Buck's blog

The BEST idea I have heard in weeks.

2005-06-28T14:46:00.000-04:00

I guess this will show Justice Souter the consequences of destroying the constitution. I don't think this could happen to a nicer guy!

Press Release
For Release Monday, June 27 to New Hampshire media
For Release Tuesday, June 28 to all other media

Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.

Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

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.

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

Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

"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."

Clements' plan is to raise investment capital from wealthy pro-liberty investors and draw up architectural plans. These plans would then be used to raise investment capital for the project. Clements hopes that regular customers of the hotel might include supporters of the Institute For Justice and participants in the Free State Project among others.

# # #

Logan Darrow Clements
Freestar Media, LLC

Phone 310-593-4843
logan@freestarmedia.com
http://www.freestarmedia.com

Criminal Masterminds II

2005-06-07T15:32:00.000-04:00

My new hero is Katherine Woodworth, 91 years young of Toledo, Ohio!

TOLEDO, Ohio, 06.07.2005
Woman, 91, Teaches Purse Snatcher a Lesson
She's 91 and uses a hearing aid and eyeglasses, but Katherine Woodworth wasn't about to let somebody steal her purse.
Woodworth clobbered the would-be thief with her bag until he ran away, police said.
"I didn't have my hearing aid in, and I thought he said that he was going to take my pulse," Woodworth said. "Then he said it again, that he was going to take my purse, and I said, 'No, you're not.'"
She fought off the man in a department store parking lot Saturday afternoon, authorities said.
Police arrested a 20-year-old suspect and charged him with robbery, felony theft, assault, aggravated menacing, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Sgt. Tim Hanus said women of Woodworth's age shouldn't try to fight attackers. Woodworth said she didn't think her age was much of a factor. What a load of shit!! Fight back if more people fought back maybe these jerks would stop attacking people... That is how people get picked, these thugs look for people they don't think will cause them any trouble who will not fight back. So I say arm yourself and or kick the shit of of them!
"I'll be 92 in August and I guess I've got more nerve now than when I was younger," she said.

These stories makes me feel much safer how about you?

Tick tick tick goes the bomb.

2005-06-06T16:49:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my wonderful friend SondraK and her Cousin Joe for this great video. Joe is a CSM currently serving with the MP's in Iraq.

You really need to check out this video. Why would so many people be standing around something that might blow up at any minute. You know that why the police always try and set up the line back so if the bomb goes off, no one else gets hurt.

Maybe we should look for those WMD's again!

2005-06-06T16:16:00.000-04:00

I heard about this on Fox news and saw in mentioned on many other blogs and websites, but I think I am the first to ask... If they can keep a complex this big hidden for over 2 years, why can there not be another bunker complex somewhere with WMD's stored in it. The only reason I can see that one doesn't exist is the fact the the terrorist are not using them against us.

Looks like its pretty easy to hide things in the Iraq dessert. I picked the NYT's story to link to and paste here, because it seemed to have the most detail about the complex.

The New York Times
June 5, 2005
U.S. Uncovers Vast Hide-Out of Iraqi Rebels
By EDWARD WONG
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 4 - American marines have discovered an elaborate series of underground bunkers used recently by insurgents in central Iraq, with heavy weapons, a kitchen and fresh food, furnished living quarters, showers and even a working air-conditioner, the military said Saturday.

The bunkers were built into an old rock quarry north of the town of Karma, an insurgent stronghold in Anbar Province that lies near the city of Falluja. The bunker system is 558 feet by 902 feet, nearly equal to a quarter of the Empire State Building's office space, making it the largest underground insurgent hide-out to be discovered in at least the past year, if not during the entire war, said Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool, a spokesman for the Second Marine Division.

The military said the bunkers were discovered Thursday around 5 p.m. as part of continuing anti-insurgency operations being conducted in Anbar, a center of the Sunni Arab resistance and an arid province that stretches to Iraq's western border. In the past three days, troops with the Second Marine Division found more than 50 caches of weapons and ammunition in the province. Twelve were discovered in the immediate area of the rock quarry, Captain Pool said in an e-mail interview.

"Marines were out patrolling and looking for weapons caches, when out in the middle of the desert they see a lone building," he said. "They went to go and check it out. In one room there was a large, chest-style electric freezer. The marines moved it and found the hidden entrance to the underground quarry system."

"I can tell you that it is the largest underground system discovered in at least the last year," he added.

Near the building, marines also found evidence of a rifle-training range, including many casings from assault-rifle rounds.

No one was in the bunkers at the time of the raid, Captain Pool said. But the fresh food in the kitchen indicated that insurgents had been there recently. The underground lair had been in use for some time, he said, and was built from one subsection of the quarry.

In one part of the hide-out, troops discovered machine guns, mortars, rockets, artillery rounds, black uniforms, ski masks, compasses, log books, a video camera, night-vision goggles and fully charged satellite phones, Captain Pool said.

The marines were still uncovering "new finds" on Saturday night, the captain said, making it too early to tell exactly what the bunkers were used for or who inhabited them.

The insurgents had apparently installed the creature comforts of home within the hide-out. The complex included four fully furnished living spaces, two showers and an air-conditioner, the military said. Temperatures in the deserts of Anbar can approach a scorching 130 degrees in the summertime.

Decades ago, Saddam Hussein and his aides began building an extensive series of underground bunkers scattered around Iraq. Mr. Hussein hired German engineers in the 1980's to work on these lairs, which included tunnels and chambers beneath palaces in Baghdad and Mosul. It is not known, however, whether the quarry bunker is part of that network.

When United Nations weapons inspectors scoured Iraq in the months before the American invasion, they thoroughly searched many of these bunkers, but came up with nothing.

There has been at least one recent instance of Iraqis carving out an underground tunnel. In late March, American soldiers at Camp Bucca, a sprawling prison center in the south, discovered a 600-foot tunnel that ran from beneath the floorboards of a detainee tent to the exterior of the camp, on the other side of a berm. The tunnel ran 12 to 16 feet underground and was dug by detainees using shovels fashioned from thick poles, canvas, a five-gallon water jug and pieces of metal and rope from tents. That tunnel was discovered only after guards spotted a smaller tunnel the previous week.

Insurgent attacks in Anbar and elsewhere continued Saturday.

A roadside bomb exploded in the center of Falluja at 9 a.m., killing an Iraqi soldier, wounding two others, and damaging several homes, an Interior Ministry official said. Farther north, in Mr. Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle at the entrance to an American base, killing at least five Iraqi soldiers and wounding seven others, the official said.

Guerrillas also carried out assaults in the capital, where the Iraqi government has been trying to restore order by increasing the number of checkpoints throughout the city and assigning tens of thousands of police and soldiers to the streets in a move called Operation Lightning. In western Baghdad, three men killed a driver near the road to the airport and stuffed a bomb in the trunk of his car, the Interior Ministry official said. When the police arrived on the scene, the bomb exploded, wounding two of the policemen.

In the northern city of Mosul, American and Iraqi forces arrested a senior guerilla leader on Saturday, said Maj. Gen. Khalil Ahmed al-Obeidi of the Iraqi Army. The leader, known as Mullah Mahdi, was arrested with his brother, three other Iraqis and a foreign Arab during a brief battle, The Associated Press reported. General Obeidi said Mullah Mahdi had links to the Army of Ansar al-Sunna, one of the most militant groups operating in Iraq, and to the Syrian intelligence service.

"He was wanted for almost all car bombs, assassinations of high officials, beheadings of Iraqi policemen and soldiers, and for launching attacks against the multinational forces," the general said.

The American military said Saturday that a soldier killed in a rocket attack in Baghdad on Tuesday was from the 807th Signal Company, 35th Signal Battalion. Military spokesmen mistakenly said Friday that the soldier was from the 155th Brigade Combat Team.

In the far north, the parliament of the Kurdistan Regional Government held its first meeting since its official appointment during the national elections in January. Members of the parliament were selected through a deal made between the two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The leaders of those two parties, Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, attended the meeting on Saturday.

Kurdish leaders are bracing for an all-out political struggle with the ruling Shiite Arabs over the definition of federal powers and the administration of Kirkuk, the oil-rich city in the north that the Kurds claim as their own. As the mid-August deadline for the permanent constitution approaches, the Kurds and Arabs will have to negotiate over what autonomous powers Iraqi Kurdistan will retain and whether Kirkuk will fall under its dominion. The governing religious Shiite parties are resistant to notions of broad autonomy for the Kurds.

An equally vexing problem for both those groups is how to get the former ruling Sunni Arabs involved in the process of drafting the constitution. A 55-member constitutional committee of the National Assembly is expected to meet Sunday to discuss the issue. The Sunni Arabs, who make up at least a fifth of the population and are largely leading the insurgency, are underrepresented in the assembly because they boycotted the January elections.

In Falluja, a bastion of conservative Sunni ideology, tribal leaders and politicians met on Saturday in a conference they called The Unity of Iraq and Its Independence. The meeting took place in a cement factory on the city outskirts, and the leaders agreed on a list of demands to be presented to the American forces and the Iraqi government. The demands include a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops, the release of political prisoners and an end to purges of former Baath Party members.

Since the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, Falluja and the rest of Anbar Province have proved to be the greatest thorn in the side of the Americans. In recent weeks, the Marines have tried two offensives in the area, first in the city of Qaim near the Syrian border, then in the city of Haditha by a large reservoir.

Captain Pool, the Marine spokesman, said that the marines who had been searching for weapons caches in the last three days had mostly been acting on tips provided by local residents, and that "these tips typically come through our tip line because locals are afraid that if they are seen cooperating with marines or the Iraqi security forces, they might be killed."

An Iraqi employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Falluja, Iraq, for this article.

Marine escorted from Gerogia school!

2005-06-02T15:20:00.000-04:00

I want to thank Neal Boortz for getting the word out about this and also SondraK & Knowledge is Power for helping to spread the word.

He is the story:

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution :

Marine rejected at school
Superintendent apologizes

Mary MacDonald - Staff

Thursday, June 2, 2005

Marine Corps Sgt. Zach Richardson survived Iraq, but not Carson Middle School in Greensboro.

When Richardson walked into the Greene County school last week, he expected to meet some of the sixth-graders who had written to him during his seven-month deployment.

Instead, he was shown the door, coming under the scrutiny of a principal enforcing a policy that requires prior approval for visiting speakers.

Principal Ulrica Corbett told teacher Matthew Lund, the Marine's host and former college roommate, to escort Richardson from the campus.

On Wednesday, after the incident had gotten attention across the nation, the superintendent of Greene County Schools apologized to Richardson and "all our other military personnel."

Richardson, 24, who corresponded with Lund's students while he served in the Persian Gulf, said he is still perplexed about what happened. "I know the principal wasn't trying to sabotage everything," he said. "I don't know what she was thinking."

His treatment, coming a few days before the Memorial Day holiday, led to front-page coverage in the local weekly, The Herald-Journal.

The story, written by 35-year editor Carey Williams and capped with a triple-decker headline, attracted the attention of talk radio and then the nation.

By Wednesday, people from Kansas and Louisiana were calling Greensboro, about midway between Atlanta and Augusta, and asking the editor to fax his story. Most were sympathetic veterans, he said. "The people here, they just can't believe it happened," Williams said. "They respect the soldier."

In his written apology, Superintendent John Jackson said the situation could have been handled differently. The principal, he said, could have allowed the Marine sergeant to speak with students, then dealt with the teacher who did not secure written permission for the visit.

"The thrust that's been placed on it was that he was unwelcome," Jackson said, although he insisted that was not the case.

Richardson, an Athens native, said he had planned to answer questions from the students and had brought combat items they might have found interesting, such as helmets and bullet-proof vests.

Lund had mailed postcards from students in September and December to Richardson and five other Marines stationed at Al-Asad, Iraq.

After Richardson returned from Iraq, Lund said he spoke several times with Corbett about having his friend come to the school. He said he asked for her written permission on May 3, but she never responded. Corbett did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment.

Lund, a first-year teacher, said his students were upset by the events. "Technically, she did her job. But what was right [was] for him to come speak to my kids," he said. "My kids earned the right for him to come speak to them. He certainly earned the right to be there."

It amazes me how some people can treat our Military personal. Richardson's goodwill gesture and offer of thanks to those kids was halted by a government bureaucrat. Her CYA reason "My decision not to allow Zach Richardson to speak with the students on Monday came out of my regard for the safety and welfare of our children." Did she really think that Sgt. Richardson was going to strap a boom to himself and blow up the kids jihad style. I think the Principle needs to think about who she is dealing with again. I am beginning to think common sense is not longer required to be in charge of our schools.

I still want more details, did she in fact ignore the request? If so WHY?

No matter what the reason I can think of NO excuse for treating this Marine with such disrespect. For those of you who read my blog, I don't think you will often call for someone to be fired, but this time I am. You may ask if she should be fired for not allowing this Marine to speak with the students at this school. The answer to that is no technically. What she should be fired for is lack of clear judgement and having no common sense in performing.

I will equate it to the 3 strikes laws in many states... I remember a story about a guy who was going to jail for life because he had stolen a bike. The press was all up in arms about it... How could you send a man to jail for life without parol because he stole a bike. I just wanted to smack them across the head... He is not going to jail for life because of the bike, he is going to jail for life because he was so stupid he stole a bike after getting convicted for two other felonies.
The principle should be fired for the simple fact that she is stupid. Someone with that lack of judgement and common sense should not be in charge of our kids. Alas the local school board is already trying to cover for the principle so I don't expect her to get anything more than public ridicule for her actions. While she deserves much more, I will take what I can get.

Slogan for the RINO 7: "Always surrender from a position of strength."

2005-06-02T11:16:00.000-04:00

This is a follow up to my post of May 27th : Open Letter.

The Queen of the Right, Ann Coulter has done it again... Her column today knocks it out of the park. She is talking about the 7 "maverick" RINO Senators.

SEVEN 'EXTRAORDINARY' IDIOTS
by Ann Coulter
June 1, 2005

Let's not put the seven Republican senators who engineered the "compromise" deal with the Democrats in charge of negotiations with North Korea. I would sooner trust the North Koreans to keep their word than the Democrats. The North Koreans at least waited for the ink to dry on Clinton's 1996 "peace" deal before they set to work violating it by feverishly building nuclear weapons. After hoodwinking seven Republicans into a "compromise" deal, Senate Democrats waited exactly seven seconds before breaking it. The deal was this: Senate Republicans would not use their majority status to win confirmation votes. In return, the Democrats promised to stop blocking nominees supported by a majority of senators — except in "extraordinary circumstances." Thus, a minority of senators in the party Americans keep trying to throw out of power will now be choosing federal judges with the advice and consent of the president. The seven Republicans we're not leaving in charge of the national treasury believed they could trust the Democrats to interpret "extraordinary circumstances" fairly. And why not? It's not as if the Democrats have behaved outrageously for the past four years using their minority status to block Bush's nominees. Oh wait — no, I have that wrong. The Democrats have behaved outrageously for the past four years using their minority status to block Bush's nominees. Hmmm. Well, at least the Democrats didn't wait until Trent Lott foolishly granted them an equal number of committee chairmanships following the 2000 election to seize illegitimate control of the Senate by getting future Trivial Pursuit answer Jim Jeffords to change parties after being elected as a Republican. Oops, no — they did that, too. The seven Republican "mavericks," as The New York Times is wont to call them, had just signed off on this brilliant compromise when the Democrats turned around and filibustered John Bolton, Bush's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations. At least it wasn't an important job. But even so, didn't we win the last election? Why, yes, we did! And didn't we win a majority in the Senate? Yes, we did! To be precise, Republicans have won a majority of Senate seats the past six consecutive elections. (And the last six consecutive elections in the House of Representatives, too!) I think that means Republicans should win. Republican senators support Bush's nominees and Democratic senators oppose them. The way disagreements like this are ordinarily sorted out in a democracy is that a vote is taken among our elected representatives, and majority vote wins. But sometime after 1993 — which, by eerie coincidence, was the last time Democrats had a majority in the Senate — a new rule developed, requiring that the minority party win all contested votes. The Democrats — the same people the seven mavericks are relying on to play fair now — began using procedural roadblocks to prevent the majority vote from prevailing by simply preventing votes from taking place at all. Senate Democrats do this by voting not to vote, whereas Texas Democrats do it by boarding a Greyhound bus bound for Oklahoma. Democrats tried "Count All the Votes (Until I Win)" — Al Gore, 2000. They tried "Vote or Die!" — P. Diddy, 2004. Those failed, so now the Democrats' motto is: "No Voting!" The Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, thought the party with the most votes should be able to win. (Boy — talk about out of touch! And this guy wants to be president?) The seven "maverick" Republicans thought a better idea would be to crawl to the minority party and plead for crumbs. If the "maverick" Republicans had a slogan, it would be: "Always surrender from a position of strength." The deal they struck, this masterful Peace of Westphalia, simply put into writing the rule that the minority party controls the Senate — which will remain the rule until the Democrats aren't the minority party anymore. No wonder Democrats were so testy about bringing democracy to Iraq: They can't bear democracy in America. Liberals' beef with Iraq's new government was that the Sunnis — the minority sect whose reign of terror controlled Iraq for almost 30 years — wouldn't be adequately represented. Obviously, this did not bode well for the Democrats — a minority party whose reign of terror controlled the U.S. House for over 40 years. The only way for Americans to get some vague semblance of what they voted for is to elect mammoth Republican majorities — and no "mavericks." (Fortunately, for the sake of civilization and the republic, that process seems to be well under way.) Chuck Schumer could be the last Democrat in the Senate and the new rule would be: Unanimous votes required for all Senate business. But at least we could count on Senators Lindsey Graham, Mike DeWine, John McCain, John Warner, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Lincoln Chafee to strike a deal forcing Schumer to agree not to block the 99 other senators except in "extraordinary circumstances."

COPYRIGHT 2005 ANN COULTER

DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
4520 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64111

LoJack your wife or daughter!!

2005-05-31T12:03:00.000-04:00

LoJack will help you find your lost or stolen car. Now we have Forget-me-not Panties! I read this and my first thought was, how insecure or paranoid do you have to be? The link will take you to a web site for a company that is selling GPS enabled (and other high tech monitoring) panties, YES I said GPS enabled PANTIES! Then I saw the price (make sure you check out the order page so you can see all the sytles and prices) and I realized these are made for people like Donald Trump and Paris Hilton. Though my guess is they normally spend this kind of money on underwear, I am sure that the things they pay that much for are high end Victoria's Secrets and look much better. These panties look like the female version of the Hanes tightie whities, not a sexy Wicked Weasel version.

I would really like to know who is buying these and more important who is wearing them?

Open Letter to Senator Lindey Graham of South Carolina

2005-05-27T14:07:00.000-04:00

What the FUCK are you doing?!?!?

Letting the Geek in me show!

2005-05-26T12:05:00.000-04:00

Read this below today and thought it was very interesting. I have never heard of many of these regions of space.

I just can't help thinking about Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Voyager 1 Enters the Heliosheath

Summary - (May 24, 2005) NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has traveled so far in our Solar System that it's reached the heliosheath. This is an area just past the termination shock region, where the solar wind crashes into the thin interstellar gas of the galaxy. It was difficult to detect exactly when Voyager 1 passed through the termination shock and into the heliosheath, because we have no data about interstellar space yet, just calculations.Full Story -
Artist illustration of the position of the twin Voyager spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL. Click to enlarge.NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered the solar system's final frontier. It is entering a vast, turbulent expanse where the Sun's influence ends and the solar wind crashes into the thin gas between stars."Voyager 1 has entered the final lap on its race to the edge of interstellar space," said Dr. Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which built and operates Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2.In November 2003, the Voyager team announced it was seeing events unlike any in the mission's then 26-year history. The team believed the unusual events indicated Voyager 1 was approaching a strange region of space, likely the beginning of this new frontier called the termination shock region. There was considerable controversy over whether Voyager 1 had indeed encountered the termination shock or was just getting close.The termination shock is where the solar wind, a thin stream of electrically charged gas blowing continuously outward from the Sun, is slowed by pressure from gas between the stars. At the termination shock, the solar wind slows abruptly from a speed that ranges from 700,000 to 1.5 million miles per hour and becomes denser and hotter. The consensus of the team is that Voyager 1, at approximately 8.7 billion miles from the Sun, has at last entered the heliosheath, the region beyond the termination shock.Predicting the location of the termination shock was hard, because the precise conditions in interstellar space are unknown. Also, changes in the speed and pressure of the solar wind cause the termination shock to expand, contract and ripple.The most persuasive evidence that Voyager 1 crossed the termination shock is its measurement of a sudden increase in the strength of the magnetic field carried by the solar wind, combined with an inferred decrease in its speed. This happens whenever the solar wind slows down.In December 2004, the Voyager 1 dual magnetometers observed the magnetic field strength suddenly increasing by a factor of approximately 2-1/2, as expected when the solar wind slows down. The magnetic field has remained at these high levels since December. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., built the magnetometers.Voyager 1 also observed an increase in the number of high-speed electrically charged electrons and ions and a burst of plasma wave noise before the shock. This would be expected if Voyager 1 passed the termination shock. The shock naturally accelerates electrically charged particles that bounce back and forth between the fast and slow winds on opposite sides of the shock, and these particles can generate plasma waves."Voyager's observations over the past few years show the termination shock is far more complicated than anyone thought," said Dr. Eric Christian, Discipline Scientist for the Sun-Solar System Connection research program at NASA Headquarters, Washington.The result is being presented today at a press conference in the Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, during the 2005 Joint Assembly meeting of Earth and space science organizations.For their original missions to Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 1 and sister spacecraft Voyager 2 were destined for regions of space far from the Sun where solar panels would not be feasible, so each was equipped with three radioisotope thermoelectric generators to produce electrical power for the spacecraft systems and instruments. Still operating in remote, cold and dark conditions 27 years later, the Voyagers owe their longevity to these Department of Energy-provided generators, which produce electricity from the heat generated by the natural decay of plutonium dioxide.

What military aircraft are you?

2005-05-26T09:35:00.000-04:00

What military aircraft are you?

F-15 Eagle

You are an F-15. Your record in combat is spotless; you've never been defeated. You possess good looks, but are not flashy about it. You prefer to let your reputation do the talking. You are fast, agile, and loud, but reaching the end of your stardom.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

This is me... What about you?

40 Reasons For Gun Control

2005-05-25T11:20:00.000-04:00

1. Banning guns works, which is why New York, DC, & Chicago cops need guns.

2. Washington DC's low murder rate of 69 per 100,000 is due to strict gun control, and Indianapolis' high murder rate of 9 per 100,000 is due to the lack of gun control.

3. Statistics showing high murder rates justify gun control but statistics showing increasing murder rates after gun control are "just statistics."

4. The Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban, both of which went into effect in 1994 are responsible for the decrease in violent crime rates, which have been declining since 1991.

5. We must get rid of guns because a deranged lunatic may go on a shooting spree at any time and anyone who would own a gun out of fear of such a lunatic is paranoid.

6. The more helpless you are the safer you are from criminals.

7. An intruder will be incapacitated by tear gas or oven spray, but if shot with a .357 Magnum will get angry and kill you.

8. A woman raped and strangled is morally superior to a woman with a smoking gun and a dead rapist at her feet.

9. When confronted by violent criminals, you should "put up no defense -- give them what they want, or run" (Handgun Control Inc. Chairman Pete Shields, Guns Don't Die - People Do, 1981, p.125).

10. The New England Journal of Medicine is filled with expert advice about guns; just like Guns & Ammo has some excellent treatises on heart surgery.

11. One should consult an automotive engineer for safer seatbelts, a civil engineer for a better bridge, a surgeon for internal medicine, a computer programmer for hard drive problems, and Sarah Brady for firearms expertise.

12. The 2nd Amendment, ratified in 1787, refers to the National Guard, which was created 130 years later, in 1917.

13. The National Guard, federally funded, with bases on federal land, using federally-owned weapons, vehicles, buildings and uniforms, punishing trespassers under federal law, is a "state" militia.

14. These phrases: "right of the people peaceably to assemble," "right of the people to be secure in their homes," "enumerations herein of certain rights shall not be construed to disparage others retained by the people," and "The powers not delegated herein are reserved to the states respectively, and to the people" all refer to individuals, but "the right of the people to keep and bear arm" refers to the state.

15. "The Constitution is strong and will never change." But we should ban and seize all guns thereby violating the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Amendments to that Constitution.

16. Rifles and handguns aren't necessary to national defense! Of course, the army has hundreds of thousands of them.

17. Private citizens shouldn't have handguns, because they aren't "military weapons", but private citizens shouldn't have "assault rifles", because they are military weapons.

18. In spite of waiting periods, background checks, finger printing, government forms, etc., guns today are too readily available, which is responsible for recent school shootings. In the 1940's, 1950's and1960's, anyone could buy guns at hardware stores, army surplus stores, gas stations, variety stores, Sears mail order, no waiting, no background check, no fingerprints, no government forms and there were no school shootings.

19. The NRA's attempt to run a "don't touch" campaign about kids handling guns is propaganda, but the anti-gun lobby's attempt to run a "don't touch" campaign is responsible social activity.

20. Guns are so complex that special training is necessary to use them properly, and so simple to use that they make murder easy.

21. A handgun, with up to 4 controls, is far too complex for the typical adult to learn to use, as opposed to an automobile that only has 20.

22. Women are just as intelligent and capable as men but a woman with a gun is "an accident waiting to happen" and gun makers' advertisements aimed at women are "preying on their fears."

23. Ordinary people in the presence of guns turn into slaughtering butchers but revert to normal when the weapon is removed.

24. Guns cause violence, which is why there are so many mass killings at gun shows.

25. A majority of the population supports gun control, just like a majority of the population supported owning slaves.

26. Any self-loading small arm can legitimately be considered to be a "weapon of mass destruction" or an "assault weapon."

27. Most people can't be trusted, so we should have laws against guns, which most people will abide by because they can be trusted.

28. The right of Internet pornographers to exist cannot be questioned because it is constitutionally protected by the Bill of Rights, but the use of handguns for self defense is not really protected by the Bill of Rights.

29. Free speech entitles one to own newspapers, transmitters, computers, and typewriters, but self-defense only justifies bare hands.

30. The ACLU is good because it uncompromisingly defends certain parts of the Constitution, and the NRA is bad, because it defends other parts of the Constitution.

31. Charlton Heston, a movie actor as president of the NRA is a cheap lunatic who should be ignored, but Michael Douglas, a movie actor as a representative of Handgun Control, Inc. is an ambassador for peace who is entitled to an audience at the UN arms control summit.

32. Police operate with backup within groups, which is why they need larger capacity pistol magazines than do "civilians" who must face criminals alone and therefore need less ammunition.

33. We should ban "Saturday Night Specials" and other inexpensive guns because it's not fair that poor people have access to guns too.

34. Police officers have some special Jedi-like mastery over hand guns that private citizens can never hope to obtain.

35. Private citizens don't need a gun for self-protection because the police are there to protect them even though the Supreme Court says the police are not responsible for their protection.

36. Citizens don't need to carry a gun for personal protection but police chiefs, who are desk-bound administrators who work in a building filled with cops, need a gun.

37. "Assault weapons" have no purpose other than to kill large numbers of people. The police need assault weapons. You do not.

38. When Microsoft pressures its distributors to give Microsoft preferential promotion, that's bad; but when the Federal government pressures cities to buy guns only from Smith & Wesson, that's good.

39. Trigger locks do not interfere with the ability to use a gun for defensive purposes, which is why you see police officers with one on their duty weapon.

40. Handgun Control, Inc. says they want to "keep guns out of the wrong hands." Guess what? You have the wrong hands.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article excerpted from Michael Z. Williamson's excellent and witty piece, "It's amazing what one has to believe to believe in gun control" Our thanks go to Michael for his insightful contribution to the gun control debate.

I know this is cut and paste posting, but I don't think it can be said any better.

Here is the link to the orginal post.

Can we say Amen to this?

2005-05-23T10:33:00.000-04:00

Heard Tara Servatius talking about this article on WBT Friday night. She did an wonderful job, love it every time she is on. I could not agree more with the article below.

Here is the article from Option Journal if the link goes bad:

GOD AND MAN
Hypocrisy Most Holy Muslims should show some respect to others' religions.

BY ALI AL-AHMED

Friday, May 20, 2005 12:01 a.m.With the revelation that a copy of the Quran may have been desecrated by U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Muslims and their governments--including that of Saudi Arabia--reacted angrily. This anger would have been understandable if the U.S. government's adopted policy was to desecrate our Quran. But even before the Newsweek report was discredited, that was never part of the allegations.
As a Muslim, I am able to purchase copies of the Quran in any bookstore in any American city, and study its contents in countless American universities. American museums spend millions to exhibit and celebrate Muslim arts and heritage. On the other hand, my Christian and other non-Muslim brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia--where I come from--are not even allowed to own a copy of their holy books. Indeed, the Saudi government desecrates and burns Bibles that its security forces confiscate at immigration points into the kingdom or during raids on Christian expatriates worshiping privately.

Soon after Newsweek published an account, later retracted, of an American soldier flushing a copy of the Quran down the toilet, the Saudi government voiced its strenuous disapproval. More specifically, the Saudi Embassy in Washington expressed "great concern" and urged the U.S. to "conduct a quick investigation."
Although considered as holy in Islam and mentioned in the Quran dozens of times, the Bible is banned in Saudi Arabia. This would seem curious to most people because of the fact that to most Muslims, the Bible is a holy book. But when it comes to Saudi Arabia we are not talking about most Muslims, but a tiny minority of hard-liners who constitute the Wahhabi Sect.
The Bible in Saudi Arabia may get a person killed, arrested, or deported. In September 1993, Sadeq Mallallah, 23, was beheaded in Qateef on a charge of apostasy for owning a Bible. The State Department's annual human rights reports detail the arrest and deportation of many Christian worshipers every year. Just days before Crown Prince Abdullah met President Bush last month, two Christian gatherings were stormed in Riyadh. Bibles and crosses were confiscated, and will be incinerated. (The Saudi government does not even spare the Quran from desecration. On Oct. 14, 2004, dozens of Saudi men and women carried copies of the Quran as they protested in support of reformers in the capital, Riyadh. Although they carried the Qurans in part to protect themselves from assault by police, they were charged by hundreds of riot police, who stepped on the books with their shoes, according to one of the protesters.)
As Muslims, we have not been as generous as our Christian and Jewish counterparts in respecting others' holy books and religious symbols. Saudi Arabia bans the importation or the display of crosses, Stars of David or any other religious symbols not approved by the Wahhabi establishment. TV programs that show Christian clergymen, crosses or Stars of David are censored.
The desecration of religious texts and symbols and intolerance of varying religious viewpoints and beliefs have been issues of some controversy inside Saudi Arabia. Ruled by a Wahhabi theocracy, the ruling elite of Saudi Arabia have made it difficult for Christians, Jews, Hindus and others, as well as dissenting sects of Islam, to visibly coexist inside the kingdom.
Another way in which religious and cultural issues are becoming more divisive is the Saudi treatment of Americans who are living in that country: Around 30,000 live and work in various parts of Saudi Arabia. These people are not allowed to celebrate their religious or even secular holidays. These include Christmas and Easter, but also Thanksgiving. All other Gulf states allow non-Islamic holidays to be celebrated.

The Saudi Embassy and other Saudi organizations in Washington have distributed hundreds of thousands of Qurans and many more Muslim books, some that have libeled Christians, Jews and others as pigs and monkeys. In Saudi school curricula, Jews and Christians are considered deviants and eternal enemies. By contrast, Muslim communities in the West are the first to admit that Western countries--especially the U.S.--provide Muslims the strongest freedoms and protections that allow Islam to thrive in the West. Meanwhile Christianity and Judaism, both indigenous to the Middle East, are maligned through systematic hostility by Middle Eastern governments and their religious apparatuses.
The lesson here is simple: If Muslims wish other religions to respect their beliefs and their Holy book, they should lead by example.Mr. al-Ahmed is director of the Saudi Institute in Washington.
Copyright © 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

I wonder about any religion that is so afraid of competition. I feel pretty comfortable within my religion and would not feel threatened if someone spoke to me about another religion. I have read other "Holy text" and was exposed to other beliefs. I have read the Book of Mormon, and looked through books on Hindu and Buddhist thought. I have never read the Quran, and frankly from what I see, I do not wish to. I can't see a religion that glorifies death like Islam does. Christians have Martyrs also but not like Islam. Christian martyrs die at the hands of there oppressors, they do not die, blowing themselves and many other innocent people up. Or sawing the heads off of others called infidels. Yes over a thousand years ago, we Christians did some pretty horrific things to non-Christians, but we grew up matured. Yet the same not be said for Islam? Islam only a few hundred years younger than Christianity.
I keep hearing Islam is a religion of peace, that they accept Christians and Jews as "brothers of the book" Fine words but where are the actions to back this up. Where are the deeds to prove this. Israel allows Islam to be practiced by Muslims within its boarders, the same for Christians. Here is America the same, everyone is allowed to worship as they choice. While just over the sands in Saudi Arabia, according to the author people are being killed for practicing Christianity. You want respect for Islam, fine earn it, like everyone else does. Speak out against the terrorist, the road side and car bombs, the beheading of the innocents. Tell the terrorist that they do not speak for Islam, then you will earn respect. Right now the silence on the part of the Muslim world is defying. True a few have spoke of but barely a handful. Its needs to be a much higher precentage for it to be believed.

I saw where the guy who did the documentary Supersize Me, has a new TV series. One of the topics is living as a Muslim in American post 9/11. Why doesn't he try living as a Christian or Jew in Saudi Arabia or one of the other Middle Eastern Countries.

Mark Fields will miss 2005 NFL season

2005-05-20T15:45:00.000-04:00

I know this is a little behind the times but I did want to post this and wish Mark and his family all the best for a full and complete recovey

PAT YASINSKAS
Staff Writer
Charlotte.com

The Carolina Panthers, a franchise hit hard by cancer the past two years, have been struck again.

Linebacker Mark Fields, 32, will sit out the 2005 season after learning he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease a second time, his agent, Jim Steiner, announced Thursday afternoon.

Fields was first diagnosed with the disease in August 2003. He sat out that season while going through chemotherapy and radiation. But Fields made a triumphant return in 2004 and was selected to the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career.

Concerns about Fields' health returned late last season, Steiner said, when some follow-up tests were inconclusive. As more tests were done, red flags rose. Fields became an unrestricted free agent after the season and was talking to the Panthers about signing a three-year contract. But he stopped those talks in March, saying he wanted to wait until he had a series of medical tests.

Steiner said Fields had been feeling fine, but the tests revealed the reoccurrence in its early stages. Steiner said Fields would begin chemotherapy within the next 10 days. Fields was not available for comment.

"This is just a little detour," Steiner said. "Just like he did before, I think Mark will beat this. He has a great attitude and he looks great and feels great. He'll get started on the chemo and, hopefully, be done with it in June or July and start getting ready to be back on the field in 2006."

On April 18, Panthers linebackers coach Sam Mills, a former Carolina player, died after a 20-month battle with intestinal cancer. Fields' first diagnosis came two weeks before doctors discovered Mills' cancer.

Fields and Mills instantly became inspirational symbols for the 2003 Panthers, and numerous players have said that helped the team on its journey to Super Bowl XXXVIII. Mills and Fields each gave emotional speeches before playoff victories, and they also worked to fund cancer research by promoting bracelets with the motto "Keep Pounding."

"Mark is obviously disappointed that he will be unable to play next year, but he has every confidence that this course of chemotherapy will be successful," Steiner said. "He thanks the many kind people from the Carolina area, as well as throughout the country, who have sent their well wishes and have prayed for his recovery."

Panthers safety Mike Minter and defensive end Mike Rucker were at the Wachovia Championship on Thursday when they heard the news.

"We're going to miss him on the field, and we're going to miss his leadership," Minter said. "We'll be praying for him."

Said Rucker: "As far as a guy keeping team morale up, it's hard to beat Mark. He's always laughing and making guys smile. And he's such a big guy, coming off the edge and making tackles. But he's got another fight on his hands now, and he's got to take care of that. We understand."

The Panthers continued to pay Fields in 2003 and also provided a suite for him and his family to watch games. Steiner said Fields won't draw pay in 2005 because he's not under contract, but will continue to be eligible to receive health insurance benefits from the club for "an extensive period of time."

"Our first thoughts are with Mark and his family," Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said. "Our concern is him getting through this and coming out with good health, and we'll do everything we can to help him."

The Panthers have known Fields might miss the season, and they've added depth at linebacker. Veteran Brandon Short worked in Fields' position on the strong side in last week's minicamp, and the team also has signed free agent Chris Draft and drafted Adam Seward. First-round draft choice Thomas Davis, a safety in college, also has the ability to play linebacker. Davis worked at safety in the recent minicamp, but the team hasn't ruled out a switch to linebacker.

"We knew this was a possibility as we proceeded through the offseason, and we feel like we have good depth at linebacker," Hurney said. "But you're never going to replace a guy like Mark Fields because he's so valuable as a leader and a player."

Rules Kids Won't Learn in School

2005-05-20T15:27:00.000-04:00

Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.

Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.

Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.

Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)

Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)

Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.

Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.

Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.

Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.

From Charles J. Sykes, author of the book Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, Or Add:

Star Wars III Revenage of the Sith

2005-05-20T14:50:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am going to see it tonight. I will let everyone know what I think about it tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Updated: It was a very good movie. Very exciting battle scenes, and it does explain so much of what happened before "A New Hope"

Maybe the worker should sue also? I want my finger back!

2005-05-06T16:05:00.000-04:00

Clarence Stowers be a man and give the finger back,!!! The police have seen it and I bet taken pictures. Give it back to the kid who lost it so that lets hope it can be reattached. My bet is that it is to late for that. Mr. Stowers has found his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and will sue Kohl's Frozen Custard to make his fortune.

For a little back ground Mr. Stowers found a finger in a cup of frozen yogurt and returned to the story to start complaining (I would also) but when asked to return the severed digit so that it could be taken to the hospital and reattached he refused and left the store with the finger.

While I feel that Mr. Stowers has every right to sue, I don't feel he has any right to keep that finger. Whom every it belongs to will now have to go through life missing one finger because Mr. Stowers was a greedy asshole. Lets hope the person who lost the finger sues Mr. Stowers for that loss and get most if not all of his court winnings!

Criminal Masterminds I

2005-05-06T15:24:00.000-04:00

These are some of my favorite kinds of stories. I love it When criminals do such stupid things.

BALTIMORE, 05.05.2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carjack Suspect Reports 'His' Car Stolen

A suspect takes a car at gunpoint and drives it around for two weeks before the owner spots the car and has it towed. The thief then calls police to report "his" car stolen.

Those events seemed so improbable that Baltimore police detective Gregory Jenkins felt compelled to end his report of the incident with the admonition, "Again, this really happened."

"Another detective told me, 'Greg, you had to make this up,'" the detective told The (Baltimore) Sun.

Police charged Gregory Alston, 20, Tuesday with armed robbery, possession of a stolen car and a handgun violation.

Police say the carjacking occurred about 10:30 p.m. on April 20 when two women reported that a man armed with a silver handgun and wearing a black bandanna approached them while they were parked on a street in northeast Baltimore. The women said the gunman ordered them out of their car and sped off.

Tuesday, one of the women spotted the stolen car in front of an apartment building about a half-mile from where it had been taken.

She called police who towed it to the department's Northeast District station.

Two hours later, a man called police and reported the car stolen.

Officers brought the man back to the station for questioning. At first, police said, he insisted he had bought the car for $1,700 on March 11. Eventually, he confessed to the robbery.

Why did he report it stolen?

The suspect told police he had left his wallet in the car.

These stories makes me feel much safer how about you?

When did they change the definition of retire?

2005-05-05T15:10:00.000-04:00

The Superintendent of Charlotte--Mecklenburg School District, Dr. James Pughsley announced he was retiring last week. Only problem is he is not going to move to Florida and take up golf, he is going to work for educational consulting firm out of California. I always thought that was called quitting one job and moving to another job. I have not problem with Dr. Pughsley doing this, I do have a problem with school board voting to pay someone who is quitting over $60,000.00 to leave here of his own accord.

Pughsley's Separation

Here's what's in the agreement approved Tuesday:

Pughsley "will continue to actively serve as superintendent" through June 30, earning his base salary of $208,710.50 for 2004-05.

Instead of waiting until fall to set a bonus, CMS shall "advance and pay" $25,000 in July.

CMS will pay the agreed-on $40,000 a year to Pughsley's retirement plan.

All "intellectual property" developed by Pughsley and his CMS staff remains the property of CMS; however, Pughsley is free to use his expertise and knowledge in his new consulting job.

I think I am in the wrong line of work! My boss loves the work I do for the company, I wonder if I said I was going to quit and going to work for someone else, if my company would pay me approximately 25% of my salary as a going away present? I think not, and I don’t think Dr Pughsley deserves a dime more than what is owed by the contract he signed. I could see it maybe if he was forced out, CMS could buy out the remainder of his contact, but not this crap!

Small-chested women

2005-05-04T16:31:00.000-04:00

Read this and had to put in my 2 cents worth.

Here is the story for when the link dies:

Bill: Small-chested women: unite and be proud
by Lucia Bill
published on Monday, May 2, 2005
One late afternoon of my junior year in high school, I was sitting on the floor of a friend's living room doing what we girls did in our spare time -- talked about sex. Though the details are a little blurry, I recall that the conversation turned to breasts.

Sixteen years old and insecure in my 36B, I loudly began hypothesizing about how great it would be if I only had bigger hoo- ... when my friend's grandfather shuffled into the living room.

Dipping a cookie in a glass of milk he remarked: "Oh honey, I've been around for quite some time now; I've met my share of breasts. And I can promise you that the least you need is a mouthful, the most you need is a handful."

Ever since that awkward yet enlightening moment, I have become a firm supporter (no pun intended) of small breasts.

With no disrespect to my better-endowed sisters, I think it's time for small-breasted women to start receiving the attention and appreciation they deserve.

I'm not interested in hearing that small breasts are more convenient because you can get away with not wearing a bra, that you won't have any back problems or that "at least they don't get in the way" during sex.

Trust me: I take full advantage of all these perks.

But all of this still carries the connotation that having anything below a C-cup is a consolatory prize -- that maybe I should see if my body has another part worthy of desire.

It's time small breasts were acknowledged as sexy. Period.

That, of course, is quite a task in a culture that relies on large breasts to sell everything from cologne to cars. Even women's magazines such as "Cosmopolitan" and "Glamour" (the two most-read magazines among women ages 17 to 35) run at least two breast-enhancement ads in every issue.

Breast implants are still growing in popularity, with about 250,000 women going under the knife each year, making the grand total of less-than-real breasts a whopping 4 million.

And the BBC recently reported that a gum being sold in Japan promises to increase breast size if chewed three to four times a day, which is the dumbest idea I've ever heard. (Besides, it loses flavor fast.)

These figures seemed rather disparaging considering my cause, so I decided to poll the men I know about the significance of breasts. Sadly, the overwhelming amount of responses can be best summed up in the comment I received from a friend who claimed that " ... in all reality, size matters in both men and women. Bigger is just better."

Disheartening. And just plain wrong. Any mature woman will tell you: It's not the size of the dreidel, it's how you spin it.

But back to breasts.

The ideal of beauty and sex appeal needs to be expanded to encompass all body types. The media (force-feeding us concepts of beauty) are slowly coming to place less voluptuous women such as Nicole Kidman and Natalie Portman next to the stereotypical sex icons such as Pamela Anderson.

As women, we need to stop being ashamed of our bodies and carry ourselves with pride. We should remember that whatever the media may throw at men, there are a ton of guys who don't buy into the stereotype of what is attractive and would rather spend time talking to a girl, not ogling over her breasts.

I hope not all of those men are someone's grandfather.
Lucia Bill is a journalism and political science sophomore. Reach her at lucia.bill@asu.edu.

Now for my option. I am 100% behind this lady, large breast don't make a woman beautiful or desirable, and small breast do not have the opposite effect. They can draw your attention true but that is not what keeps your interest. Grandpa was a smart man, and all this plastic surgery is making me crazy, go with what you have got, be proud of who you are. be you a 44DD or a 32A, you are all beautiful and desirable. I think some of the hottest sexiest women around are "smaller" Milla Jovovich, Jennifer Garner, Keira Knightley, Natalie Portman, Pink, Paris Hilton, Gabrielle Union, Eve, Scarlett Johansson, Lucy Liu, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roselyn Sanchez, and Michelle Rodriguez. If you can't find a dream girl among this group you really need some help. Don't get me to wrong, I would never complain too much about a larger chest either! What I guess I am saying more than anything is be yourself. That goes for us guys also, enough with the comb overs and hair weaves!

Nuclear North Korea

2005-05-03T10:21:00.000-04:00

According to experts quoted in NewsMax.com Kim Jung Il, the dictator of North Korea and Star of the hilarious film Team America: World Police, has produced enough plutonium to make at least five nuclear bombs. Now we hear the "Great General" (man it is getting deep in Pyongyang) has missiles that can reach the west coast of the US. This makes me VERY nervous. When I was in the Army many moons ago, I attend a military exercise in Korea called "Team Sprit". I was a light ( another Army oxymoron) Infantrymen of the 27th Infantry Regiment, "The Wolfhounds". I humped a heavy rucksack up and down mountains and across rice paddies and into small villages, and all I can really say it that is a crappy place to fight a war.
That being said let deal with this guy soon before it comes to sending in more troops and taking this guy out. I would hate to think of any of my fellow Wolfhounds having to fight over that terrain, I know they can do it and do it well, but I hope we can avoid it. Like Taiwan, I have met the people of these countries and they are wonderful friendly people, who want nothing more to live free. Lets deal with the people and keep freedom spreading around the world. Take down another leg of the "Axis of Evil" and soon.

The Runaway bride.

2005-05-03T10:05:00.000-04:00

Here is the story copied from the Charlotte Observer:

Groom still wants to marry runaway bride
CHARLES ODUM
Associated Press

DULUTH, Ga. - The jilted groom whose bride-to-be ran away four days before their wedding still wants to marry Jennifer Wilbanks, saying, "Haven't we all made mistakes?"
"Just because we haven't walked down the aisle, just because we haven't stood in front of 500 people and said our 'I Do's, my commitment before God to her was the day I bought that ring and put it on her finger, and I'm not backing down from that," John Mason said Monday in an interview with Fox News' Hannity & Colmes show.
It was Mason's first public statement since he learned on the morning of his scheduled wedding day that his fiancee was not kidnapped, but instead had cold feet.
As her family and friends feared the worst, police say the bride-to-be cut her hair, took a Greyhound bus to Las Vegas and didn't call her family to say she wanted to back out of a lavish, 600-guest wedding planned for Saturday. The runaway triggered a huge manhunt and requests from police that Mason take a polygraph test.
Mason said he has given the 32-year-old Wilbanks her ring back - she'd left it at the house - and said they still planned to marry.
But if Mason and Wilbanks' family are ready to forgive the jittery bride, authorities are still peeved.
The mayor said Monday she is looking into the possibility of suing Wilbanks for the estimated $100,000 cost of searching for her. A local prosecutor said Monday he will conduct a thorough investigation, which could take weeks, before deciding whether to charge Wilbanks for falsely claiming she had been kidnapped.
Porter said Wilbanks could face a misdemeanor charge of false report of a crime or a felony charge of false statements. The misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to a year in jail; five years in prison is the maximum sentence for the felony.

I am of two minds about this... My first thought is she should pay, for the cost of the search.
Then I kept thinking, if she had stopped by the police station some where and said hey look I got cold feet, I am okay I need some time away... Would they still be asking her to pay for the search? As far as I can see there is nothing illegal about what she did at first... It is not against the law for an adult to "run away" form it all... It only turned into a crime when she told the police she was kidnaped. She did not ask to be sought out, that was everyone else's idea. I think it was a good idea and it should be done each and every time someone goes missing like that, but this is one of those cases where it was a waste of time, but then again I would rather waste that money on a wrong search then not use it on a real one. Its just one of those things that happen, let it rest., consider it a training exercise and be done with it.

Oh yea, one more thing... Run John, run away as fast as you can! Jennifer is nuts and you should know that by now, nuts or a totally self absorbed princess, either way run away, or break out the hold hand grenade!!

Website is back up

2005-05-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but everytime I tried, I got the message that the website was down.

Kill the scum but remember the victims.

2005-04-29T10:44:00.000-04:00

Maj. Gregory Stone & Capt Chris Seifert were murder by a scum bag. A scum bag who would rather kill his brother soldiers because his so-called religion of peace forbid him form fighting other Muslims. Funny it seems like his bother Muslims in Iraq don't have the same feeling, I think that they killed what 25 "brother Muslims" today in Iraq with car bombs. I say kill him and let other proclaim him a martyr, I think he will get a shock when he gets to his finial destination. Some how I don't think he is going to find paradise and 72 virgins. I am glad to see the jury agrees with me.

Trading in Tarheel Blue & White for Panthers Blue, Black & Silver.

2005-04-28T16:30:00.000-04:00

Mick Mixon has been named the play-by-play voice of the Carolina Panthers. Mick will replace Bill Rosinski the voice of the Panthers for its first 10 seasons. Let me say I wish the best for both men. I loved Bill and would turn the sound off on my TV and watch the Panthers play while listening to Bill. I plan on doing the same thing this season with Mick. For those of you who do not know Mick has been the color man for the Tarheel sports network since 1989. Mick you have some really big shoes to fill, but after working with Woody Durham for all those years I am sure you will do a great job!

Abu Ghraib Anniversary

2005-04-28T15:52:00.000-04:00

Yes ladies and Gents it was one year ago this week, CBS and the NYT "broke" the story of "torture" at Abu Ghraib prison. Funny how they broke this story but it was all ready know, investigation had been going on for months. The WSJ has a nice little story with more of the details.

While the "Blame America first" journalism pisses me off, the biggest thing to me is how much of a non-story it is. The pictures while humiliating are a far cry from torture. Taking a dull knife and sawing off Nick Berg's head off as he screams in pain and terror -- That is torture. Play make a nude pyramid and putting women panties on your head are humiliating not torture. The video of people in Iraq being shoved off buildings, shot and having hands and feet cut off by Saddam's henchmen -- That is torture.

What I saw in those pictures was NOTHING! I went and I would say many of you went through much worse things joining high school sports team. Is having to hump a shaving cream covered football tackling dummy torture or humiliation? How about getting fitted with a jock strap made of hospital tape? These things happened, my guess is things like this still happen, while unpleasant hardy torture.

What happened in those people was WRONG, as a former Army Infantryman, behavior like that is not part of good military function and discipline. But let me ask all of you, who would you rather have as your prison card if you are captured in a war.

Option A) Pfc. Lynndie England who will put a leash on your neck and take a few non-family time photos while you are nude but with your head covered.

Option B) Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who will dress you in an orange jump suit, tie your hands behind your back and saw off your head with a dull knife as his friends scream "God is Great" oh and he will video tape it.

I thought so.

Social Insecurity

2005-04-28T15:01:00.000-04:00

I just want to say big thank you (read FU) to the Dems and AARP for not letting me keep and invest more of my own money. So that when I get to be an old fart like you are I won't have Social Security to fall back on. I won't even have my own money to fall back on because I pay so much in taxes I can't afford to invest money into my own IRA account.
On that money the government is taking form me to put into the "Social Security Trust fund" Instead of earning an average of 10 to 12% on my investment I will now earn only 1 to 2%... Lets see that doesn't even keep up with inflation. Not only that, if I don't make it to retirement age ( That is even before it is increased ) ALL that money I paid in is gone my family will get none of it.
If I had a personal account I could pass that money on to my kids, not on to Uncle Sam who already gets way to much of my money!
Thank you again for being so greedy and reactionary!
The one thing the AARP and so many people in both parties seem to forget in Washington is ITS NOT YOUR MONEY!! That money is mine I earned it WHY can't I keep more of it!

Bite me if you don't like it!

2005-04-27T16:07:00.000-04:00

Okay its Harry Potter update time

Book 6 HBP- Comes out in 79 days.

Movie 4 GoF - Comes out in November (I think).

Not the best but still pretty damn good.

2005-04-27T15:57:00.000-04:00

While I think no one will ever be as good a 007 and Sean Connery I do think Pierce Brosnan does a good job. I am glad to hear that he will return at least one more time as James Bond.

3 Cheers for Florida

2005-04-27T11:15:00.000-04:00

Jeb Bush signed a Bill that would allow people in Floridia to use force, even deadly force on an attacker without first trying to escape. The Sun-Sentinel reports that "Bush signed into law a broad new expansion of the 'castle doctrine' -- an old legal tenant giving residents the license to kill criminals while protecting their home."

I am 100% behind this, I am so sick and tired of "experts" saying we should run away form criminals when confronted. What does this do but encourage more attacks. Stand up for yourself and your neighbors and criminals will think twice before committing a crime.
My favorite quote form the article "Existing law is on the side of the criminal," Former NRA president Marion Hammer said in a statement, "The new law is on the side of the law-abiding victim." To which I say its about time. Stand up to the punks and thugs and the world will be a much better safer place.

To All my Fans

2005-04-27T09:02:00.000-04:00

Okay to anyone who is reading my brand new blog. Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I had another accident. Two weeks ago when I was helping a damsel in distress (giving a pretty young lady directions) I tripped and end up giving myself a radial head fracture of my right elbow and a nice strawberry on the side of my head and face. Thanks to a wonderful doctor and some even better Vicodin, I was doing somewhat better.

Then Monday night, about an hour after taking said meds I decided it was time for my first tomato sandwich of the summer. Being the good southern boy I am, I had been able to obtain some wonderful red juicy fresh tomatoes an decided to make myself a tomato sandwich. I removed my big'ol chefs knife and made sure the edge was ready to go through that tomato like a hot knife through butter. While leaning over to place the sharping steel back in the knife block, thanks to my broken elbow I could not fully extend my arm, I hit the tip of the knife on the edge of the counter causing it to fall from my left hand. The very heavy very sharp knife landed (sharp edge down) on my bare foot. (Yes I know you should not be barefoot in the kitchen so don't bug me about its, lesson learned) After a few choice word, a quick dance to get some paper towels to stop the bleeding... we lets just say another trip to the urgent care was needed. The Doc walks in the room (same one I saw 10 days before when my elbow the size of my knee) and says "You again? What did you do this time?" I gave him the story, he then numbed me up and cleaned out the wound, told me I had to go to the ER, he did not do internal stiches, and this cut would need some. My nice sharp heavy knife had cut all the way to the bone. He also wanted me to be checked for any other tendon or ligament damage. So off to the ER I go. I was very pleased to see it was a slow Monday, and was seen with in a matter of minutes. The ER Doc checked me out and gave me stiches 4 mattress stiches across the top of me big toe. Told me to keep it dry and clean and not to be a fool anymore.

So what does this have to do with me not posting yesterday you may ask... "It was your toe not your fingers that were cut!" I can make no defense, but laziness and drugs. Between the discomfort and the Vicodin I was just not able to post. So to all my loyal readers ( I hope to have at least one soon!) I am sorry.

But today is a new day and I will see if I can't do better.

Some of my favorite reads.

2005-04-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

Sites I read daily:

WSJ Best of the Web: http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/
Neals Nuze: http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html
Knowledge Is Power: http://www.sondrak.com/
Little Green Footballs: http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php
Michelle Malkin: http://www.michellemalkin.com/
The Drudge Report: http://www.drudgereport.com/
For local News The Charlotte Observer: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/

First thing I read on Thursdays: Ann Coulter: http://www.anncoulter.com/

Other places I check out form time to time, for fun, entertainment, news & knowledge.

Got to keep up with my Carolina Panthers: http://www.carolinapanthers.com/default.jsp
For Option columns: http://www.townhall.com/ and http://www.redstatesusa.com/
For my Harry Potter Fix: http://www.jkrowling.com/ and http://www.hp-lexicon.org/index-2.html

My favorite radio station: http://www.wbt.com/

My favorite cook: http://www.altonbrown.com/

Sites just for the fun of it: http://www.ihatemycubicle.com/ and http://www.scrappleface.com/ and http://kurlander.blogspot.com/ and http://www.jerseygop.com/R_babes/index.html

Jessica Lunsford

2005-04-25T14:43:00.000-04:00

Let me first say, all my prays go out to Jessica Lunsford and her family. Why such a sweet innocent child was harmed in anyway is beyond my comprehension. The evil that is in her killers heart, if he even has one. I will not mention his name because I want it forgot, after he goes to met his maker, if by the hand of the state of Florida or by the hand of one of his cell mates. I want him buried in an unmarked grave, and never let his name be spoken again. Let him spend eternity in that special hell reserved for people like him, forgotten by this world only remembering the special little girl that he took from all of us.

Here is the story if you want to read more about what happened.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7190457/print/1/displaymode/1098/

Here is the story incase the link is dead:

Fla. slay suspect charged with capital murder Sheriff confirms 9-year-old girl was sexually assaulted
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:46 p.m. ET March 21, 2005
INVERNESS, Fla. - A registered sex offender was charged Monday with capital murder and three other crimes in the disappearance and death of a 9-year-old Florida girl, authorities said.
John Evander Couey was also charged with burglary with battery, kidnapping and sexual battery on a child under the age of 12. He will be arraigned on those charges Tuesday, officials said.
Authorities said he confessed to kidnapping and killing Jessica Marie Lunsford after taking a lie-detector test in Georgia. The girl’s body was found Saturday, more than three weeks after she vanished from her bedroom.
Couey, 46, was brought back to Florida and booked early Sunday on a probation violation and failure to register his change of address as required as a sex offender. He was held without bond.
Officials release detailsSheriff’s officials and the girl’s father, Mark Lunsford, have said they will urge prosecutors seek the death penalty.
The charges on Monday followed confirmation by authorities of the way she was abducted and what was done to her. They said Sunday that Couey entered Jessica’s house through an unlocked door, snatched the 9-year-old girl from her bed and later sexually assaulted her.
Medical examiners confirmed the sexual assault. But because Couey was under the influence of drugs, detectives might never know how long she was held before she was slain, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said.
‘Just one time’Jessica’s father, in an emotional statement, expressed a desire to mete out justice of his own. “I won’t get the wish, but I wish I could see him, just one time,” said Mark Lunsford, his eyes hidden by dark sunglasses.
Lunsford said he and his relatives would soon begin planning Jessica’s funeral.
At Jessica’s church on Sunday, the pastor asked for prayers for the Lunsfords.
“Lord, we don’t always understand your ways,” the Rev. William LaVerle Coats told 175 grieving people during services at Faith Baptist Church, where many people saw the girl for the last time on the night she disappeared. “We accept what has taken place here, and ask that you would give us some peace.”
Coats asked churchgoers to forgive Couey. Jessica’s father said he may have a hard time with that request. “He needs to stand up and be a man now and take his death penalty,” Mark Lunsford said.
Earlier, Couey appeared before Circuit Judge Stephen Spivey at the Citrus County Detention Center. He was declared indigent and was told a public defender would be assigned to his case.
He answered that he was doing “all right,” when the judge asked how he was. Couey answered all other questions with either “Yes, sir” or “No, sir” replies.
At the end of the hearing, Spivey wished the man luck. “Thank you,” Couey said softly, before turning and shuffling away, his shackles clanging together.
Held in isolationCouey was returned to Florida in an unmarked sheriff’s vehicle, wearing a bulletproof vest and under the cloak of darkness.
He was being held in isolation at the jail for his safety, an official said. As a precaution, the timing of his arrival from Georgia was kept secret, although the sheriff’s office was not aware of any threats against Couey.
Down the street from the Lunsford home and the church, well-wishers piled dozens of stuffed animals, flowers and candles high on a makeshift memorial. “God’s newest little angel,” one sign read.
Jessica, a third grader, was last seen in February when she went to bed after attending church. She was discovered missing the next morning.
Couey’s half-sister and two others who lived in the home were charged with obstructing police for failing to notify authorities when Couey allegedly told them he had committed a crime.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2005 MSNBC.com

See the internet can be very useful!

2005-04-25T14:09:00.000-04:00

This is an important social question! Stole this from one of my favorite blogs to read I hope you don't mind Sondark.

http://www.sondrak.com/archive/006270.php

Remember vote early and vote often!

Let the rebuilding begin

2005-04-25T11:53:00.000-04:00

I want to post my congratulations to Coach Roy Williams and the UNC Tarheels for a wonderful season and an outstanding NCAA Men's Basketball tournament.
Having said that I also want to say best of luck to all those guys leaving for the NBA and welcome to all the new guys coming in. You have big shoes to fill but my hope is that you are all up to the task.

GO HEELS!!

The judicial filibuster fight?

2005-04-25T11:47:00.000-04:00

I have had about enough of this non-story.
The Democrats have said they will filibuster a certain list of Presidents Bush judicial nominees. The GOP has said they are going to change the rules so that the Democrats can no longer use the filibuster on judicial nominees.
I say to the GOP make the Dems do it. Make them carry out a filibuster, and not this new kind, I want to see the GOP force the Dems to keep someone speaking 24/7, let the American people see just who is obstructing the business of the Senate. Let them talk for hours on end, should make great sound bites for ads in the next elections. I figure after a few days of 24/7 Democrat hate speech ( and you know it will be either that or incoherent blabber) the people will get sick and tired of it and demand and up or down vote. The GOP needs to stop playing nice and playing into the hands of the Dems and the Main Stream media. Show the world who the real radicals are.

Plus I am a limited government kind of guy, the more time that is wasted on this crap the less time they have to pass laws that will end up screwing up my life down the road.

My first blog post

2005-04-22T15:49:00.000-04:00

Okay for those of you who will read this later... This is my frist try at a blog post... Wish me luck!