Losing Liberty, One Step at a Time

Well, Philadelphia City Council passed the sucker:

Trans fats would be banned in Philadelphia eateries beginning in September under legislation unanimously approved by City Council Thursday.

City Council passed a bill sponsored by Councilman Juan Ramos 17-0, sending it to Mayor John F. Street. If signed into law, eating establishments would be banned from using oils, shortenings and margarine containing artificial trans fats for frying or in spreads on Sept. 1, and for all other uses the following year.

Or not:

Those who fail to comply would not be fined under the legislation, which Ramos’ office said was being used more as an educational campaign.

Seriously, I couldn’t make this crap up if I tried.

Candians Can Be Crazy Too

It’s not just Americans that can be total loons. This post, in the “Second Amendment” community on my old stomping grounds of LiveJournal, shows that Canadians can be just as batty. The LiveJournal guns community is actually worthwhile, though. It tends to focus more on the interest of shooting. than on the politics, which is refreshing sometimes.

In case you can’t tell, I’m at a loss for things to blog about today. Yesterday was bowling lunch hour with the coworkers. I scored 204 and 213, which beat them all handily (add that to Bitter’s meme of things people don’t know about me — I’m a reasonably decent bowler). After work it was happy hour with some other coworkers and former coworkers. Because of that, I don’t have much to say tonight.

“I forgot my diaper, and I have to pee.”

Norm Pattis has something out of the strange files, having questioned the low bail amount set for Lisa Marie Nowak, the Astronaut that stands accused of attempted murder and kidnapping.  He managed to get a hold of the transcript:

Court:  Ms. Nowak, you understand that you are required to appear in court for preliminary hearings and can be orderd rearrested if you fail to appear?

Ms. Nowak: Yes.

Court:  The state is recommending a $1 million bond, but I think that is too high.

Ms. Nowak:  I forgot my diaper, and I have to pee.

Court:  One minute. Do you promise to appear as ordered?

Ms. Nowak: Yes.

Court:  OK. Bond set at $25,000. Ms. Nowak is not to leave the planet.

Man, talk about weird.  I don’t know if any of you read Crime and Federalism, but Norm and Mike both post some good stuff.  Some of it is a bit esoteric for us non-lawyer types, but I’ve always enjoyed reading their blog.

DOJ Puts the Smackdown on Bloomberg

This is great!

The New York Daily News reported Thursday that Michael Battle, director of the executive office for United States Attorneys at the Department of Justice, sent the letter warning Bloombe rg’s administration that it could face “potential legal liabilities” if such sting operations continue. Battle also said the Justice Department will not be filing criminal charges against any of the 15 gun dealers targeted by Bloomberg’s 2006 lawsuits over alleged “straw man” purchases. Such operations lack “proper law enforcement authority,” Battle’s letter stated.

UPDATE: Original NYDN article here

According to a letter sent to City Hall, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and various U.S. attorneys’ offices have determined the city’s findings against the 15 dealers “do not rise to a level that would support a criminal prosecution.”

Great right? Well, maybe not:

Asked if the Bloomberg administration plans to stop conducting the sting operations, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler said, “Not necessarily.”

“The city hasn’t violated any laws,” Skyler said defiantly, adding that the city will continue to pursue its civil lawsuits against the gun dealers.

I think the ATF needs to start arresting people if they try this stunt again. Starting with Bloomberg. It would seem hs administration isn’t taking this letter as fair warning.

Pelosi is a Liar

Anyone who thinks Nancy Pelosi cares about the environment or global warming is kidding themselves.  We’ve all heard about her request for a C-32 (Boeing 757) aircraft for her own personal use.  Her claim now is:

Hastert, an Illinois Republican, flew in a small commuter-sized jet. Pelosi and her aides say that because her congressional district is in California, her security would require a larger plane that can fly coast to coast without refueling.

“It’s not a question of size, it’s a question of distance,” Pelosi said Wednesday. “We want an aircraft that can reach California.”

You are so full of crap you reek, Nancy.  The Air Force has several other more economical options, if you bothered to look, that have the range to make it to California unrefueled.   But you probably did look didn’t you?   You just want the C-32, because you’re Nancy Pelosi.  Well, screw you.  It’s my tax money that makes those birds fly, and as far as I’m concerned, your staffers and VIPs can fly commercial.

I barely buy the security argument that justifies Pelosi flying on air force jets.  But if it’s going to happen, she can do with a lesser plane.  If the C-21 was good enough for hauling Denny Hastert’s fat ass around, as far as I’m concerned, it’s good enough for Nancy Pelosi too.

GOP Enters Mayoral Race

Looks like the GOP has ponied up Al Taubenberger to run for Philadelphia Mayor.

City Councilman Frank Rizzo, a Republican who had considered a mayoral run on either party’s ticket, said yesterday that he expected Taubenberger to be the nominee. Rizzo said he backed off his own bid because “we have a good candidate in Al Taubenberger, who I’ll be working for, and on the Democratic side, we have some capable candidates also.”

The city’s registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 5-1, and most GOP leaders concede that a mayoral victory is a long shot. No Republican mayor has been elected since 1947.

Anyone who knows Philadelphia knows the Rizzo name, but I don’t know much about Taubenberger, and we probably won’t get to know much about him, because, as the article says, the GOP has a snowballs chance in hell of winning the race.   Of course, no one thought a Republican could win in New York City either, but they elected Giuliani (I don’t count Bloomberg. He’s a lifelong Democrat riding on Rudy’s coattails).  I may have my issues with Giuliani as President, but he was a great mayor of New York City.  Philadelphia is long overdue for it’s own Giuliani.  Sadly, this guy probably ain’t it.

From the City That Brought Us the Cheesesteak?

Apparently the City of Philadelphia is considering its own ban on trans-fat, modeled after that of New York.

Major food retailers such as Starbucks and Kentucky Fried Chicken have banned trans fats. Trans-fat oil, associated with bad cholesterol, is scheduled to be eliminated in New York City by July. A proposed New Jersey ban on trans-fats in restaurants has remained in a legislative committee since October. Philadelphia’s City Council is scheduled to vote today on the fate of fryer oil in restaurants and food carts.

The article is mostly about local universities removing trans-fats from their cafeterias, which I’m all for. I have no issues with restaurants and food service providers removing them voluntarily, through market forces. Apparently my alma mater is getting in on this too:

Drexel University, which also contracts with Sodexho, switched to trans-fat-free oil in January 2006. In addition to its bread, tortillas and cookies, the school will get trans-fat-free doughnuts and cakes, said Marie Faherty, resident district manager for Sodexho there.

Dan Steinberg, Drexel’s Student Government president and a senior graphic-design major, said he hadn’t noticed a change in the food’s taste.

“A lot of that is a mental thing. I’ve been a resident assistant for three years, and coming down here with my residents, the food gets better every year,” he said.

The food is getting better every year? This isn’t the Drexel I went to! When I went, they still had 32nd street open and lots of artery clogging street vendor food, which is where most of us ate. The cafeteria was known as the “all you can stomach” plan, since if you signed up, you could eat as much as you wanted to, but who wanted to? Now, the street vendors are gone, and the cafeteria is serving tasty food with no trans-fats? Crazy.

139 Counts? Jayzus!

Vince Fumo, long time State Senator from Phiadelphia, is facing 139 felony indictments from a federal grand jury.

The feds said Fumo, 63, one of the state’s most influential power brokers, used his Senate workers to clean his house and provide personal services, and tapped a charity he helped organize to provide him with cars, tools and other goodies.

The charges include conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return.

If convicted of all charges, Fumo, a state senator since 1978, could face from five to 15 years behind bars, sources said.

That’s a lot of time, but if found guilty, I hope he serves it all. When I speak of getting criminals off the streets of Philadelphia, it would seem that includes a fair number of their politicians. Maybe that’s why they would rather disarm us than lock up criminals. It would mean locking up too many of their own.

I should point out that Fumo was one of the Philly politicians that had close ties with the NRA (yes, there are some pro-gun politicians in the city), but corrupt politicians can go to hell, no matter how much they might agree with me on other issues. 139 felony indictments is no laughing matter. We’ll see how this plays out in the federal courts.

Adoption of the M16

Chris Byrne asks, “Who’s at Fault for the M16?

Actually, much of why McNamara made the decision, was because he was supremely pissed off at the Army Ordnance board at their deception (and they were continuing to insist the trials were legitimate even after the report came out). McNamara felt that he needed to force the board to heel.

Initially the AOB absolutely refused McNamaras order that the M16 be adopted. McNamara forced the AOB by direct order to retry the weapon, with ARPA as an overeseeing agency. The board dickered so much, and insisted on so many changes to the rifle; in fact saying that even with the changes it was unsuitable; that McNamara ordered that they adopt the M16 as is, with no changes, anyway.

Those changes were actually rather important; including the chrome bore, the forward assist, and a different twist rate for the rifling. They would later be implemented in the M16A1 (and later revisions); but because of the boards hostility with McNamara, they were not put into the intial production models as issued.

After McNamara overruled the board completely, they went about deliberately making sure the M16 would fail; because they wanted it to be a spectacular disaster, so they could go back to the M14 and give McNamara a black eye.

Great post!  Be sure to go read the whole thing.

Crime Can Hit Close to Home

We’ve been having a rash of robberies in a neighboring township.

At an Exxon station near the 7-11, a thief recently made off with $1,000s and beating a clerk with a hammer.

In the 7-11 robbery, the clerk opened the door for the robber, which is normally locked due to several recent robberies. The camera captured the suspect hurdling the counter and brandishing what police said was a 6 inch revolver.

The suspect grabbed about $100 in cash before shooting the clerk and running away.

“As he is moving to the back of the store, he shoots him in the back, the bullet goes through his back and ends up being lodged in his chest,” said Lt. MacPherson.

I don’t live in a high crime area, but this highlights the importance of not getting complacent.  Given this guy has beaten one clerk with a hammer, and shot another, if I happen to be in a store when a robbery goes down, after reading this, I’m not giving the robber the benefit of doubt.  It’s important that we all be prepared, and carry at all times we’re legally able to. Even in normally quiet neighborhoods, you can attract the criminal element.