So, how long before Jesse Jackson comes out and criticizes Bush for marking Brown vs. Board of Education?

This is why we need Black Bush 2004: Mars, bitches!

Since the Republicans ain’t what they used to be (particularly some of our local boys), The Constitution Party is recruiting locally.

Note to the Tennessean: They’re not a new party.

The Houston Chronicle notes:

The bill’s fate may rest in the hands of powerful lawmakers such as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, a vocal gun control opponent who has already suggested House Republicans may let the measure expire.

“Clearly the votes are not there in the House to pass the bill,” said DeLay spokesman Stuart Roy

[snip]

Gun control advocates suspect that the White House is trying to have it both ways, rhetorically supporting the ban to appease moderates while keeping the GOP base happy by letting the House kill the gun measure.

“He is telling the American people he is with them on this issue, but with a wink and a nod,” said Eric Howard, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Now, the anti-gunners are claiming the same thing that some pro-gunners claimed to justify their support for Bush.

A lame little editorial concludes with:

Our Editorial Board believes that law-abiding American citizens do indeed have a Constitutional right to legally own guns if they wish, but military-style assault weapons have no reasonable purpose in a hunter’s, marksman’s, or homeowner’s gun cabinet.

Military style assault weapons have been banned from import and manufacture since 1986. The ban has nothing to with them and only bans features that certain semi-automatic rifles can have.

Intolerance of gun owners nation-wide problem

Apparently, the trend in women becoming active in shooting sports is popular in media today. To wit:

A women only firearms class.

Mrs. The Nuge introducing politicos to gals who like guns.

Another women’s only class.

Based on actual games SayUncle has played (I’m not making them up):

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: Penis of a tank commander!

Partner: Dick Van Patton?

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: That is correct.

During a game of Charades:

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: [points to hip]

Partner: Hips!

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: [points to pocket]

Partner: Hip pocket!

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: [points to lips]

Partner: Hip pocket lips! Apocalypse Now!

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: That is correct.

Random one:

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: Oh, uhm . . .

Partner: Fatty Arbuckle?

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: That is correct.

A blogger I read (yet I can’t find the entry, so if it’s you, fess up) wondered how long it would be before the moonbat contingent of the left alleged that the vast right wing conspiracy or the Bush administration plotted to kill Berg. Well, apparently it took two days ago. And there’s more.

Update2: that second link above (which you likely can’t get to due to traffic now) is a message board that points out that Lynndie England was sitting it a white plastic chair in a photo taken from the Abu Grahib prison. Nick Berg was sitting in the same type of chair at the time he was beheaded. By that rationale, his murder also must have occurred in my garage.

Update: XRLQ has more here and here.

The band Atomship has been advertising on blogs. They’re pretty successful as they’re currently touring with Sevendust and Cold (well, at least successful compared to any band I’ve ever played in).

I’ve seen them advertised at Clayton Cramer’s place, Michael Williams’ place and a few other places off and on.

The song they play on their website is pretty good. I wonder how many people they’re reaching through blog ads? Pretty innovative marketing, for a band.

One of the downsides of having a baby on the way is that your family stops giving you stuff for your birthday or Christmas, and starts giving you stuff for the baby. Both my sisters and my mom sent me baby clothes for my birthday recently.

Well, ok, at my age, I don’t really expect birthday gifts. I’m just sayin’. It really was thoughtful of them. At this rate, we won’t have to buy any clothes for the little guy ourselves.

Actually, this gives me an idea. How old does a kid need to be before you can buy him a gun? “Son, I got you a nice new rifle for your birthday, but seeing as how you can’t even walk yet, I’d be glad to take it out to the range and try it out for you.” Hmm….

Kevin’s blog turns a year old today. Congrats. You can read 40 things about him too.

He also points to this article on gun control’s happy face. Folks have been saying this for a while so it shouldn’t surprise you but the gist is that the anti-gunners appear to no longer want confiscation (which is crap, because they do) but are now concerned with safety (my ass). Anyway, it’s a good read.

Last night, the Mrs. had TiVoed Rainbow Fish, an HBO Family children’s cartoon about fish in the sea. She’s already perusing programs and recording things she think will entertain and educate our soon to arrive daughter.

Rainbow Fish strives to teach things and is basically your typical moral lesson in thirty minutes of bright colored animation. In one scene about one of the characters writing an article for the school newspaper that was completely untrue, the teacher reprimanding the student reporter said (paraphrased):

The press is a powerful tool. In the wrong hands, it can be deadly.

That’s a pretty good message for kids.

Some details about Nick Berg are emerging that are questionable. The AP reports:

In an odd twist, it also emerged Thursday that the FBI questioned Berg in 2002 about an e-mail address traced to him that was used by an acquintance of terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui . Investigators concluded that Berg had nothing to do with Moussaoui. (sic)

Though the investigation yielded nothing, it is odd. More:

It is unclear when and how Berg, a self-employed telecommunications businessman, was captured. Accounts of his detention in Mosul in late March are also conflicting.

U.S. officials insist Berg was arrested by Iraqi police for involvement in “suspicious activities.” The Mosul police chief has denied that. An April 1 e-mail from a U.S. consular official in Iraq, provided by Berg’s family, said he was being detained by the U.S. military.

This story is getting bizarre. The always excellent JunkyardBlog has much more.

Update: The Commissar has more.

Definitely more than meets the eye.

Update2: Wizbang has much more.

Seriously?

“Three boys at Bemiss Elementary School in Spokane, Wash., have been suspended for bringing `toy guns’ to school,” reports the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

Terry Wilson-Spence, whose 8-year-old son was among the suspended students, tells the paper that “the toy guns her son carried in his pocket were for G.I. Joe action figures. The guns are from only one inch to three inches long — half the size of a pencil.”

Patrick Durkan:

The reporter, Alan Feuer, makes this point about the oddity and irony of it all: “There is much to learn from the league about the failure of assumptions. While one might assume, for instance, that the city’s reputation for tolerance extends to all manner of behavior, it apparently does not extend to a love of guns.”

That phenomenon isn’t unique to New York City. If you want to taste intolerance, let it be known you own guns, and you like them.

I can’t help but notice the worried looks and whispers of waiting passengers while helping a ticket agent check in my rifle or muzzleloader at the airport.

In one case, my daughters overheard a woman tell her husband, “You’d think with children in his house he wouldn’t keep guns around.”

Amazing. I would have thought she would have been more impressed that my three daughters — then fairly young — had stood in line for 30 minutes without irritating the spit out of everyone within hearing. At some point, you would hope those judgmental sorts would look at your family group, consider the evidence before them, and realize gun ownership isn’t an indicator of criminal intent or aberrant behavior.

Then again, I doubt they put much thought into it. There’s something smug and unyielding about anti-gun bigotry that’s as stalwart as the most militant pro-gun dogma. They don’t see the irony that their otherwise tolerant views don’t extend beyond the predictable venues of race, religion or sexual preference.

The name of the article is If you try shooting a gun, you might enjoy it. And indeed most folks do. In my life, I have taken at least a dozen people shooting for their first time. Everyone of them enjoyed it and most of them bought guns shortly thereafter.

I know, people are fond of pointing out things that sound dirty but aren’t, such as the new line of potato chips by Tom’s called Loaded Spud.

It’s odd that you find something that doesn’t sound dirty but really is:

Spermatophores were seen hanging from J-1’s siphon.

I have not (nor will I) watch the Nick Berg beheading video. Why? Because it would likely enrage me the way the images of those poor souls jumping to their deaths from the WTC on 9/11 did. Some argue that maybe people need to be enraged. That we’ve forgotten. That is a valid point, I suppose, but I still have no desire to see it.

It seems like some bloggers are questioning the video’s authenticity. It seems that it doesn’t look realistic (i.e., lack of movement, the audio/video don’t sync, and lack of blood from the jugular). I have no opinion as I haven’t seen it. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. I recall people alleging similar issues about the Daniel Pearl video.

Instapundit tells us that Nick Berg is the story people want to hear but the media hasn’t followed suit. I have no doubt people want to see it. I just hope it’s because they want to see it with their own eyes as a reminder and not to satisfy some morbid curiosity.

My sympathies to the Berg family.

Yeah, some animals can’t adapt to affluence. It took me a while.

This does remind me. A contractor friend of mine purchased some of those new mousetraps (you get field mice when doing new construction). Basically, they are just a pad with a strong adhesive on it that smells like food. The mouse tries to get the food, becomes stuck, and can be disposed of. My friend, being the animal friendly sort of guy he is, figured he’d use these new traps instead of the kind that kill instantly and would then take the mice to a field and release them.

Problem was, you can’t unstick them. He tried. He said if he had continued, he’d have likely ripped off little mouse feet in the effort. The mouse likely starves to death or you have to bash their little skulls yourself or something. Pretty brutal.

Not a better mousetrap. Though it’s quieter, it’s really less humane.

On a TiVoed version of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, they showed a British reporter grilling Tony Blair. The reporter said something to the effect of (obviously paraphrased):

How can the British government talk to China about human rights given that the British government has allegedly been violating human rights in prisons in Iraq?

The reporter (whose name I don’t know) was brutally straightforward without appearing rude. He asked a tough and valuable question. Jon Stewart then replied something to the effect of:

Where can we (The US) get reporters like that?

Why can’t our reporters ask relevant and tough questions? Why do they ask superficial questions about SUVs, boobs on the Superbowl, etc. when there are, you know, important things to talk about?

Here’s an article I found on Blair’s response.

Medb has the latest lottery themed version of what Tennesseans are talking about.

It seems certain factions of the blogosphere believe that the media showing the prison pictures caused Mr. Berg’s death. Do they really think, absent the prison scandal, that those barbaric animals wouldn’t have found another reason to kill the poor guy?

If it wasn’t the prison pictures, it would have been for palestine; the Fallujah attacks; being in Afghanistan; or some other random insane reason. Those terrorists are just plain crazy.

There is a proposed ordinance to ban pit bulls in Bracken County:

Last Month, Bracken County Animal Control Officer James Moore requested the court pass an ordinance banning vicious dogs, mainly pit bulls, because of the danger they pose to area residents.

While serving three years in his present position, Moore said he has encountered many problems because of a pit bull’s bred viciousness.

You’d think someone that works that closely with dogs would know better. It’s not the breed, it’s irresponsible owners.

ORNL is slated to build the fastest civilian research computer in the world. It will be capable of 50 trillion calculations per second.

It will only cost tax payers $50M. At $ 0.000001 per calculation per second, it sounds like a good deal, if you’re into wasting other people’s money.

Tennessee is set to pass legislation severely restricting immigrants access to drivers licenses:

The bill would prohibit illegal immigrants and foreign visitors on temporary visas from getting standard driver’s licenses. Instead, they could apply for “certificates of driving” that would be marked “NOT VALID FOR I.D.” and would show only that the holder knew the rules of the road. The certificates, which would look significantly different than driver’s licenses, could not be used as a way to confirm one’s identity before boarding an airplane, buying a gun or renting a vehicle.

Sounds good to me.

You have to admire the foresight of the Clinton administration in ensuring that the AWB would expire during an election year. That said, Snitch has some info on the politics:

At least 52 U.S. senators, as well as President Bush and Democratic opponent John Kerry, support renewing the law. Gun supporters, meantime, are ready for an extended fight should any backers of the ban move to renew the dying law.

“I hope it dies a sanctimonious death,” said Kirk Smith, a National Rifle Association field representative from North Carolina. “But it’s an election year, so you will have demigods and rhetoric, and it will be ratcheted up. I am sitting back and waiting for the fireworks.”

One attempt to extend the ban was defeated in the Senate last month when anti-gun advocates attached a renewal measure to a bill designed to protect the gun industry from lawsuits. That defeat has not stopped ban advocates like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) from finding ways to extend the bill.

Feinstein’s spokesman, Scott Gerber, said the California senator would revive the ban by attaching the legislation to a more popular bill. “The data clearly shows the assault weapons ban is working,” Feinstein stated on her website. “From the moment the law went into effect there has been a steady and dramatic decline in the number of banned weapons turning up in crimes. It’s clear to me the assault weapons ban needs to be re-authorized so that we can continue to keep these military-styled weapons off the streets.

Update: Here’s a list of people to call and tell them you oppose renewing the ban:

Mike Castle (R-Del.)
202-225-4165

Christopher Shays (R-Conn.)
202-225-5541

Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)
202-225-4835

Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.)
202-225-5361

Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.)
202-225-5516

I put up the Thursday gun links over at Les Jones’ place.

Today, on my way home from work, I saw a local radio station’s traffic vehicle driving down the road. Not all that odd, except that it’s rear bumper was hanging off as though it had been in an accident. Surreal or ironic? I dunno. But I can see it now:

Tom, there’s an accident at the corner of . . . [sound of accident] . . . crap, someone just rear-ended my while I’m sitting here rubbernecking

Then, I made my trip to the local dump to drop off some trash. It was closed. Seriously, why does a dump have business hours and need an attendant?

Something I’ve been thinking about is how blogs equalize the debate. Sure, some bloggers like to write about blogging impacting media and reporting (which some blogs do but not most; hence the impact on media is grossly overstated when it happens). However, I mean on a fundamentally personal level. To illustrate this, I’m going to pick on two of my favorite bloggers. Why these two bloggers? Because I’ve met them in real life. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both super nice guys and I am not trying to insult them. And I’m going to pick on myself some.

About me: My speech is rather monotonous. I have a deep voice and my voice naturally doesn’t fluctuate in pitch or volume very much. I appear, I’ve been told, rather stoic and sort of unaffected by my environment. This causes me some problems: 1) I am a terrible public speaker because I’m monotonous; 2) I can’t tell jokes (seriously, I am quite deficient in my ability to deliver a punchline); 3) Because of my monotonous voice, my comments come across as inappropriate when I’m actually joking (even though I realize that I am joking, those listening who don’t know me often think I’m rude); 4) People have difficulty hearing me unless I speak loudly. And I interrupt people – a lot. I’m getting better about that last one though. I don’t do it on purpose but sometimes I’ve just gotta blurt something out.

Victim number 1: South(of)KnoxBubba is a very soft-spoken, polite, professional person to talk to in real life. He’s a very intelligent guy who won’t hesitate to tell you what he thinks, but he’s polite enough to let you finish what you’re saying. He won’t butt in and interrupt you and likely won’t call you out when you interrupt him. In fact, after the last time I saw SKB, the Mrs. pointed out to me later that I interrupted him quite a bit (sorry ’bout that). He’s a good listener. Bubba is a class act.

Victim number 2: tgirsch has a very powerful voice. When he speaks, people listen. They can’t help it. He’s clear, articulate, and composes himself well. And he can get very loud without appearing rude.

Now, in a real life debate between me and Bubba, I could out-rude him in a manner reminiscent of the first Gore v. Bush debate. Mind you, that doesn’t mean I’d win any debate based on the merits of my argument, just that I’d be a bit louder than him and would appear to control the debate.

tgirsch would kick my ass. He could run for office. Don’t know that I’d vote for him, but he’d level his opponents in a debate. He has that kind of presence about him that make people listen. Also, he’d be the guy you’d want yelling fire in an emergency because people would hear him quite distinctly. If I interrupted him, he could just talk over me. And he could interrupt me and I’d be powerless to stop it unless I pulled a Ross Perot Can I finish? and threw a tantrum.

When we’re typing away, we take our turns. As a bonus, we can even do some research. It does level the playing field. Tom, SKB, and I have engaged in debate. We’ve each had our shares of wins and losses. We’re all equal in terms of presence on-line and our wits are what matter at the keyboard.

Maybe Kerry and Bush should do their first debate in an on-line chat room? That would have helped Gore.

It looks like some Republican members of Congress are blocking Bush’s effort at renewing the Patriot act:

A group of libertarian-minded Republicans in Congress is blocking President Bush’s effort to strengthen domestic counterterrorism laws and reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, which the president has made one of his top domestic priorities this year.

As a result of this opposition, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was forced last week to cancel panel consideration of legislation that would have given law-enforcement officials more tools to pursue suspected terrorists.

Good.

In 2002, Tennesseans voted on an amendment to remove the $50 limit on fines not assessed by juries. It was defeated. I voted against it because it had no limit (in other words, they could start charging $10K for violating a sign ordinance or something). At least the new version sets a limit, that limit is $500.

That’s all I wanted the first time. No restriction would likely lead to abuse.

Something big is brewing in this torture flap. Lynndie England is stating she was ordered to pose in the various pictures.

We have grunts pointing fingers at the chain of command, the chain of command pointing fingers at the administration, and the administration pointing fingers at the grunts.

There’s a lot more to this than we know. Heads should roll and right now, they’re not.

In a comment to my post about the anti-gunners attempting to illicit a potential illegal weapons transfer, a reader commented:

If you look on the area code of the number listed on the SAS website you will see it is a CA number from the 805 area code. And if I understand CA gun laws then those are illegal. CA has a state AWB that I think has no grandfather clause and for sure does not allow transfer of Assault Weapons

I am unfamiliar with California law, but the reader is basically stating that the transfer would be illegal in California.

Update: XRLQ tells me in comments that the transfer may not be legal but some arms are grandfathered.

Additionally, the 805 area code has been transposed (scroll down for Linda S. Vaughn’s contact info). It’s actually 850, which is Florida. So, again, I still contend nothing illegal but likely a ploy to study (again, a term used very loosely) how easy it is to obtain assault weapons.

The NRA, whom you may remember had Cheney give a speech that seemed more to be like Cheney trying to smooth over some issues with gun owners, has held off it’s endorsement of Bush until the assault weapons ban expires:

An influential gun-rights group known for backing Republicans is unlikely to endorse President Bush until after the federal assault-weapons ban expires in September.

Bush supports the renewal of the 10-year ban but has not called on the GOP-controlled Congress to act. If he does so, the move would probably cost him the endorsement of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Some political observers believe that the NRA’s endorsement is a certainty, pointing out the group’s stinging criticism of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

But gun-rights activists dispute the claim that Bush can count on the NRA’s support; the group remained neutral in 1992 and 1996. The NRA did not endorse Republican nominee Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential bid because of his wavering stance on the assault-weapons ban and opted not to back George H.W. Bush in his 1992 re-election effort. The NRA did endorse George W. Bush in 2000.

Many Capitol Hill aides and lawmakers say Bush will determine whether the ban is extended beyond Sept. 13. An aide to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has said privately that if Bush pushes for it, the ban will probably be reauthorized. But if he doesn’t, the chances of legislation’s passing this year are remote.

As a reminder, this line was put in:

He said the policy on the assault-weapons ban will be resolved by Congress, adding that it is no coincidence that soon after the 1994 ban was enacted, Republicans took control of Capitol Hill.

The most disheartening part of this article:

“The legislation would pass if it came to the floor,” Castle said. “There are a number of Republicans who would support this.”

Looks like the NRA is doing the right thing. So, maybe some NRA apologists from a while back were right about them. However, they were wrong about the House being willing to stop it.

Well, I said if the ban expires I’ll join the NRA.

Granted, it is a degree of partisan bickering (you did it! Well, you did it more), but JYB alerts us to 17 officials who were told of the prison abuse before 60 Minutes 2 broke the story.

I guess the calls for resignation from the left will be forthcoming? Nah.

Update: Oh, and Rummy even came out with it publicly in January. Here’s a press release from U.S. Central Command (scroll down).

Just a partisan witch hunt.

And where was the media in January? I guess without shocking photos, they have no story.

James reviews the Springfield XD.

Readers know that the Mrs. is pregnant. Seven weeks to go. For a while now, baby has been pretty active. She’s doing somersaults, cartwheels, and generally moving around a lot. In fact, you can on occasion see movement through the Mrs.’ shirt. It’s quite phenomenal. Or so I’m told.

See, I rarely see it or feel it. I have this magical ability. Every time Mrs. Uncle says come feel, she’s kicking like crazy and I approach and place my hand on Mrs. Uncle’s belly, baby stops. Maybe she’s bashful or something. I don’t know.

As disappointing to me as this is, it absolutely frustrates the Mrs. She’ll ask if I felt something and I have to tell her that I didn’t. I’ve talked to a lot of fathers who report experiencing the same problem.

On the odd occasion she keeps moving, it’s pretty amazing. Also, we’re starting to get to the point where we can feel body parts (though we can’t identify which parts they are – but we’re told if it’s soft then it’s a butt). It’s pretty amazing when I can feel her.

We were told during the ultrasound that she was a girl. We asked how certain they were that it would be a girl and the doctor said she wouldn’t have told us she was a girl unless she was absolutely certain. Now, we have friends who are telling us that their respective doctors gave them percentages (i.e., we’re 98% certain it’s a girl). We didn’t get any percentages and were just told it’s a girl. The Mrs. now has this uneasy feeling that she may be a boy. That’s not a problem, other than the fact that we bought a ton of stuff in girlie colors.

Also, we recently took a bunch of classes on different subjects, like breathing and relaxation; breastfeeding; infant CPR; and a general birthing class. The majority of these classes seem to be tailored to women who are going to do natural childbirth. I wonder what percentage of women actually do natural childbirth, particularly since I think the Mrs. will be of the give me an epidural in the parking lot variety of pregnancies (though she swears she’ll wait as long as she can).

I have no intention of playing catch. I won’t be on the business end during labor. I’ll be there but, having watched childbirth during one of our classes, it doesn’t look like something I want to see. It’s one thing to see it happen to a stranger on video, it’s another the see the love of your life going through that. And I think I’d probably pass out. I’m squeamish.

After watching the video of the birth, I found some things rather odd. When the baby pops out (and after the head makes it, it does just pop right out), the doc just kinda tosses the baby up on mom’s belly. Apparently, the warmth comforts the baby and they try to do that as quickly as possible. In the video, the doc just tossed the baby right up there like he was slinging a hay bale, which caused mom and the nurses to reach for baby pretty quickly (after all, baby is, uhm, lubricated and may slip off).

Another thing is that you get to see 3D representations of how the various body parts and organs move around and change. Yeah, I had high school health classes and understood what was happening, but it makes it more understandable to see a 3D image of how a placenta fits, how the baby positions, and how mom’s organs move around (no wonder she has to pee all the time).

And people swear babies get hiccups. I don’t see how, since babies don’t actually breathe, per se. But we’ve had a couple of times where she was thumping in a definite rhythmic pattern that could have been hiccups. It’s pretty neat.

One more ultra sound to go. It’ll be neat even though we’re told that this time (since she’s so big now) that it may be hard to make things out. Looking forward to it!

Oh, I haven’t quite panicked about being a dad yet, but it’s coming.

Dale has a good looking stew recipe.

Yesterday, I was linked by Firearm News and iFeminists. Cool, traffic spike. Thanks!

I am remiss in mentioning that Marc is back and blogging.

A local landmark (where I have seen performances by The Violent Femmes, Nine Inch Nails, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and many others) is likely to be foreclosed on. I also recall years ago when they were in financial trouble, the did a few special performances of The Rocky Horror Picture Show to raise money. They need to do something, I’ll miss that place.

Cas Walker broke this story first.

Joining the ranks of DiFi and Rosie, is Chicago Councilwoman Alderman Arenda Troutman. She has a policeman assigned to guard her home. I imagine other residents would like someone to guard their homes since they’re not legally allowed to do so. And this quote illustrates what’s wrong with most politicians:

Deserve it? Damn right. I should receive the protection I am receiving. I am an elected official. You’re darn right,

Just like you and me, only better.

Whenever some one says to me: Uncle, why are you so certain that gun control is a political loser?

I say: Because Jesse Jackson thinks it’s a good idea.

Via email from Tom.

The Second Amendment Sisters have this entry on the MMM/Brady Campaign going undercover. It seems Linda S. Vaughn, the Southeast Region’s Senior Associate Director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence United with the Million Mom March, may have tried to bait an ad to illicit potential illegal weapons transfers. Since she left her MMM/Brady Campaign office telephone number as the point of contact, the ruse was quickly discovered.

It doesn’t seem to me that any of the weapons listed were illegal (assuming they are pre-ban). It does seem to me that Linda was trying to conduct another of their studies (term used very, very loosely) on the acquisition of assault weapons.

Additionally, Linda’s actions have been reported to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

Update: More significant information here.

See, I told you so.

I’m back from our little weekend getaway. We flew into Chicago’s Midway airport Friday morning, spent the night with my brother-in-law in the Northwest ‘Burbs, and on Saturday drove up to a wedding in Madison, WI. Just a few observations:

The Democrat and Chronicle has an article on New York’s attempt at ballistic fingerprinting (which will never work because you can always buy these and barrel ballistics change over time, particularly during the first 200 rounds) and a lawsuit against the system. Some interesting figures from the article:

CoBIS has cost the state more than $12 million and “since inception, not one crime has been solved using the system,” the lawsuit alleges.

“It’s costing the state of New York about $4 million a year.”

Nearly 52,000 guns were registered in the CoBIS system since its inception in March 2001, said State Police spokesman Lt. Glenn Miner.

There have been no “confirmed hits” between registered guns and guns used in crimes, he said.

By my calculation, that is $230.77 per gun. That and the fact it doesn’t work means the future isn’t looking good for ballistic fingerprinting.

Remember that chart of IQs by state going around that was claiming smart states vote Democrat? Well, it’s discredited. The story keeps changing but here is a long post on the issue.

Jeff has his weekly check on gun bias up. Today’s focus: A couple of moms standing around.

Oregon Daily Emerald:

The media industry has been infested by the rise of pseudo-journalists who go against journalism’s long tradition to serve the public with accurate information, Los Angeles Times Editor John S. Carroll told a packed room in the Gerlinger Lounge on Thursday.

Carroll delivered the annual Ruhl Lecture, titled “The Wolf in Reporter’s Clothing: The Rise of Pseudo-Journalism in America.” The lecture was sponsored by the School of Journalism and Communication.

“All over the country there are offices that look like newsrooms and there are people in those offices that look for all the world just like journalists, but they are not practicing journalism,” he said. “They regard the audience with a cold cynicism. They are practicing something I call a pseudo-journalism, and they view their audience as something to be manipulated.”

Holy crap! He’s outing his employer, the LA Times. No, I jest. It’s a tirade against Fox News. Seriously. The LA Times liberal pseudo-journalism is well documented but instead of addressing that, he lambastes the other side.

You might be taken more seriously if you cleaned up your own house first.

The first Million Mom March supposedly numbered about 750,000 (a figure which critics have called grossly inflated, in fact one source I read put the number at about 50,000 – maybe). Well, there was another one. And it has been dubbed by others the thousand gang limp. Not only did it lack numbers, it lacked impact.

Here’s another unsigned opinion piece that says (in part):

Virtually every national health and child advocacy group also supports the Assault Weapons Reauthorization Act of 2004. President Bush and presumed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry have given the ban a thumbs-up.

I’m accustomed to proponents of the ban evoking the children, but the health group issue is a new one to me. If doing it for the children doesn’t scare you, your health will.

Signed into law in 1994, the ban prohibits the manufacture, sale, transfer or possession of 19 kinds of military type, semi-automatic assault weapons that utilize detachable ammunition magazines.

That is not true. It bans features that weapons can have. It has zero effect on military type weapons. Strangely, those 19 kinds of weapons are still made today.

The legislation would also close a loophole that bans high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold 10-or more rounds while allowing their import into the country. Clearly this convoluted law falls under the wink-wink category.

Huh? The importation of high capacity magazines is a new one to me. I’m sure it’s still done (for police sales if nothing else) but it is illegal to sell new ones (until September).

While the law has stemmed the flow and use of these weapons in the country, there are still loopholes. The main problem with the assault class is that they can be converted to fully automatic status, albeit with less ease than pre-ban models.

The law has in no way stemmed the flow of these weapons. When the manufacturers discovered the ban was going into effect, they cranked out tons of them. This drove the initial price down. The ban, at the start, actually put more on the streets than it took off the streets. They still manufacture the weapons, they just remove some features. Olympic Arms went so far as to rename their post-ban rifle the PCR (Politically Correct Rifle). Again, invoking the word loophole. No such loophole exists.

The last bit about easily converting to full auto is blatantly untrue. And it’s not easier to convert post ban models. In fact, civilian AR15s (pre and post ban) require machining to accept parts to make them full auto because the manufacturers chose to make them difficult to convert.

And this article brings us your touchy-feely crap moment of the day:

“I am troubled by the argument of opponents of the assault weapons ban that these weapons are not used in crimes,” said Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Springfield. “Newspapers and evening news reports are filled with stories of the heartbreak these guns cause.”

Then name them and identify the assault weapons.

Lastly, a note about coverage: Today, google news alerts sent me 11 14 (I’ve received 3 since this morning) err 16 now notices about the MMM march having supposedly one thousand to three thousand people (depending on the source). Yet I’ve seen minimal coverage of the pro-gun march by the Second Amendment Sisters (who I know were there) other than a blurb in various articles. I wonder how many pro gun marchers there were?

Update: Countertop reports witnessing about 300 pro gun marchers.

I know, it’s not technically summer but since it’s beautiful outside; I’m grilling some steaks; and I’m on my third mint julep, it feels like summer.

Well, this website has ruined every stereotype about gay people having a flair for style.

Rhea Gay Day is tomorrow.

Since I have been proclaimed Mr. Media Watchdork by one Michael Zitz for factchecking some gun related articles, I feel obligated to toot my own horn for a bit. You may recall, I authored an opinion piece for a Maryland Paper a while back. The same editor just asked me for some resources for a new article they’re writing on guns.

SayUncle: Watchdork and source of gun info!

Massachusetts is posting the names of tax delinquents on its Department of Revenue website. There’s a reason the state is called Taxachusetts.

. . . you other brothers can’t deny . . .

Spoons takes the Chicago Tribune to task for a misleading gun story. This is apparently becoming a weekly feature.

Jeff has a link to an article on guns that implies arming oneself is a choice (ala abortion). Now, while I don’t think that’s a good comparison because abortion is about more than choice, it does represent a trend in reporting lately that isn’t anti-gun:

Million Mom founder Donna Dees-Thomases has issued the dire warning that if the ban expires, “terrorists, drug lords and the mentally unstable will be able to stock up on assault weapons that can wipe out a schoolyard full of kids in a matter of minutes.”

True, perhaps, in theory. But practically speaking, most criminals use guns against one another. Assault weapons rarely figure in domestic violence or other forms of violence against women or children. Guns of any kind (primarily handguns) are used in only 4% of rapes/sexual assaults. Abusers are more likely to stab, strangle or bludgeon their female victims to death than to shoot them. Gun accidents happen, and every one of them is a tragedy, but data consistently show that far greater threats to children exist: automobiles, improperly stored household chemicals, even unattended swimming pools.

The Friends finale sucked. It was an hour of short snips from the past followed by just about the most predictable ending ever. It’s like they put every Ross/Rachel cliché in one episode. Quite disappointing.

Gov. Bredesen is planning on wasting the surplus:

Proposals to restore money to buy wetlands and parklands and to launch a pilot project to track sex offenders with Global Positioning System technology landed yesterday on Gov. Phil Bredesen’s list of priorities for spending unexpected tax collections.

The list was presented to the Senate Finance Committee, some of whose members groused because state employees didn’t get more money this year after having to forgo a raise last year.

There were hints from lawmakers that those employees could see bigger raises this year than what Bredesen has budgeted.

And yet, he wants to raise taxes. Bill Hobbs has been covering this for a while. Here’s his latest on the spending.

I voted for Bredesen. I actually have been impressed with him until recently. His recent tax/spend philosophy is very disappointing.

Update: And in a related note, the brand spanking new lottery is already projected to have a shortfall. Who the hell is doing our budgeting?

The LA Times:

“We are here only because we want to bring order and stability to this area,” said Maj. Brandon McGowan, executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of the 1st Marine Division.

[snip]

“For the future of Fallujah, we believe we must rid the area of guns so that everyone can live a peaceful life,” McGowan says. “This is my only desire.”

I don’t think disarming the Iraqis is going to win their hearts and minds.

I’m going to be visiting an undisclosed secure location this weekend. Well, no, actually it’s Madison, WI, and we’re going to a wedding.

Have a good weekend, y’all!

Sadly, I don’t know if many bloggers will make it past multiple presidencies because I’d bet one cold beer that it will be Dubya in 2004 and a lot of bloggers will quit between now and 2008. There is a part of me that hopes Dubya doesn’t win (not for political reasons, though there are some of those too). The reason is that certain factions of the blogosphere will be called to task for their inconsistency and will have to admit that they are partisan hacks. Or, more likely, engage in some sort of but it’s different now meanderings. So, let’s assume Kerry wins.

Note a couple of things about Kerry winning: nothing will change in the economy and nothing will change in Iraq. On that, I’d bet another cold beer.

If an issue and subsequent reaction by Bush caused a blogger to be critical of Bush, then a similar issue and similar subsequent reaction by Kerry should warrant the same level of criticism. But it won’t. The stuff we bloggers have written will still be there regardless of who is in power. There’s a record of it. A change in power will cause a lot of hypocrisy in the blogosphere.

I wonder if any blog archives will disappear if Kerry wins?

And I realize it will go the other way too: People who were not critical of Bush for certain things will become critical of Kerry for those same certain things.

Update: No, I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about the other guy.

A common misconception we all have (other than that we’re good drivers) is that we’re moderate. We all think we are. After all, we usually associate ourselves with similar minded folks and since those folks are all around us, we must be middle of the road.

I’ve seen this phenomenon quite a bit recently, mostly from the left. It seems that some folks who are pretty far to the left (in my book) refer to Bush as an extremist. In actuality, I’d say the people referring to Bush as the extremist are actually the extremists. I should point out that I don’t find Bush to be an extremist and I don’t think Kerry is an extremist. The two are actually more similar than different.

Now, it has the periodic crossover into mainstream (Lautenberg’s chickenhawk picture on Capitol Hill – note that referring to someone as a chickenhawk is an extremist labeling another person as an extremist in my book). And it seems to come more from the left (Bush is an abortion extremist, etc.) lately.

Why am I rambling about it? Because, it seems to me, the left is engaging in the same labeling strategy that the right engaged in starting in the 1980s and continuing more severely through the 1990s (you know, back when the L word was an insult). This heated up considerably during the Clinton presidency because the right was losing.

What is the purpose of this labeling? I suppose it energizes the base. However, it doesn’t seem to win over anyone who is on the fence. Case in point: Howard Dean. He really had the Democrats riled up for a while. Good coming out of the gate but no long haul potential.

The left is losing a lot of its hold on politics and their language shows it. It’s like the mid 1990s in reverse.

I covered the basic recipe for beer butt chicken here, but Steve’s sauce sounds amazing. I would not have thought to inject it into the bird. Gonna have to try that.

A while back I wrote about an ordinance that would classify all dogs over 30 pounds as potentially dangerous, Robert Douglas reports that common sense has prevailed:

[The ordinance] defines a potentially dangerous dog as one that, when unprovoked, bites, chases or threatens a person or domestic animal, or is known to have bitten a person or domestic animal.

While I take a slight issue with the unprovoked inclusion (after all, a poodle jumping on a mastiff is provoking but controllable), it’s a positive step.

Seems the Democrats will give bloggers press credentials. That is awesome!

The AKC is reporting:

Despite opposition from concerned dog owners and fanciers at a public hearing in Boston on Thursday, April 29th, legislators appear resolute in their support of a breed-specific ordinance. The proposal now heads to committee for further consideration.

What can you do?

Immediate help is needed to fight this proposal. Boston dog owners are strongly urged to contact the City Council and express their opposition to the ordinance. The measure may come up for a vote later this month, so there is no time to lose!

Boston City Council
1 City Hall Plaza
5th Floor
Boston, MA 02201
Phone: 617-635-3040
Fax: 617-635-4203

Publicola addresses Moran’s assertion that a 50 cal can down an airplane from up to a mile away with a fairly lengthy and complex discussion of ballistics calculations. The short version is that it’s almost inconceivable.

I saw a link to this article from Parameters that has an amusing, albeit frightening, anecdote from the L.A. Riot:

Police officers responded to a domestic dispute, accompanied by marines. They had just gone up to the door when two shotgun birdshot rounds were fired through the door, hitting the officers. One yelled `cover me!’ to the marines, who then laid down a heavy base of fire. . . . The police officer had not meant `shoot’ when he yelled `cover me’ to the marines. [He] meant . . . point your weapons and be prepared to respond if necessary. However, the marines responded instantly in the precise way they had been trained, where `cover me’ means provide me with cover using firepower. . . . over two hundred bullets [were] fired into that house.

Reminds me of this joke:

The reason the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines bicker amongst themselves is that they don’t speak the same language. For instance, take the simple phrase “secure the building”.

The Marines will kill everybody inside and set up a headquarters.
The Army will post guards around the place.
The Navy will turn out the lights and lock the doors.
The Air Force will take out a 5 year lease with an option to buy.

Les has his weekly gun links up, which include how to buy on GunBroker (like Ebay but for guns).

I will be doing next week’s gun links so if you have any goodies, send them to me.

This week, Rhea County will be busy. On Friday, there will be a march against same sex marriage. On Saturday, there will be a picnic called Gay Day. Make sure you watch the news, it will likely get interesting.

Six Bulgarian medics injected the HIV virus into over 400 children in an attempt to find a cure for AIDS. A Libyan court sentenced the medics to die.

Update: Link fixed. Sorry about that.

Earlier I mentioned Earl Shorris’s Clemente Course in Humanities. One of the results of the course was that the students developed “notably more appreciation for the concepts of benevolence, spirituality, universalism, and collectivism.”

Now obviously the list may not be complete, but I found it interesting that individualism wasn’t on it. IMHO, individualism is one of the crown jewels of Western Thought (and I’m not saying Western Civ has a monopoly on individualism, or anything like that). Unfortunately, I think individualism has been eclipsed by collectivism.

Ahhh, maybe I’m making too much out of this one quote. I still hope to blog about humanities and public schools someday soon.

I had hoped, when I used the phrase “too early to shoot the bastards,” that more readers would be familiar with the Claire Wolfe quote:

America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.

More on this later.

What I was aiming for in my admittedly elliptical (and obviously confusing) rambling was a search for a common thread in several scenarios. Furthermore, I intended it to be speculation, not some sort of proclamation of Gospel Truth, as I thought would be obvious from my use of phrases as “seems to me,” and “assuming my formulation is more-or-less congruent with reality.” While I’m certainly willing to hear discussion and correction on these assumptions, I was hoping that wouldn’t be the main focus. Granted, the onus is on me, the blogger, to make this clear.

Item: The violence in Iraq seems to me (N.B., seems to me) to be the work of mainly two groups: those longing for the Good Old Days of Saddam, and those wishing to establish an Islamic theocracy. Since Islamic Theocracy as practiced by the Iranians and Saudis (and presumably as would be practiced in Iraq) is, from where I’m sitting, no more or less preferable than plain old secular tyranny (c.f. Communism vs. Fascism), I think it’s quibbling not to lump these groups together as preferring some sort of despotism instead of American “occupation.” This is puzzling to me, given that we’re trying our damnedest (I think) to setup a liberal system modeled somewhat on our own. Still, this preference for despotism is strong enough for some, that it’s worth killing over.

Item: Now, I may be way off, but I just can’t imagine that UK’s government is that much different from the Republic of Ireland’s. Historically, yes, I’m sure there was repression and established religions and so forth, but are these really problems today? Of course, I could be way off; maybe the two governments are as far apart on certain things as, say, the USA’s and Canada’s when it comes to gun rights. I’ll grant that, although I wonder why immigration wouldn’t be an option. At any rate, to some people, it’s worth killing over.

Item: In the American colonies, ca. 1775, were ruled by a government that, while certainly not perfect, probably wasn’t too bad as governments went in that day and age. Still, at some point, enough people decided that getting rid of said government was worth killing over.

Item: Our modern-day government (at the federal and state level) are constantly pushing the limits of their power. Sometimes we push back, with varying degrees of success. Personally, I disagree with Claire Wolfe, in that I think it’s NOT too late to work within the system, and hopefully it never will be (and therefore I DO NOT advocate either the violent overthrow of our government or acts of terrorism or violence in general). The problem is knowing when her words come true.

So…is there a common thread? A thin one, perhaps. From our point of view, as Americans, we have been on both sides. In 1776, the challenge was identifying a “cusp,” if you will, and getting a critical mass of people convinced that it was indeed time to “shoot the bastards.” Today, we’re on the other side, and our challenge—in Iraq and the War on Terror in general—is to convince them that while it may be time to for the bastards to go, we aren’t the bastards; the bastards are the despots among them. And as I said originally, I have no solution to this challenge. That’s where you, the loyal reader, comes in!

The wife bought me the first season of Mail Call on DVD. I love this guy!

The first episode features the .30 machine gun (M1919 I think?) and several watermelons. Hoo-ah!

Well, quote of yesterday really since I TiVoed it. And not so much a quote really since I’m paraphrasing it from memory. Jon Stewart on The Daily Show:

Why is it Kerry sounds more dickish telling the truth than Bush does when he’s lying?

Once again I engage in the blogging equivalent of thinking out loud. It seems to me that we might state the problem we face in Iraq, and the problem that Israel has, in the following way:

There exists a certain number of Arabs who would rather live in under an Arab despot than under the tutelage of non-Arab Republics. Furthermore, said Arabs are willing to visit violence upon just about anybody, even themselves, to avoid living under said tutelage.

Now, having brilliantly posed the problem in these terms, and assuming my formulation is more-or-less congruent with reality, I still have no idea how to solve it. I can’t even explain it. Certainly I don’t think ALL members of this group desire to live under despots, although some may (thinking they can work their way up the hierarchy of enforcers that a despotism inevitably brings). Perhaps they just can’t stand the idea of their nations being subordinated to infidel nations.

Also, I certainly don’t think this formulation describes all, or even a majority, of Arabs. In fact, just thinking about it, it’s not unique to Arabs; you could apply it to other situations—say, for example, the terrorism in Northern Ireland. I mean, is the government of the UK really that much worse for Northern Ireland than the government of the Republic of Ireland would be? Yes, in the past, I’m sure His/Her Majesty’s government was pretty brutal to the Irish, but I think things have gotten a little better; surely it’s not so bad that car bombs and such are called for.

Of course, as a red-white-and-blue-blooded American Patriot, I recognize that there DOES come a time when “it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,” and that this can require bloodshed.

So maybe the ultimate question here is: when is it not too early to shoot the bastards?

UPDATE: Phelps has a much deeper analysis of the roots of Arab suicide terrorism, as well as a modest proposal for a solution.

If you’re new to blogging, there is plenty of good stuff on building your blog readership here, here, here and here.

If you’re a marketing retard (like me), there’s plenty there to get you going in the right direction.

I’d also recommend blasts from the past located here, here, and here.

CNS:

Police have confiscated more than 700 guns in the District of Columbia so far this year — and they confiscated more than 2,000 last year — in a city where it is illegal to own handguns, WUSA-TV, the local CBS affiliate, reported.

“Eighty percent of our homicides involve the use of handguns,” Chief Ramsey told the TV station. “Now, we have very good gun control laws. But it’s not difficult to go someplace and buy a gun outside the District,” he said.

A good read on a variety of gun issues.

The 15 year old ban on politically incorrect dogs in Denver has been suspended. The city still plans on suing the state to uphold the breed specific legislation.

Here is a rather informative article on the assault weapons ban. More telling is this particular quote:

Assault weapon or not? Advocates on all sides of the issue confess to being confused. To many, the correct answer darts like a moving target somewhere between “depends on how it’s used” and “whatever the law says.”

Such questions have compelled the most ardent gun-control groups to argue against extending the assault weapons ban — at least in its present form.

“The public believes there is an assault weapons ban when there isn’t,” said Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Washington-based Violence Policy Center. “You can’t argue with a straight face that the ban has been effective.”

Even the anti-gunners are admitting the current ban is pointless.

I hear that lately the “weapon of choice” among criminals and terrorists is the Multiple-Launch Solid-Fueled Kinetic-Energy-Warhead Ballistic Missile System. No word yet on whether Congress is considering a ban.

A while back, I was pretty critical of one Michael Zitz. In fact here’s a summary. Turns out, he is the bigger man because he stated that an article of his may have contained some factual errors. Yes, he finally did the noble thing and admitted that his research may have been mistaken and he thanked me for my time.

No, I jest. He did no such thing. He left more childish comments and attacked me personally again. He has a history of saying dumb things. Says the ever mature Michael Zitz:

Just to show how pathetic you are, Ace, I’ve received one email generated by your ramblings in the three weeks since you posted this.

But you did get the message? Right? Who’s pathetic? The guy with a column who feels the need to come onto my pathetic little website, fail to prove me wrong, and point out that my pathetic little website is a pathetic little website; or me, the guy with the pathetic little website. I should point out that on Google’s ranking system, my site ranks 5 out of 10, as does the site that Michael Zitz works for. I score the same in Google ranks as his employer? Not bad for a pathetic little website.

And, my, my. Did you make a mistake? I guess your Google search produces different results from mine.

It’s been three weeks since I posted the link and three weeks ago I was the number one google for Michael Zitz. After this post, I’m sure I’ll be back up there again in a week. But notice that unlike Michael Zitz, I addressed the issue. On a related note, in October of 2003, I was the number one google for spiked bracelets but that has changed too. Google’s data changes all the time.

How about an apology for your lack of attention to detail, Mr. Media Watchdork?

Dork? Nice, coming from a professional writer who is known to the public. No apology needed. I did give an explanation (i.e., google changes searches all the time), which is better than you have when confronted with your own inadequacies.

And about your attention to detail: Before, I thought that you were ignorant and merely responded poorly to criticism. Now that we’ve had a few exchanges, I realize that you must be aware of the factual inaccuracies and are choosing not to address them. Therefore, you are a liar.

In fact, to continue with the theme of posting his email, which I don’t really do because I think swarms of people will email him (though I am disappointed only one of you did), I do so on the off chance I might be heard, which happened. But email him if you must, I will:

Email Michael Zitz.

And I like the phrase Media Watchdork, I think I’ll use it.

I saw this on Rebecca Blood’s site. It’s a rather old piece from Harper’s titled On the Uses of a Liberal Education.

It’s a long read, but I found it very interesting. It describes, as Blood puts it, how “New York journalist Earl Shorris developed the Clemente Course in the Humanities, designed to use the classical liberal arts education to bring equity to the economically disadvantaged.” Shorris describes his motivation thus:

Numerous forces–hunger, isolation, illness, landlords, police, abuse, neighbors, drugs, criminals, and racism, among many others–exert themselves on the poor at all times and enclose them, making up a “surround of force” from which, it seems, they cannot escape. I had come to understand that this was what kept the poor from being political and that the absence of politics in their lives was what kept them poor. I don’t mean “political” in the sense of voting in an election but in the way Thucydides used the word: to mean activity with other people at every level, from the family to the neighborhood to the broader community to the city-state.

His solution: teach them Humanities: “the study of human constructs and concerns, which has been the source of reflection for the secular world since the Greeks first stepped back from nature to experience wonder at what they beheld. If the political life was the way out of poverty, the humanities provided an entrance to reflection and the political life.”

He puts together a course, bringing in Real Life Professors, to teach to ex-convicts, single mothers, drug-abusers, and AIDS victims. They read Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides. They read poetry, visit museums, watch slide shows of great art works. And it works:

One Saturday morning in January, David Howell telephoned me at home [about a dispute with a co-worker].

“Mr. Shores, she made me so mad, I wanted to smack her up against the wall. I tried to talk to some friends to calm myself down a little, but nobody was around.”

“And what did you do?” I asked, fearing this was his one telephone call from the city jail.

“Mr. Shores, I asked myself, ‘What would Socrates do?’”

David Howell had reasoned that his co-worker’s envy was not his problem after all, and he had dropped his rage.
…
In the last meeting before graduation, the Clemente students answered the same set of questions they’d answered at orientation. Dr. Inclan found that the students’ self-esteem and their abilities to divine and solve problems had significantly increased; their use of verbal aggression as a tactic for resolving conflicts had significantly decreased. And they all had notably more appreciation for the concepts of benevolence, spirituality, universalism, and collectivism.

It cost about $2,000 for a student to attend the Clemente Course. Compared with unemployment, welfare, or prison, the humanities are a bargain.

Now, it’s almost a cliche to gripe about the “state of our schools,” so I won’t do that.

Step 1: Say something irretrievably stupid and offensive.

Step 2: Wait for the outrage.

Step 3: Rejoice as you are suddenly relevant again.

Turns out that story about us poor Americans choosing between food and gas was made up:

The Associated Press reported that financially pressed consumers were willing to spend less on food in order to pay for gasoline, according to a survey by the Food Marketing Institute. The institute’s report said that high oil prices, both at the pump and for home heating, were depressing consumers’ ability to spend more, but did not specify where that added spending would have occurred. The institute said it had no evidence that consumers were choosing to spend less for food in order to pay for gasoline.

Ravenwood tells me that I’m a terrorist. That is seriously ridiculous.

Rodger found a beauty.

Boortz is reporting that some military persons are stating that some of the torture images (this time of British troops doing the torturing) may be fake:

the pictures have all sorts of inconsistencies in them. Military experts say the SA80 rifle shown in the images was not issued to British soldiers currently serving in Iraq. Strike one. They also say the alleged captive’s shirt depicts the pre-1988 Iraqi flag, and is too clean to be that old. Strike two. And what about the location of the photos? It looks like they were taken inside of a Bedford truck, which, you guessed it, is not being used by British forces in Iraq. Strike three. The conclusion: the pictures are fakes. Somebody made it all up.

Any takers on the life expectancy of Playgirl’s proposed adult channel that targets women? My guess is not that long.

Did you know Dennis I’m so moonbatty I make Nader look middle-of-the-road Kucinich is still campaigning? If not, don’t feel bad. No one else did either.

Remember, we anonymous bloggers have no credibility but it’s OK for a fairly prominent newspaper to spew forth unreasoned and unsupportable arguments to further an agenda. They just call it an editorial:

The law, which is set to expire Sept. 13, was put in place following a 1993 incident in which an unhappy client burst into a law office at 101 California St. Armed with two assault weapons, he killed eight people and wounded six others.

Those two assault weapon were Tec DC9s, which are 9MM handguns. Would they have felt better if he had used a couple of Glocks?

Just a few weeks ago, young San Francisco police Officer Isaac Espinoza was shot to death by a killer with an AK-47 rifle.

But we have the assault weapons ban in place now and still someone was killed with an AK-47?

Opponents often portray the ban as a sweeping infringement on the rights of law-abiding gun owners, but in fact the legislation affects a very limited number of weapons. Most are useless for hunting and too dangerous for home defense, and some are not even accurate enough to make for good target shooting.

… the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. makes no reference to sweeping infringements. It says shall not be infringed. The legislation affects no weapons, it affects the features some weapons can have. The second amendment has nothing to do with hunting.

This bill does not prohibit those weapons that might arguably be most useful for defending a person or a home; it does not affect the guns sought after by the vast majority of reasonable hunters and target sportsmen; and the precautions it requires of retailers are minor, considering the potential for destruction and loss of life such guns represent in the wrong hands.

New strategy for the anti-gunners, minimizing the impact. Remember, DiFi said that if she could have gotten 51 votes she’d have told Mr. and Mrs. America to turn them all in. And target sportsmen use M1As and AR15s in competition shooting, these weapons’ allowed aesthetic features are affected by the ban. And these guns are no more dangerous than comparable hunting rifles. A Ruger Mini 14 is functionally identical to an AR15 (same ammunition, semiautomatic, and same magazine capacity) but one is banned and not the other.

In reality, the assault weapons ban asks gun makers, sellers and purchasers to shoulder a very slight burden of responsibility in exchange for a potentially very large benefit for public safety.

Continuing with the theme of minimizing the impacts of the ban, it should be noted that slight burden is sacrificing your rights. There has been no evidence to suggest the current Assault Weapons Ban has affected crime at all. Gun crime has been on the decrease for a while and these weapons were used in less than one half of one percent of crimes.

The anti-gunners are trying to put a reasonable face on the legislation. They’re saying C’mon, it’s just a little gun control. This is an attempt to keep the foot in the proverbial door. Do not be fooled.

I guess it’s going to take someone actually finding one and using it in a hijacking before these instances become a big deal.

The VPC held a press event that had, uhm, only a few people. It was for federal legislation to ban 50 calibers. I thought it was funny.

Here’s an update to the story on exploding Glocks I covered here and here.

Keep your finger off the trigger (warning: Mrs. Bubba says I should warn people that link may be inappropriate) unless you’re ready to shoot. That is a definite no-no!

Des Moines Register:

The gun was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The gun, a concealed .32-caliber handgun, was brought by a guest to a party at Cooper’s home to celebrate the end of the spring soccer season.

The gun was pulled when the guest was questioned about some missing shot glasses.

The gun introduced violence into the dispute. The gun provided the means for murder.

Wow. A gun did all that by itself? No blame for the person pulling the trigger. Nancy Clark, the reporter (and I use that term loosely), is an idiot. Seriously, to paraphrase Archie Bunker: Would you feel better if she was pushed out the window?

But there’s more lunacy from the anti-gun fanatics:

I don’t know about you, but I am glad that at least someone appreciates the easy availability of guns in America.

I mean, it’s too bad that person happens to be Osama Bin Laden. But a fan is a fan, right?

In the Al Qaeda training manual, it says, “In the U.S. it’s legal to own certain types of firearms. Attain an assault rifle legally, preferably an AK-47 or variations.”

Thanks for the plug, Ossie. Buy American!

AK47s are not readily available in the US and haven’t been for a few decades. Strangely, box cutters are. The attempt at scaremongering to push an agenda is unbelievable.

More:

The fact is, Congress voted to outlaw the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons back in 1994.

No, it didn’t. It voted to restrict the features some semiautomatic rifles have. None of those features impact the rifle’s lethality. Her article contains a few other factual inaccuracies as well.

It’s a good thing Lenore Skenazy is cute because her ability to get the facts straight and reach conclusions is questionable.

Thanks to Jay because MT Blacklist has been working some major overtime in the last couple of days.

I have speculated in the past that television crime drama, in addition to public schools, are indoctrinating Americans to believe certain things. I don’t think it is intentional but it definitely is the result of something cultural. Regardless, in December 2002, I wrote using the example of CSI Miami:

It’s no wonder that the citizens of our country aren’t more upset by violations of our civil rights since the masses are shown these violations in our popular television programs. What’s actually worse is that these shows actually make these violations seem OK. I mean, who wants to see a child murderer go free? The cops did the right thing here. They caught the bad guy (actually, in the show the guy arrested didn’t turn out to be the perpetrator). Who cares if they threw civil liberties to the wind! They got their man! And this is perfectly acceptable.

I think the real kicker is that they could have had these scenes with no mention of ‘rights.’ Random Guy#2 could have asked ‘so, we’re free to go?’ and the cop could have just said ‘no.’ But the show actually brought it to our attention that the perps had rights and that the cops violated them. Quite curious if you ask me.

I also noted that kid’s aren’t being taught their rights at school. And H&HH wrote about Judging Amy abhorring freedom a while back.

It continues. The Mrs. had TiVoed an episode of Third Watch (a program she loves but I don’t particularly like). One of the issues in the show was that Male Police Officer was off duty and was robbed at gunpoint. Male Police Officer apparently drew his weapon and robbed his robber. Cool, I think, until Male Police Officer has his confessional with Female Police Officer. He tells her about it and she tells him that it’s wrong for him to do that. It is wrong for him to rob the robber. Fair enough. But then he says (and I am paraphrasing):

I’m not gonna take that like some regular citizen!

What? Regular citizens should just take it? And you’re OK with that? We’re different? I’m not sure what city Third Watch takes place in, but it’s probably New York (since roughly 90% of all TV shows happen there. Knoxville is probably not an exciting place to base a sitcom on – there are other cities in this nation, you know). And in New York, only the cops, criminals, and rich people carry guns (DeNiro’s got a permit, ya know). TV is (though not intentionally) telling us that if you’re robbed, you’re powerless. Is it possibly subliminally telling citizens to arm themselves? No. Just that you’re powerless and you’re different from police. You can’t defend yourself but a policeman can.

Kim is asking some questions about guns (more like a survey). Though I agree with Kim’s politics on guns, when it comes to guns we like, we couldn’t be more different.

For example, look at my arsenal here. Notice anything? No wood. Lots of plastic, K coat covered steal, and aluminum. Don’t like wood. It’s an aesthetic thing, I suppose. Regardless, to answer his questions:

1 – If you could only have one handgun, which would it be?

Requirements: reliable, durable, accurate, concealable and adequate stopping power. Choice: Glock 30 (which I have). While Sigs are my favorite guns, I have to go with the Glock in terms of ruggedness. Unlike comparable Sig 45s, the Glock also has a ten round magazine. A compact, accurate, reliable 45ACP. And a ton of after market products.

2 – Ditto for a rifle

While currently my rifle’s are an AR15 and 10/22, if I had to choose only one, it would be a Springfield M1A Scout. Respectable caliber, the barrel is the right size (at 18 inches, it’s not too small to impair accuracy and not too big to affect versatility). Parts and ammo are cheap and plentiful from military surplus.

3 – If you were told you could only drive one car or truck for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?

I’m contemplating that right now. I need to lose the convertible and get a daddy mobile with the daughter on the way. It will be a four door truck, the only choice now is which one. I like the new F150 but the con is that it takes up a lot of garage space. I also like the Dodge Dakota with the V8 because it has the features of the full size trucks (big engine, towing power, etc.) but is easier on garage space. Regardless, it would be a four door truck.

Despite my issues with Neal Boortz (i.e., he calls himself a Libertarian but toes the Republican party line 90% of the time), I have to give credit where it is due. Our media have been noticeably absent on property rights abuses. Eminent domain stories never make the big news. A town in Alabama takes someone’s land to build a Wal-Mart and the only coverage is by a local newspaper and a blogger.

That is tyranny. Period. Yet, no outrage because it’s not covered in the press to any significant degree. I guess if Paris Hilton was smoking someone’s pole while fondling a 40 year-old Janet Jackson boob on the property, 20/20 would have been there in two seconds.

Enter Boortz who is actually using his radio program and some articles to address the issue and raise awareness. Here’s the latest. Good for him.