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I was going to write about an article from the Roanoke Times (shout out to our homie at the Roanoke Times) about the history of toy guns and the new outcry being raised around the Nintendo Wii Zapper.
I even had a witty little intro about mistaking the Wii Zapper (pictured right) for a real gun during a home invasion. But I am just not up to it. I am feeling lousy, my writing (’cause I actually wrote it) was sub-par and not interesting enough to let anyone else read.
Instead, I am just going to post a link to the article here and let you decide for yourself about it. Just to give you an idea of my opinion, I think the quote, “Why don’t they enclose an application to the NRA in every box as well?…The marketing person who came up with this brainchild of an idea should be fired” is one of the more ridiculous I have read in a while. Go figure. It was said by some crazy grandmother from New Jersey.
Rather then get into a debate about whether toy guns are evil and lead to evil things, I’ll let you all make the call.
Though, while growing up, I had the original Nintendo Zapper, a plethora of toy water guns (before the days that required they be outrageous colors), and a bunch of Super-Soakers, I have yet to join the NRA, the Army, or go off on a massive shooting spree. But I must admit, I do enjoy a good water gun fight every now and again.
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I get such glee about reading about idiocy, usually while thinking “You must be f#cking kidding me!!”
And today we have a two-fer:
First up we’ve got a school district in Atlantic City, NJ that has suspended a seven year-old due to “the school’s zero-tolerance policy for guns.”
Now, guns in school are generally considered a bad thing, and I won’t argue with that. Even toy guns can send the wrong message, so I get the idea behind a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to guns.
And I mean, a seven-year-old, right? That’s just scary. Except, the seven year-old didn’t have a gun, or a toy gun, or pretend to have a gun, or even an have an imaginary gun. He drew a picture of a gun.
Read more »
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Remember when I wrote about the armed robots patrolling the streets in Iraq? Well, it might be time to start worrying about those machines.
Here’s the deal: “Many advanced military weapons are essentially robotic — picking targets out automatically, slewing into position, and waiting only for a human to pull the trigger.” Well, one of these robots, owned and operated by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), didn’t quite wait for a human to pull the trigger and started blasting away on its own.
During a shooting exercise, where they were using live ammo, an Oerlikon GDF-005, designed to take down airplanes and other small, low-flying air crafts, went out of control, firing “hundreds of high-explosive 0,5kg 35mm cannon shells” which killed 9 and injured 14 others.
Read more »
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You can’t make this up!
The NYTimes reports on the large peaceful uprising in Najaf.
The story includes this photo caption:
Col. Steven Boylan, an American military spokesman and aide to the commander of all American forces in Iraq, praised the peaceful nature of the demonstration, saying Iraqis “could not have done this four years ago,†the A.P. reported.
So…the peaceful nature of the protest is…wait for it!….wait for it!…evidence that our occupation has been fruitful! I love it!
I guess if the Iraqi rebellion were to build an atomic weapon and detonate it on a major U.S. city, the Bush administration would praise it as a sign of increasing Iraqi technological sophistication under our occupation! “It’s a clear sign that we’ve made inroads in improving the educational system,” says Col. Ima Flunky.
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So I came across a couple different things I wanted to write about. Let’s start with NYC. Has anyone else noticed that the city has been going back to its roots?
Breaking from the tourist-friendly location we have been developing into over the last 10 years in 2007 we have seen: Muggers punching grandmothers with walkers in the face; 13 year-olds killing other 13 year-olds on the playgorund; Cops shooting over 50 bullets into cars; Marijuana smokers shooting cops; 16 year-olds stabbed in Union Square (following December’s Union Square killing in an all-out brawl); Rats infesting restaurants. This year has, so far, been a local newscaster’s wet dream. All we need is a “Not Guilty” verdict from the Bell Trial and we could have rioting in the streets.
I am going to make some predictions here, let’s say there will be an increase in “news worthy” crimes for 2007, a slight drop in tourism and a call to arms to revitalize the police force in time for the next NYC elections.