Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Schilling just put the Twins down in order in the top of the first.

At long last, the Red Sox are playing baseball.

There's a cold 12-pack of IPA in the fridge.

Life is good.

UPDATE: Big Papi steps up for his first preseason at-bat, and...

Strikes out.

Oh, well.


A Picture Is Worth...

...a thousand a million words.

Warning: Clicking on link may result in a severe loss of appetite. Please proceed at you're own risk.


Tuesday, February 27, 2007

This Is Good News

Following up to this post from last Thursday...

Nineteen guns were taken...

[snip]

...all of the guns have been recovered.


If this had happened in Massachusetts, they'd still be trying to figure out which new gun law they'd need to enact to magically make everything OK again.


Needless to Say

Blogging has been light, as of late.

Stay tuned.


Saturday, February 24, 2007

Here's a "What if..." For You

It's 1:15 in the morning. You're awaken by terrifying screams coming from your 10-year-old daughter's bedroom. You run to her room, to find two strange men in there, one of them ripping the covers off her bed.

What do you do?


What do you do?
Cower and pray.
Run away.
Blow my plastic whistle.
You're kidding, right?
Free polls from Pollhost.com


Now, read the rest of the story.

ROANOKE -- A Botetourt County couple is seeking $10 million from a sheriff's deputy they say stole into their 10-year-old daughter's bedroom one night this month and terrified the girl.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Roanoke yesterday, Mark and Cheryl Hunsberger said Mark Hunsberger bolted into their screaming daughter's bedroom at 1:16 a.m. Feb. 2 to find Deputy J.A. Wood, in uniform, aiming a flashlight at the girl while another man tried to yank the bed covers off her.

"The child was terrified, and Mrs. Hunsberger spent some time comforting their daughter," according to the lawsuit. "When Mrs. Hunsberger said something about calling the police, Deputy Wood responded, chillingly, 'I am the police.'"

Botetourt Sheriff Ronnie Sprinkle said the lawsuit does not tell the whole story. "We had a reason to be there, but I'm not going to say any more."

Wood told the Hunsbergers he had knocked on the door for 30 minutes but no one answered, yet the Hunsbergers heard no knocking, according to the suit.

The lawsuit states that neither Wood nor the man who accompanied him had a warrant to enter the Hunsberger home. The suit seeks $10 million as compensation for the violation of their constitutional right against unlawful search and seizure.

Mark Hunsberger ordered Wood and the unidentified man, named as defendant John Doe, to leave, and the Hunsbergers later learned that "several other deputies apparently waited outside the Hunsberger home while Deputy Wood and John Doe broke into the Hunsberger home," the suit states.

According to the suit, the Hunsbergers live in a four-bedroom home in a subdivision of Botetourt and they have three children, ages 18, 16 and 10. The 10-year-old daughter's bedroom is adjacent to theirs.

The suit states that, after ordering Wood and the other man to leave, Mark Hunsberger dialed 911 to report a break-in. A deputy came to the home and took their criminal complaint, but the Hunsbergers have heard nothing about it since, according to the suit. The suit also states that the couple now believe the deputy who responded to their call might be related to the unidentified man who accompanied Wood.

The suit states that the Hunsbergers received a letter from the sheriff's office saying the incident would be investigated, but they have received no word of the inquiry; nor have they received any explanation as to why Wood was in their daughter's bedroom.


Only $10 million?

Sounds more like a down payment to me.


Score

I'm no financial expert, but I'm guessing anything over 10,000,000% is usually considered a decent return on investment.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A rare, 184-year-old copy of the Declaration of Independence found by a bargain hunter at a Nashville thrift shop is being valued by experts at about 100,000 times the $2.48 purchase price.

Michael Sparks, a music equipment technician, is selling the document in an auction March 22nd at Raynors' Historical Collectible Auctions in Burlington, North Carolina. The opening bid is $125,000 and appraisers have estimated it could sell for nearly twice that.

Sparks found his bargain last March while browsing at Music City Thrift Shop in Nashville. When he asked the price on a yellowed, shellacked, rolled-up document, the clerk marked it at $2.48.

It turned out to be an "official copy" of the Declaration of Independence — one of 200 commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1820.


Not too shabby. The best I could hope for would be to score a Yaz card in an unopened 1982 Topps pack.

Now, the obligatory question:


Would you sell it?
Abso-friggin'-lutely!
No friggin' way!
I don't friggin' know.
Free polls from Pollhost.com


Friday, February 23, 2007

Lynch to Free Market Economy: "Drop Dead"

Seems Governor Lynch is becoming more and more enamored with the idea of turning New Hampshire into North Massachusetts.

CONCORD - Gov. John Lynch urged legislators on Thursday to raise New Hampshire's minimum wage.

He spoke in favor a bill to raise the wage from the current $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over two years.

The governor told a House committee that many families are working hard just to get by, and often not making enough for basics. He said raising the wage is the right thing to do.

"It is time we do the right thing for our families and raise the minimum wage," Lynch said.

Hotel and restaurant owners are criticizing the proposal, saying it's unnecessary because most businesses already pay their workers more.


Fixing something that ain't broke by throwing up some knee-jerk, feel-good bullshit to appease the ideologically-blinded segment of the population (i.e. one's voter base). Massachusetts-style liberalism at its "finest".

Forcing an employer to pay his employees a minimum wage, independent of their work output, just because it feeeeeeeeeels like the right thing to do, makes as much sense as government-enforced price-fixing. And, history has shown us, time and again, how well that's worked. Not.

Memo to Governor Lynch:

Pack your bags. Time to let the grown-ups take over.


Sock Puppetry in the News

From the Boston Globe:

Political bloggers fear publicists will infiltrate sites

With big corporations now hiring public relations firms to pay fake bloggers to plant favorable opinions of the businesses online, many political bloggers are concerned that candidates, too, will hire people to pretend to be grass-roots citizens expressing views.


That sounds awfully familiar.

Anthony and Christina, anyone?


Thursday, February 22, 2007

Sending in the Cavalry

Oops.

OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (AP) -- A man says he broke into an apartment with a cavalry sword because he thought he heard a woman being raped, but the sound actually was from a pornographic movie his upstairs neighbor was watching.

"Now I feel stupid," said James Van Iveren, who has been charged in the case. "This really is nothing, nothing but a mistake."

According to a criminal complaint, the neighbor told police that Van Iveren pounded on the door and kicked it open without warning Feb. 12, damaging the frame and lock.


Not the sharpest tool in the drawer there, I'd say.

Kicking in someone's front door, for whatever reason, while brandishing a weapon is a good way to get yourself killed. At least, in those parts of the country where the government recognizes and respect's a citizen's right to defend himself against armed home invaders, that is.

Contesting his neighbor's account, Van Iveren said he didn't look anywhere in the apartment except the front room, and that he never threatened the neighbor with the sword.

"I had the sword extended. But that was all," he said.


Try that shit in my house, jackass, and I'll give you a free, and much-needed, tutorial on the definition of the word "threaten". Not to mention, the words "jacketed" and "hollow-points".

UPDATE: So much for the argument, in this case, that there simply wasn't enough time to call 911.

But if Van Iveren was attempting to rescue what he thought was a woman in danger he was "obnoxiously late," said Stieghorst, who said he watched the movie between 1 and 2:30 a.m., but Van Iveren did not burst into his apartment until about 11:30 a.m.


Swordboy's got some 'splaning to do.

And, just because it's such a great quote...

Stieghorst, who said he has lived in his small downtown apartment for five years, said he was watching an adult DVD in Spanish called "Casa de Culo." He said the movie has no screaming that would suggest to someone a woman was in danger.

"It's all in Spanish, and I don't understand a word of it," he said. "I only bought it for the hot chicks."


As opposed to the rest of his porn DVD's, the purchases of which were undoubtedly based on gripping storylines (no pun intended), character development, and cutting-edge cinematography.


Manchester Gun Shop Robbed

From WMUR:

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Manchester police on Wednesday investigated the theft of several guns from Wildlife Taxidermy and Sports.

Police said the break-in occurred at about 1 a.m. Surveillance tapes showed two men breaking into the front door and smashing a display case.

The store owner told police that 20 firearms of various types were taken.

Police said both men were thin and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. One man was wearing a black sweatshirt with yellow stripes and baggy blue jeans. The other man was wearing a black jacket, a white hooded sweatshirt and black baggy jeans.


If it turns out that these two scumbags had driven up from Massachusetts, and that they were able to do so because the prosecutors and courts in Massachusetts failed to keep them locked up for their past crimes*, will Boston Mayor Tom Menino issue a statement blaming the Commonwealth's criminal-coddling culture for allowing these stolen weapons to hit the streets?

Yeah...not likely.

Also, why would anyone bother breaking into a store like in the middle of the night, just to get his hands on a few guns? Mayors Menino and Bloomberg have been telling us for some time now how easy it is for anyone to go to New Hampshire and buy all the guns they want.

No need to break the law like that. Unless, of course, those two bleeding heart assbuckets are full of shit.

That said, I challenge anyone from the aforementioned Criminal Coddling Camp to explain to me why these little pieces of shit, once apprehended and convicted, should ever again experience freedom.

Lock 'em up and melt down the keys to make bayonets, I say.

* I'm going waaaaaay out onto the proverbial limb, once again, and assuming that this was not the first criminal transgression by either of these little cherubs.


Wednesday, February 21, 2007

For My Readers Stuck Behind Enemy Lines

(click to enlarge)


Tuesday, February 20, 2007

This Just In!

Socialism doesn't work.

Who'd have thunk?

CARACAS - Meat cuts vanished from Venezuelan supermarkets this week, leaving only unsavory bits like chicken feet, while costly artificial sweeteners have increasingly replaced sugar, and many staples sell far above government-fixed prices.

President Hugo Chávez's administration blames the food supply problems on speculators, but industry officials say government price controls that strangle profits are responsible.


Refusal to acknowledge, or address, the root cause of one's domestic problems, combined with a quickness to lay blame on someone else's shoulders.

Sound familiar?

(Link via Misha at the Rottweiler)


Monday, February 19, 2007

Slow Blog Week Ahead

Just wanted to leave you with a quick "What's Wrong With This Picture?" post before I get too buried in other things to post much.

From the Boston Globe:

Police to launch recruiting campaign

The Boston Police Department will launch an unprecedented recruiting campaign today, counting on snazzy ads and billboards to reverse a troubling downturn in the number and quality of applicants.


Now, if that doen't make the people of Boston feel safer, I don't know what will.


Reader Assistance Requested

Given the recent demise of the Scott Allen Miller Show on WRKO, and the exceedingly high levels of suckage and asshatitude that replaced it, in the form of Finneran's Forum, I am looking for new options for my morning drivetime listening pleasure.

The way I see it, I've got two options - listen to CD's, or find a local station with an entertaining morning line-up. Rock 101 and the "Morning Buzz", or whatever they call it, isn't doing the trick for me.

I've taken the 10-disc CD changer magazine out of the cobwebs, and will be loading it up once again. Yeah, I know..."Just get a 3,000 GB iPod and you can listen to every CD ever recorded!". That ain't happening.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to recommend to me your top-three "must have" CD's, in any genre, and write a brief review for each, explaining why they kick ass. I'll pick up three of the entries listed, based on your recommendations and reviews, and incorporate them into my drivetime listening rotation.

Mission Alternative:

Recommend a decent radio station 'round these parts (NH Seacoast to Manchester) to listen to in the morning.

And, no, Don Imus is not an acceptable answer. I'd rather listen to a ________ (insert any word of phrase having to do with dead trees).


Saturday, February 17, 2007

Where Have I Been?

This was released on DVD over a year ago!



WARNING: If the thought of seeing German troops getting picked off in rapid fashion by .50-caliber machine gun fire isn't your cup of tea, you might want to pass on this one.

Now, where's my Visa card?


Friday, February 16, 2007

The Brilliance of Deval Patrick

AKA: Reason #_______ Why I Left Massachusetts

I gotta hand it to you, Deval.

Scoring a shiny, new, taxpayer-funded Cadillac to get the right-wing [read: anyone not to the left of Barney Frank] bloggers, pundits, and radio talk show hosts off the trail of your latest and greatest tax hike proposal?

Seriously, man, nice move.

What I wanna see is how, exactly, you worded your press release.

Because, getting the Boston Globe and the rest of your allies in the media and local blogosphere to play along, and buy into this strategy of referring to them only as innocuous, little tax "changes", rounds out the presentation quite nicely.

From my good friends, and former neighbors, over at Blue Mass. Group:

I opened up my Springfield Republican newspaper this morning to find the following headline: Patrick bill proposes series of tax increases. Luckily the Globe had a bit more neutral tag, Patrick eyes corporate tax changes, although the article picked up the "taxes are raised at the expense of economic growth" frame.


For those of you having trouble grasping this simple concept, I'll try to use small words. When a politician fucks around with the tax code, one of two things happen.

Taxes go up. Or your taxes go down.

If Deval's latest scheme stood any chance, whatsoever, of actually lowering the tax burden on individuals and companies doing business in the Commonwealth, the phrase "TAX RELIEF" would be ringing in-frigging-cessantly from every church steeple and mountaintop from P-Town to Belchertown.

Sorry, kids. Deval wants your money.

It's that simple.

And, like it or not, that's the "neutral" version.

Deval Patrick is in danger of having his vision impeded if the conventional wisdom becomes that he is simply raising taxes or "growing government". We must help by letting people know the truth behind this initiative.


Consider it done.

You're welcome.

Anyway...back to Deval and his "Operation Smokescreen".

If our military had diversionary tactics and a propaganda machine as effective as his, we could have sent one Marine dressed as a Domino's Pizza guy into Iraq and snatched Saddam Hussein before the first armored vehicle crossed the Iraqi border.

Have I mentioned lately how much I...

Yeah, maybe once or twice.

Never mind.


It's "For the Children"!

From the Boston Herald:


Already facing heat for flying to events in a state police helicopter, Gov. Deval Patrick is now cruising in a pricey, tricked-out Cadillac DeVille at taxpayer expense.

The governor’s new luxury Cadillac DTS sedan is a lease that puts a $1,166-a-month strain on the state budget and replaces the much more modest Crown Victoria that former Gov. Mitt Romney was driven around in.


On Fox25 news last night, the Devaulator told reporters that the old Crown Vic had 80,000 miles on it and the heater was broken.

Hey, assbiscuit! Guess what I did to my '86 Toyota 4x4 that had 200,000+ miles on it when the heater gave out.

Wait for it...

I got the fucking thing fixed!

Yeah, I suppose I would have run out and picked up a shiny new luxury vehicle, too, if my neighbors were voluntarily going to pay for it. But for this douchenut to thumb his nose at the people of Massachusetts like that, forcing them pick up the tab for his over-priced new ride, is off the charts in its arrogance and asshatitude.


State Sen. Richard Tisei, the top Republican in the senate [like that means anything - ed.], said the cost of the Cadillac is exorbitant, especially when the governor is proposing new taxes to help pay for local services.

"With all this talk about raising taxes, you would think the governor would want to set an example with belt tightening in his office," Tisei said.


Yeah, but that would also require you to think that he actually cares about the well-being of the electorate and the fiscal health of the Commonwealth.


"The governor has to realize that there is a lot of symbolism to what he does and he has to set an example for state government."


Well, I think he's setting a fine example. As I've said before, anything he can do to drive more sensible-minded folks out of Massachusetts, and into New hampshire, is a good thing. And I'll support all such efforts in the future.

The preceding post was brought to you today as a public service for all my readers still trapped in that open pit privy called Massachusetts. I, for one, really don't give a rat's ballbag what those idiots south of the wire do anymore. The faster Massachusetts sinks, the better. I'll just sit back and continue to observe the petri dish and draw my wisdom from it, accordingly.


Thursday, February 15, 2007

What's The First Thing You Think Of...

...when you hear someone use the phrase "tax freedom"?

The American Revolution?

The Boston Tea Party?

Massachusetts shoppers jamming the malls just over the New Hampshire state line?

Well, if you're a "progressive-minded" writer at the Boston Globe, it means giving the government new and exciting ways to extort more money from the wallets and pocketbooks of the citizenry.

Not exactly what William Wallace had in mind, right before getting his head lopped off.

Boston Globe Headline of the Year (2/14/07):

Patrick seeks tax freedom for cities, towns


Not freedom from taxes for the people living and working in those cities and towns, mind you. But, this great reformer - this grassroots-driven, political outsider, and man of the people - wants to give local government the "freedom" to tax their subjects further.

Can someone buy the brother a dictionary?

Governor Deval Patrick's administration is preparing a push to give Massachusetts cities and towns more freedom to raise taxes and fees, as a new report suggests Boston will lose talent and businesses to other similarly-sized cities because it is hamstrung by state constraints.


Let me see if I follow this "logic" correctly.

If your goal is to lure more businesses into the city, a good way to do that would be to tell them that if they choose to open up shop in Boston, their cost of doing business will be greater than it would be in some of the neighboring communities, thanks to all kinds of new and exciting fees.

But, not to worry, just tell them they can pass those added costs onto their customers (as if you'd have to). If the people are "smart" enough to play along, they're "smart" enough not to know when they're getting seriously wanked.

Or this one...

The best way to lure hungry diners into the City of Boston, according to some, is to tell them that if they choose to eat dinner at a restaurant in Boston, instead of Cambridge, Somerville, Dedham, or Quincy, not only will they pay more for parking, but now they'll get the added bonus of paying a new and exciting meals tax on top of everything else.

I don't know what it is, but I'll always be fascinated by idiots and the things they do.

UPDATE: Wow! You know an idea really sucks donkey dick when even the Massachusetts state legislature has its reservations, calling it too much of a tax hike.

Governor Deval Patrick's plan to help cities and towns ran into immediate resistance in the Legislature yesterday, with the House speaker characterizing portions of it as "absolutely" tantamount to raising taxes and cautioning that it would not benefit all communities equally.


No shit.

And, here's another absolute gem.

In Boston, where a new 2 percent meals tax could bring in another $40 million, leaders were gleeful.


Yeah, and it "could" send more customers to restaurants outside the city. I love all these future revenue predictions they come up with when trying to sell their latest socialist schemes.

They're all based on people actually continuing their current spending habits, and paying the new taxes without a second thought. I mean it's not like people are gonna actually move out of town altogether, is it?

Yeah...never mind.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said a provision that would allow communities to impose new taxes on telecommunications equipment would save Boston homeowners an average of $200.


Here's a 25%-off coupon for Clues R' Us, Mr. mayor. Use it.

If you honestly think that those costs won't be passed on to the customers (i.e. the idiots who voted for you), you must be...well...you must be Tom Menino.


Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Definition Dependence Syndrome

As always, it all depends on one's definition of "accidentally".

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Police said that a man playing Russian roulette shot and killed himself Monday night.

Witnesses told police that Anthony Santiago Cadiz Jr., 19, pulled the trigger of a gun once and nothing happened. He tried again, but the gun went off.


Attention, passengers! The Darwin Express is now boarding on Track #4. This is an express train - no stops.

And, what's with this "but the gun went off" bullshit? As if that was some kind of far-fetched, highly-unpredictable outcome of pulling the trigger of a loaded handgun. Try this one on for size...

...and the gun went off, just like it was designed to do.


There, was that too hard?

Police said Cadiz accidentally killed himself while playing Russian roulette with a .357-caliber Magnum revolver. The shooting happened in front of friends in an apartment in the city.


Personally, I'd have gone with something like this.

In his attempt to commit suicide, Mr. Cadiz accidentally forgot to manually advance the cylinder one notch, after loading the revolver with just a single cartridge, and had to pull the trigger a second time to achieve the desired result.


But, that's just me.

And, of course, you can be sure the choruses of "Blame the gun!" will be ringing loud and clear from the liberal blissninny camps, for they like nothing better than infringing the rights of millions based on the reckless, utterly fucking retarded behavior of a relative few.

Though, they're well aware (unless, they really are as stupid as they appear) that there is no legislative action possible, nor executive order, of any kind, short of involuntary commitment to a psychiatric facility, that will stop someone as idiotic as the late Dr. NASA in the story above from removing himself from the gene pool.

And even wrist restraints in the room with bouncy wallpaper is no guarantee.

You're talking about an individual whose IQ is hovering somewhere around the square root of his favorite football player's jersey number. Left to his own devices, it's simply not a question of "if". It's "when".

UPDATE: From the Union Leader:

Cadiz Sr., sitting in his living room, shook his head in disbelief. He and other family members are trying to figure out where Santiago got the gun.


Where's the mystery? This is New Hampshire we're talking about. Obviously, he just stepped outside, walked into the woods, and picked it off a handgun tree.

Anyone of his mental capacity (or lack thereof) who spends more than five minutes listening to Boston Mayor Tom Menino discussing the topic of "illegal guns", will likely think that's where they all come from.

Because, they certainly aren't coming from the crime-free streets of Massachusetts (the #1 source of crime guns recovered in Massachusetts, by the way).

Cadiz Jr. was a kid of the violent streets of Springfield, Mass., said his father. He was born in Northhampton, Mass., and raised in Springfield by his mother, Melissa Vasquez.


This influx of stupid douchecracks, like the late Mr. Cadiz, into New Hampshire is clearly the fault of states like Massachusetts and their lax idiot control laws.

More on that later.

I gotta get to work on that fence.

UPDATE II: Speaking of surviving brain donors:

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. --Sheboygan County prosecutors hope to add imprisonment to injury. They charged a 31-year-old man Monday with being a felon in possession of a firearm after he shot himself in the foot Friday.

Patrick R. Hupf Jr. was cleaning the trigger of a .22-caliber rifle when it fired and hit him in the right foot, according to a criminal complaint. Hupf said the gun belonged to his father, the complaint said.


Court-ordered sterilization notwithstanding, it's a pity there's no such thing as moron control legislation.


Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Today's Big Shocker

From South of the Wire:

It looks like it's business as usual in the people's Progressive Republic of Massachusetts. You know, the state that was suppossed to be in the midst of some never-before-seen grassroots, populist revolution, led by the people's champion for change, Deval "Let's Reach For That" Patrick.

Raise your hand if this story shocks you as much as it did me.

Governor Deval L. Patrick yesterday appointed a Superior Court judge with no professional background in insurance as the state's top insurance regulator.

Nonnie S. Burnes , 64, a former law partner of Patrick , will give up her court robes Feb. 26, but as the new insurance commissioner she will still issue plenty of rulings, establishing auto insurance rates for the state's 4 million drivers and setting policy on health, worker's compensation, and coastal home insurance issues.

In a telephone interview, Burnes said she assumed that Patrick hired her in part because she will bring a fresh set of eyes to the job -- "someone not committed to one point of view or another," she said.


Yeah, that's how they'll spin it. But, if this was a Republican governor doing the same thing, the incessant screaming and accusations of bald-faced, hack cronyism coming from the left would be deafening.

Burnes listed three major issues facing the Division of Insurance: the future of automobile insurance regulation, skyrocketing coastal home insurance rates, and health insurance.


Gee, I wonder if the person now in charge of regulating auto insurance in Massachusetts will come up with any "fresh" ideas that might involve eliminating Massachusetts' archaic, state-regulated auto insurance system.

Oh, and her job.

We'll just file this one under "Reason Number (n+1) Why I Moved".


Link of the Week

Talk about bottomless blogfodder.

Hot Chicks With Douchebags

Some pretty funny shit, there.

(link via Lee at RTLC)


Monday, February 12, 2007

S-s-s-s-l-l-l-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-o-w Learners

OK, who watched tonight's double episode of "24" and didn't say, "Gee, I wonder if there was a secret passageway leading out of the terrorist safehouse into the sewer."?

Seriously, what the fucking-fuckety-fuck-a-duck?

They got two guys watching one window on one fucking fire escape, and no one watching the obvious alternate escape routes. Real good work there, kids. I mean it's not like every friggin' terror suspect you've chased over the last few years hasn't done the exact SAME FUCKING THING!

And, you'd think - what with this being, like, you know a nuclear fucking war on US soil, and all - that they'd have every counter-terrorism agent working in the field - oh, I don't know - ARMED!!!

Like it was so much better to force Milo to dodge automatic gunfire while trying to get the MP5 M4 carbine pump-action riot gun government-issued 9mm poodleshooter out of the box in the back of the van.

They'll send him out with a case of grenades bouncing around in the back seat, but not an adequate firearm for defending one's self from multiple hostiles. And, on top of that, he had to stop and load the damn thing himself while taking machine gun fire, on account of said handgun and ammunition being stored in compliance with the common-sense gun laws of the People's Republic of California?

What the fuck, over.

It's no wonder CTU's currently in the midst of getting their asses kicked like they're a bunch of helpless schoolchildren.

I take that back.

Perhaps, if they'd start staffing their tac-teams with actual schoolchildren, they could start kicking some ass for a change.

A 10-year-old girl from Jamaica Plain has been arrested for a shocking and brutal attack at a Target department store in Dorchester.

Boston police say a gang of four young girls jumped a 22-year-old woman at the South Bay Target just before 4 p.m. Sunday after the woman bumped into the 10-year-old in an aisle and allegedly refused to apologize.

Police spokesman officer Eddy Chrispin told WBZ the girls knocked the woman to the floor, hit her, ripped some of her hair out and took off her pants.


I blame Vermont.


Ugh...

Frickin' Monday.


Friday, February 09, 2007

Badges and Babes

One more "South of the Wire" post before I sign off for the weekend.

Yesterday:

Authorities seek creator of fake Lawrence Police Department Web site

LAWRENCE, Mass. -- Police in Lawrence are asking for a subpoena against MySpace.com to get to the bottom of a crime online.

Authorities hope to discover who is responsible for "The Unofficial 'Official' Home of the LAWPD" Web site link found on the Lawrence department's MySpace.com profile.

The posted page features provocatively clad policewomen, profane language and raunchy romance advertisements.


Today:

Lawrence Police Officers Fired For Racy Web Site

Two auxiliary officers in the Lawrence Police Department were fired for creating a web page which contained the official department emblem along with photos of scantily clad women and obscene language.


Dumbass.

Now, I know what you're saying. What good is a story about cops putting up web pages with pictures of scantily-clad women on them, if the web pages in question are taken off-line by the time the story goes public?

Well, who said anything about the whole site being taken down? As far as I can tell, it was just the front page that got pulled (cached version here, thank you Google).

As of this afternoon, what appears to be an individual's profile page, within the MySpace.com website in question, is still available online.

And, here's the cached version of that page, for when it gets taken down as well.

WARNING: Pages linked above may contain several images of beautiful, scantily clad women.

There, that'll stop 'em.

Have a good weekend, kids.


One Of Life's Easier Choices

I'm unpacking the old L.L. Bean "Mad Bomber" hat (lined with cute little bunny rabbit fur) and wearing it for the duration of winter.


My rule of thumb is, if it pisses off the PETA people, I'm in.

(link via Bitter)


Thursday, February 08, 2007

The Anti-Choice Brigade Marches On

From the Portsmouth Herald:

PORTSMOUTH -- A number of area restaurants are already trans fat-free...


Wait a second!

Hold on here! You mean to tell me, that as things currently stand, consumers in New Hampshire have a choice as to whether they want to eat at a restaurant that has eliminated trans fats from its menu or not?

We have the freedom to CHOOSE? Why that's just awful! We gotta put an end to that at once!

...but that isn't stopping employees from voicing concern about a bill that could outlaw the use of trans fats in restaurants and delis across New Hampshire.

Issues raised ranged from government interference to increased business costs.


Expanding the role of government, wherever possible, and stifling economic growth in the process - every socialist's wet dream.

Melissa Jasper, owner of The Friendly Toast in Portsmouth, said she doesn't like the fact that the state could mandate the ingredients she uses, even though her restaurant has also been artificial trans fat-free for a few years.


Yeah, but it's simply no fun if people are allowed do things like this on their own terms. This subversive notion that Americans should be allowed to exercise free will will be the death of us all, I tell you!

BLOOD IN THE STREETS!

"I don't like government micro-management at this level, but we made it a point to change a few years ago for the health of the public," she said.

When The Friendly Toast first switched, Jasper said, she made a point of letting customers know.

"We did sort of brag about it at first," she said. "It helped business."


AAAAAGHH! And, they're allowed to make a PROFIT, as a result of the CHOICES they make pertaining to the day-to-day operation of their PRIVATE businesses??? Are we supposed to just sit back and let that happen?

HILLARY! HELP!!!

[Scott Borkland, director of operations at Newick's Seafood in Dover] said there may be some problems for small businesses if the law is passed in New Hampshire.

[snip]

Borkland said all restaurants should get rid of trans fats, but he's not sure the state should mandate it.

"It is an important thing. I just know it's another regulatory thing that could make it harder (for) small businesses to survive," he said.


Businesses, schmusinesses! So, we send a bunch of parents, who are working hard to provide a good life for their children, to the end of the unemployment line. Big whoop.

It's FOR THE COMMON GOODTM, people!


Least Shocking News Item of the Day

From "south of the wire", comes this absolute shocker:

Governor Deval Patrick signaled yesterday that he has little appetite to take on a state policy, one fiercely protected by the state's police unions, that allows officers to collect tens of thousands of dollars extra each year for working construction details.

It's "not at the top of my list, to be perfectly candid," Patrick said...


Not at "the top" of his list?

Not even "remotely close to" his list, I suspect.

Using a scale model of the solar system to illustrate how close that issue is to being on Deval's to-do list, let's say the sun represents the list of things he'd like to accomplish over the next four years.

Tougher, more restrictive, gun laws would be the planet Mercury.

State pension reform, Neptune.

Eliminating mandatory police details, Alderaan.

And, this is the same governor who objected to having state troopers trained to assist federal authorities in the enforcement of immigration laws, saying that the state police have enough work to do already and they're simply to busy to get involved with such trivial matters.

For your scorecards:

Police unions - 1
Illegal aliens - 1
The Massachusetts taxpayer - 0

Together you can! (drive the Commonwealth into economic ruin)

And, in case you missed this Boston Globe story from yesterday...

John Coflesky, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, defended the detail pay, saying that having officers at construction sites instead of civilians enhances public safety.


Now, remember, Massachusetts is the only state with MANDATORY police details at construction work on public roadways.

A 2004 study by Suffolk University's Beacon Hill Institute, examined data from details at construction sites in 103 cities and towns and found that the state has the worst accident rate in the country measured by property damage and the second worst measured by bodily injury.


Now, I haven't seen any of the raw data for that study, so I won't hold it up here as irrefutable fact or make too big a deal out of it, simply because the results seem to bolster my beliefs on this issue (unlike some people). But even if that study had put Massachusetts in the 50th percentile for accident rates at construction sites, it would still make a pretty strong case for doing away with an archaic system that simply isn't functioning the way its supporters would have you believe.

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on...in the People's Progressive Republic of Massachusetts.

Suckers.


Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Header Graphic, Take Five

A little something more to look at.


Good Eyes

They could see that?

Officers observed the driver’s side window of the car in question to be smashed. Upon looking inside the car, officers saw the following: (1) a brick resting on the driver’s seat, (2) broken glass scattered throughout the motor vehicle, (3) a black-and-yellow screwdriver resting on the driver’s seat and (4) a missing GPS system.


Jarrett Barrios Visits the Motherland

Apologies to my readers who are sick of me blogging about anything Massachusetts-related. But, as they say, old habits die hard.

Massachusetts State Senator, and hypocritical, gun-grabber extraordinarire, Jarrett Barrios has been writing on his blog over the past few days about his trip to the worker's paradise of Cuba. I tried posting comments over there, but it seems I've been blacklisted.

Whatever. I'll take that as a compliment.

Anyway, here's an excerpt from his latest:


When we reached the rear of the house, I was amazed to see no fewer than 40 children eating a mid-day meal at tiny tables, laughing and chatting (I am always amazed when speaking Spanish with a Cuban child how expansive their vocabulary is; a literacy rate higher than many parts of the United States and a society that values conversation over television encourage help develop this).


Hmmm...a society that values conversation over television?

Like that's a tough choice. Engaging in conversation around the dinner table where one is free to exchange ideas amongst one's friends, or watching state-controlled television, where you're exposed to only those programs your friendly neighborhood communist dictator deems appropriate.

POP QUIZ TIME

Choose the more preferable of the two scenarios below.

(A) Having the freedom to think, act, and speak, in accordance with one's personal value system, out from under the watchful and "protective" eye of the government.

or...

(B) Being indoctrinated to think and behave in a certain manner by a communist, dictatorial ruler who controls all television broadcasts, print media, and news reporting in one's country.

Of course, that's six of one, half-dozen of another to a true "progressive" liberal who sees big government as being all-knowing, all-capable, and all-compassionate.

Now, let's take a look at his literacy rate talking point (a personal favorite of Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, and the rest of the Castro cheerleading squad):

Note, if you will, his careful phrasing of that sentence, where he states that Cuba has "a literacy rate higher than many parts of the United States".

How many is "many", I have to ask?

2,146 school districts?

189 cities and towns?

23 out of 50 states?

Because, according to the 2005 United Nations Development Programme Report, the literacy rate in the United States, taken as a whole is (slightly) higher than that in Fidel's state-controlled, educational Utopia.

To claim the literacy rate there is higher than "many parts" of the US is completely meaningless and devoid of any real context.

Not only does the word "many" not necessarily imply "most", in this case, I'd say it's safe to assume that it means just the opposite. If not, Barrios would have chosen his words differently to reflect that statistical reality.

He's not stupid.

He knows, full well, that by phrasing that statement more accurately to say, "a literacy rate lower than most parts of the United States", he'd be less likely to warm up the uneducated masses here at home to the concept of mandatory taxpayer-funded, and state-controlled __________.

(insert "education" in the blank for this particular example)

It's nothing more than selective wordplay, typically employed by deceitful, scumbag politicians to sway public opinion and to confuse those who don't know any better (AKA: Standard Operating Procedure for Barrios' kind). Can you say "assault weapons ban"?

Further, Senator Barrios, if you really wanted to highlight the educational values of the Cuban people and their government, why not make the comparison using the literacy rate of Muslim nations the world over?

Granted, that wouldn't do much to unfairly criticize and demean the United States of America, but surely, that wasn't your intent, Jarrett, was it? Was it?

Regardless, of what Jarrett Barrios personal feelings toward Fidel Castro and his "enlightened" governmental policies may or may not be, I've got one last thing to say on this topic.

Speaking as the father of two kids who are just starting to learn to read, I would much rather have my kids struggle, while trying to read and actually understand the Bill of Rights, than have them effortlessly breeze through all the big words in the Communist Manifesto and follow them without question.

But, I'm funny that way.


The Criminal Coddling Chronicles (cont.)

If this story shocks you, in any way, you really haven't been paying attention. From the compassionate, liberal fantasyland of Boston.

A Boston Public Works Department employee accused of running down a 64-year-old woman with a city snowplow as she crossed a South Boston street had a long history of drug violations and driving infractions when the city hired him in 2005. But city officials never checked his record because of a new "second-chance" employment policy for criminal offenders.


I guess it all depends on your definition of "second".

Joseph M. MacDonald, a 26-year-old South Boston resident who was suspended without pay Saturday after he allegedly fled the scene, had been convicted of illegal drug possession three times and had his driver's license suspended seven times for other infractions in the five years prior to his hiring by the city in September 2005, records show.


So, at a minimum, we're talking about his ELEVENTH chance. And, this doesn't count all the "second chances" this scumbag has undoubtedly received over the years, courtesy of the compassionate criminal "justice" system down in Massachusetts.

City officials say Mayor Thomas M. Menino authorized a new policy two years ago eliminating questions about criminal convictions on all city job applications and dispensing with criminal background checks for applicants for jobs that don't involve working with children or the elderly or accessing residents' homes.


But, by all means, let's get illegal drug users with bad driving records behind the wheels of city-owned snowplows and let them drive around neighborhoods full of children and elderly folks. What's the worst that could happen?

So, for those of you keeping score at home:

Licenses to operate snowplows on public streets for felons with a documented history of drug abuse and reckless operation of motor vehicles - GOOD.

Gun licenses for law-abiding, non-drug-using, Boston residents with clean driving records - BAD (someone might get hurt).

And, in case anyone needs reminding, that idiot prancing around the City of Boston, masquerading as a leader, was re-elected with more than two-thirds of the popular vote in 2005.


Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Public Service Announcement

Plastic Costco-sized ketchup bottles are not unbreakable.

As anyone who's ever shot a rifle at a 2-liter soda bottle filled with water can well imagine.


Granny Staters Strike Again!

Bend over, kids. The Granite State chapter of the Nanny-State Brigade is at it again!

From WMUR in Manchester:

Legislators Seek To Ban Trans Fats


CONCORD, N.H. -- Two Portsmouth Democrats...


Democrats are behind this latest anti-choice initiative? I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked.


...are on a mission to ban New Hampshire restaurants and stores from preparing and selling food made with heart-damaging trans fats.


And naturally, lung and heart-damaging cigarettes, and liver and brain-damaging alcohol will continue to be legal to sell, purchase, and possess in New Hampshire, on account of the tax revenue their sales generate.

And, if there's one thing a liberal, nanny-state Democrat likes more than tax revenue, it's...um...well...

OK, scratch that thought.

Here's the thing with liberal, nanny-state Democrats.

You give them an inch, and they'll take a mile rough-sawn, splintery 2-by-4 and ram it up your ass, while you're bent over tying your shoes, and then explain to you, using a litany of liberal, feel-good platitudes, how doing that was for the "common good".


The bill sponsored by Reps. Paul McEachern and Jim Splaine was scheduled for a hearing Tuesday before the House Commerce Committee.

Under the proposal, restaurants and stores found to be repeatedly violating the trans fat ban would "constitute an immediate endangerment of public health and safety."


Nanny, Chicken Little. Chicken Little, Nanny.

OK, now that we have the introductions out of the way, let's continue.


Offending businesses could lose their food service licenses.


So, a restaurant owner sells an otherwise legal product to meet the demands of his paying customers, and he'll have his business shut down, sending him and his employees to the unemployment line.

Very nice. How "progressive", indeed.

Again, I have to wonder if creating and preserving job opportunities for the people of New Hampshire is high on the agenda of the liberal Democrats 'round these parts.

Seems to me, their #1 priority here is to turn New Hampshire into the next Massachusetts and drive it to economic and societal ruin as fast as humanly possible. What kind of sick bastards get off doing shit like this? And, who are the brain-damaged people voting for said sick bastards?

I'll make a deal with you, Representatives McEachern and Splaine. If you, personally, don't like fattening foods made with non-politically-correct ingredients, don't eat 'em! And, I will personally take up arms, if necessary, to defend your right to choose not to.

But, if you don't want your neighbors to be free to choose what foods they can and cannot eat, then, I say, "Move down to Cambridge, Massachusetts, you useless, liberal, busybody pieces of garbage." You'll fit right in down there amongst your own kind.

Why can't you and the rest of your intrusive, anti-individual liberty, big-government-knows-best colleagues (from both sides of the aisle, mind you) simply stay the fuck out of my __________?

(A) wallet
(B) garage
(C) bedroom
(D) gun safe
(E) wife's uterus
(F) neighborhood pub
(G) favorite donut shop
(H) all of the above!

Friggin' scumbags.


This Just In!

Touching a hot light bulb can cause burns.

About 985,000 Easy-Bake Ovens sold since last May, manufactured by Easy-Bake, a division of Hasbro Inc., because children can get their hands or fingers caught in the oven's opening, which poses an entrapment or burn hazard.


A burn hazard? From a toy designed to use the heat from a light-bulb to cook pastries inside a small plastic box? Who'd have guessed?

Fortunately, this will no longer be a concern for Californians, whose children will be spared all this senseless suffering, once their "common-sense" light bulb ban goes into effect. Thank you, Nanny, may I have another?

I can see the Craigslist ad now:

Pre-ban Light Bulbs - $300
______________________________

Reply to sale-12933@craigslist.org
Date: 2013-05-24, 9:05 AM PST


I've got eighteen (18) 4-packs of 60-watters, six (6) 4-packs of 75's and four (4) 100-watt extra-dangerous assault light bulbs.

All bulbs are brand-new, still in original packaging. Work great in pre-ban Easy-Bake Ovens! Asking $300 for the lot - That's only THREE BUCKS A BULB! I bought these off of eBay before U.S. Attorney General Kucinich shut them down for good as part of his "Capitalism Kills Campaign". Just try getting a deal like this on one of our new government-operated auction websites.


Location: sunnyvale ca
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests



PostingID: 12933


Lamest Commercial On Radio

Bewildered best friend of recently-engaged woman:

"Wait! How did he know about Belden?"


Gee, I dunno. I guess he went to the mall one day (coincidentally, the one mall in America with a Belden's in it) and, purely by accident, stumbled upon its super, top-secret location, tucked in bewteen the Spencer's and the Radio Shack.


Monday, February 05, 2007

I Guess It All Depends...

...on one's definition of "anti-immigrant".

Watch this video from CNN.com.

Now, watch it again.

Repeat as necessary.

It shows quite vividly what happened one night when a couple of scumbags brazenly entered a store in Clinton Township, Ohio, with their (non-legally obtained) weapons drawn, threatening the clerk behind the counter.

The clerk, a law-abiding member of the immigrant community, responded to the threat immediately by drawing his own handgun and firing at the scumbags in question.

The scumbags turned tail and fled, like the cowardly shitstains we all know them to be.

Thus, the store clerk got to go home to his family at the end of his shift.

Other than the somewhat troublesome fact that the scumbags left the store on their own two feet, and not strapped to the coroner's gurney, what's not to love?

Plenty, according to some.

You see, Ted Kennedy and the rest of the illegal alien-loving, armed citizen-fearing doucherockets up on Capitol Hill would sooner see a convenience store clerk gunned down for the $100 in the till and a stack of lottery tickets, than allow him or her to actually take responsibility for his personal safety in such a situation, where the government was clearly incapable of preventing, or responding to in a timely manner, the lawless and violent actions of the aforementioned scumbags.

Yet, somehow, it's the eeeeeeevil Republicans who are always being called out as anti-immigrant, racist goons by these useless idiots masquerading as compassionate advocates of the "working man".

Go figure.

(link via Zendo Deb)

More of this highly quoteworthy story here.

Walford Market owner Clive Weidle said he always wears his weapon and he won't hesitate to use it.

"It's closer to me than my wife," said Weidle, laughing.

When two masked armed robbers marched into his market just before closing time, Weidle said, "I had to go for it or be at their mercy, and I'm not going to be at their mercy like that."


The senior senator from Massachusetts, safe behind a phalanx of heavily-armed, taxpayer-funded bodyguards, disapproves.


Open Up (Your Wallet) and Say "Ahhhh!"

Anyone else not quite getting a warm n' fuzzy feeling about this guy?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. presidential candidate John Edwards on Sunday said that he would raise taxes, chiefly on the wealthy, to pay for expanded healthcare coverage under a plan costing $90 billion to $120 billion a year to be unveiled on Monday.


Disclaimer: Actual results may vary, depending largely on one's definition of "chiefly".

"We'll have to raise taxes. The only way you can pay for a healthcare plan that cost anywhere from $90 to $120 billion is there has to be a revenue source," Edwards said on NBC's Meet the Press news program.


$120 billion a year in new and exciting confiscatory tax schemes? Well, shit! Where do I sign up?

And, that preliminary estimate of the annual cost of his latest socialism-induced fantasy does not yet reflect the "If a liberal politician tells you his latest big government-based "solution" will cost x amount of dollars to implement, you can rest assured the final bill will come in somewhere between 10x and 100x" adjustment.

Not on my watch, pretty boy!


Sunday, February 04, 2007

Peyton Gets His Ring

Congrats to the Indianapolis Colts, winners of Super Bowl XLI.


Changing For the Better

I gotta say, the new spellchecker on Blogger/Google is quite nice.


If I Had a Nickel

If I had a nickel for every time some self-righteous, big government-loving Massachusetts liberal said to me...

"If you hate our gun laws so much, why don't you just move to another state where you and all your knuckle-dragging redneck friends can buy all the guns you want?"


...I'd have, well, a shitload of nickels.

Now, if I could only get the people, who are working tirelessly now to turn New Hampshire into the next high-tax burden, population bleeding, economically-crippled, lifetime hack politician-driven, illegal alien overrun, socialist cesspit to follow their own advice.


Good Thing They Cleared That Up

AP Headline (via Channel 4 - Boston):

Chewbacca Impersonator Arrested For Battery In LA


Just so we're clear, then, it wasn't a real wookie? Just some guy dressed as one?

Well, that's a relief.


Granite Statism

Loyal reader, and fellow refugee from Meninostan now residing in Free America, Jim pointed me yesterday to this post from a couple weeks ago over at Blue Hampshire, the Granite State's version of Blue Mass. Group. It seems the idea of turning New Hampshire into the next Massachusetts holds a lot of appeal for these people.

Then again, these people are undeniably out of their fucking minds, engaging in all the off-the-wall, leftist, fantasy-based folly I tried so hard to get away from by moving up here. Let's have a look, shall we?

1. New Hampshire could completely eliminate the property tax with a 5.3% income tax...


Uh-huh. And I'd be one rich mother-fucker, if I could shit gold bricks out of my ass.

You see, that one statement pretty much voids their entire argument. For, once liberals get in power, and open up a revenue stream, that's it. There's simply no way in hell any newly-created income or sales-based tax would eliminate, or even reduce, the property tax burden on New Hampshire homeowners.

That fallacy was one of Deval Patrick's campaign cornerstones south of the border last fall. And, the (supposedly) highly-educated voters in Massachusetts ate that shit up with gusto - damn, you bet! (100 bonus points for the pop culture reference there) Only after the election, did some of these people come to the realization that, "Hey, the Governor has absolutely nothing to do with municipal property tax assessment and collection! Who knew?"

Why, it's almost as if a liberal politician was talking out of both sides of his ass at once. Say it isn't so!

2. or a 13% sales tax.


Yeah, because we need something to free up some of those parking spaces at all the malls around Salem, Nashua, and Plaistow. Seriously, people, try opening your fucking eyes. I'll explain it in as simple terms as I know how. Stop me if I start to go too fast, or use too many polysyllabic words.

People from Massachusetts come to shop in New Hampshire, in large numbers, to save 5% on the cost of their purchases, due to the lack of state sales tax.

This creates a demand for goods and services that is met by retailers and businesses moving into the area and opening shop, or expanding their current businesses. This is called "growth".

This creates "jobs".

Liberals love creating jobs, right?

I wonder sometimes.

As the number of job openings increases, employers will do what they must to attract quality employees to fill these positions. One such means of accomplishing this is to offer higher starting wages than the competition. I'll pause to let the cringing among the area's leftist population subside. It's a natural reaction to any discussion involving free market principles.

Another way employers can lure quality employees is to offer health care coverage on more attractive terms than their competition might be.

Why, it's almost as if more job opportunities, higher wages, and better healthcare opportunities could be brought about by allowing a business-friendly (read: low tax burden) environment to take hold in one's community, without an overbearing state government trying to control every aspect of life within its borders.

One only needs to look south across the state line into Massachusetts to see what's happening in this little thing we call "reality". Massachusetts continues to hemorrhage population, year after year, to the point where one of its representative seats in Congress might be in jeopardy after the next official census count. As more and more people and businesses decide to pull up their tent stakes and head for greener pastures, the state leadership continues to do NOTHING to realistically address the situation.

Faced with this unenviable situation of increasing numbers of educated workers (read: tax revenue or host organism) fleeing the state, the "progressive" leadership in the Bay State has decided to pursue the "solution" of aggressively documenting the illegal aliens residing in the state (read: financial burden or parasite organism) to make up the difference.

As more and more companies relocate out of state, or decide not to locate in Massachusetts in the first place, the number of job openings goes down. As the ratio of job seekers to job openings increases, wages drop as the quality of the applicant pool goes down accordingly.

But, wait, it's liberals to the rescue, once again!

Next, they'll raise the minimum wage and force employers to pay higher wages than the market would otherwise bear under normal operating conditions. And if the company should choose to decrease its percent contribution to employees' health care plans, or eliminates them altogether, to make up for the higher wages it now has to pay its workers, why, they'll pass a law to mandate healthcare as well. And, they'll impose financial penalties on those employers who don't want to follow them off the cliff into the sea.

Then reality sets in.

1. More employers relocate out of state.

2. More people move out of state to where the jobs are.

3. More legislation is enacted to lure more illegal aliens to take their place in the census rolls.

4. Everyone congratulates one another on doing what feeeeeeeels good.

5. Rinse.

6. Repeat.

7. "But, it's for the children! We need more money for education!"

8. Bull.

9. Shit.

The quality of education a student receives has no direct correlation to the amount of tax revenue collected by the state. It's all about what a state or municipality chooses to do with the money once they get it. Two words: Wilfredo Laboy (Google him).

Tell you what. Calculate the average amount of money spent per student per year in this state. Then, give me ten times that amount of money and ten 15-year-old kids to educate. I'll have them filling out college applications in 9 months' time, guaranteed.

"But, it's just a teeny-tiny tax increase. We need this!"

OK, here's another one:

Show me ONE state with a higher overall per capita tax burden than New Hampshire (you've got about 48 to choose from, at last check), wherein the teachers' unions and their "progressive" co-conspirators in the state legislature have issued a proclamation stating that public education in that state is adequately funded.

Good luck.

Public education in this country will never be adequately funded, as long as one's assessment of such funding levels comes from those who stand to gain the most, financially, through increased government spending.

But, I digress.

Back to the post at hand.

3. For people living in New Hampshire but working in Massachusetts, which has a 5.3% income tax rate, an income tax would be "free:" it would simply transfer their tax payments to NH instead of MA.


If anything should serve as a warning sign (we're talking bells, whistles, lights, and sirens here), it's a liberal telling you you're getting something for free.

"See, your next-door neighbor didn't steal your newspaper. It was the guy across the street. What are you complaining about?"

4. An income tax rate of 6% rather than 5.3% would bring another $330 million to the state.


Well, shit! Why not go for an income tax rate of 26.5%? That would bring another $10 BILLION to the state!!! Right? What's not to love? Free everything for everybody! I'm buying!

Seriously, what is wrong with these people?

They simply won't be happy, until everyone, in every state, in every country on the planet, is equally over-taxed and forced into a state of total reliance on the government (read: the United Nations) for their every want and need.

Screw that!

Screw that, fucking bigtime!

Someone, please, for the love of God, get these kids their binkies and sippy cups and get them in front of Blue's Clues until they calm down some, and are able to demonstrate some rational thought capabilities. It's best we let the grown-ups run things around here.

Now, in defense of this "elwood" person, who wrote that post over at Blue Hampshire, he did include this little disclaimer:

...I'm not claiming this is a clear plan for a more sensible tax policy.


Well, no shit.


Saturday, February 03, 2007

Welcome to...

... No Looking Backwards.


Friday, February 02, 2007

Call It a Work in Progress

If I told you what it takes
to reach the highest high,
You'd laugh and say 'nothing's that simple'
But you've been told many times before
Messiahs pointed to the door
And no one had the guts to leave the temple!


(lyrics by Pete Townshend)


UPDATE: Here's Version 2.0 3.0 3.1

I think this is the one. A few tweaks with the graphic should do it.


Welcome to the Party, Pal

Reuters headline:

Canadian and Swedish gay groups frowned on at UN


Naturally, this news will be greeted with untethered scorn and derision, followed by accusations of egregious human rights violations, by "progressive" groups the world over. You know, the same folks who have no problem, whatsoever, debasing law-abiding gun owners and depriving them, at every opportunity, of their right to keep their families and neighbors free from harm.

So, forgive me if the needle on my Sympathy-meter doesn't seem to to register higher than 0.000 over this.


To All You Self-Professed Bomb Experts

This is a picture of an Improvised Off-Route Antitank Mine, an IED recovered by coalition forces in Iraq.

(click for larger image)


Not too big, huh?

It's kinda hard to tell, but it looks to be about the size of a 4 D-cell Maglite. Wouldn't you say?

Hey, whadda you know?

That's about the same size and shape as the suspicious-looking device, with batteries and wires sticking out of it that was attached TO THE UNDERSIDE OF A FUCKING BRIDGE IN THE VICNITY OF A COMMUTER TRAIN STATION in Charlestown.

So, I'm sorry, all you self-professed explosives experts who claim the authorities in Boston over-reacted to something that "obviously" posed no threat, but I'm not buying it.

"But, it's not big enough to do any damage even if it was a real bomb!"

Would it even need to be?

If you think a dozen or so small "harmless" explosions going off simultaneously around the City of Boston wouldn't create massive chaos and widespread panic, you're delusional.

The crippling effect that such an attack would have on the City of Boston would have been 100 times (or more) that which was experienced a couple days ago.

"But, it was obviously that character from Aqua Teen Hunger Force! Don't the police know anything?"

I think Howie Carr said it best yesterday (and I paraphrase):

"The only people who recognized that for what it was were all the 20-somethings still living in their parents' basements, smoking pot, and saving up for tattoos."

Now, perhaps if it were the Great Gazoo instead...

That said, there is an argument to be made against the actions taken by state and city officials in Boston in the aftermath of this incident. But, at the time the shit was going down, I found few flaws in their actions.