Friday, December 23, 2005

Merry Christmas


May the meaning and joy of Christmas fill your heart with peace and gladness.

I'm taking a few days off to give those I love some undivided attention. I have the luxury of doing this because on a cold night in 1776, better men than me gave up their Christmas.

Count your blessings, love your loved ones, and I hope to see you back in a few days.

Merry Christmas.

[The Nativity, 1597, by Federico Barocci]

Pentagon Forced To Ship Ray Gun to Iraq

Boy, if I had a ray gun, nobody could force me to do anything.

Humor aside, it's an interesting read. I've questioned the non-lethality claims from the outset. And you can bet such technology will be withheld from the Constitutional militia.

I didn't have time to track down a photo of the beast. I'm wondering how big the dish is, and how hard it would be to hit at 500 meters...

Tow Firm Shooter Faces Gun Charge

A Jackson businessman who shot and killed a suspected burglar is facing a new charge because of a conviction more than two decades ago.
He defended himself against a burglar, but because he was on the wrong side of the law himself a quarter century ago, the LaPierre Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly National Rifle Control, Inc.) promotes this policy:
Any felon caught with a gun, no matter what he's doing, goes to jail for 5 years, period.
Too bad he didn't let his attacker hurt or kill him--then he wouldn't be facing charges. Plus, think how happy it would have made Wayne.

We're the Only...Ahhh, Shoot, They're Out of Paper...

The city's police chief left his loaded service pistol in a restaurant bathroom last month and didn't realize it until another officer returned the gun to him.

When he realized his mistake, Chief Bob Deutsch wrote an e-mail to the entire department stating what he had done. He then wrote himself a written reprimand.
Don't you wish you could write yourself up when you screw up on the job?

Bad me. Bad, bad, bad...

I do wonder what punishment the Chief would have gone for had one of his employers, that is, one of us tax cows, done the same thing. Think it would have resulted in a reprimand, with public endangerment charges waived...?

The New York Centurions

The state will hire 100 state troopers as part of a new effort to crack down on illegal gun trafficking, Gov. George Pataki said Thursday.
They'll partner with BATFU, and be deputized as federal agents "to go after the sources of the guns, often people in southern states..." That sounds like it will allow them to cross state lines, doesn't it? In any case, there's no danger in federalizing local police, is there?

Their leader describes guns in the parlance of those in the medical community who wish to see them banned, i.e., "an epidemic."

And what's not to like? I mean, our great pals the Republicans are for it, and the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association issued a press release that "applauded" it.

So this must be a great day for freedom, right?

We're the Only Ones Emotionally Stable Enough...

Eugene Victor Perry Jr., a police officer with a state agency who is accused of fatally shooting two Baltimore police officers Wednesday, had as recently as last week asked to join the city force.
And there are those who demand the death penalty if ordinary citizens lift a finger against such rabid dogs...

[Thanks to Bill Clark]