Snowflakes in Hell

I will be blogging, in all likelihood, over the holidays, while I’m in Roanoke with Bitter, Bitchy Mom, and family, but I can’t promise it’ll be on any kind of schedule. Bitter and I are also planning a trip to Knoxville the Saturday after Christmas to spend some time with the Uncles, and hopefully a few other K-ville bloggers.

My schedule this week is going to be tight too. Work is going to be rough, because I have a lot to do before the holidays, and today I came in to find out one of our machines that monitors lab equipment in real time had a massive trojan infestation. Because it monitors in real time, the manufacturers suggest not using virus software. Vendors that recommend this with Windows ought to be dragged out and shot, as a public service. If you’re going to make a real time application, please, please, don’t use Windows. Now I will have to take drastic measures to enforce technological measures so this won’t happen again. I really should have done that in the first place, but with only a dozen or so users, I figured “Be careful and don’t do anything stupid with this machine” would suffice. Fortunately, it’s not part of my domain, so the damage is contained, but it’s still a pain to get the damned thing back up and running.

Paul is calling the candidates to action. You have to figure after two mass shootings, if he can’t get even Hillary to talk about gun control, times are bleak indeed for the gun control movement.

Face is Paul, the Democrats have run from the issue. Don’t get me wrong, I still think Hillary is your best friend ever, but she knows that if the Parker decision goes the wrong way (i.e. the way you want it to) that gun owners will be very motivated, and very pissed. No Democrat is going to go out on that limb!

You also have to figure it’s probably frustrating as hell for them to not have a single legislative achievement at the federal level in 14 years. They try to push a bill, after the worst mass shooting in our nation’s history, that makes so many concessions to gun owners that the NRA doesn’t have any problem with it, and they still can’t get it through Congress because the Brady name and cause have become so politically poisonous that even a whiff of their involvement is enough to send Congress running.

The Attorney General for Washington DC has resigned.  Apparently she’s not happy Fenty is giving all the good work to his cronies.  I wonder if this will have an effect on the Heller case?

This is a pretty interesting video.

According to a new CNN poll, at least 65% of Americans are part of the extremist minority that folks like Bryan Miller and The Brady Campaign say define people who believe they have a right to own a gun.

I guess it’s not surprising, but the three bills passed out of the New Jersey senate committee today, and are on their way to a vote on the floor. Interestingly, about 1/4 of the cars in the lot at the very crowded Valley Forge Gun Show had Jersey tags. There is a gun culture in New Jersey. There aren’t many anti-gun people, really. There’s no reason New Jersey shouldn’t be in play for the pro-gun side. It’s really disappointing.

UPDATE: Looks like the floor vote will be January 3rd.  Call your senators, New Jersey folks!

… “apologist” for the NRA out there.  I guess they weren’t late with the wheelbarrow this month.

Looks like Senator Crapo has decided to put some pressure on Interior to change their no guns policy.

NRA initiated and worked closely with Senator Crapo on this letter and appreciate his bipartisan effort to get 47 Senators to sign a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne requesting a change in policy allowing state law to govern the carrying and transportation of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges, as in the case of national forests and BLM lands. We have been working for nearly five years to change this policy and applaud the strong Senate support for this policy change expressed in this letter.

Good!  It’s a stupid policy anyway.  Hopefully Interior will see the light.

Romney wants to ban them.  It’ll make it very interesting to try to shoot clay birds without my 12 gauge.  A shotgun is probably the most lethal firearm you can wield.  I would really like to hear the Governor’s position on this issue.   Can I keep my trap gun?

A woman in Scranton who was arrested for swearing loudly at her toilet when it backed up has been let go:

However, District Judge Terrence Gallagher earlier this week dismissed the charge on the grounds that while Herb’s language “may be considered by some to be offensive, vulgar and imprudent”, it is “protected speech pursuant to the First Amendment”.

It’s a disgrace that it even got to the point where a judge had to make that ruling.

He commented on here more than a few times.  My thoughts go out to his family.  It seems this happens more on the blogosphere than other online communities I’ve taken part in over the years.  It’s a shame.  The wonderful thing about the internet is, you’re immortal; it forgets nothing.