Even a two-year-old can be a killer

Some of this story sounds a little suspect to me but I'm not an expert. Can a two-year-old really pull the trigger on a Glock?

In any case it is a shitty deal for the kid.

911 Call Reveals How Toddler Reportedly Shot, Killed Mom

A 911 call released by Florida police reveals how a toddler allegedly shot and killed his mother when he picked up a loaded gun, wsvn.com reports.

According to Miramar Police, Troy Bailey Sr. called 911 late Wednesday and said that his 2-year-old son grabbed his gun and shot his mother, 33-year-old Julia Bennett.

"Oh God, I can’t believe this," Bailey is heard saying on the recording. "He shot his mom. God in heaven, help me please."

When the 911 operator asked who shot Bennet, Bailey Sr. said, “I was taking the gun from him. I was trying to take it from him…from my son, from my son. He’s right here.”

Bailey Sr. goes on to say how he tried to take the gun from Troy Bailey Jr. when it went off.
"Jesus Christ, God. Why did you put my son in this spot?" he said over the phone. "Oh, God, no. He's my life. I've never gone through something like this."

Miramar Police investigators say the child’s father told them he left the .9 mm Glock semi-automatic, for which he has a concealed weapons permit, in the reach of the child who some how got a hold of the gun.

A judge has placed Bailey Jr. in the care of one of his maternal aunts and maternal great-grandmother. His father is not allowed contact with Bennet’s family without state permission.

At the custody hearing last week, the child's advocate said the Broward Sheriff's Office was not able to locate the father in order to notify him about the hearing. At the dependency court hearing, Lisa Glick of Children's Legal Services, said, "BSO has been unable to reach the father at this time and does not currently know where he his."

Miramar Police, however, insisted Bailey Sr. was never missing and is cooperating with the investigation, which remains on-going.

Bailey Sr. was initially questioned by police at the scene but has not been charged. At minimum, he could be charged with negligence for leaving the gun in the boy's reach.

Man Shot Dead in Brady Paradise

Hard as it may be to believe, a man who broke up a fight at a MacDonalds in London -- where handguns are very illegal -- was shot to death by one of the would be combatants. No good deed goes unpunished and in a Sarah Brady Paradise where the do-gooder is also a disarmed victim-in-waiting, the penalty can be death.

From the UK Mirror
Dad who split up fight in McDonald's shot dead

A DAD-of-four who split up a fight in a McDonald’s was shot dead moments after being told he wouldn’t see the morning.

Raymond Mitchell, 34, had only popped into the restaurant to buy a hot chocolate.

But he apparently caused offence after splitting up two men fighting in the queue.

One of them, who had several gold teeth, shouted at Raymond: “You are gonna die tonight, you are not gonna see the morning.”

The thug is then said to have phoned an accomplice to fetch a gun, yelling into his mobile: “Bring me that thing.”

Raymond left the 24-hour McDonald’s but was chased into a cul-de-sac. The gun was then delivered and Mr Mitchell was beaten and pistol-whipped before being shot three times in an alley in Brixton, South London, at 6.50am on Sunday. Raymond, nicknamed Brown, was taken to hospital but died hours later.

One neighbour, who saw the shooting but was too terrified to be named, said: “He was begging, literally begging for his life. I didn’t dare look out my window in case they saw me. I heard them laughing and swearing at him, calling him a ‘b***h’. I heard them laughing afterwards as well.”

Raymond’s partner, who asked not to be named, said: “I’m terrified. They’re still out there and they’ve not been caught. I’ve been told how they were laughing, actually laughing after they beat him and shot him. How could anybody do something like that?”

She had been out drinking with Raymond on Saturday night before he went into the West End to meet some friends for drinks.

She said: “Everybody loved him. He was well known around Brixton. Just a friendly guy.”

His family left tributes and flowers at the murder scene. One of his sons, Raquan Mitchell-Perry, 11, described as a “brilliant dad” in a poem. The Met’s Trident unit is investigating the murder.

H/T to SipseyStreetIrregulars

Memories of Mach

Once upon a time there was a cat named Niccolo Machiavelli.

He was cat in every way and loyal as only a cat can be. He had his share of annoying behaviors such using the cat door to leave but refusing to use it to come back in. He always insisted I open the front door for him.

Like all cats he was a hunter. When some less than cleanly neighbors were evicted all of their roaches spread to the neighboring houses. For several months afterwards I often I came home from work (I worked the night shift then) to hear Mach crunching on cockroaches. I guess it was better than dragging in small birds, mice and lizards and it served to keep my house from becoming infested.

About his only really peculiar behavior was he liked to play in paper bags. I have no idea why. Nevertheless, while he was alive, I brought my groceries home in paper bags whenever possible so he would have a playhouse or whatever is was his feline mind imagined the bags to be.

His end came in the street in front of his home. I don't know how it happened but I found him dead one afternoon. From the available evidence, I am guessing he was hit by a car. I buried him in a paper bag.

I still miss the bastard sometimes.

It was these photos that reminded me of that damned cat.

The Testicle Lockbox

This has to be one of the creepiest videos I have seen in a long while. I actually felt a little ill listening to a parade of castrati vomiting embarrassing "apologies" just for being male. I suppose I should spend a page or two (or more!) writing about sexual selection and evolutionary psychology but I have to get back to work so I'll give you the short version.

1. Without women, men would not be civilized.
2. Without men, civilization would last only until the oil needs changing.

Now you should get out the Barf Bag and don't say I didn't warn you.



H/T to Amy Alkon

Clip on a Cartridge of Bullets

The Contra Costa Times published a letter from a reader on Apr 4 advocating an end to open carry.

End open carry

According to the California Penal Code, "Every person who "... carries upon his or her person "... a switchblade knife having a blade two or more inches in length is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Yet there is no section of the California Penal Code that specifically prohibits open carry of an unloaded handgun, and carrying a loaded magazine separate from the handgun, as in a pocket, also is not prohibited under the penal code.

How many people can one crazed lunatic kill with a switch blade in under a minute? Two, three at the most? Yet that same lunatic can clip on a cartridge of bullets and mow down up to a dozen innocents in that same period of time using a gun that is legally worn at the hip.

Maybe our restrictions against lethal guns should be just as strong as they are against lethal knives. Maybe it is time to outlaw open carry.

Beth Jersey

Concord

How many can a knife weilding maniac kill in a minute? I don"t know and do not intend to find out. Some recent examples from the news indicate it is not as hard as Beth thinks it is.

In June of 2008 Tomohiro Kato injured 10 and killed seven in Tokyo in under three minutes.

Seven die in Tokyo knife attack rampage

Two weeks ago, Zheng Minsheng killed eight and wounded five in an early morning knife attack directed at elementary school students.

Man kills 8 pupils in China

How many people have UOCer's killed in California?

Zero.

Maybe it is time to outlaw Open Stupidity.

Ammunition to avoid

I've been reading some old Internet debates on what kind of ammunition to use for self defense. In every one I've read someone brings up the argument that certain kinds of ammunition will look bad in court if you are actually required to shoot some thug. From this extensive research on the Internet (where everything is true) I have compiled the following advice.

First, do not use ammunition you loaded yourself.

If you pop a cap into some drooling goblin at 5:30 in the morning you don't want more problems in your life. A .357 Federal Hydrashok is going to splatter the bad guy's lung and heart tissue all over the far wall. It is very possible some snot nose DA or pissant Ninjacop may decide that you went a little too far in ventilating the prick. I mean he's not really responsible for being a dirtbag. Maybe his mommy didn't toilet train him right. Maybe his daddy called him names when he was a boy. You don't want to have to explain to a jury how you sit in your garage and load ammo that will splatter a bad guy's lung and heart tissue all over the far wall.

In the inevitable civil case remember that the dead goblin's mommy will be sobbing in the front row and his daddy -- if he can be found -- will testify as to how Drooler was an unfortunate victim of society and was turning his life around.

Next, avoid any ammunition with one or more of the following features:

• Hollow point (Dum dums, Cop killers)
• Soft point (Expanding, Armor Piercing)
• Wadcutter (Flesh Crushing)
• Round nose (Bone Breakers)
• Spitzer tip (Big Game Hunting Ammo)
• Lead bullets (Kills Condor Chicks)
• Any metal other than lead (Armor Piercing, Cop Killers)

Finally, avoid any ammunition that has any of the following words in the name or description:

• Black
• Dark
• Bore
• Talon
• Claw
• Buzzsaw
• Doom
• Buffalo
• NyClad
• Moly-coated
• Teflon
• Pre-Fragmented
• Sintered
• Winchester
• Federal
• RCBD
• Remington
• ACP
• NATO
• Rimmed
• Rimless

Now you can keep the lawyers happy for a while.

Right Wing Socialists do Stupid Things Too

In their Novel Hope, Aaron Zelman and L Neil Smith described a scenario for implementing abortion law that some described as too far-fetched to be believeable. I can see how it would upset the anti-abortion folks but when I read it, I interpreted it as a satire on the anti-abortion position. It took the position to a logical extreme and demonstrated absurdity by being absurd. However, it seem that the critics of Mr. Zelman and Mr. Smith underestimated the stupidity of the right wing of the Socialist Party. Mother Jones reports on new effort by the GOP to further restrict use of taxpayer funds for abortion.

Under a GOP-backed bill expected to sail through the House of Representatives, the Internal Revenue Service would be forced to police how Americans have paid for their abortions. To ensure that taxpayers complied with the law, IRS agents would have to investigate whether certain terminated pregnancies were the result of rape or incest. And one tax expert says that the measure could even lead to questions on tax forms: Have you had an abortion? Did you keep your receipt?

In testimony to a House taxation subcommittee on Wednesday, Thomas Barthold, the chief of staff of the nonpartisan Joint Tax Committee, confirmed that one consequence of the Republicans' "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" would be to turn IRS agents into abortion cops—that is, during an audit, they'd have to detemine [sic], from evidence provided by the taxpayer, whether any tax benefit had been inappropriately used to pay for an abortion.

I favor eliminating taxpayer funding for abortion. Not because of any opposition to abortion but becasue I favor eliminating taxpayer funding for just about everything. But getting the IRS involved? If the Republicans really wanted to do the country a good turn they would eliminate the damn agency, not give it even more power to rob the citizenry. Next time I ask, "How stupid can a politician get?" I'll remember that this one moved my estimate from pretty damned to almost unbelievably so.

A Victim of Communism

I've known for a few years that when the Soviets launched Laika into orbit they had no intention of trying to get her back alive. Now we can see this callus disregard for life extended to human beings as well. In 1967, Vladimer Komarov was launched into orbit on a doomed mission.

From Cosmonaut Crashed Into Earth 'Crying In Rage' at NPR.

The space vehicle is shoddily constructed, running dangerously low on fuel; its parachutes — though no one knows this — won't work and the cosmonaut, Vladimir Komarov, is about to, literally, crash full speed into Earth, his body turning molten on impact. As he heads to his doom, U.S. listening posts in Turkey hear him crying in rage, "cursing the people who had put him inside a botched spaceship."

Space flight is dangerous. Anyone who thinks otherwise should never be given any responsibility more important than the channel buttons for his TV. However, there is a line between bad luck and negligence. The damned Soviets knew the capsule was not safe to fly.

The problem was Gagarin. Already a Soviet hero, the first man ever in space, he and some senior technicians had inspected the Soyuz 1 and had found 203 structural problems — serious problems that would make this machine dangerous to navigate in space. The mission, Gagarin suggested, should be postponed.

So why did he climb into a capsule he knew was defective?

Russayev asked, Why not refuse? According to the authors, Komarov answered: "If I don't make this flight, they'll send the backup pilot instead." That was Yuri Gagarin. Vladimir Komarov couldn't do that to his friend. "That's Yura," the book quotes him saying, "and he'll die instead of me. We've got to take care of him." Komarov then burst into tears.

He got into that capsule because he was a brave man who kept faith with his friends.

I've said this before and I guess I get to say it again. The bastards that ran the Soviet Union did not deserve the quality of men who served them.

H/T to The Unwanted Blog

Linux Trick

To sort a list of ip address

sort -n -t '.' -k 1,1 -k 2,2 -k 3,3 -k 4,4 <list

To delete duplicates, pipe the outout through uniq

sort -n -t '.' -k 1,1 -k 2,2 -k 3,3 -k 4,4 <list|uniq

Thoughts on Intellectual Property

I am an Engineer by training and temperament. Perhaps this is not such a good thing since I am often baffled by the mental machinations of philosophers. Reading some libertarian essays on the subject of Intellectual Property (Schulman and Smith come to mind) I am reminded of the old warning to be careful what you wish for.

I understand the value that creators add to the pool of human knowledge. Even when someone tries to prevent it, new knowledge still becomes part of the structure (or foundation depending whether you take your analogies straight or with soda) of human progress. Any system that does not encourage and reward those with the intelligence and determination to make new discoveries will fall behind quickly in the Darwinian competition between societies. However, any good idea can be carried too far.

Have you ever wondered why the first American military pilots in WW1 flew French made planes (Spad) with Spanish built engines (Hispano-Suiza)? Probably not but if you ever do, look no further than American patent law. Every time an American like Glenn Curtis (an innovative inventor in his own right) brought a new design to fruition, he was sued by the Wright Brothers for patent violations. Even though the Wrights held patents in Europe the courts there were less appreciative of Intellectual Property so European builders went ahead and just made planes.

Ignoring intellectual property concerns put the Europeans well ahead of the US in aviation by 1917. Perhaps the worst thing about all the litigation was how badly it tarnished the the image of the Wright Brothers as heroic pioneers. The lawsuits finally ended when, with the outbreak of WW1, aircraft builders established the Manufacturers' Aircraft Association to coordinate making of warplanes. To accomplish this they formed a patent pool at the prompting of the U.S. government. Royalties were fixed at one percent and free exchange of inventions and ideas took place among all the participants. After the war the litigation was not renewed because Orville Wright-- now without Wilbur who died of typhoid in 1912 -- sold his interest in the Wright Company and retired from the business. Once freed from the specter of endless litigation, the American aviation industry surged ahead of all the foreign competition.