Sakki, there's a LOT of anime fans in the military - nuff said.

Sure, there's that recent study that suggests more gun laws means criminals can't get guns and so forth, remember? The one that was making extraordinarily foolish assumptions and then trying to pass it off as truth to a public with the general mental capacity of sheep? Well, it sure didn't stop this guy from killing 4 of his co-workers. Especially with quite probably at least 1 illegal firearm in California - the one chambering 7.62x39.

There's only a couple guns out there that use that round - the Ruger Mini-30, the SKS, and the AK-47. The AK-47 has long been on the Roberti-Roos list as an "Evil Military-Style Weapon" and is forbidden from ownership in-state. The SKS has a very bad history in the state - namely, the CA Justice Dept said they were okay to own. Then they ordered the gun to be registered, without any explanation. Just a basic, straight-stock semiauto light .30 cartridge rifle, affordable, good quality if you can get Euro ones. Well, about a year later, the CA Justice Dept decided that ownership of the SKS was illegal because it was an assault weapon and that everyone has to turn it in. And, wouldn't you know it - we have this handy list of people who are OVERNIGHT CRIMINALS for owning a gun that was legal the day before. So yes, the CA government went to every residence that owned an SKS and confiscated it - those who wouldn't turn in their gun, citing their rights to own firearms, were arrested, tried, and convicted - even police officers. No care for casualties in a holy war against guns. The Ruger Mini-30 - functionally similar to the SKS - is (at the moment) legal to own, though that can change instantly at the whim of the Governor.

The suspect is also accused of wearing body armor - legal if you're an on-duty policeman or security guard. Otherwise, you can't even own it. That's right, the poor family who has to run the Stop & Rob on the corner isn't allowed to protect their lives with a simple 200 dollar bulletproof vest. So, the law-abiding citizen goes unprotected, while the criminal - again, BY NATURE, breaks the law, wears his body armor, and survives. All these laws just give the criminals more power because it sets a much greater gulf between the predator and their prey. You, the Good Guy, suffer the legal restrictions because you want to live within the American system of justice. The Bad Guy doesn't care one whit about the justice system, and holds it in utter contempt.

So, why did this new guy do it to his old co-workers? No clue. Well, maybe it might be akin to all those school shootings, because the other kids were mean and weren't nice to the shooters, and didn't respect them. That's it. It must be the bullies in the office, all that horrible disrespect and bullying going on at work. That's what we need to stop now. Let's go try that, march on the unions and on the downtown corporate areas to stop the bullies of the business world. Let's get the Million Two Thousand Mom Random People March in here and put an end to meanness and disrespect in the workplace. Milk and cookies for all, and let's make it a government subsidy too.

Some days, I really hate Americans.

Fae, I'm at work till 7pm my time, so if you want to stay up we can chat. Have some interesting stuff that I've been discussing with Christian friend at work. As for Hoffa...well, duh, of COURSE there's going to be a person's hair in their best-friend's car. People shed. It's a rather pointless piece of "evidence", really.

Akane, there may be another trip out that way in the near future, so hunt up dates for the next few mini-SF-cons. And this time take the day off anyways so we can go hit Little Tokyo, aiite?

Umm, Jey? Tonight, tomorrow, yes/no?

Very spiffity-cool layout, Gen-chan. *waves the FF:SW artbook around*

Not much in the news. Another boring Saturday. Boredom boredom boredom. I'm so bored I'm reading Frank Herbert's DUNE series, and I'm up to book 5.

Wow. The UN agrees that racism is bad. Whoopty doo.

In the meantime...well, got some discussion about the events in Ireland. Yes, way way back in history, it was an issue with the British Protestant invasion of Catholic Ireland. The Protestants were (and are) seen as traitors or invaders by the Catholics, and the Catholic Irish were seen (and treated as) heathens and savages. Hundreds of years ago. However, old passions apparently run very deep there, and nowadays the only difference seems to be the religious split, since there aren't many of the original British invaders left. But they still like fighting each other, rioting, and bombings.

Sure, the IRA is trying to fight for freedom for their own country - but, umm, boys, y'all lost the war. A long time ago. Protesting in front of a church school looks real stupid, especially when it's the same God you all believe in. Throwing explosives into the school designed to scare/injure/kill children going to learn about God - the same one you believe in - instantly brands you as the worst grade of terrorist. Didn't Jesus say "...but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea"? Follow His words, or rescind them.

And yes, there is nothing that angers me more than violence or crimes against children, especially any committed in His name. It's blaspheming directly against His words, and against who He is. And it's a perversion and corruption of the only innocence left in te world. Screw with kids and die.

Fae-chan, Monday and Tuesday again? Let me know your schedule.

Ragabash, umm, can stop by late tonight or meet you somewhere. Would like to have them over the weekend so I can get more work for sketches. Let me know.

Picked up the Final Fantasy: Spirits Within book yesterday. REALLY nice book. I like all the designs, and I like a lot of the alternate stuff. And, yes, I intend to start drawing again. Reading through this book, I'm learning a lot just looking at the pictures of the sketch art and how to make things look really good. Now, I just need good pencils. And more practice. Oh, TRB - it's not a SEBURO, it's a SONNET. Sure looked like it said Seburo, and it's darn well a copy of a Seburo gun with slight mods. If you're gonna steal, steal from the best...

More lies and confusion over the Social Security budget, namely that 10 billion dollars are getting pulled from the excess surpluses of the SoSec accounts. Considering that every administration and congress has always dipped into the Social Security coffers for funding, and that not a single person in Washington can actually show you just where the (I say it again) TWO THOUSAND BILLION DOLLARS - $2,000,000,000,000.00 - in tax money goes, I wouldn't believe anyone when they tell you that the Republicans are stealing money from the elderly and the sick, or that the Democrats are trying to short-change the military and education. This year the US Government took seven thousand dollars from every man, woman, and child, age 1 day to 130 years, to pay for itself. Again, I ask - WHERE is all that money going?

Speaking of money, we have a true corker for the day. Taco Bell/KFC franchise owner wins $1 million...in McDonald's contest. He held the door open for another customer coming in - a random act of kindness - and got tapped on the shoulder by the special prize team. Pays to be nice and also to shop at your competition, yes?

Japan, South Korea - BIG heads up with terrorist warnings against US military personnel/facilites. Threats are reportedly unconfirmed at this time, though I'd expect there's more truth than a prank phone call for the military to release the information. American forces in S. Korea and Japan are not on higher alert at this time, though.

Israel buys another 52 F-16s in addition to the 50 more ordered last year. The deal is another two billion dollars, in exchange for the attack aircraft, logistics (i.e. spare parts, etc), training, and US government support. The Israelis love these little planes to death, and they're most noted for use in the strike against Saddam Hussein's Osirak nuclear reactor, which utterly leveled the suspected nuclear weapons site with no casualties. Amazingly, 15 out of the 16 bombs went off within the reactor area (before the plant was fueled), and the 16th just so happened to penetrate a LOT of dirt and blow up in an underground machinery room. Because of that miraculous 16th bomb, the entire facility was 100% destroyed. The planes, it might be added, suffered no malfunctions and also went much farther than anyone said the fighter was capable of traveling on full tanks. I'd say that He provides in all sorts of ways.

And California gun laws show their "effectiveness" again, this time following a shooting in Simi Valley. Five shot, one boy, one girl, and one adult woman (ages not released) are dead, the two others badly wounded. Right now they're looking for Reynaldo Herrera Rodriguez, driving a dark blue Ford Explorer. Photo's up on the CNN site, if you see him call in the cops.

Anyone remember my comment about the madness growing?

In tech news...WIPO, one of four groups that is allowed to arbitrate disputes over posession of domains, is apparently trying to make itself a supergovernmental organization and will make it an autonomous legal entity within the internet. Namely, to have complete legal jurisdiction over whoever gives out the domain names for things like cities, geographical locations, and they're well known for giving in to celebrities, major corporations, and governments, rather than the regular person for disputed names.

Not much today. Have much running about to do later, so I'll cut it short this morning. And I can hear the "no novel today?" cheers already.

Oh this is cute. We need more licensing and registration for gun owners because it brings crime down. Yes! More laws! More legalities! More control!

Gee, doesn't THAT sound like the government we all know and love. Some selected commentary from the article shows a rather obvious bent to the "objective" journalist:

The idea of registration and licensing strikes most gun control advocates [emphasis added] as common sense. The National Rifle Association, however, does not share that attitude. The NRA website fiercely decries both licensing and registration as an infringement on Second Amendment rights. "Those who wonder what motivates American gun owners should understand that perhaps only one other word in the English language so boils their blood as the word ‘registration,’ and that word is ‘confiscation.’ Gun owners fiercely believe those words are ominously related." (We contacted the NRA for comment on this story, but they were unable to provide us with a response.)

"The gun lobby will argue: Laws don’t matter to criminals, they’re just going to get around the laws," says Webster. "It’s only infringing on rights of law-abiding citizens. There are a couple of responses to that argument. One, when you force criminals to go out of state, you increase the price of guns, sometimes substantially, not just in terms of actual price but in terms of time, risk and hassle. And two, this research seems to suggest that if broader laws were in place in more states, it would make criminals even less likely to own guns."

"We know from previous research that that there are some seriously shady gun dealers out there," he says. "In fact, we’ve found one percent of gun dealers sell more than one-half of guns used in crimes."

The car salesman who sells a car that is used for a kidnapping or smuggling drugs, can he be held responsible as well? Since he should have read the mind of the person buying the car, and realized what they were going to do with it? You want to talk about common sense, let's apply a little of it here, shall we?

Oh my god. Hewlett Packard is buying Compaq for 25 billion dollars in stock. In the face of flagging sales, the two companies announced the merger today as a way to consolidate and regroup, amidst companies like Dell, Sun, and IBM. Now, with the merger, Compaq/Hewlett Packard (CHP) is second only to IBM for computer manufacturers.

Here's a thought. If HP just developed a professional Linux distro, and now has bought Compaq, could CHP put out a computer that actually COMES with a non-M$ operating system? And I find it interesting that the two companies that are highest in the Anti-M$ cabal are merging quite out of the blue - perhaps they really ARE going to make a fight against Microsoft, and are really aligning to do it. It's a very interesting power shift among the makers, at least.

Daaaaah! Thank you W2! That is wicked spiffy kewl. And, Prometheus, I know how that deeper-than-the-bone-soul-tired can be...been there before. Just takes time and good friends, and a lot of rest...may you have much of all three. You can't help and save everyone, and it kinda grinds on you because you WANT to help your friends...it's just out of your power. Ne?

Ragabash, think we can use that pic there as a future layout idea? Haven't done a Bebop one yet...and umm, could you please change the layout for Viva Hate already? I'm starting...to get USED to it.

Yes, had much fun with Jey yesterday. She is officially a Bebop druggie, cacklegrin.

The madness is growing...

Wow. Cowboy Bebop on the Cartoon Network. The dub job is quite livable so far (only with Spike and Jet in the first 2 eps, will reserve judgement till ep5), they kept the opening and ending sequences perfectly intact (and even subtitled the closing theme, first in english and then in romaji for ep2), ALL the BGM music was kept intact, no edits were made for any reason, and they had one commercial break right in the middle. It was like watching the DVD with a pizza break right in between. Much sweet, and...Cartoon Network, we thank you for finally showing anime as it was meant to be seen. Sundays at midnight are two episodes of Bebop, and then the Adult Swim also runs Thursday nights as well.

Good article on Modern China and life over there. Thanks, Kristina.

It's already Tuesday in Japan. I'm STILL waiting for the model kits to quit processing and start shipping. Stickboy, if you get this, add the Swordfish II soon, maybe they can get it shipped out with the current box. Worth a try.

On that note, I take my leave for the day. It's Labor Day. Go forth and labor, so that I may enjoy my day off. Ragabash, will call you later to discuss plans.