Monthly Archives: March 2011

One Line Review: Sucker Punch (*Video*)

Posted on March 27, 2011 by | 2 Comments
Zack Snyder makes beautiful women live in your fantasy world; you know, the fantasy world with machine guns, skimpy clothing, loud music, and a demon samurai with a minigun.
A+

Bonus extra question for the comments section. Does Rocket really exist? Or is she just Sweet Pea’s alternate personality?

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Posted in Random Stuff

One line review: Once Upon a Time in the West

Posted on March 27, 2011 by | Leave a comment
Sergio Leone takes a very long time to tell you that, in the end, the whore always ends up with all the money.
     B+

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Posted in Random Stuff

Meanwhile in Dermot Ahern* Paradise

Posted on March 26, 2011 by | 3 Comments
(Shhh! Nobody tell Robb Allen that I swiped his icon)

Since guns are very tightly controlled in Ireland, we know that this story must be false.
How is it possible that a tiny island like Ireland has drug criminals forcing innocent drug users to hold machine guns? It’s almost like the newspaper story is trying to tell me that gun control has failed.
The stated purpose of gun control is to stop gun violence. Since there are obviously drug gangs with machine guns and silencers running about, then the only conclusion that I can reach is that Irish gun control was only successful in disarming the people, not the criminals. And that can’t be the purpose, can it?

* Dermot Ahern was the Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. He was adamant that no Irish Gun Culture™ be allowed to arise. He banned all “practical” shooting like IDPA and IPSC.

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Posted in Gnashing and Wailing, Gun rights philosophy, Meanwhile in X paradise, Unpossible

Taliban get Gurkha Surprise (*Video*)

Posted on March 25, 2011 by | 1 Comment
Note to self: Don’t try to sneak up on a Gurkha.
You can see how this went
Taliban: There’s only one of him
Gurkha: Surprise!
You can watch this video interview of him. Note how the thought of dead and screaming wounded enemies seems to make him happy.

Yeah, I’m going to avoid messing with the Gurkhas

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Posted in Heros

The “War on Cops” is horse manure

Posted on March 25, 2011 by | Leave a comment
Recently our esteemed Attorney General, Eric Holder, has been hyping the concept of a “War on Cops.”
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This meme was busted by Radley Balko in January.
Dig into most of these articles, however, and you will find there is no real evidence of an increase in anti-police violence, let alone one that can be traced to anti-police rhetoric, gun sales, disrespect for authority, or “don’t tread on me” sentiment. (CNN is one of the few media outlets that have covered the purported anti-police trend with appropriate skepticism.) Amid all the quotes from concerned law enforcement officials in MSNBC’s “War on Cops” article, for example, is a casual mention that police fatality statistics for this month are about the same as they were in January 2010. Right after suggesting to NPR that the recent attacks were related to anti-government rhetoric, Shane acknowledged there has been little research into the underlying causes of police shootings.
I spent some quality time with a website called the “Officer Down Memorial Page.” I looked at the total number of deaths of police in the line of duty since 2002. I left out 2001 so that I didn’t get 9/11 messing up the data. I roughly divided officer deaths into hostile and non-hostile causes.
Hostile – 9/11 related illness, Assault, Bomb, Gunfire, Stabbed, Vehicular assault, and Vehicular pursuit.  
Non-Hostile – Accidental, Aircraft Accident, Animal related, Automobile accident, Boating accident, drowned, Duty related illness, Electrocuted, Exposure to toxins, Explosion, Fall, Gunfire(accidental), Heart Attack, Heat exhaustion, Motorcycle accident, Struck by train, Struck by vehicle, Train accident, Training accident, and Weather/Natural disaster.
I deliberately assigned 9/11 related illness and Vehicular pursuit to the hostile causes to pump up the numbers on that side.  The average number of police deaths for all causes was just slightly over 160 per year. The average number of hostile deaths per year was 78.8 and non-hostile was 81.3. The worst year for all causes was 2007. 2009 was a good year, and so 2010 looked bad because it was an average year being compared to a really good year. The worst year for deaths by gunfire was 2007, with 66 police officers shot to death.
I am still researching the gunfire deaths in North Carolina, so I can bring you a breakdown of who does the shooting. So far I’ve looked at the years 2005-2010 and there were 11 Police shot to death by 10 persons. Of the 10 shooters, 5 had felony convictions prior, 3 had misdemeanor convictions, two appear to have clean records, and one I can’t find. This, I’m sure, will remain typical of all police murders. Generally speaking, people with clean records don’t start out murdering, and especially not murdering cops. Why then have the talking heads blamed conservatives?
“Don’t tread on me?” You mean like these guys?


The question is, why is Attorney General Holder pushing this already busted idea? I think that this is just the domestic counterpart to Operation Gunwalker (Fast and Furious). In Gunwalker, BATF allowed US sold firearms to be “walked” into Mexico. They claim that they were trying to use the guns as a way to reel in bigger fish. I think what they were doing is allowing gun smuggling to occur as a way to justify pushing “Assault Weapons” bans because these guns were turning up in Mexico. It’s a no brainer. The usual suspects have been whining that American guns were fueling drug violence in Mexico. ATF couldn’t find a whole lot of US guns getting recovered. The 90% meme got busted so fast that they had to try something new. So they facilitated gun smuggling so that they could prove gun smuggling was going on.
I think that this “War on Cops” malarkey is just another attack on honest gun owners. If they can portray cops as being “under fire,” they can make a case for harsher gun control laws. Unfortunately for them, it isn’t the hated right wing that is murdering the cops. I think that when you sit down and look at the shooters, you’ll find it isn’t Tea Party members murdering cops. It’s criminals. It’s the same guys it is every year.

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Posted in Gnashing and Wailing, Mythbusting, National Politics

Brother can you spare $461 Million?

Posted on March 24, 2011 by | 3 Comments
Just for grins, I’ve worked out what else you could use that $461 Million for. Assuming $3.50 a gallon gas and a car that gets a modest 25 mpg, that is 9,684,873.95 round trips for $461 Million, given that 170 miles is the one way distance from Raleigh to Charlotte.
The total population (men, women, and children) of the entire state of NC is 9,545,483. So if everyone in the state got in their car they could each make one round trip.
The total combined populations of the Raleigh and Charlotte Metropolitan Statistical Areas is 2,871,351. That means if each of them drove themselves in a car, it is a little over 3 and one third round trips.
The total combined populations of Wake County (Raleigh) and Mecklenberg County (Charlotte) is 1,820,621. This is a total of almost 5 and one third round trips.
This is, of course, a silly proposition. Only people older than 16 can drive.  Currently, the train ticket costs $32 one way. Gas for your car would be $23.80 one way. And once you got there, you’d be able to drive around. Who wants to try to walk across Raleigh or Charlotte dragging luggage after riding the train?

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Posted in NC Politics, Non-gun politics, Rants

Machine gun by mail?

Posted on March 24, 2011 by | Leave a comment
A German made MG-42, a WWII era machine gun labeled “Hitler’s Buzzsaw” by Allied troops, was discovered in an unlikely place on Tuesday.
 I feel cheated. None of my friends send me cool things like that in the mail.

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Posted in Meanwhile in X paradise, Random Stuff

Meanwhile in Sarah Brady Paradise – machine guns on the fridge in the barn edition

Posted on March 24, 2011 by | Leave a comment
(Icon involuntarily donated by Robb Allen)
We all know this can’t be true; gun ownership is very strictly regulated in England

Not only guns, but machine guns. How is this possible? The supplier, Mr. Evans was previously given a stern warning by the Crown’s Court
Wow. Not only did this criminal break the law, he ignored the previous judge’s warning to stay away from guns. It’s like laws don’t work or something! What’s worse, he built guns himself!
I guess that (formerly Great) Britain will have to pass even stronger laws against firearm ownership. None of the previous ones have worked.

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Posted in Meanwhile in X paradise, Unpossible

The latest and greatest on Restaurant and Park Carry

Posted on March 24, 2011 by | 1 Comment
The NC General Assembly has finally posted the latest version of HB111, Restaurant and Park Carry. Let’s look at the changes.
February 16, 2011
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑269.3(b) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
“(5)      A person on the premises of an eating establishment as defined in  G.S. 18B‑1000(2) or a restaurant as defined in G.S. 18B‑1000(6), provided the person has a valid concealed handgun permit under Article 54B of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes. This subdivision shall not be construed to permit a person to carry a concealed handgun on the premises of an eating establishment or a restaurant where the person in legal possession or control of the premises has posted a conspicuous notice prohibiting the carrying of a concealed handgun on the premises in accordance with G.S. 14‑415.11(c). If a restaurant has not posted a notice prohibiting firearms on the premises, the restaurant server may ask any patron ordering alcohol if the patron is carrying a firearm.“
SECTION 2.  G.S. 14‑415.11 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
“(c1)     Any person who has a concealed handgun permit may carry a concealed handgun on the grounds or waters of a park within the State Parks System as defined in G.S. 113‑44.9.“
SECTION 3.  G.S. 14‑415.23 reads as rewritten:
“§ 14‑415.23.  Statewide uniformity.
It is the intent of the General Assembly to prescribe a uniform system for the regulation of legally carrying a concealed handgun. To insure uniformity, no political subdivisions, boards, or agencies of the State nor any county, city, municipality, municipal corporation, town, township, village, nor any department or agency thereof, may enact ordinances, rules, or regulations concerning legally carrying a concealed handgun. A unit of local government may adopt an ordinance to permit the posting of a prohibition against carrying a concealed handgun, in accordance with G.S. 14‑415.11(c), on local government buildings, their appurtenant premises, and parks. buildings and their appurtenant premises.“
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2011.
First, a little primer on how to read a bill.
1.       Anything in plain text is currently written in law and is being retained.
2.       Anything that is crossed out exists already in law and is being deleted.
3.       Anything that is underlined is adding to existing law.
So, let’s look at section 3. Currently local government may enact an ordinance to ban concealed handguns in buildings, “appurtenant premises,” and parks. This bill changes it to read “buildings and appurtenant premises.” So localities may still ban concealed handguns in any buildings that they own, and on the property around those buildings, but not parks, or other city owned property that doesn’t have city owned buildings on it.
There is also an addition to section 1 that says the server may ask any patron ordering alcohol if that patron is carrying a firearm. That’s true now. Your server may ask you pretty much anything. Note that there is nothing in the law that says your server must ask you, or that you have any duty whatsoever to respond to your server’s query. My suspicion is that no server will bother asking a question that they aren’t required to answer.
Section 2 is a big win for this bill. Originally there was nothing in this bill about carrying in State Parks. This bill will require all the “No Firearms” signs in all the State Parks to come down. That’s a big, big win, and an unexpected plus to an already vitally important bill.
So get on the phones, write emails, and tell your Representatives and Senators to push this bill through to the Governor ASAP. You might want to let them know that the part about the server getting nosy should be dropped, but in the end, if it stays in the bill, it’s meaningless.

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Posted in NC Politics

Road Rage! Blood in the Streets!

Posted on March 24, 2011 by | 1 Comment
Another example of how the presence of a firearm turns a simple car accident into a multiple near homicide.
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So who was the shooter in this terrible road rage incident? Was he a newly minted concealed carry permit holder? Another crime committed by someone who was a law abiding citizen right up until the moment he pulled the trigger?
Tell me that you are surprised.

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Posted in Felons Behaving Badly