One day a man decided to retire, so he booked himself on a Caribbean cruise and proceeded to have the time of his life, that is, until the ship sank.
He soon found himself on an island with no other people, no supplies, nothing, only bananas and coconuts.
After about four months, he is lying on the beach one day when the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen rows up to the shore.
In disbelief, he asks, “Where did you come from? How did you get here?”
She replies, “I rowed over from the other side of the island where I landed when my cruise ship sank.”
“Amazing,” he notes
“You were really lucky to have a row boat wash up with you.”
“Oh, this thing?” explains the woman
“I made the boat out of some raw material I found on the island
The oars were whittled from gum tree branches
I wove the bottom from palm tree branches, and the sides and stern came from a Eucalyptus tree.”
“But, where did you get the tools?”
“Oh, that was no problem,” replied the woman
“On the south side of the island, a very unusual stratum of alluvial rock is exposed
I found that if I fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into ductile iron I used that to make tools and used the tools to make the hardware.”
The guy is stunned.”Let's row over to my place,” she says.
So, after a short time of rowing, she soon docks the boat at a small wharf.
As the man looks to shore, he nearly falls off the boat
Before him is a long stone walk leading to an cabin and tree house
While the woman ties up the rowboat with an expertly woven hemp rope, the man can only stare ahead, dumb struck.
As they walk into the house, she says casually, “It's not much, but I call it home
Sit down, please
Would you like a drink?”
“No! No thank you,” the man blurts out, still dazed
“I can't take another drop of coconut juice.”
“It's not coconut juice,” winks the woman
“I have a still
How would you like a Tropical Spritz?”
Trying to hide his continued amazement, the man accepts, and they sit down on her couch to talk
After they exchange their individual survival stories, the woman announces, “I'm going to slip into something more comfortable
Would you like to take a shower and shave? There's a razor in the bathroom cabinet upstairs.”
No longer questioning anything, the man goes upstairs into the bathroom
There, in the cabinet is a razor made from a piece of tortoise bone
Two shells honed to a hollow ground edge are fastened on to its end inside a swivel mechanism.
“This woman is amazing,” he muses
“What's next?” When he returns, she greets him wearing nothing but some small flowers on tiny vines, each strategically positioned, she smelled faintly of gardenias.
She then beckons for him to sit down next to her.
“Tell me,” she begins suggestively, slithering closer to him, “We've both been out here for many months
You must have been lonely
There's something I'm certain you feel like doing right now, something you've been longing for, right?” She stares into his eyes.
He can't believe what he's hearing
“You mean…” he swallows excitedly as tears start to form in his eyes, “You've built a Golf Course ?”
Will Colorado lawmakers succeed in banning “assault” weapons? A marathon hearing is now underway.
A similar bill was killed last year, but key changes give it a better chance this time around.
Updated at 1:17 p.m.: As the first public commenters began to testify for and against the “assault” weapons bill late Tuesday morning, common themes quickly emerged.
For supporters of the bill, which would ban the sale and purchase of certain semi-automatic weapons, the measure is a response to the mass shootings that have become routine in Colorado and in America. High-casualty mass shootings — including several in Colorado — have been carried out using the sort of weapons that would be curtailed by the bill.
“I have grown up as part of ‘Generation Lockdown,’ a generation that has only ever known the consequences and ensuing fear of gun violence in schools,” Rhiannon Danborn, a senior at Arvada West High School, told lawmakers. She described first hearing about a mass shooting when she was 6 years old, after the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting, in which 20 first-graders and six adults were shot to death.
Opponents, meanwhile, countered that the bill was so broad that it would cover a number of handguns and other firearms. They accused lawmakers of infringing on residents’ ability to own firearms and defend themselves, and representatives of pro-gun rights groups pledged to sue the state should the ban ever become law.
Several compared firearms to trucks, given the potential danger from both.
“You cannot legislate away evil, period,” said Amanda Hardin, a firearms instructor. “But you can defend yourself against evil. I want to be clear, this is not an assault weapons ban bill. The language in this bill makes this a gun ban.”
Several other opponents argued that the issue in America wasn’t high-powered firearms or gun-ownership, but untreated mental illness. That’s a frequent talking point from gun-rights advocates. Democratic legislators repeatedly pressed them to explain why America has so many more mass shootings than comparable nations with stronger gun restrictions.
Rep. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat, asked one opponent if he thought Americans are just more “monstrous” than their peers overseas.
“There was a study released last year — the United States has had 57 times as many school shootings as every other G7 country combined,” Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat, told one panel of gun-rights advocates. The Group of 7 countries are the U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. “My question, for anybody, is why? Why is that?”
The bill, HB24-1292, would prohibit the sale, purchase, transfer, import and manufacture of so-called “assault weapons” in Colorado. The measure’s definition of those firearms includes semi-automatic rifles and pistols with fixed large-capacity magazines or that have the ability to accept detachable magazines, along with several other types of high-powered firearms. The bill does not ban the possession of the weapons.
The bill is sponsored by Denver Democratic Reps. Tim Hernández and Elisabeth Epps. Last year, a similar bill died in the House Judiciary Committee on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.
The same committee will vote on the measure Tuesday — though, given that more than 500 people have signed up to testify, the vote may not come until early Wednesday morning.
But two of last year’s no votes are off of the committee, replaced by progressive legislators who are co-sponsoring the bill. That gives the bill a strong chance of advancing out of committee.
Epps and Hernández are expected to make slight changes to the bill related to the transfer and transportation of the weapons. If passed Tuesday, the measure would next go to the House Appropriations Committee before moving to the House floor.
Hernández, a 27-year-old teacher and freshman lawmaker, began his opening comments to the House Judiciary Committee by describing his life running parallel to the steady drumbeat of mass shootings in the United States, from Columbine in 1999 to Aurora and Sandy Hook in 2012 and the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting in 2019.
In the United States, assault weapon is a controversial term applied to different kinds of firearms.[1] There is no clear, consistent definition. It can include semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magazine, a pistol grip, and sometimes other features, such as a vertical forward grip, flash suppressor, or barrel shroud.[1][2] Certain firearms are specified by name in some laws that restrict assault weapons.[3] When the now-defunct Federal Assault Weapons Ban was passed in 1994, the U.S. Department of Justice said, "In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use."[3] The commonly used definitions of assault weapons are under frequent debate, and have changed over time.[1]
The origin of the term has been attributed to legislators, the firearms industry, gun control groups,[4][5][6] and the media.[7] It is sometimes used interchangeably with the term assault rifle,[8] which refers to selective fire rifles that use intermediate cartridges.[6] This use has been described as incorrect and a misapplication of the term.[8][9] After the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, many news organizations ran stories about assault weapons, explaining their varying definitions and presenting varying opinions about whether they should be banned again at the federal level.[1][6][10]
Drawing from federal and state law definitions, the term assault weapon refers primarily to semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns that are able to accept detachable magazines and possess one or more other features.[2][11][12] Some jurisdictions define revolving-cylinder shotguns as assault weapons.[13][14] Legislative definitions do not include fully automatic weapons, which are regulated separately as Title II weapons under federal law.[15][n 1] A key defining law was the now-defunct Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994.[15] At that time, the United States Department of Justice said, "In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use."[3]
Common attributes used in legislative definitions of assault weapons include:
Dictionary definitions vary from legal definitions. Dictionary.com defines "assault weapon" as "any of various automatic and semiautomatic military firearms utilizing an intermediate-power cartridge, designed for individual use".[18] Merriam-Webster's online definition is "any of various automatic or semiautomatic firearms; especially: assault rifle".[19]
History of terminology
The origin of the term is not clearly known and is the subject of much debate. In the past, the names of certain military weapons used the phrase, such as the Rifleman's Assault Weapon, a grenade launcher developed in 1977 for use with the M16 assault rifle,[20] or the Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon, a rocket launcher introduced in 1984.[21]
One of the earliest uses of the term, or a similar term, in its current meaning was as part of an advertisement in the Hutchinson (Kansas) News in 1978 for the Valmets-7.62x39, the Colt AR-15, and the Wilkinson Terry carbine.[22] Another was in a bill introduced by Art Agnos in the California State Assembly in April 1985 to ban semi-automatic "assault firearms" capable of using detachable magazines of 20 rounds or more.[23][24] Speaking to the Assembly Public Safety Committee, Agnos said, "The only use for assault weapons is to shoot people."[23] The measure did not pass when it came up for a vote.[24]
In 2013, The Washington Post, looking into the history of the term, wrote of the term: "Many attribute its popularization to a 1988 paper written by gun-control activist and Violence Policy Center founder Josh Sugarmann and the later reaction to the Cleveland School massacre in Stockton, California, in January 1989."[6]Sugarmann had written:
Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons.[25]
Other researchers have found evidence to suggest that the firearms industry itself may have introduced the term "assault weapon" to build interest in new product lines.[26] Phillip Peterson, the author of Gun Digest Buyer’s Guide to Assault Weapons (2008) wrote:
The popularly held idea that the term 'assault weapon' originated with anti-gun activists is wrong. The term was first adopted by manufacturers, wholesalers, importers and dealers in the American firearms industry to stimulate sales of certain firearms that did not have an appearance that was familiar to many firearms owners. The manufacturers and gun writers of the day needed a catchy name to identify this new type of gun.[5]
Meanwhile, many gun rights activists have put forward that the term was popularized by the media or gun control activists. Conservative writer Rich Lowry said that assault weapon is a "manufactured term".[27] Joseph P. Tartaro of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) wrote in 1994: "One of the key elements of the anti-gun strategy to gull the public into supporting bans on the so-called 'assault weapons' is to foster confusion. As stated previously, the public does not know the difference between a full automatic and a semi-automatic firearm."[4] Robert Crook, executive director of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, said "the term 'assault weapon,' as used by the media, is a media invention."[7][28][29]Gun control supporters use the term while gun rights supporters generally do not use the term.[citation needed]
Seven states have assault weapon bans with different definitions and characteristics.[30]
California defines assault weapons by name, by "series" (AK-47 or AR-15), and by characteristic.[31] A shotgun with a revolving cylinder is also defined as an assault weapon.[13]
Connecticut defines assault weapons as selective-fire firearms (including assault rifles capable of fully automatic or burst fire); semi-automatic firearms specified by name; and semi-automatic firearms with specific characteristics.[14]
Maryland defines and bans assault pistols. It regulates 45 other assault weapons listed by make or model including copies, regardless of manufacturer.[32][33]
Massachusetts defines assault weapons as semi-automatic firearms with the same definition provisions from the expired federal ban of 1994.[34]
New York had an assault weapons ban prior to 2013, but on January 16 of that year it passed the SAFE Act, which created a stricter definition of assault weapons and banned them immediately.[35][36][37] The NY SAFE Act defines assault weapons as semi-automatic pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and one military-style feature, and semi-automatic shotguns with one military-style feature.[36]
In Illinois, proposed legislation in 2013 would have defined the term "semi-automatic assault weapon" as any semi-automatic firearm able to accept a detachable magazine, but it was never brought to a vote.[38][39] The Illinois State Rifle Association said most of the state's firearms owners owned one or more guns that would have been banned under the proposal.[40] The NRA said the proposal would have restricted about 75 percent of handguns and 50 percent of long guns in circulation.[40] As municipalities, Chicago and Cook County bans certain firearms defined as assault weapons and have no provision for legal possession of firearms owned before their laws were passed.[41][42]Minnesota also defines certain firearms as assault weapons and regulates their sales.[32] The State of Washington defines any semi-automatic rifle (except antiques), regardless of features, caliber, or magazine type, as a "semiautomatic assault rifle".[43]
Distinction from assault rifles
The term "assault rifle" is frequently used interchangeably with the term "assault weapon" but this use has been described as incorrect and a misapplication of the term.[8] The AP Stylebook suggests that newsrooms avoid the terms "assault weapon" and "assault rifle" instead using the term "semi-automatic rifle".[44] Part of the definition of "assault rifle", according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, is that it is selective-fire, which means that it is capable of both semiautomatic and fully automatic fire.[45] Civilian ownership of machine guns, including selective-fire rifles, has been tightly regulated since 1934 under the National Firearms Act and since 1986 under the Firearm Owners Protection Act.[12]
Cosmetic features
Gun control advocates and gun rights advocates have referred to at least some of the features outlined in assault weapons bans as "cosmetic". The NRA Institute for Legislative Action and the Violence Policy Center both used the term in 2004 when the federal ban expired.[46][47] In May 2012, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said, "the inclusion in the list of features that were purely cosmetic in nature created a loophole that allowed manufacturers to successfully circumvent the law by making minor modifications to the weapons they already produced."[48] Some reporters used the term in stories after the 2012 shootings in Aurora, Colorado, and Newtown, Connecticut.[49][50]
Assault weapons, also sometimes called "black guns" or "black rifles",[51] are no more powerful than many other semi-automatic rifles legally used for hunting throughout the United States; they do not shoot faster or have greater range.[52]
Two scholars have written: "One problem inherent in the study of [assault weapons (AW)] is that the classifications of AW are based on cosmetic features of firearms... For instance, the Colt AR-15 series of semi-automatic rifles—the civilian version of the fully automatic M-16 rifle issued to U.S. soldiers—was subject to the 1994 AW restrictions, but the Ruger Mini-14 rifle was not banned. Yet, the Mini-14 is the same caliber, has a similar barrel length, the same semi-automatic action, and can use magazines that hold 30 rounds of ammunition. The only real meaningful difference between the two firearms is cosmetic: The AR-15 rifle looks more dangerous."[53]
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade group, states that the term assault weapon has been misapplied to many semi-automatic firearms because of their appearance and not their use in crime.[54]
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of 1994, more commonly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, expired in 2004. It banned the manufacture or importation of certain semi-automatic firearms that it defined as "semiautomatic assault weapons", commonly known as assault weapons. Any firearms so defined that were already possessed at the time the law took effect were grandfathered in, and could be legally owned or transferred. Another aspect of the law banned the manufacture or importation of magazines that could hold more than ten rounds of ammunition, with existing magazines grandfathered in as legal.[15]
The Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 defined certain firearms as assault weapons based on the features they possessed. This included semi-automatic rifles with a detachable magazine and at least two of these features: a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a flash suppressor or threaded barrel, a bayonet mount, or a muzzle-mounted grenade launcher. It included semi-automatic pistols with a detachable magazine and at least two of these features: a magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip, a threaded barrel, a barrel shroud, or an unloaded weight of 50 ounces or more. Additionally defined as assault weapons were semi-automatic shotguns with a rotating cylinder, or with at least two of these features: a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a detachable magazine, or a fixed magazine that can hold more than five rounds
Dick and Bill, great work on the gun subject.....having lived most of my life in Tx. , guns have been a consant here and I never worried about it. I've had em then not and not had um. I don't live in fear of anything cept compressed air and electicity(both from unfortunate incidents of my own actions). I have many friends that do worry but don't do anything cept whine and carp it. Gets old. Any real solutions gets lost in the BS.
I don't have a solution, and don't see any way out unless we get our caca together and hep each other speak to the problem. Rots A Ruck.
We have so many laws on gun control we just need to enforce them.
Personally, I think stop and frisk would take a lot of guns off the street, but it would hurt a lot of people’s feelings. I guess we really don’t want to hurt the feelings of people in high crime areas.
A federal judge on Thursday tossed a conservative legal group's lawsuit against a controversial Washington, D.C. law that allows noncitizens — including illegal immigrants and foreign embassy staff members — to vote in municipal elections.
In a 12-page opinion, Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the plaintiffs, a group of U.S. citizen voters represented by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), lacked standing to challenge the law because they could not demonstrate how they are harmed by noncitizens who vote and run for local office.
The complaint "does not include facts showing plaintiffs' right to vote has been denied, that they have been subjected to discrimination or inequitable treatment or denied opportunities when compared to another group, or that their rights as citizens have been ‘subordinated merely because of [their] father’s country of origin," Jackson wrote.
I can remember a time when the borders were secure, the world was at peace, gas was cheap and plentiful, groceries were affordable, mortgage interest rates were 2.5%, and the economic outlook was optimistic. I sure do miss those good old days from just over three years ago.
I use to get a small bucket of Range Balls and go drop them under a bush and practice hitting them out from there, had that shot sometimes more than fairway shots in a round
SAN DIEGO – Zhiwei “Allen” Liao was sentenced in federal court today to 51 months in prison for his role as an organizer and leader of an international conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit Apple products. The defendant was also ordered to forfeit two residences along with $120,370 in U.S. currency and more than 200 Apple devices seized during the investigation.
According to court documents, Zhiwei Liao and his brothers, Zhimin Liao and Zhiting Liao, led an international exchange fraud scheme involving more than 10,000 counterfeit iPhones and iPads. The Liaos imported counterfeit iPhones and iPads from China that looked genuine and included identification numbers (IMEI and serial numbers) matching identification numbers on real iPhones and iPads that were under warranty and had been previously sold to customers in the United States and Canada. At the direction of the Liao brothers, co-conspirators traveled to hundreds of Apple Stores across the United States and Canada, and attempted to exchange counterfeit iPhones and iPads for genuine iPhones and iPads resulting in a loss of $6.1 million to Apple, Inc. Zhiwei Liao then sent the fraudulently obtained, but genuine Apple products primarily to China where they were sold at a premium.
In court today, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Ann Bashant said that a significant prison sentence was appropriate because Zhiwei Liao was the organizer and leader of an extensive international criminal organization that trafficked in counterfeit goods throughout North America for several years.
The scheme was sophisticated and dynamic, involving counterfeit devices imported from China that looked like genuine devices under warranty. Zhiwei Liao micromanaged the operations and created a moving target for law enforcement by directing counterfeit Apple products and criminal proceeds to be sent to different co-conspirators, companies, and family members throughout the scheme. Co-conspirators supported these efforts to avoid law enforcement by exchanging the counterfeit products using a variety of false names and email accounts.
The defendant’s brothers, Zhimin Liao and Zhiting Liao, who were also leaders of the conspiracy, were previously sentenced to 41 months in custody in October 2023.
This case is part of a multi-year investigation led primarily by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the San Diego Police Department that resulted in 12 felony convictions, the forfeiture of five residences in San Diego with an estimated value of more than $4.1 million, over $250,000 in cash, and more than 200 Apple products that were either counterfeit, fraudulently obtained, or used during the criminal operations.
“This was a massive, sophisticated fraud that victimized not only Apple, Inc., but thousands of Apple product owners across North America,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “Theft of intellectual property and the sale of counterfeit goods are growing global problems with serious economic implications.”
“Mr. Liao’s sentencing closes a major chapter in a multi-year investigation that exposed an international, elaborate scheme to sell counterfeit goods worldwide,” said FBI San Diego Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy. “This investigation would not have been successful without the unwavering dedication and persistence of our law enforcement partners. We remain diligent in the pursuit of justice to help maintain the integrity of our economy.”
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy F. Salel.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 19cr4407-BAS
Zhiwei Liao, aka “Allen” San Diego, CA Age: 34
Zhimin Liao, aka “Jimmy” San Diego, CA Age: 36
Zhiting Liao, aka “Tim” San Diego, CA Age: 33
Dao Trieu La, aka “Selena” San Diego, CA Age: 32
Mengmeng Zhang, aka “Aria” San Diego, CA Age: 31
Tam Nguyen, aka “Kelly,” San Diego, CA Age: 39
Charley Hsu San Diego, CA Age: 41
Danny Tran Chan San Diego, CA Age: 32
Phillip Pak, aka “Teddy” San Diego, CA Age: 33
Deedee Zhu, aka “David,” San Diego, CA Age: 35
Jiaye Jiang, aka “joejoekong” San Diego, CA Age: 34
Hyo Yang, aka “Will” San Diego, CA Age: 33
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Traffic in Counterfeit Goods – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2320
Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison, $2 million fine, mandatory restitution, and forfeiture.
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