Get tired of reading a lot of punditry about what to do (or not to do) in the middle east from people who have never been there? The go check out Israeli Guy for a little on-site reporting.
8:43:08 PM
Surely Amnesty International will be all over this......
Right? I mean, here is a mother of 7 killed after her own son was tortured into implicating her as an Israeli sympathizer. Surely all of those human rights watchers will be condeming this action for the barbarous cruelty that is is. We have had all kinds of condemnations of the US treatment of the prisoners in Cuba, so surely similar rhetoric will flow in the direction of the Palestinian Authority for the murder of an apparently innocent woman, right?
Oh, that's right. Only Americans can be held accountable for human rights abuses, real and imagined. Everyone else in the world is apparently blameless.
Update:
Read this open letter to the "Humanitarian Organizations". Then follow the Rottweiller's suggestions and keep a hammer and long metal spikes at the ready.
7:29:30 PM
What? Incompetence in Homeland Security?
Here may be the first confirmed report of someone actually losing their job as an airport screener due to complete incompetence. Now, there are many published examples of screener incompetence and abuse of power, it just never seems like any of these people have to pay for their actions. I just wonder how hard the supervisor looked in the lady's purse if she was unable to find a .357 magnum nestled away there (with a spare clip to boot). For the uninitiated, a .357 caliber handgun is a sizeable piece of metal, weighing somewhere around 40 ounces even for the short barreled variety.
Here's an example of a Python 357 with a 4" barrel
Quick test:
Find the "suspicious object" in the x-ray photograph below:
See, its easy to understand why the first airport screener would need supervisory help to determine if the suspicious object was a pistol.
It strikes me that many of the Pundits I admire and read are attorneys, and tend to be both well-spoken and decisive in their comments and analysis. Unfortunately, I don't think I will ever live up to that level of analysis on many of the issues that interest and torment me. I frequently find that others have put my thoughts and feelings into words far better than I ever could myself (but if you ever want to talk about veterinary medicine, then I might be your guy). That "wow, wish I had said that" feeling is exactly what I felt when I read this over at Norah's Blogjam.
6:01:06 PM
That's our Mike
Louisiana Governor Mike Foster created a bit of a dust-up when he suggested that women in Baton Rouge (and Louisiana in general, I suppose) arm themselves until our serial killer problem has been rectified. Lots of news agencies reported it, and many pro- and anti- gun organizations issued press releases. My favorite one comes from Armed Females of America.
I own several firearms, including handguns, and have a membership at a range here in Baton Rouge. It is amazing the number of women that you see at the range with their husbands, boyfriends, etc learning how to shoot. And that's the key, isn't it? If you are going to own any type of gun for self defence, then learn how to shoot the damn thing. Buying a 9mm handgun and sticking it in your purse without shooting several hundred (if not thousand) rounds is not only a bad idea, but its stupid as well. This article talks about the increase in both lethal and non-lethal self defence item sales in Baton Rouge, and has some practical advice by people who are having to deal directly with terrified women.
5:37:25 PM
Watch out for fake cops
Don't know if this story has anything to do with the serial killer, or whether it is an unrelated abduction attempt. The last several abduction attempts (some probably by copy-cats) have been foiled by women who have chosen to fight back rather than be abducted.
5:23:30 PM
The body of Ashley Pond has been positively identified
So, it looks like Ward Francis Weaver III will be indicted for 2 murders, not just 1. Turns out that his father, Ward Weaver the 2nd is already on death row for the 1982 rape of a young girl and the murder of her and her boyfriend. This sounds like a blood line that needs to be removed from the gene pool. And I still want to know what Weaver III's son Francis knew, and when he knew it. The fact that Francis Weaver turned in his father after the elder Weaver raped Francis' girlfriend makes it seem like an act of vengeance rather than a true desire to help the police in the investigation. Did he have these suspicions about his father only AFTER the rape of his girlfriend, or has he known something for months and not come forward to assist the police. If he did suspect that his father was a pedophile and a murderer, why on Earth would he bring his girlfriend, someone he allegedly cares about, into contact with such a person?
And isn't it comforting to know that the eldest Weaver in the saga, Ward Weaver the 2nd, is still sitting on a California death row 20 years after he committed his crime?
5:13:36 PM
Never be surprised by how greedy people can be (shocked, yes, but never surprised)
This link points to a story about a NYC landlord suing the family of a tenant who died in the WTC attack for over $27,000 in back rent. The landlord apparently refused to allow the grieving family into the apartment to get a hairbrush so they could attempt to identify their daughter's remains through DNA analysis, and the NYC police finally had to intervene for them to get the DNA sample. One of the landlord's complaints in the lawsuit is that the tenant failed to give 3 months notice before moving out. It is just amazing how shallow, crass, and monstrous people can become when they start grubbing for money. How inconsiderate for this tenant to go off and die in the worst attack on US soil without giving her landlady 3 months notice of her intent to be killed in a terrorist attack.
I lived in NYC for 15 years, and I still have a hard time believing this story. Unfortunately, stories like these contribute to the image that most people in the US have of people that live in NYC.
The landlady, Denise M. Lyman, sounds like a real piece of work. Read this sentence again:
>>>>>>The New York Daily News reported that one of the complaints against the dead woman was that she failed to give three-months notice that she was leaving. <<<<<<<<<<<<
Maybe there is something to that "American Infidels Worshipping Money" thing after all.
4:07:26 PM
Don't stop children from carrying guns......
Just censor the photographers who take pictures of children carrying guns. It's absolutely amazing that the Palestinians are only concerned with how having pictures of children with guns seen by the outside world affects their "cause", and not with the moral implications of having children being indoctrinated to hate. It would seem that if having the outside world see photos of 10 year old boys with guns "hurts your cause", then it must be because the outside world sees such behavior as inappropriate. After all, if most of the world believed that arming your children and sending them out to fight tanks was a good idea, then publication of these photos would be a good thing, no? But no, instead we get"hey, the rest of the world finds this behavior wrong. Let's not stop doing it, but instead just hide it so no one can see that we're doing it". What's next - a ban on photos of people dancing in the streets after innocent Americans or Israelis die in a random act of terrorist violence?
