That’s how I answer when someone asks me why I ‘need’ something.

Nope, nothing to see here:

Britain’s University of East Anglia says the director of its prestigious Climatic Research Unit is stepping down pending an investigation into allegations that he overstated the case for man-made climate change.

The university says Phil Jones will relinquish his position until the completion of an independent review into allegations that he worked to alter the way in which global temperature data was presented.

Look, tree rings!

What tree rings?

A bit back, I wondered why the FBI needed suppressed 20MM rifles. Well, David asked somebody and got an answer. Sort of.

Alice Schroeder:

“I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a pistol. The banker had told this friend of mine that senior Goldman people have loaded up on firearms and are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank.

Note in NYC, the permit is to buy a pistol not to carry one. But, being in NYC, there’s more:

I called Goldman Sachs spokesman Lucas van Praag to ask whether it’s true that Goldman partners feel they need handguns to protect themselves from the angry proletariat. He didn’t call me back. The New York Police Department has told me that “as a preliminary matter” it believes some of the bankers I inquired about do have pistol permits. The NYPD also said it will be a while before it can name names.

Unlike here in the free states, they have to spend an inordinate amount of money; beg for police permission; and get references from people. Could take months. That and, apparently, the NYPD is willing to tell everyone who calls and asks that you have a gun permit.

And continuing:

Common sense tells you a handgun is probably not even all that useful.

Commons sense tell me Alice is only useful as an idiot.

That looks a lot like someone I know on the internets. Only altered and not attributed.

Update: Looks like attribution has now been given.

A release from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, received via email:

As demand for ammunition continues to outpace supply, it is critically important that an amendment authored by Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) to a seemingly obscure hazardous material bill (HR 4016) be attached to the legislation during consideration on the House floor. When the bill passed out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Graves secured a commitment from Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to allow a vote on this amendment. The amendment being pushed by Graves will help protect the shipment of materials necessary for the manufacturing of ammunition. Without the Graves Amendment, the rate of production will slip, perhaps precipitously. In-turn, decreased production of ammunition will lead to decreased availability. This will lead to an increase in ammunition prices directly affecting consumers. Given the current high demand for ammunition, passage of the Graves Amendment should be considered critical to gun owners, law enforcement and the military. Floor action on the bill is anticipated within the next three weeks.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry – is encouraging all hunters and sportsmen to contact Rep. Oberstar and urge him to support the Graves Amendment. Chairman Oberstar intends to bring HR 4016 to the floor prior to the end of the session (most likely between Dec. 8 and 22), so time is of the essence.

Congressman Oberstar can be reached at: (202) 225-6211

SIH:

Assault Weapons Ban Truly Dead

The Obama Administration is taking the position that the now expired “assault weapons” ban can no longer be considered for the purposes of sentencing enhancement.

Ramsey gets in a zinger in the TN gubernatorial race:

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, who is one of Wamp’s Republican primary opponents in the governor’s race, recently questioned how Wamp as a veteran Washington congressman could claim leadership in opposing the federal government.

“He is the federal government,” said Ramsey, responding to questions about Wamp’s pledge to meet federal officials at the border. “Who’s he going to meet? Himself?”

20 things you should know about it.

Jeff Mau started it:

Some guns are inherently more accurate than others. No doubt that a tightly fit 1911 or a 6” S&W 686 is more mechanically accurate than a Glock 19. This is not a subjective feeling based on your body shape. It is a mechanical reality and can be proven by anyone that can properly align the sights and press the trigger straight to the rear at the same time.

True enough, I would say. My Para is more accurate than my Glock. But some guns are inherently more reliable. My Para will not feed PMC ammo and has failed to eject on a couple of occasions with other ammo. Something my Glock has never done. It’s gone bang every time I’ve pulled the trigger whether it was clean, dirty, wet, oiled or dry.

Discuss.

While we’re at it, my particular carry caliber of choice is superior to your particular carry caliber of choice.

The mainstreaming of Ron Paul. But only a little mainstreaming. You know, the reduce taxes, audit the fed stuff is cool. Other stuff, kinda flaky for your mainstream sorts.

A date has been set: March 2, 2010.

Mayor AC yammers on about crime in the usual manner we expect from Memphis. But the last paragraph I found interesting:

Wharton mentioned the formation of what are known as “community councils.” He hopes state lawmakers can help create a gun offender registry and even a special court for gun crimes.

Do tell.

A wooden Glock.

A round up of Glowball Wormening.

Phelps always has an effective way to sum things up: Minute changes in temperature are sufficient to show that the world is in terrifyingly huge danger. Minute changes in temperature readings by researchers are insignificant and shouldn’t be thought about too hard.

An effective summary in picture form.

And in video

A comparison.

Nope, no media bias.

Truthiness: Can’t say the truth or your peers will come down on you.

Labrat: The damning thing *is* the deletion of the raw data. The space-saving excuse is just unfiltered bullshit

Even some of the greenies are up in arms.

Odd how they treat this inconvenient truth.

Unrelated:

Go here for the skinny. Vote for Aunt B, one of the few liberal blogs worth reading. You folks in Chicago, vote twice like you usually do.

Saiga 12

Korea’s K11

About a year ago, the Knoxville alt weekly finally realized this blogging thing was catching on and decided to join us. More recently, they actually got RSS feeds. And it was through these RSS feeds that I discovered that the KKK actually does press releases. Bonus points for telling people to do something constructive.