The OX Rant

UN gun ban summit

2006-06-27T08:37:00.000-04:00

Day one of the UN gun ban summit

They’ve gathered in New York City, the best and brightest minds in the global gun ban movement. Oh, they don’t want you to think for a second that they’re actually interested in your guns. Kofi Annan as much as said so yesterday, when he told the attendees of the Small Arms Review Conference, “This Review Conference is not negotiating a ‘global gun ban’, nor do we wish to deny law-abiding citizens their right to bear arms in accordance with their national laws.” Got it, gun owners? There’s nothing to fear from the UN when it comes to your guns.

It’s too bad for Kofi that many of the countries attending the summit didn’t get his memo. Yesterday’s speeches were full of calls for expanding the current agenda to include the civilian possession of firearms. Hans Winkler, speaking on behalf of the European Union, called the current Program of Action “the key starting point for further action on small arms”. The ambassador from Australia, Robert Hill, spoke glowingly of his country’s gun laws that “require the registration and licensing of all firearms owners, prohibit a range of automatic and semi-automatic long arms and handguns, and mandate minimum firearms safety training and storage requirements.”

The statement from Indonesia’s representative was perhaps the clearest example of what these countries are aiming for.

“We believe that no armed group outside of the State should be allowed to bear weapons. We also believe that regulating civilian possession of Small Arms/Light Weapons will enhance our efforts to prevent its misuse. In our view, the issue of ammunition should also be addressed in the context of the Program of Action because in the absence of ammunition, small arms and light weapons pose no danger.”

[snip]

Norm Mineta resigning..

2006-06-23T11:30:00.000-04:00

Just announced by Tony Snow in the White House Presser.

It's about time Mineta gets out.

Though I would have like to see him booted about 5 years ago.

Kim goes for a train ride......To Russia

2006-06-23T10:32:00.000-04:00

Kim Jong-il's Special Train Heads for Russian Border

Intelligence officials were on high alert Thursday after receiving information that the special armored train of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is heading toward the Russian border. As of Friday night, it did not seem that the train has crossed the border to take the reclusive leader on a Russia visit.

Experts offer two possible explanations. One is that Kim is visiting Russia. One of the special train’s cars has already crossed the border while the wheels on others are being replaced, some sources said. North Korea and Russia have different railway gauges. If a leading car is already in Russia, Kim may well be paying a visit to the country.

But other South Korean officials say the train is merely near the Russian border but the future will tell if it crosses. “We don’t have information to support speculation that Kim Jong-il is to visit Russia,” a high ranking government official said. Russia, too, denies Kim is coming.

Alternatively, Kim may be on a trip to inspect border areas in Hamgyong Province. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central Broadcasting Station said Friday morning Kim is inspecting the 715 unit of the Korean People's Army. It specified no date.

Government officials for a moment thought Kim was heading for the launch pad of what the U.S. says is a long-range ballistic missile, which is located in the northeastern province. A government official said nothing can be ruled out and Seoul is working with Russia and analyzing a variety of intelligence information.

Kim took a five-day trip to Far Eastern Russia in late August in 2002 and visited Moscow and other Russian cities aboard his train over 24 days in July and August in 2001. Experts say if Kim does visit Russia, it may be to seek ways of breaking the impasse over its missile program.

Why would he leave his country just before there's a missile test?

Is he expecting missiles coming back his way cause of what is going to be "tested?"

We have an idiot for a State's attorney in JAX

2006-06-22T07:37:00.000-04:00

6-21-06
By DANA TREEN, The Times-Union

Shorstein sides with man shot in store

-------

He says he didn't think he could get a conviction against the shop owner who fired, thinking he was about to be robbed.

State Attorney Harry Shorstein is publicly siding with an unarmed man gunned down in a Jacksonville store last month, saying he believes his story over the owner who said he fired because he was about to be robbed.

Shorstein commented on the case just a week after deciding not to charge Murray Hill electronics store owner Doug Freeman, who shot Vincent Hudson five times May 31.

Shorstein said Tuesday he did not charge Freeman because he did not think he could get a conviction.

He said he told Hudson the same thing.

"'I believe you,'" Shorstein recalled telling Hudson. "'I don't believe him.'"

Freeman defended his actions Tuesday and said he had done nothing wrong.

"He [Shorstein] can believe all he wants," Freeman said.

Hudson told Jacksonville police he had gone into the Edgewood Avenue South store to ask for money and food and to recharge his cell phone after getting out of jail days earlier. Freeman said he had been watching Hudson and thought Hudson was going for a gun after asking for money. Freeman opened fire with a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun.

Hudson, who has been arrested 36 times in Jacksonville since 1997, would not have the credibility Freeman and others would have at a trial, Shorstein said.

"What we'd have is four people saying something is not criminal," Shorstein said he told Hudson. "'You are saying something that [happened] is criminal.'"

It took Shorstein two weeks to make the decision not to charge Freeman. A 2005 state law says a person can stand his ground and meet force to prevent death, great bodily harm or a forcible felony.

Hudson, who is still in the hospital recovering from the shooting, said Tuesday he respects Shorstein's decision.

"Some things we've got to live with," he said.

Hudson said he believes Freeman was trying to kill him.

"He shot me more than one time, that's what I don't understand," Hudson said. "You shoot a person five times, what are you trying to do?"

He said he was in the store for a while and talked to people inside.

"What person is going to come and tell you, 'I just got out of jail and I'm going to rob you?'"

Hudson said no one in the store asked him to leave.

When Shorstein decided not to charge Freeman, he cited the witness accounts, a bulge in Hudson's waistband, and that Hudson repeatedly asked for money.

Freeman said he believed he was in danger, called police and had already sent employees and family members to a back office.

"There was a 7-year-old child here, there was a building full of women," he said. "I would do the same thing given the same set of circumstances."

Freeman said he had been wary of Hudson who he saw looking in from outside the store. After sending the others to the back, he thought he saw Hudson reach for a gun.

"He raised every red flag he could," Freeman said.

Freeman, who told the Times-Union he shot and killed a man in self-defense 15 years ago, said he is pleased Shorstein decided not to file charges.

"What we'd have is four people saying something is not criminal," Shorstein said he told Hudson. "'You are saying something that [happened] is criminal.'"

Let me see if I can say this better.

What we've got is four people, who were witnesses, feared for their lives and will attest to thinking the store was about to be robbed, and you, the 36 time convicted criminal, are saying that you were shot for no reason. I, as the State’s Attorney, will side with you Mr. criminal!

Man if I ever have to protect my life or the life of another I sure as hell hope there's a bunch of witnesses that back up my story. Cause if there's not it looks like the criminal’s word will be what the SA will believe.

Welcome to bizzaro world.........

Ray Nagin, The Blatant Racist.

2006-06-14T08:20:00.000-04:00

By Mary Ann Fergus
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 14, 2006

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin visited Chicago on Tuesday as part of a national tour in which he's calling on "partners" to help re-build his hurricane-ravaged city, a project he estimated could take 7 to 10 years.

"There will be an economic boom like we haven't seen in this country," said Nagin, who was recently re-elected. "This will be the biggest work site in the world."

During a speech at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's national conference in Rosemont, Nagin criticized the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina and his state's handling of recent municipal elections.

"It exposed the soft underbelly of the United States," Nagin said of Katrina. "It exposed poverty, it exposed racism and it exposed a government that was overwhelmed and was not capable--and is still not capable--of dealing with a disaster of that magnitude."

The hurricane, Nagin said, was an "unimaginable event," one he implied may have been designated by God.

Before Katrina, Nagin said, New Orleans was a city of "haves and have nots," with one of the highest rates of poverty, one of the worst public school systems in the nation and a high percentage of young males involved in crime.

"Then, you know, God looked down on that and said, `You know, I need to change that'," Nagin said. "And then Katrina happened. And in the midst of all that devastation, God is now allowing us to have an opportunity to reset the table, and that was what the election was all about."

Nagin and Rev. Jesse Jackson, president of PUSH, criticized Louisiana's leaders for not allowing displaced New Orleans residents, now living in 44 states, to vote by satellite in the primary and the April run-off election.

"They said basically, the people in the Diaspora really didn't matter," Nagin said. "We don't care if they vote or not because we know there are billions and billions of dollars that are going to come down."

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco testified in support of a bill for satellite voting throughout the state when it was in danger of not passing, said Roderick Hawkins, her spokesman. That bill passed, but a proposal for satellite voting outside the state did not pass the legislative process, he said.

A federal judge determined three times that it was illegal, said a spokeswoman for the Louisiana secretary of state. An 800-number was posted throughout nine states to help displaced voters from New Orleans get absentee ballots, spokeswoman Jennifer Marusak said.

Nagin won re-election in April with 52 percent of the vote in a race against Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu. Nearly 25,000 people voted by absentee ballot or at satellite polling places across the state.

Nagin's inauguration ceremony this month drew Jackson and other national figures. He said his victory signaled support that he would ensure a city of economic equity.

More than $10 billion in insurance resettlement funds, an equal amount in federal dollars earmarked for homeownership and rental units, and several more billion in investment dollars will flow into the region, Nagin said.

Trying to make light of his controversial call earlier this year for a "chocolate city," Nagin said he's encouraging "all folks" to help rebuild New Orleans.

"My white-chocolate friends, come on down," Nagin said. "My medium-chocolate friends, come on down. And my dark-chocolate friends, definitely come on down."

This man is insane. Doesn't he know that Pres. Bush & Karl Rove were the ones that made hurricane Katrina hit NOLA?

And How the fuck does this man get away with being so obviously racist?

If a white Mayor had used the word "chocolate" in any way to describe the type of people he wanted to work with he'd be sued before he stepped away from the microphone.

Children's Defense Fund gun report

2006-06-13T15:21:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK, June 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) releases its report on gun violence against children, "Protect Children, Not Guns," at a time when major U.S. cities are calling for strategies to combat illegal firearms. Citing the most recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report reveals that 2,827 children and teens died as a result of gun violence in 2003 -- more than the number of American fighting men and women killed in hostile action in Iraq from 2003 to April 2006.

What a bunch of fucktards.

While 2,827 kids being killed by a gun is a bad thing it has NO CORRELATION with the number of service men/women killed in the WOT.

I guess they have to use that catch line cause using the head line "2,827 kids killed by gun in 2003, LOWEST NUMBER SINCE THE STUDY BEGAN" doesn't fit their anti-gun agenda.

Link to report.

------------------

ETA:hehehehehehe

Welcome back to LIBERTY CITY.

2006-06-13T11:07:00.000-04:00

I stopped by the video game store last weekend cause they had a buy 2 used games a get one free. I didn't end up buying any used games but I did pick up a new game that I didn't even know was going to be released on the PS2.

"Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories"

Only $20, can't pass that up.

Liberty City was the city used in GTA3 back in 2001 and they've done a few tweaks to the maps but it's the same streets and places. Playing it is almost like visiting your old home town after being away for years.

Lucky Rockstar took out all that bullshit eating and exercising crap they put into GTA:SA. I don't want to eat and exercise in a video game!

The graphics aren't the greatest but I expect it's because this game was made for then PSP and reformatted for the PS2, still for $20, I ain't complaining.

Democrats Announce: "Free speech for all! [Except Ann Coulter]"

2006-06-13T09:38:00.000-04:00

Ann Coulter Banned in New Jersey?

Two New Jersey Democrats are pushing to have Ann Coulter's new book "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," banned from all bookstores in their state because she criticized four 9/11 widows known as "the Jersey Girls."

In a joint press release issued Friday, New Jersey Assemblywomen Joan Quigley and Linda Stender say they want New Jersey retailers to "ban the sale of [Coulter's] book throughout the state."

"Ann Coulter's criticism of 9/11 widows, whose only desire since the attacks have been to repair their shattered lives and protect other families from the horrors they have experienced, is motivated purely by petty greed and hate," the two Democrats complained.

"Coulter's vicious characterizations and remarks are motivated by greed and her desire to sell books . . . She is a leech trying to turn a profit off perverting the suffering of others."

Quigley and Stender conclude:

"No one in New Jersey should buy this book and allow Ann Coulter to profit from her hate-mongering. We are asking New Jersey retailers statewide to stand with us and express their outrage by refusing to carry or sell copies of Coulter's book. Her hate-filled attacks on our 9/11 widows has no place on New Jersey bookshelves."

"is a leech trying to turn a profit off perverting the suffering of others."

**cough**Michael Moore**cough**

OH HELL YES!!

2006-06-12T15:34:00.000-04:00

New movie is the works.

Just watch. No explanation needed.

LINK

Oh Joy..........The Season's First Hurricane.

2006-06-12T13:31:00.000-04:00

ALBERTO ~ NOAA

ALBERTO ~ Naval Research Lab.

No way!?!? I'm a Republican! Who'd a thunk it.

2006-06-12T12:43:00.000-04:00

You are a
Social Conservative
(35% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative
(76% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Republican

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

HT to Nick

3 Gitmo detainees commit suicide

2006-06-12T10:38:00.000-04:00

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Three detainees at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, hanged themselves with nooses made of sheets and clothes, the commander of the detention center said yesterday. They were the first reported deaths among the hundreds of men held at the base for years without charge.

The suicides, which military officials said were coordinated, triggered further condemnation of the isolated detention center, which holds some 460 men on suspicion of links to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Only 10 have been charged with crimes, and there has been growing international pressure on the United States to close the prison.

Two men from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen were found dead shortly after midnight yesterday in separate cells, said the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, which has jurisdiction over the prison. Attempts were made to revive them, but they failed.

My New Old Gun.........

2006-06-12T09:05:00.000-04:00

I pick up a Mosin Nagant at the last gun show, for $85 I couldn't pass it up, and took it to the range over the weekend.

Holy Shit this gun has a kick to it!! Not something I'd like to shoot over and over all day.

The bolt sticks a bit when I was ejecting out a round but it wasn't too bad.

Also, It kinda sucks shooting an old gun like this for the first time too, you don't know if it gonna blow up in your face or not.

Damn my safe is getting full.

zarqawi_dead

2006-06-08T07:04:00.000-04:00

Fuck Yeah!

UPDATE: He's still dead....

UPDATE: Air Strike Video

The Brady Bunch. For some reason...

2006-06-05T14:33:00.000-04:00

...... I don't think they thought out this billboard very well.

I think it has the opposite effect they're going for.

This is somewhere on I-75S.

One reason I watch Mythbusters...

2006-06-05T09:34:00.000-04:00

.....Kari Byron

Shooting Lefty

2006-05-31T08:02:00.000-04:00

No not shooting a lefty, shooting left handed.

I went and shot the action match at my gun club this past weekend.

Damn was it hot out, I was ready to go home after the 3rd stage.

On the first stage we had 6 targets and had to engage each with two shots.

Starting from left to right you had to shoot the left three, reload, shoot the right three, reload, shoot the left three again - strong hand only, reload, and finally shoot the right three - weak hand only.

I don't shoot weak hand much at all so I was really impressed on how well I did at hitting the targets.

~~This picture was taken just after I got done shooting the final target with my left hand. If you look close you can see the bullet holes.~~

Whoops, that was taken just before I started shooting with my weak hand. The holes in the cardboard were from the first string.

[click to enlarge]

Pedophiles to launch political party [Netherlands]

2006-05-31T06:59:00.000-04:00

Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage.

The Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party said on its Web site it would be officially registered Wednesday, proclaiming: "We are going to shake The Hague awake!"

The party said it wanted to cut the legal age for sexual relations to 12 and eventually scrap the limit altogether.

"A ban just makes children curious," Ad van den Berg, one of the party's founders, told the Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper.

"We want to make pedophilia the subject of discussion," he said, adding the subject had been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in neighboring Belgium.

"We want to get into parliament so we have a voice. Other politicians only talk about us in a negative sense, as if we were criminals," Van den Berg told Reuters.

The Netherlands, which already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution and gay marriage, was shocked by the plan.

An opinion poll published Tuesday showed that 82 percent wanted the government to do something to stop the new party, while 67 percent said promoting pedophilia should be illegal.

"They make out as if they want more rights for children. But their position that children should be allowed sexual contact from age 12 is of course just in their own interest," anti-pedophile campaigner Ireen van Engelen told the AD daily.

Right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders said he had asked the government to investigate whether a party with such "sick ideas" could really be established, ANP news agency reported.

Kees van deer Staaij, a member of the Christian SGP party, also demanded action: "Pedophilia and child pornography should be taboo in every constitutional state. Breaking that will just create more victims and more serious ones."

The party wants private possession of child pornography to be allowed although it supports the ban on the trade of such materials. It also supports allowing pornography to be broadcast on daytime television, with only violent pornography limited to the late evening.

Toddlers should be given sex education and youths aged 16 and up should be allowed to appear in pornographic films and prostitute themselves. Sex with animals should be allowed although abuse of animals should remain illegal, the NVD said.

The party also said everybody should be allowed to go naked in public and promotes legalizing all soft and hard drugs and free train travel for all.

Well, they're honest. Sick, twisted, and in need of a bullet to the dome, but they're honest.

.............and free train travel for all. WTF?

HOW GUN MAGAZINES WRITE ARTICLES

2006-05-26T11:34:00.000-04:00

Instruction From The Editor To The Journalist:

Frangible Arms just bought a four page color ad in our next issue. They sent us their latest offering, the CQB MK-V Tactical Destroyer. I told Fred to take it out to the range to test. He'll have the data for you tomorrow.

Feedback From Technician Fred:

The pistol is a crude copy of the World War II Japanese Nambu type 14 pistol, except it's made from unfinished zinc castings. The grips are pressed cardboard. The barrel is unrifled pipe. There are file marks all over the gun, inside and out.

Only 10 rounds of 8mm ammunition were supplied. Based on previous experience with a genuine Nambu, I set up a target two feet down range. I managed to cram four rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. I taped the magazine in place, bolted the pistol into a machine rest, got behind a barricade, and pulled the trigger with 20 feet of 550 cord. I was unable to measure the trigger pull because my fish scale tops out at 32 pounds. On the third try, the pistol fired. From outline of the holes, I think the barrel, frame, magazine, trigger and recoil spring blew through the target. The remaining parts scattered over the landscape.

I sent the machine rest back to the factory to see if they can fix it, and we need to replace the shooting bench for the nice people who own the range. I'll be off for the rest of the day. My ears are still ringing. I need a drink.

Article Produced By The Journalist:

The CQB MK-V Tactical Destroyer is arguably the deadliest pistol in the world. Based on a combat proven military design, but constructed almost entirely of space age alloy, it features a remarkable barrel design engineered to produce a cone of fire, a feature much valued by Special Forces world wide. The Destroyer shows clear evidence of extensive hand fitting. The weapon disassembles rapidly without tools. At a reasonable combat distance, I put five holes in the target faster than I would have thought possible. This is the pistol to have if you want to end a gunfight at all costs. The gun is a keeper, and I find myself unable to send it back.

Now that's some funny shit!!

Kick ass site to track FL gun laws!

2006-05-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

Hastert's office to ABC: Keep it up and we'll sue you.

2006-05-25T13:31:00.000-04:00

Dear Mr. Westin, Stephanopoulos, and Mr. Ross:

At 7:25 p.m., the Statement of the Department of Justice confirmed:

“Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department.”

At 10:21 p.m., you wrote:

“Whether they like it or not, members of Congress, including Hastert, are under investigation,” one federal official said tonight.”

This statement is false, and your republication of it after actual knowledge of its falsity constitutes libel and defamation. ABC News’ continued publication of this false information, after having actual knowledge of its falsity, evidences a specific and malicious intent to injure and damage Speaker Hastert’s reputation by continued repetition of a known falsehood.

We will take any and all actions necessary to rectify the harm ABC has caused and to hold those at ABC responsible for their conduct.

Please advise regarding who will accept service of process to remedy this intentional falsehood.

Very truly yours,
J. Randolph Evans
Stefan C. Passantino
Counsel to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert

Attention United Nations: F*#K YOU!!

2006-05-24T14:30:00.000-04:00

Stop the U.N. Gun Ban

Don't mess with this 15 year old....

2006-05-24T09:34:00.000-04:00

Intruder shot by teen with two guns

The man -- later identified by police as Keil Jumper -- kicked the door off its hinges and barged into the home about 3:30 a.m. Jumper, 22, lives on the Seminoles' reservation near Hollywood.

Javaris, who is 5-foot-6 and weighs about 125 pounds, took cover behind a wall, armed with a gun in each hand. One of the guns was a .38 caliber, but family members said Tuesday night they were unsure about the other gun.

''He was going crazy,'' Javaris said. ``I shot one time to let him know he had to leave. The dude didn't leave. He was looking at my eyes, trying to get closer.''

The gun in Javaris' right hand jammed, and he fired with the gun in his left, sending Jumper running from the single-story home. Javaris thought his shots missed the man, simply scaring him off.

''I was real scared. . . . When I was shooting, my main focus was protecting my mom and family,'' Javaris said.

Police found Jumper lying on the ground a few houses away, shot multiple times and bleeding from his wounds, said Hollywood police Capt. Tony Rode.

Jumper was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, where he was in serious condition Tuesday night.

''Preliminary investigation suggests it was a justifiable shooting, and the 15-year-old won't be charged,'' Rode said.

Police said the family did not know Jumper. Records show Jumper has served time in prison for cocaine possession, criminal mischief and throwing a deadly projectile into a home.

He was arrested Feb. 19 for battery and larceny and again on March 28 for larceny.

On Friday, the day before he allegedly broke into the Chandler home, Jumper was arrested by Seminole police for assault on an officer and resisting an officer.

--------

"I thought he was going to kill me," Chandler said. "The most thing I need to stress is that 911 did not respond."

Good shooting....

Javaris thought his shots missed the man, simply scaring him off.

And that's why you don't stop shooting till the attacker drops or runs away.

OK this is cool.........

2006-05-23T11:42:00.000-04:00

I normally don't post things from my work but this one is too cool not to post.

I drew this up in Autocad and we had a foam guy here in JAX make up this thing.

It's a 1/4 of the part. Our fiberglass shop will pull a mold off this and make 4 pcs. to construct the final product.

And the funny thing about this thing is that it only weighs about 5 lbs.

William Jefferson

2006-05-23T07:31:00.000-04:00

"Why won't I step down you ask? I was caught on tape accepting $100,000 from an FBI informant and the cash was found in my freezer. What's wrong with that?

The truth will come out and you will see that I obtained the money from a girl in Nigeria and I was merely trying to help her get her money out of the country. I was just holding on to the money for her until she was able to come to the US and claim it from me."

So I'm thinking about buying a stripped virgin lower.....

2006-05-22T14:17:00.000-04:00

...... in order to build an AR-15 pistol. [What did you think I was talking about?]

In order to build a AR pistol you need to buy a lower that has never been built into a rifle, thus the virgin part. And stripped means no parts in the lower. I might just buy the lower with the LPK already installed, it comes out cheaper that way for some reason.

I'm going to go with a Stag lower and I'm looking hard at a BOHICA upper. Still haven't decided on a barrel length yet. I want it short but not too short. BOHICA offers a 6.25" barrel (pictured) but I think I might go with a 7.5".

Hopefully I can get this built for under a grand....

Click HERE if you'd like to see other people's AR pistol builds. (Dial-up beware.)

Wow. Here's a red flag story......

2006-05-22T07:28:00.000-04:00

Saudi Men Who Rode School Bus Arrested

TAMPA - Two Saudi men were arrested Friday after they boarded a school bus and rode to Wharton High School in New Tampa.

Students on the bus became alarmed, as did the bus driver, who called ahead. Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies met the bus at the school and detained the men. No one was injured and nothing out of line occurred on the bus, deputies said.

Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23, who lives in Apt. 302 in The Point apartments, and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20 Monticello Gardens, Apt. 304-A, each were charged with trespassing on school property. Both remained in Orient Road Jail on Friday evening. Bail for each was set at $250.

"Both defendants gave several versions of the reason they took a school bus to a high school," said Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway.

"They said they wanted to go to Wharton to look around, and then they said they wanted to go there to have some fun, and then they said they wanted to enroll in the English classes there," Callaway said.

"We're not sure if this was a situation of them just being new to this country, or if they were confused or what it was," Callaway said. "We were unsure as to exactly what the final reason was, but it did cause great concern for the students on the bus and for us. One of the guys was wearing shorts with a black trench coat."

While on the bus, the men laughed and spoke in Arabic, Callaway said.

Ahmed Bedier, Tampa director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the men likely meant no harm and that because "they were from Saudi Arabia, that escalated the situation."

He blamed the incident on cultural differences.

"They didn't differentiate between a school bus and public transportation," he said.

The bus picked up the students and the men at about 7 a.m. Friday at the corner of Fletcher Avenue and 42nd Street, deputies said.

The bus driver, a substitute, reached her supervisors by telephone. They relayed the information to Wharton High resource Deputy Mike Eastman, who met the bus when it arrived at school at about 7:30 a.m., and detained the men.

The sheriff's Homeland Security Division, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Regional Domestic Security Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI all were notified.

Almanajam and Alsidran at first told deputies they were from Morocco, but later admitted being from Saudi Arabia, deputies said. They said they were enrolled at the English Language Institute at the University of South Florida.

Both arrived in the United States about six months ago and have student visas that require them to be enrolled at the English Language Institute, Callaway said.

Authorities searched the apartments of the two men and found nothing of concern, he said.

The term TRIAL RUN comes to mind as a reason for them getting on the bus.

Terrorists know our schools are huge soft targets.

This just stinks of them trying to see how far they could get into a plan of some sorts.

Even if they didn't know the difference between a school bus and public transportation why the hell did they first say they were from Morocco?

And what the hell is with the shorts a black trench coat?

Iran eyes badges for Jews

2006-05-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

"This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis."

Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical "standard Islamic garments."

The law, which must still be approved by Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn by non-Muslims.

Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

"There's no reason to believe they won't pass this," said Rabbi Hier. "It will certainly pass unless there's some sort of international outcry over this."

Bernie Farber, the chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said he was "stunned" by the measure. "We thought this had gone the way of the dodo bird, but clearly in Iran everything old and bad is new again," he said. "It's state-sponsored religious discrimination."

Link

Do we really need any more proof that Iran isn't part of the sane world?

New FL gun laws passed

2006-05-10T11:41:00.000-04:00

DATE: May 9, 2006
TO: USF & NRA Members and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
NRA Past President
Executive Director Unified Sportsmen of Florida

Six progun, prohunting bills supported by the National Rifle Association and Unified Sportsmen of Florida have passed the Florida Legislature and are on the way to Governor Jeb Bush's (R) desk.

To contact Governor Bush and urge him to sign all six (6) progun & prohunting bills, send him an email at: jeb.bush@myflorida.com

IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT: Please Sign All 6 progun & prohunting bills

FLORIDA -- END OF 2006 SESSION REPORT ON NRA/USF SUPPORTED BILLS

PASSED -- HB-125 Hunter/Voter -- by Rep. Greg Evers (R-Milton) and Sen. Carey Baker (R-Eustis) Provides that people who purchase a hunting or fishing license by phone, over the Internet or in person will have the opportunity to get a voter registration application. PASSED the HOUSE 110-6 and the SENATE 31-8. It awaits Governor Jeb Bush's signature

PASSED -- HB-265 No-Net-Loss of Hunting Lands -- by Rep. Don Brown (R-DeFuniak Springs) and Sen. Nancy Argenziano (R-Crystal River) Requires Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to support, promote, & enhance hunting opportunities & to provide comparable acreage for any loss of existing hunting lands; requires agencies & water management districts to cooperate with FWC in designating replacement hunting lands. PASSED the HOUSE 118-0 and the SENATE 40-0. It awaits Governor Jeb Bush's signature

PASSED -- HB-285 To Prohibit Confiscation of Firearms -- by Rep. Mitch Needelman (R-Palm Bay) and Sen. Carey Baker (R-Eustis) Prohibits confiscation, seizure, or taking of firearms that are lawfully possessed by law-abiding citizens during a state of emergency (as was done in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina). PASSED the HOUSE 116-0 and the SENATE 40-0. It awaits Governor Jeb Bush's signature

PASSED -- HB-687 To Protect Personal Information of Concealed Weapons Licenseholders -- by Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Oviedo) and Sen. Mike Haridopolis (R-Melbourne) Provides confidentiality and exemption from public records requirements of personal identifying information, names, addresses, birth dates, social security numbers, phone numbers, & license numbers contained in records maintained by the Division of Licensing of DOACS of individuals who have applied for or received licenses to carry concealed weapons or firearms PASSED the HOUSE 83-27 and t he SENATE 37-2. It awaits Governor Jeb Bush's signature

PASSED -- HB-1029 Firearms in National Forests & State Parks -- by Rep. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) and Sen. Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) Restores the right to possess firearms for self-defense and other lawful purposes in National Forests and State Parks by repealing the laws and regulations that have banned firearms in those areas. PASSED the HOUSE 90-27 and the SENATE 31-6. It awaits Governor Jeb Bush's signature

PASSED -- SB-1290 Concealed Weapons/License Renewal/Military -- by Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey) and Rep. Marti Coley (R-Marianna) Provides that a concealed weapons/firearms license of a United States Armed Services member does not expire while the service member is on active duty away from home. Extends the life of the license for 180 days after returning home. PASSED the HOUSE 120-0 and the SENATE 39-0. It awaits Governor Jeb Bush's signature

DID NOT PASS -- SB-206/HB-129 Firearms/Parking Lots/Motor Vehicles -- by Sen. Durell Peaden (R-Crestview) and Rep. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) To prohibit businesses from searching private vehicles and banning firearms in private vehicles in public parking lots. DID NOT PASS. WILL BE BACK NEXT YEAR

Have you read about the captured al-Qaeda document found in Iraq?

2006-05-10T09:20:00.000-04:00

Not really a surprise if you haven't.

I'd be shocked to see that the lefty media would report on a story that confirms the terrorists in Iraq are using the media as their main weapon against the US and Iraqis.

PipeLineNews has a good summary. And the full text of the letter.

Translated Iraqi Document Shows Al-Qaeda In Disarray And Dependant On Lefty Media

May 8, 2006 - Washington, DC - PipeLineNews.org - This document contains a startlingly frank admission by Iraqi based al-Qaeda terrorists that they are in a steadily worsening situation:

..."the Americans and the Government were able to absorb our painful blows, sustain them, compensate their losses with new replacements, and follow strategic plans which allowed them in the past few years to take control of Baghdad as well as other areas one after the other. That is why every year is worse than the previous year..."

Moreover the "mujahadeen" are completely and totally reliant upon the main stream leftist media to do their bidding and have developed their strategy along the lines of getting as many IED attacks on television as possible - thank you CBS, NBC, ABC & CNN.

"The policy followed by the brothers in Baghdad is a media oriented policy...Other word, the significance of the strategy of their work is to show in the media that the American and the government do not control the situation and there is resistance against them. This policy dragged us to the type of operations that are attracted to the media..."

It couldn't be more clear, the American media is al-Qaeda's last hope for victory, how will this information be received and processed now that they have officially been placed on notice?

Captain's Quarters also goes into the document.

Israel foils plot to kill Palestinian president

2006-05-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv
London TImes

A HAMAS plot to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has been thwarted after he was tipped off by Israeli intelligence.

Hamas’s military wing, the Izza Din Al-Qassem, had planned to kill Abbas at his office in Gaza, intelligence sources said.

Abbas, who became president of the Palestinian Authority last year after the death of Yasser Arafat, was formally warned of the danger by the Israelis and cancelled a planned visit to the territory.

The murder plan is the clearest sign yet of the tensions inside the Palestinian Authority between Hamas, which swept to power after elections in January, and Abbas’s Fatah movement.

Hamas leaders, who refuse to recognise the state of Israel, suspect Abbas of obstructing their attempts to govern, which have been hampered by a financial boycott from donor nations. “Hamas considers Abbas to be a barrier to its complete control over Palestine and decided to kill him,” said a Palestinian source who was an adviser to Arafat and is a close acquaintance of Abbas.

It is understood that the attack would also have targeted Mohammed Dahlan, Abbas’s strongman in Gaza.

[snip]

Come November 17th say bye-bye to some cash.....

2006-05-09T15:56:00.000-04:00

THE PS3 IS COMING OUT!!!

The Latest from Sony at E3 2006

President Nutjob's letter to President Bush.

2006-05-09T15:30:00.000-04:00

Via Laura Mansfield

May 9, 2006: Complete text of letter from Iran's President to US President Bush

Mr George Bush, President of the United States of America

For sometime now I have been thinking, how one can justify the undeniable contradictions that exist in the international arena -- which are being constantly debated, specially in political forums and amongst university students. Many questions remain unanswered. These have prompted me to discuss some of the contradictions and questions, in the hopes that it might bring about an opportunity to redress them.

Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ (PBUH), the great Messenger of God,

Feel obliged to respect human rights,

Present liberalism as a civilization model,

Announce one’s opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and WMDs,

Make “War and Terror” his slogan,

And finally, Work towards the establishment of a unified international community – a community which Christ and the virtuous of the Earth will one day govern,

But at the same time, Have countries attacked; The lives, reputations and possessions of people destroyed and on the slight chance of the … of a … criminals in a village city, or convoy for example the entire village, city or convey set ablaze.

Or because of the possibility of the existence of WMDs in one country, it is occupied, around one hundred thousand people killed, its water sources, agriculture and industry destroyed, close to 180,000 foreign troops put on the ground, sanctity of private homes of citizens broken, and the country pushed back perhaps fifty years. At what price? Hundreds of billions of dollars spent from the treasury of one country and certain other countries and tens of thousands of young men and women – as occupation troops – put in harms way, taken away from family and love ones, their hands stained with the blood of others, subjected to so much psychological pressure that everyday some commit suicide ant those returning home suffer depression, become sickly and grapple with all sorts of aliments; while some are killed and their bodies handed of their families.

On the pretext of the existence of WMDs, this great tragedy came to engulf both the peoples of the occupied and the occupying country. Later it was revealed that no WMDs existed to begin with.

Of course Saddam was a murderous dictator. But the war was not waged to topple him, the announced goal of the war was to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction. He was toppled along the way towards another goal, nevertheless the people of the region are happy about it. I point out that throughout the many years of the … war on Iran Saddam was supported by the West.

Mr President, You might know that I am a teacher. My students ask me how can theses actions be reconciled with the values outlined at the beginning of this letter and duty to the tradition of Jesus Christ (PBUH), the Messenger of peace and forgiveness.

There are prisoners in Guantanamo Bay that have not been tried, have no legal representation, their families cannot see them and are obviously kept in a strange land outside their own country. There is no international monitoring of their conditions and fate. No one knows whether they are prisoners, POWs, accused or criminals.

European investigators have confirmed the existence of secret prisons in Europe too. I could not correlate the abduction of a person, and him or her being kept in secret prisons, with the provisions of any judicial system. For that matter, I fail to understand how such actions correspond to the values outlined in the beginning of this letter, i.e. the teachings of Jesus Christ (PBUH), human rights and liberal values.

Young people, university students and ordinary people have many questions about the phenomenon of Israel. I am sure you are familiar with some of them.

Throughout history many countries have been occupied, but I think the establishment of a new country with a new people, is a new phenomenon that is exclusive to our times. Students are saying that sixty years ago such a country did no exist. The show old documents and globes and say try as we have, we have not been able to find a country named Israel.

I tell them to study the history of WWI and II. One of my students told me that during WWII, which more than tens of millions of people perished in, news about the war, was quickly disseminated by the warring parties. Each touted their victories and the most recent battlefront defeat of the other party. After the war, they claimed that six million Jews had been killed. Six million people that were surely related to at least two million families.

Again let us assume that these events are true. Does that logically translate into the establishment of the state of Israel in the Middle East or support for such a state? How can this phenomenon be rationalised or explained?

Mr President, I am sure you know how – and at what cost – Israel was established:

- Many thousands were killed in the process.

- Millions of indigenous people were made refugees.

- Hundred of thousands of hectares of farmland, olive plantations, towns and villages were destroyed.

This tragedy is not exclusive to the time of establishment; unfortunately it has been ongoing for sixty years now.

A regime has been established which does not show mercy even to kids, destroys houses while the occupants are still in them, announces beforehand its list and plans to assassinate Palestinian figures and keeps thousands of Palestinians in prison. Such a phenomenon is unique – or at the very least extremely rare – in recent memory.

Another big question asked by people is why is this regime being supported?

Is support for this regime in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ (PBUH) or Moses (PBUH) or liberal values?

Or are we to understand that allowing the original inhabitants of these lands – inside and outside Palestine – whether they are Christian, Muslim or Jew, to determine their fate, runs contrary to principles of democracy, human rights and the teachings of prophets? If not, why is there so much opposition to a referendum?

The newly elected Palestinian administration recently took office. All independent observes have confirmed that this government represents the electorate. Unbelievingly, they have put the elected government under pressure and have advised it to recognise the Israeli regime, abandon the struggle and follow the programs of the previous government.

If the current Palestinian government had run on the above platform, would the Palestinian people have voted for it? Again, can such position taken in opposition to the Palestinian government be reconciled with the values outlined earlier? The people are also saying “why are all UNSC resolutions in condemnation of Israel vetoed?”

Mr President, As you are well aware, I live amongst the people and am in constant contact with them -- many people from around the Middle East manage to contact me as well. They dot not have faith in these dubious policies either. There is evidence that the people of the region are becoming increasingly angry with such policies.

It is not my intention to pose to many questions, but I need to refer to other points as well.

Why is it that any technological and scientific achievement reached in the Middle East regions is translated into and portrayed as a threat to the Zionist regime? Is not scientific R&D one of the basic rights of nations.

You are familiar with history. Aside from the Middle Ages, in what other point in history has scientific and technical progress been a crime? Can the possibility of scientific achievements being utilised for military purposes be reason enough to oppose science and technology altogether? If such a supposition is true, then all scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, engineering, etc. must be opposed.

Lies were told in the Iraqi matter. What was the result? I have no doubt that telling lies is reprehensible in any culture, and you do not like to be lied to.

Mr President, Don’t Latin Americans have the right to ask, why their elected governments are being opposed and coup leaders supported? Or, why must they constantly be threatened and live in fear?

The people of Africa are hardworking, creative and talented. They can play an important and valuable role in providing for the needs of humanity and contribute to its material and spiritual progress. Poverty and hardship in large parts of Africa are preventing this from happening. Don’t they have the right to ask why their enormous wealth – including minerals – is being looted, despite the fact that they need it more than others? Again, do such actions correspond to the teachings of Christ and the tenets of human rights?

The brave and faithful people of Iran too have many questions and grievances, including: the coup d’etat of 1953 and the subsequent toppling of the legal government of the day, opposition to the Islamic revolution, transformation of an Embassy into a headquarters supporting, the activities of those opposing the Islamic Republic (many thousands of pages of documents corroborates this claim), support for Saddam in the war waged against Iran, the shooting down of the Iranian passenger plane, freezing the assets of the Iranian nation, increasing threats, anger and displeasure vis-à-vis the scientific and nuclear progress of the Iranian nation (just when all Iranians are jubilant and collaborating their country’s progress), and many other grievances that I will not refer to in this letter.

Mr President, September Eleven was a horrendous incident. The killing of innocents is deplorable and appalling in any part of the world. Our government immediately declared its disgust with the perpetrators and offered its condolences to the bereaved and expressed its sympathies.

All governments have a duty to protect the lives, property and good standing of their citizens.

Reportedly your government employs extensive security, protection and intelligence systems – and even hunts its opponents abroad. September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services – or their extensive infiltration? Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret? Why are we not told who botched their responsibilities? And, why aren’t those responsible and the guilty parties identified and put on trial?

All governments have a duty to provide security and peace of mind for their citizens. For some years now, the people of your country and neighbours of world trouble spots do not have peace of mind. After 9.11, instead of healing and tending to the emotional wounds of the survivors and the American people – who had been immensely traumatised by the attacks – some Western media only intensified the climates of fear and insecurity – some constantly talked about the possibility of new terror attacks and kept the people in fear. Is that service to the American people? Is it possible to calculate the damages incurred from fear and panic?

American citizen lived in constant fear of fresh attacks that could come at any moment and in any place. They felt insecure in the streets, in their place of work and at home. Who would be happy with this situation? Why was the media, instead of conveying a feeling of security and providing peace of mind, giving rise to a feeling of insecurity?

Some believe that the hype paved the way – and was the justification – for an attack on Afghanistan. Again I need to refer to the role of media.

In media charters, correct dissemination of information and honest reporting of a story are established tenets. I express my deep regret about the disregard shown by certain Western media for these principles. The main pretext for an attack on Iraq was the existence of WMDs. This was repeated incessantly – for the public to, finally, believe – and the ground set for an attack on Iraq.

Will the truth not be lost in a contrive and deceptive climate?

Again, if the truth is allowed to be lost, how can that be reconciled with the earlier mentioned values?

Is the truth known to the Almighty lost as well?

Mr President, In countries around the world, citizens provide for the expenses of governments so that their governments in turn are able to serve them.

The question here is “what has the hundreds of billions of dollars, spent every year to pay for the Iraqi campaign, produced for the citizens?”

As your Excellency is aware, in some states of your country, people are living in poverty.

Many thousands are homeless and unemployment is a huge problem. Of course these problems exist – to a larger or lesser extent – in other countries as well. With these conditions in mind, can the gargantuan expenses of the campaign – paid from the public treasury – be explained and be consistent with the aforementioned principles?

What has been said, are some of the grievances of the people around the world, in our region and in your country. But my main contention – which I am hoping you will agree to some of it – is:

Those in power have specific time in office, and do not rule indefinitely, but their names will be recorded in history and will be constantly judged in the immediate and distant futures.

The people will scrutinize our presidencies.

Did we manage to bring peace, security and prosperity for the people or insecurity and unemployment?

Did we intend to establish justice, or just supported especial interest groups, and by forcing many people to live in poverty and hardship, made a few people rich and powerful – thus trading the approval of the people and the Almighty with theirs’?

Did we defend the rights of the underprivileged or ignore them?

Did we defend the rights of all people around the world or imposed wars on them, interfered illegally in their affairs, established hellish prisons and incarcerated some of them?

Did we bring the world peace and security or raised the specter of intimidation and threats?

Did we tell the truth to our nation and others around the world or presented an inverted version of it?

Were we on the side of people or the occupiers and oppressors?

Did our administration set out to promote rational behaviour, logic, ethics, peace, fulfilling obligations, justice, service to the people, prosperity, progress and respect for human dignity or the force of guns.

Intimidation, insecurity, disregard for the people, delaying the progress and excellence of other nations, and trample on people’s rights?

And finally, they will judge us on whether we remained true to our oath of office – to serve the people, which is our main task, and the traditions of the prophets – or not?

Mr President, How much longer can the world tolerate this situation?

Where will this trend lead the world to?

How long must the people of the world pay for the incorrect decisions of some rulers?

How much longer will the specter of insecurity – raised from the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction – hunt the people of the world?

How much longer will the blood of the innocent men, women and children be spilled on the streets, and people’s houses destroyed over their heads?

Are you pleased with the current condition of the world?

Do you think present policies can continue?

If billions of dollars spent on security, military campaigns and troop movement were instead spent on investment and assistance for poor countries, promotion of health, combating different diseases, education and improvement of mental and physical fitness, assistance to the victims of natural disasters, creation of employment opportunities and production, development projects and poverty alleviation, establishment of peace, mediation between disputing states and distinguishing the flames of racial, ethnic and other conflicts were would the world be today? Would not your government, and people be justifiably proud?

Would not your administration’s political and economic standing have been stronger?

And I am most sorry to say, would there have been an ever increasing global hatred of the American governments?

Mr President, it is not my intention to distress anyone.

If prophet Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Ishmael, Joseph or Jesus Christ (PBUH) were with us today, how would they have judged such behaviour? Will we be given a role to play in the promised world, where justice will become universal and Jesus Christ (PBUH) will be present? Will they even accept us?

My basic question is this: Is there no better way to interact with the rest of the world? Today there are hundreds of millions of Christians, hundreds of millions of Moslems and millions of people who follow the teachings of Moses (PBUH). All divine religions share and respect on word and that is “monotheism” or belief in a single God and no other in the world.

The holy Koran stresses this common word and calls on an followers of divine religions and says: [3.64] Say: O followers of the Book! Come to an equitable proposition between us and you that we shall not serve any but Allah and (that) we shall not associate aught. With Him and (that) some of us shall not take others for lords besides Allah, but if they turn back, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims. (The Family of Imran).

Mr President, According to divine verses, we have all been called upon to worship one God and follow the teachings of divine prophets.

“To worship a God which is above all powers in the world and can do all He pleases.” “The Lord which knows that which is hidden and visible, the past and the future, knows what goes on in the Hearts of His servants and records their deeds.”

“The Lord who is the possessor of the heavens and the earth and all universe is His court” “planning for the universe is done by His hands, and gives His servants the glad tidings of mercy and forgiveness of sins”. “He is the companion of the oppressed and the enemy of oppressors”. “He is the Compassionate, the Merciful”. “He is the recourse of the faithful and guides them towards the light from darkness”. “He is witness to the actions of His servants”,

“He calls on servants to be faithful and do good deeds, and asks them to stay on the path of righteousness and remain steadfast”. “Calls on servants to heed His prophets and He is a witness to their deeds.” “A bad ending belongs only to those who have chosen the life of this world and disobey Him and oppress His servants”. And “A good and eternal paradise belong to those servants who fear His majesty and do not follow their lascivious selves.”

We believe a return to the teachings of the divine prophets is the only road leading to salvations. I have been told that Your Excellency follows the teachings of Jesus (PBUH), and believes in the divine promise of the rule of the righteous on Earth.

We also believe that Jesus Christ (PBUH) was one of the great prophets of the Almighty. He has been repeatedly praised in the Koran. Jesus (PBUH) has been quoted in Koran as well; [19,36] And surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore serves Him; this is the right path, Marium.

Service to and obedience of the Almighty is the credo of all divine messengers.

The God of all people in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the Pacific and the rest of the world is one. He is the Almighty who wants to guide and give dignity to all His servants. He has given greatness to Humans.

We again read in the Holy Book: “The Almighty God sent His prophets with miracles and clear signs to guide the people and show them divine signs and purity them from sins and pollutions. And He sent the Book and the balance so that the people display justice and avoid the rebellious.”

All of the above verses can be seen, one way or the other, in the Good Book as well. Divine prophets have promised:

The day will come when all humans will congregate before the court of the Almighty, so that their deeds are examined. The good will be directed towards Haven and evildoers will meet divine retribution. I trust both of us believe in such a day, but it will not be easy to calculate the actions of rulers, because we must be answerable to our nations and all others whose lives have been directly or indirectly effected by our actions.

All prophets, speak of peace and tranquillity for man – based on monotheism, justice and respect for human dignity.

Do you not think that if all of us come to believe in and abide by these principles, that is, monotheism, worship of God, justice, respect for the dignity of man, belief in the Last Day, we can overcome the present problems of the world – that are the result of disobedience to the Almighty and the teachings of prophets – and improve our performance?

Do you not think that belief in these principles promotes and guarantees peace, friendship and justice?

Do you not think that the aforementioned written or unwritten principles are universally respected?

Will you not accept this invitation? That is, a genuine return to the teachings of prophets, to monotheism and justice, to preserve human dignity and obedience to the Almighty and His prophets?

Mr President, History tells us that repressive and cruel governments do not survive. God has entrusted

The fate of man to them. The Almighty has not left the universe and humanity to their own devices. Many things have happened contrary to the wishes and plans of governments. These tell us that there is a higher power at work and all events are determined by Him.

Can one deny the signs of change in the world today?

Is this situation of the world today comparable to that of ten years ago? Changes happen fast and come at a furious pace.

The people of the world are not happy with the status quo and pay little heed to the promises and comments made by a number of influential world leaders. Many people around the wolrd feel insecure and oppose the spreading of insecurity and war and do not approve of and accept dubious policies.

The people are protesting the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots and the rich and poor countries.

The people are disgusted with increasing corruption.

The people of many countries are angry about the attacks on their cultural foundations and the disintegration of families. They are equally dismayed with the fading of care and compassion.

The people of the world have no faith in international organisations, because their rights are not advocated by these organisations.

Liberalism and Western style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity. Today these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the liberal democratic systems.

We increasingly see that people around the world are flocking towards a main focal point – that is the Almighty God. Undoubtedly through faith in God and the teachings of the prophets, the people will conquer their problems. My question for you is: “Do you not want to join them?”

Mr President, Whether we like it or not, the world is gravitating towards faith in the Almighty and justice and the will of God will prevail over all things.

Vasalam Ala Man Ataba’al hoda
Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

FL gun law news. [good things passed, bad things died]

2006-05-09T07:45:00.000-04:00

DATE: May 6, 2006
TO: USF & NRA Members and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
NRA Past President
Executive Director Unified Sportsmen of Florida

Thursday, May 4, 2006, a bill supported by the National Rifle Association and Unified Sportsmen of Florida, to exempt personal information of concealed weapons and firearms license holders from public records, passed the Florida Legislature and is on its way to Governor Jeb Bush (R) for his signature.

HB-687 Sponsored by Representative Sandy Adams (R-Orlando) in the House and Senator Mike Haridopolis (R-Melbourne) in the Senate does the following:

1. Exempts the personal identifying information of persons who apply for and receive concealed weapons and firearms licenses from public records.

2. Makes the data available to law enforcement for legitimate law enforcement purposes.

3. Stops media harassment of license holders.

In the past the media have posted names, addresses, birth dates, and other personal identifying information on websites and have printed them in newspapers. Such reckless conduct subjects license holders to possible identity theft, theft of firearms by criminals and tells domestic violence abusers and stalkers where to find victims who have moved to hide themselves and their children from these predators.

The bill passed the House 83-27 and passed the Senate 37-2.

Special thanks go to Senate President Tom Lee (R-Brandon) and House Speaker Allan Bense (R-Panama City) for helping move this legislation.

SENATE (CO-SPONSORS) Senators Victor Crist (R); Evelyn Lynn (R); Burt Saunders (R)

HOUSE (CO-SPONSORS) Donna Clark (R)

THOSE WHO VOTED AGAINST THE BILL IN THE SENATE: Gwen Margolis (D); Nan Rich (D)

THOSE WHO VOTED AGAINST THE BILL IN THE HOUSE: Representatives Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall (D), Mary Brandenberg (D); Phillip Brutus (D), Susan Bucher (D), Edward Bullard (D), Joyce Cusack (D); Anne Gannon (D), Dan Gelber (D), Audrey Gibson (D), Ken Gottlieb (D), Ron Greenstein (D); Bob Heinriquez (D); Wilbert Holloway (D), Ed Jennings (D); Arthenia Joyner (D), Frank Peterman (D), Curtis Richardson (D); Yolly Roberson (D), Tim Ryan (D), Franklin Sands (D), Jack Seiler (D), Irving Slosberg (D), Chris Smith (D), Eleanor Sobel (D), Priscilla Taylor (D), Shelly Vana (D

----------------

DATE: May 4, 2006
TO: USF & NRA Members and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
NRA Past President
Executive Director Unified Sportsmen of Florida

A bill supported by the National Rifle Association and Unified Sportsmen of Florida to prohibit confiscation of firearms following hurricanes (such as was done in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina) passed the Florida Legislature Thursday, May 4, and is on its way to Governor Jeb Bush (R) for his signature.

HB-285 sponsored by Representative Mitch Needelman (R-Melbourne) in the House and Senators Carey Baker (R-Eustis) and Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) in the Senate does the following:

1. Amends the Emergency Management Powers Act to prohibit the governor from ordering or authorizing the seizure, taking, or confiscation of firearms that are lawfully possessed, unless a persona is engaged in a criminal act.

2. Amends the Emergency Management Powers Act to prohibit any public official from ordering or authorizing the seizure, taking, or confiscation of firearms that are lawfully possessed, unless a persona is engaged in a criminal act.

The bill passed the House 116-0 and passed the Senate 40-0

Special thanks to Senate President Tom Lee (R-Brandon) and House Speaker Allan Bense (R-Panama City) for helping move this legislation.

SENATE (CO-SPONSORS) Senators J.D. Alexander (R), Mike Haridopolis (R), Burt Saunders (R), Steve Wise (R)

HOUSE (CO-SPONSORS) Thad Altman (R); Dennis Baxley (R); Fred Brummer(R); Donna Clarke (R); Faye Culp (R); Gayle Harrell(R); Will Kendrick (D); Paige Kreegel (R); John Legg (R); Dave Murzin(R); Dwight Stansel (D)

THOSE WHO VOTED AGAINST THE BILL IN THE HOUSE: NONE

THOSE WHO VOTED AGAINST THE BILL IN THE SENATE: NONE

-------

Concealed Weapons/Health Care Fac.: provides that license to carry concealed weapon or firearm does not authorize person to carry such weapon or firearem into health care facility. Amends 790.06.

05/05/06 S Died in Committee on Criminal Justice Saturday, May 06, 2006 1:11 AM

At least this Kennedy didn't kill anyone.......

2006-05-05T08:51:00.000-04:00

Police say they were prevented from giving Kennedy a sobriety test

WASHINGTON - Rep. Patrick Kennedy wrecked his car in an early morning accident on Capitol Hill Thursday, and police say supervisors stopped them from giving him a sobriety test.
Two police union officials, who were not at the scene, complained that the Rhode Island congressman and son of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., looked like he'd been drinking after crashing into a barrier near the Capitol building at 2:45 a.m.

"The driver exited the vehicle and he was observed to be staggering," Officer Greg Baird, the acting head of the Capitol police union, wrote in a letter to his boss, according to the newspaper Roll Call.

Lou Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Kennedy looked intoxicated.

"It's my understanding that he had an odor of alcohol about him and he was unsteady on his feet," Cannon said.

Kennedy, who has a history of substance abuse and depression, admitted to the car accident, but denied he had been drinking.

"I was involved in a traffic incident last night," said the 38-year-old. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake."

Late Thursday night, Kennedy put out a second statement saying he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness.

Baird complained in his letter to acting Capitol police Chief Christopher McGaffin that Kennedy and a pair of sergeants thwarted any proper investigation.

When cops first approached, he "declared to them he was a Congressman and was late to a vote," Baird's letter says. "The House had adjourned nearly three hours before this incident."

It was unclear if Kennedy raised the voting issue intentionally to avoid being detained and tested, because Capitol Hill lawmakers get a legal pass to rush to votes.

Baird says the sergeants stopped the officers from doing a field sobriety test, and after talking to the watch commander, "ordered all of the Patrol Division Units to leave the scene and that they were taking over."

Kennedy was then given a ride home.

Baird's letter also said Kennedy narrowly missed a cop car before slamming into the barrier with his lights off.

Capitol police would only say in a statement that they "are investigating a traffic violation."

But the police union is demanding a full investigation.

"If the events unfolded as they have been reported to me, and I believe they did, a complete and immediate investigation into them is required," Baird wrote. He demanded to know why the responding officers were not allowed to investigate Kennedy.

"This appears to be interference with their duties as U.S. Capitol Police Officers and may have prevented the collection of evidence of such violations," he wrote.

The early morning crash comes just a couple weeks after Kennedy wrecked another car in Portsmouth, R.I., on April 15. The congressman, driving a 2003 Crown Victoria, reportedly collided with a Nissan Maxima outside a drug store. No charges were filed.

[snip]

OK let me just say this.

He got preferential treatment. Duh.

And DUI doesn't just apply to alcohol, if he was on these pills like he says he was, he still shouldn't have been driving.

Of course if he'd been drinking and been taking the pills..............

WASHINGTON -U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy insisted yesterday that he had consumed “no alcohol” before he slammed his Mustang convertible into a concrete barrier near his office, but a hostess at a popular Capitol Hill watering hole told the Herald she saw him drinking in the hours before the crash.

“He was drinking a little bit,” said the woman, who works at the Hawk & Dove and would not give her name.
Leaving his office late last night, Kennedy refused to say whether he’d been to the Hawk & Dove the night before.

At least he didn't kill anyone.....

Update On Shooting.

2006-05-05T08:13:00.000-04:00

New developments in the shooting rampage outside a hospital and near a school in Fernandina Beach.

Counselors will be at that school today to help things get back to normal after a man shot three people, then took his own life.

We continue to follow developments in yesterday's deadly shooting in Fernandina Beach.

Shooting victim, Sarah Rogers made it through the night at Shand’s Jacksonville Hospital who tells us she is in serious condition. Francis Taylor was the ex-wife of the gunman Denny Taylor.

Deputies tell us it was Denny who pulled the trigger yesterday at Baptist Medical Center Nassau, killing his former sister in laws and her husband Roy Rogers. At that point deputies say Denny drove to the Emma Love Hardee Elementary School where he took his own life.

We obtained 911 tapes from the incident describing in detail what people saw. Caller: I think somebody just shot somebody. 9-1-1: Where at? Caller: and he's still shooting her. 9-1-1: Where? Caller: Oh my god, he's shot three people. 9-1-1: Where are you? Caller: I'm at the hospital in Fernandina. Caller: There's been three gunshots. I'm at the....oh god. Did you hear that? Oh my goodness. 9-1-1: I did hear it. Okay, got it. Caller: oh! (inaudible)....there's a green car.

Our continuing coverage continues. The troubleshooters have learned more about Denny Taylor's past run-ins with the law.

Here's a closer look. In 1997 Taylor was charged with DUI. Then in 1999 he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage. On February 10th of this year he was arrested on a drug charge and domestic battery. This year, in April, Taylor was accused of making death threats against his sister in law, Sarah Rogers, then on the twenty-fourth he was charged with criminal mischief. Accused of puncturing her tires. This has been going on for awhile.

Just three days before the shooting an injunction for protection was finalized ordering Taylor to stay 500-feet from his ex-wife.

We have researched what more could have been done to prevent this shooting and according to helpguide.org a domestic abuse center says a restraining order is not always helpful. It's often ignored by the abuser and can only be enforced after it's been violated.

Sometimes when an abuser finds out about the order, they may feel humiliated or rejected, and then turn angry and violent. Just obtaining a restraining order may increase the chance of violence against the victim.

But there are other ways to get help: Go to an abuse shelter Talk to a counselor Make an escape plan And one of the best things you can do is learn self defense.

^^^The murderer^^^

Well, it doesn't look to me like he could legally own a gun therefor more laws against law-abiding gun owners wouldn't do a bit of good. Refering to what I mentioned yesterday about the proposed change to FL's carry law that would add "health care facility" to the list of "off-limit" carry areas.

And I guess helpguide.org doesn't think BUYING A GUN TO PROTECT YOURSELF falls into their realm of things to do in order to protect yourself from wackjobs.

General: Zarqawi 'Bloopers' Tape Found

2006-05-04T15:15:00.000-04:00

ABC

May 4, 2006 — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, doesn't exactly look like a terrorist mastermind in a new videotape released by the U.S. military today.

In blooper-type footage from a Zarqawi video released last week, the al Qaeda in Iraq leader is seen fumbling with a machine gun.

U.S. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said the video was found during a series of raids in April on purported terror cell safe houses southwest of Baghdad.

Lynch said Zarqawi decided not to publicize the piece, which shows him decked out in New Balance sneakers. In it, he said, Zarqawi had trouble firing his automatic weapon and needed assistance from an aide, and his associates "do things like grab the hot barrel of the machine gun and burn themselves."

In the version that appeared on the Internet last week, Zarqawi swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden and said any government formed in Iraq would be just a "stooge."

The U.S. military says 161 leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq have been killed or captured since January.

That's funny.......

And they forget to mention that he does a muzzle sweep to the guy standing next to him too.

Video at ABC link.

4 Shot, 2 Dead In Fernandina Beach

2006-05-04T12:30:00.000-04:00

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. -- The Nassau County Sheriff's Office said three people were shot Thursday morning outside a Fernandina Beach hospital, then the gunman ran to a nearby elementary school, where he shot himself.

Channel 4has learned that one of the victims at the hospital has died, and the gunman has died. The two surviving victims were flown by air ambulance to the trauma unit at Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center.

The incident started just before 10:30 a.m. at Baptist Medical Center-Nassau, where shots were fired and three people were hit. Nassau County Sheriff Tommy Seagraves said the gunman then went on foot about 1½ miles to the grounds of Emma Love Hardee Elementary and fatally shot himself in the parking lot.

School officials said no students were hurt in the shootings.

I'm guessing this incident may be used in the argument toward the proposed FL law brought by Democrat Bendross-Mindingall that would add "health care facility" to 790.06(12) as a new place where those with a CCW license can NOT legally carry their gun. I mentioned it back in Nov.

Since this shooting just happen there's not much info out yet but there's a few things I'd like to know.

1. Was the shooter licensed under 790.06 to carry a gun legally?
2. Was the shooter a felon and thus couldn't legally own a gun?
3. His age.

Anti-gun nuts frothing at the mouth.....

2006-05-04T08:17:00.000-04:00

Officers Recover Gun Almost Invisible To X-Rays

NEWARK, N.J. -- A pistol found in the car of a drug suspect arrested recently in Newark was made of plastic, so it might pass through a security scan unnoticed.

The unusual find concerned Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura so much that he took the Professional Ordnance Carbon-15 Type-97 pistol to Newark Liberty Airport and saw that in a security scanner, it did not look like a weapon.

Only the stainless steel barrel was visible. The rest of the weapon -- including the trigger and stock -- did not appear because it's made of plastic.

While weapons like this one are known to police, they do not turn up often.

Though they are plastic, they are hardly toys. The one found in Newark fires .233-caliber ammunition so fast it can penetrate a bulletproof vest.

"This a nasty weapon," Fontoura told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's newspapers. "That's the ammunition we're using in Iraq. If we're not alert, this could go right past security."

Fontoura said he would warn other law enforcement agencies that drug dealers may be getting their hands on the hard-to-detect guns.

What a loaded pile of crap.

There's no way "only the stainless steel barrel was visible."
They're leaving out the bolt assembly, buffer spring, and hammer, which gotta be metal.

".233-caliber ammunition so fast it can penetrate a bulletproof vest."
You mean bulletproff vests that are not designed to stop a rifle round?

"If we're not alert, this could go right past security."
I guess they need to turn their security on cause it musta been off when they fail to find bomb making equpitment 21 times back in march.

At least they didn't mention a Glock 7 in the story............

Oh yeah, and I notice that don't show an x-ray of the gun in question.

Here's what "ar-15 x-ray" brings up on google.

Back

2006-05-02T12:31:00.000-04:00

Well that was a fun vacation, if you take out the 600+ miles I had to drive. Why the hell don't people drive right anymore. I don't mean drive correctly, although a case could be made for that too, I mean driving in the right lane unless you're passing traffic going slower than you.

I'm by no means a speed demon on the highway, it's kinda hard when you're driving a four-banger, but I do normally drive 5-8 m.p.h. over the posted limit and it irks me so bad when some dumbass will not get over in the right lane when I'm on his/her ass flipping my lights. I know I could just pass them on the right but I was taught you don't do that. Matter of fact I think that's against the law to do so.

Other than the driving I had a good time.

I took my Mom out shooting handguns for the first time. We went to an indoor range in Ft. Myers. Nice range but the price for the ammo, you had to buy their ammo, was a bit steep. $16 for a 50 round box of .45ACP is freaking robbery! Cost me $60 to shoot there. Glad that was only a one time thing. I don't know how people that live around there deal with that. IIRC he said they're the only range between Sarasota and Miami so I guess he can charge what ever he wants.

Went to the beach one day. Woo-hoo a beach... yeah......hurrah......whoop-dee-F'n-doo.

Going to the Dog Track was fun though. I just hope I don't start going to the one here in Orange Park too much now.

I didn't do too bad betting. Started with $60 and ended up "winning" $46 or so. I spend more money going to the movies.

My cats were glad to see me once I picked them up on Mon. My male cat couldn't be given a bath cause he was too "aggressive." He's not aggressive, he's just got a good memory. Last time he was at that vet they chopped off his balls. I don't think I'd be too cooperative either!

Vacation

2006-04-25T13:11:00.000-04:00

I'll be gone for the next 5 days. I'm going down to Bonita Springs to see my Mom. She's flying down from IL to help my grandmother, who's selling her home in Bonita, drive back up to IL.

I'd rather drive 5hrs. and stay in FL than fly 5 hrs. and land in the gun hating state of IL.

Should be a fun time. Thursday is ladies day at a gun range in Fort Myers and I'm going to take my Mom shooting for her first time.

My cats are going to hate me though. One of them is going to get a haircut while she's being boarded at the vet. I bet they're going to have to dope her up cause she will not be held down with out a fight. And she still has all her claws.

I have an idiot for a Senator...

2006-04-25T09:17:00.000-04:00


Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson addressed the problem in Tampa today. He says other fuel alternatives must be found in order to avoid a crisis. Senator Bill Nelson:: “If we can combine ethanol with gasoline, reduce our dependence on oil, start buying more hybrids, therefore you’re using less fuel. The combination of the two can have dramatic effects on improving our energy crisis and lessening our use of foreign oil.”

IDIOT!!!

You want to know how we can "lessening our use of foreign oil?"

DRILL FOR OUR OWN OIL SO WE CAN HAVE OUR OWN SUPPLY!!!!! For instance in ANWR and off the coast of Florida. So every time that nut over in Iran squawks about blowing up Israel the price of gas doesn't jump cause we wouldn't be dependent on them for oil.

It boggles the mind when these dems talk about "energy independence", they BLOCK every way that would make us independent!

AND BUILD MORE F*#KING REFINERIES!!!!!

I'm going to brave the crowds.....

2006-04-21T15:30:00.000-04:00

.........and head out to a movie tonight. I normally go on Saturdays, but I want to see this movie bad.

Not again!!!

2006-04-21T13:00:00.000-04:00

Son-of-a-bitch!!

I've been looking to buy my first house for sometime now and it seems that every time I find one that I like, is in my price range, and is in a good location, someone swoops in just ahead of me and puts a contract on it.

And It happened again today!

I found a house online on Wednesday, called the agency that was selling it to make sure it still available, it was, drove by and checked it out that night and called the agency when I got home to set up a viewing. The viewing was supposed to happen tonight after I got off work so I called to make sure everything was set, was told everything was. Then I get a call back 5 minutes later and she tells me that it just went under contract!!

F*#K!!!!

----

It's nuts here in JAX trying to find a good house under $200K. The market is insane right now but I think the longer I wait it's just gonna cost me that much more to buy a house.

Ahmadinejad's Demons

2006-04-21T09:16:00.000-04:00

Read this and tell me the leader of Iran isn't certifiable.

[You don't have to be a subscriber to read it but you will need to register to the site, but it's worth doing to read this piece.]

Hugh Hewitt linked to it and was reading form it last night and I was amazed at what I was hearing. I knew Ahmadinejad was a nut case, but this goes way beyond that.

It's from The New Republic, and while I think TNR is a left leaning mag I think both the left and right here in the US can agree Iran and its' leader doesn't care about our political leanings.

Rush Translates ChiCom President Hu

2006-04-21T09:01:00.000-04:00

This is a MUST hear.

LINK

Don't just read the transcript, save the audio and listen to it.

Michael Hiltzik - talking to himself...

2006-04-21T08:42:00.000-04:00

The Times has suspended Michael Hiltzik’s Golden State blog on latimes.com. Hiltzik admitted Thursday that he posted items on the paper’s website, and on other websites, under names other than his own. That is a violation of The Times ethics guidelines, which requires editors and reporters to identify themselves when dealing with the public. The policy applies to both the print and online editions of the newspaper. The Times is investigating the postings.

This all started over at Patterico.

Hugh Hewitt is all over the "blog suspension" and has the LA times "Code of Ethics" posted with his comments interspersed, it's funny.

---

I left this over in the comment section of the suspension announcement, though I doubt it will ever be posted.

TO: LA Times Editors

RE : Blog suspension

---

I'm curious as to why you suspended "the blog?"

Did "the blog" do something wrong?

I had no idea blogs had become autonomous beings capable of acting on their own volition.

Wouldn't it make more sense to suspend, or fire, the author of the blog?

OK , This guy is a nut......

2006-04-20T08:52:00.000-04:00

And a sick nut at that......

Man offers $1,000 for young virgin bride

BRAY, Okla. A man is causing an uproar in this rural southwestern Oklahoma town by advertising that he'd like to pay for a young virgin to be his bride.

A sign that 45-year-old Michael Thelemann posted in his yard Sunday said he'll pay a $1,000 reward for a virgin bride between the ages of 12 and 24.

One of his neighbors says she feels like she's living near a pedophile and another says she fears for the safety of her three daughters.

Thelemann says he can't understand the uproar, especially since his grandmother married an older man when she was 14. He says he's getting up in years and wants a young wife who can bear him children.

Thelemann says his original sign was stolen but he's since erected a new one that doesn't include the minor ages. It does note, however, that he's not interested in a, quote, "pig-worshipping, heathen, white-supremacist wife," unquote.

Stephens County District Attorney Gene Christian says it's likely Thelemann is acting legally. But noting the recent killings of 10-year-old girls in Tulsa and Purcell, Christian says that Thelemann's timing isn't good.

I wonder if he's a he recent convert to Islam?

Scott McClellan steps down...

2006-04-19T09:46:00.000-04:00

It's about time.....

Now I hope someone with the ability to smack down the press corps will get the job.

Tony Snow's name is being whispered around, he even mentioned it on his radio show today, but has yet to make up his mind on it yet.

I think Tony would be good, or Tori Clark.

-----------

Now if Norm Minnita would get the F out I'd be really happy.

How does Google news pick what headlines pop up?

Cause this one is a bit odd...

From the Betty The Crow news org.....

Damn You Gravity!!!

2006-04-12T12:53:00.000-04:00

So I'm at the grocery store last night picking up a 12 pack of beer and as I'm walking out and all of the sudden the 12 pack got much lighter.

Seems someone didn't use enough glue on the bottom and 3 bottles slipped out. Two of them shattered on the floor and beer went everywhere.

At least the store was cool about it, they just told me to go grab another 12-pack and they'd clean it up.

I'm just glad I didn't get pulled over on the way home. It would have been real funny trying to explain to the cop why I smelled like a brewery.

Delta Force Vets Dismiss Claims Of 'The Unit' Writer

2006-04-11T14:29:00.000-04:00

LINK

Damn, talk about taking someone to the wood shed.

Mr. Glock Fo-tay sues the US.

2006-04-11T13:58:00.000-04:00

DEA Agent Who Shot Self In Foot Sues U.S

Say what?

Paging Captain Obvious.......

2006-04-10T11:39:00.000-04:00

Secretary Snow Admits U.S. Tax Code is Incomprehensible

WASHINGTON, April 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) Economist and Senior Research Fellow Dr. Lawrence A. Hunter released the following statement:

"Treasury Secretary John Snow finally admitted to the Congress what every American taxpayer has known for years: the Internal Revenue Code is incomprehensible and unintelligible even to the experts who prepare the tax returns, enforce the law and collect the taxes.

'The problem you're talking about,' Snow told a U.S. Senate subcommittee, 'is the bewildering complexity of the code itself.'

"Senator Patty Murray of Washington State, apparently more concerned about the federal government's ability to collect revenue than about the tremendous burden the tax code places on the American people, hammered the Secretary to enforce the code and collect federal taxes despite its bewildering complexity.

"When Murray insisted it is still necessary to enforce the law no matter how impossible the code is to understand, Snow responded by quoting his wife as saying: 'How do you expect people to comply with the tax code when I, a reasonably intelligent person who had a course in the taxes, can hardly figure it out myself?' Yes, Senator Murray, how do you expect people to comply with your handiwork? Rather than scape-goating the firms that prepare our taxes, shouldn't you be working to fix the mess you and your congressional colleagues created?

"President Ronald Reagan said it best in 1983: 'Our federal tax system is, in short, utterly impossible, utterly unjust and completely counterproductive...(it) reeks with injustice and is fundamentally un-American... it has earned a rebellion and it's time we rebelled.'

"Secretary Snow's candid admission is courageous and laudable in a town where frankness and honesty are in short supply but it hardly constitutes the 'rebellion' Ronald Reagan called for. The question now, Mr. Secretary, is what are you going to do about it? Are you simply going to complain about it and continue to fine and penalize taxpayers and their tax preparers who make honest mistakes, or are you and the President going to send the Congress a tax reform plan to remedy this unconscionable situation? The voters await your answer with anticipation as they prepare to go to the polls in November."

Well, DUH!

About that fence.......

2006-04-07T08:26:00.000-04:00

In the grand "Senate compromise" bill on immigration, that will do nothing other than grant amnesty and set up a situation where in 10 years we'll be doing this same song and dance all over again, there was mention and hope that there would be a provision in the bill that stated there would be a fence.

Guess again.

Hugh Hewitt links to Sen. Frist's blog that says this bill will "Begin the process of securing every inch of our 1,951 mile border with Mexico by building walls and fences in high traffic areas and using sensors to let our Customs and Border Patrol Agents see and hear those who try and cross through low traffic areas"

Last night James Lileks explanis what that means.

HH: All right. Let's go to immigration. What do you think?

JL: Well, El Diablo's in the details, isn't it? My first thought earlier this week was you know, let's just annex Mexico. Let's beat them to the punch. Let's just make Mexico the 51st state, but then I realized of course, once all of the Mexicans are Americans, then they won't do the jobs that Americans won't do. So then, we're back at square one. So we have to come up with something like we have now. And anybody in the base, the most frightening words to the base is a bill that is acceptable to the Senate.

HH: Yup.

JL: And anything that comes out with the word compromise makes people twitch. And anything that has the wrong people grinning and shaking hands ought to tell you that something is afoot. And what is afoot is, as I said last week, little. I think you're going to get a lot of palaver, and a lot of rhetoric, and if you get a fence, maybe they're going to stack two or three Lego blocks on top and strew a couple of shards of aluminum foil, and call that a fence. But I don't think you're going to get the kind of fence you need. I don't think you're going to get the kind of enforcement that you need. What you probably will get is some sort of package that leads to, well, none dare call it amnesty, of course, but you'll get something that leads to legality without the other enforcement mechanism. And it's going to be...I fear it's going to be more of the same, because they never get this right. Do you trust, for example, this current Congress as constituted, to tackle this with the fervor and the rigor that it needs? And if you do, point to me something else where they've gone after it and done what needed to be done.

HH: Let me read to you a paragraph from the Washington Times update on this. Minority leader Harry Reid, talking to reporters with Mr. Frist at his side, said the proposal, "is not perfect, but a big step in the right direction. We're looking like we may be able to dance this afternoon."

JL: Yes, to dance, yeah.

HH: It gets better.

JL: How about if these guys waltz a little less, and start to step on some toes, is what I'd like to see.

HH: However, even if Democrats and Republicans in the Senate reach an agreement on the compromise, it still would need to be approved by the House Republicans, who are expected to reject it outright. Asked by reporters if Senate leaders had discussed the plan with House Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, an ardent opponent of anything that smacks of amnesty, Mr. Reid said, dismissively, "Chairman who?" At that, Mr. Frist quickly adjourned the press conference with Mr. Reid.

JL: Yeah, Chairman Who. There you go. That's that sort of nuance and ability to work with the other side that we admire about Mr. Reid. That's right. And of course, if the base doesn't turn out, that's the guy that's going to be calling the shots in a couple of years.

HH: And I then go to Bill Frist's website, and I had heard earlier today that there was a fence. You know what it says?

JL: What?

HH: Begin the process...

JL: Yeah.

HH: ...of securing every inch of our 1,951 mile border with Mexico by building walls and fences in high traffic areas, and using sensors to let our Customs and Border Patrol agents see and hear those who try and cross the low traffic areas.

JL: And begin the process, in Washington terms, means...

HH: Nothing!

JL: ...it means impanel a commission that will, 90 days from the date of its start, will tell us whether or not the blue ribbon panel to follow will be cerulean blue or royal blue.

HH: Yeah. It is...

JL: And then we'll vote on that...we'll hammer that out in the compromise to have a different shade of blue, and then maybe we can get the blue ribbon commission to study whether or not it is possible in the future to consider the likelihood of maybe constructing a fund for a prototype for a bridge for a wall in Canada. And that's what you're going to get.

HH: And I wanted a map with the lines with a highlighter on them, here's where the fence is going, and we're suspending any environmental law that would otherwise, as we had...you know, we had a fence in San Diego that was unfinished for five years because of the California Gnatcatcher, or something.

JL: Right. If there's some sacred toad in the area, you might as well forget about it.

HH: So what is the long and the short of this, James?

JL: The long and the short is what I said last week. What we need is a fence, what we need is good legal immigration, lots of it, because the country's founded on it. We need assimilation, we need a path to legality. I'm sorry, but it has to happen, because we can't deport, and we need a lot of enforcement, and we need to deport the people who are here who are criminals. And I don't think any of that is going to happen to the extent that it needs to be done.

HH: Thomas Friedman today, a very high fence with a very wide gate.

JL: That's a nice phrase, isn't it?

HH: It was. I liked that. Did you hear Christopher Hitchens talking about immigration?

JL: Yes, I did.

HH: And Mark Steyn, both of them. They really have no truck with these people at all.

JL: (laughing) I know they don't. Well, anybody who has had any contact whatsoever with the INS, and I've only had it second hand, seems to be a branch of the government that is designed specifically to make every other branch look better in comparison.

HH: Yeah, I think it's the DMV at the federal level.

JL: It makes the DMV look like Jack Bauer's operation, for Heaven's sakes.

HH: By the way...

JL: Yeah.

HH: What is the President up to in 24?

JL: I don't know. I'm on Season 1, episode 5, so SHUT UP about 24 already.

HH: (laughing) Thank you, Lileks.

Libby

2006-04-06T13:24:00.000-04:00

Oh, boy here we go again.........

Some how the MSM couldn't force themselves to say that President Bush authorized the release of information. He did not "leak" anything.

The Smoking gun (The website)

From the filing, page 23:

As to the meeting on July 8, defendant testified that he was specifically authorized in advance of the meeting to disclose the key judgments of the classified NIE to Miller on that occasion because it was thought that the NIE was “pretty definitive” against what Ambassador Wilson had said and that the Vice President thought that it was “very important” for the key judgments of the NIE to come out. Defendant further testified that he at first advised the Vice President that he could not have this conversation with reporter Miller because of the classified nature of the NIE. Defendant testified that the Vice President later advised him that the President had authorized defendant to disclose the relevant portions of the NIE. Defendant testified that he also spoke to David Addington, then Counsel to the Vice President, whom defendant considered to be an expert in national security law, and Mr. Addington opined that Presidential authorization to publicly disclose a document amounted to a declassification of the document.

NOT a "leak".

Bill in FL Congress - Firearm confiscation during an emergency

2006-04-06T08:48:00.000-04:00

HB 285 - Emergency Management

GENERAL BILL by Needelman (CO-SPONSORS) Altman; Baxley; Clarke; Culp; Harrell; Kendrick; Kreegel; Legg; Murzin; Stansel

Emergency Management: Provides construction with respect to the seizure, taking, or confiscation of firearms during a local state of emergency or an emergency that is beyond local control.

Effective Date: upon becoming a law.

Looks like this is a response from all the bullshit confiscations that took place in NOLA during Katrina.

OK, how is this not Amnesty?!?

2006-04-04T07:15:00.000-04:00

From what I heard on the radio this morning the "plan" breaks down like this. If you're an illegal and have been in the US more than five years, and can prove it, you can stay, get a work visa, and work towards citizenship. If you've been here less than five years you get booted.

So how is this not amnesty and how would this plan prevent more people from storming over the boarder in hope of getting "in line" for the NEXT amnesty?

By SUZANNE GAMBOA / Associated Press

Senate Republicans searching for a compromise on whether more than 11 million illegal immigrants should be allowed to eventually seek citizenship moved toward limiting that opportunity to those who've lived in the country at least five years.

Negotiators who met for about an hour late Monday evening in the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., seemed to have settled on five years as a demarcation for who could remain and work and eventually earn citizenship.

Details were to be provided to other Senate Republicans at their closed-door Tuesday morning meeting.

"We're looking at the roots concept, and that is if they have been here more than five years," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "If they have been here less then five years and they do not have roots to the same extent and can be treated differently, and that is what we're looking at."

The fate of those with less time in the country was unclear, but Specter suggested they might be asked to go to ports of entry, like the Texas border city of El Paso, and would not have to return to their native countries.

A similar proposal made in Specter's committee received little support.

However, the idea seemed to have some support from Frist, who told CNN over the weekend that 40 percent of illegal immigrants have been in the country less than five years and "need to be dealt with in a different fashion."

The Senate is in its second week of debate and pressure is on to have a bill by the end of the week. Frist scheduled only two weeks of debate on immigration and the Senate has yet to resolve which of the three major immigration proposals will move forward.

A bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee — based on a proposal by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. — would allow illegal immigrants in the United States before Jan. 7, 2004, and who have jobs, to work legally for an additional six years and eventually become citizens.

Both Frist and McCain are considered likely candidates for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

A separate bill filed by Frist does not deal with illegal immigrants, but boosts border enforcement and cracks down on employers who hire illegal workers. The House in December passed a bill that would make being in the country illegally a felony.

Opponents consider the Judiciary Committee bill amnesty. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would give illegal immigrants up to five years to leave the country, before they can return legally to apply for permanent residence or be guest workers.

Cornyn was not at the meeting at Frist's office, but his spokesman Don Stewart was skeptical of the suggested compromise.

"It's a matter of giving amnesty to 8 million people or giving amnesty to 12 million people. It's still amnesty to millions of people," Stewart said.

DeLay goes bye-bye

2006-04-04T06:50:00.000-04:00

FNC

WASHINGTON — Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay will announce that he will not seek re-election to Congress and will not finish his current term, sources told FOX News late Monday.

The Texas Republican will likely make a farewell speech on Tuesday via video on his Web site with a transcript included. DeLay will resign his seat effective in the late spring or summer after the House Appropriations Committee, of which DeLay is a member, is done with its business, a high level Republican source said.

Damn, This kinda came outa the nowhere.

I'm sure there's gonna be some people that will gloat over this. Over at DU for example we see this delightful post by bluestateguy.

We brought down "Hot Tub" Tom DeLay. Take a bow folks -

Convicted or acquitted, it doesn't matter anymore. He is gone and no longer in a position to hurt the American people anymore.

This motherfucker will BURN IN HELL for what he did to Bill Clinton in rounding up votes for that bullshit impeachment (expunging the impeachment from the House record should be the first order of business in a new Democratic House)

Well isn't that nice. Plus someone needs to tell bluestateguy that impeaching Pres. Bush would be the 1st order of business if the dems take the house.

And it's just amazing that people so hell bent on getting Tom DeLay over look Hillary Clinton and all her corruption.

Get your bids ready....

2006-04-03T13:22:00.000-04:00

Gov't Liquidation

People please.............

2006-04-03T12:19:00.000-04:00

........remove the Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers from your car.

Ya lost and there's no reason to keep them stuck to your car.

SHH! HILL TAKES AIM AT GUNS

2006-04-03T11:00:00.000-04:00

NYP April 3, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has quietly stepped up her fight for tighter gun control by signing on to a new push to make public a national database of weapons used in crimes and illegal sales.

Her résumé on gun control, a pet issue among the Democratic Party's liberal base, includes calls for a ban on assault weapons and so-called "cop killer" armor-piercing ammo - yet she hasn't personally taken a lead role in any gun legislation in this Congress.

Her silent shuffle to the left on the lightning-rod issue is sure to rankle the powerful National Rifle Association and gun-loving heartland voters who will decide the 2008 White House race.

[snip]

FBI stopped Hezbollah smugglers (at the Mexican boarder)

2006-03-31T08:46:00.000-05:00

From the JTA: (out of Canada)

The FBI broke up a ring that tried to smuggle Hezbollah operatives into the United States.

In testimony Tuesday to Congress on the FBI’s budget request, director Robert Mueller said most recent reports on terrorist smuggling do not pan out.

However, he identified one that did: “This was an occasion in which Hezbollah operatives were assisting others with some association with Hezbollah in coming to the United States,” Mueller said. “That was an organization that we dismantled and identified those persons who had been smuggled in. And they have been addressed as well.”

Mueller did not elaborate further, except to say that the ring had attempted to smuggle the operatives into the United States from Mexico.

This is why the debate over the boarder needs to be about SECURITY not immigration.

If we "need" more immigrants then increase the amount of green cards available and speed up the process.

And why isn't this story getting more play?

There's only three hits on google news on it.

NewsMax, The Albuquerque Tribune (at the bottom of the article), and this page out of Canada.

Google News

Iran Tests Missile Able to Avoid Radar

2006-03-31T07:20:00.000-05:00

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran on Friday successfully test-fired a missile that can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously, the airforce chief of the elite Revolutionary Guards said.

"Today, a remarkable goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran's defence forces was realized with the successful test-firing of a new missile with greater technical and tactical capabilities than those previously produced," Gen. Hossein Salami said on state-run television.

Salami said the Iranian-made missile, which he did not name, was test-fired as large military maneuvers began in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian sea.

"This missile can simultaneously hit several targets, has near stealth capabilities with a high maneuverability, pinpoint accuracy and radar avoidance features," Salami said.

The general said the range of the missile would depend on the weight of its warhead.

"It can avoid anti-missile missiles and strike the target," he said.

The television screened a brief clip of the launch of the missile.

Iran already has the Shahab-3 missile, which has a range of 1,250 miles and is capable of reaching Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East. The Shahab-3 is also capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Last year, former defence minister Ali Shamkhani said that Iran had successfully tested a solid fuel motor for the Shahab-3, a technological breakthrough in Iran's military industries.

Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.

The military maneuvers are scheduled to last a week and will involve 17,000 members of the Revolutionary Guards as well as boats, fighter jets and helicopter gunships.

These are just for "electrical purposes" obviously.

They tie a string to the end of the rocket with a key half way down with a wire off the key.

U.S. To Test 700-Ton Explosive

2006-03-30T13:28:00.000-05:00

The U.S. military plans to detonate a 700 ton explosive charge in a test called “Divine Strake” that will send a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas, a senior defense official said March 30.

”I don’t want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you’ll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons,” said James Tegnelia, head of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Tegnelia said the test was part of a U.S. effort to develop weapons capable of destroying deeply-buried bunkers housing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

”We have several very large penetrators we’re developing,” he told defense reporters.
”We also have — are you ready for this — a 700-ton explosively formed charge that we’re going to be putting in a tunnel in Nevada,” he said.

”And that represents to U.S. the largest single explosive that we could imagine doing conventionally to solve that problem,” he said.

The aim is to measure the effect of the blast on hard granite structures, he said.

”If you want to model these weapons, you want to know from a modeling point of view what is the ideal best condition you could ever set up in a conventional weapon — what’s the best you can do.

”And this gets at the best point you could get on a curve. So it allows U.S. to predict how effective these kinds of weapons ... would be,” he said.

He said the Russians have been notified of the test, which is scheduled for the first week of June at the Nevada test range.

”We’re also making sure that Las Vegas understands,” Tegnelia said.

I'd hate to be a 911 operator on that day. The lines are going to be going crazy!

That's a whole lot of BOOM!!

Pics of my truck's damage.

2006-03-30T13:08:00.000-05:00

In case anyone is interested in seeing what an asshat with no respect for another person's property can do.

(click the pics to enlarge)

First we've got my dash. Notice the big hole where my CD player once was. (On the bright side, they didin't cut the wires.)

Here's the driver's side window. Nice broken ventshade.

Up close you can see the half moon that was scratched into my window.

And the passenger side rearwindow and lock. (I think I can fix that with some touchup paint, I just hope it doesn't leak now.)

B-2 Bomber gets an upgrade.

2006-03-30T09:17:00.000-05:00

Weapons Payload of B-2 Stealth Bomber Enhanced (by 5x)

This is why you keep your finger OFF the trigger!

2006-03-30T08:13:00.000-05:00

GUN IDIOT

Damn. I thought it was a joke.

2006-03-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

Someone told me there was a "Basic Instinct 2" coming out w/ Sharon Stone.

I thought it was a joke, until I just saw a preview on TV.

THIEVING FU*%ERS!!

2006-03-29T08:23:00.000-05:00

IF THERE'S ONE THING I HATE, REALLY HATE, IT'S THIEVES!!

SOME DICKLESS PUNKASS BITCH KID(S) BROKE INTO MY TRUCK LAST NIGHT AND TORE OUT MY CD PLAYER AND TOOK MY AIRGUN!!

BASTARDS!!

7pm update.

I'm a bit calmer now, still pissed off, but calmer.

My truck was in my driveway, but I had my (house) windows closed last night due to the drop in temp, so I didn't hear when it happened.

Luckily they didn't bust out any windows. He/it was able to push down the driver's side window, after they scratched a half moon into the window. I guess because they were trying to bust the window. [I guess these dumbfuckers don't know that a piece of porcelain from a spark plug will shatter a window easily. (Just because I know something doesn't mean I've applied it.)]

That wasn't of course they tried sticking a screw driver into the passenger lock and prying on the back side vent window, in two places.

I took off work early cause I was so pissed and couldn't think straight. I couldn't get anything done and wasn't do my job any good by being there so I went home and cleaned out my truck to find out what was taken.

My truck had a LOT of clutter in the extra cab, mostly shoot targets and a few jackets.

Here's what he/they took.

A detachable face CD player. [that I never detach.]

Two knives

A watch. [with a broken clasp]

My air pistol. [This is what really ticks me off.]

A sandbag rest used for shooting. [This one I can't figure out.]

A plastic CD carrier w/ 10 CD's in it. [Bastards got my Metallica "Kill 'em All" CD that has 'Am I Evil' and 'Blitzkrieg' on it!! - But I think they got 3 CD's of the book on CD 'Blink'.]

And a pair of binoculars, that were my dad's and I just borrowed last weekend.

---------

Here's a few things that they didn't take.

My Chequebook. [This makes me think they're young.]

An Asp baton. [That was right next to one of the knives they took. I don't think they knew what it was.]

Some Pepper spray.

A White Sox Jacket. [Must be a Cubs fan.]

Various CD's in jewel cases. [I guess they didn't want to carry them.]

Oh, and my gun club member badge. [That costs me $100 a year.]

I guess it's time to invest in a alarm for my truck. To late to do me any good now, but I don't want there to be a next time.

------------

Oh yeah, they took something else too that I remembered I had in my truck.

3 used 30 round AR-15 mags in a belt case. One of my friends gave them to me.

New Box O' Truth test.

2006-03-28T15:20:00.000-05:00

Box O' Truth #24 - Sniper Against Armor

.223 @ 7 yards.....................HOE_LEE_FCK!!!

Court rules against McDermott in taped call dispute

2006-03-28T13:32:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal appeals court ruled today that Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., violated federal law by turning over an illegally taped telephone call to reporters nearly a decade ago.

In a 2-1 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott violated the rights of House Majority Leader John Boehner, who was heard on the 1996 call involving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

The court ordered McDermott to pay Boehner more than $700,000 for leaking the taped conversation. The figure includes $60,000 in damages and more than $600,000 in legal costs.

McDermott leaked a tape of a 1996 cell phone call involving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to The New York Times and other news organizations.

The call included discussion by Gingrich, R-Ga., and other House GOP leaders about a House ethics committee investigation of Gingrich. Boehner, R-Ohio, was a Gingrich lieutenant at the time and is now House majority leader.

Talk about "illegal wiretapping"..........

Why is Hugo Chávez Involved With U.S. Voting Machines?

2006-03-28T12:40:00.000-05:00

RealClearPolitics

By Richard Brand

The greater threat to our nation's security comes not from Dubai and its pro-Western government, but from Venezuela, where software engineers with links to the leftist, anti-American regime of Hugo Chávez are programming electronic voting machines that will soon power U.S. elections.

Congress spent two weeks overreacting to news that Dubai Ports World would operate several American ports, including Miami's, but a better target for their hysteria would be the acquisition by Smartmatic International of California-based Sequoia Voting Systems, whose machines serve millions of U.S. voters. That Smartmatic -- which has been accused by Venezuela's opposition of helping Chávez rig elections in his favor -- now controls a major U.S. e-voting firm should give pause to anybody who thinks that replacing our antiquated butterfly ballots and hanging chads will restore Americans' faith in our electoral process.

[snip]

First off, I'm not one of those conspiracy nuts that think DIEBOLD "stole" the election for Pres. Bush. And I'm all for a paper trail in an election, one that doesn't involve "chads", I did live in DUVAL county in 2000 after all, but this is kinda nuts.

I think we've become waaaaaaaaaaaay to accustom to getting vote results RIGHT NOW!!

Why? Would it really matter if it took a few days, or a week, for us to get our election results? I wouldn't mind.

Along with patience with the results I like Neal Boortz's idea of a 24 hour voting day.

Why should we just have 12 hours to vote? Seems like that leaves people that WORK FOR A LIVING, ya know the kind of people that leave for work at 6am and don't get home until 6pm, at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to casting their vote.

Katherine Harris makes surprise appearance at a gun show.

2006-03-28T12:16:00.000-05:00

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The roughly 100 people packed into a fairgrounds building for a concealed carry handgun class looked up blankly Saturday as U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris entered.

Hands blackened by fingerprinting ink, they listened, many with seeming half-interest, as Harris talked about her political record, gun rights, making President Bush's tax cuts permanent and helping small businesses.

They erupted into applause when weapons instructor and Pasco County Republican Chairman Bill Bunting told them of Harris' A+ rating with the National Rifle Association.

"I'd vote for her in a heartbeat. I didn't think that before seeing what she's about," said Jim Myers, a 57-year-old disabled military veteran.

A week and a half after reaffirming her candidacy on national television and pledging $10 million of her own money to run it, Harris continued trying to shore up the GOP base in Florida on Saturday. Her "grassfire campaign" for Senate stretched from breakfast in Kissimmee to an Orlando gun show, where Myers took the concealed carry class, and a barbecue later in Daytona Beach.

Harris faces an uphill campaign against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, with weak support from national Republicans who tried unsuccessfully to field a candidate against her and the departure of high-level staffers who urged her to drop out of an unwinnable race.

Besides low approval from Democrats and independents from her role in certifying the 2000 presidential election for President Bush, Harris faces double-digit poll deficits and ties to a bribery scandal that sent another U.S. House representative to prison.

Still, she remains optimistic about the campaign, and told each constituent offering a "hang in there" that she planned to win.

"I think there's a lot of stake for the future," Harris told supporters gathered for a lunch event. "I think how Florida goes, the rest of the nation goes."

At the gun show, Bunting led Harris between tables of assault rifles, knives, bullets and pistols to meet with patrons and dealers.

"Everybody she reaches out to here, they'll be reaching out to their customers," Bunting said.

[snip]

Damn I hope she wins. Not only would she make a good Senator but it's time Bill Nelson got the F*%# out of the Senate.

Teen Helps Save Lives Of Ocala Grandmother, Children

2006-03-28T12:10:00.000-05:00

OCALA , Fla. -- Fire officials said a 14-year-old rushed into a burning home in Ocala to rescue an elderly woman and her two young grandchildren.

Gladies Ford was in the back room of her home watching TV with her 2- and 3-year-old grandsons and didn't notice that a space heater in another room had lit a bed on fire.

Ramik Trapp had just been dropped off at the home when the 14-year-old noticed smoke pouring out of the house. The teen kicked in the front door and crawled on his knees to the bedroom, grabbed both the boys and pulled them out.

Willie Spann was sitting in his truck nearby when he noticed the smoke. He ran in behind Trapp and helped Ford crawl out of the burning home.

Another neighborhood teen who had been playing ball outside called the police.

Fire officials say the home was destroyed, but no one was injured.

Ya know it's nice to read stories like this.

Hell of a lot better headline than "3 die in housefire"

Idiot High School kids......

2006-03-28T07:16:00.000-05:00

Frightened Witness Mistakes H.S. Movie Shoot For Real Hostage Situation

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. -- A SWAT team responded to the scene at a Fernandina Beach post office Thursday evening after receiving 911 calls about a gunman holding hostages inside the building.

A frightened witness thought it was total mayhem, a hostage standoff unfolding right before his eyes.

However, what he thought was a serious matter turned out to be big mix-up.

When authorities arrived on the scene, they found out the whole thing was part of a movie shoot.

It turned out that the movie's producers cleared the shoot with the city, but no one else was notified -- not the police department, nor the public.

The dramatic call from outside the post office came into an emergency operator just after 6 p.m. It was a potential nightmare for police -- a suspect inside a building, possibly holding hostages at gunpoint:

CALLER: "A guy got out of his car and walked into Center Street Post Ofice with a gun. It was, like, an AK-47."
OPERATOR: "OK, what did he look like?"
CALLER: "I, I, man, I really can't tell you that. I don't know."
OPERATOR: "Can somebody call the city? Right now, and tell them there's a man walking in with an AK-47 in the post office."
CALLER: "All I seen was a man walk in there with a gun. I seen him reach in the back seat of his car."
OPERATOR: "OK, what did he look like, do you know?"
CALLER: "I don't know what he looked like. All I noticed was the gun that he was carrying."
OPERATOR: "Is he in the post office now?"
CALLER: "Yeah, he's inside right now. But, I don't know why he took the gun in there, but I know it was a gun."
OPERATOR: "Do you see any of my police officers?"
CALLER: "It looks like a police officer, yeah, yeah, a police officer's in there with a shotgun."
OPERATOR: "A police officer's inside with a shotgun?"
CALLER: "No, no, no, no, no. He's coming out."
OPERATOR: "Who's coming out, sir?"
CALLER: "I don't know."

The call sent officers scrambling to the scene, but it turned out to be a false alarm. The gun was fake, part of a movie being shot by Fernandina Beach High School students.

However, police didn't know that and shut down much of the downtown area.

"The SWAT team came through and made everbody who was out here go in the back. We all had to go in the backroom, because it's all plate glass windows and obviously that's not a very good situation," said witness Rebecca Campbell, who works across the street from the post office.

It took about an hour before police figured out that the standoff was just a high school movie shoot, and the situation was completely resolved.

No one was hurt during the standoff, and no charges have been filed.

I think maybe, just maybe, it would have been a good idea to let the cops know what was goin on BEFOREHAND.

I bought a used YUGO for $120

2006-03-27T08:10:00.000-05:00

It's not the prettiest thing but I think it will do well for what I paid for it. It'll probably look a whole lot better once I get all the goop off it.

At $120 I couldn't pass it up.

Here's a pic. (click for full size)

Iraq Archive Document Describes Bin Laden Meeting

2006-03-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

From ABC

---------
U.S. Government Releases Papers From Saddam's Reign

March 22, 2006 — Following are the ABC News Investigative Unit's summaries of five documents from Saddam Hussein's government, which have been released by the U.S. government.

The documents discuss Osama bin Laden, weapons of mass destruction, al Qaeda and more.

[snip]

How in the HELL............

2006-03-22T15:57:00.000-05:00

..........Do you "lose" 6 pieces of 2-3/8" tubing with a 4'-8" Radius, 11' long, rolled in a helix???!?!?!?!?!

How!?!?

I guess I can say bye-bye to THAT job getting done on time!

F*%K!

Two translated Iraq Documents. [Saddam & OBL]

2006-03-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

Saddam Regime Document: Iraqi Intelligence met with Bin Laden in 1995 (Translation)

Document: Saddam Regime Training and Using Foreign Arab Terrorists As Suicide Bombers. (Translation)

You won't see these in the MSM, they will instead be focused on this story.

Did I influence Hugh Hewitt's CNN appearance?

2006-03-22T09:09:00.000-05:00

Last night Hugh Hewitt asked his listeners to call in and give him suggestions on things to mention on CNN regarding how the MSM is covering Iraq and their biases.

I got through and said this.

"Hugh, Maybe it's so ingrained in CNN to whitewash the news out of Iraq, because of all those years having a deal with Saddam so they could keep their Baghdad bureau, that they just can't report the good news."

And what is on Hugh's site today?

I began the segment by reminding the audience of CNN's Eason Jordan's confession of CNN self-censorship on the awful brutality of Saddam's regime --published in the New York Times in April of 2003-- and of MSM predictions of quagmire that began with the dust storm that interrupted the march to Baghdad, and which discounted all three of the elections that led to the current government.

Coincidence?

Hummmmmm.

At .16 cents a round I think I'll buy another 1000

2006-03-22T07:52:00.000-05:00

Last gun show I went to I picked up this stuff for $160/1000.

The stamps on most of the ammo is TZZ from the 90's, with a few marked TZ from 81,82,83. The second most common in WCC 70's-90's. There was a hand full, less than 10 each, of LC and TW stamped.

I just hope there's more when I get to the gun show on saturday.

Here's the dinged ones I found. [But there was 1010 total so I guess they account for a few bad ones.]

Idiots like this give safety conscience gunners a bad name

2006-03-20T14:31:00.000-05:00

Cowboy Blob has the lowdown on these scholars of gun safety.

Now I'm all for getting my picture taken with my guns, but it's normally while I'm shooting a match and not posed like a dumbass with my gun POINTED AT SOMEONE'S HEAD!!

It's about damn time!!!! [PRIVATE FL CCW records]

2006-03-20T09:58:00.000-05:00

I just ran across this searching modifications to FL statue 790.

CS/SB 1162 - Personal Info./Weapons/License/DOACS

Personal Info./Weapons/License/DOACS: provides exemption from public-records requirements for certain personal identifying information held by Licensing Div. of DOACS; provides for retroactive application of exemption; provides for disclosure of such information under specified conditions; provides for review & repeal under OGSR Act; provides statement of public necessity. Creates 790.0601.

Section 1. Section 790.0601, Florida Statutes, is
19 created to read:
20 790.0601 Public records exemption for concealed
21 weapons.--
22 (1) Personal identifying information of an individual
23 who has applied for or received a license to carry a concealed
24 weapon or firearm pursuant to s. 790.06 held by the Division
25 of Licensing of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
26 Services is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s.
27 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This exemption
28 applies to such information held by the division before, on,
29 or after the effective date of this section.
30 (2) Information made confidential and exempt by this
31 section shall be disclosed:
1
9:22 AM 03/07/06 s1162.cm37.00a

Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1162
Barcode 121322
1 (a) With the express written consent of the applicant
2 or licensee or his or her legally authorized representative.
3 (b) By court order upon a showing of good cause.
4 (c) Upon written request by law enforcement in
5 connection with an active criminal investigation.
6 (3) This section is subject to the Open Government
7 Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand
8 repealed on October 2, 2011, unless reviewed and saved from
9 repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
10 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
11 necessity that the personal identifying information of an
12 individual who has applied for or received a license to carry
13 a concealed weapon or firearm held by the Division of
14 Licensing of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
15 Services be made confidential and exempt from public records
16 requirements, with certain exceptions. The carrying of a
17 concealed weapon in the state by members of the general public
18 requires an individual to obtain a license from the Department
19 of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The applicant for a
20 license to carry a concealed weapon or firearm must state that
21 he or she seeks a concealed weapon or firearms license as a
22 means of lawful self-defense. The knowledge that someone has
23 applied for or received a license to carry a concealed weapon
24 or firearm can very easily lead to the conclusion that the
25 applicant or licensee has in fact armed himself or herself.
26 This knowledge defeats the purpose behind the authorization to
27 carry a concealed weapon or firearm. If the applicant or
28 licensee had intended for the general public to know he or she
29 was carrying a weapon or firearm then he or she only would
30 have applied for a regular weapon or firearms permit. The
31 Legislature has found in prior legislative sessions and has
2
9:22 AM 03/07/06 s1162.cm37.00a

Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1162
Barcode 121322
1 expressed in s. 790.335(1)(a)3., Florida Statutes, that "a . .
2 . record . . . of legally owned firearms or law-abiding
3 firearm owners is . . . an instrument that can be used as a
4 means to profile innocent citizens and to harass and abuse
5 American citizens based solely on their choice to own firearms
6 and exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear
7 arms as guaranteed under the United States Constitution."
8 Release of personal identifying information of an individual
9 who has applied for or received a license to carry a concealed
10 weapon or firearm could be used to harass an innocent person
11 based solely on that person's exercised right to carry a
12 concealed weapon or firearm. Furthermore, such information
13 could be used and has been used to identify individuals who
14 have obtained a license to carry a concealed weapon or firearm
15 for the purpose of making the identity of the applicant or
16 licensee publicly available via traditional media and the
17 Internet. Once again, such release contradicts the purpose of
18 carrying a concealed weapon or firearm. As such, the
19 Legislature finds that the personal identifying information of
20 an individual who has applied for or received a license to
21 carry a concealed weapon or firearm pursuant to chapter 790,
22 Florida Statutes, must be held confidential and exempt from
23 public records requirements.

This really needs to pass, I'm sick and tired of getting that damn thing in the mail asking me if I want to buy a "CCW badge." If you're a FL CCW holder you know exactly what I'm talking about!

So if you're in FL drop your Reps. a line or fax and tell them to vote YES on this.

Afghan Man Faces Execution After Converting to Christianity

2006-03-20T08:03:00.000-05:00

VOA - An Afghan man who recently admitted he converted to Christianity faces the death penalty under the country's strict Islamic legal system. The trial is a critical test of Afghanistan's new constitution and democratic government.

The case is attracting widespread attention in Afghanistan, where local media are closely monitoring the landmark proceedings.

Abdul Rahman, 40, was arrested last month, accused of converting to Christianity.

Under Afghanistan's new constitution, minority religious rights are protected but Muslims are still subject to strict Islamic laws.

And so, officially, Muslim-born Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and not for practicing Christianity.

Appearing in court earlier this week Rahman insisted he should not be considered an infidel, but admitted he is a Christian.

He says he still believes in the almighty Allah, but cannot say for sure who God really is. "I am," he says, "a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ."

Rahman reportedly converted more than 16 years ago after spending time working in Germany.

Officials say his family, who remain observant Muslims, turned him over to the authorities.

On Thursday the prosecution told the court Rahman has rejected numerous offers to embrace Islam.

Prosecuting attorney Abdul Wasi told the judge that the punishment should fit the crime.

He says Rahman is a traitor to Islam and is like a cancer inside Afghanistan. Under Islamic law and under the Afghan constitution, he says, the defendant should be executed.

The court has ordered a delay in the proceedings to give Rahman time to hire an attorney.

Under Afghan law, once a verdict is given, the case can be appealed twice to higher courts.

This is the first case in which the defendant has admitted to converting and is refusing to back down, even while facing the death penalty.

If convicted, the case could ultimately force President Hamid Karzai's direct intervention.

The president would have to sign the papers authorizing Rahman's execution, a move that could jeopardize Mr. Karzai's standing with human rights groups and Western governments.

So far, President Karzai has not commented on the case.

But political analysts here in Kabul say he will be under significant pressure from the country's hard-line religious groups to make an example of Rahman.

Ahhh yes, the good ol "ROP"

Men Hold Up Grocery Store [Massachusetts]

2006-03-20T07:23:00.000-05:00

METHUEN, Mass. -- A brazen robbery frightened customers at the Market Basket grocery store in Methuen, Mass. Thursday night.

Two armed men rushed into the store; one was holding an assault rifle.

The scene was captured on the store's security video.

The customers inside placed calls to 911.

"There's a holdup a holdup at Market Basket, Methuen, Massachusetts, 70 Pleasant Street," one caller said. "There are two guys; one of the guys has two guns."

Methuen police said the second robber was holding a semiautomatic handgun in each hand.

The robbery took less than one minute.

Police say one man ran to the cash office. The other ordered customers to get down.

"He just repeated, 'Get on the ground, get on the ground, stay on the ground,' and waited for the second subject," Methuen Police Capt. Kristopher McCarthy said.

Police said a third person was waiting outside in a getaway car.

That car, a Nissan Maxima, was reported stolen from the parking lot at the Rockingham Park Mall in Salem, N.H.

It was found in Lawrence, Mass. following the robbery.

Police said it is fortunate nobody was hurt.

McCarthy said, "The fear the customers were put in was unimaginable in that magnitude of this type of crime."

Police said the men knew what they were doing and that is cause for concern.

"We are concerned that they could strike another store," McCarthy said. "If not in Methuen, Southern New Hampshire or somewhere in the New England area."

Anyone with information about the robbery should call the Methuen Police Department Crime Tip Line at (978) 983-8794.

Damn!

I caught a tease about this on my local news about 8:00 Friday night and had to stay up until 10pm to find out where this took place. When I found out it happened in MA I wasn't surprised.

I wonder if MA will now add grocery shopping to the list of reasons that you can use when applying for a CCW permit? MA isn't a SHALL ISSUE state, you need to have a "reason" to carry a gun concealed.

Click on the link to watch the local MA new report with the video of the robbery.

Man severs own penis, throws it at officers

2006-03-17T11:09:00.000-05:00

Chicago - Before cops threw the book at him, Jakub Fik threw something unusual at them -- his penis.

Fik, 33, cut off his own penis during a Northwest Side rampage Wednesday morning. When confronted by police, Fik hurled several knives and his severed organ at the officers, police said. Officers stunned him with a Taser and took him into custody.

"We took him out without any serious injury, with the exception of his own," said Chicago Police Sgt. Edward Dolan of the 16th District.

Were drugs involved?

"Like A Hole In The Head"

2006-03-16T10:06:00.000-05:00

by Hugh Hewitt
March 15, 2006 04:36 PM PST

Hugh nails it.

He says exactly what I thought when I heard about this panel on Bill Bennett's show today.

Book to buy....

2006-03-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

Documents from pre-war Iraq and Afghanistan now online

2006-03-16T09:07:00.000-05:00

Post-Haste

The first batch of captured documents from pre-war Iraq and Afghanistan are now available online.
by Stephen F. Hayes

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has created a website where it will post documents captured in postwar Afghanistan and Iraq. The website is hosted by the Foreign Military Studies Office Joint Reserve Intelligence Center at Fort Leavenworth and will be updated continuously with new documents.

The first batch of materials, released late Wednesday, includes nine documents captured in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom and 28 documents previously released on February 14, 2006, in conjunction with a study of those documents conducted by analysts at West Point. Sources on Capitol Hill and within the intelligence community tell The Weekly Standard that hundreds of new documents will be made available in the coming days, including 50-60 hours of audiotapes from the Iraqi regime.

[snip]

Now if I could only read Arabic......

Hillary Clinton: The Fraudulent Senator (parts 1-4)

2006-03-16T08:13:00.000-05:00

Part 1 - The Scandal Queen
by Joan Swirsky

Part 2 - Hillary's Nemesis: Peter Paul
by Joan Swirsky

Part 3 - Partito Nostro: Doing Business with the Clinton Syndicate
by Justin Darr

Part 4 - Hillary Clinton & Event 39: Legal House of Cards or Little Crooked House?
by A.J. DiCintio

And just think, there's another three more to come out yet!

CNN: Glocks "can pass through some metal detectors"

2006-03-16T07:20:00.000-05:00

Last night on CNN Paula Zahn, in her infinite wisdom, dropped this little gem of a line out during a story about that Ferrari crash out in CA.

ZAHN: One more piece of the puzzle. Detective also found part of a Glock pistol, a model, made mostly out of plastic and favored by criminals because it can pass through some metal detectors.

Ms. Zahn, just because Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2 says, "That punk pulled a Glock 7 on me! You know what that is? It's a porcelain gun made in Germany. It doesn't show up on you airport X-ray machines, and it cost more than you make here in a month." DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE!!!

Glocks are over 80% metal and DO show up in X-rays and DO set off metal detectors!!

Here's a pic of a G30 under an X-ray.

My new favorite TV show.

2006-03-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

PINKS..

Lose The Race......

Lose Your Ride..........

It's on tonight @9pm (est) on Speed.

Byron York ~ "It’s Legal"

2006-03-15T11:29:00.000-05:00

The solid legal basis for the administration’s surveillance program.
March 15, 2006, 7:41 a.m.

In early September 2002, just before the first anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, a group of lawyers gathered in a heavily protected, windowless room in the Department of Justice building in Washington. There were three federal appeals-court judges, Laurence Silberman, Edward Leavy, and Ralph Guy. There was Theodore Olson, the U.S. solicitor general. There was Larry Thompson, the deputy attorney general. And there was John Yoo, the Justice official who had closely studied questions of war powers and presidential authority. Rounding out the group were a few other department staffers, one official from the FBI, and David Addington, Vice President Cheney's top lawyer.

The purpose of the meeting was to argue a case whose details remain so classified that they are known by only a few people, but whose outcome, a decision known as In re: Sealed Case, has become one of the key documents in the hottest argument in Washington today: the fight over what President Bush calls the "terrorist surveillance" of persons with known al-Qaeda connections, and what the president's opponents call "domestic spying."

[snip]

----------

Nailed it.

Wal-Mart/Winchester WTF are you doing!?!?

2006-03-13T10:27:00.000-05:00

What in the hell is Winchester and Wal-Mart doing with thier prices of 55g .223 Remmington ammo?!??

You use to be able to buy the 40 round "value pack" of 55g .223 Rem. for $7.73+tax. So for just over .20 cents a round you could buy some decent ammo.

For some F'n reason the price has been jacked up to 9.98+tax for the same ammo!!!!

A 30% JUMP!!! WTF!?!?!

I guess I'll be stocking up ant the gun shows from now on cause I'm not about to .27 cents a round when I can get them at the show for .16!

------------------

And just a note this is, or was, about the only thing I buy from Wal-Mart.

Hillary Clinton's Culture of Corruption: The Scandal Queen

2006-03-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

The Fraudulent Senator: Part 1 of a 7 Part Series

Politics/Joan Swirsky
March 13, 2006

Wow! Just wow.....

This is a must read.

Tapes reveal WMD plans by Saddam

2006-03-13T08:36:00.000-05:00

By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
March 13, 2006

Audiotapes of Saddam Hussein and his aides underscore the Bush administration's argument that Baghdad was determined to rebuild its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction once the international community had tired of inspections and left the Iraqi dictator alone.

In addition to the captured tapes, U.S. officials are analyzing thousands of pages of newly translated Iraqi documents that tell of Saddam seeking uranium from Africa in the mid-1990s.
The documents also speak of burying prohibited missiles, according to a government official familiar with the declassification process.

[snip]

But of course the MSM will not focus on these tapes but rather another book by someone that says Pres. Bush lied the US into the Iraq war.

Illinois - Land Of The Dumb

2006-03-10T13:42:00.000-05:00

Blind Students Forced To Pass Driver's Ed Written Exam

CHICAGO -- Mayra Ramirez thinks driver's ed is a waste of time.

And in her case, it is. She's blind.

But the 16-year-old and dozens of other visually-impaired sophomores are required to pass a written rules-of-the-road exam to graduate from Chicago schools.

Ramirez said she does the same work that the sighted students do in other classes. But driver's ed -- in her words -- "brought me down, because it reminds me of something I can't do."

Hundreds of Illinois school districts require students to pass the class, although the state only requires districts to offer it.

A spokeswoman for the state Board of Education tells the Chicago Tribune, "It defies logic to require blind students to take this course."

A Chicago Public Schools spokesman said he "can't explain why up to this point no one has raised the issue." He said parents of disabled children can legally ask to change the student's curriculum.

Hell’s Angels Vs. Walt Disney

2006-03-10T08:09:00.000-05:00

The legendary Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club is suing Walt Disney, Buena Vista Motion Pictures, and a movie production company for trademark dilution and infringement for developing and producing “Wild Hogs,” a movie about “[a] group of middle-aged wannabe bikers look[ing] for adventure out on the open road, where they soon encounter a chapter of the Hell’s Angels.”

March 8, 2006

Well, there's something you don't see every day....

Shotgun Fun......

2006-03-10T07:25:00.000-05:00

I took my new Shotgun out last night to the gun range after work and fired a box of shells through it.

What fun, and I was just shooting bird shot. I can't wait to hit some silhouettes with some 00 buck next time.

The last time I shot a shotgun was about 10 years ago and was just a single shot 12 gauge. Pumps are a tad bit different, and more fun.

Sorry I don't have some better pic, I even forgot to take a picture of the gun (D'oh), but there was another shooter that would not stop talking to me. I don't know why the hell he would not shut-up and just let me shoot. He was a nice guy and all but I don't need to hear someone tell me how cheap they can get guns and about every gun in his collection. I mean come on it's 4:45 and the range closes at 6, let me shoot!

Here's a before and after pic of a box I shot.

This is NOT how you carry a gun....

2006-03-09T15:04:00.000-05:00

But I would not mind being where that gun is.....