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Support the Troops Magnets

I don't normally do "free" advertising on WMD, but since the site I am about to plug belongs to a friend of a friend and a significant portion of the proceeds goes to support military charities, I thought I'd make an exception.

The image above is a reproduction of a 5x8 inch magnet. Show off your support for the troops with a magnet for your car, your fridge, or any other metallic surface.

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Circuit City Fascists, Questionable Arrests, and the Law

Check out this story:

Next to the grocery store was a Circuit City. (The Brooklyn, Ohio Circuit City to be exact.) Having forgotten that it was my sister’s birthday I decided to run in and buy her a last minute gift. I settled on Disney’s “Cars” game for the Nintendo Wii. I also needed to purchase a Power Squid surge protector which I paid for separately with my business credit card. As I headed towards the exit doors I passed a gentleman whose name I would later learn is Santura. As I began to walk towards the doors Santura said, “Sir, I need to examine your receipt.” I responded by continuing to walk past him while saying, “No thank you.”

As I walked through the double doors I heard Santura yelling for his manager behind me. My father and the family had the Buick pulled up waiting for me outside the doors to Circuit City. I opened the door and got into the back seat while Santura and his manager, whose name I have since learned is Joe Atha, came running up to the vehicle. I closed the door and as my father was just about to pull away the manager, Joe, yelled for us to stop. Of course I knew what this was about, but I played dumb and pretended that I didn’t know what the problem was. I wanted to give Joe the chance to explain what all the fuss was for.

I reopened the door to talk with Joe and at this point Joe positioned his body between the open car door and myself. (I was still seated in the Buick.) Joe placed his left hand on the roof of the car and his right hand on the open car door. I asked Joe if there was a problem. The conversation went something like this:

Me: “Is there a problem?”
Joe: “I need to examine your bag and receipt before letting you leave this parking lot.”
Me: “I paid for the contents in this bag. Are you accusing me of stealing?”
Joe: “I’m not accusing you of anything, but I’m allowed by law to look through your bag when you leave.”
Me: “Which law states that? Name the law that gives you the right to examine my bag when I leave a Circuit City.”

Of course Joe wasn’t able to name the law that gives him, a U.S. citizen and Circuit City employee the right to examine anything that I, a U.S. citizen and Circuit City customer am carrying out of the store. I’ve dealt with these scare tactics at other stores in the past including other Circuit Cities, Best Buys and Guitar Centers

OK, the guy is acting a bit extreme, but he is right. What store policy, what law, says that your bag can be searched when coming directly from the cashier to the exit? Give me a break. Well, folks, it gets a little more interesting.

I’ve always taken the stance that retail stores shouldn’t treat their loyal customers as criminals and that customers shouldn’t so willingly give up their rights along with their money. Theft sucks and I wish that shoplifters were treated more harshly than they are, but the fact is that I am not a shiplifter shoplifter and shouldn’t have to forfeit my civil rights when leaving a store.

I twice asked Joe to back away from the car so that I could close the door. Joe refused. On three occasions I tried to pull the door closed but Joe pushed back on the door with his hip and hands. I then gave Joe three options:

“Accuse me of shoplifting and call the police. I will gladly wait for them to arrive.”
“Back away from the car so that I can close the door and drive away.”
“If you refuse to let me leave I will be forced to call the police.”
Joe didn’t budge. At this point I pushed my way past Joe and walked onto the sidewalk next to the building. I pulled out my phone and dialed 911.

Two minutes later Brooklyn, Ohio police officer Ernie Arroyo arrived on the scene. As I began to explain the story leading up to Joe Atha preventing my egress from the parking lot, officer Arroyo began to question why I refused to show my receipt in the first place. I explained that I lawfully purchased the contents in the bag and didn’t feel that it was necessary for me to let a Circuit City employee inspect the bag as I left. Officer Arroyo disagreed. He claimed that stores have the right to inspect all receipts and all bags upon leaving their store.

At this point Officer Arroyo asked to see my receipt and driver’s license. I handed over the receipt, and stated that my name is Michael Righi. Again, Officer Arroyo asked to see my driver’s license. The conversation went something like this:

Me: “I’m required by law to state that my name is Michael Righi, but I do not have to provide you with my driver’s license since I am not operating a vehicle.”
Officer Arroyo: “Give me your driver’s license or I will place you under arrest.”
Me: “My name is Michael Righi. I am not willing to provide you with my driver’s license.”
Officer Arroyo: “Turn around and up against the wall.”

At this point I was placed in handcuffs, patted down, had my wallet removed from my back pocket and was placed in the back of Officer Arroyo’s police car. My three siblings sat in the back of the Buick crying their eyes out, which is the only part of today that I regret. I wish my little brother and sisters didn’t have to watch this, but I knew exactly what I was doing and was very careful with my words. Other than putting my family through a little scare I don’t regret anything that happened today.

Again, Mike here is taking an extreme path, but it shows some serious issues here. What exactly is the law or right that stores have to search you? If the Circuit City employee would have been able to provide that, I am sure Mike would have complied or done something else. In my opinion, I think Mike got a little out of control with not producing his driver license, but it does illustrate a very valid point. What if he had none? And what does a driver license have to do with being on the sidewalk and buying something from Circuit City? In truth, the officer did not want to take extra time by just running his name. He wanted to be lazy and run the driver license, which would have gotten him back to the donut shop quicker. So, what happens next?

Officer Arroyo ran my father’s license plate, my driver’s license and inspected my two receipts along with the contents of my bag. He also handed over my Circuit City bag to Joe Atha and allowed him to ensure that in fact I stole nothing from the store.

While being driven down to the station in the back of the police car I struck up a conversation with Officer Arroyo. I asked him if he was surprised that my receipts matched the contents in the bag and in a surprise moment of honesty he admitted that he was. I then asked Officer Arroyo what charges were going to be brought against me. He explained that I had been arrested for failure to produce my driver’s license. I asked him what would happen if I never learned to drive and didn’t have a driver’s license. After all, at the time that he arrested me I was standing on a sidewalk outside a Circuit City. I wasn’t driving a car, and even when I was seated in the Buick I was a back seat passenger. The officer never gave me a satisfactory answer to this question, but promised to explain the law to me after I was booked.

This morning I slept through my alarm clock and was in a hurry to drive to Cleveland. I didn’t have time to iron my shirt, and this is what I regretted while my mugshot was being taken. Listen up kids. Always press your clothes because you never know when you’ll be unlawfully arrested.

Shortly after being booked, fingerprints and all, Officer Arroyo presented me with my charges:

ORD:525.07: Obstructing Official Business (M-2)
(a) No person, without privilege to do so and with purpose to prevent, obstruct or delay the performance by a public official of any authorized act within the public official’s offical capacity shall do any act that hampers or impedes a public official in the performance of the public official’s lawful duties.

Not being able to find the law in the books that states that a citizen must provide a driver’s license while walking through a parking lot, Officer Arroyo had to settle for “obstructing official business.” Keep in mind that the official business that I was supposedly obstructing was business that I initiated by calling the police. I called for help and I got arrested.

My father posted the $300 bail that was needed to get me out of jail and back on my way to Park Avenue Place. (Sorry for the lame Monopoly joke, but it’s my first time being arrested. Cut me some humor slack.) After being released I stuck around the police station for a little while to fill out the necessary paper work to press charges against the Circuit City manager who physically prevented me from leaving the parking lot. I’m most interested in seeing my charges dropped for refusing to present identification, but I view that as a completely separate issue from the store manager interfering with my egress.

Seems to me we have a powermad employee at Circuit City, someone who has a dose of little man syndrome, and an officer who went along with it because it was expedient. I post this so you can beware next time you enter Circuit City, they might ask for your papers.

HT: Slashdot

Timewaster

You can blame the LLamabutchers for this one...of course, they blame Dave Berry, so...

The Prison Life: Paris Hilton Makes License Plates

Continued Wussification of America

I really don't think that this was a good idea for the teachers to do, but this response is just absurd:

"Words cut deeper than any knife could. They hurt," said his stepfather, Joseph Sims. "When you hurt a child like that, you not only hurt him mentally, but it does hurt physically because you withdraw within yourself. That is what Matthew has done."

Give a real man the knife, buddy, and you will be proven wrong...

VSA arts Honors Students' Artwork at Congressional Reception

WASHINGTON, June 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- VSA arts will host a congressional reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on June 6 on Capitol Hill honoring 13 students with disabilities for their artwork. The students participated in ArtLink, an international cultural art exchange program. Their work is part of the "CultureScope: Focusing in on My Life" exhibition on display at Union Station from June 5-24.

ArtLink paired 51 U.S. classrooms with a classroom in another country last November. Students of all levels of ability aged 7-14 created visual artwork and exchanged it with their partner classroom. One piece of artwork by a student in each classroom was selected to join the exhibition at the festival.

"The Capitol Hill reception honors the student's achievements and artistic talents in front of our nation's leaders," said Soula Antoniou, president of VSA arts. "The ArtLink program takes place in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using art as an important educational tool to promote diversity and cross-cultural learning."

The thirteen students who will be in attendance at the reception are: Seng Keng Moua from Anchorage, Alaska; Robert Bernal from Sacramento, Calif.; Queen Hudgins from the District of Columbia; Catie Updyke from Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.; Kim Squires from Kansas City, Kan.; Curtis Schaefer from Clio, Mich.; Alexis Baham from Puckett, Miss.; Dylan Gray from Aberdeen, N.J.; Luke Montemarano from Westerville, Ohio; Erin White from Pawtucket, R.I.; Jose Antonio Prado from Salt Lake City, Utah; Matthew Cartner from Brattleboro, Vt.; and Gabrielle Reimann from Casper, Wyo.

The "CultureScope" exhibition includes artwork from students from Albania, Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Estonia, Ghana, Kenya, Kuwait, Malta, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, St. Lucia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tajikistan, and Zimbabwe. Representatives from the embassies of several of the participating countries will also be in attendance at the reception.

VSA arts is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1974 by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to create a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. VSA arts provides educators, parents, and artists with resources and the tools to support arts programming in schools and communities. VSA arts showcases the accomplishments of artists with disabilities and promotes increased access to the arts for people with disabilities. Each year millions of people participate in VSA arts programs through a nationwide network of affiliates and in more than 60 countries around the world. VSA arts is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For more information visit [Link].

Emphasis added...

Shocker: Professor Presents BOTH Sides!

Dear God, someone get this man under police protection. The Gore Cult will try to kill him, and I fear he will be ostracized by the academic community. I mean, who the hell knew that an institute of higher learning should actually be open to different, divergent views and not seek to proselytize students into blind obedience. God bless this professor, we need more like him.

James Wanliss, a space physicist who teaches at Embry-Riddle, showed students the two films in an honors course titled "The Politics and Science of Fear" because he said more and more the public is being sold one side of an issue with many dimensions.

"I fear that attempts are being made to purposefully subvert the public understanding of the nature of science in order to achieve political goals," he wrote in an e-mail. "Science is not about consensus, and to invoke this raises the hackles of scientists such as myself. The lure of politics and publicity is no doubt seductive, but it nevertheless amazes me that so many scientists have jumped on the bandwagon of consensus science, apparently forgetting or ignoring the sad history of consensus science."

"I fear that attempts are being made to purposefully subvert the public understanding of the nature of science in order to achieve political goals," he wrote in an e-mail. "Science is not about consensus, and to invoke this raises the hackles of scientists such as myself. The lure of politics and publicity is no doubt seductive, but it nevertheless amazes me that so many scientists have jumped on the bandwagon of consensus science, apparently forgetting or ignoring the sad history of consensus science."

"An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary starring Gore and a lot of graphs, makes the case that humans have contributed mightily to a 1-degree rise in the Earth's temperature in the last 50 years. It uses images of melting ice caps and dying polar bears to nudge viewers toward action for reasons of morality.

"The Great Global Warming Swindle," an anti-Gore documentary, doesn't question the Earth's temperature increase but takes to task the questions of why and what's next. For example, it suggests solar activity may have more to do with the planet's warming than carbon dioxideemissions.

Wanliss said he doesn't necessarily subscribe to either film, but believes his students -- and the public -- should remain skeptical of theories such as Gore's explanation of global warming.

Given what I read from a FRESHMAN (read--my brain is full of the mush retardation given out as what passes for a secondary education today) and another professor from, get this, the sociology department, I think this professor is living on borrowed time...how sad for the true pursuit of what college should be about....

Mark, Call Your Office

When Captain America Throws His Mighty Burrito?

I Have GOT To Get Me One of These

[Link]



UPDATE: I'm seriously going to get some of these for the office war...

Matt, Call Your Office....

Are you getting paid residuals for this article? Although, it sounds like they didn't totally get your full philosophy.....

Matt's Chat

That's cute, but it's on now...

Even Canadians See Wussification of Society...

Check out this article from Canada's National Post, which has a great discussion on the increasing rarity of courage, and a nice spotlight on VA Tech Hero Prof. Librescu...

That's just classic grand, heroic behaviour," Prof. Miller, a historian and law professor at the University of Michigan, said of Mr. Librescu's deeds. Such heroic acts are "pretty rare," he said.

He wonders whether such acts will be come only rarer, whether Western society has become so risk-averse that we are increasingly incapable of heroism. He despairs when he sees kids in his Michigan neighbourhood wearing "armour at the level of a medieval knight" as they learn to ride a bicycle and hears that touch football has been banned at the local elementary school because the ball is pointed.

"We so shield our children and ourselves from any encounter where we're called on to deliver," he said.

However, let me also mention an asshat blogger who questioned the victims of the Va Tech tragedy:

This is a hard post to write," New York poet Levi Asher wrote on his blog, The Cherry Orchard, the day after the shootings, "because everybody who's watching the terrible tale of mass murder on the Virginia Tech campus can sympathize with the devastated students and faculty members who lived through the horror."

But Mr. Asher was left with a nagging question: "I can't be the only one wondering why a roomful of students did not try to overpower a lone gunman," he wrote. "I thought this was the lesson of September 11, the lesson of United Flight 93: In the face of any type of murderous rampage, whether a carefully planned act of terrorism or a random act of insane violence, a crowd's ability to overtake an attacker might offer their best chance. Sure, it takes incredible bravery to rush a guy with automatic weapons, even when the gunman is reloading, and there would have been casualties. But with 10 or more students in a room, there is no question that the crowd could have prevailed within a matter of seconds.

OK, Mr. Asher, you are in a classroom, waiting to take that exam. It is getting toward the end of the quarter, and you are thinking about what to do in the summer, whether your girlfriend will be available tonight, what you are going to have for lunch, and then some crazy person, without warning, without demands, without time, comes in and starts shooting. What do you do, you clown? Who the hell are you to question their courage, or lack thereof? Yes, the Flight 93 were brave, but they had time and opportunity to formulate a plan...this event happened suddenly, without warning. I find it cowardly and idiotic on your part to question their courage. However, there is a minor corollary to Mr. Asher's point.

Too many of us have gotten back into Sept. 10, 2001 thinking. We don't think about our surroundings. We don't think about what we would do. Maybe we should. Maybe we need to start having courses in school not just on the 3 R's but on crisis management. Too many of us, in fact, have forgotten.

The Wussification of Society Update

OK, let me get this straight. When you kill someone, it is simply a crime. However, set a ham steak on their table, and OH MY GOD!!!! YOU HAVE COMMITTED A HATE CRIME!!!! So, let me get this straight....killing someone is not a hate crime, unless you call them names as you kill them, or right before you kill them, or slightly after you kill them....UH......HUH????

Look at this spotlight in PC Stupidity:

LEWISTON, Maine --Police are investigating as a possible hate crime an incident in which a ham steak was placed in a bag on a lunch table where a group of Somali students were sitting.
Such an incident would be offensive to Somalis, who are Muslims and consider pork unclean.

A Lewiston Middle School student was suspended after the incident, which happened April 11.

Superintendent Leon Levesque said the incident is being treated seriously and police are investigating. The center for the Prevention of Hate Violence is working with the school to devise a response plan.

OK, a middle school student...my god, does he even know anything about Somali/Muslim culture at that age? And secondly, you need to have some profiteers of hate Special interest group come in and have a "response" plan? What? Give me a friggin break. Tell the kid not to do it again, tell him/her what they did wrong, and then take away privileges...but suspension? Getting a response plan? Come on now.....

The Wild Bill Crisis

I'd venture a guess that the likelihood of a giant beer can crushing our good friend Wild Bill of the Passionate America Show may have just doubled. With any luck, we will have an update for you on TIB Radio...

WMD Blast

HAPPY EASTER - He has arisen. Alleluia! Have a blessed day, everybody!

MOOKIE AL SADR - Can we just go ahead and kill this guy now? Clearly he is out to cause more mischief than good in Iraq and he is constantly changing sides. I think it is well past time the decision is made for him.

WEAPONS CACHE FOUND IN IRAQ - Pope Benny says that it isn't "positive" that these weapons are off the street.

OPERATION BLACK EAGLE: Iraqi General calls It a "Great Success" - Pope Benny sees nothing "positive" going on in Iraq.

JOINT OPERATION CLEARS TERRORISTS FROM DIYALA RIVER VALLEY - Pope Benny sees nothing "positive" going on in Iraq.

SENIOR AL QAEDA LEADER ARRESTED IN BAGHDAD RAID - Pope Benny sees nothing "positive" going on in Iraq.

MILITARY DOCTORS TREAT AFGHAN WAR’S SMALLEST CASUALTIES - Pope Benny sees growing unrest and instability in Afghanistan.

POPE DRONES ON ABOUT NEGATIVITY SAYS NOTHING POSITIVE ABOUT THE WORLD - At least acording to the AP...Pope Benny had nothing positive to say about the state of the world in his Easter address. One must wonder whether or not the Pope believes that there is still good anywhere in the world at this point. Easter is supposed to be a time of hope and renewal, yet I can always count on the Catholic Church to make everything be about guilt...

AlGore=Hypocritus Maximus

The Snake Oil Salesman of the Millenium, Al Gore, showed that John Edwards is not the only one who is a hypocrite on environmental issues this past week when confronted with taking an environmental pledge by a US Senator.

Former Vice President Al Gore refused to take a "Personal Energy Ethics Pledge" today to consume no more energy than the average American household. The pledge was presented to Gore by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, during today's global warming hearing.

Senator Inhofe showed Gore a film frame from "An Inconvenient Truth" where it asks viewers: "Are you ready to change the way you live?"

Gore has been criticized for excessive home energy usage at his residence in Tennessee. His electricity usage is reportedly 20 times higher than the average American household

In fact, here is exactly what was posited to Algore:

Are you willing to make a commitment here today by taking this pledge to consume no more energy for use in your residence than the average American household by one year from today?

Gore refused. And of course he immediately played the victim card. See, these libs are just like the so-called socialists in the heydey of the Soviet Union. Everyone else (but them) must sacrifice for the good of the whole. Uh, no, I don't think so.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up...

It is stories like these that make me wish we had an active radio show right now....OMG, here is the first headline:
Man gets Probation for Dead Deer Sex

SUPERIOR, Wis. - A 20-year-old man received probation after he was convicted of having sexual contact with a dead deer. The sentence also requires Bryan James Hathaway to be evaluated as a sex offender and treated at the Institute for Psychological and Sexual Health in Duluth, Minn

My suggestion, go out west to either Oregon or Washington, because there it is only illegal to molest an animal if they say no. Sick.

And of course, even ol' Conservative Ohio isn't immune to sick stories:
I Be Concubining

When Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh asked Lackey during sentencing Friday on a charge of attempted theft how many children he had, the 25-year-old said, “None, but I have six on the way.”


A stunned Marsh tried to clarify. “Are you marrying a woman with six children?” she asked.

“No, I be concubining,” he said. A concubine is a woman who cohabitates with a man to whom she is not married.

Prosecutors said Lackey is expectant father of six children with six different women. The women all are expected to deliver between August and October.

I be concubining? I be concubining! Geez, this is sick and disgusting. But it gets even better. Check out this snippet about what happened after the case was over:

As Lackey left the courtroom Friday, a group of teenage girls there for another case appeared to know Lackey. “Oh, there’s Ricky Lackey!” one swooned.

Lackey shrugged the attention off with one word and a wave of his hand. “Fans,” he said.

Or maybe they are future customers?

Women Hide Themselves to Avoid Sexual Predator

The place, New York. The Predator? Bill Clinton. Women had to cover up their tight little gym outfits to keep the President from pitching the proverbial tent at a fundraising spinning event in NY. Or maybe it was to keep Bubba from drooling all over himself or to keep him from having a hankering for a human humidor for his stogies? Read the details here. Here are some excerpts:

"'There was more makeup in that spin class than I had ever seen in my life,' said Charla Krupp, a writer who attended the event. 'Everyone looked like they had just come from the beauty salon.'"

"Among the unusual details of this most unusual fund-raiser is that everyone was given a long-sleeved white cotton T-shirt to wear over workout clothes. Usually people wear as little as possible for spinning,"

'People tend to wear sexy spandex outfits with midriffs showing,' Ms. Krupp said. 'But in deference to the president, we wore these shirts that said, "Exercise Your Vote."'"

OK, first of all, I am not paying $2300 bucks to exercise on a bike and be ogled by an accused rapist. Secondly, how sad is it that this man has so little self control that women feel they have to cover themselves up to avoid him groping them?

Tea. Earl Grey. Hot

Michael Meckler reminds us that today is an important date in history...

High School Rememberances

Quoth Lileks:

That’s what I listened to, and watched, while I was working on various things this weekend. Much fun. When all was done I went downstairs for some real movie enjoyment, and noted with delight that the TiVo had recorded “The Great Gatsby,” which somehow I never saw. Script by Coppola! Redford as Gatsby! Extraordinary sets, all infused with that peculiar intense reverence the 70s had for the 20s and 30s.

Short review: it’s horrible.

Long review: it’s really horrible.

I was forced at gunpoint to watch this dreadful piece of filth in high school. James is right on the money...the film is pretty much a torture device. I can here Jack Bauer already: "You will tell me what I want to know, it's just a matter of how many scenes it will take."

This Explains a LOT

BizzyBlog may know better than to comment, but that won't stop me...

Check out the story about a study to determine whether or not men are "hard wired" to do the exact opposite of whatever sugarbumps wants...(FOX News)

When a man fails to help out around the house, his poor performance might be related to a subconscious tendency to resist doing anything his wife wants, a new study suggests.

Men and women are sure to argue about this one. In fact, the man and woman who led the study disagree on the meaning of the results.

Psychologists have long known about "reactance," the tendency to do the exact opposite of what's requested by a loved one or boss.

The new study aimed to find out whether the phenomenon might occur at a subconscious level.

Participants were asked to name a significant person they perceived as controlling their lives, and another who just wanted them to have fun.

Then they were asked to discern words from jumbled letters on a computer screen while the names of the people they had mentioned were flashed subliminally. The names were flashed too quickly to be registered consciously.

Care to guess the results?

I love this bit at the end:

Chartrand's own experiences were the impetus for this study.

"My husband, while very charming in many ways, has an annoying tendency of doing exactly the opposite of what I would like him to do in many situations," Chartrand said.

Oh, her husband? That would be Fitzsimons.

Chartrand said her husband "should now be better equipped to suppress his reactant tendencies."

But Fitzsimons said the results "suggest that reactance to significant others is so automatic that I can't possibly be expected to control it if I don't even know it's happening."

Good times are ahead for this fella...

Perhaps this is why I'm not married... :)