Democrats Are Planning on Buying Vehicles to Crush

ht/Moonbattery

Lemme get this straight and it's pretty stupid; so I may get it all wrong. Democrats on Capitol Hill want to spend some of the Stimulapolooza on buying vehicles and crushing them. SEMA says that Vehicles targeted for the scrap pile will likely include Chevy Blazers, Silverados, S-10s and Tahoes; Dodge Dakotas and Rams; Ford Explorers and F-Series; Jeep Cherokees and Wranglers; and any other SUV or truck that obtains less than 18 mpg.

They are calling the program "cash for clunkers," but Instead of focusing exclusively on old cars as is typical with scrappage programs, this bill will target any vehicle with lower fuel-economy ratings. Participants will receive a cash voucher to purchase a more fuel-efficient new car or used car (model year 2004 or later) or receive credit for the purchase of public transportation tickets.

It seems to me it's a wasteful program that would just get rid of these particular vehicles even though sometimes they have a valid use--it is as if these vehicles are inherently evil . SEMA goes on to say

• The idea that the trucks and SUVs must be scrapped in order to save energy is irrational. The program’s “carbon footprint” does not factor in the amount of energy and natural resources expended in manufacturing the existing car, spent scrapping it and manufacturing a replacement car.

• The program fails to acknowledge driver needs, such as the ability to transport a family, tow a trailer or rely upon the performance, safety and utility characteristics associated with the larger vehicles. Instead, these vehicles will be destroyed.

• There is no evidence that the program will achieve the goal of boosting new-car sales or increasing fuel mileage. Many states have considered scrappage programs in the past as a way to help clean the air or increase mpg, but abandoned the effort because they simply don’t work. The programs are not cost-effective and do not achieve verifiable fuel economy or air-quality benefits.

• The program will hurt thousands of independent repair shops, auto restorers, customizers and their customers across the country that depend on the used-car market. This industry provides thousands of American jobs and generates millions of dollars in local, state and federal tax revenues.

Democrats thinking outside the box. Scary isn't it?

Google Bombs: Ok for Bush, Nixed for Obama

It took four years for Google to fix the Google Bombs lobbed at President George W. Bush and only days to fix those aimed at President Barack H. Obama. From FoxNews:

The difference in time did not go unnoticed.

"You let this go on for the entire Bush administration," a reader named w3bgrrl wrote on a Google blog. "But since you bought the White House for Obama, you don't want your candidates harmed ... And your claims not withstanding, even liberals know you're liberal."

Google says that since the algorithm was in place the fix took less time. When years become days, I guess...

"Though the spirit of change may be in the air in Washington, some things apparently stay the same," Google software engineer Matt Cutts wrote on a Google blog. "After we became aware of this latest Googlebomb, we re-ran our algorithm and it detected the Googlebomb for [cheerful achievement] as well as for [failure]. As a result, those search queries now return discussion about the Google bombs, rather than the original pages that were returned."

Another Interesting Question, This Time About Bill Haslam

Say Uncle has reported that conservative mayors are quitting New York Mayor Bloomberg's hoplophobic group. Why hasn't Knoxville Mayor and Tennessee Governor candidate Bill Haslam? When a mistake is made one should correct it. How about it, Mayor Haslam? Or do you think Bloomberg's group is right in wanting to remove our Second Amendment Liberties?

Interesting Question

Snowflakes' Bitter poses and interesting question in the likely upcoming New York Senate general election matchup:

Gillibrand’s biggest hurdle will likely be a primary challenge. There is a possibility that Rudy stepping into the general election could be a huge hurdle since they are statistically tied in a hypothetical match-up. And in that case, who would gun owners trust more: a Democrat who comes from the part of the state that still votes pro-gun and who has a record of supporting gun rights or a Republican who ran on gun control and ran the part of the state that has some of the most oppressive gun laws in the country?

Bitter thinks that gun owners should "step up and throw some visible and measurable support behind New York’s junior senator" despite valid questions about who else supports Gillibrand.

I can see why Bitter wants to get behind a politician that, to this point, has been a great friend to gun owners. But, I also see the thinking that would suggest waiting to see what she does now that she is the Junior Senator from New York, especially since she is supported by other politicians like Schumer and Patterson. True Second Amendment supporters know that holding fire until the target is properly identified is an ironclad rule. It applies here.

Advice for the New RNC Chariman

Chairman Michael Steele is promising a grass roots effort to bring the GOP back to prominence by reaching beyond the base. Perhaps he should examine what the current base believes...

Coming off a shellacking at the polls in November, the plurality of GOP voters (43%) say their party has been too moderate over the past eight years, and 55% think it should become more like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in the future, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 24% think failed presidential candidate John McCain is the best future model for the party, and 10% are undecided.

Unaffiliated voters?

Thirty-nine percent (39%) say the party has been too conservative over the past eight years, while 34% think it’s been too moderate. For 14%, the party’s been about right, and 13% are undecided.

Regarding the future of the party, 46% of unaffiliated voters say follow Sarah Palin, while 26% like McCain. Just five percent (5%) give the nod to Bush, and 22% are not sure which way the party should go.

Go for that 34% plus 13%, Chairman... And add it to the strong current GOP base.

Steele's Metal to be Tested as RNC Chair

Former Maryland Lt.Gov. Michael Steele is the RNC Chairman. Many of us on the "conservative" side of personal Liberty have viewed this with some trepidation. Mr. Steele was the only candidate for Chair that did not own a firearm. That, in itself, is not a bad thing. However, Steele had made comments to the press that indicates he does not understand individual Liberty and the right to defend oneself and one's nation as the Founding Fathers intended. I guess we now can see why my question about Second Amendment Liberty was deemed out of bounds by the ReBuildThePart.com hierarchy. Steele also did not support opposing Eric Holder's AG Nomination.

Of course, saying things like this helps: "Asked what he planned to do to do to fix the GOP's image problem, Steele stepped to the side of the podium and quipped: "I got a nice suit. And the tie is good." Steele said that in 2006, the American people had "lost faith in our leadership" because Republicans "abrogated" the principles set forth in the 1994 Contract with America. "In order to right the economy, we don't need to redistribute their wealth, we just need to empower them to create more of it," he said."

I would rather have seen Saul Anuzis or Ken Blackwell chairing the RNC. They were both committed conservatives that believed and promoted the three principles of a Strong America, Individual Liberty, and Small Government. But, here we are. Steele possesses the best measure of being able to speak cogently and persuasively among the six candidates. He has had success, and has fallen short, in a "Blue" state. Steele should be able to speak to non-traditional groups as the GOP seeks to expand the "base."

Bitter says at Snowflakes: "I have to say, I like that he’s different. He’s an out-of-the-box thinker, or at least willing to give those who have ideas for these non-traditional messages a go. No, I don’t agree with him on every policy point. In fact, I probably disagree with him more than I agree with him. But the role of RNC Chair isn’t about setting policy or casting votes on the House or Senate floors."

Once again, RS McCain has up to date "as it happens" coverage of the vote. McCain objects to MSM characterization of Steele as moderate. "Michael Steele is predictably misidentified as a "moderate" by the Associated Press." The actual quote from the AP is, "Steele, an attorney, is a conservative, but he was considered the most moderate of the five candidates running." That is indeed accurate, as Steele was the most "moderate" candidate.

Eric Odom wants "to be reached out to." Guess the new Chair has some work to do among the "traditional" groups, too. As "The Directors" at Red State write: "The Republican Party needs to do two contradictory things in the years to come: return to the party’s conservative roots and sell the party’s message to voters who are not base conservatives. Chairman Steele has promised an aggressive outreach to do the latter; we urge him, in that effort, not to neglect the former. We can’t sell a message based on our principles if we don’t have principles."

Matt Moon thinks that Steele's primary job will be to "lead and develop leaders." Steele did sign onto the RebuildTheParty.com plan.

From the liberal wasteland comes this comment from Lanny Davis, "As I stated in a previous Politico Arena, Michael Steele was positively my last preference for RNC Chair -- since he was, and is, by far, the most effective, articulate center - right voice of the Republican Party, with a firm but friendly manner on TV and, thus, the best possible choice for the GOP to appeal to the broad middle of American society." At the same time, Davis found opportunity to take a shot at Rush Limbaugh as the "leading voice" of the GOP.


More:
Malkin
Ambinder Token?
Hot Air Awesome!

CSI without William Petersen

There's now been two episodes of CSI without William Petersen, and I haven't missed him at all. My mother refuses to watch the show without Grissom, but that's her loss because in some ways I think the change gives the show a new energy. And lest we forget, I thought the era of Grissom and Sara got a little whiny/needy/they're all wrong for each other vibe.

Two weeks ago, I was all bent out of shape about the dog Hank. Well, they still haven't explained where the dog is while his master is off chasing Sara (who deserted Grissom). Myabe the powers that be will realize they have a loose thread.

When it's all said and done, Fishburne is a breath of fresh air to CSI.

Related Articles: Gil Grissom's Last CSI, Countdown Begins, Is CSI Still Worth Watching

Billy Powell Dead at 56

ht/NoSheeplesHere

Billy Powell, the keyboardist for Lynyrd Skynyrd, died of an apparent heart attack Wednesday. At a little before 1 A.M., Powell called 911 complaining of having trouble breathing. Paramedics did cpr but Powell was pronounced dead at 2. It has been reported that he had missed an appointment for a cardiac evaluation.

Powell was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and attended school in Florida. While majoring in music theory in college, he became a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd and performed in a band named Alice Marr. Although biographies differ on when Powell actually became a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band's official website states that he made the transition from roadie in 1970.Johnny Van Zant, who became Lynyrd Skynyrd's lead vocalist years after Ronnie Van Zant's death, told The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville that his brother invited Powell to join the band after hearing him play piano during a rehearsal of "Free Bird," the song that became a rock anthem.

Brian Philips, CMT's executive vice president and general manager, who enjoyed a lengthy friendship with the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, said in a statement, "I will truly miss Billy. We have all lost one of our best rowdy friends.”

As a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Powell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Haslam "Fully Supports" Second Amendment

Tennessee gubernatorial candidate and current Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam has again stated his support for gun rights. So why is he still a member of the hoplophobic Mayors Against Illegal Guns? *Hint: They are against ALL guns, legal and illegal, which makes them anti-Second Amendment.

And anti-American.

[UPDATE] Brian's Blog: Is Silence Lobbying for a Job For His Wife with Haslam?

Of course, now Haslam says in hind sight he shouldn't have joined the Bloomberg group. But he wouldn't commit to resigning the group saying that would appear to be pandering to pro-gun folk. But, Haslam did tell Silence that he bought his son a shotgun for Christmas. That would be pandering.

Why would he refer to us as pro-gun folk? If he were one of us Second Amendment people then he wouldn't have to refer to us in the third person. If he were truly a Second Amendment person. He would say pro-gun persons like myself.

Brian's title question is about Michael Silence's declaration, "Seems to this little ol' blogger we can put this topic back in the holster." Uh, no... Not until Haslam gets out of the gun grabbing Bloomberg group. And even then, his waffling on this gives us Tennesseans a bit of insight into his character. Stay in Knoxville, Mayor.

It Really is Safe to Play the Cello, Men

Musical scrotum disease was a hoax.

Back in 1974, in a letter to the British Medical Journal, Elaine Murphy reported that cellists suffered from the painful complaint caused by their instrument repeatedly rubbing against their body.

The claim had been inspired by reports in the BMJ about the alleged condition guitar nipple, caused by irritation when the guitar was pressed against the chest.

But Murphy, now a Baroness and a former Professor of Psychiatry of Old Age at Guy's Hospital in London, has admitted her supposed medical complaint was a spoof.

The Baroness thinks the Guitar Nipple was a hoax, too. Whew, that's a load off the mind...

Longhand Dead?

It seems that cursive writing, the bane of most grammar school boys across the American past, is history.

Cursive handwriting is still on the curriculum in third grade in Maryland, but with the endless testing required by No Child Left Behind and new state standards, there is not much time to teach it.

Teachers are more likely to spend time on keyboarding skills, and they believe their students write more and write better when they type.

I stopped using longhand in favor of printing when I realized taking notes in college had ruined my writing ability. I tended to fill notebooks at a massive rate while in class and my writing became my own style of shorthand. I could read it at the time, but years later I couldn't translate what was written.

Now I rarely write or print anything. Everything is done on the key board or on a mobile device key pad. Checks? I haven't written a check in the store in years. Using the debit or credit cards has become so prevalent that the Pax wife has to make sure she has some cash before we go to Sonic. Sonic's card system doesn't allow tips to be placed on the order and I can't see not tipping the cute girls in short shorts that bring the burgers out to the Pax motor pool unit when we dine there. They deserve a dollar for sashaying our order to us. If the powers that be at Sonic are listening, we sometimes forego dining there when we can't find a dollar in cash...

So, should we mourn the soon to be lost art of longhand writing? Progress rolls over good and bad...

Who Woulda Thunked It

All members of the GOP in the House voted against Obama's re-election fund the stimulus package along with eleven Democrats. The GOP Congress showed a bunch of spine... Will the Senate GOP delegation? The House GOP even got a vote on their own plan which would have created twice the jobs with half the money.

The House GOP members and their stand elicited peals of joy across the conservative blogosphere. RS McCain is thankful they "grew a pair."

Is this the GOP I remember?

"Thus, this is the Democrats' baby," says Liberty Sphere. You bet. Even more, this is Obama's baby. From Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md): "Mr. President, I think our obsessive borrowing has fully mortgaged my kids and my grandkids. Now we're working on mortgaging my two great-grandkids."

$160,000,000,000 for the great-grandkids, courtesy The One Himself. He has to get re-elected, you know. The Democratic Party's Multi-Generational Financial Rape Act of 2009.
Now that is an apt name for it...

[UPDATE] RS McCain's is a proud constituent of Rep Bartlett. He has the full quote referenced above:

Said Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md.: "Mr. President, I probably come at this from a slightly different perspective. I remember when FDR beat Hoover in 1932. So I remember the Great Depression very well. I don't remember any of the many government programs affecting the course of the Depression. Government programs didn't work then, I don't know why we think they would work now. Mr. President, I think our obsessive borrowing has fully mortgaged my kids and my grandkids. Now we're working on mortgaging my two great-grandkids. Mr. President, I think it's more than a little bit selfish to try to solve our economic problems which we created by burdening future generations yet to be born."
This prompted applause.

Gulags In America?

From InfoWars:

The National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645 mandates the establishment of “national emergency centers” to be located on military installations for the purpose of to providing “temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster,” according to the bill.

The legislation also states that the camps will be used to “provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations”.

That's not so bad. Sounds like our Congress Critters want to avoid a repeat of the New Orleans problems after Hurricane Katrina. Then there is this:

Ominously, the bill also states that the camps can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse.

Now that sounds bad.

[UPDATE] (via LibertySphere) Rogue Government has more.

Even though we already know that detention facilities are already in place, they now want to legalize the construction of FEMA camps on military installations using the ever popular excuse that the facilities are for the purposes of a national emergency. With the phony debt based economy getting worse and worse by the day, the possibility of civil unrest is becoming a greater threat to the establishment. One need only look at Iceland, Greece and other nations for what might happen in the United States next. With this in mind, it appears as if these so called national emergency centers will be used in a national emergency but only if the national emergency requires large groups of people to be rounded up and detained. If that isn’t the case, than why have these national emergency facilities built in military installations?

Human Events: Concealed Carry Permits Are Life Savers

I have been meaning to mention this since I saw it a couple days ago.

On the RIGHT Side Bar is a Java applet containing OpenCongress' coverage of the bill. Also on the RIGHT Side Bar are links (Scroll Down) to WRITE your Congress Critters. Let's see if we can get this done!

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla) has proposed legislation (H.R. 197 - National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009) establishing national recognition of state concealed carry permits. Rep. Stearns has taken his case to Human Events and declares that Carry Permits save lives.

Look at the facts. According to a study by criminologist Gary Kleck of Florida State University, “[R]obbery and assault victims who used a gun to resist were less likely to be attacked or to suffer an injury than those who used any other methods of self-protection or those who did not resist at all.” In approximately 2.5 million instances each year, someone uses a firearm, predominantly a handgun, for self defense in this nation.

In research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, in which almost 2,000 felons were interviewed, 34% of felons said they had been “scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim" and 40% of these criminals admitted that they had been deterred from committing a crime out of fear that the potential victim was armed.

Allowing law-abiding people to arm themselves offers more than piece of mind for those individuals -- it pays off for everybody through lower crime rates. Statistics from the FBI’s Uniformed Crime Report of 2007 show that states with right-to-carry laws have a 30% lower homicide rate, 46% lower robbery, and 12% lower aggravated assault rate and a 22% lower overall violent crime rate than do states without such laws. That is why more and more states have passed right-to-carry laws over the past decade.

In 1987, my home state of Florida enacted a “shall issue” law that has become the model for other states. Anti-gun groups, politicians and the news media predicted the new law would lead to vigilante justice and “Wild West” shootouts on every corner.

But since adopting a concealed carry law Florida’s total violent crime rate has dropped 32% and its homicide rate has dropped 58%. Floridians, except for criminals, are safer due to this law. And Florida is not alone. Texas’ violent crime rate has dropped 20% and homicide rate has dropped 31%, since enactment of its 1996 carry law.

Another study makes the moral case for expanding and enhancing right-to-carry laws. A report by John Lott, Jr. and David Mustard of the University of Chicago released in 1996 found "that allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes and it appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths." Further, the Lott-Mustard study noted, "If those states which did not have right-to-carry concealed gun provisions had adopted them in 1992, approximately 1,570 murders; 4,177 rapes; and over 60,000 aggravate assaults would have been avoided yearly."

Freedom is Only for Those Who Have the Guts to Defend It

The title of this item is what the below video has as the closing words.



(H/T Insty)

8% of Stimulus Bill Occurs in 2009

Greg Mankiw has run the figures through his magic machine and states that only 8% of the spending in the Obama Stimulus bill will occur in 2009. Most economists state/hope that we'll be coming out of the current funk by year's end. So why is the other 92% in this legislation?

Further, only 42% of the spending will occur in 2009 and 2010. Mankiw breaks down the fiscal outlay:

2009: 29.0
2010: 115.8
2011: 105.5
2012: 53.6
2013: 26.5
2014: 13.0
2015: 6.9
2016: 3.0
2017: 1.6
2018: 0.9
2019:0.4

Total: $356.0 billion

Notice that years 2010 and 2011 are spending heavy, with 2012 at about half of 2010 and 2011's annual spending. Those three years represent the bulk of the spending.

Riddle me this: What happens in the fall of 2012? If my figures add up, while the spending starts off slow it really gets going for $303.9 billion of the $356 billion total just in time for Obama's re-election bid... Obama bought the 2008 election for $600 million (plus) of donors' money. He intends to use $303.9 billion (not counting interest) to get re-elected in 2012 -- before he asks for his donors to pony up another $600 million plus.

Hows that Change feeling now?

I noted in an earlier post what I should have placed in this post. The CBO, in a request from Rep. Paul Ryan (R - WI), stated the cost with interest (an additional $347 billion over the 2009-2019 time period) will be $1.16 BILLION. That is $160,000,000,000. Count the zeros. There's ten of them. The GOP is going to continue opposing this legislation and will be in a good position to pull the "I told you so" card in 2010 and 2012. As we know, this so-called stimulus won't work.

Cost of electing Barack Obama and a Democrat Congress: $160,000,000,000.

And counting.

Gallup Says GOP Has a Blue Problem

In the "Red" vs. "Blue" competition of GOP and Democrats, Gallup's latest poll indicates that the GOP has a blue problem. When asked for party affiliation, only voters in five states either lean or are solid GOP. Ten states are "competitive." That leaves thirty five states that either lean or are solidly Democrat. The poll considered independents who stated that "lean Democrat" to be Democrats and those independents who "leaned" GOP to be Republicans.


It must be remembered that a scant four years ago this map would have been solidly red with fringes of blue in the traditionally liberal coast and Great Lakes states. Things can change fast. With the Obama Administration pushing the current unpopular "stimulus" package loaded with nutjob goodies from San Fran Nan Pelosi their is a good chance that the center of the population, demographic and geographic, will turn Red again. Obama felt the heat of a center right public and took out the hundreds of millions of dollars for contraceptives.

This legislation is up to right now. The CBO, in a request from Rep. Paul Ryan (R - WI), stated the cost with interest (an additional $347 billion over the 2009-2019 time period) will be $1.16 BILLION. That is $160,000,000,000. Count the zeros. There's ten of them. The GOP is going to continue opposing this legislation and will be in a good position to pull the "I told you so" card in 2010 and 2012. As we know, this so-called stimulus won't work.

The Red will again spread... I just hope the Blue Democrats don't take us past the point of no return before it does.

Albuquerque Find Problems With E-85

Albuquerque has long had serious pollution problems. When I lived in New Mexico several decades ago the only blight I saw on the city during visits was the winter smog that would cover the basin where the city is located. The town has been looking for solutions to the problem for a long time. It seems that E-85 may not be one.

In 2006, Mayor Martin Chavez issued an executive order mandating that all new city vehicles coming into the fleet will run on alternative fuel. But because of problems that have surfaced with ethanol-powered APD vehicles, it could be time to go back to unleaded gasoline.

"Our policy up to this point has been not to allow the use of unleaded in those vehicles," Environmental Health Director John Soladay said. "We're relaxing that a little bit in hopes of finding a way to resolve the issue."

Soladay said the city has 350 vehicles running on E-85, fuel that is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. But some of those vehicles are going back to using just gasoline after problems arose with APD's new Chevy Tahoes and Crown Victorias.

A number of the vehicles are experiencing fuel pump failures and have been sent back to the dealership to get fixed.

I find the refusal to go heavy on CLEAN NATURAL GAS very confusing, especially among those who live in a region where CNG is so very plentiful and even more so since the buses there use it.

Atlas Shrugged--Fiction?

ht/Dr. Sanity

Stephen Moore writes in the Wall Street Journal that our economic crisis is straight out ofAyn Rand's Atlas Shrugged:

We already have been served up the $700 billion "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" and the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act." Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion -- in roughly his first 100 days in office.

The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

Birth Control to Help Economy

ht/Gateway Pundit

The 800+ billion piece of the bailout that Congress rushed through for their Lord and Master and 60 Republicans voted for it--it has 100s of millions of dollars allocated for contraceptives. Pelosi on ABC's This Week:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?

PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that?

PELOSI: No apologies. No. we have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.

The woman is insane.

Pocket Obama

ht/Irish Spy

Hot off the presses folks is a wee book--sized to fit your pocket. All you will ever need--that's right Obama quotes for you pocket or purse:

. . . this book is an anthology of quotations borrowed from Barack Obama's speeches and writings. POCKET OBAMA serves as a reminder of the amazing power of oratory and the remarkable ability of this man to move people with his words. His superb and captivating oratory style has earned comparisons to John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and this collection presents words that catapulted his remarkable rise to the American Presidency. Includes themes of democracy, politics, war, terrorism, race, community, jurisprudence, faith, personal responsibility, national identity, and above all, his hoped-for vision of a new America. This book is truly a primer for readers who want to examine the substance of his thought and reflect on the next great chapter in the American story. It is an unofficial requirement for every citizen to own, to read, and to carry this book at all times

Of course they are out of stock at the moment. Reckon should I put my order in before I'm sent to the reeducation camps? I read the reviews of the book, and some of them are quite out there in their adoration of our dear leader. They are so gushing as to have me doubt that such thoughts about a mere mortal could possibly true (a teen crush, maybe).

Remember When Your Mother Told You Not To Pick Your Nose?

She saved your life.

Ian Bothwell, a 63-year-old Briton had a highly distinctive habit of picking his nose, which was a poor choice for his health. Bothwell`s habit cost him his life, because he picked his nose so much that he bled out to death, Telegraph writes.

- There is no explanation for this death other than he died from a nose-bleed, consistent with picking his nose. I do not think for a moment he knew what he was doing was going to cause his death - a Manchester coroner said.

Holy Crap. Another mania to worry about.

Tahina the Baby Lemur

ht/Sun Sentinel

Baby Tahina is a rare species of Lemur (You know as in Madagascar). Only 17 are alive in captivity. She's at a zoo in France and was born December 27. According to Wikipedia there are 2 Superfamilies, 5 Families and 93 species of Lemurs. They are indigenous only to Madagascar.

Porcupines and Jack Russells

ht/Sun Sentinel

Jack Russell terrier Brody in Kansas had run in with a porcupine. It took 6 hours to remove the 1,000 quills.

Michigan: Permit Holder Uses Concealed Handgun to Avert Armed Robbery

The story here and here:

Richard Creed, 57, pulled out a handgun and pumped three bullets into one of the masked robbers, then held the bleeding bandit at gunpoint until police arrived at Evergreen Insurance Agency, 205 W. Midland Road.

The other suspect fled on foot after the 7:07 p.m. robbery attempt, and hid in a nearby parked car in Auburn for four hours until a Michigan State Police tracking dog found him at 11:02 p.m.

(...)

Creed possesses a permit to carry a concealed weapon, and used his handgun when the suspects, wearing Halloween masks, tried to rob him as he closed his business, Chlebowski said.

The suspects, ages 31 and 23, wielded two toy "Airsoft" pistols that fire foam or plastic projectiles, though such weapons appear real, according to Chlebowski.

"I'd shoot you if you pointed one at me," Chlebowski said.

Circuit City's Liquidation Sale? Deals Not So Good

The Consumerist finds that Circuit City's going out of business sale isn't such a great place for prices:

In this case, they found every single item they shopped for, from DVDs to big screen TVs, cheaper on-line — and took a look at a laptop that is now being sold at a sale price that is more than before the store was taken over by liquidators.

What good is ruining businesses if we can't get their goods at rock bottom prices? Even the store closing sales under the One stink. Sheeeesh...

Study Links Taser Use to Jump of In-Custody Deaths

Researchers at the University of California - San Fransisco think that Taser use is contributing to the rise in deaths of persons in the custody of police.

"In our opinion, there is a potential lethal risk with Tasers," said Zian Tseng, MD, a UCSF researcher. Cardiologists Byron Lee and Zian Tseng studied data provided by law enforcement agencies from 50 cities, and found the number of in-custody deaths went up six-fold in the first year a department started using Tasers. Lee and Tseng believe officers may be aiming too close to the heart.

The study can be read here.

"The Taser shoots pulses several times per second. Those pulses can actually overtake the heart and cause a heart rate that's 250 to 300 beats per minutes," said Tseng.

Yeah, especially if the subject is tasered twenty three times...

And You Thought National Politics Were Petty

I started blogging several years ago on a very narrow and specific subject: Correspondence Chess. That evolved into a broader chess topic of American chess governance. In the first post at ChessUSA.net in September 2007 I wrote that I was starting the blog to "help bridge the gap that remains in the necessary flow of vital information to the membership and to present information, news, and other items of interest to the American chess public and help support the mission of the USCF."

In that time the USCF (United States Chess Federation) has seen at least seven law suits related to what one person wrote on a chess Usenet news group, the cessation of sending the magazine (Chess Life) to all members, and many other zany acts and situations that defy the logic that chess players are supposed to possess. These are only a continuation of events that include a frivolous law suit to keep the USCF in New York in a decrepit building and away from the new headquarters in Crossville, Tennessee on land donated by that city, political posturing in 2004 to kick the reigning USCF Woman's champion off that year's Olympiad team, and numerous other little ploys and power plays.

Why did I and others think that the necessary flow of vital information to the membership was, um, necessary? Back in the last years of the previous century and the first years of this one the leaders of the USCF decided that each regular adult member of the USCF should be afforded a vote in state delegate and Executive Board elections. By 2003 this concept, known as One Man, One Vote (OMOV), was a reality. However, it became very apparent that there was no way for USCF governance (those being elected) and the regular members (those doing the electing) to interact. The USCF Forums were established to help. As an official venue of the USCF the forums were necessarily restrictive regarding on the language and topics that could be addressed there. Hence the ChessUSA blog as an attempt to "help bridge the gap."

But now, after a year and a half of trying to make sense of all these things, the final straw has been placed on the camel's back. One of the parties involved in the petty political stunts has objected to the facts being presented on ChessUSA.net with threats of legal action. Normally, I'd either ignore or fight the bullies. However, I simply do not care what the idioits do to each other any longer. The posts won't come down at ChessUSA.net, but I won't keep it open for further posts, either.

Ah, most of you don't care about all the chess politics, and I don't blame you. I just thought it would be an interesting contrast to the election cycle just completed.

Armed Goats in Nigeria. Really.

A goat has been arrested in Nigeria for trying to heist a car.

Vigilantes took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323.

"The group of vigilante men came to report that while they were on patrol they saw some hoodlums attempting to rob a car. They pursued them. However one of them escaped while the other turned into a goat," Kwara state police spokesman Tunde Mohammed told Reuters by telephone.

"We cannot confirm the story, but the goat is in our custody. We cannot base our information on something mystical. It is something that has to be proved scientifically, that a human being turned into a goat," he said.

The item doesn't say so but I bet the goat's first name is Billy.

Baa-aaa-aaa...

Gallup Polls Say No Mandate to Close Gitmo

ht/Gallup


Why is it that Democrats gets bogged down in the rights of the criminals that were/are trying to kill Americans, rather than trying to protect us. Hey BO, they are not going to love us or sit around the campfire with us and sing "Kumbaya." No matter what plan the new president comes up with, the terrorists are never going to throw down their swords. They might pretend to though.

Democrats are so gullible. That is why they scare me.

Murtha Says His District Will Take Gitmo Detainees

ht/Jawa

What a swell guy John Murtha is. He says now that President BO is closing Gitmo, his district will gladly take those pesky Gitmo Detainees.

Geert Wilders to be Tried for Hate Speech

ht/GatesofVienna

Geert Wilders who has been a voice crying in the wilderness in his effort to make sure the Dutch are able to keep their cultural identity in their own homeland, is about to be charge with hate speech because of his film Fitna. Free Speech is dying all over Europe and if you dare to speak out about Islam like Wilders, you could face the same persecution.

Gates of Vienna has a link to a petition in support of Wilders.
Check out Jihad Watch's opinion on what might happen here.

Houston: Concealed Carry Holders Stop Workplace Violence

From JR at A Keyboard and a 45 (hat tip Snowflakes):

Police shoot woman suspected of wounding man with arrow
A woman accused of shooting a man with a bow and arrow at her father's workplace before being shot by two civilians and a Houston police officer has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon...

This is how it is supposed to work. A deranged goblin enters the work place with the intent to create havoc and kill people. The people use their inherent right to self defense and the most efficient tools available to stop the deranged goblin in her tracks. The police come in, mop up, and take statements. Officers did have to shoot the goblin one more time as she still had the bow and attempted to draw it on them, but lives were saved by two men how had made the decision to be responsible for their own lives. Good on them.

As JR states, this is how it supposed to work. Instead we have "gun free zones" all over the work and education sectors that are simply target ranges for thugs and violent nut jobs. No lives were lost in this episode. There is no way that armed citizens could have prevented the injury to the woman's initial target, but no one else was harmed by her. Two responsible and legally armed citizens stopped the woman.

How many deaths at Virgina Tech and Columbine could have been prevented had responsible, law abiding citizens been armed in those places? As noted a while back on this blog, armed resistance stops "Active Killers" or "Active Shooters."

"As soon as they're confronted by any armed resistance, the shooters typically turn the gun on themselves."

As in this incident, the police are NOT typically the first responders. Citizens going about their daily routine are the ones who must initially respond to threats. Armed citizens, as the cited studies in our previous entry show, stop these killers in their tracks. "I wear a gun because I can't wear a cop..."

Suit Filed in New Mexico Death: Man Was Tased 23 Times During 2007 Incident

From PoliceOne:

The sister of a Raton man who died in police custody has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Jesse Saenz, 23, died in November 2007 after Raton police restrained him by firing a Taser and sitting on his lower back.
An autopsy found that Saenz died of cocaine intoxication. But the report also concluded that the actions of police officers played a contributing role in his death.
(...)
The officers then gave Saenz a "bump tase," in which the Taser was applied directly, rather than firing a dart, to the back of the neck area between the shoulders, according to the complaint.
Edmondson then ordered both Baca and Dominguez to deploy full Tasers, and the weapons were fired 23 times over the course of a few minutes, the complaint states. The officers later told New Mexico State Police investigators that they believed their Tasers, which deliver 50,000 volts, malfunctioned the night of the incident.
Saenz was placed face down on the back seat of Baca's police car, whereupon Dominguez sat on Saenz's neck and upper back, then later his lower back and hips, the complaint states.
"Dominguez held Saenz's legs towards his own chest while Saenz was handcuffed behind his back and face down on his stomach in the back seat of the patrol car," according to the suit. "This position made it virtually impossible for Saenz to breathe and increased the stress on his heart."

As the item notes, the officers involved have been indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Already the New Administration is Taking Swipes at Bush

ht/Ace

The White House Website is totally redesigned to celebrate America (snicker, cough, aha). It's really just tooting their own horn and by that I mean Our Glorious New Leader's. There's a place of course to solidify the new push for all Americans to serve their community, and another place to view all of BO's speeches and special words of wisdom and truth. And then there is a section dedicated to BO's agenda which contains a wonderful and heart felt slam of the now former President Bush--Great message of hopey changey there. What a wonderful bunch of human beings are in charge now. God help us.

Katrina

President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.

President Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush Administration's "unconscionable ineptitude" in responding to Hurricane Katrina, then-Senator Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims. Obama visited thousands of Hurricane survivors in the Houston Convention Center and later took three more trips to the region. He worked with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to introduce legislation to address the immediate income, employment, business, and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities.

President Barack Obama will partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever.

Way to start an administration guys.

Thank You, President Bush

ht/ Ace


Go here to leave your message of thanks.

South Carolina: Would be Armed Robber Shot by Intended Victim

A man trying to sell an Xbox found himself instead the target of an armed robbery attempt by two men. The seller then turned the tables by pulling his own gun and shooting one of the robbers.

Officers said the victim met with two men in the woods off Old Iron Lane after 6 p.m. Monday. They said the victim was planning on selling an Xbox.Instead, the victim said the other two men tried to rob him. One of those men had a gun and threatened to use it. That’s when the victim pulled out a gun of his own and shot at them.At the time, the victim told police he wasn’t sure if he hit either man. He left the scene and called 911 to report the incident.Police said about an hour later a person went to Carolinas Medical Center with a gunshot wound. Officers believe the person was shot by the robbery victim earlier.They said the person shot had life-threatening injuries and was in serious condition. Charges are pending against that suspect.

And It Starts Even As He Takes the Oath

From CrimeFile:

For failure to answer questions and provide documentation to hold the office of President as a Natural Born Citizen impeachment is warranted.

For association with terrorists and enemies of America like Jeremiah Wright, William Ayres and fellow members of The W.E.B. Dubois Club impeachment is warranted.

For adoption of a political platform that is un-American and designed to destroy free enterprise impeachment is warranted.

I'm willing to let him actually break a law or commit something impeachment worthy while in office before I call for a perp walk...

Good Al Qaeda News or Troubling

ht/Patterico's and Fox News

40 al Qaeda operatives are dead of what first appeared to be Plague. Well, now it appears that perhaps the operatives were experimenting with biologicals:

An al Qaeda affiliate in Algeria closed a base earlier this month after an experiment with unconventional weapons went awry, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Monday.

The official, who spoke on the condition he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said he could not confirm press reports that the accident killed at least 40 al Qaeda operatives, but he said the mishap led the militant group to shut down a base in the mountains of Tizi Ouzou province in eastern Algeria.

He said authorities in the first week of January intercepted an urgent communication between the leadership of al Qaeda in the Land of the Maghreb (AQIM) and al Qaeda's leadership in the tribal region of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan. The communication suggested that an area sealed to prevent leakage of a biological or chemical substance had been breached, according to the official.

"We don't know if this is biological or chemical," the official said.

The story was first reported by the British tabloid the Sun, which said the al Qaeda operatives died after being infected with a strain of bubonic plague, the disease that killed a third of Europe's population in the 14th century. But the intelligence official dismissed that claim.

According to Some We Are Entering A New Ice Age

ht/The Rational Actor

This story is exactly why I don't have a degree in Geology--the professor said we live on a planet of ice where periodically we enter brief periods of warming before the glaciers take over again and again:

The earth is now on the brink of entering another Ice Age, according to a large and compelling body of evidence from within the field of climate science. Many sources of data which provide our knowledge base of long-term climate change indicate that the warm, twelve thousand year-long Holocene period will rather soon be coming to an end, and then the earth will return to Ice Age conditions for the next 100,000 years.

Ice cores, ocean sediment cores, the geologic record, and studies of ancient plant and animal populations all demonstrate a regular cyclic pattern of Ice Age glacial maximums which each last about 100,000 years, separated by intervening warm interglacials, each lasting about 12,000 years.

Most of the long-term climate data collected from various sources also shows a strong correlation with the three astronomical cycles which are together known as the Milankovich cycles. The three Milankovich cycles include the tilt of the earth, which varies over a 41,000 year period; the shape of the earth’s orbit, which changes over a period of 100,000 years; and the Precession of the Equinoxes, also known as the earth’s ‘wobble’, which gradually rotates the direction of the earth’s axis over a period of 26,000 years. According to the Milankovich theory of Ice Age causation, these three astronomical cycles, each of which effects the amount of solar radiation which reaches the earth, act together to produce the cycle of cold Ice Age maximums and warm interglacials.

Elements of the astronomical theory of Ice Age causation were first presented by the French mathematician Joseph Adhemar in 1842, it was developed further by the English prodigy Joseph Croll in 1875, and the theory was established in its present form by the Serbian mathematician Milutin Milankovich in the 1920s and 30s. In 1976 the prestigious journal “Science” published a landmark paper by John Imbrie, James Hays, and Nicholas Shackleton entitled “Variations in the Earth's orbit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages,” which described the correlation which the trio of scientist/authors had found between the climate data obtained from ocean sediment cores and the patterns of the astronomical Milankovich cycles. Since the late 1970s, the Milankovich theory has remained the predominant theory to account for Ice Age causation among climate scientists, and hence the Milankovich theory is always described in textbooks of climatology and in encyclopaedia articles about the Ice Ages.

. . .

During the 1970s the famous American astronomer Carl Sagan and other scientists began promoting the theory that ‘greenhouse gasses’ such as carbon dioxide, or CO2, produced by human industries could lead to catastrophic global warming. Since the 1970s the theory of ‘anthropogenic global warming’ (AGW) has gradually become accepted as fact by most of the academic establishment, and their acceptance of AGW has inspired a global movement to encourage governments to make pivotal changes to prevent the worsening of AGW.

The central piece of evidence that is cited in support of the AGW theory is the famous ‘hockey stick’ graph which was presented by Al Gore in his 2006 film “An Inconvenient Truth.” The ‘hockey stick’ graph shows an acute upward spike in global temperatures which began during the 1970s and continued through the winter of 2006/07. However, this warming trend was interrupted when the winter of 2007/8 delivered the deepest snow cover to the Northern Hemisphere since 1966 and the coldest temperatures since 2001. It now appears that the current Northern Hemisphere winter of 2008/09 will probably equal or surpass the winter of 2007/08 for both snow depth and cold temperatures.

The main flaw in the AGW theory is that its proponents focus on evidence from only the past one thousand years at most, while ignoring the evidence from the past million years -- evidence which is essential for a true understanding of climatology. The data from paleoclimatology provides us with an alternative and more credible explanation for the recent global temperature spike, based on the natural cycle of Ice Age maximums and interglacials.

Go here to read the rest. Frankly a planet of ice is more frightening to me that global warming.

Get Ready for Forced Volunteerism

Saturday or so, Obama put out a video on his civilian force. And you thought you had only volunteered for the 2008 campaign. Hah, I wonder how many will be disenchanted when they discover the Messiah expects volunteerism to be forced. Sorry for no hat tip--I read so many, I forgot who was first. Oh yeah, this volunteer army will have a 75 million dollar budget.

Random Shots 19 Jan 09

Obama is Still Good for Gun Sales:
Gun sales soaring | Buckeye Firearms Association
Obama Driving Surge in Gun Sales, Firearms Groups Say
Firearms sales shoot up

Letter to the Editor:
Congress not empowered to control guns Under Article I, Section 1, Congress can only pass laws that are “herein granted.” There is no power given to Congress to enact gun control laws. The 2nd, 9th and 10th amendments all protect the right to keep and bear arms.

Hoplophobe Watch:
5 arrested during protest at North Phila. gun store
Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 (HR 45)
Gun Grabbers Wonder why there was such a run on the purchase of firearms in the weeks following the election? They’re coming for our guns. H.R. 45 is the most extremist piece of gun control legislation ever to see the light of day on Capitol Hill.
Old firearms given new life by restrictive New York gun control laws What I haven't written is that I also bought two pistols without a permit or registration -- perfectly legally. It was a purchase that would probably have never taken place without the perverse incentives inevitably created by restrictive laws.
Brady Campaign Sends Obama its Gun Control Wish List
The Liberty Sphere's Political Buzz ...one reason retailers can't get adequate supplies of ammo is that encoding is on the way, and thus, manufacturers are waiting until sometime after Jan. 20 to attempt to ascertain whether or not ammo encoding will be required under the incoming Administration.

Anti-Holder Brigade:
Stephen Halbrook Testifies Against Confirmation of Eric Holder
Morning Bell: It’s About the Judgment, Senators The proper question is one of judgment: Does the nominee demonstrate the kind of judgment necessary to advise the President in a responsible and constitutionally appropriate way? There are at least five issues which raise serious questions about Holder’s judgment:
David Codrea points to a .pdf of Stephen Halbrook's Senate Testimony against Holder.
Gun Owners of America Opposes AG Nominee
Eric Holder - Obama's Totalitarian Choice for Attorney General

Defending the Family and the Castle:
Self Defence: A Pro-Gun Strategy The only English speaking nation in which anti-gunners have often failed to parlay public outrage over a mass murder into gun prohibition legislation, is the United States. Most people assume this is simply a reflection of the lobbying power of the NRA. To some extent this is true. The US undoubtedly has the world's strongest pro-gun lobby. But this is not the principal reason for their success. The US is also the only country where pro-gun forces do not shy away from advocating the use of firearms for self defence. This is the critical distinction between the US and other English speaking nations.
The writer misses the most vital fact behind Americans' gun rights success: The Second Amendment. Canada and the rest of his examples don't have one of those...

007 Afraid of Guns?

The Pax Wife never did like the new Bond actor. I thought he did ok in Casino Royal and was hoping for better in Quantum of Solace. Now we find out he's afraid of guns. This just reinforces my belief that actors should only be seen and heard on film -- otherwise shut the heck up and keep your childish underdeveloped political thoughts to your selves... Movies are all about the suspension of disbelief. How are we suppose to believe the wimp on on the screen can kill dastardly thugs with a glance if he continuously goes on about his hangnails and insipid fears off screen?

Just shut up and do your job -- ACT.

On another tangent... This is one more case of an actor being paid millions of dollars to portray a character that is a success in part becuase of the firearms they utilize and then disparaging the tools of defense and those that use them in the real world.

Idiots.

Of course, we pay them...

Justice Delayed

It's about damn time, but not enough. These two agents were doing their job and simply defended themselves while trying to arrest a drug smuggler who has since been re-arrested for smuggling drugs. Twice. From FoxNews:

On his last full day in office, President Bush commuted the controversial sentences of two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug runner in 2005.

The imprisonment of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean had sparked outcry from critics who said the men were just doing their jobs and were punished too harshly. They had been sentenced to 11- and 12-year sentences, respectively.

Their sentences will now expire on March 20 of this year.

Ramos and Compean were sentenced in connection with the shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, who was shot in the buttocks while trying to flee along the Texas border. He admitted smuggling several hundred pounds of marijuana on the day he was shot and pleaded guilty last year to drug charges related to two other smuggling attempts.

Nearly the entire congressional delegation from Texas and other lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle pleaded with Bush to grant them clemency. Conservatives hailed Bush's decision Monday.

"The whole thing was ridiculous from beginning to end, and two years was way too long for them to serve," said radio talk show host Laura Ingraham. "Conservatives are very happy across the country."

President Bush and his dog Spotty

I was watching Animal Planet the other night and saw this program about presidential dogs. The story of Spot Fletcher Bush struck a chord with me (we had to have a dog euthanized in December). Spotty was the daughter of Millie Bush, born in the White House March 17, 1989 and was euthanized February 21, 2004 after a series of strokes. She was never far from the president's side. The evening before she was put down, a White House staffer saw the president cradling Spotty in his arms.

People can make all the snide and horrible comments about Bush they want, and a few even made terrible jokes about Spotty, but the man has a good heart. Maybe he wasn't the best communicator in the world, but I'll take his sincerity over Obama's eloquent rhetoric any day. At least Bush never scared the hell out of me.

W's Legacy

Rocking America's Adversaries: The key to success in Iraq, insists Crocker, was the psychological impact of Bush's decision to add troops. "In the teeth of ferociously negative popular opinion, in the face of a lot of well-reasoned advice to the contrary, he said he was going forward, not backward."

Bush's decision rocked America's adversaries, says Crocker: "The lesson they had learned from Lebanon was, 'Stick it to the Americans, make them feel the pain, and they won't have the stomach to stick it out.' That assumption was challenged by the surge."

Osama and his Islamist thugs thought the American response to 9/11 would be a few bombs or missiles, that we would wimp out... They used the examples of Lebanon and Somalia and our weak responses to the USS Cole bombing and the embassy attacks as evidence that America was a paper tiger. And we would have wimped out.

Except that our President was George W. Bush.

When he stood on that pile of rubble with his arm on the shoulder of that retired fire captain in New York and proclaimed that the Islamist thugs that toppled those buildings and attacked our nation's financial and political capitols would hear from us soon, that was a promise which, when kept, established firmly the legacy of George W. Bush. Two nations were stripped of their oppressive, genocidal, and dictatorial governments. Other nations that had supported terror and harbored the desire to amass weapons of mass destruction repented. Terror attacks have not visited our land since 9/11. That is his legacy.

Will Obama be as decisive in pursuing those that want to harm Americans? That hope dissipates with examples like this from Jennifer Rubin: He insists on this formulation of our current war efforts: “Two wars, one that needs to be ended responsibly, one that needs to be waged wisely.” And later he spoke of ”welcoming back our loved ones from a war in Iraq that we’ve brought to an end.” Why can’t he recognize that the war in Iraq is ending in victory? We get that he didn’t support that war. We understand he doesn’t think it was “worth it,” but with the campaign won I see nothing to be gained by ignoring reality and diminishing the tremendous accomplishments of our troops. It is churlish and unwise not to celebrate America’s success.

The chances that Obama will continue the Democrat tradition of doing what He thinks is good for His campaign and/or career instead of what best serves America seem overwhelming.What is the over/under of when Americans will be wistfully wishing a return to W's pro-America philosophy?

Global Warming Update

At one point this morning it was 2° in Nashville. Let me repeat that.

It was 2° in Nashville.

2°.

In Nashville, Tennessee.

Any more doubts that Global Warming is a crock? As I write this it is only 7°. Rumor has it that Al Gore's home, just a few miles and across a small mountain from the Pax Compound, was kept warm by the ambient hot air that surrounds the former Vice Crank.

Brrr.

[Update] At Noon it is only 12°. I was going to work on the Pax Motor pool's 4x4 today. I think I'll procrastinate.

Houston: Clerk Shoots Two Would Be Robbers

Two thugs found an unanticipated kink in their plans to rob a store in Houston:

According to the clerk, he was closing the store for the night when two men walked into the store and demanded money. The clerk had two guns. One was on the counter. The other was in his waistband.

First rule of being armed in a dangerous place: Stay in control of your weapon(s).

One of the suspects grabbed the gun on the counter and allegedly held it to the clerk's head while the other suspect searched the store for cash.

Fearing for his life, the clerk pulled the gun he had in his waistband and fired at least twice. He hit one suspect in the chest and stomach. The other suspect ran to the front of the store and the clerk shot him as well.

Even though they were both wounded, the suspects managed to get in their car and drive off. But they didn't get very far.

"They left in a vehicle and went down the road and called for help from that point," said Officer Jeff Brieden with the Houston Police Department. "Officers were also called to that location and found both suspects shot."

I once lived a few blocks from where this happened back in the 80's. It was going downhill then and, I suspect, has gotten quite worse since.

House Passes SCHIP

ht/Mark Levin and IBD

This is a complicated story that everyone needs to understand. Too bad very few people are listening. The House has passed SCHIP with the help of way too many Republicans. You remember, the thing Bush vetoed twice because it insured children whose parents made as much as 80,000 dollars a year. Anyway since this is complicated I feel obligated to quote the article from IBD:

The bill would provide $32.3 billion over 4 1/2 years to add 4 million children to the 7 million already covered in the program. It pays for the expansion with a 6% tax on cigarettes. A government which insists that smoking imposes enormous health care costs on society intends to use it as a revenue source for health care.

. . .

As Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., ranking member on Ways and Means, reminds us, President-elect Obama promised that no one making less than $250,000 per year would see their taxes go up.

This legislation breaks that promise. Obama has proposed "tax cuts" in the form of rebate checks to the working poor, then raises their taxes to pay for health care."Shifting the focus away from poor children is bad enough," Camp says. "Playing a shell game with the program's funding and forcing every American to soon pay higher taxes just adds insult to injury."

Like most government programs, the new SCHIP is likely to grow rapidly. SCHIP costs increased by 10% in 2007 and by 18% in 2008. An analysis by the Heritage Foundation says that to fund the SCHIP expansion, Democrats would need to recruit 22.4 million new smokers by 2017.

The bill would arguably open up funding of health insurance for illegal aliens, as it eliminates the identity-verification requirements in the current law and severely limits what states can do to attain proof of citizenship. The bill also removes the five-year period now required for legal residents to wait before enrolling.

. . .

SCHIP was created in 1997 as a supplement to Medicaid. It has grown since its inception, with 41 states raising the minimum income required for enrollment. In 1999, for example, New Jersey expanded eligibility for the program to include families making 3.5 times the federal poverty level. This bill lets the trend continue.

SCHIP was originally intended to assist poor children with their health care requirements. It's being expanded to include the non-poor and even non-children. About 10% of "children" currently enrolled are over the age of 18.

Hawaii tried its own version for those families earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to pay for private insurance. 85% of the children enrolled had had private insurance. The general idea was why should we pay for insurance when the state is providing it. So family after family dropped their private coverage to jump on the free gravy-train. Governor Linda Lingle had to close the entire program after only seven months.

Retro-fitting House to Meet Eco-Friendly Standards Kills 91 Year Old

ht/Moonbattery

The people in charge in the UK are bloody nuts. 91 year old disabled Dorothy Hacking had to take out a second mortgage to pay the 16,000 pounds she was forced to pay for making her home compliant to the new rules and regulations to force home owners to reduce CO2 emissions. Things got so bad before the stress finally killed her, that she became afraid of having to turn the heat on--after all, how could she afford to pay for the renovations and heat too. The city council seemed unmoved by her predicament because she had been warned of the possible cost she might incur when she purchased the house through a right to buy lease. Mrs. Hacking relied on a government pension to survive.

family have expressed their fury after the death of their disabled 91-year-old mother who 'was forced to take out a second mortgage to foot an unnecessary £16,000 council bill' .

The family of bed-ridden grandmother Dorothy Hacking blame Thanet Council for 'disgusting treatment' after the pensioner became overstretched trying to pay for work to meet government regulations to reduce CO2 emissions.

They say she was beset by stress and health problems after being left with no option but to take out a second mortgage for the stone-cladding repairs to make her home compliant with the Home Energy Conservation Act in Ramsgate, Kent.

The law requires councils to reduce their CO2 emissions by almost a third within the next decade.

Hmmm, I wonder when the Hopey/Changey guy will force, I mean ask us to retro-fit our homes?

Gil Grissom's Last CSI

Crossposted: Afallon's Pooka
Okay, eventually I will accept Laurence Fishburne as the lead on CSI, but I think he's going to have to slap that new girl Riley Adams for being a bitch and rude to her elders (maybe you had to see the montage of future episodes to get where I'm coming from on that). Anyway, Fishburne is okay. It's not his superior facade that has shown up on the set--so it's cool.

However, I had problems with Grissom's farewell. If he had walked off with Lady Heather, I wouldn't have been disappointed. In fact, I would have found that rather fitting. Unfortunately, he runs down to Costa Rica to be with Sara! Come on. She left him high and dry. I liked it a little when they got together because I felt sorry for her, but I never thought they fit together. I don't care about the age difference; although, eventually when there is that big a difference in age, you have problems since you don't get where the other one is coming from. I just didn't like them together. She acted too creepy too many times--sorry it's the only word I can come up with. Maybe distant would work better, but something was just too strange about Sara and I'm the queen of strange so I would know.

And here's the worst part for me. What the hell did he do with his dog Hank? You see Grissom with the dog a lot this season, and suddenly he's in Costa Rica. Where's the dog? Wrap things up right folks.

Kids Draw the Craziest Things

From Yew Nork Babe via Volokh.
This is one lad's representation of his mother selling a shovel at home improvement store according to Yew Nork Babe. What were YOU thinking?

Armed and Safe Blogger has New Gun Rights Column

Kurt Hofmann, known to the Blogosphere as 45superman of the Armed and Safe blog has started a new column with Examiner.com. 

A bit of a project is coming to fruition today--with a great deal of help and encouragement from David Codrea, I have landed a gig writing the St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner.

Although I live in Illinois, I'm less than 25 miles away from St. Louis, so I have some familiarity with the situation in the area.

Posting here might be light today, because I'm dealing not only with that, but with the Illinois legislative session, and the gun banning bills are already flying thick and fast.

Anyone who spreads the word about the new column will be doing me a huge favor (thanks again, David).

Kurt's first item deals with the St. Louis councilman that urged his constituents to arm themselves against crime (covered here at Pax last fall).  The RSS feed for Ken's new column is here (a bit hard to find on the Examiner page).

Atlanta: Would Be Armed Robber Shot Dead By Intended Victim

A thug intent on harming a man and his girlfriend is instead headed for the after life. 

When they left the bar around 11:15 p.m., the man gave his date the keys to his Ford Ranger pickup truck so she could drive. They walked to the truck, parked in an Ace Hardware lot across a side street on the same side of Glenwood Avenue.
Inside the vehicle, the woman was adjusting the driver’s seat and mirrors when the man looked over his shoulder and saw a man standing at his passenger window, Willis said.
Believing the man was going to beg for money, the passenger rolled down his window a few inches, Willis said. But he had a strange feeling about the man, so he grabbed his gun from the glove box and put it on his lap, Willis said.
He asked the stranger what he wanted, and noticed the man was reaching for his waistband or pockets, the detective said. Instinctively, the passenger shoved open his door, knocking the suspected robber back a few feet, Willis said. The woman started screaming.
The man got out of the truck and the suspected robber raised a weapon at him, Willis said. “When he saw that, he just started shooting,” the detective said.
The man shot the suspected robber five or six times, in the stomach and chest, Willis said. The robber did not fire any shots.
“He just got the jump on him,” Willis said of the victim. “He told me he fired until the guy was no longer a threat to him.”

Gun Lock Fantasies

I had placed this in today's Random Shots, but decided it deserved it's own post...
I received two stories on gun lock giveaways via email today:

200 gun locks available to Berks Countians free of charge
Police dole out nearly 500 gun locks, more on the way
So locking up guns makes them secure, right?  Not so much...
Gun, ammunition stolen from Howard County police cars

The suspect forcibly removed a secured and locked gun, ammunition, blank police forms and a police baseball cap from one car, said police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn. The gun was secured in a locked rack affixed to the car's interior, she said. The suspect stole ammunition from the other car.

Right.  A locked gun is secure.  Yep...  So secure that the Baltimore cops have given criminals another weapon and ammo. 

The government has no business telling you how to secure your weapon.  They can't secure their own having been given billions of dollars for that precise purpose.