Progress on Countermeasures for the U.S. population
This is nice to hear:

Federal health officials say a compound long used as the artist's pigment Prussian blue could be an important antidote to a "dirty bomb" attack, and they are calling for drug companies to quickly seek permission to manufacture some...

FDA's unusual declaration removes a significant burden from any company considering making Prussian blue pills – they wouldn't have to prove it's a safe or effective treatment. Instead, interested manufacturers merely would have to prove they can properly brew the right dose, steps FDA drug chief Dr. Janet Woodcock called simple for any pharmaceutical company.

Currently, there is only one commonly available medication for protection against radiation, a drug called potassium iodide that people who live near nuclear reactors often keep on hand in case of an attack or accident. It has just one use – to prevent thyroid cancer by shielding the thyroid gland from exposure to radioactive iodine. It blocks no other type of radiation, and protects no other body part.

How many feminists does it take to suck the fun out of everything in life?
Today's Best of the Web had some funny comments to make about the National Organization of Women's 'Feminist Superbowl Adwatch'.

The self-styled National Organization for Women has finally gotten around to posting its reviews of Super Bowl ads, which, as we noted, it had promised to do Monday. NOW has managed to perpetuate two derogatory stereotypes: of women as perennially late, and of feminists as humorless.

It's tempting to just leave it at that, but...

Exactly what does the level of violence in a commercial have to do with feminism? Or how many fat people there are? Or the 'diversity' of a commercial? Is it that feminism has mutated from a cause that strove for equal rights for women, to a grievance machine that is satisfied with nothing less than equal outcomes for everyone? Do they really want to live in Harrison Bergeron's world?

For instance, one of the ads that ended up on their 'Worst' list, was "Terry Tate: Office Linebacker"

#72: Reebok — Linebacker Terry Tate roughs up the office
"Bad use of diversity. Stereotype of African American being used for his muscles in a position where he should be using his brains."

I can't quite see how this ends up as a feminist complaint, given that it has nothing to do with depictions of women. And it's hilarious.

I expected feminists to get their panties in a twist over Budweiser's "she'll look like her mom in 20 years" commercial, but it was greeted with howls of laughter at my house.

Willfull Stupidity: Seattle City Council
SEATTLE -- The City Council, in reacting to the obvious security vulnerabilities exposed by the recent sniper attacks originating from the Seattle area has cracked down on illegal immigration in the area.... no, wait, that would be sensible. Actually,

The City Council has barred police and other city workers from asking about the immigration status of people they deal with. The ordinance, which was approved 9 to 0 Monday, makes two exceptions. One is for anyone police have "reasonable suspicion" to believe was once deported and has committed a felony. The other allows police to assist federal agents as required by law.

This would be fantastically outrageous, if it weren't for the fact that the cops will hardly be effective, for so long as the INS is in the habit of just letting illegal aliens go.

Still, it's disappointing to see the City Council prove the definition of a committee: an organism with two or more heads and no brain. To me, this is about the same as if the city voted to make Pi = 3.

Is This A Case of Misery Loves Company?
I'm really not sure why veterans' groups have their panties in a twist over the following statement by Donald Rumsfield:

"If you think back to when we had the draft, people were brought in . . . without choices," Rumsfeld said. "Big categories were exempted: people who were in college, people who were teaching, people who were married. . . . And what was left was sucked into the intake, trained for a period of months, and then went out, adding no value, no advantage, really, to the United States armed services over any sustained period of time because the churning that took place, it took an enormous amount of effort in terms of training, and then they were gone."

What's so offensive about stating that conscripting men into service isn't the best way to build an army? Are these folks really yearning for the good old days of the Weathermen, the SDS, Kent State, and fleeing to Canada? Maybe it's that misery loves company. It is the only reason why I can see anyone supporting the conscription of unwilling troops, when even our own Department of Defense says it doesn't need it, and wouldn't want it.

You call this 'awry'?
The AP has the following headline Virginia Bank Robbery Goes Awry, but from a reading of the article, I'd say the robbery ended just right

Police said the suspect, 61-year-old Edward Butler Blaine, fled on foot after beating on the car window with a piece of wood. Bystanders then began to chase him, police said.
When the bystanders caught him, Blaine tried to shoot them, but instead shot himself in the leg, Caroline County Sheriff Homer Johnson said. One of the men also shot him as they continued to struggle. (bold emphasis mine)

As Instapundit is fond of saying, "a pack, not a herd". Robber attempts to make off with the loot, bystanders chase him down, and thanks to Virginia's more sensible laws regarding firearms, when he tried to shoot at them, one of the bystanders was able to shoot back. So robber doesn't get away, ends up in jail, thanks to civic minded, armed citizens.

If this is awry, I'd rather not be aright.

Real Monsters Come In All Sizes...
Size Small: Police said a group of fifth-graders tried to poison a schoolmate by putting pills, glue, lead and chalk in her drinks. ... Investigators declined to elaborate on why the group allegedly targeted the 11-year-old. ... "They said that they didn't like her and that they wanted to hurt her," school principal Sally Edwards said Thursday. ... "We certainly feel they knew right from wrong because they conspired as a group. Some had reservations and didn't participate. Others participated knowing what the consequences could be," Lauricella said.

Size Medium: A judge dropped felony charges against four men accused of videotaping fistfights and humiliating acts involving homeless people and selling the tapes they called "Bumfights." ... The judge's ruling followed a five-day preliminary hearing involving testimony from men on the tapes who said they were paid for their performances, some saying they were given $5 and $10 bills. Two said they did not remember if they were intoxicated.

Size Large: A U.N. inquiry confirmed systematic cannibalism, rape, torture and killing by rebels in a campaign of atrocities against civilians in the forests of northeast Congo, with children among the victims, U.N. authorities said today. ... The report cited 117 instances of arbitrary executions between Oct. 24 and 29. It cited 65 cases of rape, including the rape of children, 82 kidnappings and 27 cases of torture. ... "The testimony given by victims and of witnesses was of cannibalism and forced cannibalism," including people made by rebels to eat members of their own family, Tome said. ... Atrocities found by investigators include the removal and consumption of hearts of infants, small girls killed and mutilated, "people executed alive before the members of their families, and the rape of children," Tome said.

Targeting the wrong deep pockets
Some of the families of the sniper-attack victims are suing Bull's Eye Shooter Supply of Tacoma; store owners Brian Borgelt and Charles Carr; Bushmaster Firearms Inc. of Windham, Maine; and sniper defendants John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo.

Perhaps a lawsuit against those responsible for the sniper attacks is in order, but I don't think that the plaintiffs should be suing Bushmaster Firearms, and unless the store can be found to have sold the rifle illegally, I don't think Bull's Eye Shooter Supply should be named either. If they're going to target those responsible for the attacks, the lawsuit should name the Nation of Islam for preaching an anti-american, racist ideology to Muhammad.

But then again, this isn't really an attempt to punish those responsible, it's another attempt to put legal gun manufacturers out of business, and further restrict law-abiding citizens access to arms.

What's the difference between a lawyer and a whore?
Eugene Volokh has some good reasons why it is unfair to compare a lawyer to a 'two-bit whore'. He makes good points, all of them, but he forgot the biggest difference between a whore and a lawyer:
A whore stops screwing you when you're dead.

Waxing Gibbering Loon
The Best of the Web today featured a bite at an editorial published in the New York Times by Peggy Loonan. They had some fun with her name, but I made the mistake of actually reading the editorial. Her primary complaint is that the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action Leage is changing their name to Naral Pro Choice America, to remove the 'abortion' from their name. She thinks its a big mistake, and thinks that Naral's alliance building strategy has harmed the pro-abortion movement...

In the process, the forging of alliances with such lawmakers and voters on their terms, rather than on the terms of what should be every woman's right, has only helped put in place more barriers to abortion. According to an annual Naral review in 2002, in the last 15 years 21 states have passed measures requiring mandatory waiting periods, 43 have adopted parental involvement laws, 28 have imposed limits on public financing and 28 have passed regulations intended to put abortion clinics out of business.

PermagrinGirls's translation:
· Much like purchasing a gun, some states have adopted a mandatory waiting period before you can have an abortion. In each case, the state worries that you're planning on killing someone, so they think it's a good idea to make you cool off a bit and think it over first.
· If you're under the age of consent, in some states, you'll have to let your parents know you're knocked up before you can get an abortion. Just like you have to have your parent's permission to get a tattoo or a piercing or a drivers license if you're under the age of 18.
· Some states have decided to impose limits on how many free or discount abortions they'll provide. Gosh. How cruel of them to make you pay to fix your own damn mistake.

In the end, though, I found that I had to agree with Ms. Loonan - pro-abortion groups should not remove the word 'abortion' from their names. To refer to them as "pro-choice" misleads people into thinking that these groups support other choices than abortion.

Update: From my tone, you might gather that I'm anti-abortion. Actually, I believe that anyone who wants an abortion should be able to have one; I just don't want one for myself, and I dislike the idea of paying for someone elses'. I'm also of the opinion that, given the plethora of birth control devices available in the U.S., abortion really oughtta be the last resort.

Sometimes I'm Serious, Too
Note the new link on my sidebar to Winds of Change.

"This blog's focus will be world events and the future we're creating, with frequent side-trips into the worlds of business, technology, and religion.
Our team aims to elevate debate by being thoughtful, substantive, and ahead of the curve." - Joe Katzman

Somehow, I was lucky enough to be invited to share space over there, so I'll be keeping PermaGrinGirl going, but any thoughts I've got regarding the intel community and national security will be posted on Winds of Change as Celeste Bilby. Judging by the initial posts, I'm hardly a reason to visit, but there's excellent commentary and information from Joe Katzman, Trent Telenko, MuslimPundit and Armed Liberal.

First they came for the smokers....
Now, the city of Bend, Oregon has proposed rules that would ban stinky people from being on the city bus.

As a pack-a-day gal, I can't help find a secret, malicious bit of enjoyment from this, given that I've had to tolerate scolding and lectures about my 'nasty, filthy, anti-social' habit from women who thought that cheap cologne was a suitable substitute for soap and hot water.

The next time you see someone doing something you find obnoxious, and think to yourself "that should be outlawed," keep in mind the person behind you is probably thinking the same thing about you.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't...
Is how I feel about sex education. There's been some interesting interplay between Instapundit and Clayton Cramer regarding condoms, their reliability, and wether or not we should be encouraging kids to use them.

Clayton makes some interesting comments regarding the size of the HIV virus, and the size of pores in a condom, that I hadn't considered before. My objection to the constant pushing of condom use was that, in terms of preventing pregnancy and STDs, it really isn't all that effective. If I'm facing the possibility of an abortion, or 18 years of indentured servitude, I want birth control a damn sight more effective than 88%. In addition, while the latest study I've seen shows that condoms help reduce transmission of HIV, the same study also said that they couldn't judge the effectiveness of condom use in reducing the spread of other STDs, including HPV. Given the almost talismanic status that people have been giving condoms, that's some tough news to hear. HIV isn't the only incurable STD out there, after all... herpes and HPV aren't fatal, but they'll be with you for the rest of your life.

I think that attitudes towards sex (including when you're considered ready to have it) are much like religious beliefs - best taught by the family, not the state. Basic anatomy and reproduction should be taught within the classroom. Information on birth control and such should be available in health clinics for those precocious kiddies that just can't keep it in their pants, but I don't think the schools should provide birth control. I think one of the indicators of your readiness for sex is wether or not you've got the guts to buy a pack of condoms on your own.

If schools must insist on teaching sexual howtos, then I'd appreciate it if they would hammer in the following points:
- Always take care of your own birth control, unless you want to be a parent. This means not trusting statements like "I'm on the pill," or "I've had a vasectomy."
- You can catch all sorts of nasty diseases from having sex, wether or not you're using a condom, and some of them are incurable. Picture yourself with a wart on the end of your dick for the rest of your natural born life before you have sex with someone whose 'cleanliness' is not verified. You can still get genital warts if you're wearing a condom.
- Other people are crazy, so even while you might be ready to have sex, you stand the chance of opening up all sorts of misery for yourself if you pick someone who isn't ready yet. Picture an unbalanced 15 year old sending you hate notes written in her own blood and waiting outside your house at night for months on end before you 'coax' your new girlfriend into putting out.

Say the Chickens of the world, "Please, don't help."
The Center for Consumer Freedom linked to this little gem of an article describing a recent ELF raid in Britain that was just as successful as I would have expected it to be...

The raid took place at the Norfolk Cottage eggs farm in Poole during the early hours of New Year’s Day. Activists broke into a barn expecting to find battery hens kept in tiny cages; instead they discovered 7,000 free-range birds, which panicked at the noise and the light of the intruders’ torches.
The result was a stampede in which scores of birds were crushed and suffocated beneath a mountain of feathers.
Martin Elliott, the farmer, found the carnage the following morning along with the messages “unhappy New Year to U scum” and “no excuse for animal abuse” sprayed on the walls.

I guess the 'no excuse' part doesn't apply to idiotic attempts to 'free' birds with brains the size of peas. What's next? Human rights groups 'liberating' mental hospital inmates?

Someday, I'll take my kids on a European vacation...
The other night, I caught the last half of "National Lampoon's European Vacation." There's one scene, when the family arrives in Germany, and dad makes some sappy reference to the "motherland," and his son replies, "but grandma and grandpa are from Detroit," (or something like that)... I turned to my boyfriend and said, "Someday, I'm going to take my kids on a tour of Europe, and I'm going to tell them, 'Look kids, this is Europe. These countries sucked so badly that your ancestors had to escape and make a new life in the U.S., and aren't you glad they did?'"

I was reminded of this when I read RealPolitik's thought for the day.

Reverse Boycotting
So PETA has announced that they're boycotting KFC.

PETA said it wants an end to "crude and ineffective electric stunning and throat-slitting" of chickens, and called for improvements in the conditions under which the chickens are raised. The organization said the birds should be allowed more space.

Well... dammit! I'm one of those people who would usually rather have their eyeballs gouged out with a wooden spoon before going to a fast food joint, but this makes me want to head right over to the nearest Colonel's and buy myself the largest bucket of crispy style chicken they've got.

Considering that of the 2,103 companion animals PETA 'rescued' in 2000, it euthanized more than 1,300 of them, I can't really find PETA's moral authority for demanding that Yum foods give better treatment to their chickens.

While several dozen shelters in Virginia have adopted a no-kill philosophy, PETA has not.

Ingrid Newkirk's defense of PETA's 'kill most of them' policy is telling:
"It sounds lovely if you're naive," Newkirk said. "We could become a no-kill shelter immediately. It means we wouldn't do as much work." Newkirk said PETA goes into bad neighborhoods and rescues animals that are unadoptable.

That's a real howler, considering that PETA's funding is in the tens of millions of dollars each year, but that: PETA spent less than $3,955 of its $12 million in fiscal year 1995 and $6,100 of its $10.9 million in fiscal 1996 for shelter programs, according to its nonprofit tax forms filed with the IRS. In contrast, PETA sent $70,500 in 1995 to Rodney Coronado, a convicted arsonist and avowed member of the domestic-terrorist group called the Animal Liberation Front. Coronado served a five-year federal prison sentence for a 1992 animal-rights-related firebombing at Michigan State University. (source)

Easy points...pissed off citizens
Such is the power of the blogosphere, that I heard about this story in my own home area, from a man living in Tennessee.

Instapundit thinks that the practice of Fairfax county police raiding bars and giving public drunkeness tickets is tacky. I'd call it worse than tacky, but I can't think of a single word that conveys my disgust over such paternalistic tactics effectively.

I remember working late shifts at the Amphora in Vienna, and the police would come in, head to the smoking section, and card every patron in the smoking section who appeared to be under 30, to combat underage smoking - which may be a problem, but ranks far lower on my list of society's ills than child rape.

I've talked to a lot of policemen who work in this area, and I don't think the police are doing this because they're smallminded, petty, jackbooted thugs who enjoy grinding the defenseless populace under the heel of authority (although I've certainly met a few who do); the police do cigarette and 'public drunkeness' raids because the police in this area work on a point system. You don't have to have a certain quota of speeders, or robbers each month, but you do have to get a certain number of points, and the number of points you get varies based on the type of crime. If all you have to do is garner a certain number of points, you could just set up a speed trap in a school zone for the day, and have all the points you need to make for your entire month in one day. That's an actual example.

DEA raids medical marijuana distributors in California, instead of going after states that think they have a pot problem. BATF concentrates on legal gun dealers, operating in the open, instead of concentrating on getting guns out of the hands of criminals. The police in Fairfax county spend their time raiding peaceful bar patrons, but won't chase down a drunk man driving a stolen vehicle that rear-ended me in the busiest pedestrian district in Alexandria (but I'm not bitter). As long as there is small time shit out there for the police to futz around with, that's what they'll do - because it is easier, and safer, than going after violent criminals who leave behind victims.

I don't claim to know how to fix it, but I have some ideas. If you've gotta keep a point system, fine, but weight the scoring so that there is strong incentive for the police to go after crimes that have victims first - say 1 point for any traffic violation versus 1000 for a rape. Perhaps some simplification of the law would be in order too. Right now, there are a whole lot of laws on the books that go unenforced - unless the cop is in a pissy mood. Witness the 'gentleman's 10' - the commonly held belief that a cop won't ticket you unless you're doing better than 10 over the limit.

When I was contracting to the government, one of the many jobs I did involved teaching analytical risk management to security professionals in the intel community. What we were trying to do - sadly, pretty much in vain - was hammer through these government types' heads that, given the world we live in today, with the myriad threats we face, and the limited budget we have for security, you have to prioritize your threats, and apply countermeasures effectively.

So... is public drunkeness one of the greatest threats Fairfax county faces today? If you think "yes", raise your hand and I'll come over and hit you on the head with a hammer because you are a retard. In a county that has seen everything from gang-related shootings, and fundraising for islamic terrorist groups, to a 12 year old boy attempting to form a prostitution ring, I'd place even the drunkest patrons of our local bars near the bottom of the list of threats. So.... a little prioritization, please.