New Townhall.com column is available here.  Be sure to email it to your friends, and leave it five stars if you think it’s worthy.  I don’t get a bonus or anything (heck, I don’t get payment from Townhall to begin with) but it does feed my ego.

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The latest load of crap from the IRS:

The NAACP did not violate the conditions of its tax-exempt status when its chairman gave a speech that criticized President Bush, according to a newly released letter from the Internal Revenue Service to the civil rights group.

[snip]

In his speech, Bond said of the Bush administration: “They preach racial neutrality and practice racial division. They’ve tried to patch the leaky economy and every other domestic problem with duct tape and plastic sheets. They write a new constitution of Iraq and they ignore the Constitution here at home.”

Unlike some of my collegues, I do not believe this investigation was politically motivated. Non-proft organizations, specifically 501(c)(3)’s, bring loads of cash. Cash that’s tax free to the receiving organization, and deductable by the donors. If any 501(c)(3) organization busts it’s non-profit status because they’re pushing the envelope with their political activity, there’s an easy source of revenue for the folks at the IRS. Donations are now taxable, and deductions are disallowed. All The Service has to do is collect the tax due. Fire off a few notices, and poof - instant revenue. To the IRS, it’s free money.

In my professional opinion, the IRS got this one wrong. The NAACP, as well as many right leaning ‘non-political’ non-profit organizations, blur the line between ‘voter education’ and advocacy to the point where it’s unrecognizable. The Service is too lax in their enforcement of this statute, on both sides of the political spectrum.

I’m really not surprised the ruling came down like this. The Service is run by human beings, can you imagine the backlash, browbeating and in extreme cases, phyisical threats they’d receive had they deciced otherwise? Somewhere in this process, someone must have calculated the additional tax revenue they’d collect, and decided the costs outweighed the benefit.

(via Tax Prof Blog)

Arms and the Law has the scoop.

From the report:

The severe consequences of firearm use therefore necessitate more detailed and stricter guidelines than other means of force. 26 Even when firearm use does not result in death, the injuries caused by firearm shots can be paralyzing, painful, and may immobilize a person for a much longer period of time than would other methods of temporary immobilization. 27 The raining handbook for police on human rights practices and standards produced by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says that “firearms are to be used only in extreme circumstance”. 28 Any use of a firearm by a law enforcement official outside of the above-mentioned situational context will likely be incompatible with human rights norms.

But remember, Kofi says the U.N. isn’t out to take your guns. 

Not that I want to brag or anything, but I blogged about the pro-ILLEGAL immigration protests planned for this holiday weekend months ago.

If you assassinate Bushie, even in your faux documentary style, or impeach him and remove him from office… guess who becomes POTUS?

I know you Bushie haters are public school graduates, so I guess I’ll have to tell you - The Vice President assumes the role of POTUS upon the death of a sitting president. Until 2008, that’s Dick Cheney.

Haven’t really thought this through, have you?

Michael Blanding has an article on American Hunters and Shooters Association on The New Republic’s website (this will also presumably be in the print issue as well). 

Mr. Blanding’s article does a nice job of sugarcoating AHSA, but in order to do, he left out a few pertinent facts.  In the interest of fairness, here’s just a couple of things that bother me about the article (why do I always find these things an hour before I’m going on the air?).

- John Rosenthal isn’t just some guy who left the Brady Campaign in 2004 because they were too “anti-gun”.  He’s also the head of Stop Handgun Violence in Mass.  Mr. Blanding has to know about this, considering he wrote a glowing profile of Rosenthal six months ago.  But pointing out that Rosenthal is still the head of anti-gun organization doesn’t really fit the piece in TNR, so I can see why he’d want to leave it out.

- Robert Ricker isn’t just an attorney who used to work for pro-gun outfits.  He’s also been a paid expert witness for anti-gun groups trying to sue firearms manufacturers. 

NRA-ILA head Chris Cox wrote an excellent piece about American Hunters and Shooters recently.  You can find it here.

 For an organization with 100-150 members, they certainly are getting a lot of press.  Something tells me the anti-gunners really want to see this organization succeed. 

By the way, I put in an email to Mr. Blanding this evening, asking if he’d like to come on “Cam and Company” to discuss the article.  I’ll let you know if I get a response.

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Just vacationing on the left coast. I have no idea what’s going on in the world - unless it involves California, because that’s all the news stations here seem to care about.

I haven’t selected a vanity plate yet, but thanks to all who submitted a suggestion. It’s still not too late. I’ll be choosing one at the end of the week.

I have tons to blog about the insanity that is the Golden State, but right now I have to find my wetsuit (or as it’s called around these parts - my sausage casing) and get ready for my surfing lesson.

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One more week and school begins, which means it’s time to start the back-to-school preparations.  I’m minding the fort this morning while the lovely Elaine takes Harrison up to school to get his locker. 

I took the boys to get their back to school haircuts earlier this week.  Harrison’s fro was a sight to behold, especially when compared with the haircut he received.  Here’s a pic I snapped halfway through the shearing.

And yes, he really is that cute.  We actually have random teenage girls stopping by the house asking for him (something that never happened to me in high school, I can assure you). 

Now it’s not just about microstamping but bullet serialization as well.  I’d laugh if I didn’t feel like crying. 

Meanwhile, do you think we’ll see a call to ban “urban assault vehicles” in San Francisco?  After all, if it saves just one life…

The food police have busted a Chicago chef for serving foie gras.  He doesn’t seem too concerned. 

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to be able to get access to ATF trace data information, even though organizations like the Fraternal Order of Police believe that information should only be used by law enforcement.  Now it turns out the mayor also isn’t ready to share information with the ATF.

More than three months after Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement that he had sent
private investigators into five states to catch gun dealers making illegal
sales, he is refusing to turn over the evidence they’ve gathered to the
federal agency that investigates illegal guns.

Analysts said the impasse may have slowed the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Firearms in its investigation of and possible action against gun
dealers that broke the law.

The city won’t turn over the evidence, which includes videotapes of gun
dealers allowing so-called straw purchases of guns, until the ATF signs an
evidence-sharing agreement that would prohibit the agency from “publicly
disclosing evidence without notice and consent from the city,” the mayor’s
criminal justice coordinator, John Feinblatt, said.

This has never been about helping ATF enforcing the law.  It’s always been about Bloomberg knowing “what’s best” for this country, laws be damned.

Will have a more extensive write up tomorrow, but I just wanted to say I had a great time in Oklahoma this weekend.  A special thank you to the Oklahoma Rifle Association for having me out (as well as giving me the beautiful award), Woody for coming up to say “hi”, and Mike McCarville, without whom none of this would be possible.  You’re a great friend Mike, and this time I’m not joking around. 

**Update**

Just wanted to share the pic of Woody, his lovely bride, and myself. 

Nope, didn’t wear a hat to the banquet.  I thought about it but I figured McCarville would tell me to take it off. 

In Boston.

For a few moments yesterday, a bleak Boston courtroom was rendered joyful when a video snippet of 14-month-old Ethan Rocky Halm was played on a television screen, drawing laughs from the toddler’s relatives sitting a few feet apart from each other.

The toddler’s performance was so mesmerizing that even Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret R. Hinkle was moved to describe Ethan as a “talented young child.”

The moment punctuated an otherwise cheerless hearing in which Lina To tearfully admitted she killed her boyfriend, Rocky Ham, the father of Ethan, inside their South Boston apartment on May 15, 2005.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” the 17-year-old To told the judge.

At the time of the stabbing, To was 16 years old, 8 1/2 months pregnant with Ethan, and furious with Ham for saying he was going to park their car — and instead going to a friend’s house in Roxbury, where he spent two hours, according to Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Terrence M. Reidy.

As the 19-year-old Ham lay on the couch around 2:30 a.m., To told police, she stabbed him three times and then went back to bed.

The judge in the case, Margaret Hinkle, called it a “just and merciful sentence”.  She apparently is more interested in mercy than justice, considering she recently sentenced a felon in possession of a handgun to a little more than half the sentence prosecutors were asking for. 

More on the second story here.  I love how the paper calls the career criminal an “amateur filmmaker” and says the film was about the “negative aspects of working with police.” 

It was a “Stop Snitching” video.  The negative aspect these gang members were referring to?  The fact that they’ll kill you if they find out you are letting police know about criminal activity where you live.  And prosecutors accepted a plea deal for this guy too?  They had a chance to put him away for 15 years and instead they were willing to accept 5 (and ended up with 3).  Please don’t tell me that Boston wants to get tough on crime… not when I see these stories. 

Police in England say they’ll investigate why a 21-year old was shot dead after standing up to a gang of thugs near his home.  He had stood up to these criminals a few months earlier and was stabbed, but his widow says police wouldn’t even take a statement about the crime.

There’s no word on whether or not police will investigate why the suspect in the murder, a 14-year old boy(!), has been released on bail for the homicide.

Remember Tom Derby, who says in a civilized society we should rely on the police for our protection?

Tell that to this guy.

 hat tip to Wai.

It’s been a long week, and it’s only Wednesday. Let’s lighten things up and do something different around here.

Vehicle registration is due for the ol’ Evil SUV. My current vanity plate is old and boring. I need a change. Problem is, I have no idea what I want. I can’t even come up with anything more exciting than my initials.

I’m hoping y’all can help me pick a plate, and something fun to say on it. Can you, dear blog readers, help me out?

Here are the restrictions:

- Regular Arizona license plates can be personalized with no more than 7 characters.
- Specialty plates vary. Some only allow 5, some 6. They also have other restrictions - like I can’t get the Pearl Harbor Survivor Plate, for obvious reasons.
- Can’t be obscene or offensive. Of course that’s subjective, but use the general rule of things you can’t say on TV.
- I absolutely will NOT get an Arizona State University license plate. No matter how much you beg, whine, cry, flatter or shower with gifts. I’m a U of A Wildcat through and through. I bleed red, white and blue.

Other than that, I’m open to anything!

Restaurants in Chi-town are disobeying the town’s new foie gras ban. 

No, this is not a joke.

The Mexican government has financed the creation of a “nature park” where, for the bargain price of $15, you too can live the ILLEGAL immigrant experience.

They’ve each paid 150 pesos, or about $15, for what is perhaps Mexico’s strangest tourist attraction: a night as an undocumented immigrant crossing the Rio Grande.

Advertising for the mock journey, which takes place at a nature park in the central state of Hidalgo, tells the pretend immigrants to “Make fun of the Border Patrol!” and to “Cross the border as an extreme sport!”

As strange as this is, I have to give the creators some credit. To me, it’s a sign of ingenuity and entreprenuership. If Mexico had more of this, perhaps ILLEGAL immigration would slow.

What I don’t get is the attitude of those who are flocking to this attraction.

Participants said they were lured by the realistic experience promised by the nearly six-hour nocturnal walk.

“It was like being in their flesh and bones,” marveled Oswaldo Martinez, 31, of Cuernavaca.

“It was cool. It was very fun,” gushed his friend Mauricio Palacios, 30. “I never imagined it would be like that.”

Until almost 2 a.m., the group scaled walls, hid in tunnels, jumped on the back of pickup trucks and followed a path through a cornfield. The trip ended with a ride in blindfolds

Fun? FUN? Then it’s not realistic, is it? I can’t imagine the folks dying in the desert out here are having fun.

Maria Garcia, a Mexican immigrant who founded the Hispanic Community Support Center in Duluth, Ga., said the mock crossing could be perceived as exploiting the suffering of migrants. “Someone crossing the border knows they could die,” she said. “Someone going on this tour knows they will have fun.”

Maybe if this attraction used real bullets, or held these patrons for ransom in safe houses with 100 of their closest friends, or left them in the desert for dead like real Coyotes do. Then maybe it would be realistic.

And of course, folks at the The U.N. love it.

“Anything that raises awareness in Mexico of the plight of undocumented immigrants is welcome,” said Jorge Bustamante, special Mexican representative to the U.N. for human rights of migrants. “But the indifference is very strong, and it’s greater as you ascend in social class.”

And what, praytell Senor Bustamante, shall I do with my awareness of the plight of undocumented immigrants? Pity them because it’s difficult to ILLEGALLY cross the border? Make it easier because it’s soooo tough? Wait! I know! You want the U.S. to give the U.N. some cash to set up a commission to fund/assisst/encourage ILLEGAL border crossing, with your management fee being 30% of the commission’s operating budget. I’m right, aren’t I Senor Bustamante?

Because The Governator and the California legislature have agreed to raise the state minimum wage to $8/hr. The highest in the country.

Schwarzenegger, a fiscal conservative and ally of business groups concerned about the cost of doing business in California, said the state economy had recovered and companies could afford to pay minimum-wage workers more.

“I have always said that when the economy was ready, we should reward the efforts of California’s hard-working families by raising our minimum wage,” he said in statement.

How hard working are these people if they’re only making minimum wage?

As a small business owner, I reward my hardworking employees with pay increases, bonuses and other perks. My slacker employees are at minimum wage, and only hanging around until I can find a good reason to replace them. Yes, Arizona is a right-to-work state, but having a good reason shuts the lawyers up. Slacker employees always give me a reason eventually. Give them enough rope, and they’ll hang themselves. I just sit back and wait.

All this minimum wage increase will do is force businesses to increase the pay of those underperforming employees. Nothing like rewarding failure - that’s a solid business practice, don’t you think? Wait - that policy really sounds familiar. I’ve heard that somewhere else…give me a moment and it will come to me.

I’m disappointed in Ahnold. He’s starting to sound like all those other nutjob Californian’s.

Super-nests of yellow jackets in Alabama.  Nests the size of cars.  Multiple-queen colonies. 

And here’s a thought to give you the heebie-jeebies.  If a normal sized nest (About the size of a basketball) contains 3,000 yellow jackets… one of these super-nests could have 100,000.  Just reading that made my skin crawl. 

Hung out with the kids.  And since it’s been awhile since I’ve posted any pictures of them…

There’s James on his slide.  And here’s Catherine in the grass in the backyard. 

A Pima County Sherriff official accidentally sent a sensitive internal memo on terrorist activity on the Southern Arizona border to media outlets in Tucson.

Instead of an internal e-mail list, “he sent it to the DUI task force, which includes the media.” That list is intended to make the media aware of events such as checkpoints and special enforcements to catch drivers under the influence, he said.

Woopsie. Innocent mistake, I’m sure it’s happened to all of us. Of course it’s a little more serious if the contents of the email could cause widespread panic in Arizona if made public.

One local Tucson paper, The Arizona Daily Star has refused to publish the contents of the memo. No reason was given, but I’m going to give them major kudos for not doing so whatever their reasoning.

It’s refreshing to see a media outlet pause and think about these things once in a while.

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…that I think this would be really cool?

If Arizona can have a baseball stadium named Bob with a pool in right field, why can’t we have a football stadium named after a popular restaurant?

Yes, it’s California. And yes it would mean I would live too close to my parents for my sanity. But since I make less than $160,000 a year, the city of Santa Barbara would subsidize my housing.

The City Council is considering whether to use the property to build affordable housing, a condominium complex called Los Portales for families earning up to $160,000 a year.

Now, “it’s hard to get sympathy for people making $160,000 a year if you’re down in Texas or something,” said Bill Watkins, head of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Economic Forecast Project. Any household with that kind of money is in the nosebleed section of American earners, and “most of the country would think, ‘You’re going to subsidize that person’s house? You’re kidding me.’ “

Uh, yeah. The surrounding communities are more affordable, it’s not entirely unreasonable to assume they’d commute. Everyone else in Southern California does.

How could I not consider moving? A home in a beach community, paid for taxpayers? It’s a dream come true! Well I would consider it, except for that pesky self respect-pride in supporting myself thing.