Test Your Urinal Etiquette

All men should know this. Women may find it interesting.

This is done in the format of a game, but the lessons are very real.

Know your urinal etiquette.

You wouldn't want to lose that job because you didn't know where to stand in the corporate Men's Room.

Voter Fraud Convictions In East St. Louis

Gateway Pundit has a summary and story collection regarding five Democrats found guilty of voter fraud. The convictions were for conduct that included paying for voters to vote Democratic in the November 2, 2004 elections.

More to come I'm sure.

The Chill Wind Of Left Wing Censorship

For the record, I detest reality shows. I have never watched a full episode of Survivor. I watched Joe Millionaire several times, and I will watch those reality shows that are really old time variety shows like American Idol (though I only watched the first two seasons all the way through - since then, I just watch the try outs to see the really bad singers).

Additionally, I am not much of a TV protestor. I have no problem with groups exercising their powers of pursuasion on trying to get TV, especially the networks, to provide some decent family shows every now and then. But I have paid much attention to those groups. I do notice, however, that whenever they start a campaign, they are ridiculed in the LameStream Media (LSM) as knuckle dragging pro-censorship types trying to stiffle creativity. The religious are a threat to the first amendment to hear it from most LSM.

That is seldom the case, however, when the Left exercises its power to "censor" shows. When P.C. is the motivating factor rather than decensy or religious belief, well the chill wind just isn't there. The Left has successfully prevented or hindered several TV shows, including Dr. Laura's show and the TV show that was to investigate John Kerry's war record. Now, apparently, the Left has a new victim: a reality TV show.

"Welcome to the Neighborhood," an ABC reality series that pushes hot buttons of racism and anti-homosexuality, was pulled by the network before its debut.

The program had drawn criticism from groups claiming it risked fostering prejudice.

The show "fostered" prejudice? Actually, the 6 episode show ended in a PC love fest.

While it ultimately carries a valuable message about diversity and acceptance, those watching the first episodes could be left thinking discrimination is "not that big a deal," GLAAD spokesman Damon Romine said Wednesday.

"Regardless of how things turn out at the end of the last show, it's dangerous to let intolerance and bigotry go unchallenged for weeks at a time," he said, adding that GLAAD hopes a revised version might air.

But having a happy ending is not enough. Because the earlier episodes did not include an immediate rebuking of those who made "prejudiced" remarks, the show was opposed by the progressive groups.

And who were these intollerant folks the show highlighted? Did you really have to ask?

The six-episode show, which was to debut July 10, follows three families in Austin, Texas, who are given the chance to choose a new neighbor for a house on their street.
Each family initially wants someone similar to them _ white and conservative.

Ah yes. No religious black folks who don't like homosexuals. No Less-recently Immigrated Americans who dislike the Chinese. Only white conservatives in W's homestate of Texas were appropriate for this experiment.

Instead, they must choose from families that are black, Hispanic and Asian; two gay white men who've adopted a black child; a couple covered in tattoos and piercings; a couple who met at the woman's initiation as a witch; and a poor white family.

In the early episodes, one man makes a crack about the number of children piling out of the Hispanic family's car and displays of affection between the gay men provoke disgust.

The series' producers had said it was intended to promote a healthy and open debate about prejudice and people's fear of differences.

Oh, my! Disgust. A socially responsible show would have had the man face detention at Gitmo.

Well, the producers got their wish about fostering discussion. Sadly, the discussion is about what drives a network that airs Desperate Housewives to not run this show?

The Case For War In Iraq

Agree or disagree. Doesn't matter. We are there. We must win.

Cassandra has a great history and summary of the President's case for being there. It is not what you hear in the LameStream Media, because Cassandra only deals in actual statements and facts without a bias against the President. She calls the media out for that. Please check it out.

Gay Thursday 6/30

Gay* Thursday 6/30

In Toronto, Canada, a statue has caused quite a stir. It depicts a man wearing a trench coat, feeling the genitals of a man who has droped trou. Now, this isn't some sort of medical procedure, mind you. It was a criminal investigation. The statue isn't offensive either, says the residents of this "irreverent" gay neighborhood.

But denizens of Toronto's centrally located and often irreverent gay neighborhood -- the home of the city's hugely popular annual gay pride celebrations -- say the sculpture is not offensive, and fits with the spirit of the community.

See, it fits within the spirit of the community. "We regularly have men drop trou and get felt up by other men," no doubt offers a community resident.

But first, who is this trench coated man?

Wood emigrated from Scotland in the 1790s, becoming a merchant, militiaman and a well-respected magistrate, before running into trouble in 1810. A woman reported a rape, noting she had scratched the attacker on his genitals. Wood took matters into his own hands, lining up the suspects and demanding that they drop their pants so he could "inspect" them.

After word of the incident got around, Wood was widely branded a "molly," a derogatory term for homosexuals, and he agreed to leave town in exchange for not being prosecuted for abusing his position.

The incident is commemorated on the statue's granite base, with a bronze plaque depicting a man's rear-end with his pants around his knees, and Wood's outstretched hand in mid-examination.

Despite this heroic act, there are some that do not like the statue and its bronze plaque.

"I think it's misleading. The sensationalistic side of homosexuality is not the norm."

Not the norm, you say?

However, backers of the monument say Wood is an important link to the area's colorful history and the plaque is unlikely to offend many in an area where public displays of affection between same-sex partners are commonplace.

Do those public displays of affection include dropping trou and rubbing . . . oh, never mind.

It sits just at the south end of the main gay village on Church St., a street lined with coffee shops, bars, and emblematic rainbow flags.

"It adds a bit of distinction to the corner," said Mike Calnan, who lives in the neighborhood. "It has become a sort of equal to the Blarney Stone," he added, referring to the prominent buttocks on the bronze illustration.

"People have been rubbing it for luck."

Well, as long as it brings luck. But the most important thing is that it makes people very, very gay.

* Gay: 1 a : happily excited : MERRY b : keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits 2 a : BRIGHT, LIVELY b : brilliant in color

MORE GAY* THURSDAY: A Guide To Mid-Western Culture.

CommieCorp Is Not Good For The National Interest

Drudge Reports that China is telling the U. S. to stay out of its business of buying a large American oil company.

China tells U.S. not to meddle in oil deal
Wed Jun 29 2005 10:06:28 ET

China expressed opposition to interference in a government-controlled oil company's bid for the U.S.-based oil company Unocal, state media said Wednesday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said that China National Offshore Oil Corporation's $18.5 billion offer for Unocal was "normal commercial activity between enterprises." Liu said "economic cooperation between China and the U.S. serves the interests of both sides and commercial activities should not be interfered in or disturbed by political elements."

There are growing concerns in Washington over the deal as some U.S. officials are uncomfortable with CNOOC, 70 percent owned by the Chinese government, controlling a major player in the U.S. energy sector. Xinhua reported Wednesday that CNOOC Chief Executive Fu Chengyu is heading to the United States for negotiations and to dispel concerns over the deal.

Imagine that - a Communist government lecturing the U. S. on government interference with business.

I am a big free trade person. I supported NAFTA, opposed Bush's steel tarrifs, and generally welcome trade with other countries. I do not think, however, that the Communist Chinese, who are a competing military power, should be allowed to buy a major American oil company. Or any other company heavily involved in U. S. national resources important to the larger economy or military.

U. S. Treasury Secretary John Snow sounded a little ambiguous recently.

We don't need study or ambiguity right now. We shouldn't entertain the idea, and we shouldn't allow the idea to linger as a possibility. Say no. Say it now.

National security -- real national security -- sometimes means saying no to a business deal. The neo-libertarian can see this. Hopefully, the Administration or the Congress can as well.

For other updates: Oil & Gas News.

The Golden Rule Of Foreign Policy

Ann Coulter, whom I find extremely entertaining and funny - in small doses at least - has come up with a unifying theme of foreign policy. This is more universal than Einstein's theory of relativity.

Here's a foolproof method for keeping America safe: Always do the exact 180-degree opposite of whatever Jimmy Carter says as quickly as possible.

It is simple. It is easy to measure its wisdom. Thus far, history has shown it to be 100% accurate.

She also offers us torture rules of thumb:

[Discussing Gitmo:] On the bright side, at least liberals have finally found a group of people in Cuba whom they think deserve to be rescued.

In the interests of helping my country, I have devised a compact set of torture guidelines for Guantanamo. It's not torture if:

The same acts performed on a live stage have been favorably reviewed by Frank Rich of the New York Times;

Andrew Sullivan has ever solicited it from total strangers on the Internet [ouch];

You can pay someone in New York to do it to you;

Karen Finley ever got a federal grant to do it;

It's comparable to the treatment U.S. troops received in basic training;

It's no worse than the way airlines treat little girls in pigtails flying to see Grandma.

Who says all rules are full of gray?

Having Fun With Kelo

A Free Star Media release claiming to be serious reports that a petition has been filed with the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire to seize by emminent domain Justice Souter's home for the purpose of building a hotel.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.

The hotel would "benefit" the town, and has a great name.

Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land. The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America.

This may be my favorite part.

Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."

The guy claims to be serious.

"This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."

Sometimes snark makes the best point.

WTF?

Today is Class Picture Day.


Gymnast born with foot for head?


Batman discusses drafting theory with NASCAR's Mark Martin.


And I thought soccer couldn't get any worse to watch.


Seperated at birth?


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Justice Clarence Thomas Is Cool

I just met Justice Clarence Thomas. He even shook my hand and gave me his card. We are buds.

Not bragging.


Just saying.

Tom Cruise Interview

Another version of this transcript appears at Wuzzadem, but for the record, I discovered this transcript Friday, so I am publishing it. I discovered Wuzzadem's post after the fact.

NBC 'TODAY SHOW' host Matt Lauer was lectured by star Tom Cruise on the dangers of psychiatry and antidepressants during a promotional interview for WAR OF THE WORLDS. The exchange aired Friday morning.

LAUER: Tom Cruise created a firestorm when he criticized Brooke Shields for doing therapy and taking antidepressants to deal with post-partum depression. As a Scientologist, he is a certified fool, but says he doesn't believe in psychiatric medicine. I asked him about his comments. I let him talk down to me because he is a celebrity and not a Republican politician.

CRUISE: I've never agreed with psychiatry, ever. Before I was a Scientologist I never agreed with psychiatry. I just wanted to be the best damn pilot in the navy, but those psychiatrists kept me from it.

LAUER: What?

CRUISE: Just because it was written by a science fiction writer who has been rumored to declare that the real money was in religion is no reason to doubt his proclamations. I now understand more and more why I didn't believe in psychology. Psychiatry is-- is a pseudo science.

MATT LAUER: But-- but Tom, if she said that this particular thing helped her feel better, whether it was the antidepressant or going to a counselor or psychiatrist, isn't that enough?

TOM CRUISE: I feel like singing "You Lost That Loving Feeling." Do you mind, Matt?

LAUER: Yes. I do mind.

CRUISE: Matt, you have to understand this. Here we are today where I talk out against drugs and psychiatric abuses of electric shocking people, okay.

LAUER: Shocking people? What the hell are you talking about.

CRUISE: Do you know what Aderol is? Do you know Ritalin? Do you know now that Ritalin is a street drug? Do you understand that? Did you order the Code Red? Did you?

MATT LAUER: You do know one thing has nothing to do with the other?

TOM CRUISE: No, no, Matt. I want answers.

MATT LAUER: This wasn't against her will, though.

TOM CRUISE: Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt-- Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt-- Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt-- Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt-- Matt, I'm-- Matt, I'm asking you a question. Matt, question. Matt, I am entitled to the truth.

MATT LAUER: Well, excuse me Tom, I've lost my decoder ring.

TOM CRUISE: Hey, that was my line. And Scientologists use a decoder bracelet. Here's the problem. You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do. You don't know sh*t. I'm Tom Cruise. I studied psychiatric history, which somehow proves something about drugs.

MATT LAUER: Might not Brooke Shields be an example, of someone who benefited from one of those drugs?

TOM CRUISE: Speed. I feel the need for speed. To be able to control it. To know that I can control something that's out of control.

LAUER: You've lost me. Those quotes were from two different movies.

CRUISE: Listen to my talking points. Mask the problem, Matt. Understand the history of it. There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance.

MATT LAUER: So, postpartum depression to you is kind of a little psychological gook googley-gook?

TOM CRUISE: No. I did not say that. Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--

MATT LAUER: I'm just asking what you-- what would you call it?

TOM CRUISE: No. No. Matt, now, you're talking about two different things. Like A Few Good Men and Top Gun.

MATT LAUER: Those were the same two movies. You were a young brash kid in the Navy. Very good at what you did. But your personality and the ghost of your father caused you problems that you overcame at the end.

TOM CRUISE: No. Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt-- You want to know the truth? Can you handle the truth? I could handle the truth. Can you?

MATT LAUER: But Tom, you say you want people to do well. But you want them do to well by taking the road that you approve of, as opposed to a road that may work for them.

CRUISE: I want you to do well, Matt. I will not rest until I have you holding a Coke, wearing your own shoe, playing a Sega game *featuring you*, while singing your own song in a new commercial, *starring you*, broadcast during the Superbowl, in a game that you are winning, and I will not *sleep* until that happens. I'll give you fifteen minutes to call me back.

LAUER: I have an agent, Tom.

TOM CRUISE: Are you asking me out on a date?

LAUER: No.

CRUISE: Because I've been asked out on dates before, and that is what it sounds like.

LAUER: Get on with it Tom.

CRUISE: I love Katie, Matt. She . . . completes me.

LAUER: That line didn't work on her did it?

CRUISE: Yes, she is too young to have seen Jerry Maguire.

MATT LAUER: Well, tell me about this child actress you are dating.

CRUISE: I didn't shoplift the pootie.

LAUER: *gives Tom a long look*

CRUISE: Alright. I did shoplift the pootie. But can't I discuss what I wanna discuss?

MATT LAUER: You absolutely can. Last I checked, this was the very essence of a discussion. I don't have to sit here like a potted plant and let you say what you want unchallenged. I only do that for people named Clinton, at least when that b*tch Couric will let me talk to one of them.

TOM CRUISE: I know. But-- but Matt, you see the dilemna. I've already seen this. If you let me say what I want, then my premonition is wrong, but our system works. If you don't, then I'm right, and I can predict the future. Now, are you going in and saying that-- that I can't discuss this?

MATT LAUER: Open your ears man. We are discussing it. I'm only asking, isn't there a possibility that Scientology is a bunch of science fiction horsesh*t? Did you examine the possibility that some science fiction writer in the 1950s didn't discover the secret to life? Didn't you consider the fact that a so-called religion that makes you buy your way into the knowledge that religion has to offer is a freaking cult?

TOM CRUISE: Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt--Matt-- Matt, Matt, Matt-- You're glib. You don't even know what a cult is. You don't know the history of cults. I've studied their history. You have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories, Matt, okay. L. Ron Hubbard wrote those books. That's what I've done.

MATT LAUER: You're-- you're-- it's very impressive to listen to you. Because clearly, you pretend to know the subject. Which good actors do. But in this case, you do it also.

TOM CRUISE: Thank you, Matt. I think.

MATT LAUER: I couldn't agree more.

TOM CRUISE: Matt, this isn't a conversation about something you don't need to know anything about, like the War in Iraq.

MATT LAUER: But you're now telling me that your experiences with the people I know, which are zero, are more important than my experiences.

TOM CRUISE: What do you mean by that?

MATT LAUER: I don't know.

TOM CRUISE: So, you're-- you're advocating it.

MATT LAUER: What are we talking about?

TOM CRUISE: Matt--

MATT LAUER: Do you want more people to understand Scientology? Is that-- would that be a goal of yours?

TOM CRUISE: You know what? I-- absolutely. Of course, you know. And people--

MATT LAUER: How do you go about that?

TOM CRUISE: I plan to date every young woman between 16 and 26 years old, and convince them all to join Scientology.

MATT LAUER: You-- you're so passionate about it.

TOM CRUISE: You've never seen me really upset, Matt. And, yes, I'm passionate about young women.

Euro-trash Tuesday 6/28 - MRUN Not In Protest

A naked bike protest was held in Madrid.

Man Riding Unicycle Naked asked me to report that he did not attend because unicycles were not given proper respect.

Dumbass of the Week

Excluded from consideration due to concern about over exposure: Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Kennedy and Breyer.

We go to Las Vegas, where the world famous CSI team is hard at work solving robberies and the like. This one was solved before the first commercial break.

Police in Las Vegas said they didn't have too much trouble finding the guy who robbed a pizza parlor. According to authorities, Alejandro Martinez left behind a job application with his real name and address. Clark County prosecutor Frank Coumou said he chalks it up to either inexperience or plain stupidity. Investigators said Martinez ordered a pizza and started filling out the application. Then he allegedly pulled a gun and demanded money. A clerk handed over $200.

Investigators not only have the application, they say a witness also wrote down the plate number on Martinez's getaway car. He now faces burglary and robbery charges.

But did he get the job?

The Undiscussed Opinion

While many blogs will be no doubt covering the 10 Commandments case (which I might discuss later once I can figure out what the hell the Court did), or the internet file sharing case (which I can assure you I have no interest in discussing), I would suggest you not overlook the case of Castle Rock, Colo., v. Gonzales, 04-278, also issued today.

In Castle Rock, the Court held that a woman who had obtained a restraining order against her ex could not sue the local police who may have done a poor job enforcing it. Her three children were abducted by the ex in her front yard and later killed by him. It is a heart breaking story.

Now, I don't take issue with the Court' s opinion. I think it merely upheld years of precedence, and made the right "rule" [and I like simple, predictable rules, unlike what the 10 Commandment cases gave us] despite its possible injustice in the case before it. No, it isn't the merit of the decision I think is important. It is the implication.

The opinion, which seems to be similar in fact and outcome to prior Supreme Court opinions, holds that no one has the right to expect the local police to protect you. The Left in this country tells you to rely on the police. The Left tells you to not buy guns or other instruments of self protection because they will just end up killing a loved one. Ignore the fact that a swimming pool is 100 times more likely to cause the death of a child than a gun.

An alarm company has TV ads that tells you that all you have to do is buy its service and lock the door to the utility room, where the woman's two older children happended to be playing while she was doing laundry, and the bad guys will run away.

Hogwash!

Buy a gun. Get trained. Make it accessible to you on short notice.

If you have an identifiable enemy, do it immediately. The police don't have to protect you. They have no legal duty to consider your call more important than a fender-bender down the street.

If you want reliable protection, you only have two choices. You can buy a personal body gaurd who is carrying a concealed weapon. This is what gun-control limo-liberals do. Or you can buy a gun, get trained to make yourself reliable, and carry it.

Downright Sneaky

Parked on the street, and come back to your car to find an expired meter ticket?

Happens every day. Of course, it isn't every day that the meter was put up after you parked.

In Chicago, parking meters don't just expire. They can suddenly appear out of nowhere, like people who have been dead for years showing up at the polls on Election Day.That's the only reason--illogical and unfair as it is--that Chicago police would have slapped drivers with parking tickets for failing to feed meters when there were no meters to be fed when the cars were parked.

Motorists who parked downtown on a stretch of Illinois Street last week fell unsuspectingly into a parking-ticket trap. It is a trick Getting Around had not seen before, but one that we are happy to expose and terminate.Among the drivers scammed was Chicago attorney Vince Tessitore, who at first felt lucky on Tuesday night to find a legal, meterless space to park his Jeep Cherokee on the north side of Illinois just west of LaSalle Street. But when a friend went to the spot to retrieve Tessitore's car about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, a parking meter had been installed where the day before there was no meter.And a parking ticket was left on the windshield.

Not as bad as condemning your house for private development I guess. The city claimed that it would cancel all the tickets.

It Depends On What You Mean By "100 Grand"

A new lawsuit in Kentucky.

A woman who won a radio contest that promised the winner "100 grand" sued after the station gave her a candy bar -- a Nestle's 100 Grand -- instead of $100,000.

Yeah. I don't even like those candy bars.

Night host DJ Slick sponsored the station's contest to "win 100 grand," Gill said in the lawsuit. Gill won by listening to the radio show for several hours and being the 10th caller at a specified time.

Despite his funny antics, the DJ didn't fare too well in this exchange.

Experts said the radio station could face action by the Federal Communications Commission, which licenses radio stations. FCC regulations say contest descriptions can't be false or deceptive and that stations must conduct contests as advertised. Stations in two other states have been fined for contests that told listeners they'd won cash prizes without specifying they were in the Italian or Turkish lira, not the U.S. dollar.

I don't think it was tough fooling this lady, though.

Before her family went to sleep that night, Gill says, she promised her children -- ages 1, 5 and 11 -- that they'd have a minivan, a shopping spree, a savings account and a home with a back yard.

MATH ALERT! You only won [in theory] $100,000. Taxes: $35,000. A minivan - $30,000. A home with a back yard in Lexington, Kentucky: minimum $80,000. Oops, you are over extended already. What about that shopping spree and savings account? And I'm sure the one year old understood the concepts real well.

This was funny, but also mean. I hope they settle quickly.

Pride

It is Gay Pride this weekend in Atlanta.

Here is the schedule. So you can go. Or avoid it.

Please remember, gay people are just like you and me.









Except a little more colorful.














Well, not exactly like you and me. But let's remember some things.













Being gay doesn't mean you can throw a football better than John Kerry.




















It doesn't mean your music matters any longer.















It doesn't mean you have to be cold.













It doesn't even mean you have to be human.














I could say that it probably means you should repent. But that would be so judgmental of me and probably interfere with the celebration of "pride."

Why can't we just leave them alone and respect their private life, uh, while they have a parade, in public, in the street, and run around town making their sex life a public issue.
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Well Duh Weekend News

This weekend we report on the news that any idiot would have known before picking up the paper he can't even read. Welcome to D'uh Weekend News.

Tsunami Hits Poor The Hardest

Last year's Asian tsunami hit poor people far harder than the middle class and wealthy, and the aid effort could worsen the income gap between the rich and the poor in affected regions, a major aid group warned Saturday.

Wait. The news keeps coming:

"Desperately poor people have been made poorer still by the tsunami," said Oxfam's Britain director, Barbara Stocking. Poor people's wooden homes were more likely to be ruined than wealthier victims' brick and stone ones, the agency said. Many poor homeowners have been unable to get compensation for destroyed abodes because they had no deeds. And those who rented informally were often left with nowhere to live, Oxfam said.

Supreme Court Case May Lead To Abuse

No kidding.

The 5-4 decision, while rooted in high-court precedents over the past 50 years, leaves a door wide open for exploitation if craven or overzealous local officials are not restrained. States and localities clearly have leeway to seize private land, not just for a public purpose, such as a road or park, but also to hand to private developers. It's a power that invites abuse.

Some real life examples from the article.

• A city in Washington state removed a woman in her 80s from her home of 55 years supposedly to expand a sewer plant, then sold the land to an auto dealership.
• A New Jersey development agency tried to seize an elderly woman's home and two businesses to provide more parking for one of Donald Trump's casino hotels; the state Supreme Court stopped it.
• A city in Kansas took a used-car lot and turned it over to the new-car dealer next door, who had failed in his efforts to buy the site from the previous owner.

City Taking on Panhandlers Becomes Racial. Really? That is so unusual.

Hoping to boost convention business and tidy up downtown, the City Council is considering a measure to prevent visitors from being hit up for money by homeless people around Olympic Centennial park, CNN Center and some of the South's finest restaurants.

I wonder if most of Atlanta's homeless are black?

But most of the panhandlers are black. And earlier this week, the council sent the proposal back to committee after activists likened the ban to the "Negro removal" policy that they say white downtown business elites pursued in the 1950s.

I wonder if the race warlords will compare this to Jim Crowe laws?

"This is a mean-spirited continuation of what they call the `sanitation' of Peachtree Street," said Joe Beasley, a 68-year-old Atlanta native who heads the regional office of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. "The white folks, their position was that black people were bad for commerce, and if you were black, you just didn't go on Peachtree Street unless you were cleaning up or something."

Well, then. The bill's sponsor must be a white man.

But in the self-proclaimed "City Too Busy to Hate," the panhandling ban's sponsor — who is himself black — said it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with business. "Our No. 1 industry in Atlanta is tourism and conventions. If we don't do something, we run the risk of our downtown becoming a ghost town after dark," said Councilman H. Lamar Willis.

A ghost town, huh? Yup. Ghosts are white. Just another effort to turn the city white!

Senate Dems Want To Be Treated Like They Are In Power

WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats are urging President Bush to consult with them on a possible Supreme Court nomination to help avoid the kind of controversy that engulfed his lower court picks.

Imagine that. I thought they would accept their role as the party beaten at the polls like dogs. Apparently not. Who knows. Maybe they will refuse to let the full Senate even vote on a nominee.

Marijuana Activists Nervous After Raid. Maybe they should smoke a little more. I hear that calms you down.

High STD Rates Are A Problem. Especially, it seems, for young drug users.

Young drug users have high rates of the sexually transmitted diseases herpes simplex virus 2 and syphilis, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions.

I am shocked. What's next? Higher DUI rates among alcoholics?

A Sex Summit. Where? San Francisco.

Next week, we investigate a rumor that the poor might not have as much stuff as the rich.

Is That A Bat Or Are You Just Happy To See Me

"That was a really nice at bat Derek. What are you doing after the game?"

And I always thought Mike Piazza was the happy, colorful ballplayer in New York.

Captions welcome. If I have a critical mass, I will name a winner.

True Miracles

I am assuming this story is accurate and true. It has been picked up by all the LameStream Media sources. The mere fact that I would preface this story that way is a testament to its miraculous nature.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A 12-year-old girl who was abducted and beaten by men trying to force her into a marriage was found being guarded by three lions who apparently had chased off her captors, a policeman said Tuesday.

The girl, missing for a week, had been taken by seven men who wanted to force her to marry one of them . . . . She was beaten repeatedly before she was found June 9 by police and relatives on the outskirts of Bita Genet, Wondimu said. She had been guarded by the lions for about half a day, he said.

They didn't just guard her. They kept her from the kidnappers, and walked away when the rescuers arrived.

"They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said. "If the lions had not come to her rescue, then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage," he said.

The story is corroborated.

Tilahun Kassa, a local government official who corroborated Wondimu's version of the events, said one of the men had wanted to marry the girl against her wishes.

"Everyone thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people," Wondimu said.

Ya think!?

I don't mind having the skeptical point of view in the story. But is this the best explanation they can come up with?

Stuart Williams, a wildlife expert with the rural development ministry, said the girl may have survived because she was crying from the trauma of her attack.

"A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they didn't eat her," Williams said.

Then why did they let her go when the search party arrived?

Daniel in the Lion's Den anyone?

h/t Colorado Cat

Mime Mugging

A street mime dressed as the Statue of Liberty was mugged. The trial started Wednesday. I'm guessing the mime refused to testify audibly.

"They tried to take my bucket, my money," said Elhadj Tandia, a Times Square
street performer, through an interpreter. "One of them hit me in the side of the
head."

Where does one hire a mime interpreter?

In further testimony we learned that the muggers originally escaped despite the fact that the mime screamed his hands.

The muggers were later caught by the mime in an invisible box.

More On

The opinion is here.


The Fifth Amendment.


Concerned about your property rights? Check out The Institute for Justice and Castle Coalition.


A dedicated blog.

Some discussion. More discussion.

Even more discussion. How about some more discussion? And more, uh, discussion?

What can we now look forward to? This. And this.


Finally, George Will's summary is great:

The question answered yesterday was: Can government profit by seizing the property of people of modest means and giving it to wealthy people who can pay more taxes than can be extracted from the original owners? The court answered yes.

UPDATE: A proposed constitutional amendment at Yippi-Ki-Yay!
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Denial

Denial, n,

* * * *
3. a. A refusal to accept or believe something, such as a doctrine or belief.
b. Psychology An unconscious defense mechanism characterized by refusal to acknowledge painful realities, thoughts, or feelings.

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Saddam Hussein's guards are interviewed by GQ Mag.

Saddam Hussein loves Doritos, hates Froot Loops, admires president Reagan, thinks Clinton was "OK" and considers both Presidents Bush "no good." He talks a lot, worries about germs and insists he is still president of Iraq.

As humorous as Saddam's lack of grip on reality, I don't like this story.

The magazine, which reached newsstands Monday, said the GIs could not tell their families what they were doing and signed pledges not to reveal the location or other details of the U.S.-run compound where Saddam was an HVD, or "high value detainee," awaiting trial by Iraqi authorities for mass killings and other crimes.

Well, that is great guys. But now that your identities are out, and you are civilians again, how unlikely would it be to kidnap and torture that information out of you? Two words. Idiots.

I am done. I am sick of them. These five people can't read, can't think, and generally suck.

Screw the medical marijuana case. This is the worst, most poorly reasoned decision of the year. And it will have a huge impact. Wal-mart and your local developers can now force you to sell your property for their planned development. If they don't like your price, they have only to convince a few local politicians who will take you property at the point of a gun and force you to "sell." After all, Wal-mart can put your land to better use than you, you stupid middle class idiot.

Liberals care about individual rights? How can these people find unenumerated rights in the constitution yet not be able to read the words actually in the fifth amendment?

The above five people are enemies of the Constitution. Tell them I said so.

Manslaughter -- Good Enough

"What!?" ........................................"I said, you're going to see me soon in Hell, boy!"

I'm Taking A Short Break.

I'm taking a short break. I will be back Friday.

Analogy Without Hyperbole

As everyone now know, Senator Durbin, wingnut from Illinois, said: ""If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings."
Here is what he had read just before that:

“When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here [Guantanamo Bay] — I almost hesitate to put them in the Record, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report:

‘On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold . . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.’"

Obviously, we can find analogies that work better than the Nazis, who placed Jews and other "undesirables" in concentrations and forced labor camps, experimented on and killed around 6 million Jews and 5 million other "undesirables," or the Soviet gulags where political prisoners were sent to labor camps and executed, resulting in the death of 20-30 million people, and Pol Pot who used forced labor camps to torture, starve and kill 1.5-2.0 million Cambodians. Thus far, there have been zero (for you Durbin voters, the number "zero" is equivilent to a "0") deaths at Gitmo. In fact, when we first released some Gitmo prisoners a few years ago, we had to give them new cloths because they had put on weight. So let's interpret without Democratic hyperbole and angst, if we may.

"A detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor."

I can see why this would bother a Democrat. By being put into a fetal position, the detainee clearly believed that he was going to be chopped up and vacuumed out of the room. Or, if his head was too large, he would have his brains sucked out with a needle before removal from the interrogation room.

"The air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold ."

He was being treated just like Mrs. KJ when she doesn't notice that KJ has changed the thermostat.

"On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees."

He was being treated like Alabama school children in the 1960s.

"He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night."

More likely he was like my uncle. We call him "Comb-over Bobby."

"On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room."

It was like being stuck in the room next to my teen-aged kids and their friends.

See, with a little work, even a Democrat can be forced to use realistic analogies.

Who Do You Support?

Because strippers are patriots, too.

News Roundup Tuesday

I don't know about you, but I find that the news is not inspiring me. So here is the best I can do right now -- one liners.

Don't let the cell door hit you in the wheelchair!

"C'mon honey, it is for your own mental health, and more natural than Paxil!"

It tastes like crap and doesn't get you high. It should be a big hit.

Nice buns.

Found! Scout's honor.

Sold out again by the gutless Republicans.

Rapper's delight -- NBA walk out averted.

Euro-trash Tuesday and Gay Thursday - 6/21 and 6/23

I was not planning on combining Euro-trash Tuesday and Gay* Thursday this week, but two things happened.

First, I came across this site: Gay or Euro-trash. It is a game. It combines both themes.



Second, I have a trial Thursday, so I won't really have time to post anything.

"Uh, excuse me your honor, but I was wondering."

"Yes, counselor?"

"Could we take a short break?"

"Why?"

"My blog."

"Your blood?"

"No, my blog."

"Blog? What the hell is that?"

"It is a computer thing. I am very important author of a blog. I need to post something."

"What?"

"Every Thursday, I post something with a happy, lively, colorful theme. I call it Gay* Thursday."
"Gay* Thursday?"

"Yes, your honor."

"Counselor."

"Yes, your honor?"

"Sit down."

Enjoy the game.

* Gay: 1 a : happily excited : MERRY b : keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits 2 a : BRIGHT, LIVELY b : brilliant in color

MORE EURO-TRASH TUESDAY and GAY* THURSDAY: A Guide To Mid-Western Culture.

Blog Roll

I have been tinkering some with the blog roll and thought I would point it out. Some of these additions are older, but still worth mentioning.

Pile On In Aught Ocho is a site dedicated to the possible 2008 Presidential run of Pile On, the Chair of the John Locke Chair at the Ebb & Flow Insititute. As you can see, it is still very early, and they are careful not to peak too soon.

Unrepentant Individual is a neo-libertarian blog run by Brad and his gang of free radicals. Brad likes to pose interesting questions and watch it fly. Then, I tend to piss off his readers. Brad is also a visitor and commentor here.

Rightwingsparkle offers a more traditional social-con view of the world than I, though we agree more than not. She has a large group of readers, including a few wingnuts from the other side of the aisle. Good discussion threads.

Freakonomics is a blog by Steven Levitt (an still young economist at U. of Chicago) and Stephen Dubner (a journalist), the authors of the book of the same name. I read the book last week (it is a quick read) and enjoyed it thoroughly. The book and the blog complement each other. There is no unifying theme. Essentially, ask neat questions, try to remove the "moral judgments" and crunch the numbers. You get some interesting results. For example, why did crime all but disappear in the 1990's? Two things Levitt says: more police and Roe v. Wade.

Pulpit Pounder gives us a former attorney turned preachers' view of the world. Makrothumeo co-blogs other places, and he visits here and comments on occassion.

A Guide To Midwestern Culture offers us the musings of, tee bee, a Wisconsin bee keeper and literature enthusiast. A cherished visitor as well.

Finally, three neo-libertarian blogs I have been visiting are Scrivener, Q and O Blog and Neo-libertarian blog. The latter two are, I believe, related.

Of course, don't forget my long standing A-list circle of buds, including Villainous Company, Ebb & Flow Institute, Heigh-Ho, BlameBush and Scrappleface. [By "buds" I mean that I like the site and have known of the author or the site for a while. It does not imply any feeling of mutuality.] This is not meant to be limiting. If I put it on my blog roll, I think it is good reading.

Crazy Libertarian Thought Summary

As Americans become more paternalistic in their acceptance of government, I get more concerned about our freedom. Not the freedom that prevents government from enforcing important laws and catch bad guys. I don't care if the government reads my library records. It is really stupid, if they think I might be making a bomb, to not let them see if I rented a bomb making book rather than going through my house looking for one I bought.

No, I'm talking about the everyday stuff. But Americans aren't really eager to give up freedoms. They are hoodwinked into it through socialistic policies. One mundane example is seat belt laws. Walter Williams discusses this in a recent column. He asks the very simple question every libertarain takes for granted: who owns you?

Let's start with the question: Who owns Walter E. Williams? Is it President Bush, the U.S. Congress, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or do I own myself? I'm guessing that any reasonable person would agree that I own Walter E. Williams. The fact that I own myself means that I have the right to take risks with my own life but not others'. That's why it's consistent with morality to mandate that my car have working brakes. If my car doesn't have working brakes, then I risk the lives of others, and I have no right to do so. If I choose not to wear a seatbelt, then I risk my own life, which I have every right to do.

I am now old enough to have seen this slippery slope encrouchment. They started out, in just about every state that passed them, as a "secondary" offense. This means that you couldn't be pulled over just because you weren't wearing your seat belt. You could only be ticketed if you were pulled over for a different reason.

Why this strange exception? Because Americans weren't eager to let government mandate something, though a good idea, that did not have any discernable victims. So how was it passed? Through slight of hand (the "secondary" offense idea) and "to save tax dollars." You see, it may be true that people wearing seat belts only hurt themselves. But then they go to the hospital with more serious injuries. If they don't have adequate insurance, then we end up paying for their health care - either through higher medical care costs because of unpaid bills, or through tax dollars. By introducing socialistic tendencies, we make something formerly just our business everyone's business.

Some might rejoin by saying, "Williams, if you're not wearing a seatbelt, and don't do us the favor of dying in an accident and become an incapacitated vegetable, society will have to bear the expense of taking care of you." That's not a problem of liberty and self-ownership. It's a problem of socialism.

There's no moral case for forcing anyone to care for me for any reason. When we buy into socialism, we buy into paternalistic government. It reminds me of what my mother used to say during my rebellious adolescent years: "Boy, as long as you're living in my house and I'm paying the bills, you're going to do what I say!" Paternalism is OK for children, but is it suitable for adults?

Seat belt advocates were never going to be satisfied with the secondary offense idea though. This was truely a slipery slope event. Get one foot in the door, wait until everyone is used to it, then take what you really want. So now states have removed the secondary offense status of seat belt laws and made them a primary offense. They do a great job to raise revenue as well.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an office within the U.S. Department of Transportation, just finished its annual campaign to get us to wear our seatbelts under a program called "Click It or Ticket." States receive federal subsidies to ticket drivers if they or their passengers are not buckled up. Some states, such as Maryland, are so eager that they've equipped their officers with night vision goggles, similar to those used by our servicemen in Iraq. Maryland state troopers bagged 44 drivers traveling unbuckled under the cover of darkness. The NHTSA's "Click It or Ticket" program is another step toward making Americans serfs of the state.

People who tire of the freedom chant of libertarians often complain that there is no burden of responsiblity to go with it. Of course the claim is false. The responsibility is obvious. Moreover, I am not so hard hearted or politically naive to think that no security and safety nets are in order for society. But as we demand more and more security, more and more entitlement from tax dollars, we hand over more power to our neighbor to control our lifestyle.

Where government has not taken over through legislation, juries have taken over as defacto legislatures. Tobacco companies were sued over and over again before juries finally decided to hit them. Now the flood gates of this type of new age regulation are in order. Courts will eventually let fast food companies face a jury for obesity claims. The first several will likely lose. But then someone will win, and the money will start pouring out. Guns have been on the lawsuit block for years. Some other industry will be next

Living in the nanny state, where government has a claim over one's health, also has no limits. Why do we allow anything with no health benefits to be legal at all? Salt? Grease? Tobacco? Why not make it a crime to consume more than one glass of red wine per day? These laws are all easily justifiable under the theory that gives us seat belt laws. And if they aren't passed by the legislature, they will eventually be passed through the lawsuit regulatory machine.

I have never been one to accept slippery slope arguments against a change in the law that I found just. Sometimes you should draw a new line because it is the right thing to do. But it really seems, the longer I live, that no change is ever the end in itself. It is always just the first step -- it is the frog in the water that is being heated slowly. And neither side of the political spectrum can really be trusted to tell you where they intend to stop.

Happy Father's Day. If You Deserve It.

It is Father's Day. This is the day that people give cards that generally have one of two themes. There are the cards that say, essentially, I am so glad that you were always there for me - what a great dad. And there are those that say I never tell you enough how much I love you because you are such a great dad. And everyone is writing about those two themes today. So I won't.

I want to address the other dads. The ones that resent their children because they were tricked into having a child. Because the baby-momma wants child support to spend on booze and a nicer wardrobe. The ones that write the checks as a guilt payment to avoid having the responsibity of fatherhood. Any of the criticisms you have as to the old lady may be valid. She may have duped you. She may just want your money so she can have more for herself. She may want you to have visitation as free babysitting because she feels burdened by a child, too. None of it matters.

If you don't see your child but a few times per year, if at all. If you aren't at the special occassions, at least. If you don't see nearly every game/recital/ceremony your child is in. If you are one of these Dads, get over yourself. This post isn't about paying the child support. This post isn't about how you ended up a father. This is about the fact that you were a sperm donor, and now you need to be a father. That child didn't cause your heartache.

If this is the one of the few days a year, if that, in which you speak with your child, then don't wait for that child's call. Get off your sorry ass, pick up the phone, and call your child and tell them that you are sorry. And then follow through. It is never too late to get started living a proper life. But every day you wait, you do an injustice to your child.

A child needs a father. Get busy.

Atlanta Area Book Deals

Atlanta media agents are busy this week.



We have a book deal for someone who is deserving.


While someone who is not looks for a movie deal.

Creativity and Thinking Outside The Box? Racist.

Why do all the creative politicians take such heat?

A county commissioner in Central Florida has offered a controversial proposal of sending the area's worst sex offenders out of the United States to Mexico.

But they might molest Mexican babies, who will then come here illegally to molest American babies, you say? Oh, no. He isn't proposing they be "free" in Mexico.

"The American prison system is not a deterrent to these serious crimes," Harris said. Harris said the answer is more severe punishment, Local 6 News reported.

He said the United States could strike a deal with Mexico and send the worst offenders to harsher Mexican prisons where it is more economical to house them, Local 6 News reported.

"We can pay under a contractual agreement the cost in Mexico and again I'm sure it would be a huge savings to the American taxpayer," Harris said.

This is good idea. Remove the sex offenders, save money. Ah, but it is politically a tough sale. It involves outsourcing. A concerned citizen has another idea to keep the local economy from suffering from this outsourcing plan.

An unidentified woman told Local 6 News that she welcomes sex offenders into her mobile home park. "These people have to live, they have to live somewhere, whether it is here, I'll take them all," the woman said.

Well, I would quible that sex offenders have to live. We could just kill them. But I'll give it to her, that was spoken like a true Michael Jackson fan.

Oh, The Humanity!

Blimp wreck.


Will we never learn.




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When Bad Things Happen To Bad People And Make Me Laugh

Heh.


**************************************************************************
Too funny.

A group of 30 women armed with curling irons and table legs beat a suspected armed robber until he collapsed at a beauty school in Shreveport, La., according to a Local 6 News report.

Police in Shreveport responded to a robbery call at Blalock's Professional Beauty College Tuesday after a 24-year-old man walked into the school, pointed a gun at an instructor and demanded cash. The women overwhelmed Jared Gipson, 24, and beat him until he was bleeding on the floor, according to the report.

Gipson tried to escape but the women pulled him back into the building and continued the beating, police said. "Oh, I put something on him, baby," school instructor Dianne Mitchell said. "He wasn't coming up out of here and telling nobody he robbed us and got away with it."

**************************************************************************

That's a shame.


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Congress Has A Role -- If It Wants It

For too long, Congress has abdicated its role on tough foreign policy matters to the Executive Branch. Congress has refused to declare war since WWII. It refuses to truely battle a president's use of force that Congress does not approve. It conducts military action through "authorizations" rather than declarations. Why in the hell did we not declare war after 9/11?

Since 9/11, Congress has further abdicated its role in the policy making of procedural and judicial issues to the Executive Branch with respect to enemy combatants and those people who appear to be security risks.

I don't blame the President for doing what he has chosen to do in light of the still present vacuum of legislation. The President properly declared that terrorist suspects and battlefield combatants, both at home (at least, in my view, as applied to non-citizens) and abroad (certainly non-citizens, and maybe even citizens), fall outside the normal criminal justice system and even the Constitutional protections afforded normal criminals.

Stating that the President was right to do what he did isn't the same as saying it should have been his unilateral decision. He did it because he had no other choice, other than to let normal Federal civil courts deal with the issues, which as we see every day, is a nightmare.

Congress has a role, and politically we would be better off if Congress would be a big boy and accept its role. Congress has been derilict in setting up the spectial courts needed for these new problems. It should have already enacted the standards and procedures to apply to enemy combatants and non-uniformed battlefield prisoners. Congress should have already created new, specialized courts, manned with new Article III judges, that could use special Patriot Act like subpoena power. These courts could have been given the right to secrecy that regular civilian courts do not have so that informants and national security could be protected. Had Congress done this, it would also have deflected some of the heat aimed to the Bush administration which is being accused of acting in a dictorial fashion.

Because Congress has not filled the void, the Executive Branch has been making up its own rules as it goes along. It has, a few times I think, acted unconstitutionally (e.g., Padilla). But that is really to be expected from any Executive when the political fallout from not doing enough is severe. Although Clinton basically ignored the first WTC Bombing, I think he would have reacted similarly, if not more harshly, after 9/11. Clinton, after all, never showed a reluctance to use jack booted like methods when he was President (see, e.g., Waco, Gonzales).

Moreover, it is easy to second guess in the absence of a homeland attack since 9/11. And this probably explains as much as anything Congress' reluctance to do its job. Why declare war when a resolution gives the President the discretion, and the political risk, to do the job. Why deal with comprehensive procedures and Courts when the President can act ad hoc, and take the political heat for any percieved excess.

Finally, the Congress is at least talking about this subject. In the wake of the recent Gitmo disputes, Congress is debating what "rights" Gitmo prisoners have. In my mind they should have none. But that isn't the point. Congress is the proper branch of the government to debate and establish generally applicable rules. Then the President can see that they be implemented, and the Courts, if granted jurisdiction by Congress, as is Congress' right to grant or deny, may decide their application to cases and controversies.

We have three branches of government. It is time for Congress, if it wants to participate, to get in the game and take the risks associated with policy making in sensitive areas of foreign policy. If it chooses to continue to sit it out, however, it has no right to complain and grandstand when this President, or the next one, makes it up as he goes along.

Now Do You Believe Me?

So I took a little flak over this post. I can take my lumps.

Well, there is no disputing the meaning of this poll.

Forget sympathy pains -- nearly 40 percent of French men said they want to go through the real thing. According to a poll published in the current issue of Children's Magazine, 38 percent of the 500 French fathers questioned said they wish they could be pregnant and go through labor instead of their wives.

And the poll finds many women would be OK with that. An even greater percentage of them said they would be up for the switch. The same survey said 71 percent of the French men surveyed said they're prepared to take a year-long sabbatical or put in a request to work part-time to be more of a hands-on dad.

Have a baby!? A year long sabbatical?! You are a man. Have your fun. Then go to work! Know your role, dernit!

Now, let me reiterate. Men are becoming wussies.

That's Real Cute

You're fired.

Are You Doing Enough?

As the G8 gets ready for anarchists and moonbats, the issue of world poverty and hunger is front and center.

Pink Floyd artist David Gilmour, whose mere existence shows that drugs can be taken to extreme excess without killing you, will be getting back together with drug pal Roger Waters for their first concert in over two decades. They will be playing the Live 8 concert to raise awareness of third world hunger and poverty, with a simple solution. You countries that achieve due to your rule of law and capital markets, hand over the dough:

"Like most people, I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world. It's crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations."

I'm sure Gilmour didn't include private U.S. donations in whatever calculations he used. I'm sure he hasn't mentioned the people who cause this hunger and poverty, like African dictators such as Mugabe. Nope, no mention in the article. I also didn't see any mention of Bush's part in the already done deal of debt relief given to Africa this year along with $1.4 Billion in aid. Nope, not relevant at all.

BTW, the kid in the picture is 11 months old.

Men Continue To Become Wussies

Despite a recent poll to the contrary, news has it that men in America and Europe are becoming more, rather than less, metrosexual. This was discussed in this weeks Euro-trash Tuesday/Gay* Thursday. In other words, men are becoming great big pansy, skirt wearing wussies.

And if you needed any more proof, we have this:

Domestic Violence Drops by More Than Half.

UPDATE: I have been told by one who constantly seeks self improvement that this post may have been ill advised. I used that advice to do further reflection on this subject. I have concluded that my previous conclusion, that the drop in domestic violence was due to men become wimpier, may be overly pessimistic. One could look at the data and conclude that the drop in domestic violence is because women and children are simply better behaved, having been well trained by the prior years of domestic violence not to upset the man of the house. If that is the case, then kudos!

Now, I suppose my post has lead some to believe that I support domestic violence. I don't. But, as the late Sam Kinison said, "I UNDERSTAND IT! I mean I know what turns Mr. Hand into Mr. Fist!" And if it can be avoided by proper obedience, all the better.

UPDATED UPDATE: Look people, I'M KIDDING! I always ask, WWTTD? What Would The Tick Do. And the answer is, "Never hit a woman. Unless she is a supervillian!"

Sleeping With A Source

EFI has a transcript of Bob Woodward's interview with Larry King. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this is that Woodward thinks sleeping with anonymous sources is all innocent and stuff. That type of innocence is reserved for our children. What a wierdo.

The Lame Stream Media Is Seen As Lame

A big poll of "confidence" was taken recently. Who sucked at an all time low? The Lame-Stream Media.

Those having a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in newspapers dipped from 30% to 28% in one year, the same total for television. The previous low for newspapers was 29% in 1994. Since 2000, confidence in newspapers has declined from 37% to 28%, and TV from 36% to 28%, according to the poll.

Other "institutions" like the President and Congress also fared poorly. Confidence in the presidency plunged from 52% to 44%, with Congress and the criminal-justice system also suffering 8% drops. Confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court fell from 46% to 41%. The 22% confidence rating for Congress is its lowest in eight years . . . .

Who fared well? The whipping boys of the Lame-stream Media, the military, police and religion, further supporting the dim view of LSM by the poll.

The military topped the poll with a 74% confidence rating, with the police at 63% and organized religion at 53%.

Blogs, on the other hand, fared best, with a 100% confidence level by all respondents that don't work in the Lame-stream Media. I made that up, but that is expected of me since this is a blog.

Eurotrash Tuesday, Meet Gay Thursday (6/13 and 6/15)

Eurotrash Tuesday/Gay* Thursday 6/13 and 6/15, 2005

French fashion folk are trying to turn all men into flaming wimps. With the metrosexual craze on the wane in America, hopefully this can be kept on the other side of the Atlantic. After all, someone has to protect the world.

"The masculine ideal is being completely modified. All the traditional male values of authority, infallibility, virility and strength are being completely overturned," said Pierre Francois Le Louet, the agency's managing director.

"We are watching the birth of a hybrid man. ... Why not put on a pink-flowered shirt and try out a partner-swapping club?" asked Le Louet, stressing that the study had focused on men aged between 20 and 35.

Why not!? Why not!? Because you are a MAN you crazy freak. You have responsibilities. Duties. An outie sex organ.

The traditional man still exists in China, Le Louet said, and "is not ready to go." But in Europe and the United States, a new species is emerging, apparently unafraid of anything.

Oh, great. I'm glad to hear that with its military build-up, killing of little girls to have more male babies and 1.5 billion people, China is also the only country maintaining the virtues of manliness. Rumor has it that they are lacking in other areas.

"He is looking for a more radical affirmation of who he is, and wants to test out all the barbarity of modern life" including in the sexual domain, said Le Louet, adding that Reebok with its "I am what I am" campaign had perfectly tapped into this current trend.

I thought that was Reebok's new Popeye campaign. Remeber him -- the sailor that fought Bluto over a woman. And it was not because she was attractive. No. It was because she was Popeye's woman! Now there was a real man!

* Gay: 1 a : happily excited : MERRY b : keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits 2 a : BRIGHT, LIVELY b : brilliant in color

MORE EURO-TRASH TUESDAY and GAY THURSDAY when she feels like it: A Guide To Mid-Western Culture.