The other night, the second child slept through the night. Woohoo.

The other thing is that, now that we have a boy, I realize the Mrs. has no idea how a penis works. For example, she says, while pointing to a spot on the kid’s penis:

I think something is wrong with his penis.

Me, I look at the spot and say: Honey, that’s the frenulum, it attaches the skin to the shaft.

Her: Never noticed it on yours

Me: I know.

Aunt B. is mad because Kansas City is rounding up politically incorrect dogs and killing them:

Animal control officials said 149 illegal pit bulls have been turned in or confiscated in the two weeks since the city increased its enforcement of a ban on the breed.

Mayor Joe Reardon announced July 28 that the city would temporarily waive penalties against people who turned over their pit bulls, which are illegal within city limits. The day before, a pit bull attacked 71-year-old Jimmie Mae McConnell, who later died.

The amnesty period ends today. More than two-thirds of the dogs were turned over in the first week, and animal control officials said the pace has slowed to what it was before the amnesty period.

And you can rat out your neighbor:

While those who voluntarily turned in their dogs didn’t get cited for violating the ban, owners who were identified through a telephone hot line were cited if officials could determine they owned a pit bull.

Breed bans are ineffective for a variety of reasons. And this is the result. Aunt B. also says:

I think it’s to punish their owners for being “scary” and “out of control” and “violent.” If some of us who own the dogs don’t happen to be poor young men, tough shit for us. This is about making sure that the “bad” elements of society know who’s in charge.

I would bet, dollars to donuts, that if you looked at the cities that have enacted “pit bull” bans, you would find that there’s a lot of tension in those cities about race. I know you could say that about every city in America, but I mean, I think you’d find “pit bull” bans enacted in cities where the demographics are changing rapidly. Look at the ban on “pit bulls” at the Nashville dog parks.

So, it’s doggie racism and people racism? Or classism. So many isms to worry about. The world needs less isms and more asms.

When I was delisted at Google, no one bought ads. I lowered the rates and still nothing. Google relisted me and the ads have returned.

No details but:

DETROIT – A federal judge has ruled that the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program violates the Constitution.

More:

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency’s program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy.

Maybe Roger was right.

Heh:

Dammit! Just when we started to get to the bottom of the “real story” behind the airplane hijacking ring of last week, those wily Bushies pull another fast one on us, conveniently “finding” the killer of Jon Benet Ramsey just in time to dominate the front pages with another “distraction”.

GLN has the update:

The state of Wyoming passed a law in 2004 that allowed for expungement of misdemeanor domestic violence convictions restoring the firearms rights disabled by the Lautenberg Amendment. The expungement would allow a previously prohibited person to acquire a state ccw. Existing law allowed ccw holders to acquire firearms with going through the federal NICS check.

In August of 2004 the BATFE began a series of letters to Wyoming. The letters said that the state definition of ‘expungement’ conflicted with the federal definition, which controlled the definition of prohibited persons. Because the state could issue a ccw to a prohibited person, the Wyoming ccw was no longer sufficient to bypass the NICS check.

Wyoming has filed suit.

Are the Democrats moving a bit too far to the left? What do you think?

I think it depends on the particular Democrat. Harold Ford, Jr., for example, is running a campaign as a conservative. Remember folks, party over ideals. Unless you’re a neo-liberatarian.

And, are the Republicans becoming more centrist?

Lawrence Keane:

The mayor misused gun trace data to launch so-called “sting” operations against firearms dealers without the knowledge of either ATF or his own police department. In the process, his private investigators interfered with as many as 18 ongoing criminal investigations, imperiling the lives of law enforcement personnel — like undercover NYPD cops who played a key role in busting up a Virginia gunrunning ring. This is precisely why law enforcement groups like the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest police organization, support legislation that would keep gun trace data out of the hands of the public yet make it available to law enforcement for investigatory purposes.

And, you know, the investigations were illegal.

Good read:

As a former state police trooper, I can state emphatically, that I oppose the move away from local policing to a heavily armed “national” quasi-military police force policy. You need look no further than New Orleans after Katrina. You could watch California Highway Patrol officers and many out of state police agencies going door to door, disarming innocent civilians. Police officers were on a mission to confiscate firearms from people trying to protect themselves. Observing this, was to incite a first class riot in my home.

Ayup. More:

We have become accustomed to standing quietly on the sidelines while our local police Chiefs and Sheriffs have accepted huge amounts of federal dollars and military equipment for their special response units. They are all under a variety of mission specific names and classified standing orders.

Update: No, that is not an endorsement of this guy’s new world order, UN rant.

Via Cam, comes this:

A federal lawsuit accusing the city of illegally confiscating firearms during the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina was kept alive by a federal judge Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier denied a motion by the city of New Orleans to dismiss a suit by the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation. The gun-rights groups sued Mayor Ray Nagin and New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley over the confiscation of guns following Hurricane Katrina.

The city asked the judge to dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction, saying “the states, and by extension their political subdivisions, are free to proscribe the possession of firearms.”

The court rejected the motion, ruling the city did nothing to back up “the brazen assertion” that the second amendment did not apply.

“I’m delighted to see that the second amendment still applies in Louisiana,” said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA.

Well, the fifth circuit is the strongest circuit court on the second amendment. Excellent. More:

In April, police made about 700 weapons available to owners. Those seeking a weapon must bring either a bill of sale or an affidavit with the weapon’s serial number, which LaPierre called an “impossible requirement.”

It is an impossible requirement. More folks should have turned theirs in ammo first.

This could be the case that gets to the supreme court. The fifth circuit has stated the second amendment means what it says. Other circuits have not. Cold get interesting.

What? After this, it could happen:

A former schoolteacher was arrested Wednesday in Thailand in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey — a surprise breakthrough in a lurid, decade-old murder mystery that had cast a cloud of suspicion over her parents.

And it was nothing:

Three Palestinian-American men who were found with nearly 1,000 cell phones were charged Wednesday with federal fraud conspiracy and money laundering after a county prosecutor backed off from terrorism charges filed earlier.

Nylarthotep notes:

Sixty people crowded into a small room at the Bayonne police firing range to witness smart gun technology. Donald H. Sebastian, PhD, senior vice president of research and development at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), stood near an oversized screen displaying a real-time video of an NJIT policeman shooting an experimental handgun in an adjacent indoor range. Although there was no applause as shots rang out, the action demonstrated that smart gun knew friend from foe.

Sixteen electronic computerized sensors embedded in the gun’s grip distinguished known from unknown users. “We’ve only just begun and we’re pleased to say that we’re getting 90 percent reliability when scanning users,” said Sebastian.

If people are expected to depend their life on it, 90% isn’t good enough. For those not in the know, NJ has mandated that smart guns are the only ones to be sold. Well, once they’re invented that is.

For the world’s least powerful handgun. Heh. Scroll down a bit, the permalink seems busted.

A woman who was savagely raped has armed herself since her attackers will soon be out of prison. Via David.

He linked you to a category. If you’re curious what I’m talking about, see here. Make your own pledge for free speech:

Any organization* that wants to run a political ad criticizing any politician in the McCain-Feingold 60-day window can do so here. Not only will I run the ad free, I’ll do a post on the ad on the front page.

Kenneth Walker, who was unarmed and laying on the ground, took two rounds from an H&K MP-5 submachine gun in the back of the head. The officer who shot him claims he tripped (if that’s the case, it’s a somber reminder to keep your booger hook off the bang switch). Chuck has past coverage of the incident here.

The latest is that:

It’s being reported that the city of Columbus, Georgia is considering a settlement in the civil suit filed by Mr. Walker’s family. The settlement being considered is reportedly to be seven figures.

Could be something – could be nothing:

United Airlines flight 923 from London to Washington D.C. was diverted to land at Logan Airport due to a disturbance on the plane. A pilot declared a security emergency and three passengers had a confrontation with the flight crew.

And:

WRKO (680 AM) is reporting that a woman, hopefully one of those causing the disturbance, was found tied up in the back of the plane. It is also being reported that a screwdriver, matches, Vaseline, and a note mentioning Al Qaeda we recovered from the airplane.

I’m not up on terror tech but matches and vaseline?

update: More:

Federal officials are saying the diversion of flight 923 is not terrorism-related though there was concern about the flight’s security.

Sean Braisted:

Well, it looks like we are gonna have a race in 2006 in Tennessee. The latest Rasmussen poll (courtesy of Chris Jackson) shows that Ford has cut his poll deficit by half against Bob Corker.

It’s now 48% to 42%. It was 49% to 37%. With two dropouts, Ford is sucking slightly less.

Bitter notes that Sandy Abrams has quietly resigned from the NRA’s Board of Directors.

crebralfix has the dope:

No matter what firearm you choose, a good belt, holster, and magazine holder are essential.

A good belt will not only support your firearm, it will help prevent back problems. It will reduce fatigue and extend the time you can wear the gun each day.

Past post on Jenny Price here.

Someone else wrote her a letter in Another reporter calls for the banning of weapons of those who didn’t do the shooting.

And here’s the keepandbeararms.com thread she referenced.

The illustrated version.

Radley notes a pretty messed up story:

Henry County police are investigating a home invasion in Stockbridge that involved two men posing as SWAT team officers.

Police say the men entered the home about 1 a-m yesterday pointing handguns and wearing shirts that read “S-W-A-T.”

Police spokesman Lieutenant Jason Bolton says a man and woman in the home heard the voices of the men. He says the suspects claimed to be members of the Henry County Police SWAT team.

Radley then asks: What do you do?

This is the part where my crazy-ass, libertarian side kicks in. If armed men enter my home uninvited, I’ll start shooting and let the legalities be worked out later. You say: But Uncle, you run the risk of getting into a shoot-out with the police. Yes, I do. But my home is my castle. I have a line in the sand and it’s my front door. I’m a law-abiding guy and the SWAT teams won’t be coming for me. If someone comes through the door, I assume they’re criminals. If it turns out it is the police, they’ve made a terrible mistake. And they should have knocked.

That said, these men were allowed in after identifying themselves, which makes it more troubling. The woman involved was smart and called the police. Probably the best thing you can do is dial 911. Reminds me of a few years back when there were some guys who had police lights on their car. They weren’t cops. They’d pull people over and rob them. I recall they also raped some girl. My wife asked what she should do if she sees blue lights. I said to call 911 on the cell phone and verify that it was a policeman behind you. And pull over some place with lights that is crowded.

Too funny:

Michael’s Universal Law of Dangerous People, to wit, any person who has to tell you he or she is dangerous isn’t. If that person tells you he or she is dangerous 3 or more times, Alf the Wonder Beagle can take ’em.

Via marc.

Tam:

If they “hate our freedom” so much, Georgie, then why are we doing everything we can to help them kill it?

Actually, there’s a lot more there. Consider the whole post a quote of the day.

Over at Volunteer Voters, they’re having a poll on Who is the most influential political blogger in the state of Tennessee?

I objected to the fact that plenty of as-influential-to-some-of-those-listed bloggers weren’t mentioned there, like Lean Left, Alphie, Sensing, Gene Patterson, Bob Krumm, Blake Wylie, Les, and I’m sure more that I can’t remember (here’s a list of Tennessee bloggers, btw)

In protest, I cast my vote for egalia, because nobody would fucking believe that.

Glenn Reynolds really throws the poll out of whack as he simply beats every other blog in the state. And the blogs aren’t remotely comparable in terms of what they deal with. Some blogs deal with local/state issues. Others international issues. Etc.

There simply is no good comparison.

It has reached the point of comedy, this racism thing.

In the beginning, some DC politico got into trouble for using the word niggardly. Turns out, some ignorant twits just needed to buy a damn dictionary as it’s merely a synonym for stingy. Then, there was the time where some school official used the term yard-apes, and everyone called her a racist. Yard-ape, they said, was a derogatory term for black people. Well, it’s also a derogatory term used for children, which was her intent. Then I recall the time when someone asked if the phrase That’s Mighty White of You is racist. turns out, one definition of white is Honourable; square-dealing.

Now, comes the latest. It seems that George Allen called some Indian fellow a Macaca. I didn’t know what that was either. Turns out it’s a species of monkey. Kevin tells us:

Macaca, in case you did not know, is an old and well worn racial slur

Trouble is, when you hit that link, it says:

Macaque

(Belgium & France) a Negro (originally) or a person of North-African origin (more recently); derived from macaque monkeys

So, it 1) is spelled differently; 2) is slang in other countries; and 3) doesn’t reference Indians. The cool part, though, comes from the WAPO article which says:

Asked what macaca means, Mukherjee said: “What it means, I don’t know. But it’s going to cause him some grief.”

Muhkerjee called the comments hurtful but doesn’t have any idea what it means. Ah, feigned ignorant outrage. My favorite. Idiot.

Meanwhile, the Allen camp says it was a reference to Mohawk because this guy apparently has a mullet or some such.

Keep it moving people, nothing more to see here. Well, except partisan political hackery.

Update: In comments, kevin says:

First, the original article has the phonetic spelling. The phonetic spelling that is a common mispronounciation among racists.

And the racist certinaly seme to now what the word means:Here
And Allen speaks French and his mom is a French colonial from tunisia, where tword is a racist slur along the lines of n*gger.

Any more excuses?

You be the judge.

Update 2: AC has video.

Indeed.

UPDATE: Read the whole thing.