Okay, so I haven't had much to say about the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Basically, I don't know what there really is to say. I certainly hope those impacted by the storm recover and rebuild. My heart goes out to them. It looks like construction workers along the Gulf Coast will be very busy for months (if not years) to come.

Then there's the nut cases. If there's one thing this storm has done is separate the environmentalists wackos from the regular folks. First of all, anyone who says the Hurricane was caused by global warming is an idiot. They probably deserve a swift kick in the nuts, but you're better off just rolling your eyes at them and walking away. The idea that man can cause hurricanes is patently absurd. Not only that, but global warming actually lessens the affects of hurricanes. All those melting ice caps and glaciers that the enviroweenies are crying about would actually cool the oceans down at the equator. But the facts don't fit the agenda, so they just make it up as they go along. It's gotten so bad that any weather event at all is attributed to global warming.

If man caused the hurricane, why didn't man stop it? Why didn't we all just stop driving our SUVs last week to make the hurricane go away? When we saw the storm coming, why not just close all the gas stations? I mean if we can cause the hurricane, than certainly we have the power to stop it.

Know this. Anyone who blames this on global warming and the actions of man is a moron and should be treated as such. Period.

The AP reports that this skinny home is just over 5 feet wide at it's narrowest, and 9' 11" at it's widest.

More movies could go straight to video. The Washington Times reports that the interval between releases to the theater and DVD is already narrowing. In the future, they could be marketed and sold together.

Robert Iger, chief executive officer-elect and president of the Walt Disney Co., has suggested the day could come when a digital video disc is released while the movie is still in theaters. The millions of dollars that studios spend marketing first-run movies would serve double duty promoting the more profitable DVDs, making for a faster and more efficient return on investment.

The New Scientist has published a scientific research paper that shows that most scientific research papers are wrong. (I've been saying that for years.)

Assuming that the new paper is itself correct, problems with experimental and statistical methods mean that there is less than a 50% chance that the results of any randomly chosen scientific paper are true.

John Ioannidis, an epidemiologist at the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece, says that small sample sizes, poor study design, researcher bias, and selective reporting and other problems combine to make most research findings false. But even large, well-designed studies are not always right, meaning that scientists and the public have to be wary of reported findings.

"We should accept that most research findings will be refuted. Some will be replicated and validated. The replication process is more important than the first discovery," Ioannidis says.

In the paper, Ioannidis does not show that any particular findings are false. Instead, he shows statistically how the many obstacles to getting research findings right combine to make most published research wrong.

Via Lori:

The poverty rate increased to 12.7% reports Reuters. But it appears as though white people were the hardest hit.

The poverty rate rose for only one group -- non-Hispanic whites -- which had an 8.6 percent poverty rate for 2004 compared with 8.2 percent in 2003. The poverty rate declined for Asians and remained unchanged for blacks and Hispanics, the report showed.

Of course when you look at how poverty is measured, it doesn't seem very relevant. They only count cash income. Non cash benefits (such as subsidies and food stamps) do not count, nor do capital gains. So by this standard if Bill Gates retires and lives off of his $50 Billion without earning any actual cash income, he's considered living in poverty.

What's more "poverty" in this country is the lap of luxury in others. How many poor people own their own home, or their own car? How many own a computer or have cable television? Internet access? I'm not saying there aren't poor people. But some of the so-called poor people in this country would be considered middle-class in Europe.

The Washington Post reports that the next President of the United States might be a former Governor from Virginia. That no good lying fucktard son-of-a-bitch Governor Mark Warner is prepared to announce that he will not seek Senator George Allen's seat in 2006. Since Warner is term limited, the Post reasons that Warner will compete with the Hildabeast for the Democrat Presidential nomination in 2008. But he could meet George Allen again:

The announcement would rob Virginia of what could have been a blockbuster political confrontation in 2006. Allen, a former governor who is ending his first term in the Senate, remains popular at home and is also considering a run at the presidency in 2008.

Warner's decision to avoid an immediate clash with Allen sets up the possibility that the two might meet on a much larger battleground two years later. Warner is barred by Virginia's constitution from running for a second consecutive term as governor.

A Senate battle with Allen now might have forced Warner to emphasize his more liberal credentials in order to draw sharp contrasts between the two. That could damage Warner's efforts to present himself as a moderate alternative to likely candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Warner "might have won. He might have lost," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "But the risks were enormous. It could have killed his 2008 presidential candidacy."

Way to go out on a limb there Larry. Winning could have killed his candidacy too, considering the jump from Senator to President is rare in modern times. Still, I marvel at the prospect of a President Allen. George Allen, despite being a wahoo, is a staunch conservative. He would have my vote for sure, and would nullify Warner's southern connection - despite Kerry's claim that the Democrats don't need the South. [Gee, I wonder who the Wash. Post would support?]

Not that I think Warner stands much of a chance in 2006. He's not very popular in Virginia after committing a bald face lie to push through the largest tax increase in the 400 year history of the Commonwealth. Not to mention he cut back on planned tax cuts, something that Virginians remember every year with their car tax bill. But memories fade, so in 2008 the timing may be just right. By then Virginians may have forgotten his horrible reign of terror.

One thing's for sure, Warner will never get my vote.

The anti-war peacenik crowd is still complaining that we haven't found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. They seem to have selective amnesia. As proof, Neal has a nice run-down of the WMD that has been reported to have been found in Iraq so far.

Here's also a nice little list of what was found:

-500 tons...that's right...TONS...make that 1million pounds of yellow cake uranium. It was found at Saddam's nuclear weapons facility (yup...he had one of those too.)

-1.8 tons of partially enriched uranium found at the same place. You know, the stuff you need to make nukes.

-Hidden centrifuge parts and blueprints.

-Two dozen artillery shells loaded with Sarin and mustard gas.

Sounds like WMD to me!

He even backs it up with sources: USA Today; Newsmax; Frontpage Mag.

Or you could just ask the Kurds, or the Iranians. Both were victims of Saddam's chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.

A lot of lefties are taking jabs at the Blue Angels. They claim the air shows are a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. As Neal points out, air show promoters foot the bill. They recoup the cost from air show attendees who walk around between events buying $4 hot dogs and funnel cakes. But even if air show sponsors don't cover the costs of maintaining the planes and training the aviators, so what?

The Blue Angels (and the Air Force Thunderbirds) are a huge recruiting and advertising tool. Staging an air show is similar to producing a TV advertisement or buying print ads. These people who are complaining about the cost of the blue angels are the same people complaining about the military not meeting their recruiting goals.

I don't want to question their patriotism, but it's almost enough to think these lefties are just anti-military.

Say Uncle wonders whatever happened to the due process of law:

A federal-state program designed to get illegal firearms off Jackson streets could be operational by year’s end, law enforcement officials say.

U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton wants to start a gun interdiction unit through the Jackson Police Department. Officers would use vans equipped to test-fire guns taken at the scene of vehicle stops and crime scenes.

Laboratory technicians would analyze cartridge casings and projectiles to determine whether those weapons had been reported stolen and used in crimes. The test results would be entered into a database linked to a national gun database.

Just remember, we have always been at war with Eastasia.

This is an oldie but goodie. I'm not sure why Countertop dug this out, but it's timeless, so I'm game. Kim du Toit has a list of things every man should do before he dies. Let's check and see how I'm doing:

1. Shoot a gun larger than a .22. [done]
2. Teach a kid to shoot. [don't have any kids]
3. Cook a meal out in the open (and I don't mean a backyard BBQ). [done, I was a Boy Scout]
4. Kill an animal which can kill you. [does a black widow spider count?]
5. Taste a good brandy (no French cognacs need apply) and a fine single malt Scotch. [done]
6. Visit at least eight countries outside your own continent, none of which speak your home language. [need one more: Italy (and the Vatican), Germany, Holland, Austria, France, French Canadia, and Ireland]
7. Read any six Shakespeare plays. [done]
8. Win a solo sporting competition—anything that involves physical exercise. [done]
9. Be part of a winning sports team. [done - used to run track]
10. Make love with a woman in a forbidden place. [done - blush]
11. Have a strange woman invite you home with her; and refuse her, because you're married. [I'm still single, but I've refused a woman because she's married.]
12. Build something tangible—out of wood, steel, brick, whatever. [done]
13. Sit up all night comforting a sick child. [again, don't have any kids]
14. Tell the truth, where a lie would both be undiscoverable, and keep you out of trouble. [done]
15. Watch at least one real virtuoso play a musical instrument—in any kind of music. [done]
16. Perform on stage (music, theater, whatever), to a large (500+) audience. [I've performed, but never to that big of an audience]
17. Play at least one musical instrument competently. [done]
18. Make love to a woman at least ten years older than you are. [over half way there (she was 7 years older)]
19. Tell a government bureaucrat to fuck off. [done - at the DMV]
20. And finally: tell a true story to your grandchildren. [not even close]

"That bullet is a tribal mark, orientation, something we all gotta get sometimes -- just as long as we don't die, it's fine." -- Rapper Petey Pablo, after Marion "Suge" Knight was shot in the leg at a party preceding the MTV Video Music Awards.

Gun control is aimed at the law abiding, since they are the only ones who obey gun laws any way. And one of the purposes of gun control is to create barriers to prevent the legal purchase of firearms. Bureaucrats set up hoops for you to jump through, and then when you dot all your 'i's and cross all your 't's, they simply refuse to do their job; effectively robbing you of your civil rights.

Take Illinois for instance. They recently enacted legislation requiring gun owners to get government permission before selling guns at gun shows. Gun rights advocates claimed that the law was intended to get rid of gun shows. The gun control lobby claims they were just closing a loophole in the law. Any doubt you might have had about the law's intention was erased last weekend when local authorities failed to show up to facilitate the background checks. Law abiding citizens were effectively prevented from exercising their rights, because the government bureaucracy broke down.

People at the gun show were unable to sell guns, which seems to have been the whole idea.

"Around the year 2004, 2005, we're going to have a great crime wave unprecedented in Virginia's history." -- Richard P. Kern, "a top state criminologist", Nov. 18, 1993.

"'There is a tremendous crime wave coming in the next 10 years,' fueled not by old, hardened criminals, but by a group he calls 'the young and the ruthless.'" -- USA Today, quoting criminologist James Alan Fox in 1995.

"The predictions didn't come out right, but maybe that's because the predictions were there. If myself and others hadn't gotten people's attention, maybe we would have just sat around waiting for the worst to occur rather than trying to avert it early on." -- James Alan Fox in 2005.

"You issue a hurricane warning in advance with the hope that the public will take the necessary precautions and board up their properties and evacuate so as to minimize the property damage and causalities. Our lawmakers heeded the warnings and took precautions to prevent crime from spiking." -- Richard P. Kern in 2005.

Talk about having it both ways. You claim the sky is falling, and then when it doesn't happen you take credit for sounding the alarm and preventing it from happening. Global Warming advocates will no doubt make the same claims when the world doesn't end on schedule.

Today most of the Criminologists are now saying that longer criminal sentences, abolition of parole, more better prisons and zero-tolerance in schools has led to the overall decline in Virginia's crime rate. While those may be valid points (save for the zero-tolerance), not one of them credits the systematic deregulation of guns and the issuance of tens of thousands of concealed carry permits, all of which started in the mid-1990s.

What's more hilarious than a fake bank robbery? How about duping a young girl into handing the bank teller your stickup note. Michael Lyons, 45, from Savannah (GA) told police that he and a group of girls celebrating his daughter's birthday were just playing a practical joke. While Lyons used the ATM, a 13-year old girl went inside and allegedly handed the note to the teller. Police and the FBI responded to the bank's alarm, and they were not laughing. Lyons has been charged with "criminal attempt of robbery by intimidation".

Since french fries "cause" cancer, you'd better eat them with a cup of cancer curing coffee.

Coffee not only helps clear the mind and perk up the energy, it also provides more healthful antioxidants than any other food or beverage in the American diet, according to a study released Sunday.

Too much coffee can make people jittery and raise cholesterol levels, so food experts stress moderation. But, said Joe A. Vinson, a chemistry professor at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, "the point is, people are getting the most antioxidants from beverages."

Antioxidants, thought to help battle cancer, are also abundant in grains and many fruits and vegetables.

Provinces in Canada are practicing doggie genocide, whereby racially profiled doggie breeds are to be rounded up and slaughtered.

Pit bull owners now have 60 days to get their animals spayed or neutered, and must muzzle and leash them in public.

People will not be able to own, breed, import, transfer or purchase pit bulls, although they can still adopt them for a limited time.

Those violating the rules can end up with their pets seized and euthanized, while they could face finds of up to $10,000 or even jail time.

However animal advocates fear hundreds of adult and puppy pit bulls may now be euthanized and candlelight vigils were held across Canada Sunday night to protest Ontario's new law.

According to some British psycho. journal, men really are smarter than women, on average; at least when it comes to their IQ.

Men are more intelligent than women by about five IQ points on average, making them better suited for tasks of high complexity, according to the authors of a paper due to be published in the British Journal of Psychology.

Genetic differences in intelligence between the sexes helped explain why many more men than women won Nobel Prizes or became chess grandmasters, the study by Paul Irwing and Richard Lynn concludes.

They showed that men outnumbered women in increasing numbers as intelligence levels rose. There were twice as many with IQ scores of 125, typical for people with first-class degrees.

When scores rose to 155, associated with genius, there were 5.5 men for every woman.

Given that women already live longer and there are more of them, men aren't exactly winning the battle of the sexes. And men may be smarter, but women can still wrap them around their finger. And the smarter the man the easier he is to wrap. Like the old saying goes, women already have half the money and all the p... well, any way...

As Kim du Toit points out, five IQ points are pretty much unmeasurable and the IQ divide is far from permanent. A hundred years ago, when education opportunities for women were rare, the difference was probably much bigger. That also means that it's hardly genetic, as they claim. (Genetic is very quickly becoming a code word for "It's not your fault".)

Besides, men may be better at book learning, but women are better at other things like cooking, cleaning, and breast-feeding. Heh. I'm gonna get hate male on that one.

Two weeks ago, a story started to break about the ATF questioning the family and neighbors of prospective gun purchasers. Gun dealers at the Richmond (VA) gun show would turn in the paperwork required to conduct a background check on gun buyers. While the paperwork was being processed, the ATF would grab their name and address and dispatch officers to their home to question friends and family members about their purchase. Officers would ask friends (and sometimes neighbors) questions like: "Did you know your husband was going to a gun show today?" "Did you know your husband was going to buy a gun today?" "Did you know that your neighbor was buying a gun today? How do you feel about him doing so?"

The "residency checks" as the ATF called them were not only heavy handed, but probably violated federal privacy laws.

At first the idea of federal agents and police visiting your home while you were waiting to buy a gun seemed absurd. But now the Virginia Citizens Defense League has the smoking gun. [link in PDF]

In an email, VCDL President Philip Van Cleave points out that this wasn't the first time:

One of VCDL's members did a Freedom of Information Act request to the Virginia State Police on the BATFE 'residency check' scheme that was being run on purchasers at the last Richmond gun show...

The first three pages talk about the last gun show. The fourth page was created sometime before March of this year.

Notice on page four that 'residency checks' have been going on for at least a year! I'm surprised that we didn't learn about it earlier. I would guess that many people either didn't know who to notify or, more likely, were too intimidated...

Also it is noted on the third page that "Twenty-one individuals were deterred from making purchases due to questioning by Task Force members." It doesn't say that those were all criminals buying guns. It is very likely that it spooked off mostly legitimate gun purchasers who didn't want to purchase a gun in an oppressive environment where the police were hanging around and appeared to be chomping at the bit to bust someone.

Finally, it is noted on page three that the BATFE is only suspending the 'residency check' scheme, not terminating it. Thus, it could rear its ugly head in a more covert manner in the future.

These "residency checks" have been going on since at least July of 2004 and as of January 2005, 43 firearms have been confiscated for various reasons. So far this appears to be limited to the Richmond Regional Office, but may in fact be happening in other cities across the country.

Today's trash laying in, on, or near the road was:

• A Fan - It had oscillated it's last breath.

Statistics
Commute: Foggy.
Door to door: 17 minutes

Hurricanes have always been an annual event, but the environmentalist wackos think they're man made. (And probably all Bush's fault.)

Florida has been pummelled by six powerful hurricanes since last August, in what forecasters describe as an "unusually active season". Environmental campaigners say the turbulence is a product of global warming disrupting world weather patterns. Katrina is the 11th storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on 1 June.

If this really is the start of something sinister, perhaps they should check the angular vector of the moon.

I've had my fill of warning labels. My brand new truck has federally mandated big yellow stickers permanently attached to the sun visors warning me about the dangers posed by the federally mandated air bags.

Now the government (of California) is trying to force companies to put warning labels on french fries.

In a complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Lockyer sought an injunction to stop restaurant chains such as McDonald's Corp. and Wendy's International Inc. from selling french fries without some form of warning.

Also named were producers of potato chips and other packaged potato products like PepsiCo's Frito-Lay Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co., makers of Pringles chips.

The suit asks manufacturers of these products to identify the dangers of high levels of acrylamide, a chemical that studies have found is created when starchy foods are cooked at high heat.

Acrylamide, like every other substance in the world, is thought by the state of California to cause cancer. California's list of carcinogens (available in xls or pdf) currently stands at more than 800 chemicals. I wonder what all these warning labels are doing to the environment. (Maybe the warning labels should have warning labels.)

Kevin Baker questions the media coverage of recent Wal-Mart shootings. When a mentally disturbed individual shot up a Wal-Mart it made national headlines. But when a self-defense shooting occured, big surprise, the media was largely silent.

For people with too much time (and money) on their hands, a Mall of America store is selling naps.

The store, to be called MinneNAPolis, is aimed at weary travelers who need a nap after a long flight but aren't staying long enough to book a hotel room, or spouses of shoppers who are traversing the mall's 4.3 miles of storefronts.

"We think it would be really good for husbands at Christmas, when their wives are power-shopping," said mall spokeswoman Julie Hansen.

Founded by PowerNap Sleep Centers Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., the new store will include at least three themed rooms: Asian Mist, Tropical Isle and Deep Space. Each will have walls thick enough to drown out the sounds of squealing children at the indoor amusement park.

The 70 cents per minute fee works out to $42 an hour. Some pointed out that it would be cheaper to buy an $8 movie ticket and spend two hours sleeping through a quiet movie. At the company's other napping center at the airport in Boca Raton, annual memberships cost $1,200 for unlimited sleep time.

Geez, paint and body work only costs $40 an hour. At $42 an hour, it might be cheaper to just get a hotel room instead.

The American Civil War is more correctly called the War Between the States. It was after-all, not a civil war. Civil wars are when competing factions battle for control of a nation. During the War Between the States (usually called the War of Northern Aggression by Southerners) the South was battling for Independence, not for control over the Union. They had already lost that battle in Congress.

But in today's lexicon the terms are all pretty much interchangeable, with 'Civil War' being the most accepted, 'War Between the States' being the most correct, and 'War of Northern Aggression' being the most apropos.

But with yellow journalism becoming all too normal at the Washington Post - especially when it comes to Supreme Court nominee John Roberts - the choice of words can be minced to the point of absurdity.

A fastidious editor of other people's copy as well as his own, Roberts began with the words "Until about the time of the Civil War." Then, the Indiana native scratched out the words "Civil War" and replaced them with "War Between the States." [...]

While it is true that the Civil War is also known as the War Between the States, the Encyclopedia Americana notes that the term is used mainly by southerners. Sam McSeveney, a history professor emeritus at Vanderbilt University who specialized in the Civil War, said that Roberts's choice of words was significant.

"Many people who are sympathetic to the Confederate position are more comfortable with the idea of a 'War Between the States,' " McSeveney explained. "People opposed to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s would undoubtedly be more comfortable with the words he chose."

That would be Democrats. It was Democrats who openly and continually opposed the civil rights movement, and it was Democrats who stood in the school house door. So by that logic it should stand to reason that it's Democrats who would be comfortable with Robert's choice of words. Perhaps Roberts was prescient and knew that one day he would need the support of Democrats to reach the Supreme Court, and chose his words accordingly.

The NFL is going to pat down fans entering football stadiums this year for "security reasons". Also, beer prices just went up $1. Okay, I made up that last part, but that's probably as much the real reason for feeling up fans.

When Atlanta tore down Fulton County Stadium and built Ted Turner Field, the Braves tried banning coolers and outside food and beverages. This sparked outrage from Braves fans, so the team begrudgingly allowed coolers into Turner Field. But on September 12th 2001, the team announced that coolers would be banned for "security reasons". The citizens of Atlanta accepted their fate as the product of a post 9-11 world. And the price of beer really did go up $1.

GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!

The Tennessee AG is trying to intimidate a country singer into not using tobacco products on stage. He claims that it amounts to advertising tobacco to minors, something forbidden under the tobacco settlement.

State officials said Gretchen Wilson can be seen on concert jumbo screens pulling a can of Skoal from her pocket while performing her new song, "Skoal Ring."

That may violate the 1998 settlement between states and tobacco companies forbidding tobacco ads targeting young people, Attorney General Paul Summers said.

"Many young people attend your concerts and purchase your music and T-shirts," Summers wrote in a letter he sent to Wilson Thursday. "Because your actions strongly influence the youth in your audience ... I ask you to take steps to warn young people of negative health effects of smokeless tobacco use."

By the way, all of my Tennessee readers be sure to check out Cohiba brand cigars. Nothing says cool, like Cohiba.

The FCC says that people using VoIP telephone service may encounter problems when dialing 9-1-1. Their solution? Disconnect them.

The Federal Communications Commission has set a Monday deadline for providers of Internet-based telephone calls to get acknowledgments from their Voice over Internet Protocol customers that they understand the problems they may encounter when dialing 911 in an emergency.

Providers of the phone service, known as "VoIP," are expected to disconnect service to people who have not responded.

Anyone out there want to be the grand exalted ruler of San Francisco? The way they've declared the city a military free zone, and have an anti-gun - pacifist attitude, you and your buddies could probably conquer them over a weekend. I certainly know a few people that have enough hardware.

Via National Geographic:

Speeding from the scene of the crime, a Chinese boy tows a floating plastic bag of stolen natural gas last week. Flouting a government ban, farmers around the central Chinese town of Pucheng frequently filch gas from the local oil field.

Just whose side are they on?

Italy's Red Cross treated four Iraqi insurgents with the knowledge of the Italian government last year and hid them from U.S. forces in exchange for the freedom of two kidnapped aid workers, a top Italian Red Cross official said in an interview published Thursday.

This could solve the "health care crisis" in the U.S. The next time you need health care but don't want to pay for it, just kidnap some Italians and negotiate their release contingent to receiving medical assistance.

(Via Geek)

So Britain is going to start throwing out Islamofacists who are preaching hatred for the West. That sounds like a good plan, until the leftists start relaxing the definition of "hate speech".

Fortunately for the British government, they don't have those pesky Constitutional protections to keep them from enacting such a plan. Then again, neither do we 60 days before a general election.

Who said this:

"We've exhausted other efforts to stop him, and killing him certainly seems more proportionate to his crimes and discriminate in its effect than massive bombing raids that will inevitably kill innocent civilians..."

Was it Pat Robertson calling for the assassination of Hugo Chavez? No, it was none other than former Clinton aide George Snufalufagus, who apparently wrote an entire Newsweek article on why we should assassinate Saddam Hussein in 1997.

"If Clinton decides we can and should assassinate Saddam, he could call in national-security adviser Sandy Berger and sign a secret National Security Decision Directive authorizing it."

I'm sure you remember the media outrage.

Hawaii, the state with the most expensive gasoline in the nation, is opting for price controls. Effective September 1 the government will cap the price of wholesale gasoline, a measure which could cause shortages, rationing, and according to some critics actually increase the retail price of gas.

Wholesale gasoline on Oahu, for example, will be limited to $2.16 per gallon for regular. If wholesalers charge the maximum price, then toss in taxes -- also the nation's highest -- as well as a typical 12-cent dealer markup, drivers could pay about $2.85 per gallon. Regular now sells for $2.76 in the Oahu city of Honolulu.

That's right taxes are also the highest, and removing them isn't even an option. Why am I not surprised?The prospect that retail gas prices could actually go up instead of down has given cap opponents an argument for blocking the law. They have asked Gov. Linda Lingle to suspend it before it takes effect. Lingle, a Republican, criticizes the measures, but has refused to block it, saying she can't unless it causes significant harm.

"At best, the gas prices will probably go up a little bit, and there will be some spot shortages," said state Sen. Sam Slom, R-Hawaii Kai.So, a few people won't be able to buy gas. The social collective will still benefit, so what if it's at the expense of the few. Just as long as you aren't one of the few.

[Big] Oil companies also hate the idea. Frequently accused of price gouging by the state's politicians, they insist that Hawaii's geographic isolation, laws governing the location of new company-owned stations and overall high costs of business inflate local gas prices.

That's just tough luck. Failed legislation must be met by more legislation not less. This is going to be interesting.

Slick Willie was the most travelled President in American history. Yet I don't recall reading any stories about how much gas he was consuming.

Getting President Bush from here to there consumes an enormous amount of fuel, whether he's aboard Air Force One, riding in a helicopter or on the ground in a heavily armored limousine.

The bill gets steeper every day as the White House is rocked by the same energy prices as regular drivers. Taxpayers still foot the bill.

Almost every vehicle Bush uses is custom-made to add security and communications capabilities, and the heavier weight of these guzzlers further drives up gas and jet fuel costs...

It is not Bush's choice to be ferried around in a less than fuel-efficient manner. Those arrangements are dictated by tradition and the Secret Service, whose mission is to protect him.

But Bush is one of the nation's most-traveled presidents.

He has visited 46 countries, some of them several times. He has been to all states except Vermont and Rhode Island.

So far this year, he has made 73 domestic and foreign trips, including crisscrossing the country on a 60-day, 60-city tour to promote his Social Security plan. He was on the road yesterday, speaking to a military audience in Idaho, before returning to his Texas ranch to resume his vacation.

Whether in Washington, Des Moines or Tbilisi, Bush is driven in a dozen-vehicle motorcade that goes as fast as possible.

It also often idles outside while the president is at an event, burning up fuel but ready to depart at a moment's notice.

The president's limos alone consume lots of gas...

In the air, Bush most often flies on a Boeing 747-200B laden with, among other things, an anti-missile system. Like gas for cars, fuel costs for the largest plane in the Air Force One fleet have gone up dramatically - from $3,974 an hour in fiscal 2004 to $6,029 per hour now, according to the Air Force.

Reducing his appearances outside the White House and making other gestures toward fuel conservation could help cut down on costs.

According to Forbes, the rifle ranks as the 7th "most important tool of all time, in terms of its impact on human civilization."

For as long as humans have created tools, they've made projectile weapons. Our ancestors made spears, slings and bows and mastered their use in hunting and warfare. But the rifle put all those tools to shame, boasting unprecedented accuracy, power, reliability, and range. Rifles have won wars, tamed continents and overturned empires.

What's more the rifle required much less training and skill than it's predecessors. Mastering the sword, which ranked 8th, could take a lifetime. But learning how to shoot is easy and requires much less physical acumen. It also defeated armor and bigger guns (like heavy cannon) made the castle and other structural fortifications obsolete.

The American Journal of Public Health did a study on restaurant locations in Chicago and discovered that they were strategically located in the busy parts of town. [The nerve] They go on to suggest that fast food restaurants are also located too close to schools and that zoning restrictions should be put in place to force restaurants to move away from population centers. (As opposed to moving the schools)

"This study emphatically does not show fast food outlets intentionally locating near schools," said Dan Mindus, senior analyst for The Center for Consumer Freedom. "All this study indicates is that restaurants are likely to be found in areas of high commercial activity -- the same places you might find a bank, a clothing store, a grocery chain, or a gas station. Restaurants locate where people work and shop. According to this study, when schools aren't in commercial areas, they're not likely to be close to a fast food restaurant."

Zoning restrictions on restaurants are just the latest example of a broad agenda to restrict what Americans eat and drink. This agenda also includes taxation and litigation.

In the study's conclusion, the authors compare fast food to the danger of guns to minors. Given legal precedents with regard to "firearms vendors," the study suggests the government should "impose stricter controls on fast-food restaurant sites."

You don't find guns in vending machines and in most states you must be 18 years or older to purchase guns. It sounds like a shock quote to me.

"Suggesting that a cheeseburger poses the same danger to a child as a gun shows pretty clearly that the food police have gone too far," Mindus said. "Instead of zoning restrictions on restaurants, there should be publishing restrictions on bogus studies that are simply propaganda pieces in support of radical regulations."

By that logic, wouldn't placing schools near Planned Parenthood clinics encourage kids to become parents? Try suggesting zoning restrictions for those and see what happens. Same argument for churches.

UPDATE: Photo supplied by reader Steve S.

A doctor who recommended a woman lose weight has found himself in hot water after she complained to the state doctor's guild.

"I told a fat woman she was obese," Bennett says. "I tried to get her attention. I told her, 'You need to get on a program, join a group of like-minded people and peel off the weight that is going to kill you.' "

He says he wrote a letter of apology to the woman when he found out she was offended.

Her complaint, filed about a year ago, was initially investigated by a panel of the New Hampshire Board of Medicine, which recommended that Bennett be sent a confidential letter of concern. The board rejected the suggestion in December and asked the attorney general's office to investigate.

Well if that's the case, perhaps this report will reach class action status.

The percentage of Americans with bulging waistlines is growing in just about every state, with residents of Alabama joining the obesity ranks the fastest. Only Oregon failed to fatten, according to a report released Tuesday.

The advocacy group, Trust for America's Health, said data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the percentage of obese adults for 2002-04 stood at 22.7 percent nationally. The percentage for the previous cycle, 2001-03, was 22 percent.

Alabama had the unhealthiest increase. There, the rate increased 1.5 percentage points to 27.7 percent. Oregon's rate held steady at 21 percent.

California has abandoned plans to require serial numbers on every round of ammunition sold in the state. They may push for the issue again next year, but right now there are too many questions surrounding the non-existant technology.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer has shelved a novel gun-control measure that would have required manufacturers to stamp microscopic serial numbers on all handgun ammunition sold in California.

Sen. Joe Dunn, a Garden Grove Democrat carrying the legislation for the attorney general, said he needed more time to resolve a heated debate over how much the potentially landmark tracking system would cost and who would pay for it.

California police organizations have been reluctant to support the measure. Perhaps they realize the futility, or perhaps they are afraid that their own sources of ammo would either dry up or become prohibitively expensive.

Such a requirement would destroy surplus ammo sales in the state. Not to mention that when a box of ammo increases from $10 to $50, it would create a huge illegal trafficking market.

Another meme, courtesy Sgt. Stryker. A survey, in case you wanted to know more about me. Or not.

[ ] I've run away from home. (No, but my parents left me at a rest area once.)
[ ] I listen to political music.
[ ] I collect comic books.
[ ] I shut others out when I'm sad. (I don't have to be sad to shut others out.)
[ ] I open up to others easily.
[ ] I am keeping a secret from the world.
[ ] I watch the news.
[ ] I own over 5 rap CDs.
[ ] I own an I-Pod.
[ ] I own something from Hot Topic.
[ ] I love Disney movies. (I didn't even get to watch Disney movies growing up.)
[ ] I am a sucker for hair/eyes.
[ ] I don't kill bugs. (Spiders are okay, but all other bugs must die.)
[X] I curse regularly.
[ ] I paid for that cell phone ringtone. (Nope, converted a free midi.)
[ ] I have "x"s in my screen name.
[ ] I've slipped out a "lol" in a real conversation.
[ ] I love Spam.
[X] I bake well.
[ ] I would wear pajamas to school.
[ ] I own something from Abercrombie
[X] I have a job.
[ ] I love Martha Stewart.
[ ] I am in love with someone.
[ ] I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.
[X] I am self conscious.
[X] I like to laugh.
[ ] I smoke a pack a day.
[ ] I loved Go Ask Alice.
[ ] I have cough drops when I'm not sick.
[ ] I can't swallow pills.
[X] I have many scars.
[X] I've been out of this country.
[ ] I believe in ghosts.
[ ] I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room. (Spiders are our friends.)
[X] I am really ticklish.
[ ] I see/have seen a therapist.
[X] I love chocolate.
[X] I bite my nails.
[X] I am comfortable with being me.
[ ] I play computer games/video games when i'm bored.
[X] Gotten lost in your city. (Are you kidding? I've gotten lost in my city too.)
[X] Saw a shooting star.
[ ] Gone out in public in your pajamas.
[ ] I have kissed a stranger.
[ ] Hugged a stranger.
[X] Been in a fight with the same sex.
[X] Been arrested.
[X] Laughed and had milk/soda come out of your nose.
[X] Pushed all the buttons on an elevator.
[ ] Made out in an elevator.
[X] Swore at your parents.
[ ] Kicked a guy where it hurts. (Guys don't kick.)
[ ] Been skydiving. (dumb)
[ ] Been bungee jumping. (dumber)
[X] Broken a bone.
[X] Played spin the bottle.
[X] Gotten stitches.
[ ] Drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour. (Milk, no. Beer, yes.)
[X] Bitten someone.
[ ] Been to Niagara Falls.
[X] Gotten the chicken pox.
[X] Crashed into a friend's car. (Intentionally, and I'd do it again.)
[ ] Been to Japan.
[X] Ridden in a taxi.
[X] Shoplifted.
[ ] Been fired.
[X] Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
[ ] Stole something from your job.
[X] Gone on a blind date.
[X] Lied to a friend. (Fat? In that dress? Of course not.)
[ ] Had a crush on a teacher/coach.
[X] Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
[X] Been to Europe.
[X] Slept with a co-worker. (I was her boss, does that count?)
[ ] Been married.
[ ] Gotten divorced.
[ ] Saw someone dying.
[X] Driven over 400 miles in one day. (Try 1000.)
[X] Been to Canada.
[X] Been on a plane. (Well I didn't walk to Canada!)
[X] Seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
[ ] Thrown up in a bar.
[X] Eaten Sushi.
[ ] Been snowboarding.
[ ] Been skiing.
[X] Been ice skating.
[X] Met someone in person from the internet.
[ ] Been to a motorcross show.
[X] Gone/Going to college.
[ ] Done hard drugs.
[X] Taken painkillers. (Percocet, Vicodin, you name it.)
[ ] Cheated on someone else
[X] Were so bored you took this survey.
[ ] Have a tattoo

The French are continuing to try to destroy Lance Armstrong's legacy.

Via ScrappleFace:

(2005-08-23) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez beefed up security at his residence and offices today after reports that Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has issued a fatwa calling for the assassination of the South American communist dictator.

Venezuelan police have begun detaining and searching "clean cut, Bible-toting men in unfashionable clothing" as likely followers of the wealthy, charismatic religious personality. However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) immediately lodged a protest with the Venezuelan government over the "profiling" of '700 Club' devotees by security forces.

Mr. Robertson is revered among his fanatical TV viewers, who each year contribute millions of dollars to advance his so-called "ministry," as much as he's feared by the teams of U.S. journalists who track his movements and record his remarks.

The Pentagon immediately denied that Mr. Robertson's name had previously appeared on any Defense Department "watch list," but a spokesman discouraged news networks from airing video of the Robertson fatwa announcement, fearing his remarks might contain coded instructions for Christian cell groups around the world.

The New York Post reports what the mainstream media doesn't:

* Every one of the Army's 10 divisions — its key combat organizations — has exceeded its re-enlistment goal for the year to date. Those with the most intense experience in Iraq have the best rates. The 1st Cavalry Division is at 136 percent of its target, the 3rd Infantry Division at 117 percent.

Among separate combat brigades, the figures are even more startling, with the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division at 178 percent of its goal and the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Mech right behind at 174 percent of its re-enlistment target.

This is unprecedented in wartime. Even in World War II, we needed the draft. Where are the headlines?

* What about first-time enlistment rates, since that was the issue last spring? The Army is running at 108 percent of its needs. Guess not every young American despises his or her country and our president.

* The Army Reserve is a tougher sell, given that it takes men and women away from their families and careers on short notice. Well, Reserve recruitment stands at 102 percent of requirements.

* And then there's the Army National Guard. We've been told for two years that the Guard was in free-fall. Really? Guard recruitment and retention comes out to 106 percent of its requirements as of June 30.

The numbers for "new recruits" are still down for the year.

Apparently Professional Hockey is coming back. Did anyone notice it was gone?

If I had my way, "a restraining order would restore the basic firearms rights of anyone it protects. Once the judge signs off on it, it would become a defacto gun license for both purchasing and carrying. . .it would prevent the government from preventing you from protecting yourself. When the judge grants the restraining order, you should be able to purchase and carry a gun (should you choose to do so) without fear of prosecution from the state." -- Ravenwood, February 9, 2005.

"North Carolina lawmakers have approved a measure that would require courts to give battered spouses information on how to apply for a concealed weapon. The bill. . .would also add protective orders to the evidence a sheriff can consider when determining whether to issue an emergency permit to carry a concealed weapon. Normally, an applicant must wait 90 days for such a permit." -- Associated Press, August 18, 2005.

We're not instapundit, but we'll show some linky love to Extreme Wisdom for this prescient yet hilarious movie clip.

Nobody ever accused criminals of being too smart, but hatching a murder plot while you're sitting in jail doesn't help your case.

Co-defendants in a drug case emptied toilet bowls in their Federal Detention Center cells and yelled to each other through the drainpipes about killing witnesses who might testify against them, prosecutors said.

What Dawud Bey and those he communicated with didn't know was that the FBI was also listening, via wiretaps in and around their cells, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Ehlers said Thursday.

Now they face charges of threatening government witnesses on top of everything else.

The story about the ATF's heavy-handed "residency checks" is finally starting to get legs. The mainstream press is still silent, but CNS News picked it up, as did G. Gordon Liddy (MP3 ~8MB) [mirror]. The gun show promoter, Showmasters, also has photos of the police presence. I've been to this Richmond show before and there are usually only a handful of cops on hand for any given show.

Labor unions have always been an oddity to me. Of course I grew up in a Southern "right to work" state where unions are rare to begin with. I also quit my paper route and got a real job at the age of 14. I lied about my age so that I wouldn't have to get a "work permit" and live with the work restrictions and reduced hours that came along with it. Even at an early age I figured that it was my labor and I'd sell as much of it as I want. Why should I ask for government permission? (Did I also mention that I'm now a member of management?)

So it comes as no surprise that I don't understand unions. I realize that they had their place in time, but in a service driven market economy unionization seems like a complete oddity. Although when I shop at Giant (a union grocery store) I do refuse to take my cart back up to the store and be guilty of robbing a union brother of his job. I also refuse to use those self-checkout lanes. But I digress.

When I read about the Mechanic's union (AMFA) striking at Northwest airlines, I was surprised to read that other unions are not supporting the strike. Apparently the AMFA used competitive presssure to "steal" union employees from other unions that were making concessions to [evil] management. It's like a free market paradox.

Then there's this:

Northwest also sought to lay off about 2,000 workers, almost halving a workforce that is already half the size it was in 2001. The cuts would be concentrated among cleaners and custodians; Northwest has said other airlines use contractors to do that work for less...

After talks broke off late Friday, union negotiator Jim Young said the mechanics would rather see the airline go into bankruptcy than agree to Northwest's terms.

Now that's negotiation. It's like asking workers if they want to be shot in the arm or the leg. They'd rather all union brothers lose their job instead of just some of them. The scenario where all workers keep their job is unrealistic, unless of course they can talk the flying public into paying higher airfares. As air travel becomes a commodity with very little differentiation between airlines, customers are choosing to fly based on price. Hell, you don't even get a meal any more, so you might as well take the cheapest flight that meets your city and timetable requirements.

The Department of Labor wants to make 401k enrollment mandatory, reports USA Today. They are proposing regulations that will "encourage" companies to force enrollment on those who would not enroll themselves.

"We want to remove barriers for people to save for retirement, and automatic enrollment really addresses one of the problems that people face: They may be overwhelmed with the responsibility of saving for retirement," says Ann Combs, assistant secretary at the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration...

The Labor Department says the proposed regulation should give employers who automatically enroll workers in a 401(k) plan some protection from lawsuits if the investment options chosen are "reasonable." Some companies are reluctant to use automatic enrollment for fear that employees whose investments lost money would sue.

So just whose money is it any way? While I participate in a 401k and retirement planning, it's still nice to know that I can forgo my retirement contribution and take the cash should I want it. And there are any number of reasons why someone might not want to participate in a 401k plan. Perhaps they don't have the money, or perhaps they prefer to invest in another retirement vehicle outside of work. Taking the choice away sounds too much like a second Social Security plan.

From the "everything causes cancer" department, a member of the New York City Council is pushing for people to avoid certain cell phones because of the evil death rays they emit.

If you don't want an earful of radio waves, stay far away from two Motorola cellphones, City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz advised yesterday.

She released a list of nearly 400 cellphone models, along with the amount of potentially cancer-causing emissions absorbed through the ears of people who use them without headsets...

If she has her way, all manufacturers will include the numbers on their advertisements, on their boxes and right on the phones themselves.

She noted the "the jury is still out" on whether cellphones cause cancer.

Last May, the magazine Neurology reported finding no clear connection between cellphones and brain cancer.

Still, Moskowitz suggested cellphone use may turn out to be just as unhealthy as lighting up.

"They used to say that cigarettes weren't bad for you, but we know about that now," she said.

"There are 175 million Americans who use cellphones, and 69 percent of New Yorkers use them every day. We don't want to find out down the road that we've been doing damage to ourselves." [...]

"I definitely don't want to learn later that these things cause cancer."

When it comes to education funding, Connecticut is trying to have their cake and eat it too. They are suing the federal government over enforcement of the No Child Left Behind Act. They claim that they should not be bound by the education standards imposed by the Act.

The lawsuit argues that No Child Left Behind is illegal because it requires expensive standardized tests and other school programs that the government doesn't pay for. It asks a federal judge to declare that state and local money cannot be used to meet the law's goals...

The federal government is providing Connecticut with $5.8 million this fiscal year to pay for the testing, [Education Commissioner Betty Sternberg] said. She estimates federal funds will fall $41.6 million short of paying for staffing, program development, standardized tests and other costs associated with implementing the law through 2008.

Of course Connecticut isn't really obligated to meet federal standards. They can opt out of federal education funding and not be bothered by NCLB at all. What they are doing is gambling that they can get an activist court to tell the government that they must provide federal funding to Connecticut but cannot hold them to any federal standards.

According to the Cato Institute, Connecticut received over $100 Million [PDF] in Title 1 grants in 2002. And that doesn't include the huge budget increases of the last few years.

Imagine suing your employer for allocating your budget and then having the nerve to hold you accountable for how the money was spent. Perhaps the Fed should get out of the education business altogether. It is, after all, a local function. Maybe they should just tell the states they're on their own and cut the federal education budget to zero. I think I could live with that.

San Francisco, the city that voted to use taxpayer dollars to provide sex change operations, is refusing to accept the U.S.S. Iowa, a veteran ship of WWII, Korea, and Gulf War I.

In a sign of the times the city of San Francisco voted 8-3 not to have the retired warship USS Iowa remain docked in the bay.

The USS Iowa fought in battles from World War II to Korea to the Persian Gulf War and is recognized has having suffered one of the most horrific accidents in Navy history.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, also a former mayor of the city, locked up $3 million for the ship to remain a tourist attraction in the city. But with the war on terror, the military policy on gays and the war in Iraq facing so much opposition, the city supervisors voted the measure down.

"If I was going to commit any kind of money in recognition of war, then it should be toward peace, given what our war is in Iraq right now," Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi tells AP.

"This isn't the San Francisco that I've known and loved and grew up in and was born in," says Sen.Feinstein. "This is a very petty decision." [...]

[Said Douglass Wilhoit, head of Stockton's Chamber of Commerce], "San Francisco's rejection of such a storied battleship is a slap in the nation's face. We're lucky our men and women have sacrificed their lives to protect our freedom. Wherever you stand on the war in Iraq you shouldn't make a decision based on philosophy."

The Iowa will now be docked in Stockton instead of San Francisco.

UPDATE: As Sgt. Fluffy points out, the U.S.S. Iowa was not a veteran of the Gulf War and was decommissioned by that time. Most articles covering this story are reporting that the Iowa was in the Gulf War. My guess is that some AP reporter somewhere read that the Iowa Class battleships (like the Wisconsin) took part in the war, and didn't understand the distinction.

Virginia Tech is picked to win the ACC and play in the Orange Bowl in Stewart Mandel's Pre-season Bowl Predictions. My [jealous] UVA friends point out that last year Virginia Tech was picked to finish 6th to 8th and ended up winning the ACC after drubbing UVA and pushing them up and down the field in the second half of the... okay, I added that last part. I guess that shows the value of pre-season picks.

In other news, the NCAA is starting to back down from their Indian ban. They're now saying that teams that have permission slips from Indian tribes *may* be permitted to keep their mascot and logo.

Speaking of the NCAA, they were being sued by the NIT for anti-trust violations with their basketball tourney. The NCAA appears to have nipped it in the bud by purchasing the rights to the NIT pre-season and post-season tournaments. How does this help them prove they aren't a monopoly? It sounds a bit like Microsoft purchasing Apple.

After months of painstaking work, researchers have discovered that high school kids would rather drive a Mustang, while parents would rather them have a Honda Civic.

"Young drivers, who often are very image-conscious, prefer the sporty 'cool cars,' but parents seem more concerned with safety and practicality when it comes to having their children behind the wheel," said Jack R. Nerad, an executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book.

What would we do without executive market analysts?

Colombian officials have jailed a cow for causing traffic accidents. That's right, a cow.

A cow has been put in prison after it was blamed for a road accident in Colombia.

The cow was wandering along a road in Giron when was hit by a woman on a motorcycle.

The woman was not badly hurt but police decided the cow was a danger and 'arrested' it.

Officers were unable to find out who owns the [cow] and are keeping it in the town's prison.

A police spokesman said: "If it was a person who caused the accident, he or she would be behind bars, so why not a cow?"

It looks like National Forests and "gun free" National Parks are increasingly becoming a battle ground for the war on drugs. Now police are warning hikers to be cautious of their surroundings, lest they stumble onto an illegal growing field.

...his point was to say that if a hiker had stumbled upon the kind of marijuana farm that officials shut down in the Coconino National Forest earlier this week near Strawberry, there may have been a tragedy.

Police had observed a person patrolling the area with an assault rifle, Charlton said.

Charlton said armed guards often are paid to protect marijuana farms, and an unwary hiker could lose his or her life.

"If you stumble across one of these places, back out the same way you came in and report it to authorities," Charlton said.

Illegal aliens sneaking into the United States apparently had to cross land owned by members of Ranch Rescue, a group that advocates strict enforcement of immigration laws. The illegals were caught and released, but later sued for emotional distress. Well, they won and are now being awarded ownership of an Arizona gun range.

Mancia and Leiva were caught on a ranch in Hebbronville, Texas, in March 2003 by Nethercott and other members of Ranch Rescue. The two immigrants later accused Nethercott of threatening them and of hitting Mancia with a pistol. The immigrants also said that the group gave them cookies, water and a blanket and let them go after an hour or so.

The Salvadorans testified against Nethercott when he was tried by Texas prosecutors. The jury deadlocked on a pistol-whipping charge but convicted Nethercott, who had previously served time in California for assault, of gun possession. He is serving a five-year sentence in Texas.

Mancia and Leiva also filed a lawsuit against Nethercott; Jack Foote, the founder of Ranch Rescue; and the owner of the Hebbronville ranch, Joe Sutton. The immigrants said the ordeal had left them with post-traumatic stress.

Sutton settled for $100,000. Nethercott and Foote did not defend themselves, so the judge issued default judgments of $850,000 against Nethercott and $500,000 against Foote.

Nethercott's only substantial assets was a gun range in Arizona, known as Camp Thunderbird - "headquarters of a paramilitary group that vowed to use force to keep illegal immigrants from sneaking across the border." It has been seized and awarded to the plaintiffs. The two illegals are still in the United States and have said that they will likely sell the ranch rather than take possession of it. They have both applied for visas "available to immigrants who are the victims of certain crimes".

I went to the theater on Friday to see 40-Year-Old Virgin. Imagine crossing American Pie with There's Something About Mary; there's a lot of sexual innuendo and toilet humor, and whoops there goes a boob. The film is filled with hilarious and side-splitting R-rated fun, as friends try to help the 40-year old virgin finally score. It's a wonderful departure from the blase PG-13 pseudo-sex that Hollywood usually offers.

There's not a lot of nudity, but there's plenty of swearing and adult themes, which is sure to make the pleasure police cringe.

Virginia Tech's firearms policy [PDF], released in July 2005, violates Virginia gun laws. Virginia's pre-emption law says that localities and state agencies cannot enact restrictions that are more severe than state law. That doesn't stop them from trying, though:

2.2 Prohibition of Weapons The university's employees, students, and volunteers, or any visitor or other third party attending a sporting, entertainment, or educational event, or visiting an academic or administrative office building or residence hall, are further prohibited from carrying, maintaining, or storing a firearm or weapon on any university facility, even if the owner has a valid permit, when it is not required by the individual's job, or in accordance with the relevant University Student Life Policies. Any individual who is reported or discovered to possess a firearm or weapon on university property will be asked to remove it immediately. Failure to comply may result in a student judicial referral and/or arrest, an employee disciplinary action and/or arrest, or arrest for trespass and/or violation of the appropriate state criminal statute.

As a "visitor or other third party" who routinely attends sporting events at Virginia Tech, I fully intend to traverse Virginia Tech campus and state property as I see fit - and as provided by the laws of the Commonwealth. Tech may get away with taking disciplinary action against students who dare to afford for their own defense, but they have no legal recourse against private citizens.

John Hawkins brilliantly breaks down the disagreement between a movie theater and a 7 year old disabled kid, and who the media leaves out of the picture.

A jury found prescription drug-maker, Merck, guilty of negligence, and awarded a gazillion dollars to a woman who tragically lost her husband to a heart attack.

Plaintiff Carol Ernst has won her lawsuit in Texas Superior Court in Angleton, which blames Vioxx for the 2001 death of her husband, Robert Ernst, a 59-year-old marathon runner and Wal-Mart worker who was taking the arthritis painkiller at the time of his death. Ernst died of a heart attack.

The verdict held Merck liable for the death. Jurors voted 10-2 in favor of Ernst.

The jury awarded more than $250 million in total damages -- a $24 million penalty to Carol Ernst for mental anguish and loss of companionship and $229 million in punitive damages. Ernst's Houston-based lawyer, Mark Lanier, said the punitive-damages figure was based on "the money Merck made and saved by putting off their product label changes."

I don't know the facts of the case, so I'm not saying Merck is innocent. But this illustrates the types of risks that drug manufacturers face. Keep this in mind the next time some lefty talks about the evil drug companies and how much they charge for prescription medication.