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Archive for November, 2010

Daily Digest

November 28th, 2010 No comments

A stark reminder that “gun-free” zones aren’t. They’re target-rich environments. – Shooting at Michigan mall injures 2

…and that criminals don’t need guns when they know their victims are unarmed. – Man, 48, fatally stabbed in Kingstanding store

Thank God for global warming or they’d really be cold. – Record cold, high winds slam parts of L.A. County

…and in Wales. – Temperature drops to record -17C November low in Powys

…and Scotland. – Coldest November night on record in parts of UK

Too cool. Where can I get one? – U.S. Army Unveils ‘Revolutionary’ XM25 Rifle in Afghanistan

So why isn’t the DOJ suing these cities over federal preemption as they are AZ? – Calif. City’s ID Card Would Double as Debit Card

Hmmm…what could the common thread be? – Just another bomb-plotting jihadist yelling “Allahu akbar!”

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Daily Digest

November 26th, 2010 No comments

Oh, the irony. An illegal becomes a lawyer…who doesn’t want the law enforced. – Undocumented UCLA law grad is in a legal bind

Now there’ll be a call for banning swords or Masons… – ‘Ugly Betty’ Actor Says He Killed ‘Demon’ Inside His Mom

…and golf. – Fla. Golf Course Worker Hit by Tee Shot, Dies

Will the administration step back from Islamic front groups? Not likely. – Cut Ties To Terror

Remember the “Tea Party nut” whose radio and email threats led to the school lockdowns? Liberal activist. – Schools Threat Suspect Is Green Party Member (hat tip to Weasel Zippers)

If you needed more evidence that Ba-Ba Wa-Wa has lost all credibility as a journalist (by keeping this cretin on her show):

(hat tip to Hot Air)

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CNN Displays Anti-Gun Bias and Ignorance of Ammunition

November 26th, 2010 No comments

This really shouldn’t surprise anyone, since most of what passes for news in popular media regarding guns is inaccurate and/or outright biased. Today CNN reports in shock that hollow-point bullets were used in the murder of Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen last week.

“One bullet was recovered from her back while at the hospital and is possibly from a 9 mm hollow point,” according to the document shown on Los Angeles television station KTTV.

Hollow-point bullets are controversial because the slug is designed to expand after it enters a body, causing greater damage to tissue than a solid bullet.

Hollow-points are only controversial to anti-gun crusaders and people who aren’t familiar with ammunition in general. Here’s the rundown on the two major types of ammunition available to the general public.

Jacketed rounds have a solid lead core which is fully or partially encased by a covering “jacket” of some other metal. This jacket minimizes the amount of deformation which takes place when the bullet hits its target. As a result, jacketed ammunition has an improved ability to pierce through hard materials such as wood, concrete, and steel. This property is highly desirable for military applications in which the target is often concealed by an obstacle of some sort. The major drawback to jacketed ammunition is a direct consequence of this property: jacketed rounds tend to overpenetrate or pass entirely through soft targets—such as humans. This is not a problem for the military, as the guy standing behind the target is highly likely to also be a target. In civilian and police applications, however, this is clearly not a desirable trait. Very often in such scenarios, other humans in the immediate vicinity of the target are not targets, but are innocent bystanders. A jacketed round is quite likely to penetrate all the way through the target and, on exit, strike something unintended.

Hollow-point rounds, on the other hand, are not jacketed (or are only semi-jacketed) and have a lead core with an indentation hollowed out of the point (hence the name). The shape of the bullet’s tip is designed to cause the lead to flatten—or mushroom—achieving two simultaneous and highly desirable goals: the increased surface area of the bullet after deformation causes more internal damage to the target (and increasing the probability that the target’s attack will be stopped) and it slows the bullet down so that it is much less likely to pass through the target into an innocent bystander. While hollow-points are used mostly in handguns, in recent years they have become available in some popular defensive rifle calibers (e.g., the .223 and 7.62×39 that the AR and AK rifles employ).

Although the CNN article certainly doesn’t tell you this, police everywhere in the U.S. use hollow-point ammunition and recommend that civilians do the same in their self-defense weapons—primarily for the two reasons highlighted above. So the fact that hollow-points were used in this murder—any murder, really—does not surprise anyone who has any real familiarity with guns and ammunition. Almost all handgun owners load their weapons with hollow-points.

This is not news—and certainly not headline news. It is merely more manufactured hysteria.

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Just Answer the Question!

November 25th, 2010 1 comment

Obama has an almost uncanny ability to avoid answering tough questions. Of course, that may simply be because he doesn’t have any idea what an effective policy would look like.

Categories: International Tags:

Daily Digest

November 24th, 2010 No comments

Fact check: in the 1950s there were about 5,000 polar bears. There are now 25,000. This is not about saving polar bears, but about keeping us from drilling for oil. – Alaska polar bears given ‘critical habitat’

The Case Against Motorcycle Helmet Laws

And the left called Bush a tyrant. – Obama Using Executive Orders to Implement Radical Agenda

The real effect of current tax & welfare law. – Minimum wage earner nets more than family making $60K

Another good reason to oppose START: verification. – GOP senator cites new intel, won’t back New START

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Daily Digest

November 22nd, 2010 No comments

If the pilot had been a terrorist, the response was too late. – Fighters scrambled as DC airspace rules violated

An interesting concept, but how do you pay for it? – Ditch the Cord, Let the Road Charge Your EV

Now we’re supposed to fund it. – Developers of Mosque Near Ground Zero Seek Federal Funds for Post-09/11 Rebuilding

An Inconvenient Truth. – America Gets Gored

Interestingly left out by CNN: illegal immigrant. – Jury convicts man in killing of Chandra Levy in 2001

A bipartisan failure. – Time To Redefine Gov’t To Social Reality

I wondered when Sowell would provide his input. Incisive, as usual. – Airport “Security”?

Save Us From the Intellectuals

Kudlow with Bush: he’s a lot more respectful of his successor than said successor is of him. – Kudlow: An Animated Conversation with Former President George W. Bush

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Daily Digest

November 21st, 2010 No comments

So the PA insists settlements stop as a precondition to talks. Israel should retaliate and say they’ll come to the table after six months with no inbound missiles. – Palestinian Leader Insists on Halt to Settlements

Um, why isn’t he going to the UK or Canada? I hear they have great systems. – Saudi King Abdullah to go to US for medical treatment

Ramirez on the 4th Amendment

She’s brilliant when taken in small doses. – The 25 Best Ann Coulter Quotes About Liberals

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Daily Digest

November 20th, 2010 No comments

Mighty nice of him. – Pope Says Condoms to Stop AIDS May Be Acceptable

Yep, those TSA folks are really well-trained. – TSA pat-down leaves traveler covered in urine

Chris Christie’s “apology” from head of teachers union. We need more like him.


Things that make you go, “Hmm…” – Dems say new machines found in Buffalo
Carville: “If Hillary gave Obama one of her balls, they’d both have two.”

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Daily Digest

November 19th, 2010 No comments

How, exactly, can you tell when a hamster is depressed? – Study ties nighttime lighting to depression

But it all happened by random chance. – Human brain has more switches than all computers on Earth

I’m sorry, but if you’re using an iPhone app to rate your happiness while having sex, you’re definitely doing it wrong! – iPhone app reveals that sex makes us happiest

My question in this whole debate: how many of these scanners will be placed in foreign airports where they’re more likely to do some real good? TSA’s answer so far is, “Zero.” – Too Cowardly To Question Profiling Taboo  

When you lose Paul Krugman… – The World as He Finds It

Wonder if this might actually work. – NFL Sends Thousands Of Volunteers To Help Clean Up NFC West

And you thought our elections were bad. – Spain’s R-Rated Election Campaign

Uh-oh. The greenies’ idea to sequester CO2 might actually kill us. – What if Captured Carbon Makes a Getaway?

The IPCC’s not-so-hidden agenda. – The Climate Cash Cow

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Daily Digest

November 18th, 2010 1 comment

Google this hero’s story. It’s worth a read. – Rare Honor for a Living Service Member

Ay, yes. Islam: the religion of tolerance and peace. – Palestinian Blogger Angers West Bank Muslims

California loses its mind. We all pay. – California Court Backs Illegal Immigrant Students

How many terrorists have the TSA’s policies caught? The shoe bomber? Nope. Underwear bomber? Nope. – TSA: Despite objections, all passengers must be screened

The height of foolishness. – U.S. to go ahead with terrorism trials

Camelot not so squeaky clean. – President John F Kennedy and the art of dirty politics

This is the nation bequeathed to us by Mandela and Tutu. – South African shock as alleged rape victim charged

And our open borders crowd complains about AZ. – Spain outrage over migrant bombing game

A thoughtful question with no easy answers. – The deserving or undeserving poor?

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