Apparently I wasn't the only one that thought Belicheat was being a sore loser when he pulled his disappearing act before the Super Bowl was even over.

On more than one occasion this year, Bill Belichick and the Patriots have run up the score on an overmatched opponent, and forced an opposing coach to sit there and watch his beaten team go through the motions while their heineys were being handed to them.

But when the shoe's on the other foot, and Bill Belichick's team has been beaten, he can't sit there and take the pain for a few seconds.

With :01 left on the clock, and his team just having failed on a last chance 4th down effort, Bill Belichick ran onto the field for a quick handshake, and then bolted for the locker room.

For what it's worth Ravenwood bet the Giant's moneyline this weekend and made a killing. Oh yeah!

Some people are tech savvy, others not so much. Such is the case of 20-year old Paula Ceely, whom the BBC says is blaming her GPS Navigation system because her car was totaled by a train. She claims that on a trip from Redditch, Worcestershire, to Carmarthenshire her satnav system took her across a poorly marked rail crossing.

She recounted: "Obviously I had never done the journey before so I was using the satnav - completely dependent on it. I came to this crossing at Ffynongain and there was like a metal gate, which looked like just a normal farmers' gate with a red circle on it. I thought it was a dead end at first and then there was a little sign saying, if the light is green, open the gates and drive through.

"So I opened the gate, drove forward, closed the gate behind me and then went to go and open the gate in front of me. Then I heard this train and I noticed there was train tracks. It was only then that I did realise I was on a train crossing..."

"I put my complete trust in the satnav and it led me right into the path of a speeding train. The crossing wasn't shown on the satnav, there were no signs at all, and it wasn't lit up to warn of an oncoming train."

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

French officials called in thousands of extra policemen for New Year's Eve. The New York Times reports on a disturbing French past-time that has police worried:

Hundreds of cars are set ablaze over the holiday every year and French officials fear that the arson could be even worse this year, mimicking the recent violence that destroyed thousands of vehicles and dozens of buildings.

I'm sure a ban would work here, but what? Cars, matches, or French youths? Better yet, how about making car burning illegal.

In Virginia we celebrated New Years without any car burning at all.

So murder's okay, as long as you do a little community service afterward.

[Stanley Tookie] Williams' case became one of the nation's biggest death-row cause celebres in decades. It set off a nationwide debate over the possibility of redemption on death row, with Hollywood stars and capital punishment foes arguing that Williams had made amends by writing children's books about the dangers of gangs.

It reminds me of HBO's America Undercover look at life inside of Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary. Their interview of an inmate went something like this:

INMATE: I believe that if you forgive yourself in the eyes of the Lord, than you should be set free of your bonds. And I've forgiven myself for what I've done, I've made amends, I think that I should be set free.

INTERVIEWER: What are you in for?

INMATE: [with a straight face] Triple murder. But I must have blacked out during that third murder, because they say I stabbed my sister 27 times and I only remember cutting her throat.

Enjoy your dirt nap Tookie.

Washington D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey declared a crime emergency after a series of murders late last week.

Four people were slain in a five-hour period. . .authorities said. The killings do not appear to be related.

Guns have been effectively banned in Washington D.C. since 1976.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled that state mandates placed on local schools have forced local governments to raise property taxes to the state maximum. They said that its effectively a state-wide property tax, which is illegal in Texas.

Money for the $30 billion Texas school system comes primarily from local property taxes and franchise taxes. But both rich and poor school districts contend the system is unfair.

The high court found that overall school funding is adequate and that rich and poor districts have equal access to money. But the justices ruled 7-1 that the funding system amounts to a statewide property tax, which is unconstitutional in Texas.

The plaintiffs argued that the state contribution for local education is insufficient and that in order to meet all state and federal education mandates � such as the 22-student per class limit and minimum teacher salaries � they must tax at the limit prescribed in Texas law. That, they said, amounts to a single statewide property tax.

The money WILL come from somewhere, so it's only a matter of time before the law of unintended consequences will rear it's ugly head.

Check out what passes for normal in France.

Fewer than 100 vehicles torched overnight as calm returns to France

Police in France report 98 vehicle torchings and 33 arrests overnight Wednesday, which they say means the country is now "totally normal" after three weeks of turmoil.

Via Say Uncle

Bitter finds this a little amusing:

A drunken firefighter plowed a stolen truck yesterday into the Chelsea set of Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone's controversial film about 9/11, police said.

Of all the dumb risks I could take in my life, catapaulting a hundred feet into the air ranks right up there with do-it-yourself laser eye surgery.

A UNIVERSITY student died after being hurled 100ft through the air by a medieval-style "trebuchet" catapult, an inquest heard yesterday.

Kostydin Yankov, 19, an Oxford University student, suffered multiple injuries and serious spinal damage when he fell short of the safety net.

The incident actually took place a few years ago. The court threw out manslaughter charges against the builders of the trebuchet due to "lack of evidence" which sounds like a legalese way of saying that the dumbass knew what he was getting into.

Couldn't happen to a nicer group of environmentalist wackos.

Environmental group Greenpeace has been fined almost $7,000 for damaging a coral reef at a World Heritage site in the Philippines, according to BBC news.

Their flagship Rainbow Warrior II ran hit Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, in the Sula Sea, 650km (400 miles) south-east of Manila.

Park officials say almost 100 sq m (1,076 sq ft) of reef had been damaged.

Greenpeace agreed to pay the fine, but blamed the accident on outdated maps provided by the Philippines government.

Meanwhile the AP spins the fine as Greenpeace "has agreed to compensate the park".

Air America is doing so well in the ratings war, that they're having to resort to begging for money. While I really did hope that the fledgling radio network would survive, the PBS-style pledge drives aren't a good sign.

On its website, Air America lists the benefits of membership, stating, "In return for your help, we'll send you a monthly Associates insider e-mail with the backstage news from our shows and our headquarters. When we take Air America Radio on the road, we'll invite you to meet our hosts and progressive leaders in your community. And for gifts of $50 and up, we've got free stuff to send you."

Among the "free stuff," Air America is giving contributors three bumper stickers to help spread word about the programming. Gifts of $100 or more entitle listeners to "a stylin' yet functional tote bag," and for those donating at least $250, "our hosts and staff will personally thank you at this level of giving on AirAmericaRadio.com and on the air."

For $500, they won't mention your name. Heh.

Isn't it hypocritical that labor unions hire Wal-Mart picketers from a temp agency who pays meager wages.

The shade from the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market sign is minimal around noon; still, six picketers squeeze their thermoses and Dasani bottles onto the dirt below, trying to keep their water cool. They're walking five-hour shifts on this corner at Stephanie Street and American Pacific Drive in Henderson�anti-Wal-Mart signs propped lazily on their shoulders, deep suntans on their faces and arms�with two 15-minute breaks to run across the street and use the washroom at a gas station...

They're not union members; they're temp workers employed through Allied Forces/Labor Express by the union�United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). They're making $6 an hour, with no benefits; it's 104 F, and they're protesting the working conditions inside the new Wal-Mart grocery store.

"It don't make no sense, does it?" says James Greer, the line foreman and the only one who pulls down $8 an hour, as he ambles down the sidewalk, picket sign on shoulder, sweaty hat over sweaty gray hair, spitting sunflower seeds. "We're sacrificing for the people who work in there, and they don't even know it."

One of the protesters is even a former Wal-Mart employee, and he wouldn't mind working there again.

...standing with a union-supplied sign on his shoulder that reads, Don't Shop WalMart: Below Area Standards, picketer and former Wal-Mart employee Sal Rivera says about the notorious working conditions of his former big-box employer: "I can't complain. It wasn't bad. They started paying me at $6.75, and after three months I was already getting $7, then I got Employee of the Month, and by the time I left (in less than one year), I was making $8.63 an hour." Rivera worked in maintenance and quit four years ago for personal reasons, he says. He would consider reapplying.

(Link via Taranto)

In France, where vacations are a "right" guaranteed by the government, more people are staying home because they cannot afford it.

Nearly 4 out of every 10 French people don't go on vacation at any time of the year - nearly half of them because they can't afford it, according to a 2004 study by the Tourism Ministry.

The study defined a vacation as spending four or more nights away from home.

All European nations guarantee employees between four and five weeks of paid vacation a year. The United States and Australia are the only industrialized countries without national minimums on the length of vacations, according to the International Labor Organization.

The French average seven weeks of paid vacation a year - two more than the country's labor laws stipulate. They work an average of 1,441 hours per year, compared with 1,661 hours for the British, and 1,824 for Americans, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports.

Rising travel costs and 10% unemployment rate are being blamed. But just because they aren't leaving town, doesn't mean the French are doing any work.

Despite the downward trend in vacations, France still all but shuts down in August. In Paris, so many shops, restaurants and pharmacies close that those staying open often put up signs: "We're here in August."

The celebrity gossip is that self-annointed "America's Sweetheart" - Julia Roberts - is going to quit hollywood. Let's just say I won't miss her one bit.

In 2001, Roberts won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich. During her self-aggrandizing acceptance speech, she proceeded to thank everyone except Erin Brockovich.

Officials in Portland claimed that the government had every legal right to rifle through your trash. Trash is, after all, considered discarded property and free for the taking. But when the Mayor, Police Chief, and D.A. condoned the process, they had no idea that local reporters would turn the tables on them.

Perched in his office on the 15th floor of the Justice Center, Chief Kroeker seemed perfectly comfortable with the idea of trash as public property.

"Things inside your house are to be guarded," he told WW. "Those that are in the trash are open for trash men and pickers and--and police. And so it's not a matter of privacy anymore."

Then we spread some highlights from our haul on the table in front of him.

"This is very cheap," he blurted out, frowning as we pointed out a receipt with his credit-card number, a summary of his wife's investments, an email prepping the mayor about his job application to be police chief of Los Angeles, a well-chewed cigar stub, and a handwritten note scribbled in pencil on a napkin, so personal it made us cringe. We also drew his attention to a newsletter from the conservative political advocacy group Focus on the Family, addressed to "Mr. & Mrs. Mark Kroeker."

"Are you a member of Focus on the Family?" we asked...

If the chief got overheated, the mayor went nuclear. When we confessed that we had swiped her recycling, she summoned us to her chambers.

"She wants you to bring the trash--and bring the name of your attorney," said her press secretary, Sarah Bott...

A few moments later, her office issued a prepared statement. "I consider Willamette Week's actions in this matter to be potentially illegal and absolutely unscrupulous and reprehensible," it read. "I will consider all my legal options in response to their actions."

The only one that didn't seem to mind was the District Attorney.

(Hat tip to Say Uncle)

In Russia, an email spammer has been brutally murdered, and the media is actually cheering his death.

"The Supreme Court vacated that section of Amendment Five today, in their ruling that the government has the power to seize anyone's property for any reason, as long as they can trump up some bullshit "public benefit" line of reasoning. I think David Souter's home should be first on the list to be seized." -- Ravenwood, June 23, 2005.

"Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land." -- Freestar Media, June 27, 2005.

PETA's dirty little secret just went mainstream. A month ago, the Center for Consumer Freedom purchased a billboard in an attempt to let people know that PETA kills thousands of animals a year, and has a much worse record for adoption than the local SPCA. Nobody was listening then, but now PETA employees have been charged with felony counts of animal cruelty.

On Thursday, two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were arrested on 31 felony animal-cruelty charges for killing and disposing of dogs and puppies in a dumpster. The Center for Consumer Freedom is calling on Americans to stop making donations to support PETA.

When Ahoskie police arrested PETA employees Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle late Thursday, they found 18 dead dogs in a nearby shopping-center dumpster (including a bag containing seven dead puppies), and 13 more dead dogs in the PETA-owned van the two were driving. Police observed them throwing several dark-colored bags into the dumpster before the arrests were made.

This is not the first public mention of PETA's large-scale euthanasia program. In May 2005 the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) unveiled a giant Times Square billboard and a new website (http://www.PetaKillsAnimals.com). CCF had obtained official records from the state of Virginia showing the militant animal-rights group had put over 10,000 dogs and cats to death since 1998.

In 2003 PETA euthanized over 85 percent of the animals it took in, finding adoptive homes for just 14 percent. By comparison, the Norfolk SPCA found adoptive homes for 73 percent of its animals and the Virginia Beach SPCA adopted out 66 percent. PETA's required report documenting its 2004 record is currently over 4 weeks late according to CCF.

If this had been your or me, PETA would be having a press conference and fund raising campaign.

This doesn't look good for Dr. Dean.

Three top fundraisers at the Democratic National Committee have resigned at a time when its chairman, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, has come under fire from fellow Democrats for controversial comments and his Republican counterpart has raised more than twice as much money.

He's a dummy, he's a dunce, he's just a mediocre C student. No, I'm not talking about George W. Bush, although the Kerry camp frequently portrayed him as such. No, I'm referring to Senator John F. Kerry, who once said of George Bush, "I can't believe I'm losing to this idiot". Well, Kerry FINALLY released his military records, and come to find out he got worse grades than Bush. Kerry graduated from Yale with a 76 average, 1 point lower than Bush's 77 average.

He received four D's in his freshman year out of 10 courses, but improved his average in later years.

The grade transcript, which Kerry has always declined to release, was included in his Navy record. During the campaign the Globe sought Kerry's naval records, but he refused to waive privacy restrictions for the full file. Late last month, Kerry gave the Navy permission to send the documents to the Globe. . .

The transcript shows that Kerry's freshman-year average was 71. He scored a 61 in geology, a 63 and 68 in two history classes, and a 69 in political science. His top score was a 79, in another political science course. Another of his strongest efforts, a 77, came in French class.

If this had been released during the campaign, Kerry would have been finished. Half of their strategy was to portray Bush as an illiterate moron, and Kerry as the intellectual statesman.

When the Italians would rather have Lira.

The euro fell sharply against the dollar on Friday after reports that an Italian minister said Italy should consider quitting the euro and returning to the lira.

Martin Scorsese's new film, the Departed, is set in South Boston, but it's being filmed in Brooklyn. The reason has little to do with the look and feel of the town. New York is offering heavy tax incentives to the movie industry in response to Canadian competition.

Boston's loss is New York's gain.

Why am I not surprised by this?

The ex-treasurer of a leading anti-gun campaign group appeared in court today accused of stealing nearly �17,000 from the pressure group.

Maureen Lynch, 55, is accused of the theft of �16,963 from Mothers Against Guns between March 23 and September 19 last year.

Entensity is just now getting around to posting this famous photo from the 2003 Miami-VT game. (Then again, so am I.)

(Link may contain NSFW pop-ups.)

BTW, I was at this game, seated on the 50 yard line. It is the LOUDEST game I have ever been to.

The Washington D.C. area ranked third in the nation for worst traffic. I would like to thank the incompetents at the WMATA for making Metro one of the worst mass transit systems in the nation. If it weren't for their constant bungling and attempts to drive customers away, this award would not have been possible. Without their lack of hard work and dedication D.C. might not have reached the upper eschelon's of traffic hell.

Had they not had the foresight to remove seats, put on shorter trains, cut service during major sporting events, and arrest people for candy bars, while at the same time hiking fares, who knows where D.C. might have ranked.

Oops.

Lawyers selected a jury Monday that will decide whether Greenpeace and its contract ship were criminally negligent by failing to have the proper oil spill response paperwork during an anti-logging campaign.

The environmental activist group, the captain of the Arctic Sunrise and the ship's agent all are charged with misdemeanor criminal counts of operating a vessel without a spill contingency plan or proof of financial responsibility in case of a spill, as required by state law.

Considering Greenpeace is in the habit of ramming other ships, this is no small matter.

(Via Smallest Minority)

The city of Washington D.C. seems to be having credit problems. Verizon is even threatening to shut off their phone service for non-payment, reports the Washington Post.

The troubles date to at least 1998, when the phone company accused the District of failing to pay bills totaling more than $6 million over two years.

"There's never an explanation as to why. They just say: 'Upon advice of counsel, we're not paying this portion of the bill,' " Rabe said. "They have not been, frankly, an easy customer for us to work with." [...]

With the city's contract set to expire at midnight April 30, Verizon executives notified the District in February that it would not agree to an extension at preferred rates. Instead, the city would be free to seek another provider or to pay Verizon the much higher rates it normally charges customers.

Bobb took over the negotiations in mid-April and tried to persuade the company to extend the preferred contract. Verizon refused and, with the expiration date approaching, threatened to cut off non-emergency service unless the city paid its bills.

Perhaps they should treat D.C. like any other credit risk and make them pay a deposit.

Technically this guy was right. He could hack any IP address and gain access to the hard drive.

• Hacker picks fight with chat moderator, demands his IP address.

• Moderator send hacker an IP address.

• Hacker gains access to hard drive and starts deleting files.

• Hacker realizes too late that 127.0.0.1 is his own IP address.

The money quote:

Finally the hacker declared success."I can see your E: drive disappearing, he gloated, "D: is down 45 percent!" he cried, before disappearing into the ether

Actually, the original translation is much much funnier than the article. The guy first tries turning off the machine remotely a few times and then bitches that his own computer keeps restarting. Next he tries deleting files, and then gloats as each drive is erased. G: gone.. then F:, then E:, then D:. About halfway through deleting his own C-drive, the connection drops.

Anyone know who Michael Smith is? Michael Smith did an awful thing. Just awful. Smith is the Vietnam Vet who was recently arrested for spitting...

...on that that sweet and lovable Hanoi Jane Fonda during one of her book-signings. Jane Fonda, if you remember, is a famous communist sympathizer, who gave aid and comfort to the North Vietnamese, while our soldiers were fighting and dying. Due to her celebrity status, she was never prosecuted for treason, (a crime punishable by death.)

At about 9 p.m., police said 54-year-old Michael A. Smith, who had been waiting in line for about 90 minutes, passed a book to Fonda and then spit a large amount of tobacco juice into her face.

They said Smith then ran away and was taken into custody by off-duty officers, who were providing security for the event.

That's right, Smith stood in line for 90 minutes, waiting patiently, for the opportunity to spit right in her face. He didn't charge at her with a pie like a raving kamikazee. He didn't wing a key-lime at her, only to miss and be beaten up by spectators and dragged off by security. No, he waited patiently.

Still, this type of behavior is bad, bad, bad. No one should resort to such petty assaults. I think Smith deserves jail time. (If I were prosecuting this, I'd ask for 15 minutes in jail and a one dollar fine... and no more spitting for three months.)

Although he was arrested for disorderly conduct, Fonda will not press charges.

Orgish.com has video (2.8 Meg) of a cop shooting himself in the foot during a "don't play with guns" lecture to a crowded room. I'm not sure if it's authentic, but the man in the video wears a shirt marked "POLICE" on the front and "DEA" on the back. He is lecturing the room full of men, women, and children about "gun safety" and holds up his police-issue .40 caliber Glock-22 pistol. That the crowd is so diverse (with women and very young children) leads me to believe that it's more of an anti-gun "guns are evil, never touch them" type lecture than it is about actual gun safety.

The officer takes his gun out of the holster, and parades around with the action open. He inspects it, declares that it is unloaded, and appears to show it to someone else for confirmation. He then closes the action (which probably loaded a round from the magazine) and parades around the room with his finger squarely on the trigger. Just as he professes to be the "only one in the room professional enough. . .to carry this Glock .40", BANG he shoots himself in the pinky toe. Not to be dissuaded, he then proceeds to limp around the room and lecture everyone to not do what he did.

The crowd becomes visibly (and understandably) upset when he produces what appears to be an AR-15 or M-16 scary-evil-looking "assault weapon". As he tells the fleeing people to calm down and that he "swears it's unloaded" you can hear people yelling "put it down, put it down".

The poor guy appears to be alright although he's gonna limp for a while. Most notably, the officer broke several gun safety rules like having ammunition in the room, having a magazine in the pistol, having his finger on the trigger, and not keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction.

UPDATE: Minute of Angle has more, with a news blurb about it as well. (Apparently this happened last spring.)

The agent emptied the gun of ammunition as he pointed it toward the floor, but when he released the slide it fired into his thigh.

That is called slamfire, and I don't think that's what happened. Looking at the video, he released the slide long before he fired the round. There is no doubt in my mind that he had his finger on the trigger of this 'empty' gun.

UPDATE: Of course the whole reason for blaming the incident on slamfire is to shift blame from the officer to the gun. But even if it had been due to slamfire, if you keep the gun pointed in a safe direction and unload it properly for 'safety' demonstrations, it's not a problem.

Eco-terrorists from Greenpeace had hoped to paralyze oil trading at the exchange in London. But they were met with some not-so-passive resistance.

WHEN 35 Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) yesterday they had planned the operation in great detail.

What they were not prepared for was the post-prandial aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement.

"We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs," one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. "I've never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view."

Another said: "I took on a Texan Swat team at Esso last year and they were angels compared with this lot." Behind him, on the balcony of the pub opposite the IPE, a bleary-eyed trader, pint in hand, yelled: "Sod off, Swampy." [...]

Last night Greenpeace said two protesters were in hospital, one with a suspected broken jaw, the other with concussion.

Many more protestors spend the night in the pokey. James Taranto notes, "It's pretty clear who the thugs are here, and it's not the Cockney barrow boy spivs."

CBS has axed four producers over the "memogate" scandal which broke right before the Presidential election.

According to a CBS statement, an independent panel appointed by the network concluded that CBS News failed to follow basic journalistic principles in putting together the piece, which aired September 8. That failure was compounded with a "rigid and blind" defense of the report, the statement continued.

On a related note, CNN exercises a little schadenfreude.

Check out the 'advertiser links' block

For the past several years, I've been hoping to pick up the paper and read a headline like "Saddam Hussein* died suddenly".

This comes close.

* Same wish applies for Osama, Arafat, Clinton, Feinstein, etc.

The New York Post tried to scoop everybody by calling the Democrat Veep Nomination early. There is only one slight problem.

Gun buyback and turn-in programs, where volunteers purchase guns with no questions asked, are all the rage in urban areas. Crime guns can be deposited and destroyed without ever being traced back to the scene of the crime. But in Alabama, the theory doesn't seem to be working too well.

The Mercy/ No Mercy Strategy didn't get off to a rousing start, but it did net one gun.

The pistol was collected during the drive by a local minister.

According to Selma Police Chief Robert Green, the weapon was a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun, belonging to an elderly woman.

That's right, they only got one person to turn in their gun, and it was a little old lady. Congratulations to the gun grabbers for getting one more gun "off the street". I'm sure the citizens of Selma will sleep better tonight.

Apparently the felons they are sending door-to-door to get out the vote don't have a history of violence. They're the white collar felons who've committed fraud, embezzlement, or identity theft, so there is nothing to worry about.

Go ahead and give them your name, address, and social security number.

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.

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)

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.

The New York Post reports that Billy Joel wrecked his car for the third time in two years. Joel, who has a history of alcohol problems, is best known as a financial advisor for CNN/Money.

When I think of morons that fall for Nigerian 419 e-mail scams, Harvard professors don't really come to mind. That is, until now.

I guess all kinds of people can answer the siren call of easy money. But the Nigerian scams are nothing new. Sheriff Andy Taylor even had to deal with a similar type of scam, when a con man traveling through Mayberry was convincing people to give him money in exchange for the promise of riches. I guess Harvard professors probably don't watch too much of the Andy Griffith Show.

Congressman Jim "Blame the J-E-W-S" Moran (D-VA) is on the way out. He's been abandoned by the Democrat party, who will likely support Democrat challenger Andy Rosenberg, reports Fox (search) News.

As one of Moran's constituents, I can't thank the Democrats enough. While I tend to vote conservative, I would support anyone (save for anyone named Clinton or Kennedy) over Moran. Of course that is probably what the Dems are counting on. Better to get a more "electable" candidate in there than to risk losing the seat to Republicans. Had they thrown their full support behind Moran, I probably would have entered the Congressional race myself to try to get his sorry ass out of there.

I laughed my ass off the whole way through Dawn of the Dead. But apparently previews for the horror flick are scaring the bejeezus out of British pantywaists.

"It is absolutely horrendous and really disturbing," said Angela Kelly, of Cherry Willingham, Lincolnshire. "Children will be really scared by it. It is such a frightening image, the girl has piercing eyes. We try to avoid driving past it now."

Of course, Kelly hasn't seen the movie yet. It doesn't open up there until Friday.

Our VRWC minions have successfully flown airplanes into the skyscraper of Ted Rall's career. The New York Times resident shock jock cartoonist, has been fired. Naturally Rall, who once even made 'fun' of terror widows, is crying censorship.

As Michele points, out, Teddy's cry sounds somewhat like this:

WHAAAA!!!

Hat tip to Charles Hill.

UPDATE: I've always known Ted Rall was an idiot, but his cryfest over being dumped by the New York Times is classically funny. Rall is begging everyone to demand that the NYT put his cartoon back, but then goes on to say that he doesn't really care whether they do or not.

Kowtowing to a special interest group [Times readers] sets a dangerous precedent. The only way they'll reverse course is if you let them know. Please keep the pressure on by emailing [them]

A reminder: I don't stand to earn a penny if the Times runs my cartoons again. They weren't paying me for them anyway. And I have never complained about being dropped before. This is solely about freedom of expression, and the Times' unique intersection of cowardice and laziness. The Times cartoon section has been censored, Soviet-style: even my archives, the last five years of cartoons that they specifically approved of, have been excised by the Stalinists at Times Digital.

This is just like the time the KGB ordered the Moscow Times to stop carrying Alexi Krapitov's cartoons, and Krapitov called them a bunch of Stalinist goons and thugs, and people who smell and wear combat boots. Oh wait, it didn't happen like that.. Krapitov simply disappeared and was never seen or heard from again.

Canada's military is faced with a half a billion dollar budget shortage, yet as Kevin Baker points out, they still managed to find more than $620 million (that's more than half a billion for you government educated kids out there) to fund their national gun database.

For the record, Canadian gun registration was estimated to cost a mere $2 million. That estimate balooned to $1 Billion by 2005, and was further revised to $1 Billion by 2004. Also, the gun registry is such a miserable failure that several Canadian provinces are refusing to enforce it.

Changing the Georgia wildlife license plate from a bobwhite quail to a bald eagle and American flag has been a boon to sales of the environmentally friendly tag. Sales of the license plate have been brisk, with a large chunk of the fee going to the Georgia Wildlife Fund. But while Georgians typically like the new tag, environmentalists scowl at the new design.

Environmentalist Mike Moody wants to contribute to Georgia's wildlife protection fund, but he's not sure he wants to do it by buying and displaying a license plate adorned with a bald eagle and an American flag. [...]

"Why did [the state] pick that tag? I have friends who refuse to buy it because it's so rah-rah," Moody said. "I'm a patriot, but I'm not a gun-toting, flag-waving, Bush-loving patriot."

The thought of having an American flag adorning their rear bumper is presenting the hard core environmentalists, formerly known as communists, with a huge dilema. Their anti-capitalist crusade is benefiting from the increase in contributions and exposure, but at the expense of what they consider jingoistic flag waving.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League has been fighting with Wachovia to get them to remove their "No Guns" signs. Much to their chagrin, pleas from honest law abiding gun owners have been met with a Wachovia form letter informing them of how much safer they are if guns are not permitted inside the bank. Of course the only persons really made safe by Wachovia's anti-gun policy are the bank robbers. And that is proving to be the case, considering three Virginia Beach/Norfolk area Wachovia banks have been robbed in the last 10 days.

Apparently the robber does have the courtesy to obey Wachovia's policies, though, as the perpetrator of all three robberies doesn't even appear to have been armed.

Something tells me that Rob will never leave his web site in the hands of a blogsitter again.