Do girls fart?

Mythbusters proved it.

And a hero gets honored...

Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall's heroics in Vietnam were immortalized in a movie and a critically acclaimed book.

More than 40 years after Crandall repeatedly risked his life to rescue American soldiers fighting one of the toughest battles of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military officially will recognize his heroism Monday, when he is awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor.

On November 15, 1965, a battalion of soldiers was ordered to attack North Vietnamese troops in the Ia Drang Valley in the central highlands of South Vietnam. It would be the first major battle between the U.S. and North Vietnamese armies and one of the first uses of helicopters to insert troops into battle quickly.

Crandall flew the lead helicopter into the attack at Landing Zone X-Ray. The 450 American soldiers soon were surrounded by a much larger force of experienced North Vietnamese troops. During one landing, three men on Crandall's helicopter were killed and three others were wounded.

"As we came in, across the trees, the enemy was there and in the landing zone. I had my crew chief shot through the throat," Crandall said recently. "I could see the people shooting at me from, just off the left of my rotor blades."

But he couldn't shoot back because his helicopter didn't have the M60 machine guns that later would become standard equipment on the UH-1 "Huey" that Crandall flew.

In spite of the danger, Crandall flew into X-Ray more than 18 times to bring in ammunition and bring out the wounded.

"It was the longest day I ever experienced in any aircraft," Crandall said.

He had to switch helicopters several times because of damage from enemy fire.

Crandall and his wingman, Ed "Too Tall" Freeman, saved 70 wounded soldiers that day.

The battle and the pilots' deeds were described in the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" by Gen. Harold Moore, commander of the battalion on the ground, and Joseph Galloway, the only war correspondent there for the entire battle.

It later was made into the 2002 movie "We Were Soldiers," starring Mel Gibson as Moore and Greg Kinnear as Crandall.

The movie is very good, but read the book. Seriously, read that book.

Marines.....We Are Leaving...

The 10 mm pulse-action air-cooled automatic assault rifle of U.S. Colonial Marine Corps, featuring an integrated, underslung, pump-action 40mm grenade launcher.

Are you having problems with a Xeno-species infestation? Eradicate them with the M41A 'Xeno' Pulse Rifle. Guaranteed to reduce them to piles of quivering exoskeletal chunks. (Note: Acid cleanup not included.)

Lego aliens....bring 'em on!

Misc. Friday Ramblings...

Heroes
Dale: "Funny I didn't hear your footsteps."
Sylar: "That's because there weren't any."
Dale: "That sound, in your heart, what is it?"
Sylar: (evil smile) "Murder"

• It's Photoshop Phriday.
  It's a movie. It's Music. It's both!
  


• Debris....In....Space....
  Quark wanted for questioning:
  
  


• Surgeons Remove Otherwise Inoperable, Baseball-sized Tumors Through The Nose
  In other news, Quaid has started the reactor.
  
  


• Sex in fast lane halts traffic on Israeli road.
  I've heard of driving hard, but this is ridiculous.
  


• Britney shaved her head.
  Drapes match the carpet now.
  


• Star Wars Gansta Rap.
  It's the dark side, biatch!
  

Friday FIREPOWER!

• The Armalite AR-24 Pistol.
  

  Sarsilmaz is the unique service pistol provider of Turkish Armed Forces which is NATO's second biggest army with the legendary contract winner performance of its pistols in the military tests.

  
  


• The Kimber JPX Jet Protector.
  

  The new JPX Jet Protector® is the most functional and powerful hand-held OC delivery system available today. The conventional design speeds training and ensures accurate solution delivery, and a pyrotechnic drive launches near pharmaceutical grade OC solution at 270 MPH. Effective range is up to 16 feet in the model recommended for general use and up to 23 feet in the model recommended for law enforcement. Each magazine contains two charges with a much larger payload than the Guardian Angel, and quickly snaps on the frame. The power of each payload combined with reloading makes the JPX extremely effective for crowd control, and the conventional double action only trigger automatically resets to fire the other charge. Orange or black frames are available, and an integral laser sight is optional.

  
  

They eat their own...continued.

• Tipping Point -- Suicide on the Web
  

  Something fascinating just happened. I suspect it will be studied by those who do such things, but at this point, it is clear that last weekend we saw a sea change in the way gun owners react to threats.
  
  If you heard Gun Talk last Sunday, Feb. 18, you heard Jim Zumbo, longtime hunting writer for Outdoor Life, addressing a blog (online comment piece) he wrote. If you didn't hear it, you can download the archive file here: http://guntalk.libsyn.com. It's the February 18 show, "part C."
  
  Jim basically committed career suicide. In short, he wrote in his blog on the Outdoor Life web site that he had just learned (while on a hunt) that some people use AR-15 rifles for hunting. He offered his thought that this was a bad image for hunters. Okay, that's his opinion. But, he went even further, calling for game departments to ban the use of these rifles for hunting. After crossing the line and calling for a banning of those guns for hunting, he firmly planted his foot on a land mine and called AR-15s "terrorist rifles." The explosion from that misstep was heard throughout the firearms industry.
  
  Having just read some of the comments on a few of the online groups where people were posting Zumbo's home address and personal information, calling for . . . well, it was hard to know what they were calling for . . . I made a comment about our willingness to eat our own. Some of that was based on hearing gunnies say that they won't buy Ruger firearms because of something Bill Ruger said two decades ago. Hey, the man is dead and buried.
  
  Still, in this case, I was wrong. That's not what was going on here, as I discovered when I got off the air. To listeners who took offense, I do apologize. The outrage by gun owners is completely understandable. To put it in context, Zumbo's comments came only days after we saw the introduction of a bill in Congress to bring back the Clinton Gun Ban (the so-called "assault weapons" ban). The final nail in the coffin was when-- Sunday afternoon -- the Brady Campaign (the leading group working to restrict gun rights) posted Zumbo's comments to several places on the net, saying, in effect, "See, even the top hunting writer says these rifles have no legitimate use."
  
  We can take away from this experience several observations.
  
  The first is that this attitude of "just let them take those ugly, black guns" is common among hunters and competitive shooters. Anyone with that attitude is a fool. Sit down with a hunter from England or Australia, hear him tell the story of what happened there, and watch the tears well up in his eyes when he says they never thought the government would take away their hunting guns. To gun banners, there is no such thing as a good gun. They want them all. When Tom Diaz, of the Violence Policy Center, was on Gun Talk, I forced him to admit that he would like to ban all guns. What about the police, I asked. Once we get all the other guns, he said, the police won't need their guns, either.
  
  A ban on black guns, or "Saturday Night Specials," or 50-caliber rifles, is a ban on all our guns. There is no such thing as a bad gun or a good gun. We can't throw babies off the back of the sled, thinking it will keep the wolves away from us.
  
  The next thing we learn from this is that the world has just changed. This entire episode took place inside of 36 hours, on a weekend -- a three-day weekend for President's Day. It happened...and this is important...entirely on the internet. The original posting was on the net, the reaction was on the net, the emails demanding that companies break off with Zumbo were on the net, and the reactions from the companies were all on their web sites. This was completely an internet event. It was a nuclear explosion, with tens of thousands of messages posted, spanning all the firearms-related web sites.



• Statement from Outdoor Life
  

  Due to the controversy surrounding Jim Zumbo's recent postings, Outdoor Life has decided to discontinue the "Hunting With Zumbo" blog for the time being. Outdoor Life has always been, and will always be, a steadfast supporter of our Second Amendment rights, which do not make distinctions based on the looks of the firearms we choose to own, shoot and take hunting.

Trump vs McMahon; Hair vs Hair

Will Donald Trump put his hair where his mouth is?

Trump and World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon will pick a wrestler to represent them in the ring April 1 at Wrestlemania 23 at Detroit's Ford Field, The Detroit News reported last week.

If their pick is beaten in the "Battle of the Billionaires," the loser will get his head shaved after the match, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

WWE spokesman Gary Davis said the date of the event had prompted speculation that it was a hoax. But it's not an April Fool's Day joke, he said.

"If Trump loses, he shaves his head," he said.

McMahon will job to Trump. There is no way "The Don" will shave that hair. It's a trademark of his. McMahon, on the other hand, will do just about anything for ratings. Well, come to think of it, so will Trump.

They eat their own...

A writer for Outdoor Life, Jim Zumbo, opened his mouth and spoke out against "evil black rifles". The rest of the world watched in shock and awe as a wave of backlash went from breaker to tsunami size in a matter of hours. What was Jim's offense? Ignorance. The same ignorance that anti-gun folks use to call for bans against all firearms.

I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunters. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of these firearms.

I call them "assault" rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I'll go so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are "tackdrivers."

Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I've always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don't use assault rifles. We've always been proud of our "sporting firearms."

It gets better, though. Ever since that blog entry broke (that blog is offline, btw), sponsors and friends alike are distancing themselves from Zumbo. There is no excuse from a supposed hunting authority to call for a gun ban just because "hunters don't use assault rifles". The firearm's business world realizes this.

However, the damage is done. Anti-gun groups, like the Brady Campaign, will take a quote from a "respected" hunter and author and turn it into a rallying cry for another AWB. Oh wait, there is already legislation brewing for another AWB. Can't wait for the field day that will bring about.

It's Magic.

Misc. Friday Ramblings...

Taint from Lex and Terry broadcasting live from the Moonlight Bunny Ranch, but not being allowed by his girlfriend to participate:
"It's like going to the moon and not being able to get out"

However, for this Friday, I've got...

The truth in game ratings.

Last month, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback declared he would seek the 2008 Republican Nomination for President of the United States.

Today, Brownback took a very public step to prove the American public how "good" and "great" he is. The Senator announced that he was re-introducing the Truth in Video Game Rating Act (S.3935), a measure he first submitted last September. If made law, the act would require the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to play the final build of a game from beginning to end before it gives said game a rating.

"Video game reviewers should be required to review the entire content of a game to ensure the accuracy of the rating," Brownback said in a statement. "The current video game ratings system is not as accurate as it could be because reviewers do not see the full content of games and do not even play the games they rate." The Truth in Video Game Rating Act would also commission a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to "determine the efficacy of the...ESRB ratings system."

Currently, the ESRB reviews video of the "most extreme instances, across all relevant categories including but not limited to violence, language, sex, controlled substances and gambling" in each game it rates. Following the infamous hidden-sex-minigame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas scandal of 2005, publishers must now also submit "pertinent content that is not playable, but will exist in the game code on the final game disc."

Since then, the ESRB's system has proven fallible--or infallible, depending on one's viewpoint. In May 2006, the board rescinded the T for Teen rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion after it discovered graphically violent content at the denouement of the Dark Brotherhood questline. Despite being rated M for Mature, Oblivion went on to sell nearly 1.4 million copies in the US as of December 2006, generating just short of $80 million.* It has also won numerous accolades, including GameSpot's Role-Playing Game of the Year.

Normally, I'd say "Keep your filthy paws off my video games". However, while I don't think legislating ratings is the way to go, I like the idea behind the bill. To get the most accurate rating possible, the rating entity should play the most complete version of the game. Hot Coffee screwed gamers good. It brought to light easter eggs that while fun, are damaging to the moral majority. Of course, this all depends on how up front the developer will be in releasing all hidden content to the rating's board. Someone had to go looking for Hot Coffee. That took months. Months that would delay a game from getting to the shelves. Thanks, Rockstar.

Happy Valentine's Day

What's in a name?

The 17-year-old faces charges of battery on a school official and simple battery. We're not releasing her name at this time since she is a juvenile.

Really? Could have fooled me!

Need a lift for Valentine's day?

This year's Valentine's Day will see Viagra offered over the counter for the very first time.

Boots has announced that the trial scheme will be introduced to three branches in Manchester, allowing men to purchase the anti-impotence drug without a prescription from the doctor.

According to the Sexual Dysfunction Association, ten per cent of men in the UK will have recurring erection problems at some point during their lifetime.

Despite this, the revolutionary drug has previously only been available to those willing to see a doctor for a prescription. The new offering from Boots will allow men to check in for a private consultation with a pharmacist who will examine the individual's medical history. Tests will be conducted to ascertain blood pressure, glucose levels and cholesterol before four Viagra pills are sold for £50.

All men between the ages of 30 and 65 who are suffering from erectile dysfunction will qualify for the new service, which could pave the way for similar arrangements elsewhere in the UK.

So instead of chocolates in a box, you can put your d*ck in a box for your sweety.

Misc. Friday Ramblings...

Faith No More:We care a lot; About Transformers 'cause there's more than meets the eye.

• Online dating people lie about their weight.
  This just in from the "No Shit, Sherlock!" department.
  


• Liberty University to offer gaming scholarship.
  

  Online gaming involves multi-player video games. Some of those include a lot of violence. But Liberty officials say the school would NOT sponsor violent or sexually graphic games.

  
  Great, a Bejeweled contest. Although, Bookworm would probably be more appropriate.
  


• Should the HPV vaccine mandatory?
  I don't think that it should be mandatory, but if you opt out and you get it, then you don't get any help in fighting it. Personal responsibility.


• Woman charged with attempted murder. Weapon = Wasps.
  Wanted for Questioning:
  
  


• Jerry Read: Picking.
  The Snowman is coming through.
  


• NY to ban iPods in crosswalks.
  Can't you see I'm trying to walk and jam here?!?!?!?
  


• Bringing a sword to a knife store.
  Hmmm, try that with a gun store.
  


• This, That, and The Other.
  Pick a card, any card.
  

Friday FIREPOWER!

• Friendly Fire - Part One.
  
  


• Friendly Fire - Part Two.
  
  

Western Phrases Ruined by Brokeback Mountain

Call AAA not FHP

Two teens said they waited on the side of a highway on Saturday night for more than an hour for the aid of state troopers before grabbing a lug wrench and helping themselves.

Clay County mother Cindi Penrod said the Florida Highway Patrol left her daughters in the dark, and that she was worried after the girls had car trouble on the highway.

The 17- and 14-year-old girls were on Interstate 295, between 103rd Street and Blanding Boulevard, when they blew a tire.

"It was dark and right on the highway. I didn't know if anybody was going to get in an accident and hit my car, or if someone would come out of the woods. I didn't know what would happen. I was pretty scared," said Savanah Macauley.

So, the teens called their mother.

"They said, 'Mom, I have flat. What should I do? Should I just go ahead and change the tire?' Being a protective parent, I didn't want her out of the car on the side of the road at night," said Penrod.

She told her daughter to call the FHP, and a dispatcher told the teen a trooper was on the way. But the trooper never showed up.

FHP said an officer was dispatched and did a loop around the general area, but never found the girls.

"This is a case where after they were unable to locate, and she was not called back to see if she was still there because the officer said she couldn’t find her. Then, other things started happening and she had to be dispatched somewhere else," said FHP Lt. Bill Leeper. "It fell through the cracks."

"In the meantime, I'll get some roadside assistance for my kids, and we'll take care of things ourselves," Penrod said.

I'm sorry, but it isn't the government's responsibility to change your damn tire for you. If you can't do it yourself, or have the forethought to have a travel service like AAA, then maybe you should have some friends on speed dial that can help you out. FHP has better things to do....oooh, like stopping speeders and attending to accidents. Too many people rely on the nanny state first and foremost instead of trying to get it done themselves.

Astro-Nut!

An astronaut drove 900 miles and donned a disguise to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, police said. She was arrested Monday and charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail and is scheduled to make a court appearance Tuesday.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

When she found out that Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her, according to the arrest affidavit. Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate, authorities said.

Astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry.

Dressed in a wig and a trench coat, Nowak boarded an airport bus that Shipman took to her car in an airport parking lot. Shipman told police she noticed someone following her, hurried inside the car and locked the doors, according to the arrest affidavit.

Nowak rapped on the window, tried to open the car door and asked for a ride. Shipman refused but rolled down the car window a few inches when Nowak started crying. Nowak then sprayed a chemical into Shipman's car, the affidavit said.

Shipman drove to the parking lot booth, and the police were called.

During a check of the parking lot, an officer followed Nowak and watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and BB gun. They also found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 and garbage bags inside a bag Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said.

Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities uncovered a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein. They also found a letter "that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein," an opened package for a buck knife, Shipman's home address and hand written directions to the address, the arrest affidavit said.

Um, don't they do a psych profile on all of the astronauts? I guess this one fell through the cracks.

Misc. Friday Ramblings...

• It's Photoshop Phriday.
  Big pets for little people.
  


• Ford to quit latest Indy movie if he can't whip it out.
  
  'Scuse me while I whip this out...
  


• The search is on for a person that sexually assaulted and killed a goat.
  Nehhh means now. Also, killed the goat? Like it is going to tell?
  


• James Doohan's son wants to play a young Scotty.
  

  "They are not looking to fill ALL the spots with known actors, so I thought that maybe I would give it a try." Doohan wrote "Here's why. 1.I kind of look like my Dad. 2. I can do a great scottish accent. 3. We share the last name. 4. I like money.

  At least he has the priorities right.


• Microsoft launches the Vista OS.
  Crush the drivers, see them crash before you, and hear the lamentation of the end-users.
  


• Two frat brothers sentenced in FAMU hazing.
  From Animal House to the big house.
  


• The PS3 Grill.
  About the only thing that system is good for so far.
  

Friday FIREPOWER!

• Autocopter UAV armed with an AA-12.
  The Autocopter UAV is built by Nerual Robotics, Inc. This particular version is armed with an AA-12 shotgun. And people really wonder if one day machines turning against man will be only a science-fiction issue.
  


• The perfect home defense: Blunderbuss.
  

  A sawed off shotgun makes a great home defense weapon because the shorter the barrel the wider the projectile spread pattern.
  
  A wide spread pattern gives you a better chance of hitting a armed intruder and stopping him from shooting you.
  
  The problem has been sawed off shotguns are illegal. The barrel has to be eighteen inches to be legal.
  
  We have found a way to get the wider spread pattern of a sawed off shotgun without breaking the law.
  
  Our proprietary cone shaped eighteen inch barrel with a three inch round or oval muzzle provides the wide pattern legally.
  
  It looks something like the old blunderbuss that pirates used, but works a lot better.

  
  You know, that wouldn't be a bad idea except that this is from a company that makes the EZPZ and Bedaciser.


• The B&T TP9 SMG...er, tactical pistol.
  

  The B&T MP9 PDW/Submachine Gun is recoil-operated and fires from the closed-bolt position. It utilizes a rotating barrel locking system. The MP9's receiver is made from a high-strength polymer that's not only impervious to rust/corrosion from saltwater, but also to damage from solvents/cleaning agents.
  
  Brugger & Thomet AG (B&T) makes a semi-auto-only version of the MP9 called the B&T TP9. DSA Inc. (DS Arms) is the U.S. distributor/dealer for the B&T MP9 PDW/SMG.

  
  

Miami Police Department Employs Segway(R) PTs to Patrol Super Bowl XLI

Segway Inc. today announced that the Miami-Dade Police Department will be using Segway® Personal Transporters (PTs) to provide security services at Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4 and throughout the week preceding the event. The department will use three Segway i2 and three x2 models to patrol the walkways, parking lots and exhibition areas around Dolphin Stadium. In addition, the City of Miami Police Department recently purchased six Segway PTs that it will use to patrol NFL-sponsored events throughout the city.

Patrol officers find Segway PTs extremely useful for an event of this nature because they stand 8" taller on these units, enabling them to have ideal sight lines over people and automobiles. Also, because the Segway PTs are self-balancing and can turn in place, officers can move through crowds much more easily than they could in a patrol car, or on a bike or motorcycle. Segway PTs also enable the patrol officers to respond quickly to emergencies wherever they occur.

The i2 model has a range of up to 24 miles, or 480 city blocks, and is ideally suited for urban and suburban transportation. The x2 model has a wider wheel track and is equipped with all-terrain tires that enable it to travel across rougher surfaces of dirt, gravel or sand. Even on such terrain, its lithium-ion batteries deliver a range of up to 12 miles on a single charge.

Too bad they look white and nerdy on them.