F*** NO!

Mr. Bush, we do not want you to run for president. We do not want or need a third Bush in the White House. For starters, you'll be stepping into the shoes that you're dad and brother have vacated. If you win, you'll be creating a dynasty. In addition, your family record is one of social conservatism, fiscal liberalism, and increasing statism. Your father entered office saying "No New Taxes", but raised taxes while he was in. Your brother signed the Patriot Act into law, placing security ahead of freedom. There is no place for you in the Oval Office.

"Controversial" Ammo Ban is Temporarily shelved!

From FOX News:

ATF shelves controversial bullet ban proposal

I'd just started the article when suddently:

The agency said in a statement on Tuesday it would not seek to issue the final guidelines "at this time." The proposal pertained to M855 "green tip" ammunition, used in the AR-15 rifle, which regulators looked at banning because it can pierce police body armor.

In addition to M855, every other 5.56 NATO cartridge in existence will go right through normal police body army, which is generally rated Type II or IIIA. Type IIIA armor is only rated for up to .44 magnum which, at its best is over 1000fps slower than 5.56 NATO out of an 8 inch barrel. That extra velocity means that "soft" armor can't stop it. No rifle round is going to be stopped by anything less than a Type III hard plate, which is fully capable of stopping a lot of incoming 5.56 NATO, no matter the composition of the bullet.
In addition,  M855 doesn't even meet the current definition under the law to be considered armor piercing, due to its lack of "a jacket comprising 25% or more of the weight of the projectile" and the fact that its core is partly lead (the law requires that the core be comprised wholly of one or more hard metals, such as steel or tungsten)
This little gem near the end showed just how much research the articles author did:

The weapons would still work without the M855s but they would no longer be capable of firing body-armor piercing ammo.

M855 is no more or less capable of penetrating body armor than any other 5.56 NATO round. Type IIIA and below is effortlessly penetrated, and Type III and above just laughs at it.

The other thing of note in the article:

The ATF said it would instead wait until Americans have finished commenting on the federal regulations and evaluate their comments and suggestions before "proceeding with any framework."

The fight isn't over yet. Keep on emailing those Congresscritters and let them know just what you think.

Clinton Convenience aka Corruption and Poor Security

Hillary Clinton's private email showcases corruption and poor data security.
From the BBC:

Mrs Clinton said no classified material was sent from the private account and said her use of personal email was permitted by the state department.
"I fully complied with every rule," she said.
But she said she had discarded thousands of personal emails, including ones about planning her daughter's wedding and her mother's funeral.

If she'd fully complied with every rule she wouldn't have used a private email for one of the most sensitive jobs in the world. Did you know that not all sensitive information is classified, that snippets of unclassified data can be combined into classified knowledge, and that, depending upon your job, it can be really easy to take classified information for granted and let it out in conversation with close family (this is why, if you have a spouse, your spouse must be eligible for whatever clearance you receive, even though they'll likely never receive a clearance).
In addition, given her previous track record, anything she says has to be taken with a (large) grain of salt. I'll believe that no classified information was sent using her private email, that she really turned over all the relevant emails and that she hasn't already deleted all the incriminating emails when she proves it in a court of law.

Too many Bushes?

Barbara Bush has moved from her former stance that there have been too many Bushes in the White house.
She was right the first time. None of the Bush presidents has been a truly conservative force (in fact, no 21 century Republican presidential candidate has been conservative).
The Bush presidents (and every Republican candidate since) have been generally socially conservative - but fiscally they've been "Democrat light". And just like light beer, the Republican candidates aren't really exciting to anyone. Democrats wouldn't (generally) consider voting for a Republican, Independents see Democrat and Democrat Light, and if they're inclined to vote for someone other than an Independent candidate they'll probably vote for the Democrat. Republicans see Poisoned Kool-Aid and Possibly Poisoned Kool-Aid, and they aren't really certain they want to partake of either. Some of them will choose to just not drink either kool-aid, leading to low voter turnout. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Once the election is over, the voters have chosen one or the other, and every has to take a drink.
What you need is a fiscally conservative candidate who can tell the MSM that most social issues belong at the state and local level and make it stick.
Given a choice of Poisoned Kool-Aid and Possibly Poisoned Kool-Aid, I'll pick the Kool-Aid that is only possibly poisoned. But I really just want water.

FCC Fools

Because fools would think that using a hostile nation's resources to replace critical infrastructure would be a good idea. The reasoning for this is that the current 911 system has a hard time locating people using cell phones indoors. The proposed solution to the problem is to utilize GLONASS, the Russian version of GPS, to figure out where the distressed person(s) is(are).
Why even mention GLONASS? While it does offer complete coverage of the Earth, so does GPS (something none of its other competitors, can offer), and GPS is unarguably US. And if the FSB cant figure out some use for this information, I have a nice piece of land for sale in Nye County, Nevada.

Spineless Squish

"It does pain me to be described as spineless or a squish."
John Boehner
Equal opportunity for invertebrates - The next big civil rights battle?

Another Reason to avoid California, if at all Possible

Their new gas tax that's in the works.

Palestine and the International Criminal Court

Palestine has no business being on the ICC, but given the nature of the beast, this is more of a propaganda gambit than an actual attempt to bring the UN down on Israel. The ICC can only affect those countries that let it affect it - and it looks like the Israelis have no intention of letting it affect them.

Palestinian Resolution Flops

The Palestinians had a resolution to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in three years. It made it all the way to the UN Security Council, and then failed to get enough votes to continue. It needed nine of the fifteen members to vote for it, and even then, given that the two who voted no where the US and Australia, it still wasn't going to happen. After all, the US has veto power.
Even if it had passed, how, exactly would they have enforced it? It was, like pretty much every other UN resolution ever, a propaganda gimmick.

Sensationalism: An Epidemic?

Apparently this flu season has reached epidemic levels with 15 kids dead since the beginning of the flue season this fall. I call bullsh*t. These are the same people who say that obesity and gun violence are epidemics. I'll believe its an epidemic when I see most of my coworkers call in sick.
The sensationalism of the media is rather annoying. They like stories that involve people dying (with the implication that you could be one of those people soon), the latest celebrity gossip, or both. And they're not above making something that is, at worst going to somewhat inconvenience you seem like it'll end your world.