If this is not scary to everyone, I do not know what is.

WaPo Organizing for Action

When else in US history has there been an political organization of this magnitude that is dedicated to supporting the a single man's agenda?

• Unlimited donations.
• No oversight.
• The ability to use whatever means necessary to sway public opinion.

They claim they will not be political.  Yeah, sure.

For all of those out there that refuse to believe the US Government will ever take action against the citizens and residents of the United States, please remember what happened to those of Japanese ancestry 71 years ago.

• "The Government will never round up their citizens." Sure, right, OK. Forgot history there did you?
• "The Government would never seize property without cause." If you say so, tell that to those Japanese Americans on the West Coast.
• "The Government will never voilate the Bill of Rights." Well, except when they need to in a time of national emergency.

Anyone stupid enough to blindly trust the Government deserves exactly what they get.

Very quick reminder of history here:
HT: Guns Save Lives

Why in the world would anyone want to live in NY?

First go here:
http://tlinexile.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-line-in-sand.html

Then go here:
http://www.gofundme.com/1tkukc

In the two hours since I first became aware of Nathan's defense fund, he has gained over $1000. Would like to see him break the goal of $100,000.00 by a wide margin.

The only thing required for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.

HT: TL In Exile
Following: The Conservative Sociologist
Captain Capitalism

Senator Stevens of Alaska

Well, Senator Stevens not only lost the election, he was found guilty of corruption.

Let's talk about the election first.
Senator Stevens lost to the Mayor of Anchorage, Mark Begich, by about 1,000 votes. If that is not a vote of "no confidence" in Senator Elect Begich, I do not know what is. He couldn't beat a convicted felon by more then 1% of the vote.

Mark Begich should have conceded the election on November 4th and saved us the effort of counting the absentee ballots.

Now, let's talk about the conviction.
First, the evidence. The FBI collected over 79,000 pieces of evidence for Senator Stevens' indictment. That sounds like a lot, until you realize that people have been condemned to death with something like a dozen pieces of evidence. If I were to collect 79,000 random pieces of information about any adult currently alive on the planet Earth, I bet I could gather enough to indict them on some felony.
Then there was the trial. How many times was the prosecution chastised for ethical and procedural errors?
How about the suppressed evidence that could have cleared Senator Stevens?
What about the witness that admits lying?
http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/out-context/2008/Nov/22/stevens-witness-claims-he-lied/
Let's not forget that at least one juror admitted that she was going to find him guilty regardless of what was presented in the trial.
Does anyone actually think Senator Stevens was given a fair trial?

Virginia Tech Shootings

First: To everyone affected by this tradegy, my deepest condolences. I know several VT alumni, and I know several folks that have kids going to VT. Thankfully, no one I know has been physically injured as a result, but the emotional scars run really deep. My heart goes out to them specifically, and to the whole VT community as a whole.

Secondly: to the media. STOP IT!
Last time I checked a background in security, or campus administration was not a requirement for reporting the news. Do you really think that your reporting is helping? Do you think asking the students who they feel is to blame is news? Do you think we are not already reminded of Columbine? I do not really think that 24 hours of coverage is justified, do you? Especially when you have only about 15 minutes of news to report. How many times do you have to repeat the same information? And, do you really think that Dr. Phil is really going to contribute anything worth repeating? Make a life choice people. Get rid of useless talking heads.

Lastly: To everyone.
Before you decide the school administration is to blame because they did not lock down the campus after the first shooting, please ask yourself: What would I have done in the same situation?

• All evidence indicated that the first shooting was in isolated incident.
• The area around the first shooting was locked down.
• It would not be unreasonable to assume that the shooter had fled the campus. (Would you stick around after you shot two people?)
• After sufficient information was collected, a message was distributed to the general student population. It was purely coincidence that the rampage in Norris Hall happened soon after that e-mail was sent out.

Just remember that hindsight is always 20-20. It is easy to say what should have been done. Not so easy to predict it before hand.
What if? What if the second wave of shootings was not related to the first? What if the e-mail saying that two people have been killed was what triggered another shooting? What if? What if that e-mail came out immediately following the first shooting, and it triggered a shooting immediately? Then the administration would be blasted for triggering another shooting.

When you play monday morning quarterback, you can always point out where the mistakes were made. How about playing Sunday quarterback? Not so easy is it?

Today's question?

Why do otherwise healthy capable people use the automatic door opener button to leave the restroom?

Do they really think it is cleaner than the door handle? Or are they just that lazy?