Back to Chesapeake:
(More on the Ryan Frederick case from Radley Balko at The Agitator):

In Election Season, Mum’s the Word about Gun Control
By Don B. Kates Jr.

Are this year’s U.S. presidential candidates avoiding the gun issue?

Last week, San Francisco’s First District Court of Appeal struck down that city’s two-year-old law that confiscated all handguns and rendered all other guns useless by banning ammunition sales. And on March 9 of last year, a federal court of appeals invalidated District of Columbia laws that banned handguns and precluded keeping any gun for defense in the home. That case is now in the Supreme Court, which many expect will hold that such laws violate the Constitution’s guarantee that law-abiding, responsible adults may have guns to defend their homes and families.

Ironically, though these laws represent the ultimate goals of the gun “control” (actually gun ban) movement, they epitomize that movement’s political downfall. For Democratic candidates, an Eleventh Commandment has evolved: “Don’t mention guns”—while formerly anti-gun Republicans Romney and Giuliani now declare themselves faithful advocates of gun rights.

I might be voting for a female candidate in the upcoming presidential election- but  you can be sure of one thing: it sure as hell ain't going to be that phony Clinton bitch that'll be getting my vote. Too bad the American Herd Animal has been so completely brainwashed that they honestly believe that they have no option except to vote for the (perceived) lesser of two evils. There are better options out there, folks- but don't rely on the traditional media to tell you about them. Here's just one example:

The Hopelessly Enslaved - Awake!
by Christine Smith, Jan. 26, 2008

"So many think they are free in midst of a society where the invasive government is becoming more arrogant each day in its alarmingly self-granted authority over the American people. The safeguards of due process have been eroded - but this fact and its repercussions remain unknown/not understood by many. After all, consider how many still get their news and commentary from their TVs and newspapers. Thus, many Americans aren't comprehending that basic Constitutional rights are being discarded though it is they, and those they care for, who will ultimately suffer."

Even through two pregnancies, the (boob) fairy saw fit to pass me by.

A Sheep at the Wheel: "Machine Guns and Jesus Christ"

More absurdity brought to you by the War On (some) Drugs- and the petty little tyrants who benefit from perpetuating it:

(AP via Canoe News)

ELLSWORTH, Maine - A lottery ticket purchased by a U.S. man came up a $1,000 winner. But that doesn't mean he will collect any money.

Police in Ellsworth, Maine, have seized the ticket, saying Michael David purchased it with proceeds from illegal drug deals.

David is in jail in Ellsworth, accused of selling four, 10-milligram methadone pills for $15 each last week.

Police Chief John Deleo says after making the drug sales, he went to a convenience store and bought lottery tickets and other merchandise and went back to his motel room, where he was arrested.

Deleo says it will be up to a judge to decide who keeps the winning ticket, but for now it remains in the hands of police.

David, 46, remained in custody Monday in the Hancock County Jail on drug trafficking charges. An official at the jail said David was not available for comment.

"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think. "

                                                       -- Martin Luther King, jr.
                                                      ( 'Strength to Love' 1963)

The United States has been listed as a country where prisoners are at risk of torture in a training document produced by the Canadian foreign ministry.

It also classifies some US interrogation techniques as torture.

The manual - part of a training course on torture awareness for diplomats - also includes Israel, China, Iran and Afghanistan on its watch list.

The Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated: 01/14/2008 01:02:02 PM MST

MAGNA - Two armed men wanted to steal some beer early today, but when they heard Jesus was watching they paid for it.
    That from 2News, which says the pair are still in trouble because, technically, they stole the brew.
    Police say the incident took place just after 1 a.m., within the time frame state law prohibits beer sales.
    Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies say the two men walked into the Smith's store at 8055 West 3500, picked up some beer and asked the clerk if they could buy it.
    When the clerk noted the time and said no, the suspects then asked if they could steal the beer instead.
    "Yes, but Jesus is watching," the clerk replied.
    2News says the suspects showed a pistol and took the beer -- but also left $9 on the counter.

Hookers for Jesus face Evil Angel

Spiegler shrugged. "If Jews are really the chosen race, why do they have the only country in the Middle East with no oil?"

Veitch began, "I don't know, but the Bible says..."

WTF? Holding the caucuses (Cauci??) on Saturday seems like a good way to insure the largest voter turnout to me. IMHO, if you're too damned superstitious to show up at the polls on Saturday then you are quite likely too stupid to vote anyway.

<i>LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - The US election campaign is stirring discontent in Nevada, with religious groups saying they will be excluded from voting because Saturday's presidential caucuses take place on a day of worship.</i>

Archdiocese ousts priest accused of sex abuse

Five years for selling plant seeds. This is fucking pathetic. How can any sane person possibly justify this? And why in the hell is the Canadian gov't.  allowing this to happen? Stephen Harper needs to tell King George to mind his own damn business - and to stuff his fascist policies right up his royal bum. Without the benefit of lubricants.

VANCOUVER - Marc Emery, Vancouver's self-styled Prince of Pot, has tentatively agreed to a five-year prison term in a plea bargain over U.S. money laundering and marijuana seed-selling charges.

Facing an extradition hearing Jan. 21 and the all-but-certain prospect of delivery to American authorities, Emery has cut a deal with U.S. prosecutors to serve his sentence in Canada. He also hopes it will save his two co-accused - Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams, who were his lieutenants for so much of the past decade.

The three were arrested in August 2005 at the request of the United States and charged even though none had ventured south of the border. Since then, they have been awaiting the extradition hearing. With the proceedings about to begin, Emery says his lawyer brokered the best deal possible.

What can I say? This speaks for itself.

12 Florida school districts trying to nix evolution

Man Sees `Mark Of The Beast," Cuts Off And Microwaves Hand

A "self-proclaimed Constitutionalist" ??

Believing in the principles upon which this country (USA) was founded is now a justification for violent home invasion by jackbooted thugs  government agents? Wait a minute... it seems this has happened before... something about a massacre in a small community in northeastern Texas... and a couple of murders in the mountains of Idaho... and....OH SHIT! What about the persecution of those millions of otherwise peaceable citizens  who dare to ingest politically incorrect substances?

'Free country' my hairy ass!

WTF is wrong with these fascist fuckwits?

More from Radley/WND:

"Nearly a dozen members of a police SWAT team in western Colorado punched a hole in the front door and invaded a family’s home with guns drawn, demanding that an 11-year-old boy who had had an accidental fall accompany them to the hospital, on the order of Garfield County Magistrate Lain Leoniak.

The boy’s parents and siblings were thrown to the floor at gunpoint and the parents were handcuffed in the weekend assault, and the boy’s father told WND it was all because a paramedic was upset the family preferred to care for their son themselves."

Pat Robertson predicts violence, recession for 2008

Violence and recession in 2008? No shit. The average 4th grader could tell you that- without claiming to hear voices in his or her head. Welcome to planet earth- which, to quote the late, great Frank Zappa- 'is quite possibly the only place in the universe where stupidity is even more abundant than hydrogen'.

"He also cited information from God when he predicted on a year go that major U.S. cities would be hit by "very serious terrorist attacks" causing "possibly millions" of deaths.

No such catastrophe occurred."

Imagine that, eh? Looks like his imaginary friend gets off on kicking ol' Pat in the 'nads on New Years ;)

I must admit that this is my favorite line:

"He told me some things about the election, but I'm not going to say, because some old man on "60 Minutes" would make fun of me, so I'm not going to tell you who the winner's going to be," Robertson said, in apparent reference to CBS humorist Andy Rooney, who turns 89 on Jan. 14.

ROTFLMAO!!  Who in the fuck needs psilocybin when you've got Jeebus on your side? C'mon Pat... just keep on tappin' yer foot under the shitter stall... or was that the shearing table... damn.. I'm so confused.

But are they protecting their athletes, or protecting an image?

Chris Sprow | January 8, 2008

Last year, Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor got out of bed upon hearing intruders entering his home. The house was situated in a wealthy, gated community on the outskirts of Miami. It was the middle of the night. To protect himself, his girlfriend, and their young child, Taylor grabbed a machete he kept nearby and crept to his bedroom door.

As usual, L. Neil Smith gets right to the point...

A question that often arises when I encounter YEC's is some variation of the following:

How can species X possibly evolve from species Y (without direct intervention from some ficticious sky tyrant) ? 

Any attempt to explain common examples (such as Goulds thoughts on the evolution of the eye) tend to be accompanied by chants of 'na-na-na...da bible says..na-na-na' and the smell of smoking neurons. How in the name of the FSM are you supposed to conduct a rational discussion with someone who keeps pointing to their little black book of fairy tales whenever said discussion becomes more technical than ' would you like cream or sugar ' ?  So, to avoid wasting time, I generally try to end the debate with something along the lines of:

 'The short answer is: unlike the deluded masses of True Believers, we don't yet have all of the answers.'

But, as the following article demonstrates, we are getting closer with each passing day.

Scientists find missing evolutionary link using tiny fungus crystal

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The crystal structure of a molecule from a primitive fungus has served as a time machine to show researchers more about the evolution of life from the simple to the complex.

Surprise, surprise, surprise! 

Study finds most TV prescription drug ads minimize risk information

Athens, Ga. – Prescription drug ads on television first hit the airwaves just over a decade ago, but a new University of Georgia study finds that most of them still do not present a fair balance of information, especially when it comes to the risk of side effects.

As someone who has had a longtime interest in the events surrounding the Cambrian Explosion, I found this to be rather interesting:

2 explosive evolutionary events shaped early history of multicellular life

Blacksburg, Va., January 4, 2008 -- Scientists have known for some time that most major groups of complex animals appeared in the fossils record during the Cambrian Explosion, a seemingly rapid evolutionary event that occurred 542 million years ago. Now Virginia Tech paleontologists, using rigorous analytical methods, have identified another explosive evolutionary event that occurred about 33 million years earlier among macroscopic life forms unrelated to the Cambrian animals. They dubbed this earlier event the "Avalon Explosion."

The Des Moines Register has just declared Mike Huckabee the winner in the Iowa Republican caucus. WTF?? That inbred nitwit can't even tell the difference between fantasy and reality.  And this is the guy that those fuctards in Iowa choose to oversee the planets largest nuclear arsenal. Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Academy of Sciences on Thursday issued a spirited defense of evolution as the bedrock principle of modern biology, arguing that it, not creationism, must be taught in public school science classes.

Radley Balko has just posted his nominations for cop of the year and the best prosecutor of 2007. If only these folks were the rule- rather than the exception....

Nothing here to see folks.  Come back in a couple of days.