In light of all the nonsense on blogs about condemning people for what they say or not condemning them for what they say, I (at the urging of reader Wes) hereby condemn myself for saying:

Here’s hoping they turn all their ammo in first.

Of course, I’ve said worse and thought better of it.

Feel free to condemn me too for my excessive hyperbole.

Update: Also condemn my self for anything I said in the past. And I issue a preemptive condemnation of anything I say in the future.

American tourists are unhappy because the gov isn’t bailing them out of Lebanon fast enough, nor will the gov pick up the tab when they do get around to rescuing people. I wasn’t aware my passport came with travel insurance. I love that being an American means never having to bear the cost and responsibility of your own risk-taking.

Interestingly, France, Italy and Britain aren’t having much difficulty getting their people out. What’s more, they’re not requiring evacuees to reimburse them.

I was in Israel at the start of the second intifada. It was dangerous, but I stayed because I didn’t think Israel was going to get any better any time soon. I figured that as bad as it might be, Israel was at a relatively safe point and it might be my last chance to see Israel for a long time.

I accepted that risk. If it had turned out poorly for me, I’d have had to blame my own stupidity before blaming Washington for my bad fortune.

WATE:

A Knox County couple is suing Walt Disney Entertainment and a laundry list of others because they claim their dog was taken from East Tennessee and cast in a blockbuster motion picture.

“The dog’s getting older every day. I want him to be with me as he’s getting older,” says William Robinson.

The Robinson’s dog, Kolby, is a pure-bred Alaskan malamute.

In the summer of 2004, the Robinson’s claim Kolby broke free from his leash attached to a dog run in their yard. They haven’t seen him, in person, since that day.

But on February 14, nearly two years later, came a frantic phone call from a family member.

“We’ve seen your dog in the paper, there’s a big story about Kolby in the paper,” said William, recounting the conversation.

The story was an article in the Knoxville News Sentinel. It was a review of the movie “Eight Below” and it discussed the K-9 allegedly Kolby as “.. a former Knoxville stray who was rescued and then discovered during a casting call.”

Speaking of potential gun confiscations in Cali, I am reminded of this post at Ravenwood’s, which notes that Cali has a history of confiscation. There’s a link to a Lockyer signed document circa 1999 that concludes:

Once the 90-day window of opportunity for turning in such assault weapons concludes, we will send each sheriff and police chief a listing of the affected individuals and specific assault weapons that corresponds with their jurisdiction.

Mr. and Mrs. California, turn them in.

The state of our world is fucked up. There’s some major hooey going on in the middle east and it likely won’t improve for a while.

The Israeli’s aren’t exactly saints in their various conflicts but then, in a war, who the Hell is? And I can’t blame them really. No matter their concessions, the aggressors against them have not stopped. Ever. Even if they did, some other radical extremist group would take their place and, after a slight lull, it’s back to targeting civilians, buses, night clubs and other acts of terror. Israel takes a lot of flak from the rest of the world and some of it is deserved. But not all of it. After all, how do you deal with an opponent who wants to drive you into the sea? Simple, really. You kill them all. The flaw with that plan is the amount of civilian casualties and collateral damage. But Israel has not done that. If they were the evil bogeymen that some would have us believe, that’s what they would have done. I have a feeling the amount of a shit they give about what the world thinks will soon be about zero. And this situation is going to get worse.

Tam sums it up:

So, what we have here is a rising storm of conflict, brewing along an arc running from the mouths of the Indus to the Nile Delta. Civilization’s home turf, as it were, is sporting very few signs of it these days. That may be the soil where writing and agriculture and beer and other good things first sprang from, but that’s not all that was invented there, and sometimes it shows.

This is a situation where both sides have engaged in some pretty fucked up things. But you basically can tell which side does the more fucked up things. In terms of picking a side, I can’t help but support the one that doesn’t want to, say, kill me. So, go Jews.

Hope for peace but don’t count on it. It will likely get worse before it gets better.

In Illinois:

Earlier this month, Cook County Board member Joseph Moreno stood before the county board and called for “…house to house searches to pull every gun out of Cook County.” Moreno’s statement comes within days of Blagojevich claiming that anyone in Chicago who owns a gun is a “gang banger” and is “…up to no good.”

That’s a lot of … which may indicate Dowdifying. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the case. Looks like they have something in common with Cali.

Guy Montag got a mention in the press for his date set up via a conservative dating service, which turned out to be a reporter who wrote an article on such a service. Original story here.

A warning:

Officers from the Los Angeles County Gun Task Force in CA have begun serving search warrants on residents in that county who are suspected of holding un-registered “Assault Rifles” including 50 BMG target rifles.

If you or any of your friends have not complied with the provisions of AB-50 that require you to register any 50 BMG rifles you own, you may very well expect a knock on your door at any time.

This information was received from a former ATF agent in CA

Read the rest of the tale too. Here’s hoping they turn all their ammo in first.

A second amendment debate between Mark Tushnet & Saul Cornell. Via granted.

The “debate”, if that is the correct word, is on.

WATE reported at 5:00 and 6:00 PM Monday that Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison would “debate” former Knoxville Mayor Randy Tyree, his opponent in the 2006 Knox County Sheriff’s race, Thursday morning the 20th on radio station WNOX 100.3 FM from 7:00 to 8:30 AM.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Krumm posted various questionairres he’s filled out on his site. Here’s the one from the NRA. He says full-auto weapons should be licensed. He also says he thinks current laws are sufficient. Tennessee laws, other than concealed carry, basically mimic federal laws. He supports expanding places where citizens can lawfully carry. He opposes the assault weapons ban. He opposes registration. He wants to scrap the $10 TICS fee because it is redundant. He opposes limiting lawful commerce at gun shows.

He also opposes the Lautenberg amendment. I should note that he relayed a story about the Lautenberg amendment in comments a bit back. He noted:

I ran into this exact problem with one of my best NCOs when I commanded a Cavalry Troop. Thanks to Senator Lautenberg’s overly broad legislation, our nation lost a great soldier when we could have used him, because he was prohibited from being issued a weapon in the most controlled weapons environment possible: the U.S. Army. All because his ex alleged (and never proved) something during a bitter divorce.

Oh, and repeated letters to Sen. Lautenberg, written by the NCO’s commander were never once responded to.

One nit I would pick is that he opposes laws allowing people to keep weapons in their car on company premises. He states that private property owners can control their own property. I concur that they should be allowed to do that. Of course, my vehicle is my property and if I keep a weapon in it, it’s my business and not my employer’s.

Radley has a paper on botched paramilitary raids by the police here. And here’s a interactive map showing where they’ve occured. There’s one near you.

I haven’t kept up with the Glenn Greenwald thing. He said:

Prominent right-wing blogger today calls for the murder of Supreme Court Justices – the Right fails to condemn it

Failing to comment on something isn’t an endorsement so it’s a pretty lame accusation. Xrlq says:

That sounds pretty damning, until you consider that (1) no one called for the murder of Supreme Court Justices, (2) “the right” is not a religion, political party or any other entity worthy of being capitalized, (3) no one had any duty to reply to Misha’s rhetoric, and therefore cannot be reasonably said to have “failed” to condemn it if they haven’t discussed it at all, and (4) numerous right-wing bloggers have in fact condemned it. Apart from those four minor details, however, the title is spot-on.

Ok, then.

All linky, no thinky. Busy today but here’s some stuff:

Gunner has a link to a nifty looking AK scope mount. I dig the Ultimak. Looks like the one gunner likes bolts to the gun to eliminate rocking and travel, which is a problem with most AK receiver mounts.

The gun buyback in Memphis nets 41 guns.

Like you and me, only better: It is fine for New York Judges to Keep Guns Under Their Robes While They are On the Bench. Or The first indication of an oppressive law is when the law makers exempt themselves from it.

The other biased Washington paper:

When it comes to combating our crime epidemic, the nation’s capital might learn something from the state of Florida, where it’s just been reported that the crime rate has dropped for the 14th straight year, to its lowest mark since 1971.

Jeff says: Buy Those Assault Weapons While You Can. Well, you should buy them any way.

TriggerFinger, who has been doing a great job keeping up the Parker v. DC case, also notes: The Supreme Court has repeatedly suggested an individual right. Yeah, I know:

– The Court has not been quiet on this subject as previously thought, using some form of the word “gun” in its decisions 2,910 times (gun, rifle, pistol, shotgun, firearm, etc., even Winchester five times) in 92 cases. Three dozen of the cases quote or mention the Second Amendment directly.

– Armed self defense with personally owned firearms is recognized and supported in more than a dozen cases, is a distinct right of American citizens, and an ancient “duty to retreat” is not obligatory.

– The often-cited Miller case from 1939 is inconclusive, which is why gun-rights and gun-control advocates both claim it supports their position. The record shows that the Court actually remanded this case back to the lower court for retrial and a hearing on the evidence, since there was no evidence presented. Because Miller had been murdered by that time and his co-defendant had taken a plea agreement, no retrial or evidentiary hearing was ever held.

– All 92 cases are reproduced to show what the Court has actually said. More than 1,000 interesting quotations are highlighted, and each case includes a plain-English description. A special “descriptive index” reduces each case to the firearms-related question(s) it answers.

Some crime guns in DC are coming from Iraq. Don’t they know that’s illegal?

The carnival of cordite is up for your gun blogging fix.

We gunnies should do that. Rustmeister has some ideas:

One group we need to make contact with is the group of Americans who aren’t gun enthusiasts. People who can take ’em or leave ’em, no big deal.

Yeah, that group isn’t cool on the defend yourself from the .gov angle.

My idea for the offensive is a bill to end NFA registration of sound suppressors. It even has a health angle to it, since shooting is bad for your hearing.

Sometimes, guns malfunction. Here’s some pics of Bushmaster carbon 9mm that ‘sploded.

When it comes to sensational news no station can hold a candle to WATE.

WATE television news had another sensational news story where it made a production out of getting the story wrong. The story involved a debate in Halls Thursday evening with the Women’s League that the Sheriff was not able to attend because of a prior commitment. This is interesting since on Gene Patterson’s WATE blog the public was recently asked what could be done to make local television news better. Most people responded that WATE is too sensational in the reporting of the news. Was WATE sincere when they asked the public for their opinions?

On the 11:00 PM news on Friday WATE reporter Adam Longo had an exclusive phone call with Martha Dooley public information officer of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department. What was not clear is whether Dooley knew that the phone call was being recorded on videotape and would appear on television later. In fact Dooley asked Longo how he had found her private cell phone number. From both the television news broadcast and WATE’s website it appeared that Dooley was not aware her phone call with Adam Longo was being recorded.

As Longo held a cell phone in his hand Dooley could be on the cell speakerphone while video cameras rolled:

“We never told anyone where the sheriff was, Adam,” she told Adam Longo.

“I didn’t pull the information out of thin air,” Longo responded.

“At no point did anyone ever tell you, that I’m aware of, that the sheriff was at Austin East. You made it up Adam. You made it up and are trying to cover your tracks is what you’re trying to do,” said Dooley.

A glance at Longo’s reporter’s notes taken before and during the debate prominently show the name of the sheriff’s legal advisor and debate stand-in, Mike Ruble. Immediately following that notation is an arrow pointing towards the words “civic meeting at Austin East.”

“Mike Ruble says he didn’t say that,” said Dooley.

Read the rest of this entry »

No, the other kind. Company coming, so I did some cooking. Politically Incorrect Dog is always up for camera time:

My yard looks like shit. The crab grass is still winning.

But some perfect ribs:

I hear some folks like the baby backs. Not me. I like my ribs to have enough meat that you bite into them and taste, you know, meat. So, I use plain old pork ribs. Actually, I personally prefer beef ribs but I am apparently the only one on the planet that does so I make concessions for guests.

Yeah, they’re good too. I’ll take the Pepsi challenge with any of ya.

Update: Junior concurs:

MKS Reports:

Tennessee Supreme Court Allows Public Vote on Gay Marriage Ban

Voters will be allowed to decide in November whether they want a constitutional ban on gay marriage in Tennessee, the state Supreme Court said in a unanimous decision filed Friday

Had a legal challenge been successful, a public vote on the proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution would have been delayed by at least two years.

Writing for a united court, Chief Justice William M. Barker rejected a legal claim by the American Civil Liberties Union, three state legislators and others that would have prevented the amendment from being placed on the ballot.

“Wishing to decide this constitutional matter, as we should, on the narrowest grounds possible, we affirm the . . . decision dismissing the complaint because the Plaintiffs have failed to establish that they have standing to bring this lawsuit,” the chief justice wrote.

Justices E. Riley Anderson, Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., Janice M. Holder and Cornelia A. Clark joined in the ruling, which affirmed a lower court decision by Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle earlier this year. Because of time constraints and the importance of the issue, no intermediate appeal was heard.

Those challenging placement of the proposed amendment on the ballot argued that the General Assembly did not strictly comply with public notice and publication requirements set forth in Article 11, section 3 of the state constitution. They claimed the secretary of state published the proposed amendment for public view approximately six weeks after the constitution required.

But the court rejected the challenge on a different basis. It held that none of the plaintiffs had standing to bring the suit.

Barker wrote that “concern[s] about the proper*and properly limited*role of the courts in a democratic society” required rejection of the plaintiffs’ suit.
The chief justice said because the plaintiffs could not show any personal harm from the claimed untimely publication of the proposed amendment, they could not bring a legal claim.

Requiring all potential plaintiffs to show an “injury in fact” before their substantive legal claims can be considered “[properly] restricts the exercise of judicial power . . . [so that] the courts [are not] called upon to decide [political issues] of wide public significance,” Barker wrote.

Lame.

Regarding the Senate bill that supposedly banned confiscation of guns in an emergency, the NRA writes:

Senator David Vitter’s amendment to prohibit the use of funds appropriated under the Homeland Security appropriations bill (H.R. 5441) for the confiscation of lawfully possessed firearms during an emergency or major disaster passed the United States Senate with broad bi-partisan support, the final vote margin was 84-16.

So, it doesn’t ban said confiscation. It just bans the use of funds for confiscation. Not much of a victory.

I haven’t found the latest text of the bill (doesn’t seem to be up on Thomas yet) so if anyone has found it, please confirm.

Via Publicola, Claire Wolfe has an update and fundraising info:

WITH A LITTLE HELP from Andy Lochridge, Gary Marbut, JPFO, Debra Webmistress of the Dark, and the wonderful people of TCF, we’re going to help Rick Celata of KT Ordnance out of the dire straits Our Beloved Government put him into.

The first part of the fundraiser is a simple “pass the hat.” I didn’t realize it until a couple of days ago, but the BATFE and FBI essentially blew away ALL of Rick’s income. (Yeah, they can ruin a person and put a family with pre-school kids in peril without even charging anybody with a crime. That’s what they’ve tried to do with Rick.) Once he’s got enough to keep the phone connected and the lawyer from walking out on him, we’ll follow up with eBay auctions.

JPFO says:

You’ll recall our alert regarding the BATFE raid on KT Ordnance, manufacturer of 80% frames that — when fully finished by you — can be used to make AR-15 rifles. Owner Rick Celata, who had suspended sales after the raid, has informed us that his lawyer indicated he should return to production.

The info for contributing is here.

Rich saw it and offers analysis. He seems to like Bryant.

The NYT does the three rules of gun safety. For once, a gun bit isn’t hysterical. Via reader D.

Local blogger R. Neal has interviewed John Edwards.

The senate passed a bill that banned gun confiscation during emergencies. It’s a good thing. It’s on to the house, where it will likely pass. The bill passed 84-16, which is pretty overwhelming. So, who are the 16 senators opposed to gun rights? Well, they are:

Akaka (D-HI)
Boxer (D-CA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Levin (D-MI)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)

Nobody surprising, really.

David Hardy sums up the book review. SayUncle’s interpretation: more of the same.

David Hardy says that NYC is looking at creating a gun offender registry, similar to sex-offender registries. Bitter says Massachusetts already has one but it’s for all gun owners, who happen to be treated like criminals:

Sure, they just call it licensing in the Bay State, but the fact that you can lose the license and right to own for failing to notify three authorities within a few days of a move is a little too much like sex offender registries to me.

Deb has them. Guns up, crime down.

Mailstamp at The County Ceat says some traffic fines in Tennessee are unconstitutional:

The $200 plus fines that are routinely imposed by the county traffic courts violate the Constitution of the state of Tennessee and are illegal.

Article VI, Section 14 of the Constitution of the state of Tennessee states “No fine shall be laid on any citizen of this state that shall exceed fifty dollars, unless it shall be assessed by a jury of his peers, who shall assess the fine at the time they find the fact, if they think the fine should be more than fifty dollars.”

The Constitution of the state of Tennessee