This is bound to make the Brady Bunch scream! For a so-called "assault weapon" it doesn't look very scary any more.

If I'm ever shot in California, I'm glad to know that the cops can carve the bullet out of my body and use it's microprinted serial number to track down my killer. Assuming, of course, that they can still read the serial number on the mishapen and fragmented bullet. And assuming that the killer is using legally registered ammo. I mean, a guy that would shoot me in the face wouldn't use illegal ammo too, right?

Massad Ayoob: "When most women have guns, most rapists will masturbate alone in the dark."

(Via Spoons)

Ravenwood's latest pickup line: "Come on baby, you wouldn't want me to get cancer, would you?".

It will make you go blind. It will make your palms grow hairy. Such myths about masturbation are largely a thing of the past. But the latest research has even better news for young men: frequent self-pleasuring could protect against the most common kind of cancer.

A team in Australia led by Graham Giles of The Cancer Council Victoria in Melbourne asked 1079 men with prostate cancer to fill in a questionnaire detailing their sexual habits, and compared their responses with those of 1259 healthy men of the same age. The team concludes that the more men ejaculate between the ages of 20 and 50, the less likely they are to develop prostate cancer.

Mimicking the lobby to legalize medical marijuana, we could push legislators to leave this in (*cough*) professional hands.

Hat tip to Countertop.

Uncle throws the bullshit flag on this one:

A passenger in a car traveling in Osceola County, Fla., was killed and another woman was seriously injured when a gun in the vehicle accidentally discharged twice, according to Local 6 News.

Police said four people were traveling in a car on Nova Road near Holopaw when a gun accidentally discharged, injuring a woman in the vehicle, Local 6 News reported.

The driver then pulled the car over on the side of the road.

Police said when the three were trying to exit the car, the gun accidentally fired again, killing a man.

Local 6 News reported that the man's body was left at the scene while the other three passengers went to get help.

Modern firearms do not 'accidentally discharge', unless the trigger is 'accidentally' pulled. It's a bit like saying you accidentally ran over someone. Twice.

The AP claims: iPod blamed for spike in subway crime

The iPod craze has spawned a crime wave in city subways.

Police told the city transportation board on Wednesday that 50 iPods have been reported stolen on the subways so far this year, compared to none during the same period last year.

Apparently cell phones are to blame too.

Cell phone thefts have more than doubled to 165 from 82 last year.

The thefts fueled a 20 percent spike in robberies last month on the subway, officials said.

Hat tip to reader Mike Alexander.

I am so glad that President Bush kept Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Pissing off the peaceniks at Moveon.org is just a fringe benefit compared to exchanges like this:

Sen. Daniel Inouye, the Democrat from Hawaii, said, "For the first time in many years the Army and Marine Corps are not meeting their recruiting targets. There are some who are already discussing the draft."

Rumsfeld leaned closer to the microphone and said, "I think the only people who could conceivably be talking about a draft are people who are speaking from pinnacles of near-perfect ignorance."

Dick Morris thinks the GOP is taking the wrong approach on filibusters:

Frist just needs to end the "virtual" filibuster and make the Democrats stage a real one, replete with quorum calls, 24/7 sessions and truly endless debate covered word for word by C-SPAN for all the nation to see - and ridicule.

Now where have I heard that before?

I still insist, and will continue to insist that making Democrats hold an actual filibuster is the answer. A filibuster used to mean that the filibustering party needed to hold the Senate floor. They would stand up there and talk and talk and talk, refusing to yield the floor to anyone else. All Senate business stopped until the filibuster was resolved or broken.

If the Dems want to filibuster judicial nominees, that's fine. But the GOP should make them put their money where their mouth is. If they're going to be obstructionists, let them stand up there and show America what's really going on. -- Ravenwood, December 21, 2004.

They. . .should go back to the old rules of filibustering. A filibuster is supposed to be maintained by the filibustering party. The Dems should be required to take the floor and hold it until the filibuster is over. They should also not proceed with any other Senate business until the filibusters are resolved. Perhaps then the American people get the full picture of just how much the Democrats are obstructing. -- Ravenwood, May 6, 2003.

Dick Morris has a much louder voice. Hopefully the GOP will take heed.

I see I'm not the only one that noticed the network cut off President Bush's prime time news conference.

CBS, NBC and FOX cut President Bush's primetime press conference before it ended-- to air May Sweeps Reality TV episodes...

The White House learned a painful media lesson Thursday: Do not launch a press conference on the first night of May Sweeps!

And check out CNN's most useless poll ever. It asks: "Did President Bush's news conference change your mind on Social Security reform?" I guess they already know how we felt before his speech.

So much content, so little time.

ABC is doing a hit piece on Fox's American Idol. I knew the Big Three Networks hated losing their audience to Fox, but attacking their shows seems a little rediculous.

Speaking of Fox, at 350 episodes, Matt Groening says the 17-year old Simpsons has "almost reached its halfway point".

After nearly 30 years of occupation, the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon is pretty much complete.

Idiots across New England flooded the 9-1-1 emergency system in a panic over a meteor shower.

A town in Italy has made it illegal to walk your dog less than three times a day.

Have you ever wondered why real estate agents seem to be immune to competitive pricing? The Feds think the reason they continue to make 6% year after year is because of illegal price fixing.

More hate crime fraud.

I cannot help but wonder if these stories are related. First up is Byron York, who notes that Air America has been struggling in the ratings lately.

Between the hours of 10 A.M. and 3 P.M., the period that includes Al Franken's program, Air America drew a 1.4-percent share of the New York audience aged 25 to 54 in Winter 2005. That number is the latest in a nearly year-long decline. In Spring of 2004, Air America's first quarter on the air, it drew a 2.2-percent share of the audience. That rose to 2.3 percent in the Summer of 2004, then fell to 1.6 percent in the Fall of 2004, and is now 1.4 percent - Air America's lowest-ever quarterly rating in that time and demographic slot.

The ratings also show WABC radio, which airs Rush Limbaugh, consistently beating Air America in New York City even though Franken had at one time claimed to be beating the conservative host there.

Then there's this Drudge Report, which tells of an apparent Air America publicity stunt.

Government officials are reviewing a skit which aired on the network Monday evening -- a skit featuring an apparent gunshot warning to the president!

The announcer: "A spoiled child is telling us our Social Security isn't safe anymore, so he is going to fix it for us. Well, here's your answer, you ungrateful whelp: [audio sound of 4 gunshots being fired.] Just try it, you little bastard. [audio of gun being cocked]."

The audio production at the center of the controversy aired during opening minutes of The Randi Rhodes Show.

"What is with all the killing?" Rhodes said, laughing, after the clip aired.

So much for tolerance.

Caller ID services that allow callers to display a fake number are on the rise. The BBC reports that internet phone services are making it much easier to spoof the phone number, which lends credibility to conmen (and cops).

...some US net-based firms are now offering a spoofing service that lets people choose the number they are calling from.

At least seven firms have set up shop on the net offering these spoofing services. Four are aimed at consumers and another three restrict themselves to helping law enforcement agencies and private investigators.

Of course this also gives predatory junk marketers a way around the 'No Call List'. How long before nuisance calls are as common as email spam?

Steven Speilberg thinks that if an alien species ever visits Earth, they will be friendly, and come bearing gifts. The AP reports:

"I have to certainly believe what my heart tells me. That the first time there is a meeting of the minds between extraterrestrials and human beings, it's going to be friendly," Spielberg told The Associated Press in an interview looking ahead to his "War of the Worlds" saga, starring Tom Cruise. [...]

"I can't believe anybody would travel such vast distances bent on destruction. I believe anybody who would travel such vast distances are curious explorers, not conquerors," Spielberg said. "Carrying weapons a hundred-thousand light-years is quite a schlepp. I believe it's easier to travel 100,000 light-years with their versions of the Bible."

Hey, it's not like human history is filled with stories of advanced civilizations conquering lesser civilizations and stealing their booty. And global explorers routinely traveled to strange and exotic places completely unarmed and defenseless. Right?

(Via Taranto)

Technically this guy was right. He could hack any IP address and gain access to the hard drive.

• Hacker picks fight with chat moderator, demands his IP address.

• Moderator send hacker an IP address.

• Hacker gains access to hard drive and starts deleting files.

• Hacker realizes too late that 127.0.0.1 is his own IP address.

The money quote:

Finally the hacker declared success."I can see your E: drive disappearing, he gloated, "D: is down 45 percent!" he cried, before disappearing into the ether

Actually, the original translation is much much funnier than the article. The guy first tries turning off the machine remotely a few times and then bitches that his own computer keeps restarting. Next he tries deleting files, and then gloats as each drive is erased. G: gone.. then F:, then E:, then D:. About halfway through deleting his own C-drive, the connection drops.

"We performed the wrong operation on you, we didn't look at your folder." -- The excuse allegedly used by a South African doctor who is accused of accidentally removing a man's testicles instead of his prostate gland.

Republicans are set to reverse House Ethics Committee rules in response to Democrat's whining and refusal to meet. The change is being billed in the media as a GOP defeat retreat.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, leading a Republican retreat, said Wednesday he stands ready to scrap controversial new ethics rules, possibly by day's end...

Democrats charge that rules changes pushed through the House by Republicans earlier this year were designed to shelter Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and have stopped the ethics committee from conducting business in retaliation. The powerful Texan was admonished by the panel three times last year and faces scrutiny this year over overseas travel. He has denied any wrongdoing.

In reality, all the change did was place the burden of proof on the prosecution, as it is in American courts. Before the rule's change, a 5-5 tie in the evenly split 10 member committee meant that they moved forward with an investigation of charges. The rules change said you had to have a 6 vote majority, which the Democrats and their willing accomplices in the press are billing as 'you have to have the support of a member of the opposite party'. Their goal was to make it sound protectionist toward Republican Leader Tom DeLay.

But the rule actually hurt DeLay more than it helped him. By not allowing him to be investigated, the Democrats are able to continually smear him in the press without a serious investigation of the charges. Changing the rules back mitigates the Democrat's objection. If DeLay can trigger an investigation, he *should* be exhonerated because he's done nothing illegal or outside the realm of what every other member of Congress does.

However the rules change could spell disaster for 'Baghdad' Jim McDermott and Nancy Pelosi, both of whom face very real ethics charges: McDermott for his being found guilty of releasing an illegally taped cell phone conversation; and Pelosi for her campaign finance lapses.

Buffalo.

A local teacher has been arrested for leaving his handgun in his car while he was on school grounds.

A Fairfax County teacher is in trouble after police say he brought a gun onto school property. 31 year-old Timothy Fudd turned himself into police.

Investigators say an anonymous tip led school officials to search Fudd's vehicle at Westfield High in Chantilly where they say a loaded handgun was found. Fudd was released today and is now charged with possession of a weapon on school property.

Police say he has a consent to carry a concealed weapon but that does not apply on school grounds.

I'm not sure I buy this 'anonymous tip' crap, and I wonder if it was an illegal search and seizure. But I will point out that this year, the law has been relaxed so that someone with a concealed handgun permit is allowed to have a handgun secured in their vehicle on school property. While they still can't carry it around with them, simply pulling into the parking lot doesn't make you an instant felon. Sadly, for this gentleman, the change doesn't go into effect until July 1.

Earlier this month, my windshield fell victim to gun violence. It was replaced a week ago Friday, and within a week the new one is ruined. I am contemplating suing the Commonwealth of Virginia for their failure to maintain their portion of the Capitol Beltway. The construction zone that I have to drive through every day is filled with road hazard o' plenty. Usually the debris is large and it is easy to swerve and miss it. But the tiny rocks and pebbles that are left behind are murder on windshields.

This goes beyond rock chip. I have a full blown crack that stretches to two sides of the windshield. I spoke to the guy that put it in and was basically told 'tough luck'. I could sense his deep admiration for the Commonwealth for providing him with such good business.

So, he's going to try his best to "work me a deal", but it looks like I'm on the hook for another complete windshield replacement. My insurance deductable is nearly half the cost of the replacement, so last time I didn't feel it was necessary to file a claim. But this windshield a week bullshit cannot go on.

Words cannot express my irritation.

Big Music is being accused of racketeering. CNET reports:

Two independent music promoters have sued Universal Music Group for $100 million, claiming the record company forced them to submit false invoices so Universal could recoup promotional costs from artists such as rapper Nelly.

The suit raises "pay-for-play" issues similar to those being probed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in a wide-ranging investigation into whether record companies have broken U.S. law by paying radio stations to play their songs.

The two promoters, National Music Marketing Inc. of Los Angeles and Majestic Promotions Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia, claim they were forced to doctor invoices that then allowed Universal to bill promotional costs to artists whom the promoters never represented.

The next version of Windows will contain a virtual flight data recorder or "black box" that records everything a user does. The intent is that if programs or the computer crashes, IT professionals will be able to see what the user was doing at the time of the error.

Personally I wouldn't want the text of my emails being sent to Microsoft every time the computer goes haywire, so I will definitely be turning that feature off. But disabling the spy feature on a work PC may not be that straightforward.

With businesses, however, IT managers typically set the policy. If they wanted total information, they could configure systems so that they'd know not only that a user was running Internet Explorer, for example, but also that he or she was watching a video from ESPN.com. Or, they might find out not only that a worker was running Instant Messenger but also that he or she was talking to a co-worker about getting a new job.

This functionality is already available to companies through third party programs. But not everyone goes through the hassle and expense to log everything. Now Microsoft is taking that step for them. Pretty soon the only thing keeping your boss from reading your emails and IMs will be the sheer volume of them. (And a simple 'search' feature solves that problem.)

"Personal accounts don't solve that problem. You still have the insolvency of the Social Security trust fund." -- Senate Finance Committee chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican.

It is my firm belief that any politician who lies about the mythical "Social Security Trust Fund" should get a swift kick in the nuts. There is no trust fund. No lock box. It doesn't exist. There is nothing there except empty promises.

How about this: Any person who shows that they donate 15% of their income (up to the federal maximum) into their 401k account is exempted from paying (and receiving) social security.

Today's leftovers are all about guns.

Students at Niagara Falls High School created a memorial for sophomore Anthony Sheard. Sheard, who police say has been linked to gang activity, is taking the eternal dirt nap after he tried to rob a pizza delivery man and was shot to death. Students sent letters and flowers, and the school district has lowered the flag to half-staff - something they didn't even do for local soldiers killed in Iraq.

An elderly woman was arrested in New Jersey for showing up to the Courthouse metal detector with a gun in her purse. She is 87-years old and bought the gun for protection. It was still in the original box, but never the less she has been charged with illegal gun possession.

People are finally starting to realize that the Clinton Gun Ban was meaningless. Since the ban expired last year, not much has changed, reports the New York Times (of all places).

Speaking of the gun ban, police in St. Petersburg Florida are using the expired ban as an excuse to purchase semi-auto AR-15 rifles. They say that now that the ban has expired, they are concerned about being outgunned on the streets. They cite an instance where an officer was shot at with an SKS rifle (which was not even covered by the ban). The AR-15 purchase enflamed Tom Diaz of the VPC, who said that "assault rifles" (which it is not) are not needed outside of Iraq. The police bit back saying that calling it an "assault rifle" was inflammatory. Now they know how we feel.

By a margin of 75%, Americans overwhelmingly rejected the idea that gun control would prevent terrorism. Maybe that's because the terrorist attacks on American soil were committed with airplanes and Ryder trucks, not guns.

Two journalists sent to watch a college game of 'beer pong' were fired for drinking. They were supposed to be there reporting on the evils of drinking, and got busted partaking in some of the fun.

But talking about beer pong takes me down memory lane. I used to go to UVA to visit with friends and celebrate Midwinter's every year. Beer pong was a staple drinking game and one of my favorites. Cups are lined up at each end of the ping pong table, and you have to toss your ping pong balls into your opponent's cups. When you get one in, they have to guzzle the beer. I didn't get to throw many ping pong balls because my aim sucks. But UVA guys are notoriously sloppy drinkers, so they left it up to the Hokie (me) to guzzle the beers. The other team usually didn't stand a chance. If I remember any more of the story, maybe I'll write another DSoD

The PC police are trying to change our calendar. They think that using the age old system of B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (anno Domini) is offensive to non Christians. They are attempting to change the terms to B.C.E. (Before Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era). I guess that for now the life of Christ would still divide the eras. Personally, I would call B.C.E. 'Before Christian Era' and C.E. 'Christian Era', just to piss off the PC nazis. Besides 2000 years ago isn't exactly what I would call 'common era'.

In trying to justify the change, either the scholors or the Washington Times seem to have fallen for the 'After Death' misconception when talking about A.D..

Although most calendars are based on an epoch or person, B.C. and A.D. have always presented a particular problem for historians: There is no year zero; there's a 33-year gap, reflecting the life of Christ, dividing the epochs. Critics say that's additional reason to replace the Christian-based terms.

Didn't these guys ever go to Sunday school? It is true that there is no year zero, but there is certainly no 33-year gap. 1 B.C. is the year before Christ was born. A.D. 1 is the year after Christ was born. The 33 years of his life are A.D. 1 to A.D. 33. The only gap is a leap in the numbering, and every year of time is technically accounted for. And switching the labels around doesn't solve anything. To fix the timeline, we'd all have to relive a year. (This year would be another 2004, and George W. Bush would have to re-run for re-election.)

Of course if any of this were really a problem for historians, they must really hate daylight savings time and leap year.

Tom Busey was the head of the NFA division at ATF. They are charged with keeping records for legally owned and registered machine guns. Some years ago he gave a speech where he rather cavalierly admitted that the NFA will tell the court what they want to hear. Here is an excerpt (transcribed by me) from the video (2.2 MB):

"Let me say that when we testify in court, we testify that the database is 100% accurate. That's what we testify to, and we'll always testify to that. As you probably well know, that may not be 100% true. If it was.. if our database was absolutely error free, we could simply run the name of the individual and his first name and it didn't come up, we could guarantee everyone that that individual doesn't have a title II weapon registered to him...

We know that you're basing your warrants on it, your basing your entries [entries = raids, like in Waco] on it and you certainly don't want a form 4 waved in your face when you go in there... I've heard that's happened."

What he's saying here is that he doesn't want to put the ATF into a position where they raid someones property expecting to find illegal firearms, only to find out that they are legally owned. He later admits that the error rate in the database was as high as 50%, but has fallen to 8%. But remember, they'll always testify in court that it's 100% accurate.

Personally I'm not at all surprised. I've had people tell me that the ATF has contacted them for a copy of their form 4 because the Bureau inadvertently lost their copy.

(Via David Hardy, Via Say Uncle)

First up is the AP, who can't figure out why crime is down despite less inmates being released from prison:

While the crime rate has fallen over the past decade, the number of people in prison and jail is outpacing the number of inmates released, said the report's co-author, Paige Harrison. For example, the number of admissions to federal prisons in 2004 exceeded releases by more than 8,000, the study found.

Next is the Washington Post, who notices the opposite effect in Baltimore:

IN BALTIMORE, murders are up and convictions are down. You read that correctly: Even as the city has gained the dubious distinction of having the nation's highest big-city murder rate, prosecutors say that conviction rates in homicide cases are falling. The main cause is that, increasingly, witnesses will not cooperate or testify, often because they are afraid. And no wonder: Since last September seven witnesses have been shot or murdered -- a rate of about one a month.

So nationwide crime is down when more criminals are in jail? And murders are increasing in Baltimore because prosecutors have been unable to get murder convictions? Gee, can't figure that one out.

Meanwhile, in Virginia (where crime is falling) one of the so-called Beltway Snipers had is death sentence re-affirmed.

The Virginia Supreme Court affirmed yesterday the capital murder convictions and death penalty for sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad.

"If society's ultimate penalty should be reserved for the most heinous offenses, accompanied by proof of vileness or future dangerousness, then surely this case qualifies," Justice Donald Lemons wrote.

Maryland has only executed 4 (count them again, 4) prisoners since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977. Malvo and Muhammad never should have crossed the Potomac.

While researching Maryland's death penalty figures for this article, I came across this delightful Univ. of Maryland study that claims that the death penalty is racist because it disproportionately affects blacks. Naturally, the usual suspects jumped on the percentages to further their weak-kneed cause to abolish capital punishment.

Maryland's death row is one of the most racially biased in the nation. 69% of the men on death row are African American.

100% of the murder victims of the men on death row are White. This is true even though African Americans persistently constitue over %80 of the victims of homicide in the state of Maryland.

That sounds damning, until you actually look at the numbers and realize that there have been only 4 executions since 1977, and there are currently only 9 people on death row. Using a sample size that small would normally get you laughed out of statistics class.

Reading the study itself, you find out that the University of Maryland researchers did indeed focus on the 13 people who received death sentences in the last 28 years. They note that the authors of the study "identified 415 homicides that were deemed to be "death eligible" (they presented facts which legally qualified them for the death penalty), 90 of which resulted in a penalty phase hearing."

So, in order for the conclusion to be true - that Maryland's death penalty is racist - 402 of the murders must have either been committed by whites, or involved black on black crime. Only 13 (or 3%) were actually given the death penalty. It should also be noted that of the 4 people executed since 1977, two of them (50%) are white.

But like I said, when you are talking about 13 people, statistics don't matter much.

Despite what the anti-capitalists are saying, Global Warming is not a new phenomenon. Scientists now claim that a global warming period that occured 3 million years ago was due to increased carbon dioxide.

This will undoubtedly be blamed on prehistoric sport utility vehicles.

"It wasn't until we really had the opportunity to listen to so many different people talk about so many different aspects of the code that it really sunk in about how much and how often the code is being used these days to either create incentives or disincentives for either investment or behavior." -- Former Florida Senator Connie Mack, Chairman of President Bush's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform.

Well, it has been just about a month since the gallbladder attack that put me into the hospital. I haven't had any more attacks mainly because I've been eating a low fat diet and avoiding guilty pleasures like cheeseburgers, beer, and pizza. For the past several weeks I've felt absolutely fine; like there is nothing wrong with me. But I'm definitely craving a cheeseburger (and a few beers). Maybe if I scarfed them down real quick and head straight to the emergency room, I'll get in to see the doctor about the time the attack starts.

Seriously though, eating low-fat isn't all that bad so long as you like chicken and lean lunch meats. And aside from McDonalds, most restaurants and fast food places have some sort of low-fat alternative. Still, for those nights when I come home from work and don't feel like preparing anything, it'd be nice to be able to order a pizza.

The doctors are running their tests, but my followup appointment isn't until the end of May. Even then, they may not be able to pinpoint the cause.

Montgomery County residents are fed up with property tax increases reports the Washington Post. Residents are writing their representatives in droves complaining about the increasing cost of living. They are so fed up, they are even threatening to vote (GASP!) Republican.

Requesting a list of council members who have voted to increase property tax revenue beyond limits set in the county charter, [Colleen Carrigan] wrote: "Please inform these members that I will actively and adamantly lobby to ensure their defeat in upcoming elections. I will cross party lines and vote Republican in order to keep from being financially exploited as a homeowner, as will many of the neighbors to whom I have spoken."

The cries seem to be falling on deaf ears, however; at least in the case of the council President.

Potomac resident Stuart Carroll, a business owner who has two sons in public school, has sent two e-mails to the council. In response to his first, council President Tom Perez (D-Silver Spring) wrote to say that regardless of the percentage increase in his assessment, his property tax increase would be capped at 10 percent.

Only a politician would think that a 10% annual tax increase is reasonable.

Stewart Mandel says Louisville enters the Big East favored to win the conference and snap up it's BCS bid. With BCS affiliation now, the Cardinals are talking National Championship.

"We want to win a national championship here," said Louisville AD Tom Jurich. "Seven years ago, it sounded ridiculous, but now I think it's a legitimate goal."

The Big East is tougher than the Conference USA that they are coming from, but considering they finished last season at 11-1 and ranked number 6, running the table is not out of the question.

The government funded British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is coming under fire for equipping hecklers with microphones and sending them to disrupt a campaign meetings being held by Conservative leader Michael Howard. The Tory party responded by accusing the BBC of "serious misconduct", but the BBC claims their actions were justified.

Last night, the BBC claimed that the exercise was part of a "completely legitimate programme about the history and art of political heckling" and said that other parties' meetings were being "observed". However, The Telegraph has established that none of Tony Blair's meetings was infiltrated or disrupted in similar fashion.

Who knew that women played professional tackle football?

Spring started more than a month ago, but parts of the midwest are still getting buried by snow. The Twins/Tigers game in Detroit was snowed out on Saturday, and snow continued to fall in Ohio and Michigan on Sunday.

Combine this with record snow depths in Alaska, and perhaps all of this is all part of that Global Cooling they've been warning us about.

"If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder by the year 2000...This is about twice what it would take to put us in an ice age." -- Kenneth E.F. Watt on air pollution and global cooling, Earth Day (1970)

Anything worth shooting, is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.

Andy Shaw claims that Republicans went after Clinton, as payback for Democrats going after Nixon. Shaw writes:

Congressman Henry Hyde made some surprising comments Thursday on the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton. He now says Republicans may have gone after Clinton to retaliate for the impeachment of Richard Nixon.

Actually, Hyde never said any such thing, despite the glaring headline that says he did. Shaw's own article shows that he's putting words into his mouth.

Andy Shaw asked Hyde if the Clinton proceedings were payback for Nixon's impeachment.

"I can't say it wasn't..." said Hyde.

That does not mean the same thing as: "Clinton impeachment was retaliation for Nixon, says retiring congressman". And as Neal points out, Nixon was never impeached.

"If I could only have one gun it would be aimed at the guy who said I can only have one gun." -- From the Kim du Toit forums.

A 110-pound 47-year old Florida woman was arrested on Easter Sunday and Tasered 9 times.

Larry Caskey, director of the Okaloosa County Department of Corrections, said officers were forced to use the Taser because Skelly tried to wriggle out of handcuffs, escape from a patrol car and bite her own hand.

"It doesn't look good, but when you take it step by step, I feel like they acted appropriately," he said.

Tasers were originally intended to be a replacement for the use of lethal force. Now, despite numerous deaths caused by the devices, they are still being used against people who are already handcuffed and in custody.

One night when I was a young boy, I was doing my chores and helping with the dishes after supper. I went to place a sharp knife into the dishwasher, and it slipped from my hand. Instead of jumping back, I made the mistake of trying to catch it. I did, and ended up stabbing myself in the index finger. I still have the scar from the stitches.

This off duty police officer could have learned from my mistake.

A police spokesman says an off-duty officer was at a San Antonio auto auction house Wednesday when nature called.

Officer Craig Clancy strolled to the appropriate facility and was lowering his trousers when his pistol fell from his waistband. When Clancy fumbled for the falling firearm, it went off - twice.

One of the bullets nicked a bit of floor tile into the leg of a man who was washing his hands nearby.

Modern day guns don't just 'go off'. Had Officer Clancy simply let it fall instead of grabbing for it and hitting the trigger, he would have been better off.

Thank God, scientists have finally solved the problem of unpopped popcorn kernels.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is running for re-election. Part of his campaign platform is to cut crime by 15%. The Labour Party claims overall crime is down 15% since 1997, and that they can cut it another 15% if they are given another term.

Of course their claims would carry a lot more weight if it didn't run side by side with these headlines:

(click for full version)

Desperate to dig up dirt, the New York Times complains that "DeLay Charity for Children Financed by [Evil] Corporations".

The 19-year-old charity, the DeLay Foundation for Kids, has consistently declined to identify its donors, citing their desire for privacy. But a review of corporate and charitable records shows that recent donors have included AT&T, the Corrections Corporation of America, Exxon Mobil, Limited Brands and the Southern Company, as well as Bill and Melinda Gates, the Microsoft founder and his wife, and Michael Dell of Dell computers.

The Gates and Dell family foundations have donated at least $350,000 to Mr. DeLay's charity since 2001. Among the largest corporate gifts was a $100,000 check given to Mr. DeLay last year by the Corrections Corporation of Nashville, which manages federal prisons. AT&T and Exxon Mobil say they have each donated $50,000.

Charities never identify donors. If they did, every two-bit charity in the world would be calling up donors and heckling them for money. So far it sounds like much ado about nothing, but the Times is determined to make something out of it.

...whatever its charitable purpose, the DeLay Foundation is also an important fund-raising operation for Mr. DeLay and allows corporate lobbyists and executives to curry favor with him in a way that skirts campaign finance laws.

Remember Campaign Finance Reform? That's the unConstitutional law that says you can't say anything bad about a politician 60-days before he runs for re-election. It raised the hard money limit on donations (money given directly to candidates), and eliminated the unlimited soft money contributions (money given to the major political parties). Designed to remove money from politics, it is the reason that hundreds of millions of dollars have been diverted to so-called 527 groups who run attack ads.

How giving money to a charitable organization skirts these rules, the Times doesn't explain. But it should be common knowledge that Bill and Melinda Gates have given billions (with a B) to charity.

As reported previously in WinInfo, Gates plans on doling out the majority of his wealth during his lifetime, focusing on gifts that will solve global health and education problems. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation receives the majority of these gifts.

"Bill and Melinda have made a gift of about $5 billion every quarter," says Foundation chairperson Patty Stonesifer.

That's $5,000,000,000 every three months (at least in 1999 before the crash). Still, their $350,000 gift (combined with Michael Dell) to DeLay's foundation seems paltry by comparison.

(Hat tip to Coop)

"Although Kennedy was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Reagan, a conservative icon, he has aroused conservatives' ire by sometimes agreeing with the court's more liberal members. Nevertheless, it is unusual for a congressional leader to single out a Supreme Court justice for criticism." -- AP, April 20, 2005, criticizing Tom DeLay for criticizing Supreme Court Justice Kennedy.

"I think that [Justice Clarence Thomas] has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court. I think that his opinions are poorly written. I just don't think that he's done a good job as a Supreme Court justice." -- Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid D-NV, December 05, 2004.

(Hat tip to Taranto)

Dems reject offer to investigate DeLay -- CNN Headline, April 20, 2005.

Some parents are unhappy with rules at a New Hampshire shopping mall. Unaccompanied minors will not be allowed, nor will people who wear "long chains that fall below the knee or studded dog or wrist collars, all of which can be used as weapons."

Now the shopping mall, being a private business, has the right to refuse service to those who don't obey their rules. In a free society, those are the breaks. But not everyone agrees.

"They sell that stuff," said [Leann Newcomb]. "How are they going to tell the kids after they buy that stuff not to wear it? Isn't that a violation of your constitutional rights?"

Now, I've read the Constitution several times, and nowhere does it say that property owners have to play host to bratty kids with studded dog collars. That may have been in the Declaration of Independence, but that's not really binding. Perhaps Newcomb should propose a Constitutional Amendment.

Anyone know who Michael Smith is? Michael Smith did an awful thing. Just awful. Smith is the Vietnam Vet who was recently arrested for spitting...

...on that that sweet and lovable Hanoi Jane Fonda during one of her book-signings. Jane Fonda, if you remember, is a famous communist sympathizer, who gave aid and comfort to the North Vietnamese, while our soldiers were fighting and dying. Due to her celebrity status, she was never prosecuted for treason, (a crime punishable by death.)

At about 9 p.m., police said 54-year-old Michael A. Smith, who had been waiting in line for about 90 minutes, passed a book to Fonda and then spit a large amount of tobacco juice into her face.

They said Smith then ran away and was taken into custody by off-duty officers, who were providing security for the event.

That's right, Smith stood in line for 90 minutes, waiting patiently, for the opportunity to spit right in her face. He didn't charge at her with a pie like a raving kamikazee. He didn't wing a key-lime at her, only to miss and be beaten up by spectators and dragged off by security. No, he waited patiently.

Still, this type of behavior is bad, bad, bad. No one should resort to such petty assaults. I think Smith deserves jail time. (If I were prosecuting this, I'd ask for 15 minutes in jail and a one dollar fine... and no more spitting for three months.)

Although he was arrested for disorderly conduct, Fonda will not press charges.

Say Uncle tells his own story about TSA harrassment, which reminds me of my own.

It started in Kansas City, during the Friday afternoon rush hour. It's roughly 5 o'clock, and I and the other air-commuters are just trying to get home for the weekend. I walk up to the security gate, remove all my metal objects, my belt, and my shoes (as instructed) and walk through the detector. Everything is fine so far.

I get my belt and belongings back, but the TSA inspector wants to 'swab' my laptop bag and shoes. They swab on the laptop bag is clean, but they get a hit on the shoes. The guy says something to the effect of 'uh oh', and whips out this huge three ring binder. At this point, I know there's going to be trouble.

The TSA officer flips through the binder until he finds the page that tells him what residue my shoes are supposedly laced with. It's nitro-glycerin, a common heart medication as well as exposive. A supervisor is called to try to determine what needs to be done. As I stand there in my stocking feet, I tell him that it's probably a false positive, and he should test the shoes again.

The supervisor tries to give me an 'out'. "Sir, do you take any heart medication?"

"No."

"Do you live with anyone who takes heart medication?"

"No. I live alone."

"Were you staying with anyone who takes heart medication?"

"No. I was in a hotel."

"Do you know anyone who takes heart medication?"

Sigh. "No."

This went on and on for about 45 minutes. The TSA staff didn't suspect me of being a terrorist, but they didn't just want to let me walk on the plane either. So, they kept giving me excuses for how nitro-glycerin might have gotten onto my shoes. At one point they float the idea of letting me board the plane, without my shoes.

Finally, I plead with him to just test the shoes again. "I'm sure it was just a false positive," I tell the supervisor.

Suddenly, as if it were his idea, he tells the subordinate to test the shoes again. "It's probably just a false positive," he said.

They test my shoes again, and it comes up negative. By now, I'm the last person to board the plane before they close the doors, and my seat was nearly given away to someone waiting standby. Naturally all the overhead space is taken.

Now, I told you that story, to tell you this one. Contrast the TSA incompetence in Kansas City with the TSA incompetence in Washington, D.C.

I live near the Metrorail line, so I fly out of Reagan National Airport. Now, if you've never flown out of Reagan, you might not know that everyone gets extra scrutiny. Even passengers flying into Reagan go through an extra layer of security, and you can't even so much as stand up 30 minutes after takeoff or before landing. So if you take off from Reagan, and some numbnuts stands up 10 minutes into the flight, they claim they will divert the flight to the nearest airport and remove the passenger from the plane.

So, given that tense attitude toward security, I fully expected to get the anal probe before getting to my gate. I'm flying out around noon time, and there isn't much of a rush yet. I'm dressed in khakis with my black DEA polo shirt. By DEA, I mean I bought it from the gift shop at the headquarters of the Drug Enforcement Administration back when I had done some work for them. (I know, who knew they had a gift shop.) The shirt has their Special Agent shield emblazoned on the breast, and DEA in big bold letters underneath. It cost my $30 and is quite a nice shirt. (Although I wouldn't wear it out to the club.. unless I was trying to see how long it would take me to get stabbed.)

So the three people in front of me are going through the metal detector. Each one is individually instructed to remove their shoes and belt. The girl in front of me even cries, "But they're flip-flops."

"I don't care lady, put them through the machine," demands the screener.

So, I step up there and before the guy can even say anything, start to unlace my shoes. What do I get?

"No, you're okay. Go ahead and come on through."

No extra screening, no removing the shoes, no second glance, no nothing. My $30 purchase greased the skids at one of the tightest airports in the country; an airport that remained closed for months after September 11th, due to security concerns.

Doesn't that make you feel safe?

UPDATE: Here is a photo of the shirt:

(click to supersize)

Apparently being fat isn't all that bad after all. They even noted that people who carry a few extra pounds actually live longer.

Being overweight is nowhere near as big a killer as the government thought, ranking No. 7 instead of No. 2 among the nation's leading preventable causes of death, according to a startling new calculation from the CDC.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated today that packing on too many pounds accounts for 25,814 deaths a year in the United States. As recently as January, the CDC came up with an estimate 14 times higher: 365,000 deaths.

Overstating the problem by 1400%, is just a tad more than the usual plus or minus 3% margin of error. It makes me wonder how wrong they've been on other things, like smoking.

If you're going to be homeless, Los Angeles sounds like the place to be. Not only is the weather nice, but the homeless enjoy amenities that some middle class families can't afford.

Opening Monday and trumpeted proudly by city officials is the Midnight Mission - and one of the nation's plushest homeless shelters. The $17 million state-of-the-art facility boasts a full-sized gymnasium, library, playroom, hair salon, education center, and professional kitchen. The shelter is the city's latest effort to address one of its most visible and resistant social problems: the more than 6,000 people who live on the streets.

Of course this only treats the symptoms, not the disease. Homelessness in L.A. is on the rise, and the lack of affordable housing is largely to blame.

"I think it's dead. Sorry. The monster anchors are through." -- Sam Donaldson, former ABC News anchor saying that network news is pretty much dead.

The 'bi-partisan' Commission on Federal Election Reform has been hearing evidence of all that went wrong with the 2004 Presidential Election. Aside from the usual gripes of long lines, confusing ballots, and inadequate staffing, the evidence included statements like this:

"In the 2004 presidential election, the United States came much closer to electoral meltdown, violence in the streets and constitutional crisis than most people realize," professor Richard Hasen of Loyola Law School said in his written comments. "Less than a 2 percent swing among Ohio voters -- about 100,000 voters -- toward Democratic candidate for president John Kerry and away from incumbent Republican President Bush would have placed the Ohio -- and national -- election for president well within the 'margin of litigation,' and it would have gotten ugly very quickly."

Disappointed Kerry supporters continue to play 'what if'. I will once again defer this one to Nathan Gonzales, who way back in January aptly pointed out:

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.

Gonzales' scenario requires only 45,000 voters going the other way, from three different states. Hasen's requires nearly 60,000 voters changing their mind, all in the state of Ohio.

An eco-terrorist convicted of arson and vandalism was sentenced to 8 years in "federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison", reports CNN.

An aspiring physicist was sentenced Monday to more than eight years in prison and ordered to pay $3.5 million for his role in a spree of arson and vandalism that targeted gas-guzzling Hummers and other sports utility vehicles.

Rejecting pleas for clemency from William Cottrell, a 24-year-old doctoral candidate in physics at the California Institute of Technology, U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner added more time to the sentence after finding that Cottrell was trying to sway consumers with his anti-SUV message.

The slogans Cottrell spray-painted onto vehicles included "Fat Lazy Americans," "No Respect for Earth" and "SUV Terrorism."

Cottrell's pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears.

Cottrell, who admitted only spray-painting and testified he did not know that two friends were bringing Molotov cocktails, promised he would never break the law again.

The two friends have fled the country to avoid prosecution, authorities said.

"I want nothing more than to be a physicist," Cottrell said. "I would do anything to earn any leniency the court could show in this matter."

Given that Cottrell was convicted on seven counts of arson and one count of conspiracy, I think he got off easy. Arson is a serious crime, which can get people killed. (Just ask any fireman how he feels about arson.)

Maybe spending 8 years with rapists, murderers, and common street thugs will give Cottrell the kind of enlightenment he really deserves.

Say Uncle notes that Lincoln (NE) has shot themselves in the foot with a smoking ban. Smoking is a vice that goes hand in hand with gambling. And gambling receipts are down since they nullified property rights, forcing smokers out onto the streets to light up.

Keno is big business for 30 licensed locations in Lincoln, many of them bars and nightclubs. Keno players are a dedicated lot and do not like to have their games and concentration broken because they have to step outside for a smoke. Under contractual license agreement the city of Lincoln recieves (sic) fourteen cents of every Keno dollar played. Figures for January, the first month of the ban indicate that the gross revenue is down nearly five hundred thousand dollars over the previous January. At fourteen cents on every dollar that represents a one month loss of about a seventy thousand dollars in income the city has come to depend on for Librairies (sic) and Park projects.

Perhaps Lincoln should rethink allowing people to smoke on their own property. After all, it's for the children.

States are chomping at the bit to collect internet taxes, reports CNET. They claim to be losing hundreds of millions of dollars in sales taxes because of online shopping. California claims to lose Billions.

With all that money to be had (or at least perceived to be had), an internet sales tax can't be far away.

When it comes to raising taxes, some politicians don't let anything stand in their way. That includes the will of the people, reports the Seattle Times.

House Democrats yesterday cleared the way for tax increases by passing a bill that would let lawmakers raise taxes with a majority vote instead of the two-thirds vote now required.

Senate Bill 6078 would suspend part of Initiative 601, the spending-limit measure Washington voters approved in 1993, and make it possible for Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate to raise taxes without Republicans going along. It passed 50-43, with four Democrats siding with Republicans and voting against it.

Why even let the people vote at all.

(Via Taranto)

IBM has won a deal to install automobile tracking technology for the government, reports CNET.

The four-year deal, expected to be announced on Friday, calls for IBM to equip cars and trucks with a telematics device and GPS (Global Positioning System) that will provide information on a vehicle's location and speed to government agencies. It will link tens of thousands of vehicles in a nationwide wireless network. IBM asserts this will be the largest application of telematics--or the marriage of mobile communications and computing--as of yet.

Before you begin to panic, this technology will be deployed in the United Arab Emirates, and not the United States. But given the way our civil liberties have been eroded over time, limited implementation of this technology in America doesn't seem too far off.

This guy has a running tally of the number of times the F-word is used in HBO's Deadwood.

When it comes to retirement, there is a whole segment of society that wants to just stick their head in the sand and not worry about it until about 5 years before they plan to retire. Unfortunately, by then it's too late. Personally, I've been planning for my retirement since I was 26. But then that is definitely not typical, as the Washington Post points out.

Brenda Ellis's day begins at 6:30 a.m., when she rousts her 11-year-old son, Imani, from bed, hustles him into the kitchen for breakfast and to the school bus by 7. Tianna, 13, and Dikia, 17, quickly follow. Then she's off, some days to a substitute-teaching job in Prince George's County, others to tax clinics for the working poor, where she is earning credit for a hoped-for career in accounting.

If it's a school night for her, Ellis, 41, rushes home to her Landover apartment to quickly fix dinner before bolting out at 5:45 p.m. for the half-hour drive to Strayer University and an accounting class that ends at 9...

Somewhere in this busy life stews roughly $13,000 in retirement savings from her 14 years at the U.S. Postal Service, in accounts that she doesn't really understand or monitor.

Um... didn't they just say she wants to be an accountant? Perhaps she should try to understand those accounts and monitor them more closely. What's really tragic is that she's halfway through a civil service career, and only has a paltry $13k stashed away for retirement.

"I don't know what's going on with it," she said one night at a tax clinic in Southeast D.C. "I just know I have these three accounts, so I just say, 'Let's hope and pray. Let's hope and pray it's not going into Enron. Let's hope and pray it's not going into Tyco.' It's just hard to absorb all I'm supposed to absorb."

Hello! And she wants to be an accountant! Worse yet, the Post says that when it comes to the idea of private accounts for Social Security, people like Ellis "say they would just as soon not have another thing to worry about." Does this sound like someone you would hire as your accountant?

While I don't understand how people could not care about their financial situation, I don't really have a problem with people who don't want to plan for their retirement. What I do have a problem with is people who don't plan for their retirement (or insurance, or home ownership, etc) and then expect taxpayers to pick up the tab for them. If you don't want to save for retirement fine, but don't come crying to me when you're living on the street or working until the day you die.

Another thing I noticed is that they mentioned her having a 17, 13, and 11-year old. What I didn't hear mentioned was a father.

Earlier this month, the Washington Post noted that more people are living in RVs because of the rising cost of home ownership. Rather than buy a $400,000 townhouse with skyrocketing property taxes, people were instead buying RVs and renting a space at local trailer parks and camp grounds.

Well, if camping isn't your thing, how about boating. Now the Post reports that many people are choosing to live on the water.

After years of watching home prices skyrocket out of his reach, Hank Clay has finally found affordable housing. The one-bedroom home costs him just $200 a month. It comes free of any property taxes.

And it floats.

Christian Yingling, a computer trainer for the Department of Justice in Chantilly, pays about $600 a month in dock fees and $300 toward his boat mortgage to live on "Sea Monkey" at the Gangplank Marina in Southwest, where he has a view of the Washington Monument.

For the past eight months, Clay, 55, has lived aboard a creaky, 27-foot sailboat on Chesapeake Bay that he shares with a parrot named Jorge. Although the vessel is cramped and frigid in the winter, docking it at Beacon Marina in Southern Maryland is a lot cheaper than his old $800-a-month rent for a tiny studio in Alexandria.

That they don't pay any property tax is a bit of a half-truth. They don't pay direct property taxes, the same way that renters don't pay them. But its still factored into your rent. The taxes are merely spread over a group of people, and included in the price of a slip.

They actually risk paying double taxes, because politicians are starting to take notice of this so-called tax avoidance. How long before communities start taxing people who choose to live on the water?

St. Mary's County prohibits floating homes. Calvert County limits marinas to one liveaboard for every 100 slips, although the rule is not strictly enforced.

"There was some concern that liveaboards don't pay property taxes and that they pollute the bay," said Greg Bowen, the county's director of planning and zoning.

They've already banned pretty much everything else, so it figures that Maryland localities would try to prohibit people from living on water.

Personally, living on a nice houseboat doesn't seem like a bad idea. (As long as there is room for a decent shower, a fridge, kegerator, TV, and gun safe.) But in this area that would require living in D.C. or Maryland, both of which are bastions of tyranny and therefore ruled out.

Hunger strikes are all the rage on college campuses this year. It was just last month that students at Georgetown University were starving themselves so that contract workers (Janitors, etc) would be paid a "living wage". Now students at Washington University (in St. Louis) are following suit.

"It's absolutely part of a national movement that students are becoming more aware of their dependence on the exploitation of workers," said Washington University sophomore Joe Thomas, 19, spokesman for the Student Worker Alliance, which coordinated the protests at the college.

Absolutely dude! Like the bourgeoisie are totally like taking advantage of the proletariat.

"To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em." -- Rocker Ted Nugent.

This doesn't seem as radical as people who defend murderers and rapists, claiming they are a victim of society.

I had to throw the bullshit flag on this one found over at Dustbury.

With more than 30 million registered text users sending more than 30 billion text messages each month...

By the U.S. definition of Billion (a thousand million), 30 Million people sending 30 Billion messages a month works out to 1,000 messages EACH, per month, on average. That means the average SMS user would send more than 30 messages per day.

I don't think I send that many emails per day.

Hollywood celebrities are used to getting things for free. But some celebs live their daily lives completely on the tabs of others, reports the New York Post.

WE all know celebrities get free stuff - swag - just for being famous. But did you know that there are some stars who eat, fly, sleep, party, do virtually everything in their day-to-day life for free? All they do is demand it, take it, or simply walk out on the tab. The Hollywood "gimme!" syndrome has run amuck.

They go on to detail how stars like Britney Spears, Sharon Stone, Andy Dick and others try to con people out of free stuff or just walk out without paying. Many companies give up the stuff willingly in exchange for publicity, while others are forced to chase them down for payment or return.

[Rachel] Hunter, says one event publicist, never met a gift bag she didn't like. In fact, she likes them so much she often takes four or five at a time.

She's so determined that, a few years ago, at a Maxim Magazine party in Los Angeles, she left the party but came back to collect a few more bags.

U