Wishing to extend appropriate seasonal or holiday greetings, but
desiring not to violate any existing laws, ordinances, or implied
societal policies regarding diversity and/or sensitivity, I wish to
offer the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes
for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress,
non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice
holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the
religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your
choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or
traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or
secular traditions at all … and a fiscally successful, personally
fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset
of the generally accepted USA calendar year of 2005, but not without
due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures (Incan,
Myan, Hindu, and more) whose contributions to society have helped make
America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than
any other country or area of choice or any other such distinction that
is mutually agreeable to be discussed), and without regard to the
race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual
orientation of the wisher or wishee.

This wish is limited to the customary and usual good tidings for a
period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday
greetings, whichever comes first. “Holiday” is not intended to, nor
shall it be considered, limited to the usual Judeo-Christian
celebrations or observances, or to such activities of any organized or
ad hoc religious community, group, individual, or belief (or lack
thereof).

Note: By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This
greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal, and is revocable
at the sole discretion of the wisher at any time, for any reason or
for no reason at all. This greeting is freely transferable with no
alteration to the original greeting. This greeting implies no promise
by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for the wisher
her/himself or others, or responsibility for the consequences which
may arise from the implementation or non-implementation of same. This
greeting is void where prohibited by law or by age limitations. Not
responsible for any overconsumption of beverages or food substances.

Oh what the heck, let me get in trouble … have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and
a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In Philedelphia, the city that gave us our Consitution, a 10 year old from Thomas Holme Elementary School was handcuffed by police, thrown into the blood and urine stained paddywagon and dragged off to the police station (without first notifying her mother). What did she do? Did she bring a gun to school? Threaten to blow up the place? Attack a teacher? No. She had a pair scissors in her backpack.

Overreactions like this have become the norm in the Government run school system. Cries of “zero tolerance” are heard when mistakes like these are made. But what are they teaching the kids? When they expell kids for having a 1″ GI Joe gun, or a folded piece of papar they are teaching them that there are no distinctions between being a criminal or an innocent kid, and they are destroying the child’s trust in authority.

Former President Clinton appears to have more than just a passing contact with the supporters of global terrorism. In addition to failing to deal with Osama Bin Laden when given the chance, and pardoning the FALN terrorists he also pardoned Marc Rich in his tax evasion case.

It ends up that Mr. Rich is tied to the UN/Iraq oil for food scandal and according to the article -

At the time of his pardon, Mr. Rich was sixth on the Justice Department’s outstanding fugitives list. Prosecutors had refused for 17 years to negotiate a settlement in the case.

In a 2001 report, the House Government Reform Committee, which investigated the last-minute Clinton pardons of Mr. Rich and a business partner, Pincus Green, said the two men had long-standing ties to Saddam, which were well known to U.S. intelligence officials. The report said the two men had done “extensive trade” with Iraq, Iran, Cuba “and other rogue states that have sponsored terrorist acts.”

Following in the footsteps of the highly successfull Washington DC gun ban, the city fathers of San Francisco are proposing a city wide ban. We’re not just talking about banning concealed weapons, but a ban on all handguns in your home or business. The article is not clear about whether this covers all guns or just handguns.

What you don’t realize is that the good thinking officials in SF are just trying to make it safer for
people who make ‘wrong choices’. Can’t you imagine how traumatic it is
to be crawling through the 2nd story window (purely by accident) of that
sexy little single mother you followed home from the bar and just as
you’re about to express your desire for her she whips out a 9mm and
blows your balls off? All of that trauma could be avoided if they just
ban guns.

If San Francisco doesn’t have any guns then there won’t be any more episodes like
these:

San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, Calif., 2/22/00
State: CA
American Rifleman Issue: 5/1/2000
Awakened by noises at his back door early one morning, an 83-year-old
San Francisco widower resolved to protect himself with a handgun
purchased for exactly such an eventuality. As an intruder armed with a
tire iron approached his bedroom, the elderly homeowner retrieved the
gun and pulled the trigger for the first time in 30 years. Bought in
1948, the .38-cal. Smith & Wesson revolver had gone largely unused for
more than half a century. It finally became the man’s only hope of
self-preservation, proving deadly reliable in a pinch. The shot ended
the confrontation and the invader’s life. The homeowner said later, “I
never thought I would kill another person. I just wanted to stay at home
and mind my own business.”

The Chronicle, San Francisco, CA, 4/4/97
State: CA
American Rifleman Issue: 10/1/1997
A San Francisco, California, art dealer was awakened at 2 a.m. by the
sound of breaking glass in his home. Fearing for the safety of his
daughters, who were asleep downstairs, Allen Leung dialed 911 for help
and grabbed his .38-cal. handgun. The intruder made his way into Leung’s
bedroom, demanded money and threatened him. Leun shot the man in the
chest. The burglar had a criminal record. Leung was not expected to be
charged because he acted in self-defense, police said.

Won’t you sleep better at night knowing that help is just a 911 call away?

Apparently the all-knowing nanny state city fathers of Bellingham have decided that Tasers are just too dangerous to allow in their perfectly safe city. Actually that’s just fine. People shouldn’t be placing their lives in the hands of tasers anyway. Tests have proven than an agressive, determined attacker (or one dressed in winter clothes, it is December in most parts of the northern hemisphere).

Instead I think that the citizens of Bellingham ought to be encouraged to get their CPL (Concealed Pistol License) and arms themselves with a deterrent that works when you need it — a gun. I even hear that Speer has a new ammunition for .38 spl that has almost as much stopping power as a real gun. Another benefit to having a CPL (not that you should need one, etc.) is that in Washington the local governments cannot ban them from their cities or counties.

You can read the full article here

(I changed the title, seems pretty damn obvous that the clerk just got robbed).

“The cashier gave him the money, but pulled a gun and shot Thompson when he told her to step out from behind the counter.”

“The clerk was not facing any charges Sunday night.”

You can read the full story (with video) here.

Hopefully the clerk’s employer won’t fire her for protecting her life, as has happened in other cases of self defense chain-store employees.

Here in Washington State we are still in the midst of an election. We have counted the votes for governor twice and Dino Rossi has won both times, despite the inclusion of suspect ballots in the second count. That isn’t good enough for his Democratic opponent, Christine Gregoire, or the state Democratic party. They have scraped together the money for a full-state hand recount with the help of a large donation from former Presidential candidate John Kerry. But that still isn’t good enough for them — they are now in the process of suing to allow more questionable ballots to be counted during this hand recount.

The State Supreme Court should be hearing this case just as quickly as they can don their black robes and weave their way to the courthouse. Instead some of them are participating in a mock trial of Chief Leschi, and won’t be able to make a ruling until Monday. Chief Leschi was a local Indian Chief who was hung over 140 years ago for ambushing a group of local settlers.

What seems more important to you? Making a key decision in an election that has already taken a month longer than it should have to decide, or participating in a meaningless show that doesn’t even have the authority to overturn Leschi’s conviction?

“by Peyton Knight

Here’s another good example of government (and do-gooder neighbors) infringing on people’s property rights. Haven’t they heard of Carl Drega(book link)? Are they trying to push more property owners over the edge? I sure hope not, but I don’t see any other outcome if this practice continues.

Clinton is cashing in on his China connections again. He ‘helped launch’ a new search engine company that is backed in large part by the Chinese government. They claim that they are going to be using artificial intelligence to provide better links, but I would find it more likely that they are using thousands of underpaid, opressed, communist chinese citizens.

Another good question is why is Bill Clinton helping with the launch? He presided over the dot-com bust and recession that affected the IT sector more than any other part of the economy. I certainly wouldn’t want him associated with any hi-tech venture I am involved in.

Congratulations to the people of Afghanastan on their recent elections. The road was bumpy, but you can now count yourselves among the growing number of self-governing people of the world. The path toward freedom is not cheap, but the reward is great. Hopefully this can be sustained and will spread to the surrounding countries.

You can read more at FoxNews.

Apparently our congress-critters didn’t have enough on their agenda with terrorism, taxes, and social security. They are now setting their sights on steriod abuse in major league baseball according to this article. I’m no fan of drugs (or baseball for that matter), but I really don’t see any reason for the Federal Government to waste any time at all on this subject. It appears to me to be another symptom of the ‘do something disease’ that all politicians, from either side of the fence, suffer from. They never seem to go chasing after the issues that matter, instead focusing on things that most people can’t really argue against; but that really are none of the Federal Government’s business.

Baseball is perfectly capable of policing their own. And if they don’t then the fans will let them know when they can no longer stomach the multi-million dollar contracts, incessant whining for new taxpayer funded stadiums, and abusive behavior.

ed.