"Convert or Else"

Fox News has a new report (Al-Qaeda’s # 2 releases new video calling for Americans to convert to Islam) that makes one wonder why anyone thinks that Al-Qaeda can be talked to. How do you compromise with a group that wants you to either convert or to die? How do you give in half way?

Here is another statement from the tape:

"Instead of killing yourself for Bush ... why not surrender to the truth (of Islam), escape from the unbedlieving army and join the winning side. Time is running out so make the right choice before it's too late,

"Time is running out"?

Mayor Bloomberg hit with second lawsuit

The settlements that Bloomberg has been getting so far are tiny and simply represent these stores getting rid of cases that involve significant legal costs. But Bloomberg might run into some trouble with a second lawsuit being filed against him and NYC.

Mayor Bloomberg has been hit with another lawsuit in connection with his campaign to crack down on illegal guns.

A South Carolina gun dealer became the second storeowner to sue after Mr. Bloomberg targeted it a few months ago in an undercover sting operation designed to stymie illegal gun sales.

The lawsuit, filed in South Carolina, seeks damages and claims that the city smeared the storeowner's reputation.

Meanwhile, a gun dealer in Queens targeted by the city's investigators, Michael Spallone, 41, pleaded guilty yesterday to disorderly conduct. Mr. Bloomberg touted that plea as a victory, saying it sends a strong message that "any violation of the law that allows illegal guns to flow onto our streets will be vigorously pursued."

The punishment, a $1,000 fine, was a slap on the wrist compared to the year in prison City Hall said the dealer was facing when it announced the charges just a few months ago. . . . .

Does Greenpeace ever get its facts right?

Here is a piece that claims that Greenpeace rarely if ever gets its facts correct:

Greenpeace recently released their "Guide to Greener Electronics," rating fourteen consumer electronics vendors. . . . . Do the claims have any merit? . . . . While the Greenpeace report attempted to rank vendors based upon useful and practical criteria, the actual scorecard and the methods used to collect information for their report were sloppy and incompetent. This should come as no surprise to anyone aware of Greenpeace activities. . . . .

Women Advance in Sweden (in hunting)

A record number of women are expected to take part in Sweden's annual moose hunt when it opens next week, with women now making up a quarter of those passing hunting exams, officials say.

Hunting is a hugely popular national pastime in Sweden, in particular the moose hunt, and is as much a part of life for the country's working class as it is for the rich.

Some 300,000 moose, or elk as they're known in Europe, roam Sweden's woods during the summer months, and about a third of those are killed off each autumn during the hunt.

"Society has changed over the years. Now people can pursue their interests, regardless of gender and there's nothing stopping them. Women have always been a part of the hunt but in a different way," Anja Kjellsson, a game manager in the northern county of Västerbotten and who runs a network for women hunters, told AFP. . . . .

Just do the numbers on this. 100,000 moose are killed for 8 million Swedes. For the US, that would mean the equivalent of 3.75 million killed.

"'Microstamping' Bill Defeated by California Assembly"

"(CNSNews.com) - A bill before the California Assembly that would have mandated the "microstamping" of semi-automatic handguns was defeated Thursday night."

The risks of ticket scalping

I don't think that this provides an efficiency explanation for banning ticket scalping, but innovations in fraud such as this will sure create a greater discount on scalped tickets.

Ticketmaster said Tuesday it had invalidated more than 1,000 tickets to concerts in Barbra Streisand's upcoming national tour after discovering they were bought with a stolen credit card then resold on the Internet.

In a posting on its Web site, the company warned fans they might have one of the canceled tickets if they did not buy directly from Ticketmaster or a venue box office. . . . .

By the way, I thought that she has had many times given her last public concert.

What is happening with gun crime in South Africa

This article is from last year, but it is still interesting.

Holmes said, adding: "Licensed firearms are not used in crime at any great rate."

Estimates of the number of illegal firearms in South Africa vary between 1 and 4 million, he said, but the real problem was from some 30,000-40,000 hardcore criminals using a small number of illegal guns.

South Africa began a firearms amnesty on January 1 that to date has netted about 13,000 weapons, but critics say most of the weapons handed in are old and would never have been used for crime.

"It's mostly been grannies and grandpas that are handing in weapons that are probably unusable anyhow," Willmers said. . . . .

Thanks to Guav for alerting me to this article.

Mayor Bloomberg interfering with enforcement of gun sale laws

More than three months after Mayor Bloomberg's announcement that he had sent private investigators into five states to catch gun dealers making illegal sales, he is refusing to turn over the evidence they've gathered to the federal agency that investigates illegal guns.

Analysts said the impasse may have slowed the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in its investigation of and possible action against gun dealers that broke the law.

The city won't turn over the evidence, which includes videotapes of gun dealers allowing so-called straw purchases of guns, until the ATF signs an evidence-sharing agreement that would prohibit the agency from "publicly disclosing evidence without notice and consent from the city," the mayor's criminal justice coordinator, John Feinblatt, said. . . . .

South Africa: And we think that our police have problems?

With the inability of police to protect people, you might think that there might be a little sympathy about letting people protect themselves with guns.

POLICE in South Africa, which has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world, have been told to ride donkeys or bicycles to crime scenes.

The advice, offered by a smiling Charles Nqakula, the country’s embattled Minister of Safety and Security, to a passing-out parade for new recruits, drew immediate criticism.

Mr Nqakula was responding to complaints that because his force was undermanned and underequipped, officers were often slow to reach the scene of a crime. “If you don’t have a car, ride a bicycle or a donkey,” Mr Nqakula told the newly qualified officers at the weekend. His remarks came after an upsurge in armed attacks and concern that the country’s criminals are better equipped than its police.

“This is typical of the complacency of a government which is no longer accountable to any except its own,” a spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Alliance said.

The South African murder rate is second only to that of Colombia and reported rape cases rank among the highest in the world. Residents are 12 times more likely to be murdered in South Africa than in the United States and 50 times more likely than in Europe. The issue of violent crime has resurfaced recently after the country’s successful bid to host the football World Cup in 2010 and growing concerns that the event could be tarnished by attacks on visitors unless the Government brings crime under control.

This week the Government bowed to criticism and announced a new drive against crime with the backing of big business. However, there are frequent complaints about long delays between reporting a crime and police arriving at the scene. Most ordinary South Africans say that there is a huge gap between the Government’s promised action and the reality on the ground. . . . .

Thanks for sending this, Dan GIfford.

One reason gun control isn't working in Canada

Police displayed dozens of guns seized earlier this month from a couple of Interlake men -- one of whom was subject to a 10-year weapons ban -- who, cops allege, were the source for a firearms trafficking ring that supplied organized criminals across Canada. . . . . .

Police also found a kilogram of cocaine and more than two pounds of marijuana . . .

Police allege that machining tools found at Evans' home were being used to make and refurbish guns which were then sold and eventually ended up in the hands of criminals across Canada. . . . .

As Rich, who provided me with this link, wrote: "Gun control will never succeed simply because guns can be manufactured at home with a few tools as illustrated in this article." Thanks for sending this, Rich.

Katrina residents have taken crime with them

New Orleans high crime rate has been transfered to other cities as its former residents have moved.

The murder rate in the Texan city has soared by almost 20 per cent since 150,000 Katrina evacuees arrived in August last year. According to police
statistics, they are involved - as victim or killer - in one of every five homicides.

In the gun stores and on the shooting ranges of America's oil industry capital, business is booming as fearful locals take their defence into their own hands and buy concealed weapons licences that allow them to travel armed. . . . . .

This is something that I don't believe that I have seen studied in an academic paper. Steve Bronars and I have a paper on geographical movement of crime in the May 1998 AER, but that is the closest thing that I know of.