I have this reasonable proposal , one I’ve brought up before and I still think it’s a great idea. Here it is: To own a handgun, you have to own gun insurance. Handguns cause untold damage to other human beings, mostly because that’s what they’re designed to do. And since craven politicians won’t offend the NRA by talking sense, I say it’s time to get the insurance lobby involved. (After all, they’re always looking for a new revenue stream!) If you have a history of violence or other anti-social behavior, your premium will reflect that higher risk. If you keep your guns in a locked gun cabinet, have approved triggers locks and have taken a gun safety class, your premium will reflect responsible gun ownership. Oh, and just like when you buy a car, you can’t walk out of a gun dealer’s without showing proof of insurance. It’s legal, it rewards people who are careful with their handguns — and it makes it a lot more expensive for those who aren’t. What’s not to like? A federal judge this week tossed out a lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Association challenging the constitutionality of a federal law prohibiting the sale of handguns to people under 21 years of age. The suit is one of two filed by the National Rifle Association challenging state and federal laws regarding the purchase and carry of firearms by young adults. Because, as we all know, young people as a group will certainly exhibit the same self-control and restraint on the use of guns as they display with the use of alcohol, motor vehicles and baseball bats! U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings on Thursday dismissed the suit challenging a federal ban on the sale of handguns to people age 18-20, writing that precedent shows restrictions on the sale of firearms do not violate the U.S. Constitution. The suit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and others was filed by the NRA on behalf of the organization and three young adults, including Lubbock resident Andrew Payne, who claim they are harmed by the ban. The plaintiffs claim the ban violates the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess and carry weapons, the high court held that laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of firearms is constitutional. This post is written as part of the Media Matters Gun Facts fellowship. The purpose of the fellowship is to further Media Matters’ mission to comprehensively monitor, analyze, and correct conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Some of the worst misinformation occurs around the issue of guns, gun violence, and extremism, the fellowship program is designed to fight this misinformation with facts.
Continue reading …I have this reasonable proposal , one I’ve brought up before and I still think it’s a great idea. Here it is: To own a handgun, you have to own gun insurance. Handguns cause untold damage to other human beings, mostly because that’s what they’re designed to do. And since craven politicians won’t offend the NRA by talking sense, I say it’s time to get the insurance lobby involved. (After all, they’re always looking for a new revenue stream!) If you have a history of violence or other anti-social behavior, your premium will reflect that higher risk. If you keep your guns in a locked gun cabinet, have approved triggers locks and have taken a gun safety class, your premium will reflect responsible gun ownership. Oh, and just like when you buy a car, you can’t walk out of a gun dealer’s without showing proof of insurance. It’s legal, it rewards people who are careful with their handguns — and it makes it a lot more expensive for those who aren’t. What’s not to like? A federal judge this week tossed out a lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Association challenging the constitutionality of a federal law prohibiting the sale of handguns to people under 21 years of age. The suit is one of two filed by the National Rifle Association challenging state and federal laws regarding the purchase and carry of firearms by young adults. Because, as we all know, young people as a group will certainly exhibit the same self-control and restraint on the use of guns as they display with the use of alcohol, motor vehicles and baseball bats! U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings on Thursday dismissed the suit challenging a federal ban on the sale of handguns to people age 18-20, writing that precedent shows restrictions on the sale of firearms do not violate the U.S. Constitution. The suit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and others was filed by the NRA on behalf of the organization and three young adults, including Lubbock resident Andrew Payne, who claim they are harmed by the ban. The plaintiffs claim the ban violates the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess and carry weapons, the high court held that laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of firearms is constitutional. This post is written as part of the Media Matters Gun Facts fellowship. The purpose of the fellowship is to further Media Matters’ mission to comprehensively monitor, analyze, and correct conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Some of the worst misinformation occurs around the issue of guns, gun violence, and extremism, the fellowship program is designed to fight this misinformation with facts.
Continue reading …
No one ever said that etiquette was strictly a women’s game. In recent years there has been an increased interest in classic etiquette as it applies to men. While I may be the first male author to work on a current edition of “Emily Post’s Etiquette,” Peter Post’s “Essential Manners for Men” is one of the best-selling books the Emily Post Institute has ever released. Men are hungry to know what to do, what is expected of them and how to distinguish themselves. Etiquette is all around us. It is the fabric of our social lives. Emily Post once said, “Any time two peoples lives touch one another, you have etiquette.” Even in a world of studied informality, there are clear social expectations to be aware of and adhered to. Some manners are classics that will never change and some are brand new. We can all use a little reminder from time to time to refresh our memories about what is expected from us. Men especially can benefit from paying attention to a few social courtesies. Maybe you can help out the men in your life with some common sense advice from Americas most established etiquette tradition.
Continue reading …No one ever said that etiquette was strictly a women’s game. In recent years there has been an increased interest in classic etiquette as it applies to men. While I may be the first male author to work on a current edition of “Emily Post’s Etiquette,” Peter Post’s “Essential Manners for Men” is one of the best-selling books the Emily Post Institute has ever released. Men are hungry to know what to do, what is expected of them and how to distinguish themselves. Etiquette is all around us. It is the fabric of our social lives. Emily Post once said, “Any time two peoples lives touch one another, you have etiquette.” Even in a world of studied informality, there are clear social expectations to be aware of and adhered to. Some manners are classics that will never change and some are brand new. We can all use a little reminder from time to time to refresh our memories about what is expected from us. Men especially can benefit from paying attention to a few social courtesies. Maybe you can help out the men in your life with some common sense advice from Americas most established etiquette tradition.
Continue reading …
Actor Orlando Jones on Saturday celebrated the death of Libya's Moammar Gaddafi by taking to his Twitter account and calling for American liberals to kill Sarah Palin. “Libyan Rebels kill Gaddafi, if American liberals want respect they better stop listening to Aretha & kill Sarah Palin” (image via Sad Hill News ): For those unfamiliar with this cretin, he used to be a regular on MadTV eventually doing parts in films such as Office Space , The Time Machine , and Runaway Jury . Despite liberal calls for civility after the shootings in Tucson this past January, one imagines Jones getting even better roles for this attack on the Left's favorite target. It certainly won't hurt. (H/T Big Hollywood , image via Sad Hill News )
Continue reading …And then there were none. The World Wildlife Fund says poachers have killed Vietnam’s last Javan rhinoceros, reports the AP . There were at least two rhinos in a national park in Vietnam as of 2004, the WWF says and for the last few years they knew of one, but in…
Continue reading …Bodley: Cards trending down in Series
Continue reading …Occupy Wall Street protesters may be a little surprised to learn that the Vatican supports some of their goals. A document released by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace calls for the creation of a world body to police financial markets in order to to crack down on…
Continue reading …
Agent who worked with Linda McCartney and publisher of Katie Price autobiography told they may have been under surveillance The police investigation into phone hacking by the News of the World has now spread to the publishing world, with a high-profile agent and a celebrity book publisher targeted. Peter Cox, who worked with the late Linda McCartney, and John Blake, who has worked with Katie Price and Jade Goody, have each been told by the police that they appear to have been targeted by illegal surveillance. Cox told the Guardian he was “stunned” to learn from the Metropolitan police’s Operation Weeting that someone had been eavesdropping on him: “It’s a little like coming home to find your place has been burgled, the same sort of feeling, invasion of privacy. Unless it’s actually happened to you, it’s difficult to explain.” Angered by what he describes as a “violation”, he added: “I’m quite interested in suing the hell out of them.” Both men regularly worked on high-profile books. One project was particularly sensitive because it involved royalty, a source revealed. Police from Operation Weeting have now shown Cox handwritten notes reproduced from his own calls. For legal reasons, his lawyers have advised him against revealing details. He said: “It’s difficult for me to say anything, but it was about one specific project … which had major serial potential … Those were the days when a big serialisation was worth a good six figures plus national television advertising.” His suspicions had been raised some time previously when journalists from various papers tried in vain to discover the contents of audiotapes of McCartney in his possession. Cox co-authored a book with the former Beatle’s wife. Cox’s stable of authors includes Michelle Paver, whose books have so far sold 3.5m copies worldwide. Yesterday, he warned publishing colleagues that they too could have been targeted over any books of commercial interest to the News of the World, particularly if rival papers had acquired serialisations. He advised: “Agents and publishers should check if they had any projects that [could be] of competitive significance, especially to the News of the World.” Blake, a publisher of celebrity books and a former journalist on the Sun, appeared more sanguine. He was “surprised, not shocked” to be contacted by the police: “I was vaguely flattered in a pathetic way.” Asked why News of the World journalists might have hacked into his phone, he said: “We deal with a lot of people they might be interested in.” His authors have included Katie Price, the glamour model turned writer, and Jade Goody, the late reality television star, and this week he launches a book by mercenary Simon Mann. The two men are the latest in what is thought to run into thousands of phone-hacking victims. The revelation that the phone of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler had been hacked by the News of the World led to confirmation last week that her family will receive £2m in compensation, with Rupert Murdoch personally donating a further £1m to charity. On being told of the publishing development, Mark Lewis of Taylor Hampton, solicitors for the Dowler family, said: “It comes as no surprise that the police have started to notify people in all walks of life … If a story was good enough to go in a book, it would be good enough to go straight into a newspaper. Agents and publishers were obvious targets.” A spokeswoman for News International, which also publishes the Times, declined to comment, saying only: “We are co-operating fully with the police.” •
Continue reading …
Agent who worked with Linda McCartney and publisher of Katie Price autobiography told they may have been under surveillance The police investigation into phone hacking by the News of the World has now spread to the publishing world, with a high-profile agent and a celebrity book publisher targeted. Peter Cox, who worked with the late Linda McCartney, and John Blake, who has worked with Katie Price and Jade Goody, have each been told by the police that they appear to have been targeted by illegal surveillance. Cox told the Guardian he was “stunned” to learn from the Metropolitan police’s Operation Weeting that someone had been eavesdropping on him: “It’s a little like coming home to find your place has been burgled, the same sort of feeling, invasion of privacy. Unless it’s actually happened to you, it’s difficult to explain.” Angered by what he describes as a “violation”, he added: “I’m quite interested in suing the hell out of them.” Both men regularly worked on high-profile books. One project was particularly sensitive because it involved royalty, a source revealed. Police from Operation Weeting have now shown Cox handwritten notes reproduced from his own calls. For legal reasons, his lawyers have advised him against revealing details. He said: “It’s difficult for me to say anything, but it was about one specific project … which had major serial potential … Those were the days when a big serialisation was worth a good six figures plus national television advertising.” His suspicions had been raised some time previously when journalists from various papers tried in vain to discover the contents of audiotapes of McCartney in his possession. Cox co-authored a book with the former Beatle’s wife. Cox’s stable of authors includes Michelle Paver, whose books have so far sold 3.5m copies worldwide. Yesterday, he warned publishing colleagues that they too could have been targeted over any books of commercial interest to the News of the World, particularly if rival papers had acquired serialisations. He advised: “Agents and publishers should check if they had any projects that [could be] of competitive significance, especially to the News of the World.” Blake, a publisher of celebrity books and a former journalist on the Sun, appeared more sanguine. He was “surprised, not shocked” to be contacted by the police: “I was vaguely flattered in a pathetic way.” Asked why News of the World journalists might have hacked into his phone, he said: “We deal with a lot of people they might be interested in.” His authors have included Katie Price, the glamour model turned writer, and Jade Goody, the late reality television star, and this week he launches a book by mercenary Simon Mann. The two men are the latest in what is thought to run into thousands of phone-hacking victims. The revelation that the phone of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler had been hacked by the News of the World led to confirmation last week that her family will receive £2m in compensation, with Rupert Murdoch personally donating a further £1m to charity. On being told of the publishing development, Mark Lewis of Taylor Hampton, solicitors for the Dowler family, said: “It comes as no surprise that the police have started to notify people in all walks of life … If a story was good enough to go in a book, it would be good enough to go straight into a newspaper. Agents and publishers were obvious targets.” A spokeswoman for News International, which also publishes the Times, declined to comment, saying only: “We are co-operating fully with the police.” •
Continue reading …