I have to be a hundred twenty miles away from here in about 8 hours but I can't go to sleep yet. So I'll blather on. (I should have called this post, "Rave on, Bats--t." But I'm trying not to curse so much.

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First up, I'd like to emphasize again that I had to delete over six thousand emails that had clogged up the works and not gotten forwarded to the ISP account I actually read. This means that if you've sent me a comment or message in the past few weeks -- I probably didn't get it or read it. I'm sorry. Please re-send it to my new (and my only functional) email address:

gunnut -at- alphecca -dot- com

Thanks and my profuse apologies.

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Glenn from Hi. I'm Black emailed to let me know I was going on his blogroll. Thanks Glenn! I've added your fine blog to mine. And this is (yet just another) reminder to other bloggers that my ("good friends") blogroll IS a reciprocal one. The only thing you need to do to be listed on it and get my attention is to list Alphecca on yours -- and let me know! And then we both go up one click on the various blog rating services. I've said it plenty of times: I am a link whore. Admitting the problem is the first step to recovery... And no, I don't think I'll ever make it to the second step...

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My friend and co-Vermont blogger Joy at Confessions of a G33K (which I list on my blogroll as "Clever Hack") recently visited Ground-Zero in New York City. She has a moving post with a lot of pictures. Please check it out.

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By the way (Jeff exclaimed as his massive, insatiable ego re-assumed control of the keyboard...) Joy is one of the few Vermont bloggers who acknowledges Alphecca. There are plenty of other bloggers here in Vermont, many of whom I've emailed, and they all ignore me because -- what? Am I too not-liberal-enough for them? I am SO jealous of blogger bands such as the Rocky Top Brigade and North State Blogs where personal differences are put aside so that all can promote each other.

Alas, Vermont bloggers are mostly knee-jerk, lock-step, crunchy-granola, liberal flat-landers from away who move here and pretend they know how we're all supposed to live. "Vermont is so peaceful and rural -- it's a damn shame about all these natives" seems to be their mantra. How tired. And of course they buy up all the farmland and POST it so no one else can hunt or fish or sled there. And God forbid they should fix up the lovely 100-year-old farmhouse when they can tear it down and build a 4000 square-foot mansion with hot-tubs and multi-media rooms so they can experience the back-to-nature, rural, simple life.

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I'm WAY LATE in mentioning this but I really like the new look of DiVERSiONZ. Always entertaining. Check it out.

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And by the way, my buddy Charles has moved On General Principle to here. And he needs cheering up. Or that hot-tub. So go visit him and leave nice comments. "Serenity now... Serenity now..."

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Speaking of Vermont bloggers, House of Wodinn has switched to "Grey Matter" and his blog looks pretty sharp now too. Of course, he's having flash-backs too so watch out!

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And The Flea just keeps marching to his own drum-beat.

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Okay. I'm gonna try to get some sleep before my trip in seven hours. See you all back here soon. Have a great weekend.

Several readers emailed me to let me know my mail boxes were full. This mystified me because all the accounts are supposed to be auto-forwarded to my home account. Lo and behold, I log onto Hosting Matters and discover that the mail accounts were indeed packed with over six thousand messages. The problem was that there was so much spam over the last couple of weeks (from the virus I presume) that it exceeded my home ISP allowance for space, so they just sat there un-forwarded. When they filled to the allowance...

The only solution to this is to delete all the current accounts. I have. All comments should now be directed to me at

gunnut -at- alphecca -dot- com

Sorry for all the inconvenience and I really apologize to anyone who sent in comments that didn't get acknowledged. Please re-send your comments to the new address. Sorry, but I can't provide a "live link" anymore either because the spiders and bots would just crawl it into another mess. Please set your address books accordingly...

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I've got three really busy days ahead of me at work so I'm ending this week's edition of Alphecca now. Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Yeah, I know that playing with someone's name is, like, so Rush-ish but really folks. Now he's back-tracking from the back-lash. From Reuters:

Denying any anti-American sentiment on his part, actor Johnny Depp said on Thursday that quotes attributed to him as likening the United States to a "dumb puppy" were inaccurate and taken out of context.

"I am an American. I love my country and have great hopes for it," Depp said in a statement released by his Los Angeles-based publicist. "It is for this reason that I speak candidly and sometimes critically about it. I have benefited greatly from the freedom that exists in my country and for this I am eternally grateful."

Yeah douche-bag. You were able to make a ton of money from movies here in this great country. You benefited from a country where any freak can make his way and fortune without being strangled by the government. Where the Bill of Rights allows you your First Amendment rights and you exercised them -- nothing wrong with that -- but then you get pissed that others exercised their First Amendment rights regarding your statements. And now you're worried that you might have alienated money-paying movie-goers in the largest film viewing audience in the world.

Seriously folks, does anyone really give a fuck what this druggy asshole thinks about anything?

Sorry, I cursed again... See you all soon.

A Coyote At The Dog Show always has good stuff but what really makes it enjoyable is that Swen does report on his local area -- Colorado -- with posts like this one about letters to the editor from liberals in Denver who hate anyone conservative -- such as our President.

This is something William Quick has done for a long time too.

The best purpose of a blog, that Swen instinctively knows, is that besides his own prescient opinions, he brings the local flavors of his territory to his blog.

I used to do that -- a lot when I first started Alphecca -- but I forgot it somewhere along the way. I'll try to do better. I live on the Vermont/New Hampshire border and will try to bring more of these two states to you.

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This is why I consider the Acidman one of the most superb bloggers. And obviously a whole lot of folks rightly agree.

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As one of the beleagued Mac users, I appreciate how many of the bloggers on my sidebar are Apple based. I'm not alone... (Keep telling yourself that, Jeff, as you hunt for games to play...)

If anyone were to start a Mac Web Ring, I think it should be my "down-under" friend OzGuru who probably knows more about computers than most. And he's much more passionate about Macs then most of us. And he already has something like four different blogs... one more dedicated to Macs...

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Christian Bowman at A Life Of Freedom reminds us of the stirring words of Patrick Henry and follows with the brilliant commentary of historian John Roane in this great post. Just some more "stuff" that our high-schools no longer teach to our children.

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You know, Mike at Raising Sand is just about the only guy I know who can talk about lunchroom bullies and the finite universe and the depleted uranium hoax within a few inches of each other on his blog... Now start visiting this guy!

A mini-rant: About two months ago I gave a mention to Hi I'm Black and I could see by his visitors list that I was sending folks his way. At that time he was blogrolled by about 15 folks. I said nice things about him and I meant them. But... He ignored me completely. Fine. Now suddenly, he wants to be blogrolled. I made my gesture of friendship when you weren't a big thing. Now, it's your turn, Glenn...

From Reuters:

A federal judge on Thursday threw out a revised lawsuit against McDonald's Corp . that accused the fast food restaurant of using misleading advertising to lure children into eating unhealthy foods that make them fat.

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet had previously dismissed the plaintiffs' original case but allowed them to submit a new filing with information backing up their advertising allegations.

In dismissing the current suit, Sweet said that the plaintiffs had not followed his detailed instructions and he barred them from filing another version, quelling litigation fears the suit had sparked in the food industry, .

"The plaintiffs have made no explicit allegations that they witnessed any particular deceptive advertisement and they have not provided McDonald's with enough information to determine whether its products are the cause of the alleged injuries," Sweet said.

All the blood-sucking greedy trial-lawyers must be fuming -- fuming I tell you -- that the courts aren't going to allow themselves to become "shooting galleries" against the fast-food industry.

See -- here's what I think is happening. The tobacco industry was the first of the "blame everyone else" crowd of perpetual babies and professional victims and their attendant greedy lawyers. So they scored big. But I really think, or at least hope that there was something inside most real humans -- a relic of or a hereditary link -- that screamed, "Wait a minute -- where does personal responsibility come in? Is this the simpering victimhood that helped our great country come about?

Tobacco was easy. Three-quarters of the population doesn't smoke and half of them are trying to deny that they used to...

And so, as with the anti-gun lawsuits greedy folks are filing against gun makers -- you know, blaming the manufacturer for the misuse of his legally made and distributed product -- rational (you know, not liberal) correctly thinking people are saying, "Wait a minute! Ronald McDonald never took hostages! No one has ever walked into McDonalds just for a glass of water and been strong-armed into downing a Quarter-Pounder.

I hope some folks are finally giving an indication that they think people are responsible for their own actions. And Judges (well, most of them) are people too.

So far, this has been the trend with the fast-food suits and gun-maker suits.

By the way, while there are some things I like a lot about Howard Dean, you all should remember that he is a health Nazi and would probably support these suits or try to outlaw fast-food or at least try to regulate it to death.

So this is the "good news" post of the day...

From Reuters:

Coughing hard at the first sign of a heart attack could a save patient's life, a Polish doctor says.

Tadeusz Petelenz of the Cardiological Foundation in Katowice, Poland, said Tuesday the pumping action caused by vigorous coughing could push blood through the body and to the brain for valuable minutes while an ambulance arrived.

So now they're telling me I shouldn't quit smoking...

Last week I reported on the horrible abuse of a small dog. Police have made an arrest in the case and more are expected. The mutant perp is 17 years old. If he is indeed guilty of this, or allowing it, he should fall into a very deep ditch. The dog is not expected to live.

In the meantime, another grotesque case of animal abuse and torture from just a few towns away. What the hell is wrong with people in New Hampshire?

A woman who heard kitten-like cries from a Rollins Park trash barrel made a horrible discovery Thursday morning. At the bottom of the bag were three puppies - so young their eyes were still closed - who'd had some of their legs and tails cut off.

Two of the puppies were euthanized later that day because their injuries were so severe. The other was alive and in fairly good condition at Northwood Veterinary Hospital yesterday.

There are some seriously mentally defective mutants walking around and a punishment such as jail is not an option. Anyone found guilty of crimes like these deserves to have the exact same actions performed on them. That would be justice.

is asking the question, How would you save the world from an asteroid? And how would you pay for it? Head on over there and add your comments!

And as 9/11 approaches, Jay also remembers what that day was like for him.

Welcome to my weekly media bias round-up on gun issues. Each week I check-out all the articles linked to on the Yahoo Gun Control Debate Page. This is a good bellwether on how newspapers around the country are treating the issue of gun-rights, or in many cases, gun-control.

This week's lovely model is a SKB 485 side-by-side shotgun (owned and photographed) by reader Ken Summers. Click the chart for a full-sized image. (Yeah, I know, I'm getting so sophisticated around here...) Ken writes:

I'm generally practical about firearms, emphasizing function over form for defensive weapons and hunting rifles. When it comes to bird hunting, though, I have to bow to tradition. I've used pumps and semiautos, I know all the arguments, but in the end it doesn't matter. There is something inherently RIGHT about a side-by-side for the upland game fields, and something vaguely "heathen" about the rest.

Because of declining popularity of the SxS, the variety available today is limited and mostly are available at sports car prices. Fortunately there are still a few good models that don't require a second mortgage and I was able to satisfy my need for a "real" bird gun.

This is an SKB model 485, the high-grade version of the model 385. It is a boxlock patterned on the classic Holland and Holland sidelock design, with engraved sideplates, English stock, and ejector/extractors. The few departures from tradition are the single, selective trigger, Briley choke tubes, and beavertail (for the life of me, I don't understand how anyone can use a splinter forend). This particular gun is 12 ga. with 28" barrels, which I use for duck and turkey. I can't bring myself to wrap camo tape around it, so my turkey success is, er, somewhat limited. I have a matching 20 ga. with 26" barrels for quail and dove. Both guns are easy to carry, very well-balanced, and an absolute joy to shoot.

I will never sacrifice function or quality, but this is the one area in which I also refuse to sacrifice style.

Thanks very much, Ken. So here's the chart:

So things are pretty good here. A lot of mostly neutral stories and an almost even number of "pro" and "anti" ones as well.

The Summer doldrums still hold at Yahoo and there were only a few new items listed, though the entire page of links seems to have "shrunk."

There was the Reuters story about how Arnold Schwarzenegger is "fuzzy" about his position on gun control. He is and it's because whatever his personal feelings, he's running for governor in one of the most liberal states in the country. He can't very well come out and say, "yeah, everyone should be concealed-carrying." Like Howard Dean, he'll give some lip-service to the crunchy-granola crowd by mumbling something about closing the (fictitious) gun-show loop hole and that will probably be about it. Anyway, I think most voters in California have taxes and budget problems on their minds.

Here's a quote from the article:

Take this scene in the 1990 film "Total Recall" when Schwarzenegger raises a gun to his scheming "spouse" played by Sharon Stone. "But I'm your wife," she pleads.

Schwarzenegger does not hesitate and shoots her dead. "Consider this a divorce," he says coldly.

Scenes like that sparked criticism last week from California's Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who said Schwarzenegger's films "glorify" gun violence.

"Of course they glorify those weapons," she said. "I would call on Mr. Schwarzenegger to renounce these weapons. They bring no good to America, they bring no good to California."

Uh, Dianne? If you want to pretend you're intelligent than maybe you should criticize Arnold's positions in regards to the problems facing California -- which he has started to elaborate on -- rather than a character he played in a movie. Because if that's all you've got, then there are a lot of your Hollywood buddies (major industry in California) that have waved guns around on the silver screen.

To be honest, I don't really care what happens in California -- this is all just some sideshow the rest of us can view with amusement.

Last Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times ran two op-eds concerning guns. One was from John R. Lott Jr. While I classified it as pro-gun, I'm always ambivilent about editorials such as his. He refers to the recent shooting of six people at the Windy City Core Supply Company by a recently fired employee and goes on to make the case that Chicago doesn't allow handgun possession, much less concealed carry while in other cities and states that do -- there are less of these horrible crimes. True enough but I cringe at what liberals must be thinking about "salt in the wounds." Here's a quote:

The attack took place in a city where new handguns since 1982 are already banned, a giant so-called ''gun-free safe zone.'' Yet, consider the following: Suppose you or your family are being stalked by a criminal who intends on harming you. Would you feel safer putting a sign in front of your home saying ''This Home is a Gun-Free Zone''?

It is pretty obvious why we don't put these signs up. As with many other gun laws, law-abiding citizens--not would-be criminals--would obey the sign. Instead of creating a safe zone for victims, it leaves victims defenseless and creates a safe zone for those intent on causing harm.

It's sort of like the stories you read about some poor soul who loses control of their van and goes off the road, resulting in the death of their children. He/she survives and is in the hospital where a cop shows up to present a ticket for reckless driving. The damage is done, the survivor has already paid a terrible price -- wait awhile please before piling on.

And frankly, I'm not sure that nut-cases such as the disgruntled employee care whether they will face armed resistance or not. They're furious and possessed by demons and are bent on revenge. And the truth of the matter is that in a "blue-collar" setting at a factory, I doubt that even in [states that allow concealed carry] most factory workers are carrying.

When I was working for the fence company, in shorts and t-shirt, there was no place to conceal a handgun and besides, I would have found it uncomfortable and un-needed and out of place. Pro-gun, yes, but in my opinion, a specious argument. Interesting though, that the usually "liberal" Chicago Sun-Times printed it.

They also printed an unsigned editorial -- probably meant to be a counter-point -- that I classified as neutral but was right on the money. It actually makes the case that the shooter, Salvador Tapia, already arrested a dozen times, many of them for illegal weapons possession, shouldn't have been on the streets at all much less toting a firearm. You know -- enforcing the existing laws.

It further ridiculed the suggestion by state Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) that somehow the employer was to blame. Here's a quote:

Hunter, who represents Bridgeport, called for, of all things, a police investigation into Tapia's dismissal. "How did they do it?" she asked. "Did they just say, 'We're going to fire you?' Was it done professionally? In today's day, everyone is under a lot of pressure. When someone loses their job, it's a shock and tragedy in itself."

The suffering families the slain workers left behind no doubt would have something to say about the comparative shock and tragedy of losing their loved ones so violently and senselessly, and a drunken, cocaine-using wife-beater with a history of illegal gun possession and a bad record at work losing his job.

One can only imagine what was going through Hunter's head when she made her remarks. Perhaps the jolting news caused her to lose her sense of priorities. Perhaps she was having the newspaper-quote equivalent of a bad hair day. Whatever the reasons, it would behoove her to put one and one together and realize who the real victims were.

Can I just say a huge "EXACTLY." To their credit, the Chicago Sun-Times did not try to lay the blame on guns or the lack of gun control. Of course, how could they? Chicago has TOTAL gun control and it still didn't work in this tragic case.

Here are some of the non-Yahoo-linked stories making the rounds...

Referring back to the story I've been talking about for the last many paragraphs, the local ABC-TV affiliate in Chicago is reporting that some community activists wants yet MORE gun control:

Outside the Cook County morgue Saturday, several community activists called on Chicagoans to remove guns from their homes.

They want the government to enforce stricter gun laws and say gun violence is too accepted in American culture.

Now since it's already impossible to obtain a permit or license to buy a gun in Chicago, how could there possibly be any more gun control than that? They want present owners (before 1983 you could buy a gun) to rid their homes of firearms. Oh yes, let's just turn in our guns because Chicago only has the highest murder rate of any city in the nation. Why on Earth would we want to keep our last remaining means to protect ourselves? *Ghod!*

Better news from the Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

For years, local governments have been able to ban concealed handguns from many city halls, police stations, libraries, recreation centers and city and county parks, as well as many other governmental facilities.

No more.

A new state law takes effect Monday that allows Texans with concealed handgun permits to legally take their firearms into many public facilities.

The article goes on to say that not everyone is happy about this but really, all this new law did was close a loophole in the concealed-carry laws of Texas. And the simple fact is that folks will be safer in these public spaces.

Nothing like ending on a good note, huh?

See you soon and thanks for stopping by.

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Update 8/4 7:30AM comments received:

Sacramento Bee has the key info

Here.

Arnold supports:

Extension of the California Assault Weapons law to include characteristics, not just named items.

SB 52 and AB 35: Requires Californians who attempt to buy a handgun to complete a two-part exam at the place of purchase to prove they can safely handle and operate the firearm.

It essentially makes the old 'lifetime' Basic Firearms Safety Certificate into a 5-year renewable, keep paying and paying system; same info, same test with the questions shuffled.

Cross-connecting databases so background checks work better. (SB 950; this sounds OK, but it's getting a broader interpretation than is probably warranted -- some forced -evaluations- for mental health are being treated as forced -institutionalizations-, which are ownership/possession-disqualifying.)

Requiring 'loaded chamber indicators' and 'magazine disconnects'. (SB 489)

Adding .50 caliber weapons to the 'assault weapon' definition. (AB 50)

He would oppose

Ballistic database requirements. (SB 35)

Removing the "It's not the manufacturer's fault if a buyer shoots someone" provision. (SB 682/AB 496 - this passed and is law.)

--John Simutis

And:

You wrote (quoting Senator Feinstein):

"Of course they glorify those weapons," she said. "I would call on Mr. Schwarzenegger to renounce these weapons. They bring no good to America, they bring no good to California."

The obvious question is, assuming Ms Feinstein opposes the media's glorification of violence, why she accepts donations from media companies and media factotums. Don't count on an answer from the senator or it'll break your heart.

--Jerry Huling

If I could raise half the money that Prince Andrew does, I'd quit my job in a second and blog full time, all the time. Of course, first I'd have to actually learn to write well, and then locate an extra 100,000 daily visitors. And as most of his contributors are guilty-feeling liberals, I'd have to drop my love, respect, and support for an un-adulterated Second Amendment. That last clause is the reason none of this will ever happen. "From my cold, dead fingers." Amen!

Anyway, the weather isn't quite as nice as predicted -- overcast with showers, temps in the mid-sixties, *ugh.* So I'm inside while the burgers are cooking outside and while I have no special thoughts for the day, others do so let me direct those of you surfing the holiday towards some interesting stuff...

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First up is that my good friend Leigh Hanlon is back after a brief absence and reminds me that while HE has a life, I don't. I love rural life and wouldn't swap it for anything but occasionaly I do regret that there isn't always a whole lot to do at night. He has a life and chronicles it very well. With pictures!

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My buddies at Discount Blogger have a series of posts about gay marriage and partnerships. Good reading and thinking. Visit them. That's an order...

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A ton of good stuff -- as always -- over at Across the Altlantic but something about the radar towers looming over the castle remind us that while government would like to "zone" us to death, they ignore it themselves. Yeah, so what if there was a small war on at the time...

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Why do I like the Mind of Mog so much? Here's one reason and a quote:

And they rewrote history too, the U.S. didn't steal it's territory from Mexico, we got it legal in a treaty after winning a war with them. But who cares what actually happened? Especially now when rewriting history to suit one's agenda is the in thing to do.

About MEChA. Exactly. Now go over there and read the whole thing.

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Up With Beauty does not agree with my assessment below of Alabama Chief Justice Judge Moore. On this one, we'll just have to agree to disagree. Steven always has good, thought-provoking posts. Put him on your blogroll.

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Roger L. Simon is posting today about the new French Ambassador to Israel, Gerard Araud being a typical French boor. Roger is -- "indeed!"

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I just flipped my burgers. Doing quite nicely. I should point out that I cook on a low flame because I hate a charred outside with a raw inside. Especially since the store where I bought this meat from isn't very sanitary so I want even, complete cooking. With steak, which isn't ground up with E-Coli from other cow parts, I prefer things rare...

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Plenty of good stuff over at my friend Kevin's The Smallest Minority. As always.

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And my arms-in-arms buddy (guns, folks! Nothing more...) Publicola has another example of what happens in England because they aren't allowed to defend themselves. *Sigh.*

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Lastly, my blogsister Baby Bitch has angst about her current boyfriend (and by the way Baby, please ask Bitter -- how come she never introduces me to her GAY friends?) and that leads to a comment poll about how long you all think the life expectancy is for J-Lo and Ben-Lo.
Well, I didn't want to end on something heavy...

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Well, one more important mention -- my dear blogson Eric Scheie continues to prove he might just be one of the best bloggers around. As he wends his way across the US he continues to put up great, thoughtful posts. Classical Values has become one of the most important blogs around and it is all directly attibutable to the talent Eric has for thinking and writing. Read him and enjoy him and link him. Godspeed Eric.

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Okay. The burgers and corn are done. The vegetables are almost done. I'm done! So there's some good reading for you on this Labor Day Holiday. It's obviously pointless for me to keep predicting as to when I'll return so I'll just say, stay-tuned... Thanks for stopping by!

Okay, I'm done for the night. I want to thank all of you terrific folks who visit me. And also my fellow bloggers who mention me. I'm taking the next 36 hours off from my computer so let me wish all of you a safe, happy holiday. If you're stuck working, I hope only really nice people enter your establishment.

I'll be back sometime on Tuesday. Tomorrow I'll be eating (and probably drinking) up a storm and having a grand-old-time. I hope you do too.

You know, I think about how much we all have, here in the U.S., and how the simple truth is that every other country -- their people -- wish they had it too. But they never will until they admit to the few basic truths that all people should be free, and enjoy their liberty, and family, and freedom of thought-control, and freedom to express and pursue their ideas and dreams and aspirations. And mostly to live the freedom from an oppressive -- "nanny-state" government. Americans take note!

We are so lucky here in America. And our prosperity is directly due to the hard work and sweat of our country's workers. They are the ones who actually work and produce and maintain the fantastic lifestyle we all enjoy.

To all of you that have to work tomorrow -- thank you for your sacrifice and dedication. May you all enjoy your own "holiday" of your own very soon.

May our loving God bless and keep you and yours and may you enjoy hope and prosperity and good health in your very near future.

Enjoy the holiday tomorrow and I'll see you all back here sometime Tuesday.

Honesty forces me to admit that while I have knocked Vermont Public Television (VPT) in the past as being a public television station run by-and-for "flat-landers" (liberal jerks who move here and try to force their liberal, politically correct ways upon us) I have to admit that VPT now has a really good half-hour show for us locals each week.

The show is a locally (Vermont) produced program called Outdoor Journal. I don't know if it is picked-up by other public television stations around the country.

The show started last year and it features 30 minutes of hunting, fishing, outdoor sports, and gun-sports. The man and woman who host the show -- and I'm embarrassed to admit that after watching it a bunch of times I still can't (being senile) remember their names -- present their segments on all things "out-doors" in a truly fair, enthusiastic manner with absolutely NO thought to what is politically correct.

Okay, I just discovered the link to this show and the hosts' names are Marianne Eaton and Lawrence Pyne. And maybe VPT will want to sue me for posting this but here's a photo of them:

They show it all in hunting and fishing and A LOT of gun sporting including skeet-shooting and target shooting. I give them, their producers, and yes -- Vermont Public Television -- a ton of credit for this show. There has never been, that I have seen in over 20 episodes, a single moment of anti-gun or anti-hunting commentary. Indeed -- they celebrate the outdoors (or out-doors, I'm not sure which it is) experience.

I'm in dire-times right now or I would make a HUGE contribution to VPT to show my support for this show. In a few months my trials will be over and I will.

Anyway, public television stations tend to buy other state's PBS programs and if your state does show Outdoor Journal then please watch it. You'll enjoy it. And let your PBS station know that you do.

So, I really just wanted to admit that my local PBS station really ISN'T so awfully anti-American all the time. Good Job! Good Program!

In the Chicago Sun Times about how too much gun-control can lead to mass shootings, or at least not stem their happening. Here's a quote:

Fortunately, legislators around the country are realizing this. In 1985, just eight states had the most liberal right-to-carry laws--laws that automatically grant permits once applicants pass a criminal background check, pay their fees and, when required, complete a training class. Today the total is 35 states. In a new book, The Bias Against Guns, Bill Landes of the University of Chicago Law School and I examine multiple-victim public shootings in the United States from 1977 to 1999 and find that when states passed right-to-carry laws, these attacks fell by 60 percent. Deaths and injuries from multiple-victim public shootings fell on average by 78 percent.

Exactly. I know there has been some minor controversy about his statistics of late but even if we cut in-half his pro-gun figures, it still has to give you pause. And NO ONE is suggesting that he is even NEARLY that far off. Further more, the statistics hurled about by the anti-gun crowd are even more suspect by all scholars. I suppose, as we all know, that's the problem with surveys and statistics. Anyway... This is much more meaningful for what I report about here -- I love this next quote the best:

During 2001, the morning and evening national news broadcasts on the three main television networks carried almost 190,000 words on gun crimes. Not one single segment featured a civilian using a gun to stop a crime. Newspapers were not much better.

And anyone who watches the morning or evening news knows absolutely that this is true. So don't tell me there's no bias against ownership of guns in the dominant, liberal media!

I'm not feeling very blabby right now so I'll leave it to the great pro-2A bloggers on my left sidebar to comment more on this.

Sorry, I'm rather mello right now, holiday and all...

Normally on Monday evenings, I give a mention to five great new blogs I've discovered. But I might not be around tomorrow. I can only think of one right now... Technorati is back in action and I've discovered the most delightful blog called Indigo Insights who has given me a very nice mention. But more than that, she is just about the nicest, coolest blogger I've ever read. If I'm reading the signals correctly, she's older than most of us and has a lot more wisdom to impart. Scroll through her writings. Visit her archives.

There is no email contact listed so all I can do is link to her. Go enjoy her. She is my one pick for this week's mentions... That's Indigo Insights.

Okay, one more, A College Educated Redneck. He just came up on my radar and he hasn't even put a post up yet! So Christopher, welcome to the instant internet! You are NOW LINKED! (I try to be first in everything...)
Also no email so he may never know I was his first... Does this make me his blogfather?

Every Friday night I say, hey, thanks, I take weekends off and come back on Monday. And almost every Sunday I can't stand it anymore and I have to resume blogging. I gotta' tell ya' folks, I have lived through a life of astounding sciatica, cluster headaches, and for the last 15 years, gout. But there is nothing as painful as discovering the joy of blogging -- allowing myself to rant and rave to the world for almost nothing (money-wise) as blogging has provided me. So once again, I blogged this morning and now I'm home from work (yes, on a Sunday) blogging some more. Is there a twelve-step program for this?

A few things...
Last week I said I would be back blogging up a storm tomorrow -- Labor Day -- because I was (will be) "off." But here I am... However, I have stocked up on all sorts of cool stuff such as visiting the local truck-farm today and buying the last of the broccoli (side-shoots after the harvest) cut JUST FOR ME! And a pile of wax-beans. And fresh-picked sweet-corn. And I've bought a pile of ground-round. I've got the bottle of vodka. Enough cigarettes. Coals. Tomorrow, like today, should be just perfect -- low 70's, partly sunny -- the town hopping with tourists enjoying the end of Summer in Vermont.

What I'm trying to say in a hugely round-about way is that I might just enjoy the holiday as a holiday and you might not find anything new here until Tuesday. Hey look -- it's only one day and unlike some folks who keep raising $80K every half-year and then promptly go on vacation and still get a hundred-thousand visitors each day, -- I'm just taking a day off. I can't afford to take more than that or my visitor count will drop to zero... I will certainly be back with my Weekly Check On the Bias on Wednesday. I've NEVER missed a week yet.

One other thing... I don't know today's site statistics but so far for August I've averaged over 700 visitors a day. I value and thank every one of them -- you actually! I also know (well, recognize) that I am lucky to have that many wonderful folks clicking over here each day. Lastly, I know I have -- for lack of a better phrase -- a somewhat erratic writing style. And I curse now and then. And I throw around labels a lot.

I owe it to all of you to at least try to clean up my act. I will try to have less alcohol-fueled rants. I will try to think and write better because you deserve it. I really want a larger audience reading and linking to me. Yes, yes, yes, there are some big-time bloggers who get away with all of this but they are much better writers than I am and much more brutally honest with their private lives than I can ever be. But I will try to reveal more about my own self too in the coming months. And try to be the great writer I fantasize I am.

You know what's scary? (Besides the fact that I have to send Hosting Matters a bunch of money I don't have in the next few days to keep Alphecca alive?) I feel as if I just started doing this and yet my first "blog-anniversary" is only a few weeks away.

Speaking of the poorest of the workers -- Labor Day is supposed to be a holiday to celebrate America's hard working-class. Most of the white-collar types will have off but not many in the service industry will.

Sales clerks, cooks and waitresses, gas-station attendents, cops, firemen, hospital workers, farmers, hotel workers, toll-booth collectors, etc., all will be on the job. And while some unionized workers will receive special compensation, most will not.

So tomorrow, those of you enjoying the day off (such as myself) would do well to be extra-nice to these folks who do have to work on the holiday dedicated to them. Remember to say, "thank you" and smile and maybe leave a larger than normal tip.

Have a great holiday, everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

I don't plan to wade too deeply into the muddy waters of the the display of the Ten Commandments by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in the lobby of his courthouse. I guess I'm just having a hard time trying to understand what all the fuss is about. It's not as if he was displaying all of Leviticus or basing all of his rulings upon the writings of Job.

Most of the world's religions acknowledge the Ten Commandments in one version or another and they've really become rather generic. Do those who complain about this display also insist, when they are called to testify, that they do NOT "swear to tell the whole truth... ...so help me God?" Do they refuse to handle American currency?

As the article above points out, even the Supreme Court has a display of Moses with the Ten Commandments. And don't both houses of congress start each session with a prayer? (Granted, by a revolving group of theologians.)

As the saying goes, "pick your battles." This seems like a silly one.

Let's look at the Ten Commandments... Does anyone feel that it is alright to kill? Or steal? Commit adultery? I suppose some would have a problem with graven images or not working on the seventh day -- although I notice that in ultra-liberal Bergen County in New Jersey, they still have Sunday Blue Laws because nobody should work except the poorest paid who should be available to pump your gas and wait on your tables... Sorry, just had to point out that bit of hypocrisy...

I do find it interesting though that the liberals and leftists who decry any possible display or mention of anything religious -- if it's Christian or Jewish -- never have a problem with proselytizing Islam on school grounds and indeed in the classroom. Sorry, had to point that out too...

In the end I think this is much ado about nothing. Some folks have way too much time on their hands.

I would think that the only ones who really have a problem with the Ten Commandments are the criminals walking through the courthouse doors.

I've made it rather clear here before that I am a proud supporter of Israel (the Israeli flag on the sidebar has linked to The Reborn by Design Project since last fall.) I don't discuss the mid-East that much because it's not the focus of this blog.

But in a sad reminder that we are all connected in one way or another, one of my blogging buddies, Kin at Kin's Kouch lost a friend to the murderous Hamas. My sympathies go out to him, and my prayers to the wife and child left behind in the vile attack in Israel.

Hopefully Kin will return to blogging in the near future.