April 2005 Archives

...in more ways than one. I have today off from work because I worked on Monday, but I am off my feed this morning because I am out of medications.

Oh, don't worry, the prescription is ready to be picked up down the street (which is where I'm going in a few minutes), but I've missed two days of medications and I think just the fact of no meds is impacting my outlook.

I hope I will be feeling better soon, I am planning on seeing The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy which premieres today. I'll give you a rundown on that later.

Well, the anti-gunners seem to have hit on a rather big idea. They want to serialize ammunition. Gun Industry Rejects 'Bullet Etching' Bill.

The anti's are smart on this one. If they can manage to get this passed, then they will effectively shut down the legal importation and manufacture of ammunition in the state of California.

Last I heard, over 4,000,000,000 (that's 4 BILLION) rounds of ammunition was commercially produced nationwide per year, with half of that being .22 rimfire. That doesn't include all of those people who handload their own ammunition like I used to do.

The logistical nightmare of tracking millions of bullets individually as they pass from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer would bring ammunition production to its knees nationwide as the manufacturers don't know which bullets are heading towards CA, so they must serialize them all, or stop selling to California.

And I can think of about 5 different ways of frustrating the "advantages" of serializing ammunition.

Of course the cops will be exempt form this, otherwise they wouldn't have any ammunition either, nor will all of the personal security guards for all of the Hollywood elites.

And, of course, if people can sneak drugs and illegals over the boarder, why not ammunition?

This is a smart move for the anti-gunners, and they must be stopped. If you live in California, let your legislator know how you feel about this subject.

That's exactly what the "satire" of Air America did. From Drudge:

AIR AMERICA RADIO INVESTIGATED AFTER BUSH 'GUNSHOTS'

**Exclusive**

The red-hot rhetoric over Social Security on liberal talkradio network AIR AMERICA has caught the attention of the Secret Service, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

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

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

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

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

"Even joking about shooting the president is a crime, let alone doing it on national radio... we are taking this very seriously," a government source explained.

You don't hear things like this from Rush, Sean, et. al., they don't have to resort to violence. But apparently the left does. The Left can't even come up with a solution to Social Security. Instead, they must trash the President's plan, without presenting one of their own, beyond shoving their fingers in their ears and humming real loud.

The Left is morally and ethically bankrupt. They have flung so much mud they have nothing left to stand on. They don't dare tell the truth, even to themselves, because it shows just how silly and stupid their positions are.

Sad, sad, sad.

I like this article by Neil Cavuto: Fear and Lying?

In it he relates a story about a summer job of his. New owners were coming in and were going to make changes. The workers, fearing the worst, were opposed to any changes, without hearing what those changes might be.

And so it is with President Bush's Social Security plan. No particulars have been released as yet, beyond 4% of your SS taxes going into a private account. No one hears that Bush wants to expand the Federal employees retirement account to include everybody. A series of funds that are stable and proven to grow in value.

But the AARP, so enamored of the Ponzi scheme that Social Security is, refuses to let go of a dying system. Without taxing younger workers into oblivion, SS cannot survive.

So what does AARP do? Like other Liberal organizations, it lies. It lies like a rug. It tells outrageous lies that are visible lies at first glance to anybody who looks at it. And they keep lying, hoping enough people believe it to "make it the truth."

I wish I had some more news to comment on, but I’m offline and have very little tools at my disposal. I’m not used to getting up so early in the morning! I normally roll out of bed at 8am, and that is usually because my Conures wake me up and demand my attention. I have a full day ahead of me. After 8 hours of meetings, I still have to face a 4 hour drive back to Memphis, followed by dropping off the clients I picked up. I will be very tired come about 11.00pm Tuesday night. I’ll see you guys Wednesday when I post all of these and resume the normal daily routine.

I saw a news article last night about growing organs in animals for transplant into humans. This is a super bad idea. This would allow animal diseases to ‘jump’ to humans. This means a whole wave of diseases that we have no immunity against. It sounds like a good idea on the face, but when you get into the science of it, the idea breaks down. BSE (Mad Cow Disease) came from pigs. Cows got it because farmers would feed pork grindings to cows as filler to their feed. Then we got it when humans would consume the extra grindings of the brain and spinal cord of the affected cow.

Like Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park, "Just because we can do something doesn't mean we have to do it."

We have no idea as to what we would unleash upon ourselves if we try this. Bad, bad, idea.

Well, that was a fun time. I got to meet a lot of people and do a lot of networking.

I have it in my planner to wipe this laptop, reinstall Windows, and install the software I need to use it in any situation. Here are some of the things I need:

• Microsoft Office
• Street Atlas USA (I have a GPS receiver to go with it)
• Earthlink so I can connect with my cell phone
• Other Internet related software so I can use the Internet connection
• Some No-CD required games to keep me entertained
• A couple of ripped movies (that I the DVD of) so I have something to watch without having to drag the actual DVD along.
• Other software that I haven’t thought of yet.

I’ll have to take my laptop out on a few dry runs to make sure I have everything for the next time I need to do something like this.

Here I sit all broken hearted, came to... well, blog. I am stuck in this cheesy motel, the only one in the area that DOESN’T have high speed Internet access in the rooms. So here I sit, writing posts off line and I will have to post them with the appropriate back timed time stamp so there will be posts made with the proper timing. I do have a cable to use my cell phone as a modem (the modem in this laptop does not work) but I don’t have the software to connect to my ISP or to use the cable/phone setup.

Well, we made it to Murfreesboro right on time to make it to the meetings scheduled for today. As you see from the time stamps below I started very early this morning. Not too much to report from the meetings, all of the heavy stuff is meant for tomorrow. I’m off in a little while to a social for the night so we can network.

Well, good readers, my schedule has been disrupted again. I'm off to Murfreesboro for two days of meetings about Mental Health care and transportation. I'll be blogging from the road tonight and tomorrow morning. I'll see you then.

Do you read Day by Day? You should! Sam and Zed are out on a date when they meet a mugger, who accosts them with a knife. What do you think their response is? First Zed, then Sam pull guns. The proper response to such a situation in my book. I'm not really surprised that Sam did it, but Zed (if you excuse the pun) blew me away with his response.

I guess I'll have to copy Alpha Patriot's Day by Day cartoon code and let you see it every day.

From Cox and Forkum:

And a note, from Boortz:

Today is the unofficial holiday of environmentalists the world over: Earth Day. This is the 35th anniversary. So what is Earth Day all about?

It used to stand for things like clean air, clean water and a litter-free environment. Yet from the start, and even more so today, Earth Day and the modern environmental movement have become a haven for socialists, communists and other anti-American types.

This is reflected in the environmentalists' most pressing issue these days: global warming. Despite the fact that scientists disagree on the issue and that there is no definite proof that global warming has in any way been caused by the actions of man, that doesn't matter. All that matters is that environmentalists are using it to drive their anti-capitalist, anti-American agenda.

It seems like every day there's a new headline....there's a hole in the ozone layer...the polar ice caps are melting...the climate is changing....Armageddon is surely at hand! Because of this, the left and their enviro-cronies expect the United States to sign the Kyoto agreement...which would bind us to a set of unattainable rules that would destroy our economy and wouldn't improve the environment.

Which is their real agenda anyway. It's no longer about the environment...it hasn't been for a long time. It's all about a political movement being used to advocate the end of American capitalism. Take, for example the problem of high gas prices.

If you want to know why gas is well over $2 a gallon, look no further than your friendly neighborhood environmentalist who won't allow more refineries to be built, who requires the oil companies to produce some 55 different gasoline blends in the summer and who won't allow oil exploration in many places in the United States which would reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil.

With their rabid views, they actually cause more harm than good. And being good Liberals, they drive around in SUVs "because we need them" but don't want you to have one "because it harms the environment." Go figure.

We do not fight a religion of peace. We fight a religion that does not accept or tolerate other religions. We fight animals who do this, from Boortz:

If there were ever a single incident to illustrate the merciless death culture of Islamic terrorism, this is it. Those of you who don't know who the enemy is in the war on terror, pay attention to this one.

Yesterday in Baghdad, Islamic terrorists (or "insurgents," as the media likes to call them) shot down a helicopter, killing 6 Americans, three Bulgarians and two people from Fiji. A video was released by "The Islamic Army of Iraq" showing the carnage and taking responsibility. But what is also shown on the videotape should tell you everything you need to know about who we're dealing with.

On the video, one of the Islamic goons finds a survivor lying in a ditch. The cameraman gives the order to shoot, and with that, the bloodthirsty bastard guns down the innocent survivor of the crash in cold blood. But that's not all...before he was executed, the man told the terrorists that his leg was broken. At that point, the merciless followers of Allah forced him to stand on it, spending his last moments in excruciating pain.

How many Muslim groups will we hear publicly condemning this atrocity, committed in the name of Islam? President Bush visited a mosque after 9/11 where he famously declared that "Islam is peace."

Death seems to be more like it.

These people will kill again .. and they will kill Americans ... and they will kill Americans in the thousands. The question is not if. The question is when.

Yep.

Thanks to Bill Hobbs and Mike for pointing me to the South Park Studio.

Here is my portrait if I was a South Park character:

What do you look like in SP?

Here is an amusing look at why Air America will never succeed. I listen to it from time to time, and it is nothing but hate-filled diatribes with hosts that only believe the facts in their heads. What I heard was spewing invectiveness, utterly worthless in my opinion. No wonder these guys aren't getting anywhere.

And this comes from that bastion of the Left Coast, the LA Times: Why the Liberals Can't Keep Air America From Spiraling In

The liberal Air America Radio, just past its first birthday, has probably enjoyed more free publicity than any enterprise in recent history. But don't believe the hype: Air America's left-wing answer to conservative talk radio is failing, just as previous efforts to find liberal Rush Limbaughs have failed.

Wait a second, you say, didn't I read that Air America has expanded to more than 50 markets? That's true, but let's put things in perspective: Conservative pundit and former Reagan official William J. Bennett's morning talk show, launched at the same time as Air America, reaches nearly 124 markets, including 18 of the top 20, joining the growing ranks of successful right-of-center talk programs (Limbaugh is still the ratings leader, drawing more than 15 million listeners a week).

The reason their ratings are so low is they only appeal to one small demographic, that of the militant left-wing hatemongers. Anybody else has since grown up and moved on to either NPR or Conservative talk-radio.

But as long as there are rich Liberals, there will be venture capital to keep Air America alive, because right now it's on life support and it should have "DO NOT REVIVE" tattooed on it.

Hat tip to Right Wing News

I found this very pertinent to what is going on today:

Football & Judges by John Hawkins

Any diehard footballs fans out there who love nothing better than sitting around on Sunday with a few friends and watching a game? Well, if that describes you, let me ask you a question: how much attention do you pay to referees? If you're like the average fan, you may complain about a bad call here or there, but that's about the extent of it. Certainly most fans don't know the names of the refs or get concerned about who the league appoints to work a certain game.

But, let's consider a different scenario: Let's say you're an Oakland Raiders fan and they're playing the Carolina Panthers. The Raiders are up by 3 with thirty-five seconds to go in the 4th quarter and they've got the Panthers pinned on their own 15 yard line. The Panthers hike the ball and the quarterback uncorks a bomb to a receiver who somehow has gotten 1 on 1 deep down the field. But then, the Raiders get a lucky break! The Panthers' receiver trips and falls & the Raider cornerback intercepts the ball and runs it all the way back for a touchdown which gives the Raiders a 10 point lead! You think the game is as good as over...but then something funny happens. One of the refs calls "No Tripsies" and says that if the Panther receiver wouldn't have fallen down, he would have caught the ball and ran it in for a touchdown. The ref then waves off the Raider touchdown and awards 7 points to the Panthers! That leads to the Raiders losing the game.

What would your reaction be? You'd be outraged and who could blame you? After all, there's not a rule called "No Tripsies," so how can a referee call that on the field and cost your team the game? So all week, you, your buddies, & the local sports shows complain about the rotten call. But, there's always next week, right?

So, in next week's game, the score's tied 3-3 going into the second half. Then, right before the third quarter starts, the ref pulls both coaches over and tells them that the score is lower than it should be in his opinion. Therefore, in order to make sure more points are scored in the 2nd half, both teams are required to pass on every down. Both coaches complain, but the ref says that if either team runs the ball even once, he'll declare the game a forfeit. So, the Raiders pass on every down, throw four interceptions, and lose the game 31-10.

Again, you're steamed and with good cause. Since when do the refs tell the coaches what type of plays to call? The whole thing is just ridiculous! Who do these refs think they are?

Now, we're up to Week Three and at the start of the game, the ref pulls the Raider coach aside and tells him that the starting QB stunk it up last week, so the coach has to bench him and put the 2nd stringer in the line-up. The result? Raiders lose 24-7 as the back-up QB fumbles twice, throws three interceptions, and only completes 40% of his passes.

At this point, the Raiders management goes ballistic, but they're told that these referees are appointed for life and that if the refs simply decide to change or ignore the rules of the game, there's nothing that the league can do.

If this was what the NFL was like, refs would become an enormous issue.

The reason all of this is important is that the situation that was described above is what is happening with our judiciary.

Federal judges are in essence referees. Their job is not to write legislation or to find new "rights" in the Constitution that have somehow passed unnoticed for over 200 years, it's to interpret and enforce the rules laid down in the Constitution and by legislators. If federal judges actually did this, there would be as little controversy over them today as there is over referees in the NFL.

The problem we have is that there are a lot of liberals who want judges to throw out the rulebook. Why, you ask? Well, look to the 2nd example given above. If your team has a phenomenal passing game, but a terrible run defense and a third rate running back, a ref who says you have to pass all the time helps you.

In the case of liberals, their ideas are too radical and too out-of-step with America to get passed in Washington. So for them, judges are a way of getting around the system and implementing the policies that they want without having to get the approval of the American people.

Conservatives don't agree with that philosophy. We think judges should "call it right down the middle" and stop making decisions that should be made on Capitol Hill or in State Legislatures. That's why we believe in appointing judges who believe it's wrong to legislate from the bench.

Soon, you're going to see Republicans implement something called "the nuclear option." The nuclear option is a change in the rules of the Senate that will keep the Democrats from unconstitutionally filibustering judges, which prevents judges from getting a vote on the floor of the Senate.

That's a tactic that the Democrats first started regularly using in 2003 (To be fair, in 1968, the nomination of Abe Fortas to the Supreme Court was withdrawn after what most people consider to have been a filibuster, although he may not have had the 50 votes he needed on the Senate floor to be confirmed. That is the only "filibuster" on record prior to 2003). After the Senate Democrats are prevented from unconstitutionally blocking judges who want to "play by the rules," it's expected that they're going to "go nuclear" and refuse to allow the Senate to continue to work on the people's business.

When that day comes, everyone should be aware of exactly what's going on and why it's happening. The Democrats want judges who are going to make up the rules as they go along and they're going to throw a public fit if the Constitution isn't ignored so they can have their way. We Americans wouldn't ever tolerate that sort of attitude in professional football and we should not tolerate it in Congress. If the Democrats throw a temper tantrum in the Senate because they have to go by the rules, the American people should punish them for it at the ballot box in 2006.

Mike at Half-Bakered has come out of his shell and put his Liberal Arts degree to use with Harold Ford, Jr.'s Soliloquy.

It starts:

To run, or not to run, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler for the candidate to suffer The slings and arrows of campaigning Or to take refuge against a sea of troubles in a safe House seat, And by ducking again avoid them? To run: to campaign; Once more; and by running to say we welcome The heartache and the thousand political barbs That candidates are heir to, 'tis a falsehood

Read the rest. It's a riot.

I didn't get in until early this morning, then overslept and had to rush to get to work. I'm at work right now to let you know that any blogging I do will be tonight.

See you later.

I've updated my blog a little bit, I've added some new blogs to my blogroll, and added "A Human Right" to my sidebar as well. I highly suggest that you click on it to learn what's it about. You'll have two ways to go once you hit the web page, I highly suggest that you click the "A Liability" first. It's a real eye opener for those of you with an anti- view of this necessary human right.

Two two separate blogs are both about Epic:Armageddon. Since they are not my "normal" list of political blogs, I decided to put them a little separately.

I will be adding some ribbons as soon as I can get off my lazy butt and do it. All it takes is initiative and effort, which I seem to lack at the moment.

See you tomorrow.

The realm of where you can be by yourself and not be monitored is shrinking quickly to zero. Two articles drive home this fact:
Surveillance Cameras Reduce Private Space and Prying eyes are everywhere.

The only good point is that it's not a monolithic government doing all of the monitoring. The bad point is it's not a monolithic government doing all of the monitoring. You have to worry about your boss, spouse and parents as well.

Your keystrokes on your computer, webcams, GPS tracked cellphones, these are just a few of the many ways you can be tracked wherever you go, whatever you do.

I think the end of the second article sums it up pretty well:

"There's a lot more insecurity because people don't know if they're being watched or monitored. They're more cautious. And therefore there's a certain amount of paranoia that exists today. Who's watching me? Little Brother? Big Brother?"

The future probably will be even more intense.

"It'll take a while," Saffo predicts. "But we'll be well into it in the next 10 years. Wherever you go, you get to be tracked. And finding privacy is really going to become an oddity."

Privacy will become an oddity. How quaint. Not.

Rust never sleeps and all that.

I just happened across a multimedia presentation of an Epic:Armageddon battle report and I wanted to share it with you. Here it is.

This gives you the whys and hows of the rules as well as the battle report and you can see the battle unfold. Check it out and enjoy!

Well, that dreaded day is finally here. Even though I got a large refund, I procrastinated until yesterday before my return was sent in. Now that I know that I qualify for the EITC I'll be filing a lot earlier next year.

By the way, the 17th is another important tax day, it's when you start working for yourself. From January 1 until this coming Sunday, every dollar you earned up to that point has gone to pay taxes of some sort.

Just remember that.

Sorry, I couldn't find anything to comment on today, nothing struck my eye.

I post these little note saying no news because in my case, no news is bad news. If I am not posting without prior warning, then something is wrong with me in a serious way. These little posts are my way of saying "I'm okay."

Y'all come on back tomorrow and see what I have posted, okay?

Here is a clear cut example to show that the Fourth Estate is all for illegal immigration: 'Minuteman' Newsbeat Shuns The Word "Illegal".

The newspapers simply refuse to use the term "illegal immigration."

From the article, here are some headlines:

1. 1,000 activists to patrol Arizona border for migrants
2. Volunteer patrols stir uneasiness on border: Minuteman Project could draw 1,000 for migrant watch
3. 'Minutemen' wage immigration battle at border
4. IMMIGRATION: More than 20 area activists plan to watch border crossers. Fears of violence arise
5. Wanted : Border Hoppers. And Some excitement, Too.
6. Hispanic legislators to monitor monitors: Lawmakers will keep tabs on border project
7. Tombstone at the eye of Minuteman storm
8. Border watch group, human right activists arrive for monthlong patrol
9. US vigilantes begin border stake-out
10. Immigration Opponents To Patrol U.S. Border: Rights Groups Condemn 'Minuteman' Protest
11. Private volunteers patrol a porous border
12. Border watchers have eyes on Texas
13. Tombstone gang guards US border
14. Border volunteers descend on tourist town
15. Armed Volunteers Plan to Patrol Border

This can be best summed up by the following thought:

"Calling an illegal alien an undocumented immigrant is like calling a rapist an undocumented boyfriend."

Yeah.

I commented on Mae Magouirk earlier, the grandma who was not terminally ill, not in a Persistent Vegetative State or anything like that that was given the Terri Schiavo treatment.

Here's the full story: Closest kin prevented from visiting 'grandma'.

You should read this, and see just how this woman is being abused. For some reason the granddaughter has her head in the wrong place and basically wants to hasten Grandma's death instead of letting it occur naturally. She totally misreads the situation and is being an ass about what is going on, just like Michael Schiavo.

Sorry for the no posts today, but other pressing business is upon me. I'll see what I can do tonight so you can have a double dose of bloggedy goodness tomorrow.

Here you go, that old slippery slope again: Granddaughter yanks grandma's feeding tube.

Here you have the case of an 81 year old woman, who has a living will in place for all measures to be taken to extend her life. She is alert and lucent. She is not terminally ill, comatose or in that "persistent vegetative state." She merely cannot feed herself.

Yet a judge ignores her living will, and hands custody of the grandmother over to her granddaughter. What does the granddaughter do? Transfers Granny to a hospice and proceeds to remove all life support, including food and water.

Reread that second paragraph again, then reread the third.

Such is the culture today. The grandmother wants to live, and the granddaughter wants her to starve to death, because she heard about how "peaceful" the starving process is.

What disturbs me is the words of the granddaughter:

"Grandmama is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus," Gaddy told Magouirk's brother and nephew, McLeod and Ken Mullinax. "She has glaucoma and now this heart problem, and who would want to live with disabilities like these?"

Obviously Grandma would want to live with disabilities like these, because they have had to keep her sedated at the hospice. If I were her I would be raising holy hell over being starved to death.

But there is good news at the end of this story: 'Grandma' airlifted to medical center.

This is a sad state of affairs, and I am sad to report that this goes on every day. This needs to stop, because every death is an encroachment into life.

This article will get you to thinking. State Legislators Weigh in on Gun Debate.

The article opens with a surprising fact, and asks a pertinent question:

With more than four out of five states allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons, that argument is finished. Now, the nation's long-running argument over guns turns on how much to loosen the rules — should guns be allowed in judge's chambers? Bars? In workplace parking lots?

Many states are loosening the carry laws as to where citizens with Concealed Weapons Licenses can go. Like here in Tennessee, when the law was first passed, I could not go armed into any place which "sold or served alcohol." That was ruled to include places like grocery stores and convenience stores. That hole is now in the process of being corrected.

Look at it this way: School shootings started to occur after schools were declared "gun-free zones." Why? because people don't have guns there. There would be no one to prevent them from killing with impunity.

Put yourself in the shoes of a criminal. You pull a knife on someone and ask for their money. They pull a gun instead of a wallet. What are you going to do? Run like hell. Even if you have a gun, are you going to be enthusiastic about trying to rob someone who can shoot you? If you don't know who's armed, are you likely to go after anybody?

Guns, in the hands of responsible citizens, reduce crime, period. They deter anybody who wants to do bad things. If you don't know who's armed, you are less likely to carry out your plans.

Think about it.

Robert Novak reports in todays Sun-Times that the New York Times may have gone too far: Quest to get a Republican to fight DeLay may have crossed a line.

This line, the one between impartial observer to biased participant, was crossed long ago by many of the Fourth Estate. Their distorted Liberal views and the mindset that goes along with it, has long been known to us on the Conservative side.

How do we know? Look at any "hot" political topic. For example, in the 2000 election, President Bush's service in the Guard was brought up, gone through and dropped as nothing important. In 2004, instead of staying dead, it was brought up again and again, this time with manufactured documents that was detrimental to the President. Every time something was discovered that hurt the President, it was loudly proclaimed on page 1. If anything that was supportive of the President was published at all, it was way back in the paper.

If lawyers violate the canons of their profession, they are soundly thrashed and disbarred. When (not if) reporters violate their objectivity, they are proclaimed as heroes from the rooftops.

Novak is merely reporting that the Emperor has no clothes.

It seems the depression is kicking up a notch, it's been hard getting out of bed and staying out of the closet these past few days. After such a high as MidSouthCon, I'm not that surprised. That was a couple of days of running around Manic like my hair (what little is left) was on fire. The disruption of my schedule, and everything else has put me off my feed, but I plan to recharge this weekend.

I'll see you Monday.

This is a travesty of justice. Sometimes, There Ought Not To Be a Law.

Things should be criminalized because they are bad, not bad because they are criminalized.

This is a prime example of a legislature out of control:

Unfortunately, RIDA [Recycling and Illegal Dumping Act] is only one example of overcriminalization at work. Historically, criminal convictions required defendants be found guilty of both criminal intent (mens rea) and a criminal act (actus rea). Activist legislators such as Sen. Feldman aim to diminish -- or eliminate altogether -- the requirement of criminal intent and focus solely on the harmful act.

This break with centuries of legal precedent is dangerous. It jeopardizes the liberty of everyone. Consider: Will average New Mexicans have any reason to suspect that it is a criminal offense to store old tires on their own property?

Criminalizing relatively minor offenses damages the credibility and authority of the rule of law. Civil society prospers when citizens acknowledge the laws that govern them as patently legitimate. When the rule of law becomes nothing more than the whim of power-hungry legislators, civil society suffers.

Amen. Lawmakers pass laws like they were paid on a commission basis. Maybe they ought to pay a fee for every time they want to introduce a law. Something on the order of 1/4th to 1/3rd of their salary for being a legislator. Then put it on a sliding scale for those who have money beyond what they get for being a lawmaker.

Under the vague pretense of protecting public health, safety, or vitality, government can justify criminalizing an unlimited litany of offenses -- and therein lies the problem. As long as government can do something, it will, and so legislators will legislate and prosecutors will prosecute.

Just think about that for a minute, and ask yourself if that's what you really want.

As usual, the Democrats are twisting the Social Security issue into a pretzel when it is very easy to understand.

1. The process is voluntary. You don't have to participate if you don't want to.

2. This is an expansion of the current government workers retirement plan. Citizens who opt for the 4% of their pay to be diverted into these retirement accounts get what government workers have had for years. It's the same thing, the same funds, and anybody who says different is lying to you.

3. If the stock market crashes, you're screwed either way. It doesn't matter if you have your money in SS or the stock market, if the stock market crashes, you're out of luck. Sure, the stock market will lose most of it's value, but the hyperinflation resulting from such a crash will destroy your purchasing power on a fixed income anyway. If the government prints more money to keep up, it will turn into a fiat currency and become worthless anyhow (look up 1930's Germany). No matter where your money is, any value it has will be destroyed.

4. It's your money. Why do we need permission from Washington to keep it? 'nuff said.

This issue is not about your security in retirement, it's about power and who gets to dole out the money. Never forget that.

This has got to stop. Immigrant Parents Want Schools to Translate for Them.

America's strength is best personified by the phrase, "E Plurabus Unum," from many, one. We blend and mix all of the best parts of all of the cultures and societies of the world.

But that can't happen when immigrants (illegal or not) refuse to assimilate. They won't learn our language, so they stay isolated in their own barrios and ghettos, apart from everybody else.

We must stop coddling these immigrants. If they wanted to be here so bad, then they should learn our language. I would be laughed out of any other country if I attempted to live there and not learn the local lingo. I see no reason why we shouldn't act the same way to our immigrants.

I don't give a damn about "kinder, gentler." There are long-term sociological problems that have resulted from this, we see it wherever illegal immigrants have invaded an area. They set up shop in a particular area, and then scare the American citizens out, so they set up a barrio.

This is simply not right and it needs to stop. If the immigrants don't want to learn English, then they shouldn't be here.

A Liberal left a comment about my MidSouthCon report. How do I know he's a Liberal? Because he personifies the diversity and tolerance that we all know Liberals are capable of.

I quote:

being a conservetive is a mental illness you ignorant, fascist fuckwad.

Don't you just feel the sensitivity and love he exhibits? I love how he really nails me being a "ignorant, fascist fuckwad." Don't you agree how representative that is of my views on personal liberty, wrongs against society and so on?

I think that by using his own words, we show that he is the ignorant, fascist fuckwad. He offers no constructive criticism of my positions, merely (what has been expressed before) that my Conservativism is my mental illness.

I laugh in his direction. I am half tempted to send an email to the address he supplied just to see if it is real, but I kind of doubt it is. Although the www.whitehouse.org is a pretty funny parody site, which again proves just how much the Liberals are the party of diversity and tolerance.

MidSouthCon 23 was a blast. I gamed until I dropped, then got up and gamed some more. It was a magnificent weekend and I am already looking forward to next year.

Below is a graphic intensive review of my activities. It may take a while to load, but it's worth it. With all pictures, click on them to see them full size.

A warm-up game was Zombies. It's straight out of a bad B movie and just as fun. This is a game where you wander around a town with a shotgun killing zombies. The object of the game is to either make it to the helicopter pad to make it out of town or kill 25 zombies. I was on the tile next to the helicopter when I got a card played on me that put me back to the starting point. One of the other players killed 25 zombies.

Next came the part where I earned my keep. My son and I started interest in MechWarrior:Dark Age by performing a demonstration battle. Both of us used assault 'Mechs, but his could fire around corners. I couldn't make it to him in time and got by butt handed to me. My artillery counterbatteried his, but his had better range and took mine out before I could take out all of his. Notice the bottle of Bawls in the upper right corner. I lived off the stuff.

After starting a MechWarrior tournament, I participated in a demo. I played a card game based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe called Horus Heresy. It was a fun game and I got a deck of cards out of it. I talked my son into getting a demo and a deck as well so we could play together. I think the people we played threw the game as both of us won.

While wandering to the con suite (where all of the refreshments for the con are supplied) I ran into a guy who had an old copy of Nuclear War. This is an old card game and we played in the con suite so we could enjoy adult beverages while we played. I came in second place. The player on my left was gone, and I had just taken out the player on my right, so propaganda cards started working, and I got played a 25 million propaganda card when I only had 22 million people left. I died without a final strike.

The night (morning, really) wrapped up with a Steve Jackson game, Chez Geek. It's a game where you win by slacking off. This one I won. I was a Web Designer and whenever other people played certain cards, it gave me points. The other players pulled a lot of those cards. We called it a night at 1:30am Saturday.

My son and I made it back to my apartment and got a whole 3 1/2 hours of sleep before getting up to do it all over again. We were back at the con by 9:00am.

I started off the morning with running a MechWarrior unlimited sealed booster event. I was selling old boosters 4 for $5, and you had to build your battle force out of what was in those boxes. The guy on the right was the winner of this match.

Next came my greatest challenge. Epic:Armageddon. I played my friend Greg in a demo to reflect the Ultramarines landing on a planet garrisoned by orks. Greg's grandson was doing the dice rolling for him, while I managed to get one of the con guests interested and he rolled for me. Greg brought along a gargant, which is a Titan war Engine just to show all of the different facets of the game. I had a total of three landings, two Thunderhawks and a landing craft. I threw everything from the Thunderhawks at the gargant and after a lot of fighting, I managed to kill it. *Whew* That guy would have ate me alive by itself if I had let it live. On turn three my main landing force arrived, and set up shop. I felt like I was in the French Foreign Legion with a tsunami of Bedouins bearing down on me. "Steady....Steady....Steady...FIRE!" The Green Tide came after me with everything it had, and as units got close, I broke them and they ran away, but every new unit was a little closer than the last one. We called it at the end of turn four, and Greg gave me the win. He was pretty sure that I would be ultimately victorious, but I wasn't so sure. It took every ounce of tactical skill I had and then some to make it as far as I did. I'm proud of that as my capacity of tactical skill was increased by a significant amount.

In the picture below, you see the Orks getting closer to the Ultramarines. This was taken right before the end of the fourth turn.

I was at this point that I took a break for a while, and just enjoyed the sights and the sounds of the con. You have people running around with all kinds of costumes. We had Storm Troopers from "Vader's own" 501st Legion, we had at least one Trekkie, and just about anyone you could imagine.

Back to the gaming!

One more MechWarrior tournament, no pictures this time. I ran a total of one Demo and three tournaments, one more than I was scheduled to. I had about a dozen people participate, which was better than last year. Hopefully next year I'll continue the trend upwards.

After getting my GMing out of the way, I took on the mantle of the commanding officer for the Paneuropeans against my son who played the Combine in another Steve Jackson game, OGRE. In this game, an Ogre is an intelligent 40 meter long battle tank bristling with nuclear weaponry. I had most of my GEV's (hovertanks) wiped out in the first turn, and things went down hill from there. I used my Ogre to play Horatio and block one of the two bridges against the other Ogre. Our Ogres got into a ramming match and I managed to immobilize his Ogre, but at the cost of all of the weaponry on my Ogre. I wasn't able to get it out of range before it was also immobilized. Most of my other forces were taken out, so I came in second again to my son.

This picture is about halfway though the battle.

Things are winding up right about now, there is a costume contest and karaoke (Japanese for "tone deaf") going on in one of the ballrooms. Everyone has been stoked on alcohol and caffeine for two days now and things are getting loose.

While drinking my 15th Bawls, I got caught up in a game of Battle Cattle, think armed cows in a demolition derby. I was the 2nd to be taken out.

Now another break, this time to find some friends that actually had too much and went to bed early.

The last game of the con for my son and I was Starfarers of Catan, part of the Catan series of games where you have peaceful expansion and trading. No warfare involved. You build your empire as fast as you can to outdistance the other players. I came in tied for last.

There was a lot more that happened that I didn't cover, and you can never enjoy everything at a con, there is just too much going on. There was more that I wanted to participate in, but I can only be in one place at a time.

My day and the Con ended for my son and I at 2AM Sunday morning, after some 30 playing hours out of 40 clock hours of intense gaming enjoyment. You don't want to do this too often, but once or twice a year is a great way to learn new games to play and enjoy.

I can't wait for the next one. I'm getting a room next year so I don't have to worry about driving back and forth. Donations to Marks MidSouthCon fund are always welcome.

News to return tomorrow.

Now that I have informed you about the issues of the day (it's funny that you haven't read what I've already written, but that's the way blogs are), I'm off to load up my car, pick up my son and we're off to have fun for a couple of days. Pictures and writeups to follow on Monday.

Now that the poor woman is dead, I wanted to weigh in on this subject. Anything I would have written wouldn't have done a thing to help her, but I write this today because I want to address those of you who supported pulling the "life support" on her.

First of all, let's get the legal battle under scrutiny. Michael Schiavo was smart as he got top-flight lawyers who established in the courts that Terri was in that so-called "persistent vegetative state." By winning the initial case, all of these appeals could do is review the facts as set by the original court case, which is why they all unanimously sided the way they did. The efforts of the Congress was to force a de nuvo, or new look at the case, an effort to include new evidence.

But what was presented at trial had little to do with the truth. Terri was able to communicate. She could tell the staff when she was in pain, she could recognize her parents, etc. She operated on the level of a baby, just learning how to speak. She was able to swallow, at least liquids, but any training on that matter was stopped by Michael.

She understood when they pulled her feeding tube. She understood what that meant, and she communicated as best she could that "I don't want to die." This hardly constitutes someone as portrayed by the lawyers.

For those of you who didn't read up on this, who didn't take the time to understand her true condition, you should be ashamed. You put the final nail in her coffin.

You have advanced the cult of death in this country. I promise you we will soon start doing this routinely to elderly and severely handicapped babies. They already do it in Denmark, why not here? They put down the elderly with less remorse than workers at an animal shelter put down strays. At least the workers cry after doing it at the shelter.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Here you go. America’s Equivalent Of Third World Political Corruption.

This article talks about the routine abuse of power by administrative agencies in the US government. Congress passes broad laws, giving these agencies powers to write their own laws as they see fit. So, in their zeal to show who's in power, they pass unlegislated laws on us, the People.

Accept the premise or not, but politics and the law in America have become as corrupt as those of any third world country. All one need do, is consider the lack of political intestinal fortitude to close our porous borders to illegal aliens; the continued outsourcing of American jobs; the courts basing their decisions on international laws or treaties, rather than the dictates of the U.S. Constitution; governments acquiescence to demands that we become a multi-lingual country and that illegal aliens should receive the same benefits as the legal citizens of this nation. There is, however, another element that should be factored into the equation. That element deals with how all levels of government unabashedly circumvent constitutional law.

In my last article titled “American’s Beware – Your Civil Rights Are On The Line,” I noted how the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife was using administrative law to circumvent both the state and federal Constitutions. I also noted that as a result of that and how Washington State Government had been aiding and abetting a well documented instance of fraud, conspiracy, civil rights violations, extortion, restraint of trade and racketeering...

The Executive branch should be enforcing the laws that Congress passes, not making up regulations of their own. This just shows you that we are not as in control as we think we are, as these agencies are not held accountable by the voters, and the politicians are to spineless to take them on.

Unless things drastically change in the way things are done in Washington, it will only get worse.

This is a depressing article. I.D. O.D. talks about the fallacy of national ID's making us safer.

Even Amtrak has gotten into the ID act, presumably to prevent terrorism. Its "random ticket verification" policy requires some, but not all, customers to present ID when tickets are collected onboard.

Last time I rode Amtrak, this honor fell to the oldest man in our car. He could hardly totter to his feet and remove his ID from his hip pocket, but forcing him to do so somehow struck another blow for homeland security.

Apparently, terrorists tremble at the words "Let's see some ID" and immediately confess their dastardly plans as they throw themselves on the conductor's mercy.

And, most importantly, the author nails why we shouldn't have a National ID:

Some ID proponents imply that because other countries have national ID cards, we should, too. Other countries also have higher gas prices and contaminated water, but we don't want to import those. Nor should we import national ID: Governments use these to track not foreign terrorists, but their own citizens. Knowing who you are and where you can be found chills dissent. And that's to be feared as much as terrorism.

Like I've said before, if you can be tracked wherever you go, are you truly free?

Well, the case has finally come to an end. Ex-National Security Adviser to Plead Guilty to Taking Classified Material.

In a law specifically written for those in power, Sandy is going to pony up $10,000 and serve no jail time, since he committed a misdemeanor. Oh, and he surrenders his security clearance for three years.

If I had done something similar as an enlisted person in the Navy, I would have been slapped with a class A felony and spent many years behind bars.

I am very disappointed.