A few technical missteps aside, this article about the assault weapons ban is fairly objective:

A decade after Buffalo led the nation in crimes involving assault weapons – and with the city again plagued with gang-related violence – the federal law banning some of those guns expires Sept. 13.

And while some gun-control advocates are up in arms, there’s otherwise little outcry about the fact that Congress appears unwilling to renew the ban.

Once touted as a sure-fire way to cut crime, the assault-weapons ban now looks like a loophole-ridden partial success even to some of its backers.

And to gun-rights supporters, it’s a joke.

Well, there aren’t any loopholes. The law specifies what and how many features semi-automatic rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine can have. If they meet that criteria, they’re legal.

This quote by Josh Sugarmann, of the Violence Policy Center, is interesting :

For those who fear that if the ban expires there will be a flood of AK-47s and Uzis on our streets, the sad truth is we’re already drowning.

So, the ban as you (and Diaz) have mentioned hasn’t kept weapons off the street. Yet the crime rate and violent crime rates continue to fall?

But it seems that guns are turning up big in the political debates:

Petka, Keyes fire at Blagojevich, Obama for anti-gun rights vote and veto

Brady blasts Keyes on gun control (lame rhetoric is their headline, not mine)

Celebrating the veto of the law that let’s people bypass local law to defend themselves

I rather thought Illinois was a lost cause in terms of gun rights.

To whoever landed at this website doing a search for what color can a penis be, I hope everything is OK.

When I first heard about this, I dismissed it as some insane babblings by some idiots and thought it would never happen. I was wrong. I’m talking about this:

Election monitors that normally would be expected to observe elections in fledgling democracies like Azerbaijan and Moldova are scheduled to watch the vote in a more established democratic nation — the United States.

Responding to a request from 13 Democratic congressmen and the State Department, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will be sending a group to make sure the United States holds a fair election in November.

Lawmakers who requested the OSCE presence said problems in the 2000 election spurred them to ask the international organization to participate. They say that the monitors will help ensure that the United States should have nothing to hide, but the observers will be there to make sure the election does not suffer any civil rights violations or other irregularities.

Who the Hell allowed this to happen? This is America. Aside from the issues of sovereignty, that it’s an insult to US citizens, and the appearance of kowtowing to international bureaucrats is the fact it’s embarrassing. Sure, Florida was an embarrassment but this is abysmal.

The fact that our government is allowing this crap is horrendous and should not stand. Who is the OSCE?

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the largest regional security organization in the world with 55 participating States from Europe, Central Asia and North America. It is active in early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.

The OSCE approach to security is comprehensive and co-operative: comprehensive in dealing with a wide range of security-related issues including arms control, preventive diplomacy, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, democratization, election monitoring and economic and environmental security; co-operative in the sense that all OSCE participating States have equal status, and decisions are based on consensus.

So, if I understand that correctly, it sounds like a group with military capabilities. A peacekeeping force. Here. In the US. Monitoring our elections. That should scare the Hell out of us all. It does me. If it doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what to tell you.

As Jeff said: Didn’t we once fight a war over something like this…? Rest assured, any armed, foreign soldiers seen at SayUncle’s friendly neighborhood voting establishment will be confronted and told to leave.

This is my neighborhood, who the fuck let you in?

what he said. Spoons tells us why a Bush re-election would be bad for conservatives. A taste:

Got that? A conservative with reservations about a Repubican President who supports affirmative action, who wants the government to restrict political speech, who wants to open our borders and give amnesty to illegal aliens, who wants to pass restrictive gun laws, who resists arming pilots, who surrenders to Democrats on judicial appointments, who embraces liberal junk evirovoodo on the myth of global warming, who lets Ted Kennedy write his Education bill, who spends more than any Democrat President we’ve ever had, who proposes and passes the largest entitlement expansion in the history of the Republic…. Need I go on?

And any conservative upset that Bush is taking the liberal position on affirmative action political speech illegal immigration gun control arming pilots judicial appointments global warming education spending entitlements and free trade… is denounced as a “purist.” Whatever. And any conservative for whom any of the foregoing gives them “reservations” about Bush makes Jay “wretch.”

Spoons thinks that a Bush loss may get the Republicans back on the right track (pun intended). His commentators disagree stating that a loss may push the Republicans to a Giuliani type left. That may happen but, in all honesty, I’d prefer the downward spiral to the liberty-crushing machine to occur quickly as opposed to a socialist creep that oozes upon us so slowly that, once in place, is irreversible. As Donald Sensing said:

I predict that the Bush administration will be seen by freedom-wishing Americans a generation or two hence as the hinge on the cell door locking up our freedom. When my children are my age, they will not be free in any recognizably traditional American meaning of the word. I’d tell them to emigrate, but there’s nowhere left to go. I am left with nauseating near-conviction that I am a member of the last generation in the history of the world that is minimally truly free.

The AP:

John Kerry challenged President Bush on Thursday to weekly debates from now until Nov. 2 on campaign issues like education, health care and national security.

“America deserves a discussion like we’re having here today, which I’m prepared to have with this president every single week from now until the election,” the Democratic presidential candidate said.

No doubt it’s related to Bush’s small leap in the polls. I think it’s a smart move on Kerry’s part. However, the luster of such a thing would wear off after two debates and the public would grow bored of them. American’s aren’t known for there attention sp . . . what was I talking about?

Oh yeah. Seriously, Kerry’s lack of charisma and Bush’s isms could be damaging to them both.

The AP:

President Bush wants to work with Republican Sen. John McCain to go to court against political ads by “shadowy” outside groups, the White House said Thursday amid growing pressure on the president to denounce attacks on John Kerry’s war record.

“We want to pursue court action,” Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to New Mexico. “The president said if the court action doesn’t work, that he would be willing to pursue legislative action with Sen. McCain on that.”

Heaven forbid someone level criticism against our politicos. George, you signed campaign finance into law. You created the mess you now have to deal with. I would thank you to do so without further infringing on the rights of the people to freely speak.

Well, someone actually hosted the Olympic volley ball butt pictures up on their own site. Check it out.

It’s rather like my post, without all the clicking.

Les is apparently all Kerry, all the time.

“If you are listening to a rock star in order to get your voting information on who to vote for, you are a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we’re morons.”

— Shock rocker ALICE COOPER, who hasn’t been very shocking for quite some time.

Gunscribe has the skinny on the impacts (rather the lack of) of the assault weapons ban.

Alan Keyes apparently said the Constitution protects machine gun ownership. He’s right, it does:

“And, yes, does that mean that in this day and age people would have the right to have access to the kind of the weapons our ordinary infantry people have access to? With proper training and so forth to make sure that they could handle them successfully, that’s exactly what was meant.”

There are hundreds of thousands of machine guns legally owned in this country currently. I don’t know why this is such shocking news.

In a follow up on my recent The Daily Show posts here and here: Boy, Jon Stewart went pretty easy on Ed Gillespie last night too. Then Stewart pointed out why there’s a liberal slant on the show (or rather that the show wasn’t liberal but picked on the establishment). Then Stewart begged Ed to get Bush on the show and Stewart promised to be nice to Bush too.

Here, I said it would hopefully be my final word on the Swift Boat Vets. That’s not the case. It turns out O’Neill was part of the 1970 Cambodia incursion. Nothing to see here, keep moving.

And take this SayUncle quiz:

1 – Have you ever spent Christmas away from home? If yes, go to 2. If not go to 5.

2 – Did you somehow think Christmas that year occurred in, say, February or March? If yes, go to 3. If no go to 5.

3 – Do you suffer from a mental defect that causes you to think Christmas may occur in February or March? If no, go to 4. If yes, go to 5.

4 – You’re making it all up, aren’t you? If yes, go to five. If no, go to six.

5 – Sorry to hear it. Thanks for your time. You’re free to go.

6 – Thanks for reading my blog, Senator.

I suppose the right of the people peaceably to assemble is of no concern when, you know, it could damage the grass:

A judge on Wednesday denied anti-Bush protesters permission to rally in Central Park on the eve of the Republican National Convention, leaving open the question of where possibly hundreds of thousands of demonstrators will go after a march through midtown Manhattan.

The decision by New York Supreme Court Justice Jacqueline Silbermann is the latest in a running legal battle between the protest group and the city. She sided with city officials, who say they fear the grass on the park’s Great Lawn would be damaged and security could not be ensured for the huge crowd.

The lawn was restored seven years ago at a cost of $18 million.

I think that’s a little lame. I tend to think the grass in the park was made for people to walk on. But what do I know?

One other thing wouldn’t anti-Bush protesters be protesting anti-Bush? Aren’t they really Bush protesters?

A National Taxpayers Union study indicates an increase in eminent domain use and abuse at all levels of government. A good read. Also, it has examples:

— Brooklyn, New York — Well-connected developer Bruce Ratner’s ambitious proposal (four office towers, 300,000 sq. ft. of retail, 4,500 housing units, six acres of parks, and a publicly funded stadium for the New Jersey Nets) to redevelop the “Atlantic Yards” area of Brooklyn will kick out 150 tax paying homeowners and ring up nearly $1 billion in subsidies on the taxpayer’s tab.

— Toledo, Ohio — City officials offered to acquire nearly 160 acres of residential and commercial property — including 83 homes — in an attempt to persuade DaimlerChrysler not to relocate their manufacturing facility elsewhere. But the 4,900 jobs the city hoped to save dropped to 2,100 since the new plant was fully automated. Toledo taxpayers are left to pay off a $26.7 million relocation loan and cover a $47,000 rebate for each worker now employed.

— Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Using subsidies and city- financed loans adding up to over $50 million — $150 for every person living in Pittsburgh — Mayor Tom Murphy lured Lazarus and Lord & Taylor to relocate in the city. However, both upscale department stores closed before they even reached the sales target that would require them to start payments on their taxpayer- financed loans.

Paraphrased:

Bob Dole does not refer to Bob Dole as Bob Dole.

Bob Dole, after losing the 1996 election, confronting Norm MacDonald on Saturday Night Live on his rather inaccurate impersonation of Bob Dole.

It seems one of the SBVs who said Kerry wasn’t in Cambodia admitted to Nixon (in 1971) to himself being in Cambodia, on a swift boat:

O’NEILL: I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border on the water.

NIXON: In a swift boat?

O’NEILL: Yes, sir.

Oh dear.

To be clear, I think John Kerry’s service in Vietnam was honorable. Unlike other politicos, he went. He fought. He is not a traitor. However, I think that Kerry embellished his service considerably. Did he lie? Obviously. Did he lie with the intent to deceive or to prop up his political ambitions? Probably.

When you make your service central to your campaign, you should expect people to attack your service. When confronted with allegations about that service, you should address them outright. Don’t change the story, don’t avoid the issue, and be truthful. It makes it seem like he has something to hide. Whether that something is just little fabrications to prop up your political career or outright lies is important.

But make no mistake, Kerry should be proud for serving his country when so many other spoiled kids did not.

Update: And for the record, I don’t mean this instance makes Kerry a liar. But other instances (which can be read here – scroll down a few posts) seem to.

Bruce tells us about a mother who bought her 16 year-old son a 9MM handgun. The son then takes mom shooting. Most excellent.

For what it’s worth, I’m contemplating the exact build of Junior’s (so what if she’s only 9.5 weeks old?) flattop M4. I’m thinking a build like this one (go to page 3 for a good pic). Any suggestions?

Triggerfinger reports that there will be no criminal charges in the police raid of a high school. Civil suits are pending.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (again, the dumbest name of any newspaper) has an opinion piece that shreds a lot of the lies and misconceptions presented by anti-gun groups:

Contrary to myth, guns affected by this ban are not machine guns. They fire one shot with each press of the trigger, the same as many shotguns used by duck hunters, or rifles used by big-game hunters.

Another myth pandered by the MMM is that these rifles use “powerful” ammunition. In fact, they are chambered for cartridges that are near the low end of the energy level spectrum, on par with a deer hunter’s .30-30 Winchester. That bullets from these guns will penetrate a police officer’s protective vest is not a secret, because virtually every centerfire hunting rifle bullet sold today will go through such a vest. Those vests are designed to stop handgun bullets.

Prohibitionists claim that these firearms have no legitimate purpose. Thousands of competitive shooters, who participate in registered matches with these rifles all over the country almost every weekend of the year, would disagree. Most of these guns are suitable for home defense, many are legitimate collector’s items and others are used for hunting.

These guns are not the “weapon of choice” among criminals. Studies at both the state and federal levels, both before and after the ban took effect, have shown that so-called assault weapons are used in less than 2 percent of violent crimes.

Anti-gunners note that crime gun traces on the banned firearms have plunged by 66 percent in the past 10 years. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Congressional Research Service say that trace data is not a reliable indicator of guns used in crimes. Such traces are conducted for a variety of reasons, only one of which is to establish the trail of guns actually used in crimes. A significant number of traces are used to track recovered stolen guns.

Ban proponents claim that after the ban expires Sept. 13, U.S. streets will be “flooded” with these guns. The “ban” only placed a freeze on production. Those rifles are still out there, legally for sale — albeit at premium prices because of all the media hype — and most of them are in the gun safes and cabinets of law-abiding gun owners. Banning their production did not eliminate them, and had nothing to do with a drop in homicide rates, as, apparently, neither do any other gun control laws.

Good for the PI for running it.

The Department of Homeland Security awarded handgun contracts to Sigarms and H&K.

People think Blount County has a strong market for an expo/convention center:

Traditional fairgrounds, the kind of places where you find county fairs and equestrian events, have given way to a more sophisticated type of community gathering spot: the expo center and arena.

After months of work, Charles Johnson, of Johnson Consulting Inc., gave Maryville, Alcoa and Blount County officials an idea Tuesday of what an expo park and arena offers this area, and how other communities are using them for their needs.

For the region’s equestrians, it could be a place for year-round shows. Roger Elder, a Blount County resident and president of Tennessee’s Quarterhorse Association, said there’s enough interest in horses here to keep such a facility busy all year.

“Within two years, we could book it every weekend,” said Elder.

An expo center and arena, with horse barns and adjacent softball and baseball fields, could host multiple community events, like high school graduations or year-round trade shows, according to Johnson. Some of the centers also include commercial venues, like retail stores and hotels.

Perhaps they should peruse the Knoxville Convention Center’s extremely sparse schedule?

Guys, you should try to take the airport back first.

A local dachshund attacked a black bear. It ended predictably. Well, not really. The dog did live, fortunately, but has some broken ribs.

The usual suspects are urging people to contact their legislators to support the extension of the assault weapons ban:

With the federal ban on semi-automatic assault weapons due to expire on Sept. 13, some New Jersey representatives are imploring the public to support an extension of the ban.

“This is a matter of life and death. We need to act expeditiously,” U.S. Sen. Jon S. Corzine (D-NJ) said at a news conference held on Aug. 6 at the Monroe Township Public Library in Middlesex County. Corzine was accompanied by U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ).

“It’s not enough to talk about it,” Corzine said. “We have to make sure there is a federal effort to make sure we keep these weapons off the street.”

Corzine referred to the deaths of seven youths in Camden recently, all of which were assault weapons-related. He also spoke about a recent wave of violence in Newark and urged members of the audience to contact officials in New Jersey, surrounding states, and at the White House.

Seven deaths recently occured that were assault weapons-related? How did that happen? We have a ban, don’t we?

SayUncle would like to encourage his readers to contact their legislators and urge them not to push for the renewal of the ban. For info on your legislators, go here.

Stewart, who may as well have kissed Kerry, didn’t just throw Kerry softballs. Stewart did, however, ask questions designed to allow Kerry to rebut the claims of his critics (Were you actually in Vietnam? Have you ever flip-flopped?). And Kerry didn’t. He could have addressed the Swift Boat Vets but didn’t. Could have said that issues are complex and new information may cause him change to his mind so he’s no flip-flopper. But he didn’t. He made chit chat and stuck to talking points (Note to John Kerry: You cannot use the phrases health care and health insurance interchangeably).

Kerry kept speaking of the issues. But when asked about them, his only issue was that he was not George Bush. Kerry kept giving his statistics (1.8M jobs, 4M now without health care even though he means insurance, and jobs now pay $9K less) about how bad Bush was. Never once did Kerry detail how he would deal with those things, just the Bush was bad. And, of course, SayUncle feels obligated to point out that the president has no control over those things.

Stewart tried to help Kerry. He gave the opportunity to address things. Kerry didn’t. Instead, Kerry gave Stewart the opportunity to rebut Kerry’s critics and the president. Wasted opportunity for the Kerry camp.

Any bets on whether Bush will be on the show? And get such a cushy interview?

Update: And what was with that whole military records are public theme on The Daily Show? They do know Kerry hasn’t signed a full release, don’t they?

What would that be? Why, an editorial in Pravda!

Guns, fear, hate, and profit – the true American way

In the news today, another state relaxes their “conceal and carry” laws, the gun show loop hole close bill died on the floor today, another child was shot to death when she was caught in the cross fire of a drive by shooting.

And that’s the coherent part. What I find interesting is this:

Even now as I write, laws are being passed to nullify any and all gun control

No kidding? But then there’s this:

There never was a ban on assault weapons, only smoke and mirrors.

Which is pretty much true, but I’m sure this guy isn’t calling for the sunset of the ban, is he? Nope.

An assault weapon made in a country overseas is bad (cheap); the same weapon with very few cosmetic differences made in America is good (expensive). Regardless, we need to whip up the foam of rabid emotions as we have always done.

A true red blooded Texan to the end and a servant to the masters of death said he will extend the ban. Will he make sure that the cheap overseas versions do not infringe on the prosperity of the American arms industry?

So apparently the ban (I guess we have to call it a ban, even though it wasn’t really a ban, because we have to call it something), is really about protectionism? Interesting.

But, then again, not being able to get the cheap versions are upsetting people too and they claim this is a violation of their rights. But the cheap versions are violating the rights of the shareholders of the arms industry who demand a king”s ransom profit, and a CEO”s rights to have a far above mortal man compensation package.

Now, everyone’s rights are being violated diametrically equal in the endless and bottomless vortex of dichotomies, half truths, and contradictions.

The author claims to have grown up in America, but the English in this piece is so bad, I have to wonder if maybe it wasn’t originally written in Russian and translated by Yakov Smirnoff.

Heh. “I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!”

But I don’t care. Enough is enough. Someone blow that shrine up already.

It may be noble to show respect for holy places (which Al-Sadr has shown no respect for) and that effort was a good thing. However, this has been going on for far too long.

And I don’t mean blow it up literally, but take control of it.

I’m getting quite a few Googles for Olympic volleyball ass pictures. As a public service announcement, I’d like to point out that the round up of pictures is here and has new stuff.

Update: In other news, the American butts win the gold.

There’s actually a mainstream press article on Kerry’s Cambodia flop.

Took a while. However, it is an opinion piece.