We must ban shopping carts.

VV notes Harold Ford, Jr.:

… believes the U.S. should consider dividing Iraq into three separate states by its sectarian divisions: the Kurdish population to the north, and splitting Shiite and Sunni Muslims to the south.

I don’t disagree.

BK says Oh yeah:

Those who are readers of this site know that I’m a bit ahead of the curve on this issue, as I have archived every candidate questionnaire, all financial information, and many other records. I believe that the voters have the right to know my positions on the issues that I would most likely face on their behalf in the Tennessee Senate.

Good for Bob.

Heh.

Well, I’m personally offended that he would make threats about being told not to be offended. Or something.

No offense, of course.

MKS reports the committee has determined term limits apply to Knoxville.

Knoxnews:

Term limits stand as they were passed in 1994, and they apply to all elected officials with the exception of judges.

That’s the conclusion today of a committee established to fix deficiencies that a Knox County chancellor found in the county charter.

After a three-hour meeting, the committee voted to adhere to the term limits provision passed overwhelmingly by voters in 1994.

Giggle. Bad week for incumbents.

Yeah, there’s the plane thing in England but a potential small scale item happened in Ohio. Via R. Neal, comes this:

Two men were charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism after authorities said they found airplane passenger lists and information on airport security checkpoints in their car.

Deputies stopped Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of Dearborn, Mich., on a traffic violation Tuesday. They found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in the car, said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks.

…
Investigators going through the car after the pair were pulled over in Marietta, about 90 miles southeast of Columbus, also found a map that showed locations of Wal-Mart stores from Ohio through Kentucky, Tennessee and into North and South Carolina, Vessels said.

Well, I said something three years ago that this reminded me of:

But Al Qaeda has not engaged in small attacks on US soil. It would not be difficult for a terrorist nut job to waltz into a Wal-Mart with an AK47 and a bomb strapped to his chest. Kill a few people and detonate the bomb when the cops arrive. If that occurred, people wouldn’t shop at Wal-Mart for months. It’d hurt us.

R. Neal’s take:

I’m wondering, though, if they were mapping out their resupply points. Or maybe Wal*Mart carries large volumes of the types of cell phones they were trading in. Or maybe they were buying up ammo or something, and spreading it around to not draw attention. No telling.

There is no telling but don’t dismiss this completely.

Update: Could be nothing to it. TVA comments that:

I would point out that I also own a map showing Wal-Mart locations. I bought it, of course, at Wal-Mart. I think they have some sort of publishing deal with Rand McNally and road atlases sold at Wal-Mart (at least the large bound ones I like to keep in the car) all come with Wal-Mart locations highlighted. I didn’t particularly care where the Wal-Marts were. I just needed to know how to navigate the interstates and backroads en route to my destination.

Ok, then.

In an update to this idiotic piece by Maureen Downey, readers at AJC respond with the obvious:

Blaming the crime rate in New York and other gun-restrictive cities, such as Washington, D.C., on legal gun laws in other areas is the anti-gun lobby’s stock argument. They never suggest that the super-strict banning of weapons in these cities leads to higher crime rates in these cities.

Military men aren’t happy with the Beretta 9mm. But some marines are getting 45ACPs.

I’ve been thinking of getting into three gun. Any locals into that who want to take a newbie along? Actually, I wish they had two gun. I’ve got little use for shotguns.

First, Kim. Then me. Then xrlq and Jolie Rouge. Now, two more of joined the pledge that the McCain-Feingold incumbent protection act err Campaign Finance Reform doesn’t apply to them:

Countertop is in.

As is Traction Control.

And Citizen’s Arrest is up for it too.

Bitter would but she has no ads. I hope to remedy that soon. You can also just do posts about ads.

And I hear another guy is thinking about it.

Will you take a pledge for free speech:

Any organization* that wants to run a political ad criticizing any politician in that 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.

Update: I guess fug has deleted the post. It’s not there any more.

Fug says:

I personally do not trust gun nuts who do not hunt.

** Fugger – pissing off 95% of the firearms enthusiast world in one single post. **

I have heard lots of blah blah blah from gun nuts dogging on hunters, and some is justified. Most hunters do not do much to fight for 2nd amendment rights.

That is not the point of this post though. My point is that, frankly, if you are a gun nut who doesn’t hunt I equate you to a self proclaimed car nut who has never drove on the highway (“I am just into the backroads”, with the snobby nose turned up).

First of all, I don’t hunt. Haven’t since I was a teen. I, the big bad gun nut, just don’t much care for killing. I know how. I am capable of killing, cleaning and cooking nearly anything that crawls, walks or swims. Just don’t like it. I’m a pacifist of sorts. Heck, I’ve even admitted that:

I don’t even kill spiders; I escort them outside. This annoys the wife, who thinks all things with more than four legs should be eradicated from the planet.

Killing just ain’t my thang. I’m more a paper puncher. It’s relaxing and is kind of a Zen thing (yeah, there I go being a pacifist again).

Sorry, I don’t trust three types of lawful gun owners. 1) I don’t trust hunters who are otherwise unconcerned with gun rights (the Fudds). They don’t do much for gun rights. Just give them free, government land to hunt on and as long as no one wants to take their hunting rifles, they don’t care. John Kerry is a hunter. Remember guys, if they come for your hunting rifles, I can’t help you because it means they already have my evil black rifle. Actually, it means I’m dead.

2) I don’t trust machine gunners. Most are on the right side of gun rights. But they have an investment to protect. These guys have, for example, dropped up to $20,000 on a rifle that goes brand new for $600. If we try to push for repeal of the Hughes amendment, these guys may choose their investment over their rights. And they’re kind of snooty.

3) I don’t trust the die-hard NRA types. The NRA seems more concerned about retaining power and passing pro-gun laws when their goal ought to be repealing some of the bad laws already on the books.

Update: Of course, all gunnies should work together and I am not suggesting otherwise.

Via Kevin, comes this atrocious tale of NYC gun laws:

And so Mr. M is out his two guns, which he will never see again, $340 for the money order, and $550 for the lawyer. If he is inclined to spend a lot more money and waste a lot more time, he can indeed pursue an Article 78. But what would you say his odds are of getting his license?

And this guy went out of his way to be legal. Read the whole thing but not near any breakable objects.

Bitter asks:

Why Does NRA Purposely Try to Make Itself Impossible to Defend During Election Years?

Good question. Are they ever gonna get on that sporting purpose thing?

While I hope to never see the word fauxtography ever again, this is pretty damn funny.

Seen at NSH:

Project Vote Smart has just formally contacted each state legislative, congressional, and gubernatorial candidate in Tennessee with the National Political Awareness Test (NPAT). The test presses candidates to answer one simple question: “Are you willing to tell citizens your positions on the issues you will most likely face on their behalf?” The results of the test reveal to voters a key aspect of their candidates’ campaign tactics. When candidates prove they are willing to respond to citizens, the by product is a valuable set of candidate issue positions.

Since 2000, Project Vote Smart has found that party leaders and consultants from both major parties are advising candidates not to respond to the NPAT for two primary reasons: it will limit the candidates’ ability to control their campaign messages, and it will expose them to opposition research.

Please join us in encouraging Tennessee candidates to respond to the test and provide voters with this crucial information before the deadline of September 20th. Senator John McCain, former Congresspersons Geraldine Ferraro and Bill Frenzel, and former Governor Michael Dukakis have already written Tennessee candidates asking them the same key question. We can provide you with a copy of their letter if you would like to use it in your coverage.

It takes balls to lay your positions out on the table. Politicos usually lack those.

Excellent news. TVA will be guest blogging at No Silence Here.

I’m as pro-dog as they get but dogs should not run loose. That’s why I don’t particularly get upset when stuff like this happens. It’s sad the dog died and it’s not the dog’s fault. It’s the owners fault.

I noticed Front Sight is showing up in Google ads sometimes.

First, I never cared for Lieberman. As I said before, he’s a statist and only seems to appeal to the conservatives lately entirely due to the war. The significance of Lieberman’s loss is that the people, for good or bad, can be motivated to buck the status quo. That’s a good thing, overall. Also, it’s that rare occasion where the ideals take precedence over the party line and the status quo.

Also, for good or bad, Lieberman has (in the words of Andy) invoked the spirit of “party unity” at 11:05, Joe Lieberman concedes, but vows to run as an Independent. I do not think that means what Joe think that means. I wonder if the Democrat machine will back party or the status quo this time? It damn sure doesn’t have a history of backing ideals.

This could be the beginning of a one party system if the Dems grassroots primary campaigns can’t get electable candidates to the general election. They seem to be doing that lately. Granted, I know very little about Lamont and he may be electable. He has no stance on gun control, according to On The Issues.

Update: Jay says:

Joe Lieberman lost his primary race because he wasn’t moonbatty enough, and Cynthia McKinney lost her primary race because she was too moonbatty.

Heh. Not sure if Lamont is moonbatty but I’m sure that’s how this will talked about for the forseeable future.

Update 2: Well said:

But he embodies so much of what’s wrong with Washington. He’s the prototypical David Broder candidate, a big government liberal who’s willing to engage in magnanimous gestures of bipartisanship . . . on issues where Republicans also support big government. So he’s cool with bombing and nation building, and state-sponsored health care. He’s okay with government censorship of video games and cable TV, and heavy-handed regulation of business.

Golly. What a moderate!

In other words, he’s wrong on every issue. He’s a culture warrior, a values cop, a Nanny Statist, and a big government foreign policy hawk. He favors high taxes, and a massive welfare state. He’s pro-pork, pro-status quo, and pro-business as usual.

No Silence Here is two years old.

Yesterday, I made this pledge:

Any organization* that wants to run a political ad criticizing any politician in that 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.

Kim du Toit made a similar pledge.

I’m happy to report that a few others have joined the fold:

Xrlq, who apparently takes issue with my use of i.e., makes a similar pledge with some caveats. He supports clean free elections.

Jolie Rouge also takes the pledge with Wield the awesome power of 8 hits a day in your campaign. Hey, don’t feel too bad. More people will see campaign-related free speech in action on your site than will see it on NBC.

If you wish to take the pledge, you can do so even if you do not run ads. Commit to posting said items on your blog. Free speech needs your help.

Who else is up for it? Let me know.

Repeal the Lautenberg Amendment, aka, section 658 of Public Law 104-208. The Lautenberg Amendment is a silly piece of legislation. It can keep you out of the military, from being a policeman, and ends your gun rights without due process of law.

Local adult novelty store Sunshyne Video (not safe for work, for those who need to be told that) made the local news:

A woman who has been ordered out of her home after living there for months without water or electricity received help from an unlikely source Sunday.

Margie Hamby was told by Maryville officials to move out two years ago because her house had been declared unlivable for safety reasons and because of her overabundance of belongings.

Determined to stay put, Hamby refused city and court orders, claiming she wasn’t able to do it alone.

Sunday she got help from an unlikely source.

It’s not everyday employees of an adult bookstore and members of local churches come together for the greater good. But Sunday everyone worked together to help get 20 years worth of clothing and clutter out of Hamby’s home.

“We help where we get a chance to let people know that there’s really not much to the stereotype of adult bookstore or adult stores,” says David Anderson, the owner of Sunshyne Video.

He says he and his employees heard the call for volunteers and decided to lend a hand.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a member of an adult video store or a church if someone needs help the American thing to do is be there,” says Anderson.

Marc has more info to this post of mine called the world’s least powerful handgun.

Les Jones:

I Just Realized We’re in a Proxy War with Iran and Syria

I’d say we’re probably in a proxy war with more nations than we realize.

Seen at Radley’s:

My friend approached his city councilman and asked, alluding to the Georgetown murder, how the victim or the woman with him (she was nearly raped) could possibly have defended themselves, given D.C.’s strict gun control laws. My friend correctly noted that a stun gun or a handgun may well have thwarted the attack.

The councilman’s answer?

“Wear a whistle around your neck.”

In DC, guns and stun guns are banned. And you need special permission to have pepper spray. It’s a city where those who are not criminals and those who are not politically connected are forbidden from defending themselves.

First of all, those guys at Microsoft are supposed to be pretty smart. But they do all kinds of dumb shit. My biggest peeves with their software are as follows:

1 – The fact that when you open an Excel document from an Outlook attachment, it opens that stupid review toolbar. This monkeys with my settings and costs me valuable time, 0.25 seconds at a time.

2 – That MS Word documents opened from Outlook open in document map mode

3 – That the Links folder in Internet Explorer will perpetually come back no matter how often you delete it.

Fortunately, I found solutions for these items:

1 – Can be solved by adding some code to your personal.xls file. See here.

2 – Can be solved by clicking Tools\Options. On the general tab, unclick the box the box that says something to the effect of Allow starting in reading lay out.

3 – There’s a way to fix using a registry editor but I just use Firefox.

Microsoft products do other stupid shit but those are the ones that annoyed me this week.

Penn & Teller do a somewhat flacid bit on polling. They interview Frank Luntz and effectively make the point that crooked people make crooked polls. They extend this to the fallacy that all polls are crooked. And then take it way too far with a repeated chorus of “Fuck you, Frank!”

Polls are like any other science. The people that pay for them can shape their outcome to meet their desired conclusions. But they can be done well and some places (i.e. Marist and Quinnipiac) do an acceptable job of modelling public opinion.

Bottom line: who pays for those polls and who conducts them?

From the NYTimes. It’s short, so I’ll quote it in full:

The first seven months of 2006 were the warmest such stretch in the continental United States for any year since climate record-keeping began in 1895, federal scientists said. Scorching temperatures in July, particularly strings of hot nights, were almost certainly related in part to the continuing buildup of heat-trapping smokestack and tailpipe gases linked to global warming, said Jay Lawrimore of the National Climatic Data Center. “The long-term trend we’re seeing cannot be explained without the influence of greenhouse gases,” Mr. Lawrimore said.