Bush signed a bill into law that extends for ten years the ban on plastic guns. Does anyone even make plastic guns?

I think the press is gearing up for All Assault Weapons, All The Time. Newsday:

In the decade since the Long Island Rail Road shooting and the nine years since Congress enacted a law to ban assault-style semiautomatic weapons, the world has changed, according to Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola). And not for the better.

That’s why she and other gun-law advocates are pressing to extend the assault weapons ban enacted in 1994, a year after the LIRR shootings that killed six and wounded 19. The ban will expire in September unless Congress and the president act.

McCarthy, whose husband, Dennis, was killed and son, Kevin, gravely wounded in the shootings, and other backers of the law are facing an uphill battle.

House Republican leaders say they won’t bring it up this year. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) does not have it “on the radar screen right now,” said spokesman John Feehery. “We’ll re-evaluate priorities for next session, but it’s not on his priority list now.”

President George W. Bush, who pledged in his campaign he would sign an extension of the weapons ban if it reached his desk, seems unenthusiastic about pressuring Congress to get it there. The president has “made it clear he supports the extension of the assault weapons ban,” said White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan. But she listed Medicare and fighting the war on terror as the president’s “highest priorities” and wouldn’t say where the assault weapons ban ranked on that priority list.

To McCarthy, extending the assault weapons ban fits nicely into the war on terror. She cited both the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and last year’s Washington-area sniper shootings as two reasons the ban needs to remain in effect.

Now, we see the attempt to label the ban as a terrorist measure. One case where the press gets it wrong again:

John Muhammad has been convicted in one of the sniper shootings and his alleged accomplice, 18-year-old Lee Malvo, is currently on trial in another. The gun used in those attacks was a copycat of an AR-15 assault rifle banned under the 1994 law.

The last sentence is confusing to me. Are they saying the weapon used was banned? They may be implying it. However, the gun used was not banned by the Assault Weapons ban. Regardless, the assault weapons ban is useless at banning guns and serves merely to keep the proverbial foot in the door.

Eric opines about Instapundit’s consternation over using the phraseI feel vs. I think. A friend of mine (who briefly wrote for this blog) opined once that:

When someone expresses their view and begins the sentence with I feel, they are likely liberal. And if they begin with I think, they are likely conservative.

Obviously, his observation was anecdotal. There are liberals that think and there are conservatives that feel, much to the chagrin of each other. I realize this is stereotypical but there is a bit of truth to some of it.

This article details the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Brady bill, you know the one that was struck down. But there was this little nugget:

The ban on assault weapons is set to expire in September 2004, and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, has said that he will not call for a vote on the renewal of it. Sarah Brady said she hopes President Bush will put pressure on Republican leaders to bring the assault weapons ban up for a vote.

Cool.

The new Battlestar Galactica was all too convenient. I can see where it’s going and so can anyone smarter than a grapefruit (wow, they have an antiquated computer system as a plot point).

Starbuck is a girl?
Boomer is a girl?
I wasn’t aware from the first series that humans created cylons.
Apollo can’t act.
The new cylon ships looked cool except for the red light moving across the cockpit, which is lame.
The new cylons look cool (not the chick, but the guards at the start . . . actually, the chick looked good too).
Lots of sex in it too.
The ships graphics are neat.

I’ll probably watch it for a while. I expect it to get better but they have to lay down the story and character bios now.

My Christmas gift to me was seasons 1 and 2 of The Family Guy. My favorite joke on the DVD so far:

Peter comes home riding an elephant and says: Look, the two symbols of the Republican Party. An elephant and a fat white guy who is resistant to change.

Why fight one ass-hatted thing by doing the same thing?

Looks like Bush gets to sign an anti-spam bill. The law won’t do much other than give prosecutors another law to prosecute offenders under. Remember, in Congress a bad bill is better than no bill.

In the San Francisco mayoral race, Clinton and Gore are campaigning for the Democrat. The Democrat, Gavin Newsom, is getting some serious competition from the Green Party candidate.

Good to see a third party in the running somewhere.

FoxNews:

It may surprise some people to learn that today’s American teenagers have more conservative views than older generations on prayer in schools and abortion.

A brand new Gallup Organization (search) study and another out of the University of California at Berkeley (search) found that teens are more likely to be in favor of government restrictions on abortion and prayer during official school activities.

The findings mark a departure from the perception of teens as more progressive and liberal than adults, especially during protest-filled decades like the 1960s and ’70s.

The Berkeley study suggests that while 59 percent of adults 27 to 59 want public schools to permit prayer at commencements and other official activities, 69 percent of teens support prayer during official school events.

And while 34 percent of respondents older than 26 supported government restrictions on abortion, 44 percent of those aged 15 to 22 and 32 percent of those 23 to 26 said they supported limitations.

Hey, look at me. I’m all moderate and stuff.

At least, I think that’s the look Dean is going for (though it doesn’t quite fit):

Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, adding momentum and political prestige to Dean’s front-running campaign.

Gore said Dean “really is the only candidate who has been able to inspire at the grassroots level all over the country.” He said the former Vermont governor also was the only Democratic candidate who made the correct judgment about the Iraq war.

As the weather gets cold, my thoughts turn to soup. One of my favorite winter soups is New England Clam Chowder. This is quick and easy (for soup):

4 strips of bacon, chopped into tiny bits
1 large onion, chopped
5 6oz cans of minced clams (or 3 10oz cans of whole baby claims; or 10oz fresh clams if you can get them)
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups diced potatoes
Quart of milk
4 tablespoons of flour
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, fry the bacon until it is not quite wiggly. Add all the vegetables and sauté until moderately tender. Add the flour. Be sure to stir the flour into the bacon grease until smooth. Add the cans of clams (including juice) and the milk. Cook until veggies are tender (20 – 30 minutes), stirring occasionally.

Enjoy.

P.S. Substitute another couple of cups of potatoes instead of the clams and it makes excellent potato soup.

P.P.S. Despite the last two recipe posts, not every thing I cook has bacon grease in it.

It’s hard to blog about guns and gun control because so many others already do it. Instead Mays offers some quotes for perusal. One that I hadn’t seen before:

“We did indeed know much about your preparedness. We knew that probably every second home in your country contained firearms. We knew that your country actually had state championships for private citizens shooting military rifles. We were not fools to set foot in such quicksand.” — A Japanese Admiral 15 years after VJ day on why Japan didn’t invade the US mainland after Pearl Harbor.

Good stuff. I should point out to Mays that it’s not just liberals attacking gun rights (his quote by Giuliani should evidence that) as all major party presidential candidates support the assault weapons ban.

Eric tells us how to make mulled wine.

Does a true American hero (and arguably the most important person in the civil rights movement) really want to tarnish her good name?

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for civil rights icon Rosa Parks to proceed with her lawsuit against OutKast and others over the rap music duo’s hit song with her name as its title.

The justices let stand a U.S. appeals court ruling that reinstated Parks’ false advertising and publicity claims against OutKast and three Bertelsmann AG units — LaFace Records, the record producer, and Arista Records and BMG Entertainment, the distributors.

It’d be a pity if this was the last thing she was in the news for.

One problem: I can’t get these nicotine patches to roll up tight enough to light. Any suggestions?

Update: Mike writes:

I thought you put ’em on your tongue and waited for them to dissolve?

I leth oo noow how it turnths outh.

The mayor of Cincinnati has recommended police carry stun guns. This reminded my of an issue: I do not advocate citizens carrying pepper spray, stun guns, and other non lethals. It’s their right to do so, but I think it’s a bad idea. For the police, it’s likely a good idea that they carry them. As for why I take issue with citizens carrying non lethals, it’s a matter of carelessness.

I carry a gun. I know that because of that I will avoid getting into fights and other physical altercations. I don’t want to explain to the police that, in the end, I killed a man because he insulted my wife, called me a name, or some other stupid reason (even if I just stepped in and he became belligerent).

With non lethals, the finality is not there. I think that people (even me) would be more likely to just mace someone or Taser them because it will teach them a lesson and it won’t kill them. I think people are more likely to start zapping people when they view the tools as a painful inconvenience and not deadly serious.

The other thing is that, in the case of these things, there are some people who have a surprising resistance to them. Ask any beat cop and they’ll have a story about some guy who was pepper-sprayed/maced/Tasered and kept on fighting. They are not a sure thing. No one I know is resistant to 45 ACP.

Side note: I sprayed myself with pepper spray once and it was unpleasant. But I could still function. It was a dare among friends. Alcohol may have been involved.

Tonight at 9 p.m. EST on the SciFi channel, Battlestar Galactica premieres. It has potential since our last best hope for good science fiction television has run its course.

Mike is making presidential election predictions. I think it’s too early to predict percentages but I see Bush winning by a significant margin, unless something big happens in the next 11 months.

Of course, it is too early for these sorts of things.

The RTB got some more local press time. Props to Bubba, Adam, Hobbsonline, Instapundit, Beyond the Whispers, Long Pauses, and the Golden Calf for their mention.

but he doesn’t. He’s crafted his own southern strategy:

Dean said the time has come for political leaders to move beyond divisive issues and toward harmony on issues of “common interest” such as education and jobs. “It’s time we had a new politics in America — a politics that refuses to pander to our lowest prejudices,” he said.

Dean — who only weeks ago infuriated some African Americans by saying he wanted to be the candidate of whites with Confederate flags — is increasingly going after President Bush on race issues as part of his own “southern strategy” to win support in the region.

First of all, there is no getting beyond divisive issues. They exist because they’re divisive. And they always will. There are huge numbers of single issue voters (abortion folks, gun folks, etc.). You will not get their votes if you don’t agree with their view. Nice theory, Howie, but you’re fooling yourself.

UT comes in sixth in the AP poll but get a crappy bowl game. I am a CPA, with a Masters in Informations Systems and I can’t figure out how the BCS works.

I honestly think UT should refuse to play in the bowl.

Until recently, the only thing I heard come out of Kerry’s mouth was when I was in Vietnam . . . Now, he’s dropped the F-Bomb. Now, I at least respect him. Proves he’s a regular joe.

I did find it funny when Dubya called the reporter a bad word too.

The liberal and conservative co-bloggers have moved to Classless Warfare.

If you want to draw traffic to your site (no this is not a paris hilton sex tape plug but nice how I snuck that in there), list the phrases

Old Navy shizzle’s gone fazizzle

or

Old Navy that look is off the hook

Sad, sad state of the world.

In the event that anti war folks need reminding why I think they’re either evil, blinded ideologues, or stupid, there is this:

The killers kept bankers’ hours. They showed up for work at the barley field at 9 a.m., trailed by backhoes and three buses filled with blindfolded men, women and children as young as 1.

Every day, witnesses say, the routine was the same: The backhoes dug a trench. Fifty people were led to the edge of the hole and shot, one by one, in the head. The backhoes covered them with dirt, then dug another hole for the next group.

At 5 p.m., the killers – officials of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party – went home to rest up for another day of slaughter.

In this wind-swept field in the central town of Mahaweel, witnesses say, this went on without a break for 35 days in March and April of 1991, during a crackdown on a Shiite Muslim uprising that followed the first Gulf War.

It is a noble cause to stop genocide, mass murder, oppression, and human rights violations.

Blood for oil, my ass.

When I first started this blog, I stated I’d post recipes semi-regularly. I have been remiss in doing that. But no more. I love to cook. I went back and categorized some (ahem, three) older posts into the new Recipes category. I like all kinds of food and cook everything from southern dishes to Korean (I make my own kimchee too). So, we’ll start off with a good old southern staple, cornbread:

8 inch Iron skillet
2 cups cornmeal
1 piece of bacon
6 tablespoons of sugar
1.5 cups of milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 430 degrees. In iron skillet, cook up the bacon and give it to the dogs (my dogs love cornbread night) or eat it yourself. In a bowl combine all the other ingredients and mix until smooth. Stir a tablespoon or two of the bacon grease into the mixture. While your skillet is still hot from cooking the bacon swirl the remaining grease around in the skillet to coat the bottom and sides for good flavor and it keeps the cornbread from sticking. Pour mixture into the skillet, which should still be hot (this will crisp the bottom of the cornbread). Cook in oven on 430 for 20 to 35 minutes. Outside should be brown and crispy and a knife inserted into the center should come out dry.

Good with soups, pinto beans, and almost everything.

Enjoy.

Thanks to whoever voted for me as the best large mammal in the wizbang poll.

It’s an honor to be nominated. Wait I’m probably just on the list for being a large mammal. Bummer. I’ll get one more vote. I can vote for myself, right? Too many good choices there. Alphecca, C&S, and me. Decisions, decisions.

Plenty of other RTBers have been nominated for various awards, so give them a vote.

Too many good blogs to decide who to vote for yet.

I am glad that I haven’t seen a Dell intern commercial in about two weeks. Those kids should use the money they make from these commercials for acting lessons.

Every Taco Bell commercial ever has sucked. Even the one with the dog.

I don’t know if anyone has seen the Build a Bear commercial but isn’t that girl a bit old to be building a teddy bear. And who the Hell was responsible for hiring her? Jeez, do they think she can sing? Must be the CEO’s daughter or something.

What is with these Old Navy commercials? Shizzle’s gone fazizzle? Who the Hell writes these things? That look is off the hook? I used to like Fran Dresher (sp?) What the . . .

I’m sorry, guys. There is no good way to do a soup commercial. Just show the soup and say it tastes good. The bending spoons is terrible but it is slightly less annoying than the couple whose son just moved out. Time for an adult soup? Why the Hell did you by Campbell’s any way?

And a note to Apple, correct grammar would mean think differently.

And a note to Microsoft, it should be see farther not further.

While I’m being a grammar/spelling Nazi:

Seperate is not a word.

Wreckless is not a word.

Insure refers to insurance that you buy. Ensure refers to offering assurance about something.

Hell, I don’t even have editors.

Bubba lists an unintended consequence of the recognizing God in government resolution that our local politicos were so gung-ho about. What you reap, and all that.