Much like you shouldn’t call an ATM an ATM Machine (because that makes it an Automatic Teller Machine Machine), you shouldn’t call it a BUG Gun either. Unless it maybe is the backup gun to your backup gun. And don’t get me started on VIN Number or PIN Number.

Dm Noisa - Machine Gun (16 bit rmx) Richie August - Light Ya Ass Indian Waschstrasse Necridem - Damage Chakra BomBay Dub Orchestra - Beauty & the East Skuvlow - Wusten Kamel Tremourz & J Rabbit - Energylegs Liquid Stranger - Destoy him my robots - Source Site:

It may not be as controversial as her previous efforts, but that doesn't stop the latest Gaga video from being brilliantly barmy

With typical understatement and modesty, Lady Gaga has described the video for her new single as "a motorcycle Fellini movie where the apostles are revolutionaries in a modern-day Jerusalem" – and she plays Mary Magdalene. Ever since the title of the single was announced a few months ago, the hype machine has pumped myths and speculation about the video: that it would be the most controversial video of all time, that it cost more than $10m to make, that it was her huge and damning religious statement. When it was announced that the video had been co-directed by Gaga, the alarm bells that had already started ringing following the Born This Way/Express Yourself debacle got even louder. Given the underwhelming start to the campaign for Gaga's new album – Born This Way missed out on the UK No 1 spot, Judas has fallen out of the UK top 20 after just three weeks and has underperformed in America – it was little surprise when this highly anticipated new video leaked a day before its premiere, and Judas's even status was undermined.

So what's it like? Fairly sedate, all things considered. The video opens with Gaga and the apostles driving on the motorway with the singer draped across "Jesus" (we know it's him because he's wearing a gold-plated crown of thorns), but from there it's a fairly straightforward dance video intercut with close-ups of Gaga singing to camera (a la Bad Romance) and a brilliantly barmy scene involving a golden gun that's actually a lipstick. This being Gaga, there's also a bit that bears no relation to the rest of the video, this time involving a wave knocking the singer off a rock. In many ways, the fact that Judas isn't particularly "controversial" and doesn't get weighed down by its own importance means that it's actually much more enjoyable as a music video.

Born on 22 October 1901 (gave 22 October 1898 on enlistment form) in Morewood, Ontario - son of David Nadeau, Chesterville, Ontario - at the time of his enlistment in 1917: present address in Metcalfe, Ontario; trade as bank clerk; single; no current or previous military service; Church of England; height of 5 feet 5.75 inches; chest of 36 inches fully expanded; medium complexion; blue eyes; black hair.

Joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps, CEF, in Ottawa, Ontario, on 30 June 1917 (number 2098920) - taken on the strength of the 38th Battalion, CEF, on 8 March 1918 - transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Corps, CEF, on 13 May 1918.

(sources: Library and Archives Canada (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), online attestation papers; Canadian War Museum, 19740281-001, Manu 58F 2 3, 207th Canadian Infantry Battalion and 38th Canadian Infantry Battalion, Nominal Roll; The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa Regimental Museum, A400-0007, Master Personnel List for the 38th Canadian Infantry Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force)

A 30-year-old man was convicted of a brazen mid-day shooting at a Northeast D.C. school in April 2008, U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen Jr. reported. Two people were injured in the shooting.

Wesley R. Johnson Jr. was convicted by a jury in D.C. Superior Court of a total of 33 charges in the case. They included assault with intent to kill while armed, carjacking while armed and assault on a police officer. Johnson pled not guilty by reason of insanity.

Government evidence showed that Johnson walked into the Excel Institute, a vocational training school on V Street Northeast that he attended, carrying a Tech-9 machine gun. He shot the school’s president in the face and tried to shoot one of his instructors in the chest, but the machine gun jammed.

He left the school and, having unlocked the gun again, shot a woman on the street.

He fled to a nearby bank and carjacked two people sitting in a Ford Focus in the bank parking lot. Two officers spotted Johnson driving the Ford shortly afterwards and pulled him over. He first waited for them to approach the car, but then shot at the officers and sped off.

Johnson eventually abandoned the car and carjacked another vehicle, but then collided with a police officer.

Johnson, of Fort Washington, Md., will be sentenced in July 2011, authorities said. He faces mandatory-minimum sentences totaling 60 years. The trial lasted nearly four weeks, authorities said.

Beverly & Pack/cc by 2.0

Among the 80 Navy SEALs who raided Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad was a member of another species—a dog. The New York Times reports that a dog who was likely trained to detect explosives was strapped to a SEAL's chest and lowered from a helicopter into the walled compound. Like the identities of the SEALs involved in the mission, details about the dog are being kept under wraps, but we can only hope that, since he or she is being described in the present tense as a "hero," the dog survived and was evacuated safely with the rest of the team.

An estimated 600 dogs are being used by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, and General David Petraeus has called for the use of even more dogs, claiming that their abilities "cannot be replicated by man or machine." In the year 2011, we would argue that technology can—and should—be used in place of animals in dangerous missions. We are not against working dogs per se (it depends on the conditions, training, and retirement plans), but we are against sending dogs into what will probably be a gun battle.

Written by Alisa Mullins

From the folks at Vice Magazine comes this mini documentary on the Pakistani Homemade Machine gun market. It gives an in depth look (with photos and video) of how arms are created, bought and sold in that part of the world. The bulk of Pakistan’s homemade automatic weapons and explosive devices are forged, built and sold [...]

A small compilation of pictures taken by Russian professional and amateur archaeologists while searching for the items of the Second World War time. Bones. Buttons, remnants of a belt and a mouthpiece. German boots. A shell. The wheel of a “Maxim” machine gun. A box for shells. Remnants of a belt. If you look more [...]

Albert Pujols is hitting .233/.309/.417 today, which is nearly a hundred points off his season-high OPS—.821, during the Cincinnati series—and sits right up against the league average. If you like arbitrary endpoints it might be time to cut a second slump out of this awkward contract year, which gives us The Slump Before He Started Taking Everything To The Opposite Field and The Slump Where He Started Walking Finally. In TSWHSWF he's gone without an extra-base hit but walked nearly as many times in 10 games as he did in the first 21. 

Cut the false-hope comeback out of the middle of his season and you get these three lines: 

10 G, 6-45, 1 HR, 4 BB, .150/.222/.225. Pujols hit seven of his 10 GIDPs in these first 10 games, and hit the ball on the ground as though he wasn't sure fly balls were allowed. He hasn't looked quite so hopeless since, so far as I can tell, but because this came first it's colored permanently my perception of the rest of his season. 

This is the ur-slump—if it hadn't happened we wouldn't be talking about Pujols's slump so much as his weird lack of selectivity, as since then he's hit a basically cromulent .277/.337/.519.

10 G, 15-44, 6 HR, 4 BB, .341/.388/.773. Four walks are easier to stomach when you've added three singles and six home runs to the line, and cut out most of those double-play-balls. One thing I learned a long time ago is that, in a typical Albert Pujols season, it's almost constantly possible to cut and paste with Baseball-Reference and make a run that looks like this out of his current numbers. 

These long stretches of helplessness are, a few notable moments aside, unprecedented in recent Albert Pujols history. They're terrifying and I hate them, the end. 

10 G, 7-36, 0 HR, 6 BB, .194/.325/.194. I feel like we're watching Albert Pujols in diagnostic mode at this point; it's like we've booted up a pinball machine and it's flipping every light, every switch, every plunger on and off to make sure everything works. 

At the beginning of his mid-April return to form he began hitting the ball to the opposite field, and even groundouts that way were welcome. Then they became home runs, and then we saw fly balls, finally, fly balls that guys like Albert Pujols are supposed to hit. Then the opposite-field stuff turned back on and he began testing the walk-taking mechanism. So far, so good. 

After a few extremely loud seconds a pinball machine in working order turns back off all at once, and then lights up again for good. Albert Pujols, having finished his tests, is welcome to do that any time, now. 

It's harder to see that, or to imagine it, with Chris Carpenter, maybe because we've explained away so much of what affects a pitcher as fluctuations of balls in play. But whatever's going on with him now, it should be obvious that he's not effective enough to deal with as many extra outs as he needed to on Wednesday.

That said, you can find stretches like this in 2010, if you're looking for them; between June 8 and July 8 he had an ERA of 4.30 across seven starts, with 38 strikeouts, 19 walks, and four home runs. In his last seven starts of that season he had an ERA of 4.33, though his K:BB ratio was 35:11 and his last start was a complete game, one run affair. 

What frustrates about Carpenter right now seems to be, at least in part, beyond his control. I am, ostensibly, a stat nerd (and, I learned yesterday, apparently very annoying to watch baseball with), but the no-decisions have begun to have an effect on me. They, along with Kyle Lohse and Jaime Garcia's strong starts, have combined to make Carpenter seem weirdly irrelevant in 2011, and when combined with his recent hittability that irrelevance has made him look old, or finished, or at least in decline. 

He's probably the first and third ones, but not so much as it seems so far. The fastball's still fast—I saw the FSN gun had him at 95 at least once, Wednesday—and his peripherals are still palatable. Eventually he'll win some games—perhaps when his line drive percentage has come down from 25.7, where it sat over his first six starts. 

  Daytime was for GUN MACHINE and email.  Tonight is for Film Thing, which I was officially commenced on back on Monday by the company.  I haven’t been cleared to talk about it in any way, so I’m keeping this vague enough to not get into trouble while satisfying my daybook needs (looking back, years [...]

When Moammar Gadhafi’s troops began the siege of Misrata, the rebels there had almost no weapons. But now they have a motley makeshift armory, thanks to a network of secret workshops where ordinary Libyans work to weld armor plates onto pickup trucks, fashion crude machine gun turrets, and even create...

A plea to Gaddafi. Can we have our guns back, please?

• So much has happened – a royal wedding, the killing of Bin Laden – that it is easy to forget about the crisis in Libya. And yet, as became clear after William Hague updated the Commons on Tuesday, not much has changed: Gaddafi is still there, and each day his grip seems tighter. Yesterday the international criminal court said it wants to indict him for crimes against humanity. Fewer questions being asked, too, about the extent to which we went out of our way to arm the tyrant, and that's a shame because some of the answers are quite entertaining. Given the ongoing hullaballoo, how many of the export licences to Libya have been revoked, asked the former armed forces minister Sir John Stanley. Eight, replied business minister Mark Prisk. What are they for? Well, they relate to items sent to Libya for exhibition purposes. And what were they? "Gun mountings, machine guns (one), sniper rifles, assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols, weapon-cleaning equipment, weapon sights, components for assault rifles, training small arms ammunition." Add in the "all-wheel drive vehicles with ballistic protection" and the devices we sent for military "decoying/detection/disposal/jamming", and one can see that this was a consignment well worth having in Tripoli. And why hasn't the licence been revoked? Because in that case we probably wouldn't get any of our weapons back, said Prisk.

• And as the situation in Syria grows worse, with the US condemning Bashar al-Assad's crackdown measures as "quite barbaric", the Red Cross barred from reaching the sick and injured, and foreign journalists banned, one wonders how we can impact on a worrying state of affairs. Only one man perhaps has sufficient "juice" to make a difference. Let us remind ourselves again that Peter Mandelson so enjoyed the time he spent with President Assad that afterwards he declared he really quite liked him, and said he was "a decent man doing a difficult job". If we are looking for an envoy, isn't Peter the very man to reason with him?

• And today's the day when Britain's voting system is likely to stay exactly the same. An event of momentous proportions. The fallout is likely to be significant. Ladbrokes says that after his cabinet tantrum, Chris Huhne is the clear 3/1 favourite to be the next cabinet member to leave. They are offering 2/1 that "any" Lib Dem walks away within 24 hours of the result. Fanciful, in the case of Huhne, perhaps; for having secured a red box, he doesn't seem the type for the backbenches. But then it is difficult to know what he'll do. Worth remembering that a few years back a luminary of our acquaintance shared a hotel room (strictly business purposes) with Huhne. They were allocated four fleecy towels. After one shower, Huhne used all of them. That does say something about him, even if it's not immediately clear what that something is. We shall see.

• Are the cares of office, meanwhile, weighing on Huhne's Con-Dem colleague, Tim Loughton? There he was yesterday, generally making an exhibition, causing Speaker Bercow to intervene to deadly effect. "The minister for children is under no obligation to behave like a child," was his rebuke. No obligation, Loughton might have replied; but in this job it helps.

• In stark contrast on this occasion is the behaviour of Louise Bagshawe, MP for Corby, who tweeted thus on the slaying of Bin Laden: "I should say, perhaps, that I am praying for Bin Laden's soul, which my faith says I should do. Rejoicing over closure, not death of a man." In the climate of tabloid bloodlust and hyperbole, whooping and cheering, such restraint does seem commendably brave.

• But then the world needs more plain speakers, and with the passing of Sir John Gielgud in 2000, we lost a champion. Examples abound in the new biography – John Gielgud, from Matinee Idol to Movie Star – by Jonathan Croall. He tells, for instance, of Sir John's encounter with a young actor who boasted that he had been invited to spend Christmas with the Oliviers. "But they don't even like you," protested Sir John. Ever the kindly mentor. Bless.

The World Trade Towers burning on Sept 11th

My father displaying his plaque as SOF Soldier of the Month

Alleged death photo of bin Laden (Likely a hoax)

I'm in Connecticut for a whole day. I have finished the CEM, and it is raining, and I am under a pile of cats. I have some further revisions to do on Too Many Necromancers, now under the title Book of Iron, which I'm still not in love with, but maybe I will come up with something better on the revision. Which I will probably start after I eat something.

(I need to add a POV. That should actually be kind of fun, since I wanted that character to have more arc anyway, and now I have the room to do it in.)

Climbing tonight!



1) Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
2) Ben MacAllan, Desdaemona
3) Alex Bledsoe, The Sword-Edged Blonde
4) Catherynne M. Valente, Deathless
5) Kameron Hurley, God's War
6) Jodi Meadows, Incarnate (in draft)
7) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn, Scientific Detective
8) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave
9) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Automatic House
10) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Swamp Monster
11) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn on a Desert Island
12) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn on the Ocean Floor
13) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Weather Machine
14) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Universal Glue
15) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi, The Thing Around Your Neck
16.) Peter Selby and Steve Slavin, Practical Algebra: a Self-Teaching Guide
17.) Tamora Pierce, Bloodhound
18.) Nnedi Okorafor, Akata Witch
19.) Geoff Ryman, Lust
20.) Patti Smith, Just Kids
21.) Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear, The Tempering of Men (page proofs: the only time I'll probably every just sit down and read the dratted thing.)
22.) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Smallifying Machine
23.) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Antigravity Paint
24.) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine
25.) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn, Time Traveler
26.) John Long, How to Rock Climb
27.) Tony DeTerlizzi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book I: The Field Guide
28.) Tony DeTerlizzi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book II: The Seeing Stone
29.) Tony DeTerlizzi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book III: Lucinda's Secret
30.) Tony DeTerlizzi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book IV: The Ironwood Tree
31.) Tony DeTerlizzi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book V: The Wrath of Mulgarath
32.) Bernice L. McFadden, Glorious
33.) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy
34.) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Voice from Space
35.) Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Heat Ray
36.) Eric Jaffee, The King's Best Highway
37.) Olivia Judson, Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation
38.) Val McDermid, The Mermaids Singing
39.) Mira Grant, Feed
40.) Amanda Downum, Kingdoms of Dust (in draft)
41.) Megan Lindholm, Harpy's Flight
42.) Saladin Ahmed, Throne of the Crescent Moon (ARC)
43.) Caitlin Kiernan, The Drowning Girl (ARC)
44.) Val McDermid, Wire in the Blood
45.) Val McDermid, The Last Temptation
46.) Daniel Silva, The Messenger
47.) Rudy Rucker, Jim and the Flims (ARC)
48.) Genevieve Valentine, Mechanique (ARC)
49.) MD Lachlan, Wolfsangel (ARC)
50.) Val McDermid, The Torment of Others
51.) Elizabeth Bear, Range of Ghosts
52.) Daniel Silva, The Secret Servent



State of the Honeydew:

Range of Ghosts CEM: May 6, 2011
Online Writing Workshop review: May 15, 2011
Revise Book of Iron: May 30, 2011
Online Writing Workshop review: June 15, 2011
Range of Ghosts page proofs: June 19, 2011
Realms of Fantasy column: June 29, 2011
Realms of Fantasy article: June 29, 2011
Shattered Pillars: November 2, 2011
SF Horror story ("Form & Void"): December 25, 2011

travel:
Leprecon 37: May 6-8 2011 (I'm just marking this off pre-emptively)
KGB reading: May 18 2011
Eurocon: June 17-19 2011 (barring volcanoes)
Fourth Street Fantasy Conversation: June 23-26 2011
Odyssey: July 1, 2011
Clarion: July 10-16, 2011
Viable Paradise: October 7-16, 2011


2012:
"Latency": March 2012
An Apprentice to Elves: June, 2012 with truepenny
Steles of the Sky : November 2012
"Underworld": September 2012

2013:
"Dark Leader": March 2013
"Something's Gotta Eat T. rexes": September 2013

No fixed deadline:

"The Deeps of the Sky"
Karen Memory
Smile (unless its name is actually Salt Water)
Unsuitable Metal
Gotham Jazz
"Untitled Space Opera Thingy" aka "Periastron"
"Steel Monkey"
"Spellslinger"
"Posthumous Jonson"
"The Death of Terrestrial Radio"
"On Safari in R'lyeh and Carcosa with Gun and Camera"

The cumbersome sandbox structure has been binned and a ridiculously inventive array of weapons has been added

If you've ever played a Red Faction game, you'll know the main draw of the series is the Geo-Mod engine. The franchise has seen changes over the years but its remaining constant is how Volition's superb physics engine makes blowing things to smithereens addictive, compelling and delightful fun.

The developer seemingly lost sight of this in Red Faction: Guerrilla in which the series changed from a first-person shooter (FPS) to a third-person sandbox game. While players could cause untold havoc, the fact they had to spend a lot of time trundling around the game's massive map became a chore. The environments looked nice, sure, but the most enjoyment to be had always involved demolishing things and the lengthy journeys between missions detracted from the game's fun.

Perhaps realising this, Volition have binned the sandbox structure for their latest title, Red Faction: Armageddon. The game is still a third-person adventure, but the emphasis is now more geared towards shooter action and Armageddon is all the better for it. In the hands-on time I had with it, there wasn't a space-buggy in sight. Instead there was a satisfyingly brutal arsenal, some wonderful new gadgets and toys and a ton of enemies to turn into paint. I also took a look at Volition's new Geo-Mod engine and the eye-popping manner in which players can use it to reduce nearly every building around them to a pile of smoldering rubble. They can also use it to restore a lot of the structures they've wrecked, but more on that later.

The campaign in Red Faction: Armageddon centres around the antics of one Darius Mason, a freedom fighter on Mars. Darius is the grandson of Alec Mason, the protagonist from the previous game in the franchise, who liberated the red planet from the tyrannical EDF security forces. As the game kicks off, the player is told that it's been a couple of generations since the ending of Red Faction: Guerrilla, and while the EDF troops are gone, the settlers on Mars haven't exactly been having a peaceful time of things. A group of religious cultists, lead by a nutcase with a messianic complex called Adam Hale, have started making a menace of themselves.

As mentioned earlier, Armageddon's first and most obvious strength is the fact that Volition have removed many of the obstacles which slow down the action. However, they've also provided the player with a ridiculously inventive array of weapons to help them cause destruction on a grand scale. Fans of the series will be pleased to hear that the Sledgehammer – which can bash through any surface like it's paper – the Nano Rifle – which dissolves any wall or creature it's fired at – and the Rocket Launcher – which does what it says on the tin – all make a return from Guerrilla. There are also a couple of more traditional weapons such as the Machine Gun, the Shotgun, the dual-wielded Handguns, the Rail Driver (which is a sniper rifle by any other name) and the Banshees (two massively high-powered sawn-offs).

The rest of the new weapons, however, are real eye-openers. Top among them has to be the Singularity Cannon; fire this baby into a nearby building and it creates a miniature blackhole which sucks the structure's foundations into it. Lord knows what it does to flesh and blood targets – I didn't get the chance to test it, but it certainly makes the playing game's multiplayer mode an enticing prospect.

My second favourite is the Magnet Gun. Players fire out two tags from this extraordinary weapon, and once both targets are hit, they begin hurtling towards one another. This is a weapon where the player is only limited by their own creativity. Tag an enemy and a section of wall and, yes, your target will slam right into it, but that's fairly mundane to watch. On the other hand, if you tag an enemy and a giant thermo-cooler which only needs something to hit it for it to explode, the results are far more satisfying.

There are two plasma-based guns, the Plasma Cannon and the Plasma Beam. The former charges up and releases a blast of hugely destructive energy and the latter fires out a beam of light which the player can use to slice through pretty much anything. The final weapon in the build was a remote charge launcher; players fire three sticky rounds on to any target and then hit a button to detonate them all simultaneously. This can be incredibly fun if one manages to tag the supporting wall in a building some enemies are hiding in.

Darius also has a couple of useful gadgets at his disposal. First up is the Nano-Forge which the player can use to repair any damage they've caused. This can be particularly useful if a firefight has managed to take out a bridge or a section of floor the player needs to progress through the game. The Nano-Forge can also be used in an attack called an Impact Charge, which essentially generates a wave of energy the player can use to repel enemies or smash through walls. Rounding out the kit is the Sat-Nav; when the player is lost, they simply tap the select button and a series of lights pop up showing the direction they need to head in. In every section of the map they move through, players will be able to collect Salvage, the game's currency, which they can spend on weapon, health and equipment upgrades.

The three stages I played through in the demo were a worthy testing ground for Armageddon's weapons and how they work in conjunction with the Geo-Mod engine to fantastic effect. Players start off at a load-out area where they can select the weapons available, and then can set about blasting their enemies – and everything else – to pieces. Indeed, in some instances, they may find that dropping entire structures on top of their enemies is easier and more enjoyable than targeting them with machine gun fire. The action in Armageddon is widescreen in scope; as buildings topple, towers explode and enemies are sent flying through the air like rag dolls the sense of being in an epic confrontation is palpable. The soundtrack complements the action perfectly without becoming oppressive; unlike the Call Of Duty games, Armageddon's sound effects never feel like they're attacking you.

The only duff note in the run-and-gun action is the cover system, in that there isn't one, really. Players have to expose themselves completely to draw a bead on opponents and are also unable to blind-fire. Mind you, since most cover can be shot through anyway, this point may seem a little moot.

From the demo, I also gleaned a smattering of the game's plot. The initial stages involved Darius and his compatriots infiltrating a Terraformer which provides the oxygen for the planet's inhabitants. Hale and his zealots were trying to blow it up and, even though I left a trail of carnage in my wake, it seems that he succeeds in his efforts and the colonists are forced to head beneath the planet's surface to survive. Down below ground, they find that the subterranean caverns of Mars aren't empty – they are, in fact, home to race of vicious aliens who are rather unimpressed with the human interlopers and decide to turn them into dinner.

The plot, honestly, doesn't exactly sound all that compelling, but then, admittedly I only had a brief look at it. To be honest, though, even if it proves paper-thin, I doubt it'll hurt Armageddon in the slightest. This is some of the most enjoyable wanton destruction I've ever been privy to in a video game and if the action plays throughout the final release as it did in this demo, Volition will be on to a winner.

• Red Faction: Armageddon will be released for the Xbox 360, PC and PS3 on 10 June

Cosma Shalizi, 11/4/2007: "The object of torture is torture":

The point of this torture is not to extract information; there are better ways to do that, which we have long used. The point of this torture is not to extract confessions; there are no show trials of terrorists or auto-de-fes in the offing. The point of this torture is to exercise unlimited, unaccountable power over other human beings; to negate the very point of our country, to our profound and lasting national shame.

This, it must be emphasized, is all that torture has ever been good for. Torture did not lead us to Osama bin Laden, and while WMD claims obtained due to torture did lead us into an invasion of Iraq, torture did not actually help the occupying force locate the alleged weapons. And, of course, the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and in Abu Ghraib did immeasurable harm to American troops in the field, and to Iraqi civilians killed by their enraged neighbors. Torture doesn't work, and that may well be the least of its problems. Even if it did work, it'd be wrong: a violation of law precisely because it's a violation of very basic moral codes.

Torture doesn't work because someone being tortured has every incentive not to tell the truth, but to tell the torturer what the torturer wants to hear. As Christopher Hitchens describes his own, voluntary, experience with torture:

The interrogators would hardly have had time to ask me any questions, and I knew that I would quite readily have agreed to supply any answer.

By "any answer," he doesn't just mean "any true answer." He means "any answer that would end the torture." He explains:

It may be a means of extracting information, but it is also a means of extracting junk information. [A counterterrorism expert] told me that he had heard of someone's being compelled to confess that he was a hermaphrodite.

Similarly, I recall a story I read in the Chicago Reader as a student in the '90s. Around this time, 14 men on Illinois' death row had been exonerated and released, meaning that more people had been exonerated than executed. And many of the people falsely convicted and sent to be executed were convicted based on confessions obtained through torture. Chicago Reader reporter John Conroy bird-dogged that story, uncovering the long history of torture in Chicago's police stations, the history of false confessions which resulted, and of criminals never brought to justice because the wrong man was convicted of the crime.

Here's his account of one such incident:

It was a bond hearing--a session in which a judge is merely supposed to set bail for the accused, not make any determination of guilt or innocence. ... Nonetheless Patterson persisted, trying to interrupt the proceedings and finally getting a nod from the judge that he could say something. Without hesitation, he claimed to have been suffocated with a plastic bag.

Two years later, on March 30, 1988, he told his story at some length at a hearing on a motion to suppress his confession. He described his arrest and interrogation as an ordeal that lasted 25 hours. He claimed that upon his arrival at Area Two, he asked for an attorney. None was provided. He claimed that when his interrogators grew tired of his unwillingness to confess to a crime he had not committed, they cuffed his hands behind his back, turned off the lights in the interview room, covered his face with a gray typewriter cover so that he could not breathe, and began beating him about the chest. When the lights were turned back on, the detectives were sitting and standing about the room as they had been before, as if nothing had happened. Patterson says he again asked for an attorney, to no avail, and the detectives said they would repeat the treatment until he cooperated. When he continued in his refusal, he says, the lights went off and the typewriter cover again was placed over his face. "I was trying to find an outlet where I could breathe and they was saying, 'Well, hold his nose and his mouth.' And they did that for a minute or two. And they kept on saying, 'Answer me. Answer me,' you know. And I wouldn't say nothing. And then after a while they kept on doing it and they was punching me and stuff and I said, 'OK, anything you say.'" The lights then went back on and the Apache Ranger saw the detectives as they had been before.

At that point, faced with the prospect of going through the suffocation and beating routine repeatedly, Patterson says he stopped resisting. "So I more or like just said, 'Whatever you say,' you know. Everything they said I would like, 'OK, whatever you say.' They was more or less telling me what was supposed to have transpired at that house, you know, what their theory was about what happened."

Seemingly assured that their quarry was under their control, the detectives removed his handcuffs, Patterson says, and left him alone for about an hour while they rounded up a state's attorney. According to Patterson, assistant state's attorney Kip Owen entered the room with a plainclothes policeman whom Patterson later identified as Jon Burge. Patterson says he asked to speak to Owen alone, and after Burge left asked for an attorney and declined to make a statement. Owen allegedly walked out. Burge walked in, Patterson says, sat down, took out his gun, and put it on the table. Patterson claims that Burge said "you are fucking up," that things would get worse for him, that if he told of what he'd been through it would be "your word against our word. And who are they going to believe, you or us?" (In a recent interview with the Reader, Owen called this account "absolute nonsense....I don't know that I have ever met Jon Burge, ever in my entire life.")

In Patterson's account, Burge left the room again and the Apache Ranger found a paper clip on the floor. He used it to scratch two messages into the bench and one into the door frame indicating that he had been tortured and prevented from calling for help. Those messages were later discovered intact by Isaac Carothers, an investigator with the public defender's office and now 29th Ward alderman. According to an affidavit filed by Carothers, one etching read as follows:

Aaron 4-30-86

I lied about murders

Police threatened me with

violence, slapped and

suffocated me with plastic

(no phone)

(no lawyer)

(no Dad)

In another from his series of articles, Conroy describes another instance of torture, this time of a man granted re-trial because of police torture, and who was re-convicted without the forced confession (I quote these at length so we know what we're talking about):

Wilson went on to relate the events of February 14, 1982, from his point of view. He claimed that upon leaving the apartment where the arrest had taken place, Burge told his men not to assault the prisoner, adding "We'll get him at the station." When they got to Area 2 headquarters, Wilson said, he was taken into a small room, thrown to the floor, and beaten; then he was kicked in the eye--the kick tore his retina, he said--and someone took a plastic bag out of the garbage can and put it over his head, causing him to suffocate until he bit a hole in the bag. That session ended, Wilson said, when Burge walked in and told the assembled cops that "he wouldn't have messed my face up, he wouldn't have messed me up"--in other words, that Wilson's assailants had screwed up, that they should not have left any marks.

Wilson testified that he was then taken to Interview Room Number 2, and that Burge said something on the order of "My reputation is at stake and you are going to make a statement." According to Wilson, Detective Yucaitis entered the room a short time later carrying a brown paper bag from which he extracted a black box. Yucaitis allegedly pulled two wires out of the box, attached them with clamps to Wilson's right ear and nostril, and then turned a crank on the side of the box. "I really can't explain it," Wilson said. "The first time he did it, it just hurt. I can't explain it. When Burge was doing it I can explain more because he did it more. . . . It hurts, but it stays in your head, OK? It stays in your head and it grinds your teeth. . . . It grinds, constantly grinds, constantly. . . . The pain just stays in your head. . . . It's just like this light here like when it flickers, it flickers . . . and your teeth constantly grinds and grinds and grinds and grinds and grinds and grinds. All my bottom teeth was loose behind that, these four or five of them, and I tried to get the doctor to pull them. He said he wouldn't pull them because they would tighten back up."

"I kept hollering when he [Yucaitis] kept cranking," Wilson said, "but he stopped because somebody come to the door, so he went to the door and see what they wanted." When Yucaitis came back, Wilson said, he put the device back in the bag and left. Wilson testified that Burge returned with the black box about an hour later.

Q: What, if anything, did Commander Burge say when he came into the room?

A: He said "fun time."

According to Wilson, Burge put one clip on each of his suspect's ears and started cranking. Although he was handcuffed to a ring in the wall, he said, he could move his shoulders, and so was able to rub the clamps off his ears. "So they got tired of me rubbing the wire off my ear. So he unhandcuffed one of my hands, unhandcuffed the left hand, and he tried to stretch me across the room and the radiator was right there, so he was trying to stretch me across, across the room, and I wasn't going. So the officer, the other officer was there, he helped him, and they both stretched me across . . . they hooked me onto the other ring over there."

Wilson said that he was now unable to rub the clamps off his ears; each of his outstretched arms was handcuffed to a ring in the wall, and between the rings was a radiator that his chest sometimes touched.

A: . . . So I don't know if he put it back on my ears or what, but it didn't last long because he put it on my fingers, my baby fingers, one on one finger and one on the other finger and then he kept cranking it and kept cranking it, and I was hollering and screaming. I was calling for help and stuff. My teeth was grinding, flickering in my head, pain and all that stuff . . .

Q: While you were stretched across in this fashion, were you aware of whether or not the radiator was hot?

A: I wasn't paying no attention, but it burned me still. But I didn't even feel it. . . . That radiator . . . it wouldn't have mattered. That box . . . took over. That's what was happening. The heat radiator didn't even exist then. The box existed.

Q: . . . After Commander Burge stopped with the crank machine, what happened next?

A: He got the other one out. It's black and it's round and it had a wire sticking out of it and it had a cord on it. He plugged it into the wall. . . . He took it and he ran it up between my legs, my groin area, just ran it up there very gently . . . up and down, up and down, you know, right between my legs, up and down like this, real gentle with it, but you can feel it, still feel it. Then he jabbed me with the thing and it slammed me . . . into the grille on the window. Then I fell back down, and I think that's when I started spitting up the blood and stuff. Then he stopped.

Twice in the course of his testimony about the electrical devices, Wilson came close to breaking down. The first time came after Stainthorp asked, "And when he brought the brown paper bag back, what did he do with it?" Wilson's reply was, "I want to leave," and the judge declared a short recess. The second time came a few minutes later, when Wilson said that somehow, during the course of the electroshock, the alligator clip had come loose and he had gotten it in his hand, but the maneuver had done him no good, as he was simply shocked there as well. He lost his ability to continue the story, and was urged by Stainthorp to take a minute and compose himself.

Wilson said that later, after the electroshock was finished, he was taken to another police station for a lineup, and that there he got a mouthful of the lieutenant's gun. Burge, he said, "was playing with his gun . . . he was sticking it in my mouth and . . . he kept doing it, he kept clicking it and he had it in my mouth and stuff. So he finally pulled it out."

At 6:05 PM, after 13 hours in the custody of Area 2 police, Wilson gave a statement in which he confessed to the murders of officers Fahey and O'Brien. The statement was taken by Assistant State's Attorney Larry Hyman in the presence of Detective O'Hara and a court reporter. After their departure, Wilson was left alone with another detective and Mario Ferro and William Mulvaney, the two officers assigned to the paddy wagon that was to transport the prisoner to the lockup at 11th and State. On the stand Wilson claimed that he was beaten again at this point, and that his penis was grabbed and squeezed by one of the officers, the same one who would later club him on the head with a gun. Wilson said the detective told Ferro and Mulvaney that when they got to the lockup they should have Wilson put in an occupied cell, so it could be said later that other prisoners had caused his injuries....

The following morning, Wilson was taken to 26th and California for arraignment and admission to Cook County Jail. Ordinarily jail authorities take only a mug shot of an arriving prisoner. In Andrew Wilson's case they took pictures of his whole body so as not to be blamed for his injuries. The following day, Dale Coventry, the public defender appointed to defend Wilson, arranged to have more pictures taken of the prisoner, paying particular attention to Wilson's ears, chest, and thigh.

Blowups of the Coventry photos were the most troubling evidence against Commander Burge. The chest shots showed marks where Andrew Wilson said he had been burned against the radiator. A picture of his thigh showed a very large burn mark as well. The shots of the ears, however, were the most curious: they showed a pattern of U-shaped scabs that seemed inexplicable unless one believed that alligator clips had indeed been attached to Wilson's ears.

Conroy's meditation on how torture was allowed to persist for so long is also important, as is today's long piece in the New York Times about efforts to treat Iraqis who were tortured by the current and former Iraqi regimes.

Torture's defenders will be nonplussed by these accounts. Sure, they'll say, some people will sign false confessions under torture, but what about the scenarios popularized by 24, in which torture is necessary to speedily extract information to stop a bomb.

To my eye, these would be by far the worst cases to use torture, precisely because torture is not guaranteed to get accurate information. A smart terrorist would stop the torture by giving a false location, forcing police to waste time chasing false leads. How many such false leads would a terrorist have to plant in order to prevent the police from finding the real bomb? And if you have the bomb and need the terrorist's help disarming it, would you really trust disarming instructions obtained under torture? Wouldn't the terrorist's smartest move be to insist that you have to cut the blue wire to disarm the device, precisely because he knows doing so will detonate it?

But this is not why I think torture is wrong. Just because something benefits me doesn't mean it's morally right. Let us assume that the logic of torture were sound. What, then, if the only way to convince a terrorist to reveal the ticking bomb's location was not simply to waterboard him, or to tear off his fingernails, or to electrocute him. In this day and age, many bombers have no qualms about sacrificing their own lives, so even extreme torture might not induce them to talk, might only validate their martyrdom complexes.

Maybe dragging in their children would work. And if a little torture might help, then a lot of torture might be better. Maybe if you force the terrorist to watch his children be brutally raped and murdered before his eyes, that would break his spirit and force him to tell you everything.

That doesn't make rape or murder ethical, any more than it makes torture ethical. Indeed, I'd argue that the willingness to do what's right even when it's hard is exactly the measure of a person's morality.

And by that standard, torture's defenders fail consistently. So, via Ed Brayton, we find Sam Harris lazily repeating ticking bomb scenario, and arguing (in the context of his claim that morality is scientifically testable), that torture isn't always immoral. Indeed, he suggests he might even think of a willingness to countenance torture would be more politically important than a political candidate's willingness to accept basic science:

I'm a liberal through and through, but the idea that we could get to a moment in history where only our crazy demagogues can seem to recognise when there's a threat - I don't want to wake up for an election in the US thinking only this crazy conservative who I disagree with in every other point and who denies the truth of evolution, only he would be strong enough to defend civilisation against its genuine enemies. But there's something about liberal discourse which allows for that possibility.

Except, no. Part of what it means to be civilized is that you don't torture. If the only way to save civilization is to go around torturing people, then civilization is already lost.

And saying that doesn't make me a moral relativist (Harris's complaint against liberals). Saying that makes me not just an advocate of objective morality, but an absolutist on this issue.

Harris is certainly entitled to take a different view, to believe that torture is sometimes immoral and sometimes moral, and to pursue a vision of morality (and of torture) which allows different people to take different moral stances on the matter. But I find it untenable for him to hold himself up as the great defender of objective morality, and the arbiter of a new scientifically based morality, and to simultaneously argue for this wishy-washy attitude towards torture. Indeed, if this is where Harris's approach to morality leads us, then that's one more reason not to take him seriously as a moral philosopher.

And, indeed, it's another reason not to take Jerry Coyne seriously on moral and philosophical matters, since he's launched a defense of Harris's position on torture. He quotes extensively from Harris's writings, (including Harris's insistence that torture "may not only be ethically justifiable, but ethically necessary"), and concludes:

I think Sam has a point here. I'm not yet sure where I come down on torture in circumstances like the above, but I surely think the issue is worth discussing rather than reflexively dismissing. And yes, much of the dismissal has been reflexive--almost an excuse to simply reject all of Harris's views, just as Hitchens's stand on Iraq has been used to discredit his opinions on everything, including faith. I can't help but believe that some of the opposition to Harris's discussion of torture involves willful misunderstanding of his position, perhaps as an excuse to punish him for his strong critiques of religion.

Now Coyne is not exactly in a position to complain about people using a person's controversial views on one topic as grounds for dismissing everything else they said. Remember this? In any event, Harris's latest book is about morality, so it's hardly irrelevant to press him on his dubious ethical stands. Sure, many religious groups have declared their opposition to torture, but so have many non-religious groups, as have leading atheists like Chris Hitchens. Hitchens was wrong on Iraq but is, perhaps belatedly, right on torture. Harris and Coyne are wrong on torture. Wrong factually, and wrong morally. Coyne lives in Chicago, a city where torture was regularly practiced by police for decades. If he's been paying attention, he knows the cost it's imposed on innocent citizens, on the Chicago PD as an institution, and on society as a whole. And if he's not paying attention, why is he issuing grand proclamations about the motives of torture opponents?

People's reactions to moral questions are usually reflexive precisely because morality isn't just about cost-benefit analysis. It's like the classic Winston Churchill story:

At a dinner party Churchill says to his dinner companion, "Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?"

The woman responds, "My goodness, Mr. Churchill. I suppose I would."

Churchill replies, "Would you sleep with me for five pounds?"

She answers, "Mr. Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?"

Churchill answers, "Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price."

If the only thing holding you back from committing an atrocity like torture is the size of the payday, then we've established what sort of person you are, and everything else is just accounting.

So Harris argues, and Coyne "think[s] Harris has a point":

There is absolutely nothing in Luban's argument [against torture] that rules out the following law:

We will not torture anyone under any circumstances unless we are certain, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the person in our custody has operational knowledge of an imminent act of nuclear terrorism.

It seems to me that unless one can produce an ethical argument against torturing such a person, one does not have an argument against the use of torture in principle. Of course, my discussion of torture in The End of Faith (and on this page) only addresses the ethics of torture, not the practical difficulties of implementing a policy based on the ethics.

He's aiming to set aside practical details, so we'll ignore the fact that proof "beyond reasonable doubt" (in US law, which is the issue at hand) means a courtroom trial, with all the delay, access to witnesses, and public exposure that entails. We'll also set aside that if you can convict someone in court against such a stringent standard, and do so in a timely manner, you probably don't need the testimony anyway; you probably have so much evidence at hand that you can figure out those details on your own, and probably had to figure them out in order to make your legal case (through wiretaps, non-torture interrogations, and a host of other means all practically superior to torture). And, of course, you couldn't pass such a law because it would go against constitutional protections, not least a right against self-incrimination and a right against cruel and unusual punishment (and this would be punishment, since it requires the equivalent of a criminal conviction first). We'll ignore the fact that the police in the cases above, and the WMD hunters who employed torture, all believed they had the right person before them, and because they were misled by their own confidence they tortured confessions out of innocent men and women. We'll even set aside the question of why this is restricted to nuclear terrorism, and not biological or chemical weapons, or a conventional bomb in a sensitive site, or threats against critical infrastructure. The slippery slope is fairly obvious, and regularly traveled once torture is normalized (for instance, John Burge, the officer at the center of the Chicago torture scandal described above, learned his trade as an Army interrogator in Vietnam).

But Harris wants a reply in principle, as if Constitutional protections weren't established by men who had seen the horrors of state torture, and had just fought a revolution to be free of such abuses. As if, that is, these legal and constitutional protections were not themselves built on long-standing principled arguments. As if the possibility, that one might be wrong (however unreasonable the doubt) was not part of the ethical calculus in such a heinous undertaking. As if that host of practical problems is not symptomatic of a fundamental, principled incoherence.

Making the ethical case against torture is easy. It violates the Golden Rule (I would not want to be tortured, therefore I should not torture others; this is especially relevant for soldiers in the field). It violates the Categorical Imperative (torture must, by its nature, treat a person as a means to an end, not an end unto himself or herself). From a Rawlsian angle, I cannot imagine that torture is something "everyone would accept and agree to from a fair position," such as from behind the "veil of ignorance" where "everyone is impartially situated as equals." Indeed, it seems to run against Harris's own cod-utilitarianism, which is built on the principle that increasing human suffering is a moral wrong, and torture increases suffering.

Whatever angle you take, it's wrong. If someone's moral compass can't point that out, he's simply lost in the moral landscape.

---

Image via Back to a Routine of Torture: Torture and Ill-treatment of Palestinian Detainees during Arrest, Detention and Interrogation, by the Public Committee against Torture in Israel (2003). It shows a widely-used torture method called "bending," which the report explains:

The "bending" method is usually carried out through forcing the interrogee, who is tied to a chair with no backrest (or placed such that the backrest is not behind him), leaning him backward at an angle of 45 degrees or more, for a half hour or more each time. This is often done by applying pressure to the chin or body of the interrogee, in combination with beating, stepping on shackles, etc.

Read the comments on this post...

Yup.

We have forums, Wii price drop is brought up again, EA acquiring Firemint, more Project Cafe rumors surface, Diverse got REALLY hammered at PAX Prime last year, you can get a unicorn gun in Red Faction: Armageddon and more happened on 5/3/11.

Destructoid Original:
Forums, we have them: May 2011
Live show: Mash Tactics plays 3D Dot Game Heros
Live Show: Backlog begins Series 12 and Bully

Community:
Community blogs of 5/3/11
Forum thread of the day: What is Icarus pointing at and/or who is nailing him?

Contests:
Contest: Win a rare steampunk gun based on ARGO Online

News:
Rumor: 'Wii Select' budget games, Wii price drop
Remedy: Screw retailers, let's go digital
Play for Japan raises $100,000 for relief efforts
UK Charts: Portal Kombat reigns supreme
Silicon Knights intends to finish Too Human trilogy
Loads of Dynasty Warriors 7 DLC now out
Microsoft Q3: 2.4 million Kinects, 2.7m Xbox 360s
See if you can run Deus Ex at a Human Resolution
EA to acquire iPhone dev Firemint
Sony: Only 900 of our stolen credit cards were active
Free App of the Day: Toaster Kun (iOS)
Rumor: Project Cafe has 8GB of on-board flash memory
Fallout: New Vegas getting three more DLC installments
Resistance 3 demo in Battle: Los Angeles Blu-ray
Behold, the PC specs for Duke Nukem Forever!
PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 getting uDraw GameTablets
KontrolFreek giving away a $2,000 arcade machine
New U.S. Military billing options for Xbox Live members
Castlevania deals aplenty on Xbox Live this week
L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories coming to eBooks
Australia planning new law following PSN hacking
Game music composer Q&A and signing event in Burbank
DC Universe players get free month and mask for downtime
This month is full of new add-ons for Yoostar 2
Steam has NFS: Hot Pursuit, Shift, and Undercover on sale
Metro: Last Light confirmed by THQ
Image of 'Nintendo Selects' Wii budget titles surfaces
Square Enix distributing Dead Island and here's why

Offbeat:
Zelda: Skyward Sword theme played backwards = OMG
You'll want to see Dark Horse's replica Normandy
Mortal Kombat: Legacy brings on Kitana, Mileena and more

Media:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D gets new trailer
Here's some earthy Earth Seeker screens for you to seek
Brink gets SMART with a trailer about HUDs
1M Red Faction demo downloads will unlock a unicorn

I think I like writing on this topic and only because it would stand to be a huge improvement for all.  Part of the problem is that with competing with businesses and Wall Street algorithmic processes, they are behind the 8 ball without having some of the 2 second search capabilities.  I keep reading up on what’s happening here with the 70 server cluster and machine learning capabilities. 

When you stop and think that everyone in the room would see the same thing at the same time it would allow for independent thinking from everyone.  The lobbyists are not going away but when they are presented with better intelligence and preparedness with lawmakers, well that will change the picture.  If lawmakers did not have to send out inquisitions via snail mail and go through some of the “paper” processes we see now they would be miles ahead. 

Example Congressman meets with lobbyists and listens, then returns back to the chambers and digs in.  If equipped with speech recognition, even the lowest common denominator with consumer IT skills would be able to participate, so nobody gets left out or picked on for not being up to date, although this could be a good reason to learn up though too at the same time.  By running queries and having the servers connected to the internet modeling could be accomplished to simulate let’s say the desires of the lobbyist and consequences and/or benefits would be revealed, simulation the key here. 

This is called business intelligence and the rest of the world does it and with having the high powered computing at their finger tips, and everyone seeing the same thing either on big white boards or ported to mobile devices, there’s no she said he said talk to waste time.  With raw data and statistics and the ability to model just think of what some of the outcomes would be for laws created.  They would have a heads up and everyone would see the same thing.  Now we still have interpretations and then that is where “intelligent” debates come in, but heck this is a lot better than only having the information from the lobbyist to go by and perhaps some support from GOA as they do a good job but they don’t have this massive computing power either.  Have you seen the extraordinary computing power that DOE has?  DOE leases out computing power to other agencies.  Pretty awesome. 

1.7 Billion Super Computer Hours Awarded by the DOE–Biomedical Research Projects Included for Parkinson’s and Cancer

Thank goodness DOE doesn’t think like Congress and sees more than a game of Jeopardy here.  You can read the link above and see genomic studies being run on the center too as part of the super power DOE leases out. I didn’t see Congress anywhere waiting in line or asking for help here. Again, everyone complains about lobbyists, well education and technology is how you begin to work on that battle front.  Complaining about them as you can see over the years gets everyone nowhere so let’s add some intelligence to the arena.  Do you know what the 5 richest counties are in the US?  Rachel Maddow posted this up on her news program tonight…4 out of 5 in the DC area…does that surprise anyone?  I don’t know how New Jersey fits in there but perhaps it’s the county that houses all of the Wall Street Servers. 

In addition with everyone’s mind thinking a bit more independent with spurring their own processes instead of the one of the party all the time, party alliance and some of the antics and soap operas we see today may also go away.  We won’t get rid of all of them but where additional education and intelligence enters the picture, it will certainly get rid of the bogus ones with no substance.  Do you think Congress could strike a deal with DOE to rent some computing space until they get set up on their own <grin>.

IBM Watson Did Get a Chance to Go To Congress-Should be a Permanent Home For Greater Intelligence for Creating Laws

Here’s one example that pertains to healthcare that would have perhaps kept Grassley from initiating with putting Medicare claim information online.  If it were queried and costs associated were seen on a bit white screen, do you think he would have bothered to introduce the bill knowing up front of the millions and huge amounts of time required, probably not and he would have saved face too.

Digital Illiteracy Is Killing Us With New Bill Wanting MD Medicare Compensation Put Online-No Clue on the Cost, Time and Truckloads of Errors to Audit and Correct

This is what I mean as far as information and having huge amounts sorted and presented in a format in real time that would help all of them and again they would have better conversations with lobbyists and perhaps not always fall prey to their desires and sure the lobbyists are still going to lobby but now the game might get a little tougher to substantiate if Congress goes back and were to use some high powered computing to versify that everything the lobbyist promotes would in fact be accurate.  If not and it was a bribe, well it would be done in front of the rest of the members and well gee, that’s not a good thing and it would be disputed and thus it might just never happen. 

For the exact same reason, maybe DOE would rent some room out to the Supreme Court too as they could certainly benefit and they want to be sure they are making the appropriate and legal decisions all the way around.

Florida Judge Rules Against Health Law– Need Some Judicial “Algo Men” to Influence Decisions on Costs With Methodology Entailment and IT Systems Functionality

Everyone has mentioned the use of the technology in healthcare and that is fine but I see a burning hole here in Washington first and besides most doctors are already inundated with either learning new software, being beta testers in their own areas.  That is a constant way of life for them anymore. 

IBM Makes 'Watson' Servers Even Smarter With More Cores–We Are Now Graduating to Taking “Dull” Knives to Gun Battles–There’s No Great White Hope for Budgets

Tech company lobbyists would not bat an eye at this as they are tech companies and would probably be happy to see it, I know Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would, as Bill Gates has testified year after year to deaf ears.  This would make the budget work a lot easier for all and that’s not to say it’s not complicated but when you have a high powered server source like this that can give answers in 2 seconds, well I don’t need to say more on that topic as now they might wait days for their reports. 

So this is the key folks, you want better laws and lawmaking, it takes better and smarter technology and this will help them keep up with Wall Street and could certainly help the SEC too.  Back in August of 2009 I made a post about a Department of Algorithms and I think the time has come for algorithmic centric laws and have them filed with a visual so the algorithms and how they function can be viewed when it comes to laws and financials regulations.  It’s the only way this will work to have an audit system as such and keep everyone fairly clean.  If you visit the link below there’s a video which serves as a nice reminder of Harry Markopolos who tells us how the SEC had no clue on how to work with the data and information he supplied them, digital illiteracy killed us there too.  I don’t think the judges would mind getting laws that are algorithmic in format and easier to work with when they are called upon for rulings. 

“Department of Algorithms – Do We Need One of These to Regulate Upcoming Laws?

If that is not convincing enough then let’s go back to the Madoff Ponzi Scheme and read up on how his programmers kept him under cover too.  It’s fighting fire with fire and not taking dull knives to gun wars to survive and stop the fleecing of America with mathematical deception.  BD

The Madoff Ponzi Scheme Could Have Not Happened Without the Algorithms With 2 Programmers Arrested – Let’s Talk Algos In Healthcare Too

This is not a commercial for IBM, I just want smarter government decisions and they have happen to have developed it.  If we keep working on spreadsheet solutions and not use high powered query and intense data base solutions, Mr. Ferguson might as well start writing “Inside Job 2” the sequel.  By the way if you don’t know what this is, use the link below:

“Inside Job”–A Learning Experience and Documentary About Financial Algorithms-And Some of Same Exists in Healthcare

The Medical Quack: IBM Makes 'Watson' Servers Even Smarter With More Cores–We Are Now Graduating to Taking “Dull” Knives to Gun Battles–There’s No Great White Hope for Budgets

SALEM, Indiana (May 3, 2011) – - Without hesitation, Sean Corr and his Empire Racing team earned an “A” for effort when the rookie ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards team tackled the demanding Salem (Ind.) Speedway for Sunday’s Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200.

Corr, the Goshen, New York native made his short track ARCA Racing Series debut. Maneuvering close to 300 laps throughout the entire weekend, the team, despite being collected in a late-race incident would claim a 14th place finish.

The team led by crew chief Howard Bixman and team manager John Bellesfield spent the entire hour and a half practice session getting their pilot up to speed around Salem’s high banks. As the session pressed on, Corr’s comfort level with the track improved significantly thus spiking the No. 82 Empire Racing / BoomText Ford Fusion up the speed charts to claim 16th overall.

With some adjustments made for qualifying, the team was looking for a top-20 starting position. Corr’s lap of 18.622 seconds or 107.292 miles per hour landed the team 18th on the starting grid for the third race of the season.

Mother Nature drenched the track Sunday morning forcing ARCA officials to tediously dry the race track right up until race time. The field would rev their engines at 2:15 p.m. and assist in the track drying process by running 20 green flag laps at caution speed.

By lap 21 the field was under racing conditions with Corr quickly moving into the top-15. While holding steady in the top-15 under race conditions the leaders set a torrid pace and had caught Corr by lap 50 and took the No. 82 off the lead circuit.

Thankfully, the yellow flag waived on lap 52 with Corr sitting in the “lucky dog” position allowing the Empire Racing team to re-obtain their lead lap status. Starting shot gun on the field, Corr would patiently work his way through the field again and found himself knocking on the outside of the top-10 when the caution flag waived again on lap 69.

Utilizing pit strategy, Bixman kept his protégé on the race track moving Corr to sixth. On the restart, Corr on older tires would begin backtracking but held a spot safely in the top-15 under a long-green flag run.

With the leaders continuing a torrid pace, Corr would again fall off the lead lap but continued cheerleading from spotter Freddie Dunlop and his team, Corr would continue to give 100 percent from the cockpit.

Just after halfway, Corr was running his own race, continuing to log laps and learn in his short track debut. However, on lap 108 another competitor made contract with the rear of the No. 82 going into turn three which sent both cars hard into the outside wall.

While Corr was able to re-fire his machine and leave the scene under his own power, the team would quickly go into damage control. Tackling the driver’s side of the No. 82 Ford Fusion, the team would use the necessary resources available to piece their automobile back together.

With their “never give up attitude”, Corr would return to the race track with a mangled race car but still competitive for their situation. Victory was now out of reach but the team’s agenda still remained clear to complete as many laps as possible and solider to the best finish possible.

Negotiating other lap traffic, Corr would slowly inch his way back up into the top-15 in the running order and had climbed into the 14th position and had sights set on 12th but when the No. 34 and No. 12 tangled in turn four with 15 laps remaining, the cars slid into the path of Corr leaving the No. 82 no way out of disaster.

Corr once again was able to leave the scene of the incident but the damage was too severe to continue thus calling an early end to the team’s Salem debut.

“While I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to finish the race, I’m content with our performance,” offered Corr, who completed 170 of the race’s 206 laps. “We knew that this weekend was going to be a challenge, my first short track race and all. But, this team never gave up on me or themselves and we were still able to leave the track with a respectable finishing position. I wish our Empire Racing / BoomText Ford was in a little better condition, but we’ll take this finish in stride, learn from it and come back and have a better showing in September.”

He added, “I want to thank Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Performance and of course BoomText and all those who support our racing endeavors a continued thanks. We have a great team and we will get the finishes we deserve here soon.”

Corr maintains eighth in the championship standings entering the Menards 200 at Toledo (Oh.) Speedway, the fourth of 19 races on the 2011 schedule set for Sunday, May 15th. The half-mile short track will be another track of “firsts” for Corr and the Empire Racing team.

Recently, Empire Racing and BoomText officially announced the “Hard Corr Fans” program powered by BoomText, a mobile marketing campaign which allows fans to pledge towards becoming an official member of the Empire Racing team – not to mention helping three of Corr’s personal charities. To join the campaign, fans just simply have to text the word “CORR” to 411247 where they will receive an automated safe-secured link to join the “Hard Corr Fans” team. The activation of the project continues this weekend at Salem.

For more on Sean Corr, Empire Racing and marketing partnership opportunities for the 2011 racing season, please visit empireracingllc.com.

For additional input on BoomText, please visit BoomText.com.

Connect with Sean Corr and Empire Racing through Facebook by clicking here.

Tweet with Sean Corr through Twitter @EmpireRacingLLC.

About Empire Racing:

Established in 2009, Empire Racing LLC. (empireracingllc.com) is a two-tier professional Motorsports organization consisting of dirt and asphalt competition. Sean Corr, a 26-year old hailing from Goshen, New York pilots the team’s automobiles in the DIRTcar Series and Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). In 2011, the team will attempt to run for a championship in the ARCA Racing Series with aspirations of moving into the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The team is headquartered in Goshen, New York with an additional operation in Mooresville, North Carolina.

USA Today

The Navy SEAL Team 6 Weapons and Gadgets That Brought Down Osama bin Laden ABC News A Blackhawk helicopter pilot carries a heavy machine gun at Baghdad International Airport in this Oct. 20, 2003 file photo. Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images As Navy SEAL Team 6 closed in on its prey -- Osama bin Laden -- it likely entered ... Recommended: Bin Laden-related malware grows on social networksmsnbc.com Bin Laden's death leads to surge in cybercrimesChicago Tribune Government Transparency in Bin Laden DeathFox News Los Angeles Times -CNN International -WIS all 1,896 news articles »

by: Jeremy Duff
NEWS - If there is one thing that I think that the video game industry is lacking, its light-gun games. Admit it, we have all had a blast at one time or another with a friend hilding a giant, clunky, plastic gun at some sort of arcade establishment. I don’t think that it would be that far of a stretch to call Sega the “King of the light-gun games”; they have made more than a few over the years and they have all been among the best of the genre. One of Sega’s more recent titles, GHOST Squad, which made its way to the Wii last year, is receiving a sequel in Japanese arcades, called Operation GHOST.

The game is currently undergoing a series of location tests throughout Japan. The game is a direct sequel to the first game and uses many of the same gameplay mechanics of the original game. Players use a light-gun equipped with grenade and action buttons for special action sequences during gameplay. There are only two missions included in the current version of the game, but remember that this is only a testing unit. Sega has already launched an official web site for the Japanese version of the game, which can be found here. The full game is expected to launch later this year.

Just like the TRON: Legacy Pinball game I mentioned yesterday, this is something that I hope to run across this machine one of these days.

Source: Arcade Heroes

Videos powered by ComeWatchMe.com DJ Drama’s Birthday celebration at Club Opera 4.28.11. Full of celebrity appearances by Young Jeezy and Ocho Cinco as well as live performances by Big Sean, Machine Gun Kelly, Fabolous, and many more. Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

The Grizzlies, Hawks and Mavericks have turned the second round of the playoffs into the playground of underdogs. And the king of this dog town is Memphis Grizzlies scoring and rebounding machine Zach Randolph.

There's no getting around the fact that the Grizzly big man has been magnificent. After losing to Memphis in Oklahoma City to trail the second-round series 1-0, the Thunder's Kevin Durant called Randolph the best power forward in the league. It's hard to find any NBA player who has been better in the playoffs, certainly Randolph has outplayed bigger names like Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.

Randolph is the go-to guy on the closest-knit team, the workhorse of the 8 seed that toppled a 1, and is putting a scare into the Thunder, who played as well as any team in the first round.

If we are in the business of recognizing basketball achievements, build a statue to this man.

If you are in David Stern's business, however -- building the brand of the NBA by pushing likable characters into the spotlight -- then there's surely anxiety in all this.

Not because Randolph is unlikable (on the contrary, teammates and others rave about his big heart, his laugh, his easy way with children and his commitment to his friends and family). But because his judgment has evidently been so atrocious, for so long, that it only seems like a matter of time before there's more bad news.

The domination
Antonio McDyess had no chance.

Randolph caught the ball on the right block and turned to face McDyess, his lone Spur defender. The Grizzlies had the lead and the ball. With a mere 17 seconds left, bucket would likely end the Spurs' season, and McDyess's career. Through the entire playoffs, Randolph had been an unsolvable riddle -- he even sealed Game 3 with a 3.

There was little reason to believe this possession would be different. The Spurs had tried Tim Duncan and Matt Bonner on him. They had shoved him far from the hoop. They had doubled on the dribble, and on the catch. They had trapped, and faked traps. They had dared the referees to call a litany of grabs and holds.

Randolph had smiled through it all, finishing with spin moves, up-and-unders, hook shots, jumpers, high-release leftie runners and more than a few "hockey assists" that resulted in layups for guards cutting baseline. Even when the Spurs had goaded Randolph into a miss he was high-risk to get his own rebound.

Randolph most commonly catches the ball with his back to the basket. Feet spread far apart, he then pivots, deploying his skinny legs like a geometry student with a protractor. (His pivot foot is the point, his outside leg is that pencil, describing a circumference within which defenders like McDyess are not welcome.) Turn, turn, nudge, bump, turn ... having etched his circle, he is then free to unleash, essentially, whatever he wants. Great footwork, long arms, a love of contact and all those leftie scoring moves are tools enough to tear down a dynasty.

Randolph's pivots nudged McDyess back just a foot or so from the Grizzlie power forward's high post position. Even in the waning seconds of the shot clock Randolph moved with care -- the very portrait of John Wooden's "be quick but don't hurry." McDyess braced for whatever Randolph jab or rock was due next. Yet before any of that: BAM, a step-back, quick-release jumper, falling back off one leg.

Nothing but net. Nothing but head shakes. What could McDyess have done? Jumping early to block an attempt like that is to fall into Randolph's trap -- a move that starts like that usually ends with Randolph driving by an airborne defender, or drawing a foul on him.

The commentators spoke of good defense, and better offense. As Randolph ran back on defense, he raised a finger to his lips and shushed the San Antonio crowd.

Of course, the Spurs would go on to win that game, in miracle fashion.

Randolph's shush would not be the first foolish spectacle of his career. But it was also not his last chance to outplay the Spurs.

Just a few days later, in Memphis for Game 6, the Spurs held a lead in the final five minutes.

Then the Grizzlies began to force-feed the ball to Randolph and the NBA's great defensive-oriented dynasty of the modern era quickly crumbled.

Over three-and-a-half minutes, Randolph caught the ball five times. He scored two points every time -- four made shots to go with a pair of free throws.

When the smoke cleared with about a minute left, the Grizzlies held a nine-point lead and a ticket punched for the second-round.

In Game 1 of the next round, it would be more of the same, and it's hard to imagine who will be able to slow down Randolph, who just might be putting on the performance of this year's playoffs.

The analysis
ESPN's director of production analytics Dean Oliver says Randolph's performance has changed in recent year -- specifically he has stopped taking so many jump shots:

Randolph seems to have kicked a bad habit -- he stopped taking a bunch of lousy shots. Mid-range shots are a legitimate weapon, but taking a lot of them and making only 41 percent of them isn’t a great way to drive an offense. Randolph took more than eight mid-range jumpers per 48 minutes in the four seasons prior to joining the Grizzlies. He used to isolate at the high post and stop the offense, taking about 30 percent of the team’s shots, and making 40 percent or so.

He was trying too hard to be The Man.

Just by cutting down his mid-range jumpers to five per 48 minutes and maintaining or slightly increasing the number of layups he takes, he is getting better shots. He is now taking only about 25 percent of the team’s shots and those are much higher quality shots. He cut out the fat.

The way Randolph is playing is no illusion. Sometimes, players do fool you by putting up cheap points or by scoring a lot and allowing a lot of points on the other end. That is not Randolph right now.

He is generating a remarkable 120 points per 100 possessions and allowing just 101, both far better than the league average of about 106. Randolph’s playoff performance thus far is legitimately among the best in the league.

Where did this Zach Randolph come from?
Before this season the Grizzlies had literally never won a thing in the playoffs, and even when they traded for Randolph in the summer of 2009 it was seen as just another Memphis mistake.

"I wasn't crazy about it," says 3 Shades of Blue blogger Chip Crain, who learned of the trade before it was announced. Crain bumped into Memphis owner Michael Heisley and GM Chris Wallace the day before the trade became official. "I thought Randolph was absolutely wrong for this team."

It's a franchise that has whiffed repeatedly, even recently. "Back in November and December," says Crain, "we were averaging a solid three thousand fans per game."

Ask around the NBA, and competitors will tell you that while owner Heisley leads the league in complaints about how small market teams are at a disadvantage, in fact the Grizzlies have been their own worst enemies. Although the trade looks much better now, there were howls when they traded Pau Gasol to the Lakers in what many called one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history. They have overpaid all kinds of players, including Michael Conley and especially Rudy Gay who is out injured. They drafted one of the most productive players in NBA history, Kevin Love, but traded him for O.J. Mayo who has recently been both suspended and benched. They traded away the now fantastically productive Kyle Lowry, and didn't get much for him. They drafted players like Conley and Xavier Henry too high. Two weeks ago, when the team signed Randolph to a massive contract extension, competitors would have told you they were overpaying him, too.

A closed crowded with skeletons
Randolph is among the league leaders in almost every category that matters. And while his rebound percentage is very high in the playoffs, and his true shooting percentage and PER are among the best of his career, he has always played more or less like this. How is it, then, that he has barely even been in the playoffs before? How could it be that he has spent much of his first NBA decade being shipped from city to city -- the Blazers, the Knicks and Clippers all tried to make it work -- as a bad contract, an NBA vagabond? How could a player this good have had a career this bad?

The story has a lot to do with getting in a pretty shocking amount of trouble off the court.

Randolph was locked up for stealing a pair of pants. He got in legal trouble for battery and then served more time for selling a stolen gun. That was all before the end of high school, and that last incident resulted in his missing much of the basketball season to suspension. The next year he led his high school team to the finals of the state championship, and there was talk of lessons learned. He played a season under Tom Izzo at Michigan State without getting in trouble. By the time of the 2001 draft, most teams were still wary of drafting the MVP of the McDonald's All-American team as high as his basketball talent demands.

The Blazers took him 21st, and he was quickly a productive player. By the time he was 22, his GM at the time, John Nash, was quoted saying that the team was building around Randolph, and expected him to make them proud.

He was cited for underage drinking in 2002. In 2004, his brother shot three people in a nightclub. Randolph reportedly pulled his brother from the incident, but got in trouble with the police for, allegedly, lying about what happened. He's on video flipping the bird to booing NBA fans. He threw a headband at a referee. He broke then-teammate Ruben Patterson's eye socket by punching him. He was cited for drag racing. He asked for time off to grieve a death in the family back home in the Midwest. He then spent that night in Portland, as his teammates took the court across town, in a strip club where -- adding insult to insult -- he left without paying his bill.

In 2006, Randolph had an MTV crew to his house. He showed off the bible in the entryway and the photo he had taken with Nelson Mandela, but to many the more noteworthy decorating touch was the "Free Larry Hoover" poster; Hoover is the jailed leader of the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples.

Police cleared Randolph after a rape accusation in an incident Randolph's attorney called nothing but an extortion attempt. The public complaint in that case, however, was sordid enough to cost Randolph many of his remaining Portland fans.

Brandon Roy cemented his place as the Blazers' leader in no small part by shutting Randolph up in the post-game locker room. By the time Randolph was traded to the Knicks (for Steve Francis' horrible contract and Channing Frye) in 2007, he arrived in New York to talk of his "last chance" to prove he had grown up.

Randolph had a video crew to his New York house and talked about how after the game he would eat with his family -- implying the tales of nightlife-gone-wrong were a thing of the past. The Knicks continued to be terrible. Randolph made YouTube history with poor, selfish play.

As the Knicks cleaned house, Randolph was traded to the Clippers, with more talk of rehabbing his image. After a DUI arrest and a suspension for punching Louis Amundson in the jaw, he was traded, below-market, to the Grizzlies. And that's when he ran into Crain, the day before the trade was announced.

"I asked him that very day," remember Crain, "why we should expect him to be any different here than he had been at his last stops. He told me: 'I've got a daughter now, and I don't ever want her to read an article about me like has been in the paper the last few years.'"

To Crain, who has been around the team consistently ever since, that was a convincing and real explanation. "He grew up," says Crain. "He finally stopped all that other stuff, and focused on what he does for a living. You see the results. I'd love to say it's the coach, but you've got to credit his daughter. He's a family man now."

Crain also sees a player with a profound respect for his teammates, pointing out that before signing his recent contract extension, Randolph says he made certain the team also planned to keep Marc Gasol around for the long haul.

Which means, essentially, that Memphis is the latest in a long stream of cities that has heard Randolph say the right things. The  city appears to be the first, however, to have Randolph also do all the right things. Will that last? Is this a story of a player who stopped taking ill-advised midrange jumpers, and stopped making ill-advised off-court decisions?

There will always be skeptics. A few months ago, police in Portland arrested a member of Randolph's "Hoops Family" for murder.

A year ago -- after Randolph had arrived in Memphis -- Indianapolis police pulled over one of Randolph's friends, Arthur Boyd, driving a car registered to Randolph. In a cooler in the back, they say they found more than 90 grams of marijuana packaged for resale. In an affidavit, police say they also found secret compartments in the car, one of which contained a single round of ammunition. Boyd has a long list of past criminal behavior; Randolph has not been charged with any crimes in that incident. Boyd's trial is upcoming.

Dependable performer

• Randolph has been as dependable as any NBA player over the course of the playoffs, making his value sky high.
• He has been as undependable as any NBA player off the court for several years, which has dragged his value abysmally low.

Which trend will prevail? Statisticians will tell you that the longer trend, supported by more data, matters more. People aren't as good at changing as we'd like them to be, and most commonly they keep doing the kinds of things they used to do.

There's an argument, essentially, to brace yourself for the next terrible Randolph story.

But to do that would be to ignore the conviction of those closest to him. The Grizzlies have as much insight into Randolph, today, as anyone. Having gotten to know him, they have resolved to trust him with the ball in big moments and with a massive four-year contract extension. Randolph says he adores the city, and has turned over a new leaf there. Which means this could be one of the happiest stories of maturation and rehabilitation in sports history. The league's preeminent bad boy, gone good, and climbing into the center of one of the most exciting playoff stories in years.

The way Randolph and the Grizzlies are playing, that's a tale with a chance of reaching its pinnacle in June, at the Finals. If they can make it, it will be a defining moment for Randolph.

June 15 is due to be both the off-day before the Finals' Game 7 and the beginning of Boyd's trial, in which documents already feature claims from a confidential informant that Randolph has been financing a drug-selling operation.

One way or another, judgments will be made.

With a rat-a-tat-tat delivery and industry buzz growing exponentially by the day, Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly is basking in the limelight of his first Midwest jaunt being billed as the "Lace Up Tour." "It's by far the craziest thing in my life, it's a giant roller coaster," said 2008 Shaker Heights High School graduate MGK, whose real name ...

Thoughts from Alan and Jay. For Jay, it was his first time. He said he felt like he may as well have a machine gun strapped to his back.

Here's some news to keep Gambling-Addicts happy! According to the CASINO ADVISOR website it looks like BATMAN is now going to be a popular ONLINE gambling game. So, I guess don't go to your favorite real-life casino looking for it, ha! It's going to be a "Slot Machine" type of online video game with the Joker as the main villain. The graphics look kinda cool & you can see Batman, Commissioner Jim Gordon, Batmobile, Batcycle, Batsignal, Bang Flag, Acid Flower, Batwing, Harpoon Gun, Joker Playing Card, and of course, The Joker!

With only a couple episodes remaining in the season, and its future in jeopardy with continuously falling ratings, Chuck did a number of things in "Chuck Versus Agent X" that reminded me of why I bought so many Subway sandwiches a couple years ago.  This is still a fun show that has the ability to do a substantial story line well when it tries to.

Ellie taking forever to figure out that Chuck was still a spy, and Chuck continuing to keep it from her, was a plot that was running rather old this season.  The heartfelt chat between Chuck and Ellie about the fact that she was using the Orion computer and he was still a spy was sweet.

But we all knew that was coming.  What was great was that they wrapped that up quickly, figured out who Agent X was, surprised me in that moment, and then created an entirely new heartfelt conversation between brother and sister about how their dad wanted them to not only find Agent X but help him.

And because we are running out of time on the season, I'm not sure if it would be a good idea or not to have Chuck and Ellie team up and seek out Volkoff so that they can turn him into a good guy.  If they get another season, I would gladly watch Alexi Volkoff internally battle between the evil persona his original intersect turned him into and the scientist gun-hating guy he grew up as.

While the ideas for the future of Chuck made "Agent X" interesting, the episode itself was filled with entertaining material as well.  We will take a look at how the Chuck Triple Threat played out, but first go chase some tail.

Action
There was a bit of a change of pace from the past few episodes, as plenty of action was put on screen.  The conversation begins and ends with the crazy old lady that ended up being Alexi Volkoff's mother.  The woman wasn't afraid of anybody, or maybe she was.  Why else would she have such heavy artillery everywhere you look?  Watching the old lady fire that machine gun, while Casey fed her the bullets with a smile, was absolutely fantastic.

Casey also took out every member of Volkoff's crew - minus Ray Wise - one by one while Awesome and Morgan chatted and made spears.  The mud on the Colonel's face was a nice touch.  And then there was Chuck showing Ellie his flashing ability with a sword.  To quote Rob Schneider in Surf Ninjas, "He could get a job as a sushi chef, no problem."

Comedy
Well all of the obvious mix ups between Las Vegas and Las Vecas worked beautifully.  Once they ended up in the woods, it made a lot of sense.  Awesome did not seem like the Vegas type, and the fact that Jeff was pleased with the mix up made the whole thing that much better.

Before they made their way to the wonders of Las Vecas, Lester was on fire.  His entire discussion about making it rain, or snow, because it was Canadian style, was hilarious.  Obviously he's too cheap for dollar bills, so he was throwing up "dolla, dolla, coins y'all."

And while I am not a fan of the clichéd move to have the strippers dressed up like cops seem like they are actually cops, it almost worked here.  It's never funny, but it was much more difficult to hate on Chuck, because the fact that they were dressed as spy operatives made it that much more believable.

Heart
Like I mentioned at the top, there were a couple of good conversations between Chuck and Ellie.  I do hope that they become a bit of a duo at some point, because it will be a nice new dynamic for the show.

Other than that, the only other heartfelt moment was when Morgan came up with the perfect excuse for Big Mike so that he could go on the bachelor party with them.  It was the greatest thing a white person had ever done for Big Mike, and it was nice to see the step father and step son bond a bit.

Moving Forward
While Gary Cole killed it last week on "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner," this week's "Chuck Versus Agent X" gave us a lot more to work with. The final two episodes of the fourth season suddenly seem a lot more interesting.  What did you all think of "Agent X?" And will the season end with anything other than a Bartowski/Walker wedding?

And media starts wars, says WikiLeaks founder

Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, media tart and controversialist, has leveled his hyperbole gun at Facebook, calling it “the most appalling spying machine that has ever been invented.”…

At the end of last year, Juicy J and producer Lex Luger release a new collaborative mixtape Rubba Band Business. With the ever growing popularity the project brought, the two decided to drop the second installment with features from Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Machine Gun Kelly, Project Pat and more. Previously: Juicy J & Lex Luger – [...]

Last summer, at a gun range in Honolulu, a friend and I chose the most ridiculous and jingoistic target the place had: Bin Laden's stoic face Photoshopped poorly onto the menacing body of a machine gun-toting white man. A couple of relatively liberal city slickers, we posed for a picture next to our bullet-riddled targets, which we thought were kitschy and, yes, ironic. Nine months later, long after I'd forgotten about shooting wildly at his effigy with an AK-47, bin Laden is dead.

Based on the gleeful smile I have in that shooting range photo, you might think I'd be shouting patriotic bromides in the streets, as other Americans have been doing since late last night in cities around the United States. I actually don't feel like doing anything of the sort, and I don't think I'm the only one.

Today is a strange day in American history, perhaps stranger than any we've had in the 21st century. On the one hand, we're reminded of the greatness of the United States—not her perfection, mind you, but her greatness: Attack us, and no matter who you are, we will brush ourselves off and find you. Our arms are long and our memories are longer, and, once we have the right information, we have the ability to hunt down one of the most heavily guarded people in the world in a matter of eight months—less time than it takes to gestate a baby. Unlike George W. Bush's premature declaration of "Mission Accomplished," this really does feel like the conclusion of something, the shaking off of a burden. On the other hand, in many ways, today seems stridently un-American, too.

In thinking about the death—the killing—of Osama Bin Laden, it seems shortsighted to not consider that the violent acts committed by Bin Laden, and terrorists like him, are reactions to American foreign policy. (For instance, Bin Laden has said outright that America's role in the Israel-Palestine conflict is what brought on September 11.) In a way, all we did yesterday was kill a monster we had a big hand in creating, while totally ignoring the major issues at the root of that monster's evil.

I also can't help but feel strange watching Americans run wild in the streets to celebrate a successful so-called "kill mission." In 2004, Americans were rightly outraged when a mob in Fallujah, Iraq, executed four U.S. contractors and burned their bodies in the streets, hooting and hollering and reveling in the deaths as they hung the charred corpses from a bridge. It was disgusting and reprehensible, but compare that behavior to what went on in Washington, D.C. A friend of mine overheard people gathered in front of the White House say things like "I want to wipe my balls on Osama's beard" and "I'm going to piss on his grave."

Then there's Emily Miller, the Washington Times' op-ed editor, who today tweeted, "I've never been so excited to see the photo of a corpse with a gunshot wound through the head." Of course, Miller should know that the picture she saw was probably a fake, but her sentiment suggests she would have fit right in at this "Osama's dead flash mob" at the University of Delaware on Sunday night:

Where is the patriotism in finding joy from gory photos? Where is it in "partying" at Ground Zero or the University of Delaware? What's particularly American about making out with your girlfriend at news of an assault that left dozens of people in a third-world country dead?

I'm happy that Osama Bin Laden is gone. He unabashedly dedicated himself to the wanton destruction of people around the world—remember that not just Americans are killed by terrorists—and the likelihood of him ever stopping that pursuit was nil. Still, in America, where we're taught from a very young age to not kick your enemies when they're down, all this chest-thumping in the wake of a man's execution seems misplaced at best, especially among "progressives."

American citizens often like to think of themselves as good Christians—decent, kind God-fearing people who defend what's right even when that's difficult, just as Jesus would have. Last night was an opportunity to live up to that ideal, to let the world know that we are powerful but we're not drunk with power. Instead, we got wasted and said we wanted to rub our balls on Osama's dead face, belying American exceptionalism by not acting exceptional, but entirely common.

I'm taking another trip to Hawaii later this month, and odds are I'll end up at another gun range. If I do, you can bet I won't be opting for the Osama target. That joke isn't funny anymore, and it probably never was.

12:08 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  Please be seated. On behalf of Michelle and myself, welcome to the White House.  To our many guests from Hawaii, aloha.  And thank you, Chaplain Carver, for that wonderful invocation.

I think we can all agree this is a good day for America.  Our country has kept its commitment to see that justice is done. The world is safer; it is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Today, we are reminded that, as a nation, there’s nothing we can’t do —- when we put our shoulders to the wheel, when we work together, when we remember the sense of unity that defines us as Americans.  And we’ve seen that spirit -— that patriotism -— in the crowds that have gathered, here outside the White House, at Ground Zero in New York, and across the country -- people holding candles, waving the flag, singing the National Anthem -- people proud to live in the United States of America.

And we’re reminded that we are fortunate to have Americans who dedicate their lives to protecting ours.  They volunteer.  They train.  They endure separation from their families.  They take extraordinary risks so that we can be safe.  They get the job done.  We may not always know their names.  We may not always know their stories.  But they are there, every day, on the front lines of freedom, and we are truly blessed.

I do want to acknowledge before we begin the ceremony two individuals who have been critical as part of my team who are here today:  First of all, I think somebody who will go down as one of the finest Secretaries of Defense in our history, Secretary Bob Gates, who is here.  (Applause.)  And sitting beside him, someone who served with incredible valor on behalf of this country and is now somebody who I think will go down as one of the greatest Secretaries of Veterans Affairs in our history -- Eric Shinseki.  (Applause.)

Now, I have to say that as Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform.  That is true now, in today's wars.  It has been true in all of our wars.  And it is why we are here today.

Long ago, a poet of the First World War wrote of the sacrifice of young soldiers in war:

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Today, we are joined by two American families who six decades ago gave our nation one of their own —- Private First Class Henry Svehla and Private First Class Anthony Kaho’ohanohano.

They did not grow old.  These two soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice when they were just 19 and 21 years old.  Age did not weary them.  In the hearts of their families, they remain forever young —- loving sons, protective brothers, hometown kids who stood tall in America’s hometown -- in America’s uniform.

Today, we remember them.  And we honor them with the highest military decoration that our nation can bestow -- the Medal of Honor.  In so doing we also honor their families, who remind us that it is our extraordinary military families who also bear the heavy burden of war.

We are joined by members of Congress who are here.  We very grateful for you.  We are also joined by leaders from the Army and our Armed Forces, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and the Vice Chairman, General Jim “Hoss” Cartwright.  Where -- there they are right there.  (Applause.)

And this is not in the script, but let me just acknowledge that without the leadership of Bob Gates, Mike Mullen, Hoss Cartwright, today and yesterday would not have happened.  And their steadiness and leadership has been extraordinary.  I could not be prouder of them, and I am so grateful that they have been part of our team.  (Applause.)

I especially want to welcome some of those who fought so bravely 60 years ago —- our inspiring Korean veterans -- Korean War veterans who have made the trip here.  And I also want to acknowledge those who are welcoming two more American heroes into their ranks -- members of the Medal of Honor Society.  Thank you so much for your presence.  (Applause.)

This past November, I paid a visit to South Korea -- a visit that coincided with the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, as well as November 11th, Veterans Day.  And I was privileged to spend part of the day with our troops and with dozens of veterans of the Korean War -- members of a generation who, in the words of their memorial here in Washington, fought for “a country they never knew and a people they never met.”

It was a generation that included Private First Class Anthony Kaho’ohanohano.  Tony grew up in Hawaii, in Maui.  He learned early that we have a duty to others -- from his father, a dedicated police officer, and his mother, who devoted herself to their nine children.  Tony was a tall guy.  He loved Hawaii, swimming in the ocean, playing basketball —- sounds like my kind of guy.  (Laughter.)  His siblings remember him as the big brother -- quiet but strong -- who took care of them, stood up for them in the neighborhood, and who would treat them to ice cream.

Tony’s loyalty to family was matched by his love of country -- even though Hawaii wasn’t even a state yet.  By September 1951, the Korean War had been raging for more than a year, and Tony was part of the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, which had been fighting for strategic hills that could shape the course of the war.

His squad was near a village called Chupa-ri when they came under a ferocious attack.  With the enemy advancing, with his men outnumbered, Tony made a decision.  He ordered his squad to fall back and seek cover.  And then Tony did something else.  He stayed behind.  Machine gun in hand, he laid down fire so his men could get to safety.  He was one American soldier, alone, against an approaching army.

When Tony was wounded in the shoulder, he fought on.  He threw grenade after grenade.  When his weapon ran out of ammunition, he grabbed another.  And when he ran out of ammo, he reached for the only thing left -- a shovel.  That’s when the enemy overran his position.  And in those final moments, the combat was hand to hand.  

It was that bravery -- that courage -- of a single soldier that inspired his men to regroup, to rally and to drive the enemy back.  And when they finally reached Tony’s position, the measure of his valor became clear.  After firing so many bullets, the barrel of his machine gun was literally bent.  But Tony had stood his ground.  He had saved the lives of his men.

After his death, Tony was awarded the Army’s second highest award for valor -- the Distinguished Service Cross.  But his family felt he deserved more.  And so did Senator -- and World War II vet -- Danny Akaka.  We’re honored that Senator Akaka has joined us, as well as Mazie Hirono.  And obviously we are extraordinarily grateful that we’re joined by another Senator and a Medal of Honor recipient, Dan Inouye.  Thank you so much for your presence.  (Applause.)        

Now, Hawaii is a small state, but the Kaho’ohanohanos are a very big family.  In fact, I went to high school with one of their cousins, Whitey.  Tell Whitey I said, “How’s it?”  (Laughter.)

This is a remarkable family.  Service defines them. Tony’s father and all six sons served in the military.  Another member of the family has served in Afghanistan.  Nearly 30 members of the family have traveled from Hawaii to be here, including Tony’s sister Elaine and brother Eugene.

For the sacrifice that your family endured, for the service that your family has rendered -- thank you so much.  Mahalo nui loa.

I would ask that you all join me in welcoming Tony’s nephew George, who worked for many years to get his uncle the honor that he deserved.  George.  (Applause.)

MILITARY AIDE READS THE CITATION:  The President of the United States of America, authorized by act of Congress,     March 3, 1863, has awarded, in the name of Congress, the Medal of Honor to Private First Class Anthony T. Kaho’ohanohano, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.

Private First Class Anthony T. Kaho’ohanohano, Company H, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy in the vicinity of Chupa-ri, Korea, on one September 1951.  On that date, Private First Class Kaho’ohanohano was in charge of machine-gun squads supporting the defense positioning of Company F when a numerically superior enemy force launched a fierce attack.  Because of the enemy’s overwhelming numbers, friendly troops were forced to execute a limited withdrawal.  As the men fell back, Private First Class Kaho’ohanohano ordered his squad to take up more defensible positions and provide covering fire for the withdrawing friendly force.

Although having been wounded in the soldier during the initial enemy assault, Private First Class Kaho’ohanohano gathered a supply of grenades and ammunition and returned to his original position to face the enemy alone.

As the hostile troops concentrated their strength against his emplacement and in an effort to overrun it, Private First Class Kaho’ohanohano fought fiercely and courageously, delivering deadly accurate fire into the ranks of the onrushing enemy.

When his ammunition was depleted, he engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat until he was killed.  Private First Class Kaho’ohanohano’s heroic stand so inspired his comrades that they launched a counter-attack that completely repulsed the enemy.

Upon reaching Private First Class Kaho’ohanohano’s emplacement, friendly troops discovered 11 enemy soldiers lying dead in front of the emplacement, and two inside it, killed in hand-to-hand combat.

Private First Class Kaho’ohanohano’s extraordinary heroism and selfish devotion to duty are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, the 7th Infantry Division and the United States Army.

(The Medal is presented.)  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  About the time that Tony was inspiring his men, another young soldier was joining up with the 7th Infantry Division in Korea -- Private First Class Henry Svehla.  He grew up in New Jersey.  He loved fishing on the Jersey shore.  He was one of six kids and the youngest son, but the one who seemed to take care of everybody else.

His sister Dorothy remembers how their mom would be in the kitchen, at the end of a long day, trying to cook dinner for six kids.  Henry -- a teenager -- would walk in, grab his mother’s hand and dance her around the kitchen. “If anybody needed him,” said Dorothy, “Henry was there.”

And he was there for America, in Korea, as the war neared its third and final year.  Henry knew the dangers.  And in one of his last letters home, he wrote, “I may not return.”

That June of 1952, the heat was unbearable.  The monsoon rains and mosquitoes were relentless.  But the 7th Infantry Division pushed on -- probing enemy lines, fighting bunker by bunker, hill by hill.  And as Henry and his company neared the top of one hill, the rocky slopes seemed to explode with enemy fire.  His unit started to falter, and that’s when Henry made his move.

He stood up.  He looked ahead.  And he charged forward into a hail of bullets.  Those who were there describe how he kept firing his weapon, kept hurling grenades, and how -- even after being wounded in the face -- he refused medical attention and kept leading the charge.

That’s when an enemy grenade landed among his men.  Every human instinct, every impulse, would tell a person to turn away. But at that critical moment, Henry Svehla did the opposite.  He threw himself on that grenade.  And with his sacrifice, he saved the lives of his fellow soldiers.

Henry Svehla’s body has never been recovered.  That’s a wound in the heart of his family that has never been fully healed.  It’s also a reminder that, as a nation, we must never forget those who didn’t come home, are missing in action, who were taken prisoner of war -- and we must never stop trying to bring them back to their families.

Henry was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, but his family believed that he had earned this nation’s highest military honor.  They contacted their congressman and his staff, who made it their mission, and we thank Representative Bill Pascrell for making this day possible.

Henry’s parents and brothers did not live to see this day, but two of his sisters -- Dorothy and Sylvia -- are with us.  Dorothy, Sylvia, you remind us that behind every American who wears our nation’s uniform stands a family who serves with them. And behind every American who lays down their life for our country is a family who mourns them, and honors them, for the rest of their lives.  Every day, for nearly 60 years, you have lived the poet’s words:

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

And so I want to conclude today by inviting everyone to join me in welcoming Henry’s sister Dorothy to the stage for the presentation of the medal.  (Applause.)

MILITARY AIDE READS THE CITATION:  The President of the United States, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded, in the name of Congress, the Medal of Honor to Private First Class Henry Svehla, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity and the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.  Private First Class Henry Svehla distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifleman with F Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in Pyongony, Korea, on 12 June, 1952.

That afternoon, while Private First Class Svehla and his platoon were patrolling a strategic hill to determine enemy strength and positions, they were subjected to intense enemy automatic weapons and small arms fire at the top of the hill.  Coming under heavy fire, the platoon’s attack began to falter.  Realizing the success of mission and the safety of the remaining troops were in peril, Private First Class Svehla leapt to his feet and charged the enemy positions, firing his weapon and throwing grenades as he advanced.

In the face of this courage and determination, the platoon rallied to attack with renewed vigor.  Private First Class Svehla, utterly disregarding his own safety, destroyed enemy positions and inflicted heavy casualties, when suddenly, fragments from a mortar round exploding nearby seriously wounded him in the face.  Despite his wounds, Private First Class Svehla refused medical treatment and continued to lead the attack.

When an enemy grenade landed among a group of his comrades, Private First Class Svehla, without hesitation and undoubtedly aware of extreme danger, threw himself upon the grenade.  During this action, Private First Class Svehla was mortally wounded.  Private First Class Svehla’s extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.

(The Medal is presented.)  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Let’s give both families a big round of applause -- (applause) -- for Anthony and for Henry.  (Applause.)
CHAPLAIN CARVER:  Please join me in prayer.

Gracious God, you’ve stirred our hearts once again today as we’ve heard the accounts of two great American soldiers, who valued the lives of those under their care more than their very own.

You’ve told us in the Holy Scripture that there’s no greater love than this.  And so, would you etch this eternal truth in our own hearts as we carry out our responsibilities to you, our families and our great nation.

Bless the young men and women of our armed services, who walk in the footsteps of both Anthony and Henry, protecting and defending our lives in freedom’s cost.  And, Lord, continue to bless, empower and give great wisdom to our President, Barack Obama, as he leads our nation in these challenging times.

And God bless America.  In your holy name, we pray.  Amen.

AUDIENCE:  Amen.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much, everyone.  Please enjoy the reception.

And again, to the families, we could not be prouder of Anthony and Henry.  We are grateful for their sacrifice.  We are grateful for your sacrifice.  You have made this country safer.  Tony and Henry stand as a model of courage and patriotism.

God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America.  Thank you, everyone.  (Applause.)

END
12:32 P.M. EDT

Last week, a federal grand jury indicted four Washington men for illegally selling hundreds of firearms at gun shows without licenses, effectively profiting from gun sales while skirting federal laws that require licensed dealers to execute background checks and document to whom guns are sold.

David Devenny, 68, of Olympia, was arrested last November after selling a firearm to a convicted felon. He's been indicted for unlawful dealing in firearms and two counts of selling firearms to a prohibited person. In a press release, the Department of Justice states that Devenny allegedly admitted to undercover law enforcement officers that a gun he'd sold had been used to murder Officer Timothy Brenton on October 31, 2009. Devenny supposedly recalled selling the gun at a gun show in Puyallup but didn't remember who'd purchased the weapon. Christopher Monfort goes on trial for the aggravated murder of Officer Brenton this year.

Along with Devenny, the grand jury indicted 56-year-old Belfair resident Roy Alloway for unlawful dealing in firearms; Bremerton man Kenneth Gussoni, 55, and Mark Skiles, 46, of Belfair, were each indicted for conspiracy to unlawfully deal in firearms and one count of unlawful dealing in firearms.

A lengthy investigation of Western Washington gun shows conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found that none of the men indicted held a current Federal Firearms Dealer License, which mandates that dealers complete background checks on potential buyers and document gun sales (which helps law enforcement trace guns used in crimes).

Private collectors can sell guns from their personal collection at gun shows without becoming licensed dealers. However, indictment documents state that these men would buy hundreds of guns from licensed gun dealers, hold the guns for short periods of time—from days to weeks—and then re-sell them at gun shows.

During the investigation, 229 guns were seized, including three machine guns. Agents also seized military grade explosives, grenades, a silencer and tear gas pen guns. The indictment seeks to forfeit these items to the government.

The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on May 9, 2011.

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DJ Drama vlogs for his new website, DramaLikeTheDJ.com. Machine Gun Kelly also performed. Previously: DJ Drama ft. Wiz Khalifa, Fabolous & Roscoe Dash – Oh My (CDQ)

A forensic expert testified Monday there is no evidence that a machine gun carried by an Idaho soldier caused the death of an Afghan civilian in January 2010.

Tearist
Living: 2009 - Present

[Thin Wrist; 2011]

by Rowan Savage

The Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain are a pair of replica 18th-century merchant sailing vessels. The Lady Washington portrayed the HMS Interceptor in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and also appeared in Star Trek Generations. Their home port is in Aberdeen, Washington, but this weekend they were visiting Rainier, Oregon. As it happens, I'm considering setting my next novel aboard an 18th-century sailing vessel, so for research purposes Kate and I drove up to Rainier to experience one of their "Battle Sails," in which the two ships shoot at each other with real black powder. It was a great day for a sea battle, with temperatures in the fifties, lightly overcast, and just enough wind for sailing.

There were about 40 of us passengers all told, about 10 of them small children who had come to sail on the "pirate ship." As it happens, the Chieftain was unable to carry passengers at this time due to generator issues (though she was still able to sail and fight) so we all piled onto the Lady Washington. It was a little crowded but not unreasonably so.

The crew numbered 11: the captain decided where the ship should go, manned the tiller, and gave high-level instructions to the first mate; the first mate turned those instructions into detailed commands for the hands who actually set the sails; the engineer was in charge of the diesel engine (which we used only when docking; in the 18th century a ship like this would almost always have anchored offshore) and when under sail was the most experienced hand; the steward was in charge of herding the passengers and also acted as gunner; and seven hands clambered about and hauled on ropes as directed. This complement is fairly similar to the size of crew the ship would have had when hauling cargo in the 18th century.

I noted that there were neither NO STEP signs nor friction strips anywhere on the vessel; any approximately horizontal surface was fair game for being clambered upon.

All of the crew were dressed in a rough approximation of period costume, accessorized with safety harnesses and other modern practicalities. Several of the hands wore Vibram shoes with individual toes, which seemed a reasonable accomodation to soft modern feet. The captain and engineer were in their thirties, I'd say; all of the rest were college-age and I believe all of the hands were volunteers who were paying for the privilege of working and learning aboard. The youngest and least experienced hand had been on board for three days. Three of the hands were women, as was the first mate (who was addressed by the captain as "madam mate") and short Mohawks were popular with both sexes.

The ship herself was also a compromise, being equipped with a diesel engine, radar, life jackets, and other modern features, as well as bunks with a lot more than eighteen inches per crew member. I'm glad we were on the Lady Washington rather than the Hawaiian Chieftain, as the latter vessel is both based on a more recent original and is less authentic in many of her appointments.

The captain, a skinny somber fellow who advised a small child to get away from the tiller because "there's two hundred tons of ship pushing that rudder around, and I've seen men's femurs get snapped right in half" and remarked "madam mate, see to it that doesn't happen again," was an interesting contrast to the first mate, all grin and aviator sunglasses, who said things like "awesome!" and "set the jib, question mark?"

I wish we'd been given a little more information than the basic safety drill (how to put on the life jackets and when to put your fingers in your ears). I did pick up a few words of sailor-ese, but I never got a very good understanding of how the mate's shouted commands translated into the motions of the sails, never mind how those motions translated to the ship's heading and velocity. The crew climbed up into the rigging to unfurl and furl the sails at the beginning and end of the voyage; the rest of the time, all but one of them spent their time running back and forth between four stations on the deck, hauling on ropes to turn the sails around the axes of the two masts. The one remaining hand was entirely responsible for all of the sails at the front of the ship, which kept her very busy; apparently this was a rite of passage. Those motions of the sails, plus the tiller, were sufficient to direct the ship into a favorable position to fire on the other ship while avoiding being fired upon. Even though the wind was quite light, only about 8 MPH, when the sails were turned to catch it, the ship gave a very perceptible lean and surge -- a thrilling moment.

Combat for this type of small merchant ship does not resemble the massed broadsides you've seen in the movies. She was equipped with two deck guns, each about two and a half feet long and firing a three-pound ball, plus two small swivel guns at the back. Our single gunner, carrying a satchel of black power and a slow match, ran to whichever gun was closest to the enemy, loaded it, and fired at the captain's command (which was generally "as they bear"). These little three-pounder guns (by comparison, the guns in Master and Commander were eighteen-pounders) were enough to make a noise and do a little damage -- hopefully enough to scare off any seagoing predators. Our main battle tactic was to try to get directly ahead of the other ship, where she had no guns, while attempting to get into a position where we could fire a "raking" shot down the length of the other ship. It was also useful to get upwind of the other ship, stealing the wind she needed to maneuver. Between the maneuvering and the time for the gunner to prepare the guns, each ship got off a shot every five to fifteen minutes; it was a duel, not a slugfest.

The two ships were firing blanks -- just black powder, no cannonballs -- at each other. We were instructed to plug our ears for the shot (and it was damn loud; I can't imagine the noise of a broadside of eighteen-pounders) and then listen for the echo. A quick echo back from the other ship was counted as a hit; a delayed echo from the far shore was a miss. There was definitely a difference in the sound between the two. When the other ship shot at us, meanwhile, we could tell when the shot was about to come because we could see and hear them preparing it. Apart from all the yelling and gunfire, sailing ships are quite quiet.

The 18th-century sailing vessel was the most complicated machine of its day. There were hundreds of different ropes, every one of them had a specific purpose, and the crew had to know the vocabulary, leap into action, and execute the commands with precision and alacrity, or else lines would foul, sails would collide, and the ship would lose way -- a sitation difficult to recover from. In other words, it was a lot like square dancing.

Unlike square dancing, however, the crew was expected to repeat back every command even as they began to execute it, and also to announce changes in status such as opening hatches and returning to deck after going aloft (e.g. "back on deck, three in the fore" meaning that there were three hands still aloft on the foremast). These formalities were strictly observed even though it didn't seem that anyone was listening. At one point, when a hand landed on the deck, he looked up and announced "back on deck... can't tell." I don't think anyone other than Kate and I laughed.

Lady Washington was handicapped with several inexperienced hands, in addition to the passengers getting in the way, and when we returned to port the captain announced that "if we all had fun, then everybody won" -- in other words, we lost the battle badly, and if this had been an actual emergency we would have been disabled, boarded, and taken prisoner. (The goal was never to sink the enemy ship -- whether pirate or navy, there was always more money to be made by capturing it in usable condition.)

Now I have a real understanding of why the officers always stand on the elevated quarterdeck at the back of the ship. Because of its position and elevation, it has the best view of what's going on both onboard and out on the sea. From there you can see if lines or sails are fouled, if hands are in the wrong place, and where the other ship is. The crew, on the other hand, doesn't need this information and in fact may be better off without it. At one point, during a brief lull in the action, the engineer paused in coiling ropes and idly wondered aloud where the other ship was. I said to him "you don't really have to know, do you?" He grinned and said "Naw, all I have to do is pull on whatever rope the guy in the funny hat tells me to."

This little trip was nothing more than a taste of an approximation of an 18th-century sea battle, but we had fun and I got some sensory details that I can probably use in my writing. If nothing else, it provides a solid real-world structure on which we can hang the imagery when we read the Aubrey/Maturin novels.

 

 

 

ThinkProgress filed this report from Pittsburgh, PA at the NRA’s annual convention.

President Obama has repeatedly said, while campaigning for the White House, and as president, that he firmly supports Americans’ right to own guns. As recently as last March, the subject came up during a press conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon because of the large flow of American-made weapons going to drug cartels there. “I believe in the Second Amendment,” Obama said. “It does provide for Americans the right to bear arms for their protection, for their safety, for hunting, for a wide range of uses.”

Yet, the National Rifle Association instructs its members not to believe Obama’s words. Based on interviews ThinkProgress conducted with NRA members at the group’s annual conference in Pittsburgh this weekend, their strategy is working quite well:

ThinkProgress also talked to gun industry CEOs Ronnie Barrett and Pete Brownell, who are both on the NRA’s board of directors (listen to clips of the interviews here and here). Predictably, Barrett and Brownell said they don’t think Obama believes in the Second Amendment, but they couldn’t offer any evidence to support that view.

Even though gun regulations have actually loosened since Obama took office, Brownell wasn’t buying it. “I wouldn’t argue that,” he said. And when asked for specific pieces of legislation that have restricted gun rights, Brownell paused and then simply said, “The NRA has done a great job making America aware of what legislators are trying to do in banning firearms.”

As for Barrett, he outright acknowledged that the “perception” that Obama doesn’t support gun rights “goes a long way”:

TP: So you said that actions are different than words, in terms of what Obama said about the Second Amendment. Have you seen any action that maybe perhaps leads him away, leads you to believe that he doesn’t support it?

BARRETT: I have but I’m not ready to get into that right now. I just don’t feel real good about it and perception goes a long way doesn’t it.

Indeed, that perception does go a long way, as the NRA has benefited significantly increased membership since Obama took office. Richard Feldman, a former NRA insider, said that the NRA’s main target is “its members checkbooks.” “Today,” Feldman wrote in 2007, “the association’s primary business is fundraising. And nothing keeps the fundraising machine whirring more effectively than convincing the faithful that they’re a pro-gun David facing down an invincible anti-gun Goliath.” And for now, that invincible anti-gun Goliath is President Obama. Indeed, NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said this weekend that “Obama will wait until a second term frees him from political concerns to gut Second Amendment rights.”

Please please please don't let this give “The Human Centipede” creators any ideas. Plain weird, surreal and somewhat disturbing!

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As with every major show, Bloody Elbow will be here to bring you live results, play by play and commentary for UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields. The live blog will start with the beginning of the Facebook undercard stream (6 p.m. ET), continuing through the Spike TV undercard broadcast (8 p.m. ET) through the pay-per-view (9 p.m. ET) so make sure to make Bloody Elbow your home for this event.

The event is headlined by a UFC welterweight title bout between champion Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields. A second title fight is on the card as UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo steps into the UFC Octagon for the first time ever to take on Mark Hominick. The other featured bout of the evening is what Randy Couture has called his final match before his retirement as he takes on Lyoto Machida. There are nine other bouts that will round out a very exciting night of action.

Hey, y'all. Mike Fagan here. I'll be guiding you through the Facebook prelims. Mr. Brent Brookhouse will take over from there. The stream should start in ten minutes.

Yves Jabouin vs. Pablo Garza

Round 1 - Facebook stream starts around the 3:10 mark of the fight. Garza misses with a right hand. He's throwing leg kicks. Garza loses his mouth piece, crowd boos. Jabouin lands a leg kick that sweeps Garza. Rogan notes that it left a welt. These two are trading leg kicks. Nice right-left from Jabouin. Garza landing knees to the midsection from the Thai clinch. He jumps into a triangle choke. He has it locked, but not tight enough to choke. Elbows to the head with a minute to go. Jabouin scrambles, but Garza ends up on top with the triangle intact. He's on his back again, trying to tell referee Yves Lavigne that he's out, but Jabouin moves to signal otherwise. Jabouin taps a moment later anyway.

Pablo Garza submits Yves Jabouin by triangle choke at 4:31 of round one.

John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson

Round 1 - Dan Miragliotta is the referee for this contest. My stream is stuttering, so bear with me. Watson misses with pawing jabs and straights. These two spend the first minute circling with Watson throwing more than Makdessi. Makdessi looks more comfortable at range, though. Makdessi counters a Watson leg kick with a left hand. Lazy shot from Watson goes nowhere. Watson lands a nice inside left kick. Nice little exchange. Makdessi jumps in with a stiff jab. Watson grabs the Thai clinch. He lands a couple of knees to the midsection while Makdessi throws punches over the top. Nice turning side kick from Makdessi. Makdessi opening up with flashy kicks now. One minute left in the round, and I'm looking at a 10-10 round. Miragliotta urges them to work. Nice left from Watson. Nice left from Makdessi. He counters when Watson comes in. Makdessi complains about an eyepoke, but the action continues.

Bloody Elbow scores the round 10-9 for John Makdessi.

Round 2 -I missed the first thirty seconds. This stream is really giving me problems. Makdessi lands a nice punch. Watson closes distance and lands a knee in the Thai clinch. Trading leg kicks. Watson lands a lead right, but Makdessi comes back with a left. Two straight rights land for Makdessi. Watson comes in, and Makdessi lands going backwards. Head kick from Watson, but he's looking outclassed here. Side kick from Makdessi. Watson shoots, and Makdessi tosses him aside. Watson needs to bring this fight to the floor. Watson throws a standing knee, but Makdessi counters with a lead hook. Watson lands a punch combination. Watson's spinning backfist misses. Makdessi hits a spinning backfist of his own. Nice left hand from Makdessi as Watson comes in. That landed solid. Right hand to the body from Makdessi. Side kick. STIFF jab lands. One minute to go. Watson needs to show urgency in bringing the fight to the floor. Hook kick grazes Watson's chin. Nice straight right from Makdessi as the round comes to a close.

Bloody Elbow scores the round 10-9 for John Makdessi.

Round 3 - Stream seems to have settled in. Makdessi comes out with the Ali shuffle. Side kick lands. Watson grabs a kick, pushes forward. Small scramble on the feet, but Watson ends up clinching on the fence. Makdessi works his way out. Watson's cut under his left eye. Lead hook from Makdessi. Straight right. Jab. Watson's done if he can't bring this fight down. HUGE SPINNING BACK FIST AND WATSON IS OUT. He's out cold. Miragliotta and the cageside doctor rush to his side. That's two straight impressive finishes to open the show. That landed right on the button.

John Makdessi knocks out Kyle Watson with a spinning back fist at 1:27 of round three.

Jason MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen

Round 1 - Herb Dean lording over the cage for this one. The crowd boos Jensen in the intros. I hope it isn't for the devil's lock he's rocking. Jensen comes in and swings wildly with a right-left. MacDonald latches on and presses him on the fence. Jensen drops down for a guillotine, adjusts, but MacDonald slips out. MacDonald takes the back. Jensen shakes him off, and ends up on top in guard. MacDonald's looking for a triangle, but Jensen has him pressed up against the fence. He has it locke dup. Jensen slams him down, but that just sinks it in tighter. Rogan calls the fight, and Jensen taps shortly thereafter.

Jason MacDonald submits Ryan Jensen by triangle choke at 1:37 of round one.

Ivan Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia

Round 1 - John McCarthy is the third man in the Octagon. Seeing Menjivar opposite Valencia really puts his forays at highers weights into perspective. These two circle and trade patient punches and kicks to start. Clinch. Trading knees. Ooooo. Nice left hand elbow. Valencia goes down, and Menjivar pounces. Machine gun punches force McCarthy to step in. Valencia gives us a couple of back flips to celebrate.

Ivan Menijvar stops Charlie Valencia with an elbow and punches at 1:30 of round one.

Claude Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts

Round 1 - Dan Miragliotta is our referee for this bout. Daniel Roberts comes out quick, allowing Claude Patrick to plant him on hte mat. Daniel working for a kimura from half-guard. Patrick is protecting the arm with his left leg. Roberts uses the position to work to his feet. Straight left from Patrick. Joe Rogan says Roberts' standup "is not that good." Leg kick from Patrick. Clinch. Roberts has Patrick up against the fence. After a dance around the Octagon, Patrick has reversed the position. As soon as I type that, Roberts turns and disengages. Roberts dives in with a combination that misses. Left straight from Patrick. Rogan notes that Patrick is taunting Roberts. Patrick has Roberts up against the fence again. Bodylock takedown. Roberts has half-guard with the knee in. Patrick looks for an arm triangle, but that allows Roberts to establish guard. Patrick stands up, Roberts follows, and that allows Patrick to step in and land. Big punches. Roberts offering nothing. Covering up and backing away as Patrick throws. Ten seconds left, and the round ends with Patrick pressing Roberts up against the fence. Huge call for "knees" from the 55,000 crowd.

Bloody Elbow scores the round 10-9 for Claude Patrick.

Round 2 - Leg kick from Patrick. Roberts catches another and pushes Patrick onto his back. Claude is able to sweep back to standing. Roberts has Patrick up against the fence. Patricks spins away from the fence and lands a big knee as the come apart. Roberts' Superman punch misses. Patrick shoots in for a takedown. Roberts struggles, but ends up on his back. Roberts has a hold of Patrick's neck, and uses the guillotine to sweep into side control. Short elbows to the head. Patrick regains half-guard. Short punches from Roberts. Full guard for Patrick. Roberts steps into half-guard. Patrick back up to his feet momentarily. Roberts drags him down and takes his back, but Patrick spins out. Standing now. Right hand from Patrick. Roberts slowing down. Lazy punches from Roberts.

Bloody Elbow scores the round 10-9 for Daniel Roberts.

Round 3 - Body kick from Roberts is the first effective shot of the round 30 seconds in. Superman punch lands for Roberts. Patrick looks fresher, but he's remaining patient. Patrick closes the distances and wraps his arms around the body. Trip takedown. Patrick climbing up, and he looks to be in full mount here. Daniel escapes back into butterfuly guard. Patrick looks calm on top. Left hand. Tries to get into side control, but allows Roberts to stand instead. Roberts shoots in, but Patrick defends. Roberts pushes him into the fence. Patrick defends, and he has Roberts up against the fence. Rogan notes that Roberts is allowing the round to be close. I agree. He should be way ahead, but he's in danger of one thing changing the course of the decision. Miragliotta breaks the action along the fence. Inside leg kick from Patrick. Front kick for Patrick. Roberts pushes ahead with a takedown attempt that misses. Patrick drops for a guillotine, which is a pretty bad decision with 15 seconds in the round.

Bloody Elbow scores the round 10-9 for Claude Patrick, and awards him the bout 29-28.

Claude Patrick defeats Daniel Roberts by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). 

Brent Brookhouse taking the live blog over for the rest of the night.

The Spike TV broadcast is now live.

Sean Pierson vs. Jake Ellenberger

Round 1 - Both men miss their first few strikes. Right hand gets through for Ellenberger. Left hand lands for Ellenberger. Jake shoots in and has the takedown but it's against the fence and Pierson pops right back up. Ellenberger lands a hard flurry and forces Pierson to clinch out of necessity. Ellenberger lands a huge shot and Pierson goes stiff and drops to the ground. As he's on his way down from the left hand he eats several more punches before the referee stops the fight. Jake Ellenberger wins by KO, round 1.

Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald

Round 1 - MacDonald walking forward throwing kicks and straight punches but not landing. Leg kick by Rory lands. Again to the leg. Head kick by Rory misses but a follow up punch does not. Diaz throws and gets a right hand in. They exchange knees in the clinch. Rory drops down for a takedown, Diaz tries to reverse it and it's all null as they end up standing with neither man getting position. Superman punch gets in for MacDonald. Front kick by Rory lands nicely. MacDonald has Diaz on his heels and reacting more than engaging. Nice jab, knee and body lock by Rory. Leg kick on the way out and another leg kick. Diaz pushes him into the fence but they disengage and MacDonald lands another leg kick. 10-9 round for MacDonald.

Round 2 - Switch leg kick by Rory gets in and he pushes Nate into the cage. Right hand by MacDonald. Diaz attempts to shoot in and MacDonald turns his back into the cage. Takedown by Rory now and he is looking to work ground and pound but Diaz scrambles to his feet, eating a punch for his trouble. Another takedown for Rory and he postures up looking to land some shots. Again Nate gets up but again he eats the right hand. Diaz manages to land a few short punches in the clinch but does end up eating an uppercut. Nice right hand gets in for Nate now. Diaz pushing him into the fence now and landing some shoulders and an attempted trip but Rory stays upright. Superman jab gets through and Diaz slaps back with the right hand. Nice shoulder in the clinch again by Diaz and he drops looking for a takedown but gets pulled back up. Flying knee by Rory and a jab that lands and that will cement the round even with Diaz's charge over the second half. 10-9 MacDonald to make it 20-18.

Round 3 - Leg kick lands for Diaz and a right hand gets through for MacDonald. Right hand and a body clinch by Rory. He's holding Diaz against the cage and Diaz responds with short punches to the body and thigh. After a scramble it's MacDonald with a huge slam and punches. They stand up and Rory slams him back to the mat from behind. Diaz is stuck on his back eating big punches but he manages to stand up. Rory slams him right back down and Diaz manages to stand back up. Diaz pushes MacDonald into the cage but gets turned around. Diaz shoots and gets stuffed and eats a few punches before standing back up. Diaz can't get the takedown and Rory ends up getting one of his own. Nice shots by Rory with the fists and elbows. Diaz has gotten trucked in a round he badly needed to take. 10-9 MacDonald and he has a shutout on my card.

Official Scorecards -30-26, 30-27, 30-26. Rory MacDonald wins by unanimous decision. Interesting to see two judges give him a 10-8 card.

The PPV broadcast is live.

Ben Henderson vs. Mark Bocek

Round 1 - Right hand by Bocek and he looks for the takedown and Henderson defends nicely. Henderson has Bocek pushed into the cage and he's working hard for position and lands a knee as Bocek tries to get off the cage. Body kick by Henderson lands and a right hand by Bocek. Henderson reverses Mocek into the cage yet again. Elbow lands hard for Bocek. Left hand lands for Henderson. Leg kick by Henderson now. Combo with a leg kick to punctuate it by Henderson and he's getting the better of the standing exchanges. Jocek looking for the single leg and eating a lot of punches before he sweeps the leg. Bocek keeping him on the ground landing short punches to the body. Henderson keeps trying to get to the cage and stand up but Bocek is controlling well. Elbows off his back by Henderson and he appeared to win the round. 10-9 Henderson.

Round 2 - Flurry by Henderson and Bocek looks for the takedown. Henderson landing a flurry of elbows to the side of his head while defending. Bocek with a takedown but Henderson uses the guillotine choke threat to get back to standing. Knee to the face from the clinch by Henderson. Two punches and a leg kick by Henderson. Henderson with a takedown now and he is looking to land some punches. Bocek looking for a leg lock and eats a flurry of punches. Bocek can't manage to finish the heel hook before Henderson gets to his feet. Bocek with a headlock and he tries to switch to an anaconda choke. Henderson survives and Bocek changes to a guillotine. Henderson gets out of a deep choke attempt and lands a flurry of shots, cutting Bocek's head open. 10-9 round for Henderson again.

Round 3 - Bocek is going to need a finish here unless the judges gave him the first for getting a takedown. Henderson with a leg kick and Bocek manages to get a takedown. He lands an elbow from the top and does some damage before Henderson gets the sweep and lands some heavy ground and pound. Bocek goes for a heel hook and gets the sweep. He almost takes the back but Henderson survives to standing and has Bocek pushed into the cage again. Bocek can't get the takedown and now Henderson briefly has one of his own. Henderson with a takedown and landing some short punches. Bocek dives for a leg trying to get top position. Good knees by Henderson and some hard punches. Bocek with a takedown into half guard. He has 30 seconds to find a way to finish. Bocek looking for a submission here from a choke but can't get it. 10-9 Henderson for the sweep on my card but I'm a little worried the judges will give it to Bocek on a few takedowns.

Official Scorecards: 30-27 across the board for Ben Henderson. Ben Henderson wins by unanimous decision.

Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz

Round 1 - Vlad with an early stiff looking combo and a right hand and Brilz goes down. A few hammerfists, Brilz goes out, another hammerfist wakes him up and the fight is over. Vladimir Matyushenko wins by TKO, round 1. Huh...there ya go.

New York Daily News

Atty: No indictment for NY teacher in gun rant Wall Street Journal AP NEW YORK — A grand jury has refused to indict a New York City teacher arrested after colleagues complained she made comments about bringing a gun to school to settle scores. Lawyer Andrew Stoll on Wednesday says charges against art teacher Sabrina ... Jury won't indict teacher who threatened to bring machine gun to school and ...New York Daily News No Indictment for Teacher Over Remark on Mass ShootingNew York Times all 36 news articles »

Hal Jordan is imagi-ring-ing a machine gun slash acceptable nightlight.

RedEaredSlider writes "The first ball at the Phillies-Brewers game will get thrown by a robot — but Roy Halladay's job is still safe. As part of an outreach program and the Phillies' 'Science Day At The Ballpark,' the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science is showcasing a robot made from a Segway and featuring an arm that acts more like a human throwing than an ordinary pitching machine. A pitching machine functions more like a gun, firing a baseball in what amounts to a straight line. But the robot has an armature connected to a hand that was specifically designed for throwing. Another thing the robot can do is identify the strike zone."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The other water bomb army won’t have a chance. Arm up in seconds! The Tie-Not is to water balloon wars what the invention of gun powder was to real wars: a total game-changer. The Tie-Not allows you to fill and tie water balloons in seconds. It’s so easy that it almost ...

Southern California punk rock legends Social Distortion will be celebrating the premiere of the new music video "Machine Gun Blues" tomorrow with a red carpet event in Hollywood that will be streamed live tomorrow night on RollingStonecom The stream will begin at 1115 pm ET kicking off with coverage of...

I know that I am just a carbon copy man And there isn't anything I understand.

BY NED PARKER | LOS ANGELES TIMES

MISRATA, Libya -- Misrata, the only rebel-held city in western Libya, has asked that NATO troops be sent to fight alongside rebels currently holding off Libyan forces, a local government representative said Tuesday.

"If they don't come, we will die," Nouri Abdul Ati, a member of the 17-member ruling body in Misrata, told reporters as heavy machine gun fire, rockets and mortars exploded in the near distance. "Grad rockets don't leave anybody alive," he added, referring to the truck-mounted rockets used by the Libyan military.

The local council in this besieged city sent its plea via letter a week ago to the national opposition government in Benghazi in Eastern Libya. The letter urged that NATO or U.N. troops be asked to defend Misrata against Moammar Gadhafi's forces, Ati said. The council has yet to answer Misrata's rebel officials.

"We need a force from NATO or the UN on the ground now," Ati said at a house set amid date palms, as the night's regular roar of heavy shelling commenced. "We did not accept any foreign soldiers on our land, but that was before we faced the crimes of Gadhafi."

But in Washington, State Department officials stated that the United States wouldn't be sending U.S. ground troops under any circumstance, adding that its European allies were free to do what they want.

Asked about a European Union plan to send ground troops to allow access for humanitarian aid, Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, said: "Our partners are sovereign nations and make their own decisions."

Ati said Misrata's rebels want the French and British military fighting alongside the informal Libyan paramilitary units.

He was emphatic that the city, assaulted on all sides by Gadhafi, was running out of time, as supplies dwindled and as the attacks killed and wounded more people. "We are asking on the basis of Islamic and humanitarian principles for someone to come and stop the killing," Ati said. Before the uprising, he headed Misrata's lawyers and judges union.

Doctors in Misrata have estimated the siege-related death toll in the city at 1,000, including 600 at hospitals and others not brought by families to the morgue.

"The whole Arab world is calling for intervention of the West for the first time in history," he said. "We don't have a problem in principle with the West in Misrata. We know they want the oil of Libya. So what, we will sell them the oil."

Misrata, the third-largest city in Libya, has been bombarded for nearly two months by Gadhafi's forces.

epic fail photos - Machine Gun FAIL gif