Snowflakes in Hell

A fine example of the art of “tagging” in the late 18th Century that I have managed to dig up ;)

Joe Horn, who last year shot two burglars that had broken into his neighbor’s home in Pasadena, TX has been cleared by a grand jury.  It would seem that “because he needed shooting” is still an affirmative defense in the great state of Texas.

UPDATE: A time honored tradition, apparently.  The lesson here would appear to be: don’t break into houses in Texas.

UPDATE: A commenter adds:

… The law is not that you can just go and protect your neighbor’s house if you feel like it, the law is that you can protect your neighbor’s house if they have asked you to look after it for them. Also, the grand jury failed to indict not because of this particular law but because he shot the suspects in his own yard, proving to the grand jury that the suspects were then a danger to him, NOT simply a threat to his neighbor’s property…

That’s pretty much my understanding of the case here as well.  His argument was that the burglars came onto his property and threatened him.

Also from GunPundit, Taser loses a 6.2 million dollar lawsuit because one of their devices killed a guy.  All less-than-lethal weapons can be lethal under the right (or wrong?) circumstances.

Thanks to reader Wai for sending this along.  This would not be good for gun rights, as A-B is a big contributor to shooting and outdoor related activities, and there’s a good chance that if they are acquired by a new Belgian master, they might not look too kindly on supporting gun rights.

This is why fighting gun control internationally is going to become more and more important.

The Philly media seem to act surprised that people are taking high gas prices in stride:

Twenty-nine years ago, service-station owner Steven Lankin watched as a summer-night Levittown crowd seething over gas rationing, two-hour lines at the pumps, and a then-stunning hike to $1 a gallon turn violent.

What began as a truckers’ gas-crisis protest lasted two nights, June 23 and 24, 1979. It drew thousands of people and left 100 people injured, nearly 200 arrested, and one Shell station shattered in the first gasoline revolt in American history.

When inflation is considered, today’s drivers are paying more for gas; $4 in 2008 is equivalent to $1.35 in 1979 terms. Even so, the gas-buying crowd remains civil, though unhappy, at Levittown’s Five Points intersection, where the riots broke out in front of the Getty station Lankin has run since 1964.

I think you’d find people were more pissed off at the fact that there was no gas, and people had to wait in line, because government price controls created shortages which forced the government to ration gasoline.  The price may be higher today than it was then, but because the government has, for the most part, not gotten involved with manipulating the free market price of oil, there are no shortages or lines, and we don’t need rationing.

Of course, the funny thing about the gas riots of the 70s, was you had people vandalizing gas stations over the fact that there were lines for gas, and chronic shortages, only to realize later that meant there were fewer stations that were able to sell gas.   Sounds like the kind of collective stupidity South Park likes to parody, only this time it was real.

… some sharp objects to be allowed back on planes.  Some experts agree with the move, arguing they should be concentrating on finding explosives.  Like coffee creamer?

Apparently 11 billion miles less in March this year than last year.  We’re also producing less carbon emissions.  Funny how the free market works like that.  I’m anxiously awaiting advanced in battery technology, which appears to be close to fruition, that will allow me to forgo gasoline entirely, and plug my car in at the end of the day.  Take that Saudi Arabia!

You can read about the history of memorial day here.  Wyatt has his thoughts, and highlights a World War I veteran, which Marshall Manson thinks our society doesn’t pay enough attention to.  Brent Greer joined a local boy scout troop to plant flags on the graves of veterans.  Tam’s reminder is simple, but powerful.  Jeff has pictures from Arlington National Cemetary.  Murdoc has a fantastic shot of a 21 gun salute.

In other news, Google pretty clearly doesn’t appreciate the sacrifices made by others so they could make their fortune, but Yahoo! does.  I mean, you can do an earth day logo, but not one for memorial day?

A comment to Bitter’s post yesterday about the problem in Burma:

Each recovery package contains rice, a water filter, an SKS, 100 rounds of ammo, and a map with directions to the capital.

Sounds good to me.  Also very much worth reading on the Burma issue, is a post at The Belmont Club.  As always with that blog, the comments are often as good as the post.

Happy May Day to all you damned communists out there.

… to deal with this.  Death Metal

Everyone should go read Wretchard’s thoughts over at The Belmont Club.  I get few opportunities to link The Belmont Club, since this is a gun blog, but it is one of my favorite blogs on all of Al Gore’s Internets.

“I have a dream. I refuse to accept the end of man. I believe he will endure. He will survive. Man is immortal, not because alone of God’s creatures he has a voice, but because he has a soul… a spirit capable of compassion… and sacrifice… and endurance. About America and Americans, this is particularly true. It is a fabulous country, where miracles not only happen, they happen all the time. As a nation, we have, perhaps uniquely, a special willness of the heart.

- Charlton Heston, “In the Arena” a 1995 Autobiography

Statement from Wayne LaPierre:

Today, my heart is heavy with the loss of Charlton Heston.

America has lost a great patriot. The Second Amendment has lost a faithful friend. So have I, and so have four million NRA members and eighty million gun owners. And so has every American who cares about the Bill of Rights, individual liberty, and Freedom.

My heart is heavy, but not without a sense of pride. Pride in a man who devoted his life to his profession with grace and dignity. Pride in an American who devoted himself to civil rights, to correcting injustices around him, and to standing up for what he knew was right. Pride in a friend who stood with me and stood with fellow NRA members to preserve our freedom for future generations. Pride in a patriot who believed with every fiber of his being that our Bill of Rights is the foundation of our freedom that makes Americans singular among the masses of nations.

And now, Charlton Heston has passed that duty to us – the next generation. I am as proud to continue his cause as I am to have known him as my friend.

But today, my thoughts cannot leave the Heston family. They have always had my utmost respect and admiration and, today, they have my deepest sympathy and most earnest prayers. And they will always have my friendship.

I don’t really have anything to add.

I’ve love to be on this jury:

The builders of the world’s biggest particle collider are being sued in federal court over fears that the experiment might create globe-gobbling black holes or never-before-seen strains of matter that would destroy the planet.

If I ran the LHC program, I’d amost be tempted to send my expert over to testify wearing a monocle, and carrying a white cat to stroke while he answers questions as to whether his nefarious plot is meant to destroy the planet.

Today we’re supposed to have Earth Hour.

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour.

I like Squeaky’s reaction to this hippy crap.  I’m trying to think of what the most outrageous and gratuitous waste of energy one could do for Earth Hour.  For one, I think Bitter and I need to go out to dinner during earth hour for some steak.  Nothing gives a big giant middle finger to the earth crowd like raising cattle.  Steak is perhaps the most earth unfriendly food product money can buy. Steak also makes PETA members cry.

How will you celebrate Earth Hour?

UPDATE: Bitter and I went to Wildfire at Tyson’s II over in McLean, VA.  It’s a chain, but the only other location they have on the East Coast is in Atlanta.  Very good steak, I have to say.  The shrimp and crab bisque was also excellent, as was the dessert.  Their wine sampler specials are also a pretty good bargain for upscale casual dining.

Now we’re watching one of those home makeover shows on Home and Garden Television where gay guys use power tools.

You can see pictures of the pilot accidental discharge that Uncle’s been talking about over here.  They include close-ups.

In Berkeley.

Happy Easter everyone.  Bitter and I were noticing how bright out it was last night with the full moon, and then it occurred to her that Easter is always the first full moon after the start of spring.  It then occurred to me how pagan such a means of determining when Easter fell was.  That would essentially mean you’d need a way to determine the vernal equinox, and then you’d need some kind of calendar based on the moon.  After that, how far do you really have to go before you’re sacrificing virgins to your fire god?

Also interesting that the word Easter is derived from the month on the Germanic Calendar dedicated to the goddess Eostre, who early Europeans celebrated by feasting around this time of year.

Enjoy your holiday folks, but please, no sacrificing virgins.

UPDATE: Some people are offended by my attempt at humor.  Apologies to anyone offended.  I am not intending to make fun of anyone for celebrating Easter, just poking fun at how the date of the holiday was selected.

UPDATE: Apologies to atheist readers who are disappointed at my attempt at reconciliation with my Christian readers who were offended by the original post.  Perhaps someday the People’s Front of Judea, and the Judaean People’s Front will be able to live side by side in harmony.

UPDATE: I should note that I am the product of an orange Irish/German paternity, and a Catholic Irish/German maternity, so if I took this stuff too serious myself, I’d blow myself up with a car bomb.

Apparently she has a MySpace page.  There are pics up, but you need to log in.  She’s not bad.  Great body.  Nice rack.  Would you pay thousands of bucks to hit it?  I wouldn’t.

UPDATE: Countertop has more, including the picture.

UPDATE: Christina the Stripper, a.k.a. “Ms. Moneymakers” points out in an instant message to me “You’re not really paying for HER. You’re, in theory, paying for a level of privacy/security in banging her.  You could get a girl of her caliber cheaper if you didn’t care about privacy.”

UPDATE: Oh well, she took her MySpace page down.  Can’t say I blame her.

Apparently is Mary Jane.  How the mighty have fallen.  First Elliot Spitzer, and now this.

Experts are saying we can expect to see 4 dollar a gallon gas this spring.  As much as I hate the idea of this, because it costs me a 41 dollar tank of gas to see Bitter at current prices, I have to admit that as much as I might complain about gas prices, it’s important to put it in perspective.  At four dollars a gallon, I would be paying 52 dollars a tank to fill up in order to see Bitter.

For tolls on the way down there and back, I pay 17 dollars.  Delaware charges 4 dollars in each direction.  Maryland charges 5 one way, and 2 dollars each way for the tunnel.  Now, I bypass Delaware’s tolls both ways to save the 8 dollars.  It only adds about 10 minutes to the trip time each way, so I think it’s worth the savings.  Most of the times I stop for gas or food on my bypass route to kill two birds with one stone.

But today, Bitter and I went for an early dinner, late lunch to Old Glory, our favorite BBQ joint in The District.  I have to concede that on a typical weekend we spend more on entertainment and food than we do on gasoline consumption to see each other.  The real danger to the economy is that everyone is going to cut back on this kind of spending because motor fuel is generally a fixed cost over the short term.  But it should give us an idea how useful this stuff is, that we’re willing to keep spending more and more money on it, cutting back on other things in order to afford it.

I had totally forgotten that we were supposed to spring ahead today.   It seems odd when Ohio bloggers are buried under snow.  SayUncle is already preparing for spring.  We didn’t get any snow in southeastern Pennsylvania, but we don’t really get nice spring weather until May, typically.  March isn’t quite as cold, but still jacket and sometimes coat weather, and most of April is rainy and miserable.

Eight people shot in #1 Brady Ranked southern California.  Hard to say if this one was another loon, or just a gang conflict gone horribly awry.  Doesn’t really matter too much.  California’s strict gun laws failed to protect these people in either instance.

Caleb speaks of Cal State going ape shit over someone walking around with an assault rifle.  When I was in college, one of the ROTC kids got himself a reprimand for toting an M16 openly down the streets of Philadelphia on his way to our school’s rifle range.  Oddly enough, perfectly legal for anyone to do; open carriage of pistols is illegal in the City of Brotherly love without a License to Carry, but openly carrying a long gun is not, and Pennsylvania law makes no distinction between legal machine guns and other types of long guns.

I’m not sure this is evidence of hoplophobia.  If I saw someone openly carrying what looked like an M16 around campus, I’d probably be a little alarmed too.   It’s not so much the gun as it is that it’s something out of context.  I’m not sure my level of alarm would be lower if the person was in uniform.