Iraqi citizens wouldn't let themselves be intimidated by terrorists, and turned out to vote in droves.

Officials have said it could take up to 10 days to get final election results, but officials said initial reports indicated voter turnout appeared to be higher than expected, even in Sunni areas where insurgent attacks have occurred on a near daily basis. [...]

In the southern city of Basra, ITN's Juliet Bremner reported that turnout was almost 90 percent. She said voting was peaceful and orderly, with elated Shiites -- oppressed for decades under Saddam -- "determined to cast their votes in their desire for freedom, peace and food."

But amid the stories of Iraqis defiantly waving their ink stained fingers in the air (showing that they had voted), and people walking miles to get to polling places, not everyone was happy this weekend. That's right, John Kerry was still bitter and making a complete ass of himself on Meet the Press:

KERRY: It is significant that there is a vote in Iraq. But no one in the United States or in the world--and I'm confident of what the world response will be. No one in the United States should try to overhype this election...

RUSSERT: Do you believe this election will be seen by the world community as legitimate?

KERRY: A kind of legitimacy. I mean, it's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't vote and doesn't vote.

I think this election was important. I was for the election taking place.

Some on the left have gone to great lengths to cast doubt on the legitimacy of this election. The fact of the matter remains, that any free election held would have legitimacy. The same way that President Lincoln was elected in 1864, even though Confederate states did not take part in the election.

Kerry's derision, and that of those on the left smacks of bitter partisan politics. No doubt if there man were at the helm, they would be calling this a huge political victory.

UPDATE: At least some people in the U.S. are showing solidarity with the Iraqis.

Officials at a New England school district are ticked off at George W. Bush for making them accountable with his 'No Child Left Behind' act. So, they are taking it out on their kids by cancelling the annual spelling bee.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Newman said the decision to scuttle the event was reached shortly after the January 2004 bee in a unanimous decision by herself and the district's elementary school principals.

The administrators decided to eliminate the spelling bee, because they feel it runs afoul of the mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

"No Child Left Behind says all kids must reach high standards," Newman said. "It's our responsibility to find as many ways as possible to accomplish this."

The administrators agreed, Newman said, that a spelling bee doesn't meet the criteria of all children reaching high standards -- because there can only be one winner, leaving all other students behind.

"It's about one kid winning, several making it to the top and leaving all others behind. That's contrary to No Child Left Behind," Newman said. [...]

"There was no debate at all. It was one of the easiest decisions," the assistant superintendent said because "there was no question among the administrators" that a spelling bee was "contrary to the expectations" of No Child Left Behind.

And this woman is supposedly qualified to look out for the best interests of people's children. If I had kids, I wouldn't let her near them.

(Hat tip to James Taranto.)

UPDATE: After very public pressure, the school system has decided not to cancel the spelling bee.

Diversity advocates say we should be accepting of all types, but let one guy bring a bikini-wearing doughnut girl to work and all hell breaks loose.

About 5 a.m. last Friday, a retiring employee reporting for his last day at work brought a bikini-clad woman with him, said John Osgood, deputy manager of the Department of Public Works.

As other employees reported to work, "she was standing there asking them if they wanted a doughnut," he said. advertisement

After 20 minutes, the woman left. No female employees happened to be present, but between 10 and 15 workers saw the woman, Osgood said.

After a city investigation, a work-group supervisor in the solid waste services division was fired Thursday and two other work-group supervisors were disciplined. Their names have not been released. [...]

The Public Works employees "have worked hard over the past three years to develop a culture that . . . respects diversity," Councilwoman Pam Goronkin said.

Yeah, except when that diversity includes a nice young girl like this.

It looks like an internet sales tax is on the way. Dozens of states are ticked off that they have been thus far unable to tax internet sales that cross state lines. But what is most disturbing is their whole attitude about taxation.

At stake for the states is potentially billions of dollars a year in revenue that is currently going uncollected. A study released last July by the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures estimated that state and local governments lost $15.5 billion to $16.1 billion in 2003 in revenue from untaxed Internet sales.

That's right, if you buy a DVD from a guy in another state and don't mail in your 50-cents tribute, the states are somehow losing money.

Thankfully the Virginia Senate defeated the gun show killer bill last week. But the usual suspects in the media are still ratcheting up the rhetoric.

Gun buyers, including criminals, can continue to avoid background checks by doing business with unlicensed dealers at Virginia gun shows.

The Senate voted 20-17 yesterday to kill Sen. Henry L. Marsh III's bill requiring criminal-background checks on all purchasers at gun shows. State law requires federally licensed dealers to conduct the checks at gun shows, but it exempts unlicensed vendors, such as gun collectors and private sellers.

So if you sell your used car to your neighbor, you must be an unlicensed used car dealer.

Mr. Marsh, Richmond Democrat, said Virginia is the only state along the coast from North Carolina to the Canadian border that has not closed "the gun-show loophole."

That's because we border the North East, which includes gun control paradises such as Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts.

If you think putting your safety in the hands of a burglar alarm is a good idea, think again.

Police in a prosperous Californian city near San Francisco will begin ignoring most burglar alarms, prompted by too many false alarms and too little money.

Fremont police said the overwhelming majority of warning signals they receive are false alarms that cost the city $600,000 a year. Because of budget cuts, starting next month they will only respond if they have additional verification, such as a video feed of a crime occurring or a witness report.

Remember, Police Officers are able to prevent only about 5% of crime. The other 95% the police are simply investigating after the fact and filling out reports. In fact, they can't even be held responsible for refusing to assist you. Food for thought.

"Rise in violent crime but burglaries and car theft down" -- UK Telegraph, January 25, 2005.

Dwight Jones didn't meet much resistance when he allegedly robbed a Wachovia Bank in Richmond. Because of Wachovia's "no guns" policy, he didn't even need to arm himself.

Most interestingly, Jones father happens to be Delegate Dwight C. Jones, D-Richmond. Del. Jones is famous for, among other things, trying to pass legislation to ban guns in Virginia's banks. I suppose he was just looking out for his son.

What with the war going on in Iraq, and the seriousness of these times, shouldn't we consider cancelling the Super Bowl? Wouldn't those millions of dollars be better spent helping the victims of the Tsunami or something?

I mean, they could still play the game, but maybe cut back on some of the hoopla.

D.C. residents are upset at car sharing firms. They want 140 public curbside parking spots to be turned over to them, so their users will have spots all over the city to pick up and drop off the cars. Residents already have a tough enough time finding parking, but their voices are falling on some deaf ears.

City officials defend the program as a way to reduce the number of vehicles in the District.

"The point of the program is to reduce parking and traffic congestion in the neighborhood," said Rick Rybeck, the deputy administrator of the D.C. Department of Transportation.

Of course city officials don't have to worry about fighting for parking.

The council voted in July 2002 to exempt itself from the city's parking regulations. The measure, coming after a year in which traffic-enforcement officers had cracked down on illegally parked council members' cars...

[Council members have] the freedom to park in bus zones, in restricted spaces near intersections, at building entrances and on restricted residential streets. It also freed council members from having to put money into parking meters.

As usual, rules for thee, but not for me.

What Ravenwood is doing: Watching the Gatti-Leija fight on HBO.

What Ravenwood is drinking: Fat Bastard Chardonnay (France, 2002).

In case anyone cares.

The anti-gun Brady Campaign has been sounding the alarm about the Fabrique Nationale 'Five N Seven' handgun. They claim that the gun easily defeats police body armor and have been calling it an "assault weapon" that should be banned by Congress. (Because only Congressional bans will prevent crime.) They even claim to have a video showing it defeating body armor.

But then there is the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, another anti-gun organization, who is saying something different. (emphasis in original)

In response to numerous questions that ATF has received regarding the capabilities of the 5.7 X 28mm cartridge, the following technical information is provided.

FTB classified SS196 ammunition as not armor piercing.

The FN 5.7 (Fabrique Nationale) pistol is a semiautomatic pistol in 5.7 X 28 mm caliber. [...]

FTB has also examined a 5.7 X 28 mm projectile that FN Herstal has designated the "SS196." The SS196 is loaded with a Hornady 40 grain, jacketed lead bullet. FTB classified SS196 ammunition as not armor piercing ammunition under Federal firearms statutes.

According to FNH USA, FN Herstal tested the SS192 ammunition. SS192 ammunition did not penetrate the Level IIIA vests that were tested. FNH USA states that SS196, Hornady V-Max 40 gr. bullets fired from a 4-3/4 inch barrel did not penetrate the Level II vests that were used in testing.

FNH USA has informed FTB that SS192 is no longer imported for commercial sale to the United States and that commercial sales of 5.7 X 28mm ammunition are restricted to the SS196 (not armor piercing).

I can only imagine how irrirated the ATF must be that they were being flooded with calls over this. Brady claims to have video showing the gun defeating body armory. The AFT meanwhile has numerous scientific studies (that must be done before any gun can be approved for import) that show it doesn't.

Okay, I've been chastised for being too quiet about this. The good news is that the Hokie Basketball team is #3 in the ACC. That is most unexpected, considering we were picked to be a bottom dweller in Basketball. The bad news is that they play Duke on Sunday.

And HoosierHokie sends this lovely cartoon:

Vice President Dick Cheney can't catch a break. Apparently he was caught wearing green (probably a Halliburton color) instead of the more formal black at the Auschwitz ceremony.

Vice President Dick Cheney raised eyebrows on Friday for wearing an olive-drab parka, hiking boots and knit ski cap to represent the United States at a solemn ceremony remembering the liberation of Auschwitz.

Other leaders at the event in Poland on Thursday marking the 60th anniversary of the death camp's liberation, such as French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin, wore dark, formal overcoats and dress shoes or boots.

You would think Chirac and Putin would feel more comfortable in yellow.

"The vice president, however, was dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower," Robin Givhan, The Washington Post's fashion writer, wrote in the newspaper's Friday editions.

Between the somber, dark-coated leaders at the outdoor ceremony sat Cheney, resplendent in a green parka embroidered with his name and featuring a fur-trimmed hood, the laced brown boots and a knit ski cap reading "Staff 2001."

"And, indeed, the vice president looked like an awkward boy amid the well-dressed adults," Givhan wrote.

Considering he worked for Nixon, this is probably the first time in a long time that Cheney has been said to look like a young boy.

This meme has been going around for a few days now. I meant to post it earlier, but forgot. Microsoft's mapping service, apparently leaves a little bit to be desired.

Nathan Gonzales notes that Democrats are living in fantasy land. 'If only 60,000 voters in Ohio had changed their minds? Damn, that's frustrating.'

But Gonzales tries to bring them back to reality:

In the real world, George W. Bush defeated John Kerry in the Electoral College 286-251, with 270 needed to win. (One elector in Minnesota cast his vote for John Edwards.) Yes, if Ohio had gone for Kerry, he would have totaled 272 electoral votes, and would be thawing out from his parade walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.

But while 60,000 votes would have made the difference in favor of Kerry, just 45,000 votes the other way paints a completely different picture. If 5,000 voters had switched in New Hampshire, Bush would have carried the state. If 6,000 voters had switched in Wisconsin, Bush would have carried that state. And if 34,000 voters had switched in Oregon, Bush would have carried it also. So, in this backward hypothetical world, Bush wins reelection with a considerable 307 electoral votes.

In addition, Bush could have lost Ohio and still won reelection if only a few thousand voters in New Hampshire or Wisconsin had magically decided to change their minds. The fact of the matter is, the voters voted and Bush won. And playing "What if..." is left for the loser.

Candidates who come up short invariably offer the "what if..." message to prove to themselves and others that there isn't much difference between losing and winning. But, of course, there is.

If Bill Mueller had not singled in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox would never have even made it to the World Series. And if only 3 points switched hands on September 27, December 12, and December 26, the Washington Redskins would have made the playoffs.

And if I had wings, I could fly.

Priceless.

The faces of crystal meth. Read the article to find out what it does to your teeth. Augh.

All is not right in Maryland. Get this:

• Maryland Democrats raise taxes on HMOs
• Maryland HMOs raise rates on their customers
• Maryland Democrats blame Republican Insurance Commissioner for the rising cost of insurance

Why am I not at all surprised?

Becky Jensen offers her Chicks' Super Bowl Guide, so you ladies can attend a Super Bowl Party without looking out of place.

Have you ever wondered what happens at the bottom of a football pile? Check out this account by Ike Reese, a linebacker for the Eagles.

"When we played the Patriots last year [Eagles running back] Brian Westbrook fumbled a punt, and we were all down there scrambling for it. [Patriots linebacker] Mike Vrabel had my testicles in his hand, and he was squeezing them. Where the football ends up depends on who has the strongest will or the strongest hands. Guys reach inside the face mask to gouge your eyes. But the biggest thing is the grabbing of the testicles. It is crazy."

SI has plenty more.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, so Ted Turner called the guys at Fox News a bunch of Nazi's and compared them to Hitler. Interesting, considering CNN's sweetheart relationship with Saddam Hussein. But still, I guess Ted's never heard of Godwin's Law.

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

By tossing the H-card out there, Ted Turner loses the debate by default. At least Fox News has a sense of humor about it. "Ted is understandably bitter having lost his ratings, his network, and now his mind," said a Fox News spokesperson. "We wish him well."

Mel Gibson did absolutely no campaigning for an Oscar. He didn't even send out a screening video. On the other hand, Michael Moore was actively campaigning for a "Best Picture" nomination. But will CNN do a similar story on Moore or his 'partisans'?

Internet Christian soldiers are admitting defeat in their battle to win a best picture Oscar nomination for "The Passion of the Christ" -- but their campaign to influence Hollywood goes on.

Web sites supporting Mel Gibson's movie about Jesus' last days -- the eighth-highest grossing American film of all time -- failed to convince enough Oscar voters that it deserved a best picture nomination.

CNN goes on to say that 'Passion' just wasn't worthy of any awards. They quote Oscar "scholar" Tom O'Neil as saying, "The vast consensus of American film critics said it was not worthy -- beginning with The New York Times, which called the movie a 'serious artistic failure.' "

Personally, I don't think it was "Best Picture" material (but then neither was 'Gladiator'). But I think Gibson should definitely had been considered for "Best Director".

Other unworthy 'Best Picture' films (in this man's opinion):

Gladiator (2000)
Titanic (1997)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Platoon (1986)
Godfather II (1974)
French Connection (1971)

In the face of apathy, anti-smoking bigotry marches on. Refusing to hire people who smoke is nothing new. I've been noting it for the better part of two years. But it is becoming much more common. The Lansing State Journal notes that Kalamazoo Valley Community College is also discriminating against smokers.

Would-be employees at Kalamazoo Valley Community College will have to choose between their cigarettes or their jobs, too. The college adopted a policy this month under which the college refuses to hire as full-time employees people who use tobacco during school hours or on leisure time. The idea behind the hiring change is based on health care costs, said Sandy Bohnet, vice president for human resources at the college.

For those of you who don't think this will happen to you, here is food for thought. Reuters notes that Weyco, who recently fired 4 people for refusing to submit to intrusive testing to see if they smoked in their spare time, already has a plan for overweight workers. The owner admits that he would fire them too, except that Michigan law prevents him from doing so.

Next on the firing line: overweight workers.

"We have to work on eating habits and getting people to exercise. But if you're obese, you're (legally) protected," Weyers said.

He has brought in an eating disorder therapist to speak to workers, provided eating coaches, created a point system for employees to earn health-related $100 bonuses and plans to offer $45 vouchers for health club memberships.

The 71-year-old Weyers, who said he has never smoked and pronounced himself in good shape thanks to daily runs, said employees' health as well as saving money on the company's own insurance claims led him to first bar smokers from being hired in 2003.

So Weyers would fire them, but he can't because of some silly law. So the next time some fatty gets a poor eval, or is fired for something frivolous (like not resetting the copy machine), he'll have to wonder if it was Weyer's blatant bigotry working behind the scenes.

But you do see the progression. Weyco started by not hiring smokers. Then people weren't allowed to smoke during work hours. Next thing you know, he's trying to test employees to see if they have nicotine in their system, and firing them for refusing to comply with his nannying. I'm a non-smoker, and I would still refuse to submit to such a test. If Weyer handed me a cup I'd probably throw it in his face. (If he's lucky, I wouldn't fill it up first.)

When it comes to these bans, the rules get progessively worse a little bit at a time. (Which is always the way these things work.) I don't doubt that Weyers doesn't have every legal right to do what he's doing. But that still doesn't mean he's not an asshole.

Related articles:
1984: Fired for being a smoker -- January 26, 2005

Talk about misplaced priorities.

A NURSERY nurse was fined £60 yesterday for holding an apple in her hand while driving around a bend after police used a spotter aircraft, a helicopter and a patrol car to win the case.

Northumbria Police went to extraordinary lengths to gather evidence against Sarah McCaffery, 23, who had missed breakfast and grabbed the apple to eat on her way to work. Magistrates ruled that she had not been in full control of her car. Miss McCaffery was also ordered to pay £100 costs at the tenth court hearing of the case.

Chris Kay, for the prosecution, said that the bill was £425, not including the aerial photographs and the squad vehicle's video. The full cost of bringing the case against Miss McCaffery is thought to have been about £10,000. [...]

The court was told how police brought in a fixed-wing spotter aircraft to fly over Miss McCaffery's route to work and take photographs. Later the force's helicopter repeated the exercise before a patrol car made a video of the journey.

In their defense, officers said they had actually thought she was driving while illegally talking on a cell phone.

Hollyweird stars are fighting to get driver's licenses for illegal aliens. (emphasis mine)

More than 30 actors, musicians and writers, including Diane Keaton, Carlos Santana and "Million Dollar Baby" writer and producer Paul Haggis, took out the ad Monday in the entertainment industry trade paper Variety.

The group urges Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to approve a new bill that would allow illegal immigrants to get a license as long as background checks found they had no criminal violations.

Um, since when is violating immigration laws no longer a criminal violation?

Eighteen year olds can vote and go off to war, but they aren't allowed a drop of beer, and lawmakers in Vermont hope to change that. Vermont state legislator Richard Marron wants to lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18, and personally, I support them 100%. If teenagers can be taught to drive a 2-ton automobile on the highway, why not teach them how to be responsible with a glass of beer or wine?

The MADD crowd is sure to hoot and holler about drinking and driving. But people who break drunk driving laws are not likely to obey underage drinking laws either. And this is not a question of access, as any resourceful teenager can get their hands on alcohol and drugs if they want to. And drunk drivers don't magically disappear at age 21. If it was just a question of age, why not raise the drinking age to 45, or 60.

No, this is about personal responsibility, and the earlier we teach kids the better. Only an idiot would assume that a person magically matures at midnight 21 years after they're born.

But the problem in Vermont is more than a question of age. It's one of funding. You see, the federal government dictates that states with a drinking age lower than 21 lose a percentage of their highway funding. In Vermont that adds up to $10 Million a year. The fed is always forcing their way on the states, and they've done it again recently with the lowering the BAC from .10 to .08. As if the drunk driving problem is going to be solved by busting the small percentage of drivers in that .02% range, the fed is forcing states to lower their legal BAC level or lose up to 8% of their funding. Gee, if you don't toe the line on more than one of these regs, you might not get any highway funding at all.

Which brings me to ask rhetorically, how does the fed get away with this to begin with? If you said the Seventeenth Amendment, give yourself a gold star. The hideous Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution allows for the popular election of Senators. U.S. Senators used to be appointed by the state legislature, and their job was to represent the interests of the states in the federal process. (As opposed to the House, who represents the people.)

With the passage of Seventeen, the last bit of influence the states had over the Fed was pretty much wiped out. And with states' rights out of the way, Congress cleared the way to grow the government into the huge federal bureaucracy that we are left with today. Instead of the states looking out for the differing interests of their local populace, you have this attempted all knowing, all powerful government trying to be all things to all people.

If Vermont wants to have more control over making their own laws, perhaps they should start by repealing Seventeen.

Two Georgia teenagers went into a store intending to rob it. Both left in body bags. What happened in between is quite compelling.

The cash register at Shoat's Grocery and Package Store in Oglethorpe County held just $300 Monday when the two teenagers walked in.

If they had been patient, the would-be robbers could have had it.

Gloria Turner and husband Bobby Doster were about to hand over money when one teenager forced a shootout. [...]

"I'd have given it to them. Our insurance would have covered it," said Gloria Turner, who has owned the store for eight years with her husband.

Turner, 56, was rearranging the store, in the tiny community of Hutchins, when the teenagers walked in Monday evening.

One was wearing a wig that partly covered his eyes, prompting Turner to quip, "Can you see to walk with that thing on?"

The teen mumbled something, she recalled. He ran past Turner and shoved her husband, Bobby "Shoats" Doster, against the bakery counter.

The second teen pulled a white skullcap over his face, pushed Turner to the cash register and demanded money.

"I was about to give it to them . . . when the first guy says, 'You're not moving fast enough,' and pulls out a gun," Turner said Tuesday.

The teen aimed the gun at her husband and fired. The bullet missed. His gun jammed.

That was enough for Doster, who pulled out a .380 from his pocket. At the same time, his wife grabbed the 9 mm she kept under under the counter.

Both began firing at the teenagers, who ran to the back of the store for cover. A full-fledged gunbattle erupted.

The teens crouched behind a meat counter. The one with the gun popped up every few seconds to fire another round.

The unarmed teen kept shouting, "Shoot them! Shoot them!" while tossing at the couple whatever items he could get his hands on, Turner said.

The exchange of gunfire lasted less than five minutes "but it felt like hours," Turner said.

She remembered firing with one hand and dialing 911 with the other.

Deputies arrived four minutes later to find the store littered with shell casings. Both teenagers lay sprawled on the floor - one shot several times, the other with a bullet in his chest, said Sheriff Mike Smith. Authorities withheld the identities of the teenagers until relatives could be notified. One was 17, the other 19, police said. Both were from Athens.

Turner and her husband will not be charged, Smith said.

"People have a right to protect their lives and their property," Smith said.

"We don't encourage them to take the law in their hands, but sometimes they are left with no other choice."

In other parts of the country, Turner and Doster would have been led away in handcuffs for having the nerve to defend their own lives. Thankfully some people still understand that the government is not responsible for our safety.

Because one boy was a juvenile, the names have not been released. But how long before someone surfaces to tell us what little angels these two were?

Fairfax County Chairman, Gerry "Hit and Run" Connolly, not only failed driving school, but he failed market economics as well. The Washington Post reports that Connolly wants to lower housing prices for some residents of Fairfax County (VA) by increasing property taxes on others.

The plan, called "a radical proposal" by board Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D), was devised by a panel of top planning and housing officials from the county and the private sector. Released publicly for the first time yesterday, it calls for dedicating $17.5 million annually -- equivalent to a penny on the real estate tax rate, which is $1.13 per $100 of assessed value -- to keep 1,000 units of housing at affordable rental rates.

Connolly said drastic steps are necessary to address what he called a crisis over affordable housing in the county. The escalating cost of housing is pushing teachers, firefighters and other county services to seek cheaper alternatives far from the county, which in turn creates long commutes and further clogs roads.

The "crisis" over affordable housing has to do with supply and demand. There are many more people that want to live in the D.C. area than there are homes. Until that problem is fixed, prices will continue to skyrocket and subsidies will be doomed to fail. Connolly's proposal is nothing more than socialist redistribution of wealth. He wants to increase taxes some county residents to provide cheaper housing for others.

Workers are moving further outside the county because it's too damned expensive to live here. If their commute becomes too much of a burden, they'll pack up and find a job in some other market. When market economics kick in, Fairfax will simply have to start paying their employees more or risk not being able to attract qualified workers. That's what capitalism is.

The idea that one neighbor who has the ability should help pay the mortgage of another neighbor who has a need smells a lot like communism. As is the nature of the red menace, it will undoubtedly spread. Advocacy groups are already saying it's not enough.

Stephen Wade of the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities, an advocacy group for affordable housing, praised Connolly for taking up the issue.

"Its a good first step for Fairfax," he said. "However, one penny [on the tax rate] per year is only enough to preserve the affordable housing that is there. They should have two cents -- the other one for the production of affordable housing."

Why stop at two cents? Why not a buck? And as always, communism loves company:

He said Fairfax's proposal would lag behind similar efforts in Montgomery County, which raises about $18 million a year, and the District, which raises $40 million.

Ahh, two jewels of a capitalist society. Compared to Berkeley and San Francisco, Montgomery County and the District almost look normal.

What else can you say about the Oscar snubbings of both Mel Gibson for Passion of the Christ and Michael Moore for Fahrenheit 9/11? Passion did pick up 3 lesser nominations, but was shut out for the major awards. Interesting, in that Gibson didn't campaign for an Oscar nor even send out a copy of the movie, while Moore actively campaigned for the Best Picture nomination.

Mel Gibson's controversial box-office hit "The Passion of the Christ" missed out on a best picture pick, but it earned three nominations: for cinematography, makeup and original score.

However, Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- ineligible for a best documentary nomination because the film was not submitted for that category -- was shut out across the board.

Both movies earned millions of dollars at the box office, although Passion's take dwarfed Fahrenheit 9/11 as well as almost every other film out there. I think the snubbings illustrate just how irrelevant award shows have become. (As if George C. Scott's 1970 refusal to accept the award wasn't enough of an indicator.)

That Mel Gibson was snubbed for Best Director in favor of Mike Leigh for "Vera Drake" (some film about abortion) is laughable. How many people have even heard of Vera Drake, much less seen it? (It opened in the USA on 2 screens and peaked at 93.) I realize that monetary success is not the yard stick used for the Oscars, but let's get real. Without the money makers, the other films would never get made. And no matter what you think of the movie, Directing Passion of the Christ in the dead languages of Latin and Aramaic deserves some recognition.

Since he actively campaigned for an Oscar, Moore will no doubt be upset at the snub. As for Gibson, in that his huge $35 Million risk got him $600 Million in return, I'm sure he's crying all the way to the bank.

Largely absent from the media is the story that the 10 year budget deficits forecast by the "nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office" have been slashed dramatically. During the run up to last years election, predictions of huge deficits were trumpeted throughout the media. While any 10 year forecast is dubious at best, the silence on the news of the adjustment is deafening.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is likely to estimate Tuesday that shortfalls over the next 10 years will total perhaps $1 trillion less than the $2.3 trillion in red ink it forecast last September, congressional aides say.

That is a cut of more than 43%, but the media is reporting this as a technicality. The news is technically good, because the CBO forecast doesn't include any Iraq war funding.

When the budget office issued its last update in September, it assumed the roughly $112 billion Congress approved for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan last year would be repeated every year for a decade.

But Congress has yet to approve any war money in 2005. So the budget office is required to assume that there won't be any new war funds provided this year.

Well, why even bother doing forecasts? If you cannot make logical assumptions the forecast isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Forecasts from the "nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office" are nothing more than masturbatory exercises that give politicians on each side of the aisle fodder to throw at each other. I guess that is what makes it nonpartisan. They're doing nothing more than creating sound bytes for themselves.

If this is what the world is coming to, I want to go back to paying for my own health care.

Four employees of a health care company have been fired for refusing to take a test to determine whether they smoke cigarettes.

Weyco Inc., a health benefits administrator based in Okemos, Mich., adopted a policy Jan. 1 that allows employees to be fired if they smoke, even if the smoking happens after business hours or at home.

Company founder Howard Weyers has said the anti-smoking rule was designed to shield the firm from high health care costs. "I don't want to pay for the results of smoking," he said.

The rule led one employee to quit before the policy was adopted. Four others were fired when they balked at the smoking test.

I've always believed in right to work laws, and this company is free to discriminate and hire all non-smokers if it wants to. I would never work for such a horrible company any way, and let's face it, any company that worries about what you are doing on your own time is a horrible place to work.

But this is an ever increasing trend and should not be taken lightly. This is what happens when you insist on relying on employers to cover your health care.

Health care coverage is supposed to be a company provided benefit that helps employers recruit good employees. I don't mind paying for my own health care, but I am going to demand a higher salary to cover the cost. If my employer throws that in as a benefit to get me to come on board, than that's great too.

A good benefits plan is a wonderful recruiting tool. But that shouldn't give my employer the right to delve into my private life. They don't own me or my body, even if they do pay for my health insurance. Sure, today they are picking on smokers, but tomorrow it will be over-eaters. What's to stop a company from measuring your body mass index or making you step onto a scale before coming in to work? The answer is nothing, except of course market economics. You push too far, and narrow your talent pool. When you can't attract top talent, you suffer in the marketplace.

Besides, group health insurance is just that. It spreads the risk over a large group, allowing you to take advantage of the savings. I tell you what, I have zero chance of getting pregnant. So why then, do I pay for insurance that includes pregnancy benefits? Perhaps my company should fire all the fertile women, who have a high chance of having a costly pregnancy. Whats more, I'd be willing to bet that we can demonstrate that pregnant women need more time off (for doctor's visits and the like) and are much more likely to interrupt their career (or quit outright) after the baby is born. You could make the same argument for any insurance you aren't likely to need, whether it be pregnancy, substance abuse, or day care.

Smokers are a minority, so they are likely screwed on this one. Over-eaters are more protected because there are so many of us out there. You discriminate too much and there'll be nobody left to hire. But my point is that while your employer may be writing the check to your insurance company, you are the one paying the bill. You are just accepting a lower salary in exchange for those group benefits. Perhaps it's time to change all that. Maybe instead of having your employer (or God help us, the government) provide your health care, we should simply demand more money to cover the costs ourselves. (Independent contractors already do this.)

The only downside is that personal responsibility is becoming rare and people are likely to just blow the money and go without insurance. Maybe a voucher system would be better, whereby companies provide you with a list of preferred health care vendors and a monthly voucher.

Remember, this doesn't stop with smoking and even eating. What about those motorcycle riders? That looks both scary and dangerous. Then there is skydiving, or mountain climbing. Both are risky activities and make you more likely to cash in your company life insurance policy. When companies start using such a weak justification to control your private life, there is no end in sight.

I'll repeat something I first said back in October 2002. Under the guise of decreasing insurance premiums, here are some other regulations they should impose:

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

Anyone caught participating in the listed activities should be fired on the spot.

Related articles:
All your vices are belong to us-- 01/08/2004
The Unprotected Minority -- 08/19/2003
Pleasure Police, literally -- 10/22/2002

Some Londoners are taking notice of the progress the U.S. has made with respect to gun freedom and violent crime.

Over the last 25 years the number of firearms in private hands in the United States has more than doubled. At the same time the violent crime rate has dropped dramatically, with the significant downswing following the spread of right-to-carry legislation. The US Bureau of Justice observes that "firearms-related crime has plummeted since 1993", and it has declined also as a proportion of overall violent offences. Violent crime in total has declined so much since 1994 that it has now reached, the bureau states, "the lowest level ever recorded". While American "gun culture" is still regularly the sensational subject of media demonisation in Britain, the grim fact is that in this country we now suffer three times the level of violent crime committed in the United States.

Personally, I think it's common sense, although it's not all that common these days. A world without guns is a factual impossibility. The only possible scenarios are: everyone has guns; and only the government and the criminals have guns. In places that insist on banning guns, like the city of Washington D.C., the latter prospect can be exceptionally deadly.

A tape reported to be from terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shows their true motives in trying to stop the Iraqi election.

"We have declared a bitter war against democracy and all those who seek to enact it," said the speaker in the 35-minute message.

"Democracy is also based on the right to choose your religion," he said, and that is "against the rule of God."

So what say those naysayers of President Bush who are pooh-poohing the idea of elections in Iraq? They are certainly in dubious company.

They're coming. The anti-smoke nazis are already gearing up their campaigns to capitalize on Johnny Carson's death. Most news reports prominently mention that Carson was a frequent smoker and that he died of emphysema, a disease attributed to smoking. The stories about the dangers of emphysema have already started.

Now I don't doubt the facts surrounding Mr. Carson's death, nor the dangers of emphysema or smoking. But I will point out that the man was 79 years old. He had already outlived the average life span by more than half a decade. He chose to smoke and considering his longevity, lived a full and happy life. He may have suffered from the disease in his final years, but how many people die in perfect health?

Even Carson himself used to say: "I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself."

Then there was the esteemed Sir Winston Churchill, who must have died a happy man: "My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them."

Anyone who is droning on about the Patriot Act or accusing people who disagree with them of repressing their freedom of speech, should read about what is really happening to cyberdissidents.

Javad Gholam Tamayomi, Omid Memarian, Shahram Rafihzadeh, Hanif Mazroi, Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh and Fereshteh Ghazi are some of the most courageous people you've never met.
Not exactly household names, but each deserves a standing ovation.

During a crackdown against Iran's nascent online press last year, these sundry online journalists and bloggers got chucked into jail.

Since the internet crosses borders the Axis of Evil also has to rely on censorship mechanisms to keep their loyal subjects in line.

A recent report written by Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, was appropriately entitled, "The Internet in the Arab World: A New Space of Repression?" Among other conclusions, the report found that many Arab governments view the Internet with ambivalence. "From the governments' point of view, the disadvantages of the Internet stem from its very advantages. This attitude has affected the growth, or the lack thereof, of the Internet in the region."

So it is that some Middle Eastern regimes regularly use Domain Name System redirection or Internet Protocol-blocking techniques to prevent certain Web pages from loading. It's not difficult, and the measures are fairly effective. For example, Saudi Internet surfers looking for sites about Israel receive messages telling them the information has been blocked.

Elsewhere, China, the odds-on favorite to become the fastest-growing economy of the decade, is also the odds-on favorite to become the biggest Internet filterer of them all.

CNET doesn't mention it, but what else do all these countries have in common? If you said gun control, go to the head of the class.

Gee, who do you suppose they are trying to blame with this photograph of global warming? (It looks to me like Canada is to blame!)

The chicken littles warn:

Global warming is approaching the critical point of no return, after which widespread drought, crop failure and rising sea-levels would be irreversible, an international climate change task force warned Monday.

The report, "Meeting the Climate Challenge," called on the G-8 leading industrial nations to cut carbon emissions, double their research spending on green technology and work with India and China to build on the Kyoto Protocol.

Tell that to Tony Grieco of Somerville, Mass, who is digging out his car from under 5 feet of snow.

In a related note, Steven Milloy notes that the U.N.'s World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction is trying to push the agenda that there are no "Natural" disasters any more.

As the global warming alarmist community likes to point out, the U.S. is the largest single contributor to the alleged global warming, emitting 25 percent of all greenhouse gases while possessing only 4 percent of the world's population.

Toward the goal of blaming the U.S. for what used to be considered "natural disasters" in order to eventually extract financial compensation, the U.N. conference's draft action plan is riddled with references to climate change [read, "U.S.-made climate change"] as causing or contributing to "disasters."

The Bush administration rightly opposes the U.N.'s effort to de-naturalize disasters and has requested that the document's references to climate change be removed. But U.N. officials oppose such changes.

"I hope there will be a global recognition of climate change causing more natural disasters," said Jan Egeland, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

Weather disasters like hurricanes, floods, droughts, heat waves, cold snaps, ice storms always have, and always will plague man. As far as we know, they are entirely natural occurrences. There is absolutely no credible evidence that humans - much less Americans in particular - have had have any discernible impact on the frequency and severity of - dare I say it? - natural disasters.

By changing the movement from 'global warming' to 'climate change', they have made it impossible to refute their claims. If it gets hotter, it must be 'global warming'. If we have a blizzard, it must be extreme weather due to 'climate change'. We used to call it weather, but now if it's not 72 and sunny, the environmental wackos claim the end is near.

Several people have emailed me the story about San Francisco implementing a 17-cents per grocery bag tax. I covered it two months ago, so I won't rehash it all now.

I am wondering, however, what will happen when the law of unintended consequences kicks in. My bet is that shoplifting will increase as they become indistinguishable between those people opting to carry their purchases out without a bag.

Before Bush was re-elected, detractors were talking down the economy. Now in the face of facts that the economy is chugging along rather nicely, the naysayers are claiming that money isn't everything.

A growing body of research on the "economics of happiness" proposes that material wealth is overrated.

These controversial researchers do not say economic growth is undesirable, and they note that unemployed people are almost always unhappy.

But they say policy-makers should pay more attention to what people say about their satisfaction with life as they consider how far to go in the pursuit of unbridled growth.

Is this what it's come to now; goverment policy-makers are supposed to make sure we are satisfied with life? What they need to do is relax the myriad of stifling government regulations that keep people from pursuing their own happiness.

The nomination of Condi Rice to Secretary of State is being blocked by none other than Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Dr. Rice is black and Sen. Byrd is a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm not saying there is a connection, but if the political parties were reversed, I'm sure the mainstream media would make it front page news.

After all, Republican Trent Lott was ousted from his Senate Leadership position for having the nerve to say something good about the late Strom Thurmond. Here is a white, former Klansman standing in the school house door and nary a peep is made.

This guy has lots of photos from the Inauguration, but most of them are covering lefty kooks (unlike the righty kook pictured above).

FCC chairman Michael Powell will certainly not be missed by many. Hopefully now the censorship of the "public airways" will stop. People who are offended by language and nudity should turn the channel rather than trying to fine TV and radio stations into oblivion.

I understand that some people don't like to see a boob during the Super Bowl, but this is the guy that had TV stations afraid to air Saving Private Ryan. I say good riddance.

Remember that kid that was supposedly named Yahoo because his parents met over the internet. Turns out to be a scam put on by the reporter. He allegedly faked the birth certificate to gain publicity for himself.

It's sad to think that this Romanian tabloid has higher journalistic standards than CBS.

Reuters thinks this has to be a real life Homer Simpson. (full article below)

A Czech man is being taken to court after he hid in a restaurant washroom until the employees had left and then hooked up beer kegs directly to his mouth.

Cleaning staff found him drunk and lying on the floor of the bar at the restaurant in the city of Brno, about 200km (120 miles) east of Prague, the CTK news agency reported on Thursday.

"He had broken the door of the cooling mechanism ... and detached the hoses leading from the keg, squashed them in his mouth and literally filled himself up with beer," CTK quoted a police official as saying.

The man will be charged with damaging property because he caused 8,000 crown ($340) damage to the beer cooling box.

Let's put it this way. Just having your photo taken with a gun is enough to disqualify you from public office.

A Conservative parliamentary candidate has been dismissed after he was pictured on the internet with a range of guns, rifles and a hunting knife.

Robert Oulds, the prospective MP for Slough in Berkshire, appeared with the weapons in the camera phone images.

Tory deputy chairman Andrew Mackay said the party had faced no choice but to remove him from its candidates' list.

"This was a serious error of judgement which was unacceptable in a parliamentary candidate," he added.

This is what is left of the party of Winston Churchill.

An Ohio student is in hot water for skinning and cooking a Guinea pig in class.

A high school principal promises he's going to give the living skills curriculum an extreme makeover after a student skinned and cooked a Guinea pig and a rabbit during class.

The student, a 16-year-old boy, told the principal, Beto Gage, that he killed the animals at home before bringing them to Ledgemont High School. Gage said living skills teacher Diana Stevens lets students prepare a meal of their choice on Wednesdays. [...]

The student had asked Stevens if he could catch and cook a wild rabbit and she approved, provided he gut the carcass before class, Gage said. He said the student, whose name was not released, is an active hunter.

The animals, however, apparently were purchased at a pet store.

The local humane society and police are "investigating the incident". But if the kid killed them properly and prepared them for a meal, what is the big deal? While I personally would never eat a rodent, I don't think it's any worse than preparing and eating any other animal.

George Bush's showing of his support for the Texas Longhorns was lost on Norwegians. They thought he was saluting Satan. No, that would be Notre Dame and you salute them with only one finger.

This RCOB courtesy of Pat at Brainster's Blog:

Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Due, right, a U.S. Army recruiter, is surrounded by protesters at Seattle Central Community College, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005, in Seattle. After about a 10-minute standoff during which protesters tore up U.S Army literature, the protesters were successful in getting Due and another recruiter to leave their table under escort by campus security officers.

It's shit like this that makes me think that if the protesters can't play nice, we should go back to the days of water hoses and rubber bullets.

They got me for $26.

Ravenwood's Universe has made the Top 10 (at number 10) on John Hawkin's quarterly Favorite 40 Bloggers list. It's an honor just to be mentioned, but I never expected Top 10. I had previously hovered between 19 and 22.

Thanks for the recognition, John. It is truly appreciated.

On Thursday I noted a Powerline Blog report that ABC was looking to do a story on the funeral of an Iraqi war soldier to provide "balance" to their Inauguration coverage. Powerline wryly noted that soldiers being buried on Wednesday or Today aren't good enough, nor are those killed in Afghanistan, a training exercise, or aiding Tsunami relief.

James Taranto notes that ABC got their story:

Peter Jennings: Fair to say, we think, that at some point today here in Washington, the war in Iraq was on everyone's mind, when the president spoke; when the antiwar demonstrators shouted as the president went by; when one or another military unit did something here today as part of the celebration. And we thought, too, of the many wounded at the army hospital here, watching it all on television.

And in Rockport, Texas, today, just about the time the president was speaking, there was a funeral for a young marine reservist, 21 year-old Matthew Holloway was killed in Iraq last week by a roadside bomb. His brother told a local paper that as much as Matthew wanted to be home, he was very proud of what he was doing in Iraq, and it is something you hear from so many people in the services, including the 10,000 who have already been wounded.

How can they be so shameless? ABC deliberately sought out a report of a military funeral just to thumb their nose at the Bush Administration's celebration.

The crew of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln responded quickly to help the victims of the tsunami. But lately their efforts have been hampered by pompous relief workers who look at the Lincoln as a floating hotel, and her crew as their personal servants.

From one of the boys on the front lines:

It has been three weeks since my ship, the USS Abraham Lincoln, arrived off the Sumatran coast to aid the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami that ravaged their coastline. I'd like to say that this has been a rewarding experience for us, but it has not: Instead, it has been a frustrating and needlessly dangerous exercise made even more difficult by the Indonesian government and a traveling circus of so-called aid workers who have invaded our spaces.

What really irritated me was a scene I witnessed in the Lincoln's wardroom a few days ago. I went in for breakfast as I usually do, expecting to see the usual crowd of ship's company officers in khakis and air wing aviators in flight suits, drinking coffee and exchanging rumors about when our ongoing humanitarian mission in Sumatra is going to end.

What I saw instead was a mob of civilians sitting around like they owned the place. They wore various colored vests with logos on the back including Save The Children, World Health Organization and the dreaded baby blue vest of the United Nations. Mixed in with this crowd were a bunch of reporters, cameramen and Indonesian military officers in uniform. They all carried cameras, sunglasses and fanny packs like tourists on their way to Disneyland.

My warship had been transformed into a floating hotel for a bunch of trifling do-gooders overnight.

As I went through the breakfast line, I overheard one of the U.N. strap-hangers, a longhaired guy with a beard, make a sarcastic comment to one of our food servers. He said something along the lines of "Nice china, really makes me feel special," in reference to the fact that we were eating off of paper plates that day. It was all I could do to keep from jerking him off his feet and choking him, because I knew that the reason we were eating off paper plates was to save dishwashing water so that we would have more water to send ashore and save lives. That plus the fact that he had no business being there in the first place.

My attitude towards these unwanted no-loads grew steadily worse that day as I learned more from one of our junior officers who was assigned to escort a group of them. It turns out that they had come to Indonesia to "assess the damage" from the Dec. 26 tsunami.

Well, they could have turned on any TV in the world and seen that the damage was total devastation. When they got to Sumatra with no plan, no logistics support and no five-star hotels to stay in, they threw themselves on the mercy of the U.S. Navy, which, unfortunately, took them in. I guess our senior brass was hoping for some good PR since this was about the time that the U.N. was calling the United States "stingy" with our relief donations.

As a result of having to host these people, our severely over-tasked SH-60 Seahawk helos, which were carrying tons of food and water every day to the most inaccessible places in and around Banda Aceh, are now used in great part to ferry these "relief workers" from place to place every day and bring them back to their guest bedrooms on the Lincoln at night. Despite their avowed dedication to helping the victims, these relief workers will not spend the night in-country, and have made us their guardians by default.

When our wardroom treasurer approached the leader of the relief group and asked him who was paying the mess bill for all the meals they ate, the fellow replied, "We aren't paying, you can try to bill the U.N. if you want to."

In addition to the relief workers, we routinely get tasked with hauling around reporters and various low-level "VIPs," which further wastes valuable helo lift that could be used to carry supplies. We had to dedicate two helos and a C-2 cargo plane for America-hater Dan Rather and his entourage of door holders and briefcase carriers from CBS News. Another camera crew was from MTV. I doubt if we'll get any good PR from them, since the cable channel is banned in Muslim countries. We also had to dedicate a helo and crew to fly around the vice mayor of Phoenix, Ariz., one day. Everyone wants in on the action.

The article goes on to note that the Indonesians will not even allow them to continue their routine training missions in their waters. So their skills are eroding and they have no clear "exit strategy" from the region. Meanwhile we aren't even getting any recognition for the aid we are providing.

Be sure to read the rest, it is quite compelling.

(Hat tip to KdT)

The recent mission to Saturn was largely successful, but not without it's typical boneheaded NA$A mistakes.

David Atkinson spent 18 years designing an experiment for the unmanned space mission to Saturn. Now some pieces of it are lost in space. Someone forgot to turn on the instrument Atkinson needed to measure the winds on Saturn's largest moon.

Actually, the AP gets it wrong. Atkinson's team spent 18 man-years, not years (as in 18 men spent 1 year, or 9 men spent 2 years).

While this was a cooperative effort between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency, the mistake is typical of NASA. Consider the following:

Two-thirds of NASA's Mars missions have failed.

They recently created a $239 Million paper weight because they forgot to bolt down a weather satellite before trying to flip it over.

NASA lost a $159 Million space probe, which they described as "low cost".

The Mars Polar Lander plummeted to it's destruction because NASA scientists mixed up newtons and kilograms.

And that's just the highlight reel. Let's not forget two space shuttles and 14 astronauts that were lost largely due to NASA's unwillingness to listen to the concerns of lower level managers.

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Hosting the inauguration is a bit like hosting the Super Bowl. -- Ravenwood, January 19, 2005.

Inauguration Is Super Bowl of Schmoozing -- AP, January 20, 2005.

Whenever they want to drum up support for their latest gun ban crusade, gun grabbers trot out a long line of police officers to lend credence to their cause. In trying to extend the Clinton Gun Ban which expired in September, the Brady Campaign trumpeted:

Law enforcement organizations that support the ban include:

International Association of Chiefs of Police - (IACP)
Major Cities Chiefs Association - (MCCA)
Police Foundation
Police Executive Research Forum - (PERF)
International Brotherhood of Police Officers - (IBPO)
National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO)
National Fraternal Order of Police - (FOP)
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives - (NOBLE)
Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association - (HAPCOA)
National Black Police Association - (NBPA)

While a handful of high profile police chiefs and their labor organizations support reining in the freedom of law abiding citizens, the rank and file cops do not.

The National Association of Chiefs of Police released their 17th Annual Survey of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs, and here is what the respondents thought about gun control:

With regard to private citizens owning firearms for sport or self-defense, 93.6 percent of the respondents supported civilian gun-ownership rights. Ninety-six percent of the police chiefs and sheriffs believe criminals obtain firearms from illegal sources and 92.2 percent revealed they hadn't arrested anyone for violation of the so-called "waiting period" laws. When asked if citizens concealed-weapons permits would reduce violent crime, 63.1 percent said yes.

Cops on the street realize that passing another law isn't going to do much to take guns out of the hands of people who don't obey the law any way. Instead it makes their job more difficult by forcing them to harass and chase down law abiding citizens.

If the federal sentencing guidelines are unConstitutional, how can states like Maryland get away with adding 20 years to a criminal's sentence for crimes involving so-called "assault weapons".

World Net Daily reports that President Jimmy Carter has been linked to the oil-for-food scam at the U.N.

Based upon an investigation by Move America Forward, it appears President Carter and his associates are among the former officials with whom Vincent collaborated.

"One of two things happened," suggests Morgan. "Either President Carter was totally duped, and allowed himself to be conned into working as an indirect agent of Saddam Hussein, or President Carter knowingly associated himself with a foreign agent who was seeking to undermine American foreign policy."

Well, it wouldn't be the first time. Carter never met a dictator he didn't like.

Movies and music are big business in California. Having thus far been unable to stop internet piracy with lawsuits against internet providers and end users, California is trying a new approach. They are going to start throwing software developers in jail.

The proposal, introduced by Los Angeles Sen. Kevin Murray, takes direct aim at companies that distribute software such as Kazaa, eDonkey or Morpheus. If passed and signed into law, it could expose file-swapping software developers to fines of up to $2,500 per charge, or a year in jail, if they don't take "reasonable care" in preventing the use of their software to swap copyrighted music or movies--or child pornography.

Peer-to-peer software companies and their allies immediately criticized the bill as a danger to technological innovation, and as potentially unconstitutional.

Opponents also say that it could further dampen California's tech industry.

What was Michael Moore doing with an armed bodyguard? I thought he hated guns? I thought the "culture of fear" is what ruined America? I thought gun owners were a bunch of paranoid racists?

In typical lefty fashion, he wants guns banned for you and me, while he walks around enjoying the protection of an armed security force. Too bad he didn't hire someone smart enough to obey the law.

Filmmaker Michael Moore's bodyguard was arrested for carrying an unlicensed weapon in New York's JFK airport Wednesday night.

Police took Patrick Burke, who says Moore employs him, into custody after he declared he was carrying a firearm at a ticket counter. Burke is licensed to carry a firearm in Florida and California, but not in New York. Burke was taken to Queens central booking and could potentially be charged with a felony for the incident.

If he gets off, it will be because of Michael Moore's celebrity status. This is the same city that has prosecuted several householders for using unregistered guns to defend their family.

OhioCCW has more:

Like another overweight gun ban extremist before him (Rosie O'Donnell), we now see that Moore believes guns are necessary to protect Hollywood aristocrats like himself, but that the working class schlubs he claims to speak for in his movies simply cannot be trusted with arms.

UPDATE: Geek thinks the guy wasn't "carrying" in the sense that he was on duty, but simply declaring a firearm in his checked luggage in accordance with FAA regulations. Either way, it's not unlike New York to go ballistic and still persecute the guy.

UPDATE2: The security company is refuting Fox News' claim. Kevin Baker reports that they are saying he works for their agency, and is sometimes assigned to Michael Moore.

Obesity indicator on student report cards? -- CNN January 19, 2005.

I will not be attending any of the Presidential Inauguration events planned for today. I'm not afraid of terrorism or the weather, but I do have a JOB. I didn't take a break for Lee-Jackson Day or Martin Luther King Jr Day, so I'm not taking a break for Bush either.

Sorry, but there is too much work to do, money to be made, and hey, this blog aint gonna write itself.

If you too can't enjoy the festivities, check out Jib Jab's latest.

From Power Line:

ABC wants to "balance" its coverage of President Bush's inauguration with coverage of a military funeral:

Jan. 19, 2005 - For a possible Inauguration Day story on ABC News, we are trying to find out if there any military funerals for Iraq war casualties scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20. If you know of a funeral and whether the family might be willing to talk to ABC News, please fill out the form below:

Note that only the families of Iraqi war dead need apply. If a soldier died in Afghanistan, or aiding tsunami victims in Indonesia or Sri Lanka, or in a training exercise, never mind. That isn't the "balance" ABC is looking for.

ABC has since removed the request, but Captain Ed has a screen shot.

(Hat tip, Kevin Baker.)

That cop killing Marine who supposedly was trying to avoid service in Iraq has been making a lot of headlines lately. But Michelle Malkin notes that most of what you've been hearing is incorrect.

Is this cop an idiot, or just keeping the mag handy?

A bill requiring private buyers and sellers who attend Virginia gun shows conduct background checks passed out of the Senate committee and is headed for a vote of the full Senate. This is the non-exi