A LOOK AT BLACKWATER and the debate over private military contractors.

IRAQ IS BUYING ARMS FROM CHINA: We’re supposed to be worried about why. I think I have an answer though, and it’s the same reason I personally have bought arms from China: They’re good, and they’re cheap. Some years ago I bought a Chinese SKS rifle (a lightweight Kalashnikov variant) for 99 bucks. I expected it to be reliable and inexpensive, and it was. It also shot really well, and had a surprisingly smooth trigger pull. I liked it so much I went back and bought another to give my brother for Christmas. If someone had offered to sell me an AR-15 for the same 99 bucks I might have gone with it, but they didn’t, and for the price the SKS was an excellent buy.

UPDATE: SayUncle emails on the SKS: “They’re great. You can’t get them for $99 anymore though since the import ban. They sell for about $250. I remember when you could by them for $59 or get a three pack for $150. No kidding. I should have kept them.” Yeah. Mine’s quite accurate out to 200 yards, the greatest distance I’ve shot it at. Much better than I had expected.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Various readers inform me that the SKS is not a Kalashnikov variant, but a different design, by Simonov. And some wonder why the Iraqis need these guns. Hey, who knows? Maybe they don’t. Maybe Iranian dissidents need guns that aren’t obviously from the United States.

THE ANCHORESS: Al Gore’s got my vote!

Yeah, I actually did vote for that Al Gore.

NO FLAG PIN FOR OBAMA: Pajamas Media has a roundup on this vital issue of the day.

UPDATE: Okay, this is a dumb and minor issue, except to the extent that it confirms some in their belief that Obama is just a stalking-horse for Hillary, and he’s now taking himself out of the race. But this take is kind of funny:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he doesn’t tell his wife he loves her any more, because “I love you” has become a substitute for “true love.” The Illinois Senator said he hopes to show his love by explaining his ideas about their relationship to her. . . .

For better or worse, a President Spock won’t get elected. Candidate Obama should know that.

Perhaps he does.

“DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME, for God’s sake.”

BURMA: When “People Power” Fails.

Plus, Dave Kopel looks at gun control in Burma.

FURNITURE MADE FROM salvaged airplane parts. The office chair made from a B-52 ejection seat is kind of cool. I’d like those for faculty meetings, but I guess everybody’d use them every time . . . .

“GAYS FOR ROMNEY.”

Somebody should make a “warmongers for Hillary” ad.

AL GORE CRITICIZES PRESIDENT BUSH for ignoring Saddam’s connection to terrorism.

TRAFFIC WARS: Advantage: Patrick Ruffini.

UPDATE: AllahPundit says Kos is still huge: “Whatever Kos’s actual numbers, it’s safe to say that he’s as big as Instapundit and MM combined. Which is pretty darned big.”

THE SOLAR TREES OF VIENNA: Well, technically all trees are solar of course, but . . . .

SNEAKING HSUSPICIONS: SOME QUESTIONS about Norman Hsu.

DON’T MISS THE NEW PAJAMAS MEDIA SHOW ON XM satellite radio. Tonight, 6 p.m. Eastern, on XM channel 130.

DIGITAL STILL CAMERAS COULD ALSO BE DIGITAL HD VIDEO CAMERAS if it weren’t for the E.U.’s taxing authorities.

FROM THE ISN’T-THIS-GOOD-NEWS-BEING-SPUN-AS-BAD DEPARTMENT: Obesity a problem for those with HIV.

JONATHAN TURLEY: A liberal’s lament: The NRA might be right after all.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms is stated in the same way as the right to free speech or free press. The statement of a purpose was intended to reaffirm the power of the states and the people against the central government. At the time, many feared the federal government and its national army. Gun ownership was viewed as a deterrent against abuse by the government, which would be less likely to mess with a well-armed populace.

Considering the Framers and their own traditions of hunting and self-defense, it is clear that they would have viewed such ownership as an individual right — consistent with the plain meaning of the amendment.

None of this is easy for someone raised to believe that the Second Amendment was the dividing line between the enlightenment and the dark ages of American culture. Yet, it is time to honestly reconsider this amendment and admit that … here’s the really hard part … the NRA may have been right.

Read the whole thing. And you might want to read my survey of Second Amendment thinking, as well as this piece on what it would mean to take the “states’ rights” argument seriously. As Tom Lehrer said, we’ll all stay nice and calm, when Alabama gets the bomb.

I DON’T MIND, so long as they don’t lecture the rest of us about global warming:

Indeed, as the number of billionaires worldwide keeps climbing—Forbes now pegs the figure at 946, up 23 percent in just a year—so are sales of private jets. Boeing counts among its clients Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin (they share a 767). Bombardier’s Global Express line has attracted buyers such as Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte. Oprah Winfrey purchased a Global Express XRS in 2006 through her production company. Virginia-based entrepreneur Sheila Johnson favors Dassault’s Falcon jets, as does Swiss travel-industry tycoon Sergio Mantegazza. Steve Jobs got a Gulfstream GV as a bonus in 1999. . . . The very rich love their planes. Many billionaires are intensely competitive and delight in the knowledge that their own jet is bigger, faster, or has a longer range than that of a friend or rival.

But, really, I don’t want to hear from any of these people about Americans’ wasteful lifestyles.

ON SPUTNIK DAY, Rand Simberg and Homer Hickam continue their debate. Also, Rand has a roundup of Sputnik links. Plus, did Sputnik create the Internet?

WAR ON TERROR DISTORTED BY WAR ON DRUGS: And note the parallels with what Jack Goldsmith was saying about government officials’ fear of investigation.

JOHN WIXTED: “North Korea’s decision to abandon its nuclear program could be significant, especially because it appears that it will not rely on UN inspectors but will instead involve US technicians overseeing the actual dismantling of North Korean nuclear facilities.” He feels, however, that the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler has missed the real story.

THEY TOLD ME THAT IF GEORGE W. BUSH WERE REELECTED, we’d have an authoritarian state where children were encouraged to inform on their parents. And they were right.

CAN TECHNOLOGY MAKE OR BREAK A CANDIDATE? Possibly, but some candidates are beyond mechanical help or hurt: “All of the innovation doesn’t appear to have benefited Dodd in terms of support, however. As Ambinder noted, his value on the National Journal Political Stock Exchange is a whopping 1 cent.”

A CYPHERPUNK joins the Marines.

IN THE MAIL: Naomi Novik’s Empire of Ivory, the latest in her alt-history series that combines elements of Patrick O’Brian and Anne McAffrey.

Novik just won the John W. Campbell Award. And I’ve praised her work before.

RETALIATION IN THE WORKPLACE: My colleague Alex Long has a paper on the subject, and it now looks as if the Supreme Court may grant cert. in the Crawford case, one of the main cases he discusses.