The legal ruling that the District's citizens can keep loaded handguns in their homes doesn't mean that they should.

Just nine of those shootings were legally justifiable homicides or acts of self-defense; guns kept in homes were also involved in 12 accidental deaths, 41 criminal homicides and a shocking 333 suicides.

In Atlanta, a city where approximately a third of households contain guns, a study of 197 home-invasion crimes revealed only three instances (1.5 percent) in which the inhabitants resisted with a gun. Intruders got to the homeowner's gun twice as often as the homeowner did.

I know a lot of people who explain their gun ownership based on the theory that they are going to defend themselves from some sort of home invasion. I think of this a bit like I think of Ralphie Parker's dreams of fending off Black Bart with his BB gun. In general, your home is not going to be invaded while you are there, and you are not going to defend yourself this way if it does happen. Shooting can be a fun hobby, but you're not John Wayne.

Guns for Safety? Dream On, Scalia. - washingtonpost.com

Jello wrote:

We are all going to die. And for some of us... its the damned robots that are going to do it.

DAMN ROBOTS!!!!

(These things really do seem to cause a lot of trouble!)

RE: 1213154081_picsu_14.jpg (JPEG Image, 640x482 pixels)

Testimony at the U.S. Senate hearing on border searches mentioned this case, in which a U.S. citizen was interrogated about a letter he wrote to the editor of the Toledo Blade.

The stuck out for me as crossing a line. The police should not be intimidating people for writing editorial opinions.

First, a border agent takes his weapon out and puts it on the table during interrogation, Reed says. “He takes the clip out of his weapon, looks at the ammunition, puts the clip back in, and puts it back in his holster. I’m thinking, this is intimidation!”

Second, another agent asks him about a letter to the editor Reed wrote to the Toledo Blade back on September 8, 2006. It was entitled, “The World Sees an Arrogant America,” and it was critical of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and its occupation of Palestinian land, as well as Bush’s invasion of Iraq. “These are but a few reasons that have put America on the ‘most hated’ list,” he wrote.

“I see you like to write for the newspaper,” the agent told Reed, he recalls. And the agent had downloaded a copy of the letter, which was on the table, Reed says.

“Yeah, so?”

“Nothing, I’m just curious. I googled your name and saw these things that were printed in the newspaper.”

Muslim American Grilled at Border Over Religion, Letter to the Editor - CommonDreams.org

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has just approved the relaxation of the rules for the introduction of new Top-Level Domains—a move that could drastically change the Internet. The new decision—some calling it of historic importance and others predictable—will allow companies to register their brands as generic top-level domain names (TLDs). For instance, Microsoft could apply to have a TLD such as '.msn' and Apple apply for '.mac'.

"We are opening up a new world and I think this cannot be underestimated," said Roberto Gaetano, ICANN board member. The new rules will allow any public or private organization from anywhere in the world to register any string of letters as a gTLD, which could result in hundreds of new gTLDs registered this year. The decision was taken unanimously on Thursday, June 26, 2008 at the 32nd ICANN Meeting in Paris.

HUGE!

ICANN Board Approves Sweeping Overhaul of Top-level Domains

The eXile, the Moscow-based alternative paper founded by Mark Ames and Matt Taibbi — and which has been home these past few years to occasional TAC contributor Gary Brecher, the War Nerd — has been shut down by Russian authorities.

The American Conservative -- Save the War Nerd

The administration continues to lie about released Gitmo detainees returning to the battlefield. In this case that lie managed to inform a Supreme Court decision. Fortunately it was a dissent.

In his dissent in Boumedienne (pdf), Justice Scalia wrote:

"At least 30 of those prisoners hitherto released from Guantanamo Bay have returned to the battlefield."

The first thing to notice about it is that it says that 30 detainees have returned not to the battlefield, but to "the fight". The Tipton Three were three British citizens who were captured in Afghanistan... After British intelligence cleared them... they participated in the movie The Road To Guantanamo. Apparently, this counts as "returning to the battlefield".

"Extending to the Government the benefit of the doubt as to ambiguous cases, the list of possible Guantánamo recidivists who could have been captured or killed on the battlefield consists of two individuals: Mohammed Ismail and Mullah Shazada."

Obsidian Wings: Returned To The Battlefield

The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a
firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for
traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

Unfortunately its a narrow margin.

Supreme Court upholds 2nd Amendment [PDF]

NOTICE OF SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING

TIME CHANGE TO 9:00 a.m.

The hearing on “Laptop Searches and Other Violations of Privacy Faced by Americans Returning from Overseas Travel” scheduled by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution for Wednesday, June 25, 2008 in the Senate Dirksen Office Building, Room 226 will begin at 9:00 a.m. rather than the previously scheduled time of 9:30 a.m.

Chairman Feingold will preside.

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

This is a data-heavy presentation from two economists at CIBC World Markets. You'll have to make your own soundtrack. See how China dominates the growth in demand for natural resources. See how much is accomplished by Americans' purchase of hybrid vehicles, in the face of massive market growth in Russia and China. Watch how gasoline hits US$7/gallon by 2012. Watch ethanol peter out and energy capacity fall short. Watch the Case/Shiller HPI continue to plummet as delinquencies soar. And so much more!

The Age of Scarcity

I like this ad campagin, particularly shot 5. BTW I'm pretty sure this was posted here as blog spam, but I like it anyway, so I'm rerecommending it. If the responsible user gets out of control they'll be plonked.

Diesel Human after all - Ad campaign