The City Council of Calabasas, CA has just passed an ordinance that smoking is banned in all outdoor public areas including parks, sidwalks and outdoor businesses. WTF?

Look, I don't smoke. I can't stand the smell of smoke, even on a person. Frankly, it makes me want to hurl. As far as I'm concerned, with all the information we have today anyone still willing to ingest cigarette smoke into their body is a fool. But, hey, it's their body.

I have to say, though, that this law is complete idiocy. Outside? For crying out loud. You've got to be kidding me. Where does it end?

Hello? People are still going to smoke no matter what you do. Comedian Denis Leary once said that you could put the cigarettes in a black package with a skull and cross-bones on front and call them "Tumors" and people will still be lined up around the block to get their hands on those things.

This is government intrusion into personal lives gone amok. Shame on the citizens of Calabasas, CA for letting this happen.

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Appendix A (Part Two) is posted.

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Pitchers and catchers report today! Whoo-hoo!

I gotta tell you. I hate this time of year as far as sports is concerned. The NFL season is over. MLB is still six weeks away. I don't follow basketball, hockey or the March Madness NCAA Tourney. Right now there is NOTHING going on in the world of sports that interests me. Yeah, the Olympics are going on right now but...eh. So what?

At least this year the Mets are a hell of a lot better (at least on paper) than they were last year. The division is ripe for the pickens!

But the best part about baseball is you know that when it's here, so is spring.

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Today I attended a funeral where a poem was read that I thought was pretty inspirational.

It's called "The Dash" by Linda Ellis and it refers to the dash between a person's birth date and death date. It was written in 1996 and, since it's copyrighted, I'll simply link to it rather than reproduce it. I'm sure I could get permission but I'm pretty tired right now and I wanted to post this ASAP.

Read "The Dash".

Linda Ellis' website is here and it features a very nice flash movie version of the poem.

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It's the very first Carnival of the GOP Bloggers! Go check out the link to see what we're writing about this week!

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One of my wife's uncles passed away suddenly last week and the services are this morning.

So posting will be light today, to say the least.

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Appendix A (Part One) is posted.

Yes, I'm actually blogging the Appendices, too.

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Child murderer Joseph Smith wept at his sentencing hearing today and begged Circuit Judge Andrew Owens for mercy. Smith, who was convicted of murdering 11-year old Carlie Brucia tried the old "I was a victim of drug use" ploy in an attempt to dodge a death sentence, which is what a jury recommended by a vote of 10-2.

Smith told Owens he had been a heroin addict since he was 19 and had unsuccessfully tried to quit several times. He said his wife had kicked him out of their home in January 2004 and he had lost his job when in the hours before abducting Carlie he tried to overdose.

"I just wanted to die that day," he said. But, he said, "I take responsibility of my crimes."

You'll get the same mercy that you showed Carlie Brucia when she cried and begged and pleaded for her life. Too bad the system will probably keep you hanging around for about twenty years before they finally pump your veins full of poison.

Rot in hell, scumbag.

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Apparently, it has been announced that a new graphic novel is on its way depicting the Caped Crusader taking on Al Qaeda.

Batman writer FRANK MILLER tells the New York Post, "It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a piece of propaganda. Batman kicks al-Qaeda's a**."

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It looks like this 24-hour delay of information following Dick Cheney's hunting accident is the latest in a long line of news stories that the Left is convincing themselves will be the stake in the heart of the Bush Administration. And, as with all the others, they're working it up in their own minds as a huge deal. The rest of America, however, doesn't share their passion.

Mickey Kaus comments on this strange phenomenon in Slate. The catalyst for his post is the myth that "Brokeback Mountain" is somehow sweeping the Red-State rich heartland (a duplication of the "Fahrenheit 9/11 is sweeping the heartland" meme of 2004):

Much of Democratic politics seems to now consist of embracing and fanning similarly comforting, but ultimately deceptive, liberal memes [Kaus' emphasis]. Enron has fatally damaged Bush, Abu Ghraib has fatally damaged Bush, Katrina has fatally damaged Bush, Abramoff has fatally damaged Bush, the Plame investigation will fatally damage Bush--you can catch the latest allegedly devastating issue every day on Huffington Post or Daily Kos (and frequently in the NYT). If you believe the hype--if you don't compare Michael Moore's box office with Mel Gibson's box office, in effect--you'll believe that Democrats don't need to change to win. They just need to push all these hot memes forcefully. If you don't believe the hype--if you think that netroots Dems are too often like the Iraqi Sunnis who think they're a majority--you'll look for a Bill Clinton-like alternative with greater red-state appeal.

Before Democrats go hog wild on some of these memes, they really should step back and ask themselves "how would a reasonable person react to this story?". Clearly on this hunting accident story the reasonable people of this country are scratching their heads over what the big deal is, if they're paying any close attention at all. Unfortunately for the Left, the perspective of a "reasonable person" is one they just don't seem to be capable of.

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1 How romantic!

Posted by: Georgia Girl at February 14, 2006 03:19 PM (EHefn)

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In all my years watching things political, I'd say that the White House Press Secretary who most got under the skin of the Press Corp but still retained his cool was Marlin Fitzwater, for Bush 41. But I have to say, Scott McClellan really knows how to piss these guys off and still come away looking like the sympathetic party (if not the only rational one) in the exchange. Here's a snippet of NBC's David Gregory with him earlier today:

Why was the White House relying on a Texas rancher to get the word of Cheney's hunting accident out over the weekend, asked Gregory, accusing McClellan of "ducking and weaving.''

"“David, hold on… the cameras aren't on right now,'' McClellan replied. "You can do this later.''

"Don't accuse me of trying to pose to the cameras,'' the newsman said, his voice rising somewhat. "DonÂ’t be a jerk to me personally when IÂ’m asking you a serious question.''

"You don't have to yell,'' McClellan said.

"I will yell,'' said Gregory, pointing a finger at McCellan at his dais. "If you want to use that podium to try to take shots at me personally, which I donÂ’t appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because thatÂ’s wrong.Â’Â’

‘’Calm down, Dave, calm down,'' said McClellan, remaining calm throughout the exchange.

"I'll calm down when I feel like calming down,'' Gregory said.

I have to say I'm getting a lot of enjoyment watching the Left and the Old Media work themselves up into a frenzy over this non-story like it's some kind of conspiracy. You would think Cheney broke into this guy's house, raped his wife and put a bullet between his eyes the way the reporters are going around calling the VP "the shooter". What a bunch of weenies.

And the Lefty bloggers in the fever swamp are frothing at the mouth. I'm surprised PETA hasn't called a press conference to denounce Cheney for hunting quail in the first place.

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1 you're right - dems should not be trying to get points of this issue - nothing happened, it was an accident

Posted by: kyle foley at February 13, 2006 06:38 PM (8Ag0m)

2 David Gregory? Seriously? That weasel?

Posted by: GroovyVic at February 14, 2006 06:06 AM (MHfik)

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Why do some men feel it's necessary to walk up to a urinal and pull their pants and underwear down just to take a pee?

Dudes, pants have these things called zippers. Their purpose is allow access for ol' one-eye to the urinal. Granted it's a little easier if you wear boxers but if you can't figure out how to move aside the flaps on a pair of briefs to let your meat-puppet see the light of day maybe it's time to change your style of underwear.

There is nothing more annoying in a men's room (outside of stupid conversation) than to have some guy walk up beside you and go through the trouble of unbuckling his belt, unsnapping his snap (or unbuttoning his button), unzipping his fly, untucking his shirt and yanking the whole works down to his knees just to take a whiz! Is he afraid of actually touching it? Maybe he figures then he won't have to bother washing his hands. But that's a whole other topic.

C'mon fellas. You've had the equipment for decades now. Learn how be more efficient with it, will ya? Sheesh!

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1 It's a good thing we live on opposite sides of the country then, and you won't ever have the honor of standing next to me at the group urinal. I don't, however, pull my pants down to my knees (maybe when I was 4). I think it's quicker to unbuckle and unsnap. Fiddling around with the flaps is more work. What I don't get is the backdoor flap. I suppose those were only put on longjohn one-piece suits, where you couldn't simply pull your pants down, since it was attached to your shirt. I wonder if that's how the front flap originated as well? By the way...I spend a good 20-30 seconds just shaking the last drip off of my hose. I don't like having stains on my undies. Even the front end. If there is toilet tissue on hand, I'll use that to dab. Just thought you'd like to have the not enough information about me, Gary.

Posted by: Wordsmith at February 13, 2006 12:50 PM (nrGCx)

2 I'll bet you don't even leave a "buffer" urinal next to the other guy, do ya? Noooo, you probably just saunter right up the very next spot. Especially if they don't have one of those divider things in between. And you probably "courtesy flush" too! Am I right? The only odd thing I ever do at the urinal is complain about the tempurature of the water. So there!

Posted by: Gary at February 13, 2006 01:55 PM (PLHs9)

3 By the way... You should have stopped there -- way more information than we needed to know.

Posted by: rightwingprof at February 13, 2006 05:43 PM (/IE5Q)

4 Pretty funny! You should check out this Flash game. I was gonna do a post on it but figured I'd just comment with a direct link. http://flasharcade.com/urinal_game.html It epitomizes guy behavior in public toilets. .....Dan

Posted by: .....Dan at February 13, 2006 11:50 PM (604CD)

5 Weeeeeel...my son still does that, but he's six, so his he okay? He's learning, though, because he has "longjohn" style pajamas, and one morning he got up and said "Mommy! I'm using the pee-pee hole!" (Since we're sharing so much, here) But he won't touch it, is this weird? We keep telling him he can, it is his, he's in the bathroom, but he won't aim that gun!

Posted by: GroovyVic at February 14, 2006 06:10 AM (MHfik)

6 Wow. Such a stimulating conversation you've created here, Gary. When my brother was five-years old, he spontaneously decided that he needed a bandaid for the hole. I've kept that shelved away for two decades now, just waiting for my drunken toast at his wedding.

Posted by: Sadie at February 14, 2006 08:01 AM (cP0Aq)

7 I agree, I hate that. And BTW, I've always thought those flaps in briefs were useless. I wear boxers now, but back when I wore briefs it was always less trouble just to pull the whole elastic band down enough to whiz than to try to separate those ridiculous flaps in the front.

Posted by: Cynical Nation at February 14, 2006 12:26 PM (vC1jc)

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Just like most Americans - even those who follow politics closely - I missed this story over the weekend. At the CPAC conference, Ann Coulter let fly a tasteless remark. Now, I could easily just let this one pass without comment considering that hardly anyone even noticed. But I want to go on the record here: Coulter should apologize.

Ann makes a living saying provocative things. That's her schtick. And since she drives Liberals absolutely insane, I enjoy most of what she writes and says. But her use of the word "raghead" - although directed at the terrorists - was dead wrong and completely inappropriate. It may not have been intended to be an insult to muslims in general but this is the broader connotation of that particular epithet.

And while the Left will be quick to slam her on this one, it would be the height of hypocrisy on their part. Inflamatory and insensitive comments are their specialty. So they can just forget about even trying to mount that high-horse.

Ann is human (notwithstanding the Left's view of her as a she-demon from hell) and humans make mistakes. In an attempt to entertain her audience, she made a big one. And she should apologize for it. Whether she does or not is her prerogative. But if she chooses not to, she not only undermines her own credibility but reinforces a stereotype about Conservatives that is undeserved.

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That's the "official" story of this weekend's incident involving the Vice-President. But we're now getting information throughout the blogosphere as to what really happened.

According to an unnamed eyewitness, Dick Cheney had his shotgun trained on a covey of quail when his hunting partner, Harry Whittington, decided to have a little fun. Faking an exaggerated sneeze, Whittington scared off the game depriving Cheney of his kill. Now if Dick Cheney's wrath had been such that he wanted Whittington dead, he would have simply strangled him with his penis.

No, the Vice-President merely intended to send Whittington a message: You don't f**k with Dick Cheney.

UPDATE: 12:00pm
Where credit is due...

Bless my soul, Al Franken lapsed back into "funny" mode today:

Now, I imagine that Cheney and the President have hunted together. What would have happened if Cheney had shot the President? I think if he shot Bush this way, Bush isn't 78 and he's in pretty good shape, and he's kinda macho. I think he would've gotten up and shot Cheney back. And I think they would've started blasting each other like in a Tarrantino movie.

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Well, here's a look at how badly we got blasted:

This is my garbage can to give you an idea of accumulation. I reckon that's at least 18 inches on top, probably a little more.

Here's a view of our street.

Went out to shovel a little (the stuff that the plow guy doesn't get) and although it's very fluffy, I dealt with a LOT of it. I just thank God we didn't lose power. As soon as my legs thaw out I'm considering getting a fire going in the fireplace. Then again, I might just fall asleep right here. I can smell sausage and peppers cooking. Mmmmmm.

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You see this:

If you look closely, in the middle there's this little blue strip just a big darker than the surrounding blue - right through Connecticut. Well, apparently I'm located in the worst part of that little blue band. And the "heavy" stuff isn't even supposed to come until after noontime.

Reports of power outages in the area have me concerned. I've got three kids ages nine, five and two. If I lose TV, I'm screwed. I better charge up that portable DVD player!

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1 According to the NOAA website, we also have the possibility of thunder. THUNDER!!! In a snow storm!!!

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at February 12, 2006 12:00 PM (DdRjH)

2 The weather guy on CNN (sorry) said that "thundersnow" occurs in less than 1% of snow storms and can cause up to 4 inches of snow per hour. Wow! That's nothing compared to the cute little dots of flurries we woke up to this AM in Hotlanta! How novel for us!

Posted by: Georgia Girl at February 12, 2006 08:46 PM (EvFfn)

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To go along with the real blizzard. Stupid ones, too. Got about a dozen and they all say things like: "Great site you have! Beautiful website very good work and nice design!" and "Good work, webmaster! Have just found your website great!". And nothing else. Just a bunch of embedded links. Lucky for me, with Mu Nu I get to load 'em up on the Movable Type Blacklist.

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This week's 80's Crush is: Daphne Zuniga

Birth Name: Daphne Eurydice Zuniga
Birth Date: 10/28/62
Age Today: 43
Birthplace: Berkeley, CA

80's Crush Because: In 1985, she was the obsessive-compulsive but endearingly sweet Alison Bradbury in "The Sure Thing", which I would call the ultimate date movie. And two years later, she earned her comedic chops in Mel Brooks' laugh-out-loud Star Wars parody "Space Balls" as Vespa, the Druish Princess. And the schwartz was with her.

Other Notable Roles: Starred on the Spelling-soap "Melrose Place" from 1992-1996. Fortunately, she left the show before it started to get really bizarre. She also did a couple of guest spots on "Family Ties" as Rachel Miller. I particularly remember that because of her resemblence to Justine Bateman. Whenever I saw the two actresses in the same scene I had to do a double-take.

Most Recent Media Appearance: Daphne is currently on the TV show "Beautiful People" on the ABC Family network.

Distinguishing Feature: Film critic Leonard Maltin describes her as an "appealing brunette whose distinctive face conveys maturity and youthful sultriness equally well." She definitely has that smoldering, sexy look covered, but I adore that peevish "you're an a-hole!" facial expression that she perfected as early as "The Sure Thing".

Career Moment She'd Probably Like To Forget: Here first feature-film. A 1982 slasher flick called "The Dorm That Dripped Blood". The tagline for that one was "When The Kidding StopsÂ…The Killing Starts!" Ugh.

Interesting Factoids: She once shared a house with Meg Ryan when they were both struggling actresses. Daphne was once a victim of mercury poisoning that required her to eat fish on a daily basis. She also rides a Harley and has a navel piercing (see below).

Still Crushin'?: Yes, sir. And I find it ironic that when she was younger she looked older than her real age but now that she is older, she looks young for her age.

Crush Meter: 8 out of 10

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Guest star Dana Delany:

...is smokin' hot.

She's one of the hottest (almost) 50-year old women I've ever seen. I think I'm going to go rent "Exit To Eden". On second thought, Rosie O'Donnell is in that one isn't she? Forget it. But why the hell isn't this woman on TV more?

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