You know when the weatherman says it's going to be sunny, and it rains instead, do you blame the weatherman or the rain? When it comes to economics, you blame it on the rain.

CNN/Money, who sometimes takes financial advice from famed economist Billy Joel, notes that the GDP missed the forecast (rather than the forecast missing the GDP).

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economy, grew at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported, down from a 3.8 percent growth rate in the first quarter.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had a consensus forecast for 3.5 percent growth in the most recent period.

So 4 out of 5 economists said it would be 3.5%, but it was actually only 3.4%. I'm sure that this is somehow all Bush's fault.

Debra Saunders reports on more fallout from the Kelo decision. The city of Oakland evicted business owners on July 1, and gave their land to private developers to build apartments.

A letter on the front of what used to be Revelli Tires in Oakland warns: "Eminent domain unfair. To learn all about the abuses of eminent domain, please go to www.castlecoaliton.org. Educate yourself. Pay attention. You could be next."

John Revelli wrote the note after the city of Oakland evicted him on July 1 from his own property -- and a business run by his family since 1949 -- so that a private developer could build apartments on his land. It especially galls him, Revelli told me over the phone Tuesday, that while he has been forced away from his livelihood for weeks, Oakland hasn't done anything with his property. Go look at the building, he said, and the sign will still be there because the city hasn't touched anything. Sure enough, the sign was up on Tuesday night.

Oakland also evicted Tony Fung, Revelli's next-door neighbor and the owner-operator of Autohouse on 20th Street. "I am a first-generation immigrant," Fung told me. "This is my American dream."

To hell with Fung's dream -- the city of Oakland seized it, so that someone else can build on it. And without offering enough money for Fung to relocate his business, he says.

The city has legions of lawyers to press its case, while Fung says he has to scrape together pennies to hire an attorney.

Gun control is having predictable results in Brazil, as even dead people aren't immune from gun violence.

A dead woman lying in her casket was hit by a stray bullet during a wake in Rio de Janeiro and mourners fled in panic, police said on Wednesday.

The bullet, fired in a shootout between a drug gang and police in a slum adjacent to the cemetery Tuesday, pierced the casket inside the cemetery's chapel and got lodged in the corpse's pelvis. Clenilda da Silva, 49, a babysitter, had died the previous day of a heart attack.

The bullet was not removed before burial. . .

Standoffs between drug gangs and police or just between rival gangs often claim innocent lives in Rio, which has one of the world's highest murder rates.

The gun control lobby would undoubtedly point out that gun control in Brazil is relatively new, and needs time to take hold. Maybe after 25 years or so, they'll have a gun crime rate as low as "gun free" Washington D.C., or Chicago.

Oregonian leftists are pushing for a beer tax. Legislators claim that the 10-cent per beer tax would be diverted to anti-drinking and substance abuse social programs. Supporters are lashing out against big beer.

Cheap beer creates serious problems: teen binge drinking, alcoholism, homelessness, violence and driving deaths. Small cost increases drastically reduce these problems.

RAND estimates this dime-a-drink cost increase would save 100 Oregon lives each year.

How elitest can you get? We can save 100 lives by pricing the poor, the undesirable, and minorities out of the market. But why stop at 10-cents a beer? Why not make it a buck? If 10 cents saves 100 lives, a dollar might save thousands. Better yet, why not just make beer illegal?

"Hair found not from sasquatch, experts say" -- Canadian Press Headline, July 28, 2005.

Air America, the much talked about but hardly listened to liberal radio network, has been caught literally stealing from children. Well, their charity any way. Wizbang reports:

The leader of the Bronx-based Gloria Wise Club, Charles Rosen, reportedly loaned $480,000 in the startup Air America radio network, at the request of Air America chairman (at the time) Evan Cohen. The Gloria Wise Club was to benefit from the interest that Air America would pay on its loan. At the time the alleged transfers of funds took place, Cohen was also board member of the Gloria Wise Club.

Evan Cohen was sacked at Air America, and the was company sold to new investors. No one knows where the money went (though it presumably went right into the kitty of the cash hemorrhaging radio network) , or if any of the money has been ever been repaid. Because the Gloria Wise Club depends heavily on federal and city funding for its operations, New York City's Department Of Investigation (DOI) is investigating the charity for financial mismanagement specifically related to the Air America debacle.

This wouldn't sound so bad, if the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs hadn't had to nearly shut down programs because they were missing funds. And those are taxpayer funds at that. Despite all the free publicity and diverted charity money, Al Franken and Air America are getting skunked by Rush Limbaugh.

According to the Arbitron Spring 2005 ratings survey for Boston, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Washington D.C., Mr. Rush Limbaugh consistently continues to beat liberal talkers. In Boston, Mr. Rush Limbaugh's Persons 12+ audience is 16 times larger than Mr. Al Franken's...

Then again, some liberals put a positive spin on everything.

In Los Angeles, KFI, the station carrying Rush Limbaugh lost nearly 15% of its market share, dropping from a 4.6 to a 3.9. KABC, another conservative talk station continuing the pattern for right-wing radio, fell from a 2.3 to a 2.1. Air America’s brand-new affiliate KTLK, 1150 AM, gained in the first quarter of its existence, going from a 0.3 to a 0.8, an increase of more than 140%.

Let's see, 3.9 vs. 0.8. I bet Rush is quaking in his boots. Still, I wish Air America the best of luck. So long as they repay that charity money.

Reader Steve S. sends this blurb about another evil gun that started shooting people all by itself.

An off-duty Seattle police officer was shot in the leg when his gun accidentally fired...

He was apparently readjusting his firearm when it went off, firing at least one, and possibly two, rounds.

Here I am wasting my time and money buying ammo, when KdT just has his readers mail him some.

"Gun-free" Toronto has erupted in gun violence. Of course, it can't be their strict gun laws that are to blame, those are working perfectly as expected. No, it's all America's fault. Apparently Karl Rove, when he's not outting CIA agents, has been running illegal guns up to the great white north.

The city has exploded in gun violence, with seven separate shootings within 24 hours prompting the police chief to maintain the city is safe and the Mayor to insist something must be done. . .

Local news reports compared the city to the "Wild West" and sprayed television screens with bloody images of wounded men undergoing surgery in inner-city hospitals and of the bullet-riddled SUV.

Uh oh. There's Ravenwood's Law again.

The Mayor blamed lax gun laws in the United States for some of Toronto's violence, saying half the firearms in the city originated in America.

So where are the other half coming from? Greenland?

"It really is time to establish an effective strategy, working with the United States, to stop the easy access for guns that people are going to bring to Canada," Mr. Miller said.

"It's a huge problem and it's just not acceptable."

Molon Labe, bitch!

And yet, to Toronto residents, the violence has become strangely familiar.

The city has been rocked in past months by apparently random gunfire, with passersby hit in shootings near the Yorkdale Shopping Centre, across from the Eaton Centre, and a mother of four shot in a north-end club.

Some blamed the violence on the city's inability to provide opportunities for young minorities in a city that's become hyper-sensitive to issues of police racial profiling.

That sounds a lot like other gun control/violence capitals like Chicago, Washington D.C., New Jersey. And isn't interesting that Canada now seeks to crack down on American ownership of firearms, but when we asked for help cracking down on Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction, there was nobody home.

Mark Furman apparently followed O.J. Simpson to Miami, snuck into his house, and planted a bootlegged DirecTV system.

A federal judge in Miami has ordered former football superstar O J Simpson to pay a $25,000 fine to the satellite television firm DirecTV for using unauthorised devices to receive its programming.

In December 2001, police and a DirecTV representative entered Simpson's home in Miami, after receiving information indicating that he had been receiving the satellite company's signal without paying for the service.

Simpson, for his part, insisted that he had not stolen the company's signal.

Democrats in the House have unveiled their own retirement plan in response to President Bush's campaign promise to fix Social Security. Of course the Democrat's plan, "Amerisave", doesn't actually touch Social Security and it is only available for "middle and lower income" families. So, what will the bottom 50% get of taxpayers get?

"AmeriSave will help middle-class families build retirement security by expanding opportunities to save, and ensuring pension fairness, guaranteeing workers receive the benefits that they have been promised after a lifetime of hard work," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement.

Under the plan, workers would receive a dollar-for-dollar match for the first $1,000 contributed to an IRA, 401(k), or similar plan. The recipient would receive the match after they filed a tax return, with the funds directed into their retirement savings account.

And just where will they get the money to redistribute to the bottom 50% of income earners? Why from the top 50% of course:

The top 50% of wage earners pay more than 96% of all federal income taxes.

After years of study and thousands of dollars spent, researchers have concluded that people with jobs tend to be fatter than people without jobs.

Having trouble bellying up to your desk? You're not alone.

Working can do a job on your waistline. A poll by the Web site careerbuilder.com finds nearly half those asked say they've gained weight on their current jobs.

Careerbuilder's Rosemary Haefner says it's hard to eat healthy when you're working hard. Finding time to exercise can be a problem, too.

Big surprise, it's hard to find overweight homeless people. Rather than claiming that a job makes you fat, why don't they say that not having a job makes you thin?

Congressional aides say that there are no plans to bring John Bolton's nomination as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. back to the Senate floor before the summer recess, so President Bush may use a recess appointment. Of course, Reuters (and by extension the Washington Post, Boston Globe, etc) still refuses to use the f-word, and call a filibuster a filibuster.

In procedural votes in May and June, Democrats denied Republicans the 60 votes needed from the 100-member chamber to bring debate on Bolton to a close and move to a confirmation vote, which would require a simple majority.

SayUncle wants to know what's on my nightstand. I hate to disappoint, but there's nothing really too exciting.

Alarm clock

Lamp

CD Player

Folder of CDs

TV Remote

That's it. If you were expecting more, that's too bad. Okay, I know, that's not the point of the question. I used to keep a handgun on my nightstand as a "backup" gun. But I put it away figuring that a wussy handgun isn't going to be much help, if this can't do the job:

12 gauge, pump action, 18" barrel, folding stock, 1 in the chamber, 5 in the mag, 5 in the bandolier.

Comments (5)      top   link me

"Roberts faces questions" -- CNN headline, July 26, 2005. They go on to report on Roberts like he's some sort of deviant.

Supreme Court nominee John Roberts declined Monday to say why he was listed in a leadership directory of the Federalist Society and the White House said he has no recollection of belonging to the conservative group.

Neal says that the "Democrats and the media are acting like he might be a member of the Communist Party. Actually, they would probably approve of that." Or the Klan. Oh wait, that's no big deal.

In Russia, an email spammer has been brutally murdered, and the media is actually cheering his death.

Aniston love letters to be auctioned -- CNN.

The seller is asking $100,000 minimum.

Today's road hazard was:

• Woman applying make-up

If you're going to drive in the left lane of the Capitol Beltway, perhaps applying make-up shouldn't be your highest priority task. Yes I'm talking to you, lady in the Blue Honda. You have the honor of being the first Road Hazard of the Day award handed out to an animate object (and I use the term animate, very loosely).

Statistics
Commute: Lead, follow, or get out of the way!
Door to door: 19 minutes

Russian thieves dressed up as police officers to hijack trucks in route from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Ananova reports that when the drivers got out to show identification, they were tied up, tossed into a waiting car, and driven into the forest while other gang members made off with the booty.

In all, the well coordinated operation netted the thieves three trucks filled with thousand of rolls of toilet paper.

In related news, a Chicago man is in deep doo doo after he stole a police car to get to work. The guy was busted after he stopped to assist a citizen who was flagging him down for help.

A few years ago, we reported that Georgia was trying to make it illegal for people to smoke in their car when children are present. Now it's New Jersey's turn, but it would include everybody.

Those cigars, pipes and cigarettes would become no-nos for drivers. Offenders would be stung with a fine of up to $250, under the measure, whose sponsor said it's designed more to improve highway safety than protect health.

Some states, including New Jersey, have considered putting the brakes on smoking while children are in the car. But none have gone for an outright ban on smoking while driving, according to Washington, D.C.-based Action on Smoking and Health, the country's oldest anti-tobacco organization.

Smokers, feeling like easy targets, say enough already. They argue they've been forced outside office buildings, run off the grounds of public facilities, and asked to pony up more in per-pack excise taxes when states feel a budget squeeze. . .

Assemblyman John McKeon, a tobacco opponent whose father died of emphysema, sponsored the legislation. He cites a AAA-sponsored study on driver distractions in which the automobile association found that of 32,000 accidents linked to distraction, 1 percent were related to smoking.

Already smoking has been banned in Georgia, Florida, California, New York, Ireland, Norway, and New Zealand. Currently the bans only impact "public places", but they include private property like bars and restaurants. Successive steps will include private homes and cars, especially where children or employees might be present. Do you have a maid? You might soon need to decide between firing her and continuing your habit. Driving your kid to school? Better not be smoking while you do it.

Anti-smokers and pleasure police have been on the march for decades. They have taken the baby steps approach to pass increasingly restrictive bans on tobacco, with the ultimate goal of complete prohibition.

The Neo-temperance movement is bound to get their wish. A complete prohibition of tobacco products seems inevitable. The smokers just don't have the numbers to withstand the tyranny of majority rule. But a ban on tobacco won't mean cessation. Just like the underground establishments of the 1920s, some defiant bar and restaurant owners will refuse to enforce the ban. Indeed in places where there is already a ban in place, some restaurant workers are looking the other way rather than take on the role of the pleasure police.

Cigarettes may not be as popular as alcohol, but they are certainly more popular than illicit drugs. Throw in cigars and smokeless tobacco, and there are plenty of people around to violate what they view as a silly and unjust law. When criminals organize to meet that demand, lets just hope that we don't get caught in the crossfire.

Related articles:
Neo-Temperance takes control of Austin -- 05/10/2005
Lincoln tax revenue up in smoke with ban -- 04/19/2005
Houston, we have a problem -- 03/10/2005
Neo-temperance movement going after alcohol again -- 02/16/2005
Neo-temperance is inevitable, and doomed to fail -- 02/07/2005
1984: Fired for being a smoker -- 01/26/2005
Neo-temperance marches on -- 11/16/2004
Yet another smoking ban -- 11/04/2004
Temperance movement costing lives -- 01/26/2004
All your vices are belong to us -- 01/08/2004
The Unprotected Minority -- 08/19/2003
Pleasure Police, literally -- 10/22/2002

I'm thinking that a Marine's funeral is not the right place for politicians to show up and start campaigning against the war.

Written apologies will be sent to a fallen Marine's relatives angered by Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll's uninvited appearance at the soldier's funeral and her criticism of the war in Iraq, Gov. Ed Rendell said Sunday.

Rendell said he will send a personal letter to the family of the late Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, of Westwood, and will ask Knoll to do the same. Goodrich, 32, a police officer and infantry unit leader, died July 10 in a mortar attack in Hit, Iraq.

Rendell said he hadn't spoken with Knoll about the incident, but was disturbed by the family's charge that she made a political statement against the war.

Sports Illustrated thanked Lance Armstrong's mother, Linda Armstrong Kelly for providing some photos from his youth.

I'm not sure Lance will be so thankful.

(Click to Supersize, if you dare)

Leonard Gamage is 87-years old and a veteran of World War II. So when 20-year old James VanderVeen allegedly broke into his home, he relied on his trusty .22 caliber rifle to be his equalizer.

Gamage said as soon as the door was open a few inches, VanderVeen allegedly grabbed the screen door and stepped inside the home.

During the next 45 minutes, Gamage and VanderVeen scuffled twice. The second fight ended when Gamage managed to grab an old .22 caliber rifle from his gun rack.

Gamage said he fired a couple of warning shots, but when the suspect appeared determined to enter the house, Gamage shot the intruder in the left foot.

Gamage broke two rules; never fire warning shots, and never shoot to wound. Now, had Gamage let his Illinois mandated FOID card expire, he'd likely face a Class A misdemeanor charge and a stiff punishment for his unlicensed rifle. Of course other than being shot in the foot, the home invader got off easy.

In a negotiated plea VanderVeen was sentenced to 12 months court supervision and fined $100 plus court costs. If VanderVeen successfully serves the year of court supervision, the misdemeanor will be wiped from his record.

Next time aim for the chest, and shoot twice. (Maybe three times with that .22.)

Businesses are made up of people, and corporations do not hold wealth. When a business earns money, it must be passed on to one or more of the following three groups of people: stockholders in the form of greater shareholder equity; employees in the form of increased wages and benefits; or customers in the form of greater value per dollar. Likewise, when businesses lose money, the cost is passed on to one or more of those same three groups of people. In a free market society, it's usually a symbiotic relationship with all three benefiting in some way or another from each other. Employees sell their labor, stockholders invest in the company, and customers buy product or services all at a mutually beneficial price the market will bear. And they are all in it for some sort of economic benefit.

But then there's this very telling statement about four union's decision to break away from the AFL-CIO, a union of labor unions.

...many union presidents, labor experts and Democratic Party leaders fear the split will weaken the movement politically and hurt unionized workers who need a united and powerful ally against business interests and global competition.

It is a foolhardy employee that is against the business interests of the company to which he sells his labor. And of course the Democrats who come calling every other November aren't too happy about the union split either.

A divided labor movement worries Democratic leaders who rely on the AFL-CIO's money and manpower on Election Day.

"Anything that sidetracks us from our goals ... is not healthy," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chairman of the House campaign committee.

Yeah, but an employee's goal (union or not) is to get the most benefit they can from their labor, not to subsidize the re-election of a double-talking politician who comes around making empty promises every couple of years.

Eric shut down his blogspot account after moving into prime time. Now he's discovered that someone has re-opened it to peddle their wares.

Is the U.S. Military inventing the news? That's what the mainstream media is bound to think after two different military press releases had the same quote.

A statement about the attack by Task Force Baghdad 3rd Infantry Division contained a three-sentence quote attributed to an unidentified Iraqi. The statement said the Iraqi called the attackers "enemies of humanity" and vowed to "take the fight to the terrorists."

The quote was virtually the same as a quote contained in a Task Force Baghdad 3rd Infantry Division statement released after a car bombing on July 13. That attack killed several children.

Jayson Blair and Michelle Delio could not be reached for comment.

Of all the things obstructionists are accusing John Roberts of being, perhaps this is the most absurd.

Call it the Mary Cheney Strategy. Call it desperation. Some on the Left have started a "maybe he's gay" whisper campaign against John Roberts.

It started with Manhattan Offender in a post yesterday asking "How Gay is This Guy?" and then he quoted Wikipedia's entry for Judge Roberts. He zeroed in on some really damning evidence from Roberts' youthful past: the all-male boarding school, studying French and Latin (gasp!), being a wrestler and, oh the horror, participating in choir and drama.

So, it was only one silly post. Today, however, Wonkette picked up the ball and ran with it:

We're not making any conclusions here -- we wouldn't want to comment on an ongoing investigation -- we're just laying out the facts: He is a graduate of an all-boys Catholic school where, as a member of the wrestling team, he regularly grappled with other sweaty, repressed boys. That is when he wasn't the drama club playing Peppermint Patty, for God's sake.

So, as Charmaine Yoest aptly asks, "Who's homophobic now?"

New York's other Senator, Chuck Schumer, who believes that "the burden is on a nominee to the Supreme Court to prove that he is worthy, not on the Senate to prove he is unworthy", has published his questions for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. Schumer apparently wants Roberts to pre-judge all the cases he's likely to face over the course of his career. Schumer wants to know when it's okay for the government to abridge freedom of speech or religion, how broad the commerce clause can be stretched, and under what circumstances will the SCOTUS overturn the legislature.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think Schumer has something planned for the American people and he doesn't want any busybody Constructionists standing in his way. Or as Orrin Hatch so eloquently put it, they're a bunch of "dumbass questions".

If I were a French looking senator, I'd probably say touché:

(2005-07-23) -- In response to Sen. John F. Kerry's call for release of all documents related to Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, President George Bush today said the Massachusetts Senator would "swiftly get a boatload" of data on the little-known federal appeals court judge.

"As a decorated Vietnam veteran, Sen. Kerry deserves swift access to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," said Mr. Bush. "His own openness to requests for personal records during the presidential campaign is seared, seared in my memory."

The president promised to rapidly hand over all relevant records "in a fashion reminiscent of Sen. Kerry himself, within six months of Judge Roberts' confirmation by the Senate."

"Gun-free" Chicago sure does have a lot of gun crime. So much, that some people are starting to map it out using Google Maps.

It apparently happened in New York, reports the Smoking Gun. Jillian Caruso a 26-year old Birch Lane Elementary School Teacher has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit after she was allegedly forced to resign for displaying a portrait of President Bush in her classroom and for working for George Bush's re-election campaign after work hours.

Gubernatorial wannabe and Democrat Tim Kaine wants to be Virginia's next Governor. But he's having trouble shedding his anti-gun image. The Roanoke Times catches his latest flip-flop, reporting that he plans to vote for more gun control before he votes against it.

[Jerry] Kilgore contrasted his "A" rating with the National Rifle Association with Kaine's "F" rating. Kaine said the state needs no new gun laws, but he would support closing the so-called "gun show loophole" that allows unlicensed dealers to sell guns without running criminal background checks on buyers.

So, we don't need any more gun laws, but he'd support them any way. And for the record, there are no lawful unlicensed dealers. If you're dealing firearms without a license the ATF will throw you in jail before you can say habeas corpus. What they're referring to is people who sell a used gun without going through an FFL gun dealer. It's like selling your car in the trading post. That doesn't make you an unlicensed car dealer.

Senator Jon Corzine, D-NJ, is running for Governor. Barring a shocking upset, Corzine is poised to become the Toll Booth State's next Gov, meaning that he will appoint a person to fill his vacant Senate seat for the remainder of the term. Christian Knoebel thinks that the likely successor is the current acting Governor and State Senate President Richard Codey. This is the same Richard Codey who is so vehemently anti-gun that he's pretty much said that if a woman is being raped, she should just sit back and enjoy it until a man comes along to rescue her.

The Staff Writers at Ravenwood's Universe have been in negotiations with the kind people over at Dumbcriminals.com. We have reached an agreement, so now our "Dumb Criminals" stories are syndicated and we are officially contributing to the Dumb Network.

My sister's birthday is coming up soon, and she was very specific in what she wanted. She has a membership to one of those warehouse clubs, and wanted a gift card. Now, I don't want to disparage the warehouse club by name, but it rhymes with Kostko. I don't have a membership there, but she assured me that I could still purchase a gift card without one.

On any given night during the summer, when I actually have the luxury of getting off work early enough to still have some daylight left, I like to get a little exercise by taking a walk. I checked Mapquest and the store was over 4 miles away or nearly 9 miles round trip. I don't usually walk that far, but I was determined to humanely euthanize two birds with one stone. So, I strapped on my MP3 player, and loaded up on bottled water and headed out for the store.

Now, I don't usually walk that way. The residential parts of the neighborhood are a mixture of nice and not so nice houses, and my trek would also take me through some heavy industrial areas. I had walked these roads before, but not since I discovered it was marked territory of the Salvadoran street gang, MS-13. (Evidenced by the numerous graffiti tags that say 'MS-13'.) But the store was down that way, so I figured what the hell. Besides, I'm a pretty big guy and I like to think I'm prepared to handle whatever trouble might cross my path. (G27 .40 10+1, for those of you who are interested.)

So I start the long arduous walk down to the warehouse club. About half way there it starts to rain. It was just a quick sprinkle, but it was enough to wet the ground and create a fog of humidity that you could cut with a Ka-bar. Like I said, I looked at mapquest before I left and it estimated the trip at over 4 miles each way. I wish I had looked a little more closely, because I took a wrong turn half way there and walked about a half mile out of my way. It was getting late and I had a knot in my stomach from not eating, so I stopped at a gas station to ask for directions and pick up a chocolate bar for some quick energy. The clerk gave me good directions and 15 minutes later I was trotting through the front door.

I walked up to the greeter and asked him about buying a gift card. I told him I didn't have a membership, so he directed me to the "Puerto Rican" guy (his words, not mine) behind the customer service counter. I told the clerk that I wanted to buy a gift card for my sister, but that I didn't have a membership. He asked if she was a member and I said yes. He said that it wouldn't be a problem, and gave me a pass to get by the guard at the front door. He was very helpful and told me where to find the gift cards, and said to just tell the cashier that I'm buying it for someone who's a member. I followed his directions exactly.

When I spoke with the stocker who was filling in at the register, he clearly had no clue what I was talking about. He quickly escalated the transaction to a "supervisor". I knew he was a "supervisor" because it was stenciled on his smock, and they don't just hand those out to anyone. Any way, he informed me that I had to purchase a membership (for $45) just to buy a gift card. I told him "negative" and said that the Puerto Rican behind the membership counter had told me it was okay to buy a gift card without a membership. (I didn't really say "Puerto Rican", but wouldn't it have been cool if I did?)

He told me that you could use a gift card without a membership, but to buy one I'd have to shell out an extra $45. It was beginning to look like it was all for naught. I told him to get a manager, and he ran off to fetch one. The manager never showed, but "supervisor" guy came back and escorted me to an empty register.

He told me that it was against their policy, but that he was going to make an exception. He made it a point to let me know that I was in the wrong, and that he was doing me a favor.

Did I mention that I don't shop at warehouse clubs? There's two major reasons. First, I don't like the fact that they don't give you any bags to carry your stuff out. The second reason is that they don't take credit cards. This was not the best time to find that out.

I handed him my VISA card, and he promptly handed it back to me. They only take Debit and ATM cards, or an American Express charge card. Credit cards are not welcome. I dug into my pocket, with this sinking feeling that the candy bar I had just bought would make me come up short. Luckily I had just enough cash to load up the card with the amount I wanted.

As I headed out of the store, I stopped by the customer service counter to complain. It was packed with other customers, and I was pretty ripe from the long walk, so I decided to just cut and run. It was getting dark, and I figured my complaint would fall on deaf ears any way. To me, it's a training issue. Either their employees aren't trained well enough to know the policy, or they aren't trained well enough to communicate the policy effectively to their customers. Besides, what could they do? Offer me a complimentary membership to a store I would never visit? I headed for home, hoping to make it back before dark.

Next time she's getting a check.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, is authorizing city officials to conduct random searches of passengers entering the city's subways. They won't be racially profiling, so hot chicks are more likely to be groped than people who share similar physical characteristics with your average terrorist. When asked about violating the civil rights of his subjects, Bloomberg had this to say:

"We just live in a world where, sadly, these kinds of security measures are necessary," Bloomberg said. "Are they intrusive? Yes, a little bit. But we are trying to find that right balance."

Proving the futility of the security measures, Police Commish Raymond Kelly noted that "passengers will be free to 'turn around and leave' rather than consent to a search." I wonder how many people too uninformed to know they don't have to consent will be caught carrying recreational contraband like guns, drugs, or cigarettes.

"Police: Bomb evidence found" -- CNN Headline, July 21, 2005.

"...brilliant legal mind, a straight shooter, articulate, and he should not have trouble being confirmed by October. He's good in every way, except he's not a woman." -- Sandra Day O'Connor, commenting on John Roberts who was nominated as her replacement.

Congress is trying to figure out what to do about the dreaded Alternative Minimum Tax. President Bush said of the tax, Americans "have to calculate their tax burden twice, once under the regular tax rules, and once for the alternative minimum tax. And then when you're done figuring out both totals, you get to pay the higher amount."

The tax was originally created in the 1960s to target 154 people who weren't paying their "fair share". But since the income threshhold has never been increased, it will affect more than 20 million taxpayers in 2006, reports USA Today.

Even though it doesn't affect me (yet), I'm all for repealing the AMT or any other tax you want to repeal. But before they do anything, Congress wants to know how they are going to replace the lost tax revenue.

The panel did not determine how to recoup the $1.2 trillion that AMT repeal would cost in lost tax revenue over the next decade. . .

Former senator John Breaux of Louisiana, a Democrat and the panel's vice chairman, said the panel must ensure that wealthy taxpayers won't be able to evade taxation.

Congress has until early 2007, when Americans file their 2006 income taxes, to deal with the issue. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and other key lawmakers have called for abolishing the AMT.

The problem for the tax panel: replacing the lost revenue. "I don't think we were hired to raise rates," [Republican former congressman from Minnesota Bill Frenzel] said.

Notice that something they aren't even considering is cutting spending or growing their way out of it.

Clayton County (GA) is trying to combat teen lawlessness. For starters, if minors are caught out after the 11 PM curfew, parents will be fined up to $1,000 and face 6 months in jail. Sounds tough, doesn't it? Well, this should take the teeth out of it.

If the teenager is found to be in violation of the curfew with their parents' permission, the police could hold their parents accountable and force them to face a juvenile court judge. Parents would not be held accountable if it is determined that their teenager snuck out of the house past curfew.

The County is also getting tough on graffiti. In fact, they've banned it. But guess who's stuck holding the fine for "illegal" graffiti.

An additional ban on graffiti adopted by the commission requires business owners to erase the markings from their premises within 30 days or face fines up to $1,000.

How about we get some juvenile offenders out there cleaning it up as part of their community service. Better yet, make them slaves for a week to local businesses. That ought to help the economy and discourage recidivism.

Aimfighting:

How can I increase my score?

You can’t! You need to get people to add you to their Buddy List® window, and have more people add those people to their Buddy List windows, and have even more people add those people to their Buddy List windows. Your own Buddy List window doesn’t matter in the score.

The next time that someone falls prey to Ravenwood's Law, tell them to quit getting their history lessons from Hollywood and educate them about what really happened in the so-called Wild West.

There were fisticuffs in barroom brawls. When a large group of unattached males had time on their hands, violence could erupt.

However, even in a cattle town like Abilene, Kan., the murder rate was much lower than in most modern American cities. Larry Schweikart, a historian at the University of Dayton, estimates that there were probably fewer than a dozen bank robberies in the entire period from 1859 through 1900 in all the frontier West. Schweikart summarizes: "The record is shockingly clear: There are more bank robberies in modern-day Dayton, Ohio, in a year than there were in the entire Old West in a decade, perhaps in the entire frontier period!"

And if you really want to ruffle their feathers with a reality check, throw this at them:

An interesting conclusion of our study of the West is that today's New West is more conflict-ridden than the Old West. Agencies such as the Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management now control nearly one-third of the land in the United States, most of it in the West.

The benefits from these lands are allocated through political and bureaucratic processes that stifle cooperation. The conflict over resource use far exceeds anything that one saw in the Old West of the 19th century.

If one wants to see the "Wild, Wild West" in action one should turn to congressional hearings, political demonstrations and arguments over recreational and consumptive vs. non-consumptive uses of forest lands.

Hillary Clinton, leatherneck?

"Gee, now it was probably 19 years ago - in 1975," Mrs. Clinton recalled. "I decided that I was very interested in having some experience in serving in some capacity in the military."

"Because we all love the military so much," Mr. Clinton interjected helpfully.

Hillary resumed: "So I walked into our local recruiting office, and I think it was just my bad luck that the person who happened to be there on duty could not have been older than 21. He was in perfect physical shape."

She remembered telling the recruiter, "I wanted to explore - I didn't know whether I thought active duty would be a good idea, reserve, you know, maybe National Guard, something along those lines."

But Hillary's bid to become a leatherneck soon came unraveled.

"This young man looked at me and he said, 'How old are you?'" she recalled.

"I said, 'Well, 27' ... I had these really thick glasses on.

"He said, 'How bad's your eyesight?'

"I said, 'It's pretty bad.'

"And he said, 'How bad?'

"So I told him.

"He said, 'That's pretty bad.'

"And he finally said to me, he said: 'You're too old. You can't see. And you're a woman.' And then he went on ... this man, young man, was a Marine.

"He said, 'But maybe the dogs [Army] would take you.'"

"This is not a very encouraging conversation," Mrs. Clinton recalled thinking. "So maybe I'll look for another way to serve my country."

Heh. You know, if I had told a recruiter I've got flat feet, I'm overweight, I've got bad eyesight, and I tend to shoot my friends in the back by accident, would you say I was really trying to join the Marines?

He's not just a mayor, he's a publicity whore.

Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams wants a little respect - from ESPN.

Williams feels the nation's capital is getting dissed by the cable sports network. ESPN is doing a series called "50 States-50 Days" about sporting events around the country. D.C. isn't on the list.

Guam and Puerto Rico could not be reached for comment.

President Bush nominated John Roberts for the Supreme Court, and some Democrats are already out making jackasses of themselves in front of the microphone. Senator Chuck Schumer even stole Joe Biden's make new law quote.

"Now that he is nominated for a position where he can overturn precedent and make law, it is even more important that he fully answers a very broad range of questions." -- Senator Chuck Schumer, D-NY.

"The burden is on a nominee to the Supreme Court to prove that he is worthy, not on the Senate to prove he is unworthy." -- Senator Chuck Schumer, D-NY.

"This is a very, very activist court. I want to know whether he's going to be like that, somebody who would eagerly and willingly overturn settled law." -- Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT.

No word on whether or not Sen. George Voinovich, R-OH, cried or not.

Reader Mike A sends this link. I think the headline pretty much says where this one is going: "How the rich ignored Niger crisis"

DAKAR, Senegal (Reuters) -- The costs of saving millions of people starving in Niger are rocketing because [evil]rich nations ignored calls for early intervention to avert the ravages of last year's drought, relief workers said on Wednesday. [...]

In common with many other crises in Africa, U.N. officials say the late response in Niger shows how the [evil] rich world often misses chances to avoid worse disasters by reacting only when situations reach critical, headline-grabbing proportions.

In Niger's case, failed rains and locusts [sent over there by Karl Rove, no doubt] left some 3.6 million people short of food last year, putting tens of thousands of children at risk of starving to death...

Jan Egeland, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said on Tuesday it would have cost $1 a day to prevent malnutrition among children if the world had responded immediately. Now it costs some $80 to save a malnourished child's life, he said.

Perhaps foreign aid dropped because a certain U.N. undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs (named Jan) called us stingy.

The Analog Kid has been busy pissing off the hippies. Something as simple as a "Peace Through Superior Firepower" bumper sticker was enough to set one off with hilarious results.

As she got to the car behind me, I saw her focus on the back of my truck and was waiting for a reaction.

I got more of a reaction than I was hoping for.

I saw the blank stare on her face turn into a scowl, which oddly enough, looked very natural on her face. She then walked up to my drivers door window and said "Excuse me."

Those folks that have met me know that I am nothing if not a gentleman and I proceeded to fold up my Shotgun News and ask if I could help her. She said that she was offended by the sticker and asked if I had any clue how stupid it was. I proceeded to tell her that in my opinion, it spoke a very simple truth in four words.

Apparently, she thought I would cede the point to her immediately because the look of shock on her face was as if I had hit her in the face with a two-by-four (which I hadn't).

She went into a rant about how violence creates violence, war is for people who don’t know how to negotiate (or some such BS) and I was waiting for the famous "You can't hug a child with nuclear arms" drivel, but it never arrived. It probably would have except that as she got a couple sentences into her rant, I started unfolding my Shotgun News and that really made her mad.

Her last line something like "And stupid stickers like that one and stupid people like you will never understand and that really pisses me off!" and it was at full volume, so that folks still sitting in their vehicles around us were able to take notice.

I calmly folded my my Shotgun News back up and asked if it made her pissed off enough to try and hit me.

She said, and I quote "No, because you probably have a gun with you right now."

So I replied "Isn't it sad that all of the psychobabble you keep in your head just lost an argument to a bumper sticker?"

(Hat tip to reader Steve S.)

Betta fish have evolved to live in shallow oxygen depleted water, with very little personal space. The resiliance of the fish has made it a popular choice for novelty aquariums like tiny desktop boxes or small glass vases. That, and an artist who put the fish in old lightbulbs filled with water, has Peta seeing red.

"Animals in captivity certainly suffer," [Laura Brown, who manages PETA's Domestic Animals and Wildlife Department] said. "We've seen betta fish displayed in many hideous ways. No matter how small and pretty they are, they should not be used for decoration."

Maybe with some butter and tartar sauce...

Please be aware that Ravenwood's Universe is still banned by AOL. Basically, any email sent from ravnwood.com to an AOL.com email address is automatically rejected. That's probably nothing new for AOL subscribers, since AOL blocks about 80% of all inbound email. But we're sick of getting snide emails from AOL saying that our email has been blocked because we're spammers.

We have tried adding ravnwood.com to the AOL whitelist, but AOL has denied our request. We will continue to try to work with them, but as of right now the giant beast is not cooperating. Their attitude is basically "too bad, we're AOL, what are you going to do about it?"

We've considered retaliating by blocking all AOL IPs from viewing Ravenwood's Universe. While I'm sure that they would get a flood of complaints from users trying to reach our site (both of them), it seems both petty and futile.

For now, we'll keep trying. But if you're email ends in aol.com and you haven't heard from us, now you know why.

My sister traveled the country recently, and brought me back some popcorn from the Corn Palace in South Dakota. They call it on-the-ear popcorn. (click images to supersize)

The ear is small. Much smaller than a regular ear of corn you'd buy at the grocery store. Whether that is because of drying or they just pick small ears, I don't know. I put the ear in the small paper sack that came with it, and taped it shut with scotch tape. Into the microwave it goes.

The popping was irregular, not like traditional microwave popcorn. After it got going, there was a flurry of popping about every 3 seconds or so, instead of the continuous popping you get with regular popcorn. The popping got further apart and slower, so I pulled it out, perhaps a little early. You can see how much corn is on the end of the ear down inside the bag.

After burning the hell out of my fingers, I pulled the ear out and emptied the bag (a few kernels at a time into my mouth). The popcorn was extra crunchy but not tough. It was plain, but tasted very good and had a unique flavor. It wasn't bland like you'd expect regular plain popcorn to be. I tried lightly salting it, but with no oil the salt just ended up in the bottom of the bag. After I was done eating, I put the ear back into the bag for some re-popping.

The re-popping went well. Much more of the popcorn popped off the ear, and it wasn't the least bit scorched. Another little treat of crunchy corn. You can see that if you get the timing right, most of the kernels pop.

It's truly a novelty. It doesn't make much, and I couldn't see buying popcorn like this regularly. But it was a neat gift and the corn was quite tasty.

Barney Frank is calling for impeachment.

Squirrels and power lines don't mix, as flaming squirrels are being blamed for starting fires. And for some reason, I find this passage attributed to Osoyoos fire chief Ross Driver to be hilarious.

He said he's not sure what the Fortis power utility company might do to prevent squirrel fires in the future.

I wouldn't be completely surprised if the Canadian government started putting pint sized fire retardant vests on the little tree-rats.

CNN reports that "President Bush appeared to backtrack Monday from his 2004 pledge to fire anyone involved in leaking the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame." See if you can find the inconsistency, because I don't see it.

"If there's a leak out of my administration I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated the law, the person will be taken care of." -- President Bush, September 30, 2003, as reported by CNN.

"I think it's best if people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump to conclusions. I would like this to end as quickly as possible so we know the facts. And if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration." -- President Bush, July 19, 2005, as reported by CNN.

That appears to be pretty consistent. But the liberals in the mainstream media appear to be ignoring his initial remarks, and are reacting only to this question from a June 10th, 2004 press conference, where the media misrepresented his original statement.

Q: Given recent developments in the CIA leak case, particularly Vice President [Dick] Cheney's discussions with the investigators, do you still stand by what you said several months ago, a suggestion that it might be difficult to identify anybody who leaked the agent's name?

BUSH: That's up to --

Q: And, and, do you stand by your pledge to fire anyone found to have done so?

BUSH: Yes. And that's up to the U.S. attorney to find the facts.

Then there's this question to Scott McClellan during Monday's press conference, from Terry Hunt. (emphasis mine)

Scott, the President seemed to raise the bar and add a qualifier today when discussing whether or not anybody would be dismissed for -- in the leak of a CIA officer's name, in which he said that he would -- if someone is found to have committed a crime, they would no longer work in this administration. That's never been part of the standard before, why is that added now?

Isn't "violated the law" the same as "commited a crime", or did the meaning change from 2003 to 2005? Who's the one being inconsistent here?

Mark Felt, American Hero, could not be reached for comment.

The 2005 Explorer Limited Edition in RedFire.

It's powered by a 281 cubic inch V8 (4.6L), has 4-wheel drive, and big 17" wheels. It has a five-speed automatic tranny, 240 horses, traction control, and it tows up to 7,000 lbs. It has leather interior, a sun roof, a 6-disk CD changer built into the dash, reverse sensing system, and power everything. The seats go back to my preset position with a flick of the keyless entry remote. It also has steering wheel controls, heated mirrors, heated seats, dual A/C, and airbags all over the place.

And with "employee pricing" and a huge cash rebate, it's all mine. I traded in my 2001 2-door model, emptied her out, kissed her goodbye, and drove this new baby off the lot.

Pundits are already saying that John Roberts, Bush's selection to replace Sandra Day O'Conner on the Supreme Court, seems to be lacking important qualities.

His selection was somewhat of a surprise since there had been some expectations that he would replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with a woman or minority.

A Seattle man apparently died after a romp in the hay with an equine, which is perfectly legal in Washington State. Now, people having romantic interludes with farm animals is nothing new. But turning yourself into a Darwin candidate under one of them is certainly newsworthy. And in case you're still wondering just how the poor man died, the Seattle Times backs into it.

The dead man was identified as a 45-year-old Seattle resident. According to the King County Medical Examiner's Office, he died of acute peritonitis due to perforation of the colon.

It always comes out in the end.

Would a dork by any other name be just as geeky?

Whatever the reason, being a nerd, a geek, a dork -- whatever you want to call the tragically unhip -- is becoming a source of pride.

Case in point: Steffi Weiss, a 15-year-old in the Chicago suburb of Lake Zurich, who plays violin in the school's orchestra.

This spring, she and a friend bought black mesh sports jerseys -- something like the football team's -- and added "ORCH DORKS" in white letters on the front, their last names on the back and their instrument on the sleeves (VLN I, for first violin, in Weiss' case).

It looks like San Bernardino County (Calif.) is going to start teaching ebonics.

Mary Texeira, a sociology professor at Cal State San Bernardino, commended the San Bernardino Board of Education for approving the policy in June.

Texeira suggested that including Ebonics in the program would be beneficial for students. Ebonics, a dialect of American English that is spoken by many blacks throughout the country, was recognized as a separate language in 1996 by the Oakland school board.

"Ebonics is a different language, it's not slang as many believe,' Texeira said. "For many of these students Ebonics is their language, and it should be considered a foreign language. These students should be taught like other students who speak a foreign language.'

Texeira said research has shown that students learn better when they fully comprehend the language they are being taught in. [...]

"Because Ebonics can have a negative stigma, we're not focusing on that,' [Len] Cooper said. "We are affirming and recognizing Ebonics through supplemental reading books (for students).' [...]

Teresa Parra, board vice president, said she worried the new program would have an adverse effect.

"I'm afraid that now that we have this the Hispanic community, our largest population, will say, 'We want something for us.' Next we'll have the Asian community and the Jewish community (asking for their own programs). When will it end?'

Parra said the district should focus on helping all students who are at risk.

"I've always thought that we should provide students support based on their needs and not on their race,' Parra said.

Tillman disagreed with Parra, saying programs that help Latinos already exist in the district. He cited the district's English- as-a-second-language program.

Texeira urged people not be quick to judge the new program as socially exclusive. She said people need to be open to the program.

"Everybody has prejudices, but we must all learn to control that behavior,' Texeira said. She said a child's self confidence is tied to his or her cultural identity.

She compared the low performance of black students to starvation. "How can you be angry when you feed a family of starving children?'

UPDATE: And of course if you want to read this article in 'Jive', just click here.

UPDATE 2: Ebonics in action: Boo got shot. (As requested by Steve S.)

Remember, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean the Republicans aren't really out to get you. Or in the case of Democrat talking head, Paul Begala, Republicans and members of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy are out to kill him.

Mr. Begala, who was participating in a panel discussion, created a stir when he declared that Republicans had done a "poor job of defending" the United States, CNSNews.com reports.

Republicans, he added, "want to kill us."

He continued, "I was driving past the Pentagon when that plane hit" on September 11. "I had friends on that plane. This is deadly serious to me.

"They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit," Mr. Begala said.

Begala apparently thinks the 9-11 hijackers were Republicans.

I'm shocked. CBS ran another heavily biased anti-gun hit piece filled with lies and half truths. If 60 Minutes reporters weren't all over 85 years old, I'd think that Sarah Brady and Michael Moore were staff writers over there.

Fifteen years ago, Osama bin Laden sent one of his operatives to the United States to buy and bring back two-dozen .50-caliber rifles, a gun that can kill someone from over a mile away and even bring down an airplane.

Um, that would be the U.S. Military providing arms to Afghanistan to fight off the Ruskies. Killing a man 5,280 feet away is damn hard and requires years of training and a helluva lot of luck. And there has never been (and probably will never be) a case of a plane downed using a .50 caliber rifle. For starters, hitting a fast moving plane with anything "dumb" (non-tracking) is really really hard, much less with a single shot sniper rifle. Anti-aircraft artillery and even guns on fighter jets usually require hundreds of rounds to shoot down an airplane, and they're usually 20mm or larger and fired en masse. Using a single shot sniper rifle that required accuracy and timing would be a gun of last resort, probably ranking just above throwing a rock at it.

In spite of all the recent efforts to curb terrorism, bin Laden could do the same thing today, because buying and shipping the world's most powerful sniper rifle is not as difficult as you might think.

Thanks to CBS for proving once again that reporters know nothing about guns and have probably never even set foot in a gun store. I'm pretty confident that if Osama bin Laden ever walked into a gun store today, he'd be carried out in several little bags.

But as Say Uncle notes, the timing of the CBS report fits nicely into the United Nation's agenda to ban small arms, and DiFi's agenda to ban .50 caliber rifles on the federal level.

Countertop chronicles the types of evil assault guns that gun-buyback programs get "off the streets".

He bought it for two packs of Chesterfield cigarettes. He sold it for a $75 Target gift card.

But World War II Navy veteran Bruno Filippelli never knew the Japanese rifle that collected dust in his closet for 60 years was a bona fide wartime treasure.

He turned it over to West Palm Beach police Saturday during the city's gun buy-back program, and the rare and valuable firearm — better suited in a polished museum or with a wealthy weapons collector — now lies alongside 450 other submitted shotguns, handguns and assault rifles in the department's evidence storage room.

"I feel like an idiot," said Filippelli, 79, four days after selling the rifle and just a few hours after discovering its worth.

And police say they're not giving it back. In fact, the gun could soon be melted down and destroyed with the others.

The controversy over the rare gun erupted when a picture of Filippelli turning over the rifle appeared in the Sunday edition of The Palm Beach Post. A Palm Beach police officer recognized the rare rifle, researched the gun and then delivered the bad news to Filippelli Wednesday.

"He told me, 'If I was you, I never would have turned it in,' " Filippelli said.

The gun, an Arisaka Type 99 pressure test rifle, is one of less than 100 ever produced. There are as few as 50 left, including about 20 in the United States, according to gun experts and dealers. The type of rifle was never used in the field. It was designed to test the chamber pressure and bullet velocity for the Type 99 rifle, which Imperial Japanese forces widely used throughout World War II.

Alphecca notes that under media scrutiny, the police have decided to return Mr. Filippelli's rifle, however the futility of buyback programs remains the same. Criminals aren't going to line up to turn in their guns unless of course, they're looking to get rid of evidence.

Well, it was only a matter of time before a fatwah was issued against a blogger. While I cannot imagine why someone would walk across the street to kill me, apparently some terrorists are considering crossing the globe to come after Chris Byrne at Anarch Angel. You gotta live Chris' response:

If you attempt to do anything to me, to my friends, to anyone I care about; I WILL KILL YOU. I will not simply defend myself, I WILL kill you, and while you are dying I will piss on you.

I have jsut rolled all my bullets in pig fat. I'm going to start carying around pieces of swine flesh with me; and I'll shove them into your wounds, then force feed them to you. Then I'll cut your cock and balls off and shove them down your throat.

I am heavily armed at all times, I have booby trapped my car and my home, and I am waiting for you. If you come after me or mine, you will die, and I will make damned sure you won't see paradise for all eternity you evil motherfuckers.

I saw this photo making the rounds a few days ago and just ignored it for some reason.

As if we needed more imperial federal regulations in our lives, Senator Clinton wants to create video game laws to be enforced by the federal police force. The software ratings put out by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), which are currently voluntary, would be strictly enforced. Violating the ratings would be a federal crime punishable by a $5,000 fine, reports Gamespot.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has officially entered the Hot Coffee fray. This morning in Washington, the junior Senator from New York said she was calling on the Federal Trade Commission to "take immediate action to determine the source of graphic pornographic and violent content appearing on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game."

Clinton joins the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), The National Institute on Media and the Family, and the Australian government's Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) who are all seeking to determine if the "Hot Coffee" mod unlocks game code already present in San Andreas. GTA publisher Rockstar Games contends the mod enters the sexually explicit minigames into the game, in violation of the game's users' agreement.

In addition to asking the FTC to look into the San Andreas mod, Clinton has also asked the FTC to "determine whether an Adults Only (AO) rating is more appropriate than the current Mature (M) rating for the Grand Theft Auto: San