A Friday Assortment of Chocolates

First, Marie Antoinette doesn't like the room service:

Michelle Obama and three of her family members are staying in a $8,350-per-night Beijing presidential suite, but despite a 24-hour butler and other perks that come with the lodging, her entourage has inconvenienced 'pretty much everyone' and made the hotel staff 'fed up,' a well-placed hotel staffer has told MailOnline. 

The sumptuous pad at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang hotel – its website calls the room 'an oasis of comfort – is a 3,400-square-foot masterpiece including a private steam room, 'corner sofas with silk pillows,' and in-room dining for six. But the Obamas' stay has already affected staff and guests at the hotel, with the Westin front-desk veteran alleging that Mrs. Obama's mother Marian Robinson has been 'barking at the staff since she arrived.'

What a bunch of graceless swine they are! And what is Marie Antoinette, the Queen Mother and the Royal Offspring doing in China? Trying to figure out a better way to sell out the United States? Or she just couldn't get a decent Eight Treasure Rice in D.C. and figured we suckers will pick up the bill? What, wouldn't Beijing deliver if we promised them Taiwan? 2016 can't come soon enough...

I note the Beretta 92 is going through something of a renaissance, or at least another blip on the public radar. Wilson Combat is bringing out a complete line of Beretta parts, plus custom gunsmithing. They're also brining Ernest Langdon on board as a consultant. Aside from being one heck of a good guy and an old friend of mine, Ernest is the Lord High Master of the Beretta 92.

In truth, I never cared for the Beretta 92. Big, clunky and, in general, a massive case of the blahs. the only one that I really enjoyed shooting was a Vertec (which was designed with a straight backstrap for more of a 1911 feel) Ernest had rebuilt for a friend of mine.

If I recall Bill Wilson always had a thing for the big Beretta (and Bill, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). I'm thinking he shot at Beretta 92 at the inaugural IDPA invitational match in Columbia, MO, back in the Back When. Could'a just been me getting ahold of some bad Eight Treasure Rice, however.

Interesting legal piece on silencers, from the Courthouse News Service, talking about the 6 characteristics BATFE uses to determine whether a new device attached to the muzzle of a gun is or is not a suppressor:

"But where did that list of six characteristics come from? The agency [BATFE] never explains whether those six characteristics are present in all (or most?) silencers. The agency never explains whether there are other common characteristics that do not appear on its list. And the agency never explains how many characteristics in common are necessary to be classified as a 'firearm silencer.' What if a device has an 'encapsulator' and an 'end cap; - is it a silencer? What about a device that is attached to the muzzle of a rifle, and is full of "sound dampening material," but has none of the other five physical characteristics-is it a silencer? 

The agency's approach leaves Innovator (as well as other regulated parties, and reviewing courts) guessing." (Parentheses in original) From there, the judge's assessment of the ATF's review became even more pointed. "Hypotheticals further illustrate the weakness of this methodology," he wrote. "A mouse is not an 'elephant' solely because it has three characteristics that are common to known elephants: a tail, gray skin and four legs. A child's bike is not a 'motorcycle' solely because it has three characteristics common to known motorcycles: two rubber tires, handlebars, and a leather seat. And a Bud Light is not 'Single-Malt Scotch,' just because it is frequently served in a glass container, contains alcohol, and is available for purchase at a tavern. To close with a firearm-related example a hockey puck us not a 'rubber bullet,' just because it has rounded sides, is made of vulcanized rubber, and is capable of causing injury when launched at high speeds. Learning that one object has three characteristics in common with some category may not be very helpful in determining whether the object in question belongs in that category.

Read the whole thing. It's illuminating. A mouse is indeed not an elephant.