Tuesday - July 24, 2007

If Only Ours Would Say This

Kim has his ”quote of the day” posted today. Its an oldie, but goodie.

If only GWB had the balls to say this.

Posted by Drew458     on 07/24/2007 at 01:51 PM   
Filed Under: • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration •  
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A Pilot’s View

Sorry for the lack of posting these past few day...just buried with life right now.

But I did run across this article on Hot Air.

Did you ever wonder what a pilot thinks about the security of the airline system?  Dave Mackett is about to tell you.

As background, no conversation about airline security should take place without at least trying to conceive of the almost incomprehensible size of the air transportation system. The size of the system is the reason everything the public and policymakers “think” should work in airline security doesn’t, and the reason our entire approach to airline security is almost completely ineffective against a threat like Al Qaeda — and the reason security almost always fails when tested by covert testers, innocent civilians and, occasionally, persons with intent.

At this moment, there are roughly 5000 commercial airliners in the skies above you. There will be 28,000 flights today, and 840,000 in the next month — every month. The U.S. fleet consists of some 6000 aircraft — almost all of which will be parked unattended tonight at a public airport. We will carry almost 7 billion passengers this year, the number increasing to 10 billion by 2010, barring an exogenous event like another 9/11.

There is simply no deployable technology that has a prayer of keeping a motivated, prepared terrorist out of the system every time — even most times. TSA misses more than 90% of detectable weapons at passenger checkpoints in their own tests, and it is not their fault, because of the limitations of technology and the number of inspections they must conduct. This doesn’t count several classes of completely undetectable weapons like composite knives and liquid explosives.

What is TSA’s fault is their abject failure to embrace more robust approaches than high visibility inspections, and their accommodations to the Air Transport Association’s revenue interests at the expense of true security, while largely ignoring the recommendations of the front-line airline crews and air marshals who have no direct revenue agenda and are much more familiar with airline operations than are the bureaucrats (remember government ignoring the front-line FBI agents who tried to warn them about 9/11?). Deplorable amounts of money have been wasted on incomprehensible security strategies, while KISS [Keep It Simple, Stupid] methods proven to work have been ignored.

Go read the rest, and wonder why we still trust what little security we think we have to a bloated bureaucracy.

Posted by Drew458     on 07/24/2007 at 01:40 PM   
Filed Under: • Politics • Stoopid-People • Terrorists •  
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   Sunday - July 22, 2007

New Jersey is losing it

Hat tip to the NRA/ILA; the story about State Bill 2810:

”BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. A person who sells, transfers or assigns an imitation firearm to a person under 18 years of age commits a disorderly persons offense; provided, however, that the establishment by a preponderance of the evidence of all of the following facts by the person making the sale, transfer or assignment shall constitute an affirmative defense to any prosecution under this section:
a. The purchaser, transferee or assignee represents his age by producing a driver’s license bearing a photograph of the licensee, or by producing some other photographic card purporting to be a valid identification card, indicating that he was 18 years of age or older;
b. The appearance of the purchaser, transferee or assignee was such that an ordinary prudent person would believe him to be 18 years of age or older; and
c. The sale, transfer or assignment was made in good faith relying upon the indicators of age listed in subsections a. and b. of this section.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.”

(An imitation firearm is defined in New Jersey’s firearm statutes as an object or device that is “reasonably capable of being mistaken for a firearm.” Right. Resonable by whom? People stupid enough to try and make this thing into law?)

See, it wasn’t enough to legislate the hell out of actual legal gun ownership. It wasn’t enough to pass laws that BB guns, bows, and even slingshots required a firearms ID to purchase. It wasn’t even enough demanding that all toy guns had a bright orange muzzle, or were only sold in shocking neon colors so that they could never be mistaken for the real thing. Nope, this desparate measure will outlaw even the toy ones, turning your children into criminals liable for a ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR fine.


Yeah, this bill will end gang violence alright. God forbid they actually catch the criminals instead. Numbskulls.

I wonder if water pistols fall under this asinine agenda? Wait, discharge of a water pistol is probably already an egregious waste of water, which would violate all the drought induced water restriction laws the state operates under most of the time. This state is loonie land.

Posted by Drew458     on 07/22/2007 at 12:15 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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   Friday - July 20, 2007

Ward Churchill could be FIRED? Be still my heart…

Check THIS out, folks…

Churchill expects to be fired

I saw this story this afternoon while surfing and remembering the many articles on him here at BMEWS, I just HAD to share.
Cheers.

Posted by Severa     on 07/20/2007 at 12:49 PM   
Filed Under: • Education •  
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Liars, Traitors and Thieves

It’s not like this is anything new, but I am amazed that the Democrats believe the possibility of racial profiling is more of a threat and worse than the possibility of a terrorist attack.

By now you’ve read that they blocked the “John Doe” amendment from the homeland security bill.  This would have protected the public from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior that may lead to a terrorist attack.  You want to know who voted for the amendment and who didn’t?  Sure, we’ve got that. (courtesy of MM)

Justin Higgins at Right on the Right has a great poster for the Dems:

Bastards.

Posted by Drew458     on 07/20/2007 at 09:31 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Terrorists •  
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He Agrees Too

Remember my post last week positing that Iran could be attacked this summer?

Apparently, Alabamadinnerjacket agrees

Ahmadinejad: It will be a ‘hot’ summer

It’s going to be a “hot” summer in the Middle East, said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad following a surprise meeting with Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in Damascus on Thursday evening, Channel 10 reported.

Nasrallah allegedly entered Syria via an underground tunnel, the television channel said.

“We hope that the hot weather of this summer will coincide with similar victories for the region’s peoples, and with consequent defeat for the region’s enemies,” Ahmadinejad added, in an apparent reference to Israel.

“The enemies of the region should abandon plans to attack the interests of this region, or they would be burned by the wrath of the region’s peoples,” the hardline Iranian leader said at a joint press conference with Assad.

“burned by the wrath of the region’s people”.  Hmmm Where have we heard rhetoric like that before? 

Posted by Drew458     on 07/20/2007 at 07:26 AM   
Filed Under: • Iran •  
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   Thursday - July 19, 2007

See? Smoking can kill you!

A man shot and killed by a clerk at a BP service station just before midnight Saturday has been identified as Raymond Crawford, 30.

An autopsy showed he died of a single gunshot to the abdomen, the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office ruled today.

Police said Mr. Crawford entered the gas station at 1910 Saw Mill Run Blvd. in Beechview, pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money and cigarettes. The clerk initially complied, but police said when Mr. Crawford demanded more cigarettes, the clerk reached under the counter, pulled out a gun and fired.

Here’s the link. Add one to Kim’s Dead Goblin counter. 

Posted by Drew458     on 07/19/2007 at 08:39 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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Ru-roh!

Heh. Check this out:

Pentagon Rebukes Sen. Clinton on Iraq

From the article:

I remember when Bill Clinton was running for President the first time around, I was in high school and from the moment I saw Bill and Hillary I got this really bad ‘read’ from them.  I couldn’t put my finger on it but just something didn’t seem right with them. To this day I do not understand how so many people can see these two as this wonderful couple, like they are the best thing since sliced bread. It’s good to see someone that can tell it like it really is without the stupid PC talk. Bout damn time.

Posted by Severa     on 07/19/2007 at 08:13 PM   
Filed Under: • Politics •  
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   Wednesday - July 18, 2007

What’s that Smell?

Hypocrisy, my friends, that’s what it is.

Seems that besides burning up tankers full of jet fuel, spewing tons of CO² into the air and generally making an ass of himself, the Goracle^© flew back to the land of the free and partook of one of the world’s most threatened fish species.

ONLY one week after Live Earth, Al Gore’s green credentials slipped while hosting his daughter’s wedding in Beverly Hills.

Gore and his guests at the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass - arguably one of the world’s most threatened fish species.

Also known as Patagonian toothfish, the species is under pressure from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities in the Southern Ocean, jeopardising the sustainability of remaining stocks.

The species is currently managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources, the body which introduced a catch and trade documentation scheme as an attempt to tackle illegal poaching of this species.

Imagine.  A Leftist who DEMANDS that you change your ways is not ashamed at all to do as he pleases.

ScienceBlogs puts it this way:

Gore: Ate Bass, Looks Like an Ass

Al Gore’s daughter got married last week and apparently the event was so sacred it called for eating one of the world’s most endangered fish: Chilean sea bass (which is not actually a ‘bass’). Now Gore is justifiably under scrutiny by the media and charged with eco-hypocrisy.

The D.C.-based National Environmental Trust launched the Take a Pass on Chilean Sea Bass campaign in 2002. Maybe Gore was still busy treating the wounds after the ill-fated 2000 campaign, but really: how can someone so in tune to the problem of global warming be so in the dark about Chilean sea bass?

Even Randy I’m-still-eating-fish Olson found this to be a shocking PR blunder by Gore

Posted by Drew458     on 07/18/2007 at 11:05 AM   
Filed Under: • Environment • Outrageous •  
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Excellent Advice

Chris has some very sage advice when dealing with criminals.

If you’re dealing with what cops call an ODC (ordinary decent criminal), then most likely nobody is going to get hurt; but once things tip over that edge, you are effectively a dead man already, unless you act to prevent that from happening.

You should NEVER comply with a rapist, or a criminal who is intent on violence; and ALL rape is violence of the worst sort.

You should NEVER comply with a criminal who is clearly mentally unstable, or grossly impaired mentally by drugs or alcohol.

He then goes on to detail the seven “danger” signs of homicidal escalation for a situation.  Great article.

H/T: Kim

Posted by Drew458     on 07/18/2007 at 10:56 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
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   Tuesday - July 17, 2007

Unhappy. Birthday Computer Viruses turn 25 this Month

Go ahead and Guess what the first computer a virus infected?

The first computer virus wasn’t much of a threat. Created by a mischievous Pittsburgh high school student, Elk Cloner annoyed unwitting Apple II users with a brief poem extolling its power to proliferate:

It will get on all your disks
It will infiltrate your chips
Yes it’s Cloner! …

The year was 1982. The IBM personal computer had only been born the year before (its first virus would not crop up until 1986), the worlds of science and business had yet to adopt computer technology on a wide scale and computer users were primarily a gaggle of tech-savvy hobbyists who swapped files by floppy disk.

In the 25 years since the irksome but relatively benign Cloner, the growing World Wide Web of computer networks and high-speed Internet connections has left just about everyone with a PC or laptop vulnerable to malware (malicious software). In the process, malware has evolved from a minor irritant into big business.

The costs of malware are hard to quantify, but estimates range from tens to hundreds of billions of dollars in lost profits and fraudulently acquired gains annually, says computer security expert Eugene Spafford, a professor of computer science in the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security at Purdue University.

Like viruses and similar programs called worms, modern malware copies itself onto unsuspecting computers via e-mail attachments, Web pages or more direct attacks. But instead of causing those machines to crash, it may monitor keystrokes to detect social security numbers or deliver spam peddling bogus get-rich-quick schemes. So-called bots even allow attackers to remotely control infected systems.

Old-style malware, seemingly written for bragging rights, made headlines for knocking out swaths of the World Wide Web. The SQL Slammer worm briefly slowed Internet traffic to a crawl in early 2003. Financial motives often drive newer malware, which is subtler, more like a parasite, Spafford says. It sticks around inflicting damage but “it doesn’t want to kill the host because that kills it,” too, he says.

In a commentary published online this week in Science, Spafford and computer scientist Richard Ford of the Florida Institute of Technology warn that the problem will widen in scope as cell phones and other household electronics become increasingly sophisticated and connected (think iPhone). Proof-of-concept viruses could in principle hop between cell phones via the Bluetooth wireless standard. “Virulent cell-to-cell malware is not far off,” the researchers caution.

Malware has no single cause or solution, and is likely to get worse before it improves, Spafford says. “A lot of the problems have to do with human nature,” he says. Consumers demand more and fancier computer functions, creating more spaces for viruses and bots to hide. Software and machines could include tools to make them more resistant to malware, but people would probably switch them off to play games, he says.

A National Research Council report published in late June called for more research to improve cybersecurity technologies and policies. Spafford says a concerted effort by governments and industry could rein in the growth of malware in the coming decade—if the subject received sustained attention.

“We don’t see malware going away,” he says. “The question is, how much is it with us?”

Source
Yep while not very malicious and more of a joke program.. the first computer in the wild was unleashed on an Apple.. isn’t there a warning against patronizing Apple in the bible as well? and Apple potentially getting us into a big mess?

Posted by Infinity     on 07/17/2007 at 05:47 PM   
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Not a Good Way to Go

Maybe its just me, but I don’t think I want to be found face-down in someone’s underware drawer when I die.

Police: Woman Dies Robbing Fla. House

INTERLACHEN, Fla.—Authorities are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found in a home she was apparently robbing.

The resident of the house returned home to find a woman, whom she recognized as someone from the area, lying face down in her bottom dresser drawer, police said.

Authorities said they found a screwdriver in the woman’s waistband and a pair of underwear in her front pocket.

Detective Julie Walker says it appeared that the woman just passed out face-down in the drawer.

An autopsy conducted Monday found no signs of foul play.

Authorities said they hope toxicological tests will provide a cause. Drugs are suspected.

Uhhhh, you think?

Posted by Drew458     on 07/17/2007 at 08:06 AM   
Filed Under: • Odd-Strange •  
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Russian Realpolitik: Putin to Bush

One of my favorite and more profound commentators writes for Asia Times with the nomme de plume Spengler.  He generally comes up with a very interesting and realistic appraisal of whatever has attracted his attention.

In this case, he starts of with a “what if”, and then carries it out.  Well worth the look for the perspective it gives as to where Putin is operating from these days.  The settup is essentially “What if, Putin cut the diplospeak and just told Dubya straight up, how it REALLY was with Russia these days.  A way interesting read!

I have a bit more comment posted on my own site here, (you COULD check that to give me some hits if you want) or you can go and check it out directly here, which is after all, the main point of my original post, and of this one. 

Posted by Drew458     on 07/17/2007 at 12:43 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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   Monday - July 16, 2007

Maybe They’re Learning

There was a great uproar a couple of weeks ago when OSHA announced it was going to start regulaitng ammunition as “Explosives” (here’s a clue, powder burns, but does not explode).  The letter-writing campaign began because they accept comments on proposed regulations right on their website.  This regulation was so far-reaching that it demanded any store that had ammunition in it would have to evacuate when a thunderstorm approached.  You think Wal*Mart would be carrying ammo anymore?  One rule said you could not have ammo and weapons in the same building.  How about Joe’s gun shop?  Nope, no ammo for sale there.  You see, it was not gun regulation, but ammo regulation...a sneaky little backdoor to making firearm ownership ouright unaffordable and impractical.

NRA-ILA has the news:

Labor Department Announces It Will Revise Overreaching OSHA Explosives Rule

Monday, July 16, 2007

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it will significantly revise a recent proposal for new “explosives safety” regulations that caused serious concern among gun owners.  OSHA had originally set out to update workplace safety regulations, but the proposed rules included restrictions that very few gun shops, sporting goods stores, shippers, or ammunition dealers could comply with.

Gun owners had filed a blizzard of negative comments urged by the NRA, and just a week ago, OSHA had already issued one extension for its public comment period at the request of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.  After continued publicity through NRA alerts and the outdoor media, and after dozens of Members of Congress expressed concern about its impact, OSHA has wisely decided to go back to the drawing board.

Working with the NRA, Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) planned to offer a floor amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill this Wednesday when the House considers this legislation.  His amendment would have prohibited federal funds from being used to enforce this OSHA regulation.

Such an amendment is no longer necessary since Kristine A. Iverson, the Labor Department’s Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, sent Rep. Rehberg a letter, dated July 16, stating that it “was never the intention of OSHA to block the sale, transportation, or storage of small arms ammunition, and OSHA is taking prompt action to revise” this proposed rule to clarify the purpose of the regulation.

Posted by Drew458     on 07/16/2007 at 08:55 PM   
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