The Big Stupid, Part II

I would think the Democrats are smart enough to leave gun control alone by now. I'd think that, but apparently, I'd be wrong. They released their 2012 platform [pdf] today, and it includes this happy little chestnut:

We recognize that the individual right to bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation. We understand the terrible consequences of gun violence; it serves as a reminder that life is fragile, and our time here is limited and precious. We believe in an honest, open national conversation about firearms. We can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strengthening our background check system, and we can work together to enact commonsense improvements – like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole – so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few.  [p. 18]

Well, derp. In case "reasonable regulation" and "gun show loophole" sound familiar, they're straight out of the Brady Campaign's post-Heller Handbook of Strategic Backpedaling in the Case of Epic Fail and Grasping at What Straws May Remain.

Speaking of Democrat weirdness, I had an odd moment of cognitive dissonance during Biden's speech when the crowd started chanting "four more years!" Where had I heard that before?

Oh, right--1972. Truly bizarre.

How Not to Win, Part II

After being detained for strolling around a suburban park with a Draco pistol, Leonard Embody tried suing the officers who detained him. If you're not familiar with his story, I've got background here. In short, and as usual, he lost.

He then appealed to the 6th Circuit, who were none too sympathetic [pdf].

For his troubles, Embody has done something rare: He has taken a position on the Second and Fourth Amendment that unites the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Second Amendment Foundation. Both organizations think that the park ranger permissibly disarmed and detained Leonard Embody that day, notwithstanding his rights to possess the gun. So do we.

Just savor the irony, folks.

In short, the Court found that Embody got exactly what he was seeking, just not the outcome for which he'd hoped.

Having worked hard to appear suspicious in an armed-and-loaded visit to the park, Embody cannot cry foul after park rangers, to say nothing of passers-by, took the bait.

Fortunately, they saw no need to comment much on the 2nd Amendment one way or another, finding only that,

No court has held that the Second Amendment encompasses a right to bear arms within state parks. (...) Such a right may or may not exist, but the critical point for our purposes [emphasis mine] is that it has not been established—clearly or otherwise at this point.

So, at least it's not hurting us. That's some consolation.

An Asteroid, Mr. President

President Obama opened himself up for questions on Reddit today. The few answers he gave were safe and uncontroversial human-interest fodder: the White House recipe for beer, who watches the dog, and his favorite Bulls player. The only real question of merit came regarding the space program.

He name-checked Neil Armstrong as "a reminder of the inspiration and wonder that our space program has provided in the past." What he failed to note was that one of Armstrong's rare public statements was a letter to the administration castigating the President for gutting the same space program.

With the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, the Constellation project was to be our next means of achieving low-earth orbit. That was cut from the budget, and if we want a ride into space at the moment, we've got to book it with the Russians.

That's right: we have to pay the Russians to get us into space. And for what? As Armstrong points out, a seat on the Soyuz runs $50 million, and we already had $10 billion in Constellation when it was canned. Let's also not forget the abrupt upswing in unemployment that followed on the Space Coast as a result.

If this is how he treats things that provide us with inspiration and wonder, I'd hate to see how he'll treat things that don't.

 

Dante, 1997-2012

Dante was my best friend for fifteen years. This was the last picture I took of him, a day before I had to have him put to sleep. I gave him the best life I could, and he repaid me with unconditional love.

He meant to stick with me, even though he was hurting. I was reluctant to let him go, because I was too afraid to lose him. He was brave while I was selfish.

He'd never have thought that, though. He simply loved me with all his heart, and that's a gift we all too often take for granted.

I watched him grow from an ebullient and bright puppy to a wise old man, and he was a reassuring constant in my life, no matter what happened. Now it aches to walk through a room that's all too empty without him.

Dogs love unconditionally, and I do believe they have souls.  Martin Luther once wrote,

In Paradise there was complete harmony between man and animals; one day again that harmony will be restored and all creation will be made anew.

I'll see him again some day. In the meantime, he's got Luna to keep him company.

I'll miss you, kiddo.

Fixing Thunderbird's Link Issues

I recently noticed that clicking on links in Thunderbird fails to open a browser window. It worked a few days ago, so I'm guessing a recent update must have had something to do with it.

There are bug reports, and there are quite a few workarounds, some of which are complex and none of which are elegant.

Nor are they necessary. The problem is caused by Thunderbird's network protocol handlers.  In 13.0.1, the warn-external entries are all set to false for some reason. Go into Preferences, then click on the Advanced tab. Click on the "Config Editor" button and confirm the dire warning.



Search for the phrase "handler.warn," and change the values referencing http, https, and ftp to "true" by double-clicking.

Close the windows. Next time you click on a link, Thunderbird will ask you to choose a browser, and you'll be set.

I've no idea why it's going out the door that way, but at least it's an easy fix.

Win Some, Lose Some

The Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) today. Let's do act like adults and call it by its proper name, rather than "Obamacare."

Do I agree with Roberts' decision? No, but here we are. Reaching back to 1895, he finds that

The elementary rule is that every reasonable construction must be resorted to in order to save a statute from unconstitutionality.

So, he went looking for a reason to uphold the individual mandate. In the end, he found it justified by virtue of being a tax, rather than doing so through a tortured reading of the Commerce Clause. We would have been far worse off if he'd found his authority there.

If the Republicans mean that stuff they're pounding their chests about (and if their supporters can be troubled to show up at the polls this November), it's a bump in the road in any case. Part of me wonders if punting this back to Congress wasn't Roberts' intent in the first place. If the PPACA gets pruned or repealed in 2013, this may not be such a big win as its supporters think.

The whole hubbub drowned out Eric Holder's contempt hearing. The House found him in criminal contempt by a vote of 255-67, and of civil contempt by a margin of 258-95. That didn't include Nancy Pelosi or the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who did their best James Brown cape-over-the-shoulder routine and staged a walkout.

Feels good, doesn't it? I suppose. But what does it really do? We're in murky waters, since this is somewhat unprecedented. The US Attorney could prosecute Holder, but he's got discretion, and with the administration already having circled the wagons, I don't see that happening. We have no idea how long it would take to pursue the case in civil court. We still don't have the documents, and there's no way to compel their delivery in the near future.

So, all in all, we've been treated to a grotesque bit of political theater and little more. The contempt action fails to hold anyone accountable, and it fails to bring justice to the family of Brian Terry or the innumerable Mexican victims of Fast & Furious. The PPACA stands for now, but may be trounced in the near future.

At the very least, I hope people were entertained.

Wallet Holsters

Somebody at the local gun shows has been selling these things, and it could create a potential problem for the unwary buyer. You see, that's not an ordinary pocket holster. Thanks to the National Firearms Act of 1934, it's been imbued with special powers necessitating registration and taxation.

What makes it different? It's designed so that the gun can be fired without removing it from the holster. As such, it falls under the same restrictions as cane guns, Stinger pens, and the infamous H&K MP5 briefcase. Walking around with your gun in one of these is treated with the same gravity as owning an unregistered machine gun.

I'm not being snarky here. True, you've known me to be facetious in the past. It's a personality quirk of mine, but I am not being a snickerpuss here.

Tactical Operator of the Day

Ah, YouTube: a veritable cornucopia of questionable gun advice. Today's example is MrSurplusnut. See if you can make it all the way through without cringing.



He likes the word "scenario," and he really likes his CCW badge. By the two-minute mark, I lost count of the number of times he swept the camera with his finger on the trigger of a loaded gun.

Frowny Face for Holder

The 2013 budget for the Department of Justice is up for review. During deliberations, Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz attached House Amendment 1068. The text of the amendment sounds like CSPAN on Valium:

An amendment to prohibit the use of funds used in contravention of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 1001(a) of title 18, United State Code.

The code section in question is this,

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
shall be fined under this title, [or] imprisoned not more than 5 years

The short version? The DOJ can't use taxpayer funds to lie to Congress.

Yeah, I know. It doesn't really have teeth, but that's not the point.

The point is that it passed 381-41, with 142 Democrats (77.6%) voting in favor. It's going to be hard to dismiss the Fast & Furious hearings as petty partisan bickering now.

(The title comes from a statement by Rep. Farenthold, who complained about the lack of accountability or action within Justice.)

Holder Contempt Charge: Now It's Official

Sharyl Attkisson reports that the draft of a contempt citation naming Eric Holder is being circulated to members of the House Oversight Committee today. The citation addresses the Attorney General's lack of cooperation in the investigation of Fast & Furious.

Resolved, That Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, shall be found to be in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a congressional subpoena.

Resolved, That pursuant to 2 U.S.C. §§ 192 and 194, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall certify the report of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, detailing the refusal of Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, to produce documents to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as directed by subpoena, to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, to the end that Mr. Holder be proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law.

Resolved, That the Speaker of the House shall otherwise take all appropriate action to enforce the subpoena.

I've got the actual text here [pdf], and it's a bit of a read. I'm not sure it'll lead to anything in terms of the investigation, but the timing suggests that it's more about election politics. We've got a Presidential candidate who's (belatedly) cozying up to the NRA, and something like this will come in handy in the upcoming debates.

What bothers me is that it isn't justice.

Anenon: The Inner Hue

Sometimes music doesn't have to do anything. It just has to be there. This record is a good example.

It's not that nothing happens, but this album is more a collection of still pictures than a film in motion: in this case, a blurred sequence of sepia tones and sunbleached photographs frayed and wrinkled at the edges. Brian Simon utilizes a narrow pallette of saxophone, Rhodes piano, and a Roland 909 (ah, respecting the classics!). Sometimes limitations are the best creative spur, and that's well apparent here.

Possible points of triangulation might be Helios and the MFA but more than anything, the record feels like the first time I heard My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. It's gauzy and disorienting, but with a sense of rhythm that keeps things grounded to some extent. Simon's saxophone is rarely distinguishable, being relegated to providing texture more than melody. Though half the tracks lack percussion, the pulse is always just there under the surface.

It appears that there are no plans for a CD pressing, but the record is available in digital form from Boomkat.

How Erik Got His Gnome Back

I recently purchased one of the Acer Aspire notebooks. It's small enough that I don't feel like Sisyphus dragging a rock up the mountain, but large enough to actually be useful. I got it home, wiped Windows, and set about installing Ubuntu 10.04 on it.

I like 10.04. It's still got the Gnome 2 environment, which I find to be a great balance between usability and attractiveness, and I've absolutely no need to upgrade. However, the Aspire uses a newer Atheros AR9485 wireless card, and it's not supported under the 2.6.32 kernel.

Crap. That means upgrading to 3.0. That means upgrading to Ubuntu 11 and losing Gnome 2 for the mess that is Unity. Do let's start gnashing teeth and listening to Elliot Smith records now.

I did scads of research, and there is simply no way to get Gnome 2 working under Ubuntu 11. There's a fallback configuration for Gnome 3 that looks a bit similar, but it's not the same. The panel is stubbornly resistant to customization, and GTK2 themes don't work. That's irksome, because the Clearlooks engine was one of the cleanest and most attractive interface setups since Motif.

Then I came across references to Mint Linux. Mint is a fork of Ubuntu, but the developers appear to hate the whole Gnome 3 atrocity as much as I do. The difference is that they actually went and did something about it.