The furry pink-tailed kind:

Marijuana, cocaine and narcotics began disappearing from the evidence room, and police say they've found the culprit -- rats.

About a month ago, North Port Police Department evidence and property technician Pamela Schmidt picked up a bag and noticed that it looked like it had been chewed through, said Capt. Robert Estrada.

Estrada said he doesn't know how much damage was done, and it will take a month to go through all the bins.

"There have always been some sightings (of rats) throughout the building, but never before in evidence," he said.

Police found rat droppings inside many evidence bins.

Estrada said some narcotics and marijuana were eaten by the rats, but did not know how much was eaten.

In the corner of lock-up a spiderweb was found. Knitted in the web were the words, "Templeton says more China white or he'll cut you."

Thanks to Craig.

Posted by: Ace at 07:26 PM | Comments (16)
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For help in getting the news from Iraq out to us.

Now that IÂ’m back in the United States for a time, trying wring every bit of information of the war out of the news, only to come up dry most days, itÂ’s become clear that in just under a year, the media gap has morphed into a chasm.

He's looking for retired military to lend a hand. If you're a vet, please follow the link. If you know a vet who may be interested, please pass it along.

Posted by: LauraW. at 06:13 PM | Comments (19)
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Income earned from hooking isn't income?

An Italian prostitute has won a court ruling stating her earnings are not taxable.

...

The newspaper said the judges had ruled that income from prostitution was not earnings, but compensation for the personal indignities suffered in selling sex.

The Milan court also said the absence of legislation on prostitution in Italy gave it an ambiguous status, being neither a lawful nor an unlawful occupation.

What?

Will income derived from sewer-cleaning similarly be ruled tax-free simply because of the "indignities" associated with it?

Posted by: Ace at 04:38 PM | Comments (12)
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The sex drive is one of the most powerful impulse in human beings. Male attraction to females, especially during adolescence, is very nearly painful. (For some, like Michael, it remains painful into adulthood.)

It simply boggles the mind that a man "chooses" to be attracted to men out of some strange contrarian sexual-appetite fashion choice.

I really hate that whole thing that some on the left do-- you know, where if you say anything bad about the gay agenda, they call you gay. (But insist they do so with tolerance and love!) However:

It strikes me as strange that some straight men are so convinced of the "choice" theory of homosexuailty. Can't they recall their own powerful attraction to girls at a young age? The pining over the smell of a girl in class? The stomach-churning crushes?

If they can remember that, how can they argue seriously that gayness is a "choice" for men? Do they imagine that some boys have the same intense feelings of desire for girls and yet, for reasons unfathomable, decide instead to subvert their natural inclinations and pursue the socially-disapproved, somewhat-dangerous gay lifestyle?

Or -- I hate to suggest this, because I hate that "well then you're a homo" argument -- but are some of the men who advance this argument doing so because they had some low level of desire for men but chose to ignore those impulses? I have trouble understanding how someone can imagine that there's a "choice" here unless that person himself made a small choice in the matter.

I can only extrapolate from my own experiences. I don't feel like I ever had a "choice." My sexual preference is hard-wired and pretty well immutable. (Well-- except if we're talking about, say, Matthew McConaughey in his Naval uniform from U-571. In the Navy? You betcha!)

If I didn't have a choice, why would I assume a gay guy did? If other straight men know they didn't have a choice, why would they assume others did?

The CWA article makes much of young women's sometimes changeable sexuality, but come on, women are hot, and most women are just three cocktails away from some hot girl-on-girl action. Female sexuality is just different from male sexuality, obviously.

Homosexuality And Religion: None of this means that religion has to rewrite its codes to bless homosexuality. If it's a sin, it's a sin, even if only some people are susceptible to sinning in this matter.

I wouldn't transform the Catholic Church, for example, as St. Andrew of the Sacred "Heart-Ache" insists, but I do think there's some room for more understanding. If homosexuality is a sin, it's a sin that only a tiny number of people are tempted by (and for the men "tempted" by it, it's not even a tempttation, it's a compulsion, same as straight men's attraction to women is a compulsion). People with metabolic deficiencies are less blameworthy for the sin of gluttony, for example, because they are more tested in this area. Same for gay people.

And I don't know. Sometimes I detect a certain amount of self-congratulations among those who are straight but oppose homosexuality on religious grounds, almost as if they're proud that they haven't "given in" to that particular sin. Well of course they didn't. It's not very hard to avoid a sin that doesn't tempt you in the least. It's praiseworthy when a smoker/niccotine addict goes a month without smoking; much less so for a non-smoker managing the same "feat." How much of a burden is it, really, for a heterosexual man to refrain from gay sex?

If eating Brussel sprouts were declared a mortal sin tomorrow, hey, I'd have a pretty clean slate on that score my damn self. Give up Brussel sprouts? Not a problem. Not a problem at all. And now snuggling is sinful? Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to perservere and swear off snuggling, as much as it will kill me to do so.

Posted by: Ace at 03:40 PM | Comments (189)
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Faster, please.

Posted by: Ace at 03:29 PM | Comments (3)
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Answers the question about where the Zawahiri DNA came from. From his brother, provided by the Egyptians, who have him in prison.

Posted by: Ace at 03:28 PM | Comments (2)
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Sad:

He's a direct descendant of one of America's wealthiest families, but Alexis du Pont de Bie Sr. says he's now "literally destitute and homeless" - at least by du Pont standards.
He grew up in a house with 20 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, set on a 260-acre estate in Delaware, but now he sleeps on the sofas of kindhearted friends.

He once had a trust fund worth $7 million, but now it's worth only $2.7 million - trimming his monthly allowance to $3,000.

"It has not been easy," de Bie, 62, told the Daily News yesterday. "I think I have just about worn out my welcome with the darling friends who have put up with me. I live from day to day and I survive."

Finally! The sort of homeless person with breeing and class that I, as a Republican, can feel sorry for. A lesson should be learned from Mr. DuPont by other homeless so-called "people."

Thanks to Digital Brownshirt, who also notes that police have determined that a flashlight-shaped bomb was, in fact, a flashlight.

Bad Timing + Bad Taste = Bad Karma Update: Maybe it's not the best time for that "homeless so-called 'people'" joke.

Posted by: Ace at 01:46 PM | Comments (32)
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We cannot let this religious psychopath have the bomb:

All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi, who will appear at the End of Days.

...

[This Mahdi] is said to have gone into "occlusion" in the ninth century, at the age of five. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war and bloodshed. After a cataclysmic confrontation with evil and darkness, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.

This is similar to the Christian vision of the Apocalypse. Indeed, the Hidden Imam is expected to return in the company of Jesus.

Mr Ahmadinejad appears to believe that these events are close at hand and that ordinary mortals can influence the divine timetable.

The prospect of such a man obtaining nuclear weapons is worrying. The unspoken question is this: is Mr Ahmadinejad now tempting a clash with the West because he feels safe in the belief of the imminent return of the Hidden Imam? Worse, might he be trying to provoke chaos in the hope of hastening his reappearance?

Emphasis added for, uhh, emphasis.

For all the left's worry about George W. Bush's "divine mission," they sure are silent as mice about this confirmed nutter.

Big Ol' Round-Up Update: At Michelle Malkin. Or, as I call her, the Antirios.

Posted by: Ace at 01:33 PM | Comments (24)
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Predictions: Washington 20-13.

New England 26-24. Vinateri wins it.

Ummmm... Well. Maybe not Washington.

Posted by: Ace at 12:35 PM | Comments (39)
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My designer Lime is still making little changes, but thanks for your input.

I may lighten up the quote-boxes and comment boxes for easier readability. That seems like a good compromise between those who like them and those who find them hard to read.

One thing there was some disagreement on: Originally the site would expand to fill one's screen. Someone said he didn't like how that resulted in having to read across a long page. But other people don't like the current narrowness and the need to scroll down.

I can go either way; both have been tried. For those with higher resolutions-- do you want a wider site or a narrower one?

Posted by: Ace at 11:12 AM | Comments (76)
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