Two things tonight, medical and dumbassery

On the latter, as Og says, stupid SHOULD hurt; the lesson sticks that way, if you'll have the brains and humility to accept it.
Amid screams and what survivors called a "terrifying scene," two cables holding up the suspension bridge at Hidden Lake Park in Merrillville failed at 10 p.m., sending the bridge and 50 to 120 children and adults crashing into a creek about 10 feet below.

The 80-foot span was designed to hold 40 people, but "at least twice as many" were on it when it collapsed, said Ross Township Trustee John Rooda, who runs the park.
To quote from Mythbusters, "Well, there's your problem right there!"
Hall, who was treated at a hospital for a sprained ankle, said she saw some people "jumping up and down on the bridge, laughing" before the collapse.
"Hey, the bridge is moving, ain't this cool?" Splash.
There is the question of why the cops, one at each end, let so many people on; that'll need to be answered. Which still leaves idiots on a packed bridge jumping up & down...


The medical is Kevin's most recent post on the wonders of socialized medicine,
I was going to respond to this comment by reactive target Markadelphia a couple of days ago, but I discovered I didn't need to. John Stossell, one of the few in the legacy media who doesn't qualify as a "gerbilist" already has:

"Better" Health Care?

by John Stossell

President Obama says government will make health care cheaper and better. But there's no free lunch.

In England, health care is "free" -- as long as you don't mind waiting. People wait so long for dentist appointments that some pull their own teeth. At any one time, half a million people are waiting to get into a British hospital. A British paper reports that one hospital tried to save money by not changing bedsheets. Instead of washing sheets, the staff was encouraged to just turn them over.

Wow. That sounds . . . sterile. Then there was the recent case of a British patient in hospital for an abscess on her neck who took it upon herself to clean the ward she was in because it was filthy.

Obama insists he is not "trying to bring about government-run healthcare".

"But government management does the same thing," says Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute. "To reduce costs they'll have to ration -- deny -- care."

Like the New Zealand hospital for all intents and purposes told a Samoan family that they should let their deformed newborn daughter die, and denied her care. The government went so far as to deny her a visa to travel to where she could get care. That child eventually did get to the U.S. for treatment, and has now returned home, still alive.

There's a difference between having the government insist on denying care, and the family making that decision. That difference is who's paying.
Read it all. And if you need to check out the leftist defense of this garbage, click on the comment by the reactive target in the first line(and the others to find out about 'reactive target' and the 'gerbalist'). Oh, and I'd suggest you hit this link that a gentleman left in the comments, and consider our numbers changing to those of (fG)Britain or Canada. Like
60: Average cancer survival rate (all types) for patients in the United States. Canada’s survival rate is significantly lower at 55%, while Europe’s is a dismal 48%.

81: Average percentage of those who survive a diagnosis of prostate cancer in the United States versus 43% in Britain under their National Health Service.

90: Number of days, on average, each Canadian patient must wait for an MRI under the Canadian government-run health care system.

Several years back I had an idea, and being on this here internet thingy I sent a question to a number of politicians: "If you simply want to make health care more affordable, make all health expenses deductible: not the current 'calculate 'X' percent of your income and what's above that' mess but ALL of it. People could adjust their withholding to take account of known/planned costs, and if have some above that they'd get it back when they file."

Not one of the bastards would even answer me. Because, I think, because for most of them it's not actually about making health care more affordable: it's about control of health care AND control of your money.

I've got a friend who insists that the examples of socialized-medicine horrors I send him are due to me cherry-picking bad stuff; he won't believe that all you have to do is scan British and Canadian news sites to find this stuff. And insists "At least I'll have free health care!" And gets upset when I say "It won't be free; you may not be writing a check to the doctor, but you'll be paying out the ass in taxes for that 'free' care."

And, before I forget(ok, dammit, so this makes 'three', if you're going to be picky), since Sweden is often mentioned as a wonderplace of socialized care,
Take healthcare. Swedes do not enjoy free public care: it costs to see a GP. That is, if you manage to see one. Queues are long and scandals rack the system. Psychiatric care, the source of many such scandals, has a near-medieval penchant for authoritarianism with few European equivalents. People are locked up for months for not taking medicine, given no therapy, and spat out of the system into despair and destitution. The mentally ill die in wards and in outpatient isolation. And they do not even have charities to turn to because state-run healthcare is supposed to work: this is Sweden, after all.

Those who do enjoy Sweden's second-rate public services are lucky. Undocumented migrants, who lack a "personal number", are barred from day-to-day healthcare. Foreigners do not fit easily into a social system built on the postwar notion of the folkhem, or people's home, whose rightful inhabitants are the native Swedes. Despite the xenophobic right's lack of electoral success, Sweden is divided between those inside the system and those outside it – including the asylum seekers now deported en masse to Iraq. But migrants should be happy to be here. This is Sweden, after all.
and
Even being in the system is less rewarding than it was. Unemployment benefits are falling behind those of other countries, and access to social security involves Big Brother-style controls most Europeans would abhor. The state's iron grip remains even as the care that used to go with it has gone. Swedes might lack Britain's profusion of CCTVs, but their lives are scrutinised by an armada of bureaucrats. A new law lets authorities tap all phone and internet traffic crossing the borders. Norwegian lawyers have sued over privacy infringement, leaving the prime minister perplexed – because in Sweden, the state is there to help us.
Two notes: first, the 'xenophobic right' in Sweden is doing hateful things like pointing out that not only do a lot of muslim immigrants not integrate into society, they're forcing society to change to accomodate them, and the wussy leftists in government are letting it happen because actually dealing with the problem is 'racist' and 'bigoted'. Second, while the left here screams bloody murder at tapping phone calls to numbers known to be used by terrorists; think they'd prefer the scheme of socialist Sweden?

Hell, one more note, that "because in Sweden, the state is there to help us." Even when you can't see a doctor, even when your daughter has to cover herself to avoid being raped, even when they're tapping your calls and net use, it's ok because 'the State is there to help us'. Disgusting attitude. And it's shared by the 'progressives' here.

Dealing with the Evil Party

Even worse was the glaze of horror on the phizzes of the assembled heroes of the Mainstream Media. Andrea Mitchell — yes, the very same Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington, whose employer saw no conflict of interest at all when she married then Fed pooh-bah Alan Greenspan — stood there gaping like a frog while the rest of the assembled Finemans and Matthewses and Olbermanns scurried around like roaches when the light gets turned on: What the hell just hit us? For one horrible moment, it looked as if the carefully crafted plans of David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, George Soros, and the Second Chief Directorate, first department, of the old KGB were about to gang agley.

Not only were we offended at the sheer effrontery of McCain’s pick: How dare the Republicans proffer this déclassée piece of Wasilla trailer trash whose only claim to fame was that she didn’t exercise her right to choose? Where were her degrees from Smith or Barnard, her internships at PETA, the Brookings Institution, or the Young Pioneers? We were also outraged that the Stupid Party had just nominated a completely unqualified candidate nobody had ever heard of, a first-term governor of Alaska whose previous experience consisted of a small-town mayoralty. As opposed to our guy, Barry Soetoro of Mombasa, Djakarta, and Honolulu, a first-term senator nobody had ever heard of, whose previous experience had been as a state senator (D., Daley Machine) in Illinois. After eight long, illegitimate, lawless years of &*^%BUSH$#@! tyranny, how dare you contest this election?
Go take a look.

Ok, here's one to watch

Rep. Alcee Hastings(Disbarred Shyster-Evil Party) has introduced a bill that contains a couple of troublesome parts. It's called the Prohibition on recruitment, enlistment or retention of persons associalted or affiliated with groups associated with hate-related violence against groups or persons or the United States Government(any bill or amendment with a title that long ought to be scrapped for that alone). The two parts that caught my eye were first, under Definition of hate group,
(C)Groups or organizations that espouse an intention or expectation of armed revolutionary activity against the United States Government, or the violent overthrow of the United States Government.
and
(G)Other groups or organizations that are determined by the Attorney General to be of a violent, extremist nature.

Maybe I'm being excessively cautious here, but a group that speaks of the 'expectation of' could be said to include ANY group that says something like "The way things are going, it wouldn't surprise us" or "we expect there to be a revolution in the next few years." For that matter, giving the AG an open field like that to determine that is a bit worrisome.

Under Evidence of association or affiliation with hate group, it includes
(B)Individuals known to have attended meetings, rallies, conferences, or other activities sponsored by a hate group.
Again, maybe I'm being unnecessarily cautious here, but combine the definitions with (B), and some kid who, in a dumbass or curious stage, attended a meeting of some group and decided 'No thank you', or who once joined and got a tattoo and later decided "This is bullcrap" and left could find himself barred from enlisting. There's an exception for troops who are found to have 'renounced' their previous association with a group, but nothing there for someone who wants to enlist.

And there's always the worry of this giving the AG, whoever it may be at the time, another way to decide that 'X' is a hate group and make it an actual legal statement of his office.

Flatly, I just don't trust these people.

Hastings has also introduced a bill, H.R.645; this from Right Wing News also:
Rep. Alcee Hastings also introduced what many say is another disturbing piece of legislation. That new bill calls for the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to build at least six facilities that can be designated as "emergency centers. Hastings' rationale for such facilities is to gather and "house" civilians on what are basically detention centers guarded by armed soldiers or paramilitary troops.

The House bill (HR 645) — National Emergency Centers Establishment Act — is not even on the radar of members of the elite media. According to critics of the plan, if passed the government will create camps or centers that by their nature restrict the activities of US citizens herded into them.

Looking at the link, here's the first section:
This Act may be cited as the ‘National Emergency Centers Establishment Act’.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY CENTERS.

(a) In General- In accordance with the requirements of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish not fewer than 6 national emergency centers on military installations.

(b) Purpose of National Emergency Centers- The purpose of a national emergency center shall be to use existing infrastructure--

(1) to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster;

(2) to provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of Federal, State, and local first responders;

(3) to provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations; and

(4) to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

I'm guessing it's the 'other appropriate needs, as determined by' that's most bothering people. Although the idea of the government using God knows how many millions(maybe billions) of dollars to set up refugee camps and training areas doesn't exactly thrill me. There's no place to train first responders already? We need more official government offices for 'coordination'?

Odd couple of bills; what do you think?

I wonder if anyone else could keep one of those issue subguns

handy for home defense? Without getting arrested?
Which leads me to the third fear, that there is a revolution coming, yes, a revolution on the scale of the original American Revolution. You can hear this topic discussed on many of the talk radio shows by even the big name hosts. The possibility of an armed revolution against the U.S. government being discussed, albeit very gingerly and fleetingly and as something to be avoided, which it is. I never heard this mentioned in the 90s. One of my quietest, low profile officer friends brought it up the other day.

He said that at some point in the near future, he felt there is going to be an armed revolt if things keep going the way they are. Something has got to give. I was shocked. Yes, I had heard this from some of my more radical
cop friends in the past, but to hear it from a guy like this was unprecedented. Now, these guys are not saying this will happen to foment revolution, preach sedition or to even participate. They just want to be ready if it happens, to at least defend their families, because number four on the fear list is general societal chaos.

Cops fear for their parents, wives, children or grandchildren more now than ever before. Most cops are encouraging their spouses and loved ones to get concealed carry permits. Not only that, but some of these same cops are buying gun mounts for their personal cars so they can carry an AR in the family ride at the ready all the time. They are also strapping on heavier forms of off-duty hardware. I have other friends that are issued ARs or subguns for tactical team use, who always have their gear with them and are planning on just commandeering these weapons for personal use in defending hearth and home.

Read it. Found thanks to Uncle.

William Wallace would friggin' cry if he saw Scotland

today:
A second phase of a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of airguns has been launched by the Scottish Government.

The campaign, which uses adverts, internet viral marketing, posters and leaflets, is resuming for the summer.

Police suggested this is when airgun incidents are most likely to occur.

Figures revealed the first phase of the campaign saw over 130,000 plays of the internet viral and almost 15,000 visits to the campaign web site.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "Air guns are not toys, but weapons that can kill and maim. There have been tragedies that have caused pain and injury to children and animals. That's why we believe that action must be taken.

Etc., etc., ad holy crap. Couple of years ago someone found a .22 Short cartridge in a street and the whole city crapped bricks; now Scotland is doing this along with their 'knife amnesty' bullcrap.

Barring a miracle, Britain is so screwed.

Quote of the day

The Obama Administration has got this economic thing which is “If it’s workin’, tax the hell out of it. If it’s not workin’, bail it out. And if it’s barely scraping by, drop Barney Frank on it until it screams for help.”

PJ O’Rourke

Found at RNS

And the plot thickens in Honduras

Or, considering the actions of the morons in DC, 'sickens' might be the word. First off, ref the shooting yesterday at the airport, there was one dead. And Hunter has this:
This is just a rough translation, as I am hurrying to make it available in English:

The Minister of Defense Adolfo Lionel Sevilla said this afternoon that the bullet that killed a young man at the demonstration Sunday in the Toncontín airport did not come from a military weapon.

According to the experts, the bullet that took the life of a young 19 year old, was not from a military caliber. The report reveals that the direction the young man died does not coincide with the trajectory of the direction of the bullet from the armed forces.
There's a lot more. Including this in the previous post:
As reported yesterday from the perspective of the participants in the demonstration against the new government and for the return of Manuel Zelaya, it was said that the military initiated the conflict with the demonstrators. Recently I interviewed a high ranking Honduran military officer in Tegucigalpa, and he tells a different story than what is being officially reported.

The officer claims that protesters had wire cutters (I did see protesters with wire cutters) and began cutting the chain link fence and ripping it down. The crowd convened onto the fence, ready to rush onto the tarmac at the airport. Shots were fired from the military, however as of right now it is uncertain whether the casualties were the result of a military issued weapon.

As the rally came to a close, the police arrested 20 Nicaraguans from the crowd, who were armed with .357 pistols. Right now they are being detained and questioned as to their entry into the country and actions at the rally. Besides the Nicaraguans that were arrested yesterday, the officer claimed that there were foreigners from Cuba and Venezuela as well. He was unable or unwilling to provide more details on the other nationals.
Well, well, an awful lot of foreigners showing up at these protests. I'm willing to believe it; with Chavez threatening to invade, Nicaragua making noises and Cuba doing its usual 'spread socialism no matter how many die', why wouldn't I?

Here's some of the most recent at Fausta's blog we find this quote:
The fact that the military carried out the Honduran Supreme Court’s orders in removing a would-be dictator, after he flouted the court’s rulings, does not make it a “military coup.” When court orders are defied by powerful government officials, troops are sometimes called out to enforce them, as happened in the U.S. in 1957 when federal troops forced Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus to stop blocking the court-ordered integration of Little Rock’s public schools. Indeed, Article 272 of the Honduran Constitution gives the military the power to remove a president even without a court order, if he seeks to violate the term limits prescribed in the Honduran Constitution. Even a legal commentator, Litho, at the leading liberal blog Daily Kos, which is run by a leftist Latin American immigrant, admits that the military’s action was “legal” in a “technical sense” under the Honduran Constitution.
Ok, when you have weenies at Kos having to admit the actions of the military were legal, that even if there hadn't been an order from the court(which there was, let us remember) it would have been legal for them to remove Zelaya from office for what he did. And yet Obama and Clinton are still running around yelling 'Coup!' and trying to force this clown back on Honduras.

Also at Fausta:
6:50PM
Mexico would offer asylum to Zelaya were he to request it, according to Foreign Relations Subsecretary Lourdes Aranda Bezaury.
Asylum? Interesting word to use here.

Damn, something intelligent from NPR

Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus

I decided that years ago, having seen people in good shape, healthy who were either 'overweight' or 'obese' according to this scale. I worked the formula, and according to it I should weigh around 150-155; at which weight I'd look emaciated. In the best shape I've ever been in, working out 3-4 times a week, I weighed more than that.

Oh, as to the formula,
1. The person who dreamed up the BMI said explicitly that it could not and should not be used to indicate the level of fatness in an individual.

The BMI was introduced in the early 19th century by a Belgian named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. He was a mathematician, not a physician. He produced the formula to give a quick and easy way to measure the degree of obesity of the general population to assist the government in allocating resources. In other words, it is a 200-year-old hack.

2. It is scientifically nonsensical.

There is no physiological reason to square a person's height (Quetelet had to square the height to get a formula that matched the overall data. If you can't fix the data, rig the formula!). Moreover, it ignores waist size, which is a clear indicator of obesity level.

3. It is physiologically wrong.

It makes no allowance for the relative proportions of bone, muscle and fat in the body. But bone is denser than muscle and twice as dense as fat, so a person with strong bones, good muscle tone and low fat will have a high BMI. Thus, athletes and fit, health-conscious movie stars who work out a lot tend to find themselves classified as overweight or even obese.

And there's seven more reasons to go!

Remember the miserable little excuse for a man, Erik Nelson,

who made retard jokes about Palin's kid? It seems he's following that abuser Letterman: a non-apology apology:
I wrote jokes that were offensive but my intent was for them to be ironic and therefore not offensive. I was wrong. Within ten minutes of my post I received some emails from the loved ones of the retarded and I saw that my piece was hurtful. Therefore, I removed the post right after receiving the first 2 emails.

I removed it immediately because I saw that it did not come across as I intended. I apologize to all of those who were offended.
Awww, isn't that just so sensitive of him? He intended jokes about her son to be 'ironic' so they weren't actually offensive, but if you were offended he's sorry.

Nelson, you're still the slimy little bastard you proved yourself to be; this just reinforces it.

Yeah, socialized medicine is just GREAT!

You may die, but at least the health care is free!
Fabio Alves-Nunes suffered multiple organ failure after a severe reaction to the illness.

His death was the result of a series of "significant failings" by East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, an independent report said.

When parents Anna and Ricardo Alva-Nunes telephoned three times requesting an urgent home visit from their GP a receptionist told them to give their son a cold bath and some Calpol.
Receptionist, meet boot to vital organs.
On the February 14 last year Mr Alva-Nunes desperately rushed his son to A&E for a second time.

Doctors spent 20 to 30 minutes with him before sending him home with painkillers and antibiotics.

Three days later Fabio lost consciousness at home in Redhill and paramedics were called.

His mother, 36, told the Daily Mirror the paramedics decided to take him into hospital after three hours.

It was then more than 24 hours until Fabio was taken to Evelina Children's Hospital in south London where he died.
But, of course, "It's not OUR fault!"
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said it accepted there were sytematic failings, but denies they contributed to Fabio's death.

An inquest ruled that there was no evidence that earlier intervention could have saved him.
No, I'm not a doctor. I still call absolute bullshit. Denial, go away peasant, stop bothering us. Don't you know your health care is free?
But Fabio's parents are furious that names were blanked in the report into his death and they want someone to be held accountable.
Well, hell, of COURSE they're blacked out; you can't let the minions of the State actually face responsibility, can you?

There's a picture of the kid at the site. It's labeled Parents released this image of Fabio on day A&E discharged him, and it's bloody awful. Note that this is not when he died; it's when the morons at the hospital sent him home.

And this is the level of 'health care' we'll have if Obama & Co. have their way.

Can you say 'overreaction'?

I knew you could.
OTSU, Shiga Prefecture--Given this nation's strict gun control law, were police overreacting when they swooped on a TV broadcaster that had allowed a celebrity to handle a hunting rifle during a live broadcast?

The Shiga prefectural police insist they were perfectly within their rights, but TV networks are outraged, citing the fact the weapon was not loaded.

The incident stems from a show aired Jan. 17 by Biwako Broadcasting Co. Almost four months later, police mounted a search of the premises and confiscated a dozen items, including a script and a DVD of the show.

Critics accuse the police of being overzealous and question their motives, but law enforcement officials remain unrepentant.

Shiga prefectural police regard the incident, in which a hunter with a gun permit allowed TV personality Noburo Harada, 57, to momentarily handle the rifle during the show, as a serious breach of a law concerning the storage and management of firearms.
AHHHHHH! There was a GUN involved!!!
The program in question was set in Yogo, where Harada and other cast members were served a pot of wild boar meat. The hunter who had killed the boar appeared in the scene. He offered the unloaded weapon to Harada and asked,"Do you want to hold it?"

Harada held the rifle and commented, "It's heavy, isn't it?" adding, "Not everybody has a chance to hold it, right?"

He held the firearm for six seconds and then gave it back.
Six seconds. Unloaded gun.
But police say they don't understand what all the fuss is about. They say the media has, by focusing on the celebrity angle, blurred the facts in the case.

A senior official with the Shiga prefectural police said the real issue is not that Harada briefly held the rifle, but whether bringing the rifle to the live broadcast was appropriate in terms of "storage and management."
Uh huh.
The incident called into question whether existing regulations regarding gun permits and firearm storage were adequate.

"I believe the hunter who handed the rifle to the actor and the TV crew lacked an awareness of the firearm's potential danger," another police official said.
Do you smell politics involved? "This PROVES we need even MORE STRICT laws on guns!"
The Shiga prefectural police justify the raid on the grounds that they had to find out how it was possible to bring a gun to the show.

By transporting the gun to the show, the hunter may have violated the rules under which he was granted a gun permit, police asserted.

They defended questioning Harada and the crew as crucial to ferreting out the real issue--did those involved in the program improperly store and manage the weapon?
Ah, there's that famous 'store and manage' crap. You'll remember that last year a guy in Canada got a call from the police while on vacation. He'd built a vault for his guns. Two guys broke in, found it, spent two days(as I recall) stealing tools from other places to break into it. They guy was informed that he was being charged with 'improperly storing' his guns. Here, the licensed owner carried it, had it in control, but for the horrendous act of letting someone hold it for a few seconds is being considered a criminal. And they'll probably yank his license.

Go read the whole thing to see what a country with Pelosis and Obamas and Schumers running things is like. You won't like it. Thanks to Alphecca for bringing this mess up.

More from Honduras, and a blog on the place

Legal Insurrection posted on what appears to be a staged photo used by Reuters, and pointed to Honduras Abandoned, by a guy who decided to go down there and see.

Looks like Chavez and Ortega and- possibly- Obama finally got some dead people to play games with:
Commotion began coming from the crowd, saying that something happened at the far end of the airport where the other demonstraters were. I watched as a paramedic raced through the blockade and I followed in trace.

At the far end I noticed how portions of the chain linked fence had been torn to the ground. As I continued forward, I noticed a group gathered around a spot in the street. I made my way to the center of the circle and saw a puddle of blood on the street. The protesters explained that the military on the other side of the fence began firing into the crowd and that they killed some of the protesters (I heard 2 or 3 dead).

One of the protesters was carrying emtpy shells of 5.56 in his palm, and he claimed that they were from the soldiers. I have no way of confiming if that is true or not, since they had been removed from the site. On top of a hill there was another gathering of people, where they encircled another puddle of blood. Again, I was told that the military opened fire on the crowd.

There was a sense of anger, sadness, dispair, and frustration within the crowd. Some of the protesters were up along the fence screaming death threats to the military, while others were throwing rocks. I talked with Martin Castillo, a protester that witnessed the shootings, and he explained that the military approached the fence and used CS gas on the crowd. The crowd responded by throwing rocks back at the military, and that the military responded back by firing into the air while some fired into the crowd. I cannot confirm the accuracy of his testament.
Fausta has this from BBC:
At least one person has been killed as Honduran troops try to disperse supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya at Tegucigalpa airport. Mr Zelaya’s plane has been circling above the capital after flying in from the US, while the interim authorities insist it will not be allowed to land. They are seeking to re-route the plane to El Salvador instead.
This was yesterday, remember. Gateway Pundit's latest has more pictures.

In some ways, this is going like fairly standard commie routine in many places over the years; push things until someone dies, then use them to try to push things further. And if anyone is shaking their head at the fossil talking about commies, I remind you that Chavez has flat threated to invade the country to 'restore' Zelaya as president, and I don't doubt Ortega has troops messing around at the border to stir things up. With those two involved, don't give me crap for pointing out that communists are involved.

If your husband is a bigshot spy chief, how hard is it to understand

that you don't put his picture, and any information, on effing Facebook?
The wife of the new head of MI6 has caused a major security breach and left his family exposed after publishing photographs and personal details on Facebook.

Sir John Sawers is due to take over as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service in November, putting him in charge of all of Britain’s spying operations abroad.

But entries by his wife Shelley on the social networking site have exposed potentially compromising details about where they live and work, their friends’ identities and where they spend their holidays. On the day her husband was appointed she congratulated him on the site using his codename “C”.
There must have been an interesting bunch of conversations about this.


Also from (fG)Britain, and defense of not allowing parents to take pictures of their kids on Sports Day; it might violate the Data Protection Act.
Understandably, some parents are upset at the ban. It feels like another example of “political correctness” gone mad. After all, they argue, how many paedophiles are going to want to pore over footage of children running the egg-and-spoon race?

The truth, however, is more complicated. I’m a parent governor, and when our governing body came to discuss the question of whether to ban cameras from school events, I looked up the guidance provided by our local authority, Hertfordshire. This explained that the main issue for schools is the Data Protection Act (1998), which covers images as well as textual information. A photograph of a pupil is classed as personal data.

As the guidelines state: “when hosting an event where parents are permitted to take photographs or videos, make it clear from the start that any images taken must be for private use only and ask for them not to be put on the Internet. This is to avoid breaching Data Protection legislation (particularly if a parent posts a picture on the web that shows children other than just their own child).”
So, in the holy name of the DPA, you can't take pictures of your kid. Or kids. Or take shots for a friend who can't be there.

There was something the other day, can't find it right now, that one school actually banned parents from Sports Day because 'a pedophile might sneak in'. Ah, the nanny state; it'll take care of you, good and hard.

Ref the piece I posted about Subway

a few days back, I wrote to Subway about it and got a reply last night. Here it is:
Dear XXXXXXXX,

At SUBWAY(R) restaurants we appreciate and sincerely thank the men and women who unselfishly provide service to their country. We are also proud of the members of the SUBWAY(R) team, in stores, at HQ and in our offices around the world, who have served or supported the troops who have served.

The SUBWAY(R) restaurant chain has more than 31,000 locations in 90 countries, all owned and operated by independent entrepreneurs who have turned to the SUBWAY(R) franchise model to open and run their own businesses.

The SUBWAY(R) restaurant has a system in place to provide tools, knowledge and support for each franchisee as they try to operate a successful business. It benefits the entire brand for all SUBWAY(R) restaurants to remain open and operating. However, the results are not always the same with every franchisee and, on occasion, a franchisee may be advised to sell their store before closure becomes imminent. Less than 1 percent of SUBWAY(R) restaurants close each year for various circumstances. When that happens, each territory office will work to get that store reopened with either a new or existing franchisee.(bold theirs)

We are aware of the situation with Lt. Col. Batie. We appreciate your concern and applaud your support for our service men and women. As a company policy we can not comment on specific franchisee situations or on pending litigation. However, there's much more to this story, and available public information, than what was reported in the newspaper.

As a mater of public record, the following points can be gathered from court documents pertaining to the case:

1. Leon Batie’s brother Chris had Power of Attorney to operate his SUBWAY locations and represent Leon during a March 2006 court appearance for failing to pay his rent at one of his two SUBWAY locations. The court recognized the Power of Attorney as valid and ruled to evict Leon Batie from that location for failure to pay rent to the landlord.

2. Leon Batie appeared in court a few days later for failing to pay rent at his second location and the court ruled to evict him from the second location as well for failure to pay rent to the landlord.

3. On two occasions, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas has dismissed the exact claims now pending in the Texas State Court.


Thank you,
XXXXXXXX
Customer Care

The piece I linked to showed that the people he trusted weren't worthy of it. Which doesn't speak of the way the franchise was taken and resold, and to who, and at what profit. Which, I suppose, might eventually come out in the wash. In any case, this is what they had to say.

A fine quote from a good book

I acquired a black-market weapon.(Sales are all registered, but for a small premium of 50%, one may buy a new pistol not far from the spaceport. They come in by the shipload, as they do anywhere the local rulers utter magic incantations to keep them out. Never let your religious beliefs get in the way of the law of supply and demand.)

The Weapon, Michael Z Williamson

I wonder if Obama is taking lessons from Chavez,

or it's just that they think the same way?
President Hugo Chavez's government assumed control of Venezuela's third-largest bank on Friday - making the state the largest player in the nation's banking system.

The purchase of the Spanish-owned Banco de Venezuela gives Chavez's socialist government control over more than one-fifth of bank deposits as he tightens his grip over the economy.

And they both keep spouting crap about the 'coup' in Honduras. Chavez I can understand; from the sound of things Zelaya was trying to make himself another President For Life commie; but I just cannot understand why Obama keeps treating Honduras this way for- well, for daring to enforce their laws? No friggin' sense does it make.

Except, of course, that Obama is a socialist crapweasel himself, and seems to have a knee-jerk reaction to defend tyrants and other socialist crapweasels. Speaking of which,
Illustrating regional tensions stoked by the ouster, Micheletti said small groups of Nicaraguan troops were moving near their mutual border, although they had not crossed it. He urged Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a leftist ally of Zelaya, to respect Honduran sovereignty.

Ortega, whose country shares a border with Honduras to the southeast of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, called the charge of troop movements toward the border "totally false."
And of course we can trust Ortega, it's not like he's another commie weenie- well, yes he is.
Zelaya left Washington on a Venezuelan-registered chartered plane, accompanied by U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto, according to Venezuela's foreign minister and Caracas-based Telesur regional television, which showed images of the ousted president boarding an aircraft.
And where you have commie dictators screwing people, you'll find the UN trying help. The dictators and- in this case- dictator wannabe.

A while back I posted on the Senate making an apology for slavery

and that I thought it was a waste of time. Guy named James argued in comments that he thought it was a needed thing. If you're interested you can go back to the post and read it all. I stopped answering him because it became pretty circular; I just felt like putting something here as 'This is what I think'. Not really interesting in arguing it.

Yes, I think the government playing "We must Apologize for Slavery" is a waste of time and a game. Reasons below:
An apology is something that comes from someone who wronged someone else, to the one they feel they wronged. Not one of these clowns in the Senate, let alone anyone else alive, has owned a slave; there are no former slaves around to apologize to if they had. So they're 'apologizing' for something they didn't do to people who aren't around to hear it... yeah, that's real effective.

We fought a damn bloody war to end it. And the primary reason behind that war was slavery. That's not counting a lot of other mess(they called it Bloody Kansas for a reason) directly related to/caused by it. And it's over.

James asked "What if an ancestor of mine owned slaves, shouldn't I feel the need to apologize for that?"(paraphrased, not his exact words). Answer is, no. If some ancestor had owned someone, you know what that is to me? A data point. Nothing more. I didn't do it, neither of my parents or grandparents did, etc. Which is back to "How do you apologize for something you didn't do, and have no responsibility for?"

Slavery was bad. Common at the time, which doesn't change that it's bad. I wish the founders had been able to get rid of it right at the start, but they couldn't, and that eventually led to the Civil War and lots of mess. But it's over. For a long damn time.

If the clowns in the Senate actually wanted to do something on the subject, they could do something to end what's happening in Darfur; you know, the actual slavery? Tell the UN to go screw itself and send arms and trainers so these people could protect themselves, act to free the people enslaved, maybe something along those lines. But that would involve actually doing something, other than posturing for cameras and showing how 'sensitive and caring' they are; so instead they waste time on a symbolic piece of crap.

You know what this 'apology' actually does(other than letting politicians preen and try to buy votes)? It gives the RWPP clowns ammo to push for 'reparations'; "The Senate has apologized, so obviously the next step is to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves!" Which is bullcrap, but the clowns and socialists just love the idea so they'll push it. They have no problem looting people so as to give their money away to someone they think 'deserves' it; so they'll have no problem with looting people who had nothing to do with slavery, to give the money to people who've never been slaves. Wonderful, isn't it?

Two things to point out this Sunday

First, can someone tell Colin Powell to shut the hell up and get off the stage? I'm going to borrow a chunk of what Denny has to say:

Colin Powell, one of President Obama's most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday that the president's ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much.

"I'm concerned at the number of programs that are being presented, the bills associated with these programs and the additional government that will be needed to execute them," Mr. Powell said in an excerpt of an interview with CNN's John King, released by the network Friday morning.

Jesus H. Christ, General Powell, weren't you paying attention during the campaign? He's only doing what he said he would do. This is "hope and change". Tax and spend. That's what Dimocrats do. They just can't help themselves. When it comes to spending they make big spending Republicans look like pikers.

Mr. Powell, a retired U.S. army general who rose to political prominence after a long and accomplished military career, said that health care reform and many of Mr. Obama's other initiatives are "important" to Americans.

But, he said, "one of the cautions that has to be given to the president -- and I've talked to some of his people about this -- is that you can't have so many things on the table that you can't absorb it all."

You don't understand, General. He has to get all this shit rammed through before the American people awaken to find the national debt quadrupled and turn Congress over to the Republicans.

"And we can't pay for it all," said Mr. Powell, who was the first African-American to serve as secretary of state, under former President George W. Bush.

I got sick of Powell a long time ago. We're supposed to listen to this clown? Let us remember, this is the guy who lectured us about how we needed 'moderate'(i.e. Democrat Lite) candidates to get 'moderates' to vote Stupid Party; between them the Stupid Party and media gave us McCain, the Least Repulsive Democrat in the Election as a candidate. McCain was just what Powell was describing, and what did he do? He endorsed and voted for and worked for Obama. But we're supposed to do what he says because "He can fix the Stupid Party!" Yeah, he'll fix it good, and screw things up even worse and push Evil Party Lite candidates who won't win. Powell, you may have been a good general, but just like I don't give McCain slack because of his military past, you ain't getting it either. Either you're a liar, claiming this crap Obama is doing is a surprise, or you're a fool for believing his lies. Either way, go away.


The second is a bit more on the wonders of socialized medicine:
A three-year-old girl awaiting heart surgery has had her operation cancelled three times this month because of a shortage of beds.

Ella Cotterell was due to have aorta-widening surgery on Monday at the Children’s Hospital, Bristol. But 48 hours beforehand, the operation was cancelled for the third time as all 15 beds in the intensive care unit were occupied, her parents said.

A hospital spokesman said that procedures would be reviewed, but the case highlights a growing problem of cancelled operations in the NHS.

More than 57,000 surgeries were postponed for non-clinical reasons, including a lack of beds, last year – 10 per cent more than the previous year.
...
Ms Davis, who works part-time as an accident and emergency nurse at the Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, said that she was devastated when she was told there were not enough beds.

“My husband and I were in tears,” she said. “When our six-year-old son Liam asked what was wrong we told him Ella’s operation had been cancelled again and he said we should tell Gordon Brown.”
Which wouldn't do much good, since Brown is one of the socialist morons responsible for the mess.
“We have asked the doctors if she really needs the surgery as she is so happy at the moment and is running around like a normal little girl, but she could drop down dead at any moment,” Ms Davis said.

“Twice I have been told that she may not make it through the night and there have been times when I have gone into her room in the morning and wondered whether she’d still be breathing.
I've been through a bit of that, though not for this kind of idiotic reason; trust me, it ain't fun. Nohow.
She called on the Government to put more money into the NHS before a child died on the waiting list.
Problem is, they've been pouring money in to NHS for decades now, and it's gotten them this mess. Keep pouring money in, and it'll keep wasting it and this kind of crap will just continue. Just like it will here if Obama & Buttmonkeys Inc. manage to shove their scheme down our throats.

I lost track of who linked to this story, but I do remember his comment: "But the healthcare is FREE! If you live long enough to get it." About covers it.

Remember what I said about rain this time of year?

Blew in around 7pm. 'Blew' as in high gusts, pouring rain, but- amazingly- no hail. And, in a magnificent feat of timing, about four minutes before the burgers I was grilling were done.

I was under the carport, so the grill was ok, but I was trying to figure out how to get them into the house without them getting a shower when I spotted the bucket.

Yes, it was clean.

Enough.

Hell with it, it kept the rain off, and they were good.

Since I haven't heard anything, looks like the big fireworks shows were called off, which sucks. We did need rain, but would have been nice if it'd been after, for those going to them.

Of course, it would also have been nice to receive rain as in 'light to moderate water fall from the sky' as opposed to 'don't try to walk into the wind and breathe, or you'll drown'. In any case, it did indeed water everything. Some sprinkles off & on since, and the weather weenies say chances remain until about 1am. Or so. Damned if you can trust that time.

This morning I ran out to a flea market to look around, and found something I'd been wanting: a cast-iron cornbread pan that makes the ears of corn. Had found several before, but the people were wanting to sell them to collectors, not people who wanted to cook with the damn things; when you ask price and they turn it over, look at a name or makers mark on the bottom and say prices more than I've seen .22 rifles for...

I'll end with words from Mark Steyn on the Palin situation:
In states far from the national spotlight, politics still attracts normal people. You're a mayor or a state senator or even the governor, but you lead a normal life. The local media are tough on you, but they know you, they live where you live, they're tough on the real you, not on some caricature cooked up by a malign alliance of late-night comics who'd never heard of you a week earlier and media grandees supposedly on your own side who pronounce you a "cancer".

Then suddenly you get the call from Washington. You know it'll mean Secret Service, and speechwriters, and minders vetting your wardrobe. But nobody said it would mean a mainstream network comedy host doing statutory rape gags about your 14-year old daughter. You've got a special-needs kid and a son in Iraq and a daughter who's given you your first grandchild in less than ideal circumstances. That would be enough for most of us. But the special-needs kid and the daughter and most everyone else you love are a national joke, and the PC enforcers are entirely cool with it.
I don't mind people being tough on politicians, though I'd much prefer a media that actually gave a crap about facts and was somewhat even-handed; I very much mind a bunch of assholes spreading flat lies, and attacking a politician's kids. If your kid is in their 20's or 30's and part of the campaign, they're legitimately part of the story; when you attack a baby with the kind of disgusting crap we've seen, when- as Steyn notes- rape jokes about your daughters are considered 'all in good fun', that's bullshit. And when the media is so bigoted they'll send whole teams of investigators to Alaska to look for dirt on Palin(one of the worst examples of 'reporting' the last while) but won't investigate crap about Obama, they've forfeited any reason for us to believe them on anything: if they'll pull this crap for political reasons, why should we trust them on anything else? When they'll report bullcrap rumors as if they were real, then make 'corrections' as small as possible, why should we trust a word they say? We have the spectacle of some major media "You can trust us" journalists, after the election, saying "Well, we don't really know what Obama believes", why should we trust you to do the job on ANYTHING?

And to every slimy jerk like Letterman, and the sleazes at Huffington Jackasses: you have no ground to stand on, at all, when someone finally goes after you, your personal as well as professional life. You said it was just fine when done to Palin and her family, so shut the hell up when someone starts digging into your family life; your friends.

You know, thinking about it, how about independance from restrictions on digging up everything possible on these people and broadcasting it far & wide?

A government with great regard for it's laws and soverignty;

unfortunately, it ain't here. Fortunately for Honduras,
TEGUCIGALPA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' interim government announced Friday that the country decided to quit from the Organization of American States (OAS).

In a letter to the OAS read by Honduras' Vice Minister of International Relations Martha Lorena de Casco, it said "This government believes that inside the organization (of the OAS), there is no room for Honduras, for the states that love its freedom and defend its sovereignty."

The reading of the letter was made in presence of Honduran Acting President Roberto Micheletti.
A very polite way of saying "Screw you, we're not letting you order us to disregard our laws and put that Chavez puppet back into office."
The interim government's announcement came after OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza said in Tegucigalpa Friday that he would recommend the suspension of Honduras from the regional group due to its post-coup rulers' refusal to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
You'll notice that these clowns have it down: a nation enforcing the law is a 'coup', and they must be forced to ignore their laws, or else. And listen to this BS:
"Zelaya is the only one that we recognize as Honduran President, and he must be returned to his position as soon as possible," Insulza said at a press conference.

"Honduras is exposed to an international sanction, because the world unanimously has declared this action as a violation of democracy. I have spoken with several people, and apparently no one wants to accept responsibility for what happened last weekend."
Gee, it's really nice for you to decide that Honduras should crap on it's Constitution just to make you and the Chavez puppet happy. And that 'several people' must not include the people in the legislature and Supreme Court who've said, loudly and in public, "We did this to enforce the law; no one, including the President, is above it."

Insulza, you're a fool. A power-hungry, arrogant little fool.

The response:
Enrique Ortez Colindres, foreign minister of Honduras' post-coup government, told media that the government would not negotiate with the OAS.

"We have a very firm position that we do not negotiate Honduras' sovereignty," Ortez said.
To put it crudely , God-DAMN, I'd like to see more of that attitude in our government. Mr. Colindres, you're being cheered by a lot of people up here, no matter what our terrorist-appeasing, dictator-suckup President thinks.

Tam has a good question: what WOULD be the most patriotic thing to shoot

today? She does specify the firearm itself, not the target(politicians, etc.)

Independance Day,

and the 2nd Amendment:
Thanks to the Real King of France for pointing to this

I originally titled this post 'The 4th of July', until I read this from Lawdog. So I changed it. And I think I'll post the text of that document that politicians seem to dislike for some reason:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

---

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

'Disgusting' isn't quite the word,

but it'll have to do. The Huffington Post is noting Governor Sarah Palin's resignation by making retard jokes about her and her kids.

These are the people who bitch and whine about how conservatives 'don't care about people' and 'have no feelings for the unfortunate'.

Fuck you, Erik Nelson; you're a miserable, sniveling little excuse for a man. And if you ever meet her, or her husband- hell, probably either of the older daughters- I hope they give you the first-class ass-kicking you deserve.

You're slime.

Well, government couldn't run a brothel and make money,

why would we think it can run liquor stores?
More to the point, it isn’t working. And apparently has not been working since it was installed! It was not until the beginning of June that the state noticed there was a problem with their new toy, when they finally realized that they were only filling 65% of their orders. They claim the problem is fixed, but I have my doubts. After a month, with thousands of hours of overtime, and six "temporary" warehouses in operation, they can fill 80% of their orders. When they finally do get through the backlog, and go back to relying only on the system, let me know if it doesn’t immediately break down again.

Meanwhile, the state owned liquor stores can’t get product. The state license stores can’t get product. And the biggest pains in the butt is that restaurants can’t get product.
Those of you who read me religiously (all three of you), know how jealous of Seattle’s craft bar scene I am. But to go into a holiday weekend with no idea what inventory you can have must be a nightmare. And it’s going to be especially bad for the higher end watering holes, serving the more esoteric drinks.
If you were running a business, how long would it take you to 'realize' you were only filling 2/3's of your orders? Not too damn long, I'd think. But then, this is a government-run 'business'...
But Pete Hanning, an owner of the Red Door in Fremont, said restaurants count on getting not just the most common liquors, but ones they can feature in specialty cocktails. For two weeks, he said, he was unable to offer a popular summertime sipper — a lemonade drink he makes with pear-flavored Absolut vodka. The Red Door has a large outdoor deck and depends on heavy summer traffic, Hanning said.

"The worst part is each week I'm not sure what's going to be on my load and what products I'm going to be out of. It creates a lot of undue stress," he said.
Yeah, when your supplier can't tell you when or if you'll get what you ordered, that's a stress-maker. Especially when they're about to raise the price on what they might be able to deliver:
Hanning said the pinch is compounded by the fact that a state alcohol surcharge takes effect Aug. 1, which will force bar owners to increase prices.

The surcharge, which will add between $1 and $3 to the price of most bottles of booze, was enacted to raise about $80 million to replace money legislators took from a liquor-reserve fund to balance the state budget.
Government: it can't run a whorehouse OR sell booze efficiently, but socialized medicine will be GREAT! Yeah.

Just a collection of idiocy out there today

In (fG)Britain,
Escaped prisoners who are on the run will not be named in case it breaches their right to privacy, civil servants have ruled. The edict has been made even though many convicts are fully identified with photographs sent out by police at the time they go on the run.

Ministry of Justice officials say the Data Protection Act means they are unable to confirm the names of escaped prisoners still at large.Justice Secretary Jack Straw is being urged to investigate the ruling amid fears it could undermine public appeals to track down escaped prisoners.

The policy was revealed when the ministry refused a Freedom Of Information request to name inmates on the run from Holleseley Bay prison near Woodbridge, Suffolk.

I guess I shouldn't be too hard on Britain, it's not the only place with such morons. Tim Blair used to keep track of cases in Australia where people were told to watch out for people who'd committed robberies, rapes, etc., and there was a description with no mention of the race of the dirtbag. It was felt to be 'discriminatory' to actually mention that a black or white or Indian or whatever rapist was black or white or Indian or whatever.

I repeat, idiocy abounds.

Arabs raided the yeshiva of Homesh in Samaria on Wednesday and torched dozens of books of the Talmud and of the Five Books of Moses, leaving behind a pile of ashes. The arsonists ignored personal equipment, including beds, tables and chairs, and concentrated all their energies on Jewish texts.

“It was a horrible sight to see dozen of holy books of the Talmud and Bible burned almost completely,” said Rabbi Elishama Cohen, head of the yeshiva that has been the stronghold of the community the past two years. Homesh was one of four towns in northern Samaria that the government destroyed after expelling the residents during the “Disengagement” program four years ago.
This part is just disgusting, here's the idiocy(and more disgusting):
Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon commented, “Whoever has not yet understood with whom we are dealing should look at the pictures of the burnt holy books. If Jews had burned dozens of Muslim books, the whole world would be shaking.”
AND demanding reparations of some kind AND demanding the nasty Jews apologize AND demanding they make some kind of national apology AND...


Then there's the idiotic statement by Krugman, another Nobel Prize winner, that questioning Globular Warmering is 'treason against the planet'; response:
The actual 4.6 billion-year old planet, survivor of multitudes of asteroid hits, Milankovitch cycle changes, magnetic pole reversals, solar and cosmic radiation, myriad volcanic caldera collapses, mantle plume eruptions, etc., etc. doesn’t give a rat’s ass about a few degrees Celsius or what idiots like Krugman think.


Well, I have to move back into the 'disgusting' category:
Pakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is buying children as young as 7 to serve as suicide bombers in the growing spate of attacks against Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. targets, U.S. Defense Department and Pakistani officials say.

A Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said the going price for child bombers was $7,000 to $14,000 - huge sums in Pakistan, where per-capita income is about $2,600 a year.
Yes, it's another interesting action by devotees of the Religion of Pieces of People.
No, I'm not feeling tolerant; too damn many muslims have claimed that crap like this 'does not represent Islam' and then defended the scumbags who do these things.


That's about it for now, I've got some polishing to do.

Ok, I understand: according to Holder, it's not a 'hate crime'

if you're not a PC victim.
Under questioning, Attorney Gen. Holder was surprisingly forthright in admitting that the hate bill is not intended to protect everyone, or even the majority. He said only historically oppressed minorities were to benefit. This means Jews, blacks, homosexuals, women, etc. Holder made it clear that if a white Christian male, including a serviceman or police officer, was the victim of a violent hate crime by any minority he would have to find redress from traditional law. He could not avail himself of the triple penalties and rapid government/justice system response given a protected minority.

So since Holder had determined that only certain people('protected minority') deserve this special species status, I can call him a politically-correct bigot. As well as a sorry jerk.

Maybe President B. Hussein Cartman Obama is confused about Honduras

because he's so busy breaking the law here and trying to cover it up.
Key Republicans in both the House and the Senate are accusing the White House of giving “incomplete and misleading” information to investigators probing the president’s abrupt firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin. In return, the White House is hinting that documents concerning its actions in the Walpin affair may be protected by executive privilege.
Openness! Transparency!!
After lawmakers demanded an explanation, the White House said Walpin had been “confused, disoriented [and] unable to answer questions” at a May 20 meeting with the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Johnson case was discussed at that meeting, with Walpin harshly criticizing board members for their support of a decision to let Johnson off easy.

There’s no question that members of the board, both Democrat and Republican, were unhappy with Walpin’s criticism of them(isn't that part of an IG's job? To upset people?). They agreed that Alan Solomont, the Democratic fundraiser appointed by President Barack Obama as chairman of the board, should tell the White House what had happened.

But now, at least three board members have told congressional investigators they did not specifically recommend that the administration fire Walpin. Instead, they simply wanted the chairman to express their concerns.

The White House claims it investigated the matter; Eisen told House and Senate aides that officials did an “extensive review” of complaints about Walpin’s performance before deciding to fire him. But there are serious doubts as to whether the White House did, in fact, conduct a serious investigation before getting rid of Walpin.

The three board members have told Congress that the White House did not contact them during the review. (One was told about Walpin’s firing at about the time it happened, and the other two were contacted days later.) No one from the White House contacted Walpin himself, or his top assistant, as part of the review.
And so on. Fact is, even if there were legitimate reason to fire him, the law requires certain things, including time; and this law was broken. And, in the spirit of Transparency!!,
For its part, the White House is hinting broadly that it might invoke executive privilege to keep documents from Congress. “Your questions seek information about the White House’s internal decision-making process,” Craig wrote to Sen. Charles Grassley on June 30. “These questions implicate core executive branch confidentiality interests.” At another point, Craig pledged to cooperate “to the fullest extent possible consistent with constitutional and statutory obligations.”
Except where it'll cause a problem for the administration by revealing illegal actions and why they were taken, right?

And a bit more on the government of Honduras

having a 'coup' against itself:
The Hondurans are so concerned about potential despots, that Article 239 of their constitution states that any president who proposes extending his term in office is automatically removed from office. Article 313 of the Honduran constitution allows its Supreme Court to deputize the Honduran military to carry out its orders, including removing politicians from office who seek to extend a president’s term.

Ignoring the constitution, President Manuel Zelaya, a man less popular in Honduras than George Bush was when he left office in this country, ordered a “non-binding” referendum be put to the voters on extending his stay in office.

Glenn Garvin wrote in the Miami Herald, “After the Honduran supreme court ruled that only the country’s congress could call such an election, Zelaya ordered the army to help him stage it anyway. ... When the head of the armed forces, acting on orders from the supreme court, refused, Zelaya fired him, then led a mob to break into a military base where the ballots were stored.”
Let us remember, the ballots that were printed in Venezuela because they couldn't be legally printed in Honduras.
The Honduran Supreme Court, congress, attorney general and members of Zelaya’s cabinet opposed his move as unconstitutional. The supreme court ordered the military to remove Zelaya from office. Honduras has no impeachment process as we know it.

In short, Honduras did follow their law; and demanded the President follow it. When he didn't they, in obedience to their Constitution, removed him from office. And our President, who took a long damn time to condemn Iran killing protesters and who smiles upon commie Chavez in Venezuela, immediately had a hissy fit and demanded Zelaya, who violated the law, be reinstated.

Tells you more about where our terrorist-appeasing President has his head.

President Obama is a terrorist-appeasing bastard

Who's going to get more troops killed with this garbage.
About two weeks ago, the Obama administration released Laith Qazali after extensive negotiations with the Asaib al-Haq terror network. That network has long been in negotiations with the fledgling Iraqi government, dangling the possibility of laying down its arms, renouncing violence, and integrating into Iraqi society, provided that its top members — particularly Qais and Laith Qazali, as well as Ali Mussa Daqduq — be released. Realizing, however, that these terrorists were responsible for kidnapping and killing American soldiers in gross violation of the laws of war, the Bush administration had declined to release them.

The Obama administration has not only released Laith Qazali, it has been in negotiations to release his brother, Qais Qazali, as well. The negotiations and release were carried out in flagrant disregard of the longstanding policy against exchanging prisoners for the release of hostages. Undermining that policy endangers all American troops and civilian personnel — as well as the troops and civilian personnel of our allies — by encouraging terrorists to kidnap them to use as bargaining chips.

I guess this is the next step in his program of apologizing for America; turn loose people who murder our troops.

I've been blunt before, but tried to keep it in bounds; screw that. Obama doesn't give a crap about the lives of our troops, wants to suck up to tyrants and wants to screw over actual democratic governments. That's on top of pushing his own version of 'malaise' on us. This clown is going to wind up making Jimmy Carter look good in comparison.

And I'm wondering how many lives he's willing to throw away so he can play "I am the good Progressive President".

Something from Canada that won't surprise you

Among the factors determining murder rates, levels of gun ownership is among the most overstated and least reliable, in Mauser’s view. “There is no empirical support for the claim that gun ownership is related to violence rates,” he says.
From The lowdown on crime in Canada, thanks to Uncle for pointing to this.

So how's that 'You're safer in Britain because of their gun restrictions' meme

working out? Not real well.
Britain's violent crime record is worse than any other country in the European union, it is revealed today.

Official crime figures show the UK also has a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and even South Africa - widely considered one of the world's most dangerous countries.
But, but, handguns are BANNED! That makes them safer!!
In the decade following the party's election in 1997, the number of recorded violent attacks soared by 77 per cent to 1.158million - or more than two every minute.
Well, apparently not.
The figures, compiled from reports released by the European Commission and United Nations, also show:

* The UK has the second highest overall crime rate in the EU.
* It has a higher homicide rate than most of our western European neighbours, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
* The UK has the fifth highest robbery rate in the EU.
* It has the fourth highest burglary rate and the highest absolute number of burglaries in the EU, with double the number of offences than recorded in Germany and France.

But it is the naming of Britain as the most violent country in the EU that is most shocking. The analysis is based on the number of crimes per 100,000 residents.

In the UK, there are 2,034 offences per 100,000 people, way ahead of second-placed Austria with a rate of 1,677.
And how's that compare to us?
The U.S. has a violence rate of 466 crimes per 100,000 residents, Canada 935, Australia 92 and South Africa 1,609.
That's a flat amazing number; more than four times as many violent offenses per capita in the UK than here.
The figures, compiled by the Tories, are considered the most accurate and up-to-date available.

But criminologists say crime figures can be affected by many factors, including different criminal justice systems and differences in how crime is reported and measured.
Legitimate points. Which brings back the fact that the British government has been caught- more than once- fiddling the numbers to make things look not-so-bad; I'm tempted to say "Of COURSE they're going to try to reduce the impact of this."

There follows various "This is not as bad as it looks" stuff, including
'Violent crime in England and Wales has fallen by almost a half a peak in 1995 but we are not complacent and know there is still work to do. That is why last year we published 'Saving lives. Reducing harm. Protecting the public. An Action Plan for Tackling Violence 2008-11'.'
Like that "we are not complacent and know there is still work to do"; sets the proper tone of "We are going to save you. We haven't yet, and crime is awful, but we Published a Plan!"

And, on the 'reasons why', they have this:
Experts say there are a number of reasons why violence is soaring in the UK. These include Labour's decision to relax the licensing laws to allow round-the-clock opening, which has led to a rise in the number of serious assaults taking place in the early hours of the morning.
I'd say that's a symptom, not a cause; people who obey the law and give a crap about others' lives don't jump on somebody just because they can drink late. But, for the 'experts' and government, I guess it beats blaming people who commit crimes and idiots who don't hold those people responsible for their actions.

There are a number of factors involved in these numbers, but I do keep coming back to the fact that a country where, not that long ago,
It was common for subjects of the Crown to own arms,
It was common to put a pistol in your pocket when going out for the days business or an evening out,
Crime was low. Violent crime REALLY low,
is now a country where
Owning a firearm is highly restricted and gets you treated as a presumed criminal,
Using a weapon of ANY kind in self-defense, even in your own home, gets you arrested,
And crime, including violent crime, is HIGH.


Just noticed Kevin saw the same article, and gives it his treatment.

Ok, why the hell isn't this being reported LOUD in the news?

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier has been captured by militants in Afghanistan, the U.S. military and the Taliban said Thursday.

A soldier mans a weapon at the rear of a U.S. Army helicopter over Afghanistan in May.

The unidentified soldier has been missing since Tuesday. U.S. forces are exhausting all resources to find the soldier, the military said.
And this is not big news why?

Oh, maybe it's got something to do with this:
The news out of Afghanistan yesterday was bookended by a couple of Washington Post reports.

Bob Woodward on the ground at Camp Leatherneck reported this morning in an article ridiculously headlined, Preventing Another Iraq/US Says Key to Success in Afghanistan: Economic, Not Military, that the Obama admin considers it a “new era.”

The headline is not Woodward’s fault, except to the extent he buried and obfuscated his lede. He reports after the jump that National Security Advisor James L. Jones briefed commanders on the ground that there won’t be more troops, that requests for more troops will prompt a “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” response in the Oval Office.

That’s your lede, Bob. There’s your hed, Washington Post copy desk. Obama to Troops: “WTF?”

We can dicker if you like about whether he actually said that or not. But the president’s national security advisor only voiced in military slang what the president himself more formally enunciated with the unveiling of his Afghan strategy some months ago, when he indicated he didn’t want to be a wartime president. He liked the idea of running some counterterrorism ops and buying his way out of this one instead. Put another way, ”WTF?” (bold mine)

Here’s the exchange. Every time I read it, it’s more astonishing, as Woodward describes a briefing in Camp Leatherneck:
...
Nicholson and his colonels — all or nearly all veterans of Iraq — seemed to blanch at the unambiguous message that this might be all the troops they were going to get.

You really need to read this. And consider just how "We need to win in Afghanistan!" seems to actually mean "Without me actually having to deal with this messy war stuff."