Earlier Say Uncle posted about a bill to create a “Privacy Czar.” The idea is that in their zeal to implement “homeland security,” government agents might invade our privacy or otherwise violate civil liberties. I’m inclined to side with Say Uncle on the “Czar” issue*. If government agencies are causing a problem, might there not be a simpler solution than creating another government agency?

Anyway, the idea of a “Privacy Czar” reminded me of a proposal by Arnold Kling to solve the problem by creating two agencies:

What I propose is to use a Constitutional amendment to create two agencies with authority to use surveillance technology. The Security Agency would have the sole purpose of preventing acts of terrorism. The Audit Agency would have the sole purpose of ensuring that the Security Agency stays within its boundaries.

It is important to keep the two agencies separate. They must not report to the same boss. I would propose that the head of the Security Agency be appointed by the President, and that the head of the audit agency be appointed by the most senior Supreme Court justice who has not been appointed by the current President, with the Chief Justice treated as the most senior justice. Senate confirmation would be required for the head of each agency.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? It’s a problem that’s been with us for a while.

*I also agree that we need to dump the use of “Czar” in general (yes I know it’s not an official title) for any government agent. While we’re at it, can we also stop adding “-gate” on the end of scandals?

Via Pejman, an article that discusses some of the ways to save Star Wars Episode III. The biggest problem facing the franchise is, of course, George Lucas himself. One quote I noticed in particular:

While you’re at it, fire Lucas the writer, who has not come up with a single witty or memorable phrase in the four hours of prequel trilogy out so far. The first trilogy didn’t have this problem: For instance, “The Empire Strikes Back” had the help of the great noir writer Leigh Brackett.

So that got me thinking of some of the classic lines of the original trilogy. My favorite has GOT to be Obi-Wan’s description of Washington, D.C. — I mean, Mos Eisley spaceport:

“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

Readers, how about your favorites?

UPDATE: Reader tgirsch informs me that this article is SOOOO last week. Links all around!

Via Instapundit, I ran across a blog by a young man named Fredrik Norman, the leader of the Norwegian Friends of America.

I haven’t read much of the blog yet, but it says he’s reading Ayn Rand and listening to Yes. Sounds like a guy after my own heart! One word of warning, Fredrik: some people get jealous. Can you believe my wife bought that for me?

The AP is reporting credible evidence of a potential terror attack this summer:

U.S. officials have obtained new intelligence deemed highly credible indicating al-Qaida or other terrorists are in the United States and preparing to launch a major attack this summer, The Associated Press has learned.

The intelligence does not include a time, place or method of attack but is among the most disturbing received by the government since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a senior federal counterterrorism official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday.

Of most concern, the official said, is that terrorists may possess and use a chemical, biological or radiological weapon that could cause much more damage and casualties than a conventional bomb.

The General Accounting Office has concluded that the White House violated propaganda laws when the Department of Health and Human Services produced prefabbed news announcements:

The GAO said the adverts broke laws forbidding public money being used for propaganda purposes.

It added that viewers would “believe that the information came from a non-government source or neutral party”.

In a report, the body said the packages were “not strictly factual news stories” and contained “notable omissions and weaknesses”.

Guard donkeys.

To do:

Get milk, bread, and eggs

Pick up dry cleaning

Mow lawn

Rob bank

Bathe dog

No really:

A man who added “rob bank” to his to-do list pleaded guilty to robbing six banks in suburban Kansas City.

Mark tells us that the ban on regular capacity magazines signed into law as part of the misnamed Assault Weapons Ban is having a detrimental effect on troops. The article Mark links says:

Existing magazines being used by U.S. troops are also faulty.

“A police officer and friend, just deployed to Iraq, is serving there now as a Marine officer,” Jeff Chudwin, an associate of Farnam’s, wrote.

“He is in the thick of the fighting. He has only two Beretta M9 magazines, and both have weak springs. Pistol magazines are in short supply there. Ones that actually work are in even shorter supply,” Chudwin said.

In an attempt to get better magazines, the police officer/Marine attempted to procure some from his home department, but was unable to do so “due to the ban on purchasing high capacity (normal capacity) magazines,” said Chudwin.

He said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms [BATF] was asked to intervene, to approve the sale, but “they arrogantly told us, ‘The military must take care of their own.'”

The result, Chudwin told Farnam, is that “the Marine officer cannot obtain additional magazines through the military, and we cannot support him from our end unless we send him ‘Clinton clips'” – 10-round magazines (instead of the normal capacity 15-16 round magazines originally made for the M9) or magazines that were manufactured before the law banning them was signed by President Clinton.

Since the civilian market is bigger than the military/law enforcement market, that manufacturers just aren’t making them since they can’t sell them to the public. They aren’t interested.

Rhyme not intentional. News.com reports that the US spent $1.3M to buy back guns and ammo from Iraqis:

THE US military has paid out $US1.3 million ($1.87m) to residents of Baghdad’s Shiite Muslim district of Sadr City for turning in thousands of weapons and ammunition rounds.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt today said nearly 4000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and machineguns and about 9000 mortars and rockets had been turned in during the arms amnesty.

Grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and artillery rounds were also collected.

The FBI is reporting that overall violent crime continues its decline. Yet, preliminary data for 2003 indicates that murder is up about 1.1%, even though murder is relatively flat since its rise in the early 90s (AKA, when crack became cool).

Publicola details his adventures at a machine gun shoot.

CBS discusses the third party threat to George W. Bush. Meanwhile, Mike tells us the real third party threat is to John Kerry. It’s good to see the Libertarian Party get some press that doesn’t involve the phrases tax evasion, shootout, or arrested.

I think both parties stand to lose votes. I’d say this year may be the biggest year for third parties in terms of numbers of votes for president. Kerry will lose votes because he’s not Howard Dean. Bush will lose votes from gun owners and libertarian types that tend to vote Republican.

I hope they find whoever did this and bash their skulls in with a rock:

A 69-year-old woman was killed early Monday when someone dropped a large rock from an Interstate 75 overpass onto the vehicle in which she was riding, authorities said.

That’s abysmal.

It looks like Knox County is soon to have a $30 wheel tax (per car, not per wheel). Apparently, the schools will get a big goose egg from the deal. Items to be funded include government raises and a new $45M library, which nobody will use. We have a library and it’s not in too bad shape. And a quick office poll here indicates that nobody knows where it is.

In the 1970s, my hometown of Jefferson County implemented a wheel tax to pay for the new high school. It was supposed to be a temporary (15 years, I think) measure that would expire once they collected enough to pay for the school. It’s 2004 and my family in Jefferson County still pays the tax.

The old sitemeter just ticked over to 200,000. From referrer logs, it looks like number 200k came over from Big Stupid Tommy’s place. Tommy, was that you? Sorry, no prize or anything like that.

One thing I have noticed lately is the increase in hits that Awstats shows to my index.xml and my index.rdf file. More people are using aggregators, like the excellent bloglines. Pity that’s not reflected in sitemeter traffic.

Bubba has a good round up of the various boondoggles that Knox County’s GOBs are up to.

Seen over at Millers place, answers to the 21 Questions:

1. Which political party do you typically agree with?

Libertarian

2. Which political party do you typically vote for?

Republican

3. List the last five presidents that you voted for?

I haven’t voted for 5 (not that old) but:

1992 – Perot
1996 – Dole
2000 – Bush

4. Which party do you think is smarter about the economy?

The two major parties are the same in that they are ineffectual at doing anything of significance to impact the economy. Sadly, most folks don’t realize that.

5. Which party do you think is smarter about domestic affairs?

Libertarian

6. Do you think we should keep our troops in Iraq or pull them out?

Finish the job.

7. Who, or what country, do you think is most responsible for 9/11?

UBL

8. Do you think we will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

We already have

9. Yes or no, should the U.S. legalize marijuana?

Yes

10. Do you think the republicans stole the last presidential election?

No. I know that the Democrats tried to steal it and were stopped.

11. Do you think bill Clinton should have been impeached because of what he did with Monica Lewinski?

No. However, he lied and that is troublesome.

12. Do you think Hillary Clinton would make a good president?

Compared to, say a turnip? Not no, but fuck no.

13. Name a current democrat who would make a great president:

None of them. However, if I had to pick one, it’d be Zell Miller.

14. Name a current republican who would make a great president:

Ron Paul

15. Do you think that women should have the right to have an abortion?

Yes

16. What religion are you?

Christian

17. Have you read the Bible all the way through?

No. I can’t make it through The Old Testament. There’s only so much So and so begat so and so and so and so begat so and so a sane person can take.

18. What’s your favorite book?

Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader (any edition). I just like interesting facts and any book that you can pick up and flip to a random page and start reading is good.

19. Who is your favorite band?

Faith No More

20. Who do you think you’ll vote for president in the next election?

I don’t know. I will either vote for the Libertarian candidate or turn in a blank ballot in protest.

21. What website did you see this on first?

Miller’s place.

Apparently, some Representatives are pushing to establish a privacy czar:

To protect the privacy and civil liberties of Americans, the federal government may get a privacy czar if two congressional representatives have their way.

Reps. Kendrick Meek (D-Florida) and Jim Turner (D-Texas), who are both members of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, introduced a bill Thursday that would establish a federal chief privacy officer position, as well as separate positions at every federal department and agency.

Additionally, the Strengthening Homeland Innovation by Emphasizing Liberty, Democracy, and Privacy Act — or Shield Privacy Act — would establish a 10-member commission, appointed by various government bodies, for overseeing privacy and civil-liberty freedoms related to homeland security initiatives.

First, I am troubled by the fact that any post in the US government is has the job title Czar. Second, maybe if abuses of privacy weren’t so rampant, we wouldn’t need a czar. Instead of appointing some useless position that will cost tax payers, how about introducing some legislation to rid us of the bad laws that threaten our privacy? Pretty simple, no? And it will cost less.

How many tracking systems are in place by the feds? Off the top of my head: Social Security, income taxes, vehicle registration, drivers license fees, property taxes, gun purchasing data, and I’m sure many more. How about real reform in those areas if you’re serious about privacy?

Jed tells us that Boston Rail Passengers will be subjected to unwarranted searches:

MBTA transit police confirmed yesterday they will begin stopping passengers for identification checks at various T locations, apparently as part of new national rail security measures following the deadly terrorist train bombings in Spain.

Keep and Bear Arms, a website that I read daily, needs a new server to maintain their daily newslinks, which is a source for gun related stories for many bloggers. Go donate if you can.

The American Pit Bull Rescue Association has stated it will file suit against Council Bluffs if it enacts a pit bull ban:

An Omaha-based pit bull association has threatened to take legal action against the city of Council Bluffs if it enacts a ban against pit bulls.

According to a letter faxed to The Daily Nonpareil, the American Pit Bull Rescue Association cites the 14th Amendment’s prohibition against the state deriving residents of property without equal protection and due process as the basis for why a ban would be unconstitutional.

In addition, the group said a ban is only treating the symptoms without getting to the source of the problem.

Update: Apparently, I need to get out west more. All the stories I read about this issue came from Omaha news sources. Therefore, I assumed Council Bluffs was a suburb of Omaha. It’s actually in Iowa. Go figure.

My wife watches that show Cold Case. Every time I see it, my only thought is Man, that chick needs to buy a hairbrush.

Last night we went to see a performance of the Great High Mountain Tour. This is a show that features music from the soundtracks of O Brother Where Art Thou? and Cold Mountain performed by bluegrass and “old-time music” greats such as Alison Krauss, The Whites, and Ralph Stanley.

I think the tour kicked off in Knoxville, and doesn’t appear to be headed back to Tennessee, so I’m afraid our RTB readers who missed it but want to see it are going to have to travel; there are dates in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia coming.

But then, if you’re up in the hills of Tennessee, you probably don’t have to go very far to find some good ole timey music.

John Veit emails me a link to his site about point shooting. Interesting stuff on a strange shooting technique. As odd as it sounds, my dad said he was taught a variation of this in the military.

Via Gizmodo, I discovered Why Cry. It apparently can determine why your baby is crying. Pretty neat if it works. $100 price tag. Anyone heard of this thing?

Next hot trend for blogs and ads is to incorporate advertisements into RSS/XML feeds. Just a prediction, I don’t plan on doing it because I like the ad-free nature of using an aggregator.

Say, can I patent this idea now? I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet.

A judge in New York has ordered the Justice Department to release data tracing sales of guns used in crime back to the dealers where the guns were purchased. This is the result of a lawsuit by the city that alleges:

. . . gun manufacturers use marketing and distribution practices that allow criminals to get firearms, creating a public nuisance.

Another frivolous lawsuit but, since it’s New York, they’ll probably win.

Who says those Reuters guys have sophisticated senses of humor:

U.S. Troops Fight Rebels in Holy Shi’ite City

Hehe, they said Holy Shi’ite.

Kevin has the story of a gun activist who was invited to appear on a television show to debate gun control. Problem was, it was a setup for a televised practical joke on Comedy Central.

Pretty lame.

Bill Hobbs, who by the way I tend to agree with on a lot of issues, linked to and discussed why gay marriage would make Christianity illegal. The claim is asinine, after all current laws regarding abortion, cruelty to animals, liquor licenses, drug laws and other laws regulating things religious groups may find offensive haven’t outlawed religions.

There’s a good, polite debate in the comments section too (a rarity in the blogosphere). Go read.