Disheartening, if true. Now good citizen, what would you do in this case:

1) Cooperate, after all it’s for my own good
2) Cooperate and seek legal recourse after it was over
3) Instruct the officers that they were detaining you illegally and leave (subsequently risking being manhandled or worse)
4) Exercise your second amendment rights (definitely assuring you would see what is meant by worse and not real smart)

I’d be torn between 2 & 3, afterall I’m a family man.

Thanks to Jesse over at the blab.

Update: Glenn Reynolds questions whether it really happened or not. I had my doubts which is why the disclaimer if true is there.

Rick Santorum: Gay Marriage = Terrorism. Let him hang himself on his own. No need for the gay-rights advocates to make stuff up.

That’s the title of this news article. And the answer is: He’s rich and famous!

Despite his history of assaulting photographers, drug use, and reckless driving (which I’m certain may even prevent him from purchasing a firearm under current law, assuming he was charged), he gets a permit to carry a weapon.

Sheriff Charlie Plummer . . . says simply being “a law-abiding citizen” doesn’t cut it in his county. Apparently, even if you don’t abide by the law and are a member of the plutocracy, you can get one. Other permits were issued to Eight judges, several attorneys, businessmen in high-crime areas and a diamond dealer also made the grade. Yup, more affluent people.

I bet this guy wishes he was rich and famous.

Bigwig is absolutely hysterical. He needs a career in comedy. To wit:

If hooking up Colobus genitals to a car battery has even the slightest chance of curing cancer, teenage acne, or hangnails for that matter, I say shock that monkey.

Definitely a must read.

If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.

That’s what Santorum said. And the left is reaching to make an issue out it, to no avail. The statement is true and you should have a right to those things; more specifically the government should not be allowed to interfere with those things. The bigger concern I have is about Santorum’s privacy statement.

Oliver Willis states that Santorum compares homosexuality to beastiality and child abuse. Of course, Santorum specifically states in the original interview that homosexuality is not bestiality or child abuse. So, Santorum isn’t comparing, he’s contrasting. Yup, reaching.

Legislators working on new laws to restrict predatory lending. If you’re stupid enough to sign blank closing documents, then you get what you deserve. Also, credit and borrowing require a trait most people lack, which is discipline. Credit counseling and personal finance should be required in high school, along with basic business law.

The Second Amendment Protection act has been referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. Prior to that, it was in the Judiciary Committee.

A friend of the family has undergone an elective surgical procedure to enhance her breasts. I haven’t seen her since and have quite the conundrum. When I do see her, I know that she will want recognition of the change in her appearance and that keeping my mouth shut may be rude. She needs affirmation that her appearance has benefited from the procedure, or else she wouldn’t have had it done. But what do I say?

I can’t very well say something like Nice Juggs! Can I? Any suggestions? The Mrs. has informed me that I also am not allowed to ask to see them (and I assume that means ask to touch them as well). Maybe this is the one time in my life when I can comment on another man’s wife’s boobs and get away with it.

Apparently, Daily Kos thinks that the time is right to convert we libertarians (with lower a case L) into the Democratic fold. Perry de Havilland spells some things out regarding the unlikelihood that this will happen. It ain’t gonna happen but we libertarians won’t like the result either. The libertarians will not vote for:

Gun control candidates (this is, as Daily Kos says, the deal-breaker)
Big government candidates
Pro-affirmative action candidates
Higher tax candidates
More socialist program candidates
Wealth redistribution candidates
And the list goes on.

What will happen is those libertarians who tend to vote Republican (picking the lesser of evils) may vote for actual libertarians. Of course, this would be a win for the Democratic Party because the votes diverted from the Republicans could allow a win.

If the Democrats acted more like Tennessee Governor Bredesen (or even Dean, sort of, since he at least gets gun control right), it might happen. But when your top contenders are Kerry, Leiberman, and Gephardt, forget it. As an example, if Clinton hadn’t signed the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 into law, Gore would be president right now.

So, all you libertarians out there, think real hard in 2004. And you Democrats out there, start thinking about issues that are important to libertarians and change your minds on the stuff that you’re wrong about.

I remember the big to-do about Hawash and how he was a victim (and yes I agree his civil rights were violated) but now he’s been charged with something and his supporters are apparently not returning calls. Or even acknowledging it.

Per the Tennessean: Revenue projections for state are on target. Of course, from yesterday’s internet tax post: In 2001, state and local governments lost about $362 million in e-taxes. That is expected to exceed $1 billion by 2006. My theory was that the state needs new revenue projection guys. Somebody is fibbing and it isn’t SayUncle.

The Hartford Courant editor has ruled that their columnist Denis Horgan can’t operate his weblog.

There are a few things my loyal readers should know. One of which is that I have a penis. This is not a post about me having a particularly extraordinary penis but a report on how the penis affects thinking and cognition. Penis-bearing beings have several deficiencies but I’m only discussing one of those deficiencies today. Apparently, a penis affects visual capabilities, particularly color recognition. A human being with a penis can only distinguish about eight or so colors, even though according to Windows 2000 there are at least 24 million colors (all of which are distinguishable to entities that do not have penises). More interesting is the fact that the amount of time devoted to the penis is inversely proportionate to the number of colors distinguishable. For example, my pup spends a great deal of his time engaging in the following activities:

Showing his penis to our other dog.
Showing his penis to me and the wife.
Sniffing his penis.
Showing his penis to any strangers that may be near.
Licking his penis.
Pointing his penis in the direction of the Sun.

The result of all this attention to his penis is that he only sees in black and white. My conclusion is not based on any scientific evidence but merely the fact that he seems not at all impressed by my 60 inch color television. A friend of mine used to have a Labrador. This Labrador was not particularly smart as he could do only one trick. The command for this trick was Show me your dude and I’ll let you guess what followed. Later this Labrador was hit by a car and I’m convinced that the reason he was hit by a car was because he was completely blind from showing people his dude all the time (even the neighborhood kids picked up on it).

This past weekend, the wife and I cancelled our vacation (damn SARS!) and decided to spend our time painting the master bedroom and the master bath. I hate painting for two reasons: 1) I don’t enjoy it and 2) I suck at it. If you’re marriage can survive the painting experience, you will enjoy a long life together. If not, one of you will be dead.

Prior to this weekend, our master bedroom was a color called China Doll. Now, every penis-bearing person reading this is thinking China Doll is not a color, it’s an oriental figurine or the name of a porn star. See, China Doll is a very, very light shade of brown or possibly a dark shade of white. There is some debate in the scientific world of color evaluation as to what color it really is. We (and by we, I mean the wife) decided that we needed to change from China Doll to Apple Butter. Again, penis-bearing individuals are thinking that Apple Butter is something you put on biscuits or the name of a porn star. Apple Butter is a slightly darker shade of brown (or possibly white, we’re still not sure) than China Doll.

Also confusing to penis-laden individuals is why there is a need to change one shade of brown (or possibly white) to a slightly different shade of brown (or possibly white). The reason for this is only known to non-penis-laden individuals. After the wife made the first stroke with the roller, I said I can’t see the difference and her response was You’re blind.

This time, the wife and I managed to paint two rooms without getting divorced or killing each other. The last time we painted, we were at each others’ throats the entire time. It got so bad that I pondered whether or not a psychiatrist could convincingly testify in court to the fact that inhalation of paint fumes combined with indistinguishable shades of brown (or possibly white) could cause temporary insanity in particular penis-bearing individuals.

Next up was the bathroom (which was China Doll as well). The new color for the bathroom is Savannah Moss, which again penis-bearing individuals are thinking That’s not a color, that’s a fungus in Georgia or a porn star. Savannah Moss is light shade of green (or possibly white). This time, however, I could distinctly see the difference between Savannah Moss and China Doll.

Next weekend, the wife and I need two new porn stars to do the guest rooms.

A man in Colorado rescued a dog from the pound. Animal Control Officers received complaints that it might be a pit bull. So the poor guy has spent $600 and taken time off to fight a bureaucratic system. In Colorado, pit bulls are a banned breed. Of course, the guy claims that the dog isn’t even a pit bull and that it is a boxer/border collie mix. But because it has the predominant characteristics it is still suspect.

Note to all you breed specific legislation supporters, I can turn a golden retriever or chihuahua into the meanest animal on earth. It’s about ownership responsibility, not a specific breed.

Looks like some folks are trying to form a government in Iraq. Mark my words, this will go on for a very long time.

Tennesseans who shop on the Internet should pay sales tax when they purchase an item, but most don’t.

The state doesn’t enforce it. And the federal government doesn’t require online retailers to collect the tax.

More from WATE:

In 2001, state and local governments lost about $362 million in e-taxes. That is expected to exceed $1 billion by 2006

Note the colorful use of language, particularly the word lost. The government didn’t lose money, it just didn’t generate as much as it thought it would. As Bubba and Bill Hobbs are fond of pointing out, it sounds like the problem is with the guys that do the projections.

Of course, me and the Mrs. buy stuff online all the time to avoid paying sales tax.

The second one is up at Rich’s. Check it out. In fact, there’s just lots of good stuff over at Shots Across The Bow this week. Go read it.

Well, 100 or so rounds later, I don’t feel quite as annoyed about the SARS Canada thing (the Mrs. is still pretty bummed). Shot my new rifle (20 inch barrel AR15 from J&T Distributing) and it didn’t explode (which made the wife happy; since I built it, she was worried I had no idea what I was doing). And I got about 1/2 inch groups after I sighted it in.

Per the talking heads, Dick Gephardt has developed a plan for healthcare that is considered risky (i.e., suicidal). The run down of the Foxnews piece went like this:

Gephardt blah blah blah healthcare plan blah blah blah Hillary Clinton blah blah blah 1994 plan. blah blah blah Bush tax cuts pay for it blah blah blah Bush economy blah blah blah blah blah blah political failure.

I now have a logo! Thanks to The Comedian. I wish I had Photshop skillz.

Today, me and the Mrs. were supposed to fly to The People’s Republic of Canada for a vacation. However, this travel advisory issued by the WHO regarding SARS has us a bit spooked. The airline refused to transfer our tickets without paying a $200 fee, which is almost the price of the tickets anyway. Today, the airline finally issued a policy regarding the advisory so we got tickets for later in the year for a comparable price. I was looking forward to the trip. Guess I’ll go to the range instead.

Jay links to this article in which Santorum says:

If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.

Jay is right.

Naturally, the gay community is upset about the comments and wants him out ala Trent Lott (R-Whitey Town)

Of course, the comment that Santorum made that is more important than offending the gay community is this:

“All of those things are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family,” Santorum said. “And that’s sort of where we are in today’s world, unfortunately. It all comes from, I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn’t exist, in my opinion, in the United States Constitution.” Emphasis added for those of you that need to be told that.

Our politicians don’t even understand our rights and that is more important than offending the gay community.

Update: Notice that the quote has the word gay in parenthesis. I guess his comments aren’t directed at gays but at sex in general.

No, really.

A woman dropped off pictures of her and her child breast feeding at Eckerd Drugs. She was arrested for kiddie porn.

Via UnknownNews, a website you should be reading!

Nancy Pelosi gave a speech to some environmental group. She received applause. She left in a Ford Excursion (known to environmentalists as the Ford Earthfucker™ since it is an evil SUV). On her departure, her audience wasn’t as happy with her.

NOW has distanced itself from the comments of its Morris County president who stated essentially that NOW opposed the double murder charge (one for Mrs. Peterson and one for the fetus), because it fits their position on abortion and human life. It was not a popular statement and NOW did the right thing in distancing itself.

I, like the vast majority of Americans, think abortion is bad. However, I (like the vast majority of Americans) think that abortion should remain legal. Noticeably absent by some in the pro-choice movement is the acknowledgement that abortion ends a life. And noticeably absent by some in the pro-life movement is the realization that abortion is a necessary evil.

The problem with the pro-life side is that it is riddled with fanatics who harass (even kill) abortion doctors. They also cannot distinguish that in certain cases abortion is the safest option. This damages the pro-life folks’ credibility.

The problem with the pro-choice side is that they view the issue entirely in terms of choice and women’s rights. The abortion issue is more complex than that. It is not completely and only about those two aspects. It is a human issue and not just a women’s issue. The pro-choice side also fails to deal with the fact that abortion ends a life by dismissing entirely that a fetus is a potential human, which harms their credibility.

I don’t like either of them.

Remember the guy who saved his dog and got arrested? Apparently, quite a few people are upset about it and calling Metro Police. Good!

The head of American Airlines made a big mistake by not properly informing the carrier’s workers of executive compensation plans, he told a hastily called news conference on Monday as unions threatened to vote again on already-ratified concession pacts aimed at staving off imminent bankruptcy.

Sadly, this information was not a big secret. It has to be disclosed on quarterly public filings. The 1933 and 1934 securities acts require this. Ironically, these acts were passed in response to the depression and the ignorant public’s view of accounting information. The average Joe doesn’t quite understand financial information and these acts were passed to protect them.

Now, I can see why the workers may not have known, but the union should have. They do employ financial guys.

The city of Arcata passed a resolution telling local law enforcement not to honor requests by federal agencies under the Patriot Act.

Link Via Bigwig.

Someone at Roane State has assigned a portion of the RTB as homework. Cool. What would you like me to teach you, boys and girls? Of course, the site has a disclaimer about potentially offensive material. I wonder who they could be talking about?

For Buy A Gun In Spite of Michael Moore Day, I got a 20 inch barreled AR15 kit this weekend and assembled it. Pix coming!

Heard on the news today that current senate bill allows free scholarships to anyone who has a 3.0 GPA and scores 19 on the ACT. The Tennessean has more.

Lenoir City has voted to allow sales of liquor by the drink.

Rich Heller is a special police officer in Washington, D.C., licensed by the city government to carry a handgun in the performance of his duties protecting the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judicial Center. While city officials want Heller to carry a gun to protect federal judges on government property, they have barred him from possessing a similar gun in his own home to protect himself and his family from criminals in his high-crime neighborhood.

So, Mr. Heller is suing based on the second amendment (maybe equal protection would work too!)

Also interesting from the article is that: Studies by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics dating back to 1994 show that a crime victim is actually as much as 50 percent less likely to be injured if they use a firearm to resist a criminal than if they resist with any other weapon, resist with no weapon, offer no resistance or cooperation or even fully comply with the criminal’s demands.

Again, debunking the Brady Center’s claim that you should just comply with the robbery, rape, or your own murder; and you’ll be safe.

Mr. Martin’s apartment caught fire. The firefighters were there. He could see his dog in the window and the blaze approaching the dog. He waited 30 minutes for firefighters to get the dog. He finally (much like I would have done) went and got his dog on his own, despite warnings from firefighters to back away. He was then arrested for disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment. Sad day when you can’t save your dog without getting arrested for it.

The Humane Society wants to open an off-leash dog park in Knoxville. Of course, they want money for this. Go here if you’re interested.

Anyone who took took my advice and watched Wanda At Large would not have been disappointed last night. Those who missed it, one of the funnier scenes:

Coworker: You should have a child, it would mellow you out.
Wanda: So does weed. And it’s more fun to take to the zoo.

Yup, good stuff.

My pup is getting older and is testing limits everyday. He is slowly ensuring that he will never have freedom to run the house. At our house, we have a dog door that goes to a screened porch and a dog door from the porch to the yard. This arrangement should be ideal for a well-behaved dog (such as our elder dog). He can come and go as he pleases and no need for us to rush home because he has to pee.

Now the pup is a different story. After he was sufficiently potty trained, we let him have run of the house and yard while we were gone.

The problem: He dug six foot trenches in our backyard.

The solution: We close off access to the yard and let him free in the house (he was potty trained). Nope, then the game was (and I am not making this up) to move the couch into the center of the living room; or pull the Oriental rug out from under the coffee table; or dig up all the house plants.

Solution 2: Pupster is now crated during the day. No problems with this plan, except that sad look he gives us in the morning.

Latest problem: We have new neighbors who have two pre-teenage sons. And they have a boxer puppy. The sons were playing catch while their puppy was going potty. Then my pup hops over our fence for a little visit. My pup isn’t mean or violent, he just wanted to play with the boys and the pup. However, he is an intimidating looking dog so this is a problem. The boys had no problem with it and actually liked my dog.

Latest solution: We broke out the old shock collar. We gave up on the shock collar in the past because it didn’t phase him. We’d apply the zap! and he didn’t care. So, I broke out the instruction manual last night and discovered the collar had a level setting. Woohoo! We’re in business. The elder dog was easily trained on setting one. The pup started responding on setting six (it only goes to eight). Now, when he places his paws near the fence, he gets a little zzztt!

Now, if he’d just realize how much happier he (and I) would be if he would behave, we could get through this. I don’t ask much. Just don’t destroy stuff, don’t dig, and stay in the yard. Mind you the elder dog has figured all this out and can pretty much come and go at his leisure.

The Germans (go figure, have you seen their porn? Eek!) are planning on creating a penis-numbing condom. Sure, it may make sex last longer but there is the disadvantage that, well, you can’t feel it.