"Penis Fire" Suspect Is Charged

An Australian woman has appeared in court in Adelaide charged with murdering her husband by setting fire to his penis.

She claims his death was accidental.

If it's on the BBC it must be true ...

Who wants to start?

Snowflakes ...

Snowflakes In Hell, that is.

SIH is celebrating two years of blogging, so stop by and offer best wishes to one of the best gun blogs on the web.

Absinthe!

Very cool history, but you don't really want to drink that stuff, do you?

Try some Drambuie instead.

From the NYT.

All Clean!

Springfield 1911 9mm Stainless Steel and Tanfoglio Witness 10mm in Wonderfinish.

All clean and ready to go back into the vault.

Table Top

The other day I was getting dressed when I noticed this "what's in your pockets" layout so I took a snap. Live and unrehearsed.

Target Diagnosis

Here is a typical target from this afternoon's session.

It appears to be a clear example of jerking or slapping the trigger, according to this.

My range bag was a lot heavier on the way in than the way out.

Range Bound

I'm going to the range in a few minutes. I want to test the recoil spring in the Witness, which I have now re-replaced with the original spring (and corresponding firing pin spring), removing the Wolff 22-lb spring.

I also want to shoot my 9mm Springfield 1911 some, and my Glock 17.

That's about 200 rounds.

See ya later!

Indy Blogmeet Report

I didn't return home until yesterday, Friday, after a delightful week in Indianapolis.

On the previous Friday afternoon I boarded my plane in D.C. and settled in, but half an hour later the flight was canceled: very dense fog in Indy.

So I returned to the airport bright and early the next morning. This flight was uneventful and landed at Indy's huge new airport right on time. By that time the bowling pin shoot at the Marion County Fish and Game Club was over, and I had missed it. Turns out, though, that Roberta X, Tam, Brigid and Ahab had missed it, too. So I didn't feel so bad; it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without mah Hoosier Homepersons.

Sunday was shooting at Popguns; I was anxious to try the new 22-lb recoil spring in my 10mm Witness. It failed to load about 75% of the Double-Tap rounds (power factor: 225). Looked to me like the breech was slamming shut before the round was in position. Too-powerful a recoil spring? Maybe. It does take the strength of a stevedore to rack the slide. I replaced the slide, barrel and magazines with 38-Super and continued; 38-Super worked faultlessly. While there we scored an (increasingly-rare) lower receiver parts kit for an AR-15.

Then to the Indy Blogmeet. In attendance were Brigid, Roberta X, Shermlock Shomes and Shermlock, Jr., Carteach, Og, Old Grouch, Red (and Mrs. Red). Missing were Ahab, Breda, Mike, RobD and, of course, Tam of Broad Ripple.

Monday a friend and I went gunstore crawling. We saw a beautiful little 1934 Beretta .380 in the display case. My friend, although from out-of-state, carried a C&R license. Bada-bing, bada-boom and the Beretta had a new owner. Two original magazines! Then carry-out from Yats. Yum!

New Years Eve it was my privilege to enjoy an evening with the loveliest, most erudite woman in the world; sort of a combination of Elle McPherson and Dorothy Parker. I brought flowers and chocolate. We dined, then toasted the New Year with champagne. I introduced her to the joys of Drambuie, the liqueur from the Isle of Skye.

On Friday it was time to return to Turonistan. Ah, well.

I have such marvelous memories of a magical week in Indianapolis.

Charts & Graphs

Joe Huffman has as excellent post on exterior ballistics (what happens to a bullet after it leaves the barrel) with outstanding illustrations.

Amateurs Are Trying Genetic Engineering At Home

"Honey, please pass the alkylizing agent."

What could possibly go wrong?

"Hideous reptilian abnormalities sprouting, bubbling and baking over a winking bluish-green spectre of dim flame in a far corner of black shadows."

Can Love Handles Power A Car?

The first rule of liposuction club is, you don't talk about liposuction club!

Yech. From Forbes.

Mega-orgy In Tel Aviv Cancelled Due To Public Pressure

The event in question, which was scheduled to take place on "International Orgasm Day," aimed to bring together some 250 participants seeking to promote world peace through multiple orgasms reached by masturbation or sex.

The orgy was organized by the Raelian movement, a UFO religion whose followers believe humankind was created by aliens. The group's spokesman, Kobi Drori, said that the orgy was meant to include straights, gays, lesbians and bisexuals, all of them over 18.

"The purpose of the event was to try and bring world peace through mass orgasm, this by experiencing consensual sex and natural, uninterrupted pleasure. It was important to make love without feeling guilty or shy," he explained.

Well, I'm going to be in Indianapolis that day anyhow.

Still ...

From ynetnews.

How To Build An Atomic Bomb

Pretty simple, actually:

Oh, yeah! I've got your First Amendment, right here!

N.Y. Man Pleads Guilty To Letting People See Hezbollah TV

"The owner of a satellite TV company has pleaded guilty to providing material aid to a terrorist organization by letting customers receive broadcasts from Hezbollah's television station."

Where is the #&%* ACLU on this!?

He could get six and a half years. Sentencing scheduled for March 24, 2009.

"Although Americans are granted freedom of speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution, the government contended in this case that Iqbal was not entitled to arrange the satellite broadcast of an organization designated as a terrorist group, regardless of the message."

Found on Haaretz.

And this is in New York? That citadel of First Amendment rights?

UPDATE: Here is the latest word from the ACLU - from August, 2006!

UPDATE: An NPR item, also from August, 2006.

Why on earth was this guy allowed to plead guilty? Guilty?! To what?

Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please!

Photo-homages to classic Farside cartoons. This is my favorite.

Thanks to Say Uncle.

Self-Defense In Oak Park, Illinois

Armed robber shot by an armed victim, according to witnesses.

Isn't Oak Park one of those Chicago-area townships that used to ban handguns?

Thanks to Second City Cop.

Karlheinz Stockhausen

A few days ago I came across an article about the German avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. This picture accompanied the article. Notice the 1/4" reel-to-reel audio recorders in the background. Now look at the amazing gadgets that the tape loops around. They look like triple-stacks of spindles, mounted on spring-loaded tension arms, mounted to heavy floor stands. What on earth are those things? Anybody know?

Stockhausen might achieve greater fame for his appearance on the cover of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band". Back row, fifth from the left.

Pope Marks Galileo Anniversary, Praises Astronomy

Well, you can't say they're sore losers ...

Although it took them 400 years to admit it.

Well, not exactly 400 years, for as the article points out, "In 1992, Pope John Paul II apologized, saying that the denuncuation was a tragic error."

So I guess they officially un-denuncuated it 384 years later.

Link.

Condoleezza Rice For President!

Partial transcript of a press conference today with Mexican Sec. of Foreign Affairs:

QUESTION: (Via interpreter.) -- from the magazine Power and Business.

(In English) – What is being done about weapons like the Barrett 50, which were – these weapons were banned in the United States until 2004 when President Bush declined to renew that ban, which was going on for ten years. My question to Secretary Rice is: Have you made President Bush aware of the direct connection between the expiration of the assault weapons ban and the proliferation of these powerful weapons in Mexico? And have you ever suggested to him that it was a bad idea not to renew the ban?

SECRETARY RICE: You know, it’s very interesting. I follow arms trafficking across the world, and I’ve never known illegal arms traffickers who cared very much about the law. And so I simply don’t accept the notion that the lifting of the ban somehow has led arms traffickers to increase their activities. Arms traffickers, by their very nature, don’t care about the law. And so whatever laws are in place, their business is to get around it.

And I’ll tell you, I know a lot about this area because it’s not just in the region, but it’s worldwide that this is the case. That is why the way to deal with the kinds of arms that are being trafficked by people who are doing it illegally, literally against the law, is to work through intelligence, to work through our law enforcement people, but also to make sure that we have sharing of intelligence across the border.

I would just note that we had a very good presentation by our bureau of ATF, arms trafficking and alcohol and arms trafficking control. And it was about our concerns about the increasing capability to acquire some of these weapons that are indeed very serious. But I think it would be a mistake to assume that arms traffickers care very much about what laws the United States has in place.

QUESTION: So you don’t see this connection?

SECRETARY RICE: Actually, you know, I haven’t done – since I’ve not done – I’m a social scientist. And since I haven’t done a formal study of the variable that you mention and the outcomes that you mention, I’m not going to comment. But I will tell you I’ve never known an illegal arms trafficker who cared very much what the laws were.

An "Extinction-Level Event"

It's the end of TV as we know it. Quote:

This reminds me of a joke Tina Fey told at the Television Critics Association awards ceremony. She thanked us “for making ‘30 Rock’ the most successful cable show on broadcast television,” and added: “Oh, it’s a great time to be on broadcast television, isn’t it? It’s exciting! It’s like being in vaudeville in the ’60s!”