Dept. Of Righteous Shootings

Escaped convict tries to break into a house (to steal food, cash, car keys etc. and/or to improve his prison love life with a little rapery), whereupon he learns, too late, that the lone housewife isn’t going to let him do any of that:

Bruce McLaughlin Jr., 30, was shot in the head by the woman after he kicked in her back door on Tuesday, according to Pickens County authorities.
After he entered the home, McLaughlin grabbed a knife sharpening tool from the kitchen and headed toward the woman’s bedroom around 3 a.m.

Of course, I don’t know whether the choirboy was going to do all that stuff, and now nobody will — which unsolved mystery is just fine by me.  (I do wish the report would give us the good info:  gun, chambering, type of cartridge etc. but let me not quibble over details.)

My favorite part of the story, however, is this:

 Sheriff Rick Clark said the woman was home alone and had undergone concealed weapons training at some point prior to the incident.
“This was a big guy. If she hadn’t had a weapon there’s no telling what would have happened,” the sheriff said. “I gave her a big hug. I told her how proud I was of her.”
Clark said the incident was “a shining example” of why owning and knowing how to properly use a gun is important.

Can I hear a round of applause for both the Lady Shooter (HEAD SHOT!) and Sheriff Clark?

Involuntary Reaction

I read this story with both amazement and sympathy:

Kira Laconetti, 19, a self-taught musician, began experiencing difficulty when singing or listening to music, having two-minute ‘glitches’ and stuttering her words.
An MRI scan on the performer from Lynden, Washington, revealed a marble-sized mass in the right temporal lobe of her brain. The benign tumour was confirmed to be triggering a rare disorder called musicogenic epilepsy.
The condition, which is estimated to affect one in ten million people, according to Epilepsy Society, triggers seizures caused by certain types of music or frequencies of pitch for which the person’s brain has a low tolerance for. It is unclear what specific notes or music prompted Miss Laconetti’s seizures.

I should disclose at this point that I too suffer from musicogenic epilepsy.  In my case, it’s brought on not by any individual notes but by certain types of music, notably rap music, bebop jazz and the voice of Taylor Swift.

And I don’t suffer seizures either, just spasms of Tourette’s Syndrome.

Fortunately, I don’t need surgery because the remedy is simple:  a little Harry Nilsson, Peter Skellern or even something by the Beatles, and I’m right as rain.

Feel free to share the types of music which trigger your episodes of musicogenic epilepsy, in Comments.

News Roundup

1) Candy bars lose sugar, also taste — FFS, if you think a candy bar is unhealthy or bad for you, then eat something else.  Don’t moan and complain until the manufacturer brings out a watery, tasteless variant of the classic. (see:  lite beer)

2) Man fucks with black mamba, with predictable results — there is a good reason why snake handlers in South Africa cannot get life insurance, no matter how much they’re prepared to pay.

3) Cold weather causes vag-freeze — as we’re heading into winter, you may want to get yer Missus a box-warmer (don’t ask).

4) Freaks and pervos hit the streets — where else but in San Francisco?  (Never an errant daisycutter bomb when you need one.)

5) Italy to become the “new Argentina” — as long as they don’t invade the Falklands, we’re cool.

6)  Tropical Storm Rosa will not wash the entire state of California out to sea — and a nation mourns.

Finally, Fall

Looks like today (September 20) is going to be the last day of summer, temperature-wise (91°F) here in north Texas.  Unless the weather folks have cocked it up completely, temps are dropping into the 70s over the weekend (with autumn showers coming in), and it seems unlikely that the mercury will climb much over 80°F even after the showers have gone.

Yes, British- and Euro Readers:  a daytime high temperature in the high 70s and low 80s (22-27 in your stupid Celsius thing) is what passes for autumn Over Here.  You may now eat your livers.

At least we’ll henceforth be spared the stench of lizards frying on the sidewalks.  Until next May, that is.

I am SO glad summer has passed.  Even by our standards, it was a monster.

Ten Inconvenient Facts For Liberals

The Spectator (U.S. version) lays them out in detail.

The more ambitious liberalism has become in its efforts to transform the United States, the more it has run up against one intransigent circumstance after another. For eight years, the idol worship of Barack Obama gave liberals confidence that they could remediate society and reeducate the citizens. But reality isn’t political. It doesn’t obey the principles of progressives. Some facts aren’t pliable.

Read and enjoy.  Feel free to discuss your favorite fact (if you can decide on just one) in Comments.

Victories For Gunnies

Here are a couple of recent developments which are going to make gun-controllers go

 1)  The Ninth(!!!) Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that in terms of the Second Amendment, Americans have the right to bear arms for self-defense:  

Analyzing the text of the Second Amendment and reviewing the relevant history, including founding-era treatises and nineteenth century case law, the panel stated that it was unpersuaded by the county’s and the state’s argument that the Second Amendment only has force within the home.
“We do not take lightly the problem of gun violence,” Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote in Tuesday’s ruling. “But, for better or for worse, the Second Amendment does protect a right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.”

I know, for us of the gun-owning persuasion this may seem like a duh!  conclusion, but let’s not forget the socialists among us who (mistakenly) think that only gummint agencies should be allowed to carry guns in public.  So buy that judge a drink.  Here’s the killer of the two victories, however:

 2) Government Admits AR-15s Are Not Weapons of War

In its settlement with Cody Wilson’s Defense Distributed, [the State Department and the Department of Justice] admitted that semi-automatic firearms below .50 caliber are not weapons of war.
The amended regulations proposed in the settlement show the government will no longer look at semi-automatic firearms below .50 caliber as “military equipment” or weapons of war.

Saith Alan Gottlieb (PBUH):

“The federal government now saying semi-automatic firearms below .50 caliber are not inherently military means that they are admitting that rifles like the AR-15 are civilian in nature.”

I know, once again duh!  for us gunnies, but as Gottlieb adds:

“Gun rights organizations like the Second Amendment Foundation will now be able to use this government admission in debate and courtrooms from New York to California.”

Waddya think, folks?  Is it that time?  I believe it is.