“Gun Death” Cape Fear

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Weerd Beard

This one isn’t really a sad one.

Authorities say a body found earlier this month in the Cape Fear River is a Fayetteville robbery suspect who jumped in the river in January while running from police.

Investigators said autopsy results confirm a body found at a boat ramp on April 5 is 37-year-old Hubert Carrillo.

Police say Carrillo was wanted for a convenience store robbery when officers tried to pull him over on Jan. 8. He let police on a 10-mile chase before jumping out and running to a ladder leading into the river.

This was a VERY bad guy! I’m fine with how this ended.

H/T Sean

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Play Me Out: Metroid

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Weerd Beard

A classic, enjoy

Posted in Games, Music | 3 Comments

Bad Justice: Lethal Injection

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Weerd Beard

As you all know, I’m very pro capital punishment. Unlike some more vocal opponents I consider this out of respect and humanity rather than retribution, as I see it as vastly less humane to cage a person like a beast until they die of old age, than to execute them swiftly and with respect.

This story makes me grumpy:

A botched lethal injection in Oklahoma has catapulted the issue of U.S. capital punishment back into the international spotlight, raising new questions about the drugs being used and the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

…After administering the first drug, “We began pushing the second and third drugs in the protocol,” said Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton. “There was some concern at that time that the drugs were not having the effect. So the doctor observed the line and determined that the line had blown.” He said that Lockett’s vein had “exploded.”

The execution process was halted, but Lockett died of a heart attack, Patton said.

This guy was a very bad guy, and was sentenced to die, so I am not sad that he is dead. I am sad that he died in a way NOT prescribed by the law. This is in part due to the bizzarly complicated Rube Goldberg Execution Machine. I personally think a slow and accelerating titration of morphine would have better (but slower) result. Still I think the best way to end a prisoner’s life is long-drop hanging.

It wouldn’t be clean or pretty as some people would like, but it would be quick, painless and humane.

Also for those of the libertarian idea that “We can’t trust the government to execute the right people”, I will point out that A) the Government doesn’t sentence people to death, but a jury of their peers, and B) If we can’t trust the government to execute people, why do we stand for them locking people up until death? Its not like the citizenry controls the jails any more than the execution chambers.

What do you think?

Posted in Bad Justice | 13 Comments

Another Gun Control Sucess Story

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Weerd Beard

Let’s have a look at the story, and the hysteria:

Police in South Carolina have questioned an 8-year-old boy about reports that he was firing an “assault rifle” over the head of passing pedestrians on a street in Rock Hill.

Ok that sucks! Not safe gun handling no matter what was used, even a BB gun! What’s the details?

The report said that the child took officers into his home, where they found a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle underneath a bed. The gun reportedly had one round in the chamber and one round in the magazine.

Well, sounds like that “Assault Rifle” wasn’t so “Assaulty”, how did this precipitate?

The boy’s mother told officers that the children were being watched by a 13-year-old babysitter at the time of the incident. The gun was reportedly illegally owned by a convicted felon, the mother said.

If you don’t care about the LAWS on owning a gun, you probably don’t much care about how to safely use them! The gun was illegally owned, so the idea that one more law would somehow prevent this is purely silly. Even if this gun was a true “Assault Weapon” by AWB ’94 standards being say a S&W M&P15-22 with the collapsible stock, or a Ruger 10-22 with a pistol grip and a flash-hider or even a full-auto NFA item, magazine bans or gun bans wouldn’t change this since the gun shouldn’t have been owned in the first place.

What was done?

No charges were filed against the boy, but the rifle was taken into custody.

…The Rock Hill Police Department’s Public Information Office told Raw Story that an investigation had been opened to determine the owner of the gun.

I get that the kid was 8, but he was still firing a gun AT PEOPLE! All they did was arrest the gun? I’m not saying the kid should be locked up forever, but in a world where kids are arrested for shooting each other with airsoft guns, this seems a bit foolish. Also we’re living in a world where people are arrested for having a magazine of the wrong size, or ammunition in the wrong location, or simply OWNING, but never USING a shoulder stock for a pistol…

Also, they were able to talk with the Mom, and they’re saying the gun was owned by a felon, what is there to investigate?

This is “Gun Control”…

Posted in Bad Justice, Freedom, Guns, Politics, Safety | 1 Comment

More Anti-Gun Infighting, and Political Observation

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Weerd Beard

Have a look at this article:

Filmmaker and Funny or Die co-founder Adam McKay will become the latest honoree of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence at a gala tonight in Los Angeles. McKay is appalled at the lack of congressional action on “even basic gun safety and background checks,” as he noted when the honor was announced. When I spoke with him by phone in an anticipation of the award, McKay said he wanted to make a connection between the state of gun policy and an issue that runs through many of McKay’s movies, from police comedy “The Other Guys” to his mockery of David and Charles Koch’s funding of tea party challengers in “The Campaign” to the “Anchorman” franchise: the relationship between money and politics.

Maybe I’m reading too far into this, but a Brady Campaign honoree espousing the evils of money and politics in a time where the fracture between Michael Bloomberg and his former allies in the Brady Campaign are growing bigger. Is this the new move for the Brady Campaign to take-back the top gun-banner spot in American Politics?

And then there’s this:

The solution? McKay singled out Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as one of his favorite political communicators (even including President Obama), and suggested that despite Warren’s denials during the publicity tour for her new book, she might feel called to run for president.

“I don’t think she wants to because she’s such a sane human being, but she’s such a public servant that I think she might have to, just to primary Hillary [Rodham Clinton],” McKay reflected. “I don’t know that we can afford Hilllary for president right now, she’s just too corporate and too conservative.”

I’ve been seeing this chatter of Warren being the new Golden Progressive since she attained office. Honestly I didn’t think many people got too excited about Freshmen Senators, especially when one wins against a weak turncoat like Scott Brown.

Still I’m starting to get the feeling that Elizabeth Warren is the new Dennis Kucinich. I must say, when Crazy Kucinich retired I was a little sad, as seeing people singing his praises was the single-best litmus test for barking moonbat. Maybe Warren will be that new Canary in the lunatic coal mine!

What do you think?

Posted in Freedom, Guns, Politics | 1 Comment

“Gun Death” Deadly Robbery

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Weerd Beard

Another “Gun Death” that shows the other side:

Columbus police say an 89-year-old woman was fatally stabbed during an attempted robbery.

No gun used in the murder, but the point of the “Gun Death” fanatics is that if guns were gone people would be safer. Still we have an old woman killed with a knife in a robbery, so no gun there.

What if the woman had had a gun? It certainly couldn’t have been worse for her.

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American’s Love Their Freedom!

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Weerd Beard

You’ll often hear people noting the Happiest People in the world are the people of neo-socialist countries where their every whim is cared for. Of course my lovely wife quickly points out that these nations also have amazingly small populations, and the idea of reflecting that into America is a recipe for disaster.

She just sent me this article:

When asked to rate their state as a place to live, three in four Montanans (77%) and Alaskans (77%) say their state is the best or one of the best places to live. Residents of Rhode Island (18%) and Illinois (19%) are the least likely to praise their states.

Now looking at the list, population density seems to still makes a big difference, and maybe we’re talking chicken and egg, but it seems that the happiest states are the ones where the people are simply left alone to live life the way they choose, and the unhappiest states are the ones with the most nanny-like governments. Of course the denser your population, the more your existence impinges on your neighbors, so the .gov sets in to keep the peace. Chicken or egg, still I must say, for a Massachusetts resident, I live in one of the most right-wing towns in the state, and the taxes, laws, and regulations are felt daily. We’re packed in tight here, where an acre lot is an estate, still when my neighbor wanted to burn some brush in his yard, the fire department told him the fire danger was low, and so long as the flames were quenched by sun-down they didn’t care what he did. Also anybody in this town who want’s a carry permit and can pass a NICS check gets one. For Massachusetts, I’m pretty happy here.

Reminds me of this scene from Lord of the Rings:

While other countries might be happy suckling on the benevolent teat of a neo-Marxist government, those countries are not filled with Americans, and we have a different dream for how our lives should be.

Posted in Freedom, Politics | 1 Comment

Actor’s Revealed for the New Star Wars

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Weerd Beard

Many may know, but I’m a HUGE Star Wars fan, after the Aliens series Star Wars is my favorite Sci-Fi Franchise. Yes that means I like Prometheus, and Alien: Resurrection, and actually consider Alien3 (especially the rough director’s cut) to be the best film in the series. Still the Last three movies sucked. I think George Lucas, like Quentin Tarantino, has surrounded by sycophants who constantly tell him his shit doesn’t stink, so they have lost their old-day glory when they were terrified of becoming a failure.

Now that Lucas has sold the rights to Star Wars the next films will have nothing to do with him. This COULD be bad, but frankly not having Lucas at the helm means the chances of it being terrible are non-zero!

They have announced the new actors in the Episode VII film!

The rumors can be put to rest. Word finally arrived Tuesday morning confirming precisely which actors will have a role in “Star Wars: Episode VII,” the film that will return George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away to the multiplex Dec. 18, 2015.

Adam Driver, best known for his role in HBO’s “Girls,” and Oscar Isaac, who won considerable acclaim for his turn in the Coen brothers “Inside Llewyn Davis,” will appear alongside Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, performance capture expert Andy Serkis and venerable Swedish thespian Max von Sydow. Also in the mix are John Boyega, known for his work in the fan favorite film “Attack the Block,” and newcomer Daisy Ridley.

I friggin’ LOVE Max Von Sydow, that man is SOLID gold! From The Seventh Seal, to the best Ernst Blowfeld in Bond (Never Say Never Again! Blowfeld with a BEARD!!) and all sorts of other great performances, he’s awesome. Also Andy Serkis is a genius in my book. I’m still waiting for the Studio to green-light his animated production of Animal Farm!

The others I don’t know at all, but their resumes are impressive. This of course means nothing as the first films starred nobodies with the exception of Alec Guinness who wasn’t well known in the states anyway, and the newer films had an amazing all-star cast giving TERRIBLE performances!

Still this I am NOT looking forward to!

The principal actors from Lucas’ original saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker, are also set for director J.J. Abrams’ new film.

Now I can’t comment on Kenny Baker’s chops, and Anthony Daniels has maintained his Glory in all six films, Peter Mayhew has a lot of health problems due to his massive size. Harrison Ford has aged the most gracefully of the non-makeup clad heroes, but that’s a low bar to clear. Seen any recent interviews with him? He seems to be in a constant drugged-out stupor, and his recent performances have shown all the energy and comedy of a corpse. This will NOT be a way to remember an old Han Solo. Worse yet is Carrie Fisher who is fat, crazy, and really hasn’t shown any valid performance since Jedi closed. Mark Hamil still has the acting chops in the voice-over booth, but see also with the fat and crazy.

Asking the original stars to return was a mistake, and all the special effects in the world will not be able to animate these corpses, unless they do whatever cool business they did in Terminator: Salvation to bring a fully CGI 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger to the screen.

I’ll still watch it because JJ Abrams was awesome, and frankly he brought the glory of The Goonies and ET to life with Super 8, I don’t see why he can’t channel that same classic energy to Star Wars!

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Posted in Movies | 11 Comments

‘Zo On Cliven Bundy

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Weerd Beard

As I said before, I don’t give two shits about Cliven Bundy. All my interest in this case is the Government use of Jack-Booted SWAT when they could be civilized and treat people they have action against as the citizens they are, rather than an enemy force.

The whole “Cliven Bundy is a Racist” thing is to distract from the REAL issue, just like how the media’s focus on Randy Weaver’s association with the Aryan Nation, and David Coresh’s odd religious beliefs and practices were used to distract from the fact that those people were simply massacred by government forces when things could have been resolved peacefully.

Still I’ll let a Black man with a Hispanic wife, give his take, because nobody listens to a white dude when talking about race anyway:

Posted in Freedom, Politics | Leave a comment

Suprise?

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Weerd Beard

Via Miguel, gun control “Experts” seem to be having trouble rationalizing their false narrative:

Almost half the illegal guns seized and traced in Boston last year came back to manufacturers and dealers in Massachusetts, a startlingly high ratio for a state known for its tough gun laws.

In 2013, Boston police seized 509 handguns, some used in homicides, others simply possessed illegally. Of those guns, police were able to trace 326 to their original point of retail sale. Forty-six percent of them were originally purchased legally in Massachusetts, said Anthony Braga, a senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government who analyzed the data for the Boston Police Department.

“The part that is concerning to me is that we have really good gun laws here,” Braga told police and city officials from across New England gathered at Roxbury Community College Thursday. “I don’t know if it’s a temporary blip or a trend, but it’s something that needs to be understood.”

…For years, the states north of Massachusetts — Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine — supplied a large number of the illegal guns found in Boston. Officials have said that looser restrictions in the northern states and in Southern states along the Interstate 95 corridor, such as Virginia and Georgia, made it easy for criminals in Boston to buy guns elsewhere that they typically would be unable to purchase in Massachusetts, where secondary gun sales must be reported to the state.

First “Really Good Gun Laws”? That little quip seems to go along with the crap about the “Iron Pipeline”. Have a look at the ATF trace data! These numbers have been virtually unchanged for all the years I’ve been watching them, and they’re the same for every state I look at.

The Majority of guns traced in crime are traced back to the state where the crime was committed, and the bulk of the remainder trace to neighboring states. The Key data is the average “Time-to-crime” ie: the last time the gun was legally transferred by an FFL is greater than TEN YEARS!

Anti-gun people will claim there is an “Iron Pipeline” where criminals leave states with heavy gun control and illegally buy guns to transport back to their state, but such a trafficking example would result in a relatively low “time-to-crime” number, since traffickers of any contraband want to quickly convert their illegal cargo to cash which is harder to get arrested for, and so they can repeat the process again. Same goes for straw-buyers, they buy the gun and quickly transfer it to the criminal. Sure years might go by without the criminal being caught, but we’re talking MAYBE 5-6 years, not the 14+ years the ATF is seeing in the data.

Really what this is is the lawful movement of legal gun owners with their guns in tow. When the gun is stolen, which is how most of the crime guns get into criminal hands, the gun will trace back to the state where it was bought YEARS ago. Heck I have a few guns that will trace back to Maine, and New Hampshire, as well as several other states. I didn’t buy my first gun until I had moved to Massachusetts, but depending on how the ATF traces guns transferred to my FFL, and long-guns bought legally from FFLs in other states, and private sales from people who haven’t always lived in Mass, these are all legal, but will give that appearance that they came from other states, but in fact they are Massachusetts guns.

The big question is why are they claiming that in past years many guns came from other states when that has never been the case. Probably because that fits the narrative better for their agenda.

Hey, why let truth interfere with claiming terrible laws are good?

Posted in Guns, Politics, Safety | 8 Comments