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Eminent Domain Stuff


New London Update (2/24/06)
Bad NLDC!
Coverage of the Rally at New London's City Hall (w/ pics)

Monday, May 30, 2005

 

Who's Dangerous?

The Minuteman are called all sorts of names, they're accusing of being racists, bigots, etc., and every time a media outlet mentions them they include a phrase like, ...patrolled the border, some of them armed...

The insinuation, of course, is that these so-called vigilantes (which isn't necessairly a bad thing to be, if you actually look at the definition...nothing about violence at all) are evil and dangerous. Of course, during the month that they patrolled the Arizona border I don't recall hearing about any of these evil immigrant haters actually shooting or otherwise hurting anyone at all. Heck, they haven't even called anyone bad names ("illegal immigrant", by the way, is not a "bad name").

In stark contrast:

More than 150 demonstrators used placards and bullhorns and waved Mexican flags to get their message out: "Racists, go home!" they screamed.

[...]

A protest against Gilchrist [a leader of the Minutemen organization] in California turned violent when demonstrators hurled rocks and unopened soda cans at police and people attending his speech.
So, who are the bad guys here? The Minutemen, who simply watched the border and are against illegal immigration, or the bleeding heart smucks who cry about "creating division" and then throw things at police and people innocently gathering to listen to a speech?

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Saturday, May 28, 2005

 

From The Front Lines

I just ran into a great blog by Michael Yon a freelance reporter/photographer currently working in Iraq (via The Pink Flamingo Bar & Grill).

I was going to point you to a particular post, but then I kept reading and couldn't stop. I suggest you do the same, you'll be happy you did.

More:

I lied. Never forget who these bastards are really hurting.

And always remember who the good guys are.

More 2:

I think I like the Kurds:

The Kurds needed help to shake off the yoke, but now they want to chart their own lives. As one Kurd said to me in perfect English, "I was born free. I live free. I will die free." They have made good these words to Saddam's former henchmen.

Kurdish enthusiasm for self-determination has a kind of contagion for our soldiers. The Kurdish and American characters mix readily, as is made clear by the Tennessee National Guardsmen, who are based in territory where many Kurds live. Yet there is more between the Tennesseans and the Kurds than mere polite respect; the relationship resonates with warmth and genuine regard. In contrast, relations with Arab Iraqis are often better characterized as negotiations, often with the modifier "grinding."

Meetings with Iraqi Arabs sometimes seem more like talking with the French. We are not enemies. But, generally speaking, there is no real personal connection. At best, our collective personalities just don't seem to "click." Yet by recognizing the sovereignty and inevitability of each other, we manage to cooperate toward our common interests, while not going to war when we disagree. But with the Kurds, like the Poles or the Brits, there is an easy and audible click. We have mutual goals, mutual enemies, and, also importantly, we actually like each other.

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Friday, May 27, 2005

 

Woa

I'm not sure I completely buy the hype...but if even half of this account is factually accurate, I repeat: Woa.

DREAD

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Ouch

Now wouldn't this just be a kick in the ___.

FDA Looking Into Blindness-Viagra Link

So far only 50 cases reported, and there is no evidence of a cause/effect relationship here. It is, however, yet another in a long line of examples that should make us more careful before we get too excited about new wonder drugs.

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The French

Could someone please remind me: What kind of government do the French have again? I thought it was some sort of Parlimentary thingy. Guess I was wrong:

PRESIDENT CHIRAC of France is preparing to throw Europe into confusion and put Britain on the spot by backing moves to keep the European constitution alive if it is rejected in Sunday’s referendum.

French diplomats say that M Chirac is expected to urge other countries to proceed with ratification because France does not want to be seen to be blocking the European project. Any attempt to persuade other countries to go ahead will dash the hopes of those in the British Government who believed that a French rejection would make a British referendum unnecessary.
Being on this side of the pond just keeps getting better and better.

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When They Came For The Guns...

...they did nothing. Now they're coming for the knives:

A&E doctors are calling for a ban on long pointed kitchen knives to reduce deaths from stabbing.

A team from West Middlesex University Hospital said violent crime is on the increase - and kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings.

They argued many assaults are committed impulsively, prompted by alcohol and drugs, and a kitchen knife often makes an all too available weapon.

[...]

The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all.

They consulted 10 top chefs from around the UK, and found such knives have little practical value in the kitchen.

None of the chefs felt such knives were essential, since the point of a short blade was just as useful when a sharp end was needed.
Now, replace all of the knife references with the appropriate gun term and you've got the very same argument used in this country against the obvious statement and intent of the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution.

But don't worry. The Brady types (aside from being liars) are only interested in making us safer. I feel better already.

Scary.

More:

Maybe things are going in the right direction here after all.

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Thursday, May 26, 2005

 

More Fragile Feelings

Seriously, what is it with Muslims? Why can't they just deal with critizism?

ROME -- A judge has ordered best-selling author Oriana Fallaci to face trial on charges of defaming Islam in her recent book "The Strength of Reason," the writer and an attorney in the case said Wednesday.

[...]

Fallaci, who is in her 70s, said she is accused of violating an Italian law that prohibits "outrage to religion."

[...]

"Religious sensitivity must be defended, but at the same time, the individual freedom to express one's own thought must be guaranteed," Castelli said.
Let's keep this sort of nonsense in mind when someone gets around to proposing similar laws here in the US.

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Willfully Ignorant Or Just Stupid?

It's a fair question considering Warren Beatty's recent comments, but not one in which I'm going to invest too much time. This is the quote that made me stop reading the article:

Beatty, a political veteran who's worked for every Democratic presidential candidate since Robert Kennedy in 1968, dismissed Schwarzenegger's claims of uniting both sides of the political aisle. "By bipartisanship, do you mean the Kennedy family?" he said to the Berkeley crowd. "Governor — I knew Jack Kennedy.

"Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Governor, you're no Kennedy Democrat."
In a way he's right, Arnold is no Kennedy Democrat...but then neither is Beatty or Ted Kennedy. If JFK were around today, my guess is he'd be a Republican (at least fiscally, I'm not sure he would be able to resist social -cough-affairs are ok-cough- philosophy of the Left).

The fact is that JFK's philosophy included cutting taxes. Does that sound like a "Beatty/Kennedy (Teddy, not Jack) Democrat", or a "Bush/Reagan Republican"? Oh, and JFK also stood down a foreign power (although arguably with some ineptitude) in the Soviet Union. So he wanted to cut taxes to simulate the economy and was tough with our enemies. Now who does that remind me of? Humm...

Unfortunately, I think Arnold sometimes comes down to the Left of even JFK (as does Bush on domestic issues, sadly). For Warren to accuse Arnold of being too Conservative is to either fail to understand the definition of the word (in which case he is stupid considering his highly political past) or to be willfully ignorant.

Anyway, I think it's safe to conclude that Beatty is an idiot. Considering his past, it's hard to believe he's unaware of political realities...but then he has spent a lot of time in Hollywood.

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Wednesday, May 25, 2005

 

Real Or Artificat?

Is this just selection bias, or is some actual cause and effect?

A Christian education makes teenage boys less permissive, according to research out today.

Boys at private Anglican and Catholic schools are more likely to oppose sex before marriage and be less tolerant of pornography.

[...]

He found that 62 per cent of those educated at Christian private schools claimed to believe that pornography was too widely available. Only four in 10 boys at other schools agreed. While only 13 per cent of boys at nondenominational schools were against sex outside marriage, the proportion jumped to 64 per cent among their Christian-educated peers.
I haven't been able to get my hands on the actual study, but I would need some data concerning these kids' parents before drawing any cause-and-effect conclusions. After all, more Christians tend to have these views and (coincidently) also tend the send their children to Christian schools. Go figure.

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Embryonic Stem Cell...Murder

Remember:

Parents also pointed out that, despite the hype, embryonic-stem-cell research has failed to provide a single treatment. Meanwhile, adult-stem-cell research has led to breakthroughs in treating Parkinson’s, spinal-cord injuries, and juvenile diabetes.

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Kosovo

I know, I know, they probably shouldn't have done this...but I think it's absolutely hilarious. Check out the Kosovo music video (sung to the tune to Kokomo by the Beach Boys).

Apparently, some are not happy with this display of satire. Eh, they'll get over it.

(via Winds of Change via The Command Post)

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Tuesday, May 24, 2005

 

My Heart Bleeds

Oh yes. The sadness that comes over me when I think of these awful conditions. I just don't know how I'll keep it together:

Dramatic details of conditions at Camp Cropper, the top-secret Baghdad prison where Saddam Hussein is being held, have been revealed by a senior UN weapons inspector.

[...]

He said there were about 100 prisoners kept at the 'bleak' prison, which consists of three rows of single-story buildings with tiny two-metre square cells and no windows. The cells have steel doors with a metal flap a metre from the ground.

He said: 'Sometimes the prisoners would push the flap open to look out into the exercise yard or to get fresh air. The guards could lock the flap as punishment. Exercise was permitted on a rotation basis for half-hour a day though this was increased to an hour after the Red Cross protested in January 2004. Other prisoners shared larger accommodation sleeping on camp stretchers. Many, he said, have spent more than 18 months in solitary confinement.
We are talking about individuals who ran on of the more brutal governments in the 20th century, right? I guess Saddam and his henchpeople deserve cable TV (complete with HBO, of course), workout facilities and unsupervised "free time" to visit friends and family.

They're lucky we're not hanging them by their little toes from London Bridge.

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Exactly

Couldn't have said it better myself (obviously =)):

McCain's Sanctimonious Seven (sorry, I left out Chafee in an earlier reference to the Six) have been snookered by that old vulture Robert Byrd into a new understanding of the filibuster — that it may be legitimately used, and legitimately defended, as a form of absolute obstructionism by a party that has the votes to prevent cloture. Not the principle of measured deliberation, but the principle of minority rule — an essentially anti-republican principle — has been enshrined in this agreement. Once again in his long career, it is Byrd who has changed the rules, and without seeming to have done so. (emphasis added)

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Two Things To Make Me Laugh

First, unabashed laughter:

French singing song of angry men

The French are angry. Does this mean they'll stop whining and actually do something? Oh wait, I guess not. Apparently they're just going to sing...but angrily.

Second, slightly abashed laughter...but only because somebody got hurt. Oh why bother, this one made me laugh out loud. These two got what they deserved:

Two hurt in mock light sabre duel

First of all, compared to what...a "real" light saber duel?

Secondly, you might think two geniuses whacked each other with sticks, pipes or something like that, right? Actually, it's much better than that:

Two Star Wars fans are in a critical condition in hospital after apparently trying to make light sabres by filling fluorescent light tubes with petrol.

A man, aged 20, and a girl of 17 are believed to have been filming a mock duel when they poured fuel into two glass tubes and lit it.

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What's That...

...the sound of unbiased reporting? BARRRRRAAANNNN! Wrong:

WASHINGTON -- Judicial nominee Priscilla Owen gets the vote she's been awaiting for more than four years, the most immediate beneficiary of a deal worked out by Senate moderates to avoid a debilitating fight over filibusters.

The Senate was voting to end debate on Owen, currently a Texas Supreme Court justice, clearing the way for her to gain a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans. With the threat of a filibuster by Democrats removed, she was nearly certain then to get the simple majority vote needed to give her the seat that long has eluded her, perhaps as early as Tuesday.

[...]

But of greater import, the deal on the rights of the minority party to filibuster judicial nominees avoids a showdown that could have shaken the traditions of the Senate, weakened the powers of the minority and threatened the comity the Senate needs to function.
"But of greater import..."

Really, according to whom, might I ask?

Jeeze, you know, that sounds suspiciously like an opinion to me. And here you thought the AP and the Washington (com)Post were in the business of reporting news. BARRRRRAAANNNN! Wrong.

Do I even need to mention the outrageous insult inherent in this "deal"? Here we have the Democrats pulling a stunt never before seen in the history of the United States of America and now the Republicans are supposed to be just so happy and grateful to their (minority) overlords for some table scraps of a "deal"? Amazing.

If there were any justice here (or just some backbone on the part of the Senate Republicans, really) they would have already triggered the Constitutional Option and we'd be confirming rightly-appointed judges to various benches around the country. But that might make some people angry...and we can't have that, now can we Senator Frist?

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Stick To Robbing Gas Stations

This is why bad guys don't usually try robbing gun stores:

Officials said the clerk shot Courtney Hall, II in the back twice following a brief struggle.

That struggle happened after Hall allegedly tried to steal weapons form the store.

Hall was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the clerk shot Hall because he believed Hall was reaching for a weapon and he feared for his life.

Police said they were looking at surveillance video of the incident, but they weren't sure if the clerk would face charges.
The only potential problem here is, of course, that the bad guy was shot in the back. That might make the clerk's life more difficult than if the wound was in the bad guy's chest. Of course, in a perfect world the only evidence necessary would be to show that the bad guy was trying to rob the place, followed by zero further questions.

However, the point remains that this is exactly why there are far fewer robbery attempts at (open) gun stores than there are at gas stations. Only an idiot tries to rob a place where s/he knows there are loaded guns.

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Monday, May 23, 2005

 

The Arrogance Of These Fools!

Get this. The UN has had an epiphany:

A turning point came in 2000 after rebels in Sierra Leone killed some peacekeepers and took hundreds more hostage. The United Nations commissioned a review, headed by Lakhdar Brahimi, a former foreign minister of Algeria, which called for troops to be deployed more rapidly in peace enforcement operations. "No amount of good intentions can substitute for the fundamental ability to project credible force," the so-called Brahimi Report said. (emphasis added)
If you will pardon this rare break from my usual clean-mouthness: No Shit!

The arrogance of these idiots at the UN amazes even me. They create a commission to study the problem, spend (I'm sure) hundreds of thousands of man-hours (oh, sorry, person-hours (or is it perdaughter-hours?)) on the issue and then come out the this "statement". And as if that weren't enough they make a pronouncement that is so painfully obvious that it nearly made my head split down the middle by just reading it.

Then, to add insult to (near) injury the fine "reporters" at Old Grey Lady throw in this little tid bit:

United Nations peacekeepers in Congo were not always so gung-ho. For years, they were criticized for huddling in their camps as atrocities recurred in the countryside. Now, some critics condemn them for being too aggressive. And critics also denounce the sexual abuse of girls by some peacekeepers.
Wait, did you miss it? Did it go by too fast? Let me run that by everyone again:

And critics also denounce the sexual abuse of girls by some peacekeepers.
Umm...I don't seem to remember the "abuses" of Abu Ghraib being treated so offhandedly. And if you will recall, those pictures from Abu Ghraib (at least the undoctored ones) were of individuals being (allegedly) mistreated who were at least suspected of being terrorists. The UN "peacekeepers", on the other hand, have engaged in the brutal and merciless rape of "some" innocent and defenseless young women and girls in the Congo.

Amazing.

Not surprising, but amazing just the same.

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Friday, May 20, 2005

 

Great NRO Piece

Victor Davis Hanson, as usual, hits the nail on the head.

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Interesting

Wow:

Imagine, if you will, that a Democrat President nominated a judge whose constitutional and policy views were, by any measure, on the extreme left fringes of American society.

Let’s assume, for example, that this nominee had expressed strong sympathy for the position that there is a constitutional right to prostitution as well as a constitutional right to polygamy.

Let’s say, further, that he had attacked the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts as organizations that perpetuate stereotyped sex roles and that he had proposed abolishing Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and replacing them with a single androgynous Parent’s Day.
Who is this parody of extreme leftism? Read the piece...you'll be astounded. I suggest remembering this one to use a tool to forcibly shut the traps of irritating liberals.

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Wednesday, May 18, 2005

 

Poetry

I'm not generally one to pick up a poem, but I'm glad I took Bunker's advice and read this one. My favorite line:

An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints:
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;


Read the whole thing. It's a good one.

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Tuesday, May 17, 2005

 

Quote of the Day

"The goal of the Republican leadership and their allies in the White House is to pave the way for a Supreme Court nominee who would only need 50 votes for confirmation rather than 60," the number of senators needed to maintain a filibuster blocking a confirmation vote, Reid said.

Actually, it's 51 votes that are needed, stupid.

Regardless...how revealing.

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How Can This Be?

Wardens get DNA kit to trap spitting drivers

Three [parking attendants] are assaulted in the capital each day, some being attacked with baseball bats and knives.


I thought the UK was safe from bad guys hurting innocent people. After all, they've outlawed guns.

---

Since you know me so well, I'm not even going to bother ranting about yet another potential (ab)use of DNA databases. If they can use them to identify spitters...

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Fragile Feelings

I'll tell you what. I'm sick and tired of all this PC crap that we can never hurt anyone's feelings. Or at least certain, PC-protected groups of people's feelings anyway. Two recent stories bring this up:

Mexico's Fox Regrets Comment About Blacks

Pakistan dismisses Newsweek retraction on Koran

The first refers to a comment by Mexican President Fox who said that illegal Mexicans in the US do jobs that "not even blacks" will do. Insensitive, absolutely. Accurate...maybe. But the accuracy of such a statement is irrelevant to the PC crowd. Now before anyone jumps down my throat for being so insensitive I would like to advance two things in my defense: 1) I don't claim to be sensitive, so don't bother and 2) Fox's statement was offensive, but not in the way everyone seems to be taking it.

The issue here is not that there are jobs "even blacks" won't do. The issue is that there are jobs "even Americans" won't do. This idea that some jobs are below an "American" is absolutely absurd. Could someone please point out what these jobs are? My guess would be things along the lines of cleaning public restrooms, farm-handing, etc. Ask yourself, Why won't "Americans" do these jobs? Hum? Could it be the warped sense of entitlement that we have allowed to bloom into a putrid, weeping sore on the face of our society?

The very idea that some "Americans" are sitting on their dead asses while these jobs go unfilled except by illegal immigrants really gets my blood boiling. Oh, and one more question. If "Americans" will not do these jobs, what makes you think that an illegal Mexican will continue to do it once we give him amnesty? After all, then he'll be fully eligible to sit on his dead ass and let the next (absolutely assured) wave of illegals do those "undesirable" jobs.

So let's get over these fragile feelings and focus on the real problem. If certain "blacks" (and other "Americans") didn't have a guilty conscious, they wouldn't be offended by such comments. On the other hand, if Fox had been accurate by saying "jobs that no American will do" we should not have been offended by his comment because we would have already been embarrassed by our fellow countrymen's self-imposed dishonor and/or your own self confidence that you are not a lazy SOB who thinks a job is below you.

The second article concerns Newsweek's recent debacle of an article on US interrogators allegedly flushing a Koran down the toilet at Gitmo. They seriously screwed up and, I think, should be severely punished by their (hopefully former) readers. Considering that this specific article lead directly to something like 16 deaths I think they deserve whatever they get (although not from the government, don't even start down that road). The point I really want to make here concerns a quote from Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. He said:

"The apology and retraction are not enough...They should understand the sentiments of Muslims and think 101 times before publishing news which hurt feelings of Muslims."
Excuse me? What, do Muslims have super fragile "feelings" that simply cannot stand being hurt? This is yet another example of a subset of a group being overly sensitive as a result of an inferiority complex. There are Muslims in this world (too many, I think) who have an inferiority complex relative to the West and our culture. I know, many would claim that they disagree at a fundamental level with our religion, society and general depravity and it is that which leads to their dislike/hatred for us. I don't agree. I would argue that it is actually their religious ego that cannot stand to be insulted...and they see our very culture as a direct insult to their (all-important) religion.

This is an important distinction, I'm not just splitting hairs for fun. If it really were a fundamental, intellectual disagreement, we might have a shot at reaching some sort of understanding that would allow us to live in peace...and that may very well be the case for the more moderate Muslims (assuming they really exist). However, for those who share the sentiments of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, it would appear that the only way we can ever live in peace is if we "think 101 times" before doing anything that might possibly, on some distant day, on some distant planet, insult a thin-skinned Muslim (with apologies to Ben Stein). To that I say:

Grow up, stop whining, stop killing innocent people because some idiot editor of Newsweek seriously messed up and for the love of God (that's right, I said God) start bringing your countries into the 21st century so we can stop spending billions to kill the terrorists you keep breeding.

Boy, I sure hope I didn't hurt anyone's feelings.

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Tuesday, May 10, 2005

 

Hehe

It's almost too pathetic to laugh at...ok, I said almost:

Judging from today's horrific debut of the humongously pre-hyped celebrity blog the Huffington Post, the Madonna of the mediapolitic world has gone one reinvention too many. She has now made an online ass of herself. What Arianna Huffington's bizarre guru-cult association, 180-degree conservative-to-liberal conversion, and failed run in the California gubernatorial-recall race couldn't accomplish, her blog has now done: She is finally played out publicly. This Web-site venture is the sort of failure that is simply unsurvivable, because of all the advance publicity touting its success as inevitable. Her blog is such a bomb that it's the box-office equivalent of Gigli, Ishtar and Heaven's Gate rolled into one. In magazine terms, it's the disastrous clone of Tina Brown's Talk, JFK Jr.'s George or Maer Roshan's Radar. No matter what happens to Huffington, it's clear Hollywood will suffer the consequences.
It looks as if this was right on...except that there were too many contributors in the prediction =).

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Friday, May 06, 2005

 

AAAHHHHH!!!!

I just can't take this global warming crap anymore! Seriously:

Clear skies end global dimming

Quirin Schiermeier

Earth's air is cleaner, but this may worsen the greenhouse effect.

[...]

Reductions in industrial emissions in many countries, along with the use of particulate filters for car exhausts and smoke stacks, seem to have reduced the amount of dirt in the atmosphere and made the sky more transparent.

That sounds like very good news. But the researchers say that more solar energy arriving on the ground will also make the surface warmer, and this may add to the problems of global warming. More sunlight will also have knock-on effects on cloud cover, winds, rainfall and air temperature that are difficult to predict.
So, we've (apparently) managed to make the air cleaner by spending billions on technology to reduce emissions from power plants, cars, etc. and we're still causing global warming? Does this get your BS detector pinging?

This little bit, however, takes the proverbial cake:

The researchers argue that this trend, commonly called 'global dimming', reversed more than a decade ago, probably following the collapse of communist economies and the consequent decrease in industrial pollutants.
Wait just a second. The US isn't a communist country. We haven't collapsed. How is it that the air is getting cleaner? I thought it was the evil US that was responsible for raping the environment! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria! I'm so confused!

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Wednesday, May 04, 2005

 

Deadly Force

A while back there was this pizza delivery guy in Niagara, NY apparently minding his own business and doing his job late one night. A couple of kids (allegedly) tried to rob him and (after sustaining a serious beating) the pizza guy fired one .40 caliber round, killing one of the punks. He fired the shot because he saw a gun in the hand of the now deceased punk. Turns out the gun was an "air pistol" that looks a lot like a Walther PPK (you know, James Bonds' gun).

Today I ran across a follow-up story out of Niagara informing us that the case is going to a Grand Jury...against the delivery guy! Now here's the part that gets my goat:

Section 15, Sub-section 2 of Article 35 appears to apply directly to the circumstances facing the deliveryman. It reads, “A person (may) use deadly physical force upon another person (if) he reasonably believes that such other person is using or is about to use deadly physical force (against him).”

[...]

“Even if the assailant was not armed with a gun, New York state law, under certain circumstances, would permit the use of deadly physical force to prevent a robbery in progress,” Palmer said. (emphasis mine)
The question I have is why this useless and inaccurate quote was included in the article? The fact is that it does not matter whether or not the punk was actually armed...only whether or not the pizza guy reasonably believes that such other person is using or is about to use deadly physical force (against him).

The thing that bothers me is that the deliveryman did not use his gun to prevent a robbery (he was in the process of being beaten before he drew and fired). Rather, he only used deadly force once he saw a gun in the hand of the punk. For the record, Mr. Palmer is Police Detective Captain Ernest Palmer and he is apparently somewhat confused about the situation.

Oh, and did I mention that it is absolutely ridiculous that this guy is being charged? Just goes to show you whose side this particular prosecutor is on. He apparently took an oath to protect the rights of criminals over those they try to victimize.

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Pity The Once Mighty Britons

I know I've been ringing this bell often lately, but I truly feel for independent-minded people in Briton (there must be some, right?). I've pointed out story after story about various and sundry aspects of British life that are heading either down the proverbial tubes or spiraling towards some sort of Orwellian nightmare world.

Today I ran across Andrew Stuttaford piece at NRO that has only increased the British pity level:

The Trouble with Tony
Don’t be so enamored with Blair.

It can be a lonely business being a critic of Tony Blair in this country — outside, at least, the fever swamps of the far Left. Speaking at a crowded debate in downtown Manhattan last week, my myopic eyes could only find one brave individual who agreed that the British prime minister did not deserve reelection As my solitary supporter (thanks Myrna!) writes for NRO, I suspect kindness to a beleaguered colleague played no small part in this welcome gesture of support. Perhaps my feeble, muttered oratory was to blame, or was it the arguments skillfully marshaled by my opponent? Maybe, but it’s just as likely that this result was mainly a reflection of the American infatuation with Tony, the saint, the hero, the Churchill with hair, but no cigar.
If you're interested in how Tony Blair looks from an informed UK perspective, give this a read. For my money, I would still choose him because he is the international statesman that we in the US needed. I do, however, realize and accept that this argument should carry just as much weight in the UK as any international opinion does here in any election forever and always.

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Tuesday, May 03, 2005

 

I'm Speechless

I'm really tired of posting about the UK and their ever-developing Big Brother syndrome, but things are really getting out of hand over there:

Microphones to catch noisy neighbours

[...]

It [Westminster Council] plans to attach the device to lamp posts outside houses, allowing inspectors to monitor sound levels. If neighbours make too much noise, council officials will

[...]

“At the moment the problem is that by the time a noise protection officer arrives on the scene, the noise may have stopped.

“Using the new system, we can leave a monitor in an area for several days. The idea is that we can pre-empt people having to call us — if the monitor hears a disturbance it lets us know.” Mr Harrison added that the microphones were also going to be placed outside bars and clubs to monitor noise levels and any disturbances.
A noise protection officer!!! Are you kidding me?!

Seriously. These. People. Need. Help.

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All True Rights...

...are 1) individual and 2) passive. Read this post. Both Worlds makes a very important point that is far too easily lost in our society of widespread and continually-invented 'rights'.

(via The Palmetto Pundit)

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W vs. JPII

Does George W. Bush uphold traditional moral values more so than John Paul II ever did? You be the judge, but David Oderberg has an interesting take:

...once we get past contraception, abortion, and euthanasia, things start to get sticky. For belief in the permissibility of the death penalty is a part of traditional morality, as is belief in the justifiability of war. And yet whilst the president of the United States, for one, steadfastly supports both capital punishment and the concept of just war, John Paul II seemed resolute in his virtual opposition to both. I say “virtual” because, though he never condemned either explicitly, everything he said and did made clear that he regarded them as all but unreasonable and inapplicable in the modern age. Here it looks like George W. Bush’s morality is far more traditional — and I would argue more defensible — than John Paul’s.
Give it a read.

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Federal Requirements For Drivers Licenses

Sometimes I hate the Information Age:

[W]ASHINGTON, May 2 - Congress is moving quickly toward setting strict rules on how states issue driver's licenses, requiring them to verify whether each applicant for a new license or a renewal is in this country legally.

[...]

Under the rules being considered, before granting a driver's license, a state would have to require proof of citizenship or legal presence, proof of an address and proof of a Social Security number. It would need to check the legal status of noncitizens against a national immigration database, to save copies of any documents shown and to store a digital image of the face of each applicant.

The licenses issued must include the driver's address and a digital photograph, and would incorporate new authentication features designed to prevent counterfeits. The new law would also require that the licenses of legal temporary residents expire when their visas do. The rules would also apply to renewals, an aide involved in the conference said.
I must admit that I am somewhat torn over this issue. I believe that we need tighter restrictions on who can and who cannot get a drivers license in this country, especially considering the fact that a number of the 9/11 hijackers had valid licenses with expired visas (i.e., they shouldn't have been in the country in the first place).

On the other hand, I very much fear anytime the government gets more of my information in more places. I just don't trust them with my personal information stored on some server that will eventually be hacked by some punk.

This may be yet another issue that falls under the heading of: Those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither. But that doesn't mean I have to like the alternative.

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