Sleepless in Midland

Hillary threatens. Kim Jong Il must be trembling.

North Korea readies a missile launch and Hillary says, "This provocative action in violation of the U.N. mandate will not go unnoticed, and there will be consequences."  That should put North Korea in its place.

Everyone wants to test Mr. Obama, and Mr. Il wants in on it. Luckily for us, Ms. Clinton is available to talk tough, because having heard Mr. Obama's squishy talk during the campaign, it would be hard to take him seriously. What would he say if he had to to do the talking? Let's imagine:

"Do not fire, that missile! I mean it. Think I'm bluffing? I'm gonna count to three. One ... Two... Two and a half ...

"I'll demand high level talks before you can chop your suey.

"I'll wag my long finger at you like you've never seen before.

"I'll organize an ACORN demonstration march right across the street from your embassy.

"And if you leave me no choice, I will lay you flat with a one-liner the likes of which you've never heard! See what I did to the Special Olympic bowlers? Beware! Be very ware!"

Taiwan and China and the U.S.

I wonder if Mr. Obama's crew is drawing up a blueprint regarding Taiwan. China has long wanted to take back Taiwan. And what America needs right now is some relief on the national debt of which China holds a major chunk.

This bargain is so easy to come up with then surely the deep thinkers in the White House have thought about it. The United States is buried under a mountain of debt, and China, being the good world citizen that it is, forgives that debt. The United States stops supplying military hardware to Taiwan and basically takes a don't-ask, don't-tell, don't-look, don't-smell attitude if China quietly makes a move on Taiwan.

The deal wouldn't be made public, though. And we may not find out about it for years. China will save face all the way by simply forgiving the debt of its favorite customer, and in an unrelated matter, taking back something it lost. Plausible deniability all the way around.

Of course, China may not think Taiwan is worth quite that much. And if they wait long enough they may get to foreclose on America and take back Taiwan.

Midland Police Department Awards Banquet

The MPD handed out awards last week at its annual awards banquet. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can link to at the city's website, and although the 3/29/09 print edition of the Midland Reporter-Telegram did have a couple of photos along with a partial list of the award winners, it isn't online.

Judge John Hyde gave a very touching opening address in which he told the audience that today's law enforcement officers face more danger than they have ever faced in the past. He began his talk by describing a quaint 1958 Norman Rockwell painting of a nine year old child sitting on a stool at a lunch counter talking to a police officer. Fast forward, and the times they were a' changing.

Judge Hyde described four cultures: the question-everything culture taught in colleges, the free love movement, the drug culture, and the anti-war movement all converging about ten years later around the time of the 1968 Democratic convention. That nine year old kid had experienced quite a bit by the time he reached 19. And those influences are still being felt today.

Later when asked jokingly if he gave that same speech to the defense side of the bar he said yes, basically the same speech. Defense lawyers have a job to do and that's to provide the best defense he/she can for the defendant. Due process is a fundamental component of our legal system, and it's important that the defense attorney makes sure it is upheld. And that might not be as easy as it seems as sometimes a criminal defendant may not be the most likable person in the room.

Then to the awards. People in each department received an award for stellar work, and then my favorite part, the award for Citizen Appreciation. The building boom the city has experienced brought with it a boom in theft of building supplies. Theft is a difficult crime to solve unless the thief is caught in the act. In this case a sting operation was put into effect, and four local merchants provided lumber and supplies to capture criminals. Those four citizens were given the award for their contribution to this endeavor, although as you can see from the photo, only three were present that evening.

Congratulations, everyone. See you next year.

Rattlesnake Roundup in Big Spring

There's a rattlesnake roundup going on this weekend in Big Spring, Texas.

The annual roundup in Sweetwater is generally more widely advertised and attended, but for those people who don't enjoy shoulder to shoulder crowding, the roundup in Big Spring is just the ticket. They put on a great show, too.

Snake handler Jackie Bibby was the master of snake ceremonies yesterday in the Howard County Fair Barn. And he will be the first to tell you that even professionals get bitten. He has the bandaged hand and stitched up arm to prove it.

The first step in treating a person who got in the way of the poisonous fang is to suck out some of the poison with a suction device. Then doctors may have to slice the skin to relieve the swelling pressure to avoid bursting. A good showman has to make sacrifices to please the crowd, but judging from the photos Mr. Bibby displayed of the open wounds and the scar he was sporting, this aspect of the job could not have been a pleasant experience.  Next time break a leg!

Elsewhere at the roundup there was at a snake skinning demonstration, and an amazing thing happened. There's probably more than one way to skin a snake, but in the demonstration yesterday the snake was decapitated, strung up by the tail, then split from tail to chop point. The lady who was doing the slicing grabbed the tail of a snake that had just been decapitated and held it up to hang it. The headless snake was thrashing around, and darned if it didn't strike at her arm as if it were still alive. The neck stump struck the woman's bare arm leaving a smear of its own blood. A direct hit. The head was gone, but the snake was still striking at the person who killed it.

Pretty amazing. The snake skinner was unfazed, but dang, now we have to watch our for zombie snakes?

Links: Big Spring Herald article, Sweetwater Roundup, and Jackie Bibby.

Added later:  A showman gives the folks a show -- Mr. Bibby strips off his bandage for this CBS7 video.

Straight from the gift horse's mouth

I won a prize!

The other day at an awards banquet there were several really nice door prizes given away, so many, in fact, that the each attendee may have had about a one in ten chance of winning one. The one I won was a Bronze Membership to the Midland Community Theater which entitles the bearer to 30 tickets to performances in the 2009 season. Now that's a lot of tickets.

It would be quite a prize for a theater enthusiast with a bunch of guests to entertain. But for me? Well, I confess to having a jaded attitude toward amateur theater. Seeing a good play performed by professional actors can do that. And for me there was a traumatic experience as a child. A haunting experience it was, too. My dear sweet late mom used to drag her kids to the local amateur theater, and bless her heart, she was just trying to provide a little culture. But you know how impressionable young minds can be, and a bitter experience can poison those young minds forever. I'm talking about the horror of having to sit still and listen to an off key singer. Such an experience gets seared in the memory and can shape an attitude for a lifetime.

It was almost tempting to post the prize on ebay or craigslist just to see what value the market would place on it. The fine print does address after market sales and says it can't be sold for more than the price for which it was originally sold. Probably not a big risk as giving tickets away for free is not that easy, but why take chances?

So I start contacting people to drum up some interest in going to a play. As you might know, most theater fans have their own season tickets. But I was able to get some volunteers to participate in this venture and agree on the upcoming Sunday matinee. So there I go, off to the box office to make the reservations. Sorry pal, it's all booked up. You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to beat this theater crowd.

Science tell us that we remember experiences longer than we remember things. I remember that as I recall the bad luck of a fellow at the next table who won a Blue Ray DVD player. Poor guy. He has probably already forgotten about it.

It's back to square one on the theater thing. But dammit, I'm going to enjoy this experience if it kills me!

Oh, I should probably mention one more thing for the benefit of anyone who reads this and sees a sniveling ingrate looking a gift horse in the mouth. Rest assured that the altruistic couple who donated that prize didn't expect it to end up in the hands of an uncultured slob like me. But given that it happened, they would expect nothing less than a spirited, good natured critique of the whole thing. Thanks y'all, I won't let you down.

Signs of the time -- Tea Party protest signs (in miniature)

Feel like protesting high taxes and giant deficits that could outlive anyone alive today? The Tea Parties are providing an outlet for voter/taxpayer frustration, and signs say it well. Here are a few trial balloons, miniature prototypes for possible signs in the future.

 

I like the one about ACORN. Term limits, too. More: 

Midland Tea Party -- 2nd post

One of the current popular blogger topics these days is the missing main stream media coverage of the various Tea Parties -- tax and deficit spending protests -- that are going on around the country.

As far as I know, Craig Anderson at KWEL is still planning a Tea Party on April 18 at the Vietnam Memorial between Midland and Odessa, although he plans on something more than just a tax and deficit spending protest. But it will be interesting to see if other local media attend and report.

The other morning the car radio was set to KCRS, and Lynn Woolley was taking a call from a woman in Midland. Apparently, the discussion had been about Tea Parties, and she had called to tell about Mr. Anderson's event. She let slip that the sponsor runs a competing radio station, so Mr. Woolley shut her up rather quickly saying he needed to consult with someone at KCRS before saying any more about it. Rather amusing. It suggests the local media, or at least the local radio stations, may be in a dog-eat-dog fight for the attention of the potential audience and don't want to favors for a competitor.

So it's going to be fun to see what transpires. Maybe we need an independent Tea Party, one free of any competitive pressures. One on April 15 at the park right across the street from the IRS office focusing solely on taxes and deficit spending. Just thinking out loud here.

Fighting Crime

[Update and correction. A comment left by Joe Hathaway informs us that the city's news release contained some incorrect numbers in the percent change column. The table originally shown at this post has been changed by adding a new column to the right showing the correct percentage change. Most notable error was the Aggravated Assault percentage change.]

Last month the City of Midland released crime stats for 2008 including the 2007 stats for comparison, as follows:

2008 Crime stats:

Crime	2007	2008	percent	corrected pct
Murder + manslaughter	7	6	-14%	-14.3%
Sexual assault	57	64	+10.3	+12.3
Robbery	76	94	+23.7%	+23.7%
Aggravated Assault	206	255	+12.3%	+23.8%
Burglary	835	836	+0.1%	+0.1%
Theft	2630	2492	-5.2 %	-5.2 %
Auto Theft	208	158	-24%	-24.0%
Total	4019	3905	-3%	-2.8%

The biggest increase between '07 and '08 was in the Robbery category. Catching the people who committed the 2008 crimes might go a long way toward reducing the number for 2009, but other than that, there's probably little a police department can do to bring the future number down. With the local economy going into a downturn increased individual diligence in 2009 is probably in order.

The biggest decrease was Auto Theft, perhaps due to the efforts of the prevention programs of the auto theft teams. Or it might have been a result of the increasingly sophisticated auto locking systems in new cars helping to keep thieves from driving off in the family vehicle.

Burglary probably includes residential, business and vehicular burglary. And the burglary rate held steady with an increase of only one resulting in a total of 836 in 2008. So for this town of roughly 100,000 residents the probability of having been burglarized comes in at a little less than one in a hundred.

Catching the ones who have already committed a burglary might reduce the future number. But how does a police department do that? In addition to old fashioned police work, there's the possibility that DNA evidence might be useful in solving burglary cases.

A study published in the National Institute of Justice Journal last year titled DNA Solves Property Crimes (But Are We Ready for That?) reports the results of experiments in which DNA samples were collected at property crime scene, and here are some key portions from that report:

The study revealed that, when DNA was added to traditional property crime investigations:

* More than twice as many suspects were identified.
* Twice as many suspects were arrested.
* More than twice as many cases were accepted for prosecution.

The DNA Field Experiment also found that suspects were five times as likely to be identified through DNA evidence than through fingerprints; blood evidence was more effective in solving property crimes than other biological evidence, particularly evidence from items that were handled or touched by the suspect; and evidence collected by forensic technicians was no more likely to result in a suspect being identified than evidence collected by patrol officers.

Another significant finding of the unprecedented experiment — conducted in Orange County, Calif.; Los Angeles; Denver; Phoenix; and Topeka, Kan. — was that suspects identified by DNA had at least twice as many prior felony arrests and convictions as those identified through traditional burglary investigation.

The emphasis in that last sentence is mine and implies a future problem. The reason the suspects identified by DNA had twice as many prior felony arrests could be because they eventually learned from their past mistakes and adapted to avoid leaving fingerprints or other evidence typically collected in traditional investigations. So if the collection of DNA evidence becomes common practice in property crimes then the criminals will eventually adapt their behavior to that, too.

But it's expensive, and for a moderate sized community it probably should be reserved for situations involving serial burglars or high dollar losses. The NIJ report suggests the problem would be that the laboratories would be overwhelmed which would require spending money on the building of new labs. In any event, it's going to cost.

How about something cheap and easy? Study after study has shown that the "broken window theory" works. Fix the broken windows, pick up the trash, and crime rates go down. See Can the can and Breakthrough on 'broken windows'. Every city probably has a day set aside as part of the Great American Cleanup, and locally Keep Midland Beautiful has one on April 4, 2009. So there's an opportunity for all citizens to help reduce crime the easy way by cleaning up the streets in high crime areas. Can't locate a high crime area? Many cities put crime maps online; here's Midland's crime map.

The report shows that DNA collection could help capture burglars if taxpayers are willing to foot the bill. Let's apply "broken windows theory" first. Pick up trash -- toss out crooks.

Texas bans Cocaine (the drink)

Actually, it wasn't just because of the name, Cocaine. Or was it? The Texas Attorney General says the problem was that the drink was being marketed with claims of health benefits that couldn't be substantiated. Excerpt:

By marketing the product as a dietary supplement with curative qualities, the defendant made unsubstantiated claims that it could help treat depression, lower cholesterol, prevent hardening of arteries and protect nerve fibers from glucose damage. Only manufacturers of FDA-approved drugs may make those claims – but the claims must be supported by legitimate scientific research.

The distributors didn't show up for court, and a permanent injunction prohibits them from selling or giving away the product in Texas. So with this new prohibition in place do you suppose there will be an underground market for it?

There are about a zillion dietary supplements on the market which provide little or no benefit to the consumer as a result of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 that removed herbs and supplements from FDA regulation. (See Neurologica Blog.) So in the case of "Cocaine" it was really just in the advertising. If "Cocaine" sellers had taken a cue from the dietary supplement sellers and chosen their words more carefully then the Atty Gen would have had to come up with some other reason to ban it. But, of course, it wouldn't be because of the name.

Fence Lizards vs. Fire Ants - biological evolution right before our eyes

This was a fascinating finding reported in the Science Blog. They found that fence lizards native to the Southeastern U.S. have not only adapted their behavior to protect themselves from fire ants, but their own bodies have evolved due to the fire ant threat.

The researchers found that fence lizards that have adapted and evolved will shake off fire ants that try to climb on them. And longer legs allow them to shake off fire ants more easily. Fence lizards from regions occupied by fire ants had developed this adaptation while those from fire ant free regions had not. From Science Blog:

Langkilde conducted an experiment in which she compared the responses to fire ant attacks of lizards that were collected from four different sites: one that had not yet been invaded by fire ants and ones that were invaded by fire ants 23, 54, and 68 years ago. Her goal was to determine whether the amount of time since invasion influences the ways in which lizards respond to attacks.

( ... )

"The lizards can survive this attack by twitching to flick off the ants and then by running away from the mound," said Langkilde. "We found that the lizards from sites that have been invaded the longest were more likely than the lizards from sites that have not yet been invaded to perform this survival behavior. Many of the lizards from the uninvaded site and the most recently invaded site just sat there with their eyes closed while the ants attacked," said Langkilde, who stopped the experiment after 60 seconds to prevent any of the lizards from dying.

To determine if hind-leg length influences the success of the twitching and running lizards in getting away from the ants, Langkilde measured the hind-leg lengths of all of the lizards. She found that, indeed, the lizards with the longest hind legs were the most successful at getting away from ants. She also discovered that lizard leg length appears to be inherited from an individual's parents. Langkilde concluded that the lizards living near fire ants are developing behaviors to increase their survival and are evolving longer hind legs in response to attacks by fire ants.

(Emphasis added.)

In the meantime, in the religion-vs-science department, the 15 member Texas State Board of Education is split over whether Texas teachers should have to tell students that, in spite of the overwhelming supporting evidence, they should question the theory of evolution. From the WSJ:

The Texas Board of Education will vote this week on a new science curriculum designed to challenge the guiding principle of evolution, a step that could influence what is taught in biology classes across the nation.

The proposed curriculum change would prompt teachers to raise doubts that all life on Earth is descended from common ancestry. Texas is such a huge textbook market that many publishers write to the state's standards, then market those books nationwide.

And from the Austin American Statesman:

In addition to asking teachers to engage Texas students in a discussion of how gaps in the fossil record might undermine the notion of common ancestry, McLeroy says he will ask board members to adopt a curriculum standard that would ask students to explain how the complexity of cells does or does not support the idea of natural selection, an explanation of how organisms evolve.

Hopefully our school kids are as adaptable as the fence lizard and can learn good science in spite of the intentions of the devout board members.

F___ my life, the website

Funny stuff. The Wall Street Journal told about it the other day. It was started in France and became so popular they've gone international. People send in amusing anecdotes about frustrating daily occurrences, and readers vote whether they had it coming or whether their life really is f___ed. Here's a sampling:

Today, I was pulled over because I looked like a possible suspect for a robbery. While searching me, the police's radio went off and the person on the other line said, "Possible suspect, 5'5", thin" - the officer stopped right then and murmured, "too short and fat" and walked back to his car. FML

Check it out. Link.

Provo -- Gun fire at the Olive Garden

Keen eyed Joe Hathaway sends us two reports of accidental handgun discharges that took place in Utah restaurants in the past few months.

First up, he pulled the trigger when he pulled up his britches -- This one took place in men's room at a Centerville, Utah, burger joint. According to the Centerville police press release, the handgun was a Kahr P40. Here's more from the press release:

While pulling his pants up the gun fell out of the holster, striking the tile floor. When the gun hit the floor it went off and the bullet struck the toilet, shattering it and sending sharp pieces of porcelain flying. The man was hit in the arm by some of the porcelain causing some small lacerations.

(...)

In this case it appears that the accident would have been prevented if the man had used a secure holster. A good quality firearm also should not fire if it is dropped. No charges were brought against the man but the firearm was taken for safe keeping.

Yeah, probabilities would suggest the cause was an inadvertent trigger pull and not the gun striking the floor. Maybe they should put a sign in the stalls:

"Caution: Don't pull your trigger when you pull up your pants. And wash your hands!"

Next up, this chair has a hole in it -- This one was in an Olive Garden in Provo. KSL tells us what happened:

Lt. John Geyerman, with the Provo Police Department, said, "An individual had a concealed weapons permit. The gun was in its holster on its side. He was sitting down in a chair and reached down to do something to the gun, and it went off and discharged one round into the chair."

Police took the gun's owner into custody, and he was questioned at the police station until officers decided the gun was accidentally discharged.

It's hard to tell what brand it was from the photo, however this commenter at Utahconcealedcarry.com says it looks like a Kel Tec P-11. And if that's correct, it must have the grip extension.

In any event, when in public it's more polite not to scratch that itch.

How hard is it to learn to walk?

It's computer game in which you control a runner with the keyboard. Two keys work the calves and two others work the thighs. It's too hard for me, I couldn't even keep him on his feet. Maybe you'll have better luck with Athletics.

Shaking the family tree

In a recent visit with relatives someone pulled out a genealogy book covering roughly 200 years of the family history put together by other relatives a half century ago. The book begins with one fellow in 1751 -- I guess we could call him the Founding Father -- and ends in 1955 with thousands of descendants spread across the nation. While the book consisted mostly of names and dates, there were a few interesting anecdotes.

The American Revolution came along, so Founding Father built a fort and stayed behind to protect the children and womenfolk while the other men went off to fight the Redcoats. Not exactly the sort of thing that earns medals, but hey, he was a lover, not a fighter. And it was good enough for the DAR.

Another story told about how a family branch migrated to Tennessee, and their daughter jilted a guy who proposed marriage. The guy married another. He was a successful hunter, a not so successful business man, and later a Congressman. He lost a bid for re-election and headed for Texas. His name? David Crockett.

Mr. Crockett met his demise at the age of 50 at the Alamo in San Antonio in 1836. "Remember the Alamo" became a battle cry that helped rally the people and draw volunteers to fight for and win Texas' independence from Mexico.

So what would have happened had that first girl married Mr. Crockett? Well, this requires a little speculation, but you know what they used to say, "behind every successful man is a woman." That woman would have made Mr. Crockett so happy and helped him be so successful at his businesses and politics that he would have had no desire to head out to Texas.

On that fateful day at the Alamo Mr. William Travis would have drawn that line in the sand, but without Davy Crockett there, the others may well have said "adios amigo." Texas would never have become independent, and today we would all be trying to get a green card.

As almost every guy knows, getting jilted is not the end of the world but merely an end to a story.

Road notes

1. Big rigs on the road -

Out - Naked lady mudflaps.

In - Spikey lug nuts.

 2. Dead deer on the roadside -

A lot of deer lose their lives on the roads of Texas. Statistically, it might even be more dangerous for a deer to try to cross a highway at night than to walk around in broad daylight during deer hunting season.

On this recent road trip there were plenty of deer carcasses strewn along the sides of the roads, and you know they did some significant damage to the vehicles that did them in. The one you see here was and may still be alive.

3. A landmark goes missing -

It was out in the middle of nowhere, actually it was about half way between El Paso and San Antonio on I-10. No signs of life for miles around -- it was a convenience store and Fina gasoline station, but if you drove by there in the daytime you couldn't miss it. There was a huge Texas flag that flew over the store. I mean it was huge. And darn it, every time I saw it I thought to myself that I should take a picture of that scene.

But now it's just a shell of a store; gutted on the inside, cobwebs on the gas pumps, and worst of all, no flag. I understand that it wasn't there for my benefit, and I certainly didn't patronize it enough. But I sure did miss seeing it one more time.

On the road again

Check back in a few days.

Tony West, lots of honors but few accomplishments

The American Thinker is concerned because Mr. Tony West, President Obama's pick for Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Civil Division, represented the American Taliban, John Walker Lindh. But that alone shouldn't disqualify Mr. West. It was just one of many examples of the efforts by President Bush's domestic enemies to try to find mistakes that might make Bush look bad. I would give him Mr. West a pass on that but complain that he appears to have racked up a lot of honors without actually having done anything. (Remind you of anyone? Hint: Hope and Change.)

Mr. West's greatest accomplishment, according to the White House news release, was having led a team of government agents in "the investigation and successful prosecution of one of the nation's largest Internet child pornography/molestation crime rings." I'm no expert in that area, but I did read through some of the filings in a case in which a local college professor was charged with possession of kiddie porn. And I expect that all of those type cases are similar. Some perverts start communicating in an internet chat room. They discuss kiddie porn. They swap digital images. Someone sees the communication and reports them to an internet porn watchdog. The watchdog reports it to law enforcement. A search warrant is issued. Computers are confiscated. Charges are filed. Headlines blare that a national internet porn ring has been busted.

There's probably a lot of paper work involved along with opportunities for bone headed mistakes, but there certainly doesn't appear to be anything heroic about it. There's a lot more heroism on a day to day basis shown by local District Attorneys.

But his real accomplishment is having been loyal to Obama -- see Mr. West's blog -- and having raised ton of cash for the BHO campaign. See sfgate.com:

As co-chairman of Obama's campaign, West was instrumental in helping the candidate raise an estimated $65 million in California and has been considered a rising star in both the legal and political circles of the nation's most populous state.

He is being rewarded with a plum government job.

Back when the Iraq war was in the dumps I received an email from a lefty with a link to an article which contended that the problem with Iraq was that President Bush had demanded that any job applicant must believe in the correct ideology. Maybe, maybe not. But it certainly seems as if Mr. Obama is exercising that practice.

Want a job in the Obama administration? Step one: take the Pledge:

I support President Obama's bold approach for renewing America's economy.

I will ask friends, family, and neighbors to pledge their support for this plan.

So did George Bush set the bar and Barack Obama is merely trying to reach it? This must be the change we've been waiting for.

Open Records Results -- police officers have handgun accidents too

This one happened on April 10, 2008, at the Midland Police Department shooting range and was first addressed on these pages in Who Shot J.R.

An open records request provided the facts surrounding this mishap. But first, here's a question.  Should the details about a police officer accidentally firing his weapon and injuring another police officer be public information?

The city delivers email news releases to anyone who wishes to susbscribe, and it's a good way to keep up with city government news. However, there was no email news alert about this accident. I learned about it from a report on CBS 7 and sent a query to through their contact page asking how they learned about it. But they didn't respond. A tv news department has to shield its sources from those bothersome bloggers, I suppose.

Fortunately, the state of Texas has an Open Records Act requiring government bodies to disclose information in their possession provided the information doesn't fall within one of the several exceptions. So I hand delivered an Open Records Request to the city information officer.

The city circled the wagons and appealed the request to the Texas Attorney General on the basis that it would be too embarrassing to let the public see it. And even after the AG declared that the public had the right to this information the city still dragged its feet, and it was over a month after the AG ruling until the information finally arrived at my P.O. box.

I wasn't really sure what to do with it once I received it. It was just another Glock accidental discharge, but at least with this one there was a lot of detail about how it happened. The AG said the people have a right to know, and given the way the city reacted, then maybe this really should be given public exposure. And given that the shooter holds himself out to be an educator he will surely appreciate the educational benefit this provides and agree that the opportunity to educate the public on gun safety will override any of his personal concerns.

It happened on April 10, 2008, as Sgt. William Dale Seago was about to clean his .40 caliber Glock 22 in the gun cleaning room at the Midland Police Department Shooting Range. He was taking the gun apart in order to clean it, but there was a bullet in the chamber -- a big rule violation. He pulled the trigger sending a bullet into the legs of another police officer.

Check out the Case Report PDF. It's fascinating reading for those interesting in that sort of thing.

Unintentional Glock discharges seem to fall in two categories. First, the handgun has a light trigger pull and no manual safety. So many of the accidents involving this particular handgun happen when someone pulls the trigger when they didn't want to. The second is during the break-down procedure for cleaning. For some reason the Glock was designed so that the trigger has to be pulled in order to remove the slide. If there's a bullet in the chamber, then BLAM! The owners' manual advises against that, of course.

There may be others, but the Glock and the Springfield XD are two handguns that require the trigger pull in the disassembly process. When I first started writing about handgun mishaps I was ready to pin the blame on a design flaw. But comment after comment left on these pages have drilled home the concept that the flaw is between the ears of the people who fire off these things by accident. It's tempting to chide Sgt. Seago about this, but instead let's just take it from an expert at PoliceOne.com:

Of course, I’ve left out the most common cause of a Negligent Discharge, the ever popular “while cleaning the gun,” excuse. This is a rule #1 stupidity issue, pure and simple. You must clear the thing fully and carefully before pulling the trigger or attempting disassembly for cleaning. An aggravating factor here is the need to pull the trigger before disassembly with some brands of pistol.

Finally, something about open records. Search engine queries about open records frequently land on these posts, so for anyone interested in the process, Correspondence PDF consists of the letters involved with this one, including the AG's ruling.

Obama didn't inherit the economic crisis, he bought it

President Barack Obama is fond of telling Americans that he "inherited this mess" or, as in this WaPo article bearing Mr. Obama's name in the author's slot: "By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression."

Let's be clear about something. He didn't inherit anything. He campaigned for it. He fought tooth and nail for it. He spent tons of other people's money for it. He adopted it. He bought it.

He owns it now, But he didn't inherit it.

Now Firing. Oil company layoffs -

In recent years the price of a barrel of oil shot up like a rocket, and the exploration costs went up along with it. Then the oil price fell to the earth with a big thud, and exploration workers probably feel the shock waves in their bones as the Baker Hughes rig count heads toward the center of the earth.

Sometime in the not too distant past the Midland Reporter-Telegram help wanted ads shriveled to a fraction of the space they once occupied in the Sunday paper, and it was sobering to watch that happen after so many years of good times.

The other day a Wall Street Journal article optimistically titled Oil Industry Strives To Limit Its Layoffs said this:

Some companies have announced layoffs. Houston-based oil major ConocoPhillips last week began laying off more than 1,000 employees in Alaska and elsewhere. Schlumberger Ltd., the world's largest oilfield-services company by revenue and market value, is laying off about 5,000 employees world-wide, about 6% of its work force, while Halliburton Co. is cutting an unspecified number of jobs.

Chron.com puts the ConocoPhillips number at "1,300 jobs, or about 4 percent of its work force."

So will energy companies hang onto the talent during the downturn or cut them loose? The oil industry has always been cyclical, and in the past the swings took a long time to make the cycle. Maybe this time will be different.

A Midland Tea Party?

Most internet users have been following news about the Tea Parties -- the protests over high taxes and out of control government spending -- and have wondered whether one in Midland would pull together enough people to make an impression in the grass much less an impression on elected officials in Washington.

Yeah, there's plenty to complain about, but who would listen? Most locals, regardless of political affiliation, have probably reached their wits' ends over the mega-spending and tax hikes coming from Washington at exactly the wrong time. But would anyone else pay attention to some protest rally way out here in flyover country? A visit by a former president on his last day in office, while big news here, didn't register beyond a couple of hundred miles.

OK, enough pessimism. Let's get down to business. Craig Anderson apparently thinks it's worth a shot and is advertising one for April 18 at KWEL.com, although there are no details given. April 15 might be a more appropriate day to protest taxes. But what the heck, let's do it anyway.

All together now.

ONE -- TWO --- THREE --- FOUR!

TAXES HURT US THAT'S FOR SURE!

It's Tea time!

Updated: Mr. Anderson provides more information:

It's going to be on the 18th of April at the Viet Nam Memorial at the airport. We're lining up speakers and so forth.

In addition, we'll have open mic time for anyone who wants to blow off steam. Home made signs and t-shirts will be welcome.

We want to make it a patriotic event along with a tea party.

Texas Legislature squabbling over voter ID

Last year the U.S. Supreme Court gave the green light to requirements for voter photo IDs in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board et al. Only a handful of states have adopted it so far, and now it's before the Texas Legislature.

It's a party line split, but the Texas Senate had hearings about it anyway. House Bills 362 and 373 address this and would require photo IDs for Texans to vote. See articles in the Chron and DallasNews.

Republicans say it would reduce the possibility of fraud. And they are right. But Democrats say there have been no cases brought by the Atty General in which someone actually tried to vote in place of a registered voter. Maybe that's right, too, but all that proves is that no one was caught doing it. One can imagine all sorts of scenarios in which that could happen. Granny didn't express any interest in voting, so granddaughter finds the card and goes to the polls in her place.  Granddaughter not up to it?  Call Acorn.

And Democrats go on to say that some people would be intimidated by having to show a photo ID. That's a dubious argument, too. It takes more ID to cash a check than to vote, and we all have to show IDs to someone somewhere with increasing frequency.

But the real potential for voter fraud isn't at the poll, it's at the registrar. Here's what is currently required to register to vote in Texas:

Even if you have not been issued any of three identification numbers requested on the application, you are still eligible to register to vote, but you will be required to provide proof of your identity. You may enclose a copy of identification with your voter registration application, or you may present identification when you vote. Acceptable identification includes:

1. a driver's license or personal identification card issued to the person by the Department of Public Safety or a similar document issued to the person by an agency of another state, regardless of whether the license or card has expired;
2. a form of identification containing the person's photograph that establishes the person's identity;
3. a birth certificate or other document confirming birth that is admissible in a court of law and establishes the person's identity;
4. United States citizenship papers issued to the person;
5. a United States passport issued to the person;
6. official mail addressed to the person by name from a governmental entity;
7. a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter; or
8. any other form of identification prescribed by the Secretary of State. [Emphasis added.]

Check out the JPG on the right for a sample of number 7. Of course, it would be absurd to think someone would actually fake a document just to influence an election. Oh what the heck, let's change the law anyway.

Finally, isn't the League of Women Voters supposed to be nonpartisan? That didn't stop them from coming out on the Democrat side against these reforms -- LWV position (PDF) -- because, among other things, these reforms might hamper the LWV's voter registration drives at churches and grocery stores as if what occurs at a registration drive is something more than merely passing out cards to be mailed in.

Great Depression 2.0 and Regime Uncertainty

A few writers are making some bold predictions that the U.S. economy may be headed into another Great Depression. My crystal ball has gone cloudy, so I don't know. But there are some scary parallels.

The Great Depression lasted a very long time, and some very smart people place the blame for that longevity on the FDR administration. Robert Higgs divides the period from 1929 to 1945 into three parts: The Great Contraction, The Great Duration, and the Great Escape. And in his paper titled Regime Uncertainty PDF he focuses on the "Great Duration" -- the years following the crash in which the economy operated substantially below it's capability to produce.

Listen to a podcast interview with Mr. Higgs at econtalk.org.

The thing that rings out is his description of the attitude of businessmen of the period. They were afraid to invest any money in any new business because they were afraid of the punish-the-wealthy attitude, the tax hikes, unions strengthened by new labor laws, and other crazy ideas that were floating about the FDR administration. "Regime Uncertainty" means fear of government.

It appears that the same thing is happening now. It's common knowledge that Mr. Obama doesn't want to let any crisis go to waste, and apparently he views the current economic downturn as an opportunity to implement some grand social schemes which, as always seems to be the case, involve other people's money. Whether or not they would be tolerable in good times, they're potentially disastrous in an economic downturn.

As the old saying goes, if we don't remember the past we're condemned to repeat it. These are scary times. And Mr. Obama has ushered in a new era of regime uncertainty.

Postscript. Today the DJIA closed up almost 400 points to close at 6926.49. Is the stock market horror show over? Am I a contrary indicator proclaiming gloom and doom just as the crisis is ending? Oh that would be sweet. I wouldn't mind that one bit.

Spring forward and fall back, keeping up with the changing time

We lost an hour Sunday morning, but the following Monday is the day it generally hits home. Man, am I sleepy today!

I set all the clocks in the house on Sunday but neglected the one in the car. So today I'm driving around, look at the clock, and momentarily wonder to myself why the day seems to be creeping along so slowly.

But that was no big deal. I mentioned that to someone, and she said, "I fell back." Huh? Well, she set her clocks back one hour Saturday night for the time change. Oops, wrong way. And the family arrived at church Sunday morning two full hours late.

I'm sure she'll be forgiven. But her boss is probably glad it happened yesterday and not today.

I forget, why are we going through this twice a year? Oh yeah, so the kids can get the crops in before dark. How's that working out?

Test your hearing against a teenager

It's the teenager audio test. Link.

Supposedly it's a sound that can only be heard by those under 25 years of age. I'm over 25, and I can't hear it, but that doesn't prove anything. So I sought an expert opinion from an old friend, Dr. George Richards, who is an audiologist way down under in the Gold Coast area of Australia. Here's his reply:

I could not get the player to work so I did not get to listen to the recording. It is a well know fact that the older we get the less range we have in our hearing . However I have tested people that are well over 25 that have very good audio range. We have electronic devices that emit a high frequency sound that does help keep the bugs off of you and it does seems to work. I can hear the device if I place it close enough to my ear and Paula can hear the damn thing across the room. So who knows? I would say it is just bullshit but who knows? Are you being invaded by kids mate? Try a 12 gauge loaded with rock salt, they can hear that I bet.

Heh heh, that may test another sense as well, G.R. I'm not having that problem, but thanks for the tip!

Mr. Obama may we have a "Reset" button, too?

The Russians are getting a good laugh at our expense over the Reset Button Hillary gave to the Russian Foreign Minister -- apparently the Russian word they chose for "reset" meant "overload" or "overcharged." They are probably hoping the missile shield was made by the same people.

But you know, Mr. Obama promised that people abroad would have a different attitude toward us, so in a weird way he's made good on that promise.

But the joke has already been played on Americans.  The pork bills Mr. Obama has signed and hopes to sign into law have certainly overloaded us. And Americans for generations to come will certainly be overcharged in taxes. If only we could get a "Reset" button.

[Link via Joe Hathaway.  Thanks Joe.]

What if delivery people ran the world?

Stop teasing us, Sprint! Oh, if only delivery people did run the world, or more specifically, the U.S. Government.

That Sprint commercial is currently one of my favorite commercials. It starts out with that line: "What if delivery people ran the world?" Watch it on Youtube and see how efficiently the delivery people handle what appears to be the beginning of a typical day at a government school. They round up a truant and route him straight to detention.

So as I sit here watching my capital gains turn into capital losses and my life savings turn to dust on account of the fear created by our President's schemes for spending, borrowing and taxing our economy into oblivion, I dream of a fantasy world in which smart, practical, efficient people run the government. Sure, make them delivery people, they could do it.

Such a sweet vision. Hey, I can dream, can't I?

How come comedians can't make fun of Obama?

There's so much to ridicule: The tax cheats in the cabinet, the illusions he created in the campaign, the adoring media, the race card, the flip flops, the thumbs down from investors. So where are the comedians when we need them? Are they still under his spell?

Others gush about Tina Fey's disparaging impersonation of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. But it's a toss up whether they wanted most to entertain the audience or hurt Palin. One blogger is even speculating that the SNL folks are salivating over the possibility that Bobby Jindal has national ambition so they can promote a Jindal look-a-like from minor sitcom character to SNL mimic.

They know their audience, and they're afraid of them. One online comic even swore off Obama satire because he was getting so many complaints. Here's a portion of his capitulation:

Recently, The Borowitz Report has received a number of letters from readers complaining about columns that have seemed to satirize the nation's 44th president. These readers have pointed out that with all of the challenges facing President Obama, the time for such juvenile shenanigans is over. At The Borowitz Report, our response couldn't be clearer: "We hear you."

Some potentially good political satire will end up in the trash can. Too bad.

There is an Obama look alike out there, lham Anas of Indonesia. Here's his website, and see some photos of him here. He did a commercial for some tummy medicine in which he impersonated Mr. Obama, but we can't know whether he would be up to the challenge of putting a popular president in his place. Would SNL have the courage to ridicule The One? Would Mr. Anas be able to get a green card?

And finally, here's a breath of fresh air. Comedian Steven Crowder has offered his services to SNL in a letter to Lorne Michaels:

Dear Mr. Michaels

[ ... ]

I not only love your show, but I love the principal of a weekly program centered around irreverence. You folks are the jesters making fun of the king, and that’s something that a free country desperately needs. The problem is, that I don’t see much jesting anymore. You folks over at Rainbow Studio seem all too eager to get in on the “kissing of the ring” action. What’s up with that? ...

Read the whole thing. In the meantime, it's going to be up to bloggers to fill the gap.

Politicians use fear to manipulate the public

President Obama certainly knew this when he exclaimed that economic disaster loomed if the $800 billion pork bill didn't get passed. And we are sure to hear it again. Unfortunately, it's the fear of Mr. Obama himself that's the main de-stimulus to the economy.

Anyway, sometimes political scientists need to remind us of how easily manipulated voters can be. And here comes that reminder. The abstract can be found at Eurekalert.

Ann Arbor, MI—March 4, 2009—A new study in the American Journal of Political Science explores how and when politicians can use fear to manipulate the public into supporting policies they might otherwise oppose. Politicians' use of fear is more likely with regard to topics that are abstract and difficult for citizens (and/or the media) to observe. [Emphasis added.]

Arthur Lupia and Jesse O. Menning examined how select attributes of fear affect a politician's ability to scare citizens into supporting policies that they would otherwise reject. They argue that politicians' use of fear will depend on critical aspects of mass psychology.

For example, manipulation is more likely when the public doesn't understand an issue or is unlikely to be able to overcome the fear created by politicians. By contrast, the easier it is for citizens to observe that the politician has made false statements, the less likely it is that politicians will attempt to use fear at all.

"A greater understanding of when fear can and cannot be used to scare citizens into supporting bad policies can help journalists and scholars more effectively interpret important historical events," the authors note. "It can help them think about whether, and to what extent, elite manipulation of citizen emotions contributed to initial public support for these kinds of government actions."

Via ScienceBlog.

Master Lock master key

Master Lock ran a commercial a while back demonstrating that a bullet fired into the locking mechanism would not break the lock. Watch it on Youtube.

But why bother? There's a Master Lock master key. It's called a bolt cutter, and it will snap a lock in just a few seconds. As the old saying goes, if someone really wants to break in, they will. But it sure doesn't hurt to try to slow them down.

(This was a lock on a box containing some records of a volunteer group. The key holder had misplaced the key, so some friendly firefighters pulled out a cutter and SNAP! The lock was removed in mere seconds. Thanks guys!)