I Don't Care...

...how many stars they might get from the users posting reviews at Amazon. These ass-ugly offerings from Hitachi's "Green Goblin" line of power tools aren't allowed anywhere near my workbench.

(click to enlarge - at your own risk)

I mean, I understand the need to carve out a distinctive niche in the market, to differentiate yourself from the competition, and to increase brand awareness, and all, but, please!

This Is Clearly New Hampshire's Fault

From the Boston Globe:

The cooperation of witnesses led to the arrests yesterday of two Boston men, whom authorities called known gang members, in the high-profile killing of a 22-year-old woman after a house party in Dorchester last month.

Chiara Levin, who was visiting from New York, was caught in crossfire between Manuel Andrade, 33, of Dorchester, and Casimiro Barros , 20 , of Roxbury, Suffolk County prosecutors announced yesterday in a press conference after their arrests. Andrade and Barros will be arraigned tomorrow in Dorchester District Court on murder, assault, and weapons charges, prosecutors said.

This next part will shock your shoes off.

Both men have lengthy criminal records, including gun charges, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

With the predictability of high tide, the mother of one of the choirboys being charged had nothing but glorious praise yesterday for her cherubic little vaginal extrusion.

"My son didn't hurt anyone," said Barros. "We've never had a problem with him and I don't believe that, that he shot someone."

Yeah, so long as your definition of "problem" excludes anything pertaining to multiple arrests for illegal possession of firearms.

Adam G. at Universal Hub does the more extensive poking around that the Boston Globe seemingly couldn't be bothered with doing, and finds this noteworthy post over at BPDNews.com.

From December '06:

Officers arrested the operator of the car, Casimiro M. Barros, Jr., 20, of Roxbury and charged him with Operating Without Being Licensed, Speeding, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition, Second Subsequent Offense, and Being an Armed Career Criminal.

So, four months ago, they had this scumbag in custody for unlawful possession of a firearm.

Again.

Police and prosecutors even went out of their way to officially designate Mr. Barros an "armed career criminal".

Yet, a mere three months later, he's out on the streets of Boston, exchanging gunfire with some other criminal scumbag using, you guessed it, an unlawfully possessed firearm. Ms. Levin is killed in the crossfire.

Damn you, New Hampshire!

From the parents of the victim:

"We hope that the loss we are enduring that has changed our lives forever and from which there is no recovery will help others to reflect upon the senselessness of violent responses to conflict and the danger of Massachusetts' 'revolving door' system of justice, which routinely allows known, dangerous lawbreakers to walk the streets, and terrorize their neighborhoods, with impunity."

Yeah....just kidding.

"We hope that the loss we are enduring that has changed our lives forever and from which there is no recovery will help others to reflect upon the senselessness of violent responses to conflict and the danger of easy access to and misuse of weapons."

Because, if only we "gun nuts" in New Hampshire and Vermont could get on board the liberal bandwagon being piloted by Boston Mayor Tom Menino and push for more laws and regulations that systematically deprive only our poorer, darker-skinned neighbors of their constitutionally-protected rights, all would be well again in the valley of gumdrops and daffodils.

Right?

Thanks, but I'll pass.

I'm pretty happy with the system we have up here, where all law-abiding New Hampshire residents have the right to own firearms, regardless of their position on the socio-economic ladder.

It's not very "progressive" of me, I know.

Reaping the Benefits

...of life in a victim disarmament zone.

Ex-Senator Injured in Chicago Mugging

CHICAGO - Former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Carol Moseley Braun suffered a broken wrist when a mugger tried to steal her purse, authorities said Saturday.

Braun, 59, was standing at her front door late Friday when an assailant came out of the bushes and tried to take her purse, said her spokesman, Kevin Lampe. When Braun resisted, the man pulled a knife and cut the strap of the purse.

What? She resisted???

Bad liberal!!!

What the hell happened to "just give your attacker what he wants"?

After all, it's just a fucking purse, right?

I mean, Don't get me wrong. I'm glad she's going to be OK, but wasn't all that gun control in Chicago, some of the most stringent in the nation, supposed to make the residents of Chicago safer?

Or was that "feel safer"?

Yeah, I Know...

It's only April.

But, still...



Dice-K did everything but stick a pretty red bow on those four fourth-inning runs last night.

At least he didn't walk anyone after loading up the bases.

Twice.

And, three hits, a walk, and four earned runs for Rivera over the span of one third of an inning.

All is well in The Nation.

Slow Blog Days

Sorry. Got a lot going on.

Question

Do any of you have any recommendations for a web hosting service? I'm looking for web hosting, site building, domain registration, multiple e-mail accounts, 100+ GB storage, etc.

I'm all ears.

When Life Imitates Rush Lyrics

Red Barchetta (from the album 'Moving Pictures', February 1981):

I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta
From a better, vanished time.

San Francisco Chronicle, last Sunday:

Barn find. It's the phrase that conjures up the notion of that wonderful treasure you sniffed out, heard about on the grapevine, that car that has been sitting at the back of a barn for years, covered with dust, and the original owner who's now in her 80s wants to get rid of it.

Ideally, that creaky old Packard or Alfa-Romeo will be sold for a song and you will gleefully haul the tatty but intact treasure back home, lovingly clean it up and then, fingers crossed, see if she fires up.

The story of Manny Del Arroz's Ferrari is a variation on the barn find -- one important variation is that the seller was extremely savvy and Del Arroz did not get this car for a song. Nonetheless, it's fair to call this story an authentic under-the-carpets-languishing-in-the-Arizona-desert find.

The car is a 1950 Ferrari 166MM Barchetta. According to Michael T. Lynch, a Monterey automotive historian who specializes in Ferraris, only 25 of these cars with the 2-liter V12 motors were built. Most of them still exist.

[snip]

Nearly 50 years ago, according to Lynch, a guy living in Europe, possibly serving in the U.S. armed forces in Germany, found the 166MM at a used car showroom in Lausanne, Switzerland. He contacted his friend, Reg Lee Litton, in Scottsdale, Ariz., who knew something about Ferraris and, Lynch recalled, "Litton said buy it for me and ship it to California. The car probably went for somewhere between $5,000 and $8,000."

Litton met the car at the port of Long Beach, "gets it running and drives it home. In Arizona, he has some friends with some old Maseratis, one with a Chevy motor, and they would race all over the valley and then they'd go home, have a few beers and talk about it," Lynch said. Eventually, something in the Ferrari broke and "Litton puts it in the backyard, covered up with some rugs and black plastic held down with two-by-fours. Then somebody used the rugs for something else and the car was left open to the sky. The car was just sitting out in the yard until he died."

Fucking sweet!

(link via Carpundit)

Suffolk County D.A. Lets Cop Shooter Walk

Remember the Boston cop who shot a fellow police officer last summer, and fled the scene of the crime without rendering first aid to the fallen officer?

Well, this will come a real shock to you.

Not.

He got ten years 90 days probation.

OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO OFF-DUTY SHOOTING

April 23, 2007

A Boston Police Officer was sentenced to probation today after admitting to discharging his department-issued firearm and injuring a fellow officer last summer while both men were off-duty.

Officer PAUL DURKIN, 50, had been scheduled for trial later this week on a single count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection with the June 22 incident, which injured Officer Joseph Behnke. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders sentenced Durkin to three years of probation and ordered that he undergo evaluation for alcohol abuse.

Had the case proceeded to trial, witnesses would have testified that Behnke and Durkin were outside Behnke's West Roxbury home sometime after 3:00 a.m. when they became engaged in a dispute over whether Durkin was sober enough to drive himself home. During the course of this dispute, the evidence would have shown, Durkin drew his service weapon, a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic, and fired once. That shot struck Behnke in the left hip, injuring him.

Following the incident, Durkin walked away from the scene and called a friend on his cell phone. That friend, who knew nothing of the shooting, picked Durkin up and let him sleep at his home. Behnke, meanwhile, walked into his home and received assistance from his wife. He was subsequently transported by ambulance to an area hospital, from which he was released later that morning.

The incident was investigated by Boston Police detectives assigned to the Firearm Discharge Investigation Team, which examines all police-involved shootings. Suffolk prosecutors led a grand jury investigation into the night's events, leading to Durkin's indictment on Sept. 28.

Durkin was represented by attorney George Murphy.

When I read this press release last night (thanks to Adam at Universal Hub for the link), I found several important questions to be unanswered.

1. To what specific charge did Mr. Durkin plead guilty?
2. Was it a misdemeanor or a felony charge?
3. What is the maximum allowable prison sentence, per existing Massachusetts General Law, for the charge to which he admitted guilt?

So far, what we know is there will be no prison time and no trial on felony charges of assault on or attempted murder of a police officer. Just the same I'm sure, as if it was a suspected drug-dealer in Mattapan who had pulled the trigger.

You know, the same kind of drug dealer who was recently prosecuted by Conley's office and sent away for 7-1/2 years for selling crack cocaine to an undercover police officer in Boston.

Disgusted yet?

You should be.

But wait, it gets worse.

From today's Boston Herald:

Hub cop may resign after guilty plea in shooting

"MAY" resign???? Excuse me????

A veteran Boston police officer is expected to resign from the force after pleading guilty yesterday to charges he shot a fellow cop during an off-duty argument about whether he was too drunk to drive, officials said.

Officer Paul Durkin, 50, entered the guilty plea yesterday, just days before his trial on assault and battery charges was expected to start. He also indicated in court that he would turn in his badge after 27 years of service to the Boston Police Department, entitling him to a city pension.

Shoot a cop and leave him bleeding there? Here's your pension.

Commit perjury? Not so much. Just ask Tom Finneran about that one.

Here's the "best" part...

The sentence was applauded by BPD Commissioner Edward Davis last night. “Violence is unacceptable in our society and anyone who engages in violent behavior must be held accountable,” he said in a statement.

I'm nearly speechless.

Since it appears he'll get to keep his pension, I'm guessing Conley and his attorney let him weasel out of the felony charge and plead guilty to some bullshit misdemeanor instead - disturbing the peace, drunk and disorderly conduct, etc. - possibly enabling him to keep his license to carry a firearm.

If this is true, Conley needs to be removed from office.

Before lunchtime today.

And, if Ed Davis is going to hold this up as a shining example of a person being "held accountable" for his actions, he's equally unfit to serve, as well. If some gangbanger were to approach Commissioner Davis one day, shoot him at close range, and then run away, I wonder how his definition of "being held accountable" might change under those circumstances.

And, I wonder why I took so long to move out of that corrupt shithole.

UPDATE: Note also this detail from Conley's press release...

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders sentenced Durkin to three years of probation and ordered that he undergo evaluation for alcohol abuse.

"Evaluation", not "treatment".

There's a huge difference between the two, where one's eligibility to possess firearms in Massachusetts is concerned.

Note also, from that link, the other disqualifiers that would prevent him from being licensed to own a handgun in Massachusetts. The $64,000 question is, "Which of those did Conley let him skate on, and what will become of Mr. Durkin's status as a licensed gun owner?"

You'll note that a simple drunk driving conviction alone would be sufficient grounds to strip you or me of our constitutional rights in the People's Progressive Republic.

This whole story stinks.

My money's on this sad excuse for a cop being allowed to keep his gun license. If that turns out to be the case, it would serve as the greatest single example to-date of how unfair and ineffective Massachusetts' gun control laws truly are.

Of course, Boston Mayor Tom Menino has been notably absent from all the coverage of this incident. He'll likely be trotting out the old reliable "I have no comment. That's a police matter." bullshit. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to find out he keeps a framed photograph of Sergeant Schultz on his desk for inspirational purposes.

UPDATE II: Color me surprised.

No...really.

From the Boston Globe:

Policeman admits to shooting officer
He gets 3 years' probation and agrees to resign

By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff - April 24, 2007

A 27-year veteran of the Boston Police Department pleaded guilty yesterday to assault charges for shooting a fellow officer with his service weapon after a night of heavy drinking.

Officer Paul Durkin has also agreed to resign from the department, which bars convicted felons from its ranks, spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said.

Durkin, who pleaded guilty to one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, was sentenced to three years of probation and a mandatory evaluation for alcohol abuse.

So, if what the previous Boston Herald article stated is true, this cop-shooter, now a convicted felon, will still be eligible to collect a monthly pension check courtesy of the City of Boston.

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Durkin, 50, was set to face trial this week in connection with the shooting, which prosecutors say unfolded June 22 after Officer Joseph Behnke offered his friend a place to sleep because he believed Durkin was too drunk to drive home.

Prosecutors allege that Durkin became annoyed when Behnke pressured him to stay at his West Roxbury home instead of driving to Easton.

They say that as the two argued, Durkin unholstered his service weapon and fired once at close range, striking Behnke in the left hip.

Memo to Michell McPhee of the Boston Herald: Please stop referring to a police officer's department-issued Glock as a "service revolver". It doesn't exactly do much to help with your overall credibility as a crime reporter.

Durkin then walked away, leaving his friend bleeding, and arranged to stay at the home of another friend, who knew nothing about the shooting, prosecutors say. Behnke's wife called an ambulance, which took him to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Behnke remains on paid administrative leave, Driscoll said.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley declined to be interviewed about the case, but has said it was "pure luck" that no one was killed.

So, on the plus side, he wasn't able to finagle any kind of backroom deal that would have let him keep his gun license and return to work one day as a police officer. On the downside, as far as the subjects of Meninostan are concerned, he might still be able to cash in on his city pension, despite this conviction on his record.

And, oh yeah...your property taxes are going up...again.

I'd be interested in hearing Menino's take on that.

Not that I'd understand much of, but I'd like to hear it, nonetheless.

Getting the "Leadership" One Deserves

Alternate Post Title: Reason #(n+1)

In case I haven't mention it lately, this clown received from than two-thirds of the popular vote in his 2005 re-election bid.

With gun violence in Boston up sharply in recent years, one of Mayor Thomas M. Menino's top legislative priorities this year would strip convicted gun offenders of their right to drive for up to five years.

If I'm not mistaken, existing state law allows for most of these convicted "gun offenders" to be stripped of their right to live outside the walls of a prison for five years. You'd think such measures would also be pretty damn effective at getting these thugs out of their cars, as well. But, then again, if you're reading this blog, chances are you have the ability to think in a rational manner and apply the simplest rules of logic in a discussion of this nature.

Yet, The Honorable Thomas "M. is for Mumbles" Menino continues to operate under the delusion that passing new laws such as this will have a measurable effect on the behavior of those individuals least inclined to follow the law.

Menino, however, wants to take away something that very few gun offenders have, according to a Globe analysis of more than 100 gun convictions last year and state Registry of Motor Vehicles records of those offenders.

But, golly, it sure will feeeeeeel good to bask in the warm glow of the flash bulbs at the press conference announcing the passage of this bold initiative, and once again at the press conference five days later, where the Mayor gets to declare this latest plan a "major success", regardless of the actual consequences thereof.

To criminologists and others who assert Menino's proposal is political and not pragmatic, such numbers are further evidence that passage of the mayor's legislation would have little or no impact on the city's efforts to curb gun violence.

I'm sensing a trend.

Nolan added: "We have one of the strongest gun laws in the country and that doesn't deter [offenders].

No, but it does deter the decent, hard-working people of Boston from taking the necessary steps to lawfully provide for their own well-being, defend their families, and reduce their dependence on inept government officials for their personal protection.

The end [read: desired] result of these "strongest gun laws in the country" is that the most vulnerable residents of Boston are kept weak and defenseless, wholly reliant on the government for their every want and need. And, if they don't vote for Menino, again and again - and continue paying for his armed security detail with their tax dollars - who would be there to provide for them?

What makes people think that these people even apply for driver's licenses or have them at all?"

Ahhh...there's your problem.

You used the verb "think" when commenting on an anti-crime initiative that came out of Menino's head. That's never a prudent idea.

When the city first touted the legislation, it was Menino's brainchild.

Friday, when the Globe raised questions about its rationale, it became the offspring of the Boston Police Department.

Of course, it did.

I could go on for pages and pages on this, but I've got shit to do. So, I'll leave you with this interesting quote from a local "expert" on this subject.

James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University, said the proposed law also fails to consider young people who carry guns for self-defense.

No point in trying to explain that to Menino. His cochlear filter implants have been programmed to filter out the phrase "self defense", as well as "second amendment", "concealed carry", "lawful gun use", "victim disarmament zone", and, well...you get the picture.

"The risk of being unarmed in the face of a threat is worse than the risk of being unlicensed in the face of needing to go somewhere," Fox said. "From their perspective the criminal justice system, whether it be the mayor and his initiative or the DA, can just take their number and wait in line with the other people who may be out to get them."

OK, maybe one more.

Given the public frustration with the rate of gun violence, [Thomas Nolan, a Boston University criminologist who was a Boston policeman for 27 years] said it is not surprising that Menino would find any proposed remedy appealing.

Financial impact? Not an issue.

Actual consequences? Please.

Abrogation of the rights of the citizenry? What's that?

We've got minds to befuddle and votes to secure, dammit!

Priorities, people!!!

Reesurch

Someone should really drop Susan Estrich a quick e-mail to tell her about this crazy, new-fangled thing called Google. Check out this passage from her recent column, The Blame Game:

In 2002, an armed gunman was killed by armed students at Appalachia Law School. Or maybe he was unarmed or his gun was empty or he had put it down by the time he was shot dead.

Or maybe you don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about.

When [the gunman, Peter] Odighizuwa exited the building where the shooting took place, he was approached by two students with personal firearms.

At the first sound of gunfire, fellow students Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross, unbeknownst to each other, ran to their vehicles to fetch their personally-owned firearms. Gross, a police officer with the Grifton Police Department in his home state of North Carolina, retrieved a 9 mm pistol and body armour. Bridges pulled his .357 Magnum pistol from beneath the driver's seat of his Chevy Tahoe. As Bridges later told the Richmond Times Dispatch, he was prepared to shoot to kill.

Bridges and Gross approached Odighizuwa from different angles, with Bridges yelling at Odighizuwa to drop his gun. Odighizuwa then dropped his firearm and was subdued by several other unarmed students, including Ted Besen and Todd Ross.

Subdued, shot dead...same difference.

Speaking of Ass Wiping

Will someone please tell me this is a joke?

Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. One of my favorites is in the area of forest conservation which we heavily rely on for oxygen. I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.

Wow.

Sometimes I fear for the future of our species.

I remember waking up to one such "pesky occasion", after an evening spent pounding room temperature Busch longnecks and wolfing down an extra large order of suicidal buffalo wings from the Cuckoo's Nest in Somerville, thinking one roll might not do the trick.

(link via Doc at The Autopsy, via Ace)

I'm Going Out On a Limb Here

I'm guessing that the walking hammerbag who came up with this campaign never produced any offspring of his own, let alone twins.

Every year, North Americans use enough disposable wipes to fill 9,000 18-wheelers to capacity. It's easy to reduce this waste by choosing reusable cleaners like the one we've enclosed.

So, I'm supposed to wipe my kid's ass with a fucking keychain???

And So It Begins

Anyone seen TC this morning?

BITCHES!

The Red Sox could not bring Alex Rodriguez all the way back to earth last night. These days, no one can.

But they undressed another Yankee demigod, closer Mariano Rivera, in stunning fashion, scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth to overcome a four-run deficit, then held their collective breath while watching Hideki Okajima, the stand-in for closer Jonathan Papelbon, solve A-Rod and save a 7-6 win before a delirious crowd of 36,786 in Fenway Park.

Dispatch from Planet Dennis

Jeff Soyer has a post up linking to this brilliant "solution" to gun-related violence, courtesy of "Quadrennial White House loser", Dennis Kucinich.

Washington, Apr 18 - WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 18) — In the aftermath of Monday’s deadly shooting in Blacksburg, Virginia, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is proposing a comprehensive, three-point plan to deal with the violence plaguing America, including a ban on handguns.

Because, faced with a choice between using Vermont or Washington, DC as a model for common-sense gun laws, the choice is clear.

Kucinich is currently drafting legislation that would ban the purchase, sale, transfer, or possession of handguns by civilians.

Can't you just smell the safety in the air?

A gun buy-back provision will be included in the bill.

"Let's see...a $3,000 custom-built 1911? Here, have a Target gift card."

That whistling sound you're hearing is the crime rate falling from the sky.

Also, what Kucinich, and every other head-in-the-sand liberal out there, can't seem to wrap their heads around is this. That deranged little speck of subhuman fecal scrapings was going to kill a lot of people. One way or another, he was going to wipe out as many innocent people as he possibly could. It's what deranged little specks of subhuman fecal scrapings do.

Say a judge had, in fact, had him committed to a psychiatric hospital a couple years back, and such an event had triggered a "no" response on his NICS background check. It's quite possible he could have found himself unable to purchase the handguns he used in his killing spree.

I doubt that would have mattered much.

He was going to kill.

Perhaps, he'd have been equally unsuccessful at obtaining a handgun on the street.

Would that have stopped him from killing?

I highly doubt it.

He was going to kill.

And, he, like every American citizen, had easy access to any number of potentially lethal instruments. In his letter to the Boston Globe this week, David A. Kiolbasa of Whitman, Massachusetts asks:

Who is to decide which law-abiding citizens have the reason and self-control to be trusted to exercise the use of deadly force?

Actually, David, that would be the legislatures of the 50 states, which set their states' age limits for individuals seeking to obtain a driver's license. Like it or not, when you hand a 16-year-old the keys to the family station wagon, you are making the decision that he or she has "the reason and self-control to be trusted to exercise the use of deadly force."

Has anyone asked what kind of bodycount Mr. Fecal Scrapings could have racked up with a couple five-gallon cans of gasoline and a match? Or a backpack full of pipe bombs made with readily available components?

Yet, despite these uncomfortable realities, we're still forced to share the planet with such budding little Einsteins as Kucinich, who honestly believe that having the government take away my firearms and my right to self-defense is going to make the world a safer place to live.

"If it saves just one carjacker's life...", I guess.

Quote of the Day

They don't get much better than this:

Happy Patriots Day. The day when folks in Massachusetts get a day off work to celebrate having completely forgotten who they are.

Meanwhile, On Planet Obama

From the Boston Herald:

Obama said hunters have to be persuaded that there’s a difference between buying a rifle to hunt and gun violence.

Yeah, because it's our nation's hunters who are having a hard time differentiating between lawful and criminal use of firearms.

Where'd that scotch go?

Quick Question and a Favor

Post updated and bumped to top of page.
Originally published 4/18/07 @ 9:54 PM

Question: How many newspapers in this country, while publishing long-winded editorials criticizing America's glorification of violence, will have that stupid-ass picture of that nutcake splashed across their front pages tomorrow morning?

[Update 4/19/07: Answer = many]

Way to give the little prick EXACTLY what he wanted!

Favor: To anyone considering posting any of those pictures on their websites and blogs, I ask you to reconsider. If you've already posted them, take them down. Together we can do our part to prevent this psychotic little dipshit from achieving the immortality he so desperately craved.

Getting the major networks to understand is a lost cause, of course. But it can be our way of sending one last "Fuck you, asshole!" to the deceased before his body's decomposition in hell is complete.

April 18, 2007

Dear Asshole,

Fuck you. You lose.

Sincerely,

- Bruce M., No Looking Backwards
- DCE, Weekend Pundit
- Jim, Free New Hampshire
- Mashby, Stark Raving Mad
- Countertop, The Countertop Chronicles
- Jay G., MArooned
- Weer'd Beard, Weer'd World Arrrr
- Tom H., Freedom Under Fire
- Bradley O., Pr0ducer
- Matt, Matt Knows
- Cowboy Blob, Cowboy Blob's Saloon and Shootin Gallery
- Nylarthotep, Chaos-In-Motion
- Sebastian, Snowflakes in Hell
- Bill, No Better Country
- Jed, Freedom Sight
- Gunner, No Quarters
- AlanDP, Blogonomicon

If you're on board, link to this post, and sign this letter by leaving your name and blog in the comments, or by trackback, and I will update the post accordingly.

UPDATE: Via John in the comments...

If anyone's picture should go up, its the Israeli professor who showed us what a man ought to do.

Amen to that!



Heroism personified.

A 75-year-old Israeli professor and Holocaust survivor was killed in the massacre at Virginia Tech Monday when he leaped between the gunman and his students.

According to eye witnesses the heroic action of Liviu Librescu saved the lives of an unknown number of students in his class.

UPDATE II: Just a follow-up question...

Wouldn't it be nice if NBC News would give the homemade videos of the men and women serving overseas in the Armed Forces as much prominence and airtime as they've given this sick little piece of shit?

UPDATE III: Related story here.

NEW YORK --NBC News' decision to air some of the video and pictures sent by Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui had immediate repercussions Thursday, with family members of victims canceling their plans to appear on the "Today" show.

The family members "were very upset" with NBC for airing the images, "Today" host Meredith Vieira said Thursday.

Cho, 23, sent a package filled with rambling, hate-filled video and written messages, and several pictures of him posing with a gun, to NBC News on the morning of his killing spree. It arrived in the mail Wednesday, and contents began airing on the network with the "Nightly News."

Today Show co-host Matt Lauer offers the all-too predictable response.

"We've made the decision because by showing some of this material, perhaps it will make us understand or answer the question why, why did it happen," he said.

Why did it happen?

It's quite simple to explain, actually.

Say you own a factory that makes toasters. It would be nice if 100% of your toasters worked 100% of the time. But, the reality of the situation is, a certain (hopefully low) percentage of the toasters you produce will prove to be defective, and you're going to have some disappointed customers having to deal with burnt toast.

Legislation requiring bakers to make their bread burn-proof won't change that simple truth.

UPDATE IV: Reader Jay G. reminds us...

Lest we forget at our own peril, these are the same cowardly fucks who refused to show the Mohammed cartoons "out of respect for the Muslim community".

Of course, if they thought for one minute that publishing the images of those cartoons could have stirred up the kind of emotional response with the general public, which the left so desperately needs in order to advance its political agenda, they'd have been deemed worthy of Page 1, above-the-fold status and would have been the lead story in the network evening news broadcasts for days.

Anyone who thinks otherwise has not been paying attention.

UPDATE V: Fox News gets the message.

Backlash Leads to Pullback on Cho Video

NEW YORK - With a backlash developing against the media for airing sickening pictures from Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui, Fox News Channel said Thursday it would stop and other networks said they would severely limit their use.

Must-See Video of the Day

Via Hot Air.

Nearly peed myself from laughing so hard.

Mayors Against Honest Conversation

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Boston Mayor Tom Menino went in front of a room full of TV cameras yesterday and continued his campaign of lies and misinformation about our nation's gun laws.

I know.

I'm shocked too.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino urged the Bush administration yesterday to tighten gun control laws and stand up to the National Rifle Association in the aftermath of the massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech.

"The federal government could take action ... by getting the NRA to back off these issues," Menino said in a telephone interview.

Yeah, the NRA should back off the issue of protecting America's right to self-defense, just like NARAL should back off the issue of protecting a woman's right to choose.

"...but some rights are more equal than others."

"Young kids have guns today. ... How is this being perpetrated throughout the country? It's not just a Boston problem. It's a national problem."

The mayor made his comments as he returned to Boston from New Jersey, where he attended a meeting yesterday of a coalition of mayors united against illegal guns. Menino and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York started the coalition with 15 mayors in April 2006, and it grew to 214 with the addition of 27 mayors from New Jersey yesterday.

Like Menino, Bloomberg said yesterday that he will wait for the investigation to be completed before offering extensive comments on the massacre, though he did say that an average of about 30 Americans are slain by gunfire daily.

I guess it depends on one's definition of "extensive".

Menino pointed out that the guns Seung-Hui Cho used to kill 32 people and then himself were bought legally in Virginia. He said looser gun laws in Southern states such as Virginia cause the streets of Boston to be flooded with illegal guns.

Like many cities, Boston is confronting a surge in homicides. This year, the city is well ahead of the pace of last year's total of 74 homicides, just one shy of the 10-year high of 75 set in 2005.

"A young person goes to one of those Southern states with liberal gun laws and brings them to Massachusetts and sells them out of trucks," Menino said. "Why isn't the president doing something about it?"

What do you say we start aggressively enforcing the laws already on the books that make it a felony to sell firearms, in any of the 50 states, to persons from out-of-state?

This whole "Anyone can buy guns in Virginia!" bullshit talking point is really starting to annoy me. Of course, it doesn't help that all of his slobbering, ass-kissing cohorts in the media refuse to call him on it.

The mayors' coalition will begin airing television ads on network political talk shows Sunday to push for the repeal of a law that prevents the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives from sharing gun trace information with local law enforcement.

That's bullshit, Mr. Mayor, and you know it.

Menino and Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis say the law makes it more difficult for police to apprehend criminals who use guns to kill and maim people.

Bullshit.

Bullshit.

Bullshit.

The gun tracing legislation you're talking about does nothing to restrict access to gun trace data by LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES tracking the origins of firearms USED IN CRIMES.

Despite what you would like the public to believe, Mayors Against Illegal Guns is not a law enforcement agency. Your group is what we in the reality-based universe call a "gun control advocacy organization".

The website of the NRA says the group supports the legislation because it protects the privacy of gun owners, whose weapons could be traced even when they are not used in crimes.

Exactly. The law was written for the purpose of keep meddling, little, gun-grabbing fascists like yourself and Bloomberg out of my gun safe and away from my lawfully-possessed firearms, and to protect the nation's law-abiding firearms dealers from your law-breaking goon squad, set out to harass the innocent, in order to further your liberal anti-liberty agenda.

Stick a cork in it, asshole.

And, oh yeah....come get 'em.

Heroes and Happy Endings

Here's a case of the right person being in the right place at the right time.

An Auburn, New Hampshire woman has a stranger to thank for rescuing her from flood waters during Monday's storm.

Colette Deusinger was trapped in her convertible on a washed out road, and the vehicle was quickly filling with water. As it sank, she pressed her face against the rear window and gasped for breath.

"That was it, I was gone," she told WBZ radio. "Especially when there was absolutely no more air. There were no bubbles left. There was nothing I could breathe. I was just frantic."

Lucky for Deusinger that Fred McNeill had stopped at the flooded out road. He yelled for somebody to bring him a knife, but ended up with a screwdriver.

"By that time she stopped yelling and I was very concerned," McNeill said.

McNeil used the screwdriver to punch small holes in the convertible's roof, until he could rip the top open.

"Her head popped right out gasping for air," he said. "Seconds after we pulled her out, her vehicle sank in the water."

Lessons learned:

1. If you come upon a road that has been barricaded due to flooding in the area, seek an alternate route.

2. Carry a knife at all times.

For What It's Worth

In contrast to the trend noted in this article, Hillary Clinton's favorability rating, amongst the regular readers of this blog, remains unchanged.

How's This For "Fair and Balanced"?

For this article titled, "Experts say Mass. gun laws may thwart campus crises", the Boston Herald's Jessica Fargen turned to such "experts" as John Rosenthal, gun-grabber extraordinaire and founder of Stop Handgun Violence, and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, the man responsible for overseeing one of the most bigoted gun licensing schemes in the country.

Can't you just feel the objectivity in the air?

Let's have a look...

Massachusetts state law prohibits anyone, except an on-duty police officer, from bringing a gun on a school campus.

Yep, just as is it was on the campus of Virginia Tech, where individuals licensed to carry concealed firearms are prohibited from carrying their weapons on campus, per the laws of the Commonwealth.

Next!

But Virginia, where the National Rifle Association is headquartered, has some of the most lax gun laws in the country, experts noted.

Which is why it doesn't enjoy having the same low murder rate as its next-door neighbor, Washington D.C., where the possession of handguns has been outlawed altogether, and the restrictions on the possession of long guns makes Massachusetts look like rural Idaho by comparison.

Virginia residents can buy guns without a background check...

Just like all the drug-dealing gang members responsible for the rise in deadly shootings in Boston's inner city neighborhoods.

Also omitted here is the fact that in Virginia, "any person person who sells, barters, gives or furnishes, or has in his possession or under his control with the intent of selling, bartering, giving or furnishing, any firearm to any person he knows is prohibited from possessing or transporting a firearm pursuant to §§ 18.2-308.1:1, 18.2-308.2 or § 18.2- 308.7 shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony."

But, then again, why should newspaper reporters get all worked up over such things as accurate reporting and fact-based research?

Also, let's remember that this asshole, Cho, was able to purchase his firearms legally, from a federally-licensed firearms dealer, after having passed the required background check. This type of sale happens every day.

Worldwide media coverage notwithstanding, someone like Cho making the transformation from law-abiding gun owner to homicidal nutcase is as big a deviation from the norm as one could imagine.

...and carrying a concealed weapon requires only a permit from local police.

Setting aside the obvious reference to the aforementioned gangbangers who don't give a flying fuck about getting permission from the government to hide a stolen handgun in their baggy-assed jeans, this is, again, no different than the laws for carrying a concealed weapon in Massachusetts.

Well, OK, it's slightly different.

In Virginia, an applicant for a concealed carry permit can't be turned down for such grievous offenses against humanity as losing a rental video from Blockbuster, living in an apartment building with loud neighbors, or failing to file a change of address form for one's automobile registration.

Don't you feel safer, Jessica, knowing these vicious criminals have been disarmed by the common-sense gun laws of Massachusetts?

I wonder how many people were injured or killed as a result of drunk driving on Monday. And, what are the odds we'll be hearing anything in the news about the millions of lawfully purchased firearms that were not used to carry out the vicious slaughter of the innocent?

But, as is so often the case, this horrific incident will fuel the fires of those determined to pass more laws restricting the rights and freedoms of the many, based on the lawless actions of the few.

In Massachusetts, that's known as "common sense".

New York Times = moNkeYs wriTe

From Ankle Biting Pundits:

In one sentence [New York Times editors] say is that it is “premature to draw too many lessons”, yet they then go on to say that stronger laws are needed over “lethal weapons”, even though nothing is known about how he got them.

I'd expect nothing less from the newspaper of broken record.

(link via Michelle Malkin)

Laying Blame

Jay Tea at Wizbang:

This atrocity was the responsibility of one individual, one person who decided -- for whatever reason -- that this life was no longer tolerable and chose to leave it, and -- damn him to hell -- to take over 30 others with him.

This deed was not committed by a weapon, a political movement, or some failing of society. It was not carried out by a video game, a rap song, or pornography. This was, ultimately, the fault of exactly one man -- and we can't punish him for it, as he has already chosen to enact the ultimate sanction upon himself.

To deny this monster the full credit for his heinous deeds is to deny his free choice to carry it out, and to diminish the responsibility that lies at his feet, and his feet alone.

Yep.

This mass shooting, like all the mass shootings that came before it, was caused by the Second Amendment to the same extent that it was prevented by federal, state, and municipal gun laws.

In addition, I think we can, at long last, retire Chapter 2 from the "Self-Defense for Liberals Handbook".

Obey your attacker and give him what he wants.

Yeah, what harm could possibly come from simply lining up against a wall?

Who Says Size Matters?

A quick update on the Uptown Tavern shooting in Manchester, previously blogged here.

At least nine bullets were fired in a shootout Saturday morning at a downtown bar that ended with the gunman who allegedly instigated the shooting hospitalized after he was shot twice by another customer.

About 50 people were inside the Uptown Tavern, 1301 Elm St., at 12:45 a.m. Saturday when the shooting happened, sending customers diving to the floor for cover.

Police said Eliezer Encarnacion, 26, of 214 Bremer St., Apt. 2, fired a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun about a half-dozen times at two bouncers and the assistant manager standing in a rear doorway.

Customer Kenneth Gage then pulled out his Kel Tec .380 semiautomatic handgun and fired it three times, hitting Encarnacion twice, according to court records.

Police did not release Gage's age or address. He told police he pulled out his gun and fired it after Encarnacion shot at the bouncers and at him.

The last thing anyone should be doing here is playing Monday morning quarterback, critiquing Mr. Gage's marksmanship - even if done so in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. Landing two hits out of three shots fired, under extreme stress, while ducking .45-caliber handgun fire.

Both bad guys apprehended.

No innocents harmed.

And, with a .380 pocket gun.

Bravo, sir. Well done!

It would be nice to see this "good gun" story, that unfolded in a "guns-allowed zone", getting 1/1,000th the national news coverage as yesterday's "bad gun" story. But, I realize that's wishful thinking of epic proportion on my part.

FWIW

link

Loose Ends

Just a quick post I meant to get up earlier, but I got caught up in the news of the day.

I had not heard of the VA Tech shootings when it all went down, because, like so many of my neighbors up here, I was dealing with yet another power outage caused by the recent storm. Once the generator was hooked up, I put the local news on to get an update on the storm conditions and the efforts underway to restore power.

Needless to say, the news coverage at the time was all Boston Marathon-related. Around the time of the men's start of the race, the NECN anchors, Leslie Gaydos and Mike Nikitas, offered up some real words of wisdom - giving us these Quotes of the Day.

First, we had Leslie commenting on the weather conditions...

Wet tennis shoes will probably slow down some of these runners.

Um...running the marathon in dry tennis shoes wouldn't exactly be shaving seconds off their time, either. Tap shoes, on the other hand...

But that was nothing - just the warm up in the "Let's Say Who Can Say the Dumbest Thing On the Air Today" contest the two of them seemed to have been having.

Not ten minutes after that, it was Mike's turn.

After a brief side note, where he mentioned that the Patriot's Day re-enactment on the Lexington Green had been cancelled due to inclement weather and cold temperatures, he noted that the weather on that day back in 1775 was around 50 degrees and sunny.

And then...

Perhaps, if the weather had been like today, they wouldn't have been up for the fight.

"I dunno guys, it's kind of sucky out today. Is tyranny really all that bad?"

Perhaps, if we weren't in the middle of raising an entire generation of total wussbags, we wouldn't have to listen to ignorant tripe like while watching what passes for news these days.

Seriously, mention something about the rain getting their powder wet, or the mud slowing them down on the way to Concord, or something. Anything halfway intelligent would have been nice.

But to suggest that the colonists would have simply packed it in, and surrendered their arms to the British, on account of the weather???

I need a scotch.

Rest Assured

If there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that the usual suspects will be along soon to blame the gun.

BLACKSBURG, Va. --A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing at least 21 people in the deadliest campus massacre in U.S. history. The gunman was killed, bringing to death toll to 22, but it was unclear if he was shot by police or took his own life.

Because an individual intent on murdring a couple dozen people in cold blood would have been stopped by just a few more gun control laws.

And, needless to say, the Virginia Tech campus is a "gun free zone" that had recently suffered this victory by the gun control lobby and their liberal cohorts in the P.C. world of academia.

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

What??? The murderous scumbag broke the rules???

Color me shocked.

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.

Not to mention, armed psychopaths.

Freedom "Irrelevant and Destructive"

I almost don't know where to begin with such an ignorant, reality-starved piece of work as this.

Scrap NH's irrelevant and destructive state motto already

We in New Hampshire often show our ignorance of state history by citing the "Live free or die" motto. We have used it to protest taxes, anti-smoking ordinances for restaurants, the right to bear arms (including assault weapons) and now the proposed seatbelt law. It would do us well to change the slogan on the state license plate back to "The Granite State" and educate our adults and children as to the motto's real origin: Gen. John Stark's reunion greeting in abstentia for a 1777 battle that occurred in Vermont, not New Hampshire.

Like I said, where to begin?

Sounds to me like Mr. Polidoro is suggesting that we, the residents of New Hampshire, are to hereby surrender all of our personal freedoms and individual rights to the almighty government, and accept the Nanny State into our lives with open arms, for our own good. based solely on the geographical perspective of General Stark's immortal words.

Let's read on, it gets, um "better"?

The motto was adopted by New Hampshire in 1945, not in the 1700s, and Stark would not know he would be embossed on a license plate.

No shit.

"Live, freeze or die" would have been more relevant.

Wow, that's clever. Did you come up with that one all by yourself?

Residents have screamed this motto in editorials and letters to the editor as if we seceded from the union and are free to do what we want, anytime we want, when we want and for any reason, in fear of our local state government absconding our rights to "freedom."

Yes, by all means, let's scrap this subversive mentality at once.

The state's job is to protect the citizens...

From whom? Ourselves?

Here's what Mr. Polidoro's friends in the ding-dong wing of the New Hampshire Democratic Party have proposed in just the first few months of their new-found majority, as ways for the government to "protect" us from ourselves:

- banning the use of trans fats in restaurants
- imposing a tax on the sale of candy products, including the use of tax stamps and licenses to sell candy
- enacting statewide sales and income taxes
- banning the use of cell phones while driving
- banning the use of tobacco on privately owned property
- a primary enforcement seat belt law for all adults
- allowing the police to arbitrarily deny a law-abiding citizen the right to carry a concealed firearm

Did I miss any?

...and the motto is not in the U.S. Constitution.

What part of "state motto" was unclear to you, asshole?

The absurd notion has led us to be last or close to last to pass logical legislation for proven health and safety measures that would save the lives of our citizens and our children.

I was wondering how many paragraphs he was going to make it through before playing the "It's For the Children^TM" Card.

Tell me, where does it end, Mr. Polidoro?

A statewide 20 MPH speed limit?

Mandatory helmets and foam suits for all pedestrians?

Banning the sales of all ladders over 6' in height?

Confiscation and destruction of all privately owned swimming pools?

Banning all high school athletic programs?

Surely, any one of these measures would lower the risk of injury and death for our citizens and our children. What is it about people being free that scares you so? And, if you, Mr. Polidoro, are to be the arbiter of what is to be considered "absurd", we're all in deeper shit than I had originally thought.

It has also embarrassed us nationwide by delaying our recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day...

Because nothing says "We honor your memory!" better than giving state and municipal employees more paid time off from their non-essential jobs.

...and now for stalling automobile safety regulations as if we arrogantly know better than all the other states of the union that mandate the protection of our fellow citizens in this modern day.

Yeah, "other states", like New Jersey. I'll let this column from the Union Leader do the talking for me.

Gov. Corzine was seated in the front passenger seat of his official Chevy Tahoe when the accident happened. New Jersey law mandates seatbelt use for anyone in the front seat of a vehicle. Disobeying the law carries a small fine. Gov. Corzine has a reputation for not wearing his seatbelt, but what are the odds that he's ever paid a fine for that violation, or that the state trooper driving him has ever written him a ticket?

We are pretty sure that Gov. John Lynch wears his seatbelt all the time -- in a state where the law does not force him to. Like most Granite State drivers and passengers, he chooses to wear it.

Gov. Corzine often chose to disobey a law designed to protect him from his own decisions. He recognized, in his private life, at least, that having the right to choose a risky behavior was a valuable personal freedom -- even if the behavior chosen was foolish.

Anyway, back to Mr. Polidoro's whiny little ramblings...

Gen. Stark did not need a seatbelt on his horse, so its irrelevant. Few rapid-fire guns existed back then, most guns having been made in England and muzzle-loaded in a slow fashion.

Oh, for the love of Christ! How many times must we explain this to these simple-minded folk, masquerading as educated intellectuals?

Those muzzle-loaded guns were, at the time, state-of-the-art military hardware. Much in the same way the fixed block printing press was the state-of-the-art technology for publishing newspapers and printing books, for the time period in question. I'll go way out the old limb here and state that Mr. Polidoro didn't reach for a quill pen to scribble down this nonsense.

There's simply no way the founders of our country could have foreseen the use of word processors, computers, and the internet. Yet the use of these items to express one's thoughts in a public forum is very much protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Again, no shit, huh?

Below is the origin of the motto by Gen. Stark. New Hampshire legislators who vote for our citizens' protection would best be educated as to its origin and the lack of its application to most of the recent editorials in every New Hampshire newspaper.

[snip]

The motto was part of a volunteer toast which Gen. Stark sent to his wartime comrades, in which he declined an invitation to head up a 32nd anniversary reunion of the 1777 Battle of Bennington in Vermont, because of poor health. The toast said in full: "Live free or die; death is not the worst of evils."

I think it's Mr. Polidoro who is in need of a history lesson here. Does he even remember from his high school history class why we fought for our independence from England? When the citizens of the colonies took up arms against the crown, it was to free themselves of the chains placed upon them by an over-bearing, tyrannical government, which sought to restrict their rights and liberties.

Now, we in New Hampshire, who cherish such things as freedom and liberty, find ourselves face to face with Mr. Polidoro and his allies in the state legislature, people who are actively trying to brush the dirt of those chains and slap them, once again, upon our backs after all these years.

Anyone who finds the words "Live Free or Die", and the state of mind they represent, to be irrelevant is not only an affront to human dignity, but is insulting beyond measure the valiant memory of all those who gave their lives protecting the precious rights and freedoms of ALL Americans, not just those of us with those four words on our license plates.

The "worst of evils" that General Stark was talking about was being forced to live under a tyrannical regime, in which the rights of the individual are doled out by the chosen few, to those they deem worthy.

In other words, Massachusetts.

Live free or move south.

The $64,000 Question

File this one under "If you have to ask...".

Are you really interested in tax rates that benefit the economy and raise revenue--or are you interested in redistributing income for political reasons?

RTWT.

I Blame New Hampshire

From the New Hampshire Union Leader:

MANCHESTER – Bullets flew outside the Uptown Tavern early yesterday when a peeved patron began shooting at a doorman after being thrown out of the club. The shooter himself was shot twice by an armed customer who rushed to the bouncer's defense, a club owner and police said.

The shooter had missed doorman Chad Ryan after firing about four shots at him in the 1301 Elm St. club's parking lot when the alleged gunman was himself hit twice by the unidentified patron who returned fire about 12:45 a.m., said club co-owner Dave Somers.

An armed citizen does more in the span of ten seconds to get a violent criminal off the streets than all of Boston Mayor Tom Menino's gun buybacks, task forces, and bigoted gun licensing policies, combined.

I'm shocked.

The wounded suspect, identified by police as Eliezer Encarnacion, 26, and his companion -- both of whom were thrown out of the club moments earlier -- ran from the parking lot up Myrtle Street with an angry group of club patrons in pursuit.

Well, I'll be damned. Wearing running shoes might just be a good idea, after all.

Encarnacion was about six to eight feet from Ryan when he fired the first shot, hitting the door frame, Willard said. When the second shot rang out, a male customer inside the bar realized what was happening and intervened, he continued.

"He feels the bouncer's life is in danger and he produces his own firearm and proceeds to return fire," said [Det. Lt. Nick] Willard, who credited the patron with saving the doorman and possibly even Brown from being shot.

Or, he could have ducked behind a table and called 911, as called out in Chapter 1 of the "Self Defense for Liberals Handbook". Sure, innocent people would be killed before he hit the "9", but at least the coroner's office could get a headstart on sending a clean-up crew to the scene.

Police withheld the patron's name while they continue their investigation, which will include an inquiry into whether his use of deadly force was justified.

Club employees were not aware the customer -- described as a regular patron -- was carrying a concealed weapon, Somers said.

That's pretty much the whole point of it. Hence, the phrase "concealed weapon".

"I'm not okaying it. But if he didn't, probably my doorman would be dead," Somers said.

A small price to pay, in the eyes of the Ted Kennedy's of the world, to realize their dream of transforming the greatest nation on earth into a totalitarian police state, where only those in high positions of power will enjoy the right to have their lives defended by the use of firearms.

Now...compare and contrast:

NEW BEDFORD [Massachusetts]-- Police continued their hunt late today for an armed suspect who shot two people and slashed another inside a popular gay nightclub.

The incident occurred about midnight inside the Puzzles Lounge on North Front Street. A bartender, who asked that his name not be used because he feared for his life, said a man armed with a hatchet, a machete, and a handgun attacked patrons before he fled the bar.

GASSVILLE, Ark. --A teenager suspected of a hatchet-and-gun attack in a Massachusetts gay bar shot and killed a small-town police officer and the teen's passenger before he was critically wounded in a gun battle with police Saturday, authorities said.

Any questions?

UPDATE: From the Concord Monitor:

There was a shootout in a Manchester bar early yesterday, leaving one man wounded - and under arrest.

It started when Eliezer Encarnacion, 26, of Manchester, and another man were thrown out of the Uptown Tavern just before 1 a.m., following a confrontation with employees, the police said.

Encarnacion pulled a gun and fired several shots at tavern employees, the police said. A customer who saw the shooting then pulled his own gun and wounded the gunman.

Encarnacion ran off, wounded in the arm and leg, but the police found him a short while later. After surgery, he was recovering and awaiting a court date on attempted assault and firearms charges. His companion was arrested on a probation violation.

No one else in the bar was hurt.

Hillary "I *heart* Federally Funded Confiscation of Lawfully Possessed Firearms" Clinton wishes otherwise.

UPDATE II: WMUR has the accompanying news video up.

This being the United States of America (as opposed to Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York City, Chicago, or Washington, D.C.), the armed citizen who saved the lives of the bar employees and patrons will not face charges.