Snowflakes in Hell

Fresh from Uruguay, you too can turn your dog into a vegetarian. Nevermind that dogs are carnivores. Terrierman’s Daily Dose has the low down on the food, which is sponsored by the anti-hunting animal rights group Humane Society of the United States. If I were a dog, and my owners fed me this crap, I think I’d kill them in their sleep and eat them. I would argue a dog that did that ought not be put down. I’d understand.

The only real disappointment is, though it’s certified USDA organic, it is not, in fact, Vegan, since it contains vitamins found only in animal products. Good thing too, since I’m pretty sure Vegan dog food would kill your pooch. Hell, I think this stuff might too.

An environmental group has come up with a headline-grabbing attention whore scheme innovative new way to address the issues of endangered animals and human overpopulation that will be sure to show tangible results.

The solution to these major problems? Condoms with endangered animal-themed packages.

Because clearly some guy in need of a condom fast is going to take the time to think about the merits of the overpopulation concerns and how humans impact the environment of the endangered Fresno Kangaroo Rat.

It doesn’t make a good Michael Moore post unless you can show he’s a hypocrite. Fortunately, Moore gives us plenty of fodder.

Michael Moore’s latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story – which bashes taxpayer bailouts of big Wall Street companies – was itself the recipient of taxpayer subsidies from the state of Michigan, the Mackinac center reports. Moore previously bashed the film tax credit program, calling it a handout for big Hollywood production companies.

I guess it is only objectionable when taxpayers are forced to subsidize other rich fat cats.

Jennifer shares the tale of the day her son learned about no tolerance rules the hard way. I read it in a lesson on just how tolerant Jennifer is of idiots.

I know I could not have restrained my laughter. I also would have advised the vice principal to take me off of speaker phone to let him know exactly what I thought about the situation. But then again, I have little tolerance for the public education system as a whole.

It will be cheaper to have a cold beer than a cold soda if New York’s governor has his way. It may not be a good beer, but beer nonetheless.

“A six-pack of soda is going to cost you approximately $4.99” if the penny-an-ounce tax goes through, Mr. Eusebio said, “where you can pick up beer from $2.99 to $3.99.”

Off to the neighborhood supermarket, where it turned out that Mr. Eusebio’s math was not far off. With the tax, a six-pack of Coca-Cola or Pepsi would cost 2 cents more than a six-pack of the cheapest beer in the store.

It’s a crusade for cash to bridge the gap due to too much spending, and it’s been framed as a health initiative to tax people away from unhealthy beverages. It’s unclear what the next taxes on beer will be when there’s a upward spike in alcoholism.

I’ve heard cases of schools banning books before, but this is probably the first case I’ve ever heard of where a school has tried to ban a dictionary. Hat tip to Marginal Revolution, who adds: “Words fail me and now apparently also the students in Menifee.”

They always say that when your neighbor loses his job, it’s a recession. When you lose your job, it’s a depression. Did you know that when Ted Turner loses his job, it’s a national disaster on par with the losses and devastation of war?

The Time Warner-AOL merger should pass into history like the Vietnam War and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It’s one of the biggest disasters that have occurred to our country.

I lost 80 percent of my worth and subsequently lost my job.

Ted Turner, who is the nation’s single largest landowner and still sits on about $2 billion, considers one job loss to be a national loss on par with Vietnam. You’d think with all of that wealth, he could afford some class and decency. People losing job after job, families losing homes, and soldiers giving up their lives for our freedom are absolutely nothing compared to Ted Turner’s personal bank account being worth a paltry $2 billion because of a bad business deal. For Ted Turner, the nation should mourn his investment losses the same way they mourn a fallen hometown boy who returned from a far away land in a box with a flag draped over it. I’d say old Ted lost a little context on life.

By now everyone here has likely heard of Rep. Alan Grayson, the infamous target of MyCongressmanIsNuts.com, and general all around political bonehead. The guy is trying to make his name by winning the prize for “Biggest Asshole in All the History of Congress.” But Jim Geraghty offers up this insight from a political veteran:

I heard from a veteran Republican strategist who had been involved in races in this district years back, and he offered the theory that Grayson’s off-his-meds schtick stems from his early realization that he was near-certain to be a one-term congressman. He was greatly helped by the Obama wave in this district, and suburban central Florida isn’t a natural territory for a lawmaker who sounds like a commenter on Daily Kos. With nothing to lose, Grayson is going out with a bang, holding nothing back and hoping his outlandish statements win him some other public platform. (Already, Grayson’s on MSNBC more frequently than the peacock logo.)

My first thought: What’s Ed Rendell’s excuse?

See, our fine Governor has no problem opening his mouth just as wide as Alan Grayson. He says out loud that state workers should worship him and erect shrines to him in their homes. He also informs the press that he thinks women who choose not to have children “have no life.” So tell me again, what’s his excuse?

What happens when you sail non-ice rated vessels down to Antarctic seas and tangle with vessels that are ice rated? Hilarity. I have to admit, I love Whale Wars. Not because I like these pirates, but because I enjoy chortling at their incompetent seamanship and gimmicky attacks that don’t really seem to faze the whalers all that much.

You can see my other coverage here. Though I was appalled when I first saw the show, I have since changed my tune. I don’t think putting these incompetent boobs on TV is doing anything to win people to their cause. If anything, I’m more sympathetic toward whaling than I was before watching the show. These guys make the Somali Pirates look like true professionals.

Apparently the good people of the East Berlin borough council have never heard of Godwin’s Law, but apparently the Anti-Defamation League hasn’t either:

In the midst of a debate with Mayor Keith Hoffman, who days earlier had associated himself with the “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” organization, Clayton spoke out against what he considers a hard-line anti-gun organization interested in taking guns from the hands of law-abiding citizens.

“This is just one step farther along the road to take away our Second Amendment rights. It’s just a little more each day, day by day, until your freedoms are all gone. Sieg heil,” he said at the time.

That statement eventually drew the attention of the ADL, which sent a letter to the borough chiding Clayton for a statement it considers improper and outdated. To utter the phrase “Sieg heil” in a public meeting was poor judgement, the letter said.

I think the ADL’s reaction is utterly absurd, and pretty clearly they are just trying to carry the water for a left wing cause. There is absolutely no way, shape or form that Clayton’s comment could be considered anti-Semitic. Poor debating tactic? Sure. But it’s not anti-Semitic, and not at all uncommon, especially on the Internet, or we wouldn’t have Godwin’s Law in the first place.

I’ve seen stories of people doing some really stupid shit with guns, but this has to take the cake:

Authorities say a 12-year-old Colorado boy accidentally shot himself in the leg while playing with a loaded pistol his parents had hidden behind the family Christmas tree.

I almost have to wonder what made them think to hide the gun under the tree. Did they think Santa might have to cap Rudolph? Colt instead of Cookies? Do they really hate their kids?

There no gun that can be made safe enough for these people. If you make something idiot proof, nature will make a better idiot. These parents are the better idiots.

This has to take some serious gonads: A George Soros funded tink tank attacking the role of billionaires in funding think tanks.

Hat Tip to Liquidity Preference

When Nerf guns are outlawed, only zombies will have Nerf guns.

Apparently they find the traditional firing of blanks out its cannons to be annoying. As one commenter on Fark put it “Perhaps they should stop firing blanks.”

I think Gore Vidal is so far off the deep end now, he may have displaced Jacques Piccard’s record.

No longer will lethal rodent control be allowed in DC homes – that is, unless you can prove that the public safety is in jeopardy. You would also have to develop a strategy to “preserve family units” of pests. If you find bats on your property in winter, you cannot disturb them until they come out of hibernation in the spring. Should there be 10 bats, you’ll need a special permit to be rid of them.

No, I am not joking. This is the new standard being drafted by HSUS in the District.

A TV host and columnist, Bonnie Erbe, is upset that the Supreme Court seems willing to come down on the side of the First Amendment in the Stevens case, which had oral arguments earlier this week. She’s upset, because she obviously did not listen to the oral arguments, nor did she bother researching the case before mouthing off about it.

The biggest fear Justice Antonin Scalia registered was that the law could be used to ban hunting videos. When one reads the language of the statute, it seems to say that hunting (or making or selling videos of same) is not the kind of activity it was enacted to ban. Is hunting illegal under federal or state law? Of course not! State law regulates and licenses hunting, but does not make it illegal.

Except hunting certain kinds of animals is illegal in some states and not in others. For instance, Michigan and a few other states ban hunting of morning doves, but which are popular game birds in the South. By plain reading of the statute, it would be illegal to make a hunting video depicting morning dove hunting in Texas, and sell it to someone in Michigan, where dove hunting is illegal. The video doesn’t have to be cruel, it just has to depict someone killing an animal. It would be unlawful to put a dove hunting web site up, because someone in Michigan might read it. If Ms. Erbe had done research, she would have realized this, but it gets better:

My concern regarding Justice Breyer’s question extends beyond the plain language of the law. When he asks whether Congress can just go ahead and pass another law, he underestimates the enormity of such a task. It can take decades to re-enact a law the Supreme Court strikes down willy-nilly.

I’m sorry that Ms. Erbe is upset that we live in a Constitutional Republic that has limits on the power of government, and makes it difficult for Congress to pass laws that touch on important constitutional rights. I really am. Utterly distraught.

When I think of free speech I think of political protest or whistle-blowing or espousing unpopular positions. I don’t think of a constitutional right to make and sell violent, bloody videos of animals maiming and killing each other in a way that is designed to appeal to the lowest human instincts.

So you’re OK with banning nude art then? Certain types of dancing that people find appeal to the lowest human instincts? Depictions of violence in movies and video games? I’m sorry we have a First Amendment that protects these things, but we do. If Ms. Erbe is so upset by this concept of broad protections on freedom of speech and expression, perhaps she should consider relocating to a country where such rights are not taken seriously, like China, Russia, or Canada.

I’m really glad that Caleb’s Blackwater code book still works.  I had to burn mine over the winter when the patriots started to zero in on my position.  I’m glad one of us can still decode the signal! Otherwise the truth would be sure to come out.

Yes folks, we’re all in constant communication with Blackwater/Xe, trying to lull gun owning Americans into a sense of security, so that the Blackwater/Xe mercs can make the rounds disarming everyone.  Everyone else was clearly too blind to see it, but the true patriots were able to find the truth.  The truth that our week there was a lot more than just Para paying for a place to shoot, and one Blackwater senior , former Navy Seal and Virginia Beach Police Officer, giving us a 15 minute tour.  They never let us wander around the facility freely, and take pictures of pretty much whatever we wanted to.  Every week we get a bunch of marching orders, but without the code book, I’m screwed.  I guess it will be a FEMA camp for me when they end up going door to door.

But while we’re all being water boarded by the Blackwater torture division in the FEMA camps, we can rest easily knowing their are true patriots out there standing up for our paintball rights, with a bold and daring flashing of the shocker, sure to send any Blackwater/Xe merc running, or at least tricked into believing he’s missed his mark and shot off a finger.

… doesn’t mean you’re not an attention whore.  Again, this is not a good public face for political opposition.  Once again, context matters.  The people getting hysterical about this might be wrong, but I would point out that I got this from an anti-gun twitter feed.  They know a public relations mistake when they see one, and this is.

Some movies are totally a product of their time.  Red Dawn is one of those movies.  It can’t be remade.  But Hollywood is sure going to try.

Back when I was biking more regularly, one of my favorite bike trails was the Schukyll Trail.  I would rarely ride the whole thing, but the parts that go through Norristown can get a bit sketchy.  I’ve seen kids throw rocks at bikers on the trail.  Not like big rocks that are going to knock someone out, but bad enough behavior.  Apparently things have gone downhill, and there have been actual attacks.  This guy would make a pretty good poster boy for Brillianter’s pepper spray argument:

According to court records, DePaul told police he was riding his bike on the trail and almost crashed into a fence after a boy kicked him in the ribs near the 900 block of Conshohocken Road. DePaul said the boy had a BMX bicycle. Upset, DePaul fired all six rounds at the boy from a distance of 200 to 250 feet, the records say he told officers.

Facing these kinds of charges, the Sheriff is definitely within his legal rights to revoke his License to Carry.  It’s hard to make a self-defense argument for a threat that was almost a football field away from you.  It’s quite likely, if the news releases are true, that he’s going to go to prison, and he’ll deserve it.  He’ll be unable to own, let alone carry a firearm if convicted, and I won’t shed a tear for him.

But the reaction of the Sheriff of Montgomery County concerns me, especially since I carry on that trail when I bike it:

Sheriff Durante once again reminds the public that carrying a firearm on the trail or in any county park, regardless of whether or not one has a concealed carry permit, is illegal and a violation of the rules and regulations of the Montgomery County park system. Anyone caught in possession of a firearm in violation of these rules and regulations will immediately lose their concealed carry permit and will be turned over to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

It is entirely and unambiguously unalwful for Montgomery County to enforce this ordinance, and I can promise Durante a giant lawsuit if he tries.  As a violation of statewide preemption, it couldn’t be any clearer.  Furthermore, I’m rather outraged that Durante chose to focus on it (not) being illegal to carry in a county park, rather than mentioning this jackass’ LTC was revoked because he drew his hog leg and started shooting up the place like it was high-noon at the OK corral.

If you have a License to Carry a firearm, this ordinance does not apply to you.  Carry on the trail if you feel inclined, and if you get in trouble, contact an attorney and fight it.  The rest of us shouldn’t be punished because of one jackass.

Princeton instituted it’s super secure, extra careful campus lock down procedure, with “Stay inside and do not go outside to travel to another building. Close and lock the doors and windows.” instructions to students, because they thought there might be someone on campus with some sort of weapon.  Turns out it was a water gun.  Whew.  Can you just imagine what might have happened if it had been an actual weapon?

Any bets on whether you could walk across campus carrying a packet of matches and a gallon of gasoline?

I wonder if this was preceded by a couple of liters of vodka, just for good measure.

Apparently neo-prohibitionist group MADD is angry at Flying Fish brewery over in New Jersey for naming one of their beers “Exit 4 American Trippel.” Apparently unaware that people in New Jersey locate other New Jerseyans through “What exit are you at,” MADD seems to feel that any association with highways and beer is entirely wrong, and promotes drinking drunk driving.  Apparently the New Jersey Turnpike Authority is worried people might think they have suddenly turned into a microbrewery, and are taking notice.

I’ve always liked Flying Fish beers, so if you’re in an area you can get it, have some this weekend.  I’m particularly going to try to track down some Exit 4 Trippel, and enjoy a few bottles out on my patio, just as a nice f**k you to MADD.  What’s next?  Calling the FAA and bitching that their name and logo promote drinking and flying?  Hang in there Flying Fish.  Don’t let the nannies win.

Hat Tip to Instapundit

Story from Singapore.