No, they don’t. It’s far from free. When I was there, sales tax was 15% set aside for their system. That’s not free. The Canadian socialized healthcare system has some issues:

But more and more Canadians are awakening — not from a dream — but from a nightmare. The results are coming in. After years of government-controlled health care, the ordinary Canadian patient is noticing his health care system is ailing badly. Plus it’s bleeding money — his hard-earned tax dollars.

Comparing Canada with other industrialized countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that provide universal access to health care, a study released by The Fraser Institute in May revealed that Canada spends more on its system than other nations while ranking among the lowest in several key indicators, such as access to physicians, quality of medical equipment, and key health outcomes.

The study identifies one of the major reasons for this discrepancy. Unlike other countries in the study that outperformed Canada — such as Sweden, Japan, Australia, and France — Canada outlaws virtually all private health care. If the government says it provides a medical service, it’s illegal for a Canadian citizen to pay for and get the service privately. In practice, this means a patient must linger in line for hospital treatment — an average of 17.7 weeks in 2003, according to an annual survey on hospital waiting list published by the Fraser Institute.

There’s more on how not good their system is.

Update: More here.

Jeff has the latest.

Howard Nemerov writes:

“The Senators and Representatives shall … in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.” – US Constitution, Article 1, Section 6, Clause 1.

It’s Okay to Lie In Congress

The preceding excerpt from the Constitution is our origin of what is called legislative immunity. It means that if Dianne Feinstein prefers to lie while carrying out her job as Senator, we cannot hold her liable. Furthermore, if her dishonest comments are quoted by the New York Times, it is given an aura of authority. If other newspapers use quotes from the NYT, often called the paper of record, in their own articles, pretty soon it becomes gospel truth, because you can read it just about anywhere.

With the pregnancy, the Mrs. is spending more time watching television. Unfortunately, she’s spending a lot of time watching Lifetime and the movies that are made by Lifetime.

The basic premise of these made for Lifetime movies is pretty simple. Get some former TV starlet (like Markie Post), cast her as some ultra-successful type. Add a bad man and an extraordinarily unrealistic plot (that either involves abuse or murder), and you have a a Lifetime movie. All the plots boil down to this: Women = Good; Men = Bad. Lifetime slogan is Television for Women. Here are my choices for what it’s slogan should be:

Lifetime: Television that sucks!

Lifetime: Television for people with unrealistic world views.

Lifetime: Television so bad, it’s good.

Lifetime: Television for idiots.

Lifetime: What do you do?

Lifetime: We’re not even trying.

Lifetime: Men are evil, except the gay ones.

Lifetime: No, we’re serious.

Lifetime: We have unrealistic solutions to your unrealistic problem.

Lifetime: Scaring the shit out of affluent, white women for 20 years.

Update: One more:

Lifetime: Well, it’s not Oprah.

Oh, those weapons of mass destruction. And this story isn’t huge?

I periodically need reminding of my hillbilly roots, I typically do this by enjoying some fine southern cuisine. Today’s culinary selection is a true southern staple, pinto beans. Stuff needed:

Large pot
Water
Dried pinto beans
Onion chopped
2 – 3 Bay leaves
Either a Ham hock, soup bone, or some salt pork fatback

The quick method: Put beans in pot, boil on high heat for 10 minutes, strain. Add enough water to clear the beans by about an inch or two. Add remainder of ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and let gently boil for a few hours or until beans are tender.

Over night method: Bypass the boiling for 10 minutes and soak the beans in a large pot over night. The next morning, strain. Add enough water to clear the beans by about an inch or two. Add remainder of ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and let gently boil for a few hours or until beans are tender.

With pinto beans, you must have corn bread. Seriously, it’s a law or something.

Apologies for twice in a row drawing attention to the politicization of Ronald Reagan. However, the NRA is saying:

Exploiting tragedy for political gain is nothing new for the media and the Brady Campaign, but this morning’s appearance on NBC’s Today Show reached a new low. Katie Couric and Sarah Brady used the tragic occasion of President Reagan’s passing to shamelessly forward the gun-ban agenda with deliberate misinformation. Led by carefully crafted questions from Couric, Sarah Brady claimed that President Reagan wasn’t actually an NRA member, and that he “worked hard” for passage of the so-called “assault weapons” ban.

In fact, President Reagan, the owner of an AR-15, was a strong and consistent supporter of the Second Amendment and the NRA. He was a long time member who actively courted the NRA’s endorsement in both of his presidential campaigns, and was the first presidential candidate in history to receive that endorsement. He appeared on the cover of NRA magazines four times. In 1983 he was offered, and accepted, an NRA Honorary Life Membership, the highest honor bestowed by the NRA.

He was the first, and to date, only, sitting president to speak at our Annual Meetings, saying, in part, “The NRA believes America’s laws were made to be obeyed and that our constitutional liberties are just as important today as 200 years ago. And by the way, the Constitution does not say Government shall decree the right to keep and bear arms. The Constitution says ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’” In 1986, President Reagan signed the landmark Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA), and he never blamed law-abiding gun owners for the actions of criminals.

And the Coalition to Stop Gun buying Violence says:

John Hinckley’s deed left Brady paralyzed — and determined to end America’s “no questions asked” firearm policies. Brady and his wife Sarah got behind a proposal that would require criminal background checks for firearm sales through licensed dealers. It later became the Brady Bill.

President Reagan played an instrumental role in passing this landmark legislation. In late March of 1991, ten years after the shooting, Reagan joined his former press secretary at George Washington University Hospital. There, at the very hospital at which both men were treated for their near-fatal wounds, Reagan said ” You do know that I’m a member of the NRA, and my position on the right to bear arms is well known…But I want you to know something else, and I am going to say it in clear, unmistakable language: I support the Brady bill, and I urge the Congress to enact it without further delay.”

President Clinton signed the Brady Bill into law in 1993.

Later, in 1994, Reagan directly lobbied Members of Congress to pass the federal Assault Weapons Ban. The ban passed the U.S. House of Representatives 216-214, a margin of just two votes. One of those votes was cast by former Rep. Dick Swett (D-NH), who credited Reagan’s direct involvement for his “aye” vote. Swett told the Boston Globe, “he made up his mind after being lobbied by the idol of GOP conservatives, President Ronald Reagan.”

Reagan also won over the second vote that made the Assault Weapons Ban law. According to Wisconsin’s Capital Times, former Rep. Scott Klug (R-WI) voted for the assault weapons ban only after a “last-minute plea” from Reagan.

Kevin linked to this piece by Bruce Garrett on Reagan and AIDS (which contains almost no links to back up assertions). SayUncle takes issue with it. I realize fully that the right is deifying Reagan but the left’s vilification is horrendous.

These have nothing to do with Bruce’s assertion but I’ll address them in brief. One claim is that Reagan didn’t fund aids, or didn’t fund it enough, or basically that he was pressured to fund it, or he didn’t do it quickly enough. Not true. Under Reagan’s presidency, almost $6B was spent on AIDS and it started as early as 1981. The other claim is that Reagan didn’t mention it in public until 1987. He signed the funding into law in 1981 so I’d say that’s acknowledging it. And he mentioned (See below) in 1985 and he specifically mentioned funding for it in 1986.

On to Bruce who makes this most asinine assertion:

Does the name Ryan White ring any bells out there? White was a kid who got AIDS by way of the clotting factor he needed to control his hemophilia. From the Ryan White Story Website:

He was determined to continue at his school and live life normally. But in 1985, not many people knew the truth about AIDS. Not very much was known about AIDS. Ryan faced a lot of discrimination, mostly based on the unknown. His school tried to keep him from attending and the town in which he lived was not very supportive, to say the least.

After legal battles, Ryan and his mother settled with the school to have separate restrooms and disposable silverware from the cafeteria. But that didn’t stop much. Students vandalized his locker with the word “FAG” and restaurants threw his dishes away after he left. A bullet was even fired into his home.

That’s putting what happened to this innocent kid mildly. And after he passed away, his gravesite was vandalized repeatedly.

So here comes Reagan, with this opportunity to do what the goddamn leader of the free world is supposed to do, speak up for the innocent, appeal to our better nature, quell the passions of the mob …and the pusillanimous Bastard says he sympathizes with the mob instead!

“I can understand both sides of it.”

Both sides? I’m sorry…Both Sides??? Like…the side that would fire a gun into a boy’s home, because the kid had AIDS? That side?

Passionate stirring scene, eh? Too bad it’s devoid of context. What really happened was at a news conference, someone asked:

Mr. President, returning to something that Mike [Mike Putzel, Associated Press] said, if you had younger children, would you send them to a school with a child who had AIDS?

Reagan said:

I’m glad I’m not faced with that problem today. And I can well understand the plight of the parents and how they feel about it. I also have compassion, as I think we all do, for the child that has this and doesn’t know and can’t have it explained to him why somehow he is now an outcast and can no longer associate with his playmates and schoolmates. On the other hand, I can understand the problem with the parents. It is true that some medical sources had said that this cannot be communicated in any way other than the ones we already know and which would not involve a child being in the school. And yet medicine has not come forth unequivocally and said, “This we know for a fact, that it is safe.” And until they do, I think we just have to do the best we can with this problem. I can understand both sides of it.

Don’t see Reagan taking the side of the people shooting. I see Reagan admitting a lot wasn’t known at the time about AIDS and he understood the fears of parents. He was also understanding of someone being stricken with this disease and facing hideous acts as a result.

Update: And how do I know that Reagan didn’t ignore AIDS? Because Fred Phelps (that raving, homophobic lunatic) thinks he’s in Hell.

I like to visit the Ready.gov site periodically. The site, provided by the Department of Homeland Security, serves to instruct people on how to be prepared for terror attacks. For shits and giggles, go here and here.

They’re pretty high on my list.

If all goes as planned, in two weeks I’ll be a dad. Some random things that I have learned, noticed, or done:

Male nesting. It’s real. You don’t have the uncontrollable urge to clean. What you will have is the uncontrollable urge to build stuff. In the last two weeks, I have built a workbench, a dog house, a growth chart, and a small wooden box. This is in addition to my ordinary tinkering (built a computer, added some modifications to my Ruger 10/22, and set up a home network).

Your body knows. You start sleeping less. I suppose it’s nature’s way of getting you ready for the sleepless nights you have coming.

Since I’m having a girl, I will apparently develop (in about 15 to 16 years) the desire to want to beat the crap out of every pimply faced kid that looks at her funny. Time to start learning to control that desire now.

Apparently, everything on the planet causes SIDS. Seriously. Particularly, anything you may get secondhand has an increased risk of causing SIDS. It’s true. The result, we bought all new stuff. Sounds to me like a scam by the people who make new stuff.

Even though everything causes SIDS, no one knows what causes SIDS. It’s totally true. Ask your doctor. They’ll tell you they don’t know. But they do know that secondhand stuff causes it. It’s really strange.

You cannot get out of Babies R Us without spending at least $300.

Two common features of baby stuff: 1) It’s expensive; and 2) it’s disposable. Two hundred dollar car seat will be outgrown in only a few months.

On sex, neither you nor your partner have the desire.

Some of the details of pregnancy are better left unknown to the father. Mucus plugs? Ick!

After attending birthing class, the video was all of the miracle of birth I want to ever see. The video shows some women you don’t know. I can’t imagine watching the woman I love go through that. I’ll be there, in the room, with my wife. I will not, however, play catch or in any way get on the business end of the deal.

The part that really scares the woman is, surprisingly, not the pain but the fact she may make number 2 in front of about four people.

When the baby first starts moving in such a way as it can be felt, as soon as your wife calls you over there to feel it, it will stop. This will frustrate you and annoy your wife who won’t be able to understand why you’re not as excited as her.

Later, it’s amazing to actually see what is identifiably the impression of a foot on a woman’s abdomen.

You will see strength in the woman you love you have never seen before. It is truly inspiring.

Citizens Against Government Waste blog reports:

“The Pentagon spent an estimated $100 million on airline tickets that were never used and didn’t seek refunds, a government investigation to be released today shows. The military also reimbursed employees as much as $8 million for tickets actually bought by the Defense Department, according to a second report from the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress.”

Kevin shows us one more reason why SayUncle doesn’t reload nor does SayUncle purchase reloaded ammunition. Ouchie!

From The Daily Show’s Lewis Black (paraphrased):

Let me explain to you why hockey sucks. The country that invented it was beaten by a country that doesn’t care about it with a team that comes from a state where there’s no naturally occurring ice.

Daniel R. Vice, a staff attorney for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence:

This ruling will protect the public and police officers from the proven dangers of concealed weapons.

I’d like to see proof of these, ya know, proven dangers. In every case where concealed weapons laws have been passed, crime has decreased. This does not prove cause and effect but it definitely disproves the contention that CCW laws cause crime.

Some interesting crime comparisons in the UK are here.

Rick Stanley, former Libertarian candidate for Colorado Senate (aka, just some guy), had the pleasure of having his business raided and property seized:

Federal agents raided the Denver home and business of income tax opponent and gun rights advocate Rick Stanley on Wednesday, seizing materials said to be related to taxes and possible anti-government activity.

No federal charges have been filed against Stanley, and court documents relating to the raid remained sealed Wednesday. He did not return a telephone message left at his business, Stanley Fastener & Shop Supply on East 39th Avenue, where he also lives.

Federal officials were tight-lipped about the raid.

“A court-ordered search warrant was executed as part of a criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI and the IRS and other members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force,” said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the Colorado U.S. attorney’s office.

What exactly is anti-government activity? I mean, I have this here blog where I ramble on the many ways that our government sucks. Am I engaging in anti-government activity that would warrant raiding my home?

No charges filed and the agents aren’t talking. If they’re going to raid people’s houses, then I think the information about why ought to be made public. Stanley has been known to carry guns openly in defiance of the law and I’m pretty sure he advocated not paying income taxes.

And is tax evasion terrorism? Why is the Joint Terrorism Task Force involved if (as I’m lead to believe) it’s a tax issue?

Don’t get me wrong, Stanley is kind of a moonbat Libertarian. However, the sketchy details about this are troubling.

Will Collier:

Memo to Matthew Furman: When 68% of your potential audience doesn’t trust you, you don’t have any reason to brag.

Now, to give Furman his due, while CNN’s trust numbers are horrible, they’re still miles beyond a couple of old-line news stalwarts. CBS News shuffles in at only 24% credibility, and the New York Times stumbles across the finish line at only 21%–and that’s among all the people surveyed. When the numbers were broken down along partisan lines, things got much, much worse.

Only 15% of Republicans believe what they see on CBS News. The numbers are scarcely better for NBC (16%) and ABC (17%). The Times clocks in at an unsurprising by still pathetic 14%. CNN easily tops all of the above, but still slides to 26%. According to the Pew analysis, “CNN’s once dominant credibility ratings have slumped in recent years, mostly among Republicans and independents.”

Look folks, this is a Big Deal, and I’m not even talking about media bias per se.

For all intents and purposes, more than half of the populace (everybody except partisan Democrats, and even their numbers for credibility are nothing for most of the press to brag about) has written off the vast majority of the national press. And they’re doing so because they believe that the press has written them off.

Things have gotten to the point where the President of the United States sees no reason not to ignore the networks and the New York Times. If the coin of your realm is trust, and influence is what you buy with that coin, what do today’s viewership realities say about the state of the realm?

The trust in the media continues its downward spiral in terms of trust (and, arguably, credibility). Actually, didn’t the Bush administration recently say pretty matter of factly that they don’t pay attention to the TV news?

Sadly, it’s more animated than the real John Kerry.

An interesting study on a dog’s ability to understand or deduce the meaning of words states:

As many a dog owner will attest, our furry friends are listening. Now, for the doubters, there is scientific proof they understand much of what they hear.

German researchers have found a border collie named Rico who understands more than 200 words and can learn new ones as quickly as many children.

Patti Strand, an American Kennel Club board member, called the report “good news for those of us who talk to our dogs.”

“Like parents of toddlers, we learned long ago the importance of spelling key words like bath, pill or vet when speaking in front of our dogs,” Strand said. “Thanks to the researchers who’ve proven that people who talk to their dogs are cutting-edge communicators, not just a bunch of eccentrics.”

The researchers found that Rico knows the names of dozens of play toys and can find the one called for by his owner. That is a vocabulary size about the same as apes, dolphins and parrots trained to understand words, the researchers say.

Rico can even take the next step, figuring out what a new word means.

The researchers put several known toys in a room along with one that Rico had not seen before. From a different room, Rico’s owner asked him to fetch a toy, using a name for the toy the dog had never heard.

The border collie, a breed known primarily for its herding ability, was able to go to the room with the toys and, seven times out of 10, bring back the one he had not seen before. The dog seemingly understood that because he knew the names of all the other toys, the new one must be the one with the unfamiliar name.

“Apparently he was able to link the novel word to the novel item based on exclusion learning, either because he knew that the familiar items already had names or because they were not novel,” said the researchers, led by Julia Fischer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig

I can attest that my dog understands a lot of words, though the context is important. Politically Incorrect Dog likely thinks that his name means No because the only time he hears his name is when he’s misbehaving.

On a related note, I knew a contractor who had a border collie that he took to work with him. One day, the contractor was working on a roof. Had I not seen it, I wouldn’t believe it. The dog would climb the ladder and stay on the roof with the contractor. The contractor could look at the dog and say the name of a tool, for example he’d say Hammer. The dog would descend the ladder, go to the contractor’s open tool box in the back of his truck, grab the hammer and take it back up the ladder to the contractor. Truly amazing. Even more amazing was that the dog could differentiate between a flathead and Phillips screwdriver. My wife can’t even do that.

They are the only people I can impersonate worth a damn and two of the three are Australian. Who is Peter Garrett? Glad you asked:

The former lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil announced Thursday that he will run for parliament with the opposition Labour Party — and party leaders said he could even become a government minister someday.

Peter Garrett (news), a committed environmental activist with a distinctive bald pate, had long used Midnight Oil as a forum for his political views. The band broke up in 2002 after 25 years.

Les has his weekly gun links up.

Oh, those weapons of mass destruction. I just like saying that.

Publicola speculated a while back that the NRA was willing to (again) sell gun owners down the river for the gun immunity bill. Now, information supports that speculation:

Even more interesting is the fact that the NRA doesn’t speak for even its most diehard members. NRA leaders such as Wayne LaPierre and Kayne Robinson are pragmatists. Others, such as NRA board member and former Georgia congressman Bob Barr, are pure right-wing partisans who care more about electing Republicans than protecting gun rights.

The tension between pragmatic NRA leaders and the minuscule number of diehard right-wing board members played itself out in the debate over the immunity bill. According to insiders, LaPierre was willing to accept a renewed assault weapons ban in exchange for passage of gun industry immunity. But when the far-right factions of the NRA found out, Wayne’s world came crashing down. The NRA was forced to issue a statement denying any deal and ultimately had to oppose final passage of the immunity bill with the assault weapons ban and gun show amendments attached.

More:

Now, because the assault weapon issue is front and center, tensions are boiling over within the NRA in a more public way. Diehard pro-gun advocates tend to be more libertarian than conservative, and many are organizing against Bush because of his position on assault weapons — much to the dismay of LaPierre and other pragmatic NRA leaders. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has advised that if the president were to publicly call on Congress to pass the assault weapon renewal bill, it would happen. The NRA board of directors knows this and recently sent a ham-fisted message to Bush: no NRA presidential endorsement until after the assault weapons law expires in September. Bush knows that no recent Republican candidate for president has been elected without the NRA endorsement.

The author (Robert Ricker of WashingtonCeasefire) concludes with:

Given this dynamic, my advice to Bush is: Stop dancing with the devil. Leaders in the Senate did. They knew the correct course of action to take. The gun lobby doesn’t have the power to protect you if you let new American-made Uzis, AK-47s and Tech-9s (sic) flood America’s streets. Voters won’t buy a “blame Congress” excuse. They’ll blame you.

This, of course, is total misinformation and feeding hysteria. No AK47s or Uzis will flood the streets because they’ve both been regulated by executive order since the 1980s. A Tec-9, of course, is just a handgun.

Here’s a handy little chart comparing the XM8 to the M4 (scroll down to the bottom for the chart). I was shocked to learn the XM8 only costs $600. They available on the civilian market yet?

Update: Murdoc has more on the XM8.

WATE:

Motorists who use I-40 west as a shortcut between Broadway and the James White Parkway should prepare to find an alternate route.

In the next four to six weeks, the state Department of Transportation will start posting signs informing motorists that driving this shortcut will be illegal.

Once the signs are up, police will begin issuing tickets.

Motorists could be cited for up to $50 and face court costs of nearly $100.

So, if I understand this correctly, if you use a public road and take the shortest (i.e., most convenient) route then that is illegal. Then what exactly are roads for?

I avoided mentioning this when it was new because everyone else covered it. A while back, CNN had a poll on the assault weapons ban. Quite a few bloggers linked to it and apparently got the desired result. Now, here’s a press release that says:

CNN Poll Shows Growing Opposition to Extension of Clinton Ban on Certain Semiautomatic Firearms

Actually, what the poll really says is that us pro-gun guys are better organized online. Heck, I personally voted in the thing three times (computer at work, two at home). An online poll (even one that supports my position) is not a reliable measure.

Remember the holster with the “design problem?” That article didn’t mention the type of holster, so I’m not sure if that story is related to this one from yesterday:

A Pennsylvania company is recalling some 3,200 gun holsters because the strap can catch the trigger and cause the weapon to fire accidentally.

Eight incidents of accidental firing have been reported, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday.

The Fobus USA Holster Division of First Samco Inc., of Southampton, Pa., is recalling its Fobus GLT holsters, designed for Series 17 and Series 19 Glock handguns fitted with a laser-sight light. There have been eight reports of guns discharging as they were inserted into the holster. One person sustained a finger injury.

And just to round out with our obligatory flogging of the gun-ignorant press, the article sports a picture of a gun: a Ruger revolver (with the cylinder latch on the right side; do they make a version like that?).

UPDATE: As usual, I’m a day later. Jeff at Alphecca had this story yesterday. (via Les)

Orson Scott Card gives a thumbs up to Dennis Miller’s show on CNBC. I have to say that I’ve been kind of unhappy with Dennis Miller ever since I heard his “rant” about gun control.

I mean, does he really think the Constitution is just a “guideline for the law” and it’s time to “start taking white-out to other parts” of it?

There is a move to ban pit bull breeding in New Mexico. An opponent of the bill has an interesting tale:

Sally Mayer has been through a vicious dog attack of her own.

“It chewed my face off,” said Mayer, a city councilor.

She was 2 years old at the time and had to go through a battery of medical treatments, including painful shots in her stomach to prevent rabies.

The breed of dog?

“It was a cocker spaniel, like Lady of ‘Lady and the Tramp,’ ” Mayer said.

Mayer, now 53, has not, however, grown up to believe cocker spaniels are dangerous.

That’s partly why she says banning the breeding of pit bulls in New Mexico, as has been proposed by a state senator, is the wrong approach.

“It’s not the dog that’s the problem; it’s the owner,” Mayer said.

There’s not a pit bull problem, there’s a responsible pet owner problem.

The NRA, which held off its endorsement of Bush pending the expiration of the Assault Weapons ban, has instead turned its attention to calling Kerry out on his gun rights record.

Boston police will start randomly harassing searching rail passengers. I guess they didn’t get the memo:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

A while back, I recall reading about these people that thought Bush was chosen by God to lead the world into, well, something – I don’t remember what. These people were some right wing fundamentalists who really thought Bush was chosen by God.

Any way, the other side has it’s crazies too:

According to freelance journalist Wayne Madsden, “George W Bush’s blood lust, his repeated commitment to Christian beliefs and his constant references to ‘evil doers,’ in the eyes of many devout Catholic leaders, bear all the hallmarks of the one warned about in the Book of Revelations–the anti-Christ.”

Madsen, a Washington-based writer and columnist, who often writes for Counterpunch, says that people close to the pope claim that amid these concerns, the pontiff wishes he was younger and in better health to confront the possibility that Bush may represent the person prophesized in Revelations. John Paul II has always believed the world was on the precipice of the final confrontation between Good and Evil as foretold in the New Testament.

Before he became pope, Karol Cardinal Wojtyla said, “We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of the American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.”

I’m getting my religion oriented conspiracy theories confused. Is he chosen by God to lead the people or is he the anti-Christ? I need some Coco Puffs.

Mel Gibson’s film distribution company is suing local company Regal Cinemas for $40M. Gibson’s co. claims Regal shortchanged them on The Passion of the Christ.

This vicious pit bull saved it’s owner from a wild dog attack:

“We went out and all of a sudden he stopped,” Cox said. “I said, ‘Come on baby, go potty.’ That’s when I saw the hairs coming up on his back.”

A big stray dog approached, snarling and growling. Cox said it looked like it had the head of a chow and the body of a Rottweiler.

Although Maverick is a formidable presence at a heavily muscled 90 pounds, Cox said, the stray was even bigger.

Maverick pounced and clamped its powerful jaws around the stray’s neck. Screaming, Cox let go of Maverick’s leash and the two dogs did vicious battle in the yard outside the family’s trailer.

Hats off to Maverick.

After my last desktop caught on fire, I bought a new laptop and a fancy WiFi network thing. That was cool because I could blog from anywhere. Problem was printing and sharing computer usage (me surfing and the Mrs. always on Ebay ties up some serious ‘Puter time). Solution, just built a new desktop. Installed XP and in a matter of minutes (after setting up XP) set up a local network to share files and the printer.

I continue to get more and more high tech. I used to fight it. It’s inevitable.

Got a few hits from people searching for flirt poles. I mentioned one here briefly. What is a flirt pole? It’s a handle little toy that accomplishes two things:

1 – It’s a fun toy for your dog.

2 – It requires minimal effort on the part of the user.

Here’s a picture of one in use. Now, you don’t have to do all that ramp jumping stuff to wear a dog out. Mine just likes to chase it. Here’s how you make one:

You need: 1) a stick of some sort (I use a telescopic handle from a car wash brush that I accidentally ran over) – it can be of nearly any length. I’ve seen them as long as 10 feet. Mine is about 3 feet. 2) Some thin nylon rope (if you use a long stick, you use less rope). I use about 6 feet. 3) Bait. The bait can be anything that the dog likes to chase and is light enough to flick around. I have used old socks, plush dog toys that have had the stuffing removed (by the dog), and old wash rags. Some folks use strips of rawhide.

Attach one end of the rope to the end of the stick. Tie the bait to the other end of the rope. No, go dog fishing.

Get the dog to play with the bait. Wiggle it in front of his face and encourage him to chase it. You can remain completely stationary and flick the flirt pole. The dog will start chasing it. If you have a dog that likes to jump, you can get some good aerobatics going on. Also, dragging it along the ground is fun for them too as it simulates prey drive.

Flirt poles are not meant to be tug toys. I don’t recommend that, when the dog catches it (and he will eventually outsmart you) you tug the toy. Just drop the handle, let the dog prance around with it and tell him what a good boy he is for catching it.

Your dog will love it. If you have a dog that apparently doesn’t like sticks (Politically Correct Dog was apparently hit with one in his former life as he runs from sticks as soon as they appear) you may not get them to play.

I’ll dig up some pics of Politically Incorrect Dog in action later.

Update: Here’s a pic of one of the longer ones in action. And it has more sophisticated plans than mine.

What do Confederate Flags (which are always racist), giant catfish, lawn jockeys, paint ball and diesel fudge have in common? They can be found in the Smokies. Bubba offers a vacation guide to the Smokies.

A gun store was shut down by the BATF:

“I have been doing business as a Class 1 Gunsmith/Firearms Dealer for nearly 15 years. During this time I have requested that the ATF send out a Compliance Officer 4 different times. Their response was ‘we have no funding for training, just enforcement’.”

“In English: we would rather you make mistakes, so we can bust you, as that’s why we’re here.” …

“I have been conducting my business the same way since I started. Somewhere, along the line, my actions became ‘criminal’. I didn’t change my operating basis, the ATF changed theirs.”

The ATF has, apparently, decided that firearms dealers can’t cross state lines to conduct business.

Another case of concealed carry law going into effect and, well, nothing happens. No blood in the streets, no wild west gun fights. In fact, the number of people applying for them was actually half of what was predicted.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has signed into law a bill that bans tough man contests (you know, where anyone can sign up, hop in a ring and get the crap beat out of them). It goes into effect July 1.

An article in The Sun describes a shooting in England. If you click the link, you’ll see that about halfway through the article there’s a picture or a policeman with what looks to me like some kind of submachinegun (perhaps an MP5). But the caption says: “cop with high-powered rifle.”

I guess since it’s scary-looking, it must be high-powered.

P.S.: I showed the article to the another firearms-enthusiast, and he said immediately, “That’s not a high-powered rifle; that’s one of those H&K subbies.”

Since I hold myself out as a libertarian of the non-moonbat variety, people ask me what the hell the means. What do I think is the role of government? It’s pretty easy, really. It’s spelled out in the Constitution.

Provide for our defense: It is arguable that we go a little too far on this one some of the time. But, honestly, better to over do it than not do enough.

Regulate commerce: Remember, the government is why you don’t pay 30% interest on your mortgage. Sadly, the powers-that-be like to call everything commerce and regulate the crap out of it (abortion, anyone?). This, however, is not free reign for some USDA bureaucrat to tell some guy how many acres of soy beans he can grow and what price he can sell it at. That is, pure and simple, socialism.

Establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility: We need laws. We need those laws enforced. We need recourse for violation of contracts, for example. We need police.

Promote the general welfare: This is the one that is subject to the most disagreement. What is the general welfare? Fire department, police, roads, education, etc.?

I think certain things should never happen in a country like America:

No one in this country should starve to death.

No one in this country should go without health care (Note to John Kerry: When you say 43 million people go without health care, you’re fibbing. 43 million people go without insurance. That’s what you meant to say, right?).

No one in this country should be denied basic education. The current system is in dire need of reform but it doesn’t do too bad a job. I went to public schools and I turned out OK.

In my opinion, it is in the interest of the general welfare that people are healthy, educated and not malnourished. I’m weird like that. Unfortunately, our government would rather provide specific welfare for certain groups:

-$50,000,000 added in conference for an indoor rain forrest in Coralville, Iowa (Sic);

-$1,000,000 added by the Senate for the Alaska SeaLife Center;

-$653,000 added by the Senate to study rainbow trout at the University of Idaho’s Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station in Aberdeen;

Does NASA provide for the general welfare? I’d say we could build something really cool for the price of NASA, like a national rail system or, you know, a kick-ass water park. Does the Department of the Interior? Etc.

Some governmental departments do provide for the general welfare but tend to go too far. The SEC should be good check on market manipulation and financial fraud. The EPA should be a good check on keeping our air and water clean. However, wetland management is an abysmal affront to liberty. If the government wants to maintain wetlands, it should buy some. It shouldn’t tell some guy that a small, insignificant stream will result in the same guy not being able to do with his property as he chooses.

I’m not an anti-government ideologue. I recognize that the government plays an important role. However, it has gotten to the point that the role it plays is too big. It needs to be reminded of that.

This article by Joan Burbick is interesting. I don’t agree with all of it (after all, if Cheney wants my support he should have posed with a Colt M4 with a folding stock, 11.5 inch barrel, bayonet lug, flash suppressor, and a selector switch; not a flintlock) but it does touch on the gun rights movement and its impact on politics:

Why have guns entered our national political stage? Why is it that the vice president needs a photo-op with a flintlock? Why does the president need to dress up in hunting gear? Why does the Kerry campaign need to counter that Kerry is a duck hunter, especially when he is called a fake and a poseur right away? True believers can always tell the difference.

And anyway, who cares? Why should we care if our past, present or future president is a duck hunter or a fake duck hunter? What does duck hunting have to do with the economy, foreign policy, social security, health care, education and the environment? Nothing, and at the same time everything.

And for the record, gun rights entered the stage before the 1970s. IIRC, I think it was about 1787.

And another reporter gets it wrong about he Assault Weapons Ban:

Ten years ago Congress banned automatic assault weapons such as AK-47s, but the provision is set to expire this September.

No, it didn’t ban automatics nor AK47s. Automatics have been regulated since 1934 and AK47s have been banned from import since the late 1980s.

Publicola writes Stealth Pro-Gun Candidate My Ass.

There are currently 99 days left until the Assault Weapons Ban expires. Write, call, fax, email your Senator and tell him/her not to support the extension of the ban.

I’m watching a History Channel program about D-Day. Among others, they’ve interviewed two veterans of the 29th Infantry Division who landed on Omaha Beach.

The 29th “Blue and Gray” Division was created in June of 1917 from units of the Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, and District of Columbia National Guards. The nickname “Blue and Gray” symbolized the coming together of troops from former adversaries in the War Between the States….In April of 1919, the 29th Division headed home and its units dispersed back to their original National Guard status and the Division was deactivated.

On February 3, 1941 the 29th Infantry Divisionwas indicted into Federal Service and moved to Fort Meade Maryland. The Division began a massive reorganization to convert itself to the new “triangle” formation adopted by the Army. As a result, the 29th was composed almost entirely of National Guard units from Virginia and Maryland.

To honor the men who fought and fell in World War II, in 1993 Virginia designated US Route 29 (which north/south through central Virginia) as “The 29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway.” This is the road we take when we go to visit my wife’s family in the Shenandoah Valley.

Let us never forget the sacrifice that they and many others made this day 60 years ago.

Today, I am converting my CD collection to MP3. I realize now why people download songs: It’s because converting your CDs is a real pain in the ass. In the time it takes me to convert a CD, I could probably download three CDs.

President Ronald Reagan has passed away today at age 93. The last conservative president this country has had was a remarkable man whether you agreed with his politics or not.

Found on Fark.com:

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish police have arrested a Russian woman carrying 38 “pen guns” capable of firing .22 caliber bullets, saying she was part of a Russian-Kosovan gun-smuggling ring.

The entire article is pretty short. The last line caught my eye:

The 27-year-old woman was also carrying [b]99 rounds[/b] of .22 caliber ammunition, the statement said.

Translation: she had a box of ammo (OK, one was missing; maybe she test-fired a pen). In other news, a local schoolchild was found carrying 64 crayons.

DiFi and her cronies have introduced the Assault Weapons ban. Publicola has the scoop.

1. Correlation does not equal causation. But that doesn’t go far enough and apparently nothing causes anything. Seriously, guns don’t prevent crimes; tax cuts don’t affect the economy; water doesn’t cause wetness.

2. The phrases mean republicans and stupid democrats apparently pass for insightful commentary in some circles. More importantly, by uttering one of these phrases, you have won the debate.

3. A slight rip-off of Godwin’s Law, I introduce SayUncle’s Not-So-Much-A-Law-Really-But-Maybe-Just-General-Smarminess: As a blog discussion between a liberal and conservative grows longer, the probability of the phrase Well, Clinton . . . appearing approaches one.

4. Apparently, everything is a fallacy. But fallacies are also apparently fallacious. Which, therefore, makes all fallacies fallacy fallacies. As such, all arguments are therefore true. Or false. Or discredited. Or, you know, not so much.

5. If I engage you in an argument and you are a Republican/Democrat, then I must be a raving moonbat/extremist wingnut.

6. Similarly, if I am not a Republican, I must be a bunny-hugging liberal. Or if I am not a Democrat, I must be a right wing extremist.

7. To matter of factly prove my point, I only need one other person to agree with me. It helps if they have a syndicated column or a webpage.

8. People can Google up a webpage to prove anything. People can also Google up a webpage to disprove the thing you proved.

9. The word Nigger can either be racist or not, depending on who is using the word and in what context. However, the Confederate Flag is always racist no matter who displays it. As a result, there are a lot of racist museums.

10. If you want to keep the money you earn, you are greedy. If you want to pay taxes for essential services provided by the government, you are stupid.

11. All Republicans are greedy, mean-spirited pricks incapable of compassion.

12. All Democrats are stupid, illogical simpletons incapable of rational thought.

13. John McCain is not a greedy, mean-spirited prick incapable of compassion.

14. Zell Miller is not a stupid, illogical simpleton incapable of rational thought.

15. Taking the words written in the Constitution to mean what they say makes you an extremist.

16. If you disagree with a blogger and inform said blogger of such a disagreement in the comments section of their blog (which they provide in order to, you know, allow people to comment) then you are a troll. However, if you agree with said blogger and inform said blogger of such an agreement in the comments section of their blog, you offer insightful commentary.

17. If you are an absolutist with respect to the First Amendment, you are perfectly normal. However, if you are an absolutist with respect to the Second and Tenth Amendments, you are an extremist.

18. If you disagree with me, you must be an extremist.

19. If you can see things in black-and-white in any case, you are a simpleton. Or maybe an extremist.

20. If I initiate a debate with you, I am attacking you personally. However, if you engage me in a debate, then we’re just having a discussion.

So, what have you learned?

Update: Make it 21 things:

21. If I fail to mention something, I am wrong. As such, in this post I failed to mention a recipe for Italian wedding soup. I am therefore wrong.

It is legal to build your own gun. However, the ins and outs can be tricky. Check out Gunner’s place for the skinny on keeping it legal.

In England, gas averages about $5.79 per gallon. It’s the fault of the war right? Doom, gloom, end of the world, and all that.

No, actually, in England about 3/4 the price of a gallon of gas is taxes.

Apparently, the gun problem in Canada is (much like everything else in the world that isn’t quite working out the way people want it) America’s fault:

The roots of Canada’s gun problems are in the United States, and an NDP government would lobby the Americans for better gun control south of the border to improve things in this country, Jack Layton said Thursday.

“What we are focusing on is the increasing evidence that the biggest problem is illegal guns coming in from the U.S.,” Layton told reporters. “We’re proposing going across the border to the U.S. and actively engaging in lobbying to have gun-control laws in the U.S. strengthened.”

You read that right. Canadians plan on lobbying US politicians to increase gun control here in the states.

Been inundated with comment spam lately, which just pisses me off to no end. Thanks to this handy plug in by David Raynes, comments will be disabled for posts over 14 days old.

But are you fucking kidding me? The AP:

Nabil al-Marabh, once imprisoned as the No. 27 man on the FBI’s list of must-capture terror suspects, is free again. He’s free despite telling a Jordanian informant he planned to die a martyr by driving a gasoline truck into a New York City tunnel, turning it sideways, opening its fuel valves and having an al-Qaida operative shoot a flare to ignite a massive explosion.

Free despite telling the FBI he had trained on rifles and rocket propelled grenades at militant camps in Afghanistan and after admitting he sent money to a former roommate convicted of trying to blow up a hotel in Jordan.

Free despite efforts by prosecutors in Detroit and Chicago to indict him on charges that could have kept him in prison for years. Those indictments were rejected by the Justice Department in the name of protecting intelligence. Even two judges openly questioned al-Marabh’s terror ties.

The Bush administration in January deported al-Marabh to Syria — his home and a country the U.S. government long has regarded as a sponsor of terrorism.

Via Bubba.

I speculated a while back that a trend for blog ads would be to incorporate advertisements into RSS and XML feeds. Apparently, the solution is to just post an advertisement as an entry.

I don’t fault any bloggers for trying to make money off of their blogs. If they can, more power to them. But some blogs are becoming big billboards. My only problem with this trend is that it detracts from links, like blogrolls. But if you can make money doing it, go for it.

It’s times like this when the credibility of black leaders really suffers:

In remarks to hundreds of cheering liberal activists Wednesday, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond singled out Republicans as enemies of black Americans and compared conservatives to the terrorist Taliban who once ruled Afghanistan.

“Their idea of equal rights is the American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side by side,” Bond told a cheering audience. “They’ve written a new constitution for Iraq and ignore the Constitution here at home. They draw their most rabid supporters from the Taliban wing of American politics. Now they want to write bigotry back into the Constitution.”

By evoking Godwin’s Law, I declare Mr. Bond officially irrelevant to the state of race relations in this country. While Julian Bond engages in meaningless, rhetorical attacks on evil Republicans, SayUncle estimates that in America today: 21 black people will commit murder; 22 black people will be murdered; 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking crimes; 1,000,000 black people are in prison; and 26,500,000 black people live in poverty.

I have said for a long time, to make me happy with gun laws, that three things need to happen:

1 – Getting rid of the Assault Weapons Ban

2 – Getting rid of the Hughes Amendment to the gun control act of 1986 that prohibits the sale of automatic weapons made after that date. It just limits supply and increases prices (For example, a brand new HK MP5 costs about $1,300; a grandfathered, pre-1986 one costs about $15,000). This law is also responsible for an increase in untraceable machine guns on the streets. If hobbyists can’t buy them legally, they make them. Ask Mark Lancaster.

3 – Repealing the $200 tax on NFA transferable weapons (initiated in 1934) because taxing a right is illegal.

The Heartless Libertarian addresses the 1934 National Firearms Act.

XRLQ rebuts the claim that Philadelphia’s crime problem is because it doesn’t have enough gun laws.

Les has his weekly gun links up with lots of new toys.

The Hill:

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who became a movie star by blowing up and shooting anything that stood in his way, has reaffirmed his support of the federal assault-weapons ban.

In a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last month, Schwarzenegger called on Congress to renew the ban, which is scheduled to expire in September.

“As you are well aware, Californians overwhelmingly support the ban on these dangerous weapons,” wrote Schwarzenegger, who spoke out in favor of the ban during last year’s campaign for the governorship but has not been very vocal on the issue this year.

“The renewal of the federal ban on assault weapons is a prudent, common sense effort to limit the prevalence and availability of dangerous weapons and protect public safety,” Schwarzenegger added.

This is rather pathetic:

At a press conference today John Rosenthal, Chair and Co-founder of Stop Handgun Violence, along with State Senator Jarrett Barrios, State Representative David Linsky, Boston Police Superintendent Paul Joyce and Director of Federal Legislation for the Brady Campaign, Tony Orza unveiled America’s largest billboard, depicting a 150′ X 30′ AK-47 assault rifle and stating that this gun will be “Coming to a Home Near You” unless action is taken to renew the State and Federal Assault Weapon Bans.

A 1989 executive order bans the importation of AK47s. The ban has nothing to do with them. It’s a giant monument that represents misinformation, rhetoric and deception.

GOA is reporting that Diane Feinstein is going to attach the latest version of the assault weapons ban to a yet to be determined bill. The time to contact your senators is now. The bill was attached to Gun Immunity Bill by a vote of 52 – 47, before the immunity bill was killed. It only takes a few votes to kill it. Make yourself heard.

Bubba welcomes some new members into the Rocky Top Brigade:

Big Orange Michael, a friend of Barry.

Zoot, who claims she’s the zoot. I dunno what zoot is but hope it’s not contagious.

Contrary to popular belief, Tennessee does have some liberals. In fact, here’s Tennessee Liberal.

Pizza soup, who is Doug’s mom.

Finally, the Baculum King, who I also hope is not contagious.

Welcome aboard, all.

William Safire is calling for us to abolish the outdated, almost worthless, bothersome and wasteful penny. As to why it hasn’t been abolished, he also adds:

The answer, I think, has to do with zinc, which is what pennies are mostly made of; light copper plating turns them into red cents. The powerful, outsourcing zinc lobby — financed by Canadian mines as well as Alaskan — entices front groups to whip up a frenzy of save-the-penny mail to Congress when coin reform is proposed.

I think he’s right about zinc. In my public accounting experience, I met a guy who was the former controller for a large zinc producer. They made the circular stamps that would become pennies. He confided in me that pennies cost about 1.1¢ to make. Not good economics when it costs more to make the money than the money is worth.

Van Morrison on a bad day:

G – L – something – something – oh – GLORIA

If you’re at the store and you see jalapeño stuffed green olives, do not hesitate to buy them. Tasty stuff.

As promised, some gratuitous linky loving. Here’s a stroll around the old blogroll:

Bjorn is sporting a new ride.

Mark addresses the left thinking that the right is crazy. However, it really indicates to me that the left must be suffering from some sort of paranoia. Or at least delusions of adequacy.

Doug didn’t get the memo. Doesn’t he know that Osama is at Abu Grahib and his capture will be staged in October. Geez, everyone knows that.

Guy picked up a Saiga 12 gauge. What is a Saiga 12? A shotgun based on an AK47 receiver.

If you’re not reading Mike, you should be. Too much good stuff to link just read away.

Barry hits a blog milestone. Congrats!

Marc has a hot wife. And she’s packin’!

Will pet insurance raise the prices of veterinary care? Tom relays his discussion with his vet.

Buddy Don has some observations from a whisky tasting. As great as that sounds, it still involves living in a big city. I’ll have to live vicariously through BD.

Enron is still scaring us.

Clinton or Reagan? Rich addresses the political divide.

As always, it’s for the children™!

The Comedian shows us some marketing genius.

Well, if they’re going to make an I’m sorry sign for cars, I want a You’re still an asshole sign.

Brutal Hugs discussed America’s role in the middle east with an Egyptian business man.

Drug War Rant discusses Crack Babies.

Jay pokes some fun. Just curious, when is it socially acceptable to joke about terror? Are we there yet?

Memorial Day came and went, and there were a lot of great posts around the blogosphere. I didn’t post anything, mainly because I didn’t think I could do more than, “me, too!” Also, I’ve been pretty fortunate, really. I can’t think of anyone in my immediate family who died in service.

In fact, I’m hard pressed to think of any of my relatives who served in combat. One of my grandfathers served in the Navy, stateside, during WWII, but the other did not, as far as I know, serve. My dad was too young for Korea, but too old for Viet Nam.

Today I got the family newsletter my sister put together. In it is a reprint of the obituary for my grandmother’s brother. He died on 13 January, 1945, “from wounds received in action on Luzon, Philippine islands.” He had been in the Army since 1942, and seen action on “the Russells, Tarawa, New Georgia, New Caledonia, Guadalcanal and other [islands].”

It’s hard enough to lose someone you know and love; I can’t imagine what it must be like when he’s on the other side of the world, and you haven’t seen him for 3 years. There’s just no way for me to understand that without experiencing it, and, God-willing, I’ll never have to. I don’t even know what to say to somebody who’s had that experience.

But to all of you who have…for what it’s worth, I wish that you may find some comfort and joy still in this world, and hope for a new one to come.

Local troublemaker Cas Walker, whose efforts at poking the powers-that-be with a sharp stick I appreciate, has been getting comments at his blog that claim to be from Jamie Hagood.

Jamie, who is currently a State Representative, is running for State Senate. I’ve met Jamie a few times (we share some common acquaintances) and she seems nice. I don’t really know where she stands on any issues and, since she doesn’t represent me as I have moved to Blount County, I’ve not kept up with her. If she is reading local political blogs, good for her.

I have my doubts about whether or not she is reading local blogs (after all, I can enter any name into a comment form) but I hope she is. I think politicians need to read what others are saying about them. After all, unless the sky is falling, our local media ignores political scandals and criticism like the plague.

I should point out that her opponent, Billy Stokes, has a blog. Jamie should start one too.

Kevin linked to a really fascinating look at Haiku. Kevin doesn’t realize there is no such thing. I’m not a real artsy sort of guy but most poetry in general sucks. I wrote my own Haiku on the fact Haiku sucks:

Why do people care
Haikus are really stupid
And easy to write

I was not alone, Tom wrote:

I must say I’m shocked
Here I agree with Uncle
Haiku is stupid

So, write your own Haiku sucks Haiku.

Rich Hailey, a blogger who recently lost his job, has started his own company. Congrats to Rich and the best of luck on his new venture.

Here’s an image of an American Bull Dog pulling a Jeep that is loaded with six people.

Bill has a good summary of the problems with the Libertarian party:

I would also issue a valid executive order to the BATF and other pseudo police agencies informing them that any agent who confiscates a weapon of any kind, from someone who is not currently engaged in a murder or robbery, will not only be terminated from their position, but they will also be prosecuted for violating the unalienable rights of the citizens they have sworn to protect. …

So says Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate for President. The Libertarians need to limit this notion that they’re going to get into government and disband everything. They need to take a moderate libertarian approach and recognize that people do, in fact, need government to do some things. One commenter quipped:

60 to 80% of Americans support medical marijuana.

Less than .5% support the Lib(ertarian)s.

In other words their support is 1/100th of their potential market.

And why do the Libertarians devote so much of their resources to the presidency? They really need to focus on local and state elections to garner a base.

I think this is the finest Memorial Day tribute I’ve read yet.

Jeff has his weekly report up.

May was a record month here at SayUncle.

22,192 unique visitors. 36,506 visits. 89,869 page views. There are four reasons for this:

1) Firearm news linked to us;

2) Keep and Bear Arms linked to us;

3) Instapundit linked to us;

4) And, more interestingly to me, because of this post, I got a ton of hits from people searching for big butts and I like big butts and I cannot lie.

The ACLU draws attention to the increase in wiretaps in Tennessee as a result of the PATRIOT Act:

Federal authorities spent more than $1 million on 13 wiretaps in Tennessee during 2003. All were used for mobile phone surveillance in narcotics investigations, and they resulted in 56 narcotics-related arrests.

Hedy Weinberg, who represents the ACLU in Tennessee, said that none of the wiretaps requested in the state were turned down.

The state’s increase follows a national trend; across the country, wiretap requests increased 19% in 2003 from the previous year.

I’m shocked to learn that a wiretap costs $76,923.08. But these taps are for narcotics operations and not the war on terra, which is what I thought the PATRIOT Act was to be used to combat.

Countertop returned to Knoxville for a visit. His observations are interesting about our fair city. More interesting was his response to my comment:

I just don’t understand it – well, I do, but I don’t. Knoxville is a
prime example of what I call the Wal Mart Flight.

Businesses and people keep moving out to the further suburbs and the
farther the population base gets from city center, the more difficult it
is to revitalize the center. Heck, even Knoxville Mercedes is 45
minutes out of town now.

When they spent untold millions on the lighting of memorial bridge – a
bridge to no where int he early 90s it made no sense to me – The old
City project did, but it wasn’t followed up by the smart downtown
investments that were needed – instead the city leaders put their future in
Whittle Communications and a Womens Basketball Hall of Fame. We all know
what happened to Whittle and when was the last time you ever heard of
someone wanting to go to the Basketball Hall of Fame – let alone the
Womens Baketball Hall.

Its really strange, since we spent yesterday in downtown Chattanooga –
a city whose downtown had as bad a reputation as any in America.
Chattanooga though, is back. Downtown is now desireable, with vibrant
business centers reopening on both sides of the river, the Lookouts, the
Aquarium (a much better tourist destination than a Womens Basketball Hall of
F-ame), the new Salt Water Aquarium in the works, and something
Knoxville desperatly needs – good restaurants.

Would good parking have solved their problems??? Maybe, 15 years ago.
But perhaps what they need more is better city planning – locating more
tourist attractions within walking distance of Gay Street.

It looked like they were converting most of the old warehouses to
condo’s . . . will that do the trick?

Doubtful, not without better city wide planning.

Downtown Knoxville is dying, it just doesn’t know it yet. Would someone please tell the Metropulse staffers that?

Despite the ban having no effect on, well, anything, Mass. lawmakers are trying to maintain the status quo by passing a copycat of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban (which expires in September):

Citing inaction on the part of the Bush administration and the country’s “Republican Congress,” state Sen. Jarrett Barrios, D-Cambridge, said last month that the amendment would protect the state’s gun laws from changes in the federal weapons ban, which is scheduled to expire in September. Barrios, who made the comments during a meeting with News staff, co-authored the new amendment with state Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick.

When the federal law expires, “You’ll be able to go out and buy your Uzi at Kmart again,” said Barrios, Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety.

Jarrett Barrios is a liar. Email him to let him know.