... in a Prius, though. So everything's okay.

Al Gore's son was in jail today on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs when he was pulled over for allegedly driving a Prius 100 mph on an Orange County freeway, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Al Gore III, 24, of Los Angeles, was allegedly driving a blue Toyota Prius south on the San Diego (5) Freeway about 100 mph about 2:15 a.m. when a sheriff's deputy stopped him at the Crown Valley Parkway exit, said Jim Amormino of the Sheriff's Department.

...

Gore was arrested on suspicion of drug possession and booked into the
Inmate Reception Center in Santa Ana on $20,000 bail, he said.
The Prius was towed and stored, he said.

A Gore family spokesman said the spirited lad was "attempting to raise awareness of the green lifestyle" by alerting the public to the little-known fact that Prius can hit 100mph at all.

Thanks to tmi3rd.

Video link at Dan Riehl.

Posted by: Ace at 11:10 AM | Comments (76)
Post contains 188 words, total size 1 kb.

I find it helpful to re-read this once in awhile. Nothing refreshes my love of this country more than realizing the courage of those who founded it.

Happy Fourth of July, all.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. more...

Posted by: Slublog at 06:03 AM | Comments (91)
Post contains 1373 words, total size 9 kb.

Who ya gonna call?

Fedbusters!

Thanks to Grimaldi.

Although Ron Paul's maniacs are somewhat more maniacal than other candidates' maniacs, there is little doubt that the sort of people marching about like, I'm sorry to break the no-Hiter-mentions rule here, little Beer Hall Putsch gangs in support of someone who, let's face it, is almost certainly a douchebag anyway are, in fact, maniacs.

This is the shit that makes me really want nothing to do with activism and politics generally. I want to just sit back and shoot spitballs at morons rather than advocate on someone's behalf because ultimately advocating on someone's behalf leads to this cult-like stupidity.

At CPAC I was constantly surrounded by Brownback troopers and Mitt's Blueshirts. Marching, waving placards, shouting slogans, and handing out stupid pamphlets.

I think I liked Mitt's more; they seemed less intense, and there were more semi-cute college chicks, and they wore these Mitt t-shirts of a really appealing shade of cobalt. (I tried to cadge one off a volunteer, but I've got no game.)

And oh yeah-- they weren't shouting and stamping about like utter lunatics every five minutes.

What the hell is this behavior supposed to accomplish, anyhow? Are we supposed to think, "My God! I am positively surrounded by passionate supporters of Sam Brownback! Why, counting the thirty I see right here, and extrapolating linearly throughout the country, there must be one hundred and forty million equally passionate Brownback supporters! I'd better get on this runaway train before all the seats are taken!"

This is, somehow, the repellent occupation I've managed to kinda-sorta blundered into without any real enthusiasm for the job.

The rope over the ceiling beam beckons to me. A sudden tautening like a guitar-string and then it strums the sweet note of blissful release.

Posted by: Ace at 06:48 PM | Comments (30)
Post contains 330 words, total size 2 kb.

A "journalist whose name you'd recognize," Instapundit says.

Yon's story doesn't get attention because it is humiliating.

It is humiliating because it is obvious that we media – and our allies in the state department, the legal trade, the NGOs, the Democratic Party, the UN, etc., - can’t do squat about such determined use of force.

Our words, images, arguments and skills canÂ’t stop the killing. Only the rough soldiers and their guns can solve the problem, and we wonÂ’t admit that fact because the admission would weaken our influence and our claim to social status.

I think that's only partly the reason, though, because the media obviously doesn't have much problem reporting on the discovery of sixty-three-bazillion headless bodies in the Green Zone motor pool. And obviously, they can't do a damn thing about that, either.

Part of it is just more basic: simple vanity. Journalists' status comes from their presumption that they, and only they, have the skills necessary to report big stories.

They have an emotional investment in this ego-serving proposition.

If a non-accredited gate-crasher like Michael Yon breaks a story, it must therefore have not been a big story in the first place, otherwise, of course, they would have covered it first, right?

And something a little more than that: It embarrasses them they they seem to rely on emails from shady police operatives for their "scoops" -- without even bothering to visit the alleged site of massacres -- while Michael Yon is actually out in the field, slogging through the sand, digging -- quite literally -- for the stories they're supposed to be oh-so-expert at reporting on.

While they sit in the Intercontintal Hotel "reporting" what agenda-driven tipsters and outright hoaxers simply drop into their email box, this non-reporter is actually acting as the real sort of reporter they always dreamed of one day being. Before deciding it was just too darn difficult.

But also-- what this other guy said, too.

Thanks to CJ.

Posted by: Ace at 06:39 PM | Comments (40)
Post contains 349 words, total size 2 kb.

Ah, yes. The return of diverse groups drawn from all strata of society. No commonalities between them whatsoever.

Diverse group allegedly in British plot

[um, only the media is "alleging" the "diversity" of this group]

LONDON - They had diverse backgrounds, coming from countries around the globe, but all shared youth and worked in medicine. They also had a common goal, authorities suspect: to bring havoc and death to the heart of Britain.

The eight people held Tuesday in the failed car bombing plot include one doctor from Iraq and two from India. There is a physician from Lebanon and a Jordanian doctor and his medical assistant wife. Another doctor and a medical student are thought to be from the Middle Eas

This diverse-group-from-all-strata-of-society is even stupider than most. Given, of course, they're all radical Muslims, which is a non-diverse factor right there. But even if we ignore that point -- which this article, of course, strains to do -- all of the members of the group were 1, doctors or spouses of doctors, 2, ergo educated, 3, specifically educated in the Middle East, who 4, had come to Britain, to 5, work in Britain's NHS.

So, let's see: Same area of origin, same profession, same level of education, same employer, same country of residence, same religion, same ideology, same social class, same (we can guess) income level.

Same native language, same status as immigrant workers, same pathway to their jobs, same social circles. (Two of the bombers had been introduced years before by their fathers, who were friends.)

Same hobbies and interests: Chiefly, mass murder.

Has there in all of human history been a less diverse group of people?

In what way were these motherfuckers dissimilar at all? What, one favored fuel-air bombs while another was partial to nitrates?

Thanks to steve_in_hb. It's gone from dark comedy to black farce at this point.

A diverse group of Clone Troopers, sharing identical
DNA, birthplace, schooling, training, experience, employer,
tactics, armament, and psychological profie,
drawn from wildly differing strata of a clone hatchery,
are the principle suspects in executing the Jedi-murdering "Order 66."

Posted by: Ace at 05:53 PM | Comments (32)
Post contains 355 words, total size 3 kb.

If you're drinking beer, add salt to the ice water bath. From Mythbusters, or rather an bloggish sort of fan site about the show:

Experiment 1: Ice vs. Ice + water vs. Ice + water + salt vs. fridge vs. freezer

Initial measurements:

* Ice
* Ice + water: 33 degrees
* Ice + water + salt (salt melts ice and lowers the freezing point): 24 degrees

Results (after 5 minutes):

* ice: 57 degrees
* ice water: 44 degrees
* salt water: 35.9 degrees
* freezer: 55 degrees
* fridge: 60 degrees

Final results [time needed to cool to an unspecified cold temperature]:

* Ice + water + salt: 5 minutes
* Ice + water: 15 minutes
* Freezer: 25 minutes
* Ice: 30 minutes
* Fridge: 40+ minutes

Incidentally, a fire extinguisher will also cool beer down to a frosty 37 degrees in three minutes flat.

Posted by: Ace at 05:45 PM | Comments (14)
Post contains 148 words, total size 1 kb.

Interesting fact: While Myers claimed DragonSkin's inventor had previously invented the current Interceptor armor system (as he claims as well, I imagine), it turns out the Army guy interviewed here says he never heard of him. It turns out the "inventor of the Interceptor armor system" had actually only designed the vest into which the ballistic plates are set.

Another interesting fact: The Air Force is seeking "debarment" of Pinnacle Armor from all future government contracts for mislabling its product.

Why did NBC run such a slipshod story in the first place, so full of holes, and so absurdly sourced? (That is -- its primary source was DragonSkin's inventor, who obviously had pecuniary and ego-driven reasons to prefer his own business venture.)

Well, gee whiz, I just wonder. I can't think of any reason for NBC to suddenly start pimping on behalf of a would-be military contractor. Not a one.

Posted by: Ace at 05:14 PM | Comments (13)
Post contains 170 words, total size 1 kb.

Kind of want to steal it, but I'l just begrudgingly throw the link.

A soldier in Iraq apparently has decided that the most authoritative voice to use in a vehicle inspection is Harry Carey's.

The Iraqi he's stopped probably doesn't know what the hell he's saying, but he laughs at the voice.

I'd like to see him do the "meow" thing from Super Troopers. Maybe when interrogating real (captured, disarmed) Al Qaeda. Just to piss them off.

Posted by: Ace at 04:00 PM | Comments (18)
Post contains 79 words, total size 1 kb.

Note: Russ is having trouble uploading pictures. I'll see if I can add them to this later. Also I added in a subhed to his headline, so people will know what this is about.

Hello. Russ from Winterset here. Longtime commenter, first time poster, so bear with me because, well let's face it; I'm a retard. I attended a "Ron Paul for President" rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday, and I've been trying all day to get my pictures posted here. I already had access to mu.nu thanks to Kathy at CakeEater Chronicles, but I didn't have picture privlidges (I guess she was worried that I'd fill her little culture blog up with pr0n or something like that). Ace gave me the keys to the blog, and went back and allowed me to post pictures, but now I'm getting error messages when I try to upload my pictures. So fuck it. I'll do this article with words alone.

more...

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at 03:27 PM | Comments (23)
Post contains 1650 words, total size 9 kb.

No, really, pet it. It's clean.

Clean enough for the likes of you, at least.

"It's sleek, fast, cute -- and pink."

Why thank you. I just buffed it.

Via dri.

Posted by: Ace at 03:21 PM | Comments (15)
Post contains 39 words, total size 1 kb.