9/04/2004
Choose Which Child Dies
From Leaning to the Right via Stix:
Zalina's Choice: A Choice I Can't Fathom
The terrorists in Russia made mothers choose between their children. Save one; leave the other.
Zalina Dzandarova cradles her son Alan as he sleeps with his small face buried against her stomach. He is the child Dzandarova was able to save. The child she chose to save, really.
It is the other one, little Alana, her 6-year-old daughter, whose image torments her: Alana clutching her hand, Alana crying and calling after her. Alana's sobs disappearing into the distance as Dzandarova walked out of Middle School No. 1 here Thursday, clutching 2-year-old Alan in her arms.
[. . .]
Dzandarova had both Alan and Alana with her and made a snap decision to pass Alana to her 16-year-old sister-in-law. But the guerrillas saw through the ruse and refused to allow her to take the older child.
"Alana was clinging to me and holding my hand firmly. But they separated us, and said: 'You go with the boy. Your sister can stay here with her.' I cried. I begged them. Alana cried. The women around us wept. One of the Chechens said: 'If you don't go now, you don't go at all. You stay here with your children … and we will shoot all of you.' "
She couldn't save both of them. She could only die with both of them — or save one of them and herself.
"I didn't have time to think what I was doing," she said. "I pressed Alan even stronger to myself, and I went out, and I heard all the time how my daughter was crying and calling for me behind my back. I thought my heart would break into pieces there and then."
Dzandarova cried as she talked. Her tears fell on Alan, who was sleeping. Even when his mother shook quietly with sobs as she cradled him, he didn't awaken.
CHOOSE BETWEEN THEIR CHIILDREN!
CHOOSE BETWEEN THEIR CHILDREN!
CHOOSE BETWEEN THEIR CHILDREN!
I have two children. I cannot, with any fiber of my being, imagine a worse situation. I would gladly lay down my own life should it save theirs, but to sacrifice one of my boys for the other? I cannot. I cannot bear the mere thought of such a choice.
Walking out of a terrorist siege with one child in my arms and the other crying for me?
I can't even see through my tears, and I feel sick to my stomach.
UPDATE: Zalina has her daughter back. Amazingly, Alana made it out of the school by clinging to a 15-year-old boy, begging him to take her with him.
The depth of depravity is simply astounding.
This is is the evil we face. This is why we must fight.
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All Gun Owners Are Suspects
at least, if you own a gun that's the same model and caliber as one used in a murder and you live in Sonoma County, Kalifornia.
Detectives testing residents' guns
Detectives investigating the slayings of two young campers on a Jenner beach have visited the homes of at least two Sonoma County residents this week, seeking permission to test their handguns.
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Sheriff's Lt. Roger Rude wouldn't say how detectives identified the men or why they were interviewed, saying investigators want to protect the "sanctity of the investigation."
But he said detectives acted properly and that not all Sonoma County gun owners are suddenly under suspicion, though he acknowledged that more people would be contacted.
"I do not believe that we have been exploiting a database in order to check everybody in the world that has a gun," he said. "I think folks are barking up the wrong tree there."
It's a long-standing law enforcement technique to knock on doors to try to find weapons used in a crime when other evidence, such as recovered bullet fragments, points to a certain kind of gun.
So, not all gun owners are under suspicion, just the ones who own the specific model and caliber. Great. That makes me feel so much better, Lt. Rude. And the Sherriff's department's reluctance to say how they identified the specific gunowners is pretty much blown away later in the article.
"They're checking everyone who owns a gun like this in Sonoma County," he said. "They're going to assign detectives in the morning to follow up the leads. It's a very exhaustive process, but when you don't have a lot of other good things to go on, you've got to eliminate that."
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He said there is nothing illegal about using gun registry information in a criminal investigation, and that detectives don't need a search warrant unless they are denied entry or a person refuses to answer questions.
The information used in such cases can be obtained through the state Department of Justice, which keeps a record of all gun purchases made through licensed dealers in California. The information can be cross-checked with criminal records and other data from background checks that must be conducted when anyone buys a firearm, said Hallye Jordan, a Justice Department spokeswoman.
So a different cop admits that they're going to harass every person in the county who happens to own the specific type of gun. I'm waiting for the first person to tell the detectives to go piss up a rope until they've got a warrant. I'd also be interested to see if a judge would sign a warrant. As far as I'm concerned, just because someone owns a specific type of gun, and lives in the same county that a murder took place in doesn't qualify as probable cause, unless it's a really, really rare gun.
The gun-grabbers and the sheeple wonder why we get so worked up about gun registration.. Well, it's because of crap like this. I'm sorry, but getting harassed by the cops just because I happen to own the right (or wrong) type of gun certainly qualifies as and infringement of my rights.
One Sonoma county gunowner gets it right (almost).
"This is the kind of stuff that makes gun owners jump up and down," said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It's like having the Wehrmacht knock on your door."
I think the fascist agency he was looking for was the Gestapo, but he gets the point across. Welcome the People's Republic of Kalifornia, tovarisch.
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9/03/2004
Press People Can Be Such Asshats
Florida is about to get slammed by its second major hurricane in a month, and they're worrying about how it will effect the election.
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Another One Down
Note to John Kerry: Real heroes don't brag about what they've done. Via Instapundit.
"For the men who found Roze Khan, this was a huge morale boost. A textbook operation, executed almost to perfection. This particular team has captured or killed five Taliban commanders, more than any other single team since this war began over two years ago. They don't want any credit for it, they tell me, because that's not why there are here, doing this very difficult and dangerous job."
Read the whole story here.
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Leftist Criticism
Matt at Trigger Finger discusses an editorial which criticizes an NRA ad in the NRA's magazine.
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Nightmare Scenario
The hostage nightmare at the Russian school is, apparently, over. The end was extremely ugly-looks like over 200 cilivans dead, plus about 20 terrorists. From what I've been able to piece together, I don't think either side was prepared for what happened. The best summary I've found is at Bloomberg.
My guess at how the endgame started: the Russians had secured permission from the terrorists to remove the bodies of people killed when the terrorists seized the school. Apparently during their occupation, the terrorists had wired at least part of the school with explosives. Explosions were reported shortly after the body-removal team entered the school. I'm guessing something accidentally set off some of the explosives.
Those explosions caused a group of hostages to try to run. The Bloomberg account states that the terrorists started firing on the escaping hostages, and armed bystanders began firing at the terrorists. I'm really curious to find out exactly who these "armed bystanders" were. Maybe someone like this guy:
The guy in the picture is discussed in this thread on The HighRoad. At any rate, the presence of "armed bystanders" doesn't speak well of the ability of the Russian security forces to control the scene. Shortly after the terrorists started taking incoming fire, the bombs in the gym detonated, collapsing at least part of the roof, the the Russians stormed the building. At least some of the the terrorists may have escaped.
According to Russian security forces, at least 10 of the dead terrorists were Arabs. That means that the group had some sort of Al-Qaeda/Islamist connections. We know from training tapes caputred in Afghanistan that A-Q practiced operations against schools in the past. We also know from the tapes that the terrorists' intent in that scenario is not to obtain concessions from anyone, but to make as big a splash as possible while killing as many innocent victims as they can. They didn't plan on leaving that school alive.
I've got a couple of different theories on the terrorists. The first is that this operation was run solely by Chechen groups, and the Russians were the sole targets. In this case, they probably planned to blow up the whole school, most likely when Russian security forces tried to storm the place and rescue the hostages. Spectacular explosion with over 1000 dead bodies, mostly children. Gruesome and a high body count-and the terrorists die for Allah and get their 72 raisins.
Scarier theory: This was a rehearsal operation, run against live opposition, kind of like the Dieppe raid in WWII. The Russian security forces are tough and I wouldn't want to go up against them in a fight, but they suffer from the same lack of funds as the rest of the Russian military, so I probably wouldn't say they're the world's best. And some of the terrorists escaped-I'm theorizing that those who did were the leaders. So now they can AAR the operation, figure out what went right, and what went wrong, and use those lessons next time they or other terrorist groups/cells they may be connected to attempt a similar operation.
Who would be the likely target of another similar attack? I don't think they'd try it in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Pakistan-blowing up a bunch of Muslim schoolchildren wouldn't score them any PR points.Europe wouldn't be a bad guess, especially one of the nations that have supported America in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I'm going to guess right here in America. Most of the schools in my area prominently display their "Victim Disarmament Zone" signs outside their gates. And 1000 dead school kids would be really ugly right before the election.
I'm just glad my son is still too young for school.
UPDATE Logic & Sanity has a live&wire translation blog. Via LGF
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9/02/2004
Teddy Roosevelt
Great quote, courtesy of Knowledge is Power (scroll way down to find it. The blog is very prolific and very worth reading the whole thing.)
"Weasel words from mollycoddles will never do when the day demands prophetic clarity from greathearts. Manly men must emerge for this hour of trial."
--Theodore Roosevelt
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Wow.
Editorial by Ahmad Al-Jarallah, editor of the Kuwaiti Daily Al-Siyassa and the Arab Times. From MEMRI via OrbusMax. Money quote:
"Terrorism can be tackled only through war and only the United States, backed by a President who creates history, is capable of handling such a war. We must remember Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. Terrorists exploit the religion to achieve their objective, which is to destroy civilization, kill people, start wars and plunge the world into darkness. We saw how these terrorists kidnapped and killed innocent people under the cloak of religion only to forget all about their cause in exchange for a fistful of dollars.
"The entire world is aware of the cause and effect of terrorism. The killing and beheading of some innocent people won't prevent the United States or its allies from confronting terrorism. Americans are convinced of the need to fight this menace and no country is better equipped to do this job except the United States, which has the mightiest armed forces history has ever known. President Bush has the right to say 'I am the man who makes history' because he is fighting aggression against modern civilization. He is creating countries which enjoy democracy, peace, stability and security. These countries are now able to be a part of the international community sharing their traditions and culture with the rest of the humanity. Bush is the President of not only the United States but the whole world for he is making history on this small planet."
Let the moonbat freaks of the world chew on that.
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9/01/2004
A New Kind of OPFOR at JRTC
Apparently the Army and Louisiana wildlife officials are chasing a tiger at Ft Polk. Ft Polk is the home of the Army's big light infantry combat training center, the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC). So now there's new kind of threat on the simulated battlefield.
I'll laugh if one of the locals suddenly acquires a tiger skin rug.
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Yet Another Thing the Government Shouldn't Be Involved In
A Christian Science Monitor story carried in the Tacoma News Tribune concerning impending pension fund problems for United Airlines and others. The piece discusses the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which is a semi-government corporation, similar to the FDIC and FSLIC, that is supposed to provide insurance for workers when their company's pension fund goes in the tank.
The PBGC would be a good and noble thing-if it were entirely private. The fact that it isn't, and that no such private entity is willing to do what the PBGC does, should be an indicator that the government is using taxpayer money to insure bad business practices.
And that is what in fact is happening. Organizations like the FDIC, FSLIC, and PBGC are supposed to be able to fund themselves. We all saw how well that worked with the S&L industry, where taxpayers were left holding the bag to the tune of billions of dollars. Which is what has been slowly happening with PBGC-it was $11.2 billion in the red last year, meaning you and I had to cough up the cash.
To their credit, the PBGC wants nothing to do with UALs problems. And to the CSM's credit they likewise think that taxpayers shouldn't be stuck with the bill for UAL's failure. My position is that either the government should totally divest itself of involvement in PBGC (and FDIC and FSLIC while they're at it), lettin it sink or swim on its own merit, or it should just kill it altogether.
Pension arrangements are part of the contract between employer and employee. If the employer won't keep their end of the deal, the employees should be able to take them to court for breach of contract. The problem in UAL's case is that, since the company is already under bankruptcy protection, if the employees won and UAL was forced to pay, the employees would basically end up owning the company, in which case, they'd be unable to pay themselves. So they're hosed. The only way out is to work out some sort of deal with the company, which would involve smaller pensions.
But the fate of UAL and its pension fund shouldn't have anything to do with the American taxpayer. Call me Heartless, but that's the way I see it.
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GOP Elites Pander to Illegals
Very disturbing story from Tim Carney on NRO on how the President's operatives excluded any form of platform language that could even be remotely construed as anti-illegal immigrants. They wouldn't even allow the term "illegal immigrant" to be used.
This is Bush and Rove blatantly pandering to the Hispanic vote. The truly ironic part is Bush's pro-amnesty stance will probably cost him an equal amount, if not more, conservative votes in states like Nevada and Arizona, since polls show Americans to be overwhelmingly in favor of cracking down on illegal immigration.
Of course, what does the majority matter when there are special interest groups to be pandered to?
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Oh, the Hedonism!
My wife left Sunday to spend two weeks at her folks, and she took my son sith her. This means I have the house to myself, and I can do some things that I can't when she's home.
So last night I found myself on the deck, smoking a wonderful Puros Indios cigar, accompanied by a perfectly matched (actually, the best beer-stogie match I've ever managed) Heller Hound Bock from Flying Dog Brewery.
Good stuff, good stuff.
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Why Women Should Be Armed
Police: Burglar Breaks In When Women Are Home Alone
Intruder Surprises 2 Women In Seattle's Fremont
SEATTLE -- Police are looking for a burglar who breaks into homes in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood when he knows women are home alone, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported.
In August, the man forced his way into a secured apartment building and broke into a woman's apartment while she was taking a shower, police said.
"She heard somebody coming up the stairs and nobody should have been there. That is when she came out screaming and yelling and that is when he ran off," said the manager of the apartment building, who did not want to be identified.
The manager said the man removed the peephole from a door to spy on the woman and used a knife to jimmy the lock.
Police said another woman found the same man in her home after he cut a screen to get inside. She screamed and he ran away.
"Whether or not there are any other indication or motivation other than to take property we don't know," said Sean Whitcomb of the Seattle department.
The intruder is described as white man in his mid- to late 20s, about 6 feet tall and clean cut with a medium build, sandy hair and a very dark tan.
For now, the goblin seems to be taking off as soon as he's discovered. But if he's deliberately doing it when the women are home, he's doing it for a reason. And that reason can't be a good one.
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8/31/2004
When Anarchists Attack
Outside the Perimeter has links to video of Protest Warriors under seige in NYC.
Sidenote: Is it just me, or do the pro-Bush, anti-moonbat protestors seem to have much more attractive women?
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More Saiga Fun
Rob at Backroad Blog has posted an answer to my question on the legality of converting a Saiga-20 shotgun from import configuration into something that will get DiFi's panties in a bunch. So, it should be legal, and it's technically feasible.
I do agree with Rob, though, that while it would function excellently for home defense, lawyers would have a field day over an 'AK shotgun' in any potential civil suit if you should actually have to blast any goblins with it.
I think it'd be great for 3-gun though. Now I just need a Homeland Defense Rifle, and somewhere to shoot 3-gun.
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8/30/2004
But Where Are the "Assault Weapons?"
Gunscribe looks at a confidential ATF report on guns seized by police in Philly.
Now why would a report like that be confidential?
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Census Bureau Job Description
Much ink and mahy electrons have been expended to explain to the unwashed masses what the most recent Census Bureau report says regarding upon whom, exactly, the tax burden has increased and decreased. I'm not going to go into any of those arguments; I honestly don't care. I feel that the current federal tax code is a monstrosity of attempted social engineering and favors to interest groups and needs to be scrapped completely.
My question: how is who pays how much taxes any business of the Census Bureau? As far as I read it, the only thing required by the Constituion is a decennial counting of heads.
The actual Enumeration shall be made...within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they [Congress] shall by law direct.
So what, pray tell, are these nosy folks doing poking around my takx returns?
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New York City Council Denounces the NRA
Dave Kopel and Paul Blakcman have the story on NRO.
This spring, several city-council members introduced Resolution No. 11 denouncing the National Rifle Association's presence at the Republican Convention. A modified version of the resolution was approved by a voice vote on March 10, with seven recorded dissenters.
...
The original version of this year's New York City resolution complained that the NRA's "stated goal" is to preserve the rights "guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution." The draft resolution also urged the Republicans to bar the NRA from the Republican Convention. As adopted, the resolution merely asks the GOP to denounce the NRA.
That's right, the idiot moonbats on the New York City Council are denouncing the presence of a civil rights organization at a political convention. What The NYCC really hates the NRA for isn't because the NRA lobbies in favor of the SEcond Amendment; it's that the NRA has been successful at doing so. Furthermore, the NRA has provided key support in several lawsuits, including one filed by NYC, attempting to blame firearm manufacturers for illegal acts committed with their legall produced and sold products. And that success interferes with the socialist progressive agenda.
"Advocacy for me, but not for thee." That's the rea message the NYCC is sending.
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Another Kennedy Opens His Yap
Yet another member of the anti-Second Amendment Kennedy clan has opened his mouth about the impending end of the Homeland Defense Rifle Ban. This time it's Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). Story in the Pawtucket Times.
"The president is balancing his own self-interest with the preservation of lives," Kennedy told reporters, "and our families, children and police officers are the ones who will pay the price."
Here, I actually agree with him, at least in part. President Bush is playing politics with the issue, risking alienating a group which helped deliver the key states of Tennesse and West Virginia for him in 2000 while wooing the blissninny soccer mom vote. As for "families, children, and police officers" who will pay the price, I'm not exactly sure how that works, since the HDR Ban has done nothing to keep any weapons out of the hands of lawbreakers.
"We are worried about WMD, as if homeland security only meant defending our country from foreign attacks," Kennedy continued.
"For most inner cities, homeland security really means having your children come home safely after school. For most inner cities, homeland security really means reducing the number of drive-by shootings."
Congressman, for me, homeland security means the ability to defend myself and my family against all who would do us harm, whether that be terrorists, criminals, or jack booted government agents. I don't expect calling 911 to be effective in that job, but the weapons you want banned do a good job of it.
If you realy wanted to improve security of those living in the inner cities, you would support a couple of things. First, legallizing drugs, the prohibition of which guarantees the illicit profits which drives the violence of the drug gangs. Wait, didn't Grandpa Joe make a bunch of money off the original Prohibition?
Second, support ending the welfare state entitlement programs that promote sloth, dependency, and a victim mentality instead of industry and self reliance, thus keeping many inner city residence stuck in the quagmire of poverty.
If assault weapons such as the 35-round AK-47 are legalized on Sept. 13, Kennedy and [Providence Mayor David] Cicilline said the number and quality of assault weapons in illegal circulation will increase proportionately.
I'm not sure if this is ignorance on the part of Kennedy and Cicilline, the reporter, or both. First of all, in its standard configuration, the Kalashnikov pattern rifles use a 30 round magazine, not 35, although magazines with capacities from 5 to 75 rounds are available.
Second, the AK-47 (AK-47 is a hot button word used by gun grabbers to cause confusion with actual select-fire assault rifles and "assault weapons") is not regulated by the HDR Ban. The AK-47 is a select-fire rifle capable of full auto fire, and is regulated by the 1934 NFA.
And, given how often the HDR Ban is cited as being ineffective by those who want to expand it, weapon such as those refered to are already readily available to criminals. The sunset of the Ban won't change a thing.
Proponents say the ban has little to do with the Second Amendment, since it would only prohibit the sale and importation of military-style weapons, designed, as [Newport Mayor Richard] Sardella put it, "for no other purpose than to help people harm people."
Most handguns and rifles, especially those commonly used for hunting and target shooting, would not be impacted by the ban.
I can't make up my mind if the gun grabbers like Mayor Sardella simply don't understand the right protected by the Second Amendment, or if they do understand it and deliberately misrepresent its meaning because it is dangerous to their socialist progressive agenda. The Founders understood the meaning:
"Swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state government, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people" -Tench Coxe, Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788
The right to possess military weapons is especially protected, because they grant the best ability to successfully resist the agents of a tyrannical government. The ability to hunt and shoot holes in paper targets is incidental.
Kennedy cited the North Hollywood bank robbery shootout of 1997 to illustrate an ongoing law enforcement situation in which, he said, police are routinely outgunned by criminals.
"Fear the government the fears your guns." I've seen that bumper sticker at just about every gun show I've been to. Having citizens who are as well armed, or better armed, than government troops is a good thing. Yes, there will be some who will abuse that right. All rights are abused. Free speech is used to slander, libel, and defame. Freedom from unwarranted government search is used to hide all mannner of illegal activities. The right to arms means criminals will have them, too. (Although, the examples of England and Australia show that criminals have little trouble procuring firearms even when that right is denied to the general public.) That's the price of freedom, Congressman.
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8/29/2004
Admit It, You've Done It
For all of you out there who have let the firing pin go forward on your Mauser bolt while cleaning it, SurplusRifle.com has posted instructions on how to fix it.
And yes, I've done this myself.
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