I’m fascinated by this. The elephant has a a better eye for perspective than a lot of people I’ve seen paint. Of course the flower is huge, but look at the portrait’s legs. Beautifully done.

h/t Elephant paints self portrait | creativebits

Somebody has a sick sense of humor. I love it. The Web Page from Hell.

If I’d known how much traffic not posting would bring, I’d have stopped trying long ago.  Kidding actually, but it is kind of humorous. Somebody Stumbled my Iraq category last week, and I got quite a bit of traffic. That got me looking at my stats. It seems that while I quit posting for several months, my stats didn’t really change. So much of my traffic comes from search engines anyway, not writing new stuff really didn’t change anything. Apparently real people don’t come back, but search engines love me! I’m glad I come here to blow off steam rather than live on the proceeds of this site.

D.C.’s Gun Ban Gets Day in Court

The nine justices, none of whom has ever ruled directly on the amendment’s meaning, will consider a part of the Bill of Rights that has existed without a definitive interpretation for more than 200 years.

I’ve always been fascinated by people’s various views on the second amendment, and in particular people’s views on the DC gun ban.

Art. II . A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Maybe my viewpoint was defined because as a child, and an avid reader of history, I understood the concept of militia before I learned of the Second Amendment. I have always understood the word militia to mean essentially every able-bodied person. So I’ve always understood it to be an individual right. It seems to me to be counter intuitive to read it otherwise.

Militia - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

2. the whole body of able-bodied male citizens declared by law as being subject to call to military service

I’ve heard the “it’s a group right” take on the subject a couple of times, but I’ve never understood that interpretation. The First and Fourth Amendments apply to individuals, so why wouldn’t the Second?

There’s also the “it’s a military right” viewpoint, but that one’s always sounded a little weak to me too. Why would the government define a “right” for itself to give it’s soldiers weapons? Governments don’t have rights, people have rights. The purpose of the Bill of Rights in all other contexts was essentially to define what rights “people” had. This protected people, individual people, from the government. Why would the Second Amendment be different?

The case is complicated by the District’s secondary argument that the Second Amendment is not implicated by legislation that applies only to the District of Columbia. - washingtonpost.com

This is one of my favorite arguments, just for plain audacity. They essentially admit an individual right, but state that it doesn’t apply to the District of Columbia… City of New York, Chicago, whoever. So the “people” have a fundamental right, but the District, State, City, or County can take it away? How’s that work? If the Second Amendment doesn’t apply to the citizens of DC, does the First Amendment? It’s my understanding that the US Constitution, and the Bill or Rights, applies to all citizens. I look forward to seeing these issues debated in the news, and in the courts.

First Sioux receives Medal of Honor - CNN.com

Nearly 26 years after his death, Army Master Sgt. Woodrow “Woody” Keeble was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Monday for his efforts during the Korean War.

About damn time. Delayed for decades due to “A series of paperwork errors and missed deadlines” @#$% idiots.

Update: As a commenter pointed out, the citation’s description is much better than CNN’s.

Leading the support platoon, Master Sergeant Keeble saw that the attacking elements had become pinned down on the slope by heavy enemy fire from three well-fortified and strategically placed enemy positions. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Master Sergeant Keeble dashed forward and joined the pinned-down platoon. Then, hugging the ground, Master Sergeant Keeble crawled forward alone until he was in close proximity to one of the hostile machine-gun emplacements. Ignoring the heavy fire that the crew trained on him, Master Sergeant Keeble activated a grenade and threw it with great accuracy, successfully destroying the position.

Go read the rest of the citation, it’s worth the time. Keep in mind while reading it that this was the 20th. This is significant because as mentioned elsewhere, Master Sergeant Keeble was wounded first on October 15, then again on October 17, 18, 19, and the 20th.

Official records confirm Keeble was initially wounded on October 15, and then again on October 17, 18 and 20 - for which he received only one Purple Heart. For his bravery on the 18th he was awarded a Silver Star. His heroism on the 20th made Keeble a legend and won him a recommendation for the Medal of Honor. - Wikipedia

Keeble had thus far suffered two rifle wounds to his left arm, a grenade to his face that almost removed his nose and a badly twisted knee; on the 19th, doctors reportedly removed 83 pieces of festering shrapnel Keeble sustained from a concussion grenade the previous day. - Wikipedia