And Yet Another Case of Gun Cockiness

Down in Satellite Beach, Florida, a man with a permit to carry a concealed weapon killed a teenager in a car that was playing loud music:

Michael Dunn, 45, was moved Tuesday from the Brevard County Jail back to Jacksonville, where he will face charges of shooting Jordan Davis, 17, to death.

The two came face to face Friday night at the Gate Station on Southside Boulevard and Baymeadows Road. Police say an argument over loud music ended with Dunn firing several shots into an SUV carrying Davis and three of his friends.

Now, for the first time, we're hearing Dunn's side of the story, from his attorney Robin Lemonidis. She said, "They were blasting some rap music. And he said he rolled down his window, pulled up on the passenger side, and rolled down his window and asked, would you mind turning that down? And said it very politely."

The attorney says the teenager in the front seat turned down the radio. But then she says her client heard the teens cussing at him, making threats. She says Dunn rolled down his window and said, "He said excuse me, are you talking to me?"

At that point, she says one of the teenagers told Dunn he was dead. "And that's when the guy in the back seat raised the barrel of a shotgun over the rim of the window," said Lemonidis. "At that point, he just snapped into self protection mode."

Dunn's attorney claims that's when her client reached for a gun he had in the glove compartment of his car, loaded it, and fired. "Firing at the car, because they're showing him a gun, and he can't see their hands," she said. "And he doesn't know. They're about to blast him in the face with a shotgun, as far as he knows."

She says Dunn then drove away, not realizing he had hit anyone. The next morning, she said Dunn heard on the news someone was dead. He drove to his home in Satellite Beach, and turned himself in. "He did what any responsible firearms owner would do," said Lemonidis.

JSO says no drugs and no guns were found in the teens' SUV.

Action News asked Lemonidis why Dunn didn't call police. She said her client was more comfortable turning himself in at a familiar place.

OK, here we have another case of a man with a legally-carried gun getting cocky and initiating a scenario where he would be able to shoot someone. The situation started when Dunn, not the teenagers, moved his car beside that of the teens and asked them to turn their music down.

Well, here's the deal, folks: when you're carrying a concealed weapon, you don't get to act as the Noise Police, telling teenagers to turn their music down. When you're carrying a concealed weapon you mind your own business, unless you or someone in your immediate vicinity is in danger of death or great bodily harm, and you had better think twice about acting as a Good Samaritan to protect a third party you don't know.

Did Dunn really see a shotgun? Chances are we'll never know. Dunn is in the wrong because he initiated the encounter. Playing music too loudly is a misdemeanor at best, and certainly is not a capital offense. And it's not the job of concealed permit carriers to deal with it. If Dunn had a problem with the noise, he probably had a cell phone he could have used to call police to the scene to deal with it. Instead he played cop himself, and killed a young man. George Zimmerman, when he shot Trayvon Martin, perhaps was justified in shooting, since Trayvon was assaulting him at the time; Dunn had no such provocation...or excuse.

Lesson: Carrying a gun doesn't turn you into a cop. Dunn will probably see prison time for this; chances are good that he had a clean criminal record before this, since he was able to acquire a CCW license. Damned shame he didn't learn discretion.

Today's Poll

Look at this photograph:

Today's Poll:

The Photo Shows a...
	Man
	Woman
pollcode.com free polls

I'll reveal the answer tomorrow.

Update: It's a woman. She's a teacher who has been accused of having sex with an underage student; an underage female student, if that helps explain her appearance, and I think it does...not that there's anything wrong with that...

The Transformation of Orton Plantation

Orton Plantation, a former tourist attraction on the west bank of the Cape Fear River near Wilmington, North Carolina, is being transformed in a profound sort of way by its new owner, Louis Moore Bacon.

Bacon is working to return the landscape to a pre-20th century condition and opened the gates of the property Thursday to members of the media to show the progress that has been made at the plantation.

The property was recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is listed as a significant heritage area by the N.C.Natural Heritage program. Bacon has also entered into a Safe Harbor Agreement with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission that establishes the 8,400-acre property as a safe habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

There is still plenty of work to be done, said Dillon Epp, property manager, even as the slow-growing longleaf pine begins to show signs of dominating the landscape and native grasses begin to flourish. Over 90 million acres of longleaf pine once existed in the Southeastern United States, but only three percent remain.

The forest is most healthy when fires regularly sweep through the underbrush, and so far the forest has only been burned once.

"It's going to take a long time to restore," Epp said.

The biggest project at hand will be the restoration of the signature rice crops that bordered the historic plantation house. Bacon and his team no longer have any impediments to restoring the rice fields, with all of the permits being recently obtained from the Army Corps of Engineers and state agencies.

But the public won't be able to visit Orton any more to see the work done to the plantation; and the slideshow that accompanies the news article would seem to drive that point home, as it only shows areas of the plantation that are being restored: no pictures of the beautiful gardens or the plantation house are included in the 57 images. I'm just fortunate I got to see Orton before it was closed to visitors.

Without the Gun He'd Have Kept That Door Locked

In Houston, Texas, a convenience store clerk has been fired after shooting a thug who punched him during a confrontation.

The confrontation apparently started when three men approached the store, only to find it locked. The clerk talked with them through the locked door, then opened the door to confront one of the men, who punched him. In response the clerk shot the man.

This is a perfect example of a gun getting you into a situation you would otherwise avoid. There was no need for the clerk to unlock the door, he was perfectly safe with the door between him and the thug. He escalated the situation by unlocking the door and confronting the man, knowing that he had a hidden trump card in the form of a gun.

Robert Heinlein talked of the courage a gun lends you in his survival novel Tunnel In the Sky:

Rod did not argue, but he still had a conviction that a gun was a handy thing to have around. It made him feel good, taller, stronger and more confident, to have one slapping against his thigh. He didn't have to use it--not unless he just had to. And he knew enough to take cover; nobody in the class could do a silent sneak the way he could. While Sis was a good soldier, still she didn't know everything and---

But Sis was still talking. "I know how good a gun feels. It makes you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, three meters tall and covered with hair. You're ready for anything and
kind of hoping you'll find it.
Which is exactly what is dangerous about it--because you aren't anything of the sort. You are a feeble, hairless embryo, remarkably easy to kill."

So he got cocky, and a bullet got fired. As did he. Well, he needs to get out of the convenience store clerk business, since according to the video news story he had been robbed before, and shot. Better to work at something where you aren't subject to being punched by Usual Suspects® for doing your job.

This is not to say that I'm giving the Usual Suspects® a pass on this. I'm happy that piece of shit got shot, maybe he'll straighten up after this, but I rather doubt it. Low IQ and poor impulse control marks the whole race; read any newspaper for proof of this. The clerk was right to arm himself, wrong to get cocky and escalate a situation that shouldn't have been escalated. All of you gun owners out there, take heed: learn when (and when not to) use that gun you carry. Follow Derbyshire's Rules for interacting with the Usual Suspects®. This guy (and probably also George Zimmerman, who killed Trayvon Martin in Florida) got cocky by possessing a gun. You can't afford to be cocky. You have to be smart, instead.

H/T Gateway Pundit.

Meanwhile, In Southport, NC...

...a new tradition begins: the Dickens Christmas Festival.

Southport's first-ever Charles Dickens Festival, set for Friday and Saturday will transform Southport's historic district into Victorian London, complete with strolling carolers, storytellers and numerous other performers.

The two-day festival consists of 50 events, including Christmas tree and gingerbread house contests in addition to holiday plays, musicals, Dickens vignettes and impersonators. Each day's activities are scheduled from 1-9 p.m.

Pic:

Hopefully it will become as successful as Galveston, Texas's Dickens-On-The-Strand festival. Southport is one of my favorite towns in coastal NC.

One Spam To Rule Them All

Got this one in comments on one of my old posts:

A kinky foetus asked his mama: “Mommy, why are some of your hairs turning grey?”

The archaic lady tried to end this stimulus to coach her youngster: “It is because of you, dear. Every foetid melee of yours codification revolt a fair of my hairs cloudy!”

Let me see you beat that one. Any of you. I dare you.

Hell, If They'd Let Him Make a YouTube Video...

...it might be a bigger hit than "Gangnam Style."

[Daniel Choike, installation commander of the Quantico, Va., Marine Corps base] said [WikiLeaks leaker Bradley] Manning’s custody status was determined in part by his odd behavior, including licking the bars of his cell, “erratic dancing” and lifting invisible weights. Coombs suggested that the bar-licking occurred during sleepwalking and that the other behaviors were merely exercise.

They Stab It With Their Steely Knives...

...but they just can't kill the beast.

If Found Guilty, They'll Be Sentenced To Death...*

The US military's highest court struggles with whether (and how to) punish military personnel who try and fail to commit suicide.

*tongue firmly in cheek.

Yer "Wow!"-Inducing Video of the Day

I suggest starting it and switching to full-screen mode to get the full impact. This was filmed on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, which belong to Spain and are located off the coast of Africa. For about a dozen years now I've entertained a fantasy of visiting the islands and living on them as a hermit, this video shows why. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth, with one of the kindest climates.

via Wired.

How Dangerous Is Your Firearm Ammunition?

In a video I found at The Daily Caller, the answer is obvious: not very dangerous at all, if the ammunition isn't actually in a firearm's chamber.

The most informative video you'll see this week, probably. It's long at just over 25 minutes, but is worth every minute.



I hope all of you gun bloggers out there will put this video up on your own blogs, and share it as widely as possible. Probably Hollywood could use this information, too, since it defies every Hollywood notion of guns and ammo that there is.

I Direct Your Attention...

...to this post over at the This Ain't Hell blog. It tells the story of a son who lived in the gigantic shadow of his father. Read through to the end and see if this man was a worthy progeny.

Those Damned Peasants!

Victor Davis Hanson dissects the 2012 election, offering as a conclusion a rather picturesque and unfortunate metaphor:

Mitt Romney was a glittering Sir Galahad who, given his impressive horse, armor, and lance, along with his decency and piety, assumed that he could win a joust in a fair charge against the other team’s knight. Instead he waded into a sudden fray where he was swarmed, mobbed, cut off, pulled off his magnificent steed, had his matchless armor yanked away by a mob of foot soldiers, and then, once stripped clean, was clubbed and maced beyond recognition.

Along the way Hanson mentions some inescapable truths:

The Mainstream Media Still Rules.

Without Limbaugh, Hannity, Fox News, the Drudge Report, the conservative blogs, and the conservative dailies and magazine, the conservative cause would be lost. But with that said, do not quite believe the mainstream media is dead because the New York Times or Washington Post is nearly insolvent or the print version of Newsweek will shortly be defunct. The fact is that the liberal press is insidious. The worst network news anchors still have larger ratings on most nights than does The O’Reilly Factor. NPR, with 900 stations, draws more listeners than most right-wing talk hosts. It does not matter much that no one watches MSNBC if they watch NBC. It matters nothing that Air America went broke without an audience. When you tally together the cultural influence of the NY Times, Washington Post, NPR, PBS, CBS, ABC, and NBC, and then consider the slant of a USA Today or People magazine, it all adds up. Worse perhaps are the biases of AP, Reuters, Bloomberg News, Google, Yahoo, and the other wire services that feed supposedly neutrally reported news to local affiliates that ensure their prejudices are aired as disinterested information. Don’t forget the influence of the hard-left British and European presses. Conservatives are gradually catching up, but for the foreseeable future they have a real problem: slanted liberal news is still passed off as Walter-Cronkite mainstream apolitical news, and conservative alternatives are dismissed as shrill partisanship — and lots of clueless Americans believe that. When an author appears on Fox, he is dismissed as rank book plugger; when he goes on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, he is a literary figure. That the mainstream media was shamelessly partisan meant a 3-4% edge for Obama that was hard to erase.

Racial Preemption Works.

For most of 2012 the media created a preemptive charge that Republicans were racists, as everything from mentioning golf or the word “Chicago” was declared prejudicial. Romney was supposedly the new Andrew Johnson who would wreck civil rights in the way the latter undermined Reconstruction. The point was not that Democrats believed any of this racialism, but that it prepped the campaign battlefield to prevent Romney, as it had prevented McCain, from running the sort of bare-knuckles campaigns that Ronald Reagan had run against Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush had run against Michael Dukakis, and George W. Bush had run against John Kerry. The fact that “Racist! Racist!” is now a broken record — Eric Holder gets into hot water over his knowledge of Fast and Furious and suddenly his auditors are racists; Susan Rice misleads the country and suddenly her critics are racists and sexists — does not mean that it does not work in deterring critics. A white liberal can all but destroy Condoleezza Rice or Alberto Gonzalez and feel very liberal, but a peep about Barack Obama or Susan Rice from a white male is akin to a KKK slur. The next Republican candidate must be ready to reply to all sorts of false charges and to make them rebound on the accusers. When the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who gave the 2008 inaugural benediction, right before the election announces in a public speech that white people belong in Hell — and no one dares challenge him (why not just a “Mr. President, do you object to Rev. Lowery’s racist remarks?”) — these preemptory charges of racism have proved effective. Tribal politics must be questioned not encouraged: the black vote, the Latino vote, the Asian vote — all this leads to the Balkans or Rwanda. Better to play the long-term strategy, deplore racial tribalization, and remind the country at large that we simply have too many disparate groups with too many conflicting agendas and too many claims against a shrinking majority to continue the present spoils system.

Click the link to read the tragic rest of it. As usual, Professor Hanson's analysis is well-reasoned.

Unexpectedly!*

"In Virginia, More Guns, Less Crime."

As gun ownership has increased dramatically, gun-related violent crimes have gradually decreased over the past six years in the state of Virginia, according to a new analysis.

From 2006 to 2011, the total number of guns purchased in Virginia increased 73 percent, while the total number of gun-related violent crimes decreased 24 percent over that period. And when adjusted for population growth, the number of crimes further decreases to more than 27 percent, with 79 gun-related offenses per 100,000 in 2006 dropping to 57 by 2011.

Virginia Commonwealth University professor Thomas R. Baker conducted the analysis at the request of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Baker told the paper that the findings appear to contradict the popular premise that more guns cause more violent crime.

“While there is a wealth of academic literature attempting to demonstrate the relationship between guns and crime, a very simple and intuitive demonstration of the numbers seems to point away from the premise that more guns leads to more crime, at least in Virginia,” said Baker.

Click the link to read the rest.


*How the MSM describes news stories that reflect badly on the Obama administration, or in this case, refute a treasured belief of the gun-control crowd.

Premonition? I Hope Not

In a dream I had a week or so ago, I nearly cut my right index finger off while using an office paper cutter, it only remained attached by a flap of skin. I seemed unwilling to go to the emergency room with it for some reason, so instead I just wrapped a Band-Aid around the finger, hoping that the cut bone, nerves, blood vessels, etc., would magically re-attach if I was careful not to jar the finger too much.

The dream continued all last night thru the wee hours of the morning until I finally woke up at 11, just a few minutes ago. In my dreams I'm convinced that the accident really happened, and my finger really was nearly severed in an office accident. I've thus been slowly learning not to jar the finger (still wrapped in its single not-too-effective Band-Aid), to write with my thumb and middle finger while the bandaged index finger hovers there; pulling zippers shut, eating, etc., all the while monitoring whether my finger is actually getting any better, and thinking that perhaps I should reinforce the Band-Aid with duct tape. Still no thought of going to a doctor with it.

At this point I'm hoping one of two things: One, that I stop having this "to be continued" serial dream, or Two, that it resolved itself without too much more drama.

I mean, you try picking your nose in such a situation...

Playing Devil's Advocate

Walter Russell Meade explains why Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is seizing dictatorial power:

While Morsi is being criticized in and out of Egypt for his assumption of dictatorial powers, it’s worth noting that his plans to bypass Egypt’s judicial system are grounded in a reality: Egypt’s judges were handpicked by the thoroughly corrupt Mubarak regime and did the old dictator’s bidding without protest for many years. Neither the judges as a group nor the judiciary as an institution are entitled to any particular respect.

This is an example of a problem that many revolutionary regimes face around the world. Do you allow the judicial lapdogs of the old dictator to act as umpires in the new regime, or do you destroy all the institutions of society and try to rebuild everything from scratch? Do you allow yourself to be bound by corrupt judges defending privileges of the old regime, or do you cast down the legal system and cast off the restraint of the laws?

Neither alternative is a good one and this is one of the reasons why most revolutions end in disappointment and new dictatorship.

Read the whole thing, as they say.

Story of the Day

Everett Grob last served in the military 59 years ago, but the values the Marine Corps instilled have stuck with him every day of his life.

In recent months, the 96-year-old has had to draw on the principles of courage and inner strength more than ever before.

Grob was married to his wife, Helen, for 73 years. They grew up in the Pelham Bay section of New York City and had known each other since she was 8 and he was 9.

When she died in June, Grob had to figure out a way to deal with the gigantic hole in his life. He coped the same way he dealt with life-and-death battles of World War II.

“Being a Marine has kept me moving, not wanting to give in,” he said.

Grob lives in Spotsylvania County and lives a regimented routine—even though he hasn’t been in service since 1953. He’s up at the same time every day, always makes his bed and never leaves the house without a crease in his pants and a shine on his shoes.

Every day, he visits Helen’s grave at Sunset Memorial Gardens. With their dog, Skeeter, at his side, he talks about the weather and chores he’s done around the house.

Grob also regularly visits Woodmont Healthcare Center, where Helen spent the last 14 months of her life. He wants the workers to know how grateful he is for their kindness and care.

Click the link to read the rest of this wonderful story.

Any Amateur Cryptographers Out There?

You might try your hand at deciphering this British WWII code, found attached to the skeletal leg of a carrier pigeon found in a chimney back in August:

The message was carried in a little red leg canister attached to the pigeon's leg:

I love stories like this.

Quote of the Day

"That was like the 'little taste' Hitler and Stalin had of Poland."

Quote of the Day

"He's not a malicious monkey murderer."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best wishes for a happy holiday, with good food and good companionship.

Very best wishes to those serving in the military, God Bless you all and have a safe Thanksgiving!

Inspecting Your New Property...

...out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- To the government, it was a defunct offshore light tower that hadn't helped ships navigate the waters off North Carolina in more than a decade. To a Minnesota entrepreneur, the platform out in the Atlantic is a launching pad for research into wind power and other technologies.

First, some renovations will be needed at the Diamond Shoals Light Tower, which sits about 13 miles off Cape Hatteras. Its buyer hopes to get his first view of his new property next week - provided, of course, that the landing pad is sturdy enough for a helicopter.

"The pilot says he's confident it will be OK," said Dave Schneider of Richfield, Minn., who plans to chopper out Wednesday for his first look. "He says if we try to land and it looks shaky, we're not going to land."

Schneider, 56, paid $20,000 for the tower and platform in September after he was the only bidder for it in an auction by the General Services Administration, which sells real estate that the federal government no longer needs. In doing so, he brushed aside the GSA's 2-year-old inspection that concluded it would cost $2.3 million to renovate the structure that resembles an oil rig platform.

He pored over the 125-page engineering report before deciding it wasn't in as poor shape as it first appeared. It's sturdy, sitting in 50 feet of water and with pylons going 150 feet into the seabed. Of the renovation estimate, $1 million is for a boat-winching system and boat, neither of which he needs. Another $189,000 was earmarked for contingencies, and part of the renovation was for labor, some of which Schneider will do himself.

Pic:

That's not too different than one of my fantasy hermit dwellings, a screwpile lighthouse out in Chesapeake Bay. Wonder what it's like to be up in that tower during a big nor'easter?

My Thanksgiving Pledge

I believe that shopping and Black Friday have nothing to do with Thanksgiving. I therefore pledge to do no shopping, even for staples I might have forgotten or run out of, from sundown Wednesday until dawn on Friday. Some things are more important than lining the pockets of corporate fatcats on a holiday that should be dedicated to gratitude to God that we live in this wonderful country.

If you agree, feel free to copy/paste this pledge into your own blog and/or Facebook.

Today's Poll

I like to read while sitting on the toilet, and I really need to read the Bible all the way through, so I was thinking...

Is It Wrong To Read the Bible While On the Toilet?
	You'll BURN IN HELL!
	Dude, it's just a book.
	Bible, no. Koran, yes.
	Remind me not to ever borrow your Bible.
	King James Bible is probably wrong. Good News Bible -- go for it.
pollcode.com free polls

They Caught the Boise Monkey-Spanker

Always good to get these jagoffs off the street, if you ask me.

Liberals Talk Guns

A radio interview, NPR-style, the "Leonard Lopate Show." Guest is a former New York Times editor, Craig Whitney:



Now, I'll tell you at the outset that these are both still liberals, and their notions about guns will never be acceptable to a gun rights advocate; they speak approvingly of such things as ending the gun show loophole, getting rid of 100-round magazines, allowing states to determine how strict their gun control laws should be, "assault weapon" restrictions, etc. Whitney is, refreshingly, not totally ignorant on the subject of guns. Lopate, however, is the very epitome of a man ignorant about guns (he admits he doesn't own any). Still, it's nice that Whitney has written a book on the subject that liberals can read and maybe become a little better informed.

Celts of Old At the Dollar General

Meanwhile, the police in Granite Quarry, NC, are looking for a robber who "had some type of blue makeup on his face."

Well, there's a photo along with the article showing a redneck in a hoodie and ball cap, so my first notion that it was a woad-painted Celt goes out the window:

Some of Us Macho Guys Wear Makeup.

Dollar General. Imagine that.

Non-Post Post

I'm posting this on the principle that you should try to post something to your blog daily.

I was back at work last night after a week's vacation. It was a poor man's vacation, with no money to go anywhere. This morning I went to get my car inspected and my car registration renewed - - done and done. My car is so old that it has no onboard diagnostic computer to plug into, so here in NC all it has to do is pass a safety inspection, which consists of verifying that the lights all work and that the windshield wipers are in good shape. $13 and out the door.

More later.

When Those You Trust Turn To Crime

For a number of years now it's been a common-sense precaution to have your newspaper and mail delivery stopped while you are on vacation and away from your home, so a potential burglar doesn't target your house after seeing newspapers/mail collecting in the yard/mailbox.

Have you ever considered, however, that your mail carrier or newspaper delivery person might not be worthy of the trust you've placed in them?

A couple who deliver newspapers in Union County are accused of breaking into customers’ homes while they were out of town and stealing jewelry, coins and other items.

Victims in a dozen cases told investigators they lost more than $30,000 worth of items from their homes, according to a dozen incident reports.

Union County deputies said the victims in the cases all had newspaper subscriptions and had temporarily stopped delivery when they were scheduled to go out of town.

“These folks would then know who wasn’t home and would enter homes and remove items,” said investigator Andrew Mullis of the Union County Sheriff’s Office.

Mullis said investigators have been working on the case for the past year to year and a half. “We knew there was a connection,” he said, “and were just recently able to put all the dots together.”

You're probably better off having a friend or relative collect your mail and newspaper for you, or even have a house-sitter for when you're on vacation.

It's a John 15:13 Day

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for a friend.

Or his wife.

One of the veterans killed when a freight train slammed into a parade float in West Texas died a hero, pushing his wife to safety before losing his own life in the tragic accident.

Four people were killed and 16 others injured Thursday afternoon when the float tried to pass through a Midland railroad crossing on its way to an honorary banquet.

Among the dead was Army staff sergeant Joshua Michael, 34, who pushed his wife Daylyn from the float just before the locomotive stuck, a friend of the Michael family told NBC's Today show.

“I think it was just pandemonium more than anything else,” said Corey Rogers. “Obviously, Joshua had the reaction of a real man."

Robert A. Heinlein wrote of a very similar man a long time ago in an address he gave at the US Naval Academy (his alma mater), The Pragmatics of Patriotism:

One Sunday afternoon a young married couple were crossing these tracks. She apparently did not watch her step, for she managed to catch her foot in the frog of a switch to a siding and could not pull it free. Her husband stopped to help her.

But try as they might they could not get her foot loose. While they were working at it, a tramp showed up, walking the ties. He joined the husband in trying to pull the young woman's foot loose. No luck - -

Out of sight around the curve a train whistled. Perhaps there would have been time to run and flag it down, perhaps not. In any case both men went right ahead trying to pull her free...and the train hit them.

The wife was killed, the husband was mortally injured and died later, the tramp was killed - - and testimony showed that neither man made the slightest move to help himself.

The husband's behavior was heroic - - but what we expect of a husband toward his wife: his right, and his proud privilege, to die for his woman. But what of the nameless stranger? Up to the very last second he could have jumped clear. He did not. He was still trying to help this woman he had never seen before in his life, right up to the very instant the train killed him. And that's all we'll ever know about him.

This is how a man dies.
This is how a man...lives!

That passage can be found in Heinlein's book Expanded Universe. It's a collection of stories, essays, and polemics, and Heinlein supposedly specified that it was only to be published in the United States, as it contained hard words for his fellow Americans about their habits and lifestyles that we see bearing out these very days we live in now. It should be on every Heinlein fan's bookshelf, right next to Starship Troopers.

Rest in peace, Staff Sergeant Joshua Michael. You died a hero. Prayers go out to your widow, and to all those killed/injured in this crash.

Treasure Blog: 1703 5-Guinea Coin, UK

Found in a dresser drawer by a widow cleaning out her late husband's belongings, it is worth £120,000. Only 20 were minted.

Pic:

Made from gold recovered by England at the battle of Vigo from a Spanish galleon. 1703 puts it in the middle of the Golden Age of Piracy, as well.

Excuse me, I have to go look through my pocket change...

Wonder How Many of Those Gravestones...

...had Jewish names?

Concord Police arrested a teenager Thursday in connection with damaging gravestones at the city-owned Oakwood Cemetery.

When police arrived around 11:30 a.m. at the cemetery, at 461 Church St., they approached Afdal Azam Ali Leach, 19, of Kannapolis, who had an axe and machete with him at the time, police said.

Leach, who was arrested without incident, was charged with four counts of felony defacing or desecrating a grave site. More charges are expected.

Police said as many as 75 different graves sites may have been damaged. Authorities are documenting the damage and notifying affected families.

Makes you wonder if his previous arrest for a matchhead/tennis ball "bomb" was intended for a synagogue or Jewish temple?

What, me stereotype? DAMNED RIGHT I DO!

For You Princess Bride Fans...

...this wonderful tribute from ESPN:



h/t Hot Air.

Fish Got To Swim, Birds Got To Fly...

...and the Usual Suspects® got to rob people, even when they are out on bail for murder.

A Wilmington teen out on bail for a deadly June armed robbery in which a food delivery driver was killed is back in custody again, accused in two downtown armed robberies over the weekend.

You think that in these situations, when the accused comes before the judge again, that bail would be revoked on the original offense and the accused remanded to keep the public safe. Guess that's not how it works, huh?

Arm yourselves, because the government doesn't care about your safety. And follow John Derbyshire's advice on common-sense precautions to take when travelling or making a decision on where to live.

Something New

Had quail for supper; first time in my life to eat the little birds. The local Harris Teeter had some farm-raised quail in the freezer section at a good price, so I thought to myself, why not? The box contained four little birds, the meat fairly dark pre-cooking. The box advertised that they were pre-seasoned, but to be on the safe side, I seasoned three of them, leaving one unseasoned for comparison. Used Old Bay, Old Bay Blackening, and Tony Chachére Creole seasoning, each on a different bird. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.

They came out pretty well, I ate every bit, having to gnaw the meat off the tiny bones. In Robert Ruark's classic coming-of-age book The Old Man and the Boy, the Old Man liked his quail for breakfast on toast, as I recall.

50 is a little late in life to be introduced to quail, isn't it? I lived out in the country as a boy, but my Dad wasn't a hunter, he was a fisherman, so I never ate any wild game growing up.

I might have a BBQ restaurant review to post later this week, maybe on Saturday.

Senator McCain Is Quaking In His Boots

"Obama warns McCain: Go after U.N. Ambassador Rice? ‘You have a problem with me’"

Yes, I'm sure that John McCain, who took everything the North Vietnamese had to offer in the Hanoi Hilton, is just quaking in his boots over President Obama's empty threats.

Shipwreck Blog: Steamer Westmoreland, Lake Michigan

Sank with a cargo of whiskey, gold, and sled dogs.

MANITOU PASSAGE, MI — After 18 hours spent battling a blizzard on Lake Michigan, the fate of the Westmoreland was sealed less than three miles from safety.

At 10 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1854, rising water in the bilge finally extinguished the fire in the boiler, leaving the cargo-laden steamer powerless and thrown to the mercy of heavy, icy seas off a then-remote stretch of Lake Michigan coastline.

Half the souls on board the Westmoreland would soon perish in the deep, frigid waters of Platte Bay. The other half would spread the legend of a ship reputed to be carrying $100,000 in gold coins in her safe, and 280 barrels of whiskey in her hold, sparking more than a century of treasure hunters that would search in vain for the wreck.

Click the link to read the rest. As I've noted before, shipwrecks in high latitudes (and corresponding cold water) tend to stay in a remarkably good state of preservation compared with shipwrecks in the temperate and torrid zones.

Drop That Possum!

Or, to be factually accurate, don't drop that possum.

I refer of course, to the possum of Brasstown, North Carolina, which is the star of the New Year's Eve festivities annually at Brasstown. A PETA-loving judge has ordered a halt to the annual "possum drop" in which a caged possum is lowered at midnight, signalling the New Year in Brasstown:

Senior Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison ruled Tuesday that Brasstown store owner Clay Logan did not qualify for a permit to hold animals captive, and that the state Wildlife Resources Commission had no authority to issue a special permit.

“WRC should therefore have instructed Logan to immediately release the opossum into the wild where the opossum had been captured, or kill it,” Morrison wrote in his order.

Known as the possum capital of the South, Brasstown has rung in the new year by suspending an opossum above a stage and dropping it at the stroke of midnight while fireworks boom in the background.

I've suggested before that it would be easy enough to get a taxidermied possum to drop instead, and clothe it in various amusing outfits as a way to start a new tradition. a skilled taxidermist could pose a possum in any one of a variety of humorous postures for the public to enjoy.

Meanwhile, At Wrightsville Beach, NC...

...local residents got to see endangered Right Whales swimming right offshore:

MSNBC Suspects a Racist Dog Whistle

"Italian village to give Obama rare mushroom."

Hopefully, President Obama is a fan of rare, pricey mushrooms.

President Obama, who is known to appreciate a fine meal and good drink, will soon be receiving a 2.23 pound white truffle from the people of Acqualangna, Italy. The small village, which is known for its truffles, announced on Saturday that it would be sending Obama the truffle — valued at about $3,800 -- as a gift to mark his re-election.

Get that? a white truffle? Everone knows white truffles are better than black truffles.

Raaaaaacism!

Yer Sunrise Photo of the Day

Dawn over Tower Bridge, London:

That's Me 'n Tiffany On Our First Date

A special painting "kit" allows you to create art while engaging in sex.

The newest trend in do-it-yourself art uses one part intimacy, one part romance and one part specially-formulated non-toxic, washable paint.

Artist Jeremy Brown's at-home kit allows couples to create a one of a kind abstract painting while making love - and rolling around naked on a non-allergenic cotton canvas, in dollops of paint.

Once completed, the painting can be stretched, framed and hung on the wall - a testament and reminder of the love that was shared.

Sample pic:

The concept would probably make a good game show, with contestants being asked to identify what sort of sex/grouping was represented by the painting, e.g., gay couple, straight couple, orgy, barnyard animals, etc.

And, of course, you could customise your colors to represent the type of sex engaged in: red for deflowering virgins and sex with a menstruating woman, brown for anal sex, etc (I apologize for being coarse).

Of course, for nymphomaniacs and satyrs, you'd need to carefully label the paintings to remember the event in question, thus the blog post title.

Vets At Twice The Risk For Lou Gehrig's Disease

Veterans are at twice the risk of the general public to develop Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly called "Lou Gehrig's Disease" after the Baseball Hall of Fame Yankees player.

And they don't know why, but suspect it has to do with the physical fitness regimen practiced by military personnel, similar to that practiced by professional athletes.

Click the link to read the story. The Veteran's Administration recognizes ALS as a service-related illness.

The Magic Healing Goo

Story from the Raleigh newspaper:

DURHAM -- To demonstrate his new liquid bandage, Jerry Chesson twists the lid off a brown bottle and pours a few drops into a cup of water, then dips a Q-tip into the mix and draws out a long trail of goo.

“It’s stronger than skin,” Chesson tells me. “It’s a moisture barrier, but not a vapor barrier. It’ll breathe. You can put it on airplane wings to eliminate de-icing. You get stung by a bee, put it on and the pain goes away immediately.”

This bottled innovation, the product of Chesson’s small R&D company at the corner of Ellis Road and Pettigrew Street, aims to become the nation’s go-to remedy for patching up wounded skin – a global market approaching $17 billion.

Chesson got clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market Nuvaderm for minor cuts and scuffs, and he’s waiting on the FDA’s go-ahead to tackle toenail fungus.

Hot damn! Toenail fungus!

So Now the Dirty Benghazi Details Come Out?

Maybe so:

Former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus may have told his alleged mistress Paula Broadwell what really happened in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012 when terrorists murdered U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Broadwell, whose alleged affair with Petraeus forced him to resign last Friday, revealed during an October 26 speech at the University of Denver that Libyan terrorists may have attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 in order to take back Libyan militia members the CIA Annex had taken prisoner.

Furthermore, Broadwell confirmed that the CIA Annex in Libya had requested reinforcements and could have “reinforced the consulate and the CIA annex that were under attack.” Broadwell also said Petraeus and administration officials knew within 24 hours the possible motives behind the terrorist attacks.

Post-election, of course.

update: CIA denies allegation, says Petraeus's mistress mistaken, confused.

Musical Interlude

Genesis, Home By the Sea. Saw these guys supporting this tour while I was stationed in Norfolk, I'm guessing early 1983. Norfolk Scope.

Happy Veteran's Day...

...to my fellow vets. Thank you for your service.

The Problem With Paying the Fat-Tax...

...is getting the Dane to pay it.*

COPENHAGEN — Denmark said Saturday it would scrap a fat tax it introduced a little over a year ago in a world first, saying the measure was costly and failed to change Danes’ eating habits.

“The fat tax and the extension of the chocolate tax — the so-called sugar tax — has been criticised for increasing prices for consumers, increasing companies’ administrative costs and putting Danish jobs at risk,” the Danish tax ministry said in a statement.

“At the same time it is believed that the fat tax has, to a lesser extent, contributed to Danes travelling across the border to make purchases,” it added. ”Against this background, the government and the (far-left) Red Green Party have agreed to abolish the fat tax and cancel the planned sugar tax.”

Apart from the obvious failure of nanny-statism that this story acknowledges, it's remarkable also for identifying the Red Green Party as being "far left." A US newspaper probably wouldn't describe it so, more than likely would refer to it as "centrist." In fact, a US newspaper would either ignore this story entirely or relegate it to a single paragraph on page A37, under the fold, down in a corner somewhere. And US leftists like Nanny Bloomberg of NYC wouldn't acknowledge failure, they'd double down and write laws and regulations to force people to comply.

*As soon as I read this story it made me think of Rudyard Kipling's poem Dane-Geld.

Why Did USS Scorpion Sink?

The US Navy has been rather close-mouthed about it all these years, and now is unwilling to allow robotic submersibles to explore the wreck.

When I was in Cryptologic Technician "A" school in Pensacola, Florida, back in 1981, we had an instructor (can't recall his name now) who had served in submarines and who, one evening while we were all swapping yarns, promised to tell us the "true" story of the USS Scorpion, but only after our security clearances had come through. We never followed up on the story, as I recall, nor did I ever again inquire about it. Always regretted not doing so.

I've always had a sneaking suspicion that RADM. Daniel Gallery, the war hero/novelist, had inside information about the sinking of the Scorpion, and wrote his novel The Brink about a very similar scenario. Just my opinion.

Meanwhile, In Perth, Australia...

...where retired Catholic priests have begun eating each other...

Headed For the Boneyard

A fine analysis of the recent election massacre by Pat Buchanan.

Still, the GOP crisis is not so much illegal as legal immigration. Forty million legal immigrants have arrived in recent decades. Some 85 percent come from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Most arrived lacking the academic, language and labor skills to compete for high-paying jobs.

What does government do for them?

Subsidizes their housing and provides free education for their kids from Head Start through K-12, plus food stamps and school lunches, Pell Grants and student loans for college, Medicaid if they are sick, earned income tax credits if they work and 99 weeks of unemployment checks if they lose their job.

These are people who depend upon government.

Why would they vote for a party that is going to cut taxes they do not pay, but take away government benefits they do receive?

Again it needs be said. When the country looks like California demographically, it will look like California politically. Republicans are not whistling past the graveyard. They are right at the entrance.

Click the link to read the rest.

What To Look Forward To In Your Old Age

Isn't it nice to know that, when you're too old to care for yourself any longer, or are incapacitated by a stroke or other mishap, the nurses sent to care for you in your home will masturbate over your paralyzed body while you watch helplessly?

Two male nurses were caught on camera performing sexual acts on and beside a 98-year-old stroke victim.

The in-home nurses, Russel Torralba and Alfredo Ruiz, masturbated and fondled each other at the foot of the woman's bed in San Diego and are now being investigated for their shocking behavior, XETV reports.

In one instance one of the men performed an explicit act on the woman’s body.

This happened in San Diego, California.

In a just world, those two would be tied down and the members of the victim's family given switches and permission to lay into them for one minute. You can inflict a lot of pain in one minute.

There's no hope for this country.

He Said, As He Rolled Over To Expose His Soft White Underbelly

Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner of Ohio surrenders:

“Shoring up entitlements and reforming the tax code -- closing special interest loopholes and deductions, and moving to a fairer, simpler system -- will bring jobs home and result in a stronger, healthier economy,” the speaker said, according to a prepared text.

“Mr. President, this is your moment,” Boehner said, according to the text.

Damn, man. Just because they beat us doesn't make them right.

For You Foodies...

...you might want to try your hand at making an eastern North Carolina Cheese Biscuit:

The best way to explain an Eastern North Carolina cheese biscuit is first to explain what it is not.

It is not a biscuit with shredded cheese worked into the dough, like those served at Red Lobster. It is not a biscuit cut in half and glued together with a slice of melted cheese, like the Cheddar Bo served at Bojangles’, mainly east of Interstate 95 in North Carolina and southeastern Virginia.

You have to eat one before you can wrap your mind around what it is: a biscuit with a hunk of hoop cheese baked in the center.

The crisp outer shell of the biscuits at Abrams restaurant in Tarboro is more remniscent of dinner rolls than tender breakfast biscuits. While the greasy cheese filling turns some folks off, it leaves fans plotting how to get their next fix.

Whenever Melissa Pitt of Tarboro is near Abrams, she says, “I have to come by here.” Sitting in the drive-thru line, she explains why: “The cheese – I don’t know – it’s unbelievable.”

Or, for you people living in eastern North Carolina, just go to Tarboro and get one fresh, I'd say.

Here's a pic:

Random Election Night Musings*

If the economy isn't back by 2016, who will President Biden blame for it?

Scalia and Thomas are going to be really old in 2016. Even older in 2020. I don't think the 2nd Amendment can hold out that long.

Mussolini, Ted?

I hope Rachel Lucas has passed out by now. It's nearly dawn in Italy.

So: I'm guessing Eric Holder for Obama's next Supreme Court pick.

This played out as a photographic negative of the 2004 campaign, with Romney as our version of John Kerry, and Obama as the Left's marginally-popular George Bush.

My own state of North Carolina chose Romney over Obama, but it's still a purple state that can't be called reliably Republican any more. We elected a good Republican governor, Pat McCrory, who if he does a good job might be talked about for VP or even run for President on his own in the future.

*will add to these as I think of them.

With Ohio Gone...

...it looks like President Obama has won re-election. Congratulations. It looks as if most of the rosy D+ polling of recent days was entirely accurate, and not a machination of the MSM. The Senate will stay under the control of the Democrats, and the House will stay under the control of the Republicans. In other words, billions of dollars were spent to reinforce the status quo. Four more years of gridlock. Hardly seems worth the expense.

So that makes Joe Biden the presumptive Dem nominee in 2016? Wonder what Hillary will say to that? And since the GOP always seems to play the "It's his turn now" game when it comes to choosing candidates, does that mean we're stuck with Rick Santorum for our nominee in 2016? That guarantees Biden four years, at least.

The Wisdom of Heinlein

I'm typing this at just after 10 pm on Election Night, and it looks like Obama will win re-election. Some words from the late, great Robert A. Heinlein are germane:

‘Bread and Circuses’ is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader—the barbarians enter Rome.”

Enjoy that bread and those circuses while you can, plebs.

SEALs, Rangers & Green Berets Vs. New Black Panthers?

I'm betting on the vets.

Former Navy Captain Benjamin Brink is leading the operation. “The nation saw the video of members of the Black Panthers in Philadelphia intimidating people trying to vote in 2008,” Brink told me when I interviewed him during my radio show on IQ 106.9. “We are going to try and make certain that nothing like that happens this year.”

Brink claims to have over a hundred former Army Rangers, Navy Seal, Delta Force, Green Berets and others who have volunteered for duty. The idea of Navy Seals and Black Panthers getting into it at a Philly polling site gives a whole new incentive for casting a ballot. “Our guys aren’t easily intimidated,” adds Brink.

Love to see some Elijah Rastus X get his dumb black ass handed to him by a vet. I'd pay money to see that, actually.

Meanwhile, In Rock Hill, South Carolina...

...familiarly known to locals as Rock Hell, a man was shot by four men who were interested in seeing a woman's toes:

A family cookout in Rock Hill turned sour Friday night when a man was shot in the leg after relatives tried to defend a woman from four men who allegedly wanted to see her toes.

Shortly before midnight, police received calls about a man with a gun at a Jefferson Avenue home, according to a Rock Hill police report. Police saw the gunman standing in the middle of the street shooting towards the home. The man ran away but police found 45-year-old Bobby Allen Patterson on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound just above his right ankle.

Police spoke with several witnesses who said they were having a cookout at the house when four men began arguing with a 39-year-old woman, who refused to show them her toes, according to the report. The men called her profane names, convincing the woman’s brother to make them leave the house.

Less than five minutes after leaving in a burgundy Dodge Durango, the men walked up Jefferson Avenue from Rich Street, shouting for the brother to come out in the street to fight.

Didn't know that Rock Hell was home to feral toe fetishists. Live and learn.

Nevertheless, He Will Do His Civic Duty...

...and vote the straight Democrat ticket tomorrow:

A 28-year-old man died Sunday in a woods fire at 16th and Kidder streets, according to the Wilmington Police Department.

Spokeswoman Lucy Crockett said the badly burned body of Justin-John Crum was found near a fire pit dug at a homeless encampment in the woods after someone called 911 to report his friend died in the fire.

In all seriousness: God rest his soul.

Musical Interlude - - Redux

I love this one:

Musical Interlude

Yer "Wow!" Photographs of the Day

Richard Silver panoramic photographs of New York City Churches.

Sample:

Gorgeous.

LIke An Early Taste of That Sweet, Sweet Schadenfreude?

Barbara Shelley of the Kansas City Star imagines waking up on Wednesday with Mitt Romney as the President-Elect:

Fast forward just over a week. It is midmorning and I am still in bed with the blankets pulled over my head.

This is partly because I was up late the night before, and partly because, before retiring, I canvassed the house for stupefying substances.

It is Wednesday, Nov. 7, and Mitt Romney is president-elect of the United States.

Morning in America? Not for me.

She then goes on to snivel about "neocons" and snarks on Romney's speech mannerisms, and all but calls Paul Ryan a liar for misremembering how many hours it took him to complete a marathon.

Read the whole delicious thing, but remember in this Thanksgiving month, not to over-indulge on the schadenfreude. It's probably fattening, and no doubt carcinogenic, also.

Libya As Greek Tragedy

Victor Davis Hanson's latest, Sophocles In Behghazi.

In Sophoclean terms, hubris (arrogance) — often due to a character flaw (amartia) — leads to atê (excess and self-destructive recklessness) that in turn earns nemesis (divine retribution). In that tragic sense, an overweening Obama must have known that — despite the Drone killings — al-Qaeda was far from impotent. And it was not wise, as Obama once himself warned, to high-five the bin Laden raid and leak to the world the details — knowing as he did that bin Laden’s death was not his trophy alone (or indeed a trophy at all) — but better left an unspoken collective effort of military bravery and the dividend of the often derided Bush-Cheney anti-terrorism protocols that Obama had both damned and then embraced. Ironically (another good Greek word), it was probably not so much an obscure video, but the constant chest-thumping about the grisly end of Osama that infuriated the al-Qaeda affiliates. Nothing, after all, is quite so dangerous as talking loudly while carrying a small stick.

That last line is classic. Click the link to read the whole thing, and you should probably bookmark Professor Hanson or add him to your RSS feed, if you have one.

Would You Like a Military Surplus Bargain?

There's a website for that.

It's called Government Liquidation.

What are some of the things they've sold?

Well, the US Navy cruiser USS Long Beach, for one. Some 16-inch gun barrels from USS Missouri, for another. A Coast Guard Cutter.

Click the link to read the whole thing.

Reminder To Self...

...not to give scraps of BBQ beef brisket to ageing Jack Russell Terrier bitches.

Damned dog puked all over the house.

He Brought a Sword To a...Fistfight

Well, not so much a fistfight as it was a case of the Usual Suspects® ganging up on some helpless victim.

Here's the video:



He was only prepared to go so far with the sword, though; when one of the thugs ran up on him and attempted to snatch it, he administered the back of his hand to the man rather than slash at him or stab him. If he's not prepared to cut someone, he needs to switch to a stout cane of some sort that he can use as an improvised club. Better yet, acquire a CCW license and a handgun, if he's not already forbidden them by a disqualifying act in his history.

Doubtless He'll Make An Exception For Eric Holder

"Obama not a 'pardoning' kind of president."

President Obama unquestionably leads his predecessors in at least one area: Denial of pardon and clemency requests.

Obama has pardoned only 22 individuals during his time in office, while denying 1,019 other clemency requests, according to an analysis by the ProPublica website.

Obama "has given pardons to roughly 1 of every 50 individuals whose applications were processed by the Justice Department," reports ProPublica.

"At this point in his presidency, " the investigative website added, "Ronald Reagan had pardoned 1 of every 3 such applicants. George H.W. Bush had pardoned 1 in 16. Bill Clinton had pardoned 1 in 8. George W. Bush had pardoned 1 in 33."

Interestingly, the subject for this article wouldn't have come up if the media were certain of Obama winning a second term...

Hurricane Sandy Cleanup: Union ID Required

Utility workers from Alabama who were traveling to New Jersey to assist in restoring power after Hurricane Sandy were denied entry because...wait for it...they don't have union ID.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I bet if the Alabamans told the union thugs that they were coming to vote for President Obama in the Tuesday election they wouldn't have to show any ID at all.

Shipwreck Blog: Surf City, NC

Wind and waves from Hurricane Sandy have once again uncovered the remains of the schooner William H. Sumner, which ran aground in 1919 in Topsail Inlet.

Some video:

WECT TV6-WECT.com:News, weather

For You Middle Earth/Hobbit Fans...

...Air New Zealand has a new commercial that may appeal to you:

Charlotte-Douglas Airport Has Worms...

...but no place to fish.

One and a half million red wiggler worms originally from Georgia have moved into their new home at Charlotte Douglas International Airport’s recycling center, where they’re devouring food scraps and other trash that air travelers leave behind.

About three years after it was conceived, the $1.1 million recycling center is up and running, and has reduced the trash the airport sends to landfills by about 70 percent, officials said Thursday at the Airport Advisory Committee meeting.

Did you get that part about the worms originally being from Georgia? How many of you know that former president Jimmy Carter had a cousin, Hugh Carter, who was an earthworm entrepreneur? Had one of the biggest earthworm operations in the US. Carter's worm farm closed years ago, but there are other worm farmers in Georgia who got their start from Hugh Carter.

And funnily enough, one of former president Jimmy's most successful ventures has been to help rid Africa of Guinea Worm disease, a horrible parasitic scourge.

The Carters of Georgia. They loves them some worms.