Point this out next time someone says there were eleventy billion victims of gun violence last year

“Victims of gun violence” apparently includes terrorists who die in shootouts with police.

A great story on why everyone needs an emergency fund

Over at Thomas J. Stanley’s blog.

(He’s the guy that wrote The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind.)

Quote of the Day, Justice Edition

Andrew Branca:

It has been a striking consistency that prospective jurors who have seemed favorably disposed to Mr. Zimmerman seem to be startingly more informed those those who seem disposed against him.

The more folks learn about the case, the more likely they are to support Zimmerman.

Clarity

The same government officials who don’t trust schoolteachers with revolvers are giving Al Qaeda machine guns and rocket launchers.

It’s good to have clarity.

Quote of the Day, Persistence Edition

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut on gun bans:

We lost the first vote, but we’re going to win the last vote.

Emphasis mine. This is the attitude of the left, generally. It’s not over until they win, and then it’s over and no longer up for discussion.

Overwatch

image

Fun with Headlines: 6-14-2013

Actual Headline: Kentucky Man Charged After Trying To Break Into Own Home
Accurate Headline: Man arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

Actual Headline: Singer Cee Lo spurs complaints at Riverbend
Accurate Headline: Officials who hire singer made famous by song titled “F&CK YOU” surprised by profanity in his show

Actual Headline: Memphis police suspend officer over KKK tweets
Accurate Headline: Memphis police officer suspended for inciting violence against KKK Rally.

Actual Headline: Smyrna homeowners get chance to voice concerns on property tax hike
Accurate Headline: Smyrna homeowners get chance to be completely ignored in person

Actual Headline: East-West transit system moves forward despite opposition
Accurate Headline: Nashville City Council approves plan to use other people’s money to destroy West End businesses.

Actual Headline: Rutherford County judge gives female attorneys fashion advice
Accurate Headline: Judge reminds attorneys that court has a dress code.

Quote of the Day

Allen G:

What’s scary about this is not it’s truth or falsehood (though it’s obviously orders of magnitude worse if it is true than if it is not), it’s that we read this and we can’t dismiss it out of hand.

The story he’s commenting on is one I’m not inclined to believe without more information.

My 2 cents on the recent scandals over privacy…

…is actually summed up by one of my local buddies:

“To everyone who ever thought I was kidding or just spinning some conspiracy tales for kicks when I repeatedly said “The government is sniffing basically all your communications online”…

F@$k you people.”

Seriously.  Next time large portions of the IT community tells you that there’s a high likelihood that the government is snooping through x communication (which it’s been doing for years… yes, this includes before the W.), maybe you’ll believe them.  It’s not like there haven’t been sightings of men in suits showing up to datacenters and having NOC analysts install servers with no labels for years or anything, or documented cases of cell phones going into “listen” mode.

Remember… just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re not really out to get you.

The funniest news story I’ve read all week

Actual headline: Men dressed in clown masks rob man who admits drug dealing
Accurate headline: Actually, the original headline is pretty accurate.

You gotta love a story that includes this line from investigators:

“We assembled a photo line-up of clown masks, and had the victim look at it, and he quickly identified the mask.”