it gets difficult to do that math in my head while also keeping track of the total amount I'm spending on groceries. I really don't want to lose that total, because overdraft fees suck.

I've noticed this with other products, too. You try to compare food brand A to food brand B, but brand A shows price per ounce, and brand B shows price per cup. How many ounces are there in a cup again? Even worse are the ones where one brand has the unit price in imperial measurements, and the other has it in metric units. Is a 6-pack of 12 oz cans more cost effective than a 2 liter bottle?

Different brands of the same item should have the same units shown for the unit price. It shouldn't be that difficult for the same computers that print the shelf labels to standardize them.

Quote of the Day

2009-07-30T22:35:00.003-04:00

...courtesy of Tam (of course - she's always good for that).

"If you have a T. Rex running loose in the Jurassic, damned skippy you've got some peril; somebody's lobbing theropods across millions of years to where they don't belong."

"Lobbing theropods across millions of years." Now there's an image I'll take with me 'till my dying day.

Random Discovery

2009-07-30T22:24:00.002-04:00

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Tonight, while doing a little internet research for responding to a comment in the Roanoke Times editorial blog, I discovered something interesting. I can't quite decide if it's amusing or disturbing that this law is still on the books in Massachusetts.

PART IV. CRIMES, PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGSIN [sic] CRIMINAL CASES

TITLE I. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS

CHAPTER 272. CRIMES AGAINST CHASTITY, MORALITY, DECENCY AND GOOD ORDER

Chapter 272: Section 36. Blasphemy

Section 36. Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.

You know, if anyone actually got charged with this, it would get thrown out on 1st Amendment grounds so fast you'd hear the sonic boom in Alaska.

ZOMG!!!! - Mexican Gun Canard on NPR

2009-06-24T08:47:00.003-04:00

NPR is trying to resurrect the Mexican Gun Canard now. There was a segment on today's Morning Edition claiming two-thirds of the guns seized from the Mexican drug gangs are traced to the US. Not even two-thirds of guns traced, just an absolute two-thirds. They didn't even slip it in quietly, like most MSM reports have done.

Remember, to kill a zombie, you have to destroy the brain.

[Edit: Maybe we should see if Robb can do a graphic for this. I'm picturing a zombie in a sombrero holding an AK-47, maybe standing on a mountain of "assault" rifles.]

The Mexican Gun Canard Rises Again

2009-06-21T13:22:00.004-04:00

We thought it had died, as it should. But like a zombie, it's lifeless corpse keeps rising from the grave. Yet another example at the Roanoke Times:

Legal gun sales in this country facilitate this illicit trade.

According to federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives data collected over the past three years, more than 90 percent of firearms traced after being seized in Mexico are from the United States.

It's hardly a mystery where many of them come from. The ATF agent in charge of its Houston division noted in a New York Times story in April there are about 1,500 licensed gun dealers in that area alone.

No mention of the fact that 90 percent of firearms traced is not 90 percent of firearms seized. That little fact is not mentioned, and left for the observant reader to figure out on his own - probably in the hope that the majority of readers won't notice it.

No mention of the fact that it doesn't make economical sense for the Mexican drug gangs to find someone who can pass the background check who would be willing to do a straw purchase, and front the approximately $800-$1000 the average "assault weapon" costs at a legitimate dealer, when they can send someone to their south and buy the same weapon for only a couple of hundred dollars on the black market there.

No mention of how many of the weapons traced to the US were sold to the Mexican government, or another South American government first. (How many governments or revolutionary movements did we prop up during the Cold War, anyway?)

This was an editorial, so there's not the obligation to present an unbiased summary, but this smacks of a deliberate twisting of the facts. Even in an editorial, this is irresponsible and unethical behavior for a newspaper that wants to claim journalistic integrity.

Something we tend to forget

2009-06-21T11:46:00.004-04:00

Atom Smasher over at Men are Not Potatoes mentions something that tends to get forgotten in the 2nd Amendment debate.

"I think the Framers would have been far more comfortable with the locals having an Abrams and a Mark 19 and an F-22 than with the government having one. Hell - they didn't even want a standing army, let alone one that could run roughshod over the citizenry." [emphasis mine]

That's important to remember when someone throws out the old "it only applies to the militia" argument. The founders did not want a standing army. This is mentioned in many of the constitutions of the original 13 states. For example, Section I, Article 13 of the Virginia Constitution:

"That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power." [emphasis mine]

The founders had a deep distrust of standing armies, and they didn't want one - they wanted a militia made up of ordinary citizens, that could organize into an army if a war occurred, because they knew it a militia made up of the people could not be easily turned against the people.

So why would they restrict the right to keep and bear arms to a select few in a standing military?

(On another note, Men Are Not Potatoes has been added to my blogroll. Welcome!)

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T18:08:00.007-04:00

Remember

Memorial Court atop War Memorial Chapel at Virginia Tech.

Cenotaph honoring Virginia Tech Alumni who have received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Each pillar is engraved with the names and class year of VT alumni who have died while in service. This is the most recent section.

Remember

Range Report - The Ruger Mk III, and Reinforcing the Basics

2009-05-13T19:57:00.009-04:00

Today was the first day at the range with the new Ruger Mk III. The verdict?

I love it. Just like I thought I would. The trigger is crisp, clean, and surprising (like it's supposed to be). This pistol performs better than I will ever be capable of. Having grown up on my dad's Mk I, I expected the Mk III to be a superb gun, and it actually surpassed my expectations. It was worth every penny - especially when you consider the fact that a brick of 500 rounds of .22LR costs less than a box of 50 rounds of either .45 or .380.

This trip, before I fired the Ruger, I took the opportunity to test the Hornady Critical Defense carry rounds I got for the Kel-Tec. My main concern was that they feed and fire reliably. I don't have enough for real practice with those, and they're expensive ($22 for 25 rounds). With only 25 rounds, I had exactly enough to shoot 2 magazines and have enough left to load 2 magazines and have one in the pipe for carry. So that's all I shot - 12 rounds. I had no problems.

I did, however, notice that I was shooting extrememly low. I had printed targets on regular paper, and while I was aiming at the bullseye, I was only just hitting the bottom of the paper at 10 yards (well, 10 paces really, but close enough). This confused me, because last time I took this pistol out, I was grouping right around my point of aim at 7 yards (it was a big group, but that's just me, and why I need to practice more - thus, the Mk III purchase).

Once I had run a few magazines through the Ruger, I got the Kel-Tec out again, and loaded up with the Winchester white box ammo I picked up last week, and tried to figure out what was going on. The first round surprised me - the recoil was noticably heavier with the Winchester than the Hornady. Then I realized, the FMJ rounds are more massive than the JHP, so recoil would naturally be stronger. Somewhere in the second magazine, I realized something:

I had developed a flinch.

It was a #6, actually. I was dipping the muzzle downward just before the trigger break. I also realized that I had been doing the same thing with the Ruger, but had corrected it without even realizing it at the time.

You should understand something. I have been shooting since my parents decided I was old enough to do so safely - around 6 or 7 years old. So when I realized I had developed a flinch, I saw it as a personal affront. How dare my neuromuscular system do that to me? I was determined to fix the problem, right now!

I spent the rest of the evening - and the rest of the box of .380 - working my way through that. By the time I got towards the end of the box, I was once again clustering my shots around the point of aim. I also learned that 10 yards may be better than 7 for reinforcing the basics - it seems to make me work harder to compensate for my essential tremors, and therefore makes me more successful at doing so. I was actually getting better grouping than at 10 yards than at 7.

On the other hand, the longer I shoot, the worse the tremors get. Towards the end of the box, I had a couple of flyers, one of which was fairly devastating (click to embiggenate):

If you can't tell from the crappy cell phone pic, one of my shots cut the wooden upright I staple the cardboard to (and yes, that's an old pizza box - it was convenient, and, most importantly, free). It wasn't low, though. Here's a close up of the damage. You can see there were actually 3 shots that hit the upright - one clean hole, one graze, and the killer shot:

I took that as a sign that it was time to go home.

A Seducers Foiling

2009-05-12T17:29:00.002-04:00

Post title courtesy of the Internet Anagram Server.

Other anagrams of my blog title:

A Disclose Gunfire
A Discoursing Feel
A Fluoresced Gin Is (good to drink?)
A Diligences For Us
A Regicide Fun Loss
A Recognised Flu Is
A Coifed Sirens Lug
A Fecund Glossier I
A Focused Rile Sign
A Secluding Foe Sir

(h/t to Robb Allen)

New acquisition and Gun Pr0n

2009-05-10T00:22:00.004-04:00

Well, I did it. Like I said in my last post, I was leaning toward the Ruger, and I got it.

Nice, isn't it? I got a brick of 500 rounds of .22LR for less than a box of 50 .45ACP or .380ACP. This should make practicing a lot cheaper, and therefore more frequent. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to the range in the next couple of weeks. A range report will be forthcoming when I do.

Score!

2009-05-08T00:15:00.007-04:00

I figured I'd join the crowd. We get regular bonuses at work, and since I just got one, I went out to my local gun shop to take a more in depth look at some of the toys I've been eying for a while. Well, the two model 1898 Mausers I'd been eying for the last two months had, of course, been sold (this morning, too, dang it!), but they do have a Lee-Enfield rifle that looked interesting. It looks like a No. 4, Mk. I. I could use a good rifle. I've also been debating between getting either a Rock Island 1911 that they have had for a while, or a Ruger Mark III. I need a .22 pistol for practicing the basics without breaking the bank, but I really want a 1911.

I didn't buy any guns today, but while I was there, i got this:

I like my local gun shop. They have apparently started holding back a few boxes of .380ACP off each shipment for customers who bought .380 pistols from them, and to sell to customers when they buy a new .380 pistol. That last part's just good business sense. It keeps them from losing a sale when somebody might otherwise decide not to buy that Kel-Tec (or whatever), because it's no good without ammo.

This gives me both carry and practice ammunition for the Kel-Tec, and twice as much practice ammunition for my PT145 as I usually get. Of course, this purchase set me back $118.00.

I was leaning towards getting the Ruger anyway - need over desire, and all that - but this helped push me even further in that direction. The Ruger is cheaper than the 1911 (about $345 for the Ruger, $425 for the 1911), and I tend to get frugal after I lay out a bunch of money on something.

And I really do need a .22 to practice with. Sigh.

The "Wal-Mart's out of ammo" meme

2009-05-02T22:49:00.007-04:00

Well, to join the others, you see here the selection at my local Wally World.

Most of what you see there is rifle ammo. The rest is .22 and revolver ammunition (.44 Magnum and .38 Special). Nothing for semi-auto pistols at all. (The shelf on the far right, that you can only see a corner of, is shotgun shells.)

And, this seems to be a growing phenomenon, too (click to embiggenate).

I don't normally buy ammo at Wally World. It's actually my fourth choice when I'm looking for ammo. I try to support my local gun shop. Unfortunately, he's been out of .45 and .380 for a while, now. He actually has a waiting list for certain calibers, and when he gets a shipment I don't think he gets all the way through the list before he's out again.

The other local gun shop (that's a little farther away than my usual guy) had some .45 last month, but was completely out of .380, too.* The distance isn't really a problem - it's not really very far, comparatively - but their customer service is not as good as my usual place, so I don't really like to go there. I'm just as likely to go to Dick's. I expect a lower level of customer service there, so I'm not as disappointed.

It'll sure be nice when this shortage is over.

* (This was before I traded the Colt .25 for the Kel-Tec, so I did get to feed both my guns on that trip. I also learned why Wolf ammo is so much cheaper than everything else - and how badly it sucks.)

Obama gets his first Supreme Court pick

2009-04-30T23:50:00.003-04:00

Justice David Souter is retiring at the end of this term in June.

This likely doesn't change much. He's been one of the reliably liberal justices, and Obama will likely choose another liberal. On the other hand, justices often end up surprising even the presidents who chose them.

The Dems now have (or they should by that point) a filibuster proof majority if the votes break down along party lines, so he'll probably get whoever he wants unless there's something seriously wrong with whoever he nominates (like they haven't paid their taxes, or som... Oh. Right.).

Souter joined both dissenting opinions in Heller v. DC, and I'd be willing to bet that one of Obama's "acid tests" for any nominee will be about guns, so from a gun rights perspective there's little hope for a positive change,* and we're probably looking at the same thing for most other key "conservative" issues, too. By the same token, there's not much risk for a negative change, either. Barring any surprises, this does not seem to be a game-changing vacancy.

* I did not do that on purpose. On the other hand, I left it there when I noticed it. [bugs bunny voice]Ain't I a stinker?[/bugs bunny voice]

90% of self defense is YOU

2009-04-30T09:19:00.006-04:00

There are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous people.

A 17-year-old high school marching band student beat up two assailants who tried to mug her as she walked to school in this high desert community about 40 miles north of Los Angeles, sheriff's officials said Tuesday.
The girl punched one of the men in the nose, kicked the other in the groin and beat both with her large baton before she ran away on Friday morning, officials said.

Firearms may be the most effective defensive weapons, but it's important to remember that they're not the only effective defensive weapons.

It's also worth remembering that criminals will attack anyone they think might be a good victim. Maintaining condition yellow whenever you might be vulnerable is the first rule of self defense.

Kel-Tec P3AT - First Range Report

2009-04-24T18:28:00.003-04:00

I managed to scrape up a little unexpected free time today, so I decided I needed to get my new acquisition out to the range. (I love it when the boss walks in and says "Go ahead and finish up what you're doing, we're going to cut out a little early today." But I digress...)

I only had one box of 50 .380, so this was more of a "will it go bang when I pull the trigger" range day than real range time, but that was all I was planning on. I won't carry something in the real world until I've had a chance to run some ammunition through it and make sure it will, y'know, work if I actually need it.

First, the good. As I expected, this gun is more accurate than I am. With the exception of about 4 or 5 flyers, all rounds were on the paper. I attribute those flyers to me getting used to the gun, i.e., finding the right grip, the right trigger pull, and so forth. Recoil is brisk, but not as bad as I'd feared. I wouldn't want to go through a hundred rounds without a break - in fact, 37 rounds was getting to the limit - but it's tolerable, and it's really not a range gun anyway.

I did notice that even with a firm grip, I was having to re-adjust my grip every few rounds because the gun would shift a bit in my hand. If you limp-wrist this one, you'll know it, because it will end up turning in your hand.

Now, the bad. After the third magazine (18 rounds), I started getting failures to eject that jammed the weapon. These were not "tap and rack" jams, either. Recovery required removing the magazine, pulling the slide back, pointing the muzzle to the sky, and shaking it until the jammed casing fell out. On my last 3 magazines, this happened 4 times, and the last time the case jammed in the chamber tightly enough that I was reduced to using the edge of the table to push the slide back so I could use my leatherman to grab and pull the case out (which didn't work. I finally got it out when the slide slipped and went forward with enough force that the extractor engaged the rim and pulled it out - like it's supposed to do in the first place). It did run smoothly for those first three magazines, though.

I suspect that this was a result of dirty ammo (American Eagle). The brass I recovered* was pretty filthy, and I assume some of that stayed in the gun. But still, this was rather... irritating. I'll get a better idea once I clean it.

On the other hand, if I need that many reloads in a social situation, I'm pretty much FUBAR'd no matter what.

*Here's a tip - If you use a public range and only want to recover your brass - because you're not sure where all the other brass on the ground has been, or how long it's been there - take a Sharpie and mark across the base of the round. It's real easy to just drag the marker across the row of ammo while it's in the box. Pick whatever color you think will stand out best, and it will let you distinguish your brass from everyone else's, and can make it easier to pick out without having to bend over to see that it's not yours. I used a metallic silver Sharpie this time around, but I think something that contrasts better with the brass and silver of the casing (blue, maybe) would be a better choice.

A Question for My Reader

2009-04-22T00:03:00.005-04:00

Or readers if I'm thinking positively. :P

For the .25 I was using as a BUG, I didn't bother with hollowpoints. The .25ACP is weak enough I knew I probably wouldn't get adequate penetration with hollowpoints, and I was confident that I wouldn't have to worry about overpenetration with FMJ rounds.

Assuming I can actually find any, what would you recommend for my new .380 - FMJ or hollowpoints?

(Belated) Buy a Gun Day - With Pictures!

2009-04-18T22:43:00.005-04:00

Well, I promised pictures, and here they are! (Click to embiggenate.)

First, the Colt Junior .25ACP I traded in:

Next, the new acquisition:

Finally, the Kel-Tec next to my usual carry piece, my Taurus PT-145, as a comparison:

The Kel-Tec is much smaller and lighter. It will probably be carried much more than the Colt Junior it replaced. It's a little bigger than the Colt was, but still much lighter (even with a full magazine).

(Belated) Buy a Gun Day

2009-04-18T17:31:00.002-04:00

Well, I finally broke down and traded the old Colt Junior .25ACP that I'd been using as a BUG for a Kel-Tec P3AT. I know that a .25 will do the job, if it's used right, but .380 is more effective, and doesn't require precise shot placement like the .25 does in certain circumstances.

I'd been considering this for a while, but had hesitated because the Kel-Tec felt slightly "cheap", and because I had read about the "fluff and buff" so often. If I'm going to pay roughly $265 for something that's supposed to be ready out of the box, I don't want to have to finish it myself. The fact that the fluff and buff is mentioned almost every time I see the gun itself mentioned in a blog or forum made me wary.

The effectiveness differential finally got to me, plus the fact that my local ironmonger was going to offer me $250 trade-in for the Colt. The Colt is a nice little gun - very pleasant to shoot - but it's not a "plinker", and it was only barely up the the job I had it for. Trading that, plus $15 out of pocket (plus tax and $2 NICS fee), for a much more effective BUG was too much to resist.

I lucked out and got the last box of .380 ammo, too!

I'll have pictures later.

Behold, the power of Bacon!

2009-04-16T12:45:00.003-04:00

It even cuts through steel!

(Via the Roanoke Times)

What the heck is going on?

2009-04-07T22:06:00.006-04:00

Another one. Again in Alabama.

A man shot and killed his estranged wife, their teenage daughter and two other relatives in rural north Alabama before returning to his home in a nearby town and killing himself the day before their divorce trial, authorities said Tuesday.

That's eight in the last month. And Alabama seems to be particularly hard hit.

It was one of eight mass shootings around the country in the last month that have left grief-stricken communities in shock. It's also the third mass killing in Alabama during that time.

Seriously, what the hell is going on that people are suddenly committing mass murder so often?

Update:
And another one.

The New, Improved, Mexican Gun Lie. Now 5% Bigger!

2009-04-02T22:33:00.005-04:00

Several bloggers have been pointing out how FOX News is debunking the lie that "90% of Mexican crime guns have been traced to the US." You should go read it, it's good. You'll get these quotes in context, too. The truth?

What's true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency's assistant director, "is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S."

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.

[...]68 percent of the guns that were recovered were never submitted for tracing. [...]83 percent of the guns found at crime scenes in Mexico could not be traced to the U.S.

You would think that might be a significant fact, wouldn't you? Apparently, the AP doesn't think so:

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recently reported that up to 95 percent of guns seized at scenes of drug violence in Mexico can be traced to U.S. commercial sources. [Emphasis added]

So, yesterday 90% of guns seized were traced to the US, today it's 95%? How does that work if 83% of gun seized could not be traced to the US?

Does. Not. Compute.

Something else worth noting is that they don't tell you how many of the guns that were traced to the US came from the civilian market. Consider this:

More than 150,000 soldiers deserted in the last six years, according to Mexican Congressman Robert Badillo. Many took their weapons with them[...]

and, according to "Ed Head, a firearms instructor in Arizona who spent 24 years with the U.S. Border Patrol":

Some guns, he said, "are legitimately shipped to the government of Mexico, by Colt, for example, in the United States. They are approved by the U.S. government for use by the Mexican military service. The guns end up in Mexico that way -- the fully auto versions -- they are not smuggled in across the river."

Gee, I bet those guns "can be traced to U.S. commercial sources." I'm sure Colt could be considered a "commercial source" - depending on how you define the term. Notice that the AP never tells you what they mean by "commercial source."

The AP's "Authorized Journalists" apparently think that if their lie isn't working, they just need to make it a bigger lie. Look for them to start repeating it more often, too. That's what liars do when they think someone's going to put some inconvenient facts out where people can see them.

Our Governor's Hypocrisy (Updated)

2009-03-29T11:08:00.009-04:00

As expected, Governor Kaine has vetoed SB1035, which would lift the ban on concealed carry in restaurants that serve alcohol.

Remember, CHP holders are some of the most peaceable and law-abiding citizens there are. We voluntarily undergo training and an extensive background check to obtain a CHP. We voluntarily submit information on our homes to the state, and agree to keep that information up to date. Where such statistics are tracked, CHP holders have a much lower rate of committing crimes than the general population, and a crime rate that is even lower than that of the police. Yet the mere fact that we would carry concealed in a restaurant that serves alcohol, even while being prohibited from actually consuming alcohol, somehow puts the public "at risk."

But open carry in restaurants that serve alcohol is allowed in Virginia. How is requiring me to expose my firearm when I go into these restaurants better? Keep in mind that, in Virginia, there are no "bars." There are only restaurants "for which a license to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption has been granted by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board."

Many "bars" are open during the day in order to meet their required percentage of food sales, and function primarily as restaurants during that time. Many restaurants have an ABC license just so they can serve someone a beer or some wine with their dinner. Virginia law makes no distinction between the two. It is quite often difficult to know if a restaurant has an ABC license until you sit down and realize that there are drinks listed on the menu.

Just as an example, there is a little BBQ restaurant in downtown Blacksburg. You order your food at the counter, and wait until they call your name to pick it up, and you sit at a picnic table inside (that's right, they don't have real seating, just a couple of picnic tables). Would you expect a place like that to have a license to serve alcohol? (Of course you do, since I'm using it as an example. But would you if I wasn't?) Yet walk in while you're carrying concealed, and it's a class 1 misdemeanor. And remember, "ignorance is no excuse." Is this the second restaurant you've done this at? Now it's a felony, and you can never (legally) own a gun again.

But where's the hypocrisy? Well, in his veto, he makes this comment:

"Allowing concealed weapons into restaurants and bars that serve alcohol puts the public, the employees, and our public safety officers at risk."

He dares to say this, laying the danger on "concealed weapons" and not the people carrying them, yet last year he signed a bill allowing Commonwealth's Attorneys and Assistant Commonwealth's Attorneys to carry concealed, without needing a permit, without requiring any training and exempting them from the restaurant ban.

You see, in Governor Kaine's mind, Commonwealth's Attorneys are special. It's not really the weapons he has a problem with (regardless of what he says), it's weapons in the hands of ordinary citizens that he has a problem with.

Tyranny is as tyranny does.

Update:

There's a good discussion going on about this over at SayUncle's. Sailorcurt has pointed out to me that the law allowing Commonwealth's Attorneys to carry in restaurants allows them to drink while carrying concealed (as long as they aren't "intoxicated," which is only vaguely and subjectively defined in Virginia law - Sec. 4.1-100 contains the only definition I could find.) SB1035 would have explicitly prohibited CHP holders from consuming any alcohol. Yet another example of how Governor Kaine believes his "Only Ones" are better than the rest of us.

The War on (Some) Drugs

2009-03-13T14:06:00.004-04:00

I've never weighed in on the War on (Some) Drugs before, but this story got my interest. My personal view is that we should have learned our lesson with Prohibition. Every time they ban something, they create a new business.* (Not to mention the ridiculous expansion of the Interstate Commerce clause that supports - and is supported by - the War.)

Kalifornia is considering a bill to legalize marijuana and regulate (and tax) it like alcohol. Of course, some people think it's the worst idea since the end of Prohibition. One objector says the easy availability of the drug will lead to a surge in its use, much like what happened when alcohol was allowed to be sold in venues other than liquor stores in some states.

I have news for him: it's already very available. In fact, retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray (someone who ought to know) responds by saying "We couldn't make this drug any more available if we tried."

He seems to realize that bans on things just don't work. He also says that legalizing marijuana would save the state a billion dollars a year in court costs alone. "Not only do we have those problems, along with glamorizing it by making it illegal, but we also have the crime and corruption that go along with it." He adds, "Unfortunately, every society in the history of mankind has had some form of mind-altering, sometimes addictive substances to use, to misuse, abuse or get addicted to. Get used to it. They're here to stay. So, let's try to reduce those harms and right now we couldn't do it worse if we tried." [emphasis mine]

I think he gets it.

* This is a rough quote from a book in the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust. I just can't remember which book.

Published CHP Information

2009-03-12T20:33:00.003-04:00

I have now gotten a look at the list in question from the Chatham Star-Tribune (with thanks to Phillip Van Cleave, VCDL President), and while it's still very bad, it's not - quite - as bad as I initially thought. The good thing? It's not a list of all CHP holders in the county. The bad thing? It is a list of people in Pittsylvania county who were issued CHPs in January. Which leads to my next question:

Is this a regular item in this paper?

I won't post the images I received, for obvious reasons. It does look like it's not a complete list, and no addresses are given. On the other hand, enough information is given that finding someone using the list would be very easy.

On the gripping hand, it's a good example of why the legislature needs to act to stop this garbage.

Another paper publishes CHP information

2009-03-11T13:46:00.007-04:00

According to the VA Citizens Defense League another Virginia paper, the Chatham Star-Tribune, has published a list of CHP holders. I'm currently trying to get verification and more detail.

This one is personal, as my parents live in that area.

More (hopefully) after work.

UPDATE:

It should be noted that, while I have no reason to mistrust or disbelieve VCDL, I have not been able to confirm this personally. I have not been able to locate the list, or any reference to it, on the Star-Tribune's website. I posted a comment requesting more information on the VCDL blog entry I linked to above, but have not yet received a reply.

If anyone can corroborate this, please let me know. I'd like to know if my parents (or any other family members) are on the published list, so I can make them aware.

Quote of the Day 3-5-09

2009-03-05T17:49:00.004-05:00

" I am not even sure where Sunday went. Last thing I remember was Nyquil and then it was Tuesday."

From the webcomic DMFA (scroll down to the "Rant O' Update").

The Politics Test

2009-02-26T20:36:00.002-05:00

It's fun and interesting! Thanks Breda!

You are a
Social Liberal
(83% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative
(78% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Libertarian

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

More PSH from the Roanoke Times

2009-02-08T14:06:00.004-05:00

The Roanoke Times has an editorial up about the restaurant ban repeal. They spout their usual fear mongering and distrust again, and their contempt for CHP holders is blatantly obvious.

Their blog for the column has a good discussion going, mostly by pro-gun supporters. I encourage people to go read and comment.

Sadly, they are right about one thing. The governor will probably veto this bill again, just like last year.

Happy Birthday Tam!

2009-01-25T11:48:00.004-05:00

And thanks for this quote of the day:

Look, when I'm ordering a rare filet, I don't want to taste the special herbs in which you've coated it, I don't want to taste your chef's magic marinade or spices, I don't want to taste that it's been nearly pickled in butter... I want to taste still-twitching dead cow.

I'll have to see about the Charles Schumer thing for next year.

Update on the Virginia Tech Murder

2009-01-22T13:25:00.006-05:00

From the Roanoke Times:

When Virginia Tech authorities arrived Wednesday night at a cafe inside the Graduate Life Center, they found a decapitated female victim who had arrived on campus just two weeks ago and a young man they have now charged with killing her.

The decapitation makes this a death penalty case.

This case has rekindled the campus concealed carry debate in the comments sections of many of the sources I linked to in my previous post, including some PSH. I encourage any readers I might have to go and contribute.

I'm on my lunch break right now, so I can't really get into this now, but I'll have more after work.

UPDATE:
Rough afternoon at work, so I'm not really up to a good commentary right now. Additionally, a comment I heard at work leads me to believe I should hold off on further posts on this issue for a little while. (It has nothing to do with me, the blog itself, or my previous posts. That's all I can say at this point.)

BREAKING NEWS: Fatal Stabbing at Virginia Tech

2009-01-21T22:02:00.006-05:00

Information at:

The Collegiate Times (the campus newspaper)

The Virginia Tech website. (Go to the "Latest News" section at the bottom. Direct link to the story here).

The Roanoke Times

WDBJ7

Planet Blacksburg

Newsvine.com

Right now this is breaking news, so these sites are updating frequently with new information. WDBJ7 and The Collegiate Times seem to be ahead of the rest.

A quick summary:
According to the news sources, the stabbing took place in the Graduate Student Center (formerly the Donaldson-Brown Hotel and Conference Center) outside the Au bon pain coffee shop, at approximately 7pm. This appears to have been a domestic situation, according to police, and they do have a suspect in custody. The GSC is in lockdown at this time.

Comments on these sites (all but the Tech sites and the Roanoke Times allow comments) show that some people are uneasy, because April 16 started as a "domestic situation" with a "suspect in custody," however, according to the news release on the VT site, police encountered the suspect at the scene, and it appears the attack was witnessed, both completely opposite what happened on the 16th. Both these factors indicate that the situation is truly contained.

I will likely have more tomorrow.

The official White House policy

2009-01-20T17:23:00.003-05:00

We all saw this coming a while ago, but it's the official White House policy now.

Address Gun Violence in Cities: Obama and Biden [...] support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent. [Emphasis mine.]

(Scroll down to "Crime and Law Enforcement" in the linked page for the full paragraph.)

Be afraid, and be prepared.

(via a comment at Snowflakes in Hell)