Liberty Takes Another Hit in the Land of the Free (amended)

It's just one more indication we don't live in the Land of the Free anymore, but in the land of Big Brother Knows Best. Big Brother being our all-wise government, of course, dominated at present (but not for long) by Republicans. Republicans shout loud and often about their committment to Liberty, but they are lying sons-of-bitches just as much as Democrats are in this regard.

It's not a big thing in the overall scheme of the Universe, but wise men have noted that we will lose our freedoms, not in one big landslide, but in gradual erosion.

It is now illegal to play poker online in the USA. This new federal law is an amendment to some Port Security bill. (It angers me that it's legal and acceptable to add amendments to bills that have nothing to do with the bills being amended, but that's another rant.)

What business is it of the government whether any of us wants to play games of chance or games of skill for money? What business is it of the government to meddle with any private or public affairs that do no harm to others?

It is definitely the business of government to protect citizens from the misconduct of each other. Do-gooders may argue that they are protecting the families of online gamblers from financial ruin caused by the activities of the head of the household. That was one of the arguments of the Prohibitionists when they outlawed drinking in this country, and we all know what a great success that experiment in Big Brotherhood brought down on our society. The only thing that compares with Prohibition of Alcohol in unintended damage to society is the present and continuing Prohibition of Unregulated Drugs, but that, too, is another rant.

Nobody says you or anyone in government has to like poker, like gambling, or like anything at all. But nothing in the Constitution says you as a citizen or you as a legislator have a duty, a right, or an obligation to impose your views of how the rest of us should conduct our lives.

Click the title of this post to go to Poker Players Alliance.

Note to Morons...

You do not get extra points for being the last driver on the road to turn on headlights in the evening!

Side note: Those little lights that come on at the first position of the switch are called 'parking lights'. 'Park', as in 'motionless'. They are not 'driving' lights.

Driving with parking lights is worse than driving with no lights. Most parking lights are too small (assuming the bulbs aren't burned out. I already assume you never check them) to show up against a bright morning or evening sky. Dashboard lights come on, though, and now you can see the gauges (assuming you ever look at them), and you don't realize your big lights aren't on until it's really dark.

One more thing, obvious to anyone who pays attention (which is why I'm explaining it to you): You need headlights on most when you can see best. That's because you have the sun at your back, shining directly on everything you're looking at, including those oncoming drivers with sun shades down and sun glasses on. You can see them just fine, but they can not see you in the glare of the sun through dirty windshields--especially if cars ahead of and behind you do have headlights on.

Ever wonder why more accidents happen in morning and evening? I didn't think so.

How to Stop Massacres in Schools

The reason school shootings occur in clusters is television coverage. Every murderous misfit who sees the physical and emotional impact such things have figures, "Hey, I can do that!"

TV is here to stay, though. So, like it or not, are guns.

The minds of people who aspire to slaughter are not so twisted that they don't realize that schools are perfect places to commit mass murder. Schools are gun-free zones. There will be no opposition.

Don't waste your breath and my time arguing that more gun control would solve the problem. We can all see how effective banning guns in and near schools is.

The best defense against a crazy person with a gun is a sane person with a gun.

The best practical way to reduce school shootings is to allow and encourage all school staff--administrators, teachers, and custodians--to take formal firearms training courses and to carry guns on their persons all the time at school.

Don't tell me guns in the hands of responsible people would increase the danger to the children. The only way to put them more at risk than they are right now would be to paint targets on their heads.

If a high percentage of adults in schools were trained and armed, all but the most detatched and demented would think twice about looking for headlines at the expense of children, and those who might try a school massacre anyway would not get as far with their projects as they do so easily now.

Dog Poison?

I happened to mention to our dog's vet that we'd discovered an easy and cheap way to feed daily medication. Sprout likes raisins, so we just put the little pills in raisins and he gobbles them up.

The vet look stunned. Grapes and raisins are bad for dogs. Liver and kidney damage, I think it was. No matter which; raisins are off Sprout's snack table.

I told the vet that we'd taken raisins instead of expensive pet treats to the kennel the last time Sprout was staying there for a few days, and the kennel people hadn't said anything about raisins and dogs being incompatible. The vet was surprised that they didn't know.

I read in today's paper that Xylitol, a common sweetener in sugar-free gum and other things is deadly to dogs.

I think maybe Sprout's diet will be restricted to dog food and meat scraps from now on. Plus whatever he scavenges in the neighborhood and woods, of course.