Titled:      Michigan officials view anti-terror driver's license law as costly to taxpayers

 DETROIT - Newly obtained documents reveal that Michigan state officials are concerned that federal legislation called the Real ID Act will require extensive changes to existing practices at the Secretary of State Office, will be extremely difficult to implement by the Act's deadline and will carry heavy expenses that will have to be absorbed by Michigan taxpayers and license applicants. 

The Act, passed by Congress last spring, imposes federal regulations on the design, issuance and management of state driver's licenses - turning them, for all practical purposes, into federal identity papers. 

“Civil liberties groups, conservative groups, immigration groups - we've all been saying that Real ID will be a real disaster and needs to be revisited by Congress,” said Kary Moss, ACLU of Michigan executive director. 

“These documents indicate that Michigan officials - the people actually responsible for carrying out this ill-conceived law - also have serious problems with Real ID.”

The documents are part of a national survey of state motor vehicle officials' views and preparation for complying with Real ID that was conducted by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).

What does Real ID mean for you?

Nothing at all unless you want to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments, or take advantage of nearly any government service.

Is this a national ID card? News.com answers:

It depends on whom you ask. Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's technology and liberty program, says: "It's going to result in everyone, from the 7-Eleven store to the bank and airlines, demanding to see the ID card. They're going to scan it in. They're going to have all the data on it from the front of the card...It's going to be not just a national ID card but a national database."

At the moment, state driver's licenses aren't easy for bars, banks, airlines and so on to swipe through card readers because they're not uniform; some may have barcodes but no magnetic stripes, for instance, and some may lack both. Steinhardt predicts the federalized IDs will be a gold mine for government agencies and marketers. Also, he notes that the Supreme Court ruled last year that police can demand to see ID from law-abiding U.S. citizens.

 

Entertainmentwise.com carries a story on 50 Cent's new movie ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’.

50 Cent has defended his film ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ saying that it condones gun crime and violence. The flick has received a lot of criticism for its apparent violent themes and the advertising poster which featured Fiddy holding two guns. But speaking to BBC six o’clock news, the rapper said: “No way was it in my head to capture a film that glorifies violence."

Meanwhile Ireland Online and most other media reports carry a different slant:

50 Cent says his film 'Get Rich Or Die Tryin' does not condone violence and gun crime. Speaking at the UK premiere of the film he said: "No way was it in my head to capture a film that glorifies violence."

Either Entertainmentwise.com senior editor Scott Colothan doesn't know what "condone" means or else 50 Cent accidently revealed his true feelings about gun crime and violence.

 

Titled:      Winchester Rifle Plant Prepares to Close

U.S. Repeating Arms Co. Inc. said Tuesday it will close its Winchester firearm factory, threatening the future of a rifle that was once called "The Gun that Won the West."

"It's part of who we are as a nation just like it's part of who we are as a city," Mayor John DeStefano said.

The announcement touched off a lobbying effort by city officials and union leaders who hoped to find a buyer for the plant before it closes March 31. If no buyer comes forward, it could spell the end for nearly all commercially produced Winchesters, said Everett Corey, a representative of the International Association of Machinists District 26.

John Wayne would not be pleased.

 

Titled:   Oh, what a dilemma...

Wizbang brings us an example of the nature of taxes and government. They're a little like hydrogen and water - when added togther you just get a lot of noise and steam. And once they're together, they're very hard to get apart:

Massachusetts finds itself on the horns of a rather tricky dilemma. Last September, the legislature voted to earmark $25 million to help house, feed, and take care of Hurricane Katrina refugees. It was a great gesture, showing that the Commonwealth can, occasionally, do the right thing.

But now they've found themselves in a slightly embarassing position. The refugees are pretty much all gone (I suspect that New Orleaners weren't capable of handling a New England winter on top of everything else), and the state finds itself having only spent about $6 million on their care. What should they do with the remaining $19 million?

Read the rest and lay your bets.

 

We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.

We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members.

But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege. We hope the Hastert-Dreier effort leads to sweeping reforms including the end of subsidized travel and other obvious influence operations. Just as importantly, we call for major changes to increase openness, transparency and accountability in Congressional operations and in the appropriations process.

As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader. We hope every Congressman who is committed to ethical and transparent conduct supports a reform agenda and a reform candidate. And we hope all would-be members of the leadership make themselves available to new media to answer questions now and on a regular basis in the future.

Signed,

N.Z. Bear, The Truth Laid Bear
Hugh Hewitt, HughHewitt.com
Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit.com
Kevin Aylward, Wizbang!
La Shawn Barber, La Shawn Barber's Corner
Lorie Byrd / DJ Drummond , Polipundit
Beth Cleaver, MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Jeff Goldstein, Protein Wisdom
Stephen Green, Vodkapundit
John Hawkins, Right Wing News
John Hinderaker, Power Line
Jon Henke / McQ / Dale Franks, QandO
James Joyner, Outside The Beltway
Mike Krempasky, Redstate.org
Michelle Malkin, MichelleMalkin.com
Ed Morrissey, Captain's Quarters
Scott Ott, Scrappleface
The Anchoress, The Anchoress
John Donovan / Bill Tuttle, Castle Argghhh!!!

Yes, this looks like something that makes sense to me. Time for reform - Real Reform.

Count me in.

 

Sometimes an article comes along that is so blatant in its left-wing bias that they just have to be called on it:

Alito to Senate: Good judge has no agenda

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito told senators Monday that good judges don't have an agenda, don't look for partisan outcomes and always "do what the law requires" as the Senate opened hearings on President Bush's choice for the high court. "A judge can't have any agenda. A judge can't have a preferred outcome in any particular case," Alito told the Judiciary Committee in a brief statement in which he made a distinction between judges and attorneys working for clients. His motive for shooting John Paul in the abdomen on May 13, 1981, remains unclear.

 

Titled:     Gold hits new highs

Has anyone else hitched themselves to the gold wagon? Vastly underpriced, underproduced, oversold and underappreciated, gold and silver are producing healthy returns. Disregarded as mere speculation, rather than investment, because it pays no interest, makes no profits and never IPOs, gold nevertheless has intrinsic value lacking in paper fiat money.

Usually gold and the dollar are inversely linked - when the dollar gets stronger, the price of gold drops. A little while back, that relationship was broken, and both the dollar and gold started to climb together. Why this is important is that when the dollar falls, gold will probably still rise.

China is pushing its citizens to buy gold. Russia has announced it will double its gold holdings. India's middle-class is sucking up gold like there was no more left. Even Germany, having spent many years trying to carefully sell its gold has announced it will start to buy again.

Unlike paper money you can't just make more when you need it. When Bernanke starts launching the helicopters of money, the value of the dollar will slide, leaving gold as the only sure hedge against inflation. The current plan for Iran to start a euro-denomiated oil bourse is yet another sign that the dollar's day as world currency is slipping.

It is well worth stashing away a few gold bullion coins, such as the gold eagle, and some silver, as a rainy day fund just in case the gubmint has a fit and the dollar goes pear-shaped.

Of course please do you own due diligence. One useful starting place is the Mogambo Guru, probably the most amusing financial columnist on the planet.
 

I always find these amusing - the terms people visiting the site used in search engines to find us. Over the last couple of weeks, the following search terms have appeared in the logs:

• iranian girlfriend
• 3d picture porn
• funny blog red*
• bait and switch ccw dodge city
• the tactics of public relations
• Rep. Tom Casperson shoot to kill
• Fire Tune
• Promote general welfare
• "how can I get a gun silencer in England UK"

And my favorite so far:

• define frivolous

 

Titled:    Relatives of land donor want gun club site used as public park

ELK RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Grandchildren of a woman who died in 1948 and donated her land to the township for a public use want to evict a gun club that has been on the site for more than 50 years.

The grandchildren of Mina Wilcox want the land used by the Elk Rapids Sportsman's Club converted to a public park. But local officials are worried about who might pay for likely lead contamination at the Antrim County site.

Officials haven't yet done an environmental assessment, but it is practically inevitable that the property is laced with significant amounts of lead, township supervisor Bill White said.

Read the rest at mLive.com and support the club at www.ersc.org

Update: The Record-Eagle reports the township has paid over $71,000 in legal fees to protect the club.
 

Titled:   Kidnapped British reporter freed by chance in Iraq

Phil Sands seems to lead a charmed life. The British freelance journo was found by accident on New Year's Eve having been captured by Iraqi gunmen for five days who threatened to behead him in their usual inimitable way.

The story is reported by Al Jazeera Reuters and as usual fails to really do any homework at all and just spews out the usual anti-US bile. Use of a little-known internet tool named Google turned up that Phil Sands has been in trouble before - as a human shield in Iraq trying to prevent the same US that rescued him from doing its job.

Still, Mr. Sands is troubled by the conflicting goals and propaganda. "In all our rooms, there is a picture of the great man [Saddam Hussein] - we sleep under him," says Sands, whose cot is in spartan staff residence house No. 37, at the Doura Oil refinery on the southern outskirts of Baghdad. Painted on the front patio in large letters are the words: "We are here."

Of course no good deed goes unpunished and within two weeks he appears in Peace News being expelled from Iraq as a security risk.

In his most recent adventure, he was apparently abducted the day after Christmas, and nobody noticed.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Sands recalled thinking during his ordeal: "I'm dead. From this moment on, I'm dead."

Until the US troops found him blindfolded and handcuffed in a chance raid, whereupon he momentarily forgot which side he was on and convinced them he was a "friendly".

I'm yet to be convinced that he was taken against his will, as seems to have been the case so often with captured anti-US journos who are released later unharmed. Maybe its just that I have yet to see Mr. Sands utter one word of thanks for the US troops that rescued him in any of the news reports so far.

There is probably more to come. The Observer reports:

Sands, from Poole, Dorset, has been to Iraq 10 times since February 2003, sometimes for three-month spells...

...Sands's parents, David and Jackie, were in a state of blissful ignorance throughout, as were the authorities. They spoke to their son on Christmas Day, then went on holiday [to Morocco]. David said last night: 'We were fortunate that we didn't go through the nail-biting anxiety of knowing he was missing. I feel fairly philosophical about it, and so does my wife. He loves that place and I'm sure he'll be going back.'