Wednesday - October 08, 2008
And around we go again
Nevada state authorities are raiding the Las Vegas headquarters of an organization that works to get low-income people to vote.
A Nevada secretary of state’s office spokesman said Tuesday that investigators are looking for evidence of voter fraud at the office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also called ACORN.
No one was at the ACORN office when state agents arrived with a search warrant and began carting records and documents away.
Secretary of State spokesman Bob Walsh says ACORN is accused of submitting multiple voter registrations with false and duplicate names.
The raid comes two months after state and federal authorities formed a task force to pursue election-fraud allegations in Nevada.
ACORN investigation spreads to 10 states!
ACORN Dismantled, Leaders Indicted, Public Enraged!
Why does this group even still exist? They should have been shut down ages ago. And every single one of their registration forms thrown out. And they shouldn’t get a dime of public money. And anyone involved with the group, especially those who worked as Community Organizers and Staff Trainers, should be branded a criminal. Because I don’t buy that they aren’t aware of the dirty deeds of their underlings. Hell no. I believe they are fully aware of them, and instructed these people specifically to break the law and falsify voter registrations.
I remember how hard it was for me to register to vote. My goodness, what a task it was. Nobody sent me a form in the mail. Nobody showed up at my house with a van to give me a ride down to registration headquarters. Nobody even told me where the place was. It was awful. Really, it was. I had to dig around in the kitchen to find the phone book. Then I had to look up the number for the local Republican Party. Then I had to make a phone call and ask where I should go to register, and what hours the place was open. Since the location was on the other side of town, I had to decide whether to drive there, walk there, or take my bicycle. Pretty sure I had to take my birth certificate and my SocSec card. When I got there I actually had to speak to one or two people, and I think I even had to fill out some form and sign my name. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
I don’t think one cent of public money should be spent on voter registration. I don’t buy into this “historically disenfranchised” nonsense either. Not one bit. If you want to take part in voting, if you want to exercise your civil rights, then you have to make the effort. And every time you move from one home to another you should remember to move your registration as well. It’s the tiniest of social responsibilities. The tiniest. Ok, sure, there might be some folks lying in hospitals, or those fully disabled at home, who have finally decided to become voters. For those folks, there is a form you can fill out and mail in. All it costs you is the price of an envelope and a stamp. Less than a dollar.
These voter registration drives are a crock. All of them. Rife with fraud. All of them. There ought to be a registration cut off date 6 months before Election Day. Get your paperwork in the pipeline by then, or too bad ... no vote for you! ... this time. No exceptions. Six months should allow even the most inept government employees plenty of time to validate your data and issue you a voter ID with your picture on it. Sure, fine, State’s Rights. Ok. Let the states and the counties and the towns do whatever the hell they want for voter registration. But for Federal elections put a rigorous universal law into place, with coordinated cross checking between Social Security, the IRS, your employer, EquiFax, and all the state databases of who was born, who died, and who is a felon.
Would a Federal Voter ID be akin to a National ID card? Yes. That’s exactly what it is. But that’s creeping socialism!! No, sorry, it’s not. We are already way, way past that point. Do you really think that, if you aren’t in hiding somewhere off the grid, a la Ted Kaczynski, that the government can’t find you in under 24 hours? If you have a job they know where you live. If you get welfare they know where you live. The telephone companies cooperate with the government, so if you own a cell phone that has a calling plan they can locate you to within a meter or two in a matter of seconds. The government knows your name, your age, your sex, your race. They know where you live, where you work, what kind of a car you drive. I guarantee you they can access your credit card data, so they know what all your spending habits are. They even now how much money you put in what bank, and how often you hit the cash machine. Use one of those Shopper’s Club cards at your local grocer and the government can easily find out what you eat. They know who provides you with internet service, and it wouldn’t be too much effort for the government to find out all the sites you surf too. All they have to do is look at the logs on the server end of your ISP. The information is already there, and it never goes away. Same goes for your telephone usage. Every call, every number. Stored forever. You barely even have the illusion of privacy anymore. Let’s not kid ourselves. Ten years ago the ACLU did their pizza sketch to scare folks, but the capability was already in place then. It was only a matter of policy that the proper switches weren’t already thrown. No, let me rephrase that. It was only a matter of public policy that the government was willing to admit that the proper switches weren’t already thrown. And more public policy that they would act on the data once that had it. What was true then is only more true now, especially since we’ve had that Patriot Act thing. So let’s admit reality, not bemoan a level of freedom that hasn’t existed for at least 25 years already anyway, and use the existing system for good for once.
The technology exists so that you, the voter, should be able to walk into any polling place in America on or before Election Day, show your ID, and vote. It doesn’t matter if you are in Pasadena California, the ballot for Oshkosh Wisconsin should come up. You cast your vote, and not only does Oshkosh immediately know it, no other polling place in America will let you vote for that election. Conceptually this is hardly any different from using your Visa card. Just two or three lines of code get added so that you can only use it once per election. That’s it.
Oh, but the system can be hacked! Perhaps it can. And hacking the election system can be made a capital offense too. And we could use some of that whiz-bang encryption that already exists to protect your online credit card shopping. Oh, I lost my card!! Tough shit. Not losing your card is part of being a responsible citizen. However, if you tell us that you lost it, say 30 days before the election, then you can get a new one issued. You’d have to supply all the ID and stuff again though. Come to think of it, you really don’t even need the card do you? Just tell the election worker your SSN. Up comes your picture and they verify that it’s you. Sure, a retinal scan or a thumbprint would be absolute proof, but let’s try to keep that info out of the government’s hands a little longer if we can. But some kind of ID would almost eliminate voter fraud, and would utterly eliminate the “raisin da-tree” for ACORN to exist. And that’s a big step forward.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/08/2008 at 10:44 AM
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Permalink • Saturday - October 04, 2008
POINTS OF VIEW ……. A discussion, not an argument.
THIS POSTING IS A DISCUSSION ON THE SUBJECT WITH REGARD TO THE RIGHT OF A PHARMACIST TO WITHHOLD MEDICATIONS BASED ON PERSONAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
My position being that the rights of a patient come first where meds are the question. The right to expect to have an Rx filled without hassle based on someone else’s religion. Apparently, things are not that simple.
I normally wouldn’t do this as a posting but .... Jarand does make a point here that I thought I should post, along with my reply under comments.
It’s interesting beyond where I originally thought the subject should go. Not that I have changed my mind. But rather I see that it might not be so opened and shut a case as I believe it to be. Not that it makes any difference because authorities agree with the pharmacist in question and with Jarand as well.
Although most of what I read on this site is pretty good stuff and in my opinion, right on the money, I have to disagree with you here. The pc left and libtards are exactly the people who want to force people to act against their own religious convictions. The fact that this guy is Muslim instead of Christian doesn’t change the fact that there is and always should be a conscious clause. Nobody should be forced to dispense a product that they find morally objectionable. She can say he’s imposing his religion on her but the fact is that, in this case she is trying to impose her lack thereof on him. He told her where the pill would be available. Let her just go there and get it.
Posted by jarand550 United States 10/04/2008 at 06:27 AM
Well, the way I see it is. I can see your point and understand what you’re saying. But.
If you take a job dealing with the public and especially in this field working in a very major store, think Wal-Mart or Cosco in size, then you are going to be seeing ppl of many different values and backgrounds.
You’re a customer who walks into a store with the honest expectation of being able to get an Rx filled at a pharmacy. Chances are also (but I wouldn’t know in this case) that you’ve done or are about to also do your grocery shopping at the same time.
But hold on a minute ....
The pharmacist, based on his personal religious beliefs, can say to an atheist, a Jew or a Christian, “Sorry but based on my religious beliefs I can’t fill this Rx for you. There’s another store a mile away that might.” ??? huh?
Can a very conservative Catholic pharmacist refuse to sell “The Pill” to a woman because he or she believe in the rhythm system? Or whatever it’s called.
There are some compromises that one makes in taking employment. Or should make.
If you can’t bring yourself to fit in with the predominant culture in which you live, maybe it’s time to return to where you will fit right in with others who hold the same beliefs.
Or get a different job.
One of the problems here in the UK has been and remains, the constant pandering to various minority groups, to a point where their beliefs should be put ahead of the views of the majority of the population.
peiper
Posted by Drew458
on 10/04/2008 at 08:23 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - September 17, 2008
Another Zero Tolerance Attack Of The Stupids
Oh brother. The Ninny Police are at it again.
A 10-year-old Hilton Head Island boy has been suspended from school for having something most students carry in their supply boxes: a pencil sharpener. The problem was his sharpener had broken, but he decided to use it anyway. A teacher at Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary School noticed the boy had what appeared to be a small razor blade during class on Tuesday, according to a Beaufort County sheriff’s report. It was obvious that the blade was the metal insert commonly found in a child’s small, plastic pencil sharpener, the deputy noted.
The boy—a fourth-grader described as a well-behaved and good student—cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school’s assistant principal. He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff’s report stated, but was suspended for at least two days and could face further disciplinary action.
District spokesman Randy Wall said school administrators are stuck in the precarious position between the district’s zero tolerance policy against having weapons at school and common sense.
“We’re always going to do something to make sure the child understands the seriousness of having something that could potentially harm another student, but we’re going to be reasonable,” he said.
Hey Randy? You’re a fuckin twerp.
But hey, Hilton Head is just rife with troubles these days. Shootings galore, leftists rallying for illegal alien rights and calling it a “Peace Meeting”, even doubts about the stability of the oyster supply. Trouble in Paradise. Obviously the solution is to bust little kids for carrying broken school supplies. Another Columbine averted, for sure!
Posted by Drew458
on 09/17/2008 at 10:13 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - September 16, 2008
A Land Fit for Criminals, A trumpet blast against current dogma.
This is a worthwhile book review and clearly states the current condition of law and disorder in this country.
It is not a very pretty picture but then the ppl here don’t need a book to verify what they know already.
Been here all day or almost all of it. Just noticed the clock. Not the one on the wall. The internal one that says time to quit for the night.
So, that’s all for today, Tuesday, 16 Sept.
Cheers All ...
A trumpet blast against current dogma
Leo McKinstry reviews A Land Fit for Criminals by David Fraser.
For decades, policy on crime has been dominated by an anti-punishment ethos, which holds that offenders are really victims of deprivation and therefore need support instead of incarceration.
This is now the ideology that prevails in social work, the probation service and much of the judiciary, with the result that less than one per cent of all crimes in Britain result in a custodial sentence. Indeed, the bureaucracy of the state often seems more interested in protecting the criminal classes than the public.
David Fraser’s excellent book is a trumpet blast against this cowardly, defeatist approach. As a former probation officer himself, with 34 years of experience in dealing with offenders, he is able to provide an insider’s account of the current state of our criminal justice system, where thugs, burglars, muggers, even rapists are taught that they have little to fear from the courts. In a series of passionately argued chapters, full of compelling statistics and striking examples, he reveals how far the civic institutions of Britain have surrendered to criminality.
Fraser’s central theme is that, contrary to all the liberal propaganda, prison is the only effective method of dealing with criminals. With refreshing straightforwardness, so different from the complex jargon favoured by left-wing criminologists, he asserts that ‘Prisons can never fail because whilst an offender is locked up he cannot commit any more offences.’ In contrast, every kind of scheme to keep offenders out of jail, such as community sentences or action-plan orders, has only succeeded in encouraging more crime.
Fraser is particularly scathing about one fashionable new theory from the sociological madhouse: so-called ‘restorative justice’, where the victim of crime is encouraged to seek an apology from the perpetrator in a face-to-face meeting. Fraser rightly argues that it is outrageous to pressurise a victim into taking on some of the responsibility for an offender’s rehabilitation. Nor is there any evidence that this approach has had the slightest effect on rates of re-offending.
This book is a wonderful antidote to the poisonous myths so assiduously promoted by the anti-prison lobby. Fraser demonstrates, for instance, the emptiness of the claim that Britain sends more people to jail than any other European country. In fact, in proportion to our crime rate, we have a far more lenient sentencing policy than most other continental nations, including France, Italy and Spain. In response to wails about over-crowding, he has a refreshingly simple solution: build more prisons. Compared with the overall cost of crime, estimated by the Home Office to be at least £60 billion, the annual price tag of each prison place, at around £37,000, is good value.
Through insights based on his own career, Fraser also exposes the bogus statistics, marketing initiatives and Orwellian newspeak used by the apologists for criminality to assuage the public’s fears about their failing approach. He demonstrates, for instance, that the much-vaunted ‘intensive supervision’ of repeat offenders in the community can in practice amount to little more than one hour per week.
A sense of anger and despair runs throughout the text, mainly on behalf of the public, which has been betrayed by the self-styled experts and policy-makers. Fraser believes that sentencing has been reduced to ‘a farcical game’ and that social theories about deviance have destroyed the ability of society to defend itself.
‘We do not need psychologists to tell us the simple truth that if you reward bad behaviour you will get more of it,’ he writes with typical clarity. Before the Home Secretary Charles Clarke embarks on yet another of his Government’s fatuous exercises in promoting community sentences, he should sit down and read this book. It will teach him more about penal policy than all the research of his own supine, dogma-driven experts.
Posted by Drew458
on 09/16/2008 at 11:54 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - September 10, 2008
Health and safety bosses refuse to cut grass verge - because it’s on a slope.
Dear America, Let me know when you’re as tired of “elf n safety” (Health and Safety) stories, as the Brits are living under them. It just keeps getting funnier worse. Doesn’t it?
I guess you could sub title this, The Brit Taxpayer Dollar at work. Or not. Jeesh. They pay for this in council taxes which let me tell you are not too cheap.
As well, for all the jokes about California, the voters some time ago took some control of local taxes on property. We have referendums on things like this in the USA, something Brits just do not have. And mores the shame. They can’t even vote (so far) on that eu thing, something many want to be able to do.
The council in this case is so far off the wall it’s silly. I have seen senior citizens with property here in the village cutting verges on their land all by themselves.
So far, I doubt Winchester will enact this but who knows. As my Brit wife keeps reminding me, “Is this England we’re in?”
This is
LONDONHealth and safety bosses refuse to cut grass verge - because it’s on a slope
Daily Mail Feed
A stunned mother asked council workmen to cut a patch of overgrown communal grass after her son injured himself on buried broken glass - only to be told it was too dangerous to mow.
Vanessa Crowhurst had rang a local authority hotline after her 11-year old son Jamie slipped and sliced his right shin on hidden shards in the verge.
But officials declined to send out a lawnmower fearing the grass road siding was too much of a hazard to mow due health and safety regulations.
They said workmen might slip and fall too because it was on an embankment - leading to possible legal action.
Today Mrs Crowhurst, 40, who works as a carer, said: ‘I am absolutely outraged at the attitude of the council.
‘Surely the health and safety of the kids is more important.
‘At least the workmen can wear protective clothing. Some other lad could hurt himself.
‘These health and safety laws are political correctness gone mad. The grass used to be cut frequently in the past and if the law has been changed to say ridiculous things like this then it needs to be changed back.’
The incident occurred when Jamie was playing football with friends outside the family home and kicked a ball onto the grass on an embankment. He went to retrieve the ball but slipped and fell cutting his leg on a broken bottle.
‘My son had to have seven stitches in his leg - the cut was directly down his shin so it was very graphic,’ said Mrs Crowhurst, a mother of two from Altrincham, Manchester.
‘It looked like when you cut open your Sunday joint you could nearly see to the bone. He has only had one week of his summer where he could go out and play properly.
‘The grass is so long you can’t see what is in it and there is nothing more attractive to kids when they”re playing than long grass, I know when I was younger I was worse.’
Verge of dispute: The long grass that Trafford Borough Council won’t mow.Mrs Crowhurst called Trafford Borough Council to complaint about the long grass and its hidden danger.
She was told on the phone that an official would get back to her.
‘Obviously no one ever did so I rang again a week later and was told that a note had been put on my complaint saying “No further action,” she explained.
‘I was then told by the person who wrote the note that it was against health and safety to cut the grass because the incline on the grass was too steep and there was nothing the council could do.
‘I said the grass was full of rubbish and glass and that rats will be the next thing. She told me that if there was glass in the grass then the council’s workers might cut themselves.
‘You can imagine how that sounded after my eleven year old has just had seven stitches and has a scar which will never go.
‘There is absolutely nothing I can do now because the council is not legally required to cut the grass - but I would argue that it should be done morally.
‘And if they can’t maintain the grass then they should pave or tarmac it.’ A spokesman for Conservative-run Trafford Council said: ‘The grass on the embankment is not cut on a regular basis because of the dangers of working on a steep gradient.
‘We are concerned to hear about this incident and are looking at whether the area can be planted out with low growing shrubs to further discourage children from playing in the area.’
Posted by Drew458
on 09/10/2008 at 05:41 AM
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Permalink • Monday - September 08, 2008
Let’s Have An Argument
Potato? Potatoe? Who can really say? (Well, I can. Dan Quayle can’t). But if you’re looking for a discussion ... or an argument ... there is a new web site. They’ve sent me a few emails already, asking for a mention. So, Ok, here’s a mention:
Opposing Views lets you see both sides of the issues. Get as much information as you can to help you make up your mind. Listen to bona fide experts lay out the pros and cons of the things that are on people’s minds these days. Join in the discussions via the comment areas so your voice can be heard as well.
I think there might be some need for a web site like this. Not everyone has the time or the inclination to learn about everything. Most people have a gut feeling about most issues, but I’m certain many of them would like some facts and some more information to back that up. After all, you won’t last long in a big discussion if your only input is “I don’t like it”. It’s possible that OpposingViews.com could give you some reinforcement.
They contacted me because The Gun Thing comes up here at BMEWS quite often. It seems that all of us, so far anyway, have the same views on this one. But that doesn’t mean that some of our readers share them. Well, fear not, “some other readers”, you can voice your viewpoints here ... but I hope you have more information than just your gut feelings to go on, because people will give you an argument. And that is how it should be. So maybe OpposingViews.com can help.
In their email, they mention that
The unique thing about OpposingViews.com is that we have well known experts debating about issues of the day. You can find an argument anywhere, but it’s not everywhere that the debaters are actually vetted experts.
I would point out that almost everyone that I know who is involved even slightly in the Second Amendment “issue” (placed in scare quotes because it isn’t an issue: it’s part of being an American, and until just one or two generations ago was accepted as such. Common knowledge. But common knowledge isn’t very common anymore) has become an expert to a very large extent. We seem to know about a whole slew of court cases, judicial viewpoints, law, firearms knowledge, idiocy at the BATFE, history, etc., and also have a very high awareness of the disinformation campaigns out there, who is behind them, and why. That’s about as expert as you can get without actually working for CSI (and even those guys were weak in the Jayson Williams case).
But what if the question is not guns, but “do mercury preservatives in infant inoculations cause brain damage/ADD/AIDS/Alzheimer’s/Autism (pick one)?” then I’m not really sure. Do they? Don’t they? What kind of research has been done/is being done? How big a sample population are we talking about? What about other countries? How do local pollution levels factor in? Is it worth the risk to have my kids get the shots? What if all the other kids get inoculated, wouldn’t my kid then be safe without the shots? Many public schools require them before letting a child attend, but what if I homeschool? Maybe OpposingViews.com can help me learn the answers to those questions. (although I already know that plenty of BMEWS folks know. I’m pretty sure this one came up a year or two back).
Sure, you can Google all of it up if you have the time. And it can take a lot of time. And you have no way of knowing if what you find is right, wrong, real, or pure BS done up with a lovely green bow. Because Any Fool Can Publish On The Internet. This is what OpposingViews.com is all about. Both sides, right now, from reliable sources. Read, learn, decide. Pretty cool? Or pretty silly? Your call. But look first, then decide.
Posted by Drew458
on 09/08/2008 at 10:21 PM
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Permalink • Sunday - August 31, 2008
Why should we be wedded to the ideal of marriage? Is marriage outdated ?
If you go the link you’ll need to scroll down a short way to catch this. There are other things by this writer and some interesting comments.
I thought I’d post this here to see what our readers think about this. Maybe she’s correct but perhaps only for some ppl.
My marriage truth to tell is a joke and has been for ... gee ... I never remember how long. Ah, wife reminds me married 38 yrs in July. I was too frightened to ask exactly what day in July. We’ve been together for 40 years and I can’t imagine anyone else putting up with me and the career moves I’ve had. Now when I say our marriage is a joke, I should explain that’s how our mornings start and our days end. No matter what’s happened during the day, even if we’ve had a disagreement of some kind, the day ends with some wacky silly gag or practical joke. My wife is somewhat better at practical jokes then I am.
We’ve been thru some very ruff patches it’s true. Was a time when we weren’t sure it would last a lifetime. I recall once when we gave some thought to living in seperate places BUT .... at the time we thought by seperate places it should be adjoining apts. or houses. Nothin’ came of that happy to say.
OK, I’ve had my say. Now over to you.
Why should we be wedded to the ideal of marriage?
By Melissa Kite
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 31/08/2008Now that record numbers of pensioners are divorcing, we should really try to be honest about what is happening to that fine old institution, marriage.
We need to be rigorously truthful with ourselves about why 13,678 people over 60 were divorced in 2007, up from 12,636 the previous year and from 9,052 in 1997. We also need to be realistic about why marriage rates are at the lowest level since records began in 1862.
It is painful to let go of dreams. But the simple and unappealing fact is that marriage was a useful institution when women had no possessions of their own and men needed sons and heirs to pass theirs on to.
It was invented as a commercial solution and has now outlived its commercial usefulness. People still fall in love, want to live under the same roof and raise children. But when they fall out of love, they don’t feel they should prolong the arrangement.
Politicians offering tax breaks to keep us together miss the point that couples now marry and break up in the pursuit of happiness. They will stay together for love, but not money.
And when even empty nesters think it is better to embark on an adventure in their sixties rather than stay in a stale relationship, we should accept what is screaming out at us.
Marriage as a lifetime contract is dying. We need to get over our obsession with preserving it at all costs and move on to pastures new.
Posted by Drew458
on 08/31/2008 at 11:31 AM
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Permalink • Thursday - August 28, 2008
A CALL TO THE POLICE. QUICK PLEASE, THERE’S A BURGLER HERE. REPLY, SOLVE THE PROBLEM YOURSELF.
Hey, not a joke. Apparently that’s the message in reply to a 999 call to the police. 999 in UK is 911 in USA.
999 call answered with police text saying: solve it yourself
A couple who dialled 999 to report a burglary at their neighbour’s house received a text message from police asking them to investigate it themselves.
By Gordon Rayner Chief Reporter
Last Updated: 3:23AM BST 28 Aug 2008A couple who dialled 999 to report a burglary at their neighbour’s house received a text message from police asking them to investigate it themselves.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary contacted Lloyd and Suzanne Bishop an hour after their 999 call to explain that it was too short-staffed to send anyone to the scene.
The message read: “Lloyd. Following on from your call earlier on to the police, please can you contact us if you are able to establish what has been stolen and where from?
“At this time we’re struggling to get the police to attend general calls for service, many thanks.”
Mrs Bishop, 29, from Cambridge, said she was “gobsmacked and disgusted” by the response after she and her husband saw a man smashing a padlock on their neighbour’s shed before jumping over a fence.
She said: “To text the person who calls and ask them to investigate what had been stolen, broken into and who did it is just incredible. It gives burglars the idea that they can get away with it because the police aren’t going to send anyone out. What message does that send to my neighbours here? Is it pointless to call police if you see someone breaking in?”
Mrs Bishop and her husband, who are full-time carers for their two-year-old daughter Lizzie, who has special needs, were woken at 5am on Sunday by the sound of the padlock being smashed and saw a man in a white T-shirt running off. Mr Bishop, 33, immediately called police and was assured that officers would check the area for the culprit.
He said: “I would have thought they should have been able to catch a man in a white T-shirt as there couldn’t have been many running around the area at five in the morning. The police are asking us to do their job. It makes you wonder what we pay our taxes for.”
Despite his reservations, Mr Bishop did as he was asked, and looked into the shed, which did not appear to have had anything taken from it.
A Cambridgeshire police spokesman, said: “Due to the number of emergency calls we were unable to send an officer straight to the scene.
“All calls have to be graded by their urgency and, unfortunately, at this time there were a number of incidents, including reports of disorder and assaults, which police were attending.
“A text message was sent to the caller to explain that officers were unable to attend immediately and we apologise if this disturbed them.”
A spokesman from the Taxpayer’s Alliance said: “It is shocking to think things have got so bad that police are texting people to ask them to be volunteer sleuths.”
http://tinyurl.com/5av77z
Posted by Drew458
on 08/28/2008 at 08:53 AM
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Permalink • Monday - August 11, 2008
Actor Robbie Coltrane pictured on ‘wanted’ poster in place of teenage suspect.
See? Now this kind of dumb thinking is what causes bad language and RCOB.
I found this a few days ago and should have posted it sooner but this does deserve a major MOONBAT AWARD for the authorities who heaven forbid can’t let the citizens know what the gremlin looks like due to his tender age.
This is from NZ which show ya dumb is everywhere.
His screen roles have ranged from a hard drinking criminal psychologist to a failed gangster who dresses up as a nun, but now the actor Robbie Coltrane has found himself the subject of a police “wanted” poster.
By Paul Chapman in Wellington and John Bingham
Last Updated: 1:36AM BST 08 Aug 2008
Copies of the poster have been pushed through letter boxes in central Christchurch, the biggest city in New Zealand’s South IslandPolice in New Zealand used a photograph of the British star as an unlikely stand-in for a teenage burglar as the country’s laws prevent them using the real criminal’s image because he is a minor.
Although Coltrane is 58 years old, officers decided that he resembled the 16-year-old suspected serial burglar closely enough to use the picture.To avoid confusion they advised the public that Coltrane, who is best known in the country as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, was not in fact a burglar adding: “
“But imagine him aged 16 with lank, greasy hair and you have the picture.”
In what is likely to be seen as an extra insult, the Scottish star - whose real name is Anthony McMillan - is described on the poster as an “English” actor.Copies of the poster have been pushed through letter boxes in central Christchurch, the biggest city in New Zealand’s South Island.
It shows a glum faced Coltrane under the word “wanted” in large type.It explains in smaller letters beneath that Coltrane, who plays criminal psychologist Eddie Fitzgerald in the television series, is not the burglar but did look like him.
It adds that the real criminal lives locally and travels by bicycle to commit his crimes.
“He will break windows to gain entry and ransack property, targeting electronic items, cash and jewelery.”
Police said that, given the legal restrictions on what they could publish and the offender’s known resemblance to a younger Coltrane, frustrated officers came up with the plan.
Sergeant Phil Dean said: “It’s a provocative thing to get people to read our crime prevention information.”
He said of the look-alike burglar: “Our interest is in shutting him down, preventing him from committing any further crime.”
Residents of the area have been largely impressed by the ingenuity of the local police.“I think the leaflet is very, very clever,” one middle-aged man said. “It got around the law and alerted us to what is going on in our neighbourhood.”
Another said: “I am wondering what Robbie Coltrane would look like as a 16-year-old. I’m also wondering how he would get through the window of my house.”
Pat Creasey of the local Neighbourhood Support group, commented: “I think Mr Coltrane would think it was a bit of a hoot. I’m sure he would be fully supportive of it.”
But an elderly woman said she did not know whether the leaflets were a joke.It is not the first time Coltrane has been pictured on a “wanted” poster. In the comedy Nuns on the Run his on screen persona Charlie McManus takes refuge in a convent after police offer a $1 million dollar reward for his capture.
Coltrane, who is on holiday with his family, was unavailable for comment.
His London agent was not amused and refused to comment.
Posted by Drew458
on 08/11/2008 at 08:20 AM
Filed Under: • Crime • Daily Life • Government • Stoopid-People •
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Permalink • Saturday - August 02, 2008
IMMIGRATION ANYONE?
with h/t to barb for sending me this and Drew who told me where the embed was. Missed it cause it looked greyed out. Anyway, some of you folks may have seen this already. For those who haven’t, watch it .... and boy oh boy do the Brits know about this sort of thing.
The quality isn’t perfect but the sound is all ya need.
The following comment is from Drew
A local hospital has forced itself into bankruptcy because they were bleeding money from all the illegals using the place. They might re-open as a private special treatment center, but as a hospital they’re gone. They will also open a non-emergency emergency room, ie a clinic, for all the pore, starvin, and illegals.
Posted by Drew458
on 08/02/2008 at 11:45 AM
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Economics • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration • Politics •
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Permalink • Saturday - July 26, 2008
LADY FINED $600.00 FOR USING THE WRONG COLOR TRASH BAG. JOKE? NO. NOT AT ALL.
The fine was revoked but ......
Trader is fined £300 by council for using black bin bags instead of grey
Story from: The Daily Mail, EnglandNicole Rosbrook was fined for using the wrong coloured bin bags
Customers shopping for clothes at the Charli boutique watched in amazement when two uniformed men marched in and threatened staff with criminal prosecution.Their crime? Putting out rubbish in the wrong-coloured bin bags.
Council officers announced that the shop in Muswell Hill, North London, would be fined £300 after using black bags because they had run out of the grey version issued by the local authority.
The designer store had been waiting since July 1 for a delivery of new bags, but by the 17th staff decided they would have to put their rotting rubbish out in four standard black bags - a decision which cost them £75 per bag.
Owner Sangita Ibrahim, 47, said: ‘The shop was really busy and they came in here like the Gestapo.
‘Staff were told they would face criminal prosecution and receive a criminal record for the bags. I felt like I was going to be frogmarched away.’
Colleague Nicole Rosbrook said: ‘The two men actually went through the bags, leaving them open and rubbish strewn over the pavement.’
Manager Dora Panagi, 41, added: ‘Muswell Hill has a real pest problem and we had food in the bags in the stock room.
‘We had been waiting two weeks for these grey bags to be delivered so we could put it out.
‘It started to smell terrible so we put it in four black bags and put two of the grey council bags on top so that they would know it was our rubbish and take it.
‘When I came in the next day there was rubbish all over the pavement and I thought that foxes had got to it.
‘Then in walked these two guys looking like policemen with all the badges and the way they dealt with it was horrific.
One said there had been a criminal offence and I didn’t know what he was talking about. My knees were shaking.
She said that when customers tried to intervene they were brushed aside by the officials.
‘Funnily enough the next morning after that happened the bags were finally delivered.’
A Haringey Council spokesman said: ‘We are working very hard with residents to stop people abusing the trade waste collection by using it for their rubbish.
Trade waste is left out in specific bags to ensure we provide paying traders with an efficient service.
The rubbish was clearly not in the correct bags and looked like the many fly-tipping bags our traders find dumped in their waste.
‘Consequently the notice was lawfully issued by our fly-tipping patrol who followed proper procedures.
‘Having investigated the situation with our contractors who collect trade waste and supply the trade waste bags, we will be contacting the shop to arrange cancelling the enforcement notice in this case.’
Council staff at a rubbish tip are to wear head cameras so they can record bad behaviour by members of the public.
Poole Council in Dorset said the move was designed to protect its staff at the Nuffield Household Waste and Recycling Centre after recent cases of abuse and aggression.
Posted by Drew458
on 07/26/2008 at 06:05 AM
Filed Under: • Crime • Daily Life • UK •
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Permalink • Saturday - July 12, 2008
sadness
Oh poo. This sucks. Of all the “journalists” and MSM talking heads, Tony was one of the very very few that I had any respect or admiration for.
FoxNews broadcaster and former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow has died. He was 53.
Tony Snow, the former White House press secretary and conservative pundit who bedeviled the press corps and charmed millions as a FOX News television and radio host, died Saturday after a long bout with cancer. He was 53.
A syndicated columnist, editor, TV anchor, radio show host and musician, Snow worked in nearly every medium in a career that spanned more than 30 years.
“Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend Tony Snow,” President Bush said in a written statement. “The Snow family has lost a beloved husband and father. And America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character.”
Snow died at 2 a.m. Saturday at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Tony had been battling colon cancer for several years. Things looked good for a while, but in the end the cancer won. Although his stated reason for leaving the White House was “to earn some more money” it was pretty obvious the end was near. The surgeries and chemotherapy had aged him, visually at least, a good 25 years.
Posted by Drew458
on 07/12/2008 at 11:31 AM
Filed Under: • Daily Life •
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Permalink • Wednesday - July 09, 2008
Summer Bowling League
Yup, we blew it. Totally. And we didn’t even have to. Worse, we shouldn’t have.
Huh? Well, you see, marriage is a never ending act of compromise. Which means you do what she wants, always. Right now my wife’s work schedule is really messed up and highly dynamic. Which means sometimes she doesn’t even know on Monday what hours she’s working on Tuesday. It’s very stressful. They actually do have a schedule, but so much changes so often that it’s hardly worth it.
We bowl on Tuesday nights, and her schedule has her working every other Tuesday night. Last night was supposed to be one of the nights she had to work, so she went to the alley this weekend and pre-bowled. I went with her and pre-bowled too, not that I needed to, but that’s how it goes sometimes. I get to share in her suffering. So we both pre-bowled, and turned in some pretty decent scores. Her series was at least 30 pins over average, and mine was more than 100 pins over average. Looking good!
Monday comes along and she finds out she will have Tuesday night off. “Let’s go bowling then.” Um, honey, we pre-bowled already. “But we’re playing an easy team. Why not use the scores next week, because I might have to work, and besides, next week we’re playing the really good team and we’ll need those scores.” But, but, but ... and so we went.
The lady at the alley was so thrilled to see us. “What the !#$% are you doing here? You pre-bowled!” Naturally it was up to me to explain things. Great. And so we crossed off our great pre-bowling scores, saving them for next week, and proceeded to bowl like total shit. And lost all 3 games. Had we used our pre-bowl scores our team would have won at least 2 of them. So this pretty much kills our chances of getting in the top positions; our wins over the past couple weeks had floated us all the way up to 3rd and we were only 3 points out of 1st. Now we’ll sink down at least as far as 5th. And it’s our fault, totally.
Sure, we can blame some of it on life conditions. She used the drive up there as a bitch session about her job, and got herself all worked up and pissed off before we even got there. That was a fun trip, oh boy. I had very little sleep the night before, and I hadn’t even eaten before we went, so I was a no energy lump. And our little summer league is small, and the only league scheduled for that time slot, so the alley tries to save a bit of money and doesn’t run the air conditioning for the first two hours we’re playing. Great. So I’m sweating my socks off as well. Yup, these are all excuses, and there are really no excuses at league. You have to put everything else in a box and ignore it, and focus on the job at hand. You can’t go getting annoyed at other people, you really have to fight hard at getting upset with yourself when things don’t go right, etc. It’s a game after all. Sure, it’s competition and you want to do your best and it sucks when you blow it, but that’s life. Now get over it, right now, and bowl better the next frame.
I plan on getting up there to practice at least once this week. Without her. And while I’m there, I’m going to talk to the alley owner and see if I can’t get him to adopt this set of house rules for pre-bowling. What we did last night was wrong, and it should not have been allowed. Ok, we paid the price for it already, but I think the pre-bowling idea needs some clarification, so that in the future nobody can get away with it:
HOUSE RULES FOR LEAGUE PRE-BOWLING
If your bowling league allows individual pre-bowling:
- The score sheet must be filled out properly and include the date that this pre-bowling is for use on. If you pre-bowl on October 2nd because you can’t make it to league on October 6th, you put October 6th in as the date on the form.
- Score sheets without a For Use On date will not be accepted. You can not keep a generic pre-bowling score on hand “just in case”.
- Once you elect to pre-bowl for a certain date and have started your pre-bowling, that’s it. The scores that you pre-bowl are the scores that will be used on the date you enter on the score sheet. You can not bowl for score at league on that date. If an actual personal emergency occurs while you are pre-bowling and you have to leave, please try to come back and complete your pre-bowling before league night. If you can not, then your pre-bowling scores will reflect that you had to leave, and absentee scores will be used for the missing and incomplete games.
- There are no do-overs or mulligans. You do not get to pre-bowl multiple times for a given date and submit your best score. You get one go at it, just like when you are at league.
- Because lane conditions might be different when you pre-bowl compared to those at league, no awards will be given for any pre-bowling scores.
- Your league may not allow pre-bowling for position rounds and playoff rounds. Check your bylaws.
Furthermore, although it might be a little ex-post facto, I would throw out the pre-bowling scores we did an end run around last night. Screw us. And maybe next time, just maybe, she’ll listen to me. Ha!
Posted by Drew458
on 07/09/2008 at 12:16 PM
Filed Under: • Daily Life •
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Permalink • Tuesday - July 08, 2008
Light posting
Sorry for not having anything today. Lots of busy going on in life right now. I’ll try to find some time tomorrow, day after at the latest.
Posted by Drew458
on 07/08/2008 at 09:50 PM
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
- Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
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- Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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