Roswell, Texas
"The right of a citizen to bear arms, in lawful defense of himself or the State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the State government, but directly from the sovereign convention of the people that framed the state government. It is one of the 'high powers' delegated directly to the citizen, and 'is excepted out of the general powers of government.' A law cannot be passed to infringe upon or impair it, because it is above the law, and independent of the lawmaking power." [Cockrum v. State, 24 Tex. 394, at 401-402 (1859)]
# Claire Wolfe at Backwoods Home Magazine - Lost Ghost: The Horror Beyond Halloween - the residents of Hardyville discern the identity of the ghost that's been haunting them since 1913. [claire]
# Scott Bieser - Announcing Roswell, Texas - a new graphic novel, written by L. Neil Smith and Baloo and illustrated by Mr. Bieser. To be serialized at www.BigHeadPress.com starting in February. Dead trees version may follow. Yay! [bieser]
# Gene Johnson of AP via My Way News - Lawyer: Ailing Vet Deported From Canada - I agree with Claire Wolfe. The drug war reaches a new low. The nazis dragged a man out of a Canadian hospital and drove him to the U.S. border. They tortured this injured veteran for smoking a weed to help his chronic pain. Crucifixion of every narc involved is definitely in order. [claire]
# Garrison Keillor at Salon via fairuse.1accesshost.com - I'm at your service, Mr. DeLay - satire, I think. [lew]
Corporate money not used for political campaigns? The thought is preposterous on its face. Any schoolchild knows that politics is not about highfalutin debates and policy papers; it is about putting the screws to the fat cats and squeezing them until they squeak and then hiring agents to level your hapless opponent with a barrage of rotten fruit and dead cats as you yourself stand above the fray, Bible in hand, your arm around some orphans, eyes upraised to Old Glory, your face nicely lit. And you win the race and go to work flogging your timid colleagues and raising truckloads of dough and building your war chest and scaring the bejeebers out of people. That's how it's done.
# David Codrea - Replace Miers With Bork? - Ned Rice thinks that Robert Bork would be a better choice for the Supreme Court than Harriet Miers. Mr. Codrea begs to differ. Bork believes the Second Amendment is no longer relevant. Bork that. [codrea]
# Chris Kahn at the Florida Sun-Sentinel - In the pursuit of safety, teeter-totters and swings are disappearing from playgrounds - thanks to America's penchant for lawsuits, school playgrounds increasingly disallow any kind of real play. [kaba]