Sorry guys, hit the snooze button a few too many times.

Some links for you:

Reason has a roundup on Baby Boomers screwing over Gen Y.

Sally Ride came out in her obituary.

Revisit the attack ads of old, where it was apparently okay to accuse your opponent of being a member of the KKK.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 03:47 AM | Comments (163)
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Since you've all been jonesing for a gun thread - well here ya go. Oh and FYI I'll be off traveling  tomorrow and Thursday so be nice to the subs.

The FN Five-seveN

I had heard the name but didn't realize how unique the Five-seveN is until I read Bob Owen's post on why it was George Zimmerman's choice when faced with a potential lynch mob:

After the New Black Panther Party put a price on George Zimmerman's head, he decided that he wasn't going to take any assassination attempts lying down.

Having not been accused of any politically-motivated crimes at the time and still in possession of a valid Florida CCH permit, Zimmerman equipped himself with a FN Five-seveN, a decent choice of weapon for some that faced the possibility of a lynching if caught by the racist mob.

What's special about it? Well it's semi-automatic, only weighs 1.39lbs, and can hold 20 rounds of the unique FN 5.7x28mm cartridge. I was skeptical but the more I've read about it, the more intrigued I am.

And another interesting gun that I wasn't aware of until recently is the Revolver Rhino.

It comes in typical revolver calibers but what makes it different is that fact that it has a flat cylinder and the barrel is aligned with the lowest chamber. This combination gives you a very low profile concealed carry gun with much reduced recoil.

Meanwhile the US military for the first time in 67 years is once again ordering 1911 pistols - this time for the Marines.

Colt Defense LLC said Friday it has been awarded a $22.5 million, five-year contract to provide theU.S. Marine Corps with the latest .45 caliber pistols that were originally provided to the military in 1911.

...The contract is to provide as many as 12,000 tan-colored, M45 Close Quarter Battle Pistols (CQBP), plus spare parts and logistical support for the pistols. The new version of the semi-automatic .45-caliber pistol, CQBP, is a descendant of the Colt M1911 first used by the military in 1911.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:22 PM | Comments (554)
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. . . every single time. The man’s idiocy is truly a monument to the modern liberal arts education; no greater exemplar of a man educated beyond his means ever strode this vast planet. A self-styled “hip-hop professor” and professor of sociology at Georgetown, Dyson is the perfect embodiment of this maxim I just made up: There is no inanity, no matter how nonsensical, that can’t be successfully peddled if spoken quickly, fluently and with the veneer of wisdom gained from being so frequently wrong.

Today brings two examples from Dyson’s ever-growing archive of fatuous utterances — though, I’m willing to cut him a little slack on the first one, if only because I’ve been known to trip over my words from time to time, myself. But, in this case, the faux pas is fairly egregious and seems (to me, at least) to reflect the aloofness toward, and detachment from average, everyday Americans that so often afflicts academics like Dyson.

DYSON: Look, you got a phone call from your mother on Friday morning telling you about the shooting. Tell us what was going through your head when you first heard that news.

GHAWI: I immediately flipped into the mode that IÂ’ve been trained for and remained calm and try to obtain more information and see what I could do for my mother and check on the status of my sister.

DYSON: Well, how are your mother and sister, by the way?

GHAWI: My mother and father are devastated, as am I, but this is about her right now.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 03:14 PM | Comments (387)
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Democratic no more.

16-16-1 now, thanks to Senator Jim Cullen bailing out of the Democratic party.

Democrat John Lehman just barely defeated Republican Van Wanggaard in the June Mega-Recall, with results certified earlier this month and flipping control of the state senate to the Democrats.

After months of screaming, millions blown on recalls up and down the state, and boasting and yelling by every fist-icon-sporting lefty out there, the Democratic victory that was recalling Walker barely flipping the senate (when it isn't in session again until after the November elections which are likely to restore at least two seats to the Republicans) hit an iceberg today.

When the party regained control, Cullen, who had fled with the rest of the Democrats but was willing to work with Walker on reforms after returning to the state, was denied chairman status on any committee. He felt insulted, has walked, and the three-week-long Democratic majority is over.

Three weeks of non-control after tens of millions burned.

Posted by: CAC at 03:04 PM | Comments (108)
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This is how media narratives are built and why they must be destroyed early on.

Andrew Kaczynski is a master of digging up old stories, videos and pictures. Sometimes they illuminate, sometimes they are amusing but irrelevant and sometimes they are flat out wrong. Going after Romney in a post entitled "Mitt Romney's 2007 Defense Of Scooter Libby Could Come Back To Haunt Him" is the last of those options.

Mitt Romney is planning to hammer President Obama for national security leaks in a major speech today. But Romney's past defense of Scooter Libby in the Valerie Plame leak case shows he hasn't always taken a hard line against suspected leakers. Asked in two 2007 debates if Libby should have been pardoned, Romney called the investigation of Libby a “political vendetta” and “prosecutorial indiscretion.”

As several people on Twitter, myself included, pointed out right away, the problem with this comparison is that Libby didn't leak Plame's name (or at the very least whether or not he did is very much in doubt).

To back up his claim that Libby was a leaker, Kaczynski pointed me to this 2007 story on former NY Times reporter Judith Miller where the Times reports that she testified Libby leaked Plame's name to her.

As she began her testimony, she was calm and soft-voiced as she faced Mr. Fitzgerald, and discussed three conversations she had had in June and July of 2003 with Mr. Libby. Those conversations, in which Ms. Miller said an agitated and anxious Mr. Libby criticized the Central Intelligence Agency and informed her of the identity of an agency operative, Valerie Wilson, are a significant part of the perjury and obstruction case against him.

The problem, as Ben Domenech points out, is that in 2005 Miller testified Libby did not give her Plame's name.

I testified that I did not believe the name came from Mr. Libby, in part because the notation does not appear in the same part of my notebook as the interview notes from him.

So the "proof" that Libby leaked and therefore Romney is a hypocrite on investigating leaks is conflicting testimony from the same person. Mitt's "problem" according to Kaczynski's argument is Mitt believes the 2005 version of Judith Miller but not the 2007 model.

Why is this even remotely important? Buzzfeed's political posts can be launching pads of MSM story-lines. Once a false version of something gets going, it's impossible to unring a bell.

I know people have different feelings about Buzzfeed in general and Kaczynski in particular but I appreciate that he at least engages with critics. Today he's just flat out wrong. There's no shame in making a mistake but doubling down on one is unfair to the people being reported on.

Related: Earlier today I posted about Romney's attacks on Obama's national security leaks and Diane Feinstein's statement that she thought the White House was behind them. Well, DiFi is now walking them back.

Posted by: DrewM at 01:42 PM | Comments (164)
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"You didn't do that" is quickly becoming the "I voted for it before I voted against it" of this year's campaign.

As much as the media tried to shield their hero, it's apparently not working.

Team Obama is now in full damage control mode, including a TV ad where Obama tries to explain that taking him at his word is taking him, wait for it......., out of context.
more...

Posted by: DrewM at 01:01 PM | Comments (353)
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Another day, another bad poll for Team Obama. This time via Rasmussen.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Michigan Voters shows Obama with 48% support to RomneyÂ’s 42%. Five percent (5%) favor some other candidate in the race, and four percent (4%) are undecided.

Obama won Michigan by 17 points in 2008 and has bailed out the UAW, er, auto industry in the meantime. So, this shouldn't be that close.

Yesterday news was Minnesota and maybe even New Mexico.

I'm not a big believer in polls this early being able to prove much (remember Kerry's leads in 04 and McCain's in 0 but Team Obama has a terrible environment, has had the paid media field to itself for the most part and is almost out of time to get helpful economic facts (in reality things are getting worse).

Below the fold: Another shameless plug. more...

Posted by: DrewM at 11:42 AM | Comments (260)
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Gabe had this in his headline thread but it's so monumentally stupid that it deserves some extra coverage.

“I don’t understand why police officers across this country don’t stand up collectively and say we’re going to go on strike, we’re not going to protect you unless you, the public, through your legislature, do what’s required to keep us safe,’’ he told CNN’s Piers Morgan.

First, it's illegal almost everywhere for cops to go on strike because of the lawlessness that would ensue in some areas. That would actually be an argument in favor of people having their own weapons. If the cops could just pack it in anytime, people would more likely want a firearm.

Second, he says cops should be especially outraged because they face more gun violence than the average person. Well, sort of. Cops do faced more armed criminals. How many cops are shot each year by otherwise law abiding citizens who go through training, permitting, etc? Also, when you become a cop, you know the job can be dangerous. People don't expect to be attacked in their own home or shot at in a movie theater. No matter what Bloomberg and his anti-gun nut friends think, people have a right to protect themselves and that doesn't mean "call the cops after it's all over".

Which brings me to my challenge to Mayor Bloomberg....put you life where your mouth is and give up your armed security detail. If it's too dangerous out there for cops that they should strike, put them on desk duty where they will be nice and safe. You can then take the same chances you are willing to make the little people take.

It's so stupid I can only imagine it was meant as a piece of performance art.

But here's what you really need to know about how Bloomberg views freedom:

"I want to congratulate Vietnam for officially going smoke-free. Last week, Vietnam adopted a comprehensive tobacco control law which makes virtually all public places 100% smoke-free and requires vivid health warnings on all tobacco packages. These are proven practices that Bloomberg Philanthropies advocates through its work to reduce tobacco use," said Michael Bloomberg. "Tobacco control is a key initiative of Bloomberg Philanthropies because we know reducing smoking and exposure to second hand smoke saves lives. This significant step in Vietnam, where we have been working since 2007, is encouraging for tobacco control efforts globally. I visited Vietnam in March and spoke with the Prime Minister about this important issue and I want to applaud him and the other government leaders for their strong commitment to saving lives and standing up for the health of the people of Vietnam."

Yes, Vietnam is still a Communist state.

Gun grabbing, freedom hating Communists, they tend to flock together, don't they?

Posted by: DrewM at 09:55 AM | Comments (437)
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The estate of modern art collector Ileana Sonnabend has a rather unique IRS problem.

In its possession is a Rauschenburg that is literally priceless.

The artist called it a "combine", and it brings together a variety of media, art supplies, scraps, miscellaneous material, and things.

One of these things is a stuffed bald eagle.

Sonnabend's heirs tasked three appraisers, including one from Christie's, to put a value on the work. Since the bald eagle, dead or alive, is under federal protection, it would be a felony to sell the work and a felony to buy it. For this reason, the appraisers reasoned that its fair market value is $0. Price, after all, is not inherent; it is a function of market behavior. In this case, that behavior is prohibited by law.

Naturally, the IRS appraised the piece itself at $65 million and penalized the estate for trying to pull a fast one.

Seems to me that a bit of planning could have prevented this situation. If the heirs can't sell it, perhaps they could lease it? It's a good thing the estate was so wealthy and able to pay (albeit by selling off much of the collection).

Imagine if this were the only thing your Aunt Mildred left to you; you'd be automatically on the hook for $30M and federally prohibited from raising the funds through sale.

Comments at the link are good, too.

Thanks to Gabriel Malor.

Posted by: LauraW at 09:25 AM | Comments (149)
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From the first reporting of the incident up through the present, we've heard that the person who attacked the Dark Knight Rises audience in Colorado last week was wearing "body armor". A sampling:

* USA Today: He was dressed head-to-toe in black bullet-proof gear, including helmet, vest, leggings and a groin and throat protector.

* HuffPo: [Aurora Police Chief Dan] Oates confirmed that the suspected shooter was ***, who entered the theater during a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" dressed in all black and with heavy body armor.

* And this breathless piece in Amateur Webzine Slate: Armored and Dangerous, The scariest innovation in the Aurora mass shooting isnÂ’t guns or ammo. ItÂ’s SWAT gear.

But is this true?

Here's a pdf of a receipt for some of the equipment the shooter purchased. One of the items is called the "Blackhawk Urban Assault Vest". Here's what it looks like:

That's not a bulletproof vest. A clue can be found in the big green open spot in the middle of it. Some would call that "center mass".

Now it's possible the shooter wore that vest over a bulletproof vest, but following the trail of the reporting, it seems like there's also a decent probability that an initial erroneous report from the scene that either repeated eyewitness accounts of body armor or mistook the vest above to be bulletproof morphed into the account of the fully armored killing machine that the press is running with now. After all, they do have a history of being not even wrong where gun-related reporting is concerned. It will be interesting to see if the "facts" as we now know them change as more details are released.

Why is this important? more...

Posted by: andy at 08:34 AM | Comments (300)
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