CAGW has started the Waste Blog. Worth checking out.

I monkeyed with the font settings so that readers could adjust text size with thier browser. Is it better or not?

Also, I used some java script to put random quotes in the top right corner and none of you have noticed! Or rather, none of you have said anything about it.

The AP:

President Bush has signed legislation making it easier for FBI agents investigating terrorism to demand financial records from casinos, car dealerships, and other businesses.

The changes were included in a bill authorizing 2004 intelligence programs. Most of the details of the bill are secret, including the total cost of the programs, which are estimated to be about $40 billion. That would be slightly more than Bush had requested.

Bush signed the bill Saturday, the White House announced.

The bill expands the number of businesses from which the FBI and other US authorities conducting intelligence work can demand financial records without seeking court approval.

Secret parts of the bill have no place in our society. Sure, we can have secret budgets but not secret laws.

Governor Phil Bredesen is getting high marks:

A poll shows that 11 months after electing Gov. Bredesen, almost three quarters of Tennessee voters approve of the job he has done.

The poll conducted for the Chattanooga Times Free Press showed 49 percent of the respondents gave a good rating for the Democratic governor’s job performance.

Twenty-three percent gave an excellent rating. Four percent of the 400 registered and likely voters gave him a poor rating and 15 percent rated Bredesen’s work as fair.

I’ve been happy with Phil.

The paper of usually making up the record writes:

Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, accused the United Nations Security Council today of having failed to help rescue his country from Saddam Hussein, and he chided member states for bickering over his beleaguered country’s future.

“Settling scores with the United States-led coalition should not be at the cost of helping to bring stability to the Iraqi people,” Mr. Zebari said in language unusually scolding for an occupant of the guest seat at the end of the curving Security Council table.

“Squabbling over political differences takes a back seat to the daily struggle for security, jobs, basic freedoms and all the rights the U.N. is chartered to uphold,” he said

My personal favorite:

The United Nations as an organization failed to help rescue the Iraqi people from a murderous tyranny that lasted over 35 years, and today we are unearthing thousands of victims in horrifying testament to that failure.”

He declared, “The U.N. must not fail the Iraqi people again.”

And Kofi Annan responds with:

Now is not the time to pin blame and point fingers

Yes, Kofi, it is. The UN has sat idly by while dictators commit atrocities, and this was par for the course. Glad someone called you on it.

Side note: I caught part of Dubya’s interview last night and some how had missed that during the announcement of Saddam’s capture, Iraqi reporters stood up and shouted Death to Saddam.

So, the ATF raids and shuts down five gun stores. They must be breaking the law, right? Well, we don’t know:

But the ATF released few specifics about the cases and said no charges had yet been filed against the businesses or the men taken into custody.

No charges? And you shut down their businesses, detain them and confiscate their property.

Murders were up slightly during the last six months. I think this is the first time the murder rate has increased in a while. The increase is attributed to an increase in gang activity.

Well, not odd that Ashcroft and the administration are quarantining free speech. But odd that a site called American Conservative is pointing it out.

Ouch!

To quote Ashcroft:

To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty … your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and … give ammunition to America’s enemies.

No, sir. Your tactics and actions already state simply the terrorists won.

More poo pooing on the NYT but they deserve it:

When a publication of record such as the New York Times gets Baghdad’s October murder rates wrong by up to a factor of 28 to 1 and no correction is issued, the consequences are significant. To equate accidental deaths and U.S. soldiers killing terrorists with murders is irresponsible.

Interesting sidenote from the article:

This June, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld started the ruckus when he said: “You’ve got to remember that if Washington, D.C., were the size of Baghdad, we would be having something like 215 murders a month.” Some were bothered simply because this indicated that Iraq was being handled well. Others were upset that a country where civilians were able to freely own machine guns could have a lower murder rate than our own nation’s capital where even handguns are banned. The claim did not sit well with those pushing to renew the assault weapons ban in our own country.

Les Jones quotes honestreporting:

In violent acts by Israelis, “Israel” was named in 100% of the headlines, and the verb was in the active voice in 100% of the headlines, i.e.:
“Israeli Troops Shoot Dead Palestinian in W. Bank” (July 3)

But in violent acts by Palestinians, the Palestinian perpetrator was named in just 33% of the headlines, and the verb was generally in the passive voice, i.e.:

“Bus Blows Up in Central Jerusalem” (June 11)

One of the Volokh’s:

Texas is one of only three states (Colorado and Kansas) are the others that actually has the word “dildo” occurring in its state statutes (Penal Code sec. 43.21, part of the definition of vibrator).

<beavis voice>Hehe! They legislated dildo.</beavis voice>

The N Word and more at a Dean rally.

This is pretty awful, coming from the party of racial harmony.

Update: I’ve stated I’d vote for Dean in the primary election. Consider that statement rescinded.

There are over 400 breeds that are not recognized by the AKC, these are called rare breeds, which is a misleading term some of the time. Many rare breed owners have opposed such takeovers but a few breed fanciers give in and the AKC gets its access to some registries.

The AKC has a new tactic for such takeovers. Apparently, there is a movement to get the AKC to recognize American Bulldogs, a breed near and dear to me. As usual, bulldoggers are split on this issue. Some advocate it and some oppose it.

I’m not sure how I feel about the issue. AKC registration can be good for promoting a breed. However, the fact that the AKC doesn’t recognize some breeds leaves the breeds to the purists who like the breed regardless of its popularity. Both can be good things. I’m reserving judgment for now.

Here’s my take on the AKC from a while back:

So, why do I blame the AKC? For developing the standard. All AKC registration means is that the dog’s parents were registered or that the owner filled out some paperwork. It’s no guarantee as to the dog’s health, temperament, or brain power. So this standard of color has led to the killing of puppies. And the AKC will register any dog regardless of the breeder. So, puppy mills crank out pooches. Backyard breeders are in it for the cash. Etc.

While the AKC can do good for a breed, a breed’s popularity can be bad for the breed’s health and temperament.

Two blogs that are new to me and worth reading: Michael Williams and Ravenwood’s Universe.

QOTD:

As for manpower, how much time and effort does it take to google a sentence or two?

They seem to have the manpower to suck up to the Haslams and Victor, though.

Thanks to the 39 people that voted for me in the Wizbang Poll.

And congrats to Busy Mom for winning the best flappy bird!

Heh!

William Burton tells us that Dean could be here to stay. At this point, the only thing that will undo Dean is Dean.

Is it just me, or has he said a lot of dumb stuff in the last couple of weeks?

Some congressman is claiming that the capture of Hussein was timed for political gain.

How exactly does one accidentally pull the trigger? One of the cardinal rules of gun safety is to keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to pull it.

Seems to me the problem is policemen not practicing firearm safety.

From the AP:

The Supreme Court issued a traffic warning Monday: Beware of whom you ride with. If drugs are found in a vehicle, all occupants can be arrested, the justices said in a unanimous decision.

It was a victory for Maryland and 20 other states that argued police frequently find drugs in traffic stops but no one in the vehicle claims them. The court gave officers the go-ahead to arrest everyone.

In a small space like a car, an officer could reasonably infer “a common enterprise” among a driver and passengers, the justices ruled.

The case stemmed from an incident in 1999, when police in the Baltimore suburbs pulled over a speeding car. A search revealed a roll of cash in the glove compartment and cocaine in an armrest in the back seat.

The driver and the two passengers denied having anything to do with the contraband, so all three men were arrested.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, writing for the court, said police had probable cause to suspect that the drugs belonged to any of the three, or all of them.

Chuck lists the WOD’s latest casualty. At last count, drugs are still winning.

You will be missed.

Jeff has recovered from his illness and has the weekly report up.

The AP writes that an official has stated Saddam may face the death penalty. I say just turn him loose in the middle of Baghdad.

And it seems that there are reports that Saddam is being uncooperative with interrogators. I recommend they bring in LTC West to have a chat with him.

From Paul Harvey, Saddam’s first words when captured: I am Saddam Hussein, president of the Republic of Iraq. I am ready to negotiate.

Soldier: President Bush sends his regards.

So, Ohio’s CCW law will be vetoed because the Governor wants the list of permit holders to be public information. So, let’s give crooks a list of people who have guns so they can break into their homes?

Actually, I doubt that would happen but what motivation is there for having this information public?

Via James, comes this story of Michael Williams being denied a carry permit in California. Sorry, that state is beyond help. Move.

It is a pity that Mr. Williams can’t get a permit, but a person known to be prone to violence, like Sean Penn, can get a carry permit in California. May issue is far more contemptible than no issue.

Something else interesting was Barry’s comment:

If I were to take a live, armed weapon and carry it on my person, in public, it would eat away at my sanity just as if it were emitting lethal radiation. To know that I carried an instrument of sure and certain death on my person, available and ready to be pulled out and used at a moment’s notice to possibly kill…a child. A homeless person. An innocent.

Fortunately, some of us are capable of overcoming our own shortcomings. Barry doesn’t trust himself and that is a pity. It’s one thing to not carry because you don’t want to but it’s another to think that carrying a gun makes you insane. All us crazy people might take offense to it.

Donald Sensing:

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

The economy is horrible!

He hasn’t captured Hussein!

He hasn’t captured Bin Laden!

AP:

Without firing a shot, American forces captured a bearded and haggard-looking Saddam Hussein in an underground hide-out on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit, ending one of the most intensive manhunts in history. The arrest was a huge victory for U.S. forces battling an insurgency by the ousted dictator’s followers.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we got him,” U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer told a news conference Sunday, eight months after American troops swept into Baghdad and toppled Saddam’s regime.

“The tyrant is a prisoner.”

Good news.