Gun Crazy

Those fucking Brits:

A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for “doing his duty”.

Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.

The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year’s imprisonment for handing in the weapon.

In a statement read out in court, Mr Clarke said: “I didn’t think for one moment I would be arrested.

“I thought it was my duty to hand it in and get it off the streets.”

The court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden.

In his statement, he said: “I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges.

“I didn’t know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him.

“At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall.”

Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells.

Defending, Lionel Blackman told the jury Mr Clarke’s garden backs onto a public green field, and his garden wall is significantly lower than his neighbours.

He also showed jurors a leaflet printed by Surrey Police explaining to citizens what they can do at a police station, which included “reporting found firearms”.

Quizzing officer Garnett, who arrested Mr Clarke, he asked: “Are you aware of any notice issued by Surrey Police, or any publicity given to, telling citizens that if they find a firearm the only thing they should do is not touch it, report it by telephone, and not take it into a police station?”

To which, Mr Garnett replied: “No, I don’t believe so.”

Prosecuting, Brian Stalk, explained to the jury that possession of a firearm was a “strict liability” charge – therefore Mr Clarke’s allegedly honest intent was irrelevant.

Just by having the gun in his possession he was guilty of the charge, and has no defence in law against it, he added.

But despite this, Mr Blackman urged members of the jury to consider how they would respond if they found a gun.

He said: “This is a very small case with a very big principle.

“You could be walking to a railway station on the way to work and find a firearm in a bin in the park.

“Is it unreasonable to take it to the police station?”

Paul Clarke will be sentenced on December 11.

Judge Christopher Critchlow said: “This is an unusual case, but in law there is no dispute that Mr Clarke has no defence to this charge.

“The intention of anybody possessing a firearm is irrelevant.”

You know what?  Fuck this judge, fuck this jury, and fuck Great Britain!  Albion has become a place with a legal system that resembles Iran or Saudi Arabia.  This is just the latest story of basic rights and commonsense being crushed by an increasingly tyrannical government.

Mr. Clarke, get your ass over here to the U. S. of A. if you can.

Flagging intelligence

A few days back it was the asshat bus authority supervisor who suspended the bus driver for wearing a non-regulation pink tie in support of breast cancer awareness.  Now it’s this:

Firefighter suspended for refusing to peel American flag sticker from locker

Chester, Pa., firefighter James Krapf wants to know what’s wrong with Old Glory. The 11-year veteran was suspended without pay Thursday after he refused to peel a sticker of the American flag from his locker.

Fire Commissioner James Johnson, who served in the Marine Corps, vows the symbolism of the decal is not the issue.

“We wear the American flag on our uniform…it’s flying outside that station,” he said. “It is not about the American flag or patriotism.”

Jesus Fucking Christ!  Alright, folks, do I even need to tell you how this one ends?  Fire Commissioner and utterly clueless asshole James Johnson orders a firefighter to take the American flag off his locker and suspends said firefighter when he respectfully refuses.  Wait for it…wait for it…

Union and fire officials reinstate firefighter and allow sticker to stay put

Well, of course they reinstated the firefighter and allowed the sticker of the American goddamn flag to stay put.  And how did our clueless bureaucrat attempt to extricate his head from his ass?

“There was never an intent to desecrate the American flag,” said Fire Commissioner James Johnson during a press conference.

No, there was never an intent to desecrate the American flag.  We just decided to criminalize putting it on your locker, insist that you scrape it off, suspend you when you declined, wait about 10 seconds for the news media (including the DrudgeReport) to report the story, wonder what all those people outside the firehouse holding signs saying “The Flag Is Not Offensive” are doing, and then do what anybody with an IQ above 50 would have done.

Administrators, quit making goddamn asses of yourselves!  Quit enforcing so literally rules that were never intended to prevent the kind of behavior your subordinates are engaging in.  Christ!

Drugs, not hugs

So, British taxpayers, how is your government spending your money?  Study touts treating heroin addicts with heroin:

If treating heroin addicts by giving them heroin seems counterintuitive, having the government fund that addiction to the tune of more than $22,000 per patient per year comes across as downright radical.

Well, no, I wouldn’t use the terms “counterintuitive” and “radical”.  “Fucking nuts” and “a goddamn outrage” would seem to fit better.  That’s right, Brits, these drug addicts get their fix on your dime.  The article continues:

The use of street heroin was reduced by three quarters and the crimes committed trying to get drugs were cut by two-thirds, the study found.

You mean one-quarter of these druggies still got some stuff off the street despite getting $22,000 a year of taxpayer money blown on them?!  And a third still commited crimes to get drugs?!  Jesus!

The treatment is relatively expensive, about $22,000 per patient, per year. But in Britain many are coming to terms with the fact that keeping a person in prison can cost three times that.

Who says you have to keep them in prison?  Legalize the stuff.  Then it won’t cost the British taxpayers anything.

It Don’t Matter If You’re Black Or White…

…unless you are a total fucking idiot named Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish’s 8th Ward in Hammond, Louisiana.  Jesus H. Christ, what the hell was this asshat thinking?  The story:

A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.

Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

“I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,” Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. “I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.”

Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.

Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.

“There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage,” Bardwell said. “I think those children suffer and I won’t help put them through it.”

Look, Bardwell, if they were offering a Nobel Prize for Goddamn Stupidity, you’d win it hands fucking down.  Let me let you in on a little secret, chief: It’s the 21st fucking century.  People of different races marry in this country.  Hell, all the way back in the less-than-multicultural 1950s the most popular show on TV, I Love Lucy, had a white woman and a Hispanic man married to each other.

Okay, Bardwell, I’m trying to comprehend your thought process here.  Tell me how I’m doing:

1. You refuse to marry a black man and a white woman.
2. …
3. Everything turns out fine and you are lauded for thinking about the possible repercussions on any children issuing from the union.

Sorry, but I’m a little fuzzy on what was supposed to happen in step 2.  Divine fucking intervention, maybe? 

I know this will come as a shock to you, but Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has called for your dismissal.  Which, of course, is what will happen assuming your don’t just resign first.  God Almighty, chief, what in holy hell were you thinking?!

All dressed up

Un-freakin’-believable.  News item:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Springfield Mass Transit District bus driver has received a one-day unpaid suspension for wearing a pink necktie to help raise awareness for breast cancer. The driver, 46-year-old William Jones, had to serve the suspension, but his action led the transit district to agree that employees could wear pink on Fridays October in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Jones, who said he planned to file a formal grievance, said he has had a number of relatives who have battled cancer, including a grandmother, a sister, several cousins and a niece.

Linda Tisdale, the district’s managing director, said employees must ask in advance before wearing any deviation from the standard uniform.

I would assume that by this time Linda Tisdale — Hmm, it’s Linda, is it?  Say aren’t you one of those people with breasts?  Two of them, I’d wager — has an e-mail inbox full of anatomically impossible suggestions.  But don’t let that stop you from sending her your opinion of her fucked up dress code.