Looks like Prince George’s County Council is looking to repeal its breed specific legislation that targets pit bulls. Good.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (which coincidentally may be the stupidest name for a newspaper ever) writes:

One was used to shoot a woman in a domestic-violence assault, another sent multiple rounds flying in a South Seattle neighborhood, a third was found in the possession of a Central District teenager, and a fourth was recovered when officers responded to a report of shots fired.

All four weapons — two Tech-9 semiautomatic handguns, an assault rifle with a collapsible stock and a 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun dubbed the street sweeper — are illegal under a federal ban on certain assault weapons.

They’re banned but still on the streets? Why is that?

Congrats to Spoons on his trade up.

Apparently, it’s education week among the RTB. South (of) Knox Bubba reports on Faith Based government and schools. He also discusses some other education funding issues.

Les and I address bias against home schooled children.

But check this out. Not only is their a bias against private home schooled children compared to public schools, there is a dramatic bias against home schools compared to home schools operated in association with a church-related school.

I understand that many parents feel that church schools are the way to go so I have no qualm really with laws promoting the idea, after all parents should be able to choose where their kids go. But more discrimination against parents who choose to home school their kids themselves? There is definitely bias mandated by law against private home schoolers. The only question is whether or not it is intentional.

Self,

When purchasing items to operate your methamphetamine lab, buy items separately.

Not only are Tennessee troopers getting AR15s, California police are too:

Outgunned by gang members and facing more crimes involving AK-47s, police are in very early discussions about buying similar assault rifles and donning U.S. Army style vests to better protect themselves in areas, such as the Bayview.

In the aftershock of the murder of police Officer Isaac Espinoza, killed by an alleged gang member with an AK-47, cops are discussing the possible use of the civilianized AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle and a dense military Kevlar-plated vest manufactured by DuPont, said Commander of Field Operations David Shinn.

“Now that we’ve had Officer Isaac Espinoza’s death due to an assault rifle, that’s what we are looking at now,” Shinn said.

How do these criminals have AK47s? After all, there is an assault weapons ban. Odd how yesterday DiFi and some cronies were stating that we needed to renew the ban when obviously the current ban did not save Mr. Expinoza. The current ban just limits what aesthetic features law abiding gun owners can put on their rifles.

Also, odd how the SF Examiner refers to the police guns as civilianized AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle today. Yesterday, the referred to all guns as assault weapons without the civilianized distinction.

Good for the paper of generally making up the record:

Contrary to your characterization of them as “fast-fire attack weapons designed for waging war, not hunting” (editorial, April 20), the firearms covered by the 1994 Congressional legislation banning assault-style firearms are technically no different from the semiautomatic or self-loading firearms used for 100 years by millions of Americans for hunting, sport shooting, collecting and personal protection. They fire one round at a time with each pull and release of the trigger.

True military assault weapons are fully automatic machine guns capable of firing multiple rounds with one pull of the trigger. Congress banned the manufacturing and sale of new machine guns in 1986 except for military and law enforcement purposes.

The current law scheduled to sunset in September deals solely with certain types of semiautomatic firearms politically profiled as assault weapons. There is a world of difference between the two.

Via Robert, we see that Investor’s Business Daily writes:

Blogs, short for Web logs, are personal online journals. Individuals post them on Web sites to report or comment on news especially, but also on their personal lives or most any subject.

Some blogs are whimsical and deal with “soft” subjects. Others, though, are cutting edge in delivering information and opinion.

As a result, some analysts say U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials might be starting to track blogs for important bits of information. This interest is a sign of how far Web media such as blogs have come in reshaping the data-collection habits of intelligence professionals and others, even with the knowledge that the accuracy of what’s reported in some blogs is questionable.

Still, a panel of folks who work in the U.S. intelligence field – some of them spies or former spies – discussed this month at a conference in Washington the idea of tracking blogs.

Blogs used for intelligence tracking? I suppose a blogger could have an inside scoop that could prove useful. I think this may be codespeak for investigating bloggers for potential crimes or looking for us troublemakers.

Via Junkyard Blog, who suspects this is the cause of Kerry’s recent WMD nuancing, comes this article which states:

New evidence out of Iraq suggests that the U.S. effort to track down Saddam Hussein’s missing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is having better success than is being reported. Key assertions by the intelligence community that were widely judged in the media and by critics of President George W. Bush as having been false are turning out to have been true after all. But this stunning news has received little attention from the major media, and the president’s critics continue to insist that “no weapons” have been found.

In virtually every case – chemical, biological, nuclear and ballistic missiles – the United States has found the weapons and the programs that the Iraqi dictator successfully concealed for 12 years from U.N. weapons inspectors.

I am skeptical at this point as (even as the article points out) this is not being widely reported.

Ok, I haven’t blogged much lately, but I swear I have a good excuse! I’ve been reading Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver. It’s pretty good so far. I haven’t read much of his stuff, but what I have read I liked. I have not read Snowcrash, which kind of hurts my geek-cred.

Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Colorado’s new dog law has saved its first two lives:

A Staffordshire bull terrier and a pit bull on “doggy death row” were released from the Denver animal pound after Owens signed the new law.

Good. Denver still plans on suing over the law:

The City Council declared it wouldn’t “roll over and play dead” in face of a new state law that has voided its ban on pit bulls.

The council voted unanimously Monday night to authorize the city attorney to sue the state or take other legal action to protect its right to keep the dogs out of the city.

I knew that the history of various bully/mastiff/molosser breeds went back quite a bit. I recall reading stories about the dogs in England in the 1500s and 1800s as bull baiting and fighting dogs.

The other day, I caught on episode of Animal Planet’s Breed All About it and the breed this episode was bulldogs. They spent most of the episode discussing the freak of nature but there was a brief segment on American Bulldogs and how they were more representative of the original English Bulldog (i.e., before it became that deformed freak of nature).

The show stated that the earliest record of bulldogs was 55 B.C. Apparently, the Romans (who were invading England at the time) documented bully type dogs that were trained to run up to cavalry horses, bite down on the horses’ noses, and hang on. I could see this being a real problem for a cavalryman.

Note: In reference to the freak of nature, I just find it sad that years of breeding have caused that poor animal the health problems it has.

I have noticed a severe increase in gas prices but that’s not the spooky part. This is:

From a civilian contractor working in Iraq: “The real reason the Marines had to start their truce/cease-fire strategy is because the coalition forces are running extremely low on fuel right now

Poor planning? Actual shortage?

Update: Kevin reports a general lack of other necessary equipment.

Ravenwood reports a 14 hour armed stand off between the cops and, uhm, nobody. It’d be funny were it not so pathetic.

In a follow up to this, WATE writes:

Tennessee state troopers will soon carry Bushmaster semiautomatic assault rifles on patrol.

The rifles are sniper style weapons, used for long range targets about 300 to 500 yards away.

Huh? Are they semiautomatic assault rifles or sniper rifles? An assault weapon is a rifle that fires a medium powered cartridge in fully automatic fire. A sniper rifle fires a large caliber round long distances and is typically bolt action or semi-automatic.

SF Examiner reports:

When U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein stood up at Espinoza’s funeral and called for support to renew her legislation banning assault weapons nationwide, she was met with a standing ovation from mourning cops.

It would be funny if it went like this:

When U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein stood up at Espinoza’s funeral and called for support to renew her legislation banning assault weapons nationwide, she was met with criticism that the ban was in effect now and didn’t prevent this atrocity.

Oh, what? You mean that makes sense and is a valid criticism. Odd you won’t hear that criticism.

The NRA-ILA has a list of Taxpayer Funded Reckless Lawsuits Against The Firearms Industry.

Donald Sensing reports that Tennessee State Troopers will be carrying hunting rifles.

They aren’t assault rifles because they don’t have telescopic stocks, flash hiders, threaded barrels for flash hiders, grenade launchers or bayonet lugs. The only thing you can hunt in Tennessee with 5.56X45MM ammo is varmints. At least, that’s going by the picture he posts.

However, going to the Bushmaster website, we see that they are clearly being issued assault weapons as defined by law. Yet, the police are calling them hunting rifles.

I just find it amusing. The THP spokesmen is right that they are not assault weapons in the traditional sense of the word because they are not machine guns.

I love The Sopranos. Sadly, this season has really been a re-hash of stories past. Chris loan sharking his AA friend was pretty much the same story (though shorter) of Tony sharking his friend with the sporting goods store.

Steve Buscemi plays the new guy who is upset about the amount of cash he earns. They have one every season and he usually gets killed off after one, maybe two, seasons. The twist this time was that he tried to stay straight for about five episodes. Yawn.

And another sit-down results in someone getting beaten up. And more sexual escapades implied with the psychiatrist. Snore.

I really expected, given the tensions with the Russian mob from a couple of seasons ago, this to be the season for the war with the Russians. But no, just boring divorce stuff.

This season has become a real snorer. But I still watch.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t caught HBO’s Deadwood (right after the Sopranos), you should. It’s pretty good and fairly original. It’s got that kind of libertarian flavor to it in that the main characters elude to the fact it’s not part of the US and are trying to keep it from being annexed. Mind you, that libertarian flavor leads to a few wealthy individuals running the town in that robber baron fashion. Good TV though.

I bet she’s not a member of the Million err 24 Mom March:

An Israeli woman embraces her son during a ceremony marking Israel’s Memorial Day at the cemetery of the Gush Katif block of Jewish settlements, in the Gaza Strip.

Catherine, of the always excellent Dogreader, is back. Her latest article is depressing but insightful. The article is on how dogs mourn the loss of other dogs.

Jeff has the latest on anti-gun bias in the news.

Via Bubba, welcome to the following new Rocky Top Brigadiers:

Nashville files. Blake points us to a study telling us that most of us support less government and cutting spending. Oh, that libertarian revolution.

The Baseball Widow. She lost her hubby to baseball.

And Cas Walker is blogging from beyond. Good stuff there on Knoxville politics. Worth the read.

Welcome all!

Mike is blogging up a storm. Go here and scroll. Lots of good stuff, including links to Tina Fey pics.

Even blind old ladies terrify the cops:

She was 71 years old.

She was blind.

She needed her 94-year-old mother to come to her rescue.

And in the middle of the dogfight — in which Eunice Crowder was pepper-sprayed, Tasered and knocked to the ground by Portland’s courageous men in blue — the poor woman’s fake right eye popped out of its socket and was bouncing around in the dirt.

How vicious and ugly can the Portland police get? Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner. This 2003 case is so blatant, the use of force so excessive, the threat of liability so intimidating that the city just approved a $145,000 settlement.

But all those gung-ho fans of the cops can relax. Nothing has changed. Nothing will upset the status quo.

The cops aren’t apologizing.

The cops aren’t embarrassed.

The cops haven’t been disciplined.

And the cops are still insisting, to the bitter end, that they “reasonably believed” this blind ol’ bat was a threat to their safety and macho culture.

Eunice Crowder, you see, didn’t follow orders. Eunice was uncooperative. Worried a city employee was hauling away a family heirloom, a 90-year-old red toy wagon, she had the nerve to feel her way toward the trailer in which her yard debris was being tossed.

Enter the police. Eunice, who is hard of hearing, ignored the calls of Officers Robert Miller and Eric Zajac to leave the trailer. When she tried, unsuccessfully, to bite the hands that were laid on her, she was knocked to the ground.

When she kicked out at the cops, she was pepper-sprayed in the face with such force that her prosthetic marble eye was dislodged. As she lay on her stomach, she was Tased four times with Zajac’s electric stun gun.

And when Nellie Scott, Eunice’s 94-year-old mother, tried to rinse out her daughter’s eye with water from a two-quart Tupperware bowl, what does Miller do? According to Ernie Warren Jr., Eunice’s lawyer, the cop pushed Nellie up against a fence and accused her of planning to use the water as a weapon.

There is no excuse for that. Those policemen should be jailed for such ludicrousness.

Washington Times:

A survey released last week shows a majority of Americans are in favor of continuing the ban on assault weapons, and in households with National Rifle Association members, the numbers were about evenly split.

The survey, which interviewed 28,446 persons from Oct. 7 to April 19, shows 71 percent of people in households without guns support extending the law, as do 64 percent of those in households with guns.

I have found that a lot of non-gun folks I talk to support the ban. However, when I explain to them how the ban works (i.e., it’s not a ban and it has nothing to do with assault weapons), they usually respond by commenting on how it is a waste.

The problem is that the constant barrage of lies and distortions from anti-gun groups leaves most people who are only minimally knowledgeable of guns with the impression that the law bans machine guns (bullet hoses, spray fire, insert other buzzword designed to mislead people that it targets machine guns). It will take a lot to undo the lies and propaganda of the anti-gun groups.

While everyone else is running stories about how gun owners are shunning Bush and Republicans, FoxNews runs a story that implies gun owners will settle for Bush. Odd.

Lewis Black on HBO (paraphrased):

The Democrat Party is the party of no ideas. The Republican Party is the party of bad ideas.

I thought it was funny. However, I think it should go more like this:

The Republican Party is the party of bad ideas. The Democrat Party is the party of slightly worse ideas.

James, of Hell in a Handbasket, reviews the Bersa 380 and the Tokarev.

Since I got Tivo, I don’t watch commercials. The result is that I have no idea what new movies come out except if they’re advertised on Yahoo or something. I also am probably behind on technology and innovative new products. I figure if something is truly innovative, somebody will blog about them.

I’m also probably missing out on some funny commercials.