Idle Talk

Thanks to my brother Bob, I now have a new favorite hat.
And only worn once by a previous owner...

I think Putin needs a photo op to help his miserable public relations image here in America.
I propose a low-level fly by in our nation's Capital by a brace of MIG-29's and a Tu-142.

I'm sure our President, Congress-creatures and federal bureaucrats will absolutely love to see these aircraft do a tight pylon turn around the Washington Monument at 600 feet during the lunch hour. No problem here! The Washington Monument is only 555 feet tall.

Trivia: The Washington Monument was the world's tallest structure when completed in 1885 and remained so until the completion of the Eiffel Tower in 1889.

Swine flu. Scientists are hypothesizing how this Mexican flu virus variant dveloped. One theory is that a pig already infected with swine flu ate avian flu-infected bird droppings. Bird droppings are considered a delicacy by swine suffering from a high swine flu-induced fever.

Once inside the pig, the two flu viruses were overcome with viral lust. They ignored the warnings of their families and fell in love with each other. Insane with passion, unholy exchanges of viral RNA occurred within the dark entrails of the pig. They did have to grope for awhile.

The offspring from this union hyphenated their last names (Mexicans, remember?) and were called swine-avian flu variants.

Now, things now get really murky.

Either a chicken ate swine-avian flu infected feces (they're in Mexico, remember? Even pig shit tastes better than week old enchiladas) and then the chicken was eaten by a Mexican who already had a case of the flu...

Or the swine-avian flu infected pig ate a Mexican who was infected with human flu. Once again groping viruses (viri?) seek each other out in dark secret corners of the pig.

The human-swine-avian flu infected pig sneezes or craps or donates blood or is turned into short ribs and then all hell breaks loose when some sneeze breathing, crap eating, blood donor receiving guy eating BBQ ... awwww you know the rest.

Just seal the borders.

Just A Reminder In Case You Forgot

A retired cop buddy sent me this. Although it is a bit dated, it is still timely.

'Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.'
~Thomas Jefferson

FIREARMS REFRESHER COURSE
1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
3. Colt: The original point and click interface.
4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
7. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
8. If you don't know your rights, you don't have any.
9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
10. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights Reserved.
11. What part of 'shall not be infringed' do you not understand?
12. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.
13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
14. Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.
15. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
17. 911: Government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.
18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
19. Criminals love gun control; it makes their jobs safer.
20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.
21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
22. You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.
23. Enforce the gun control laws we ALREADY have; don't make more.
24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.
25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

H/T to Al.

Tomorrow, Friday, 24 Apr 09, at 9 0'clock there is a special two hour edition of 20/20 on TV. I never watch Baba Wawa but I will make an exception in this case.

It is special because the entire show features our Office and the murder prosecution of Stacey Castor - the Black Widow. She poisoned her two husbands with antifreeze and tried to poison her 17 yr old daughter with alcohol and drugs and then blame the other two deaths on her daughter. This woman has no soul. I previously blogged about her here.

In The Hands Of Fools

Read it and weep.

Janet "Reno Redux" Napolitano has no business running the Department of Homeland Security. Watching the Obama appointees run this government is like watching a tree full of monkeys all try to hump a harmonica at the same time.

The Liberal Media Isn't Going Down Alone

The New York Times continues it's slide into oblivion. It's stock is augering into the basement as shown in the above February 18, 2009, chart. In February the price of the Sunday Times was almost more than the price of a single share of the company that produced it.

The chart shows a peak of over $50 per share in 2002. Today's closing price was $5.74.

But there is a support industry that depends on the newspapers/magazines that purchase their products. They are the paper and ink manufacturers who are also affected by the decline of the print media as seen in this article.

AbitibiBowater, the company created when Bowater Inc. merged with Abitibi-Consolidated last October, filed for bankruptcy in the United States. The Montreal-based company that is North America's third-largest producer of pulp and paper will file for bankruptcy in Canada on Friday. Normal operations are expected to continue while the company restructures.

This is the clearest sign yet that the struggles of the newspaper and magazine world are going beyond the media world. Pulp shipments in December 2008 were down 9.5 percent from the year earlier, and prices fell 20 percent.

AbitibiBowater has seen its stock price plummet from almost $14 per share in July to $.53 per share earlier today when trading was halted.

Watching The NFL Won't Be The Same

John Madden is retiring. He just turned 72 this month and he is hanging up the broadcast mike to spend more time with his family. I am seriously going to miss his analysis on Sundays.

If it was a choice between games where teams I didn't care for were playing, I would pick the one that Madden was in.

Yes it Is - If Necessary

On April 13th, two Syracuse Police Officers were shot at by a parolee fleeing from them. One officer was struck twice by bullets fired from the suspect's stolen .357 magnum.

The injured officer, identified by sources as 14-year veteran Richard Curran, was hit twice during the 7:30 p.m. shooting, one bullet striking him in the back. A second officer shot and killed the man after a brief foot chase on Walrath Road, near South Salina Street, said Syracuse Police Chief Gary Miguel.

A witness said at least a dozen shots were fired during the daylight shooting. The shooter was identified by police as James Tyson, 33.

The wounded officer's soft body armor stopped the slugs.

I imagine Tyson's family is very, very upset by these events and I do feel sorry for them. From what another cop says, this is not a bad family.

I am a law enforcement officer. I am, was, also related to James Tyson. He was my cousin. We grew up together. James had alot of opportunity growing up. Very intelligent, talented...but made his own choices. He was provided the same opportunities I was. Education, sports, and came from a great family, contrary to some of the commentary. I will speak more on that subject shortly. James first went to prison shortly before I went to college. I remember visiting him there with my brother, also a former law enforcement officer. My family, my church, all surrounded him with support so that he would be able to transition back to the community and become a responsible citizen. When he was released, I was home for that summer from college. I gave him clothes out of my closet, the watch off my arm. We also assisted him in finding employment. Shortly after I went back to school, he committed another crime and went back to prison.

But they really should carefully consider their words before saying something stupid like this:

His mother, Clara Bruce, said she's still seeking answers. The family offered condolences to the officers.

"We don't know what happened, that maybe caused him to become angry and do that," said his sister, Kamerial Warren. "We can't justify why he shot at the police. They retaliated, which is their job. But it's not their job to kill someone."[emph. mine ~Sig94]

I beg to differ.
It is our job to kill someone - when necessary. Mr. Tyson saw to that.
No one wants to be placed in the position that those two cops were in.
Mr. Tyson had no reason to shoot at those cops.
Those cops were not retaliating, they were defending themselves.
Their job is to protect the public.
Please try to get that straight.

He Is Risen

The message this morning was excellent. Taken from 1 Cor. 15:1-19, Pastor Mark took a historical view of how Christ's contemporaries viewed the Resurrection.

1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

After Jesus was murdered, something happened to a number of people that transformed them from quaking, frightened fugitives to lions of the faith. His most vocal disciple, Peter, had already denied Him three times; the other disciples were hiding behind locked doors.
What happened was the Resurrection; God's tranforming power restored a rotting, stinking, blotted corpse (He was dead three days, trust me on this one) and it was the sight of a resurrected Jesus that brought new life and conviction to formerly shattered and scattered disciples.

5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

What they saw convinced them to die horrible deaths rather than to forsake their belief. They did not see a Jesus who had "swooned" and then regained consciousness inside a cave. First of all, Jesus was brutally scrouged by a flagellum that produced horrific wounds. This was done to inflict very serious physical injury on a condemned prisoner so he would die relatively quickly during his crucifixion. Without this torture and the resultant shock, a prisoner could last for days on a cross.

Once Jesus appeared to be dead, a soldier thurst a spear into his side. Seeing the blood and water that issued forth, the soldier - no stranger to executions - knew that Jesus was dead. Jesus was then wrapped in burial cloths and placed in a sarcophogus where his body would rot for about a year after which which his bones would be placed in an ossuary.

6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

Paul here is writing of what appears to be common knowledge to the residents of Jerusalem. Jesus was seen by many people, not just His disciples.

Interesting enough, there is nothing that contests this account from the Romans. There are many documents from this time that have been discovered, but nothing that directly refutes the accounts of the disciples. Josephus writes of Jesus in his Antiquities of the Jews (approx. 90 AD):

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.

This account by Josephus was almost universally accepted for many centuries.

Now the resurrection is being questioned by alleged "objective" investigators who claim that Jesus was not God, but merely another mortal who died like everyone else. There was a Discovery Channel special, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" that aired in 2007. The producers, Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron, claim that Jesus' burial place was found in Jerusalem and his bones have been recovered. This is not a documentary, it is a Michael Moorish piece of speculative nonsense. The scientists who were interviewed for this pice of rot have responded with disgust how they were manipulated by the producers and how many statements were taken out of context.

A counterpiece, The Jesus Tomb Unmasked, shows how bias and poor science shaped the false claims that Jesus' tomb has been discovered. This movie is free on line or a DVD can be purchased from Amazon for $7. It offers a reality-based view of how liberals distort the truth in order to push their agenda.

He Is Safe

Capt. Phillips has been rescued. Fox News, suffering from the same diarrhera of the mouth as other media outlets, reported at about 1345 that Phillips was rescued when he dove overboard again from his captors lifeboat. Three of the four pirates were killed and another taken into custody. Phillips is now allegedly safe aboard the USS Bainbridge.

More Lies From The Left

There is a concerted effort by the left to get the government to take over all health insurance. A story has been circulated claiming that 47 million people are at risk because they cannot get health insurance. This is a lie.

The Doug Ross blog sites data derived from the US Census Bureau that debunks this claim and gives a more accurate breakout of Americans, and illegal aliens, who do not have health insurance.

• 9.5 million people are illegal aliens

• 8.3 million uninsured people are those who make between $50,000 and $74,999 per year and choose not to purchase insurance

• 8.7 million uninsured people are those who make over $75,000 a year and choose not to purchase insurance

This leaves approximately 20 million uninsured; less than 7% of the population. Why do some people choose not to purchase insurance? 60 percent reported being in "excellent health or very good health" and purposefully decided not to buy insurance.

Further, 45% of the uninsured will have insurance within the next four months according to the Congressional Budget Office. Many are transitioning between jobs and purchase health insurance through their employers.

Who is pushing this lie? ACORN and the unions. Read Doug's blog to find out how this was uncovered.

We Can Wait A Little While Longer

The US Supreme Court has refused to give convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal a new trial. Instead, he must spread the rest of his life in prison. From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid today for a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been on death row for more than 25 years for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.

Abu-Jamal and his lawyers had been hoping for a new trial based on their contention that prosecutors unfairly excluded African-Americans from his jury during his 1982 trial.

I was not aware that truth must be established by a multiracial, multicultural tribunal. A jury of reasonably intelligent, honest men and women is established during voir doire under the guidance of the judge. They are capable of determining whether or not sufficient facts exist to support the accusation of murder. This is nothing more than after action jury manipulation by the defense.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in a 2-to-1 decision last March, refused to order a new trial, but the panel agreed unanimously that his death sentence should been thrown out.

The panel said that Abu-Jamal must either be sentenced to life in prison, or receive a new sentencing trial only on the issue of whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison.

And I pray God that this time it sticks. But the fat lady hasn't begun to sing yet for this murderous piece of excrement. The Philadelphia District Attorney is trying to have Mumia executed without a new death penalty hearing.

But the epic struggle over the fate of Abu-Jamal, who has become an international symbol in the debate about the death penalty, is not over. The nation's high court is still weighing the state's petition to have his death sentence reinstated.

I cannot imagine how Maureen Faulkner, Officer Faulkner's widow, has been torn over the past 25 years.

Maureen Faulkner, the officer's widow, lives in California. She told the Inquirer she wept when she heard about Monday's decision.

"To think that he will never get a new trial is such a relief for the family and I after 27 years and everything we've gone through," Faulkner said.

Time To Re-Evaluate

I was amazed this morning when our pastor used a segment of a video blog site, "Crackle", to shame me. Not that this was his intention, no indeed. But that's what I felt at the end of his message. And not just any blog, this is where Penn Jillette's personal video blog, "Penn Says", is located and where a personal observation made by Mr. Penn was used to great effect.

Most everyone has heard of the Penn and Teller team. They delight in exposing hypocrisy and sham. Mr. Penn is a liberterian and a confirmed atheist. Here's a sample:

But someone, a Christian, made a big impression on Mr. Penn last December. He gave Mr. Penn a bible.

Not that Mr. Penn made a confession of faith or anything like that. But notice his words; he describes this person three times as "good" or "very, very nice." Listen closely to what he says about proselytizing - the act or process to convert someone, to persuade them to accept your beliefs.

What are Mr. Penn's words? They were like a dagger to the heart of many professing Christians, I fear.
They were to mine.

"How much do you have to hate someone to not proselytize them?"

This from the mouth of an atheist.

Penn further states that if a truck is bearing down on you there is a point in time where "I have to tackle you." How tenacious are many Christians in witnessing? Do we give up too easily? Just how much do we believe Scripture and how willing are we to be "socially awkward?"

Mr. Penn's hospitable reception to this Christian's efforts was based on his perception that this was a "very, very, very good man." Mr. Penn sensed that this man was really concerned about his spiritual well being.

There was a reaction to Mr. Penn's video blog from the Christian community. Listen to what Mr. Penn has to say about that.

The question that was thrown in my face this morning was this, "Do I truly believe the Bible as it is written and am I willing to act on it?" Words without actions are nothing but wind.

But Mr. Penn's reaction to the gift of a bible was based on his perception that this man actually cared. You could see that he was stirred by this encounter. How many times do we mechanically react to what is perceived as our Christian duty without really caring for the people we are inflicting ourselves on? Do we bother to learn anything about them? Do we truly approach them as a friend? Or are we like the man on the street corner shouting at people trapped in a bus stop? Or the woman railing at school administrators at a PTA meeting?

The Apostle Paul knew this. He speaks to it in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13:

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Mr. Penn reacted to something that he sensed in that Christian. Can we say he would sense that in the rest of us?

They Refuse To Learn

Australia leads the civilized world in crime victimization. According to a UN study, nearly a third of all Australians are victims of crime. So what do the Aussie masters do to protect their wards? What crime prevention strategies do they adopt?

They redouble their efforts to confiscate the few remaining firearms held by civilians. Now these are unregistered firearms that ostensively were not used in crimes. But it just boggles the mind how gun amnesty or gun buy backs are used time and time again as a crime-fighting tool when the best practice evidence shows that it is completely ineffective.

ALMOST 800 illegal firearms have been surrendered during the first month of a three-month amnesty.

NSW Police Minister Tony Kelly said 606 rifles, 49 handguns and 141 shotguns were handed in to police stations across the state since the amnesty began on March 1.

It had netted 11 replica firearms, 151 pieces of ammunition and 76 firearms parts and telescopic sights, while there had been 4932 applications for the registration of firearms that had previously been kept illegally.

Mr Kelly said that owning a firearm was a privilege, not a right, and it was "about time" all gun owners got that message.

This is why the 2nd Amendment is such a frightfully important document. It establishes a means of resisting tyranny. For if the means to resist are removed, then revolution is just another word.

I hope all Americans "got that message." And the message is this; Australia, New Zealand and the UK have gone to extraordinary lengths to limit the possession of firearms within their respective populations. These very same nations have the highest crime victimization rates in the civilized world.

#1 Australia: 30.1%
#2 New Zealand: 29.4%
#3 United Kingdom: 26.4%

More Terrible, Terrible News

Three Pittsburgh police officers have been killed in the line of duty.

PITTSBURGH, April 4 (UPI) -- Police in Pittsburgh say three officers were killed Saturday and two seriously wounded before an armed man was taken into custody.

The suspect was identified as Richard Poplawski, 23, alleged barricaded himself inside his home and began firing at police Saturday morning with a high-power rifle, police sources told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

For at least a couple of hours, several of the officers were pinned down and could not be removed for treatment without risking further attack, said police spokeswoman Diane Richard.

Unfortunately the suspect was taken into custody and is not compost-ready.
These last few weeks remind me of the 60's and 70's when cops were going down left and right.

Developing

The horrific shootings in Binghamton yesterday were carried out by someone of Asian ancestry who may have been carrying false ID.

Initially identified as Jiverly Voong of Johnson City, an IBM worker who was recently laid off, the suspect may have been using a false identity. Sources at IBM state that Jiverly Voong was never employed there.

There were two handguns recovered at the crime scene that were registered to Voong. I very much doubt that Voong is an assumed name since there is a pretty thorough vetting that occurs during the background check conducted for a NY weapons permit. But perhaps Voong's identity was used by the gunman?

Apparently not.

Jiverly Voong

There are other sources who state that Voong worked at a Shop Vac factory and was a loner. One man who worked with Voong states that:

[...] he and a buddy used to joke about how they thought Voong "would come in mad one day and shoot people. He seemed like that kind of guy."

[...] another former Shop Vac employee, said Voong "kept to himself but made some of off-the-wall comments like he wanted to kill the President."

There is frequently a bit of fog surrounding investigations like this so be prepared to have some time pass before all the players and their roles are made completely known.

Another Senseless Outrage

We have heard Obama's Chief of Staff say that they shouldn't let a crisis go to waste. After the awful events in Binghamton this morning, I am waiting for the liberals to amp up their harping about gun control again.

I was at a crime analysis conference last week where one of the speakers brought up the benefits of British gun control; only 61 firearm murders in England last year. I am assuming that this includes England and Wales only. I wanted to question him on the rise in violent crime in England and Australia after making it all but illegal to own a firearm but instead remained silent. There were about 3-400 cops there and I don't like to make waves.

The dirty secret is that in countries that have implemented strict gun control measures they have experienced dramatic increases in overall crime. These are the latest comparative international statistics I could find on crime victimization from 2002.

Look at the top three countries - all English speaking nations that have imposed draconian gun control. Look at #18, Switzerland, where all males must serve in the armed forces until the age of 29 and keep their government-issued automatic weapons in their homes.

Rank
#1 Australia: 30.1%
#2 New Zealand: 29.4%
#3 United Kingdom: 26.4%
#4 Netherlands: 25.2%
#5 Sweden: 24.7%
#6 Italy: 24.6%
#7 Canada: 23.8%
#8 Saint Kitts and Nevis: 23.2%
#9 Malta: 23.1%
#10 Denmark: 23%
#11 Poland: 22.7%
#12 France: 21.4%
#13 Belgium: 21.4%
#14 Slovenia: 21.2%
#15 United States: 21.1%
#16 Finland: 19.1%
#17 Austria: 18.8%
#18 Switzerland: 18.2%
#19 Portugal: 15.5%
#20 Japan: 15.2%
Weighted average: 22.4%

DEFINITION: People victimized by crime (as a % of the total population). Data refer to people victimized by one or more of 11 crimes recorded in the survey: robbery, burglary, attempted burglary, car theft, car vandalism, bicycle theft, sexual assault, theft from car, theft of personal property, assault and threats. Crime statistics are often better indicators of prevalence of law enforcement and willingness to report crime, than actual prevalence.

SOURCE: UNICRI (United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute). 2002. Correspondence on data on crime victims. March. Turin

It shows that in countries with the tightest gun control, nearly a third of the population has been the victim of a crime.