Titled: Gun Control: The Promotion of Denial

Have you ever asked yourself: Why, when evidence overwhelmingly shows gun banners are wrong, do they persist in making outrageous claims about law-abiding gun owners? There may finally be an answer, so read on.

“Protecting your proverbial castle would not only include your home, but also your car and any place you are legally allowed to be. "It would decriminalize the use of deadly force or lethal force in self-protection circumstances," said Wayne Groth – a supporter of [Michigan] state House Bill 5142 and House Bill 5143.”

“There is no reason to pass a law that sends a signal to the most aggressive people in society that they can act more aggressively than they can now,” said Peter Hamm, Communications Director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

Michigan House Bill 5142 would allow the use of “deadly force” without first trying to retreat if a law-abiding gun owner is attacked in their home or on their surrounding land. House Bill 5143 goes further by stating that the defender does not have a duty to retreat and is also free from prosecution and civil action if their actions are found to be lawful. Such defense would be allowable in a “dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle.” This bill also mentions conditions under which the use of deadly force is not acceptable. For instance, in the case of simple trespass, the defender may not use deadly force. Thus, the law-abiding gun owner or Right-to-Carry licensee is responsible to understand and follow the law or suffer terrible consequences, which is simply a continuation of current law.

As to Mr. Hamm’s implication that gun owners are “the most aggressive people in society,” we should at least try to determine if Michigan RTC licensees make the state more violent. After all, Oxford English Dictionary defines aggressive as: “ready or likely to attack or confront.” Therefore, there should be some statistical record to show that violent attacks or confrontations increased after Michigan enacted its RTC law in 2001. Instead, what we find is that from 2001 through 2004, Michigan’s homicide, robbery, and assault rates dropped more than the national average.

Michigan Vs. U.S. Violent Crime, 2001-2004
	Violence	Homicide	Rape	Robbery	Assault
Michigan	-10.0%	-4.5%	+2.8%	-13.6%	-13.1%
U.S.	-7.7%	-1.8%	+1.3%	-7.9%	-8.6%

Read the rest at the Chron Watch Blog

Titled:    Americans Okay With Current Balance Between National Security and Individual Liberty

Americans are generally comfortable with the current balance between national security concerns and individual liberties. Nearly a third of the respondents in a Rasmussen Reports survey (32%) say that our legal system worries too much about individual rights at the expense of national security. A similar number (29%) say there is too much concern for national security at the expense of individual liberties. Twenty-seven percent (27%) say that the current balance is about right.

Titled: Your phone records are for sale

The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone records are available to anyone -- for a price. Dozens of online services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.

Criminals can use such records to expose a government informant who regularly calls a law enforcement official.

Suspicious spouses can see if their husband or wife is calling a certain someone a bit too often.

And employers can check whether a worker is regularly calling a psychologist -- or a competing company.

Some online services might be skirting the law to obtain these phone lists, according to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has called for legislation to criminalize phone record theft and use.

Yea but Bush did it first!!!

You know you've hit the big time when your blog gets recognized in the "The Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem".

The Liberty1st blog has reached a ranking of #17880 making us a Multicellular Microorganism.

Thanks to all readers, linkers and commenters for helping us reach a level at which we can at least probably move, even if intelligent thought is a few steps away.

Titled: New Disclosure Rules Expose NEA's Millions to 'Left-Wing' Causes

A union watchdog group says a new disclosure report confirms that the nation's largest teachers union, the National Education Association (NEA), is heavily involved in the wider liberal political movement and the Democratic Party.

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the NEA gave $65 million last year to liberal groups such as People for the American Way, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and the Human Rights Campaign, which is the largest pro-homosexual lobby in the U.S.

In the past, unions with at least one private sector member have had to report their costs and expenses, but they have been able to lump them into large categories such as contributions, gifts, and grants. But now, under new federal rules, the NEA must detail where all its grants have gone, down to $5,000.

Just in case you thought the public education system was well balanced.

Ravenwood links to a brief four minute video demostrating the difference between so-called "assault weapons" and sporting rifles. On view are an AR-15, M1 Garand and an SKS, as well as a brief discussion on ball and expanding bullets. Well worth a look, if only for the confused and suprised look on the face of the interviewer.

At the risk of ruining whatever reputation I might still have, Say Uncle has the best blond joke ever!

Titled: It's the Demography, Stupid

Another excellent column by Mark Steyn on the impact of falling Westen birth rates and the impact this will have on the western way of life. Some quotes:

Much of what we loosely call the Western world will not survive this century, and much of it will effectively disappear within our lifetimes, including many if not most Western European countries...

If anything, the West is awash in an epidemic of self-hate crimes. A commenter on Tim Blair's Web site in Australia summed it up in a note-perfect parody of a Guardian headline: "Muslim Community Leaders Warn of Backlash from Tomorrow Morning's Terrorist Attack." Those community leaders have the measure of us.

That's the wonderful thing about multiculturalism: You can choose which side of the war you want to fight on. When the draft card arrives, just tick "home team" or "enemy," according to taste.

In National Review recently, I took issue with that line Gerald Ford always uses to ingratiate himself with conservative audiences: "A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have." Actually, you run into trouble long before that point: A government big enough to give you everything you want still isn't big enough to get you to give anything back. That's what the French and German political classes are discovering.

In the 2004 election, John Kerry won the 16 with the lowest birthrates; George W. Bush took 25 of the 26 states with the highest. By 2050, there will be 100 million fewer Europeans, 100 million more Americans--and mostly red-state Americans.

Well worth the time to read.

Titled: When Being Pro-America Makes You Anti-Democrat!

Every now and then you come across a well-reasoned and well-crafted piece that just seems to fit the way you think. You read through it, nodding as you go, excitedly waiting for the conclusion and for the words to sink in. Then, having digested the message, you sit back and a profound sense of sadness comes over you. Why didn't I write that? It says what I think. It captures how I feel right now. But then I realize that I don't need to write it. All I need to do is find it, and help it find its way to a larger audience, to ensure that it isn't lost among the flotsam of the blog world.

Here is an excerpt:

Free unfettered self-determination, through personal (including economic) liberty, a free market capitalist economy, freedom OF religion, freedom OF speech, freedom OF thought and expression, the right to fail or succeed at one’s own hand, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the right to one’s own earnings, the right to a safe secure nation, to raise our children as we see fit and the right to self-governance accordingly, these are the fundamental principles America was founded and built upon.

 

The simple fact is, most Americans are not anti-religion or religious speech, not anti-capitalism or free market society, not anti-military or national security, not federal dependents and not interested in relying upon any commune to raise their young or determine their place or worth in society. Today, this also means that they are not Democrats…

 

Though Democrats bristle at any suggestion that they are in any way anti-American, the fact is, their agenda is at odds with nearly every American principle today and average people able to see that, just can’t get over it, no matter how bad the alternatives might appear.

 

Read the rest here, then come back and leave a comment or two.