The Ebola virus may be pushed off the front pages of today's newspapers with the announcement late yesterday afternoon that the four former security guards for Blackwater USA have been found guilty of multiple counts of murder, manslaughter and assorted weapons violations for their roles in the September 16, 2007 shootings in Nisur Square in Baghdad, Iraq.

At the time, Nicholas Abram Slatten, 30, of Sparta, Tennessee; Paul Alvin Slough, 35, of Keller, Texas; Evan Shawn Liberty, 32, of Rochester, New Hampshire; and Dustin Laurent Heard, 33, of Maryville, Tennessee were providing contract security to U.S. officials when something went wrong and their team started shooting. Before it was all over, 14 unarmed civilians had been killed.

The verdicts came on the twenty-eighth day of jury deliberations and more than two months of trial. A sentencing date hasn't been set, but the four have been detained until Senior Judge Royce C. Lamberth pronounces sentences. The murder charge against Slatten carries a mandatory life sentence, while the first degree manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and weapons charges carry sentences from 15 to 30 years.

A fifth Blackwater guard, Jeremy P. Ridgeway, pled guilty in December 2008 to voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter. He then testified as a government witness and has not yet been sentenced. Another nine members of "Raven 23" the security detail involved in the incident testified as did 30 Iraqis, the largest group ever to travel to the United States for a criminal trial. A total of 71 witnesses testified in the trial.

No word on whether there will be appeals on behalf of the four former Blackwater USA employees.

And there's no room for appeal, but plenty of time for protests after a judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and others over what the groups considered inadequate pump warnings regarding the highly-controversial E-85 gasoline.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed the recreational boating industry's challenge of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) rule regarding misfueling mitigation plans surrounding the sale of E15, saying the group failed to establish Article III standing because they "cannot show members have suffered or are suffering with an injury in fact (due to sales of E-15) that is traceable to the misfueling regulation and readdress able by a favorable decision."

(Sidebar: If you remember what I wrote yesterday about a government that would rather "do nothing and deal with the aftermath later" this should sound familiar.)

The NMMA says the court's ruling has "set an extremely high bar for industry challenges to regulatory action" and continued to say the court appears to "fail to fully comprehend the seriously flawed misfueling rule by the EPA."

In a statement (you can read it in its entirety in this morning's edition of The Fishing Wire(www.thefishingwire.com), the NMMA continued:

"This latest decision not only continues to allow the potentially dangerous E15 at gas pumps across the country, but continues to put consumers and retailers at extreme risk. The EPA's rule does not make provisions to ensure that low ethanol fuels like E10 remain at the pump for consumers who may require them nor does it take any actionable steps towards educating consumers about how to choose the correct fuel for their needs."

"NMMA will be working on behalf of the boating industry to do everything we can to prevent misfueling through education and to take the necessary actions to ensure that compatible, low ethanol fuels remain available and affordable for the 89 million boaters enjoying our waters across the United States." said Nicole Vasilaros, director of federal and legal affairs for NMMA. "And while this decision is disheartening, the matter is far from over. NMMA continues to actively seek Congressional action that will reform the Renewable Fuel Standard and protect recreational marine products and consumers."

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2177061.jpg> It only looks like a comic book. There's not much funny in Senator Tom Coburn's fifth- and final- report on waste in Washington. Image with permission.

In Washington, yesterday marked the fifth -and final- release of Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn's Wastebook Report. It's not the final because government waste has stopped, but Coburn will step down at the end of this current Congress. As one observer put it, "he's leaving the government with a blueprint on how to save money, if anyone's willing to implement it."

Not likely. As Coburn writes in his introduction, "Washington politicians are more focused on their own political futures than the future of our country. And with no one watching over the vast bureaucracy, the problem isn't just what Washington isn't doing, but what it is doing.

Say, for instance, spending $171,000 to study the gambling habits of monkeys, or the State Department spending $90 million each year on cultural exchange programs, including one program that included a "nose flutist". In 2012, State gathered musicians from around the world in Florida where they participated in a "flash mob."

Don't get me started on the $300,000+ plus spent on Swedish massages -for rabbits. Read the entire report athttp://www.coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=6932c44c-6ef4-491d-a0f1-078b69f1f800.

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2177062.jpeg> Jay Leno will headline the Industry Dinner at SHOT Show 2015. NSSF image with permission.

If you're going to SHOT Show 2015, here are a couple of parting thoughts. First, it's less than three months away. Secondly, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) tells me the tickets for their Industry Dinner are going fast. And I understand why. The entertainment is one of Vegas' hottest tickets any time of the year- Jay Leno.

The master of humor without profanity will be the entertainment -and I think he will make for an awesome evening. Thanks, NSSF for booking Leno as the entertainment because you've helped me accomplish something I've tried to figure out how to do for some time: get Jay Leno's picture in a column without worrying about "his people".

Hot tickets are going fast - and he's only doing the one show. Get 'em while they're hot, and before they're gone.

--Jim Shepherd