Heard on the radio this morning that the University of Tennessee was going to raise tuition by 9%. So, why aren’t the lottery funds for education taking care of that? Plus, the state has a revenue surplus. Yet, tuition goes up. So much for priorities.

Tactical Innovations is offering a Model 62 22LR suppressor for $90. Add two bills for the NFA tax and you’re in a suppressor for $300. Anyone know anything about these suppressors?

Here we are about to enjoy our cupcake (which is liver flavored – no, I kid):

Here we are finishing it off:

Update: For the benefit of Big Stupid Tommy, who tells that dogs in hats are always funny, yes it is the same hat as last year. Guess we need some new dog hats.

Seems like just yesterday I brought that 10 pound little round-headed thing home. Now, at seventy four pounds, he’s still convinced he’s a lapdog. Since then, we’ve taken up swimming, walking, running, playing catch, getting in some air time with a flirt pole, tormenting geese, and other things together. If you learn one thing from a dog, it should be that every time you get up, you ought to have a good yawn and a stretch.

Today, Politically Incorrect Dog turns two.

Here’s a pic from last year’s birthday festivities:

It’s not every day that my old high school is in the news. It’s even more rare that news isn’t about sports. But today is that day:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – That smell coming from Jefferson County High School’s football stadium this fall? Let’s just say it may not be the hot dogs. Those cheers from the crowd? Not for the team. In fact, the players won’t even be on the field. They’ll be on the sideline, rooting. For what? One lonely cow wandering a 100-yard field in search of a place to go to the bathroom.

Where the bovine ultimately decides to do her business will mean big bucks for the lucky person who bet on that portion of the field.

It’s all part of a local charity’s Oct. 16 “Cow Drop Raffle” to raise money for equipment to stock the football team’s weight lifting room.

The Dandridge event is one of many planned by charities across the state now that the General Assembly has permitted gambling fund-raisers by certain nonprofit organizations.

The legislature has been pondering charitable gambling for a while, since they passed a tax on hope err lottery.

My high school is no where near Nashville. It’s about three hours east of there. We East Tennesseans (with our history of trying to secede from the rest of the state) don’t much like being compared to those Central Tennesseans. And don’t even get me started on those West Tennesseans, or as we like to call them Arkansans.

Bloomberg is reporting that an artillery shell containing Sarin gas was found and detonated.

Though this a violation of UN orders, Sarin (which is quite deadly) is not that easy to disperse. So no, this isn’t the motherload.

XRLQ links to VH1s 50 most awesomely bad songs ever. I, just like you, actually dig some of the tunes on that list, like What’s Up and Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm. The list is missing every song ever by The Scorpions and Dave Matthews (ed: DMB the band actually kicks ass, it’s that singing voice that irritates the crap out of me). I’m sure the Toby Keith tune is on their for political reasons. The song isn’t that bad, for country, which is to say it’s the top turd on the pile.

From a while back, there were a few bloggers doing the best guitar riffs. Ricky, Michele and Jay chimed in with some good lists. My vote for number one is definitely Cult of Personality. Vernon Reid is the man. I know these types of lists wax nostalgic for the good old days but there are some riffs that are new that are influential, to wit:

Blind – Korn: After this tune, every metal band ever tried to imitate this sound.

Nookie – Limp Bizkit: Though XRLQ will poo poo it, the riff is actually good (even though it’s almost the same as the Chili Peppers Suck My Kiss).

Creep – Radiohead: Not so much a riff really as a sound. Mind you, that sound is the only saving grace for this boring, never changing song. And, by the way, Radiohead otherwise blows. How can a band release songs with no hook, no melody and no anything and sell them?

Man in the Box – Alice in Chains: Catchy riff and every bar band ever covers this song.

Outshined – Soundgarden: Dropped D tuning goes mainstream. Good lick too.

Kim DuToit has added open comments to his blog.

I like Kim’s stuff, but given the way he tends to be, um, controversial, I expect he’s eventually going to get tired of banning trolls and deleting flames. Then again, you never know.

I hope it works out.

Jeff has the latest check on the bias against guns.

The first gay couples to legally wed are turning out in Mass (pun intended).

So, how long before Jesse Jackson comes out and criticizes Bush for marking Brown vs. Board of Education?

This is why we need Black Bush 2004: Mars, bitches!

Since the Republicans ain’t what they used to be (particularly some of our local boys), The Constitution Party is recruiting locally.

Note to the Tennessean: They’re not a new party.

The Houston Chronicle notes:

The bill’s fate may rest in the hands of powerful lawmakers such as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, a vocal gun control opponent who has already suggested House Republicans may let the measure expire.

“Clearly the votes are not there in the House to pass the bill,” said DeLay spokesman Stuart Roy

[snip]

Gun control advocates suspect that the White House is trying to have it both ways, rhetorically supporting the ban to appease moderates while keeping the GOP base happy by letting the House kill the gun measure.

“He is telling the American people he is with them on this issue, but with a wink and a nod,” said Eric Howard, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Now, the anti-gunners are claiming the same thing that some pro-gunners claimed to justify their support for Bush.

A lame little editorial concludes with:

Our Editorial Board believes that law-abiding American citizens do indeed have a Constitutional right to legally own guns if they wish, but military-style assault weapons have no reasonable purpose in a hunter’s, marksman’s, or homeowner’s gun cabinet.

Military style assault weapons have been banned from import and manufacture since 1986. The ban has nothing to with them and only bans features that certain semi-automatic rifles can have.

Intolerance of gun owners nation-wide problem

Apparently, the trend in women becoming active in shooting sports is popular in media today. To wit:

A women only firearms class.

Mrs. The Nuge introducing politicos to gals who like guns.

Another women’s only class.

Based on actual games SayUncle has played (I’m not making them up):

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: Penis of a tank commander!

Partner: Dick Van Patton?

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: That is correct.

During a game of Charades:

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: [points to hip]

Partner: Hips!

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: [points to pocket]

Partner: Hip pocket!

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: [points to lips]

Partner: Hip pocket lips! Apocalypse Now!

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: That is correct.

Random one:

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: Oh, uhm . . .

Partner: Fatty Arbuckle?

Person trying to get their partner to guess the clue: That is correct.

A blogger I read (yet I can’t find the entry, so if it’s you, fess up) wondered how long it would be before the moonbat contingent of the left alleged that the vast right wing conspiracy or the Bush administration plotted to kill Berg. Well, apparently it took two days ago. And there’s more.

Update2: that second link above (which you likely can’t get to due to traffic now) is a message board that points out that Lynndie England was sitting it a white plastic chair in a photo taken from the Abu Grahib prison. Nick Berg was sitting in the same type of chair at the time he was beheaded. By that rationale, his murder also must have occurred in my garage.

Update: XRLQ has more here and here.

The band Atomship has been advertising on blogs. They’re pretty successful as they’re currently touring with Sevendust and Cold (well, at least successful compared to any band I’ve ever played in).

I’ve seen them advertised at Clayton Cramer’s place, Michael Williams’ place and a few other places off and on.

The song they play on their website is pretty good. I wonder how many people they’re reaching through blog ads? Pretty innovative marketing, for a band.

One of the downsides of having a baby on the way is that your family stops giving you stuff for your birthday or Christmas, and starts giving you stuff for the baby. Both my sisters and my mom sent me baby clothes for my birthday recently.

Well, ok, at my age, I don’t really expect birthday gifts. I’m just sayin’. It really was thoughtful of them. At this rate, we won’t have to buy any clothes for the little guy ourselves.

Actually, this gives me an idea. How old does a kid need to be before you can buy him a gun? “Son, I got you a nice new rifle for your birthday, but seeing as how you can’t even walk yet, I’d be glad to take it out to the range and try it out for you.” Hmm….

Kevin’s blog turns a year old today. Congrats. You can read 40 things about him too.

He also points to this article on gun control’s happy face. Folks have been saying this for a while so it shouldn’t surprise you but the gist is that the anti-gunners appear to no longer want confiscation (which is crap, because they do) but are now concerned with safety (my ass). Anyway, it’s a good read.

Last night, the Mrs. had TiVoed Rainbow Fish, an HBO Family children’s cartoon about fish in the sea. She’s already perusing programs and recording things she think will entertain and educate our soon to arrive daughter.

Rainbow Fish strives to teach things and is basically your typical moral lesson in thirty minutes of bright colored animation. In one scene about one of the characters writing an article for the school newspaper that was completely untrue, the teacher reprimanding the student reporter said (paraphrased):

The press is a powerful tool. In the wrong hands, it can be deadly.

That’s a pretty good message for kids.

Some details about Nick Berg are emerging that are questionable. The AP reports:

In an odd twist, it also emerged Thursday that the FBI questioned Berg in 2002 about an e-mail address traced to him that was used by an acquintance of terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui . Investigators concluded that Berg had nothing to do with Moussaoui. (sic)

Though the investigation yielded nothing, it is odd. More:

It is unclear when and how Berg, a self-employed telecommunications businessman, was captured. Accounts of his detention in Mosul in late March are also conflicting.

U.S. officials insist Berg was arrested by Iraqi police for involvement in “suspicious activities.” The Mosul police chief has denied that. An April 1 e-mail from a U.S. consular official in Iraq, provided by Berg’s family, said he was being detained by the U.S. military.

This story is getting bizarre. The always excellent JunkyardBlog has much more.

Update: The Commissar has more.

Definitely more than meets the eye.

Update2: Wizbang has much more.

Seriously?

“Three boys at Bemiss Elementary School in Spokane, Wash., have been suspended for bringing `toy guns’ to school,” reports the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

Terry Wilson-Spence, whose 8-year-old son was among the suspended students, tells the paper that “the toy guns her son carried in his pocket were for G.I. Joe action figures. The guns are from only one inch to three inches long — half the size of a pencil.”

Patrick Durkan:

The reporter, Alan Feuer, makes this point about the oddity and irony of it all: “There is much to learn from the league about the failure of assumptions. While one might assume, for instance, that the city’s reputation for tolerance extends to all manner of behavior, it apparently does not extend to a love of guns.”

That phenomenon isn’t unique to New York City. If you want to taste intolerance, let it be known you own guns, and you like them.

I can’t help but notice the worried looks and whispers of waiting passengers while helping a ticket agent check in my rifle or muzzleloader at the airport.

In one case, my daughters overheard a woman tell her husband, “You’d think with children in his house he wouldn’t keep guns around.”

Amazing. I would have thought she would have been more impressed that my three daughters — then fairly young — had stood in line for 30 minutes without irritating the spit out of everyone within hearing. At some point, you would hope those judgmental sorts would look at your family group, consider the evidence before them, and realize gun ownership isn’t an indicator of criminal intent or aberrant behavior.

Then again, I doubt they put much thought into it. There’s something smug and unyielding about anti-gun bigotry that’s as stalwart as the most militant pro-gun dogma. They don’t see the irony that their otherwise tolerant views don’t extend beyond the predictable venues of race, religion or sexual preference.

The name of the article is If you try shooting a gun, you might enjoy it. And indeed most folks do. In my life, I have taken at least a dozen people shooting for their first time. Everyone of them enjoyed it and most of them bought guns shortly thereafter.

I know, people are fond of pointing out things that sound dirty but aren’t, such as the new line of potato chips by Tom’s called Loaded Spud.

It’s odd that you find something that doesn’t sound dirty but really is:

Spermatophores were seen hanging from J-1’s siphon.

I have not (nor will I) watch the Nick Berg beheading video. Why? Because it would likely enrage me the way the images of those poor souls jumping to their deaths from the WTC on 9/11 did. Some argue that maybe people need to be enraged. That we’ve forgotten. That is a valid point, I suppose, but I still have no desire to see it.

It seems like some bloggers are questioning the video’s authenticity. It seems that it doesn’t look realistic (i.e., lack of movement, the audio/video don’t sync, and lack of blood from the jugular). I have no opinion as I haven’t seen it. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. I recall people alleging similar issues about the Daniel Pearl video.

Instapundit tells us that Nick Berg is the story people want to hear but the media hasn’t followed suit. I have no doubt people want to see it. I just hope it’s because they want to see it with their own eyes as a reminder and not to satisfy some morbid curiosity.

My sympathies to the Berg family.

Yeah, some animals can’t adapt to affluence. It took me a while.

This does remind me. A contractor friend of mine purchased some of those new mousetraps (you get field mice when doing new construction). Basically, they are just a pad with a strong adhesive on it that smells like food. The mouse tries to get the food, becomes stuck, and can be disposed of. My friend, being the animal friendly sort of guy he is, figured he’d use these new traps instead of the kind that kill instantly and would then take the mice to a field and release them.

Problem was, you can’t unstick them. He tried. He said if he had continued, he’d have likely ripped off little mouse feet in the effort. The mouse likely starves to death or you have to bash their little skulls yourself or something. Pretty brutal.

Not a better mousetrap. Though it’s quieter, it’s really less humane.

On a TiVoed version of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, they showed a British reporter grilling Tony Blair. The reporter said something to the effect of (obviously paraphrased):

How can the British government talk to China about human rights given that the British government has allegedly been violating human rights in prisons in Iraq?

The reporter (whose name I don’t know) was brutally straightforward without appearing rude. He asked a tough and valuable question. Jon Stewart then replied something to the effect of:

Where can we (The US) get reporters like that?

Why can’t our reporters ask relevant and tough questions? Why do they ask superficial questions about SUVs, boobs on the Superbowl, etc. when there are, you know, important things to talk about?

Here’s an article I found on Blair’s response.

Medb has the latest lottery themed version of what Tennesseans are talking about.

It seems certain factions of the blogosphere believe that the media showing the prison pictures caused Mr. Berg’s death. Do they really think, absent the prison scandal, that those barbaric animals wouldn’t have found another reason to kill the poor guy?

If it wasn’t the prison pictures, it would have been for palestine; the Fallujah attacks; being in Afghanistan; or some other random insane reason. Those terrorists are just plain crazy.

There is a proposed ordinance to ban pit bulls in Bracken County:

Last Month, Bracken County Animal Control Officer James Moore requested the court pass an ordinance banning vicious dogs, mainly pit bulls, because of the danger they pose to area residents.

While serving three years in his present position, Moore said he has encountered many problems because of a pit bull’s bred viciousness.

You’d think someone that works that closely with dogs would know better. It’s not the breed, it’s irresponsible owners.

ORNL is slated to build the fastest civilian research computer in the world. It will be capable of 50 trillion calculations per second.

It will only cost tax payers $50M. At $ 0.000001 per calculation per second, it sounds like a good deal, if you’re into wasting other people’s money.