That's Mighty White Of You

At the Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh, NC, a Confederate soldier has a new gravestone, due to efforts by a descendant working at Dix, the North Carolina mental hospital.

The descendant, Gracie Jenkins, requested a gravestone from the Department of Veteran Affairs, which obliged with a 400-pound marble stone. Jenkins had it erected with the help of the Sons of Confederate Veterans:



Charles Purser, a member of the group who lives in Garner, said he plans to research the long list of those buried at Dix for the names of other veterans.

"There has to be some more out there," Purser said. "We're willing to put up a headstone for any American soldier we find there, even if they're Union."

Really, despite the snarkiness of my blog title, that's a nice thing for both the DVA and the SCV to do for a veteran.

Treasure Blog: Chinese Vase

Valued at $620, it sold at auction for over $376,000.

Pic:

What's That Sound?

It's the death rattle of Mike Huckabee's future Presidential aspirations.

Weather Note

At 10:00 p.m. on Sunday night there was a ring around the moon when I went out to take the garbage to the curb. When I left for work at 10:35, the ring was gone, clouds having come in to obscure the moon.

Best Whiskey In The World: American Rye

Sazerac Rye 18 y.o., to be specific.



2nd place went to Scotland's Ardbeg Supernova; 3rd place to India's Amrut Fusion.

Scientists Make Artificial Soggy Pork In Lab

Story.

Yes, I know that the pat answer is to say I know a lot of restaurants that can do that, but it really does hold promise for the future, when commercial production of meat becomes too expensive to sustain.

Poll: Swiss Ban Minarets At Mosques

The Swiss Banned Minarets At Mosques: Your Reaction?
	Racist.
	Good. We need to stop the spread of Islam in Europe.
	Baby with the bath water.
	None of my business what other countries do.
	It's a decision above my pay grade.
pollcode.com free polls

But Hey, It's Free, Right?

The London Times summarizes the current scandal concerning the UK National Health Service.

For us in the US, it's like being able to watch a TV show called Your Future History.

Anglican Bishop: Bah, Humbug

The Bishop of Croydon (UK), the Right Reverend Nick Baines, says that Christmas carols are "nonsense."

Doesn't it seem more and more these days that the Anglican clergy is really rather embarassed by all of this religious stuff that they're forced to endure, and that they'd really rather be viewed as a sort of liberal political organization or debating society? The clergy and hierarchy seem to take great satisfaction in ridiculing the religious impulses of their flocks, especially the belief in miracles and the more fantastic stories told of Jesus and the Saints, as if they want to paradoxically be seen as rationalist religionists.

The Coin Has Arrived

In an ritual repeated every year at Christmas, someone has dropped a gold coin into a Salvation Army Kettle.

Indeed, so likely is a news story to be written in such cases, that it would not surprise me to hear that Salvation Army employees are the ones dropping the coins so as to guarantee free publicity in newspapers all around the US.

Rather a cynical take on what might be a genuine charitable impulse, but I'm a rather cynical sort of guy.

He's Violating Our Dunghill

Sometimes the world gets you so down that you just want to masturbate while sitting in a pile of manure.

Not me. David Truscott of Redruth, England is the dunghill chicken-choker. He's in trouble because the dunghill in question isn't his own, so he's guilty of trespassing and thus in deep doo-doo with the local police, so to speak...

It's A Miracle! #15,759

A Massachusetts woman has seen an image of Jesus on her clothing iron:



I think it looks more like Paramahansa Yogananda, myself:

Headline of the Day

"BBC Drops Ballet Featuring a Deformed Pope Who Rapes Nuns."

Insufficiently outrageous to Catholics, they decided.

Grudge Match: Shamu Vs. Bruce

Orcas (Killer Whales) regularly prey upon sharks, including Great White Sharks, even using what researchers call a "karate chop" technique to render them unconscious.

What's that sound? The pitter-patter of Hollywood screenwriter's feet as they run for their computers to begin outlining screenplays...

Presumably It Wouldn't Have Those Excretion Problems

In the wake of the death of UGA, the University of Georgia's bulldog mascot, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is requesting that UGA be replaced with a robot bulldog.

Maybe they could acquire both a live dog and a robot dog and have a sort of John-Henry-versus-the-steam-drill competition?

The Late UGA

Santa, At Least Stop Saying "Bah, Humbug!"

A man hired to play Father Christmas (UK Santa Claus) in Evesham, Worcestershire caused the company that hired him to pay a refund after the man sat sullenly in his sleigh and refused to interact with the children.

Ya mope, ya!

Dual Holiday

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends, hope that you have a day full of love and happiness with your families.

For me, it is also my 48th birthday, so I am taking the day off from blogging. Regular blogging will resume tomorrow morning.

Bob

The Troglodyte Hermit Life

In Moab, Utah.

Because sometimes you just want to be alone in a cave.

What's Going On With the SEALs?

Damn. First, 3 SEALs get in trouble for smacking a terrorist, now the Commanding Officer of SEAL Team 4 has been relieved of command.

Wonder if the two stories are connected? Anyone know if the 3 SEALs in the first story belong to Team 4?

Survival Despite Lack of Planning

Photographer Jordan Nicority had planned a quick hike to take some photographs. Three days after he left his car he was again among his fellow humans, but only after falling approximately 25 feet down a cliff, breaking his pelvis, temporarily losing his sight, and suffering kidney failure from lack of water.

Nicority took a small backpack with him on his hike, but the backpack contained no survival gear other than a sweater, which perhaps kept Nicority from dying of hypothermia. No cell phone, no Ten Essentials, no whistle or flashlight to signal distress. He didn't let friends know he would be gone. Through luck and incredible resolve he managed to live.

What survival gear do you have with YOU when you go into the woods? Do you carry anything with you on a permanent basis that can be used in a crisis for survival purposes? I myself have my cell phone, a Swiss Army Knife in my pocket, a whistle and an LED pinchlight on my key ring; the key ring has an attached strap that could probably serve as an emergency tourniquet.

It Has The Makings of a Hollywood Movie

They invaded the town, destroying everything in their path, maddened with desire...for water.

Camels invade an Australian Outback town.

Not Your Upper-Class Sort of Rat At All

She said: ‘I went in, I looked and thought, oh my God, there is actually a rat in here. It was a manky rat as well.

The tone is lowered at a UK Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant:

Treasure Blog: Bounty Mutiny Logbook

More specifically, the logbook of a junior officer on HMS Briton, which discovered the last of the Bounty mutineers years later on Pitcairn Island, living with the descendants of the other mutineers.

Apparently the mutineers died out one by one, some being murdered, some dying of alcoholism, until only one was left; the British left him to die in peace.

Hey, Liberals!

Don't you feel embarrassed about stereotyping those pore peckerwoods in Kaintucky?

They didn't really tie that census feller to a tree and make him squeal like a pig, now did they?

You fellers ought to be ashamed of yoreselves.

It didn't really happen this way, did it?



But he shore did have a purty mouth, didn't he?

Quote of the Day

"More and more, we're all victims of these many small muggings every day. Our perp doesn't wear a ski mask or carry a gun; he wears Dockers and shouts into his iPhone in the line behind us at Starbucks, streaming his dull life into our brains, never considering for a moment whether our attention belongs to him. These little acts of social thuggery are inconsequential in and of themselves, but they add up -- wearing away at our patience and good nature and making our daily lives feel like one big wrestling smackdown."

via Amy Alkon.

Luckily It Was Her Most Well-Padded Body Part

Jennifer Lopez fell during a performance at the American Music Awards.

No, she wasn't injured, she landed on her butt.

Coughing Up A New Species

A snake in Tanzania did exactly that, coughed up a hitherto-unknown species of chameleon lizard.

Let's call you Chameleo Regurgitatus.

No, not really. They named it something else.

Oops, We Did It Again

People have an unfortunate habit of dying when Sara and I visit a place on a vacation. Last year during a trip to Carolina Beach, a boy drowned; on a later trip to Kure Beach a couple drowned; we caused Hurricane Ida to flood the Eastern Seaboard; and now I read that our recent visit to Williamsburg and Newport News caused a boy in Poquoson, Virginia, to be eaten by a wood chipper.

We're Jonahs, the two of us on vacation. Fair warning; best to avoid us.

Yep, West Coast

A church in Washington State features live tattooing.

Sounds like it should be a punch line from a Jeff Foxworthy routine, but it's from an area that is stereotypically liberal in political outlook.

What's The Common Denominator?

The Navy Times does a story on Congressional nominations to the Naval Academy.

The writers seem sort of puzzled that Charley Rangel, Nancy Pelosi, and Barbara Boxer nominate so few people to the Academy.

Yah, it's a real head-scratcher, ain't it?

What If Your Culture Sucks?

The mayor of Mexico City, Mexico, is trying to clean up the city's crime and dirt problem by employing the same tactics that Rudy Giuliani used to clean up Times Square in New York.

MEXICO CITY — The world's second-largest city has a lot of problems: kidnappings for ransom, drug-related murders, severe poverty. But if there's one thing that really sets off Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, it's chewing gum.

He's serious.

"When you throw your gum on the ground, you're saying, 'I don't care about my quality of life,' " Ebrard says. "The idea … is to change our civic culture."

Since taking office three years ago, the liberal, Paris-educated mayor has initiated broad quality-of-life measures more fitting for a genteel European city than rough-and-tumble Mexico.

He is also working to tackle some of the city's major problems — crime and water shortages — but his quest for civility garners the headlines.

Some residents are less than thrilled with the mayor's efforts.

Maximiliano Díaz, 45, had been selling handmade flutes and drums for 22 years from a booth in Coyoacán plaza. His sales have fallen by 80% since August, when the city forced him to move to a market built for vendors that is hard to find, Díaz says. "There's this fever to civilize Mexico, but in the process we're losing our rights to our public spaces," Díaz says. "I understand the mayor wants to modernize us, but he's taking away a bit of our culture."

Dick Flick

A Welsh comedy film about singer Tom Jones' severed manhood is a sleeper hit in UK.

Nevermore

When two ravens in Fairbanks, Alaska were electrocuted on power poles, hundreds of ravens came to mourn.

Sucks To Be Him

Major Nidal Hasan, the Ft. Hood Shooter, appears to be paralyzed from the chest down, says his lawyer.

My heart bleeds.

Back In Charlotte

Vacation is over, tomorrow work resumes. Regular blogging schedule will resume then.

Vacation Update, With Photos

Tomorrow is our last full day here in Virginia Beach. We haven't seen as much as we might have liked, due to weather problems and some closures; for example, we were going to eat lunch at the restaurant on Island One of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, but it is closed for renovations until summer of next year. Weather has been too rainy/gloomy to enjoy the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, and the roses would be mostly gone by this time anyway, I think.

We have visited Fort Story, which has a nice pair of lighthouses to photograph, it also is the place where the Virginia colonists first landed before proceeding on to Jamestown; and a statue to the French Admiral Comte de Grasse, who provided the reinforcements that turned the tide at Yorktown for George Washington during the Revolutionary War, is also at Fort Story:

New Cape Henry Lighthouse

Old Cape Henry Lighthouse

First Landing Monument

Comte de Grasse Statue

Just down the beach from our hotel in Virginia Beach is this statue of King Neptune:



Our hotel has an indoor pool and hot tub; the reports of whale sightings at same is unfortunate and rather mean-spirited:



The Virginia Beach boardwalk and bike path,and even the beach, has been festooned with Christmas decorations, which will be turned on this Friday evening; I'll try to get some photos of them.

Tomorrow we'll be trying to go to Colonial Williamsburg, weather permitting.

From Norfolk, 17 November

We wandered around Norfolk a bit today, getting down to the downtown area and seeing Waterside, Nauticus and the USS Wisconsin in passing. We also drove down toward the Naval Base and eventually back to the Ghent area of Norfolk, where we met fellow blogger Wally Torta, AKA Crackskull Bob, who we discovered to be a very kind, friendly sort of man. Weh chatted with him for about an hour in his local Starbuck's. A fun encounter with a fine blogger, artist and gentleman.

Here At Virginia Beach

Just got in a half hour ago. This hotel, unlike the Comfort Inn at Nags Head, is nice. We're up on the 5th floor in a queen suite; the balcony looks east, so we can see the sunrise. It should be a fun five days.

Because the wi-fi was minimal during the Outer Banks part of the trip (hurricane related damage), we had to start in on books instead of reading stuff on the internet. I read Andrew Vachss' Another Life,, and am currently reading Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. Good stuff!

One thing about staying here in Virginia Beach is getting used to being buzzed by the fighter jets from Oceana NAS. Another pair went by just moments ago.

More later.

Update On Vacation

It's Sunday evening. We're still at Nags Head on the NC Outer Banks. The Hotel wi-fi went down on the evening of our arrival, as did cable. Cable came back up on Saturday, and wi-fi is up right now, but I don't know how reliable it is. Weather on Friday and Saturday was horrible; complete overcast, drizzling rain, lots of residual wind from the hurricane. Salt spray blowing everywhere, we're going to have wash the car off tomorrow before leaving for Virginia Beach. Today (Sunday) was actually nice, we were able to get out on the beach a bit and take some nice photographs at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

Unfortuately, highway 12 leading to Cape Hatteras and points south was damaged by the hurricane at the Oregon Inlet bridge, so many of our vacation objectives remain unrealized.

I'll update again later, with some pics.

The View From My Window

We arrived here in Nags Head at about 3 p.m. I want to post a couple of pictures from our balcony window (we are on the 4th floor). It's looking pretty menacing, but the worst is really over at this point, and there was damage to the hotel's wooden deck, and as you can see there is little beach left:







All of this comes as a result of a huricane; not a normal Atlantic hurricane, but the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which originated in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of El Salvador. Mother nature went to a great deal of trouble to screw up our vacation.

More Later.

In Just A Few Hours...

...after I get off work, Sara will be picking me up and we'll be hitting the road for a week's vacation; 3 nights at the Outer Banks of NC, followed by 5 nights in Virginia Beach. I've never been to the Outer Banks, so that will be a new experience, but Virginia Beach/Norfolk I am quite familiar with, or I was about 20 years ago. Presumably a few things have changed there.

I'll be taking the Eee netbook and my camera, so expect updates from the road.

He Had Him A Real Good Time

The lead paragraph from a story that originated in the Athens, Tennessee Daily Post-Athenian:

When Ricky Butler went to sleep on a rural, East Tennessee roadside, he didn't have to worry about comfort but apparently he was feeling insecure. McMinn County deputies found the 31-year-old Decatur man sleeping on his back in a roadside ditch, with a loaded rifle on his chest and an almost empty jar of moonshine in the bib of his overalls.

*laughs*

Peckerwoods. Gotta love 'em.

The Way To A Man's Heart...

...is through his tool belt.

Sounds like it would have made a good episode of Home Improvement, huh?

Quadriplegic Hunter In New Jersey Issued Gun Permit

After a 2-year court battle, though.

He uses a rifle specially adapted to his wheelchair and fires it using a breating tube, and has friends assist him.

Great White Shark Seen Off Wrightsville Beach

Story.

So, naturally...

What He Really Wants Is To Vote PRESENT

President Obama is unhappy with his options in Afghanistan.

Sorry, Ditherer-In-Chief. You don't get to vote PRESENT when you're the boss.

Attention Fellow Vets

If you haven't heard, all Golden Corral Restaurants will be offering free dinner for vets on Monday, November 16th, from 5-9 p.m., no ID required. Offer includes active duty, retired, and veterans.

So if you are in need of a good meal on Monday, go over and check them out, they put out a pretty good buffet and you can eat your fill. And be sure to thank them before you leave, ok?

If you're a blogger yourself, why not pass the word so Golden Corral gets a good response?

And happy Veteran's Day to all of you, my brothers and sisters in arms.

Assistant Manager for McDonald's at GTMO Needed.

Probably if you're going to be involved with fast food, this would be one of the more interesting locales you could work at. And yes, you DO provide food for the terrorists jailed there.

Waxing Poetic Over Moonshine

"The finished product comes out clear as spring water and as strong as sin."

In this case the stuff wasn't corn liquor made by hillbillies, but fruit-flavored rum brewed in eastern NC. The price mentioned in the article - - $20 for a mason jar - - seems high. I though that the point of moonshining, apart from selling in dry counties, was to make a product that sold more cheaply than taxed liquor from state-run stores?

Astronaut Cops A Plea

Ex-astronaut Lisa Nowak, who committed a bizarre attack on another woman over the affections of a male astronaut, has pleaded guilty to reduced charges and will escape jail time.

She's been given probation. And the judge also ordered her to write a letter of apology to her victim. Threw the book at her, he did.

Will the Navy cashier her now? Dishonorable or Bad Conduct Discharge? Can't imagine that they want to keep her at this point.

Tomorrow's Drudge Headline Today

"Fellatio Common Among Fruit Bats, Research Says."

There's even video!

Reason #1,725 Why Labour Will Lose The Next UK Election

Bob McGowan, a 94-year-old veteran of the British Army, is poor and needs government assistance to help pay his heating bill. Because he was one day late for applying for his heating allowance after changing apartments, his request was denied by petty-minded bureaucrats.

Mr McGowan, who won the Burma Star, the Africa Star, the War Medal 1939 to 1945, the 1939-1945 Star and the Defence Medal following 2,133 days on active duty overseas, has vowed to mail the medals back to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown if the heating allowance squabble isn't resolved.



All the old man has left is his dignity and his medals, and bureaucrats are trying to take his dignity away, leaving only the medals.

Is Chlamydia A Natural Koala Disease?

My question, indelicate though it might be, is how come all the koalas are coming down with chlamydia all of a sudden?

I suspect the Furries, myself.

Hanoi Jane, Septuagenarian Sex Fiend

Titanium hip and all, Bay-ay-by!

Just for the hell of it, let's have a poll:

Would You Do Septuagenarian Jane Fonda?
	Are You Effing Kidding Me?
	Die, Bitch, Die!
	I'm Not Proud, I'd Do Her.
	Excuse Me While I Go Vomit.
	What's A Septuagenarian?
pollcode.com free polls

YOU Push The Baby Stroller. No, YOU Push The Baby Stroller

Mclaren strollers sold in the USA have a design defect that can result in amputation of fingers when same are caught in the hinge area.

The recalled models include the Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, Techno XLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller.

I guess the ambulance chasers are going to love this revenue opportunity.

Charlotte, Montagnards and White-Tailed Deer

Great article in the local paper about Montagnard refugees from Vietnam living in Charlotte, and how they benefit from overpopulation of deer herds in our Mecklenburg County parks.

I'll Be Damned

David Brooks of The New York Times wrote another column I find myself in agreement with:

Major Hasan was portrayed as a disturbed individual who was under a lot of stress. We learned about pre-traumatic stress syndrome, and secondary stress disorder, which one gets from hearing about other people’s stress. We heard the theory (unlikely in retrospect) that Hasan was so traumatized by the thought of going into a combat zone that he decided to take a gun and create one of his own.

A shroud of political correctness settled over the conversation. Hasan was portrayed as a victim of society, a poor soul who was pushed over the edge by prejudice and unhappiness.

There was a national rush to therapy. Hasan was a loner who had trouble finding a wife and socializing with his neighbors.

This response was understandable. It’s important to tamp down vengeful hatreds in moments of passion. But it was also patronizing. Public commentators assumed the air of kindergarten teachers who had to protect their children from thinking certain impermissible and intolerant thoughts. If public commentary wasn’t carefully policed, the assumption seemed to be, then the great mass of unwashed yahoos in Middle America would go off on a racist rampage.

Worse, it absolved Hasan — before the real evidence was in — of his responsibility. He didn’t have the choice to be lonely or unhappy. But he did have a choice over what story to build out of those circumstances. And evidence is now mounting to suggest he chose the extremist War on Islam narrative that so often leads to murderous results.

It's Not Plagiarism, It's...Found Poetry, Yeah, That's It

The former Poet Laureate of UK, Andrew Motion, apparently is too lazy to write his own poetry anymore, so he uses poetry he finds elsewhere, claiming it is "found" poetry, and that he is justfied because Shakespeare did it, too.

I'll have to remember that defense the next time I "find" a wallet on the street.

The Right To Life, Liberty...and Loud Orgasms?

A woman in UK who had a criminal charge lodged against her for her loud screaming during sex is appealing, saying that the charges violate her human rights.

I have to guess that moving to a secluded area was ruled out for some reason?

The Buried Treasures Of England

A UK Independent slideshow.

It should be noted that these are all ancient hoards, dating as far back as Roman times.

I'll Use the Proceeds To Get Me Teef Fixed.

Shipwreck Blog: Confederate Ship Appomattox

A shipwreck discovered in NC's Pasquotank River has been identified as the Civil War-era Confederate ship Appomattox.

They were able to identify it after finding a silver-plated spoon inscribed with the name of one of the crewmen; there wasn't much else left of the wreck that might help to identify it.

Redneck Doughnuts?

The BBQ House in Oak Island, NC, comes up with a new variation on hush puppies.

Occam's Razor

It Was A Duck. It Looked Like A Duck, Walked Like a Duck, Quacked Like A Duck.

It Was NOT A Duck. Don't Jump To Conclusions.

NOT. A. DUCK. The Soldier Who Says Otherwise Will Be Court-Martialed.

We're Not Certain What It Was, But We Are Certain It Was Not A Duck.

The Tingle In My Leg Tells Me It Was Not A Duck.

I Really Was Hoping It Would Be A Chicken, Myself.

Allahu QUACKbar!

Kirk Up, Spock

A columnist for the UK Telegraph expresses a growing concern that President Obama is too much of an emotionless cold fish.

President Obama Finally Visits Walter Reed Army Hospital

George W. Bush visited often. Guess President Obama has been busy with more important stuff. /snark

Fat, Stupid and Criminal Is No Way To Enter The Military, Son

75% of young Americans can't qualify to enter the military because of obesity, ignorance or criminality.

Yah, what Dean Wormer said:

Yeah, It's a Real Head-Scratcher

"Investigators Try To Understand Reason Behind Major Hasan's Rampage."

Yah, get Sherlock Holmes on the case, Scotland Yard can't figure it out...

/snark

That Was One INTENSE Orgasm

A 59-year-old American woman experienced such an intense orgasm during sex with her husband that she had an attack of amnesia and thought that Bill Clinton was still President.

Doctors diagnosed TGA (Transient Global Amnesia), which can be triggered in over-50 individuals by "strenuous activities, bowel movements, or - - commonly - - sex."

So I guess the old claim of shitting my brains out or fucking my brains out has some basis in medical science, hmm?

Incidentally, doctors also had to treat the woman's husband for an incredibly swollen head when he learned of the reason for his wife's memory loss.

In Health Care Paradise, Scurvy Becoming A Problem

Figures show that in 2004/05, 61 children were admitted to hospital with scurvy in England. But in 2007/08, the figure had risen to 94, a rise of more than 50 per cent in the last three years.

Damn, how hard is it to drink a little orange juice? Or take a daily vitamin, which the article indicates can be had for free to needy families?

UK Telegraph: Ft. Hood Shooter Used "Cop Killer" Pistol

Oh, Lord, here we go...

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, used an FN Five-Seven, a semi-automatic pistol popular with SWAT teams, that can fire armour-piercing bullets.

A total of 13 people died in the bloodbath at the Texas military base and 38 were wounded.

Hasan had bought the weapon legally at a gun store close to Fort Hood in August and practiced at a nearby shooting range.

During the attack he also carried a Smith & Wesson .357-calibre revolver but it was not clear if he used it.

Here's a pic of an FN 5.7 from Wikipedia:



You can expect to hear a lot about this gun in the next week or so, as anti-gunners try to demonize it and cause lawmakers to propose laws against it.

It's OK To Deplete This Fish Species

Lionfish, which were accidentally introduced into the Caribbean Sea and have spread to the Atlantic Ocean, are already wreaking havoc with native fish populations.

They're tasty and good to eat, so environmentalists are happy if people would catch as many as possible in the Caribbean and Atlantic. Just beware of the spines when you clean 'em:

UK Columnist: Crime Victims Should Be Seen And Not Heard

Column from the left-wing Guardian, as you might expect.

Should the criminal justice system be reshaped towards victims? I can think of nothing worse. Surely we want to prioritise what is reasonable, proper and proportionate in relation to those cases which come before the courts, as opposed to the inevitable emotion that some victims of crime – for all the right reasons – inspire. Leave reason and proportionality behind and we are on the slippery slope towards state-sanctioned vigilantism in our courts, with the law being administered according to media sensation and moral panic.

Which is why Labour will go down in flames at the next election, neighbor.

Waaah, Y'all

"Babies Cry With The Accent of their Mother."

Treasure Blog: Lost Charlie Chaplin Film

Purchased on eBay for £3.20, it could bring as much as £40,000 at auction.

Screen Out Religious Fanatics?

What with the current massacre of soldiers at Ft. Hood by an apparent religous fanatic, should the US military perhaps have a litmus test for entry, screening out those whose faith overrides their devotion to country? Discuss.

Remember, though, what you are asking:



So, do we need loyalty oaths from our devoutly religious military members? Let's have a poll:

Should Devoutly Religious People Be Screened Out of the Military?
	Yes. They Must Be Able To Put Their Country First.
	No. It Violates The Constitution.
	Yes, If It's Only Used On Muslims.
pollcode.com free polls

Yah, Yah, "Dog Ate It," We Know...

Scientists at CERN say that they don't know how a chunk of baguette (bread) got into the Large Hadron Supercollider.

A spokeswoman for CERN confirmed that baguette was responsible for the latest hiatus, but she conceded that mystery surrounded the way it got into the vital power installation, which is protected by high security fences.

“Nobody knows how it got there,” she told The Times. “The best guess is that it was dropped by a bird, either that or it was thrown out of a passing aeroplane.”

We have this thing that cost billions of dollars that is supposed to be able to manufacture black holes and other super-scientific stuff, and these idiots are using it to toast sub sandwiches in.

President Ronald Reagan On The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989

via Newsbusters, the greatest president of my lifetime, and the one in whose Navy I was proud to serve:

At Least He's Consistent

A Gainesville, Florida man who was jailed for burglarizing a house has been arrested for breaking and entering the very same house.

Time for a little Kipling:

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire.

- - The Gods of the Copy-Book Headings, Rudyard Kipling

The dog returning to his vomit is also found in the Bible, in Proverbs.

You Might Hurt His Widdle Feelings

A couple in UK who "named and shamed" a drunken vandal who caused £3000 damage to their store have been warned by the police that they might be violating the vandal's "civil liberties" by having such a sign in place.

Outraged Store Owner Denis Lusby

PC Crime Descriptions

Our local newspaper, The Charlotte Observer, is notorious for its politically correct descriptions of crime suspects; here is the latest example, in a story on robberies near the Charlotte/Mint Hill area:

WCNC obtained descriptions of the suspects in all three cases:

McDonald's: Middle-aged man with reddish-brown facial hair; wearing a green ski cap and dark sunglasses.

Walgreens: The men were between the ages of 18 and 25. One was about 5 feet 3, and the other was 5-8. They were thin and wore black ski masks.

Bojangles: The man was between 5 feet 8 and 6 feet tall and wore a brown hooded sweatshirt.

To be fair, it looks as if the Observer is relying on WCNC-TV for the descriptions, but the newspaper does have a habit of omitting race when describing crime suspects.

Bottle Messages: The Collectors

A group of 7 men who do cleanup work along the Mississippi River collect bottle messages thrown by lost souls.

Good USA Today article, with some references to a movie and book on the subject that I need to read.

Here's one of the collectors:



I'll be throwing some bottles myself when I go on vacation at NC's Outer Banks and Norfolk, VA in two weeks.

Nine Chilling Words

"Parents are to be forced to allow their children..."

In the UK, government abuse of power continues apace...

Quality Snark From Gail Collins

The New York Times columnist talks of President Obama's election night TV viewing choices:

Although there is no way to deny that New Jersey and Virginia were terrible, horrible, disastrous, cataclysmic blows to Obama’s prestige. No wonder the White House said he was not watching the results come in. How could the man have gotten any sleep after he realized that his lukewarm support of an inept candidate whose most notable claim to fame was experience in hog castration was not enough to ensure a Democratic victory in Virginia?

Pretty hilarious, that.

Do This In A Jeff Foxworthy Voice

If military personnel have to spend their own paychecks to buy tools to work on government equipment, your Commander-In-Chief might be a Democrat.

I can foresee this being a popular feature here, or perhaps some more talented blogger (Treacher or Iowahawk come to mind) might pick it up and run with it.

Hey, He Stole My Lunch Money Back Then, Too!

A robbery victim in Pennsylvania was able to indentify his robber after recalling that he had gone to school with the man, and finding his photograph in an old yearbook.

Good memory. I don't imagine I could recall more than a few faces from high school, and to put names to them? Never.

He'll Never Wash His Truck Again

Not since the Lord made an appearance on it:

The Creepy Personality Cult of Our Narcissist-In-Chief

Over at Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood, 11 videos have been uncovered of school children being indoctrinated to believe that Barack Obama is a sort of deity.

If you guys don't have Breitbart's Big Government and Big Hollywood bookmarked, you really should. They are daily reads for me.

If I'd Only Won The Lottery...

...I could have bought my own James Bond-style Villain's Fortress:



My very own man cave. Fortress of Solitude.

*sigh*

Leech Farming 101

At Udelnaya, Russia.

Probably won't be on the agenda for an FFA project anytime soon.

Treasure Blog: Iron Age Torcs, Scotland

Found by an amateur with a metal detector, who will likely earn over two million pounds sterling for the find.

Crucifixes Banned In Italian Classrooms

Atheists, vampires applaud decision by European Court of Human Rights.

Court Date Set For SC Horse Bugger

Story.

He's expected to plead not guilty, saying that he was just "horsing around."

Just Call Him Fatty Dread

A heavyset man with dreadlocks has robbed the same south Florida bank four times in the last year, prompting one teller on the most recent occasion to say "He's here again."

He's such a regular customer that the bank should probably give him a free toaster.

Mayor Of London Rescues Woman From Mugging

He just happened to be bicycling by.

Well done, Mayor Johnson.

Check Out Mao Guevara

A new statue of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong features him with long, flowing hair:



Ready for his close-up on the t-shirts of young lefties everywhere.

Sounds Like An Employee or Ex-Employee

Two women who were making after-hours bank deposits for Petro Express gasoline stations were robbed while standing in front of the night deposit boxes.

Someone knows about the inside workings of the company, obviously. Police should probably be looking at recently hired and ex-employees who might have worked at the two stores.

Gosh, I feel so much like Sherlock Holmes when I do that...

12 Billion Rounds

Gun owners purchased 12 billion rounds of ammunition in 2009.

In a normal year, 7 to 10 billion are sold.

I wonder if Barack Obama should ask for a commission on the additional rounds sold?

Gun Control I Agree With

Carey Andrew Shaw received a 10-year prison sentence for possession of a gun by a convicted felon.

No eligibility for parole on the charge either, I notice. If that was done in more gun crime cases we'd have the makings of a pretty safe country here.

Darwin Award Nominee

The late Ronnie Blue of Hamlet, NC, was scavenging for metal at the Ft. Bragg artillery range when he stepped on an artillery round, which exploded.

There Was An Earth-Shattering KABOOM!

Dr. Frankenstein's Bride

1600 grams of silicone and plastic surgery later...



Henry Higgins has nothing on this guy.

h/t Hot Air Headlines.

I Hate It When That Happens

A passenger suffered a premature ejection when he stupidly decided to pull a distinctively colored lever inside the cockpit of a fighter jet.

It probably is best not to fiddle with switches or controls when riding in the back seat of an air force plane.

A man who failed to obey that principle found himself hurtling out of the cockpit, smashing through the Perspex canopy and into space after grabbing the black- and yellow-striped handle between his legs. He had inadvertently pulled the eject lever and found himself blasted 100 metres into the sky on his rocket-powered seat.

The South African air force has confirmed the incident that took place last Wednesday, when the passenger took off for a flight with an experienced pilot from South Africa's Silver Falcons air display team. Investigators are assuming that the passenger tried to steady himself while the pilot was putting the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II through its paces by grabbing the eject lever.



Dumbass.

Apparently An Abortion Was Too Expensive So...

...Dameon Gatson hired a "fetus killer" for $40 to punch his girlfriend, Shyloe Linde, repeatedly in the abdomen.

The baby, born prematurely, died nine days later.

I get so goddamned tired of reading about all of this ghetto behavior.

Better Stock Up On 7.5x55 Swiss

The Swiss are preparing to vote on a weapons export ban, which would include both firearms and ammunition.

Bad news for us K31 fans.

When Your Shipmates Are Thugs

Some harsh words concerning liberty (recreational time ashore for sailors) in the US Navy:

“Training, liberty briefings and harsh [nonjudicial punishments] did not work by themselves,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Brian Sullivan, electronics material officer aboard the 7th Fleet command ship Blue Ridge. “So we are now back to liberty cards and the buddy system. If it were not for anti-terrorism concerns, I believe, we would be back to wearing our uniforms on liberty and civilian clothes would be a privilege again.

“Until we can go for a period of time without robbing, stabbing, raping and even killing [people in] our host nations and visiting ports of call, I do not see the system changing,” said Sullivan, who believes bouts of media attention to embarrassing public incidents “are driving most of the restrictions on our liberty.”

I'd guess that much of the problem lies in lowering of recruitment standards during this wartime period in order to maintain manning levels, and overall coarsening of US culture.

UK: Remembrance Day To Include Deserters, Conscientious Objectors?

Believe it or not.

That would be similar to us here in the US having to honor draft dodgers and deserters on Memorial Day. Rather ludicrous when you think about it.

Just Call Him SIR Christopher

Christopher Lee has been given his long-overdue knighthood, on Halloween, of all days.

It probably would have happened long ago if he had spent more time on the stage instead of focusing on films. Still, congratulations to Sir Christopher Lee.

Strangest Calendars

A gallery from the UK Telegraph:

A few samples:

The Zombie Calendar:



The Mormon Muffin Calendar:



A Polish coffin manufacturer's calendar:



And a calendar featuring cats as famous rock stars:



More at the link.

Argleton Exists In A Google Reality

There really is no town of Argleton in Lancashire, UK, but Google Maps indicates otherwise, and can even give you directions to it.



The only explanation offered by Google and mapmakers is shitthese things happen.