jrichardson – Page 2 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Righthaven LLC Adds More Papers to Troll List

According to a story in Wired, Righthaven LLC has expanded their copyright trolling operation to another newspaper chain. The WEHCO Media chain of newspapers has been added to the target list for Righthaven’s trolls.

WEHCO Media is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas and co-owns Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC with Stephens Media. WEHCO owns the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette which is the largest newspaper in the state and the 43rd largest by circulation in the U.S.

A list of their newspaper holdings and a brief history of the company can be found on No Lawyers – Only Guns and Money.

San Francisco’s Lone Gun Store Fights to Reopen.

High Bridge Arms is fighting for their right to reopen the only gun store in San Francisco. Temporarily closed after 50 years in business, Steve Alcairo is having to fight the North Bernal Alliance and three other neighborhood groups in an effort to reopen. Many in that group feel “a laundry or a wine and cheese shop” would be better.

Alert: Female Soldiers are “Not as Straight as Men are”

If you think this post is about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and lesbians in the U.S. Army, you would be wrong.

Actually, the powers that be at PEO Soldier, the Army unit tasked with uniforms and other personal gear for soldiers, have just noticed that women have curves.Â From a story on new female-specific uniformsÂ in the KitUp blog on Military.com:

As the Army wrestles with the frontline demand for OCP uniforms, the service has just announced plans for a female-only version of their ACUs.

This from the official release: â€œChanges being evaluated in PEOâ€™s re-designed uniform include 13 sizes in both the jacket and trousers, an elastic waistband, a more spacious hip area, a shortened crotch length, a more tailored jacket, and re-positioned rank and name tapes.â€

â€œWomen have so many different shapes and sizes, weâ€™re as not as â€˜straightâ€™ as men are,â€ said Maj. Sequana Robinson, assistant product manager for uniforms at PEO Soldier, who is currently testing one of the female-only ACUs.

Olympic Laser Tag

It was announced last week that the 2012 London Olympics will feature laser guns instead ofÂ an air pistol for the shooting portion of Modern Pentathlon. The announcement was made at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore by Union International de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) President Klaus Schormann.

Modern Pentathlon requires competitors to compete in running, fencing, shooting, swimming, and horse riding.Â The event was introduced to the Olympics by Baron Pierre deÂ Coubertin to simulate the experience of a cavalry soldier behind enemy lines – riding a horse, fighting with sword and pistol, swimming, and running. One famous pentathlete from the past was General George S. Patton who competed in the eventÂ for the United States in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. He finished fifth overall in the event.

Over the years, the shooting portion of Modern Pentathlon has evolved from 25 meter ISSF rapid fire to 10 meter ISSF air pistol to combining shooting with running (like a biathlon).

In announcing the change, Schormann said:

Based on this new technology, all countries in the world can compete in our sport.

We can hold competitions in parks and even shopping malls. Safety issues will no longer be a big concern

Jim Shepherd of The Shooting WireÂ interviewed people with the US Shooting and the International Shooting Sports Federation abou these changes. They dislike the changes saying that it will take the external element out of the shooting competition as the pistol, pellet accuracy, and wind conditions will now be irrelevant. One went so far as to characterize it as “turning shooting into an arcade game.” They also view it as a threat to the shooting sports.

If safety is such a parmount concern for the UIPM, then I would suggest in addition to the laser guns that they hold the running event on treadmills so that competitors won’t breathe in polluted air, use a Wii for the horse riding and fencing competitions because horses are unpredicatable and can be dangerous, and finally use an endless pool to minimize the risk of drowning.

No NRA Endorsement for Harry Reid

There was this somewhat stunning announcement from Chris Cox on the NRA’s Political Victory Fund site this afternoon:

Friday, August 27, 2010 In the coming days and weeks, the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) will be announcing endorsements and candidate ratings in hundreds of federal races, as well as thousands of state legislative races. Unless these announcements are required by the timing of primary or special elections, the NRA-PVF generally does not issue endorsements while important legislative business is pending. The NRA-PVF also operates under a long-standing policy that gives preference to incumbent candidates who have voted with the NRA on key issues, which is explained in more detail here.The U.S. Senate recently considered a number of issues important to NRA members, including the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Out of respect for the confirmation process, the NRA did not announce its position on Ms. Kagan’s confirmation until the conclusion of her testimony before the Senate Judiciary committee. Her evasive testimony exacerbated grave concerns we had about her long-standing hostility towards the Second Amendment. As a result, the NRA strongly opposed her confirmation and made it clear at the time that we would be scoring this important vote.

The vote on Elena Kagan’s confirmation to the Court, along with the previous year’s confirmation vote on Sonia Sotomayor, are critical for the future of the Second Amendment. After careful consideration, the NRA-PVF announced today that it will not be endorsing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for re-election in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Nevada.

NRA members and other interested parties are encouraged to visit www.NRAPVF.org for more information as Election Day draws near.

Given that the NRA’s Chris Cox and Wayne LaPierre are about as Washington Insider as it comes, the non-endorsement of Reid is recognition of two things in my opinion. First, the membership would rise up in protest if Harry Reid were to be endorsed. Second, the tide against the status quo is so strong that those who get in its way will be wiped out. Just ask Republican incumbents like Sen. Robert Bennett of Utah, Rep. Bob Inglis of South Carolina, and quite probably after all is said and done, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

PS: While Bitter and Sebastian are on vacation in Hawaii, I will be one of the guest bloggers in their absence. As my blog, No Lawyers – Only Guns and Money is quite new, I feel truly honored to be asked. I will do my best to keep up the standards that they have established.