And a Happy New Year

Let’s hope the new decade was a lot better than the old.

Rocky Mountain High, Montana

Politico:  Max Baucus’s speech under conservative fire

Talk about your Rocky Mountain High.

KSDK:  National security watchdog wants no fly list made public

You might be shocked to know that your newborn daughter is a terrorist.

OpEdNews:  Now I’m Really Getting Pissed Off, By David Michael Green

Well, David Michael Green, you’re sounding like Alexander Emerick Jones.  Had you listened to him in the first place, you wouldn’t be pissed off now.

CNS:  Obama Describes Nigerian As ‘Isolated Extremist,’ Despite Ties to Yemen

There seem to be a lot of these isolated extremists.  People are going to start thinking they’re neither isolated nor extreme.

P-D:  Obama vows to beef up security, hit terror hard

But this is Barack Obama we’re talking about.  The beef will be more like third rate soy burgers, while the “hit” will really be a baby slap.

P-D:  Bristol Palin seeks full custody of baby

Of course she can care for the kid now.  She’s independently wealthy — Her mother wrote a book.

KSDK:  Just lose, and the Rams pick first in draft

I have confidence in the first part.  It’s the second part that I fear they’ll screw up.

CNS:  Putin Impedes Obama’s Plan for ‘World Without Nuclear Weapons’

I once argued for a world without nuclear weapons.  As a matter of fact, my argument was so convincing that ALL of my fifth-grade classmates agreed with me.

Chicago Breaking News:  Cops: Illegal party featured drinks, dancing, guns

Newsflash:  Many legal parties feature drinks, dancing and guns.

Schlafly:  Eagle Scout and Cub Scout Punished under ‘Zero Tolerance’ Rules

Evidently, schools have no tolerance for Scouts.

Like Grandma Like Grandson

The fuzz thinks that one of two men that knocked back the Commerce Bank on the west side of the Manchester Viaduct over the tracks near SLUH is the grandson of the former Mayor of Alorton.  The cops had to chase him from there back to her house over on the East Side.

Grandma herself did two years at Club Fed for messing around with her personal taxes from the time when she was Mayor.

Grandson is/was a business major at Greenville College.  He must not have gotten to the chapter about the hazards of bank robbery to a bank.

Moral Hazard? What Moral Hazard? More Like Voulez-Vous Les Bon Temps Roulet.

Barney Frank’s proposed TARP II would guarantee that the Yankee government would pony up as much as four terabucks for future bailouts.  I sense a new round of subprime affirmative action mortgages a’comin.

What does this mean for you?  It means you better not laugh at a Zimbabwean having to pony up a $100 Trillion note to buy three eggs, because it’s your future.

Hot Pants Stack of Stuff

You should know by now who I’m talking about.

(1)  Organized a week-long War on Terror Symposium at University College in London, which seemed to be pretty much a carbon copy of Democrat Party campaign rhetoric/Democrat House and Senate floor speeches/MSNBC transcripts.  George Galloway has his nuts in the ringer because he was going to be involved.

And we wonder why this President is AWOL.  He and UFA share something in common — Three Arab names.

(2)  What does all this mean?  We didn’t connect the dots.

(3)  Rob Malda over at Slashdot wonders why so many terrorist have engineering degrees.

Are you really that dense?

On the other hand, it’s yet another rebuke to Patty Murray types.

(4)  This isn’t the first attempt at an underwar bombing — A month and a half ago, a Somali was hauled in at The Mog’s airport, when he tried to board a flight with these chemicals, a flight that was ultimately headed to Dubai.  Yes, that’s that wonderful UAE of Portgate fame that Bob Dole and Rush Limbaugh said was so great.  I think he wanted to go to Dubai because he might have thought that a flight from Dubai to the U.S. wouldn’t draw as much suspicion as one that started in a more obvious terrorist haven like The Mog.

H-1B Denial

Computer World:

Court orders three H-1B sites disabled

A New Jersey judge has ordered the shutdown of three H-1B opposition Web sites and seeks information about the identity of anonymous posters.

On Dec. 23, Middlesex County Superior Court Judge [*****] ordered firms that register domains and provide hosting services — GoDaddy Inc., Network Solutions, Comcast Cable Communications Inc. and DiscountASP.Net, to disable the three sites, ITgrunt.com, Endh1b.com, and Guestworkerfraud.com. Facebook Inc. was also ordered to disable ITgrunt’s Facebook page.

DiscountASP.Net said it has disabled Endh1b.com after it received the order from the New Jersey Superior Court. The order did not request any account information, only that the company “…immediately shut down and disable the website www.endh1b.com until further order of this court..,” a spokesman said in an email. Facebook said it received the document Monday.

GoDaddy is complying with the order and has suspended the web hosting for ITgrunt.com, said Laurie Anderson. GoDaddy disputes manager, domain services.

The web site Endh1b.com is registered but not hosted at Go Daddy, Anderson added in an e-mail. “Both domain names have been placed on registrar lock due to the pending litigation. When Go Daddy receives a court order, it is standard procedure to comply,” she said.

[*****] order was made in response to a libel lawsuit filed by IT services and consulting firm Apex Technology Group Inc., based in Edison, N.J. against the three Web sites opposing the H-1B visa program.

The issue is creating a stir among H-1B opponents working in IT-related jobs who fear their posts could result in the loss of their jobs.

Two of the sites, itgrunt.com and endh1b.com, were offline this morning, but guestworkerfraud.com remained operating.

The company is seeking the identity of a person who posted an Apex employment agreement on Docstoc.com, that has since been removed. A link to the document and comments critical of it has been posted on a variety of Web sites, including at least one in India, on Desicrunch.com. The comment broadly alleges that employees will find it difficult to leave Apex because of its contract terms.

Apex, in one legal filing, said the allegations by the anonymous posters are false and defamatory, and were hurting the company. In the filing, Apex said it “has had three consultants refuse to report for employment” as a result postings, according to legal documents.

Apex said it is also seeking “contact details of the individual who posted this legal agreement without permission since we are the copyright owner of the legal document.”

Accoring to court documents, a writer responding to admin@endh1b.com wrote that the site has “not posted a legal agreement and don’t have the contact details of anyone of our contributors. We will also protect the privacy of any members of our community.”

Patrick Papalia, an attorney representing Apex, said that the company has already identified an employee who left the initial comment. But he said the issue goes well beyond the agreement and involves threatening and racist comments against company officials, as well as ongoing allegations that it is engaging in illegal activities. “Apex has an outstanding reputation in the information technology field,” he said.

John Miano, who heads the Programmers Guild and is also an attorney, and who one represented one the parties involved in the dispute, said it is “rather chilling” to have a court in New Jersey ordering the shutdown of Web sites operated by people with no connection to New Jersey.

The operator of ITgrunt.com deferred questions to Donna Conroy, who heads Bright Future Jobs, an activist organization on the H-1B issue, who detailed her concerns about it in a post on her site.

In an email, she said, “I’m astonished that an American judge would force American web sites to rat on American workers who wouldn’t snitch on an Indian H-1B. If this order stands, it will rob the security every American expects when they post complaints anonymously or express their opinions on-line. It will create a credible threat that Americans could face retaliation from any current or former employer.”

The operator of Guestworkerfraud.com linked to ITgrunt.com’s blog entry and said he added some comments of his own. He doesn’t allow comments on this site. He has since removed the entry concerning Apex. He says he won’t let the New Jersey judge “run the Internet and silence free speech by shutting down the whole site. Hence, my site is still up.” He asked that his name not be used, in response to an email.

The ISPs and registrars were contacted. ITgrunt operates a page on Facebook. A company spokesman said it has not been formally served. The other companies didn’t respond by press time.

Rob Sanchez over at V-Dare can elaborate:

H-1B Bodyshop vs. U.S. First Amendment: The Case Of “Tunnel Rat”

By Rob Sanchez

The blogger who goes by the nickname “Tunnel Rat” has the status of a folk hero for American computer/IT and engineering professionals. He is celebrated for his acerbic commentaries on his website, ITGrunt. At least a portion of Tunnel Rat’s mystique derives from his persona as a geeky Lucha libre-type masked hero. The internet has been rife with speculation by both by his fans and detractors as to his identity and whether his writings represent reality or fantasy. All of that buzz adds to his legendary status.

“Tunnel Rat” expresses the popular rage of American high-tech professionals as they are dispossessed by immigration and outsourcing. His blogs are hard-hitting, profane and politically incorrect, especially in regards to corporate politics, stupid managers, and unqualified H-1B visa-holders from India hired as programmers and engineers by high-tech companies. VDARE.COM’s Patrick Cleburne has described ITGrunt as “the go-to source for H-1B/ American Worker Displacement atrocities”.

But don’t bother going to ITGrunt’s website now, because it and several other websites have been removed from the internet. (Remnants of the site are still in Google’s cache but they are disappearing fast). This happened on December 23rd because of litigation by the Indian-owned bodyshop APEX Technology Group. Apex is run by Sarvesh Kumar Dharayan [email him]. APEX has been demanding that various websites—some apparently run by desis from India!—remove all mention of its name.

Judge [*****] of The Superior Court of New Jersey ordered the internet service provider Godaddy.com to cancel the domain addresses associated with ITGrunt.com and endh1b.com . In addition, discountASP.NET was ordered to remove the pages from its web servers. Although Judge [*****] order was issued right before Christmas, these companies were required to act within 3 calendar days.

Godaddy [Email them] and discountASP.net [Email them] complied with the order with no further resistance.

Godaddy even went one step further: it confiscated the domain name ITGrunt, and so far has refused to release the domain back to its owner, “Tunnel Rat”.

Godaddy’s action prevents “Tunnel Rat” from moving his website to a different web server. “Tunnel Rat” once moved his website to Panama to avoid censorship in the United States. It could be argued that Godaddy has no right to keep the domain address because it would normally be considered property of ITGrunt.

The judge issued a similar order to NetworkSolutions to shut down guestworkerfraud.com. But at this time of writing, it remains live.

Judge [*****] has also embarked on a search to discover who is behind ITGrunt is. He has ordered Comcast and Yahoo to reveal the identity of one emailer, although it is not clear that the email address belongs to “Tunnel Rat”. Whoever owns that email address could be sucked into this conflict without even knowing what hit him for no other reason than he posted information on ITGrunt. In addition Judge [*****] ordered Facebook, where “Tunnel Rat” has a page, to divulge his identity by Monday, December 28.

Unmasking “Tunnel Rat” could expose him to reprisals such as blacklisting so he can’t get jobs. Or worse—he has even received death threats.

The judge is in New Jersey, but the defendants and the websites are in other states. Attorney John Miano, former President of the Programmer’s Guild, practices in New Jersey but was unable to stop the court from in effect claiming jurisdiction over the entire Internet.

So what, you may ask, did ITGrunt do to deserve this? In a “Certification of Notice”, a law firm representing APEX claimed that blog posts on the ITGrunt website damaged the bodyshop’s reputation and therefore makes it more difficult to recruit H-1Bs.

Ironically, the statements Apex complains of were not made by Americans but, apparently, by an H-1B worker who’s complaining that APEX was ripping him off. The reputation of APEX in the desi community was established way before ITGrunt came along. You can still read some of the posts here.

The APEX rampage against “Tunnel Rat” began when an anonymous Indian poster who claims to work for APEX posted a copy of an APEX employment agreement that he asserted imposed penalties of up to $35,000 for quitting. He wrote:

“If you join a company (including any level between you and APEX) then pay $35,000 or face a law suit, $9,000 for legal, training and guest services when you quit. $35,000 if you quit in between a contract…etc. The legalities of the agreement are convoluted, abstract and can/will be used against you if you displease APEX Technology Group Inc. So once you sign that document you are at the mercy of the employer and much worse than a bonded laborer in India.”

APEX hasn’t denied the authenticity of this agreement, but it asserts its copyright has been violated.

Suing websites for postings made by third parties is problematic. The Electronic Freedom Foundation describes Section 230 of Title 47 of the United States Code (47 USC § 230) as follows:

“No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” This federal law preempts any state laws to the contrary: “[n]o cause of action may be brought and no liability may be imposed under any State or local law that is inconsistent with this section.”

So why APEX is taking such drastic actions against ITGrunt and other web sites?

The explanation could be as simple as corporate self-interest. Or there could be something deeper going on.

Perhaps we are seeing a clash of cultures between Americans who believe in values such as free speech in the First Amendment of the Constitution, and foreign cultures that don’t share the same enthusiasm.

Immigrants of this type won’t hesitate to subvert our Anglo-Saxon heritage when it suits their needs.

My question: why we are allowing people into this country who are antithetical to our value system and heritage?

Rob Sanchez (email him) is a Senior Writing Fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization and author of the “Job Destruction Newsletter” (sign up for it here) at www.JobDestruction.com.

I had to blockquote both of these articles because I can’t link to them, because they plaster the name of the judge that made the ruling in 87 million different places.  Fortunately, this is not true of Norm Matloff’s concurring opinion at V-Dare’s blog, but unfortunately, there are direct links from there to both these articles, which do.  So, back to the salt mine:

Computerworld has been covering H-1B and related issues quite thoroughly since 1999. The editor at that time was skeptical when he saw the industry lobbyists screaming that there was a tech labor shortage, as his wife couldn’t get a job as a teacher even while the Boston-area papers were claiming a teacher shortage.

Here I’ll comment on two items, one by recent Computerworld Editor-in-Chief Don Tennant and the other a new article in the publication. (To save time, I’m just including URLs, which is just as well as there are interesting links on these sites.)

I’ve praised Tennant in this e-newsletter for being open-minded in spite of having, I surmise, come in to the H-1B topic with biases in favor of the program. I believe he originally bought into the “best and brightest” claims of the industry lobbyists, which as I’ve shown before apply only to a very small percentage of foreign tech workers. See my earlier comments here and here.

In a recent pair of blog postings, the second of which is here, Tennant wonders why he hears of workers in the tech field advising their children not to pursue tech careers. After all, Tennant says, even a generous accounting would find that only 35% of IT workers are H-1Bs, which leaves 65%, i.e. plenty of jobs.

I’ll use that 35% figure here for ease of exposition (it’s an overestimate for many reasons). But Tennant is missing the point in several different ways:

* That 35% doesn’t include FORMER H-1B workers who now have green cards. To be sure, I’ve always said they should be protected just like the natives, but the point is that if there had not been a H-1B program most of them would not be in the current labor market.
* The 35% figure is large in terms of its dampening effect on IT wages. Some of you may recall that even the mainly pro-industry NRC report in 2000 made the same observation.
* The 35% figure is large in that it enables employers to shun the older (age 35+) American workers. (Which renders irrelevant Tennant’s comment about jobs opening as baby boomers retire.)
* IT is a very, very broad field. Only a minority of IT jobs are typically filled by computer science graduates (the field Tennant cites), BUT H-1Bs almost exclusively work in such jobs. In other words, the impact on CS grads of the H-1B program is much more acute than on IT jobs as a whole.

The notion that children of tech workers are shunning tech fields is real. Even if the parents actually encourage their kids to go into tech, the kids have seen up close how unstable the field is, and how vulnerable it is to H-1B and offshoring. Note that THIS IS THE CASE EVEN IF THE PARENTS ORIGINALLY CAME HERE AS H-1BS OR FOREIGN STUDENTS. The Wall Street Journal even did a piece on this; see here.

The second item I’ll discuss here is the current Computerworld article, Court orders three H-1B sites disabled | Judge’s ruling to shut down three opposition sites is part of Apex libel lawsuit By Patrick Thibodeau December 28, 2009.

Reportedly an H-1B worker publicly ratted on his employer Apex, an Indian body shop, for making him sign a contract which illegally bound him to indentured servitude. “IT Grunt,” who anonymously operates Web sites critical of H-1B, references the worker’s Web page. Apex is now suing ITG for allegedly defaming the firm, and has gotten a judge to temporarily shut down part of ITG’s Web operations.

To me it does seem reasonable to shut a site down, pending litigation, if there is reasonable evidence of defamation. But I don’t think there is much evidence of that, raising the possibility that this is just a nuisance lawsuit against critics of H-1B, in which case one wonders how the judge decided the way he did. In addition, this could open quite a Pandora’s Box, with those who’ve posted on the site possibly subject to exposure.

I would add, though, that to me this shows once again how the anti-H-1B activists are shooting themselves in the foot by concentrating on (a) violations of the law and (b) Indian “body shops” (rent-a-programmer businesses). As I’ve said before, (a) is the wrong way to go, because most abuses of the H-1B program and fully legal uses of loopholes, and (b) is wrong because the mainstream firms are just as culpable as the Indian body shops.

I agree with Matloff.  This is not an abuse of the H-1B program, it is a natural consequence of a program that almost totally displaces native born white Americans in a certain field, because corporations want cheap labor.

“Blow It Out Your Ass” Stack of Stuff

Yes, I’m referring to Hot Pants/Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, Mr. UFA.

(1)  Even if everybody has to walk through whole body scanners before boarding a plane, b/c AQ has pretty much defeated them.  Therefore, the only solutions left are:  (1) Ground the commercial airline industry forever, (2) Have everyone fly wearing skimpy jail style jumpsuits or nurse style scrub suits, (3) Prohibit Muslims, especially non-white Muslims, from entering the country.  Now, tell me, boys and girls, which is the simplest and therefore the best solution?  Right, and that’s the one that won’t be adopted, because it involves a country that worships the 16th President, Adolph Lenin, and the racial equality he forced us to worship.  Again, boys and girls, which one will happen?  Number 2, at first, but then AQ will find a way around that, and therefore, Number One will come to pass.

(2)  The whole set of affairs has gotten so bad that it has even brought Sheila Jackson-Lee to her senses.  Now that tells you how bad it has become.

(3)  Two of the four planners of the hot pants bombing attempt are former Gitmo vacationers.  Uncle Sap let them return to Saudi Arabia, to take place in an “art rehabilitation program.”  Which, as we can see, didn’t work.  Are you feeling better, Thomson, Illinois?

(4)  Peter King wants UFA to get a military tribunal, which he could get because he was not an American citizen, and working on behalf of a foreign entity hostile to the United States.  If he stayed in the American domestic criminal system, he wouldn’t have to say a word.  This idea makes so much sense that the White House won’t consider it.

(5)  Again, with the “isolated extremist” bullshit.  Doesn’t this ring a bell?  It should — every black or Hispanic violent crime is dismissed as an “isolated incident.”  Meanwhile, two white people that get together and yell a racial slur, or conservative Republicans that try to hold Bill Clinton accountable for his perjury, are part of a vast conspiracy.

Super Mario Land

P-D:

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Circuit Court Clerk Mariano V. Favazza has launched a last-minute effort to hold onto his ability to hire patronage workers, a power that is set to expire in the New Year.

Favazza filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block a decision prompted by the state Supreme Court that would transfer the power to hire or fire deputy clerks from his office to the court’s presiding judge.

“I realize that it’s not the presidency of the United States, but it is an elected office,” Favazza said of his position. “And it should have powers.”

The action marks an escalation of the tension between Favazza, first elected in 1998, and the judges, who have sparred with Favazza on how to run the courthouse.

Favazza has previously fought legislation, backed by the judges, that would eliminate his position altogether.

His current protest stems from an October request by Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice William Ray Price Jr.

Citing budget constraints, Price asked that local courts with more than one “appointing authority” consolidate the power into a single position.

In St. Louis, Favazza appoints about 150 court employees — including the courtroom clerks who work alongside the judges — while the court’s presiding judge has the power over other jobs, such as some who work with juvenile offenders.

Under a proposal that would take effect Jan. 1, presiding Judge [*****] would usurp Favazza’s hiring power. Dowd, citing the pending litigation, declined to comment on Monday.

The clerk would still be an elected office, but the position would be zapped of all the political clout that comes with being able to fill dozens of jobs.

Favazza’s petition was heard in Jefferson City by Judge [*****] who has set a hearing for Jan. 15.

According to a motion from Callahan, the judges have agreed not to make any personnel changes until then.

What I think is going on here is that St. Louis City’s black Democrats are pulling strings to get Missouri Democrats to neuter the Circuit Court Clerk’s office, and therefore Favazza’s job, to the point of uselessness.  I get the feeling that Favazza prefers to hire competent whites, which flies into the face of the affirmative action circus Downtown.  In 1998, Favazza shocked the city by unseating Mavis Thompson for that office, and the city’s black power structure has had a bad taste in their mouth about that ever since.  It’s all a matter of payback’s a beyotch.

What might help Favazza is that the judge who set a hearing on his motion for 1/15 has now been confirmed as the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Missouri, so another judge will hear this matter.  It might not be a Democrat appointee, like the person in question.

On the Andy Martin Question

The head of the Illinois Republican Party:  “Mr. Martin will no longer be recognized as a legitimate Republican candidate by the Illinois Republican Party.”

Well, too bad, motherfucker.  You can’t do that.  This isn’t England — Anyone can run for office on any party they like.  As long as they pay the registration fee, they’re on the primary ballot for any party they want.  And there’s nothing you or your paymasters in various DuPage County country club locker rooms can do about it.  Being disowned by the Illinois Stupid Party is a badge of honor, IMHO.  Two words:  Alan Keyes.  Seven Words:  Oh for two against corruptocrat Rod Blagojevich.  Four words:  Recycling too many Ryans.  Two words:  Abraham Lincoln.

I heard the ad in question on KMOX, and while the ad is underhanded and (no pun intended) below the belt, and while I wouldn’t circulate third-hand third-rate gossip about Mark Kirk being homosexual (heck, I just did :P), and while that doesn’t matter to me even if he was, there’s nothing Pat Brady Bunch can do about it.  Technically, I’m still an Illinois resident, and if I find a new job in the state, I won’t have to change my residency, and therefore, I’ll be able to vote in February.  Provided that, I won’t be voting for Mark Kirk, but his liberal record, not what hole he sticks his thing in, will be the reason why.  Of course, if I land a new job in MO, then I won’t be able to vote in IL, in which case I’ll focus on Chuck Ferguson over Roy Blunt.

The statements “are consistent with (Andy Martin’s) history of bizarre behavior and often times hate-filled speech which has no place in the Illinois Republican Party,” said Pat Brady, the Illinois Republican Party Chairman.

And that’s why the Illinois Republican Party is in the dumps that it’s in.  Perhaps you ought to consider a we little bit of hate, or rather, what most sane people would call passion.

Who Knew Rex Sinquefield Was Good For Something?

He’s behind a petition drive to prohibit Missouri municipalities from levying income or earnings taxes, meaning bye bye 1% St. Louis City.

The fruit part about STL City’s earnings tax is that it applies to all city residents even if they work outside the city, or even the state.  Someone I know was, as of five years ago, being hounded by the City Department of Revenue for 1% of his earnings when he worked in Kentucky for a year.  In theory, there is a state law that prohibits cities from doing this, but it’s too weak to be effective.

The P-D thinks that Slay could be for it, b/c RexSinq dumped 50 kilobucks in Slay’s lap recently.  However, Slay’s already on record as opposing the repeal of this tax (untangle the double negative:  Keep the tax), b/c it means about one-third of city revenue.  And it’s not like Slay needs the campaign money anyway — he’s Mayor for Life if the war chest comes into question.  RexSinq gives money to Slay b/c of the Charter School issue, and I don’t think he would stop if they were on opposite sides of the earnings tax question.

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

Today’s Hot Pants Underwear Bomber stack of stuff.

(1)  I hear a lot of people asking why, among other things, the obvious information was ignored, and that the American embassy in Lagos did nothing when his father warned them of his son’s terrorist leanings.  The answer is that UFA (I’ll use his initials going forward) had two PC points going for him:  (1) Black, and (2) Muslim.  Also, it’s not like the State Department in a given country is going to do anything to hinder a citizen of the host country.  In case you’re wondering, State is all about good foreign relations.

(2)  Evidently, there’s a lot of UFA types being trained in Yemen.  You can partially thank Bill Clinton and that goofy broad he had for an ambassador to Yemem, what’s her face Bodine.  They’re the ones that let the genie out of the bottle, by “democratizing” Yemen.  When a team of FBI agents went there to hunt for evidence after the USS Cole bombing, another Clinton and Bodine caused tragedy, IMHO, Bodine pretty much handcuffed the FBI into uselessness.

(3)  Which is greater?  AQ’s desire to succeed, or our desire to fail?  Is OBL that zealous, or is Janet Incompitano that hapless?  Truthfully, I can’t tell.

(4)  I am hardly what you call pro-black, but I’m not blaming Nigeria, its people or its government, for UFA’s attempts at terrorism.  He was radicalized in London, (where there are already good roads NOT engineered and built by Osama bin Laden, Patty Murray), which is another nail in the “poverty causes terrorism” coffin.  But if Nigeria is in the news for something, it can’t be good, for Nigeria is usually known as the e-mail scam haven of the world.

(5)  Sorry, Miss Incompitano.  Luck is what worked.  Next time, we might not be so lucky.  Remember, we need to be right every time, they only need to be right every once in awhile.

(6)  In somewhat related news, it is said that President Obama is changing the “harsh” immigration policy President Bush enacted after 9/11.

LOL.

If letting in 150,000 people legally from countries on the State Department’s list of terrorist sponsors or havens is “harsh,” then what is this sonofabitch in the White House gonna do?  I hate to imagine.

Most of the rest of this indicates to me that Obama is essentially opening the border, and granting a form of amnesty to illegal aliens already here.  I’ve thought for a long time that the formal debate on an immigration amnesty bill is sort of a moot point, when the President has the power of enforcement, and s/he can simply refuse to enforce immigration law, ipso facto amnesty.

(7)  MSNBC taking heat for barely covering UFA on C*******s Day, while Fox and CNN went almost wall-to-wall for awhile.  That’s because MSNBC has a President to protect.  And, pray tell, how would anyone know what MSNBC did or didn’t do on Christmas Day anyway?  It’s not like anyone was watching.

People Are Asking Questions

There was a riot of about a hundred “young people” at a Bridgeport, People’s Republic of Connecticut shopping mall on Saturday.  It got so bad that the Bridgeport P.D. and the Connecticut State Bears had to intervene.

Of course, the news article didn’t mention the most obvious common characteristic of the rioters save their age.  But I read some of the comments, and it looks like people are finally catching on, and asking some taboo questions about race.

The City Mentality

Responding to a current rash of smash-and-grab car break-ins in St. Louis City, the Mayor’s Office says, in essence:

(1) It’s too bad that whites are victims, because we can’t sweep it under the rug as a black-on-black no honest people involved thing.

(2) It’s the white driver’s fault for leaving valuables in plain sight.

Do you see how it’s a little bit contradictory?

My response to (1) is that a place where black-on-black crime is high will also be a place where black-on-white crime is high, too. Former Chief Joe Mokwa tried this excuse early this decade, by saying that, essentially, white people shouldn’t worry about murders in the City b/c 75% of them are black thug on black thug. (Note: Neither Slay here nor Mokwa in the past used explicitly racial language, but that’s the message they sent.) My response then was to calculate the city’s murder rate of it only had 25% of the murders it did, i.e. the ones Mokwa said we should worry about. And that still yielded a murder rate that was 2.75 times higher than St. Louis County, and dozens of times higher than either St. Charles or Jefferson Counties. So even giving Mokwa the benefit of the doubt, it still didn’t bode well for the City.

As for (2), leaving valuables in sight isn’t a crime or a sin. Car burglary and vandalism is. I hear this way too often, that it’s the victim’s fault for not being more careful. I agree that people should be more careful, but I agree more that criminals shouldn’t commit crime.

Non Sequitur

A MacArthur Foundation front is celebrating a change in IL law that takes effect at the Stroke of Midnight.  What it means is that 17-year olds charged with misdemeanors won’t go to adult court, it’ll be sent to juv.  However, the same does not apply for felony charges — they will still go to adult court.

However, their reasoning is screwy.  For instance:

For the thousands of 17-year-olds arrested on misdemeanor charges each year in Illinois, this reform is the difference between going through life with a criminal record and having an opportunity to be rehabilitated and begin adulthood with a clean slate.

Except that an adult misdemeanor conviction doesn’t prohibit you from much.  Potential employers are only allowed to ask about a job applicant’s felony record.  Most of the things that people associate with not being allowed to do/have with a rap sheet only applies to felonies.  Only a few sensitive callings will take into account misdemeanors, and with most young adults and misdemeanors, they’re sunsetted at a certain point, i.e. don’t commit another crime in a certain amount of years, and the misdemeanor is erased. The Armed Forces have gotten so desperate for recruits that the only kind of conviction they can’t tolerate is adult felony. Used to be that even juvenile misdemeanors were turned away.

“Keeping 17-year-olds out of adult court and away from hardened criminals is the best chance – and possibly the last chance – for many of them to turn their lives around,” said Elizabeth Clarke, President of the Juvenile Justice Initiative (JJI). “It also is best for the safety of their home communities and can prevent increased crime in the future.”

How does being in “adult court” for a misdemeanor put you around “hardened criminals?”  A misdemeanor conviction can’t send you to state prison.  It might send you to the county can for a few months, and there, you might encounter a murder suspect being confined until/through trial, but if he pleads or is found guilty, then he’s off to state prison or death row.  Otherwise, you’ll be around a lot of other minor criminals, perhaps a few convicted felons who are doing time in county b/c their felony wasn’t severe, and those arrested who haven’t bonded out of the hoosegow, plus some drunk tankers.  Those are hardly “hardened criminals.”  And how is this supposed to “prevent increased crime in the future?”  However “bad” they think adult county jail is, then juvenile jail is almost as bad.  And, in juvie jail, you do have both felonies and misdemeanors in the same can.  It seems to me that that would be putting them around “hardened criminals,” though not quite as hard, yet.  On top of this, most adult misdemeanors, especially a first time one (presumably, most 17-year olds who are hauled into court on a misdemeanor haven’t yet committed any other crimes, and are therefore considered, b/c they are, first time offenders) are disposed with probation, community service, a fine, SIS, or anything but actual incarceration.  To the extent that an adult is made to serve time in county for a misdemeanor is if he: (1) Has a long sheet, felony or misdemeanor, and/or (2) The person was charged with multiple misdemeanors or maybe a felony, but it was bargained down to pleading guilty to one or more serious misdemeanors, in exchange you agree to do time in county.  In other words, many people doing misdemeanor stints in county really committed a non-major felony, but the prosecutor didn’t want to hassle with it, or didn’t want to risky a picky jury, and bargained.  The 17-year old who is doing time in county for a misdemeanor probably fits under the “really committed a felony” category, in which case neither I nor the organization lauding the IL law changes should have any sympathy with.  It’s just a matter of take your lumps, consider yourself lucky that you’re not a felon, and don’t do it again, young man.

Also, remember that whey they say “Illinois,” they essentially mean Chicago.  The Crook County jurisdiction is, as you can guess, a rather busy one.  Those young adults in Crook County accused of misdemeanors have an even easier row to hoe, because of the lenient judges and the cynical and overworked State’s Attorneys.  Even first-time felons don’t always get prison time.

Whether it was finding an experienced judge from another state to talk to legislators or putting research results about brain development and juveniles at our fingertips, MacArthur has always been there for us.”

If the “brain development” isn’t enough for a 17-year old misdemeanor suspect to be charged in adult court and possibly go to adult lockup in county, then it shouldn’t be enough for a 17-year old felony suspect to go to adult court and adult prison.  BTW, these “brain development” studies show that the brain isn’t entirely hard-wired until age 25 (Note:  Your car insurance rates go way down when you turn 25.  The actuaries have known this for decades).  To be consistent with these studies, then 25 should be the crossover between juvie and adult.

40

Forty years old today.

I remember when 40 seemed old.  Now, it’s the next tens digit rollover on the odometer for me.   Just yesterday, it seemed, 30 was old.  But I’m already well past that exit.

2009 Predictions Reviewed

My average this year was so bad that I sent myself to the showers.

1. A major MSM top three market (NYC, Chi, LA) newspaper goes out of business.

The biggest market where a paper went out of biz in ’09 was Denver.  Bonk.

2. Mayor Slay loses his bid for re-election; the black body politic will close ranks and unify behind someone credible, and as Lewis Reed and Barack Obama have proven, white St. Louis City voters aren’t the same types who once gave 80+% to an anti-deseg school board. Reed got enough white votes in 2007 to topple the white Aldermanic President, and Obama got 84% of the vote in the city, McCain only got 40% in his best ward, one in lilly white south city. The city’s economy is going south in a hurry, and if InBev pulls the rug out of A-B a little more, or there are some other rounds of job cuts, the incumbent will be blamed.

Even it takes some black voter fraud, it will happen, and by the time of the March primaries, the new U.S. Attorney for St. Louis will work for a black President and a black Attorney General, so they won’t prosecute that kind of fraud.

Bonk.  Big time.  BTW, Irene Smith is becoming what they call a “perennial candidate.”

3. Ballpark Village falls apart. The grass farm you see today is what you’ll see at the end of 2009.

I’ll give myself a ding, even though they created a “temporary” parking lot and softball diamond, to keep up appearances for the All-Star Game.

4. The eastern end of the Highway 40 closure will be noticeably more painful than the western end.

From what I understand, bonk.

5. There will be a serious push for secession in some American territory, probably some kind of non-state territory (e.g. Guam), but maybe an actual state.

I don’t know how serious you want to take Rick Perry’s rhetoric.  I dismiss it as campaign year fluff, to head off KBH.  Therefore, bonk.

6. A fast food joint you’ve heard of will go out of business.

Bonk, AFAIK.

7. Some outbreak of an infectious disease will cause casualties in at least the six figures.

H1N1 wasn’t that deadly.  Bonk.

8. Microsoft posts a financial loss for at least one quarter of 2009.

Though they had their first year-over-year quarterly profit decline ever, they were profitable for all four quarters of this year.  Bonk.

9. Since many illegal aliens from Mexico in the U.S. are returning back to Mexico, plus the rapidly increasing corruption scandals, the Mexican government will do one of two things: (1) Become insanely dictatorial, or (2) Fall.

I’ll give myself half a ding, because it paradoxically got more of both 1 and 2.

10. Some form of alternate energy will become affordable, economical and practical for the masses.

Bonk.

11. Sub-$100 Blu-Ray player for Christmas shopping season 2009.

Lowest I saw was $129.  Bonk.

12. Some European nationalist party will either win control of their country’s government, or come close enough, either way causing a media panic.

Vlaams Belang, Jobbik and the BNP’s success in Euro Parliament elections in June did cause a media panic, but they weren’t winning a national parliament.  Bonk.

1.5 out of 12 makes for a .125 batting average for 2009.  Last year, I hit .500, but for 2007, the first year for which I made predictions, I did just as badly as I did this year.  Combining the three, my career average is .257, so I’m only slightly over the Mendoza Line.

2010 Predictions coming some time this week.

New to the Blogroll

Guy White. Probably the best right wing blog out there not an official organ of an organization, outside of mine, of course.  Just for starters, take a gander of his “You Might Be a Liberal If…“

Stuff White People Like and Stuff Black People Don’t Like.  Because I can!

Last Sunday Wrap-Up of 2009

And there’s a lot to wrap up.

(1)  I watched the last few minutes of  This Week on ABC this morning, mainly for the Sunday Funnies.  As they were rolling the credits, I noticed one of the camera engineers name is Rick Roller.

(2)  Various Chicago city services weren’t open on Christmas Eve, in order to save money for the city.  Among the closed institutions were libraries.  Though who on the South Side noticed?

(3)  ESR has two one-liners for the ages.

(4)  A self-identified “transgendered anarchist” was hauled in for vandalizing a Democrat Party office in Denver.  He can’t self-identify as transgendered too much, because he didn’t change his name to Pat.  They can certainly cross from their biological gender to a pretend one, but they can’t seem to cross from the insane to the sane.

(5)  Michael Vick was his team’s choice for the Ed Block Courage Award.  What exactly did he do in the 2009 season that was so courageous?  I suppose an ex-con not committing any more felonies is the essence of courage.  Since the team voted for the award winner, this must mean that you could add the IQs of all the members of the Philadelphia Eagles, and that still wouldn’t be enough for two average people.

To their credit, PETA denounced the selection.  But they weren’t exactly a conspicuous presence outside the Eagles stadium this season.  I’ll give you one guess to why.

(6)  The reason Ghandi-style and “Freedom Rider”-style civil disobedience won’t work when it comes to ObamaCare is because, this time, the libs are on Obama’s side.

(7)  There’s hope for loser gamer guys to get some tail after all.

(8)  When a Daley thinks you’re going too far to the left, you really know you’ve jumped the shark.

(9)  I fully expect Bernie Madoff to “fall out of bed” quite of bit over the next few years, until he finally “falls out” a little too far and for the last time.  In other words, they put him in the only Federal hoosegow where there are victims of his perfidy.

(10)  There’s no element to human sexuality, freaky or otherwise, that a lib doesn’t want a teenager to know about.  So let’s see how they react when the NRA gives those same teenagers knowledge about an element of the document that is in every civics textbook.

(11)  Two-thirds of France’s imams are on welfare.  Real comforting to know.  I suppose provoking people to blow up busloads of Jewish children isn’t as lucrative as it used to be.  Recession and all.

(12)  ElizWright crowns the SPLC, and certainly not king.  I found out something I did not know — the Poverty Palace has added that noted right-wing extremist Carol Swain to its hit list.  Didn’t I say something about jumping the shark earlier?

(13)  Aside from its six usual divisional opponents, we know for sure the other ten NFL teams who will have extra bye weeks in 2010.  Question:  After which loss will Steve Spagnuolo be fired?

(14)  A typical AP writer and a typical NBA player are somehow involved in a story about guns.  Did you honestly think that either one of them would get it right?  Duh and duhher.

(15)  I have no problem with John Kerry making a diplomatic visit to Iran.  But I would have a problem with him coming back.

(16)  Mike Anderson compares new FCC proposals and WebTV from the late 1990s.  WebTV only reminds me of one of the most arrogant knaves ever to speak into a radio microphone, and that is Jim White, the Big Dumper.  He was on in the late evenings, and by then, KMOX’s signal was heard throughout most of the eastern two-thirds of the country, with its clear channel position.  I remember one night in 1998 that I was listening, and a woman from Indiana called in.  The Big Dumper was doing tech talk, and she called to complain that Microsoft had removed Usenet Newsgroup functionality from WebTV.  The Big Dumper’s response?  Essentially it was, “Oh you stupid bitch.  Why don’t you just use an abacus if you’re that backward?”  How or why KMOX or CBS or Bob Hyland ever put up with that shit is beyond me.  Doesn’t matter, I liked Roger Fredinburg and the Right At Night better anyway.

(17)  Stephens College in Columbia?  I haven’t even heard of it.  But they’re evidently influential enough to start a fad.

(18)  Jacques Rogge:  Disappointed in Tiger Woods, but hearts the Jamaican drug testing program.

(19)  Repubs feeling their oats b/c redistricting after the 2010 census will probably mean that reddish states gain House seats while blueish states lose.  Don’t count your elections before they hatch, Rs — The reason a lot of those reddish states are growing in population is because of Hispanics, both immigration and procreation.  I predict at least half of these new seats will be won by Hispanics or white liberals.

(20)  Wealthy, privileged and educated.  Yet, still became an AQ terrorist.  What say you, Patty Murray?

***

And a few headlines.

Slashdot:  Patrolling the US Border Via Webcam

I wonder what would happen if they show us that Mexicans are sneaking across the border.

Slashdot:  TSA Wants You To Keep Your Seat, and Your Hands In Sight

That’s because you’re suspected of first degree taking an airline flight in a country that won’t do racial profiling.

UK Telegraph:  Main parties have failed to prevent BNP gains, warns Michael Howard

I didn’t even have to wait but a month for the next “what are gonna do about the BNP” stories from the liblabcon media.  I tell you what you can do — Either adopt the BNP agenda, or disband.

Merry Christmas

To each and one of you.  Including to those of you who like to write me snide and insulting e-mails.  Though for most of you, me wishing you a Merry Christmas is my biggest insult of all.

I’ll return to blogging on Sunday.

Fun With Headlines, Christmas Eve Eve Edition

Houston Chronicle:  Report says 225,000 Haiti children work as slaves

You think they’ll ask for reparations if they ever freed?

2:  Metro East Club Destroyed By Fire – Club was known for violence

You can probably deduce where in the Metro East this club was.  I’ll give you a hint:  Violence.  I’ll give you another hint:  Not Belleville.

CNS:  White House Doesn’t Know If Obama Will Attend Church on Christmas

It’s just as well, he doesn’t listen in church anyway.

P-D:  New queen crowned at VP Ball

I didn’t even know the VP Ball was still going on.

The Decade That Seemed

Time weighs on the decade that was the first of the third millennium of Christianity.  (Yeah, yeah, I know.  No year zero.  AFAIK, I just shorten the first decade A.D.)

Reading what they had to say made me weaken the world, i.e. think.

For my money, this decade was a noticeably phony one.  From phony WMDs in Iraq, to the current phony in the White House and his phony image, to the well-crafted, er propagandized image of Tiger Woods that has fallen apart like a house built with tongue depressers, to phony subprime mortgages, phony global warming data, phony pusedo-moralists (Yes, Bill Bennett, I’m thinking about you), phony leaders of supposedly conservative organizations, astroturfing, home run sluggers on steroids, Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme, Enron accounting, overprocessed pop tart “singers” (read: Jessica and Ashlee Simpson), Dan Rather’s attempt to use phony documents to bring down George W. Bush, phony political images, John Kerry asking “where can I get me a huntin license” in that backwoods Massachusetts accent, balloon boy hoaxes, a phony 9/11 investigation, phony ministers, and everything else, I can conclude this much:

This was not the decade that was, it was the decade that seemed.

In a related note, Emma, my maternal grandmother’s name, was the most popular name for girls in the past decade.  Aiden was the most popular boy’s name, so I suppose that there’ll be a spate of Aidens in college at the end of the 2020s, and in politics by the end of the 2030s.  Matt used to be sort of a young name, but they came of age when Matt Salmon almost won Governor of Arizona in 2002, and Matt Blunt did become Missouri Governor in 2004.

UPDATE 1/5/10: Here’s another element of the phoniness of the decade that just passed, even though it started in the 1990s:  The Dot-Com Boom and Bust.  At the height of it, AOL was able to “buy” Time-Warner for stock.  Now, almost ten years after the fact, the last CEO of T-W before AOL’s purchase is doing the remorsement thing for having agreed to it.

Vindicating the Anti-Federalists…

…Is none other than DiFi.

Then again, I already told you about all that n’stuff.

Hispanic Gang Clobbers Hispanic Eighth Grader

Eleven middle and high schoolers, including at least one Hispanic who threw the first punch, beat up a fellow Hispanic 8th grader so badly that he needed facial reconstructive surgery, and may go permanently blind in one eye.  This happened in New Jersey.

The whole thing involved a supposed diss on a girl.  He evidently hit a girl with a basketball by accident.  Later, the girl sicked the gang of 11 on him, and she’s also facing charges.

UPDATE 12/27: Hold the presses on this one.  The gang might have been “Hispanic,” but in reality Afro-Caribbean Hispanic, not Mexican/Chicano.  And the victim seems to be more Mediterranean Caucasian than Hispanic.

If It Plays in Peoria

Peoria, Illnois wants to do a trial run for CCW in Illinois.  Of course, we all know how it’s gonna turn out, because we know how it’s turned out in most states:  The libs, both in and outside of Peoria, will bitch and moan.  A few percent of people will get permits, and the typical permit holder will be a white early middle aged man.  Certain violent crimes will be reduced, and almost all the crimes they prevent and deter will happen from the permit holder merely displaying his gun to his assailant, while not having to fire it.  What will be interesting in Peoria, if they get to do it, is the businesses where the Peoria city limits run through it, the suburbs presumably won’t participate.  I think if they try it, it should be the entire county.

We also know that it’ll make life a lot harder for Peoria’s civil rights-endowed black thugs.  That is why the Land of Lenin will never get CCW as long as IL includes Crook County.

Balloon Boi’s Parents to be Enhoosegowed

The father for 30 hard and 60 soft days in the county’s involuntary asshole-widening service, and the mother for 20 soft days in a presumably less hostile counterpart after he’s done.  Evidently, the judge wanted (not) balloon boi to have his parents free for C*******s, and to have one out and one in so (not) balloon boi has one of his parents to take care of him.  Like they’ve been such great parents in the recent past.

The judge is also going to keep an eye on their bank accounts so they don’t benefit from the made-for-TV movie that will air some time this May on some network desperate for ratings.

Fun With Headlines, Christmas Eve Eve Eve Edition

New York Post:  32-year-olds don’t simply drop dead, doctors say

That sound you hear is yours truly breathing the world’s biggest sigh of relief.

New York Daily News:  Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani expected to announce Tuesday he will not run for U.S. Senate

RIP, Rudy Giuliani’s Political Ambitions.  Sept. 11, 2001-Sept. 11, 2001.

CNS:  White House Picks New Cyber Coordinator After Months of Delay

He’s formerly of eBay.  There’s a joke in there somewhere.  I just can’t find it.

CNS:  Fort Hood Suspect Prevented From Praying in Arabic, Lawyer Complains

It’s not that anyone is preventing him from praying in Arabic, it’s just that “I hope to God these asshole infidel rednecks don’t string me up on a tree” doesn’t translate well.

CNS:  Black Advocates Want More Help for the Unemployed

They’re doing something for white people.  A Christmas Kwanzaa miracle, I tell ya.

P-D:  Missouri golf course owner pleads guilty to water theft

That’s par for a course where everyone who plays it takes eight shots per hole but finish with a 74.  Golf scores are the rich man’s big fish story.

P-D:  Police: Teen stabbed man with ice pick to get parking spot

The parking spot was at a parking mall.  That’s how you can tell the doer is woman.  Hell hath no fury…

KSDK:  Court: Microsoft violated patent; can’t sell Word

Oh boy, that means we can pirate it now.

WND:  Yahoo is spying on you

Oh rats, now they know my family’s pork sausage recipe.  That was supposed to be a secret that I only intended to blab to ten other people.

AP:  Keep IRS auditors away: Earn less than $200,000

Next year, I’ll make only $199,999.  You think that won’t raise any suspicions?

Bling of $teele

Rakes in the honoraria like it would be illegal tomorrow.  Other RNC chairmen are crying foul, wondering why they aren’t raking in the bucks.  Gee, Sherlock, do I have to paint you the picture?  You can see in this blog post the reason.  Of course, since said former RNC chairmen include the likes of Jim Nicholson, Happy Gilmore, Melamnesty Martinez and Ed Gillespie, perhaps I’ve given them too much benefit of the doubt when it comes to gray matter.  If I have, here’s an easy hint for you:  Look at the picture.

Isn’t it really profitable to be black and feign a little conservatism every once in awhile?  Hell, you don’t even have to win a public office on your own accord.

But it’s not just his fault.  One of the looniest things about modern American society is why some people think that certain current or former dignitaries deserve five or six figures to give a speech.  I mean, what do they say in their big money speeches that’s so profound that they don’t say anywhere else for free?  You think if you dump a half million in Bill Clinton’s lap (get the lady out of the way first), that he’ll admit to every other woman save his wife he boinked while he was President?  Is George W. Bush going to say that he made up the part about WMDs in Iraq?  Will Jimmy Carter outline a cancer cure that involves peanuts?  I get the feeling that post-Presidential “speaking tours” is how the establishment rewards its good little shills once they’re earning any of your money anymore.

With Apologies to McDonald’s, I’m Lovin’ It

CNS:

Pittsburgh Backs Away From Plan to Tax Tuition in Exchange for ‘Donations’ to City

Pittsburgh officials shelved an idea for a first-of-its-kind tax on college tuition after two universities and a nonprofit health insurer agreed on Monday to make large contributions to the city.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl hopes the contributions from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University or Highmark Inc. will serve as a catalyst to get other nonprofits to help the city financially.

Ravenstahl had called for the 1 percent tuition tax on the city’s 65,000 college students as a way of getting money to help pay for some $15 million a year for the city’s pension obligations.

Nonprofits are exempt from most taxes, but represent many of Pittsburgh’s major employers and hold about one-third of the city’s property value.

This means that Mayor Steelerstahl hoisted the city’s universities up on their own petard, and the poor widdle babies didn’t like it.  Awwww, don’t your heart just pump purple piss?

I say it’s just about time.  Many of these “non-profit” institutions, such as universities and hospitals, are raking in so much money that it’s not funny.  Mainly because higher education is the youth auxiliary of the Democrat Party, so when the Democrats are in power, they do everything they can (lower student loan rates so that students can get bigger loans, more grants, etc.) to let colleges raise tuition to funnel more money through academia, to engineer more Democrats.

But you what the fruit part about this thing in Pittsburgh will be?  Pitt, Mellon and the others will raise their tuition in order to fund the “donations” they made to the city.  And I bet it will be a lot more than a 1% hike.  It would have been better off just to enact the original tax.  It was all a setup/scam between Steelerstahl and the city’s universities.

Methinks Francis Slay is paying close attention.  But he might not try it with SLU, b/c both he and it are Catholic.

The Human Animal

Pay close attention.  Whenever there is a murder of a very young child, i.e. under 2, it is almost always at the hands of the child’s mother’s new boyfriend.

Wherever there are masses of homeless teenagers, i.e. not yet 18 and almost always young men, there are mothers who have kicked their sons out of the house at the behest of her new boyfriend.

That’s the way it works with lions.  A new male takes over the pride, then (1) Drives the adolescent males out to clear away competition, and (2) Kills the young cubs sired by the previous pride leader, so that the mothers won’t have the distraction when the new pride leader wants to romp.

Grand Theft Mother

Boston Herald:

The 911 on video game obsession

Frazzled Roxbury mom calls the cops on teen gamer

It’s game over for a 14-year-old Roxbury boy, whose overwhelmed mother was so exasperated with his incessant video game playing that she called the cops on him.

The final straw for Angela Mejia snapped at 2:30 a.m. Saturday when, “I woke up in the middle of the night and saw the light on in his bedroom,” hours after she had told him to go to sleep.

“Sometimes I want to run away, too,” Mejia said, breaking down in tears in her immaculate apartment. “I have support from my church, but I’m alone. I want to help my son, but I can’t find a way.”

Mejia is among thousands of parents struggling with today’s video-game obsessed youth. The Entertainment Software Association reports the popularity of video games is skyrocketing, with 42 percent of adults intending to give, or hoping to find one in their Christmas stocking this week.

Mejia’s son – one of four children the 49-year-old is raising alone – was playing “Grand Theft Auto,” an exceedingly violent video in which the gamer assumes the role of ladder-climbing criminal.

An argument ensued as Mejia unplugged her son’s PlayStation. Then, this mad-as-hell mother dialed 911. Police responded and managed to talk the boy into shutting off the game and going to sleep.

“They (police) were just like, ‘Chill out. Go to bed,’ ” the boy told the Herald.

Mejia said she approves of athletic-themed videos, but as for “Grand Theft Auto,” she said, “I would never buy that kind of video. No way. I called (police) because if you don’t respect your mother, what are you going to do in your life?”

I had the first Nintendo (8-bit), when I was about 11 to 14.  After I started high school, I got too busy, and gave it away to the grandson of a friend of my mother’s.  I toyed around with the Super Nintendo (16-bit) in an electronics store after it came out, just before after I gave my NES away.  And, with its implied three dimensions and two extra controller buttons, it confused the hell out of me.  Therefore, that’s when my gaming stage of my life ended.  I couldn’t imagine how lost I’d be today with a PS3 or X360.

I can tell you one thing, though — There was no way in hell that I would have even thought about playing it at 2:30 in the morning, even if it was the weekend.  If I did, my mother would have either started a bonfire in the backyard, or gotten the axe out of the basement — either way, her $50 investment (I paid for half of the original system and almost the whole price of most new games I got, save a few Christmas presents) would have been either gone up in smoke or chopped apart in teeny little pieces.  That’s precisely why I only fooled around with the Nintendo when all the homework and projects were done, all the chores were done, and during normal waking hours.  Hell, I even remember at one point when it was a nice Saturday afternoon outside, a friend and I were about three hours into Super Mario 3, which was a 4 hour plus game to beat, my mother got frustrated that we were keeping ourselves indoors on such a nice day, that she came by and unplugged the damned thing while we weren’t looking, then chased us outside.  (In spite of my friend being the better gamer, I actually beat SMB3 before he did, and actually walked him through levels 7 and 8.)  NES really didn’t have any gorey or mature games, that I know of, but she would have burned a CD/DVD or cartridge (NES used those buggy plastic cartridges) of a game like GTA if I dared sneak it in the house, then burned or chopped up the NES and all the other games as a punishment for my acquiring that kind of game.  She certainly wouldn’t buy, or countenance me buying, a game like GTA.

If I were Miss Mejia, my kid wouldn’t have even thought about it.  But knowing the fix she got herself in, she did the right thing, the only thing she could to discipline him.  These systems and games are too expensive nowadays to destroy on a whim, so I’d pack it all up and hide it over at a friend’s or relative’s house, or let him keep it, but if he pulls this again, have the cops take him to some sort of pretend jail.

Oh, and Miss Mejia:  Your kids don’t automatically respect you.  You have to earn it by forcing them to respect you.  And you won’t get that respect by being a pushover.