The ZSU23-4 had a partner

I don't think I mentioned the other vehicle that was parked beside the ZSU23-4.

It is amphibious (there were propeller housings and thrust diverters on the rear), it has six pneumatic tires, and a radar or two or more on top. It looked like the kind of vehicle that would travel with a pack of ZSU23-4's, to provide search radar and direct the fire of all of those 23mm cannon.

Here's a look at the front, with buddy Doug. I had to crank the brightness and contrast to compensate for bad hangar lighting.



Starboard side:


Can anybody put a name to this unit?

Test msg to wutt fm

Test msg to wutt fm mobile phone

G T squared

Boy is now bringing home the same kinds of notes that marked the beginning of Middlechild's saga.

After a brief consult with the teacher, we think he's also Gifted. He'll be harder to handle than Middlechild, though, because he's big and fast and immune to pain.

God have mercy on us all. At least we're catching this one early.

This should erase all doubt

All right, Gun Lobby, listen carefully. Libertarians have been explaining for years now that there are unmistakable similarities between the War on Drugs and the War on Guns. You discounted us as dope-smoking libertines.

And you drug law reformers, you didn't listen very well either to our pleas to find common cause with the gun lobby. You dismissed us as bigoted rednecks.

Publicola pointed me to Says Uncle, who links to this petition by the Justice Department to reverse a Ninth Circuit ruling regarding home assembly of a full-auto firearm.

The petition says, in effect, that if the Federal government can legislate against private ownership of a home-made full-auto, they can legislate against simple possession of marijuana. The Federal government's lawyers are claiming that it is irrelevant that either the parts of the gun, or the seeds of the marijuana, were not transferred through interstate commerce---they have the power to pass and enforce legislation against it. The petition mentions a medicinal marijuana case and asks the Supreme Court to make a connection between their firearm case and the marijuana case:

"A holding that Section 922(o) is unconstitutional as applied to the possession of “homemade” machineguns raises an important issue that may ultimately warrant review by this Court. Plenary review in this case, however,
would be premature at this time. On June 28, 2004, the Court granted certiorari in Ashcroft v. Raich,
No. 03-1454 (to be argued Nov. 29, 2004), which involves an analogous as-applied constitutional challenge
to the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. 801 et seq. Accordingly, the petition should be held pending this
Court’s decision in Raich and then disposed of as appropriate in light of that decision."

The Department of Justice agrees with us kooky libertarians that there is (at least one) limit to Federal power, that this one limit pertains equally to Federal firearm laws as well as to drug laws, and oh, by the way, they want to remove that limit.

I can see some relevance to the Betamax decision as well; more on that later.

They understand that these two issues are intertwined, that a Federal win on one will give them the framework for a win on the other.

Do you?

How's he on the Second?

Anybody have a feel for how Gonzales has ruled on RKBA issues? He served on the Texas Supreme Court, so he should have some sort of track record that indicates how he'd behave in this respect.

I admit that in some respects I was hopeful for Ashcroft, strictly on RKBA issues. He showed promise but didn't follow through.

I'd like to know whether Gonzales has similar inclinations on this topic. Being a friend of W doesn't bode well. But Napolitano on Fox seems to like him.

Cabinet reshuffle?

President Bush is considering adjustments to his cabinet?

Great! Start with booting Mineta.