Remington Arms Moving Out of New York

Thanks to hostile liberal anti-gun policies of New York state, another firearms manufacturing company is abandoning a northeast liberal state for more friendlier surroundings. 

First, it was Smith & Wesson leaving Massachusetts, now it is Remington. The company is heading to Georgia.

Law Enforcement Today reported:

ILION, NY- The residents of the small community of Ilion are discovering firsthand that the anti-gun stance adopted by New York's legislature would result in numerous job losses. This is evident following Remington's decision to relocate to Georgia, marking the end of over 200 years of the oldest firearms manufacturer's presence in New York, Fox News reported.

Ilion, located approximately 230 miles northwest of New York City, has been identified with Remington for over two centuries, and with the move, that history is now gone. 

“Two hundred and eight years of history. Gone…gone,” Ilion Mayor John P. Stephens told The New York Times. “Ilion is Remington. Remington is Ilion.” 

The move to relocate the remaining portions of the company shouldn’t come as a surprise since RemArms, the current version of Remington Arms, announced last year to union officials that the company would be pulling up stakes and ending New York manufacturing operations effective this March. The remaining operations are moving to Georgia, where company officials say the firearms industry is supported and welcomed. 

Residents of the small community are now bracing for life without Remington, which some say will take a part of the town’s identity with it. 

“When Remington leaves, it’s not going to be like a facility leaving, it’s going to be like part of your family has moved off,” said Jim Conover, a Remington retiree who started with the company in 1964, to the Associated Press. 

Last year, I bought my first Remington, a Remington Model 870 Express shotgun.

To read more, go here. 

Meanwhile, In Martha's Vineyard...

 Thanks to Bo Snerdley for posting this:

Martha's Vineyard Liberals

 Rush Limbaugh's former right-hand man Bo Snerdley posted this on Twitter:

Why "Red Flag Laws" Suck: Vet's Guns Confiscated Over A Misheard Conversation

If you thought that "red flag laws" are "reasonable", guess again!

Massachusetts has such a "license to snitch and confiscate" laws and an elderly veteran had his guns confiscated after a busybody waitress misheard a conversation.

WND reported:

There's no reason for Americans to fret over "red flag" laws that give sweeping gun confiscation powers to local governments, right? After all, if you're not a criminal, what's the problem? 

At least that's the general response voiced by many on the left whenever gun owners speak up. But a disturbing incident in Massachusetts is raising hard questions about those firearms seizure laws, especially when it comes to due process. 

According to LifeZette and The Martha's Vineyard Times, an 84-year-old veteran had his legally owned firearms confiscated by local police after a waitress misheard part of a conversation between him and a friend. 

To make matters worse, the vet was also reportedly fired from his position as a school crossing guard, which he used to keep busy after the death of his wife. 

"Stephen Nichols of Tisbury — in the Martha’s Vineyard area of Massachusetts — got the job as a crossing guard because he loves kids," LifeZette reported. "After his wife passed away, he reportedly needed something to occupy his time and his heart." 

Now he's fighting for his fundamental rights as an American. Nichols, a grandfather of 11, was apparently sitting in a local restaurant several weeks ago when he told a friend that he was concerned a school resource officer had been leaving for coffee and other errands instead of staying at the school. 

"Nichols said he was worried somebody would come in and 'shoot up the school' while the officer was out on one of his coffee runs," LifeZette said. "That’s the part of the conversation the waitress overheard — which she reported to the police."

Thankfully, he got his job back after a public outcry. I hope he gets his guns back and sues the crap out of that waitress for any expenses incurred over this travesty.

To read more, go here. 

Senator "Pocahontas" Warren's Texas State Bar Registration

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren's Texas State Bar registration form has been unearthed showing that she claimed to be "American Indian".

LifeZette reported:

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren indicated her race was “American Indian” in a handwritten registration form filed in 1986 with the Texas State Bar, according to a new report on Tuesday that documents the presidential hopeful’s efforts to identify as a minority during her earliest days as a law professor. 

The revelation, initially reported by The Washington Post, is the first known instance of Warren claiming Native-American ancestry in an official document or in her own handwriting.

To read more, go here.

Tokyo Is Heart of Constantly Intriguing Japan

Above, Asakusa's five storied pagoda, said to contain ashes of the Buddha. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Herald News of Fall River, Massaschusetts (when I read the town's name, my immediate thought was Fall River, New Jersey, where former President Richard Nixon last lived) has a good three-page overview of things to see and do in Tokyo.

They begin their article with:

Tokyo’s 13.2 million population makes it not only Japan’s largest city but one of the largest cities in the world. It is also a very new city. Virtually nothing still stands that was erected prior to a devastating 1923 earthquake and the bombings of World War II. 

Nevertheless there is a lot to see here, and the amazingly clean, moderately priced subway system that blankets the huge area lets visitors get around affordably and with ease. At its heart are 13 lines with 290 stations. Signage is in English as well as Japanese, restrooms are meticulously clean and shops in the stations selling everything from produce to luxury goods are beautifully maintained. 

Besides things to see and do in Tokyo, the article also discusses the city's transportation system, from subways to taxis.

And, the article suggests some side trips to neighboring Yokohama and to Kamakura.

See more at: http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20140113/NEWS/140119626/11757/LIFESTYLE#LIFESTYLE/?tag=1

Al Plastino Sues Heritage Auctions Over Superman-JFK Artwork

Above, the caption stating that the artwork would be donated to the Kennedy Library
 is missing from the image that was supplied by Heritage Auctions. It was a glue-on
 overlay that was removed. Note the residue from the glue on the panel at right. 

The next step in the ongoing controversy over the original artwork comic book artist Al Plastino drew 50 years ago has been taken.

Plastino filed suit with the New York State Supreme Court in New York County against Heritage Auctions over the artwork (10 pages) of the story, "Superman's Mission For President Kennedy." The suit demands that Heritage name the person putting up the disputed artwork up for auction.

For 50 years, Plastino believed the artwork was donated to the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, but they mysteriously turned up at a New York comic book convention last month.

According to the Dallas News:

Oak Lawn-based Heritage Auctions is holding a comic-art auction in Beverly Hills today. And that sale was scheduled to include 10 pages from Superman No. 170, which includes the story “Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy,” a rather unremarkable public-service announcement in which the Man of Steel encourages the nation’s youth to “close the muscle gap” by enlisting in the president’s Physical Fitness Program. 

But the lot has been pulled over a dispute over who owns — and who should own — the artwork. 

Heritage says it belongs to a private collector who bought it in 1993. But the man who drew it, 91-year-old Al Plastino, says it belongs to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. And he has filed suit to have it returned to its allegedly rightful owner. Plastino, who found out just last month it never made it to Boston, wants Heritage to name names.

Some have speculated that it was Curt Swan's original art that was to be donated, not Plastino's:

Some comic-book scholars speculate that the original artwork to which Weisinger was referring was done by Curt Swan, among the most famous Superman artists, and not Plastino.

The above was referring to then-Superman editor Mort Weisinger. Plastino told me a few weeks ago that Swan only drew a splash page, not a full story and that the Kennedy Library has no record of receiving any Swan artwork either.

Above, the published version.  Note the caption on the panel stating that it would go to the Kennedy Library.

This is looking more like the art was stolen. Why would the caption stating the artwork's planned donation be removed?

To read the full story, go here. 

Massive Police Operation Underway In Boston

The Washington Post reported the following:

AP: Massive police operation underway in Boston

Police say one of two suspects in the shooting of an MIT police officer is dead and a massive manhunt is underway for another, who is tied to the Boston Marathon bombing. 

Shortly after the MIT officer was shot Thursday night, police got a report of a carjacking in Cambridge, just outside Boston. 

Police say of the at-large suspect, “We believe this to be a terrorist.”

Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/police-converge-on-neighborhood-outside-boston-amid-reports-of-explosions/2013/04/19/8813d938-a8b6-11e2-9e1c-bb0fb0c2edd9_story.html

Boston Marathon Terror Attack

Thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families of the bombing attack at the Boston Marathon today.

The Reagan Foundation said it best:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone at the Boston Marathon today and their friends and families. 

As President Reagan once said, "Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors."

UPDATES:

From the Washington Post:

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis on Monday confirmed a third explosion at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, following two earlier blasts at the Boston Marathon finish line that killed at least two people. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/explosions-disrupt-boston-marathon/2013/04/15/2664e802-a600-11e2-8302-3c7e0ea97057_story.html

From the New York Post:

A 20-year-old Saudi national has been taken into custody as a suspect in the bombings of the Boston Marathon.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/authorities_under_suspect_guard_y2m8cJO29uC2PDGIjYBalO?utm_source=SFnewyorkpost&utm_medium=SFnewyorkpost

1502 hrs: Now they're saying the JFK Library wasn't bombed, but had a fire.

1504 hrs: No suspects in custody, Boston Police Commissioner says.

1505 hrs:  2 dead, 23 hurt.

1507 hrs: CNN says the FBI has classified Boston bombings as "terrorist" act.

1511 hrs: Resources to search for loved ones in Boston: Official Hotline 1-617-635-4520 and @Google Ppl Finder http://ow.ly/k5Lxl

1517 hrs: POTUS asks Americans not to "jump to conclusions", refers to the “senseless loss” in Boston due to “explosions”.

1520 hrs: WASHINGTON (AP) -- A senior U.S. intelligence official says two more explosive devices have been found near the scene of the Boston marathon where two bombs detonated earlier.

1556 hrs: From Drudge: CBSNEWS: SAUDI WAS ACTING SUSPICIOUS... NBCNEWS: 'YOUNG PERSON HERE ON STUDENT VISA'..

1518 hrs: Possible 5 devices.

1603 hrs: Bombs were inside trash cans.  Saudi acting "suspiciously" according to eyewitnesses.

1608 hrs: From Drudge: Jordanian Muslim group: 'Happy to see the horror in America'...

1610 hrs: Families of Newtown at finish line grandstands at time of attack.

1614 hrs: Boston Globe confirms 8-yr-old boy was 1 of the 2 victims who died.

Fukushima Radioactivity 100,000 Times Normal

Above, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The news this morning on the status of the radioactivity problem in Japan isn't good.

The Washington Post is reporting:

TOKYO — As radiation levels at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant reached a new high Sunday, workers contended with dark, steamy conditions in their efforts to repair the facility’s cooling system and stave off a full-blown nuclear meltdown. Wearing respirators, face masks and bulky suits, they fought to reconnect cables and restore power to motor pumps the size of automobiles.

Leaked water sampled from one unit Sunday had 100,000 times the radioactivity of normal background levels, although the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant, first calculated an even higher, erroneous, figure it didn’t correct for hours.

Tepco apologized Sunday night when it realized the mistake; it had initially reported radiation levels in the leaked water from the unit 2 reactor as being 10 million times the norm, which prompted an evacuation of the building.

After the levels were correctly measured, airborne radioactivity in the unit 2 turbine building still remained so high — 1,000 milli­sieverts per hour — that a worker there would reach his yearly occupational exposure limit in 15 minutes. A dose of 4,000 to 5,000 millisieverts absorbed fairly rapidly will eventually kill about half of those exposed.

There is a leak of radioactive water that is draining into the ground and into the ocean off Fukushima. The leak into the ground makes its way into the underground water table and it eventually makes its way into peoples' tap water faucets and crops. If the water table is badly contaminated, this would be the worst possible scenario for the Japanese people.

Also, it has been reported that traces of radioactivity has been detected in rainwater in Massachusetts.

Obviously, this has world-wide implications.

To read the full Washington Post article, go here.

The Boston Tea Party: Part Two

The stunning upset victory tonight in Massachusetts by Scott Brown over Martha Coakley for the U.S. Senate seat once occupied by Ted Kennedy should be a message loud and clear to the Democrats: You've overreached and we're not taking it anymore!

The vote totals thus far (source: The Drudge Report):

52% SCOTT BROWN (R): 1,153,808
47% MARTHA COAKLEY (D): 1,052,391

Some Democrats have made noises that they'd want to delay Brown's certification and swearing-in so that they can ram through Obamacare/Pelosicare. This is playing with fire if they should attempt some shenanigans. People are already ticked off, and this would be tantamount to defying the will of the people and the Constitution.

Some Democrats are calling a halt to any votes on health care until Brown is sworn in.

It'll be interesting to see what happens now.