Stuff and Nonsense

...I leave it to you to decide which is which.

D put me onto this Fars News Agency story posted in Sweetness and Light on Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega's meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister. We can relax; all Iran wants is peace and justice. The U.S., of course, is the villain of the piece. Excuse me, but weren't we all assured that Danny had gotten religion and was a changed man? It's sounding an awful lot like Meet the new boss/ same as the old boss to me. (Hat tip for song line: The Who)

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Also in Sweetness and Light, Tehran is cracking down on women who push the limits of the dress code. Penalties include fines, lashes, and exile from Tehran (which some might actually see as a benefit!) The photo accompanying this post is edifying; the young lady being loaded into a paddy wagon could pass for a nun, yet she is nonetheless in violation.
In olden days a glimpse of stocking/
was considered simply shocking/
Now Heaven knows/
Anything goes!
(Hat tip for song line: Cole Porter)

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Mike Adams proposes a gun ownership option that he suggests could be acceptable to both pro-and anti-gun types: institute a concealed carry permit program as the only legal requirement for purchasing a gun. Eliminate all other permits. Probably won't make the anti-gun types happy as it does allow gun ownership, but nothing short of an outright ban is going to make some folks happy.

Adams being a pretty resolute gun-rights advocate, I was a little surprised to see him advocating this: it does, after all, impose restrictions on gun purchases. It strikes me as eminently sensible. While I support the Second Amendment, it seems to me that the right to purchase and carry a gun ought to be balanced by the responsibility of appropriate use. You can't legally get behind the wheel of a car without demonstrating some basic competence in driving, why should you be able to buy a gun without demonstrating basic competence in using it? You can kill people just as easily either way.

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Courtesy of my sister-in-law, this link to the site of
the "Real Borat." (Warning: Adult Content. More like Slightly Suggestive Adolescent Content, actually.) As far as we can tell, this is not a spoof; if anybody has info to the contrary, however, we'd love to hear it. SIL checked Snopes.com, but could find nothing either way.

The owner (and primary photo subject) of the site has mercifully refrained from attempting Borat's yellow-Speedo-over-the-shoulders beach look. Although he does look rather Borat-like, he also reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live "Czechoslovakian Brothers" sketches, in a way. I wonder if he's gotten any takers? I wonder if I'll need to go to Confession for posting this link?