Low Earth Orbit

Soft target watch

[source, source]

Gun crime is soaring in the UK: p(qq). The demand from drug gangs for firearms has created a trade in cheap lethal weapons, easily imported, often even sent by surface mail. Their use is becoming commonplace. In more than two-thirds of reported armed robberies in England and Wales, the weapon used was described as a small handgun. Reports are also rising of houseowners with expensive cars being threatened with guns at their homes. The number of armed robberies on public highways has also risen, by 19 per cent in a year. These facts are from ??The Observer??, which says, Let's rid the streets of guns. Now how are they going to do that? By targeting legal gun owners, of course! p(qq). David Blunkett is right to call for tough sentences for possessing unlicensed fire arms. But that will not be sufficient. Some 125,000 firearm licences were issued last year. To whom? For what? How regularly are certificate holders checked? It's quite obvious what happens when a Yardie drug dealer wants to commit a crime -- he goes through the labyrinthine proces of obtaining a legal firearms certificate! This must be the only case in history of the usual suspects being the most law-abiding citizens. Barking mad.

Power failure

[source, source]

'Wind farms are an expensive dead end,' says Wright. 'Ten years down the road they will have to concede that wind is not the answer they thought it was, and we will have a lot of tall white elephants all over our hills.'

The original source has lots of details that back up this base claim, including rent-seeking, government subsidies, bird kills and secondary ecological effects.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman "get the vapors":http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/murray200310060830.asp on global warming.

California election winner announced!

From the land of tomorrow, Tim Blair let's us know who's going to be the next governor of California. The platform is a good read. I especially like this one:

7. I will coordinate the state’s unemployment and jury systems, so that *anyone who applies for unemployment will instantly be called for jury duty*. This will save California state and local governments millions of dollars, because we won’t have to pay for jury duty. It will also relieve those with jobs from the stress of serving on lengthy juries.