So I suppose there are things I could blab about but I think I've done enough damage to my reputation this week so I'll bid you all farewell. As usual I take the weekends off and so I'll see you (I hope) back here on Monday, Labor Day. I'm off Monday and I will be blogging.

As always, I really am thankful that any of you visit me, and for those who are bloggers -- I thank you for mentioning me. I hope you all have a terrific holiday weekend. Thanks for stopping by! My best wishes for all of you and your loved ones.

There hasn't been a whole lot in the news that interests me lately. Summer doldrums? Fortunately there's plenty of great bloggers out there to report on...

Can I just say one little thing here? That young -- just out of college whipper-snapper -- Bitter Bitch is feeling old! And then Glenn Reynolds just had a birthday and he's only in his thirties. Say Uncle is, like, 22-years-old? And writes much better than me? In fact -- I would venture a guess that there isn't a single person on my blogroll who is older than me.

Where's my walker? Don't bump into those IV's! (Okay, so one of the IV's is filled with Smirnoff, still...) I'm probably ten years senior to either of the Volokh brothers. And all of these folks have accomplished more in their short lives then I ever will.

You know what really drives me crazy though? Even in my mid-forties, I still get an occasional pimple. Ye Ghads! Like I'm still in high-school. And here I am just a few years from being eligible for membership in AARP! And everytime I get a haircut -- there's the gray hairs here and there... No wonder no one responds to my personals. Of course, it probably doesn't help that I mention that I am a "gun nut" and most of the gays in my area are liberal transplants from away... Hanover, N.H. is the local metropolis, about 20 miles away. Dartmouth College doesn't attract a whole bunch of folks like me.

I'm surrounded by young punks! Help! Help! Help!

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Hey King at SCSU-Scholars has a post you should read titled Theoretical orientation about (in my words) the cultural sensitivity requirements at his school. Needless to say, the 1st Amendment only applies to some on his campus.

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Oh sure... Chez at On General Principle is also celebrating his young birthday -- Okay, Happy Birthday Chez -- and of course he's into THE KISS from last night's MTV show. I'm just curious and -- this is no reflection on Chez, but -- since all of you MEN dug the lesbianish kisses last night, I just want to ask -- what if it had been guys? Would you now all be blogging about how "awful" it all was? I would have enjoyed it but... Just asking.

Greg at The Hobbesian Conservative has a slightly different opinion.

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Kevin Holtsberry actually likes golf. And posts about it a lot. I keep trying it and aside from being asked to let everyone play through, the course in town always looks as if a back-hoe went through dragging it's shovel when I play. Anyway, I do enjoy Kevin's blog a lot.

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I just ate about six spoonfuls of peanut butter out of the Skippy's jar. Good thing I live alone... Since my ailing of yesterday has passed and I feel like eating again, I'm eating everything in sight. The cats are hiding under the bed...

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Hey, Les Jones has a field guide to gun-nuts and others... I love it!

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Nels Lindahl has a post about society expectations that I hope you'll read. Something written with far more depth than anything I've done in a while...

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This is terrible -- You know, when you have a stomach bug, you (or at least I) stop eating. I ate nothing yesterday. This morning, feeling a bit better, I've nibbled. Now, it's like my stomach is screaming for food... Now, I've just eaten an entire sleave of Saltines. Where will the madness end...

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Which brings me to Justin at Elephant Rants, who rightly points out to all the folks blathering about obesity and the responsibility of the "victim" are forgetting that you don't exercise or you eat too damn much! Exactly! Thank you Justin!

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My buddy Wyatt at Giant City tried for the Mars experience and while I'm really lame about all of this, he was disappointed because of the weather, but he still got some photos. They look really cool to me but I know he and many others wish the seeing were better. But I still get a rise of my sense of wonder about another world so close to us. Maybe that's why I enjoy Robert Zubrin's books, such as "The Case For Mars" so much. It is do-able in our lifetime. We have the technology now. Help me out, Glenn!

Father may have found son's corpse 18 years after he disappeared:

"Yesterday (the father) thought it was his son. Today he says it is the friend," a police spokesman said. "I would leave this wide open for the moment ... We don't know if it is the body of his son, his son's companion or someone else."

Several other people have gone missing in the area over the years. The decomposed body was given to forensics experts for tests.

Thawing Alpine ice has yielded several bodies this summer.

Oddly Enough!

Schwarzenegger on gun control.

Except this tells us absolutely nothing. I suspect he isn't as Pro-2A as some hope. It won't fly in California.

Robert Prather isn't happy with Ashcroft either. He just puts it in more reasonable language than I did.

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For those who are following the California recall election bruhaha, Greg Ransom of PrestoPundit has very complete coverage.

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Jonathan Gewirtz over at ChicagoBoyz has a lot more on the Giordano/Latuff cartoon controversie with a LOT of comments, including from Giordano.

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A family on the move from bug*splat: Rocket Jones and his daughter Mookie Riffic have moved to their new MT digs. Set your sights accordingly (or in Mookie's case, again.)

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I really like the war coverage over at Anger Management. "Heh." I've not gotten involved in all of this because as campaign manager for the Reynolds - Lucas Ticket it should be rather obvious where I come down. And he is my blogfather for God's sake...

This will not be the most coherent of my posts because I'm recovering from a night of food-poisoning. I haven't slept yet. I'm better than I was but I'm still woozy. So I'll understand if no one pays any attention to this long, silly post.

My previous post (below this) got me thinking about it all. I don't get as personal about myself as many bloggers do but I will now.

I had no pets growing up and I regret that to this day. Oh, yeah, I had some stupid turtles and a lizard, but they aren't pets. These days, I feel that every single child should be blessed with a friend they can count on and call their best buddy, specifically, one of the two wonderful creatures we call cats and dogs.

Dog owners and cat owners will disagree about which is better and I think that's all silly. Just ask the average farmer who owns both. They'll tell you they're both worth their weight, loyalty, and love in gold and more. Each species is special in their own way.

About 20 years ago I went to work in construction, for a large fence company. There was an acre of yard behind the business for fence material storage. I was hired as a laborer and worked my way up to yard boss within a year. There were stray cats living there. The pickin's were good for them because, being near a river, rats ran wild. I knew nothing about cats and generally ignored them as I built fence and rode around on the fork-lift.

One of the mama cats gave birth in the barn we used for fence section construction. Yeah, they were cute. But they were cats. Cats are classified as short-hair or long-hair. These were medium haired. I felt bad for them because they always seemed hungry and I guess there's a soft-spot somewhere in my heart because I'd buy my lunch at the corner deli and I started getting a container of tuna-fish salad for them. They crowded 'round and seemed appreciative.

As a side-light
In this long rambling post, let me say that I had observed through that period and since then, that kittens go through learning stages. The mother teaches her kittens how to hunt and what to eat. If the mama-cat likes mice, she will first bring back a dead mouse to feed her children. Then, she will bring back a live one, let it go in front of her kittens, and teach them to chase it as it runs away. And so forth with all of their food.

Kittens born in and raised in a house environment, where if they (and their mother) are not allowed out, then they will only be taught to hunt the food dish. And by the way, the kitten's mental food imprinting is so strong that as adults, most will only eat the cat food they were given as kittens. If they were fed Friskies, don't even bother trying to give them 9-Lives.

There are other stages as well and some of them -- to a human observer -- are hilarious. They learn to be "scary." They learn how to raise the hackles of their backside fur towards anything they don't like. When they first learn this trick, they practice it on everything: Each other, a blade of grass, an ant... It's too funny to watch...

And one day, they (all the kittens) suddenly learn that they can JUMP! And for the next week, they jump everywhere, even to just move two inches over. It's all great fun to see and you just feel like hugging them.
End of side-light.

Kittens and cats are a result, like all of life including people, of their genetics and upbringing. The mother who gave birth was friendly and trusting of humans and one of her kittens, whom we had named Jasper, was as well. Mostly black, with a white belly and paw-tips, he seemed to sense that I was the "head of the household" at this construction company yard and took to hanging out with me. Jasper was a huge cat, almost 20 pounds, but gentle as anything towards everyone -- other cats, people, children, etc.

As with his siblings, he had suffered distemper as a kitten and while he was past it, it left him with a bad back and he wasn't able to jump up like most cats. He walked like a swaggering lion and would clawed his way up the huge front tires of my fork-lift. He'd brush against me to acknowledge me and then would lounge on the back of my fork-lift all day, basking in the sun and grooming himself and enjoying the warmth of the engine all through the cold months and the ride.

There were no digital cameras in those days so here's a scan of a photo of him:



About three years into my career at the fence company, I was cutting a steel band holding a bundle of posts together. As I was taught, we used our framing hammer claws. The band whipped around and struck my wrist, severing three finger tendons in my left hand. I went out on workman's comp for two months. Shortly into that period I stopped by work (I used to hang out at work even when I was "off") and my boss told me that Jasper was miserable, walking around looking for me and crying and not eating and just generally "not a happy cat..."

Jasper wanted to be with me. I rushed out to a pet-store, bought all the cat things like litter box, food dishes (and of course, food) and toys and stuff and set them up in my apartment. Then, I sped back to work and grabbed Jasper and put him in my car (I didn't have a cat-carrier but Jasper didn't need one, he was tame, and liked to ride on or in things, including cars) and took him home. He found the litter box. He found the food. And about five minutes after arriving, smelling my scent all over everything in my apartment, he started purring and didn't stop for two weeks, even when asleep. He followed me everywhere, slept with me, hung-out with me. He was someone much better than a lover, he was a genuine friend. Something sorely lacking in my life.

Another side-light...
I am a carnivore. I like to eat beef and pork and lamb and stuff. I view animals as two types: There are animals with not much intelligence or feelings, sort-of dumb. I will munch on them. As I continue to mature in life (and yes, in my forties I can still "grow-up") it bothers me more and more. But I have an addiction to meat protein and if I go too long without meat I actually feel withdrawal symptoms. But it does get me to thinking.

But I also recognize that there are animals with very active emotions -- joy, sadness, etc. To me this is a sign that these animals have advanced brains and feel and know pain, happiness, etc. To me (but unfortunately, not to some asian and african cultures, or medical testers) these animals should be off-limits to cruelty and pain and being killed for food.

Most rational pet owners have watched the joy of their cats and dogs racing around the yard or park on a bright Spring day, the games they seem to invent with each other, the happiness they show when you come home from work. Their crys of sadness, etc. They obviously DO have feelings and emotions.

At the fence company, we had a family of kittens and their mother. One special friend of them was a black-cat named Merlin. Friendly to all and a best-buddy to Jasper, she was a sweety-pie. She and her kitten siblings and their mother lived in a huge box of wood scraps. One day, the owner got rid of everyone in her family, but not her. She spent the next two weeks sitting in that box, not eating, playing, or anything, sadly (you could tell) waiting for the return of her siblings and mother. They never came back. For two weeks this kitten sat there waiting in sadness. I had no control over all of this as I was just a laborer. But... Don't tell me that cats (or dogs) don't have emotions or experience loss. Merlin had and showed it.
End of side-light.

So Jasper hung out at home with me. I was growing much more fond of animals, learning about them, and one day I went and volunteered at a local animal shelter. I spent a year or two there. They wouldn't let me be with the cats because they knew I'd simply scoop them all up and take them home. I worked with all the wonderful feral dogs they had. I'm a rather calm person and dogs seem to pick-up on that. Dogs that were miserable and unhappy would perk-up and walk and play fine with me.

Side-light
True story: Selling fencing, I had an estimate to give at the home in Rockland County, N.Y. of an oriental couple. We greeted each other and I said I needed to measure the old fence they wanted to replace. They told me that their dog hated people, had bitten two previous contractors, and I shouldn't go out in the backyard. I asked them the name of their dog -- "Pearl," they said.

I went through the sliding doors into the back calling, "Pearl" and of course she came running up to me. I said, "Hi Pearl, good dog" and petted her and threw a stick that she then chased. She loved me and hung with me and helped me measure the owner's back yard and then followed me into the house where I gave the owner's their estimate. She seemed to enjoy that too, licking my face and nudging my writing hand.

I got, and we did the job. After we finished, the husband thanked me for a great job and told me, "You know Jeff, every single estimate we had from everyone else was at least a thousand dollars less than yours. But we gave you [and your company] the job because you were the only representative that Pearl liked."
End of side-light

Jasper the cat was like me. Trusting, caring. One time I was really ill and couldn't eat. I crawled into the kitchen and just gave him a pile of balogna slices. He took one slice in his teeth and carried it into my bedroom and put it on the bed right next to me as if to say, "you'd better eat too."

So I started adopting and taking home stray cats. I'd get them fixed and "shotted" and care for them at home and Jasper was the true champ. He'd greet all of them in true, gregarious mode, with a toy, food, friendliness. Some would hiss and spit and act like, "who the hell are you" and Jasper would just sit there (20 pounds, not afraid) calmly until they calmed down and within an hour the stray would be curled up in Jasper's huge belly asleep.

Jasper became a favorite of all the shelter workers, and even the strays there. He was big, sweet, friendly, and non-judgemental. His specialty (yeah, a cat with a specialty!) was socializing other cats and dogs to getting along with other cats. He was magnificent.

A couple years after I took in Jasper, I was, one morning, leaving the house to go to work and there was this little kitten (about three months old) sitting outside my door just waiting. As I stepped outside, this kitten ran indoors. I shrugged and went to work. I knew that Jasper wouldn't hurt her. As I drove to work -- and it was after a thunderstorm -- I saw a rainbow and that became this kitten's new name. Rainbow.

I came home that night to find Jasper and Rainbow thick-as-thieves, best friends. Playing, chasing each other, playing bite-the-paw, and having a grand-old-time. They remained best of friends until Jasper got sick.

Jasper came down with kidney disease when I first moved back to Vermont. I had to finally put him to sleep. It was the worst day of my life. That was about ten years ago. I miss him every single day. I don't care what some Catholic priests say about pets not going to heaven -- I know that they are and I know, or at least hope that Jasper is waiting for me.

Rainbow -- incredibly -- at 19 1/2 years old -- is still alive and healthy. She has been with me for almost half of my life. She curls up with me every night to sleep. She plops down on whatever book or newspaper I'm trying to read. She still loves to play. That there are (according to some liberal garbage) allegedly some "cultures" in this world that would consider her a "food source" or "testing source" are grotesque to me. I would instantly give my life, or kill anyone who would consider harming her -- or any of my other pets. The laws don't support that and I don't care. I will gladly spend the rest of my life in jail for shooting to death some mutant bastard who would threaten my pets. Go ahead, I dare you to tell me that you wouldn't.

I don't know what drives cats and dogs to love humans. Some would say evolution and I'm sure that's a part of it. It was in their best interests (food and reproductively) to make friends with us. But I also know that there is something extra-nice about our relationships with dogs and cats. They're good for us. They calm and comfort us. They know when we're hurting and when we most need them. They have (really!) senses of humor (more proof that they should be hands-off testing or food.) They truly are our best friends.

Children are masses of conflicting emotions and urges and feelings towards their parents. Their parents have to (or should) dicipline them (with love) and though it's for the child's own good, they still need a friend afterwards. A dog or cat can be that all-accepting friend who makes everything "all-right" in a difficult world.

I know that many of my readers and blogger-friends (being libertarians) do not believe in a God. I do. But unlike his (her) portrayal in the Bible, I believe he/she/it is a loving, caring God. And I really, truly believe that God made cats and dogs just a little bit extra-special: To be our companions. Our keepers. Our guardians. Our best buddies. Our protectors. Our soul-mates. I can think of no closer bond than that between a human and thier pet.

So when I read a story such as the one I reported on in the post just below -- I get sick. Anyone who harms children or pets -- those innocent, naturally accepting beings who would never think a person capable of harming them -- well, that's a sick person who has committed a betrayal of trust and decency. That's a crime where no punishment is sufficient. Whoever the mutant was who did something as terrible as this -- I can only wish that they will suffer all that hell has to offer. And more. And you know what? Prison isn't sufficient. No incarceration will cure them. They are diseased and rotten. They need to be destroyed. Eliminated. There is no other choice.

Just as the alleged priest Geoghan deserved his fate in prison, so too does the junk who tortured and harmed the dog in the story below. A painful death is all that they deserve. No more liberal bullshit. No more excuses. Just flush this garbage down the toilet. And I really hope they burn for all eternity in hell.

I ate something bad yesterday. By last night I was sick. Very. All night. But that's nothing compared to how sick this story is from the (N.H.) Union Leader:

A $1,000 reward has been posted for information leading to the arrest and conviction of an animal abuser after police found a toy poodle that had been bound, dragged, and dumped at the end of a driveway Sunday night.

And:

Marino's fears were confirmed Sunday night when she got a call from her mother. The dog had been found nearby on Buxton School Road by a girl who had seen one of the posters describing Barney that were put up earlier in the day.

Weare police officer Chad Clark and Animal Control Officer Lonnie Benzel arrived to find the little dog with all four legs bound together. The dog's fur and skin on one side was ripped off.

Now go ahead and tell me that you don't believe in the death penalty.

This poor dog also lost an eye. The picture is one of the saddest I've ever seen. The encouraging news is that the dog may survive and be returned to his family. The bad news is that even though the sick, mutant perpetrator faces felony charges if caught, most people who commit these hideous crimes never do more than a year or two in jail. But if he is, I hope he's given the same cellmate that the child molesting priest Geoghan had.

Just bopping around... You know... hanging out...

So Mookie Riffic has moved to here to her fancy new MT site. But she still lists me as an "also ran."

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On the other hand, Live From the Guillotine is one of my "Monday Mentions" and has kindly added me to her blogroll and put up this kind mention of me (unlike most of the other folks I've mentioned) and so she moves to my "good friends" blogroll. By the way, her site doesn't render properly in Netscape so visit her in (*gasp*) MS IE. Go to the original blog link and read it all because Lana is a superb writer and I predict very good things for her. I'm proud to be the first real linker to her.

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Speaking of linking, which I always am, Kinayda at Kin's Kouch has actually claimed he is not a link whore but you know, folks, blogs by bloggers do not lie. And let's face it, he can praise me with a link and mention the blogfather of us all and fail to mention me as one of the sexy bloggers and chat about beer, and pretend he's taking time off but when you really get down to it, all he wants to do is show fake drownings to draw more links in.

Okay Kin, I've done the best I can...

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*Whew.* Thank God that some bloggers such as Jay Solo never, ever think about links and hits. In fact, he is the least likely guy to, oh, I don't know... mention everyone on his blogroll (except ME) and gosh, would never troll for links by posting pictures of cute babies... And you know, he wants you to vote for something that no one will ever nominate ME for but what the heck, even he tires at some point from all this.

Hope this helps the cause...

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And if readers find the last post incomprehensible, well -- welcome to the blogosphere...

See you soon. Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome to my weekly check on the bias exibited by the Yahoo Gun Control Debate Page. They have the exclusive choice of which "gun" stories they link to including actual news stories, editorials, and articles. During the Summer time it's rather slow and this week is no exception -- very few new items.

This week's lovely model was suggested by my buddy Aubrey Turner and it's a Bushmaster XM15-E2S AK Shorty. Details here. Aubrey says:

On the politically incorrect side of my collection, there's the Bushmaster XM15-E2S AK Shorty. It has a 14.5 inch barrel with an AK-74 muzzle break permanently attached to make it a legal 16 inches. Being an evil black "assault weapon" it's guaranteed to give hearburn to Brady types.

Anything that annoys the Brady Bunch sounds good to me! Here's the chart:

Not much change this week either. Just two new stories and both concerned the settlement by a couple of firearms dealers and distributors with several California cities. I mentioned this last week as not being a big deal. From the LA Times:

Two gun dealers and three firearms distributors have agreed to do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, ending four years of litigation against them by lawyers for 12 California cities and counties, officials said Thursday.

and:

Among the concessions are agreements by defendants not to sell firearms at gun shows and to annually train employees to block sales to "straw purchasers," who buy weapons for those restricted from doing so. They also agreed to improve their ability to track inventory to ensure that authorities are immediately notified of lost and stolen guns. The defendants will also pay a total of $70,000 to the plaintiffs.

So what these five defendents are promising to do is to obey the existing laws. Training employees to prevent "straw sales" and notifying the authorities of stolen guns are already required of FLL holders so these are non-issues.

In a reasonably balanced article by the L.A. Times there are the usual quotes from the Brady Bunch hailing this as some huge victory but it isn't. Getting gun dealers to obey the law is exactly what pro-2A folks such as myself (and for that matter, the NRA) have been asking for all along. To whit: Enforce the existing laws. These suits will cause no additional legislation by themselves and the monetary settlement is laughable -- certainly a heck of a lot less than the cities' lawyers and the Brady Bunch had hoped for. And they got nothing from the gun manufacturers (rightly.) The gun makers themselves are not affected by this suit.

The San Francisco Chronicle was a bit more hysterical:

San Francisco and 11 other California cities and counties announced Thursday that they have reached an unprecedented settlement in which some gun distributors and dealers have agreed to take steps to prevent firearms from ending up in the hands of criminals.

Unprecedented? Because the dealers are going to allow law enforcement folks to train them to spot "straw sales?" Unprecedented only in the sense that so many of these suits have failed or been tossed out but I consider the 10% liability judgement against Bryco Arms in Florida (in regards a murder) earlier this year to be much more significant. If the sniper victims' lawsuit gets traction, that would be significant. This minor settlement is just small beer.

The one curious part of this that I found interesting is that the California gun dealers will be required to report gun purchases to local police. I would think that in a state that has so many regulations and permits and licenses and registrations in place that that would almost be a given... I might point out that the offending distributor will not be able to do business in California any longer.

Incidentally, originally the suit included several gun makers but the judge dismissed them from the suit. That's the really important part of this all that was minimize in one article and not mentioned in the other.

That was it from Yahoo but here's some other stuff...

This just in: New Brunswick, Canada has decided they won't prosecute folks who fail to register their long-guns! From the Globe and Mail:

New Brunswick has joined a long list of provinces that will not prosecute charges under the much-criticized federal gun-registration law.

Premier Bernard Lord and Attorney-General Brad Green said yesterday the program has been an abject failure and the province will have no part of prosecutions under its questionable law.

"This is an example where many provinces have decided this is a failed experiment, a waste of money and it must end," Mr. Lord said after a Conservative caucus meeting in the seaside resort town of St. Andrews.

"We don't want to perpetuate this waste of taxpayers' dollars."

Mr. Lord and Mr. Green said a majority of provinces have now decided to opt out of gun-registration prosecutions, sending what should be a clear message of non-compliance to Ottawa.

"It [gun registration] should be abandoned by the federal government," Mr. Lord said.

Revolt! What all of these provinces in Canada are saying is that if Canada's government wants to persue this ridiculous registration scheme, they'll have to enforce it themselves, with NO help from the provinces!

Why is this important? Because if a country such as Canada -- which is markedly NOT as "gun friendly" as America is experiencing these kinds of problems implementing a national gun registration and are facing open revolt from their "states," imagine how much MORE open rebellion there would be if it were tried here in the United States? Schumer and Feinstein take note! Fiasco indeed!

Remember Charleston (S.C.) Police Chief Reuben Greenberg? Think the Gates case. In a 8/25/03 follow-up article in the Charleston Regional Business Journal, Here's his implied advice to store owners:

Charleston Police Chief Reuben Greenberg fanned the flames in January during a meeting with a group of James Island business owners frustrated by increasing crime in their area. A Jan. 24 Post and Courier article reported Greenberg as pointing out that one downtown business, whose employees are all armed, hadn't been held up for 20 years. When a meeting attendee asked if Greenberg was telling them to arm themselves, Greenberg reportedly said, "That's a decision you have to make for yourself."

Yahoo never links to this stuff...

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One other thing to bring to your attention. A group of us pro-2a bloggers are starting a blog dedicated to beginners, with all sorts of how-to advice articles designed to encourage those new to the shooting sports and hunting and basic gun ownership. Although "live" right now, it will get publicized next week when a few more articles come on line so stay tuned here for that announcement. (I've been asked to hold off linking yet.)

So that's the news from Lake Wobegone this blogger's perspective. Sorry it's going up a bit late today. Thanks for stopping by!

NOW I'm done for the day. I've let my "tensions" out and feel much better. Alphecca is SO therapeutic for me. I love blogging and while I am struggling financially, I never want to give this blog up. I'm very grateful that on average, 800 folks stop by here every day to read my rants. I will be back tomorrow night. Thanks for stopping by!

Armavirumque is a welcome new blog to the blogosphere. But I absolutely disagree with them here. They are (implicitly) agreeing with A.G. John Ashcroft about the Patriot Act. I've already discussed this a few posts down and I'm too lazy to link to something about 12 inches down... But -- and I will admit -- I didn't mind when Bush first appointed him. But I have come to loathe this ultra-right-wing-wacko who is rapidly destroying our Bill of Rights.

I'm not going to launch into a major rant here but Ashcroft is the most anti-American, anti-constitutional, anti-Bill of Rights jerk who has ever served high office in the United States Government. This guy is garbage and that Armavirumque should support him speaks volumes about their conservative lock-step mentality. (Okay, maybe a little rant...)

One incident folks -- yes, a terrible, horrifying incident on Sept. 11th, but just one incident -- and with typical over-reaction by the government and the jerk right-wingers, typified by asshat John Ashcroft, our elected (and appointed) leaders want to shred the Constitution and Bill of Rights -- the very documents that have protected and kept our great nation strong for over two hundred years.

Damn-it folks -- if we give in, if we give up our precious rights, if we change our way of living, then these fucking terrorist mutants have accomplished their goals. They've made us change the way we run our democracy and our lives and damn-it, damn-it, damn-it -- they've won. Listen up! No fucking compromise!

Ashcroft and Bush and all the other over-reacting asshat politicians seem to have forgotten that we are the greatest nation on this planet and while piss-in-pot mutant animals in other countries might try to harm us, all they can do is wound us. The wounds will heal. We will always be stronger, better, more morally correct, more caring, decent, more godly than they ever will. They cannot eliminate or destroy us. And anyone (such as Ashcroft) who would sell-out our way of life and our liberties and freedoms is caving in to these fucking bastards. And if you sell-out America, you deserve to... well, you regulars know what I mean... fall into a very deep ditch.

Ashcroft sucks. He is destroying our great country's freedoms and liberties. A very, very deep ditch!

Damn-it!

Oh all right, so I'm being really "linky-dinky" today. Obviously I'm off from work and there's nothing in the news that interests me. But fortunately, there's plenty interesting to others...

My blogSister Bitter Bitch points to more about that "haughty, French looking Democratic candidate, John Kerry, who -- by the way -- served in Viet Nam" with this post.

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Matt at It Could Be Better has a post about the Mississippi Supreme Court decision favoring "pro-life" in a specific case. Interesting.

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The Flea has a bunch of interesting posts up. He goes his own way and that's what makes his blog so interesting. Think about posts just in the last days about bats and Sigmund Freud's daughter Anna and "Goth Day" at Disney World and you'll see what I mean.

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Les Jones is visiting New York City and has his travelogue up. I lived near and in NYC many years ago. It is an exciting city designed for the very rich or the very young. I wish I was with them to share their excitement.

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Momma Bear is -- as usual -- right on target about the death of Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi. *Sigh.*

...So I'm not done for the day. I did want to mention some kind folks who have recently added me to their blogrolls (and of course, they are safely ensconsed in my "good friends" reciprocal blogroll as well) and given me nice mentions. None of them need any introduction since they're all bigger and better and badder than me:

The Acidman (AKA Gut Rumbles) was very generous in groveling applying for the position of Surgeon General in the Reynolds - Lucas Ticket. Just kidding! I am very glad to have him consider me a good read since I've (just read the archives) been a fan of his honesty-based blog for a long time.

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Famed mystery writer Roger L. Simon has been kind enough to add me to his visual blogroll and even has my "masthead" jpeg shown with much better bloggers than me. He mentioned my post last week about trying to save the "pulps" and an interesting discussion by readers ensued over there.

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Thanks also to Useful Fools which deserves a bookmark from everyone. Another fine blogger who recognizes the truth about the mutants who insist on blowing up and destroying every Israeli. Sad of course because Israel has tried so many times to make peace, and has made so many concessions in the futile hope of peace. And just when it seems as if something might come of it...

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And another great blogger, Jason's Blog has kindly given me a mention and added me to his blogroll. And more pics of your dog please! (I love bloggers who include their pets on their blogs because let's face it -- our pets are the best, most loyal, most decent and non-agenda'd part of our lives. Oh, okay, I suppose our spouses count for something too...)

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The Kolkata Libertarian (and as I write this, the link isn't working but I assume a simple glitch and it will come back by the time you read this) is also a great blog you should all be visiting.

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Thanks to all of you and my apologies to anyone I've missed. I truely appreciate all of you kind enough to blogroll me and of course, I gratefully add you to my "good friends" blogroll as soon as I learn of it.

And for those of you I mention (as in the last post) in the Monday Mentions -- you could do worse than linking to me. Hey folks, I admit it -- Just like Jay Solo and Kin's Kouch, I am a link whore. At least I admit it... That's the first step to recovery...

Stop the Bleating by Matt Rustler is not new or obscure except to me. Conservative, very pro-2A, a good blog so check it out.

SoBlo: South of Bloor by Angry Boy, a young gay guy living in Toronto. He just went to a concert by one of my favorites -- Donna Summer -- and has a very comprehensive review. Check it out.

I really like the way Lana from Live From the Guillotine thinks. A conservative woman who supports the Second Amendment and Israel. So go visit.

From the Sociology Department at the University of Surrey comes Weekly INCITE where in various researchers discuss their various projects. Rather interesting really, though sporadic in their postings.

From Chip Joyce comes About the War...(and How America is Losing). The sub-title is, "Discussion about the catastrophic appeasement of militant Muslims." Sure to be controversial, sort of a lesser-known Little Green Footballs. Active comment sections.

So that's this week's entries as I search the web to find new, unusual, or obscure blogs. Pay them a visit and tell them I sent you... I love this newish feature here and the contact it brings me with other voices on the web.

In today's Christian Science Monitor, there's an article titled, "A drop in violent crime that's hard to explain." Here's a quote:

All the indicators, from the sagging economy to the increase in newly released ex-cons on the street, had led many criminologists to predict the crime rate would go up. But it's not - at least according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), released Sunday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. It found that violent crime and property crime are at a low not seen since 1973.

In 2002, there were 23 violent crimes per 1,000 people, compared with 25 victimizations per 1,000 people in 2001. A decade ago, the victimization rate was twice as high, meaning there's been a 54 percent drop in violent crime since 1993.

The story adds that while the overall trend around the country has been reduced crime, there are a few hot spots where violent crime has risen, such as (*ahem*) Washington DC. But none of the criminologists quoted by the CSM seem able to come up with any real reason for the drop everywhere else. It ends with a quote from one that says, "It opens the question about what's going right."

There are lots of theories about this. Some say that it's because "gang" members are aging and dropping out of the murder game. But that isn't shown in major cities so how can that be?

Well now, the Christian Science Monitor has never been gun friendly but surely they could have interviewed at least ONE person from our side... Nope. Otherwise, they might have found a possible reason for the dramatic drop, from the huge increase over the past decade in states passing "shall issue" laws that allow the average citizen to conceal-carry.

I don't say it's the only reason, but I certainly think it contributes to the equation. The simple fact is that when citizens are allowed the means to defend themselves, criminals get nervous and consider another line of work. Consider the reverse -- what happens when that right is taken away? Does Washington DC or Chicago or England or Australia come to mind? All have experienced huge increases in violent armed crime and all prevent ownership of handguns (at the very least) and concealed carry.

While some are disputing John R. Lott's statistical methods in his book, "More Guns, Less Crime," The above statistics come from government sources and clearly show that less guns equal more crime.

Here's the thing though; the Science Christian Monitor didn't have this piece listed under commentary or opinions, etc. It was listed as a news story from their "Justice" category. The least the writer could have done was seek some sort of comment from someone on the pro-gun side of the aisle. But she didn't. And it's not that she is slamming the supposed "gun culture" and in fact she never brings up the issue of guns. But she should have because of the causal effect of the increase in concealed carry around the country and because the implication of violent crime is that guns generally are involved in the commission of crimes.

So I'm glad I was able to help the writer and her experts with this. Don't bother to thank me, glad to do it, anytime...

At the request of several blogger friends, I have (as promised last week) created a seperate, perma-linkable page for my Alphecca's Weekly Check On The Bias Report. This is a specific web page for the weekly report most of you have come to know and love (in my dreams...) You'll also see it listed on the left side-bar.

I had some reservations about it because if folks only link to that, they'll never check out the rest of my blog that you are reading now... So I have a request for all of you bloggers -- go ahead and add the link to your blogrolls but please still -- or add a link to my Alphecca so folks know I'm about more than just guns. And please, during your normal posting, refer to the perma-link of the post itself -- not the new page. The new page is just for blogrolling... Thanks very much! Otherwise no one will ever read what I have to say about other stuff.

By the way, the Alphecca Weekly report will -- of course -- still originate and appear here and comments from you will only appear here at the original Alphecca blog. So there! Gosh, am I strict or what?

Meanwhile, the Asshat General John Ashcroft and some schmuck Republican senators are furthering the erosion of our rights by pushing the new -- anti-constitutional -- Victory Act. From the Washington Post:

The Victory Act proposal includes expansions of prosecutorial power in traditional drug cases and in those deemed related to terrorism, say experts who have studied the bill. It would give the government more latitude to freeze assets of alleged drug traffickers or terrorists; make it easier to charge drug defendants with aiding terrorists; and loosen the standards used to convict defendants of laundering money through informal money exchange networks known as hawalas and other money-transmitting businesses.

It would also make it a lot easier to obtain wire-taps, search warrants, etc. I can see it now, some cop claiming that a 16-year-old boy should be deprived of his rights because he might be generating money for terrorists because the joint he sold to a friend might have come from someone who bought from someone who bought from someone who knows someone who is a 5th cousin to...

Trust me folks, every drug case will somehow suddenly become connected to terrorism, depriving the defendents of any rights. That's how our sick-ass government works.

You know, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights have served this country very well for over two hundred years but now these fucking asshat politicians want to completely shred it to pieces. Damn-it!

Speaking of model rocketry, which I wasn't, Rocket Jones is in this post. He had a good day yesterday. If you're interested in this great hobby you should be checking his blog out. By the way, Ted is the father of Mookie.

Now here's something you probably didn't know about me -- and let's face it, it's all about me -- my father first introduced me to model rocketry when I was a young boy and I was involved with a large rocketry club all through my school days. I used to send away for and put together all the Estes and Centuri kits, went to competitions, etc.

Now the point of this post (and I'll try to control my anger) is that those low-life scum-bag Democratic Senators Chucky Schumer (NY) and Frank (illegally elected) Lautenberg (NJ) are in opposition to a bill by GOOD GUY Republican Senator Mike Enzi (WY) to exempt the propellants used in model rocketry motors from the useless Homeland Security Act. Yipes, that was a long sentence. You can read about it here. Here's a quote:

In a news conference in Washington today, Sens. Lautenberg and Schumer alleged that a bill pending before the U.S. Senate would allow terrorists and criminals to "acquire large amounts of explosive rocket propellant without law enforcement's knowledge," and that "model rockets could be turned into missiles with a range of nearly five miles."

"Those are gross misstatements," Bundick said. "The rocket propellant they are referring to is not an explosive, and hobby rocketry activities are already regulated and controlled by a variety of agencies. Moreover, hobby rockets do not have guidance systems and cannot be used as offensive missiles. We're talking about amateur rockets, built at home, that fly straight up into the air, pop apart, then float back to Earth under a parachute."

The bill in question, S. 724, would allow hobby rocket enthusiasts to purchase small amounts of black powder and rocket propellant. Larger purchases would require the buyer to obtain a federal permit from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a process that includes a background check.

"This is a prime example of the government over-reacting to something that is not a threat," Embry said. "Children and adults alike have enjoyed this safe, educational hobby for more than 40 years without incident, and now all of a sudden we¹re equated with terrorists. Reasonable regulation is fine, but these Senators are being wholly unreasonable, and the victims here are all the people across America whose hobby is being destroyed."

If you don't think this is an important issue, consider that Schumer would also like to put further controls on firearm reloading supplies. *Sigh.*

It seems that Doozy has moved. So set your sights accordingly.

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So I've returned to the original colors for the blog (thanks for all of your comments, the vote was about 3 to 1 in favor of the old look) but I've retained the larger typeface used in the posts themselves. Hope that works for you but remember -- I'm fickle and might change things again...