The pleasure police are even trying to kill Halloween. What is wrong with these people?? Do they see people having fun and purposely try to spoil it?? I mean you can find fault with just about anything if you look hard enough!

I think that there is a special place in hell for these killjoys. (Right next to idiots that drive too slow in the fast lane.)

Yet a third page of Halloween party pics.

(You're welcome, Acidman...)

Today is the day. I'm hoping I actually get trick or treaters this year, and I bought candy yesterday in preparation for the little pan handlers.

The previous two years in Atlanta, I didn't get a single trick or treater. I was quite disappointed two years ago, after I went through the trouble of running walkway lights up to the front door and everything. (If you've ever tried to bury an electrical wire in Georgia red clay, you'll know just how much trouble it was! Back me up Acidman!)

Anyway, it is cold here, but the weather is holding out, so I'll rush home in anticipation of the little tykes. I live in a small apartment complex surrounded by shopping plazas, so I don't imagine I'll get too many. But one would be nice.. just one!

In preparation for the disappointment, this year I actually bought good candy that I might actually eat, and not just throw away or pawn off on someone at work.

If 'ballistic fingerprinting,' which is lauded by the gun control lobby, is so great, why does the Grand Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police claim it's a pipe dream, and a waste of law enforcement resources?

Does Sarah Brady know more about catching criminals than the largest collection of law enforcement officers in the nation, or is she spreading lies to further her agenda?

"For years police have called for the creation of such a database." -- Sarah Brady, claiming that police support ballistic fingerprinting.

"The FOP does not support any federal requirement to register privately owned firearms with the federal government..." -- FOP, in a report claiming funds are best spent elsewhere.

In other Second Amendment news, who says CNN is biased? Check out this tasteless cartoon.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is pushing for more fat, ugly women on TV. Their 2002 Feminist Primetime Report is bitching and moaning that over the air networks are featuring 134 more men than women, and that the women are mostly nothing more than eye-candy. [A quick look at the report shows that the variance for last season is 134 out of 688 (40/60 split), and this season is 125 out of 677 (41/59).]

The NOW report also states that:

We all know that women come in many shapes, sizes, ages and colors. In an extremely informal count, however, we found 140 women on TV who were model-thin and conventionally beautiful, versus just 31 women who appeared to wear a size 10 or larger.

It then goes on to unceremoniously list the fat people who are the "exception" to the "Jennifer Aniston Rule".

Lesley Boone (Molly) on Ed, Tyne Daly (Maxine) on Judging Amy, Loretta Devine (Marla) on Boston Public, Camryn Manheim (Ellenor) on The Practice, Melissa McCarthy (Sookie) on Gilmore Girls, Della Reese (Tess) on Touched By an Angel, and Countess Vaughn (Kim) and Mo'Nique (Nikki) on The Parkers.

There is little mention of how the standards were set up to figure out who makes the fat-cow list and who doesn't. I also didn't see any way for actresses to appeal their banishment to the list.

Staff writers at Ravenwood's Universe are skeptical at best. NOW wins the No Shit Sherlock Award by listing shows like UPN's "WWE Smackdown" as examples of the worst offenders, pointing out that there are more male 'superstars' than females. Meanwhile the cancelled "Ellen Show", "Girlfriends", and "Judging Amy" get the top nods for 'gender fairness'. Who the hell watches that crap?!

What NOW doesn't understand is that networks see only the color and shape of the almighty dollar. Their whole purpose in life is to make money for their shareholders. They do that by picking up TV shows that people will actually watch. Big surprise: People want to see good-looking people on TV.

NOW also makes this brilliant statement:

TV has the power to bring people together, to show viewers a full picture of our society.

[Bullshit Alert] Nobody wants to watch regular slobs sitting around living normal life. "Big Brother" ratings prove that. Why fill the air waves with boring everyday crap, when most people already get that at home? What would be the point of watching TV?

NOW also rates programs on "social responsibility," but since they give no quantitative criteria for that category, I'm going to ignore it.

They also misplace responsibility for the quality of TV programing by claiming that networks must be held "accountable to all the viewers who ultimately make them rich." Clearly they are only responding to what the viewers watch. NOW even admits that 40% of their 'favorable' shows were cancelled last year. If viewers were watching them, they'd still be around.

The bottom line is that TV shows are no different than commercials. Ask any advertising agent and they'll tell you that sex sells. "Friends" most certainly would not have been a hit show with six overweight slobs laying around some oversized NYC apartment.

Putting fat, ugly, cows on TV will only make people change the channel. Or worse, perhaps they'll turn it off and actually read something.

Lets say you're a doctor and you boast a low mortality rate. How do you protect your claim? Well, in Britain, you just turn away patients who have the greatest risk of dying.

(link via WSJ)

I added a second page of Halloween pics. They include the infamous 'shot-ski'

"I can't put my finger on what it means or how you can quantify it, but there is so much more energy than there was two or three weeks ago." -- Illegitimate Senate Plurality Leader, Tom Daschle, D-SD, expressing glee that the death of Paul Wellstone might save his party this election year.

For all those black helicopter folks and conspiracy nuts out there, it is clear that the Democrats have more to gain from Wellstone's death than Republicans.

UPDATED: Gov. Ventura is considering appointing an independent to fill Wellstone's seat, after last night's political rally disguised as a 'memorial service'. Ventura reportedly walked out of the service after hearing Democrats used Wellstone's death as a rallying cry to vote for them. What most incensed Ventura was when Rick Kahn stood up and begged for voters to "help us win this Senate election for Paul Wellstone."

The dems also booed any Republicans that had showed up to pay their respects to Senator Wellstone.

It is clear that the Democrats will do anything for political gain; no matter how illegal, tasteless, or immoral.

My liberal buddy, Jack Cluth, has brought forth the issue of cock fighting. Apparently making cock fighting illegal in Oklahoma is on the ballot this year. Naturally, Jack is against cock fighting and thinks it should be banned.

Cock fighting as a "sport" should be outlawed- period- and the voters of Oklahoma should go back to arguing over things that really matter- like trailer parks or Indian casinos....

I think that banning cock fighting doesn't go far enough. Obviously, the chicken death matches will just go underground.

To truly stop cock fighting, you need to address the source of the problem. Chickens. As long as anyone can simply walk into a store and purchase a chicken, no one is safe. I propose a state-wide blanket chicken ban to stop all cock fighting. At the very least, you should need a license to purchase a chicken, and there should be a three day waiting period. That will stop any spontaneous cock fights from starting up.

It should also be illegal to carry a live chicken in your vehicle. That will keep chicken runners from bringing chickens in from states like Virginia that have lax chicken laws. We should also ban the open and concealed carry of chickens. Otherwise cock fights might start up in schools and back alleys across the state.

There are also lots of people that already have chickens. Rather than go door to door confiscating chickens, we should impose a 1000% tax on chicken feed. Even if people continue to purchase feed for their chickens, the extra tax revenue should help fight the problem of chicken injuries caused by cock fight violence.

We should also encourage product liability lawsuits against 'Big Chicken'. Companies like Purdue and Tyson, who willfully market their products toward children, must be held accountable for the criminal misuse of their chickens.

I'm with you Jack. I'm starting a grassroots lobbying organization called Americans for Chicken Safety. ACS feels that this cock fight problem has gone on long enough, and must be addressed. We shouldn't let another chicken suffer unnecessarily for human entertainment.

First there was Carnival of the Vanities. Then there was Return to Carnival of the Vanities. Next came Escape from Carnival of the Vanities.

Now, Silflay Hraka and Blogcritics bring you... Beneath Carnival of the Vanities.

Starring Bigwig as the Ringmaster, Laurence Simon as the Alien, and Ravenwood as the damsel in distress.

Coming to a blog near you!

The way the AP article reads, it isn't exactly clear whether or not they are renaming an existing concourse or adding on to the airport.

In Atlanta they were toying with the idea of corporate sponsorship for the airport concourses. "Your flight will be leaving from the Home Depot Concourse, gate number 5. It is just past the Coca Cola Concourse, but before you get to the UPS Concourse."

Of course, in Atlanta, they already spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars renaming the streets after sitting city council members. (or their children, friends, neighbors, pets, etc.)

Many thanks to E-Nuf for providing me with some liberal fodder to fisk. I get so much enjoyment out of debating my liberal friends, and it has been a while since they've provided me the opportunity. Eat your heart out Rachel Lucas¹.

Enuf: Yo when are you libertarians just gonna accept it that gun laws like all modern protections where invented in modern times.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Gun laws have been around since the invention of the gun. Arms, however, have been around since man walked erect. The right to bear arms for self-protection is an unalienable right that cannot be taken away.

If you read the federalist papers you see very clearly that the intent of the right to bear arms is specifically for state mill-ish-a-zs.

If it is written so 'clearly' and 'specifically', why don't you cite any passages? Here is one:

[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...[where] the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. -- James Madison, The Federalist Papers, (No. 46)

I see where Madison talks about Americans being allowed to possess arms, but I don't see where he specifically states that those rights are reserved only to state-run militias. However, there is a lot of talk about the INDIVIDUAL right to keep and bear arms, and the general mistrust of a state-run standing army:

"The whole of that Bill [of Rights] is a declaration of the right of the people at large or considered as individuals...[I]t establishes some rights of the individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority has a right to deprive them of." -- Albert Gallatin to Alexander Addison, Oct 7, 1789.

Before a standing army can rule the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. -- Noah Webster of Pennsylvania, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia, 1787

No where is the personal right to own a semi automatic fire arm in the consitution

The Constitution also doesn't say you have the right to own a refrigerator, an automobile, a personal computer, or a television set. We could spend all day looking at what the Constitution doesn't say.

and who care anyway since you have the dam right in most states.

The operative word is most. Many localities like New York City, Washington DC, and Chicago deny citizens their unalienable right to keep and bear arms. Also, firearms continue to be highly regulated. For instance:

- Firearms are banned in places like schools, and on some state and federal property.
- You need permission from the government to purchase a firearm.
- Many states have a waiting period before you may purchase a firearm.
- Many makes and types of firearms have been banned and/or confiscated.
- Persons with mental illnesses cannot own firearms.
- Many states prohibit the transportation of firearms within their borders.
- Many states require a license to own a firearm.
- Many states require firearms to be 'child proofed'.
- Many states have sued firearms manufacturers for the misdeeds of their owners.

If your really that freaked out that government is gonna seize your property why dont you take your gun and shot a federal agent with it, only when they are seizing your property of course.

The thought of a nation where only the government is allowed to keep and bear arms scares me. As for property seizure, we already experience that. Every two weeks the government takes 1/3 of my earnings at the point of a gun.

¹I'm downright jealous of all the hate-mail and fisking that Rachel gets to respond to. All I ever get are Nigerian email scams.

I told myself I was going to stop doing these campy quizes, but my love of the simpsons is just too strong.

The actual quiz is "What lesser known Simpsons character are you?". As a Simpson fan, I don't see Barney as a lesser known character. In my book, lesser known characters would include:

Kang
Snake
Fat Tony
Grandma Jackie or Aunt Gladys
Otto
Pedro (the Bumblebee man)
Troy McClure
Martin
Professor Frink

Big surprise that I was Barney. A look at my 'Drunk Story of the Day' could have told you that.

"But could any gun laws have prevented the shootings? ...our society doesn't have a stellar record of keeping prohibited things out of people's hands (war on drugs, anyone?).
"Let's not forget, too, that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens can actually stop those who prey on the innocent." -- Cathy Young in an editorial in the Boston Globe of all places. (It's probably driving Ruston Eastman nuts)

Why would anyone run for political office? Laurence Simon threw his hat into the ring for the Presidency, and Jack Cluth has decided to mount a last minute write-in campaign for Governor of Texas. This leads me to think about my own political prospects, and reasons that I'd make a horrible political candidate.

• I'm unmarried. In many people's minds, that disqualifies me immediately. How can I represent the interests of families with children, when I have none of my own?



• I'm not a good liar. While I have a master's degree in bullshit, my conscience prevents me from purposely deceiving people.
• I'd run as an independent. I fit neither the Democrat nor Republican mold. That means I'd only gather votes from people too lazy to write in Mickey Mouse, Britney Spears, or Jack Cluth.
• I have way too many skeletons. When I look back on my life and think of all the mischief I've gotten into, I think it is best to keep some of that stuff a secret.
• I'd be easy to smear. I really don't want my 'Drunk Story of the Day' being held up in the political limelight. That is all I need is to be judged by these self-righteous assholes that think politicians should at least hold the illusion of being innocent and pure.
• I'm too nice a guy. While I feel obligated to smear people based on their wacko political beliefs, I cannot bring myself to play politics. Shamelessly dragging my opponent through the mud would be difficult for me. What do I care if J. Edgar Hoover likes to prance around like a nancy boy in dresses? He's not hurting anybody, he did nothing illegal, and he didn't perjure himself before a grand jury (for all you clinton apologists), so what's the big deal?
• I hate public speaking. Seinfeld once said that people fear public speaking more than death. That means that at a funeral, you are better off being in the coffin than giving the eulogy.
• Speaking of speaking, I don't want assholes like Jacob Weisberg getting rich off of trying to make me look stupid. I am perfectly capable of making myself look stupid and don't need help.
• Speaking of Weisberg, I'd abuse my power in a New York minute. Between IRS anal probes and body cavity searches at the airport, nitwits like Weisberg would rue the day they messed with me.
• I speak from the hip too much. I wouldn't last long in Congress telling people how I really feel. I don't think too many politicians have ended their speeches with "...and the horse you rode in on!" I certainly wouldn't have too many friends, and I'd have to be physically restrained from punching Tom Daschle in the nose. Traficant was my hero.
• I enjoy my privacy, and peeking over the walls of my compound might get you some buckshot in the face.
• The last thing I want is to be the center of attention. I'd be a wall flower compared to media whores like Shillary Clinton.

While this is not a comprehensive list, I think it illustrates how I feel about politicians. I am much more suited to hanging out in the shadows, pulling the puppet strings and manipulating the situation. Perhaps Laurence or Jack need a 'consultant'.

A Google search for 'Ravenwood' finds my site ranked at #4 in the search results; right behind a site for custom carved wood signs, and in front of a site offering miniature donkeys.

Look. Up in the sky. What is that strange powdery substance?? AUGH! SNOW!

I miss the South!

Drunkenness rating: 8 beers for me vs. 1 gallon grain punch for Jen.

In college, every year, my neighbors Damon and Sean had a Halloween party. Typical refreshments included a keg of Beast, some grain punch¹, and jello shots².

I manufactured my own costume out of empty Budweiser cartons which seemed to be collecting in the corner by the trash can. (They must have been my roommates, honest!) The costume looked silly at best, and was kind of bulky, but it was cheap, and that is what counted in college. After about an hour, I had taken most of it off, and thrown it away. Still, it provided me an answer to that too common question, "Where is your costume?". I could just point to the heap in the corner and say "There it is."

Now, I was typically a beer drinker, so drinking grain punch didn't sound the least bit appealing. Even when I did drink liquor, I didn't usually like to taste the actual alcohol that much. I preferred a tasteless liquor that mixes pretty well, like vodka, or the sugary goodness of a spiced rum. Basically, I stayed away from the grain punch concoction and stuck to beer and jello shots.

My friend Jennifer however was hitting the punch pretty hard, and it wasn't long before she was pretty out of it. Her roommate Marnette was there, and she was doing a pretty good job of baby-sitting her. I checked back with Jen, and she was sitting in a chair out on the balcony. I think she was praying, because her head was between her knees and I could hear her mumbling. Still, she seemed to be ok, so I started mingling some more.

About 20 minutes later, Sean came up to me and told me that Jen had to go. She had been vomiting over the balcony railing, which really seemed to bother the people standing out there smoking, not to mention anyone walking down below. As I was talking to Sean, I saw Damon carry her out the front door. He had her bent over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and was clearly not very happy. She looked like a rag doll, with her long hair hanging down over hear face.

I followed them out the front door, but I was quite a few steps behind them. I passed Damon in the stairwell, as he was headed back up to his apartment. He didn't say anything, but I could tell he was agitated. He had set her down out front, just off the sidewalk. She was curled up in an undignified fetal position, with her butt sticking up in the air, cuddling a small bush. I think it was an azalea, but it could have been a rhododendron.

I cannot remember exactly what she was supposed to be dressed as, but 'hooker' seems to fit my recollection. Whatever the outfit, her skirt was very short, which now presented a problem, as she lay there for all the world to see. Marnette and my roommate Denny came down from the party, and we stood there trying to figure out what to do with her. Marnette was emphatic that we couldn't just leave her there, while Denny seemed to think the bush looked rather comfortable.

After a few minutes, we decided it was best to take her home. She had had enough partying for one night. I scooped her up into my arms, and she let out a moan. I told her if she threw up on me, she was going back onto the bush.

Carrying 120 pounds of dead weight is not very easy. Carrying 120 pounds of dead weight dressed in vinyl is pretty damn difficult. It didn't help that I wasn't exactly sober, and she wasn't exactly holding on. As I started across the apartment complex toward her place, I could feel her slipping out of my arms. I didn't want to throw her over my shoulder, because I knew she'd never make the journey. I was only a moment away from dropping her.

Hoping that she was still somewhat conscious, I asked her to hold on tight. She must have heard me, because she managed to squeeze me tighter. With most of her weight transferred from my arms to my back, we were home free. I could have carried her all night, if only she'd hang on. After getting her home safe, and putting her into bed, I hung out in the living room while Marnette took care of tucking her in. After she was asleep, we headed back over to the Halloween party to dance the night away.

¹'Grain' being 190 proof alcohol, and 'punch' being fruit.
²Jello shots are liquor and jello. My mother never made me jello when I was a kid. Honestly, the first time I had it was in college, and I had no idea it was actually a treat for kids. I went to the supermarket once and was appalled to find it in with the pudding and kiddie treats. Also, the instructions don't say anything about how much vodka to add to the jello. I called the help line once and they refused to help me. Finally, one of my roommates clued me in that jello was a kiddie treat that drunkards and college students had perverted for their own alcoholic gratification.

Reuters stands 'accused' of hacking and may face criminal charges. Intentia, a Swedish IT group, claims that Reuters 'published' a news release prior to their scheduled release. An internal investigation revealed that someone with a Reuters IP address made an unauthorized entry. Reuters 'denies' the allegation.

I haven't been able to finish today's Drunk Story of the Day, ironically, because I am still under the weather from the drink-fest this weekend.

As I said before, I traveled to DC for the weekend. My DC friends were having their annual Halloween bash, and I made an appearance as Jake.

Overall the party was a huge success for me, as I didn't throw up, and I didn't fall down the stairs. Had you seen their precarious dimly lit stairway, you would understand.

Also, being from out of town, I didn't have to stay and help clean up. Tsk, tsk.

(to view the Halloween photo montage, click on the photo above.)

Kim DuToit offers up a compelling debate on gun control and repealing the Second Amendment. I am green with envy for not coming up with my own masterpiece.

Nevertheless, if only 2% of all known gun owners did respond to gun confiscation with extreme violence, that's over a million really angry, and armed, citizens. That's the ugly reality that faces any would-be gun confiscators. Americans are not docile citizens. Our nation was born by rebellion and bloodshed in the name of freedom, and we're not that afraid of doing it again, if we have to.

As a libertarian with strong Constitutional beliefs, I only wish that more Americans shared this point of view.

Kim also demonstrates his vast knowledge of Constitutional history and procedures. His knowledge and appreciation for history and the political workings of the government makes me wish that some of the people who were born and bred here, and who take our freedoms and opportunities for granted would bother to learn even the basics.

Well, now that I'm rich, and have "won life's lottery," I guess I'll have to make some changes in my life. I think I'm going to start by getting rid of my scant 1-bedroom apartment. That puts me in the market for a modest 5-bedroom estate on about 40 acres of land. Of course, I'll also have to purchase some small 5000 sq. ft. condos in all my favorite stomping grounds. That way I won't have to stay in a hotel, or bother friends and relatives when I come to visit.

Next, I'll sell my Ford and buy a Mercedes or Jaguar for running around on the weekends. Perhaps I'll get that classic '62 Vette I've had my eye on. Of course, I'll need a limousine and chauffeur for during the week. I saw a magazine called "Car and Driver," which sounds like it may have some information on the subject.

Of course, I'll also have to get rid of all my old friends. I don't want my riches coming between us. Besides, I'll have to start socializing with a whole new crowd now. I'll try to forget all you little people while I enter the class of the parvenu.

"evidence of falsification"

"egregious misrepresentation"

"exaggeration of data"

"[H]is scholarly integrity is seriously in question"

These aren't exactly ringing endorsements of Michael Bellesiles' award winning book which is still lauded by gun control advocates. Bellesile's book, "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture" won the Bancroft Award, and was held up by gun grabbers as proof that guns were not a large part of American culture on the frontier.

However, Bellesiles sources, which were primarily old probate records, were immediately criticized. Very few of the probate records matched the findings in his book, and some records he cited simply did not exist. (For instance, the San Francisco records Bellesiles cited that had actually been destroyed in 1906 earthquake.) When questioned, Bellesiles conveniently lost his notes, stating they were destroyed and then discarded when a records room at Emory flooded. Even that excuse didn't hold water, (pardon the pun) as the manifest of items lost in the flood didn't include Bellesiles' research notes. Hmm.

I'm not going to rehash the whole thing, but if you want to read more about it, Instapundit has been keeping a good journal.

Although it comes as a surprise, I am not at all sorry to see that Bellesiles was fired resigned in disgrace. I figured he'd get a slap on the wrist at most.

Who says margin of victory doesn't matter. Ohio State beat Penn State this weekend and still dropped two spots in the AP poll. That has happened to them twice this year, the previous drop coming off a close win against Cinci. Meanwhile, AP darling Notre Dame rose 3 2 spots with their win, leap frogging Georgia and Ohio State. They are breathing down Virginia Tech's neck, just 14 points behind the Hokies in the AP poll.

The BCS ramifications are clear. This should mean a full point shaved off their total BCS score, which would bump Miami, who is top ranked in both the AP and Coaches polls, to third in the BCS. It would be interesting to see teams ranked 2nd and 4th in the major polls play each other, and the BCS try to pass it off as a 'National Championship" because the computers say they are actually 1st and 2nd. Regardless, it is clear that as long as Notre Dame keeps winning, they will continue to leap frog teams. One more game should put them ahead of Virginia Tech, perhaps even Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, VT will most certainly drop in the BCS standings mostly because LSU lost to Auburn. It'd be nice if the Hokies controlled their own fate, but they don't. All they can do is continue to win, and hope for the best.

Is this media bias, or am I just being nit-picky?

Sniper photo from CNN.com

Sniper photo from FoxNews.com

Perhaps CNN just doesn't have any updated photos of the sniper.

I'll be traveling this weekend, so blogs will be few and far between. I'm flying to Washington DC for a Halloween party and will be cutting out early today.

Remember the Democratic cartoon showing Bush pushing an old lady down the stairs. Well, now the Republicans have a little cartoon of their own.

"Race should be one of many criteria that any college or university can look at in building an ethnically strong and diverse talent pool." -- Ron Kirk, Texas Democratic candidate for the Senate saying that people should vote for him because he's black.

Just what we need, Affirmative Action in the Senate. So much for voting for the best candidate to represent your interests.

Drunkenness Rating: 1/5th of Vodka

Now, anyone that knows me today knows that I'm a beer drinker. There are a few reasons why I no longer drink hard liquor, and this is one of them.

I was headed out pretty late one Saturday night, to a party that a friend, Scott, was throwing. It was already past 11 PM, and by the time I showed up, all the beer was gone. I asked Scott what had happened, and he said they didn't anticipate going through it so quickly. He said the party was still going on, but it was 'bring your own' since his keg had run out. Not to be dissuaded, I ran back to my apartment and grabbed a fifth of vodka and a 20 oz. Dr. Pepper.

Now when I say a fifth of vodka, I don't mean Smirnoff or Absolut, or even Stoli. We are talking Aristocrat. At $6 a bottle, this shit barely qualified as vodka. Anyone who has ever had Aristocrat will typically shudder a bit at the mere mention of the name. I was on a college budget however, and I had to make due with what I could afford.

So, I hit this party pretty hard. Despite being out of beer, it didn't start to break up until around 2:30 the next morning. Most people there were already in a good mood, and quite a few people had their own little stashes of alcohol, so there was plenty of fun left to be had. By the time I left the party, I had completely finished my fifth of vodka, and was half-way through the Dr. Pepper that I was using as a chaser. I stumbled home, but stopped off by Jen and Marnette's apartment across the street. Their light was still on, so I knocked on their back door. That is the last thing I remember from that night.

The next morning, I woke up in my own bed. I was fully clothed, but half my bed and my floor were covered in vomit. Also, my jaw felt like it was broken, and the whole room smelled like rancid parmesan cheese. I tried to piece together what had happened while I cleaned up myself, the floor, and all my bedding. I ultimately ended up throwing away some of the bedding and the clothes that I had slept in. After a few hours of drinking water, the room finally stopped spinning and I reached for the telephone.

Jennifer answered, and I very meekly asked, "Um, did I fall down or anything while I was over there last night." She dropped the phone and all I could hear was the ensuing laughter. She told Marnette what I had asked, and they both giggled and laughed for about 10 minutes. They never did come back to the phone, so I hung up and walked across the street to speak with them face to face. The described the previous night's festivities, and my memory started to gradually return.

The previous night, Marnette had let me in, and poured me onto the couch. They were having a late movie night, and were busy making home-made pizza between reels. (Well, tapes actually, but reels sounds so much better.) After a few minutes rest, I got up and stumbled into the kitchen to make small talk with Jennifer. She was just taking their pizza out of the oven. She grabbed some napkins and plates and went out into the living room to start their next movie. Somehow, I had managed to slip and fall in their kitchen, hitting my chin on the counter. I got up, and still dazed from the blow, stumbled through the kitchen doorway. I didn't quite make it, and tried to catch myself by grabbing onto the side of the door frame. Since I only grabbed one side of the doorway and was off balance to begin with, I ended up swinging around and smacking my face against the wall. In pain, I slid down the wall and ended up in a heap on their dining room floor.

Witnessing all this from the living room, Jen and Marnette helped me onto the couch and proceeded to feed me pizza in a vain attempt to sober me up. I passed out for about an hour while they continued watching their movie. Eventually they got sick of me and threw me out. My apartment was just across the parking lot, so they gave me a good shove in that direction and closed the door. I'm not sure how, but I made it home and into my own bed.

I learned a few lessons from that evening, and I rarely drink liquor anymore. I've also slowed down quite a bit, and rarely if ever, drink to excess. Still, I wouldn't trade the memories for anything.

Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth Texas has canceled their plan to give out 'free' flu shots, after long traffic jams and fistfights broke out. Although the annual drive-through flu shot program attracted 5000 people last year, this years response was overwhelming to say the least.

Until now, I wasn't even aware of the existence of a Massachusetts ballot referendum to repeal the income tax. Fox News points out that neither Democrats nor Republicans support the measure, (big surprise) and that the Libertarian candidate was summarily dis-invited to the debate to keep the issue from being addressed.

The last poll has the referendum at 40%, which is amazing considering the commonwealth's love of big government. Staff writers have pointed out to me that even if the measure passes, it isn't likely to happen. Just look at what happened to term limits in Idaho.

I remain optimistic and hope that the citizens of Massachussestan will revert to their old Boston Tea Party ways and lop $9 Billion out of their government's budget.

Geez, now you cannot even ride a horse under the influence. Where is the danger in that? I would think they'd praise the horse for being the designated driver.

'Tis the season for trick or treating for Unicef. Unicef collects millions of dollars from the US, and uses it to give aid to children across the world.

What many people don't realize is that the aid comes in the name of the UN, not the US. After all, UNICEF is the United Nations Children's Fund. That is the very UN that criticizes the US at every turn. Libertarian demigod, Neal Boortz points out that the UN actively supports the following positions:

• Make American citizens accountable to a world criminal court for actions that the UN deems to be a crime that would not be a crime under the US Constitution or US laws.


• Levy a tax on individual Americans to support UN welfare and indoctrination programs elsewhere in the world.


• Levy a tax on American technology to fund UN programs.


• Force the United States to raise tax rates on its citizens and businesses so that our lower tax rates won't allow us to engage in "unfair tax competition" with nations with higher tax rates.


• Control American's access to and use of certain National Parks and historic sites in the name of "preservation" as defined by the UN.

Remember this, next time a kid sticks a little orange box in your face begging for money. The US is better off putting that money into US charities, than the hands of the UN. If we are going to be charitable, than we should damn well get credit for it.

Here are some of the strange things people are looking for, which for some reason, lead them here:

oktoberfest photos nude - naked oktoberfest pictures - oktoberfest nude - nude oktoberfest - sexual oktoberfest
- These people obviously know nothing about Oktoberfest. It is a family affair and public nudity would probably be met with public drunkard beating uping.

hamster hospital gay explosion
- I wonder what this guy was looking for. Whatever it was, there are no 'gay explosions' around here.

cops caught in sex acts on pics video
- Interesting.

pictures of policemen weigh 300 lbs or more
- Hopefully not the same guy looking for photos of cops in sex acts.

Katie Couric photos feet
- I've heard of foot fetishes, but never Katie Couric foot fetishes

drugs prostitution vacation
- Try Miami

Using Frontpage to keep out hecklers
- Must be someone from the Democrat Underground looking for better ways to censor their readers.

feinstein embarrassed pin
- They should also try searching for 'California embarrassed by senator'

biker gang photos
- I have no clue. If I saw a biker gang coming, I wouldn't be reaching for my camera.

hampton roads is the shit
- No, it's not.

prostitutes available Atlanta for fucking
- Honestly, I don't know why they hit on MY site, while looking for this. But their seems to be a lot of people looking for online prostitutes. Don't people go down to the corner anymore?

ravenwood owns you
- If I did, I'd sell you on Ebay.

mitt romney naked photos
- No comment. Eww.. still no comment.

nude matt lauer pics
- Still no comment. Better than Mitt tho.

perscription drugs that give u a buzz
- Must be a teenager. Check out the proper use of the word 'u'.

What happens when perscription drugs are misused
- Is this the same kid, or do they both want PERscription drugs? We need to bring back those 'This is your fried egg on drugs' commercials.

cut off testicles
- What your dad would do to you if he found you drugged out on 'tussin.

punishment of slaves pics - pics of Blacks hanging from trees - RIAA is run by jews
- This is all quite disturbing. Must be those white supremacist fucks.

Ravenwood Goat - ravenwood farms - ravenwood leather - Ravenwood bondage
- No comment, no comment, no comment, no comment.

shooting ravenswood gun washington shooting
- No one saw me do anything. Can't prove a thing!

gang raped neighbors pics
- I hope this isn't one of my neighbors.

invest in russian porn
- Sounds like a good place to put your rubles

un donations/2002
- Certainly better than giving them to these bozos

hidden camera "locker room" - cruising for gay sex in atlanta georgia - grandma grandpa fucking
- So many perverts out there!

I can only imagine how disappointed some of these people are.

If you've read anything I've written about the BCS, you'll know that I'm no fan of the computer system. That said, there are two things would really make me happy this season.

First, I want to see Virginia Tech run the table and get an invite to the National Championship at the Fiesta Bowl.

Second, I want to see Virginia Tech politely decline the invitation just to stick it to those fuckers at the BCS and the Fiesta Bowl.

The BCS is a horrible system, and the Fiesta Bowl snubbed VT for the 2000 bowl selection. Rather than take BCS #5 Virginia Tech, they opted to take BCS #6 Oregon State and BCS #11 Notre Dame. Of course, ND then proceeded to get a major ass-kicking by the Beavers on national TV. VT ended up drubbing Clemson in the Gator Bowl, (which I attended).

Sure, I'm bitter. I hope Frank Beamer is bitter too, and I'd love to see him mess up the BCS' precious money grabbing plans. And no, I don't care what the consequences would be.

Note: Thanks to Spoons for setting me off. Perhaps his fiance and I should get together and burn ND players in effigy or something.

El Rushbo reports just who is paying what taxes. Turns out that the top 50% pay over 96% of taxes, and the top 25% pays over 84% of taxes.

Of course, anyone who makes $55,000 per year or more is in the top 25% and considered 'rich'. That means that if you make enough to be in the top 25%, you can forget about any Democrat proposed tax 'rebates'. They are reserved for the 'middle' class and 'working families', and obviously, you don't work and aren't middle class.

According to Dick 'Gebhardt', if you are in the top 25%, you are 'lucky', and have 'won life's lottery'. And of course Joe Lieberman wants tax 'rebates' for "taxpayers who did not receive one in 2001". This obviously doesn't include anyone in the top 50%; you know, someone who actually pays taxes.

The problem is that the entire bottom 50% pays almost no taxes, yet their vote counts the same as everyone elses. That makes it quite easy for them to vote money out of your wallet and into theirs.

Drunkenness Rating: 20 beers

For those of you that don't know, I went to Virginia Tech, and my buddy Ken attended our rival, the University of Virginia. Every other year, he'd come down with a few of his frat buddies for their annual football thrashing.

Well, this particular year Ken showed up on my doorstep holding two cases of Olympia and exclaimed, "I found something cheaper than Beast!" Then he said "Come see what else I brought with me," and dragged me out to the car where his frat buddies were waiting for us. They popped open the trunk and inside was Nate, a fraternity pledge who they had kidnapped, bound, gagged and shoved into the trunk. He had been riding back there for over two hours. I thought it was so sweet that they'd want to include me as an accessory after the fact to their felony kidnapping.

So, we all went into my apartment to prepare for the Friday night festivities. We were going to a party at a Damon and Sean's place which was just down the hill from where I lived. We loaded up a backpack with a few cases of beer, and headed out. On the way there, Ken ran down to the bottom of the hill, and like a smart ass yelled out, "Hey Steve, don't fall down the hill." That naturally caused me to trip and fall down the hill. My ankle was badly sprained but someone handed me a cold one and told me to walk it off.

At the party, I proceeded to drink heavily to try to dull the pain. At first my limp became less and less noticeable the more I drank, but when it came time to leave, I could barely walk. Since my friends had left the party a few minutes earlier, I walked home alone. As I came limping up, dragging my foot behind me like Quasimodo, my roommate Denny was outside waiting for me. He told me not to get mad, and helped me into the house. Just as I asked him, "Why would I get mad?" I noticed the UVA crew desperately trying to vacuum up the broken glass and dirt that was all over our carpet. Apparently they had held quite a drunken pillow fight after they returned to the apartment.

I'll admit that I was furious. They had smashed two glass tables and murdered an innocent house plant as part of their demolition. Ken wanted to head back to UVA that night, and we had to physically restrain him to keep him from leaving. It all blew over by the next morning, however. After a quick trip to the emergency room for my ankle, we watched VT kick the shit out of UVA.

I returned the favor to Ken a year or so later when I was a 'bouncer' at one of his parties. He asked me to eject Eric and Neal just for the fun of it. Eric went out peacefully and was allowed back in, but Neal put up a bit of a fight. The way I see it, he was lucky to have that table break his fall. He was also quite easy to remove once he was doubled over in pain. But that is another story.

ESPN on the Hokies:

Midseason Coach of the Year [Big East]: No coach consistently does more with less than Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer. Sure, no one expected the Hokies to struggle this season, but No. 3 in the country? Credit Beamer, who has Virginia Tech vying for a national title berth despite the lack of a true passing game and with a defense that was gutted following the 2001 season.

What's next: Four of Virginia Tech's next five games are in Blacksburg. Barring an unexpected slip-up, that should put an undefeated Hokies squad in the Orange Bowl for a winner-takes-all showdown with Miami. Between now and then, quarterback Bryan Randall will have to emerge as a passer or the Hokies could become victims of a one-dimensional offense.

"I just find it inconceivable that you could equate people's lives - particularly children that buy cigarettes in bodegas - with a minor economic issue." -- NYC Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, answering complaints of Bodega owners who are going out of business due to the decline of cigarette sales.

I find it inconceivable that a Mayor could take the livelihood away from hundreds of Bodega owners, and then claim he's doing it 'for the children'. Even worse, he characterizes it as a 'minor economic issue'. For the record, it is already illegal to sell cigarettes to minors in the state of New York.

"Some private environmental groups criticized the shift [in strategy], saying that it was essential for countries to intensify efforts to blunt the human impact on climate even as they seek ways to deal with the consequences." -- NY Times, October 23, 2002 on the urging of government leaders to address the problem of Global Warming.

"Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects... The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality." -- Newsweek, April 28, 1975 on the urging of government leaders to address the problem of Global Cooling.

In the 1970s, it was widely predicted that Global Cooling would shorten the growing cycles and cause widespread famine. Worried about a shortage of fresh water due to ice piling up, there were even plans to try to melt part of the polar ice caps.

Drunkenness Rating: 8 beers

I think there is a time in everyone's life where taking alcohol to a movie seems like a good idea. So, Ken, Eric, Chris (aka Meathead), and I set out to sneak about a case of beer into a movie theater. We had already been drinking, and were feeling pretty good when we entered the theater with our hidden booty.

Unfortunately for us, taking beer to the movies creates some real life practical problems. First of all, there is the noise created. Opening a beer bottle may not sound so loud in your living room, but it seems to stand out in a dark quiet movie theater. Had we picked a comedy or action flick, it probably would have gone unnoticed, but in the adult drama we were watching, there wasn't much happening on the screen. Also, I don't think there is a more unique sound than when an empty beer bottle falls over and rolls down a sloped concrete floor. And the giggling didn't help much either.

Another big problem was our bladders. Stumbling through the lobby every five minutes to use the bathroom tends to raise the suspicion of the theater ushers. It was as if we wanted to be caught. Actually, I think some of us did, because Eric and Chris wouldn't shut the hell up. Ken and I ended up moving seats in a futile attempt to distance ourselves from the rowdy pair. This of course only made them angry and they started throwing popcorn and juji fruits in our direction.

When Meathead stood up and offered the entire movie theater a beer, we knew it was time to leave. Barely 40 minutes into the picture, Ken and I signaled to Chris and Eric that we were leaving. We made our way out through the fire exit next to the theater screen. Chris and Eric decided to leave via the main entrance and bumped into the policeman that was entering our theater to apprehend us. Keeping their cool, they made their way past the cop and out the front door where Ken and I were waiting for them with the car.

Oddly enough, the town we lived in had a second run movie theater that serves alcohol, but that wasn't good enough for us.

There seems to be some confusion that my handle, Ravenwood is my real name. Over at Kim DuToit's, every email I send him he publishes as Steve R, and this week over at Amish Tech Support, I am referred to as Steve Ravenwood (which he later changed to Steve at Ravenwood).

I certainly understand the confusion, because I hardly use my last name. It's not that I hide it, because anyone could simply do a 'whois' query on my domain and figure it out. I'm just in the habit of either going by my first name, Steve, or my handle, Ravenwood. My surname, Carrick, just doesn't seem suited for publication. Throughout my entire life, I've found very few people that could pronounce it right, and even fewer that could spell it. You can probably imagine some of the teasing I went through as a kid. I've just about heard it all.

More to the point, would you visit a web site called "Carrick's Universe"? Probably not. And, had I registered that as a domain, who'd have been able to find it?

Having an uncommon surname also makes you easier to track down. That's all I need is for it to be easier to serve me warrants and restraining orders. Call me paranoid, but growing up our family was one of only three Carrick's in the phone book. On the other hand, I never have trouble purchasing a firearm or getting credit. I guess it helps when they don't have to weed through millions of Smiths or Jones. Perhaps if I had a common last name like Lucas, Simon, or DuToit, I would use it more online. Perhaps not.

Really though, what is in a name? In today's world you are more of a number anyway. The government, my employer, and my creditors all refer to me by number. Even with people, names are going the way of the dodo. Cher, Madonna, and Shaq have already lost one of their names, and MJ and OJ just use their first and last initials. A-Rod uses an abbreviated name, and Prince keeps switching back and forth between his stage name and an unpronounceable symbol. Even Dubya, just uses a single middle initial.

So I say, call me Steve, call me Ravenwood, call me crazy. Just so long as you call me, I don't really care. I just wanted to set the record straight.

Carnival of the Vanities 5 has been published at Amish Tech Support and Blogcritics. There is some good stuff there. Go, read, enjoy.

Man sues casino for his losses - claims they fed his addiction
Man sues fast food chain for his gains - claims they fed his addiction

The story line is the same, time and time again. In today's society, there are a bunch of losers and pantywaists that refuse to take responsibility for their own actions.

Luckily up until now, juries have been dismissing such frivolous lawsuits. The problem remains that this still costs the casinos money, which could lead to less perks (like free booze) for the rest of us.

In Fort Myers, FL, the Lee County Sheriff's office is refusing to hire people who smoke. This is just one of the latest attacks on the legal behavior of smoking. Palm Beach County enacted a similar policy last year.

Both Florida counties have used the guise of lowering health care costs as an excuse to control employee's private lives, even though there is no evidence to support the claim.

The staff writers at Ravenwood's Universe feel that since they are so worried about health care costs, and the well being of employees, here are some other regulations they should impose:

No skydiving, water-skiing, motorcycling, hang gliding, or bungee jumping.
No reading or watching TV in the dark.
No going to loud rock concerts.
No running with scissors.
No burning candles after 9 PM.
Employee's homes must be properly equipped with bath mats.
No electrical outlets without a safety cover.
Employees must always use the handrail on the stairs.
Employees must wash hands, regardless of whether or not they are returning to work.
No frayed extension cords.
No answering the door without knowing who it is.
No talking to strangers.

Palm Beach County and Lee County should not hesitate to adopt these rules for the safety and well-being of their employees. To quote Tim Day, the director of the Southwest Florida Criminal Justice Training Academy, "The policy makes sense." This will certainly cut down on employee sick days and medical costs. We should do it.. 'for the employees.'

When burglars are stupid enough to come back to the same house three times in a row, they deserve what they get.

Bernard Schwinn waited at home rather than go to work for the burglars to strike. A half an hour later, his door was kicked in and the burglars were met with a shotgun. The burglars fled, but one was apprehended. Schwinn fumbled with the safety a bit, but did get a shot off. Unfortunately, he missed.

Tips for Schwinn:

- If you know how to use a firearm, the only safety you need is a trigger.
- Buckshot is a lot more effective than bird shot.

NewsMax is reporting that Joe Lieberman, D-Conn, has "just moved to the right of President Bush on economic policy and is now calling for massive, sweeping and immediate tax cuts" in a "Reaganesque" fashion. As if that wasn't shocking enough, Lieberman is quoted as saying, "The president didn't cause the economic problems but he's not given the leadership to get us out of them."

In comments to WABC Radio's John Gambling, Lieberman said his Reaganesque tax cut plan would include "a new investment tax credit, a zero capital gains rate and some consumption tax incentives, including a rebate for 34 million Americans and a sales tax holiday for the holiday shopping season."

Can this be true, or is April Fools coming late this year? Last year Lieberman was one of the most outspoken opponents of the Bush tax cut, and democrats have done everything they can to pin our economic troubles on the Bush tax cut.

Well, very little research shows that NewsMax appears to be misunderstanding the Senator's plan. Lieberman's own web site shows a press release from just four days ago where he called for "postponing" the next phase of Bush tax cut. NewsMax also fails to note that the 34 million Americans that Lieberman wants to give a rebate to are identified as "taxpayers who did not receive one in 2001." Of course, the reason those 'taxpayers' didn't receive a rebate in 2001 is because they didn't pay taxes in 2001.

Lieberman is also calling for "extended unemployment insurance benefits to maintain the purchasing power of the unemployed." Yeah, lets reward people who are unemployed and give them incentive to go out and buy a lot of stuff they cannot afford. That doesn't sound very 'Reaganesque' to me.

As for the sales tax holiday, who is going to pay for that? Sales taxes are collected by the states. It would appear that Lieberman wants to mandate a sales tax holiday to the states by rebating the revenue from the federal kitty. Not only is that not a sales tax holiday, but the extra layer of federal bureaucracy would actually make it a tax increase. (Of course, it'd only be paid by those in the top tax brackets anyway, so who cares, right?) If Lieberman pulls it off, he's a socialist genius by shifting a fair and balanced usage tax to a progressive form of income tax. This could change the entire socialist democratic agenda!

In short, Lieberman seems to have some good ideas, but they are intermixed with socialist liberal ideals. In his press release he even praises FDR, when in fact economic recovery happened despite FDR. NewsMax gets this one wrong, and their characterization of Lieberman as 'Reaganesque' is insulting to Reagan and anyone who subscribes to his beliefs. Perhaps I was expecting too much of them to do even a miniscule amount of fact checking.

Drunkenness Rating: 18 beers

Looking for another college party, my friend Ken and I used the 'follow the music' method. We were walking around the apartment complex and heard some really loud music coming from a party in a nearby building. Curious, we walked up to the door and listened to the party noise emanating from within.

We tried knocking, but no one answered, and they couldn't have heard our knock anyway. Not to be dissuaded, we simply opened the door and walked in. To our surprise, there was a banner hanging from the ceiling that said "Happy Birthday Jennifer". As it turned out, the apartment was shared by three girls, and they were throwing a birthday party.

We culled their names off their refrigerator "message center" and were actually able to fool people into thinking we were invited for about an hour or two. Things got pretty tense when one of the girls found out that we didn't belong, but they took it well and we were allowed to stay. Besides, by then we had already made quite a few friends at the party.

The Bush Administration is "leading the economy into shambles" and is the "worst economic team since President Hoover." -- DNC Chairman Terry "Global Crossing" McAuliffe.

"The market's clearly turned over a new leaf. For the first time in a while, earnings are exceeding expectations." -- Stephen Massocca, president & head of trading at Pacific Growth Equities.

Which one do you believe? Democrats continue to talk down the economy, only the economy isn't listening. For the record, the Dow closed up another 215 points today and is at a 6 week high. Unemployment is decreasing, and the economy is projected to have grown at a 3.6% annual rate in Q3, and is estimated to grow at a 2.2% annual rate this quarter.

"I work with young people," SpotLight on Kids Managing Director Edie Baran said. "How could I possibly look them in the eye and try to teach them integrity, positive body image and self-confidence and then accept money from an organization like Hooters?" -- SpotLight on Kids, one of several organizations trying to rationalize why they refused donations from a Hooters Restaurant.

These people are hypocrites, and they need to remember this when I decline to donate to their cause. How could I possibly donate to an organization that puts their ideological political correctness views above their cause.

Also, there is nothing wrong with Hooters. I understand why certain people may choose to eat someplace else, but there is no reason to condemn people who are making an honest living. I also want to know how they think that teaching kids that it is wrong to take advantage of your good looks, creates a positive body image. Especially considering SpotLight on Kids centers on acting and stage performance. Look at any TV show and you'll see that acting ability is usually secondary to looking good.

In my opinion, that has to be the best way to describe the BCS. I find it amazing that college players and coaches, many of whom have little familiarity with computers, put their faith in computer modeling to determine the best football team.

Today, Miami will be informed they are #2 in the BCS standings behind Oklahoma. Why? It's not because of how they've played on the football field. It is because of who they've played. You see, Miami has played teams like FSU and Florida, while Oklahoma has played teams like Texas and Iowa State. While Texas and ISU are having very good years, FSU and Florida haven't been playing too well lately. Sure FSU is still ranked, but they are likely to drop a few more games with teams like Notre Dame, Florida and NC State still on their schedule.

Why should Miami care how their opponents fare? Well, now that margin of victory has been removed from the BCS formula, who you play and how they play the rest of their season becomes very important to you. Ironically, powerhouse teams like Miami and Oklahoma are actually penalized for being good. Virginia Tech and Texas for instance have tougher schedules, in part because they play good teams like Miami and Oklahoma.

Another problem with looking at strength of schedule, is that teams don't have a whole lot of flexibility over who they play. The conference opponents are the same year after year, and non-conference opponents are scheduled 8 or 10 years in advance. There is no guarantee that a quality team today will still be a quality team in 2010, when you get around to playing them.

The BCS also favors the major conferences. This has prompted the BCS to give Notre Dame, an independent, a special rule for being included in the BCS picture. Meanwhile, teams in lesser conferences need more than to finish undefeated to make it to the National Championship.

What all this means is that the best team in football isn't always determined on the football field. Instead, it is 'calculated' by several different computer models. Tell me again how this is better than simply using the AP and Coaches polls?

It should also be noted that the BCS formula keeps changing from year to year. Every year they add a rule to fix some blunder from the year before. The first BCS in 1998 picked Florida State over Ohio State because they had a loss earlier in the season. To fix it, strength of schedule was added and more emphasis was put on the computer formulas. Then in 1999, margin of victory was the only thing that kept undefeated Virginia Tech ahead of one-loss Nebraska. Again, the computer formulas were tweaked.

In 2000, one-loss Florida State was picked ahead of one-loss Miami, even though Miami had beaten FSU head to head. Miami claimed they were screwed by the BCS, and the formulas were once again changed, and a 'quality-win' component was added. Last year's blunder had Nebraska playing in the National Championship, even though they couldn't win their own conference. The scandal once again resulted in a change of the BCS computer formulas.

In summary, the BCS is more about money and less about declaring a National Champion. That is why organizers vehemently oppose a Division 1-A playoff. However, I think that even the old polling system is better than the monstrosity we have to put up with now. The idea that your win-loss record and score are not enough, and that we need to factor in the teams you played, and the teams that your opponents played is utterly ridiculous. src

Well, not exactly. A Democrat run message board is putting the kibosh on free speech until after the election. As Neal points out, the message board can't handle dissent.

Check out excerpts from a post from the Democrat Underground administrator:

In case you haven't heard, there is a very important election occurring in less than three weeks. The stakes in this election are as high as they have ever been. You are being given a clear choice: Hand over complete control of all three branches of government to the forces of evil - or don't.

As the administrator of this message board, I have the opportunity to have an impact on the outcome of this election. As an American, I have a moral obligation to do what I can to stop the conservative juggernaut. For the next three weeks, that is my greatest concern.

We still allow all points of view, but we have our limits.

For the next three weeks:

It is forbidden to use the DU message board in an effort to make our members withhold their precious votes from the Democratic Party, which is the only organization capable of stopping the Republican onslaught.

It is forbidden to use the DU message board to organize protests or other actions against members of the Democratic Party.

If the administrators of DU decide that the rhetoric of your posts would be more appropriate on Free Republic than on DU, then you are going to get banned.

I know what side I am on. If you are rooting against the Democratic Party in this election, then just let me know by posting in this thread and I will shut off your account myself.

To repeat: these changes are in effect until the election is over. At that point, we will review whether it is in the best interests of DU to remove these restrictions.

What a wonderful little utopia these liberals live in. I understand that it is a private message board, and they are free to do what they want. However, to sit on a high horse and preach about believing "deeply that talking is better than not talking," and then ban people from dissenting is laughable.

Drunkenness Rating: 24 beers

I remember my first college party like it was yesterday. Butch, Mike, and I hopped aboard the local transit bus and followed the crowd. Following the crowd was something you did when you didn't know where a good party was. When the bus stops and 40 people get off at the same stop, you know you're in the right place. Also, everyone took the bus. The bus was free if you showed your student ID, stopped at all the major apartment complexes, and was the perfect designated driver.

While we were on the bus, I overheard this hot chick speaking Greek. I didn't know a lot of Greek, but one of my old high school chums was originally from Greece, so I knew the basic swear words. She about had an orgasm when I said something. "Oh.. You speak Greek!" she cried. "Please speak some Greek to me!" What could I do? Since I didn't know anything un-offensive, I cussed her out in Greek. I laid out every Greek insult and slur I knew. Oddly enough she was completely impressed. Unfortunately though, it was not meant to be. We were on a mission to find a party, and 40 people had just gotten off the bus, so we had to leave her. She declined our invitation, and Mike and Butch ended up dragging me off the bus, away from this Greek beauty.

Continuing our quest, we made our way into some strangers apartment, where they were having a multi-kegger party. They had a keg set up in the kitchen, behind a bar, but there had to be more than 120 people in a mob waiting to be served. The mob was peaceful, and there was music blaring, so we joined them. There were so many people that it took a good 30 minutes just to work our way up to the front of the mob. Eventually, we made it to the front, and had our cups filled with the delicious foamy golden nectar that is Milwaukee's Best.

If you've never had Milwaukee's Best, you missed out on a real treat. Beast, as it was affectionately known, wasn't brewed like a normal beer. Instead, some of Wisconsin's finest drunks gather around and piss into a huge vat. Miller Brewing Co. refines it a bit, takes out some of the impurities, and calls it Milwaukee's Best.

Anyway, my friends started to peel away from the bar to go find some corner somewhere, but I stayed put. Butch said something to me, but I told him that I was staying close to the beer. I mean, geez, it took me 30 minutes just to get up there. So they went their own way, while I struck up a conversation with the guy running the keg. I'll just call him apartment-dude, because there is no way I can remember his name.

Apartment-dude was obviously very tired, and seemed perturbed about something. After brief introductions, he freely admitted that he'd rather be with his friends and roommates, but instead he got stuck pouring the beer. Maybe it was his frustration, or perhaps it was the beer, but I convinced him to let me run things. I promised that he and his friends would always get quick service whenever they passed their cups forward, and I'd run the keg for him.

Now, if you've never had the chance to be the most popular guy in a room full of drunken college students, I highly recommend it. Within minutes, everyone in the place knew my name, and everyone wanted beer. Now, the apartment-dude and his friends took priority, and my friends got special treatment. Of course all the pretty ladies got served first, but generally everyone got what they wanted. I'm not sure why this guy was so upset, because I was more than happy to stand up there and serve beer to everyone. I must have met a hundred or more nice thirsty people that night. And of course, everyone is happy to get free beer.

After pouring out around two and a half kegs of cheap beer, the crowd started thinning out. The keg I was working on went dry, so I yelled to apartment dude that we needed another one.

"Hey apartment-dude, the keg is dry," I yelled. I was a bit too tipsy to even notice the police officer he was speaking to.

"Steve, the police are here!" he screamed back. "Perhaps you'd better go."

Now, I'm not one to argue with a suggestion like that. While having a good time was on my agenda, spending the night in the drunk tank wasn't. So, I made a hasty exit, waving to the officer as I sneaked by. After meeting up with my friends outside, we hopped on the bus and headed for home. Overall, the evening was quite a blast.

I don't want to leave the impression that I'm an alcoholic or anything. I don't attend meetings, nor have I ever been through any twelve step programs. However, I believe that having fun and living your life to the fullest are essential to happiness.

My parents taught me that it is ok to drink, be merry, and have fun, as long you stay safe, and always take care of your responsibilities. I always make it to work on time, and always meet all my commitments, therefore I have no problems with sharing the tipsy side of my life with you. That said, I bring you my Drunk Story of the Day.

As a disclaimer, I must say that I never have been very good at anecdotes. Taking stories from my life and making them sound the least bit interesting is very difficult to do in print. While people that know me personally may find these stories to be interesting, I'm not sure how well they'll play out with total strangers.

Now for the legal disclaimer: These events being described are real, and are depicted as they actually happened. The names of those involved have NOT been changed, to protect anyone. If you are featured in one of my stories in an unflattering way, tough titty. You should have thought of that before you made such an ass of yourself. The legal staff at Ravenwood's Universe remind you to always drink responsibly. Remember, the activities described within were performed by trained professionals and should not be imitated.

Fox News had Harold Schechter on this morning as a sort of expert on serial killers. While I have never read Schechter's book, "A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers", he seemed knowledgable of the subject. I respected Schechter's opinion up until he inserted his liberal anti-gun agenda into his analysis.

Schechter theorized that the Beltway Sniper might be a "sportsman or gun enthusiast." He matter of factly stated that "these people are often sportsmen and gun enthusiasts who are obviously very disturbed and twisted individuals who decide to progress from shooting at tin cans to shooting at people."

If find the suggestion that ordinary sport shooting can "progress" from shooting at targets to hunting humans to be offensive. Such a description is as ludicrous as describing hit and run drivers as people who are often car enthusiasts who progress from driving on the street to driving on the sidewalk.

There are two different types of celebrities in the world. There are the Robin Williamses, and there are the Babs and Alec Baldwins.

Which one do you think I'd want to buy a beer, and which one do you think I wouldn't give a glass of water to if their hair was on fire?

Yesterday I predicted Iowa State would beat Oklahoma and Air Force would beat Notre Dame. All those years as a Hokie has given me a soft spot for underdogs. That partially explains why I get so apprehensive about Virginia Tech being favored in most of their games.

Ok, so Iowa State didn't quite pan out, but Air Force has a legitimate shot at beating ND. The strange thing, as CNNSI points out, is that Notre Dame could actually benefit from a loss at Air Force tonight.

You see Notre Dame is the only team in the NCAA with a special BCS rule. The rule basically says that if an at-large team goes a BCS bowl, so does Notre Dame, as long as they have at least nine wins or end up in the Top Ten. If Air Force were to beat Notre Dame and then run the table, they'd probably qualify for a BCS at-large bid. That means if Notre Dame won just 3 more games the rest of the season to give them nine wins, they automatically go, regardless of who is ahead of them. It would be a sort of package deal.

So, if Notre Dame is going to lose a game, this is the one to do it. It would actually be more favorable to ND for them to lose to Air Force, simply because they are an at-large team capable of throwing a monkey wrench into the BCS, rather than losing to say Florida State or USC later in the season.

Personally, I think they need to throw the whole system out the window and go back to strictly using the AP and Coaches polls. Either that, or have a playoff, but we know that will never happen.

Amish Tech Support has turned over 100,000 hits. While some people are bending over forward to congratulate Laurence, our staff writers are saying "big deal." We can make our hit counter say 100,000 or even 1,000,000 if we want to.

100,000 hits sounds impressive until you hear about this Pokemon site that hit 300,000. And here is a Statistical Computing site that has over 1,000,000 hits. Who the hell cares about statistical computing?!

Here is an X-Files fan site that has over 700,000 hits. Christ, the X-Files TV show didn't even have that many VIEWERS, how did a fan site ever get that many hits? Even this non-English baby names site has over 230,000 hits, so what is so special about 100,000?

Well, we will concede that 100,000 is a bit impressive for a non-porn site. And while Laurence doesn't use blogspot, he may just have set an endurance record for Blogger. We also noticed that his weblog turned 100,000 only after he took his picture off the front page.

Ok, perhaps some of our staff writers are just a tad bit envious. Maybe they would rather be on the A-list of blogs, with an inbox filled with love and praise instead of the usual hate mail and Nigerian email scams. Still, I am quite happy with the little niche I've carved out in the blogosphere. Besides, I don't want my blog taking on a life of its own, demanding "Feed me, Seymour!"

You need look no further than Idaho to see just what politicians will do to hold on to political power. Take a look at the timeline of their term limits law.

In 1994, Idaho voters instituted term limits through a voter referendum. The measure passed with 59% of the vote.

Stunned, lawmakers put the measure on the ballot again in 1998. Despite a brutal campaign of political rhetoric and lies, the Idaho voters reaffirmed the measure with 54% of the vote, in favor of term limits.

Not to be dissuaded, lawmakers sued to overturn the term limits in 1999, on the grounds that term limits unconsitutionally denied voters the right to suffrage. The Legislature won their lawsuit, and term limits were struck down.

The decision was appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court, which ruled that the term limits law was indeed constitutional, and term limits were upheld.

Just days after the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the term limits referendum, the Legislature drafted a bill to override the term limits. Naturally it passed, and term limits were repealed.

Enter the Governor. The Governor sided with the will of the people, and vetoed the legislation. Term limits were upheld.

Within 36 hours, the Legislature overrode the Governor's veto. Term limits were repealed.

Down but not out, the citizens of Idaho have put a referendum on the 2002 ballot to restore term limits AGAIN.

However, adding insult to the Idaho voters is the fact that opposition to the referendum comes from taxpayer funded sources. As if it isn't bad enough lawmakers are turning a deaf ear to the will of Idaho voters, now they are using their own tax money to campaign against them.

Rutgers brought their A-game to Virginia Tech, although a late DeAngelo Hall punt return for a TD made the score look a little better for Tech. VT was a 42 point favorite, but ended up beating Rutgers 35-14. The fact that they jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, and only had one other offensive touchdown illustrates how their offense stalled for the rest of the game.

Both Tech running backs had big days, but Lee Suggs was charged with a fumble, only the second in his college career. (Both against Rutgers) Tech outrushed Rutgers 343-0, but three Hokie turnovers helped Rutgers stay in the game. The defense came up with some big plays including an interception on the goal line, and a fourth down stand inside their own 20.

It should be noted that VT downed the ball on the Rutgers 5 yard line to run out the clock, rather than try to run up the score. If the BCS computers still factored in margin of victory, perhaps they would have tried to punch it in.

Over at WVU, they must not be aware of the change in BCS calculations. West Virginia, leading Syracuse 27-7 rushed for a touchdown rather than run out the clock with 15 seconds left. They did opt to kick the extra point rather than go for two and ended up winning at home 34-7.

It is a little known fact that esteemed statesman, Benjamin Franklin, attended Virginia Tech and was a Hokie.

Franklin once noted that: "I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character. The turkey is a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America."

My Hokies are on upset watch tomorrow against Rutgers. The way I see it, nothing good can happen from playing Rutgers. Rutgers lost to VT 99-0 over the past two years, and they lost to West Virginia last week 40-0.

At best, Tech will beat Rutgers bad, and their strength of schedule ranking will still go down. At worst, they'll lose and ruin any chances of a national title shot. In between, they could put up mediocre numbers and end up dropping behind Ohio State, something that happened to OSU after their scare versus Cinci.

I still think Notre Dame is going to get knocked off soon. Since Pitt couldn't pull it off last weekend, I'm looking for Air Force to do it this week. Also, look for Iowa State to beat Oklahoma this week. They looked impressive versus Nebraska two weeks ago, and a narrow loss to FSU is the only thing keeping them from being in the Top 10.

Over a month ago I brought you the story of a UK man facing jail time for defending his home and family from a burglar.

Although he was cleared of murder, the judge has passed down a sentence of five years in prison for manslaughter.

The UK message to criminals is clear: Our citizens are not only disarmed, we will prosecute them for defending themselves against your attack.

In other Second Amendment news, Virginians are pissing in Sarah Brady's cheerios by applying for concealed carry permits in record numbers. The NY Post is reporting that some northern Virginia counties have had a 500% increase in CCW permit applications in recent weeks.

"We're seeing a lot of women, which is a change from traditional permit applicants," says Barbara Brinklow, deputy clerk of the Spotsylvania circuit cou