Show me your papers, citizen!

Freaking pigs.

From PapersPlease.org:

One morning in late September 2005, Deb was riding the public bus to work. She was minding her own business, reading a book and planning for work, when a security guard got on this public bus and demanded that every passenger show their ID. Deb, having done nothing wrong, declined. The guard called in federal cops, and she was arrested and charged with federal criminal misdemeanors after refusing to show ID on demand.

and

This second cop asked the same question and got the same answer: no showing of ID, no getting off the bus.

The cop was also annoyed with the fact that she was on the phone with a friend and didn't feel like hanging up, even when he 'ordered' her to do so.

The second cop said everyone had to show ID any time they were asked by the police, adding that if she were in a Wal-Mart and was asked by the police for ID, that she would have to show it there, too.

She explained that she didn't have to show him or any other policeman my ID on a public bus or in a Wal-Mart. She told him she was simply trying to go to work.
The Arrest
Suddenly, the second policeman shouted "Grab her!" and he grabbed the cell phone from her and threw it to the back of the bus. With each of the policemen wrenching one of her arms behind her back, she was jerked out of her seat, the contents of her purse and book bag flying everywhere. The cops shoved her out of the bus, handcuffed her, threw her into the back seat of a police cruiser, and drove her to a police station inside the confines of the Denver Federal Center.

Once inside, she was taken down a hall and told to sit in a chair, still handcuffed, while one of the policemen went through her purse, now retrieved from the bus.

The two policemen sat in front of their computers, typing and conferring, trying to figure out what they should charge her with. Eventually, they wrote up several tickets, took her outside and removed the handcuffs, returned her belongings, and pointed her toward the bus stop. She was told that if she ever entered the Denver Federal Center again, she would go to jail.

Friggin' cops.

I've nothing nice to say here.

Personal Rights from a Christian Perspective

Today's Devotional

From Today God is First, a daily devotional aimed at the Christian businessman:--This one kind of seemed aimed at me:

A Question of Ownership
By Os Hillman
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Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. - Matthew 10:39

Otto Koning was a missionary in New Guinea. He worked among a native tribe that had known only their village ways. One of those village ways was stealing from others. When Otto and his wife arrived and moved into a hut, the natives often came by to visit. The Konings would notice that after the natives left the missionaries' home, various household items had disappeared. They saw these items again when they went to preach in the natives' village.

The only fruit Otto could grow on the island was pineapples. Otto loved pineapples, and he took pride in the pineapples he was able to grow. However, whenever the pineapples began to ripen, the natives would steal them. Otto could never keep a ripe pineapple for himself. This was a frustration, and he became angry with the natives. All during the seven-year period in which this took place, Otto preached the gospel to these natives, but never had a conversion.

The more the natives stole, the angrier Otto became. Finally, one day Otto had a German Shepherd dog flown in from another missionary to protect his pineapple garden after other frustrated efforts failed. This only further alienated the natives from him.

Otto took a furlough to the United States and attended a conference on personal rights. At this conference, he discovered that he was frustrated over this situation because he had taken personal ownership of his pineapple garden. After much soul searching, he gave his garden to God. Soon the natives started having problems among their tribe. They discovered that Otto was the reason for their problems because he gave his garden to his God. The natives saw a correlation between what Otto had done and their own lives being affected by calamities in their village. When Otto gave his garden to God, he no longer got angry and was free from worry. The natives started bringing him fruit from the garden because they didn't want any more calamities to come into their village.

The light came on one day when a native said to Otto, "You must have become a Christian, Otto. You don't get angry anymore. We always wondered if we would ever meet a Christian." They had never associated Otto with the kind of person he was preaching about because his message did not line up with his life. Otto was broken in spirit when he realized he had been such a failure.

At the end of seven years, he witnessed his first conversion, and many began coming to Christ once he fully gave his garden to God. The fruit grew so abundant that Otto began exporting it and growing other types of fruit, such as bananas. His village became the most evangelized in the whole region, yet for seven years he had not one convert.

Otto realized something each of us must realize: To gain your life you must lose it, along with your possessions. It was only when he gave all his possessions to God that he became free from them. God measured back to him manifold once He had complete ownership.

Do you have some possessions that you need to give up to God today? Let God have all that you have. Become a steward, not an owner. You will be surprised at how well God can take care of His possessions.

Quick, go buy a lottery ticket!

"There wasn't supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!"
--Marvin the Martian (paraphrased)

From The Smallest Minority comes a range report of an exploding handgun. Someone was really lucky.

Full story here.

Big, clear, scary pics here.

Quote:

I once again load up the revolver and step to the line. First shot was a bullseye, as was typical for this rig. Second shot - KABOOM. I felt an unbelievable recoil and was pelted all over my face, chest and arms by fragments of metal and glass. An incredible pressure wave stunned me as if I were punched in the head. I shook it off and looked around. The scope was on the floor. The gun was still in my hand, but didn't look as it did mere seconds ago. A friend rushed over and with clear presence of mind, checked me for injuries. Whew. I emerge without so much as a scratch. Miraculous, considering what just happened. The shooting stall contained the flying shrapnel. Approved safety glasses, without a doubt, saved my vision. Long sleeves, a cap and good ear protection also prevented certain injury. I hate to say it, but dumb luck played a part as well.

Glad he's OK. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson for all who reload to be plenty good and careful: We shooters don't need any culling.

Nasal aprodesiac for women

I have GOT to get me some of THIS!

From Local6.com:

A new nasal spray aphrodisiac for women that works in minutes may soon hit the market, according to a Local 6 News report.

Doctors said women who used the drug PT-141 in test studies felt a tingling or throbbing followed by a strong desire to have sex immediately after spraying their noses.

Imagine the possibilities. HOO-AH!

Quote of the Month:

From text:

The vast majority of the world's problems can either be created or intensified with a healthy dose of government.
--Thunder @ The Claire Files forums

(Found on Bill St. Clair's.)

So true.

Europe's Terror Altert Status

Good Stuff.

From Vox Popoli, who got it from NRO:

The British are feeling the pinch in relation to recent bombings and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorised from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

Also, the French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Surrender" and "Collaborate." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

It's not only the English and French that are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the alert level from "shout loudly and excitedly" to "elaborate military posturing". Two more levels remain, "ineffective combat operations" and "change sides".

The Germans also increased their alert state from "disdainful arrogance" to "dress in uniform and sing marching songs". They also have two higher levels: "invade a neighbour" and "lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual and the only threat they worry about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

Enemy of the State

Don't sass the government.

Doug Thompson, from Capitol Hill Blue, is apparently a threat to the government:

According to a printout from a computer controlled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice, I am an enemy of the state.

The printout, shown to me recently by a friend who works for Justice, identifies me by a long, multi-digit number, lists my date of birth, place of birth, social security number and contains more than 100 pages documenting what the Bureau and the Bush Administration consider to be my threats to the security of the United States of America.

It lists where I sent to school, the name and address of the first wife that I had been told was dead but who is alive and well and living in Montana, background information on my current wife and details on my service to my country that I haven’t even revealed to my wife or my family.

Although the file finds no criminal activity by me or members of my immediate family, it remains open because I am a “person of interest” who has “written and promoted opinions that are contrary to the government of the United States of America.”

Good for him! It means he's doing something right.

When the gov't is so big it deems itself too high and mighty to allow dissention, it's time to pare it down a bit. A HUGE bit.

U.S. Retains Control of the 'Net

Praise the Lord!

From The Washington Times:

Efforts to replace U.S. oversight of the Internet with an international committee were defeated yesterday during U.N.-sponsored meetings.
Hundreds of government, nonprofit and industry delegates meeting at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, Tunisia, agreed to establish a new international forum to discuss Internet issues, but it would not have any policy-making power.
"No new organizations were created," said David Gross, the State Department's Internet policy chief and head of the U.S. delegation. "No oversight mechanisms were established by anyone over anyone. There was also no change in the U.S. government's role in relation to the Internet, and no mechanism for such a change was created.

(Found on World Net Daily).
This is great news. Should the UN have been put in charge of the internet, there is no telling how many restrictions, controls, censorship and problems would have appeared. It's bad enough putting any government in charge of anything more significant than a shovel full of earthworms, but the US has a basic "hands off" policy when it comes to the administration of the 'net. The last thing we need is to have the most corrupt organization on the planet controlling the largest information transfer mechanism ever devised!

Great example of letting the market take care of something...

Brace yourselves, kids...

Ready for another Sept. 11?

From InfoWars.com:

GOP memo touts new terror attack as way to reverse party's decline

Capitol Hill Blue | November 10, 2005
By DOUG THOMPSON

A confidential memo circulating among senior Republican leaders suggests that a new attack by terrorists on U.S. soil could reverse the sagging fortunes of President George W. Bush as well as the GOP and "restore his image as a leader of the American people."

The closely-guarded memo lays out a list of scenarios to bring the Republican party back from the political brink, including a devastating attack by terrorists that could “validate” the President’s war on terror and allow Bush to “unite the country” in a “time of national shock and sorrow.”

The memo says such a reversal in the President's fortunes could keep the party from losing control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections.

GOP insiders who have seen the memo admit it’s a risky strategy and point out that such scenarios are “blue sky thinking” that often occurs in political planning sessions.

“The President’s popularity was at an all-time high following the 9/11 attacks,” admits one aide. “Americans band together at a time of crisis.”

I'm not sure Bush would do anything now--there are enough suspicions that the 9/11 attacks were, if not perpetrated by, then allowed by the Bush administration. I think another staged "terror" attack would have more negative than positive consequences.

Time will tell.

Bane. BANE. HEY BANE!

Dear Bane,

I have a penis.

jml

BYU Prof. thinks WTC was intentionally demolished

Another professional doesn't buy the gov't explanation

From Deseret News:

In a 9,000-word article that [BYU Physics Professor Steven E.] Jones, says will be published in the book "The Hidden History of 9/11," by Elsevier, Jones offers these arguments:

• The three buildings collapsed nearly symmetrically, falling down into their footprints, a phenomenon associated with "controlled demolition" — and even then it's very difficult, he says. "Why would terrorists undertake straight-down collapses of WTC-7 and the Towers when 'toppling over' falls would require much less work and would do much more damage in downtown Manhattan?" Jones asks. "And where would they obtain the necessary skills and access to the buildings for a symmetrical implosion anyway? The 'symmetry data' emphasized here, along with other data, provide strong evidence for an 'inside' job."

• No steel-frame building, before or after the WTC buildings, has ever collapsed due to fire. But explosives can effectively sever steel columns, he says.

• WTC 7, which was not hit by hijacked planes, collapsed in 6.6 seconds, just .6 of a second longer than it would take an object dropped from the roof to hit the ground. "Where is the delay that must be expected due to conservation of momentum, one of the foundational laws of physics?" he asks. "That is, as upper-falling floors strike lower floors — and intact steel support columns — the fall must be significantly impeded by the impacted mass. . . . How do the upper floors fall so quickly, then, and still conserve momentum in the collapsing buildings?" The paradox, he says, "is easily resolved by the explosive demolition hypothesis, whereby explosives quickly removed lower-floor material, including steel support columns, and allow near free-fall-speed collapses." These observations were not analyzed by FEMA, NIST nor the 9/11 Commission, he says.

• With non-explosive-caused collapse there would typically be a piling up of shattering concrete. But most of the material in the towers was converted to flour-like powder while the buildings were falling, he says. "How can we understand this strange behavior, without explosives? Remarkable, amazing — and demanding scrutiny since the U.S. government-funded reports failed to analyze this phenomenon."

• Horizontal puffs of smoke, known as squibs, were observed proceeding up the side the building, a phenomenon common when pre-positioned explosives are used to demolish buildings, he says.

• Steel supports were "partly evaporated," but it would require temperatures near 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit to evaporate steel — and neither office materials nor diesel fuel can generate temperatures that hot. Fires caused by jet fuel from the hijacked planes lasted at most a few minutes, and office material fires would burn out within about 20 minutes in any given location, he says.

• Molten metal found in the debris of the World Trade Center may have been the result of a high-temperature reaction of a commonly used explosive such as thermite, he says. Buildings not felled by explosives "have insufficient directed energy to result in melting of large quantities of metal," Jones says.

• Multiple loud explosions in rapid sequence were reported by numerous observers in and near the towers, and these explosions occurred far below the region where the planes struck, he says.

Those doubting the official story are increasing in number.

Fluoride is poison, doesn't help teeth

Another fraud...

From Early to Rise, a nice newsletter I get:

Holland quit fluoridation in the 1970s after a large medical team performed a double-blind test on people who reported that the fluoride was making them sick. This study showed that up to 3% of residents in the fluoridated section of Amsterdam were suffering symptoms such as stomach pains, mouth ulcers, skin irritation, migraine-like headaches, worsening of allergic complaints, and joint pains. The symptoms stopped when they switched to non-fluoride water. Along with these acute reactions, there are serious concerns about the long-term health effects of fluoride exposure.

In the 1950s and 60s, sodium fluoride from the aluminium industry was added to the water supplies. In a sinister twist of logic, Alcoa advertised their fluoride in water industry journals for it to be added to water supplies … while simultaneously advertising in chemical journals for its use as a rat poison.

The chemicals most widely used in fluoridation now are two waste products of the phosphate fertilizer industry, hydrofluorosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride. These chemicals have never undergone safety studies, nor have they ever had FDA approval. However, numerous studies have shown them to cause harm.

Furthermore, a dozen studies have shown higher rates of bone fracture in fluoridated areas. Many regions of Asia have both high and moderate levels of calcium fluoride present in water supplies. Though calcium fluoride is considered less harmful than the industrial fluorides we use, they still result in dreadful epidemics of skeletal fluorosis and nervous system illness. India spends a lot of money on defluoridation, and where it can't be afforded people develop crippling bone deformities. Chinese scientists have shown nervous system defects including significantly lowered average IQs, even with moderate fluoride levels in water.

The latest alarming finding is Harvard researcher Elise Bassin's Ph.D. study showing greatly increased bone cancer rates among boys in the USA consuming fluoridated water during their years of growth. Bassin's supervisor, Professor Chester Douglass, is now under investigation by Harvard for suppressing and stopping publication of her work. He has also denied her findings at conferences. However, Douglass has a considerable conflict of interests. He also works for the toothpaste manufacturer Colgate, which reaps huge profits from the public's believing that fluoride is a "healthy" chemical.

Links:
David McRae article about fluoridation

FluorideAction.net

I've read about this before, so it's not surprising. Another thing: I recently switched to an all-natural fluoride-free toothpaste, and my teeth don't hurt when I brush anymore. I won't be going back to "regular" toothpaste...

Flu shot? [chortle] No. [smirk]

Yeah: When Satan builds a snow fort.

From the HSI E-alert e-mail that I get. (Sign up at HSI Baltimore.)

Why I won't get a flu shot--and no one else should either.

Dear Reader,

Have you ever wondered why a government agency spends so much time and energy (not to mention tax dollars) trying to convince you to get a flu vaccination every year?

Is it some sort of vague “for our own good” motivation? If so, then why don’t we ever hear any government officials urging everyone to take vitamin C supplements?

Why? Because it’s all about selling The Shot. And 2005 is no different.

--------------------------------------------
Leading the way to vaccinations
--------------------------------------------

Every year we get an official flu vaccine media blitz from Department of Health and Human services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In fact, the CDC oversees a National Immunization Program (NIP). The motto of the NIP is: “Leading the way to healthy lives.”

Healthy lives? Okay, so again: Why aren’t these officials urging U.S. citizens to take vitamin C and other supplements that have been shown to help reduce the risk of picking up colds and influenza?

It’s simple. The folks at the NIP have millions of vaccine units to move.

According to The Detroit News, most flu vaccines are purchased and distributed by the government. So why in the world would NIP officials promote vitamin C? That job would be the responsibility of those who actually sell vitamin C. The NIP isn’t in the vitamin supplement business; it’s in the flu vaccine business.

--------------------------------------------
We’re overstocked! Everything must go!
--------------------------------------------

In September, HHS and CDC officials were saying that the elderly, infants, people with chronic health problems and health workers should all get vaccinated. But when it became obvious last month that about 70 million flu shots will be available in the U.S. this season, health officials changed their recommendation to include everyone.

Everyone! Well…not quite everyone. Children under six months of age, those who are allergic to eggs and those who have had poor reactions to flu shots in the past should not be vaccinated, we’re told. But for the rest of us: “There is no reason for anyone to delay or to go without their annual flu shot,” HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt told WebMD Medical News at the end of October.

Well…I can think of at least one reason.

In a February 2005 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases compared flu-related mortality among older people to rates of immunization. Their finding: During the past quarter century, immunization rates for the elderly have climbed substantially while the elderly flu-related mortality rate has stayed the same.

The authors of the research wrote: “We conclude that observational studies substantially overestimate vaccination benefit.”

--------------------------------------------
The seasonal question
--------------------------------------------

“Should I get a flu shot?” That question is a frequent one in e-mails from members this time of year. And while each person has to make the flu shot decision on his own, here are three points to consider:

Point One: Flu shots are not reliably effective (see above).

Point Two: Flu shots contain additives you may not want in your body. In addition to strains of dead flu virus, each shot contains:

* Thimerosal (a mercury derivative added as a preservative)
* Formaldehyde (to kill viruses)
* Aluminum (to promote antibody response)
* Ethylene glycol (also known as antifreeze, used in vaccines as a disinfectant)

You can ask your doctor about the FluMist nasal spray vaccine (which avoids an injection), but it's much more expensive than a flu shot and it contains living flu virus. Squirt a living virus straight into my head? Mmmm...no thanks.

Point Three: The flu shot is designed to prepare the immune system to fight specific virus strains. But you can prepare and strengthen your immune system without an injection of antifreeze by taking these steps:

* Exercise regularly
* Eat a balanced diet of nutritious, fresh, whole foods
* Manage stress levels (See the e-Alert "Easy Does It" 11/26/03)
* Get the right amount of sleep

And you can further prepare with proven immune system enhancers, such as echinacea, vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene; all of which have been shown to help fight colds and flu. Selenium is also an effective flu fighter, as is zinc and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an amino acid that stimulates your body to produce the powerful antioxidant enzyme glutathione.

To find out about other effective ways to enhance your immune system you can read the e-Alert "Fantastic Four" (10/3/05) on our web site at hsibaltimore.com.

Vitamin C. Hammer the Vitamin C. Get some of the chewable, sugar-free 500mg Vitamin C (they're cheap and tasty--GNC sells them), and pound those things back like candy. The Mrs. and I are hitting it to the tune of 2000mg/day and up, and if/when we start to feel something coming on, we'll probably double that. A common dosage recommendation is to keep taking it until your bowels "get loose", then cut back a bit. I've heard of doctors who recommend up to 10,000mg/day. (Don't take it all at once--spread it out, for Pete's sake.)

Get you a good quality multi-vitamin, too: Not the kind they sell at Wal-Mart, either. Go to a natural foods or vitamin store and get something that contains well over 100% of US RDA--it won't kill you.

FBI Abusing Powers

From the "No S**t, Sherlock" Department

From Wired.com:

Under the Patriot Act, the FBI issues more than 30,000 national security letters allowing the investigations each year, a hundredfold increase over historic norms, The Washington Post reported Sunday, quoting unnamed government sources.

The security letters, which were first used in the 1970s, allow access to people's phone and e-mail records, as well as financial data and the internet sites they surf. The 2001 Patriot Act removed the requirement that the records sought be those of someone under suspicion.

As a result, FBI agents can review the digital records of a citizen as long as the bureau can certify that the person's records are "relevant" to a terrorist investigation.

Define "relevant".

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Sunday he could not immediately confirm or dispute the 30,000 figure, but he said the power to use the security letters was justified.

"The Department of Justice inspector general in August 2005 found no civil rights violations with respect to the Patriot Act," he said.

Issued by the FBI without review by a judge, the letters are used to obtain electronic records from "electronic communications service providers." Such providers include internet service companies but also universities, public interest organizations and almost all libraries, because most provide access to the internet.

You're kidding me. A government-paid spokesman said that the use of power by a government organization was justified, and that this was even verified by a government-paid lawyer? Really?

The quote, from I don't remember where, comes to mind: "Who will watch the watchers?"

Freest Nation on Earth

Just watch COPS, once...

From LewRockwell.com--Mike Rogers insists Japan is better.

I’ve seen both Japan and the United States. I consider myself a fair judge who has the experience and the facts. I have my preference and it’s an easy call: I’ll stay in Japan. In Japan, the people seem to have much more courtesy towards each other and common sense. This is reflected in the standard of living and the low crime rate. While I’m here in Japan, I’ll keep writing and warning you folks about what I see until either the United States goes down with a crash (which is what I fear is going to happen very soon because of what the anti-American’s – like George W. Bush – are doing to the country) or the American people wake up to reality and seriously work to repair their broken-down palace.

(Found via Bill St. Clair.)

Bane: World's Wisest Whatever

Jaw-dropping knowledge of Women

From BaneRants:

Incidentally, when your wife comes in and poses, to show you the outfit she has chosen to wow her peers with, the appropriate response, apparently, is NOT "Well, honey, so how was your first day at clown school?"

Trust me.

I wish someone would have told me that last week...

Vermont secession?

THIS beats New Hampshire's Free State Project all hollow...

From The Arctic Beacon:

The neo-con band of criminals running Washington, trampling on civil rights at home and invading countries at will overseas, has led a large group of strong-minded Vermont freedom-fighters with no choice but to secede from the United States.



And last Friday at the state capital building in Montpelier, a historic independence convention was held, the first of its kind in the United States since May 20, 1861, when South Carolina decided to leave the Union.



A packed House Chamber in the Vermont statehouse, with more than 400 gathered, started the daylong secession convention with a speech by keynote James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency, and ended with a resolution passed to secede from the United States.



Most people think of secession as impossible if not treasonous, but the concept is deeply rooted in the Declaration of Independence, reminding us that “Whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it and to institute new government.”

(Found on Claire Wolfe's blog, and Bill St. Clair's blog.)

If this actually makes it to fruition, I'm moving to Vermont.

Flu:

Just a quick point:
Tamiflu isn't a vaccine. It's a drug that must be given at the onset of symptoms, nearly invalidating it's existance.

Let's say you start feeling the flu, you think. You decide to play it safe and rush on over to the hospital and see if it IS the flu. After hours and hours in the waiting room (You really think the flu is a high priority in the ER?), you see a doctor, who isn't really sure you have the flu. Let's say he decides to give you the Tamiflu: Did you get it in time?

As for me, I'll trust good old Vitamin C, thanks.

All your children are belong to us!

Still going to send your offspring to public schools?

From World Net Daily:

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday against parents who sued their local school district after their elementary-age children were given a sexually charged survey, saying there is "no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children."

The three-judge panel of the full court further ruled that parents "have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students."

Six parents sued the Palmdale, Calif., School District after finding out their kids had been asked a series of sexual questions in class. They included asking the children about the frequency of:

Touching my private parts too much

Thinking about having sex

Thinking about touching other people's private parts

Thinking about sex when I don't want to

Washing myself because I feel dirty on the inside

Not trusting people because they might want sex

Getting scared or upset when I think about sex

Having sex feelings in my body

Can't stop thinking about sex

Getting upset when people talk about sex

If you're still thinking of sending those precious gifts from God to government schools, please re-think that.

Seriously.

I believe so strongly about this, due to research and casual observations over the past several years, that if I'm ever blessed with children, and home schooling is outlawed (which will likely happen in the next 10-15 years), I and my family will be leaving the country.

That strongly.

Quote of the Week:

Jackie, the hot young brunette on "That 70's Show":

"If you were a dog, or someone who works for me, I'd smack you in the nose with a rolled up newspaper."

Instant classic.