Silflay Hraka

10/26/2002




Who Can We Blame?

When bad things occur it is natural to look to identify someone who we can blame for the situation. When the WTC attacks occurred people wanted to blame our intelligence agencies, and the President of the United States, for knowing about terrorist warnings and not doing enough to stop it. The latest agency dealing with this type of scrutiny is the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), as they are being blamed for their possible role in the sniper attacks.

Apparently one of the persons charged in these crimes, Lee Malvo, is an illegal alien from Jamaica. He jumped ship in Miami in June 2001, but was picked up, along with his mother, by the Border Patrol in Bellingham, Washington, in December 2001. Unfortunately, he was then let go by the INS in what one reporter claimed was a clear violation of federal law and contrary to what the arresting officers intended.

Malvo and his mother were released about a month after their arrest. The law does not allow for this and states that illegal alien stowaways are to be held and deported without hearings. Malvo’s mother admitted that she and her son were illegal aliens yet they were released anyway.

The author of the article I am reading from suggested that someone at the Seattle INS agency put pressure on the arresting officers to ignore the “stowaway” status of Malvo and his mother, and release them and avoid the costs of the deportation process. Might this imply that a sympathizer wanted Malvo free, or just somebody who was looking to save himself time and money? The frightening thing is thinking about how often this probably occurs.

So, the Monday morning quarterbacking continues. For now, I am just glad that we appear to have won this particular game.


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Choosing Your Death

Apparently, serial killers are not exclusive to the East Coast. As reported in the Greensboro News & Record, a man, Roberto Arguelles, was arrested and convicted of killing three teenage girls and a woman in her 40’s in 1997. He received the death penalty and was given the task of choosing how he would like to die. Strangely enough, he has chosen the firing squad and, in addition, has made the request to not wear the traditional hood over his head.

I understand that it is somewhat difficult for us to be empathetic with this individual, but I have tried to place myself in this case. What on earth would possess someone to choose the firing squad? My personal choice would be lethal injection simply because I would prefer to fade out instead of going out with a bang. His choice has caused me to wonder if he is mentally aware of what is happening to him. It is a VERY general statement, but the assumption is that sane people don’t want to be shot by a lot of people. Contrary to this idea, the court did order Arguelles to undergo a psychiatric evaluation after he attempted to hang himself with a prison laundry bag.

Another question this raised was whether or not the courts and the state would allow this type of execution to take place. That question was answered with a “Yes.” The state Supreme Court of Utah ruled last Friday that the firing squad execution could proceed.

How many bleeding hearts do you expect this will bring out of the woodwork? As I have mentioned before, I do not view myself as being either for or against the death penalty, although I realize for many that represents being for it. When you see how many people show up to protest a lethal injection killing, my guess is that this method of death will bring out many more. I admit that the brutality of this one seems much more barbaric than an injection and would therefore create more media attention. Would we allow people to be hanged if they chose that method? I would be interested to learn more how this choosing process works.

You are supposed to feel better knowing that another serial killer is being removed from society………do you?


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10/25/2002




Your Better Half?

Professional athletes and famous women just don't mix. This may be the only time when Mike Tyson can be viewed as a legitimate role model. Something about pro athletes attracts famous bitches like the swans returning to Capistrano.


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Bobblehead Fever

To go with the post below, this seems fitting. I think they are actually using her real head for this.


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Reality Bites

I have to admit that I am sick and tired of all of these damn reality shows that are flooding our airwaves. There are too many of them, and too many of them suck. I did watch the end of the first Survivor and that was enough to let me know that I didn’t need to watch the shows leading up to that one.

Then came Big Brother. Has this show gone off the air yet? The fact that most people don’t know is evidence of how crappy that one was as well. Sure, throw a bunch of people together in a house and let’s see how bitchy they can be to each other. That’s what we are looking for after all. We don’t care to see them hang out and be kind to one another, do we? Maybe if they were all to get together and see who could get pregnant first, that would be more interesting, but not its current format.

I do find The Osbournes funny, but that is just one show in a market that is too flooded with similar attempts to be humorous. Let’s face it, watching a 50-something drug addict walk around dropping F-bombs around his children is a recipe for laughter. Perhaps the most amazing part of it is that he is still living when I’m sure his body has taken a severe beating.

But I stumbled across the worst of all last night. I had heard of, but not yet watched the Anna Nicole Smith show on E!. Late last night as I fumbled through stations I came across this wonderful piece of Americana. My observations are simple……….she is absolutely ENORMOUS!!!! I cannot believe that this is the same person who graced the cover of all of the Playboys (I, of course, read them for the articles). Not only is she unattractive, she is completely stupid, but she is also extremely LOADED.

I watched one episode and determined that this might be the worst show I have ever seen. When Ozzy says his cuss words I laugh my ass off, but when Anna Nicole does the same thing I am more annoyed than anything else. As far as I can tell she became famous because she was naked more often than Eve, and then received additional publicity when she married the guy about 110 years older than she was. So, her talents seem to be limited to having a nice body………………but, I don’t think she has taken too good of care of that commodity, so why the hell are we continuing to pay her any attention?

To make matters worse, I just read that E! is planning to go through this again. My suggestions would be to kill the dog, don’t get naked in any way, shape or form, and possibly give some of her money to the viewers………….both of them. This show sucks.


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Informational Stalker Linkage

Okay, you've seen where we're staying. It's in this post, after all. But how to get there to proceed with the stalking?

Here's a map of the village. We're #120

And a satellite image. Ocracoke village is the bump of land at the top right.

Here's where we'll spend all our time when we're not fishing, or sleeping.

We'll also pay a quick visit to England

Here's where we'll buy all of our bait, and hopefully show off our fish.

It's an island, so of course it has a lighthouse.


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10/24/2002




The Total Picture

The mind is a strange thing, or at least mine appears to be. I was sitting in front of the computer doing some work to prepare for tomorrow when my mind began to wander. It occurred to me how strange I can be, but here are the thoughts racing through tonight.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if we were born with internal odometers, able to measure any of a number of things that each of us have accomplished or done in our lifetimes? Here is a list of things that I would really like to know the totals I have accumulated. I would like to know:

1. How many miles I have walked in my lifetime.

2. How many beers I have had (especially during the 18-25 year range), how many times I have been drunk, and how many of those times were with Bigwig and associates.

3. How many miles I have driven in my life.

4. How many times I “almost” died (near misses, times I’m not aware of)

5. How many times I have told Bigwig one story in particular, I’m sure he might know.

6. How many times I have played basketball, and my winning percentage.

7. How many times I have cussed.

8. How many times I have been suckered into paying for something that wasn’t really broken.

9. How much money I have made (this number is probably smaller than the amount listed in #2 above)

10. How many ballgames I have watched.

Yep, an internal odometer would be awesome. Just more random thoughts, a welcome diversion from thinking about the sniper for a while. I have enjoyed the breather.


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In The Crosshairs

I have been surprised by my reaction to the news over the past 12 hours. I am understandably elated by the idea that the authorities may have the snipers in custody, but my emotions don’t end there. Typically, I want the people responsible for crimes to be caught and pay for their crimes with at least a lengthy jail sentence. I am somewhat indifferent of the death penalty, I don’t really mind when people are put to death for horrific crimes, but I don’t always wave the banner for them to be executed either. This is different for me and I’m not sure why.

There have always been killers in America, and a number of them have been put to death. I neither cheered nor mourned when these persons lost their lives, although it is a bit frightening to think of all the people put to death for crimes they might not have committed. But I find myself truly wanting the persons responsible for the shootings in the D.C./VA area to die for what they have done. Is it because I am getting older and realize the fragility of life more than I use to? Is it because I have a greater sense of community now than I did when I was younger? Is it because I have become a stronger believer in the death penalty and cry for justice to be served? I don’t think so.

I wish my motivations could be described as being based on moral principles, and a greater understanding of the common good of community and man, but I fall well short of these things. I think I want them to die because I was able to picture myself in the situation that many of the victims found themselves in and it frightened me.

The people killed weren’t just bus drivers, FBI agents, people who needed gas in the car, or someone who needed his grass mowed. They were brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and more importantly, they were somebody’s child. Our country is great, and I would not trade our freedoms for anything, but I do get frustrated when people use those freedoms against us. We are so open, and that makes us the best country on Earth, but is perhaps makes us one of the most vulnerable.

I am pissed because the snipers shattered our feelings of security, which were already on shaky ground with all that we as a nation have experienced over the past year. Screw them and their right to due process. I wish we could positively identify the culprits, find them guilty, then walk to the nearest chamber, break room, outhouse, and quickly put them to death.

They hurt Americans so much because they attacked the everyday tasks of life which made everyone in that area realize they were a possible target. They appear (on first reports I understand) to be sympathizers with the terrorists after the WTC attacks. Since they seem to hate this country so much, I hope they will soon be removed from this and all other countries permanently.

They should spend some time in the crosshairs for a change.


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More Blogging for the Future
We drove down to the in-laws tonight, tonight being last Friday for you. I have an unwritten rule that each hour the trip takes earns me one ounce of gin upon arrival, and the trip took a record four hours tonight. We spent an entire hour driving the ten miles into Greensboro on 40. Thank God I'm not all powerful, else whomever is in charge of the highways of Greensboro would have been flayed alive by tiny flaming demons early on in the evening.

I had fun last night. It was very liberating to just set the posting bar at "If I've read all the way through it, then I link to it." I suspect tonight's offering will be somewhat shorter, if only because I expect Mr. Beefeater's gin will put me down soon. But. as long as we're here.....

TANSTAFFL informs me that New Jersey as a Poet Laureate, that he is an idiot, and I gather from the tone of the article that hen does not write in the following mode.

Youse guys
will speak to me
wit the tones of respect.
Else I'll rip out your head
And piss down your neck.

Too bad, really.

Cold Fury gets his mad on discussing the Blue Angels. Not that that we would ever do it , or that it wouldn't harm hundreds of patriotic citizens, but wouldn't it be just the slightest bit satisfying to announce that for the next ten year, the armed forces of America will not defend San Francisco? Hmm....maybe my language is too strong. Let's call it dozens of patriotic citizens.

The Safety Valve proposes that we should refer to Lord Baltimore's Rifleman as the Maryland Assassin. Duly seconded, if only for the historical connection to the Middle East

The Greatest Jeneration worries about a nukular ( I feel that I need to sound presidential here) North Korea, and quotes this David Warren inanity .

We simply do not know if they have successfully developed missiles that could reach North America.

Bloody Canadians. David, not you, Jen. We actually do know if the Beloved Leader could reach North America or not.

Kim Ill Dong, or whatever his name is, could probably hit Japan, certainly South Korea, and possible Western Alaska (Lot's of valuable targets there). He's certainly not going to be able to nuke David Warren any time soon. A cold eyed realist would suggest that inducing the Koreans of a Northern persuasion to lob off a couple of nukes in the direction of Tokyo and Seoul would greatly enhance our diplomatic and military freedom of movement in Asia. Fortunately I am not such a person.

Eristic is completely infected by the tump meme. I am sorry to say that despite a life spent almost entirely in cracker land, that word was unknown to me before its appearance in the blogosphere.

Snow White and the 7 actors. I'm very tempted to stop here and write the story of Snow White and the Seven Samurai, but I see that it has already been done.

Asparagirl was double counted on the last census, and has been asked to kill someone. She also mentions geneaology, a favorite subject of mine, since it allows me to drop name of the Furtherance, the ship my direct ancestor arrived at Jamestown on. Oh, we set such store by that.

Brain Fertilizer wonders if there is anything he has written that is worthy of the Carnival of the Vanities. Dude, of course there is. I mean, it's not like we have really high standards or anything. :)

Apparently Zionists used of the many micro nukes they just happen to have lying around on the disco in Bali. Apparently they had grown tired of Anita Ward, and wished to ring her bell once and for all.


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Err Jordan

Apparently Michael Jordan didn't care if his relationship with this woman became public. The price tag was too steep so the media swarmed. Does the fact that she has already received $250,000 mean that she is a really, REALLY, high class hooker? This appeared on an AOL news site.

Jordan Sues Woman, Claims Extortion
By ANDREW BUCHANAN
.c The Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) - Michael Jordan filed a lawsuit Wednesday against a woman he contends is trying to extort $5 million from him to keep quiet about their relationship more than 10 years ago.

Jordan acknowledged in the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court that he paid the woman $250,000 ``under threat of publicly exposing that relationship.''

Jordan, who plays for the Washington Wizards but spent most of his career with the Chicago Bulls, never agreed to pay any amount above the original $250,000, the lawsuit says. The woman attempted to extort the additional money from Jordan through her attorneys, according to the lawsuit. Her lawyers were not named in the paperwork.

The lawsuit asks the court to stop the woman from further attempts to get money from Jordan.


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10/23/2002




The Dirty Dozen - The Latest from Bigwig

Somehow there was a screw-up with this. This post is from Bigwig and not Woundwort.

It'll be crowded tonight, assuming that this appears on Wednesday or Thursday. Not everyone is staying the entire week, but everyone will be here tonight. The house we're staying in claims to sleep 12 (It also has no heat or cable, so expect reports of mayhem if the weather turns cold and rainy.), but I imagine it will be seem kinda crowded by about 10:30 tonight, which is when the last 5 or 6 people get here from the Hatteras ferry.

We are;

1. A Secret Service agent whom I taught to eat ants when he was a kid, who refuses to tell us where he's been. All we know is that he was out of the country for something like 3 months prior to the trip. He's as much as told us that if anything .....interesting happens he won't be able to make the trip. Interesting!? Bastard. Incidentally, Secret Service agents have pretty cool business cards.

2. An oxymoronic Scotsman, in that he once lent me twenty dollars. He was going to fly down, but hasn't been able to get his pilot's license in time. Too bad, as we had planned on using him and his Piper Cherokee as a Fish Spotter.

3. A mild mannered high school english teacher, who in his salad days once broke a man's jaw with a single mighty blow, after seeing the guy hit his date. He will wear the same pair of cut off shorts the entire week, and does a little white guy jazzy headshake to music he likes after a 12-pack.

4. A mild mannered mortgage broker, who in his salad days survived totaling his motorcycle at 80 mph while out on a drug run.

5. A cop from Roanoke, VA., who has retired from police work in his late thirties to become an artist. I knew him back in the days of my high genius, when I didn't wash my clothes for weeks at a time. He and and a couple others took said clothes, enclosed them in a hefty bag and threw them in a pond. I happened upon them as they surveyed their handiwork, and asked what was going on.

"We're throwing rocks at the trash bag until it sinks." he said.

Well, that sounded like fun, so I joined right in. The bag sank, and I didn't notice my clothes were gone for three or four hours. The bag was 12 feet down by then, and weighed several hundred pounds.

I had to retaliate, so I moved the contents of his room to the roof of his house. Getting a bunk bed to balance on the peak of the house turnd out to be easier than I expected, though.

6. Kehaar, my brother, who dates only insane women. I suspect him of lurking in the dumpsters behind pharmacies, where he gets women's phone numbers from discarded lithium prescriptions. If he holds true to form, he will fall asleep sitting upright in his folding chair at the beach after four beers. We'll then take a picture of him and forget to develop it.

7. A man who married extemely well, and which allows him to pursue his chosen career as an assistant golf-course landscaper without have to deal with such niggling details as cashing a paycheck or having to show up for work. He once hit Kehaar on the forehead with a raw egg from a distance of about 100 yards. It was a thing of beauty.

8. A gourmet beer connoisseur, whom we expect great things out of in the area of supplying us with rare alcohols. Alcohols which we will be unable to appreciate after about 3 of them.

9. A knick-knack salesman (he prefers the term promotional items) who will call us lightweights as we collapse into bed at one in the morning, then pass out and keep everyone up all night listening to his collection of deviated septum noises.

10. A twenty-seven year old hippie who custom built all the hardware for one of our bigger regional ISP's....nine years ago. He's allergic to alcohol. Fair's fair! We will make him drive everywhere.

11. A man who works with propane and propane accessories, and whom has graced the cover of Fine Woodworking magazine.

12. And...me. I can't think of anything interesting about me that a regular reader wouldn't already know, and I can't think of why a casual reader would still be here.


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History of Helmets

Got a favorite sport's team, college or pro? You can check out the history of that helmet at this site.


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House Slave

I am now convinced that Harry Belafonte is a complete idiot. I am suggesting you take this next comment with a grain of salt since I tend to vote Democrat (although not always), but Colin Powell makes me almost want to be a Republican………….almost.

As most people know, Belafonte made some disparaging remarks regarding Powell last week, suggesting that he was a “house slave” because of his position on a war with Iraq. Powell was adamant for quite a while about the need for a diplomatic response towards Iraq, and recently appeared to have changed his tune (according to Harry) and now supports the use of force with Iraq. This is just another example of why we should never, and I mean NEVER waste one minute listening to the opinion of a celebrity (Bono excluded).

It seems as though he was attempting to stick up for Blacks in America by stating that Powell’s change of opinion was nothing short of bowing down to the White man, and simply going along with what the president wanted. Instead, I think his comments had the opposite effect and been mostly negative. Belafonte suggested that Powell was allowed to “live in the White man’s house” and sold out his principles in order to eat at his table. I swear I watched him on talk shows over the weekend just waiting for him to throw out an “N” bomb, referring to Powell.

I felt insulted listening to his comments, and I am neither Black, nor in the military. To me Powell stated his opinion, and stuck to it, until another option was offered that perhaps better met the needs of our leaders and our country. Powell’s position, for now, appears to have been listened to, at least to the point that we will create regulations for Iraq to follow, and if not followed, then military force may be implemented.

Powell stood his ground on the diplomatic measures when it would have been much easier for him to go with the majority, and for that I admire him. I want my leaders to be open enough that if they hear of a plan that is better than their own, they will be willing to admit such and move ahead with a new plan. I don’t want some has been making political decisions of which he appears to know nothing about. Personally, I had a lot of questions about our apparent desire to attack Iraq, but if the plan is good enough for Powell, I think it is good enough for me. Instead of being a house slave, perhaps you should recognize him for what he appears to be, a level-headed leader willing to view a number of options before making final decisions. Singing “Day-0” may be fun at parties and athletic events, but it does not make you qualified to make decisions regarding national policy.

I found it a complete embarrassment that Belafonte would make these remarks and disappointed that he would do so in such a public fashion. If we want things to be better racially in this country we should ALL avoid these types of references. Whites are not the only ones who are capable of making harmful statements, as evidenced by Mr. Belafonte. Powell should be applauded for his accomplishments and not accused of things for which there is no basis. Blacks bear a responsibility for improving the environment in which we live and the relations among races in this country, and these comments do nothing but make us take a GIANT step backwards. While some people, including a Conservative Black Group want him to apologize to Powell, I will be happy with him simply disappearing from our political landscape.


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Rah, Rah Sniper!!!

Few stories capture our attention in quite the same way as the sniper has over the past few weeks. Ratings for stations like CNN and MSNBC have been through the roof because we as a public just can’t get enough. We circle and hover over any scrap of information we can find, then digest it and try to make sense of what we have just learned.

I am not attempting to belittle the seriousness of this situation, or make light of the experiences that people in the Virginia/D.C. area have been living through for three weeks, but I have been struck by my reaction to the story. I almost feel as though I am watching a sporting event, only the stakes are much higher than simply getting a “W” on our record.

When watching my favorite college team play I am consistently filled with a mixture of emotions. There is a natural and predictable ebb and flow to my feelings, some happy and some sad. I am enthused when my team has a great play, or puts points on the board, yet am nearly depressed when they lose the ball or allow the opponent to score points. Over the past three weeks, as I tune in to find out the latest on the sniper shootings, my emotions have been eerily similar.

Each day I routinely check the internet and at night I flip to the news to find out if any new information has been revealed in our search for this killer. Each time a new victim is shot and the killer gets away, he (or they) scores a point. So far, the sniper has scored 13, with 10 of those being touchdowns. We score when we find out new, possibly helpful pieces of evidence. The only problem is, as a fan of the authorities I am finding that I get excited at the scoring of points for our team, only to see those points erased from the board as another lead turns into a dead end.

We score at the Home Depot killing when so many witnesses came forward………only to find out that one of them had lied. We scored when the police surrounded the white van at the phone booth, surely arresting one of the killers………only to see him have no relation to the killings. Our points are tallied and then removed. It seems as if we have been in this pattern since the killings began.

Now the bastard(s) are demanding $10 million dollars??? I guess that would be one more point for the killer. He probably just realized, “Hey, I’m going to be killing people anyway, I might as well get paid for it.” Screw him. Let’s cheer our team on to victory. “Rah, rah, ree, kick ‘em in the knee. Rah, rah, rass, kill his fucking ass.” I feel as though I am pulling for the ultimate underdog, who needs our cheers and support more than anyone ever has. This is NC State vs. Houston, Villanova vs. Georgetown, and USA vs. Russia (in hockey), all rolled into one.

I recognize that unless you live directly in that area it is easy to distance yourself from what is happening. But the thought that my child could be shot at any moment simply because she walked on the sidewalk at the wrong/right time, scares the living shit out of me. Until they are caught, I will wave my pom poms in the air and do my best cheers for our side. I just hope it is a game that we can win, our opponent appears to be quite worthy.


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Challenging Saddam??

Could it be possible that Saddam will be toppled without the United States having to fire a single shot? Most likely not, but some positive signs (for those against Iraq) appeared over the past couple of days.

As reported on Monday, Iraq has released a number of prisoners who have been held for various amounts of time because of their criticisms of Saddam Hussein. While this may have been a positive sign and a humanitarian move for a man who has proven himself as someone who doesn’t place much value in human life, some questions have not been answered and the Iraqi people are starting to demand answers.

The following was posted on an AOL news story:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Oct. 23) - Iraqis from all over the country are camping outside the secret police headquarters on the outskirts of Baghdad, hoping for news of imprisoned relatives who did not come home after a general amnesty announced earlier this week.

It was an extraordinary scene in a country where few would dare any action that could be seen as challenging the regime.

The amnesty is seen as the latest effort by President Saddam Hussein to build support among his people as he faces American threats of a war to topple him. The crowds at the police headquarters and protests by other Iraqis seeking information about imprisoned relatives shows the gambit could backfire, raising expectations Saddam will have trouble fulfilling.


Few things would be as pleasing as having one of Saddam’s efforts at building support against us backfire for him. While it is not to the same extremes as seen in Tienamen Square, I am amazed at the boldness of the Iraqi people in their demands for information regarding loved ones who have yet to appear since the prison release. Generally speaking, I would imagine most who question Saddam are quickly put to death……….unless of course they are slowly and painfully put to death.

I understand that this is a small crack in his armor, but at least it is a crack. A crack that the rest of the world is paying very close attention to. Perhaps it is not unrealistic to think that other Iraqis will question Saddam’s leadership and take steps to change the situation there for the good. Let’s hope so, and let’s hope that major changes could take place before having to place more of our soldiers in harm’s way. Of course, I realize it would be a stretch, but we might as well dream.


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AZ Going Up In Smoke?

When I stopped briefly in AZ this weekend I picked up a copy of the local paper. It is always interesting to see how papers in other areas of the country carry a variety of stories different from what our own home state is dealing with. One issue that is being dealt with in Arizona this election year is the idea of marijuana being allowed for medical purposes. Proposition 203 includes the following:

1. People caught with 2 ounces or less of marijuana would not face a felony charge. Instead, they would receive a civil citation punishable with a fine of no more than $250 for first and second offenses.
2. First- and second-time offenders caught with drug paraphernalia could not be jailed as a condition of probation.
3. Increases maximum sentences and fine by 50 percent for violent crimes committed while under the influence of drugs
4. A person’s property couldn’t be confiscated until the offender was found guilty.
5. Requires the Arizona Department of Public Safety to distribute marijuana for free to people with a physician’s note.
6. Requires the Arizona Department of Health Services to set up a registry program and issue a card entitling the person to up to 2 ounces of free marijuana a month.


Can you imagine the population boom of this state when they start announcing that they are required by law to hand out 2 ounces of free marijuana a month? We might not have seen such a migration West since the gold rush of 1849. I imagine AZ will go through a number of other transitions if this proposition is passed. First, people may begin to use the word “dude” in conversation more. For example, “Dude, they gave me some good shit this morning.” Secondly, I am guessing that people are lining up now for a permit to start a potato chip factory in AZ since those with “medical” conditions will soon be craving food at all hours of the day and night.

In all seriousness, I am not sure where I would stand on this issue. I don’t care if people smoke pot, and I think that too many people are arrested and given ridiculous sentences for possession, when the dealers are the ones that should be targeted, but the idea of handing it out seems like a strange responsibility for our Department of Health Services to be involved in. Maybe the purpose is to reduce the need for dealers and lessen their opportunities to make money, but it still seems strange.


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Carnival of the Vanities #5

In case you haven't already read that I'm on vacation (and why not? Don't you visit us faithfully each and every day?), the Carnival of the Vanities #5 is over at Amish Tech Support this week. If Fragments ~ from Floyd has sent a link, take a gander. It's a relaxing distraction from the normal gotterdammerung of the blogosphere.


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Akin to the Hymenoptera

I have to force myself to break Ocracoke information into smaller chunks than I otherwise normally would. I'd like to have at 12 posts done by the time I leave, and at the minimum 6. I would normally just post it all in one large steaming mass of info, but that would leave me with 5 days of no posts, with resultant struggle to rebuild traffic once I got back. Kehaar and Woundwort aren't any help, either. Kehaar is here on the island with me, or will be Wednesday, and Woundwort would normally be here as well, save that he has a conference in Utah to attend. I've been checking to see if the Ocracoke Island Library has an Internet connection (somehow I doubt it), but even if I told myself that I'd come by and post, that would be a lie. Besides, my default condition is going to be at least slightly buzzed, and I imagine that means that I would either spend a lot of time typing loopy articles with lots of misspellings, or being able to come up with nothing at all. And that's if I'm close to normal. God help the blog if I come in after a long day fishing.

For those of you now convinced we tear all over the Island, drunk as lords and shooting off our pistols into the air, your perception of us is sadly incorrect. It's much easier to hit a Least Tern with a shotgun.

Actually, there is one unfortunate soul with us who is allergic to alcohol, so he gets dragooned into driving us everywhere. We also rent bicycles, as Ocracoke village is not only small, it's patrolled by a Deputy Sheriff who once told me that they don't bother the drunks on bicycles.

"Long as ya'll ain't running into anything, we don't pay a lot of attention."

Not to mention we're bringing our own deputy Sheriff, and a Secret Service agent. I imagine they'll have something to say on the subject as well. More on them later.


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10/22/2002




Digging For Jesus

Archaeologists have found what could possibly be the oldest archaeological link to Jesus. Not quite DNA evidence, but interesting still.


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Arizona Executioner

While the sniper story is captivating America, and thousands of people in Eastern states are changing their schedules and staying indoors, I was saddened to learn that this killer is not the only mass murderer operating in our nation.

The White Tank Mountains in Arizona have been turned into a killing ground. As reported in the Arizona Republic, eight victims in the past seven months have been killed. They are taken there with their hands tied behind their backs. One was tied up with handcuffs, one with a phone cord, one with duct tape, and another tied up with underwear.

They have been driven out into the desert on a dusty road, where the car is stopped. The victims are taken only a few feet from the road and shot execution-style with a semiautomatic weapon………multiple times. Whoever is doing this killing has not bothered to bury or conceal the victims, instead leaving them where they will surely be found by people milling around in the area target shooting, horseback riding or driving on all-terrain vehicles.

There are a couple of theories. One is that the killings have been done by smugglers trying to extort money from the victims’ families. Another theory is that drug smugglers are responsible, looking for some revenge for whatever reasons. Unfortunately, there has been no evidence found that backs up either of these theories. Sadly, authorities in the sniper case may be MUCH closer to catching that criminal than these authorities are. Reportedly, the investigation is at a standstill.

So, while you are remembering the victims and their families in the VA/D.C area, take a moment to think of the folks in Arizona……….a killer is among them as well. Sometimes, people really do suck.


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Blogging for the Future

I almost never indulge myself in that staple of the blogosphere, the unadorned link. I don't know why. I read lots of stuff every day that I like, but unless I can summon up a paragraph or more of pithy wisdom, I don't link to it. It's not fair, certainly not to the blogs that I read nearly every day yet hardly ever link too. But since I'm away this week anyway, I'll step out of character for a bit.

The Price of Murder in Iran - Glenn Frazier

Blogatelle on Bureaucracy

Meryl talks about the one of the favorite terms of the anti-war blogosphere, "chickenhawk". I've never said much about that use of that term, but it seems odd to me that it's considered such a powerful insult. It's name calling, for god's sake. When you have to resort to it, you've lost the argument. That's why, as much as I may mutter "cock-sucking pimply assbag" to myself when I read certain things, I don't actually type that at people. No matter how much of a shit-swilling numbnuts pigfucker a person is, if I resort to calling him names rather than debating his ideas, it means that secretly I have no answer for his ideas, and that he's won. So when I see that term, or any other insult, I move on, 'cause the person using it has nothing left of value to say.

Ole Doc Weevil has a cool suggestion for a psy-ops attack on Sadaam. I figure if the Bushes keep insisting on mispronouncing his name, the least I can do is misspell it constantly.

I would like to have antelope peering in at me through the camper window. Coyote is right, homegrown celery soup kicks ass.

Chris Ruzin has stopped reading the news.

Public Nuisance says moderate Republicans should jump ship. I hope they do, it's fun to watch.

Laurence has a few tips to add on how to avoid being shot by the Maryland sniper. Bill Quick adds a good one as well, though I admit I found it unsurprising that the Post didn't list one akin to his. So does Ravenwood's Universe

The only thing I've been able to comeup with on the Sniper, other than the idea that it's kids doing Columbine on a grander scale, has been the idea that the shooter is running thru the dialogue of the Monty Python skit "How Not to be Seen"

Voice Over: In this film we hope to show how not to be seen. This is Mr. E.R. Bradshaw of Napier Court, Black Lion Road London SE5. He can not be seen. Now I am going to ask him to stand up. Mr. Bradshaw will you stand up please

In the distance Mr Bradshaw stands up. There is a loud gunshot as Mr Bradshaw is shot in the stomach. He crumples to the ground

Voice Over: This demonstrates the value of not being seen.

Cut to another location - an empty area of scrubland

Voice Over: In this picture we canot see Mrs. B.J. Smegma of 13, The Cresent, Belmont. Mrs Smegma will you stand up please.

To the right of the area Mrs Smegma stands up. A gunshot rings out, and Mrs. Smegma leaps into the air, and falls to the ground dead. Cut to another area, however this time there is a bush in the middle

Voice Over: This is Mr Nesbitt of Harlow New Town. Mr Nesbit would you stand up please. (after a pause - nothing happens)Mr Nesbitt has learnt the value of not being seen. However he has chosen a very obvious piece of cover.

The bush explodes and you hear a muffled scream. Cut to another scene with three bushes

Voice Over: Mr. E.V. Lambert of Homeleigh, The Burrows, Oswestly, has presented us with a poser. We do not know which bush he is behind, but we can soon find out. (the left-hand bush explodes, then the right-hand bush explodes, and then the middle bush explodes. There is a muffled scream as Mr. Lambert is blown up) Yes it was the middle one.

Cut to a shot of a farmland area with a water butt, a wall, a pile of leaves, a bushy tree, a parked car, and lots of bushes in the distance

Voice Over: Mr Ken Andrews, of Leighton Road, Slough has concealed himself extremely well. He could be almost anywhere. He could be behind the wall, inside the water barrel, beneath a pile of leaves, up in the tree, squatting down behind the car, concealed in a hollow, or crouched behind any one of a hundred bushes. However we happen to know he's in the water barrel.

The water barrel just blows up in a huge explosion. Cut to a panning shot from the beach huts to beach accross the sea

Voice Over: Mr. and Mrs. Watson of Ivy Cottage, Worplesdon Road, Hull, chose a very cunning way of not being seen. When we called at their house, we found that they had gone away on two weeks holiday. They had not left any forwading address, and they had bolted and barred the house to prevent us from getting in. However a neighbour told us where there were.

The camera pans around and stops on a obvious looking hut, which blows up. Cut to a house with a gumby standing out front

Voice Over: And here is the neighbour (he blows up, leaving just his boots. Cut to a shack in the desert) Here is where he lived (shack blows up - cut to a building) And this is where Lord Langdin lived who refused to speak to us (it blows up). so did the gentleman who lived here....(shot of a house - it blows up) and here.....(another building blows up) and of course here.....(a series of various atom and hydrogen bombs at the moment of impact)


So black. Yet not as black as this. God help me, I laughed out loud.

What She Really Thinks on defining the Left. I think the Left's biggest problem is that they tend to personalize everything, as if each and every leftist decided that "Where I stand, that is the true Left, and anyone who disagrees with me is evil".

Sperari has dropped Dave Winer from her blogroll.

I'd never heard about Ron Arad until Imshin posted about him.

The Ngnat also prefers her backseat food well aged. Her favorites are lint covered chewy fruit snacks.

I really like the graphics at a small victory, who has has the skinny on the Woody Harrelson bombing campaign.

Matthew Yglesias posts a picture of the Dutch PM, who looks to me like he's got a pocket full of 20-sided die. He also links to a Dan Savage column on the moral blindness of the Left on Iraq. Matthew's reaction;

I think it's because we see that a broad middle ground exists between supporting brutal dictatorships and going to war with them. Namely, not supporting them. If the Bush administration had developed a principled commitment to ending US support for Middle Eastern tyrannies, we'd be cutting off our massive military support for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the other Gulf monarchies. Or at least we'd be threatening to do so if they didn't start down the road of liberalizing and democratizing. That wouldn't get anyone killed and it would probably win us enormous amounts of credit in the Middle East.

That wouldn't get anyone killed.... Not Americans, no. I found this over at The American Kaiser.

This is a regime that will gouge out the eyes of children to force confessions from their parents and grandparents. This a regime that will crush all of the bones in the feet of a 2-year-old girl to force her mother to divulge her father's whereabouts. This is a regime that will hold a nursing baby at arm's length from its mother and allow the child to starve to death to force the mother to confess. This is a regime that will burn a person's limbs off to force him to confess or comply. This is a regime that will slowly lower its victims into huge vats of acid, either to break their will or simply as a means of execution. This is a regime that applies electric shocks to the bodies of its victims, particularly their genitals, with great creativity. This is a regime that in 2000 decreed that the crime of criticizing the regime, which can be as harmless as suggesting that Saddam's clothing does not match, will be punished by cutting out the offender's tongue. This is a regime that practices systematic rape against its female victims. This is a regime that will drag in a man's wife, daughter or other female relative and repeatedly rape her in front of him. This is a regime that will force a white-hot metal rod into a person's anus or other orifices. This is a regime that employs thalium poisoning, widely considered one of the most excruciating ways to die. This is a regime that will behead a young mother in the street in front of her house and children because her husband was suspected of opposing the regime. This is a regime that used chemical warfare on its own Kurdish citizens, not just on the 15,000 killed and maimed at Halabja but on scores of other villages all across Kurdistan. This is a regime that tested chemical and biological warfare agents on Iranian prisoners of war, using the POWs in controlled experiments to determine the best ways to disperse the agents to inflict the greatest damages.

This is the fate that awaits thousands of Iraqis each year. The roughest estimates are that over the last 20 years more than 200,000 people have disappeared into Saddam's prison system, never to be heard from again. Hundreds of thousands of others were taken away and, after unforgettable bouts of torture that left them psychologically and often physically mangled, eventually were released or escaped. To give a sense of scale, just the numbers of Iraqis never heard from again would be equivalent to about 2.5 million Americans suffering such a fate.


Well Matt?


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10/21/2002




Rock of Ages

I thought that we had gotten away from this discussion in society, but it appears that some people are still on the “Kill Rock ‘n’ Roll” bandwagon. I was surfing the net when I ran across a web site that preaches how harmful rock can be to all of us. For the love God, get off of it people. Then I continue scrolling down the page and read testimonies that are worthy and deserving only of an appearance on a late-night infomercial.

For example, this is posted on the site:

Dr. Paul King, medical director of the adolescent program at Charter Lakeside Hospital, in Memphis Tennessee, says more than 80 percent of his patients are there because of rock music. He adds, "the lyrics become a philosophy of life, a RELIGION."

I have read through the doctor’s claims, analyzed my experiences and come up with the perspective of……….bullshit!!!! Come on man, 80% of your adolescents are there because of rock music? Maybe they are crazy because they have had to grow up in the shadow of Elvis and Graceland in your town, but that is the craziest statement I have heard in a long time. 80%???? The problem here is not the rock music, but the fact that Dr. Paul King is an idiot who must have received this degree from some “reputable” online university.

Maybe those of us who listen to rock music are traveling down the “Highway to Hell”, but what are our options? You want us to gather around, sit quietly on our sofas together as we sip on our lemonades and enjoy the soothing sounds of Donny and Marie? I think I would rather kill myself.

Sure, I’m a fan of Jesus, but I’m also a fan of Rush, Def Leppard and Kid Rock. These people who continuously bark up this tree need to find a new outlet for their anger………perhaps playing the drums might help.


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Secret Messages

As I follow the reports today of the men arrested in the case of the D.C. sniper, I am inclined to applaud the authorities who have been working on the case. I am not just applauding them for possibly arresting the perpetrators, but for keeping a lid on some key pieces of evidence.

On Oct. 7, police found a tarot card at one of the crime scenes. The authorities were upset that this information leaked out, but they apparently have done much better with this since that time. It was reported today that a number of other cards have been left at the other shootings, but the press and public have not learned of them until now. Could it be that this has caused the sniper(s) to strike again?

Follow me here, I am wondering if the sniper is out for publicity, leaving clues and tarot cards all over the place, and not having this information leak to the public, wouldn’t he become more frustrated? I believe that he may become frustrated to the point of needing to strike again and leave a new message which may threaten the police or public even more than before, which heightens the possibility that he will make a mistake and allow the police to catch up with him.

So, sniper attacks again on Saturday, leaving a note for the authorities who in turn state “We want to talk to you.” Then a man is arrested this morning at 8:30am while talking on a pay phone. Coincidence? God, I hope not. I hope that police have done good investigative work, played with the killer to get him to appear again, and have capitalized on his mistakes, now having him in prison to face a long prison term or a quick (I say that with some sarcasm) execution (after 20 years of appeals, I am sure).


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Hoping For a Near Miss?

Unfortunately, the story of the sniper continued this weekend, with another man being shot in a parking lot of a restaurant. When I first heard the news, it troubled me a little bit the reaction I had. I do NOT want anyone else to be killed by this sniper (or snipers), but after the first few shootings I made the statement that the shooters would eventually get cocky, and hopefully careless, allowing the authorities to catch up with them. As of this past weekend, they had not made enough mistakes to get caught. Perhaps the only way they ever will get caught is to continue shooting.

So, I have waited with some anticipation, for the shooter to strike again, and hopefully screw something up. If the killers were to just fade into the sunset, never to be heard from again, would that be sufficient? Just to make the killings stop? I would suggest not. As long as the person, or persons, responsible are at large the D.C./Virginia area, and the nation at large would be forever nervous. I suggest that they must keep shooting in order for people to eventually feel safe.

Supposedly, two men have already been taken into custody today, possibly related to the sniper shootings, although that hasn’t been confirmed. One was taken from a white van at a phone booth. Hopefully, these men are responsible for the killing spree and this will end, but the last victim may have needed to be shot in order for them to be captured. Were you hoping for a sacrificial lamb in this case? Someone who could be shot, allowing the criminal(s) to make a mistake and be brought to justice? I’m sure the man’s wife might feel differently about that if given the choice. Let’s hope the guys being detained are responsible and we can all rest easy once again.


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Gone Fishin'

If all goes well and there are no hurricanes threatening the N.C. coast, I'm on my way to Ocracoke today. I'm writing this in the past, of course, on October 9th. Traffic actually increased the last time I did this, which is fairly uncomplimentary, I must say. Hopefully the library there has an Internet connection, so I can sneak in and publish these at some point each day. Otherwise they may have to wait on Woundwort, whom I think is in Utah right now.

I've abandoned Ngnat and the sainted wife, they have their own plans. This is the 4th or 5th fairly annual fall fishing trip, and no women are allowed. Not that we mind women of course, it's just that the wives tend to frown disapprovingly at a man who has gone without a shower for four days, as he peruses his copy of JUGGS, smoking approximately his 300th illicit cigarette of the week, or spits blackened tobacco drool into an empty beer can. Screw the fish, it all comes down to unfettered access to beer, tobacco, and porn. That, and being around a group of humans who all appreciate a good lifted leg fart, especially if it turns out not to have been just a fart after all.

It's me and eleven other guys, living on white bread sandwiches and beer. Mostly beer. Occasionally we even fish. This is the first year we've tried Ocracoke. Every other trip has been to the Alger Willis Fish Camp on Cape Lookout, the unpowered, unheated cabins of which are increasingly hard to book. They're booked solid for October by the end of January. Add in the fact that everything you need needs to be carried with you, and Ocracoke is not only just as cheap, but easier to deal with. Not easier to get too, though. It's a minimum 6 hour trip from here, which is 3 hours longer than it takes to reach almost any other beach in NC. There are three ways to get there, all of which involve taking a ferry. Both of the southern and therefore most convenient ferries for me take 2 and a half hours to reach the island. I think I'm going to re-read LOTR, for about the 25th time. I don't mind the ferry ride, because once we drive out on the beach, the next closest group of people are hundreds of yards away.

Which is good, because we end up being acting exactly like we all did in college, unfortunately minus the slutty girlfriends, but with the added attraction of having more money that we did then, so that now instead of drinking only Natural Light, we start off with imports and microbrews, then drink the Natural Light.

Natural Light, The beer with the taste for not caring what the taste is about after a six pack.


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10/20/2002




Holiday Grab Bag

We've been at the inlaws all weekend, having our annual Thanksgiving get-together with the wife's side of the family. We'd normally do it at least a bit closer to Thanksgiving, but one of the cousins is getting married in November, which pretty much takes care of that month, what with the showers, the bridesmaids breakfasts, and the ritual summoning of the maiden aunts, where a bull is sacrificed to Dionysus and any man who espies them is torn to pieces, his bodiless head thrown into the nearest storm drain, where it sings laments at the passers-by. At night, the sewer weasels come.

You've heard how women in the South keep to tradition? Well, some of them keep really old traditions.

My mother in-law was unable to find any of the Thanksgiving themed paper products that would normally decorate the table and wipe the greasy, slightly alcoholic slobber from the corners of our mouths, so she went with the theme she could find at this time of year, Halloween. Ngnat insisted on picking the music, which turned out to be a cd stuck into a corner last Christmas and then forgotten until her chubby questing fingers yanked it from its dusty hiding place. She waved it over her head in triumph, and would not be persuaded to change her choice for love nor money. M&M's either, for that matter. So we listened to Carols of the Nativity sung by people from Cambridge.

So we ate Thanksgiving dinner among the orange and black decorations, and listened to Christmas music. Just to ensure that we covered all the bases, I hummed Dreidel, Dreidel Dreidel under my breath and drank like it was New Year's.

Which basically meant that I had two beers, then took a nap.


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