No blogging today or tomorrow. I'm off to watch almost two dozen men in tights running around and grabbing each other, while chasing an oblonged pigskin ball.

If you see the coverage on ESPN, look for a loud, foul-mouthed drunk yelling obscenities at the ref. I'll be sitting next to her.

Alaska's "Vermont-style" deregulated concealed carry law is about to go into effect. The law basically gets rid of the taxes and regulation of the concealed carry permitting process. What used to cost about $200 will now cost nothing, and some people aren't very happy about it.

When a new state law goes into effect Sept. 9, Alaskans no longer will need a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but local law enforcement officers and gun safety instructors have some misgivings about the new freedom.

"Carrying a concealed weapon is not just strapping on a gun," said Rod Christopher, owner of the Peninsula Weapons Academy and Nordic Trading and Loan in Soldotna, who has been teaching weapons safety for 20 years.

"You carry a lot of responsibility with it," he said.

Who the hell cares what gun safety instructors think? Well no shit firearms instructors are going to be upset that the firearms instruction requirement has been removed. Why does the media consider that news, and why do they give them a mention in the first and second paragraph?

I will also point out that this is not a "new freedom", but a restoration of freedom.

Democrat members of the Texas Senate are violating Texas law. They fled the state to avoid arrest for violating the law. Now, with a holiday weekend approaching, they are asking a Judge to issue a restraining order to prevent police from arresting them if they return home to spend time with their families.

Of course, being liberals they probably don't even see anything wrong with the request.

Apparently Madonna, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera got a little racy at the Video Music Awards. It almost makes me want to turn off the History channel and start watching MTV again.

Almost.

(Photo credit)
(link via Ravenwood's Universe Entertainment Reporter Jenn with two 'n's.)

The Twins came back from their vacation. It sounds like they're enjoying it while they're young. Maddy didn't sound too impressed by the historic brothel. If only she knew how important they were to the old frontier towns.

This gal claims that everybody celebrates their 10,000th visit. He couldn't be more wrong. I've yet to celebrate a milestone. In fact, just about the only time I mention them is when I publish my monthly stats. In fact, I've been a strong critic of people that try to create a lot of hoopla over their hit counter. UPDATE: Speak of the devil...

Owen takes on DC statehood. I agree that they are using "taxation without representation" as a cover for a more partisan agenda. Still, as to his suggestion that they be annexed, I'm all for them going to Maryland. Virginia doesn't need to be home to the murder captial.

Speaking of DC, D.C. Thornton admits when he's wrong. Seeing "Teflon Rodney" go to jail was probably worth it though.

Robert Goodwin offers up some Birminyam traffic rules. I'll have to remember them if I'm ever in Alabamastan. Maybe some day I'll add it to my Guides to Atlanta, Norfolk, or Ohio.

Dennis Dodd of the SportsLine is calling for a turbulent year in college football this year. On one of his points, he weighs in on the ACC-Big East debacle.

Anyway, the big loser in this deal is the school that instigated it -- Florida State. Suddenly, there is competition in the league it has dominated. The talent has diminished. Papa Bowden isn't getting any younger and there is evidence (nine losses the past two years) to the end of a dynasty.

Dodd also makes other astute observations, but I'm not sure too many of them are well grounded. Check out his picks for the BCS bowls.

15. The Big Four
Look for the BCS bowls to be populated by these teams. (Clip and save for humiliation purposes)

Sugar: Auburn vs. Oklahoma
Fiesta: Miami vs. Virginia
Rose: Southern California vs. Ohio State
Orange: Virginia Tech vs. N.C. State [...]

18. Best of the 21st century
These teams have the best overall records since Jan. 1, 2000:

Miami (36-2)
Oklahoma (36-4)
Boise State (30-7)
Texas (31-8), Toledo (29-8)
Marshall (30-9)
Virginia Tech (29-9)
Oregon (28-9)
Nebraska (29-11)
Florida State (29-11)
Florida (28-11)
Kansas State (28-11)
TCU (26-10)
Colorado State (27-11)
Louisville (27-11)
Washington (26-11)

He also picks his "Upsets of the Year". One of them is Pittsburgh over Virginia Tech. Dodd thinks the Panthers will beat Tech and adds, "The Panthers prove that last year's shocker at Blacksburg wasn't a fluke."

I agree that Pittsburgh on the road is probably going to be one of Virginia Tech's toughest games. In fact, I've even gone on the record as saying that if they suffer a loss, it is most likely to be in Pittsburgh than in Blacksburg to Miami, Syracuse or TAMU. Also, considering Pitt's won the matchup the last two years in a row, I don't know how you could possibly call last year a "fluke".

The San Francisco Chronicle catalogs how the California recall has been a favorite for late night TV fodder. Here are some select jokes:

I'll tell you where this recall is really causing problems -- over at "Hollywood Squares." There are so many B- and C-level celebrities running for governor, they had to shut down production. -- Jay Leno

Today the secretary of state said that of the 247 candidates, so far 115 of them have been certified. How embarrassing is that? Imagine if you were turned down because you didn't meet the high standards set by Larry Flynt and Gallagher. -- Jay Leno

It's been reported that some of Arnold Schwarzenegger's opponents have been circulating naked pictures of Arnold on the Internet. In a related story, Arnold is leading the other candidates by four inches. -- Conan O'Brien

It looks like it's going to be Arnold Schwarzenegger or Gray Davis. You got a robot from the future or a robot with no future. -- Jay Leno

Yesterday Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he would run for governor of California. The announcement was good news for Florida residents, who now live in the second-flakiest state in the country. -- Conan O'Brien

President Bush has been silent on Schwarzenegger. Of course, he can't pronounce "Schwarzenegger." -- David Letterman

Apparently Arnold was inspired by President Bush, who proved you can be a successful politician in this country even if English is your second language. -- Conan O'Brien

An NBC News poll has found that if the election were held today, 31 percent of California voters would vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger and 26 percent were not sure. Today Gray Davis announced he is changing his name to "Not Sure." -- Jay Leno

Under California election law, virtually anybody can run for governor, except, of course, smokers. -- Dave Barry

Arnold Schwarzenegger has hired billionaire Warren Buffett as his senior economic adviser. Not to be outdone, Gary Coleman announced his senior economic adviser will be Thurston Howell III. -- Conan O'Brien

Here in California, one candidate for governor is a 100-year-old woman. She's going door-to-door and asking one simple question: "Do I live here?" -- Craig Kilborn

Larry Flynt, the founder of Hustler, he's running for governor. You know what his campaign slogan is? "A smut peddler who cares." Today Bill Clinton said, "Hey, that was my slogan." -- Jay Leno

I love all these politicians. They all say the same thing -- "We'll give California back to the people." Yeah, great, now that it's not worth anything, they want to give it back to us. -- Jay Leno

There was also talk of bringing Al Gore to California to help out, but there was concern that Gray Davis and Al Gore in the same state would cause some kind of rolling personality blackout. -- Jay Leno

The Orlando Sentinel reports that the anti-smoking amendment in Florida is hitting bartenders and waitresses pretty hard. The anti-smoking amendment, which nullified private property rights of business owners, went into effect on July 1st.

"When I first started working here, I was making $100, easy," [Gator's Dockside Stephanie Basler] said of her daily take at the cavernous, sports-theme restaurant...

Now, during a typical day shift -- which includes part of the afternoon and early evening "happy hour" -- Basler said she is lucky to eke out $50 to $70. And it's worse for people working nights, she added.

Gator's doesn't have any outdoor seating, and they get too many food sales to be classified as a "bar", so smoking is completely banned at the restaurant. Across the parking lot from where Stephanie works is Amigo's. They have an outdoor patio where smoking is legal, and business has been quite brisk. Evening business at "bars", which get less than 10% of their business from food and are thus exempted from the statute, has also increased.

So Florida has effectively created a barrier to competition and free markets. Rather than let the businesses decide who to cater their business to, the government has taken over that role. Rather than each establishment segregating smokers according to their customer's demand, Florida has pretty much created restaurants that can allow smoking and those that cannot. It also should come as no surprise that the smoking establishments are more lucrative. Smokers have more vices, and are likely to stay longer, drink more, and have larger tabs.

The owners of non-smoking establishments are hurting, and soon their employees will begin to migrate over to more lucrative jobs at smoking establishments. Inevitably, some of the restaurants will end up going out of business.

Of course, the anti-smokers aren't finished. Their real agenda is prohibition, so it's only a matter of time before they call for a ban at the exempted restaurants as well. Now they not only have their "health" issue to stand behind, but they've created a whole new reason to ban smoking: equal protection. With smoking restaurants having a business advantage over non-smoking restaurants, anti-smokers need only rally behind the cause of leveling the playing field, by banning smoking in all restaurants.

MSNBC notes that the EPA will not list CO2 as a pollutant, because it has not been granted that authority by Congress. That rings in as good news for both people and plants, who have a direct relationship with the alleged pollutant.

Banning CO2, would have had a huge impact on plants. It is a key component of their life force, and would be akin to banning sunshine, water, or dirt. The announcement also lets humans breathe easily, literally. Banning CO2 would mean that people, who exhale the "pollutant" an average of 60 times a minute, would be comitting a crime with every breath. The worst pollutors, people who exercise regularly, would probably have been the first ones targeted for enforcement.

UPDATE: AP: EPA Exempts Plants From Clean-Air Rule

Erick Smith from USA Today has jumped on the Hokie bandwagon and is predicting them to face Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl for the national title. He reluctantly has Oklahoma winning. This is a far cry from 1999, when it was said that Virginia Tech wouldn't/shouldn't even be there. They made believers out of Bobby Bowden, by not rolling over and dying like everyone thought they would. If they go this year, I think they'll do the same to the Okies.

Of course that is a big IF. They've got a long hard road to New Orleans, but then again, they already know the way.

"I'm very troubled by the proliferation of arms, at the fact so many people in the United States carry guns. It obviously contributes greatly to the crime problems we have. I'm sure gun laws should be strengthened in the United States. I just don't know the correct mechanism." -- Harrison Ford, lamenting that law abiding citizens are permitted to own firearms.

For the record, Harrison Ford has used firearms in one form or another in all six Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies, as well as Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Witness, Air Force One, Six Days Seven Nights, and the Fugitive, among others.

Harrison Ford also complained about the U.S. led war in Iraq, and about how Hollywood is always cashing in. "It seems everybody [in Hollywood] is only going for the big hit, for the most return," said Ford. By the way, Indiana Jones IV is being planned for 2005.

GFWs are hoping that California's already tough gun laws will get even tougher. KPBS notes that gun grabbers are pushing for a law that would require every gun sold in California to have an indicator showing whether or not it is loaded. Supporters of the law claim that it will prevent accidental shootings, when the contrary is probably true. Good gun safety means you assume every gun is loaded until you prove otherwise. Relying on an external indicator is much more dangerous, and encourages complacency.

Plus, forcing needless technological changes on the industry will jack up prices, which is exactly what gun grabbers want. Raising the price of guns will impact how many are bought and sold. Unfortunately for the poor, it means it'll be much more expensive for you to protect yourself. How long before we hear about a young single woman who was murdered by her abusive boyfriend, because she couldn't afford the extra $100 it cost to buy a gun?

Perhaps the school bus' days numbered too.

"With all of the talk about banning SUVs and placing strict restrictions on them, I have to ask why school buses are getting a pass? The big yellow monstrosities are slow, polluting, and unsafe. Most don't even have seat belts." -- Ravenwood, August 11, 2003.

"A school bus veered off a rural road and overturned in a steep ravine Wednesday, injuring 15 students and the driver, authorities said" -- AP, August 27, 2003.

Carnival 49 is running over at Creative Slips. For those of you keeping score, I forgot to submit an entry this week. I've been extremely busy lately, and my secretary neglected to remind me.

Fox News reports that 24 states have resorted to intimidation and idle threats to try to get Hollywood to stop showing smokers in their films. While attorneys General from 24 states submitted a petition asking Hollywood studios to snuff out tobacco, they didn't go so far as to say what would happen if Hollywood producers didn't comply.

"We're not saying any law has been broken," said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer...

Well then what the hell are you saying? If no laws are being broken, why are lawyers wasting taxpayer time and money on it? I wonder if these are the same states that jacked up cigarette prices to try to balance their budgets. If that is the case, they should be encouraging people to smoke, in the interest of fiscal well being.

To back up their claim, the AGs enlisted some junk science. They hold up a "study" that purports that smoking on the big screen "causes" children to light up. Check out this gem.

Twenty-two of those exposed to the least on-screen smoking took up the habit, compared with 107 in the highest exposure group, a fivefold difference. However, after taking into account factors known to be linked with starting smoking, such as rebelliousness, the effect was reduced to a threefold difference.

How arbitrary can you get?! Taking into account "rebelliousness", and using a figure pulled directly out of their ass, they adjusted the numbers from 500% to 300%. Measuring "rebelliousness" must be a proven science, because they seemed to know exactly how much it skewed the numbers. So what they are saying is that of the 107 kids in the second group, about 40 were known to take up smoking because of "rebelliousness", while the other 60-something were clearly influenced by what they saw on the screen.

I'm going to have to throw the bullshit flag on that one.

I must admit, I had never heard of Michael Fumento until about a week ago. Apparently he is some sort of writer, who many people think has it in for webloggers. Fumento (or "400 Papers Fumento" as he likes to be called) is published in over 400 newspapers. Coincidentally, his web site only gets about 400 hits, which seems to be somewhat ego bruising for him. Fumento has been lashing out at bloggers all over the 'sphere, including Right Wing News and Gut Rumbles presumably because we are giving away what he makes others pay for. We are threatening his livelihood. Over at Rob's page, he claims to have 5 books. (Hell, I've got hundreds of books, and I've even read some of them.)

But I'm not going to try to play this game of whose dick is bigger, or who is the better writer, or who has painted toenail porn and who doesn't. I think it's all rather silly. Fumento obviously, is a professional writer. He gets paid to write. Meanwhile, bloggers like Rob and I are maintaining our amateur status so that we may one day participate in the olympics. (Blog Olympics. Now, there's an idea. Quick, register that domain name.)

Comparing blogging to professional writing is like comparing amateur to professional wrestling. Fumento is a pro, and he gets paid to bring in the readers. He's like the Nature Boy, Ric Flair. He's all about showmanship, flair, and putting spectators in the seats. On the other hand, bloggers are like amateur olympic wrestlers with their dorky headgear and goofy leotards. Nobody pays to watch us on pay per view, and we're never going to be filthy rich. And even though one side has a larger audience and a much louder voice, we both still know who the better wrestler really is.

Mike Fumento, circa 1976. (Photo credit)

Mike Fumento, today. (Photo credit)

Well, since you brought it up, I actually already know how cat is prepared. I saw the instructional video on The Learning Channel a few years ago.

Disclaimer:
1. Do not EVER try this at home. Don't even think about it!
2. If you have a weak stomach, perhaps you shouldn't read any further. Really.
3. If you read further, don't send me hate mail. You cannot say that you were not warned.

Are you sure you want to know the rest? I don't think you do.

First of all, you should know that cats and dogs are often eaten regularly in the far east, and it is not considered taboo like it is over here. Cats are kept live, I presume for freshness. Your chef enters from stage right. He grabs a set of tongs about two or three feet long and plucks a cat (a/k/a "dinner") from a cage. Your "dinner" is alive, but immobilized by the tongs that grip it loosely around the neck. It is turned a few times over a flaming grill to sear off the loose fur. Your "dinner" meows a little bit from the heat, but it is still pretty much unharmed at this point.

Next, our chef tosses "dinner" into a pot of boiling water, and swirls him around a bit with the tongs. "Dinner" flounders around for a little bit, but he is only kept in there for a few seconds, so it doesn't quite kill him. It just heats him up and causes the skin to expand. Still in the tongs, "dinner" is then tossed into a bucket of cold water. The hot skin tightens up suddenly and is quickly peeled away from the body like a banana. The entire process from grill to hot water to cold water only takes only a few seconds. Despite being burned, boiled, cooled, and then skinned, your "dinner" is still very much alive. In fact, it is the cool water that kills him, as he's left in the bucket to drown.

The video was probably the most horrifying thing I'd ever seen. Unless you've seen it for yourself, you can only imagine the sight of that poor skinless cat, flailing around in a bucket of water, gasping for air, wondering just what the hell had happened to it.

In an irrational response to the shooting death of city councilman James Davis, the NYC Council is considering 6 new gun laws for the city, which already has some of the harshest gun laws in the nation.

One of the proposed bills would make gunmakers, dealers, and importers liable for damages if their weapons are used to hurt or kill people in the city.

Another bill would ban gun dealers from selling more than one firearm to the same person within 90 days.

Also under consideration is a measure that would require gun owners in the city to obtain liability insurance.

Each one of these bills has been created to prevent law abiding citizens from purchasing firearms. The liability issue has been tested and failed in numerous courts, while a law banning multiple purchases would do nothing to make the city safer. After all, if someone wants to kill someone else, what difference does it make whether he has one gun or two? The insurance requirement only serves to keep firearms out of the hands of the poor. Rather than save lives, it will instead result in more deaths of people who can no longer afford to purchase a firearm for self defense.

Of course, not one of these gun laws would have prevented Othniel Askew from shooting the councilman. Considering that Askew was allowed to waltz past the security guards without even going through the metal detector, I would argue that it was liberalism that killed Councilman Davis, not lax gun laws. Since Askew knew Davis, he was given preferential treatment which enabled him to evade security. That's how liberal elitism works; rules for you, but not for me. Rather than treat everyone entering the building equally under the law, Davis was permitted to wave his guests through security unchecked. Apparently giving the friends of councilmen special treatment like this was a normal procedure, and at the time, nobody suspected anything. Unfortunately for Davis, his elitist mentality turned out to be fatal.

I say, don't blame the gun. It performed just like it was supposed to.

It's been pretty obvious that arenas and stadiums around the country have been capitalizing on the 9/11 attacks by issuing "no container" rules in the interest of "safety". Atlanta's Turner Field had tried that policy when they first opened. It was a change from the former Fulton County Stadium, and fans were outraged. The stadium relented, and coolers were once again permitted. When 9/11 happened, Turner Field immediately instituted a "no coolers" rule, and raised the price of beer and hotdogs a dollar. When met by opposition, they simply pulled out their 9/11 chit and angry fans were held in check. It was just part of the changes people would get used to after the 9/11 attacks. People in general, were more accepting of change and easier to bully around after 9/11. (Remember the 4 hour airport security lines?)

The New York Post reports that U.S. Open execs tried to take it a step further this year at Arthur Ashe stadium. They not only banned containers, but started searching people for contraband food stuffs. When food was found, it was promptly tossed into the dumpster. Spectators that had brought their family were suddenly faced with $7 hotdogs and bottled water priced upwards of $5.

This time however, the sight of gourmet food being tossed into a trash can was too much for Americans to bear. September 11th was almost two years ago, and some New Yorkers weren't going to be pushed around any more. And just how is food a security threat any way? After numerous complaints, Open management relented, and food is once again allowed into the stadium.

Game, set, and match for the fans.

For the record, Virginia Tech is ranked third in the SI.com Power Rankings They are behind Ohio State and Oklahoma, and ahead of Miami.

Fox News reports that race based preferences (a/k/a affirmative action) has come down to trying to decide how black someone is. Perhaps we should have a color chart that would help colleges wade through the diverse pool of applicants.

Am I the only one that thinks we should scrap the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)? These people couldn't predict a blowjob in a $2 whore house. Just take a look at some of the boneheaded figures we've heard in just the past two years or so.

"Here's our budget and economic outlook that we just issued this past January 31 that projects that the surpluses for the next ten years will be $5.6 trillion." -- Barry Anderson, Deputy Director, CBO, March 2, 2001.

"Federal budget surpluses for FY02-11 are now expected to total $3.4 trillion compared to the $5.6 trillion the CBO had projected in January 2001." -- Terry N. Barr, Chief Economist, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, August 2001.

"CBO's budget estimates of January 2002 forecast a unified budget surplus of $2.5 trillion over the fiscal years 2003-2012." -- IT Industry Council.

"The US government's budget surplus is expected to be 80% smaller than previously thought, according to the latest forecast from The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)." -- BBC, August 27, 2002.

"New CBO report puts deficit under administration policies at $1.8 Trillion over 10 years." -- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, March 10, 2003.

"The congressional agency charged with keeping an eye on the budget has upped its deficit estimate for 2004 by $80 billion since its report from only two months ago, bringing the new deficit projection to $480 billion." -- Fox News, August 26, 2003

The only thing we can predict is that the CBO will be wrong about this prediction just like they have been wrong about every other prediction they've ever come up with. And don't give me the bullshit excuse about changing variables and increased spending and tax cuts that couldn't be accounted for. If 10 year predictions are based on no changes being made over 10 years, what the hell is the point of forecasting them in the first place? Life is full of variables, and if you cannot predict the future any better than this, you probably shouldn't try. We would be better off with a big "deficit wheel", hosted by Bob Barker.

Well, whaddayaknow? It looks like some American servicemen prefer the AK-47 to their usual poodle-shooter M-16 or M-4 rifle. This comes as no surprise to some gun owners such as Kim DuToit or myself.

In my opinion, the average grunts on the ground have been out-gunned since they phased out the 7.62mm M-14 rifle and the .45ACP 1911 sidearm. The M-16 or M-4 are wonderful when it comes to accuracy and distance. Personally, I've been able to keep a three round burst from an M-16 on target at 100 yards, whereas the AK has a little too much creep. But the AK shoots a much larger round with greater knockdown power. One shot is probably enough, whereas the piss ant .223 round might prove to be insufficient. Our men in green are finding out that the AK is much better for close quarters urban warfare.

Don't get me started on the 9mm. I don't think I'll ever own a handgun whose caliber is measured in millimeters. As I've said before, the only 9mm I'd ever consider owning would be something like he 9mm Mac 11. Even then, I'd rather have a .45 Mac 10 or better yet, the .45 Thompson.

I cannot help but think that child prodigies like this will end up facing much bigger challenges than just their school work. How could a 12 year old hope to fit in with fellow med students. They won't exactly be asking him out for beers after finishing their mid-terms.

Neal Boortz misses the boat on the issue of red light cameras. He's all for 'em, and doesn't understand the difference between a camera and a cop.

If you're going to oppose the idea of the camera, then consistency would demand that you also oppose the idea of posting a cop at the intersection to look for red light runners. You either run the red light, or you don't. It's pretty much up to you.

The issue with red light cameras has little to do with enhancing traffic safety and everything to do with raking in big bucks for the government. The easiest and most cost effective way to make intersections safer is to lengthen the yellow light. Of course that doesn't do anything to enhance the bottom line of a local government's budget.

When red light cameras first started popping up, they were provided free of charge by the manufacturer. They took a portion of the proceeds and placed the cameras in areas that would maximize profits, and not safety. In some areas officials were caught shortening the yellow light to actually increase the number of cars running the light, and thus the number of tickets issued. Lon Anderson, director of public and government relations for AAA Mid-Atlantic likens it to commissioned sales.

"There must be a reason that corporate America pays its sales staffs on commission," he said. "It drives up numbers. Should we be seeking to drive up the numbers of red-light violators?"

Los Angeles County didn't even bother to wait for the light to turn red, and was caught rigging their cameras to issue tickets while the signals were still yellow.

Late last year, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams even admitted that cameras were about money as well as safety. He even announced that he was expanding the program to help close a $323 Million budget deficit. The Washington Times reports that D.C. just recently shut down another camera that issued $1.5 Million in tickets to 20,000 motorists. The light was a flashing yellow caution that would change to red without any warning signal at all. That type of signal is common for D.C., but it shouldn't have a red light camera attached.

Now, I've said before that I have nothing against capitalism and profit. However, when the police power of the government is used to take your money, that's not a free market, it's stealing. A policeman can use his own common sense in whether or not to issue a ticket. If you run a light to get out of the way of a rescue vehicle, a cop would probably give you a free pass. With a camera, it just snaps your picture and mails you a ticket. For the person caught on film, they have to try their luck in court, where there is little judicial recourse.

Then there is the U.K., where automated traffic enforcement may be taking the next step. Imagine having a policeman right there in the car with you writing tickets as you drive.

DRIVERS were reeling last night at Government plans to put a computerised spy in EVERY car.

The hi-tech gadgets will record each time a motorist DRIFTS over a speed limit, WANDERS into a bus lane or even STOPS on a yellow line.

Even if the U.K. decides not to attach computerized tracking devices to everyone's car, the European Union might mandate it. The insult added to injury will be that the added cost it takes to install the system onto vehicles and roadways will no doubt be passed on to motorists.

Related articles:
L.A. County caught in red light scam-era - 05/16/2003
DC Mayor admits red light cameras are cash cow - 10/17/2002
Red Light Cameras - 08/18/2002

Greeblie is doing an excellent job of cataloging the anti-SUV media stories. According to the media, SUVs are shifting into Maxium Overdrive and taking on a life of their own. How long before they are accused of hate crimes?

The BBC has it out for Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox. They called the billionaire a "capital imperialist" (as if being a capitalist is bad) and said that he wants to "destabilize" the BBC. According to them, Murdoch (and capitalism) are "against everything the BBC stands for".

Lorraine Heggessey said Mr Murdoch's continued attacks on the BBC stemmed from a dislike of the public sector. But he did not understand that the British people "have a National Health Service, a public education system" and trust organisations that are there for the benefit of society and not driven by profit.

Apparently the BBC is funded with taxpayer dollars. They are the PBS of the U.K.. They sit upon their high horse, and look down their noses at anyone motivated by money. The problem for the BBC is that a majority of the humans on the planet are motivated by money. Just look at the frenzy that happens whenever a lottery jackpot gets up over $100 Million. Look at all the "get rich quick" schemes that are out there that directly prey on people's desire to obtain material wealth. After all, greed is one of the seven deadly sins.

I think it's only natural that people and thus corporations are motivated by money. At least that way you know what angle they are coming from. Whenever a telemarketer calls, or someone tries to sell you something, you know exactly what they are after and are prepared to deal with them. Institutions like the BBC claim not to be motivated by "evil" profit. So just what does motivate them?

Many organizations claim to be interested in the common good. More often than not they have some sort of agenda. They have a picture of the way the world should operate, and their sole mission is to try to shape the world (and the people in it) to fit their own vision. The BBC is the worst kind of profiteer. Perhaps they aren't interested in money, but they'll gladly take away your livelihood and your freedom if they think its what's best for you. Not only that, but they'll expect you to be grateful for it too.

It seems like every time we have a bump in the road, some politician (usually a Democrat) wants the federal government to take over total control to make sure that it never happens again. After the blackout, it was inevitable that some socialist/fascist politician would suggest federal control of our nations power grid. Enter Sen. Chuck Schumer, Socialist-NY. He claims that all our power problems would be solved through tight nazi-like governmental control over the power system. Thank you Chuck, for not disappointing us.

There is a very simple solution: the grid should be national and governed by not by the utilities and not by certain states which have their own parochial interests... it should be governed by the federal government.

It is so simple. The all wonderful federal government that, in a passionate moment after 9-11, gave us the TSA; a marvel of modern efficiency and safety, will use their police power to seize control of the power grid. This is just an instant replay of the 9-11 formula of striking while the iron is hot. The blackout is still fresh in people's minds, so what better time to make the big government power grab than right now.

In the immortal words of Leia Organa: "The more you tighten your grip [Schumer], the more systems will slip through your fingers."

CNS News reports that the pleasure police in some Australian schools have banned superheroes, for the good of the children.

At least a dozen centers for pre-school children in the city of Melbourne this week declared that they have been practicing a "superhero-free" policy, saying that dressing up as characters like Superman and the Incredible Hulk encouraged children to be aggressive. [...]

Mayor Bill Baarini was quoted as saying it was often the less assertive children who were the victims of aggressive behavior by their role-playing peers.

So superheroes cause violence. Nevermind that every DC comics story seems to have a moral message for children. I grew up watching the Justice League, who always had those dopey "look both ways before crossing the street" messages at the end of every show. It's hard to believe that they could be accused of promoting violence.

Actually, I think the issue mostly has to do with the anti-war peacenik crowd. Cartoon and comic superheroes fight villians. They profess that there is evil in the world, and that evil should be stopped through the use of force. That goes against what the anti-war morons stand for.

If the comics were written by the anti-war crowd, Superman wouldn't stop Lex Luthor, but would instead try to figure out what he did to make Lex turn to a life of crime. Rather than being stopped Luthor would be pacified and appeased, in the hope that he would stop being evil. Thankfully, kids would never read such mindless drivel. Well, at least not yet.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that California eco-radicals have been targeting chefs with domestic terrorism and threats of violence because of their menu choices. At issue are chefs who serve veal or foie gras (a type of duck).

In the past few weeks, vandals have attacked the men's homes and cars, spray painting messages like "foie gras is animal torture" and "stop or be stopped."

They left a threatening videotape of [Chef Laurent] Manrique's family filmed through the window of his home, warning that he was being watched. In the latest incident last week, vandals flooded a Sonoma foie gras restaurant and shop the men planned to open in September. Police estimate the damage at more than $60,000.

The eco-weenies claim that the animals are being tortured prior to being served up. Of course, most eco-radicals don't even want people eating meat, so this is undoubtedly just their first step in trying to alter everyone's eating habits.

Personally, I'm not about to let them change my habits. If fact, I think I'm going to go out and eat veal tomorrow night. It's actually been a half a decade or longer since I've had veal, simply because I don't particularly care for it. Now I think I'll start eating it more often just to spite those no good cowards. Maybe I'll try a few different restaurants, to see if I find a dish I like.

Oh, and I'd just love for some eco-radical to try to take it off my plate. I don't think they have the nerve.

With all the California recall hoopla going on, Ward Connerly's Racial Privacy Initiative hasn't gotten much press. CNN reminds us that Connerly's ballot initiative would prevent the California government from lumping people into racial identity groups, and would be a huge step toward making the government color blind.

What does this have to do with Schwarzenegger running for Governor? The press is quick to attack Arnold on what his father may or may not have done 60 years ago, but Ted Kennedy gets a pass for his father's known anti-semitism and nazi sympathy.

Even Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezo's cannot resist the lure of the siren, Anna Kournikova.

(Photo via Reuters)

The Reg says he looked like a "teenage boy making his first journey into the raunchy section of a movie store".

Nine ESPN experts offer their picks for the NCAA National Championship. Of the 9 experts, 6 of them picked a Big East team to play in the big game. More surprising, 4 of those 6 picks have Virginia Tech rather than Miami representing the conference.

Of the other three picks for the Big East, one person has Miami winning, but not going to the Sugar Bowl, while Lee Corso and Gene Wojciechowski go out on a limb and pick Pitt to win the conference title.

Oklahoma still looks to be the heavy favorite though, with 6 of the 9 experts picking them to make it.

Yesterday was an interesting day, not so much for me, but for some of the people in my life. It started out like a normal work day, but at about 4 o'clock, my friend Ken called from California. We got to chatting, and he informed me of some good news. His wife is halfway through her first pregnancy, and he knows that it's his. They are due to have a baby boy on January 1st. Of course, that screws up 18 years of NCAA football bowl games, but that was his choice.

Later that evening, I went to a friend's house warming party. Mike and Anna served as gracious hosts, even though they must have had 30 to 40 people in attendance. While I was mingling, Anna came up to me and delivered her good news. She is 2 months pregnant, and just starting to show.

Their house warming party was a lot of fun, but it actually served a dual purpose. It helped serve as a ruse for my friend Dwayne to pop the big question to Jenn with two 'n's. They have been dating and shacking up for about 6 years now, so it really is about time they make it legal. I'm still not sure why Dwayne wanted to propose to his girlfriend in front of an audience, but it was still pretty touching. He gave her flowers, said a little speech, spoke some French and got down on one knee. All of the women were crying.

Only about half of the people there were in the know, with most of the women left out of the loop. It's not that women cannot be trusted with a secret, but mostly because Dwayne wanted to keep a lid on it, while still making sure that people showed up. My wishy-washy attitude toward attending the party put me into the need to know category, so I was told what was going to happen, and that I should definitely be there.

I think it is quite strange how changes seem to come in threes. Sometimes they creep up on you, and sometimes they come all at once. Other times they are spread out. For me, I found out about two sets of friends starting a family, and I witnessed two other friends planning to spend the rest of their lives together in the span of about 4 hours.

Part of what makes all of this so interesting, is that while all of this change was happening around me, my life has remained relatively empty and unchanged. Sure, I've lived in a lot of different places over the years, bought and sold a house, and even experienced a few months of uncertain unemployment. Still, my day to day life is pretty much the same. I wake up, I go to work, and I come home; day in, and day out. Every now and then I do something exciting: I take a trip, visit with family and friends, pick up a girlfriend for a month or two. In the end, however, I wind up in the same position in life that I started from.

My friends seem to come and go, especially as their children get older, and their lives become more self-involved and less centered around friendship. Old friends disappear and are never heard from again, while new friends enter my life. Me, I am but an observer, watching the people in my life grow older, get married, start families, and move on. Meanwhile, my life is still pretty much the same. It hasn't grown much at all. It almost feels like my friends are all graduating and going on to bigger and better things, while I'm stuck waiting for the damned school bus to show up.

Actually in the simplest of terms, I am pretty much just sitting around waiting to die. Perhaps one of these days, I'll go out and get a dog or something, just to keep from dying alone.

Finally, someone invented a digital radio recorder. Pogo's Radio Your Way is like Tivo for the radio, and can be set to turn on and record your favorite radio programs. It also has a USB port so that you can transfer files to your PC. (How long before the RIAA copyright nazis start arresting radio listeners now?)

You may want to pick up one of these quickly. Business groups like the RIAA and MPAA want to hold onto their interests in entertainment distribution, and may be quick to stifle such a new innovative product. Right now it's priced at about $150.

Is it just me or do eco-terrorists always strike in the granola states like California and Oregon. You never hear about them burning up people's cars in states like Kentucky, Georgia, or Texas. Actually, that's too bad. I'd love to pick up the paper one day and read about how some whiney tree hugger was perforated for trying to ignite someone's pickup truck on fire. I wonder if you'd have to call the coroner, or the police have a dropoff where you can have them weighed, tagged, and bagged.

Look at who SI's Stewart Mandel picked to play for the NCAA National Championship.

KTVU notes that the California recall hasn't stifled the anti-gun crowd. Governor Davis thinks that campaigning for a gun ban will help save his job, and candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger agrees.

[Gov. Gray] Davis and Sen. Dianne Feinstein pressed for a permanent federal ban on assault weapons [...]

Schwarzenegger has said he supports "sensible gun controls," including a ban on assault weapons.

Davis uses the opportunity to take the Kerry approach and point out that he was in the Vietnam war, and therefore is a gun expert and criminologist. Meanwhile Feinstein has the nerve to bash Arnold, who is a fellow gun grabber, on the violent content of his movies.

Sure, Schwarzenegger may parade around in movies with guns, but Feinstein parades around town with hers. She can afford armed body guards and has the political clout to actually receive a concealed firearms permit in California. She admits to having carried a .38 revolver in her purse, because she was afraid for her safety. Yet she also said on 60 minutes, "If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an out-right ban... I would have done it."

In her opinion, guns are fine for the liberal elite and the wealthy. But those of us without her money and political connections are just shit out of luck when it comes to our personal safety. Hypocrisy at it's finest. If I ever had the chance, I wouldn't vote for any of these clowns, based solely on their anti-freedom position.

Just over a year ago, I reported on MSNBC's heavily biased anti-gun rhetoric on their "Crime and Punishment" page. They left it up there for months and months. I remember looking at their site about two months ago, and noting that it was still there. Now it is gone.

I wonder if this is part of MSNBC's new image. From what I've been hearing, MSNBC has been reacting to all the attention that Fox News is getting lately. Someone told me that they were cleaning up their act, by sliding from the far left (CNN territory) over toward the middle. Is this evidence of that?

I don't care if you are filming a movie, if someone hands you a firearm and says it's unloaded or contains blanks, it is your responsibility to check it. That doesn't help actor Antonio Velasco, who was shot in the chest by his co-star who claimed the gun was supposed to be loaded with blanks.

Velasco died of his injuries, and the shooter is facing 8 to 20 years in a Mexican prison.

With a war in Afganistan and then Iraq, children's war toys are pretty popular. Fox News notes that some parents are conflicted on whether or not to allow their children to play with "violent toys". A California mother of two, who recently bought a G.I. Joe for her 3 and 5 year olds weighs in on the "gun" issue.

"They make guns out of everything and sticks will easily turn into swords," said the San Diego, Calif., resident [Christine D'Amico]. "I try to be low-key about it, but will definitely curb them away and come up with something besides a gun, saying, "Let's make it your magic wand."

Magic wand? That's the "black arts"; witchcraft; devil worship. I guess anything is better than an evil gun or sword, though. We wouldn't want our children to have a warped sense of reality, now would we. [/sarcasm]

Disposable DVDs are finally here. Pantagraph.com reports that the disposable rental discs, billed as "flexible time play" rather than disposable, will be test marketed in Bloomington, Illinois, Austin, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; and Kansas City, Kansas.

The discs work by completely oxidizing after 48 hours of exposure to the air. Once the surface of the disc has oxidized, the DVD player will no longer be able to read it.

Givin the limited distribution of films available, and the $6.99 suggested rental fee, I don't see this working too well. Personally, I haven't rented a movie in over three years. Any movies I really want to see, I just buy, and with new DVD releases priced from $13 to $20, renting doesn't make much sense.

I'm convinced that Acidman and I are bound to be the last two ad-free sites on the internet.

Related articles:
Keep Your Money - 08/21/2002

France claims that 10,000 people have died because the temperature rose to a whopping 104 degrees for 2 whole days. Apparently French people have a low melting point. When I lived in Georgia, the temperature rose into the 100s every day of the summer, all summer long. Even here in DC, it is usually in the 90s every day, and I still see people out jogging around and getting their daily exercise. Basically, I think Frenchmen are all just a big bunch of pussies.

The medical staffers are blaming France's socialist work laws for exacerbating the problem.

France's medical system is widely regarded as one of the best in the world. But some health workers said it fell short in August because of a law which has restricted France's working week to 35 hours, which has led to staff shortages, and because hospital and retirement home workers were on holiday.

Is this really how the "best in the world" medical system works? People are dying because doctors and nurses are walking out the door after punching out a 35 hour work week? I guess Hippocrates never made it to France.

I realize that elderly people are prone to kicking off in extreme temperatures. But it seems to me that this whole problem could have been solved simply by having good central air conditioning. Perhaps that will be the next big French entitlement. On their way home from a hard day's work (at 2 PM) Frenchmen should be sure to stop by and pick up their "free" socialist government provided air conditioner.

Perhaps they'll ask for international aid, or maybe the Germans can hook them up the next time they come marching through with rifles.

UPDATE: Patrick Michaels of the Cato Institute blames the deaths on the Kyoto protocol and environmentalists.

And as for the heat-prostrated people of Europe, it's too bad that the Kyoto Protocol will do nothing measurable about the Earth's mean temperature for the forseeable future. But it will kill thousands and thousands more in France, Germany and England, where energy taxes are enormous, creating an invisible blackout of lifesaving air conditioning.

(Photo via Reuters)

With Iraq unable to purchase large caches of weapons of mass destruction from France, the French economy shrank 0.3%. France's Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin released a statement blaming the U.S. ouster of Saddam Hussein for the sluggish economy. Exports dropped 0.6% and consumer spending dropped 0.2%. "The second quarter was exceptional owing to the consequences of the war in Iraq," said Raffarin in a released statement.

Still, the Prime Minister was upbeat about France's financial prospects. With Hussein out of the picture, France will turn attention toward the other members of the Axis of Evil. Despite the recent setback, Raffarin expects that a marketing blitz in North Korea and Iran will create "an expansion of 0.8-1.5% for the year as a whole".

During the Big Blackout of 2003, the press was amazed by a number of things that happened in New York. There was no rioting. There was no looting. With subways out of order, complete strangers were giving each other rides. With traffic lights out, some citizens even took it upon themselves to help out and direct traffic.

The New York Post reports that while Dr. Robert Richter took on a job usually reserved for men in uniform, the men in uniform were still writing tickets.

About a half-hour into Thursday's power outage, Dr. Robert Richter and two other New Yorkers took it upon themselves to ease the traffic jam at West 79th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

Then, 15 minutes later, an NYPD traffic-enforcement car rolled up, but instead of directing traffic, the agent tagged a pair of cars on West 79th Street, Richter said.

"When I saw the flashing lights and the cars pull up, I said, 'Oh, relief is here,' " Richter told The Post. "Then they got out of the car and started writing tickets.

"After they finished writing tickets, they drove away - I couldn't believe this. I was just amazed."

Far be it for a national emergency to stop a cop from raising revenue for the City of New York. Mayor Bloomberg has a budget gap to fill, and just because most of the North Eastern United States was declared to be in a state of emergency doesn't mean the cops stop writing tickets.

Dr. Richter should bill Bloomberg for his time.

The AP is just astonished that (gasp) Jews, women, and gays (the AP calls them "others") would support a lawsuit against California's gestapo-like firearms laws. What's this? Groups that are frequently the target of violence and abuse want to restore their right to protect themselves. Gosh, who'd-a-thunk-it? I guess the AP expected that only rednecks and pickup drivers would support such a radical idea as restoring people's freedom.

And if describing our Second Amendment supporting friends at Pink Pistols as "others" wasn't bad enough for you, check out this tidbit of shitty reporting (emphasis mine):

[California] defended its ban of 75 high-powered weapons with rapid-fire capabilities.

Of course, like the federal assault weapon's ban, the California ban doesn't regulate automatic firearms. A simple glance at the code (cached) shows that only semi-automatic firearms, which aren't rapid-fire, are banned. Semi-autos, by definition, are not automatic and fire only one round for each pull of the trigger. Describing them as "high-powered" and "rapid-fire" serves only to spread myths and misconceptions about the functionality of firearms. The media, of course, are willing accomplices.

Remember all the hoopla surrounding the face recognition software that Tampa was using? Two years ago, following a trial run during the Super Bowl, Tampa set up cameras and face recognition computers in the entertainment district to look for wanted criminals. The computers measured characteristics of people's faces and cross referenced them with people wanted by the police. Well, the AP reports that Tampa has decided to scrap the project.

After two years, it yielded no positive identifications and no arrests.

"It was of no benefit to us, and it served no real purpose," Capt. Bob Guidara said Wednesday.

Score one for privacy advocates. Hopefully this will discourage other communities from wasting taxpayer dollars, and traveling down the path toward the Orwellian nightmare.

Jim Spencer of the Denver Post claims that the act of bearing arms exposes the "gap" in gun logic. He slams a gun rights activist, Don Ortega, for carrying his gun to City Council meetings, and claims that because the Council became frightened and immediately voted to ban firearms from their meetings, it is proof that "gun nuts" (as he calls us) are actually helping prove their case by demonstrating people's irrational fear. He also cited a GFW politician (who claims to be pro gun) as further evidence. (emphasis mine)

"An openly carried weapon is intimidating," said [Colorado] Springs Councilman Jerry Heimlicher, a gun-rights supporter who voted for the ban. "We have teachers who bring schoolchildren to council meetings. We had a group of Eagle Scouts there the night we voted on this." [...]

"These are things that should not happen in public meetings," Heimlicher said. The citizens, he added, have a right to safe public meetings and city workers the right to a safe workplace.

Notice the non sequitur. Spencer and Heimlicher think that just because someone has an irrational fear of something, it must be okay to ban it. Also, I don't believe for a minute that those Eagle scouts were intimidated or afraid of a gun. As a former scout, we learned archery, shotgun shooting and rifle shooting. Scouts were taught to respect firearms, not to fear them. Personally, I find Councilman Heimlicher's assertion that scouts would be inherently afraid or intimidated by firearms to be offensive.

Likewise, any children that fear guns probably have parents that fear guns. And as I said before, guns are a inanimate objects. Just because someone has an irrational fear of an inherently harmless object, is no reason to ban it. If it were, policemen and the military shouldn't be permitted to display firearms either. After all, we don't want people to fear those that are there to protect us.

Second, I don't buy into Spencer's foolish claim that by carrying his firearm, Ortega actually furthered the anti-gun movement by encouraging a ban. If anything, Ortega served to demonstrate just how reactive and irrational GFWs can be. The council had no real reason to fear Ortega, or the firearm that he carried. But that didn't stop them from manifesting their irrational fear into a spur of the moment restriction on personal freedom. Plus, their new rule does nothing to enhance their own safety.

Overall Spencer has done a nice job of twisting his "evidence" to fit his gun grabbing agenda. Normally I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, but his condescending tone, and use of terms like "gun nut", show his true anti-freedom colors. Spencer also calls Mr. Ortega "outside the mainstream", recommends "shock therapy", and tells Second Amendment supporters that "he's one of yours." I'd rather have Ortega on my side then a fearful wussy like Spencer. Mr. Ortega recognizes that guns are merely a tool, and that it is people who have the potential to be dangerous. Mr. Spencer, on the other hand, has a school girl phobia of an otherwise inanimate object, whose only job is to discharge a projectile at high speeds whenever a lever is pulled.

UPDATE: It should probably be noted that Ortega's shotgun was unloaded and disassembled when he attended the meetings.

Carnival 48 is running over at Outside the Beltway

Is this what the BATFags do with our tax dollars? Apparently they think childish cartoons are the best way to show gun dealers the proper way to fill out their red tape. At first I thought it was a joke, but apparently not.

See Dick.

See Dick buy a gun.

See Jane.

See Jane call in Dick's NICS background check.

Dial Jane, dial.

If you missed "Monster Garage" on the Discovery Channel this week, you might want to catch the rerun. While I haven't seen it yet, the Virginian Pilot notes that a team of light hearted police officers convert a police cruiser into a donut factory, complete with coffee maker.

When [Chesapeake Police Officer Michael] New and the other team members first heard what they were doing, he said, they thought it would be a simple modification, "like a fat-daddy fryer in the back of the car.''

But two doughnut experts, plus $25,000 worth of equipment donated by Dunkin' Donuts turned the patrol car into a factory capable of cranking out 42 dozen sweet treats per hour, with three icing flavors and five different toppings.

(Illustration courtesy Virginian Pilot)

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