The Brady's were right

The argument that by brandishing a gun, it will only be turned against you, is often repeated.

Well, the Brady's et. al. were right.

Victim turns tables, and gun, on would-be robber

The victim of a would-be robber turned the tables on him and shot him twice with his own gun.

County police say it happened around 8:30 Sunday night on West Avenue in Holloway Terrace. They say 17-year-old Diamere Brady of Wilmington used a handgun to try to rob a 21-year-old man. The 21-year-old was able to get the gun away from the teen and shoot him twice during a struggle.

The 21-year-old turned the gun over to police, who moments later got a report of a teen being shot. Brady underwent emergency surgery at Christiana Hospital. He will be charged with attempted robbery and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.

I don't think that is what they meant, though. Bonus points for the criminal's name of Brady.

The coming leviathan

Mike posts a comment that was made by Dedicated Dad Resist the Intolerable Act -- "By Any Means Necessary"

The resulting comments describe why we are in this fight and where we are in the timeline of resistance.

Dedicated Dad also responds with a post of his own - Open Mouth, Insert...

"We have absolute immunity" comments

A few more thoughts on my post of We have absolute immunity

Could this be the end of our ability to seek redress for grievances? If we are prevented from punishing (or at least holding responsible) those who abuse their offices, what method is left to the citizens to prevent or punish criminal actions of those people who hold these offices?

The case involves prosecutors in Iowa who knowingly used false testimony against individuals in order to gain a conviction. These people have never been held accountable for their actions. Arguments were heard in the Supreme Court last Wednesday.

If the concept of immunity for public officials is upheld, what is to prevent a county attorney from fabricating a case against any citizen and scream "immunity" when caught?

In a word - nothing.

The reprehensible Obama

Stilton at Hope and Change cartoons points out that Obama used the deaths of our soldiers at Fort Hood to push the healthcare bill Barack Hasan Obama

The House passed their healthcare bill by 220-215, which is appalling on dozens of levels. But still more sickening and reprehensible was the final pre-vote speech made to reluctant Democrats by Barack Obama.

In order to encourage the (few) conscientious Democrats to vote against the will of their constituents, the president said “sacrifice is not casting a vote that might lose an election for you; it is the sacrifice that someone makes when they wear the uniform of this country and that unfortunately a number of people made this week.”

Yes, the president used the dead and wounded of the brutal Fort Hood massacre to push his own self-serving political agenda.

Disgrace is an understatement.

Atlantic School strip search update 11/7/09

Atlantic school conducted a strip search of high school girls last August BTR Atlantic school search and have finally produced a report which said "we aren't going to do anything about it". No action recommended in Atlantic strip-search

Officials at Atlantic High School have finished an investigation into an alleged illegal strip-search of several girls at the school, but they did not recommend any action be taken.

Assistant principal Paul Croghan ordered a counselor to search the girls and to check their bras. Earlier reports note that one girl was ordered to remove all of her clothing.

District officials now appear to be waiting for the girls and their lawyers to tell them what to do next.

"The investigation is complete," Atlantic Superintendent Dan Crozier said Monday. "Steps will be taken. We just have to see what the requests are."

I know what I'd be asking for.

But today they are reporting that disciplinary action is being taken against two employees but it could range from reassignment of duties to suspension and the school doesn't want to talk about it. Discipline levied in Atlantic strip-search caseMaybe a little jail time and sex-crime registry for these guys for a start.

"We have absolute immunity"

Arguments were heard at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Nov. 4th for the case of Pottawattamie County, IA v. McGhee (08–1065) on whether prosecutors have immunity when they present false testimony at a trial in order to gain a conviction.

In 2005, Curtis W. McGhee and Terry J. Harrington, both convicted of murder in 1978, sued Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and former county attorneys Joseph Hrvol and David Richter under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging, inter alia, that the Pottawattamie prosecutors coerced false testimony from third party witnesses and then introduced that testimony in their murder trials. The prosecutors argued that they were immune from the lawsuit based on the doctrine of absolute immunity, but both the district court and the Eighth Circuit disagreed. The Supreme Court’s decision will reveal the extent to which prosecutors are immune from liability for their pre-trial misconduct. This clarification may affect the way prosecutors try cases, and will, undoubtedly, influence the degree to which defendants can hold their prosecutors accountable for due process violations.

Basically the prosecutors argue that they can do anything they damn well please and there's not a thing mere citizens can do about it.

A synopsis of the arguments can be found at Courthouse New Service High Court Considers Prosecutorial Immunity

Bank tellers make a false report of robbery

A Cedar Rapids bank calls in a report that a robbery was taking place, but actually some kid was walking outside with a pellet gun. Police respond and with restraint and take the kid into custody. Teen Playing with Pellet Gun Causes Bank Robbery Scare.

CEDAR RAPIDS - Police say a call for a bank robbery lead to officers taking a 13-year-old down at gunpoint, but he never robbed the bank.

Instead, police say the boy had found a pellet gun and was walking along Williams Blvd in front of the Dupaco Credit Union while he was playing with the gun.

Employees of the credit union panicked.

Dupaco employees locked the doors and called the police, not knowing it was a pellet gun.

We have a dumb kid walking around with a pellet gun and the tellers panic leading to a lock down and calling for help.

And then we have CR police spokespersons saying another pearl of wisdom.

"We don't have super-ray vision to tell if its a real gun or a fake gun, so we treat them all as if they're real. its a sad thing that we have pellet guns that look so real," said Cristy Hamblin, Cedar Rapids Police Department.

"Super-ray vision", cute. I'm sure she'd like to outlaw all guns in "civilian" hands, just to be on the safe side.

I label this under "idiots in charge" because of Hamblin's comment and for the credit union employees who panicked. The CR police used restraint when approaching this kid rather than shoot him and I give them credit for that.

Gold approaches $1100/oz

Gold steadies just below $1,100

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gold was modestly higher Thursday, as stocks rallied and investors took a step back following the precious metal's recent push near $1,100 an ounce.

December gold rose $2 to $1,089.30 an ounce after jumping as high as $1,093 an ounce earlier in the session.

Makes one think.

Iowa Gun Owners alert 11/3/09

I got this in the mailbox a couple of days ago.

Besides promoting and working to pass the REAL Right-to-Carry bill in the upcoming session, Iowa Gun Owners is also working on repealing Iowa’s permit-to-purchase laws as well.

The permit-to-purchase law requires you to seek approval from the government, in the form of a government issued card, before you can purchase a handgun for self-defense. The criteria for this permit are similar to the criteria for a permit-to-carry: you can not be a felon, can not be addicted to drugs or alcohol, you can’t have a history of acts of violence, etc. Should you be approved for the permit, it is good for a period of one year.

It seems like they have the same opinion of Iowa's permit process as I do.

Go to Iowa Gun Owners 10/3/09 alert for the latest info on their legislative effforts and at some upcoming gun shows they plan to be at.

They plan to be at the following gun shows:

Nov. 6-7 in Altoona, held at the Adventureland Park (305 34th Ave NW), from 5-9pm on Friday to 9am-5pm on Saturday.

Nov. 13-14 in Cedar Rapids, held at the Hawkeye Downs Building #1 (4400 6th St SW) same times as above.

Dec. 11-12 in Waterloo, held in the McElroy Auditorium (257 Ansborough St) same times as above.

Best laid plans...

I've been putting more hours than I wanted to lately at work. We have a major server project going on and phase one began Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Nothing ever goes as planned.