The pork laden highway spending bill has been passed by the house. Bush has threatened to veto it. I tend to doubt he will, after all it involves spending money and Bush is rather fond of big spending.

Someone who can’t legally get a gun somehow managed to get a gun. What were the odds of that?

Teddy Kennedy is comparing Bush to Nixon and Iraq to Vietnam. Bush retorted by comparing Ted Kennedy to Ted Kennedy.

That seemed funny, until I typed it. Win some, lose some.

Clinton’s policy papers don’t mention Al Qaeda. They do, however, mention OBL. Critics claim this undercuts Clarke’s credibility. It also is rather supportive of my prediction here.

Jeff, sporting fancy new movable type digs, has his weekly thing on gun bias up. Perhaps Michael Zitz should give him a read too.

Myself and Mr. Zitz are still engaged in our little go-round that I mentioned here.

He responded to my email with:

Thr truth is that nothing I could ever write would do as much damage to your cause as the day to day performance of your own work

Your obsession with this topic pushes the media in exactly the opposite direction from what you want.

No media person getting email as a result of what you’re doing takes it seriously. It’s easy to identify. And it’s viewed as a cheap pressure tactic in which a small group of fanatics with too much time on their hands try to create the illusion of a spontaneous groundswell.

The result of such transparent attempts at bullying and intimidation is at first amusing, then merely hardens opposition to your cause. I’m sure you think that writers getting this email will hesitate to oppose you again, In reality, it stiffens their resolve not to be pushed around by knuckleheads like you and your friends.

But I guess it’s therapeutic for you. So have at it.

To which, I responded:

I am not trying to bully or intimidate anyone into anything. I just don’t appreciate misinformation being spread about a topic I happen to be passionate about (particularly when it is easy to get that information). And I will bring attention to it. If you have an opinion on the gun issue, write about it. But do so honestly and factually or someone will call you on it. If not me, someone else. I’m not going to change many peoples’ minds but I have changed a few.

I have an audience (a moderately sizable one at that) for which I write about gun inaccuracies in the media regularly. Peruse the site a bit, and you will find that you’re not the first person to go a few rounds with me. You’ll also notice that my site and sites like mine have managed to get a few retractions from news sources regarding the gun issue.

As for your comments about the media not taking me seriously, I have no doubt. But let’s remember that the people are taking the media less seriously too and have less trust in it. In fact, if I recall correctly, a recent USA Today poll that said that the majority of us don’t trust the media. Maybe there’s a correlation there?

You accuse me of bullying and intimidating you when I have done no such thing. I pointed out factually inaccurate items in your article. I notice you have yet to address these inaccuracies. Instead of dealing with those things, you attack me personally by stating I have your sympathy, I need to get a life, and that I conduct cheap pressure tactics. I suppose if you’re unwilling to address the issues, prove me wrong, or admit you’re wrong, ad hominem attacks are the route to go. You now have my sympathy.

Regards,

Given that I engage in bullying and cheap pressure tactics, send him an email: mzitz@freelancestar.com

Make sure to bully him around a bit.

A while back, I posted about an article by Michael Zitz and, basically, said he had no idea what he was talking about. I suppose Mr. Zitz decided to google up his name or something because he left a comment there (actually, he left the same comment three times):

This is really sad.
Do you think you’re really accomplishing anything with this?
You guys not only lack a sense of humor, you have no lives.
You have my sympathy.
Michael Zitz

Mike is a small minded man who would rather attack people than ideas. Not that I am above that, of course, but I would attempt to address the issue first. So, I responded to Mike via email thusly:

Mike,

Thanks for the comment.

You have my sympathy for the fact you can’t take the time to do a modicum of research before writing about a topic. Moreover, your employer does. And, presumably, you write professionally. I do it for fun. I also tend to back up my assertions with facts, such as the fact that flash suppressors are perfectly legal and don’t render muzzle flashes invisible.

I don’t need your sympathy, I need you to research topics before writing about them. Your sloppy work leads to misconceptions about firearms.

Regards,

I wonder if I’ll hear back?

Another thing, I went to his archives page over at the FreeLanceStar and noticed that was the last article he wrote listed.

So Mike, if you’re watching, I’d appreciate you addressing the issue instead of name-calling me and my readers.

As for if I think I’m accomplishing anything. Yes, I do.

The NRA is endorsing Bush:

In touting its selection of the Steel City for its 133rd annual convention, the National Rifle Association talks up the region’s strong membership and Pennsylvania’s rich hunting traditions.

But it also is rallying support to keep President George Bush in office.

Told you so.

Reader Drake emails this article:

The Legislature is considering new taxes and some fee increases, but it’s unlikely most people would pay them.

One new tax would apply to drug dealers.

Sen. Randy McNally, a Republican from Oak Ridge, proposes to tax marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs. Those who step forward to pay the tax voluntarily would be granted confidentiality by the Department of Revenue.

However, those found in possession of drugs without a tax stamp could be required to pay the tax.

Additionally, the legislature anticipates $3.6M in revenue from the measure (they also anticipate monkeys flying out of their own butts, but that is a different story). There are also proposals to up fees for electrical inspections and liquor licensing.

If I am the type of person inclined to disregard the law with respect to dealing drugs, I very likely am also the type of person who would disregard paying taxes.

A group of sportsmen in Illinois are opposing the state proposed assault weapons ban because it would put an end to high-powered rifle competitions. And, you know, freedom.

The Brady Campaign is gearing up its email list to flood the zone with its lies.

Up next: Race bating and the assault weapons ban:

The Reverend Jesse Jackson gathered with families of victims of gun violence outside the governor’s office at the Thompson Center on Sunday. With a decade-old ban on assault weapons set to expire in September, Reverend Jackson used the anniversary of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther king, Jr. to drive the point home.

It was 36 years ago Sunday, that Dr. King was relaxing on the balcony of a Memphis motel when gunfire ended his life. The Reverend Jesse Jackson was there and remembers the days leading up to the assassination.

A Maryland Senate Committee rejected the assault weapons ban.

John quotes a study that interviews state prison inmates about where they get their guns:

According to the 1997 Survey of State Prison Inmates, among those possessing a gun, the source of the gun was from –

-a flea market or gun show for fewer than 2%
-a retail store or pawnshop for about 12%
-family, friends, a street buy, or an illegal source for 80%

And

During the offense that brought them to prison, 15% of State inmates and 13% of Federal inmates carried a handgun, and about 2%, a military-style semiautomatic gun.

This post by the comedian really is scary.

Marc is back from his secure, undisclosed location.

Apparently, we need to be protected from porn that might be played on DVD players in automobiles. So, in a long line of famous firsts:

Tennessee would become the first state in the country to ban the viewing of obscene movies in cars if the House passes the bill, which was approved by the Senate last year.

Who the Hell is responsible for naming military operations? Operation Vigilant Resolve?

Operation We’re Not Going Anywhere Anytime Soon So You’d Better Get Used To It sounds considerably less gay.

On Thursday, concealed carry goes live in Ohio.

Blue was put to death in Denver for being a dog of a prohibited breed.

So were Sasha and Summer and Oreo, although they had attacked nobody.

Butch and Peaches survived. Their owner sent them to Aurora, which allows pit bull terriers, before their trip to the Denver dog pound reached a date with a fatal needle.

In Denver, one of the largest U.S. cities to ban pit bulls, the list of dogs on death row keeps growing. Last year alone, the city put to death 410 pit bulls; 240 others were returned to owners promising to get their dogs out of town immediately.

Killing all these dogs because they are politically incorrect animals. Abysmal.

So last night, I was thinking about the VPC and the way they keep pushing this “1 out of 5 cops are killed by Assault Weapons!” line. The smart-aleck in me retorted, “Well, 5 out 5 cops are killed by killers!”

Then I thought, “Hey…I wonder how many of these people who killed policemen with ‘assault weapons’ already had criminal records?” So I grabbed the VPC’s “Officer Down” report and started on the list of “select incidents.” Well, I hadn’t even finished the first one on the list when I found out that somebody already had the same idea.

Assuming the information in the table is accurate, and assuming I counted correctly (that’s a big if; please check my numbers), there were 41 perps. At least 22 of these were disqualified from gun possession because of priors or mental illness.

Thank God we have that Brady Law and NICS system to keep Guns Out Of The Hands Of Criminals.

There’s a heated discussion going on here about the whether the Clinton administration did or did not do more to fight terrorism. Long-time poster tgirsch made an important point:

Bush is so concerned with getting bin Laden that he has a whopping 9,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the vast majority of them in Kabul and Kandahar, where bin Laden certainly isn’t.

Meanwhile, Clinton had permanently stationed a sub in the region so that if bin Laden’s whereabouts became known, immediate action could be taken. But hey, that’s “doing nothing,” right?

We report, you decide.

Ricky can be so harsh without being vulgar. He makes me smile in that ha ha, got you, you dumb bastard kind of way.

Note to self: Self, don’t say something stupid where Ricky can hear.

Update: I’ve been calling lots of people bastards lately. What has gotten into me? Before that, it was idiots. Before that, it was liars. Before that, it was asshats. I apologize for the vulgarity but some folks deserve no better.

I am a grammar god.

Update: I have removed the link to Quizilla because it reset my home page and installed that Lycos sidesearch crap.

Jeff had some guest bloggers. Including Janeane Garofalo, Sean Penn, Dave Chappelle, and Al “tackle ideas, not people” Franken.

Good stuff. Of course, one of those things is not like the other. After all, Dave Chappelle is actually funny. To wit: We have traveled the very fabric of time itself to call you a cracker.

Even though I didn’t make the top ten, I am at least 12. Or maybe 11.

When the tax code encourages investment overseas, why are people shocked to learn that companies are, well, investing overseas?

Last week, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), the likely Democratic nominee for president, made such lucrative income-tax deferrals a focal point of his campaign, asserting that they are driving companies to expand abroad. Merck’s numbers appear to back that up, and so do those of several other big U.S. companies.

By the way, we can probably stop calling him the likely Democratic nominee for president.

I found a fascinating mini-bio of Col. John Boyd, the man who created the Observe, Orient, Decide, Act (OODA) loop theory.

Looks like the entire site might have lots of interesting stuff. So much internet, so little time!

Ravenwood reports of an Alabama man arrested for displaying a sign in his front yard that read:

Our Court System Is a Joke.

It’s moments like this where I wish citizens would organize into mobs, visit the local authorities, pull said authorities’ pants down, and spank them until they cry.

Update: Via Bubba, it seems the judge was pointed at and told bad kitty. That’s not enough. That judge should be jailed.

So, documents suggest that Annan and Clinton knew about the Rwandan genocide. Now, I know Annan is pretty much a total bastard, but Clinton? Geez.

Apparently, not so well:

Police found a bomb Friday on a high-speed rail line between Madrid and Seville, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.

Condi’s going to go testify. She will proceed to rip the Clinton administration a new one over its efforts (rather lack of) in addressing terrorism. And the beautiful part is that the Democrats are playing hardball to get her to do that.

If the Bush administration just came out and said all the stuff she’s going to say, it would be viewed as partisan, election year politics. They come out and say Clinton didn’t do something then beg the question about Kerry being the same (after all, he is a Democrat), then the Dems cry foul. Now, the message will be part of a formal hearing.

At least, that’s my prediction. I’ll bet a beer on it.

Well, scientists are predicting a major quake in California within the next five months. Maybe you Californians should move or at least update your insurance.