This is how it should happen

A cop gets busted running plates without a valid police need, apparently as part of a sting.

He lies about it, and gets caught in the lie.

He has now lost his law enforcement license and can never work as a cop again (at least in Ohio).

The only thing better would have been if they actually pursued the felony charges instead of allowing him to plea down to the misdemeanor.

UPDATE: Greetings, visitors!

Firearms Bleg - Full-sized 9mm pistols

So, I have that happiest of conundrums. The wife knows I want a new pistol, and she only has one request. She wants it to be one that she can shoot too, so we can go to the range together.

This is my happy face.

She's not comfortable with the thought of shooting my S&W Model 28 hand cannon (yet), which I can certainly understand. It can seem a bit intimidating at first blush.

Say hello to my N-framed friend

I don't want to just get a .22LR pistol. I will at some point, but for now I want to get something that she's comfortable with, that she can operate and fire accurately, and that would be a serviceable self-defense weapon. Naturally, my thoughts turn to the first caliber of pistol other than .22LR that I learned to shoot, the venerable 9mm.

I have put together a short-list that I'm researching, and would love your feedback. These are all 9mm pistols, all full-framed instead of compact or sub-compact, currently in manufacture and frequently available used. I'm not hung up on metal versus polymer frame, striker-fired versus hammer-fired, or action type (SA/DA/SAO/DAO). I'm looking to spend under $600, preferably in $450 neighborhood if I can.

With all that being said, here's the list I've put together (EDITED to add the P226):

• Browning Hi-Power
• CZ-75
• Beretta PX4
• Beretta 92FS
• Smith & Wesson M&P
• Springfield XD/XD(m)
• Glock 17
• SIG Sauer P226

This will be used by myself as a range gun and occasional carry, and by the missus as a range gun and home defense. Any thoughts, insights, critiques or additions to the list would be greatly appreciated.

Yeah, I'm a geek

Today's Kids.Woot deal was just too cool for school:

May the Lunch be with you

Yes, those are sandwich cutters int he shape of a TIE Fighter and the Millenium Falcon.

Yeah, I ordered two of them.

Not sure I thought this all the way through

Um, what in the world was I thinking when I decided to quit drinking the weekend of the college football championship games?

I must say, old habits die hard. Very, very hard indeed.

Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance

The craziness that is the school policy of Zero Tolerance has once again reared it's head.

In Boston, a young boy was being assaulted by someone who wanted his gloves. So, what did this victim do? He kicked the other kid to make him stop. Self-defense, end of story, right?

Wrong.

“‘Your son kicked a little boy in the testicles. We call that sexual harassment,’” Lynch said the school told her.

Excuse me? A bully attacks a kid. Said kid defends himself, lashing out at one of the most sensitive and tender areas available to him. The attack is stopped. And now the victim is being investigated for "sexual harrasment."

You have got to be kidding me.

This is the same mindset that says a woman shouldn't carry a gun, that she should hope the police arrive in time to protect her from the rapist. This is the same mindset that says "Just give them what they want and they won't hurt you."

Where is the investigation of the bully, that physically laid hands on another kid and choked him? That tried to take from someone else what he wanted by force? There's your harassment right there. Oh wait. That's not just harassment, that's assault and battery.

There are days that I think the home-schoolers have the right idea.

Here, hold my beer. . . .

. . .I'm done with it for now.

I have slowly come to the realization that, for now at least, beer and alcohol are not my friends. Part of my weight issues are related to those empty calories. I've also probably been overindulging of late.

So, it's time to try an experiment. I'm going to put the beer down (mostly) for the rest of the year. I might allow myself one if we go out to eat, but no more than one.

I want to see what happens. I'm pretty sure my weight will continue to move in the proper direction. I think my energy levels will return to where they were months ago (I've been exceptionally tired of late, but have had trouble sleeping). I'm hoping my overall mood and attitude improve as well.

I'd say let's drink to it, but, um, yeah.

And this little pig went Wii Wii Wii all the way home

It's a gaming console, with a fairly simplistic interface. The characters are all cartoonish. It's obviously targeted at kids by and large.

Given all of that, why in the world am I so sore today?!?!?

As part of my on again/off again attempts to drop weight and get healthy, I've started working out on our Wii again. Several years ago, we got the Wii Fit game along with the balance board. For the last two days, I've spent at least 30 minutes each evening doing step aerobics, shadow boxing, hula hoop, and other activities.

This morning? My biceps are sore, my deltoids and shoulders are sore, and my hips are sore.

Everything I did was non-contact. I didn't even do any of the so-called strength exercises. All I did was aerobics and balance games. I guess I'm being a little too exuberant with the shadow boxing or something.

But, ya know what? I'll take a little soreness in my muscles. According to the scale, I've already dropped 4 pounds in two days. I'm sure a lot of that is just fluctuation in water retention, but the scale is moving in the right direction again.

Now all I have to do is keep up my motivation, and keep working out even when I don't feel like it.