squandering my potential

The audacity of aging rockers

2008-02-08T17:11:00.000-05:00

Neil Young, on coming to terms with the inconvenient truth that music cannot, in fact, save the world:

Canadian folk rock legend Neil Young said he has lost all hope that music can change the world, as he presented a documentary about his 2006 anti-war concert tour at the Berlin film festival on Friday.
"I know that the time when music could change the world is past. I really doubt that a single song can make a difference. It is a reality," Young told reporters.
"I don't think the tour had any impact on voters."

Maybe someone should let Young know that the only people who would go see a Neil Young concert these days are middle-aged baby boomers, who certainly aren't going to change their voting habits because of some Neil Young tirade about Chimpy McBushitler, made right before Young launches into an extended version of Rocking in the Free World

Everyone knows that the only morons who would vote based on the advice of a musician are teenagers and disaffected twenty-somethings, and they all happen to be Green Day fans. Impressionable teenagers don't have the slightest clue who the hell Neil Young is.

No word on whether Don McLean has finally discovered that music cannot, in fact, save your mortal soul.

When your local paramilitary police force attacks...

2008-01-10T13:44:00.000-05:00

Another day, another gross abuse of power from a local police force.

A tactical law enforcement team broke into Tom Shiflett's home and took his 11-year-old son to hospital for court-ordered medical treatment for a minor head injury.

Garfield County's All Hazards Response Team raided the home Friday night, a day after Jon Shiflett fell after grabbing the handle of a moving car. The child was returned to the family at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, hours after the raid.

"Inappropriate is not nearly strong enough a word. It was gross irresponsibility and stupidity," said Ross Talbott, owner of the Apple Tree Mobile Home Park south of New Castle who rents to the Shifletts and who witnessed the raid. "Is this Russia? I don't know what we're coming to when they think your kid needs medical help and they send a SWAT team."

In the end, the injury wasn't as severe as caseworkers from the Garfield County Department of Social Services thought when they went before a judge seeking a search warrant and order for medical treatment.

The doctor recommended fluids, Tylenol and ice to treat the bruises, according to a copy of Jon's patient aftercare instructions.

Thanks, in large part, to the mass availability of discarded weapons and equipment from the U.S. military, local police departments have spent ridiculous amounts of money arming themselves to the teeth - to deal with a threat most departments will never face.

Of course, most of these departments aren't located in Miami, or Los Angeles, or Detroit. And that's really the heart of the problem. When you're a S.W.A.T. commander in Podunk, Nowhere who hasn't had any "action" in months, the idea of using S.W.A.T to carry out tasks previously performed by regular police officers seems more and more reasonable - especially when you have to justify the purchase of those assault rifles and that Bradley fighting vehicle during the next city commission meeting.

These "no-knock" raids are carried out in the middle of the night, usually when you're sleeping, and involve a handful of S.W.A.T. officers - who are masked and armed with assault weapons - who either tear down your door or perhaps your living-room wall, and then proceed to storm into your home like the Waffen-SS.

Police departments have become all too willing to delegate tasks that are even remotely threatening to their S.W.A.T teams. Its the widespread availability that's the problem. S.W.A.T. personnel constantly train for a worst case scenario that, in all likelihood, will never happen, especially not in Small-Town, Wherever. The result is that whenever an even remote possibility of "action" presents itself, these guys are chomping at the bit to prove their mettle. What follows is oftentimes a gross overuse of force and a significant threat to public safety.

The truth hurts...

2007-12-19T15:13:00.000-05:00

Law Professor Michael Froomkin joins the two-minute hate concerning Jonah Goldberg's new book - "Liberal Fascism"

Someone please explain how I can get a job as a columnist for a major newspaper.
I guarantee that no matter how badly I do I will never write the sort of ghastly risible utter tripe that appears to be in the new book by the LA Times’s latest addition to its pundit stable. See Sadly, No! for a sneek peek at Jonah Goldberg’s “Liberal Fascism”.

"[G]hastly risible utter tripe"..... Wow! The Professor certainly goes on quite a little tirade in order to disparage a book he's never even read. Defensive much?

The hysteria from lefty blogs over this book certainly raises some eyebrows. It seems like over the past few months, “progressives” have gone out of their way to summarily dismiss the arguments Goldberg raises – without having read a single page of his book. Its almost as if Goldberg has struck some sort of nerve.

And as much as I’m sure it pains liberals to hear, comparisons between the darling of modern-day liberalism – FDR - and fascism cannot be dismissed out-of-hand. Putting aside his internment of tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans, it was FDR who established the Orwellian “Office of Censorship” and it was FDR who flirted with usurping an unfriendly judiciary with his “Judiciary Reorganization Bill.” The list goes on, and on, and on.

FDR, like Hitler and Mussolini, were collectivists in the worst sense of the word. To be fair, FDR never took things as far as his German and Italian counterparts, but there are striking similarities in their ideologies. All three were vehemently opposed to individualism, free markets, and decentralized power. FDR himself called Mussolini “admirable.” Thankfully for the U.S., FDR never enjoyed the luxury of a one-party state.

UPDATE: More hysteria here.

When bitter, intellectually dishonest former military officers attack

2007-11-19T17:53:00.000-05:00

I have several family members that have either served, or are currently serving in the U.S. military. Suffice it to say I was more than a little reluctant to comment on LTC Bob Bateman's attempted assault on Victor Davis Hanson and his book, Carnage and Culture.

(Bateman's writing can be found by scrolling down here: http://mediamatters.org/altercation/index)

To his credit, the admirable Hanson took the high road throughout this "debate" and refused to debase himself by joining in the name-calling and mud slinging.

Bateman began his "critique" of Hanson's scholorship by chest-thumping about his upcoming "takedown" of Hanson's book. Bateman followed that up by referring to Hanson's work as "feces." Seriously. And it only got worse from there.

For those who may have missed out on Bateman's "takedown," here's essentially what happened:

1. Bateman reads Carnage and Culture.

2. Bateman completely misunderstands the thesis of the book.

3. Bateman misinterprets an innocent discussion - over the future of the Western military tradition - as a personal insult against his own military service.

4. Bateman writes leftist hit-piece "Altercation" seeking soap-box to air his perceived grievance, under guise of scholarly criticism.

5. Bateman writes four-part "takedown" - which instead only shows Bateman's complete lack of basic reading comprehension, logic, and critical thinking skills.

6. A very patient VDH responds point -by-point to Bateman's hit-piece, and confirms that Bateman is little more than a shrill, childish, and intellectually dishonest ideologue.

Daily Abomination

2007-11-14T12:34:00.000-05:00

From the land down under:

There'll be no ho, ho, ho this Christmas. Aspiring Santas have been told not to use the term "ho" because it could be seen as derogatory to women.
Thirty trainees at a Santa course in Adelaide last month, held by recruitment company Westaff, were urged to replace the traditional festive greeting with "ha, ha, ha".

A Santa veteran of 11 years who attended the course told the Sunday Mail the trainer was very clear in spelling out no to "ho".

Two Santa hopefuls reportedly left the course after the trainer's edict.

History's Greatest Monster

2007-11-08T10:10:00.000-05:00

A letter from Jimmy Carter to his sister-in-law, dated May 13, 1990.

Photo: Mat Honan

5/13/90

To Sybil,

Lamentably, I killed your cat while trying just to sting it. It was crouched, as usual, under one of our bird feeders & I fired from some distance with bird shot. It may ease your grief somewhat to know that the cat was buried properly with a prayer & that I’ll be glad to get you another of your choice.

I called & came by your house several times. We will be in the Dominican Republic until Thursday. I’ll see you then.

Love, Jimmy

This picture reminded me of an episode of "The Simpsons" from years ago. When the town of Springfield is unable to afford a statute of Abraham Lincoln, they're forced to settle for a statute of Jimmy Carter instead. When it's unveiled, someone shouts, "Jimmy Carter? He's history's greatest monster!" and a riot ensues.

As for the letter itself - who in their right mind shoots at a cat? Even if Carter's intention was "only to sting it," there have to be literally thousands of quicker and less lethal ways to chase a cat away from bird feeder. Seriously. Carter could have just as easily thrown a rock, or a shoe for that matter. (Though honestly, who throws a shoe? Really?)

Instead, Carter presumably had to take the time to retrieve his shotgun, load it with bird shot, and then fire at his sister-in-law's cat.

The fact that this country survived the late '70s is amazing.

The Left's Manufactured Moral Outrage

2007-07-03T10:09:00.000-04:00

It should be entertaining to watch "progressives" circle the wagons and collectively express their faux-outrage over Bush's decision to commute Scooter Libby's prison sentence. I am particularly looking forward to watching these disingenuous ass-clowns attempt to equivocate and distinguish Bush's actions from those of his predecessors, most notably Slick Willie.

Apparently, Hillary Clinton has absolutely no shame.

"This commutation sends the clear signal that in this administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice." - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

That's especially rich - considering Bill & Hillary's involvement in "Pardongate" - when Slick Willie commuted Carlos Vignali's sentence for cocaine trafficking after he served 6 of 15 years in federal prison. Or when Clinton pardoned Almon Glenn Braswell of his mail fraud and perjury convictions, while a federal investigation was underway regarding additional money laundering and tax evasion charges.

As if this wasn't bad enough - both Braswell and Carlos Vignali each paid approximately $200,000 to Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, to represent their respective cases for clemency.

Then there's the pardon of Bill's half-brother, Roger, on drug charges. And let's not forget how Clinton commuted the sentences of those 16 members of FALN, the Puerto Rican terrorist group that set off over 100 bombs in the United States, which were responsible for 6 deaths and the permanent maiming of dozens of others, including law enforcement officials.

The fact of the matter is that Libby was sentenced to a ridiculously long prison sentence for making a phone call to Tim Russert - the substance of which Russert has a different recollection of.

As Christopher Hitchens recently pointed out:

Does it not seem extraordinary that a man can be prosecuted, and now be condemned to a long term of imprisonment, because of an alleged minor inconsistency of testimony in a case where it is admitted that there was no crime and no victim?

The Religion of the Secular Left

2007-06-13T15:20:00.001-04:00

I've been perusing book reviews of Christopher Hitchens' latest book, God is not Great, in which Hitchens basically argues:

. . that the world would be better off without religion altogether. Stupid religious people would stop fighting stupid religious wars and a new enlightenment would ensue. Nobody ever went to war for atheism.

Of course, atheists have historically been too preoccupied with slaughter of a home-grown variety to be bothered waging war against neighboring states.

This "absence of religion" that Hitchens seems so fond of certainly didn't stop Mao Zedong from killing 40 million of his own people during China's "Great Leap Forward." Nor did it stop Stalin from racking up a 20 million body count, or Pol Pot from slaughtering one-third of Cambodia's population.

In a astounding display of intellectual dishonesty, Hitchens casually dismisses communism's 100 million death toll by stating that those instances were merely types of "secularised religion," and as such - do not count.

Well isn't that convenient.

Pure atheism, or the societal rejection of any formalized belief system, has never existed.

What Hitchens, like most atheists, fails to realize is that the void left by the absence of religion does not remain empty. It is always filled with a quasi-religious belief in someone or something - which, historically speaking, is oftentimes worse than its predecessor religion.

Make no mistake, while atheists may not worship at the alter of formalized religion, they instead substitute a blind faith in the divine with a new faith in the infallibility of their elitist brethren.

Atheists reek of the same level of elitism and superiority as the fervently religious, the only difference is the source of their moral authority. One comes from a presumably omniscient diety, the other from some guy in apartment 2-D.

For many, like those of the DailyKos variety, the advancement of far-left liberalism has become their de facto religion. For others, it takes the form of radical environmentalism (see Al Gore a/k/a The Goracle).

Religion, for better or for worse, hangs its hat on the belief that God - as the architect of the astonishingly complex design and authority found in our universe - is the father of the instrinsic concepts of good and evil. Unfortunately for the rest of us, the athiest is inclined to leave the formulation of these concepts in the hands of man.

Inked

2007-06-11T11:37:00.000-04:00

Its been awhile since my last post. For the four or five people who regularly read this blog - I apologize - things have been hectic around here.

On Saturday I got my first tattoo. Its a custom-designed "tribal" on my left arm. I can't stand using the word "tribal" - because its basically become synonymous with barbed wire and other ridiculous frat-boy armbands. The whole "tribal" tattoo concept, most notably the tribal armband, has become so completely played-out at this point that I hesitated getting mine done.

The fact that I drew the design myself - and the fact that it wasn't an armband - ultimately saved the day, and I went ahead and got inked.

Everyone in the shop was professional and nice. I spent about 2.5 hours in the chair, and the first two hours were completely uneventful and boring. My patience quickly wore out after the two hour mark, and by the time it was finished, I was dying to get the hell out of that chair.

I absolutely love the end result though, and I'll definitely be back for #2.

And #3.

And #4.

I think I'm hooked.

Reflections on the Masculinity of Beer

2007-05-31T11:55:00.000-04:00

The online magazine Slate recently posted an article on a subject near and dear to my heart .

Beer.

It seems that:

. . . wine consumption in this country has nearly doubled in the last decade, while beer sales have been pretty much stagnant, growing less than 1 percent since 2000. Even more galling, in 2005 a Gallup poll revealed that, for the first time ever, Americans preferred wine to beer.

From this, the author, Field Maloney, deduces:

Of course, the rise of the American fine-wine industry has spurred the broader acceptance of wine here. But who'd have guessed wine would join beer at the football game? Watching last winter's Giants-Eagles NFL playoff, I saw an ad for a cell-phone plan featuring a graying, rugged-looking man strolling through his vineyard and examining dusty bottles of older vintages in his cellar. Winning over football fans with wine! It was as if the "But of course!" Grey Poupon man of the '80s TV ads had become an unironic icon for the WWE. Somehow, wine had become manly.

Not so fast, my pantywaisted Slate magazine friends. Let me see if I have this straight. The author, Field Maloney, views what was undoubtedly some stupid wine advertisement during a football game, and then, combined with evidence of wine's increasing popularity, somehow extrapolates that wine has become a manly drink?

Sorry, but no.

There is nothing "manly" about drinking wine. Nothing. I don't have the figures, but I'm guessing the ratio of beer-to-wine sales at sporting events, concerts, or wherever else men gather in large numbers (like Nascar and strip clubs), is grossly in beer's favor. I'm willing to bet this isn't even close.

Real men drink beer. Wine is permitted during special meals, anniversaries, celebrations, and holidays. But it is not the standard alcoholic beverage of choice. Walk into a sports bar, or any bar for that matter, and order a chardonnay or a merlot. Its the easiest way I know to pronounce that you are, in fact, a effeminate and pretentious asshole.

Wine consumption among American males could very well be rising, and it could be doing so at a considerable rate. I do not care. Any increase in American male wine consumption is because, thanks to feminism and nanny-state liberalism, men are becoming pussies, and are becoming so at an alarming rate.

Wine is not "manly." Never has been, never will be.

The majority of men may one day prefer wine to beer. All this will mean is that this majority of men are not really "men" at all.

Why You Should Never Get Loaded on a Work Night

2007-05-30T18:19:00.000-04:00

Today was hellish - absolutely brutal - and I have no-one to blame but myself. Last night I threw one too many back at Fridays, and I paid dearly for it today. I'd probably have to go all the way back to my college days (a whole 5 years ago) to equal this level of alcohol induced misery.

The scary part is that, all things considered, I really didn't drink that much - maybe 8 beers. Not that the number really matters anyway - I woke up this morning feeling like I drank a bottle of tequila (Patron silver, please).

All of this boozing made for quite an adventure this morning down in probate court. As if the 1.5 hour commute into work wasn't bad enough, I spent the morning at the probate court's "emergency walkthrough," which is essentially a cattle-call that allows attorneys to "walk-through" emergency motions (i.e. admitting a will to probate, appointing a personal representative, cattle-prodding the remains of dead relative, etc.)

I must be getting old.

Why Lawyers Generally Suck (Part 1,428 in a recurring series)

2007-05-24T20:10:00.000-04:00

This morning we had a pretty important deposition, which was being held in our main conference room. It's probably the biggest case we have - a vehicular wrongful death - and we represent the family of the guy who got creampied by a tractor-trailer. Today was the deposition of the state trooper who was first on the scene.

As you might imagine, these depositions can get pretty heated. To make matters worse, each one of the defendants' insurance carriers (currently at 5) have denied insurance coverage and filed declaratory relief actions. To make matters completely unbearable, this means that there are now ten separate lawyers involved in our case.

By the way, if you ever really want to drive yourself to the brink of suicide, you know, just to see how much pain and misery you can actually handle, try locking yourself in a room with ten lawyers for 6-8 hours. After the first few hours, I'm ready to fake a seizure to get myself out of there. After 4-5 hours, I'm ready to jump out the fucking window.

Back to my story. I always assumed it was universally accepted that upon arriving at someone else's office - whether it be a doctor, lawyer or janitorial assistant - one is supposed to check-in at the front desk and have a seat in the lobby/waiting room, as opposed to strolling through the office like you fucking own the place.

Today I learned that apparently, not everyone got this memo.

This morning I actually witnessed some pretentious bimbo stroll past our receptionist, past two of our paralegals, and proceed directly into our conference room, which was still in process of being 'set-up' by the court reporter for the upcoming deposition.

I informed this woman that, unless she was assisting the court reporter, she would have to wait in the lobby with the other lawyers. "Do I look like a court reporter?", she responded. Now, I've been a lawyer for almost two years now, but I still haven't gotten use to dealing with these smug, indignant, assclowns. It turns out she was an attorney representing one of the insurance companies, and given her reaction, you would have thought I committed the mysterious eighth deadly sin of "thou shall not confuse pompous windbag attorneys with court reporters"

I mean, what the hell does a court reporter look like anyway? This lady (and I use that term loosely) was wearing a business suit and sitting next to a fucking stenography machine. Are you kidding me? Its little things like this that make me wish I got hit by a bus during law school.

test

2007-05-19T20:04:00.000-04:00

Its the end of the world. Seriously guys, we mean it this time.

2007-04-09T15:18:00.001-04:00

A shocking display of intellectual honesty from Newsweek:

What most commentators—and many scientists—seem to miss is that the only thing we can say with certainly about climate is that it changes. The earth is always warming or cooling by as much as a few tenths of a degree a year; periods of constant average temperatures are rare. Looking back on the earth's climate history, it's apparent that there's no such thing as an optimal temperature—a climate at which everything is just right. The current alarm rests on the false assumption not only that we live in a perfect world, temperaturewise, but also that our warming forecasts for the year 2040 are somehow more reliable than the weatherman's forecast for next week.

You have to admit, it really takes an astonishing level of hubris to faithfully stand by weather forecasts for the year 2040 and beyond, given the industry's notorious unreliability of past weather predictions.

Wasn't last year supposed to be one of the most active hurricane seasons on record? Yes it was, except that when the hurricanes failed to form, the industry quietly issued a press release and a "refinement due to better data," which has become industry-standard slang for "our past models were complete bullshit, but now we've added new data and created new models, which we assure you are no longer bullshit." Repeat ad nauseum.

The central issue in this debate isn't whether the Earth is warming - clearly it is. Rather, the issue is what role we humans, with our gas guzzling SUVs and our private jets, are playing in the Earth's recent warming trend.

Putting the environmentalists' apocolyptic rhetoric aside, if one has at least a shred of intellectual honesty left in this debate, you have to consider the possibility that this latest global warming trend is nothing more than a short-term fluctuation.

In the 1970s, environmentalists warned of a pending ice age - which never came. In the '80s - acid rain was the doomsday du jour. In fact, environmentalists, with the support of the media, have alternated between at least four separate global cooling and warming scares since the late 1800s. Each time these climate scares eventually faded away, and new projections along with new doomsday scenarios were issued, due to "refinements due to better data."

The world is going crazy, part II (of what will surely be a long running series)

2007-04-08T15:17:00.000-04:00

Michigan state congressman Andy Dillon take the term "tax-and spend" democrat to a whole new level:

Facing a budget deficit that has passed the $1 billion mark, House Democrats Thursday offered a spending plan that would buy a MP3 player or iPod for every school child in Michigan.

No cost estimate was attached to their hare-brained idea to "invest" in education. Details, we are promised, will follow.

The Democrats, led by their increasingly erratic speaker Andy Dillon of Redford Township, also pledge $100 million to make better downtowns.

I'm intrigued.

Will the free mp3 players come loaded with music? What kind of music? What about those children living at or below poverty who can't afford to pay for mp3 downloads? Will Michigan democrats provide a free limited number of downloads?

I need to know these things.

And what the hell does the "make better downtowns" pledge mean? Please tell me that wasn't a direct quote.

If I were a Michigan resident, I'd be livid, and slightly terrified that these idiots are holding the purse strings.

The Whole World has lost its god-damned mind. Part I

2007-04-07T17:44:00.000-04:00

I don't intend to reproduce, but if I did, I'd have serious concerns for the future of my offspring.

The whole freakin world is turning into a bunch of pansies. A better word would be "pu%%ies," but the thought of Gloria Steinem, Amanda Marcotte, and the rest of their feminist ilk burning bras and protesting outside my office might be more than I can bear.

This "pussification" of the world has never been more apparent than over the last two weeks, when - much like the schoolyard bully who steals your lunch money and then dangles it in front of your face - the Iranian military kidnapped 15 British sailors, all in an effort to subjugate and emasculate the Western world.

The Iranians knew that the British, much like the rest of Europe, could never stomach the idea of a military response to Iran's act of war. In today's postmodern, mulicultural Europe, once you resort to violence, you are ipso facto "in the wrong" - even when that violence is brought in self-defense. You see, responding tit-for-tat makes you no better than your aggressor, regardless of who was the instigator. We are instead lectured about "ending the cycle of violence" or "violence only brings more violence," or some other liberal excuse to act like a total pu@@y.

The simple truth is that liberal/postmodern Europe couldn't even man-up enough to threaten the use of force.

Its pathetic. And embarrassing. And even worse, it will prove extremely costly to Europe's citizens. Make no mistake, the Iranians knew exactly what they were doing, and they knew damn well that they had better not mistakenly kidnap American soldiers.

Why? Because putting his mutilation of the English language aside, there is one thing that George Walker Bush is not - and that is a pu@@y. The Iranians knew full well that Bush would have given Iran a simple ultimatim, and then would have proceeded to start kicking ass.

Look, the schoolyard bully doesn't steal lunch money from the kid with the crazy look in his eye - he takes it from the guy with the glasses who's wearing the cardigan and khakis.

Unfortunately, that's modern day Europe in a nutshell. They've prided themselves on being the sophisticated bunch who are above and beyond the need to resort to violence. For too long the U.S. has provided blanket security for all of Europe - so much so that instead of building and maintaning their own defense, Europe has built lavish, and now unmaintainable social programs.

Fortunately, what happened over the last two weeks was only a minor scuffle. Beside a few bruises to the collective European ego, everyone walked away pretty much unscathed. Pres. Ahmadinejad walked away as victor in all this. How could he not. His military entered into Iraqi waters and kidnapped British citizens. And Ahmadinejad then has the balls to pardon the hostages and later boast of his own clemency and compassion. Are you f&#king kidding me?

Things are going to get worse for Europe. Islamic fundies know that they can bully the hell out of Europe, and all they'll get in return is a bitchy little whine pleading for them to play nice.

What you talking bout?

2007-04-07T03:11:00.000-04:00

Oliver Willis makes the following observation regarding campaign blogs:

Presidential Blogging: Dos & Don'ts

How not to do it: Joe Biden's blog is press release land. It's all about the nitty gritty mechanics that get people inside D.C. excited but nobody in the real world.

How to do it: Barack Obama's blog recently added Nation writer Sam Graham-Felsen and it's the first blog of the '08 season that reads like what we loved so much about the Dean blog. Real stories from real people and an actual back-and-forth exchange of content.

Room for improvement: Sen. Clinton's blog is trying to be personal but still comes off too antiseptic, while the Edwards blog is quite literally all over the place. Focus, people.

Strangely none of the "top tier" Republican candidates have blogs.

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH Biden is putting Youtube to good use.

(emphasis mine.)

This is because, unlike Willis, most Republican voters actually have real jobs, and they neither have the desire nor the spare time to dick around on the internet and bitch about politics. Republican candidates know this, hence the lack of blogs.

I remember a post on LGF a while back that noted that the Kos Kidz candidates went something like 0-14 in the last congressional election. The "nut-roots" just can't seem to comprehend that while they may comprise a substantial majority of internet bloggers/activists, in comparision to the electorate at large, they're really just a small group of whiny children.

I'm an ass. And you shouldn't be driving.

2007-04-06T13:12:00.000-04:00

You know what I hate about old people?

A woman leaving a Department of Motor Vehicles office where she went for a state-ordered driver's license retest accidentally plowed her car into the building Wednesday, slightly injuring several people, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Therese Smith, 80, of Boca Raton, was easing out of a parking spot in front of the office at 100 S. Military Trail about 4:30 p.m. when she stepped on the gas too hard, propelling her 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis over a concrete parking block, onto the sidewalk, through a metal parking sign and into the windows of the DMV office, said Sgt. Mark Wysocky, FHP spokesman.

FHP officials didn't know why Smith had been ordered to be re-examined for her driver's license, but they said they would be looking into it. Although Smith couldn't complete the re-test Wednesday because the passenger-side door of her car was broken and could not be opened for a DMV staffer, Smith's license remains valid, Wysocky said.

Geriatric drivers scare the living hell out of me - so much so that I will swerve across multiple lanes of traffic in order to avoid having grandma/grandpa directly behind me. Or in front of me. Or next to me, for that matter.

In fact, I think I'd rather see some 13 year old joyriding punk in my rearview than a white-knuckled grandma/grandpa. At least the kid has some videogame/go-cart experience to fall back on.

The Scandal That Wasn't

2007-02-15T15:39:00.000-05:00

It what has to be the biggest f#@king waste of time ever, countless (I actually stopped counting at four) lefty bloggers are painstakingly live-blogging Scooter Libby's perjury/obstruction trial.

I kid you not.

To quote the inestimable former heavyweight champion of the world - "Iron" Mike Tyson - one would think that after blowing this "scandal" completely out of proportion, the Left would be happy to let the Libby matter "fade into Bolivian."

Firedoglake, on the other hand, actually has pages, and pages, and pages of continuous updates for its drooling lefties from the "Trial of the Century."

Such gems include:

Now both Fitz and Wells are trying to help her find it. She giggles. It's a funny picture, Bonamici, who looks to be about 5'7", with the 6'2" lawyers on each side of her. She normally looks very business like, but now they look all chummy and nice.

Sounds like Walton's cold is back. Jeffress, leaning against the defense table, they do not object.

Its really quite cute when you think about it. Instead of their wet-dream fantasy of a Bush war crimes tribunal, the Left gets stuck with Scooter - who will likely walk on both perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

We're All Gonna Die

2007-02-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

What in the hell is going on ?????

[the] single greatest challenge that humanity has ever faced.
- Ted Turner

Never before has all of civilization been threatened.
- Al Gore

Islamic jihadists hell-bent on restoring a global caliphate?

A potential nuclear exchange between Iran and Israel?

Giant meteor screaming toward Earth?

No, you say? Then what?

OHHHHH. That crisis. Nothing to see here folks.

Rest assured that once we're all living under sharia here in the United Islamic Republic of America, the jihadists are going to have a hell of a global warming crisis on their hands.

Pelosi One

2007-02-08T12:05:00.000-05:00

"Do as I say, not as I do."

So Nancy Pelosi, or as I affectionately call her - The Self-Appointed Most Powerful Woman on Earth - wants an airplane. Not just any plane mind you, but one that can ferry her entourage from San Francisco to Washington D.C. non-stop. I mean, who in their right mind would want to stop in, god forbid, Topeka, Kansas to re-fuel?

Am I the only one who thinks this is a ridiculously stupid issue for Republicans to haggle over? I mean, if you really wanted to nail Pelosi (ew, gross) for her unabashed hypocrisy, there's lots of fodder for Republicans elsewhere.

For example:

As you probably know, Pelosi has supported requiring a minimum wage increase, except for large companies like Del Monte Foods Co. which are based in her home district.

Pelosi has received the Cesar Chavez Award from the United Farmworkers Union, in support of her "pro-union" policies, despite the fact that the $25 million Northern California vineyard she and her husband own is a non-union shop.

The Pelosis own a large stake in an exclusive hotel in Rutherford, California, which has more than 250 employees. The Pelosis are also partners in a restaurant chain called Piatti, which has 900 employees.

NONE of these businesses are unionized.

Can anyone honestly say they're surprised that Pelosi, champion of global warming curtailment, now wants a jet-fuel guzzling, CO(2) spewing, government subsidized airliner to jet-set around the country.

I mean, this is the same Pelosi who's being chauffeured, in a SUV, to a Global Warming event.

The lady clearly has no shame.

Kerry's Foot in Mouth Disease

2007-02-07T15:52:00.000-05:00

I’m not entirely sure what actually goes on at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, but one theme seems to persist every year - virulent anti-Americanism. In some ways, Davos has become a yearly get-together for world leaders, corporate executives, and other elitists to get together and air their perceived grievances against the United States.

What is it about Davos that brings out the anti-Americanism in people? Last year, Eason Jordan, former CNN executive, oft-handedly remarked that American soldiers were targeting journalists in Iraq. Once the transcripts surfaced, CNN went into full damage control mode. The remarks ultimately cost Jordan his job – and rightly so.

Just last week at Davos, Kerry slammed the foreign policy of the Bush administration, saying it has caused the United States to become “a sort of international pariah.” What better way to win over the Davos crowd than to placate to their anti-Americanism with a cheap-shot about U.S. foreign policy? Kerry disparaged this country - his country- before an international audience rabid in its anti-Americanism. His comments were undoubtedly splashed across front pages from Iran to North Korea. If John Kerry is so overly concerned with our international reputation, he certainly isn’t doing much to help on that front.

Criticizing the United States has somehow become the fashionable and chic thing to do these days, especially in front of foreign audiences. Just to be clear, no-one is suggesting that the United States should somehow be beyond reproach, but there is a fundamental difference between critiquing our methods of foreign policy and questioning our motives. More importantly, there’s a time and place to do these things, and it isn’t before the likes of former president of Iran, Ayatollah Khatami.

John Kerry has every right to criticize this Administration’s foreign policy, even more so when he’s here at home. But for a United States senator to condemn and disparage this country’s motives while overseas, before an audience of dictators, terrorist-supporters, and thugs, is completely inexcusable.

Last presidential election, Kerry was against the war before he was for it – or some other such nonsense. A few months ago, it was Kerry’s botched “joke” about how children should stay in school - or else wind up in Iraq. Over the past 2-3 years, no-one else has demonstrated such an astounding ability to routinely open mouth and insert foot.

In a blow to Republican presidential hopefuls everywhere, John Kerry recently stated he will not seek the Presidency in 2008. It’s a smart move - he had no chance. Regardless, John Kerry owes this country an apology, yet again.