"Far Left"
03 Jun 2008 03:28 pm
That's the exhausted meme that Bill Bennett tries to aim at Obama. It is the meme the old right need to force this election back into the red-blue post-Vietnam boomer rubric which is all Bennett understands. But let's be clear. "Far left" means to the right of Clinton in healthcare, right? "Far left" means tax rates broadly within the post-Reagan parameters and certainly far to the right of, say, Richard Nixon.
"Far left" means a policy of withdrawal from Iraq that, as Bill Kristol observes, is increasingly close to McCain's. "Far left" means a man that Joe Lieberman was thrilled to get to support his last Senate campaign. "Far left" means a "cap-and-trade" position on climate change very close to John McCain's. "Far left" means well to the racial right of Jesse Jackson. "Far left" means opposition to same-sex marriage and to a federal constitutional amendment (very close to John McCain). "Far left" means a policy on torture embraced by the Republican nominee and endorsed by every American president apart from George W. Bush.
This "far left" meme is meaningless. It says everything about the intellectual bankruptcy of the talk radio right and nothing about the substantive polices and challenges of a president Obama.
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I parse.
"Far left" means to the right of Clinton in healthcare, right?
There is plenty of room to the right of Clinton on health care, which said room could still be considered far left.
"Far left" means tax rates broadly within the post-Reagan parameters and certainly far to the right of, say, Richard Nixon.
. . . and far to the right of, say, Richard Nixon. Stop it, you're killing me here. Richard Nixon of wage and price controls? Richard Nixon of "Sock it to me" and "Bye-bye Bretton Woods" fame? Richard Nixon of "Hey let's untether the dollar entirely from any kind of commodity base" fame? Richard Nixon of EPA and OSHA? Let's face it, if Richard Milhous Nixon had shaved in 1960, the Democrats would be running around with a trifecta of triple named terrors: JFK, LBJ, RMN, baby!
"Far left" means retaining the right to bomb Pakistan if al Qaeda is deemed a threat there.
Umm, what's conservative about bombing other countries until they love us?
"Far left" means a policy of withdrawal from Iraq that, as Bill Kristol observes, is increasingly close to McCain's.
Having not observed Bill Kristol lately, I'm not sure what he's saying about Obama and Iraq---but does anyone remember "McCain" and "a hundred years"? I thought you did. That's pretty far left for me. If you're unclear on the concept, go read some founding fathers on entangling alliances and going abroad in search of monsters.
"Far left" means a man that Joe Lieberman was thrilled to get to support his last Senate campaign.
Umm, in terms of sheer maniacal Wilsonian Zionist fervor, yeah, Joe Lieberman (from the Lieberman Party, or the Party of Lieberman) is pretty far left.
"Far left" means a "cap-and-trade" position on climate change very close to John McCain's.
"Cap and trade" within the United States means "cap and watch your industries flee overseas even faster."
"Far left" means well to the racial right of Jesse Jackson.
See comments above about health care, Clinton, and far left.
And,
"Far left" means a policy on torture embraced by the Republican nominee and endorsed by every American president apart from George W. Bush.
Well, gee. You have me there. If there is any reason to vote for the Man from Hope (I'm sorry, the Man for Change), it's his opposition to torture. Otherwise you've pretty much got a liberal academic (wait--he's not a liberal? and he's not an academic?) with family issues and not much record.
But he's pretty.
And he's tan.
And he's far left.
Gramsci won, I guess.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Sometimes they just write themselves, folks.
Andrew Sullivan posts:
A nano-scientific breakthrough:
"Three things can happen to light when it hits a material," says Boston College Physicist Willie J. Padilla. "It can be reflected, as in a mirror. It can be transmitted, as with window glass. Or it can be absorbed and turned into heat. This metamaterial has been engineered to ensure that all light is neither reflected nor transmitted, but is turned completely into heat and absorbed. It shows we can design a metamaterial so that at a specific frequency it can absorb all of the photons that fall onto its surface."...
I heard Karl Rove is looking to buy some.
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Funny, I heard Barack Obama was looking to buy some blackness. (Cue your bad Wright jokes here, please.)
A nano-scientific breakthrough:
"Three things can happen to light when it hits a material," says Boston College Physicist Willie J. Padilla. "It can be reflected, as in a mirror. It can be transmitted, as with window glass. Or it can be absorbed and turned into heat. This metamaterial has been engineered to ensure that all light is neither reflected nor transmitted, but is turned completely into heat and absorbed. It shows we can design a metamaterial so that at a specific frequency it can absorb all of the photons that fall onto its surface."...
I heard Karl Rove is looking to buy some.
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Funny, I heard Barack Obama was looking to buy some blackness. (Cue your bad Wright jokes here, please.)
Friday, May 23, 2008
Sometimes I wonder . . .
It helps to remember that I am a simple soul, and that I think words have meaning, and that law has meaning. In most relationships, I like to have mutual rights and responsibilities spelled out---it just makes it easier to know what you have to do, what you ought to do, and what you can't do. With that as a forward, sometimes I wonder . . .
If the United States and Israel are really allies, why don't we have a defense treaty?
Apparently, we don't.
We do, however, have a Memorandum of Agreement signed by and between William Jefferson Clinton and Benjamin Netanyahu concerning maintanence of Israel's "qualitative edge." A Christian Science Monitor article discussing the Memorandum is found here.
If the United States and Israel are really allies, why don't we have a defense treaty?
Apparently, we don't.
We do, however, have a Memorandum of Agreement signed by and between William Jefferson Clinton and Benjamin Netanyahu concerning maintanence of Israel's "qualitative edge." A Christian Science Monitor article discussing the Memorandum is found here.
Barack Obama and the Hairy Ainu of Appalachia
Dee Davis, in Salon, writes about Barack Obama's problems with the Hairy Ainu of Appalachia.
Heck, one of the reasons I developed an interest in both the Chechens and Afghanis was that they struck me as "Muslim hillbillies."
And, of course, anyone who reads this will probably already know that the reference to Hairy Ainu (by Toynsbee no less!) is a comparison with the Japanese who lived (very much apart from mainstream Japanese society) on the mountainous isle of Hokkaido.
I liked the paragraph about internet trolls' reactions to Appalachia's failure to recognize the Obamessiah:
Heck, one of the reasons I developed an interest in both the Chechens and Afghanis was that they struck me as "Muslim hillbillies."
And, of course, anyone who reads this will probably already know that the reference to Hairy Ainu (by Toynsbee no less!) is a comparison with the Japanese who lived (very much apart from mainstream Japanese society) on the mountainous isle of Hokkaido.
I liked the paragraph about internet trolls' reactions to Appalachia's failure to recognize the Obamessiah:
The legions of pseudonym-laden online posters who follow in political punditry's wake are less restrained in describing the shortcomings of Sen. Clinton's Appalachian supporters. They suggest it has to do with her voters being racist, toothless, shoeless, and prone to marrying their cousins. In short, they characterize these "special" Democrats in much the same terms they used in quieter times to describe Republicans.
Monday, May 12, 2008
William Kristol irks me, yet again
But then, when does he not?
The Jewish State at 60
Wow, Germany and Russia. Traditional favorites of the Kristol family, I've found.
And yet somehow Mr. Kristol--despite his best intentions---brings Ahmadinejad into his birthday kiss column anyway. And how, again, did the founding of the state of Israel miraculously redeem the Jewish people?
It took a few minutes of dauntless search-fu, but I think Mr. Kristol is referring to "Impressions of Theophrastus Such" by George Eliot, which may be found here.
Also, Eliot wrote of a future Israel wrote:
Ah yes, Israel as a medium of transmission and understanding between East and West. A land for a halting-place of enmities . . . a neutral ground for the East. Umm, good luck with that.
A Hitler reference? I don't think I saw that one coming. Godwin's Law, anyone?
Well, there was the whole Slav thing, too. I think "Aryan" pretty much meant non-Slav, too. And then there was the whole Lebensraum thing. (I think we can agree that territorial expansion was a "clear principle" of Naziism.) And Versailles. And Alsace-Lorraine . . . Say, wasn't Leo Strauss a Methodist?
How, exactly, did the founding of Israel promise a more hopeful future for mankind qua mankind? Taking territory away from an unfavored group and giving it to a favored group through main strength and awkwardness---that's our more hopeful future?
And in the perspective of a thousand, two thousand, even three thousand years, who now remembers the Armenians? (That's a German chancellor quote, y'all.)
In our irresponsible and make-believe age, it takes a real man to stand up for the defense of Israel. This is mere assertion, with no explanation. And just what, exactly, is it that Israel stands for? A state with ethnically determined favoritism? A state with religiously determined favoritism? A state which cannot maintain harmonious relationships with its neighbors? That's our bright future?
Is this a slap at Franklin Delano Roosevelt? Well, if so, well and good, and let's lay on ourselves, but that's no nevermind right now. My more serious concern is Mr. Kristol's willing conflation of "the Jews" with either the State of Israel, or Israeli citizens. Or the Israeli government, of whichever flavor it might be at the moment? Kind of smacks of that whole collective thing to me. Me, I don't think the sins of the father pass on to the son, and certainly not to the whole damn tribe. We've been doing the whole tribal thing for over two thousand years since the coming of the Prince of Peace. Maybe we ought to think about a better way of doing these things. And really the whole Final Solution thing was tribalism all dressed up with modern efficiencies, wasn't it?
I'll confess, I had never heard of Eric Hoffer before. (I freely admit my limitations.) I googled him. Although I do not know if he was religiously observant, he was---in at least the ethnic sense of the word---a Jew.
Given that Hoffer was a Jew/Jewish (whichever is more properly recognized as the respectful designation), is it in any way surprising that he had a strong sense of self-identification with Israel? And would it be somehow wrong to suspect that his tribal affiliations colored his perception that "as it goes with Israel, so will it go with all of us"? Hey, I am---in, at least, the citizenship sense of the word--an AMerican, and my opinion of just how important America is to the world is quite naturally colored by my (avowed) tribal affiliations. So neener neener boo boo.
William Kristol is a punching bag. I remain amazed at his continued prominence.
The Jewish State at 60
By WILLIAM KRISTOL
Published: May 12, 2008
This week marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. There have already been many birthday greetings, some heartfelt, some perfunctory, along with numerous reflections on the meaning of the occasion, some profound, some commonplace. For me, however, a discordant voice broke through.
Israel is a “stinking corpse” on its way to “annihilation,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last Thursday as Israel celebrated Independence Day. “Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken,” proclaimed the president of Iran, a nation that is a member in good standing of the United Nations and an active trading partner of countries like Germany and Russia. “Today the reason for the Zionist regime’s existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation.”
Wow, Germany and Russia. Traditional favorites of the Kristol family, I've found.
I didn’t intend, in writing this column, to quote Ahmadinejad. I hate to dignify him by even taking note of his comments. I meant to pay tribute to the Zionists — men like Weizmann and Jabotinsky, Ben-Gurion and Begin — who made possible the almost miraculous redemption of the Jewish people in 1948. And I also intended to recognize the defenders of Israel at moments of crisis — men like Harry Truman and Richard Nixon and George W. Bush.
And yet somehow Mr. Kristol--despite his best intentions---brings Ahmadinejad into his birthday kiss column anyway. And how, again, did the founding of the state of Israel miraculously redeem the Jewish people?
I thought I might even dwell on the amazing essay by the novelist George Eliot who made a case for Zionism in 1879 — 17 years before the publication of Theodor Herzl’s “The Jewish State.”
“The hinge of possibility,” Eliot wrote, is that among the Jews “there may arise some men of instruction and ardent public spirit, some new Ezras, some modern Maccabees, who will know how to use all favouring outward conditions, how to triumph by heroic example, over the indifference of their fellows and the scorn of their foes, and will steadfastly set their faces towards making their people once more one among the nations.”
It took a few minutes of dauntless search-fu, but I think Mr. Kristol is referring to "Impressions of Theophrastus Such" by George Eliot, which may be found here.
Also, Eliot wrote of a future Israel wrote:
Looking towards a land and a polity, our dispersed people in all the ends of the earth may share the dignity of a national life which has a voice among the peoples of the East and the West--which will plant the wisdom and skill of our race so that it may be, as of old, a medium of transmission and understanding.
...the world will gain as Israel gains. For there will be a community in the fan of the East which carries the culture and the sympathies of every great nation in its bosom; there will be a land set for a halting-place of enmities, a neutral ground for the East as Belgium is for the West.
Ah yes, Israel as a medium of transmission and understanding between East and West. A land for a halting-place of enmities . . . a neutral ground for the East. Umm, good luck with that.
The new Ezras and the modern Maccabees arose. But Jew hatred didn’t go away. And so, today, in light of Ahmadinejad’s remarks, in the face of the weakness of the West before the Iranian regime — I can’t avoid being reminded of the fact that this year is not only the 60th anniversary of Israel, but also the 75th anniversary of Hitler’s coming to power.
A Hitler reference? I don't think I saw that one coming. Godwin's Law, anyone?
In 1933, in Germany, at the geographical and intellectual center of 20th-century Europe, the Weimar Republic was replaced, as the philosopher Leo Strauss put it, “by the only German regime — by the only regime that ever was anywhere — which had no other clear principle except murderous hatred of the Jews, for ‘Aryan’ had no clear meaning other than ‘non-Jewish.’ ”
Well, there was the whole Slav thing, too. I think "Aryan" pretty much meant non-Slav, too. And then there was the whole Lebensraum thing. (I think we can agree that territorial expansion was a "clear principle" of Naziism.) And Versailles. And Alsace-Lorraine . . . Say, wasn't Leo Strauss a Methodist?
The civilized world was helpless. Churchill’s pleas to act were ignored. The world was plunged into war. Two-fifths of world Jewry were murdered.
The founding of Israel promised a more hopeful future, not just for the Jews but for mankind.
How, exactly, did the founding of Israel promise a more hopeful future for mankind qua mankind? Taking territory away from an unfavored group and giving it to a favored group through main strength and awkwardness---that's our more hopeful future?
And, in fact, the last 60 years have perhaps been less horror filled and more humane than the preceding 60. But what of the future?
On Dec. 10, 1948, Winston Churchill, then leader of the opposition, took to the floor of the House of Commons to chastise the Labour government for its continuing refusal to recognize the state of Israel. In his remarks, Churchill commented:
“Whether the Right Honourable Gentleman likes it or not, and whether we like it or not, the coming into being of a Jewish state in Palestine is an event in world history to be viewed in the perspective, not of a generation or a century, but in the perspective of a thousand, two thousand or even three thousand years. This is a standard of temporal values or time values which seems very much out of accord with the perpetual click-clack of our rapidly-changing moods and of the age in which we live.”
And in the perspective of a thousand, two thousand, even three thousand years, who now remembers the Armenians? (That's a German chancellor quote, y'all.)
In 2008, the defense of the state of Israel, and everything it stands for, requires a kind of courage and determination very much out of accord with the perpetual click-clack of our politics, and with the combination of irresponsibility and wishfulness that characterizes the age in which we live.
In our irresponsible and make-believe age, it takes a real man to stand up for the defense of Israel. This is mere assertion, with no explanation. And just what, exactly, is it that Israel stands for? A state with ethnically determined favoritism? A state with religiously determined favoritism? A state which cannot maintain harmonious relationships with its neighbors? That's our bright future?
Still, even though the security of Israel is very much at risk, the good news is that, unlike in the 1930s, the Jews are able to defend themselves, and the United States is willing to fight for freedom. Americans grasp that Israel’s very existence to some degree embodies the defeat and repudiation of the genocidal totalitarianism of the 20th century. They understand that its defense today is the front line of resistance to the jihadist terror, and the suicidal nihilism, that threaten to deform the 21st.
Is this a slap at Franklin Delano Roosevelt? Well, if so, well and good, and let's lay on ourselves, but that's no nevermind right now. My more serious concern is Mr. Kristol's willing conflation of "the Jews" with either the State of Israel, or Israeli citizens. Or the Israeli government, of whichever flavor it might be at the moment? Kind of smacks of that whole collective thing to me. Me, I don't think the sins of the father pass on to the son, and certainly not to the whole damn tribe. We've been doing the whole tribal thing for over two thousand years since the coming of the Prince of Peace. Maybe we ought to think about a better way of doing these things. And really the whole Final Solution thing was tribalism all dressed up with modern efficiencies, wasn't it?
What Eric Hoffer wrote in 1968 seems even truer today: “I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes with Israel, so will it go with all of us. Should Israel perish, the holocaust will be upon us.”
I'll confess, I had never heard of Eric Hoffer before. (I freely admit my limitations.) I googled him. Although I do not know if he was religiously observant, he was---in at least the ethnic sense of the word---a Jew.
Given that Hoffer was a Jew/Jewish (whichever is more properly recognized as the respectful designation), is it in any way surprising that he had a strong sense of self-identification with Israel? And would it be somehow wrong to suspect that his tribal affiliations colored his perception that "as it goes with Israel, so will it go with all of us"? Hey, I am---in, at least, the citizenship sense of the word--an AMerican, and my opinion of just how important America is to the world is quite naturally colored by my (avowed) tribal affiliations. So neener neener boo boo.
William Kristol is a punching bag. I remain amazed at his continued prominence.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Restoring my faith in short fiction
A teaser sample:
International Association of Time Travelers: Members' Forum Subforum: Europe – Twentieth Century – Second World War
Page 263
11/15/2104
At 14:52:28, FreedomFighter69 wrote:
Reporting my first temporal excursion since joining IATT: have just returned from 1936 Berlin, having taken the place of one of Leni Riefenstahl's cameramen and assassinated Adolf Hitler during the opening of the Olympic Games. Let a free world rejoice!
At 14:57:44, SilverFox316 wrote:
Back from 1936 Berlin; incapacitated FreedomFighter69 before he could pull his little stunt. Freedomfighter69, as you are a new member, please read IATT Bulletin 1147 regarding the killing of Hitler before your next excursion. Failure to do so may result in your expulsion per Bylaw 223.
At 18:06:59, BigChill wrote:
Take it easy on the kid, SilverFox316; everybody kills Hitler on their first trip. I did. It always gets fixed within a few minutes, what's the harm?
At 18:33:10, SilverFox316 wrote:
Easy for you to say, BigChill, since to my recollection you've never volunteered to go back and fix it. You think I've got nothing better to do?
International Association of Time Travelers: Members' Forum Subforum: Europe – Twentieth Century – Second World War
Page 263
11/15/2104
At 14:52:28, FreedomFighter69 wrote:
Reporting my first temporal excursion since joining IATT: have just returned from 1936 Berlin, having taken the place of one of Leni Riefenstahl's cameramen and assassinated Adolf Hitler during the opening of the Olympic Games. Let a free world rejoice!
At 14:57:44, SilverFox316 wrote:
Back from 1936 Berlin; incapacitated FreedomFighter69 before he could pull his little stunt. Freedomfighter69, as you are a new member, please read IATT Bulletin 1147 regarding the killing of Hitler before your next excursion. Failure to do so may result in your expulsion per Bylaw 223.
At 18:06:59, BigChill wrote:
Take it easy on the kid, SilverFox316; everybody kills Hitler on their first trip. I did. It always gets fixed within a few minutes, what's the harm?
At 18:33:10, SilverFox316 wrote:
Easy for you to say, BigChill, since to my recollection you've never volunteered to go back and fix it. You think I've got nothing better to do?
Mother's Day: the great and general interests of peace
Mother's Day---it's become a Hallmark and Zales thing (cards and diamonds). It's not about the cards or the diamonds, though. It's a day of peace, a day for peace.
Read the Mother's Day Proclamation, though, and remember:
To promote the great and general interests of peace.
God's love, then, for all mothers, and for all their children. The best present for any mother is her son or daughter at her side. And for all mothers' sons, and for all mothers' daughters today, remember that it's not about cards and diamonds.
Read the Mother's Day Proclamation, though, and remember:
Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.
To promote the great and general interests of peace.
God's love, then, for all mothers, and for all their children. The best present for any mother is her son or daughter at her side. And for all mothers' sons, and for all mothers' daughters today, remember that it's not about cards and diamonds.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Simply Too Cool Not To Share: A Glock Idea is Born
I cannot BELIEVE that I am posting a link to the UKS--that's Ultimate Kool-Aid Site, sometimes known as Glocktalk. But dang, it's an unexpected day, I guess.
I've got this bastardized Glock that I like, I call it a 21/30. If you're all hep to Glock model nomenclature, you can probably guess what a 21/30 is---it's a Model 21 with the butt trimmed or pared back to Model 30 length, and using Model 30 magazines.
It is, basically, the XD45 Compact in Glock trim.
You may wonder why, if it's the XD45 Compact of Glocks, I didn't just get the XD45 Compact of the XD world? Well, it's because of Sarge. When he warned us off of the XD due to Springfield's parts policy, I listened. (And they say I don't listen to the police . . . . !)
I like pretty much everything about it, except the grip. I like the length of the grip just fine. When the gripectomy was performed, at Burns Custom (not on my watch), the grip was shortened, but not reduced.
And it doesn't feel good in the (or my) hand. The grip ends in a point (I'll post pictures later), and that point digs right into the heel of my palm.
It doesn't stop me from shooting it pretty well, but it isn't comfortable, and I have to kind of wiggle my hand to get a good grip--which I figure is a bad thing. (Hey, if a gun is uncomfortable to grip, and slow to grip, then I ain't got a whole lot of interest in it as a "using" thing.)
And I'd been pondering whether to just dump this pistol back on the market, or do something about the grip. So I was scouting out various gunsmiths who offer grip reductions, and I was thinking in the back of my mind that maybe I'd just follow the Brownell's article here.
Now, believe it or not, I'd also thought of trying the "heat and bend" method, and was going to pull the steel insert out of a Glock magazine and see how it would work.
Reading that a candle provides enough heat, hey now . . . .
I've got this bastardized Glock that I like, I call it a 21/30. If you're all hep to Glock model nomenclature, you can probably guess what a 21/30 is---it's a Model 21 with the butt trimmed or pared back to Model 30 length, and using Model 30 magazines.
It is, basically, the XD45 Compact in Glock trim.
You may wonder why, if it's the XD45 Compact of Glocks, I didn't just get the XD45 Compact of the XD world? Well, it's because of Sarge. When he warned us off of the XD due to Springfield's parts policy, I listened. (And they say I don't listen to the police . . . . !)
I like pretty much everything about it, except the grip. I like the length of the grip just fine. When the gripectomy was performed, at Burns Custom (not on my watch), the grip was shortened, but not reduced.
And it doesn't feel good in the (or my) hand. The grip ends in a point (I'll post pictures later), and that point digs right into the heel of my palm.
It doesn't stop me from shooting it pretty well, but it isn't comfortable, and I have to kind of wiggle my hand to get a good grip--which I figure is a bad thing. (Hey, if a gun is uncomfortable to grip, and slow to grip, then I ain't got a whole lot of interest in it as a "using" thing.)
And I'd been pondering whether to just dump this pistol back on the market, or do something about the grip. So I was scouting out various gunsmiths who offer grip reductions, and I was thinking in the back of my mind that maybe I'd just follow the Brownell's article here.
Now, believe it or not, I'd also thought of trying the "heat and bend" method, and was going to pull the steel insert out of a Glock magazine and see how it would work.
Reading that a candle provides enough heat, hey now . . . .
Sadistic Gang of Police Impersonators?
NYPD Cracks Sadistic Gang Of Cop Impersonators
8 Charged In Abduction, Torture Of East Coast Cocaine Traffickers
Threatened To Squeeze Testicles With Pliers
NEW YORK (AP) -- A sadistic gang of police impersonators abducted and tortured scores of East Coast cocaine traffickers, forcing them to hand over multimillion-dollar stashes by threatening to squeeze their testicles with pliers, authorities said Tuesday.
Me: I might have phrased it as a gang of sadistic police impersonators . . . you know, because it isn’t just the gang that’s sadistic, it’s the cops they’re impersonating. Although I hear cops prefer toilet plungers to pliers . . .
An indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn charged eight men with robbery conspiracy, drug dealing and an array of other crimes.
Since the spring of 2003, the gang injured about 100 people while committing 100 holdups targeting large-scale traffickers in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida, investigators said.
The take: more than 1,650 pounds of cocaine worth $20 million and $4 million in cash.
The scheme "was breathtaking in the scope of its crimes and in the danger it posed to our communities," said U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell.
Benton’s breath must be easily taken away. Drug trafficking leading to strongarm robbery of major dealers? I'm shocked, shocked . . . .
The robbers, court papers said, "were particularly sophisticated in their tactics," often conducting surveillance on the drug dealers for weeks before arming themselves with handguns and making "a police-style car stop" in cars equipped with lights and sirens. Other times, the gang gained entry into victims' homes by identifying themselves as police officers, then holding entire families hostage at gunpoint for days on end.
No fair! That’s OUR gig!
The victims were handcuffed, bound with duct tape and subjected to various means of torture during interrogations, including "simulated drowning through repeated submerging of victims' heads in water for extended periods of time," the court papers said.
Ahem, I think we prefer the phrase “enhanced interrogation techniques.” I’m just sayin’!
One victim told investigators that during a 2005 abduction, two of the defendants "applied a pair of pliers to the victim's testicles and threatened to squeeze the pliers if the victim did not talk," the papers added.
Notes furiously being scribbled down at Langley and Gitmo.
Once the information was extracted, the bandits would retrieve large stashes of cocaine and resell it on the streets of New York.
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson described the crime spree as "a dangerous dance of alleged criminals preying upon alleged criminals, who themselves profited from the desperation of drug abusers."
How about an allegedly dangerous dance of alleged criminals preying on alleged criminals, allegedly, who themselves profited from the alleged desperation of alleged drug abusers?
The defendants, all from the Dominican Republic, were ordered held without bail after pleading not guilty Tuesday in Brooklyn. If convicted, each faces a sentence of 40 years to life behind bars.
Gee, wonder if these are the kind of jobs that Americans won’t do, hence the need for undocumented workers? Or, um, did they all have green cards?
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
8 Charged In Abduction, Torture Of East Coast Cocaine Traffickers
Threatened To Squeeze Testicles With Pliers
NEW YORK (AP) -- A sadistic gang of police impersonators abducted and tortured scores of East Coast cocaine traffickers, forcing them to hand over multimillion-dollar stashes by threatening to squeeze their testicles with pliers, authorities said Tuesday.
Me: I might have phrased it as a gang of sadistic police impersonators . . . you know, because it isn’t just the gang that’s sadistic, it’s the cops they’re impersonating. Although I hear cops prefer toilet plungers to pliers . . .
An indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn charged eight men with robbery conspiracy, drug dealing and an array of other crimes.
Since the spring of 2003, the gang injured about 100 people while committing 100 holdups targeting large-scale traffickers in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida, investigators said.
The take: more than 1,650 pounds of cocaine worth $20 million and $4 million in cash.
The scheme "was breathtaking in the scope of its crimes and in the danger it posed to our communities," said U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell.
Benton’s breath must be easily taken away. Drug trafficking leading to strongarm robbery of major dealers? I'm shocked, shocked . . . .
The robbers, court papers said, "were particularly sophisticated in their tactics," often conducting surveillance on the drug dealers for weeks before arming themselves with handguns and making "a police-style car stop" in cars equipped with lights and sirens. Other times, the gang gained entry into victims' homes by identifying themselves as police officers, then holding entire families hostage at gunpoint for days on end.
No fair! That’s OUR gig!
The victims were handcuffed, bound with duct tape and subjected to various means of torture during interrogations, including "simulated drowning through repeated submerging of victims' heads in water for extended periods of time," the court papers said.
Ahem, I think we prefer the phrase “enhanced interrogation techniques.” I’m just sayin’!
One victim told investigators that during a 2005 abduction, two of the defendants "applied a pair of pliers to the victim's testicles and threatened to squeeze the pliers if the victim did not talk," the papers added.
Notes furiously being scribbled down at Langley and Gitmo.
Once the information was extracted, the bandits would retrieve large stashes of cocaine and resell it on the streets of New York.
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson described the crime spree as "a dangerous dance of alleged criminals preying upon alleged criminals, who themselves profited from the desperation of drug abusers."
How about an allegedly dangerous dance of alleged criminals preying on alleged criminals, allegedly, who themselves profited from the alleged desperation of alleged drug abusers?
The defendants, all from the Dominican Republic, were ordered held without bail after pleading not guilty Tuesday in Brooklyn. If convicted, each faces a sentence of 40 years to life behind bars.
Gee, wonder if these are the kind of jobs that Americans won’t do, hence the need for undocumented workers? Or, um, did they all have green cards?
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Some Stuff I Like, A WednesdayThang
One Movie I Like:
Until the End of the World.
Very Wim Wenders. Solveig Dommartin is stunning in this film, as is William Hurt. It's very, very slow, but it's worth the time, a science fiction thriller globe hopping road movie that crawls around ideas of perception. And stuff.
One Book I Like
Red Harvest, by Dashiell Hammett.
The Continental Op comes to a mining town riven by teams of feuding gangsters, and from the title you can guess how the action evolves from there. It's like every Mack Bolan book ever written, except in the 1920s, well written and without the .44 AutoMags.
Yeah, I know---it kind of looks like a Glock on the cover, but it's not, it's probably a Colt 1903. But the Continental Op packed a .38 Special, like all the hepsters know, so there.
One Kilt Company I Like
USA Kilts.
Rocky Roeger's Pennsylvania-based company offers you traditional styling in modern materials. Although he also offers wool kilts, USA Kilts is best known for their poly-viscose tartan line, from Marton Mills in the UK. Rocky and Kelly will make a short yardage, or full yardage, kilt, to measure, in a lightweight material that's resistant to stains and wrinkles. In looks, indistinguishable from wool, but oh so comfy on those hot days. Good stuff all the way around.
Until the End of the World.
Very Wim Wenders. Solveig Dommartin is stunning in this film, as is William Hurt. It's very, very slow, but it's worth the time, a science fiction thriller globe hopping road movie that crawls around ideas of perception. And stuff.
One Book I Like
Red Harvest, by Dashiell Hammett.
The Continental Op comes to a mining town riven by teams of feuding gangsters, and from the title you can guess how the action evolves from there. It's like every Mack Bolan book ever written, except in the 1920s, well written and without the .44 AutoMags.
Yeah, I know---it kind of looks like a Glock on the cover, but it's not, it's probably a Colt 1903. But the Continental Op packed a .38 Special, like all the hepsters know, so there.
One Kilt Company I Like
USA Kilts.
Rocky Roeger's Pennsylvania-based company offers you traditional styling in modern materials. Although he also offers wool kilts, USA Kilts is best known for their poly-viscose tartan line, from Marton Mills in the UK. Rocky and Kelly will make a short yardage, or full yardage, kilt, to measure, in a lightweight material that's resistant to stains and wrinkles. In looks, indistinguishable from wool, but oh so comfy on those hot days. Good stuff all the way around.
Republicans Lead Among Rocket Scientests!
My paraphrase, actual phrase was: Republicans must settle for a slender advantage among rocket scientists.
No, I broke up. Who do these rocket scientists work for? Come on kiddies! It's not . . . rocket science!
No, I broke up. Who do these rocket scientists work for? Come on kiddies! It's not . . . rocket science!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Shepherd-Goldberg-Cossack
OK, so it's not Tinkers to Evers to Chance.
Jonah Goldberg posted Ah, The Genetic Memory Defense quoting Newsbusters' Ken Shepherd, quoting Rosie O'Donnell on the right Rev. Wright.
Goldberg's excerpt (with emphasis from Newsbusters) read:
Rosie O'Donnell was saying, Dude remembers the revelation of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, he knows what its like for the government to infect his own people. Now, if I'm remembering rightly, Tuskegee's great sin was mostly failing to disclose to the people who had syphilis that they did, in point of fact, have syphilis. It wasn't like "Hey kids come in for your vaccine and oh by the way we're not really vaccinating you we're shooting you up with some pure grade syphilis."
With that said, umm, is Jonah Goldberg really saying the idea that a government would conduct medical/biological/pharmalogical experiments on people is nonsense? There's the Japanese experience in WW2. There's the Soviet experiments in Kazakhstan at the Semipalatinsk region. Hey, there's the USG, fiddle farting around with administering lysergic acid to people. And if vivisection, radiation exposure, and LSD isn't enough, let's not forget our good friend Mr. Electricity. Hook up the jumper cables, watch her twitch!
It's a funny, funny day when a serious conservative commentator is reduced to saying that governments do not do bad things.
Or maybe it's just the American government that doesn't do bad things.
I hear that's what the Founding Fathers thought. That's why they had a unitary executive with a long list of powers and authorities, and why the Tenth Amendment reserves all powers not delegated to the Executive.
Oh wait, that's not it at all.
So yeah. I'm down with Wright, and down with Rosie O'Donnell (which I can't believe I would ever say). I don't think the USG created AIDS in a lab with the idea of destroying blacks in America. But that doesn't mean they haven't done things equally horrid.
Trust the government? What's American about that?
Jonah Goldberg posted Ah, The Genetic Memory Defense quoting Newsbusters' Ken Shepherd, quoting Rosie O'Donnell on the right Rev. Wright.
Goldberg's excerpt (with emphasis from Newsbusters) read:
Now, piling on Wright has become a sport for fun and profit, and Rosie O'Donnell is another favorite target of the blogosphere. I can't quite believe I'm defending Wright OR O'Donnell, but there you go.GIFFORD: That we introduced AIDS into the black community?
O'DONNELL: But Kathy you know what it's like for someone to pull one quote out of context for you. He was comparing it to when the government did give syphilis to black Americans for 40 years. What he was saying is in his history, in his genetic memory, he knows what it's like for the government to infect his own people. Because he lived through those Tuskagee experiments. And that's what he was talking about. You can't sort of pull the quote. He didn't just say, you know, "the government made AIDS."
Rosie O'Donnell was saying, Dude remembers the revelation of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, he knows what its like for the government to infect his own people. Now, if I'm remembering rightly, Tuskegee's great sin was mostly failing to disclose to the people who had syphilis that they did, in point of fact, have syphilis. It wasn't like "Hey kids come in for your vaccine and oh by the way we're not really vaccinating you we're shooting you up with some pure grade syphilis."
With that said, umm, is Jonah Goldberg really saying the idea that a government would conduct medical/biological/pharmalogical experiments on people is nonsense? There's the Japanese experience in WW2. There's the Soviet experiments in Kazakhstan at the Semipalatinsk region. Hey, there's the USG, fiddle farting around with administering lysergic acid to people. And if vivisection, radiation exposure, and LSD isn't enough, let's not forget our good friend Mr. Electricity. Hook up the jumper cables, watch her twitch!
It's a funny, funny day when a serious conservative commentator is reduced to saying that governments do not do bad things.
Or maybe it's just the American government that doesn't do bad things.
I hear that's what the Founding Fathers thought. That's why they had a unitary executive with a long list of powers and authorities, and why the Tenth Amendment reserves all powers not delegated to the Executive.
Oh wait, that's not it at all.
So yeah. I'm down with Wright, and down with Rosie O'Donnell (which I can't believe I would ever say). I don't think the USG created AIDS in a lab with the idea of destroying blacks in America. But that doesn't mean they haven't done things equally horrid.
Trust the government? What's American about that?
Monday, May 5, 2008
The Glock that Glock Doesn't Make, But I Have
So while I ponderate and fulminate and ruminate on other vast and weighty issues, like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and whether to do a Kingussie, or a reverse Kingussie kilt, I’m thinking about my Glock.
Now, Gunny Ermey to the contrary, it really DOESN’T go “This is my Glock, there are many like it . . . .”
It’s funny, how the fanboyism spreads. We call it “drinking the kool-aid,” a Jim Jones reference that’s probably grown detached from its origin, and just floats out there, like tight as Dick’s hatband. (Who the heck was Dick anyway, and why didn’t he get a new hat?) The world, and the intarwebz, are full of Glock fanboys.
They’d probably hunt me down and burn me out over this, but I don’t really dig on Glocks.
Revolutionary? Heckaby-yeah, baby. Dang few parts, polymer construction for the body, the “chassis” of course is steel—think back on Schumer saying they could pass through metal detecters, and the unfortunate “Glock 7, a ceramic pistol from Germany” reference in Die Hard 2.
Heck, if the only pistol I owned was a Glock 19, I don’t think I’d feel too badly about “what I could do with it.” There’s other pistols I dig on more, though.
Lots of ‘em.
But this is about my Glock, and the rest is just prefatory.
I’ve got one Glock. It’s a Glock that Glock doesn’t sell, in fact, it’s a Glock that Glock doesn’t even make. I think they SHOULD make it, because the version I’ve got is pretty neat. You may be scratchin’ at your pate and wondering, “How can he have a Glock that Glock doesn’t even make?” Answer’s pretty easy, although I hadn’t thought of it before.
You see, with the polymer frame, you can build it up with other polymers, grind it down, modify away at it. You can do this with steel pistols, too, of course, but it helps if you’re a poop-hot TIG welder. (And I’m not.) Brownell’s, the gun parts supply house in Indiana, has a nice little article about Glock frame modifications here. (Brownell’s is the bomb, yo!)
Well, I’d known in the past about grip reductions on the Glock, and had liked the idea. The Glock uses a grip angle like the Mauser P-08 “Luger”, and generally American hands are conditioned to a grip angle more like the 1911s. It’s not a matter of “right” and “wrong” but “this fits my hand better’n the other one does.” If you remove some of the hump on the backstrap, you can alter the way the pistol sits in your hand, and that can be a very good thing indeed.
Well, the Glock I have was modded in a way that’s similar, just different. Glock makes three “frame sizes”, the “double column 9mm”, the “double column .45" and the “single column .45.” The double column 9mms are available in big (17), medium (19) and small (26) sizes, and the double column .45s are available in big (21) and medium-smallish (30) sizes.
Glock followed the general trend in introducing these pistols, starting with the full size model and then releasing smaller versions over time. The smaller versions show reductions in both barrel length, and butt length. The smaller guns are more concealable, while the bigger guns are bigger gripped (and thus easier to hold) and have longer barrels (and thus longer sight radii) and thus are easier to hit with.
Given that the most common type of concealed carry holster in use today is a variation on a vertical belt scabbard, it’s fun sometimes to re-examine our old beliefs and see if they hold water. After all, sacred cows really do make the tastiest hamburgers.
Today’s sacred cow is the idea that, all other things being equal, a smaller gun makes for a more easily concealed gun.
With a vertical belt scabbard, the barrel of the gun is along the long axis of the body. Even a full sized service pistol like a 1911 with a 5" barrel (and an overall length of 8.5”) is pretty easy to carry in a IWB (inside the waist band) holster----as long as we’re talking about the barrel length, along the long axis of the body.
It’s the butt of the gun that causes concealment problems–it sticks out on the short axis of the body (unless you really are as wide as you are tall, in which case you are all out of short axes). While revolvers can generally be fit with a wide variety of grippy-stock-handle-thingies of various sizes and shapes, such as the Ruger SP101/GP100 series, which use a “grip stud” of minimal dimensions, the use of a magazine in automatic pistols greatly limits grip choices. Generally, to get a shorter butt profile, you have to go with a shorter butt.
Sidebar: there is a neat treatment for 1911 pistols, designed by pistolsmith and small house manufacturer Ed Brown, called the “bobtail.” This is one of those rare ideas which a) works, b) works better, c) does not introduce greater complexity and d) is fairly simple and inexpensive. It retains a full size grip, but reduces the “printability” of the butt. You can get the parts (the mainspring housing and the jig for modifying your pistol’s frame) at Brownell’s, too. They the bomb, yo.
Anyway. We’ve established that the Glock pistols can have their grips modified, and have asserted that it’s the butt that causes concealment problems in an automatic pistol carried in a vertical scabbard, which brings us (at last!) To the issue of “my Glock.”
You know, the one Glock doesn’t make.
Essentially, my Glock is a mix of models 21 and 30. It has the 4 ½" barrel (really 4.60" but let’s not quibble) of the model 21, but the butt has been trimmed to the dimensions of the model 30. That cuts about 3/4" off the height of the gun, and makes it easier to conceal.
A picture will follow. This has gone on long enough that you’re going to have to wait for the next installment where I’ll discuss my thoughts on this pistol, and plans for what to do with it.
Now, Gunny Ermey to the contrary, it really DOESN’T go “This is my Glock, there are many like it . . . .”
It’s funny, how the fanboyism spreads. We call it “drinking the kool-aid,” a Jim Jones reference that’s probably grown detached from its origin, and just floats out there, like tight as Dick’s hatband. (Who the heck was Dick anyway, and why didn’t he get a new hat?) The world, and the intarwebz, are full of Glock fanboys.
They’d probably hunt me down and burn me out over this, but I don’t really dig on Glocks.
Revolutionary? Heckaby-yeah, baby. Dang few parts, polymer construction for the body, the “chassis” of course is steel—think back on Schumer saying they could pass through metal detecters, and the unfortunate “Glock 7, a ceramic pistol from Germany” reference in Die Hard 2.
Heck, if the only pistol I owned was a Glock 19, I don’t think I’d feel too badly about “what I could do with it.” There’s other pistols I dig on more, though.
Lots of ‘em.
But this is about my Glock, and the rest is just prefatory.
I’ve got one Glock. It’s a Glock that Glock doesn’t sell, in fact, it’s a Glock that Glock doesn’t even make. I think they SHOULD make it, because the version I’ve got is pretty neat. You may be scratchin’ at your pate and wondering, “How can he have a Glock that Glock doesn’t even make?” Answer’s pretty easy, although I hadn’t thought of it before.
You see, with the polymer frame, you can build it up with other polymers, grind it down, modify away at it. You can do this with steel pistols, too, of course, but it helps if you’re a poop-hot TIG welder. (And I’m not.) Brownell’s, the gun parts supply house in Indiana, has a nice little article about Glock frame modifications here. (Brownell’s is the bomb, yo!)
Well, I’d known in the past about grip reductions on the Glock, and had liked the idea. The Glock uses a grip angle like the Mauser P-08 “Luger”, and generally American hands are conditioned to a grip angle more like the 1911s. It’s not a matter of “right” and “wrong” but “this fits my hand better’n the other one does.” If you remove some of the hump on the backstrap, you can alter the way the pistol sits in your hand, and that can be a very good thing indeed.
Well, the Glock I have was modded in a way that’s similar, just different. Glock makes three “frame sizes”, the “double column 9mm”, the “double column .45" and the “single column .45.” The double column 9mms are available in big (17), medium (19) and small (26) sizes, and the double column .45s are available in big (21) and medium-smallish (30) sizes.
Glock followed the general trend in introducing these pistols, starting with the full size model and then releasing smaller versions over time. The smaller versions show reductions in both barrel length, and butt length. The smaller guns are more concealable, while the bigger guns are bigger gripped (and thus easier to hold) and have longer barrels (and thus longer sight radii) and thus are easier to hit with.
Given that the most common type of concealed carry holster in use today is a variation on a vertical belt scabbard, it’s fun sometimes to re-examine our old beliefs and see if they hold water. After all, sacred cows really do make the tastiest hamburgers.
Today’s sacred cow is the idea that, all other things being equal, a smaller gun makes for a more easily concealed gun.
With a vertical belt scabbard, the barrel of the gun is along the long axis of the body. Even a full sized service pistol like a 1911 with a 5" barrel (and an overall length of 8.5”) is pretty easy to carry in a IWB (inside the waist band) holster----as long as we’re talking about the barrel length, along the long axis of the body.
It’s the butt of the gun that causes concealment problems–it sticks out on the short axis of the body (unless you really are as wide as you are tall, in which case you are all out of short axes). While revolvers can generally be fit with a wide variety of grippy-stock-handle-thingies of various sizes and shapes, such as the Ruger SP101/GP100 series, which use a “grip stud” of minimal dimensions, the use of a magazine in automatic pistols greatly limits grip choices. Generally, to get a shorter butt profile, you have to go with a shorter butt.
Sidebar: there is a neat treatment for 1911 pistols, designed by pistolsmith and small house manufacturer Ed Brown, called the “bobtail.” This is one of those rare ideas which a) works, b) works better, c) does not introduce greater complexity and d) is fairly simple and inexpensive. It retains a full size grip, but reduces the “printability” of the butt. You can get the parts (the mainspring housing and the jig for modifying your pistol’s frame) at Brownell’s, too. They the bomb, yo.
Anyway. We’ve established that the Glock pistols can have their grips modified, and have asserted that it’s the butt that causes concealment problems in an automatic pistol carried in a vertical scabbard, which brings us (at last!) To the issue of “my Glock.”
You know, the one Glock doesn’t make.
Essentially, my Glock is a mix of models 21 and 30. It has the 4 ½" barrel (really 4.60" but let’s not quibble) of the model 21, but the butt has been trimmed to the dimensions of the model 30. That cuts about 3/4" off the height of the gun, and makes it easier to conceal.
A picture will follow. This has gone on long enough that you’re going to have to wait for the next installment where I’ll discuss my thoughts on this pistol, and plans for what to do with it.
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