Blind shooter gets his guns back

Is justice blind? Sometimes. And so is New Jersey resident Stephen Hopler, a gun collector and enthusiast from the Garden State. (Hat tip to Warner Todd Huston.) Or at least he was until the local authorities decided that a blind guy shouldn’t have weapons. Then things began to look ugly, at least for those who could see.A blind gun collector can keep his gun permit and will have the weapons previously seized from his house by police returned to him, following a judge’s order handed down Friday in Superior Court in Morristown.

Steven Hopler, 49, of Rockaway Township won the latest battle in an ongoing war over his Second Amendment rights. The Morris County Prosecutor’s office had asked Judge Thomas Manahan to revoke Hopler’s firearms ID card and seize all guns in his possession, arguing Hopler abused alcohol and posed a danger to others by being a gun owner.


Hopler’s attorney, Gregg Trautmann, said, “First it was, ‘He can’t own guns because he’s blind.’ Now they tried, ‘you’re a habitual drunkard and we think it’s improper because you’re a habitual drunkard.’” .

You’d think for the police and the courts to step and and stomp on Mr. Hopler’s second amendment rights that he’d have had to done something terrible, like… shoot somebody. Well, in a way you’d be right.

The most recent legal scuffle began in 2008 when Hopler, who became legally blind as a result of diabetes in 1991, shot himself in the shin while cleaning one of his guns.

This is a tawdry story all around. But it looks as if the judge has looked over the evidence and found that the man has never done anything to harm others or indicate that his second amendment rights should be abridged. His permit will be restored and he can go back to collecting as he chooses. It’s certainly a long time overdue, but this looks like at least one story of a happy outcome in New Jersey.

Video: Get off of Jonah Goldberg’s lawn, you darned kids

I love a curmudgeonly rant, and so this interview of National Review’s Jonah Goldberg is right up my alley. This excerpt of a longer interview with the Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas focuses on Jonah’s issues with the “youth culture,” the obsession with the worldview of the least experienced of our citizenry. Goldberg notes that “we’re all born idiots,” and that some people are a lot closer to that point in time than most of the rest of us:


“It is a simple fact of science that nothing correlates more with ignorance and stupidity more than youth,” the National Review Online editor said in an interview. “We’re all born idiots, and we only get over that condition as we get less young.”

So why all the focus on the youth vote and “millennials” in politics? Goldberg says young people having so much influence in a society is unhealthy.

“My view is, they’re going to run the country some day, so we should really explain why they’re so frickin’ stupid about so many things,” he said.

Goldberg says in the interview that he would prefer a much higher voting age than 18, and while I agree that these voters tend to be the least sophisticated and informed voters in any election, I still disagree with Goldberg on this point. The law treats 18-year-olds as fully responsible for their actions. The purpose of elections is to form a representative government that binds all citizens and holds them accountable. That includes 18-year-old citizens, which means that they should have the right to participate in the formation of legislatures and executive branches that create and enforce those laws.

That doesn’t mean that politicians should pander to them, or at least at the expense of both older voters and common sense. They may be running the country someday, it is true, but it is equally true that they may be performing brain surgery someday too. That doesn’t mean I want them practicing on my head when they’re 18 and haven’t learned anything about it yet.

In fact, I’d say that a sure sign of political desperation is when a politician has to focus on the least-sophisticated and least-experienced voters to gain any traction. That’s a giveaway that their policies are probably too simplistic and unrealistic to sell elsewhere. One case in point: ObamaCare. Obama got a great deal of support from young voters on this policy — and now they will be forced to needlessly buy comprehensive health insurance at great expense when a simple catastrophic policy would suit their needs much more economically, in order to subsidize the health-care costs of middle-aged and senior voters. Suckers!

Perhaps that experience will have taught the youth culture an important lesson. If so, Jonah will try not to bark at them when their radios are too loud or order them off his darned lawn. Jonah also has a new book out, The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas — be sure to check it out.

Quotes of the day

Former President George W. Bush’s pollster for his 2004 re-election, Jan van Lohuizen, has put out a memo to Republican operatives suggesting a shift in the way the GOP discusses same-sex marriage…
“Recommendation: A statement reflecting recent developments on this issue along the following lines:

“‘People who believe in equality under the law as a fundamental principle, as I do, will agree that this principle extends to gay and lesbian couples; gay and lesbian couples should not face discrimination and their relationship should be protected under the law. People who disagree on the fundamental nature of marriage can agree, at the same time, that gays and lesbians should receive essential rights and protections such as hospital visitation, adoption rights, and health and death benefits.’”



***

“You can make a case that this is a perfect example of this president as the most liberal president in history and he is systematically changing what America is about,” Brabender said. “What we are betting the ranch on is the October labor statistics, and that is a high risk. … We are playing a dangerous game by raising the stakes too high on something we have too little control of and is often in great flux, and we are bailing on talking about who we are as a country. I think that is a mistake.”…

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said Obama handed Romney and the Republican Party a gift — and both will be negligent if they don’t take advantage of it.

“The president yesterday interjected an element into this election cycle that, while some may be uncomfortable dealing with on the Republican side, could very well be a deciding factor for the election if they respond to the president’s challenge to marriage,” Perkins said. “It’s no secret the Republican leadership has not wanted to be out front waving the banner.”

***

So to figure out whether gay marriage will hurt Obama in the fall, you have to figure whether gay marriage alone is likely to block any of these five paths—that is, whether Obama is likely to receive fewer votes from these specific constituencies in these specific states than Kerry received in 2004. For that to occur, Obama would have to suffer a 32-point net loss in Latino support in Nevada; a 27-point net loss in Latino support in New Mexico; a 27-point net loss in Latino support in Florida; a 9-point net loss in black support in Virginia; a 19-point net loss in black support in North Carolina; a 12-point net loss in working-class support in Iowa; and a 5-point net loss in working-class support in Ohio.

In other words, it’s unlikely. Right now, 43 percent of Latinos—a group made up largely of the kind of younger men and women who are driving population growth in key states—approve of same-sex marriage. Among independents that number is up to 52 percent. And opposition among African-Americans has fallen 20 points since 2008. It’s hard to imagine that Obama’s personal opinion about same-sex marriage—remember, he’s not pushing any kind of federal legislation—will be such a turn-off for key demographic groups in key states that their support for the president will plummet to sub-Kerry levels come November.

***

Black voters and especially black churches have long opposed gay marriage. But the 40-year-old barber and other African-Americans interviewed in politically key states say their support for Obama remains unshaken…

Mel Brown, a 65-year-old project manager in Philadelphia, says same-sex marriage “is between them and their God. The God I serve does not agree with that.”

Does Obama’s announcement change Brown’s support for the president? “Absolutely not. Because Scripture says we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”…

Many black pastors have been reluctant to address same-sex marriage from the pulpit; the topic remains taboo in much of their community. Now, “with the president taking such a clear stand on the issue, and his being such a beloved figure and historic symbol for African-Americans, I think it will advance the conversation,” said the Rev. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

***

It’s true, says Carmen Fowler LaBerge: You can be a Christian and support same-sex marriage, but, she says, “nobody can say gay marriage is biblical. That’s just foolishness.”

LaBerge resigned her post as minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) after the denomination voted last year to ordain noncelibate gay clergy. She says the Bible is clear.

“From the Old Testament and throughout the New Testament, the only sexual relationships that are affirmed in scripture are those in the context of marriage between one man and one woman,” she says…

Not so fast, says the Rev. Susan Russell, an Episcopal priest at All Saints Church in Pasadena, Calif. She takes her cues from Jesus.

“Jesus never said a single word about anything even remotely connected to homosexuality,” she says.

***

This new bipartisan politics of religion is a good thing — both for religion and for politics. For several decades, the right has held a monopoly over what it means to be religious in the United States, not to mention Christian or evangelical. The result has been devastating for the image of Christianity. When the Barna Group polled Americans ages 16 to 29 on what words best describe Christianity, the top response was “anti-homosexual.” The other common associations were “judgmental,” “hypocritical” and “too involved in politics.”

It has not helped that for years, conservative politicians have explained their opposition to gay rights by simply stating, “I’m a Christian,” as if that automatically requires one to abhor the idea of same-sex marriage. Recent debates about the protection of religious freedom have assumed that the only religious motives that count are conservative ones. That’s the concept at the core of arguments about the contraception mandate, as well as a number of religious freedom bills moving through state legislatures. Enthusiasm for those efforts might well flag if religious progressives were to demand protection for their beliefs as well…

After years of pretending that the culture wars were a matter of religious views lined up against secular beliefs, politicians are recognizing what average Americans knew all along. A majority of Americans now believe that there is more than one way to get to heaven, pollsters report. Our political discussions finally reflect that there’s also more than one answer to the question: “What would Jesus do?”

***

Romney did remain consistent on one point: He said he does not intend to use President Obama’s flip-flop of same-sex marriage against him in the campaign. Obama, who opposed gay marriage when he ran for president in 2008, said this week he now supports it. Romney said, “I think the issue of marriage and gay marriage is a very tender and sensitive topic. People come out in different places on this. The president has changed course in regards to this topic. I think that’s his right to do that. I have a different view than he does. I believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman, but I just don’t think that this becomes a hot political issue dividing our nation.”

***

“The father of the modern conservative movement, former US Senator Barry Goldwater, once said of Jerry Falwell that he needed a kick in the ass. With his speech at Falwell’s Liberty University, it is clear that Governor Romney’s message to Goldwater conservatives is: drop dead…

“We have said since our founding in 2009, that we are committed to defeating Barack Obama. We remain committed to Obama’s defeat. However, if Governor Romney expects to be the candidate who can beat Obama in November then he needs to embrace a strategy that makes victory possible – falling into the culture war trap laid by Obama is a guaranteed electoral loser.

“It is not too late. If Governor Romney wants to unite conservatives and motivate Tea Party voters then he needs to embrace bolder positions on taxes, entitlement reform, healthcare and spending, not pander to big government theocrats.”

***

Via Mediaite.

Disneyland Paris turns 20, with mixed results

FRANCE, MARNE-LA-VALLEE: Disneyland Paris fetes its 20th anniversary Thursday, but while Mickey Mouse now draws nearly twice as many visitors as the Louvre's Mona Lisa, his fantasy park is not yet out of the financial woods.

A rare glimpse of North Korea by train

DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA, Pyongyang: For those who have the rare opportunity, the train linking Dandong in China to Pyongyang in North Korea offers a unique glimpse of the most closed country in the world.

Weary of Dubai traffic? Get Dh1m flying car You could soon be flying over Sheikh Zayed Road instead of being stuck in traffic on the road

If the daily commute from home to office and back is becoming a bit of a drag for you, here’s some exciting news.At last week’s New York International Auto Show, US firm Terrafugia Inc. unveiled the Transition, a vehicle that can operate both as a car and, when push comes to collision, a plane.
Until now, the flying car has been a subject for science fiction and children’s books authors. No longer, it seems. A commercially available version of the car could see the light of the day as soon as next year, the company hopes.

Pending regulatory approvals (and that means a lot, by the way), Terrafugia plans to sell the contraption by 2013 for $279,000 (Dh1.02m). The Transition, in effect a two-seat aircraft with foldable wings, already has about a 100 ‘customers’ who’ve put down a deposit of $10,000 (about Dh37,000) to be among the first owners of the car (or plane, whichever way you’d like to look at it) once it becomes a commercial reality.

The company says that roughly 100 aircraft have been reserved, representing an order backlog of over $25 million. Refundable airframe reservations are currently being accepted to hold a place in production. “We are currently marketing to pilots and to people willing to become pilots to use the Transition. All sorts of people have placed reservations, from retired couples planning to travel to independent business people with clients spread over a large geographic area,” says the firm.

According to Cliff Allen, Vice President of Sales at Terrafugia, the Transition is the first vehicle in the world to have met both the (American) standards of the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This makes it the first “street legal aeroplane”, he said.

While here in Dubai it will need to get approvals from the RTA (Roads and Transport Authority) as well as the GCAA (UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority), we’re guessing that that might be some way off, considering there are a whole lot of issues to be sorted out before that.

For instance, would the driver need to be a licensed pilot as well to get into the cockpit of the Transition? Terrafugia says since the vehicle will be certified as a Light Sport Aircraft, the Transition will require at least a Sport Pilot license to fly, which requires a minimum of 20 hours of flight time and passing a simple practical test in the aircraft. Of course, one will also need a valid driver’s licence for use on the ground.

Although the maiden test journey was undertaken voluntarily by a retired US Air Force pilot, how safe is the hybrid vehicle for a daily commute with passengers, including children, onboard?

Speaking about the first flight, Terrafugia Chief Test Pilot Phil Meteer said: “It’s a remarkable vehicle both on the road and, now, in the air. When I drove it into the shop, literally from the road through the garage door, I was amazed that I had just flown it at Plattsburgh a few days before. A long-overdue mode of transportation and fun is just around the corner. I can’t wait for the upcoming flight tests and the chance to ‘wring it out’, demonstrating how safe and enjoyable the Transition is to fly.”

Terrafugia says it will equip the vehicle with all kinds of modern technology and safety equipment including a vehicle parachute system, GPS devices, air bags and high-strength composite material to make the Transition safer for the consumer.

The Transition requires the same 91-octane fuel that is available in fuelling stations – so that won’t be an issue – while its fuel efficiency (6.7 litres per 100km on the road, and 8.4 litres per 100km in the air) would put some of the gas guzzling four-wheelers to shame. The only other issue will be the requirement for a runway to take off.

The Transition needs a 1,700-foot (520-metre) runway to take off, and those expecting to switch gears at the first sight of a traffic jam may be in for disappointment.

Queen to re-open historic Cutty Sark ship

UNITED KINGDOM, London: The restored Cutty Sark will be re-opened by Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday, five years after the 19th century British tea clipper was ravaged by fire.