Wednesday - January 13, 2010
Oh Great
Ladies’ Choice?
I put up a little post on Massachusetts Senate candidate Scott Brown (R) the other day. Just being a tad snarky I mentioned that he also has good hair.
What I didn’t know then was that ... that remark seems to apply everywhere! (link is 100% SFW)
So, is this going to hurt his chances, or make him seem a bit less stuffy than the stereotypical Republican? Will it help his popularity? This is the 21st century after all. Sure, sure, content and character. But didn’t we see him in one of those Axe Body Wash ads last year?
Original article has larger picture. The gossip pages haven’t cottoned to this one yet. I dug through the top 4 sites, and while I learned that Donald Goerke, the guy who invented Spaghetti-O’s has died at 83, and that J. Love Hewitt went on TV to tell the world that she Bedazzles her ‘jayjay, not a word on this bit of “breaking news” at those places. Media bias - it’s everywhere!!
Posted by Drew458
on 01/13/2010 at 05:23 PM
Filed Under: • Eye-Candy • Republicans •
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Permalink • No knee jerk reactions please but … I oppose this suggestion to fund Auschwitz memorial.
This caught our eye this morning and for some reason it really surprised me.
Whoever this person is, and obviously he is somebody knowledgeable about his subject, he is crackers. Why the hell should the Brit taxpayer fund a memorial and pay anything to preserve that place? What? There aren’t enough things for Brits to do and fund in their own country?
This man with a name I can not hope to learn to pronounce, should try and find commercial backers. Or play some more on German feelings of guilt. Those folks are always prime after generations of left wing guilt trips.
I think I’m allowed to say that coming from the background I do. How many more holocaust museums do we need? The fact that the place is now in a bad state is evidence that there just aren’t many people who care that much. If private donations along with the monies already promised by the hapless Germans aren’t enough, then tough. There are already more then enough demands made on taxpayers everywhere. Besides which, the Brits did not build that place. Duh.
When I say people don’t care that much, I don’t mean to say that they are all unmoved by the suffering inflicted on millions of people. But I don’t think they want to be burdened with the idea that they owe something in perpetuity. Especially when they had nothing to do with it and have concerns of their own in the world they live in today.
A thousand years from now, the only people to whom the holocaust will mean anything, will be we Jews. Cos ( as I’ve learned ) we never forget anything that has anything to do with Jewish suffering. I hate to say this and I damn well know it’s gonna look bad but ....
I think the world at large (except for the left) is tired, tired, tired of hearing it. Even I have begun to think, I know, I know, I know!
One person has written in the commentary for the Times, that the buildings speak for the dead. Really?
I was under the impression, mistaken apparently, that ISRAEL DID! A very living memorial, even if a troubled one.
Auschwitz asks Britain for help to preserve decaying death camp
Roger Boyes
The TimesThe guard towers of Auschwitz are splintering, the barracks are waterlogged: the concentration camp where one million Jews were slaughtered is decaying so fast that conservationists have called on Britain to help to save it.
The theft last month of its distinctive, sinister sign, Arbeit macht frei (work sets you free) has underlined the vulnerability of the Nazi death camp, stretching over 20 hectares (50 acres) of southern Poland.
“Nobody could have imagined such a horrific act of vandalism,” Jacek Kastelaniec, director-general of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, said. “Now try to imagine the public outcry if one of the barracks started to fall down, impossible to restore.”
Auschwitz was built on boggy ground between two rivers; as a result the high groundwater and bad drainage has rotted the foundations. Walls are blistering and starting to lean, roof frames are buckling, plasterwork and wall-paintings are flaking.
Mr Kastelaniec will go to the Cabinet Office tomorrow to press the Government on Gordon Brown’s promise to contribute to a €120million (£110million) endowment fund that will guarantee the preservation of one of the main sites of the Holocaust.
Mr Brown visited the camp last April, and, plainly upset by what he had seen, declared: “We will join with other countries in supporting the maintenance and retention of the memorial at Auschwitz.” No figure has been suggested publicly for Britain’s possible contribution, but Polish sources say that the conservationists are hoping for about €10million.
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has said that her country would put up half of the costs, but the managers of the Auschwitz museum need other commitments. Mr Kastelaniec will also visit France, Belgium and the United States. The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has sent an appeal to 40 heads of government.
“The conservationists say we need to start work in the next two years if we are to avert irreparable decay,” Mr Kastelaniec told The Times, “and that will only be possible if the money is paid into the fund now.”
The decay of the camp is politically sensitive. The current trial in Munich of the alleged Sobibor camp guard John Demjanjuk is being seen by the public as the last for Nazi war crimes — the 89-year-old defendant is wheeled into court on a hospital bed.
Holocaust survivors are dwindling. “In ten years there will be no witnesses,” Mr Kastelaniec said, “and it will be easier for the crazy people who say nothing happened in the camps.” Only the buildings will remain.
Auschwitz cannot simply have a makeover because that would undermine its claims to authenticity, and open the way for those on the far Right who try to deny or trivialise the Holocaust. The strategic point of the restoration is to use its almost over-powering sense of menace as a clinching counter-argument against anti-Semitism and racism.
The portfolio to be presented to the British Government underlines the vast scale of the camp. The priority is being set on 45 brick barracks. The managers estimate that it will cost up to €890,000 to restore a single barracks building. On top of that come 22 wooden barrack rooms — where inmates were crowded into bunks up to the ceiling. Each will cost €310,000.
Then there are the remains of 210 barrack buildings. Some sheds have collapsed, but there are concrete outlines where floors and chimneys stood. Without some strengthening, these foundation markings will disappear. Cost: €78,000 per barrack room. The 27 wooden guard towers need to be reinforced at an annual cost, for the next 14 years, of €62,000.
Posted by peiper
on 01/13/2010 at 11:28 AM
Filed Under: • History • International • UK •
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Permalink • Oh yeah? Come and get me coppers!
Posted by Drew458
on 01/13/2010 at 11:09 AM
Filed Under: • Humor •
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Permalink • Why does nobody clear the paths outside their homes?
Well now actually guys, ah. Yeah. It is H & S but at the rate ppl are suing and the reasons they’re suing for, I think I understand a lot of the decisions that made. Even if I don’t happen to agree. But this does defy some logic.
This story has been well covered over here and in between everything else I have brewing, I forgot about it till the BMEWS TIGER emailed it to me and I was reminded. That happens from time to time.
BTW, The town mentioned, http://www.discovergosport.co.uk/ , is a neat place to visit. Or it was when I was there 25 yrs ago. It’s naval and in the olde days when ships were wood and men were iron, ships were built here.
Anyway, the weather has been on the bad side depending on what you mean by bad. We had more snow overnight and it has continued on and off all day here. But not heavy. So far. I think we’re on the edge of the storm. I haven’t seen this much snow in many,many years so I think it’s fun and the natives here think I’m smoking funny weed. It is not as cold as it has been. That is, it is not frigid again as it was yesterday. Thereby proving that gorebal warming is for real.
This photo has absolutly nothing at all to do with the article, but I put it here anyway cos I shot it thru the bedroom window early today.
Why does nobody clear the paths outside their homes?Yup, it’s all down to health and safety
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:10 AM on 11th January 2010Householders and businesses have been warned not to clear snowy pavements - as they could be sued if someone slips.
Icy paths mean hospitals have been inundated with patients who have broken bones in falls.
But the professional body that represents health-and-safety experts has warned businesses not to grit public paths.
In its guidance to members, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health warns that if people assume an area is clear and then slip and injure themselves, they could take legal action claiming damages.
And members of the public say they have been warned by councils about the legal risks.
Michael Pepper, 68, asked Cambridgeshire county council to deliver grit which he offered to spread.
But he claims he was told not to attempt to do so without public liability insurance as it could leave him open to being sued if someone became injured on the road.
The 68-year-old lives with wife Gloria, 65, in a cul-de-sac which is not normally gritted.
Retired secretary Gloria walks with a stick and has been unable to leave the house for days due to the poor conditions on the road.
The warnings did not stop more than 50 people who pulled together to dig snow and ice from around Elson Junior School in Gosport, Hampshire after an appeal for help was broadcast on BBC Radio Solent. The school hopes to re-open tomorrow.
Government whip Lord Davies of Oldham explained to fellow peers in a House of Lords debate: ‘If people totally clear away all snow and return the pavement to the situation it was in before the snow landed, they have done an excellent job.
‘If it is done in a less than complete manner and leaves ice, which is more dangerous than the original covering of snow, it may not be the local authority responsible but the householder for having dealt with the pavement.’
John McQuater, president of the National Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, admitted: ‘If you do nothing you cannot be liable. If you do something, you could be liable to legal action.’
But to add to the confusion, home owners are responsible for clearing their own private paths and ensuring visiting postmen, milkmen and others are safe, warned Paul Kitson, of solicitors Russell, Jones and Walker.
The situation here contrasts with many parts of North America where householders face local authority fines if they don’t shovel snow off pavements facing their homes.
Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory minister and critic of Britain’s burgeoning ‘compensation culture’ told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘The idea you can be sued for being helpful is absolutely ludicrous.’
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents also expressed its disappointment that public safety was being neglected because of fears of possible litigation.
A spokesman said: ‘This is not showing a particularly good attitude. It would be much safer for the public to clear paths, even if it’s not on their property.’
And Clare Marx, past president of the British Orthopaedic Association and orthopaedic consultant at Ipswich Hospital, said: ‘If people want to clear pavements, they should just do it.
‘I would have thought it’s a public service and it is a shame we have ended up with a culture where if someone slips, they want to sue someone.
‘People need a bit of grit, in both senses.’
The organisation said its members expected to treat tens of thousands of fractures by the time the weather eventually improves.
Forecasters are predicting that freezing conditions continue until at least Wednesday, while local authorities edge closer to running out of grit.
The lack of salt means even few pavements will be cleared of ice and snow.
The Government has ordered extra supplies from the U.S. and Europe, but they are not expected to arrive for another fortnight.
A “fortnight?” 14 days? Global warming will have melted all by then.
We haven’t any sidewalks out front where we are so the only thing out there is our street, a short one, and believe it or not it’s about 900 years old. No kidding. It started out as no more then a herding track when people drove sheep through what was pasture, from Wales to London.
Posted by peiper
on 01/13/2010 at 09:44 AM
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather • Health and Safety • UK •
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Permalink • Taxing the very air you breath
Who would have ever thought that this could happen? After all, Cap & Trade just makes so much sense!
Biggest Ponzi scheme evah goes bust
Europe’s flagship carbon trading scheme suffered a blow today as the Danish government was forced to rush an emergency law through parliament to clamp down on a virulent form of VAT fraud.
On the eve of the Copenhagen climate talks, which will attract world attention to emissions trading schemes, police and tax investigators across Europe are believed to be investigating hundreds of millions of euros worth of fraud involving carbon quotas originating in Denmark.
Since British, French and Dutch governments took similar action in the summer, much of the “carousel” fraud involving carbon credits moved to Denmark, where registration of carbon quotas for the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is easy and a VAT rate of 25% makes the fraud attractive to international criminals.
Experts said today that Copenhagen had long been an accident waiting to happen in terms of carousel fraud.
Richard Ainsworth, professor of VAT policy at Boston University in the US said: “It is extremely surprising that after the French, British and Dutch had to move against this fraud in the summer that the Danes did not act more quickly, especially with the climate summit about to start.”
The Danish government today said it did not know how much money it had lost to the fraud but the number is likely to run into hundreds of millions – if not billions – of kroner.
The fraud occurs when a trader of carbon credits in one EU country buys some from another country free of VAT, then sells them on, charging the VAT to the buyer. The seller then disappears without handing the VAT to the taxman.
Some criminals re-export the credits, reclaiming VAT as they do so, then re-import them. They can do this repeatedly, reclaiming VAT many times, hence the “carousel” label.
Oh, it is to laugh. The governments are crying because they’ve been bilked out of their tax bite by savvy crooks who exploited holes in the government’s own rules that were written to regulate a total vaporware con job invented by the government. Serves them right.
The whole carbon credits concept is a load of crap. It does exactly nothing to limit CO2 emissions on a world-wide basis. At the very best all it does is pump money to turd world tyrannies while fattening government coffers along the way. It’s a scam. It’s a con. A shell game. Dump it.
A commenter at WUWT explains how it works:
- (i) charging people for trading in thin air, then
- (ii) not actually giving them the air, but selling them virtual air, then
- (iii) taxing them on this virtual air, and
- (iv)complaining that those taxes, paid for by the seller, aren’t being collected, while
- (v) letting them believe that spending this money will help save the planet!
There is no man-made climate change. Climate changes all the time and it always has. We are currently just barely out of a cooling cycle. New research shows that micro-cycles of heating and cooling run in 30 year periods. Real climate change can only be measured in terms of geologic time. 10 or 20 years does not make a trend, only a blip. It’s time to give Chicken Little a gag order.
The earth is not a closed system; it is not a greenhouse. Excess heat goes off into space. So does excess gas, but apparently bull shit sticks around forever.
Carbon dioxide levels can increase or decrease by natural variations and have a nearly imperceptible impact on global temperatures. These variations are at best an effect of temperature change, not a cause. More likely there is no correlation at all.
The human contribution to carbon dioxide is negligible, even when “bovine methane” is part of the human scorecard. Plants create thousands of times more of it than we do.
If you really want to lower the amount of CO2 then breed more shellfish. Clamshells bind up lots of the stuff.
The whole Value Added Tax, or VAT, is itself a Ponzi scheme. Dump it.
h/t to Watts Up With That
Posted by Drew458
on 01/13/2010 at 09:24 AM
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather • Crime •
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Permalink • WOO - WHO GUYS IN AMERICA. Have you already seen this? WOW!
Right I know. I go a bit crazy over finds like this. And I always ask the same questions. What else is out there? What are they gonna find next?
It amazing that some of the things found have even survived this long.
I wonder if there will be anything from our current century that will have someone 500 years from now saying, wow. What a find.
Maybe, Wow. How primitive?
Be sure to go HERE FOR SOME GREAT PHOTOS .
Pictured: The 400-year-old map that shows China as the centre of the worldBy Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:49 AM on 13th January 2010A rare 17th Century map that shows China as the as the centre of the world went on display yesterday in Washington.
The map, created in 1602 by Italian Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, was the first in Chinese to show the Americas, and identifies Florida as ‘the Land of Flowers’.
The 12ft by 5ft document, printed on six rolls of rice paper, is on show at the Library of Congress. It is one of only two copies in existence in good condition, and was coined ‘the impossible black tulip of cartography’ by experts strugging to track it down.
Rare: The 17th Century Ricci Map. 1: China - 2: India - 3: Russia - 4: Europe - 5: Japan - 6: Canada - 7: US - 8: South America - 9: Africa - 10: Middle EastThe map includes drawings and annotations detailing different regions of the world. Africa was noted to have the world’s highest mountain and longest river, while a brief description of North America describes ‘humped oxen’, wild horses and a region named ‘Ka-na-ta’.
Several Central and South American places are also named, including ‘Wa-ti-ma-la’ (Guatemala), ‘Yu-ho-t’ang’ (Yucatan) and ‘Chih-Li’ (Chile).
Ricci also included a brief description of the discovery of the Americas: ‘In olden days, nobody had ever known that there were such places as North and South America or Magellanica,’ he wrote, citing a name that early mapmakers used for Australia and Antarctica.
‘But a hundred years ago, Europeans came sailing in their ships to parts of the sea coast, and so discovered them.’
Ti Bin Zhang of the Chinese Embassy in Washington called the map a ‘catalyst for commerce’, and that it represented the momentous first meeting of East and West.
Ricci was among the first Westerners to live in what is now Beijing. Known for introducing Western science to China, Ricci created the map at the request of Emperor Wanli.
No examples of the map are known to exist in China, where Ricci was revered and buried. Only a few original copies are known to exist, held by the Vatican’s libraries and collectors in France and Japan.
Enlarge Catalyst for commerce: The map is thought to represent the momentous first meeting of East and West
Enlarge Intricate: The map, created in 1602, identifies Florida as ‘the Land of Flowers’Catalyst for commerce: The map is thought to represent the momentous first meeting of East and West
The copy on display at the Library of Congress became the second most expensive rare map ever sold after it was purchased by the James Ford Bell Trust in October for $1million.
The trust also owns the Waldseemuller world map, which was the first to use the name ‘America’ and was purchased for a staggering $10 million in 2003.
Prior to its sale, the Ricci map had been held by a private collector in Japan. When the Washington exhibition ends in April, it will be housed at the Bell Library at the University of Minnesota.
The library also will create a digital image of the map to be posted online.
-30-
Posted by peiper
on 01/13/2010 at 07:01 AM
Filed Under: • Amazing Science and Discoveries • Archeology / Anthropology • CHINA in the news • OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT • USA •
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Permalink • THE PERFECT FOLLOW UP TO MY PREVIOUS POST and IT’S BEEN SNOWING ALL NIGHT
Not that the snow has a thing to do with this post but I thought I’d mention it anyway. And it’s snowing again now.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Posted by peiper
on 01/13/2010 at 06:49 AM
Filed Under: • RoPMA • UK •
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Permalink • Tuesday - January 12, 2010
MUSLIM EXTREMISTS FINED, BUT THE PUBLIC PAYS COZ THEY’RE ALL ON BENEFITS.
Outside the court, they defiantly declared: ‘The taxpayer paid for this court case. The taxpayer will pay for the fines too out of benefits’.
And ya know what? They aren’t wrong. This pile of dung masquerading as real life humans are ALL on benefits with compliments of the Brit taxpayer.
One of the many things I find hard to understand is their claim that they are exercising a right of free speech, while carrying banners and poster that
read the hell with freedom. I know they’re incredibly stupid life forms but it amazes me they can’t see just how dumb that appears to the world. Of course I realize I demand too much of them. My fault, not theirs. I expect them to exhibit something human when they so obviously are anything but.
Like this ..... pathetic looking idiot. In case you can’t see it on your monitor, it read, “freedom can go to hell.”
This fool doesn’t seem to understand that without freedom, he couldn’t carry a sign in public that makes him look any dumber then he already is.
These jerks aren’t really all that concerned about what’s happening in muslim countries. If they were, they’d go there and most of us wish the hell they would. But hey ... no benefits to speak of where this species come from ( under most any rock ). And try carrying a sign that would question religion or war or state policy. Orf with ees ed. And still, the west puts up with this sub-human species and placates and pleases and pays benefits to. The list is almost endless.
And talk about appease and placate and bend over backwards. The group refused to stand when the judge entered court and she did NOTHING!
Read this article and see what reason was given for allowing them to get away with that. Of course, if the defendants were real humans well, you can just imagine.
Guilty? It’s a badge of honour say Muslim hate mob (and because we’re on benefits, the state will pay our costs)
By Lucy Ballinger and Dan Newling
Jan 12,2010
A group of Muslim extremists who screamed ‘rapists’ and ‘murderers’ at British soldiers went unpunished yesterday - and called their conviction ‘a badge of honour’.
The five were given conditional discharges for shouting ‘baby killers’ and ‘terrorists’ and waving placards at hundreds of soldiers returning from Iraq.
Outside court they were surrounded by a mob of supporters and boasted they would do the same again, saying they wanted to see sharia law in Britain.
The men, all of whom are on benefits, were each ordered to pay £500 in costs towards the prosecution. Outside the court, they defiantly declared: ‘The taxpayer paid for this court case. The taxpayer will pay for the fines too out of benefits’.
Surrounded by other followers of Islam4UK - the group led by so-called preacher of hate Anjem Choudary - they said they would protest again.
Their backers waved a banner saying: ‘Islam will dominate the world. Freedom can go to hell’.
Some of the group members were linked to an egg attack on Tory peer Baroness Warsi when she visited Luton two months ago.
The peer - who was hit by at least one of the eggs - faced a group of shouting protesters telling her that she was not a proper Muslim. No one was charged.
During their six-day trial, the men argued they were exercising their right to freedom of speech and had been telling the truth about the conduct of British forces in Iraq.
They were part of a demonstration against the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, who were marching through Luton after returning from Iraq.
The protest sparked a hostile stand-off with angry members of the public who had been cheering the soldiers.
Yesterday at Luton Magistrates’ Court, five of the group were found guilty of using threatening, abusive, insulting words and behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others.
They were Sajjadar Choudhury, 31, Munin Abdul, 28, Jalal Ahmed, 21, Yousaf Bashir, 29, and Ziaur Rahman, 32, all from Luton. Two others were acquitted.
Although the offence carries a maximum fine of £1,000, the five were merely given a conditional discharge for two years by District Judge Carolyn Mellanby, which means if they are found guilty of anything else this conviction will be taken into account.
The protesters had refused to stand for the judge as she entered and left court. But she yesterday said she did not wish to ‘set a precedent’ by charging them with contempt of court because of this.
After the trial Munin Abdul, who was found to have called the soldiers ‘terrorists and murderers’ and said they would ‘burn in hell’, said: ‘We won’t stop speaking the truth, even if they think they have made an example of us.
‘This case was political, and we have been made scapegoats to pacify the public. We knew we were being offered as sacrificial lambs. But I see our convictions as a reason for us to carry on in our calling.
Posted by peiper
on 01/12/2010 at 01:37 PM
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • FREEDOM • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration • RoPMA • Terrorists • UK •
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Permalink • Finally For Sale
Production licensing is complete, pre-orders being accepted.
Length: 5.1”
Height: 4.2”
Width: 0.95”
Cartridge/Capacity: 9mm/9mm+P, 7+1
$849.
I wrote about the Boberg Engineering pistol about a year ago. It’s a remarkable design and an extremely well made little firearm. It’s been in development and undergoing testing for a long time now. Three models were on the drawing boards; a compact, a sub-compact, and a micro. Boberg is bringing the sub-compact model to market first, called the XR9-S.
Big deal Drew. Everybody has a teensy weensy little mousegun for sale these days. What makes the XR9 special?
Hey, glad you asked.
For starters, the Boberg XR9-S is a very small pistol. It’s the size of a Berretta Tomcat, which is one of the tiniest semi-automatic pistols ever made.
Except that the Tomcat uses the utterly anemic .32 ACP cartridge, whereas the XR9-S uses the 9mm Luger.
It’s a little bit bigger than the Ruger LCP
and the LCP can only handle plain .380 ACP. It will break if you use +P ammo. The XR9-S is rated for 9mm +P.
It’s pretty much identical in size to the little 9mm jewel sold by Rohrbaugh
just as well made, $200 less, and uses a mechanism that gives lower perceived recoil.
More importantly, the XR9-S is about 25% more powerful using the exact same ammunition.
You want a concealed carry gun, a back-up gun, to be rock solid reliable, controllable, and as powerful as possible, and as small and light as possible. The XR9-S seems to give you everything.
At ranges of just a few feet, the .32 ACP is a very marginal cartridge for self defense. From a full length test barrel it fires a 77 grain .312” diameter bullet at about 800 feet per second. From the very short barrel of a Beretta Tomcat velocities are down in the 600fps range. It might be fine for “poppin a cap upside yo haid” but don’t count on it to shoot through a leather jacket, much less the torso of the guy wearing it. It just ain’t enough gun, but it’s better than no gun at all. Barely.
The .380 ACP just makes the grade as the minimal acceptable cartridge for self defense. The .380 can push a 90 grain .355” diameter bullet to around 850fps in the little Ruger LCP. It makes a bigger hole than the .32, a bigger noise, but isn’t a real confidence builder when you think in terms of stopping power. The +P version of the .380 can push a slightly heavier bullet slightly faster - 100 grains at 1000fps - and while that’s a significant increase in power, it’s still far behind the old time standard .38 Special, which is an Ok self defense cartridge when used with soft cast lead bullets. The classic .38 Special load is a 158 grain .357” lead bullet at 900fps. More modern loads use a 125 grain jacketed hollowpoint at about 1000fps, for 25% more power than the .380 +P can manage. But the .38 Special is a revolver cartridge, and it is much longer than any cartridge for a semi-auto.
When used with the proper kinds of expanding bullets, the 9mm Luger ( aka 9mm Parabellum, aka 9x19 ) is a very good self defense cartridge. From a standard barrel the 9mm can push a .355” 124 grain bullet at about 1250fps, so it’s half again more potent than the .38 Special round, roughly twice as potent as the .380 +P, and probably 4 times as potent as the diminutive .32 ACP. The +P versions of the 9mm are hotter still, coming quite close to the performance of what passes for .357 Magnum ammunition these days. The .357 Magnum is another revolver-only round, and while unquestionably usable for self defense, is often more cartridge than many people can handle. The bullets also tend to shoot through the bad guys and the walls behind them, the cars behind them, and so on. It’s too much gun, but makes a fantastic flame thrower and flash-bang grenade in a stubby revolver. [ it’s loud as hell and the muzzle flash is furious! So is the recoil. Ouch. ]
So the 9mm/9mm+P is a very good balance point. Sure, so is the .40S&W and the .45ACP, but they both require thicker pistols, so you’re trading stopping power for “imprinting”; it’s often harder to conceal a thicker pistol under your clothes. And you get less shots from a magazine of a given size because the cartridges are larger in diameter. You can’t fit as many in the same space.
The Boberg XR9-S uses the 9mm round, regular or +P, so it has enough punch to do the job. As long as you use the right kind of ammo.
It’s a nifty design too, which is where that extra power comes from. 25% more than other 9mm pistols of similar size, plus less recoil. And believe me, the recoil of a 9mm in a mousegun is something to be concerned about. These little guns are very lively. The kick isn’t that hard, but it’s very fast, and the tiny little guns often jump a couple of feet up when you fire them. Less recoil means less movement, which means you can get back on target for the next shot a little bit faster. And that eyeblink of time matters when it’s you vs him.
The XR9-S uses a rotating breech locking mechanism. Recoil causes the barrel to turn a quarter turn around and actually unscrew itself from the locking lugs. Once unlocked the recoil pushes the cartridge back against the slide and then the slide ... slides. We’re only talking about a few milliseconds here, but a rotating breech unlocks slower than a cam locked breech like the 1911 .45 automatic pistol uses. So, just like firing an M1 carbine, the recoil is slowed down enough to be delivered in two parts. Bang, clunk. Bang, clunk feels less than the “bangslam” you get from the 1911, or a Glock, or any blowback (unlocked breech) 9mm. Actually, I’m not sure there are any blowback 9’s. It’s too hot a cartridge for that kind of action. Whatever, the XR9-S has less recoil than other designs. And that’s great.
But 25% more power? That’s a pretty big claim. Tests back this up though, and it’s because of the design of pistol. The Boberg guns use a feeding mechanism very similar to the ones used on machine guns. Instead of a magazine mounted below and behind the back of the barrel, and a mechanism that grabs a new round and slams it forward into the breech on closing (which is how just about every semi-auto pistol works), Bobergs grab the new round when the old one is being ejected. They have a reliable little puller gizmo inside that lifts and cradles the next shot out of the magazine, pulls it backwards and then up as the slide completes it’s movement, and then slips it into battery when the slide closes. You see, in a Boberg the magazine is under the barrel, but not behind it. This means that for a given size pistol, the barrel in a Boberg is about 1.25” longer than in a regular gun. That extra bit of bang tube gives the bullet more room to speed up, and the result is higher muzzle velocity. Bullet energy is based on the square of the velocity, so a little more speed gets you a lot more power. This is why Boberg brought the sub-compact pistol to market first. It’s just as powerful as everyone else’s compact pistol. In theory, the best barrel length for a 9mm is about 16-18”. That’s a rifle. Anything longer than that, and friction starts to slow the bullet. Anything shorter and you’re not getting - literally! - the best bang for your buck. Just about every pistol ever made has a sub-optimal barrel on it, so longer is better. Being able to fit a mid-size barrel to a tiny pistol is a great idea, especially when the result is still a tiny pistol.
As soon as I can save up the cash I’m buying one of these puppies. 8 shots of 9mm +P HPs will do the job, and then some. In a pistol that almost hides in the palm of your hand.
Read all about it at the Boberg homepage.
I can see only 3 possible downsides for this gun.
The first is that the backstrap to trigger length might be a bit too much for people with really small hands. I don’t have the measurements so I can’t say. The gun will fit most guys, but if you are a petite woman you might want to stick with the Ruger LCP. The LCPs are also very inexpensive, so buy two. One for each hand, then learn how to shoot that way. If you ever need to use them, empty both at your target. Then run, because he just might be very mad.
The second is the cost. The XR9-S is not cheap. It is not a throw away gun like the LCP. It costs more than a Kel-Tec and about the same as a Kahr. Quality always costs. If you admire fine firearms, then this really isn’t an issue.
The third, and possibly damning issue is the old pig-in-a-poke. Boberg is still in startup. The very first production run is just beginning. If you buy now you will be buying blind, shelling out big green for a gun you have never put your hands or eyes on. For me, I’d do this in a heartbeat. I know that the company has been doing R&D on these things for years, and I know that the quality of the first production run guns will make or break the company. I have confidence that the first run guns are going to be utterly perfect before they get out the door. I own a first generation Kimber 1911 Gold Match. To hell with that “cold dead fingers” nonsense - I’m going to be buried with that one. Ain’t never ever never letting it go. And if Boberg goes under, in a decade those pistols are going to be nearly priceless to collectors.
Ok, one more “negative”: this is not a pistol for stupid people. There will be a non-intuitive learning curve: you have to rack the slide TWICE to make sure the gun is unloaded. The old “pull the slide back and lock it open, look in the chamber, then drop the magazine” method used to empty a regular semi-automatic pistol will result in a loaded XR9-S. Better learn to drop the magazine first, then rack the slide. Then rack it again, just to be sure.
UPDATE: I got an email from Arne Boberg. He says it will be just a little while longer, so don’t call in your orders just yet.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/12/2010 at 12:45 PM
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •
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Permalink • Avatar hit by accusations of racism. Some folks just have to see race in everything.
The guy who made Avatar is a liberal for gosh sake. Seems like even a sci-fi pitcher-show is now seen by some in terms of race.
Can’t they just watch and enjoy (or if not leave the theater) without seeing the dreaded ‘R’ word? Guess not. It’s a movie. It’s fantasy. It’s make believe. But some just have to sniff around till they find the evidence they have planted in their heads.
James Cameron’s $1 billion sci-fi epic Avatar has been hit by accusations of racism.
By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor
TelegraphCritics claims the story of a white US Marine who saves an alien race perpetuates the “white Messiah fable” and suggests that non-whites are primitives incapable of helping themselves.
Hundreds of blogs, YouTube videos and Twitter postings have sprung up on the subject since the film’s release three weeks ago, with one writer dubbing the 3-D extravaganza “a racial fantasy par excellence”.
Avatar is set on a distant planet populated by the Na’vi, an eco-conscious, blue-skinned alien tribe with no understanding of modern technology. A disabled Marine, played by the Australian actor Sam Worthington, is sent to infiltrate the tribe but soon “goes native” and leads them in a defence of their homeland against the white invaders.
He also falls in love with an alien woman, who rejects a Na’vi suitor and becomes his wife. The main Na’vi characters are played by black actors, including Zoe Saldana and Laz Alonso.
David Brooks, a columnist writing in the New York Times, said: “Avatar is a racial fantasy par excellence ... It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic. It rests on the assumption that non-whites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace.
“It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration.”
The ruthless treatment of the Na’vi has been interpreted as a metaphor for the plight of American Indians. Brooks said Avatar followed a long tradition of “white Messiah” movies which began in the 1970s with A Man Called Horse, starring Richard Harris as an English aristocrat who is captured by a Sioux Indian tribe and becomes their leader, and which includes Kevin Costner’s Dances With Wolves and the Tom Cruise film, The Last Samurai.
Robinne Lee, a black actress who appeared opposite Will Smith in the film Seven Pounds, is also among Avatar’s detractors.
Likening the film to Pocahontas – “the Indian woman leads the white man into the wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the saviour” – she said: “It’s really upsetting in many ways. It would be nice if we could save ourselves.”
Annalee Newitz, editor-in-chief of io9.com, a sci-fi website, said: “The main white characters realise that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, aka people of colour ... then go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed. When will whites stop making these movies and start thinking about race in a new way?” Cameron strongly denied any racist intent. He said that his film “asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world. I hardly think that is a racist message.”
The controversy has done little to dent Avatar’s remarkable run at the box office. It took just 17 days to pass $1 billion in ticket sales – a new record – and to become the second highest grossing film of all time behind Titanic, also
Posted by peiper
on 01/12/2010 at 12:08 PM
Filed Under: • Hollywood • MOVIES • Stoopid-People •
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Permalink • A MOST EXPENSIVE PARTY LAUNCH. BUT THE PARTY’S OVER.
I don’t suppose many of you have followed this story much if at all. Being somewhat closer to this, Dubai has figured in the news here quite often since this SPECTACULAR opening of the resort for billionaires. We’ve been buried in beautiful photos of the place and at the beginning there were all these very positive comments and promises for the bright future ahead.
Well, Aladdin’s lamp has gone darkish as the place has all but gone bust. Empty and decaying (already) apt. complexes, restaurants that either never opened as scheduled or if they did have now closed. Nowadays the photos we see of this grandiose dream are sadly not so forward looking and the future does indeed look grim. The developers had hoped that one of the rich Arab countries might shovel in some needed cash, and they did indeed get some from one of the Arab states. I forgot which one.
Dubai is a place where a person goes to jail for an offense like a bounced check. They are very serious about that.
Photos we see now show expensive cars simply left in the street to collect dust as the owners have walked away, broke. They have left homes and apts the same way. Simply abandoned and very many have had to sneak out of the country. Not that they were involved in any criminal activity mind you. But they found the bubble had burst and their funds were either non existent or near to being so. They could no longer pay the staggering bills and faced jail, and so left. Many others have stayed trying as best they can to salvage something. The people one really has to feel sorry for, are the many who were recruited to work there as waiters and maids and low level jobs, who came from foreign countries and are now at the mercy of ppl who don’t have a large supply of that. While the money wasn’t huge by our standards, it was by the standards of the countries they were recruited from.
Until today, I hadn’t seen this 2008 video. In ‘08 I was busy 27/7 helping the wife with a bed ridden elderly mother and I guess I missed a lot.
Better late then never though because this really is a sight to see. Notice the cost of the party. They didn’t.
Dubai resort The Atlantis stages most expensive launch party ever
The global recession may be biting, but try telling that to the Hollywood celebrities and billionaire business moguls who attended the opening of Dubai’s latest luxury resort, The Atlantis.
By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor
Published: 4:07PM GMT 20 Nov 2008More than 2,000 guests attended the event on the man-made Palm Jumeirah island in the Persian Gulf. Robert De Niro, Janet Jackson, Denzel Washington and Lindsay Lohan were among them, while the British contingent included the Duchess of York, Sir Richard Branson, Dame Shirley Bassey, retail boss Sir Philip Green, television presenter Trinny Woodall and the singer Lily Allen.
They feasted on lobster and Middle Eastern mezze and the Veuve Clicquot champagne flowed freely, although the presence of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, and a sizeable number of other Muslim guests ensured that the drinks bill was relatively modest.
Security at the party was so tight that a two-mile exclusion zone was thrown around the island.
Kylie Minogue performed on stage for a reported £1.5 million fee but the real entertainment of the night was provided by the pyrotechnics. One million fireworks – almost 10 times the scale of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony – lit up the Palm, with the organisers claiming the display was visible from space.
Even in Dubai, a part of the world renowned for excess, there had never been a party like it.
“We built something that’s quite extraordinary. We’ve got to tell the world about it,” said Sol Kerzner, the South African billionaire hotelier and casino tycoon.
The 1,539-room Atlantis took two years to build and cost £1 billion. Mr Kerzner admitted that the global economic downturn would have an effect on business.
“We are in a challenging time. The economy is basically in a recession and we have to adjust to the changing circumstances. We have to be careful with our cost levels” he said, although he did not believe he had splashed out too much on his guests: “I didn’t lay on private jets. They either came in their own private jets or by regular airline.”
Colin Cowie, the party planner, likened the logistics of organising the beachside party to the Normandy landings. He added: “People say, ‘How do you have a party like this in these economic times?’ But the funds were allocated a year ago, and you have to dream big to get a big result.”
From The Times
November 28, 2009The spectre of “Financial Crisis 2” continued to loom over global markets yesterday after Dubai’s revelation that it may not be able to meet its debt obligations.
Stock markets in Asia and the United States fell sharply while the dollar and Japanese yen rose as investors shifted their money to their perceived safety.
UK banks were also revealed to be the biggest lenders to the United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, with more than $50 billion owed by the Gulf state’s residents.
In another blow to the beleaguered UK banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland emerged as the largest single loan-arranger to Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate that sparked this latest financial crisis when it sought a standstill on its debt repayments on Wednesday.
Related Links
RBS, which is owned by British taxpayers, has arranged loans worth up to $2.3 billion to Dubai World.The Financial Services Authority, the regulator, is understood to have sought assurances from banks that their exposure to Dubai will not threaten their financial strength. The FSA said it would continue to keep a close eye on the situation.
Dubai World, which owns a range of assets including the Turnberry golf club in southwest Scotland, sparked panic when it asked for the debt standstill. The company has liabilities of $60 billion and its Nakheel property division, which built the Palm Jumeirah development where the footballers David Beckham and Michael Owen own houses, was due to repay a $3.5 billion bond next month.
The standstill has raised the prospect that Dubai World and, by extension, the government of Dubai might default on their debt.
Here’s a link for a lot of other links on the subject. Makes for some fascinating reading.
notice the dates on these two stories. didn’t take long.
Posted by peiper
on 01/12/2010 at 11:03 AM
Filed Under: • Big Business • Economics • Finance and Investing • International • Middle-East •
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Permalink • Gee Thanks
Lets see now ...
x + 5 = 4*(y-1)
and
x + 5 = 3*(y+6)
show your work ...
If A=B and A=C, then B=C so substitute;
4y - 4 = 3y +18
4y = 3y + 22
y = 22
now solve for x
x + 5 = 4*(22-1)
x = 88 - 4 - 5
x = 79
Or was it
x + 5 = 4*(y-1)
and
x = 3*(y+6)
x + 5 = 4y-4
x = 3y + 18
3y + 18 + 5 = 4y-4
3y + 23 = 4y - 4
3y + 27 = 4y
27 = y
x = 3*(27 + 6)
x = 81 + 18
x = 99
All these years later and word problems still suck. It’s not the math, it’s the wording. And the misleading but excellent cartoon.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/12/2010 at 09:37 AM
Filed Under: • Humor •
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Permalink • The People’s Seat
Can one line win a campaign? Maybe, maybe not. But it certainly can define one. And his was de fine one! Plus, he has good hair. So let’s hope for some hope, pray that this wasn’t just a throw away remark - that it’s truly indicative of his character and beliefs - and that the people of Massachusetts finally wake up from their 46 year nap.
h/t to American Glob, Via Jumping in Pools
For more coverage of Brown’s campaign, go visit Legal Insurrections.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/12/2010 at 08:50 AM
Filed Under: • Politics •
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Permalink • Monday - January 11, 2010
Curses, Foiled Again
Another bad night for my team at bowling. Another great night for me though.
It didn’t start out that great though. I couldn’t find my line during warm-up. I threw about 10 balls and didn’t make a single mark. But when the games began I cleared my head, relaxed, and just tried not to care. Then I made sure I went as slow as I could go, focused my eyes on the second arrow, and focused my awareness on getting my thumb out at the right time. And by golly, it worked. As my arm swung forward to my offside heel my mind said “thumb. turn. snap. lift” and my hand did exactly that, getting my thumb out, turning my hand towards the 7 pin as my swing went towards the 10 pin; snap your fingers up as the ball rolls out of your hand and lift the arm up while snapping up the elbow to an “answer the phone” position. And the ball sailed out a couple feet, right over the 2nd arrow, spinning like a top laid on it’s side, sliding most of the way down the lane to the break point where it caught traction, turned, and then accelerated. Right into the 1-3 pocket for a smashing big hit. Strike. Then I did it again for the 2nd frame. Boom! Strike! And for the 3rd frame. And the 4th, and the 5th, and the 6th. Six in a row to open the first game. I thought that for the first time I would finally know what a 150 in the 5th frame felt like (300 in 10 frames is a perfect game, but to be perfect at the halfway point you actually need to roll 7 in a row because of the way the scoring works). I was feeling a bit nervous in the 7th, and most of the way through the approach I knew something was a little off. I guess I turned my hand too much and came around the ball, because I threw it so far inside my line that it arced over to dink the 7 pin. Crap. Which gave me “merely” a 141 in the 5th. So instead of freaking out, I just found the zone again, and gently rolled the ball the right way to make the 9 pin spare. I struck again after that, then finished the game with a mixed bag of hits, winding up with a 238. Which for me (168 average) is a damned good game. Our team won the first game by about 50 points.
The folks we played tonight got 28 points worth of handicap from us, but as so often happens, they bowled their seasonal best series against us. I managed a respectable 189 in the 2nd game, but the rest of my team was stuck in flub city. So we got smeared, not only losing that game but losing it by almost 70, so we were behind in pins going into the 3rd. They managed a bit of a rally, but the other team was on fire. Conditions were breaking down as they always do - the oil gets pushed around on the lanes by all the balls rolling over it, and the balls absorb a bit of the oil which causes them to lose a bit of traction - and I was a little slow making an adjustment. I opened with 2 strikes, then Gumped a couple frames until I figured out that I needed to move over a board and throw the ball a little harder. After that I was back on track, but the damage was done. I finished up with a 177, giving me a 604 series; this was only the 2nd 600+ series I’d ever rolled. But the guy on the other team shot a 654 when he finished the 3rd with a 237. And my teammates were sucking wind. Mostly. Ok, my wife finally got it together in the 3rd and pulled out a 160-something, but our team went down in flames again and we finished the night 2-5.
We had a fun night, and I turned teammate Anne onto TheOatmeal.com, because she’ll appreciate the twisted humor there. Especially since she has horses and he has a bit on How To Ride a Pony and one on Why Horses Suck. I read the latest ones today, Printers Were Sent From Hell and Why I’d rather be punched in the Testicles than call Customer Service and they nearly killed me. Perfectly aligns with my juvenile sense of twisted humor and my appreciation of crappy cartoon drawings. You can have lots of fun at TheOatmeal. Be sure to read everything, and check each page for new links at the bottom, because it isn’t always well organized.
Ok, that’s it for me. Back to working on the Formica countertop I need to build for my customer again tomorrow, and then doing a bit of plumbing to put a new sink in. Several more to do after that one but there is no rush on this job.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/11/2010 at 10:41 PM
Filed Under: • Bowling Blogging •
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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