1st Rate Example of How NOT to Fire Somebody

Imagine getting this in your virtual in-box first thing in the morning:

DATE: Tuesday, August 29, 2006
TO: "Radio Shack Employee" loyalemployee#696969@radioshack.com
FROM: "The Man Upstairs" immoreimportantthanyou@radioshack.com
SUBJECT: Welcome to Firedville: Population YOU

Good morning loyal employee. I don't have time to really "deal" with you right now, but you along with your 450 friends are fired, immediately, per this email. Oh yes, and please keep in touch.

Get Out.
"The Man Upstairs"

Stealing from the Agitator

BALTIMORE - Baltimore City police have a new crime on the books: Stealing your own car.

Just ask Keith Spence, a Baltimore City resident who was arrested when he was driving home from work in a car he bought with a tax refund.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening,” Spence said.

Spence, 28, said city police pulled him over in his 1993 red Cadillac Elderado coupe for a cracked rear window in February. Four officers dragged Spence and his two passengers from the car and said they were under arrest for stealing it, he said.

“I was listening to the radio from the back seat of the police car. It said a gray Cadillac sedan was stolen; mine is a red coupe. I guess the officer must have been color blind,” he said.

“I tried to tell them it was my car, but they wouldn’t listen.”

Spence and his two friends were arrested, and the car was impounded. Charged with one count of motor vehicle theft, Spence represented himself in court in June.

“I owned the car — I knew it wasn’t stolen,” he said.

Even though Spence had the title proving he owned the car, he said he was cleared of the charges because of the testimony of the owner of the stolen car.

“The whole courtroom fell out — even the judge laughed,” Spence told The Examiner.

Still, police sold Spence’s car at auction two months before his day in court.

Now Spence is without the car it took him a year to buy, and his lawyer, Roland Brown, said he is preparing to sue the city.

“Not only did the police violate my client’s constitutional rights by selling his car before the trial, but the case demonstrates that young black males in this city are blindly targeted by the Baltimore City police,” he said.

Brown said the case also points out problems with the city’s management of stolen vehicles. “You have to question why a stolen car would be sold at all,” he said.

Police spokesman Matt Jablow said police are investigating the incident.

“We’re looking into the circumstances surrounding why the car was sold,” Jablow said.

Spence said he only wants the Cadillac he worked so hard to buy.

“I loved that car.”

Kid Handsome

Link via the Agitator

I don't understand this one

I don't care if he did it a million times. You don't have a right to not be offended.

Police have charged a 14-year-old boy with that crime. Michael Loughner is accused of meowing whenever he sees his 78-year-old neighbor, Alexandria Carasia.The boy's family got rid of their cat after Carasia complained that it was using her flower garden as a litter box. Now, she said, the boy makes meowing sounds every time he sees her. He said he's only meowed at her twice."I've had to put up with this for three years," Carasia said. "As I walk by, I see Michael and his mother. He got on the porch and hid behind the bamboo screen and starts meowing. If I don't make this stop now, they're going to keep doing this to me. I shouldn't have to worry about walking out of the house and being harassed by this young kid."

If you don't want your neighbors to hate you, don't be an idiot. Heck, even if you're right, and they're wrong, people are allowed to talk to you (not yell at or assault) and just because you don't like what they're saying, does not mean you get to have them arrested.

"As she walked in front of the house, nothing was said," the boy's mother, Sally Loughner, told the court. "He stepped off the porch to make sure the dog didn't get out. As he reached down and got the dog, he said, 'Meow.' ... She said, 'Do you want me to call the cops again?' I said, 'Go ahead, he hasn't done anything wrong.'"There is a history of disputes between the neighbors, according to the paper.Sally Loughner told the court that she ended up sending her cat to live with family members so that she could "keep peace in the neighborhood."Defense attorney David Martin Jr. asked that the case be dropped." This should never have been filed," Martin said. "This is not something that police should be wasting their time with or wasting the court's time." The judge heard from both parties Tuesday. He decided to wait 90 days before ruling, saying he'll decide what to do after seeing how the boy and his neighbor get along in the meantime.

The prosecutor in this case should be sanctioned. The judge in this case should be terminated/recalled and educated in the 1st Amendment. His responsibility is to enforce the law. It is not to maintain peace and good relations in the neighborhood.

Someone please kick this judge's figurative ass. He's an idiot, and a 90 day waiting period isn't going to give him the authority to circumvent the Constitution.

Kid H.

Friday Rant

President Bush spent some time with families who lost love ones in Iraq and the Pentagon attacks. Nothing can replace a loved one, but at least the President made some 1 on 1 time for some of these people - even though this Maine newspaper chose to focus most of the article on the actual duration of the visits. Most were appreciative but one jackass decided to pull a Cindy Sheehan-type rant for her alone time with the Pres.

She wasn't exactly rude, I want to highlight her response because it's exactly what many misinformed Americans are thinking. She said "it's time to stop the bleeding. It's time to swallow our pride and find a solution."

If we "stop the bleeding" what will be our solution? Negotiation? How do you negotiate with people who want Western values gone from the face of the Earth? Diplomacy? How do you create diplomacy with groups that don't tie to one single country.

The solution is to rid ourselves of Islamic fundamentalists before they rid us. Please people - read your history books. Peace has never been achieved without first winning the war.

If you need an analogy, check out this quote Boortz found somewhere:

One day a hunter saw a bear and was about to fire when the bear held up his paw and said, "After all, Mr. Hunter all you want is a fur coat, and all I want is a full stomach. Can't we use some diplomacy and sit down and negotiate this problem." So the hunter sat down to negotiate. The bear was right. The hunter got a fur coat and the bear got a full stomach.

We Only Have Eight Planets Now

Goodbye Pluto - we barely knew ya.

Kid H.

At least one Brit gets it...

Opinion piece in the telegraph...
(via Smallest Minority

Otter

Silence is the only Right

I used to be an anglophile, but my affection for good old England has turned into exasperation and, sometimes, disgust. Here's the latest reason why.

Police are considering asking ministers for more powers to impose "instant justice" for anti-social activities. The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) is consulting members on whether to seek the authority to punish people without going to court. It has heard plans from one police chief for powers to ban teenagers from city centres and gangs from meeting up.

Ah, Britain. Where you can be fined for saying 'fuck' in a private conversation. Where every single child will soon be fingerprinted. Where all people will be ordered to carry an I.D. card at all times, to be swiped every time they withdraw a fairly small amount of money from the bank, buy an airline ticket, apply for a fishing license, purchase property, apply for a library card, get a prescription filled, and so on. Where the government wants to make the possession of "abusive porn" a crime. Where you can be sentenced to 80 hours of community service for wearing the wrong T-shirt. Where having a pen knife in your car can get you arrested.

Read the whole post. America is not too far behind. Not too far behind at all.

Kid Handsome

Real-Life Jurrasic Park

Pet dog...jeese. Forget that. How about a hybrid elephant/mammoth?

See...Big Boobs are Important

Living proof why women need bigger boobs...

This one's a little weird

LaRae Lundeen Fjellman could lose her state license as a massage therapist for having sexual relations with her husband. Her husband, Kirk Fjellman, is a former client. He saw her professionally from October 2000 to May 2002, and the two say they started dating in July 2002. But when they consumated the relationship a few months later, they ran afoul of a Minnesota law that bans massage therapists from having sexual relations with former clients for two years.

Kid H.

The End of an Era

If nothing else is apparent in the defeat of Lieberman in the Connecticut primary, it's how warped America is when it comes to understanding our enemy. To quote Tony Blair, this is a war of Islamic fundamentalism against Western values. But to the average liberal nutjob, they just don't get this. How can you use diplomacy with people of no country? How can you negotiate with people who have sworn on their lives to see America, Israel, and the West dead?

I don't care it costs 1.5 million....

This is the most wonderful and beautiful piece of furniture I have ever seen. I want it.

Otter

I can't tell you how many times . . .

women have called the cops on me for this very reason.

Superior looks and genetics are a curse.

Kid Handsome

Top 10 Manliest Superheroes

Somehow they left Wonder Woman off this list.

Kid H.

Increasing Poverty AND the Minimum Wage

Looks like House Republicans delivered some shock and awe against the conservative base once again by pitching legislation that seeks to raise the federal minimum raise from $5.15 to $7.25 phased over three years. Even though House Republicans aren't acting like true conservatives, there is still hope for the local guys...in particular, one Maryland Republican Governor named Bob Ehrlich.

Thus far, Ehrlich's done a pretty good job of staying in line with conservative values, and although his opponent this year, Mayor of Baltimore Martin O'Malley, is trying his best to pander Ehrlich into being portrayed as a conservative without a heart over this whole minimum wage hike thing. It seems like Ehrlich, just may be one of the few true conservatives out there, because thus far he has resisted supporting this effort. Now we have Dan Rodricks, who from his column in the Baltimore Sun, blasts Ehrlich for not "fighting poverty" by not standing by a living wage. Then he rambles on a bunch of statistics that he thinks show the true economic implications of raising the minimum wage.

Dan, I'm no economist, but if you increase the minimum wage in a market economy, somebody is going to have to pay for it. I can tell you with great confidence that no smart employer is just going to eat that money so their employees have a sudden influx of cash. If they did that, the employees would have a lot less in their pocket when that business goes belly up because it can't afford to operate. I will tell you this: if Congress does pass this bill, employers will simply take this additional cost of labor and build it into their cost structure, therefore raising the costs of goods and services that you, me, and the poor people buy. That's what raising the minimum wage really does. On the surface it sure looks like you are fighting poverty, when all you are really doing is making the situation worse.

It's my personal hope that Ehrlich won't take this bait like his fellow Republicans did in the House. Maryland really needs true conservative leadership right now.

This is Cool

A device that blurs your license plate at the touch of a button.

Kid H

Passenger Arrested for DUI

I told you DUI laws were getting out of hand. It's not about safety, it's about revenue and police control. This prosecutor sucks, especially considering:

Carlisle District Judge Jessica Brewbaker refused to sign the arrest warrant for Pittman, advising the trooper she did not think there were grounds to believe he was in control of the car, according to court records. But the county court agreed to let another judge sign it in February.

Seriously. This is one of my real problems with the justice system. Neither the police, nor the prosecutors seem to realize that they have the discretion to choose not to ruin people's lives over stupid crap.

Read the link. I'm going back to eat my sandwich - "Otter, grab the wheel for a sec."

Kid H.

Link stolen from - To the People

Feds hate Hemingway Cats

"The Ernest Hemingway estate, home to a menagerie of six-toed cats, is under fire for failing to fetter its felines. The USDA is threatening the home with a $200 per cat per day fine for violating the Animal Welfare Act, legislation aimed at "protecting" animals used in commerce."

Read the post, but also the comments. One of the comments (there are only about 11 currently) is one of the best blog comments I've seen - excluding Scaggsville of course.

Kid Handsome - pondering what he'd do with a sixth finger in each hand.

This one's a little scary

More on how America is creeping towards fascism (and yes, I know how trite it is to call everything fascist - I hate it, but, if anything meets that definition, it is this:

Under the proposed procedures, defendants would lack rights to confront accusers, exclude hearsay accusations, or bar evidence obtained through rough or coercive interrogations. They would not be guaranteed a public or speedy trial and would lack the right to choose their military counsel, who in turn would not be guaranteed equal access to evidence held by prosecutors.

Detainees would also not be guaranteed the right to be present at their own trials, if their absence is deemed necessary to protect national security or individuals.

This post was taken from Hit & Run, who also correctly comment (see the link):

Is the Bush Administration taking a cue from how the People's Republic of China conducts secret national security trials? The two Congressional committees hearing testimony today on this scandalously un-American proposal should hold Administration officials in contempt of Congress for violating their oaths to defend the Constitution and toss them in jail.

This is absolutely correct. What is wrong with our leaders - hell what's wrong with the people who continue to elect them.

Kid H.

I am destined to have female children

As time goes on, the beauty gap between men and women is expected to grow, the findings suggest. Women should go on becoming more attractive than men.

Researchers demonstrated that beautiful people are 36 per cent more likely to have a daughter than a son as their first-born child.

Sweet. That is all.

Kid Handsome

Brittain tries to ban drinking while standing up

So, does this mean no officially sanctioned SLACKERS' events in Lancashire? Or, due to encouraging sitting down, is this the ideal location for SLACKERS' events?

Kid Handsome - drinking in any position he damn well feels.

Disgusting Police Abuse

You guys really should read this. I don't mean to bore you with this stuff, but I'm convinced we need major reforms in all our police precincts - and I hope to convince all three of our readers is well.

Kid H.

How to Drink Manly Drinks

Hint: If it’s brown, suck it down, if it’s pink, don’t you drink.

Kid Handsome - always manly no matter his drink.

The British Government is Dead to Me

The EU is drawing up secret plans to fingerprint every citizen and share that database with foreign agencies.

The UK, meanwhile, observes that it has collected the fingerprints of five-year-old asylum seekers with no 'significant problems'. Since February the Home Office has been fingerprinting children as young as five at asylum centres in Croydon and Liverpool. It took the decision amid concerns children were being registered by several families in order to claim more benefits.

Refugee support groups, including the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, have described the action as 'intrusive'. The JCWI also expressed concerns that fingerprints kept on file could be held against children if they tried to return to the UK in later life.

Fingerprinting young children is considered difficult because their fingers have yet to fully develop. The European Commission notes: 'Scientific tests have confirmed that the paillary ridges on the fingers are not sufficiently developed to allow biometric capture and analysis until the age of six.'

A commission spokesman said initially only member states would have access to their citizens' fingerprint data. However, after the Madrid bombings the commission signalled its intention for all fingerprints to be stored on one database that could one day be accessed by each EU state. 'Whether access for third countries will be allowed has to be decided by the EC at a later stage,' the spokesman said. 'Nevertheless, full interoperability is ensured, should the EU decide to give access to third countries.'

Such a move opens up the possibility that the fingerprints of British children could one day be accessed by foreign intelligence services. 'Secure passports make a lot more sense than ID cards,' said Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty. 'But only as long as the information that is kept is no more than necessary and is not shared with other countries.'

C'mon. Do you seriously believe the government has anyone's "best interests" or "security" in mind? More of the UK (and EU) Orwellian tactics can be found here (where I stole this link).

Kid Handsome - burning his fingerprints off in an iron skillet (sorry Otter - it's your skillet).