End the War on Freedom

From antiwar.blog: [notreasonblog]

Rumsfail (rums' fa-l), v., 1. To self-destruct, melt-down or implode under the weight of one's own arrogance. 2. To fail spectacularly, particularly in matters of warfare or diplomacy; to plunge into chaos. 3. Absolute, unmitigated disaster of national or international proportions and consequence; policy failure so utterly abject and miserable as to approach the realm of the epic. "Although long considered to be a costly and murderous fiasco, the prisoner abuse scandal revealed the war in Iraq to be nothing short of a rumsfailure." See also: "Karma"

From the Weekly Agenda funny photos page: [smith2004]

# Kim du Toit - You Might Be A Gun Nut If... - Kim amends and comments on a list sent by a reader. Hehe. [kimdutoit]

-- you can field strip any firearm you own hanging upside down and blindfolded.
Not upside down: I get a headache.

# On Wednesday night I used My Battle Rifle to alternate off-hand shots at an FBI Q Target at 50 yards and an NRA 100 yard Small Bore Rifle target at 25 yards. I fired two 20-round magazines from the M1A, resting after every ten shots. The M1A is noticeably heavier than my Marlin 444P or Kel-Tec Sub2000 (links go to the blog entries for their targets), and the new hammer makes the trigger pull very stiff indeed. But there were no doublings. It worked like a charm. And I didn't hit the targets too badly either, for middle-aged eyes and iron sights. Click on the image for a higher resolution version (869x635 pixels, 65K).

# At AWBansunset.com, there's a neat Java applet that counts down time until the "assault weapons" ban sunsets on September 13. An applet is a pretty big hammer, so I redid it in Javascript, as you can see in the right-hand column below the calendar. To put this on your page, put countdown.js on your web site, and include the following code on your web page:

<script language="javascript"
  type="text/javascript"
  src="comment/reply/countdown.js">
</script>
<script language="javascript"
  type="text/javascript">
<!--
doCountdown('countdownawb', '13 Sep 2004',
  '<center>' +
  '<a href="http://AWBansunset.com">' +
  'AW Ban sunsets</a> in:<br>',
  '</center>');
// -->
</script>

Alternatively, just include an img tag to their graphic, as documented here and included below:

<a href="http://awbansunset.com/">
<img src="http://awbansunset.com/awcountdown.gif"
alt="Time until the 1994 Clinton gun ban expires"
width="128" height="128"></a>

# Someone from the Mannsfield News Journal called me at work and asked whether I wanted them to print the letter I sent on Monday night about Hunter's rapidly approaching trial. I added a comma that I forgot in the version I sent to them, and said, "Yes." Click on the "Opinion" link in the left-hand column of their site to see letters to the editor.

# Warblogging - Free Speech in School - commentary on this Daytona Beach News-Journal article concerning the firing from Rio Rancho High School of a New Mexico teacher, Bill Nevins, for sponsoring a poetry club. Courtney Butler, a teenager in that club, read an anti-Bushevik poem at an Albuquerque Barnes and Noble in March of 2003. The poem is here, and I archived a copy here. Yesterday I looked up how to contact the principal, and thought about writing a letter, but this incident happened 14 months ago, so it's a little late for that. Mr. Nevins filed a lawsuit in September of 2003. I didn't find an article on its progress. [warblogging]

# Jeff Quinn at Gunblast - The .45 Colt Bisley: Ruger's Workhorse - Mr. Quinn used to consider the .45 Long Colt cartridge to be a wimp, compared to .44 Remington Magnum and .357 Magnum. No more. Modern pistols allow it to be loaded hot, making it stronger than the .44 Magnum. The blued steel Bisley retails for $560. The stainless Vaquero with simulated ivory grip retails for $595. [gunblast]

# Payzip is an on-line money transfer system, similar to Paypal, only better. It is located in Singapore. It costs money, but may well be worth it. You can deposit funds with a credit card or bank transfer, send wire transfers anywhere in the world (0.125% fee, minimum 15 Euro), send money to a friend or a business, even if they are not Payzip users. Get money out of your account with an ATM card (5 Euro + 1% fee), hardware security (Digipass AAA/Radius). Transfers between Payzip accounts are free. It costs 89 Euro to sign up plus 5 Euro per year for the account and 10 Euro per year for the ATM card (which is optional). They have a comparison chart with Paypal and Firepay. [smith2004]