I found some better video of the Boston Bomb Scare press conference in case anyone missed it:
** The video which once appeared here was removed by youtube. **
Author: Sebastian
G’Day Guvnah
I’ve taken a few pot shots at Ed Rendell on this blog, and certainly will take many more, but I feel like I should say some good things about him in the tradition of “If you don’t have something nice to say…”, etc. I will say that Ed Rendell passes the douche test. What is the douche test? It’s pretty simple “Would you go out and have a beer with the guy?”. Ed Rendell passes. Who wouldn’t pass? John Kerry, definitely. Joe Biden. Al Gore. Probably Hillary Clinton too, but Bill passes.
Another thing I will say about our Governor, he’s a shrewed politician, and I think could have a shot at being a presidential candidate if he chose to run. He’s managed to successfully paint himself as a moderate despite a pretty liberal record. As governor, he’s kept mostly quiet on issues that could get him in trouble, and I’m happy that on a few issues, he seems to lack the nanny gene that a lot of liberals seem to have expressed in abundance. And while I think his record contains a strong element of luck, he has a lot of accomplishments he can tout.
Plus, I will admit, this is pretty admirable behavior, from his Wiki page:
The mass snowballing of former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson is often attributed to Rendell. As the story goes, Rendell wagered twenty dollars that the person sitting next to him could not hit Johnson in the head with a snowball at an Eagles-Cowboys football game at Veterans Stadium. The incident ‘snowballed’ and resulted in many fans hurling snowballs at Johnson.
OK, so there’s my nice Ed Rendell post. But I really don’t like the guy’s politics, so back to bashing from here on out :)
Friday Catblogging
I won’t do regular cat blogging because I don’t own a cat, and I think cat blogging is stupid, but I thought this was amusing and creative:
At first I thought maybe this was part of Ed Rendell’s new energy plan. I think I could probably make a kid sized one that could solve the problem of childhood obesity. If Ed wants to pass another new tax on fast food, I’d be happy to collect some tax grant money and get right to work on the problem!
Kydex
I know there are folks out there who think carrying in anything other than leather to be an abomination in the eyes of God. I got my carry license when I was 28 years old, which, I’m sorry to say, was five years ago, and I’m up for renewal this year. I went through the typical drawer full of holsters that didn’t work for me, along with the awkward phase where you always thought people could see your pistol.
I eventually settled on the Galco Royal Guard, in-waist-band holster. This worked pretty well for me, but I could never get over the fact that it added some significant dimension to my Glock. I decided at some point that it would be worth it to try a Kydex holster.
I started off with a Comp-Tac Pro Undercover holster. The first time I did a practice draw out of the kydex, I almost lost control of my grip, because kydex provided much less draw resistance than leather. Once retention is broken, the pistol comes clean out. After a few tries, I decided I really liked how the draw felt. The downside to the Pro Undercover was that the belt loop, after repeated removing and adding, kept breaking off. I went through two of them before I decided to give Sidearmor’s Glock IWB holster a try. The sidearmor holster is pretty good, and I like the fact that you can swap out the belt loop. My only complaint is that, unlike the Comp-Tac holster, you have to undo your belt to remove the holster, since the loop surrounds the belt. I like to take my holster off with the pistol still in it for storage in the drawer at night.
I’m really liking Comp-Tac’s Infidel line, and I think I might have to order one. It seems to combine the features I like about the Sidearmor holster with what I liked about the Pro Undercover. The Comp-Tac people were always prompt and friendly too. I had my holster in a matter of days.
Both Comp-Tac and Sidearmor make great holsters. I would recommend you try them if you’re thinking of switching to Kydex. I know a lot of people won’t carry in anything other than leather, but I’m never going back. The slim profile, combined with an easy draw, easy reholstering, and good support make it superior in my view.
Comments Broken
Comments are broken for some reason. I have no idea why. Time to dive into source code.
UPDATE: Comments are fixed. I kicked the power cord out for my machine Wed night and the time somehow reset to Feb 20th. Apparently WordPress’s spam feature get confused if it shows comments in the future. I had to go into MySQL to reset all the Feb 20th entires to Feb 1st as they should be. I think I need to get a decent SQL editor so I don’t have to do crap like that by hand.
A Warning to Democrats
Dave Kopel points us to a study done by the Independence Institute that showed the NRA can actually influence elections. I think they are using a limited number of elections here. You’d have to use more to draw solid conclusions, but it’s interesting, nontheless. Particularly in the conclusion:
So, does the NRA have any political impact? The answer is yes. This interest group gathers information on gun control and other issues important to the members, disseminates the information to the membership, represents its members to elected officials, reports to the membership the behaviors of elected officials, and helps shape public opinion on some issues. Put another way, the NRA is like a political party, but one that cuts across the current two-party alignment.
I’d like to see copies of this passed out on the Hill to all the Democrats, to inform them, and to serve as a very subtle warning; cross us at your own peril. Read the whole thing.
Rendell Proposes New Tax. Also, Pope Still Catholic.
Ed Rendell’s energy plan is looking great so far:
Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday proposed a new fee on the sale of electricity in Pennsylvania to help finance an ambitious plan to promote alternative energy sources, increase conservation and blunt expected increases in utility bills.
Yay! New taxes. I always love new taxes. But what will they pay for?
The fund would finance grants to reimburse homeowners and small businesses for half the cost of installing solar panels.
Solar panels are a not a solution to our energy problems, because it takes years for a solar panel to produce as much electricity as went into making it. There are numerous engineering problems with solar energy. This ain’t a solution, Ed.
The largest share of the money would be invested in clean-energy projects that include solar manufacturing, advanced coal technologies and biofuels.
I’m not down with any of this, except for clean coal, because of the practical difficulties. We will not grow our way out of our energy problems. If you do the math, it’s just not going to work. The only reasonable alternatives to petroleum are coal and nuclear power. I might even be OK with Rendell’s plan if it proposed putting more into nuclear power, but that’s really more of a political problem than an engineering one, and one that will likely have to be solved at the federal level.
All in all, it looks like a tax that will transfer money to special interests. No thanks, Ed.
Where Can I Go To Escape the Ninnies?
Seriously, the only thing that depressed me more than the PA Senate getting the smoking ban out of committee is the fact that so many Pennsylvanians don’t seem to care about the private property rights of business owners.
I should note that I’m not, nor have I ever been a smoker, but if I’m a bar or restaurant owner, I get to decide. If you don’t like that choice, then go somewhere else. Aren’t people kind of getting fed up with the government intruding into so many areas of private concern? I am, and I worry for the future that so many people turn to government to enforce their own preferences and tastes on everyone else. Take that to it’s limit, and we don’t live in a free society anymore.
Hair Questions Only Please
I don’t know if anyone saw the guys that put up the guerrilla marketing LED devices all over Boston give their press conference, but I would highly recommend it, because it’s a total riot. Click on the “TOP VIDEO” link on that story. If I can find a better video feed, I will post it. Looks like their attorney advised them to say nothing about the case, and they decided to have a bit of fun with the press:
“I feel like my hair is pretty perfect but altogether I want to redirect this to the haircuts of the ’70s,” Berdovsky said, ignoring reporters’ shouts.“I really like the one where the hair curls around to the back,” Stevens replied.
“Oh yeah, that one’s so hot,” Berdovsky then responded.
Frustrated reporters, trying to get the pair to respond to serious questions about the incident that at one point involved the participation of the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, finally tossed a question that gave one of them cause to reflect.
When asked whether they were afraid their hair might be cut if they are sent to prison, Berdovsky stopped his rant and answered, “Whatever happens I feel that my hair is safe at the moment.”
Kudos to them for treating this like the steaming pile of bullshit that it is. The only people at fault here are the authorities for overreacting. People should be pissed at their government, not these two guys. It should be obvious to anyone who doesn’t have severe brain damage (i.e. not Boston and Massachusetts politicians) that these devices were NOT bombs, and were not intended to be threatening:
“It’s clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location,” Assistant Attorney General John Grossman said at their arraignment.The surreal series is about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball. The network is a division of Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc.
The 1-foot tall signs, which were lit up at night, resembled a circuit board, with protruding wires and batteries. Most depicted a boxy, cartoon character giving passersby the finger — a more obvious sight when darkness fell.
“It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme,” Menino said Wednesday. “I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today’s incidents.”
You’ve got to be kidding me? Mumbles Menino can go to hell and so can the Massachusetts AAG. I don’t think their charges of planting a hoax device will stick, and I really hope they go after these clowns for malicious prosecution. If you live in Massachusetts, and you like it there, I think you need to lay off the crack. At the very least, you need to start electing better people to run your government.
UPDATE: Bruce at mAssBackwards makes a really good point. But first instincts, I would think, is that a brightly colored LED display with a cartoon like figure on it is not, in fact, a terrorist explosive device, and maybe out to be checked out, but not create absolute panic. Bruce does have a good point, though, and I’ll agree that being cautious and checking out the devices was warranted. But I still strongly comdemn the Boston authorities reaction in the aftermath. Plus Turner came forward and claimed responsbility for the signs, and they were ignored! Then the city went ape shit and starting throwing bogus charges around.
The Making of a Dictator
It’s been interesting to watch what’s been going on in Venezuela. It’s not often we get to see a socialist dictatorship emerge right before our own eyes. Today, Hugo Chavez was given the power to make laws unilaterally, so that he may “impose the dictatorship of a true democracy.” That is, a socialist “democracy”.
Just to give you an example of why I will never be elected president, I don’t see why the proper response to this isn’t to just say nothing, but to frame the noose that Saddam was hung with, and send it to Hugo, with a note attached saying:
Comrade Chavez,
Congratulations on your newfound power. I hope will will take this gift as congratulations, and as a reminder that I really do not like dictators, and those who have decided to cause trouble for us often find their lifespans severly shortened. But seriously, congratulations, destroying five decades of democratic rule in Venezuela is quite an accomplishment. Rest assured that the US stands ready to offer assistance to your country after you destroy its economy, and we’re forced to remove you from power.
Sincerely,
El Diablo
I mean, how could you resist that. Especially when you read stuff like this:
The law also allows Chavez to dictate unspecified measures to transform state institutions; reform banking, tax, insurance and financial regulations; decide on security and defense matters such as gun regulations and military organization; and “adapt” legislation to ensure “the equal distribution of wealth” as part of a new “social and economic model.”
I’ll bet Comrade Chavez is going to be making healthy use of that particular power. Remember folks, you have to disarm people before you can subjugate them. Let’s not help make it happen here too. Oh, but it gets better:
Chavez plans to reorganize regional territories and carry out reforms aimed at bringing “power to the people” through thousands of newly formed Communal Councils designed to give Venezuelans a say on spending an increasing flow of state money on projects in their neighborhoods, from public housing to potholes.
It’s good to see that Chavez has been reading his Lenin. You know what the Russian word for council is? That’s right, Soviet. If the Venezuelans know what’s good for them, they’ll put a bullet in this commie rat’s head before he can do too much damage.