Category: Uncategorized

It was all About Oiiilllllll!

Courtney’s all over this hot story: The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor because we made them do it by cutting off their oiiiiillllll!

I never realized that liberal victimhood had been exported to Japan. No wonder their economy is in the crappper.

Our Collapsing Schools

AlphaPatriot has this post about Memphis’ failing schools which demonstrates in detail that throwing money at the problem isn’t the answer. Go read. There’s nothing that I could add except “Memphis isn’t alone.”

Wait…That Didn’t Come Out Right…

On a lighter note, the Associated Press reports that Kelly Hu, last seen as Lady Deathstrike in X2: X-Men United, is now performing “The Vagina Monologues”. Says Hu:

“I don’t even move off the stool. It’s a totally different thing going on for me – a totally different muscle to exercise…”

Ahem. There goes one fantasy….

I Thought School was OUT for Summer

According to Sitemeter, the last four visitors came from the servers of: Michigan State University, Southern Illinois University, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes, and Washington State University.

Am I a source of interest to academics for some reason?

Steven Den Beste Weighs in on the Dimensions of Political Belief

In another excellent logical analysis, Den Beste disassembles an essay by Michael Totten that expounds on the “Left/Right” divide, by explaining that Mr. Totten’s linear scale is erroneous. Political beliefs are multidimensional, and in Steven’s piece he tries to analyse just how many degrees-of-freedom (ain’t that an accurate term) describe the space of political belief.

Money quote:

This is where Michael’s argument, based on a single axis, breaks down. The people he refers to as “liberals” aren’t liberal. For lack of a better term, we’ll have to call them “leftists” for the moment. The vocal leftist movement which has been revealed in the last year in the US manifests as being elitist (i.e. not liberal), idealistic (not realistic) and conformist (not tolerant). There’s a lesser dedication to equality (over inequality) but it’s not totally consistent because it is a side effect of a basic choice of groups over individuals and to some extent of socialism over capitalism. And within the US right now, they’re revolutionaries because they strongly disagree with the status quo. It is because they are revolutionaries that we tend to categorize them as being “leftist”; it has nothing to do with liberalism as such (especially since they aren’t liberal).

Excellent piece. Go read.

And You Should Rely On the Government that Disarms You….Why? Followup.

Another nod to Kim du Toit for this link concerning recent shootings in New York City

FEELING LUCKY, PERP?

That’s the choice New York’s mindlessly enforced gun laws force upon otherwise law-abiding people.

Consider:

* Mohammed Dramy, a 40-year-old Gambian immigrant, was shot dead Tuesday during an apparent robbery in Harlem.

The perpetrator is still at large.

* Meanwhile, two bodega employees, Jose Acosta, 69, and Victor Alejandro, 23, are alive following an attempted armed robbery the same day.

And it’s a perp who’s dead.

Sadly, Acosta and Alejandro are now charged with criminal possession of a weapon.

As three armed would-be robbers entered their store waving guns, Acosta pulled out a .22-caliber pistol, fatally shooting one; the others escaped.

Now, Acosta and Alejandro are looking at jail time.

Which is better than being dead.

But is it fair? Of course not.

Should they have sought a gun permit?

Yes, but the complicated application process in New York City dissuades people from applying.

At best, it takes six months to get a so-called “premises” permit for one’s home or business. And now it appears that the city has sharply reduced the number of licenses it approves.

Meanwhile, the bad guys have no trouble whatsoever finding weapons – and they never will, no matter how many gun-control laws are passed.

Acosta and Alejandro face a trial for using an unlicensed weapon to defend their business – indeed, their very lives.

Even so, they’re better off than Mohammed Dramy.

All things being equal, Acosta and Alejandro need to be let off the legal hook.

And New York needs to reform its gun laws.

And this doesn’t even mention the case of Ronald Dixon. The prosecutor in that case made sure that Mr. Dixon wouldn’t get a jury trial by reducing (but not dropping) the charges to a point at which Mr. Dixon is not entitled to a jury trial. I guess he’s still afraid of jury nullification. Mr. Dixon’s story has dropped into oblivion since March. I have no idea what the outcome (if any) was.

Last Entry on the Johns Hopkins Gun Lawsuit “Fact” Sheet

I started this series here, and continued it here. I thought I’d go ahead and finish it. I’m only going to discuss one last “Myth/FACT” from this “striver”:

Myth:The Lawsuits are simply designed to bankrupt the gun industry.

FACT:The lawsuits are actually designed to change the way gun makers design and market their products.

I guess no longer designing or marketing qualifies as “changing the way” it’s done.

In fact, the lawsuit filed by the NAACP doesn’t even ask for money damages, just changes in the way manufacturers do business.

But as I’ve pointed out, it isn’t necessary that the gun control groups win. The gun manufacturing industry isn’t that big. The NAACP lost its lawsuit, but not before the trial ran FIVE WEEKS. How much did the legal fees run? All the case preparation? And that’s one trial.

The gun-control lawyers have deep pockets – yours. Remember, 13 cities sued the gun industry. Your tax dollars at work. Suits brought by individuals and organizations are funded either by lawyers already rich from tobacco settlements or funded by chairitable organizations (according to Overlawyered.com) such as: The George Gund Fund, The Joyce Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott, Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund, Eugene & Agnes Meyer Foundation, George Soros’s Open Society Institute, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the YWCA, the Presbyterian Church USA, and the National Urban League. The gun manufacturers don’t have those resources. How would you like it if your business was sued in 13 different jurisdictions? How long do you think you could keep your doors open under that kind of financial stress? Even getting to the point where the cases get thrown out is expensive.

Go ahead, pull my other leg. That hound don’t hunt. But it drops a fine striver.

Give Up Your Guns. It Will Make You Safer. No, Really!!

Safer for the guys who are coming to oppress or kill you.

Instapundit provides a link to this Strategy Page report:

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is surreptitiously arming his war veterans and violent youth brigades with guns so that they can crush the planned street protests to topple his regime next week.

Army sources promised chaos and bloodshed on a scale never seen before, if protesters tried to march into Mugabe’s official residence in Harare.

And the eUNnuchs will sit and wring their hands and, at most send in some people to take a guess at how many died. If Mugabe lets them in.

Yup. We should really get behind the UN’s plans to ensure that only legitimate governments have small-arms. Sure we should.

Q: Shouldn’t it be illegal?

A: Only if you are a Puritan and afraid that someone, somewhere is having fun.

This looks like WAY too much fun: The Palouse Practical Shooters Boomer Shoot!

Great website, too. Thanks to reader Ry for the link.

At the quarterly Arizona AR15.com shoots a lot of binary Tannerite gets used, but nobody uses ANFO.

Idaho, eh? I don’t have a 700 yard capable rifle – yet. But when I do, I might have to make a road trip.

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

Or at least I’m apparently not yet loathed.

Perusing my Sitemeter data, I see I’ve gotten 36 hits just today, and some of you have spent some not inconsiderable time perusing the site. I also note a significant fraction of visitors come from .edu sites. Interesting. College students? (STILL curious as to who’s repeat visiting from the Johns Hopkins server.) I’m still waiting for my first hatemail for true validation, though.

Is anybody besides me and Jack reading our debate over on The Commentary? (Permalinks aren’t working there.) Jack pointed out in his last post that my two-part “Blog that Ate Poughkeepsie” post ran over 10,000 words. Oy. Please tell me I’m reaching a wider audience than one. Please.