Ok, I Like Guns And All...

But what is the purpose of this device? Who really needs a bracket to mount a PISTOL ON THE END OF A RIFLE?

Sounds like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, in my opinion.

Definitely the oddest gun accessory I've ever seen.

Texas Woman Fights Off Intruder With Poker

Great story. A woman fought off an attacker in her home around 4AM with a fireplace poker. A shotgun would have worked better, and would have insured said attacker would not have repeated this behavior. People who will break into a person's home in the middle of the night WHILE THEY ARE ASLEEP aren't there for cookies and hot cocoa, much to the dismay of anti-gun pant-wetters.

What gets me is the police say it's better to NOT give any resistance. You may have noticed the man had time to flee the house and evade arrest before the police showed up. Even in areas with a good 911 response time, there's at least 5 minutes there where it's just you and the attacker. What are you supposed to do then? You could always use the SNiVeL method...

To quote Pvt. Frost in Aliens:
"What are we supposed to use, man? Harsh language?"

Oooh...and even better, Han Solo in Star Wars:
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."

Girl's Confederate Prom Dress

How utterly ridiculous. I could see an uproar if she was wearing this shirt and claiming "free speech" but jesus christ! Many people have no concept of what the Civil War was really about. Everybody was taught in school that it was a war to free the slaves. Bullshit. It was a war over the states' rights to choose laws for themselves outside of an always-reaching-further federal government. It was the way the US had worked for the first hundred years, but a good many in the North believed a stronger federal government was needed. Many Southern, rural states and territories didn't agree.

Sound familiar?

Granted, some racists use the Confederate flag as a symbol of white supremacy, etc. with the ACLU and NAACP's help. We've all been brainwashed to equate it to the swastika. But a good many other educated people understand why the confederacy was formed and have respect of what the our ancestors were fighting for.

Me, I'm proud to be a Texan, a Southerner, and a decendant of a people wanting to fight against oppressive government. Racism has nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done.

The Reason For The Season

Great short article talking about the Pagan roots of the Christmas holiday.

Happy Holidays, ya'll.

Not That I Believe It...

...but in the interest of fairness, here's a story by an avowed atheist who had a near-death experience and found god.

Hollywood And MPAA Step Up Piracy Lawsuits

Well, Hollywood and the MPAA is at it again. They're going after eDonkey and BitTorrent now. That just means file sharers will be switching to a new technology in short order.

This quote gets me:

"But Charles Sims, a New York lawyer who has represented entertainment companies in court cases against peer-to-peer networks, said Hollywood recognizes that litigation is not the panacea.

'The (lawsuit) route is not perfect, in the same way that the war against drugs isn't perfect either,' said Sims, a partner in Proskauer Rose. 'But there's probably less heroine and cocaine out there now than if we weren't doing anything.'"

...which we know is bullshit. Drugs have only gotten cheaper and more plentiful, as reported earlier:

Analysis: Study Shows US Losing Drug War

I applaud Hollywood's intestinal fortitute (or their infinitely deep pockets), but the genie's out of the bottle and only governmental regulation of the Internet will stop it now.

We're Trusting THESE Guys To Find Bin Laden?

India is using PSYCHICS to help find Bin Laden these days.

And we wonder why he's still on the loose.

We're letting two-bit charlatans with delusions of grandeur lead us around like a bunch of idiots, though they are correlating this psychic data with satellite photos and reports from the ground. ::rolls eyes::

Attorney Hopes Texas Court Will Uphold Pastor's Rights

...and those pastor's rights include "...a constitutional right to govern the churches as they see fit, and to deal with unrepentant sin as they deem the Bible tells them to deal with it -- and not have a secular model imposed upon them by the courts," says Hiram Sasser of Liberty Legal Institute, the firm that is defending Pastor Buddy Westbrook.

Just for shits and giggles, let's look at how the Bible says adultery should be dealt with, shall we?

Leviticus 20:10
"And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death."

Great idea. Let's go back to stoning people or burning them at the stake. Couldn't let a secular model be imposed on Bible-inspired justice, right?

Man Bites Dog

No, really. And now he's facing felony animal cruelty charges.

Edwards Now Only 269 Electoral Votes Away

Looks like a MN electoral college member cast a vote for Edwards, going against the popular vote.

Edwards only needs 269 more electoral votes to win.

Let's see how Ohio turns out.

[/sarcasm]

"Welcome to Moe's! --God"

Oh, for fuck's sake! Who cares?!

Just goes to show you how god can "talk" to anybody and nobody can really challenge the borderline schizophrenia of the religious masses.

Aaah, Maybe I Was A Little Harsh

(regarding Intellectual Honesty thread below)

I put a high price on objectivity. I like for people to get their giggles however they see fit (whilst not harming others, mind you) If they hurt themselves they're just stupid but it isn't my problem. I like for people to mind their own goddamn business when something doesn't affect them (and by affect them I mean physically). I like for people to use common sense when they make decisions.

I understand not everybody's like that. People have long-held biases and beliefs they would never dream of discarding. I've just got it in my head I need to get rid of mine if I want to be able to view situations objectively and live in harmony with my fellow man.

I just hate nothing worse than when someone accuses me of being hypocritical, so I've tried to devise a set of standards, simple as they may be, that I apply to everything. It works for me, and the longer I do it, the less I grit my teeth when I notice someone doing or saying something I find distasteful.

Intellectual Honesty

I try and look at our freedoms in this country in an objective manner. I usually think the answer to problems is less government, enforcement of existing laws (and repealing a great many unneeded ones), and tough noogies to people that aren't smart enough to survive the trials of life the rest of us have.

There have been several threads and concepts posted over at Cam Edwards concerning banning certain things or practices in the public interest:

First, we have the idea of banning firearms, banning certain kinds of firearms, etc. Most people that know me know my position on this...that none of it is going to do any good. You can't legislate people into morality, and you can't stop someone who has it in their head they're going to harm someone else. Banning firearms will only take guns away from law-abiding citizens and criminals don't obtain their guns by legal means, nor do they care how many laws they're breaking in the commission of their violent acts. There are plenty of laws already on the books that a)adequately punish criminals, and b)give sufficient legal recourse to the victims. Most people I know in the blogosphere agree with this point of view.

**********

Secondly, we have this story about OU banning alcohol on their campus dorms and fraternities because of several incidents regarding underage drinking. This goes right along with the gun-banner methodology in my mind. Why ban something just because a minority of people can't be responsible? Why not let the students choose how they want to spend their time? Aren't there enough laws on the books already to punish underage drinkers? Isn't freedom supposed to be messy?

It just means more students will have to go off-campus to go party, logically resulting in more drunk driving accidents. At least if students could drink in their own dorm or frat or could walk to the party they wouldn't feel the need to get behind the wheel and compound the problem. They're going to do it anyways, that's just part of (most peoples') college experience at one point or another.

Decisions like this aren't going to eradicate the problem of binge drinking, underage drinking, or people being dumb enough to mix other drugs with alcohol. It's a feel-good policy for the parents and school administrators so they can think they did something.

**********

Then, we have this story about an official in Pennsylvania wanting to ban kids from movies after 7 PM. I think you can see where I'm going with this...more utter stupidity. How often does this occur?...often enough to ban all children from the movies after 7? Are we to ban all parents from bringing their kids to the movies because of a few irresponsible parents who won't remove their children when they're unruly? Is there not sufficient recourse available to the offended moviegoer in the form of asking management for their admission back because of a less-than-pleasant experience?

**********

TO SUM IT ALL UP:

These are not apples, oranges, and bannanas issues. They're one and the same. Posters (and blog authors) who are on one side of one issue completely change their minds when it comes to something they find apalling, annoying, distasteful, etc. It's akin to wanting to regulate pornography on the Internet but screaming for your own 1st Amendment rights otherwise. Or banning smoking (and soon no drinking, dancing, or talking) in bars when people have the choice to frequent that establishment or not. We have to tolerate that which we find distasteful if we want to be able to enjoy that which we find acceptable. How about a little intellectual honesty, people?

Nerk said it best in Cam's OU thread, so I won't try and inadequately re-hash it:

----------
"There are certain laws that are designed to protect society and then there are certain laws that are designed to protect people from themselves. Some laws prohibit things that are universally viewed as "bad" such as murder or rape (I'm sure you've heard the term malum in se), and there are laws that prohibit things because the occurrence of the prohibited action cannot occur in civilized society, such as speeding, littering, etc. (malum prohibitum).

The distinction is that laws designed to protect society are necessary for several reasons such as the possibility of being a deterrent, an avenue for prosecution when the law is broken so that violators can be fined and/or imprisoned (punishment), a way to stop the violators from doing it again (prevention - if they're in prison, they don't kill anybody else), and the sense of "justice" that society needs (retribution).

On the other hand, laws designed to protect you from yourself are largely less effective at preventing the prohibited behavior. If you're going to kill yourself, is a law against suicide really that effective at anything? Deterrent? No. Punishment? No. Prevention? No. Retribution? No."
----------

It's simple. Either you're on the side of freedom or you aren't. All of these above threads concern more nanny-state bullshit laws or policies because somebody gets annoyed and says, "There should be a law!!"

BlogShares

BlogShares is a fantasy stock market for weblogs. Players get to invest a fictional $500, and blogs are valued by inbound links.

Go check it out and see what your blog is "worth".

Mine ain't so good. :)

Death Of A Gifted Axe-Man

"Dimebag" Darrell of Pantera and Damageplan fame, was murdered during a show in Ohio last night.

(part of this is from a post at packing.org...hat tip to poster "toddm")

Regarding the shooter, how come that Ohio law against carrying in places that dispense alcohol didn't stop him and protect the patrons of that establishment?

Duh, Because criminals don't obey the laws, that's why.

I wonder how many other laws this guy broke during his criminal act. If we only had a law against murder this would have been prevented...oh wait.

The main point is that it took a law-abiding armed individual, a police officer in this particular instance, to stop this tragedy. If maybe some of his backstage bodyguards had been armed this criminal attack could have been put to an end much sooner possibly saving lives.

Sometimes more guns ARE the answer.

For all you non-chemistry majors like me...

Here's a short refresher course from Duke University's chemistry department covering the Miller/Urey experiment that produced amino acids (essential to life) with nothing but gasses and an electrical charge.

Who says life could in no way evolve over billions of years? :)

If it's this easy to start producing the building blocks of life (and there have been asteroids land here that contained them, some of which we've never seen on Earth), then what happens when (::frowns:: I know, IF) we find life on Mars or elsewhere? How does that affect religious faith? Will we see a great exodus from many religious institutions in the wake of such a discovery?

Might be the best thing that ever happened to us. Imagine what we could do, how much more productive we could be, if we weren't tied up arguing over whose imaginary friend was the most powerful.

What Makes The US A Christian Nation (not really)

This article is a great piece of evidence that the US was not built on Christianity. A worthwile read.

Don't Rule Out Life On Mars

The answer is still up for grabs. But Dr. Jeffrey Kargel of the US Geological Survey said in his recent article in Science Magazine that we can't be too sure it does not exist there merely because of the unhospitable landscape. Life exists in some of the (what we think to be) most uninhabitable places here on Earth. If life does in fact exist in microbial form, the returning Mars rover Opportunity needs to be treated with special care. Terrestrial contamination of Mars, resulting from Opportunity carrying microbes there with it is one problem, a Mars microbe we know nothing of set loose here is quite another. It has been established (without much fanfare) that water at one time existed on Mars and some still exists there in frozen form. Methane gas has also been detected, suggesting methane-producing microbes could be present.

I won't hold my breath, but I'll be eagerly awaiting Opportunity's return.

Landover Baptist's Deacon Fred's 60-Second Sermons

Homer, you'll get a kick out of these. Ultra-fundamentalist Christian quickie sermons. I think these are fabricated...nobody could really believe stuff this fucked up.

You need Real Player to play these audio clips.

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Scroll to the bottom of the page, then under Promos click on the picture to download the Third Promo.

(It's a 3 MB .mov file, so you need Quicktime 6 or higher to view it.)

*****
(Text of promo video)

"I never think of the future, it comes soon enough." --Albert Einstein

(spoken)
"In the future, the difference between man and machine has become academic. Existence is defined by thought, and being human has become a liability. The legendary cyberpunk classic finally comes to television in an all-new original series: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. The future is now."
*****

I am a Japanese animation (or simply "anime") FREAK...commonly known in the fan arena by the Japanese moniker "otaku" (oh-TAH-koo). This is one of those Adult Swim promos that gives me the shivers all over. I downloaded it and have watched it over and over like a spider monkey on methamphetamines. Adult Swim, the Cartoon Network's late-night anime run, shows new episodes of GITS:SAC every Saturday night at 12:30 AM Eastern and rerun it the following Thursday in the same time slot, IIRC.

I love the premise this series is based on. Wouldn't it be cool to be a part of the first generation to never die? To go on living and learning, testing the limits of information and experience that can be stored in the brain? Testing the limits of our technology?

Bring on the robotics and techno music! Let's colonize space! Push forward into the future!!

Honestly I can't wait.

Car Tells Driver To Do Freeway U-turn

...and the worst part was he listened.

A 78-year old man in France busts a U-ey in the middle of the friggin' freeway because his car told him to. He was using a GPS device that used verbal directions. At least nobody got seriously hurt.

Is it an ordinary case of elderly senility, or is it a symptom of our reliance on technology to the point that we start letting the machines do our thinking for us?

Analysis: Study Shows U.S. Losing Drug War

25 years of criminalizing Americans. 25 Billion dollars. And an ongoing supply-side attack on drugs has yielded nothing but FALLING street drug prices.

Give up. Quit wasting taxpayers' money on something that will never materialize. Spend that money on treatment for people who actually NEED it...and I'd wager a good many poor bastards who're rotting away in prison don't need drug rehab.

Should we start throwing alcoholics in jail? Oh, wait, we did that during Prohibition and got a huge organized crime infrastructure in exchange. Do people just not pay attention in history class?