Iowa City police are investigating an early morning assault in which a man accused another of being a zombie, then punched him twice. Police said the assault occurred at 1:17 a.m. Sunday at an Iowa City restaurant south of the University of Iowa campus.

A man was ordering food when he was approached by another man who called him a zombie, then hit him in the eye. When the victim tried to call police on his cell phone, the man punched him again, breaking his nose.

The man then ran out a back door.

The victim was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Are you kidding me? Everyone knows you don’t punch zombies. Or set them on fire – because then what have you got, class? Not just a flesh-eating zombie, but a flesh-eating zombie that sets everything in its immediate area ablaze! Remember kids:

Happy Halloween!

Looks pretty good, right? The Government is keeping you safe… but only from stupid terrorists (bad guys). How’s that, you ask? Consider how a smart bad guy, who’s on the Federal Government’s No-Fly List, could bypass the above “Secure Flight Process” and sneak onto a plane to do bad things. And no, I’m not giving bad guys good ideas. The smart bad guys have most certainly already considered this vulnerability.

1) First, the bad guy would steal credit card info (and get a peak at the victim’s driver license for birthday and gender info while he did this). If he can’t steal a credit card, then that makes him a stupid bad guy and means he’s going to fail at his objective anyway.

2) Then, with stolen credit card, he purchases a ticket in the credit card owner’s name.

3) Next, he checks in online, enters the birthday and gender of the credit card owner (again, smart bad guys will have this info from the card info acquisition), he chooses no checked bags, and prints out the boarding pass.

4) With boarding pass now in hand, he scans that into his computer and with a simple graphics program alters the credit card owner’s name to read his name, and prints out a fraudulent copy of the boarding pass that now reads his correct name.

5) He heads to the airport and proceeds through the security checkpoint with his legal ID, fraudulent boarding pass, and carry-on luggage (with the original boarding pass safely stowed for later use) receiving nothing but a bored, “have a nice trip” from the Federal TSA Agent.

6) Once through security, he heads for a restroom stall where he’ll study the masterful scribble placed on the fraudulent boarding pass by the Federal TSA Agent back at the security checkpoint (it varies by airport, often marker or pen, but some airports actually use ink stamps – which would require some pre-shenanigan airport SOP recon and preparation by the smart bad guy) and replicates the scribble on the original boarding pass with the credit card owner’s name.

7) Last step is him tearing up and flushing the fraudulent boarding pass, placing his legal ID back into his wallet, and presenting the original boarding pass with fraudulent TSA scribble to the gate agent as he prances down the jet way with your Federal Government oblivious to this No-Fly List bad guy’s infiltration.

So if TSA’s Secure Flight Process doesn’t stop smart bad guys (you know, the real dangerous ones) from potentially doing bad things, then what exactly is that Agency’s purpose and why are our tax dollars wasted on them failing? I understand that in this day and age, the Federal Government rewards failure, but is TSA good for anything other than the amusement of Penn and Teller?

Well, Muller is at it again, but this time when you purchase a truck, you get a voucher to take to the local FFL and following the completion an ATF Form 4473 and having a background check, you can redeem it for a new AK-47 rifle. The ATF Form 4473 and background check makes sure that it’s all legal and that only good guys can get rifles when they buy a truck.

Watch this interview and try to figure out why the Anchorette is offended by Muller throwing in a voucher that will (after completing an ATF Form 4473 and having a background check by an FFL) allow the customer to receive one of the most efficient tools for home self-defense. Seriously, I’m having a hard time understanding the Anchorette’s position. She says she thinks it’s okay for people to defend themselves and their homes, but certainly not with a semi-auto rifle. I wonder what she would consider acceptable? Perhaps she’d be okay with the home invasion victims throwing rocks to try to stop attackers from breaking into their houses and murdering their families? While you’re watching, try to also determine which she’s against more: guns or Muller’s individual freedom to lawfully conduct business.

The print and broadcast media are no longer journalists; they’re nothing more than hack commentators pushing their views from a soapbox – or in this case the idiotbox (TV). The real sad part is that some people still watch these “journalists” and think this propaganda is news.

But something more interesting also happened.  The frequency of stabbings also increased.  Surprisingly, it turns out that a central government planner can’t change bad people (criminals) into good people (law-abiding citizens) by passing laws.  The bad people just choose a new tool with which to do bad things.  Well, the geniuses at Progressive central have solved the Brit’s stabbing problem!  Check it out:

Anti.  Stab.  Knife.  Yeah, you read that correctly. 

John Cornock, the Leftist Progressive brains behind this society-protecting invention, was inspired by a documentary advocating the banning of all knives.  He says, “the knife will cut vegetables, but will make it almost impossible to stab someone to death…” He continued, “It can never be a totally safe knife, but the idea is you can’t inflict a fatal wound. Nobody could just grab one out of the kitchen drawer and kill someone.”

And that kids, is one of the many problems with Progressives.  They live in make-believe land, not in reality with the rest of us.  Anyone who can look at this knife and declare it can’t inflict a fatal wound has serious reality issues.

That’s the slogan of the Pink Pistols, a gay, pro-gun rights group. The Pink Pistols and GOProud are supporting Senator John Thune (R-SD) on an amendment to recently-introduced Federal “so-called hate crime” legislation, Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

(As an aside, I think “so-called hate crime” legislation is rather silly. Instead, why not just make assault, murder, and violent crimes against individual rights illegal? Then when someone is suspected of committing one of those acts, we can charge them, try them, convict them, and punish them. That seems simpler than trying to read a criminal’s mind to determine intent/motivation – besides, aren’t all crimes motivated my some degree of hate?)

Conceptually, the amendment would allow citizens with concealed carry permits to carry handguns across state lines with reciprocity, while following local concealed carry laws. That makes sense to me. If the original legislation is intended to reactively punish thuggish citizens for “so-called hate crimes,” it only makes sense to also proactively make it easier for all citizens to defend themselves and prevent the “so-called hate crimes” in the first place.

Jimmy LaSilva, executive director of GOProud, said:

We support this because we think it’s advantageous to make it legal and relatively easy for gay people to arm themselves so they can protect themselves. In the next few weeks we want to start highlighting some of those stories. There are people who have averted gay bashings because of their ability to use guns.

Gwen Patton, a spokesman for the Pink Pistols, also supports the concealed carry reciprocity:

Self-defense with a firearm is a valid and viable method of self-defense and protection. Imagine that individuals follow you from a place known in the neighborhood as a GLBT gathering place. They follow you to your car, and when you try to open the door, they hold out pipes and yell — ‘Hey, faggot!’ You pull out a concealed weapon that you have a license to carry. They say, ‘He’s got a gun!’ They drop their pipes and run away. No shots were fired, but a beating was just averted.

So there you have it. Once again we see guns are just tools that can prevent (often without shots fired) thuggish citizens from violating the individual rights of other citizens – gay, or otherwise.

H/T CompleteColorado

WWAGD?
What would Al Gore Do?

There were, of course, the obligatory Gadsden Flags:

Part of the Arapahoe Tea Party Crew:

I especially liked this sign:

Seems as though not everyone’s on board with the idea that the government can make better decisions for our lives than we can for ourselves:

I agree; NO to the Nanny State!

And as always, rallies tend to bring out the Capitalist in everyone:

While we’re on the rallies topic, Saturday, May 30 at 10:00AM the nationally-funded, local Astroturf group called Arapahope (isn’t that cute?) will be holding a rally for socialized medicine (they want everyone’s healthcare to equally suck – just like Medicare) on the West Capitol steps. Many pro liberty groups, who think medical decisions should be made between patients and their doctor rather than by a Washington bureaucrat, will be uniting in a counter-protest. Check out further details here!

I have to agree with Laurel, over at Politics, Guns & Beer, that this is way cooler than a McDonald’s ball pit!

So, I’ve been mulling this over for a couple days and I think I’ve concluded that I’m not going to be visiting Milwaukee.  Perhaps ever.  Let me put that in context. 

Wisconsin does not have a concealed carry license for handgun owners.  They do, however, have an “open carry” statewide policy.  That means if you want to carry a firearm for lawful self defense, the only way to do it lawfully is unconcealed, strapped on your hip.  I’m cool with that, and so is Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.  He even affirmed it in a memorandum to prosecutors on Monday.

Basically, Van Hollen said it’s legal to openly carry a firearm  on the street in Wisconsin and advised prosecutors that merely having a firearm doesn’t, by itself, warrant a disorderly conduct charge.  Again, I’m cool with that, too.

What I’m not cool with is Milwaukee Police Chief Ed “I never read the US Constitution because it doesn’t have any pictures” Flynn who said:

“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.   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.

Really?  You know what else is irresponsible Chief Flynn?  Throwing law abiding citizens to the ground – especially when they’re simply exercising their Constitutionally-protected rights. 

What do you suppose would have been the public’s reaction had Flynn said this was going to be his Department policy in dealing with lawfully-abiding blacks walking the streets after sunset?  Or how about lawfully-abiding citizens wearing a Star of David or a Cross in public? 

Message to Flynn: You’re a public servant.  Your job is to enforce the law, not what you’d like it to be. 

Sebastian, at Snowflakes in Hell, makes an interesting point regarding Wisconsin law:

If the City of Milwaukee wants to deal with multiple federal civil rights suits, under Section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code, they’re welcome.  In fact, I dare him to do what he’s suggesting.  I would remind Chief Ed Flynn that Section 1983 allows a plaintiff to sue you personally, not just you in your official capacity, for violation of civil rights.  So if you want to end up paying for a gun rights activist’s ammo supply for the rest of his life, I’d urge the City to get Flynn on a leash now, while this can still be handled cheaply.  Once faces start hitting concrete, all bets are off.

I’m still not going to Milwaukee.

As Tea Parties were happening all over the country, Denver joined in the fun.

Preliminary report on the Denver Tea Party Protest:  It was freaking huge!  It was significantly larger than any tax-loving, leftist, progressive protest I’ve personally covered.   And the people at this one actually have jobs!  I’d estimate the crowd at 1000+, but a buddy with a different vantage point than me said he guessed 2000+.

–UPDATE—
Ben Degrow of Mount Virtus notes the Denver Post estimates the attendance at 5000+.

Either way, here are some prelim pics.  More pics and full coverage video of the speakers to come from other comrades here at People’s Press Collective.

Here’s the crowd:

Stage left

Center stage

Stage right.

And here’s the cache from a riot cam at the top of the stage – trying to give perspective for the crowd size. (choppiness was my fault for not verifying quality settings before hitting record)

The homemade signs were great.  Here’s a small sample (lots more to come from other People’s Press Collective Citizen Journalists).

Heh.  Ain’t that the truth?

Yeah, you’ve got Crappy Representation.  I hope you remember this when you go to the ballot box in less than 20 months.

That’s definitely part of the problem as we approach a citizen population where the number of people who don’t pay income tax is creeping toward 51%.

Costumes were more common that I expected.  This guy may have missed the Revolutionary War dress code, but he was still out to show his enthusiasm for freedom and liberty.

There were even some Fawkesians who showed up.  Rememeber, remember…

Stay tuned folks, there’s lots more to come!