Posts from — March 2008

Update: The weapon involved in the incident was a Heckler and Koch USP [universal self-loading] 40-caliber pistol, which has multiple safeties to prevent accidental discharges. Someone was screwing around with the weapon and pulled the trigger. One of the reasons for buying the HK USP is because it is so safe to carry.

WCNC in Charlotte reports: Pilot’s gun discharges on US Airways flight

CHARLOTTE, N.C.– A gun carried by a US Airways pilot accidentally discharged during a flight from Denver to Charlotte Saturday, according to a statement released by the airline.

The statement said the discharge happened on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45 a.m. and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51 a.m.

The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injured, according to the statement. It was a full flight. An airline spokeswoman said the plane has been taken out of service to make sure it is safe to return to flight.

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BBC reports that MAC-V MNF-I admits that at least 4000 members of the military of the United States have died during the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

When will the nightmare end?  When will there be too many deaths for the “legacy” of one small corrupt individual?  When will someone be held responsible for what has happened?

Eriposte at Left Coaster covers another manufactured outrage by Obama advisors in Crying Fits and Joe McCarthy.

Retired Air Force General McPeak takes a statement of Bill Clinton out of context so he can claim that Clinton is acting like Joe McCarthy and questioning Obama’s patriotism.

“I think it’s horrible. I’m really disappointed because I worked for President Clinton, you know?” McPeak said when asked by reporters.

About that “I worked for President Clinton”, the preposition “for” tends to make people think that McPeak was one of the few general officers in the Pentagon who didn’t regularly call Bill Clinton a “a draft-dodging communist”, a situation that got so bad that there was a letter circulated by the Secretary of Defense that the conduct would not be tolerated and people might be retiring sooner than anticipated and at ranks lower than expected.

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There have been numerous complaints received regarding the services provided under the current regime and we would like to take the time to respond to these complaints and to help those of you in the outlying areas understand the true situation.

It has been noted that several individuals purporting to be the “Easter Bunny” do not seem to be authentic. Of course they’re not authentic. We don’t do personal appearances or take requests. As the anthropomorphic personification of a blended holiday we are entirely too involved in attempting to fulfill the unreasoned expectations of various groups. Besides which, we noticed that many of the requests came from people with French surnames, and I don’t think it is necessary to remind people what happens to rabbits in France: in Britain bunnies are found in children books; in France in cookbooks. [See also North Korea.]

We had what we thought was an excellent solution, but then discovered that due to his existence as a pookah, Harvey was not visible to major segments of the population and, to be honest, he had a problem staying away from the tipple for any major block of time.

As for the quality of the costumes, we are certainly not going to recommend anyone “donate” their pelt so these obvious frauds can have “genuine rabbit fur” costumes.

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Florida License Plates

Beneficiary

A weekend feature of Why Now.

In 1689, John Locke wrote A Letter on Toleration. In the letter, written as a response to certain questions about his religious views, he says:

Who sees not how frequently the name of the Church, which was venerable in time of the apostles, has been made use of to throw dust in the people’s eyes in the following ages? But, however, in the present case it helps us not. The one only narrow way which leads to heaven is not better known to the magistrate than to private persons, and therefore I cannot safely take him for my guide, who may probably be as ignorant of the way as myself, and who certainly is less concerned for my salvation than I myself am.

Locke is not 100% behind total toleration of any religion, but the exceptions are based on conditions that existed in the 17^th century. He was a very influential political philosopher, especially among many of the “founding fathers”.

I’m not going to go into my personal beliefs for the simple facts that they are personal and beliefs. They may not suit you, and if you can’t believe them what’s the point? As Locke says, you can’t force someone to believe something, you can only force them to say they do to avoid punishment. It’s a situation akin to, and all too frequently over time, involving torture.

When politics and religion are mixed, history shows us that religion is always, not sometimes, always, corrupted. Over time it is religion that is altered to suit the needs of politics. Separation of church and state is the best way of protecting religion and allowing people to believe whatever they want. Does anyone really want a judge to decide the meaning of religious texts?

In unrelated news: you can put the foulest forms of medication in a quarter can of Science Diet a/d, add some water to make a gruel, and a cat will lick the bowl clean. The stuff [a/d] is expensive [$1.30/can] but, you never use more than a quarter of a can at a time for an adult cat because it is so rich. It’s good for dogs too. Definitely not recommended for over-weight pets.

Sinfonian of Blast Off! has been following the career of Sara Gonzalez, who was appointed by Governor Charlie Crist to be the chair of the state’s Public Employee Relations Commission. Some might wonder why a dermatologist’s assistant with an undergraduate degree in biology and a master’s in physician assistant studies should be appointed to a position normally held by a lawyer with labor law experience, but that is staid, old-fashioned thinking that ignores Mrs. Gonzalez’s most important qualification: she’s the wife of Crist’s recently hired general counsel, Jason Gonzalez.

Alas the naysayers have won out as Sara Gonzalez has withdrawn her name after the nasty people in the Republican Senate made it known that there was no way they were going to approve this concept. Well, there is a certain amount of bad karma associated with counsels named Gonzales, but apparently even the wingers in the Florida Senate felt this dog wouldn’t hunt.

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I’ve been tied up with vets, sewers, taxes, and a very annoying Motorola cell phone that they apparently designed not to disturb people by making the ring tone audible, so posting has been light at the cottage of cats and chaos.

As Mustang Bobby at Bark Bark Woof Woof noted Spring Break in Daytona Beach is apparently the place for midwestern college students to get drunk and detonate dynamite. From WKMG: Dynamite Explosion In Daytona Was Second In Two Nights, Students Say. Safe to say the state of Florida takes a dim view of dynamiting motels, even during Spring Break, and the three young men involved will be three significantly older men before they get back to college.

The Pensacola Beach Blog is really annoyed at the local media for failing to fact check press releases from our local Congresscretin: Jeff Miller’s Mendacity – Masked Again.

I wrote about the chuckehead from Chumuckla [think Deliverance, but no one capable of playing the banjo¹] back in June of 2006 in Sell Out To Big Oil, and now he’s claiming credit for stopping the bill he voted for and the local media is printing the lie.

1. I grew up here, I’m allowed to defame the local communities, as they have opposing high school football teams.

It is Good Friday for Christians and 50 years ago on Good Friday [April 4, 1958] this symbol first appeared on signs and banners in Britain. The BBC gives some of the back ground on the World’s best-known protest symbol turns 50

It started life as the emblem of the British anti-nuclear movement but it has become an international sign for peace, and arguably the most widely used protest symbol in the world. It has also been adapted, attacked and commercialised.

It had its first public outing 50 years ago on a chilly Good Friday as thousands of British anti-nuclear campaigners set off from London’s Trafalgar Square on a 50-mile march to the weapons factory at Aldermaston.

The demonstration had been organised by the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (DAC) and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) joined in.

Gerald Holtom, a designer and former World War II conscientious objector from West London, persuaded DAC that their aims would have greater impact if they were conveyed in a visual image. The “Ban the Bomb” symbol was born.

My Editor

Isn’t it time for dinner?

[Editor: Ringo has decided that the area behind the monitor is is a great place to be annoying.]

Friday Ark

As Becki Jayne of The Real vs the Spiel reports that Michigan revote chances die when the Republicans in the upper chamber decide to adjourn without voting on the measure, it is time for Plan B.

Quiddity of UggaBugga has it, the ultimate, the bestest ever: The Plan.