April Fools, 2004
"If God wanted us to be naked we would have been born that way." -- Oscar Wilde
Nick Anderson at Marc Brands Liberty - Warning Signs - cartoon commentary on the imminent collapse of medicare. Hehe. [smith2004]
# GeekWithA.45 - I've Had A Change Of Heart... - The Geek has joined the Brady Bunch. Say it's not true! Whew. It's an April Fools joke. Hehe. [geekwitha.45]
# Gary Nolan had a short interview yesterday morning on 94 Rock's "Mason & The Heartstarters", one of the morning drive-time shows in Albany (NY). They represented him as the Libertarian candidate for president. Not yet, he ain't. He's one of the guys in the running, but the candidate won't be decided until the convention on the last day of May. Still, nice to hear some Libertarian policy on a mainstream radio station.
# Michael V. Pelletier at The High Road - Seized by the Manchester, New Hampshire PD for Open Carry - well-written letter to the Manchester Police Department telling the story of Mr. Pelletier's assault by New Hampshire's "finest" for open carry in a holster in a Barnes & Noble. He's consulting a lawyer, considering suing the police. I posted: [smith2004]
So what's this about a lawsuit? Mr. Pelletier was assaulted. Convene a Grand Jury, indict the perps, try them, convict them, and put them in jail.
# Garry Reed, The Loose Cannon Libertarian - Animal Rights: an Equine of a Dissimilar Hue - they're arresting people for horse abuse in Washington state. Sheesh.
Forget human rights. I want animal rights!
Humans can be convicted of animal abuse if they inflict "mild discomfort" upon un-humans. So say justicecrats in Washington State. Prosecutors were having trouble proving that a pair of ponies actually suffered pain, so the state Court of Appeals in Tacoma helpfully redefined creature discomfort for them. Animal anguish, it declared, not only includes "mild discomfort" but also "mental uneasiness," "dull distress" and "unbearable agony."
My neighbor's neglected yard gives me mild discomfort, idiot drivers cause me mental uneasiness, my job sometimes fills me with dull distress, and politicians almost always give me unbearable agony. Horse sense tells me that I should be able to convict my tormenters of second-degree animal cruelty, the going penalty for such torment. But, no. While my animal rights have certainly been violated under Washington State's recently concocted critter codes, my human rights haven't been despoiled one bit.
# Publicola - Wednesday, March 31, 6:35am - more than I'll probably ever want to know about U.S. v Miller, unless I find myself arguing before an apeals court, and why would I want that torture? All I need to know about the precise meaning of the second amendment is expressed in L. Neil Smith's Atlanta Declaration, the kernel of which you can read in the right-hand column of this page.
# David Hackworth at World Net Daily - Maybe this time we'll get it right - Col. Hackworth likes the XM-8, but only if it gets the planned caliber upgrade from 5.56mm to 6.8mm. [smith2004]