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

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

There are those in this country that would subvert our sovereignty to the United Nations. I firmly believe John Kerry is just such a person. If those forces prevail, our Constitution would be meaningless, and rulings like this would become the norm.

The International Court of Justice on in The Hague has ruled that the United States violated the rights of 51 Mexicans on death row and ordered their cases be reviewed.

The United Nations' highest judiciary, also known as the world court, was considering a suit filed by Mexico claiming 52 convicted murderers were not given their right to assistance from their government.

Of course our sovereignty hasn't been subverted to the U.N., and they can't order us to do shit. I've long been a proponent of kicking the U.N. out of New York City, if for no other reason than their unwillingness to abide by our firearms laws. But asinine rulings like this prove that we should never, under any circumstances, let the U.N. undermine our nation's policies.

What's the diplomatic way of saying to the U.N.: BITE ME! ? This illustrates just how much respect the U.S. currently has for the World Court:

In 2001, a similar case came before the court filed by Germany to stop the execution of two German brothers who also had not been informed of their right to consular assistance. One brother was executed before the court could act. The judges ordered a stay of execution for the second brother, Walter LaGrand, until it could deliberate, but he was executed anyway by the state authorities of Arizona.

We're not about to let some Euro-weenies in Holland tell us what to do.

UPDATE: Something CNN deletes from the AP article is this little tidbit of U.N. arrogance.

Under the court's statute, its judgments are "binding, final and without appeal."

Hahahaha!!

23 dead in Uzbek 'terrorist' clash -- CNN Headline, March 30, 2004.

Apparently Reuters hasn't cornered the market on scare quotes and calling them "islamic militants".

David Larry Nelson, who in 1978 shot and killed James Cash while robbing him and murdered Wilson Thompson to obtain a getaway vehicle, was scheduled to be executed by lethal injecton back in October. The Supreme Court stayed his execution because Nelson's intravenus drug use meant the state of Alabama would have to cut into his arm to find a good vein, reports the Washington Post. Lawyers for the condemned are arguing that the "cut down" procedure is cruel and unusual punishment.

Though he has forfeited his life, [Attorney Bryan] Stevenson replied, Nelson has not forfeited his rights. "He is still entitled to some consideration," he said.

That's more consideration than Nelson gave to Cash and Thompson back on New Years in 1978.

As an aside, it's worth noting that most of Nelson's supporters on the Prison Talk web site appear to be women.

I think I found my write in candidate for November. I like the sound of his "Conservative Radicalism".

Since politicians like to have campaign slogans, instead of "Bring it On!" my slogan might be "Get rid of it!" to describe all the laws, policies, and government agencies that I would abolish. [...]

Cabinet-level departments, for example, would be reduced to just two -- the Defense Department and the State Department, with the latter purged of the weak-kneed internationalist crowd who have dominated it for so long. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, etc., would all be abolished as just money-wasting bureaucracies serving outside special interests, instead of the people whose taxes support them.

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

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

Trial lawyers are still trying to push for reparations for slavery. The fact that American slavery was abolished more than 140 years ago doesn't stop them from finding plenty of plaintiffs. Now they are claiming to have actual proof that certain corporations actually contributed to the enslavement of specific individuals. (Well their great great great grandparents any way.)

Meanwhile, the usual suspects are carted out to cry for the news cameras.

To plaintiff Antoinette Harrell-Miller, the pain from slavery has not subsided.

"I'm talking about the personal injuries on myself," she said.

"I never stopped wondering about my homeland, where did I come from, who are my people. So just because something happened a long time ago, (it) does not mean that the injury stopped affecting the people that was injured," Harrell-Miller said.

A second plaintiff, Queen Mother Delois Blakely, said "words can not express what we have experienced as a people."

She demanded "reparations, reparations, reparations!"

Plaintiff Deadria Farmer-Paellman added that the US government was also responsible: "The companies, along with the US government, have destroyed our identity."

Judges should consider socking these blood suckers with the defendant's legal fees for filing such frivolous lawsuits. They have the power, but they refuse to use it. I wonder if the fact that many judges are former trial lawyers has anything to do with it.

You know, law schools are turning out so many new lawyers each year that by the year 2025, there will actually be more lawyers than people.

(Hat tip to Mays)

Okay, okay. I've put off doing this meme long enough. Basically, I don't read crap like this, and I never figured you'd want to either. But then again, someone must be reading it because I see it being passed around a lot. I figure that while I post a lot and let people in on certain aspects of my life, I generally don't talk about my personal life as much as other folks. So, in an effort to open up and be more {augh} personable, here goes:

* Full Name: Ravenwood
* Birth date: November 28th. (Leaving the year off. Don't want you guys opening a credit card in my name.)
* Birthplace: Virginia
* Current Location: My bedroom
* Eye Color: Brown
* Hair Color: Brown with increasing grey "highlights"
* Height: 6'3"
* Righty or Lefty: right
* Zodiac Sign: If you're into this 70s crap you can figure it out from by birthdate, genius.

LAYER TWO:
* The shoes you wore today: Rockports
* Your weakness: Guns and cigars.
* Your fears: None. I'm fearless.
* Your perfect pizza: Pepperoni and banana peppers.
* Goal you'd like to achieve: Earn my pilot's certificate.

LAYER THREE:
* Your most overused phrase on AIM: LOL
* Your first waking thoughts: Time to make the donuts.
* Your best physical feature: Broad shoulders and a strong back
* Your most missed memory: College daze.

LAYER FOUR:
* Pepsi or Coke: Coke - I'm from the South.
* McDonald's or Burger King: Wendy's
* Single or group dates: Single
* Adidas or Nike: Rockport
* Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Anything fresh brewed.
* Chocolate or Vanilla: Vanilla.
* Cappuccino or coffee: Coke.

LAYER FIVE:
* Smoke: Cigars.
* Cuss: My father was a sailor and my mother, a sailor's wife. What do you think?
* Sing: Only in the car.
* Take a shower everyday: Yes. I'm not French.
* Do you think you've been in love: Yes.
* Want to go to college: Been there, done that.
* Liked high school: Yes, but that was before zero tolerance, political correctness, and metal detectors.
* Want to get married: Probably not. Other people are too hard to live with.
* Believe in yourself: What good Libertarian wouldn't?
* Get motion sickness: No way.
* Think you're attractive: It doesn't matter what I think.
* Think you're a health freak: No. I'm always looking for new ways to pollute my body.
* Get along with your parent(s): Yes. But it takes lots of alcohol sometimes.
* Like thunderstorms: Absolutely.
* Play an instrument: Yes, several.

LAYER SIX:
In the past month:
* Drank alcohol: Who me?
* Smoked: A cigar, yes.
* Done a drug: No.
* Made Out: Yes.
* Gone on a date: Yes.
* Gone to the mall: Yes.
* Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No.
* Eaten sushi: Yes.
* Been on stage: No.
* Been dumped: No.
* Gone skating: No.
* Made homemade cookies: No.
* Gone skinny-dipping: No. It's winter.
* Dyed your hair: No. I'm a man.
* Stolen anything: No.
* You sound boring: At least I'm not the one still reading this crap.

LAYER SEVEN:
Ever:
* Played a game that required removal of clothing: Yes.
* If so, was it mixed company: Of course, I'm not into playing "strip poker" with a bunch of other guys if that's what you mean.
* Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yes, but never trashed enough to play "strip poker" with a bunch of other guys.
* Been caught doing something: Yes, but never caught playing "strip poker" with a bunch of other guys.
* Been called a tease: No. Guys don't tease.
* Gotten beaten up: Well, there was that time I suggested playing.. I mean NO! I've never been beaten up.
* Shoplifted: Once when I was 12. Got caught. Scared me straight.
* Changed who you were to fit in: In college I once walked into a stranger's apartment during her birthday party to get free beer.

LAYER EIGHT:
* Age you hope to be married: I'll die first.
* Numbers and Names of Children: I don't know any children, nor do I have their number. Try someone else, freak.
* Describe your Dream Wedding: Is this meme for chicks? Guys don't dream about weddings. (They're called nightmares.)
* How do you want to die: With my boots on. Also, I never want to be attached to a piece of luggage.
* Where you want to go to college: If I ever go back to get my MBA, it'll probably be Virginia Tech.
* What do you want to be when you grow up: I yam grown up, and I yam what I yam.
* What country would you most like to visit: The United States (The way it used to be, around the 1870s)

LAYER NINE:
* Number of drugs taken illegally: None.
* Number of people I could trust with my life: I'm paranoid, and trust no one.
* Number of CDs that I own: Several hundred, but I haven't bought any since the RIAA started harassing people.
* Number of piercings: None.
* Number of tattoos: None, because they won't do it while I'm drunk.
* Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: Probably three or four.
* Number of scars on my body: Too many to count.
* Number of things in my past that I regret: Well, there was that time I asked my buddies to play... oh nevermind.

LAYER TEN:
What's your favorite:
* Person: I like some people better than others, but I don't have any favorites.
* Song: Again, I don't play favorites.
* Color: None.
* Place: Anyplace with beer.
* Thing(s) to do: Drink, smoke, hang out with friends.
* Position: I'm not picky. I'm pretty much just happy to be there.
* Feature: I look for a woman with a terrific personality. (See how stupid that sounds, ladies.)

LAYER ELEVEN:
* Describe your perfect life partner: I'm looking for a woman who will love me for who I am, and who won't try to change me into what they want me to be. She'll also know when to shut the hell up. So far, I haven't found her.
* Describe your perfect date: The perfect date would be a sexy, intelligent, brunette with ample boobs and a good figure. She wouldn't be too skinny, and would let me pamper her as I see fit. She wouldn't be threatened by a man who opens her door, orders her meal, or picks up the check. A little sex at the end of the night would be nice too, but it's not necessary.

One good thing about cleaning all my crap out of storage is that I get to look through all the old memorabilia that I've collected throughout the ages. While going through some old video tapes and throwing them out, I ran across a tape of some home movies from high school. Not being one to turn down a good reason to put my spring cleaning on hold for a while, I popped the tape in the VCR. There were a few marching band competitions (yes, I was in band) and a skit we did for senior English class. There was also a tape of my high school graduation.

Looking back on it, I don't think of high school graduation as some big event. Actually, looking back on it now it all seems trivial. But at the time it was a big deal. I had forgotten about all the family members that had shown up. This guy was there, as was his mom and brother. That's no small feat considering they lived 600 miles away. His high school chum John was also there. My grandfather and late grandmother were also there with bells on. Another of my Aunts was there with her husband who is since deceased. And of course my older sister and parents were there. My sister was a mere 20 years young, and my father had some strange 1980's style tuft of hair on his upper lip.

I don't even want to talk about the clothes. Everyone pictured looked utterly rediculous, including me. Sure my suit was concealed under my cap and gown but unfortunately our high school colors were powder blue and white (and the gown wasn't white). Thankfully my mom had forced me to get a hair cut. Junior and senior year my hair wasn't exactly long, but it had that typical 1980s thickness to it that came down over the ears. I couldn't imagine letting it get that long today.

What struck me as being most notable about the graduation video wasn't the people, but rather what happened at the end. After all the caps were thrown and after all the speeches were given, someone took to the microphone and offered a prayer. And here, at this government sponsored school function, people of all faiths bowed their head and prayed to God. Does that still happen in this day and age?

Overall the trip down memory lane was enjoyable, and I'm thankful that we had actually captured some of those events on video. It really makes me realize how much time is fleeting. In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."

In case you've been under a rock for the past few days, a Federal Court in New Orleans repealed the Fourth Amendment.

The Fourth Amendment used to read, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." The Court apparently thinks that police entering your home for no reason at all is reasonable.

D.C. Thornton takes John Kerry to task for his political ploy of preaching from the pulpit this weekend.

If politicians want to vie for my vote, they have six days in the week to do so.

I wish black churches would quit being pawns to such campaign publicity and put their feet down to politicians who only come to church when they want to get elected.

In 1996, San Francisco's city budget was $3.1 Billion. This year, it's more than 50% higher at $4.8 Billion. The next fiscal year promises a budget shortfall of $352 Million, and San Francisco liberals are trying to decide just who should pay more. Direct tax increases to citizens are inevitable, but it appears that most of the tax hikes will be born by area businesses.

But John Kosinski, an organizer for SEIU Local 250, representing 15,000 city health care workers, said downtown businesses should pay more. "All (municipal) labor unions gave back last year to help save some of these city programs," Kosinski said, referring to a budget-balancing agreement under which workers, for the first time in years, resumed making contributions to their retirement fund. The city "can't balance the budget on the backs of the workers," he said.

Such is life in liberal la-la-land. Do these people honestly think that workers won't end up paying the price for increased taxation on businesses, or are they trying to deceive the public?

Once again, BUSINESSES DON'T PAY TAXES, THEY COLLECT THEM. Taxes collected by businesses are transferred to customers in the form of higher prices, employees in the form of lower wages and benefits (or less jobs), or shareholders in the form of decreased shareholder equity. Most of the time all three suffer. Kosinski's union constituents may be protected by contracted wages and benefits, which means they'll likely suffer with less jobs (or not as many new jobs). For him to try to claim otherwise means he's either lying or he's stupid.

Demonstrators swarmed the house of political advisor Karl Rove this weekend, demanding citizenship rights for illegal aliens who have willingly violated federal immigration laws.

Several hundred people stormed the small yard of President Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, yesterday afternoon, pounding on his windows, shoving signs at others and challenging Rove to talk to them about a bill that deals with educational opportunities for immigrants.

Eleven year old Christina Haynes from Cleveland promises to vote for Rove if he bestows citizenship priviledges on illegal aliens. Someone should tell Christina that not only is she not old enough to vote, but Karl Rove isn't running for office.

D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has never made it a secret that he intends to use District traffic cameras to generate revenue. And after speeding cameras have proven to be even more profitable than the existing red light cameras, Washington D.C. is rolling out even more of them.

Motorists' fines and fees are projected to raise $21 million as part of an overall plan to boost city revenue by nearly $47 million in fiscal 2005. [...]

The Department of Public Works is expected to increase rush-hour towing to bring in an additional $464,000 and improve booting enforcement to raise $1.78 million.

The city will net more than $7.2 million by doubling its fleet of cars equipped with photo-radar cameras from six to 12. However, the projected gross of $13.7 million might be a conservative estimate. The current fleet of six automated radar cameras generated $19.8 million in the 12 months ending February. Since its inception in July 2001, the speed cameras have generated more than $45 million.

Along with the additional speed cameras, the city plans to raise $624,000 by installing 10 more cameras to catch red-light runners, bringing the total of such cameras in the city to 49. Those cameras, first used in August 1999, have raised $25 million.

I rarely travel into the district as it is, and the increase in traffic cameras doesn't make crossing the river sound any more appealing.

After failing to convince the federal government to permit them to institute a commuter tax on Virginia and Maryland residents, Washington D.C. is using targeted traffic enforcement as a back door tax on commuters. Such a move is not very surprising, and the District finding innovative ways to pay for social programs is nothing new. But you still have to wonder if using criminal fines is the best way to go about it. After all, you would think that the government would want to reduce crime. By tying the annual budget to fines from criminal enforcement, Washington D.C. actually has a vested interest in increasing crime.

OFCC reports that some Ohio Sheriffs are resorting to delay tactics with the new concealed carry law. Chad Baus writes:

In recent days, there have been more and more reports of Ohio sheriffs who claim to be having problems meeting the April 8 start-date for Ohio's new concealed handgun licensure law.

• In Cuyahoga Co., the sheriff's office is telling citizens they won't take applications until their new office space is prepared, perhaps around the end of May.

• In Darke, Stark and Tuscawaras counties, sheriffs are attempting to accept applications "by appointment only".

• In Shelby Co., the sheriff is attempting to add an additional hour-long class (taught by himself) to the requirements for getting a license.

Ohioans For Concealed Carry and the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association wish to remind Ohioans that the law gives sheriffs NO discretion in terms of when they may begin accepting applications, nor for adding additional requirements, nor for delaying the acceptance of license applications via mandatory appointments.

Buckeye State Sheriff's Association Executive Director Bob Cornwell stresses that sheriffs have a "duty under the law" to accept applications on April 8 to "everyone who shows up and files one", and to issue licenses to qualified applicants, within 45 days. Sheriffs must also be prepared to issue temporary emergency licenses to those meeting the requirements, on April 8.

"If the existing assault weapons ban expires, I personally do not believe it will make one [bit] of difference one way or another in terms of our objective which is reducing death and injury and getting particularly lethal class of firearms off the street, so if it doesn't pass, it doesn't pass." -- Tom Diaz, spokesman for the Violence Policy Center.

Of course gun owners knew that already. Only a moron would expect a ban on guns with bayonet lugs and folding stocks to make the bullets less lethal.

"Alcohol related crime" is on the rise in Australia, so one Aussie town has decided to ban it for everyone. Well, it's not a total ban, Aussies will still have an 8-hour window in which to purchase liquor for off premises consumption.

From today, licensees in Derby will be bound by restrictions on the quantities and types of takeaway alcohol they can sell and when they can sell it.

The new rules, handed down by the director of Liquor Licensing, will be trailed for a year and assessed in six months.

They include limiting the sale of full-strength liquor to between noon and 8:00pm and limits to the quantities of wine that can be purchased.

Anyone willing to bet that when they "assess" the progress in six months they haven't made a dent in "alcohol related crimes"? Then they will have to decide whether or not to continue down this road of temperance. If history is any indication, they'll continue to limit the quantities, put a licensing scheme in place for private citizens, and eventually pass step by step bans on all hard alcohol.

Lawmakers are planning on expanding the Virginia portion of I-81 to include a four lane trucks-only road. Personally, I think the money is better spent on upgrading the rail system and encouraging more long haul freight to travel by rail. But then again, I don't have to answer to the Teamster's Union.

Senate Democrats have vowed to block all judicial nominations, because they are upset that the President used his recess appointment powers. In an incredible episode of chutzpa, Tom Daschle claims he is defending the Constitution rather than defying it.

"This White House is insisting on a departure from historic and constitutional practices," Daschle said. "At no point has a president ever used a recess appointment to install a rejected nominee onto the federal bench, and there are intonations there will be even more recess appointments in the coming months.

"We will continue to cooperate in the confirmation of federal judges, but only if the White House gives us the assurance that they will no longer abuse the process, but it will once again respect our Constitution's essential system of checks and balances," Daschle said.

Shortly before his pants burst into flames, Senate Judiciary Stooge Chuckie Schumer parroted Daschle's lies:

"The president's use of recess appointments to circumvent the advise and consent process puts a finger in the eye of the Constitution ... Our caucus is strong, united, and firm in the belief that we are upholding the Constitution and preventing the president from packing the federal bench unilaterally with ideologues. We hope the president has learned that we will not yield; this is an issue of principle, not politics," Schumer said.

Of course, this is nothing more than political posturing. The Senate was given the Constitutional power of "advice and consent" on judicial nominations. The Daschle democrats disobeyed the Consitution by refusing to let the Senate vote on judicial nominations, most notably in the case of Miguel Estrada who dems claimed was "especially dangerous", because "he is Latino".

Daschle's claim that Bush is violating the system of checks and balances is a lie. The filibuster is a Senate procedure not a Constitutional power. The constitutionally mandated votes on the judicial nominations were blocked using this procedure. With the Democrats unwilling to let the Senate carry out their Consitutional job, Bush made recess appointments. This action is also supported by the Consitution, which states: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

So what we have is a President who is performing a task that is clearly laid out in the U.S. Constitution, and a Senator who is using Senate procedures to prevent that from happening. The only justification he can muster for his actions is that he is defending the constitution by not letting "rejected nominees" get to the federal bench. Once more, the nominees haven't been rejected because they haven't even been voted upon.

I have to wonder if Tom Daschle has even read the Consitution; the document which he is sworn to uphold.

Aside from going to a gun show yesterday, this weekend has been all work and no play. At the end of February, Storage USA sent me a letter informing me that they were raising the rates on my storage locker. I had just moved my stuff in a month earlier, so I sent them a nasty-gram expressing my dismay at their slimy business practices. I could understand a periodic increase in rent if I had been using the locker for a year or so, but I had just moved my stuff in and gotten settled. I'm not too happy with the storage locker any way. They don't even have any trash facilities, and the one sole dumpster is surounded by a 10 foot stockade fence, concertina wire, and a mine field. They make it quite clear that tenants are not permitted to use their dumpster.

Since the rent hike started in April, and the slimeballs would not restore my rent to the previous level, I wanted to be out by the end of this month. Of course this was complicated by the fucktards at U-Haul who refused to rent me a trailer. Since U-Haul thinks that we Ford Explorer owners are such awful drivers (their employees mock us on their web site), I had to make repeated trips back and forth between the storage unit and my home. I burned up a full tank of gas and drove an extra 200 miles because U-Haul won't do business with me.

The large furniture went to the Salvation Army a few weeks ago, and I sold off my washer and dryer today. I also set the remaining pieces of furniture out by the dumpster here at my apartment complex. I felt a bit guilty about just setting the furniture out there, but most of it has already been picked up by scavengers. My old desk is gone, as are a nightstand and large microwave that I set out there. I also put an office chair out there that was snatched up while I was still standing there. All the furniture and the microwave were in decent shape and in working order. I just didn't have any room for them. I'm too lazy to have a rummage sale, and don't have the time or energy to stash them until the Salvation Army could make another run.

So, I'm pretty beat right now. I did empty my storage locker but there are tons of boxes sitting around my house. I've still got to take the time to go through all the boxes and throw out any junk. Right now my apartment is a total mess, but I've already put the $200 per month savings from my storage locker to good use. I purchased an .30 M1 carbine at the gun show yesterday.

From the Baltimore Sun:

Kerry starts hunt for dollars to fight GOP's attack ads

"America deserves better than a debate that is simply full of attacks and distortions," Kerry said at the fund-raiser, which campaign officials estimated would rake in $11 million, a Democratic record for direct donations at a single event...

At the same time, Kerry has seen his standing in the polls slip, in a signal that Bush's well-funded attack ads are having an effect with voters...

"Bush's attacks penetrated," said Jim Gerstein, executive director of Democracy Corps. "But Bush's own positives did not go up during this period."

From Bloomberg:

Bush Attack on Kerry Defense Record Fails to Win Lead

With Kerry taking a break in Idaho, his campaign officials have been left to respond to attacks without their candidate...

"Dick Cheney has emerged from his bunker to engage in partisan attacks,'' said Jeanne Shaheen, former governor of New Hampshire and chairwoman of Kerry for President, in one of the statements. "While the leadership of the Bush administration seems focused on destroying John Kerry with false and distorted attacks, we see their foreign policy continuing to fail around the world.'' [...]

The Bush campaign this week is turning to criticism of Kerry's spending proposals, as part of a plan to attack the Democrat as a politician who would raise taxes, weaken the fight against terrorism and constrain economic growth...

Kerry will spend tomorrow in Washington and campaign in Michigan and Missouri Friday and Saturday. He should focus on the loss of jobs under Bush if he wants to overcome attacks before the Nov. 2 election...

From CNN:

Kerry airs response to Bush attack ad

The 30-second message is a response to the first negative ads from the Bush campaign, which attacked the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee...

One of the ads -- named "100 Days" -- is his first TV commercial directly attacking Kerry...

The Kerry team also launched a Web site called "D-bunker" designed to "beat back misleading Bush attacks."

Kerry advisers say part of his strategy is to show he is a candidate who won't back down. They point to an incident this week in which he was caught, in what appeared to be an unguarded moment, calling those who are attacking him "the most crooked, you know, lying group of people I've ever seen."

The Bush campaign called for an apology, but Kerry refused, saying he stands by his comments about a Republican "attack machine."

Front and center on his Web site Friday were the words "No apologies for Republican attack squad."

"I think his message, and the message of our campaign to the Bush campaign, is simply this: we're not going to take it. You can send all these people out, attack Kerry, his patriotism, his service to the country -- we're simply not going to take it, we're going to push back" Devine said.

This is pretty disturbing and smacks of tyranny. Government police raid a man's home and seize 57 firearms. What happened next is pretty incredible.

The man was committed to a psychiatric hospital after the raid. He has since been released and is seeking to have his weapons returned, Berger said. However, under state and federal law, police can confiscate the weapons of those committed for mental health problems.

That's right, police raid a man's home, involuntarily commit him to a mental institution, and then refuse to give him his guns back because he has a history of being involuntarily committed to a mental institution. What's to stop any anti-gun government (like Illinois, California, New York, New Jersey, etc. etc.) from doing this?

I'm not a very devout person, but I certainly wouldn't show up to church in a skiing outfit.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry made a stop at a Catholic church during his Idaho vacation Sunday to attend Mass, loudly arriving 11 minutes late and wearing a ski suit.

According to a report in the American Spectator, a senior staff member in the Kerry Campaign said, "It was just a media-op. We set it up with some reporters that we knew were going to be there."

Santa Fe is considering a requirement for doggie seat belts. How long before animal rights wackos all over the world pick this one up and run with it?

There's lots of good economic news going around out there. Jobless claims hit a three year low, hiring is on the rise, home sales rose 2%, and the economy grew at 4.1% last quarter. All this, and it is expected to get better.

Now lets watch how the Democrats put a negative spin on this. The useful idiots at Democratic Underground are already calling it a Bush conspiracy. cmorea claims: "Just like all the scientists and security analysts who come up with their best work and are told 'WRONG ANSWER!' Then, they come back with the figures that bush wants and they get to keep their job." The Miami Herald seems to agree.

America's buoyant economic recovery could largely be a statistical illusion, according to research released this weekend.

Last year's growth may be half the official figure, which would explain the lack of job creation which is damaging President Bush's re-election chances.

My guess is that they'll continue to harp on the high 5.6% unemployment rate.

Reader Tom Scott thinks there must be something in the water up there in Alaska. A man who used lethal force to fend off a moose that was attacking him is taking a lot of heat from the local yokels. Mike Vogel was out skiing around when the moose attacked him. Having been attacked by a moose in the past, Vogel came prepared this time. He unilaterally used his .44 caliber pistol to initiate regime change on the offending creature, but his neighbors think that he should have tried 12 years of appeasement and UN-style sanctions first.

First up is Steve Ryan, who thinks that simply detouring around the moose would be sufficient. He claims to be able to ride circles around slow dimwitted mooses, and figures a guy on skis could easily do the same.

Next we have Theresa Philbrick, who thinks that Mr. Vogel should lose his concealed carry permit. I think Mr. Vogel would probably go along with that considering that since they switched to "Vermont-style" concealed carry, Alaska doesn't require a permit anymore.

Last but certainly not least, we have David Harnell. Harnell says that it's Vogel's own fault for putting himself in that situation in the first place. By taking a few modest precautionary steps, he could have easily avoided confrontation with the moose. Harnell suggests that skiers travel in large groups of friends, never take their dog out of the house, and carry an air horn and pepper spray instead of one of those evil, mind-affecting guns. Either that or, according to Harnell, he should simply move to moose-free Michigan.

Those are all good suggestions, but it seems to me that sitting down and talking with the moose would be the best option. Once you understand Bulwinkle, perhaps you can figure out why he hates us.

I went to lunch with some of my employees today and one of them pointed out James Carville. When he wasn't rudely chatting away on his cell phone, he was dining with his family a few rows over. He seems a bit shorter in person than on TV, but he still pretty much looks like a giant penis. I resisted the urge to go up and kick him in the nuts.

Normally anti-gun articles get my panties in a bind, but this one had me laughing my ass off part way through. The hit piece is so filled with spelling and gramatical errors that I thought it might be some sort of parody. And this guy is the editor.

(Hat tip to Say Uncle)

"I was born a Democrat and I expect I'll be a Democrat until the day I leave this earth. But I have grown mighty frustrated with the direction my party has taken over the last few years. National Democratic leaders today are moving further and further away from the principles that made our party great." -- Georgia Democrat Senator Zell Miller, on why he supports Bush over Kerry.

The Virginia legislature passed an anti-price gouging bill that will prevent people from profiting from natural disasters like last year's Hurricane Isabel. The great Walter E. Williams gives us an economics lesson on why this won't work, and what Virginians should expect the next time around.

In Isabel's wake, private contractors from nearby states brought their heavy equipment to Virginia to clear fallen trees from people's houses. Producers and shippers of generators, plywood and other vital supplies worked overtime to increase the flow of these goods to Virginians. What was it that got these people and millions of others to help their fellow man in time of need? Was it admonitions from George Bush? Was it conscience or love for one's fellow man?

I'll tell you what it was. It was rising prices and the opportunity for people to cash in on windfall profits.

There's that evil word: profit. But anyone with an IQ over 85 should realize that business owners in other states aren't going to bend over backwards to help us if they aren't allowed to profit from it. Profit is what makes the capitalist world go 'round, and eliminating that incentive will prolong the cleanup of the next hurricane.

Lately I've stopped giving free publicity to the terrorist group, PETA. Many of their stunts are mostly about whoring for publicity. Especially those where they try to get some town to rename themselves from Cowkillerville to Cuteandfuzzybunnytown. But I have to say that this latest stunt sounds pretty cool, and that I really want one of these buckets of blood.

Of course it won't make me eat chicken any less. Ironically, it will actually make me eat at KFC more just to try to get one of the free novelties. I don't know what I'd do with it, but a bucket of fake blood and chicken entrails might actually make a cool Halloween prop. It could also be used to further my fledgling Americans for Chicken Safety campaign.

A bunch of French Canuckers booed the Stars and Stripes at a school "parade of flags" assembly, and jeered an eighth grade U.S. born girl causing her to cry. For those of you that don't know much about Canada, Quebecers are known (even amongst normal Canadians) for their rudeness. They put the French in French Canadian.

I tend to be thick skinned about these sorts of things. Having once worked for a Canadian company, I've known many of them and come to like our neighbors to the North. I know that many of them are misguided on the war in Iraq, gun control, and their various socialist programs. But overall, I still have a positive impression of their people.

I'm even thick skinned when it comes to the French. Sure, I hate France like every good American should. I've also only ever met one French person I would call a friend (she knows who she is) and aside from that one exception, I generally detest French people. Still, no matter how much the French run us down or burn our flag, I don't go around renaming french fries, or refusing to eat french dressing, french bread, and French's mustard. That's because I know that no matter how bad they say we are, I know that at least we aren't French.

"I don't like the idea of government sanctioned marriage to begin with." -- Ravenwood, February 5, 2004.

"Oregon county bans all marriage" -- Reuters Headline, March 23, 2004.

Letting the government regulate marriage turned it from a right into a privilege. Now Benton County, Oregon has taken away that privilege. This kind of thing happens to gun owners all the time.

The carnage in Madrid - and the public hearings this week on the 9/11 attacks - ought to remind us of the need to limit our own vulnerabilities. Yet on the site of America's greatest terrorist tragedy, where no reminder should be necessary, such thinking is virtually nonexistent. -- Daniel Benjamin of the New York Times who seems to think that rebuilding the World Trade Center is reckless and will only make the terrorists hate us more.

It's no secret that California liberals like to stifle business and competition, and then bitch about the lack of jobs and poor economy. Now San Francisco (80% to keep Gray Davis) plans to take socialism one step further by banning chain stores.

The amendments to the city's planning code would ban all chain stores in a four-block area of Hayes Valley, require additional permit reviews in Cole Valley, and require chains to notify neighbors if they intend to raise golden arches in one of the city's three-dozen commercial retail neighborhoods, including North Beach, Clement Street, the Castro and the Inner Sunset. [...]

Chains, say opponents, don't keep money in the neighborhood. Chain outlets are less likely to patronize local lawyers, accountants and suppliers, relying instead on help from the corporate office out of town, foes maintain.

These morons actually think that by limiting competition and keeping prices artificially high, they're helping the economy.

And you thought Americans were litigious.

BERLIN - Violinists at a German orchestra are suing for a pay raise on the grounds that they play many more notes per concert than their colleagues do.

They also claim that giving bonuses to soloists is unfair.

Europe's pro-appeasement approach is not exactly surprising. What is surprising is their inability to learn from the past. Thomas Sowell takes a look at what appeasement has led to in the past.

Throwing others to the wolves is a strategy that has been tried before. France threw Czechoslovakia to the wolves in 1938 to try to buy off Hitler. Less than two years later, Hitler's armies invaded France -- using, among other things, tanks made in Czechoslovakia.

Those who are impressed with French airs of sophistication and condescension toward the United States should check out the hard facts about French foreign policy over the past century -- which has been one short-sighted disaster after another. They have been consistently too clever by half -- at Versailles in 1919, at Munich in 1938, and in Algiers and Vietnam in the 1950s.

The only thing I would have added is that when England and France signed the Munich agreement giving large parts of Czechoslovakia to Hitler, Czech leaders weren't even invited to the meeting. You might even say that France was acting unilaterally.

According to a CNN poll, more people are worried about gas prices than terrorism.

There has been a big kerfuffle lately surrounding some former Reagan/Bush/Clinton stooge that coincidentally has a book to sell. Former White House staffer turned author and Bush critic, Dick Clarke, was given a lot of prime time coverage on CBS' 60 Minutes this Sunday. Viacom, CBS' parent company, as it turns out had a huge financial interest in the "news" story. Drudge points out that the very book that Clarke was hawking on 60 Minutes is being published by Viacom. As media outlets are turning into huge multi-media conglomerates, product placement like this is becoming more common.

The real losers are the viewers. They think they're watching a legitimate news program, but are instead being sold a bag of goods

Ohio has stepped up their efforts to combat drinking and driving, by tagging convicted offenders with a scarlet letter. Fox (search) News reports that "a new state law in Ohio requires judges to brand convicted drunk drivers with special 'scarlet letter' license plates -- with red numbers on a yellow background so other motorists will know exactly what they've done."

People generally think this is okay because drunk driving is so unpopular, and the law only impacts a minority of people. However, as lawmakers lower the allowed blood alcohol content and make it much easier to be considered a drunk driver, more of these plates will be issued. The other slippery slope argument is that this could easily expand into other areas. If the program becomes popular enough, how long before activists start demanding their own 'scarlet letter' license plates? Today it's drunk drivers, but tomorrow it could be deadbeat dads, tax delinquents, or even those evil, horrible smokers.

Owen Courreges is taking Virginia Governor Mark Warner to task for breaking his promise not to raise taxes. As Owen points out, not only did Warner break his promise, but now he's claiming that he never made the promise in the first place. See how he lies when asked about it:

Q. During your campaign in 2001, you vowed not to raise taxes...

A. What I said in 2001 was that my intent was not to raise taxes.

Actual quote from Warner in 2001, cited in the Richmond-Times Dispatch:

''I will not raise taxes! I will not raise taxes! I will not raise taxes!"

You can see how Virginians may have mistakenly concluded that Warner wouldn't raise taxes.

Aside from denying that he ever said he wouldn't raise taxes, now Warner will do anything to prevent voters from deciding the issue of tax increases. He even went so far as to say that letting the voters decide would be extremely irresponsible. Considering they were stupid enough to put his sleazy ass in office, perhaps he's right.

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

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

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

NewsMax reports that NBC newswoman Andrea Mitchell is gushing over a Hillary veep nomination. On Chris Matthew's show, Mitchell claimed that Hillary is a long shot for the veep nod. "According to Republicans and Democrats on the Hill in the cloakrooms, she is interested in running," Mitchell said.

Would Kerry really be so stupid as to nominate Hillary? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be the one standing there just one bullet away from a Hillary Clinton Presidency. Perhaps Kerry should ask, "What would Vince Foster do?"

Al-Qaeda is claiming that they have nukes that will fit into a briefcase. Meanwhile Spain is moving toward appeasement, and the Democrats have nominated a candidate who thinks terrorism is a police matter.

So, does al-Qaeda really have brief case nukes, or are they just boasting? Well, peaceniks claim that Saddam Hussein didn't really have weapons of mass distruction and because of that, the War in Iraq was unjustified. I guess that means that the war against al-Qaeda is also unjustified if they don't really have nukes?

Anti-smokers in California weren't happy with usurping the property rights of bar and restaurant owners, so now they are taking aim at public beaches. Several coastal beaches have already passed smoking bans, and Los Angeles is well on the way. While the puritans have always made false claims that second hand smoke causes cancer, now they are claiming that it is important to protect people from trash.

"This is really a very basic issue, which is that the community is standing up to protect its youth and citizens from tobacco smoke and litter," says Judy Strang, executive director of Youth Tobacco Prevention Corps.

Smoke nazis already air TV ads that claim smokers are stupid, so painting them as litter bugs is just another form of demonization. But you'd have to be a crackpot to believe that a cigarette butt lying on the ground is somehow harmful.

As for the amount of litter, the anti-smokers are indeed making some dubious claims.

After a routine beach cleanup produced 6,300 butts in one hour at the 1.5-mile-long Solana Beach, the group took a tub of cigarette refuse to city hall.

6300 cigarette butts in an hour is 105 per minute, or 1.75 per second. If there were 100 volunteers cleaning up the beach, that would mean each volunteer found one cigarette butt about every minute. That isn't exactly a hard feat to accomplish, but it still makes me wonder, if they found a cigarette butt every minute what were they picking up the rest of the time? If they found 6300 butts, how many used condoms did they find? What about medical waste, and fast food debris? And just who was counting all these butts? It just seems to me like they were out there purposely looking for cigarette butts, and passing over other forms of litter. My theory is bolstered by this little gem:

Months later, a more formal Solana Beach cleanup event still garnered 230 pounds of refuse, 60 percent of which consisted of wet cigarette butts.

(More formal cleanup? I can just picture them out there in tuxedos.) So 60% of the 230 pounds of litter collected was wet cigarette butts. (How did they get wet?) That works out to 138 pounds of cigarette butts. If you still don't think they were purposely targeting cigarette butts, check out this claim.

Cigarette butts do not biodegrade, and they contain 200 known poisons, 63 of which are shown to cause cancer.

That's right, according to the pleasure police, the cotton and paper in a cigarette butt don't degrade, and they are packed with cancer causing poisons. Just how a cigarette butt causes cancer isn't stated. I'm not sure if people are eating the cigarette butts, rubbing them on themselves, or if simply getting to close to them will cause the cancer demons to jump into your body. If that's true, the surgeon general should start putting warning labels on ashtrays, gutters, and other places that cigarette butts have been known to congregate. I'd hate to get to close to one of those nasty things and get some of that cancer poison on me.

I finally got around to testing out the AR-15 yesterday. The good news is that even though I built the gun itself, it didn't blow up in my face. I put 60 rounds through it, and they all fed flawlessly. Unfortunately, we had gale force winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour yesterday. Since I was at an outdoor range, I wasn't really able to test the accuracy of the rifle.

I set up the target stand with my paper target securely stapled to the cardboard. Unfortunately, by the time I got done testing my BLR .308 (which was deadly accurate in spite of the wind) the paper target had blown away. As I was putting the BLR away and loading up the AR-15, my paper target caught a gust of wind. I never really even saw it go, I just noticed I was aiming at the used target that was left underneath. Since the range was still hot, I figured I'd make the best of it and shoot at the used target, even though it was already full of holes.

During the next mag change, that one blew away revealing what was left of a third target underneath. The range safety officer still wasn't calling cease fire, so I spent another mag full at the this one. I was better off than the guy next to me, that lost his whole stand half way through. The wind was really bad, but I was determined to test out the AR and make sure it was functioning properly.

About when I finished, the range officer called cease fire. I was ready to call it a day any way, so I headed down range to collect the target stand. As I neared the stand, I noticed that about 4 of my 60 rounds had dropped severely and impacted the target stand directly. I say 'noticed' in that I was shooting steel core ammo that I had picked up at a gun show, and there were four very noticeable holes in the 1/4" steel frame of the target stand. They don't have a rule against using steel core ammo, and ordinarily it isn't a problem. But I still felt really bad about damaging the target stand.

Angel Shamaya from Keep and Bear Arms enumerates the reasons not to vote for George W. Bush. (paraphrased)

Even after he'd won the election, President Bush voiced support for the Clinton/Feinstein "assault weapon" ban.

President Bush's Administration opposed U.S. Supreme Court review of a valid Second Amendment case (U.S. v. Emerson).

President Bush's Administration also played insulting roles in three other Second Amendment cases:
A) Direct Opposition to U.S. v. Thomas Lamar Bean
B) Silence and Indifference Throughout Silveira v. Lockyer
C) Anti-Second Amendment Nonsense in Seegars v. Ashcroft

President Bush's Administration snubbed tens of thousands of gun owners when they submitted a Petition for the Enforcement of the Second Amendment.

President Bush praises and defends the insultingly-named "USA PATRIOT" Act, which includes numerous provisions that pave the way for widespread violations of Americans' basic rights.

With Mr. Bush's enthusiastic support, the BATF -- an entire anti-Second Amendment federal agency -- was moved under the Justice Department.

Under Mr. Bush's Administration, the right of the people to keep and bear arms (and many other fundamental rights) is even absent from the new Constitution of a nation our troops are allegedly "liberating."

Bush supporters argue that he is better than the alternative. I hate to burst your bubble, but electing the lesser of two evils doesn't exactly motivate me to go to the polls in favor of Bush, and it certainly doesn't motivate me to send him any money.

Will I vote for Bush? Probably. Can he count on my support? Not likely. If the election is at all close, he's going to be in a lot of trouble.

"I wonder if it would be innapropriate to suggest that the Secret Service guys pass on taking a bullet for Kerry's worthless hide? Good SS agents are hard to come by, and worthless politicians are a dime a dozen." -- Musings of The GeekWithA.45.

Liberal Utopia is a fairly new site, but I'm liking it already.

I went to see Dawn of the Dead last night with a group of friends. It was a surprisingly fun movie, but not very scary. Oh, there were parts where things would jump out at you and startle you, but there was none of the suspense and tension you see with a movie like the Shining or Alien. Overall, I would recommend it. It was pretty gory and some of the women (and one of the men) kept covering their eyes. But in the end it was just a really fun movie to sit through and laugh at. I don't want to give anything away, but if you do go see it, see if you can count all the horror movie cliches that they pull out. (Figuring out who was going to live and who was going to die was pretty easy.)

Kerry Dunn, a California psychology professor, was preparing to give a lecture about racism when her car was vandalized. The words "shut up" were scrawled on it, and it was covered with racist and anti-semitic slurs. But as Scott Norvell points out, it wasn't really the 'hate crime' that she made it out to be.

Police say a California professor's claim that her car was vandalized in a racially motivated hate crime have turned out to be a hoax, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Kerri Dunn, a psychology professor at Claremont McKenna College, was preparing to give a lecture about racism on campus when she claimed someone scrawled the words "shut up" along with racist and anti-semitic slurs. She said she was targeted for her outspokenness about injustice on campus.

Now, police say she vandalized that car herself.

Campus leaders last week had condemned the vandalism as a hate crime, shut down the Claremont consortium of colleges for a day of anti-hate rallies and called in FBI investigators.

Police will likely charge her for filing a false police report, and she could face felony charges of lying to federal investigators. There was no mention of it, but if she also tried to collect insurance damages, she could face fraud charges as well.

Dunn's supporters claim that even if she did lie about the situation, she still raised awareness about hate crimes. They think the end justified the means. If only we could convince gun grabbers like Sarah Brady to help out their cause by staging their own shooting deaths.

"I think Kerry would be much more willing to listen to the voices of people and of the rest of the world... But in the U.S., the Jewish lobby is very strong, and any American who wants to become president cannot change the policy toward Palestine radically." -- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad endorsing John Kerry for President. Mahathir is such a scumbag that even Kerry called him "an avowed anti-Semite whose views are totally deplorable".

Several House lawmakers are planning to introduce a bill that would allow them to overrule the Supreme Court of the United States. With Justices like Sandra Day O'Connor, who ruled that racial discrimination is okay for another 25 years, and once claimed that future rulings should be based on international law rather than the U.S. Constitution (which she is sworn to uphold), this may not be such a bad idea. But even though I don't like the idea of idealogues like O'Connor having little accountability, I don't think that giving a power hungry Congress even more power is the way to go. Besides, the SCOTUS would undoubtedly rule that such a law is unconstitutional.

This is nothing more than a Legislative power grab, and a step closer toward totalitarianism. If they were really worried about rogue justices not upholding their oath of office, they would take steps to remove them. Supreme Court justices are not immune from impeachment, so if legislators are really concerned perhaps they should learn to use their impeachment powers.

FOOTNOTE: To show you how behind the times I am, Say Uncle had this two days ago. He theorizes that it may be Constitutional. The only problem with that is that it is the SCOTUS that says what is Constitutional and what isn't.

D.C. area radio station WMAL appears to be the first media outlet to acknowledge how abusive the MWAA's power really is.

If you're packin' heat on the Dulles Toll Road, then you're cruisin' for a bruisin'.

Most people probably don't know it, but it turns out it's illegal to have a weapon on the highway because it's on land owned by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. And it's not just guns -- knives and other weapons are off-limits, just like they are inside the airport terminal. [...]

Along with the Toll Road, that also includes a stretch of Route-28, from approximately US 50 to Route-606.

Keep in mind that concealed guns aren't the only thing for which you can get into trouble. MWAA can subject you to airport regulations, just like you were trying to walk through the metal detectors to board a flight. That means a sharp nail file or pen knife can get you arrested during your afternoon commute. They claim they won't abuse their power, but why give them that chance?

"How any parent or caring human being looking at the carnage on the streets of this country and not want to outlaw guns I can't quite understand." -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, expressing his desire to outlaw all firearms. Last year Bloomberg effectively outlawed cigarettes.

New York City, Chicago, and Washington D.C. continue to be plagued with gun violence, despite the fact that handguns are already effectively banned. How this moron can think that doing more of the same will somehow have a different result, I can't quite understand.

VCDL President Phillip Van Cleave reports on what's happening to our neighbors to the North. They are debating both a state wide version of the Clinton Gun Ban, and concealed carry (which has an obvious impact on Virginians who spend time in Maryland). Van Cleave notes that all the gun bills were being heard at once, and that both pro-gun and anti-gun activists were present to tell their side. How he could sit in the same room as Sarah 'gimme your gun' Brady is beyond me, but check out the typical treatment the anti-gunners got from the press.

As Sarah Brady spoke the TV cameras were rolling. As soon as she and the anti's gave their side, the news cameras packed up and left. The opponents (pro-gun) then spoke to the committee.

Apparently John Lott was there and got to speak, but Phillip doesn't think it will do any good. The Maryland AWB and the 'shall issue' bills seem to be tied together. Van Cleave thinks that they might both go bust in a sort of 'mutually assured destruction'.

The U.S. House of Representatives proposed a bill that "commends the members of the U.S. Armed Forces and Coalition forces for liberating Iraq and expresses its gratitude for their valiant service." The bill was a symbolic measure recognizing that our troops did a wonderful job dispatching Saddam Hussein, and thanked them for putting their lives on the line for our nation.

The measure passed, 228-195. Every Democrat except Rodney Alexander D-LA and Lincoln Davis D-TN voted against it.

UPDATE: Taranto points out that on the final vote only 93 congressmen (90 Dems, 2 Reps, and 1 Ind.) voted 'No' on the bill. I guess the others were voting against it before they voted for it.

"I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." -- John 'Flip-flop' Kerry, pointing out that he didn't really vote to de-fund U.S. troops in Iraq. It just appeared that way.

If you aren't celebrating it today, I hope you are at least drinking some green beer this weekend. St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays, and not just because I like to booze it up. In the days of pleasure police and the PC nazis, having a drinking holiday around is a refreshing reminder of the finer things in life.

I encourage everyone to live by The General's motto.

Live the good life. Drink, smoke, gamble, feast, joke, fornicate and be tolerant of those who do. Take risks and thrive for the good challenge. Work hard and play hard without going over the edge. Live in the moment. Believe in moderation in all things, including moderation. Live it up!

Life is finite. You might as well enjoy it while you can. Drive an SUV, smoke if you want to, drink, fornicate. Do what you want, as long as you don't deprive anyone else in their pursuit of the same.

Live free or die, brother. Live free or die.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

(link via Mays.)

John Kerry hasn't been doing the job he was elected to do, having missed 292 (or a whopping 64%) of the votes in 2003. In 2004, he has already missed 22 Senate votes. Despite doing very little work over the past 14 months, Kerry has collected all of his paychecks, and that has some conservative groups ticked off.

A U.S. senator is permitted to be absent from his duties when there is a serious illness by the elected official or an immediate family member.

The law clearly states that if a senator fails to meet this requirement and is not present in the Senate chambers while it is in session, then a portion of his pay must be taken away from him.

Despite this, the Senate secretary has not been deducting any of Kerry's pay while he has been absent from his duties in the Senate.

When approached by the American Conservative Union about enforcing the law, the Senate Secretary claimed that previous secretaries had not upheld the law, and that she wasn't about to start. The ACU plans to sue to force the Secretary to do her job and dock Kerry's pay.

Now this may be nitpicking a bit. After all, the only ones who really have a valid complaint are the residents of Taxachusetts that aren't being provided proper representation. Personally, there are about 20 other Senators I'd like to see not showing up for work. But I will admit that if they are not going to enforce the law, then the Senate should at least remove it from the books.

While I will admit that flipping a cop or his SUV the bird while you've got outstanding arrest warrants isn't the smartest thing to do, I didn't realize it gave cops the right to give people the business.

I seriously doubt this plain clothes sheriff was just innocently driving along when he was given the offending gesture. They provide no evidence, but most likely he was being somewhat of a jerk or a road warrior when an Indiana woman gave him the bird. But what happened next sounds a lot like harrassment. (emphasis mine)

Officers pulled her over and ran a routine check on her license plate. The check turned up outstanding warrants for the woman and her husband.

To top it off, officials say they found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the car.

A routine check? Is it routine to pull people over and run their information, or is that treatment reserved for those who dare to express their dissatisfaction with another driver who, in this case, turned out to be a police officer?

I am truly conflicted. On the one hand I have little sympathy for someone with outstanding arrest warrants, while on the other hand I cannot help but think this woman was being unfairly singled out.

Kerry has been racking up endorsements from the French, reports James Taranto. With his attitude of terrorist appeasement, the French seem to view him as one of their own.

"He is very much admired in France," said a municipal office worker, Patrick Forestier, as he strolled with his lunch through the Latin Quarter. "It seems like he will be more sympathetic to Europe. . . . And of course anyone who is opposed to Bush will be popular with us."

A shop worker on Boulevard St-Germain, Dominique Van Oudenhove, said Mr. Kerry seems the perfect antidote to four years of Mr. Bush.

"It is so important to have a president who knows Europe, whose spirit is open to its people and culture. Bush is so closed to the world. With Kerry there is a hope that we can start getting along with the United States again," she said.

Mrs. Borde said the French see in Mr. Kerry the kind of leader they are more accustomed to.

"He is the closest thing that you will have to a French politician, with a certain diplomacy, a certain elegance," she said."He is more like a leader would be in Europe," Mr. Parmentier said. Asked in what way, he laughed and replied: "Well, he doesn't look Texan."

For those of you that may have forgotten, here is what years of European appeasment have led to in the past:

Didn't we used to shoot these assholes? Apparently a bunch of Taxachusetts peace mongers cheered him on as he turned hims