Arizona is a place where you can get a family photograph with Santa holding an AK-47, where state lawmakers point pink pistols at reporters, and where men tote AR-15s to political protests. And if one state representative gets his way, gun-loving Arizonans won’t have to worry about pesky federal gun control laws, because it will be illegal to enforce them.

Republican state Rep. Steve Smith proposed a bill last week that would prohibit public officials in the state from following any federal gun laws or regulations, fearing an effort by the Obama administration to impose harsh new restrictions on firearms. That means no background checks, no restrictions on automatic weapons or grenade launchers, and no prohibition on sale to the mentally ill, unless the state enacts its own restrictions, none of which are laid out in Smith’s bill.

While there is no penalty specified for state and local officials who follow federal law, federal judges or law enforcement agents would face felony charges punishable by up to a year in state prison. “Here’s a line in the sand: Thanks, but no thanks. Stay out with your federal regulations you’re going to impose on us,” Smith said.

HB 2291 would almost certainly be unconstitutional, as federal law trumps state law, and Smith acknowledged that there would probably be legal challenges that would have to be worked out in the courts. But he appears to be trying to get around this problem by making his legislation apply only to firearms that are manufactured in and never leave the state of Arizona, presumably in an attempt to thwart the Commerce Clause, which allows Congress to regulate interstate trade. Still, the Supreme Court has not been sympathetic to similar arguments.

And the Constitution isn’t Smith’s only problem; he’s catching some friendly fire too. Todd Rathner, an Arizona resident who sits on the board of the National Rifle Association, told the Capitol News Service that he doesn’t like the bill because of what it would do to gun dealers, who must receive federal licenses and comply with federal regulations.

“I worry about putting federal firearms licensees in the middle of a fight between us and the federal government,” he said. “It puts them between a rock and a hard place because they worry about committing a federal crime or a state crime.”

Indeed, Smith’s law specifies that firearms dealers would be barred from following the regulations mandated by the federal government to maintain their license. Still, Rathner said of Smith’s proposal, “I like the message he’s trying to send.”

Arizona isn’t the only state considering what amounts to a lite form of secession over guns. In Mississippi, Gov. Phil Bryant and state House Speaker Philip Gunn have both said they intend to block any new Obama executive orders on gun control. South Carolina lawmakers have made similar moves as well. But Arizona’s law goes much further, by not only restricting new regulations but also all existing ones, targeting “any act, law, statute, rule or regulation” from Washington on guns.

@2198, it hasn't been passed by the Va House yet either

I sat down and rolled up my sleeve. Their nurse pressed the device, which was about the same size and shape as a Dodger Dog, against my left arm. We were chatting breezily until she pressed the button to activate the device, at which point I had an experience not unlike having my deltoid bludgeoned with a tire iron. I'm absolutely comfortable with needles and shots, perfectly happy to give myself injections when needed, but this was easily worse than any needle-based injection I ever felt - worse than any 5 injections, in fact, and I've had an 18GA needle in my arm before. I was too stunned by the sensation to even vocalize (and boy wouldn't that have been embarrassing) and smiled, thanked the nurse, and stood up. The next day my arm was still quite sore, although there was no bruising (consistent with my pig data, fat load of warning that gave me). So, you know, gimmie the needle any day.

zonk - I've said this before, but every single time you eat out in a good restaurant, you're eating onions. Just about every sauce uses onions somewhere in its base, if only in the making of the stock. You have loved innumerable foods infused all over the place with onions.

Some marginally good news: Israeli right projected to lose ~10 seats in parliamentary elections. Likud and ultra-right Beiteinu held about 1/3 of the Knesset running separately last time, now running together, exit polls suggest they'll drop to about 1/4. It's at best enough to build a very narrow coalition with their traditional religious allies, and they'll probably have to deal with parties of the center to form a government.

The likely kingmaker is a new party "Yesh Atid" ("There is a future") which ran on a platform of (a) most importantly, reducing or eliminating special treatment of the ultra-orthodox as well as (b) a vaguely dovish alignment toward peace with the Palestinians, and (c) vaguely center-left economic policy.

They're the party of central casting media personality Yair Lapid, who is also a novelist. So that's a thing.

A chef once told me that 95% of chefs have a substance abuse problem, are mentally ill, or are a just a giant #######.

zonk - you're a loony.

You know who loved onions?

Hitler.

You know who loved onions?

Hitler.



He loved dogs, too.

However, I believe pre-election polls in Israel showed precisely the opposite -- that Likud and other right-leaning parties were expected to at least hold serve, if not even pick up a bit of support. It's not quite Dewey defeats Truman - but Haaretz among others seem to be touting this as a rather surprising result.

That's because you refuse to put onions on them. It's a different taste with onions. You should try it.

I get a flu shot, but only because my mother worries when I don't. It's worth $20 to me to make her happy for a day.

However, I believe pre-election polls in Israel showed precisely the opposite -- that Likud and other right-leaning parties were expected to at least hold serve, if not even pick up a bit of support. It's not quite Dewey defeats Truman - but Haaretz among others seem to be touting this as a rather surprising result.

i gotta confess that for a group of folks who talk all the time about the need for collective action and helping out those around you the fact that some of you don't get a flu shot i find more than a bit hypocritical

I have no problem with the government forcing me into a getting a flu shot...

As for the flu shot, isn't it restricted to only certain groups of people--or, rather, I should say it is recommended that only those in certain groups (over a certain age, below a certain age, being infirm and ill in particular ways, etc.) take them.

how am i to maintain this new found zen with you chuckleheads?

Arizona is a place where you can get a family photograph with Santa holding an AK-47, where state lawmakers point pink pistols at reporters, and where men tote AR-15s to political protests.

I'm like 99% a hermit anyway. By the time the superbug gets to me, you're already dead. And if I'm the source of the superbug, don't you guys want me taking Skip Bayless with me?

ya'know, i was complimented at my last physical for not being so angry, for not lashing out at those around me so readily, for being more........mellow

NUGENT: I'm part of a very great experiment in self-government where we the people determine our own pursuit of happiness and our own individual freedom and liberty not to be confused with the Barack Obama gang who believes in we the sheeple and actually is attempting to re-implement the tyranny of King George that we escaped from in 1776. And if you want another Concord Bridge, I got some buddies.
...
NUGENT: But here is what is wrong with America today. We have a president, and everybody better write this down, and memorize this. The president of the United States goes to the Vietnam Memorial Wall and pretends to honor 58,000 American heroes who died fighting communism and then he hires, appoints and associates with communists. He pretends to pay honor to men who died fighting communism, and then he hangs out with, hires and appoints communists. He is an evil dangerous man who hates America and hates freedom. And we need to fix this as soon as possible.
...
NUGENT: I was in Chicago last week. I was in Chicago and said, "Hey, Obama you might want to suck on one of these you punk." Obama, he's a piece of ####, and I told him to suck on my machine gun. Let's hear it for him. And then I was in New York. I said, "Hey, Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless #####. Since I'm in California, how about [Senator] Barbara Boxer [D-CA], she might want to suck on my machine gun. And [Senator] Diane Feinstein [D-CA], ride one of these you worthless whore. Any questions?

i just watched a Dr G

The president of the United States goes to the Vietnam Memorial Wall and pretends to honor 58,000 American heroes who died fighting communism and then he hires, appoints and associates with communists.

Ted Nugent shat his pants to avoid the draft

Ted Nugent shat his pants to avoid the draft. How do people not just laugh in his face every time he says something like this?

Aside from the burning ball of earfucked stupid that is Ted Nugent in general, now's a really good time to remind the world at large that Ted Nugent is a Vietnam draft dodger.

Perhaps, like Obama and the debt ceiling, Nugent changed his mind.

Joe if he changed his mind then he would have served. simple as that, and well he didn't.

I know your default setting is to take the opposite side of whatever a "liberal" position is, but surely you shouldn't be defending Nugent, no matter how obliquely. Especially in light of his recent comments.

i planned my life around being dead by age 64

There was no defense of Nugent in #2256. Just a mix of facetiousness and speculation.

Will this outburst get Nugent another visit from the Secret Service?

It's kind of tough to make a good chicken paprikash without it.

I think zenbitz dropped dead of the flu as he was writing.

I think zenbitz dropped dead of the flu as he was writing.

But your immune system is precisely not the point. The great gains of immunizations are realized collectively, not individually.

I never get the free flu shots that people rush to get.

But hey, your call.

Bullets. But the guns help them go really fast.

"Why would you make fake paprika, when you can buy low quality paprika for about six dollars a ton?"

Or, as Tom Cruise said in Collateral, "No, I didn't kill him. I shot him. The bullets and the fall killed him."

I like Jaime Lannister

Guns don't kill people! Guess what does!

I like Jaime Lannister

By far the best character of those books, to date.

I am partial to Tyrion.

I am partial to Tyrion

For now, at least, until Democrats mandate that everyone get one.

Wait, I'm am confused. Is this the same one where it was previously reported that his parents didn't allow him to play violent video games, or watch violent movies? Or a different one?

TOKYO - Taro Aso has never been one to hold his tongue. But Japan's 72 year-old deputy prime minister may have outdone himself with his latest gaffe.

At a government panel to discuss social security reforms, the former prime minister called the elderly who are unable to feed themselves "tube people," then proceeded to say the elderly should be allowed to "hurry up and die" to reduce the burden on a country tasked to pay for their medical expenses.

Adding his personal experience, Aso said he had already written a will, directing his family to let him "hurry up and die," refusing end-of-life care.

"Even if (doctors) said they could keep me alive, it would be unbearable," he said. "I would feel guilty, knowing that (treatment) was being paid for by the government."

Aso later argued that his comments were misinterpreted. He was speaking about his personal wishes, not those of all senior citizens.

The issue of elderly care remains a major challenge for Japan, the world's fastest aging country. Nearly a quarter of the population is 65 and older, with that number expected to spike to 40 percent in the next 50 years. Concerns about financial strains placed on social security and pension systems are so grave, lawmakers passed an unpopular tax hike bill last summer, agreeing to double the sales tax to 10 percent over the next three years.

Aso has a history of verbal blunders. He once compared an opposition party to the Nazis, and said he wanted Japan to become the kind of country "the richest Jews would want to live." In 2008, while still prime minister, Aso called the elderly a "feeble" group.

"Why should I have to pay taxes for people who just sit around and do nothing but eat and drink?" he said at the time.

Though for me, Littlefinger brooks no competition on the top of that list.

"Why should I have to pay taxes for people who just sit around and do nothing but eat and drink?" he said at the time.