You’ve been watching Noggin way too much when you start to think Laurie Berkner is kinda hot.

Via Jeff, comes this:

The U.S. government has called on NATO members to prepare for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the German daily Der Spiegel reported Saturday.

NATO officials said the United States is seriously weighing the possibility of military action against Iran.

The administration has been pretty clear on not allowing Iran to have nukes. Honestly, I figure if we don’t then Israel will. Kind of surprised they haven’t yet.

The AP:

The White House said Friday its Web tracking technology is consistent with federal rules because it only counts the number of visitors anonymously and doesn’t record personal information.

The White House’s site uses what’s known as a Web bug — a tiny graphic image that’s virtually invisible — to anonymously keep track of the number and time of visits. The bug is sent by a server maintained by an outside contractor, WebTrends Inc., and lets the traffic-analysis company know that another person has visited a specific page on the site.

Web bugs themselves are not prohibited. However, under a directive from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, they are largely banned at government sites when linked to cookies, which are data files that let a site track Web visitors.

In other news, the White House checks out Technorati and may install a Sitemeter.

Caught about 15 minutes of it and had to turn it off. Not due to bias but because I can’t stand that whole reality TV, Real World feel. They had a dumbass gang banger who said his Mac (which MTV called a machine gun though it wasn’t) held 32 in the chamber and said he needed money but wasn’t going to work so do the math. I did, 1 + 1 = fucking moron. Honestly, the show wasn’t as biased as I thought it would be even though 2 of their sample gun owners were criminals. Anyway, the girl who was attacked and then became a gun activist has a web page but I haven’t found it. If you have a link, let me know.

Mine will be off to a rocking start being unemployed. But things will turn around. Not sure what blogging will be like the rest of the day since I’m taking down Christmas stuff.

So, to you and yours, Happy New Year. And if you’re Chinese, sorry my well wishes are late.

I asked for it and Captain Holly delivered.

Update: more here and here. My kind of guns too.

But if I did, I’d stop:

A McDonald’s maintenance worker who pulled out his gun and fired two shots at a woman who was robbing another employee at gunpoint has been suspended from his job.

While police officials say Clifton Brown Jr. violated no laws last week when he fired the shots shortly after the restaurant’s midnight closing, the franchise owner said Brown violated a ban on guns at the restaurant.
The shooting happened as Brown and a co-worker were taking out the trash and a woman, who was on foot, put a gun to the back of the second employee. She then robbed the restaurant in the city just north of Louisville, Ky., through the drive-up window, police said.

Brown told police that he pulled his gun out and ordered the fleeing robber to stop. She then raised her own gun and he fired two shots, which apparently missed the woman, before she continued to flee.

Via reader Kevin.

Michael Silence has some.

And, given the propensity for other bloggers to ask me for links, I’ll give you the top reasons why I don’t read your blog:

All linky, no thinky. Would it kill you to actually, you know, write something? If you’re just parroting, set up a link farm.

You tilt at windmills for a party line. Both parties are wrong. A lot. You should even call your own party on that.

No feed. Seriously. I have some older blogs I read that don’t have feeds. I read them now because I read them before I discovered Bloglines. If you’re a new blog and don’t have a feed, I probably won’t add you to my read list. Now that I think about it, with the exception of commenting, I don’t even visit my own blog that much. It’s true. I use gmail to read comments and bloglines to proofread it. I only visit my own site to keep up with some links and to address comments. All that said, my first visit to your blog won’t be through a feed but to your site.

You don’t update enough. Now, if you’re particularly insightful but update infrequently (like this guy), you’ll keep my interest. Otherwise, I’ll move on.

Because every time you post something new, you email me to tell me that. I don’t mind getting emails about things that are important or breaking or whatever. But don’t send me an email every time you write something.

Stiff competition, folks. There are already many blogs out there and they’re better than yours. Heck, they’re better than mine. If you’re just parroting what others are saying, I’ll just go to the others. For example, I read Michelle Malkin so that I know what Republican blogs are talking about. Her site keeps me up to date with about 90% of what every other Republican blog is talking about. If you’re not adding anything, why would I read you and not her?

Your format sucks. I’m one of those folks who likes convenience and I like easy to read blogs. I don’t want to wait 10 seconds while all your scripts load. I like dark text on light background. I don’t like flaming red fonts or lots of graphics.

If your blog is merely a place for you to post the latest quizilla results or whatever the meme of the day is, yawn. Sure, I like you and all but I don’t care that much about you.

Now, if you want me to read, it’s easy. Two words: Gun porn.

Can someone tell me why after I clear history, URLs still show up in the address bar?

Update: All better now.

What’s up with the Republican blogs out there? There is a serious issue wherein the president may have broken the law. Yet, they’re more content to poo-poo the NYT for printing the story or US News for getting a FOIA request. Sorry, folks, but you’re not doing anyone any favors with this stuff. The press reports. Everyone ought to be concerned about the fact the president may have broken the law. The only complaint that should be leveled against the NYT is waiting for a year to time the report with a book they were pimping. And, guess what. People know the US spies. It’s not news. The details of it are news but Al Qaeda knows we’re watching them. They’re not suddenly picking up the NYT and saying: Hey, Abu, did you know they can listen to our phone calls? Stupid, little great Satans. They knew that already.

These are serious allegations and the Republican blogs may want to address the issue instead of crowing about another made up issue.

I mentioned MTV’s show on gun owners. Haven’t watched it yet but TiVo grabbed it for me. Anyway, Bitter reports something interesting:

I was called to be on the show. I’m kinda shocked it took them so long to air it since they initially called me in early 2004. Anyway, since I didn’t kill any animals or people, I wasn’t considered a representative of what they wanted to show as the gun owning population in the final cut. Funny since I thought that those qualities made me quite representative of the average gun owner. I also gave them the names of several promising young shooters who compete and are doing well, but I guess they weren’t stereotypical enough for MTV either.

MTV chose two criminals of the four total they chose to cover gun owners. No, no bias there.

Here’s a couple snapshots of the AK project mocked up and getting close to being done. First is the side view:

Here’s a close up of the receiver:

Up next, slapping in the fire control group and some pins, which you can learn how to do here.

The WaPo:

Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said yesterday that the United States could be unable to pay its bills in early 2006 unless Congress raises the government’s borrowing authority, which is now capped at $8.18 trillion.

Snow, in a letter to lawmakers, estimated that the government is expected to bump into the statutory debt limit around the middle of February.

“At that time, unless the debt limit is raised or the Treasury Department takes authorized extraordinary actions, we will be unable to continue to finance government operations,” Snow wrote.

And this is not the first time the Republican controlled government raised the limit:

The last time Congress agreed to boost the debt limit was in November 2004 — from $7.38 trillion to the current $8.18 trillion. The government’s statutory borrowing authority was also pushed up in 2002 and 2003.

I guess fiscal responsibility is just a talking point during elections.

Bob Krumm details a heart-wrenching interview of a child who lived in a meth house by a counselor. Read it all. Then come back. He ends with:

So let’s talk about drug legalization . . .

To which I said:

Ok, let’s. Did prohibition work?

Obviously, drugs are problematic. No one with any sense about it would claim otherwise. But is this supposed war on drugs worth it?

The drug war costs billions and billions and billions of dollars. Many innocent, peaceable citizens have been needlessly killed by a police force that has been essentially militarized and happens to no-knock on the wrong door. People are not secure in their homes because of no knock warrants and search warrants issued based on the frequently false testimony of criminals. Property is taken and lives are destroyed over a few minuscule amounts of drugs. Is it worth that price to confiscate an infinitesimally small fraction of a percent of the drug supply in this country?

People’s homes, cash, vehicles, etc. are taken without due process of law because someone might have a little weed. Seriously, that is frightening.

And yes, I’ve said that before.

In England, anyway:

British offenders who fail to pay their court fines could receive a text message warning them “to pay up or get locked up.”

Under plans outlined by the government Thursday, magistrates courts in England and Wales are to look at sending messages by text or email to fine evaders and those who fail to show up to court or for community service.

Between this and their recent plan to record all things that happen on the roads and their camera system, it’s a bit scary over there. Particularly if you’re a dark skinned dude wearing a heavy coat.

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what have for dinner. — JAMES BOVARD (1994)

Colt solved the sheep’s problem

The AP:

The National Security Agency’s Internet site has been placing files on visitors’ computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most files of that type.

The files, known as cookies, disappeared after a privacy activist complained and The Associated Press made inquiries this week. Agency officials acknowledged yesterday that they had made a mistake.

Nonetheless, the issue raised questions about privacy at the agency, which is on the defensive over reports of an eavesdropping program.

Cookies are generally harmless, of course, but I was unaware there were laws against them. I suppose there are laws against the Feds placing them. It looks like it was an accident, though that’s reported after all the bluster and scare:

Don Weber, an agency spokesman, said in a statement yesterday that the use of the so-called persistent cookies resulted from a recent software upgrade.

Normally, Mr. Weber said, the site uses temporary cookies that are automatically deleted when users close their Web browsers, which is legally permissible. But he said the software in use was shipped with the persistent cookies turned on.

“After being tipped to the issue, we immediately disabled the cookies,” Mr. Weber said.

Cookies are widely used at commercial Web sites and can make Internet browsing more convenient by letting sites remember user preferences. For example, visitors would not have to repeatedly enter passwords at sites that require them.

Privacy advocates point out that cookies can also track Web surfing, even if no personal information is collected.

Do I have a freedom from unreasonable cookies?

Tonight, MTV is set to do a show on gun owners:

MTV, Music Television, has become known more for its “reality” shows and political activism than for playing music videos over the past decade. That trend will continue Thursday night with the airing of the latest episode of the network’s “True Life” documentary series: “True Life: I’m a Gun Owner.” While some firearms enthusiasts are giving MTV the benefit of the doubt, many gun rights advocates are already questioning the objectivity of the program.

[snip]

The Dec. 29 episode examines how “guns are changing the lives of four young people in very different ways,” according to a promotional “blurb” emailed to Cybercast News Service by MTV publicist Diane Domondon.

“While most gun owners are responsible, on average every hour someone between the ages of 15 and 28 is cut down by a bullet,” the promotional statement continued. “Whether it’s for protection, crime or sport, guns are having a deep effect on the youth of our nation.”

Update: It’s pre-loaded with bias:

The program features a convicted felon, a gang member, a hunter and a crime victim who is now an advocate of armed self-defense to present the various sides of the gun debate. Several gun rights advocates immediately challenged MTV’s math.

“It’s a bit offensive that 50 percent of the people they’ve chosen to feature as being ‘gun owners’ are people who are obviously breaking the law and probably acquired their firearms illegally,” Erich Pratt of Gun Owners of America said of the gang member and the convict. “When you look at the statistics, it’s only a fraction of 1 percent of the ‘gun owners’ in the country who ever use firearms in an illegitimate way.”

Anyone have a CAD drawing or know the specs of a Colt 9mm magazine block?

I really like the website Keep and Bear Arms. It has a lot of news and other items gun folks should be keeping up with. They’re having a fundraiser. So, go give them money if you like.

I don’t like the fact they don’t have syndication or feeds. I’ll make a deal with them: if they get an RSS feed for their news items, I’ll pledge $50. Anyone else want to make that deal with them?

Pretty good discussion over at Lean Left in the comments section about FISA. (once you get past the troll and me calling the troll a troll). My thinking is that Bush really stepped in it this time. FISA is pretty clear regarding wiretaps of communications involving US Persons and that said taps require warrants. Granted, those warrants can, in some circumstances, be obtained after the fact.

As Tom said:

At issue here is who gets to decide whether or not FISA is constitutional. Answer: Not the president. So the argument has to be either that Bush broke the law in violating FISA, or that FISA as written doesn’t apply to what Bush did anyway, therefore what he did was allowable irrespective of the constitutionality of FISA. It cannot be that because FISA is (probably) unconstitutional, it can simply be ignored by the executive branch.

Bush could have gone through the steps to properly obtain warrants without much trouble. He didn’t because it was inconvenient politically and practically. If nothing else, it indicates laziness. Triggerfinger says:

To deliberately evade the requirements of the law is to place yourself above it; and such a deliberate choice requires a response both swift and firm.

To do so over a mere 179 modified requests (plus two denied) from a total of 5645 is to demonstrate an outright contempt for the checks and balances necessary in a free society.

I have my doubts as to whether the “enemy press” has accurately identified the whole story. But if it has, the President has crossed the line.

Further thoughts: I don’t think said searches are inherently unconstitutional because they are reasonable in given circumstances. Said searches do, I think, violate FISA which was established to balance security needs with liberties.

And, barring any new info on the subject, I’m mostly done talking about it for now.

Denise is showing hers off. Am I the only gun owner who doesn’t have one?

Apparently, the city and the NRA have struck a deal where if the city agrees to delay enforcement of the ban, the NRA will not seek a restraining order. My advice to the good gun owners of SF is first to move. If that doesn’t suit you, when it comes time to turn in your guns, turn in the ammo first.

In two years, I’ve never made a left turn out of my subdivision. Just felt like sharing that.

Pawpaw on Tactical terms:

I listen to the young’uns on the SWAT team talk about tactical this and tactical that, and I want to puke. Equipment isn’t tactical. Your brains are tactical. Your training is tactical. Your equipment is just equipment.

Good point. Reminds me of Tactical Tommy Goes to the Store.

The AP:

Lawyers for Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held as an “enemy combatant” for nearly four years, want the Supreme Court to resolve how much power a president has while the nation is at war.

Lawyers Donna Newman and Andrew Patel told the high court in papers filed Tuesday that the justices must step in “to preserve the vital checks and balances” on the president.

They cited the Bush administration’s interpretation of the president’s war powers to justify its decision to hold Padilla — until recently — without charges in a military brig in South Carolina.

Padilla’s lawyers also said President Bush abused his war powers authority by approving warrantless surveillance of conversations between people in the United States and abroad who had suspected terrorist ties.

1928A1 compares the Gemtech Trinity/Talon to the LRM M169, complete with pics and video.

Seen at UC:

You can’t win the war on terror by getting wire tapped for your country, you win the war on terror by making some other poor bastard get wire tapped for his country.

Heh.

They’re continuing. Rumor has it Mike Holloway canceled his 12/31 show. Odds are it’s a good bet since it’s not listed on his site. RK Shows is still on for 12/31. And in February of 2006, there are (for the third time) competing shows scheduled for 2/11 and 2/12. I think RK is putting the squeeze on Mike.

Actually, two:

Any uninvited person found in my house at night will be found there in the morning,’ one reader wrote.

Heh. The writer continues:

“Gee, [that quote is] scary and intimidating, my well-meaning friends replied.”

“I had to agree, up to a point. Comments like those are scary. But only if you’re planning a home invasion.”

Double heh.

Via Keep and Bear Arms.

United Press International:

U.S. President George Bush decided to skip seeking warrants for international wiretaps because the court was challenging him at an unprecedented rate.

So, because the after the fact non-protections were inconvenient, he decided to merely skip them. In other words, the review process to ensure that said taps passed muster was subverted. Not looking good.

A review of Justice Department reports to Congress by Hearst newspapers shows the 26-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court modified more wiretap requests from the Bush administration than the four previous presidential administrations combined.

Not unexpected given the attacks. But:

The 11-judge court that authorizes FISA wiretaps modified only two search warrant orders out of the 13,102 applications approved over the first 22 years of the court’s operation.

But since 2001, the judges have modified 179 of the 5,645 requests for surveillance by the Bush administration, the report said. A total of 173 of those court-ordered “substantive modifications” took place in 2003 and 2004. And, the judges also rejected or deferred at least six requests for warrants during those two years — the first outright rejection of a wiretap request in the court’s history.

Wow. That’s quite a difference in terms of volume. Of course, as said before, it’s not unexpected since, as they tell us, 9/11 changed everything.

Head now has a diagram of Kalashnikov Midsection Parts Terminology. Another must read from Head if you’re contemplating an AK build.

It’s good to see Buck blogging again. Congratulate him on his new gun purchase, a Sigarms P229. I happen to have one too and love it. He’s looking for a co-blogger too:

So if you are a right of center libertarian (or a Conservative purist) who always wanted to try out Blogging but didn’t have the web space or don’t know how to get started this may be the perfect opportunity for you.

I scored a 14. Tactical apprentice. I’m not really tactical at all just practical. But I only spell GLOCK in all caps because that’s what GLOCK does. Good thing it’s not a rifle quiz because then I’d be a ninja.

This WaPo story I linked earlier has a Who’s Blogging section powered by Technorati which links to bloggers discussing the story. Currently, it links to me.

Hats off the the WaPo for giving linkage to those who would comment.

The AP:

Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith has an unusual bedfellow in the Supreme Court fight over her late husband’s fortune: the Bush administration.

The administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer filed arguments on Smith’s behalf and wants to take part when the case is argued before the justices.

No comment.

A nice little piece written by Mark Bunner, addressing Katherine Letellier’s claim that both views of the second amendment should be considered so that things can be fair, quips:

Her assertion that balance (or the appearance thereof) is more important than content is ludicrous.

I find it amazing that someone who claims to be a government teacher would think it important to “present the diverse interpretations of this controversial amendment” as if all interpretations were equally valid.

Her faulty position would have teachers presenting invalid and faulty “interpretations” as if they were credible and informed.

The science of buoyancy would be presented with the “interpretation” that magic turtles hold up boats.

That’s beautiful.

Update: David Codrea had his letter published too, in part anyway.

I’d ordinarily pass on commenting on this hysterical piece advocating a total ban on handguns but it contains this whopper:

Of the 12,000 guns used to kill people every year, 160 are used in legitimate self-defense. Guns in the home are used seven times more often for murder than for self-defense.

According the various sources, that number is between 700,000 and and 2,500,000. Jenny Price has suffered a terrible loss but that doesn’t excuse lying.

The Tennessee legislature is gearing up for a special session on ethics. This is, presumably, so that it can pass some ethics laws. This comes on the heels of The Tennessee Waltz, in which many legislators were arrested for taking campaign contributions err bribes. A few notes:

This is nothing but a dog and pony show. No real reform will come out of this. This stuff could have been handled during a regular session but wasn’t. You see, it’s much more dramatic for the governor to call a special session during the holidays because it emphasizes this notion that they’re really doing something. They’re not.

Politicians pass the laws that apply to them and how they operate. Said laws usually benefit said politicians and are designed to ensure they have power. We have here an entity that regulates and oversees itself. That’s not good. It’s rather like if an SEC company could audit itself. Why would you care about a financial report from a company that audits itself? You wouldn’t because the information would be skewed.

Despite those laws that we already had on the books, these legislators engaged in unethical and illegal actions. We have the laws in place and they don’t follow them. What good will more laws do if we can’t get a grip on the ones we already have? And it takes a three year investigation involving an elaborate plan that set up a fictitious company to catch them due to the complexity involved.

This is about the appearance of accomplishing something. Anything. Nothing more. Posturing at it’s finest. We’ll get to see our politicos act morally outraged and aghast. But they’ll do nothing of substance.

So, grab your popcorn and beverage and take in the little song and dance they’re putting on for us.

Update: Turns out, the ethics panel has never actually met:

But if the talk was big, the action was little, if any. The governor’s special ethics committee, created in that Cabinet meeting, did not meet even once.

And the panel he created in October 2003 to ensure that the state promotions process was conducted fairly never met, either.

Morons.

Caught the Knob Creek machine gun shoot episode of Mail Call. I caught it three times, actually. It was awesome and I really need a GE Mini-gun. It spit out brass like a hose spits out water. And I love how gun manufacturers are hiring cute women these days to pimp their gear. Also, I saw a shirt on there that I swore I’d seen somewhere before then it occurred to me that I saw this shirt (first on the right) because Freedom Gear used to advertise here.

I highly recommend you set your TiVos to get the episode if you haven’t already.

Update: Subguns has a link to video.

In a move that should make Bill happy, A.C. Kleinheider is guest blogging at Nashville is Talking. Some wit:

I’m not the biggest fan of this trend toward Holiday “newsletters” outlining the past year’s “happenings” instead of cards. Have we not picked up a phone or thrown an email at each other in the past year? No? Oh, well then I don’t care.

I concur. I’ll read a half a page. I won’t read three.

At home with Junior all day, one of the things I feel obligated to do in my role as stay-at-home-dad (which will be permanent in a week) is to make dinner. We’re having bacon cheeseburgers and not any pre-packaged burgers either. Real meat ground from a cow who was alive three days ago that I got from some farmer friends. Anyway, I just put kosher salt on the bacon and I felt dirty.

And since I’m making burgers, thought I’d share:

1 pound of ground beef – not that low fat stuff either, if you use low fat you have to add egg and bread crumbs to make the patties stick. Use full fat to bypass burgers that taste like meat loaf.
1/2 cup Worcestershire
2 table spoons ground mustard
2 table spoons of minced garlic
4 table spoons of barbecue sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix in a bowl. Pat into 3/4 inch thick patties. Cook on the grill or (like I’m doing since it’s winter) broil for 15 – 20 minutes. Pan fried burgers kinda suck since they don’t cook even. Remove from oven. I add cooked bacon and cheese then put them back in the oven for a couple of minutes. Yum.

And if you happen to like low fat burgers, put your skirt on before coming to my house.

Tennessee’s sales tax in the news:

When Julie Abel goes grocery shopping each week, she drives more than 25 miles to Georgia to avoid paying the nation’s highest average tax on food: 8.4 percent in Tennessee.

“If you can save $5 it is worth driving down the road,” Abel said after traveling from her rural home in Hamilton County, which collects 2.22 percent sales tax on food on top of the 6 percent for the state. Georgia does not tax food sales.

Abel is not alone in her frustration. Rep. Michael Kernell, D-Memphis, said he regularly hears complaints about the state’s almost 60-year-old food tax and he predicted it would change.

I don’t know that the numbers are accurate as our sales tax is 9.5% but 8.5% on some food and not others but the breakdown is arbitrary and the new sales tax laws have not been in effect for 60 years. Still, driving across a state line to buy food isn’t a bad idea. More:

An “average family of four could eat for free from Thanksgiving to Christmas on the tax they pay on food in a year,” Daly said.

A recent report from Daly’s group shows Tennessee leads the nation with the highest average sales tax on food, 8.4 percent, and a 9.4 percent sales tax.

Tennessee is among nine states that either have no state income tax, or collect it on dividend and interest income. Some say a state income tax could help ease the burden of the tax on food.

And there’s the pitch. Bredesen says he won’t support it and that’s why I voted for him.

Perusing the 9mm AR-15 FAQ at AR-15.com, I’ve changed my mind again and think I’ll probably stick with the Olympic system. The reason is the hammer. The Colt system requires a 9mm hammer which will not work with a 5.56 upper. The Olympic system uses a standard hammer. I like to keep my toys compatible.

I’ve come full circle. Thoughts?

That’s a lot of loot considering we have only one child:

Opening gifts is hard work. Need a little drink to recharge:

Junior and I are home alone today with our Christmas loot. Blogging will be light.

James says:

Did you know that there are no Podcasts available that are about guns?

All you tech-savvy gun geeks should see this as an oppurtunity.

Not me. I have a voice made for blogging.

Apparently, in older black and white movies acting is synonymous with talking fast.

It’s the holidays and blogging will be light or non-existent for a few days, as will blog reading I suspect. So, to you and yours, have a good one and the Uncle family wishes you a Merry Christmas.

Via Radley, comes two incidents where the police (again) raid the wrong houses. I’ll focus on this one:

It was 28 seconds past 7:45 p.m. on Aug.18 when the 911 dispatcher took the call from Sascha Wagner. “There’s someone breaking into the house,” she yelled at the 911 operator, giving the address of the home she shares with David Scheper on the 800 block of West Lombard Street. “Send police now!”

Moments before, Scheper had opened the door to two strangers who then tried to force their way in. Scheper, who is 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds, slammed and locked the door on the would-be intruders, but he was in a panic as they smashed the glass in the 100-year-old door. He grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun and “was racking the slide over and over,” he recalls.

“I didn’t have any ammo for it, I’m racking the shotgun, telling them to get out. I’m not sure they’re in yet.” He ran to his basement in search of a usable weapon to defend himself and his girlfriend. “I was scared for her safety more than mine,” Scheper says.

Without ammo, a gun is a paperweight. More:

In the basement, Scheper grabbed a CZ-52 semiautomatic. “I have this piece-of-junk Czechoslovakian pistol,” he says. “I put a magazine in it, racked the slide back. I was trying to check to see if there was a round in the chamber and I couldn’t rack the slide . . . so I was fighting it. The gun was jammed, and I was trying to get it operable. It accidentally went off into the floor of my basement.”

And with that, police say, Scheper committed the crime for which he was charged in Baltimore City Circuit Court: Discharge of a Firearm in Baltimore City. He faced up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

Prosecutors dropped Scheper’s case Dec. 2.

So, when the police screw up, you’ve committed a crime. Still more:

The intruders? They got in. They took $1,440 in cash Scheper says he withdrew from his bank account in order to buy a used pickup truck. They hit a 70-year-old art-deco-style metal desk with an ax. They took 18 of Scheper’s guns—mostly inoperable antiques, he says—and some gun-shaped props he had built for movies. “They threatened to blow up my safe,” Scheper says, so he opened it for them. They face no criminal charges.

The intruders were William T. Bristol and Antwyne R. Jones, Baltimore Police Department detectives with the Organized Crime Division.

The police were looking for someone who had been evicted from the residence three weeks earlier.

I’ve written before about why I actually read so few lefty blogs and it has to do with the crazy, vile, hateful rhetoric which mostly fills their comment section.

Via Insty, comes this post by tas that says that the huge right leaning blogs are more likely to link to smaller blogs than the huge left leaning blogs. Der Commissar has more on why.

But this ain’t a post about all that, this is a post about this comment at tas’ blog:

Yes, congratulations on being featured on Instafuckingpundit, you damn traitor. I hope you’re happy with your huge fucking thread on your pissant little blog, all thanks to you speading wonderful rightwing propaganda for Bushco.

Hope you enjoy your 22 pisses of sliver, asshole.

What a moron. But it rather proves Der Commissar’s point. And it’s why I don’t read a lot of lefty blogs.

It’s hard to find lefty blogs worth reading because of the moonbattery. But I do enjoy reading well-reasoned lefties because I am inclined to agree with them on some things. I think I’ve found another one to read, for spite if nothing else. Or because Chimpy McHitlerburton’s orbital mind control lasers are telling me to. I screwed up and put the shiny side of the foil in rendering me powerless against them.

Last night, I went to CCA to meet Les and CounterTop for some shooting. Also, got a chance to reveal my secret identity to Tam and Alston, which had an effect on Alston because, well, through a set of circumstances he knows me. We rented one of the subguns (an H&K MP-5, to be exact) and sent several hundred rounds down range. Then, the fun began when myself, Tam, Alston and another CCA employee began debating whether or not the grip on the new Sig 229 DAK is wider than the grip on the regular Sig 229. Three of us said yes. Coincidentally, SigArms’ website is silent on the issue but the DAK does weigh about an ounce more, which I’d say is in the grip.

Also, regarding my pending 9mm AR-15 project, Alston convinced me that the Colt system was the way to go. The two predominant 9mm systems on the market are the Colt system and the Olympic system. Both require mag blocks (though in the Olympic system, there are mags that have a block attached to them). I was going to go with the Olympic system at first because it uses unmodified Sten mags, which can be had for less than $5 each. The Olympic system is a bit more expensive when you don’t factor in the magazines. The Colt system uses proprietary Colt mags or modified Uzi mags. Colt mags run about $50 and Uzi mags run about $20 but can be modified for $5. Then, Alston informed me that Bushmaster was making Colt compatible, polymer magazines that held the bolt open after the last round was fired. In fact, they had three in stock. Bolt hold open is a nice feature and the mags were going for about $20. Any money saved by using the Sten mags became irrelevant unless you wanted 10 or more magazines. I was convinced. I’ll be getting the RRA upper receiver for my 9mm project.

Olympic is now offering a system that uses Glock magazines, which is pretty neat.

Also, if you’re interested in a 9mm, check out arfcom’s 9mm AR FAQ.

It’s the end of the year, holiday time. A time for reflection. A time for a look back. A time to be thankful that the baby Jesus was born, died and resurrected as a fat guy, who delivers presents, chants Kujichagulia through a menorah during his month long fasting because he’s trying to lose all that weight. Or something, I tend to get my holidays confused. I think it may also involve fireworks. It’s also Festivus, which completely unlike the aforementioned holiday montage, is actually made up. As part of Festivus, we are to air our grievances. Tommy wants someone to start so I’ll start with a list of shit I hate:

People who use non-standard, colorful fonts in their email

People who don’t flush toilets

People who don’t realize that in email there are separate buttons for Reply and Reply To All

Gum on sidewalks

When people make weak coffee. Here’s a newsflash, if you like weak coffee, you can add water to strong coffee. Those of us that like it strong can’t make weak coffee stronger, unless we use instant coffee which happens to taste like ass.

People who can’t walk with either a distinct sense of purpose or in a straight line. Walk through the mall and there will eventually be a dumbass in front of you who you’ll try to get around. They will zig to the left and zag to the right getting in your way both times without a clue they’re doing it. Those are the morons I mean. If you’ve never seen these people, you are these people. Walk like you have a sense of purpose or, at least, like you know where you’re going.

Hidden songs on CDs. Hey, dumbass, how am I supposed to get to the song when it’s after the 10 minutes of silence after the last song.

The 20 minute feedback/wall of noise/jam session at the end of recorded songs. No one wants to hear that unless they’re at a show and had a beer or 6. Save that shit for concerts.

People who drive in the left lane who are not passing or turning.

Knoxville traffic.

When I’m checking out the donut spread and I grab what I think is a custard filled donut but it turns out to be lemon. Lemon donuts? What the Hell?

Computer applications, particularly GMail, that set focus or whatever the Hell it is that causes them to think they’re the most important application I’m running on the computer. Apparently, it has decided it’s so important that it should be the top window.

Coffee stir sticks/straws. Seriously, these things are so thin they cannot adequately stir coffee (which SayUncle happens to take with a little sugar and he likes it strong). I always wind up using three of them to get an adequate level of stirriness*. Why not just make the damn things three times thicker?

* People who make up words.

People who insist that I call them Mr., Mrs., Ms. or Doctor [their last name].

People who think turn signals are completely optional.

Websites whose main page (i.e., the one that ends in .com, .net, etc.) has a Click To Enter link. Obviously, I want to enter or I wouldn’t be there.

Sweaters. Can’t stand them yet every year the wife buys me one.

When people post lists of stuff they hate.

Crappy TeeVee shows turned into crappy movies.

And a Meppy Chrisamadkwanzakuh to you, unless you’re an overly sensitive shit stirrer. In which case, piss off.

Update: More airing of grievances here, here and here. My favorites:

Mentos! Fresh maker my ass!

People who walk around with the little wireless phone earpiece thing: you’re not a secret service agent, you’re one step away from being the homeless dude pushing the shopping cart talking to himself.

When my dog farts, it smells like a tire fire. I tell him this, but he seems proud of the fact. And his flatulence entertains him, so who am I to take that away from him?

And Les says people who don’t signal aren’t assholes but they’re out of blinker fluid.

The Independent:

Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years.

Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years.

I’ve not covered Taser deaths for a while. That is because they seem to have dropped off a bit. That said:

Yesterday, stun gun maker Taser International (TASRE) announced that a wrongful death lawsuit against the company had been dismissed with prejudice, which sent the stock up about 11% yesterday. And there was today’s release that the company would be able to drop the E and resume trading on NASDAQ.

But in the Q the company filed yesterday, there were some interesting legal disclosures that didn’t make it into one of the three press releases that the company has put out in the past 24 hours. For example, while the company noted in yesterday’s release that this was the eighth wrongful death lawsuit to be dismissed, it failed to note that the number of product liability lawsuits which claim either wrongful death or personal injury, has more than doubled since the Q the company filed in late May.

I think Tasers function like they’re supposed to and don’t really fault the company for Taser related deaths. That seems to be more of a police issue than a company issue. Still, Taser seems to be catching most of the heat for it.

So says a commenter at Lean Left. It’s true, I hate white people. I can’t stand us, actually. Tom has more.

I don’t usually pimp the Blogads over there on the right but you’ll notice the new one from UltiMAK. They make good stuff and I highly recommend their AK scout mount. You can see my various mentions of them here.

What is Nashvillenews.net? It’s always showing up on Technorati. And when you do a Technorati for it, a bunch of different URLS are linking to it but their content is all the same. Any clues?

Chris runs down the Top Nerd Fantasies. Surprisingly, getting laid not on there. I kid.

What, no phaser? Geez. It’s the perfect weapon. Can kill, can stun and can even bring back those killed with it. I think it makes milkshakes too. And, of course, faster than light travel. And, since I’m on a Star Trek kick, no Holodeck? The Holodeck would, of course, let you do all of your nerd fantasies.

Here’s the deal: I have not yet been able to determine if the Bush administration violated the law regarding the unwarranted searches for which they neglected to get after the fact authorizations. The issue is a complex one and, frankly, will have to be decided by a court.

That said, it doesn’t make a bit of difference if Clinton did it too. It’s legal or not. Period. If I don’t like Clinton doing it, I also don’t like Bush doing it. After all, your guy won’t be in power forever. And see rule #3.

This crazy talking point (illustrated here in comments by Bill Hobbs) that, well, I’ll just let him say it:

Have you seen any polls from CBS or CNN or ABC or the NYT or the WaPo asking Americans what they think of the president using the NSA to eavesdrop on suspected al-Qaeda agents living in this country?

After all, they poll on everything. You know they’ve polled on this.

But you haven’t seen those polls published.

Why?

I suspect it’s because the polls were taken and showed that a solid majority of Americans are in favor of the spying and are upset to learn that the NYT blew the program and, by doing so, has made it more difficult for the government to stop terrorist attacks on the homeland, thereby putting American lives at more risk.

Just because something is popular, it doesn’t make it right or wrong. It just makes it popular. Or as I said in comments there:

Let’s look at other things that were supported by the majority:

Eugenics in Germany
Segregation
Slavery
10 seasons of Friends

As a general rule, when an overwhelming majority of white people want something, it can’t be that great.

So, the issue is this: Should this type of spying be allowed? With all the partisan bickering, folks are losing sight of whether or not this stuff should be happening in the first place and there’s a case for either position. I personally tend to think that, in the event of an emergency, it should be allowed subject to review. As Bob Krumm says:

What has been sorely lacking since September 11th is a sober and thoughtful national discussion on the balance between security and civil rights. As a result, we lack a long overdue update of policies and procedures that don’t adequately address modern telecommunications or modern terrorism.

Will we get that discussion? No. We will not.

For those of you who don’t remember Goose Creek, here’s the skinny:

A drug sweep Wednesday morning at a South Carolina school has some parents and students questioning police tactics.

Surveillance video from Stratford High School in Goose Creek shows 14 officers, some with guns drawn, ordering students to lie the ground as police searched for marijuana. Students who didn’t comply with the orders quickly enough were reportedly handcuffed.

Police didn’t find any criminals in the armed sweep, but they say search dogs smelled drugs on a dozen backpacks.

Pete reports on a tentative settlement resulting from a suit filed in the case:

The students could receive between $2,000 and $5,000 each.

I wold have preferred criminal charges and jail time for those involved in the raid.

An insane judge apparently signed a restraining order against David Letterman that was requested by an insane woman:

Late last week, a Santa Fe District Court judge signed a temporary restraining order against talk-show host David Letterman alleging he has tormented a city resident for more than 10 years by using code words on his television program.

[snip]

In the application for the restraining order, which was filed Thursday, Nestler alleges that between May 1994 and now, Letterman forced her to go bankrupt and caused her “mental cruelty” and “sleep deprivation.”

Nestler — who lived in Nevada, New Jersey, New York City, Maine and Santa Fe during that period — requested that Letterman, who tapes his show in New York, stay at least 3 yards from her and that he not “think of me, and release me from his mental harassment and hammering,” according to the application.

Some places have laws where if you are the subject of a restraining order, you may not legally own a gun.

GOA reports:

At issue for gun owners is a provision that would allow the FBI to obtain “firearms sales records.” The bill extends Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act and allows agents of the federal government to get “firearms sales records” which, in their opinion, are relevant to investigating terrorism.

These records would be obtained from gun dealers, who are required by law to keep the gun purchase records (4473 forms). Thus, an anti-gun administration could then easily compile gun owner registration lists — an enterprise which has often been a prelude to gun confiscation.

This was a couple of days ago when the Patriot Act couldn’t withstand the filibuster. Since the Senate approved it via a complete lack of balls from an opposition party, I wonder if this provision was attached. Between this and the anti-meth stuff, mission creep is outweighing the positives of the act.

The Knob Creek machine gun shoot will be on Mail Call tonight. Set your dials. See here.

Monopoly: Eminent Domain Special Edition! That’s funny.

In the spirit of oddball thought experiments (like this one that got a lot of play in the blogosphere), here’s a new one I’ve been pondering:

Yesterday, a volcano erupted a few hundred miles off the east coast. It created an island roughly the size of Virginia. Through some bizarre set of circumstances, today said island has cooled, has plenty of foliage, fresh water, critters and is generally a hospitable place to live. I charter a boat, get there and decide I’ll start my own country, which I’ll call Uncle Land. I’m the first one there. You guys show up and we agree that Uncle Land is the coolest name for a country ever. Now, our task is to write a Constitution for our new country. What would it include?

To make it easy, our new country would consist of a national government and some (less than 50) city governments.

I think I’d start with establishing branches of government identical to the ones in the US in terms of function but with a few changes (to prevent career politicians and to ensure the people and the cities have a voice):

Executive: Popularly elected. Limited to two terms of four years. For gits and shiggles, we’ll call him God Emperor of the Multiverse.

Legislative: Two houses:

Judicial: Still up in the air on this one.

Update: Other ideas:

For a bill to become law, it has to pass both houses by a vote of 60% and signed by the GEM. The GEM can veto. The houses can override the veto by a vote of 75%.

I’m sorry, I realize HL is showing off his sweet looking Garand. But I just can’t get over the fact he has a camouflaged couch.

Over at Drug War Rant, comes this tale:

Rebecca Doussan (age 26) and her twin sister Rachel were injecting cocaine. Rebecca left the apartment to get some more, and when she returned, discovered her sister drowned in the bathtub, with the water still running and the bathroom door locked.

The autopsy found that Smith died as a result of drowning, associated with the toxic effect of cocaine, [police spokesman] Gallagher said.

Now Rebecca is being charged with 2nd degree murder for supplying Rachel with drugs which “”turn out to be the direct cause of death.”

I’m with Pete, what’s the point of this prosecution?

David Hardy reports that the NRA has come out in support of it. The bill would allow a 90 day amnesty to register NFA weapons that were acquired overseas between June 26, 1934 and October 31, 1968. First time in recent memory the NRA has done anything for the Class 3 folks, I think. Now, let’s get on that repealing the Hughes Amendment, the NFA tax, and the sporting purpose language.

With the liberals in Canada threatening a gun ban, it should surprise no one that gun sales are shooting (heh) up:

As soon as the Liberals unveiled their promise to ban the weapons earlier this month, Vancouver gun shop owners saw a jump in handgun sales.

Of course, I’m guessing that criminals aren’t the ones buying them at gun shops. As we all know, they get theirs from the US.

14 rounds of 45ACP. Nice.

In a rebuttal to Democrats recasting their image on gun control, Alan Gottlieb and Joe Waldron:

Milligan’s well-written piece, unfortunately, did not explain that the Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting, nor did it say that Democrats are changing their opinions about guns and the people who own them. Not surprisingly, gun rights activists who frequent KeepAndBearArms.com – the busiest firearms rights website in the country – were quick to pick up on this. Wrote one correspondent: “It’s always ‘seeking to improve the chances of its candidates’. Notice exactly whom that serves…OK, contrast it to ‘seeking to better understand their constituents’ needs’.”

Throughout the Globe article, there were repeated references to hunters, but the vast majority of law-abiding gun owners in this country aren’t hunters. They own firearms for personal protection, competition, recreational shooting and collecting. Even hunters own guns for other purposes. Many gun owners simply like to tinker with firearms the way car buffs spend hours under the hoods of their high-performance sports cars.

Democrats will not acknowledge that they really aren’t changing their underlying philosophy about guns, they’re simply trying to repackage the message to make it less offensive to the tens of millions of Americans upon whose gun rights they want to infringe. They stopped calling it “gun control” and now call it “gun safety,” but the product is always the same: Some new scheme that ratchets down on a citizen’s right to own a gun. Sometimes, as reported by the St. Petersburg Times recently, they shy away from the gun issue altogether, terrified to admit that theirs is the party of restrictive gun laws.

So. they really are just recasting their image and not their actual position.

The AP:

The terror-fighting USA Patriot Act may have a new lease on life. The GOP-controlled Senate on Wednesday approved a six-month extension of the USA Patriot Act to keep the anti-terror law from expiring on Dec. 31. President Bush gave it his grudging blessing.

The Republican-controlled House is now expected to come back and consider the legislation keeping the 16 provisions of the law passed after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington from expiring.

Republican leaders and Bush wanted to make most of the law permanent, but were stymied by a filibuster in the Senate and had to resort to a six-month extension.

Anyone know if all the law enforcement wish-list stuff made it on?

So, 652 words on FISA and all that gets one comment (update: 2 now). 34 words on whether Pirro is a babe or not gets 15. Just found it odd.

or is Jeanine Pirro, who may be ending her Senate run against H. Clinton, kind of a babe?

Update: It is apparently just me.

The other day on the TeeVee, I saw a commercial for a video game that simulated paint ball. It had a paint ball gun that you pointed at the TeeVee to shoot other paint ballers (no, it did not fire paint balls). I found it odd because paint ball is supposed to simulate playing war or cops & robbers or whatever. Now, we have simulations of our simulations. Strange. Or maybe we have to simulate simulating stuff because if they made a first person shooter for kids (the obvious target of the game) that was based on war or cops & robbers and actually featured shooting simulated people as opposed to simulated paint ballers, some soccer mom somewhere would shit her pants.

I want The A-Team first person shooter game. No matter how many times you fire your gun, you can’t hit anyone. But you always manage to affect the environment in such a way as to stop the bad guy, who is later seen knocking the dust off himself while coming out of an overturned a car or a wall you knocked onto him so that you know that he survived. Then the police come and take them away and you escape. And you learn the valuable lesson that unions are evil and union busting is good.

The Brady Bunch released a presser opposing Alito’s nomination:

Judge Alito’s nomination poses serious dangers to the safety of our communities, our families, and our children, as evidenced by his troubling dissent in U.S. vs. Rybar, 103 F.3d 273 (3rd Cir. 1996). In that case, Judge Alito argued that the federal machine gun ban amounted to an unconstitutional exercise of Congressional power under the Commerce Clause. Alito attempted to erect arbitrary hurdles to Congressional efforts to reduce the availability of machine guns to the criminal element.

[snip]

In June 2005, the Supreme Court issued its latest ruling on Congressional power under the Commerce Clause in Gonzales vs. Raich, rejecting the theory advanced in Judge Alito’s Rybar dissent. Six Justices, including Justice Scalia, sustained the application of federal drug laws to intrastate medical marijuana use. Based on this ruling, the Supreme Court vacated a 2-1 ruling in the Ninth Circuit that had declared the machine gun ban to be unconstitutional.

Nevermind that, at the time, Alito applied the most recent SCOTUS ruling on the matter and the other two justices disregarded it. More:

Machine guns are fully automatic weapons that have been heavily regulated since 1934. They fire continuously with one pull of the trigger and can discharge hundreds of rounds in seconds. In 1986, President Reagan signed a federal law banning the manufacture of machine guns for the civilian market and banning the transfer and possession of machine guns not lawfully possessed before May 19, 1986. These “grandfathered” machine guns remain subject to strict registration, possession, transfer, and taxation requirements.

Wow! Did the Brady Bunch, for once, correctly represent a Federal gun law? Too bad they spent so much time obfuscating supposed assault weapon with machine guns.

These are the facts as I understand them and correct me if I’m wrong:

FISA (The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) was established in 1978 and establishes procedures for conducting surveillance, physical and electronic. There’s much more info here.

It establishes that the Attorney General:

may authorize the emergency employment of electronic surveillance if a judge having jurisdiction under section 1803 of this title is informed by the Attorney General or his designee at the time of such authorization that the decision has been made to employ emergency electronic surveillance and if an application in accordance with this subchapter is made to that judge as soon as practicable, but not more than 72 hours after the Attorney General authorizes such surveillance.

So, we have here a case in which civil liberties can be overridden in case of emergency by filling out some after the fact paperwork. I’m uncertain what remedy (if any) there exists if the after the fact court authorization is denied. In short, the after the fact authorization is a damn near pointless control. In the event of an emergency, I tend to doubt reasonable people would find such surveillance to be unreasonable. However, that does not mean that the after the fact authorization is an effective means of protecting civil liberties.

Bypassing said after the fact, non-protection of civil liberties has apparently been around since Carter who signed an executive order that stated:

Pursuant to Section 102(a)(1) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)), the Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order, but only if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that Section.

Clinton signed a similar EO that stated:

Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) of the Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that section.

I’m not sure what those certifications are but the non-protection, after the fact authorization took another hit. We have a situation wherein the law passed by congress erodes one level of protection (i.e., specifying that after the fact warrants are adequate) and then we have two presidents who signed orders stating that warrants are not even necessary. In other words, the protections afforded in the law aren’t worth the paper they’re written on due to the actions of Congress and two executives.

In other, other words, standard operating procedure since 1978 included after the fact, non protections. And since 1979, even the after the fact, non protections were no longer required. Needless to say, it’s a bit troubling but, in the event there is a specific emergency or a threat, I don’t think you’d find a lot of folks who would state that the .gov should not act. In fact, I think they should. However, this guise of after the fact, non protections is a silly requirement. If they wish to call these after the fact, non protections the review process then they should call it that. They should not be called authorizations because that’s not what they are.

So, it seems to me that Bush has engaged in standard operating procedure that has been in effect for a while. The only thing he’s guilty of is not doing his follow-up paperwork, which apparently may or may not be required.

This is all based on what I’ve read so far. If anyone has any other pertinent info that contradicts what is written here, let me know.

Update: Via Tim F. (reading Kos so I don’t have to), the EOs signed by Clinton and Carter did not mean what I thought they meant.

And Oops.

Update 2: Or maybe not.

Update 3: John Schmidt says the president has the legal authority to authorize taps.

Not one of you has any advice regarding my suppressor questions? I’m disappointed.

We know our political debates are scripted but did you know that DC protests are too? Me neither. David Hardy on his time spent in DC:

One day their conversation went like this: “It’s all worked out. The protestors will come in as part of a White House tour group. They’ll send ten, perhaps twelve. At 9:15 they leave the tour group and go onto the White House lawn and sit down. At 9:30, Secret Service will tell them to leave, and four will refuse, the others will return to the group. At about 9:40 the four will be arrested, booked, and released.”

I was astonished … how could you predict these events, down to the minute? The Parks attorneys explained that in a DC protest of this type, all the details were negotiated in advance between the protestors and the government. It made it more convenient for everyone. The government tried to dicker them down on how many would stay and be arrested (less work for the agents), and they tried to dicker the government up on how long a time window between refusal to leave and arrest. There might be other terms to be worked out as well. But this way the media could be notified to show up at 9:30 for photos, or earlier for the story. If you didn’t coordinate — why, what if the media showed up and security was shorthanded and couldn’t make arrests for another hour? Or someone threw the timing off and arrested before the media showed up? Or somebody got hardnosed and instead of book and release, actually popped the protestors in jail? Much better to reach agreement in advance. Besides, by scheduling early in the day you ensure that the reporters have time to write the story.

Wow.

Via Brittney, this bit made me laugh out loud:

However, the weirdest dream by far was when I birthed a doo doo weasel. Yes, you heard me right — a DOO DOO WEASEL — also known as a rodent made out of 100% shit. The little guy got away and went on to survive in a Japanese toilet. I kid you not.

I’m still crying.

Just Johnny has started an FAQ on membership in the Rocky Top Brigade.

Hayes Hickman of the KNS:

A revised definition of what constitutes an adult business was unveiled Tuesday night as Knoxville City Council members unanimously approved a 90-day moratorium on any new such operations.

The moratorium offers a “numerical standard,” explained city Law Director Morris Kizer, to help classify adult bookstores and video stores on a percentage basis of their merchandise, floor space and revenues associated with sexually oriented material.

The suspension, approved without discussion, also covers any business that regularly features sexually oriented material, prohibits access to minors and advertises “adult, XXX, X-rated, erotic, sexual, pornographic or similar material.”

Council members could soon consider the numerical standard as an amendment to the city’s ordinance regulating adult bookstores and video stores.

The council enacted a new, sweeping set of regulations in May governing the licensing, hours of operation, location and practices of adult entertainment businesses.

The proposed amendment would replace the city’s previous wording, which was struck down after a lengthy court battle with the former Fantasy Video. In that case, the state Supreme Court ruled the city’s earlier definition “void for vagueness.”

They’re holding off implementing any new standards until the lawsuit is concluded. Now, make no mistake about it, the city is trying to shut down the adult stores (they’re also trying to shut down tittie bars) when the real solution is, if it offends you, don’t go there.

Ravenwood is hosting the Carnvial of the Vanities.

I’ll miss that name

Via Xrlq, Aubrey Ellen Shomo addresses her critics and addresses the following allegations:

I do not have a CCW permit.

Yes, I said that. Because her original piece states I am now qualified for a concealed weapons permit. Why not just say I have a concealed weapons permit? She removes all doubt by posting a picture of her permit there (good for her). However, it is worth noting that it is entirely possible Tim Lambert helped forge one (for those who haven’t been reading this site a while, that would be a joke).

I violated state and/or federal law in handling a weapon, or in applying for a permit, or that I must have lied on my application form.

Well, nothing I found anywhere else (granted, I didn’t look very hard) intimated that said commitment was 1) by your parents and 2) technically not considered adjudication nor technically considered committed to a mental institution. So, it seems, you have benefited from the parental commitment loophole. And that is fine with me. Seems to be fine with you as well.

I am a psycho.

I never said any such thing.

A few other notes on her comments:

Should I be allowed to own a firearm now? Yes, I believe so. I have a completely clean bill of mental health.

I don’t disagree. Innocent until proven guilty and sane until proven otherwise as far as I’m concerned.

That said, I probably should have had to prove it. Nothing, under the law, separates me from anyone else with my past who might – very understandably – not be the sort of person the General Assembly of the State of Colorado wants to see armed.

And how would you prove it? The NICS (National Instant Check System) is generally inaccurate when it comes to mental health issues. And unless it picks up a blip, there’s nothing to prove. If it does pick up a blip, there is a procedure to dispute said blips.

My point is about how easy it is to get a permit, and about how stereotypical my instructors were.

I thought your point was to make fun of gun nuts and the CCW process. Yet, you seem to feel the need to justify that you, in fact, are perfectly within your rights to get one. As I said, I do not disagree.

And my only point now is that you should have written that a bit more clearly.

Update: I knew it. In response to my comments at her blog, she writes:

When I initially wrote the piece, I did not yet have a permit.

A letter to the editor from Adam Goldfarb of the Humane Society concludes with:

If Lincoln County wants to be a safer place, then thoughtful, non-breed specific legislation should be enacted and enforced. Such legislation would address responsible pet care and severely punish irresponsible owners, as well as provide local animal control with the power and funding to enforce such laws. Breed bans are ineffective and expensive and will not curtail the problems caused by dangerous dogs.

Went to Kohl’s and Babies R Us the other day to buy boy stuff for The Second. I found a nice little white onesie and on the front in red letters it said:

Tax Deduction

I bought it, of course. I’ve expressed my dissatisfaction that no one markets a Glock, SigArms or AR15 onesie before. But this was good enough.

By my calculation, 97.23% of us are not New Yorkers. Yet, the transit strike there is the top news story everywhere I look.

At this point, my employment ends at the end of the year. I do not have another job lined up. During the holidays, with a baby on the way, and a new house in the works, Merry Christmas to me.

No, this is not the post where I beg for money and put up a tip jar. That won’t happen. And, the facts are, that I’ll be OK financially by using savings (that’s what savings are for) for quite a while. And I won’t have to dip into my retirement funds or anything like that assuming this is as temporary as I think it will be (first quarter is a big hiring time for us financial guys). The kicker, though, is that I make some income by property investments and my banker has told me that, sorry, he can’t finance these things while I’m unemployed. Can’t blame the guy, really.

Still, this means that I’ll have to be a bit frugal with my spending and, as such, I don’t anticipate any new gun projects for the foreseeable future. I’ll finish building my AK since the cash in that project is already spent. So, personal type gun blogging won’t be happening. That said, once I get the Uncle household fully operational, I’ll start my next two projects. Project one is building a 9MM AR-15 (to shoot at the indoor range because it’s 20 degrees outside) and the other is a suppressor.

I’ve decided that I’d like to avoid paying the $200 NFA tax multiple times and want to get one suppressor that works on as many guns as is possible. The guys at Subguns.com recommend a 9MM and some even suggest a .45ACP. The 9mm suppressor can be used on 22LR, 380ACP, 9MM and a host of other calibers. In short, I’d have one suppressor that I could put on my SigArms 229, my Walther P22, my Ruger 10/22 and my soon to be finished 9mm AR-15. In fact, some folks say that the 9mm suppressor has better sound suppression than a lot of dedicated 22LR suppressors because its innards are steel and not aluminum. And some say the higher end models can be used on rifle cartridges, like 5.56 and 30 calibers. I don’t know if that is true in most cases as the pressure on rifle rounds is typically much, much higher than pistol rounds. I don’t recommend it and if you try it and blow up your suppressor, don’t blame me.

So, with that, anyone have a good recommendation for a 9MM suppressor? I like the CAC-9 because I can take it apart but it looks way too unwieldy for handguns use so it’s out. The AAC Striker gets good reviews too, as does SWR. And Gem-Tech, realizing that a lot of people are buying one suppressor for many guns, has a suppressor made specifically for that called The Trinity, which comes with a variety of mounting options.

Anyone out there got a recommendation?

WATE:

For the first time in America, the Governor’s Office Of Homeland Security is training a select group of people from Knoxville on how to better track terrorist activity.

With help from the Department of Homeland Security, the state office is teaching civilians how to use a terror tracking program, called the Homeland Security Information Network. It’s terror training for the average citizen.

Under close watch from the Department of Homeland Security, a select group of civilians, nominated by Knoxville police, are learning how to better track terrorist activity.

[snip]

If a citizen terror tracker sees something out of the ordinary, they can log on to the network and fill out a secure online document. Then a link is established with local and federal law enforcement agencies across the United States.

Exactly what are they seeing? I’m not sure I like the idea of regular folks tracking regular folks. Anyone have anymore details on this? Seems rather Big Brotherish to me.

Thank God for Harold Ford, Sr. He’s solved the crime about those dead people voting. Turns out, it was Evil Republican Operatives from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy trying to sabotage his son’s Senate bid. No, really:

The former congressman said he’s talked to several poll workers and voters and can link the scandal back to a 71-year-old Republican election judge and a plot to sabotage son Harold Ford Jr.’s bid for the U.S. Senate.

Team GOP says:

Yeah…that has to be it…as the former Congressman conducts his own investigation from Miami into this latest Ford scandal.

B4B says: It was the One-Armed Man! Heh.

And Blake says odd searches for Ford are showing up in his referral logs. Heh.

Update: B4B says that Ford, Jr. doesn’t agree with dad.

A. C. Kleinheider on Bush being a conservative:

What’s the case for Bush as more conservative? His folksy affectations, his dropping the Lord’s name every now and again, a court appointment or two, a bit of a tax rebate? He has both houses of Congress. This is the conservative revolution? Please.

Yeah, for a bit there, I’d vote straight Republican. It’s true. My reasoning was, that even though there were some bad aspects to the party (like catering to the religious right), the positives outweighed that more so than the positives outweighed the negatives for Democrats. But with the Bush administration, all the positives went away except for tax cuts. And the positives I mean are pro-gun, small government, cut spending, fiscal conservatism, and more. And this administration has pretty much shot all those in the ass. So, let me be clear:

If the Democrats actually get their collective shit together over this whole gun issue (which they appear to be trying to do), I’ll vote for them because the parties are the same except for that and taxes. And I’d pay more in taxes for gun rights guarantees. Or, as I said before, I’m willing to buy my freedom.

Update: But it’d have to be some pretty damn convincing evidence that they were really pro-gun. As soon as they mention the AWB (and they will) it’d be over.

Update 2: Speaking of Republicans and guns, I guess it’s more of a regional thing than a party line toeing sort of thing. Feh.

Gun Law News:

Parental commitment as a minor does not make you a prohibited person at the federal level. So, Aubrey seems safe at this point. She did not violate any laws related to firearm possession. The only question remaining relates to the nuances of Colorado law.

Der Commissar notes that Congress is mandating all digital TeeVee by 2009. Good to see that with all that’s going on these days about alleged illegal wiretapping and wars and stuff that they can make time for this.

Also, I’ve searched my copy of the Constitution for where that authority lies and can’t quite find it. Any help?

By Zephoria:

All too often we blame the technology for problematic human behaviors. We fail to recognize that technology makes them more visible but the human behaviors are rooted in larger issues. In turn, we treat the symptoms rather than the disease. The solution is not to bandaid the problems by taking away or limiting the technologies, but to make the world a better place from the inside out.

Well, ok, he’s talking about Wikipedia, not guns. It’s still a great quote, even out of context.

Start your timers for spin:

The nation’s murder rate jumped 2 percent during the first six months of this year, with the highest increases in small towns and the Midwest, the FBI said Monday. Crime fell nationwide for other significant offenses, including rape, arson and assault.

After a dramatic decline in the number of murders last year, when the murder rate fell 5.7 percent, it ticked upward 2.1 percent between January and June. Citing figures collected under its uniform crime reports, the FBI said cities with fewer than 10,000 people saw the largest increases, of 13 percent.

The raw data is here.

Several months ago I wrote about the Candy Factory. I asked the question how the Candy Factory was different from a City Park. The City of Knoxville spends over 10 million dollars per year on parks and recreation. The third rail of politics in Knoxville is that a City Park would never be sold to a developer to build condos but isn’t that exactly what is happening with the Candy Factory?

Isn’t the Candy Factory just an urban vertical park?

A new group in Knoxville has formed named “Save the Candy Factory”. This past Sunday on the WBIR Channel 10 program “Inside Tennessee” one of the new group’s representatives Donna Doyle joined the panel with City of Knoxville Policy Development Director Bill Lyons to discuss the next steps for the Candy Factory.

WBIR guest host Mark Schnyder asked Donna Doyle what the goals of her group were. Doyle said, “The main concern is loss of meeting space for community groups for the last twenty years. None of the alternatives listed by the City provide what the Candy Factory does in terms of hours, availability, or space. We would like to see alternative meeting spaces that work for the users of the Candy Factory”. Doyle felt the city’s website addressed mostly the art users of the Candy Factory and neglected the other users. Doyle went on to say, “200 groups have used the Candy Factory in the past year and the biggest percentage is community groups. If you look at the listing on the City website all but two locations charge a fee. Fees are twenty to twenty five dollars per hour. Many groups are small and don’t have the funds.”

“Inside Tennessee” panelist and local attorney Don Bosch then asked, “What is the TIF?” Bill Lyons responded with a basic definition and then smoothly moved into the City’s defense of why the Candy Factory had to be sold. Lyons said that the City could not afford to keep the Candy Factory open. He referenced the 4 million dollars in repairs to fix structural problems and address code issues. This and the annual $200,000 required to operate the Candy Factory. That amounts to two percent of the City annual budget for parks and recreation.

Lyons then said, “Estimates from the PBA (Knoxville Public Building Authority) are that over ten years ten million dollars will be required to keep the Candy Factory open.” Lyons also said “no one in any of the City council workshops challenged these numbers.” Someone needs a new calculator. These figures should be challenged because they are not correct. Ten years of operating expense at $200,000 are 2 million dollars. You add that to the 4 million dollars for “alleged” repairs and you have six million dollars. Where is the missing 4 million dollars from the PBA estimate? More importantly why has the City or the PBA not made public what repairs are needed for the Candy Factory? Does a private citizen have to go to the PBA and request this information? It should have been disclosed in the workshops in City Council meetings. The Knoxville Convention Center, Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Universe Knoxville, and the Market Square re-development project all had this same kind of fudge factor mathematics.

This happens far too often in Knoxville and it needs to stop.

Lyons continued and said that the City has provided adequate alternatives for meeting space on the City website. He also said that public libraries and schools could be used and suggested that people also use Panera Bread as a public meeting place. I am not joking he actually said that.

Panelist and local attorney Dennis Francis asked, “Why can’t we use the Convention Center?” Lyons responded, “There are significant expenses to keep the KCC open and the City feels there are other spaces the community groups can use. It is just not cost effective to keep the KCC open for after hours use.”

Donna Doyle was asked by panelist and local PR consultant Susan Williams, “The City doesn’t have ten million dollars to save the Candy Factory. Why didn’t you start your group earlier?” Doyle answered that many people had spoken out in defense of the Candy Factory as a civic center in the City Council workshops but they felt time was running out to make their position clear so the group was formed. Doyle said, “The community groups need a spokesperson just like the Art Groups.” Williams then asked if Doyle was a member of any other groups and Doyle respond she was a member of the Knoxville Green Party. Williams softly said, “I see, the Green Party.”

Bill Lyons spoke of how the City had negotiated with the developer Kinsey Probasco to have $200,000 added to the deal that would be used to rent a floor at the Emporium for the displaced dancers to use. Donna Doyle said, “Why not tell the arts groups to use Panera Bread or the library? The arts groups think it is important to have an Arts Center. We think it is important to have a civic center and not have people dispersed throughout the City.”

In closing Donna Doyle said, “It is about social capital. We have been meeting with City council members requesting that they vote against the TIF. We want Council to consider the impact on community groups. Discuss the idea with the developers to have one floor set aside for public space. Meetings are in the works with the developer.”

As time grows near for the final vote on the TIF for the Candy Factory several questions remain. Why should the City negotiate a $200,000 deal with Kinsey Probasco to lease the Emporium for the first floor for the dancers but then tell the community groups that they must find libraries, schools, churches, or Panera Bread to hold their meetings? Is there a double standard at play here in Knoxville?

After so much discussion about how Knoxville is a progressive City and is sensitive to the needs of allowing people to assemble how is it that only the Arts Groups have been given any special consideration by the City?

Wasn’t a social contract with the people of Knoxville established by the 20-year use of the Candy Factory as a civic meeting center? Shouldn’t this social contract of twenty years be honored?

MLive reports:

Kent County gun owners won’t have to get a doctor’s note attesting to their mental fitness when they file for a concealed weapons permit, a court ruling held this week.

The ruling, by Kent County Circuit Court Judge Paul Sullivan, called mental status verification forms “void and unenforceable” and negated Kent County’s requirement that applicants disclose name or address changes for the past eight years.

The ruling was a victory for Rockford resident Steven Pikaart, who brought a lawsuit against Kent County for denying him a permit after he refused to answer questions about his mental fitness. Pikaart likely will receive his permit now, said his attorney, David Bieganowski.

“Kent County was the only county doing this ridiculous thing (requiring doctor’s notes on mental fitness),” Bieganowski said. “Kent County was more adamant than others, so it just took this long to get along with the program and get on board with everyone else.”

And it’s also worth pointing out that the National Instant Check System doesn’t really contain much accurate info in terms of mental health records:

After a prospective gun buyer completes the federal and state gun-purchase applications, the gun dealer normally picks up the phone and calls the FBI or the state police. He requests that the gun purchaser’s name be checked against the data contained in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). While the NICS criminal-record database is considered to be reasonably accurate and up to date, the same cannot be said for the NICS records of involuntary mental hospital commitments.

(Guns and Ammo link via Gun Law News)

The latest is up at Kesher Talk. So, head on over and hear what secular conservatives have to say.

I highly recommend reading The Puzzle Palace (No, I don’t have an Amazon account thingy so I’m not trying to make any cash here) in light of recent events that the Bush administration authorized monitoring of international communications. The reason is that this stuff is in no way at all new. Been going on since the NSA was created.

Update: Gonzales says Congress should maybe read the laws it passes.