Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday, and one of my favorites. A mix of religious and secular themes, with family and friends coming together to celebrate.

So the turkey is roasting to perfection in the oven, the sweet and the savory squashes are cooked, the stuffing is done and only the mashed potatoes remain to be finished.

I took the kids on a nature walk and now we're back and Abby is playing away on her Kindle and having a great birthday. Leah is busy drawing with her new markers, and all is right with the house.

Friends are due over shortly for the feast to begin.

Happy Thanksgiving, and may you have a great one.

Abby's Birthday and Kindle Fire Review Part 2

So Abby woke up on this, the morning of her eighth birthday, and at 8 o'clock after a stirring rendition of happy birthday, she opened her presents.

In addition to the Kindle Fire, she received a nice stationary set from her sister - all of which was emblazoned with the letter A. She also received a nice bead/bracelet making set and a classic book from her Great Uncle Donnie and Great Aunt Francie. There's also more birthday gifts to come.

She also received a Marware jurni Kindle Fire Cover for the Kindle Fire to keep it safe. The case works pretty well in keeping the Kindle safe while its being transported, and there's a hand strap that makes holding the device easy and stable while using the Kindle.

After opening the presents, per Abby's request, she had her birthday cake this morning as she felt a birthday cake wouldn't go with the Thanksgiving day feast that is being lined up.

As an eight-year-old, You know its your birthday when you can eat cake before 9am in the morning.

After looking at the other items she has now been immersed in the Kindle Fire.

The Kindle is tied to Natasha's Amazon account and comes with one month of Amazon Prime. While setting the Kindle up, we did have to change the email the Kindle was originally configured with (hername@kindle) to the one that is tied to the account and it is working perfectly now.

Amazon Prime could be quite addictive - free two day shipping for any purchase and lots of free books from the lending library and free streaming movies and TV shows is pretty tempting.

Abby was immediately able to play some apps we had downloaded, as well as her favorite songs. She also downloaded the free game of Stupid Zombies and a math game on her own, after some direction as to no downloading of apps, videos, or books that have to be paid for without parental permission. Seeing Stupid Zombies on a 7 inch screen is quite a change from the smaller phone screens.

Downloading a book from the Kindle Lending library was immediate with no delay and she was immediately able to read the kid's book that she chose.

Abby is also able to watch streaming video. We've taught her to go to the Amazon Prime section only, choose the "For the Kids" section, and then pick from that section only so she does not end up watching anything inappropriate for her age. So far she's briefly perused Babe, Alice in Wonderland, and a Julia Child cooking show. The video streaming is flawless and smooth with no pauses and the 7 inch screen is great.

Something tells me that after the free trial, we're going to get an annual Amazon Prime membership.

So the second impression of the Kindle Fire is as positive as the first.

The device is so intuitive that a smart eight-year-old can easily operate it. She's now showing an Angelina Ballerina episode to her sister on it as we speak, without any parental assistance.

The Kindle Fire is now heartily recommended by myself, Natasha and Abby, and Leah thinks it is very cool too and a great present.

Abby's birthday will continue with some outdoor activities and preparation for Thanksgiving dinner.

Compliance Costs But Reaps Big Rewards

Marginal Revolution reports that General Electric's tax return was 57,000 pages in size.

To put it in perspective, the entire US tax code is 72,536 pages (in 2006 it was 16,845 pages).

In return for this monumental display of compliance and finding every favorable term of the tax laws and regulations, GE on a profit of $14 billion with $5.1 billion for its US operations paid no income taxes.


Think of the amount of time, energy and economic effort wasted to produce 57,000 pages.

Then think for the need to make our tax code a lot simpler and straightforward to both understand, comply with.

Such a simplification would ensure that other businesses and individuals can reap the same benefits as GE rather than GE being able to pay no taxes by virtue of its size. GE due to having a massive accounting department and a huge size has the ability to operate in a way to negate any tax by a careful application of numerous laws, subsidies and credits that while politically nice may be economically very wasteful. While GE saves on taxes, its probably wasting tons of money not just by all the tax compliance measures, but by inefficient projects taken in the quest for tax credits and write-offs.

The Kindle Lights a Fire.

We just received our purchased Kindle Fire. We bought it as a gift for Abby's 8th birthday on this upcoming Thursday.

Quick impression: Amazon has a real winner here, it gives an Ipad a run for its money on looks and features.

A more detailed impression:

Right out of the box, the Kindle was easy to get started. There is a manual on the Kindle, but its rarely needed as the device itself is so intuitive to use. You only need to refer to the manual on rare occasions or to get acquainted with the device.

The color screen is excellent, with the awesome readability we've seen on prior Kindles. At 7 inches it is perfectly viewable and the small overall form factor makes this an easy device to carry along.

WiFi works perfectly, as does direct transfer of media such as Abby's favorite songs to the Kindle to get it ready for her big day. The small speakers are quite adequate for nice sound, and there's an earphone jack for the future when we want her to keep the noise to herself.

Web surfing is fast and flawless, and downloading Android apps is done with ease through the Amazon store on the Kindle.

Battery life seems very good, better and longer lasting than on my Droid phone.

It could use a physical "back" or home button to quickly get out of a selection, but the software buttons do come up eventually, or you can flick the power switch.

Amazon's decision to use the universal micro USB connector for both power and data transfer is very helpful. No need to buy yet another cable type to get the Kindle to charge or accept data.

For Droid users, the Kindle Fire is a snap to use and I have no doubt Abby will quickly master it.

At about half the cost of an IPad, the Kindle Fire is going to quickly carve out a market for itself.

For basic surfing, reading, basic document reading and editing, and playing games like Angry Birds it is more than capable.

In addition, my local library supports the Kindle so Abby can download books to read to her heart's content.

Natasha likes it so much she's contemplating getting a Kindle Fire for herself.

In summary, the Kindle Fire exceeds expectations.

EU bureaucrats ban businesses from stating water is wet

Instapundit reports that the EU is banning claims that ingesting water can prevent dehydration.

Yes, really.

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

This is perhaps the ultimate bureaucratic realization of Ayn Rand's admonition:

There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.

Making it a crime to impart the information that drinking water can prevent dehydration certainly fits the bill.

After all, once you have banned people from being able to state obvious truths like that, you've got no limit to your potential regulatory control.

Obama, in one Key(stone) decision, causes three lousy results for the US

Obama, by deciding to delay the Keystone XL project, to appease his greenie base in order to buck up his electoral base, has deprived the US of lots of much needed good jobs, not to mention a secure supply of energy coming from a friendly country.

Between the delay on Keystone, the ban on Gulf drilling, and EPA regulations on Coal plants, its clear that Obama isn't interested in an assured and ample supply of energy for the US.

If we're going to get out of this current economic mess, we're going to need, among other things, cheap, reliable energy to power our industry and shift our consumers spending from power to more economically growth-spurring activities.

In addition, Obama's really snubbing our good neighbor to the north (er, actually also our neighbor to the south if you live in the Detroit area): Canada drowned out by U.S. election noise

As a special bonus, the oil Canada is producing may get shipped to China instead.

So Obama has succeeded in making three problems worse for the price of one decision:

Diminishing our energy supply and raising energy costs, and at the same time snubbing one of our proven allies.

How's that for an Obama lousy policy trifecta?

If you jump in a river to avoid the cops, knowing how to swim would be helpful

The Detroit News: Man runs from police, dies after jump into river in Mount Clemens

Yet another example of how running from the cops doesn't lead to anything good.

Authorities say a man police wanted to question following an armed robbery jumped into a river in suburban Detroit and apparently drowned.

The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens and radio station WWJ report officers tried to stop the man early Wednesday when he jumped into the Clinton River in Mount Clemens. Authorities say the man was pulled from the water about 30 minutes later. His name wasn't immediately released.

Yet another example of bad criminal decision-making, next time not running is the best choice, second best would be a life jacket.

Sore Losers For 29 Years And Counting

The Argentinians are rather upset about the announced deployment of a certain Royal Air Force helicopter pilot to the Falklands.

The Toronto Star: Prince William's deployment to Falklands draws diplomatic outrage

Search and rescue may be his job, but there is no saving Prince William from the diplomatic cesspool that has been spawned by the announcement of his posting to the Falkland Islands.

Argentina, which disputes Britain’s sovereignty over the Islands off its coast, calls it a “provocative act.”

This sabre-rattling by the South American nation has been going on since Britain’s reign over the Islands began in 1833.

With William set for a six-week stint there, the tension between the two nations has only intensified.

"It is one more provocative act that shows Britain's military presence in a zone of peace where there is no armed conflict," said Sebastian Brugo Marco, an Argentine official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The British diplomatically answered this complaint in the finest of British style:

“For the life of me, I cannot understand why this is provocative,” Tory MP Patrick Mercer told the Daily Mail. “It is certainly not as provocative as invading the Falkland Islands in 1982.”

For those of you who don't remember, Argentina invaded and occupied the Falklands in 1982 and was defeated by the British rather handily.

At least there's one Royal who's an excellent representation of the best of Britain. Being a search and rescue helicopter pilot is no easy job and Prince William seems to be developing have the qualities and character that will serve him well as king one day.

It is also rumored that in response to this Argentinian outrage, Catherine Middleton was overheard singing "Don't cry for me Argentina..."

Toronto Visit

Blogging has been light as I've spent the past few days at a hospital in Toronto with my dad as he's recovering from surgery.

On the upside, the surgery went very well and there's an 80% chance it solved the problem so we'll see how it goes. He's done well and is now back at home since last night to continue his recovery.

On the downside, some of the strain to Ontario's medical system is showing: the hospital was dingy and appeared quite dirty. More importantly, the nurses while typically delivering good though often delayed care, seemed very short-staffed and overworked. It took quite awhile to get my dad's IV removed after it was empty and other very obvious delays were experienced. At least there was a dispenser of hand sanitizer about every 6 feet, and it was certainly used a lot.

Right beside my dad in the hospital was an older Italian-speaking gentleman who was in recovery after getting a knee replacement. His family also was visiting and in a pleasant conversation we learned that one of his daughter's children is serving in the Canadian Forces as a private and is deployed to Afghanistan with 3 PPCLI.

Here's to hoping he comes home to his family safe and well.

Browning Sure Knew How To Design 'Em

The Toronto Star: Spitfire gun crackles after 70 years in Irish bog

When the remains of a World War II Spitfire Mark II fighter plane — donated to the Royal Air Force by Canada’s Weston family — were plucked from an Irish bog earlier this year, there was another exciting discovery awaiting the crew that found it.

After 70 years of being buried deep in the highlands of Donegal, archeologists and an Irish army ordnance crew were stunned to find that six of the Spitfire’s eight Browning .303 machine guns were like new and rust-free because of a lack of oxygen in the peat bog.

The question was: would the guns ever fire again?

It was another piece in a story that has all the makings of a Hollywood movie. The fighter, one of 20 Spitfires donated by industrialist Willard Garfield Weston, was piloted by handsome 23-year-old American pilot Roland “Bud” Wolfe, who bailed out in December 1941 just before the plane crashed, only to be arrested by authorities in Ireland, which at that time was neutral.

After seventy years sitting in a bog all it took was

soaking the machine guns in lubricant for a few days and swapping some springs and straightening the barrel’s outer support tube on one of them, the crew was more than confident that one would fire.

And fire it did, repeatedly and as designed.

A testament to a great design and the preservative qualities of a bog.

Voting for the non-Walking Dead

Yesterday was an election missed by most Michigan voters.

Most of the action was by cities and townships putting millage increases on the ballot to try to get taxes increased while most voters are unaware that an election is taking place.

For the most part, this off-year subterfuge succeeded.

The highlight of the election is that in one Michigan town, the deceased Mayor beat the challenger:

The Detroit News: More votes cast for deceased mayor in Montague

The incumbent dead man beat the live contender, 129 votes to 115.

However, under Michigan electoral law, the dead are barred from taking office.

Representatives of the American Undead Civil Liberties Union were unavailable for comment, but indicated they may issue an e-moan later.

Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers and now Jackson Alligators?

The Detroit Free Press: 6-foot alligator turns up outside Michigan church

Authorities say a 6-foot-long alligator was caught after being spotted roaming the property of a southern Michigan church.

The Jackson Citizen Patriot reports officers from the Blackman-Leoni Township public safety department near Jackson caught the alligator on Monday. A passing motorist called police to Pathway Community Church after spotting it outside.

...Police say the alligator was in good health and likely was recently released. With colder weather approaching it might not have survived outdoors.

Look, you idiots that keep dangerous creatures and then release them into the wild when they get to big to handle, one of the redeeming qualities Michigan has to offer is a dearth of deadly critters.

With the exception of the rare Massasauga rattler, all of our snakes are non-venemous, our Great Lakes have no sharks and scorpions are conspicuous by their absence. We like it this way.

Typically, the greatest animal threat a Michigander ever has to face is a deer attempting to turn itself into a hood ornament.

If you can't care for your exotic pet, don't release it into the wild but turn it in at the zoo or animal control. Better yet, don't even get one until you understand all the consequences that accompanying owning such an animal.

Great Moments in Secretarial Typos

So I dictate a letter to an entity that is using my client's trademark (and business name) for their business name.

This is causing some definite issues, including the state applying the entity's worker's unemployment claims to my client and also creating lots of confusion for vendors, customers etc. My client has politely asked them to use a different name to end this problem but they continue in their wrongdoing.

So we begin with the firm yet polite cease and desist letter.

However, my secretary wrote the penultimate sentence as follows:

"It is our demand that you immediately decease and desist use of the "trademark" name.

I told her that was a little harsh.

After all, I didn't want to tell them to F-off and die just yet, nor that they had to kill themselves in order to stop their tortious behavior.

That comes after we file the complaint.....

M&P Function Experiment

So here's the M&P experiment to see if its just mine that does this or if it is something that I shouldn't worry about much.

1. Make sure the M&P is empty
2. Feed a dummy round into the chamber
3. Pull the slide back partially.  On the slide, scale #2 from the end sits over the rear pin.  Pull the slide back so scale 3 sits over the pin hole
4. release.

Does your slide go back into battery or does it do this?

The slide does not go back into battery and the recoil spring guide protrudes from the front. Slide can be pushed forward into battery and there's a thunk as the barrel goes back into position.

Repeat the experiment by going to scale 4 and the same thing happens.

I think this may be a symptom of the functioning problems I was having with the gun as when it locked up it was not fully in battery and gave only light primer strikes or no primer strikes at all. Then again, this may be normal as it just went through 100 rounds without a problem.

I suspect the recoil spring is not strong enough to pull the slide back into battery, leading to failures once enough rounds are fired and the gun gets dirty. In contrast, my Glock 17 will promptly close when pulled back a similar distance.

So if you've got an M&P9 and want to do this test and tell me your results, I'd appreciate it.

The M&P Returns And A New Shooter Goes To The Range

Today Rob and his lovely wife Sumiko came to the range with me.  Rob has come to two USPSA matches with me and it looks like he's enjoying and going to keep competing in USPSA, so we wanted to get an opportunity to do some informal practice.

Sumiko had never been shooting before, so with some coaching and instruction from Rob and myself we loaded up the trusty Ruger MKII .22 and let her do some shooting with it.

I strongly advise starting all new shooters with a .22. New shooters are apprehensive enough about shooting that there is no need to add louder noise and recoil than a .22 to start them off. Remember, you want them to have fun and come back.

Do note that there is a special place in hell for the idiots that give the "little woman" a .44 magnum with heavy loads to shoot for a first time experience.

We set the target up about 7 yards away, and her first target ended up looking like this.

Sumiko was great, had a good time, lost the apprehension quickly and had excellent safety and accuracy.  She consistently hit the targets and had fun doing it.

In between 20 rounds we would rotate.  I shot my M&P9 and Rob his Kahr PM-9.  In addition to Sumiko's target, we had set up 7 poppers and a couple IPSC targets and worked on speedily clearing the steel and getting hits on the two targets quickly.  I had a free shot timer on my phone and in between it crashing we manged to get a neat look at our overall time for the course and shot splits.  Eventually I need to buy a real timer.

After shooting about 80 rounds of .22, Sumiko agreed to try Rob's Kahr PM-9 and my S&W M&P9.

Soon she was hitting steel with the Kahr and M&P with aplomb and enjoyed knocking down the reactive targets.

In short, Sumiko had a blast at the range.

It then started getting colder so we packed up and headed over to my house for a great dinner with Natasha and the kids.  A fine dinner, with a tasty Sangria/Lambrusco combo brought by our guests was had by all, except for the kids who got water or milk with their meals.  A great Saturday afternoon and evening.

M&P Notes:  The M&P functioned perfectly at the range with this being its first time out since returning from S&W for repair.  I still have a few concerns about it, but it handled 100 rounds today without a single failure.

However, if someone happens to have an M&P9 and a dummy round handy and is willing to try something for me, I'd appreciate it so I can tell if a certain action is normal for M&Ps or if only mine is doing it.  If you've got one and are willing to give it a try and duplicate the event, let me know, I'd appreciate it.

Detroit Transit Follies Continue

So yesterday, the Detroit Bus Drivers decided walk out and not work due to one of their members being attacked on a route, leaving Detroiters reliant on transit stranded.

Bus drivers are demanding a police presence on the buses. The mayor is now acceding to that demand with the occasional plain clothes officer on buses and the police will now pull over buses randomly to inspect them.

This is a city that can't even keep the required number of buses on the roads due to a mechanics union and massive incompetence, nor keep the buses' drivers safely driving them.

But don't worry, the billions they're about to spend on light rail route will work out just fine.

Trust 'em.

A Female Firearm Novice's Test and Evaluation of Concealable Firearms - Part 1

Murphy's Law called me asking my opinion on a few small handguns and how I thought a female, non-regular shooter would like them as a self-defense firearm. He's got a female friend getting into shooting and she's interested in a carry firearm.

After mulling over the features and good and bad points of each of the ones he was asking me about, namely the P-64, the PA-63, and the CZ-82, I then had a cunning plan.

Why not get Natasha's opinion?

After all, she's smart, she's female, she's taken a CCW class and had some range time and is safe with firearms. She's tolerant of my shooting and gun collecting habits, but really not an enthusiast. In addition, she's had wrist and hand issues so hand strength was not at a premium, making for a useful test and a different perspective on the firearms in question.

Natasha graciously decided to indulge my request and agreed to evaluate each firearm.

Doing this in a semi-scientific manner we looked at:

1. The ease of working the slide with the hammer down
2. The ease of working the slide with the hammer pulled back
3. The ease of using the trigger in double action
4. The ease of using the trigger in single action
5. Magazine removal and replacement
6. Overall handling / feel

All guns were cleared and verified as empty before being evaluated and all dry firing was towards a safe backstop with no ammunition in the room.

We tested the P-64, The PA-63, The CZ-82, a Bulgarian Makarov, the Kahr PM-9 and a Glock 23.

The results were somewhat surprising.

Kahr PM9
Overall Rank: 1
Slide: perfect with great ease of use.
Trigger: Excellent and easy to use.
Magazine: manipulation was easy.

Overall, Natasha really liked the light weight of the Kahr, the ease of operating the slide, the good sights and overall feel and the smooth and easy trigger the best of all the firearms. If I put a Crimson Trace laser on it it would get an A++ and her absolute seal of approval. The PM-9 is truly a great carry gun.

CZ-82
Overall Rank: 2
Of all the 9x18 pistols, this was her favorite.
Slide: was easy to maniplate and lock back in either condition.
Trigger in double action: easy, trigger described as very good.
Trigger in single action: easy, very good trigger.
Magazine: remove and replace took a bit of work as she had to shift her hand a bit to reach the button but not bad once she figured it out.

Overall this was the best of the 9x18 pistols and very easy for her to operate.

The PA-63
Overall Rank: 3
Slide: was easier to manipulate than the Makarov, and much easier with the hammer back.
Trigger in double action: was not good but better than the Makarov (this is with the 11 lb spring installed, we may try this again with a 9 lb spring).
Trigger in single action: was easy.
Magazine: manipulation was easy.

Overall, The light weight and overall  feel of the PA-63 was quite good, but she did not like the double action trigger. We'll have to see if the 9 lb hammer spring improves the overall score as the heavier double action trigger was a real issue.

Glock 23
Overall Rank: 4
Slide: was easier to manipulate than the Makarov, but rather stiff.
Trigger: was decent but she liked the PM9's and the CZ82's triggers much more.
Magazine: manipulation was easy

Overall, Her greatest issue with the Glock 23 was the weight of the pistol and size of the grip.
Her greatest like about it was the Crimson Trace Laser sight which made aiming a breeze.

The Bulgarian Makarov
Overall ranking: 5
Slide: was the hardest for her to manipulate and impossible with the hammer down.
Trigger in double action: very difficult to almost impossible.
Trigger in single action: good
Magazine: manipulation was fine

Overall, the slide was the biggest issue, followed by the heavy double action trigger pull.

The P-64
Overall rank: 6
Slide: was easier to manipulate than the Makarov or the PA-63
Trigger in double action: was completely impossible and a full trigger pull could not be achieved.
Trigger in single action: was acceptable but getting it into single action was difficult
Magazine: manipulation was easy

This was the smallest of the firearms, however unless the hammer spring can be modified, it is out of the running as a carry pistol for those with limited finger strength.  If it could be improved it would beat the Makarov and PA-63 in her opinion.

So there you have it and hopefully it will give your new female shooting friends some initial food for thought as they consider a pistol to carry.

Lesson #1: Guys, don't assume your female friend / Significant Other / etc,  can use the same firearm you do or will find it enjoyable to use. Make sure you help them find one they can use easily and comfortably, and try it out first to make sure its suitable.  Expect issues that you've never thought of to crop up, most notably hand and finger strength.

If they're a new shooter, think an introduction with a .22 like a Ruger MKII and move forward from there.  Natasha can easily shoot and operate the MKII and its overall weight and light recoil makes for a good introductory gun before moving on to more suitable defensive calibers.  Worst comes to worse, hitting with 11 rounds of .22 from a MKII will give a bad guy something to think about.

Hand strength and size certainly matters when deciding what firearm to carry.  While I can use the P-64 in double action mode without any serious issues, Natasha could not do so no matter how hard she tried. I was also very surprised at the difficulty she had with the Makarov's slide. Hand size and strength also affected her evaluation of the Glock as it was described as the heaviest and hardest to get a decent grip.

I really hadn't considered that Natasha and I had hand strength that differed enough to be an issue with pistol manipulation until we went through this evaluation. While I know there is a real strength difference between us its not something that my conscious mind gave much thought.  You don't think of hand strength disparity much in a marriage as it is not one of the major topics of conversation: Hi Honey, I'm home, how's your hand strength? 


Now I know why I always get to open the stuck jars.

Natasha has generously volunteered to perform round two of these tests - taking the pistols to the range and doing a live fire evaluation, so there will be a follow-up report when time permits.

Additions to the Blogroll

I just added North, who gives us some Words of Wisdom every Wednesday

and

Kead's Another Day...Another who today is showing off a fine new acquisition. Very nice indeed.

also, a welcome to New Jovian Thunderbolt, who's wondering about the trend towards S&W M&P 9s.

The answer is they're pretty excellent guns ergonomically and have a decent price point and great capacity. Assuming mine comes back from the factory fixed, I will go back to singing its praises. It had gone through over 2000 rounds sans hicup before the problem cropped up so I expect that it is fixable.

I also just belatedly added Say Uncle. How the heck I had overlooked adding that fine blog to the roll all this time I have no idea.

You can't go wrong reading any of these blogs, nor the others listed in the blogroll.

Mullin Over Severance Award(s)

So let's see if I get the logic of the Mullin scandal right here:

Turkia Mullin voluntarily left her position at Wayne County to take a job as CEO of the Wayne County Airport Authority, a job that she was hired for without a national search, and received a nice big $200,000 severance payment as she left one Wayne County agency to go to another.

This led to a hue and cry once the Democrat establishment in Wayne County was caught gaming the system and gifting its top-tier members sweetheart deals, at least this time.

This led to the firing of Mullin from the Airport Authority. This was to punish her for being part of such a sweetheart deal (with the alleged real reason being that she overstated her accomplishments at Wayne County, but considering she was sloted into position with any real competition, that seems a bit specious).

Guess What? The firing means Turkia Mullin will get a $700,000 severance payment.

That really showed her.

It is certainly good to be in the top tier of a corrupt Democrat administration now isn't it? Heads she wins, tails she wins, and the taxpayers of Wayne County pay in any case.

A Suggestion as to the true purpose of the European Economic Union

If you look at the EU as a monetary union it never made a lot of sense, as the countries involved pursued radically different economic policies without a centralized control and countries ignoring poicy agreements and debt spending limits willy-nilly. Thus the tension today.

Hard working, parsimonious Germans set to retire at 67 are tied monetarily to, and paying for, spendthrift Greeks retiring at 50 on full government pensions.

After all, the Germans are rather fed up with bankrolling a Greek economy (and other problem European economies) that constantly spends more than it creates and exists mainly to provide feather-beds for state workers.

For example, the Greek railway system's debt is a rather stunning example. Greek rail has losses of over 1 billion against its $250 million income, each year, in, year out. This is, of course, completely unsustainable.

That Hellenic railway debt, at 5% of Greece's annual GDP isn't even counted as part of the Greek government's debt obligations causing the current crisis. But, as a state guaranteed entity the debt will fall on the state and add to its total debt as there's no one else to bail out Hellenic rail. Think Freddie Rail.

Now it looks like Germany and France will have to bail out the Greek's and Italian's profligacy or the whole Euro experiment, along with a few banks invested in PIIGS' bonds may collapse.

So a European Monetary Union isn't working out too well as it runs out of money.

However, if you think of the EU not as an economic union but instead as a union with a twofold purpose -

1. To constrain Germany and end its 50 year cycle of occupying France and
2. As a vehicle for reparations for World War 2

Then it all begins to make some sense.

Germany has been prevented from its natural pattern of kicking the French hither and yon, and has also been admirably restrained in not marching through Belgian territory on its way to to do so. Likewise, German tours de force of Eastern Europe have also ceased.

Goal #1 has been a rousing success.

Goal #2, The Euro as German reparations vehicle also seems to be promising.

After all, the Versailles reparations initially demanded were 785 billion in today's dollars, reduced down to $81 billion after the Lausanne Conference Treaty.

Today, Germany is going to be paying much more than that, and has already committed to $287 billion to the bailouts with likely further contributions to a 2 trillion big PIIGS bailout fund being necessary to make a full bailout.

Goal #2 looks to be well on the way to succeeding.

So who gets to be the one to tell the Germans that the European Economic joke is on them?

105.1 calls Christmas way early

Magic 105.1 has a nasty habit of celebrating the holiday season by switching over to solely Christmas music all day, all the time, 24 hours a day.

They then cutely call themselves Christmas 105.1.

This year they switched over on Halloween.

While I have nothing against Christmas music per se, its a tad bit early.

I mean, its not even Thanksgiving yet! We're still in the autumn season. There's still a multitude of shopping days left!

Not a speck of snow is upon the ground, I don't want to think about the impending snow setting upon the ground, and now some singer is gleefully crooning about a white Christmas all day long.

While 105.1 normally has a pretty good song lineup, I now have to skip past it on the radio buttons for the next few months.

Look 105.1, playing only Christmas music straight through for the next two months is a tad bit too much. In addition, would it kill you to play the Hanukkah song once in the lineup?

Obama by executive order gets FDA to have Drug Manufacturers become fortune tellers

The Detroit Free Press: Obama to order FDA to help reduce drug shortages

President Barack Obama is directing the Food and Drug Administration to take steps to reduce drug shortages, an escalating problem that has endangered patients and raised the possibility of price gouging.

.....

Obama also will announce his support for House and Senate legislation that would require drug makers to notify the FDA six months ahead of a potential shortage, the official said.

So now manufacturers will have to prognosticate 6 months ahead reagrding the potential supply and demand for any given drug they manufacture. I wonder if the FDA will be supplying Magic 8 Balls to the copmpanies as part of the regulation?

The FDA reported 178 drug shortages last year, and the agency says it continues to see an increase in shortages this year. Major causes of drug shortages are said to be quality or manufacturing problems, or delays in receiving components from suppliers. Drug makers also discontinue certain drugs in favor of newer medications that are more profitable. The FDA does not have authority to force drug makers to continue production of a drug.

Not yet anyway, but I'm sure that will be the next executive order.

Happy Oxi Day!

Pronounced Ochi, this day commemorates the response of the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas to Benito Mussolini's ultimatum that Greece allow Italian troops to enter Greece and occupy areas of the country.

Metaxas replied with one word: "Oxi" (No!).

Like the famous and later to be spoken "Nuts!", the simple word Oxi demonstrated resolve and the courage to resist against superior forces.

Italy then invaded and to the surprise of all, the Greeks proceeded to demonstrate how a larger and superior army on paper can get its butt kicked by a determined and competent, yet smaller and worse equipped, army.

Indeed, after being invaded not only did the Greeks proceed to stop the Italian attack cold, but they then proceeded to drive the Italians out of the country. The Greeks then kept chasing the fleeing Italians and even took over a quarter of Italian-occupied Albania.

It took the intervention of the German army to finally push back the Greeks and cause them to be occupied.

It is thought by many military historians that the resulting need to use German forces to invade Greece, along with the delays and tie-down of German troops imposed by the Serbs during the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia caused the postponement of the German invasion of Russia. The delay meant the Germans were to face not only Russian troops but also the great Russian general Winter and give the Russians time to regroup and defend their territory. Thus the Greeks and the Serbs with their valiant resistance changed the course of the Second World War.

Happy Oxi Day.

Because Proposing to Raise Taxes is Such a Winning Idea.....

The Detroit Free Press: Gov. Rick Snyder to propose $40 annual fee to fix roads

In addition to the new $40 fee that would be in addition to existing levies, he'd change how the current gas tax is applied. The change would be from a fixed amount at the retail level to a percentage base at the wholesale level (this will lead to higher gas prices in Michigan).

Of course, the money collected won't just go to fix roads, but will be yet another tax on drivers to fund yet more mismanaged mass transit.

The fee would also go for a new mass transit authority for the southeast Michigan region with New. High-Speed. Buses. (because the current ones are such models of workability). On the upside at least he's not pushing New. High-Speed. Rail.

As pointed out by Right Michigan, this is practically the same proposal made by Granholm no being resold under an (R) brand.

How about this - use the sales tax collected on gas and other fees on vehicles to actually fix the roads first before more quixotic subsidies of mass transit public employees unions. Then, when the roads are up to the standards of say, Ohio, we can talk about diverting funding from road repair, construction to reduce congestion and maintenance to these mass transit boondoggles.

Getting Michigan's road up to and one would think beyond Buckeye quality should be a competition we can get behind and should be quite doable if the funding is actually put towards it rather than diverted to the general fund or endless subsidies of government happy projects.

A Heavy-Handed Raid By NASA

For every criminal problem, a SWAT Team is not the best answer.

The Detroit News: NASA sting terrifies woman, 74

about half a dozen sheriff's deputies and NASA investigators rushed into the eatery.

When officers in flack vests took a hold of her, the 4-foot-11 woman said she was so scared she lost control of her bladder and was taken outside to a parking lot, where she was questioned and detained for about two hours.

"They grabbed me and pulled me out of the booth," Davis claimed. "I had very, very deep bruises on my left side."

And what was this terrible crime this modern-day Ma Barker has allegedly committed?

She tried to sell a moon rock the size of a grain of rice and a nickel-sized piece of heatshield from the Apollo 11 craft.

I have a philosophical problem with the governments pronouncement that all lunar rocks can never be sold and belong to the "People" i.e. only the government may give them away or distribute them.

With over 840 pounds of moon rock being retrieved its a little over the top to send Swat teams after 74 year-old grannies looking to make a bit of cash for their descendants off their memorabilia that was given to them before they die.

Even more of a problem is using a flock of deputies to grab a 74 year old and haul her out of a building.

I daresay her threat level is darn low and overwhelming force was quite unnecessary. One detective with a simple statement of "You're under arrest" probably would have more than sufficed, maybe two if she was fiesty and tried to shuffle off for it.

Range Report - A Good Match Day

Today was the last USPSA Match for my club this year.

I met Rob at his house on the way to the club, and there was no inattentive driver in a Kia to delay me this time.

I had replaced the Glock 17's 3 pin slide stop with the proper 2 pin version and had tested it yesterday for functioning.

I had recently installed Warren Tactical sights on this Glock. These sights were introduced to me by ToddG and they are quite simply light years ahead of the factory stock sights. They have a much better and faster to acquire sight picture. If you have a Glock or M&P you owe it to yourself to give these a try.

So with a functioning firearm I headed to the match.

Rob decided to shoot the match with his Kahr PM-9. He recently purchased one after really appreciating shooting mine and my recommendation of it as a carry gun. I brought my mags for him to use and together with his own and a few more he had recently ordered he had enough to play with. I loaned him some Fobus single stack mag pouches, which held both the 6 and 7 rounders well and he was ready to go.

Rob certainly won the style points this match for shooting what he carries. He certainly had to reload a lot, but the Kahr stood up well to lots of mag changes and rapid firing that the match demanded. He was able to make most of the longer distance shots even with the short barreled Kahr and with a bit more practice he'll be right up there.

I had a great match myself. Its much nicer when you don't have to constantly worry if your firearm is going to work. Overall decent speed and hits but as always room for improvement.

At the range there were a few interesting failures. The decocker fell off a competitor's CZ and was lost. The CZ did however continue to function without a hiccup the rest of the match.

More dangerously a fellow was shooting his XD when there was a "pop" sound and a puff of smoke. The RO yelled for him to stop. He did so. We then checked (I was keeping score at the time) and the barrel was clear with no squib inside (tested by the expedient of running a pen from muzzle to breech). He wasn't shooting his own reloads but a company's re-manufactured ammo. Thankfully the round had enough energy to clear the pistol and he had stopped in time in any case.

The dark house course of fire was awesome, with good practice in shooting with flashlight in hand.

The match was great, well run, and a ton of fun. I've certainly been bitten by the USPSA bug. Challenging stages, big round counts, shooting and moving, friendly competitors and ROs - what's not to like?

Now I've shot enough classifiers to get classified.

We'll see what it averages out to, but considering my woeful history of malfunctioning firearms at the matches, I expect to hit the bottom with a D class. D class of course because they don't have an E class!

But, this is all to the good so that I have to work my way up and moving up class-wise will be a useful measure of improvement as I continue shooting USPSA and continue practicing in general.

Take My Daughters To The Range Day

Today was a fun and fulfilling day.

First, I took Abby to her karate class where she showed Sensei that she had been diligently practicing. She was tested, passed and earned her blue belt.

Lots of parental pride in watching her earn that belt.

Leah patiently waited throughout the whole lesson and got to come in and watch the test.

Then we went to lunch and then my new range.

My old range was the epitome of a Gun Culture 1.0 range, if not a .5 - mainly it is a spot for UAW types to hang out, shoot a bit, form one heck of a restrictive good ol' boy's club and then go to the clubhouse for cheap drinks. No drawing from a holster, no rapid fire and rifles could only be loaded and shot one round at a time unless you were one of the "special" ones. Only benefit was they had an indoor pistol range and the location was convenient. The trouble was access to it in terms of both hours and persons who could open it was so limited and difficult to get that it actually makes more monetary sense to shoot as a guest on sunday evenings when they're open to the public rather than pay membership dues and end up using it as much as a member of the public in any case. After a few years of frustrations, I formally resigned my membership as it was certainly not meeting my needs.

The new range is worlds apart better, and pretty representative of Gun Culture 2.0 and they were such before there was a 2.0. They host USPSA, 3-gun, and action shotgun matches. They're friendly, and as long as you're safe you can draw from a holster, move, and shoot all you like and if you're a member its open dawn 'till dusk except for holidays and during matches. In other words, my kinda place.

So today we went to the range after karate to assist in setting up the stages for tomorrow's USPSA mach, which I will participate in. The kids helped with target sticks and were well behaved.

After the stages were setup, we went to an empty bay and the kids got to take their first shots ever. I went over range safety, had them in youth sized shooting glasses and hearing protectors that I had bought for them and introduced them to the Marlin 795 .22LR rifle.

While it is a semi-auto fed from a 10 round magazine, they got to shoot it with a single round in the rifle at a time.

The rifle is a little big for both of them.

But, with targets in extra close and with dad helping steady and aim it and with 5 1/2" Caldwell® Bullseye Orange Peel Target centers liberally covering the target board that let them see their hits, they had a great, safe time which is all that matters for a first time out.

They want to go shooting again, which is very encouraging.

It was a great day indeed.

Michigan Bill To Permit Guns in Parking Lots

HB 5064, introduced by Rep. Paul Opsommer (R), will prevent property owners from preventing or prosecuting anyone that may lawfully transport a firearm from having the firearm out of sight in a locked vehicle on the property owner's premises.

The only exception would apply to vehicles owned by the employer/property owner.

This would include prohibiting employers from firing employees for having firearms locked in their cars.

Property owners would be immune from liability for any damages or acts involving the firearm so long as the property owner did not perform the act.

A good bill, currently with 16 sponsors, and worthy of becoming a law to protect the rights of Michigan's law abiding citizens.

A Cunning Plan to Catch Druggies in Genesee County

The Genessee County Sheriff has come up with a rather clever ruse to catch druggies.

The Sheriff put up a sign that reads:

Sheriff's Narcotic Checkpoint

The Sheriff's deputies then proceed to nail cars that do U-turns or otherwise break the law in a hurry to get away,

Of course, there is no drug checkpoint ahead as drug checkpoints are unconstitutional, so there's nothing to truly fear from the signs, unless you're both dumb, ignorant of your rights, and carrying drugs.

This hasn't stopped the ACLU and others from complaining.

MLive.com: Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell defiant, says he won't take down drug checkpoint signs

County Sheriff Robert Pickell said he won't stop using signs that warn drivers of drug checkpoints despite questions about the legality of the practice.

"People ought not be concerned if they are not carrying drugs ... They shouldn't have anything to fear," Pickell said today.

County Prosecutor David Leyton and the American Civil Liberties Union have raised questions about drug checkpoints.

The sheriff said he is not using a drug checkpoint despite posting signs along I-69 and elsewhere that warn of a "narcotics checkpoint" and "drug dog in use."

"If anybody (is saying otherwise) they are just lying," he said.

The county drug team -- known as The Posse -- is making traffic stops around the signs, including stopping drivers who make U-turns or commit other traffic violations to avoid passing through the area.

"I don't have checkpoints," Pickell said. "It's no different than a guy who puts up a 'Beware of Dog' sign and doesn't have a dog."

Ok, the whole "you have nothing to fear if you're not doing anything wrong", is a rather off-putting. That statement often covers some real civil rights violations and concerns, but this sign really isn't one of them.

This is more like the invitations to felons with oustanding warrants to come get free tickets to ball games and the like.

The sign is neither a search nor a seizure, and the Sheriff is just cleverly allowing dumb criminals to help get themselves caught.

Former Chairman of the Oakland County Democratic Party Pleads No Contest in Election Fraud Case

The Democrat Fake Michigan Tea Party affair just made the news again.

As related by RightMichigan and as reported in the Detroit Free Press:

Michael McGuinness, former chairman of the Oakland County Democratic Party, pleaded no contest last week to charges associated with a fake Tea Party scheme hatched for the 2010 elections.

Now for the next Democrat to face the music:

His alleged accomplice Jason Bauer, who worked for the county Democratic party, faces a Dec. 8 trial on the same charges.

Hot Pursuit - You're Doing it Wrong.

The Detroit News: Police: Detroit carjackers steal victims' other car after first one breaks down

Detroit police are looking for men who stole a vehicle that would shortly after break down during a chase from the victims, prompting them to steal the vehicle the victims were pursuing them in.

The men first stole a 1995 Chevy Suburban about 4:45 a.m. Monday from a home near Seven Mile and Riverview.

The occupants of the home, men ages 36 and 31 years old, chased after the Suburban and another suspect, who was driving a Pontiac Grand Am, police said.

During the chase, the stolen Suburban broke down and the man driving it fired at least one shot at the victims, who were in a Dodge Stratus, police said. The thieves then carjacked the victims and sped off in the Stratus, police said.

Yep, read that again, it's worth chuckling over twice.

Seriously, the victims decide to chase after the stolen car and then get their chase car jacked by the same thieves they were chasing.

Certainly this can be blamed on a lack of forethought before deciding to engage in what appears to be an unarmed pursuit of criminals. Such a pursuit is generally an idea that doesn't turn out too well.

Remember folks, "They went that-away, Let's go get 'em!" is not a coherent plan.

You gave a former Maoist What?!?

Instapundit relates that former Maoist EU Commission President Barroso is trying to propose a law to criminalize certain financial activities in order to provide some scapegoats for the hash he and other EU-crats have made of the EUconomy.

Who made a former Maoist the president of the EU Commission with the power to pass laws that can affect all of Europe and require EU nations to pass similar laws?

What the heck is the EU thinking?

Look, you do not give "former" arsonists easy access to matches and gasoline and unattended buildings. Similarly you do not give "former" Maoists positions as President of the EU Commisison and access to that much power.

The results are never good. It's that simple.

Has Consumers Factored La Nina Into Their Forecast?

The Detroit News: Consumers Energy says drop in heating costs ahead

Consumers Energy says it expects its natural gas customers to pay less for their home heating bill this winter.

The Jackson-based utility made the announcement on Monday.

Consumers projects heating costs will be about 3 percent less due to lower fuel prices. The estimate is based on normal weather patterns.

I was happy hearing this until I read Watts Up With That?: NCEP ensemble forecast shows deep La Niña coming.

I was looking forward to saving some heating expenses, but I'm assuming a deep La Niña isn't what Consumers would consider a normal weather pattern.

Expect another nasty winter folks.

Recent Reads to Recommend

For a sobering work of nonfiction, Theodore Dalrymple's Our Culture, What's Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses is a must read. It is a selection of his essays on the decline of British society. Written prior to the London riots of 2011, it reads quite prophetic now.

Mr. Dalrymple writes what are quite simply brilliant and erudite essays. He can draw on a classical education that seems to effortlessly move from how Shakespeare matters today, to Virginia Wolf and the removal of moral constraints on the British working classes and beyond. His work is a joy to read and you cannot fail to enjoy his prose and learn something new in each and every chapter.

His writing is a fantastic commentary on Britain today and how it came to be the place where Great Britain used to be.

Highly recommended if you want to understand what happens when a bunch of progressives grab ahold of a culture and give it a hard left twist.

In the Fiction Department, I just finished Tom Kratman's Countdown: The Liberators



Countdown certainly does feature much of what Tam describes in her review of it as construction porn - the building and staffing of a Regiment, its base camp and all sorts of interesting accoutrements needed for the mission. It is a fast-paced read with some pretty funny one-liners throughout.

Among the construction and deconstruction action sequences, the book has a lot of rather biting commentary on history and world affairs today.

Kratman's commentary ranges from commentary on progressives and the results of their activities, to piracy and how to rather decisively deal with it, to gays in the military. Think the lighter serious bits of Dalrymple combined with high explosive.

Highly recommended for a fun light read.

Home Guntinkering Do's and Don'ts

For the Do's

The PA-63 has a terrible stock trigger pull, requiring fingers of steel to get a shot off in double action.

So I purchased a Wolff Gunsprings Hammer spring pack and decided to change the spring.

I went with the middle weight 11 lb spring.

Changing the hammer spring is simplicity itself:

1. Ensure the PA63 is unloaded and remove the magazine and remove the grips;
2. Tap out the pin on the bottom of the frame;
3. Take off the plug at the base of the frame now freed by the removed pin;
4. Take out the old spring, replace with the new spring making sure the hammer strut is inside the spring;
5. replace the plug and pin, and screw the grips back on.

The whole process takes maybe 5 minutes.

The improvement is immediate and remarkable.

The PA-63 is now practically PPK-like in trigger quality, I may go to the 9lb just to see if it becomes even better once I test it fully at the range.

If you own a PA-63, you really owe it to yourself to get a new hammer spring set and get it installed.

As for the Don'ts:

The Glock factory extended slide stop release for the 3 pin Glock frame does not work when installed in a two pin Glock frame.

It will cause the slide to lock open after every shot which is rather embarrassing.

Ask me how I know.

Dollar Coins, Dollar Coins Everywhere But No One Wants to Use Them

The Baltimore Sun: Dollar coins piling up at Baltimore reserve bank

a dimly lit underground vault a block from Camden Yards, the Federal Reserve is holding millions of dollars in cash that nobody wants.

The money — stored in cloth and plastic sacks piled high on metal shelving units — is in the unloved form of dollar coins, some of them never used. But a 2005 law requires the reserve bank to keep ordering coins regardless of its stockpile, and so vaults in Baltimore and around the country are filling up.

Americans just don't appreciate dollar coins, even if they do cost less to make and last longer, not to mention actually make the US Treasury profit.

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office reported in March that switching from paper to metal would save taxpayers $5.5 billion over 30 years.
....
It costs 30 cents to make a $1 coin, but the Fed purchases it for face value — and the U.S. Treasury pockets the difference. In 2010, the Mint put about 400 million $1 coins into circulation, which means the government made a profit of about $280 million.

We prefer greenbacks to the coins as they're lighter to carry and more convenient, and the shiny golden coins slightly bigger than a quarter don't feel like dollars to people.

Until the government makes a law and ends production of the $1 banknotes,as occurred in Canada when the loonie was rolled out, you're going to see this problem continue as people choose not to use them. From the Susan B. Anthony, to the Sacajawea, and now we're looking at a surplus of Rutherford B. Hayes dollars as people stick to paper.

Beck, who has worked at the Baltimore branch for 27 years, would not say how many coins are stored in Baltimore, but the Fed's board of governors told Congress in June that the reserve system is holding more than $1.2 billion in dollar coins at 28 cash offices across the country.

Officials expect the number of dollar coins sitting in storage to grow to $2 billion by 2016.

I, for one, would certainly be willing to take some off their hands if space is a concern.

Heck, I'd even promise to carry and spend them, and thus further stimulate the economy rather than let them tarnish sitting in a vault.

Stupid Criminal of the Day

And today's award goes to Theresa Jefferson of Maryland.

Findlaw: Walmart Bleach Fight Sends 19 to Hospital

Police have arrested Theresa Jefferson, 33, in connection with a Walmart bleach fight over the weekend.

Jefferson reportedly targeted her intended victim, and followed her into a Baltimore-area Walmart. Once inside, she attacked the woman with bleach, Pine-Sol and ammonia.

The chemicals mixed, creating a toxic gas. Hazmat crews were called, and nineteen people were sent to the hospital for eye and respiratory injuries.

Didn't her parents ever warn her never to mix ammonia and bleach? Certainly not the sharpest tool in the shed as her actions and picture seem to confirm.

Of course, its likely she's from a single parent (if any) family given the apparent reason for her attack:

It appears as though the Walmart bleach fight was part of an ongoing dispute between the two women. The unnamed victim is dating Jefferson's baby daddy, according to the Baltimore Sun.

When did "baby daddy" enter the lexicon of acceptable usage?

I realize "baby daddy" is a convenient short form for "someone Jefferson hooked up with, and got pregnant by, out of wedlock and probably then went right onto welfare", but really.

The term not only makes it acceptable for a man to forgo his responsibilities after fathering a child, but also condones this very destructive behavior of casual and unthinking reproduction and creates a continuing cycle of dependency and reinforcement of a series of poor decisions.

Some people suffer from extremely poor impulse control in many areas of their lives.

In addition to the assault charge, I'm surprised the prosecutor didn't up the ante and charge her with creation and use of a weapon of mass destruction because of the toxic gas she created.

If they Occupy Detroit, Would We Even Notice A Difference?

What would Occupy Detroit protest about exactly?

The decades of Democrat malfeasance, overspending, overtaxing, underserving, big-union feather-nesting that has sucked the life out of this once great city?

Or perhaps the decades of Democrat corruption and bribery that came to the forefront when done to excess under Kwame and that dragged the city even farther under?

I suspect not.

But, we will get the chance to find out on October 14. Or maybe it will be on October 21. Well, at least someday soon, coming to a dysfunctional city near you.

Anyone have a timely wisecracks on how leftists can't even plan an inchoate protest properly?

The pictures of the October 10 meeting are rather interesting as well and the captions need to be read to be believed, particularly the "blocking" one (how cute).

This protest, like the other Occupy ones around the country, seems to be comprised of predominently whites, the college-aged and the clueless.

This is rather interesting, given that the city of Detroit is 87.74% not white.

As you'll note from the article, some came from as far as San Francisco to be part of this spontaneous, local activity.

After all that Prep Work and Defiance, Underwear Bomber Pleads Guilty

On the second day of trial, after months of preparation, weeks of jury selection and posturing, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab decides to plead guilty on all counts.

Underwear bomber pleads guilty, warns: 'If you laugh at us now, we will laugh at you later'


Apparently all this was done just so he can make a public statement regarding his actions:

Abdulmutallab read from a statement saying he was guilty under U.S. law, but not under Islamic law, for the crimes charged. He said he tried to carry out the bombing in retaliation for the murder of innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Isreal and elsewhere by the United States.

He warned the U.S. that, if it continued to murder innocent Muslims, a calamity would befall the U.S.

“If you laugh at us now, we will laugh at you later,” he said.

And I say, in the immortal words of Nelson Muntz:

He said committing jihad against the United States is one of “the most virtuous acts” a Muslim can perform. ...

I wonder how virtuous it is considered for being an incompetent terrorist scumbag and burning your nuts in the process.

Outside the courthouse, Abdulmutallab's lawyer, Anthony Chambers, said he hadn't his client to plead guilty.

"It's disappointing," he said, adding that he never wants a client to plead guilty to charges that could result in a life sentence. He said Abdulmutallab made the decision on his own and announced it this morning.

He said he thinks he had a viable defense to some of the charges, adding that he questions whether the aircraft was damaged by the bombing attempt.

He said the guilty plea enables his client to get on with the rest of his life and read a statement in court to explain his actions.

So the entire farce of giving this guy a trial and his failure to plead out earlier is so this moron can read a pro-jihad statement while racking up time and costs in his lawfare bid?

Let's hope his statement brings him comfort during his life in prison that he should hopefully receive at his sentencing, and let's hope there's some reconsideration of the policy of granting foreign terrorists access to American civillian courts.

What Goes Clip-Clop, Snip, Clip-Clop, Snip?

An Amish drive-by hair cutting.

Findlaw: Amish Beard-Cutting: Gang Gives Rival Amish Unwanted Haircuts

Four suspects in an Amish beard-cutting attack were arrested in Ohio this week. The four men are from the small community of Bergholz.

Authorities say the attacks were perpetrated by a rival Amish group. The victims were held down against their will and given unwanted cuts to their beard and to their hair.

Potential gang retaliation being considered includes removing the reflective triangle from rivals' buggies.

The Amish manage to keep even gang violence rather subdued.

While forced beard and hair cutting is certainly an offensive and wrongful act, compare it to how warring gangs operate in the "civilized" world.

Useless Question of the Night

Question: If you slice a Ford Fusion into parts, do you call it a Ford Fission?

Pelosi Gets The Vapors Over Brown's Pithy Comeback to Warren

Nancy Pelosi is all upset that Scott Brown defended himself from Elizabeth Warren's crass cheap shot during the Democrat's primary.

Newsmax: Pelosi: Brown Wisecrack Show He's Clueless

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that Sen. Scott Brown's wisecrack about Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren shows he is clueless about women.

During a Democratic primary debate Tuesday, Warren was asked about Brown's decision to pose nude in a magazine during law school. Asked how she paid for college, Warren said she kept her clothes on.

"Thank God," Brown laughed during a radio interview about the comment afterward. He later said he was joking.

Nonetheless, Pelosi said Brown should take that comment back.

"I thought it spoke volumes about how clueless Sen. Brown is," the California Democrat said on ABC's "This Week." ''It really spoke volumes about, really, disrespect for women he may not even realize."

So lets get this straight: Warren takes a dig at Brown for doing hard honest work to put himself through school. In other words a cheap shot at a working class American putting himself through school.

According to Pelosi, that's ok and does not require a retraction nor speak volumes of how Warren feels contempt for a claimed Democrat core constituency -- the working man.

Warren takes a shot at Brown by claiming that she, unlike him, didn't do any nude modeling herself.

Scott Brown, like many other males hearing her statement then and now, breathes a sigh of relief that Warren didn't do such a thing.

His clever and pithy response is astonishingly considered by Pelosi to speak volumes about his alleged disrespect for women.

Talk about your double standards and political gamesmanship.

Pelosi really needs some new material as this faux outrage doesn't even pass the laugh test.

Pelosi's outrage is just more of the Democrat's dish-it-out-but-can't-take-it standard in action.

A Qwik About-Face

Via Instapundit, we learn that Netflix has backed away from its ill-concieved spin-off of its DVD business to the goofily named Qwikster.

This is a good decision on Netflix's part. The reckless speed in dumping their DVD line onto the hastily and unfortunately named Qwikster line right after a hasty and hefty price increase certainly was damaging their brand.

Of course, they could have saved themselves some time, money, and embarrasment by first carefully considering the ramifications of such a split before charging blithely ahead with it.

Hasten slowly is rather timeless good advice, and it applies to many of today's decisions and decision-makers, and not just Netflix's Qwikster folly.

When the Left declares a kulturkampf, I reach for my Inglis....

My Inglis High-Power of course.

The title of this post is paraphrased from a rather well known national socialist of his time, Herman Goering.

Today we can see yet another leftist -- in German military uniform no less -- on Wall Street of all places calling for a class war. We also have the specter of these scumbags threatening violent acts against middle-class workers.

Do the fools realize what they're actually asking for, and the consequences? Probably not.

In any case, on to the Inglis Hi-Power.

This Hi-Power in my collection is an Inglis MKI*, with the black paint finish, British proofs, and rather excellent Inglis workmanship.

The Hi-Power fits the hand well and the sights line up quite naturally. The first 9mm pistol with a workable double column magazine, it offered 13+1 rounds of firepower.

The sights, while small, are quite usable and the trigger, which somewhat hampered crispness-wise by the magazine safety, is more than up to the task of accuracy for self-defense ranges. The small thumb safety takes some practice to quickly move from safe to fire, but overall the pistol serves its purpose well and even 70 years after it was made still functions perfectly and has been an enduring and excellent design.

This particular pistol was in the Nazi-killing business, and hopefully for this pistol and its fellows, business was good.

The Browning Hi-Power was developed in Belgium by Fabrique Nationale (FN). One of the last designs by John Moses Browning, it was refined and finished by Dieudonné Saive, and it went into production just in time for the factory to be occupied by the Nazi invasion and it then produced Hi-Powers for the Wehrmacht.

However, some brave Belgians smuggled the plans for the pistol to Canada where the Hi-Power was then produced by Inglis for the British Commonwealth military forces. As such the Hi Power, like Dieudonné Saive's later creation, the FN-FAL, fought on both sides of a conflict.

The Inglis name continues today and some Inglis pistols continue to serve in armies around the world, making them some of the longest-serving sidearms around and a testament to an excellent design.

Inglis, while it does not manufacture pistols today, is an example of the peace dividend Canada has been enjoying ever since the end of WWII. Inglis is now making home appliances including washing machines such as can be seen in my Dad's basement in Toronto:

From superb pistols to superb washing machines, the Inglis company (now having been taken over by Whirlpool in 1987 and the company having changed its name to Whirlpool Canada in 2001) has served Canada well.

The Detroit Free Press - Cheap Tuition For Illegals Will Do Wonderful Things To Enhance Michigan's Economy

The Detroit Free Press in its editorial Michigan universities should offer in-state tuition rates for immigrants advocates that Michigan's universities not offer in-state tuition to immigrants from other states of our union nor for legal immigrants arriving in our fair state, but for illegal immigrants.

Of course they euphemistically label them "undocumented immigrants" but illegals are what they in fact are.

The Freep claims that such a policy will "benefit all of Michigan" and would really "rev" Michigan's economy. How exactly?

After all, these illegals cannot legally work nor pay taxes in the state after graduation, and neither they nor their parents can legally work here currently so its rather hard to see how their remaining here and receiving the subsidy of in-stae tuition paid for by the legal residents of Michigan would be a benefit.

Apparently though, such a policy would keep more young illegals in our state. This, according to the Freep, is an unquestionable good.

Such a policy would help retain the young, educated [and illegal] people -- now leaving Michigan in droves -- who drive the knowledge-based economy of the 21st Century. Many of the college-age children of illegal immigrants have lived here most of their lives. They've attended Michigan public schools, and their parents have paid Michigan taxes.

That's quite the series of unsupported assertions by the Freep.

Are these youthful illegals really the "drivers of the knowledge-based economy"? Are their parents really net taxpayers, especially since being illegals they don't file Michigan state income taxes? More likely they are net recipients of state aid and resources.

It is, however, cute of the Freep to conflate legal immigration with illegal in this manner.

How about this if you really want to rev up Michigan's economy with educated workers: Make in-state tuition apply to anyone that comes legally to Michigan to study in return for a contract that they will stay in the state for at least 3 years after graduation.

That will do far more to rev Michigan's economy than any handout to illegals, even if they are the Democrat's and the Freep's favored interest group.

Better Late Than Never? Germany Decides To Investigate Nazi War Criminals 66 Years After WWII

USA Today: Germany reopens hundreds of Nazi probes

Nearly seven decades after the end of World War II, German authorities have reopened hundreds of dormant investigations of Nazi death camp guards in an eleventh hour attempt that could result in at least dozens of new prosecutions, The Associated Press has learned.
Special Nazi war-crimes investigators reopened the files after the conviction of former U.S. autoworker John Demjanjuk, whose case set a new legal precedent in Germany, said Kurt Schrimm, the prosecutor who heads the unit.

Given the advanced age of all of the suspects, investigators are not waiting until the Demjanjuk appeals process is over, he said.

"We don't want to wait too long, so we've already begun our investigations," Schrimm said.

It only took them 66 years after the end of the Second World War to reopen these cases. Talk about the wheels of justice grinding slowly in Germany.

Glad they didn't wait much longer, as it appears up until now that they wanted all the murderers to die peacfully in their beds before they face any justice.

One reason among many for this inexcusable neglect is that six million dead Jews don't vote in German elections, but millions of former Nazis do, and often.

Robin Hood, You're Not.

I'm all in favor of re-enacting the classics, but this shows extrememly poor impulse control and criminal stupidity.

The Detroit Free Press: Man points bow and arrow in road rage

Authorities say a driver pointed a bow and arrow at another motorist's head in mid-Michigan during what's being described as a case of road rage.

The Grand Rapids Press reports a 23-year-old Shepherd man was facing felonious assault charges after Saturday's dispute involving a 24-year-old Vestaburg man in Montcalm County's Home Township, about 45 miles northeast of Grand Rapids.

Authorities say the dispute began after the Vestaburg man tried to pass the other man's pickup, and the pickup driver ran the man's vehicle off the road. Authorities say both men got out of their vehicles, and the pickup driver approached the other with the bow and arrow.

Running somebody off the road is criminally stupid.

Threatening them with a bow and arrow after running them off the road will get your stupid self into the newspapers as a prime example of how not to behave while behind the wheel.

The Joys of Home Repair

So this weekend, I got some needed repairs done around the house, thanks to a great deal of help from my friend Barry. He did the real serious work that required actual home improvement aptitude.

The reason for the repairs is simple: Apparently this house, prior to our purchase of it, was redone by drunken monkeys who sought to make the visible look good and then take every possible shortcut on that which is important but not readily discovered.

For example, a few of the things repaired this weekend:

-The fans from the bathrooms, instead of venting to the outside, had their hoses lying on the floor of the attic, which is a not good considering the water vapor those hoses carry.

-a return air vent wasn't capped, leaving a gaping hole right up into the attic.

-the skylight had no insulation around it at all.

-the basement rim joists are uninsulated (a job I'm still working on, but about a quarter of the way through). Thankfully, this is a very simple task so I can handle it.

-closet doors were messed up and threatening to fall off their tracks and land on the kids.

In addition, I also changed the lock mechanisms on the garage entry door myself which went quite well, and the family is happy with the improvement as they don't get locked out of their own home any longer.

In short, it has been a busy weekend with lots of trips, and return trips, and trips to return things, to Home Depot.