cthuloid gun nut

Happy Caturday

2008-12-06T12:18:00.001-08:00

Back for now...

2008-10-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

So it's been forever and a day since I posted here. Frankly, I wondered what the point of all this was. Is. Whichever.

On the other hand, as an archive of things which amuse me this blog has some value.

Anyone else catch the Unspeakable Vault on the upcoming elections?

Happy Caturday

2008-08-09T19:07:00.001-07:00

The "Mayors and Crime" trifecta is now in play

2008-08-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

First, there's the story of the Mayor of Detroit having his bond revoked for leaving the country.

From the AP:

DETROIT (AP) - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was jailed Thursday for a bond violation in his perjury case, his pleas for leniency rejected by a judge who made it clear the mayor would get no special treatment.

Kilpatrick, charged with perjury and other felonies over his testimony in a civil trial, apologized and acknowledged that he made a mistake when he visited Windsor, Ontario, minutes away from Detroit, for city business last month. But District Judge Ronald Giles was not moved, saying he needed to treat the mayor like any other defendant.

Now the Mayor of Berwyn Heights, Maryland, had a SWAT team kick in his door and kill his dogs.

Again, from the AP:

BERWYN HEIGHTS, Md. (AP) - Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a package addressed to his wife on the front porch and brought it inside, putting it on a table. Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in, shooting to death the couple's two dogs and seizing the unopened package.

In it were 32 pounds of marijuana. But the drugs evidently didn't belong to the couple.

Police say the couple appeared to be innocent victims of a scheme by two men to smuggle millions of dollars worth of marijuana by having it delivered to about a half-dozen unsuspecting recipients.

The two men under arrest include a FedEx deliveryman; investigators said the deliveryman would drop off a package outside a home, and the other man would come by a short time later and pick it up.

A furious Calvo said Thursday that he and his wife, Trinity Tomsic, are asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the July 29 raid.

"Trinity was an innocent victim and random victim," Calvo said outside his two-story, red-brick house in this middle-class Washington suburb of about 3,000 people. "We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us."

Calvo insisted the couple's two black Labradors were gentle creatures and said police apparently killed them "for sport," gunning down one of them as it was running away.

Mother Pleads Guilty To Having Sex With Teen

2008-08-07T06:03:00.000-07:00

Becky Jo Tatum, previously arrested for unlawful contact with a minor, insurance fraud, drug possession and weapons possession, among other things, has plead guilty to sleeping with one of her daughters friends at a party.

From 10tv.com:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A mother accused of having sex with a teenager pleaded guilty to the crime on Wednesday.

Becky Jo Tatum admitted having unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. She said that she engaged in sexual conduct with a 14-year-old girl, her daughter's friend, at a party, 10TV's Maureen Kocot reported.

The teenager told police that Tatum's daughter claimed her mother had sex with other teenage friends, Kocot reported.

Bexley police also found more than one ounce of cocaine and a gun inside Tatum's home. She was not allowed to own a firearm because of a 1999 conviction for attempted drug trafficking and a 1998 conviction for promoting prostitution.

Tatum will be confined by an electronic monitoring device until she is sentenced in September. She could face up to 11 1/2 years behind bars.

Another domestic terror attack

2008-08-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

Looks like arson and firebombs aren't just things that happen around here.

From the LA Times, it seems there's been a firebomb attack on two UC Santa Cruz scientists.

Santa Cruz -- Firebombs that struck the home and car of two UC Santa Cruz scientists this weekend were part of an increasingly aggressive campaign by animal rights activists against animal researchers at University of California campuses, officials said Monday.

Santa Cruz police officials said the blasts, which occurred three minutes apart, caused one of the scientists, his wife and two young children to flee their home through a second-story window.

There's a reward in the case:

City officials joined in harshly condemning the bombings and urged members of the public who might have evidence in the case to contact authorities. They announced a $30,000 reward, including $2,500 donated by the Humane Society of the United States.

"The threats and attacks are shocking and abhorrent," Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty said. "We as a community are unambiguous in our condemnation of these actions. Let me be clear, this is not protest. This is terrorism."

Nationwide, incidents of violence by self-described animal rights activists have been on the rise, according to the Foundation for Biomedical Research, which has tracked such attacks since 1981, when there was one.

In 2000 there were 10 such episodes against biomedical research facilities alone, and in 2006 that figure had grown to 77, according to the group's website. In addition, the type of attacks has changed in recent years.

"Prior to that, the vast majority of actions taken were against institutions -- break into the lab, steal the animals, trash the facility," said foundation President Frankie Trull. "More recently, however . . . they've become much more personal, attacking the researchers at their homes. California seems to be the focus of this activity right now, but not the only focus."

Note that there's also a $110,000 reward in a related case.

Federal and local officials on Tuesday announced a $110,000 reward for information leading to arrests and convictions in the attempted firebombing of a prominent UCLA eye doctor’s car last month.

A group known as the Animal Liberation Brigade claimed responsibility on a website for the act, which authorities described as “domestic terrorism.”

On June 24, an incendiary device was lighted next to a car parked at the Westside home of Dr. Arthur Rosenbaum, who is chief of pediatric ophthalmology at UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute.

The device did not ignite, but authorities said it had the potential to cause great harm.

Rosenbaum has conducted research that, among other things, used monkeys to test procedures correcting severe cross-eyed conditions.

UCLA says that all animal research at the university is humane and meets federal standards.

At a news conference Tuesday at FBI offices in Westwood, law enforcement officials urged anyone with information about last month’s incident to call the FBI at (310) 477-6565; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at (888) 283-2662; or local law enforcement agencies.

Psychiatry becomes pill pushing... as if you didn't know

2008-08-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

Not that it's a surprise to anyone, but the AP is reporting that psychotherapy is in decline in favor of drug treatments.

His study found that the percentage of patients' visits to psychiatrists for psychotherapy, or talk therapy, fell from 44 percent in 1996-97 to 29 percent in 2004-05. The percentage of psychiatrists using psychotherapy with all their patients also dropped, from about 19 percent to 11 percent.

Apparently, the thinking is that insurance companies will pay more for visits to get drugs than for the time it takes the "talking cure" to be effective.

The expanded use of pills and insurance policies that favor short office visits are among the reasons, said lead author Dr. Ramin Mojtabai of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

"The 'couch,' or, more generally, long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy, was for so long a hallmark of the practice of psychiatry. It no longer is," Mojtabai said.

Today's psychiatrists get reimbursed by insurance companies at a lower rate for a 45-minute psychotherapy visit than for three 15-minute medication visits, he explained.

Of course, no mention of health care would be complete without marketing references:

As talk therapy declined, TV ads contributed to an "aura of invincibility" around drugs for depression and anxiety, said Charles Barber, a lecturer in psychiatry at Yale University and author of "Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation."

"By contrast, there's almost no marketing for psychotherapy, which has comparable if not better outcomes," said Barber, who was not involved in the study.

So, all that talk about "chemical imbalances" ( none of which can be objectively tested for, apparently ) is bunk? Is it all really just a matter of changing one's outlook and actions? Not that that's a simple proposition... but it's not something you need a prescription for.

Knights Templar sues Vatican

2008-08-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, really.

From the UK Daily Telegraph:

The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, whose members claim to be descended from the legendary crusaders, have filed a lawsuit against Benedict XVI calling for him to recognise the seizure of assets worth 100 billion euros (£79 billion).

They claim that when the order was dissolved by his predecessor Pope Clement V in 1307, more than 9,000 properties as well as countless pastures, mills and other commercial ventures belonging to the knights were appropriated by the church.

Damn. You can just about hear the popping of conspiracy theorists heads.

I'm not dead yet...

2008-08-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

From the AP

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) - A man believed to have died in a Colorado flood in 1976 has been found living in Oklahoma.

Sixty-three-year-old Darrell Johnson told the Fort Collins Coloradoan for a story Friday that he didn't know he had been counted among the 144 victims of the Big Thompson Canyon flood until a resident called him last year.

Barb Anderson said residents didn't want his name on a memorial plaque without proof he was dead.

Johnson and his family had decided to leave their shabby cabin the morning of the flood after just one night. A few hours later, the resort was washed away.

How Johnson ended up on the victims list remains a mystery.

He now directs funerals in Oklahoma City and acknowledges he was lucky to get the bad cabin.

Says something about the state of records. If the guy was declared dead in 1976 I'd think his Social Security Number would be in the Social Security Death Index.

Of course, having a living person show up in the death index is a real problem, so a death not being reported seems a better error, considering the problems than a "false positive" can cause.

Odd problem for someone in the death industry, though.

Happy Caturday

2008-08-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

With a special Caturday appearance by lio:

Anthrax suspect kills himself

2008-08-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

As seen on NPR, a suspect in the 2001 Anthrax attacks has apparently killed himself.

The sudden naming of scientist Bruce E. Ivins as the top — and perhaps only — suspect in the anthrax attacks marks the latest bizarre twist in a case that has confounded the FBI for nearly seven years. Last month, the Justice Department cleared Ivins' colleague, Steven Hatfill, who had been wrongly suspected in the case, and paid him $5.8 million.

Ivins worked at the Army's biological warfare defense labs at Fort Detrick, Md., for 35 years until his death on Tuesday. He was one of the government's leading scientists researching vaccines and cures for anthrax exposure. But he also had a long history of homicidal threats, according to papers filed last week in local court by a social worker.

Kinda odd that social workers are only recently filing papers about homicidal threats. You can read them for yourself here.

For a whole lot more on the anthrax attacks, ABC news and links to the invasion of Iraq, check out this opinion piece on Salon. Seems like there's a lot more to this story.

Beheading on Canadian Bus

2008-07-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

As seen on the AP

"We heard this bloodcurdling scream and turned around, and the guy was standing up, stabbing this guy repeatedly," Caton said from a hotel in Brandon, Manitoba, where he and other horrified passengers were taken.

Caton said the driver stopped the bus when he became aware of the attack and passengers scrambled off. A short while later, Caton said he re-boarded along with the bus driver and a trucker who had stopped to see what was happening.

He said the suspect had the victim on the floor of the bus and "was cutting his head off" with a large hunting knife.

"When he was attacking him, he was calm," said Caton. "There was no rage or, or anything. He was just like a robot stabbing the guy."

The attacker turned toward them and the three men quickly left the bus, blocking the door as the attacker slashed at them through an opening. The three secured the door to prevent the man's escape. Caton said the driver disabled the vehicle after the attacker tried to drive it away.

As the three guarded the door with a crow bar and a hammer, the attacker went back to the body and calmly came to the front of the bus to show off the head.

Cody Olmstead, another passenger, said the man "dropped the head and went back and started cutting the body." Olmstead said the man later use the head to taunt police.

No reports of the killer saying "there can be only one".

Assessing the themes of The Dark Knight

2008-07-30T05:01:00.000-07:00

Interesting post over on slashfilm. One viewers brain-dump on the themes presented in The Dark Knight, which I enjoyed.

Spoilers abound in the post, so if you're one of the remaining people who hasn't seen this yes, you might want to go see the movie before you read further. Or not. Just trying to meet you half way.

Either way, it's an interesting read.

Arson in Columbus, Ohio

2008-07-29T19:38:00.000-07:00

Seems like the local media has noticed the apparent uptick in arson in the area. Someone even put together a google map of suspicious fires for the area in 2008.

NBC4i has a story up about one of the more recent cases.

"They set my car on fire at about 2 o'clock this morning," Smith said. "And we went back there. Fire department came and put it out. We went back in the house, laid back to go back to sleep. The next thing you know, that apartment's on fire."

and...

Another fire also considered arson called firefighters out to 536 Bulen Avenue on the city's near East Side. The flames started in a vacant house and spread to an occupied home next door. The family of five escaped safely.

A third suspicious fire actually was the first of the morning and was on the near East Side, too. These flames also started in a vacant home but on the corner of South 18th Street and East Engler Street. No one was hurt, and no neighboring buildings were damaged.

Seems like arson is a harder crime to solve than others. High profile cases, such as the five OSU students killed five years ago are still unsolved.

On April 13, 2003, a fire ripped through a home on East 17th Avenue. When the blaze was finally extinguished hours later, two Ohio State students, Alan Schlessman and Kyle Raulin, were dead, 10TV's Angela An reported.

Also killed in the fire were Andrea Dennis, Erin DeMarco and Christine Wilson -- all of whom were visiting from Ohio University.

In the time since the fire, much has changed.

The East 17th Avenue home has been renovated and remodeled, and most of the students present the night of the fatal fire are graduated and gone.

While the fire is all but a memory to most, Columbus Police Det. Rick Bisutti said one thing had not changed in five years: his search for the arsonist who killed five people.

The Dark Knight

2008-07-27T01:20:00.000-07:00

Just got back from seeing this.

If you haven't already, chew through the restraints, skip the meds and head straight for the nearest theater.

Heath Ledger nailed the role. Whatever remaining camp was in characterizations of the Joker has been taken out back, carved up into chunks and fed to hungry dogs.

The writers deserve lots of praise, as they seem to have made the Joker akin to the court jester of other older stories; the one guy who has an insight into human nature and can talk about it. The idea of the Joker as an "agent of chaos" is genius.

Oh, and it's a Joker movie. Batman is almost a supporting role.

Happy Caturday

2008-07-26T10:11:00.001-07:00

Sacramento Zombie map

2008-07-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is neat...

View Larger Map

Someone whipped up a google map of Sacramento, with zombie related overlays. Supply sources, zombie infestation areas and safe zones are noted.

Worth a look, and a laugh.

Things than can not be unseen

2008-07-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

Breakfast in bed

2008-07-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

Variable velocity rifle

2008-07-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

As seen on slashdot, a company is claiming development of a rifle variable velocity bullets:

A gun that fires variable speed bullets and which can be set to kill, wound or just inflict a bruise is being built by a US toy manufacturer. The weapon is based on technology used to propel toy rockets.

Lund and Company Invention, a toy design studio based near Chicago, makes toy rockets that are powered by burning hydrogen obtained by electrolysing water. Now the company is being funded by the US army to adapt the technology to fire bullets instead.

The US Army are interested in arming soldiers with weapons that can be switched between lethal and non-lethal modes. They asked Company Invention to make a rifle that can fire bullets at various speeds.

And later...

Lund says that the new weapon system will use different types of bullet for lethal and non-lethal use. Police forces already use separate shotguns for non-lethal loads – typically marking them with bright orange tape to prevent any confusion – so this shouldn't be an issue.

The existing VWS design is a .50 calibre (12.7 mm) rifle weapon, but Lund says the technology can be scaled to any size, "handgun to Howitzer".

As a note, the New Scientist article used the term "non-lethal". A more correct term is "less lethal", since there have been documented cases of people dieing after things like tasers, pepper spray and rubber bullets / bean-bag round were used on them.

Of course, the actual circumstances of each case are unique; there may have been other factors in play. What is clear is that all weapons are just that: weapons. Not to be used indiscriminately.

Back to this rifle. While the article mentions an interest in riot control, there are other uses.

Long range shooters would appreciate a higher velocity, as this would prevent muzzle drop.

Also, anyone using a silencer would appreciate reducing the muzzle velocity to subsonic levels in order to further quiet the weapon. Even with a silencer to capture the gases from the fired round, if the slug itself is traveling at supersonic speeds there will be an audible "crack" as the slug passes the supersonic barrier.

An interesting concept, and one I hope merits further review.

Simons Cat: TV Dinner

2008-07-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

In the Mexican drug war, the narcos now have a Navy...

2008-07-20T20:07:00.000-07:00

In an odd story, it seem the Mexican Navy has seized a submarine full of cocaine.

The Mexican military, working with information from U.S. intelligence services, found nearly six tons of cocaine in a makeshift submarine seized this week off the Pacific coast.

The 10-metre-long, green fiberglass craft was designed to travel just beneath the water, leaving almost no wake.

It was one of Mexico's largest maritime drug seizures and the first time the country has seen drug smugglers using a submarine, the navy said.

Which would seem to indicate the smugglers are trying to avoid the authorities. However, it's not like they're not taking on the authorities directly.

Some 1,700 people have been killed in drug gang violence in Mexico so far this year, and Calderon's frontal assault has failed to stop attacks on police and soldiers.

Drug hitmen shot and killed a policeman in his office in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez Friday, the first time gunmen have penetrated a police building to murder an official in the city, police said.

It's also not the first time a submarine has been in service to drug smugglers. This story from the BBC is from 2000:

olice in Colombia say they have found a half-built submarine in a warehouse in a suburb of the capital Bogota.

Police chief General Luis Ernesto Gilibert said Russian documents were found alongside the partially-completed vessel.

He said the 30 metre (100ft) vessel would have been capable of carrying huge quantities of cocaine or heroin.

He speculated that, once completed, the submarine would have been disassembled and taken by lorry to to Colombia's Pacific or Caribbean coast.

Happy Caturday

2008-07-19T13:38:00.001-07:00

National Guard still in New Orleans

2008-07-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

Speaking of the National Guard, I wasn't aware that the Louisiana National Guard is still on patrol in New Orleans.

It's been nearly three years since Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters devastated parts of New Orleans.

And to this day, the National Guard continues to patrol some of the hardest-hit areas.

The guard's mission is to prevent looting and provide a law and order.

The Guard will stay in the city at least until the end of the year following Gov. Bobby Jindal's decision to extend its tour of duty.

Given the conditions three years ago it was completely understandable, even required, that armed troops were required.

I was surprised that the Guard was still present, but apparently at least some of the citizens of New Orleans want the Guard to remain:

However, Jeffery is one of many residents with an ever-growing concern... that National Guard troops will leave by the end of September. "They actually look after us and they answer our calls. They are the ones we kind of expect when we make a call," says Jeffery.

The Ninth Ward is slowly rebuilding. But Chambliss says that rebuilding and growth may stop if the National Guard troops are taken out. Crime may come back. He says, "Theft, burglary, some assaults and a number of murders have happened."

That's why Jeffery and others with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, and Silence is Vviolence are petitioning Ggovernor Bobby Jindal to keep the troops here. "Since they're working, why take them away? Why not just add to what they have and then take them away?"

Perhaps New Orleans still isn't capable of dealing with the situation. Or the population doesn't consent to be governed.

National Guard heading toward Chicago?

2008-07-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

From the Chicago Tribune:

CHICAGO - Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday raised the possibility of bringing in state troopers or even the Illinois National Guard to help Chicago combat a recent increase in violent crime -- an offer that Mayor Richard Daley didn't know was coming.

Appearing at signing ceremony for a bill that toughens the penalty for adults who provide guns to minors, Blagojevich said "violent crime in the city of Chicago is out of control."

"I'm offering resources of the state to the city to work in a constructive way with Mayor Daley to do everything we can possibly do to help ... stop this violence," said the governor.

Blagojevich said Daley had not asked for help and he had not talked to the mayor about offering it, adding he would call Daley after he met later in the day with the state police, National Guard and others.

Which seems a bit odd. Daley didn't seem to ask for the help, but there's the Governor offering it.

The role the National Guard would play is apparently undecided. His office did some serious backpedaling:

Blagojevich said it is far more likely that state troopers would be used than guardsmen. In fact, his office moved quickly after the governor's comments to stress in a news release that Blagojevich was not considering bringing in National Guard troops to the city.

"The only way the National Guard would be involved, if they are involved, is with the use of tactical helicopters that are currently used in narcotics operations," spokesman Lucio Guerrero said in a prepared statement.

Likely the prospect of using a military force to keep order in a major city struck some as a little extreme, even if it's so Chicago has a chance at hosting the Olympics in 2016.

Sure hon... you can stand there

2008-07-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

After all, the view is great...

A darker beauty: The work of Keith Thompson

2008-07-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

I found this little gem a while back, but neglected to write it up here.

Keith Thompson is a Canadian artist working, apparently, out of Ontario. He starts with line drawings and works his way up with multiple layers of transparent color glazes to produce the final work.

His gallery is extensive, and well worth your time. I've lost an hour or two in browsing his work; if this keeps up, I'll be making some blank space on a wall to fill with one of his lovelies.

The Leicheoberschutze:

The Undying Flagellant:

And the Yokai:

Dear Clarice...

2008-07-14T16:14:00.001-07:00

If you'll pardon this interruption in the usual content here for a moment, and just a moment I assure you, there's a little tidbit I'd like to share with you.

Of late, I came across the movie Hannibal again. Third in the series of books by Thomas Harris featuring Dr. Hannibal Lecter, in some ways it's the best of the bunch.

The movie Hannibal contains a lovely letter from Dr. Lecter to Clarice Starling, after Dr. Lecter heard news of Starling's involvement in a bloody shooting:

Dear Clarice,

I have followed with enthusiasm the course of your disgrace and public shaming. My own never bothered me except for the inconvenience of being incarcerated, but you may lack perspective.

In our discussions down in the dungeon it was apparent to me that your father, the dead night watchman, figures largely in your value system. I think your success in putting an end to Jame Gumb's career as a couturier pleased you most because you could imagine your father being pleased.

But now, alas, you're in bad odour with the FBI. Do you imagine your daddy being shamed by your disgrace? Do you see him in his plain pine box crushed by your failure; a sorry, petty end of a promising career? What is worst about this humiliation Clarice? Is it how your failure will reflect on your mommy and daddy? Is your worst fear that people will now and forever believe they were indeed just good old trailer camp tornado bait white trash and that perhaps you are too?

By the way I couldn't help noticing on the FBI's rather dull public website that I have been hoisted from the Bureau's archives of the common criminal and elevated to the more prestigious 10 Most Wanted list. Is this coincidence, or are you back on the case?

If so, goody goody, cause I need to come out of retirement and return to public life.

I imagine you sitting in a dark basement room bent over papers and computer screens. Is that accurate? Please tell me truly, Special Agent Starling.

Regards, your old pal Hannibal Lecter, M.D.

P.S. Clearly this new assignment is not your choice rather I suppose it is a part of the bargain but you accepted it Clarice. Your job is to craft my doom. So I am not sure how well I should wish you but I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun.

Tata, H.

Full of whimsy and a keen insight into the character of Starling, it's one of my favorite movie lines.

At once both contemptuous and challenging, it's also a note of concern in it's opening lines.

One finds out later in the book Hannibal that Lecter's perspective comes from the death of his sister, and the soldiers who ate her to prevent their starvation.

Of course, this point was also covered in a later film, but that was frankly a disaster not worthy of the earlier efforts.

Still, I find it an interesting thought. Those who've suffered horrible events are very different from others in their ability to endure events. What would drive others over the edge into madness they can put in perspective, so to speak.

Lecter's own "disgrace and public shaming" was the result of his capture, exposure as a serial killer and cannibal, and subsequent incarceration in a prison for the criminally insane. This seemed only an inconvenience, compared to earlier events.

Not that Dr. Lecter represents a paragon of sanity, of course. As Trevor Goodchild noted, that which does not kill us makes us stranger.

Just as Dr. Lecter gained the ability to endure lesser torments than that which broke his sanity, his sanity was nonetheless broken.

So this letter from Dr. Lecter to Clarice Starling represents both an individual surmounting events and that same individual becoming permanently divorced from mainstream humanity.

An amusing thought, to be sure.

Distractions

2008-07-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Caturday

2008-07-12T19:31:00.001-07:00

When physics isn't PC

2008-07-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Apparently, in Dallas a County Commissioner thinks the term "black hole" is racist. No, really.

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price is sticking to his comments that the term "black hole," which a colleague used, is racist.Price also says language such as "angel food cake" and "devil's food cake" are also racially insensitive.

You've really got to check the video on the link above though. That quote above doesn't do it justice.

Just in case you need a reference, the all knowing wikipedia defines a "black hole" as:

A black hole is a region of space in which the gravitational field is so powerful that nothing, not even light, can escape its pull after having fallen past its event horizon. The term "Black Hole" comes from the fact that, at a certain point, even electromagnetic radiation (e.g. visible light) is unable to break away from the attraction of these massive objects. This renders the hole's interior invisible or, rather, black like the appearance of space itself.

LOLCat Zombies!

2008-07-10T06:07:00.000-07:00

Would the sound of a can of tuna opening distract them from tasty, tasty brains?

Another difference between the UK and the USA

2008-07-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

I've always liked that joke about the US and the UK being two countries separated by a common language. One of those "you laugh because it's funny, and you laugh because it's true" kind of thing.

Obviously, there's another differences as well.

Take the sanctity of the home. Apparently in the UK kids can throw rocks at your home for two hours before the police show up, and if you try to chase them off the cops will arrest you.

"My wife called the police at 6 o'clock.

"They just kept on throwing stones through my back gate.

"I left the back door open to stop them smashing it. I have two kids and if one of those stones hit them it could have caused some really nasty damage.

"Suddenly a really big rock came crashing into the kitchen.

"I just grabbed the stick, which was the nearest thing I could find, and chased them off.

"The police turned up just as I was chasing them."

Retired Mr Davis said Pinehurst West was under constant attack from gangs of unruly teenagers and he feared for the safety of his sons Peter John and Jimmy Lloyd.

"One of my neighbours had a seven-month-old baby in their kitchen, when a brick came through the window," he said.

"It showered glass across the baby's face.

"Something needs to be done to stop these kids. They are out there almost every night."

Check the comments in that article as well. Interesting reading from this side of the pond.

You've probably heard of the case of Joe Horn down in Texas. He's the guy that saw two men breaking into his neighbors house. He confronted them in his yard and killed both of them with a shotgun.

As you may also of heard, under Texas law the shooting was legal. Horn's lawyer sums it up:

"I think the evidence showed that Joe was, in fact, within his legal rights to do what he did. He didn't want to do it, but he didn't have any other alternative," said Lambright.

So in two cases the police weren't present to deal with crimes in progress. In the UK, attempting to chase off a gang of kids throwing rocks gets you arrested. Here in the states, you can kill thieves on your front lawn.

In both countries, it's unrealistic to expect the police to be everywhere at all times and to prevent all crime. That's just silly... no system is perfect.

At least here in the states it's not legally required to be a victim.

Children: Joy or Burden?

2008-07-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

An interesting story on NPR which casts doubt on the joys of parenthood:

The cliché refers to newborn children as "bundles of joy," but recent research indicates that bundles of anxiety, or even bundles of depression, might be more accurate.

Sociologists are discovering that children may not make parents happier and that childless adults, contrary to popular stereotypes, may often be more contented than people with kids.

Parents "definitely experienced more depression," says Robin Simon, a sociologist at Florida State University who has studied data on parenting.

"Part of our cultural beliefs is that we derive all this joy from kids," says Simon. "It's really hard for people who don't feel this to admit it." Social pressures to view only the positive aspects of child rearing only make the problem worse, she says. "They're afraid to admit it because it runs so counter to our cultural beliefs that children make you happy."

I can't say I'm surprised. As a childless person, I do not find my life lacking. I've no need for children, and frankly it took quite some time to realize other people really want children.

Suicide rates and firearms

2008-07-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

Interesting article from the American Journal of Psychiatry:

Guns and suicide: possible effects of some specific legislation

CL Rich, JG Young, RC Fowler, J Wagner and NA Black
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego.

The authors describe suicide rates in Toronto and Ontario and methods used for suicide in Toronto for 5 years before and after enactment of Canadian gun control legislation in 1978. They also present data from San Diego, Calif., where state laws attempt to limit access to guns by certain psychiatric patients. Both sets of data indicate that gun control legislation may have led to decreased use of guns by suicidal men, but the difference was apparently offset by an increase in suicide by leaping. In the case of men using guns for suicide, these data support a hypothesis of substitution of suicide method.

So, what's that mean?

It means there's data that shows banning firearms does not lower suicide rates. Instead of shooting themselves, suicidal guys throw themselves off buildings.

Once again, controlling the tools does not control the behavior. People just find other tools.

UK Minister calls for Children to be locked in schools, forced to eat only approved food

2008-07-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

From the UK Daily Mail:

Children should be locked inside school grounds to stop them buying unhealthy food from shops and takeaways, a minister said yesterday.

The proposal comes amid new evidence that the Jamie Oliver-inspired drive to make school kitchens offer more nutritious meals is being shunned by pupils in favour of junk food.

And, later on in the story, there's this:

Virtually all the children who were allowed out bought food from local shops, mainly fizzy drinks, chocolate, sweets, crisps, cakes, biscuits and chips.

Some things, you just can't make up.

Obviously in some people's minds the freedom of individual choice only extends to approved choices. If those in power don't approve of individuals choices then those individuals must be forced behave. So much for freedom.

Interestingly, the real problem may not be "health food":

The researchers found it was not the healthy menus in school canteens that were deterring the pupils so much as long queues, poor facilities and high prices.

They said schools considering keeping children on the premises ought to address these issues first, a finding backed by Oliver last night. 'If you look at what's going on in schools where the catering staff have got the right support and where a "dining culture" is developing, that's where it's working,' he said.

'But there's a big divide between these schools and the many where there are still problems.'

Ah, but why improve services when you can restrict individual choice?

After all, real improvements cost money. Much better to just force people to behave the way you want, rather than actually attempting to entice them to your way of thinking.

Or, perhaps, there's another option. Restrict the ability of those in government to interfere in our lives. Then improving services becomes a more attractive option, rather than forced lock ins.

Of course, that would require the governed to take some interest in their government.

Knife attacks overtake terrorism as top priority in UK

2008-07-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

From the Seattle Times there's this story on an arrest in a vicious knife attack in London:

British police arrested a suspect Saturday in the brutal murders of two French students who were tied up and stabbed scores of times before their bodies were set alight.

The killings have shocked a country already worried by a spate of knife attacks involving young people; 18 teenagers have been slain in London this year.

Officers detained a 21-year-old man on a street in southeast London at about 3:40 a.m. (0240 GMT) Saturday, police said. He was being held at a London police station.

Police would not say whether the arrested man was the prime suspect in the case, and appealed for witnesses to come forward.

On June 29, Laurent Bonomo and his friend Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were bound and stabbed to death at Bonomo's rented apartment, near where the arrest was made. Bonomo had been stabbed nearly 200 times, while Ferez received nearly 50 stab wounds.

The apparent motive is, perhaps as usual, something incredibly banal:

Police said Friday the murders may be linked to the theft of two PlayStation game consoles, which they believe were taken from the apartment the night of the killings. A laptop computer also was stolen from the apartment six days before the attack.

But this strikes me as an interesting tidbit:

The brutal killings have shocked a country already concerned by a spate of knife attacks involving young people. Eighteen teenagers have died in suspected murders in London this year, compared to 27 in all of 2007. Most were stabbed, and police in the city say the fight against knife crime has overtaken terrorism as their top priority.

More proof that banning firearms does not prevent crime. Criminals just find different tools to use in pursuit of the same insane reasons they have for attacking others.

Happy Caturday

2008-07-05T16:24:00.001-07:00

Finally, a politician who keeps their promises

2008-07-05T04:46:00.000-07:00

Now, when this guy promises to arise from his watery grave and devour the world, I'll bet that's a campaign promise he'll keep. No flip-flopping here.

Much more here.

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day!

May you all celebrate your own freedom to live your life the way you see fit, free from the interference from Government or neighbors who need to find a life for themselves beyond bitching about what others do.

Gods... I can just hear the "good luck with that" in the background.

Basments flood... with salad dressing?

2008-07-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

From 10tv.com:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Storms and heavy rain usually flood basements with water, but some homeowners on the city's north side are dealing with flooding of a different kind on Wednesday.

At least 10 residents in Clintonville are cleaning up after a combination of storm water and ranch salad dressing seeped into their basements.

According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, rain from last week's storms combined with sewage from the T. Marzetti. Co. -- a salad dressing producer located on Indianola Avenue.

Sewage and storm water overwhelmed the city's storm sewer system, resulting in flooding at nearby homes.

"It's creamy-ranch- dressing-looking crap," resident Steven Maiken told the Columbus Dispatch. "It's not toxic waste, but we did have to throw away a lot of stuff. We tried to wash it off over and over again."

Damn. You know, sewage would be bad enough, but sewage with ranch dressing?

Tech Support

2008-07-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

So... how's that war on drugs going?

2008-07-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States leads the world in rates of experimenting with marijuana and cocaine despite strict drug laws, World Health Organization researchers said on Tuesday.

Countries with looser drug laws have lower rates of abuse, the researchers report in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine.

The survey of 54,000 people in 17 countries found that 16 percent of people in the United States had used cocaine in their lifetimes -- far higher than the next highest rate, found in New Zealand, where 4.3 percent of people reported having used cocaine.

More than 42 percent of Americans admitted to having tried cannabis, closely followed by 41 percent in New Zealand, Dr. Louisa Degenhardt of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and an international team of colleagues found.

Great. We've got very strict laws on drug use, entire agencies devoted to enforcement of drug laws... and the highest rate of marijuana and cocaine in the world.

Marvelous.

Don Davis, AKA General Hammond, has died

2008-07-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

For Fans of Stargate SG-1, today is a sad day.

Don Davis, the actor who played General Hammond has died.

From Gateworld:

With great sadness we must report that veteran actor Don S. Davis passed away on June 29, 2008. He was 65 years old.

Don co-starred on Stargate SG-1 for the show's first seven years, helping to launch the enduring science fiction franchise. Davis played Major General George Hammond, base commander and a father figure to many of the show's characters.

He is also well-known for his portrayal of Major Garland Briggs in Twin Peaks.

Off-screen, Don was beloved by the show's cast and crew. He departed the show in 2003 due to a medical condition that restricted his workload, but returned for several guest appearances on SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis in the following years. Don worked hard to improve his health, and continued to work both on screen and off until his death.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family asks for donations to the American Heart Association.

Sexes split over one night stands

2008-07-01T06:08:00.000-07:00

This bit of wisdom comes from the BBC:

Many women are left unhappy in the aftermath of casual sexual encounters, a survey has revealed.

Just under half of women who answered the internet poll, published in the journal "Human Nature", said they felt it had been a bad idea.

Four out of five men, in contrast, said they were happy with a brief fling.

French Army fires into crowd... on accident

2008-06-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

As seen on Reuters:

TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - Sixteen people including four children were wounded after a soldier fired live ammunition during a military show in the southern French town of Carcassonne, a local official said on Sunday.

The accident occurred during a combat demonstration by the Third Marine Parachute regiment in which a soldier used live ammunition instead of blanks, said Bernard Lemaire, the prefect of the southwestern region of L'Aude.

Praise Cthulhu... how the frak does that happen? No blank firing adapter in the rifle? Who issued live ammo for a military show?

LA Times: WTF?

2008-06-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

So, in reaction to the Supreme Court ruling on the 2nd Amendment the LA Times has an opinion piece, with this tidbit:

This year, about 12,000 Americans will be shot to death. It's a staggering figure, and even though lawmakers have continued to pass gun-control laws to try to bring the number down, they have not significantly reduced the murder rate. Indeed, for the last decade, guns have steadily remained the cause of about two-thirds of all homicides.

Gun manufacturers insist that these deaths are not their fault, preferring to pin the blame on criminals and irresponsible dealers.

Say what? The manufacturer of a legal machine is responsible for it's use?

So... Ford and Honda are responsible for drunks who use their cars to kill people?

Spoons are responsible for people eating too much ice cream?

This is the sort of idiocy those of us who support the right to keep an bear arms just scratch our heads at. Firearms are machines, not demon infested imps which act independent of human will.

Blaming the tool for the user's actions just leads to the same action being performed with a different tool.

Happy Caturday

2008-06-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Drunken driver gets 43 years for killing mom, kids

2008-06-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Ohio can do something right.

From the AP:

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A Michigan man was sentenced to 43 years in prison Friday for driving the wrong way on an interstate and slamming his pickup truck into a minivan, killing a Maryland mother and four children who were returning home from a Christmas trip. Michael Gagnon of Adrian, Mich., had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit and marijuana in his system, authorities said.

Lucas County Judge Linda Jennings called Gagnon a dangerous person. "You have a drinking problem and you don't even know it," she said.

Gagnon, 24, had pleaded no contest to five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault.

2nd Amendment: An Individual right

2008-06-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

BooYah!!

The Supreme Court has ruled that the second amendment is an individual right.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Silent on central questions of gun control for two centuries, the Supreme Court found its voice Thursday in a decision affirming the right to have guns for self-defense in the home and addressing a constitutional riddle almost as old as the republic over what it means to say the people may keep and bear arms.

The court's 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns and imperiled similar prohibitions in other cities, Chicago and San Francisco among them. Federal gun restrictions, however, were expected to remain largely intact.

You can read the full decision here. Note that it's a 157 page .pdf. While large in size, it's also an interesting read.

From my reading of it, the Court seems to be saying that:

The Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to own firearms.
People have a right to defend themselves.
Handguns are a valid tool for self defense, and banning handguns violates the Constitution.
Some restrictions, such as those preventing felons and the insane from own firearms, are legal.

Note that I'm not a lawyer. I don't even play one on the internet.

The 5-4 margin worries me, but overall it's a good decision.

Congrats America!

Change! .... wait, is that a monkey???

2008-06-25T05:40:00.000-07:00

What the...

Have to wonder if they meant to portray Obama, or if the word "Change" is just that closely identified with Obama's message.

What the...

2008-06-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

George Carlin has died

2008-06-23T06:21:00.000-07:00

From MSNBC

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - George Carlin, the frenzied performer whose routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, has died.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. He was 71.

Old and busted: Global Warming. New.. erm... hotness: Global Cooling

2008-06-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah, really.

From the News busters blog:

Investor's Business Daily is reporting something we haven't seen much of in the media since the 1970s: concerns about global cooling. You read that correctly: cooling.

Kenneth Tapping, a researcher at Canada's National Research Council, wants to look for evidence of increased sunspot activity, according to IBD. "The lack of increased activity could signal the beginning of what is known as a Maunder Minimum, an event which occurs every couple of centuries and can last as long as a century."

A "solar hibernation" in the 17th Century "corresponded with a period of bitter cold that began around 1650 and lasted, with intermittent spikes of warming, until 1715," IBD reported. "Frigid winters and cold summers during that period led to massive crop failures, famine and death in Northern Europe."

Tapping's concerns fly in the face of the current media drumbeat about global warming, which would have Americans believe the Earth is on course for catastrophic climate changes unless the federal government (i.e. taxpayers) steps in to save the day.

The Investors Business Daily article mentioned above is here.

Happy Caturday

2008-06-21T12:19:00.001-07:00

Britain is the world's biggest arms dealer

2008-06-19T17:02:00.001-07:00

From the UK Times Online:

London Britain was the world’s biggest arms seller last year, accounting for a third of global arms exports, the Government’s trade promotion organisation said.

UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) said that arms exporters had added £9.7 billion in new business last year, giving them a larger share of global arms exports than the United States.

“As demonstrated by this outstanding export performance, the UK has a first-class defence industry, with some of the world’s most technologically sophisticated companies,” Digby Jones, the Minister for Trade and Investment, said.

UKTI said that the figures were boosted by orders for Eurofighter Typhoon jets from Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest arms buyer, which has imported $31 billion (£16 million) in weapons over the past five years. There were also orders from Oman and Trinidad and Tobago for offshore patrol vessels.

The US is still the world’s biggest exporter over the past five years, with $63 billion in total arms exports. Britain was second with $53 billion and Russia third with $33 billion.

Interesting... especially considering the UK attitude towards civilian firearms ownership.

GNUPG Howto

2008-06-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was talking to someone about using GPG. The question came up: How do I use this?

I humbly offer the GPG Mini Howto. It's got everything from Installation to Key Management and a section on front ends and email clients.

As good as that is, I'd also recommend Gmail users check out the firegpg plugin. It helps a lot with the GPG / Gmail combination by adding some useful buttons to the Gmail interface. Doesn't get much easier than that.

More on the Upper Arlington threat

2008-06-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

On May 13th there was a report that the FBI thwarted a terror threat at an Upper Arlington school. The next day it seemed like the story might be a tempest in a teapot.

Well, today there's this from WTTE:

Teen not being charged over Ohio school threat
June 17, 2008 11:20 EDT

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio (AP) -- Authorities have decided not to charge a 15-year-old for an online threat that closed his Columbus area high school one day last month.

An Upper Arlington police spokeswoman says the boy has been referred instead to a program that typically provides juveniles with counseling, community service and supervision. Officer Heather Galli also says the teen and his family have cooperated with investigators.

Upper Arlington High School canceled classes May 14 after police learned of the threat from the FBI. An agent in Tampa, Fla., had seen a Web posting in which the student wrote he would lock school doors that day and fire at students in hopes of killing a number "in the upper 60s."

Authorities say the boy told them he wasn't serious.

So that's that, I suppose. Seems like a kid was acting out and got some attention. Possibly more attention than he was looking for.

Muppets sing Danny Boy

2008-06-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

Seriously...

Congress and CFs

2008-06-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

A little something from youtube...

It's Rep Ted Poe from the 2nd district of Texas speaking on an energy bill in congress, specifically the requirement to use compact fluorescent light bulbs.

He makes some good points, such as there's nothing in the Constitution which gives congress the authority to regulate which light bulbs must be used in US homes and the environmental regulations around disposing of compact fluorescent light bulbs. Since they contain mercury, those regulations are apparently not minimal.

Happy Caturday

2008-06-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

First, we interrupt this regularly scheduled Caturday with this:

Tim Russert passed away yesterday from an apparent heart attack. There's a number of memorials on the web to him in respect of his long career in journalism and political talk shows. By all accounts, he was a great guy off camera as well as an excellent interviewer on camera.

He'll be missed.

In the spirit of the common man overcoming adversity with good humor, Caturday now continues.

Private muslim school in Virginia has some interesting textbooks

2008-06-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

From the AP

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — Textbooks at a private Islamic school in northern Virginia teach students that it is permissible for Muslims to kill adulterers and converts from Islam, according to a federal investigation released Wednesday.

Other passages in the school's textbooks state that "the Jews conspired against Islam and its people" and that Muslims are permitted to take the lives and property of those deemed "polytheists."

The passages were found in selected textbooks used during the 2007-08 school year by the Islamic Saudi Academy, which teaches 900 students in grades K-12 at two campuses in Alexandria and Fairfax and receives much of its funding from the Saudi government.

The academy has come under scrutiny from critics who allege that it fosters an intolerant brand of Islam similar to that taught in the conservative Saudi kingdom. In the review, the panel recommended that the school make all of its textbooks available to the State Department so changes can be made before the next school year.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a panel formed by Congress, last year recommended that the school be closed amid concerns that it promotes violence and too closely mimics the conservative Saudi educational system.

Some of the more interesting items:

_ The authors of a 12th-grade text on Koranic interpretation state that apostates (those who convert from Islam), adulterers and people who murder Muslims can be permissibly killed.

_ The authors of a 12th-grade text on monotheism write that "(m)ajor polytheism makes blood and wealth permissible," meaning that a Muslim can take with impunity the life and property of someone believed guilty of polytheism. According to the panel, the strict Saudi interpretation of polytheism includes Shiite and Sufi Muslims as well as Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists.

_ A social studies text offers the view that Jews were responsible for the split between Sunni and Shiite Muslims: "The cause of the discord: The Jews conspired against Islam and its people. A sly, wicked person who sinfully and deceitfully professed Islam infiltrated (the Muslims)."

More generally, the panel found that the academy textbooks hold the view that the Muslim world was strong when united under a single caliph, the Arabic language and the Sunni creed, and that Muslims have grown weak because of foreign influence and internal divisions.

One wonders of how tolerant of intolerance an open society can be.

More than 10 items or less in the UK? That's a beating to death...

2008-06-12T17:22:00.002-07:00

From the UK Daily Mail:

A shopper has died after he was attacked in Sainsbury's in a row over queue-jumping.

Kevin Tripp, 57, was hit so hard in the face as he waited by the checkouts that he collapsed to the floor unconscious and in a pool of blood.

Horrified shoppers, including young children, saw the father-of-one crumple to the ground. He was taken to hospital but died late last night.

Tony Virasami, 37, from Catford, south-east London, appeared in court today charged with his murder and was remanded in custody.

It is alleged his girlfriend summoned him to the store after she accused Mr Tripp of barging in front of her in the queue to pay.

Wow. So, your girlfriend calls you over to throw a beat down on a guy who cuts in line... and you kill him. The sad thing is, besides the obvious, I doubt his girlfriend will face any charges.

Ohio gets the Castle Doctrine

2008-06-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

Governor Strickland has signed Senate Bill 184, aka the Ohio Castle Doctrine into law:

Over the objections of law-enforcement groups, Gov. Ted Strickland yesterday signed into law a bill that relaxes certain gun restrictions and establishes a "castle doctrine" for shooting an intruder in self-defense.

The legislation, Senate Bill 184, takes effect in 90 days.

It was backed by the National Rifle Association to establish a presumption that a person acts in self defense when shooting someone who unlawfully enters his or her home or occupied vehicle. Supporters say it will protect the innocent from facing charges.

Amendments added to the bill will allow people to carry unloaded firearms in the cab of a vehicle with ammunition nearby and prohibit landlords from telling tenants they cannot own guns.

What press coverage there is seems critical, but the announcement on the Governors site has this to say:

State Senator Steve Buehrer sponsored SB 184, which presumes that a person has acted in self-defense when using force that may cause death or injury against an individual who has unlawfully entered the person’s home or occupied vehicle. Under current Ohio law, the burden lies on the resident who has used force to prove his or her reasoning for such action.

Get that? Under current law, if someone breaks into your home and you use lethal force to protect yourself you're presumed guilty and must prove you acted in self defense.

However, if someone breaks in and kills you, they're presumed innocent. Really.

This bill corrects that. The folks at OhioCCW have an analysis up, but neither they nor I are providing legal advice or a professional interpretation. You want that, pay a lawyer.

Good news for the people of Ohio.

UK Anti-gun campaigner stabbed to death

2008-06-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

From the BBC:

The grandson of prominent anti-gun campaigner Pat Regan has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing her to death.

Mrs Regan, 53, was discovered at the property on Marlborough Grange in the Hyde Park area of Leeds on Sunday.

The mother-of-six started campaigning against gun crime when her son Danny was shot dead in 2002.

The 20-year-old man was being held on suspicion of murder, police said. It is thought he had been arrested earlier in the day over another stabbing.

I've some sympathy for her, given the circumstances:

Mrs Regan set up a Leeds branch of Mothers Against Guns after her son Danny, 25, was shot at his home in Haydock, near St Helens, Merseyside in December 2002. His killer has not been found.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Regan's death proves in a rather stark way that controlling the tools used in crime is not a valid method of controlling crime. Criminals just find other tools.

Like knives.

Flip o' the tentacle to The Ready Line for passing on the story.

Preliminary Uniform Crime Reports, 2007 and Columbus, Ohio

2008-06-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well, the preliminary Uniform Crime Reports for 2007 are out.

You may hear about these statistics on the news, if there's not a celebrity off shaving something while the cameras are watching.

When I see them, I like to compare the stats to past years, relate my local area to regional statistics... yes, it's a moment of geeking out with statistics.

Here's a comparison of Columbus, Ohio, violent crime rates to the Midwest:

The chart shows percentage change; negative numbers indicate a decrease of course.

Note that violent crime in general is down in the Midwest by %1.7, but up in Columbus by %5.

While Columbus has had fewer murders than the Midwest as a whole ( down %8 in Columbus vs. down %3.8 regionally ), rape is on the rise in Columbus by %11 while regionally it's down %7.1 .

Other numbers are similarly bad for Columbus. In robbery, we're up %5 while the Midwest is down %3 and in Aggravated Assault Columbus is up %4 while regionally it's down %0.2.

Rates for Violent Crime per 100,000 in Columbus Ohio are as follow:

Violent Crime	Murder	Rape	Robbery	Aggravated Assault
852	11	90	523	228

That's the problem with statistics... sometimes they tell you things you don't want to hear.

How to commit mass murder without firearms

2008-06-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Every now and then, some anti-gun type points to countries like Japan, which heavily regulates firearms to the point of an almost total ban. They say the lack of firearms prevents mass murder by removing the tools of offender.

Bullshit.

TOKYO - A Japanese man rammed a truck into a crowd of shoppers, jumped out and went on a stabbing spree in Tokyo's top electronics district Sunday, killing at least seven people and wounding 10 others.

The deadly lunchtime assault paralyzed the Akihabara neighborhood, which is wildly popular among the country's cyber-wise youth. The killings were the latest in a series of grisly knifings that have stoked fears of rising crime in Japan.

A 25-year-old man, Tomohiro Kato, was apprehended in the attack.

Note that besides such spectacular attacks, there seems to be a rise in attacks overall in Japan:

Once rare, stabbing attacks have become more frequent in Japan in recent years as violent crime has increased.

In March, one person was stabbed to death and at least seven others were hurt by a man who went on a slashing spree with two knives outside a shopping mall in eastern Japan. In one of the worst attacks, a man with a history of mental illness burst into an elementary school in Japan in 2001 and killed eight children. The killer was executed in 2004.

Stories like this are infuriating, but also serve to illustrate that those determined to do hard to others will find a way.

Disarming the populace, who in large majority do not commit violent crimes, serves only to ensure a pool of available victims.

Police officers, for the most part, do an admirable job of dealing with violent crime but even the best police simply can't be everywhere at all times.

Obviously it's best if incidents like this never happen in the first place, but removing firearms from the population does not facilitate that goal, as incidents like this illustrate.

Parents face charges for raising their daughter vegan

2008-06-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

No, it's not some anti-hippie crusade. The girl has rickets and the bone density of an 80 year old.

From the UK Times Online:

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl in Scotland brought up by her parents on a strict vegan diet has been admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition said to have left her with the spine of an 80-year-old woman.

Doctors are under pressure to report the couple to police and social workers amid concerns that her health and welfare may have been neglected in pursuit of their dietary beliefs.

The girl, who has been fed on a strict meat and dairy-free diet from birth, is said to have a severe form of rickets and to have suffered a number of fractured bones.

The condition is caused by a lack of vitamin D, which is needed to absorb calcium and is found in liver, oily fish and dairy produce. Decalcification leads to the bones becoming brittle and can cause curvature of the spine.

If some idiotic nitwits want to put themselves in danger by following a philosophy which denies human nature, great. Especially if they don't have health insurance and are forced to bear the cost of their own idiocy.

However, forcing your children to follow such lunacy is child abuse. These parents have wrecked their child's body in pursuit of their inane devotion.

There seems to be some support on both sides of the pond for a reasonable course of action:

Jonathan Sher, head of policy at Children in Scotland, an umbrella group representing 400 organisations, said social workers should intervene where a vegan diet was putting children’s health at risk.

Last year, an American vegan couple were given a life sentence for starving their six-week-old baby to death. In 2001 two vegans from west London were sentenced to three years’ community rehabilitation after they admitted starving their baby to death.

Happy Caturday

2008-06-07T16:11:00.000-07:00

French Army falling apart

2008-06-07T00:45:00.001-07:00

No, it's not a joke.

Apparently the French Army is a sad state:

According to confidential defence documents leaked to the French press, less than half of France's Leclerc tanks – 142 out of 346 – are operational and even these regularly break down.

Less than half of its Puma helicopters, 37 per cent of its Lynx choppers and 33 per cent of its Super Frelon models – built 40 years ago – are in a fit state to fly, according to documents seen by Le Parisien newspaper.

Two thirds of France's Mirage F1 reconnaissance jets are unusable at present.

Of course, the timing is a bit suspect:

The disclosure comes just ten days before President Nicolas Sarkozy announces a major reform of the armed forces, with a defence white paper outlining France's military priorities for the next 15 years.

He is expected to argue that the situation can only improve by reducing the number of France's operational troops from 50,000 to 30,000, and its fighter aircraft, as well as closing military bases.

He will also use the occasion to push for greater military integration in Europe, an issue that France will highlight when it takes over the EU's six-month rotating presidency in July.

French proposals circulating in Brussels show that France wants a new EU military headquarters based in the Belgian capital and run by Europe's new foreign policy chief. It is also calling for a bigger rapid reaction force and for countries to spend more on defence.

So France wants to spend less on defense but wants other EU nations to spend more. Nice.

How to build a Mentos and Diet Code Booby Trap

2008-06-06T00:37:00.000-07:00

How To Build A Mentos And Diet Coke Booby Trap

DC to seal off bad neighborhoods

2008-06-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

No, really.

D.C. police will seal off entire neighborhoods, set up checkpoints and kick out strangers under a new program that D.C. officials hope will help them rescue the city from its out-of-control violence.

Under an executive order expected to be announced today, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier will have the authority to designate “Neighborhood Safety Zones.” At least six officers will man cordons around those zones and demand identification from people coming in and out of them. Anyone who doesn’t live there, work there or have “legitimate reason” to be there will be sent away or face arrest, documents obtained by The Examiner show.

Lanier has been struggling to reverse D.C.’s spiraling crime rate but has been forced by public outcry to scale back several initiatives including her “All Hands on Deck” weekends and plans for warrantless, door-to-door searches for drugs and guns.

So warrantless searches are too illegal, so set up check points? Arrest people because they're driving down the wrong street?

Peter Nickles, the city’s interim attorney general, said the quarantine would have “a narrow focus.”

“This is a very targeted program that has been used in other cities,” Nickles told The Examiner. “I’m not worried about the constitutionality of it.”

Which other cities? Perhaps some in the former Soviet Union?

For once, I agree with the ACLU:

Shelley Broderick, president of the D.C.-area American Civil Liberties Union and the dean of the University of the District of Columbia’s law school, said the plan was “cockamamie.”

“I think they tried this in Russia and it failed,” she said. “It’s just our experience in this city that we always end up targeting poor people and people of color, and we treat the kids coming home from choir practice the same as we treat those kids who are selling drugs.”

Treating everyone like a criminal only seems to create more criminals. If the population is trained, by police actions, to not trust the police then the job of enforcement becomes harder, if not impossible.

It's the same mentality that says people don't have the right to defend themselves, and deserves the same response.

Chávez decree tightens hold on intelligence

2008-06-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

From the International Herald Tribune:

Under the new intelligence law, which took effect last week, Venezuela's two main intelligence services, the DISIP secret police and the DIM military intelligence agency, will be replaced with new agencies, the General Intelligence Office and General Counterintelligence Office, under the control of Chávez.

The new law requires people in the country to comply with requests to assist the agencies, secret police or community activist groups loyal to Chávez. Refusal can result in prison terms of two to four years for most people and four to six years for government employees.

Wow. Kinda makes the Patriot Act seem amateurish. I'm sure there are some elements who'd like to have mandatory "cooperation" with either the Democratic or Republican political parties, not just the government.

What's this new measure for?

The sweeping intelligence changes reflect an effort by Chávez to assert greater control over public institutions in the face of political challenges following a stinging defeat in December of a constitutional reform package that would have expanded his powers.

Chávez, who has insisted the defeat would not dampen his ambitions to transform Venezuela into a Socialist state, said the new law was intended to guarantee "national security" and shield against "imperialist attacks."

Oh, of course.

Sitting ruler tries to increase their power through elections and fails, so call out the secret police. Never mind responding to the will of the people... they're just idiots who need to be lead by the nose or, if they resist, eliminated.

Attitude

2008-06-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

As seen on MP.net

Suicide and the US Army

2008-06-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you have seen the AP story about the rise in suicides in the US Army.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of Army suicides increased again last year, amid the most violent year yet in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. An Army official said Thursday that 115 troops committed suicide in 2007, a nearly 13 percent increase over the previous year's 102. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a full report on the deaths wasn't being released until later Thursday.

Finding stats to work with takes some googling. Most of what I could find online was for FY 2005.

From suicide.org I found that the suicide rate in the US was 11.0 nation wide in 2005.

Also in 2005, there were 512,400 Active Duty US Army personnel. Note that I said "Active Duty"; that figure doesn't count the US Army reserve, the National Guard units or any civilian personnel.

That same AP article mentions there were 85 suicides in 2005.

That's a rate of 16.59 suicides per 100,000 for the Army compared to, again, 11 per 100,000 for the United States.

Given that the suicide rate for the Army is higher than the general population, I wonder if there's been a corresponding increase in the suicide rate in the general population which is simply reflected in the Army statistics, or if the Army's experiences in Iraq are becoming more of a factor than they were in past years.

Happy Caturday

2008-05-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

Truth

2008-05-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

The Nazis were Marxists... ?

2008-05-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law, with the attendant risks, I stumbled across an article on the American Thinker site which claims that Nazi ideology is actually closer to Marxism rather than right-wing ideology as is commonly expressed.

From the article:

The Nazis were Marxists, no matter what our tainted academia and corrupt media wishes us to believe. Nazis, Bolsheviks, the Ku Klux Klan, Maoists, radical Islam and Facists -- all are on the Left, something that should be increasingly apparent to decent, honorable people in our times. The Big Lie which places Nazis on some mythical Far Right was created specifically so that there would be a bogeyman manacled on the wrists of those who wish us to move "too far" in the direction of Ronald Reagan or Barry Goldwater.

Obviously some incendiary commentary, but further on there is this:

The first and only platform of the National Socialist German Workers Party called for very Leftist economic policies. Among other things, this platform called for the death penalty for war profiteering, the confiscation of all income unearned by work, the acquisition of a controlling interest by the people in all big business organizations and so on. Otto Strasser, the brother and fellow Nazi of Gregor Strasser, who was the second leading Nazi for much of the Nazi Party's existence, in his 1940 book, Hitler and I revealed his ideology before he found a home in the Nazi Party. In his own words Otto Strasser wrote: "I was a young student of law and economics, a Left Wing student leader."

Consider the following text from that platform adopted in Munich on February 20, 1920 and ask yourself whether it sounds like the notional Right or the very real Left:

"We ask that the government undertake the obligation above all of providing citizens with adequate opportunity for employment and earning a living. The activities of the individual must not be allowed to clash with the interests of the community, but must take place within its confines and be for the good of all. Therefore, we demand an end to the power of the financial interests. We demand profit sharing in big business. We demand a broad extension of care for the aged. The government must undertake the improvement of public health."

I have to admit, "broad extension of care for the aged" sounds like "socialized medicine" to me. The anti-business / capitalist "end to the power of financial interests" also hardly sounds like the invective of current right-wing types.

Further on, there's these two quotes:

Consider these remarks of Nazi leaders. Hitler on May 1, 1927:

"We are socialists. We are enemies of today's capitalistic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are determined to destroy this system under all conditions."

Goebbels, who was the only major Nazi leader who stayed with Hitler to the very end, wrote in Der Angriff in 1928:

"The worker in a capitalist state - that is his greatest misfortune - no longer a human being, no longer a creator, no longer a shaper of things. He has become a machine."

Neither of those strike me as particularly right-wing, at least as is understood today.

I'm not sure how much credence to give the American Thinker article, but it does seem an interesting idea.

Both Nazism and Marxism led to totalitarian states which practiced wide scale democide; even if one could say one is right-wing and the other left-wing, it's not like either ideology is somehow exonerated by that distinction.

Some things cross cultures...

2008-05-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

Unaware they were in a stand off with SWAT, suspects surrender

2008-05-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

Yeah, really.

Apparently three people in the home, two 19-year-olds and a 21-year-old, had fired some shots around 1 this morning and then went to bed. The 21-year-old was apparently playing around with the gun and decided to shoot it.

When police responded, they apparently never knocked on the door. Instead they tried calling the home and had no luck. During the time police were trying to call the home, officers called in the swat team and began to evacuate the neighbors as a precaution.

Around 8:30 this morning, the guys finally woke up, realized what was going on outside, and peacefully left with the cops. All three were arrested for possessing a firearm and firing it.

Wow. Great job there.

A Cthulhu tract

2008-05-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

Artist Steve Ellis and writer Fred Van Lente have come up with a Cthulhu Tract, similar to some of the religious pamphlets one sees scattered about near bus stations and all night eateries.

Worth a laugh, especially since it's in the same vein as some who take themselves very seriously.

French families adopt American graves

2008-05-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

As seen on NPR:

Eight years ago, a French couple founded an organization that adopts graves of American servicemen who died during the Normandy invasion of World War II. The volunteer group encourages French families to lay flowers on the graves when the Americans' own families can't do it.

Damn, that's cool.

While the governments of our respective nations may quarrel, it's good to see the people of France and the US remember the sacrifices one made for the other.

Woman still recovering from dine and dash hit-skip

2008-05-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to an earlier post, the woman hit by dine and dash suspect Michael Rose is still recovering.

From 10tv:

Earlier this week, doctors said it was doubtful Widomski, 28, would ever walk again.

On Friday, Widomski's aunt, Martha Manciano, confirmed the diagnosis.

"(Her spine) was severed in two places and crushed in multiple places," Manciano said. "Naturally she will never walk again."

Liu's husband, Paul, said his wife was recovering from a number of injuries.

"Julie has suffered a fractured sternum, multiple fractures on her ribs, a broken collarbone, her wrist is dislocated and she suffers from a serious concussion and a bruised brain," Liu said.

Let no one say someone trying to run you over isn't using lethal force. Injuries like that would seem to make gunshot wounds almost a simple matter in comparison.

Happy Caturday

2008-05-24T14:45:00.001-07:00

Memorial Day

2008-05-23T15:57:00.001-07:00

Memorial Day is this coming Monday.

While it's usually a time for picnics, barbecues, family gatherings, and the Indy 500, it's original purpose is a bit more solemn; to commemorate those who have died in military service.

Without getting into politics, I suggest a return to Memorial Day's original purpose is more timely than ever.

If you can spare a moment, swing by the gratitude campaign. Doesn't cost anything to say "thanks" and those of us who served appreciate it.

Just remember those who aren't here.

Hand grenade trifecta in play

2008-05-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

First, a woman brings a hand grenade to a fire station:

GROVE CITY -- Columbus Fire's bomb squad was called out to the Jackson Twp. department, 3650 Hoover Rd., on reports of a hand grenade, NBC 4 reported.

A woman drove up to the department with the grenade in her vehicle. She said she found it while going through her father's estate and thought firefighters would accept it.

Since it still had its pin, firefighters and the bomb squad were worried the grenade was live.

Second, some kids picking up trash find a hand grenade:

HUDSON, Wis. (AP) - Three children picking up trash along a river in Hudson for community service work found much more than garbage. Charlie Thompson, 11, Maddie Roth, 10, and Demetri Roth, 8, came across a hand grenade, picked it up and headed home to show off their discovery.

On their way back Monday, they ran into a neighbor, who immediately called 911. Hudson police cordoned off the block, then determined the grenade wasn't a danger, even though it still had the firing pin inserted. Sgt. Eric Atkinson says the grenade was rusted and contained no powder.

Have to wonder if there's a third hand grenade incident out there waiting to happen...

Oracle: ORA-12545, part deux...

2008-05-21T19:25:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to an earlier post, I think we found the problem.

Earlier, we were experiencing intermittent ORA-12545 errors.

Before this happened, the server group was performing some disaster recovery testing. Somehow, and of course they say they didn't touch it, the file permissions were changed on the /etc/hosts file. Only root had read permissions.

This caused commands like NSLOOKUP to fail completely. Really, you'd think this wouldn't be a problem with a tnsnames.ora entry where the HOST parameter was an IP address. I mean, with an IP address it's not like you have to resolve it.

Apparently though, that's not the case. Oracle appears to sometimes attempt to resolve the host name of the "HOST=" parameter even when it's an IP address.

As soon as we enabled world read access to the /etc/hosts file, the problems stopped happening.

Another link to the Smiley Face drownings?

2008-05-20T15:47:00.001-07:00

There's apparently some interest in a 10 year old drowning case which may be linked to the Smiley Face Drownings:

From 10TV:

ATHENS, Ohio — 10TV News on Tuesday learned that investigators were re-examining evidence in the drowning of an Ohio University student 10 years ago.

Police originally determined that there was no foul play in the death of Keith Noble, 10TV's Cara Connelly reported.

According to investigators, Noble, 19, disappeared after a night of drinking on April 24, 1998. About two weeks later, his body was found in the Hocking River.

Now two retired New York City police detectives believe the drowning deaths of 40 male college students – including Noble's – are connected, Connelly reported.

How the investigation is going from "no foul play" to homicide is a question. I'll be interested in seeing if this pans out, or is just speculation.

Update on athens students drowning

2008-05-20T11:12:00.001-07:00

Seems there's some new information on the two students found dead in a bathtub

http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/18550659.html

UPDATE TUESDAY 5/20:
ATHENS, Ohio (WSAZ) --New details were released Tuesday in the deaths of two college students found dead in a bathtub.

Preliminary autopsy results show that Kelly Armbruster and Christopher Theil probably died from a drug overdose.

The report also ruled out drowning as the cause of death -- there was also no sign of significant trauma.

Theil's mother found the pair dead in a bathtub at the River Park Tower Apartments in Athens last month.

Armbruster was a student at Ohio University; Theil attended Hocking College. Police say they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

I'll note the word "probably". Seems like the toxicology reports aren't in yet. That or "drug overdose" is the new excited delirium

Also, there's a photo circulating apparently from a facebook profile:

WHARRGARBL

2008-05-20T05:51:00.000-07:00

Oracle: ORA-12545

2008-05-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

I've no idea what happened, but one of the applications at work started to refuse to connect with the database. The error was ORA-12545.

Normally this is an easy error to correct. First thing, check the TNSNAMES.ORA entry for the service name in question.

An example looks like this:


ORA11 =
 (DESCRIPTION = 
   (ADDRESS_LIST =
     (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = zedatabaseserver)(PORT = 1521))
   )
 (CONNECT_DATA =
   (SERVICE_NAME = ORA11)
 )
)

First thing: Check to make sure the host name is correct. If it is, try resolving it on the client; use either nslookup or ping.

If that resolution is correct, the next thing to try is to change the host name to the IP address. So, in the above entry changing the host name would look something like this:


ORA11 =
 (DESCRIPTION = 
   (ADDRESS_LIST =
     (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = 127.0.0.1)(PORT = 1521))
   )
 (CONNECT_DATA =
   (SERVICE_NAME = ORA11)
 )
)

That usually does it. Further problems are usually easy to diagnose; a complete lack of all network connectivity indicates the NIC has a problem, or someone's tripped over the cable again.

This time, none of the usual fixes worked. Even stranger, the problems only showed up in part of the application. Anything that used Crystal Reports, which itself used an ADO connection object, was refusing to connect.

The main application, and tools like SQL*Plus, worked fine. Eventually, multiple edits to the TNSNAMES.ORA file seemed to fix the problem, but I don't see how. We rather suspect someone from the server group was fiddling and "unbroke" whatever it was after they applied patches.

Very strange. If anyone else out there has seen something like this, feel free to leave a comment here.

UPDATE: Think I figured it out.

So, which Lebowski character are you?

2008-05-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

Fun little quiz to see which Lebowski character you are:

http://www.alansmind.com/lebowskiquiz.php

Not much of a surprise what I got:

According to the "Which Big Lebowski character are you?" quiz:

Why don't you check it out? Or we cut off your Johnson!

If you've no idea what I'm on about... dude, read this.

Dine and dash suspect turns himself in

2008-05-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is still unfolding, but a man ran over three people who tried to stop him from leaving without paying.

The initial crime was rare enough: Fleeing a Short North restaurant without paying.

But then the man did something violent, Columbus police say: He intentionally backed his sport-utility vehicle over two people and hit a third who had chased him into the Haiku parking lot Thursday night.Late last night, police charged Michael A. Rose, 43, of 2348 Graydon Blvd. on the Northwest Side with four counts of felonious assault and sent alerts to officers in the Cleveland area, where they think Rose might be heading. Police were asking Rose to turn himself in.

Detective Aaron Mall said earlier yesterday that police had recovered the vehicle used as a weapon. Mall would not say where the SUV was found.

Meanwhile, two of the victims remained hospitalized, one in critical condition. Business owners in the dining and shopping district just north of Downtown are stunned.

The restaurant in question is Haiku, a decent sushi place in the short north area of Columbus.

Apparently the suspect, Michael A. Rose, has turned himself in:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The man who police said intentionally backed his sport-utility vehicle over two people and struck a third after he fled a restaurant without paying turned himself in on Saturday afternoon.

Michael A. Rose was charged with four counts of felonious assault after the Thursday night incident, 10TV's Lindsey Seavert reported.

Rose, 43, turned himself in at about 2 p.m., 10TV News reported.

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact Detective Mall in the Assault Squad at (614) 645-4189.

There's also a web site taking donations for the victims medical bills. While I don't know any of the victims, since they worked in the restaurant I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have health insurance.

Note: I probably don't have to say this, but I'm in no way associated with the Haiku Help site.

Happy Caturday

2008-05-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

Prepare to repell... oohh... shiny!

2008-05-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

Probably a photo from the Falklands War.

Ah... learning from the old folks

2008-05-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

Didn't see that one coming...

Just kidding...

2008-05-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

There is no candy...

Follow up to Upper Arlington threat

2008-05-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

The Dispatch has a follow up story to yesterdays story of a student in the Upper Arlington school district posting Columbine like threats to an internet site.

Police continue to investigate the threat of a "Columbine-style attack" that caused Upper Arlington High School to cancel all activities last night and classes today.

A student at the high school was taken into custody by police yesterday afternoon. He is cooperating with authorities, police said.

The student, who has not been charged, has been released to his parents, city spokeswoman Emma Speight said. She said police have "no concern he has access to weapons at this time."

Last night, no one answered the door at the boy's home.

The school closing came after the 15-year-old sophomore wrote on the Internet about planning an attack, an FBI source told WBNS-TV (Channel 10).

Seems like this is nothing; just a 15 year old talking smack on the internet. Like that never happens.

Mexico to send 3,000 more troops to combat drug gangs

2008-05-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently as a response to drug gangs killing the Chief of Mexico's Police the Mexican government is assigning 3,000 more troops to fight the drug cartels.

Nearly 3,000 more soldiers and police officers will join the fight against the drug barons, bringing the total to more than 30,000 spread across Mexico.

The new forces are being sent to the state of Sinaloa in the north.

Some infantry troops have already started arriving in Hercules aircraft.

Given that the drug trade is worth some $20 billion, one has to wonder just how effective this can be.

Either way, somehow I don't think I'll be vacationing in Mexico any time soon.

FBI Thwarts Terror Threat At School

2008-05-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

Specifically, the Upper Arlington City Schools.

From NBC4:

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio -- Classes have been canceled for a local high school as authorities investigate an online threat.

According to officials, local law enforcement are investigating recent online threats involving Upper Arlington High School, NBC 4 reported.

Officials said that federal agents notified police on Tuesday morning of suspicious online activity that was traced to an Upper Arlington home where a U.A. high school student resides.

According to a source within the district, the high school principal made an announcement at the end of the school day, directing all students to leave the school grounds immediately because of an emergency situation.

The source said the principal then called faculty and staff to gather for a meeting, in which staff members were told that the FBI somehow intercepted electronic communication that indicated that an Upper Arlington sophomore student was planning an assault on the school with guns and hand grenades -- and that his goal was to kill at least 60 people on Wednesday, May 14.

The FBI said it considers the threat to be credible, prompting the cancellation of classes.

The emergency call system was used to notify parents of the cancellation.

Authorities took one suspect into custody, who they said is cooperating with the investigation.

"Suspicious online activity". I have to wonder about that; seems like it might be anything from ranting about how the suspect would punish all those who offended them, trying to get explosives, what have you.

Tracing an IP address is laughably simple, more so when you're the FBI.

It's just a matter of identifying the ISP, ringing them up and asking for the info. If the ISP doesn't volunteer the subscriber info a warrant is required; in the case of a credible threat, warrants would seem easy to acquire on short notice.