The Gunnies

As originally proposed back on January 7th, I have decided to organize The Gunnies, a web poll to determine the blogsphere's favorite gun bloggers as of the beginning of 2006. Jeff Soyer was the first (or at least the first I stumbled across) to notice that The Bloggies had once again decided to snub one of the largest and most diversified segments of the blogsphere - the Gun Bloggers.

Hence, The 2006 Gunnies Awards. First a few blegs.

I am still in need of graphics. If anyone is in the least bit artistically talented, please please please consider designing a logo for these awards. You, of course, would retain full ownership of any rights associated with the logo and would merely grant permission to The Countertop Chronicles to use the logo in promotion of The Gunnies as well as allow the winning and nominated blogs to use the logo in promotion of their web log.

Also, if anyone is interested in offering prizes for winning blogs, feel free to let me know.

Without further ado, here are the rules:

Eligibility

• A "weblog" is defined as a page with dated entries
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• The contest is open to any weblogs that existed for a period of time during the year 2005, so weblogs that were discontinued during 2005 are also eligible.


• Nominations are to be made based upon the relevance of a weblog postings (or posting) to any of the specific categories in the first round of voting.


• The nominees for each category will come from comments posted to this blog or emailed to countertop AT gmail DOT com with the subject line "The Gunnies". All previously made nominations will be factored in (so if you've made one, no need to resubmit it).


• Nominations will be accepted until 11:59 pm on January 18, 2006


• Nominations must include a working internet address.


• In the event that one or more categories fails to garner the minimum of 10 nominations, the judges of the award reserve the right to nominate the necessary number of blogs to ensure 10 nominations for a catagory.


• The judge of the award (that would be me) are not eligible for nomination to any category (unless, of course there is an overwhelming bloglanche of outrage at the web's premier blog being left out of the voting).

The Categories (what you all have been waiting for)

• Best Gun Pr0n - This category honors the blogs that consistently showcase the most beautiful images of firearms and firearm related subjects.


• Most Educational - From how to posts, shooting tips, gunbuilding/ gunsmithing tips to historical information, this category honors those blogs that consistently advance the state of actual mechanical and operational firearms knowledge.
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• Best Rants - This category honors those blogs that fisk the best, bitch the most, yell the loudest, snort the angriest, and do it all with the most style.


• Best Legal Analysis - This category honors those blogs that provide the most concise, accurate, and easy to read/understand analysis of the legal and legislative developments impacting firearms and firearms ownership.


• Best Aggregator - This category honors those blogs that provide the best top level one size fits all access to the widest range of firearms related postings - whether to other blogs or mainstream media sources and whether with constructive commentary or not.


• Best Range Reports - Nothing is finer than a day at the range, whether testing a new gun, participating in an organized competition, out in the hunting fields, introducing new members to the nation of riflemen, or simply plinking away in the backyard, this category honors those blogs that either organize or record range sessions and best spread through actual example the true joy of firearms.


• Best commentary - This category honors those blogs that provide the most insightful original editorial commentory


• best Gun Post - This category honors the single post made to a weblog over the course of 2005 that best exemplified the 2nd Amendment or advanced the state of knowledge of the second amendment and related issues or simply put to shame by its sheer brilliance all other posts in the blogsphere.

Voting

• There shall be two rounds of voting.

First Round

• During the first round, votes will be cast in seven different categories.


• Each category will be comprised of 10 nominees.


• Voting will be open to anyone in the blogsphere.


• Voting will be limited to one vote per computer


• Voting will be conducted via a free, independent, public, online voting service.


• At or about 6:00 pm on the first business day following 5 days voting, the voting will finish and a winner in each of the initial 8 categories will be declared

Round Two

• During the second round, votes will be cast for the title of Best Gunblogger and for the Best Gun Post.


• Eligible blogs for the title of Best Gunblogger include each of the seven winners from the first round as well as at least three at-large nominations.


• The at-large nominations are made at the sole discretion of the judges (that would be me), but lobbying and petitions and additional nominations will be considered.


• Eligible nominees for the title of Best Gun Post include any single firearm related posting between the period of January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005.


• Voting on Round Two will commence 2 business days following the conclusion of Round 1 and last for a total of seven days.


• Voting will be open to anyone in the blogsphere.


• Voting will be limited to one vote per computer


• Voting will be conducted via a free, independent, public, online voting service.

Awards

• Winners of each category shall be deemed to have the Title 2006 Gunnies Best followed by the category that they won.


• Winning blogs are eligible to advertise and promote their victory to any extent they desire.


• All nominated blogs are eligible to advertise and promote their nomination to any extent they desire./li>
  
• All gun bloggers are eligible to advertise and promote their participation and intellectual superiority over gun banning bigots everywhere


• Additional prizes may or may not be provided at the sole discretion of the judges (that would be me) and any organization which may desire to donate a prize


• In the event that prizes are awarded for any category or offered to be donated by any sponsor to any eligible winner or nominee of any category, it is the sole responsibility of the winning or nominated blogger to ascertain the legality of accepting such prize (if such prize materializes) under the laws of their state of residence as well as the laws of the United States and to file and report and pay any taxes that may be due for the value of such prize to any tax or other revenue collecting arm of any appropriate government entity.


• In no case shall The Countertop Chronicles be deemed responsible for the violate of any laws related to the hosting of The Gunnies.

The Legal Crap

• This is all for fun, lighten up.


• You will notice there is no affirmative action here. Its not cause I'm a homophobe or a racist or a sexists or anything like that. Its cause there ain't no one alive who can show me any disability that would warrant balkanizing the RKBA community and creating a special award for some idiotic subset of the population. I don't care if your a gay black mexican hermaphrodite in a wheel chair, there is nothing preventing you from competing adequately with any one else nominated here.


• In the event you can't lighten up and have an actual complaint, go stuff it. I don't want to hear it. Its my blog, its my opinion, and its my attempt to honor those blogs that deserve honoring. If your going to get all pissy, go ask Ted Kennedy to discuss it with you while driving over Dyke Bridge.


• The rules are my own and can be altered or changed at any time for any reason - or no reason at all - by me.


• Fuck off an die


• If after reading this far, you are still upset about something, feel free to email me at countertop AT gmail DOT com. I may or may not respond. In either case, my decision and my response are my own and are final.


• If you are still upset, we can consider further means to resolve the problems in accordance with the terms of use.

Terms of Use
By reading, linking to, quoting, printing out, or in any way making use of the content provided at The Countertop Chronicles in any means, place, or forum, you agree to the following:

1. All original content of The Countertop Chronicles is copyrighted by The Countertop Chronicles owner and is not to be used without permission except as provided herein. In using The Countertop Chronicles you recognize that The Countertop Chronicles is primarily a guide to content on the Web, that all content is provided on an as-is basis, and that no factual statement on this site should be relied upon without further investigation on your part sufficient to satisfy you in your independent judgment that it is true. These terms of use are subject to change, and should be reviewed regularly.

2. Permission is granted to read, quote, cite, link to, print out or otherwise use The Countertop Chronicles content, so long as you comply with the terms below.

A. All quotations from The Countertop Chronicles will include credit to The Countertop Chronicles and, wherever practicable, a hyperlink of the form http://countertop-chronicles.blogspot.com ... to the site.

B. In exchange for the access to The Countertop Chronicles content described above, nomination to The Gunnies, participation in The Gunnies, or any other use of The Countertop Chronicles or The Gunnies, you agree not to sue The Countertop Chronicles and its owner for its content, whether original or linked or quoted from another source, in any court, on any grounds whatsoever in law or equity. Should you violate this agreement by filing such a lawsuit, you agree to pay The Countertop Chronicles's owner or owners the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) as liquidated damages, in addition to all attorney's fees, court costs, and other expenses associated with this litigation, and to indemnify and save harmless The Countertop Chronicles and its owners from any damage award made against them in such an action. Should this agreement not to sue be held unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, you agree to binding arbitration, with all arbitration expenses to be paid by you. The arbitration panel shalll be composed of three (3) weblog operators selected by The Countertop Chronicles owners or operators from those in the links list on the The Countertop Chronicles site. The award in such arbitration shall be limited to (1) a monetary sum not to exceed $10; and (2) the publication of a retraction on the The Countertop Chronicles site. Should this arbitration provision be held uneforceable in a court of competent jurisdiction, you agree to accept as liquidated damages in any lawsuit against The Countertop Chronicles the sum of ten dollars ($10), and you agree that you will be entitled to no other relief of any kind in law or equity. You agree that all disputes concerning these terms of use or the content of The Countertop Chronicles are to be resolved in the courts of Fairfax County, Virginia, under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America.

C. You agree that efforts to obtain The Countertop Chronicles content in violation or circumvention of these terms of use constitute a violation of The Countertop Chronicles copyright and you understand and agree that (1) by virtue of this agreement you are estopped from arguing otherwise: and (2) such violations may lead to civil or criminal penalties.

D. If you are a corporation, you agree to provide, upon the filing of any lawsuit or the mailing of any letter threatening legal action, a bond in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000) as security against the liquidated damages provided for in paragraph 2.B. above. If you are an attorney or law firm representing a party filing such lawsuit or causing such a letter to be sent, you agree to provide a bond in the same amount as security against the liquidated damages provided for in paragraph 2.B. above unless you have never accessed, viewed, read, or otherwise made use of The Countertop Chronicles content in any form.

3. If you do not agree to these terms of use, exit the site immediately, destroy all copies of The Countertop Chronicles content remaining in any form on your computer, any other computer or network device under your control, in print form, or on any information storage or retrieval device that you possess or control. Then execute the following affidavit, filing it in Fairfax County Courthouse and providing an electronic version (image copy via .pdf or otherwise accessible through an Adobe Acrobat reader) of a signed and notarized copy of it by e-mail to countertop AT gmail DOT com.

Affidavit

I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that I possess no copies of the The Countertop Chronicles website in any form whatsoever; that neither I nor any employee or associate will access that site in the future in any form whatsoever; that I will immediately destroy any copies of The Countertop Chronicles content that happen to come into my possession. I understand that action contrary to these statements constitutes both perjury and a violation of the The Countertop Chronicles Terms of Use, subjecting me to possible civil and criminal liability.

_________
Signed (include date)


_________
Witnessed (notary)

Notary Seal:


My commission expires: ______________