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From Noel Hamiel: Sen. Ed Olson may face a primary challengein June from former House Rep. Dan Matthews. If it materializes, the race between the two Mitchell Republicans illustrates a growing tension in the party over the creation of the...

SDP would like to welcome aboard Madison blogger Coralhei!...

It sounds as though the turnout for Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds was high in the just-closed constitutional vote in Iraq. The day was also remarkably peaceful. Iraq's deeply divided Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds voted under heavy guard Saturday to decide...

Critics of Professor Schaff and myself have been making a rather amazing argument: that a college professor can be forced to choose between his job and the free expression of his political opinions, should his colleagues or the administration conclude...

ssAnne Applebaum, author of Gulag, has a great piece in the Washington Post contrasting the trial of Saddam Hussein with the Nuremburg trials in Germany following World War II. Excerpt:Yet Nuremberg was, in retrospect, a huge success, and as the...

Brazilians Reject Proposed Gun Ban

Brazilians soundly rejected a proposal to ban the sale of guns in a national referendum Sunday, striking down the bid to stem one of the world's highest firearm murder rates following a campaign that drew parallels to the U.S. gun control debate.

With more than 92 percent of the votes counted, 64 percent of Brazilians were opposed to the ban, while 36 percent backed it, said election officials, giving the 'no' position an insurmountable lead. The proposal would have prohibited the sale of firearms and ammunition except for police, the military, some security guards, gun collectors and sports shooters.

There are a number of interesting ramifications and issues associated with this - aside from the primary fact that the Brazilians were not willing to cede full responsibility for personal protection to an all too ineffectual governmental system.

Some Brazilians said they resented the referendum because they feel the government is ducking its responsibility to keep the peace. "It's immoral for the government to have this vote," said Pedro Ricardo, an army officer in Sao Paulo. "They're putting the responsibility on us, but ... the way to cut down on violence is to combat the drug trade and patrol our borders."

Hmmmm. Sounds sort of familiar doesn't it!? Enforce borders? What a concept!

About 39,000 people in Brazil are killed by guns each year, compared to about 30,000 people in the United States, although the U.S. population is about 100 million more than Brazil's, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hello? Come again? Does anybody know what the US Centers for Disease Control is doing collecting data on gun deaths in Brazil? One shudders to learn the answer.

More on the possible political artistry involved in posing for a mug shot. Ace had more along these lines last night....

So I get up at 6 this morning to go to a meeting. Except that nobody told me that it was moved to next week. Other than that, how was my day? I'm glad you asked. I have a bit...

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