The VPC has launched a website to promote the renewal of the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 that is set to expire in just under a year. The site is here. A quick review of the site yields the same old lies that the VPC and Brady Bunch have been spouting for years. It does have a neat chart detailing pre and post ban models here. Seems they’re conceding the current Assault Weapons ban is pointless and gearing up for a bigger fight.

The solution proposed by the VPC is:

To accomplish the goal of ridding our streets of assault weapons, the new law must ban all–not just some–semiautomatic assault rifles, pistols, and shotguns.

Now they want to ban all of them. And note the list of supporters. The usual suspects.

For some real humor, check this out. It explains assault weapons spray-fire design and calls them bullet hoses. It calls the Bushmaster XM15 an assault weapon. Mind you, the XM15 is not banned by the AWB of 1994.

Also, here’s an interesting article on a proposed ban of Sniper Rifles, which calls the XM15 a sniper rifle. I suppose now the terms assault weapons and sniper rifles are interchangeable.

This past Saturday, I attended the UT v. SC game with some friends. The game was broadcast on ESPN2. I thought I’d try to have some fun but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get 107,000 people to yell Beat Those Cocks! on TV. I guess they’re all too mature. Bunch of college kids.

The Mrs. relays to me a story from her office. She’s having a conversation with two female coworkers. Coworker1’s daughter recently had a friend commit suicide and the daughter was depressed, as was the coworker. Coworker2 asked how her friend committed suicide. The answer was that the friend shot himself with a gun. Coworker2 then states I can’t believe they’d have a gun in the house. The Mrs. then states that we have guns in our house and that we always will. And that the parents should have restricted access to the gun. She also stated that people don’t always use guns and he could have locked himself in the garage or a variety of other methods.

I was proud!

Per this:

With guns holstered at their sides, about 50 people marched down neighborhood sidewalks in Cincinnati Sunday.

They want to draw attention to their effort to allow people to carry concealed weapons in Ohio.

In Ohio, they banned concealed carry but open carry is allowed in a lot of places.

AlphaPatriot addresses the relationship of school performance and money (i.e., there isn’t one). Of course, our politicians only response to anything is to throw money at it.

Whenever someone tells you that there’s an inordinate number of children killed with guns each year, remind them why. Of course, if you go by the VPC’s stats (children included people under age 24) then {insert Lewinski joke here}.

It turns out one of the 19 guys that we were told was responsible for 9/11 has been found alive and well in Morocco.

But remember, it’s reported by the BBC. I will consider the source since they’ve been wrapped up in some scandals lately regarding their reporting.

This weekend I went to the gun show with Les. One particularly interesting thing happened to me while there. I was walking around with an AR15 (not that I’m necessarily trying to sell it but, hey, everyone has a price) when a fellow walks up and asks about it and how much I want for it. He then proceeds to ask: So, did you put his flash hider on here? My immediate thought was that he was an ATF agent. I paused and informed him that some arbitrary law made it illegal for me to put a flash hider on that gun because then it would be an assault weapon. I also explained to him that it was a muzzle break because the holes were only at the top instead of all around. After that, he was no longer interested in the gun. I told Les I’d bet $100 he was an ATF agent who thought he had someone.

Via Unknownnews, this St. Louis Post article on gun shows is interesting:

Scrutiny of gun shows in the St. Louis area laid the foundation for raids, quietly conducted in April, in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized 572 guns from the homes of five show participants, according to court documents.

At least one criminal prosecution has resulted, in federal court in East St. Louis.

So, they seize 572 guns and search 5 people and get only one perseprosecution?

Then the article goes into the tired and irrelevant argument of the evil gun show loophole, which doesn’t exist. All that exists is the right of citizens to engage in lawful commerce.

You may recall my dissatisfaction err annoyance err outright anger regarding the builder next door, which has resulted in me taking an extension cord hostage. This is a story of inadvertent revenge. Since that post, I came home one night and realized that the same sprinkler head that had been cleaved with the Bobcat (which I subsequently marked with one of those little red flags that are used specifically to mark pipes so people don’t dig them up) was covered in dirt. The same genius Bobcat operator who cut it had now dumped about eight inches of dirt on it.

I was a bit miffed. That’s an understatement. I was in my yard yelling expletives best not mentioned in mixed company. I thought I was yelling the aforementioned expletives and that no one could hear me. It turns out that while I was yelling those expletives, there was a couple walking around and looking at the house next door. After my tirade, I imagine they had serious second thoughts about moving next door to a raving, cussing lunatic because they quickly got in their car and left. It wasn’t intentional. I may have just cost him a buyer. Pity. I imagine the next few couples may be witness to the same thing. Or they may get to listen to the musical stylings of the band Hatebreed. Or I may hook up the old 4X10 cabinet and play Smoke on the Water for hours.

Oh, no one has mentioned the whole extension cord hostage situation.

Publicola tells you what to do after you buy that gun.

Per the KNS:

Gov. Phil Bredesen plans to close Brushy Mountain State Prison and replace it with a new and larger facility in Morgan County, according to a document obtained by the News Sentinel.

Why does this make me sad? According to some family history, my great grandfather’s brother was the first man to escape from there.

Tom emails this link which details a city ban on, get this, slingshots. Those whacky Canadians.

Mike has a run down on the living wage campaign in Memphis. Scroll down to The Living Wage Comes To Memphis.

If you pay burger flippers $12 and hour, there will be no burger joints.

Matt has an indepth analysis of Klein v. Leis. Give it a read.

Got a comment posted to an old post that was entirely penis enlargement spam.

IP Address: 66.111.50.170

A quick Whois
Company: United Colocation Group, Inc.
Address: 200 Paul Ave., Suite 500
City: San Francisco
StateProv: CA
PostalCode: 94124
Country: US
Comment:
RegDate: 2003-01-29
Updated: 2003-01-29
Phone: +1-888-993-9339
Email: info@unitedcolo.com, sysadmin@unitedcolo.com

Drop them a line.

Granted this story may lack confirmation, but a man details a search executed on his house because he wrote a paper which argues that federal income tax on wages isn’t required by law.

Kevin debunks the whole 41 cops killed by assault weapons line that the usual supects are spouting off. Go read.

Big news in the Silveira v. Lockyer case. Dunno what I think of this one yet.

Via Chuck comes this BBC article on guns in Africa:

There is one weapon in circulation for every 20 people in Africa, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The 2003 edition of the Small Arms Survey, a report by the Geneva-based organisation of the same name, says about 30 million light weapons are in circulation in sub-Saharan Africa.

This, the report says, is far fewer than previous estimates have suggested.

Okay, I’ll buy that there are guns for 5% of the population (1/20). The interesting part is this:

The unchecked spread of small weapons has exacerbated African inter-state conflicts, contributed to human rights violations, undermined political and economic development, destabilised communities and devastated the lives of millions of people.

It seems to me that most of the rights violations come from the governments, not the unchecked spread of weapons, but I digress. The article associates number of weapons with the atrocities mentioned above. For reference, in 1997 (the last year I have found data for) there were 230 million guns in the US (I’m also fairly certain there are a number of guns not registered, so I’d put that number a bit higher). There are roughly 300 million of us. There are enough guns for 77% of our population. Yet, we lack the problems mentioned above at least in terms of degree.

It seems to me the problem may be cultural, economic, or political instead of one that can be blamed on objects. Of course, my math could be off.

In the beginning, a Dixie Chick said something that some people didn’t like.

She then (realizing her sales were down) apologized for the remark. I’m guessing sales didn’t recover.

Now, feeling more acceptance for her views from the rock crowd, the Chicks have abandoned country since that genre of music wasn’t accepting of her views. Having done that, she posts a letter on their web page. Some of her wisdom is:

Message 1:
Saddam Hussein called and wants to know where his weapons of mass destruction are. Listen Saddam, I already told you, I don’t know. You’re going to have to call the White House on that one.

Message 2:
Country radio called and wants to know if it’s true that you’re leaving country music? This one must be a prank call. I mean, how can you leave a party now when the hosts had shown you to the door six months ago.

Message 3:
Sheryl Crow and Lenny Kravitz called to see if you could come to their party Friday night. Oh that one’s easy. I can’t, I’m already going to Ashton and Demi’s party.

Message 4:
G. Gordon Liddy, Rush Limbaugh, and Don Imus all called again to ask about the plane crash. Listen guys this is really getting old. I’m sorry, but no we did not die in a plane crash. But look on the bright side…we fly all the time.

Message 5:
Arnold Schwarzenegger called to see if we wanted to “verk out” with him at “zee gym” next week. Hmmm that’s both weird and scary. He must not have heard what Emily “said” about him or know that we’re married!

Heard on the radio this morning that Ollie North will be at some Christian bookstore in Knoxville tonight signing books.

I posted this post about Edwards’ voting record (ahem, lack of), Chris Muir emailed me the original comic I was referring to:

Turns out it was Gephardt. Heh!

Tom needs to find a good, reputable Boxer breeder. If you know of one, let him know.

Edwards has missed 90% of Senate votes. I seem to recall a day by day comic about this months ago.

Via Kevin comes this:

If Sahlin had gone to trial and been convicted on two indictments, he faced a mandatory sentence of 30 years for using a machine gun in the robbery — on top of a sentence for bank robbery. In exchange for his plea, the government dropped the machine gun charge and substituted the lesser charge of using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Sahlin’s lawyer, federal defender Bjorn Lange, said if the case had gone to trial, a jury would have had to decide whether the weapon could be converted into a machine gun and therefore fit the legal definition of a machine gun; Lange contended it wasn’t.

The prosecutor said the U.S. government’s position was that it was a machine gun and Sahlin knew it was a machine gun.

Government information describes the weapon as a Colt M16A1, 5.56-caliber semiautomatic assault weapon. Ollila said it had been a machine gun when owned by the military and had been converted into a semiautomatic for local police.

Let me repeat: whether the weapon could be converted into a machine gun and therefore fit the legal definition of a machine gun

A gun is a machine gun or it isn’t. He had an AR15 that had the auto sear and selector switch removed. I guess I have a machine gun at home then. Mind you, I don’t have any parts to turn it into one but since the possibility to convert it exists (as it does with all semi-autos), law enforcement can trump up a machine gun charge?

It is illegal to have a rifle and the parts to convert it to a machine gun. However, one can own a rifle or the parts to convert one, just not both. Absent from the story is whether or not he actually possessed the parts.

Update: This is my 1,000th post. Jebus!

Per this:

Southern Methodist University shut down a bake sale Wednesday in which cookies were offered for sale at different prices, depending on the buyer’s race or gender.

The sale was organized by the Young Conservatives of Texas, who said it was intended as a protest of affirmative action.

A sign said white males had to pay $1 for a cookie. The price was 75 cents for white women, 50 cents for Hispanics and 25 cents for blacks.

Members of the conservative group said they meant no offense and were only trying to protest the use of race or gender as a factor in college admissions.

Via Donald Sensing, get your very own R. Lee Ermey motivational figure.

And if you’re not watching Mail Call, you should be.

<R. Lee Ermey Voice>I suggest you unfuck yourself you grab-asstic little momma’s boy and get right on it.</R. Lee Ermey Voice>

Via Matt comes news that the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled in Klein v. Leis that Ohio’s laws do not unconstitutionally infringe the right to bear arms.

I’m no lawyer so this was interesting to me:

It is fundamental that a court must “presume the constitutionality of lawfully enacted legislation.”

..Snip..

Therefore, we begin by presuming [the laws] are constitutional. Accordingly, the legislation in question “will not be invalidated unless the challenger establishes that it is unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt.”

So, a law is automatically presumed constitutional and one must prove it’s not? That makes the knee-jerk libertarian in me cringe, but I digress.

One particularly bright spot from the ruling is Today, we reiterate that the right to bear arms is fundamental.

I’m not up on Ohio constitutional standards but it is commonly believed (even by diehard pro-gun guys, like me) that the Second Amendment doesn’t necessarily guarantee an unrestricted right to carry weapons unless as part of the defense of the state (transporting and other things that are inherent in owning arms, like going to the range, excepted). In this case, I think the Ohio Court is right (likely to the chagrin of my other pro-gun bloggers). I do however think that states should have a carry permit process.

Update: Mike quotes the Ohio Constitution in comments:

The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security; but standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be kept up; and the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.

Kevin discusses some negative political ads (by Republicans) that claim someone (a Democrat) is unpatriotic. He also says that the Democrats engage in no such thing (in his comments).

I wonder if Kevin has read Dean’s latest, which compares the Republican administration to tyrants. I’m sure somehow this will be excused even though it a case of glass houses and stones.

Dirty pool all the way around or politics as usual? Well, the left calls the right facists; and the right calls the left communists.

Yup, as usual.

So Jeff has the weekly check on the bias. Check it, yo.

Per this:

Davidson County District Attorney General Torry Johnson yesterday said that the state needs to ”get serious” about fighting crimes committed with guns by passing stricter laws.

Johnson’s statements came at a press conference where Metro police announced they were destroying 1,750 guns of many varieties and calibers confiscated by officers in the past several months.

Apparently, the volume of guns destroyed and citing serious offenses are used as a basis to demand more severe punishments for gun crimes. Finally:

”Right now, it is a very low-grade misdemeanor to possess a weapon with the intent to go armed.

Packing is a serious offense?

Couple says $43,186.51 water bill ’shocking’

”The bill showed that I had used 9 million gallons of water from Aug. 7 through Sept. 8. And I am really not sure how anyone could use that much water.”

Here’s a link to a petition regarding Breed Specific Legislation in the UK.

I should say that this petition is aimed at getting one breed exempted. I think they should just oppose BSL.

Bill Hobbs has links to articles tying Saddam to the Oklahoma City bombing, the 1993 WTC bombing, and Al Qaeda.

Yesterday, I decided I’d actually watch Bowling For Columbine. At a guess, I figure I started watching it about 30 minutes into it. I caught the bit about the NRA and the KKK. Moore essentially uses this logic:

The NRA and KKK were started in the same year. Shortly after these two organizations were formed, there was a ban on black people owing guns. That’s all the information he gives. Period. No specifics.

Though I’m not a fan of the NRA, I did a little digging. Per the NRA, they were formed in 1871 by former union soldiers. The KKK was formed in 1866.

So, Moore has lied once.

The KKK was formed in Tennessee. The NRA was formed in New York. Moore makes no attempt to state this. He doesn’t say they were both formed in the same place but he does imply it by not mentioning otherwise.

Not a lie but definitely a half-truth.

The ban on black people owning guns is oversimplified. He doesn’t state where the ban occurred. Gun control’s early origins are definitely motivated by racism. I can find that in the 1870s, there was not a ban in Tennessee (where the KKK started) but there was legislation passed stating that guns owned could only be Colts. Colts were expensive and poor blacks couldn’t afford them. There was no ban. (source the book Lost Rights).

So, Moore has lied twice.

In addition, it should be noted that the NRA (founded in 1871) never really got involved in legislation until 1934, in response to the Gun Control Act of the same year. The NRA’s site claims they never lobbied until 1975. I tend to doubt that but 1934 seems like a good number. Prior to 1934, the NRA promoted the shooting hobby.

Three strikes, Moore was out. I turned the TV off. In a 3 or so minute segment, Moore lied three and a half times. I felt no need to watch the rest.

Bubba has been threatened with a lawsuit (sort of) but go there and click the links for some stories about puppy mills and pet stores.

Les tells you how to get one and some pointers about the law that he learned. I would add that the reason Tennessee pushed for a carry permit and not concealed carry was because, in the past, if you carried concealed and revealed a gun, it was a crime called brandishing. The push (lobbied by the TFA) was not necessarily for open carry but in the event that you’re at the store, reach up for a can of beans, and then your gun is exposed. Then you’re guilty of brandishing and it’s not your fault.

Bull Dog + Laser Pointer = Lots of Fun

Bull Dog + Laser Pointer + Berber Carpet = Annoyed Wife

Per Yahoo news:

Italy is cracking down on dangerous dogs after a spate of pit bull attacks, but its new law ordering muzzles and insurance for no less than 92 breeds has met with howls of anger.

The law, ushered in by urgent decree, orders owners of dangerous dogs to take out insurance against a possible attack and to muzzle their animals in public places or face a possible three months in prison or a fine of up to 206 euros ($232).

Pit bulls are predictably under scrutiny but the new law also targets other popular breeds like Saint Bernards and collies, and opponents say it is poorly planned.

And someone who gets it:

“The problem is not dog breeds but individual animals that have been badly treated,” said Ciro Troiano of the Italian Anti-Vivisection League, adding that muzzling a dog taught it nothing and could in fact worsen its behavior.

It’s not breeds, it’s mistreatment of animals. There is also no scientific way to prove that a dog is one breed or another. The only criteria is appearance.

Wince and Nod.

Hell in a Handbasket

Via Publicola:

At 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, morning a state of emergency was declared in Northampton County.

Tuesday, Gov. Mike Easley declared North Carolina to be under a state of emergency…Effective as of 8 a.m. today, the sale, consumption, transportation or possession of alcohol is prohibited in Northampton County ‘except possession and consumption is allowed on a person’s own premises.’ Additionally, ‘there shall be no sale or purchase of any type of firearm or ammunition, or any possession of such items along with any type of explosive off owner’s own premises.

In a state of emergency, it is important to ban guns and booze? Abysmal.

New post at the Carnival entitled Flinch or the phobic reaction to recoil.

I’m 31 years old. This morning, I get up and make some coffee. Then mess around on the web for a bit. Intent on letting the wife sleep in, I go get my second cup of coffee and head out to the garage to monkey about. I walk past the front of my car and then it feels as though someone just hit me square in the center of my chest with a baseball bat. It hurt so badly I fell down onto the hood of my car. I was having a heart attack.

It’s amazing as you sit there fairly certain that you’re going to die what thoughts pop into your head:

Is there a God?

Is there a Heaven or Hell?

What will it be like, dying and all that?

Will it hurt? Will it suck? Tickle? Leave a mark?

Have I done enough with my life for people to remember me for who I was?

I wish I’d had kids.

I thought absolutely none of the above. Not one single question about the nature of life, my accomplishments, death, God, the universe, or anything spiritually minded pop into my head. Zilch, nothing. I had two thoughts: 1) my wife will find me dead, hunkered lifeless over the hood of a 2001 Chrysler Sebring Convertible, wearing only my bathrobe. It’s gonna be one shitty morning for her. And 2) I started running through in my mind how much life insurance I had on myself and could it provide for my wife. I was amazed at how quickly I could do math in my head when I was close to death. I was content that she had enough (financial advisors say get your annual salary times 10) and we had prepared for the worst.

I soon realized, to my surprise, I wasn’t dead. I got up. The distinct feeling of being hit squarely in the chest with a baseball bat was now a dull throb. It still hurt, but was tolerable. I went to the living room and sat on the couch to collect my thoughts for a couple of minutes. I went through the entire heart attack playbook that they teach every white male from about the age of 12 on. I looked for aspirin. I tried to remain calm. I thought of symptoms from the same playbook: left arm numb, cold extremities, jaw sore. I had none of those. I didn’t fit the heart attack playbook. I decided that I wasn’t going to be one of those guys you read about who dies suddenly then you find out from his wife he had chest pains a week before his death but was too stubborn to go to the hospital.

I awoke the wife. I calmly explained in the most assuring, caring and sincere tone I could muster that I was gonna fucking die. Actually, I didn’t. I told her I needed her to drive me to the hospital and why. She was worried, of course. We had a moment I don’t care to elaborate about. I brushed my teeth, put on shorts, a shirt and hat while she got dressed. And we were off. We were going to Fort Sanders because the wife doesn’t trust Blount Memorial.

For future reference, if you’re driving slowly in the fast lane beside another car, the car behind you that is tailgating you may well have someone with a medical emergency in the passenger seat. This is not the time to tap your brakes to prove some sort of point. Get the hell out of the way. The irony of your WWJD sticker is clearly lost on you.

The emergency room on the strip is an interesting place in the early a.m. hours after UT just beat Florida. But that’s another story. We arrive, the wife fills out a form and writes in big letters under Reason for Visit: Chest pain! She underlined and put the exclamation point. That worked because they quickly take me to a room. Never underestimate the power of assertive punctuation. A doctor comes in and explains to me the possibilities of what may have happened, what they’re going to do, and for me to stay calm. He said it could be the worst (a heart attack); or a pulmonary eruption (which is bad, it’s what that reporter in Iraq died from); a host of other unpleasant things; or nothing.

They take six vials of blood. They do an EKG. They X-Ray my chest. The doctor, being a nice guy, didn’t wait until all the tests were done. He’d come in one at a time as they were done and tell me the news. EKG was fine. Chest X-Ray was normal. All blood samples came back negative. I was the picture of health. Not a thing wrong. We were there for two and a half hours. I was praying that it would be nothing. And praying hard. All the soul searching I failed to do when I thought I was going to die was being done now. The wife and me talked and planned things we needed to do.

Diagnosis: Chest wall pain. Your ribs have little muscles between them that allow the rib cage to expand when you breathe. Apparently, my rib muscles decided that they would spasm for some reason. This can be caused by moving in a funny manner or any number of other reasons. The doc tells me that when someone is backing their car up and they put their arm on the passenger seat and turn around is when it happens most often.

I then said to the doctor: I have cramps? Yes. All my soul searching and revelations were caused by cramps.

The incident made the wife and me closer and made me reevaluate some things. I still have the throbbing pain in my chest that should pass in a few days. It was an interesting Sunday at the SayUncle household and one we won’t forget any time soon.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Not that I’m gloating or anything.

Knoxville’s own Pat Gang now has a regularly appearing column on the strategy page. Check it out.

So, what do you do when hooker shows up at your door uninvited at 6 in the morning? I dunno but it sounds a lot like a Tarantino movie plot.

Having moved into a new subdivision development has provided some interesting topics of discussion, such as the fact I am slowly annexing my neighbor’s yard through the use of strategic mowing. But I digress.

A house in the lot next to mine is well under way and it has caused me considerable grief. The following has occurred as a result of the construction:

When they were preparing the lot for framing, the pulled out some of my sod. When they finish placing sod next door, I plan on taking some of theirs to replace mine.

The bobcat driver dug up one of my sprinkler heads by mistake. I discovered this by turning on my sprinkler system and, to my surprise, a thirty foot column of water shot into the air. This annoyed me (and soaked my father in law). I bought a new sprinkler head and replaced it.

They have left various boards, cinder blocks, and assorted tools on my lawn. This has killed my grass in sections. Now, when I come home, I inspect the yard to make sure it is free of debris. They have also dumped clumps of dirt (from the bobcat) onto portions of my lawn, killing more of my grass.

Without my permission, they used my hose and my water. I wouldn’t mind but they lost the sprayer head for my hose (I figure it’s buried in the yard) and bent my hose in several spots.

The latest was last night. I’m preparing to mow and walk to my side yard and see an extension cord running from my outside outlet all the way across their lot. I follow the cord, and it just ends. Apparently, the got their equipment but left the cord. I then notice that there is no power hookup box on the lot. I assume that in addition to providing all the water needed for the house, I’ve also probably paid for all the electricity used to build the house.

I took the 100 foot extension cord, bundled it up, and placed it in my garage window for them to see. I want them to see that I have it and I want them to come get it. I may prepare a bill for them, I haven’t decided. I am currently content holding their extension cord hostage.

I am a petty man.

Lawmakers in hell er New Jersey are pushing for legislation to ban pellet guns that look real:

The bill Assemblymen Gary Guear, D-Mercer, and Peter Barnes, D-Middlesex, introduced – which is similar to legislation pending in the state Senate – would ban the sale or possession of any air, gas or spring-powered gun that is designed to look like a real gun.

It also would make the sale of such a device punishable by a fine of as much as $15,000 and five years in prison and possession punishable by a fine of as much as $10,000 and 18 months in prison.

Les Jones ties Clark to the Waco fiasco.

AlphaPatriot calls crap on the ninth circuit.

Andrew travels time. Oh and send him some carnival entries.

Barry goes for a walk.

Jeff on Clark. And remember, Michael Moore supports clark which is just bad PR.

Buck talks about a caucasion only club.

Chuck came back and disappeared again. Hunting and all that.

Kevin shows us a hottie with a gun.

Guy Montag debunks the whole government is closed is costing us money nonsense:

Sounds like they are both falling for “fedmath” . .

Fedmath, it’s a wonderous thing.

Per the KNS:

A half-dozen Knox County sheriff’s deputies fired 28 shots at a suicidal man wielding a pellet gun and bearing a target on his chest, superficially wounding him with a single round.

28 rounds and one hit. And these guys are professionals. Site alignment, trigger squeeze, fellas.

After TDOT’s new slogan, Bredesen wants a new state slogan because the old one (Tennessee Sounds Good To Me) doesn’t do it for him. How about:

Tennessee, you can’t get here from there.

Tennessee, thank God for Mississippi.

Tennessee, where we get more Free Federal Money™ than everyone else.

Tennessee, we don’t like you because you’re successful.

Tennessee, who needs education, we have football.

Tennessee, come have a look around but don’t stay.

Seriously, I take pride in my state but it seems to me we have better things to do than devote resources on some catchphrase.

SayUncle correspondent Mike brought the following to my attention. After the recent Dyersburg hostage situation, the local news did the obligatory how did he get the gun story. No links, as this was broadcast on Memphis TeeVee.

Kilpatrick had been shopping for a gun for a while. The reporters interviewed two gun shop owners where Kilpatrick had been shopping for guns. Neither shop sold him the gun. The reporters concluded that he bought the gun on the street.

In short, because no evil gun shop was involved, it’s not really a news event. But we hear very few stories like this which illustrate the street market for guns.

A couple of folks (and this comes up periodically) post advice on how to get Instalanched. It’s tough. Facts, I am in the same geographical area of Insty. I have met him on at least three occasions. I belong to the same blogger club as Glenn. And Glenn has bought me exactly one beer. And none of these things have gotten me huge amounts of traffic. I’ve only had two Instalanches. I only email him things I think he’d be interested in. Yet, the two Instalanches I got were not the result of me emailing him (maybe one was, I don’t know for sure – I blame Bubba). He has linked to stories I’ve emailed him about four times, without mention of me. And of my 45,000 plus hits, 16,000 were probably from those two Instalanches. So, 36% of my hits are attributable to Glenn posting this and this.

When I last spoke to Glenn in person, I asked him how many emails he received daily. His answer was 300 – 400. That’s a lot. He has a considerable amount of sorting (ahem, deleting) to do. There is probably some truth in that you have catch him when he’s online. Otherwise, if he steps away for an hour, he got about 30 emails and he can’t read them all (he has a job, ya know).

Plus, it helps to send him something he’s interested in. The basic Glenn posts can be broken down into the following categories:

Heh! – a joke or something witty someone has said.

Indeed – some new way of cleverly saying something he’s already said or agrees with; or that supports the same thing he’s said or agrees with.

Pack not a herd – usually involve tales of people en masse righting a wrong.

Hating France – well, you know.

Gun stuff – stuff about guns, which coincidentally is hit or miss. Sometimes he blogs gun happy, lately he doesn’t blog guns so much.

Poking idiotarians with a sharp stick – Sometimes go in the Indeed or Heh! category.

Read the whole thing – something he likes but is too long to post all of.

Picking on the BBC/NYT/Other media – He likes these.

Blogging v. Journalism – he likes these too.

Anything mentioning Postrel, Volokh, or his three cylinder car.

The critical of Glenn post that’s disguised as a joke but is really a suck up.

Another blogger opined recently when we were talking in real life that Glenn’s not really a blogger so much anymore as he is the center point for blogging. He’s more like Yahoo! for the Blogosphere. There’s probably some truth to that.

In short, post something he likes and if you happen to time it when he’s on, you may get one. And if he doesn’t link to you, it’s probably not personal. And it probably helps if it’s well-written and insightful.

I’ve pondered this post a bit, deciding to not post it. I’ve reconsidered as it may bring attention to what could happen. Al Qaeda, in essence, must have some sort of pride thing. They have a history of one-upmanship. The three attacks attributed to them (that I know of) have been successively more severe.

The 1993 WTC bombing. I have read accounts that this was an attempt to bring catastrophic losses but the bomb wasn’t big enough. The other thing I have heard (put on your foily hats) is that the trucks were actually loaded with sarin gas. Sarin, though easy to make, is heavy and difficult to distribute. The plan, I’ve been told, was that the truck was loaded with it and backed up to a major intake unit of the ventilation system to essentially suck the sarin up the building. The people who have told me this are friends who worked as government agents and in law enforcement. I have no reason to doubt them, since both independently mentioned this to me, without the other knowing. And they worked for separate agencies. Later in 1993, others with alleged ties to Al Qaeda were arrested while making bombs and they planned to take out other major NY landmarks and kill Senator D’Amato.

2000 USS Cole Bombing. A bit bigger (and more gutsy) than the 1993 WTC bomb.

And, of course, September 11 was bigger.

Al Qaeda has a history of increasing the amount of damage with each attack. This could be good or bad for the US. The likelihood of something bigger than 9/11 is probably small with new security measures and such. But if they do one-up 9/11, it will be absolutely devastating.

But Al Qaeda has not engaged in small attacks on US soil. It would not be difficult for a terrorist nut job to waltz into a Wal-Mart with an AK47 and a bomb strapped to his chest. Kill a few people and detonate the bomb when the cops arrive. If that occurred, people wouldn’t shop at Wal-Mart for months. It’d hurt us. I tend to think Al Qaeda will not engage in this type of thing since their MO seems to be doing something bigger than the last one.

I think that maybe in the future Al Qaeda will either realize that the likelihood of successfully launching a massive act of terrorism is small and may resort to smaller, localized attacks to put people on edge. Remember, the sniper in DC was small scale but had people terrified. Or they may successfully pull off another big one.

So, that’s my $0.02 on potential terrorism. The reason for my hesitation in posting this is I’d hate to read of smaller attacks on US soil and somehow thing I inspired the idea. However, it’s safe to say that my audience wouldn’t do such a thing.

Hurricane’s coming and Congress is closed. Strangely, no one has noticed.

I am late but Happy Constitution Day. You’ve never heard of it, of course, because it’s not important anymore.

The VTP is up over at CJ’s. Apparently, he didn’t get my email.

Via Les, comes this:

A 61-year-old man was shot to death by police while his wife was handcuffed in another room during a drug raid on the wrong house.

The police state they identified themselves and knocked (pounding was the description given by the new widow) before entering. But the man thought it was a home invasion. Another victim to no knock (or partial knock) warrants.

“We did the best surveillance we could do, and a mistake was made,” Lebanon Police Chief Billy Weeks said. “It’s a very severe mistake, a costly mistake. It makes us look at our own policies and procedures to make sure this never occurs again.” He said, however, the two policemen were not at fault.

Not at fault? I think that is utter crap. There was a time in this country when serving a warrant required knocking on your door and waiting for you to answer (or, if you failed to answer, announce the entry). But thanks to the war on drugs, courts have ruled that because you can flush your weed down the toilet, judges can issue no-knock warrants.

Update: Neither myself nor Les noticed this article was dated 2000.

Bubba has advice for those building their homes. I wonder if he followed any of my advice: Here and here.

Mike has been running the play by play.

A few months back, Politically Incorrect Dog had his birthday. Yup, he’s a killer.

Per this:

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to make permanent a ban on Internet use taxes and to require nine states to repeal existing taxes on access fees.

While I think the decision may violate states’ rights, every time a tax is repealed an angel gets its wings. However:

The tax ban could run into some hurdles in the Senate, where some lawmakers want to include a promise that states will be able to tax online sales if enough of them simplify their tax codes.

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced the altitude
and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted. “Excuse
me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago,
but I don’t know where I am.”

The woman replied, “You are in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet
above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and
between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.”

“You must be a Republican,” said the balloonist.
“I am,” said the woman. “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “Everything you told me is technically
correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the
fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help so far.”

The woman below responded. “You must be a Democrat.”
“I am,” replied the balloonist, “but how did you know?”

“Well,” said the woman, “You don’t know where you are or where you are
going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot
air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you
expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in exactly the same
position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault.”

First things first:

Tax Evasion is illegal – If I fail to report income, I have evaded taxes. If I just don’t write a check payable to Da Man, I have evaded taxes.

Tax avoidance is not – If I (as I usually do) dump $4K at the end of the year into an IRA account to avoid paying taxes on $4K in income, I have avoided paying taxes using a legal means.

Via Publicola comes this media advisory about the IRS and nine states cracking down on abusive tax avoidance. The money shot:

Abusive transactions to avoid taxes, according to private estimates, deprive state and federal governments of billions of dollars annually.

First of all, if the money isn’t earned to begin with, then no one is depriving governments of anything. Secondly, if it is tax avoidance, it is in every way perfectly legal.

The webcast occurred today. I haven’t seen it yet (no speakers at the office). I’d like a transcript if one is available. Cracking down on abusive tax avoidance sounds to me like code for cracking down on the self-employed.

Update: tgirsch informs me i have my IRAs confused. I meant traditional. Bad CPA! Down boy! Corrected. Did I mention I don’t do taxes? I should.

They have kept Kobe Bryant’s accuser’s name off of court records (and I recall the media wasn’t releasing her name as well) but a slip up posted her name on the court’s website.

Why can we smear Kobe’s name all over the news and court records (after all, he is innocent until proven guilty) but not her’s? If she turns out to be wrong, will they publish it then?

Rich lambastes Clark’s run for the presidency. You had me at Michael “big fat, libelous liar” Moore supports him.

Stop the Bleating is unhappy with its ecosystem status and is asking for links.

So, go read this post on property rights and this one on cowards.

The site is bloggered so scroll to PROPERTY RIGHTS? WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING PROPERTY RIGHTS and STEYN ON A WORLD(?) OF COWARDS. Also, he’s unhappy with blogger, which he should be. Go with MT.

Publicola has the latest Roderick Pritchett update.

The powers that be moved his trial to a district where getting an all white, anti-gun jury would be easy.

Pritchett legally obtained a gun permit and was transporting it in compliance with the law. However, some police officers decided to make an example of him even though he complied with the law. Packing while black may as well have been his crime.

Alex Knapp points to testimony that Iraq’s WMDs were moved to Syria.

Jeff has his weekly gun bias chart up and for the first time ever there are more pro gun articles than anti gun articles. Neutral beats them both though.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has unveiled its new logo. Who fucking cares? How about unveiling some roads without bottlenecks, construction, barrels, and congestion?

Per this:

Okanogan County sheriff’s deputies seeking a person on outstanding warrants broke down the door to the wrong home and then jolted a man with a Taser in front of his wife and child.

It seems to me that knocking first would have prevented this, hence my opposition to no-knock warrants.

The Comedian writes of magazine issues with government weapons and how he and others are furnishing our troops with magazine springs.

It occurs to me that I have mentioned weed on my blog quite a bit lately. I should point out that I don’t do illegal drugs and legalization is not an important issue to me. I oppose the war on drugs because of the violations to civil liberties it presents (confiscating property, no knock warrants, etc.) and the cost of it.

And drugs are currently winning the war.

I remain the number one google result for Spiked Bracelets (and buford pusser axe handle – thanks to Stevie for the tip). Therefore, I still receive the occasional comment for this post. Go read the comments, some are quite amusing.

The latest comment is this:

An hour ago I just had three spiked bracelets and 4 spiked collars
confiscated. They are worth $40 a piece (candian) There must be a way to
fight this. Its a war, a stupid war bent on nothng but wasting time
and talking away peoples identities.

I would suggest writing your representatives (or whatever they’re called in Canada) and voice your displeasure. And organizing a protest wouldn’t hurt to draw attention to the issue.

The most overturned (and arguably liberal) of the Circuit Courts has validated Bush v. Gore.

Some have predicted this will be quickly overturned but would that make the SCOTUS inconsistent? Some say no.

In Santa Monica, the city council is considering replacing the term owner with guardian with respect to pets. Proponents think the change would lead to kinder treatment of animals. The position of the AKC:

The American Kennel Club supports the use of the term “owner” rather than “guardian” when referring to the keeping of dogs. The AKC believes that the term guardian may in fact reduce the legal status and value of dogs as property and thereby restrict the rights of owners, veterinarians, and government agencies to protect and care for dogs. It may also subject them to frivolous and expensive litigation.

I agree with the AKC’s position that pets are property. It seems certain segments of our society feel bad admitting they own a pet and prefer other terms. Yet, when someone is bitten, the litigation is viewed as essentially a property issue, akin to someone falling down your steps.

Don’t you hate it when you fight to get weed legalized and you win and then your government provided weed is no good? The Canadians do.

Take one whole chicken (3-5 pounds), one can of beer, and your choice of spices (I like garlic, cumin, diced cayenne pepper, fresh rosemary, salt, and freshly ground pepper).

Step 1: Drink one quarter of the beer (important later).

Step 2: Use an old style can opener to poke holes in the top of the can.

Step 3: Put spices into can (if you did not drink the quarter of beer mentioned above, you will now have beer foaming all over your cooking area).

Step 4: Remove innards from chicken and insert beer can top up (i.e., open part towards where the chicken’s head used to be) into the opening of chicken.

Step 5: Place chicken on grill with the top of the can facing up. Use the the can and the chicken’s legs to make a little tripod for balance (I recommend you have the fire going on one side of the grill and your chicken on the other side so it cooks slow). If you do this correctly, it looks like the chicken is standing on the grill.

Step 6: Wait 2 hours and eat.

The beer and spices slowly boil over and season the chicken.

Tasty!

Via Publicola comes this:

“I’ve had enough. I’m going to fight!” Charlevoix County Businessman, Lyle Barkley, has been ordered to remove two manufactured homes from a 4-acre parcel in Bay Township by September 18. Barkley says he will not comply with the illegal and unconstitutional order of the court but will defend his property with arms if necessary. Barkley, 55, owns B&B Excavating in Boyne City. He is presently bulldozing fortifications around his property in preparation for the standoff he promises will come if officials attempt to remove the homes from his land.

His cause has drawn the attention of Rick Stanley, leader of an organization called Mutual Defense Pact 2d American Revolution Militia who offers to send more than 600 armed defenders to Barkley’s aid once the standoff has begun.

And more here:

Lyle Barkley is bulldozing four-foot berms around his three acres in Bay Township and requesting support from conservative militia groups to prepare for a possible armed confrontation with county law enforcement officers over a zoning dispute.

The 55-year-old excavator vows that neither he, his family nor the three manufactured housing units in dispute will be removed from his property without a shootout.

It seems we have the next Waco about to occur. In addition, a militia group is willing to send 600 people to help defend against a government intervention. If so, this will be ugly. The government is asserting its power with respect to property while a man claims such assertion is illegal. The question of Who is right? is most definitely debatable.

One item I have never seen addressed in any scholarly capacity is this: When is it justifiable to violently resist agents of the government?

I do not have the answer. Would Rodney King have been justified in shooting the officers who were beating him? Was Randy Weaver justified in shooting federal agents? Would the protestors from the 1960s have been justified to violently revolt when the water hoses and dogs were turned loose on them?

Bill Hobbs has been all over Tennessee’s surplus. Funny how a year or so ago, our budget was all doom and gloom. His posts are here, here, here and here. The last one actually talks about an article in a TN paper that mentions the otherwise unmentionable surplus. Is local media reading HobbsOnline? Yup.

Per Boston.com:

Illegal gun activity has soared in communities south of Boston over the past five years, according to court records, but slower than the rate statewide

The region’s police and court officials say they are puzzled by the numbers, and some believe the increase could be attributed to more stringent firearms possession laws, or increased violence tied to drug activity. The state did not make available a breakdown of specific firearm charges, but offenses can vary from assault with a deadly weapon to carrying a handgun without a valid license.

Emphasis added. Boston doesn’t have a crime problem, it has a law problem. The new, more stringent laws are causing crime to increase. We’ve seen this correlation before only it was much less sarcastic.

Per my handy counter for infinite justice above, I notice there is now less than a year left on the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 (AKA, pointless legislation).

Marc recaps gun safety at the Shooters’ Carnival.

This morning on the radio, a caller tries to convince listeners and the host that Bill Clinton is the precursor to the anti-Christ.

Sure, I took issue with some of Clinton’s policies and contend he was (at best) an average president. But the anti-Christ?

Per this:

The second-ranking official in the Israeli government said Sunday that killing Yasser Arafat is an option, as thousands of Palestinians took to the streets across the West Bank and Gaza Strip promising to protect their leader.

Well, Arafat has never been particularly productive and he is pretty much a murderous lackey.

I said that to my English teacher once, I was right. I don’t even need to spellt so read this.

UN Sets Nuclear Deadline, Iran Walks Out in Protest

The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog on Friday set Iran an October 31 deadline to prove it had no secret atomic weapons program, prompting Tehran to threaten a “deep review” of its cooperation with the agency.

Following intense U.S. pressure for action against Iran, the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution setting the deadline. Iran’s delegation stormed out of the closed-door meeting, accusing Washington of having new invasion plans after Iraq.

Before the Mrs. and I got married, we did the honorable thing and lived in sin for a while. I highly recommend it. But this isn’t a post about that, this is a post about this:

Men aren’t big on decorating. I never was. My old condo had white walls in every room, Berber carpet, and black furniture. Oh, the dining room was oak. One thing noticeably absent (I know this because people came in and said I notice that absent is . . .) from my condo was wall art (no pictures or paintings) and knickknacks (you know, little things that sit on your end tables). All that was on my furniture was lamps, coasters, and the occasional glass. My condo was, to use the phrase of a friend, very Spartan.

Then the soon-to-be Mrs. moves in. Suddenly, my natural habitat was disturbed. I now had on my furniture many knickknacks, such as various framed pictures of people I didn’t know, a basket for remote controls (I stored them in seat cushions), and various ceramic/glass/porcelain things strewn about the house in a seemingly random (though entirely purposeful) fashion. Also, I had wall art: pictures of flowers, more pictures of people I didn’t know, and a painting of this solemn looking boy staring out into the sea. And candles. Lots of candles. Single men don’t have candles, they like to use Mag-Lites and other gizmos when the power goes out. The candles were scented too.

Then the painting started. We spent an entire month painting every room in the condo but one, which we left white. It was my toy room/office. The wife said the white walls made it look like a hotel room. At the time, I was working in public accounting and traveled a lot. So, I found the hotel room look familiar and comfortable.

After the placement of various knickknacks around what was formerly my bachelor pad, me and the soon-to-be Mrs. were watching television. It was winter. I was laying on my black leather couch and the Mrs. was on the matching love seat. I started getting hot. So, I shifted my blanket a bit. Then I was still getting hot, particularly my feet were really warm. I shifted my feet again.

That did the trick, I was comfortable. A minute or two passes and my feet feel as though they are on fire. I re-situated my feet again and all of a sudden from under the blanket erupts a giant fireball. I, understandably shocked that a fireball had just come from my blanket and having watched one too many Discovery Channel specials on spontaneous human combustion, was a bit alarmed. I leapt to my feet (bad move, my socks were on fire), grabbed the blanket and threw it on the floor. Then I jumped up and down like a mad man on the blanket in an effort to extinguish the fire on the blanket and my feet. I then grabbed the blanket, used it to extinguish my feet, and rolled it up with the fire in the middle. The fire was out. By the way, I doubt stop, drop and roll works on feet.

You would think that the love of your life would notice that her soon-to-be husband was on fire. No, she intently watched Friends while I was trying to put myself out. Then I started cussing. She, concerned now, asks What’s wrong?.

I was shocked. She missed the fireball, missed me extinguishing myself, and missed the smell that burning blankets make because she was watching some tired, old repeated joke on Friends.

I instruct her (and by instruct mean yell loudly) that I was on fire. I show her my socks (which are burnt black), I show her the blanket (which was burnt black), and I showed her the armrest of the leather couch which was singed in such a way that the mark looked remarkably like a Christmas tree. Then, she starts laughing hysterically.

You’re probably wondering how my feet caught fire. Actually, you’re also probably wondering why my feet exploded into a fireball. It puzzled me too so I put on my arson investigator’s hat and determined that:

I was laying under a blanket that had little, frilly threads on the end. One of the newly acquired candles mentioned above (an item only recently introduced into the SayUncle habitat) was on the end table by my feet. I had apparently re-arranged my feet and, while shifting, the candle ignited the frilly threads. Then when I noticed my feet were a bit warm, I rearranged in such a fashion to place the end of the blanket under my feet where it smoldered for a bit, burnt my couch, and ignited my socks. When the heat was unbearable, I arranged my feet again at which point the oxygen hit the smoldering cloth and ignited a fireball.

The moral of this story: your future wife may or may not notice that you’re presently on fire. And if she does notice, she may find it funny.

Now, Guy is appeased.

Concealed carry allowed in Missouri:

Lawmakers today granted most Missourians the right to carry concealed guns, overriding a veto by Gov. Bob Holden (D) and reversing the outcome of a statewide election on the issue four years ago.

Life was hard for a boy named Sue. He broke his rusty cage and ran.

Johnny Cash 1932-2003

The KNS ran an article on how local bloggers dealt with the two year anniversary of 9/11.

I was quoted at great length:

“SayUncle,” another anonymous local blogger, said on his page at www.saysuncle.com that he struggled to come up with an appropriate memorial and didn’t like any of his ideas.

So he posted the famous picture of the firefighters raising the American flag in the World Trade Center rubble. Below the picture he told readers, “So here’s what you won’t hear the other sites’ memorials say:

“The firefighters hired a lawyer (who appeared on the O’Reilly Factor) to claim intellectual property rights to this image. Also, families of victims are holding out for a bigger chunk of money in a potential lawsuit than they would get from the government’s settlement.”

SayUncle chides the airline industry for offering more expensive and worse service after taking a “taxpayer-funded bailout,” and says Sept. 11 “has been used as an excuse to trample civil liberties.”

He concludes his post, “And the office jerk still takes the last of the coffee without making more. It seems like we’re back to normal again. Don’t forget 9/11 but more importantly don’t forget America.”

The article mentions Bubba, Bill Hobbs, Dave and Adam posts about 9/11.

Including PDF printable targets. Give it a read.

Bangkok Post:

Owners of illegal firearms will have 60 days to surrender their weapons without facing legal action, a House extraordinary committee scrutinising a gun control bill said yesterday.

The panel has approved the government-sponsored bill giving a 60-day amnesty to people who agree to return illegal weapons and fireworks to the state, said panel chairman Gen Rattana Chalermsanyakorn.

Failure to hand over illegal weapons within the 60-day period is an offence punishable by a 10-year jail term and a 20,000-baht fine under the bill, which has already passed its first reading in the lower house.

And

He denied any link between the push for the bill’s passage and the government’s policy to ban sales and possession of firearms within six years.

I struggled to come up with an appropriate 9/11 post. I had some drafts and ideas. I didn’t like any of them. So here’s what you won’t hear the other sites’ memorials say:

The firefighters above hired a lawyer (who appeared on the O’Reilly Factor) to claim intellectual property rights to this image.

Also, families of victims are holding out for a bigger chunk of money in a potential lawsuit than they would get from the government’s settlement.

The airline industry began taking advantage of their customers after 9/11 after the taxpayer funded bailout by offering more expensive service that was worse.

Moonbats swear Bush and the government had advance warning of the attack and allowed it to further political careers.

9/11 has been used as an excuse to trample civil liberties.

Addressing terrorism is no longer a bi-partisan effort.

Our leaders have failed to address the Saudi role in 9/11. Actually, they’ve not only failed to address it, they’ve actively said don’t address it.

Those that profitted on September 10.

The EPA telling everyone the air around ground zero was safe even though they lacked evidence to make that claim.

And the office jerk still takes the last of the coffee without making more.

It seems like we’re back to normal again. Don’t forget 9/11 but more importantly don’t forget America.

One more thing: To quote Jamey Jasta:

Now is the time for me to rise to my feet
Wipe your spit from my face
Wipe these tears from my eyes
I will be heard.

Per our local news station, comes this:

A slip of a finger can lead you to things you never wanted to see. Typos online can take you to hardcore porn. But now could the internet be cleaned up? The Knoxville Police Department says a new federal law could help make the world wide web a little safer for kids.

Type in “Bob the Builder”, but miss a letter and the kid-friendly cartoon construction worker doesn’t appear. Hardcore porn does.

I think keeping kids safe is a parental thing, but apparently I am the only one.

Prosecutors say John Zuccarini, arrested last week in Florida, is responsible for hundreds of tricky porn sites, and he’s the first person in the United States arrested for breaking the new truth in domain law.

I wasn’t aware we had a truth in domain law. Ya know, I don’t really walk around saying uncle all the time. But apparently it is a little known portion of the Amber Alert Law . . . And Big Stupid Tommy isn’t stupid. SouthKnoxBubba doesn’t live in South Knoxville. And CJ probably really isn’t up for anything. Guess they’re coming for us.

Porn theaters spring up in Baghdad.

Big Stupid Tommy, who we have confirmed is not stupid but no confirmation if he’s big – other than his monster noggin) tackles science’s pursuit of the five second rule.

I should point out that in the SayUncle household, there are many changes to the 5 second rule. Having two large furry dogs rules out retrieving anything wet or sticky. And if it’s meaty, well the same two large furry dogs will likely beat you to it.

One other thing, I can’t make fun of his big head as I myself wear a 7 3/4 hat. Ya know what they say about guys with big heads? We wear big hats. And we blog.