Sherlock Holmes Still Under Copyright, Interesting

Here is a piece of news I found rather shocking. The Sherlock Holmes property is still under copyright. This surprises me since the property is well over 100 years old (123 years according to the article).

Anyways the article has a long convoluted string of ownership transfers throughout Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate that allowed for the character Sherlock Holmes to stay copy righted. I’m sure Walt Disney will ensure Sherlock Holme’s copyright never expires via the aptly named “Mickey Mouse laws.”

Smith and Wesson Enter .380 Market

Well it seems Smith and Wesson are following the crowd and have introduced a .380 pocket pistol of their own. Much like all the rest it seems to be a double-action only pocket pistol. Unlike all the others Smith and Wesson decided to toss on a manual safety.

They also introduced a new pocket revolved. Nothing too fancy.

Both guns are produced under the moniker Bodyguard. Likewise both have integrated laser pointers.

More Smith and Wesson News From SHOT Show

This time it isn’t good as The Firearms Blog reports. The FBI nailed one of their executives for bribery. The FBI agents posted as representatives of an African nation and apparently the executive attempted to bribe them. Ouch!

Also expect the Brady Bunch and Bloomberg’s Posse to make a press release attempting to say this was due to weak gun laws.

Scott Brown Wins Massachusetts Seat

Good news everybody Scott Brown win the seat for MAssachusetts senator. This means the minute man state managed to dump a murdering gun control nutcase and gain an NRA A rated senator. Things are looking up.

Furthermore the Democrats lost their ability to prevent a Republican filibuster meaning they won’t be able to simply slam the health care bill through without worry of resistance. I would just like to say yet again things are looking up.

Good work Massachusetts voters!

Update 2010-01-20 16:01: Corrected the use of the terminology filibuster.

Eight People Shot Dead in Virginia

A lone psycho in Virginia has managed to kill either people. Not many details have been given but this piece of information I thought was rather interesting:

At one point, a police helicopter was fired on and forced to land with a ruptured fuel tank.

That’s a lot more hardcore than usual. Normally in these cases the shooter would kill himself when the police arrived. Wait for the Brady Campaign and Bloomberg’s Posse to make an announcement saying the gun caused the crime. Also I’m betting they say it’s an AK-47 at some point.

Shot Show Extravaganza

Thankfully The Firearm Blog is covering this year’s SHOT show because I sure am not. I’m going to pull a Leo Laporte here and meta cover the SHOT show. In other words I’m going to be posting about stuff I think is cool or interesting.

First up Bushmaster has officially launched their ACR platform. There isn’t much to say about it really besides the price tag hovers between $2,685 and $3,061. Ouch! For that price the rifle better make breakfast for me in the morning.

The next interesting thing I seen is Beretta’s evolved 92A1 and 96A1. These two are 9mm and .40 S&W evolutions of the well known 92SF and 96. What new things are brought to the table? Higher magazine capacity, some ergonomics, and of course RAILS! That’s right this isn’t your Daddy’s Beretta this gun can mount the combination laser, light, and bayonet!

Anyways more posts as I find them and pretend I’m some kind of journalist.

ABC News “Discovers” “Secret Bible Code” on Military Equipment

Here is an interesting e-mail I just received. Apparently ABC News just “discovered” super secret Jesus Bible code on some of our military equipment. From the article:

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

The Michigan company, as you can guess, is Trijicon. Trijicon has been putting Bible verse references on their equipment from day one as far as I know. But of course according ABC News this is some great pushing of Christianity. Oh but this is classic:

“This is probably the best example of violation of the separation of church and state in this country,” said Weinstein. “It’s literally pushing fundamentalist Christianity at the point of a gun against the people that we’re fighting. We’re emboldening an enemy.”

I call bullshit.

This entire thing is stupid. First of all this isn’t some mysterious “Bible code” it’s printed in plain sight. It’s always been there and Trijicon has never been shy about it. Second I doubt any enemy combatants can see that tiny print while they’re being shot at and hence aren’t going to know they were shot by a “Jesus gun.” Those of us big into guns have known about this for a long time meanwhile ABC News reports this as if they discovered it and it’s some kind of grand conspiracy.

Don’t like the fact that Bible versus are printed on your optic equipment? Here are two options. First file it off. Second buy something else. I understand military personnel generally don’t have a choice in the equipment they are issued but for us private citizens it’s a right we enjoy, voting with our dollar. If you’re in the military and it offends you so dearly that your equipment has a Bible verse printed on it realize you probably have other equipment with similar “secret” markings.

This isn’t a separation of church and state issue. This is an issue of a private company making a product. It’s not military officials making soldiers pray to a Christian god, or forcing soldiers to carry a copy of the Catholic Bible. It’s some markings on a gun put there by the manufacturer because the founder believes in Christianity. Quite a few companies do things like this.

How Did I Miss This

OK I’m going down the nerd fanboy road here. But the novel cover art for Vampire Earth: March in Country was revealed. Here it is:

Once again great cover art. Nothing like having a guy with a gun on the cover to let you know this novel doesn’t involved vampires that sparkle. Oh and here is the summary that’ll be on the back of the book:

Known for writing “in the vein of Well’s War of the Worlds”* E.E. Knight continues his national bestselling Vampire Earth novels featuring Major David Valentine. His army builds solid alliances in the name of freedom—but the opposition’s wrath is just as strong…

The race is on to claim the area between the Ohio River and Tennessee, emptied by war and disease after the human effort to establish a Kentucky Freehold failed. What’s left of the resistance is hiding out in the tangle of central Kentucky hills—leaving the powerful, well-organized Kurian vampires the opportunity to fill the void.

Major David Valentine knows a small group of fierce, freedom-loving allies who would be glad for a chance to settle the rich lands. But they’re over three hundred miles away, with hostile aliens, and vicious human slavers standing between. There’s only one way for them to cover the distance before the Kurians settle in: a desperate dash by hijacked rail, followed by a harrowing river journey.

Valentine unites friends old and new in the effort–but the Kurian Order won’t easily yield the blood-soaked Kentucky soil.

Anyways I can’t recommend the Vampire Earth series enough. It’s a great post-apocalyptic novel that puts a creative spin on the vampire lore. If that isn’t enough there is enough action to keep most people very satisfied. March in Country should be released in July.

F.Y.I. For Carry Permit Holders in Ramsey County

It appears that sheriff Bob Fletch of Ramsey County is rummaging through carry permit holder data to mine out addresses. He sent invitations to those in the country with carry permits for a fund raiser he was throwing. This potentially violates the law and certainly violates the trust of privacy between carry permit holders and the Ramsey Country Sheriff’s Office. Anyways the news bullitin is here.

I’m not sure if this is an actual violation of the law as I’m not very good at reading legalese but it certainly is a violation of confidentiality you expect from a sheriff’s office. If you’re a carry permit holder in Ramsey County and you received the invitation you should do some complaining.