Disgusting

I really didn't need to see this over at Good Sir Jimbo's place. Not because of anything Jimbo did, but for what it represents.

It's good to know that the Obamessiah is so proud of being an American, and the representative of our nation.

Fuckhead.

Caturday

There are as many approached to cat ownership (this is, being owned BY the cat) as there are cat/human combinations. For good or ill, there's always....

The Engineering Approach.

Are you bugged?

For you folks that are still using Microsoft Windows (spit!), there's a convenient way to get some idea of whether or not you have the Computer Nasty of the Month -- i.e. the Conficker virus/worm.

It's being called an "eye chart", and simply tries to download images from some of the antivirus sites that Conficker is known to block; if you get the images, either you don't have Conficker, or it isn't working the way it's supposed to on your system.

As a helpful gesture toward any Windows users out there, you can check it out yourself; alternatively, you can send me an email with your snailmail address, and I'll be glad to send you a FREE Linux "live" CD so you can try out something that will give back control of your computer. The "live" CD will NOT harm anything on your Windows system, since everything on it runs from the CD -- it doesn't install anything on your hard drive unless you explicitly tell it to.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics

You know that statistic that 90% of the weapons in Mexico's drug wars are from the U.S.?

Well, it turns out that maybe that was just a wee bit over-stated.

In fact, the truth of the matter is almost exactly the reverse: 83% of the weapons seized in Mexico can't be traced back to the U.S:

In 2007-2008, according to ATF Special Agent William Newell, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing. Close to 6,000 were successfully traced -- and of those, 90 percent -- 5,114 to be exact, according to testimony in Congress by William Hoover -- were found to have come from the U.S.

But in those same two years, according to the Mexican government, 29,000 guns were recovered at crime scenes.

In other words, 68 percent of the guns that were recovered were never submitted for tracing. And when you weed out the roughly 6,000 guns that could not be traced from the remaining 32 percent, it means 83 percent of the guns found at crime scenes in Mexico could not be traced to the U.S.

Where ARE they coming from?

-- The Black Market. Mexico is a virtual arms bazaar, with fragmentation grenades from South Korea, AK-47s from China, and shoulder-fired rocket launchers from Spain, Israel and former Soviet bloc manufacturers.
-- Russian crime organizations. Interpol says Russian Mafia groups such as Poldolskaya and Moscow-based Solntsevskaya are actively trafficking drugs and arms in Mexico.
- South America. During the late 1990s, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) established a clandestine arms smuggling and drug trafficking partnership with the Tijuana cartel, according to the Federal Research Division report from the Library of Congress.
-- Asia. According to a 2006 Amnesty International Report, China has provided arms to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Chinese assault weapons and Korean explosives have been recovered in Mexico.
-- The Mexican Army. More than 150,000 soldiers deserted in the last six years, according to Mexican Congressman Robert Badillo. Many took their weapons with them, including the standard issue M-16 assault rifle made in Belgium.
-- Guatemala. U.S. intelligence agencies say traffickers move immigrants, stolen cars, guns and drugs, including most of America's cocaine, along the porous Mexican-Guatemalan border. On March 27, La Hora, a Guatemalan newspaper, reported that police seized 500 grenades and a load of AK-47s on the border. Police say the cache was transported by a Mexican drug cartel operating out of Ixcan, a border town.

Whoops.

Seriously screwed up legal system...

Is this bullshit, or what?

Seems a 59-year-old retired city bus driver, confined to a wheelchair, plugged a would-be mugger with a .357 -- and is now being sued by him for $5 million.

Margaret Johnson, 59, described as "a retired city bus driver who has a dislocated hip and a ruptured disc", was sitting in her motorised mobility scooter in September 2006 when Deron Johnson, 48, "tried to snatch her purse and gold chain".

This turned out to be a bad move, since Ms Johnson's grandfather was Harlem crime boss Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson, a no-messing-about character who once battled with fellow gangster Dutch Shultz for control of the Harlem numbers racket.

After the would-be mugger got off (claiming he was defending himself from her Shih Tzu -- we all know how vicious those damn things are...)

Mr Johnson is, as is the local custom, now suing granny and her apartment block landlord for the aforementioned five million bucks. His lawyer, Craig Davidowitz, claims he's "suffered permanent nerve damage from the shooting".

My favorite part of the story is

Margaret Johnson, though, is having none of it. She sensationally explained to the New York Post: "I'm a peaceful person. I wish that I had killed him. I didn't think you had to pay to get mugged in New York City."

As an added bonus attraction, the linked article has a link to a NY Post picture of her posing with a farookin Uzi she previously owned. Go Granny!

Solution found!

You know those inconsiderate jackasses that like to park so that their vehicle takes up two parking spaces? Here's one possible solution:



You know, I really like this idea...

Late Caturday

Okay, so this is a little late for Caturday. So sue me ('cept you, Jimbo -- please don't!).