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P-D:

Safety group pushes for total ban on cell phone use while driving

A national safety group is advocating a total ban on cell phone use while driving, saying the practice is clearly dangerous and leads to fatalities.

States should ban drivers from using hand-held and hands-free cell phones, the congressionally chartered National Safety Council says, taking those positions for the first time.

The more research is done, the more we find out that the danger of cell phone use while driving is not necessarily that a phone is being held up to the driver’s ear in one hand, but even talking on a hands-free phone is dangerous, because the devil is in the distraction.

That said, there are already laws against distracted driving.  All that needs to be done is to apply those laws to those drivers yammering away on cell phones, though proving it might be much harder.

Capital Punishment

P-D:

Dog euthanized after death of Chicago boy

CHICAGO — Authorities say a Rottweiler that fatally mauled a Southwest Side boy has been euthanized, along with two other dogs found at the same address.

Now, if it were a man that killed the boy, euthanizing the man would be virtually impossible in Illinois.

One Problem to Another

Borderline RINO Voinovich retiring, Ohio GOP talking up former Rep. Rob Portman, who was high on the McCain running mate list.  That’s just what Ohio needs, another free trade Republican in a state whose economy is in the tank thanks to free trade.  Sending Portman up guarantees that the Dems will flip the seat in ’10.

March Is Coming

From Francis Slay’s blog today:

(1)  Fran gushes about BHO’s inauguration coming the day after MLK Day, and all the symbolism thereof.  All I can say to that is that March 3 is a month-and-a-half after MLK Day.

(2)  It was thought that long time Aldermanic President Jim Shrewsbury lost to Lewis Reed in 2007 because of a feud between Shrew and Slay that caused Fran not to use his machine to help Shrew.  Whatever problems they have with each other, they have kissed and made up, because Shrew is endorsing Slay.

Big Box Shenanigans

I had to take care of some stuff back in St. Louis today, and after I was done, I decided to take a diversion and go to my first ever real gun show, at the Belle Claire Fairgrounds in Belleville.  Truly, it was a diversion, because the Fairgrouds are right along a road marked as Illinois Route 13, so after I was done, all I needed to do is follow Rte. 13 all the way to Carbondale.  I had been to two other gun shows in my life, but those showed antique/collectible/inoperable firearms only.

One thing that jumped out at me as I spent a little time there is that it was exclusively a matter of local dealers, mainly small family outfits, showing off their wares.  What struck me is who wasn’t there:  No Wal-Mart, no Cabela’s, no Bass Pro Shops, even though all three sell firearms, both long guns and handguns.

Now I’m starting to figure out all this leftist mania about “gun shows,” and why there’s such a big push to get rid of them (what “closing the gun show loophole” would really mean).  Sure, anti-gun nuts would love the chance at any new restriction, and of course support it, but I think the main energy behind getting rid of gun shows comes from the Big Box Marts of the world.  This would undercut the mom-and-pop gun shops, drive them out of business, and force gun buyers to buy from the Big Box Marts.

As I have stated on this medium before, when you’re in the market for 2nd Amendment-protected items, avoid the Big Box Marts, and shop locally.  Let’s keep something relatively small and non-corporate.

HRC’s First Hire At State: Roseanne Barr

CNS:  Blagojevich Claims Illinois House Punishing Him for Helping People

Sure, because all those liberal Democrats that run the Illinois House are really a bunch of sadists.  Of course RodB does what any good Democrat does when he’s been impeached, hide behind wheelchairs and kids.

AP:  5 Somali pirates drown with ransom share

Poetic Justice.

Dhimmi Watch:  Roseanne Barr: “Israel is a Nazi state”

Roseanne Barr, that noted expert in Middle Eastern affairs for the State Department.

CSM:  In findings on reading, some surprises

The surprise is that some people are actually still reading dead trees and ink.

Time:  Why Does Your Devalued Home Have Such a High Tax Rate?

Because governments want money.

AP:  Ferrell says his Bush on Broadway will surprise

Must be some of those “after midnight” shows.

Reuters:  Army recruiting at the mall with video games

Only the Army will send you to some Crapistan where you won’t be able to play video games because it’ll offend some imam’s religious sensitivities.

Most Likely to Fail

P-D:

St. Louis beefs up violent-crimes team

Federal agents are joining with the St. Louis police to form a new crime-fighting team  aimed at  stopping murders and other violent crimes by targeting the offenders most likely to commit them.

(snip)

“We are going to be doing intelligence-led policing and turning our attention to the 10 percent of those individuals in our community causing the most violent crime,” Isom said.

And what will these 10 percent of people have in common?  Right, and when the civil rights industry figures it out, they’ll start screaming about profiling.

“We’re all working together. We’re all talking to each other,” [Jennifer] Joyce said. “There are few places that these violent offenders can hide now.”

Yeah, well, Miss Joyce, you should know about one of these “hiding places.”  State-level criminal trials in the city of St. Louis must have a jury comprised of city residents.  Read:  Black.  Read:  Nullification.  If there is any good news about the U.S. Attorney’s Office becoming more interested (at least until January 20), their criminal charges, though they will take place in Downtown St. Louis, can draw a jury pool from all of Eastern Missouri, thereby reducing the chances of black jury nullification.

Even if this succeeds, it will only amount to a very temporary lull in violent crime, not an end.  I find it ironic that the Feds are getting involved, because mostly Federal involvement has hindered finding solutions to violent crime, and undoing what used to work.

Speaking of Which…

Sorry, Francis Slay.  A place where a man gets shot in the back and killed by three other men trying to steal his car is not a place “coming back” or being “revitalized.”

The French Got Something Right

Time:

Will France Americanize Its Legal System?

France’s investigating magistrates have been a central pillar of the country’s Napoleonic justice system for over 200 years. Acting as independent, neutral investigators into crimes, they collect evidence that is then used by justice officials to either try or dismiss a case. Feared and respected, hailed and derided, the juge d’instruction has been immortalized in literature and film. French novelist and playwright Honor[a {e}] de Balzac once described his role as that of the “most powerful man” in the country.

Now, though, French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants to do away with the position in order to “guarantee the rights of people under investigation.” Opponents say the move will leave the nation’s legal process broken and vulnerable to political manipulation.

There are many drawbacks with the Napoleonic criminal code, but one of its great virtues is the axiom of “guilty until proven innocent.”

“Huh?  Have you flipped your lid?”

The flip side of “guilty until proven innocent” in the Napoleonic system is that the gendarmes can’t even touch you until the authorities have all but convicted you of the crime.  Once they do that, and arrest you, your job is to extricate yourself.  That kind of system is fairer toward those who are accused of crimes but happen to be innocent, because it mostly deters wrongful arrest.  In the Anglo-American system, you can arrest and indict a ham sandwich for anything.  In the end, the judicial system acquits the ham sandwich, but all the while, the ham sandwich was arrested, indicted, had to bond out, had his reputation and social standing tarished, lost his job, and if the charge was a felony, lost his 2nd Amendment rights while under indictment, thus making him vulnerable to real thuggery.  The innocent ham sandwich in France wouldn’t even be touched until, unbeknownst to him, the authorities have virtually determined his guilt close to beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sorry Paul, It’s Not Genocide

Paul Huebl:

More Genocide At A Chicago All Black High School

Chicago, IL–When I heard there were five people shot tonight at a Chicago high school. I did not have to speculate what ethnic group would generate that kind of violence. The school involved was none other than all Black Dunbar High School.

No Genocide.

I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard or read a white person either speculate that epidemic black crime will lead to auto-genocide, or they won’t want to solve black-on-black crime because auto-genocide will be the inevitable consequence.

Not only would I be rich, I would forever becoming more rich because they can’t seem to grasp the nuance I’m about to advance, why it won’t lead to auto-genocide.  Someone I know once drew me an analogy that, while not dealing with race explicitly, can easily be applied.

Imagine there are only ten people on Earth, all are of reproduction age.  Nine men and one woman.  Every nine months, there can be one new human being.  Now, reverse the situation, and say there is one man and nine women.  Every nine months, there can be nine new human beings. (Yes, I know, twins and other multiples, but those are too rare for just ordinary speculation.)

So it’s plain to see that the higher percentage of your population are women of reproductive age, the faster your population growth can be.

Let’s kinda extend this analogy to Chicago’s black population.  Let’s say there are 1,000,000 blacks in Chicago, 250,000 are women of reproductive age.  There were some 500 murders in Chicago in 2008, nearly all of them with black victims and black perps, and a high percentage of both the perps and victims were men and boys.  So, let’s say 400 of them were black boys or men, probably more. Just because you remove 400 boys and men out of 500,000, will this mean that the 250,000 women are any less likely to procreate?  Even if half of Chicago’s black boys and men were murdered each year, the women wouldn’t miss a beat, in fact, they would be able to pick and choose at will. (Not only that, just because a black boy or man in Chicago or anywhere else is murdered doesn’t mean he didn’t already procreate.)

For there to be a black auto-genocide, there would have to be an Armageddon-type pandemic of homicide where black women of reproductive age were the victims, which means that black men or women would be the perpetrators.  There is absolutely no evidence that this kind of thing is happening now among blacks anywhere, so it will never happen.  And that’s the way humans and most other mammals are hard-wired — a species wouldn’t survive long if its females of reproductive age weren’t relatively secure.  Males have the testosterone for a reason.

We’re Safe Now

El Paso Times:

U.S. ready for Mexico violence

EL PASO — If Mexico’s vicious drug war ever spills into El Paso, the United States has several response plans, one of which calls for a military surge along the U.S.-Mexico border, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said this week.

“If?”  Then the military on the border is only one of several plans they would consider.  But since things in El Paso and other cities close to the “border” are so calm and peaceful now, then there’s no problem.

Really, the plan they would implement “if” (rimshot) Mexican drug violence spills over from Mexico to Aztlan would be to confiscate guns from white people.  That way, no white person would be able to defend himself from those that represent that all-important racial diversity.

Some States are More Equal Than Others

AP:

Voting rights law under high court review

WASHINGTON – Days before the first black president takes office, the Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider overturning a key feature of the main federal law that ensures access to the polls by minorities.

The justices said they will review a lower court ruling upholding a provision of the Voting Rights Act that requires all or parts of 16 states with a history of racial discrimination, most in the South, to get approval before implementing any changes in the way elections are held.

Aside from all the other problems with VRA ’65, the biggest is that it only applies to certain states and parts of states.  That would be like saying that international espionage is a Federal crime if done in Alabama but not if done in Vermont.

Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the court has looked skeptically at government efforts to take race into account in the assignment of students to public schools and the drawing of electoral districts.

And this might be part of the reasons why Republicans are losing big in the House over the last two cycles.  These racially gerrymandered districts had the net effect of also creating white districts where white liberals had no hope of piggybacking on black votes to beat white conservatives.

City Property

The virtue of St. Louis City now owning Bevo Mill is:

On Thursday, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay wrote on his blog, www.mayorslay.com, that the donation will ensure that the building be preserved.

That coming from a city government whose maintenance of major boulevards is so bad that the state had to come in and make most of them state routes, so that the state can pay for repair and repavement.  That coming from a city government that often lets its owned real estate properties confiscated for one reason or another get run down.

Here’s another problem — A-B was 2nd Amendment and CCW friendly, the city government isn’t.  Will Bevo Mill soon have the “No CCW” sign up on its doors?

The News About Minorities and Comics Just Keeps Coming

AP:  Obama and Spider-Man appear in comic together

I think he’s more appropriate for Batman, where he’ll play The Joker.

CNS:  John McCain Launches PAC to ‘Better Define the Republican Ideals and Message’

Because his Presidential campaign did so well.

Harrisburg (Penn.) Patriot-News:  Conduct at Chuck E. Cheese described as ‘madness’

Duh, Sherlock.  When isn’t Chuck E. Cheese madness?

CNS:  Obama Meets With Nine Mayors Who Want $10 Billion in Federal Money

Remember when $1 billion used to be a lot of money?  Now it won’t even build a water slide park for a town of 200.

CNS:  D.C. Metro Tickets and Fare Cards Now Bear Image of Obama

Yeah, like he’s gonna use the Metro.

Francis Slay:  Mayor Slay Wins Ward Endorsements

Yes, the mental ward.

SIL:  SIU to answer free-speech complaint by Monday

What would be funny is if their answer violated their own censorship guidelines.

P-D:  Crowd packs Jewish Center gym to show support for Israel

A Jewish Center supports Israel?  Gee, you think?

AP:  Madoff awaits fate: Jail or bail?

Deal or No Deal?

LiveScience:  Women Can Smell a Man’s Intentions

Too bad for me.

Reuters:  Computer geeks learn to flirt

They’ll find out it’s a little more complicated than “sudo dinner with me tonight” and “make install reservations”

CSM:  Gauging Sri Lanka’s inroads in battle against Tigers

If by “Tigers” they mean Mizzou basketball, then Sri Lanka will have no problem.

NPR:  N.C. Computers Can’t Handle Deluge Of Unemployed

Windows boxes, sheesh.

LiveScience:  The Myths and Realities of Bipartisanship in D.C.

“Bipartisanship” — Republicans caving in to what Democrats want.

NPR:  Is Third-Hand Smoke A Hazard?

No, it’s another way for Official America to justify its bigotry toward the white working class.

AP:  Mass. wants calorie counts at fast-food outlets

The changeable billboard under the McDonalds sign will read:  “Limited Time, Big Mac Value Meal $3.99, 1400 Calories”

Reuters:  Motown turns 50, proud of musical, social legacy

But can’t actually be based in Motown anymore because it’s too unsafe.

E!:  Phish Dives Into Summer Tour

Avoid driving in St. Louis on June 16.

New to the Blogroll

The Council Does Gotham.  The New York CofCC Blog.

Lilly’s Acute Observation

One of the first actions in the 111th Congress was for the House to enact into legislation the “Lilly Ledbetter Act.” In case you don’t remember, a major talking point of the Democrats’ campaign in 2008 was that it was so unfair for the Supreme Court to follow the letter of the law and not give in to popular politics, in the matter of the eponymous subject of the act.  Essentially, Ms. Ledbetter didn’t file the pay discrimination suit until after the statute of limitations had run out, and Democrats, doing what they usually do, wanted the judiciary to become a dictatorship.

Now, if I’m reading this right, Congress has changed the law to eliminate SOLs on these sorts of matter.  And, in reaction, and in review of SCOTUS following the law, Ms. Ledbetter herself said:

“This ruling just doesn’t make sense in the real world,” Ledbetter said in a telephone news conference Thursday. “In a lot of places you could get fired for asking your co-workers how much they are making.”

I know several people who have had jobs where this was the rule.  And I think it’s a good rule; if I were in a situation where I could make and enforce this rule, I would.  The reason is that you don’t want to get people all mad at each other and jealous of each other because one employee might make more than other with both having the same tenure or stature.  It might be because the former does better work, or something of the like.  It might also be that the employee making more happens to be white, and he might be getting paid more because he was affirmative action passed over for a promotion by a favored minority, and the consolation prize for the white was a raise.  (At that point, if the employee being paid less is non-white, you can bet on a lawsuit.)  Or it might be something related to interpersonal politics.  Either way, it’s really none of anybody’s business, especially subordinate employees’ business, and prohibiting employees from discussing their own pay scales with each other is a good way to cut down on BS and increase productivity.  I bet you there is more productivity lost each year to office politics and gossip than there is to illnesses.

I have always approached situations of employment with a cynical attitude — I am not friends with my bosses, because I am not enemies with my bosses.  And I am not enemies with my bosses because I am not friends with my bosses.  I don’t let considerations of friendship or enemyhood come into play, because I don’t think of my bosses as persons, I think of them as institutional automatons.  We’re here to do a job, nothing more.  Also, I try to avoid personal entanglements with anyone on the same hierarchical level as myself, because I know that one day I could be their boss or they could be mine.  If I ever fell in love and married someone that I worked with, she would find a new job or I would, we wouldn’t remain under the same business roof.

Evidently, everybody of sound mind agrees that Ms. Ledbetter made less money than her male counterparts on the same managerial level and similar tenure purely because of gender discrimination, not any of these ancillary factors I just described.

Money in 1941, Not in 1933

CNS:

Commerce Chairman Says FDR Didn’t Spend Enough to Get U.S. Out of Depression

(snip)

“It wasn’t until World War II when we had major expenditures that the Depression was finally resolved,” said Waxman. “We’re going to be looking at that experience. But I think what we are facing now is unique. But we’ve got to approach it with what we’ve learned from the past but think through what we need for the future.”

Despite the $500 billion spend under FDR through various programs, the unemployment rate in the United States did not significantly decrease until after the U.S. officially entered World War II in 1941.

I wonder why there was all this money all of a sudden to fight a war in 1941, but not as much to revive the economy in 1933.  Bankster shenanigans, anyone?

Impeached

The Illinois House voted almost unanimously today to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich.  Now, there will be a trial in the State Senate, though the timeline for that is unclear.

I’m surprised it has gone this far.  My bet is that Fitzfong and the State Legislature would eventually drop the charges and impeachment threats, respectively, based on the fact that Blago “knows too much” and can take down too many people.  Either he doesn’t, or they don’t know that he does.

I’m glad they did this, and I hope they continue.  This means that if Blago does know anything, he’s gonna run his mouth and take down the whole corrupt Chicagograd cabal, Barack Obama included.

Bond Cashed In

Will not run for reelect in ’10.

The Dems will probably coalesce around Mrs. Antolinez.  But what are the Republicans gonna do?  Matt Blunt is damaged goods, Peter Kinder is the only Republican statewide office holder, but he’s a racial panderer.  However, he’s got the best statewide name rec, so if he wants it, he’ll get the R-nomination.  I wish Todd Akin would run, but a Congressman from the St. Louis area will have a hard time getting KC votes.  If a R-Congressman is going to run, it would probably be Sam Graves; JoAnn Emerson and Roy Blunt are too ensconced in the House, Blaine Luektemeyer is too new.  Perhaps someone from the State House or Senate could be a dark horse.

The most intriguing possibility, especially now that someone else named Sarah is a national figure, is Missouri’s Sarah that wanted to be Governor, that being Steelman.

However, if you forced me to predict right now, it’ll be Kinder vs Mrs. Antolinez.  For both, the 2010 Senate run will be “free passes,” in that the loser will remain in their existing position, both the Lt. Governor and Sec. of State are not on the ballot in 2010.  Neither one would risk being shut out of public office.

Now that I think about it, perhaps this is why Peter Kinder declined to run for Governor after Matt Blunt fell on his sword — maybe he sensed Nixon’s inevitability in 2008, and Bond’s retirement in 2010.

However, with the power that the Carnahan name has in Missouri, the Republicans better get a little down and dirty, even going as low as promulgating the rumors that her “marriage” is a sham to cover up her lesbianism.  Otherwise, she’ll win, even if 2010 is a Republican year nationally.

UPDATE 1/12: Contrary to what I said before, Roy Blunt is in.  What is curious about him throwing his hat in the ring is that, through 2006 and 2007, there were rumors going around that, then-Gov. Matt Blunt sensing his own vulnerabilities, would engineer a three-way deal where Kit Bond would resign from the Senate, Matt would appoint Roy for Senate, then Matt would run for Roy’s U.S. House seat in 2008 instead of re-election for Governor.  If Roy does indeed run, he couldn’t run for the House seat, probably meaning that Matt will run for it.  So those rumors might wind up coming true, only a few years later.

Also, in a bit of surprise, Lazy Clay is going to jump in.  I get the feeling that he witnessed Obama’s success both nationally and in the Democratic Presidential primary in Missouri vs HRC, and thinks he can replicate it vs a Hillary-type in Mrs. Antolinez.  If he does get in, I think this will change the campaign dynamics for Mrs. Antolinez drastically.  She would not only actually have to campaign for the D-primary, she’ll have to tread lightly.  After all, Alan Wheat did beat Marsha Murphy in D-SEM Primary in 1994, so there’s precedent in Missouri.  The other side of that coin is that John Ashcroft handed Wheat his chaff in November.

St. Louis’s Mumia

Surprise, wants another trial.  Do you think this story will be news on a yearly basis from here to eternity?

Fun With Headlines Below the Belt

Drudge:  Bill Clinton on Oval Office: ‘I just love that rug’…

Oddly, President Bush had to replace the Oval Office rug when he came into office.

Savage:  Exclusive: SFPD forcing detectives to undergo brainwashing by transgendered dick

Supposedly, they’ll also be trained in homicide investigation, but that’ll have to wait until they are sufficiently trained in the fine art of sensitivity to weirdos.

Malkin:  Cheeky: Porn industry wants a bailout

If they get it, then we’ll be the ones who feel screwed.

CNS:  Pelosi’s Hometown Wants $2 Billion in Federal Stimulus Funds

SF might be confused about the meaning of “stimulus” here.

Arch City Chronicle:  Host of ‘Hardball’ Decides Against Senate Race

Taking on Arlen Specter doesn’t exactly send a tingle up your leg.

Chicago Sun-Times:  Chicago Public Schools’ cappuccino bill: $67,000

Honestly, this was probably the best $67 Grand spent by the CPS in awhile.

NPI:  Dumb is the New Smart–The Perversions of Modern American Education

Eventually, they’ll say that white is the new diverse.  I hope.

Malkin:  Justice Dept. sues New Black Panther Party thugs

A lawsuit.  Sure, that’ll do it.

AP:  Obama warns of dire consequences without stimulus

We might have dire consequences with the stimulus.

USNAWR:  University of California to Accept Fewer Students

For this story to have the maximum impact, it should be translated to Chinese.

AP:  Shooting by Oakland, Calif., officer sparks anger

While the “community” has been angry, there were probably five shootings in Oakland not by cops.

PC World:  Nvidia Closing in on 2 Teraflops With Graphics Card

Meaning that Windows Vista might be able to run well.

Time:  Paging Dr. Gupta: A TV Star for Surgeon General?

He should have picked Dr. House.  Imagine the tongue-lashings he would have given to Hillary.

A Mall Without Stores

The Macy’s at Crestwood Court is closing.  Which is like duh, because Crestwood is a dying mall, the Dillards there closed in 2006, and there are two Macy’s within a 10 minute drive of Crestwood.

Surprisingly, both the Macy’s at the University Mall in Carbondale and the one in Cape Girardeau is staying.  I’ve been in the Carbondale one three times, twice since moving here and once before.  And I’ve been in the Cape Macy’s twice, but not yet since moving.  Every time, it seems like I’m the only non-employee in the Carbondale one, while business seems better at the one in Cape.  I’m amazed that a retailer in decline will keep two different Macy’s open that are somewhat close to each other and in the relative middle of nowhere.

Save Your $350 Grand

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will dump 350 Grand on parts of the Southern Illinois juvenile justice system to find out:

Jefferson County, [Mt. Vernon -- Ed.] the area of the circuit with the largest minority population, will receive technical support and resources to see whether a disproportionate number of minorities come in contact with the juvenile justice system.

I can answer your question in three letters:

D-U-H.

Related:  Mt. Vernon, Ill.:  East St. Louis East

Apology to Everyone

I understand that a certain “center” in Montgomery, Alabama just handed out in its second annual installment its “Hatewatch Smackdown Awards.”

And I didn’t win an award?

Nuts!!!!  I must be slipping.

I suppose that a new year, new city and new job also means that I have to make a resolution to do better in this medium, to dig deep within myself to give more than 100%, to arrive at a level of cynicism and sarcasm that no human being ever thought possible.  This might require the help of a therapist…

I’m sorry for letting you all down.

What if Meg Whitman Actually Becomes Governor, and a Senate Seat Opens? Will She Auction It Out on EBay?

CofCC:  Kissinger to Obama: Create a New World Order.

Just as Obama has to figure out how to bring back an economy sinking because of globalism.

CNS:  Democrats Cave In on Seating Roland Burris – Sort Of

Gee, who predicted that?

Jihad Watch:  “Allahu akbar”: Israeli basketball team attacked in Turkey

Though “Allah u akbar” might have been the Turkish coach’s way of telling his players to block out.

SEMO:  Area Obama supporters having own inauguration ball

Yes, they’ll both have a very good time.

SEMO:  Sikeston passes on resident’s suggestion to use red-light cameras

The city government agreed:  We’re not going to do that to our traffic light.

Malkin:  Joe the Plumber heads to Israel

To meet with Ehud the Pumber.

Paul Huebl:  Convicted Felons and the Workplace are Incompatiable

Maybe so, but at least they bring diversity.  And that’s the most important virtue ever.

SEMO:  Homemade desserts banned at Mo. inaugural potluck

Maybe it’s that “other” kind of pot luck.

KSDK:  Mississippi has highest teen birth rate, CDC says

I wonder what else Mississippi has more than any other state.

NPR:  Building Young Assassins In Juarez

Who will then cross the fiction formerly known as the “border” to do the assassinating that Americans won’t do.

Politico:  Kemp diagnosed with cancer

Will surely seek out an affirmative action oncologist.

McClatchy:  Obama’s new home was slow to accept integration

Now look at it, so civilized and progressive.

Bloomberg:  EBay’s Whitman Plans Run for California Governor, People Say

Sorry, Meg.  You better get a sex change, big muscles and an Austrian accent if you expect to win in Mexifornia as a Republican.

Reuters:  Could we reduce love to a pill? Maybe, says expert

Does Reuters not receive spam?

LiveScience:  Brain Food: How to Eat Smart

I was always told that brains was brain food.

Newsarama:  Supermen of Color: The Non-White Kryptonians

Damn, I thought they WERE the Krypton.

Reuters:  Police seek blow-up doll sex bandit

Rule out all the men with wifes or steady girlfriends.

It’s Greek to Us

Me, on June 24, 2008:

It hit me this afternoon while watching the noon news.  There was a text scroll across the bottom noting the DTV transition on Feburary 17, 2009, and the scroll told you what to do in order to keep on receiving over-the-air TV after that date.  In case you don’t know, those who watch TV over-the-air using a regular analog TV will have to get a converter box before February 17, because on that day, analog TV stations are shutting down, leaving only their digital transmissions.  The TV channels’ frequencies that go blank will then be used for first responder radio services, like police and fire.

It seems like every couple of hours, every broadcast TV channels are running those scrolls.  On top of that, there are public service announcements that announce the same thing about once every several hours, and they give you all the details.  On top of that, any given local newscast runs a pseudo-news story about the DTV transition, and they again explain all the details to you about what will happen and what you should do to retrofit your analog TV to be useful after February 17.

By the time next February comes and goes, the media will have gone on and on about the DTV transition for thirteen-and-a-half months.

Plain words, the media are going through great pains to give you all the details and explain to you all the intricacies of the DTV transition, such that the only people who don’t know the score are cave-dwelling retards.  Meanwhile, they can’t find a few moments to explain anything about gas prices, tax rebate checks, food prices, guns and political parties.  The reason is that the former is about the media itself.  Of course they’re going to make sure that you’ll be able to watch them after February 17.  Since 33% of American households don’t have cable or satellite, and most of those don’t have an HDTV, they don’t want to lose those eyeballs.  But I’ll be damned if they extend this luxury to the real news that they tell us they’re reporting.

Broadcast Engineering Magazine, Today:

Consumers Union, a consumer advocacy group that also publishes “Consumer Reports” magazine, found in a survey that while 90 percent of the nation is aware of the transition, 25 percent mistakenly believe that one must subscribe to cable or satellite to receive television reception after February.

Another 41 percent think that every TV in a house must have a new converter box, even those that are already connected to cable or satellite.

Meaning that when the MSM actually try to explain something, they screw it up.

Illinois Has an Opening for the U.S. Senate. Interested in Applying? First, Paint Your Face Black…

CNS:  Jesse Jackson Jr. Is ‘Electable’ to Senate, Democratic Leaders Say

In what sort of dumbass political jurisdiction is Jesse Jackass Jr. electable?  Oops, I forgot, I live in it :(

Reuters:  Democrat Roland Burris blocked from Senate

But they’ll let in some has-been comic whose party cheated him to victory; at least Burris’s ascension was legally above board.

KSDK:  Movie theater-goers barely notice Joe Biden

Of course, almost everyone in a movie is running their mouths.  What makes Joe Biden so special?

Take Two:  KSDK:  Movie theater-goers barely notice Joe Biden

The theater must have been filled by USC football players.

AP:  Factory orders drop more than expected in Nov.

They must not have included TV factories, washing machine factories and living room furniture factories, because I certainly did my part for them in the last quarter of 2008.

AFP:  Steve Jobs has “hormone imbalance,” to remain Apple CEO

In order to develop the iHormoneBalancer.

LiveScience:  Study: Exercise Won’t Cure Obesity

I hope everybody believes it, ’cause then I’ll actually be able to use the gym in the month of January.

I Concur

NPI:

“The underlying fact is, at it stands today, 71 percent of inmates are black or Latino,” said Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the committee. “We have an obligation to keep an eye on that as we make future public policy.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.  But my saying it would be in the context of being more harsh towards “blacks and Latinos,” not being more lenient towards them, as Mr. Lawlor seems to want to do.  Remember, states in the Deep South once heeded the “obligation to keep an eye on” high black crime rates as they made “public policy,” but the Yankee government had a problem with it.

The First “Fun With Headlines” Edition from Southern Illinois

Drudge:   NBC BANS COULTER FOR LIFE; CUT FROM ‘TODAY’ SHOW OVER BOOK’S CLAIMS, NO MORE CABLE

No more MSNBC for Ann?  Who the hell’s gonna notice?

LAT:  Obama- inspired hope goes only so far in Kenya

Only goes so far as IQ can take the hopesters.

AP:  Historians battle Wal-Mart over key Civil War site

Either way, the South loses.

Billboard:  Prince To Roll Out Three Albums This Year

And all three combined won’t sell that many copies.

Internet News:  What will Fedora 11 be called?

My recommendation is “Fedora 11.”

Malkin:  Illinois lt. governor laments his “laughing stock” state

Well, Pat, come down to Carbondale, and see that it’s no joke when you actually have to live under Chicagograd occupation.

Diane Meyer:  Illinois in the rear view mirror

I’m hoping that southern Illinois puts Illinois in the rear view mirror.  The state of Little Egypt, anyone?

SEMO:  Detroit lawyer gets 5-cent IRS bill, 4-cent refund

And a note saying that he lived in a two-bit town.

SEMO:  Ham hobby keeps Scott City couple close

Reminds me of the “Blondie and Dagwood” pair that once frequented a 2m repeater in south St. Louis city.

P-D:  Former schools chief gets 30-day “shock” jail sentence

Pilfered six figures and gets one month — that’s what’s shocking.

AP:  QVC will sell memorabilia at Obama inauguration

That’s just the right institution to be hawking Obama crap, QVC.

KSDK:  Obama girls start school with photographers in tow

I highly doubt they were wearing QVC jewelry.

AFP:  Far-left extremists’ gun used in Greek police attack

Whaaaat?  Far-left extremists don’t believe in their own gun control?

AP:  Kaine says he’ll limit time spent as party leader

Good thing, because too much time doing so means that the Klingons will mistakenly think that one of their own runs the DNC.

CQ Politics:  Wamp Announces Run for Tennessee Governor

Propopses that servers hosting state government websites will use the Windows/Apache/Mysql/PHP (WAMP) stack.

Bloomberg:  Franken May Be Certified Winner in Minnesota Senate Race Today

Take out five words, and I would call it the truth.

Reuters:  Many teens display risky behavior on MySpace: study

In contrast to their non-risky behavior while not on MySpace.

Time:  A Brief History of Hangovers

Such a book about the Vatican goes right up there with “The Book of Virtues” by Bill Clinton and “How to Sustain a Musical Career” by Art Garfunkel.

CNS:  Some US Cities Eliminate Criminal-History Question

Murphysboro, Illinois is probably one of them.

KFVS-12:  Man charged with 50 counts of sodomy, 20 counts of sexual abuse

And yet, they’re going to send him to prison.

Seattle Times:  San Francisco considers plan to charge drivers

Because San Francisco gas is so cheap. (?)

Like Squeezing Uranium from a Turnip

KFVS-12:

Mother wins lawsuit over son’s murder in prison

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – An Illinois prison inmate who killed his cellmate after warning guards he planned to do it has been ordered to pay the dead inmate’s mother and estate $13 million. But whether Corey Fox will be able to pay any of that tab is another question.

At 12 cents an hour, he’ll have to work for 37,000 years.  And the AP actually thinks that there’s a chance that he can pay it off.

I Feel Sorry For Her

I kinda feel sorry for her, even though her politics are probably the polar opposite of mine.  If you know who she is, and why I feel sorry for her today, you get a gold star on your forehead.