On a Personal Note...

Just in case anyone besides me is interested in...umm...me, I decided to put a face to a name, and also tell you how to pronounce that name. I know I get preconceptions about people based on what I imagine they must be like, so I hope the grim reality doesn't alienate anyone.

First, my name is pronounced Ko'dree-yuh, with a long "o" and the accent on the first syllable. Kinda like "Gloria" ...

This picture is me and youngest son Qusay, taken around 5 years ago. I don't have a lot of pictures of me, because I'm always taking pictures of the monster and brother Uday, instead. I think I'm imitating Yul Brynner singing "Shall We Dance" from The King and I here, and the poor kid is too young to be embarrassed.

And finally, just in case anyone cares what I sound like, you can click here for my first (and last) attempt at audioblogging. When I hear myself, I can't believe that's what I really sound like, and vow to never speak again.

Anyway, this is me. I hope no one is overly disappointed.

What Have You Got to Hide?

I don't care personally if some governmental agency listens to our family's phone calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have nothing to hide. The surveillors may expire from boredom, but that would be their problem.--Pat Boone

The only individuals whose privacy would have been infringed by the bill would have been the privacy of people with something to hide from the police - people who arm themselves and then become a threat to public safety.--Brady Campaign

That's quite a difference in philosophy between "conservative" and "liberal," wouldn't you say?

Seminar Decries Rising Philly "Gun Violence"

Elected officials and community members gathered in Center City to try and stop the escalation of violent gun use in Philadelphia. It is an effort many are hoping will save hundred of lives.

This was definitely not supposed to happen.

Six years ago, NRA management promised:

"If you and your prosecutors stick to the simple, proven model of Richmond, the murder rate in Philadelphia will decline and your citizens will be safer."

What? "Project Exile" didn't make Richmond any safer, either?

It seems I've heard something about this before.

But where?

Ah well, what do the concerns of a lone blogger matter? It's not like anybody else ever warned against federalizing gun prosecutions...

Tags: gun control, NRA,

The Best Laid Plans

Hargreaves admits to being "devastated by the news" that the gun had been involved in a homicide and almost as devastated by the fact there is now a warrant out for his arrest for unsafe storage of those weapons -- despite the fact they were stored in a 771-kilo concrete-and-steel safe and that it took the industrious thieves two days using blowtorches and sledge hammers to gain access to it...

On July 23 of that year, one month after the on-duty murder of 25-year-old Const. Todd Baylis, Ontario became the toughest place in North America to buy ammunition as Bill 181 went into effect, requiring all ammunition retailers to keep records of all transactions -- the name and age of the purchaser, his or her address, the date and time, the type of identification used, plus any serial number and the type and quantity of ammunition purchased...

"They can be photocopied by a clerk running with a bad crowd. They can be sold for a price. Those books, quite often, are simply left on the counter," he says.

Another example of "gun control" giving criminals the advantage.

This is one hell of an article. It should be read far and wide. Kudos to Mark Bonokoski.

Tags: gun control, Canada

"Capital Gun Crime" Up 50%--In a Fashion

Record levels of gun crime are being blamed on the fact that more people than ever are carrying firearms as fashion accessories.

Bloody 'ell! You mean "gun control" doesn't work?

Blimey! First we're told it's the gun's fault, then "rap music" is the culprit, and now we're to believe it's fashion's fault...

Just don't suggest that subject disarmament and criminalizing victims who defend themselves might have anything to do with the sorry state of affairs...

Tags: gun control, UK

Eso No Computa

Mexicans are being invited to exchange their weapons for computers under a quirky new idea to curb rampant crime in Mexico City.

Authorities in one of the city's 16 districts are offering a new computer, out of 150 donated by a charitable foundation, for each gun handed in.

Well, this'll have absolutely no effect on violent crime, but it does sound like a great incentive for "authorities" to trade in confiscated weapons...

[Thanks to John Schaefer]

Tags: gun control, Mexico