or maybe not. I’ve not done a lot of Eminent Domain blogging since the SCOTUS Kelo ruling. That’s mostly because it depresses me at this point. However, there is some good news. It is that battling eminent domain abuse is popping up all over:

In Connecticut:

The Zoning Commission and Board of Selectmen are asking the public to support the proposed ordinance, which requires that property to be taken by eminent domain meet one of the following criteria:

The property is to be owned by the town or an agency of the town, and is to be used or set aside for one or more public facilities, such as, but not limited to, streets, bridges, parkways, sidewalks, rights of way, or other public ways, parks, playgrounds, schools, or public sewer, water or waste disposal or transfer facilities.

The property is to be owned by the town and set aside for permanent open space or drainage or erosion control facilities.

The property poses a danger to public health or safety as a result of physical deterioration, pollution or contamination, and is to be taken by the town for the purpose of remediating such conditions or minimizing danger to the public.

In Missouri:

The governor created the Eminent Domain Task Force after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that government can use eminent domain for economic development. Blunt described the decision at the time as a “terrible ruling.”

In Texas:

Rep. Lois W. Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) praised a measure to restrict government’s power of eminent domain, which won legislative approval and is now headed to the desk of Gov. Rick Perry.

The House version of the Senate bill, joint authored by Kolkhorst with Rep. Beverly Wooley (R-Houston) and Rep. Frank Corte (R-San Antonio), included an amendment by Kolkhorst which added additional limits to state government’s power of eminent domain, including tighter restrictions over state transportation projects in relation to ancillary facilities.

The legislation was passed in order to bar government from seizing land strictly for commercial purposes. Perry, who added the eminent domain issue to the agenda of the special session on school finance, has the power to sign or veto legislation, or to allow it to become law without his signature.

In New Jersey (yes, that New Jersey):

The Borough Council will likely vote tonight to ask residents in November whether to impose stricter limits on the use of eminent domain than allowed by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Mayor Steve Lonegan proposed the ballot question in response to the top court’s June ruling that allows New London, Conn., to raze homes for private development because it would provide an economic benefit to the town.

In New York (yes, that New York):

A City Council member of Brooklyn, Letitia James, introduced legislation yesterday that would bar city funds from going toward projects that use eminent domain to transfer property from one private landowner to another.

In California (ayup):

State lawmakers launched an effort Wednesday to limit the ability of local government to take private property for private developers’ benefit.

Lawmakers have proposed several bills to try to limit the ability of governments to take property in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding that ability in a Connecticut case.

Indiana:

In its earliest form, HB 1063 would have barred local and state entities from condemning private property and then turning it over to private developers for commercial use.

In New Hampshire:

Two panels — one in the House and one in the Senate — are grappling with the issue of eminent domain in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing the taking of private land for private development.

In Wisconsin:

In Madison, state Rep. Jeffrey Wood (R-Chippewa Falls) and state Sen. David Zien (R-Eau Claire) are drafting a bill to limit the use of eminent domain.

North Dakota:

City commissioners have voted unanimously to consider an ordinance that would limit the city’s power to seize private property for economic development.

North Carolina:

The Board of Aldermen joined a growing number of government bodies Tuesday in passing a resolution opposing the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on eminent domain and saying the town will not employ eminent domain outside of a true “public use” context.

Tennessee:

Johnson City Commissioner Phil Roe says the Supreme Court’s ruling scares him to death, especially since it only takes three votes to condemn a home here.

“I want to get that power taken away from us as fast as they can do it,” Roe said.

West Virginia:

Capehart said Republican leaders in the state Legislature are currently working on legislation to curb eminent domain powers and that “very soon” they will have a bill or constitutional amendment to present to the Legislature. He also said that this initial petition was part of a statewide petition drive by the West Virginia Republican Party, and that petition forms could be found on the party Web site.

Kansas

State lawmakers to take up the issue this fall

Farm groups and other property rights advocates are pushing lawmakers to protect residents from local governments that want to seize land in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this summer.

We have been heard!

Montgomery Adviser:

Montgomery City Councilman Glen Pruitt is considering proposing a city ordinance that would ban the animals from the city limits.

“I want us to be proactive. I don’t want to open the paper and see where a child or senior citizen has been hurt or injured by one of these dogs,” Pruitt said.

He believes this will eliminate many of these issues and improve public safety.

“Seeing some of the things in the paper lately has brought the issue to light,” Pruitt said. “It is something we probably need to address pretty soon.”

Pit bulls often are linked to people involved in illegal activity such as drugs, dog fighting and hog-dog rodeos, in which the dogs chase, catch and brutalize wild hogs for people’s amusement and gaming.

But, you know, let’s not go after people who do those things, let’s go after the dog. And, regarding the wild hogs, it’s called hunting. People do hunt wild hogs with dogs, the dogs do catch them but brutalize is a misleading term.

I do think Glen Pruitt should maybe refer to the Alabama Supreme Court, which ruled there is no genetic evidence that one breed of dog is more dangerous than another, based on breed alone.

See that line in the upper right (just under Uncle Ben and Monkey’s Uncle). I want it gone. Can’t figure out how to do it. Anyone know?

Stupid Uncle err php.

Update: Done. Thanks to Alphie and David. And I’m working on full posts showing in the feed. I have the option set for that but something is a bit off. Not sure what. Had this issue before and fixed it but the new template has reverted back.

Martha Stewart’s tagline (i.e., her You’re fired) for the new Apprentice TeeVee show is still under wraps. Instead of speculating, I’ll just make some up. Here are the top 9 suggestions for Martha Stewart taglines:

Yes, these lists are usually Top 10 so you can insert your own. I’m lazy.

In Oklahoma:

State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, bit off a mouthful with his announced intention to seek legislation placing restrictions on pit bull terriers this summer. His initial plan was shot down by Attorney General Drew Edmondson who ruled state law currently prohibits breed-specific bans.

Mr. Wesselhoft, a freshman, plans to push ahead and seek legislative approval to give cities the right to discriminate against certain breeds. He proposed the ban after a June attack on a boy by pit bulls in a neighbor’s yard. The 3-year-old’s left arm had to be amputated at the shoulder following the attack.

Mr. Edmondson said the law provides that local government regulations must focus on “dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs instead of specific breeds.”

The owner of the dogs was fined for having too many animals in his yard. Pit bull breeders and animal rights associations have opposed the efforts, saying the proposal is discriminatory. They rallied at the Moore City Council meeting where Mr. Wesselhoft proposed the ban.

We think any such proposal put forth by Mr. Wesselhoft should not be breed-specific legislation and should be altered to include other vicious animals.

I honestly think that’s the first editorial I’ve seen that opposes breed specific legislation. Hats off to The Norman Transcript.

CounterTop reports:

Just looked over the 2003 990 form for the Brady Bunch.

Of the interesting information conatined (sic) in it, I thought you might enjoy knowing how much these people make to take away your rights.

Michael Barnes earned $224,830 plus another $8,496 in expenses.
Christopher Carr, their Chief of Staff, earned $155,527 plus $6,201 in expenses.
Finally, Sarah Brady earned $140,792 plus $5,632 in expenses.

And Chuck Moose is a director. You may remember reports of Chuck telling officers to go door-to-door to find rifles.

Think I’m done moving stuff around. What do you think about the page size and all? Speak now or forever STFU.

There was one in California. No press coverage, of course, but a blogger covered it.

Turns out the guy the London police shot wasn’t nefarious at all and the police lied about it. Not only did an officer admit to leaving his surveillance post but CCTV contradicts their account:

CCTV footage shows that Mr de Menezes was wearing a thin denim jacket that could not conceal a bomb, and he was not carrying a bag. Far from running from police, he did not realise that anyone was following him and even picked up a free newspaper before using his season ticket to pass through the barrier. He began to run only when he saw his train pull into the station. At the time of the shooting, Scotland Yard said that Mr de Menezes’s “clothing and his behaviour at the station added to their suspicions”. It was only when Mr de Menezes boarded the train that a surveillance officer guided four armed police into the same carriage.

Abysmal.

Ricky lays out the ground rules for the right-of-center male:

Deep Six the DU/Glennfy stuff – Democratic Underground is akin to fish in a barrel. The mainstream left wing of the blogosphere, which is marketedly further let than the Democratic party itself, doesn’t even take DU seriously. New baseline: Reacting to DU postings is an acknowledgment that it’s a slow news day and you’re looking for some easy cannon fodder for your site. Go on, admit it’s true.

I’d also add Oliver Willis to the list. Poor Ollie, he’s such an easy target because he’s so inconsistent and, God help him, just not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I have to admit that I pop over there about once every two weeks to marvel at the asininity of O’Dub.

I mentioned that Oregon politicos were pondering requiring prescriptions for cough medicine to prevent the meth epidemic (EPIDEMIC, AARRGGHH!). Well, they did it:

Oregonians just got “safer” today (and don’t worry, YOU’RE next!) with the passage of a new law to make “certain cough medicines” (”certain”, as in the ones that actually WORK that have pseudoephedrine in them) available by prescription ONLY. This should stop the meth labs and the meth pushers in their tracks, if only it were true that criminals obeyed laws.

Armed robbery of pharmacies in Oregon just became more appealing. Other states shall follow. Can’t I just get a note from my mommy?

Russian’s are increasingly supportive of liberalizing gun laws:

As a result, the public in Russia is increasingly leaning towards a more liberal law on weapons. For the last half a year the State Duma has been discussing the possibility of giving the people real firearms, as is done in the United States, for one.

American statistics are the main argument of Russian firearms advocates. According to the U.S. Justice Department, 34% of all criminals were wounded or detained by armed civilians, while 40% have altogether given up an idea of an attack for fear of reciprocal fire. In those states that allow citizens to carry concealed arms, the level of murders is lower by 33 %, and of robberies by 37%.

Advocates of legalizing firearms in Russia often refer to the experience of neighboring Latvia: After the relevant law was adopted, street crime dropped by 80%, and the Latvian police force has been cut.

The author bought a Saiga for about $430, which I find odd since you can get complete AK kits exported for about $130. And I would like to see those Justice Department Statistics. If they exist, we know our press would report it (wink, wink).

And not just because I haven’t used that meme in a while but because they found some, though they may be new.

More drug war stupidity. You have to read it to believe it.

Bill Hobbs reports that Tennessee’s YTD revenue exceeds budget by $260.8M. Further, he comments:

Still, taxpayers shouldn’t bother getting too excited by the big surplus. There are no plans for a tax rebate or reducing the sales tax or removing the sales tax from groceries.

Instead, the Bredesen administration plans to spend the excess revenue.

Exceeding your budget is not technically a surplus. It just means you’re over your budget. A surplus occurs when revenues exceed expenses. So, if there is (using Bill’s term) an expense surplus (which I’d bet there is) that exceeds the revenue surplus, then Tennessee is still in the red. If the state is in the red, there won’t (and shouldn’t) be a rebate. They do have bills to pay. All this means is that they were off budget. Heck, who isn’t?

To put it in perspective, imagine your company having a good year. You’re over budget in sales by about $260M. Now, you’re not going to turn down sales and state that would mess up your budget. Assume your margin is about 10%, so you also have costs of about $235M. Your surplus compared to budgeted surplus is really only $25M.

While I’ve said before that one thing that could help the Democrats is being friendly (as opposed to hostile) to gun owners, I didn’t mean they should lie:

The guys at Raising Kaine are now talking about a new 2nd Amendment group, Sportsmen for Deeds that has formed in support of Democratic Attorney General Candidate Creigh Deeds.

If you read the post, or the Deed’s press release, one would get the impression that this is some sort of grassroots group that isn’t owned and operated out of campaign HQ.

One would be wrong.

There is hope as Deeds does seem to get guns.

The UT Vols are losing one of their mascots: Davey Crockett, who also has a gun.

Also, Disney:

For Herbie: Fully Loaded, they used classic rock songs covered by modern bands – like Caleigh Peters singing the Beach Boys’ “Fun, Fun, Fun”, the Donnas singing BTO’s “Roll on Down the Highway”, and the Mooney Suzuki singing Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild.”

But if you listen closely, the motorcycle anthem’s lyrics have been changed to eliminate a reference to firearms. Yeah, gonna make it happen…

“…Take the world in a love embrace.
Fire all your en-gines at once, and
explode into space.”

It used to be “Fire all of your guns at once.”

Update: Davey Crockett will still appear at UT games. UT’s decision appears to be a marketing thing and not an anti-gun thing. Duh, it’s Tennessee.

I like the new template but it’s a lot of wasted space, too much white on the left and right. Searched through the template files and haven’t figured out how to make the main area where posts appear wider. Anyone have a clue?

Update: All better now. Thanks Ravenwood.

Et tu, Mexico (see post below):

Mexico’s strict gun control laws are contributing to an illegal gun market and easier access to weapons, according to U.S. law enforcement officials that are close observers of a recent upswing in border violence.

Since January, more than 600 people have been killed in an ongoing war between rival drug cartels using high-powered handguns and assault rifles fighting for control of drug smuggling routes on the Texas-Mexico border.

Federal gun seizures show that a majority of weapons used in violent crimes in Mexico were smuggled into the country from the United States or bought through other sources in a lucrative black market.

The folks doing the blaming this time are Americans. I was rather curious about gun laws in Mexico. The story notes:

Mexican law requires its citizens to apply for a permit from the Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) before they can buy a handgun or rifle for hunting or self-defense.

SEDENA officials could not be reached for comment. The agency’s Web site shows applicants must submit to a background check as well as provide verification of employment and several references.

Federal agents that asked not to be identified for security reasons said the permitting process in Mexico is expensive and approval to buy a handgun or rifle (that must be .22-caliber or smaller) can take up to a year.

In the United States, the Brady law requires federally licensed gun dealers to run background checks on all buyers; the process usually takes seven days or less.

At the same time, Mexican law also prohibits gun owners from carrying their weapons in public. Texas gun owners can carry weapons if they have a concealed handgun permit.

According to SEDENA, Mexico has only two licensed gun manufacturers, compared to almost 200 in the United States.

Seriously:

Gun owners in Toronto may soon be prohibited from keeping their firearms at home even if they are properly licensed and registered, Mayor David Miller said yesterday.

“There’s no reason to own a gun in Toronto — collector or not. If you are a collector and you have a permit, the guns need to be stored in a way that they can’t be stolen. And perhaps a centralized facility of some kind could accomplish that goal,” Mr. Miller told the National Post. “The law requires gun owners to have proper storage, but obviously not everyone adheres to that.”

The other culprit blamed in this case is, of course, lax US gun laws:

The Mayor has repeatedly blamed lax gun laws in the United States for some of Toronto’s violence, saying half of the firearms in the city originated in the United States.

Then where do the other half come from? More importantly, where are the crime guns coming from?

Stuff like this happens:

Gun owners beware: law enforcement officials want Los Angeles gun users to know that they can be arrested for giving or selling a gun to someone without a legal background check, especially if the gun turns up at a crime scene.

Officials announced Thursday that state and local law enforcement agencies are teaming up to launch a crackdown on illegal gun exchanges.

When you pass laws regulating gun shows, they probably end up regulating other private transactions as well.

By the way, gun user? What’s that supposed to mean.

The Sun-Sentinel has a piece on the tragedy:

An ounce of pot, 10 bullets and one failed drug war

In the annals of drug takedowns, this wasn’t much. Three quarter-ounce bags of marijuana in a bedroom refrigerator, a joint and another loose gram on top. Four grams scattered on a dresser. Six pipes with pot residue, three ashtrays with less than a gram each, three packs of rolling paper and a digital scale.

For that, Anthony is dead. More:

“What in the hell were they doing with a SWAT team?” asked Eleanor Shockett, a retired Miami-Dade circuit judge who advocates a sweeping overhaul of drug laws. “To break into someone’s home at six in the morning, possibly awaken someone from a deep sleep, someone who has a concealed weapons permit? What did they expect to happen?”

This is a tragedy that never should have happened.

Even if Diotaiuto, 23, was a small-time pot dealer, which his friends and family deny, the methods used show the madness of our country’s war on drugs.

No discretion. No proportionality. No sense.

“Using SWAT in this case is like using a sledgehammer on a fly,” said Jack Cole, a former narcotics detective for the New Jersey State Police who heads Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a drug-law reform group. “I’d much rather use a little bit of stealth.”

Drugs are winning the war on drugs, which isn’t so comforting to its casualties.

Significant update:

A military intelligence team repeatedly contacted the F.B.I. in 2000 to warn about the existence of an American-based terrorist cell that included the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a veteran Army intelligence officer who said he had now decided to risk his career by discussing the information publicly. The officer, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, said military lawyers later blocked the team from sharing any of its information with the F.B.I.

This unit identified Mohammed Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers in the year 2000. Bill Quick notes:

The big objection to Rep. Curt Weldon’s revelations about Able Danger was that his source was anonymous. That is apparently no longer the case, so almost immediately Weldon’s charges become much more credible again.

Heads should roll.

I’ve often joked that to get the President to sign a bill, just attach it to a spending bill and he’ll sign it. He likes to spend our money. Turns out, this trend is a new record:

Like pardons and executive orders, vetoes are among the cherished privileges of the Oval Office. Ike liked them. So did presidents Truman and Cleveland – and both Roosevelts.
But apparently not George W. Bush. In fact, well into the fifth year of his presidency, he has yet to issue a single veto.

It’s a streak unmatched in modern American history, one that throws into question traditional notions of checks and balances.

Party of smaller government, my ass.

I imagine this same problem exists on the other side of the aisle:

Here are two responses I got. First Senator Dianne Feinstein raised her hand and said, “Senator Daschle, the Internet is full of pornography and pedophilia, and until that’s clean up, I don’t think the Senate should be on the Internet.” (And she represents Silicon Valley!) Afterwards, another senator came up to me and said, “Andrew, I get 10,000 emails a day into my office. How do I make it stop?”

I worked for a guy once who had an assistant check and print his email for him. These older folks tend not to be technologically savvy and their failure to embrace technology is disheartening. Politicians just don’t get it. It also makes you wonder if Dick Cheney can check his email on Al Gore’s Internets.

Kevin, unfortunately, ends with this anti-corporate boner:

… the GOP is the worst of both worlds as far as technology aware voters are concerned: a combination of giant corporations that hate the idea of any innovation that didn’t originate from them and blue hairs whose idea of a good time is a book-burning.

Yeah, because only the GOP is in the pockets of industry. And those evil corporations hate the idea of technological advancements they didn’t create. That’s why all corporations use only computers they build, running only operating systems they designed, and only using financial packages they developed. That’s why Oracle, SAP, Dell and Microsoft are out of business. Oh, wait.

Jeff has the latest on gun bias in the media.

An illusion you should check out.

Publicola has a primer on high power matches. Go read. I need to get into that, it sounds fun.

The city of Battle Creek has stripped breed specific language from a dangerous dog bill. Good.

In Indianapolis, pit bull overpopulation is a problem:

Pit bulls were a large portion of the 18,000 dogs and cats euthanized last year in Marion County.

Animal activists argue that pit bulls are only dangerous if they are raised to be.

An effort is under way to control the growing breed that officials said has overpopulated, causing an array of problems.

Christine Jeschke, of Spay-Neuter Services of Indiana, has two missions — control the overpopulation of often mistreated pit bulls, and erase the stereotype of the feared breed.

I would think that general dog overpopulation is a problem in most places. I almost hit two strays this morning.

Nope, no bias here:

A five year old child is recovering at UT Medical Center Tuesday morning after being attacked by two dogs.

The boy was mauled by a pit bull and another dog on Monday, near Englewood in McMinn County.

Tragic event but was there even an effort to determine the breed of the other dog? Not a pit bull, so it’s not important.

What to do with those .50 caliber rounds you have lying around

Seen here.

Well, you gotta love a post that starts like this:

Like any red-blooded, masculine man of the male gender, I love PVC weaponry. You should too. If the concept of heading on down to the local Home Depot and transforming $100 worth of random pipe bits into a killing machine doesn’t appeal to you, you’re a frikkin’ pansy. Also, you’re probably sane and will live significantly longer than I will. Nonetheless you disgust me, and I take comfort in the knowledge that your obituary will be nowhere near as humorous as mine. For those of you who laugh in the face of hypersonic shards of plastic puncturing your spleen, here’s an intimate look at how I’ve kept myself busy for the past week: building a PVC flamethrower.

Not sure the legality of building one but I do not recommend it. This guy says they’re unregulated:

A Flame Thrower – not a DD, nor even a firearm. Unregulated as to possession, under federal law. Great way to clear snow off the driveway.

No, officer friendly, it really is for snow.

Via Kim.

I received a interesting email last night from a friend. It was a written by a City Council member explaining why he would “probably” support selling the Candy Factory and 7 Victorian houses to Kinsey Probasco and Associates.

The City Council member wrote, “First, let me say that I am not 100% comfortable with the proposal that we will be voting on Tuesday night. I don’t like selling public assets and I think these assets truly were a value to the community. Second, let me say that the proposal probably will pass and I probably will support it. It is the only plan for doing anything with these assets. And I don’t think we can wait another year to figure out what else to do. I think they could remain city assets and become even more productive than they have been. But the city has ignored them for years and too many of the former occupants have moved out once word of the sale got out.”

Who in the City made the decision to ignore the maintenance of the Candy Factory and Victorian houses? At whose direction was this done?

On the Market Square project the City prepared a RFQ on a joint venture project of public and private investment. The same firm Kinsey Probasco and Associates won the contract. In the “negotiation period” many meetings where held. Yet the entire purpose for the contract was to issue a “Comprehensive Development Agreement” which would require the “Coordinating Developer” to recruit National Tenants and invest 22 million dollars of private money. The City never issued the “Comprehensive Development Agreement”.

I emailed members of City Council to ask the questions below and I also asked these questions of Bill Lyons on the k2k forum where Dr. Lyons frequently answers the questions of Knoxville residents. There was no response.

Who or what body decided that Kinsey Probasco and Associates would be released from the “Coordinating Developer” Role and that there would not be a “Comprehensive Development Agreement” that required the recruiting of national tenants for Market Square and the investment of 22 million dollars of private monies?

When did this happen?

Why did it happen?

The taxpayers should not allow plausible deniability to be an excuse. In the City’s dealings with Kinsey Probasco and Associates the taxpayers have no accountability on the mishandled Market Square contract. From some reason valued City buildings are not maintained so now they must be sold because of “back logged maintenance”.

Each time Kinsey Probasco and Associates makes substantial profits at the expense of the taxpayers. Why will the City not answer these questions? Why does City Council shield the non-elected City employees that made these decisions? Most importantly will the taxpayers allow this plausible deniability scheme to work?

Seriously. At first, I thought he was just cranking up the rhetoric but lately he’s off his meds.

Number 8 is up, with a look at what freedom oriented folks have to say.

You know, there are very few instances that make me think someone should be taken out to the woodshed and have the absolute Hell beaten out of them. However, this is one:

“It’s a new definition of chutzpah: Confiscate land and charge back rent for the years the owners fought confiscation.”

Fight them and they will make you pay. I hope Bob Krumm is right:

Kelo v. New London is about to become the new Roe v. Wade—a Supreme Court decision that ignites a firestorm of protest. Only with Kelo, there’s no one running to defend the land-grabbing decision.

Michael Silence is looking at gas prices (which are high, if you haven’t noticed). I’ll defer to Kim du Toit on the issue:

Gasoline 1960 price: $0.30 per gallon; 2005 price: $2.50; % chg: +733%

Bread 1960 price: $0.19 per loaf; 2005 price: $1.89; % chg: +995%

It is a meaningless comparison to list gas prices as record highs in terms of dollars without considering the prices of other items.

The WaPo doesn’t seem to recall a Republican leader with a pair:

THREE TIMES in the past quarter-century, conservative leaders have promised to restrain wasteful government spending. President Ronald Reagan tried it and showed he was at least half-serious by vetoing the pork-laden 1987 transportation bill. House Speaker Newt Gingrich tried it and risked his party’s electoral standing by battling to restrain the growth in programs such as Medicare. And President Bush has tried it, declaring on numerous occasions that he expected spending restraint from Congress. None of these efforts proved politically sustainable. As The Post’s Jonathan Weisman and Jim VandeHei reported Thursday, Mr. Bush’s attempt at spending discipline has been especially limp.

No party is the party of small government and only the Democrats tried to balance the budget (yeah, it was fedmath but at least they tried it). It’s true.

So, with that in mind, here’s the deal: I am willing to buy my freedom. It’s true, I’ll cave. I yammer on and on about taxes being too high and that I pay too much and that my money pays for a bunch of useless crap. And that’s all true too. But I would gladly pay that price; deal with the 1,395,000 words and 693 sections of the IRS Code; and 20,000 pages of regulations containing over 8 million words from the Treasury department; etc. if I knew that my freedoms weren’t under attack.

But that’s kind of the problem, really. The more they tax, the more resources they have to bureaucratize my freedoms away. And that’s what they do (seriously, 26,911 words dealing with the sale of cabbage?).

I’m willing to let the .gov use my money to pay for all the roads, space programs, indoor rainforests, golf course repair work, etc. that it wants to, if it leaves me alone, stops taking people’s land, stops trying to pass nanny laws, etc. Think that will work?

I guess I’m not a good blogger because I have not followed this Cindy Sheehan business. Someone got the Cliff Notes version? Or, more importantly, should I really even care?

At End The War on Freedom:

Putting It In Perspective

Pythagorean Theorem: 24 words

The Lord’s Prayer: 66 words

Archimedes’ Principle: 67 words

The 10 Commandments: 179 words

The Gettysburg Address: 286 words

The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words

U.S. Government regulations on the sale of cabbage: 26911 words

A while back, I wondered what the point of the FFL EZ Check was:

The ATF now offers FFL EZ check so that if you need a firearm transferred from another state, the seller can verify that the buyer’s FFL holder is legit. The problem is that nobody I’ve ever used to transfer firearms is willing to transfer based on the FFL EZ check. They still want a signed copy sent to them via snail mail. Even that ATF site says that the EZ Check is no substitute for a copy. I can’t figure out the point of the system.

Well, it’s not so useless now. Robert reports:

CERTIFIED FAXED COPIES OF LICENSES

Section 27 CFR 478.94 requires the following for sales or deliveries of firearms between licensees:

“A licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer selling or otherwise disposing of firearms, and a licensed collector selling or otherwise disposing of curios or relics, to another licensee shall verify the identity and licensed status of the transferee prior to making the transaction. Verification shall be established by the transferee furnishing to the transferor a certified copy of the transferee’s license and by such other means as the transferor deems necessary:…”

This section of the regulations requires a licensee to verify another licensee’s status prior to making sales or deliveries to such licensee. Please be advised that ATF will now recognize a faxed copy of a Federal firearms license as an acceptable alternative form of verification.

This section of the regulations requires a licensee to verify another licensee’s status prior to making sales or deliveries to such licensee. Please be advised that ATF will now recognize a faxed copy of a Federal firearms license as an acceptable alternative form of verification.

ATF strongly suggests that FFLs utilize the FFLeZ Check system and verify the authenticity of the transferee’s license prior to shipping or disposing of a firearm(s) to another licensee.

In addition, verification and certification of a license is not considered valid unless a legible copy of the transferee’s license clearly identifies the name, address, license number and expiration date of the license. Acceptance of blurred or illegible copies of a transferee’s license may constitute noncompliance with regulations.

If you’re on the receiving end of an FFL transfer, this will speed the process up considerably.

From Deb, we learn that a law awaiting the governor’s signature in NC will require clerks to give people requesting restraining orders information on a concealed weapons permit. Cool. Paper protection often isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

Pistol Pete to be pistol-less:

New Mexico State University’s mascot, Pistol Pete, is being disarmed. University officials have also stripped the word “Pistol” from Pete’s name. The new logo shows Pete twirling a lasso. The old Pete toted a pistol.

They say it’s marketing but I say it’s more PC nuttiness.

The other day, it occurred to the Mrs. and I that neither of us had any idea how much it costs to use a pay phone. Sort of surprising to me that they’re still around given the prevalence of cellular (yes, I know they’re not really cellular) phones.

Why is the Candy Factory different than a City park?

In an election cycle neither the Mayor nor City Council would dare cut funding to parks. In another fine column on Saturday August 13th Hayes Hickman writes about the Worlds Fair Site project. From his column we learn that the Candy Factory and Victorian houses cost the City about $ 200,000 per year in operating costs. I thought it would be interesting to compare this cost to other costs in the City’s Budget.

The proposed 05/06 City Budget includes:

Jobs Now campaign $ 400,000

Knoxville Partnership $ 696,840

Knoxville Zoological Park $ 864,210

Recreation (parks included) $ 10,044,100

Ballpark improvements in parks throughout the City $200,000

Lonsdale Park improvements $400,000

Development of a skate park facility (a new project) $450,000

Senior Aides (a new program) $ 456,750

The Total proposed budget for 05/06 is $ 307,783,760. A 7.47 % increase over the adopted budget of 04/05 of $ 286,394,320. This increase is $ 21,389,440.

The $ 200,000 to operate the Candy Factory and Victorian houses is .94 % of the budget increase for 05/06. So one of the most valuable City Assets, which in reality is owned by the taxpayers of Knoxville, has to be sacrificed so the City can balance the budget?

It gets worse, Hayes Hickman writes that, “The sale would, however, relieve the city’s immediate burden of some $200,000 in annual operating costs for the buildings, as well as an estimated $3.5 million to $4 million in backlogged maintenance needs, Lyons said.”

So is Bill Lyons saying the City has been negligent on maintenance of one of the City’s most valued assets? Why have these maintenance needs been backlogged? From the budget excerpts above you can see that money is not the issue. So why do over one hundred groups that use the Candy Factory as a public meeting place have to be kicked to the curb? This is about much more than the Arts Community. The groups that use the Candy Factory as a public meeting place should have the same rights as skateboarders or people that walk their dogs in the park. The question is why is there a double standard?

Ouch:

Let’s just say that it isn’t too hard to tell the bloggers from the MSM. The bloggers, for instance, aren’t complaining about the food spread (“those frugal evangelicals” – no kidding, that’s what she said), the technology at the church, or that they aren’t in D.C. or Las Vegas. In fact, I’m trying to make this update quick, as the reporter sitting behind me (the one who made the line about above about the “frugal evangelicals”) is starting in on bloggers and how she doesn’t “have time to read someone else’s opinions every day.” Well, of course she doesn’t. She’s probably too busy getting her own out in her “unbiased articles.” I won’t include her employer’s name, but let’s just say that it is a national publication.

Check out this twin MG42/22. It’s a Gatling gun made out of two 22 rifles.

In my discussion of What Is A Right?, reader Ron W. writes:

One thing about a right, if someone else must provide it for you, it isn’t a right…such as healthcare or education.

Xrlq has been banned from commenting at Reason because he called a lie a lie. What is actually worse is the lack of defense of the lying.

Noting the instances of Glock Leg, James says that for folks just getting into shooting, that he cannot recommend the GLOCK:

I try very hard to avoid prejudicing my students towards or away from any particular type of firearm, with a few exceptions. Most of the guns that I suggest they avoid are the really cheap weapons that wear out quickly. Since the students are just starting out, and regular practice is the way to develop and maintain proper skill, it would just be a waste if they spent money on a gun that couldn’t handle 10,000 rounds or more before major repairs were called for.

But that’s the cheap end of the scale. I also urge them to pass on buying anything from Glock, which produces robust and effective handguns.

Why would I do that? Mainly due to the fact that Glocks have few external controls, which makes an accidental discharge more likely if the gun is in the hands of a beginner.

Though I have not instructed as many newbies as James, readers should not be surprised when I disagree. When I take a newbie to the range, my focus is three things in order:

1- gun safety
2 – sight alignment & trigger squeeze
3 – having fun

The Glock is excellent at all three.

1 – James thinks that the lack of an external safety can lead to an accidental discharge. I wholeheartedly disagree and think that such features are more likely to cause an accidental discharge. A manual safety, particularly for newbies who are still at the tinkering phase, can instill a false sense of security. A newbie is more likely (like I did when I was new) to take the gun, practice loading, dry fire, etc. while getting accustomed to the new weapon. Safeties fail and people fail. Forgetting you chambered a round and other stuff can lead to bad stuff.

A Glock forces the newbie to abide by the rules of gun safety. Period. There’s no false sense of security inherent in a manual/external safety that is superior to treating all guns like they’re loaded; keeping your finger off the trigger unless you’re ready to pull it; and pointing the weapon in a safe direction. Period. By this rationale, I think revolvers and the various lines of DA or DAK triggers are also excellent. Friends don’t let newbies shoot Berettas, too many contraptions and gizmos that take away from sight alignment and trigger squeeze.

2- The Glock trigger squeeze is the same every time. No double/single action trickiness. None of that cock/don’t cock stuff. One consistent, steady trigger pull. Newbies need consistency. This consistent trigger pull leads to focus on sight alignment since the choice to cock or not and DA v. SA trigger pulls are never an issue.

I’ve let newbies shoot the Sig DA but only after they shoot the Glock. Most comment on the trigger pull difference being very different and somewhat distracting.

3 – Glocks are fun to shoot. They go bang every time.

The local high school has banned the Confederate Flag at events. Thank goodness, that will surely solve all the racial tensions at the locals schools.

Rep. Campfield has a piece in the local newspaper regarding protections from eminent domain abuse.

Manish emails this link which notes a proposal to exempt the following from airport security screening:

federal judges, members of Congress, Cabinet members, state governors, high-ranking military officers and those with high-level security clearances.

I actually concur with someone from TalkLeft who writes:

These are exactly the people who should know what it feels like to experience an invasion of privacy (however slight) at the hands of a government employee. Exempting public officials from the same travel hassles that the rest of us endure insulates them from the real world in an unhealthy way.

Like you and me, only better.

Meanwhile, the Gun Toting Liberal (who’s stuff is getting stolen from err getting love letters from Janeane Garofalo) tells us the latest TSA proposal would allow ice picks, throwing stars and bows and arrows on flights.

Like you and me, only stupider.

For some good news on the TSA, it’s good to see the Air Marshals abandoning the kill-me-first dress code.

The latest RINO Sightings is up. Never thought I’d see one in a thong.

Gunner has a round up of contests giving away guns and other stuff.

Carnival of Cordite 26 is up for all your gun blogging needs.

A serious design flaw of the Kalashnikov rifle is that one must move their hand off the grip to engage the safety lever. Well, not any more. Blackjack now offers the S.W.I.F.T. lever to remedy that problem.

Linx310 has a review.

Heh.

Apparently, the new template is a hit. Cool. Some folks want links to pop-up in new windows. I recommend you hold the shift key down and the link will pop up as you wish. It’s about 50/50 as some folks think the new window thing is browser-jacking.

Also, the comment problem is solved. I (and other authors) can now post comments without logging out.

Apparently, intelligence identifying the 9/11 hijackers a year prior to 9/11 was ignored. This intelligence came a unit called Able Danger. And, to my knowledge, no one has been fired over 9/11. Additionally, the dog and pony show err 9/11 Commission chose to ignore this fact:

“The commission’s refusal to investigate Able Danger after being notified of its existence, and its recent efforts to feign ignorance of the project while blaming others for supposedly withholding information on it, brings shame on the commissioners, and is evocative of the worst tendencies in the federal government that the commission worked to expose,”

Guess each member was too busy trying to use it for political gain rather than, you know, doing something useful. Why this news isn’t burning up the airwaves, is beyond me.

On the drive home yesterday, I caught the Phil Williams show on local talk radio. Phil was interviewing KnoxNews columnist Greg Johnson, who was advocating ethics reform. Phil and Greg were annoyed that the Citizens Advisory Group on Ethics In Government meeting was scheduled at 1:30 on a Friday with short notice (24 hours, I believe). Pretty abysmal if you ask me. The short notice, inconvenient time and place will ensure low turnout, which I honestly think is the desired result.

Mr. Johnson’s latest column says:

Lawmakers can show us the money by posting Statements of Interests on the registry’s Web site alongside campaign contributions and expenditures. If elected officials don’t want to show us their money, the play call is simple – resign.

Tennesseans have the right to know that officials put the job we pay them to do ahead of their own interests.

Besides disclosing outside interests, lawmakers should show citizens their expense money. In addition to their salaries, taxpayers pay lawmakers $141 per diem and reimburse them 33 cents per mile for official travel. Currently, expense records are in the offices of Connie Frederick, director of legislative administration. Those records by law are accessible to the public during regular business hours.

It’s also worth noting that our legislators are salaried $16,500. On the radio, Mr. Johnson seemed annoyed that our legislators may make (with salary, mileage, and per diem) a whopping $48,000 per year. Sorry, Mr. Johnson, but methinks your priorities are a bit off. That’s not a ton of money. I couldn’t take the pay cut to be a rep. IIRC, there are 132 legislators in the state. If each makes the maximum (which they don’t), that’s $6.3M. That’s small potatoes when you consider that the Tennessee .gov had exceeded its spending cap by $275,000,000 in FY04 (which is likely illegal as not everything is an emergency). Or that Jamie Hagood’s proposed $2,500,000 pet project could have paid for 52 legislators’ salaries.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t be concerned about ethics and payroll issues but attacking their modest salary level isn’t the way to go. However, tackling the consulting fees and corruption (like we got from the Tennessee Waltz) may lead to less spending. Face it folks, these fees and frauds were to buy votes for pork projects or legislation.

I realize that the salary level kind of puts it into perspective since most folks don’t comprehend how much $275M is. But that and pork spending are the real ethics issues that should be brought up today. If you go to this meeting, let me know how it goes. Remember, Tennessee Constitution, article 1, sec. 1:

That all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happiness; for the advancement of those ends they have at all times, an unalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper.

Word.

As a side note: To put the Tennessee Waltz into perspective, the FBI had to set up a dummy company and investigate for just over two years to catch that corruption. If it takes that much time and effort to catch that incident, how much other stuff do you think isn’t getting caught?

Not because they’re violent and will kill you since they have guns but because they will organize and use the free market to their advantage.

Talk about your politically correct induced stupidity.

If you’re going to send crazy, rude, moonbatty emails to a prominent political blogger and call her the C-Word, you may not want to use your work email address:

I am the Managing Shareholder of the law firm of Ogletree Deakins with offices located across the country. I was very disturbed to learn today that a legal secretary in our Los Angeles office sent you the vile e-mail referenced on your home page. Such remarks are clearly inappropriate in any context and an e-mail such as this certainly should not have been sent during working time using our firm’s equipment. The comments of this employee are not reflective of the views or opinions of the firm and are directly in violation of our e-mail policy. As Managing Shareholder, I wanted to extend to you our apologies and let you know that this serious violation of our firm’s work rules has resulted in the discharge of this employee.

Yahoo, dude, it’s free.

Hey, she bought an ad here. The least you could do is go visit. Go on now.

A while back, Les Jones mentioned that he couldn’t get Google Adwords due to his blogging about guns. Now, TriggerFinger mentions that Google is listing ads on his site for American Hunters and Shooters Association, which TriggerFinger has proven is a sham organization affiliated with gun controllers.

Caught The Daily Show. John Hockenberry mentioned 2Slick during the interview regarding military bloggers. Congrats to 2Slick on the mention. Hats of to Mr. Hockenberry for his integrity.

Using the pages function in Wordpress, I now have a Terms of Use and Legalese page.

This site exists entirely for my amusement. If it amuses you too, that’s cool but not necessary.

All posts are © their respective author.

This site is intended to be viewed by intelligent adults (ok, we’ll settle for adults). The content is not intended for children since we’ve been known to curse, talk about porn, and discuss tittie bars. Enter at your own risk.

All original content may be quoted, provided a link to the site appears with the quote.

Yada, yada, yada

In exchange for access to this site, you agree not to sue the owner or authors of this site.

I pay for this site and am under no obligation to give you a platform to rant or refute the authors. If you want to do that, get your own site and leave me the fuck (see, told you we cussed) alone.

For contact information, see the contact page.

Information obtained on or through this site is not intended to be, and in no way should be construed as, legal advice or counsel. For that, seek your own legal counsel.

I love little baby ducks.

Some stuff on this site is satirical in nature. If you can’t tell whether it is satire or not, you should probably seek professional help. In the event you’re not sure, assume it is.

SayUncle assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information provided by other authors. Likewise, other authors assume no responsibility for the accuracy of information provided by others.

We make no warranty regarding availability or accessibility to this site.

If you’re still reading this, you have a high tolerance for boredom.

SayUncle and its authors are not responsible for the comments, writings and links left by others in the comments section.

All email will be considered for publication, unless you say otherwise. Even if you do say otherwise, I may print it anyway.

And before you ask me a bunch of questions about stuff I may have already discussed, use the convenient search feature located in the right sidebar.

Use of this site indicates acceptance of these terms.

Knoxnews reports that the cabbie who picked up George and Jennifer Hyatte said they were on their way to an Amway meeting.

In 2001 on September 11th there was a horrific attack on our country. It took the legislature a short 43 days to pass the patriot act. A bill that is complex in it’s abilities to remove basic rights.

In 2005 on June 21st the Supreme jerks court decided that our rights to property was less important then a Wal-Mart. Politicians stood in unison and declared that they would pass laws to protect our homes. In the resulting 51 days exactly one state, Alabama, has passed a bill protecting the property rights of their citizens.

Besides Alabama, legislation to ban or restrict the use of eminent domain for private development has been introduced in 16 states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Texas.

Legislators have announced plans to introduce eminent-domain bills in seven more states: Alaska, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Dakota, South Carolina and Wisconsin, and lawmakers in Colorado, Georgia and Virginia plan to act on previously introduced bills.

I get the feeling we are being left at the alter here. They promise a lot but have no carry through. Maybe they are trying to wait us out. How hard is it to pass a law that almost all politicians have come out in support of and that most people support?

Have you called your Tennessee representative and asked why a bill has not been passed? Here are the needed links to contact your representative in the state government.
Tennessee House
Tennessee Senate
Do not email. Call them. Let their office hear your voice.

If you do not contact them now, then you have no right to complain when they come for your house later. It’s that simple.

Update: This quote says a lot

Republican Gov. Bob Riley signed a bill that was passed unanimously by a special session of the Alabama Legislature

They called a special session to deal with this. why isn’t our politicians doing the same?

Update 2: Seems that some are calling for a special session of sorts.

It took uncommon courage and compassion for state Sen. Doug Jackson to call for a special legislative session on TennCare.

Stopping the Tenncare cuts will buy more votes then the property rights bill I guess.

If you’re one of those people who knows someone who was killed or wounded by a pit bull or a gun, then feels the need to search the web because the tragedy has made you want to become some sort of an activist or something, and then you find my site in the process of researching; do me a favor: Don’t email me and tell me crap like pit bulls are killers (duh, all dogs are. They have pointy teeth for a reason) and that guns are bad (no gun ever killed anyone, a person had to pull the trigger). It’s a waste of your time and, more importantly, mine. When hysterical and angry about something, you’re not at your best in terms of convincing me of anything and I won’t even try to convince you because it’s pointless. And, to be honest, I don’t want to hear it.

Or as noted at Drug War Rant:

Well, there ya go. Victims are always right, after all. Suffering a tragedy bestows infallibility upon the victim — a kind of karmic reward for having lost something.

Which is why it makes so much sense to base law and policy on the hysterical ravings of angry, freaked-out victims. They and they alone possess the clarity of thought and the kind of wise, sober, carefully crafted ideas that make for good policy.

And anything you email me I will consider for print unless you tell me otherwise. Actually, even if you tell me not to and say something particularly stupid or hysterical, I might print it anyway. I’m just that sort of guy.

Having said all that and you decide you still want to email me, you can email me at:

A few folks (like these guys) are taking issue with the claim that there is no right to privacy. I think it’s a trick question. There is no right to privacy specifically enumerated in the Constitution. Some folks seem to think that the ninth amendment (say, are we using that one . . . I think we’re only using the third at the moment) enumerates that right, which acknowledges unenumerated rights, is applicable. Or that the fourth amendment confers such a right. The ninth says:

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

If we assume that the ninth means what it says (our courts have consistently ruled that most amendments don’t actually mean what they say), how do we identify those rights? Is there really a right that journalists have that allows them to break laws? I tend to think not. There could some danger in recognizing rights not enumerated in the Constitution (ownership of slaves was thought to be a right once).

So, gentle reader, where do unenumerated rights come from? Are they what the people say they are? Are they what the .gov tells us they are?

Beats me. Your turn.

Update: Jon says in comments:

Simply put, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are documents that define what the government limitations are. Confused People tend to believe those documents are intended to limit the citizens.

The Right to Privacy of the Citizens is property of the Citizens because it has not been explicitly given to the government by these documents.

Sounds like a start. I’ve read where some of the founders actually opposed a Bill of Rights because they figured a list would mean other rights didn’t exist. It is important to clarify that the Constitution typically limits or grants powers to the .gov.

Update 2: Blake has a whole lot more than I expected anyone to write about the subject.

Radley reports the cops’ story doesn’t add up. Anthony was killed in a no-knock raid for drugs in which the cops found 2 measly ounces of marijuana. Witnesses report that the police never announced themselves. Says Radley:

What happened to that loaded handgun isn’t exactly clear. So far, the only gun the cops report confiscating was a BB gun. Neighbors who saw the incident say they never heard the cops announce themselves.

Also, someone left a comment here and noted:

Bits and pieces are still coming out about this big DRUG DEALER the SWAT Team had to kill since he was such a violent criminal. The big bust was just that 2 ounces was all they could find in the entire home lets not forget the BB gun! They knew this man worked nights and had just gotten fully asleep by 6:15am. Neighbors watching them assemble and go in the home never herd them announce POLICE. All they herd and saw was the percussion grenade, guess the party wouldn’t be complete without the poppers! No gun was aimed at or shot at any police officer if he even had the gun in hand at all! He was dazed still asleep and scared shitless that people were breaking into his home in the middle of the night. He went into his closet to get a robe since he slept nude. Guess these guys wanted to keep him nude and panicked when he went in the closet. So like the well trained Swat Team they were they shot him through the wall hitting him(10 times since he was so violent and now resisting) in the leg, arm, chest and five to the head for good measure!
NOW ISN’T THAT JUSTICE AT IT’S BEAST!

I can’t verify the accuracy of that report but if they shot him through a wall, how exactly would they know he had a gun?

Check out Cowboy Blob’s other match gun. Not sure I like the hovering scope mount, seems like it could snag. Still, pretty slick.

A local THiP shot himself in the leg. Les says that this is a good case for putting a New York trigger on a Glock. I think it’s a good case for keeping your booger-hook off the bang-switch.

Kidding aside, I do like the concept of the NY Trigger as it makes you more conscious of pulling the trigger and less likely to accidentally do so.

From Blake’s:

One Regret: “I didn’t kill the one that got away.”

Remember that Fumento guy I yammered on about for a while? No. Well, basically he got into an argument with another blogger and his entire argument consisted of calling that blogger names and making fun of how pathetic bloggers are. He called bloggers typing monkeys, stupid, and other childish insults. He also said:

The penny-ante bloggers are howling . . . and nobody cares.

All this is kinda funny, because now Fumento has his own blog. Given his, uhm, superior debating skills and advanced analytical mind, I would advise him to disable comments now before his new readers discover that he’s kind of a tool.

Update: Heh. Looks like his comments don’t actually let you, you know, comment.

Saw live on TV where the authorities captured George and Jennifer Hyatte (the latter of which shot a Roane County corrections officer to free the former) without incident.

This is a story of how you should treat politicians. With the same disdain and contempt that they treat us.

In Portland the top people, supported by a judge of questionable worth, has regularly taken your trash without a warrant. One local paper decided to play the game by the authorities rules….The authorities were less then happy.

The question of whether your trash is private might seem academic. It’s not. Your garbage can is like a trap door that opens on to your most intimate secrets; what you toss away is, in many ways, just as revealing as what you keep.

And your garbage can is just one of the many places where your privacy is being pilfered. In the wake of 9/11, the U.S. government has granted itself far-reaching new powers to spy on you, from email to bank statements to video cameras (see “Big Brother’s in Your Trash Can,” below).

After much debate, we resolved to turn the tables on three of our esteemed public officials. We embarked on an unauthorized sightseeing tour of their garbage, to make a point about how invasive a “garbage pull” really is–and to highlight the government’s ongoing erosion of people’s privacy.

We chose District Attorney Mike Schrunk because his office is the most vocal defender of the proposition that your garbage is up for grabs. We chose Police Chief Mark Kroeker because he runs the bureau. And we chose Mayor Vera Katz because, as police commissioner, she gives the chief his marching orders.

Is this a sign of the next war for our rights? The supreme court says that the right to private property is null and void, so we go after theirs. All legal of course. Local politicians say your trash is theirs so we go through their trash.

If enough politicians are treated like the rest of us then maybe, just maybe, they will think twice before shafting us.

So go read the entire story. The anger showed by the politicians is more humorous then any punchline of a Robin Williams joke.

The Willamette Week Online has a comment section and I can see almost nobody objecting to politicians being treated just like us.

Basic template. I dig it. Needs some tweaking but not sure what. Thoughts?

Update: Too much white space up top and even more on individual pages. No clue how to fix it.

you could knock a helicopter out of the sky with a well-placed rock. He would know since he was in four of them when they went down. In New Mexico, someone shot one out of the sky:

A Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department helicopter that crashed Saturday in the yard of an Albuquerque home was brought down by a bullet, Sheriff Darren White said late Tuesday.

At a news conference in New Mexico, White showed pictures of where a bullet penetrated the windshield of the aircraft, known as Metro One, and shattered on a pedal the pilot uses to fly the helicopter.

CounterTop says:

What do you want to bet that whoever shot down the New Mexican Police Chopper was using a .50 Caliber.

Even if he wasn’t, I bet it will be reported he was.

From the Department of Duh:

In dating, extravagant gifts keep on giving

In other news, these gifts sometimes lead to sex.

Messing with the template, do not be alarmed.

Update: Not a fan of this one and it will change soon. However, I am testing out some template functionality. If anyone has suggestions, please speak now or forever STFU.

Oh and if your link isn’t on the site: relax, it will be back shortly.

David Hardy has some thoughts worth reading:

Another way to look at the trend. Brady Campaign started out as National Coalition to Control Handguns. I have its early pamphlets, in which it argues that registration and permit systems were bad ideas. That’s because it wanted a complete handgun ban, testified to that effect, and thought a national permit system would be proposed as a compromise (attesting to the weak condition it thought the gun movement was in). Later, as Handgun Control, Inc., it disavowed handgun bans and advocated permit systems, the very compromise it had earlier feared. As Brady Campaign, I believe it now disavows (or at least plays down, way down) national registration or permit systems, and is content to criticize NRA for the most part, occasionally proposing assault weapon bans, but even that rather quietly.

John Jay Hooker is running for governor of Tennessee. It’d be kinda neat if he won because then I could say our governor has left a comments on this blog.

It’s good to see the MSM addressing the serious concerns regarding the war on drugs. It’d be nicer if we could get our politicians to seriously look at it. John Tierney:

It’s the same pattern observed during Prohibition, when illicit stills would blow up, and there was a rise in deaths from alcohol poisoning. Far from instilling virtue in Americans, Prohibition caused them to switch from beer and wine to hard liquor. Overall consumption of alcohol might even have increased.

Today we tolerate alcohol, even though it causes far more harm than illegal drugs, because we realize a ban would be futile, create more problems than it cured and deprive too many people of something they value.

Radley Balko:

Imagine for a moment that you’re a parent with a teenage son. He doesn’t drink, but you know his friends do. You’re also not naive. You’ve read the government’s statistics: 47 percent of high school students tell researchers they’ve had a drink of alcohol in the previous 30 days. Thirty percent have had at least five drinks in a row in the past month. Thirteen percent admitted to having driven in the previous month after drinking alcohol.

So, what do you do with regard to your son’s social life? Many parents have decided to take a realist’s approach. They’re throwing parties for their kids and their friends. They serve alcohol at these parties, but they also collect car keys to make sure no one drives home until the next morning. Their logic makes sense: The kids are going to drink; it’s better that they do it in a controlled, supervised environment.

I concur. My parents let me drink when I was young. Their theory was that if I was home then I wasn’t out driving, which could lead to my own or others’ death. Plus, it’s like the forbidden fruit in that if you aren’t forbidden from doing it, it becomes slightly less appealing.

In Battle Creek, Michigan there is a proposed pit bull ordinance. Here’s the odd thing:

The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wrote a letter to Mayor John Godfrey urging either a pit bull ban or stronger restrictions.

Let me get this straight, PETA is advocating a ban on dogs. PETA is advocating doggie genocide, like what happened in Denver where the police went door-to-door collecting pit bulls so that those dogs would be killed.

More proof the PETArds are a bunch of damn lunatics. Screw ‘em.

Chris Muir (of Day By Day fame) needs your help. His sister has cancer. Go here to read about it. And make sure you click the Click4Cathy button a few times. Or you could just click here . And he’s not asking for money.

NPR’s On The Media has a good piece regarding gun coverage in the press and how it’s quite often wrong. Some snippets:

JOHN SOLOMON: In a column last summer, Okrent wrote that gun owners are, “among the groups the Times treats as strange objects to be examined on an laboratory slide.” For them,” he continued, “a walk through this paper can make you feel you’re traveling in a strange and forbidding world.”

Needs counts only one hunter on a floor of 170 newsroom employees. That, despite the fact that four in ten Americans say they own at least one gun. It’s a disconnect that makes this man’s job much easier.

Big focus on hunting. And my favorite:

DENNIS HENNIGAN: It does not help when you have editorial writers make statements that appear to be hostile to gun ownership per se.

JOHN SOLOMON: Dennis Hennigan is the legal director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

DENNIS HENNIGAN: That just plays into the NRA’s hands, and it allows them to again reinforce their case that there is this conspiracy essentially against gun ownership, and that they are the guardians of freedom.

No, Mr. Hennigan, there is a conspiracy and you guys lead it. Not the media. The issue I have is that the media run screaming from the NRA yet they are too eager to get quotes from outfits like the Brady Bunch who are hostile to gun owners.

Via Smijer.

This time, it’s local. From Michael Silence:

A woman gunned down a prison guard and sprang her husband in a daring and violent escape this morning at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston, a state official said.

Authorities across the state began a manhunt for George Hyatte, 34, and his wife, Jennifer Hyatte, Tennessee Department of Correction spokeswoman Amanda Sluss said.

Sluss said Jennifer Hyatte shot corrections officer Wayne Morgan three times with a shotgun in the parking lot of the courthouse, where George Hyatte was scheduled to make an appearance.

Sadly, the guard has died. Michael has many more updates.

I’ve installed Spam Karma 2. However, it has banned even me from commenting here. Any ideas?

If you have the same problem, I’m working on it.

Update: If I log out of Wordpress, I can comment just fine. Any ideas?

Update: BTW, Spam Karma (with the exception of the log out thing) absolutely kicks butt. This is the first time I’ve had trackbacks enabled for more than 30 minutes in months.

Seen at End the War on Freedom:

If you need proof that marijuana causes mental illness just listen to the insane rantings of cops, prosecutors and politicians when they get going on the subject.

John Cole reports that some on the right don’t like John Roberts because he has no problem with gay cooties.

Head has plans to build a twin-gun Gatling rig with two AK type rifles. 900-1,000 rounds per minute. Sweet. And legal.

And check out these shredders. Christ, they can shred a BMW.

Update: Oh, a local man bought a tank:

The tank even came with desert tan, a working turret that moves around in menacing fashion and a very big gun that goes up and down, as if following something.

In other words, Bryan’s tank is the real deal.

The tank had been deployed with the Royal Scots Armored Brigade and was in Germany, running around on NATO assignments during the final days of the Cold War. The Brits decommissioned the tank about 1996, and it went into England’s collection of military bargain basement equipment.

“They will sell surplus military to anyone,” says Bryan.

The British Mark 11, the last version of its Chieftain tanks and the most modern main battle tank a civilian can own, was shipped from Southampton, England, to Brunswick, Ga., and trucked to Knoxville, where it was unloaded on 17th Street.

Since I was hacked, I had to upgrade Wordpress to version 1.5. You’re looking at it now but probably didn’t notice (other than the fact comments don’t pop up any more – that’s on purpose). If you notice any issues, let me know.

Thanks to Chris for helping me err doing it for me.

A kid, who smoked weed recreationally, was thought to be a drug dealer. Police raided his home and killed him because he possibly pointed his gun at police. Personally, I think we need more than possibly to justify killing anyone. However, here’s the part I found odd:

Police thought there was drug dealing going on in the home, and that there might be violence because Diotaiuto had a valid concealed weapons permit

Got that? You are considered violent for going through the trouble of getting a permit to legally carry a concealed weapon. And what did they find? They found an undisclosed weed (likely undisclosed because it’s not enough to justify killing someone for), paraphernalia (probably rolling papers), a gun they knew he owned, and an air gun. For that, Anthony Andrew Diotaiuto, 23, of Sunrise Florida is dead.

Another senseless no-knock warrant death.

Update: Pete has more.

I’ve covered Krasniqi before, who is a man who illegally sells guns to terrorists. The media tend to treat this guy like a saint. David Hardy looks at his political contributions. Some politicos should be ashamed to have a gunrunner contributing since they tend to be some fairly anti-gun folks.

The Ford blog links to this story, which says:

“Some analysts think the Democrats could stage a surprise here. This seat will be open, because Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is leaving, and the Democrats are tapping U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. as their candidate.

Actually, Ford stands no chance and I’ll call it now. The trick to winning in Tennessee is the middle and eastern sections of the state and Ford doesn’t have them. Sure, he’s a darling in Memphis but elsewhere people don’t know who he is. Or care.

Ford is a dynamic African-American congressman from a prominent political family; he’s already airing TV ads.

The problem is that the South has never elected an African-American to the Senate.

Really? What about Hiram Revels of Mississippi? Not only was he in the south but he was the first black senator. And he was a (gasp!) Republican. Seems like Dick Polman is making shit up.

Another potential problem is that his uncle, a Memphis politician, was indicted by a federal grand jury on bribery charges.

Ayup.

Update: In light of Manish’s comments, I will note that there is conflicting information on whether or not Hiram was elected or appointed. At the time, there was no 17th amendment so senators were not popularly elected but were elected by the state legislature. Most sources I’ve found say he was elected, which has to mean elected by the legislature.

So, Dick Polman may be correct or not, depending on what your definition of elected is.

Another black senator from the south is Blanche K. Bruce.

Number 6 is up at Fearless Philosophy For Free Minds.