"The numbers are astonishing. Congress is now spending money like a drunken sailor. And I've never known a sailor drunk or sober with the imagination that this Congress has." -- Senator John McCain.

As the son of a drunken sailor, I'm not a fan of the analogy. Still, it's nice to see someone in Congress recognize that Congress and President Bush have been on a political vote-buying spending spree. While the rest of us have had to tighten our belts to ride out the economy, Congress has been spending money on steel tariffs, farm subsidies, federalization of the TSA, and "free" prescription drugs. They have even voted themselves a raise; all of which hard working Americans will be paying off for years to come.

Sorry for the lack of posting this weekend. Friday was my birthday and this being a long holiday weekend, I've pretty much just been spending quality time with my family. I know it sounds corny, but you'll get over it. I hoped to read through all my email today, but I've mainly spent the day watching VT stink up the field against UVA which means I get to hear it from this guy for a whole year. (Better luck next year, I hope.)

When I was a young lad, my father was a Navy chief. Since he was away for six months out of the year, my mother never bothered to celebrate Thanksgiving. In fact, it wasn't until my sister first attended grade school that we had even heard of Thanksgiving. Apparently she came home one day and asked my mom what this "Thanksgiving" thing was that she'd been hearing about.

Ever since then, we've been celebrating Thanksgiving together. Although my sister hardly ever makes it home anymore, I always try to make it back. That means I'll either be traveling today or early tomorrow morning, depending on what time I leave work today. Blogging will be light over the holiday, which is a good thing. Rather than reading websites, you should be spending time with your family and being thankful for everything that is good in your life.

Here's to you and yours.

If you've commited a crime in East Point, now you can use their web site to arrest yourself. It's nice to see the police have a sense of humor.

Owen Courreges is dismayed that Rice and UT are going to renew their affirmative action programs following Sandra Day O'Connor's ruling that racial discrimination should be permitted for the next 25 years. Ever since, university officials have been busy counting and classifying people by the color of their skin, and coming up with quotas for each color of person they want attending their school.

"We have thoroughly studied the matter through the summer and into the fall," said Rice President Malcolm Gillis. "Since 1996, we have tried race-neutral means, but these alone haven't yielded the necessary level of diversity, including racial and ethnic diversity, to achieve Rice's educational goals."

(emphasis mine)

The RIAA has been suing 12 year old girls, grandmothers, and countless others for unauthorized listening of their music. Now they are seeking permanent protection from countersuits, and some senators in Congress appear more than happy to give it to them. It's amazing what a few hundred thousand dollars worth of bribing lobbying will do.

Related articles:
RIAA ramps up to start hacking users -- 01/13/2003

VT head coach Frank Beamer has decided to stop rotating quarterbacks, reports the AP. Of course that's only after it cost the Hokies a loss at Pitt, a near loss at Temple, and a loss to BC at home. The rout over Miami was mainly a defensive and special teams coup where big plays and a stingy defense made up for the lackluster offense.

Apparently deer are overpopulated again, and deer/vehicle collisions are on the rise. I knew something was up on this weekend's trip to the VT-BC game in Blacksburg. We must have passed 6-8 roadkill in each direction.

Oklahoma's KTUL reports that an alleged murderer who was on the lamb met his match when he abducted a doctor and his wife and stole their van. Murder supsect Scott Eizember suffered multiple perforations to his body when Dr. Peebles used a concealed handgun to liberate himself and his wife from their captor. Eizember escaped, but was apprehended while trying to seek medical attention. He will likely face multiple murder charges, shooting with intent to kill, and kidnapping.

Have you ever wondered which category of political stereotype you fall into? Well, reader Donald Hagen has A Satirical Political Beliefs Assessment Test to help you determine if you are a Archconservative, Leftwing Wacko, Antigovernment Libertine, or a Commie Sympathizer.

Potential member states of the E.U. appear to be having second thoughts. The Telegraph reports that Britain is prepared to veto proposals for the new constitution because of the way it handles defense. Apparently England is not too keen on leaving their national security up to a bunch of European bureaucrats. Frankly, I cannot blame them. It would be a bit like the U.S. depending on Canada and Mexico.

Across the continent in the East, Czech President Vaclav Klaus had some harsh words for Europeans. The Washington Times reports that he said they are living in a "dream world" of welfare and long vacations and have yet to realize "they are not moving toward some sort of nirvana."

FOR SALE: One presidential vote. Willing to exchange vote for President willing to defend Constitution, limit the scope of the governmental nanny state, cut government spending and cut taxes. Price is FIRM and not negotiable. Serious offers only. Tax and spend Democrats and Republicans need not apply.

This is fantastic news:

The U.S. economy grew at an 8.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, faster than the government initially estimated as companies boosted inventories in September to meet the surge in demand.

The nation's gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, grew from July through September at the fastest pace since the first three months of 1984, when Ronald Reagan was president.

It's too bad that the big government Democrats and Republicans appear to be willing to erase all the good economic news with their socialist vote buying programs ala "free" prescription drugs.

Damn, someone beat me to it.

If you are going to download illegal child pornography, bootlegging somebody's unsecure wi-fi connection is probably a wise move. What isn't a wise move is trying to (ahem) wax the tadpole while surfing for child porn and driving around town at the same time. The Register notes that Walter Nowakowski of Canada was spotted driving the wrong way down a one way street. Cops allegedly found him driving with his pants around his ankles, and his laptop picking up child porn over a bootlegged wi-fi connection. They also report that a search of his home turned up "10 computers along with thousands of CDs and floppy disks suspected to contain child porn images".

I don't blame you for having doubts about the HCI 5-year plan I posted yesterday. I can neither verify nor refute the authenticity. I've found it posted several other places, but the source seems to be a mystery. If this is to be believed, it first started circulating in January of 1994. Given that the gun grabbers have actively pushed many items in that plan lead me to believe that it is, for the most part, authentic.

Regardless of the authenticity, the 5-year plan was too ambitious to implement that quickly. Gun grabbers are still out there though, biding their time and waiting for the next school shooting on which to capitalize. If you want to see the long term effects of the "5-year plan", just check out this post by Kevin Baker.

Virginia's tax and spend liberal Governor Mark Warner makes me cringe every time I see him or hear him speak. He is one of the worst Governors the Commonwealth has ever seen, and plans to ruin the state economy before he leaves office in 2006. If Virginia had a recall provision, I would be personally collecting signatures for his ouster.

One sticking point to my hatred for Comrade Warner is his lack of fiscal responsibility. The Washington Post's press release on Mark Warner's recently unveiled tax plan makes me physically ill from the very first paragraph.

Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) on Monday proposed a massive overhaul to the state's tax system that he said would reduce taxes for nearly two-thirds of the state's residents while generating $1 billion in new state money from higher taxes on shoppers, smokers, corporations and the rich.

If you can read and understand bullshit you already know which two-thirds of the population will be getting a tax break, and which third will be footing the bill for it.

The specifics of the Governor's plan to return Virginia to "traditional, conservative budget practices" are disturbing. Warner plans to "stabilize" Virginia's finances by implementing the following:

1% increase in sales taxes.

$715 million increase in "basic school aid".

8% increase in Medicaid.

$140 million "down payment on the funding demands" of state colleges.

Increase cigarette taxes 1000% AND allow individual cities and counties to add their own tax capped at 2000%of the current tax.

Increase income taxes for those earning more than $100,000.

As evidenced by the proposed tobacco tax hike, Warner is following the typical Daschle-Democrat playbook, and pitting Red America vs. Blue America. Considering that Virginia is a leading tobacco state, raising tobacco taxes will further hinder farming and work to destroy the Commonwealth's top cash crop. The money taken from Red America will flow from the rural counties to the overweight budgets of the urban and suburban cities of Blue America. Warner even admits that he plans to stick it to farmers by redistributing wealth, albeit under the guise of fairness.

He also said the plan will correct what he called a fundamentally unfair tax system designed 100 years ago for a rural farming state that no longer exists.

"We will return Virginia to the traditional, conservative budget practices that has been it's hallmark," Warner said. "This is a plan that's fair to the people who pay the bills." [...]

Warner vowed to close loopholes that allow Virginia corporations to avoid paying some taxes on their income. And he said the state must phase out a costly but popular tax break for the elderly.

Warner said his plan reduces the 4-cent sales tax on groceries to 2.5 cents and would impose lower tax rates on working families by increasing deductions and reducing taxes on the first $20,000 of income, saving them millions of dollars each year.

Grrrr. The lies are just infuriating. Every time I hear a politician speak about raising taxes on corporations that are using "loopholes" to avoid paying "their fair share", I want to kick him in the nuts. And his claim that people who make more than $20,000 per year are not considered "working families", nor are they "people who pay the bills" is infuriating.

The kicker to the whole thing is that not once did Warner ever even consider reducing spending items in the budget. He never even looked at spending cuts, and in fact plans to increase spending along with increasing taxes on the evil and hated rich yet again.

This is too funny.

Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.

A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.

The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.

Leaders of School of Americas Watch, which has protested at Fort Benning every year since the early 1990s, said they planned to sue over the noise tactic and accused the Army of a "psychological operation."

Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune notes that in some communities, enough is never enough.

Tobacco opponents once had to endure the risk of being enveloped in fumes anytime they went out to eat. But as the number of smokers has declined, restaurants have adapted to satisfy nonsmokers. They forbid cigars and pipes, offer separate smokers and nonsmokers sections, or simply prohibit smoking altogether.

Wilmette has 39 restaurants, and before the ordinance was passed, 33 of them didn't allow smoking. Anyone with an aversion to the smell of tobacco had plenty of dining options even without crossing village boundaries. Chicago, for that matter, has some 500 smoke-free restaurants.

But getting their way 85 percent of the time was not enough for the proponents of total bans.

Anti-smoking rules are about controlling behavior, not about meeting a non-smoking demand.

When it comes to gun control, proponents make the claim that they only want responsible regulations. People like me are said to be under the paranoid assumption that gun grabbers want to take away all my guns. Well, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean that they aren't really out to get you. Had this ambitious 1993 Game Plan plan laid out by Sarah Brady and the other gun grabbers at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Ownership, formerly Handgun Control Inc., been realized, the world would be a much different place today.

Although the document has been around for quite a while, it has to be one of the most shocking things I have ever read when it comes to gun control. HCI's game plan paints a bleak future for gun owners. The highlights are too numerous to mention so you should read the whole thing. If I had to mention some of the most shocking proposals, there are several which float to the top. For instance, Sarah Brady would make it illegal for more than 4 gun owners to assemble in any one place at a time. They would also make all gun owners names and photographs available to the public, ban gun shows and military re-enactments, and perform "random police checks" searching for those that own firearms.

HCI would also make proliferation of the "gun culture" illegal. Included in their regulations would be a ban on "typical military clothing, camouflage, pouches, and gear, boots and other combat gear", the elimination of armed police officers, and the regulation of "dangerous literature". Yes, the gun grabbers are even making the claim that "the time will come when our nation has to agree that some literature does not belong in a safe society. . . We must realize that there can be such as thing as too much freedom where such literature poses a serious threat to the public safety." I think that statement pretty much sums up their take on the Bill of Rights.

To get the full effect, you really should read the entire memorandum. It is memos like this that could make the phrase "cold dead hands" a tragic reality.

----------Reprinted from here, and mirrored here----------
Summary of Notes and Minutes

Meeting of Friday, December 17, 1993

Rough Draft Proposal for Internal Memo and Five Year Plan

HANDGUN CONTROL, INC.

Following is a summary of Notes and Minutes of a meeting held December 17, 1993 at the Western Regional Office of Handgun Control, Inc. for the purpose of discussing strategy and defining an agenda for the formulation of gun control legislation in 1994 and the following five years. The document is on Handgun Control stationary, and is marked CONFIDENTIAL-Not For General Distribution. Also included is an attachment on HCI stationary which is marked:

HCI - Confidential Document DO NOT DISTRIBUTE OR COPY/NOT FOR GENERAL CIRCULATION. The attachment is also marked CONFIDENTIAL, and Confidential Information for use by Lobbyists or Senior Officers Only. The attachment is dated December 29, 1993 and contains details relative to the Notes and Minutes of the December 17, 1993 meeting. The material was distributed to the following individuals:

Richard Aborn David Birenbaum Lee Fisher
Larry Lowenstein John Phillips Helen Raiser
Maurice Rosenblatt Jeanne Shields Odile Stern
N.T. Shields Sarah Brady Stanley E. Foster
John Hechinger Edward O. Welles Charles J. Orasin
Lois Hess Sandy Cooney Amy Weitz

The contents of the document were to be forwarded to the national office for reference, and a series of brainstorming sessions are to be held at the White House through the winter of 1994. A brief discussion on Fundraisers and Press Releases follows, with reference to swaying votes for Sen. Feinstein's Assault Weapon Ban, and the drafting of a letter of support to Rep. Charles Schemer to offer additional materials for his use in testimony and press conferences. The document urges HCI members to continue their high profile supporting gun control issues and to continue with their praise of President Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno, and Senator Dianne Feinstein for their political courage in standing up to the Gun Lobby. The following is summarized from the content of the general document and the Attachment.

WHAT IS PENDING NOW, AND CAN BE LAW IN 1994!

A)Ban of all clips holding over 6 bullets.

B)Ban on all semiautos which can fire more than 6 bullets without reloading.

C)Ban on possession of parts.

D)Ban on all pump shotguns capable of being converted to over 5 shots without reloading.

E)Banning of all machine guns, destructive devices, short shot guns/rifles, assault weapons, Saturday Night Specials and Non- Sporting ammunition.

F)Arsenal licensing for possession of multiple guns and large amounts of ammunition.

G)Elimination of the Department of Civilian Marksmanship.

H)Ban on possession of a firearm within a home located within 1000 feet of a schoolyard.

I)Ban on all realistic replicas/toy guns or non-firearms capable of being rendered realistic.

J)The right of victims of gun violence to sue manufacturers and dealers to be affirmed and perhaps, aided with money from government programs.

K)Taxes on ammo, dealers licenses and guns to offset the medical costs to society.

L)The eventual ban of all semi-automatics regardless of when made or what caliber.

WHAT WAS ONLY A DREAM TEN YEARS AGO CAN BE REALITY AS EARLY AS THIS YEAR!!!

The memo describes subjects discussed during a "brain storming" session conducted after the formal meeting. The focus of this session was to guide gun control initiatives over the next five years. The document states that these subjects may not be politically feasible ideas for 1994, but the members are confident that with continued pressure they can achieve most if not all of these goals within the next five years. These goals are summarized below:

FIVE YEAR PLAN:

1) National licensing of all handgun purchases.

2) License for rifle and shotguns. Strict licensing should be mandatory for all firearms, whether handguns or not.

3) State licenses for ownership of firearms. It is reasonable to require that all individual must prove that they require a firearm.

4) Reduction of the number of guns to require an arsenal license. The suggestion is that the number be reduced to possession of greater than 5 guns and 250 rounds of ammunition.

5) Arsenal license fees. It is reasonable to require an annual fee of at least $300.00, with a cap of $1,000.00.

6) Limits on arsenal licensing. No license permitted in counties with populations in excess of 200,000.

7) Requirement of Federally Approved storage safe for all guns.

8) Inspection licensing of all safes. This would be a good revenue source, and would be conducted yearly.

PUBLIC SAFETY REGULATIONS:

9) Ban on manufacturing in counties with a population of more than 200,000.

10) Ban on all military style firearms. This will be based on a "point system" and hopefully can be expanded to include high powered air guns and paint ball weapons.

11) Banning of any machine gun parts or parts which can be used in a machine gun.

12) Banning the carrying of a firearm anywhere but home or target range. There should be a federal mandate to the states regulating the carrying of firearms.

13) Banning replacement parts.

14) Elimination of the Curio relic list. A gun is a gun.

15) Control of ammunition belonging to certain surplus firearms.

16) Eventual ban on handgun possession. We think that within 5 years we can enact a total ban on possession at the federal level.

17) Banning of any ammunition that fits military guns (post 1945).

AMMUNITION AND EXPLOSIVES:

18) Banning of any quantity of smokeless powder or black powder which would constitute more than the equivalent of 100 rounds of ammunition.

19) Ban on the possession of explosive powders of more than 1 kilogram at any one time.

20) Banning of high powered ammo and wounding ammo.

21) A national license for ammunition.

22) Banning or strict licensing of all re-loading components.

23) National registration of ammunition or ammo buyers.

24) Requirement of special storage safe for ammunition and licensing.

GUN RANGES:

25) Restricting gun ranges to counties with populations less than 200,000.

26) Special licensing of ranges. The range must have the written permission of all property owners within 7 miles.

27) Special range tax to visitors. $85.00/day/person proposed.

28) Waiting period for rentals on pistol ranges.

ACTIVITIES WHICH PROMOTE GUN VIOLENCE:

29) Banning gun shows.

30) Banning of military re-enactments. This includes survivalist and paramilitary, as well as WW1, WW2, and Civil War re-enactment's on federal land. We hope to encourage the states to prohibit them from state and county lands as well.

31) Making unlawful the assembly of more than 4 armed individuals who are not peace officers or military.

32) Begin to curb hunting on all public lands.

33) Making gun owners records and photos a matter of public record.

34) Random police checks for weapons (like sobriety checkpoints).

THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS:

The document goes on to say that with the present allies in the White House and Congress it is now possible to remove guns from public hands. Following is a discussion on the banning of military accouterments (military clothing, camouflage, pouches, gear, boots and other combat gear). There is also a discussion on the formation of strict guidelines for violence in television and the movies. This includes the provision for suing the makers of shows deemed violent in content. If the industry will not regulate itself, then there should be an independent branch of government to determine which scenes cause more harm than good to the public, and regulate the number of violent acts portrayed.

The document concludes with a discussion on the total elimination of arms from society. This includes the control of dangerous literature. The statement is made that there is too much irresponsible material covered by the first amendment, and that there can be such a thing as too much freedom where literature poses a serious threat to the public safety.

ATTACHMENT 1:

I. PROPOSED LICENSE FEES - 1994-1995 GUN CONTROL PROPOSALS:

The document includes an attachment which gives an overview of the proposed license fees for 1994/1995 Gun Control Proposals. This includes an escalation of fees, which start at $50.00 in the first year, and conclude with fees of $625.00 in the eighth year. The enclosure also covers a $1,000.00 fine and 6 months jail for failure to acquire a license, followed by recommendations of $5,000.00 and 12 months jail for failure to maintain a license, and $15,000.00 and 18 months jail for failure to turn over guns for destruction after lapse of license. Failure to re-new a license or notify issuing authority of change of status would be considered a felony. All firearms owned would then be considered contraband and could be confiscated. There is also a schedule for the licensing of rifles and shotguns, and the proposal for arsenal licensing. This includes a $300.00 to $1,000.00 annual fee, and $200.00/gun if over the prescribed limit. There is also a provision for assessing $100.00/50 rounds over the limit for ammunition. Included is an outline covering the suggested fee schedule for a Safe License of $228.00 to $392.00 per year, and Ammunition Registration and License of $55.00 to $117.00 per year to purchase ammunition. Other fees discussed include: Federal Re-Loading License of $130.00 to $175.00 per year. Ammunition Safe License Fee of $55.00 to $75.00 per year. Range License fee of $12,000.00 to $15,000.00 per year. Range Tax fee of $85.00 to $100.00 per person per visit. Inspection License fee of $588.00 to $688.00 per year.

II. SUGGESTIONS WHICH CAN BE MADE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE TO KEY POLITICIANS AND THE SECRETARY OF THE U.S. TREASURY:

The attachment recommends members suggest the following to key politicians and the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury: Increase dealers license to $600.00 to $700.00 per year. Increase Title 1 Manufacturing License fee to $6,200.00 to $9,400.00 per year. And increase Title 2 Manufacturing License fees to $13,000.00 to $18,000.00 per year.

III. AN ESTIMATE OF THE FISCAL IMPACT OF THE LICENSING ON FIREARMS OWNERSHIP:

A recap of the fiscal impact of the licensing of firearms ownership is shown to be $1,556.00 to $3,473.00 per year. The document states that this cost is not unreasonable, since it would offset considerably the estimated $60 billion in medical and social costs related to gun violence. Ultimately, such action would take the glamour and attraction out of firearms ownership and decrease the numbers of gun owners to a manageable number.

IV. REDUCTION OF GUN OWNER POPULATION AND POTENTIAL YEARLY REVENUE:

The document states that it is estimated the referenced proposals would allow us to take guns out of the hands of an estimated 30 million unsuitable or ineligible individuals. The fees for the remaining qualifying individuals would additionally reduce the number to about 14 million gun owners. The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of licenses to zero.

V. POSSIBLE USES FOR THE REVENUE:

Revenue generated from fees could be used to institute a mandatory national educational campaign in the public schools (K thru 12) to de-glamorize guns and gun ownership, and to tell the truth about the Second Amendment. Fees could also be used to mount a well funded and concerted campaign to add credence to the calls for eliminating the Second Amendment entirely via constitutional amendment. Also, fees would provide a revenue source for the cost of enforcement of the new laws by Federal and State Law Enforcement officials, and provide an offsetting monetary fund to provide medical services and legal services to victims of gun violence. There is also a recommendation for the establishment of a national toll free number for reporting violators of the new gun restrictions and non-licenses. A sum may be set aside for cash rewards for tips which result in conviction.

There is discussion on additional revenue sources via gun related activities (range fees, taxes, etc.), It is estimated that there will be a drop of 40% in such activities in the first year, and an additional drop of 35% the second year.

VI. LEGAL ACTION AND POSSIBLE NEW REVENUE SOURCES:

The attachment discuses legal actions and possible new revenue sources, and states that pending issues are to be given at the appropriate time to the LCAV office for investigation as to feasibility, implementation, and public reaction. At no time should these suggestions be made public before it can be ascertained what the current public reaction might be, and have this information given to the LCAV attorneys before release.

There will be a concerted P.R. campaign over the period of several years, which will include press releases, press conferences, direct lobbying, and constant pressure via the national media. The aim of this campaign is to change the way America thinks in regards to guns and gun owners. Once gun owners in America have been identified through a verifiable source, it would be possible to seek further compensation for the victims of gun violence through legal means. As a group, the gun nuts would constitute an identifiable entity for class action suits and other legal actions for compensation.

It would be expected that gun groups and lobbying groups such as the NRA would encourage non-compliance. Thus, nationally recognized groups will be technically "organizing to break the law". Once this can be proven, these groups will be vulnerable to lawsuits based on the RICO statute and drained of their financial resources through repeated legal action. There is a discussion on the suing of the makers of toy/replica guns, toy weapons, and violent entertainment. The threat of legal action would convince many manufacturers and distributors that other non-violent related toys would be more worthwhile to sell. Items could include: Violent video games, television shows, movies, video tapes, water guns, super soakers, electronic noise guns, replica guns, toy weapons like swords, batons, and martial arts items. The attachment concludes by stating that Tort law as we know it may not have to undergo a change in order to facilitate these actions. It is not necessary to actually win in order to affect change, since the constant threat of legal action will induce change in the way people do business.

A Quick Guide to Arguing With The Gun Zealots

There is also a page on Handgun Control stationary titled "A QUICK GUIDE TO ARGUING WITH THE GUN ZEALOTS" which lists strategic points to remember for public speaking. It points out that the general public is confused between semi-automatic and automatic weapons and that this confusion can work in HCI's favor. Constantly dropping the words submachine gun, fully automatic, machine gun, military weapon, and high tech killing machine are good debater's tricks used to instill a sense of dread over these weapons. Other points include a discussion on semi-automatic weapons, endangerment of children, enough is enough, and there are too many guns in the U.S. There is also a brief listing of "Points of Victory in the Past Ten Years".

Banning handguns has not helped Australia. Even when smuggling of illegal firearms is curtailed, criminals will find a way. For instance police have made arrests in an illegal manufacturing ring, where criminals were making and distributing as many as 2500 keyring guns the size of a cigarette lighter. Of course with a total ban, the illegal guns industry is completely non-regulated. Criminal manufacturers don't follow any safety rules and sell guns to criminals and children.

I have upgraded the website to Movable Type 2.64 and implemented a comment anti-spam feature. I tested it, and it seems to be working fine, so let me know if you run into any problems.

I had been running 2.51, but the anti-spam plugin requires 2.6 or better so I had to upgrade. I don't see anything really all that new with Movable Type, so I don't think I missed much by not upgrading sooner. I only upgrade to get new features, not just for the sake of upgrading like many people.

There will be a notable lack of blogging this weekend as I travel to Blacksburg for the last home game of the VT season. Back Sunday.

(Photo via Reuters)

I haven't paid much attention to the Michael Jackson arrest, although I did hear a radio clip with Jermaine (or was it Tito) who claimed Jacko was being "lynched". It was as close to playing the "race card" as I've heard so far, and it made me wonder if the defense team will claim that ex-LAPD officer Mark Furman planted a bloody condom at the crime scene to pin the whole thing on Michael.

Exxon reps have some really good news for global plant life reports CNN.

Worldwide annual emissions of carbon dioxide . . . are expected to increase by 3.5 billion tons, or 50 percent, by the year 2020, an executive for ExxonMobil Corp said.

This is fantastic news for environmentalists and plant lovers, who know carbon dioxide is crucial for all plant life on earth.

As a straight man, I'm a little shocked at all the homosexual bigotry going on. There are a lot of conservatives out there saying that they have nothing against homosexuals or what they do behind closed doors, but on the other hand they don't want them to have the same rights under the law as heterosexuals.

I am hearing more and more arguments and "what if" games being played against gay marriage, and none of them hold water. The simple truth is that when two consenting adults who love each other and want to pledge the rest of their lives together, it doesn't matter one bit whether or not they are of the opposite sex. Also, the state should not have the ability to provide benefits for some while denying them for others based solely on their sexual preference.

Most of the "what if" arguments try taking things to the extreme to validate their point. It is the same arguments that gun banners use when they ask if everyone should be permitted to carry around hand grenades or nucular weapons. Here are some of my favorites:

Should people be permitted to marry their dog? -- Well, if the dog has opposable thumbs and can sign the marriage license, I say go for it. You'd have better luck with an orangutan or other primate though.

Should people be permitted to marry little kids? -- Why does every argument about gays always delve into a question of pedophilia? Considering states already forbid heterosexuals from marrying someone under the age of consent, it is a complete red herring. It is a cheap ploy used to drag out the for the children mantra.

Should people be permitted to marry their sister? -- Here we go with incest. To be perfectly honest, as long as you both are consenting adults, I fail to see where it matters to me. Your sister may have something to say about it though, and you'll probably have babies with eight heads, but if it floats your boat, go for it. The reasoning that incestuous relationships may result in a greater number of birth defects, is really no reason to outlaw it either. Parents who are dwarfs or have genetic defects are also more likely to have children with defects. Should we make it illegal for them to procreate?

Allowing homosexuals to marry cheapens the institute of marriage. -- As if gay marriage is worse than shows like Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?. The idea that someone else's relationship could cheapen your's simply by existing is ludicrous. Is your relationship with your spouse really so fragile that you feel the need to tell other people how to live their lives?

But homosexuality is immoral. -- So are a lot of other things. Divorce is also immoral, perhaps we should outlaw that. I think it's immoral to bring children into the world that you cannot afford to raise, but I'm not advocating that we start locking up teenagers who get knocked up.

While I wholeheartedly support the state recognition of gay marriage, I do disagree with the judicial activism. Matters like this are best left up to the Legislative branch of government, however I can hardly blame the courts, given this recent Supreme Court decision. At this point the lower courts really have no other choice.

Radley Balko waxes poetically about property rights and anti-smoking:

The fact that Washington residents can currently choose between establishments that do or do not allow smoking somehow smacks anti-tobacco activists as oppressive. The goal isn't to ensure that everyone has options, it's to make sure everyone is forced to choose the option they've deemed appropriate.

Balko notes that the anti-smoking crusade is not about freedom it is about tyranical control over human behavior. Anti-smokers and their apathetic enablers have gone from pursuading people not to smoke, to mandating it with the threat of lethal force.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft has been one of the largest champions of criminal's rights since Illinois Governor Ryan commuted or pardoned everyone on death row. Taft has been a strong supporter of the "carjacker protection" passage of the concealed carry bill, which would make carrying a gun in your vehicle illegal unless it was disabled so that it could not be used for self defense.

Taft's latest move to protect the criminal class involves setting up a database whereby criminals could check to see if potential victims possess a concealed carry permit. Taft thinks that muggers and rapists should not have to confront victims without knowing whether or not they are armed. As such he has threatened to veto any bill that does not include a provision for an informational database on who has a concealed firearm permit and who doesn't.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Taft said that criminals have a right to know who has a gun and who doesn't. Of course the ones who should really be worried are those that don't. Taft's bill would make them an easier mark.

The town of Poolesville has taken a stand for property rights, reports the Gazette.

Patrons of Poolesville bars and restaurants can continue to light up after the town commissioners voted Monday night not to adopt the Montgomery County smoking ban that went into effect last month.

"I believe sometimes government sticks its nose in too many places," Commissioner Jerry Klobukowski said, making the motion to preserve smoking at Monday's town meeting.

The vote was 3-0, with Commissioner Tom Dillingham abstaining. Commissioner Andy Johnson was absent.

It's nice to hear someone in government actually admit that it isn't their place to be all knowing and all powerful. Of course this blows holes in the "consistency" goal (read TOTAL ban) that Michael Bopp from the American Cancer Society claims is necessary to mold human behavior.

HokiePundit is taking his perks in stride.

As part of being in the Marching Virginians, I get to go to away games (for free, with financial compensation, on the taxpayer's dime...this must be what it's like to be a Democrat).

Taking a look at these memos, there is no question that the Senate Democrats have been politicizing the judicial process. The memos speak of delaying nominations until after the election and after high profile cases had come to a head. That they were particularly worried about nominations being approved that could have impacted the Affirmative Action case at the U. of Michigan, displays that the Senators have little respect for the actual rule of law. There are also numerous references to doing what the special interests want (especially AFL-CIO, "civil rights leaders", and NARAL); something of which I'm sure both parties are frequently guilty.

Please read, and then express shock and awe.

(link via Brian Preston, via Spoons)

This is quite sickening.

A concessions worker filled used plastic cups with beer and resold them at Sunday's Tampa Bay Buccaneers game and pocketed $1,080 in unreported sales, police said.

John Angelus Keene, 68, was charged with felony grand theft, said Tampa police Detective Bill Todd.

Todd said he observed Keene picking up used cups from tables and refilling them without rinsing them at a Bud Light booth near the south end zone of Raymond James Stadium.

I cannot wait for the lawsuit against the Bucs, the NFL, the stadium owners, and Budweiser. Everyone, of course, except the concessions worker who has probably been doing this all season.

The issue of gay marriage has once again been thrust into the spotlight, so I must once again go on record as being in favor of it. The position makes me unpopular with some conservatives, and to them I say bite me. Marriage is an institution that traces its roots back thousands of years. The idea that a bond between a loving couple must be regulated, licensed, and taxed by the state is offensive to homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. So is the idea that permitting a same sex couple to marry would somehow cheapen the relationship of everyone in a "traditional" marriage.

Forgive me, for being libertarian, but I fail to see where the harm lies in allowing same sex couples to marry or form "civil unions". As long as they are not a threat to my life, liberty, or property I really don't care if homosexuals get married or not. As I have yet to hear any convincing evidence as to how a gay marriage would impact my life at all, let alone have an impact on my liberty, I'll keep a laissez-faire outlook on it.

It seems to me that marriages should be a contract between a couple and God. The state needs only to recognize marriages for purposes of taxation, settlement of estates, consolidation of resources, and other matters relating to the state. Letting homosexuals marry doesn't impact any of that. Why shouldn't married homosexuals be permitted the state benefits as those afforded to straight marriages?

The only convincing issue that opponents can reasonably float is when children are involved. While I agree that children are best raised by a mother and a father, it doesn't strike me as something that should be subject to state regulation. If homosexual parents are banned for violating the "traditional" family unit, single parents must be subjected to the same restrictions. When it comes to parenting and the care of children, it should only come down to the safety and well being of the child, and the state should only be permitted to intervene when it is warranted.

The little rascal isn't even born yet and my friend Ken already sent me a damned photo. Notice that the kid isn't even out of the womb yet and he's already drinking a Mickey's.

The results of this poll are pretty telling. My guess is that the 6% that aren't shocked to hear about Michael Jackson's arrest warrant are the same 6% that let their kiddies go spend the night at his house.

UPDATE: I did my part. I just ordered two more surplus tins (1400 total rounds) of 7.62x39 for my evil assault weapon AK-47.

Ohio has been fighting for concealed carry for a few years now. They had a good house bill passed, but the senate added "carjacker protection", which would make it illegal to carry a gun in your car. OFCC quotes a few of the supporters of the "carjacker protection" clause.

"We do not want a loaded firearm readily accessible to the driver of a car. If there's a dangerous situation and you're in your car, you can drive off." - Capt. John Born, Ohio State Highway Patrol.

"...Of all the changes made by the Senate, as a father, I am most proud of the work we did to ensure the safety of Ohio children under this bill." - Steve Austria, who chaired the committee which added Taft's "Carjacker Protection" provision in the Senate.

"The bill as passed by the Senate gives law-abiding citizens the opportunity to protect themselves by carrying a concealed weapon, while protecting the best interests and safety of all Ohioans." Senate President Doug White, who delayed appointing conference committee members for four months for political reasons.

That gives little solace to the family of this man.

A man was shot to death about 2:30 a.m. Friday while driving on Lechner Ave. near Sullivant Ave., on the West Side. Columbus police believe the driver was trying to back away from his assailant when he was shot.

It comes as no surprise that a jury from the conservative land of Pat Robertson (where your's truly grew up by the way) would quickly convict John Allen Muhammad for the multiple murders in Virginia, DC, Maryland and Alabama. I would be very surprised if they don't come through with a death sentence.

Virginia is very tough on criminals. We have no parole and are second in executions behind Texas. (Per capita, methinks we beat them.) I can only hope that the future executions of serial killers Muhammad and Malvo will help us one day gain the number one spot. While my liberal friends have stopped short of calling my fondness for the death penalty disturbing, they have told me that my state pride is a little misplaced.

ASIDE: I am reminded of a nice Arkansas girl I met in a bar one night. We were having a lovely conversation and really hitting it off. That is until she said something about derogatory about Texas. I blurted out "Well, you have to admire their willingness to follow through with the death penalty." The look of shock and awe on her face was enough to tell me that I'd lost her. I tried to just let it go. I told her we should agree to disagree, but after about 10 more minutes she just couldn't drop it. Oh well.

Q: How do you know your football team sucks?

A: When your top news story is that your quarterback is changing his name from Mike back to Michael.

I cannot help but think that this would make a perfect Christmas gift for Dawn Olsen.

At the time I didn't think twice about this costume. That it appears to be having a humorous effect on people like Dax and Kim, makes it that much more rewarding.

Scott Norvell reports that the PC nazis in Britain are stamping out "racist" personal ads. (emphasis mine)

A jilted pub owner in Britain who advertised in search of a "single white male" for companionship was told to remove the message because it was racist, reports London's Sun.

Diane Prestidge said she was lonely after her husband walked out on her so she put a blackboard up outside her pub in Drybrook. "Wanted: part-time single white male, 40-50," it said. "Must like cats. Must have a wicked sense of humor to cheer up overworked, underpaid, flu-ravaged, p****d-off pub landlady."

Shortly afterward, she said, representatives of the local race equality council paid a visit and told her to erase the message or face the consequences.

Such is the hypocrisy of the PC crowd that looking for an Anglo-Saxon date is considered racist but intimidation and threats are acceptable.

KFDM-TV tells us of some really dumb criminals. The Reader's Digest version goes like this:

Men walk into convenience store and pull out a gun.

Gun falls apart, and men flee enraged broom-wielding store owner.

Woman tries to retrieve pieces of gun, but also flees enraged broom-wielding store owner.

Trio flees store in van and get as far as the nearest ditch.

Trio flees van on foot.

One is later apprehended when reporting his van stolen.

Washington D.C. politicians are considering nullifying the property rights of business owners, and forcing them to ban smoking in their establishments. The decision is being hailed in Montgomery County, where smoking is already banned and thousands of customers are hopping across the border to patronize businesses in the District. Meanwhile, anti-smokers have been ratcheting up the propaganda in support of both the Maryland and D.C. ban.

An estimated 53,000 people die each year from secondhand smoke nationwide -- Montgomery County Community Partnership Executive Director Doug Tipperman in the Washington Times in October.

"Secondhand smoke is estimated to cause 65,000 deaths per year in the United States." -- the "facts" according to Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO in November.

I wonder if the AFL-CIO has thought this all the way through. Although they are correct that studies show that bars and restaurants that survive the ban will probably do better in the long run, from an overall economic standpoint, there will be a huge loss of jobs and decreased competition. It only stands to reason that as restaurants leave the market, economic forces will eventually sway in favor of the survivors. Individual restaurants will probably see business taper off for 6 months or more, but as their competitors close up shop and lay off their employees, their business will recover. Overall, however, the economy suffers.

The real losers are Joe and Jane Bartender who will see a huge drop in their paychecks. They will also have much more time to enjoy breathing that cleaner air, on the second shift they'll need to pick up to make up for the lost wages. Bantheban.org points out that the "65,000 deaths" figure doesn't seem to be factually grounded, and is more than four times the homicide rate of the United States.

Meanwhile, businesses in New York are losing so much business because of the ban that the state is planning on letting them apply for waivers. Of course the pro-temperance nannies at the American Cancer Society are fighting the move. In response to claims that businesses are losing revenue, Michael Bopp had this to say (emphasis mine):

"Our first response is, prove it. It was always anticipated that there would be some minor, temporary disruption of business. But over time as other states and other municipalities have demonstrated, business comes back, once the consumers adjust to the new market place."

Bopp, who pushed for a smoking ban on the theory that secondhand smoke causes cancer, wants businesses to prove that they are suffering economically. (It should be noted that the World Health Organization studied the effects of secondhand smoke for 7 years and no matter how hard they tried, could not link secondhand smoke to cancer.) Bopp continued:

"Once they begin to grant waivers, there is a risk that some places will get off the hook and some places will comply and then you have an economic disaster looming where some businesses can't be competitive. The only way to keep it fair is to keep it consistent."

Bopp is admitting that the smoke ban is only effective at modifying human behavior if smoking is banned everywhere. Bopp says that by allowing some restaurants to permit smoking, there is an unfair competitive disadvantage to those that cannot permit smoking. If this is true, then it must also be true that banning smoking hurts businesses. Otherwise there would be no need to make the ban "consistent". By the way, by "consistent", Bopp means sea to shining sea and on all land public and private.

There is something fundamentally wrong with this:

Shreveport is home to lots of people with southern drawls, and it's giving the police department fits.

The department's high-tech voice recognition system for routing non-emergency calls gets confused by drawls - what one police official calls "lazy mouth." Many callers have been misdirected to the wrong person or department.

So let me get this straight. The police department uses a machine to answer the telephone and route calls to the proper department, but it's the callers who are "lazy".

Tax and spend congressmen have reached an agreement on one of the largest vote buying entitlement schemes in Medicare history, reports Fox News.

Republican congressional leaders said they sealed a tentative agreement Saturday on a new prescription drug benefit for the nation's seniors, which would be the largest expansion in Medicare's history. [...]

At its core, beginning in 2006, it would give millions of older Americans a prescription drug benefit, projected to cost $400 billion over 10 years.

Any politician who votes for this new entitlement has no right to bitch about the budget deficit. Also, does anyone on Capitol Hill actually believe the cost of this program will actually come in at a mere $400 billion?

The Heritage Foundation takes a comprehensive look at the ramifications of Congress' recklessness, and conclude the the following are quite likely:

The size of government will expand -- A new entitlement will take America even faster down the road that has caused so much economic damage in Europe's welfare states. Indeed, the unfunded Medicare expansion is essentially a huge future tax increase since the population of Medicare recipients will nearly double once the baby-boom generation retires. Ironically, just when some European countries are waking up to the problem and restraining unfunded entitlements, America will be creating an enormous new entitlement.

President Bush's recently enacted tax cut and tax reform package will likely be the first casualty -- Because of arcane budget rules, the bulk of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire at the end of 2008 and the end of 2010. Extending these tax cuts or making them permanent will be enormously difficult in an environment of skyrocketing spending for government-provided health care. Indeed, the creation of a prescription drug entitlement may be akin to repealing the Bush tax cuts.

By adding to the deficit, the huge new unfunded liability will likely be the death knell of further tax relief and fundamental tax reform -- A prescription drug benefit means bigger deficits--a problem that will intensify as the baby boomers start to retire in the next decade. Once these demographic and fiscal variables become part of the budget forecast, lawmakers seeking to cut taxes and create a simple and fair tax code, such as the flat tax, in all probability will face insurmountable political obstacles.

It is appalling that congress is willing to risk the financial future of this nation in the interest of a political power grab. Partisanship has both parties worried about the 2004 election and being able to take credit for a sweeping new entitlement program will be quite a feather in the cap of incumbents when they come up for re-election. Although I seriously doubt that will happen, I can only hope that those of us that end up having to pay for this monstrosity will make those that vote for it pay the political price come November.

Joseph Duemer takes one comment spammer to task, sending the company an invoice for the advertisement they posted on his site. Hillarity ensued.

Missouri police got an earful from a motorist charged in an auto accident, reports The Examiner. They note that Daniel Smith, who was allegedly involved in a motor vehicle accident, threatened officers with copyright lawsuits if they tried to record his name.

But when they asked Daniel Smith, 45, the driver of the striking vehicle, for his driver's license, he told them his name was copyrighted. Instead of handing them his license, he gave them a piece of paper he had generated on a computer saying that anyone who duplicated his name in any fashion would be subject to a lawsuit. [...]

The officers then called in for a supervisor. After he arrived, he was immediately added to the list of people being sued.

When the supervisor explained that Smith would need to contact the city's Law Department, he said each time his name appears on any document it was a $500,000 action and if it was not paid within 10 days, it goes to $1.5 million.

Mr. Smith's alleged behavior reminds me of the George Kellerman character, who threatened to sue the entire City of New York in the Out-of-Towners.

That is the reason for blocking the judicial nomination of Miguel Estrada, according to one democrat staffer, reports the Washington Times.

In one memo to Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois obtained by The Washington Times, Washington lawyer Miguel A. Estrada is singled out as "especially dangerous" because "he is Latino." [...]

In the Nov. 7, 2001, memo, the Durbin staffer was recounting a meeting his boss had missed with Mr. Kennedy and "representatives of various civil rights groups."

"[Y]esterday's meeting focused on identifying the most controversial and/or vulnerable judicial nominees, and a strategy for targeting them," the staffer wrote about the groups present. "They also identified Miguel Estrada (D.C. Circuit) as especially dangerous, because he has a minimal paper trail, he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment."

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary committee have an agenda to keep minorities, especially conservative minorities, from getting ahead. Estrada was bucking the trend with his success. He got there on his own through hard work and determination instead of government handouts. Letting him take a seat on the D.C. circuit would endanger the political power of those that rely on people's dependence.

Fourty-four Democrats have denied a vote on the nominations of 4 minority appointments (Miguel Estrada, Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen, Carolyn Kuhl), as well as those of Charles Pickering and William Pryor. In their defense, all the 44 Dems can do is attack fellow Democrat Zell Miller for calling the filibuster of Judge Janice Rogers Brown a "lynching".

I finally got around to posting the entire Halloween Party 2003 album. If you are interested, feel free to check it out.

Another town is working to pass a Kennesaw (GA) style gun law that requires a gun and ammunition to be maintained in every home. Geuda Springs (KS) city council approved a law modeled after the 1982 Kennesaw statute that requires the head of every household to own and maintain a firearm and ammunition. Obvious exceptions are convicted felons and the mentally or physically disabled, as well as gun fearing wussies (who they refer to as "conscientious objectors").

"We are an incorporated city," [Geuda Springs City Council member John] Brewer said. "As an incorporated city, we have duties and responsibilities to our citizens. One is utilities, one is protection and one is judicial services. We currently provide utilities and judicial services are provided by the county, but we currently don't provide protection. Here in Geuda Springs, we don't have a police force or a marshal, and the protection of the people is mandated to the city government. The ordinance is really just a legal statement that shows that we are providing for protection of our citizens. It fulfils the duty to protect by allowing each individual household to provide for his or her own protection. We are simply using the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to the City of Geuda Springs' advantage."

Although the statute has been approved by the city council, it still needs to be signed to become law. Violation of the ordinance will carry a $10 fine.

Related articles:
A chicken in every pot, a gun on every nightstand -- 10/31/2003

This is disturbing.

Earlier this year, the Ohio Supreme Court claimed that a concealed carry ban was not unconstitutional. They based their decision on the fact that open carry is perfectly legal in Ohio. Since open carry of firearms is legal, Ohioans are not being denied their right to self protection. The ruling has led to numerous self defense walks all over Ohio, including one in Youngstown.

While citizens walked through Youngstown openly carrying firearms unmolested, the Youngstown Police Chief Robert Bush had this to say about open carry (emphasis mine):

"If I get a call about one of you walking and carrying a gun, I will arrest you and you will go to jail and we'll let the judges figure it out. I am not going to explain to the person calling that you are simply exercising your right to carry. I don't care. I will arrest you and you can explain the situation in front of a judge."

I would expect as much from the land of James Traficant. Still, when we reach a point in time where officials of the state are willing to violate their oaths of office and willingly express an intent to break the law, it is time for them to be removed from office. Would Bush take a similar approach with people exercising their freedom of expression or press?

Even if you are not a gun owner or someone who would normally champion civil rights, you should at least be able to admit that police chiefs should obey the law. Especially when just up the road in Canton, innocent men are left to spend months behind bars. By expressing such contempt for the state supreme court and the law of the land in Ohio, Chief Bush has shown that he is no longer fit to serve in the executive branch. Bush should be removed from office for making such a statement.

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A few weeks ago there was a story in the news of an 89 year old woman evicted from her farm after more than 55 years over a $572 tax bill. The farm, valued at over $800,000, was sold to a developer for a mere $15,000.

This week the buyer gave the home back to the elderly woman and received a refund from the state.

In case you missed it, Wisconsin passed a concealed carry bill this week and sent it to the governor's desk for his veto. The bill passed both the Assembly and the Senate with near veto proof majorities, so even when (not if) the governor vetoes it, they may be able to override it. That would most certainly put them in the bullpen with New Mexico and Missouri, where anti-gunners are making their last stand in court, after having lost in the Legislature.

Telemarketer: "You've won a free trip. Either you a friend or a family member submitted your name, and you won!"

Ravenwood: "Ok, what's my name?"

Telemarketer: "Um... uh...."

[click]

Back in September, I noted a New York Post story about a New York City bartender who was fired for looking the other way around smoking customers. It looks like she may have been stuck between a rock and a hard place on the issue. The rock being Michael Bloomberg's stringent anti-ashtray law, and the hard place being her employer who didn't want his bartenders making waves with the customers. In the end, she was the fall guy. Here is her comment/letter in it's entirety:

Below please find the letter that I wrote to the editor of the NY Post in response to the story published about me. You'll find that everything that was published therein was either untrue or contained such inherent vagaries that it was not possible to ascertain the facts regarding the events as they had actually occurred. Please read:

"To the editor:
re: Bartender Fired in Puff Huff 9/28

I am the bartender who is losing her job over this incident and I was, to say the least, greatly dismayed by the story that was printed about me. A number of things bother me about this article beginning with fabricated quotes being attributed to me. But that aside, the details of the incidents involving health department inspectors who entered the bar as well as my employer's smoking policy at the time were blatantly omitted from your story. There was no mention of the fact, which I expressly related to your reporter, that my boss, Mr. DeMarco, had been allowing patrons to smoke in the bar up until the time of the first inspection. All of the staff at Puffy's were given instructions by him to "don't ask, don't tell" when it came to customers lighting up on the premises. In other words, we were told to ignore smoking in the bar altogether. Consequently, I was between a rock and a hard place when the inspectors came to call. Admittedly, I did lose my temper with one inspector upon the suggestion that I call the police on my customers, who by the way are my bread and butter as I depend on their tips for my livelihood. However, there was also no mention of the fact that my angry words were reiterated to me verbatim in retaliation by the same inspector in question. Furthermore, immediately following this short exchange, I extricated myself from the situation realizing that what I had done was wrong. The half-hour shouting match described in your article took place between the inspector and a couple of outraged customers, one of whom had asked to see her badge and was refused. I was in no way involved in the situation at that point except as an eye-witness. Mr. DeMarco was not on the scene until most of this had already passed and therefore cannot act as a reliable source of information regarding these events. He was once again not around at all when the follow up inspection occurred three weeks later.

By the time that this next inspection came around, a strict no-smoking policy had been put in place and no one was found smoking on the premises. It is stated in the article that I "ignored" the inspector during this second visit, this being the reason on record for the loss of my job. In fact, this was not the case at all. On this occasion, after identifying herself, the inspector wandered around the bar for several minutes without asking me for any help and at one point let herself into the basement storage area. When she returned upstairs, she planted herself behind the bar and attempted to block me as I was running about serving my customers. She had still not spoken to me about anything specific at this point. I politely told her that I would be with her just as soon as I'd finished taking care of my customers. Just as I'd finished she raised her voice at me declaring that she was going to give me two minutes to show her where the bar's health permit was. I immediately lead her to the area where the permit was hanging while she shouted at me "Where is it? Give it to me now!" Mr. DeMarco telephoned the bar just after this and I put him on the line with the inspector who claimed to him that I was being 'uncooperative'. No ticket was issued on this occasion.

The end result of all of this is that I am being railroaded out of a job that I desperately need by a heartless employer who is trying to cover his own back and who will not listen to a single rational word that I have to say regarding the matter. I have honestly been looking for work, this time outside of the bar industry, for one month now and have had no success as of yet. I worry that any potential employer who may have read the story that you've printed will have misconstrued my role in the events in question and that I will be therefore hindered from finding work. Certain people may hold as a motto that "any publicity is good publicity", however I am a person of meager financial means who values and guards above all her character and work ethic. Regardless of any personal opinion that I may have about the anti-smoking law, I have no axe to grind with the inspectors themselves. I am, overall, distressed at the moment over my impending bout with unemployment considering the current economic circumstances and righteously feel that I should somehow set the record straight. I kindly thank you for your attention regarding this matter.

Sincerely,
Lisa Marie Dallas"

Of course, not a single word of this was published and in the weeks that have followed I have become thoroughly impoverished. I have $3 to last me for about one week while I wait for a check from a job that I've done for a Temp agency, and my unemployment benefits for the weeks in between are well below the average welfare recipient's payment. I am in danger of losing my apartment by the end of the year because I cannot come up with enough money to make ends meet even after working a few full-time weeks. So, it seems, that this has all worked out ironically 'great' for me.

I contend that my character was defamed by my boss and the NY Post's Sunday editor. I did not and still do not appreciate being exploited for this cause even though I vehemently disagree with the anti-smoking laws that are cropping up around the world. I believe that, instead of the issuance of severely restrictive decrees from 'on high' as we have been given here in NY, there should be some sentiment of sanity and sound proven science involved in the process of setting up such ordinances as these having to deal with public health. Instead, there is only political rhetoric backed up by merely manipulated and unanalyzed statistics which, unfortuneately, seem to hold more sway than facts themselves. But then again, the bar-going public, whose health is at stake, was never seriously polled about what they percieve to be the facts of the issue in the first place. Who needs facts when you've got the government and the media at hand to portray them for you? In any case, given the choice, I believe that if the ban were to be rescinded, the same public would still walk right back into that very same bar where they've always been hanging out, perhaps even with a better sense of freedom than anyone around here has had recently. While I cannot explicate in its entirety the breadth of my thought on the issue at the moment, I do have to get back to figuring out what I'm going to do with the $3 that I've got left to live on for the next week. Thank you for letting me clarify my role in this issue.

-Lisa Marie Dallas

"The people have the right to bear arms for their security and defense, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons." -- The passage of the New Mexico Constitution that anti-gun pro-crime activists plan to use to try to invalidate concealed carry.

Anyone with elementary grammar skills could point to this phrase and realize that it merely states that the government recognizes a person's right to keep and bear arms, however that does not necessarily mean they have the right to carry them concealed. The passage is very similar to the Missouri constitution which states: "That the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil power, shall not be questioned; but this shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons". Nothing in either constitution says that the government cannot permit a person to carry a concealed firearm.

Just like nothing in either constitution shall be held to permit that people have the right to "free" internet access or "free" health care, that doesn't mean that the state cannot enact such legislation. Of course, if the court finds that the constitution really does say that the legislature cannot "grant" the "right" to concealed carry, that would include police officers and other members of the executive (i.e. enforcement) branch of government. They are not above the constitution, and just like Missouri, anyone currently in jail that was arrested by an officer with a concealed firearm should immediately have their conviction overturned because police violated their civil rights.

"any written material, any image or any other representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual or group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as pretext for any of these factors." -- Speech that the E.U. intends to make illegal, according to Digital Freedom Network.

Chicago's Mayor Daley is raising the sticker fees for SUVs because he claims the heavier vehicles cause more wear and tear on the roads, reports the Sun Times.

For the last month, budget director Bill Abolt has argued that SUVs should be required to pay more to erase a deficit in the fund used to repair city streets because "heavier vehicles place more wear and tear on the roads."

Earlier this week, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that engineering and transportation experts were poking holes in that argument.

They insisted that roads are typically designed for heavy trucks that weigh "at least double" if not 10 times what an SUV does. They argued that there is virtually no difference between the road damage caused by SUVs and passenger cars.

This isn't about wear and tear caused by SUVs, it's about class warfare. Anti-SUV laws are the next great crusade right behind smoking and fast food. Notice that the anti-SUV crowd has pretty much left minivans and passenger, which are just as heavy and polluting, alone. Of course minivans conjure up images of soccer moms and wholesome American goodness, whereas SUVs are identified with the selfish yuppie class and the hated "rich".

"I hate to see the American flag hanging out of every bloody station wagon, out of every SUV, every little Midwestern house in some residential area. It's easy to confuse patriotism with nationalism. Flag waving ain't gonna do it." -- Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson in an interview published Sunday in the Asbury Park Press. The remarks got him banned "forever" from WCHR-FM in New Jersey.

The station took a poll of listeners and the verdict was in favor of banning them. Of course there will probably the gratuitious calls of censorship and McCarthyism, because everyone knows that freedom of speech means you can say unpopular things and people still have to buy what you're selling.

These must be referring to metrosexual men.

In the latest departure from traditional marriage procedure, some American men are beginning to take their wives' last names, either using the woman's name in addition to their own or nixing their given names completely.

Sorry ladies, but unless we coincidentally share the same last name, there is no way in hell I'm giving mine up; unless of course you are bringing a hefty dowry to the table, and are willing to let me stay at home (or the gun range) while you go off to work everyday. Even then it's doubtful.

It reminds me of something I told my last serious girlfriend. When we discussed the remote possibility of marriage, I told her that she wouldn't have to work. Actually what I said was that she should stay at home on her pedistal where she belongs.

Ted Rall's inflammatory Anti-Veteran's Day essay has been making the rounds. Rall dreams of Iraqi fundamentalists killing our troops in the name of "freedom fighting". He is cut from the same cloth as those that shout "baby killer" and spit on our men and women in uniform. It is pathetic and sad that he shows such contempt for those that preserve the very freedoms he enjoys; especially as a columnist.

While other webloggers get their panties in a bind over the Ted Rall's of the world, I can only shake my head and sigh. Rall is a loser who makes Michael Moore look like Thomas Jefferson. He is a waste of skin and a waste of time. Anyone that reads his column and cannot see that is likely cut from the same anti-American cloth.

Gee if anyone ever, I say, if anyone ever called me a chickenhawk, I just punch them in the nose and say, "Well, at least I'm not the one crying and bleeding all over the floor."

Well surprise surprise, States are blowing their anti-tobacco settlement money on pork barrel spending which means the smoke nazis have got their panties in a bind.

States that cashed in on a landmark $246 billion settlement with tobacco companies five years ago are spending little on programs to curb smoking, an anti-smoking group charged on Wednesday.
[...]

"The states' funding of tobacco prevention and cessation is woefully inadequate given the magnitude of the tobacco problem," the organization said in findings to be presented to a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday.

States have cut spending on anti-smoking programs by more than 25 percent during the last two years, the group said.

This comes as no surprise to me. When they made the tobacco settlement, they claimed it was for current and future health care costs, and anti-smoking advertising. Many of these states gave away a person's right to sue the tobacco companies, and then took the money and ran. It makes you wonder what their real motive was in the first place.

The Bush Administration is blocking payments to Gulf War I veterans, reports The Guardian.

Seventeen former prisoners of war were awarded nearly $1bn (�600m) in compensatory and punitive damages by a US federal court in July.
The awards were supposed to have been paid out of $1.7bn in seized Iraqi assets, but the administration stepped in to prevent them receiving the money on the grounds that it had been confiscated from the Iraqi government in March and was therefore the property of the US government.

There really is no high ground for Bush on this one. Not only is he denying payment to American soldiers who were tortured by a brutal regime, but he's also coming off sounding like a conquistador. Perhaps Bush could take the Daschle way out, and give these guys their $1bn award then tax the hell out of them to get it back.

"A"s at Sherwood High School come pretty cheap reports The Washington Times.

Fourteen-year-old Lauren Lee recently got some great news in a progress report sent home from Sherwood High School in Montgomery County. The freshman got an "A" in a tough honors-level geometry course.

Not bad, thought Lauren's mother, Lauren Asbury, especially considering that her daughter never attended the school.

Despite not attending the school, Lauren got two "A"s at the school given by teachers she's never met.

Enviro-weenies have gone off the deep end yet again. This time they are comparing SUVs to cigarettes, and calling for strict regulations on the gas-guzzling, kitten-crushing, baby-killing monsters, notes CNS News.

An environmental activist group, equating the health hazards of Hummer SUVs with those of cigarettes, is organizing what it calls a "National Protest Day Against Hummers." (Hummers are the civilian version of the military Humvee, or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.)

On Saturday, Nov. 15, protestors say they will "spend hours" demonstrating against Hummer dealerships in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, New York, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and ten other cities.

The activists are seeking a ban on all radio and TV advertising for the large vehicles, which they consider environmentally unfriendly.

It's bad enough that they are trying to guilt people into buying crummy little 60 horsepower econobox death traps, but now they want to ban SUVs and SUV advertising. The day that SUV advertising is banned, is the day I start advertising them on this site.

As for their demonstration, I can only presume that they will spend most of this saturday picketing Hummer dealerships, which only makes me want to go out and test drive one this Saturday.

Well, look who's back.

I finally got the photos from the Halloween Party. I'll post a full album as soon as I can, but for now, here are some photos of me in my costume.

Depending on where you work, these photos may NOT be safe to view. (But then you shouldn't be cyberslacking either.)

[Ravenwood]

[Ravenwood attracting the ladies]

[Ravenwood stalking his prey]

Punitive cigarette taxes are having strange consequences in France, reports Reuters.

Cigarette price increases have led to a sharp rise in robberies from tobacco shops in France and the government says it plans to give owners extra protection.

The power to regulate is the power to deny. When government agencies are given power to regulate your rights, they are converted to privileges that the state ultimately has the power to take away or never grant in the first place. Such is the case in the fight for concealed carry in Wisconsin, where the AP notes:

About 90 percent of Wisconsin sheriffs would ask to opt out of the proposed concealed weapons bill if it became law because they do not have the resources to conduct adequate background checks on applicants, a spokesman for a sheriffs association says.

So here we have a bunch of lefty bureaucrats that are basically saying that we are going to deny your civil rights for "budgetary" reasons. Imagine this same government saying that they cannot process marriage licenses or voter applications because of the paperwork hassle.

Every sheriff who agrees with that line of thinking should be removed from office.

It has long been known that the University of Miami breeds football players who are arrogant and thuggish. (Warren Sapp anyone?) After the weekend home loss to Tennessee, the press asked Miami tight end Kellen Winslow how he felt about the injury inflicted by his block on a Tennessee player. Winslow launched into a verbal tirade where he almost seemed happy about the player's injury. He also compared himself to a soldier, football to a war, and the opponent to the French the enemy.

On the field, he has cost the Hurricanes numerous penalties for fighting, taunting, and other various assholery. This week, Miami's head coach Larry Coker says he's finally had enough. Winslow has been benched, but it may not be for very long. Winslow will not start next week's game, but as the AP reports, he will still play in this weekend's game against Syracuse.

"I'm not going to say this many plays or this many quarters," [Coker] said. "But I'll decide that in the course of the game."
[...]

[Winslow] was benched last year against Connecticut for academic reasons, but was on the playing field in the opening minutes of the first quarter.

He dubbed himself "The Chosen One" before this season. And in the opener against Louisiana Tech, he struck a Heisman Trophy pose after catching a touchdown pass -- drawing criticism from Coker and others.

But none of that cost Miami like the penalties did.

So Coker is willing to tolerate his antics up to the point where he starts costing the team penalties. Then he'll have to sit on the bench until Miami really needs him. If they jump out to a big lead, Winslow may not play at all. If they get into trouble and need him, Winslow could be off the bench during the first series. How's that for discipline?

Girl Scouts in Fairbanks Alaska have thumbed their noses at PETA and are helping to trap and kill oversized rats (a/k/a beavers) to help control area flooding, reports Fox News. This of course raised the ire of the headline whores at PETA, who think that killing cute or fuzzy animals for any reason is bad.

Why this even made the news, remains to be seen.

CNN planted questions at the "Rock the Vote" presidential debate reports the LA Times. It is not clear how widespread the meddling was, but a Brown University student claims that she was ''handed a note card'' with a question for the candidates, and told that she could not ask her alternative question because CNN felt that it "wasn't lighthearted enough and they wanted to modulate the event with various types of questions."

On the surface this seems like a petty incident that is all too common at the Clinton News Network, but it begs the question just how often and to what degree this has happened in the past. The LA Times, of all outlets, actually slammed the cable network by noting in the very first sentence: "CNN, which has marketed itself as an outlet for serious news, planted a question about computer preferences at last week's debate". The Boston Globe picked it up as well, but reported it matter of factly.

Presidential wannabe and war veteran, John F. Kennedy Kerry, is using footage of the President landing on an aircraft carrier in his campaign ad, reports the AP.

I wonder if they are talking about this bum.

The New York Post reports that New Yorker's overall taxes are 72% higher than the national average.

New York's local income-tax burden is nearly five times the national average, the sales tax is double, and the property-tax punch is about one-third higher than the rest of the nation's.

What a ringing endorsement. It's no wonder that more and more Americans are moving south.

UPDATE: The New York Daily News has a list of the Top 10.

The days of providing driver's licences to illegal aliens may be numbered in California, reports World Net Daily. The law is being challenged in court, and a voter referendum in March may be its final undoing. However, as WND points out, political pandering to illegal aliens is a growing trend, and other liberal states, like Illinois, might soon follow California's lead.

CNN was shocked, I say, shocked that so many young people could support President Bush, reports the Media Research Center. Propagandist Paula Zahn cited the results from a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll that shows that 62% of 18 to 29 year olds approve of President Bush overall, and 66% have a "favorable opinion" of him.

Zahn prompted Carlson's reaction, "Tucker, does any of this surprise you?"
Carlson offered: "It does surprise me. I mean, I think the theme throughout all of these numbers is hopefulness. People under 30 just are much more optimistic about America's future. They feel more secure in the job market with the economy. They think things are getting better. They think Iraq is going better than people over 30 do. It doesn't surprise me necessarily that they're going to vote or they say they're going to vote for Bush. How often they really do vote is an open question."
[...]

Zahn then prompted Begala for his spin: "Alright, let me ask you this, Paul: Are these potential voters optimistic or ill-informed?"

Begala replied: "Uh, well, yeah, if ignorance is bliss, young people are the happiest folks in America, Paula. I mean, one of the things that comes out of the CNN poll here is that they are three times less likely than their older peers to be plugged into issues and ideas. In fact, Paula, they are our future and they are hopelessly ill-informed."

After finishing the interview, Zahn plugged an upcoming town hall forum which will subjecting the Democratic presidential candidates to questions from young voters: "And be sure to join Anderson Cooper next Tuesday for a 'Rock the Vote' special beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern. We will be following it up here with analysis at 8:30 where we will be standing by live in the spin room and I will have the opportunity to talk with most of the major Democratic candidates."

In other media bias news, I'm hearing rumblings that during the "Rock the Vote" special, questions were planted with the audience, and that some of the young folks asking the questions were not given freedom to formulate their own.

I see I'm not the only one who wants his $8 back after seeing The Matrix 3. Hawkins pretty much hits the nail on the head about just how stinky the movie is.

How many times do I have to say this? Don't go see this hideously bad, soul-suckingly atrocious, godawful movie!

Personally, I don't care if you go see it or not. But you might as well flush your money down the toilet. It's just as much fun, and doesn't take nearly as much time.

The Senate Republicans are pretending that they have a set of cahones and plan on forcing a so-called "real" filibuster. Actually, it isn't a real filibuster because it has a time limit. The time limit means that Democrats simply have to pay their dues before they win the fight to block a vote on several minority judges.

The spinelessness of Republicans doesn't surprise me at all. What did shock me was Tom Daschle's reaction to being faced with the weak ultimatum that he must filibuster for a mere 30 hours before being pronounced the winner.

"We are going to set up our action room just off the Senate floor as we have done on other good debates such as this," Daschle told Fox News. "We'll have a presence on the floor for the full 30 hours."

Daschle says this forced debate on judicial nomination is a "misuse of time."

Only Daschle can get away with being the king of obstructionism, holding up minority judicial nominations for over 2 years, and then claim the Republican's 30-hour side show is a "misuse of time".

Maybe I'm just a hedonist, but the idea of Pfc. Jessica Lynch dancing topless with some of her fellow soldiers doesn't lower my opinion of her one bit. Depending on how the photos look, it may actually (cough) raise my opinion just a bit.

UPDATE: Publisher Larry Flynt seems to be backpedaling and saying that he bought the photos to keep them from being published, which leads many to believe that the photos aren't real.

(image courtesy of the Veteran's Day Nat'l Cmte.)

Cigar Aficionado offers up some humorous (yet valid) advice for cigar smokers out there. The stories you will read are true; only the names have been changed to protect the innocent (and guilty). Here is a quick sample:

MALICIOUS MOOCHERS
After months of hints and prodding, you've finally succumbed and invited Huey over for dinner. After the meal, you suggest repairing to your study for a bracing smoke. You go to the bar to pour two snifters of Brandy, and turn around to find Huey clipping the head off your only pre-Castro Cuban cigar. It was once owned by Jose Marti; you picked it up for a princely sum at a Christie's auction in London, using money you had earmarked for your daughter's education. Your Caribbean tan melts into your liver and you watch, paralyzed, as the oaf puts flame to the 50-year old corona.

What you can do: Resist the urge to slay Huey. After all, this is your house, and you're likely to stain the carpet or oak floors. Hand him an ashtray and, when he puts the cigar down, draw your service revolver, leveling it at Huey's misshapen head. In a firm voice, instruct him to step away from the cigar. Once the cigar is recovered, take Huey by the ear, lead him to the back door and throw him into the snow, followed by his coat and hat.

There are about a dozen other stories followed by hilarious but good advice. For instance, what would you do if your wife got her panties in a bind and started chucking your prized cigars out into the yard? You could just grab her and wring her neck, but if she's still holding your humidor in a perverse Mexican standoff that would only aggravate the situation. So what would you do? WHAT would you do?

Read it and find out.

"Absolutely not" -- Retired General Tommy Franks, Allied Commander during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, when asked if he thought General Wesley Clark would make a good President.

In case you're interested, there is a superb interview with General Franks in the December issue of Cigar Aficionado.

If you want more evidence that smokers are aware of the dangers but ignore the warnings, you need to look no further than Germany. Smokers are faced with new regulations by the all-knowing, all-powerful E.U. that require absurd warning labels to cover 30% of the front and 40% of the back of a packet of cigarettes, reports Reuters. Germans are taking the new overstated warnings with a bit of humor, and covering them up with their own quirky messages.

"Begging cigarettes from others can lead to sudden death," reads one black and white warning, imitating one of the 14 EU-mandated health messages required since last month.

"Move out of the way! I'm headed for the graveyard" and "I smoke because you stink" are two other warnings that German smokers are sticking on their packs.

Reuters also toes that anti-smoking line by claiming, "Smoking-linked diseases kill more than 500,000 EU citizens each year," as a factual statement without any evidence or sources cited to back it up.

In an attempt to make them seem less Orwellian, the term "speed cameras" has officially been changed to "safety cameras", reports The Register. Please go back and make your edits accordingly.

Can you imagine what would happen if your credit card company told you what you could or could not purchase with their card? What would you think if your credit card agreement contained a stipulation that you couldn't purchase alcohol, rent a room in Vegas, or use it to pay your tab at an all-night strip club. Well, internet payment service, Paypal, makes users agree to just such stipulations. According to their Acceptable Use Policy, paypal customers cannot use paypal to buy any firearms or firearms related items including ammo, ordnance, and most antiques and replicas. Paypal apparently offers no explanation (other than the assumed liberal bias) as to why they limit your ability to use their payment service for legal purchases and products.

For those of you who have been waiting for the original Star Wars series to come out on DVD, IMDb reports that you may not have to wait much longer. It is rumored that the trilogy will be released on DVD next September.

When hubby, James Brolin's movie The Reagans was cancelled on CBS, Barbra Streisand suddenly became an amateur Constitutional scholar. Many of those observing the flap surrounding the controversial movie knew that invariably someone would scream "censorship" when CBS decided to yank the mini-series. Barbra was more than happy to step forward to carry the torch for the black helicopter crowd.

This is censorship, pure and simple. Well, maybe not all that pure. Censorship never is. Due to their experience with the restrictive English government, the framers of our constitution specifically included a ban on prior restraint in the First Amendment, which is an attempt to stop information from getting out there before the public has a chance to see it at all - exactly what is going on in this case.

Of course, this case really has very little to do with the First Amendment or censorship. CBS was, and still is, free to air the movie. That right is protected by the First Amendment, and the government has made no attempts to violate it. CBS has the right to air the "biopic" just like television viewers have the right to boycott The Reagans, CBS, and their advertiser's products.

Now, Barbra Streisand doesn't really believe that there is government censorship at work, or at least that is what she freely admits in the very next sentence.

Of course, CBS as a company has the legal right to make decisions about what they do and do not air. However, these important decisions should be based on artistic integrity rather than an attempt to appease a small group of vocal dissidents. Indeed, today marks a sad day for artistic freedom - one of the most important elements of an open and democratic society.

So, just who is it that Barbra is mad at? First she blames the government for censoring CBS, when in fact it is merely the American viewing public who she tries to characterize as a small targeted arm of the VRWC, for putting pressure on CBS not to air the hit piece. Of course that is factually incorrect. There were no federal agents in black suits who showed up at CBS headquarters and forced them not to air the mini-series. No, it was the threat of losing advertising dollars during the November sweeps that got CBS to change it's mind.

Of course Streisand also recognizes this as she blames CBS for not basing their decisions purely on "artistic integrity" when deciding what they want to put on the air. Streisand may have a right to be mad at CBS for caving to market pressure, however since she isn't the one that has to answer to CBS/Viacom shareholders, she really doesn't have a dog in the fight. As a publicly traded company, the shareholders rule the roost and they are primarily interested in money.

If Streisand really thinks that CBS' motive is "artistic integrity" (instead of money) she is dumber than was previously thought. Barbra and her boy toy James Brolin are just the window dressing used to bring in the viewers who pay the bills. When they fail to capture the attention of the masses, they put themselves in jeopardy of being fired; which is exactly what happened to the producers of Brolin's film. She can be mad at CBS for shit-canning him if she wants, but in the end, it was the artists and their "artistic integrity" who failed CBS by producing an un-marketable product. They have no one to blame but themselves.

Concealed carry in Missouri faced another setback reports the AP. A single judge thwarted the entire Missouri legislature by declaring that the carry of concealed firearms violates the state constitution.

[Circuit Judge Steven] Ohmer said in a statement the law violates Article I, Section 23 of the Missouri Constitution. That provision states that the right to bear arms "shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons."

Given that Ohmer declared the carry of concealed firearms is "unconstitutional" in Missouri, all people should be forbidden from carrying a concealed firearm, including police. Police, including undercover officers, are not above the state constitution. They should immediately adopt a policy of carrying openly or not at all.

Since it is written into Missouri's constitution, and no police or government agency is above the constitution, nothing short of an amendment can allow police to conceal firearms. Any policeman caught carrying a concealed firearm should be immediately arrested and charged, as would happen to a civilian. Any crooks that were caught by an officer carrying a concealed firearm should appeal their conviction on the grounds that the officer violated their constitutional protections from people carrying concealed firearms.

Of course, the alternative would be for liberal judges to realize the fallacy of their "interpretation", and not try to legislate from the bench.

"Ravenwood's Universe is a funny, well written, long running, consistently updated blog. So why hasn't it ever taken off? My theory? The page colors are the problem." -- John Hawkins, Right Wing News.

And here I thought it was because it's overweight and has stubby little penguin-like wings. Apparently it's a rods and cones problem. (go figure.)

I opened up my December issue of Popular Science and noticed that they have a "From the blogs" section detailing a few of the weblogs that have linked to their web site.

Lawmakers are falling all over each other over the proposed tax ban on internet service. Take a glimpse at this Fox News report and you can easily see what has lawmakers so concerned. (In case you can't, I highlighted it for you.)

Opponents of the ban [on taxes], like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., say they fear cities that rely on taxes collected from telecommunications will suffer...

San Francisco could lose $30 million in existing taxes annually, Feinstein claimed. [...]

About 10 states that imposed a tax on Internet access charges before the original ban and were grandfathered from the moratorium, would lose $80 million to $120 million each year.

States that currently tax high-speed DSL services would be prohibited by the bill permitting a permanent ban. That would cost states up to $40 million each year.

Lastly, the CBO predicts "substantial revenue losses" [...]

The Multistate Tax Commission estimates changes to the current tax collection avenues will cost governments at least $4 billion a year...

They are taxing for the sake of taxing. When they aren't allowed to tax seize money from people at the point of a gun, they view it as a loss of revenue.

The government is like the mob. Every time goods, services, or money changes hands, they want a cut. If you exchange goods or services with your neighbor, they want a cut. If your neighbor has a yard sale, they want a cut. If your butcher slaughters a cow and sells you one of the steaks, they want a cut. If you buy a prepared meal, cigarettes, gas, food, or lodging, they want a cut. When you try to evade paying them their tribute, they send in Rocky the thumb-breaker a/k/a the IRS.

I think this cartoon (via Kevin) pretty much sums it up.

If you still need further proof, check out this instance of an elderly woman's $800,000 farm being seized and sold. The government sold her home (of more than 50 years) for a mere $15,000, because it was claimed that she owed $572 in overdue taxes. Those taxes were paid when due, but the government returned her check.

UPDATE: The buyer has given the home back to the elderly woman and received a refund from the state.

If you want to know what's wrong with the BCS rankings, you need look no further than the wide disparity among the computers. This week, Jeff Sagarin (SAG) for instance has one-loss Bowling Green ranked at number 4; above such football powerhouses as Florida State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, LSU, Michigan, and Georgia. Sagarin also has Miami ranked number 2 (as did two other polls), and Virginia Tech ranked at 20, just two days after Miami's 31-7 drubbing at VT. According to Jeff Sagarin's poll, Miami's yards on the field are worth more than the whether or not they won the game.

Also the BCS as a whole no longer counts margin of victory. As a life long football fan, you can imagine my shock when the BCS basically said that first downs count more than the points on the scoreboard.

Other teams are facing a wide disparity of poll numbers, with undefeated TCU measuring up as high as 4th on the Anderson/Hester (AND) poll, and 33rd on the New York Times poll. With such a wide range, one has to wonder just who is programming these machines, and why are we listening to them?

Of course all of this is driven by money. The bowl system brings in big bucks, and it may just take an act of Congress to get rid of it.

UPDATE: This week's poll offers up more evidence. Notice that TCU is #2 (above USC) in the AND poll, and #25 in the NYT poll.

A lot of eyes were on VT-Miami last weekend, but the Big East matchup of the year could be vs. Pitt tomorrow night. VT faces Heisman front runner Larry Fitzgerald. With their star corner out the first half, some football talking heads are predicting Pitt to go up big during the first 30 minutes. We'll have to wait and see.

"Prominent blacks charged President Bush deliberately chose a conservative black woman so it would be harder for senators to vote against her." -- Andrew Mollison's article, Blacks say Bush played race card with court pick, in the AJC.

Taranto calls this the death of the civil rights movement.

Ask any techie what a router is supposed to do, and he'll tell you that it passes data packets between computers or routers. That is, unless you have a Belkin router. Belkin owners who have recently upgraded the software on their router may notice that their machines are being periodically routed to Belkin advertisements, reports The Register.

The router would grab a random HTTP connection every eight hours and redirect it to Belkin's (push) advertised web page.

"It seems the router now supports a parental control and the market droids at Belkin got the bright idea of equipping the router with intrusive nagware," writes Uh Clem. "Of course, I have this strange notion that routers should pass data unmolested by marketeers!"

Belkin says there is an "opt out" feature that a user can use to turn off the unsolicited advertisements. They claim that they were just trying to help advertise their new parental control features, as if it were a public service.

Reader Mos pointed out his comment on an 11 month old post over at A Small Victory. (Rightly so, because I never would have seen it had he not emailed me.)

At issue is the firebombing and eco-terrorism going on in California. Eco-terrorists firebomb SUVs, and then try to claim the moral high ground because SUVs are supposedly huge baby-stomping, tree-burning, ozone-depleting monstrosities that scare and intimidate all those electric car drivers on their way to tree-hugger conventions. One of their terrorist ploys is to attack profit and capitalism, and make the claim that "Big SUV" is raping the environment out of a sick profit motive. I tried to point out that everyone involved in the process was benefiting from the sale of SUVs, while another reader "Mary" tried to point out that some hapless janitor "sweeping the basement" might be inadvertently killed in the fire.

RAVENWOOD posted:
"Not to mention that thousands of honest hard working folks make their living off of selling SUVs and building luxury homes."

-If someone is making money by changing your life and the world you live in for the worse, then it is your responsibility to prevent that from occurring, regardless of how "hard working" or "honest" they are. ELF actions have no sympathy for the people doing these jobs because they are bettering themselves by hurting others. The people taking these actions are standing up for their beliefs and even though they may not be doing it in a manner you can empathetically understand, I would hope that when your ideals and beliefs are challenged you will have the courage to stand up and do more than posting incindiary remarks on message boards.

MARY posted:
"No mention of checking the building to be sure that a janitor isn't sweeping the basement. So much for caring about the poor and underprivileged."

-If you had done more research you may have found a document providing responses to the more common questions about the ELF. I believe it can be found at www.earthliberationfront.com/library/FAQ -if not, a search on google for "earth liberation front ELF FAQ" brings it up. One of the main points made within the FAQ is the definition of an ELF action, and I quote, "The guidelines for the ELF specifically require members to take all necessary precautions to ensure no one is physically injured. In the history of the ELF internationally no one has been injured from the group's actions and that is not a coincidence...If an action similar to one performed by the ELF occurred and resulted in an individual becoming physically injured or losing their life this would not be considered an ELF action. It may have been done for social and political reasons and even may have had the same motives as the ELF but since a life form was injured it would not be considered an actual ELF action."

Setting aside the fact that this is America, and I can drive what the hell I want where the hell I want, I'll try to point out why Mos is wrong.

First of all, I am not making "incindiary remarks". I merely pointed out that it wasn't just big corporations who were profiting from the sale of SUVs and new homes. (If you want to see incidiary, hold on to your butt.) I guess when you are anti-capitalist and anti-American, any profit, no matter who benefits from it, is bad. Placing the ideological view of capitalism aside, lets take a look at the wacky belief that SUVs burning gas is more damaging to the environment than environmentalists burning SUVs. Not that I really have to justify the reason for owning an SUV, it does in fact transport more people and more stuff, making overall travel more efficient. This is especially true when people travel in groups to the store, the movies, or the ball game. It's easier to pack 5 to 7 people into an SUV rather than take several smaller cars. Even when traveling in smaller groups, people are likely to take more than one vehicle when they only have tiny little electric death traps with no leg room to choose from. Simply put, SUVs allow people to the freedom to travel more efficiently.

SUVs are also much safer. You sit up higher and have a greater view of the road and the distractions around you. The vehicles are also safer in crashes, much the same way a 25' 1972 Cadillac would be. With more weight and steel wrapped around you, you are much more likely to survive a collision.

Second, there is no such thing as a safe arsonist. If you want incindiary, go tell some soot-covered firefighter who's trying to catch his breath from an oxygen mask if he thinks arson is as victimless as you try to make it. My guess is that he'll give you a swift kick in the nuts. Arson is arson, and every fire that is set puts people's lives at risk. Even setting fire to an unoccupied building or vehicle requires an emergency response. Sure, the building may be empty, but the fire department has to speed through town, drive through red lights, and run into a burning building to try to put it out. Your contention that all precautions are taken to ensure nobody is hurt is ignorant. Every time a truck rolls out of the firehouse with lights and sirens blaring, lives are being put at risk. Your notion that incidents where people are hurt are not considered ELF actions just seems delusional. It's easy to claim that nobody ever gets hurt when you only count incidents here nobody gets hurt as "actual" ELF actions.

On a final incidiary note, I'll point out that most of these firebombings occur in areas where firearms are banned. I can tell you without a doubt that if I ever catch anyone setting my SUV on fire, someone IS going to be hurt, and I have no apprehension about defending myself and my property from terrorism.

Police in Alaska are doing all they can to fight the heinous crime of cigarette ash flicking. The Alaska Daily News reports on the plight of a Palmer man, Troy Woods III, who was pulled over and ticketed for flicking cigarette ashes out his window. Woods was still holding the butt when officers pulled him over, but they still cited him for those little red embers and ashes that he flicked out the car window.

Woods plans to fight the $60 fine, but that doesn't dissuade police. Alaska State Trooper Mike Burkmire noted that he'll still pull someone over "just simply for the act of littering."

(Kudos to reader Tom Scott, who submitted the article, and also added, in reference to this Palmer resident: "Now we know why the residents of Palmer and Wasilla have to shoot burglars. The troopers are busy chasing smokers.")

At one point in time, I had planned on implementing trackbacks. I particularly liked the kind that rewarded linkers with a trackback link directly below the post. Lately though I've been getting an increasing amount of comment spam. Porn site owners and pill pushers have been cutting and pasting tons of links into comments, in a vain attempt to increase their hit count. Since all comments are emailed directly to me, they are usually deleted within a few hours, and their IP address is banned. While I have yet to delete a comment or ban someone based on their political views, I refuse to allow my site to be a conduit for spam.

I realize that there is a plugin out there that helps eliminate comment spam, but right now it requires more work than it saves. I would have to upgrade Movable Type prior to installing the plugin, and right now I just don't want to do that. Whereby some people upgrade just to upgrade, I only upgrade to get more-better features. If comment spam starts to get relentless like email spam, perhaps I'll take the plunge. Until then, I'll stick to the delete/ban method.

By the way, if your IP is banned by mistake (like a spammer spoofed it or something), just shoot me an email via the feedback form, and I'll unblock it. Since most banned IP's originate from the Eastern block I doubt that will be the case for anyone.

Sucks to be this guy. He ran for re-election, unopposed, and still managed to lose to a write-in candidate.

And no, it wasn't Al Gore.

An 80-year old retired security guard cashes his social security check and heads home. He's followed by a husky 6-foot tall thug, who pounces on him as he enters the elevator in his apartment building. The remorseless thug pummels and beats the man, grabs his cash and starts to exit stage right. The elderly security guard tries in vain to fend off the attack with a .38 caliber handgun, and a round is discharged and lodges in the wall.

What is the police (a/k/a government) reaction to the situation?

Well, since the elderly citizen lives in New York, the natural police reaction is to arrest the victim and charge him with illegal possession of a firearm. When 80-year old Lester Campbell recovers from his beating, he will face two misdemeanor counts; one for illegal possession of the firearm he was carrying and one more for the firearm that he confessed to having in his apartment.

His assailant fled the scene and is still at large. You can also bet that police confiscated both of his firearms, so when his next social security check comes, he'll be completely defenseless.

Last month, we heard about Harley "Bill" Walker, who was cited for interfering with police duties when he flashed his lights to encourage oncoming motorists to slow down. It seems as though the police did not want Walker encouraging people to stop breaking the law, because it put a dent in their quotas. Walker has had is day in court, and lost. The presiding judge agreed that Walker was guilty of interfering with police duties and fined him $10. (Plus $65 in "court costs".)

Well apparently Walker didn't let it rest, and appealed the decision. It cost him about a $1000 to prove his innocence, but he prevailed and the appellate judge agreed that arresting someone for turning on their headlights violated his First Amendment protections.

I'm not the only one concerned about the Sissification of America. Kim du Toit has a wonderful in depth essay on the topic. Here is just a very brief taste:

I want our government to be more like Dad -- kind, helpful, but not afraid to punish us when we fuck up, instead of helping us excuse our actions.

I want our government of real men to start rolling back the Nanny State, in all its horrible manifestations of over-protectiveness, intrusiveness and "Mommy Knows Best What's Good For You" regulations.

Today was election day in Virginia, and Fairfax tried out their new touchscreen voting machines. The machines seemed very easy to operate and pretty much fool proof, however, they are reporting on the news that several machines malfunctioned. According to News Channel 8, six of the touchscreen voting machines were actually removed from the polling place, repaired (ala Bill Gates, power off and reboot), and returned on election day. Republicans plan to be in court tomorrow to challenge the results in those machines. While the legal challenges will probably not change the results of any of the races, Republicans are saying that they simply want to improve and maintain the integrity of the voting system.

While I disagree with the litigousness, I agree that removing machines and returning them during voting would certainly raise some eyebrows.

On a more personal note, Fairfax county successfully elected "fiscal conservative" Democrat Gerry Connelly for county supervisor. In my district, Democrats also picked up a highly contested House of Delegates seat. Tax and spend Democrat Mark Sickles, who was endorsed by the Washington "what media bias" Post, won easily. Fairfax also looks to have approved a $290 M payoff to the teachers union which means more-bigger taxes are probably on the way in the name of ejamacation. Given that this is also the district that elected Jim "Blame the J-E-W-S" Moran to the U.S. House of Representatives, I am not surprised.

The only good news of the night on my ballot was the re-election of Democrat Sheriff Stan Barry, who was endorsed by the VCDL for his willingness to do his job and sign off on class 3 firearms transfers. (Those that live in Arlington don't have that luxury.) Across the county, Ken Cuccinelli (also endorsed by VCDL) appears to be headed for victory.

Democrat Gov. Mark Warner had this to say about his party picking up 2 (possibly 3) seats in the Virginia House -- "This is a good night for Democrats, but it's a better night for Virginians who want to see a return to mainstream voices." The GOP had held 64 of 100 House seats. Warner's party cuts that number to perhaps 61, and he calls it returning to the "mainstream". I'm hearing the word "mainstream" a lot out of Democrats lately.

Owen Courreges takes on the ACLU and their rabid anti-gun position. As he points out, the Second Amendment is a pretty simple sentence to understand, and the ACLU's contention that it applies only to the government illustrates that they don't even understand the basic concepts of grammar.

It amazes me that an organization that supposedly champions freedom and liberty would take away the very firearms which guarantee such concepts.

CBS is blaming President Bush for the California wildfires, reports the MRC. On Friday night, CBS "news" anchor Dan Rather quipped, "federal disaster officials are accused of ignoring urgent pleas from the state to help prevent just what ultimately happened there." Those urgent pleas would be those of then Gov. Gray Davis, who asked the Bush Administration to seize $430 Million from American taxpayers at the point of a gun to pay for clearing wide-spread beetle infested trees in California. Since Bush didn't jump when Davis clapped, the wildfires are clearly Bush's fault.

Of course, Gov-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger also did not provide Davis with $430 Million, so the wildfires must be his fault as well.

In other CBS bias-related news, the network canned the planned Reagan miniseries because of concern that the show was not very "balanced". CBS opted instead to air the miniseries on ne'er watched Showtime, where presumably they'll face much less public backlash.

Iraqi judge shot as Bush gets his money

Neal Boortz points to an article that leaves the impression that policemen might have a vested interest in writing more tickets. They don't spell it out exactly, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer notes that overtime hours attending trials of those contesting traffic tickets can be pretty lucrative for some officers.

[Officer] Simone earned $39,872 in court overtime last year, the most in the department, and has earned about $130,000 in total overtime since 2000.

Patrolman James Dunn is not far behind. He wrote 2,245 tickets in 2002, second-highest in the department, and earned a little more than $38,000 in court overtime.

The Plain Dealer never contends that overtime pay may motivate officers to write more tickets, but they do point out that ticket writing has been lucrative for both officers and the City of Cleveland.

Last year, Cleveland police wrote 120,000 traffic tickets. And law-enforcement goals aside, the city reaps clear benefits from the volume. It received $10.8 million last year from court fines, most from traffic citations.

But the strategy has boosted police overtime costs as well. And some officers say that problem is aggravated by long-standing practices that encourage people to challenge their traffic tickets in court.

Well, it is certainly nice to know that not all officers are thrilled about the overtime. Apparently "some officers" feel that a person having their day in court is an aggravation.

Here's one that would make Taranto proud. A dutch man who lost his left leg just a few years after losing his right leg has been given a second prosthetic right foot.

Mr Wagt says the Dutch health service originally gave him a prosthetic right leg which was too long for him.

They corrected that mistake but sent him home with another right leg after his left leg was amputated.

The leg should work just fine, but the Dutchman doesn't want to use it because he says it would look rediculous.

See the U.K.

See the U.K. ban guns.

See Ebay.

See Ebay sell gun parts.

See the U.K. blame Ebay for their illegal gun problems.

I've got news for the U.K. Yes, Ebay does sell some assorted gun parts like barrels, scopes, triggers and whatnot. But Ebay does not sell guns, nor do they sell any of the serialized parts which are necessary to manufacture a gun.

Here is an open letter to the couple that could not attend the VT-Miami game and sold me their tickets on the 50 yard line at a comparitive bargain.

Mike,

I just wanted to thank you again for the tickets. I also wanted to let you know that you didn't really miss much. The game wasn't very exciting, nor were the seats that great. It wasn't very loud in the stadium, and I didn't get to cop a cheap feel from the hot girl jumping up and down in the seat behind me. I also didn't get to have any fun tailgating and drinking before the game. We also didn't run onto the field and celebrate the victory with other drunken fans. Nope, we didn't do any of that. It was just another ordinary day.

But thanks again...

I got to visit with my older sister at the VT-Miami game this weekend. While I was there, she gave me the news that she went and got herself knocked up. She said that her and her husband (of 9 years) finally decided to start trying to have children. They had planned on the process taking a few months, but according to her it only took two weeks. I tried telling her husband that she was probably pregnant before they started "trying", and this was just her way of breaking it to him, but they are sticking to their story. My reaction to becoming an uncle was a bit muted (to say the least), but I really do wish them the best. As a single guy, it's just hard to get excited over those things.

This makes the third pregnancy I've found out about in recent months. Back in August, I found out about two of my friends who are also "expecting", so this makes three couples in my life that are "downloading tricycle motors" (to steal a phrase from Neal). This leads me to ask if there is some sort of baby boom going on, or do these things just come in threes?

Heheh. Street justice.

Over the past two days, I received these two comments. Now, I hate to stereotype people, but what can be said about these two commenters with almost certainty.

Pheobe writes:

that iz soooo mean! hoo r these ppl hoo do this and y dont they just kill da cat b4 they burn it and boil it etc... and y were u watchin dat thingo, wot eva u were watchin neway, sounds pretty sik 2 me. oh well, wot can 1 do?!

Meanwhile, Brie writes:

some are reasonable but most gurls wouldn't stick with a guy like this for very long. who cares if u dont like her mother...is it THAT hard to put on a smile for her? And guys like they have in cosmo do excist i've met a few and if u've ever read a cosmo u'd know its all about pleasing ur man!so u should be thankful for cosmo

Aside from both apparently being female (although 'Brie' sounds more like a french cheese than someone's name) just what do you think these two authors have in common?

Armstrong Williams is taking democrats to task for their racist blockade of Judge Janice Brown, whom democrats claim "isn't black enough." Justice Brown was the first black woman to sit on California's Supreme Court, and she has been nominated for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The position is said to be a stepping stone for the Supreme Court.

Brown, has been compared to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whom many Democrats consider to be an 'Uncle Tom' and a traitor to his race. Chuckie Schumer has criticized Brown for "voting" against "minorities" and "low-income" people. Armstrong Williams rightly points out that Schumer was more concerned about their color and income status than whether or not they had a valid legal case. He goes on to rant against Democrat attitudes about blacks in general.

Just like that, all of Judge Brown's hard work-she rose up from a segregated Alabama community to achieve personal and professional success -- dissolve beneath the hurtful and reductive label of "Uncle Tom." This is no different than using the "N-word" to sum up an individual.

This is the approach the Democrats take every time a conservative minority is nominated for a position of prominence. This is what I call, "new racism." It's about systematically preventing conservative blacks and Hispanics from achieving positions of prominence in this country. It's about summing up complex human beings by the color of their skin. And it sends the damaging message that because we share the same skin color, we all need to think, act and vote the same way.

American Blacks and Hispanics are complex human beings. They should be allowed the intellectual freedom to arrive at those views and values that are the best mesh with their individual personalities. Whites can vote for whomever they chose. But minorities are told that they must be liberals or they're traitors to their race. This is one more assault on intellectual freedom and diversity, conducted by patronizing Democrats who still feel they know what is best for blacks and Hispanics.

Unfortunately, Mr. Williams point is all too valid. Regardless of whether or not you agree with that point, you must admit that Democrats have more of a vested interest in keeping black people in line than Republicans. As long as minorities "need" something, some Democrats are perfectly willing to keep stringing them along in exchange for votes. On average, Republicans already don't get the vote of minorities and the poor, yet by and large they are the ones who pay for most of the services that they use. Financially as well as politically, nobody stands to gain more from their success than Republicans.

The great Dr. Walter Williams often talks about the Sissification of America, whereby students are routinely being taught that failure is okay, backpacks should be lighter, and tests should be easier. There has also been a "metrosexual" movement, whereby men are supposed to be more sensitive and in touch with their feelings. Now, as the AP reports, some people want to put men in skirts. Andrew Bolton, associate curator of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art claims:

"I'm not trying to put all men in skirts. I just want to give them the freedom to wear a skirt if they want to. Women fought for years to wear trousers."
[...]

"Men feel if they wear it (a skirt), their masculinity will be called into question. But if you've even seen a man in a skirt, the first thing you think of is male genitalia," he said. Roman gladiators, for example, proudly displayed their legs for all to see in short, skirted suits of armor as a sign of their virility.

Who wants to wear something that makes people think of male genitalia? And you can damn well bet any man who wears a skirt will have their masculinity called into question. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it might have something to do with the fact that skirts, not to be confused with a Scottish kilts, are worn primarily by women (and perhaps a few effiminate men).

In their defense, metrosexual men claim that they are only breaking society's norms. After all, wearing earrings and long hair used to be taboo. Are men who wear earrings and long hair any less of a man in today's society? In my humble opinion, yes, they are. I personally don't care if men dress up like women, wear earrings, make-up, dye their hair, or whatever. But I still think it makes you somewhat less of a man, and you shouldn't hold your breath waiting for me to do it. You don't see John Wayne or Clint Eastwood wearing a skirt, and you won't catch me in one either. While I might (and have) been tempted to do so as part of a theatrical production, that is altogether different than waking up in the morning and putting on a skirt and lipstick before I take the train to work.

Howard Dean comments on pickup trucks and confederate flags in an attempt to woo southern voters. As you can see by some of the comments from his rivals, insults to Southern heritage ensued.

"I would rather be the candidate of the NAACP than the NRA." -- Presidential Candidate John Kerry. Is there anyone John Felafel Kerry won't pander to? Kerry also said that Howard Dean's "pandering" to the National Rifle Association gave him an inroad to "pander to lovers of the Confederate flag."

"I want people with Confederate flags on their trucks to put down those flags and vote Democratic (sic)" -- Presidential Candidate Howard Dean. Dean went on to offend everyone south of the Mason-Dixon line. "We have working white families in the south voting for tax cuts for the richest 1 percent while their children remain with no health care," Dean said. "The dividing of working people by race has been a cornerstone of Republican politics for the last three decades - starting with Richard Nixon. ... The only way we're going to beat George Bush is if southern white working families and African-American working families come together under the Democratic (sic) tent, as they did under FDR."

"I don't want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks, I will win the Democratic nomination because I will be the candidate for guys with American flags in their pickup trucks." -- Presidential Candidate Dick Gephardt.

"The Confederate flag flies in the face of our most deeply held American values - diversity, equality and inclusion." -- Presidential Candidate Wesley Clark. Since when is "diversity" a deeply held American value? Did Patrick Henry say, "Give me diversity or give me death"?

"Governor Dean ought to be more careful about what he says. It is irresponsible and reckless to loosely talk about one of the most divisive, hurtful symbols in American history." -- Presidential Candidate Joe Leiberman. Devisive and hurtful? Is he talking about the pickup trucks.

Site traffic increased in October. Here are some raw numbers:

The Ravnwood.com page counter also went over 130,000 last month, with very little fanfare.

There were 164 posts in October, compared to 139 in September, 143 in August, 120 in July. The high is still 186 in November, 2002.

Filmmaker Michael Moore, who routinely demonizes corporate greed and firearms, has been "enjoying corporate high life" claims News Max. Moore has been jet-setting around the country on the Time Warner dime, and barreling around California in a baby stomping SUV. Moore, who has also attacked the right to keep and bear arms has been enjoying the protection of several hired thugs to keep the commoners away.

The pleasure police are killing the time honored tradition of "ladies night", reports the AP. Whoever it was that complained about ladies nights at bars and nightclubs needs a good swift kick in the crotch. Bars letting women in for free is a time honored tradition at American bars, and is primarily used to pack bars with nubile young women, which in turn brings in the horny undersexed men.

Apparently one of the California wildfires may have been caught early if it wasn't for California regulations. California, affectionately known as "the regulation state", has regulations that prevent firefighting air crews from flying after dark, reports the AP.

The first helicopter pilot to see the patch of flames that would become the catastrophic Cedar Fire radioed for aerial water drops, but state firefighters rejected his request because it came minutes after such flights had been grounded for the night.
[...]

The helicopter with the dump bucket flew within five miles of the fire, before state officials told it to turn back, Weldon said. The air tankers never took off. Weldon was told crews would attack the fire in the morning.

The AP notes that while the "safety" regulations are intended to save the lives of firefighter crews, "they were cold comfort to the son of one man who died hours after the county helicopter was called off."