Canada: Liberal Politician says Agree with Liberals or Leave Country

The following exchange seems most directly about compensation, than guns. But I assume that the Liberals want to make it so risky cost wise to own guns that people will disarm themselves without the Liberals even having to win.

Don Lindsay's self destruction continued when club member and Canadian Veteran George Tompkins stood to ask the candidates his question. "If the handgun ban goes forward. What plan would your party offer to compensate those of us who legally own the guns that would be confiscated?" To which Lindsay replied "Sir America is our neighbor not our nation, if you elect a society that talks about that kind of perspective I suggest that perhaps you go there!" Cheryl Gallant responded to the question with "George I have seen you at the legion in uniform representing our country I hope you stay in Canada," she said. "This is not an issue if the Conservative's get elected because there will be no ban on handguns. But if the Liberals are elected we know there would be no compensation, there never is," she said.

Novak on Democrats Filibustering Alito

Pressure from liberal activists to oppose confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court has been so intense that Democratic senators may be trapped into a filibuster that they do not want to wage.

Despite the consensus that Alito performed well in his confirmation hearings, leaders of liberal organizations opposing him -- Ralph Neas, Nan Aron and Wade Henderson -- demand that Democrats vote against him. Consequently, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is the only Democrat at this writing who has announced in Alito's favor. . . . .

UK: "Farmer robbed - and police confiscate his shotgun"

After a farmer says that he might try to defend himself and his property from thieves, the government takes his legally registered gun

TWYFORD strawberry farmer Eric Jarnet is fuming after police confiscated his shotgun on his 70th birthday because they feared he might emulate Norfolk farmer Tony Martin.

Mr Martin became a national figure after the shotgun killing of a burglar at his farmhouse.

An exasperated Mr Jarnet publicly admitted he might "do a Martin" after raiders stole hundreds of yards of irrigation piping from his 25-acre Twyford Fruit Farm in London Road, effectively putting him out of business.

Moments after he made his remarks police arrived to seize his shotgun, for which he has a licence.

Mr Jarnet said: "The thieves have all the rights in the world. Even if I had a dog here and he bit an intruder he would have to be put down.

Wisconsin Right-to-carry Debate

Wisconsin Republicans optimistic about overriding veto of concealed carry bill

[Wisconsin Governor] Doyle vetoed similar concealed carry legislation in 2003. The Senate overrode the veto, but the Assembly fell one vote short. Fonder said the governor is sure his veto will stand this time around, too. She declined to elaborate.

Zien said he expected Doyle to pressure Democrats to stand by him.

"Right now we got the votes for an override," Zien said.

Will Democrats really filibuster Alito?

It is hard to believe that the Democrats will filibuster Alito after the good job that he did last week and after the Democrats appeared to step over any proper bounds in attacking him, and I am even surprised that they are actively threatening it. But this talk alone surely shows how much more difficult confirmations have become, even with what seemed like a flawless performance by the nominee.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced Thursday he will vote against Judge Sam Alito for the U.S. Supreme Court. And he said so many other senators intensely oppose Alito that they may have enough votes to sustain a filibuster against the conservative jurist. . . .

As the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, it's Durbin's job to count votes for and against Alito. He said he won't know until Tuesday if there are enough strong opponents to filibuster Alito's nomination.

"A week ago, I would have told you it's not likely to happen," Durbin said. "As of [Wednesday], I just can't rule it out. I was surprised by the intensity of feeling of some of my colleagues. It's a matter of counting. We have 45 Democrats, counting [Vermont independent] Jim Jeffords, on our side. We could sustain a filibuster if 41 senators ... are willing to stand and fight.

"We're asking senators where they stand. When it reaches a critical moment when five senators have said they oppose a filibuster, it's off the table. It's not going to happen. But if it doesn't reach that moment, then we'll sit down and have that conversation." . . .

Steinberg, who I got to know when I lived in Chicago, also writes that the Dems view Alito as evil, but:

Not that they got that across. A murderer's row of Democratic senatorial powerhouses, led by Ted Kennedy, had hours of choice TV time to tar Alito, and came off looking verbose and ineffective.

"It wasn't an easy week, I'll tell you," Durbin said, with a laugh.

To be fair, the Dems were in a bind -- anything resembling tough questioning would be seen as bullying a respected jurist, which doesn't poll well. So they were left speechifying and focusing on minutia.

None of it added up to the impression that Alito was too conservative to serve.

"We look back and say, 'What went wrong?'" said Durbin, who insists that the American people feel Bush won the election and therefore gets to pick his court nominee, but they didn't realize they would also be getting Alito's America.

"Did he win the election saying he would appoint a justice to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs. Wade?" said Durbin. "This isn't what we bargained for."

Durbin said Democratic senators will decide over the next several days whether they want to take the dramatic step of filibustering the nomination. It's still a long shot but, I'll tell you this: It would make great theater. . . .

Who is the most liberal Democratic Presidential Contender?

The Washington Times has an article using the Congressional Quarterly "key votes" to see how the different Democratic presidential contenders compare with each other:

Another way of looking at these five senators is to compare how often each of them agreed with Ted Kennedy, one of the Senate's most doctrinaire liberals. Mr. Kerry's votes coincided with Mr. Kennedy's 100 percent of the time, confirming yet again their relationship as "the Massachusetts Twins." For Mr. Biden, it was 15 out of 16, producing a "Kennedy rating" of 94 percent. Mrs. Clinton agreed with Mr. Kennedy on 14 of the 16 votes (88 percent), and Mr. Feingold's votes matched Mr. Kennedy's 13 times (81 percent). Mr. Bayh, the most moderate of the five, voted with Mr. Kennedy 11 out of 16 times (69 percent). . . .

Lynn Swan Leading Rendell in Race for Governor

For an incumbent governor to be at only 43 percent in the polls at this point in the election is really bad news for him.

January 19, 2006--Our latest poll of the race for Pennsylvania governor shows Republican Lynn Swann, the former receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, narrowly leading Democratic Governor Ed Rendell 45% to 43%.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of voters view Swann favorably; 47% view Rendell favorably.

Swann formally declared his candidacy just two weeks ago, on January 4. But he has enjoyed early success in securing endorsements from two of six regional caucuses in his quest for the party nomination. The Republican state Committee will endorse a candidate on February 11. . . .

UPDATE: Note for the comment below, it is interesting that Democrats are so worried about Swan that they have to try to vainly argue that Swan stands for nothing.

Canada: "Cons have reason to vote Liberal"

If justice is on your mind as you make your way to the polling booth on Monday, remember this. The Liberals have failed spectacularly on that front. Victims' groups know it. Most front-line people know it. And if that's not enough, the ringing endorsement of Paul Martin's gang by Canada's prison population should clinch it.

Reporting from Stony Mountain Pen last weekend, CTV National News said that "from cell to cell, prisoner after prisoner told (the reporter) they were voting Liberal, with no exceptions." . . .

Canada: What is deterrence?

With concern over rising crime rates, Canadian don't seem to understand deterrence. Crime goes up, so you reduce the penalties? At least the PM rejected these proposals, but that is still not moving in the right direction and increasing penalties.

PUBLICATION: National Post
DATE: 2006.01.17
EDITION: Toronto / Late
SECTION: News
PAGE: A1 / Front
BYLINE: Adrian Humphreys
SOURCE: National Post
NOTE: ahumphreys@nationalpost.com
WORD COUNT: 765

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ministers called for reduced sentences: McGuinty rejected
'offender-focused' cost-cutting plan

------------------------------------------------------------------------

After an unprecedented summer of gun deaths in Toronto, two senior provincial ministers, the Attorney-General and the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, endorsed a sweeping plan to create an "offender-focused" justice system.

The plan called for fewer offenders to be charged, more accused people to be released on bail, inmates to be let out of jail more quickly and the closing of several jails. . . .

Canadian Conservatives Average 12.54% Lead in Polls

Three new polls are out on the Canadian election: here, here, and here. The weighted average for these three polls implies a Conservative lead over the Liberals of 12.54%.

Hunting with atlatl

I assume that the objection is to any type of hunting.

"When I was a kid, I wasn't the best at soccer or basketball," confesses Mike Waters, a community-college student from Greenwood, N.Y. "But now I get to play with my idols and hang out with the Shaqs of my sport."

Shaquille O'Neal, the imposing center for the NBA's Miami Heat, probably never has used an atlatl, a Stone Age throwing weapon that Mr. Waters has spent several years trying to master.

On Jan. 7, Mr. Waters and nearly 20 others converged on the property of Gary Fogelman, who is one of the Shaqs of the atlatl, to brave sub-freezing temperatures and participate in a tossing contest. In the future, however, these hurlers might not be limited to aiming at targets mounted on haystacks. The atlatl is one of humankind's most ancient weapons -- and on Jan. 24 the Pennsylvania Game Commission will consider granting preliminary approval to its use as a legal hunting device. With various animal-rights groups opposed, nobody knows for sure how the vote will go. . . .

"Right now, we're re-creating this ancient principle," says Angelo Mazzarese, a carpenter in Chemung, N.Y. "And we're having a blast -- a blast from the past."

New York Suit Against Gun Makers May Finally Be Stopped

Given that the legislation last year to restrict suits against gun makers should have already stopped this suit (suits are allowed only when a crime has been committed), the suit should already be dead. In any case, give the poorly done statistical work being done with this data and given U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein's willingness to abuse the law, I am glad to see that this amendment was passed. On the other hand, I would also like to believe that the plaintiffs here are just using the restrictions on the data as an excuse for dropping this abusive case because the law suit would likely die on appeal anyway.

For six years, the nation's gun makers have fought unsuccessfully in a New York federal court to derail a lawsuit alleging that they didn't take adequate steps to determine which dealers repeatedly sell weapons that end up in criminals' hands.

Now, the gun industry has received legislative help from Washington that is likely to do the trick.

With little fanfare, a provision tucked into the 2006 appropriations act for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives signed into law in November for the first time bars contents of the ATF's "gun-trace" database from being used in any federal or state lawsuit that is pending or filed after Nov. 22, 2005.

The provision in the appropriations act, if upheld in courts, "cuts the heart out of our case," says Eric Proshansky, co-lead lawyer for New York on the gun lawsuit. "That's what it was intended to do."

Proponents of the legislation say it was sought by the ATF and will help protect law-enforcement officers from criminals with access to the database, says Chuck Knapp, a spokesman for Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R., Kan.), who first introduced an amendment to limit public access to gun-trace data from ATF in 2003.

The legislation shines a light on this little-known database, which is critical to the New York case. When a gun used in a New York crime is recovered, the ATF traces the path of the weapon from the manufacturer to licensed gun dealers. This information isn't available to the public, but manufacturers, working through gun distributors, have access to it. New York believes gun makers could identify which dealers are selling guns used in crimes and cut them off from future sales rather than continue to do business with them. . . .

The NRA to the rescue for the Marines

With some fancy footwork and phone calls, military policeman Gunnery Sgt. Robert G. Porter, company first sergeant for Military Police Company, Battalion Service Support Group 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, was able to recruit two representatives from the National Rifle Association to teach his 19 Marines weapons techniques before their deployment to Iraq this spring. . . .

Senator Ted Kennedy belongs to All Male club

This is too funny, especially these statements: "Kennedy admitted to Hiller that he himself probably couldn’t pass Judiciary Committee muster" or “I’m not a member; I continue to pay about $100.”

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy — who ripped Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito for ties to a group that discriminates against women — says he’s going to quit a club notorious for discriminating against women “as fast as I can.”
Kennedy was outed by conservatives late last week as a current member of The Owl Club, a social club for Harvard alumni that bans women from membership.
In an interview with WHDH Channel 7’s Andy Hiller that aired last night, Kennedy said, “I joined when I . . . 52 years ago, I was a member of the Owl Club, which was basically a fraternal organization.”
Asked by Hiller whether he is still a member, Kennedy said, “I’m not a member; I continue to pay about $100.”
He then said of being a member in a club that discriminates against women, “I shouldn’t be and I’m going to get out of it as fast as I can.”
The Harvard Crimson reports that, in 1984, the university severed ties with clubs like the Owl, citing a federal law championed by Kennedy.
Meanwhile, Kennedy admitted to Hiller that he himself probably couldn’t pass Judiciary Committee muster.
“Probably not . . . probably not,” Kennedy said. . . .

Anne McLellan Losing Re-election

Anne McLellan is the person who ran Canada's gun registration system for many years:

"Clearly Anne McLellan is at risk of losing if Liberals don't come out to vote," Patten said, noting a recent media poll that had McLellan trailing Conservative arch rival Laurie Hawn by seven points. The poll shows the deputy prime minister, who's running in one of the most hotly contested ridings in Canada - Edmonton Centre - is losing ground to Hawn. . . .

Canada: Liberal Election support "Crumbling"

CRUMBLING SUPPORT

Most of those seats are in and around the city of Montreal, long a bedrock of Liberal support. But local polls now show even this bastion is fast crumbling, forcing Martin to spend two days campaigning there.

"Martin tries to save the furniture," read the main headline in the French-language La Presse newspaper on Sunday.

The lowest number of Quebec seats the Liberals have ever won is 13 and the party could sink below that level as it is squeezed by both the Conservatives and the separatist Bloc Quebecois, which wants independence for the province.

"I reckon we'll win 12 seats," one of the top Liberal organizers in Quebec told Reuters. Even that number could be optimistic, since there is little evidence of enthusiasm in Montreal for the Liberals.

When Martin addressed a rally to support Heritage Minister Liza Frulla on Sunday, there were barely 40 people in the room. Other Martin rallies over the weekend attracted similarly meager attendance.

Frulla -- who won her seat by just 72 votes in the June 2004 election -- acknowledged she had a battle on her hands.

"It was very difficult (in 2004) and it's still very hard, very hard here on the ground," she told reporters, complaining that unnamed opponents were resorting to "dirty tricks".

To add to Martin's challenges, Conservative leader Stephen Harper is now campaigning in normally pro-Liberal areas where his party has not won seats for years and has regularly attracted several hundred people to his rallies. . . .