Security Blimp
I'm looking out my window at the Security Blimp right now, wondering why, if Climate Change is occuring at such a quick rate, its so fucking cold and miserable outside?
"Run by a gun zealot who's too blinded by the NRA" - Sam Penney of RaisingKaine.com
I'm looking out my window at the Security Blimp right now, wondering why, if Climate Change is occuring at such a quick rate, its so fucking cold and miserable outside?
Russia President Vladamir Putin is going to sign Kyoto. Its now headed to the Dumas for a rubber stamp.
While blogging about John Hostettler insightful floor statement on the incompetence of the DC Police and its 911/emergency response capabilities, I forgot about an earlier post on John Hostettler this spring.
Voting is done and we won pretty handily 250-171
We just won. The bill passed on an oral vote. Souder requested a recorded vote and recieved it.
Tom Davis is an ass. He's a bumbling, fence straddling, alcohol fueled fool.
The Volunteer State is stepping up today. First it was Zach Wamp and now Masha Blackburn (who is pretty darn attractive) are doing a great job of shutting the gun grabbers down.
Hostettler is on right now talking about the inability of the DC Police to povide even the most basic level of police protection and responsiveness.
Mark Souder has a great response to Waxman.
Oh god . . . Henry Waxman is complaining about .50 caliber sniper rifles now. Good grief. Go back to California.
Eleanor Norton Holmes is an idiot. Here's some of her more idiotic questions.
It should be a requirement of citizenship to warn the police if someone has a gun.
If you vote for this bill you will vote to allow children under 18 to carry semi automatic assault weapons on the streets.
If you vote for this bill you will vote to allow people who have been convicted of a crime to buy SEMI AUTOMATIC weapons.
Certainly, there must be a mistake here.
Van Douglas Godette Jr., 23, from Lake Charles was sentenced Monday by United States District Judge Richard Haik to 21 months imprisonment to be followed by three years supervised release for making false statements to a firearms dealer while attempting to purchase a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol announced United States Attorney Donald W. Washington.What happened to the gun show loophole???
The offense occurred when Godette attempted to purchase firearms at a gun show in Lake Charles in November 2002. While completing the Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms Form 4473 Godette answered "no" to questions which ask whether the purchaser has been convicted of a felony.
I guess Kerry is gonna blame his staff for his latest screw up too.
his I-voted-for-before-I-voted-against soundbite on fatigue: "It was a very inarticulate way of saying something and I had one of those moments late in the evening when I was tired in the primaries and didn't say something clearly. But it reflects the truth of the position, which is, I thought, to have the wealthiest people in America share the burden of paying for that war. It was a protest. Sometimes you have to stand up and be counted."
'I actually did vote for his $87 billion, before I voted against it,' he told a group of veterans at a noontime appearance at Marshall University. He went on to explain that he preliminarily backed the request, so long as it was financed not by deficit spending but with a tax surcharge on the wealthy that Bush opposed.
Dr. Phil Gingrey Congressman for Georgia's 11th District, along the western border just south of our place, is on the floor making a mockery of the Democrats false federalism arguments.
The non member of congress is on the floor complaining about the efforts to free the people. She is upset that the didn't ban cop killer bullets.
It was tequila and margarita mix, to be precise, left in the refrigerator in a pitcher and mistaken for limeade by kitchen staff, who poured it into small cups and served it to children as a lunch treat, he wrote.Nothing this exciting ever happened to me at school.
Tim Sandefur reminds us all that it is Banned Book Week and the world and out country are still filled with people who would oppresse the rights of others to information, alternate opinions, or simply a good story.
From National Journal's Hotwire
Tom Delay just took to the floor to lay out todays agenda. Its gonna be an exciting one. They plan on debating and voting for the District of Columbia Personal Protection Act and the Federal Marriage Protection Act.
It turns out that John Kerry never owned what he said he owned and never said he owned what he claims he doesn't own. Rather, Senator Veracity of Taxachussets would now have us believe that the detailed and personal responses to the questionnaire provided by Outdoor Life for their interview with the candidates were instead filed out by a lowly, un-named junior campaign staffer.
Senator John Kerry's campaign said yesterday that Mr. Kerry did not own a Chinese assault rifle, as he was quoted as saying in Outdoor Life magazine, but a single-bolt-action military rifle, blaming aides who filled out the magazine's questionnaire on his behalf for the error.
Michael Meehan, a spokesman for the campaign, said Mr. Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, owns two guns, a double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun and the rifle, which Mr. Meehan said Mr. Kerry "keeps as a relic" and had never fired. Mr. Meehan said the gun had no make or model markings on it and that Mr. Kerry "got it from a friend years ago," adding that such rifles were first manufactured in Russia more than 100 years ago and were used by the North Koreans and the Vietcong.
The clarification came in response to an article yesterday in The New York Times quoting Mr. Kerry's response to a question by Outdoor Life: "What is your favorite gun?"
"My favorite gun is the M-16 that saved my life and that of my crew in Vietnam," said Mr. Kerry, a veteran, according to the October issue. "I don't own one of those now, but one of my reminders of my service is a Communist Chinese assault rifle."
Though the comment was presented by Outdoor Life as part of an "exclusive interview with the two presidential candidates," four pages that included many long, conversational answers using first-person pronouns, Mr. Meehan said Mr. Kerry's portions were written by his staff. A public relations representative for Outdoor Life did not respond to a message seeking comment.
As a lifelong hunter and fisherman, I am proud to be among the millions of American sportsmen and sportswomen who are dedicated to conserving fish and wildlife and passing along the American hunting and fishing traditions to the next generation.Did they make this up? Probably.
I started hunting and shooting with my family when I was 12 years old. It taught me responsibility and respect for the outdoors. As President I will make conservation of the outdoors and preservation of hunters’ rights a priority so that another generation of Americans can pass on these values to their children and grandchildren.Did his staff pull this out of thin air or did they actually ask the candidate when he started hunting?
The greatest day I ever had in the field was in South Carolina hunting with my cousins; though last year bagging two pheasants with two shots on my first hunt in Iowa was also a good day.
Yes. As a hunter and a gun owner, I believe that law-abiding American adults have the right to own firearms. As President, I will defend the Second Amendment right of law-abiding American adults to own firearms.Did he make that up?
I support extending the assault weapons ban.That’s his response to the previous question.
Well, I had threatened to and actually did it. Since the Neanderpundit announced in the comments to the Postal Matchh Part Deux that he would accept entries until tonite at midnight, I decided to head out and reshoot. Boy am I glad I did.
Ravenwood, who btw I went shooting with yesterday, has a great link to a Libertarian quiz on his page. I took it and scored a pretty reasonable 87% . . . enough to classify me as a:
>Illegal immigration is a serious problem, but the solution is more border patrol and/or use of the military to guard the borders better
school of thought. Maybe once we defeat al Qaeda we can open up the borders again - though in order to quell future attacks we really need a better system of tracking what foreignors are coming and going from the country.
For what its worth, on the education question I also sided with theReplace government-owned schools with government-provided vouchers for everyoneschool of thought since the state (ie: individual states) are in an excellent position to help ensure a basic education for all citizens across socierty. However, I'm hesitant of the state dictating whats the wrong or right subject to teach, and believe the marketplace will better sort those educational issues out.
In any case, take the quiz and see how you fare.
The New York Times has picked up on John Kerry's admission of Assault Rifle ownership in a recent edition of Outdoor Life magazine. The Times, one of the most vocal and fiercest defenders of the so called assault weapons ban doesn't really seem worried about Kerry's hypocrisy (or potential illegal ownership), brushing it off with a quote by Bob Ricker that
not worried by Mr. Kerry's answer because "he knows a lot about firearms and he's also one of the most credible individuals when it comes to talking about gun-violence prevention and what it takes to keep weapons of war off the street.".
audiences he has never met anyone who wanted to use an AK-47 to shoot a deer. But it is not clear what Mr. Kerry does with the Chinese assault rifle he told Outdoor Life magazine he kept in his personal collection.
Mr. Bush named the Weatherby 20 gauge (although he gave a slightly different answer in a separate chat with Field and Stream magazine.)
Mr. Bush does not have such high-powered weapons but seems unable to pick a consistent favorite. To Field and Stream, he said, "My favorite gun is the first gun that my dad gave me, which is a Winchester .22 pump, Model 61."Hmm, so Bush is torn by what his favorite gun might be . . . a trust Model 61 given by his father when he was a boy? Nothing wrong with that.
He also mentioned the Weatherby he chose for Outdoor Life, saying that it was a "custom-made gun presented to me by the C.E.O. of the company, Mr. Weatherby." Mr. Bush said he had "six or seven guns" in his office safe, including two .22's, deer rifles and a .243-caliber "varmint" rifle.
"Given to me by the former lieutenant governor of Texas, Bob Bullock, my old buddy," Mr. Bush explained of the .243-caliber rifle, "who on his deathbed said, 'I want to give you a gun.'
Ya Know, the liberals (especially here in corrupt Washington, D.C.) keep insisting that the D.C. Gun ban is a success and the only thing keeping D.C. Citizens (and especially the children) out of the morgue is the D.C. Gun ban.
A night and early morning of gunfire in the area left five people dead and four wounded, including a teenage student at Ballou Senior High School who was found shot to death in a stolen car, becoming the 20th juvenile slain in the District this year.
. . . .
Walker's death was the latest in a string of killings that has pushed the District's number of juvenile homicides to record levels in recent years. She was the 20th juvenile to be slain this year in the District. Last year, 12 juveniles were killed; in 2002, there were 16 juvenile homicides, Gentile said.
Well, the wife and child have headed out and south for the next couple of weeks, leaving me to man the fort all alone.
DRUDGE is reporting that CBS plans for Dan "What's The Frequency, Kenneth" Rather to retire this spring.
First, we were greeted with the news this morning that Pay Pal wants to Censor Bill Quick's Daily Pundit for telling the violent truth about something (though they won't say what). Now, we have the blogfather telling us that Pay Pal is intent on becoming the morality police, cutting off not just sellers but also users
who buy things it doesn't want them to: prescription drugs from unverified pharmacies, material with even a whiff of sex and gambling or lottery services. . . ..Prof. Reynolds thinks that its past time for more competition in this area. I agree, and while Pay Pal seems to have beaten most of its competition, alternative are still out there. Check out these choices.
Its policy on adult materials is especially stringent, banning not only any material or services suggesting sexual activity but also "non-adult services whose Web site marketing can be reasonably misconstrued as allowing adult material or services to be purchased using PayPal."
Got big plans for this weekend?
I hate School Administrators. Especially the clueless liberal kind. Add a foolish, zero tolerance policy and you've got a recipie for disaster. In New Hampshire at least, it amounts to the suggestion that kill themselves, cause they certainly aren't free.
this decision is ridiculous. We're not talking about a student submitting a photo of himself waving a handgun while flashing gang signs; trap is a legitimate sport -- in fact, an Olympic sport. There's nothing violent about it, except in the twisted worldview of a few ignorant people.Plus, if they are going to ban shotguns in yearbook pictures as violating the zero tolerance policy on violence, then what about all the other violent activities the students subject themselves too?
as far as I know trap originally was intended as a way of practicing for bird hunting, but I'm certain that many trap shooters today have never hunted in their lives, just as lots of archers have never bow-hunted, most javelin throwers presumably never have waged war Bronze Age-style, lots of fencers presumably never have participated in a real duel, etc., etc.Wonder if they've gotten rid of football and wrestling too??
Yesterday, I mentioned the morning floor statement of Christopher Cox concerning Republican vs. Democrat votes to eliminate slavery.
Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, this is the 150th anniversary of the Republican Party. Over a century and a half from the abolition of slavery to the establishment of women's rights to the freeing of millions of people in the Soviet Union, Afghanistan and in Iraq, the Republican Party has been the most effective political organization in the history of the world in advancing the cause of freedom.
So that all of us can learn more about the achievements of this fundamentally American institution, the House Republican Policy Committee has published the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar. Each day, a civil rights milestone in the history of the Republican Party is listed. Yesterday was the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. President Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation sparked howls of protests from Democrats in Congress and across the country, but it was based on legislation passed in this Congress just 2 months before. Every single Republican voted for freeing the slaves, and every single Democrat voted against it.
Chritopher Cox was just on the floor of the Senate talking about Civil Rights.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League has lots of great new stuff up.
As you can see, a lot of careful research has gone into the request.
Plenty of documentation was provided to backup the case that J3 is invalid, including a ruling by Mary Sue Terry, when she was Attorney General in 1987, on a law with a similar construction (Page 3, D1 of the Request).
Here is the law found by Ms. Terry to be invalid and unenforceable:
§ 8.01-498. Selling officers and employees not to bid or to purchase.
No officer of any city, town, county or constitutional officer or employee of any such city, town, county or constitutional office shall, directly or indirectly, bid on or purchase effects sold under a writ by such officer. (Code 1950, § 8-427; 1975, c. 84; 1977, c. 617.)
Here is the law after the General Assembly reenacted it:
§ 8.01-498. Selling officers and employees not to bid or to purchase.
No officer of any city, town, county or constitutional officer or employee of any such city, town, county or constitutional office shall, directly or indirectly, bid on or purchase effects sold under a writ by such officer. ---Anyone violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.--- (Code 1950, § 8-427; 1975, c. 84; 1977, c. 617; 1988, c. 674.)
Here is the current version of 18.2-308 J3:
J3. No person shall carry a concealed handgun onto the premises of any restaurant or club as defined in § 4.1-100 for which a license to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption has been granted by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board under Title 4.1 of the Code of Virginia; however, nothing herein shall prohibit any sworn law-enforcement officer from carrying a concealed handgun on the premises of such restaurant or club or any owner or event sponsor or his employees from carrying a concealed handgun while on duty at such restaurant or club if such person has a concealed handgun permit.
As you can see there is no penalty proscribed.
The Neanderpundit is holding the next postal match this weekend. As some of you know, I didn't do so hot last time. However, I had some excuses.
I used to think the Washington Post had the most annoying sign in feature, but I take that back. The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Access Atlanta.com is far far worse. So bad, I think we may just institute a permanant boycot of the crummy paper here at the Countertop Chronicles.
Last week, John J. Miller had an excellent review of Iron Maiden's masterpiece, Powerslave on National Review Online.
In the loud and fast genre of heavy metal, Iron Maiden's music is tough to beat. Listening to the band for the first time after many years — I more or less had stopped by 1987 — I hear lots of strong riffs and melodies as well as impressive levels of musicianship. I don't play the guitar, but I've strummed one before and taking in a Maiden solo now makes me tip my hat to the guy who spent a lot of lonely hours perfecting his craft.I, of course did play guitar and Maiden was a poweful early force. In my one real outing as a musical god, playing before a pack house at the Morristown Beard talent show, my friends and I (well, friend and I, I didn't realy know the other guys) performed Maiden's "The Trooper" (along with Pink Floyd's Run Like Hell and a Stormtroopers of Death song) before a shocked audience of conservative, button down, prep school parents. We didn't go over well, but we had a blast.
For me, however, what always separated Iron Maiden from other heavy-metal bands were the topics of the songs. Despite those silly album covers and names, the group's lyrical interests were downright mature — and several notches above everything else in the genre. If Iron Maiden ever wrote a song about sex, drugs, or rock and roll, I never heard it. The guys were too busy singing about literature and history. Here's a sampling of song titles: "The Flight of Icarus," "Alexander the Great," "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner." Not all of their subjects are so transparent. "The Trooper" is Maiden's version of "The Charge of the Light Brigade," the poem by Tennyson. "To Tame a Land" is based on Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic Dune. "Stranger in a Strange Land" isn't based on the Robert Heinlein book, but something else entirely. (Arctic exploration, if you must know.)
"Aces High," is about as perfect a heavy-metal tune as there is. It's about the Battle of Britain, told from the perspective of a British pilot. On tour in support of Powerslave two decades ago, Iron Maiden would begin its concerts by playing snippet from Winston Churchill's "Never Surrender" speech — and then launch into this rocker.
If you haven't noticed, we've got a new look here. Hope you like it.
Robert Byrd is on the floor right now talking about the constitution. I have no idea what his larger point is going to be - I presume it has to do with kicking Bush out to prevent a military dictatorship taking over the coutry - but its real interesting how he keeps talking about the Language of the Constitution empower the rights of people to act as a countermeasure to the national military.
Lt. Gen. Mikhail Kalashnikov is going into the vodka business. Good for him. Nothing follows a long range session better than some good drinking and revelry with your buddies. I'll Drink To That
So, Dan Rather is sorry for getting caught. Maybe.
Mr. Rather and others at the network are said to still believe that the sentiment in the memos accurately reflected Mr. Killian's feelings but that the documents' authenticity was now in grave doubt.
The developments last night marked a dramatic turn for CBS News, which for a week stood steadfastly by its Sept. 8 report as various document experts asserted that the typeface of the memos could have been produced only by a modern-day word processor, not Vietnam War-era typewriters.
The seemingly unflappable confidence of Mr. Rather and top news division officials in the documents allayed fears within the network and created doubt among some in the news media at large that those specialists were correct. CBS News officials had said they had reason to be certain that the documents indeed had come from the personal file of Colonel Killian.
An apology is specific.John's got a lot more, including a exhaustive list of people who are owed an apology. Check it out.
I'm going to try to get up to this press conference and throw some fireball questions at them, but am not sure I'll be able to get over from the house side in time.
Citizens to Save D.C. Gun Safety Laws
News conference to announce citizens' mobilization against gun repeal. Visits to Senate offices to follow
Participants: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.
Location: G-11 Dirksen Senate Office Building. 1 p.m.
Contact: 202-225-8050
Inspired by the Gun Guy, I present you the most beautiful women I know of.
Yaaaaaa Baby!!!!!!
A little gun porn
I'd love to be your cave man . . .
Mel's got nothing on this
Whew. I think I need a cigar
In a trifecta of glamourous misfits
The latest VCDL News Alert is a biggie.
This is a pretty fair Op-Ed from one of the major papers in the battleground state of Iowa.
Cowboy "six-guns" and holsters of my youth are largely gone from today's toy boxes, replaced by more futuristic toy weapons. Many adults, however, now shoot authentic replicas of the guns their movie heroes used. The old bang-bang, I-got-you - no-you-missed-me arguments are gone in today's high-tech young adult paint ball games. Cowboy action shooting is a growing and popular sport, and so, I must assume, is assault weapon shooting.
. . .
People can again buy "real" assault weapons. It's their right, the same as it's mine to have my old hunting shotgun and rifle. Ownership and use of military weapons without military training and discipline is a dangerous mix, though. It would be a refreshing and useful change to have people focus as much attention on the responsibilities of gun ownership and use as they do on protecting their Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Rocky Top!!!!
Think your school's game-day experience is all that and a bag of chips? Universities like to carry the one definitive aspect of their programs around like a trump card. But Tennessee sees whatever your school is bringing to the table and bets the House That General Neyland Built that it's got you beat.
Folks, you can't make this stuff up.
Kerry is probably a better choice as US president. A better choice for the world, and a better choice for the US.
The Instafather quote's Lileks
it’s like saying a body in a pine box is “dead but lifelike.” It boggles, it really does: the story is true, the evidence is faked, but the evidence reflects the evidence we have not yet presented that proves our conclusion – ergo, we’re telling the truthand gives a hearty
"ouch," but a dead body feels no pain.
This trial is a travesty. It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham
Hmm, it looks like Retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett has a few skeletons in his closet.
While GW Bush will be cast as a conquering hero by his political team and accepted by the population as such, history will treat him as Napoleonic. Bush will reach a new lofty level of acceptance by first fear and then staged triumph. Those who waited too long to gain their voice will lose their voice again.He then goes on to state
We must now revert to the history of Europe to discern what to do. We must study the nemesis of France and how Napoleon was felled before understanding the damage a tyrant does to a nation and society. We must examine the ruthless and dictatorial rise of yet another of the three small men—one whose name is not spoken out of fear of reprisal, but his name was Adolf. We must examine history, in order to not repeat it, and to understand the mesmerism of a public to a murderous scheme. Three small men who wanted to conquer . . . and vanquish. Each created a need for a balancing throng; history then recorded the damage from a far better perspective.
More than one French or German household now sits watching the US expending her virtue through the tools of greed, anger and vengeance. And they caution us. They caution that out of this strong arm tactic will bring about the rise of a United Europe or Asia to counterbalance an arrogant superpower.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal (I know you've already taken my previous advice and gotten the subscription) has an article on the environmental prostitutes at Greenpeace. Turns out, just like Exxon, they like to go sailing in the fragile waters of Alaska. Except, unlike Exxon, Greenpeace has a tough time complying with most environmental laws and now face substantial criminal penalties for failing to enter these waters without the required oil spill prevention plan or proof of financial responsibility should a spill occur (and thats a real concern since their boat holds over 128,000 gallons of oil and lubricants).
According to the Washington Legal Foundation, a lawyer for Greenpeace was also quoted as saying that environmental regulations are "getting to be more complicated in this day and age." You don't say.
Well, I went to an interesting presentation earlier on the Statistical Value of Life in setting regulations at the American Enterprise Institute (I'll blog about it later tonite). I was a bit hesitant about going, because it started at noon, and of course, I was expecting CBS to make a major announcement at noon.
What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
Words and Lyrics by Berry, Buck, Mills, and Stipe
What’s the frequency, kenneth? is your benzedrine, uh-huh
I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed
I thought I’d pegged you an idiot’s dream
Tunnel vision from the outsider’s screen
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
I’d studied your cartoons, radio, music, tv, movies, magazines
Richard said, withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy
A smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
What’s the frequency, kenneth? is your benzedrine, uh-huh
Butterfly decal, rearview mirror, dogging the scene
You smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
I couldn’t understand
You said that irony was the shackles of youth, uh-huh
I couldn’t understand
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I couldn’t understand
I never understood, don’t fuck with me, uh-huh
Want 'em???
The incompetent Chuck Ramsey is going to subject himself to another Live Online discussion tomorrow, Wed. September 14, at the Washington Post web page. He will be discussing discuss crime, the ban on assault weapons, terrorism, drunken driving checkpoints and other current law enforcement topics affecting the District.
CNN is reporting that Jessica Simpson is going to play Daisy Duke in the movie remake of the Dukes of Hazard.
Not sure who saw this exchange on the McLaughlin group the other day. I just caught it on the replay Sunday night.
Issue three: Bush Unguarded.This ran on Saturday, after the scandal broke. It goes downhill from here.
BEN BARNES (FORMER LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF TEXAS): (From videotape.) I would describe it as preferential treatment. There were hundreds of names on the list of people wanting to get in the Air National Guard.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Former Texas Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House Ben Barnes, a Democrat, this week told "60 Minutes" that he pulled strings to get George Bush into the Texas Air National Guard just after Bush graduated from Yale and faced the Vietnam War draft. Barnes says the request for preferential treatment came from a Bush family friend, the now-deceased oil man, Sid Adger.
The White House struck back.
WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR DAN BARTLETT: (From videotape.) I chalk it up to politics. They play dirty down in Texas. I've been there. I see how it works. But the bottom line is that there is no truth to this.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Barnes is a fund-raiser for John Kerry. Besides this Barnes account, new documents obtained by "60 Minutes" show further detailed preferential treatment for Lieutenant Bush, and also identify the reasons why his squadron commander ordered Lieutenant Bush to stop flying. Quote: "Failure to perform to U.S. Air Force Texas Air National Guard standards and failure to meet annual physical examination as ordered," unquote.
Speculation now rages in press circles as to why that physical exam failure occurred. Some questions have been raised about the authenticity of the new documents about Bush's service in the National Guard. Dan Rather says CBS sticks by its report. The chairman of the DNC, Terry McAuliffe, agrees with Rather. Quote: "These new documents show that the president did not serve honorably."
Question: Did George Bush use the National Guard to dodge military service in Vietnam? Eleanor Clift.Newsweek's Eleanore Clift, a more clueless twit you'd be hard to find. Please, tell me whats taken so long to come out. That Bush didn't serve in Vietnam? Or that rich and well connected people served in the National Guard instead of Vietnam?
MS. CLIFT: It was a well-known haven during Vietnam to avoid going into combat. And it was peopled by the sons of the rich and the well-connected. And George W. Bush wasn't the only one. But for the last three decades, the Bush campaigns and the Bush family have covered up the various records.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Has any --
MS. CLIFT: And that's been amazing that it has taken so long for this to come out.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: All right, before this election is over, will Bush rue the day that he refused to condemn the Swift Boat Veteran ad, yes or no, meaning that he apparently has unleashed a counterattack that may have even more serious consequences?He cut Tony Blankley off and clearly didn't want ANYONE discussing the memo's, ahem, questionable provenance. If you can catch a copy of the video, this exchange is incredible. His willful blindness became even more apparant just a moment later. (Of course, I need to add that Clift is seriously deranged if she thinks these questionable memos created any doubts about Bush's background.
MR. BUCHANAN: John, look, if the president wins this election, the Swift Boaters will have won it for him, plus the convention. The National Guard issue is going nowhere, except it's going to be real trouble for Dan Rather.
MR. BLANKLEY: The National Guard --
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Quickly. Quickly, Eleanor. Will they rue the day, yes or no?
MS. CLIFT: Yes, they will. It's created doubts about his background.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Yes or no?Either John McLaughin was seriously uninformed going into this broadcast, or he has major problems with reality. He was determined to not let questions about the documents credibility be raised and wanted his panelists to indict Bush based wholly on these false charges. Despicable.
MR. BLANKLEY: No. The Washington Post on Friday reported that all their experts believe these documents are false.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I know about the report. But it's far from settled.
MR. BLANKLEY: And --
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: They're going to get a sample of the handwriting from the contemporaneous time. Quickly, what's the answer?
MR. BLANKLEY: And Ben Barnes went on TV --
MR. O'DONNELL: Yes, the war-making president did everything he could to avoid personally being involved in a war. But he will not regret what the Swift Boat ads have done to John Kerry.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: I agree with the collective sentiment.
Its sort of fitting, considering his history of Waffles.
In a small gymnasium at the Thurgood Marshall Center in Washington, surrounded by police officers and politicians including D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams, Kerry accused Bush of helping put dangerous weapons in the hands of terrorists by refusing to fight for an extension of the ban on semiautomatic weapons.Wonder why he didn't do this in Pennsylvania or Ohio. What's he trying to hide?
In all my heated excitement about the passage of the so called Assault Weapons Ban, I neglected to post a Monday Song Lyric.
Ding Dong The Witch is Dead!Classic!
Ding Dong! The Witch is dead.
Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.
Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead. She's gone where the goblins go,
Below - below - below. Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
The Wicked Witch is dead!
When the Washington Post runs articles like today'sNo Cheers Over Gun Ban's End, they are just calling out for people to again attack their credibilty.
Gun dealers in Maryland and Virginia said yesterday that lifting the 10-year-old federal ban on assault weapons would have little effect on business -- no parties to celebrate the expiration and probably no lines out the door.Well, they had to travel four and a half hours away to find a dealer to support that claim. Closer to home, at Galyans Sports, about 20 miles outside D.C., the Hunting Department told me they had "about 400 calls already" today inquiring about standard 13 round magazines. For what its worth, Galyans is having a killer firearms saleright now. Check it out. This Ruger M77 is sweet. No word if the sale also includes their fine collection of handguns as well.
For one thing, distributors could not ship the weapons until the ban expired at midnight today, so stores won't have the fresh stock for days or weeks. But mostly, the dealers said, customers just aren't that eager to buy them.
Good for Marc Souder (R-S.C.)
"This is a constitutional issue, not a home rule question," Souder said. "The fact is, we didn't allow the District to have home rule on the selling of slaves, either."
After praising Kerry for "the courage of your leadership" to extend the ban, Norton said, "I have just learned that the House will shortly schedule an up-or-down vote to repeal all our local gun safety laws. . . . President Bush, who promised to support an effective assault weapons ban four years ago, would apparently allow the unlawful purchase and use of such weapons even in the nation's capital."I'm going to pass on the "Courage of your leadership remark, cause thats just too easy, but I would like to point out that if the purchase of firearms is allowed by law, then that purchase, by definition, simply can't be illegal. Perhaps one of my democratic readers can explain this seemingly contradictory statement to me.
Referring to Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Forti said, "I think Nancy Pelosi's worst nightmare is a vote on this issue because [rural Democrats and House moderates] don't vote with the Democrats. They have no choice; otherwise they'd be finished in electoral office."
The House is set to lift the D.C. Gun Ban?
Well, i went shopping tonite.
How come, every day, it seems like my highlighters are missing from my desk?!?!?!?!?!
I wish I knew about this earlier. It looks like it was probably a good discussion.
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) Discussion, "The End of the 'Assault' Weapons Ban: Threat or Law that Failed to Produce Any Benefits?"
Participants: James Kessler, Americans for Gun Safety and John Lott, author, "More Guns, Less Crime"
Location: AEI, 1150 17th St., NW, Wohlstetter Conference Center, 12th Floor, Washington, D.C.. 9:30 a.m.
Contact: Veronique Rodman, 202-862-4871; e-mail, vrodman@aei.org;
Why not harrass them. I will.
News conference on the assault weapons ban.
Participants: Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y.; Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif.; Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass.; Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif.; Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., and Rep. James Moran, D-Va.
Location: Cannon Terrace, Cannon House Office Building. 4 p.m.
Contact: 202-225-5516
If an idiot speaks , and no one hears them, are their words still idiotic?
Assault weapons ban proponentsYes, they are still idiots.
News conference to explain why it is crucial that assault weapons remain off the streets of the nation.
Participants: Rep. Christopher Van Hollen, D-Md.; Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger and other Maryland
police chiefs; Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran; Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan; Mike Barnes, former Maryland congressman, president, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence;others
Location: Suburban Hospital, 8600 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, Md.. 11:30 a.m.
Contact: Bill Bronrott, 301-652-6016 or 202-270-4415
Spoons wants to go shopping.
If, as Joanthan Klein asserts, the 60 Minutes team is
the most careful news organization, certainly on televisionwhat does that say about the credibility of the mainstream media generally?
Matt at Stop The Bleating has some important perspectives for us to remember.
Now, for a bucket of cold water: It took the anti-civil rights crowd many years to get the Ban passed. They're not going to just roll over on it now. They'll be back with it -- or, more likely , something worse. DiFi, Babs Boxer, Schmuck Schumer and the Hero of Chappaquiddick haven't lost their appetite for infringing your rights. No time to rest on our laurels, folks. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom . .
There's a fairly big article on the Bans expiration, and its ineffectivness in todays Washington Post. SOrt of interesting, if you ask me, especially some of the admissions the Post will now let out, since its too late for them to simply renew it.
Yet what strikes gun dealers such as Marlow is that the rifles for sale this week will not be different in any significant way from the ones available for the past 10 years. Amid the furious political maneuvering of recent days is a situation little noticed by the public but one well known to dealers: The ban did not prevent many assault weapons from reaching the streets.
"It's a big nothing," said Gary Taepke, owner of Wolverine Shooting Sports, a gun range and firearms store in Brownstown, south of Detroit. "The ban didn't change anything. It is strictly cosmetic."
A surprising number of gun control advocates find themselves largely agreeing with that assessment, although they argue that the answer is not to end the ban but to strengthen it. The failings of the law, they contend, are the product of undesirable political compromises, not proof that their cause is wrong.
"We agree that the 1994 law is ineffective," said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Washington-based Violence Policy Center, which estimates that U.S. companies produced more than 1 million assault-type weapons in the past decade. "Good public policy would be to institute an effective assault weapons ban."
The Wolverine shop has several posters displayed prominently. One shows the Statue of Liberty adorned with a leather shoulder holster and the motto, "United We Stand." Another shows Democratic senators, including presidential nominee John F. Kerry, smiling about a gun control success and urges people to "Vote your sport." It warns, "Your firearm freedoms are at stake."
National polls suggest that strong majorities of voters and gun owners favor extending the assault weapons ban. The figures are comparable in Michigan, a state passionate about hunting. Last week the state declared open season on mourning doves for the first time in 100 years.
Kerry left the campaign trail earlier this year to cast a Senate vote for stronger restrictions and has recently stepped up his criticism of President Bush, who promised as a candidate in 2000 to extend the ban. Although Bush has reiterated that he would sign an extension if it reached his desk, he has not lobbied for it.
Instead, the two senators held a news conference to urge major retailers not to sell the once-banned weapons.
Yahoo is running this scary picture.
He's on Washington Journal.
Says Uncle is reporting no bloog in the streets in his part of Tennessee.
What a beautiful morning in America it is.
CHANGES IN FEDERAL LAW AS OF SEPTEMBER 13, 2004 RELATING TO SEMIAUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS (SAWs)
AND
LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES (LCAFDs)
GENERAL
As of September 13, 2004, the provisions of Public Law 103-322, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, covering semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices are no longer in effect. The regulations implementing these provisions also are no longer in effect.
Specifically, there is no longer a Federal prohibition on the manufacture, transfer, and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices.
There are no longer any marking requirements for semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices. Existing markings on firearms and magazines relating to law enforcement or government use may be disregarded.
There is no longer any Federal requirement for Federal firearms licensees to obtain certain documentation before transferring semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices to government agencies or law enforcement officers. However, any records obtained prior to September 13, 1994, pertaining to the sale or transfer of semiautomatic assault weapons must still be retained for a period of 5 years. See 27 CFR § 478.129(f). Moreover, records of importation and manufacture must be maintained permanently and licensees must maintain all other acquisition and disposition records for 20 years.
Licensees who provided letters of future intent to sell semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices to law enforcement agencies and other qualified customers are no longer obligated to comply with such letters.
Anyone who illegally possessed, manufactured, or transferred semiautomatic assault weapons or large capacity ammunition feeding devices before the bans sunset still have violated the law since their possession, manufacture, or transfer was illegal at the time.
IMPORTATION
The prohibition on the importation of non-sporting firearms under 18 U.S.C. section 922(l) and 925(d)(3) still applies.
Importation of large capacity ammunition feeding devices still is covered under the Arms Export Control Act. Therefore an approved permit still is required to import large capacity magazines.
Temporary importation of semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity magazines is now lawful under the provisions of 27 CFR § 478.115(d) because temporary importations are not subject to the sporting purpose test.
Any importer who has a valid approved Form 6 import permit with a restriction related to the assault weapon ban should comply with the restriction because the weapons most likely are non-sporting.
Any importer who has a valid approved Form 6 import permit with a restriction related to large capacity ammunition feeding devices may disregard the restriction. Importers may apply for a new permit if they prefer.
ASSEMBLY OF NON-SPORTING SHOTGUNS AND SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLES FROM IMPORTED PARTS
The prohibition on assembly of non-sporting shotguns and semiautomatic rifles from imported parts as provided under 18 U.S.C. § 922(r) and 27 CFR § 478.39 still applies.
SENTENCING ENHANCEMENTS
The sentencing enhancements for using semiautomatic assault weapons in a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime no longer are in effect. Similarly, the sentencing enhancements for semiautomatic assault weapons in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines no longer are in effect.
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS
Law enforcement officers and police departments who obtained semiautomatic assault weapons are no longer required to use such firearms only for official use.
Law enforcement officers and police departments may now sell or transfer semiautomatic assault weapons to persons who are not prohibited from receiving firearms.
Law enforcement officers and police departments may now sell or transfer large capacity ammunition feeding devices to anybody.
Signed statements that semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices will be used for official use are no longer required to be provided to Federal firearms licensees.
RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
Federal law does not prohibit retiring law enforcement officers from keeping semiautomatic assault weapons or large capacity ammunition feeding devices.
Former law enforcement officers who received semiautomatic assault weapons on retirement may now transfer those firearms to persons who are not prohibited from receiving firearms. Transfer of large capacity ammunition feeding devices is no longer restricted.
NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT
All provisions of the National Firearms Act relating to registration and transfer of machineguns, short barreled rifles, weapons made from rifles, short barreled shotguns, weapons made from shotguns, any other weapons as defined in Title 26 U.S.C. section 5845(e), silencers, and destructive devices still apply.
Registered silencers can now be attached to semiautomatic rifles and pistols without creating a prohibited semiautomatic assault weapon.
USAS-12 and Striker12/Streetsweeper shotguns are still classified as destructive devices under ATF Rulings 94-1 and 94-2 and must be possessed and transferred in accordance with the NFA.
EFFECT ON STATE LAW
Expiration of the Federal law will not change any provisions of State law or local ordinances. Questions concerning State assault weapons restrictions should be referred to State and local authorities.