Judge Finds Nifong in Contempt

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - "Mike Nifong, the disgraced former Durham County district attorney, was held in criminal contempt of court Friday for lying to a judge when pursuing rape charges against three falsely accused Duke University lacrosse players.

Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III sentenced Nifong, who has already been stripped of his law license and has resigned from office, to a single day in jail. He had faced as many as 30 days in jail and a fine as high as $500.

"If what I impose with regard to Mr. Nifong would make things better or different for what's already happened, I don't know what it would be or how I could do it," Smith said.

Reading his contempt decision from the bench minutes after the conclusion of two days of testimony, Smith said Nifong "willfully made false statements" to the court in September when he insisted he had given defense attorneys all results from a critical DNA test.

In fact, Smith found, Nifong had provided the defense with a report on the DNA testing that he knew to be incomplete. The omitted data contained test results showing that DNA of multiple men, none of whom were lacrosse players, was on a woman who said she was attacked at a March 2006 party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Nifong insisted Friday he didn't intentionally lie about whether he had turned over the DNA evidence. But he acknowledged the report he gave defense attorneys was incomplete."

Mr. Star-Struck continues to be disgraced, gets a slap on the wrist as a token gotcha, but the civil suits have yet to be heard from.

If ever there were an instance where our bloated ambulance chasers should let this asshat have it with both barrels, it is this case.

Not Too Early To...

Think about a cool 2008 calendar.

We Get Letters

"Comments...?"

HANDGUNS AND DEADLY FORCE

Any discussion involving the use of deadly force by law abiding civilians
with concealed firearms licenses is founded in the proposition that a
handgun is a defensive weapon.

There are large bore rifles that will easily kill a human being at 1000
yards (more than ½ a mile) when the person shot cannot under any fact
pattern rationally be averred to be a threat to the shooter. There are
shotguns that can literally cut a person in half or impact multiple targets
at greater ranges. There are assault weapons that will empty a 20-cartridge
rifle magazine in 3 seconds and spray an entire room with lethal,
high-velocity rounds. There are machine pistols that will fire 20- to
30-round magazines of 9mm or .45 ammunition in seconds and destroy
everything in sight. These are offensive weapons. The sole "raison d' etre"
is to kill, and their use involves an entirely different philosophical
analysis requiring a totally divergent conglomeration of answers.

Irrespective of the caliber of the cartridge for which the weapon is
chambered, the sole purpose of a handgun is to put an assailant on the
ground and to immediately stop the threat. Such use is generally confined to
short distances, as according to the FBI shooting statistics, something like
85% of the gunfights every year take place at 21 feet or less, and most are
at less. The average number of rounds fired by both sides is something like
3.8, almost never expending all of the cartridges in the cylinder or
magazine."

Sounds like someone with absolutely no knowledge of firearms doing the best he can to make it seem otherwise.

Anyone...who...thinks...that

"Shotguns can cut a man in half..." has lost all vestige of credibility and isn't getting it back anytime soon.

Everything else is pretty much an attempt to dazzle the un-knowledgeable by emphasizing the painfully obvious.

Sen. Larry Craig will announce resignation Saturday

Yes, the toe-tappin' wide striding, gimme some toiletry lovin' Senator is pulling the pin. No big loss for the good guys. A dead man could step in and get enough votes to become his successor in really-really-red Idaho.

Click here for the boring yellowstream media version.

South Koreans Apologize for Being Kidnapped in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — Newly freed South Korean church workers apologized Friday for causing trouble by being kidnapped for six weeks by the Taliban. One said she kept a secret diary of her ordeal on the lining of her trousers.

Suh Myung-hwa, 29, showed reporters a pair of white pants she wore during captivity, then apologized to both the pants and the reporters for all the fuss, but said she still remained at odds with the rear pockets and would under no circumstances apologize to them, nor her left shoe that continually poked fun at her predicament during the entire ordeal.

The Only Ones Performing Oral Sex On Passed Out Men Enough

Texas Police Chief Accused of Sexually Assaulting Male Employees

ALTON, Texas — The police chief in this South Texas town has been charged with two counts of sexual assault for allegedly violating male employees who were passed out at his home during parties.

Jose Luis Vela, 42, was being held in the Hidalgo County Jail on $200,000 bond after his Thursday arraignment on the two felony charges. The city has placed him on paid leave pending the outcome of the case.

"This is the first time I've ever heard of a chief of a police arrested for sexually assaulting his employees," said Sheriff Lupe Trevino, whose office started an investigation last week based on a tip from a friend of one of the alleged victims.

As he was led out of the courtroom Thursday, Vela denied the charges and said he did not know who his accusers were.

Investigators have accused Vela of performing oral sex on a male employee after the man passed out drunk at a party about a year ago at Vela's home in Mission, according to court documents.

Question For A Friday Afternoon...

How Many Smarmy Chinese "Fundraisers" Do The Clinton's Have To Be Associated With Before The Jurassic Press Revives Some Semblance Of Journalistic Integrity And Turns On Them Like One Of Michael Vick's Dogs

Dirty Donor Busted

Top fundraiser arrested on grand theft charge

"Norman Hsu, wanted as a fugitive in California, turns himself in to face 15-year-old charge; held on $2M bond."

A Near Miss

Iraqi Terrorists Fire on Plane Carrying U.S. Lawmakers

WASHINGTON — "A military cargo plane carrying three U.S. senators and a member of the House of Representatives had to take evasive maneuvers and dispatch flares Thursday night to avoid ground fire after taking off from Baghdad's airport.

The lawmakers said their plane, a C-130, was under fire from three rocket-propelled grenades over the course of several minutes as they left for Amman, Jordan.

"It was a scary moment," said Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, who said he had just taken off his body armor when he saw a bright flash outside the window. "Our pilots were terrific. ... They banked in one direction and then banked the other direction, and they set off the flares."

Two other Republican senators, Richard Shelby and James Inhofe, and Democratic Rep. Bud Cramer also were on the plane.

"We were jostled around pretty good," said Cramer, who estimated the plane had ascended to about 6,000 feet (1830 meters). "There were a few minutes there where I wondered: `Have we been hit? Are we OK?"'

Let-'Em-In Mel came closer to reality than he desired, I imagine. Only an insensitive man would say that it was too bad the terrorists had such poor aim.

Campus Carry On The Limbaugh Show...

So on Thursday I'm listening to Jason Lewis as he subs for Limbaugh, and a NJ resident calls in to speak about the Virginia Tech massacre. Lewis is postulating upon the ramifications of allowing concealed carry license holders to bear arms on campus, an idea that every last sane man alive should agree with, and the Jersey guy pipes up.

It's a father who lost a daughter to the korean-killer, and I swear the moment I heard the distinctive Joisey whine that passes for an accent I knew the man was going to poo-poo the idea, and I was not disappointed. As is typical of those from the Garden State, he references his familiarity with police officers, and their propensity to dislike the very idea of mere civilians carrying guns...even though most cops "are conservative"...and it hit me like a ton of bricks, just how totally out of touch people who live in communist controlled states really are.

Only police should carry guns. Only police can handle guns in an emergency, only police know what to do when the shit hits the fan.

Lewis was going out of his way in attempting to remain polite to the man, but his frustration was getting the better of him and rightfully so.

Things Lewis should have said:

Cops are not any better than the average joe frickin schmoe when it comes to defending themselves. If anything, the average armed civilian encounter with a bad guy is far less messy. Last I checked, police were batting .550 against armed assailants; out of every 100 chances, an officer wins an armed encounter 55 times, the bad guy comes out ahead 45 times. Many perps are killed or captured by the original officers' backup so it's not like 45 out of 100 goblins get off scot free, but it can be touch and go as to who wins the initial shootoff.

Civilians defend themselves EVERY day against armed gunmen. MORE civilians defend themselves every day against armed gunmen than do police officers. Stands to reason; far fewer cops are targeted for muggings, etc, but the idea that only the police are involved in deadly shootouts is typical of a cloistered Jersey-ite.

There are approximately 4 million law enforcement officers on duty in the US. There are approximately 4 million concealed carry licensees in the US. Of the two groups, which commits fewer crimes, fewer felonies, using a firearm? Which commit fewer crimes overall? Sure, I wouldn't be emphasizing it were the odds against us, so you know that we the people are less likely to run amok than the average officer, and thats sensible considering how more regulated we are, how more careful the government is in letting US have guns as opposed to the average cop who can have multiple offenses on his record before joining a police force. We also are bereft of the ONLY ONES mentality, and are far less likely to resort to unnecessary gunplay.

"Kids" of 18 years of age can't be trusted with guns, said the Jersey father. When Lewis tried responding that no, this is untrue since kids of that age use them every day while in military service, the father dismissed that as BS since "in the military they are monitored" and kept in check by older superiors. This is total nonsense as well, indicating that the father has never been in the military and hasn't a clue as to what happens when the shit hits the fan. It goes something like this; they train you, they give you your own weapon, when the lead flies you shoot back. No one, 18 years or 50 years of age sits around awaiting instructions to shoot when shooting is of the imperative. Yes, combat is and should be a disciplined affair, but once an engagement with the enemy begins all bets are off.

18 year-old kids can and do use guns every day. As many of us have noted, the average age of an infantry platoon in Iraq is younger than the average age of any college campus. Defending yourself is a right, a right that does begin at a relatively young age and lets use 18 as the entry-level mark and stop with the nonsense that only old folks should be trusted to fight back.

Jason Lewis DID have a lot of good things to say but isn't as close to the bottom line as we are, but thats to be expected. He agreed with most of our basic arguments against gun control, but still was a little hung up on a lot of this mandatory training deal. The Constitution says nothing about training, but thats a discussion for another day.

Basically, the Jersey father, a man who lost a daughter to the korean killer, mind you, was totally AGAINST letting students carry weapons on campus, because...yes...here's the liberal mindset at work once more...it'd be the Wild West all over again.

His child was murdered by a madman. She was herded into a no-gun, no-defense, zone, and butchered.

But the only way to stop that from every happening again, in his mind, is to ban guns.

And the guy actually considered himself a card-carrying Conservative Republican.

This is what we're up against.

The clueless amongst us.

The Yellowstream Media And All The News That's Fit To Spin

By Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President
National Rifle Association

“Thousands Wrongly Listed on Terror Watch List”—Newsday

“U.S. to Block Gun Buyers Tied To Terror”—New York Times

"Those two headlines tell the story of deep media duplicity.

When it comes to well-placed fears over widespread errors, civil liberties abuses and injustices involving tens of thousands of innocent Americans whose names have been indelibly added to huge federal “terror watchlists,” the mainstream media is on the job, on point. Their concern is well-founded.

Yet that concern evaporates when the Washington-based media enthusiastically reports those very same lists will be used to bar suspected “terrorists” from buying guns under legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). In their coverage of S. 1237, there is never a hint about deeply flawed, inaccurate lists, about the impossibility of ever getting off those lists or about the abuses by federal bureaucrats who manage the lists.

But in truth, Lautenberg’s bill is not centered on “no fly lists,” or “terror watch lists.” It’s far worse than that. Lautenberg’s S. 1237 isn’t about just “barring gun sales to terrorists.” It is about giving a future attorney general of the United States—think, a Hillary Clinton administration—power to declare anyone to be a “prohibited person” on a par with a convicted felon or fugitive from justice, all done in total secrecy.

The criteria for this edict—making continued gun ownership a federal felony—will be based upon some faceless bureaucrat deciding a person is “appropriately suspected” of some link to terror.

Easily, the worst part of this secret “star chamber” proposal to take away an individual’s Second Amendment rights through a top secret declaration is the language that makes it impossible for anyone to mount a defense.

“… any information which the Attorney General relied on for this determination may be withheld from the applicant if the Attorney General determines that disclosure of the information would likely compromise national security.”

You won’t see that actual language from the legislation quoted in the gun-ban national media. They don’t want the American people to know what this legislation really does.

And what it does is violate the Constitution of the United States—not just the Second Amendment.

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, in part, “No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law … .”

Yet this is exactly what Lautenberg and his gun ban axis would do.

Again, let me repeat what this legislation actually does.

Lautenberg’s S. 1237 gives the U.S. attorney general total discretionary power to make firearm possession or ammunition possession a felony for any individual American by a simple, secret stroke of the pen, with no due process whatsoever."

But seriously now, what DID you expect from a Lautenberg? The people who vote for him do not, among other things, believe in the right to keep and bear arms. If everyone did, then neither he or anyone else would dare to propose such legislation.

To beat the Lautenberg's we must first and foremost educate as many of the people as we can. And yes, I know that's the reason the liberals like their constituency to be chockerblock with under-educated serfs, but not ALL of their enablers are minorities who can be bought for a better seat on the gravy train.

There's hope and a lot of it, hell, even Texas finally passed a Castle Doctrine, but the fight is going to be tedious and lengthy. Even a mighty Redwood dies from the top down, and since we've not the manpower to simply uproot these hoodlums we must learn from nature and erode.

It's worked for THEM, time and time again.

Facing Reality...101

Time for New Orleans to Return or Replace Confiscated Firearms, Says SAF

Reality Check: It is NOT going to happen.

Yes. New Orleans is legally-bound to return or replace personal property stolen by the police.

No. New Orleans will NEVER return or replace any such thing. Democrats run the city, democrats run the state. Case closed. Fighting the good fight is admirable, but so is facing reality.

Virginia Tech Criticized for Actions in Shooting

Many citizens propose allowing students access to arms

Reality Check: It is NOT going to happen.

College campuses are run by liberal academics who fear guns more than death itself and will never, ever, permit the student body the means with which to defend itself. We SHOULD continue to visit this important issue and let our feelings be known, but nothing is going to change. To the contrary, the moment that korean misfit let off the first round, the 2nd Amendment was dead and buried on campus.

The only, and I do mean only way to change any of the above sins against man and nature, is to stop voting for liberals then persuade Conservative politicians to step in and return these purloined rights.

Sob, Sniff...They Made Me IT!!

Colo. School Bans Tag on Its Playground

Subtitled: Wankers Worry-Warting Wussifies Kids

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - "An elementary school has banned tag on its playground after some children complained they were harassed or chased against their will.

"It causes a lot of conflict on the playground," said Cindy Fesgen, assistant principal of the Discovery Canyon Campus school.

Running games are still allowed as long as students don't chase each other, she said.

Fesgen said two parents complained to her about the ban but most parents and children didn't object.

In 2005, two elementary schools in the nearby Falcon School District did away with tag and similar games in favor of alternatives with less physical contact. School officials said the move encouraged more students to play games and helped reduce playground squabbles."

As Colorado slowly sinks into the sunset, we bid adieu to the new Kalifornia and wish it unwell.

Hillary Among The Villains Thieves And Scoundrels

"What say you now, Hillary? Update: Hillary runs away from Hsu…Franken, other Dems follow"

By Michelle Malkin • August 29, 2007 08:31 AM

Update: Hillary unloads Hsu’s money, but not the stain…

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton will give to charity the $23,000 in donations she has received from a fundraiser who is wanted in California for failing to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge.

The decision came Wednesday as other Democrats began distancing themselves from Norman Hsu, whose legal encounters and links to other Democratic donors have drawn public scrutiny in the past two days.

Al Franken, a Senate candidate in Minnesota, Reps. Michael Honda and Doris Matsui of California and Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania said they would divest their campaigns of Hsu’s donations.

Now, no one expects politicians to know where every penny comes from, but you can bet the farm that Hillary knew full well where all of her china-cash originates. The Clinton's wrote the book on dirty-donations and where are her democrat opponents during all of this?

I'll tell you where.

They are frantically searching for the very same names on THEIR lists.

MQ-9 Reaper, Predator B UAV

On its way to kick some serious terrorist butt in sandboxes the world over.

The Healthy, Hale & Hearty "Poor" Folk

August 30, 2007 -- "THE Census Bureau announced Tuesday that 36.5 million Americans are "poor." Presidential candidate John Edwards claims these 36.5 million Americans "do not have enough money for the food, shelter and clothing they need." According to Edwards, poverty is an appalling national "plague" forcing "one in eight of us" to live in "terrible" circumstances.

But, if poverty means (as Edwards claims) a lack of nutritious food, adequate warm housing and clothing, then very few of the 36.5 million people identified as "poor" by Census are, in fact, poor.

Some material hardship does exist in America, but it is quite limited in severity and scope.

According to the government's own data, the typical person defined as "poor" by the Census has cable or satellite TV, air conditioning, a microwave, a DVD player or VCR, and two color TVs. Three quarters of these "poor" own a car and nearly a third have two or more cars.

By his own testimony, the typical "poor" person consistently has enough food to feed his family and enough money to meet all essential expenses such as mortgage, rent, utilities and important medical care. When asked, he reports that his family was able to obtain medical care whenever needed during the past year.

Government data show that 43 percent of all "poor" Americans actually own their own homes - typically, a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage and a porch or patio.

Only 6 percent of "poor" families are overcrowded. In fact, poor Americans living in houses or apartments, on average, have more living space per person that does the average citizen living in European countries such as England, France and Germany. (Note: this comparison is to the average European, not poor Europeans.)

As a group, America's poor are far from chronically undernourished. The average consumption of protein, vitamins and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Most poor children today are, in fact, super-nourished - growing up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier that the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II."

Okay then the loons have re-defined what poor is, but why are these unfortunate poor, well, EVEN poor?

"Much of the official poverty that does exist is self-inflicted, a result of poor decisions and self-defeating behaviors. Weak work ethic plays a big role in poverty: In good economic times or bad, the typical poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year - 16 hours per week.

If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year - the equivalent of one adult working 40 hours a week throughout the year - nearly 75 percent of poor children would be immediately lifted out of official poverty.

Father absence is another major cause of child poverty. Nearly two-thirds of poor children reside in single-parent homes. Another 1.5 million children are born out of wedlock each year. If poor single mothers married the fathers of their children, almost three-quarters would immediately be lifted out of poverty."

Fatherless families that don't like to work.

Sounding familiar?

Families living on government handouts are doing quite well thank you very much, but of course could be doing better if they decided to...gasp...WORK.

"While work and marriage are reliable ladders out of poverty, the welfare system remains perversely hostile to both. Despite welfare reform, major programs such as food stamps, public housing and Medicaid continue to reward idleness and penalize marriage. If welfare could be turned around to require work and encourage marriage, poverty among children would drop substantially.

Immigration also plays a major role in U.S. poverty. Each year, our nation imports hundreds of thousands of new poor persons. Porous borders encourage some 800,000 illegal aliens a year to enter the nation. And our legal immigration system strongly favors low-skill immigrants over higher-skill immigrants.

As a result, one quarter of all poor persons in the United States are now immigrants or their minor children. An amazing one in 10 of the poor counted by Census is either an illegal alien or the minor child of an illegal."

Good grief but I hadn't a clue that we were so RICH. Seriously. Discounting the blacks and spanish who detest work because liberals have pretty much told them to stay home, crank out the babies, and VOTE for handout upon handout, the country is in marvelous shape.

The key then to helping even our wealthy "poor" out of the doldrums is to get them working, marrying one another, and to swear off begging.

Kind of hard to do when you've been raised listening to liberals telling you how stupid and inadequate you are, and how you DESERVE everything you get for free, so the real way to bring even more prosperity to America is to do away with liberals.

The John Edward types. The mad dog politicians who do their absolute best to keep as many people as possible from succeeding, so as to have SOME political base from which to fleece the country. Black Americans and legal spanish-Americans have the same potential as anyone ever born. There are no inferior races, no genetically second-raters, only those brainwashed to believe that dispensing with dignity is preferable to becoming a productive member of society.

Who've learned this from slimebags who happen to be the worst discriminators the world has ever witnessed. At least Hitler had the decency to put HIS sub-humans out of their misery.

The new master-race breeds theirs like rabbits just to have playthings.

Fidel says Hillary & Barack would be 'invincible': Updated With Audio Transcript

WASHINGTON - Viva Hillary! Viva Barack!

"That's apparently the feeling of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who predicted in a newspaper column yesterday that a one-two punch of that duo, led by the New York senator, would easily land in the White House.

"Today, talk is about the seemingly invincible ticket that might be created with Hillary for President and Obama for vice president," Castro wrote in a piece about U.S. Presidents in the Communist Party paper, Granma.

While Castro seems to think the two would make a powerful combo, he wasn't all love and kisses for the Democratic front-runners, who have demanded greater democratic reforms in Cuba.

"Both of them feel the sacred duty of demanding 'a democratic government in Cuba,'" Castro wrote. "They are not making politics: They are playing a game of cards on a Sunday afternoon."

The dictator's remarks came at the end of a screed basically mocking the efforts of nine U.S. Presidents who failed to topple him. The only President he really seemed to like was Jimmy Carter, although he called Bill Clinton "kind" and "friendly."

Audio Transcript Accompanying Picture:

"Dear Diary,

Even though I have been dead for many months now, I do believe that I still look marvelous enough to turn many a young girls' head. Why, I remember when Raul and I were young and would chase the young women into the caves along the Havana beachfront and laugh and laugh as we buried them there. Our father found out about it and he said to me face to face and looking all serious like, he said, "Fidel, someday you will be a mass murderer and inhuman dictator!" Raul still kids with me about that because at the time I thought father meant dictation-taker, but it was Raul who was even more wrong than I as he believed father felt I would be a sissy boy as in dick-taker. Well, no harm done because alls well that ends well, no? But back to Hillary and Hussein; yes, indeed I feel that so ugly a woman stands a chance because the women of the US will flock to her in sympathy, hey listen, Oprah isn't exactly gorgeous if you take my drift, and Hussein is such a clean negro, is he not? Why, even my old comrade Joe Bend-Over-Biden thinks so too as he was the first one to mention it and this leads me to believe that he has seen Hussein from a kneeling-level-view and knows of what he speaks. Me? I've never liked uncircumcised men and any old queen with a beard will tell you why... "

I've been saying all along that Rodham and Hussein would draw the most loon votes possible, because one must learn to think like the enemy in order to kill it. Proof positive that they ARE the enemy resides in the words of the cubano commie, who also felt warm and cuddly with Mr. Peanut and Blowjob Willy.

Lefties stick together, and real people could learn a lot from that.

Ann Coulter Compares Berto G. To Mr. Janet Reno

"This week, congressional Democrats vowed to investigate Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' firing of himself. Gonzales has said he was not involved in the discussions about his firing and that it was "performance-based," but he couldn't recall the specifics.

Right-wingers like me never trusted Gonzales. But watching Hillary Rodham Clinton literally applaud the announcement of Gonzales' resignation on Monday was more than any human being should have to bear. Liberals' hysteria about Gonzales was surpassed only by their hysteria about his predecessor, John Ashcroft. (Also their hysteria about Bush, Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Libby, Rice, Barney and so on. They're very excitable, these Democrats.)

Liberals want to return the office to the glory years of Attorney General Janet Reno!

There is reason to believe Reno is precisely the sort of attorney general that Hillary would nominate, since Reno was widely assumed to be Hillary's pick at the time. As ABC News' Chris Bury reported the day Reno was confirmed: "The search for an attorney general exemplifies Hillary Clinton's circle of influence and its clout. ... The attorney general-designate, Janet Reno, came to the president's attention through Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham."

Let's compare attorneys general:

-- Civilians killed by Ashcroft: 0
-- Civilians killed by Gonzales: 0
-- Civilians killed by Reno: 80

Reno's military attack on a religious sect in Waco, Texas, led to the greatest number of citizens ever killed by the government in the history of the United States. More Americans were killed at Waco than were killed at any of the various markers on the left's via dolorosa -- more than Kent State (4 killed), more than the Haymarket Square rebellion (4 killed), more than Three Mile Island (0 killed).

-- Innocent people put in prison by Ashcroft: 0
-- Innocent people put in prison by Gonzales: 0
-- Innocent people put in prison by Reno: at least 1 that I know of

As Dade County (Fla.) state attorney, Janet Reno made a name for herself as one of the leading witch-hunters in the notorious "child molestation" cases from the '80s, when convictions of innocent Americans were won on the basis of heavily coached testimony from small children.

Charged by Reno's office in 1984 with child molestation, Grant Snowden was convicted on the manufactured testimony of one such child, who was 4 years old when the abuse allegedly occurred.

Snowden, the most decorated police officer in the history of the South Miami Police Department, was sentenced to five life terms -- and was imprisoned with people he had put there. Snowden served 11 years before his conviction was finally overturned by a federal court in an opinion that ridiculed the evidence against him and called his trial "fundamentally unfair."

In a massive criminal justice system, mistakes will be made from time to time. But Janet Reno put people like Snowden in prison not only for crimes that they didn't commit -- but also for crimes that never happened. Such was the soccer-mom-induced hysteria of the '80s, when innocent people were prosecuted for fantastical crimes concocted in therapists' offices.

-- Number of obvious civil rights violations ignored by Ashcroft: 0
-- Number of obvious civil rights violations ignored by Gonzales: 0
-- Number of obvious civil rights violations ignored by Reno: at least 1

On Aug. 19, 1991, rabbinical student Yankel Rosenbaum was stabbed to death in Crown Heights by a black racist mob shouting "Kill the Jew!" as retaliation for another Hasidic man killing a black child in a car accident hours earlier.

In a far clearer case of jury nullification than the first Rodney King verdict, a jury composed of nine blacks and three Puerto Ricans acquitted Lemrick Nelson Jr. of the murder -- despite the fact that the police found the bloody murder weapon in his pocket and Rosenbaum's blood on his clothes, and that Rosenbaum, as he lay dying, had identified Nelson as his assailant.

The Hasidic community immediately appealed to the attorney general for a federal civil rights prosecution of Nelson. Reno responded with utter mystification at the idea that anyone's civil rights had been violated.

Civil rights? Where do you get that?

Because they were chanting "Kill the Jew," Rosenbaum is a Jew, and they killed him.

Huh. That's a weird interpretation of "civil rights." It sounds a little harebrained to me, but I guess I could have someone look into it.

It took two years from Nelson's acquittal to get Reno to bring a civil rights case against him.

-- Number of innocent civilians accused of committing heinous crimes by Ashcroft: 0
-- Number of innocent civilians accused of committing heinous crimes by Gonzales: 0
-- Number of innocent civilians accused of committing heinous crimes by Reno: at least 1

Janet Reno presided over the leak of Richard Jewell's name to the media, implicating him in the Atlanta Olympic park bombing in 1996, for which she later apologized. I believe Reno also falsely accused the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez of violating the law, which I am not including in her record of false accusations, but reminds me of another comparison.

Number of 6-year-old boys deported to totalitarian dictatorships by Ashcroft: 0
Number of 6-year-old boys deported to totalitarian dictatorships by Gonzales: 0
Number of 6-year-old boys deported to totalitarian dictatorships by Reno: 1

Not until Bush became president was the media interested in discussing the shortcomings of the attorney general. Whatever flaws Alberto Gonzales has (John Ashcroft has none), we don't have to go back to the Harding administration to find a worse attorney general.

From the phony child abuse cases of the '80s to the military assault on Americans at Waco, Janet Reno presided over the most egregious attacks on Americans' basic liberties since the Salem witch trials. These outrageous deprivations of life and liberty were not the work of fanatical right-wing prosecutors, but liberals like Janet Reno.

Reno is the sort of wild-eyed zealot trampling on real civil rights that Hillary views as an ideal attorney general, unlike that brute Alberto Gonzales. At least Reno didn't fire any U.S. attorneys!

Oh wait --

Number of U.S. attorneys fired by Ashcroft: 0
Number of U.S. attorneys fired by Gonzales: 8
Number of U.S. attorneys fired by Reno: 93

In a previous post I happened to mention the late Richard Jewell being railroaded by Mr. Janet Reno before reading Ann's column this week, and am pleased to see that she remembered THAT travesty as well as the other Reno horror shows.

And...lets not forget that Mr. Janet Reno murdered more people than the korean-killer at Virginia Tech. Which does make a strong case for gun control.

For incompetent Feds, that is.

Bush Tours Gulf Coast Cities, Offers Encouraging Words

Happy Second Anniversary, New Orleans

"Two years to the day after Hurricane Katrina landed its deadly blow on the Gulf Coast, President Bush toured the region Wednesday pointing to successes and offering encouraging words in New Orleans and Bay St. Louis, Miss."

And still afloat. Damn. I've been hoping all along that this disease ridden excuse for a city and the lice disguised as its citizens would just sink and be done with it. A democrat mayor sharing the spoils with a democrat governor, and but of course the loons blame the federal government for not giving even MORE of OUR money to these lowlifes.

The Only Ones Having Sex On The Job Enough...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — "Five police officers and another police employee could lose their jobs after being accused of having sex with a female dispatcher at police headquarters, The Grand Rapids Press reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed person close to the investigation.

City Manager Kurt Kimball on Tuesday confirmed to The Associated Press he had suspended some workers without pay and ordered a discharge hearing for them at the recommendation of outgoing police Chief Harry Dolan. The workers last week had been suspended with pay.

Kimball would not say why the employees were being disciplined, only that there was an investigation.

No date was set for the discharge hearing but it typically takes about two weeks to arrange for one, Kimball said.

He declined to confirm the number of affected employees. The city's labor relations manager, George Childers, earlier said four to six employees from the police department had been placed on leave.

David Leonard, president of the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association, said the five police officers being disciplined will fight Dolan's plan to fire them. The union does not represent the sixth suspended employee.

"I do think the action they've taken is too severe," Leonard told the newspaper Tuesday. "I don't believe this is minor; there should be discipline. But this is a rule violation that does not rise to the level of termination."

Nah, let 'em slide, eh Davey? Anywhere else you get caught having sex at work, and poof, you're history, but these are, after all, ONLY ONES we're talking about, so THEY should get SPECIAL treatment.

I'd really and truly like to know the exact moment in time when law enforcement came to the conclusion it was above the law, and better than you and me. Because I think it must have been something akin to an epiphany, some bolt out of the blue or message from above that turned law abiding cops into little Hitler scumbags. Maybe even some Andromeda-Strain virus heretofore unknown that infects such men and removes all shreds of common decency. Might even be the same one that liberals catch because there's sure a lot of it going around.

Do You Know This Boy...

Oklahoma Cops Try to ID Boy Abandoned at Wal-Mart by Fleeing Shoplifter

OKLAHOMA CITY — "Authorities are trying to identify a young boy left inside a store by a suspected shoplifter who fled the store when confronted by a store security officer, police said Wednesday.

The boy, who is about 2 or 3 years old, is apparently unable to identify himself, and no one has reported him missing, Sgt. Gary Knight said.

The boy has been in Department of Human Services custody since Friday, when he was left inside the Wal-Mart store on west Reno.

A man was pushing a shopping cart with the boy in it when security personnel spotted the man shoplifting and confronted him, Knight said. The man then fled the store, leaving the boy behind."

I hope they don't find the kids parents but set him up with a loving foster home instead.

Every man should grow up with his own blood, but in this case the kid is better off ANYWHERE else.

Richard Jewell, Wrongly Accused in Atlanta Olympics Bombing, Dead at 44

ATLANTA — "Richard Jewell, the former security guard who was erroneously linked to the 1996 Olympic bombing, died Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

Jewell, 44, was found dead in his west Georgia home, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said.

Jewell was initially hailed as a hero for spotting a suspicious backpack in a park and moving people out of harm's way just before a bomb exploded during a concert at the Atlanta Summer Olympics.

The blast killed one and injured 111 others.

Three days after the bombing, an unattributed report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described him as "the focus" of the investigation.

Other media, to varying degrees, also linked Jewell to the investigation. He was never arrested or charged, although he was questioned and was a subject of search warrants.

The media circus that followed the FBI investigation obscured the fact that Jewell saved the lives of many members of the technical staff working on live TV coverage of the Olympics.

“Richard ran all the way up and down the four stories of the tower and evacuated everybody, it must have been between 40 and 50 people. Seconds later the thing exploded,” said Bruce Rodgers, president of Tribe Inc and designer of the AT&T Global Village, where the explosion happened."

For those too young or disinclined to remember, Richard Jewell was on Mr. Janet Reno's hit list, and anything she says to the contrary is absolute bull. She figured they'd landed themselves a "gun-nut" who wanted to give the government black eye while acting the hero, and leak after leak pointed to him as a suspect, the ONLY suspect.

Fact of the matter is, Richard saved dozens of lives that day, but the Feds believed he fit snugly into one of their bogus profiles and the Clinton-loving media lit into him like white on rice.

You done good, Richard. A grateful nation thanks you for your dedication and heroism.

France's Sarkozy raises prospect of Iran airstrikes

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday a diplomatic push by the world's powers to rein in Tehran's nuclear program was the only alternative to "an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran."

Sarkozy said a nuclear-armed Iran would be unacceptable and that major powers should continue their policy of incrementally increasing sanctions against Tehran while being open to talks if Iran suspended nuclear activities.

"This initiative is the only one that can enable us to escape an alternative that I say is catastrophic: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran," he said, adding that it was the worst crisis currently facing the world.

"Not all of this is doom and gloom," Sarkozy went on to add, "Everyone is painfully aware of the shortage of parking spaces throughout the entire middle east, and we could kill two birds with one stone by employing precision air strikes..."

Pictured: Artist's conception of what most of Iran would resemble should military actions become necessary to thwart Iranian nuclear weapon production.

And The First Loon To Cast Stones Is...

Mike Lupica

Another sorry display of vice for the party of virtue.

Sports columinst, Lil Mikey Lupica. One of the first ones to defend William Jefferson Clinton, and a leader in the don't-ask-don't-tell line of reasoning when discussing Democrat foibles, Mikey is nonetheless proud as punch to jump to conclusions when a Republican gets in a scrape.

South Dallas rallies to stress gun control

DALLAS — "Carrying pictures of shooting victims and chanting, "We must stop the violence," about 60 people marched through the streets of South Dallas on Tuesday, calling for stricter gun control laws and a crackdown on illegal weapons sales.

Lamont Levels, 30, was among the marchers, wearing a patch after a shooting blinded him in one eye. He marched with his wife right past the location where he was shot six years ago.

“We have to be activists today,” he said. “To get attention so we can reach the kids and stop the violence.”

The Dallas rally was one of 22 nationwide organized jointly by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Jesse Jackson, leader of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, came up with the idea after a spate of violence in Chicago this year.

“Texas is a pretty big gun state,” said Francis Cook, a Texas-based spokesman for Rainbow/PUSH. “I’m a hunter. I know a lot of hunters. Nobody hunts with an assault rifle.”

I really should let Texans fisk this one. Seriously. I'm biting my tongue but fair is fair. So I won't say that "assault rifles" are NOT used in criminal activity and by the way, how many members of law enforcement were marching or supporting the anti's and stuff like that...

PS: Man, here I thought the dudes eye injury happened months (nearly 8) ago and he's STILL wearing bandages?

'Spider-man' suit secret revealed

A "Spider-man" suit that enables its wearer to scale vertical walls like the comic and movie superhero could one day be a reality, according to a study.

Natural technology used by spiders and geckos could help a human climb the side of a building or hang upside down from a roof, the analysis suggests.

Professor Pugno also outlined three properties which a real Spiderman suit must demonstrate.

Firstly, and most obviously, it must be able to demonstrate strong adhesive properties. Secondly, the suit must be able to detach easily from a surface after it has stuck. Thirdly, the suit must, to some degree, be able to clean itself.

The latter requirement is considered important because dirt particles could get in the way, interfering with the adhesive properties of the suit.

One way to do it is to make the suit "superhydrophobic", so that it strongly repels water. As water droplets are forced away from the contact areas of the outfit, they should wash away particles of dirt.

This property could be achieved simply by altering the geometrical properties, or topology, of the surface.

"To have all these mechanisms working together is difficult, because they are in competition with one another," Professor Pugno told the BBC News website.

"But geckos and spiders provide a natural demonstration that this can be done."

He added that there were many interesting applications for adhesive suits, in areas ranging from space exploration to defence. The work could also aid the design of gloves and shoes for window cleaners working on tall skyscrapers.

But human muscles are very different to those of geckos, so people would probably suffer from muscle fatigue if they tried to stick to a wall for many hours."

Oh drat it all. So this means the whole story was nothing but the typical Brit...If things were different then things could be different...propensity to misunderstand the separation between science fiction and science fantasy.

No. I'm not explaining it to them. They'd feel terribly stupid for not picking up on it for themselves, and besides...

If they came to grips with reality we'd have no one to laugh at.

US troops 'won't attend inquests'

"The US will continue to refuse requests for its personnel to appear at inquests into the "friendly fire" deaths of British troops, a report says.

The MoD has sent written guidance to coroners across England and Wales over the holding of military inquests.

According to the Times, its letter says the US "confirms categorically" it will not provide witnesses for inquests.

It comes six days after three British soldiers were killed by US "friendly fire" in southern Afghanistan.

The Times reports that the letter to coroners states: "The US have confirmed categorically that they will not provide witnesses to attend UK inquests.

"While coroners may continue to ask for US witnesses to attend... they should be aware that there will in all cases be a refusal."

Fighter planes

The three soldiers who died on Thursday were Privates Aaron McClure and Robert Foster, both 19, and John Thrumble, 21, of the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.

They had been on patrol in Helmand province when US fighter planes dropped a 500lb bomb, killing them and injuring two other soldiers. The US State Department is investigating the deaths.

In March, Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner Andrew Walker was critical of the failure of the US authorities to co-operate at the inquest of Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull.

L/Cpl Hull, 25, died when a US pilot fired on his convoy in Iraq in 2003. No American witnesses gave evidence at the inquest.

The coroner said at the time: "I find the decision of the US authorities not to allow the relevant persons to attend to give evidence, or to themselves provide full transcripts of questions those people were asked during the Friendly Fire Investigation Board, hard to understand."

Nah, not at all hard to understand, Lord Coroner, not at all. The men in question were killed by military ordnance. Regrettably. For one, you wouldn't understand one blithering bit of what they were talking about, and for another this is the type of information that is quite sensitive and needn't fall into the wrong hands, as operational stratagems and performance capabilities of various weapons systems are not something one parades about whenever an amateur thinks he's a need to know.

You do not. We don't send our military people to international inquests, but suffice to say our people are working feverishly with your people to see that this does not happen very often. Can't say it won't happen ever again, because in war these horrible circumstances rear their ugly heads at the behest of Mr. Murphy, and he sir, is not someone that ANYONE can reason with.

More Guns, Not Less, Would Prevent Shooting Massacres: Says John Lott

Now I know this is long and you don't like long but give it a chance...

"Few tragedies make their victims feel more helpless than multiple-victim shootings.

Imagine the terror: Unable to escape, simply waiting for the killer.

With school starting, the April 16 attack at Virginia Tech that left 32 dead is still on many people’s minds. Some are looking for guarantees that such an attack won’t happen again.

But Virginia Tech’s just released report on how to stop future tragedies was pretty disappointing, and this coming week’s Virginia Governor’s task force report isn’t likely to be any better. The university proposes more counseling for mentally troubled students, internet based billboards to alert students of emergencies, putting both the police and fire departments into the same building to allow better coordination, more surveillance cameras, and locks that make it easier for students to get out of buildings.

Well, more cameras might help get campus police to the scene faster, but let’s hope that the next attacker doesn’t commit the attack where there are no cameras or that he doesn’t disable them first. Assuming that the doors to buildings are merely locked as they normally would be--and that the assailant has not blocked them or tied them shut with a chain-- easy to open locks could help.

If a current student is planning the next attack, gets identified as having mental problems and has treatment, and that the treatment is successful, more mental health resources could be helpful.

But one glaring omission remains: The report failed to ask whether there were any common features or similarities among the different multiple-victim public shooting tragedies. And what happens if these policies fail? Should there be some ultimate protection upon which the university can rely?

Of course, these horrors are hardly unique to the United States. In 1996, Martin Bryant killed 35 people at Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia. In the last half-dozen years, European countries-- including France, Germany and Switzerland-- have experienced multiple-victim shootings.

The worst, in Germany, resulted in 17 deaths; in Switzerland, one attack claimed the lives of 14 regional legislators. Of course, since 1997 there have been multiple attacks in the U.S., with the 13 dead at Columbine.

Prior to Virginia Tech, the two previous most deadly shootings in the U.S. were the 1991 Luby's Cafeteria massacre in Texas, which left 23 people dead, and the shooting at a California McDonald's in 1984, in which 21 people were killed.

All these attacks shared something in common: citizens were already banned from having guns in those areas. Indeed, every multiple-victim public shooting of any significant size in the United States has occurred in one of these gun-free zones.

The problem with gun-control laws is not that there isn't enough regulation, rather that it is primarily the law-abiding, not the criminals, who obey these laws.

Virginia Tech has rigorously enforced its gun-free zone policy and suspended students with concealed handgun permits who have tried to bring handguns onto school property, and it will continue to do so. Imagine what this means for a faculty member fired for bringing even a permitted concealed handgun on campus. It would be impossible for them to get another academic job at any other university. Similarly, a student who gets expelled for a firearms violation will find it virtually impossible to get admitted to another school.

But whether it is the suspensions and expulsions at universities, or even the three-year prison terms that can await those who take guns onto property of K-12 schools in most states, these penalties are completely meaningless for someone intent on killing and facing multiple life sentences or death penalties.

But citizens and police who pack heat do help, because they can stop a shooting while it is happening. Amazingly, opposition to guns on campuses is so extreme that some even oppose police being able to carry guns."

Not so amazing at all, John. Not to those who despise and are fearful of inanimate objects, and therefore wouldn't be allowed to own guns because they are clearly mentally unbalanced, so perhaps thats why they hate them to begin with.

Caliber envy. Since THEY can't have any neither should we.

Love Triangle Astronaut Lisa Nowak to Pursue Insanity Defense

"Documents made public Tuesday show that former astronaut Lisa Nowak is pursuing an insanity defense on charges that she assaulted and tried to kidnap a romantic rival.

Attorneys for Lisa Marie Nowak have filed a notice with the court that Nowak intends to use an insanity defense at trial. This notice does not challenge competence to stand trial, but only raises insanity at the time of the offense.

The circuit court judge in the case unsealed Nowak's notice of intent to rely on a mental health defense Tuesday. Florida law requires such a notice before trial to let prosecutors prepare.

Nowak, a 44-year-old mother of three who has been dismissed by NASA, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault in a February confrontation with fellow astronaut Colleen Shipman in an Orlando International Airport parking lot."

It seems obvious that the woman is as crazy as your garden variety loon, so I fully expect a reasonable amount of clemency. Not because she "attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault in a February confrontation with fellow astronaut Colleen Shipman in an Orlando International Airport parking lot", but because she worked for an outfit that made a space vehicle whose only purpose was to dock with a space station whose only purpose was to be docked to that space vehicle.

If spending hundreds of billions of dollars to do nothing we can't do on earth, or lots cheaper, isn't crazy than nothing is.

On Second Thought, File THIS ONE First...

Pennsylvania Man Charged With Abusing Corpse in Coffin

"A Pennsylvania man was charged with abuse of a corpse and burglary after a funeral parlor director discovered him tampering with a female body being prepared for burial, WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh reported Monday.

The man, Roderick Jones, allegedly broke into Draper Funeral Home in Monessen, Pa., on July 13 while the owner, Johnny Draper, was across the street speaking with friends. When Draper noticed a light on in the basement of the funeral home, he returned to find Roderick in the basement lying next to the casket, attempting to hide, WTAE reported.

Roderick reportedly had removed the dead woman's stockings, ripped open the plastc (sic) covering the body, and was holding one of the corpse's legs in the air."

He was lying next to the casket, hiding, yet holding one of the corpse's legs in the air? Did he chop off the leg? Do the "journalists" writing these stories ask themselves, at all, if what they are saying makes a lick of sense? Ya think?

File This Under Something You Don't See Every Day,...

Suspected Drunken Driver Leaves Accident Scene With Dead Body in Window

PERRIS, Calif. — "A suspected drunken driver crashed with a motorcycle and then left the scene, unknowingly driving away with the motorcyclist's dead body lodged in the rear window of his car, investigators said.

Tony Martinez, 54, pulled out of a parking lot Saturday night and cut off motorcyclist Nicholas Justin Campbell, who was traveling about 80 mph, California Highway Patrol spokesman Ron Thatcher said.

The motorcyle crashed into the car and Campbell was thrown through the rear window, Thatcher said. Martinez then drove away and realized when he got home that the motorcyclist was in his car, Thatcher said.

Martinez then drove to a Riverside County fire station where 20-year-old Campbell was declared dead, according to the coroner's office.

Martinez was arrested and booked for investigation of gross vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run and driving under the influence. Bail was set at $75,000."

The motorcyclist was doing 80? Outside of "a parking lot"? Where WAS this parking lot, anyway? The Indy 500?

George Lets Loose With Both Barrels...

RENO, Nev. — "President Bush warned on Tuesday that Iran is plotting to extend its "murderous" influence over Iraq and is threatening to destabilize the Middle East under a "shadow of a nuclear holocaust."

Iran, Bush said, "is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. Iran backs Hezbollah, who are trying to undermine the democratic government of Lebanon. Iran funds terrorist groups like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which murder the innocent and target Israel and destabilize the Palestinian territories."

Under normal circumstances this would be worthy of a no-shit-Sherlock, but since it's coming from the leader of the free world perhaps some fence-sitting, do-nothing, can't-be-bothered detweillers will sit up and take notice.

I'm beginning to believe that George is preparing a farewell party for himself that includes an adios to Iran.

One can only hope.

BUY AMMO DAY FOR ME...

The Buy Ammo Day was difficult for me because I buy ammo so often it wouldn't be any big deal. So I scored some Federal HST and waited until today to pick it up. And yeah, it's a sucky blurry picture but it's the thought that counts today, particularly when I haven't the time to fuss with a balky camera.

I also picked up some various 12 gauge shotshells and slugs but was going to do that anyway, and took home some nuke-loaded .357 cartridges that a buddy made special.

PS: None of the local Fudd-Shops thought it wise to participate because, after all, it's not like the NRA sanctioned such a day, ya know.

This means that from now on I purchase ALL of my guns & ammo via the mail, or from private sellers, unless I happen to stumble upon someone who gave a rats pitute.

TODAY IS NATIONAL AMMO DAY

Buy some. Buy lots of some.

Eyes Wide Stupid Tuesday: Weeping For Gonzo

GONZO GOES - 'MOB' WINS

by Rich Lowry

"ALBERTO Gonzales's tenure as attorney general, and now his departure, represent a triumph for what departing White House adviser Karl Rove calls "the mob" - the howling mass of Democratic members of Congress, bloggers and media commentators who despise all things Bush.

The mob doesn't win only when it chases a target from office. It also scores a subtle victory when it forces the administration to keep in office an ineffectual or politically wounded official to demonstrate that it won't get pushed around by its frenzied detractors. Thus, Gonzales remained attorney general long after everyone but President Bush had decided that he was ill-suited for the job. The administration suffered months of unnecessary embarrassment as it stuck by Gonzales on the theory that giving in to the mob would be worse - only to see Gonzales resign anyway."

Part and parcel of succeeding in politics is...drumroll please...being a politician.

Duh. X Infinity.

Alberto was not a good speaker. Matter of fact, Alberto was a halting, skittish, clumsy speaker. Safe to say that Alberto came across as the worst Attorney General in recent memory, due in large part to his total inability to communicate even the simplest of things without coming across like a whingy little hall monitor trying to explain to the principal how it was he let the jocks give him an atomic wedgie for the umpteenth time.

Politics is a down and dirty game played by down and dirty street fighters, so for Rich Lowry to suddenly discover this fact of life is more the story than an incompetent lawyer coming to the conclusion that he's better at ambulance chasing than stammering to Congress so its high time to scoot back home and rake in the big bucks what with that boffo new resume and all.

The sooner Republicans learn how to fight back the sooner kids like Lowry will understand what life in the big city is all about and get down to the brass tacks of booting the loons out. Yes, the enemy is ruthless. No, you don't beat him by whining about it.

Miss. Ranked Fattest State in Nation

Experts say Mississippians need to skip the gravy, say no to the fried pickles and start taking brisk walks to fight an epidemic of obesity.

According to a new study, this Deep South state is the fattest in the nation. The Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention, says Mississippi is the first state where more than 30 percent of adults are considered obese.

Aside from making Mississippi the butt of late-night talk show jokes, the obesity epidemic has serious implications for public policy.

"We've got a long way to go. We love fried chicken and fried anything and all the grease and fatback we can get in Mississippi," said Democratic state Rep. Steve Holland, chairman of the Public Health Committee.

Poverty and obesity often go hand in hand, doctors say, because poor families stretch their budgets by buying cheaper, processed foods that have higher fat content and lower nutritional value..."

Absolute, abject, beyond a shadow of a doubt bullswaddle.

For those of you too young to remember when Mississippi or Arkansas or Sioux City Iowa for that matter was home to thin as rail, poor as dirt folks, then have a look at any picture or film taken before the 1960's. Fact of the matter is KFC and triple-pepperoni pizza and their like are relatively expensive foods and not what poor people could afford before the liberal food-for-free and you don't ever have to work for anything government programs began creating waddlers by the thousands, and sorry to be offensive to those who detest reality, but black and spanish women lead the way and not by a nose but a considerable butt cheek.

Beer bellied tailgater's? Wasn't any such a thing until the ESPN's of the world began featuring video of over-indulgers before, during, and after games...double-fisted beer swillers screaming obscenities at the field while splashing brewskie on someone else's kids, so sure, there certainly ARE fat ass white men typically referred to as white trash but way back when they'd hide all that lard at home and not advertise how special it was to be on the TV braying like a jackass.

Obesity is a modern, affluent affliction. Truly poor people are not fat. Check out the homeless and get back to me on how many lardasses are living under bridges in your town. Poor taste and free food is what makes people fat. Exercise? Count how many black or spanish you see jogging along the highways and byways, but thats another story that the liberals haven't quite yet figured out how to blame on all the poverty afflicting the nation.

One of the interesting quirks in moving to a state like Florida, is the relative absence of chubs, and thats simply because folks wear a lot less clothing in these parts and take a lot more pride in how they look. And by "folks" I do mean but of course white anglo-saxon'ish types because yep, the minorities are as obese here as everywhere else in the country, and could not care less about their appearance. Reality sucks but its all we've got, so spare us all the cries of racism and why not expend the energy trying to get the porkers interested in a self-esteem that goes beyond 6" brightly colored nails at $200 a pop and bi-weekly trips to the "beauty" parlors to keep that hair looking like a UFO landed above the ear-line for about the same bucks, that, by the way, we're paying for as well.

The Ill-Annoy Bill Of "Rights"

SECTION 22. RIGHT TO ARMS
Subject only to the police power,the
right of the individual citizen to
keep and bear arms
shall not be
infringed.

(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

Now, I'm a simple man, so someone please tell me how a RIGHT
can be subject to something so nebulously defined as police-power...

Thanks, TJH.

Report: Alleged Iowa City Groper Strikes for 27th Time

An assailant who sneaks up behind women and gropes them before fleeing may be on the loose in Iowa City, Iowa, where a sexual assault against a woman early Friday marked the 27th such attack in the city in the past 12 months, the Daily Iowan reported Monday.

Iowa City Police Sgt. Troy Kelsay acknowledged similarities in the assaults, during which the alleged attacker approaches the victim from behind, pushes her down and gropes her, the Iowan reported. According to the report, the attacks have all occurred in the same parts of the city in the early morning hours, and authorities confirmed that there could be a connection between the assaults.

Pictured: Artist sketch of Iowa City Groper as taken from detailed eye-witness accounts.

U.S. sponsors Islamic convention

The Justice Department is co-sponsoring a convention held by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) — an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing federal terrorist funding case — a move that is raising concerns among the Justice's rank and file.

Justice lawyers have objected to the affiliation with ISNA, fearing it will undermine the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in Dallas.

However, the Justice Department responded by saying that the co-sponsorship was necessary in this day and age of multi-culture enlightenment, and that for the fun-and-games section of the convention, Beheading Booths instead of Dunking Tanks would be optional.

Korean Killer The Weak, Silent, Type...

Blacksburg, Va. — "The Virginia Tech student who killed 32 people and himself on campus in April had been treated in high school for a mental disorder that left him unable to speak in public, but the university was never told about the condition, according to newspaper reports.

A Fairfax County school had developed a detailed special education plan that excused Seung-Hui Cho from class participation to ease his fears so he might begin to talk more openly, The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing an anonymous source.

The disorder, called selective mutism, could explain why Cho was a loner during his four years at Tech, remaining a mystery even to his roommates. Professors have said he would not answer when called on in class."

For the love of Pete everything is a "disorder" nowadays. Back when, some kid would clam up when it was his turn to speak in front of a class he was simply called shy...or if in Catholic School severely beaten until finding that recalcitrant voice...but today it's its very own disease with a fancy name.

They should label all of these make-believe disorders "selective big-buck's'ism" and be done with it and honest all at once.

Federal HST in .45 ACP

Federal's HST in +P is kicking out at 950 fps from a 5" barrel, and folks who know this stuff tell me that Glock 21's are spanking these bad boys to the tune of close to 1000, and this excites me to the point I almost want to switch carry platforms and loads.

Yes I am easily excitable when it comes to firearms. Especially self defense guns that are a matter of life and death as opposed to taking down that trophy Buck.

It's just that I've invested so much effort in the .40 S&W it'd be a pain to change, and I still like that caliber quite a lot.

Really hard to see where one could go wrong with either.

Idiots With Guns...Part 4,564,387

Gunman Almost Takes Out Cameraman - Watch more free videos

Thanks to Bah_humbug

Eyes Wide Stupid

Ahab has the goods on anti-gunner Laura Washington's latest insane rant.

Berto We Hardly Knew Ye

Alberto Gonzales Resigns

Everyone is featuring something about old Bert pulling the pin, and suffice to say that he was a good and decent man doing work several paygrades above his capabilities. George handsomely rewarded his old friends and I admire that in a man, but sweet moses on a pogo Gonzales was one hemming, hawing, stuttering detweiller who never should have been made Attorney General to begin with. If the President plays his cards right he doesn't even have to put someone else through a confirmation hearing but can appoint someone to the position on a temporary basis, then go looking for a full time Attorney General and drag the process out for pretty much as long as he wants over the next 16 months or thereabouts.

Tell you this much, I'd want no friend of mine going through what the democraps would throw at him, and if George is smart he won't subject yet another patriotic American to the vitriol from the mudslinging apes in Congress.

And by the way, George, it wouldn't hurt to find someone in the interim who is 2nd Amendment FRIENDLY. Gonzales screwed the pooch so often I honestly don't know WHAT his position was but it sure sounded snarky.

Yeah. I wasn't as down on the little guy as most, but I figure anyone the democrats hate must have SOME good in him.

HOW MARINES PULLED FALLUJAH OUT OF HELL

by Ralph Peters

FALLUJAH, Iraq - "Fallujah and the Marines have some history. In 2004, one savage battle ended when the Marines were pulled out for political reasons. Later that year, they had to finish the job.

And they did. They took down the terrorists' stronghold in a week of fury.

With a fundamentalist tradition, Fallujah seemed to fit al Qaeda perfectly. Robbed of their Saddam-era privileges and out for revenge, even secular locals had aligned with the terrorists. Despite the Marine victory, violence simmered on.

The extremists and insurgents believed they could wear America down. But between 2004 and 2007, two things happened: We wore them down - and al Qaeda wore them out.

With foreign fanatics butchering the innocent and enforcing prison-yard "Islamic laws" that far exceeded the Koran's demands, it belatedly dawned on the insurgents that, while we intended to leave eventually - on our own terms - al Qaeda meant to stay.

A wave of suicide bombings earlier this year, culminating in a massive attack on a funeral procession, made the population snap. The people of Fallujah may never love us, but they hate al Qaeda with the rage of a betrayed lover.

Since May, the change has been stunning. When the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines were last in Fallujah, in 2006, they took casualties from snipers and roadside bombs. The city was violent, bankrupt and partly in ruins.

Now the battalion's back. And welcome. Marines banter with the locals where, six months ago, it was risky to ride in an armored vehicle.

...And the locals are out in front of us in the fight against al Qaeda. Which is a big thing.

I was in the city during one of the last phases of Operation Alljah, which has been bringing the rule of law back to the city's precincts, one by one. In the hours of darkness, Marine engineers swept in and blocked the roads in and out of one of the last un-purged districts with Jersey barriers. The police moved in to bust suspected terrorists and kick out hoodlums who don't have local roots.

In a "swarm," identification cards are provided to all, beginning with the local movers and shakers. Volunteers are vetted to join the police or armed neighborhood-watch groups. And revitalization programs go into gear.

Capt. Mason Harlow, the Fox Company commander, was wounded by shrapnel two years ago. In Fallujah. Now he's back, overseeing the Hadari District and two others. His Marines haven't been attacked for months. And his former enemies are doing his work for him.

Capt. Harlow didn't think he'd live to see the day."

All that needed to be done was to give our guys the okay to do what they do best. It took a lot of political courage to expose US fighting men to the potential slings and arrows from the likes of a Murtha, and he did his best to portray Marines as bloodthirsty killers.

But the worm has at long last turned. Its good to see Ralph in the sandbox, and I'm wondering when Murtha, Pelosi, RodHam, et al will be taking a trip of their own to report upon what's really happening.

Yeah, I'm joking.

We Get Letters

"Have you had any successes from trying Corbon's DPX cartridges, the ones made of all copper...?"

It WAS on my list of rounds to give a look-see until I did some checking, including an email to Corbon.

I wanted a DPX in .357 magnum, noticed that their 125 grainer was only kicking up 1300 fps full of giddyup and asked to know why.

Background first; for years I've used hand loads and Double Tap .357's that took a 125 grain bullet to 1600 fps or thereabouts and lets face it, if I want a slow moving .357 why the hell not just go down another small notch to a +P .38 in Winchester Ranger T and be done with it. The single feature that makes the 357 the manstopper it is, happens to be the velocity so cranking back didn't make much sense.

Corbon pretty much said that anything over the 1300 fps mark for THAT bullet was overkill and could result in unintentional fragmentation of the round, so for me, adios to DPX. Personally, I believe that they...world renowned for hot ammo...simply felt that the recoil from a hotter round would be a product-killer and went with the me-too, gotta-have-it copper bullet that's all the rage but kept it manageable for the occasional shooter.

Let them load it to 1500 fps and I'll take the stuff out deep into the swamp and come back with a good feel for what DPX type rounds can do in the real world, but there's no way I'm packing 357 heat with a slow cartridge as my go-to sidearm.

Corbon .357 Magnum DPX. Approximately $25 per 20 rounds. Pictured: Corbon DPX in .40 S&W because I don't have a shot of their .357's.

Anti-Gunner Jodie Foster Loads Up In New Flick

So okay we purchased the DVD of "300" the other day, and one of the previews featured the new Jodie Foster movie due out September 15, in which she portrays a female Charles Bronson in a distaff oriented Death Wish. Entitled "The Brave One", Jodie is on a rampage after her fiance...the dude who plays the Iraqi in "Lost"...is killed during a mugging.

The preview looked awful, laden with gun cliche heaped upon gun cliche, and here's an old quote from Jodie herself on the matter of firearms in civilian hands, and the reason I shan't be spending any of my money to see this anti "act" in anything.

“Isn’t it possible that we all have that bit of insanity in us? That’s why I’m for gun control. Absolutely. I don’t believe that people should have access to life-or-death situations at any emotional time in their life. I don’t really believe that a human being who feels should have the option at their fingertips.”

Alls Not Well In Ill-Annoy

Residents Fear Their Guns May Be Taken Away

(URBANA)---"Some people in Champaign County are afraid their guns will be taken away. That's why pro-gun advocates are trying to get a resolution passed that would promise the 2nd amendment would be protected. People say they feel Chicago and Cook County is trying to run the rest of the state of Illinois. That's because Cook County put a gun ban into effect this past February on long guns, like rifles and shotguns. The ban says people can't even have the guns in their own home. Some people in Champaign County feel that's unconstitutional, and they went to the county board meeting Thursday night to speak up before the ban moves south.

"I don't understand how one county can do that to their citizens." Says Guns Rights Advocate Valinda Rowe "Then turn around and try to do it to the rest of the state. We've got to take a stand."

They did try and take that stand as around a dozen people spoke at the meeting, urging county board members to pass a resolution, saying Cook County's ban is unconstitutional. They'll have to wait though, because the board tabled the issue.

29 counties in the state have already passed an anti-gun ban resolution, people at the meeting hope Champaign County becomes the 30th to do so."

Dream on. Fact is Cook County accounts for nearly half of the entire state of Ill-Annoy's population, and guess what.

What Cook County wants, all of Ill-Annoy eventually gets. And where the hell were you folks back when Cook was just beginning to jackboot their own citizens? Oh, it was okay for Cook residents as long as it didn't spread, eh?

And what does "the board tabled the issue" tell you? Or the fact that the yellowstream media is referring to you as pro-gun advocates and not once takes on Cook County as being anti-2nd Amendment.

Yeah I'm pissed it took you so long and maybe there is a chance of saving the rest of Ill.

The Only Ones Feeling Them Up Enough

Miami Beach officer charged with fondling suspect

"Weeks after fondling a woman suspected of drunken driving, authorities say, a married Miami Beach police officer met the same woman at a South Beach bar, bought drinks and tried to kiss her.

What Officer Eduardo Macias didn't know was that the woman was wearing a recorder and cooperating with internal affairs detectives, authorities said.

Today, following a yearlong investigation, Macias, 32, will surrender to face charges of official misconduct, perjury and battery. He is the fourth officer in Miami-Dade County during the past five months to be arrested on sex-related charges."

Hmm. Maybe they need a fondling-range. Someplace to go to learn how NOT to reach inside a woman's blouse even if she's just asking for it. Have a drink at each station on the course, continuing to refrain from snapping a bra strap along the way, something like that. Arrive at a blood alcohol level of .10 while STILL maintaining a sense of professionalism and something akin to human dignity and you pass.

Firearms Competition: A driving force to officer survival

"Serious participation in competitive shooting enhances your chances of survival while on duty. In fact, each competition you participate in is a step in the right direction, driving you toward improvement, and making you more prepared for the hazards of law enforcement. The skills, knowledge and attitude which are required to handle firearms safely, confidently and accurately during competition are the same skills, knowledge and attitude that are essential to all armed law enforcement officers while on the job. The fundamental proficiency and wisdom that you gain during firearm competitions are invaluable to your livelihood.

Opinions vary as to which type of firearm competition is the most practical and job-specific. In my opinion, this argument only bogs us down. In reality, each and every one of the firearms competitive events and styles are capable of providing reinforcement and training in law enforcement firearms proficiency. That’s what is important, the fact that you practice with your firearms. At the particular moment that a lesson (learned in training) is applied while on-duty and under pressure, we come to realize that no other area of law enforcement instruction is as critical as the skills learned in firearms training. Your own life, the life of a brother officer or fellow citizen may be affected by the manner in which you use your firearm..."

Stop the music...

They don't get-it and never will. The more make-believe "training" law enforcement participates in, the less capable it would seem that they actually become with regards to hitting their targets in the field. Every last "Academy" pummels its recruits with lawyer'ese until there isn't a chance of dealing with conflicting input while under duress, and thats the difference between the one way and the two way range. Know one ever knows how he or she will react to a genuine gun battle, but they certainly are aware of the myriad do's and don't's or how else do you explain the pitiful marksmanship coming from people who's job it is to draw and hit something in an accurate and timely manner.

Fact is, an untrained convenience store clerk has a better chance of shooting an armed aggressor without taking out half the neighborhood and thats because there isn't a long list of caveats between the trigger finger and the deed. Adrenaline makes you faster, stronger, visually acute to the 9's, and this is a good thing unless the lawyerization kicks in and makes that same adrenaline nothing more than a bother and something to make you shiver and not deliver.

Dispense with the affirmative action bullswaddle, employ dedicated, well trained officers who's job is to protect and defend rather than to become lord and master. It's as much the politicians fault as it is the cops but no one is drafting officers into service and if they as a group stood up to be counted there'd have to be a change.

Mentally Ill Florida Man Charged With Threatening to Shoot President Bush

TAMPA, Fla. — "A mentally ill homeless man has been charged with threatening to shoot President Bush.

Secret Service agents were called to the psychiatric unit of St. Joseph's Hospital, where Timothy Wade Pinkston, 47, had been taken on an involuntary commitment order.

Pinkston told hospital staff that he planned to go to Washington and shoot the president. When Secret Service agents arrived to interview him, he repeated the threat, saying he doesn't like the president's foreign policy or his handling of the war in Iraq, according to an affidavit filed by the Secret Service in U.S. District Court.

Pinkston was charged Friday with threatening the president, a federal crime.

According to the affidavit, he was previously charged with threatening the president in 1991, and also sent threatening letters to the governor of Georgia."

Man oh man but wouldn't the feds have a field day were they to pay attention to the Daily Kos. But only homeless people and not liberal democrats are arrested and charged with threatening the Presidency because there aren't enough jail cells to house the lefty loons who call for Bush's head on a daily basis.

Phony Love For Phony Money Doesn't Cut It With Feds...

Strippers Catch on to Man Using Counterfeit Money

SMYRNA, Tenn. — "A man who authorities say used his computer to make fake $100 bills to buy lap dances at a strip club has pleaded guilty to counterfeiting charges, federal prosecutors said.

Strippers at Deja Vu in Nashville were suspicious of the bills and called police after Damon Armagost spent $600 of the fake money April 16, authorities said.

When officers arrived, Armagost first told them he got the money when he sold gold coins for $1,400 to an unidentified person.

U.S. Secret Service agents later determined that counterfeit bills with the same serial number had been passed in other parts of the country. When they went to Armagost's Smyrna home, about 20 miles southeast of Nashville, a family member told agents that an image of a $100 bill had been on a computer there.

Armagost then acknowledged that he had downloaded the image from the Internet and printed 14 of the bills, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty Friday to manufacturing and passing counterfeit currency and has a sentencing date of Nov. 5."

Play-dough for play-love SHOULD be legal I'd imagine, but then again I'm not a strip club devotee and shouldn't speak of that which I've no familiarity.

Bogus Group Calling Itself "2nd Amendment Democrats" Is Anti-Gun And Likes It That Way

"Do you actively oppose Democrats who support sensible gun measures if they run for public office?

We are Democrats, and as such we will support our party's nominees for local, state, and federal office. During the primaries, however, if any Democratic candidate supports gun control measures that Amendment II Democrats oppose (such as reauthorizing the national ban on semi-automatics), that primary candidate is fair game, and we will encourage voters to support Democratic candidates who are in greater harmony with our outlook on Second Amendment rights. But once the primaries are over and the candidates for the general election have been chosen, it is important that all Democrats pull together and support our party's candidates as best as we are able. Under no circumstances will Amendment II Democrats support Republican candidates who run against anti-RKBA Democrats. We are, after all, Democrats."

And are, after all, anti-gun zealots in disguise. Well, not a very good disguise but nice try fella's, back in the 50's you'd fool Ma and Pa Kettle almost every time.

But in checking the calendar I notice that a new information medium is in town and that means you can't get away with the same old lies, bullshit, innuendo and double-talk as before, so don't let the 2nd Amendment hit you in the ass on the way out.

Sensible gun control. Yeah. Right. Thanks to The War on Guns.

CSI London

Thanks to ride fast & shoot straight

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The Religion Of Perpetual Insult Is...Well...Insulted Again

'Blasphemous' balls anger Afghans

"A demonstration has been held in south- east Afghanistan accusing US troops of insulting Islam after they distributed footballs bearing the name of Allah.

The balls showed the Saudi Arabian flag which features the Koranic declaration of faith.

The US military said the idea had been to give something for Afghan children to enjoy and they did not realise it would cause offence.

The footballs were dropped from a helicopter in Khost province.

Some displayed flags from countries all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, which features the shahada, one of the five pillars of Islam - the declaration of faith.

The balls were intended as a gift to Afghan children

The words, which include the name of Allah, are revered, and Muslims are very sensitive about where and how they can be used.

Saudi Arabia has complained to the World Cup's ruling body in the past about the use of its flag on footballs.

Mullahs in Afghanistan criticised the US forces for their insensitivity, and around 100 people held a demonstration in Khost.

Afghan MP Mirwais Yasini said: "To have a verse of the Koran on something you kick with your foot would be an insult in any Muslim country around the world."

A spokeswoman for the US forces in Afghanistan said they made "significant efforts to work with local leaders, mullahs and elders to respect their culture" and distributing the footballs was an effort to give a gift the Afghan children would enjoy.

"Unfortunately," she added, "there was something on those footballs we didn't immediately understand to be offensive and we regret that as we do not want to offend."

Laughing. My ass off. This DOES sound like something the military would do, stupid, off-track, backfiring, but essentially harmless, and having a spokesWOMAN talk about it makes it all the more laughable with regards to whom we offended.

But, as a once official representative of the United States of America, let me hereby offer my condolences for anyone who was offended by our big, gaudy balls.

FOREVER SOCIALIST

Says George Will.

"FRENCH libraries are said to file their nation's constitutions - there have been more than a dozen since 1789; the current one is a relatively ancient 49 years old - under periodicals. Now Nicolas Sarkozy, France's peripatetic new president, has created a commission on constitutional reform. The commission includes Jack Lang who, as minister of culture in 1983 under President Francois Mitterrand, staged a sublimely unserious conference on the (supposed) world economic crisis, featuring the likes of Sophia Loren, Susan Sontag and Norman Mailer.

France's unemployment rate has not been below 8 percent in 25 years - not since 1982, when Francois Mitterrand inadvertently did what Thatcher intentionally did - killed socialism. Elected president in 1981 promising a "rupture with capitalism," he kept that promise pitilessly. He had the most sweeping program of nationalizations ever proposed for a free economy; he increased pensions, family allowances, housing allowances and the minimum wage. The franc was devalued three times and soon he was forced to adopt "socialist rigor" (austerity).

French leftism is perfectly reactionary. Wielding a word with semi-sacred connotations in France, socialists say they are "the resistance." They are not for anything; they are against surrendering any of their entitlements. They stand against three menaces. One is "neoliberalism" - markets supplanting the state as the primary allocator of wealth and opportunity. The second is the Americanization of culture by imports of American entertainments (see the third). The third is globalization (see the first and second).

In May, in an election with the highest turnout (85 percent) since 1981, Sarkozy's socialist opponent, Segolene Royal, a princess of vagueness, won 47 percent of the vote for, essentially, "resistance." Remarkably, she defeated Sarkozy among voters ages 18 to 59 - the working population. It does not bode well for reform that he won by winning huge majorities among those most dependent on the welfare state - 61 percent among those 60 to 69 and 68 percent among those over 70.

One in four French workers is employed in the public sector, which devours 54 percent of GDP. (The U.S. percentage is about 34.) The fact that for 15 years France's GDP and output per hour worked have been declining relative to those of Britain and the United States surely is related to the fact that 60 percent of the French respond positively to the word "bureaucrat." American conservatives should seek happy harbingers elsewhere."

Lefties are lefties the world over, bonded with the crazy glue that all inept cowards use to cling to one another. Never, ever be pro-anything (pro-choice really means anti-life) because that would mean there's an anything worthy of applauding. Far better to complain and seek victimhood thanks to the irrefutable fact that the human condition is messy and how in all hells should ANYONE be expected to cope. France isn't going anywhere but further down the neverending spiral of decrepitude, not with 20% of the population avowing themselves to be head-choppers at a moments notice.

And seriously now, what else CAN be expected from a country that comes up with a brand spanking new constitution once every 17 years or so.

China to act on gender imbalance

The Chinese government says it is drafting new laws to tackle the growing gender imbalance caused by the widespread abortion of female foetuses.

The practice is already banned, but new rules are expected to set out specific punishments for parents and doctors.

China's Family Planning Association (CFPC) has revealed the extent of the imbalance - in one city there are eight young boys for every five girls.

Experts fear the phenomenon could have unpredictable social consequences.

Some believe that with millions of men unable to find a wife, there could be risks of increasing anti-social and violent behaviour.

Boys preferred

China's one-child policy, and a traditional preference for male heirs, has led many couples to try to ensure that their single offspring is a boy.

Some pay for illegal ultrasound tests to discover the sex of a foetus, and abort it if it is female.

"The root cause is traditional thinking that boys are better than girls, especially in poverty-stricken areas," Song Jiang, a population expert at Beijing's Renmin University, told the Xinhua news agency.

"Those people expect boys to support the family."

On Friday it was revealed that the eastern city of Lianyungang had the most skewed population. Among children under four years old, there are 163.5 boys for every 100 girls.

Ninety-nine cities had gender ratios higher than 125, state-run news agency Xinhua quoted the CFPA as saying in a report.

The UN recommends a gender ratio of no more than 107."

And thats because UN advisors like having an equal share of boys and girls to molest but a different story. The fact that boys are preferable is nothing new under the sun, but what IS new are modern contrivances to predetermine a baby's gender, so those who can afford ultrasoundings are opting for abortion when there's no tallywhacker to be seen on the growing infant. And chinese officials are tickled pink because fewer females means less children down the road, everyone with half a brain knows this, so they can drop the pretense of being concerned because the only ones being fooled are the UN along with the liberal media. Armies and work gangs and slave labor camps need men.

Someone Gets It Right..

Over at Blogonomicon it's understood that the "shortage" of ammunition certain police departments are weeping about has nothing to do with any war going on anywhere but home.

"In a nutshell, the ammo shortage is not because of international conflicts. It is because of the increased militarization of domestic police forces."

That, and the fact that they're sold on certain brands and haven't the wit to select another of equal value when supplies are back ordered.

This Just In...

Family of Student Found Dead in Trunk Believe She Was Murdered

Wow. Ya think?

Ann Coulter On How Complimented She Was To Be Called A She-Devil By A Trial Lawyer...

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," August 23, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated

COLMES: And here's the mistake John Edwards made. He should ignore you. He shouldn't talk about you. You know, he gives you exactly what you want. Right?

COULTER: I don't know. I think being called a she-devil by a trial lawyer is meant as a compliment. I thank him for that. But I just want to take, you know, the opportunity with this show to say, "No, John I will not date you."

And yes, you're right...

COLMES: I don't think that was a request.

COULTER: ... my book sales sailed up...

COLMES: I don't think it's a flirtation.

COULTER: ... every time he attacks me. And like I say, he's sinking like a rock. The more he attacks me, the more he goes down in the polls. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm actually pretty popular with the American people. So his core does love a catfight.

COLMES: I don't think you're very popular, Ann, with the very people who might like to vote for — in a Democratic primary or might vote for John Edwards or any other Democrat for president.

COULTER: Well, apparently, they think this is a little weird. I mean, this would be like Mitt and Ann Romney going around, like stalking Bill Maher. It's a little weird, Alan.

COLMES: You think you're being stalked?

COULTER: Apparently, Democrats don't like it either, because he's sinking like a rock. In fact, he has been since somebody told him I joke about him.

COLMES: By the way, after you called him the "F" word, and then you said, "If I say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he's been killed in a terrorist plot," is that hate speech?

COULTER: That's not my full sentence.

COLMES: Is that hate speech?

COULTER: No, that's not the full sentence. The full sentence was, at about the same time, the media was going crazy over my totally great joke. Bill Maher was wishing that Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack, so I've learned my lesson. The next time I say anything about John Edwards, I'll wish he was killed in a terrorist attack.

COLMES: Maher saying it doesn't justify your saying it. Is that hate speech?

COULTER: Well, then you just said it.

COLMES: No, I'm quoting. I'm quoting here.

COULTER: On your theory, you just said it.

COLMES: Answer me.

COULTER: Yes, I was quoting Bill Maher, Alan.

So here's the bottom line. When a liberal offers a joke in bad taste, its nothing more than a joke in bad taste. When a Conservative quotes the joke, THAT'S when it become hate speech. Then every liberal alive is offended, since, after all, THEY are the only ones who can poke fun at any one or any thing because Bush lied and people died.

Got it?

The 20

When you really gotta shoot down that passenger plane from 5 miles away...

Always look to a 20 mm assault rifle as the weapon of choice.

WARNING: Gang members should be advised that it doesn't come with much bling, kicks like a mule, uses expensive ammunition, and can't be included in a rap video to rhyme with male genitalia.

Oops...

Terrorist has a hand at firing his mortar. Without much success. There are ways to protect against such malfunctions but let the sandfleas learn for themselves.

Help Wanted Ads Go Unanswered in West

Subtitled: How the yellowstream media reports success as tragedy

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - "The owner of a fast food joint in Montana's booming oil patch found himself outsourcing the drive-thru window to a Texas telemarketing firm, not because it's cheaper but because he can't find workers.

Record low unemployment across parts of the West has created tough working conditions for business owners, who in places are being forced to boost wages or be creative to fill their jobs.

John Francis, who owns the McDonald's in Sidney, Mont., said he tried advertising in the local newspaper and even offered up to $10 an hour to compete with higher-paying oil field jobs. Yet the only calls were from other business owners upset they would have to raise wages, too. Of course, Francis' current employees also wanted a pay hike.

"I don't know what the answer is," Francis said. "There's just nobody around that wants to work."

(AP) John Francis, who owns the McDonald's in Sidney, Mont., poses for a photo in front of his... Full Image

Unemployment rates have been as low as 2 percent this year in places like Montana, and nearly as low in neighboring states. Economists cite such factors as an aging work force and booming tourism economies for the tight labor market.

For places like Montana, it has been a steady climb in the nearly two decades since the timber and mining industry recession. The state approached double-digit unemployment levels in the 1980s and began the slow crawl back in the early 1990s.

"This is actually the biggest economic story of our time, and we don't quite grasp it because it is 15 years in the making," said economist Larry Swanson, director of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana."

Blah blah. And blah. This is precisely how a healthy economy is supposed to look. Workers being able to choose between good jobs and better ones. Every real economy, except for the ones liberals like to tinker with, is Darwinian with regards to business survival. The stronger ones adapt and franchise themselves, or reproduce, and the weaker fall by the wayside. The answer to business woes is NOT to import cheap labor because all that does is prop up the weak. This is one of those hilarious liberal media tales of woe; finding a success story and searching for the underlying tragedy that simply MUST be there.

With But 3 Days To Go...

The NRA finally catches on to what's happening on August 28...

Jesse Jackson Announces A Day Of Anti-Gun Reckoning--And What You Can Do About It: On August 28, Rev. Jesse Jackson is organizing an anti-gun protest in up to 25 cities nationwide. Not willing to lay the blame for crime on criminals, Jackson and his cronies claim, "people who buy guns from gun shops kill people." Since the sale of every firearm from every licensed gun dealer is subject to a background check, it is unclear how the millions of law-abiding Americans who go through this mandated check and legally "buy guns from gun shops" are responsible for killing people. Then again, though, Jackson is never one to let the facts get in the way of a misguided PR opportunity...

So, what can you do to counter this PR stunt? Of course, any type of pro-gun counter protest would be covered with the media’s typical anti-gun bias, if it was covered at all. But there is a way we can speak directly to the American people to set the record straight on gun bans, gun rationing, and other anti-gun proposals.

Through a massive and coordinated blitz of letters to the editor of our local newspapers in the days and weeks leading up to the August 28 demonstrations, we can speak directly to American citizens and our elected officials with the fact straight from the mouths of voting constituents."

And thats that. We, with 3 days remaining, can "blitz" our local newspapers. Yes it's good that the NRA finally got wind of the situation, and no, I didn't expect them to back ANY buy a gun or ammo policy. They've got to remain as politically correct as possible and might tick off the Fudds, who by the way make up the majority of their membership.

Still wouldn't have hurt to urge Elmer to swap some firewood for dove-shot.

It Isn't Just The BATF-U That Majors In Harassment...

August 25, 2007 -- "THE risqué stage show at The Box early yesterday morning was canceled when dozens of police officers raided the Chrystie Street club and randomly searched some patrons for drugs.

Cameron Diaz, Jay-Z and Cuba Gooding Jr. were among the few who were able to flee during the "classic shutdown," doormen and security men told Page Six.

Diaz's current fling, John Mayer, was spotted holding court a few blocks away at the Bowery Hotel during the chaos.

The star-studded "dinner theater" at The Box is known for its private tables where curtains can be pulled tight so attendees can have complete privacy.

One stunned onlooker told us, "All these cops busted in, and they were searching people. They lined people up near the bathroom and started going through their stuff. Nobody seemed to understand what was going on."

The 1 a.m. raid forced the club to cancel its second show of the night, a revue featuring scantily clad showgirls, a gender-bending singer and a dancing dwarf.

"They never started the show," said a witness. "It was all cops on stage. The worst part was, they weren't letting anyone leave."

"It was really weird," agreed one nightlife fixture who was there. "The cops were standing outside, personally checking everyone's IDs as they were going in. Bizarre."

Another source dished, "Pretty close to 3 a.m., a performer got onstage and said, 'I'm sorry. Were getting shut down for the evening. Everyone has to go home.' "

That's when the scene outside the club became chaotic as well.

"Suddenly, someone slapped a sign on the door that said, 'It's shut down,' and everyone had to get out. People started pouring out. Everyone was really drunk and [bleep]ed up. Nobody knew what was going on. It was just a confused herd of idiots."

Box owner Simon Hammerstein is in London, but a rep for the club said: "The marshals came in Friday morning citing the venue for a misprint on the food-handling permit - a clerical error that was overlooked but has since been corrected. The permit has been reissued." Hammerstein expected to be open last night.

An NYPD rep said there were no arrests."

Okay, I'm all for keeping an eye on our royalty if for nothing else than to prevent them from hopping into a car and driving over a group of nuns.

But the above incident was reminiscent of a bygone era when Boss Tweed would play hardball with establishments that didn't feed his kitty, because dozens of cops surrounding a place then shutting it down SHOULD have resulted in an arrest or two, ya think?

It was a wake-up call for the proprietors, nothing else. Government agencies love to strut their stuff and the pity is they find enough jackboots to arm themselves and pitch in.

Meanwhile, criminals are having a field day elsewhere while the police are frisking the dancers for contraband.

We Get Letters. From Anti's, Even

"I think even a most ardent supporter of the 2nd Amendment would have to admit that civilians have no real need for high powered military Ak-47 assault rifles, and that ownership of them should be both licensed and severely restricted. Criminals are difficult enough to control without allowing them to possess the means to commit mass murders on a colossal scale..."

First off, the civilian AK variant is not even close to a "high-powered-rifle", but in reality is probably the most low-powered .30 caliber firearm in existence. B), There is not a nation in the world that uses the civilian AK to arm its military, and to think of, let alone utter such nonsense, is all the proof necessary to deem your entire presentation of "Facts" nothing but abject bullshit.

One does not license a "right". Simple enough? Well okay, here goes nothing; licensing is necessary to control a privilege. Rights are unalienable. You can look it up.

Thirdly, rifles account for such a minute percentage of illegal gun violence stats as to be rendered inconsequential. Criminals generally use handguns, whatever handgun they can acquire, do not register them, nor is is a crime for them to not do so. Should they suddenly and against all logic switch to long guns, the difficulties in curtailing this would be as hard as it is in getting them to stop using handguns. They are criminals. They do not abide by the law. More people are killed and injured by claw hammers than civilian AK rifles, but the liberal media hates the look of them and wants such icky tools off the shelf. Rifles, not claw hammers. Claw hammers are used by men who actually work for a living and liberals haven't quite figured out what to make of that.

Bad guys use guns badly. Nothing will ever prevent that from happening. Licensing and registration is for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to remove firearms from the hands of NON-criminals.

During hurricane Katrina, police used registration databases to steal weapons from law abiding citizens. THAT, and only that, is the game, set, and match reason for allowing the government to know any of our private business. So that when the time comes, they know where to go to illegally rid us of our property.

Guns allow the common man a means of defending himself.

The last thing a liberal wants is for someone to have such power because powerful people are dangerous and beholding to no one. It is impossible to run a dictatorship with a civilian populace so armed, so they want us unarmed and ripe for the plucking.

Not going to happen. Not without one helluva fight. A fight I might add, that they'd lose because we shoot straighter than they do, there are more of us than them, and men in the right will always fight harder than the jackboots sent to kill or detain them. Liberals are cowards and cowards could never win a down and dirty fight on anything resembling so large a scale, even though they have law enforcement on their side.

In closing, let me add that ALL registrations throughout history have ALWAYS led to confiscation. Everywhere, every time.

But not this time.

4-day wait may have hunters out of arms

" It's the dove slaughterers who should be the most indignant.

But everyone else should be outraged over this situation. For if our constitutional right to blast a bunch of birds out of existence with the weapon of our choice is rescinded -- even temporarily -- what constitutional right suddenly vanishes next?

...a wait of several days before buying a firearm will seem interminable to people accustomed to obtaining one in about 19 minutes.

That's how long it took me to buy one in April, after the Virginia Tech massacre, when I became curious as to how long such transactions typically take in Pennsylvania."

Gotta give a guy credit when he's upset that it took so short a time to acquire a shotgun, because this is obviously some deep-seated fear that he'll do something illegal with the weapon. Can't see any other reason he'd be emphasizing the point that his purchase came on the heels of the korean-killer's rampage. This is good citizenship at its finest; someone begging the government to ban him from owning guns, and all mentally disturbed persons should take note and act accordingly.

The gist of the remainder of this poorly written tale is his disagreement with, as the headline suggests, any 4-day waiting period to purchase a gun. Means he does believe that others would be unduly put out by such a law, others far more trustworthy I guess than he is, or why complain about how easily he walked out with his weapon?

Man's got to know his limitations, so kudos to Mr. Heyl. Now if he'd only recuse himself from writing about the subject, it'd be a genuine public service indeed.

Thanks to The War on Guns.

Stupid, Useless, Been-There, Done-That "Invention" Of The Year Award Goes To...

TOKYO — "Sony has developed an environmentally-friendly prototype battery that runs on sugars and that can generate enough electricity to power a music player and a pair of speakers, the Japanese company said.

The bio battery's casing is made of a vegetable-based plastic. It measures 3.9 cm (1.5 inch) along each edge and works by pouring sugar solution into the unit, where enzymes break it down to generate electricity."

Moonshiners have been making humans light-up by pouring sugars into stills then dispensing the finished product down the throats of imbibers for a hellva lot longer than Sony has been, or will BE around.

Chalk this prototype up to moonbattery and little else.

Friday's Quick Quiz

Name the oldest U.S. military-issued weapon still in use. As a matter of fact, its the oldest serviceable weapon in or out of the military.

Clue: Same mil spec # in continuous service.

Miss Hooters 2007

Don't recall her name but she won out over 129 total entrants.

Nice tan.

Mexican Senate sides with mom deported from USA

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican Senate committee passed a measure Wednesday urging President Felipe Calderon to send a diplomatic note to the United States protesting the deportation of an illegal migrant who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year.

The committee also approved a scholarship to help her 8-year-old U.S.-born son, Saul, who is an American citizen and stayed in the United States.

Elvira Arellano, 32, became an activist and a national symbol for illegal immigrant parents by defying her deportation order and speaking out from her sanctuary in the Adalberto United Methodist Church. She announced last week that she was leaving to try to lobby U.S. lawmakers for immigration reform.

On Sunday, shortly after she spoke at a rally in a Los Angeles church, she was arrested and deported to Tijuana, across the border from San Diego.

"We cannot remain quiet in view of this injustice and must ask for firm action from our authorities," Mexican Sen. Humberto Zazue said.

He accused the United States of violating international deportation accords by denying her access to the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles.

Arellano, who was at the committee's session, said Saul is in Chicago in the care of his godmother and will attend a Sept. 12 rally for immigration reform in Washington. She said she would help organize a rally in Tijuana that same day to demand Mexican authorities do more to protect migrants.

"For me it is very important that our government take a strong stand to defend all of us who decide to migrate to another country," she said."

I'm too exasperated to comment in detail, and the gators are callin'.

Defending her right to invade a foreign country. This is what comes from leading people to believe they are entitled to do whatever their little hearts desire.

Boggles.

On Patrol With The Marines by Ralph Peters

"The first sergeant's job in the Army or Marines is to make sure his company's ready to be led when the commander leads it. First Sgt. Lanham - who seemed to be everywhere in the austere desert fort - would go along on the patrol to monitor the squad's proficiency. Since the unit's last Iraq tour, personnel turnover had been almost 75 percent, with most of the Marines 20 years old or younger.

They looked young. But they already carried themselves like veterans.

Before the patrol began, there was a preliminary inspection, a final squad-leader's inspection, then a last check by the duty officer. Did everyone have plenty of ammo?

KARMAH is one of the areas of Anbar Province in the process of flipping to our side, although it's still Indian country a few kilometers to the north.

Last year, any foot patrol in Karmah would've attracted hostile fire. Now the Marines just had to worry about occasional snipers and remote-controlled bombs - the infamous IEDs.

Orange and mean, the sun popped up as we left the dusty outpost. With its sandbagged rooftop bunkers, blast barriers and wire, it didn't have the sanitized look you encounter in films. Outpost Delta's a hard place for hard men.

The patrol hunted methodically through a junked landscape where IEDs could have been hidden anywhere. Industrial ruins overlooked fields littered with rusted vehicle cabs and endless shoals of garbage. Unfinished, wretchedly built houses seemed to have been built at random in the wasteland. A few lonely date palms and low-lying reeds marked a seasonal stream.

There was no sign of water now. The heat had begun its attack. Carrying just half the burden of the Marines, I was greased with sweat.

EXPERIENCE tells. First Sgt. Lanham didn't interfere - he let the squad leader do his job. But the top sergeant had the best situational awareness, scanning 360 degrees, pausing to check out potential sniper hides through his rifle's sights and constantly evaluating fields of fire.

But the young Marines moved well, too. Remarkably well.

Rigorously disciplined, they fanned out when crossing open areas and crisply provided overwatch where the terrain grew restricted. You would've thought they were multi-tour veterans, but they'd been in Iraq less than a month.

We maneuvered through a junkyard - an IED bomber's dream. The only thing that made it any different from the surrounding acres was that this was a formal junkyard. Stray dogs yapped in the background and the first curious faces appeared in doorways. As they do everywhere, children waved.

Iraq's what an old buddy of mine would've called a "squat and leave it" country. You can only assume that no single piece of garbage has been picked up since the fall of Babylon. One Marine initiative seeks to clean things up, to instill community pride. On that count, a certain amount of skepticism might be healthy. But we can wish the Devil Dogs luck.

The Arab portions of Iraq recall the public's attitude in the old Soviet Union: Nothing really belonged to anyone, so no one felt responsible for anything. If there ever was any greatness here, it was an accident, the historical equivalent of the infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters eventually producing the works of Shakespeare.

WE filter through trash- strewn alleys into the targeted marketplace. It's just after seven, and commerce is starting to come to life - the heat affects the Iraqis, too. By the roadside, a truck drops off slabs of ice to be sold. In the open space in front of their shop, a butcher and his sons slaughter sheep (about which the remaining sheep are visibly unhappy). Board of Health standards do not apply.

Bright vegetables adorn a stall on a side street. A tire shop offers ancient re-treads. Old men sit on stoops and narrow porches, omnipresent and watchful. A businessman wears a sparkling white robe as he sits with garbage piled at his feet.

What have they seen that might help the Marines? Asking that question is part of the mission. After the security team fans out to secure "the box," other Marines control traffic while an Arabic-speaking Marine makes the rounds of the shops. Every Marine has been taught enough Arabic to pose a few basic questions, but the nuances matter here.

And the population has to be careful. They've learned beyond all doubt that we're a better deal than al Qaeda. But the terrorists, while down, are not quite out. Too much public fondness for Americans could still be a death sentence. And the past four years have taught Iraqis new levels of caution - in a culture that was paranoid from the start.

Nothing much turns up. ID cards are in order. The locals shrug off the hassle. The kids are entertained. A few adults try to make nice in the Iraqi way that's always angling for an advantage.

SOAKED under our body armor, we move out. Headed back to Outpost Delta by an alternate route. The Marines never drop their tactical finesse, pulling off their perimeter security in perfect order.

We pause in another junkyard, going into a hasty defense to let the rear security elements close with us. It's a quiet morning and no shots have been fired - which is a good thing. Just months before, these alleys and barren fields belonged to al Qaeda and its former allies.

The heat triples the gravitational pull of the body armor. And our route leads us over a 7-foot wall with concertina wire offset behind it. First Sgt. Lanham takes the obstacle like an athlete. Following at a tactical interval, I do my best not to shame my fellow Army retirees.

The barking of the stray dogs sounds suspiciously like laughter.

As we re-enter the outpost, the first sergeant mutters, "Sir, I guarantee you that, if we hadn't been along, they wouldn't have gone over that wall. They were just testing us old guys."

As the Marines cleared their weapons, having fought nothing worse than the heat, it struck me that any day in Iraq when the high point of a Marine patrol is putting a journalist through an obstacle course is a very good day, indeed.

FOLLOWING an after-action review and 1st Sgt. Lanham's critique, it was finally time for breakfast. The powdered eggs tasted better than anything a Manhattan expense-account restaurant ever served."

Ralph Peters is reporting from Iraq for The Post.

Just kids. Even during the days when there was a draft Marines relied upon volunteers. The turn-over ratio was always high and kids formed the point of the spear. The average age of these guys is a tad younger than the student body at Virginia Tech. Who could have drawn down on korean killer Cho in a heartbeat were they permitted to defend themselves as their younger counterparts in the service can. Not all of the enemies of America live and ply their brand of horror in the middle east; I know that and so do you, but there simply aren't enough of us allowed to fight back, and that may very well be our society's biggest shame.

TGSCOM Inc. Helps Tack 15 Years On Cop Shooter’s Prison Sentence

On-line firearms dealer earns praise from Daytona Beach Shores law enforcement officials for supplying “integral information” for prosecution.

GREEN BAY – "TGSCOM Inc., a web-based firearms dealer headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, recently helped the City of Daytona Beach Shores nearly double the prison term of a convicted cop shooter.

On November 1, 2005 Thomas Cutaia fired ten shots at Daytona Beach Shores police officer Michael Gavigan, wounding him. On July 19, 2007 Cutaia was found guilty of just aggravated battery for shooting Officer Gavigan and received a twenty-year prison sentence.

Not satisfied with this light punishment for a criminal who tried to kill a police officer, additional charges were filed against Cutaia for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Cutaia had been previously convicted of arson in Massachusetts.

In attempting to mount a defense, Cutaia altered a TGSCOM invoice and made false representations about how he acquired the gun he used to shot Officer Gavigan. Working with TGSCOM, Daytona Beach Shores law enforcement was able to prove Cutaia was not telling the truth. On August 10, 2007, thanks in part to TGSCOM, Cutaia was found guilty and given an additional 15 years behind bars.

“Thomas Cutaia deserves every day of the thirty-five years he’ll spend in prison,” said TGSCOM President Eric Thompson. “We were glad to cooperate with the Daytona Beach Shores law enforcement officials. People who use firearms to commit tragedies should pay the full price for their actions.”

In a letter to TGSCOM, Stephan Dembinsky, Director of Public Safety for Daytona Beach Shores wrote: “It is always a pleasure to work with companies willing to extend their services to law enforcement in our attempt to seek and serve justice. The information you were able to supply was integral in the positive outcome in our prosecution of this case.”

TGSCOM was in the news recently because one of the firearms used by Cho Seung-Hui in the Virginia Tech shootings was purchased on www.thegunsource.com, which is operated by TGSCOM. TGSCOM cooperated with law enforcement agencies investigating that tragic shooting.

“We are proud to provide law abiding Americans with firearms and hunting and shooting accessories,” said Thompson. “We will continue to do all we can to make sure criminals who use guns to commit crimes are punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

Background on TGSCOM Inc.
TGSCOM Inc. is a federally licensed firearms dealer based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. TGSCOM operates 50 Web sites that sell firearms, firearms’ accessories and hunting supplies. Its Web sites include www.topglock.com, www.thegunsource.com, www.waltherpistols.com and www.ar15pro.com. TGSCOM is located at 1449 S. Broadway Street in Green Bay.

Voice Your Opinion Here: http://www.thegunsource.com/store/Article.aspx?AKey=Cop_Shooter_Convicted

Well now. Special treatment for special people always riles me a tad, tad and a quarter. Sentencing someone to more time because WHO he shot was more important than some old run of the mill Joe?

Just doesn't sit right with me. Shoot ANYONE while involved in a criminal endeavor and go to jail forever and a day. We start making some folks more extraordinary simply because of their occupation, we'll soon see special privileges granted them and a hierarchy of citizenship somewhat akin to the lords and lady's of europe.

Too late? They already HAVE such status? And lots MORE privilege?

Our servants?

How Doctors THINK They Think...Book Review

"...many diagnoses are wrong, and that most medical errors are the result of cognitive biases resulting from quick and dirty rule-of-thumb heuristics we all use to make decisions when pressed for time, operating under uncertainty, or when we simply do not know a better decision rule. He tells us that doctors are often unaware of the impact such heuristics — and their accompanying biases — have on their diagnostic accuracy.

This is an excellent point, but it begs a simple question: What if the same cognitive biases that wreak havoc on doctors’ thinking — unawares — also influences their thinking about their thinking?¹ In How Doctors Think, doctors tell us how simply spending more time with patients, asking open-ended rather than close-ended questions, reading “body language,” including patients’ emotions in the picture, etc., improves their diagnostic ability. How much impact do these factors have on diagnostic ability? Do they actually have any impact at all? These questions place Groopman’s book on shaky ground, for his evidence consists primarily of unrepresentative and mostly irrelevant testimonials in which doctors describe various atypical diagnostic adventures they’ve had, and how they think they either emerged victorious or dropped the ball.² The problem is, this does not tell us anything about how doctors think, only how they think they think.

The problems get worse. Groopman tells us he is troubled that new doctors seem to be trained to “think like computers,” that they rely on diagnostic decision aids and some seductive “boiler-plate scheme” called evidence-based medicine. Groopman’s position, when his various arguments are gathered and assembled, becomes untenable. He admits doctors suffer from innumerable biases that diminish the accuracy of diagnosis, reducing many diagnoses to idiosyncratic responses fueled by mood, whether the patient is liked or disliked, advertisements recently seen, etc. Thus Groopman agrees with decision scientists’ diagnosis of doctor decision making; but then he goes on to wantonly dismiss what many of the very same researchers claim is the best (and perhaps only) remedy, the way to “debias” diagnosis: evidence-based medicine and the use of decision aids. In place of statistics what does Groopman suggest doctors rely on? Clinical intuition of course, the very source of the cognitive biases he pays lip service to throughout his book.

Unfortunately, what research Groopman cites to back his claims is somewhat one-sided and sometimes off the point. Two articles he cites both argue that decision aids pertaining to treatment (rather than diagnosis) don’t take into account when patients have multiple illnesses requiring multiple medications, which may interact with each other.^3,4 This is an important point, but to attempt to argue from this single issue that decision aids shouldn’t be relied on is to make a rather specious generalization.

Most doctors do not like decision aids. They rob them of much of their power and prestige. Why go through medical school and accrue a six-figure debt if you’re simply going to use a computer to make diagnoses? One study famously showed that a successful predictive instrument for acute ischemic heart disease (which reduced the false positive rate from 71% to 0) was, after its use in randomized trials, all but discarded by doctors (only 2.8% of the sample continued to use it).⁵ It is no secret many doctors despise evidence-based medicine. It is impersonal “cookbook medicine.” It is “dehumanizing,” treating people like statistics. Patients do not like it either. They think less of doctors’ abilities who rely on such aids.⁶

The problem is that it is usually in patients’ best interest to be treated like a “statistic.” Doctors cannot outperform mechanical diagnoses because their own diagnoses are inconsistent. An algorithm guarantees the same input results in the same output, and whether one likes this or not, this maximizes accuracy. If the exact same information results in variable and individual output, error will increase. However, the psychological baggage associated with the use of statistics in medicine (doctors’ pride and patients’ insistence on “certainty”) makes this a difficult issue to overcome."

Cease and desist time.

Just as in all fields of endeavor there are some physicians who have a far better intuitive grasp of any given diagnosis. In other words, the knack.

As the quirks of aging bring me into the office of more and more medical doctors, it's easy to see that diagnosis and treatment regimens are an artform, and since not everyone can go to art class and emerge a Rembrandt, not every physician to-be can exit med school a veritable DeBakey in waiting.

And no, I do not believe aging to be a disease. But nowadays pretty much everything is, or at least labeled as such in order to write more prescriptions and keep the drug lords happy.

Kidding. Most of the docs I meet are genuinely concerned with doing the right thing as opposed to doing the lucrative thing. Some of them simply suck, and thats true in all walks of life.

Petraeus Has Them On The Run...

The Democrats, That Is...

"Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), House majority whip, recently said it would be "a real big problem for us" - Democrats - if Petraeus reports substantial progress.

Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.) recently found reports of progress unendurable. She left a hearing of the Armed Services Committee because retired Gen. Jack Keane was saying things Boyda thinks might "further divide this country," such as that Iraq's "schools are open. The markets are teeming with people."

Boyda explained: "There is only so much you can take until we in fact had to leave the room for a while . . . after so much frustration of having to listen to what we listened to."

Pictured: Traitorous scum James Clyburn pondering what to do should America win.

More 25 ACP Goings On

Ahab at What Would John Wayne Do has been ruminating upon the efficiency of the .25 ACP, and anything that provides fodder for intelligent discourse regarding firearms is hale met and welcome. Especially considering the gun boards upon which the chairborne pontificate as if they'd actually done something with a gun besides shoot an animal. Nothing wrong with that. But they don't shoot back, and discussing self-defense means listening to the experts who know it all because they've skinned enough deer to feed a small country....OR...even worse, have spent megabucks attending one armed camp or another and have come away with imaginary combat action ribbons.

From a handgun platform, I prefer the .25 to the .22 LR. Better munitions such as Gold Dots. Along with personal experience. I was going to comment over at Ahab's haunt but this is too sensitive a subject to perhaps soil someone else's parlor with. I am comfortable using tools that have been proven to work well. Your mileage may vary, considerably so, and more power to ya. I have seen what a well placed .25 does to a human target and this gives me confidence in tucking such a mousegun in my pants pocket when shuffling out for the mail or moving a garbage can, or something else that doesn't usually warrant hazardous duty pay. At distances up to 15' I can unload a magazine of 25 ACP into the eyes of an oncoming threat. There were times when it was all I had left to fight with and believe me, even so diminutive a piece feels good in the hands of a man down to his last straw. This isn't to say I'm a shot-placement preacher above all else. But of course hitting what you've aimed at is a good and hence desirable thing but counting on it during the bad times is just silly.

As is the case with everything else in life on planet earth, a BALANCE is what all men of good will should strive to achieve. A decent caliber practiced with oft times enough to acquire proficiency with is all we dare hope to achieve. Remove one variable and you are therefore looking at less of the problem and this is not a good thing. Draw, fire, and hit the target exactly where you want to, is wonderful advice but a recommendation full of more holes than Bill Clinton's alibi's. The proper attitude, the right cartridge, a learned hand, all play important roles. Then, after you've done it time after time after time again, you'll come to understand what you can expect from yourself during such travails.

If you've personally used a .25 ACP without much luck, then by all means dismiss it without further ado. I shouldn't be so damned lazy, and take my own recommendation to ALWAYS carry a respectable firearm.

But it ain't gonna happen. Being dead-red round the clock is a weary way to exist. Don't take my word for anything but if you've bearded a lion or two in it's den and want to share the story then do so. Thats all any of this is. Telling the tale. Not everyone is going to appreciate nor believe everything you say but they can't take what you've done away from you.

1 DOWN, 11,999,999 TO GO...Says Ann Coulter...

In its entirety because she's on a roll

"Mickey Kaus has raised the intriguing possibility that, since Bush's amnesty plan went down to humiliating defeat once Americans got wind of what the elites had planned for us, the Bush administration might respond by intentionally targeting highly sympathetic illegal aliens for deportation "in as clumsy, heartless and lawsuit-inspiring a fashion as possible, in order to create the maximum number of negative headlines."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described anti-amnesty Americans as being satisfied with nothing less than "the death penalty" for illegal aliens and recently warned of "some unhappy consequences" unless illegal aliens were granted amnesty. Yes, that Michael Chertoff -- the guy in charge of keeping us safe from foreign invasions.

So it was curious when we were treated this week to a weeping Mexican woman on TV, claiming the U.S. government was tearing her from her infant son and saying she knew the American people would be outraged if she were deported. (I note that her message might have been more effective in English.)

Admittedly, I'd just as soon have Homeland Security focusing on illegal immigrants like the one who shot four promising college kids execution style in Newark, killing three of them, possibly after sexually molesting two of them. Heck, I wouldn't have minded if they had deported Jose Carranza even before his girlfriend accused him of raping her 5-year-old daughter.

Or Ruben Hernandez-Juarez, an illegal alien charged with sexually molesting a 6-year-old boy in Martin County, Fla.

Or Alejandro Bautista, an illegal alien in Cook County, Ill., who was convicted for sexually molesting two teenaged boys.

Or Alejandro Xuya-Sian, the illegal alien who hit a pedestrian with his car in New York and dragged him for nearly a mile before dislodging the victim from his car, throwing him aside and driving off again. (Even more disturbing: Xuya-Sian may not have been wearing his seat belt at the time.)

Or illegal alien Alberto Barajas-Enriquez, who is charged with beating his Michigan neighbor to death with a golf club because the neighbor complained about the constant barking of Enriquez's dog. Asked by police how many times he struck his victim with the golf club, Enriquez said, "Let's see ... five, six ... uh, put me down for a seven."

Or Lucio Sanchez-Martinez, the illegal alien in Ohio charged with sexually molesting a sleeping 8-year-old girl.

For simplicity, I have limited my enumeration of illegal aliens I would like deported to those who were charged or convicted of heinous crimes last week. For illegal aliens charged with child molestation, I had to limit it to two days last week.

Still, if Elvira Arellano is the best they've got to change public opinion on deporting illegal aliens, don't expect public opinion to change anytime soon.

Arellano has already snuck into the country illegally twice (that we know of). After being deported in 1999 -- under an administration that, astonishingly, was more serious about enforcing immigration law than the current one -- she illegally ran across the border again a few days later.

Only after 9/11 was she arrested again and convicted for using a stolen Social Security number to get a job as a cleaning woman at an airport. In lieu of jail time, Arellano was to be deported. Instead she took refuge in a left-wing "church" and began to bellyache about being thrown out again.

Despite living in this country illegally for a decade, Arellano hasn't mastered the most rudimentary English. She doesn't want to assimilate and become a "Mexican-American." She wants to be a Mexican-Mexican living in and off America.

So far, the only thing Arellano has contributed to America is one illegitimate child.

Arellano is part of the advance wave of left-wing, Third World colonization of America. Democrats claim there are "two Americas." If they have their way, there will be two Latin Americas.

Liberals know they're losing the demographic war. Christians have lots of children and adopt lots of children; liberals abort children and encourage the gay lifestyle in anyone with a flair for color.

They can't keep up.

Population expert Nick Eberstadt recently speculated in The Washington Post that a principal reason for America's high fertility rate compared to Europe's is its religiosity. Well, that leaves liberals out.

The Democratic Party is in the fight of its life against a conservative demographic trend. Its only hope is to gerrymander America to make the poorest half of Mexico a state. Only a massive influx of criminals, wards of the state and rioters can save them.

This is why Democrats are obsessed with giving two groups the right to vote: illegal aliens and felons. With Arellano, they get two for the price of one. To liberals, building a wall across the Mexican border is a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Democrats are counting on illegal immigrants to be the future of their party, their border guards for the new socialist state. At least liberals have a clear mission and know what they're fighting for. Their plan is to destroy America.

Karl Rove's only response is: "I don't want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas."

Arellano can go, and take her kid with her. "

And that pretty much the reason we've been mad about for decades now. The criminals will come and the criminals will go. I'd of course like them to GO, and ANY American killed or maimed or raped by ONE illegal beaner is ONE TOO DAMNED MANY. And the mommy's? The otherwise law abiding-illegals? If they REALLY REALLY love America and want to stay here and be productive citizens then why the hell can't they learn some fricking English?

EVERYTHING they say is made a lie by the refusal to speak the language of the country they LIVE IN.

Fred Thompson Is Looking Better And Better Every Day...

"Fred Thompson admittedly isn’t the most objective source for this, but I think he makes the case for some problems with Giuliani’s approach to gun laws pretty well:"

When I was working in television, I spent quite a bit of time in New York City. There are lots of things about the place I like, but New York gun laws don’t fall in that category

Anybody who knows me knows I’ve always cared deeply about the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. So I’ve always felt sort of relieved when I flew back home to where that particular civil liberty gets as much respect as the rest of the Bill of Rights

Unfortunately, New York is trying, again, to force its ways on the rest of us, this time through the courts. First, they went after U.S. gun manufacturers, seeking through a lawsuit not only money but injunctive control over the entire industry. An act of congress in 2005 blocked, but did not end, that effort

Now, the same activist federal judge from Brooklyn who provided Mayor Giuliani’s administration with the legal ruling it sought to sue gun makers, has done it again. Last week, he created a bizarre justification to allow New York City to sue out-of-state gun stores that sold guns that somehow ended up in criminal hands in the Big Apple.

I posted about Bloomberg’s attempts to sue out-of-state gun makers for gun crimes committed in New York some time ago. It was ridiculous then, and it was ridiculous when it was happening under Giuliani

The Giuliani campaign sent along this response to Thompson’s post from Communications Director Katie Levinson:

Those who live in New York in the real world - not on TV - know that Rudy Giuliani’s record of making the city safe for families speaks for itself. No amount of political theater will change that.

"Frankly, I find that a little insulting. The idea of holding the people who actually use guns in crimes responsible for those crimes instead of the people who made the guns is just plain common sense. I don’t know what “real world” Giuliani and his campaign are living in, but here in America we believe in personal responsibility, not finger pointing. We also believe in the Constitution, which provides constitutional protection for owning and selling guns

No amount of liberal judicial activism is going to change that."

BAD, bad move by Julie Annie's people. When pushed on an issue that is a weakness, the smart politician hems, haws, skillfully changes the subject then moves on. To say that disarming the law abiding citizens of NYC made them safer, is something that should result in his being repeatedly beat about the head and shoulder area with great force and rapidity.

Here's a headline that Fred's folks could run in reply...

"Rudy Giuliani Admits Disarming NYC But Says Taking Away Their Guns Was For Their Own Good..."

Or any of a scazillion others like it.

Bottom line time: It's already against the law to use a gun in the commission of a criminal act.

EVERYWHERE. Going after the people who DO NOT use guns illegally is the cowards way out. Blaming legal gun owners and gun shops for the actions of criminals is also the cowards way out.

This is sorta like those IQ tests then, because...

If all liberals are cowards then all cowards must be liberals.

Armed for first day of school

"Students on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard aren't allowed to leave their village without a shotgun and ammunition. That's because hungry polar bears can be behind every swing on the island.

Although no one wants to shoot a polar bear, and they're indeed protected by national law, the huge white animals can quickly outrun a human. And humans don't have a chance if confronted by an aggressive bear.

So everyone on Svalbard needs to be able defend him- or herself, and students undergo weapons training every year..."

Polar bears are nowhere near as dangerous, as say, crazed Koreans looking to kill as many students as possible before taking the cowards way out. Wouldn't it be remarkable to wake up to a world where the Virginia Tech faculty came to the conclusion that since its already illegal for criminals to have guns but they'll do so anyway, the only people they're hurting by banning guns on campus are the law abiding folks who need them for protection.

Never happen as long as cowardly liberals are running the show. THEIR response is to erect sturdier doors with better locks.

Pictured: Helga Therese Tilley Tajet (from left) Eliza Harris and Helene Birkelund Erlandsen started their school year with a course on weapon use and survival in the Arctic.

Yet Another Exercise Your Rights Day UPDATE

Crickets.

The local gun and pawn shops have yet to formally respond to my queries, and we are into Day 5 of my posit regarding their participation.

BUT...

They are genuinely, without a doubt, behind the 2nd Amendment 1000%.

Me and those like me spend a helluva lot of money on guns and ammo. Might be time to look elsewhere.

What Kind Of Libertarian Am I...

What Kind of Libertarian Are You? Your Result: Neolibertarian Neolibertarians are fiscal libertarians who support a strong military, and believe that the U.S. government should use that military to overthrow dangerous and oppressive regimes. It is their emphasis on military intervention that distinguishes them from paleolibertarians (see below), and gives them reason to make common cause with neoconservatives.
Libertarian Partisan
Objectivist
Paleolibertarian
Classical Liberal
Anarchist
Geolibertarian
Anarcho-Capitalist
What Kind of Libertarian Are You? Make Your Own Quiz

I'm not really any sort of libertarian at all but the quiz was cool.

Thanks to Lem.

This Dog Will Be Back Before He's Missed All That Much

"The bill for Michael Vick's role in illegal dogfighting could reach a staggering $100 million in lost future salary, potential repayment of bonuses demanded by the Falcons for defaulting on his contract and endorsement money that is drying up.

That not does not include the cost to his reputation and image. No price tag can be put on that damage, which may be irreparable."

Nah. A slick publicity blitzkrieg returns him to our hearts and wallets, and before you can say Woof, Mr. Vick is back throwing from sideline to sideline while making believe he can play quarterback. A talented scatback with a strong arm. Thats all he is but thats enough in the starved-for-black-leaders NFL, an NFL that desperately needs a contrite black man in order to prove that rehabilitation can be done and not all pro players are felonies waiting to happen.

A year in the slammer minus time off for good behavior. Then back to making millions.

Raise your hand if YOU wouldn't trade a year for independent wealth and luxury the rest of your life.

Bad Science 101

"Tyrannosaurus rex would have been able to outrun a footballer, according to computer models used to estimate running speeds of dinosaurs.

The work used data taken directly from dinosaur fossils, rather than referring to previous work on modern animals.

The study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, shows that T. rex had a top running speed of 8m/s (18mph).

The fastest dinosaur was a small, bipedal and carnivorous species.

This animal, called Compsognathus was about the size of a chicken, and could run at 18m/s (40mph).

The only modern bird to equal this speed is the ostrich. By comparison, an athlete in a 200 m sprint can reach a top speed of 12 metres per second (27 miles per hour).

T. rex's speed of 8m/s (18mph) is fractionally quicker than the average professional footballer."

The average footballer can't stay close to the average American playing a real sport, nor could a carrion-eater as T-Rex have needed speed so it probably did not have speed. It's called weight to stride ratio, and a well fed Tyrannosaur was most likely far too heavy for sprinting all that much but remember; this is Brit "science" so it means less than nothing. They certainly didn't walk around all bent over like the modern junk-science'ers would have you believe, and if you want to drive them to stark raving blither then simply ask why an animal would switch to becoming a biped only to hunker as if it still had 4 legs instead of 2. And psst...animals who rely upon speed as the primary method of flourishing do so on all 4's. Height is good for sniffing the air and looking towards the horizon. Lousy way to drag along 10 or so tons.

Taking Hillary To The Woodshed

"One of the things, the important aspects of this race is role modeling what good families should look like," Michelle Obama said at a Women for Obama event. "And my view is that if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House."

Michelle Obama.

One in four read no books last year

"One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole, can hardly be called ravenous. The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year — half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn't read any, the usual number read was seven.

"I just get sleepy when I read," said Richard Bustos of Dallas, a habit with which millions of Americans can doubtless identify. Bustos, a 34-year-old project manager for a telecommunications company, said he had not read any books in the last year and would rather spend time in his backyard pool.

That choice by Bustos and others is reflected in book sales, which have been flat in recent years and are expected to stay that way indefinitely. Analysts attribute the listlessness to competition from the Internet and other media, the unsteady economy and a well-established industry with limited opportunities for expansion.

When the Gallup poll asked in 2005 how many books people had at least started — a similar but not directly comparable question — the typical answer was five. That was down from 10 in 1999, but close to the 1990 response of six..."

Maybe the publishers haven't seen the shoddy artwork that passes for covers nor the break-in-a-second binding that turns most people off, but here's a clue; women have always read more books, and anyone who frequents a library can vouch for that easily enough. This has convinced the detweillers who make publishing decision's to hire bad women writers instead of looking for good writers, who ARE out there, just hidden from plain sight while the bodice-rippers get aisle seats to grab the passerby rubes. And instead of looking to go high-tech and interest the modern generation of impulse buyers who'll grab onto to anything cool, books get cheaper looking by the nanosecond.

I'll grab a book or two a week, but admittedly read less here in Florida than I did whilst living in Iowa. Lot less to do when snowed in, even with a gorgeous wife.

August 28th UPDATE

Truth be told I've been busier than a 1-armed moslem hanger, what with the gator cull going on, but I've still been approaching pawn shops and gun dealers and asking them to hop aboard the August 28th Ammo-Buy/Exercise Your Rights/Piss Off The Brady's-Day.

One of these times I'm going to find a legitimate gun shop, that is interested in the country, the Constitution, and above all we the people.

Until then it's make-do with these elite snobs selling their overpriced junk just because its a college town with a sucker born every nanosecond. Not that there's necessarily anything amiss about a college town, mind you. Just as the loons get to impress these malleable young minds, so do we. Dozens have taken an interest in firearms under our watch, and while they can't carry on campus those of age can certainly participate in Free-Men 101 classes, and ANY youngster dissuaded from being a frightened liberal pawn is a good thing.

Lisa says that I need work on my bedside manner when approaching things called human beings, so maybe I'll give it a try with the next pawn shop I'm due to visit tomorrow.

Just so's you get where I'm coming from, here's one of the great deals offered to me by the biggest shop in town:

1st Generation Glock 21. Approximately 40K rounds of service. 1 magazine, no original box or paperwork.

$499. Before tax.

See why I'm having such a hard time?

DESERT SUNRISE

"...The rules in the camp forbid interviewing soldiers, and I play by the rules. But I didn't need to ask those young men and women questions. Not here. I knew them. I'll always know them.

Of course, there are differences between the "old" military in which many Post readers and I served. And most of the changes are for the better.

The most striking thing to a Cold War-era soldier is the profusion of combat patches on the right sleeves of the soldiers - who look bewilderingly young.

But other differences tell, too: While troops will always be troops, there's less "smoking and joking," a greater seriousness than my generation ever showed. And these men and women in uniform are a lot fitter and tougher than we were.

Yet, even in the field showers - where all men are theoretically equal, but certainly aren't in reality - you can still spot Old Sarge in the mufti of Eden. There's just a look you get to know. And you don't need to see a badge to tell which NCOs have been drill sergeants.

And for all of the dishonest campus posturing, if you want to see real diversity, just stand in a military chow line.

As I write, the heat's rising. The August temperatures here bully every living thing. I'll start another round of waiting - as Tom Petty put it, "The waiting is the hardest part." (Once you get to Iraq, it's all adrenaline and Gatorade.)

But my day started wonderfully, after all. Among my brothers. To them, I'm just another old straphanger to be shrugged off - politely. But I've got my images of them to carry me through the day:

* Recruiting-poster Marines in crisp uniforms (even here), handling their weapons as easily as if they've grown a fifth limb: combat vets back for another round.

* The lanky Army private with a don't-talk-much Midwest look who sat down beside me at breakfast. As I dug into my eggs like a great, roaring swine, he folded his flame-shaped hands and whispered a prayer of thanks, just between him and the Lord.

* And the troops lined up with their rucksacks, flying off to war.

Was anything better in the "black-boot Army" (which has now replaced the old brown-shoe Army in the role of the lost legions)?

Yeah, as a matter of fact: For all of the bounty of those contractor-run "dining facilities," no hired cook will ever make the transcendent, worth-a-heart-attack breakfasts our old Army "spoons" used to serve up, along with an unkind word or two. But veterans of all our services and of all our wars will be relieved to know that the coffee's as bad as ever.

Ralph Peters is on assignment for The Post in the Persian Gulf.

A combat veterans remembrance of the early morning hurrying up in preparation to wait is somewhat different than that of Mr. Peters. He should have embedded with the Navy if he wanted good coffee, though. But that's another sign of privilege. ANY coffee is good coffee when you can get it.

Lefty Blogger Files FEC Complaint Against Fred Thompson

And Stop The ACLU has the breaking news...

'Cop-killer' guns from US seen crossing into Mexico

MEXICO CITY -- "Authorities are sounding the alarm about an influx of assault rifles, armor-piercing pistols, and fragmentation grenades from the United States, weapons that they say are increasingly being used to kill police and soldiers fighting drug cartels.

US and Mexican law enforcement officials report a sharp increase in both the flow and firepower of US weapons across the border.

Particularly worrisome are assault rifles and so-called cop-killer pistols.

Mexico has strict firearms laws, few gun stores, and a mere 4,300 private licensed gun holders among its 105 million people.

The United States, with nearly as many guns as people, has more than 100,000 licensed gun sellers, an industry that makes about 2.8 million small arms a year, and gun laws so loose that arms traffickers easily pick up any weapons they need.

Despite Mexico's gun-control laws, criminals have long smuggled guns in from the United States.

"The problem is getting bigger because the illegal possession of arms, and their clandestine introduction to our country, combines with narcotics trafficking," said a government report to Mexico's Senate in June.

It said 99.4 percent of the weapons in the hands of Mexican criminals are suspected of coming from the United States.

At least 11,752 US-sold guns have been found in Mexico since January 2003 -- a tiny fraction of what remains on the streets, according to the report.

Particularly worrisome are US sales of Belgian-made FN-57 pistols. These fire bullets that "will defeat most body armor in military service around the world today," according to the Remtek weapons site on the Internet. They sell for $800 to $1,000 each at dozens of gun stores within a day's drive of the border.

The weapons were unheard of in Mexico until they were used to kill at least a half-dozen police officers this year.

Among them were Mexico City policemen Felix Perez and Jose Rodriguez, slain in May when a car full of suspected mobsters fired FN-57s whose bullets sliced right through the officers' body armor."

Ah but where does one even BEGIN to fisk this atrocity.

There are, always have been, and always will be firearms capable of "slicing through body armor."

Problem with using the FN-57's is the fact that there is NO ammunition for it that will do that, unless one hijacks a military supply depot. Off the shelf 57 ammo will not penetrate vests, but lots of home made rounds will and not cost an arm and a leg for gun or ammo.

Assault rifles are fully automatic ones and gun shops in the states do not sell them. Without a special license and then its so expensive you're better off going black market especially when there's all that cartel money in action.

But back to the much maligned 57. I really thought that the days of bitching about the armor piercing rounds for this handgun were long gone. Virtually ANY handgun of major caliber can be loaded with armor piercing rounds. The 57 was the liberal bad-gun-of-the-year a while back, but the true scoop came in hot and heavy and its been a while since I've seen anyone so stupid as to reincarnate that old canard.

If the drug lords are stupid enough to go after police using a handgun when there are so very many better options, then that's actually a good thing. Once again, FN-57 ammunition of the armor piercing variety is illegal in the US, so to spend a grand for such a silly little handgun then have nothing to shoot from it is really dumb. If those two Mexican policemen were killed with 57's, then they spent more for the rounds than the gun, and lets face it...when you've got that kind of money to throw around FN-57's should be at the bottom of the list so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense except that some rich bad guys thought it was cool.

As usual, a doctoral thesis can be written about yet another poorly done, sometimes flat-out disingenuous tale of woe concerning firearms.

From the liberal media. Who can't seem to get the facts straight. Or perhaps don't want to.

August 28th...Guns & Ammo (Slash) Exercise Your Rights Day...

Well I've contacted the big wigs here in my little corner of the gunshine state and am awaiting a reply. The local newsrags did everything but laugh in my face, and probably would have were I not so damned ugly, so it's no-go as far as getting the word out via the Yellowstream Media. They are hooked, lined, and sinkered behind the Brady Bunchers and won't hear of publishing a dissenting point of view unless it's to poke fun at gunners.

Thats sort of why this newfangled internet media deal is working so well. As far as stimulating grass roots efforts in situations such as this.

Anyway, I didn't expect anything but nothing ventured nothing gained so I'm resorting to word of mouthing it around the local ranges, and but of course the Hogtown Irregulars will be doing something special, probably a shoot-out-barbecue in honor of next Tuesday. Here's the skinny; anything for an excuse to grab hold of some new ammo, etc, and then shooting the lot of it, but there's a damned good reason the gun grabbers were as successful as all hell.

Complacency, Fuddism, and fear. Fear of making enough of a fuss to be heard and identifying oneself as a gun owner. Outside of the Irregulars, and to be honest even one or two of them, lots of folks are settled in nicely with good jobs and nice families, and aren't up for a full scaled brouhaha. Oh in the anonymous sanctity of the voting booths they'll do the right thing, but not in public, never out in public.

The Fudds don't want to piss off ANYONE in government for fear that their adored hunting gear will be trifled with, and I am not disrespecting anyone, far from it. There have always been those who storm the walls and those who await news of the storming.

Kurds flee homes as Iran shells villages in Iraq

Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards participate in military training at an undisclosed location near the Gulf. Photograph: AFP/Getty

"Iraqi Kurdish officials expressed deepening concern yesterday at an upsurge in fierce clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces in the remote border area of north-east Iraq, where Tehran has recently deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards.

Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes..."

Patiently awaiting the democrat response to this. Surely, some of their candidates MUST have something to say.

Wait, I know. They'll vow to go there and speak with them concerning this. Perhaps using, gasp, harsh language.

BBC drops fictional terror attack to avoid offending Muslims

"The BBC has dropped plans to show a fictional terror attack in an episode of Casualty to avoid offending Muslims.

The first show of the hospital drama's new series was to have featured a storyline about an explosion caused by Islamic extremists..."

No word yet on whether moslems will drop plans to continue terror attacks so as not to offend Great Britain.

PS: This means the terror attacks were successful and the moslems have won.

Aging Femi-Nazi's Nothing But Hot Air

"TO thunderous acclaim from the liberal intelligentsia, a team of feminist icons - including Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda - last year launched a women-run radio network. The mainstream media dutifully parroted press releases describing the launch as a "breakthrough" for women in the male-dominated world of talk radio.

The Boston Globe, for example, proclaimed that "GreenStone gives women an outlet." Business Week described the venture as "Talk Radio Minus The Testosterone."

Last Friday, GreenStone Media signed off for good.

GreenStone offered the typical liberal fare - boasting of interviews with Ralph Nader and Alec Baldwin - but also included programming that was downright girly. Morning show segments included "Mean Mommy," with advice for mothers, and "What's up with Guys," providing insights into the elusive male brain.

Similar business plans certainly have succeeded elsewhere. Plenty of media outlets target women - from sappy dramas on Lifetime and Oxygen to family-centered morning shows and magazines - and draw large audiences and big advertising dollars. GreenStone Media sought to imitate those successes. Its Web site explained, "Talk That Women REALLY Want . . . Only Green- stone Media gives you a lineup of personality talk that best appeals to the demo advertisers want most - women 25-54." It seemed a good sales pitch; certainly advertisers welcome the chance to reach this coveted female audience on the radio.

GreenStone's problem was it couldn't attract an audience of either gender. The programming was picked up by only eight affiliates in small to mid-sized markets. Apparently, GreenStone's programming wasn't the talk that women really want."

Okay, enough is enough. The story goes on to reveal that yes indeed, women can do quite well in radio, listing Laura Ingraham and Dr. Laura Schlessinger as examples, but doesn't get down to the nitty gritty.

ALL liberal attempts at garnering an audience fail unless the offering is fictional in nature.

Case closed. Not that the loons aren't represented in the media, sheesh far from it. 90% of the Jurassic Press, many internet sites, a great deal of TV programming be it dramatic series or comedy, and any movie George Clooney stars in, is as lefty as lefty gets.

But when it comes to whats happening now in the real world the liberals don't stand a chance because all they offer is fantasy.

Escapism is one thing. Full blown retreat after a disgraceful surrender is another.

Report: 'Harry Potter' Author J.K. Rowling Working on Crime Novel

LONDON — "J.K. Rowling has been spotted at cafes in Scotland working on a detective novel, a British newspaper reported Saturday."

The single biggest whodunit in the known galaxy is the identity of the publishing bigshot who selected Rowling as the next superstar, in favor of those who could actually write. Any other sleuthing is small potatoes, but that's just what the world needs.

More detective stories. Told by people who know nothing about detectives or stories. Be interesting to see how she makes the segue from children's books to adult fare.

Double Tap .308 Winchester

Back when the South Vietnamese Army was having serious difficulty carrying let alone shooting the M-14, we went down the wrong road in catering to the recoil sensitive, and for my money this was the sort of round that should have been used instead of the .223/5.56:

308 Winchester 125gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip.

100yds - 1.3" high 2942fps / 2401ft/lbs 200yds - zeroed 2743fps / 2088ft/lbs 300yds - 6.9" low 2553fps / 1809ft/lbs 400yds - 17.1" low 2371fps / 1562ft/lbs 500yds - 34.6" low 2199fps / 1341ft/lbs Caliber : .308 Winchester Ballistics : 3150fps - 2754 ft./lbs. - 22.0" bbl. Remigton (sic) 700 FN-FAL - 3000fps Simply downloading the M-14 or a variant would have produced such a round, and 125 grains @ 3000 fps or thereabout is what the braniacs are fiddling with now as a possible replacement for the poodle shooter.

Father Accused of Shooting Daughter's Boyfriend After Finding Him in Closet

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — A man accused of shooting and paralyzing his daughter's boyfriend has been charged with first-degree battery and a terroristic act.

George David Reed, 48, of Highfill was arrested July 31 in the shooting of Michael Austin Guzman, 19.

Reed was charged Friday in Benton County Circuit Court and is free on a $150,000 bond. His arraignment is set for Sept. 10.

Authorities say Reed came home and found Guzman hiding in the closet of his 17-year-old daughter's bedroom. Police said Reed beat Guzman with a pool stick, then left the room to retrieve a gun. Guzman and his girlfriend blocked the bedroom door with a dresser, and Reed began shooting through the door, police said.

A bullet struck Guzman in the back and lodged in his spinal cord, fracturing three vertebrae. Doctors don't expect Guzman to regain any feeling or mobility below his waist, authorities said.

If convicted, Reed faces up to life in prison."

His big mistake was leaving the room then returning. He walks in with the gun in the first place, then throws himself on the mercy of a jury that believes it was in the heat of rage. Not that he'll do anything close to life. This IS Arkansas and men are still allowed to freak a little over their daughters. Shooting through the door was really a dumb ass thing to do though. Can't say what I'd do in a similar situation, but tossing caps blindly isn't the best way to preserve your daughters honor. Could just as easily have shot her, but this sounds an awful lot like he really didn't care who took the lead.

Gun Control In No-Longer Merry-Old England

The Smallest Minority does a bang-bang job so hither thee yon.

Florida Cops Get Missile Launcher in 'Kicks for Guns' Exchange: UPDATE

ORLANDO, Fla. — Police were hoping for a good turnout at their "Kicks for Guns" sneaker exchange Friday, but they weren't expecting to get a surface-to-air missile launcher.

An Ocoee man showed up and exchanged the 4-foot-long launcher for size-3 Reebok sneakers for his daughter, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Taking advantage of the exchange's no-questions-asked policy, the man was not identified. He told the Orlando Sentinel that he found the weapon in a shed he tore down last week.

"I didn't know what to do with it, so I brought it here," he told the newspaper. "I took it to three dumps to try to get rid of it and they told me to get lost."

Besides the missile launcher police collected more than 250 guns. They were all exchanged for sneakers or $50 gift certificates.

Orlando Police officials offered no comment to the query regarding the rash of gun-thefts that usually precede such turn-ins, nor any indication concerning how many firearms had been stolen from officers.

"How they get 'em ain't none of our business," An anonymous officer responded, "but many are worth a lot more than 50 bucks and the ones usually stolen from one of us gets returned so everybody wins."

Representatives of several Dunkin Doughnut franchises in the greater Orlando area did say that the annual turn-in helps them greatly with regards to cleaning their Lost & Found collection of police handguns found in toilet facilities, and that the staff receives all of the gift certificate proceeds and looks upon it as a regular bonus.

"Our store finds two or three Glocks a week," Edward Sprinkles owner of the Orlando bypass Dunkin Doughnuts said to reporters, "the cops are too embarrassed to say they leave 'em in the john so they get reported as stolen and it's nice that our working kids can get some sneakers back in return for the things. The guns are so crudded out and dirty it isn't like they can be used for anything so running shoes for scrap metal is a good trade."

THE UPDATE PART

Well whoops on my tired old ass

Here I thought the story and accompanying pic were enough to laugh at sans explanation, but it seems that some folken are up in arms over a FRICKIN INERT OLD TOW TUBE.

What was turned in was not a firearm. Just as the barrel of your gun is a barrel and not a gun.

Sheesh but why do I even read some of the email.

How It Used To Be Done...

"...It was quite a day for the Clemens family, too. Two of his sons, Kacy, 13, who shares the same birthday as Alex Rodriguez, July 27, and Kody, 11, were in the clubhouse and were ecstatic, not about Dad's win, but that A-Rod gave them autographed spikes commemorating his 500th home run.

This, combined with Clemens' tutoring of Chamberlain and Hughes, is really what the Family Plan is all about. When you consider Maybin got his first major league home run against Clemens in the fifth, and that Young Rocket was in the process of winning his second straight Cy Young in 1987, the year Maybin was born, you begin to understand the greatness of Clemens.

"That's awesome," the Rocket told his sons of Rodriguez's gift, then added in a most fatherly tone: "Now you can go back to school, but if you don't get good grades, we're sending them back."

Just another lesson to pass along to the kids."

Amen. The man makes over $20 million a year, and his children want for nothing. But, they have to excel in school or there ARE no bennies.

Compare that to a lot of these present-day spoiled brats then thank the lucky stars for men from Texas.

New Jersey's Anti-Gun Cult Digs In

August 19, 2007 -- "Almost as shocking as the execution-murders of three college students in Newark two weeks ago is the governmental - and moral - paralysis that has informed New Jersey's reaction to the crimes.

On Thursday, Gov. Jon Corzine and Newark Mayor Cory Booker proudly announced yet another crackdown on guns - even though the state already has some of the toughest gun-purchasing laws in the county.

But neither Corzine nor Booker has said nearly enough about the systemic failures that led to the slaughter.

Happily, state Senate President Richard Codey gets it.

He and Attorney General Anne Milgram have launched an investigation into the actions of the Essex County criminal-justice system in its dealings with suspected murderer Jose Larchira Carranza, an illegal alien, over the last 10 months.

* Carranza was first arrested on Oct. 1 after a bar fight and charged with aggravated assault and weapons possession (using a bottle on three men in the fight). The processing judge set bail at $50,000.

Three days later, Judge JoAnne Watson reduced bail to $20,000, with the consent of the Essex County prosecutor's office. After posting $2,000 cash bond, Carranza was set free that day.

* On Jan. 18, he was arrested on 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, 15 counts of child endangerment and five counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of five.

The same Judge Watson set bail at $200,000.

On Jan. 29, Superior Court Judge John Kennedy reduced bail to $150,000 with the consent of Essex Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Scott.

Carranza posted a $150,000 bond on Feb. 6 and was out the next day.

* On May 3, Carranza was arrested on six counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child, two counts of sexual assault on a four-year-old and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Judge Michael Ravin set bail at $300,000.

On May 17, Superior Court Judge Thomas Vena consolidated Carranza's two sexual-abuse cases - and lowered bail to $150,000.

As The Newark Star-Ledger reported, the vacationing Vena dropped by his chambers - with neither defense attorneys nor prosecutors present - to reduce and consolidate the bail.

Having already posted $150,000, Carranza walked without having to put up an additional dime.

Prosecutor Margarita Rivera claims she consented to reducing Carranza's bail to $300,000, not $150,000.

But that's irrelevant.

Through it all, neither Rivera nor Vena saw fit just to revoke bail on a violent felon dangerous to children and the broader community - and in the country illegally, besides.

Indeed, at no time did anyone check Carranza's immigration status.

The case's high profile has sparked a flood of 20/20 hindsight and action. In addition to Milgram's probe, the state's chief justice has tasked a retired judge to review the bail decisions.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement finally placed a "detainer" on the illegal Carranza.

That means he's not going anywhere. - regardless of the trial outcome.

But that raises an entirely different set of issues.

Before the murders, Gov. Corzine requested that Attorney General Milgram draft guidelines for local police jurisdictions to work with federal authorities when dealing with illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

Those regulations are to be completed by the end of the month.

IT's an example of how bad things are across New Jersey that such official rules have to be drafted.

Basic common sense dictates that local cops automatically alert federal authorities if they have an illegal in custody on felony charges.

But Newark thinks differently.

Last October, a City Council resolution, passed 8-0, declared that the city won't inquire of an immigrant's status or deny an illegal any city services. This resolution has caused Newark to be deemed a so-called "sanctuary city."

At a Tuesday press conference, Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy deemed the immigration status of the perpetrators "irrelevant." Booker added, "It's no way the obligation of the city police department to be going around doing the work of [ICE]."

Wonder if the families of the three slain college students think Carranza's status is "irrelevant"?

In what world are McCarthy and Booker living?

When a violent crime has been committed, immigration status is damned "relevant" - if only because immigration charges can keep violent offenders off the streets in the face of New Jersey's ludicrous bail policies.

That's just common sense.

But, as is now evident, common sense is in short supply in the Garden State - and the consequences are tragic.

And deadly."

The bottom line? New Jersey officials believe a gun to be more dangerous than the oft times arrested illegal immigrant who used one, and if any case exposes such stupidity this one does. Because these judges and politicians actually believe that without the tool, the man is redeemed. In the cult that is modern day liberalism, one can be instantly transformed from a law abiding citizen to a heinous felon just by touching so magically charged a talisman.

That's why it is so hard to fight. So difficult to change the minds of these worshipers of injustice. They believe, they really believe that by keeping guns out of the hands of average citizens, alien monsters such as Carranza won't get one either. And forget the facts, the numbers that clearly indicate law abiding citizens do not use firearms to commit crime, because to the cultists that elevates honest people to an elite status, and sin of sins, JUDGES less than law abiding people as being less than equal.

In the mind of the liberal, all men ARE created equal and that means none of them can be trusted with a gun.

18 Rounds Of .45 ACP...

...Possible with the Arredondo base pad extension that adds 4 additional rounds to your Glock 21 magazine.

Yes they work and quite well. The kit includes a +10% Wolff spring and the entire shootin' shucks can be yours for a measly $31 plus shipping.

Better than carrying a spare mag, for some at least, and worth a look.

Iran's Guards: We'll 'Punch' US

"Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said they would not bow to pressure and threatened to "punch" the U.S., in their first response to Washington's plan to list them as a terrorist organization, newspapers reported Saturday."

Punch? Or kick? I'll readily admit that we've nothing to match these high-stepping fairies. Wait. The Rockettes. How stupid could I be, we'll set them up against Broadway's best and winner take all.

11 year-old field stripping AR15

Thanks to JR at A Keyboard and a .45.

Lisa was in the Army and we are now having a time-off to see who can field strip one faster. She, or the little girl in the video.

Disgusting

And Speaking Of The Breck Girl...

Edwards Calls Coulter 'She-Devil'

ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: "Former Sen. John Edwards on Friday fired the latest round in his ongoing verbal feud with Ann Coulter, calling her a "she-devil" at a public event before quickly adding that he shouldn't engage in name-calling.

Edwards, D-N.C., was railing against the right-wing media -- including Fox News and Rush Limbaugh -- when he reminded a crowd in Burlington, Iowa, that his wife stood up to Coulter in a public spat earlier this summer.

"We know these people. We know their game plan. They're going to attack us personally," Edwards said. "They attacked Elizabeth personally, because she stood up to that she-devil Ann Coulter. … I should not have name-called. But the truth is -- forget the names -- people like Ann Coulter, they engage in hateful language."

In June, Coulter went on ABC's "Good Morning America" and said she had learned her lesson after being blasted for suggesting in a joke before the Conservative Political Action Conference that Edwards was a "faggot." "If I'm gonna say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot," Coulter said.

That prompted Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, to call in to MSNBC's "Hardball" and challenge Coulter directly. "I want to use the opportunity … to ask her politely to stop the personal attacks," Mrs. Edwards said.

The call left Coulter uncharacteristically flustered -- and was quickly turned into a fund-raising appeal by the Edwards campaign."

(Pictured: Former Senator and Presidential hopeful John Edwards is seen responding to an audience members question regarding how many testicles he had removed after that tragic biking accident when he was 9)

Typical of a liberal journalist to misunderstand the difference between "flustered", and "laughing so hard you wanna pee your pants". Ann will most certainly fisk this latest lie from the latest lie-beral Presidential wannabe who will do or say pretty much anything to be elected, but for now suffice to suggest that the party of vitriol shouldn't be calling the kettle black because when Ann retorts with what Madame Edwards and HIS ilk have been up to, it's gonna get ugly before it gets even funnier.

If I didn't know better I'd swear these dolts were trying to sell even more of her books for her.

Now We Know Where John Edwards Finds All Those Poor People He's Always Talking About...

He Makes 'Em

August 18, 2007 -- "Embarrassed presidential hopeful John Edwards promised yesterday to take millions of dollars of his own fortune out of a hedge fund tied to subprime lenders who foreclosed on victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The populist (?) candidate - who has denounced such lenders - invested $16 million of his $30 million in assets in Fortress Investment Group. The Wall Street Journal reported that 34 New Orleans homeowners struggling to overcome Katrina's aftermath faced foreclosure suits from subprime-lending units of Fortress."

Sure. I believe that Edwards didn't know what was in his portfolio. Man who spends that much time fussing with his hair is bound to miss a few million investments here and there.

GOTCHA. You thieving little disingenuous twerp.

Federal Judge Helps Bloomberg Mock The Constitution

"Two out-of-state gun dealers who sold illegal guns used in city crimes agreed to a settlement yesterday that will allow a special master to monitor them.

Mayor Bloomberg, who sued 27 gun dealers in five states in an effort to reduce illegal gun sales, hailed the legal deals as "major steps forward in our fight to get gun dealers to obey the law and stop selling the guns that end up being used to kill our citizens."

Fourteen gun dealers have settled with the city.

The latest settlements with John's Gun & Tackle Room of Easton, Pa., and Franklin Rod & Gun Shop of Rocky Mount, Va., came two days after a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled that New York courts have a right to hear these cases.

The judge also said the city has shown that dealers in the suit are responsible for "large quantities of handguns used by local criminals to terrorize significant portions of the city's population."

And there you have it. Signed, sealed and delivered by our elected politicians and high courts.

Handguns are capable of terrorizing significant portions of people, and towns. When owned by law enforcement they go off by themselves. When owned by criminals they sneak out in the dead of night and spread terror throughout our biggest city. A staunch a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I am nonetheless forced to agree that such guns must be found, captured, and destroyed. After reading this story, I was so shocked that I hurried to check my gun cabinets, and safes, and nooks and cranny's, but thankfully none of my firearms had gone rogue.

Yet. No one really knows what it is, what pushes them over the edge towards a life of crime. There's one old Smith that I swear is looking at me when I turn my back on it, and perhaps it is time to put it down before something horrible happens. Before it leaps out of my hand and shoots an innocent bystander, or loses total control and hops a Greyhound for New York City. Until modern science discovers the cause for such depravity, and hopefully its cure, we must all keep a close eye on each and every weapon lest one turn scoundrel and be found at the scene of a crime.

And never believe you are alone in this. Should you discover, or even think that a cherished handgun is on the verge of going bad, then send it to me immediately. No questions asked. Suffice to say I'll take care of things.

Beating The Brady's...Let's All Buy Some Guns Or Ammo On August 28

Okay here's the skinny...

On August 28th some Brady Bunchers want to hold a national gun protest day, so David Codrea of The War on Guns is proposing we turn this into yet another of those terrific Buy Some Firearm Related Stuff Day, and he's calling it an Ammo Buy Proposal

I'm all for it; any excuse to go buy some ammo or gun stuff, and I'll be busting some local chops to see if a business or two wants to chip in and help. Not that I have a good feeling about that, this part of Florida isn't exactly awash in decent gun stores, but it's worth a try.

JR over at A Keyboard and a .45 has already garnered some action, so stop by and check out the link to Dallas Tactical Supplies.

And PS: Don't tell Lisa but there's this semi-auto M-14...civilian certified but of course...that I've had my eye on and it'd be the perfect thing for so august an occasion.

Wars Hit Home With Ammunition Shortage for Police Departments

"Troops training for and fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are firing more than 1 billion bullets a year, contributing to ammunition shortages hitting police departments nationwide and preventing some officers from training with the weapons they carry on patrol.

An Associated Press review of dozens of police and sheriff's departments found that many are struggling with delays of as long as a year for both handgun and rifle ammunition. And the shortages are resulting in prices as much as double what departments were paying just a year ago.

"There were warehouses full of it. Now, that isn't the case," said Al Aden, police chief in Pierre, S.D.

Departments in all parts of the country reported delays or reductions in training and, in at least one case, a proposal to use paint-ball guns in firing drills as a way to conserve real ammo.

Forgoing proper, repetitive weapons training comes with a price on the streets, police say, in diminished accuracy, quickness on the draw and basic decision-making skills.

"You are not going to be as sharp or as good, especially if an emergency situation comes up," said Sgt. James MacGillis, range master for the Milwaukee police. "The better-trained officer is the one that is less likely to use force."

Before we go any further, let me get this straight...

The officer that practices more with his firearm is less likely to use it.

Okay. Sounds logical. Guns make big noises and stinky smells and kick like the dickens so I guess cops WOULDN'T want to shoot any more than they have to. And since they only hit what they are aiming at approximately 20% of the time, it isn't as if we're talking about marksmen here so why not let them take some time away from the range as it obviously isn't doing a lick of good anyway. Let's continue with this abject bullswaddle:

"The pinch is blamed on a skyrocketing demand for ammunition that followed the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, driven by the training needs of a military at war, and, ironically, police departments raising their own practice regiments following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The increasingly voracious demand for copper and lead overseas, especially in China, has also been a factor.

The military is in no danger of running out because it gets the overwhelming majority of its ammunition from a dedicated plant outside Kansas City. But police are at the mercy of commercial manufacturers.

None of the departments surveyed by the AP said they had pulled guns off the street, and many departments reported no problems buying ammunition. But others told the AP they face higher prices and months-long delays.

In Oklahoma City, for example, officers cannot qualify with AR-15 rifles because the department does not have enough .223-caliber ammunition - a round similar to that fired by the military's M-16 and M4 rifles. Last fall, an ammunition shortage forced the department to cancel qualification courses for several different guns."

Well isn't it a shame that the munitions WE buy for them are costing a little more but fer chrissake there's not anything CLOSE to a genuine shortage. WWII, now THERE was a shortage. There are NO US munitions factory's, Bubba Clinton closed down the last ones so the cops must purchase from private entities and since WE are getting ripped off its only right that they should as well. Bloody waste of time having them shoot even as much as they do, because it isn't anywhere near enough to become and remain proficient. And they CAN'T get much worse.

And lets stop the BS right here and now; if some PD's are waiting over a year for ammo then they are either looking for some unique stuff or haven't clue-one whom to contact. Me, you, Joe shit the rag man, can pick up the phone and call Cabela's, Midway, Cheaper Than Dirt, and dozens of other businesses and have case after case shipped to us any time we so desire. It has gotten lots more expensive, but then haven't we been complaining about getting ripped off for some time now. And yes, private industry CAN do lots better than the government in MOST areas, but a government owned ammo plant or two or three sure wouldn't hurt. Not that its going to happen because there's plenty of rounds to go around no matter what the AP is bitching about, but our public servants could be first on the list to get the cheaper stuff if they had a plant making it just for them.

Fact: There are more private citizens shooting guns than there are police department shooting guns. And a great many of us shoot far more often than they do. For the life of me I can't understand why they just don't go to rolling their own if it's becoming so much of a hassle to stand in line like real people do.

And as a public service gesture I'll open my ammo vault and even dust off the old SHTF stuff should the Oklahoma PD need some .223. May not be enough for all 400 or so of them to shoot much more than a hundred rounds apiece until someone else chips in but its a start.

And one thing: No more shooting kids in the head while aiming at snakes in trees. Okay?

THEY Let The Dogs Out And Are Proud Of It

"It was inevitable that the federal prosecution of Michael Vick would be twisted into a case about race, that white America doesn't understand that dog fighting is a "cultural" endeavor.

Dog fighting might be explained as cultural, but it can't be excused as cultural. If savage cruelty of any kind is part of anyone's culture, then right-headed, clear-sighted and foresighted people should spend their time, energy and authority trying to change that culture as opposed to explaining it, excusing it, or in any way defending it."

Phil Mushnick

Not wishing to Nifong Vick, I've stayed away from trash-talking him over the dog fighting scandal, even when other pro-footballers chimed in with references to it being part of their culture and all but testifying to his culpability. Were it anyone else caught in so unsavory a hobby there'd be little sturm & drang, but Vick is a celebrity BECAUSE he is noteworthy enough to pay attention to, and this logically makes him fair game. But if there's anything we love it is a contrite bad-boy so fessing up then asking forgiveness would have done wonders for his image, yet we get apologists telling us we just don't get the culture thang, instead.

Culture THIS. Dog fighting is a disgusting pastime, fella's. It features you as a depraved sub-species and should be the LAST thing you'd want to stick up for, let alone participate in. Kudos to Phil Mushnick for being the first mainstream media person to call a spade a spade.

FREDDY, SET, GO! HERE COMES THOMPSON

"IN JUST two weeks, Fred Thompson will finally announce his formal entry into the 2008 presidential race and instantly become the biggest Republican threat to Rudy Giuliani.

The long-anticipated move by the former "Law and Order" star begins today with his arrival at the Iowa State Fair, where he will face his first real test before actual voters. Giuliani still holds a 10-point advantage over him in national polls, according to RealClearPolitics, but Thompson has seen his own support steadily grow while Giuliani's slowly erodes, from a high of nearly 40 percent earlier this year to below 30 percent now.

The biggest question for Republicans frustrated with the field is whether Thompson has waited so long to enter the race that he's blown any chance of capturing the nomination.

In the months since he began openly flirting with the idea, Thompson's fund-raising has disappointed supporters, he's burned through staff, and a negative story line about his wife, Jeri, meddling with the staff has begun to dog the campaign.

Yet he remains in the strongest position to pick off Giuliani, and hopes to become the real straight talker with big, gutsy ideas whose conservative credentials are beyond reproach.

Thompson's biggest gift over the last few months has been the collapse of Arizona Sen. John McCain's campaign. Once the presumed favorite, McCain is skidding barely above single digits in national polls.

Traditional political observers, of course, go berserk if you consider national polls. They look only at the small states that vote early in the primary contest, such as Iowa and New Hampshire, where such second-tier candidates as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are dominating.

Not this year. With so many states moving their primaries up for an early mammoth Tuesday, the advantage goes to nationally recognized candidates running campaigns nationwide. Giuliani's still the favorite. Thompson's poised to steal his thunder."

The author of the above might have missed a cliche or two here and there, but still managed to make his deadline to provide a story that offers absolutely nothing of worth but has Fred's name in the headline so folks will still have a look. Trying to pass off John McCain as the "presumed favorite" when everyone ELSE knew that only the media was doing so bespeaks either a complete misunderstanding of the electorate or just another Jurassic Press work of fiction. McCain was lionized by the liberal media precisely BECAUSE he was un-electable but what the liberal media still does not understand is the fact that not all that many people pay it much attention lately.

Sure, it's still the place to go for pictures of cars on fire or celebrity goings on but the handwriting was on the wall when the much beloved Bill Clinton himself could never get the majority of voters to pay HIM any attention despite the absolute adoration lavished by the old timers who are so far behind the curve they still believe it to be a straight line.

Fred Thompson doesn't have half of what's necessary to take down both Rudy and Mitt, not now, but there's plenty of time for someone to make that fatal misstep ala Johnny Dean, and shift the voters and their money to someone else. And there are a lot of folks such as yours truly who are waiting to see if Fred has been doing more than testing the waters and is serious about all this. Still and all, cash is king and so far it is not clear from whence Fred's is coming.

Shooting leads to murder charge

HAMMOND | "A Crown Point man was charged with murder Saturday after a Friday night Hammond shooting that left one man dead.

Killed was Julio Rios Jr., 18, of the 4200 block of Henry Avenue in Hammond.

Donald Sutton Jr., 30, of the 9600 block of Lincoln Street in Crown Point, told police he stepped out of a tavern in the 900 block of Hoffman Street about 9:30 p.m. for some fresh air when he saw a man breaking into his vehicle, which was parked nearby.

Sutton told police the passenger-side window of his vehicle was smashed, and the man was leaning inside up to his waist.

Sutton said he yelled at the man, who straightened up and took a couple steps toward him. That's when Sutton pulled a semi-automatic pistol from under his shirt, he told police.

Bar patrons told police they heard a single gunshot, followed a few seconds later by several shots in rapid succession.

Rios was taken to St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Hammond with multiple gunshot wounds in his back and was pronounced dead by Lake County coroner's personnel at 10:20 p.m.

Witnesses said Sutton walked back into the tavern after the shooting and told the bartender to call police. When officers arrived, a handgun was confiscated from Sutton, police said.

Detectives took Sutton's statement about the incident to the Lake County prosecutor's office, which filed a single count of murder against him Saturday."

Anyone who's taken a lot of shots at moving targets will tell you that it isn't unusual to aim and fire at a man facing you, only to hit him in the back as he turns to seek cover, concealment, or flat out beat feet.

"Multiple gunshot wounds in the back" does give me pause but not enough to say that this was a bad shoot. I can offer several scenarios in which it would be possible for an experienced gunner to crank out a series of rounds that landed in the targets six, and as usual the story is full of more holes than dead Mr. Rios so who knows.

Fwenchies Really Really Scared Witless Over Fred Thompson

TV star Thompson set for 2008 Iowa test-run

"Billed as a savior of conservatives left cold by 2008 Republican White House hopefuls, screen star Fred Thompson Friday dips a toe into the race in Iowa. But has his rescue mission come too late?

The craggy former senator's visit to supporters in the strategic state is the latest signal that an official campaign launch is imminent.

Thompson, star of internationally syndicated crime drama "Law Order," had been expected to take the plunge a few months ago. Now the smart money is on an early September debut -- four months before first nominating contests.

A Thompson campaign aide declined to confirm such rumors Wednesday, saying the 64-year-old, six-foot-six (two meter) star of "The Hunt for Red October" was still "testing the waters."

But when he does join the fray, how will Thompson fare against rivals who have been on the trail and piling up huge war chests for months?

If polls are to be believed, his spell on the sidelines was a political masterstroke.

In an average of recent national surveys by website Real Clear Politics, he sits second to former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and is a clear top-tier candidate in polls in key states in the nominating process.

But the phantom candidacy has also exerted a price.

Back in May, when news of a possible run surfaced, Thompson basked in a wave of favorable publicity.

But since then, reports have emerged of several campaign shake-ups and gossipy accounts of supposed overreaching by Thompson's wife and advisor Jeri.

Still, Thompson remains well placed, said Dan Shea, professor of politics at Allegheny College.

"I think it was rather strategic ... on the Republican side I think that a lot of voters and potential contributors have been only moderately pleased with the field."

"Jumping in late gives them the impression that he is the savior of the party -- so I think it was smart," Shea said.

But Thompson faces soaring expectations from Republicans desperate for the mix of plain-spoken conservatism and charisma embodied by another former screen star, their hero Ronald Reagan.

Critics, though, have complained Thompson is a mere shadow of the late ex-president, with a modest record as a Tennessee senator between 1994 and 2003.

But Thompson's trump card may be his gruff, no-nonsense character and southern charm, rather than a stuffed policy briefing book.

"Ronald Reagan was popular and effective because of his personality, not because of his record of achievement as governor of California," Shea said.

"His personality fit a need at the time -- that's I think what Republicans are looking for now."

Thompson's tax-cutting, small government ways sit well with conservatives yearning for a Reagan substitute.

"He is very much out of the Reagan mould, he is very much a federalist," said Professor John Geer, of Vanderbilt University, Tennessee.

"He speaks to a lot of old-time Republican concerns."

Thompson's return from the wilderness may reflect weakness in the overall Republican field, some analysts believe.

Giuliani's past positions on issues like abortion are seen as too liberal by many social conservatives.

Senator John McCain is struggling just to keep his campaign alive and Mitt Romney, the ex-governor of Massachusetts, is accused of hiding a moderate political past.

Thompson skeptics, though, point to his disappointing fundraising haul of just 3.4 million dollars in June. His backers, however, predict money will pour in when he enters the race for real.

Thompson has been holding forth on his new website "ImwithFred.com," calling for higher defense spending, lower taxes and sticking with the current surge strategy in Iraq.

In previous articles and blog postings with various conservative sites, Thompson has branded Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "pirate" and accused Democrats of "investing" in a US defeat in Iraq.

He harbors a dark world view of looming future threats and has accused NATO allies of slumbering through a showdown with Al-Qaeda's forces of "nihilism."

Forget for a moment what loon professor extraordinaire Danny Boy Shea has to offer about Reagan's personality over substance, and the fact that Professor John Geer, of Vanderbilt University, Tennessee thinks that Fred fits the "Reagan mould" because I really and truly do not think that Fred or Ronny were mouldy at ANY time of their lives.

The Fwench dug until they hit paydirt with two Lie-beral academics who showed them how to be afraid, very afraid, of someone who looks at the world and sees it for what it is, and not what the Tooth Fairy says it should be.

The only man getting us out of this moslem mess is one who recognizes TRUE darkness for what it is and fights it to the death.

If and when Fred announces his candidacy I'll await word of his platform and then make the decision to back him or not.

Ex-detective charged with stealing guns

WHITEVILLE — "A former Tabor City detective has been indicted on charges that he took two handguns from police evidence and pawned them.

Barry Neal, 36, was indicted Aug. 8. He was arrested the next day.

He is accused of taking a 9mm pistol on Dec. 7 and a .45-caliber handgun on Feb. 22.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives noticed the handguns while conducting an audit of the pawn shop, which was being sold, according to the indictment.

The guns were involved in cases that were no longer pending in the courts, and no active cases were jeopardized, Tabor City Police Chief Donald Dowless said.

Neal resigned from the Police Department on July 7. He went to work briefly for a private security company, Dowless said.

Neal previously had been demoted from lieutenant detective to detective.

Neal served as acting chief of the department for nearly seven months, from September 2002 through early April 2003. He was hired by the department in December 2000."

Amazes me how the BATF-U manages to nab this particular felon with a badge, but has yet to come up with any of the hundreds of weapons stolen by cops during the Katrina fiasco. Sure, the locals said that California police officers seemed to be the worst offenders, but how is it that secondhand word of mouth knows more about where the Big Easy guns went than the Feds do. Some say that many if not most of the stolen firearms were simply kept as souvenirs and trophy's of the day the cops got to play Mad Max Goes To New Orleans, but surely some of these guns can be found then returned to their rightful owners. Right?

Blogger Forces NASA to Tweak Climate Data

"A NASA research department has admitted that the calculations it used to show an increase in U.S. temperatures were flawed, after a campaign by an amateur meteorologist using his blog.

Climatologists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York have been forced to revise estimates after research by Stephen MacIntyre, who published his findings on his Climate Audit blog.

As a result of his calculations, which he e-mailed to NASA, scientists at the agency now say that 1934, not 1998, was the warmest year in the United States since records began to be kept in 1880.

They also accept that five of the 11 warmest U.S. years on record occurred before 1940, and that only one was in the 21st century.

The revelations have been pounced on by the fringe group of researchers and pundits who deny that man-made global warming is taking place."

And of course the data is now deemed to be insignificant because it doesn't prove their point, but when it DID, it was earth-shattering news. Like all lie-berals, the lefties make shit up as they go along and nothing uttered by a one of 'em bears any semblance to reality. The hottest days of record were recorded before mankind began uber-dumping unburned hydrocarbons into the atmosphere, but since THAT doesn't fit into their askew scheme of things it isn't important no mores.

To be a card-carrying Lie-beral means to moan, whine, bitch, throw a hissy fit, then start all over again. None of them are EVER happy about ANYTHING, remain in a state of incessant complaint, and this all stems from not having enough hugs as a child. Meaning but of course that Lie-berals are forever stuck in the Terrible-Two's and vociferously remonstrate against the very premise of growing the fuck up.

Cops map the highway to hell

"...The NYPD's report - ..."The Homegrown Threat" - is a 90-page road map... based on the actions of about 100 extremists...

The analysis was created by the NYPD's Intelligence Division to help law enforcement authorities identify terrorists and prevent attacks.

The warning signs include becoming more religious, growing a beard, taking part in activities like paint-ball war games and expressing significant dissatisfaction with the U.S."

Holy spit. Paint-ball is for kids, and now I'm glad of convincing the Hogtown Irregulars to not even think of staging such shenanigans. Many are bearded, shoot from dawn to dusk, and won't even buy gas in Gainesville let alone shop in any of its stores so as not to deposit any of their hard earned money into liberal-city coffers. Should Shrillary become President you can bet your bottom dollar they'll, yours truly included, express SIGNIFICANT dissatisfaction with the U.S. and I'm relieved that nary a one reads the NY Daily News because hells bells, many of the "warning signs" for potential jihadists happen to be present in lots of folks who...gasp...like guns.

But, being religious, having guns, and pissed off at the government is kinda what started this whole America experiment to begin with, so its comforting to know that the NYPD reads their history books.

Pictured: Police Commissioner Kelly discussing NY's Intelligence Division findings as to who warrants special consideration for being a good terrorist.

Ann Coulter And The Lie-berals

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, LIE, LIE AGAIN

"If conservatives are the ones driven by ideological passions, then why are liberals the ones always falling for laughable hoaxes in support of their anti-war ideological agenda? And if liberal beliefs are true, why do they need all the phony stunts to prove them? How about liberals keep hoaxes out of politics and return them to their rightful place: "proving" Darwinian evolution."

The reason liberals fall for laughable hoaxes, Ann, is because all of their canards revolve around one simple thing.

Abject cowardice. When was the last time you heard a liberal praising America. When was the last time you heard of a liberal willing to LEAD America to greatness. To stand to the forefront in the fight against our enemies. Hillary Rodham introduces her husband, the discredited laughing stock of all things of true manhood, as the "Last great President." She has the unmitigated gall to refer to such a coward, a philanderer, a cheat, liar and felon as something great.

Know why? Because THAT is what is great to these creatures. Thievery and deceit. The best actor wins. The best liar achieves greatness. He or she who can fool the most people into turning against America is the one they exalt on high.

Cowards huddle with fellow cowards. To share lies that make them feel safe and protected against the real world. To them, fighting the enemy is far too dangerous so they fight us. The ones who've forever kept them safe from the foe. Because they know, deep in their yellow souls, that we keep the faith even against traitors. The job of the strong is to protect the weak no matter how disgustingly craven they might be.

I pity them. But its still my job to keep them safe. Liberal women, children, and emasculated men are still those we must stand the wall for, because above all else, they are Americans.

We Get Letters

A Soldier, a Sailor, an Airman, and a Marine got into an argument one night about which service was the best (go figure, right?).

The arguing became so heated that none of the four servicemen saw the truck that was barreling down the road towards them. The driver failed to see them, and all four of them were killed instantly.

Soon, the servicemen found themselves at the Pearly Gates of Heaven. There they met with Saint Peter, and, figuring that he would be a good source of Ultimate Truth and Total Honesty, asked of Peter: "Saint Peter, which branch of the United States Armed Forces is the best??"

Saint Peter replied, "I can't answer that. However I will ask God what he thinks the next time I see Him. Meanwhile, thank you for your service on Earth, and welcome to Heaven."

Some time later, the four servicemen see Saint Peter and remind him of the question they had asked him when first entering Heaven. The men asked Saint Peter if he was able to find the answer. Suddenly, a sparkling white dove lands on Peter's shoulder. In the dove's beak is a note glistening with golden dust.

Saint Peter says, "Gentlemen, here is your answer from The Boss. Let's see what He has to say."

Peter opens the note, and trumpets blare, golden dust drifts in the air, harps play
crescendos, and Saint Peter reads the note aloud to the Servicemen:

MEMORANDUM

FROM: The Almighty One

TO: Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines

SUBJ: WHICH MILITARY SERVICE IS THE BEST

1. Gentlemen, all branches of the United States Armed Forces are honorable and noble. Each serves America well, and with distinction. Being a Serviceman in the United States Military represents a special calling, which warrants special respect, tribute, and dedication.

2. Be proud of that.

Semper Fidelis
God, USMC (ret)

Thanks, Cookie.

Shotgun-toting robber dies after clerk shoots him

Score One For The Good Guys

Pembroke Pines - "Police announced Monday that a robbery suspect shot by a store clerk over the weekend has died in the hospital.

Norman L. Thompson, 21, was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital after being shot in the 12:30 p.m. Sunday hold-up at the Super Stop Food Store at 6460 Pines Blvd.

He was pronounced dead at about 6:00 p.m. Sunday, police said.

Thompson entered the store with a shotgun and an accomplice, Joe Willie Walden, 28, police said.

They demanded money from store clerk Bruce Flanders, 54, of Pembroke Pines. Flanders took out a handgun and fired twice at Thompson, hitting him once in the abdomen.

The two suspects fled, but deputies found Thompson in an alley behind Boyd's Family Funeral Home at 6400 Pines Blvd..."

How thoughtful of the thug to drop dead next to a funeral home, and if only the local yokels would have just wheeled him around to the back door and politely knocked, they'd have saved a trip to the hospital.

Dinosaurs to carry guns in Jurassic Park 4?

"Bloody Disgusting are reporting that some of the dinosaurs that will feature in the planned fourth JURASSIC PARK movie will carry guns strapped to them by the US Government.

The site also reported that casting was well underway on the movie which will begin filming in Kauai, Hawaii later in the year. Laura Dern is said to be returning to the franchise as Dr. Ellie Sattler while Sam Neill will NOT come back for another round of mayhem with the dinosaurs. More news as and when."

First off, the included pic was not taken from any of the Jurassic Porker flicks, as it portrays an anatomically correct Tyrannosaurus and not the longer-armed ones that were designed to make them look better on film and to hell with scientific correctness.

And B, why not arm the dinosaurs? In the previous movies, none of the humans carrying weapons knew a damned thing about how to use them so maybe the pea-brained losers from nature's cast off pile will fare better.

All of the Jurassic Protest films have been anti-gun, anti-hunter, anti-male, and anti everything not coated in gobs of treacle, so if it were not for the mention of guns who with anything resembling a modicum of testosterone would give a flying hump.