Back-yard News

happy thoughts.....

so anyway, via the headlines from Yahoo News, riffing on the Detroit News, comes this item:

FBI shootout with Muslim cleric lasted about 4 seconds

Detroit -- The hail of gunfire that killed a Muslim cleric inside a Dearborn warehouse in October lasted only about four seconds, a person familiar with the investigation said Saturday.

More than 20 FBI agents were at the FBI-controlled warehouse near Michigan Avenue and Oakwood where Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah and his confederates were about to be arrested as part of an FBI sting operation Oct. 28.

The FBI has accused Abdullah, 53, of being the leader of a radical Muslim separatist group involved in fencing stolen goods.

Abdullah fired three shots before four of the FBI agents returned fire, resulting in Abdullah being struck more than a dozen times.

"....more than a dozen" I'm guessing thirteen, maybe fourteen times.

Each of the four agents fired an average of five shots each, the source said. An FBI dog was killed in the shootout.

The fact that a dog was killed in the action harshes my mellow extremely. Otherwise, five shots each from four Special Agents (for a total of twenty) in four seconds with 60%+ of said rounds on target. OutStanding! I can put all six .357 rounds (mostly) in the 9-ring with my Ruger Speed Six in five seconds, but then again, no one is shooting back at me.

Autopsy results are expected to be released Monday, Dearborn police said. The autopsy was completed in December, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office, but held until Dearborn police could finish their investigation.

Muslim leaders have questioned how many times Abdullah was shot (more than a dozen, per the Detroit News - ed), whether he suffered dog bites (probably not - ed) and if he was handcuffed after being shot (if he was still alive at the time, yes - ed) Those questions may be cleared up with the release of the autopsy.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (I just knew that those CAIR ashsoles would eventually show up in this story) on Saturday reiterated a previous request for the U.S. Department of Justice to look into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Among the questions CAIR wants answered are whether FBI agents summoned medical help if Abdullah was still alive when agents found him, exactly how many times he was shot and where bullets struck his body.

doG forbid that any of the FBI's poodle-shooter rounds ended up anywhere near Abdullah's pee-pee.....otherwise CAIR would get even more wee-wee'd up:

"We want the civil rights division of the Justice Department to launch an investigation into this," Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR's Michigan office, said Saturday. "It has to be further investigated."

Of course you do and of course it does, Precious.

Wankers.

more soon

Russia's first stealth fighter

and I'm sure they'll build more than 186 of them

so anyway, this is just perfect:

"MOSCOW – Russia's first stealth fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made its maiden flight Friday, boosting the country's efforts to modernize its rusting Soviet-built arsenals.....The Sukhoi T-50's flight comes nearly two decades after the first prototype of the U.S. F-22 Raptor took to the air, and Russian officials said it will take another five years for the new jet to enter service. Still, the flight marked a major step in Russia's efforts to burnish the faded glory of its aviation industries and strengthen a beleaguered military."

The SORP (Start of Regular Production, a little Stupid Business lingo) for T-50 isn't until 2015, and like I said in the sub-head, they'll certainly build more that 186 of them. No, they'll build a flaming metric ass-load of them for themselves and a second flaming metric ass-load to sell to their client countries.

As for why the number "186" is important:

"The U.S. [Obama - ed] administration decided to quit buying the F-22 Raptor, the world's most expensive fighter jet at more than $140 million apiece, effectively capping its production at the 186 already ordered."

Back in April 2009, Stephen "VodkaPundit" Green had this to say about the effect of the Obama administration's decision to stop buying the F-22:

".....That difference is even more real when you consider that 187 Raptors are to replace 483 F-15C Eagles — a reduction-in-force of over 60%, coming quick on the heels of a nearly 50% RIF throughout the ’90s. Shortly, those 187 planes will be our only manned air supremacy fighters....."

The VodkaPundit also has a good primer on the F-22 Raptor. Read the whole thing.

more soon

(ps. yes, I know there's a discrepancy regarding how many Raptors we have. The story on the T-50 mentions 186, Green's post references 187. I do know that one of the Raptors crashed in March of 2009, maybe that explains the difference)

SSM news

not really a topic I care about, but it's nice to have one's ideas validated

so anyway, Gabriel Malor has a post over at Ace's place on the the Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act being considered by the California legislature. The part that caught my eye was this:

"The bill also changes California's marriage statutes to refer to "civil marriage" instead of just "marriage" to emphasize that the statutes apply to legally-binding, state-regulated marriages as contrasted with purely religious marriages that have no civil consequences."

Back in early November, in response to a post by Ragin' Dave of Four Right Wing Wackos fame, I posted the following:

"I've often wondered why the "civil union" option was considered just right out amongst the gay marriage proponents. It seems perfectly plausible to me.

Define "marriage". To most people, it conjures up visions of a couple, at the alter, swearing vows to each other before a preacher / priest / what-ever. In short, a union "blessed" by the church.

But let's look at what you have to do to get "married": first, you have to go to your local government and get a "Marriage License", an approval from the civil authorities to get hitched. Second (for most folks) you need to find a member of the clergy to perform (sanctify?) the marriage.

Let me offer a personal example: me and TheMissus™. We chose to be wed in a small private ceremony by a Justice of the Peace, as neither of us are church-going types......By the popular definition, we're not married, but have a civil union: endorsed by the State, but not "blessed" by the church.

So why is the "civil union" option so objectionable to the proponents of "gay marriage"? Hell if I know. Legally, TheMissus™ and I are just as "married" as if we were wed by Cardinal Glick in front of the Buddy Christ statue. Why this kind of "civil union" is not good enough for the "gay marriage" crowd, I'll never know."

Your mileage may vary.

more soon

Today in History

Michigan GOP, please answer your phone

so anyway, my daily check of U.S Constitution Online brings us this fact:

Michigan became a state on January 26, 1837.

I did not know that. I'm from Texas, after all. I just happen to reside in Michigan for the time being. Taking interest in matters locally political, I offer the (lame-ish) attempt of Michigan's GOP:



I say "lame-ish" because if anything deserved a "flaming skull", it was Jenny "Canadian" Grandholm's "blown away" speech. Did you see any flaming skulls? Me neither.

At least the former head of the Michigan GOP had the decency to seek a restraining order against me. My offer to Saul A. still stands for Ron W.: for six-figures and all the pudding I can...(ahem) use... I can "turbo" the MI-GOP's web content.

My contractual needs has several other "riders" that we'll discuss later. And, no; it has nothing to do with brown M&M's.

more soon

Is it just me?

(quite possibly, yes)

so anyway, isn't it the norm for the President to give the State of the Union address on the last Tuesday in January?

WTF is up with that? (I think that's how all the kids these days say it.)

more soon.

Happy Birthday!!!

One hundred and fifty-five years ago a legend was born.....

so anyway, (on or about) today 155 years ago, John Moses Browning was born. His legacy continues on.

Sadly, the only piece in my collection that reflects Browning's brilliance is a Chinese copy of a Soviet design (can you say "Tokarev"?) that the the Soviets ripped off from Browning's original design.

On days like this I really miss Kim du Toit.

more soon.

It just keeps getting better and better.....

this is the best week I've had for a while.....

so anyway, where to start? Several really big events have gone down this week: the Scott Brown, R-MA victory in Massachusetts was huge. SCOTUS striking down most of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance "reform" as "un-Constitutional" was equally huge.

But wait, it gets better: SanFranGranNan admits that she doesn't have enough votes in the House to pass ObamaCare. Delicious:

"I don't see the votes for it at this time," Pelosi said. "The members have been very clear in our caucus about the fact that they didn't like it before it had the Nebraska provision and some of the other provisions that are unpalatable to them."

"In every meeting that we have had, there would be nothing to give me any thought that that bill could pass right now the way that it is," she said. "There isn't a market right now for proceeding with the full bill unless some big changes are made."

If I had access to some pudding, I'd be dipping my....well, you know the rest.
And in the "File it under 'Duh'" file, der Speigel offers up this gem:

The World Bids Farewell to Obama

....."Of course the president rejects the interpretation that the Massachusetts election was a referendum on his first year in the White House. But he cannot ignore the fact that his health care reform package is not popular, the situation of the country's finances is seen as threatening and many voters blame the high unemployment rate on the party in power -- on the Democrats, led by Obama. The result is a second year in office full of very different challenges than the first. To save what there is to be saved, Obama will have to be prepared to fashion a bipartisan compromise on health care -- a compromise with a Republican Party which has tasted blood and can now dream once again about a return to power."

It's sad, that a euro-wienie publication can cut closer to the bone than our domestic state-controlled "Main Stream" media dares to do.

And the icing on the cake: AirAmerica is no more.

Scott Brown, R-MA

I like the way that sounds.....

so anyway, I've been watching the special election in Massachusetts off and on all day, mostly via Ace and R.S.McCain, with a smattering of Memeorandum.

I had a "here we go" minute this morning when I saw this in one of Ace's comment threads:



As it turns out, it was just some isolated ding-bat, not a concerted movement.

TheOtherMcCain was accentuating the positive this morning:

".....where turnout in Ward 6 is “better than usual,” according to official Judith Miller. Precinct warden Joe Marabello said “a lot of people that haven’t voted in a while” are turning out today,” a result he called “very exciting.” His fellow warden Tom Sicard said “turnout’s going to be great today . . . it’s been steady.”

I was AFK for a couple of hours this afternoon, and when I popped back on to the inter-web net tube thingie (briefly) around 7:30 this evening, I was pleasantly surprised (well, actually not surprised) to see that (now) Senator-Elect Scott Brown, R-MA was comfortably ahead, well beyond the margin of error. When I sat back down for the blogging hour at 9-ish PM, it was a done deal.

I've been reading the blogosphere's reactions to the Senator-Elect Scott Brown, R-MA situation for the past two hours, and one of the little voices in my head keeps saying "Why not here? Why not in Michigan?"

Why not, indeed.

more soon

Happy Blog-Day, VodkaPundit!

Eight years, already? That's like 56 blog-years....

so anyway, my old blog-buddy Stephen "VodkaPundit" Green launched VodkaPundit eight years ago today. Please do drop by to wish him a "Happy Blog Day".

Happy Blog Day, Steve!

more soon

Another Supply Side Politics Milestone

Thank you for your support

so anyway, around 12:55 PM this afternoon, Supply Side Politics 2.0 recorded it's 13,000th visitor. Thank you all for stopping by thirteen thousand times. I really appreciate your patronage.

Again, heart-felt thanks to everyone who has been along for the ride.

Michael

ps. As an added bonus, Stoat Weasel was the "referring URL". How cool is that?

...you just might be a RINO

S.Weasel goes all "Foxworthy" on us.....

so anyway, the aforementioned S.Weasel strikes up a meme that hits the spot. A snippet:

If you think Sarah Palin is — come on now, honestly — just a bit de trop you might be a RINO.

The introductory (exit / money) quote:

Fcuk it. Civility is for afternoon tea with the Queen. Politics is a blood sport.

Read the whole thing. There's lots of good stuff waiting for you. Just keep scrolling down.....

Remember, kids: It's all about adding value to the lives of others. Which is what Stoat Weasel does every weekday.....

more soon

[The astute moron will note that I've included the link to dictionary.reference.com for what "de trop" means. It's what I do. I'm a "giver".]

The first 2010 Resolution has been violated

"I will not keep stealing stuff from Wax Lips....."

so anyway, via Wax Lips comes this vid:



Voter's Remorse, indeed. It's good stuff.

more soon