I was one of the gazillion people that went to see Shrek 2 this weekend. While the movie had it's laughable moments some of them seemed forced. We must have missed the free tequila they were handing out in the lobby, because we were the only group of people in the theater not cracking up at every mundane gag. I found that other people's overly hysterical laughter was distracting and made me wonder if there was something I was missing. Overall, the movie was enjoyable and had a pretty good storyline, but I left the theater looking at the people around me wondering just what the hell they thought was so funny.

If you are all bar-b-qued out this Memorial Day, you might want to catch Tom Selleck's D-Day biopic Ike on A&E. I have plans tonight, but I plan on recording it to watch later, sans commercials.

Wishing everyone a happy Memorial Day!

Apparently, smoking causes everything from gonorrhea to mad cow disease.

Smoking causes a range of diseases never before suspected, including cataracts, acute myeloid leukemia and cervical, kidney, pancreatic and stomach cancers, U.S. Surgeon-General Richard Carmona said on Thursday.

In fact, smoking affects virtually every organ of the body, Carmona said in the newest surgeon-general's report on smoking.
"We've known for decades that smoking is bad for your health, but this report shows that it's even worse," Dr. Carmona told a news conference.

Prepare to hear this news trumpeted by the smoke nazis. These are, after all, the same people who took the World Health Organization's hypothesis that second hand smoke may increase the risk of cancer to mean "second hand smoke causes cancer." You still hear it today, even after the 7-year WHO study failed to prove it.

Now, I hate to imply that the Surgeon-General might be a slight bit biased when it comes to smoking, but I will leave you with this to chew on.

"The toxins from cigarette smoke go everywhere the blood flows. I'm hoping this new information will help motivate people to quit smoking and convince young people not to start in the first place."

How convenient that his report aligns perfectly with his hopes.

Fox (search) News reports that Jessica Simpleton may be cast as the comely cousin Daisy Duke in the upcoming 'Dukes of Hazzard' movie.

CNS News provides more evidence that the People's Republic of Californiastan should be chopped off and dumped into the Pacific Ocean. The California Senate passed SB1152 last week (by a vote of 22-16), which basically makes it impossible to buy ammunition and sets up a huge underground black market.

The bill requires that "all vendors of ammunition maintain specified information" on ammunition buyers, including: (1) the date of the transaction; (2) the name, address, and date of birth of the buyer; (3) the buyer's driver's license or other identification number and the state in which it was issued; (4) the brand, type, and amount of ammunition bought or transferred; (5) the buyer's signature; (6) the name of the salesperson who processed the transaction; and (7) "the vendor shall also at the time of purchase or transfer obtain the right thumbprint of the purchaser or transferee."

The databases must be kept for 2 years, and since California already bars convicts from purchasing ammo, it will only affect law abiding citizens.

Also keep in mind that this is the very same legislature that tried to deregulate their driver's licenses to the point that any fugative, illegal alien, or al Qaeda operative would have no trouble getting a state issued license.

Of course the gun lobby pro freedom groups like CCRKBA are protesting the proposal. Also, the ACLU has been notably silent. Perhaps if this were a hot issue like the LA County Seal, or passing out condoms to children, they'd take an interest.

Amanda points out that California has found something else to ban: tanning. A special interest group of dermatologists is lobbying for a ban on tanning booths, which they say cause 1 million new cases of skin cancer each year, and 7400 deaths. The law will only ban tanning for those under 18, because the human body apparently develops some magical new resistance to cancer after you blow out 18 candles.

Let's hope they never decide to ban bikini clad women on their beaches.

Geez, in Europe even potato guns are illegal. Ananova reports that German police have arrested three men for illegal possession of something they mistakenly call a firearm.

The potato gun is classed as a firearm and none of the men had a permit to own or carry one.

I wonder just what kind of training and background checks are needed to acquire a potato gun.

CNN asks: "Are you tired of hearing about terror alerts?" Not surprisingly, most people are tired of the alerts. Then again, people who live in Kansas are probably tired of hearing tornado sirens. But that doesn't exactly mean it's a good idea to turn them off.

"He planted the seeds of war. He harvested a whirlwind. And now the corrupt tree of a war waged on false premises has brought us the evil fruit of Americans torturing and sexually humiliating prisoners who are helpless in their care." -- Former Vice President Al Gore, comparing President Bush to Johnny Appleseed's evil twin.

He later went on to call for the President's entire cabinet to resign.

It looks like Santa Fe, New Mexico won't require dogs to wear seat belts after all.

One of our readers, Pasty, points out that gun control is having the usual results in the United Kingdom. A man went on a bit of a rampage, after his pet was dog-napped by the RSPCA. Authorities seized his animal, after they unilaterally decided that his planned method of euthanasia (a pickax) was too inhumane and inexpensive and was best left to professionals. Desperate to get the animal back, dog owner Paul Lovie did something stupid.

The court heard how Lovie had armed himself with a samurai sword, air rifle and pellets, lighter fluid and a hammer before breaking into the Landing Lane shelter in York.

Prosecutor Dianne Campbell said: "He decided he would take matters into his own hands and go and get the dog." [...]

He gave himself up after one and a half hours of negotiations with armed police. [Ed. Note: Britain actually has unarmed police]

He appeared for sentence after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence, having an offensive weapon, and causing criminal damage.

Is "intent to cause fear" really a crime? I hope not, because I'm sure there are plenty of bed-wetting liberals out there afraid of my gun-toting ass.

While I don't condone what Lovie did, I cannot help but think the Brits brought this on themselves. Here is a man who was told his dog was ill and needed to be euthanized. Personally, I would probably use a 12-gauge, but the U.K.'s draconian gun control laws make that very difficult. A pickax seems to be the next best cheapest alternative. That the government would step in and put a stop to it smacks of tyranny (something not exactly strange to the U.K.). Ironically, those same draconian policies led to a society that could be held hostage by a pellet gun, something they insist on mistakenly calling a firearm.

As a military brat growing up in a military town, this really strikes a chord with me. This letter to the editor from Sherry Franzen of Eugene, Oregon has to be one of the most hateful things I've ever read.

In response to Tabitha Perkins (letters, May 11) encouraging us to tie a yellow ribbon to support the troops no matter how one feels about the war, and to everyone else of like mind: I do not support the troops who are willing to kill for their government, for the money it pays, for the education they may receive later - if they make it home alive with their brains intact - or any patriotism they claim to represent. A yellow ribbon should denote cowardice in the case of welcoming these people home.

They took the easy way out in the current climate of "You're either with us or you're against us." The willingness to kill, maim and torture for the government is not something to be proud of.

To go against the grain is the honorable thing. I would like to honor all the women and men who refuse to fight any battle that is not their own, whether it's for oil, power, money, government or greed. I honor those brave and decent enough to take good care of themselves and others. I honor those wonderful, intelligent beings who can think for themselves and not sign on to anything that would compromise their own respectability, those ethical enough to take responsibility for directing their own actions.

I say tie a blood-red ribbon on your arm, on your trees or any other limbs you can think of to show support for those willing to save blood for worthy endeavors.

Franzen's ignorant ramblings are offensive and over the top. That she should take for granted the freedoms secured by the very people for whom she holds such contempt is the greatest tragedy.

Virginia's lying, no good, fucktard of a democrat governor, Mark Warner, coupled with some tax and spend Republicans in the Legislature screamed doom and gloom in this year's budget battle. They claimed that large deficits were on the way, and that in order to preserve Virginia's prized bond rating, the largest tax increase in the history of the Commonwealth was absolutely necessary. If we don't raise taxes by a record $1.6 Billion, they said, little children will die, the rivers will turn to blood, and it will rain down locusts and cicadas. (Okay, so it actually is raining cicadas.) But that was in April.

A mere month later in May, it turns out that Virginia actually has a $300 Million surplus. This is before the tax hikes even take effect in July. In short, those cocksuckers were lying to us. So, will they repeal the tax hike? As a Virginia taxpayer, I expect to see the largest tax cut in Virginia history to undo the largest tax increase passed just last month.

But do I really expect it to happen? No fucking way. Tax hikes are never repealed. That luxury is only reserved for tax cuts.

Here is my contribution to the latest meme circulating the web.

1. which political party do you typically agree with? I'm a Constitutional Libertarian.

2. which political party do you typically vote for? Republican

3. list the last five presidents that you voted for? Bush, Clinton, Clinton. (Fool me twice, shame on me. Also, I couldn't vote any earlier because I wasn't old enough.)

4. which party do you think is smarter about the economy? Libertarian

5. which party do you think is smarter about domestic affairs? Republican

6. do you think we should keep our troops in Iraq or pull them out? Keep them in there and relax the rules of engagement.

7. who, or what country, do you think is most responsible for 9/11? Al Qaeda.

8. do you think we will find weapons of mass destruction in iraq? We already have.

9. yes or no, should the u.s. legalize marijuana? Yes.

10. do you think the republicans stole the last presidental election? No, but they sure caught the Democrats trying to pull a fast one.

11. do you think bill clinton should have been impeached because of what he did with monica lewinski? Impeached for adultery, no. Impeached for lying under oath, yes. Oh wait, that is how it really happened.

12. do you think hillary clinton would make a good president? Other than fish food, I don't think Hitlery would make a good anything.

13. name a current democrat who would make a great president: Zell Miller

14. name a current republican who would make a great president: Rep. Ron Dr. No Paul

15. do you think that women should have the right to have an abortion? To some extents, yes.

16. what religion are you? I'm an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church.

17. have you read the Bible all the way through? Yes.

18. what's your favorite book? Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend.

19. who is your favorite band? Don't really have one.

20. who do you think you'll vote for president in the next election? Bush, unless he signs any anti-gun legislation.

21. what website did you see this on first? Kim du Toit

Spoons is trying to save the Republican Party for conservatism. He makes a persuasive argument that a Democrat president is not the end of the world, but that re-electing President Bush may be the end of the Republican party as we once knew it.

I recommend reading the whole thing, but here are the money quotes.

8. As conservatives, there's nothing we can do to affect what the Democrats do: the only way for conservatives to affect the political landscape in this country is to influence the kind of candidates that succeed in the Republican Party;

9. If the Republican Party ceased to stand for conservative principles, there would be no rightward pushing force to counteract Democrat liberalism;

10. President Bush does not govern according to conservative principles, as demonstrated by his positions on Campaign Finance Reform, gun control, affirmative action, illegal immigration, surrender to Democrats on federal judges; massive government spending and expansion; steel tarriffs (sic) (nowhere near an exhuastive list);

11. A Bush defeat, in contrast, will have the undesirable effect of having John Kerry in the White House. We would have an opportunity to correct that error in four years.

12. No strategy which posits that "we can't afford to let a Democrat get into the White House" is reasonable or realistic, due to the fact that future Democrat Presidents are inevitable;

13. If President Bush is reelected, he will leave an indellible (sic) mark on the Republican Party, reshaping it for at least a generation;

14. If President Bush is reelected, the U.S. will have gone at least 20 years (from 1989-2009) without a conservative in the White House;

15. A relection (sic) of President Bush will serve to validate Bush's brand of liberal, so-called "compassionate" conservatism as a winning electoral strategy for the Republican Party;

16. A Bush reelection will leave an indellible (sic) effect on the Republican Party, and the cause of conservatism in the GOP will be dramatically, perhaps irrevocably, set back;

He makes a very good argument, but I'm not completely convinced. Then again, while I am dead set against voting for Kerry in November, I am not completely sold that Bush is the right candidate either. Throwing my vote away or "protest" voting may be the way to go.

The Supreme Court has decided to hear arguments about the shipment of wine between the states. Given the financial incentive of alcohol taxes, many states regulate or ban the shipment of wine directly from other states. In other words, it may be legal for you to buy wine in your grocery store, but ordering it online might be illegal in your area.

Lawyers for Juanita Swedenburg, [Swedenburg Winery's] owner, told the Supreme Court that it is unfair that out-of-state wineries must go through an expensive bureaucracy of wholesalers and retailers to sell in New York, while in-state wineries can ship products directly to buyers.

"It's protectionist, and it's discriminatory," Clint Bolick, who represents the winery, told the Associated Press.

That may be true, but unfortunately life [especially in New York] isn't always fair. The problem for wineries stems from prohibition. When the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed, power was ceded to the states to regulate the interstate sale of alcohol. The Twenty-First Amendment clearly states:

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

That means you cannot import wine into a state that forbids it. Without another Constitutional Amendment, (or judicial activism) I don't see it changing any time soon.

Some Democrats are calling Senator Joe Lieberman a turncoat, while others are calling for his ouster from the Democrat Party. Just what did Lieberman do that was so bad? He called on Democrats to stop playing politics and unite behind our soldiers fighting the war on terror.

"We have to stay united here as best we can to support our troops," Lieberman said in a CNN interview Monday night after listening to President Bush's speech. He called the U.S. war in Iraq "the test of our generation," and he said if the U.S doesn't win the war over there -- "we're going to face it much closer to home in the years ahead."

Lieberman urged Americans to avoid joining a "chorus of doubters" that is undermining American support for the war.

Some Democrats apparently are against this.

World Net Daily reports that filmmaker Michael Moore, the darling of France, fabricated an interview in his book "Stupid White Men".

In his book, Moore wrote he'd once been "forced" to listen to [Fox News analyst and Weekly Standard Executive Editor Fred] Barnes commenting on the PBS news show "The McLaughlin Group."

Barnes, according to Moore's account, whined "on and on about the sorry state of American education" and wound up by bellowing: "These kids don't even know what 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey' are!"

In an article in the Weekly Standard, the editor then tells his side of the story:

Moore's interest was piqued, so the next day he said he called me. "Fred," he quoted himself as saying, "tell me what 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey' are." I started "hemming and hawing," Moore wrote. And then I said, according to Moore: "Well, they're ... uh ... you know ... uh ... okay, fine, you got me -- I don't know what they're about. Happy now?" He'd smoked me out as a fraud, or maybe worse.

The only problem is none of this is true. It never happened. Moore is a liar. He made it up. It's a fabrication on two levels. One, I've never met Moore or even talked to him on the phone. And, two, I read both "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" in my first year at the University of Virginia. Just for the record, I'd learned what they were about even before college. Like everyone else my age, I got my classical education from the big screen. I saw the Iliad movie called Helen of Troy and while I forget the name of the Odyssey film, I think it starred Kirk Douglas as Odysseus.

Of course Michael Moore is a proven liar. It has already been proven that Moore's Oscar winning "documentary" Bowling for Columbine was filled with staged and fabricated scenes.

It's not at all surprising that a liberal commencement speaker would give an anti-Bush rant at a New York university. What is surprising, is that he was booed off the stage.

While I was in Ohio this weekend, I drove up to the CMP store and picked out a few military surplus rifles. My gun safe is now home to a nice service grade Springfield M1 Garand and Rock Island M1903 rifle. They are both excellent rifles, with only limited muzzle and throat erosion. The wood has a few dings, but I shouldn't have any trouble reconditioning them. Prior to this weekend, I hadn't owned a bolt action rifle. The M1903 is quite an entry into that realm. Of course, it came covered in Cosmoline, so it's still wrapped up until I have time to clean it.

(Click to Supersize)

(Click to Supersize)

Driving to the CMP store was definitely worth it. While service grade rifles are guaranteed to have erosions of less than 3, I was able to hand pick one with much less wear. The people there are very friendly, and thanks to Lue for giving us so much ribbing and making us feel at home. On the two rifles, I spent $60 in sales tax I wouldn't have otherwise, but saved $40 in shipping. I was tempted to pick up an M1917 Enfield, but opted to wait and see how the other two rifles turned out.

"You can move your tassels from right to left, which is what I hope happened to your politics over the past 4 years" -- Stephen Trachtenberg, President of George Washington University to his graduating class.

UPDATE: For those of you wanting a source, I originally heard it on WMAL 630 AM. After some in depth google searching, it appears as though Free Republic corroberates it, as does the student newspaper. (link may require registration)

"Only John Kerry could be for a nominating convention, but be against the nomination. This is just the latest example of John Kerry's belief that the rules are for other people, not for him." -- Ken Mehlman, the Bush-Cheney campaign manager.

Kerry is considering delaying his acceptance of the Democrat nomination, in order to bypass campaign finance legislation. Now, if a candidate can delay their nomination acceptance in order to delay accepting $75 Million in federal funds, is it not conceivable that they time the nomination acceptance to maximize the funds available. I mean, if Bush chooses to continue with private funding, can't he theoretically delay his nomination acceptance until a week before the election and then receive $75 Million in public money to boost his campaign at the end?

Of course the whole ordeal reeks of hypocrisy. Campaign finance has enjoyed wide-spread bipartisan support. But as soon as the rules come into play, the very people that supported them will move heaven and earth to get around them.

Radford Virginia was illegally banning firearms from city parks, and the Virginia Citizens Defense League took them to task for it. Under state law, Radford is not permitted to ban firearms from the park for concealed handgun permit holders, and effective in July, they will no longer be permitted to ban firearms carried openly. But despite not even having a law on the books to back up their ban, Radford was notably defiant when challenged by VCDL.

Assistant City Manager Bob Lloyd mailed a three-page reply saying the park is located near "a bank, a high school, a middle school, a recreation center with recreation fields adjacent to a grade school" on contiguous properties and the city has "no intention or inclination to remove the signs in the park."

Yes, city officials actually said that the park's proximity to a bank, school, and rec center gave them reason enough to break state law. But then again, they were only openly defiant until the Roanoke Times published a VCDL letter to the editor. Now, they seem to be changing their tune.

[Radford Mayor Tom] Starnes said he discussed the matter with City Manager Tony Cox and directed Cox to remove the sign or change the wording.

"I'm not sure that I'm in agreement with that, but that's the mayor's call," said City Councilman Dave Worrell. "I don't like people telling me what to do."

This, coming from a man who makes his living telling other people what to do.

Worrell said he had gotten eight or 10 e-mails about the sign, one or two directed to him personally and the rest copies of e-mails sent to the mayor.

"Whether you agree with the law or not, it has to be in compliance," Starnes said.

Kudos to the mayor for realizing that personal ideology is no excuse to violate the law.

"If you know someone with a gun, they are a very bad person" -- a speaker at the Richmond 'Million Mom March' road show.

I'm back in town, so posting should return to normal tomorrow.

The site is moving. If you are reading this, you've reached THE NEW SITE. The static URL for the new site is: http://69.93.245.34/~ravnwoo/. You can also try ravnwood.org, ravnwood.net, or ravnwood.com. (Ravnwood.org seems to be working fine for me.)

While the DNS changes propagate, you may see some broken links, and broken img tags. Some links also may divert you back to the old site, so watch out. The images will never show up using the IP address because of the directory structure, so please pardon the appearance. Also, the counter is fubar because it's looking for ravnwood.com which is on the old webhost.

While I was happy with Hostingmatters, I decided to switch to eMaxhosting because they provide more than three times as much space for half the price. The quality of service also appears to be on par with HM. The monthly savings should keep the site free of advertising.

I'll be traveling this weekend (starting tomorrow) and will not return until Monday night. By then, most of the DNS propagations should have taken hold.

UPDATE: For anyone who's interested, moving the site over was a breeze. Both hosts use CpanelX and MySQL. I downloaded backups of the home directory and SQL database from the old site, uploaded them to the new site, and configured MySQL with my username and password so I could access the database. Then it's just a question of debugging the counter, and setting up my email accounts, subdomains, and forwards.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids - $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.' They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!" -- Comedian Bill Cosby.

Last night's episode of Colonial House was pretty interesting. The underlying conflict of the colony surrounded the influence of laws and religion. When confronted with puritanical laws prohibiting swearing and mandating that people attend the Sabboth services, the colonists were in revolt. First only a few refused to go to church, then more than half. Eventually there were so many people being punished that the Governor had to suspend punishment for missing church services.

Now, as a 21st century Libertarian, I have no problem with people who cuss. Personally, I cuss all the time. I also have no problem with people who aren't religious, nor with those that are. But if someone is offended by being asked to attend church services, they sure as hell shouldn't volunteer to live by Puritanical laws. Were they too stupid to know what Puritans were? (Or why they no longer exist?) Puritans were all about religion and the moral code and they insisted that everyone else live by their rules. That is the primary reason they died out.

The so-called colonists aren't being open minded to Puritanical life at all. They are trying to apply 21st century U.S. views to a 17th century Puritan colony. They are expecting to enjoy religious freedom more than 100 years before the birth of the United States as a nation. Had there been reality in this reality show, there would have been lashings dealt out.

I am by no means validating the Puritan point of view. But lets be honest, if they weren't prepared to play by the rules, why did they volunteer to be on the show?

Ravenwood's Universe has slipped again on Right Wing News' Top 40 blogs rankings. This quarter we rank 34th out of 40, just above the Spoons Experience and Electric Venom. That is a slip of one spot from our rank of 33rd last quarter. Prior to that, we had ranked 21st for the year 2003.

The AJC is sounding the alarm. Apparently a rocket launcher was found near a MARTA station in Atlanta.

A military rocket launcher was found Tuesday near a rail-transit station, but the FBI said it looks to be a less-powerful training model unable to bring down an aircraft or destroy a train.

Fully outfitted versions of the M136 AT4 launcher are used by the Army to destroy light tanks. The one found near a MARTA station west of Atlanta will be examined to be sure it is only a training model, said FBI spokesman Steve Lazarus.

Let's hope it was only a training model. If it was the real thing, it must have been quite dangerous, right? Well, maybe not.

You see, no matter how powerful a rocket launcher is, it isn't much good without any rockets. Today's rocket launchers are pretty much a fiberglass tube with a scope or aiming sight, and a trigger mechanism. In fact, the military MT136 AT4 launcher is meant to be disposable.

The M136 AT4 is a lightweight, self-contained, antiarmor weapon consisting of a free-flight, fin-stabilized, rocket-type cartridge packed in an expendable, one-piece, fiberglass-wrapped tube. [...]

The round of ammunition is self-contained in a disposable launch tube.

(emphasis mine)

I'd bet dollars to donuts that what was found was just the empty launch tube. Without a rocket, the launcher has all the lethality of a baseball bat. The bigger question is, if the Army lost an empty launch tube, what else has turned up missing?

Fox (search) News reports that Senate Democrats are ready to allow Bush's judicial nominees come to a vote, as long as they aren't minorities. The nominations of Miguel Estrada, Priscilla Owen, Carolyn Kuhl, and Janice Rogers Brown, who are all minorities, are still considered objectionable to Democrats and aren't part of the deal. Democrats will allow votes on other "non-objectionable" nominations if President Bush promises to relinquish his Constitionally granted powers to make recess appointments.

Under the agreement, Democrats will allow votes on 25 non-controversial appointments to the district and appeals courts. In exchange, Bush agreed not to invoke his constitutional power to make recess appointments while Congress is away, as he has done twice in recent months with judicial nominees. [...]

The Senate confirmations of the 20 U.S. District Court judges and the five U.S. Appeals Court judges will come over the next three months, Daschle said. Other judicial nominees will be considered case-by-case, he said. [...]

Democrats called Bush's appointments "a flagrant abuse of presidential power" but Republicans said that Bush wouldn't have had to use recess appointments if Democrats hadn't been blocking his nominees.

A handful of Senators have held the judicial process hostage for several months, but it was Bush, who was abiding by the text of U.S. Constitution, who was committing "a flagrant abuse" of power.

Any of you bitching about high gas prices need to remember a few things.

When Congress suggested drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as far back as 1995, it was the enviro-weenies who stood in the way.

When drilling for oil in ANWR came up for a vote in the Senate in 2002, it was the Democrats who killed it.

When drilling for oil in ANWR came up for a vote in the Senate in 2003, it was the Democrats who killed it.

John Kerry was one of those Democrats who voted against drilling in ANWR, thus securing our reliance on foreign oil.

It's interesting that the very people who are crying "no war for oil", are the same ones keeping us dependent on foreign oil. If we can't steal it, and we can't drill for our own, and we can't negotiate a lower price with the Saudis, what are we supposed to do? Oh yeah, we're supposed to outlaw SUVs just stop using it.

No matter what the price of gasoline at the pump, remember that times are still better than they were in the 1970s. Back then not only were adjusted for inflation gas prices higher, but cars got worse mileage. Also, don't forget that your personal decisions have a huge bearing on how much you pay for gas. You choose what kind of car to drive, where to live, and where to work. If gas prices are really such an annoyance, perhaps you should find a job closer to home or trade in your SUV for one of those econoboxes. You could also try, oh I don't know, taking the bus.

What you really ought to be bitching about is not the price you pay at the pump, but at the often unseen impact of high gas prices. That is the inflationary impact it has on consumer prices. Just about all consumer goods are shipped with vehicles using fossile fuels, so the actions of a few Democrats and enviro-weenies end up costing us all millions of dollars.

Roughly one month ago, the New York Times noted that John Kerry was very upset at the notion of Bush striking a deal with the Saudis to lower gasoline prices in the U.S.

Today, Senator John Kerry quickly seized on Mr. Woodward's assertion on Sunday that the Saudi ambassador to the United States had agreed that his country would make sure that oil prices did not get too out of hand and would lower them to boost the American economy prior to the election -- a decision that would presumably help Mr. Bush politically.

"That is outrageous and unacceptable to the American people," Mr. Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, declared during a campaign stop in Florida...

Now that the average gas prices have reached more than $2 a gallon, Kerry is blaming Bush for not striking a deal with the Saudis to lower gas prices in the U.S.

"Where is the president?" Mr. Kerry asked in Portland, Ore., where he made a campaign stop at a training center. "We need a president who is fighting for the American worker, the American family, at the fuel pumps, to lower the price of gas in the United States."

This is the classic damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. If Bush gets OPEC to lower the price of oil, he's must be doing it for political reasons. If he doesn't get OPEC to lower the price of oil, he must be imcompetent.

I cannot get over the lack of media attention to the discovery of a sarin laced warhead in Iraq. Sarin is a bonafide Weapon of Mass Destruction, yet the event has gone largely unreported.

Yet these are the same people, who get all bent out of shape whenever they find cardboard tubes or swords in someone's home.

Is anyone surprised that Michael Moore's anti-American film would get resounding cheers and applause at France's Cannes Film Festival?

The Ford Escape Hybrid SUV is generating a lot of buzz. Still, I'm not convinced. I looked at the Escape when I bought my Explorer. In 2001 I was unimpressed by the small V-6 engine and lack of amenities. In 2004, I'm mortified by the 4-cylinder hybrid engine. Ford is going to try to market a 3700 pound vehicle with a 150 hp engine as having V-6 like performance.

It may be good for cruising around town, but when it only promises to save $400 a year on gas (30 mpg vs. 20 mpg for the V-6 gas engine), I have to say thanks but no thanks. The savings on gasoline probably wouldn't cover the increased hassle and cost of maintaining the electric power plant (very few mechanics are available to work on them), nor the danger posed by the high voltage batteries.

Although, the tax breaks ($1500) and ability to ride the car pool lane are intriguing. Who knows, maybe I'll test drive one.

After watching a few hours of Colonial House, it appears to be nothing more than a bunch of city slickers bitching about having to go camping and live off the land. When I was a Boy Scout, we learned wilderness survival. We learned to make our own fires, chop our own wood, and forage for our own food. We hiked, we climed, we camped. We even had some camping trips that including nothing but manual labor, eating and sleeping. In what were called "Freezorees", we even camped in the dead of winter with several inches of snow on the ground.

These wussies, who are living in good sized cabins, are complaining about the cold, the food, dying in the outdoors, and of course the day to day labor. I think if we had it to do over again, today's soft bodies couldn't hack it.

Legal gay marriage started in Massachussets on Monday, yet the world did not end. I have yet to hear from any person, married or otherwise, how they have been denied of life, liberty, or property by permitting gays to marry. I'm not happy that it came about through judicial activism, but now that it's here it's time for us straight people to let gays live their lives.

I don't know too many gay people, nor do I watch any of the myriad of gay shows popping up on TV. I practice my freedom of choice and change the channel. Then again, I found campy, lovey dovey shows like Full House to be much more disgusting than any of the pro-gay programming.

Bush is renewing his call for a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage. I would like the so-called conservatives in the GOP a lot better if they would spend less time promoting stupid Constitutional Amendments that ban victimless activities like flag burning and gay marriage. Why is the GOP promoting greater government intrusion into our lives when they should be spending more time promoting the Constitutional ideals of limited government?

The Fifty Caliber institute tackles the Top Ten Lies About the .50cal Rifle. (editorial added)

.50cal rifles can shoot with deadly accuracy up to four miles away. -- Wow. That must be news to the world record holder who could only hit accurately from 1800 yards away. (~1 mile)

.50cal rifles can shoot down commercial airliners. -- That's news to the Russians who spent billions developing missiles and AAA systems that shoot thousands of rounds per minute. Communism might have survived if only they'd saved their money and bought a few .50 caliber BMG rifles instead.

.50cal rifles can shoot through seven buildings. -- Reminds us of Joe Piscopo's .88 Magnum. It shoots through schools.

.50cal rifles can rip through tanks and APCs from 2,000 yards away. -- HAHAHA!!! Why then are we wasting our money on TOW missiles?

.50cal rifles can blow up armored limousines and helicopters. -- And cars always explode 30 seconds after they crash.

.50cal rifles were used in Waco and Oklahoma City. -- Yeah, but they were being used by Janet Reno

.50cal rifles are the ultimate terrorist and criminal weapon. -- There have been two very prominent terror attacks in the U.S. that used Ryder rental trucks. They were responsible for killing hundreds of people. Now lets count the terror attacks that used .50 caliber rifles... zero.

.50cal rifles should be classified as "assault weapons." -- Sure. Just add bayonet lugs to it.

Any teenager with a driver's license can get a military sniper rifle. -- To buy it legally, they'll also need several thousand dollars and pickup truck to get it home. Then again, we could save thousands of lives by banning teenagers from getting driver's licenses.

You can buy military high-explosive ammunition on the internet. -- Not until I get my millions from Nigeria.

Luckily, I've got some cash in the bank. If the .50 caliber ban looks like it may pass, I'll probably invest in one or two. A pre-ban rifle could earn 25% a year.

USA Today reports that tax and spend Democrats are being outdone by spend-thrift Republicans.

On average, the largest spending increases from 1997 through 2002 occurred in states where Republicans controlled both branches, according to a 2003 analysis by USA TODAY. [...]

Ohio. Spending in the Buckeye state has risen 71% during the past decade, when Republicans have controlled both the governor's office and the legislature. To fund this spending, Republican Gov. Bob Taft, backed by the GOP legislature, has increased the sales tax by 20%, upped the gasoline tax by two cents a gallon and increased numerous small business fees.

Idaho. Spending is up more than 60% in the past decade, mainly under GOP rule. Last year, Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne sought a sales tax increase. He asked the GOP-controlled legislature to raise the tax from 5% to 6.5%. He settled for 6%.

Georgia. In 2003, less than 24 hours after becoming the state's first Republican governor in more than a century, Sonny Purdue proposed hiking taxes by about $762 million to close a budget gap.

Of course, Virginia is on that list as well. When our Democrat asshat of a Governor broke his "I will not raise taxes, I will not raise taxes, I will not raise taxes" pledge, and asked for a $1 Billion tax hike, the GOP dominated legislature answered by giving him $1.6 Billion. It is the largest tax cut in Virginia history.

It's also been common knowledge to Ohioans and anyone following their struggle to restore citizens rights to keep and bear arms, Taft is no conservative.

Of course tax and spend Republians are nothing new to us Libertarians. We've long known that most modern day Republicans are like Democrat-lite. A democrat friend of mine once sent a bunch of us some disparaging information about George Bush and invited conservatives to send him hate mail. My response, which he still cannot answer, was to ask him what George Bush had to do with conservativism.

Armstrong Williams takes a look on black on black crime and he thinks he knows why not much progress is being made. Instead of blaming the gang bangers pulling the trigger, black leaders are blaming the VRWC and the gun industry.

By focusing the black public's fear and outrage upon vaguely defined enemies, usually referred to simply as "Republicans," or "Uncle Toms, " or "Jewish special interests," the old guard leaders are able to wield the black voting populace as a block-and thus keep themselves in power.

Coalition troops have discovered weapons of mass distruction in Iraq. Well, they haven't so much discovered WMD, as they have been the victim of them. Fox (search) News reports: "A roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent recently exploded near a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military said Monday. Bush administration officials told Fox News that mustard gas was also recently discovered."

Of course we already knew Iraq had chemical weapons. They used them on the Kurds between 1984 and 1989, which resulted in the death of over 25,000 people. Although this week's attack was not very effective and resulted in only a few injuries and no deaths, the nerve agent is nonetheless a weapon of mass destruction. Interesting enough, when a blister agent was found in Iraq months ago, there wasn't much of a hullabaloo.

Then again, take a look at how some major media outlets are reporting this latest find.

(Click to supersize)

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Fox News reports that chemical agents have been found in Iraq, while CNN choses to get a jump on the hurricane season, which starts in June (although the most dangerous hurricanes come in late summer or fall). If you manage to read CNN's article about the new Iraqi governing council and make it down to the 12th paragraph, you'll hear mention that coalition forces are "believed" to have found Sarin nerve agent.

Who do you trust for news?

UPDATE: Great minds think alike.

This guy, got to hob knob and go shooting with this single, breath-takingly beautiful, gun-toting, libertarian goddess, whom I've had a crush on for over two years now.

If Fox News is so full of right wing bias, why does a left wing newspaper bother to advertise on their site?

(Click to supersize)

Neal Boortz has a photo of John Kerry's daugter, Alexandra, at the Cannes Film Festival. Lets just say her dress is probably not safe for work. Unless you work at a strip club or something.

I've mirrored the image here.

"The public schools are as racially isolated and segregated as they were with Brown" -- Those are the words spoken by attorney Charles Scott Jr. whose father, Charles Scott, was one of the attorney's who filed the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case in Topeka, Kansas.

The landmark ruling, which determined that "separate but equal" racial segregation is unconstitutional, celebrates it's 50th anniversary today. Scott's matter-of-fact remarks fly in the face of that ruling, and create the impression that no progress has been made. Scott should be ashamed of himself.

The segregation he refers to is not segregation mandated by the government, as was the case before the Brown ruling. Scott refers to the natural human behavior of blacks and whites to voluntarily segregate themselves into different neighborhoods and thus different schools. If he wants to argue that people should change their behavior and deliberately try to integrate themselves, so be it. But he shouldn't piss all over the Brown ruling by saying it didn't make any difference.

There seems to be a lot of hoopla surrounding the release of Movable Type 3.0. I took a quick glance at the pricing structure and agree that it is way too pricey for my tastes, although they promise there will be a free version soon. I'm not going into panic mode just yet, because I'm perfectly happy with the version of MT I'm running now. I'm not one of these guys that upgrades for the sake of upgrading. Since installing MT, I've upgraded exactly twice. The first upgrade was to add the search feature, the second to comply with the minimum requirements for the MT Blacklist (anti-spam) plug-in.

Only the second upgrade was unplanned. Comment spam seemed to come from out of nowhere and adding the blacklist was necessary, and probably the best thing I ever did. Unless a similar situation arises where an upgrade seems necessary, I don't plan on upgrading any time soon.

For the rest of you, I guess you'll have to pay for MT 3.0, or hope they release a free version. You could also switch to another weblog software. Meanwhile, Ravenwood's Universe will be stuck in time, living off the old license.

Although, this guy pointed to this web host, which almost seems too good to be true. 500 meg for $6 a month. Decisions, decisions.

PBS will be airing the next segment of their reality series starting today. Colonial House, an extension of Frontier House and 1900 House, promises to send a group of people back nearly 400 years to live in the days of Colonial New England.

Speaking on personal experience, I really enjoyed 1900 House, which was sent in turn of the century England. A British family was denied all the creature comforts of the 21st century and had to live as people lived in 1900. I missed Frontier House, but managed to catch some of the backlash caused by the political correctness and anti-gun bigotry that surrounded the show. PBS, who claimed that participants were to "live as closely to the pioneer lifestyle of the 1880s as possible", denied the frontiersmen the use of rifles and firearms and instead opted to secure their safety with modern day inventions like bear repellent.

I've already set my recorder to Tivo this week's episodes of Colonial House. It will be interesting to see if PBS continues to rewrite history by denying "colonists" their right to keep and bear arms. The laws they've established look pretty interesting. Punishment for breaking the laws is usually lashings or time in the stockade. Although they are strictly puritanical in nature (no drunkeness, cussing, fornicating, etc), they do include a reward of four bushels of corn for killing a wolf, and they state that "Fowling, fishing and hunting shall be free to all men." We'll see.

CBS claims to have discovered a man manufacturing the "deadliest weapons imaginable" out of his New Jersey home.

They are deadly weapons and advertised that way on the Internet. Swords, sickles, axes and flails, the weapons of war from another time. But they are being manufactured and sold today, on a tree lined residential street in Garfield, New Jersey and the neighbors are not happy.

GASP! Sharp objects being made at home and sold for profit. Are these the most pathetic people on Earth? If a news crew came to my door and told me that one of my neighbors was manufacturing and selling swords, I'd ask how much they cost. But that's not the reaction they're reporting.

"That's very disturbing. Who's he selling them to. I mean I have teenage kids here in the high school, and stuff so they should really do something about that," says one neighbor.

"I hate it, it's awful," says another.

"That's terrible. He should be arrested. They should take these knives away from him," says a third neighbor.

That's right, he lives just TWO BLOCKS FROM A SCHOOL! Oh, the humanity! And there's kids in the neighborhood. Well, if the government isn't looking out for these kids, who is?! Certainly you don't expect their parents to keep them out of trouble.

But don't worry. He won't be selling swords for much longer. After CBS blew the whistle on him, local authorities have issued him a summons for illegally running a business out of his apartment. That'll make New Jersey safe once again.

Fairfax County polizei, whose last claim to fame was using SWAT teams to harass bar patrons, have taken to picking on school children. While investigating some gangland activity, a reporter for the high school paper dared to photograph the officers questioning a few students.

By the time an officer stopped their car and confiscated the camera, Smeallie had snapped six more photographs.

When the camera was returned by a second officer, the young men discovered that the photos had been erased.

"He claimed he deleted them by accident," Smeallie said. That would have involved multiple steps requiring deliberate actions. The officer allegedly threatened to have the principal remove them from the newspaper staff.

Fairfax Police claim that they deleted 12 pictures by accident and that hiding from the press is not police policy. Having used a digital camera, I don't believe that for a minute. The officer likely knew exactly what he was doing. As for being camera shy, their actions seem to speak much more loudly than their policy.

In 1964, Pontiac did something no other automaker had done before. They took a mid-sized car, dropped a big block engine into it, and sold it for a bargain price. Considered by some to be the first true muscle car, the Pontiac GTO was born. The "Goat" hit it's prime in about 1968 to 1971, before finally being killed off by the 1970s gas crisis.

1968 GTO Convertable

1969 GTO Coupe

Forty years later, Pontiac is trying to recapture the glory. In the face of rising gas prices, Pontiac once again took a Corvette sized engine and stuffed it into a Pontiac Grand Prix sized car and the 2004 Pontiac GTO was born.

The new Pontiac GTO has a 5.7L LS1 engine that makes 350 horses and will get you to 60 miles per hour in just over 5 seconds. With a base price of $32,500 however it's a bit pricey for my tastes, and it still has that uninspiring Pontiac front end. And don't forget, if you select the automatic tranny over the 6-speed will get you slapped with a $1000 gas guzzler tax.

* A brief history of the GTO with photos of each year.

Ravenwood's nephew came two and a half weeks early. Jackson Scott was born at 2 AM this morning and weighs in at 8 lbs. He has pneumonia in one lung, but doctors are saying that it is able to be treated and nothing to worry about.

I have not yet spoken with my sister, she is getting some much needed rest. I am pleased however, to see that she named him after two great Virginian Generals, Stonewall Jackson and Winfield Scott. (She hasn't confirmed it, but it was the first thing I thought of when I learned the name.)

I've never been an uncle before, but am already excited at the prospect of spoiling the little devil. I've got plenty of online shopping to do.

Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick was convicted and sentenced to 30 days for giving alcohol to minors. He was acquitted of having sex with one of the minors, reports the AP.

Vick, brother of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and was fined $2,250 on three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Vick's lawyer, Marc Long, said he will file an appeal Monday.

Tailback Mike Imoh was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $750 fine. Wide receiver Brenden Hill was sentenced to 20 days in jail and fined $1,500. Both were convicted on three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The Athletic Director will have to review the situation to determine whether or not the three players will be allowed to remain on the team. It has long been my prediction that Imoh and Hill will be dropped from the team and never play football again. Vick will also be dropped, and will transfer to a division II school and play again next season.

Some "pro-gun" bills are making their way through the Chicago legislature, and that has Illinois Governor and gun fearing wussy Rod Blagojevich quaking in his boots.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday promised "wholesale vetoes" of several pieces of pro-gun legislation if lawmakers do not pass an assault weapons ban, underscoring the governor's tough new gun-control attitude.

Reacting to Thursday's House passage of a pro-gun measure he had already promised to veto, Blagojevich signaled he is losing patience over lawmakers' refusal to pass some of the gun control measures he supports while they advance a gun-friendly agenda.

The "gun-friendly agenda" that has the Illinois governor so scared, is actually not very gun-friendly at all. In fact it's more of a pro-self defense legislation.

The gun legislation passed in the House was inspired by a Wilmette man who shot an intruder in his home, then was charged with violating the city's gun ban. The legislation would allow someone to use self-defense as a legal argument in court.

The bill passed 90-25 after an amendment was added to make certain that the self-defense argument could be used only if people shoot an intruder at their home or office, supporters said.

"I was shocked at the number of votes that proposal received in the House," Blagojevich said. "So I would say get your work done, send it to us, and I'll veto it right away."

Illinois' governor is so rabidly anti-gun that he's willing to sacrifice a homeowner's right to defend themself from attack in order to advance his own personal agenda. (An agenda that the Illinois House and Senate don't seem to be interested in.)

The Washington Times notes that the Nicholas Berg incident isn't getting too much airplay in the Arab Media.

Arab media played down or ignored the news of an American civilian's beheading by Islamic militants in Iraq, while continuing to give prominence to the American prison abuse scandal, journalists and diplomats in the Middle East said yesterday.

Sounds like the Arab media is taking cues from their counterparts at the L.A. Times, N.Y. Times, Washington Post, AJC, etc, etc.

Politicians are always bitching about overpaid CEOs and corporate executives. Congress even passed legislation to penalize corporations that pay their management enormous salaries, which led to the advent of stock options, which gave incentive to executives to artificially inflate the stock price. But when it comes to paying government officials, turnabout is not always fair play.

Washington D.C. city officials are looking to hire a new superintendent for their government schools, and they are prepared to pay him over $600,000 in salary and benefits. This is in spite of the fact that the cash strapped D.C. schools just laid off more than 500 employees, including 285 teachers. The amount is also about twice what superintendents make in nearby Virginia and Maryland.

When it comes to private people spending private money to pay an executive of a private company, the government feels the need to step in and influence how much they pay. But when the shoe is on the other foot and the government is spending public money to pay a public official, price is no object.

Rep. Michael Castle (R-Del.) is set to propose legislation in the House to re-authorize the Clinton Gun Ban (a/k/a "Assault Weapons Ban"). Castle thinks there are enough Republican votes to combine with Democrat votes to pass the gun control bill. He also notes that there are procedures to bring the bill to the floor for a vote without the support of House leadership. If the bill does come to a vote, what would the Republicans do?

Some Republicans, like President Bush, have already expressed support for gun control, but they aren't exactly pressing the issue. They realize it is a political loser, but if it actually comes up for a vote, who knows what might happen. The Senate has already shown that they support extending the ban, so the House may just be the final piece of the puzzle. It is because of this that the NRA has thus far withheld an endorsement for George Bush's reelection campaign.

Most surprisingly, Republicans don't seem to be phased by the cold reception they are getting from gun owners, because they just know we won't vote for John Kerry.

Castle downplayed the significance of an NRA endorsement, saying a vast majority of NRA members are not going to vote for Kerry, whether Bush gets the group's backing or not.

While that may be true, Republicans are by no means guaranteed that gun owners will be flocking to the polls to vote for Bush.

The Republicans brushing aside of gun owners reminds me a lot about how Democrats treat blacks and other minorities. Year after year, the Democrats take the black vote for granted, because they just know that by and large they wouldn't dare vote for a Republican. The GOP seems to be using the same strategy for gun owners.

Personally, I am still undecided about this year's election. I know for certain that I will not vote for Kerry, but I still have not made up my mind about Bush. If come November, I'm still not permitted to own a gun with bayonet lugs or a pistol grip, it won't be Bush's name that I write down.

The Media Research Center reports that NBC is clanging the 'Bush=Hitler' bell pretty hard.

From Egypt, Fred Francis declared: "In the Arab street and much of the world, outrage has produced a consensus: Rumsfeld must go. In Egypt Marabak Molson [spelling not on screen and so a phonetic guess], considered a moderate journalist [video of her anchoring a TV newscast], says Arabs reject the Rumsfeld apology that still seemed more arrogant than contrite."

Molson [sp?]: "He is reminding me of a sort of neo-Nazi character who's coming back to life and anything which is not American is wrong."

Francis: "In Cairo, anti-U.S. sentiment is so strong many here see no difference here between the actions of Saddam Hussein and George Bush..."

Moving on to Germany, Francis passed along this soundbite from Dr. Jurgen Falter of the University of Mainz: "There have to be total structural reform and total transparency in regard to the tortures and regard to what's going on in Iraq."

Francis added, as he walked through a Cairo marketplace: "Like the new prison picture from Iraq of attacking dogs, prompting one Arab businessman to say, 'that is not Jeffersonian democracy. It's more like a lesson from Hitler's book, Mein Kampf.' Many more Arabs here are saying the U.S. must quit Iraq..."

I'm always amazed at how quick people are to make a Hitler comparison. If Bush really was Hitler, Brokaw would be in a concentration camp, and NBC would be parroting jingoism instead of waging their anti-American, anti-Bush campaign.

Reuters carries the bleeding heart sob story of the Inuit people who live in the Arctic and polar regions of Canada, Russia and Alaska. The "news" agency reports that "climate change", the latest buzz word for global warming, is killing off the Eskimo lifestyle.

"The Inuit have now become the net recipients of toxins coming from afar and we carry heavy body burdens in our blood core and the nursing milk of our mothers," Watt-Cloutier told an environmental conference. "Not of our doing, we are being poisoned from afar."

Inuit say that rising temperatures are undermining traditional lifestyles based around hunting for animals like seal, whale, walrus and polar bear.

"For us, the environment is our supermarket," Watt-Cloutier said. "We are out there every single day and every day we can't help but wonder what surprises lie as a result of the things that are happening."

More thawing permafrost -- the normally perpetually frozen layer of earth -- heavier snowfalls and seas with longer ice-free seasons are some visible effects of climate change in the area, she said.

Keep in mind that in the 1970s, the alarm was being spread about the dangers of Global Cooling. At one point, environmentals even suggested painting the icecaps black so that they could absorb more of the sun's rays.

Liberal Democrats have never been a friend to Democracy, especially when things don't go their way. When voters don't support the Democrat agenda, liberals tend to think there must be something wrong with them, or that the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy has operatives working behind the scenes. When voters don't see things their way, they are more likely to sue (Calif. recall), or cheat (Florida recount), or change the rules in the middle of the game (Torricelli).

In California, where the Gray Davis recall is still a sore spot with some Democrats, lawmakers are trying to make recall elections much more difficult.

Last week, the Senate's elections committee unanimously approved legislation that would prohibit recall proceedings against any statewide official within 90 days of election. SB 1317 would also protect statewide officials who had been the target of a recall within six months or had less than six months left in their terms. Those rules currently apply only to local elected officials. [...]

Changes they are informally bandying about include: separating the recall and replacement votes so they occur on different days, rather than having them on the same ballot; increasing the number of voter petition signatures required to initiate a recall; and making it harder for replacement candidates to get on the ballot.

Separate votes for recalls means lower turnout. A special election already sees meager turnout. Now imagine how low turnout would be if you had two special elections a few weeks apart.

Increasing the number of signatures required and making it harder for candidates to qualify are blatant attempts at incumbent protection. They would make recall elections much more expensive and time consuming, which is the whole idea.

Lawmakers cannot pass an outright ban on recall elections but they can make the process as difficult as possible. These people claim to be advocates of democracy and the common man. But as soon as you aren't looking, they're taking away more of your rights to secure their own political power.

It's not often that I find myself on the same side as Hollywierd liberals, but this is one of those times. Senators have got their panties in a bind because Hollywood hasn't jumped on the smoking temperance movement. They say that all those smokers in films and TV and making kids light up. And if the movie industry won't clean up their act and jump on the anti-smoking bandwagon, lawmakers may just use the police power of the imperial federal government to make them.

Some lawmakers are going so far as to say you either stop fictional smoking or we'll use lethal force to make you stop; First Amendment be damned.

They urged Valenti to consider measures to decrease smoking in movies, warn parents about it by amending the rating system or run public service announcements about the risks.

Most said they were reluctant to pass a law forcing Hollywood to take such steps, but Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said that would happen if the movie industry didn't act.

"I think the ball is in your court, Mr. Valenti," he said. "I guarantee you if something isn't done by the industry, there's certainly going to be efforts" by lawmakers.

Here we have another liberal lawmaker threatening to "guarantee" they'll violate someone's rights. Ordinarily, I wouldn't feel threatened because such action is clearly a violation of the U.S. Constitution. But lately the legislative, the executive and the judicial branches of government have all been failing to uphold the Constitution, and I keep waiting for someone to wake me up and tell me the nightmare is over.

It may sound extreme, but an unjust law should not be obeyed, and Jack Valenti should tell Senator Wyden to "bite me". Where does he get off trying to intimidate artists into what they can and cannot put into their work? This nanny-government crap is going to damned far. Wyden and others are willingly violating their oaths of office by not protecting and upholding the Constitution and the laws of this great nation. When a sitting U.S. Senator uses intimidation and threats to violate someone's God-given, Constitutionally-protected rights, he should be taken to task. If Wyden's colleagues won't do it, then Valenti should.

For your daily dose of liberal drivel, you needn't look any further than the Washington Post. Post writers are trying to tell heart-wrenching stories of those affected by Virginia's crack down on illegal driver's licenses. Seven of the September 11th hijackers used Virginia driver's licenses to move around freely in the United States. They used a "loophole" in the law that allowed persons to have their friends vouch for their citizenship status. All you had to do was show up at the DMV with a few of your terrorist buddies to vouch that you were who you said you were, and they printed you out a state issued driver's license or ID card. After September 11th, Virginia plugged that loophole causing so-called "hardship" for "undocumented immigrants".

Caught in the middle in Virginia are thousands of undocumented immigrants who have been working in the United States for years, often paying taxes, and who now stand to lose those jobs because they can't drive to work.

Boo-fucking-hoo. Pardon me for coming off as sounding insensitive, but these are not immigrants. They are illegal aliens and they are already breaking federal immigration laws. Since they "often" pay taxes (unlike the rest of us who always pay taxes) many of them are breaking federal, state, and local tax laws as well.

So why the sudden concern that people who willingly violate our immigration and tax laws are now being forced to also violate our state driving laws? Well, when the police pull you over it's difficult for them to tell if you are an illegal alien or have been cheating on your taxes. But if you don't have a driver's license, that tends to stand out. That tends to get people arrested and deported.

WaPo cries that the "immigrants" are "paralyzed".

"There are many of us with this problem," said one 37-year-old Bolivian immigrant who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was in the United States illegally. "Without an ID, you can't do anything -- you can't find work, you can't open a bank account."

With an estimated 6 million to 8 million undocumented people in the United States, the problem is growing, said Tanya Broder, a staff attorney with the National Immigration Law Center.

The easy solution is for these "undocumented immigrants" to simply go speak with the people in charge of providing documentation. All they need to do is walk up to any Immigration and Naturalization office and ask to speak with an INS official. Once they explain that they are in the United States without the proper documentation, I'm sure the INS will gladly alleviate the "hardship".

Once these law-breakers are back on the other side of the fence, that should also free up an estimated 6 million to 8 million jobs for American citizens and legally documented immigrants.

I get fan mail from all over the world.

God bless the children of Iraq.

With 99 of 100 votes cast in the Senate, the Democrats failed to extend federal unemployment benefits by a single vote. Just one more vote was all they needed to help out the poor, the downtrodden, the victims of the ailing Bush economy. A single vote would have taken money from the dreaded, evil, rich and put it into the pockets of those Americans who really need it most.

That vote could have been cast by Presidential wanna-be and Senator John Kerry. But like so many other votes, Senator Kerry missed it because he was out stumping on the campaign trail.

If you don't read Neal Boortz every day, perhaps you should start. On the subject of terrorism, Neal pretty much says it all.

DO YOU SEE WHO WE'RE DEALING WITH HERE?

For days now the world's media has been full of stories about the abuse of prisoners at the now-infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Let's review. We had pictures of Iraqi prisoners in a pile, pictures of an Iraqi prisoner wearing a leash held by an female American soldier. There was a picture of another Iraqi prisoner being intimidated by dogs and one standing on a box with a hood over his head and some wires attached to his hands. Strong stuff, right? And ohhhhh ... the outrage!

Now ... what pictures did we see yesterday? We saw pictures of brave Arabs redeeming their manhood by beheading an American civilian named Nick Berg. These peace-loving Muslims first read a statement, then they pushed Berg to the floor and proceeded to saw off his head with a large knife while shouting "God is great." You could hear Nick Berg screaming .. right up until the time the knife went through his windpipe. When they were finished these brave Arabs, their manhood redeemed, held up his head for the camera.

Suddenly the pictures of what happened in the Abu Ghraib prison don't seem to be quite so horrific, do they? The victims of abuse at the hands of U.S. soldiers will be compensated by United States taxpayers. Nick Berg will be buried ... in two pieces.

Compare the two cultures. While America is investigating the abuse of Iraqi prisoners ... while America is preparing to punish those responsible ... while America is apologizing to the families of the prisoners and their countrymen for the actions of a few soldiers, and preparing to pay these families large sums of money .. while America is trying to do the right thing, Arab Muslims are slaughtering an innocent American civilian who's only crime was he was looking for a job trying to improve the Iraqi communications infrastructure.

This was a terrorist attack. It was an attack by Islamic terrorists, only this time it took five men to kill one American. One American civilian, or 3000 ... it's terrorism all the same.

Will this finally convince you that we are in the midst of a war? It's a World War. A war being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, on Manhattan Island and the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. It's a war being fought in former Soviet republics; a war is being fought on the island of Bali and in the Philippines. This is World War IV -- a war against fundamentalist Islamic Jihadists and terrorists. These are the people we are fighting. They are vicious relentless Muslim animals who will not stop killing innocent Americans and who will not abandon their dream of a world dominated by Islam until they are utterly and completely destroyed. These are people without a conscious who believe that the way to redeem their honor is to brutally slaughter innocent human beings, and this they do in the name of their god.

The question may be discomforting, but do these Islamic terrorist fanatics draw encouragement from the constant Democratic attacks on the president and the liberation of the people of Iraq from one of history's most brutal dictators? How could they not? How could these vicious Islamic bastards not draw comfort from Ted Kennedy's comparisons of Iraq with Vietnam? These Islamic fanatics know they're at war. They make no secret of their ambition and intention to destroy America. Do you think they haven't studied our history? How could they not know that America abandoned Vietnam to communist aggression when the going got particularly rough and when the tide of opinion in America turned against the war. Do they not hear the comparison to Vietnam from a leading American politician as nothing less than a prelude to surrender or withdrawal ... a sign of American weakness?

This vicious murder of an American civilian should serve to reignite the American resolve to destroy, not to appease, but to destroy the Islamic Jihadists. Now you show know that playing nice won't work. While we try to bring to justice the people responsible for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, the Islamic fanatics cut the head off of an innocent American civilian in order to "redeem" their manhood. They're not men, they're bugs ... and they need to be squashed.

The retaliation for this vicious act must be firm, it must be swift, and it must have a violent finality. These inhuman Muslims must learn that these actions against Americans will not go unanswered ... and the answer will have a terrible finality.

Oh ... and just where are the Euro-weenies on all of this? Has anyone heard from the French? The Spanish? The Germans? I guess they're too busy adding up their losses since their buddy Saddam was tossed out on his Baathist butt.

I was out last night working on a new Drunk Story of the Day and am unable to post anything yet. More, later. Maybe.

France has taken to harrassing Israeli passenger jets over their planned missile defense. World Net Daily reports that French military jets were flying dangerously close to the airliner trying to inspect them for illegal weapons defense systems.

The incident occurred over French territory as French fighter jets entered the civilian designated air corridor. The Israeli captain reported the French interceptors flew dangerously close and in some cases formed, what was described as, a dangerous interception mode.

It seems the French fighters not only circled the Israeli passenger plane, but also approached it from underneath.

One pilot said he is under the impression the French were inspecting the planes from every possible angle in an attempt to discover whether the passenger aircraft was carrying anti-shoulder-operated missile devices. Israel announced all its passenger planes are in the process of being equipped with such counter measures, pending the approval of a number of civil-administration authorities worldwide.

France has not approved the use of such devices. The U.S. is contemplating whether to allow them as well.

In the U.S. Congress is reported to be working on approval of such protections. France probably never will. These are the same cowards that wouldn't let our boys fly over to bomb Libya.

Israel is in a constant battle for survival, so it should come as no surprise that they recognize the value of an armed citizen. Not only do they have mandatory conscription, but they foster an environment where all able-bodied law-abiding citizens are encouraged to arm themselves.

Israeli civilians who carry their own guns are helping to curb the damage that terrorists can inflict by being able to deal immediately with a terrorist situation, an Israeli security official said. [...]

"Armed civilians at the scene of terror attacks prevent further damage," said Israel police spokesman Gil Kleiman.

"[We've] seen it time and time again," Kleiman said. "Armed civilians who are well-trained [can] save people's lives.... If there isn't a policeman [on the scene], civilians can deal immediately with a terrorist situation." [...]

According to Kleiman, armed civilians are considered a "force multiplier." There are some 26,000 police and border police in Israel. That security force is increased by some 76,000 volunteer civil guards - 30,000 of whom take the place of police, he said.

Kleiman emphasized that gun licenses are not going to criminals, nor to those who are mentally unstable. "We're not worried that people will [be] using guns to start robbing banks," he said.

He said the added security is worth the risk that guns might be misused.

Over here in America where terrorist attacks are not an every day occurrence and where oceans protect us from a large scale invasion, some public officials detest an armed citizenry. We are viewed not only as a nuisance but as a threat to their political power.

USA Today has their panties in a bind over the availability of lawn fertilizer. They claim that Congress is ignoring the lessons learned by the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9-11 terror attacks. While it's true that the Oklahoma City bombing used ammonium nitrate fertilizer as a major ingredient, Congress has yet to answer the calls for strict regulation.

Six years ago, the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council recommended banning sales of packaged ammonium nitrate unless dealers required foolproof identification from buyers and kept accurate records, much as gun dealers are required to maintain. The council also suggested additional steps if terrorist threats increase, such as putting chemical "markers" in fertilizer to aid bomb-sensing equipment, licensing all fertilizer dealers and requiring purchasers to obtain government permits.

Now nobody wants to see another terrorist bombing, but the cost of such security measures must be taken into account. The Oklahoma City bombings also used Ryder trucks, yet the trucks can be easily rented with very little regulation. Should Congress pass expensive unfunded mandates that would cripple the truck rental business? Ammonium Nitrate is harmless without fuel oil. Perhaps we should impliment strict regulations on it's purchase as well.

No matter what we do, we cannot make America absolutely safe. And even if we could, would it be worth the cost? Would making automobiles absolutely safe be worth a fivefold increase? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't pay $100,000 for a car no matter how much safer it was. When it comes to terrorism, diligence, a properly waged war on terror, and a little luck, hopefully the impact of terrorism can be minimized. A free and open society has a price, and unfortunately sometimes it must be paid in blood.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. In the United Kingdom, gun banners are demonstrating this by now taking aim at gun replicas.

Of particular concern are replica firearms which are popular with gun collectors and can be bought legally but are being converted by criminals into lethal weapons to fire live ammunition.

Police say that the greatest increase in gun crime is linked to a rise in the use of imitation weapons and converted airguns. In London alone, at least 70 per cent of weapons now seized by officers are converted replicas.

Can they not see that banning guns has had no impact on crime. By reducing the availability of guns, criminals switched to knives, swords, and converted airguns. So, they banned knives, swords, and airguns, and criminals switched to converted replica guns.

The one constant is the criminals, and they seem pretty indifferent to their instrument of crime.

David Thibault says that the kerfuffle surrounding the prison abuse in Iraq is a feminist's dream and that feminism is partially to blame.

What's more embarrassing: being caught illegally video taping a movie, or having it publicly known that you actually went to see "The Alamo"?

Congress is set to take some of the fire out of the dreaded DMCA.

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., author of the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act, says consumers should not always have to worry about being slapped with a lawsuit every time they make a copy of their favorite videos.

Boucher's sentaments ring very true considering the shelf life of DVDs and CDs is turning out to be not what was previously promised. What is most promising is the restoration of "fair use".

The new bill amends the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which allowed copyright holders to put digital locks on their work and makes it illegal to break those locks. The bill allows owners of DVDs and other works that have a digital lock to bypass the security and copy the work so long as the user is engaging in "fair use" of the product and not infringing upon its copyright.

Of course Hollywood is going to fight to make sure the bill never becomes law.

"Anything that allows you to decrypt the DVD would not be a legal product," said MPAA spokesman Rich Taylor.

Would that include, oh I don't know, say a DVD player, which decrypts the information encoded on the DVD so that it can be displayed on a television set. Talk about playing on people's technical ignorance.

CNN reports that a whopping 100 mothers showed up for the "Million Mom March" in Washington D.C. this Mother's Day. The gun grabbing moms claim that the turnout was as expected, because they were concentrating their efforts on state-wide marches this year. That claim is made despite reports prior to the march that the MMM gun grabbers were hoping for a crowd of 5000.

CNN also helps spread their propaganda.

According to Million Mom March, 10 children die each day from gun violence in the United States. [...]

The gun show loophole is current federal legislation that allows people to purchase guns at gun shows without a background check that is required for gun sales at stores.

The so-called journalists at the Clinton News Network didn't even bother fact checking the statistic, which seems to vary from 10 to 12 or higher depending on how much press the Million Mommies want. The real statistic of children 17 and under is less than half that. The gun grabbers expand "children" to include 19 to 24 year olds and capture the gang-banging stats to inflate their numbers. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book.

The "gun show loophole" claim that CNN reports as fact (as opposed to attributing it to the gun ban group) is an outright fabrication. Gun sales at stores are sold by gun dealers. Those same dealers are required by federal law to do the very same instant background checks at gun shows, and failure to do so could result in a trip to federal "pound me in the ass" prison.

There were other moms marching on Sunday. The Second Amendment Sisters held a pro-freedom rally to counter the gun grabbers. I'm interested in finding out how many supporters turned out for their rally. The problem is, no one in the media seems to have covered it. (The last time CNN even mentioned the Second Amendment Sisters was 4 years ago.)

UPDATE: WaPo reports the MMM supporters at 3000 and call it the "largest gun-control demonstration in four years". They must be including the media and spectators. Still no mention of the SAS pro-freedom rally.

UPDATE: The International outlet, Voice of America, (not exactly major media) actually mentions the SAS rally.
Sorry, but I cannot help but notice something: (I know which team I'd rather be on.)

Anti-Gun

Pro-Gun

FYI, as usual, Stentorian maintains most of the dirt on the Million Mommies.

UPDATE: The Washington Times doesn't mention the SAS rally either. They also carry this little gem from MMM founder, Donna Dees-Thomases: "We have more people than the NRA. The majority of legitimate gun owners agree that we don't need AK-47s and Uzis on our streets."

Black lawmakers in Maryland are starting to become disenchanted with the Democrat Party.

"They really don't care about us. We are used every four years, then thrown back." -- Delegate Tony E. Fulton, D-Baltimore

"The Democratic Party acts as if they own black people. The state party is racist to the core." -- Delegate Clarence "Tiger" Davis, D-Baltimore.

"I think the Democratic Party takes black people for granted. I think what [the Democratic Party] does in the state is just a reflection of what it does as a whole on the national level." -- Delegate Nathaniel T. Oaks, D-Baltimore.

Does this mean that some prominent black leaders will start stumping for Republicans? Not hardly.

None of the lawmakers who complained about racism said he intended to leave the party, but Mr. Davis said Democrats could lose clout in state politics and next-generation members.

"I think the Democratic Party may lose younger, more economically stable African Americans if it does not demonstrate the capacity to understand their issues and support the economic needs of that community," he said.

It's nice to hear that some folks are finally starting to see the light. But when they decide to do nothing about it and still go along with toeing the Democrat line, I start to lose hope.

At the beginning of the year, the Bush Administration made a bold claim to be able to create 2.6 Million jobs in 2004. Liberals balked at the idea. Well, now the Washington Post reports that "payrolls have risen now for eight straight months, with 867,000 new jobs created so far this year".

Let's whip out the old calculator and extrapolate. 867,000 new jobs in 4 months is an average of 216,750 jobs per month. If things continue to grow at that rate, (multiply by 12) and you get... drumroll please... 2,601,000 new jobs in 2004. I love it when a plan comes together.

I'm no math genius, but I'm pretty sure 2,601,000 is right around 2.6 Million. And it looks like we're on course to make that number.

Krispy Kreme: Diets hurt doughnut sales -- Headline, CNN/Money, May 7, 2004.

Drudge is reporting that Air America missed their payroll. When you can't pay your employees, the end is near.

On Wednesday, Michael Moore blamed Disney and the Bush Family for censoring him. He claimed that Disney had caved to political pressure in blocking his film, and that he had just found out this week. Here are his words from his own web site.

Yesterday I was told that Disney, the studio that owns Miramax, has officially decided to prohibit our producer, Miramax, from distributing my new film, "Fahrenheit 9/11." The reason? According to today's (May 5) New York Times, it might "endanger" millions of dollars of tax breaks Disney receives from the state of Florida because the film will "anger" the Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush.

Now Michael Moore has admitted lying about being "censored" by Disney. He's known all along that Miramax wasn't going to distribute his film. (Of course you have to go to New Zealand to hear about it.) Perhaps he was hoping another distributor would step up to the plate.

Also, Brent Bozell says Michael Moore's smear tactics are nothing new, and nothing to be surprised about.

Remember Ted Rall's cartoon about the military from last week? Well, the king of hatred and vitriol has topped it off with an essay this time, in an article he calls An Army of Scum.

Now it's official: American troops occupying Iraq have become virtually indistinguishable from the SS...

The U.S. military is short just one item to achieve moral parity with the Nazis: gas chambers.

Later in his rant he calls our soldiers "inbred psychos". (As Yoda would say, consumed with hatred he is.)

Now, both sides of the political spectrum have their moonbats. But on the right, most people tend to distance themselves from the loons. Let's see if those on the left start to distance themselves from Ted Rall. Or will John Kerry, who made similar comments about our military during the Vietnam War, welcome Rall's endorsement?

You've got to love bureaucrats. Poor D.T. Anderson has been trying to register his handgun in Canada, as is mandated by law. Unfortunately, but he isn't having much luck.

I called the firearms registration centre several times in the last two months. During that time, I've heard innumerable excuses:

- Until Bill C-10-A becomes law, you can't own that firearm;
- Bill C-10-A is law, but we're waiting for instruction from the minister;
- Bill C-10-A isn't law;
- Bill C-10-A is law;
- Is;
- Isn't.
Then on Thursday morning I was told that I never applied to have the firearm registered under the new registry system, so the gun is subject to confiscation and I could be found guilty of a criminal offence. So I faxed them a copy of the receipt proving I registered the firearm via their website nearly three years ago, well in advance of the deadline.

I called the Canadian Firearms Centre again on Thursday morning, and this time I finally managed to reach someone who could explain what was going on. She told me that the firearm was registered, but that the registration had expired because the owner had died.

Really?

Someone with my name, residing at my address in the city of Edmonton, died -- get this -- in May of 2007. The person informing me of that date did so in a very matter-of-fact way, as if nothing could possibly be wrong.

"You're based in New Brunswick, right?" I asked.

"Yes," said the voice on the phone.

"What year is it there?" I inquired.

An Akron area Dairy Mart was robbed at gun point.

Taoufik worked nervously to punch buttons on the register so it would open. Once he got the register to cooperate, he started handing over the money.

The robber raised his gun.

"He knocked me in my head with his gun and then took the rest of the money,'' Taoufik said. "Sometimes (robbers) are not satisfied. They want to hit somebody, too.''

Apparently the criminal thug ignored the "NO WEAPONS" sign that was put up just after concealed carry was passed in Ohio.

When it comes to gun ideology and fear, I've come to accept that some people are afraid of firearms and will always be. They don't like them, don't want them, and I can accept that. That they would try to extend their fear to my personal gun safe is irritating enough, but the gun fearing wussy is still not quite as bad as the gun grabber.

Then there are people like Tom Diaz, a mouthpiece for the rabidly anti-gun Violence Policy Center. Diaz is cashing in on the criminal activity of others to push his gun ban, and will tell more lies than a two-bit politician caught coming out of a whore house. Like most gun grabbers, the dishonesty borders on pathological.

The problem is that America is awash with firearms hyper-marketed by a relentless and unregulated gun industry.

Hyper-marketed? Relentless and unregulated? This is absurd. Guns aren't advertised on TV or radio. They don't buy product placements in big Hollywood movies. Furthermore, the firearm industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world. There are more than 20,000 firearms laws on the books in the United States. (A nation that started with only one; the Second Amendment.)

Diaz goes on to blame the firearms industry for coming up with new products.

Unlike many other consumer industries that follow population growth, the gun business has faced saturated, declining markets. So it has relentlessly pushed new models of handguns to stimulate sales.

Gun makers, like car makers advance with technology. Each year they come out with new models. Over time, they are safer, more efficient, and have more features.

And why should the gun industry be any different than anyone else? For instance look at toothpaste. When I was a kid it was pretty basic. I remember when Aqua-Fresh only had double protection. Now-a-days we've got tarter control, baking soda, whitening, tarter control with baking soda, tarter control with whitening, baking soda with whitening, ad nauseam. Do we really need all those, or is it just manufacturers trying to get people to buy more-better stuff?

You can be like Diaz and falsely blame the gun industry for "putting the gun in his hand" if you wants to, but only the shooter is to blame for pulling the trigger.

Wading through the fanfare following the Friends finale, several other shows are making a quiet exit. Kelsey Grammar is hanging it up after playing Frasier for an astounding 20 years. And Drew Carey is making such a stealthy exit, ABC won't even put it on TV until this summer.

That the show still exists at all for its ninth season has more to do with a classically bad business deal than any sense viewers want to see it. [...]

By the middle of last season, ABC took it off the air, and burned off many of the show's episodes during the summer.

ABC didn't even bother putting it on this season. New episodes will premiere on June 2, and the network will show two first-run episodes a week during the summer - the television equivalent of an afterthought. [...]

[Director Sam] Simon jokes that he asked ABC to speed things up by running the season's episodes in split screen, showing two in one half-hour.

The AP notes that the bottom fell out on viewership, but as a former viewer I'm inclined to believe most of that was caused by bad management.

[Viewers] may simply have tired of trying to find "The Drew Carey Show." The program premiered on Wednesday nights, an evening where it has inhabited four separate time slots. It's also been shown regularly on Tuesdays. And Thursdays. And Fridays. And Mondays.

The new season for Drew, starts in June.

Apparently I'm not the only one who feels disgusted by Virginia Democrat Rep. James "Blame the J-E-W-S" Moran. Wizbang points to a column by Marc Fisher in the Washington Post.

Challenging Moran should be the easiest job in America. After all, this is the congressman who -- you'll need a deep breath to make it to the end of this sentence -- grabbed an 8-year-old boy in a parking lot because Moran thought the kid had threatened him; borrowed $25,000 from a drug company lobbyist five days before agreeing to co-sponsor a bill that would help that lobbyist's client; took a $447,000 loan from a credit company four days before signing on to legislation that the company was pushing; got into a shoving match on the House floor with one colleague; threatened to punch another congressman in the nose; and just last year told an audience that there'd be no war against Iraq without the support of the Jewish community. Whew.

As he is my very own Representative, I can only hope that I get to cast one of the deciding votes to boot his sorry ass out of office. The Democrat primary is June 8th, and is already marked on my calendar. But he's running against the Andy Rosenberg, an unknown Democrat with very little money. On top of that, Rosenberg actually complained that Moran wasn't cuddling up to trial lawyers as much as he should be.

My only hope is that Rosenberg will win in June and lose in November. An alternative strategy would be to hope Moran wins on the grounds that he's more likely than Rosenberg to lose in November. But Moran is so repugnant, it's not worth taking that chance.

In fact, Moran is so repulsive there's even an entire blog dedicated to his embarrassment.

Filibusters aren't the only obstructive tactics that Democrats in the Senate have been using. According to Fox (search) News, Democrats have even been able to stop legislation that has passed by refusing to reconcile the bills with the House.

Senate Democrats, however, have started a new method of stopping legislation from moving through the legislative process once a bill passes the Senate. They have refused to appoint members to conferences that House and Senate lawmakers must hold to iron out differences in similar, but not identical, bills passed in both chambers.

I don't know about you, but where I work if you refuse to do your job you don't get a paycheck. What's next? Will Senate Democrats flee to Canada?

We always knew CDs wouldn't last forever, but some music discs are wearing out sooner rather than later. CNN reports that CDs and DVDs are subject to gradual degradation over time. Recordables are even more susceptable.

Older CDs don't have copy protection, but many newer CDs are unable to be backed up to a computer or recordable CD. Perhaps that's just planned obsolescence by the copyright thugs.

Wendy McElroy has a delightful piece on gun-proofing your children. If you own guns, attempting to child-proof them could be deadly. But with some pro-active gun safety education and eliminating your kids curiousity about guns, you're able to "gun-proof" your kids.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2004

Ohioans For Concealed Carry is pleased to announce that OFCC member and Cuyahoga Co. resident Jim Irvine has been completely successful in his lawsuit to force Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul to comply with his duty under the law.

After having told the media that he would not accept CHL applications until "the end of May" or "the beginning of June", and refusing to accept Irvine's application on April 8 as required by law, Irvine filed a Complaint for a writ of mandamus with the Ohio Supreme Court, asking the court to force Sheriff McFaul to perform his duty under the law. Ohioans For Concealed Carry was an early provider of support and assistance for this lawsuit.

Sheriff McFaul has now reversed plans to hold off acceptance of concealed handgun license applications until later this month, and began taking appointments on Monday, May 3. McFaul's office had already shown signs of weakening resolve, having announced that they would accept temporary emergency license applications within days of being sued.

"For years, gun owners have complied with laws we didn't like, and we expect all 88 Ohio sheriffs to comply with the law," said OFCC member Jim Irvine, of Strongsville. "I hope that other sheriffs will do all they can to comply with the letter and spirit of the law, and avoid action such as I was forced to take, which serves only to waste taxpayer money."

Sheriff McFaul has agreed to pay for court costs and attorney's fees incurred by Irvine for having to bring the suit.

Said Irvine, "Cuyahoga County accepted my temporary emergency license application this morning. There where some startup problems, but we worked through them and everyone was polite and professional the entire time. I don't expect any further problems."

"I am gratified that the attorneys at the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's office were willing to be consummate professionals and reach a resolution to this case, without having to go through added time and expense in litigation," said Irvine's attorney Ken Hanson, of the law firm of Firestone and Brehm Ltd. "We will continue to seek reasonable resolutions to problems as they are identified, and only bring litigation as a last resort."

Global Warming doesn't seem to be having much effect on Alaska.

An advancing glacier is threatening to choke Russell Fiord and back up the river running into the fiord, cutting off salmon and steelhead migration and destroying Yakutat's livelihood.

Hubbard Glacier is surging forward by as much as 12 feet a day, and residents are considering their options, such as a $1 million diversion trench away from the Situk River.

"Accountability is essential. So the question for me is, what did Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the Pentagon know, when did they know it and what did they do about it? If the answers are unsatisfactory, resignations should be sought." -- Senator Joseph Biden, Democrat, claiming the Rumsfeld should resign over the 6 Army reservists who mistrated Iraqi prisoners.

Frankly I'm tired of the whole "what did they know and when did they know it" bullshit.

The bullshit rhetoric spewed by the Washington Post, never ceases to amaze me. Their latest is the first installment of a four part anti-Bush hit piece that the post claims will look at "the personal and political impact that the issues at the center of this presidential campaign are having in four battleground states". The first issue they crack is the economy, and the setting is the battleground state of Ohio.

The article has a dubious tag-line on the main page that says "many feel let down by Bush on the economy". Right away the anti-Bush tone is clear. The article itself is titled, "Wanted: A Candidate to Defend Financial Future and Way of Life". Just what way of life are they talking about? Well according to the Post's first paragraph, it's the uneducated way of life.

There was a time when people without college degrees could earn a good living in the big cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati, as well as in the small towns along the Ohio River near the West Virginia line. People raised their families in towns like McConnelsville and Clarington, working on farms or in steel or aluminum factories, and others moved here in search of a decent living and a quiet life.

Those days of contentment have faded over the last two decades and have been replaced by angst over what the future holds as the small towns here follow the big cities through the difficult transition into the new high-tech economy.

Isn't it a shame that the computer age is upon us and most jobs now demand someone who is tech savvy. If only we had a candidate that could defend the old, untechnical, way of life. But wait, there's more.

To the south of Cleveland is Akron, the former rubber capital of the world. It suffered hard times for decades as behemoths like Goodyear and Firestone, among others, shipped jobs to other countries. Now the area crackles with innovation as a center of polymer technology.

Remember the good old days of rubber tires. Now everything is high tech polymer compounds. If only we had a candidate who would defend wagon wheels and hard rubber tires. But don't take their word for it, take a look at the poll numbers.

Seventy-one percent of Republicans predict "good times" for the nation's businesses over the year, compared to 36 percent of Democrats who feel that way. The bad news for Bush is that those who consider themselves independents are more likely to side with Democrats than Republicans on their outlook on the economy right now, with only 34 percent predicting good business conditions for the next 12 months.

The widespread disapproval of the president's handling of the economy has helped drag down his overall approval rating.

The poll put the president's approval rating at 46 percent, one of the lowest of any president in the past few decades. (President Clinton dipped to 45 percent in 1994, and Ronald Reagan was at 46 percent in 1982. Both were reelected, but Bush's low numbers come much further along in his first term.)

Did you hear that? Forty-six percent is one of the lowest of any president in the past few decades. Well, lets look at that again.

Excluding Carter and going back 24 years to 1980, there have been exactly four Presidents. (Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush). Of these, the Post gives numbers for everyone but Bush 41. George W. Bush is tied with Reagan at 46%, and a point higher than Clinton's 45%. Since G.H.W. Bush's numbers weren't given is it safe to assume they were higher? If we do, than out of 4 presidents in the past 24 years, "W" appears to be second from the top. The order (best to worst) would be Bush 41, Reagan and Bush 43 tied for second, and then Clinton. Maybe I'm reading it wrong but that seems more like one of the highest than "one of the lowest". But, I digress.

Already, both the Kerry and Bush campaigns are pouring money and resources into advertising and organizing here, and both have made major campaign appearances in the state.

Perhaps all those unemployed, uneducated, wagon wheel makers should go into advertising. It seems to be booming.

Ohio's overall unemployment rate mirrored the national average of 5.7 percent in March, the last month for which numbers are currently available. Some areas of the state are doing exceedingly well, and others are faring poorly, with unemployment rates hovering at more than double or triple the national average.

Talk about accentuating the negative! It doesn't take a math major to figure out that if a state is averaging 5.7%, there can't be too many communities with 17% unemployment.

There are rural areas doing well and others doing poorly.

Who knew?

There are urban areas performing competitively in the new economy, others faltering.

Damn, these guys don't miss anything.

And some suburban areas are doing better than others.

So, to recap, some places are doing well, some aren't.

The Post goes on to more in depth analysis of two Ohio counties. One is a blue collar county that relies mostly on manufacturing. (Usually the last industry to rebound economically.)

The major employer in the southern part of the county is Ormet Aluminum, which recently announced layoffs of 300 employees in Monroe County. The company blamed the "current significant imbalance between the market prices of aluminum and alumina" -- a raw material used to make aluminum -- as the reason for the action, according to a press release. The workers, who are currently in contract negotiations with the company, blame federal legislation that has liberalized trade with China.

China, they argue, has driven up the price of alumina by purchasing it in large quantities on the open market. They accuse China of then using cheap labor to produce massive quantities of aluminum, which it dumps back in the United States at prices too low for American firms to compete against.

So the employer is blaming market forces. They say that consumers want cheap aluminum products, but the raw materials to make aluminum are too expensive to justify production with expensive American labor. Ormet could continue to process aluminum, but the end product would be too expensive and hard to sell on the free market.

On the other hand, the employees are blaming free trade. Those damned Chinese are taking advantage of cheap labor and driving American producers out of business. They are dumping cheap aluminum on the U.S. market and forcing Ohio laborers out of work.

So, what's the solution? Well, since the price of manufactured aluminum only supports a meager third world wage, you could take the Libertarian approach and go find another job outside of aluminum production. Since producing aluminum isn't paying very well any more, perhaps it's time to find a new line of work. Then again maybe it's easier to take the Democrat approach. That's the approach where rather than take personal responsibility for having unmarketable skills, you use the police power of the government to force people to spend more money for the fruits of your labors. In this case, they want the federal government to force American consumers to buy more expensive aluminum.

"People have built their lives here. But what are their options? Go work at Wheeling-Pitt Steel (in nearby West Virginia)," which just emerged from bankruptcy in August and is still bleeding money?, [Union official Ron] Blatt asked. "There are no jobs to go to in this area. The only thing you can do is go somewhere else."

That's exactly what you do. Or you could, oh I don't know, maybe try learning a different trade.

Both Blatt and Hartshorn, who has three kids, said they've come to accept the fact that their own children almost certainly will not return home after attending college.

Who do they blame for all of this? President Bush and his party.

Why would you want them to? My parents were sad to see me move away, but they could hardly blame me for seeking more lucrative opportunities in a higher rent town. They surely didn't blame the President.

The next county they look at is Morgan County, about 30 minutes west of Monroe.

Most people here wouldn't think of voting for a Democrat. Bush beat Gore 58 to 38 percent here in 2000.

But unemployment is pushing 20 percent (18.6 percent as of March, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services), the highest rate in the state. That is partly the result of three major employers -- Malta Wood Windows Inc., Gould Electronics Inc. and Taylor Woodworks -- closing their doors in recent years, leaving thousands of people unemployed and looking for work. [...]

Among them is Bonnie Miller, who worked at Malta Wood Windows for 15 years, just as her parents did before her. Miller lost her job along with about 250 other people after the owners shut down the plant in the spring of 2001 in the wake of an employee strike.

So the employees went on strike in the middle of the recession and forced the closure of the plant. The sounds pretty much self inflicted to me. But Miller has apparently been looking for work for 3 years now, and not finding it. And her solution is to blame the man who took office right around the time she was walking the picket line and refusing to work. Excuse me if my heart doesn't bleed for her.

In recent years, Malta had struggled to compete against cheaper, mass-produced window makers -- many of them foreign-based -- and finally ceased to be viable.

Since then, Miller has helped support her family, which also lost its health insurance when she lost her job, by cleaning rooms at a nearby hotel part time and cutting grass.

That's not enough. She needs to take the initiative to find another career, not just part time and seasonal work to make ends almost meet. Contrast what Miller has done to what other ex-Malta employees have done.

Five former Malta employees were able to reopen the Malta plant after they raised about $140,000 and took out a line of credit. The improvement corporation also helped them secure a $220,000 grant from the Southern Ohio Agricultural & Community Development Foundation.

The five owners are also the plant's only workers.

Now, that's initiative. One of the employees David Shaner is now the CEO of the new company. And guess who he's voting for.

And as difficult as the circumstances of Malta's closing were, he said he doesn't necessarily blame the government or Washington politicians for what happens in a competitive, free-market system.

Bingo! Give that man a prize. He realizes that it is not up to the government to create jobs. It's up to people to tailor their skill set and capabilities into something that someone wants to buy. But when no one wants to buy what some people are selling, Liberals would rather force them to.

If you ever wondered how the Nazis could roll across Europe and start knocking on Britain's door so easily, this may enlighten you. After banning real guns and most BB guns, the whiny British the bloody British Press are pissing and moaning about the BB gun "loophole" that still allows the legal sale of some models.

On the same day new legislation on air guns came into force, we paid �200 for a new German-made Walther CP88, a powerful airgun, which could maim or even kill within a distance of 10 metres.

The CO2 gas-powered gun - which is indistinguishable to the untrained eye from a genuine firearm - can fire off eight rounds in quick succession.

Oh no, it looks like a real gun too! One anti-gun crusader cried, "I would like to see all these guns banned. We go into schools to tell kids about the dangers of the gangs and guns and what message does this give to them?"

As for buying stuff over the counter that could "maim or even kill", allow me to name just a few: candlesticks, ropes, lead pipes, wrenches, syringes, axes, poison, automobiles, lawn mowers, scissors, silverware, pool cues, shovels, baseball bats, chains, rocks, bricks, bicycles, knives, glass bottles, pointy sticks, power tools, screw drivers, chain saws, cigarette lighters, piano wire, bow ties, firewood, frozen legs of lamb, icicles, tent pegs, wading pools, pillows, peanut butter, gasoline, flashlights, laser pointers, garbage disposals, blenders, stoves, ovens, pencils, pens, paperclips, staplers, staple guns, nail guns, hammers, golf clubs, and of course Archie Bunker's favorite, being pushed out of windows.

My point is, if you want to kill someone there is no shortage of tools available to get the job done.

According to the AP, there isn't much room for debate on Global Warming. They report the West is heating up, and humans are to blame.

Forget talk of global warming and speculation of what it might do in 50 years, or 100. Here and across the West, climate change already is happening. Temperatures are warmer, ocean levels are rising, the snowpack is dwindling and melting earlier, flowers bloom earlier, mountain glaciers are disappearing and a six-year drought is killing trees by the millions.

Most scientists agree humans are to blame for at least part of that warming trend, but to what degree?

Notice how they slipped the new buzz words "climate change" in there. If you read down far enough, buried in paragraph 24, they actually bring up the opposing viewpoint.

Not everyone subscribes to the global warming theory. Frontiers of Freedom, a Washington, D.C. public policy group, doesn't believe humans have anything to do with the gradual warming of the Earth.

"These things happen. That's just the way nature has always been," said George Landrith, president of Frontiers of Freedom. "Variability has always existed. There's nothing new about that."

Landrith dismisses global warming as politically motivated.

But then they temper that by claiming that lush meadows filled with wildflowers will be "decimated" in a few years by warmer temperatures.

So much for balance.

These idiots just don't get it.

In Salt Lake County, the jail continues to suffer from chronic overcrowding despite the fact the crime rate has declined. It's no wonder, then, that the county commissioned an expert to study the problem and recommend solutions. Something has to be out of whack.

These people actually think that letting the criminals out of jail would lower the crime rate.

It's been nearly a month, and still nary a peep of outrage about Chris Dodd's comments on Robert 'KKK' Byrd. In case you've already forgotten, Chris Dodd made a gaffe very similar to the one that cost Senator Trent Lott his Senate Leadership position.

"I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia that he would have been a great senator at any moment," Mr. Dodd, Connecticut Democrat, said while praising Mr. Byrd last week on the occasion of the eight-term Democrat's 17,000th Senate vote.

Mr. Dodd continued: "He would have been right at the founding of this country. He would have been in the leadership crafting this Constitution. He would have been right during the great conflict of Civil War in this nation."

Trent Lott was lambasted in the media for praising 100 year old Strom Thurmond, a one time segregationist. Senator Robert Byrd, D-WVa was not only a ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan, but he filibustered the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; something that Chris Dodd apparently thinks was "right" for this nation.

So the question is, where is the outrage, and how much have you heard about this over the past month?

For those of you tired of donating to the Kerry campaign coffers every time you buy ketchup, be sure to check out Bush Country Ketchup.

Q: What do you get when you cross a no-talent fucktard with a leftist military-hating buffoon?

A: Someone who deserves a swift kick in the nuts.

Here's his photograph, in case you see him crossing the street and want to floor it.

I don't know if this gun collector in Delaware is a terrorist, or just the victim of gun fearing hysteria. Given what is being said about him in the media, I'm leaning toward the latter. For instance, take this bit of anti-gun fear mongering.

Among the stockpile seized Tuesday night were 11 firearms, 50-caliber machine-gun bullets, hollowed hand grenades, a night vision scope, cardboard tubes, ammunition clips and how-to books about weapons and bombs.

They go on to say that he also had ammonium nitrate, a major ingredient used in the Oklahoma City bombing. Could this really all be a big misunderstanding? Well, allow me to illustrate:

Eleven guns - For most gun collectors, 11 guns is a modest start. It may be enough to take over France, but it's not anything to be alarmed about. Lots of collectors, myself included, easily have 11 or more guns.

50-caliber machine-gun bullets - First of all, there is no such thing as a "machine gun bullet". Bullets are bullets, and semi-auto guns fire the same bullets as fully-auto guns. For another matter, bullets are just worthless hunks of metal. .50 Caliber rounds are pretty impressive and sold at most gun shows. They cost about $2 a round and their empty cases are sometimes sold as inert novelties. (Inert being the opposite of ert.) Given that the police didn't list a .50 caliber machine gun being part of his "arsenal", I'll presume he didn't have one. That means the bullets/rounds might as well be paperweights.

These are rounds

These are bullets

Without a gun to fire them, neither one is very dangerous.

Hollowed out grenades - I don't have any grenades, hollowed out or otherwise. A hollowed out grenade can be lethal however. If thrown at someone, it can have almost the same impact as one of these.

(This is deadlier than a hollowed out grenade)

When I lived in Atlanta, I used to have lots of them scattered around my yard.

A night vision scope - Five bucks says he had a common scope with an illuminated reticle. I've got several of them.

Even in the off chance that he had a more expensive "night vision" scope that actually amplifies light, what the hell does that imply?

Cardboard tubes - I've got several of these in the wastebasket in my bathroom. Had I known they were dangerous, I would have been more careful about their disposal.

(I don't even have a permit for this!)

Ammunition clips - Wow! A gun owner with ammunition clips? Who'd a thunk it. I've got tons of them. Does that make me a terrorist?

Books - I've got lots of books too. One of them is about how to build your own AR-15. I saved about $200 by assembling the rifle myself. Does that make me dangerous, or just frugal?

Ammonium Nitrate - I've got several boxes of ammonium nitrate and potassium nitrate derivatives. My plants love them.

It's scary to think that gun fearing wussies could invade my home and paint me as a terrorist because I have more than one gun and some common household chemicals under my sink. The useful idiots in the media are helping to fuel the hysteria.

I don't know if this guy has broken any laws or not. All I'm saying is that I'm waiting until all the facts are in. Even then, I'm not so sure.

Blaming the Media
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For two years in a row, Maryland's Democrat House Speaker Michael Busch has killed a bill to allow slot machine gambling at the state's horse racing tracks. This year Busch refused to bring the measure to a vote unless it was paired with a huge tax increase. Republican Governor Ehrlich was at his wits end.

Ehrlich said he would not introduce another slots bill until Busch agrees to pass it. He said he's tired of looking like the political equivalent of Charlie Brown, the cartoon character who "always wanted to kick that field goal and Lucy was always pulling that ball away at the end."

But Marylanders may get to play slots after all, thanks in part to the State of Pennsylvania.

The vote would put at least 36,000 more slot machines within driving distance for Maryland gamblers, who already travel in significant numbers to horse tracks in Delaware and West Virginia to play slots.

In the view of many Maryland legislative leaders, Pennsylvania's plans for 12 new gambling venues -- eight at horse tracks and four at free-standing slot emporiums -- would create such a huge competitive draw for dollars that pressure to match the effort would be immense, and all but the most die-hard slots foes in Annapolis would be forced to abandon their opposition.

Call it poetic justice that Pennsylvania realizes that the only thing better than gambling revenue is gambling revenue coming Maryland. With Maryland unwilling to meet the demand for slots, Pennsylvania is more than prepared to install thousands of machines right across the state line. It's something that has Maryland lawmakers in a bit of a tizzy. Pro-slots lawmakers are crying "I told ya so", while opponents of slots in Maryland have turned to lobbying in Pennsylvania.

Dels. Joanne C. Benson (D-Prince George's) and Curt Anderson (D-Baltimore) said they believe they have a moral duty to stop slots before the machines encircle their state. During their meeting with Pennsylvania lawmakers, they pledged to try to pressure African American members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to flip their position.

I understand that some people are always going to have a moral objection to slot machine gambling, and the 'not in my back yard' (NIMBY) phenomena is nothing new. But I never thought I would see Maryland lobbyists crossing state lines and arguing 'not in your back yard either'.

When the federal government decided to pay the families of 9-11 victims, many of us on the right warned that it would set a bad precedent. Never before had families of victims killed by terrorist attacks received such a federal handout. Congress authorized the payout just 10 days after the September 11th attacks; when emotions were still running very high. Even then, some conservatives were questioning the practice and those questions largely went unanswered. What about those families from Oklahoma City? The U.S.S. Cole? The Embassy bombings? What about families from future attacks? There is no doubt that the 9-11 terror attacks were horrible and had a great impact on a large number of people. But how was it that the government was authorized to spend millions of tax dollars?

The rationalization for the payout was that lawsuits could bankrupt the airline industry. By accepting federal funds, victims signed away their right to sue. But today that rationale seems to be largely forgotten, and here comes a big fat "I told ya so." Fox (search) News reports that other terror victims are lining up with their hands out.

Mariane Pearl was widowed after terrorists likely linked to Al Qaeda murdered her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl, in February 2002.

But unlike the thousands of family members of victims in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Pearl is ineligible for the funds set aside in the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. [...]

Karen Hastie Williams, a lobbyist representing the victims of the 1998 bombing in Kenya, argued that the commission investigating government actions to combat terror before Sept. 11 has indicated that the government withheld valuable information, and therefore the victims of terrorism before Sept. 11 deserve to be compensated. [...]

Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., said he believes the fund should also be open to the victims of the Oklahoma City bombings, in which 168 people were killed. Although Nickles has no legislation specifically in the works, he "believes as a matter of fairness that Oklahoma City victims should be included as well, but it looks like chances for that are pretty remote," said Nickles spokeswoman Rachel Oliphant.

In October, Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Tom Daschle, D-S.D., introduced the Anthrax Victims Fund Fairness Act to allow compensation under the terms offered by the Victim Compensation Fund for those affected by the anthrax delivered by mail to the Senate in the fall of 2001. Leahy and Daschle were the targets of those attacks, but were not infected and would not be eligible for relief. [...]

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has crafted legislation to expand the Sept. 11 fund to include the Americans killed by Al Qaeda in the attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the USS Cole in 2000.

At the risk of sounding insensitive, I'm tired of deadbeats who fail to take precautions trying to suckle from the federal teat. Quite frankly, people who neglect to get homeowners insurance, life insurance, auto insurance, or medical insurance should get exactly what they pay for. Insurance is not an entitlement, and if you die without having life insurance, those that you leave behind shouldn't get paid one red cent of taxpayer dollars.

Now I realize that many insurance policies will not cover acts of war or terrorism. But that doesn't mean you can't get insurance for it. Just about everything is able to be insured if you are willing to pay the premium. Frankly, I think the chance of terrorism is pretty remote and not worth the extra coverage, but if you really want the insurance and are willing to pay what it costs, I say go for it. If you can't afford it, then that's just too damned bad. Perhaps you should reorganize your prioritites if insurance is so important.

Federal money is collected at the point of a gun, and is not a giant charity outfit. It's amazing how slippery that slope can be. With America's victim mentality, how long before people start claiming that people have a right to life insurance and it's the job of rich taxpayers to pay for it? Even worse, how long before people start calling for nationalization?

Author and anti-war activist Micah Wright, who had lied about his military service to bolster his anti-war rhetoric, deflected some of the criticism by lashing out at those authors and journalists who don't know what it's like to live a lie.

"I've got years of pretend military service," claimed Wright, "and unless you've lived a lie for several years like I have, you have no business criticizing me."

Wright, an anti-war zealot and published author had claimed to be an Army Ranger who served during the invasion of Panama. He commonly deflected criticism from so-called "chickenhawks"; people who support the war but have no military service themselves. But after some quick fact-checking by the Washington Post and contrary claims made by an ex-girlfriend, it was brought to light that Wright had never even been in the Army.

Wright claims that unless his detractors have also made up lies to bolster their credibility, they have no idea what he's going through. Wright claims, "The only guys I know of that are qualified to criticize me are former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair, and that dude from USA Today."

Web site traffic increased slightly over last month. There were also slightly less posts in April; 117 compared to 125 posts in March.

Month	Unique visitors	Number of visits	Pages	Hits	Bandwidth
Jan 2004	15984	26115	55065	446704	2.51 GB
Feb 2004	46434	61172	150236	718818	4.83 GB
Mar 2004	18472	30400	83457	420589	2.50 GB
Apr 2004	18796	31268	89580	452564	2.87 GB

Reader John Anderson sent me this story about the Pentagon's demand that U.S. contractors in Iraq be disarmed. Since many contractors are fleeing Iraq because they don't feel safe, taking away their sidearms doesn't seem to be a wise move.

Police in Wisconsin are putting limits on the quantity of beer people can buy. They think college students buy too much beer during their annual block party, and their probably right. But as long as legal adults are buying a legal product, I don't think the police should be able to put a limit on their rights.

Neal Boortz reports on the fight for property rights. Governments seizure of private property for private land development is happening with increasing regularity.

Until this year, I had nothing but respect for Virginia's senior Senator. Having grown up in a military town, John Warner was one of our biggest allies. As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Warner has done great things for the military and military families. But this year, he's done nothing but whittle away at the positive image I used to have for him.

When he voted in favor of gun control I was somewhat shocked. And the letter he sent last week does nothing to improve that image. Mr. Warner writes:

Dear ...,

Thank you for contacting me to share your views about assault weapons. I appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

During the Senate's consideration of S.1805, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, I offered an amendment to the gun immunity bill based on legislation that Senator Feinstein (D-Ca) and I introduced, S.2109 (the Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act). This amendment would have extended the Assault Weapons Ban for another ten years, and it passed the Senate with bipartisan support by a vote of 52-47. However, the gun immunity bill, S.1805, failed in the Senate by a vote of 8 to 90. Our bill, S.2109, is still pending before the Senate.

Signed into law in 1994, the Assault Weapons Ban placed a 10 year prohibition on domestic manufacture, transfer, or possession of certain semi-automatic assault weapons. The ten year ban ends on September 13, 2004. Consequently, unless Congress and the President act prior to September 13, 2004, weapons like Uzis and AK-47s will once again be produced in America, and more and more often, these weapons will fall into the hands of criminals who lurk in our neighborhoods. President Bush has indicated that he supports a straight 10 year extension of this current law.

Some in the Senate, including myself, opposed the ban a decade ago, believing it would do little to reduce crime, and fearing that it could threaten the Constitutional rights of law-abiding gun-owners and hunters. However, a decade of experience has provided us with key facts, and, consequently, my opinions on the ban have evolved.

The Assault Weapons Ban has made our communities safer and has not infringed on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. Recent Department of Justice record indicate that the use of banned assault weapons in crimes has declined measurably -- by 65% in one analysis - since the measure took effect. And, law enforcement officials from across Virginia, and indeed across the United States, have supported an extension of the Assault Weapons Ban because they know it makes America's communities safer.

Please be assured that I understand your views on this legislation. As a gun owner and hunter, and as a United States Senator privileged to represent the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States Senate, I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. I will continue to support public policies that ensure the responsible and appropriate use of guns while also protecting the constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.

Again, thank you for the benefit of your views.

With kind regards, I am

Sincerely,

[signed]
John Warner

First of all, 52-47 is hardly what I would call bipartisan support. And the more he mentions teaming up with Dianne "gun in her purse" Feinstein, the less respect I have for him.

The gun fearing wussies never give up. The re-authorization of the Clinton Gun Ban is still floating around out there, the gun grabbers are hoping to ban .50 caliber rifles, and there is always talk about the "gun show loophole". But what is the real scoop?

Well if you look at national crime statistics, they show that none of these proposals would do any good. Here are some tidbits from the U.S. Department of Justice web site.

Firearm-related crime has plummeted since 1993.

Nonfatal firearm crime rates have declined since 1994, reaching the lowest level ever recorded in 2002.

Incidents involving a firearm represented 7% of the 4.9 million violent crime of rape and sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault.

The number of gunshot wounds from assaults treated in hospital emergency departments fell from 64,100 in 1993 to 39,400 in 1997, a 39% decline.

So not only has crime fallen, but "gun crime" has also fallen. And we haven't even gotten to the most telling statistics. Keep in mind that the gun grabber crowd is constantly shrieking about sales from "unlicensed dealers" at gun shows, and the use of "assault weapons" on our streets. Both issues are a top priority among the gun ban crowd, and both were used as gun control amendments to torpedo the gunmaker liability bill.

According to the 1997 Survey of State Prison Inmates, among those possessing a gun, the source of the gun was from -

a flea market or gun show for fewer than 2%

a retail store or pawnshop for about 12%

family, friends, a street buy, or an illegal source for 80%

During the offense that brought them to prison, 15% of State inmates and 13% of Federal inmates carried a handgun, and about 2%, a military-style semiautomatic gun.

The gun banners claim that most crime guns are gotten from gun shows using the so called "gun show loophole", but the Department of Justice says that figure is actually only 2%. The gun banners would also have you believe that so-called "assault weapons" are the "weapon of choice" for criminals. But once again the Department of Justice says the figure is actually only 2%.

Groups like the Violence Policy Center and the Brady Campaign will not stop until all guns are banned. Remember the words of Dianne Feinstein, "If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them -- Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in -- I would have done it."

Representative Jim "Blame the J-E-W-S" Moran, is holding a press conference on Monday to propose a nationwide gun ban on .50 caliber BMG rifles. The rally will be held in "gun free" D.C., where the anti-semitic Moran will have a .50 BMG on display for scare factor. (Moran and the VPC claim the guns represent a "clear terrorist threat", yet they will violate D.C. law and have one up close and personal to the U.S. Capitol building.)

The VPC claims to be on a mission to reduce gun deaths in the United States. But considering there are no deaths attributed to these firearms, a ban on them will do nothing to accomplish that goal.

If Moran's proposal looks like it's going to pass, I'm going to have to look into picking up one these babies. Given that the Jew-hating Moran is my very own Representative in the House, all I can say is that the election cannot come soon enough.