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.