Taking the 2nd Amendment to Heart

There's a good "right to keep and bear arms" joke in this story somewhere. I'm still too mentally exhausted from the World Series to come up with it right now.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (AP) A former Hampshire Regional High School substitute teacher sentenced to 2 years in state prison on weapons charges also faces a charge in connection with the theft of a student's prosthetic arm.

The Year That Was

Schilling for Bush

Red Sox ace Curt Schilling on Good Morning America this morning (trying to find a link):

Make sure you tell everybody to vote...and, uh, vote Bush next week.

To borrow a phrase, heh.

UPDATE: Scotto has the AUDIO.

Let Us Play

Note: this post will remain at the top of the page for the duration of the World Series, to be updated accordingly as the series progresses.

See below for current posts or click HERE to go to the main page.

~ The Management

Our Papi, Who art in Fenway
Hallowed be thy team.
Thou kicketh ass,
On Yankee grass,
And at home, as you did in the Bronx.

Give us this year our shiny rings,
And forgive us our talk of curses,
As we forgive those who talk of curses against us.

And lead us not into extra innings,
But deliver us from errors.

For thou art the Schilling,
And the Pedro,
And the D-Lowe,
For ever and ever.

Damon.

"Let Us Play" is a mAss Backwards original
Image source unavailable, received via e-mail

UPDATE: So far, so good. The Red Sox bullpen outlasted the Cardinals' bullpen. Mark Bellhorn, again with the big blast, a two-run homer in the 8th! Sox win 11-9!

UPDATE: Sox take Game 2, 6-2! But, FOUR errors? AGAIN? If that trend continues against this Cardinals' line-up, this thing could turn ugly really fast. The memory of the last 2-0 World Series lead by the Red Sox has been seared into my memory. SEARED, I tell you!

UPDATE: Sox win Game 3, on the road, 4-1! THAT was the Pedro I was hoping would show up tonight! Damn!

I remain cautiously optimistic.

UPDATE: Knock knock. Who's there?

THE BOSTON RED SOX

HAVE WON

THE WORLD SERIES!!!

Mother, may I please go to sleep now?

Yes, dear.

If She's Happy, I'm Happy

Picked up the wife's new ride yesterday.



I don't know why these are called minivans? This thing's humungous!

Cache and Kerry

From the Drudge Report:

NBCNEWS: CACHE OF EXPLOSIVES VANISHED FROM SITE IN IRAQ BEFORE TROOPS ARRIVED...

The NYTIMES urgently reported on Monday in an apprent October Surprise: The Iraqi interim government and the U.N. nuclear agency have warned the United States that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives are now missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations.

[The source behind the NYT story first went to CBSNEWS' 60 MINUTES last Wednesday, but the beleaguered network wasn't able to get the piece on the air as fast as the newspaper could print. Executive producer Jeff Fager hoped to break the story during a high-impact election eve broadcast of 60 MINS on October 31.]

Jumping on the TIMES exclusive, Dem presidential candidate John Kerry blasted the Bush administration for its failure to "guard those stockpiles."

"This is one of the great blunders of Iraq, one of the great blunders of this administration," Kerry said.

In an election week rush:

**ABCNEWS Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 4 Times
**CBSNEWS Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 7 Times
**MSNBC Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 37 Times
**CNN Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 50 Times

But tonight, NBCNEWS reported: The 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives were already missing back in April 10, 2003 -- when U.S. troops arrived at the installation south of Baghdad!

More HERE and HERE.

Naturally, the Kerry Kamp jumped onto this story faster than the junior senator from Boston jumped on the Red Sox bandwagon this year.

On Monday, Kerry blamed President Bush for the disappearance of tons of explosives from an Iraqi stockpile.

"And now we know that our country and our troops are less safe because this president failed to do the basics," Kerry said at a campaign appearance in Dover, New Hampshire.

Things not worth holding your breath for include:

a) an apology from John Kerry to President Bush, whom Kerry directly blamed for this missing cache of explosives.

b) an apology to the American people for being an opportunistic grab-ass, who criticizes the president for hastily acting on intelligence gathered from multiple intelligence agencies throughout the world, yet takes the word of the New York Times as the supreme truth and gospel.

c) a retraction from the Boston Globe, as prominently placed (page A1 - above the fold) and with as large a font size. Click HERE for picture of today's Boston Globe front page.

d) prime-time coverage of the inaccuracies of the NY Times piece by anyone in the mainstream media (with the exception of NBC News).

Stay tuned for the laughable spin soon to be applied to Kerry's comments by his advisers, and to see just how deep in the paper, any future correction by the Boston Globe and New York Times will be buried.

And for those of you keeping score at home, the President rushed to war AND failed to go into Iraq soon enough to secure these explosives.

Got it?

Massachusetts Voter Fraud

So, just this morning, I stroll into my local 7-Eleven (Boston) for my morning fill-up, with the "7-Election" in full swing.

So pour up your favorite 7-Eleven hot beverage in a special 20-ounce Bush, Kerry or Third Party/No Opinion cups as a daily reminder to take part in the political process.

Now normally I would go for the 24-ounce coffee - neither Bush nor Kerry, and 20% more substance. However, this morning there were no 24-ounce cups or Third party/No Opinion cups available at the coffee counter. I guess the Massachusetts Dems were successful in keeping Nader out of the "7-Election" as well. Seeing as there's no way I would be caught dead drinking out of a John Kerry coffee cup, I chose the Bush cup and proceeded to the checkout.

The woman working the counter then "tries" to scan the barcode on the cup. Conveniently, it wouldn't scan properly. I go to this same store nearly every morning for my coffee and have yet to see the scanner misread any item. She manually entered the price, I paid, and was on my way. Not until I got to my car did I realize I had just been disenfranchised.

How many more voters will not be heard from in this, the most important election in our history? This injustice must not stand!

UPDATE (10/25/04): As of this morning, Bush leads the race 51.17% to 48.83%.

UPDATE (10/26/04): Sure enough, same thing happened this morning - coincidence? I think not. I smell a vast left-wing conspiracy in the works here. Tomorrow I plan to use a regular cup to see if her scanner suddenly decides to function properly. For Thursday, it will be back to the George Bush cup. Will keep you posted.

UPDATE (10/27/04): Day 3 - you guessed it, the guy two spots ahead of me in line buys a couple packs of smokes without any scanner malfunction. The next guy - small coffee, plain cup, no problem. My 20-ounce coffee in the plain cup? Yep, no problem. It's back to the Bush cup tomorrow. If the same thing happens this time, I will ask her to re-scan the barcode to confirm the Bush cups aren't defective - that's a whole new conspiracy theory for another day.

OK, One More A-Rod Pic

Again from Boston Dirtdogs:

Mayor Blows Smoke...AGAIN

From the Boston Herald:

Hoping to prevent further bloodshed and hooliganism as the Red Sox march into the World Series, Mayor Thomas M. Menino may ban booze around Fenway Park during the games.

In related news, in an effort to prevent the city from exceeding its annual snow removal budget, Menino has banned all future snowfall within city limits.

The city beefed up patrols Wednesday after being caught understaffed during the Super Bowl rioting. But Menino said "cops aren't the only answer."

I couldn't agree more - the cops aren't the only answer. If the Red Sox pull this off and win the big one, the tragic events of Wednesday night will pale in comparison to the ensuing devastation. Governor Romney had best be on the phone today with other governors, preparing to mobilize any and all available National Guard units in and around new England.

"The police are doing their jobs. The students have responsibility," the mayor fumed. "They're hoodlums. Where is their responsibility?"

He then reportedly pointed to a reporter in the room, mumbling, "Hey, that guy's bald. Where's his hair?"

Hoodlums, by definition, have no sense of responsibility, you imbecile. When is this going to sink into Menino's thick head? This tired rhetoric has run out of gas, Mr. Mayor. These kids have repeatedly proven they are incapable of behaving in a responsible manner. Simply asking them to behave is off the table. Period.

And as far as the police doing they're job goes, they didn't do it last February, and they're not doing it now. Merely increasing the number of cops on the street will do nothing to prevent the violence and destruction. The police know exactly when and where the trouble will occur. A realistic plan has to be in place, and executed accordingly.

People's lives are at stake here. If the mayor was serious about this (and actually possessed anything resembling testicles), he would impose a city-wide curfew to be enforced one hour after the conclusion of the game. Anyone congregating in a group of more than 12 people after that time will be subject to immediate arrest and prosecution. Game ends at 11:45 p.m.? At 12:45 a.m. line up the buses and start grabbing anyone who fails to disperse. Cuff 'em and stuff 'em.

This to me seems more than reasonable. What would the mayor think of this proposal? Here's what the Boston Globe is reporting today:

As city councilors urged more police presence during the World Series, potentially with the help of officers from other cities, Menino dismissed possibilities including curfews or bringing in the National Guard.

So much for that plan. Never mind the fact the Menino, as mayor of Boston, has no authority over the state's national Guard units. Looks like we're sticking to the "Ask them to be nice" strategy. It's official, folks - win or lose, Boston is going to burn.

As usual, I'm saving the best for last. As perhaps the greatest example ever of Mayor Menino's ass violating the citywide smoking ban, he had this to say (from the same Globe article):

And although he called the death of an Emerson College student yesterday a profound tragedy, he played down worries that World Series crowds could be worse. "Honestly, I don't think the intensity will be there," Menino said.

Game over, pal. You aren't mentally fit to lead a friggin' game of Simon Says. You have no problem placing the blame on the students, the colleges and universities, the bars, the liquor stores, the Red Sox, the ballpark, etc. Try looking in the goddamn mirror for a change.

And get the bodybags ready.

Nearly Peed Myself Laughing at This One

From Boston Dirtdogs...

Sox Unleash Their Inner Vixen

It Wasn't a Dream

LIFE IS GOOD

Crappy 70's Song of the Week

Game 1 - Fenway Park,

S! A! T-U-R! D-A-Y! NIGHT!

BELIEVE!!!

The Red Sox have won the pennant!

The Red Sox have won the pennant!

The Red Sox have won the pennant!

UPDATE: Nomar who?

Crappy 80's Song Songs of the Year Week

In honor of our hometown heroes, Curt Schilling, David "Big Papi" Ortiz, Mark Bellhorn, and the rest of the boys, I am officially reviving the "Crappy 80's Song of the Week" feature of this blog. And now without further ado...

"Never Surrender" - by Corey Hart

UPDATE: OK, it's gotta be a "Crappy 80's Song of the Week" two-fer...

"True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper

...for this brilliant quote from our junior senator at the second debate. I don't know how I missed this one.

I want to make sure we have judges who interpret the Constitution of the United States according to the law.

Yikes.

(thanks to Stark Raving Mad for the link)

UPDATE: Well, that didn't last long - last update, I promise. And it's now a triple down the left-field line!

"Heaven" by Warrant

Not Your Typical Fan

A couple quick updates to two of the stories in this previous post.

From the Boston Herald:

A Lawrence Yankees lover livid over the Red Sox' 14th-inning ALCS Game 5 victory shot a rival fan to death and wounded two others inside a moving minivan early yesterday morning, sources said.

And I thought the fans throwing debris onto the field were bad.

"It was a night of drinking gone bad," said a source.

You think?

And from the Boston Globe:

Boston Police plan to contact authorities investigating the alleged Columbine-style attack plot at Marshfield High School to determine if a gun that one suspect allegedly showed to another student was a .40-caliber handgun issued by Boston Police.

Now, where he could he possibly have got his hands on that? Hmm...I wonder.

Yesterday, Boston Police Lieutenant Kevin Foley said news reports that Joseph Nee was carrying a .40-caliber handgun "was really the first we'd heard of that particular allegation."

Foley said there has been no formal investigation by the department into whether the handgun was a Boston police firearm, but "given the seriousness of the information, we will naturally follow it up."

The Boston department will contact Marshfield authorities about the handgun allegation, Foley said, and then decide whether to launch its own investigation.

Unsure whether to investigate or not? There's a good chance a kid student (and legal adult) brought a cop's Glock to school. You'd better damn well investigate!

But Police Chief William Sullivan said yesterday the "probable cause" that led authorities to search the Kerns house was "not in play" with respect to Joseph Nee at the time the Kerns house was searched.

I'm no criminal justice expert, but if a student brings a gun to school, the adjective "probable" seems like a bit of an understatement to me.

During a lengthy interview with reporters Monday, Thomas Nee proclaimed his son's innocence and highlighted the fact that police have not conducted a search of the family's home.

Gee, the cops didn't storm in and ransack another cop's house in search of evidence against his kid - I'm stunned. Again, I'm no expert, but I would think a jury would require just a tad more info before acquitting someone on such serious charges.

"Nothing's changed since a month ago other than innuendo and people are taking sides on an issue in a small town," Thomas Nee said Monday of his son. "I personally witnessed police officers promise they wouldn't prosecute him."

Really? A student brings a gun to school, in violation of multiple state and federal firearms laws and the Marshfield Police Department is saying they won't bring charges against him? Care to name these officers? Didn't think so. I'm betting the Plymouth County District Attorney's office will have a slightly different take on this matter.

More business as usual in the Commonwealth.

More on "The Game"

Major kudos to the Game 6 umpiring crew. It's nice to see the right calls made in favor of the good guys for a change. There were a couple questionable balls and strikes called for both teams, but Bellhorn's three-run dinger was CLEARLY outta there.

And to any Yankee fan (or player) who wants to dispute A-Rod's interference call, claiming that he dislodged the ball as a result of the "normal motion of the arm" from running, let me say this:

I don't know any girls who run as much like a girl as that.

They made the right call. Deal.

Quote of the night (so far) goes to Kevin Millar who was interviewed by Fox after the game, to discuss the Red Sox' plans for Game 7:

If I gotta pitch - I'll do it.

Good stuff. OK, now I have to attempt that crazy little thing called sleep.

Beantown channels 'Team America'

Boston Red Sox - FUCK YEAH!!!

File Under: Shut Up and Act

From the Boston Herald:

Hometown hottie Matt Damon doesn't rest when it comes to politicking for his presidential pick John Kerry - even whilst in Germany!

"I would pay $1 million to have Kerry in the White House," the actor said at the premiere of "The Bourne Supremacy" in Berlin the other night.

Hey, Matt, don't worry. Should Kerry make it to the White House, you'll get your wish - in spades. A million bucks will be nothing to someone in your income bracket once he taxes your overpaid ass back to the Precambrian Era. Unless, of course, Teresa's giving you some good tips on muni-bonds.

More Massachusetts Gun Control Success Stories

From the Boston Herald comes this tidbit concerning the recent foiled schoolhouse shooting plot in Marshfield.

The teen son of the Boston police union head showed a handgun to a classmate near Marshfield High School and showed another a hit list of people "they were going to kill," prosecutors said.

[snip]

"The two of them came up with the plot," said (prosecutor John) McLaughlin, who said a girl told police that Nee pulled a black, .40-caliber handgun from his waist and said the school was going to be "shot up."

Investigators are looking into where Nee got the alleged gun and whether it belongs to his father, Thomas Nee, the president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, said Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz.

Color me skeptical, but do you think for one second that Thomas Nee will be treated in the same manner any other ordinary citizen would be in the same situation, should it be proven that it WAS his firearm his kid was carrying? No friggin' way. If that happened to you or me, we would be deemed by the state to be unsuitable for issuance of a license to carry and would have our 2nd amendment rights stripped from us right there on the spot - not to mention the fines and possible incarceration.

I will wager that it WAS his father's gun, and that no disciplinary action will be taken against his father for what appears to be a flagrant violation of the state's safe storage of firearms laws. Remember, Mr. Nee here is among the elite classes of people the government believes to have an unalienable right to keep and bear arms. You know, what with them being extra-super-responsible and all. One more quote from this article:

"I love my son a lot," Thomas Nee said, but added, "he's not above the law."

Likely translation: I, however, am.

Also, the article refers to him as a teen, but also points out that he's 18 years-old. Anything less than adult felony charges for unlawful firearms possession will prove - ONCE AGAIN - what a joke the state's gun control laws and the lack of enforcement of the same have become. As the saying goes: Laws for thee, but not for Nee.

Meanwhile, in Marlborough

MARLBOROUGH -- Police are searching for two masked men they say knocked down the back door of a Broad Street apartment and beat up the 25-year-old woman inside.

Thank heavens she was unable to defend herself. Looking for these thugs will now take significantly more manhours and public dollars than would peeling them up off the woman's living room floor and filling out the required paperwork. And that will provide more work for our public servants, thereby stimulating the local economy. Who cares about the injuries she suffered at the hands of her assailants, we're talking union JOBS here, people. Our junior senator would be so proud.

And over in North Andover:

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (AP) A man was arrested and charged with murder Tuesday following a manhunt that began when police pulled over a minivan to find three people inside who had been shot, one fatally.

Is it really asking too much for murderers to obey the Commonwealth's "sensible" gun laws?

And finally, in the heart of the gun control utopia of Boston:

Two men involved in a close-quarters shootout with police Wednesday had racked up long and violent criminal records before they led cops into a Dorchester basement and opened fire on a district captain, prosecutors said.

A 9mm bullet whizzed by Capt. Timothy Murray's head before he and an unnamed sergeant subdued Jamal Davis, 31, and Dennis Winborn, 37, to end a two-hour chase.

Prosecutors said the shootout was the latest violent offenses for the two men, whose criminal histories include so many convictions for drugs and violence that both could be charged as level 3 armed career criminals.

But not so many, apparently, that they deserved longer stays in the joint to begin with.

"These are dangerous guys," Boston police spokeswoman Beverly Ford said. "It's nice to see that they're off the streets."

Actually, Beverly, it's a fucking disgrace and an insult to the good people of Boston that these guys were ON the streets in the first place. Do you think that NOW we can get tough on these scumbags and dish out some real justice, instead of implementing the pathetic and oft-failed "Come on, let's give them ONE more chance to get meaningful jobs and be nice people" method?

Don't bank on it.

Davis was ordered held on $30,000 cash bail after pleading innocent to weapons charges yesterday in Dorchester District Court. Winborn, shot once in each leg, was undergoing surgery at Boston Medical Center.

First of all, how many individuals "with convictions for gun possession, larceny, armed robbery and drug offenses" who find themselves in a basement shoot-out with the police are truly innocent? I may be a judging this book by its cover here, but so be it. Put Jamal's guilty ass in prison and keep it there until his trial date.

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on in the Bay State.

Big Papi

David Ortiz (or Manny Ortez - for those readers of mine who happen to be a junior senator from Massachusetts) does it again!

In perhaps the most thrilling and torturous postseason game in 104 years of Red Sox baseball, the Sox last night beat the Yankees, 5-4, when the mythic Ortiz singled home Johnny Damon from second base in the bottom of the 14th at 10:59 p.m. It was the longest game in League Championship Series history (5 hours 49 minutes) and came less than 23 hours after the same Ortiz cracked a walkoff homer to win Game 4 at 1:22 yesterday morning.

Sleep? We don't need no stinkin' sleep.

And I'm not the first to bring up this Michael Corleone quote from Godfather III, nor will I be the last, I suspect.

Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in.

There are some mentally exhausted, bleary-eyed, yet extremely elated and optimistic folks waking up in Red Sox Nation this morning.

Home Sweet Home

Well, I'm officially back from vacation, back to the working world once again. All good things must come to an end, they say. There's a lot to catch up on. We should be back to our regularly scheduled blogging shortly. I've just got a handful more of my daily-read blogs to check in on and just a few bits of hate mail left to peruse.

One item I want to bring up is this quote from our junior senator, John "Yes, I am THIS stupid" Kerry, from his recent New York Times Magazine interview:

We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance.

SKerry stuff, huh, kids?

From Kevin at Smallest Minority, comes this link to James Lileks' take on this latest bit of idiocy to roll across Kerry's elitist lips (scroll down). This saves me from typing the exact same thing that came to mind when I heard this quote as well.

Mosquito bites are a nuisance. Cable outages are a nuisance. Someone shooting up a school in Montana or California or Maine on behalf of the brave martyrs of Fallujah isn't a nuisance. It's war.

Yep.

My Final Answer

To anyone who was offended by this post from last month, File under "Another Stupid Dead Kid", this will be my final commentary on the matter.

Did what I write make you angry? I would hope so.

Did what I write disgust you? I can imagine it would.

Would it make you feel better if the title had been, File Under "Another Life Tragically Ended Too Soon as a Direct Result of Irresponsible, Reckless, and Illegal Behavior"?

To the friends and family of Ted Cochran, I apologize if what I wrote hurt you [edit: I'm sorry you were hurt by those words, not sorry for writing them], but I do not apologize for the way I feel whenever I read a story like the one in the Herald that day last month. That feeling is one of anger, frustration, and disbelief.

Kids are dying senselessly on our roads every damn weekend. And no one seems to be doing ANYTHING to bring this devastating trend to an end. The stories get printed in the papers, the roadside memorials go up, the funerals are held, and families mourn.

Then the same sad cycle resumes the weekend after that, either from some kid drinking and driving, or just plain showing off to his friends how cool they are by driving fast (while lacking more than a few weeks experience behind the wheel). Sorry, but in my book, this doesn't qualify as intelligent behavior.

One person left me a comment stating, "Ted was not drunk, he was simply testing the limits, which was his mistake , but once again what kid doesnt test the limits. Even you I can GARUNTEE have tested the limits."

Yeah, I've tested the limits. When I was eight or so, I snuck an extra ice cream sandwich after dinner time - just to see if I could get away with it. More recently, I stayed up late to watch a west coast baseball game, knowing that I would be really tired the next morning, and that my work performance the next day might suffer as a result - just to see if I could. So yeah, I've tested the limits, but recklessly violating multiple state laws and endangering the lives of those I care about? No. Not once. Not ever. I guess that makes me abnormal.

To say Ted was "simply testing the limits" is to dismiss this as normal and acceptable teenage behavior. I would never write off the loss of a friend as simply part of the cost of being a teenager today. That would be a great disservice to all involved.

Kids see the public service announcement posters up in their schools every damn day, but somehow still manage to bestow on themselves an air of immortality. Bad things only happen to other kids, right? Unfortunately, all too often the price paid for learning of one's mortality is tragedy. By the time the lesson is learned it is simply too late.

Until kids and parents today assume some real responsibility for themselves and for the ones they love, incidents like this will continue to clutter up the pages of hometown newspapers across the country on a regular basis. Sad? Yes. Tragic? Yes, especially when looking at just how God damned preventable these deaths are. As it's been said, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Many people have told me what a great kid Ted was, and I don't doubt that for a second. Clearly he touched the lives of all who knew him in a positive way. Those memories should of course be cherished. But at the same time, it needs to be acknowledged that this tragedy was 100% preventable, and that unless more kids wake up to this reality, this scene is very likely to replay itself all too soon.

So, if you still feel it necessary to call me names, threaten my family, or pray for my violent premature death (the raped in hell with a fork comment was particularly creative), knock yourself out. Just don't pretend to be shocked when the next teenager wraps his car around an oak tree, because it will happen, get ready.

Perhaps if Michael E. Lindberg Jr. had read my "hateful" words, he might still be alive today.

That is all.

Almost forgot...

LET'S GO, RED SOX!!!

T-minus 2 hours, 20 minutes

I will be on vacation as of 5:00 this afternoon. Posting will be light to non-existent over the next week. We're off to California with the kids (their first airplane experience) to visit the in-laws and my brother and his family.

From Kennedy Country to the Land of Feinstein, not all that different, except the football games on Sunday start three hours earlier. This will likely be a non-issue, as I highly doubt the Pats/Dolphins match-up will be televised out there.

What's shaping up to be the highlight of the trip will be a visit to Reed's Indoor Range in Santa Clara, located just nine miles from my in-laws' house. Wednesday is Ladies Night after 6:00, so hopefully the wife and I can get the kids to bed early to see if shooting firearms in Dianne Feinstein's back yard is as fun as it is Ted Kennedy's.

I'm guessing "yes" - to be immediately upgraded to a "HELL YES!" should I find $1,000 on the side of the road to rent this bad boy.



Quite possibly the greatest single piece of GFW shitstain-inducing hardware known to man.

Stay safe, everyone. See you next week.

Boston Herald Bullet Points

Here's another Boston Herald article on the 2002 shooting of Officer Zenaida Flores (thoroughly covered in this previous post).

Officer Zenaida Flores, pumped with so-called "cop-killer" bullets on a grimy Chinatown street, may have escaped bleeding to death by less than half an inch, one of the city's top docs testified yesterday.

Dr. Alasdair Conn, chief of emergency medical services at Massachusetts General Hospital, said the mushrooming hollow-point bullets that bore through the 31-year-old patrolwoman's left arm and thigh missed major arteries in both limbs by only "one to two centimeters."

Now click HERE for a decent write-up on the "cop killer" bullet myth.

In the mid 1960's, Dr. Paul Kopsch (an Ohio coroner), Daniel Turcos (a police sergeant) and Donald Ward (Dr. Kopsch's special investigator) began experimenting with special purpose handgun ammunition. Their objective was to develop a law enforcement round capable of improved penetration against hard targets like windshield glass and automobile doors. Conventional bullets, made primarily from lead, are often ineffective against hard targets especially when fired at handgun velocities. In the 1970's, Kopsch, Turcos and Ward produced their "KTW" handgun ammunition using steel cored bullets capable of great penetration.

[snip]

Despite the facts that "KTW" ammunition had never been available to the general public and that no police officer has ever been killed by a handgun bullet penetrating their body armor, the media incorrectly reported that the Teflon coated bullets were designed to defeat the body armor that law enforcement officers were beginning to use. The myth of "Cop-killer" bullets was born.

Hollow-point handgun ammunition is designed to expand on impact and is specifically designed to prevent over-penetration of the target. This in turn decreases the risk of injury to innocent bystanders who might be located beyond the intended target. It is not designed to, nor is it capable of penetrating a police officer's bulletproof [read: bullet-resistant] vest. You would think the gun control "safety" advocates would favor its use.

As far as lethality is concerned, any firearm, regardless of caliber or type ammunition used, will deliver a fatal wound should a major artery be severed as a result thereof.

Misleading reporting like this only provides the gun control lobby with more ammunition (pun intended) to further advance their agenda of fear, lies, and misinformation on an uninformed public. But hey, it makes for a more dramatic story this way - gotta sell those newspapers.

Riddle Me This

Q: What's the difference between Charlie Rangel and a turd?

A: One's a piece of shit.

Defecating in the Jury Pool

OK, NOW I'm Pissed.

Read this: 'Scared I was going to die': Female Hub cop recalls horror of 2002 shooting

The voice on the police radio quivered in terror and was barely intelligible - a lone, hysterical scream rising from somewhere in the concrete canyon of downtown.

Police detain a known drug dealer who was wanted for questioning. A struggle ensues, during which the man breaks free. Unbeknownst to the police the man was in possession of a stolen .45 caliber handgun and ready to use it.

During the chase, the man fires five shots. One shot strikes one of the officers in the arm, knocking her to the ground. The second shot hits her to her midsection and is deflected off her pager. The third shot to strike the officer buries itself in her leg, perilously close to her femoral artery. All of this while her service weapon remained holstered.

The man is arrested and charged with attempted murder of a police officer. Seems like a slam-dunk case, right? Not so fast, this is Liberal La-la Land, remember.

Now read this: Source: 1 juror won't budge to convict cop-shooter

One of the 12 jurors deliberating the fate of a man accused of trying to kill two Boston cops during a shootout in Chinatown in 2002 has dug in his heels in favor of the defendant on at least one of the charges, according to people close to the case.

And this: Cop-shooting jury to judge: `We have reached an impasse'

The jury charged with deciding whether a former UPS shipper was trying to murder two Boston cops when he shot one of them three times before turning the gun on her partner is deadlocked after three days behind closed doors.

And this: Mistrial declared in officer's shooting

BOSTON - A mistrial was declared Wednesday when a jury failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a man accused of shooting a Boston Police officer.

Are you pissed off yet?

Try this one: Stubborn juror in cop-shot mistrial: Why I held out

A maverick juror, whose refusal to betray his heart caused the case of an admitted cop-shooter to derail in a mistrial, simply doesn't believe James Gaines is a killer.

"It all came down to the `intent,'" said the holdout juror, a Boston man who the Herald agreed not to identify. "I don't believe he intended to kill (the officers)."

Hey, buddy, screw you and your bleeding heart! Who let this asswipe sit on the jury? Didn't INTEND to kill the officer? Like hell he didn't. It's not like this dirtbag took a swing at her. He shot her THREE times with a .45 caliber handgun. There's only one reason to do that to another person - to end that person's life as quickly as possible.

Don't worry, it gets worse.

"How do we know (Gaines) shot that weapon?" the juror said.

Um...

Gaines' lawyer, Jon Taylor, has not disputed his client fired the shots that wounded Flores and threatened Williamson.

Gee, the guy's lawyer doesn't dispute that claim, but why let these annoying technicalities like evidence and courtroom testimony interfere with your bleeding-heart agenda?

But wait. There's more.

Although the holdout was prepared to find Gaines guilty of assaulting officers Zenaida Flores, 31, and Carlton Williamson, 41, with a loaded .45-caliber firearm stolen from a South Shore gun collector, not a single verdict was returned on the seven indictments Gaines faced.

"Everth," a juror from East Boston, explained that was because the "stubborn and insulting" holdout tried to broker a deal whereby he would declare Gaines guilty of attempted murder if his 11 peers found him not guilty of assault and weapon charges.

Broker a deal? Sweet smoking Jesus! Who is this guy, Monty Hall? Now he's a juror AND District Attorney? Un-friggin-believable. Someone's been watching too much Law and Order. I don't know how the other 11 jurors refrained from kicking this jackass square in the nuts. Political activism from our judges is bad enough, now this shit's floating around in the jury pool.

UPDATE: The Boston Globe has this story identifying the aforementioned Captain Numbnuts as Frank Shand, a 59-year-old unemployed roofer from the slightly-left-of-Chomsky Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain.

The rationale behind his refusal to convict Mr. Gaines on the charge of attempted murder?

There was no way I could have found him guilty," Shand said in a phone interview last night. "How can you agree there was intent to murder, if he shot her in the leg? If he was standing over her, as prosecutors said, why would he shoot her in the leg?

So, on one hand, he discredited the testimony of the two police officers involved in the shooting, claiming their memories may have been clouded by stress. Yet, he then goes on to claim the assailant's judgment was in no way adversely affected by this stressful situation, and remained calm enough during the altercation to shoot the officer in the leg, so as to not kill her. In his fantasy world, highly trained police officers can't handle this kind of stress, but violent, drug dealing felons are the epitome of grace under pressure.

My guess was the gun went off accidentally.

Your guess? Did the judge instruct the jury to take their best guess as to what happened that night? According to Lt. Colombo here, the gun was accidentally aimed at the fallen officer, and then the gun fairy pulled the trigger, causing the gun to seemingly go off all by itself!

So which is it now? Did he purposely shoot the officer in the leg, in a deliberate, rationally thought-out attempt to spare her life? Or did the stress of the situation, combined with his reckless behavior, cause him to accidentally fire his weapon at the defenseless police officer?

I Wish I Was Making This Up

From the Boston Police Department website's FAQ page "How to Apply for a Restricted Firearms Identification Card for Mace/Pepper Spray Only" comes this brilliant exchange:

Q: Why is a Restricted Firearms Identification Card for chemical spray needed?

A: Massachusetts General Law (MGL) Chapter 140 § 129B requires that a person be licensed in order to purchase, and/or possess chemical sprays. A violation of this statue is a criminal offense.

Now you know.

News Flash: Gun Prosecution Lacking in MA

Sorry, I wasn't planning on blogging as much as I have today (lots of good stuff, I promise - scroll down), but when a story like this lands in my lap, I gotta run with it. As usual, the Dead Horse Beating Warning applies.

Study: Feds shoot too low on gun violations

Hundreds of people who lied on their applications for gun permits in Massachusetts and dozens of corrupt gun dealers have gone unpunished by federal officials, according to a blistering new study.

The study, commissioned by a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, ranks the Bay State a dismal 47th in the nation in prosecuting felons who possess firearms or who committed a violent felony with a firearm from 2000 to 2003.

For a state with a legislature that is constantly concocting new and inventive ways to infringe upon the rights of law-abiding gun owners and any citizen who dares to become one, this news is nothing short of appalling.

The report found that U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan's office prosecuted just 12 of 505 Bay Staters caught lying on federal gun applications on criminal records, addresses or other information between 2000 and 2003.

Sullivan's office also prosecuted just one case involving a corrupt gun dealer during the same years even though federal agents found violations in 29 percent of their 193 inspections, the study revealed.

So, they're batting a whopping .023 and .018 in these two categories. Doesn't that just instill you with a wonderful sense of confidence in the system? If this doesn't demonstrate not only the abject failure the Commonwealth's ineffective gun control laws, but also the federal government's inability to enforce the same, nothing will.

And since this is a Massachusetts problem (albeit at the federal level), it's no surprise to see the "Massachusetts Solution" being offered up by our benevolent leaders - if it's broke, throw taxpayers' money at it until you've convinced the voters in your district that you've fixed it. Pay no attention to the reality behind the curtain.

Sen. Stephen M. Brewer (D-Barre), who sits on the Criminal Justice Committee, called Sullivan "astonishingly capable," adding, "It may be a matter of resources."

With all due respect, Senator, your grasp on reality may be astonishingly frail. It's not a "matter of resources". It's a matter of recognizing the difference between talking a tough game and actually backing your words up with tough, decisive action.

"He certainly can't prosecute every crime under every statute."

Maybe not, but it's not about prosecuting "every crime". That would be a tall order for anyone. We're talking about an overall prosecution rate for firearms violations of 2 point freaking 3 percent over a recent three-year period!

You can keep on telling me it's raining all you want, but the smell of urine and this big wet spot my leg are telling me a different story.

UPDATE: Say Uncle adds this bit of perspective:

When you have more gun control laws than most other states, it’s probably hard to prosecute all (including the serious) cases.

It's Miller Time

Quote du jour comes from Dennis Miller on with Jay Leno last night:

That's why I like Bush. He doesn't over-think it. He wakes up every morning, jumps out of bed, lands on his two feet, scratches his balls, and says, "Let's kill some fucking terrorists!"

via Michelle Malkin - expletive restored by (less classy) yours truly

Need a Good Laugh?

Here's a knee-slapper for you (no punchline necessary).

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An external review of how CBS News came to use disputed documents in a report on President Bush's military record will probably not be concluded until after the November election so as not to interfere with the presidential race, a top executive said on Tuesday.

Um...this should go without saying (like that's gonna stop me), but that was the sole purpose of CBS rushing the story on the air in first place. Bob Saget should have a writer this funny. Who's still buying this crap?

Apparently, Reuters is.

The report also produced documents purportedly written by Bush's Guard commander complaining that he was pressured to "sugar coat" Bush's record -- but the man who gave the documents to CBS later admitted that he lied about its origins and serious questions have been raised over their authenticity.

As much as I want to give them credit for reporting this much of the story, the fact remains that these questions were "raised" within hours of the story airing - FOUR weeks ago, and subsequently "answered" in the days immediately following. Just more of the same cutting-edge journalism from the Reuters we know and love - 26 days late and a dollar short.

Good Friggin' Riddance

This is long overdue.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Johnny Damon officially laid "Cowboy Up" to rest as the Red Sox' identifying slogan prior to the start of their American League Division Series yesterday at Angel Stadium.

With cowboys about as plentiful in New England as surfers are in Nebraska, the Red Sox center fielder said there was a more appropriate way to capture the team's carefree attitude and individuality.

Idiots.

"We are not the cowboys anymore," Damon said. "We are just the idiots . . . We like to have fun and I think that's why this team is liked by so many people out there. We've got the long hair, we've got the corn rows, we've got guys acting like idiots, and I think the fans out there like it."

Hey, if they bring home the big one, they can act like a bunch of pig-tailed schoolgirls shithoused on Peachtree Schnapps and wine coolers for all I care.

The Party of Peace and Tolerance

Just a brief follow-up to this previous post on the wisdom of John Edwards. Now, we should all pay attention to what the good senator has to say. And, PLEASE, for the sake of our country, let's all try to be like these people.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A group of protestors stormed and then ransacked a Bush-Cheney headquarters building in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, according to Local 6 News.

Local 6 News reported that several people from the group of 100 Orlando protestors face possible assault charges after the group forced their way inside the Republican headquarters office.

But it's the Bush supporters who have lost their minds here, remember?

While in the building, some of the protestors drew horns and a mustache on a poster of President George W. Bush and poured piles of letters in the office, according to the report.

My two-year-olds should be so clever.

One of the protestors said she wanted to send a message.

Received.

Local 6 News learned that most of the protestors were from the AFL-CIO and were taking part in one of 20 other coordinated protests around the country.

A spokesperson with the AFL-CIO told Local 6 News that the Orlando protest did not go as planned.

I'm almost afraid to ask what that original plan entailed.

A Little Respect

R.I.P. Rodney Dangerfield, 1921-2004

Did you know...

...he was born Jacob Cohen?
...he won a Grammy in 1981 for his album No Respect?
...he made 70 appearances on The Tonight Show?

Now you do.

First Blood

Red Sox draw first blood in Anaheim, up 1-0 after one inning of play. I will update this post throughout the game as my mental faculties permit.

You know John Kerry must really be enjoying the game so far. In just the first inning, the senator's favorite player, Manny Ortiz, reached second base with two outs and then drove himself in with an RBI single in the next at-bat.

UPDATE: OK, no real update, just another inning in the record books. Angels strand the lead-off man on second. Top of the third coming up.

Note to self: Buy a TV for the office.

Kerry/Edwards Unplugged

Drudge has this quote up from a recent speech by John Edwards:

"I'd say if you live in the United States of America and you vote for George Bush, you've lost your mind."

Ah yes, the Party of Unity. Is this how he plans on bringing the "two Americas" together? By declaring anyone who won't vote for him mentally incompetent? When asked for comment, Teresa Heinz Kerry had this to say to anyone considering voting for President Bush:

"Death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth!"

Ahhh...much better.

Getting Tough on Crime - Massachusetts Style

To show they mean business when it comes to keeping the people of Boston safe from violent criminals, the Boston Police Department has this bold plan in the works:

Yesterday, a police official said the department is so concerned about the assaults that it plans to extend the hours to obtain a license to carry pepper spray so that women who work during normal business hours can apply.

In Massachusetts, this is called right-wing extremism.

And that's not even the worst of it.

Boston police yesterday defended their decision to delay warning the public that a college-age woman had been kidnapped, pistol-whipped, and raped by a pair of men at gunpoint until a second, similar attack eight days after the first.

Their defense:

"At that point, it's an isolated incident and we were investigating it as we would any rape, with confidence and in deference to the victim's privacy," Deputy Superintendent Margot Hill, the commander of the Boston Police Department's Family Justice Division, said through police spokeswoman Beverly Ford. "When we realized there were some similarities we immediately stepped forward with the information."

Hours later, Hill modified the explanation for the delay in notification, saying that the department did not have enough information about the first assault and did not want to unduly panic the public.

I call bullshit. A little panic might have saved the second victim from being similarly attacked.

Multiple armed assailants abduct, beat, and viciously rape a woman and the police feel that's insufficient information to warrant any kind of public notification? What the hell are they smoking and did they bring enough for the whole class?

The way I see it, they were hoping for a quick arrest so they could keep it under wraps. I mean, you wouldn't want to risk shattering the mayor's pipe dream that this is a "safe city" and all. I gotta award them points based on level of difficulty though - it must be hard to have their heads simultaneously up their ass and buried in the sand.

Mayor Still Clueless - news at 11

In the span of eight days, two women were abducted, blindfolded, beaten, and savagely raped in the gun-free utopia of Boston. All I can say is thank God these women had been disarmed by the liberal establishment in this town, else something bad might have happened to them - or their poor misunderstood victims-of-society rapists.

A 19-year-old woman walking on Hillside Avenue in Mission Hill was grabbed from behind and forced into a gray, four-door car about midnight Wednesday before being driven to a wooded area near White Stadium where she was raped, said Hill. Officials would not confirm reports the victim attends Emerson College.

On Sept. 21, a 23-year-old woman was abducted in a similar manner near the Forest Hills MBTA station by two men of the same description and taken to a house in an unidentified part of the city where she too was savagely raped.

Hill said that in both cases, the men covered the victim's face during the car ride and repeatedly beat her with a handgun to "gain (her) compliance."

Didn't these guys get the memo about kidnapping, rape, and armed assault being illegal. I sure hope that when they're caught, they get their gun permits revoked. [/sarcasm]

If you've spent more than 15 seconds reading my blog, you know where I stand on this, so let's get some other perspective on these attacks.

Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Margot Hill:

I would characterize them as extremely violent aggravated rapes. You don't want my own personal opinion of how I would characterize them.

Boston Mayor Tom "Tits on a Bull" Menino:

It's a safe city, but I think we have an issue today that must be addressed.

So much pure horseshit in one short sentence. How do you do it, Mr. Mayor? Who writes your material for you?

First of all, Tom, Boston is clearly NOT a safe city. Kids do not get shot walking home from a pizza shop in a safe city. Women do not get abducted, beaten, and savagely raped in a safe city. That's what happens in a target-rich environment created by liberal panty-waists like yourself who insist on passing laws that disarm everyone but the perpetrators of violent crime and enacting policy that serves only to brainwash people into becoming helpless, compliant victims subject to the whims of these animals.

A safe city is one in which women are empowered to defend themselves against scum like this using the most effective tools available. A safe city is one where the bad guys don't know if the good guys are armed or not.

Second, you THINK the situation needs to be addressed??? How many more murders and rapes until you're sure? You've had YEARS to address this. Get back to me on this when you've got a more firm grasp on reality, will you?

And third, what's this "we have an ISSUE" crap??? Is that all this is to you, just another "issue"? A shortage of snowplow drivers is an "issue". Double-parking in the Back Bay is an "issue". Teachers protesting for a better contract is an "issue". The lack of public toilets at City Hall Plaza is an "issue".

What we have here is a plague of catastrophic proportion that threatens our very existence as a community, that threatens the lives of every man, woman, and child who sets foot in the City of Boston.

This is about our God-given rights being ripped away by the liberal establishment in the name of feel-good, do-nothing political posturing.

This is about the government denying the people the means and even the desire to protect their families from harm.

This is about our neighborhoods going down the toilet while good people sit idly by and wait for the police and the politicians to save them.

This is about a climate of fear being foisted upon us from all directions. The drug-dealers, rapists, and thugs use fear and intimidation as a weapon to rule the streets with relative impunity. Our elected officials are using fear to convince us that we are best off having the police protect us and that we should barricade ourselves in our homes, cower at the face of evil, and wait for help to arrive.

I'm running our of stuff to break. Anyone care to join me at the range this weekend?