No shit.

Washington D.C. is doing another "gun buyback" this weekend. They are offering $10 for BB guns, $50 for rifles and revolvers, and $100 for auto-loading pistols. I saw a news report yesterday where the reporter raved over a semi-auto handgun that was turned in. Naturally it included references to large (actually normal) capacity magazines and concluded with the reporter calling it "essentially a machine gun" and the policeman being interviewed saying "essentially, yes."

A different video report from Fox 5 DC shows Rick Morrow turning in the guns his father left him. Eight rifles and a black powder pistol netted him $450 cash money, which he said he intends to blow on a nice dinner. Judging by the brief glimpse of the guns and the description of his father as an avid shooter, he probably could have sold them to gun collectors for a few hundred dollars each.

Guns (which are already illegal in D.C.) are being turned in for cash, no questions asked. The "buyback" is considered an amnesty, so police are not taking down any information and they cannot be traced back to the donor. Instead of tossing their murder weapons into the Potomac, criminals can sell them to the police with no chance of being caught. The police will even melt them down for scrap, ensuring they'll never be used as evidence against them. What a bargain.

It appeared as though many of the guns were junk and not likely to have been used in any crimes. Still, I've long wanted to hold my own personal gun buyback to catch those family heirlooms that idiots like Rick Morrow turn in. For a few thousand dollars I could get dozens of working guns to add to my collection. If any of them were worth less than $100, I could simply wait for the next D.C. buyback and turn them in for cash. And it would get them "off the streets" which is what D.C. wants to do.

I know, I said I hate these lists, but I figured I'd throw one together to fill in the weekend lull. Here is my list of the most unrealistic TV Sitcoms. I decided to limit it to sitcoms, otherwise I'd be naming every sci-fi show this side of Star Trek. So, here goes.

In no particular order, the Most Unrealistic TV Sitcoms:

The Flying Nun - A cutie like Sally Field as a nun is almost as realistic as her ability to fly?
Gilligan's Island - Too many to mention, but I'll try: 15 years on that island, within radio range of Hawaii, same clothes week after week, Ginger and Mary Ann managing to keep from being gang-raped in a 'Lord of the Flies' style mating ritual? Puhleease.
A-Team - Ok, the A-Team wasn't exactly a sitcom, but still, all those bullets flying around, and the only person ever actually shot was B.A., and not Murdock.
I Dream of Jeannie - In reality, Jeannie would be a sex slave, and Major Nelson would be driving a Ferrari.
Bewitched - Lets see, magical powers, two different Dicks, both of whom are light in their loafers, and again with the 'don't use your powers' mantra.
Alf - That annoying little alien/muppet would have been strangled and eaten by a racoon his first five minutes on Earth.
Hogan's Heroes - Take your pick, a POW camp run by idiots, or a series that lasted longer than the actual war did. Still Nazi humor flew better in the 60s than it would today.
Dukes of Hazzard - How many of you actually grew up thinking that the police had to stop chasing you at the county line? Besides, in real life each time they were caught, Bo and Luke would have been pistol whipped so bad their own Uncle Jessie wouldn't have recognized them. Also those pretty boys would make good girlfriends for Hazzard's local yokels while in the pokie.
Adventures of Superman - No, it isn't Superman that is unbelievable, but his portrayal by a flabby George Reeves.
Mork and Mindy - I guess to parents and children of the 1970s, Robin Williams on cocaine looked a lot like a space alien. Now he just looks like Robin Williams on cocaine.
Knight Rider - A car that can do anything, and the driver wastes his time fighting crime? In real life Michael Knight would be drag racing for pink slips while hanging out the T-top.
Eight is Enough - Should have been 'One is Enough'

Shows that you may think should make the list, but don't.

Get Smart - This spy spoof wasn't supposed to be realistic
Taxi - Despite having all English speaking cab drivers, Taxi still doesn't make the list.
Cheers - Despite the fact that nobody ever paid for a beer.
Welcome Back Kotter - Despite the kids having only one class a day that lasted 2 1/2 minutes.
The Munsters and The Addams Family
Fantasy Island and Love Boat
Beverly Hillbillies
Partridge Family

I'm sure I left some out. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Best of Ravenwood's Universe, originally posted 11/30/2002.

With yet more proof that the Global Warming movement has jumped the shark, Kevin Baker points to this news from the land of the rising sun:

The project that brings (Ken Watanabe) back from hibernation is the BBC nature series "Planet Earth" (titled "Earth" in Japan) by documentary maker Alastair Fothergill, the creative force behind the huge worldwide hit "Deep Blue." A filmic plea to rescue the planet from environmental destruction, "Earth" opens with a haunting shot of that polar bear coming out of hibernation and searching for footing on melting ice.

Watanabe, who narrates the movie's Japanese version, recalls what he saw when he spent a month in the Arctic filming on a different project, before he got the call from the producers of "Earth."

"The first dawn after winter up there is supposed to be mid-February, but the sun appeared to rise two weeks earlier. When I asked the locals about it, they said there have been huge changes here in the last few years.

The media has been reporting a lot of shootings lately which makes me wonder: Are shootings on the rise, or is the reporting of shootings on the rise now that the Supreme Court has decided to hear a landmark Second Amendment case?

Here's more proof that once levied, taxes and fees rarely ever go away:

(Virginia Democrat) Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Wednesday that he wants to keep the $1 fee that was added to the cost of vehicle registration primarily to help pay for the Jamestown 400th commemoration even though the celebration is over. . .

In 2003, the General Assembly raised the cost of vehicle registration by $1 to collect an additional $6 million a year.

About $4 million was spent on an 18-month series of events marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of America's first permanent English settlement.

The remainder was divided between the Department of Motor Vehicles for driver's license security and the Virginia Land Conservation Fund.

Reminds me of the Spanish-American War tax, which just ended this year (the tax, not the war).

Anyone who has ever seen me drive would agree...

You'll die in a Car Accident.

You are very sociable, talking on your cell when you should be paying attention to the road. Sadly, cell phones will claim yet another life...

'How will you die?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Philip Van Cleave tells you what the drive-by media won't:

A concealed handgun permit holder in Colorado has stopped a violent attack by a vicious criminal! She volunteered to work security at her church after a violent attack at another Colorado church earlier that day. Thankfully she did so, as she shot and killed a criminal who had opened fire in the church.

This is exactly what VCDL has been saying would happen if we get rid of gun free zones.

Had that permit holder not been armed because she was in a gun-free zone, how many innocent, irreplaceable lives would have been lost?

THIS is why we want to get rid of university gun bans.

THIS is why we want to get rid of the restaurant concealed carry ban.

THIS is why we want to get rid of the gun ban in the non-sterile area of airport terminals.

THIS is why we want to get rid of the gun ban for concealed handgun permit holders on K-12 school property.

Notice in the links below how the media, especially CNN, desperately want to make the CHP
holder an "authority" figure. (Heaven forbid that a regular citizen with a gun would save any lives.) The media did this by emphasizing that she was a "security guard" and saying that she has a "law enforcement background."

The pastor said in other interviews that she is a CHP holder and volunteered to guard the church.

The criminal had a gun, smoke grenade, and over 500 rounds of ammunition on him. He meant business and meant to slaughter as many people as he could.

Gun bigots show that they are willing to trade safety for the "feeling" of security, in this letter to the editor about campus carry.

Bradford Wiles, in his commentary "Gun bans defy common sense" (Nov. 19), appears to envision a safe and secure college or university campus as one where students are armed.

I beg to differ. Far from making a campus secure, classrooms and dormitories filled with gun-toting students would experience heightened insecurity and lack of safety, with the possibility of many gun accidents and even impulsive acts of violence.

Such a paranoid Wild West atmosphere would by definition be antithetical to the development of true communities of peaceful reflection and learning.

JAMES A. SMITH JR.
NARROWS

With the Supremes taking a Second Amendment case, and with gun grabbers thinking that Democrat gains in the Virginia Legislature will help them push their anti-freedom agenda, it doesn't take them very long to violate Ravenwood's Law.

As a discussion about guns grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Dodge City or the Wild West approaches one.