Open Carry Okay In Wisconsin

Or is it?

While the state’s top attorney says it is legal for residents to carry unconcealed firearms in public, Milwaukee authorities say they won’t stand for it.

“My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we’ll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have a right to carry it,” Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said.

“Maybe I’ll end up with a protest of cowboys. In the meantime, I’ve got serious offenders with access to handguns. It’s irresponsible to send a message to them that if they just carry it openly no one can bother them.”

Meanwhile, Kenosha County’s top cops said how their officers and deputies will respond to openly armed citizens won’t be automatic and aggressive, depending on a number of factors, including the setting and behavior of the citizen involved.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued a memo saying the law allows carrying unconcealed weapons without a permit, as long as it’s done peacefully and within specified restrictions, such as not taking guns into schools.

It is an interesting debate (I think we all know what I think) that will probably result in arrests without prosecutions since the carrying of the gun alone is officially not grounds for charge. 

Of course, if we weren't one of the TWO states that don't allow conceal carry we wouldn't have this problem.

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Behold The Glories Of The Nanny State

Maryland edition.

The new legislation specifically authorizes the use of speed cameras anywhere in the state up to one-half a mile away from a school zone. School zone cameras can operate as late as 8pm and ticket motorists regardless of whether school is in session. It also creates a statewide freeway camera program designed to be used in so-called "work zones" where the speed limit is lowered, regardless of whether workers are actually present. On a freeway that ordinarily has a 55 MPH speed limit, for example, citations would be issued to anyone driving 57 MPH in the lowered speed zone. For-profit private companies are authorized to take charge of all aspects of the program.

Lawmakers turned aside a number of amendments intended to clarify the true purpose of the program. One rejected provision would have returned any profit from the program to the public in the form of a tax credit. Another would have required weekly calibrations be performed to ensure the accuracy of the tickets. Lawmakers also rejected an amendment that would have ensured that state legislators were not exempt from receiving photo radar tickets. They also turned down an amendment that would have printed on each ticket the names of lawmakers responsible for voting the camera bill into law.

The only limitation adopted was a provision limiting cities from using speed cameras to increase their general fund budgets by more than ten percent. This amendment was aimed at Silver Spring, which doubled its annual revenue with photo ticketing.

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When big screens are outlawed, only outlaws will have big screens

Some people say California is a bellwether for the way the rest of the way the rest of the country will go, and with the way the economy and budget deficits have been going, I'm inclined to agree. That said, the rest of you might want to head out and buy that big screen Hi-Def teevee while you still can:

In their continuing quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, state regulators have uncovered a new villain in the war on global warming : your big screen TV

Couch potatoes, beware.

The California Energy Commission is considering a proposal that would ban California retailers from selling all but the most energy-efficient televisions. Critics say the news standards could take 25 percent of televisions off the market — most of them 40 inches or larger.

"The larger the television, the more at risk it is of being banned unnecessarily in California," said Douglas Johnson, senior director of technology police for the Consumer Electronics Association.

Association officials say the standards are not only unnecessary – because the federal government already regulates energy efficiency through the voluntary Energy Star program — but also ill-timed. The last thing our economy needs now is products taken off the market, they say.

But it's FOR THE CHILDRENâ„¢ you selfish bastards! Who cares if we wreck the economy, so long as we can stop temperatures from going up 0.5 degrees over the next century? And besides, would you rather have a sweet teevee or ensure that your children's children will be able to enjoy the Arizona Hissing Dungbeetle and the Northwest Pacific Wart-Mottled Trout* in their natural habitats?

*May not be acutal species.

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In An Example Of Utter Bullshit, War Hero Denied Gun Permit

Because he was too truthful.

"I was trusted by the {federal} government to carry a loaded weapon, but now I am not allowed to purchase one by my local government," he said.

Mechaley, 32, has received counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder related to his service in Iraq. While completing an application for a gun permit, he responded "yes" to a question that asked whether he was being treated for a mental disorder.

"I circled yes because I wanted to be completely honest," he said.

As explanation, he wrote "PTSD from Iraq Marine combat veteran" on the form.

Mechaley's application on Jan. 10 was rejected, he was told, because of that answer.

After talking with police, Mechaley said he had been "too truthful" on the application.

He started to research gun-permit laws and applications and concluded that Omaha's permit application was overly vague on its mental-disorder question.

"If I was actually mentally defective, it would have shown up on the (National Criminal Investigation Service) background check when I purchased my hunting rifle."

What the permit form should ask, he said, is whether the applicant has ever been pronounced mentally impaired or has been committed to a mental institution.

"That's what the (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) form asks, and that's a valid point," he said. "I feel the form at the Omaha Police Department is too broad and misses the point of our laws."

A psychiatry professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center said, however, that having guns on hand could be too big of a risk for some with severe cases of PTSD.

Dr. Carl Greiner said he wasn't familiar with Mechaley's case and couldn't comment on it.

In general, he said, "There would be some specific instances where I would be concerned about someone owning a handgun because of public safety issues."

Using alcohol or drugs to deal with PTSD is a sign of potential trouble, Greiner said.

"That could result in lowered impulse control and the person might be more likely to use a gun," he said.

A gun permit also shouldn't be allowed when someone suffering from PTSD has a history of violence upon awakening, Greiner said.

"If that were the case and someone wanted to keep a handgun under their pillow, it could be a risk to family, friends and others," he said.

Many veterans suffer from PTSD, said Dr. Ahsan Naseem, director of the Lincoln post-traumatic stress disorder clinic of the Veterans Affairs Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System.

"It would be uncommon for a combat veteran to not be affected by combat, which is not to say that each combat veteran would suffer from PTSD," he said.

Again. This is utter bullshit.

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Pack of cigarettes to go over $10 in NY

I'm thinking us PA-based morons ought to start setting up tobacco shops along the NY border.  We'll lose some business to the reservations, but I bet we'll still pull a profit.  Ten a pack?  Holy crap.

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Smoke 'em if you got 'em

Obama signed the SCHIP expansion bill today, and it looks like I'll be paying for it:

Congress voted to cover the cost of the program by raising the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 62 cents, to $1.01 a pack. The tax should have a double benefit to public health by discouraging smoking by young people, who are more likely than adults to curb their consumption because of price increases.

As for the rest of us adult smokers, I guess we'd better not grumble since it's For The Childrenâ„¢ of course.

Oh, and if that wasn't clear enough, make sure you click on the link and read the opening sentence of the article, which might as well include a link to a video of someone singing "The Greatest Love of All" over video of Obama signing the bill. 

(If you don't mind throwing up a little in your mouth, that is.)

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I hate Illinois Nazis

The DuPage County Board has some important business to attend to:

State law prohibits these types of establishments from offering both all-nude dancing and drinking. Diamonds allows patrons to bring their own alcohol -- a policy Zay and board members call a loophole that needs to be fixed.

They say mixing adult entertainment with drinking can prove to be a lethal combination, especially when that leads to drunken driving. The new law is intended to keep the two separate, not to shut Diamonds and similar businesses down, Zay said.

Um, I beg to differ. After all, mixing too much drinking with any form of entertainment can be deadly, but you seem to have singled out this kind of establishment. If a bunch of the adults at a five-year-old's birthday party get trashed and then decide to drive, surely that's just as terrible, but I don't see you urgently writing a law that would ban the use of alcohol around pony rides. Funny, that.

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Nanny Bloomberg chomped by groundhog

Good groundhog!  This'd be Staten Island Chuck that bit Nanny Bloomberg.  When asked to comment about the story, Punxsutawney Phil reportedly said, "Who the fuck is Staten Island Chuck?"  As for Phil, he did see his shadow.  I'm surprized ol' Phil doesn't go into epileptic seizures with the thousands of cameras that are snapping.

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Australian Nanny Staters looking to ban Vegemite?

Even with assurances that it won't be banned from the Deputy Prime Minister, they haven't said anything about it not being hit with sin taxes.  Basically, there is a government panel that is looking for unhealthy foods to ban, a reaction to rising obesity rates.  Vegemite has a really high salt content, and that's why it's being targeted.  As to the Vegemite itself, it's basically a spread made of an extract of leftover yeast from brewing, mixed with vegetables and spices.  Oh, and this is obligatory,

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Curse You, Nanny State! (2nd Attempt)

Now they are going after "working moms".

Stephanie Antes, 28, of Albertville, is charged with five felony counts and one gross misdemeanor count of failing to file and pay income taxes and filing a false income tax return, according to the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

Antes worked as an exotic dancer and waitress at Rick's Cabaret in Minneapolis between 2004 and 2006. A tipster called the Department of Revenue to report that Antes had made around $80,000 per year in tips that she didn't report.

According to the criminal charges, her bank statements showed that she deposited $27,000 in 2004 and $76,000 in 2005, exceeding the income amounts she reported for those years by thousands of dollars.

She also received a large state refund in 2005 because she claimed both of her children as dependents, even though their father also claimed them.

Antes did not return calls for comment, but according to her MySpace page, she graduated from North Hennepin Community College with a degree in nursing in 2005.

 

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More GOP Nannying

The head of the Utah Senate (yes, he's GOP, this is Utah) wants to force Utah restaurants to pour and mix drinks behind a solid barrier.  Here's the thing, restaurants in Utah already have a glass barrier that encloses the bar, because there's apparently a gigantic difference between having someone hand a martini over a bar countertop and having a server bring a drink to a table, but that's apparently not enough for the Senator.  Says he,

Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, said children shouldn't be allowed to see liquor bottles or drinks being poured.

"Restaurants are turning into bars," Waddoups said. "It's making it look attractive. Kids see it and wonder what they're missing. I think we need to be a little more strict."

Kids are seeing drinks being poured...horror.  And of course, we see the For The Children^TM Card is in play, as always.  I get that this probably has to do with Mormon cultural preferences, but this is just stupid nannying, watching a bartender make a Manhattan isn't going to have anymore effect on a kid than watching the waiter deliver said Manhattan, or alcohol ads on TV and magazines for that matter.  Fortunately, looks like Huntsman sees that and is trying to smack this guy down.

Update:  Vinty notes Huntsman engages in his own brand of Nannying...crap.  Can we please have some politicians that think Liberty First, please?

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Leave It To Socialism To Give Away Stuff

So, does that mean Scandiland will now let you get some action for free?

The tough new measures go further than similar ones introduced by other Nordic countries such as Sweden and Finland.

Norwegian police have been authorised to use wire-tapping devices to gather evidence.

There has already been a visible decrease in women working on the streets of central Oslo, local media report.

Prostitutes will be offered access to free education and health treatment for those with alcohol or drugs problems.

The government had already launched a publicity campaign before the law came into force.

Critics of the new regulations say prostitution will simply be driven underground and will be more difficult to control.

Oh, now I understand. They meant prostitution. And leave it to the snow chunkers to worry about regulations.

*slaps forehead*

 

 

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First They Came For The Pantsless Hobos, And I Said Nothing...

Curse you, Nanny State! Why can't a hobo wear only a blanket and loincloth for pants?

Ben Hana, known in Wellington as the Blanket Man due to his choice of a blanket and a loincloth as clothing, was released on bail Wednesday in Wellington District Court after his Dec. 23 arrest for obscene exposure and cannabis possession, The Dominion Post reported Thursday.

Maxine Dixon, Hana's lawyer, said in her client's bail application that he plans to fight allegations that he exposed himself to children.

"He wears high-risk clothing. It's a way of life rather than a deliberate attempt at lewdness," Dixon said.

Chalk this up as yet another infringement on our Civil Liberties.

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Eminent domain is awesome!

When the government provides for everything, it can take away everything. Like the Venezuelan 273-store mall you're within a couple of months of opening.

President Hugo Chavez says he was heading through downtown Caracas when he was shocked by the sight of a huge, nearly finished shopping mall amid the high-rise offices and apartments.
...
So the often-impulsive president told an allied mayor to halt construction and said this prime block of urban real estate should be expropriated. He said the sprawling six-story building might be put to better use as a hospital or university.

The whole article is worth a read, with wonderful contradictions between Chavez's vision of socialism in action vs local authorities insisting that private property rights should be respected.  My guess is that the contradicting local authorities won't have government jobs soon.  It seems that the harshest local criticism that's safe is that Chavez is too busy to oversee every project and should leave this sort of thing to municipal decision-makers.

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First They Came For The Motorized Couches, And I Said Nothing

It's a sad, sad day when motorized couches are outlawed in the parking lots of Cleveland Browns games.

On Nov. 23, (the driver) joked around to the officers at the entrance to the Muny Lot that he was driving his buddy to the stadium (he didn’t have tickets himself.)

“They laughed and waved me through,” he said. “We were like, ‘Really? You’re going to let us go?’ ” So he kept driving, past several other cops who laughed, until he was stopped on East Ninth Street by an officer who didn’t find it funny.

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If at first you don't succeed...

Just keep ramming it further up their ass.

Of course, even if this fails again they'll just find a way to remove the need for a vote.

After all, we can't have these stupid yokels selling 60g kiwis.  Civilisation would break down.

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FCC wants to nationalize the intarwebs

Basically, they want to offer a "free" lower speed intarwebs with controlled content, subsidized by people who use paid intarwebs.  Clever how they're going about this, let's just say the Huck brand social cons better not be dumb enough to fall for this Trojan horse.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 05:57 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Crisitunity!

We are so fucked.

(Via the pw pub, which has some good quotes from an interview between Jonah Goldberg and Glenn Beck in response to this.)

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This Time, The Nanny State Has Gone Too Far!

Banning Happy Hour?

The measures, designed to reduce drink-fuelled violence and injuries, would be announced by the Government a week on Monday, said The Daily Telegraph.

A Department for Health spokeswoman said research on the issue had been commissioned but was unable to comment on any planned announcements.

The Telegraph reported that the code of conduct, binding on pubs and clubs, would ban 'time-limited' cut-price drink offers, or happy hours.

Other areas to be curbed include offers of free drinks for women, while alcoholic containers could feature similar health warnings to those on cigarette packets.

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Sad part?

The Nanny Staters'll blame Big Business when the trip to the pharmacy gets more expensive, and probably get away with it.

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