Chewing Guns Can Be Dangerous

Every now and then, misspellings can lead to hilarious headlines.  Found on Drudge yesterday:

"Does chewing gun help colon recover from cancer surgery?"

Where does masticating guns fall under the rules of safety?  And why so narrowly focused on helping your colon recover from cancer surgery?  Does this mean it is not helpful for after having a colonostomy or a prostate exam? Does it matter what type of gun? What about the parts: is the barrel more effective than the butt stock?  How does this differ from those who just chew on trees or scrap iron?  There are a lot of questions that this headline brings up.

Most important though, we need to find out where this kind of research was funded.

Mayor Confused by Article?

Mayor Nutter wants an investigation because of an article? Well, there must be something very controversial so I decided to read the article. Now, having never lived in Philadelphia, I am looking at this as an outsider.  In fact, the largest city I ever lived in was Tulsa, and even then, I lived right at the edge of town (or at least at the time it was the edge of town, it has grown since then).

The article about Philadelphia is rather interesting.  Let me sum it up some.  Philadelphia has gone through a large demographic shift since the 1930s.  Some white people have no problem interacting with the black people in their neighborhood.  Some white people do.  Some black people have no problem interacting with the white people in their neighborhood. Some black people do.  So where is the controversy?

This isn't a story about race relations in Philadelphia so much as it is a microcosm of race relations everywhere in the world, throughout the history of the world.  Some people don't like to mix with others not of their "race" while others don't mind at all.  We look at race as a black/white issue primarily in the US, largely as a relic of our slave history.

But go to Africa and talk among the Tutsis and Hutus. They hate each other.  Well, some of them hate each other. To the point that they are willing to slaughter each other. They can see differences between themselves, but I doubt many westerners could. 

In the US we like to lump Asians together (because they aren't that large a percentage of our population).  But in many cases their families have been in America more than 100 years (which is longer than some of my family has been here) and only genetically resemble their cousins from across the Pacific.  Furthermore, try telling a Chinese person they are the same as a Korean or a Japanese (or vice versa), and don't ever think of lumping them in with Thai or Vietnamese.

So what investigation needs to occur?  How about none.  How about we recognize that some people are different.  How about we realize that we don't live in a Utopia.  How about those of us who don't care about the color of the next person's skin continue on with life and enjoying each other's company.  How about we just leave those that do alone, they are the ones missing out on friendships.

There is nothing controversial about this article. I didn't learn any new general ideas from it.  What it did tell me is the specific opinions of several different people around Philadelphia and how they look at race.  I wasn't suprised to find that their opinions run a broad spectrum.

Stockpile, Cache, Armory, Arsenal

I read about these words a lot in the media.  I am not sure the writers know what they mean. A couple of guns?  A few guns?  500 rounds of ammunition?  Sorry if I don't get excited when you say some criminal's arsenal consists of a handgun, a shotgun, AND a rifle.  I know people who carry that when they go to a 3-gun match.  How did 3 guns get to be an "arsenal."

Then there are the large "cache's" of ammunition.  100 rounds.  200 rounds.  God forbid he has 1000 rounds!  Um, its small little bits not much larger than a nut.  Once again, I know of people who have this much ammunition on their person or in their vehicle on a daily basis.  I've had people pay me for rides to work using a couple hundred rounds of ammunition. It really doesn't take up that much space.

Let me put it in perspective a bit.  A box of 50 rounds of 9mm is approximately the size of a block of cream cheese.  That's it. And that includes an inordinate amount of packaging.  A 550 round box of .22 LR is about the size of a recipe card box (the 3x5 kind).  500 rounds of most rifle ammunition will fit into a box about the size of two Harry Potter books.  One round of 7.62x39 is about half the size of a sharpie marker cap. A pack of five 12 gauge shotgun shells is the size of a small point and shoot camera.  Do you have a visual image yet that ammunition just doesn't take up that much space?

I have at least 3 or 4 "stockpiles" around my house based on these definitions.  Heck, whenever I load magazines to go to the range, I have a new "stockpile".  I have, literally, thousands (as in X followed by at least three zeros) of rounds of ammunition.  I have a couple of friends who have in the neighborhood of 100,000 rounds or more.

Are we paranoid?  No more than you are for filling your gas tank when it gets near empty.  I have a 20 mile round trip commute to work.  I fill the entire tank up every time I stop for gas so that I only have to stop for gas once every three weeks (or about every 21 uses of my car) rather than every day by only putting in what I am going to use for the day. Likewise, I shoot around 500 rounds of ammunition for every time I go to the range.  To be comparable, whenever I top off on ammo buying, I should have 10,500 rounds.  So, no, it is no more paranoid than buying milk by the gallon instead of a half pint.

Most people who have "stockpiles" of ammo do so because they don't want to go to the store all the time.  Most criminals probably only have as much ammo as they can carry, but I am not sure that anyone has ever done a study on how much ammunition criminals "stockpile."  If news stories are an accurate representation, they stockpile a whole lot less than I do.  

A Quandary of Epic Porportions

I have a quandary every time I see and article like this. Almost a hundred years ago (before nearly everyone on the planet today was born), the Ottoman Empire killed off a whole bunch of Armenians. Now, some in the US Congress feel the need to condemn this action and label it a genocide.

On the one hand, I am ecstatic that Congress is debating something that isn't going to increase my taxes or limit the rights of Americans. I support a lot of the frivolous-no-action legislation that is passed by our government, particularly if it is something that members can give long winded speeches showing that they support said frivolousness. You know, things like declaring National Hot Dog Day, or Congratulatory Bills to the World Series Champion, or even debating and voting on Mother of the Year awards. These are things that take up their time so that they can't screw up other things. In the end, if they screw up any of these frivolous items (which they amazingly do), since there are no actions at of it, and no money spent, it doesn't affect me.

On the other hand, we appear to be on the path of attempting to right all of the wrongs that have happened throughout history. The latest one to be debated is the Armenia genocide resolution. What would it do, other than saying that the Ottoman's were really bad...nothing. So why are we doing it? I have no clue, maybe to suck up to Armenia since they are strategically better positioned than Turkey? (Except that they aren't.) Did a million plus Armenians get killed back in 1915? Yes. Was it primarily a result of the Ottoman Turks? Probably. However, everyone who perpetrated it is long since dead (except for maybe a 12 year old boy who helped, of course he would be 107 now, so are we going to waste some resources trying him in a military tribunal and putting him in prison for the rest of his life - well, if it will prevent Congress from passing new programs, then yeah maybe we should).

Turkey is naturally upset because they are the descendants of the Ottoman Empire. Of course, if I lived there, I would say: "So what. If we aren't currently killing them or have policies in place that lead to that, why are you wasting your time?" Turkey recalled their ambassador to the US. Frankly, I think he should have just sent a nicely worded letter to the offending congressional committee saying that they really need to grow up.

Which is what we need to do. When we "condemn" actions of other countries (some of which no longer exist) that happened 100, 200, or 500 years ago, we are being childish cowards. How about condemning China for current human rights violations? Back it up with sanctions and not taking any more imports from them? Well, they happen to be one of the big boys. And we can't just stop importing from them. So maybe their human rights violations are not as important as the trade we have. In fact, maybe it is better to sacrifice "human rights" of the present population so that future populations can have freedom. Sanctions and shunning North Korea and Cuba have done nothing for the last 50 years. Cutting off business with Iran has only entrenched the extremist regime in that country over the last 30 years. Condemning people who can't fight back is easy. Asking the tough questions for those that can is much more difficult.

So far, the State Department and President Obama are taking the right approach. Keep encouraging Congress not do take this resolution further. This could actually end up as a win-win for everyone. Congress debates this resolution and doesn't get the "important" legislation passed. Therefore, we are better off in America since there are no new health care monstrosities, cap and trade debacles, or second stimulus bombs. In the end, the Congress doesn't pass the resolution and Turkey wins since we aren't condemning them for what their great grandfathers did. Armenia may not get what they want, but if all they wanted was a piece of paper condemning the Ottoman Empire, I can send them that.

One News Story, One Op Ed

Two things grabbed my attention this morning, that I thought I would comment on. The first is this news story of Cindy Sheehan. Cindy, if you will remember, lost her son in Iraq and became the icon of the anti-war movement. My recollection may be wrong, but I thought she was just protesting the war in Iraq when Bush was president. She can unsuccessfully for congress, but has kept on with her protests. Now it appears that all war is bad to her and we are cowards.

Some points to bring up. After Bush left office, Cindy had a protest outside his home near Dallas. Did anyone bother to tell her that on January 20, 2009, Mr. Bush no longer had any power to change the course of the war. Her recent protest near Cheney's home and the CIA show that she is truly clueless. Even if Bush and Cheney had epiphanies today and decided that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were wrong and they demanded the immediate pullout of all troops ... nothing would happen. One of the great things about our country is that once a new president, congressman, etc. is sworn in, the old one is irrelevant to actual decision making. So the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are Mr. Obama's now. In spite of what he may think.

The other thing I don't understand about Cindy's protest is she is protesting the use of drones to attack enemy targets. Somehow this is cowardly and immoral. This seems like an odd argument when the other option is to send live bodies in to do the killing which is how her son died. I would have thought that using technology which prevents our soldiers from coming into harms way would be the moral thing to do. So what if it is cowardly (which it is not), it certainly isn't any more cowardly than hiding amongst women and children or setting a IED to be remote detonated. Cowardice when people are trying to kill you can be forgiven. The idea that we shouldn't use drones is stupid and will get people killed.

The second item was an op ed piece about Mika Bresinski. If you watch MSNBC in the mornings, which I sometimes do, you know Mika is Joe's liberal counterpart who can't make a coherent argument even when it is on the teleprompter or script in front of her. Now, having not seen the footage for this, it may not be as the writer describes, however, based on my watching of Mika, it sounds spot on.

First, Sarah Palin says that Washington was her favorite founding father. And Mika is a little flummoxed (probably because she doesn't know who George Washington is). After some others mention founding fathers, Mika pipes up with Lincoln (I suppose she means Abraham Lincoln, because Benjamin Lincoln is usually not listed among the founding fathers and if Mika doesn't know Washington I doubt she has heard of Benji - as opposed to Benjamin Franklin, I know all those names can get confusing). Lincoln, as in the man who wasn't even born until after Washington's two terms as president.

Sarah Palin is the one that is always panned by "reporters," like Mika, as being clueless and a buffoon. In this case, Mika clearly demonstrates who the buffoon is.

Problem with Maine's Assistant Attorney General

Going through the news, I almost didn't click on this story. But, I couldn't resist. After the first couple of paragraphs I was about to click away to something else, then this quote caught me off guard:

"You just don't hold a gun to someone's head and pull the trigger without making sure it's not loaded. And at the moment he pulled the trigger, he didn't know."

If the reporting is accurate, that was spoken by the Assistant Attorney General. I have a problem with that. Why would an Assistant Attorney General think it is OK to point a gun at someone's head and pull the trigger EVEN IF they know that the gun is unloaded? How about not pointing the gun at someone's head in the first place!

It definitely speaks to the woeful inadequacy of firearms education in this country when one of the top law enforcement officials in a state believes that it is OK to point a gun at someone's head and pull the trigger if it is unloaded. In case you didn't know, its not OK. Learn the four rules of firearm safety and don't be afraid to teach your children about them. And please, don't elect people who don't know what the four rules are or their proper application.

And I thought Maine had a culture of firearms ownership. Guess I can be wrong every now and again.

How Not to Make an Apology

It seems that if someone is famous (be it in politics or entertainment), a lot of time their ability to apologize is completely lacking. Do they have classes on this, or is it just because the fame has got to them that they lose their mind? In order to provide a public service to them, I thought I would go over some basic rules of to do and what not to do. Following them in order will save you loads of bad press in the end.

Rule #1: Don't do stupid things that you will have to apologize for. If you are a family values politician (Gov. Sanford), don't go and cheat on your wife. If you targeted prostitution as an Attorney General (Gov. Spitzer), don't hook up with a high priced call girl as governor. If you make a pledge to not raise taxes (Pres. Bush the first), don't cave in because the opposition party says they will do something else for you (which they won't). If your famous for being an innocent Disney actress (Hudgens), don't take nudie pics of yourself for any reason (although if your Miss Bailon and just want to look more adult, go for it just don't blame it on someone else). If you say you don't know the facts about a situation (Pres. Obama), don't make the next sentence a rash judgement that you would need the facts for. Do we get the picture yet? Don't Be Stupid!!

Rule #2: Only apologize if you actually mean to apologize. I actually have a lot of respect for Bush the second and Cheney in this regard. Both of them at different times found themselves on open microphones discussing qualities about people in "colorful" terms. You may not like them, you may not like what they said, but when confronted with it they didn't didn't care that apologizing was the chic thing to do. They meant what they said, and no apology was needed. Although I believe Bush did apologize that everyone had to hear it with the open mike, but he did reiterate that he meant what he said.

Rule #3: If you do need to apologize, make it short and to the point. Whatever you do, under no circumstances should you try to explain or justify your stupidity. Say you were stupid, say you are sorry, maybe say that you will be more wise in the future, and then get on with life. Whenever you start to get into explanations (read justifications), your apology begins to seem rather unsincere (see rule #2).
Take Gov. Sanford for instance, in his apology (or shortly thereafter) he stated that his mistress was his soulmate, but he would try to mend the relationship with his wife. HELLLOOOOO! If you are believer in the one and only soulmate crap, then just be the schmuck, divorce your wife and go live happily ever after (just be sure to pay your child support and alimony). Otherwise, shut up already!
To be fair to the other political party, take Pres. Obama for instance. After saying he didn't have all the facts and then saying the Cambridge Police acted stupidly, he has a lame apology where he says that he could have worded it differently. Then he just tones down his words to say that the police officer overreacted by pulling Dr. Gates out of his house (I believe he actually asked him to come outside - for his own safety - not physically pulled him, but what do I know, I wasn't there). Of course he adds that Dr. Gates probably overreacted too. HELLLOOOOO! If you are a 60 year old professor at Harvard and you are still using language like "wif yo mama", then 'probably overreacted' is too kind. Look, I know Dr. Gates is your friend Pres. Obama, but part of being a friend is telling your friend when he is being stupid, not trying to cover for him - and if you still don't have the facts, then quit making more rash judgements. If you really believe the cop overreacted provide some evidence. If he followed standard protocol to a T, then admit you were wrong and go on with life.

Rule #4: Bring flowers (or another acceptable peace offering), and don't make it public. Above all, don't try to make your peace offering a public display. I give Obama kudos for inviting Gates and the officer for a beer, he was wrong to tell everyone that he had. Once again, by making your peace offering public you bring the attention back to yourself and make it look like you're not sincere. If the person accepting the peace offering wishes to make it public, then that is there perogative. You wronged them so give them the choice of whether to display the peace offering or not.

90% Myth

90% of Guns in Mexico from US
When I first heard this statistic a month or so ago, I new it was bogus from the beginning. The proof was in the article. Every article invariable talked about how the Mexican police and military were finding themselves outgunned.
Fact #1, if you are buying your weapons on the civilian US market, there is no possible way you are going to "outgun" a military force of anything but the most unarmed country (the island of Nauru comes to mind). Drug cartels are using fully automatic weapons, grenades, and shoulder fired rockets to fight against the Mexican government. While having some of this firepower might be fun to shoot on a weekend, you cannot get it in any gun show or gun store in the US. While you may be able to acquire one of the few fully automatic weapons on the market, you better have $15K to $50K and be prepared for a full body cavity search by the ATF.

Of the several stories I read, the 90% myth was stated in different ways. "90% of guns used to kill police", "90% of all guns in Mexico", "90% of guns used by drug runners", "90 of guns recovered from crime scenes", etc, etc. All of these are wrong, if not flat out lies. Fact #2, 5114 of the 29000 guns that the Mexican government recovered in a two year period were traced to the US. What does that mean? It means at some point they passed through the US. What I would really be interested in is the breakdown by make of gun. So where do they get the 90% value from?
Well, 5114 is 90% of guns that were able to be traced. Huh? You see, the US makes more firearms than any other country. They also have the best tracking (i.e. serial numbering) system for guns in the world. So if a firearm is made by a licensed manufacturer, or imported by a manufacturer, regardless of where the firearm finally ended up, there would be paperwork tracing it to the US. Because of this probably 90% of all traceable firearms could be traced to the US. The other 10% could probably be traced to Switzerland, Israel, Germany, France and other countries that use a serial number tracking system. It may come as a shock, but a bad guys know that guns have serial numbers which can be traced. So they file them off, or if making guns themselves, don't put them on in the first place.

Well could 90% of firearms be coming from the US? It's possible, although unlikely. The US Defense Department and State Department sells thousands of firearms (including the fully automatic kind) to countries all over the world. We don't track what happens to them after they are sold. So it is entirely likely that some third world country we supplied arms to in the past is now selling those arms to the cartels because they need cash.
But that isn't the likely scenario. Here is the likely scenario. The most popular rifle in the world (heck the most popular firearm) is the AK-47. Why? It is rugged, reliable, and relatively inexpensive to produce. There are approximately 60 million AK-47 (full auto) of the 600 million privately owned firearms in the world (which would include the cartels). AK-47s can be made by just about anyone. I know, that may seem odd, but there is nothing high tech about fully automatic firearms. The technology is more than 100 years old. Some springs, some levels, a tube, put it together and you have a firearm. Don't believe me? AK-47s have been found that were cobbled together in crude workshops in the mountains of Afganistan. There are no complex toolings needed to make an AK-47. Its not rocket science. So that leaves the cartels with a few options: A) They can be buying and smuggling these weapons from a country (i.e. China, Iran, North Korea, etc.), B) They could be buying and smuggling these weapons from an organization (i.e. al Qaida), C) They could be making the weapons themselves.

Oh yeah, and then there is the other likely place they are getting these weapons. The Mexican government (who got them from the US). When soldiers/policemen desert they could take their weapons with them. Corrupt officials could sell the weapons onto the black market. Weapons caches could be raided. Or you can actually believe that the cartels have hundreds or thousands of straw purchasers in the US who are spending anywhere from $300 - $1500 per gun and then smuggling them into Mexico (I mean it makes perfect sense that someone would pay $1500 for a semi-automatic AR-15 which jams whenever you get a grain of sand in it, when the other option is a $200 fully automatic AK-47 from Nigeria that never jams, even when buried in the mud. I also have some prime resort real estate in the northern parts of Saskatchewan to sell you for only $5000 per acre.)

Are some guns from the civilian market in the US making their way to Mexico? Yeah, but I would wager that they are primarily handguns - used either as a sidearm backup or as a status symbol for the cartel members (several expensive firearms have very little military use, but like a Mercedes or Rolex can be a status symbol). Firearms from the US civilian market are not being used in the vast majority of firefights that you hear about in the news.

Recap of the News Headlines

This week has proven very fruitful for news to make fun of.

Obama warns no room for error on Stimulus waste
Two quick points. 1) Wasn't there a lot of waste already built into the stimulus (I guess when our elected officials finally get around to reading it they will know)? 2) This on the heels of "discovering" that certain companies which took government funds paid bonuses.

Obama's gas mileage claim sputters
So, the Model-T gets better gas mileage than the modern SUV. I have no problem if that is true. Maybe we should spend the millions allocated for new cars for the federal government to buy Model-Ts (they are American). What you say, and give up the comfort of CD players, air conditioning, cruise control (heck driving faster than 50 mph), cup holders, all wheel drive, all season radial tires, power windows, power steering, sun roofs (or even roofs), oh yeah, and those pesky emission controls that cause modern cars to pollute 99.99% less than the Model-T. This statement by our President shows that he knows nothing about technology.

AIG sues its owners the Taxpayers for $306 million
So, since we have taken over AIG, they owe us (the government) $165 million from bonuses paid out of our money. Meanwhile, they apparently overpaid us (the government) $306 million in taxes that they would like back. More and more, it looks like we should have let AIG fail back in September and dealt with the pending Apocalypse. It would have been less complicated, and cheaper.

Agenda on track despite massive deficits
Oh good, I was worried that with the price tag going up every day (the CBO estimates $2.3 trillion more in deficits over the next 10 years for a total of $9.3 trillion), that the agenda might be derailed. Just pray we don't hit a speedbump and balloon this thing out of control (or did we do that already).

US, Mexican Security Chiefs to Meet on Gun Trade
Oh goody. Maybe we can start to get some of those great Mexican guns. I am tired of having to send all of our machine guns, hand grenades, and rocket launchers south of the border. Last time I went to my local gun store, the shelves for these items were bare. Even Wal-Mart was sold out of RPGs and I can usually count on them to carry everything, especially the cheap ones made in Cambodia.

Numbers Prove It: Capitalism Cuts Poverty
Stating the obvious is not news. While not everyone may realize this, it doesn't stop it from being a fact. This should read: Capitalism eliminates poverty. Let's just compare a couple of examples: USA and Cuba. USA and Soviet Union. USA and Angola. USA and North Korea. If you think there is poverty in America, you need to get out and see the world. There are people in America who have less than others. There is no poverty. India has poverty. Bangladesh has poverty. Sudan has poverty. North Korea has poverty. Guatemala has poverty. Venzuela has poverty. The USA, Canada, Great Britain, Norway, France, Switzerland, and Japan don't have poverty.

Insecticide may play role in obesity epidemic
I always thought an epidemic was something you didn't have control over. Like Spanish Influenza or the Bubonic Plague. Obesity is a matter of overeating. So, unless there is some food cartel cramming our gullets full of their wares, maybe we need to eat a little less. Not to state the obvious again, but insecticides kill off bugs which allows for a larger harvest, which makes food cheap, therefore we have more money to indulge our appetite.

Healthy Diet, Exercise ward off deep body fat
Please tell me the reporter that wrote this story did not get paid.

Microsoft adds Shortcuts, Security to New Browser
I know this is a novel concept, but Firefox, Opera, and Konquerer have been doing this for years.

Bank CEOs criticize Bonus tax
Oh, the problems with reactive legislation. First we have a banking crisis that the government has to get their hands into to fix. We force everyone to take money (whether they "need" it or not). Then we ram through some legislation which protects said banks bonuses (without reading the legislation of course). Then banks pay the bonuses. We get mad. Pass legislation to tax those bonuses (probably without reading it again). The banking executives (who have already acquired enough wealth to live comfortably for the rest of their lives) decide they have had enough and retire. There is a massive vacuum in the banking leadership. The banking system collapses because now it is really being run by monkeys pecking away at typewriters (they were the only ones who would take the job at the pay the government was offering). Which puts us right back where we started (except a few trillion dollars poorer). Except now when we go to the zoos, there are no monkeys to see. And New Yorks banana imports increased a hundred fold over night. If I can find a commodities dealer that trades banana futures, I might have to take a long position next week. Please Senate, do the right thing and kill this bill.

US Journalists 'Illegally Intruded'
What an outrage, trying to hamper the press. How could anyone in this day and age not realize the importance of journalists. What is that? North Korea. Tin pot dictator (who may have died months ago). Oh, he doesn't even allow food aid to go to his own starving people? Huh, they don't respect the Bill of Rights? Oh, they have never heard of the 1st Amendment? Good thing they don't kill political dissidents as well...

Americans make odd spending choices in tough economic times
Americans make odd spending choices in good economic times. How else do you explain the limited success of the Yugo and the Chia Pet?

Rhode Island Strip Club to host Job Fair
You know the economy has to be bad when strip clubs can't even fill their openings. Oh wait, that would mean that there are jobs that need workers. That can't be, the economy is in the tank. Maybe the key to the economic recovery is to open more strip clubs. Afterall, they do a good job of "spreading the wealth around."

Recap of the News Headlines

Once again I recap the latest headlines. I haven't read all of the stories so if my comments don't relate, then our keepers of the 4th branch of government aren't doing a very good job.

Uncle Sam Takes His Share From Jobless Benefits
You have to love government bureaucracies sometimes. People pay unemployment insurance to the government (ok, their employer pays it but it gets passed on to the employee through lower wages). Then, when drawing unemployment the government doesn't withhold anything (like they do in your normal paycheck). So come tax time, people that are unemployed find themselves owing all of the taxes. Some of them will probably pay penalties on it. Oh well, at least if they pay their taxes this year, they are better then several of Obama's appointees.

Bulldozer Goes on Rampage in Israel, Driver Killed
A couple of things wrong with this. 1 - It was a front end loader, not a bulldozer. 2 - Last I checked, inanimate objects (including ones with engines) are incapable of acting for themselves (hence the term inanimate). In reality, this was a terrorist who decided to use a construction implement to cause carnage. Notice that what stopped him was being shot, although the police don't say who shot him (Israeli's in the military are required to have their weapons with them at all times, even when out in public).

House Passes Mortgage Bankruptcy Bill
Yeah! Now if the Senate agrees, I get to help you out with your mortgage payment because you were stupid, irresponsible or both. Some may say that it is the evil banks that will take the hit. Well, I own those evil banks, so whether it is taxpayers (me) or stockholders (me) I get screwed. Maybe I shouldn't be so responsible with my money?

Clinic Owner Accused of Botching Abortion, Throwing Away Live Baby
Even if you are pro-abortion and believe it is a woman's constitutional right, if a doctor only gets 1 year in jail for discarding a live baby like common trash, this country has no hope. Last I checked this was called murder (probably 2nd degree since he intended to kill the baby in the womb which is legal).

Parties Blame Each Other for Worsening Economy
Guess what? They are both right. For six years, the Republicans acted like socialists and never saw a spending bill they didn't like. For the last two years, Democrats have been socialists and passed every bit of spending they could. Now we have a President and Congress who want to spend for spending sake without any debate on the matter.

Arctic Summer Ice Could Vanish by 2013
Finally, a return to the way things were hundreds of thousands of years ago. Maybe we could plant some hydroponic lettuce up there.

TV Converter Box Coupons Start Flowing Again
It is things like these that make me wonder if the Founding Fathers would even recognize the country they built. When did it become the federal government's responsibility to make sure you can watch TV? I know we mae fun of the French and their war fighting abilities, but right now all a country would have to do to take over America is promise us free internet access and a Latte every Saturday.

GM Running Out of Cash
Does stating the obvious (particularly what was obvious several months ago) count as news?

22 Georgia Legislators Fail to Pay Income Taxes
With the wealth of options Obama had, it is easy to see why several of his appointees didn't find it convenient to pay income taxes. Maybe this is something that we should all try.

Teen Hid Gun in School Ceiling, Planned 'Harm'
I thought schools were gun free zone's and there was a magical force field which prevented criminals from bringing them on the property. What, you mean there isn't? Well then certainly if this punk decided to use the weapon he hid, there would be other responsible law abiding people who would have access to guns that could stop or mitigate the 'Harm.' What, you mean there isn't? The school would have to call 911 and wait 10 minutes for the police to show up? Well, good thing it was only a revolver. So unless you are one of the unlucky 6 that he shoots first (or 36 if he has a few speed loaders) then you should be fine. And what is this a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle (isn't that redundant, aren't all AR-15's semi-automatic)? A Mini-14 assault rifle (I highly doubt that since there is no Mini-14 assault rifle - there is Mini-14 sport utility rifle which is only semi-automatic -- assault rifles are select fire weapons that are capable of full auto fire modes). And 200 rounds of ammunition. If we are suppose to be worried about 200 rounds of ammunition, what happens when I go to WalMart and buy a couple of 550 boxes of .22LR. Do I now have an ammunition dump? Other than the irrational fear of guns that this article is trying to portray, this kid is a punk. He should be tried and locked up. If the guns were obtained illegally, then that needs to be looked into and his accomplices prosecuted.

Recap of the News Headlines

I thought I would do a new type of post. I'll list the headlines and then give you some of my brief thoughts about the story (and headline in particular). Warning, I have not necessarily read all of the stories, this is more of a reflection of what thoughts the headlines invoke.

Student Speech Against Gay Marriage Prompts Lawsuit
OK, after reading this I was about to rant that someone is suing because of a speech they didn't like. But, after reading the first couple of paragraphs I find that the headline actually should read "Student Sues School for Violation of Free Speech." Little different huh?

NY's Paterson Wants Tax on Porno Downloads
I lived in New York, they already tax them through the Internet sales tax you have to pay for items bought online that you didn't pay sales tax on (I always estimated mine). Besides, what would you call this bill....

State Lawmakers Look to Booze Taxes for Help
While already being drunk on spending, why not use more booze to help pay for it. Are we going to have ad campaigns that encourage drinking to help out the state?

Jackie Chan Film Too Violent for China
For some reason this doesn't compute. Jailing, torturing, and killing political prisoner's is fine? But a little fast action martial arts is not? Didn't China invent Kung Fu? Ever hear of the Shaolin Monastery?

Stimulus Plan Awaits Signature
Yes, the plan that we couldn't have any delays on because millions were losing their jobs was not planned to be signed until days after it passed. Good thing the money won't start flowing until next week!

NY Senator Moves Guns from Under her Bed
Really. Those were your home defense guns? High powered rifles (are there any other kind)? I lived in Gillibrand's district (didn't vote for her), now I know she is loopy. Home defense guns should be A) loaded or B) have easy access to ammo (i.e. previously loaded clip), in that order. If the gun is A, it shouldn't be stored under the bed in a house with children. If B, then you have drastically decreased its effectiveness and might be better off with a baseball bat. Besides, every gun owner knows that a shotgun or handgun are better for home defense then a rifle.

Barbie Wouldn't Wear That
I hate to say it, but in my house, Barbie wears anything (or nothing at all until I get my daughter to put clothes on her).

Brit Says She's a "Super Sexy" Housewife in New Video
Didn't she already play that role in real life? I guess maybe she is becoming the real life Barbie of Music: Super Sexy Schoolgirl, Super Sexy Astronaut, Super Sexy Biker, Super Sexy Housewife, Super Sexy Snake Charmer, Super Sexy .

Indonesian Women Protest Clinton Visit
And I thought everyone loved her?

Facebook reassures users in wake of service terms change
Do some people not realize that there is no such thing as privacy on the internet? If you don't want someone to know information about you don't post it online. In a similar vein, if you don't want naked pictures of you sent all over the world, don't take them. Why is that such a difficult concept?

Beaver Sighted in Detroit River; First in 75 Years
Does this mean that the beaver is endangered in Detroit River area? Maybe after local residents find him chewing up their poplar trees they won't have another sighting for 75 more years. Of course you can always look for the gentlemen in the new top hat.

Despite Obama's Pledge, Justice Defends Bush Secrets
I guess when you don't know what our government does it is easy to say everyone should know. Now that you've found out, there might be some pretty good reasons not to let the average Joe know about those things.

No Joy in this Cooking - Recipes Can Make you Fat
No, overeating can, and not exercising can. I have hundreds of recipes in my house, and not a single one of them has ever made me fat.

That's all for today. I'll try to remember to do this again next week.