Newsflash - Red Light Cameras don't reduce accidents

Another study that shows that the government doesn't care about safety, just revenue.

Kid H.

Link from the Agitator

Let's be realistic about reality

This is an article by Mark Steyn which I found on LGF, and it's dead on.

The "gun-free zone" fraud isn't just about banning firearms or even a symptom of academia's distaste for an entire sensibility of which the Second Amendment is part and parcel but part of a deeper reluctance of critical segments of our culture to engage with reality.

Read the whole thing...

Otter

Ismail Ax

Thought it might have been an anagram.. maybe not...

Otter

Why I won't Vote for Rudy...

9/11 took him into the lime light. His attacks on private ownership of guns and his draconian approach to New York's undesirables should have put made him public enemy number one... Anyway here is a quote from a radio address he made in 2000...

Otter

It's really in your best interests . . . really

If protecting you from terrorists means breaking into your home, copying your hard drive, tapping your phones, maybe even planting a hidden camera in your shower stall, that’s the price you pay for freedom, right? You wouldn’t want your protector slowed down by something pesky like, say, a warrant or probable cause — because then the terrorists win. You do see, don’t you? If not, President Bush's National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, who oversees all 16 U.S. spy agencies, might be able to arrange a long vacation in a tropical paradise.

McConnell is circulating proposed legislative changes that would give the spy chief’s 100,000 employees the powers to spy on you more easily— for your own good:

Heh. Indeed (wait, is that trademarked?)

Kid Handsome

Awesome Comic

I took it from Boortz.. I don't know where he got it...


Freaking dead on.

Otter

Another Isolated Incident

Thanks to the Agitator for the link.

MANSFIELD -- A law enforcement SWAT team did not announce itself before the deadly shootout Feb. 28 at 2619 Park Avenue East, a Cincinnati attorney representing the Gilbert Rush Jr. family said Wednesday.

Al Gerhardstein said the family is investigating a civil rights lawsuit stemming from the late-night raid.

"They did not knock and announce," he said. "The family thought they were being invaded."

But Mansfield police Chief Phil Messer defended members of the Allied Special Operations Response Team, saying they did nothing wrong.
"I've reviewed the procedures," he said. "It does look like they did follow departmental policy."

Police have said Rush, 49, fired one shot from inside his kitchen, triggering the fatal response. He was hit twice in the chest.

According to the search warrant, police were seeking property from a retail theft ring, firearms and illegally possessed prescription drugs.

"You're supposed to knock and announce and give the family a reasonable amount of time to respond," Gerhardstein said.

Messer said that is not always the case.

"It is our policy to announce unless we have a no-knock search warrant or there are other (extenuating) circumstances," Messer said.

Gerhardstein said he has researched other local ASORT cases.

"If that's their policy, we've found numerous examples where they haven't followed it," he said.

They never recognize that their policies are to blame. The Nazi's followed policy too (yes, yes, Godwin's law, but that's different).

Also, from this post at the Agitator, we see it gets even worse. See, the armed raid of this guy's house was for . . . wait for it . . . it isn't drugs . . . it isn't guns . . . it isn't kidnapping . . . it wasn't a hostage situation . . . it was for:

All of this in itself would be yet another anecdote against the use of these raids for nonviolent crimes (the retail thefts were the driving force behind the investigation).

Ah, but it gets worse. Rush himself wasn't even a suspect. The police were after members of his family. Rush had no criminal record, and wasn't suspected of any crime. He heard and saw men with guns breaking into his home. So he defended his home. And now he's dead.

I don't know if Mr. Rush was complicit in any retail theft conspiracy or not. I do know that if he was, he shouldn't have received a death sentence. That's what he got.

Yep. The instant death penalty. Just like too many others.

Kid Handsome

I don't care what your stance is . . . THIS is funny

I pulled this from a post on To The People.

Dickhead

Via Scott Morgan:

New anti-marijuana ads in Australia are trying to be hip using lines like:

"Pot. It mightn't kill you, but it could turn you into a dickhead"

Hmmm... Is that true?

So I decided to check it out.

Can you identify the dickhead in this picture?

I thought so.

Check the link. Oh yeah, and this is the wikipedia entry for Mark Souder.

Otter Hates Hugo Chavez

CARACAS: Many Venezuelans shrug off President Hugo Chavez's calls to create a new man through socialist revolution.

But a decree limiting alcohol sales for much of Holy Week has got their attention.

"Don't Mess With My Hooch!" blared the main headline in yesterday's El Nuevo Pais tabloid.

The Chavez Government says the law is necessary to diminish the fatalities from drink-driving, but that hasn't stopped the protests.

On Margarita Island, revellers and liquor store owners painted car windshields with the words "No to the Dry Law".

The sharp reactions to the alcohol curb is in stark contrast to the lack of interest that greeted corruption scandals over attempts by Venezualan Supreme Court judges to avoid paying income tax on their bonuses, and claims government officials illegally siphoned off millions from state infrastructure deals with Iran.

"I've been in this country 40 years, and this is the first time I've seen this," said Antonio Gouveia, 54, a Portuguese immigrant who owns a bar.

"Holy Week is the best week of the year because people don't work, they go out and spend."

Mr Gouveia described the curb on alcohol sales as "something for madmen".

Mr Chavez, a teetotaller, appears to have touched a nerve with the decree, which initially confused many people and caught them off-guard.

Kid Handsome - link via To the People

Isolated Incident Number One Hundred Thousand

Cop beats man for looking at him funny. Partners stand by and do nothing. Turns out, Cop had no authority to challenge the man in the first place.

RALEIGH - Jurors could not reach a verdict today on whether Christopher Roth, a former Wake County sheriff’s deputy, assaulted a Garner man last August. Deliberations will continue on Thursday.

Roth, 36, is being tried on a misdemeanor charge of assault in an Aug. 26 scuffle with Robert Wise in the parking lot of Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar on U.S. 70 in Garner.

Also facing charges are Roth’s partners Katie Broda and Kevin Hinton, who are yet to stand trial.

All three were undercover drug detectives stopping for a dinner break. They submitted their resignations from the sheriff’s office following the incident.

Wise was with this wife, Cynthia, and 11-year-old daughter, Diamond, when Roth drove past them and made a disapproving gesture at the Wises’ Chevrolet Suburban. Cynthia Wise had parked the vehicle so that it straddled two parking spaces.

Wise said that Roth ordered him out of the car. Wise said he refused to get out.

A scuffle ensued, in which Wise was punched, dragged from his car, pepper sprayed and handcuffed. He had several cuts on his face, and his daughter was also hit by the pepper spray.

Hart Miles, Roth’s defense attorney, asked jurors to consider the work of police officers and their responsibility to investigate suspicious events.

“He was faced with a situation that was becoming increasingly hostile,” Miles said.

Right. The situation was increasingly hostile because of who? Certainly it wasn't the overbearing police officer.

Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby told jurors this morning that Roth had no authority as a law enforcement officer in parking issues. He speculated that Roth was simply upset at Wise for not listening to him.

“He [Roth] thought his actions were justified,” Willoughby said. “That ought to be the scariest thing about the whole case.”

If convicted, Roth could receive a probationary sentence.

Just for the record, here's me saying something nice about a prosecutor. If they perform their roles properly, they can be a real asset in protecting the citizenry from the government. I'm glad this prosecutor brought charges against the former officers. Many others might not have done that.

Kid Handsome

Give thanks....

Friend of Scaggsville "Smooth" sent me this link today.. It's a good read. I like the writing style of the story.

Probably, Mr. Reader, you did not yesterday wash five times, face Mecca, sink to your knees, and pray to Allah. Most likely, Ms. Reader, you did not cover yourself with a burka before venturing out to shop. Probably neither of you is giving up all food between sunup and sundown during the ongoing monthlong Ramadan.

For freedom from all of these obligations, you might spare a minute sometime today, and every October, to say a silent "thank you" to a gang of half-savage Germans and especially to their leader, Charles "The Hammer" Martel.

The story goes on to describe the battle that kept "Mo the Pedophile" out of Europe... You know.. Until the present day where they are doing quite well turning back the hands of time.

I like this line...

"Martel's men stood fast, the spirit of Christ and Thor--a potent mix--fastening their feet to French sod."

Otter

16 Person Bar & Bicycle

I guess it was a long winter in Minnesota this year, because a couple of guys invented a 16 person bicycle and pub.

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The pedal pub

Move over, party bus. Here comes the party bike.

The PedalPub, a bicycle bar built for 16, makes its North American debut today in Minneapolis. The contraption is available for parties, special events and even weddings.

How it works: Patrons push pedals under their seats, while a professional driver steers. The PedalPub's speed: 5 mph.

Is it legal? Maybe. St. Paul and many other cities don't allow drinking on public streets, but partners Al Boyce and Eric Olson hope to be allowed to let customers imbibe as they would on party buses or limos. PedalPub does not provide or sell alcohol.

Who invented this thing? Dutch brothers Zwier and Henk Van Laar.

See for yourself: Noon to 3 p.m., Father Hennepin Bluff Park, Sixth Avenue Southeast and Main Street, Minneapolis.

- Nancy Yang

Kid Handsome - Link via Dave Barry

Gingrich - the "Romantic Choice"

I like his platform to some extent.

He's also incredibly intelligent. He's proposing cutting-edge solutions to vexing policy issues like health care and the tax code. He's offering a compelling vision for a limited but efficiently run federal government.

Something tells me we are heading into a time when conservatives will be willing to jump in the proverbial convertible and head to Vegas on a whim. Hey, Newt's driving.

But this is a bit much:

The former House speaker from Georgia might be the only Republican presidential candidate, declared or otherwise, who has the potential to be romantic. Other people give speeches; when Newt speaks, the words have music. He's poetic. He's quixotic. He's … dangerous.

Boring more typically describes politicians, but hey, can't fault someone for getting excited about an election.

Kid H.

We don't seem to be much different (see below post)

I always ask, who decided that the Government owned the airwaves? If you don't like what's on television, don't watch it. It's really not that hard to do. People do it every day when they tune into one show instead of another show, or get some cable channels but not others. The airwaves are just a frequency - a property that can be owned by an individual corporation. If there is interference with the frequency, a private owner can petition the courts for redress. It's really that easy. Now we get this:

An upcoming FCC report recommending steps that Congress can take to regulate television violence has sharply divided the agency’s five members.

Multiple sources said Republican Chairman Kevin Martin and Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps, who are spearheading the crackdown on graphic scenes, had approved the latest version of the report.

But GOP Commissioner Robert McDowell and Democratic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein are apprehensive about intervening in this area, and it is unclear whether they are onboard, sources said.

Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate is expected to approve the findings, although her office did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Further complicating matters, minority groups recently complained about language in the report endorsing per channel cable pricing, known as a la carte.

The discord may explain why the document, requested by 39 House lawmakers in 2004 and the subject of speculation for weeks, is not ready — although some observers expect it soon.

The report concludes that Congress can regulate violent TV images without compromising the First Amendment. It has created some unusual alliances — teaming Martin and Copps, who are often at odds, while dividing Copps and Adelstein, who normally move in lockstep.

How is it that the government can do this without interfering with First Amendment rights? Oh yeah, it's the government, it can do whatever it wants. I want more violence on television, who are you to command by government mandate that I can't have it?

Kid Handsome

Link via Hit & Run

Back in the U.S.S.R. or Back to the Future?

Interesting article on what's happening in Russia regarding the reigning in of the media freedoms that happened after Soviet collapse. I think Putin outsmarted us, and I think we may have to start worrying about them again. Excerpt:

Some 10 years ago, when liberty seemed on the march around the world, many optimists claimed that, contrary to George Orwell's gloomy 1984 vision of a technologically empowered omnipotent superstate, new technologies were actually empowering the individual and subverting central authority. It was argued that, in the electronic age, government control of information would become impossible, and dictatorships would crumble.

But dictatorships, like individuals, can be highly adaptable. Technologies that make it easy to disperse information can be thwarted by technologies that make it easy to track communications. True, even in an unfree society, the Internet can give individuals greater access to unauthorized facts and ideas than a typewriter and a radio. But ultimately, technology's liberating potential would still run into the barriers of society's political structure. Sadly, in the years to come, Russians may discover that the Internet can in fact coexist with an authoritarian regime—and even become a tool in its hands.

Kid Handsome