General Norman Schwarzkopf Dies

RIP.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. official says retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait in 1991, has died. He was 78.

The official tells The Associated Press that Schwarzkopf died Thursday in Tampa, Fla. The official wasn’t authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. To Exceed Debt Limit on Monday

Just for good measure.

Government borrowing will hit the debt ceiling on Monday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in a letter to Congress Wednesday.

As a result, the Treasury Department will soon start using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to prevent government borrowing from exceeding the legal limit.

Such measures include suspending the reinvestment of federal workers’ retirement account contributions in short-term government bonds.

On Monday, debt subject to the limit was just $95 billion below the $16.394 trillion debt ceiling.

TSA Confiscates Over 1,500 Guns

Interesting.

As of Friday, TSA’s gun tally sat at 1,527 — 1,295 of which were loaded — and this week’s count will likely bring the final tally just past 1,550 before the year ends.

Once a weapon is found, the TSA’s job ends, David Castelveter, the agency’s director of external communications, told Skift. “We are not an arresting authority. We don’t have detention authority. If somebody comes through with a weapon the immediate procedure is to call the local authority,” he said. “There are some states where they just tell you to take it back to the car; in others you’ll end up at Rikers.”

Beyond the weekly tallies, which the TSA posts every Friday afternoon on its blog, TSA does not follow arrests, indictments or convictions stemming from firearms violations. “We just keep track of the confiscations, because the police don’t always keep us apprised of what happens,” Castelveter said. ”We don’t pay attention to the arrest unless it turns into an indictment and we have an agent give testimony in a trial.”

The second half of 2012 has seen an increase over gun activity in the first six months: In July On the National Security Beat, a project of Medill Journalism School, reported that 697 guns had been found, 170 of which were not only loaded but had rounds in their chambers.

Skift reported earlier this month that of the top 11 airports for firearms confiscation, five were in Texas, two were in Florida, and the most-confiscated title went to Atlanta’s Hartsfield – Jackson International.

Feinstein Wants Gun Registration

Lovely.

Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
Background check of owner and any transferee;
Type and serial number of the firearm;
Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration

Before I accept such a bill, I think that all commentors on blogs should be required to register with the government and verify that their comments would not violate any laws before being allowed to comment.

Segway Boy Charged

Heh.

A well-known Capitol protester was charged Wednesday with receiving stolen property for allegedly keeping a State Capitol police officer’s jacket, which he said he wore for friends as a joke.

The mother of Jeremy J. “Segway” Ryan, 24, of Madison, found the jacket in October while she was cleaning out Ryan’s apartment at 515 State St., according to a criminal complaint filed in Dane County Circuit Court.

[...]

Officer Andrew Hyatt asked Ryan if he ever thought the jacket might be stolen and Ryan said he thought it was a little suspicious but said he didn’t think much about it, the complaint states.

Of course, I doubt Segway Boy thinks about much.