Via Kim, I am now using the Foxit Reader to read PDF files. Adobe Acrobat Reader is a big, fat chunk of bloatware that frequently crashes my browser or locks up during print jobs. Foxit is nice and small. Loads fast, doesn’t crash Firefox and generally is an all around superior product. And it’s free.
Well, it’s not disobedience if they’re not breaking the law:
Zach Doty is raising eyebrows by taking the Second Amendment for a walk.
Doty, who turned 18 last month, has been stopped by police twice in the past month after citizens spotted him with a loaded 9mm Glock pistol in a hip holster in plain view.
No citations were issued because Idaho code allows residents 18 and older to openly carry a firearm in public. To carry a concealed weapon, you must be 21 and have a permit.
The second time officers checked out Zach — on Sunday at Poleline and Greensferry — his 15-year-old brother, Steven, was carrying a .22-caliber rifle in a sling on his back. Again, there was no wrongdoing because teens 13 to 17, with parental permission, are allowed by Idaho law to carry a rifle.
The home-schooled brothers said they intend to continue to openly carry guns in public on a regular basis for self defense — both as a crime deterrent and to educate others that it’s the public’s right.
“I certainly don’t anticipate that I’ll need to use it, but I’d rather have it and not need it than to not have it and need it,” Zach said. “There’s no reason for me to hide a weapon.”
It ends with: I’m just trying to exercise a right that I have no reason to hide
In my parent’s generation to be called a “classy broad” would be a compliment. It brings to mind Katherine Hepburn and Lauren Bacall.
Since this is politically incorrect week here at SayUncle, perhaps every week is, it is fitting to pay tribute to a classy broad who made me happy this week.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck is one classy broad. For a second there I thought she might punch Rosie O’Donnel right in the nose.
Who let the nannies in my state? The Tennessean:
Smoking would be banned in most workplaces, including restaurants and bars, under a bill that passed the Senate by a wide margin today.
After several revisions, the bill mirrors a proposal from Gov. Phil Bredesen to ban smoking in nearly all enclosed public places.
The market is doing a fine job of restricting smoking. And, of course, property owners have a right to decide what otherwise lawful activities they allow on their premises. I honestly never thought this would even come close to passing in Tennessee, which produces quite a bit of tobacco.
Via AC, who notes:
Just remember, limited government and libertarian types, Republicans did this to you. Three of the sponsors and obviously a good amount of those in favor voted to ban smoking from enclosed spaces.
I’d like to thank you, The Tennessean, personally for the fact that soon handgun carry permit records will likely be confidential.
The story so far: The local paper runs, err, well, I’ll just let Tam say it:
Standing in the checkout line at the grocery store last Saturday, I glanced down at the Knoxville News Sentinel in the rack by the register and was struck dumb. There at the top of the front page, above the fold, in the place usually reserved for things like War Was Declared!, Man Lands On Moon!, or Dewey Defeats Truman!, was something very much along the lines of Drunken Teen Prom Party In Suburbia.
And Tam says: wait, that’s really news?
The editor responds with: Uh uh, it was, like, so totally news and stuff.
And Dr. Helen joins the fun: Nyuh, uh. It’s like totally not news & stuff.
MKS of the paper defends his paper and has a poll asking the question: So, is it really like news and stuff?
Now, I’m no reporter but I gather that the primary business of the news is to sell the news (sell news = profit). Secondary to that is actually reporting the news. Is the story news? Sure. But is it front page Man Bites Dog, wall-to-wall, daily coverage news? No. It’s a blurb, at most. In the gossip section with pictures of cats. But can you blame the KNS? It was the most read story, even beating out UT football which is quite an accomplishment in Knoxville. And why is that? Well, because you’d rather read about that, or semi-hot teachers doing their students, or porn stars giving knob jobs to state troopers, or Paris Hilton’s jail cell as opposed to the state of trade relations with China, the US Attorney scandal, or that orders for durable goods are up 0.6%. They’re selling the news and you’re buying it. And you, frankly, don’t care about things that are particularly important.
Meanwhile, the Knoxville News Sentinel’s coverage of Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam belonging to an anti-gun group? None. I also recall some sort of property scandal covered here by #9 that’s also not news. But, hey, they gotta pay the bills.
VA Governor Kaine ran on a platform that was supportive of gun rights. Now, it looks as though those were empty promises:
Governor Kaine gave the panel investigating the Virginia Tech shooting incident its marching orders on Monday: Kaine let it be known that he expects the panel to recommend more gun control – including ammunition control!
First Kaine does not invite any gun rights groups to be on the panel, and now he’s telling the panel what he wants the panel to conclude.
The results of that panel, if it includes gun or ammunition control, will be tainted and should be dismissed as a farce on the people of Virginia.
Via PGP, who notes:
Kaine was the first leader to publicly excoriate those who would politicize the VT debacle; his comments seemed almost directly aimed at the Brady Campaign, who started asking for donations before the bodies of the deceased had even been released to their families.
Quite disappointing.
A video of a toddler wrestling a cobra. Ahh! Cobras. Cobras. Via the NITwit.
Oh, what? Like you’re not gonna click that?
Remember the kid who was charged with disorderly conduct over an essay he wrote? The charges have been dropped:
Prosecutors said they dropped the charges partly because the teacher at Cary-Grove High School in McHenry County didn’t want the case to continue.
I’d say the dropped them because they knew they were full of shit and that they’d get sued. Actually, I hope the kid sues anyway.
LAWNORDER: SPECIAL LANDSCAPING UNIT. Is it just me, or does he seem to be having too much fun landscaping?
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has signed into law the National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed “Castle Doctrine” bill (HB 1907) bringing common sense self-defense protections to law-abiding Tennesseans.
“Gov. Bredesen and Tennessee lawmakers recognize the value of ensuring that law-abiding citizens have the option and the right to protect themselves when criminals attack,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist. “This is a victim’s rights measure that puts the law on the side of victims, who don’t have the luxury of time when confronted by a criminal. This law removes any mandate of forcible retreat set either in state statute or in case law.”
Between this and signing into law a provision requiring local law enforcement to sign off on NFA forms in 15 business days, one of our more pro-gun governors is a Democrat.
Update: Meanwhile, folks at the TFA say this is not a good bill.
Ben wants to know. I think:
It’s a tax on hope.
It’s a tax on people who can’t do math.
It’s a tax people actually stand in line willingly to pay.
Hell, I have almost five times that in just 22LR. Apparently, VA Governor is troubled that Virginia law allows any individual to stockpile ammunition with no way for authorities to monitor the cache. That’s a cache? Hell, the other day I gave 1,000 rounds of 40S&W I couldn’t use away.
This time, he wants to ban light bulbs. The fact this guy runs one of the largest cities on Earth is scary as Hell.
That they’ll make a movie about anything. Guaranteed to suck. My idea for a movie would sell, though.
Heading down 75 to my unsecured and undisclosed location when I see flashing police lights behind me. I get out of the way and notice that it’s a white van. The police lights are coming from under the grill and not the top. They’re blue (not red) so I conclude it’s no ambulance. The driver is hauling some major ass. I’m curious. As it passes me, I look over on the side of the van to see the emblem for The Department of Homeland Security. I wonder where they were going? And I wonder if a fed agency is really a first responder to something?
Any ideas?
Last week I wrote about the local online Editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel and comments he made about Charlie Daniels concerning the Channon Christian and Christopher Newsome case. Updated information on that story here.
Since then I have learned of other horrible criminal cases where the Main Stream Media has non-reported and under reported stories that calls into question whether there is a politically correct filter being applied to the news we are allowed to read and see.
Both La Shawn Barber and Michelle Malkin have written about the Wichita Massacre. Never heard of it. It was a case similar to but even worse than the Channon Christian and Christopher Newsome case.
Via Glenn Reynolds a story from John Leo of the New York Sun. John Leo writes of the case of Jesse Dirkhising, a 13-year-old Arkansas boy who was drugged, tied to a bed, raped, tortured, and killed by two homosexual men. Never heard of it.
John Leo asks the question, “Before long, more news consumers will conclude that even crime news is in effect being politicized. Is this any way to protect an industry in trouble?”
Glenn Reynolds writes, “Plus, ironically the news folks’ desire not to give white supremacist types ammo winds up doing just that.”
Political correctness is a cancer on this country. Is it too much to ask that the media just report the news? All of it? And editors wonder why people are not reading the newspaper.
It’s a good thing that Tennessee bans handgun carry in parks. Otherwise, a shooting might happen there.
In light of their killing an innocent woman, the Atlanta PD has replaced its entire narcotics unit.:
Atlanta’s police chief has announced sweeping changes to his department, including the replacement of the entire narcotics unit.
The unit came under heavy criticism last fall after the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman during a drug raid. Officers burst into her home unannounced, with a no-knock warrant based on false information. Two of the officers involved have pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges, while a third is still facing prosecution.
Police Chief Richard Pennington says training standards for the narcotics unit will be rewritten to adopt federal drug agency practices. He says 14 investigators will be added this month, and he hopes to have a new staff of 30 by the end of the year.
Good. It’s a start.
On the outside, I may look like a rat in a dress. But on the inside, I am a killer.
This post at NIT got me to thinking that I ought to talk about dogs again. More importantly, about perceptions of dogs and why dogs aren’t people.
You leave the house for a few minutes to get something. You return to find the roast you left on the counter gone, the dishes in the floor, and a quite content pooch asleep with gravy stains on his face. What happened? Did the dog make a choice to snatch the roast? Or did something in the fiber of his being remind him that he is a scavenger and override the rule you established for him to not jump on counters? Regardless, you shouldn’t have left the roast on the counter.
Or, another made-up example is my dog (here’s a pic for reference). He was bred to be a farm dog and, more specifically, he was bred to hunt hogs and to restrain cattle. Later, his breed was used to create dogs specifically for fighting other dogs. He has the following characteristics:
And that’s genetics. A couple of other facts about my dog in terms of socialization:
Now, if you came to my backyard right now and put a pig in there, what do you think would happen? Give up? I’ll tell you, without me there to direct him, he will kill it. Period. He’s genetically programmed to do that. He’s built to do that. He has a desire to do that. And unless trained to stop, that’s what he will do. It’s never come up because there just aren’t a lot of pigs in suburbia.
When it comes to a fighting dog, the dogs involved in that hideous and repulsive activity have been bred and conditioned to do just that. Period. The dogs are not forced. Dogs do not have a will like we do and they don’t make choices like we do. Pavlov’s dogs did not choose to drool nor did they do so against their will. They were the product of their genetics and conditioning. Dogs fight for a reason and the primary reason is that it often is how they decide who is in charge. That is, for a dog, a natural tendency. Fighting dogs have been conditioned to kill the other dog, which is something that is rare in a dog fight among non-fighting dogs that usually fight until one dog says uncle. But the urge to get into the fight at all is something all dogs have.
Assigning human qualities to dogs is foolish. Dogs are not evil or good. They don’t make bad or good choices. They react to their environment and that can be controlled through conditioning. Dogs are just dogs.
Dogs are animals. Dogs are killers. Dogs are scavengers. Dogs are followers. They are also loving companions and great protectors due to their nature. But never forget that even little fluffy would love to rip the throat out of a rat. Those cute little Dachshunds were bred to kill badgers. Do you realize how tough a badger is? And how tough a small dog would have to be to go toe-to-toe with one? When people forget that dogs are animals to be controlled, it’s dangerous for the people and unfair to the dogs.
Update: Funny story to illustrate. I was camping and Politically Incorrect Dog and I went fishing. He was hanging out (restrained, of course) and I landed about an 8 pound catfish. I pulled it out of the water to remove it from the line. Without so much as a sound or warning, Politically Incorrect Dog was on that fish like Barbie Cummings on a Tennessee State Trooper. He saw something he didn’t recognize, perceived it as either a threat or prey, and reacted. I pulled him off and we had a fish fry.
Update 2: When a bull dog mistakes your couch for a pig. Heh. Speaking of, my dog likes couches too. But as a springboard.
Senior citizens are much more capable of defending themselves than they may realize, especially if they are armed with a cane and know how to use it, said Larry Giordano, a black belt in karate who has taught self-defense to people of all ages in the Merrimack Valley for 40 years.
I dunno but I’m thinking Glock beats cane.
A new report from the Brady Campaign to Combat Gun Violence says colleges may have legal problems if they allow students to carry weapons on their campuses.
Courts have long recognized an obligation by colleges and schools to provide a “safe environment” for students. Courts have found, in many previous cases, that colleges were liable in attacks that occurred on campuses.
Actually, court cases I’ve read rule the government has no duty to protect you.
Via insty, comes a Gallup poll on guns:
roughly one in three Americans are gun owners, including 41% of Republicans and 24% of Democrats
In other news, they report that gun owning Democrats favor Hillary Clinton. Err, really? Did you pay attention in the 1990s?
Mag Fed 20MM rifle. Via ahab who says: I don’t know what I’d do with it. Seems to me it’d take out varmints and dispose of the carcass at the same time.
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
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