A Pennsylvania civil war re-enactor accidentally shot his neighbors house with a replica cannon. Â No word yet on whether the neighbor was a no good dirty Lincoln lover.
Hunting in Israel?
A lot of game animals are kosher if they are killed the right way, but that usually that involves a bit of ritual, and rules. Â That’s why I’m surprised there’s enough hunters in Israel to get upset over changes in hunting regulations.
Why Government Can’t Do Pharma R&D
Megan McArdle has been a great voice in the national health care debate. Â I’ve been reading her regularly. Â This is a particularly good point in regards to why we don’t want the government doing pharmaceutical research, as the left has been arguing it ought to do if their national health program destroys medical innovation:
There is no country in which government has outperformed the market at the production of basic needs (distribution is a different question that we can fight about later). The only industry that’s even vaguely hopeful is defense, and I hope I don’t need to persuade progressives that if our pharmaceutical industry starts looking like our defense industry, we’re screwed. It’s usually dominated by a few major contractors who are deeply intertwined with the people who buy from them, it’s wildly expensive, everyone thinks it’s horribly inefficient and produces a lot of products we don’t need because they’re the pet project of some congressman, and the rest of the world free rides off of our hog-wild spending. You don’t like me too drugs? Wait until the pet company of some powerful committee member wastes billions of dollars chasing a never-never cure for cancer rather than a promising antidepressant that could produce a 20% improvement over existing treatments in large classes of patients.
This! Government pharma R&D won’t work, because drugs will be developed based on political considerations rather than what’s going to give us a lot of return for our R&D dollar.
Why LA Instead of LO?
I think Louisiana should change their state abbreviation to LO from LA. Â I heard about a sales tax weekend in LA last night from NRA News on Twitter. Â For a second I thought California was turning around on the gun issue.
That Takes Some Gall
Marko asks what you would do as a parent in this situation. Â I’m not a parent, but as soon as the threat was made I would have shoved him away from my kid and sprayed him. Â I would assume that would stop your average 61 year old child slapper. Â It’s a low enough level of force you don’t have to wait for him to follow through. Â He announced his intention to commit and assault, a felony assault in most states, since it’s against a child. Â Anyone who grabs my kid is getting a gun drawn on them. Â I’m not going to wait to figure out what their intent is.
How a Glock Saved a Blogger’s Life
Another Gun Guy posts his self-defense experience. Â Certainly not a perfect DGU, but self-defense is seldom pretty or clean. Â If it were, we wouldn’t need lawyers.
No Great Leap Forwards for Me, Thank You
Looks like the White House’s green jobs advisor has quite a past:
A declared “communist” during the 1990s, Jones once associated with a group that looked to Mao Zedong as an inspiration.
And here I am worried that right-wing fringe groups might turn away independents and moderate Democrats.
What a Real Hero Looks Like
High school student, unarmed, saves a bus full of his peers in Mississippi from a girl who boards the bus wielding a .380 caliber pistol. Â This is the exact kind of behavior the powers that be discourage, but quick thinking and quick action on his part saved the day. Â When it comes to self-defense, the things we carry are just tools. Â The real weapon is you.
USSA Press Release on HSUS Astroturfing
The US Sportsmen’s Alliance has quite welcomely helped raise the alarm on the HSUS astroturfing operation I uncovered when they commented on my blog last week.
Guns in National Parks
If you were to listen to Brady Campaign material, National Parks are the safest places in the world. Â Well, yes, they are generally pretty safe. Â Just like most places in the United States, save maybe places like Detroit. Â But the problem in National Parks is there’s no recourse to the authorities, or to good samaritans. Â If you find yourself in trouble in a National Park, you’re largely on your own.
That’s why the trend toward larger illicit marijuana grow operations on federal land is should be disturbing:
Each camp is typically tended around the clock by guards who may be equipped with assault rifles, night-vision goggles, walkie-talkies and radios to monitor law-enforcement chatter.
I’ll be honest, considering when I’ve hiked out west, I’ve enjoyed traveling a bit off the beaten path, this makes me wonder if just having a pistol is enough, or whether an AR-15 might be a better option. Â You end up getting into it with drug gangs, you’re effectively on your own. Â Law enforcement help is going to be hours away. Â I’m going to suggest if you’re going hiking on federal land that have been found to have grow operations, you need to carry thinking more along the lines of combat rather than a street confrontation. Â If you think that’s paranoid, consider this:
So far this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, federal agents have raided 487 pot farms on forest-service land, where they destroyed 2.6 million marijuana plants, seized 138 firearms and made 369 arrests on felony drug charges.
That’s not a small problem, when you consider the how few federal lands are involved.