CJ has the dope:

The banking industry response to the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act is something in which we can take some heart. The banks were initially afraid the bill would hold them liable for not enforcing the law. Now, bankslawyers are telling them that it appears the banks’ exposure is limited.

AC says that The Mayor of Franklin has declared that neither Confederate Flags nor any antique guns shall be seen at a commemoration of the Battle of Franklin.

But one gun a month remains up for a vote.

Apparently, gays and godless heathens are the new niggers. Via the Roginator.

I know people fear gay cooties but why not atheists? Just curious.

Something is missing from the list. I notice Middle-Easterner isn’t on there.

Tam:

The fringe elements that propagate those theories seem to forget that they are accusing the same government that can’t get a letter across town in a week (or even keep a presidential blowjob a secret) of orchestrating a machiavellian plot worthy of the next Dan Brown novel.

Der Commissar:

I have decided to vote Democratic this fall.

I am a conservative and a Republican party member. I believe in small government, free markets, strong defense, etc., but Bush’s snafu in Iraq is just too much. It overwhelms those issues which for 30 years have made me vote GOP.

Or, the shorter version, Bush is no conservative. The GOP controlled congress isn’t either. I’ve been weighing this one myself. My only request to Der Commissar is at least make a protest vote: Vote third party. Throw your vote away in protest. I did it in 2004 when I wasted my vote on this guy. I think it’s a statement that I am willing to vote for a crazy man over the two candidates offered by the two major parties. This leads us to the quote of the day from Der Commissar:

I must hand it to Bush … I never would have thought there would be a Republican president that could ever persuade me to vote for the Democrats.

Preston Taylor Holmes notes that this seems to be a trend among conservative bloggers.

I’ve been that way since about 2002.

Update: Stuff like this doesn’t help either:

It took the Republicans a little more than a decade to achieve what forty years of Democratic rule accomplished – the institutionalization of corruption. The major difference is that the elephant masqueraded as a reformist, moral revolutionary.

I will. The group Vote No on 1 advocates opposing Tennessee’s pending constitutional ban on gay marriage. Glad they have a real webpage now. From their site:

Writing discrimination into the Tennessee Constitution hurts lesbian and gay families denying them the right to make a legally recognized commitment to love and family.

I don’t do much knife blogging. I don’t do any sword blogging. Neither is my thing. I mean, I have knives but only for the same reason I have toilet paper, because I need them. I’m not an aficionado.

But here’s a blog on knives and swords.

Some nutjob walked into a school and started shooting. At last count, five girls were killed. It’s tragic. The Brady Camp didn’t even let the bodies get cold before politicizing it. I think Katie True summed it up best:

Someone gets up one day and says, ‘I’m gonna kill all the girls.’ How do you legislate against that?

You can’t.

Update: Aunt B. looks at it from a feminist perspective (not the crazy kind of feminism, the good kind. For the crazy kind of feminism, go here):

I woke up to NPR this morning and the woman reading the news was going on about “the children.” “The children” were tied up. “The children” were killed. And so I woke up thinking “Those were girls and it matters that they were girls because the killer chose them because they were girls. Don’t say ‘children’ like the story is their age.”

Update 2: Dr. Helen, a psychologist, looks at characteristics of mass murderers. Whatever happened to they’re just crazy? I mean, we all understand crazy.

Kim says:

We are all at the mercy of the lone nutcase who’s not afraid to die.

One of the things I liked about Ford’s campaign was his ads. The dude’s got presence. He’s on message, concise and direct (or, as whitey says, he’s articulate). He sticks with the issues. I was rather surprised to see his latest ad with a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous impersonator talking about Corker’s mansion, Corker’s worth, and how, despite his millions, he got pay raises as mayor of Chattanooga. Err, Mr. Ford, you’re a rich dude too. Politics is a game for the rich. So, spare me the class warfare hooey.

So, a congressmonkey resigned and checked himself into alcohol rehab over some instant messages sent to a 16 year-old page that used the word horny. Err, why alcohol rehab? I guess they don’t offer diddler of young boys rehab? Allegations are that the Republican leadership (specifically Hastert) knew about it earlier and did nothing. If that’s the case, they should go.

For the first time, Gov. Schwarzenegger has seen gun control he didn’t like.

I’m sure gun blog readers know that the Senate passed the bill that bans confiscation of weapons during emergencies. But I’d be a ban gun blogger if I didn’t mention it. Kopel has the text and discussion of the bill.

I’m with gunner, I can’t believe a policeman said something like this:

That’s all the bullets we had, or we would have shot him more

I don’t really care that they justifiably killed a murderer but statements like that make it seem like it’s not justifiable but more retribution.

Seen at Townhall:

I am a 5’1″ grandmother and have carried a gun for several years. Hopefully, I will never have to use it, but I feel much safer knowing that it is there. I carry a purse designed to hold the gun safely, and plan on appying for the lifetime permit.

CCKBA writes:

Last week’s decision by an Essex County, N.J. judge to scrap Newark’s crack- down on gun offenders because there’s no evidence that the “Gun Strategy” program has done anything to curb crime was likened to an “epiphany” by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).

According to the Newark Star-Ledger, State Superior Court Assignment Judge Patricia Costello reportedly saw no benefit from the four-year-old program. She was quoted as sating, “It didn’t work the way it was intended.”

Full Tilt Poker issued a statement:

In the short term, we assure you that your online experience at Full Tilt Poker will not change. You will still be able to deposit and withdraw money from the site using the same methods and payment processors you have always used, and your money will remain completely safe and secure. We cannot predict how the online poker experience may change in the future, but we do not expect any immediate impact from the legislation, as the banking industry has 270 days to implement new rules after the bill is signed.

Douglas Henry will not debate his Republican opponent Bob Krumm. Says Bob:

Voters in the 21st Tennessee Senate district will be denied the opportunity to hear the candidates for that seat debate because Senator Henry apparently doesn’t think that people deserve to know where he stands on the issues.

Three weeks ago I mailed Senator Henry a letter asking for him to agree to a debate schedule. I pointed out to Sen. Henry that I knew how important debates were to his personal decision making process as evidenced by his attendance at the July candidate forum for the Metro Council district in which he lives. Uncharacteristically, he never even responded to the letter.

A week later I attempted to send him a registered letter. His campaign won’t even accept delivery of it.

Bob has also done a helluva job putting all his financial info, endorsements and questionnaires on line. Henry, mean while, an incumbent since I’ve been alive, says:

*crickets chirping*

Is it arrogance? Sure. But a long standing incumbent doesn’t really need to run the risk of getting schooled by a young upstart. It’s also cowardly.

Image of Jesus seen in dog butt. No, really.

Judging by all the commercials I’m seeing, Dateline’s To Catch a Predator series was popular enough to warrant it’s own TeeVee show. The premise of this show is that:

1) Some reporter type hops online and poses as an underaged girl in chat room;

2) Said reporter convinces some sick pervert to have a meetup;

3) When sick pervert shows up, the cameras are rolling.

Now, these perverts get no sympathy from me but shame on Dateline for really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. I suppose Americans really are obsessed with sexual perversion, even the most disgusting kind that victimized children. It’s like the fall of the Roman Empire or something. I mean, I’m all for people tracking down sexual predators but making it entertainment gives me the willies.

Of course, one day, the reporter is going to confront the wrong pervert, who also happens to be a psychopath and some bad ju-ju will go down. It’s bound to happen.

I think I’ll start me own show called To Catch To Catch A Predator. I’ll pose as a pervert and wait until someone agrees to meet me. Then, when they show up, I’ll have my cameras rolling on their cameras and say Haha, gotcha performing a valuable service. I’m just disappointed that you air this as entertainment.

B-Ho continues to make this totally retarded argument:

I’ll repeat what I’ve said before: voter approval of the amendment will not take away any rights or discriminate against any individuals in Tennessee. After it passes, just like before, all unmarried adults – gay or straight – will have the identical marriage right in Tennessee: the right to be married to one person of the opposite gender.

If an argument is redefined to, in no way, reflect the nature of the other side’s concern, it don’t mean dick (heh!). If, for example, you say that McCain-Feingold’s ban of advertisement on TeeVee is unconstitutional and, well, stupid and I say But you can advertise on the Internet then I have in no way addressed the merits of your argument. I’ve redefined the debate in a manner that is disingenuous. If you tell me that you want a Pepsi and I say Well, everyone else has Coke, it’s of little comfort to you.

So, please, let’s stick with the real reason people support this nonsense:

1) Fear of gay cooties

2) An invisible man in the sky said so

Seriously, I have yet to see a convincing argument against allowing gay marriage. As you were.

I have a confession. I like to play poker. Not that I’m all that good at it, but I like it. I’ve been tempted to try my chops at online poker but, thanks to the US congress, that urge will no longer be an option:

To summarize what was passed, this bill is designed to prevent the use of payment instruments (credit cards, fund transfers, etc.) for certain forms of online gambling that are defined as “unlawful Internet gambling.” The bill requires financial institutions to identify and block payments related to so-called unlawful Internet gambling transactions. If there is a violation, the government may file a lawsuit (known as an injunction) to prevent or restrain the violation. The bill provides a special exemption for three types of Internet gambling: (1) horse racing under the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA), so OTBs and account wagering systems can remain in business, (2) Indian gambling that takes place on a reservation or between two reservations; and (3) Internet gambling that occurs solely within a state’s own borders, referred to as Intra-state gambling.

The bill doesn’t define “unlawful Internet gambling”. So, I guess he horseracing folks have some pull, since it is a sport for rich dudes. Anyway, it’s a stupid bill.

The bill passed by an overwhelming margin because it was attached to a port security bill. CJ says:

What this Congress is saying, then, is that it is more important to attack the scourge of online gaming than it is to make sure our buses and trains do not blow up. This is the Congress we elected. This is the Congress we have to get rid of.

Terry Frank tells us that all Tennessee congress monkeys voted for it, except for Jenkins. Good for Jenkins. (Update: Terry comments that Jenkins was a no vote and not a nay – that is, the dude didn’t vote not that he voted no. Stupid reading comprehension).

Party Gaming, the largest online gambling site, issued a statement:

After taking extensive legal advice, the Board of PartyGaming Plc has concluded that the new legislation, if signed into law, will make it practically impossible to provide US residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites. As a result of this development, the Board of PartyGaming has determined that if the President signs the Act into law, the Company will suspend all real money gaming business with US residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely, subject to clarification of the interpretation and enforcement of US law and the impact on financial institutions of this and other related legislation. Access to PartyGaming’s online gaming sites for the Group’s US free play customers will be unaffected. Access for all of PartyGaming’s non-US customers will also be unaffected.

The back-alley sports-book and poker games will be on the uptick. Poker is now more popular than it ever has been and there will be an expansion of criminal activity as a result of this legislation. Yes, illegal gambling has been around but, with poker’s popularity, it’s bound to increase.

When those that enforce the law don’t know the law, it’s amusing. The ATF, in an FAQ, gets some gun laws wrong with respect to short barreled shotguns. Wouldn’t be a big deal, after all, what’s a couple of inches? The issue is that they’ll put you in jail for 10 years for violating the law they got wrong. David Hardy provides some interesting history on why shotguns are must be 18 inches and rifles must be 16 inches:

The 16 inch limit only applies to rifles (because after WWII the government found to its embarassment that it had sold loads of M-1 carbines, as surplus, with 16 1/4 barrels). Shotguns with barrels under 18″ have been subject to NFA registration since the statute was enacted in 1934.

I always wondered about that.

The Carnival of Cordite is up. So is the Second Amendment Carnival. Get your gun bloggin fix there.

Xavier tells us where to get Remington 870 shotguns for $269.95.

I like Glocks. I like AR-15s. I simply must have an AR-15 Glock.

Sailorcourt gives them the what for.

Rich asks how you’re going to vote on Tennessee’s amendment to ban gay marriage. Well, I’ll be voting Hell No. In fact, I wonder if I can write in Hell No.

The local advertorial daily paper, the KNS, begins the campaign to save Gloria Ray of the Knoxville Tourism & Sports Corporation. The Knoxville Tourism & Sports Corporation (KTSC), a private 501 © 3 corporation contracts with the City of Knoxville and Knox County to market Knoxville as a premier destination for conventions, sporting events and leisure travel for an increased economic impact on the region.

Of course the publisher of the local advertorial daily paper is on the board of the Knoxville Tourism & Sports Corporation.

Since the train wreck that was BoomsDay rumors have swirled that Ray’s job was in jeopardy. Of course the 11 million dollar per year operating costs of the Knoxville Convention Center and the pitiful numbers generated from the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame are no help either.

While Ray is not mentioned in the article the message is clear that, "From sights and scenes in the major cities, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee National Forest, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and numerous state parks, Tennessee is a welcoming place for visitors within the nation and the world". Blah, blah, and blah.

But according to the Sentinel everything is just ducky, "Locally, Knox County received $685 million from travelers last year, which was a 7.5 percent increase over 2004."

However a realization has been recognised, "Acknowledging the importance of marketing, Tennessee Tourism Commissioner Susan Whitaker said: "We can no longer expect that, just because you build it, people will come."

Now Knox County Commission and City Council will be hit up for more taxpayer money for "marketing" because it is so clear that the problem is that not enough money has been spent on marketing to tell the people of Ohio how wonderful Knoxville is for tourists. There is no way possible we just built stupid venues in bad locations that no one cares about.

Give me a break.