Blogospherical Ruminations

Department of Oops: FBI Executes No-Knock Chainsaw Raid on the Wrong Apartment

2012-02-01T10:34:00.005-10:00

What could go wrong with a simple drug raid?

Judy Sanchez woke Thursday to the sound of heavy footsteps in her stairwell, followed by a loud motor. She got to her kitchen in time to see the blade of a chain saw rip through her front door....

The people sawing through her door were FBI agents, looking for a gang member suspected of trafficking cocaine. But they went to the wrong address.

As I said in the comments:

There should be no professional immunity for screwed up no-knock raids. These guys should be prosecuted for felony armed home invasion, conspiracy to commit felony armed home invasion, and felony assault.

And they are damn lucky the woman behind the door didn't have a shotgun loaded with slugs, or a deer rifle. So far as I am concerned, if she had been armed, she could have legitimaterly fired when the chainsaw blade came through the door.

Michael Hartwell has the story here.

Regulatory Capture. Also: DC Gun Control Laws and the Heller Decision.

2012-01-31T10:56:00.004-10:00

How's that for an elegant title?

Anyway:

I had read about the manufacturers of CFL light bulbs advocating for energy efficiency regs to wipe out their competition, but not about the washing machine manufacturers. The polite modern name is "crony capitalism", but I prefer the older one: Fascism.

Thanks to Tom Palmer for the lead. He may not remember it, but we briefly worked together on the Libertarian Party's 1980 Ed Clark for President campaign. He seemed like a good guy then, and even better today.

Tom was also one of the original complainants (see here, under "Lower Court Background") in what became known as the Heller Decision which, so far rather futilely, struck down the DC ban on handguns.

Obama and Our Debt

2012-01-29T09:04:00.003-10:00

Nancy Pelosi has posted a chart purporting to show the different rates of increased federal debt under our last five presidents. There are two unfortunate aspects to it: The chart itself is both misleading and utterly wrong, and it has gone viral.

PolitiFact says of the chart:

• Debt vs. debt as a percentage of GDP: Some economists will tell you that it’s not the size of the debt per se, but rather the size of the debt relative to the nation’s gross domestic product. This helps minimize the complicating effect of economic cycles and inflation. So how do those numbers stack up? Using OMB statistics, here’s what we came up with, using public debt figures not adjusted for the president’s time in office:

Reagan: Up 14.9 percentage points
George H.W. Bush: Up 7.1 percentage points
Clinton: Down 13.4 percentage points
George W. Bush: Up 5.6 percentage points
Obama: Up 21.9 percentage points (through December 2010 only)

So by this measurement -- potentially a more important one -- Obama is the undisputed debt king of the last five presidents, rather than the guy who added a piddling amount to the debt, as Pelosi’s chart suggested...

...We rate it Pants on Fire.

Nancy Pelosi: Does she ever tell the truth?

Rate At Which Florida Revokes Gun Carry Permits for Gun Related Issues

2012-01-26T06:29:00.002-10:00

Here.

Gun-toting Floridians must be pretty decent folks, or Florida pretty lax.

A Big Win for the 4th Amendment

2012-01-23T07:29:00.004-10:00

Our right to be free from government searches without a warrant was strengthened by a unanimous decision today:

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects...

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia said that the government's installation of a GPS device, and its use to monitor the vehicle's movements, constitutes a search, meaning that a warrant is required.

If the government can force us to buy a product we don't want, like health insurance, they at least can't force us to wear GPS units without a warrant. And if we have GPS devices in our cell phones, the feds apparently can't track them without a warrant. I hope...

Some Jews Rethink Gun Control and Gun Ownership

2012-01-22T17:33:00.004-10:00

The reason is sad, but the response is appropriate. Jared Silverman, writing in the New Jersey Jewish News, rethinks gun control after a series of anti-Semitic acts, including a firebombing. Among the comments is one that the attitude that one should rely on the police amounts to saying:

“Don’t strike me or I’ll beg you again!”

As another said about gun and gun owner registration:

As another commenter has pointed out, the people who came for the Jews in Germany were the police. And they came first for those Jews who had registered their firearms in accordance with the laws of the Weimar Republic. Why would you demand that your name be put on a list before you exercise your rights? This isn’t Schindler’s List, it’s the Gestapo’s list.

Why trust the government to protect you when it was the government which came for your grandparents?

Speaker Newt vs MSM: What the "News" Media Didn't Report Today

2012-01-20T14:06:00.004-10:00

When was the last time a debate speaker got two standing ovations in one response?

Standing ovations for standing up to Pimps for Democrats, Inc. doesn't fit the narrative. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Newt Gingrich is erratic, statist, a technocrat, amoral, and very, very smart. I think he'd be a bad president, but he would be head, shoulders, hips, and knees above our current one.

Country Roads

2012-01-19T11:01:00.005-10:00

I'm not sure why anybody bothered to make this video: Doesn't everyone's Mom drive like this on the way to school?Although it also reminds me of the drive from the archaeologists' camp at Fort Ross State Historic Park in CA to the laundromat.

Grilled Avacado

2012-01-17T12:24:00.002-10:00

Hmmmm..... Sounds like it might be good.

Sprinkle or brush avocado halves with lime juice. Grill cut side down for 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a plate, turn cut side up and fill the hole with your favorite salsa, top with a dollop of sour cream if you wish.

The author also likes grill baskets.

Empowered Women

2012-01-16T13:13:00.002-10:00

Although I am unfamiliar with several, this seems to me like a reasonable list.

How to Properly Accessorize a Little Black Dress

2012-01-13T14:16:00.001-10:00

Here.

Mark Steyn on the Republican Presidential Debates

2012-01-09T11:31:00.003-10:00

Steyn gets it right, as usual:

This country is broke, and the unprecedented scale of its brokeness is an existential threat. Yet, with the exception of Newt’s occasional flashes of contempt for the questioners, everyone else plays along with this absurd game. It’s not merely that the GOP is letting the left frame the contest but that a party willing to dignify this pitiful charade is sending a broader message about the likelihood of its mustering the determination to stand up to a Democrat-media establishment once in office and effect meaningful course correction.

The GOP is highly unlikely to do anything about fixing our problems. They have been just as enthusiastic as the Democrats about creating them.

I recently read a column by someone or another to the effect that the Reagan era strategy of constraining the federal government by refusing to raise taxes has been an obvious and utter failure: The Solons on the Potomac -of both parties- just kept on spending. The only change was in their increased borrowing.

Therefor the next strategy to try is to raise taxes across the board to the level needed to fully pay for all of the services the government provides. Only that will bring people to their senses and force responsible behavior.

Seems like a good idea to try. Fat chance of doing so.

The New York Times on Concealed Carry Licensing

2011-12-28T08:55:00.003-10:00

As more than one blogger has said, the New York Times coverage of citizens carrying guns amounts to propaganda, not news.

Glen Reynolds, aka InstaPundit, has a roundup of commentary on a recent "news" story in the Times.

Department of Oops

2011-12-07T13:40:00.003-10:00

“It wasn’t clear that it was a cannonball landing on the roof.”

No, I suppose not, not from indoors. A large, exhausted, bird, maybe. Or some of that blue ice which falls from passing, if you'll excuse the expression, airliners. But a cannonball? No.

Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are hosts of the scientific experimentation show [“Mythbusters”].... The pair was reportedly trying to figure out how fast a cannonball would travel, when it misfired and shot hundreds of feet in the air.

I suppose a few calculations on a piece of paper wouldn't have been as photogenic.

It flew straight though the front door of a home on Cassata Place (in Dublin, CA), and bounced around like a pinball, flying up to the second floor before blasting through a back bedroom wall.

The wayward cannonball then blasted across a busy road and through a second home some 50 yards away, demolishing roof tiles.

I blame shoddy residential construction. And hard surfaces, of course. Back in the old days, cannonballs were expected to ricochet off of hard ground, banging up extra people. Hence the problems with shooting in the rain: fewer ricochets. And your cannon sank into the mud, making it harder to ready for the next shot.

The out of control cannonball finally came to a stop inside Jasper Gill’s minivan.

“It hit the dash, through the passenger window,” said Gill, who had gotten out of the vehicle just 10 minutes before the ball struck.

When life serves you lemons...With a short chain and some SuperGlue (TM) Jasper could have a new dangly thing for his rear view mirror. Sort of like graduation tassels. The video at the link below says it was about the size of a soft ball, which is around 3 1/2 inches. That's about the size of a 6 pounder. The rear view mirror should handle that.

In any case, no one was hurt and several people now have great stories to liven up their cocktail conversations. "Why, that reminds me of the time a cannonball sailed in through our front door, the stairwell wall, our bedroom wall, and out the other bedroom wall just as we were..." Yep: MythBusters should charge them for the privilege of putting their shoddy houses in the way.

There's a neat video at the CBS story.

The Lewis Chessmen

2011-11-18T10:16:00.002-10:00

As I can't figure out how to embed this one, clik here.

Tea Party Budget Draft

2011-11-17T12:31:00.003-10:00

Clik here.

I like it, but the chances of getting it enacted seem a wee on the slim side.

Speaker Newt on Killing Those Americans Who Make War Against the United States

2011-11-14T12:11:00.005-10:00

I think he makes a good point about distinguishing between those protected by criminal law and those who are not.

She Probably Works for the Bradley Foundation

2011-11-10T12:49:00.015-10:00

According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

A Milwaukee woman apparently interested in werewolf spirits having sex was in jail Wednesday after an 18-year-old man endured 300 puncture wounds when their sexual encounter "got out of hand," a police affidavit says.

Rebecca Chandler, 22, was being held in the incident, which may also have involved satanic or occult practices.

I used to live fairly close to where this occurred, so I double-checked on Google Maps. I was right: she lives only two blocks from the Bradley Foundation headquarters.

Bleeding from the neck, arms and back, the man...told police he had traveled by bus from Phoenix to Milwaukee for a sexual encounter with Chandler.

Jeepers: That is a long bus ride. Aren't there any werebabes closer than Milwaukee? Or is Milwaukee known for having a better class of werebabes?

Officers followed a blood trail to an apartment in the 900 block of E. Knapp St, where the door to one of the units was open. Inside, there was blood on the floor and on bedding in a bedroom as well as duct tape that, again, appeared to be a restraint, according to the affidavit.

The 22-year-old woman introduced herself to officers, saying, "I think you are here looking for me."

She's not just a werewolf, she's a mind reader. Multi-talented, and she's polite: I can see why the guy figured she was worth a long bus ride.

She said she'd been having sex with the man and that the cutting was consensual but quickly got out of hand.

Good thing she didn't go nuts.

After she was arrested, Chandler told police her roommate (Scarlett) had done the majority of the cutting.

Roomies can be hard to control. Especially wereroomies.

Important Lesson: Look out for werechicks with duct tape.

UPDATE: Here is the police affadavit seeking a search warrant. Thanks to JMS for the lead. Her boyfriend lives in the building, but is allegedly not involved with werebabes. Sure. He probably doesn't work for the Bradley Foundation, either. This is Wisconsin we're talking about here, folks. Think about it: Ed Gein, Jeff Dahmer, the Bradley Foundation, werebabes named Rebecca and Scarlett, and, of course three lady "kackers" who, well....they had an unpleasant end in mind for one unfortunate young fellow, involving an ax, his liver, and Jack the Ripper.

There Are Those Who Frown Upon Such Behavior

2011-11-10T10:44:00.005-10:00

The caption on picture 17 illustrating a house article in the New York Times:

Ms. Schwartz's father liked to use her as target practice, shooting her with a BB gun as she ran across the lawn.

Ms. Schwartz, who said that “I had a very odd childhood,” is described as "a shy, gruff woman". Possibly she learned early to keep a low profile, and it may not be entirely coincidental that her partner's name is Louise.

It is quite a nice house. Climate aside, I think I could very happily live in it.

It seems a shame tho that young Ms. Schwartz seems not to have had a 12 gauge with which to practice back. Or at least a large cleaver.

Halloween Candy

2011-11-07T08:48:00.003-10:00

Thanks to PowerLine for the tip.

Florida Python Eats Deer

2011-10-30T09:01:00.006-10:00

Purists might carp that it was a Burmese Python, but whether it has a green card or not, it was living in Florida so I think it qualifies as a Florida Python. Anyway, the news out of Florida is that a 16 foot long Burmese Python has been executed after eating an entire 76 pound deer.

Florida may not have the great mountains we have in Hawaii, nor the somewhat more dubious pleasure of volcanoes erupting uphill from subdivisions, but it does have pythons. The Florida Department of Fish and Natural Resources or whatever they call it there is missing a great promo: Python Fishing. There's nothing quite like catching a big python on light tackle, and you can do it right in your back yard. You don't need to bait your hook with a 76 pound deer, either. Any passing delinquent would do. A twofer, so to speak.

Florida could be promoting python dishes. Python salad: the Original Snake in the Grass. Python steak: Tastes just like chicken, but a whole lot longer. Python burgers: Share one with your main squeeze. Barbecued python ribs: Enough for the whole family, and then some. Python pot pie: Beats four and twenty blackbirds any day.

If Florida doesn't get the python population under control while it still can, they are likely to spread like Puritans in New England. There may be a few things comparable to having a 16 foot python sneaking in your window late at night, looking for some cookies, or flinging itself at you from the top of a Royal Poinciana as you saunter down the sidewalk, but just offhand I'm not sure what they are. Maybe being attacked by giant rabid man-eating beavers, but other than that, I dunno.

If you go to Florida, best keep your spinning rod handy. And your shotgun.

Malaekahana Beach Park Camp Out, Again

2011-10-28T12:25:00.009-10:00

About three weeks ago Valerie and I jumped into old Nellie Belle and motored off to the North Shore for several days of camping at Malaekahana Beach Park with our friend Dan and quite a few of the locals of both the fuzzy and the feathered persuasion. We took plenty of food for each so we had plenty of freeloaders to entertain us.

We did have to check out the beach, of course, and on day two discovered that a big log had floated in during the night. As usual, clik on the pic if you want a bigger version.

It had been in the water for awhile, long enough for plenty of hitchhikers to latch on:

In a few places they were pretty sparse. Note the little brown crab just above center, trying to hide out:

Most places, though, they were thick as small government advocates when the politicians are handing out subsidies:

It was breezy, and a few sailors took advantage of it:

While Valerie and I were hanging around the beach one day a fellow with a grey plastic suitcase in hand came walking up the beach, peeled down to his POLICE wetsuit, put some gear in the case and tethered it to himself, then waded into the water.

He came back a few minutes later with an illegally set and unregistered lay net. He looked like anybody walking down the sidewalk in the financial district, briefcase in hand.

The gear he had tossed in his briefcase consisted mainly of his wallet, badge, gun and gun belt: Can't very well leave those lying on the beach, so the gasketted case goes with him whenever he has to go in the water. What a pain.

There were a couple dead fish in the net. One, which proved the net had been untended (illegal) had been dead for a while. Apparently legal nets have to be checked daily. The other was fresh:

Back at the ranch, Dan gave a little help to his friends. Nothing like welfare queens getting salmon dished up with a silver spoon. Might as well be Democats. Or Republicats, for that matter

Tough cat: Must be a Tareyton smoker:

One morning we drove over to Kahuku Golf Course and went for a beach walk, then stopped at the InterGalactically Famous Fumi's Shrimp Wagon for you guessed it, some shrimp. While there we saw our old friend Fumi, the Black Crowned Night Heron:

The water in the shrimp pond had been drawn way down, exposing mud flats, or nearly so, and for the first time there we saw a Hawaiian Stilt at Fumi's. They are the endemic sub-species of the Black-necked Stilt, which is common enough elsewhere, but there are only about 1400 of the Hawaiian race around.

Here's the same guy:

Here's one more. Yeah, yeah, I know: three is too many. Well, it's my blog, and I call the shots. If you want fewer pics of Hawaiian Stilts, go to HuffPo.

We did more than lie around the beach and feed the welfare queens, but I didn't take any pictures, so that's all, folks.

Jerry Pournelle on Our Adventures at War

2011-10-27T15:51:00.003-10:00

Pournelle, long time space scientist and sci fi author:

I am not much in favor of imperialism as a policy for the United States, but I do favor competent imperialism over the present policies. If we must have an empire, should we not be competent at it?...

I was opposed to extending our Afghan adventure beyond the punishment of the Taliban for harboring out enemies; left to me we’d have been out as soon as Kabul fell to the anti-Taliban forces, with perhaps a billion dollars in bribe money squirreled away to be spent at the discretion of whomever we left behind as resident. Our policy in Afghanistan should have been simple: don’t harbor our enemies, don’t let your country be used as a base for attacks on the US, and apply to the Ambassador if you need anything. Been good to know you. A policy, by the way, that would have been as welcome to the Afghans as to the Legions.

Iraq is another story. We’re pulling out. We have spent $Trillions, we have left chaos, we have removed a major threat to the stability of Iran, and I am not sure what we got out of it. And Iraq certainly does have stuff we want. Oil, to begin with....And we’re running out because the Iraqis insist on applying Iraqi “law and order” to the US forces in Iraq.

I’d be tempted give them a $3 Trillion bill on the way out, and leave an occupation force in one of their major oil fields where we’d be pumping oil and selling it until most of the bill was paid, but that option was apparently never considered. Incidentally, we could defend our occupied oil fields with Sudanese and for that matter Libyan mercenaries, which we pay for out of the oil proceeds.We wouldn’t need a large US force in Iraq; they could be in Kuwait . Pumping lots of Iraqi oil would drop the world price of crude, and be a great jobs program for the United States.

There is no way that we could leave US troops in Iraq subject to the tender mercies of the Iraqi courts. US troops are not going to be subject to Iraqi law. But can you imagine the Japanese making that sort of demand as part of their surrender in 1945?

The result of the Iraqi war? We have removed Iran’s worst enemy. We have installed a Shiite government in Iraq. We have succeeded in changing the Middle East beyond Iran’s fondest and wildest dreams. This is the result Iran has worked toward since we invaded Iraq. They have their goals. Now we go home.

I don’t much like Empire as a policy, but if we are going to play Empire, can’t we find someone who knows how to do it competently?

Somehow I think Pournelle's ideas should have had a better hearing in both the Bush and Obama administrations.

The whole thing is here.

What the Republican Leaders Really Think of the Tea Party

2011-10-19T17:10:00.007-10:00

I missed the NYT article about Republican "leaders" speaking about the Tea Party, but the American Spectator article is an excellent intro to it.

The condescension is important: They utterly reject the idea of actually reducing the Fed government, and make it clear that they have no respect for those who do.

Don't miss it. The Republican leaders are every bit as bad as the Democrats, and worse: They lie about what they stand for.

American Spectator column: Here.

Original NYT article: Here.

Having seen last night's Nevada debate between the Republicans running for the party's Presidential nomination, I have to say that only Ron Paul even makes a pretense of wanting a smaller federal government. He proposed eliminating five cabinet departments. No one else even proposed serious cuts in their budgets.

Deader Than a Spiny Dogfish When the Octopus is Hungry

2011-10-11T08:07:00.002-10:00

Democrat Calls for Re-Education Camps & Beheadings

2011-10-03T07:44:00.012-10:00

Really. Roseanne Barr appears entirely serious. I guess it is part of President Obama's program for a New Civility.

Seems like a good argument to keep your friends close and your guns closer.

Tidbits on "Fast and Furious"

2011-09-29T06:02:00.002-10:00

Michael Walsh at the New York Post says that ATF not only bought guns for the Sinaloa Cartel, but told the gun dealer in writing not to fill out Form 4473 on the sales.

That ATF then ordered their agent not to stake out the illegal buyers he sold them to is already known, as is his refusal to obey that order. Unfortunately, he was unable to stake them out 24 hours a day every day all by himself.

So just what was the plan? Send the guns to Mexico and then wait for them to show up at crime scenes: i.e. arm criminals who would use them to shoot people. And the plan was to make no effort at all to keep track of them between the sales and the shootings.

Are we really supposed to believe our ATF et al officials were THAT stupid?

Apparently.

Here.

Cancel Elections

2011-09-28T08:35:00.003-10:00

Funny, after the lefties worry about the Republicans figuring out how to cancel the 2016 elections, it is the Democrats who actually propose to cancel the elections.

Sort of like the left denouncing the Tea Party as violent and racist when it is the lefties beating people up and calling them "niggers" while they do so.

Funny how that works.

Harvard....Harvard....Harvard Crimson...

2011-09-24T07:39:00.005-10:00

It seems at least that the Harvard Crimson bears an appropriate name. One Raymond Lotta comments about the existence of a conference on a constitutional convention co-sponsored by Harvard Law School, Fix Congress First, and the Tea Party Patriots.

Capitalism is a horror and a failure...

...rather than looking to repair a system that has only meant misery and more misery for humanity—why not reach forward to a viable and emancipatory alternative? This is what the Constitution of the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal) From the Revolutionary Communist Party, U.S. is about.... a radically different and better world is now possible, owing to the new synthesis of communism developed over decades by Bob Avakian.

Bob Avakian is still around? Who knew? He must be an old guy by now. Old enough to know what Marx's lovely theory looks like when applied to the real world: not Marx's predicted heaven of Peace, Prosperity, and Freedom, but the hell pit of War, Famine, and Oppression of the Soviet Union, Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, East Germany, Bulgaria, Cuba, Venezuela....

Of course, if the real goal is not peace, prosperity, and freedom for all but a genocidal fantasy of the correct "intellectual" class taking out their hatred of the jocks in a frenzy of violence which would make Charles Manson jealous, it makes a lot of sense.

People pay a lot of money to subject their children to this authoritarian dreck.

InterGalactic Fender Bender

2011-09-22T07:46:00.003-10:00

It happens all the time. This one was about 450,000,000 years ago.

So: If civilizations in NGC 6050 and IC 1179 started broadcasting criticism of each other's driving only 449,000,000 years ago, the SETI Project is going to have to search for quite a while before receiving any signals.

Of Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Holden, and Compound Interest

2011-09-19T06:56:00.003-10:00

It seems that neither courts nor stiffed heirs like the last when carried to extremes.

N.B.: While the article refers to the donor's 1936 endowment of $2.8 million now being worth "an impressive $9 million", the BLS.com inflation calculator says that $2,800,000 in 1936 was equal to over $45,000,000 in 2011.

Marshmallow Heaven

2011-09-18T14:05:00.002-10:00

That's heaven, not haven.

USS Milwaukee (1864-1865)

2011-09-17T08:09:00.003-10:00

I didn't know it, but there was a double turret monitor during the Civil War named for the city of Milwaukee. According to the Naval Historical Center:

(I)n 1864, she went to Mobile Bay, Alabama, where she spent the rest of her service career bombarding Confederate positions, clearing mines and supporting operations to isolate and capture the city of Mobile. On 28 March 1865, while engaged in an attack on Spanish Fort on the Blakely River, Alabama, USS Milwaukee struck a "torpedo" (as mines were then called) and sank. Her wreck was raised and scrapped in 1868.

Obama: Centrist. Perry: Hitler

2011-09-13T06:13:00.004-10:00

Obama: Centrist. Perry: Hitler. That seems to be the analysis on the Left. Robert Kuttner, co-editor of The American Prospect, speculates in the Huffington Post about the US if Obama loses the 2012 election:

We can imagine intensified assaults on Social Security and Medicare, more moves to turn America into a theocracy, and the courts will be lost for a generation. More deregulation and privatization, too....

So, going into 2016, the Republicans will own an economy in protracted depression. And as opposition party, progressive Democrats will be full-throated, no longer in the awkward position of being upstaged by their centrist president.

Assuming the Republicans don't find a way to cancel the 2016 election, a Democrat would have a good shot at winning. And a progressive Democrat (if one can be found) would have a good chance at being nominated.

Let me be clear here. I am not saying that we'd be better off if Obama lost in 2012. The risks of that course are simply too great. In the 1930s, German leftists adopted the slogan, "After Hitler, Us." It didn't work out so well.

I wonder what Hubert Humphrey would say.

"more moves to turn America into a theocracy"? "Assuming the Republicans don't find a way to cancel the 2016 election"? What world does this guy live on? Is the left just plain unhinged?

The Unorganized Militia

2011-09-12T11:48:00.005-10:00

Randy Barnett, quoting Section 311 of US Code Title 10: "The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and...under 45 years of age...the unorganized militia....consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.”

Here is the cold hard fact of the matter that will be evaded and denied but which must never be forgotten in these discussions: Often — whether on an airplane, subway, cruise ship, or in a high school — only self defense by the “unorganized militia” will be available when domestic or foreign terrorists chose their next moment of murder. And here is the public-policy implication of this fact: It would be better if the militia were more prepared to act when it is needed.

The passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93 were members of the unorganized militia. They were quick, and far more effective than the military, the police, or the National Guard precisely because they were the ones on the spot.

The 9/11 Revolver

2011-09-10T07:53:00.002-10:00

Recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center, it was donated to the NRA's National Firearms Museum. Clik here.

Yet Another Manic Depressive Star?

2011-09-08T06:47:00.002-10:00

Could that be a result of having "at least 50 times less lithium" than normal?

We need a federal program to address this gross imbalance.

Think of the jobs created. Think of the grateful children of federal bureaucrats.

Think.

Glen Reynolds on Recording Public Officials

2011-09-05T09:08:00.002-10:00

The law Prof/InstaPundit writes:

(T)he real problem is that America has a class of government workers who believe that they are above citizen scrutiny, and who are prepared to abuse their powers to avoid that scrutiny.

The whole column is here.

Teamsters' Hoffa on the Tea Party: "Let's take these son of bitches out"

2011-09-05T08:51:00.004-10:00

Real Clear Politics has the video.

Of course, 'take out' generally means 'kill'. At least it does to me. I suspect the head of the Teamsters is less placid a fellow than I, tho I may may be misunderstanding him due to he being named Jimmy Hoffa, and the Teamsters under his father had something of a reputation for corruption and violence. At least they did in my neighborhood.

Since President Obama spoke shorty after, I guess this is part of the New Civility.

In the Shadow of Saturn

2011-09-04T09:36:00.001-10:00

This is pretty cool.

Which does seem appropriate for a Cool Space Pic of the Day.

Don't miss Earth.

1st Amendment Win

2011-08-31T09:26:00.005-10:00

The First Circuit Court of Appeals has "handed down a ground-breaking decision defending our right to videotape the police and other public officials as they engage in their official duties--including when, as in this case, the cops appear to be beating a man on the Boston Common." The Court further stated:

"[T]hough not unqualified, a citizen's right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public space is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment."

Well, that's clear enough: States covered by the 1st Circuit* have just seen pretty much all bans on videoing cops and other officials go right down the Constitutional drain.

Carol Rose has more here. As she says: "Huzzah!"

* Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico. Yes: I do know that Puerto Rico is not a state.

UPDATE: Not everyone has gotten the word:

I have once or twice asked lawyers if using violence to defend oneself against armed assault by police which was predicated on an unconstitutional law is a lawful use of defensive violence, and been told basically "HeckifIknow!" My understanding is that an unconstitutional statute is no law at all, therefore it does seem reasonable be able to defend oneself against what would then be an unprovoked armed assault against one who has committed no crime. I do hope I never have to find out how the courts would rule on that tho.

Thanks to InfoWars for the lead.

How's That New Civility Thing Working For You?

2011-08-31T05:52:00.005-10:00

Gotta love those Democrats who soberly, self-righteously, and, oh...hypocritically call for Republicans and Tea Bagg...Partiers to start engaging in civil conversation:

Rep. Andre Carson, a Democrat from Indiana who serves as the (Congressional Black Caucus)’s chief vote counter, said at a CBC event in Miami that some in Congress would “love to see us as second-class citizens” and “some of them in Congress right now of this tea party movement would love to see you and me ... hanging on a tree.”

Carson also said the tea party is stopping change in Congress, likening it to “the effort that we’re seeing of Jim Crow.”

The explosive comments, caught on tape, were uploaded on the Internet Tuesday, and Carson’s office stood by the remarks.

Jake Sherman has more at Politico.

The New Yorker Magazine on Clarence Thomas

2011-08-29T13:06:00.003-10:00

Clarence Thomas is smart? Clarence Thomas is influential?

Who knew?

S-Shaped Galaxies?

2011-08-29T06:30:00.002-10:00

I wonder how many other alphabetic occurances are out there. Hickson 44 will do for a start, tho.

Badass of the Week

2011-08-26T17:19:00.002-10:00

"Badass of the Week" is apparently a compliment. I think Joseph Lozito qualifies. Good going!

Baby On Board

2011-08-26T17:03:00.003-10:00

You have surely noticed the yellow signs, usually attached to the rear window of a car, which read "Baby On Board". Less common now than when they first appeared, they seem intended to tell rescuers after a possible accident that there at least might be a wee victim who should not be missed.

Color me weird, but every time I see one I think of Planked Salmon.

Perhaps Jonathan Swift would understand.

Gun Delivery Times

2011-08-25T09:31:00.004-10:00

People around the country have been buying guns like mad for the last several years. Yesterday I called Kimber, a major manufacturer of high quality pistols, to find out the delivery time for their Model 1911 Eclipse Target II .45ACP.

The sales rep told me that they have a six month backlog on all 1911 models.

Times are good for the gun industry.

For buyers, not so much.

Inflation

2011-08-25T09:18:00.003-10:00

Remember how disruptive inflation was during the 1970s? Remember wage and price controls, and how they disrupted the economy? Take a look at this graph from the St Louis Federal Reserve Bank. Compare the 1970s to the last two years.

Do you have your life savings in your savings account? Have a pension which isn't indexed for inflation? Best brush up on your recipes for dandelion salad.

Thanks, Washington.

Obama on Deficit Spending

2011-08-25T06:06:00.003-10:00

This is one of the few issues on which President Obama and I wholeheartedly agree.

Thanks to InstaPundit for the tip. As he said: "the 2012 campaign ads just write themselves, don’t they?"

Blogging Glossary

2011-08-24T14:22:00.002-10:00

The gentlefolk over at Samizdata kindly provide us with a Blogging Glossary

CTRL + F? Never Heard Of It

2011-08-19T12:59:00.002-10:00

Alexis Madrigal in the Atlantic:

This week, I talked with Dan Russell, a search anthropologist at Google, about the time he spends with random people studying how they search for stuff. One statistic blew my mind. 90 percent of people in their studies don't know how to use CTRL/Command + F to find a word in a document or web page!

I blame the President.

Joe Biden and Republican "Terrorists"

2011-08-17T11:52:00.003-10:00

Politico is standing by their reporting that Vice-President Joe Biden said, referring to Republicans on the other side of the budget negotiations, “They have acted like terrorists.”

Politico's first source emailed them while in the room with Biden, and Politico confirmed with three other sources by email while they, too, were still in the room with him. They then confirmed with a fifth source:

Like many stories, it started with a tip from a source who was inside the tense Aug. 1 Democratic meeting with Biden as the debt negotiations reached a critical point....reporters stand outside closed conference rooms, emailing people inside those meetings...After hearing from the first source, the two POLITICO reporters on the story, Jonathan Allen and John Bresnahan, quickly confirmed Biden’s words with three other sources who were in the same room. They also contacted a fifth source, who confirmed the basic reporting.

Five witnesses seems like a lot more reliable sourcing than most negative stories about Republicans. Remember the rumors about John McCain having an affair with a staffer? Front page news during the campaign, except it wasn't true. John Edwards fathering a child with a staffer? Who knew? At least until he was no longer a factor in the campaign.

Rick Perry: Racist Swine or Victim of MSNBC Propaganda?

2011-08-16T20:48:00.002-10:00

You decide:

MSNBC must have gotten a lot of pushback.

Here is the original:

Are Argentinians Incapable of Learning From Their Mistakes?

2011-08-16T10:21:00.007-10:00

Or from anyone else's? Apparently so:

(Argentine President Cristina)Fernandez has rankled Wall Street by imposing price controls, nationalizing private pension funds and publishing inflation data far below private estimates.

So, how have the Argentinians responded to Fernandez destroying the economy and stealing their life's savings?

"Argentine President Cristina Fernandez looks set to win a second term in October and deepen her interventionist policies after thrashing rivals."

Why cry for Argentina? They do this to themselves.

Of course, one could quite reasonably cry for the minority who understand that stealing life savings, inflating the currency, and imposing price controls add up to armed robbery of the masses by the criminal elite.

By the way the Reuters article describes Fernandez as "center-left". Good thing she isn't radical.

This reminds me of a book I read a couple years ago: "The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse: Based on the first hand experience of the 2001 economic collapse in Argentina" by Fernando Ferfal Aguirre.

It isn't very well written or edited, but the author is the first to say so. However, a lot of his experiences mirror things I saw in Lebanon in the Fall of 1975 and Spring of 1977. One of his more important points is that the lone individual or family living in an isolated area is running a very significant risk of torture and murder by people who want whatever the lone person or family might have.

In a really major breakdown, like the Lebanese civil war I saw, even small towns will be at risk. The village I was in, Jouar El Haouz, was a Christian village which, between my visits, was taken over by the PLO: One morning the villagers heard someone ringing the bell of the church across the street from my step-sister's house. They went to investigate. The PLO told them at gunpoint to start walking. No stopping at home. Just get out or get shot. A few very old people were allowed to stay, but they were all alone.

After the village was emptied the PLO went house to house, shooting the locks off the doors, then went in and vandalized what they didn't take: upholstery slashed, table tops gouged with knives, all clothes in closets cut with scissors. Eventually the Syrian peace-keepers moved in, and the PLO, unable to remove the ammo they were storing in my step-sister's house, blew it up.

If you look at the areal view at the Google link, you can see the church: It's the building with the orange tile roof on the inside of the bend in the road. Directly across the street to the northwest is a grayish rectangle: our house. There used to be an orange tile roof on it,too, but when the ammo dump exploded the roof went straight up and the walls moved out. It apparently has never been rebuilt.

If you back out a bit you see a lot of blue ponds. Those are reservoirs to catch snow and spring run off for irrigating the apple orchards during the summer. I spent a couple days guarding ours from a fellow who liked to cut the lock off the valve and steal the water. Not sure what I would have done if he had been pushy but fortunately the only person I saw was a goatherd with a Galil assault rife, and he just led his goats to the water and let them drink. No big deal.

Anyway, when things got bad there were a lot of shortages because trucks couldn't get to warehouses and out again: the village store ran out of bottled propane for stoves, and most foods. We had kerosene space heaters and were able to cook on one in the salon aka living room, and cooked a lot of windfall apples by candle light. Some nights that was all there was to eat. Or apples, cooked apples, apple juice, and Spam.

We had a gunfight around the house one night, and since my brother-in-law was against guns, we were at the mercy of whoever it was. They didn't try to come in, but if they had we were defenceless.

We had all gone to bed around 8:30 or 9:00. My bedroom was at the front of the house, and lying there in the dark I heard people standing on our porch, whispering. Then pulling back and releasing bolts on assault rifles. Shooting from the porch outside my window, with reverberations such that I couldn't tell which was the last shot and which the first reverberation. Then people running up the road Southwest of the church, and more shooting. Then silence, followed by a car driving fast past the house with it's lights out. Then it was over.

Next morning there was no sign of the shooting, no empty brass. No one in the village would say they knew who it had been. Just another night in a civil war zone.

Here is a website with a very little more on Jouar El Haouz.

Artifical Libertarian Islands

2011-08-16T10:11:00.002-10:00

5027 Comments in the first five hours?! This struck a raw nerve, and judging from those on the first page, certain moocher elements are frothing at the mouth.

Pay Pal founder and Facebook investor Peter Thiel has given $1.25 million to get them off the ground, so to speak.

Liz Goodwin has the story at Yahoo News.

Why Government Employee Unions Hate Wisconsin

2011-08-16T07:55:00.003-10:00

In the aftermath of legislation that clips the power of public employee unions in Wisconsin, the state's largest teachers union...issued layoff notices to 42 employees.

The new legislation limits collective bargaining,...requires local unions to hold annual recertification votes, prohibits employers from automatically deducting union dues from a public worker's payroll and allows bargaining-unit members to opt out of paying union dues altogether if they wish.

The announcement of layoffs at the Wisconsin Education Association Council,... affects about 40% of its workforce....

The union has even been sending recruiters to teachers' homes to persuade them to remain in the union, possibly under the "we know where you live" school of salesmanship. Or is it 'salespersonship'?

Erin Richards of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has more here.

More on Mayor Nutter

2011-08-16T06:54:00.003-10:00

Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor, yesterday continued the coverage of Mayor Michael Nutter's criticism of blacks in Philadelphia.

the apparent willingness by many whites and some black leaders to assume that poverty and the dysfunction it brings can only be alleviated by the individual, not greater society.

"Apparent willingness"? How about explicit statement? This is an editorial statement in a news story and it is wrong. Poverty does not cause dysfunction: Dysfunction causes poverty. Poor neighborhoods may have a lot of criminals in them, but that is because criminals are dysfunctional and therefore by and large poor. Dysfunctional people may be poor without being criminal. Pointing out that there are rich criminals does not change that.

Society cannot educate you: you must take an eduction when it is available or remain unemployable at any but the lowest level: pure ignorant labor. The Man does not oppress children in school: Other dysfunctional children and their equally dysfunctional parents do. The only Man holding back children is the Man in their own heads.

For half a century "society" has subsidized unwed motherhood, unemployment, the myth that the Man won't let them succeed, and other dysfunctional behavior. Just like subsidizing opera, one gets more of what one subsidizes.

Surprise, surprise.

Eliminate all welfare, eliminate all subsidies to unwed parents, eliminate subsidies to dysfunctional behavior, stop tolerating those who blame their own failure on others, including the mystical Man, and in a generation I think the problems will be largely gone. While you are at it, make early release from prison conditional on learning to read, write, and do basic math.

If "society" caused this, then society has a responsibility to stop subsidizing this bad behavior. I blame the individuals who blame society.

Nutter's strong language enables white society in America to downplay poverty as the root cause of the black community's problems, says Columbia University political scientist Frederick Harris, author of the upcoming book, "The Price of the Ticket: The Rise and Fall of Black Politics in the Age of Obama.” "If this discourse was led by Ronald Reagan, for instance, people would call him on his racism, but now that you have a black face to these explanations it gives it legitimacy," he says.

"People would call him on his racism." Right: The only possible reason a white person could criticize individuals who are black is white racism. If this quote is accurate, Dr. Harris assumes white critics are racist: Isn't that assumption itself racist?

I have come around to thinking that the proper response today to being called a racist is to smile broadly and thank the speaker, for the speaker has publicly admitted they have nothing with which to refute any point made by the 'racist'. The speaker can only retreat into shutting down the conversation by accusing the other of being racist. Today, calling another a racist is nothing but an admission of the speaker's inability to refute anything the 'racist' said.

Andrew McCarthy on Mitt Romney's Federalism

2011-08-15T09:02:00.001-10:00

He has some decent points.

The Secret History of Guns, by Adam Winkler

2011-08-15T07:36:00.002-10:00

The NRA was soft on gun control? Who knew? The change in the NRA's voting rights rules seems to have gotten them on the right track, though one must read the comments to find out that tidbit.

It's a surprisingly good article.

The Atlantic magazine has the story.

Fun Architecture Around the World

2011-08-14T19:34:00.001-10:00

Here.

The London Riots: Before and After Pictures

2011-08-13T18:27:00.004-10:00

The BBC has them here.

The current fourth set is of Clapham Junction in south London. I stayed in a B&B there a couple of times a number of years ago. Very nice neighborhood. Or was.

Old Law School vs New Law School

2011-08-13T15:18:00.002-10:00

I had never heard of the dichotomy of Old and New Law School, but now that I have read a wee bit about it, it fits in with my impressions in general of the modern American college.

For a specific example, see this on a controversy at the Widener Law School.

Adios California, Hello Austin, Texas

2011-08-12T14:53:00.004-10:00

Whatever one thinks of Texas Republicans and their religious proclivities, they seem to be doing a decent job of luring entrepreneurial net taxpayers out of California, while the California Democrats are luring the net tax recipients in.

Each to his own.

UPDATE: Of course, there are hazards to the locals when Californians fleeing the nanny state arrive in large numbers. Southern New Hampshire ran into those when masses of Massachusetts residents fled that state's tax and regulatory hell for low tax, low regulation New Hampshire, and then demanded vastly increased government services. Apparently the Massachusetts schools had failed to tell them that increased services require hire taxes, and increased regulation increases stultifying bureaucracy.

Go figure.

More here.

"It's rare that an entire busload of passengers is shot up."

2011-08-12T09:44:00.003-10:00

So sayeth Philadelphia prosecutor Morgan Model Vedejs.

Well, that's comforting.

Here's is a local TV news update. The maniacs have been arrested and are going to trial:

It would have been an even more interesting video if one of the bus riders had pulled out a legally carried pistol and punctured the criminals. No such luck.

Q: Why Can't the President of the United States Make a Speech Like Mayor Nutter's?

2011-08-12T09:30:00.003-10:00

A: He could, but he won't, because the President of the United States is Barack Obama.

The transcript of the speech which Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter delivered at the Mount Carmel Baptist Church is here.

One problem with Mayor Nutter's speech, though, was his audience: He likely was speaking to the converted. Still, it was a good speech.

Now let's see if the Philadelphia public will allow him to follow up on it with meaningful action.

A Deer Lick Can be Particularly....

2011-08-12T07:53:00.001-10:00

...beautiful.

Tench Coxe on the 2nd Amendment

2011-08-11T08:28:00.004-10:00

Whilst noodling about in a somewhat random pattern, I came across a link to this page on Tench Coxe's comments about Americans and weapons:

"As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms." (Tench Coxe in ‘Remarks on the First Part of the Amendments to the Federal Constitution' under the Pseudonym ‘A Pennsylvanian' in the Philadelphia Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789 at 2 col. 1)

"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man gainst his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American.... [T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people." (Tench Coxe, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.)

Seems about right to me.

Paul Robeson High School for Business and Technology

2011-08-11T07:03:00.005-10:00

Last night I saw a sign in the background of a news clip which threw me for a bit of a loop: Paul Robeson High School for Business and Technology. According to WikiPedia, it is part of the New York City Department of Education.

My recollection of Paul Robeson and his politics was pretty hazy, but my impression was pretty strong that he was a communist. He seemed like an odd person to honor by putting his name on a school of business in the United States. So this morning I looked him up.

Robeson claimed to not be a member of any communist party. OK. And he clearly was on the right side in the civil rights struggles of the day. In fact, he seems to have been one of the giants in such basic fights as stopping racist lynchings and legal segregation. On those issues he was on the side of the angels.

On the other hand, while he may never have written a dues check to any communist party, it is hard to imagine he wasn't a communist. And that makes it a bit weird for any pro-capitalism group to name a business school in his honor. Of course, one might reasonably question whether the New York City Department of Education is pro-capitalism.

Without getting into the curriculum or politics of the staff, the school's mission statement can hardly be faulted. It concludes with "We will prepare our students to use business and technology to achieve their personal best, to fulfill their responsibility to their community and to positively influence the course of events in the 21st century." But a Paul Robeson School of Business? How about a Typhoid Mary School of Public Health?

From WikiPedia:

Commenting in 1935 to the Daily Worker on the execution of several peoples as counter-revolutionary terrorists, Robeson said: "From what I have already seen of the workings of the Soviet Government, I can only say that anybody who lifts his hand against it ought to be shot!"

And:

By December 1937 Robeson...spoke out in favor of the emerging Communist revolution in China

Further:

At a Bill of Rights Conference in New York in July 1949, Robeson denounced a motion, which called for the freeing of nineteen members of the Socialist Workers Party convicted in 1941, calling the imprisoned Trotskyists- who were at odds with the Soviet leadership-"the allies of Fascism who want to destroy the new democracies of the world...let's not get confused, they are the enemies of the working class. Would you give civil rights to the Ku Klux Klan?"

Robeson apparently considered Joe Stalin a great guy:

In April 1953, shortly after Stalin's death, Robeson penned a eulogy entitled To You Beloved Comrade, praising Stalin as being dedicated to peace and a guidance to the world: "Through his deep humanity, by his wise understanding, he leaves us a rich and monumental heritage."

To Robeson, the good old Soviet Union was a bulwark against capitalism:

Robeson is on record many times as stating that he felt the "existence of a major socialist power like the USSR was a bulwark against Western European capitalist domination of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean." At no time is Paul Robeson on record of mentioning any unhappiness or regrets about his support for the Soviet Union and his hopes for socialism in Africa and Asia.

I'm From the Government...

2011-08-07T09:54:00.001-10:00

...and I'm here to help you:

Thanks to InstaPundit for the tip.

Detroit Free Press on Michigan's Concealed Carry Law

2011-08-05T05:59:00.003-10:00

Stunningly enough for those who predicted blood running in the streets and parking lots, not much changed after Michigan reformed it's concealed carry law a decade ago. The state changed from a "discretionary issue" state in which few other than retired cops could carry, to one in which the authorities were required to issue a permit to any law abiding adult resident who went through the fairly simple permit process. Even the anti-reform public officials have come around to saying they were mistaken. That is quite a turn around.

The Bradyites though, remain as rabid as they ever were, and the Detroit Free Press does a decent job of showing that as well.

The two part series starts here and finishes up here.

Reporters Dawson Bell and Gina Damron did an honest job. I wish more reporters were so open to reality. Thanks to them.

Vampires, Cannibals, Psychotics, and Delusionals

2011-08-03T15:04:00.006-10:00

If only I'd known, I would have voted for Barrack Obama. Several times.

I tried to embed the video but for some reason keep winding up with a different one. Anyway, clik here for the real one. Don't miss the embedded video!

So much for the new civility.

Some Triplets Are Bigger Than Others

2011-08-03T09:30:00.001-10:00

It's a Cool Space Pic of the Day.

Dilbert on Disaster Preparedness

2011-08-01T06:22:00.001-10:00

Dilbert Understands...

Mark Steyn: Post-American Planet

2011-07-31T12:27:00.003-10:00

It seems to me that nearly all the Federal politicians should be given fair trials for treason, then taken to the Capital rotunda and hanged.

That isn't Mark Steyn's conclusion, but some might think it follows reasonably enough from his Post-American Planet essay.

Hawaii State Government: Fools, Idiots, Pipe Dreamers

2011-07-19T16:37:00.004-10:00

Andrew Gomes has the story in the Star Advertiser

The Sierra Club filed an appeal with Circuit Court in November challenging the Oct. 15 decision by the Land Use Commission to reclassify 576 acres of agriculture land in Central Oahu for an initial 3,500-home phase of Koa Ridge and conditionally approve a second phase with 1,500 homes on another 192 acres of agriculture land nearby.

The environmental organization argued that the LUC decision did not receive the necessary number of votes for approval because Duane Kanuha was ineligible to serve as a commissioner.

LUC rules require that six of the nine commissioners must vote "yes" for land to be reclassified for a different use. The vote was 6-0 in favor of urbanizing the Koa Ridge site, with three members excused. Kanuha cast one of the six votes.

Kanuha's four-year term as the Big Island commissioner ended June 30, 2009, and the state Senate rejected his reappointment for a second term on April 26, 2010. He remained on the commission as a holdover member by Gov. Linda Lingle until earlier this year.

Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto ruled that the Senate's rejection of Kanuha disqualified him from serving as a holdover commissioner.

Gee, Governor Lingle, did it maybe occur to you that when Kanuha's term was up he was no longer a commissioner? That his "votes" were without weight?

Naw. She told the Super Ferry people that they didn't need a full environmental impact statement. They too found out that she was just a little bit wrong. It only cost them a hundred million dollars or so. Didn't come out of her pocket, so why should she care?

Linda Lingle: Not corrupt, just stupid as a tree full of owl poop.

With Republicans like this, why should we vote against Democrats? At least they'd stop these investments before millions of dollars were thrown away.

A Page Three Girl of About 1669

2011-07-13T11:22:00.004-10:00

It turns out her name was Nell Gwyn -yes, THAT Nell Gwyn- and the artist was Sir Peter Lely.

Wisconsin Concealed Carry Law

2011-07-10T11:59:00.003-10:00

Wisconsin has now joined the civilized parts of the country by finally allowing law abiding adults to carry concealed weapons.:

Wisconsin became the 49th state to allow its citizens to carry undercover guns, after Gov. Scott Walker signed the measure Friday...

In one stroke, the legislation takes Wisconsin from being one of the final pair of remaining holdouts on concealed carry to having one of the more permissive bills in the country...

The measure includes provisions requiring training and permits, which were sought by both Walker and Democrats. Some Republicans unsuccessfully pushed "constitutional carry" bills that would have allowed people to carry concealed guns without permits.

While the article says that "Illinois is the only remaining state that bans carrying concealed weapons", for practical purposes that isn't true: even though Hawaii has a provision in law for discretionary issue of permits "In an exceptional case, when an applicant shows reason to fear injury to the applicant's person or property, the chief of police of the appropriate county may grant a license" which is even then only good in that county, not statewide, in real life the county police chiefs refuse to issue them to anyone, in any situation. If you want to carry concealed in Hawaii, you have to be a cop. No one else need apply. If you are a retired cop, there are a few hoops through which to jump before getting your permit. Check this out. Looks to me like the control freaks we call State Legislators really don't want retired cops carrying either.

And by the way, in Hawaii you have to get a chief's permission before excercising your Constitutionally enumerated right to acquire a gun.

Adirondack Chairs

2011-07-10T11:03:00.002-10:00

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an article on Adirondack chairs today. We have the plastic version from Home Depot. Unlike the wood versions, they are very light, can be dried quickly for immediate use after rain or washing them, and at less than twenty clams per, cheap enough to bear replacing about every 18 months. Light weight is particularly nice for those who mow their own lawns and have to move each one twice every time they unlimber the lawnmower. Still, painted wood is great looking, and so are the teak ones after a few years. The good teak ones are plenty heavy and fearsomely expensive though.

That Pesky 2nd Amendment

2011-07-09T17:32:00.004-10:00

That pesky 2nd Amendment in in the news again, this time yet again from that cesspool of political corruption and crime known as Chicago. As Dave Kopel wrote over at Volokh Conspiracy:

The Seventh Circuit’s decision in Ezell v. Chicago is a tremendously important case for Second Amendment doctrine. The key rules from Ezell: use originalism from both 1791 and 1868 to determine if an activity is within the scope of the Second Amendment right. If it is, apply First Amendment doctrine, and make the standard of review more stringent when the activity is closer to the core of the right, and when the government is prohibiting rather than regulating.

There is plenty more here, with a link to the decision itself, which is lengthy but quite interesting for its reasoning. Well worth a read.

Some People Have a Rainy Day Fund...

2011-07-05T15:32:00.003-10:00

...and some prepare for the whole monsoon:

MUMBAI, India — A court-ordered search of vaults beneath a south Indian temple has unearthed gold, jewels and statues worth an estimated $22 billion, government officials said Monday.

The Rainy Day Fund "is believed to have been deposited at the temple by the royal family of the princely state of Travancore...Some of the vaults under the temple have not been opened for nearly 150 years, temple officials have said."

Clearly le local royal didn't let their kids out on long enough leashes. Any self-respecting six-year-old in my old neighborhood would have into the basements and had half the loot stashed under their beds before Mom called them in for graham cracker snacks.

They are still poking around: "On Monday, searchers started to unseal “Section B” of the vaults, a large space that was expected to reveal another sizable collection".

Rail in Honolulu

2011-07-05T12:21:00.004-10:00

Panos Prevedouros, a UH professor of civil engineering, and a leading opponent of Honolulu's march to bankruptcy via a new rail system, continues his fight over at the Hawaii Reporter.

If my admittedly pathetic math is correct, and if the 20 mile system ends up costing $7,200,000,000, it will come to only $360,000,000 per mile, or $14,000 for every person on Oahu, few of whom will be served by the system. What's to worry about?

Independence Day in Hawaii

2011-07-05T12:01:00.002-10:00

Yesterday I was too busy prepping for our celebration of the Illegal Revolution of 1776 to post about it.

Nonetheless, while I am patiotically delighted that our forefathers, and apparently a few foremothers, took up largely privately owned weapons and used them to gun down the troops of the legally constituted government until said monarch was overthrown in the 13 colonies, I am also glad that it was some 235 years ago and not something which I am likely to have to participate in myself.

Three huzzahs for the Illegal Revolution of 1776!

Burglary in Paradise

2011-06-14T18:57:00.014-10:00

We got burgled yesterday while we were running errands between 11:35 AM and 1:25 PM.

We came home and saw from the car that the front door was ajar and the screen door open.

I pulled the big MagLite out from between the seats and cautiously walked in to find the living room had been trashed:

As usual, clik on the pic for a bigger version. Were you aware that burglars have unusually small reproductive organs?

Calvin and Sweetie cat had departed for safer climes. Couch cushions all over:

containers of every size from the paperclip box on the desk:

through a wooden Tokelau tackle box we use for NetFlix to an old Chinese camphor wood chest we use for an end table had been opened:

Oddly, Valerie's school laptop computer had been unplugged and moved from the dining table to the punee, but left there atop a framed photo of Greg which along with a lamp had been moved from atop another box to see what was in that.

There were bottles of prescription meds from the master bedroom on the kitchen floor, and some of the kitchen cabinets had been opened.

Studies with Canadian laboratory rats demonstrate that burglars have embarrasingly small reproductive organs.

In the hallway, my Dad's old metal fishing rod case lay opened on the floor, stretching from the door to the den across the hall.

The room I had thought the safest, the den, which is at the moment more or less a storage room akin to the store room in my old apartment in Milwaukee, had been gone through despite the light being out. The burglars had gone in, moved boxes in front of the sliding closet doors, managed to open the warped doors and rummage through both sides all the way to the floor. They also moved a stack of framed pictures from in front of a curio cabinet to access the lower storage compartment, and seem to have opened the display door and moved an early 20th century Hawaiian covered bowl.

In Greg's room they rummaged through his dresser drawers, went through both closets and removed things from the shelves to look, and opened a big metal gun case to find nothing inside.

Our bedroom was ransacked: both dressers gone through and the contents on the floor, the cabinet by Valerie's side of the bed had things pulled out, including her grandmother's sewing kit, which was lying open on the bed, the pillows all pulled away from the headboard so they could ransack the storage cabinets there.

Researchers using Canadian laboratory rats have discovered that the average burglar engages in inappropriate acts with domestic waterfowl an average 3.003 times per week.

All in all the place was a mess, though with little damage to remaining contents. Among the losses was one of Greg's guitars, a couple of containers of pocket change, a pocket camera of Valerie's, and some things from the den closet which, while not of any sentimental value, were disturbing to lose.

It turned out that they had gotten in through the living room louvered windows: they had cut the screen and pulled out the wooden louvers, crawled in, and left by the front door.

The police eventually arrived after a return call from the dispatcher saying that they were quite busy and that they would be there when they could. They mentioned that Hawaii has the highest rate of property crimes in the country, largely because our noble decision makers (my term) have decided that since few people get hurt physically in burglaries, they get very low priority.

They also mentioned that while the bad guys made off with relatively little, they clearly had a chance to see that they had left a lot of good stuff behind. Maybe they were surprised and fled. Certainly they left the lap top computer after unplugging it, and Valerie's iPad after taking from on top of a box, and uncasing it. They left that on our bed. So the cops' opinion is that they might come back for what they left behind.

Today we spent buying stuff to beef up the louvers and getting a safe deposit box and filling it with stuff they missed.

Over all we were lucky. This was a wake up call. Now we have to figure out what to do both in the very short term before we leave Thursday for Utah and white water rafting on the Salmon River in Idaho. A safe deposit box already and stashing some things more carefully. When we get home: to be decided. Maybe a safe. Maybe an alarm system. Somethings to think about.

No one was killed, no one was raped. Nothing really important to us was destroyed or stolen. All in all we have a lot to be thankful for.

Calvin and Sweetie, illustrious Guard Cats, understood that sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and strategically retreated to fight another day. Like graduates of a Junior Life Saving course, they understood that sometimes one must let what is going to happen happen rather than go down fighting a futile fight.

Calvin seems to have internalized that wisdom:

Calvin, BTW, has a nearly bare naked tummy and shaved arms as a result of tummy surgery about three weeks ago for kidney stones: the doc opened him up, and had IVs in both front legs. Poor little guy seems to be well on the mend.

The World Is Still Spinning Out of Control

2011-06-10T09:57:00.002-10:00

A terrorist moose, presumably home-grown, smashed through the window of a retirement home in Alingsas, Sweden, then "jumped over a sofa and knocked over chairs and flowers before getting stuck in a set of doors."

The terrorist escaped with the connivance of local police, who opened the doors of the home.

Good thing the moose didn't try that in Texas or the little old ladies would have hauled out their hawglaigs and had it that evening for mooseburgers.

Temperate Democrats

2011-06-07T08:24:00.005-10:00

With gravitas, of course:

"(N)ow you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally - and very transparently - block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And it's nothing short of that blatant"

That was DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) speaking on TVOne's "Washington Week". I'm not sure how long the video will stay up, but here it is.

Of course, another way of looking at what the Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee said is: People who vote illegally vote disproportionately for Democrats.

The World Is Spinning Out Of Control Department

2011-06-04T07:15:00.009-10:00

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser today reported that Philadelphia has been attacked by rabid beavers. "Authorities" (it's ALWAYS "authorities", isn't it?) "are warning people to be on the alert..."

Are besieged Philadelphians at this very moment watching neighbors toppling after herds of giant rabid beavers gnaw through their ankles? Are depodified persons being dragged screaming through the streets by giant rodents frothing at the mouth? Are beady-eyed paddle tails driving Philadelphians headfirst into the mud even as we speak? Are flocks of slavering beavers chewing their way through house walls and making off with the kindling? Is President Obama sending in the SEALS to take out the beavers? Will he send in the CIA, only to discover that beavers LIKE waterboarding?

The Star-Advertiser made the report in their dead tree version. Coincidence, or Polynesian Quislings?

More here.

Harlequin Novel, Version 2011

2011-06-03T21:25:00.002-10:00

From a friend:

Harlequin novel, version 2011

He grasped me firmly, but gently, just above my elbow and guided me into a room, his room. Then he quietly shut the door and we were alone. He approached me soundlessly, from behind, and spoke in a low, reassuring voice close to my ear.

"Just relax."

Without warning, he reached down and I felt his strong, calloused hands start at my ankles, gently probing, and moving upward along my calves, slowly but steadily. My breath caught in my throat.

I knew I should be afraid, but somehow I didn't care. His touch was so experienced, so sure. When his hands moved up onto my thighs, I gave a slight shudder, and partly closed my eyes. My pulse was pounding.

I felt his knowing fingers caress my abdomen, my ribcage. And then, as he cupped my firm, full breasts in his hands, I inhaled sharply.

Probing, searching, knowing what he wanted, he brought his hands to my shoulders, slid them down my tingling spine and into my panties.

Although I knew nothing about this man, I felt oddly trusting and expectant. This is a man, I thought. A man used to taking charge. A man not used to taking 'No' for an answer. A man who would tell me what he wanted. A man who would look into my soul and say . . . ..

"Okay ma'am, you can board your flight now."

Thanks to RGS.

Sweetie Pi

2011-06-01T16:19:00.002-10:00

This one:

Or this one?"

Super Glue Sutures

2011-06-01T12:26:00.004-10:00

Yes, it can be used, but standard Super Glue (TM) uses potentially dangerous methyl alcohol. There is a veterinarian version, though even with it one needs to have some idea of what one is doing:

Tissue glue is only applied to outside surfaces to bridge over edges; do not apply it directly to raw surfaces.

Still, in a major emergency, even the household stuff would likely be better than leaving a wound open. Not suitable for deep wounds.

Much more at WikiPedia.

When a Galaxy Overeats...

2011-05-31T21:49:00.001-10:00

...it out gasses.

Italian Seismologists Prosecuted for Equivocating

2011-05-27T09:46:00.004-10:00

This is sure to encourage scientists to make predictions:

ROME—Enzo Boschi, the president of Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), will face trial on charges of manslaughter with six other scientists and technicians for failing to alert the residents of L'Aquila ahead of the devastating earthquake that struck the central Italian town on 6 April 2009, killing 308 people.

Just what did they do that merits criminal prosecution?

Judge Giuseppe Romano Gargarella...said that the seven defendants had supplied "imprecise, incomplete and contradictory information," in a press conference following a meeting held by the committee 6 days before the quake. In doing so, they "thwarted the activities designed to protect the public," the judge said.

So...the scientists are to be prosecuted for being equivocal about the likelihood of an event in the future?

The whole article is here.

Louisiana Decoys at the MDCA National Decoy Show

2011-05-27T08:48:00.004-10:00

Louisiana Decoys were the theme educational exhibit at the Midwest Decoys Collectors Association national decoy show in St. Charles, IL, in April. Donna Tonelli put together a slide show.

Thanks, Donna!

All Star Cast!

2011-05-26T22:21:00.004-10:00

Machete.

Totally oveflowing with testosterone. And violence, if there is a dif.

Danny Trejo as Machete Cortez. Robert DeNiro. Jessica Alba. Steven Seagal. Michelle Rodrigues. Cheech Marin...who gets crucified, dude, but then he's a priest. It goes with the job. Don Johnson. And last but maybe not least, Lindsay Lohan.

And it's about as PC as one could ask. Totally anti-anti-illegal immigrant.

Paul Ryan Pushes Grandma Off a Cliff

2011-05-20T07:35:00.002-10:00

John Hinderaker at PowerLine posted an interesting attack ad aimed at Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. It seems to be from a relatively mainstream Democrat group, for, as he says:

(T)he Agenda Project and its founder, Erica Payne, are entirely mainstream. The group's web site informs us that Ms. Payne was Deputy National Finance Director for the Democratic National Committee during the 1996 presidential re-election campaign

Paul Ryan is a Republican. I guess a Libertarian would have just shot her, ideally with a machinegun which one of your elementary school age children bought at a local big box retailer.

Here it is:

Gotta love what passes for serious discussion of the issues.

Pat Condell on Killing bin Laden

2011-05-17T10:49:00.002-10:00

Thanks to RGS for the lead.

Calvin in the Kitty Hospital

2011-05-15T11:37:00.003-10:00

Calvin has been in and out of the kitty hospital for some time now with a urinary blockage. The vet hopes to send him home tomorrow evening, but until then this pic will have to do.

Indiana Supreme Court: No Right to Resist Illegal Police Entry

2011-05-13T13:38:00.005-10:00

I suppose Hoosiers should be glad the State Supremes didn't extend the protection to all other criminals illegally entering homes.

Dan Carden at NWI.com has the pathetic story.

INDIANAPOLIS | Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.

In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer's entry.

Saddam Hussein agrees wholeheartedly with "Justice" Steven David. Or he would if he hadn't been hanged.

For what little it is worth, two Justices voted to uphold the right to resist illegal entry:

"In my view the majority sweeps with far too broad a brush by essentially telling Indiana citizens that government agents may now enter their homes illegally -- that is, without the necessity of a warrant, consent or exigent circumstances," (Justice Robert) Rucker said. "I disagree."

Rucker and (Justice Brent) Dickson suggested if the court had limited its permission for police entry to domestic violence situations they would have supported the ruling.

But Dickson said, "The wholesale abrogation of the historic right of a person to reasonably resist unlawful police entry into his dwelling is unwarranted and unnecessarily broad."

The Magna Carta: another one of those outmoded documents over 100 years old. The Indiana Supreme Court has taken the state back to pre-Magna Carta days.

Markets Versus Politicians

2011-05-09T16:15:00.003-10:00

Or, rather, politicians versus markets. Or politicians versus politicians versus lightbulbs versus CFLs.

If the CFLs are so blasted great why are we prohibited from buying the competition?

The Pity-for-Osama Lobby

2011-05-07T08:37:00.005-10:00

Brendan O'Neill in Spiked:

It is extraordinary, and revealing, how quickly the expression of concern about the use of American force in Pakistan became an expression of values superiority over the American people. The modern chattering classes are so utterly removed from the mass of the population, so profoundly disconnected from ‘ordinary people’ and their ‘ordinary thoughts’, that they effectively see happy Americans as a more alien and unusual thing than Osama bin Laden. Where OBL wins their empathy, American jocks receive only their bile.

American jocks are take-charge kind of people. Since they tend not to be sympathetic to the politics of such as Red Ken Livingstone, communist* former mayor of London, they are inherently bad people.

Thinking of Red Ken, O'Neill says:

Watching Americans celebrate OBL’s death, Ken Livingstone said: ‘I realised that it would increase the likelihood of a terror attack on London.’ This is really a call to elevate precaution over action, meekness over passionate political feeling, staying at home over taking risks, all in the name of protecting ourselves from any possible future action by a hot-headed Islamist. In this sense, the disdain for America and its people is really an expression of angst about what America is perceived to represent: confidence, cockiness, self-possession, a willingness to take risks (little of which is actually accurate). The post-OBL ‘uncomfortable feeling’ is really a quite craven sentiment, a fear-fuelled desire for self-preservation over anything else, which is dolled up as a principled critique of American militarism.

So, is anti-Americanism simply self-loathing masking as political principle?

And just my own observation, of course, by an American non-jock who is unabashedly delighted that Osama bin Laden died a violent death at the hands of Americans: What did Red Ken and his bien-pensant cohort say about the people celebrating by the tens of thousands in the streets of Gaza and other places when the Twin Towers filled with thousand of innocents were knocked down? Did Red Ken proclaim "I realised that it would increase the likelihood of a terror attack by the Americans on Kabul or Baghdad"? Or does he refrain from moral indignation over Muslims, or Arabs, or Afghans because he thinks they just aren't up to being held responsible for their actions? Does Red Ken really ascribe to the credo of the White Man's Burden?

Do Red Ken et al believe that Americans of all colors can be held morally accountable, but their 'Little Brown Brothers' can't be? Are the bien-pensants the real racists here?

* Livingstone calls himself a socialist, saying: "I still believe one day that the idea that the main means of production are owned by private individuals... will be considered as anti-democratic as the idea serfs could be tied to the land." This is the sort which Londoners elect to be Mayor.

Justice Stevens, bin Laden, and Admiral Yamamoto

2011-05-06T12:51:00.003-10:00

I came across an interesting tidbit on Volokh Cospiracy a little while ago and verified the paraphrase of Justice John Paul Stevens in a 2007 New York Times interview.

(Stevens...)won a bronze star for his service as a cryptographer, after he helped break the code that informed American officials that Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of the Japanese Navy and architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, was about to travel to the front...U.S. pilots, on Roosevelt’s orders, shot down Yamamoto’s plane in April 1943.

Stevens told me he was troubled by the fact that Yamamoto, a highly intelligent officer who had lived in the United States and become friends with American officers, was shot down with so little apparent deliberation or humanitarian consideration. The experience, he said, raised questions in his mind about the fairness of the death penalty. “I was on the desk, on watch, when I got word that they had shot down Yamamoto in the Solomon Islands, and I remember thinking: This is a particular individual they went out to intercept,” he said. “There is a very different notion when you’re thinking about killing an individual, as opposed to killing a soldier in the line of fire.” Stevens said that, partly as a result of his World War II experience, he has tried on the court to narrow the category of offenders who are eligible for the death penalty and to ensure that it is imposed fairly and accurately. He has been the most outspoken critic of the death penalty on the current court.

Amazing: a justice of the US Supreme Court being troubled by targetting an enemy officer during a declared war.

It makes me wonder if Stevens was ever qualified to sit on the court.

For Eugene Volokh's comments, see here.