Joe Biden has some humerous discussion with some fifth graders.
Month: May 2009
Brady Joins Pittsburgh Lawsuit
The Brady Campaign is joining the NRA lawsuit against Lost and Stolen in Pittsburgh on the side of the City of Pittsburgh.
“When the NRA sued Pittsburgh, it made the national press,” Mr. Shields said. “I was contacted by a representative of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which offered pro bono services to the city.
“I spoke with the city solicitor, and he was more than pleased that help was on the way. He and two other attorneys were working on it, and our Law Department is stretched already.”
I don’t know Mr. Shields, the Brady Campaign’s track record in court lately hasn’t exactly been stellar, and the law in this case is not exactly on the city’s side.
“The only people that would have a problem with this reasonable ordinance are people who are trafficking or otherwise supplying the criminal gun market and then want to get away with it by later claiming that their gun was lost or stolen,” he said.
Or people who recognize that supplying guns to criminals is already unlawful, and is a felony. And they might even recognize that the state should be forced to meet its burden in proving the crime. It should not get to bring a charge under an easier crime to prosecute because it can’t meet its burden, and believes the party to be guilty as charged. That’s not what a just society does. Innocident people will end up criminals because of these laws.
More Sad Pandas
Today we have yet another sad panda alert. Bryan Miller and the Philadelphia Inquirer are whining that Obama is reintroducing a modified version of the Tiahrt Amendment, which allows for more sharing of trace data with police agencies, but not politicians and the media. This is, naturally, outrageous:
“This policy has allowed guns to remain in the hands of hundreds of criminals,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Indeed, without good tracking data on handgun sales, police, federal authorities, and the public have a tough time learning “where the guns are going and which gun dealers are selling to traffickers,” explains Bryan Miller, head of Ceasefire NJ.
You were saying that this gets in the way of law enforcement. Well, law enforcement now has access to the trace data, even in aggregate. They just can’t share it with you guys. Now, at least, we know what this was about all along.
PA Democrats Block Transparency Effort
It appears that Democrats in the House are blocking a bill to bring a little transparency to political photo ops.
Legislation sponsored by Rep. Jim Cox, R-Berks, would replace Rendell’s name with “Pennsylvania Taxpayers” on the checks — all the better to make it clear where the luchre is actually coming from, the newspaper reported.
The House State Government Committee was to have acted on the proposal Monday, but held off on action at the request of the chamber’s majority-Democrat leadership.
What I like about this bill is that it doesn’t cost us a thing. With a $3 billion deficit, it’s good to see a new law that doesn’t cost us a penny.
It’s also a win-win situation for Republicans. If Democrats on the committee approve it, then all of those photo ops with “free” money handed out to pet causes are suddenly no longer credited to the generosity of Ed Rendell and the Democratic Party. It reminds people exactly who is paying for these politically favored causes. And if the Democrats block it, well, why are they against a bit of transparency on behalf of taxpayers?
Stimulus Fail
Bucks Right notices that the unemployment rate, so far, seems to be tracking worse than the Obama Administration predicted it would track without the Stimulus plan that puts our kids in debt up to their eyeballs.
Officer Deaths Down in 2008
The FBI has released the data for 2008, and Tactical Wire reports. Seventeen fewer than 2007, which is good news.
A New Way to Kill Time
When I was a kid, I always enjoyed flight simulators, going back years. I’d spend hours trying to perfect how to fly the various planes, but there’s only so much you can do with an 8086 with CGA (later a 386 with EGA) graphics. Once I hit college I didn’t have time to keep up with my interest in aviation. But last week I got myself a copy of X-Plane 9.
I have to say, home flight simulators have come a long way since I last messed around with Flight Simulator 4.0. At cruise altitude, it almost looks like you’re looking down from a real plane. I spent most of the weekend flying around to various places. I can still line up with a runway and land without crashing, though I wouldn’t characterize my landings as always beautiful. I did a flight from Newark Liberty International, following the VORs across Pennsylvania to land at Pittsburgh. Then flew a Cirrus Vision from Roanoke, Virginia to Westfield Massachusetts. Total flying time, a little more than two hours. Then for no apparent reason, I loaded up a Piper Saratoga II, and flew it from Essex County Airport in New Jersey, to Martha’s Vineyard, at night, in low visibility. Had to pass over the runway once, but managed to land the second time without putting the plane into the drink.
The great thing about flight simulators is, you can fly while drinking bourbon. The FAA frowns on that in a real plane. Truth be told, I think flying while drinking is probably less dangerous then driving, since you have a lot of time to figure things out, and once you get past takeoff and landing, the computer does most of the real flying anyway. Your job, at that point, is just to navigate.
Another new thing in these newfangled modern flight sims is they have helicopters. I found out I can’t fly a helicopter to save my life. I can kind of take off, and get moving forward, but I can’t hover, and I crash. The balance between cyclic control, collective control, yaw, and compensating for wind seems to elude me.
All this could possibly get me interested in real aviation, as I once wanted to get a pilot’s license, but I don’t know if I really need another expensive hobby. And when it comes to expense, flying puts guns to shame.
Six Drops of Oil
SayUncle would appear to not be the only one over-lubricating his Glock. I did mine roughly the same way he did. Now I know.
Another Great Icon from Robb
I thought Robb outdid himself with the Pant Shitting Hysterics (PSH) Icon. Now we have the sad panda:
This time in reference to Paul Helmke, of the Brady Campaign.
Millions Hundreds ? of Moms March
This report indicates that some mothers actually did march against guns this weekend.
Hundreds of mothers and other activists have been marching the streets of New York City to protest gun violence.
Gloria Cruz of the Million Mom March in New York says she wants to honor children who have died as a result of gun violence. She also says the march is to show people will never stop fighting for stronger gun laws.
The AP claims hundreds, but they don’t provide any photos or videos.