Attention Deficit Blogging

Lots of things I want to touch on, and not much time for it. So, a shorter, and probably less coherent, look around this morning:

I would guess that most readers have heard about Angel Shamaya's situation in Michigan. For those who haven't, he's the founder of Keep and Bear Arms.com, and was recently—and suspiciously—arrested and jailed for carrying unpapered firearms, apparently. I've met Angel in person, and think the world of him. He was a big help when my friend and fellow LRTer the Hunter went through the legal wringer in Ohio on a firearms charge a few years back. Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, is currently helping coordinate various means of helping Angel. I've met Gary too, and hold him in high regard. He's accepting contributions to Angel's defense fund, using MSSA infrastructure to process them (without charging any administrative fees). The situation regarding donations may change over the next several days, but if I can scrape enough together to help, I'd still send it to Gary, because I trust him. A PayPal donation button can be found on the MSSA web site, if you'd like to use that option to make a contribution. For more details on donations and further developments in Angel's situation, I'd recommend keeping an eye on End the War on Freedom -- Bill's posting Gary's updates.

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Jim Bovard—who appears to be on his way to becoming a Brazilian sensation—has a good piece up at LRC outlining how farming became a federal affair. Also over there, not so new but still highly worthwhile, is Becky Akers' explanation of how an inheritance case wound up being heard by the Robed Nazgul. Spot on, especially her closing.

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Two items on Real ID: At least one Wisconsin newspaper apparently thinks the state should just roll over and take the fedgov ass-raping on ID. A Kalifornia editorial is much more to my liking: Feds must drop ID plan. There's still time to resist, and it's clear there's lots of educating still to be done on the issue. One idea was presented to me by a very dear friend I don't hear from often enough (that shouldn't be construed as pressure, though!): states can simply choose not to comply with making their driving permission slips acceptable federal ID. Hell, I'd almost consider buying a state's driver's license just for the grins I'd get every time I looked at it and saw "NOT VALID FOR FEDERAL ID" on it in big red letters.

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Some people, even those who should, simply don't know enough about the calculus of taking risks. How else to explain this handwringing over the lack of takers of bonds to rebuild New Orleans? I think a clue could be found in Iceland.