The pair of Chickadees who decided to nest in my back porch birdhouse despite my warnings have gotten quite used to humans — and to Coco (which I’m not sure is a wise idea, as she is very jealous, and knows I like them).

Here’s a picture I took earlier of the one I think is the male, sitting on the back door:

And peeking out from his house, holding an insect or something:

Don’t tell Coco!

Indiana has passed a law (signed by a Republican Governor) that makes it legal to shoot government officials who unlawfully enter people’s homes. This has created a firestorm and the storm is definitely not in favor of government officials.

A police apologist is taken to task in the comments here.

And here there is more vituperation in the comments directed against the police.

This is definitely a sea change from years past when this level of vituperation was mainly the province of the lower classes.

And what has caused all this? SWAT raids by police. Especially the practice of 3AM (gestapo) raids and the “first we kill all the dogs” mentality. All that is especially decried when police get the wrong house. And worse when they get the wrong house and kill an innocent. Lots of those type cases are linked in the comments.

And you know what? This is leading to the further unpopularity of Drug Prohibition. Ordinary citizens, guilty of nothing, are tired of being real or potential collateral damage.

H/T CWPJR

Eric was discussing busybodies in the bathroom. Well bathrooms are about to get busier. The above is an example of a mirror that automatically displays an ad when you walk into a public bathroom. (Yeah the Hebrew is interesting – I have no idea what it means). No place is sacred anymore.

H/T Kasey Panetta at ECN Magazine.

Drones have been in the news a lot in the last couple of days. And of course there is Obama’s obsession with drones.

But something more sinister may be in play as well.

The military continues to grapple with the moral implications of what this administration is pushing them to do, and so as the administration grows impatient with the military component of the plan, it now proceeds in haste to utilize these drones as part of a nationwide law enforcement program.

The Drug War – which our “conservative” friends LOVE is perfect cover for this. With “border control” as a backstop.

I also had a few words on the subject here.

Earlier while I was shaving in the gym (clothed only in a towel wrapped around my waist), a total stranger suddenly came up right behind me and exclaimed, “I bet you never lived in California!”

Taken somewhat aback, I replied, “As a matter of fact, I lived in California for 26 years.” (Actually, that’s a conservative estimate, but whatever.)

He then replied in a very annoyed and annoying manner, “Well, I can’t believe you run water while shaving!” and continued towards the door, barely giving me time to call out lamely, “I didn’t know it was your business!”

Let me confess right here that at the time of the gratuitous scolding by this total stranger (who thinks it is his business to monitor the water usage of other strangers) that yes, the water was running. Not that I waste water deliberately. I don’t like waste, and I’m one of those people who takes one minute showers and lets urine mellow a few times before finally flushing. I don’t like to allow the toilet to get too stinky, though, because that requires scrubbing with detergent, which is not only a pain in the ass but for all I know is probably worse for the environment than regular flushing.

And of course I am very familiar with California water shortages and related conservation measures. Not that I am endorsing waste of anything (especially things in short supply), but I think Michigan’s situation is a bit different:

As the ice sheet retreated into Canada, it temporarily made Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron into one huge body of water called Lake Nipissing, which had the unusual quality of having three outlets — via the Ottawa-St. Lawrence rivers, Detroit-St. Clair rivers and Illinois-Mississippi rivers.

Lake Huron continued to drain eastward out the Ottawa-St. Lawrence rivers until about 5,000-6,000 years ago. Lake Michigan continued to drain out the Illinois River where Chicago now stands until about only 3,000 years ago, when the Great Lakes finally assumed their present shapes.

The Great Lakes today hold an estimated six quadrillion gallons of water — a fifth, or 20 percent, of all the drinkable water on the surface of Earth.

If all the water in the Great Lakes were spread evenly over the continental U.S., the 48 states would be flooded under more than nine feet of water.

The surfaces of the lakes total more than 94,000 square miles — covering an area about the size of the entire state of Oregon.

Etc.

Again, I do not advocate waste. However, I am not sure that applying California water conservation techniques is needed here in Michigan. I also think it is a bit rude to butt into the life of a total stranger and scold him. I have a heavy beard, and after a workout I shave. Unlike the sink in my house, the gym sink has no stopper, and as I have a heavy beard, I cannot swish my razor around in the sink to get the hair stubble out. My Gillette Mach II has the triple blades that get mucked up by stubble and it is necessary to rinse it out repeatedly while I shave. And sure, maybe I could have been turning the water on and off more, but I shave pretty quickly, and unless we are sentenced to live in a communitarian world, I don’t see how my shaving habits are the business of a total stranger. It just isn’t a big deal.

Had he not been in such a hurry to leave without listening to my reply, I’d have liked to ask him whether he sits outside shower stalls with a stopwatch. He was a big overweight man, so I suspect he eats a lot more than I do… and what if his showers are longer than mine? What if his “carbon footprint” is bigger than mine? He was clean-shaven, like me, but is shaving necessary, or is it “bad for the environment”? How are these things to be fairly determined?

I wrote this post not merely because it was irritating, but because I think this man’s attitude is indicative of a mindset that regards environmentalism not as politics (which it is) but as a form of morality. Clearly, the guy thought this touched on the issue of right and wrong, and he believed (or at least wanted to believe) that I was in the wrong and that he was the upholder of righteousness.

Environmentalism is becoming one of those things considered beyond debate. Is that healthy for democracy?

Or is the democratic process trumped by “sacred” things?

Colorado will be voting on a measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use (Amendment 64). A very close supporter of Mitt Romney is involved in the effort to oppose the measure.

Two-thirds of the entire the budget for the “No on Amendment 64? committee has been provided by a Florida-based nonprofit called “Save Our Society From Drugs.” The organization was founded by Betty Sembler, a veteran Drug Warrior whose husband is on the Mitt Romney for President finance team. According to one biography of Sembler, she has been awarded an “honorary agent status by the DEA” and was pivotal in founding drug rehabilitation clinics and the Drug Free America Foundation. From 1976 to 1993, the Sembler family operated a drug rehabilitation clinic known as STRAIGHT Inc., which closed down after a shocking series of scandals that revealed that clients faced rape, faced beatings, forced hunger, and other abuses at the clinics.

I can’t wait for Democrat operatives to get hold of this and start using it against Mitt. Oh. Wait. The report was published at HufPo. I guess they already have.

And my hope that the Rand Paul endorsement would at least moderate Romney’s views during the election season were in vain. Well fortunately opposition brings more people to the polls. And chances are they will not be voting for Romney.

One other thing: you would think Mitt would have done a background check before embracing these people to avoid this sort of thing. Well maybe he did and approves of beatings and withholding food to force people off drugs. I have no problem with people who oppose ending prohibition. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But couldn’t Romney have chosen someone cleaner?

I’m kind of lucky(?) to live in Illinois. I have a free vote. And I must tell you that Gary Johnson is looking better to me all the time.

Hemp History Week has just passed so I’m a little late on this. It does shed some light on the Amendment to the Farm Bill that would legalize hemp.

To date, thirty-one states have introduced pro-hemp legislation and seventeen have passed legislation, while eight states (Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia) have removed barriers to its production or research. However, despite state authorization to grow hemp, farmers in these states risk raids by federal agents and possible forfeiture of their farms if they plant the crop, due to the failure of federal policy to distinguish oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis (i.e., industrial hemp) from psychoactive drug varieties.

“This is the first time that language supporting hemp has come to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote since the Controlled Substances Act was passed in 1970,” says Eric Steenstra, President of Vote Hemp. “The time is past due for the Senate as well as President Obama and the Attorney General to prioritize the crop’s benefits to farmers and to take action like Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) and the cosponsors of H.R. 1831 have done. With the U.S. hemp industry valued at over $400 million in annual retail sales and growing, a change in federal policy to allow hemp farming would mean instant job creation, among many other economic and environmental benefits,” adds Steenstra.

So the only thing standing against hemp production is the Federal Government. Where have I heard that one before?

I may have mentioned it here before but I think it deserves a little fuller exposition. #1 Daughter attended a Ron Paul rally in Champaign, Illinois where she is studying (3rd year) Chemical Engineering.

CHAMPAIGN — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said America needs to shrink the size of government and restore individual liberty.

“The enthusiasm for personal liberty has to be restored and has to be renewed,” he said.

Paul spoke for about an hour before an estimated 5,000 people, many of them chanting, “President Paul, President Paul,” Wednesday night at Huff Hall on the University of Illinois campus.

The event had to be moved to Huff from Foellinger Auditorium because demand for tickets exceeded the seating capacity at Foellinger.

Five thousand? In a town of about 81 thousand people (plus university students)? That is a heck of a rally. And it considerably exceeded expectations.

That sort of response may be why conservative Senator Jim DeMint has become a LOT more libertarian friendly these days. It may also be a preview of what is coming in the Fourth Turning. It bodes very well for our future.

I have been in some discussions about this with some Leftys and I can tell you they are none too happy about a politician promoting non-government solutions to various social problems. They are quite happy about the Drug Relegalization position the Pauls espouse. And not much else.

It is going to be quite interesting to see how Mormon Romney handles the legalization question given that sentiment for pot legalization is now above 50%.

So how might all this affect the coming election? Reuters looks at Colorado, the birthplace of the Libertarian Party. Colorado has on the ballot a proposition that would legalize marijuana for recreational use.

It’s unclear precisely how the U.S. Justice Department – whether led by Obama or Romney – would respond if Colorado, Washington or other states legalize marijuana for recreational use. Both politicians oppose legalizing the drug.

But in a close presidential election in which Colorado could be a tipping point – and with polls showing Obama has up to a 30-point edge over Romney among voters age 30 and under – the state’s marijuana initiative could be a factor if it inspires waves of young voters to cast ballots on November 6.

“This is an issue that is really meaningful to young people, people of color, disenfranchised communities,” groups that typically lag in registering and showing up to vote, said Brian Vicente, 35, executive director of Sensible Colorado, a group seeking less restrictive marijuana laws.

“Democrats and Obama need these groups to win,” Vicente said. “The path to the White House leads through Colorado. We feel we can motivate these groups.”

Last winter, Public Policy Polling found that 49 percent of Coloradans favored legalization, while 41 percent opposed it.

My guess (and it purely a guess) is that Obama will come out in the last weeks of the campaign in favor of legalization in the States (make it a States Rights issue). I think his gay marriage thing was a test run for that. It is going to be an interesting election season. And an even more interesting four years following.

Let me add that I think marijuana prohibition and the accompanying attacks on youth have done more to promote the idea of smaller government among the youth than any other policy I could think of. If Republicans come around and end the war on pot they will have those voters for life. I’m working on it.

Update: 11June2012 2319z

Evidently The GOP in Louisiana does not like Ron Paul.

Several supporters of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) sustained injuries while being arrested during the Louisiana Republican Party’s state convention over the weekend, in a conflict that engulfed the meeting after Paul’s supporters overwhelmed other delegates and voted in new leadership, only to be ignored.

Ron’s supporters used parliamentary procedure to get their guys elected to run the Louisiana Party. Naturally the party regulars didn’t like that and called the police on them. One Paul supporter had his hip replacement broken in the scuffle.

Uh. Guys – calling the police on people you are going to need to win the election in November is no way to win elections. As I implied above – so far the support for libertarian Republicans is at the margins of the Republican Party. As that changes expect more of these incidents. The good ole boys (establishment Republicans) will be going down hard.

The current Republican brand is just as much into power and control as the Democrats. It is why they lost in 2006 and 2008. They couldn’t get the Party behind them because of their spending excesses. I hope the Party doesn’t make the same mistake if they get into office in 2012/13. “It’s our turn” is not a good governing slogan for an electorate that wants smaller government.

This was sent to me by a close friend. CWPJR.

The great Tom Lehrer of course. This is sort of in honor of #2 son currently living in Moscow.

Did you know that America is in the middle of a deadly flashlight epidemic? I didn’t until this morning, when I read about exploding “flashlight bombs” wreaking havoc.

The first bomb was spotted by a passerby on May 13 in a suburb just west of Phoenix. It was sitting behind a palm tree in a strip mall and blew up when it was clicked on.

The next day, about 10 miles away, a landscaper found a flashlight in an irrigation ditch. It, too, exploded when he flicked the switch, authorities said.

The third bomb exploded on May 24 at a Salvation Army distribution center near downtown Phoenix and about 11 miles from the first one.

An employee detonated the device while sorting through donations, forcing 120 people in the store to evacuate. Jon Bierd, production manager at the facility, said the worker suffered a small abrasion to his forehead.

No one has been seriously hurt, which makes me suspect that these “bombs” are about as powerful as a firecracker, and most likely the handiwork of some young ne’er-do-well in serious need of corporal punishment followed by a stint in the Marine Corps. Not what most people would consider a “terrorist.”

Nevertheless a profiler has been consulted, and he has some fascinating observations.

…the bombings have stopped, though it is unclear whether there are more flashlights out there.

The attention may have scared them off or they may gain confidence and strike again as the investigation stretches on without an arrest, criminal profiler Gregg McCrary said.

Details of the case lead the former FBI agent to think the culprit is either a man or two men, with one of them being a dominant leader and the other a follower.

As for motive, whoever is responsible may be bombing at random for various reasons, said McCrary, who teaches at Marymount University in Virginia.

“Typically these things are about wanting to feel superior and smarter than other people,” he said, adding that they also might revel in the news coverage.

“There’ll be a vicarious thrill or excitement watching news coverage, and it’s kind of like: `Look what I’ve done.’ It’s a sense of empowerment that `I made all this happen,’” he said.

Mangan said the remnants of the bombs are at a laboratory and being studied for fingerprints and other DNA evidence. The ATF said it will try to trace the materials used in the bombs to see where they were bought.

Mangan said his agency and others are concerned that the bombings will resume, possibly in a different container. They’re also worried that the injuries won’t be so minor next time.

“Anytime any individual uses a bomb, their purpose is to create fear in the community and also to inflict serious injury or death,” he said.

Hey, how come they know it’s the work of “men”? I mean, isn’t that sexist? (I guess I should be happy they’re not calling these things “IEDs” and blaming them on disgruntled war veterans.)

There are lots of other fascinating aspects to the story, and FARK.com patrons are having a field day.

Example:

This sounds a lot like a 14 year old boy with a few firecrackers and model rocket igniters.

And,

FTFA:

Mangan said the agency has ruled out any connection to terrorism…

but then

“Anytime any individual uses a bomb, their purpose is to create fear in the community…”

Same guy for both quotes.

We can’t be too careful. I’m wondering how “bomb” is defined because there are legal fireworks being sold openly which explode — probably with a lot more umpph than whatever was stuck into these flashlights.

As to the moral of the story, it is this. If you see a flashlight, be afraid. Very afraid! And if, God forbid, you must actually carry a flashlight, be very, very careful.

And whatever you do, don’t bring one anywhere near the airport, much less leave it there.

As one of those stubborn people who absolutely hates being told what to do but who lives in a society increasingly in the grip of unreasonable busybodies and nannies who make careers out of telling people what to do, I spend a lot of time griping about the problem. I especially hate having my life run by mediocrities and morons. Unfortunately, such people often go into government and/or busybody work  because of unconscious fears of their inferiority. It boosts their ego to have authority over their intellectual betters, and there is little I can do to change the psychological dynamics at work.

We have all heard about the new “ruling class,” and how it is the culmination of the Wilsonian movement which began with the goal of having “the best” and the most expert people running everything. And we all know how that’s worked out, right? The private sector is more efficient than the public sector, generally because smart people don’t want jobs telling people what to do; they would rather get rich selling people the ever cooler stuff that they want. So their dumber brethren who couldn’t hack math and engineering and don’t have brains for finance end up creating and enforcing rules against them. It’s almost a way of getting even. Anyway, I have ranted and raved about the system for years, to no avail.

This morning an email exchange with M. Simon reminded me that there is something worse than having your life run by government mediocrities, and that is having it run by intelligent people. If the super-efficient “experts” Wilson imagined actually did run things, they would do everything they could to make escape impossible.

Should I be more grateful that mediocre people are the new ruling class? Have to say, I never gave it much thought, but look at the rise of uncontrollable technology that has made our lives so much easier in so many ways. Technology that enables me to put these very thoughts out for the world to see. The computer and Internet revolution would never have been allowed to happen had Wilson’s experts truly been in charge; it happened because those in charge were technologically challenged and asleep at the wheel, and not only never thought to stop it, but couldn’t have if they wanted to. And that’s just one example.

Much as I hate being ruled, it’s good to remember that rule by the mediocre does have its advantages.

Geez, I better stop, because I am starting to sound like an optimist.

One of the things I most like about Glenn Reynolds is his knack for linking just the right Amazon sale item at just the right time. I am absolutely delighted with two recent purchases I would otherwise not have seen. One was this absolutely nifty little 64 Gigabyte thumb drive, which of course is not “little” in its capacity but only in its size. It is fast and makes long large file transfers a snap. 64 GB is more than some run-of-the-mill hard drives can hold, and I am old enough to remember when hard drives were measured in megabytes. I remember when 300 megabyte hard drives first came on the market, and people were saying it was ridiculous because no one would ever need that much space. Wrong; if human history shows anything, it’s that when new real estate opens up, the space will be used. Memory is like real estate in that we always we need more. Virtual real estate opens new space everywhere — always more and cheaper.

Speaking of more space, again thanks to Glenn’s tip, I also got this wonderful Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1 TB USB 3.0 portable backup driv, which right now is backing up the upstairs computer. It automatically runs backup software which is smart enough to automatically copy only what is important, and to update only what you have added, every time you plug it in.

Nice.

I wish memory could be as redundant and incapable of being lost in the human mind as it is in the memory spaces we have created.

Come to think of it, it would also be nice if unwanted (bad) memories could be deleted, too… But I guess that gets into morality. I’d pay big money to delete some of mine.

So what to do?

(I really don’t know.)

Here is a LTE (not yet published) written by a friend of mine.

The suicide rate among veterans is an American tragedy. It unconscionable not to use every treatment that may help these young people cope with their physical and mental pain.

Drs. D. Mark Anderson, Daniel Rees, and Joseph Sabia conducted a study published by IZA, “Medical Marijuana Laws and Suicide.” They found that “…The legalization of medical marijuana is associated with a 5% decrease in the total suicide rate, an 11% decrease… [among] 20-29 year old males, and a 9% decrease… [among] 30-39 year old males.”

Possible explanations for the decrease include the neural protective and neural regenerative properties of cannabis and/or substitution of marijuana for alcohol.

Thousands of veterans petitioned the Obama Administration to: “Allow United States Disabled Military Veterans access to medical marijuana to treat their PTSD.” Their petition was answered not by the Veterans’ Health Administration but by the drug czar, an ex-policeman. He said smoked marijuana has not been found to meet the modern standard of effective medicine.

Al Byrne, co-founder of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access responded, “Vets have used cannabis for PTS since the Revolutionary War.” Michael Krawitz, executive director adds, “By a long shot, it’s better than the drugs they get at the VA.”

Here is an article in my local paper on military suicides: Suicides among active-duty U.S. troops averaging one a day!

Because suicides had leveled off in 2010 and 2011, this year’s upswing has caught some officials by surprise.

The reasons for the increase are not fully understood. Among explanations, studies have pointed to combat exposure, post-traumatic stress, misuse of prescription medications and personal financial problems

Here are some studies provided to me by the LTE writer to back up the points made:
Medical Marijuana Laws and Suicide.

Using state-level data for the period 1990 through 2007, we estimate the effect of legalizing medical marijuana on suicide rates. Our results suggest that the passage of a medical marijuana law is associated with an almost 5 percent reduction in the total suicide rate, an 11 percent reduction in the suicide rate of 20- through 29-year-old males, and a 9 percent reduction in the suicide rate of 30- through 39-year-old males.

Military veterans say pot eases PTSD.

…despite warnings from medical staff at the local veterans hospital, he began to smoke pot legally under the state’s new medical-marijuana program to cope with the physical and mental pains of combat.

“My doctors shunned me and didn’t approve of me doing it,” said Herrera, a Purple Heart recipient. “One doctor said I could get some repercussions for doing it. But I did it legally. And I know for a fact — I’m a walking testimonial — that it works.”

And of course our Commander in Chief has chimed in. White House To PTSD Veterans: No Medical Marijuana For You.

“First, President Obama’s administration ejected medical marijuana patients from the workplace then he threw them out of public housing then took away their ability to buy a gun then closed down their dispensaries and now he has apparently set his sights on veterans,” said Michael Krawitz, executive director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access (VMCA).

Thousands of veterans asked the Obama Administration to at look into the science showing how cannabis works to alleviate suffering and save lives of veterans with brain injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and to then make appropriate changes in policy. “Allow United States Disabled Military veterans access to medical marijuana to treat their PTSD,” the petition simply requested.

But the White House response to the veterans’ petition was very disappointing. “We asked for a change in policy,” Krawitz said. “To have our petition answered by the drug czar, an ex policeman, is most inappropriate given the drug czar is bound by law to ONLY discuss current law and has no power to discuss policy change with the public.

Prohibition must go on. Backing up the above studies Krawitz continues:

With suicides outnumbering combat fatalities by a ratio of 25 to 1, according to Dr. Julie Holland, editor of The Pot Book, “This, given how effectively cannabis works to save lives, is an unacceptable loss,” Krawitz said.

Recent research has revealed two things of great importance. One is that suicide rates drop around the implementation of medical marijuana laws, and the other is that new research indicates similar brain changes from athletic head injuries, military head trauma and brain changes from Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

The latest research shows how a human body-wide set of control functions called the Endogenous Cannabinoid Receptor System may be activated or augmented by the ingestion of cannabis, which has both neural protective and neural regenerative properties to help relieve these difficult-to-treat medical conditions.

A former Naval Officer speaks out.

Al Byrne, retired Naval officer and cofounder of VMCA, was blunt in his assessment of the White House’s disregard for injured veterans.

“Vets have used cannabis for PTS since the Revolutionary War,” Byrne said. “We know what we need and to be told by our President, the Commander in Chief, that he does not care about those he has sent to war by denying medicine to the wounded is unconscionable.”

I understand the reticence of the President. How do you keep the military in the drug war if you authorize med pot for treating veterans and active duty military? The only answer to that question is to screw the troops. The Drug War must go on.

This is a link I got from DU. And no – I’m not going to give them a link. The main article was about Polywell if you want to search.

The Green Energy Bubble Is Bursting Fast Everywhere.

This Washington Post headline tells why the enviros are about to get run over:

Center of Gravity in Oil World Shifts to Americas

Go read the whole thing.

Evidently there was a time when adoption by gay couples was not controversial.

During this time, child placement became more than a professional issue for Taft. In 1921, through a social-work contact in New York, she and Robinson adopted a foster child, an eight-year-old boy named Everett, who was still in touch with his father. A year later they took in a five-year-old girl named Martha, who also had existing family connections. Eventually they adopted the children. “We feel very much like a family and some times wonder whether we are going to live through it,” she wrote in 1923. It was not uncommon then for lesbian couples, especially social workers, to adopt children.

According to this tit bit (a Britishism – you of the unclean minds), there was a time in America when the welfare of a child was considered more important than the sexual orientation of the parents. Obviously there is less social stigma for lesbians than for gay males in this area. At least until recently.

I’ve been driving now for over 40 years, and I have been noticing a relatively new problem. Whether it is generational I am not sure. I live in a college town, but I Have been living in college towns for most of my life. Anyway, the problem is drivers who are driving in the middle of the street, and who seem completely unaware that they are being rude. More frequently than ever before, I find myself having to squeeze over to the right (within inches of parked cars) just to avoid being hit. I have been told that it’s the newer generation. Really? Has simple road etiquette gone out of style? Or have they not been taught how to drive properly?

It would be easy to point the finger at SUVs, but this is not solely an SUV problem. Sure, SUVs are bigger, but in this town lots of young people do exactly the same thing with regular cars.

Looking around, I see that I am not alone in my frustrations:

This is not a gas question but one of common courtesy and driving skills. I had the experience today of driving on a two lane road with cars parked on one side. There was plenty and I do mean plenty of room for two cars to pass each other, each going in an opposite direction. Along comes a huge SUV driving down the MIDDLE of the road, meaning partially in my lane, and that person (I refuse to say whether it was a man or a woman because I’ve had this happen with both sexes) did not move to allow me to pass by without me practically having to crawl up a tree. Did you not see my midsized blue sedan? It’s not like I was in a tiny smart car. I also want to know if there is something written in the owner’s manual of an SUV that says you have the right to drive down the middle of the road with no concern for other cars on the road.

As I say, it isn’t SUVs, and it has little to do with the sex of the driver.

Any ideas?

Supposedly today is a day when bloggers of the correct persuasion are supposed to write only about the intimidation of other bloggers by a certain Brett Kimberlin.

So here is my contribution:

SWAT Teams. They are not just for dopers anymore.

Patrick Frey, one of the bloggers attacked by the appearance of a SWAT team at his home, was himself in the employ of a big employer of SWAT teams.

I hate seeing this sort of intimidation. On the other hand KARMA IS A BITCH.

Quite inadvertently, I stumbled onto an interesting ancient shape known as the Brunes Star.

Here’s what it looks like:

While it might not look like much, it was used as a sort of ancient calculator:

Here’s an example of how it was used:

Almost like having a calculator or slide rule before these things were invented.

Coco has the right idea.

And so does this bee:

If I had any sense I’d be doing the same thing right now.

Take the test and find out. I scored a 26. The average was about 16 and if you scored above 32 you may have a mental disorder.

Prompted by this post at Talk-Polywell.