As a ruthless cold hearted conservative, I cannot help but laugh at slackers like this who want the minimum wage increased just so they have more running around money. You have to see the video to believe it. And for the record, she actually makes more than minimum wage.

"When you work a job that doesn't pay a lot, you have to work a lot of hours to make a decent amount...I'm not making that much, but I'm working almost, almost 40 hours a week every week and I just look at my paycheck and I wanna cry."

Notice that its sponsored by the labor unions, whose wage negotiations are based on the minimum wage. In other words if the minimum wages increase, so do union wages.

Via Bitter

Is it just me or is the media pulling out all the stops to make sure that Republicans know they cannot win on election day? The Washington Post is reporting that independent voters favor Democrats 2 to 1. Before that it was record low primary turnout that would hurt the GOP. Not to mention Kurt Weldon, Mark Foley, and Tom Delay.

Well, apparently I'm not the only one who thinks the media is sending a clear message to voters. James Taranto thinks a conspiracy is afoot.

This is an unusual election in that the media have not even waited for the polls to open before declaring the results. Indeed, the Associated Press was forecasting a Democratic "landslide" as early as May. And since we all know that everything in the papers is true, if the Republicans end up winning, or at least holding their majorities, it can only mean that Karl Rove stole the election.

Whether it's prescient or obvious, Taranto is right. If the Democrats lose you can expect to hear all sorts of wacky nut-job conspiracy theories. In fact the liberal kooks are already blaming the rigged diebold machines. These are the same morons that, in 2004, thought exit polls were more accurate than counting the actual votes. Since the exit polls predicted a Kerry landslide, the actual vote tallies must be wrong.

Conspiracy theories aside, I think a theory Taranto put forth following the 2004 election is even more profound. He basically said that by painting such a rosy picture for Democrats, the media is actually harming their electoral efforts. He re-iterated it back in May:

Our theory about the mainstream media is that they are generally biased in favor of liberals and Democrats, but this ends up helping conservatives and Republicans by breeding complacency on the Democratic side.

So in trying to demoralize Republicans and get them stay home on election day, the media may actually be encouraging Democrats to find better things to do two weeks from Tuesday. If they've already won, why bother voting?

I like Mike Adams, but he's definitely a different type of gunowner than I am. Adams is concerned that if Democrats regain control of the House, Senate, and/or Presidency that a whole slew of gun bans will be coming down from on high. To prepare for them he's set aside a nest egg to make some last minute purchase before any gun bans go into effect.

In a nutshell, here is Mike's list:

- 13 round mags for his Springfield .45 ACP XD
- Loaded Standard Springfield M1A Rifle
- Springfield 1911-A1 Micro Compact with optional light rail
- Springfield 1911 Lightweight Operator

I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Adams apparently owns stock in Springfield Armory. Those are all nice guns, save for my belief that a Micro-Compact 1911 is an oxymoron. (If I'm carrying my 1911, I want people to know it!) But are any of these guns really endangered by Democrats?

My list is, shall we say, a little more aggressive and focuses on evil guns the left wishes were never made:

- Barrett Model 82A1. I heard these can shoot down airliners from 4 miles away. I'll take the semi-auto over the bolt action, because even at .50 caliber one shot just isn't enough.

- Bobcat Weapons BW-5. Its a semi-auto 9mm MP5 clone. It even has the "mock" silencer on it. Ooo.. scary!

- FN Five-seveN. It shoots a high velocity 5.7x28mm round from a tiny gun with very little recoil. The round is extra pointy for deep penetration. The media calls it armor-piercing, the Dems call it cop killer, I'll call it Charlene.

- Yugo SKS. I know, it's a cheap commie gun, but the bayonet, grenade launcher, and low sticker price make it a favorite bad guy of the gun grabbing left.

- Bushmaster AR-15. It's the black rifle of choice for beltway snipers. Need I say more?

- Smith and Wesson .500 Revolver. Because the only thing the left hates worse than a .50 caliber rifle is a .50 caliber handgun. Dirty Harry has nothing on this hand cannon.

There are a lot more, but I cannot list them all. And if I made any glaring omissions, I'm sure I'll hear about it in the comments.

Stewart Mandel is spot on when he says that the one-game suspensions meted out in the FIU-Miami game are grossly inadequate.

This was one of the worst displays of sportsmanship in the history of the sport -- and for that the players are going to miss one game? Against Duke??

Let's stop and think about this for a second. When Clemson and South Carolina had a similar incident in their game two years ago, the schools voluntarily banned themselves from their bowl games. Yes, the players only missed one game -- but they also missed the entire week of festivities that go with it, not to mention for the seniors it would have been the last game of their careers. Do you think Miami's players even care whether they get to play against Duke? Some of them are probably thrilled not to have to make the trip. They get a weekend off to relax at home.

For years Miami has had a reputation of being "thuggish". Lots of schools have trouble managing their image, especially when it comes to players off-field antics. And it's not like the NFL players give them very good role models either. But as a college football fanatic and booster, I would like to have seen bigger punishments handed out. Especially for the way ejected Miami players smiled and gave thumbs up to the crowd as they were being escorted off the field. And the entire Miami team celebrated after the fight, jumping up and down with their helmets in jubilation.

To their credit Miami has said it's not finished handing out punishments, and that Reddick has been suspended indefinitely for using his helmet as a weapon.

In case you were living in a hole this weekend and missed the bench clearing brawl, check out any of the numerous you tube videos.

UPDATE: Lamar Thomas, the former Miami player and color commentator who cheered on the fight from the broadcast booth was fired by Comcast. Then again, the CSS general manager is Mark Fuhrman.

And of course the fans were cheering them on too.

If you open carry in a Staunton Virginia restaurant, don't go to the bafroom.

"Three guys came into the restaurant, and two of them had guns in their belts. And, I mean, they didn't look like undercover police. But then again, what does undercover police look like? But ... uh ... it just looks kind of odd. They kept getting up and going to the restroom and coming back and forth. They went to the restroom at least twice each. And I'm just a little concerned about it."

The 9-1-1 call was logged at 6:31 p.m. the evening of July 15.

The caller was a patron at Casa di Scotto's in downtown Staunton.

So here's three guys on their way home from the shooting range who stop and get a bite to eat. Obeying Virginia law, they open carry in the restaurant (because it's illegal to conceal their firearm).

Staunton's finest call the manager who says there isn't a problem, then show up any way just to hassle the guys. Listen to the 9-1-1 call yourself and see if it doesn't sound like they're just hoping there's a problem.

Former "Apprentice" star and Republican candidate for the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania Raj Peter Bhakta decided to make a point about just how easy it is to slip across the border.

In Brownsville, he witnessed half a dozen men swim under one of the international bridges "with complete immunity" which in turn prompted him to take the immigration issue to the next level.

Bhakta decided to see if he could get an elephant accompanied by a six-piece mariachi band across the river. . .

"To my surprise, the band played on, the elephants splashed away, and nobody showed up," Bhakta said of the stunt. "I'm astounded."

Toeing the party line, the Brownsville Herald chides Bhakta for endangering protected animals.

Is this just being cautious or an overreaction to an unverified threat?

Eight Montgomery County schools were in lock-down Wednesday morning after an unverified threat made at a school bus stop, a school spokeswoman said.

Montgomery County schools spokeswoman Kate Harrison said eight schools, including elementary and high schools, were placed on a "Code Blue" alert after the threat.

Code Blue means students must remain where they are in the school, Harrison said.

Since when did this become a good idea? When their safety is threatened the school's reaction is to make all the children stay where they are instead of seeking shelter.

It's a rabbit like response. If I don't move, he won't see me. And if a killer really were on the loose all they'd have to do is go room to room.

My high school history teacher used to threaten to chain students to the wall and make them watch Woody Allen films as punishment. And that's about what it'd take for me to sit through a Barbra Streisand concert. But even Streisand's fans are becoming upset at her in your face liberal politics.

Streisand effortlessly crooned through a select repertoire of the hits she's amassed during her four-decade-plus career. But the night's most riveting moment came during what was perhaps the only unscripted -- and truly uncomfortable -- episode in the three-hour show.

There was Streisand, enduring a smattering of very loud jeers as she and "George Bush" -- a celebrity impersonator -- muddled through a skit that portrayed the president as a bumbling idiot.

Though most of the crowd offered polite applause during the slightly humorous routine, it got a bit too long, especially for a few in the audience who just wanted to hear Streisand sing like she had been doing for the past hour.

"Come on, be polite!" the well-known liberal implored during the sketch as she and "Bush" exchanged zingers. But one heckler wouldn't let up. And finally, Streisand let him have it.

"Shut the (expletive) up!" Streisand bellowed, drawing wild applause. "Shut up if you can't take a joke!"

With that one F-word, the jeers ended. And the message was delivered -- no one gets away with trying to upstage Barbra Streisand, especially not in her hometown.

In the immortal words of R. Lee Ermey: "Once again, Barbra Streisand has opened her alligator-sized mouth wide before her humming-bird brain has had a chance to catch up..."

I have long theorized that managers of the Washington D.C. Metrorail are deliberately trying to drive away customers. Consider their track record. In the past few years they've decided to remove seats, put on shorter trains, cut service during major sporting events, and arrest people for eating candy bars, while at the same time hiking fares. Not to mention they've done nothing to solve their little crime problem.

Their latest move is to consider replacing all of those fancy escalators with good old fashioned stairs.

The transit agency's latest idea on how to reduce costs and cut down on wear and tear of its chronically broken escalators is to rip out the shortest ones and replace them with a set of low-tech, low-maintenance steps.

Metro is looking at getting rid of only escalators that are less than 30 feet tall and at locations with multiple escalators. Riders would continue to have the option of taking escalators, though there would be fewer of them in certain places. For instance, in a spot where there are three escalators, one might be replaced with stairs but the other two would remain.

One reason the escalators are chronically broken is because they're uncovered and exposed to the rain and snow. Putting up an awning or buiding some sort of overhead cover might cut down on their repair bills and *gasp* actually encourage ridership. Then again, the elevators are always broken too. Riders who require elevator service (ie: cripples) are frequently asked to get off at the previous stop and take a bus to the next station because of a lack of handicapped access. Imagine if a private business tried to do that.

Related articles:
I'd like to thank the WMATA -- 05/12/2005

There seems to be a notion that gun grabbers cannot possibly be as stupid as they sound. Some theorize that they are actually pro-gunners in disguise. As if they are part of a conspiracy (coordinated or un-) to make the antis look like morons. My personal thoughts are that if a guy sounds like a moron, he probably is.

Personally I would never do such a thing, but I got to wondering if any of you would. So my question to you is: Have you ever masqueraded as the opposing side (save for obvious sarcasm) just to make the other side look bad? If not, would you? Why?

Michelle Malkin catches the DNC supporting the troops... ...the wrong troops.

I'm a big fan of Little People, Big World. But in watching the episode where Matt takes the boys camping, I have to take exception to his views on guns.

The episode started with them packing up and getting ready to go camping. They clearly showed the boys father Matt packing a 12 gauge Mossberg shotgun and an ammo can. Later in the episode Matt gets into an argument with 15-year old Zachary about taking away the "bullets" for one of their friend's "gun". Matt says the boy didn't tell him he was bringing his own gun, was trying to hide it from him, so he took the "bullets" away.

What the 15-year old friend brought wasn't a gun, but an air rifle. The "bullets" that Matt took away were BBs. Having played with BB guns when I was 15, I didn't really know what the big deal was. What's more, the very next scene Matt breaks out the shotgun and starts teaching the boys to shoot.

I appreciate teaching boys how to use and respect guns, but from what they showed Matt didn't do that. He took out the shotgun, racked the slide, pointed it at a can they'd set up, and fired it. Not one of them was wearing ear or eye protection. He then handed the gun to one of his boys, told him to point it that way, and let 'er rip. He didn't appear to teach the four rules, or point out any of the guns features like the safety, magazine, or action release lever.

Now I realize that the safety lecture may have been edited out. But the boys were clearly not wearing ear or eye protection. They even showed them futilely trying to plug their ears with their fingers when the shots were being fired. What's more the boys had mixed success shooting. Zachary is also a dwarf and clearly couldn't handle a 12 gauge. He fell over twice and even his average sized son let the gun fly out of his hands after shooting it.

But the BB gun was too dangerous.

So far, the Best Campaign Promise of 2006 goes to Maryland Senatorial Candidate Rep. Ben Cardin, a Democrat.

We are going to lick cancer by 2015.

How shrewd. That's nine years away, meaning Cardin won't be able to cure cancer until his second term in the Senate.

Oh, the horror!

Beer drinkers beware: 4 percent of U.S. hops crop burns

Must get to the grocery store right away!

News you can use:

We specialize in getting you laid

There's only one guaranteed way of getting laid, and it's illegal in 49 states.

It's funny how sometimes you just find things. I was skimming the Washington Post when I got the sudden urge to go get a haircut. Paradise Cuts in Fairfax provides stylists in slinky bikinis in a calming beach-like environment. Oh yeah, I'm there.

(click for larger photo of girls in bikinis)

So I'm searching google for better photos of girls in bikinis. Okay, actually I'm googling Paradise Cuts to see if they have a web site. They do but they've never heard of meta tags, so the number one hit for unquoted Paradise+Cuts is this guy. He wrote an article back in April about a similar outfit in Salem, NH, where they'll cut your hair in lingerie. (Sometimes it's good to be a man.)

Any way, for shits and giggles I check out his main page and this was at the top of the list. . .

Jesus Image Found in Dog's Butt