The kind of protest I could support

Okay, it's a little over the top, but it's the only kind of protest that I (and my boys, for sure) could ever participate in.

Conservative grassroots group Grassfire.org wants people to waste as much energy as possible on June 12 by "hosting a barbecue, going for a drive, watching television, leaving a few lights on, or even smoking a few cigars."

The point: the group wants to "help Americans break free from the 'carbon footprint guilt' being imposed by Climate Alarmists."

My personal favorites were omitted: disconnect your catalytic converters and eat several pounds of baked beans. Oh wait, that last one is methane, not carbon dioxide. It'll have to do.

Okay, all foolishness aside, I no more advocate the wasting of resources than I advocate a fascist takeover of the United States. But I understand the sentiment behind the protest. The environmental zealots are on the fast track to imposing draconian limitations on our lives and freedoms, and calling attention to the complete lack of validity of their claims needs to be done, one way or another.

Can we un-invent Al Gorebells?

DEA and the Constitution (nice toilet paper!)

Okay, put your helmets on, because I'm about to go off on a major rant. Why? Because the federal government through its DEA has chosen once again to ignore the 10th Amendment of the Constitution.

The owner of six Southern California medical marijuana dispensaries, including one store linked to an accident that killed a motorist and paralyzed an officer, are facing federal drug and money laundering charges.

---

Federal law does not recognize the medical marijuana laws in California and 11 other states.

Federal law does not recognize. This is the depth to which we have fallen as a failed republic. This is what happens when the Constitution is treated as a "living document" (read: used as federal toilet paper).

Let me spell it out for you. Under the US Constitution, unless the marijuana in question has crossed state lines, the federal government has no authority to intervene where state law has established regulations permitting its limited sale. NONE, ZERO, ZIP.

The fact that the federal government has chosen to violate the Constitution and put itself above established state law is yet one more reminder that we are headed towards slavery. That they've chosen to do it by arresting those who provide a drug to chemotherapy patients and others who can't keep their lunch down any other way is contemptible. What next? You gonna arrest granny for growing her own so she can make it through this next chemo treatment? Oh......you are. Right.

Bastards.

Kyle Graduation Pictures

Updated!

I had to fix the captions on two of the pictures. The links have been modified to reflect that change.

I've posted Kyle's graduation pictures to a public area in the AOL Albums site. Click here to view the pictures in "Gallery" format (this format shows a page of thumbnails of all the pictures, each of which can be double-clicked to view the full-size picture). Click here to view the pictures as a slide show.

Let me know if you want prints (or a CD) of any of the pictures, and I'll try to expedite that in my copious spare time.

Enjoy!

Maxine Waters shows her true colors

Maxine Waters is a moron. No, seriously. She has got to be the most simple-minded individual in an extremely simple-minded Congress. But at least she's honest -- she has no qualms about showing her true colors. Or, rather, color. And, no it's not black. It's red.

In a grilling of oil executives by a House panel yesterday, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., threatened to nationalize the industry if it didn't do something about the rising prices at the pump.

---

Waters responded, in part, "And guess what this liberal would be all about. This liberal will be about socializing … uh, um. …"

The congresswoman paused to collect her thoughts.

"Would be about, basically, taking over, and the government running all of your companies. …"

The oil executives responded, according to Fox News, by saying they've seen this before, in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.

I believe this is called Fascism. It's what Mussolini did. It's what Peron did in Argentina. It's what the Labor governments of the 60's and 70's did in England (and what a rousing success THAT was -- one labor strike after another).

A wise man once said, "There is nothing new under the sun." No, there certainly isn't.

Wiener of the Week

She's already a WotW winner as well as a WotM winner. But she's done more in the past week to deserve her second WotW that any other candidate. I speak, of course, of the Antichrist - Hillary Rodham Satan, er, Clinton.

The single event that made her a WotW candidate was her off-the-cuff comment about assassination. But her actions afterward are what aced her selection.

In an interview in South Dakota on Friday, Clinton was discussing why she is still seeking her party's presidential nomination when she referred to the assassination of Kennedy -- then, like her, a senator from New York -- on June 5, 1968, as he celebrated his victory in the California primary. She used the June date to illustrate how long the Democratic race has gone on in past cycles, and she apologized after it caused an immediate furor. But yesterday she said the remarks had been misinterpreted.

Her remarks had been misinterpreted. Funny how that always seems to be the case with Old Slewfoot.

She won't stop until she's either the Team Donkey nominee or she has completely torpedoed her side's chances for 2008. She's a one-woman wrecking machine. She's HRC - and she's the Wiener of the Week.

Military Freedom(?) of Speech

I'm not sure why Admiral Mullen felt compelled to write this warning. But I know that the fact that he wrote it unnerves me somewhat.

The highest-ranking U.S. military officer has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning them to stay out of politics as the United States approaches a presidential election in which the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be a central, and certainly divisive, issue.

"The U.S. military must remain apolitical at all times," wrote Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "It is and must always be a neutral instrument of the state, no matter which party holds sway."

Is it just me, or is Admiral Mullen afraid of something beyond the scope of routine candidate support from among the troops? Like the writer said, this is a most unusual step by the JCS. I certainly don't recall ever seeing anything like this before.

How does one interpret this? Is the Admiral telling the troops that they cannot engage in Constitutionally protected activities (as one would surely be inclined to think given the wording of his warning)? Or...and I'm just pulling this out of my nether regions...is he afraid of what might happen to military funding if President Obama rightly perceives that the military rank-and-file are more disposed to Senator McCommie than to him? I'm just saying....

Blogger Ennui

I guess this happens to every blogger in the process of trying to get an "audience" in the early going of their blog. Last Thursday I was contemplating the stats for my blog...and for the first time since TVL fired up last November, I wondered if I was wasting my time. I quickly jotted down the following thoughts (cleaned up for syntax and spelling).

Site hits are down. Comments have fallen off the map. I had my biggest day [that Thursday] only because of a Ted Kennedy picture I'd embedded in a previous post (apparently other bloggers were looking for a TK picture to embed in their take on the announcement that he has cancer). I've been doing this almost 6 months and have yet to attract a coterie of readers. I have 2 regulars - 2! One of them has software problems entering comments. The other travels a lot. Maybe 6 months isn't a long enough period to figure out if I'm actually going to be a success at this. But right now, I'm writing for myself, 2 regulars, and an audience of chirping crickets.

As I might say, were someone else to write something like that, boo-frickin'-hoo!.

Then, on the way home from work, I was listening to a radio talk show I never listen to -- especially at that hour. I only tuned in because the show I was listening to had gone to commercial. An author was talking about his book, something to the effect that randomness is everywhere in life and shows itself in the "luck" we perceive in life. He went on to talk about how randomness came into play with Roger Maris and his amazing 61 homer season, how randomness played into the career of Bruce Willis, as well as other examples.

But the one tidbit of information from this interview that really stuck with me was this: just because you are failing now does not make you a failure. Keep at it and let randomness do its part.

As a Christian, I understand that much of what we call "luck" and this author documents as "randomness" can be attributed to the hand of God intervening on our behalf. I was very much uplifted by the words of the author, and have decided to keep at it and know that at some point an audience will either develop or it won't. Besides, I owe it to my two regulars to keep at it.

Justice for the FLDS/Nancy Grace is a Fascist

You could have knocked me over with a feather. A Texas appeals court has determined that Texas CPS had no right nor cause to seize the children of the FLDS cult.

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin said the state failed to show the youngsters were in any immediate danger, the only grounds in Texas law for taking children from their parents without court action.

Wait! Are you telling me that you have to have proof before you can take people's children? [/sarcasm]

This isn't just a victory for the FLDS. This is a victory for the Constitutional protections of each one of us.

But there are some among us who are perpetually less interested in justice and freedom and much more interested in righting perceived (if not factually provable) wrongs.

When I got home last night, Mrs. Vulture was watching Nancy Grace. I used to enjoy Nancy Grace the first several times I watched her show. But now, to me, she's just a screeching fascist. Last night was no different.

Her panel for the discussion of the FLDS ruling consisted of two male defense attorneys who defended the decision (quite well, I might add). The remainder of the panel consisted mostly of shrewish Naziettes whose idea of reasoned debate consisted of baseless (and, so for, evidence-less) charges. "Young girls barely into puberty are being forced to marry and have sex!" "They beat their wives - that's why they make them dress that way, so the bruises won't show!" "There's proof of physical abuse against the children!"

The Vulture had a one word reply for each of the baseless statements of the Fascistas - "Okay - where's the indictment?"

This is what separates the freedom lover from the Statist. The freedom lover believes that when one is accused of a crime, said crime should be investigated, evidence of guilt should be presented before a court, and judgment should be rendered by a jury of his or her peers. The Statist, on the other hand, believing that Der Staat is the solution to all problems, likes to take shortcuts. "Shoot first, ask questions later" takes a whole new meaning when you're talking about situations like this one where 460+ children have been needlessly traumatized because some übermommy decided that crimes have been committed and action must be taken by Der Staat!

I very much dislike the FLDS cult. I very much dislike the way that they treat their women, like cattle. I very much dislike and distrust cults in general. But in the United States of America, under the Constitution, even the most unlikeable cult has rights, and NO ONE, not the government, not the Texas Stoßtruppen, and certainly not the Texas übermommies, can abridge those rights.

Thank God there's still one court in this land that understands and abides by that. And thank God that Nancy Grace isn't our ruler!

It's been a good week to be the Vulture. On the heels of Kyle's BA, Tyler has an achievement of his own for Papa Vulture to be proud of. Yesterday we found out that Tyler has completed the requirements to receive his AA in Business Administration from Frederick Community College.

While an AA might seem like a trivial thing, you have to understand how Tyler got there. At age 16, Tyler decided he'd had enough of the BS that is High School. He wanted to get out into the world, and he wanted it NOW. He took and passed the GED and enrolled at FCC the next semester. Despite having to take some remedial classes to "catch up" due to missed HS work, Tyler finished his AA in 2.5 years. Oh, and he worked nearly full-time through most of that 2.5 year run. Tyler does NOT mess around.

Now he's on to Towson University as a 19-year-old Junior. His plan is to become a CPA, and I think he'll be a very good one.

TJ, I love you and I'm VERY proud of you. Well done, son.

Kyle's achievement

If you were wondering why I was pretty much unreachable this weekend (yeah, you're DYING to know), it's because my oldest son Kyle (known in these parts as xfloggingkylex) graduated from college on Saturday. There were parties to prepare for (and host, and attend). There were relatives up from Florida and South Carolina. It was a wild, hectic weekend.

Hopefully, the fact that I'm extremely proud of Kyle and his accomplishment didn't get lost in the chaos. He worked very hard. He earned a spot in a national merit society. He's been accepted to graduate school. He's an extraordinary young man (and not just because he's my son).

Kyle, I love you. I'm so very proud of you. God truly blessed me when he brought you into my life.

You did it! Congratulations!

Footnote: I'll provide a link to all of the graduation day pictures once I have them up on a page for all to see.

Code Pink goes medieval on the Marines

Code Pink is an organization of activists working within the system to achieve political solutions to real world problems. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I knew I couldn't say that with a straight face.

What Code Pink really is is a coven of flaming psycho communist [really bad word]s opposed to all things American. Which, naturally, includes the Marines. As I detailed some months ago, Code Pink received a special permit from the city of Berkeley which allows them to protest the Marine recruiting office in that city. But, apparently, the protests in and of themselves haven't been sufficient to make the Marines disappear. So now good old Code Pink has brought in the big guns.

Code Pink is now resorting to witchcraft to beef up the number of its supporters protesting a controversial Marine Corps Recruiting Center in Berkeley, Calif.

The women's anti-war group has told ralliers to come equipped with spells and pointy hats...

You can't make this stuff up!

The guy who postulated that Liberalism is a mental illness is looking more prescient with every passing day.

Wiener of the Week

The WotW is, shockingly, a first-timer. I say "shockingly", because this guy will be a first ballot Wiener Hall of Famer. I speak, of course, of old Chimpy, President George W. Bush.

This traitorous sell-out mother"f"er has a litany of offenses against the American people, starting with his little Iraq adventure, and including his selling-out of the Second Amendment. But his latest act of treason may be his worst yet. His administration was complicit in designating the Polar Bear as an endangered species. As I wrote yesterday, this act guarantees that there will never, EVER again be any new drilling for oil in this country. We will be slaves to the whims of OPEC. We will have to be "rescued" by the One-World Socialist Utopia. The United States will be a sovereign nation no more.

There's nothing more I can add. GWB - you're the Wiener of the Week (and, for that matter, the Decade).

Peggy Noonan slaps down Team Elephant

This quote is too good not to pass along. It's from an opinion piece written by Peggy Noonan for the Wall Street Journal. Here's the "money shot".

"This was a real wakeup call for us," someone named Robert M. Duncan, who is chairman of the Republican National Committee, told the New York Times. This was after Mississippi. "We can't let the Democrats take our issues." And those issues would be? "We can't let them pretend to be conservatives," he continued. Why not? Republicans pretend to be conservative every day.

While the quote itself is both powerful and accurate, the most powerful part is not what was said, but who Peggy Noonan is.

Up until very, very recently, Peggy Noonan was a reliable cheerleader for Team Elephant and Bush's little Iraq adventure. Now she sounds more like me. She's too smart to drink the Kool-Aid and knows that the only hope Team Elephant has for viability as a party is to return to its Ronald Reagan roots. Which, I'm sorry to say, I don't believe will ever happen, because the Rockefellerite asshats running the party are all about the One-World Socialist Utopian vision.

When the Republicans are losing people like Peggy Noonan, there's no question that they've completely lost their way and in no way represent conservatives. Or, for that matter, Americans.

Well-reasoned, rational response

When those on the political left are confronted with ideas that diverge from their ideology, they always answer with well-thought out, well-reasoned, rational responses...not at all!

Please! The left knows no other response than that witnessed at Smith College earlier this month.

Rioting lesbians have stormed a speech by "Born Gay Hoax" author Ryan Sorba on the campus of Smith College in Massachusetts, shutting down his address, according to two major pro-family organizations, Americans for Truth and Mass Resistance.

"Beware lesbians with frying pans (if you care about free speech)," AFT said in his announcement. "Lesbian activists at Smith College just couldn't stand by and let a young critic explain his views about the supposed innateness of homosexuality – so they stormed Ryan Sorba's speech on the 'Born Gay Hoax' and forced him to end it prematurely."

"Thus they decided for everyone in the room – supporters, foes, the curious and the undecided – whether Sorba's arguments would be heard. Stalin would be proud," said AFT's Peter LaBarbera.

Indeed. Stalin WOULD be proud.

Just once I'd like to see the left sit and listen respectfully, then present counter arguments in a calm, rational manner. Just once.

I'd also like to see a unicorn, the Loch Ness Monster, a sea serpent, Bigfoot, and a total reduction of the national debt. I stand a zero chance of seeing any of those things. I also stand a zero chance of seeing leftists allow contrarian viewpoints to be presented without starting a riot.

Our "choices" for President (read: none)

In case there was any lingering doubt in your mind that McCommie is every bit the left-wing nut job that 666 and "Mr. Change!" are, here's yet more evidence that, come November, our "mainstream" choices for president are Socialist A, Socialist B, or Socialist C.

It’s not quite Birkenstocks and tie-dyed T-shirts, but presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) has shown he’s willing to go the extra mile to embrace the global warming movement.

The latest sign of that is the recently introduced "eco-friendly" campaign merchandise the McCain campaign has showcased on its Web site. Included are his and hers "Go Green" McCain embroidered polo shirts, T-shirts, hats and visors with or without the recycle logo. Organic cotton onesies for the babies. You can also find "Go Green" McCain tote bags, notebooks and travel mugs (with up to 100 percent recycled material and an "enhanced biodegradability additive").

Pardon me while I puke.

And, of course, McCommie's mouthpiece spouts the Liberal orthodoxy regarding Global Warming.

"The evidence is clear, climate change is real," Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, told the Business & Media Institute on May 14. "It is not simply an environmental problem, but one that affects our national and economic security. One extreme thinks that high taxes and crippling regulation is the solution. Others deny the problem even exists. John McCain feels that there is a better way, and voters from all backgrounds understand that’s what we need to bring about the right change in Washington."

Please, please, please! I'm begging you! Don't throw your vote away on this asshole. Vote Libertarian. Vote Constitution party. Hell, vote Communist! You might as well; we're headed that way anyway. Just don't vote for any of the unholy trinity of socialist phonies.

The final sell-out

If you listened to blathering-head talk radio over the past two weeks, you may have heard a lot of talk about the Bush administration being pushed to designate the polar bear as an endangered species. Never mind that, by some estimates, there are as many as 5 times as many polar bears now as in 1970. It's Global Warming! It's going to drown all of the polar bears. Al Goerbells says so!

Anyway, the radio blatherers mostly ranted on about how this would spell the death knell to any hope of ever drilling in ANWR and would certainly hasten the advent of carbon taxes and such nonsense.

Well, the worst fears of the talkers came to pass yesterday, as the sniveling, cowardly, treasonous Bush administration caved to the pressure from the State-Sanctioned Religion (Environmentalism) and designated the polar bear as an endangered species.

But Vulture! How can the bears go from "threatened" to "endangered" when their numbers are...increasing?!??!? My son, that's not how it works in the surreal world of politics. It's what COULD happen, not what IS HAPPENING, that matters.

The department, in deciding to list the bear as threatened, will cite studies by its own scientists that the decline of Arctic sea ice off Alaska and Canada could result in two-thirds of the polar bears disappearing by mid-century, said federal officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced. [Emphasis mine]

And, of course they fell back on the usual old chestnut to justify their actions.

"The science is absolutely clear that polar bear needs protection under the Endangered Species Act," said Andrew Wetzler, director of the endangered species program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"The science". Damn the f'ing science! The only "science" promoting the Global Warming scam is that which is funded by those with something to gain from the resulting policies that are justified by the need to "fight" warming. There are enough rational (and qualified) voices shouting from the rooftops that there is no man-made Global Warming to cast doubt on THAT assertion. Of course, they're not funded by the right people.

And the radio talkers are absolutely right this time. Kiss ANWR drilling good-bye forever. Kiss pretty much ANY new oil exploration and drilling good-bye forever. Embrace the coming One-world Socialist Utopia! Embrace carbon taxes! Embrace rule by bureaucracy!

Like you have a choice.

Thanks, Bush. Thanks a butt load. Traitor.

More Texas police news

Photo Courtesy of Crane News in Crane, Texas

What do they put in the water in Texas that makes their cops act the way they do? I mean, come ON! They make the Maryland State Police look like a collection of Emily Posts. They seem to view themselves as the law, and God help anyone with the temerity to defy them.

Just ask Brian Barnes, a professional storm chaser. He dared to "talk back" to the law and wound up in jail for it.

"I told him that I was helping out the National Weather Service in San Angelo, and they were relaying my reports to Midland. He told me he didn't care, and that I needed to go."

Barnes thought it was his obligation to stay put and follow the storms, a decision that landed him in jail.

"He jumped out and put me in handcuffs. I turned around and I remember him slamming me up against his vehicle, and then it all got kind of scary."

Among the witnesses was Dennis Greer, who had a similar run-in, with the same deputy, just minutes earlier while he was shooting pictures of the same storm for the local newspaper.

"His first words to me were, 'are you a blankety-blank idiot?' He told me if I didn't leave, I was going to jail, flat out," Greer said.

Nice.

Better still is the phony, trumped-up charge hung on Mr. Barnes.

Barnes was arrested at a road side park on Highway 385 and charged with obstruction of a highway or other passage way.

According to witnesses, there is plenty of room on on the road in front of the park for a vehicle to get by. That's why they are questioning the validity of the charge.

Dennis Greer says, "The guy wasn't blocking anything. He was able to drive a full size truck by with no problem."

Doesn't matter. You didn't follow direct instructions from the law.

The cop was abusive, used foul language, and used unnecessary force on a man who neither posed a threat nor resisted arrest. Apparently, that's par for the course in Texas. The FLDS were REALLY smart not to resist the Stoßtruppen who invaded their ranch.

Al Sharpton gets p'wned

Al Sharpton is a disaster looking for a tragedy to exploit. He is a race-baiting charlatan who has apparently taken the mantle of ambulance-chaser-in-chief from Jesse Jackson. His latest "cause" was an attempt to shut down New York City as a protest against the "not guilty" verdict for the police officers involved in the tragic slaying of a man on the morning of the day he was to be married. Mr. Sharpton also tried to insinuate himself into the boiling cauldron created by the beatings of three individuals at the hands of the Philadelphia PD.

Sportswriter Jemele Hill of ESPN.com recently wrote a column on Karl Malone and his "parenting" of his three illegitimate children. In the process of excoriating Mr. Malone for his abandonment of his son, Buffalo Bills draft selection Demetrius Bell, she also threw down the gauntlet for Mr. Sharpton.

If Al Sharpton is itching to picket something, he should organize a protest outside Malone's house, since the National Fatherhood Initiative says two out of three African-American children grow up without their father in the home.

Take that, Sharpton! Called out publicly by a woman of color! What are you gonna do now, Mr. Pompadour?

Not surprisingly, there was NO media coverage of Ms. Hill's challenge to Mr. Sharpton. After all, there are more important things to cover...like Brittney being reunited with her children and Mariah Carey getting married to a child 11 years her junior and the premier of the Sex and the City movie and.......

Just shoot me.

The Revolution Continues

All along I've been of the opinion that the Team Donkey convention was going to be a SHOW, a battle royal with the potential to turn into Chicago '68. But it turns out that Team Elephant has its own convention turmoil possibilities.

[T]he forces of Rep. Ron Paul have been organizing across the country to stage an embarrassing public revolt against Sen. John McCain when Republicans gather for their national convention in Minnesota at the beginning of September.

Yee hah! Now we're talking!

The Rockefellerite Republican establishment needs to be shaken awake. They've foisted a grossly unpalatable candidate upon us who virtually guarantees a Team Donkey victory in November regardless of whether it's Barak {don't say his middle name or you're a racist} Obama or the Antichrist running as their standard bearer. A nice little revolt in Minneapolis would serve them right.

I'm going to have to Tivo the conventions for both parties now.

The Vulture grins a maniacal grin

Wiener of the Week

This week's WotW goes to the ruling junta of Myanmar (Burma). These lovely examples of human love and kindness have refused to allow foreign aid and foreign aid workers to enter the country in the aftermath of the devastating cyclone that struck there last week. Apparently, the junta is much more concerned with assuring that the upcoming constitutional referendum that will, in essence, legitimize their rule and make them "rulers for life", goes off as planned. And what a free and open referendum it will be!

In Datgyigone, 55 kilometers, or 35 miles, north of Yangon, a precinct captain laughed when asked if he thought most people would vote for the constitution. "Everyone will vote yes," he said. "Of course yes. Hundred percent."

I always wonder, why do these illegitimate regimes, based on coercion and propaganda, even bother with "elections" and "referendums"? They know it's a joke. The governed people know it's a joke. The world community knows it's a joke. Why bother?

Anyway, it looks like thousands of people are going to die due to lack of food, clean water, and clothing and other supplies. But the junta will live on.

Ruling junta of Myanmar -- you're the Wiener of the Week.

Darwin Awards Finalist

Update: post modified to remove "offensive" words

The Maryland State Police have got to be the most cocky, most arrogant, most obnoxious bastards of any cops anywhere -- and, trust me, I've been met more than few of them. They strut around like they're the cock of the walk, and, while they may not be "of the walk", they're most certainly...well, you get the idea.

One of their favorite little arrogant things to do involves (shocker!) radar traps. A trooper sits in his cruiser on the side of the road with his handy-dandy radar gun. When he finds a worthy victim -- I'm not making this up, any Marylander will tell you it's true! -- he walks right out into the fast lane of the freeway with his hand held out in the universal "Halt!" position. Having been pulled over in this manner myself (No! Vulture, say it ain't so! YOU?!?!?!), I can tell you that it's incredibly tempting to just run his arrogant ass over.

Well, now someone has.

Police say Grissom was driving 71 mph in a 55-mph zone on Route 32 when she struck Officer Scott Wheeler. The officer was working a speed enforcement detail and had stepped into the road to flag Grissom down when he was struck.

Only 71? On Route 32? Wuss!

But returning to the subject of the dead patrolman. Let me say in advance that I'm very sorry that the officer lost his life in such a senseless way. My heart goes out to his family and friends. But...I'm not surprised.

The dumbasses who thought up the arrogant policy of walking out into the road to flag down speeders are, quite possibly, the stupidest, most hubris-filled individuals in the history of this planet. "They'll stop for us! We're the law!" Uh, sure. And now one of them is (senselessly) dead.

And it's obvious that he was "at fault" in the matter; the woman who struck him was only fined $410 and assessed 3 points, which, in Maryland, is the points equivalent of exceeding the speed limit by 30 MPH (not that I would know or anything - I never drive that slowly).

Only now, after a trooper is dead, is the retarded MSP reassessing step-outs.

Following Wheeler’s death, a committee of officers amended the policy for the “step-out” technique. The technique...is now prohibited on roadways with a speed limit greater than 35 mph, according to police.

Darwin award, anyone?

Czabe defends the genre

It's not uncommon for "real" professional writers to look down their nose at bloggers. And let's face it -- why wouldn't they? It's not like any of us are getting rich doing this, particularly donkeys like the Vulture who won't put advertising on their blog. Which, when you think about it, explains why this blog is what it is: you get quality commensurate with the renumeration received by the service provider. Garbage in, garbage out.

Recently a "really important" writer appeared on one of the blathering heads shows and, apparently, really lit up bloggers, particularly sports blog deadspin.com. Steve Czaban leaps to the defense of bloggers everywhere.

On the panel, Buzz attacked Deadspin creator Will Leich as if he were responsible for introducing the journalistic equivalent of the ebola virus to the sports world.

Short version of his take: Blogs are evil.

Of course we are. Go ahead, bash away.

While some bloggers think their s*** doesn’t stink, I believe most are firmly aware of where they reside in the media universe.

Any dink can start a blog, and write his fingers to the bone. It doesn’t mean it’ll be any good, or widely read. But if it is, it can gain a following.

And most bloggers, I believe, yearn to someday NOT be bloggers. I think most would love to write for magazines, write books, write screen plays, or for anybody who pays them more money!

In essence, blogs are the batting cage of writing. You get in there, you take your hacks, you try to get better. But you get the reps. You work the writing muscle. You try things out. You develop your thought process. You use all the media of the world wide web to make your point.

No, Buzz. It’s not an at-bat in the 9th inning of the World Series, you pompous ass. Bloggers don’t get that chance. You do. And someday, a guy who started as a blogger will outsell your cranky ass on the NY Times bestseller list.

Get over it.

Could we have a round of polite golf applause for Mr. Czaban, please? Nicely done, Czabe.

Climate change fraud/climate change frauds

There are two thing about the current man-made global warming scam that really make me crazy. One of them is the way people take the "science" on faith without bothering to see if there is any evidence against the "consensus" view. The other is the way the environmental evangelists tell the rest of us how we should live while they themselves live their lives to a completely different standard.

Part I: the "scamintists"

Here is yet another example of scientists playing fast and loose with the facts.

Methodology used by NASA to estimate rates of climate change are resulting in dramatic shifts in previously published historical temperature data, causing figures for estimated global surface temperature prior to 1970 to now be lower and figures since 1970 to now be higher – and appearing to provide evidence for those who say the Earth is warming.

John Goetz, writing last month in the science blog Climate Audit, analyzed the way NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies calculates estimated global surface temperatures and showed that the addition of new, contemporary data could "have a ripple effect all the way back to the beginning of a [weather] station's history."

Goetz found 32 different versions of published global annual averages going back to Sept. 24, 2005, that showed the published figures – figures used as a baseline to demonstrate change through time – changing hundreds of times.

"On average 20% of the historical record was modified 16 times in the last 2 1/2 years," he wrote. "The largest single jump was 0.27 °C. This occurred between the Oct. 13, 2006 and Jan. 15, 2007 records when Aug 2006 changed from an anomoly of +0.43 °C to +0.70 °C, a change of nearly 68 percent."

Temperature anomalies – differences between the average measured global air temperature and some long-term mean – are primary data for studies of climate change.

Uh-huh. Adjust the real temperatures pre-1970 downwards, and the real temperatures post-1970 upwards. And we wonder why there is so much "evidence" of warming.

But wait! There's more to chew on here. Surely you remember the famous 1990's era "hockey stick" graph showing the catastrophic warming we will face soon. It is the Holy Grail of the climate change cultists, even today, even after it was proved to be a complete fraud.

Now comes the real shocker. This improper normalization procedure tends to emphasize any data that do have the hockey stick shape, and to suppress all data that do not. To demonstrate this effect, McIntyre and McKitrick created some meaningless test data that had, on average, no trends. This method of generating random data is called Monte Carlo analysis, after the famous casino, and it is widely used in statistical analysis to test procedures. When McIntyre and McKitrick fed these random data into the Mann procedure, out popped a hockey stick shape!

In other words, you could feed this program the price list from Wendy's and it would generate a hockey stick.

Part II: the false prophets and evangelists (do as I say, not as I do)

Al Gorebells is on the receiving end of most of my venom on this count (Mr. 20,000 square foot house with an energy bill larger than my mortgage payment). But these asshats are just as deserving of derision.

Is the hot air emitted by celebrities when they spout ecological platitudes a greenhouse gas?

If so, then the melting of the polar ice caps just moved a step closer, following calls by Trudie Styler, a leading celebrity ecological hypocrite - call them hippy-crites for short - for the general public to eat more locally grown vegetables.

Campaigning against food miles might seem an unlikely cause for Styler, given that a tribunal last year heard how she ordered her personal chef to travel over 100 miles to make a bowl of pasta for her youngest child and has sold olive oil and honey from her Tuscan estate, Il Palagio, 1,000 or so miles away, in Harrods in London.
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The couple's carbon footprint, the impertinent ink-stained wretch pointed out, has been estimated at 30 times greater than the average Briton's. How did Styler and Sting - who have seven homes - square that with their environmental crusading?

Styler conceded that as Sting "has a 750-person crew to bring around the world, it is a difficult challenge".
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"I would like to think that we both work pretty hard for the rights of indigenous people and for the rights of conservation of the Amazon rainforest, but we do need to get around," she said.

Oh, don't worry - Sting and his obviously retarded wife are hardly the only ones guilty of such self-importance and "hippy-cracy". Read the article and see for yourself. John Revolting. Chris (Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow) Martin of Coldplay. Madonna. Leonardo DiCaprio. Brangelina. And, my personal favorite, Barbra Streisand.

See, they're "persons", and we're just "people", so it's okay that they jet around the globe, wasting energy and natural resources, all the while berating the "people" for not buying in to their "vision" of environmental utopia - a utopia where, I might add, our lives are diminished while they get to do whatever they want.

Is it any wonder I get so bent by the "greens" and all they represent? Frauds. Hypocrites. Elitists. And those are their good points.

Team Donkey -- the stretch run

You may have noticed that I've paid scant attention to the presidential campaigns lately. Oh, sure, I beat on the "Reverend" Wright a little for sabotaging Obama's chances. But that's pretty much it. My heart just hasn't been in it.

But, for those of you who are still interested, here is a widget for determining just how many delegates the Democrat candidates must win and what percentage of the Super Delegates they'll need in order to clinch the nomination.

My money is on The Beast. I think Obama's just about done.

Wiener of the Week

This week's WotW is the "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright. And what a week he's had.

First there was all of the fallout from his "God Damn America" sermon. Then he made an appearance at the National Press Club in DC where he further ingratiated himself to one and all. Finally, Barack {don't say his middle name or you're a racist} Obama, under enormous pressure, threw "Reverend" Wright under the bus and severed all ties to him.

Why would the "Reverend" Wright do this? Doesn't he want {DSHMNOYAR} to win? The correct answer, sadly, is no, he does NOT want him to win. Vulture! How can you say that? Just look at the facts, ma'am.

Let's start with an analogy. The Department of Making Things Better is formed by an act of Congress. Their job is to "make things better". At first they have a lot of success; things start to "get better". But as things "get better", the Department's budget is reduced, their prominence is diminished, and their media coverage dwindles. So...no surprise here...the next fiscal year, things DON'T "get better" -- they "get worse". Congress calls hearings. The Department says things got worse because of the budget cuts. Congress reinstates their previous budget number. But now, the Department heads are smarter than before -- they're still going to try to "make things better", just not very hard. And when things DO start to "get better" too fast, they'll publish some study or other to assure that things don't look as good as they really are. After all, rule #1 for any bureaucracy is self-preservation.

Rule #1 also applies to availability entrepreneurs. There is a cottage industry in this country I like to call the Department of Racial Grievances. It is informally headed by the "Reverend" Jesse Jackson (the king of the shakedown artists) and the "Reverend" Al "I'll shut down New York!" Sharpton. Folks like the "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright don't figure as prominently as the other "Reverends", but they, too, depend on the continuing perception of racial disharmony in order to make their daily bread. If {DSHMNOYAR} were to be elected president, these "Reverends" would suffer the experience of the Department of Making Things Better -- loss of prestige, loss of funding, loss of shakedown opportunities.

Why Vulture! That's so cynical! Yeah? So show me the logical error. Show me where I'm wrong. That's what I thought.

For proving once again that he'd rather see his people fail than see his "mission" and prestige threatened, "Reverend" Wright - you're the Wiener of the Week.

Wiener of the Month

The WotM for April is quite the no-brainer. Who else could it be but the Stoßtruppen from Texas?

Wrong.

THIS nanny-state worshiping asshat is the Wiener of the Month.

Get a load (and I do mean a load) of this.

Lawyers for the FLDS members – who reside not only at YFZ but also at compounds located in Arizona, Utah, South Dakota, and Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada -- have been arguing in the press that the entry and removal of the children constituted a "massive" violation of due process. Others have argued that the authorities' actions represent the unfair targeting of one religion.

Each of these arguments is singularly misguided.

Exqueeze me? Misguided? Would you care to explain how the state-sanctioned kidnapping of 400+ children on the flimsiest of leads is acceptable? Oh, she would LOVE to explain it!

Whether or Not the Caller Was Legitimate, the Important Point is the Lack of Any Government Misconduct and the Serious Evidence of Crimes to Children

Yeah....that would explain the hundreds of indictments that have been....what do you mean, there haven't been any indictments? I'm S-O-O-O confused. /sarcasm

A Sect In Deep Denial of Its Crimes Cannot Be Trusted with Its Children

Are you shitting me? So now it's Law Enforcement's job to judge, on the spot and without any sort of judicial or jury review, not only whether a crime has been committed, but also whether there are delusional people among those being raided, which is immediate grounds for kidnapping their children? Lady, put down the crack pipe!

This raid was about child abuse, and as I explain above, it is not really any different than authorities entering a drug den or a private home where there are credible accounts of abuse. The child protective services universe is sufficiently stable by now that whoever is sexually abusing a child can be made to stop. It is the best interest of the child that determines government action.

"It is the best interest of the child that determines government action." That actually scares me. I exaggerate not.

Okay, were this just some random donkey spouting inanities, I could perhaps overlook it -- after all, you don't see me going off on the contributors to The Daily Kos, do you? But this ISN'T some random asshat - this is a Princeton University law professor!

Marci Hamilton: for your gross ignorance of the United States Constitution and your complete lack of understanding of basic common-sense law, you are the Wiener of the Month for April!

Performance-enhancing drugs

When you see the words "performance-enhancing drugs", what do you think of? Professional athletes, of course. Uh...according to the British journal Nature you might want to rethink that stereotype.

Twenty percent of scientists admit to using performance-enhancing prescription drugs for non-medical reasons, according to a survey released Wednesday by Nature, Britain's top science journal.

The overwhelming majority of these med-taking brainiacs said they indulged in order to "improve concentration," and 60 percent said they did so on a daily or weekly basis.

Scientists. I should have known.

Over 1,400 scientists responded to the survey. Over one third of them said they would administer the drugs to their children "if they knew other kids at school were also taking them." Unbelievable.

The performance-enhancing drugs most commonly utilized by professional athlete consist of substances (steroids, human growth hormone) that assist in "bounce back" -- the time needed to recuperate from heavy weight lifting or other exertion. When "bounce back" time is reduced, the athlete is able to work out more frequently and thus improve their strength, speed, and endurance more rapidly as well. In other words, these athletes are "healing" themselves so that they can perform at peak efficiency.

And what of the scientists?

The survey focused on three drugs widely available by prescription or via the Internet.

Ritalin, a trade name for methylphenidate, is a stimulant normally used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, especially in children. Modafinil -- marketed at Provigil -- is prescribed to treat sleep disorders, but is also effective against general fatigue and jet lag.
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The third class of drugs included in the survey was beta blockers, prescribed for cardiac arrhythmia and popular among performers due to its anti-anxiety effect.

Uh-huh. Speed and anti-anxiety drugs. And they feel absolutely no remorse about abusing them, either.

In the survey, 80 percent of all the scientists -- even those who did not use these drugs -- defended the right of "healthy humans" to take them as work boosters, and more than half said their use should not be restricted, even for university entrance exams.

The next time you hear some preachy droning head prattling on about how awful it is that professional athletes are using performance-enhancing drugs, remember this: none of us are pure on this count. My coffee and energy drinks, your tea, his speed, her Valium. We're all looking for an edge. And we all take shortcuts.

But doesn't it make you wonder what other shortcuts these scientists are taking?