Kim lets us in on his idea of the perfect day. Other than dumping the frenchy drinks and throwing a cigar or two in there, I wouldn't change a thing.

U.S. Rep Corrine Brown, who apparently has never heard of Condaleeza Rice or Colin Powell, referred to the Bush Administration as being full of "a bunch of white men". When Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, a Mexican-American challenged her comments, Ms. Brown responded, "you all look alike to me".

Today, she offered a luke warm apology for her comments, which seem to stem mostly from her anti-Bush rancor. Her bitterness about the 2000 election was unequivocal in her back handed 'apology'.

"It simply mystifies me how President Bush, a president who was selected by the Supreme Court under more than questionable circumstances — in my district alone 27,000 votes were thrown out — is telling another country that their elections were not fair and that they are therefore undeserving of aid or international recognition."

Brown will most likely get a pass from the liberal media and this will die out in a few days (if it hasn't already). CNN doesn't appear to even be interested in covering the story.

Just once, I'd like to see Democrats held to the same standard as the rest of us when it comes to saying boneheaded things like this.

Senate OKs Handgun Locks Legislation

Village Established by Portland Homeless Is Legalized

Rep. Brown Apologizes for 'White Men' Comment

Bartman ball blown up at Harry Caray's

Howard Stern is crying because Clear Channel chose to drop his show, rather than face backlash for the crap he spews on the radio. Showing his ignorance as part of his whine to Fox News, Stern made the claim, "It is 100 percent a freedom of speech issue". It never ceases to amaze me how someone in broadcasting could not understand what freedom of speech is.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects people from government persecution with respect to religion and expression. It doesn't say anything about compelling Clear Channel to provide Stern with a forum. In taking Stern off of his stations, Clear Channel President John Hogan said, "Clear Channel drew a line in the sand today with regard to protecting our listeners from indecent content and Howard Stern's show blew right through it. It was vulgar, offensive, and insulting, not just to women and African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency."

Frankly, I think Howard Stern's shtick is a bit played out. Whether or not Clear Channel feels the same way remains to be seen, but according to their statement, they just don't want to be associated with the shock jock any more. In trying to read between the lines, I think they're probably starting to see his ratings dip and decided to yank him rather than put up with all the complaints. The bottom line is that Hogan and Clear Channel no longer want to carry his show, and that is their right. Stern can express himself all he wants, but he cannot force Clear Channel to carry it, no more than he can force us to listen. Personally, I turned him off years ago.

The AP reports that Rosie O'Donnell is the first gay celebrity to take advantage of San Francisco's renegade policy on gay marriage. But in reading the article, it sounds like she accomplished another first.

O'Donnell and Carpenter, who have four children together, walked hand in hand down the grand marble staircase in the rotunda to thunderous applause from hundreds of spectators who came to witness the city's first celebrity same-sex wedding.

Perhaps I really don't want to know the answer, but just how do two women "have four children together"? Is this some sort of human asexual reproduction?

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

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

"I have been deeply troubled by what I hear coming out of Iraq. When I was there and met with women members of the national governing council and local governing councils in Baghdad and Kirkuk they were starting to express concerns about some of the pullbacks in the rights they were given under Saddam Hussein.

"He was an equal opportunity oppressor, but on paper, women had rights. They went to school, they participated in the professions, they participated in government and in business; as long as they stayed out of his way, they had considerable freedom of movement. -- Senator Hillary Clinton, longing for a return to the days of Saddam Hussein.

I've always thought that scientists will eventually link everything to cancer, but I must admit that I never figured this one would be on the list. As if women need another excuse not to do those things we like.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan made a suggestion yesterday that caused just about every politician on Capitol Hill, Democrat and Republican, to shriek in horror. Greenspan looked at the rising federal deficit, spend-thrift politicians, and ever increasing entitlements, and recommended that politicians knock it off.

As a young professional, I came to terms long ago that I'll never see a dime of the thousands of dollars I'm pouring into social security each year. By confirming my suspicions, Greenspan is likely to be fired, especially if the Democrats take the White House in November.

Democratic front-runner Sen. John Kerry said the way to address the deficit was to roll back tax cuts for the wealthy and "the wrong way to cut the deficit is to cut Social Security benefits. If I'm president, we're simply not going to do it."

Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., called it "an outrage' for Greenspan to call for cuts in Social Security while at the same time endorsing making Bush's tax cuts permanent. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, went even further and called for Greenspan to resign as Fed chairman, saying his comments were "a disgrace."

While the federal budget deficit worsens the social security problem, the relation between the two is not as direct as Kerry and Edwards would have you believe. Raising income taxes on the rich won't fix the inevitable social security bankruptcy. Social Security runs a huge surplus ever year, but the money is quickly snatched up and spent by power hungry politicians on both sides of the aisle. The IOUs of all the money taken from Social Security add up to somewhere in the neighborhood of $26 Trillion. Balancing the federal budget is only the first step in solving the problem.

Social Security has never been more than a huge ponzi scheme. If a private company tried to run a similar scam, they'd be thrown in jail faster than you can say "lock box". The aging baby boom means that more and more people are going to be drawing social security benefits, with less people paying into the fund. The end-game is a point when there aren't enough of us young people paying in to cover the expenses. That means that unless the benefits are cut, taxes are dramatically increased, or the money is privatized to take advantage of a higher rate of return, those of us in Generation X and Generation Y are just pouring money down a rat hole.

So let me get this straight. It is not okay for Presidential Candidate John Edwards to pat the heads of crippled people in wheelchairs. Contrast this to when it was okay for President Clinton to pat the butts and breasts of any woman that crossed his path.

Meanwhile, Scott Ott points out that Edwards shares their burden of being handicapped.

Should a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage be a priority? Some people seem to think so. Personally, I agree with this guy that there are much better Amendments we should be pushing. I don't want to quote the whole thing, so I'll paraphrase:

Repeal the Seventeenth
Amen to that. The Seventeenth allows for the popular election of Senators, and shifted political power away from the states to the all knowing federal government. Repealing it would not only restore some of the power to the states, but would also help limit ths size and scope of the fed.

Enact the Bricker Amendment
This Amendment basically states that our Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and that no foreign treaty can override it. It sounds like common sense, but this Amendment was actually defeated in the Senate along party lines, 42-50; with Republicans voting for it, and Democrats voting against it.

Limit the government's power to seize private property
Many people don't realize it, but if a policeman stops you and discovers that you are carrying a large sum of money (with no real definition of large) he can seize it without due process. How would you like it if you just sold your car for $3000 cash and got stopped on the way to the bank. The officer could take your money and send you on your way, and according to the Supreme Court, it's all perfectly 'legal'.

Limit the government's power to seize real property
Eminent domain abuses are on the rise. Let's say Wal-Mart wants to tear down a few houses in your neighborhood to build a new store. They make an offer to buy your property, but you refuse. Rather than look for a different location, they head over to city hall and strike a deal with your local government. The town council decides to condemn your property and force you to sell to Wal-Mart. Their justification is that they can seize your property under 'eminent domain' because the town is better served by the tax revenue and jobs created by Wal-Mart, than with the paltry property taxes they collect from you each year. Not only is this happening, but our Supreme Court has said that it's okay.

Neal has some good ideas, but why stop there. I would add several more proposed Constitutional Amedments, all of which are more important than the "defense of marriage".

Limit the government's power to usurp private property rights
Right now there are numerous state and local governments telling people what they cannot do on their own property. New York, California, Florida, and other state and local governments have passed laws telling people they cannot smoke on their own property. Some government employees have been told they cannot smoke at all, and if they do they'll be fired. Smoking may be a disgusting habit, but it's legal, and telling someone that they cannot allow people to smoke on their property or on their own spare time is no business of the government. I would wholeheartedly support an Amendment that tells the Pleasure Police nannies that they cannot usurp the rights of property owners and individual citizens. I could call it the "If you don't like it, carry your ass" Amendment.

Re-affirm the Bill of Rights
How about we re-affirm the Bill of Rights, and put some of these arguments to bed forever. Wouldn't it be nice if you could speak out against a politician within 60 days of a general election? How about if in spite of the fact you live in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, or California, you could buy a gun and use it to defend your life, liberty, and property? How about we restore the States Rights Amendment (Amendment Ten)? Over the past several years the Bill of Rights has been just about gutted, and it's time we restored the enumeration of our rights to their former glory. Wouldn't it be nice if the phrase "Congress shall make no law" actually meant that Congress shall make no law. Would that be so bad?

Whether you support gay marriage, or are vehemently opposed to it, can you honestly say that an Amendment on the subject is more important than any one of these?

When Ralph Nader entered the political fray, it was inevitable that Democrats would be upset. They largely blame Nader for Al Gore's loss in the 2000 election, despite Mr. Gore's failure to win his own state.

That the Dems would be upset is understandable, but as the Media Research Center notes, some of the major networks are steamed about it too. (emphasis theirs)

When ABC and NBC interviewed Nader today, they didn't ask a single question about the issues that drove his candidacy. They only echoed Democratic angst that Nader would drain votes from their nominee. On NBC's Today, Matt Lauer cited only disgruntled Democrats: "Howard Dean, who dropped out of the race recently, said he will actively campaign against you and urge his supporters not to vote for you. Al Sharpton says he will go on a nationwide campaign to make sure people don't vote for you. This is from Scott Maddox, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Florida: 'I think that Ralph Nader is proving the only master he serves is his enormous ego.'"

On Good Morning America, ABC's Charles Gibson began: "We all watched you yesterday and come down to this, realistically. You don't have a chance of winning, and realistically, you can keep the Democratic candidate from winning. Is that okay with you?...I heard you just a moment ago make the case that you wouldn't cost John Kerry the presidency, but the simple fact is four years ago you did cost Al Gore the presidency, didn't you?" Didn't anything Al Gore said or did play a role in his defeat?

Gibson added: "Even your friends, Mr. Nader, are asking that you not run. You're very familiar, I know, with the Ralph Don't Run Web site. I just want to play a little bit of the ad that's on that Web site right now." The ad sounded like Gibson (or vice versa) in emphasizing so-called simple fact: "The simple fact is, if Nader had not run, Gore would be President, not Bush. This time in 2004, the stakes are far too high."

The Virginia Citizens Defense League is reporting (and the AP is confirming) that Conservative stalwart and long time Republican Senator John Warner has confirmed that he will work to extend the Clinton Gun Ban a/k/a 'Assault Weapons Ban'. In their email alert, VCDL reports that Senator Warner's office has confirmed that he is working with Chuck Schumer and Dianne 'gun in the purse' Feinstein to renew the gun ban.

Not only did aides at Warner's office not understand the difference between a 'silencer' (suppressor) and a flash hider, but they balked at the idea of paying any political price. VCDL President Phillip Van Cleave writes that when threatened with the idea of voting against the Republican Party aides responded, "What would you do, put a Democrat in as President?"

I don't know why there has been a liberal shift in the Republican Party lately but with attitudes like that, I'm staying home in November.

Editor's Note: For those of you that don't know what an 'assault weapon' is, it is best described as a gun that looks scary. The term itself is designed to be very misleading in that the guns are all semi-automatic, which means they fire one round per pull of the trigger. Thus they have no more functionality than your average hunting rifle. Politicians and GFWs however, would have you believe that cosmetic features such as a pistol grip or bayonet lugs make the bullets that come out of the end of the gun much more lethal than they would normally be. In trying to further their cause, they typically lie and describe the guns as fully automatic, which is not true. Automatic firearms have been heavily regulated since 1934.

The news that Senator Warner and other Republicans are poised to support the so-called 'Assault Weapons Ban' serves to bolster the claim by the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners that the NRA is in silent compicity to passage of the ban. RMGO reports that the NRA is so dead set on passing the gun makers protection act, that they have given their silent blessing to amendments on the bill that will not only extend the Clinton Gun Ban, but also wipe out gun shows. It seems too over the top, but then again the NRA did support the original ban.

When I said I quit the NRA because they were too liberal, I wasn't kidding.

When Virginia Democrat Governor Mark Warner was campaigning for election, he promised not to raise taxes. Since being elected in 2001, he's tried raising taxes three different times. Virginia voters have already shot down referendums to increase taxes, and they haven't been buying into Warner's class warfare rhetoric. But the same can't be said for the GOP controlled legislature. Warner asked for a $1 Billion tax increase, and the GOP in the Senate is ready to give him almost $4 Billion. So you may be asking yourself, why this is important to you; especially if you don't live in Virginia.

Well, one reason is that other politicians, including Presidential wanna-be John Kerry, are paying very close attention to how it plays out.

Despite having a GOP controlled legislature, and Republican Governor (up until 2001), state spending has increased $6 Billion, or 30%, over the past five years. $2.5 Billion of that increase has come during Democrat Governor Warner's term which started in 2002.

This year lawmakers hope to increase taxes and spending once more, even though it isn't necessary. The money will be used to fund their pet programs and other big spending increases.

Peter Ferrara of the Virginia Club for Growth, a fiscal watchdog group, notes that even without the proposed tax hikes the state could increase spending annually by 5.5% over the next two years. He also predicts that current revenue trends would bring in twice as much money as Mr. Warner's tax increases. "We should be talking about tax cuts, not tax increases," says Mr. Ferrara.

So what we have in Virginia is a formula whereby a Democrat executive has been able to enlist the conservative legislature into taxing and spending. If he's successful this year, it could be coming to your state very soon. (Not that the same formula isn't already playing out with George Bush at the national level.)

With all the talk of George Bush going AWOL or being a deserter because he served in the lowly National Guard, something John Kerry likens to summer camp, little has been said of Kerry's absence from his job. As of November 2003, Kerry had missed 300 votes in the Senate. Now that he's the Democrat front runner, how many votes will he miss in 2004? Better yet, how much of his annual salary will he voluntarily forfeit because he's not doing the job he was elected to do?

John Leo takes a humorous look at 21st century euphemisms from 'wardrobe malfunction' to 'exfiltration'.

Mike Adams reports that UNC-Wilmington administrators think they have too many christians. So many people have turned to religion after September 11th, that UNCW school officials are considering banning new christians from forming student groups with some sort of school mandated quota.

Upon hearing this account of the meeting, I immediately dismissed the report as inaccurate. It seemed difficult to imagine that such a sentiment would ever be publicly expressed by even the most brazen and reckless of administrators. Despite my generally low level of confidence in college administrators' respect for religious liberty, this report simply seemed too far-fetched to believe.

Unfortunately, on December 8, 2003, a member of the Student Organization Committee (SOC) at UNCW told me that the university was indeed considering a possible quota on Christian organizations at UNC-Wilmington. During our conversation, this tenured faculty member casually stated that the university had too many Christian organizations to manage. He claimed that it would soon be necessary to stop recognizing new Christian organizations and instead have students conform their religious beliefs to those of existing organizations.

Adams, who is a professor at the University verified that school officials are aware of the First Amendment. They just don't think that it applies to them. He also notes that the Director of the University Union has instructed the Student Organization Committee (via email), to quit sending out emails. Apparently he's upset that they keep ending up in Adams' column.

Woo hoo! After hundreds of purchases and years of buying music CDs at artificially high prices, I finally received my anti-trust settlement. After at least 5 years of price fixing by the music pigopoly, Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore proudly proclaims, "It is a pleasure to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion and to return value to consumers who purchased CDs while the challenged pricing policies were in effect."

So, how much did I get? Well I hate to brag, but I cleaned up to the tune of $13.86. Ironically, it isn't even enough money to purchase a single music CD. Not even one that's on sale.

This one looks legit.

The 2004 Shelby Cobra concept should definitely turn some heads on the street. The front/mid engine car should zoom to 60 miles per hour in less than four seconds. Unfortunately though, that's about it. The vehicle is electronically limited to 100 mph, and comes with very few frills.

This production-feasible roadster has a 427-inspired 605-horsepower, all-aluminum V-10 engine mounted at the front of an advanced aluminum chassis modified from the rear-engine Ford GT.

It weighs slightly more than 3,000 pounds and is about as long as a Mazda Miata. There's no roof, no side glass, not even a radio. "That's the formula," said Carroll Shelby. "It's a massive motor in a tiny, lightweight car."

(click to supersize)

I don't really understand the reason for building a 600 hp muscle car that will only go 100 mph. Personally, I'd rather spend my money on something a little more classic, like this 1966 Shelby Cobra.

(click to supersize)

It may only have about 450 horses, but the classic car is a bit lighter weight. It also has the classic styling, with the pipes down the side where they belong. The conventional style exhaust on the Ford Concept is sacrilege.

Travelers who forget to remove their nail file will be facing hefty fines from the TSA. USA Today notes that customer's absent mindedness could result in stiff penalties from the professionalized, federalized Transportation Security Agency.

A year ago, the TSA quietly began assessing fines against airline passengers who violate security policies. But it wasn't until this week that it issued guidelines that specify which of the thousands of passengers who turn up every day with knives, box cutters and other banned items will be fined.

"Attitude" is listed among the "aggravating factors" that can result in a fine. Other criteria include the type of item, evidence of a passenger's intent and history of previous violations. Civil penalties now range from $250 to $10,000.

Since fines are not being applied equally to travelers, some lawmakers are concerned about equal treatment concerns. I can only imagine how this will impact airline revenues. Then again, the airlines did ask for it. When the government floated the idea of nationalizing airport security, they jumped at the chance.

World Net Daily reports that New Hampshire may deregulate the concealed carry of firearms and go to a 'Vermont-style' approach. Currently Vermont and Alaska are the only states that allow persons to carry firearms without requiring a permit.

The bill, Senate Bill 454, eliminates all government involvement in a person's decision to carry a concealed pistol or revolver. [...]

The bill was opposed at the hearing by the New Hampshire Police Association, the New Hampshire Women's Lobby and the Million Mom March of New Hampshire, the Manchester paper reported.

It isn't surprising that the policeman's union and the Million Dozen Mom March are opposed to the law. They usually frown on any gun rights legislation. Police organizations often times feel that policemen should have 'super citizen' status, and be the only ones allowed to own a gun, while the MMM was founded as a gun ban organizatin. But the Women's Lobby should be ashamed.

The mission of the New Hampshire Women's Lobby is to "improve the economic and social well-being of New Hampshire women and their families." Preventing women from protecting themselves against an abusive husband or boyfriend is counterproductive to that goal. It has long been known that teaching women to rely on the 9-1-1 emergency system can have deadly results.

Liberals deny that they are using government schools to indoctrinate children to their liberal agenda. But denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

Five-year-old Martin Patino threw his toy machine gun into a trashcan marked "armas no," Spanish for "no guns," and he promptly picked up a coloring book to replace it.

Martin was one of about 30 Alisal Community School kindergartners from four classes Wednesday who traded in their fake guns for gentle toys such as stuffed animals and Play-Doh.

You see the message that this conveys to young children. Toy guns are evil; toy animals and play-doh are good.

Kindergarten teacher Myriam Kennelly came up with the idea of the "peace toy trade" as a way of letting kids and parents know that guns of any kind are not permitted at the school.

Even the name, "peace toy trade", makes me want to puke. We aren't talking about guns in school, we're talking about toys. Toy guns, which they insist on mis-labeling "fake guns", are just toys.

In a vain attempt to appear non-biased, they bring in the misguided gun store owner who sides with their opinion.

Brian Jones, owner of Salinas gun store Trigger Hill Trading Post, applauded the toy-gun exchange.

"Personally, I think it's a great idea," Jones said at his store on South Main Street.

"There are too many kids that think guns are toys."

I guess that no gun store owners taking the opposite position were available for comment.

Now, I would agree that guns are not toys. But the kids aren't playing with guns, now are they. They are playing with toys. And just like guns are not toys, toys are not guns. Ok that may be a bit confusing, so allow me to illustrate.

Lawn mowers are not toys. If a person didn't know what he was doing, he could be seriously injured with a lawn mower. Should toy lawn mowers be banned? Are those plastic toy lawn mowers that children push around inherently dangerous? Do they send the children the wrong message, that playing with lawn mowers is okay?

Guns are a necessary tool in our society. If it weren't for guns, our country would likely still be under British rule. Or perhaps we'd all be speaking German. We didn't win our independence with coloring books. It wasn't play-doh that our dough boys carried into battle in WWI and WWII, it was a rifle. The policemen that patrol our streets, aren't armed with stuffed animals. They keep the peace with a real gun, with real bullets. If guns are evil, then what does that say about our men and women in uniform? What does that say about policemen?

Letting children play with toy guns is no different than letting them play with toy cars, toy power tools or toy lawn equipment. Besides, if toy guns teach kids to play with real guns, what do toy bears teach them to play with?

"The Republican Party seized control of state government in the late 1990s, promising to end the annual tax on cars, support business and reduce government spending. Now, Senate Republicans are pushing a tax increase that dwarfs one offered by the Democratic governor, Mark R. Warner. The House GOP is targeting business, insisting they pay their fair share." -- The Washington Post, on the Virginia Senate Republican's proposal to increase taxes by $3.6 Billion. The Democrat Governor had only asked for $1 Billion.

Actually, the Republican Party didn't seize control, they were voted in democratically by conservative Virginians lured by the promise of lower taxes and smaller government. The GOP has, however, proved that they are just like Democrats, and are willing to sell their soul for votes in the next election cycle. Considering they got most of the votes in the last election cycle, why they are pandering to the Democrat constituency is anyone's guess. But the result is that conservatives may be left without a conservative candidate. (Who say's primary elections aren't important?)

Oh, and businesses don't pay taxes. They collect them. Taxes are paid by either the shareholders, employees, or customers.

Hoping to solve their DWI problem, New Mexico legislators passed a bill requiring every motor vehicle in the state to be fitted with a breathalyzer. The devices would require that motorists submit to an alcohol breathalyzer test each time they want to start their vehicle.

The Staff Writers at Ravenwood's Universe are highly skeptical. Even if New Mexico passed such a mandate, it would be extremely difficult to implement. Sure, you could force people who registered their vehicle in the state to have the devices installed, but keeping them installed would prove to be impossible. Even if by some chance the program worked, what's to keep drunks from leaving their cars running in the parking lot?

Calif. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a Democrat, doesn't consider Stewart Pearson to be a criminal. Pearson is the son of one of her aides, and upon hearing of his conviction she wrote a letter to the judge presiding over the case, pleading to him for leniancy. So, just what did Pearson do?

Last July, a 20-year-old thug named Stewart Pearson soaked a rag in toilet bowl cleanser and Ajax and used it to smother 17-year-old Tina Phan while she was sleeping in her Terra Linda, Calif., home. Tina gasped, trying to fend off Pearson, but he wielded a knife and overpowered her. Pearson raped and brutalized her. According to Phan, Pearson told her he had committed the same crime before and planned to do it again. Phan bravely persisted in pressing charges against Pearson. He initially denied raping Phan, but admitted guilt last fall.

Pearson, who in Rep. Woolsey's mind is "not a criminal", was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Starting March 29th, Ireland is going to unilaterally use the threat of lethal force to compel businesses to ban smoking. Restaurant owners and other critics of the ban say that it will destroy Ireland's pub culture, which may prove to be an accurate prediction. Health Minister Micheal Martin demonstrates just how one sided the decision was:

"There can be no dispute over the damaging effect of tobacco and second-hand smoke. The speculation and debate are over."

Both the WHO and CDC, despite years of trying, have been unable to prove that second hand smoke is harmful, yet there is no debate on a decision that will prove financially disastrous to thousands of business owners.

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

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

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

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

It's no wonder the left hates Fox News.

John Edwards and John Kerry are trying to appeal to the common man with their populist notions and messages on the campaign trail, but the two multi-millionaires don't live like most Americans.

The top Democratic presidential hopefuls both own mansions in tony Georgetown, the Washington, D.C., neighborhood known for its prime real estate and high-end fashion boutiques.

On one historic cobblestone street lives Edwards, whose 184-year-old, 13-room home is valued at $3.8 million. About a block away is the residence where Kerry lives, a 104-year-old, four-story home with 23 rooms that is conservatively estimated to be worth $4.3 million.

Kerry's home isn't really his own, however. Technically, it belongs to his wife, ketchup heiress Teresa Heinz.

Reader Tom Scott points out that in Alaska, the National Parks Service is trying to force out the local residents by closing roads to their lands.

In Nevada, Dudley Hiibel is fighting a charge of refusing a cop's "Papers Please" request. Hiibel's conviction for refusing to give identification on demand will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in March.

The smoke nazis are giving Arnold hell about his love of cigars.

"That's very frightening that would even think about smoking inside the heart of our state Capitol," said Jim Walker, the director and founder of Stop Tobacco Abuse of Minors Pronto. "He could do more good by championing our cause rather than trivializing it."

Frightening? He's got to be kidding. The American Cancer Society is giving him the business too.

"We are deeply disappointed at several recent public depictions of your use and promotion of cigars and urge you to refrain from modeling this dangerous habit," the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and the American Lung Association wrote in a recent letter to Mr. Schwarzenegger.

If there were ever a time for a politician to use the words "bite me", this is the time.

Antitobacco groups are worrying about the impact he can have among young fans by making smoking looking cool.

"Schwarzenegger has been one of my heroes through the years, thanks to his confidence and his positive attitude, and I would hope that rather than turning this back on the thousands of families that have lost loved ones, he would take up and champion our cause," Mr. Walker said.

That's because smoking, especially cigars, is cool. So is drinking and gambling. They are personal vices, and we don't need guys like Walker forcing their rules on us because he's "frightened" over something so trivial as smoking cigars.

Does smoking cause cancer? No. But it does increase your risk. But then again, so does everything else, and you have to die of something.

A few days ago Virginia House Republicans sang Kubaya with Democrats after passing a $520 Million two year tax hike by closing "tax loopholes" for businesses. Yesterday, Virginia Senate Republicans proposed a two year $3.6 Billion tax hike on individual Virginia taxpayers. ($3.6B according to the Post, $2.5B according to the Times.)

The House plan, championed by Delegate Phillip Hamilton, R-Newport News, is being sold vis-a-vis a Democrat mantra that sounds very familiar. The Times reports:

Mr. Hamilton argues that his plan does not constitute a tax increase; it simply eliminates tax breaks to generate revenue for a budget projected to be $1.2 billion short of its needs.

According to House Republicans, a $520 Million increase in taxes is not a tax increase. Democrat Governor Mark Warner, who has been pushing for a $1 Billion two year tax hike, says it's not enough. So Senate Republicans answered his call by proposing an increase 7 times the size of the one passed in the House.

If the bill is passed by the full Senate, that means Virginians will face a 'perfect storm' of tax increases when the budget is finally reconciled. I'm not the first to say this, but the nation's economic turnaround would be much more effective if the states didn't keep increasing taxes to erase any benefit provided by the federal tax cuts.

Virginia Tech QB Marcus Vick, running back Mike Imoh, and receiver Brenden Hill have been charged with misdemeanor charges for serving alcohol to young girls, and having sexual relations with a 15 year old, reports the Washington Post. I think that if they're guilty, they should be suspended from the team. This isn't Florida State, where players are allowed to play as long as they can get out of jail.

Sorry for the lack of posting. I got my laptop back from the Best Buy repair shop and the creeps were too lazy to load the software back on it. I've still got a lot to do to load all my programs from backup.

Here are some leftovers for you.

Cinnamon Stillwell notes that Berkeley 'tolerance' only goes one way. Their treatment of a Jewish speaker was downright thuggish.

Mike S. Adams shows just how hypersensitive the 'liberal elite' can be to 'hate speech'. He calls it Hate Speech 101, but to me it looks more like a senior level course in over reaction.

Walter E. Williams asks just what should the role of government be? It used to be about providing citizens with a fair set of rules, but lately it's more about who gets the biggest slice of cake.

The Mayor of San Francisco may have gotten himself into somewhat of a pickle over the city's issuance of marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. While I don't think any public official should willingly violate his oath of office and state Constitution, I think San Francisco is doing the right thing.

In accordance with libertarian principles, allowing gays to marry does not deny anyone else of life, liberty, or property. I've heard argument after argument against gay marriage, and not one has yet been able to demonstrate that gay marriage should be prohibited. In fact, I don't see where government has any business regulating marriage at all. That numerous states are lining up to pass widespread discriminatory laws prohibiting gay marriage, deems that the time for civil disobediance may be at hand. The city of San Francisco, which has a huge homosexual population, needs to take care of their own.

When a minority group is being denied their basic civil rights through the will of the majority, Dr. Martin Luther King said, "An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority compels a minority group to obey, but does not make binding on itself." Dr. King also said, "I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."

By defying the state Constitution and granting civil rights to gays that are already available to all heterosexual couples, San Francisco is doing just that. They are breaking an unjust law and risking legal consequences, in order to force the hand of the oppressive majority.

In case you missed it, Ford rolled out the 2004 Bronco Concept at the North American International Auto Show. Diesels aren't very popular in the United States, but that doesn't stop Ford from trying to blaze the trail with this rugged 2.0 liter turbo diesel.

"The Bronco concept showcases significant advanced powertrain technologies, mating a 2.0-liter intercooled turbo diesel with an efficient six-speed PowerShifttm transmission and Intelligenttm four-wheel-drive system for a powerful, sure-footed off-roader," said Graham Hoare, director, Powertrain Advanced and Research Engineering. "Then comes the fun part. We've added nitrous-oxide injection for a burst of power at your fingertips."

Diesels are usually known for having high torque and modest acceleration, although the nitrous injection system should more than make up for that.

(click to supersize)

When Warner repeatedly said, as a candidate and as governor, that he would "not raise taxes," Virginians took him at his word. When Republican candidates for the state Senate and House declared during the 2003 campaigns that they were "opposed to increasing taxes," they were reelected. Now safely elected, they believe that they can break their word and that their terms of office are long enough that no one will remember by the next elections. -- Former Virginia Governor, James Gilmore responding to the plans to increase taxes $1 Billion that are being championed by Virginia Democrats and their Republican willing accomplices.

"Atheism has been the official stance of most communist countries, including the now defunct Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. Karl Marx, an atheist, wrote that religion is "the opiate of the masses", meaning that it exists in order to blind people to the true state of affairs in a society, and thus make them more amenable to social control and exploitation." -- Definition of Atheism, Wikipedia.

"Atheism lessons planned for schools" -- Headline, The Independent (UK).

The New York Post notes that the NY State Restaurant Ass. has flip flopped on their "no smoking" position. Having previously supported mandatory smoking bans in restaurants, now they've changed their tune.

In a recent statement by the New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA), Executive Vice-President Chuck Hunt noted that "the city's bar, tavern and nightlife operations have suffered mightily as a result of the smoking ban."

In a membership survey the group conducted in November and December of 2003, 76 percent of the respondents reported a decline of 25 percent or more in bar sales and 15 percent or more in food sales.

The cries are falling on NYC Mayor Bloomberg's deaf ears. In fact, Bloomberg, who once referred to business owners as a minor economic issue, is preparing to make matters worse. Currently smokers who still enjoy the NYC night life are taking to the streets to light up, which has local residents complaining about late night noise. One final solution being batted around by Heir Bloomberg will be to crack down on establishments that are open after 1 AM.

(What's next, a curfew for smokers? Perhaps we could tattoo them, or make them wear some sort of badge on their clothing.)

While big government nanny bureaucrats are busy banning the use of cellphones while driving, Arkon Resources gives us the Laptop Steering Wheel Mount.

Apparently now even President Woodrow Wilson is under fire. Bureaucrats in P.G. County don't want Wilson's name on the Wilson Bridge.

The county's director of public works and transportation, Betty Francis, says Wilson defended segregation and deserves less attention. While she isn't opposed to naming the new bridge for Wilson, she doesn't want the P.G. County side of the new span to sport the huge bronze medallion that currently bears his profile on the existing bridge.

For the record, P.G. County is named after the Danish Prince George, husband of Princess Anne, heir to the throne of England. It is located in the state of Maryland, named after Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I of England. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but at the time England was best known for kicking the Indians off their land and for tyrannical rule over the colonies of the New World.

I'm pretty sure they were also segregationists.

Leave it to Venomous Kate to find some cool online video games.

"Study the Constitution. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislatures, and enforced in courts of justice." -- Abraham Lincoln.

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." -- George Washington.

Here is a useful tip for reading news articles. If you are reading articles on a site that requires registration, try entering 'newslinks' as the login and password. If they ask for an email address, try 'newslinks@newslinks.com' as the login and 'newslinks' as the password.

It comes as no surprise that the left leaning Washington Post is still beating the drums that President Bush was a deserter. Like others in the liberal media, they want Bush to prove a negative. That is, he is presumed guilty until he can prove he's innocent. He is presumed to have never even been to Alabama, until he can find someone to prove he was there. However, in trying to make this specious argument, the Post admits that the records he released show that he was there.

But the hundreds of pages of documents did little to answer questions about Bush's military history. Why, for example, is there no definitive documentation -- except a single dental exam -- that places Bush at Dannelly Air National Guard Base in 1972-73 and shows how he performed his temporary duty in the Alabama Guard?

Is definitive proof falling on deaf ears at the Post, or do they really not know what the word definitive means?

When Universal announced that they were slashing the prices of CDs, it was lauded as a step in the right direction for an industry that routinely prices movie soundtracks as much as $10 higher than the movie itself. But the price cut has yet to be realized in the mass market.

That sounded good to album buyers who had long lamented steep costs. But more than four months later, many price tags still top $18 - even for Universal's own artists, such as rapper Eminem - and show no signs of falling.

Universal is blaming the retailers for not cutting their prices, but the retailers claim they are just preserving the same profit margin they had before. Meanwhile, price conscious consumers are buying less high priced CDs, which the RIAA predictably blames solely on music downloading.

Of course, they are also the ones that have yet to pay up on their price fixing settlement.

I feel like puking. Virginia's House Republicans, known scientifically as spineless republicus, came to terms with Democrats and are endorsing an increase in taxes. That their tax hike is "hailed by Democrats" should be all you need to know, but hearing just how lovey dovey the Republicans and Democrats have become is revolting.

"I am so grateful, Mr. Speaker, that we are all coming together," Del. Lionell Spruill Sr. (D-Chesapeake) said as several GOP lawmakers -- punchy from a committee meeting that ended at 2 a.m. -- began singing "Kumbaya" on the House floor. "I am so glad we have taken the first step."

No shit. They actually sang Kumbaya.

Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax) said: "We have truly made progress. We recognize that in order to balance our budget . . . we do, in fact, need a tax increase."

Aides to Gov. Mark R. Warner (D), who wants to raise $1 billion with higher taxes on goods, income, corporations and smokers, said the governor is not embracing the Republican tax plan and has concerns about its impact on the economy.

But they said the question no longer seems to be whether the state needs more money and higher taxes, but how much money and who should be tapped to pay it.

What the legislature is saying is that spending cuts are too politically unpopular. No one wants to risk losing re-election because they decided to cut spending to certain programs. Remember that taxes are seized with the threat of lethal force. What the Va Legislature is saying is that they would rather seize more of your money for their pet programs than risk the political fallout of cutting budgets.

When I was out of work last year, the first thing I did was cut my discretionary spending. Even though I had plenty of money in savings, I knew that I had to cut my spending habits to make that money last through tough times. When governments go through tough times, they don't have to make those sacrifices. They're allowed to seize more money to make ends meet; at the point of a gun, no less.

For those pickup lovers out there who think they are being left out of the retro revolution, take a look at the 2004 Chevy SSR. Retro styling has been all the rage this year, and the SSR is full of it. Modeled after their 1947 to 1953 pickup the SSR will definitely turn some heads. As a pickup though, it may leave a bit to be desired.

(click to supersize)

The Chevy SSR makes 300 horses and 331 ft-lbs of torque out of it's 5.3 liter V8. Cruising around town to show it off, you'll only get about 15 to 19 miles to the gallon, which is sure to make the enviroweenies cry. The compact pickup isn't exactly a workhorse though, with a truck bed that's only about 3 ft by 5 ft. With 300hp under the hood, it should be somewhat quick. But keep in mind that the tiny vehicle also weighs over 5000 lbs, so it isn't exactly the corvette of pickups like some reviewers have claimed.

Also, with a pretty steep base price of over $41,000, it is getting mixed reviews.

Maryland, which has some of the toughest gun laws in the United States, is actually considering becoming a shall issue state. If the bill passes (a huge IF), Marylanders will be able to apply for and receive concealed carry permits. Maryland currently only issues gun permits to friends of politicians and celebrities.

I sure am getting a lot of hate mail from angry newsgroup readers who didn't like my response to being hotlinked. They link an image on my server and steal my bandwidth, and suddenly I'm the one who did something wrong.

Sheesh. Get over it.

If you want to bitch at someone, bitch at the hotlinker or the site moderator (who for this site [GROSS] has yet to remove the offending link.)

States with ever expanding budgets and dwindling revenue have been chomping at the bit to tax internet sales. Most states use the honor system whereby internet purchasers are supposed to voluntarily send in their hard earned money as a tax on their internet purchases. Not surprisingly, that doesn't raise much revenue.

Revenue rarely rises above a few hundred thousand dollars as taxpayers ignore the law when ordering books, CDs, computers and gourmet food on the still mostly tax-free Internet. New York's Legislature, for example, estimated last year that $25 million could be reclaimed, while the governor guessed it would be no more than $5 million. [...]

The 18 states besides New York that have added lines on their income tax forms seeking to recover some of the estimated $10 billion lost nationally each year on uncollected sales taxes for purchases on the Internet and through mail order:

Notice how they refer to money that they have been unable to seize from Americans with terms like "reclaimed" and "lost", as if it was somehow stolen from them. In the eyes of government, it isn't your money, it's theirs. They just haven't yet found a way to get their hands on it yet. Remember forty percent of all money earned in this country is being seized by some level of government.

An obscure, badly photoshopped picture.

A single, one line post with a fortuitous headline... written way back in October.

A Drudge Report about John Kerry and an unnamed intern.

#3 on Google.

#4 on AOL.

Hotlinks from at least 16 22 different newsgroups.

Instalanche (another hotlink, sigh.)

And 20000 of visitors in only a few hours.

Nothing like getting almost two months worth of traffic in one day.

Day	Number of visits	Pages	Hits	Bandwidth
09 Feb 2004	1080	2672	14987	90.76 MB
10 Feb 2004	895	2161	12105	72.97 MB
11 Feb 2004	938	2881	13033	81.21 MB
12 Feb 2004	18773	43448	174493	1.25 GB
13 Feb 2004	13167	29450	108550	1.01 GB

UPDATE: Geez, I was even "Linked!" by AZCentral.

The U.S. Mens Olympic Soccer Team has been eliminated from Olympic competition by Mexico (who errantly refers to the sport as "football"). The game, which was so important to Americans that it wasn't even broadcast on TV in the U.S., was marked with boos during the Star Spangled Banner, and the chanting of "Usama! Usama!", in support of the Saudi Arabian terrorist who killed 3000 Americans on September 11, 2001.

In other news, George Bush plans to continue his pandering to Mexican citizens living illegally in the United States.

British researchers spent months commissioning a study to find out what most of us already knew. Plants benefit from increased carbon dioxide. This is bound to make the global warming chicken littles cry foul, but British researchers have concluded that the Earth can take care of itself. Apparently the increased levels of carbon dioxide (the substance that plants breathe) have been a boon for plants.

Global warming may be slowing as trees in the tropical forests of the Amazon are growing and dying much more quickly, new British research suggests.

The growth rate of trees in the Amazon Basin has nearly doubled in recent decades, which may have helped slow the earth from heating up, according to the research published by The Royal Society.

Of course, I've been saying that for years, and it didn't take me who knows how many months and millions of dollars to reach that conclusion.

When I lived in Atlanta, you couldn't rent a passenger van on election day. The reason being, Democrats would rent all the vans in town to drive people to and from the polls. The core of their no Democrat left behind strategy was to get as many potentially Democrat voters to polls as possible. That said, rocker and Democrat campaigner, Moby, offers up a different strategy.

"No one's talking about how to keep the other side home on Election Day," Moby tells us. "It's a lot easier than you think and it doesn't cost that much. This election can be won by 200,000 votes."
Moby suggests that it's possible to seed doubt among Bush's far-right supporters on the Web.

"You target his natural constituencies," says the Grammy-nominated techno-wizard. "For example, you can go on all the pro-life chat rooms and say you're an outraged right-wing voter and that you know that George Bush drove an ex-girlfriend to an abortion clinic and paid for her to get an abortion.

"Then you go to an anti-immigration Web site chat room and ask, 'What's all this about George Bush proposing amnesty for illegal aliens?'"

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but if I went on the web and started posting lies about Moby in an attempt to lower sales of his next album, that would be slander. If proven, I could be sued for damages.

For all you Buckeye's, Tazteck has the skinny on the Ohio concealed carry permits.

I was raised by Democrats, grew up as a Democrat, voted Democrat, and thought Democrat. Then, between the years 1990 and 2000 the Democrat Party slowly drifted away from me. I had never really believed in all of their principles, and was genuinely split on the issues. During that decade, I was truly disgusted with the actions of some during Gulf War I, and of a select group of others who supported the Clinton Gun Ban of 1994. During the 1998 impeachment of President Clinton, I pretty much hated all politics. The last straw was when Clinton admitted that he had duped all his supporters into defending his sexual promiscuity.

Today, I cannot believe what a wretched, morally bankrupt group of people the Democrats have become (on average). While my list of grievances is growing ever so longer, what has really flamed my shorts lately is the argument over President Bush's military service. I'm no big fan of President Bush, but I grew up in a military family. I've got several friends with military and national guard service, and cannot help but retch whenever I hear the Democrats denigrating the military. Lately there has been a lot of talk that the National Guard is not the real military. John 'F the South' Kerry himself claimed that the National Guard was akin to draft dodging.

"I've said since the day I came back from Vietnam that it was not an issue to me if somebody chose to go to Canada or to go to jail or to be a conscientious objector or to serve in the National Guard or elsewhere."

Kerry continues to dwell on his own service in Vietnam, while pointing out that Bush only served in the National Guard. This is a far different tune than what he was singing in 1992, when he defended Bill Clinton's European Vacation, and complete lack of military service during Vietnam. Back in 1992, Kerry claimed that military service wasn't important.

"We do not need to divide America over who served and how. I have personally always believed that many served in many different ways."

Kerry's attempt to portray himself as a great patriot is laughable. I have no doubt that his military service was admirable, but his behavior after leaving the Army was indeed deplorable. Kerry protested with the likes of Hanoi Jane, and helped found a group called Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The group was lauded by the Communist Vietnamese as being crucial to their will to fight. While our boys were fighting and dying, Kerry testified before Congress that U.S. soldiers in Vietnam were committing war crimes. His testimony gave comfort to our enemies abroad.

They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam...

Kerry went on to conclude that "we cannot fight communism all over the world, and I think we should have learned that lesson by now". If you wonder what kind of President Kerry would be like, read that again and substitute the word communism with terrorism.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no Bush lover. I feel he is doing a good job on the war and tax cuts, but other than that, he's no different than any other big government democrat. But when some Democrats would try to convince you that Bush dodged the draft (by signing up for military service) and that he was AWOL from the National Guard, I cannot support them. Even after Bush released his military records, Democrats like Terry McAuliffe balked. While McAuliffe cannot prove his guilt, all we hear in the liberal media is that Bush cannot "prove" his innocence.

Meanwhile, I think we are all still waiting for Bill Clinton's military records.

UPDATE: Apparently I'm not the only one upset with Kerry's anti-Guard slander.

If there's a point to this story, I can't find it.

"He betrayed this country! He played on our fears. He took America on an ill-conceived foreign adventure dangerous to our troops, an adventure preordained and planned before 9/11 ever took place." -- Former Veep Algore, who apparently is still a bit bitter.

Of course the preordination he's talking about would be the plan to oust Saddam passed on by the Clinton Administration.

The liberal denizens in the media were quick to seize on the inept report from the GFWs at Americans for Gun Banning which claimed that a small fraction of gun dealers were responsible for a large percentage of guns used in crime. The fallacy behind the report is obvious in that it neglects to put the numbers into perspective. That is, without acknowledging how many guns a dealer sold overall, the raw numbers are meaningless.

Well now some of the targeted gun dealers are fighting back with defamation and libel suits against the media, who in many cases implied there was some sort of corruption. Specifically, John Monson, owner of Bill's Gun Shop and Range in Robbinsdale is suing the Minneapolis Star Tribune And Fox 9 KMSP for defamation.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune filed a remarkable story defaming Bills, entitled "Robbinsdale Shop Named in Study of Guns, Crime". They falsely implied, among other things, that Bills is or has been involved in illegal gun trafficking.

Equally remarkable was Channel 9, KMSP TV's defamatory statements regarding Bills, falsely calling into question compliance with federal firearms regulations and falsely implying among other things, that Bills "is a bit shady", an actual quote.

Proving that the perpetually liberal Minneapolis Star Tribune (who refuses to call a suicide bomber a terrorist, and declines to report on the Washington "Redskins" or Cleveland "Indians") may prove difficult. While I have little doubt that they defamed the store, it is hard to prove both the implications and intent. But KMSP's use of the phrase "a bit shady" seems reckless. While it's not a slam dunk, it'll be harder for them to hide behind the First Amendment.

Traffic "safety" cameras may be nearing extinction in Virginia, reports the Washington Times. The move will probably be welcomed by just about everyone except the cash greedy politicians (Va. Gov. Warner included) and the nanny crowd that seems to think anyone with a smile on their face must be up to no good.

A committee in the Virginia House of Delegates has killed a bill that would have expanded red-light traffic cameras statewide. The Virginia Senate, which passed the pro-traffic-camera bill that the House rejected, has also voted to extend pilot programs that allow traffic cameras in some areas. The test cases are set to expire next year. If the House rejects the extension bill, traffic cameras will be banished from the Old Dominion.

Lets hope the House lets the cameras wither on the vine and die. They've never been about safety any way.

Metrosexual men are once again demanding the freedom to wear skirts. Well, technically they already have the freedom to wear skirts, and are just demanding that they be able to wear skirts without being scoffed at.

Related articles:
Sissificaton of America IV - 11/04/2003

Fox News carries the AP