From the Barrel of the Gun

The City Council for Los Angeles passed a ban on standard capacity magazines. No one is allowed to own or possess magazines holding over 10 rounds except, of course, the Council members themselves. They gave City residents sixty days to turn them in or face arrest.

So... what happens when one of the currently sitting council members lose their seat on the council? Presumably at least one of them owns a gun with a magazine above the now-verboten size limit, and they are no longer immune when they leave office.

The Daily Beast

“The issue which has motivated me to get into this race is the recent attempt by certain Republican legislators to repeal New Jersey’s ban on assault weapons,” Christie said at the time.

The Daily Beast

“In today’s society, no one needs a semiautomatic assault weapon,” he said. “We already have too many firearms in our communities.”

The Daily Beast

“Chris Christie and Rick Merkt support the ban on assault weapons,” it read. “Tony Bucco and Mike Carroll want to repeal the ban on automatic assault weapons. It’s dangerous. It’s crazy. It’s radical. They must be stopped. Say NO to Bucco and Carroll’s radical plan to legalize assault weapons.”

Just in case you didn't already know that Christie can't be trusted.

Ars Technica

Whereas President Obama sought to increase NASA’s budget for earth science in this fiscal year, Republicans in Congress sought to slash it by hundreds of millions of dollars. From a historical perspective, the staunch Republican opposition to studying climate and weather changes on Earth is surprising. Both Presidents Reagan and the first George Bush supported robust plans to study Earth from space, and the fleet of satellites in orbit today are one of the main space legacies of their terms in office.

Normally, I'm all in favor of funding for NASA. But I want that funding to go towards a Moon base, a Mars base, and so on... not towards global warming propaganda.

The Hill

The federal government’s chief climate research agency is refusing to give House Republicans the detailed information they want on a controversial study on climate change.

Citing confidentiality concerns and the integrity of the scientific process, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it won’t give Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) the research documents he subpoenaed.

The simple answer to this concern is to tell the agency they can have their funding when Congress has their email.

And gosh, it would work on so many different government agencies... if only Congress could actually do it.

On Thanksgiving this year, I find myself with very little to be thankful for. But one of the few things this President has done well is the privatization of space exploration, even if it was mostly by getting out of the way.

It seems the Wisconsin appeals court has struck down a ban on switchblades (in the home, it seems) on Second Amendment grounds. This seems to be like a significant step forward with positive implications for gun rights. Granted, it's only one state.

Knife bans have never made much sense to me. Knives are tools as well as weapons, and AS weapons, they aren't very useful offensively. Before you can hurt someone with a knife, you have to *catch* them. And then catch the next person with a substantial head start. And so on, and so on. If used as a weapon at all, they are much more useful defensively ("If you come within reach, I will hurt you"). The same applies to swords, though with less utility as a tool.

This decision is only the beginning, though. For the next steps in Wisconsin, see the truth about knives on the topic.

Hot Air

But don’t worry — they weren’t widows and orphans. Barack Obama spent the last two days belittling concerns over the efficacy of screening in US refugee programs, but he seemed to forget that his administration has dropped the ball on this issue before. ABC News reminds viewers of their 2013 investigation that revealed that dozens of refugees admitted from Iraq and Afghanistan had suspected ties to terrorism. Two admitted in 2009 turned out to be al-Qaeda terrorists, who were only discovered after they tried to acquire heavy weapons while living in Kentucky

But of course there is no possible threat in admitting tens of thousands of refugees and giving amnesty to illegal immigrants, right?

Sharyl Attkisson

Agents with the U.S. Border Patrol are expressing frustration and anger after a group of men from Pakistan and Afghanistan was reportedly caught crossing the Mexican border into the U.S. this week. The agents say the incident was kept secret from them until they pressed their managers for information.

The group of citizens from the Mideast was reportedly captured after sneaking into Arizona on Monday, three days after the Paris attacks and four days after a double suicide bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. The terrorist group ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks in both cities.

But of course there is no possible threat in admitting tens of thousands of refugees and giving amnesty to illegal immigrants, right?

Ars Technica

The Senate overwhelming approved the so-called Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) on Tuesday. The measure would allow companies to share consumers' data with the US government in the event of security breaches or cyber attacks—all in the name of cybersecurity.

This seems like a complete disaster from both a security and privacy perspective.

PJMedia

A man, who just two years ago was the poster boy for the far-Left media's attacks against the U.S. government's no-fly list for "unfairly" targeting Muslims, finds himself and several family members sitting in a Turkish prison -- arrested earlier this month near the Turkey-Syria border as members of an ISIS cell.

It's a long way from 2013 when Saadiq Long's cause was being championed by MSNBC's Chris Hayes, Glenn Greenwald, and Mother Jones, and was being represented by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) terror front.

It's only a phobia if it's an irrational fear. And while being afraid of every single Muslim is irrational, so is being afraid of none of them.

It appears Turkey has deliberately and with authorization from the top levels of government shot down a Russian military aircraft over Syrian airspace. Forces on the ground shot the pilot after he ejected, and the pilot was dead before he hit the ground.

This is an act of war against Russia.

Turkey is a member of NATO.

If Russia chooses war with Turkey in response, the NATO alliance is likely -- barring some fine print somewhere -- obligated to defend Turkey.

This situation is beginning to disturb my calm.

UPDATE: Russian legislator threatens Turkey with nuclear strike.

Ars Technica

In a new study of more than 500 adult allergy sufferers, researchers found that the common, over-the-counter(OTC) decongestant, phenylephrine, was no better at unclogging noses than placebo—even when given at higher doses than those currently approved. The study’s authors called on the Food and Drug administration to strike phenylephrine from its list of effective nasal decongestants.

And why did we switch from an effective decongestant sold over the counter to a worthless one sold over the counter and an effective one behind an id-and-address-and-pharmacy door?

Because of the war on drugs.

CNN

Women, particularly those in developing countries, are on the frontlines of a changing climate. Extreme weather events, deforestation and loss of biodiversity threaten their survival and that of their families. Yet, when confronted with social and economic exclusion, women's vulnerabilities remain hidden and their voices quiet.

What color is the sky of the planet these people live on? Practically by definition "climate change", even if it was real and not a made-up apocalypse fantasy to fuel the religious fervor of those who look with contempt upon traditional religions, is gender neutral. It affects the whole planet. It doesn't care what you've got or haven't got between your legs. The temperature of the planet affects everyone equally because we are all on the same fracking planet.

Ars Technica

In a Washington Post story this morning, a spokesperson for Science confirmed there was nothing rushed about the paper’s publication. It comes as no surprise, seeing as NOAA has no say whatsoever in operations at Science. In fact, the spokesperson noted that the paper took about 50 percent longer than average to reach publication, and it went out to more than the usual three reviewers.

This is an interesting line of defense to take.

First, while NOAA may have no influence over operations at Science, we have seen (in the ClimateGate emails) significant evidence of influence and attempted influence of scientific journals by prominent climate scientists seeking to block publication of articles they did not like. Successfully. And get people they did not like removed from the editorial board of those journals. Successfully. So asserting that NOAA has no official influence over a scientific journal is misleading at best, and whether the journal was pressured by scientists at NOAA unofficially is one of the questions Lamar Smith is seeking to answer.

Second, it is quite possible to rush a paper to publication without involving the journal at all. The authors could rush their work instead, without any influence exerted on the journal at all.

Third, there's an interesting little tidbit dropped here. The paper took 50% longer to average to publish and went out to more than the usual three reviewers. From reading the ClimateGate emails, I get the impression that sending a paper to more than the usual number of reviewers means that at least one of the first three reviewers recommended against publication, and rather than reject the paper or possibly make recommended edits, someone made the decision to seek new reviewers instead.

Overall, I find Ars Technica's attempt to defend this study to be potentially significant evidence for the prosecution.

Express

A MILITARY barracks was on lockdown this morning after a masked gunman rammed the front gate with a car and exchanged fire with Belgian soldiers.

Yes, clearly they are so thankful for the opportunity to escape their war-torn middle-eastern nations and assimilate into Europe peacefully.

PJMedia

“A solution that recognizes that the Internet is here to stay and that there is an increasing disparity, and so long as its not used to raise revenue for governments that parity would make sense,” Bush said. “I think there’s just a compelling argument to be made. It may not have been as compelling 10 years ago when Internet sales were significantly lower, but now it’s an increasing part of the sales mix and brick and mortar companies, businesses do have significant role in our communities.”

This is so insane that the only thing I can think of to explain it is that he must be trying to chase down a big donor, probably one with interests in the "brick and mortar" companies he's talking about.

Doesn't matter, though. Calling for a tax on the internet is a disqualifier for a Republican candidate.

Fox 19 Now

Five foreign nationals arrested on the Ohio Turnpike appeared in court Thursday for a pretrial hearing. Jibril Abdiselam, 24; Mohammeddeq Hassan, 27; Mahamoud Mohamed, 26; Zakaria Warsame, 25, and Said Abu were charged with possessing criminal tools and forgery.

An "improper lane change"? Bullshit. The NSA picked up something, put out the license plate number, and the officers made up an excuse to pull them over.

Fox 19 Now

According to WKBN, the attorney representing Said Abu stood up said his client wanted the court to know he is an American citizen. All the suspects were born in Somalia and are American citizens.

When they vote, they vote for Democrats. Probably several times.

TechDirt

In the wake of the tragic events in Paris last week encryption has continued to be a useful bogeyman for those with a voracious appetite for surveillance expansion. Like clockwork, numerous reports were quickly circulated suggesting that the terrorists used incredibly sophisticated encryption techniques, despite no evidence by investigators that this was the case. These reports varied in the amount of hallucination involved, the New York Times even having to pull one such report offline. Other claims the attackers had used encrypted Playstation 4 communications also wound up being bunk.

What often escapes the attention of those without the appropriate technical expertise is that encryption represents nothing more than the ability to hold a private conversation. That's a right implicit in the First and Fourth amendments. It is also something that harms no one.

The Gateway Pundit

The government of Belgium has raised the terror alert in Brussels to the highest level, 4, and is warning residents to avoid any activity that involves crowds–from public transportation to commercial districts and concerts. The government said no details would released until the morning.

When there are troops on the streets before an attack, it's usually a bad sign.

According to Hoyt

Politics, we were informed by the moderators, is strictly forbidden. Especially when someone says something conservative. This does not prevent numerous posters (all of the left-wing persuasion) from including political statements in their signatures and avatars. Starting a thread where the poster declares that all global warming deniers are criminals? Totally not political. Objecting to such a post? How dare you?

In one of the threads that turned political, someone posted a dissenting (non-leftist) opinion and was promptly dogpiled for it. There was flaming and name-calling, all things supposedly banned by the moderators. I could have complained to the moderators, except for one thing: one of the moderators was taking part in the dogpiling.

That sounds very familiar to me, because it has happened to me. It's one of the reasons I have my own blog: no one can censor (or "moderate") my own platform.

... and by workplace violence, I mean Islamic terrorism, of course.

BBC

Malian special forces have entered the Radisson Blu Hotel in the capital, Bamako, to try to free hostages taken after it was stormed by gunmen. The hotel says 138 people remain inside. The gunmen stormed it shooting and shouting "God is great!" in Arabic, eyewitnesses say.

Things are definitely heating up.

Washington Post

In a suit that brings together the Second Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), an Amish man filed a federal lawsuit in Pennsylvania last week because he wants to buy a gun without the required photo ID — and because getting that photo ID would violate his religious beliefs.

It's worth noting that the suit appears to be over the "photo" portion of the ID, and he has a non-photo (but legal) identification card. So it's not like he's asking for no ID at all, just ID without a picture.

Hat tip to SaysUncle.