This was fun. It will be interesting to see what the results are.

Those wacky scientists are at it again!

On July 4, NASA will attempt to make us beleive they are trying to shoot a comet. Of course, we all know that the Bible tells us that everything in the Heavens in perfect and unchangeable, so we know it will be faked. But we, in Jesusistan will not be fooled!

We know, because the Bible--the incontrovertible, undeniable, 100% true word of God--tells us that the Sun orbits the Earth. (Joshua 10: 12-13: "12 Then spoke Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the men of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand thou still at Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Ai'jalon.")

Whatever you do: Don't buy into the Scientists' lies!

Eminent Domain Land Rush, Part Deux

Just like the heady days of the Wild West, when settlers stampeded across the country for land; just like the Isrealites after Moses parted the Red Sea; just like the rednecks who flock to Wal-Mart at 5 am on the day after Thanksgiving, cities across the country are rushing to get property to redevelop. The Institute for Justice, a Libertarian law firm in Washington, DC has compiled a list of pending actions filed since the Supreme Court screwed us.

Here's the Rundown:

Freeport Texas - an $8 million private boat marina
Lake Zurich, Illinois - several properties at risk
Boston, Massachusetts - more waterfront property being taken
Arnold, Missouri (link broken) - 30 homes, 15 small businesses and a VFW post to be replaced with a Lowes and a strip center
Baltimore, Maryland - (West Side) shops on the city’s west side for private development; (East Side) 2000 properties to be replaced by a biotech park and new residences
Newark, New Jersey - A 2000 unit condo (rejected by the council in 2003, but rejuvinated after elections where the developer contributed heavily) on 14 downtown acres
Lodi, New Jersey - a trailer park will be replaced by a gated retirement community
Cleveland, Ohio (link broken) - a $225 million development with most of the property it needs is no going after the holdouts
Memphis, Tennessee - a five mile development needs four blocks to be complete
Broward County, Florida - Three cities want to develop their downtowns
West Allis, Wisconsin - The city wants its own mall, Kevin Smith to direct
Weare, New Hampshire - A local entrepreneur wants to take Supreme Court Justice David Souter's home to build "The Liberty Lost Hotel," home of the World FARK Party in 2006 or 2007!(Make your reservations now! Write the Weare Town Council and promise to spend lots of money!)

More as it develops.

In a surprising development, some neo-puritans have bypassed alcohol and attacked coffee. A college employee is encouraging college students to stop drinking gourmet (read: expensive) coffees, and buy a coffemaker instead. She recommends you visit a calculator site to see how much you could invest.

If this works, she should use a similar calculator to help people find out how much smoking costs them.

What's really interesting is the following from the calculator site:

I, too, have been amazed by folks who bring in coffee from a Starbucks or convenience store every single day instead of just contributing to the local "coffee pot fund".

This isn't about fancy coffee! It's about the declining "coffee pot fund" funds! Always follow the money.

Seriously, though, this is just another example of how well we have been marketed to. Instead of drinking Folgers or Maxwell House, we've fallen for the seductive lure of "big city" coffee over home coffee. That's why Budweiser is the number one beer in the country, instead of your local brewery's beer. That's why wine snobs in this country tell me, "I think Texas wine is a contradiction is terms." (True story! I tried to point out that in France, most folks buy wine from their local vintner, and that's what we should do too. Mario Batali has a theory that the wine you drink should be from the same place you get your food, because they will compliment each other.) That's why Lincoln has an SUV and a Hummer costs $150,000!

We've become a nation of brand obsessed consumers who wouldn't be caught dead using the "wrong" product! We've allowed Madison Avenue to define who we are through the goods we buy. We've become addicted to working 40 hours a week to live up a life style that exists only in commercials.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be listening to my MP3 player while watching BBC comedies on my plasma tv (because American comedies are so. . .American), and eating my pasta, with Emeril's gourmet sausage, and sauced with Emeril's pasta sauce.

Madonna just got her eight year old daughter, Lourdes, a credit card with a $10,000 limit.

Hey, Lourdes! Welcome to my consumerist, trend conscious, spend-it-while-you-can lifestyle. If I am any indication, it shouldn't take too long to max that thing out.

Hey, Madonna! Can I be your kid? I'll call you mommy. Then you can pay both Lourdes' and my credit card bills. Please, mommy?

(Hey! It's worth a shot. I signed up for iWon.com and I buy lottery tickets.)

In related news, A Jefferson County Colorado official had his county card suspended after running up a sizable tab. I wonder if I should apply for a job in Denver?

A few years ago, I read a report that since the Federal government issued credit cards to some of its employees, they tripled the amount of money they were spending. Folks were making personal purchases and letting you and me pick up the tab.

Damn! I needs me a government job!

Wow! The vitriol on the blogs and on the streets about the Supreme Court decision in the case of Kelo v. New London is absolutely amazing!

The Left is blaming the conservative justices. The Right is blaming the liberal judges.

At issue is the plans of New London, CT to develop an economically depressed part of town to spur investment. Some people sold their property, some held out. When the city foreclosed, the lawsuits began.

Essentially, the city argued that the new development would pay more in property taxes, resulting in more tax revenue, and that greater tax revenue was for the public good, and therefore acceptable under the Fifth Amendment's takings clause: ". . .nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Used to be, stuff in the public good meant roads and bridges and stuff. Now it means whoever pays the most taxes is entitled to your property. If Wal-Mart wants to build a superstore where your house is, they can! Your right to be secure in your own home is gone. On the upside, if you'll pay more taxes than your neighbor, you can get their house!

The next day, the city of Freeport, Texas filed papers to get 3 properties to build a marina. The land grab has begun!

While this is quite obviously a pro-business decision, it is also pro-government. This reinforces the liberal belief that government knows what's best for you and me because we're, well, not them. What's surprising is who dissented. So here's a handy little score card for your use:

Justice	For or against Kelo v. New London	Appointing President
William H. Rehnquist	N	Nixon (R)
John Paul Stevens	Y	Ford (R)
Sandra Day O'?Connor	N	Reagan (R)
Antonin Scalia	N	Reagan (R)
Anthony M. Kennedy	Y	Reagan (R)
David Hackett Souter	Y	Bush (R)
Clarence Thomas	N	Bush (R)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg	Y	Clinton (D)
Stephen G. Breyer	Y	Clinton (D)

For the record: 100% of the Democrat judges supported the decision; 57% of the Republicans wereopposedd. So if any liberals want to complain about how the conservatives did this, why did both liberals agree?

What we need to do now is get together, Left and Right, and get our Congress to amend the Constitution to define the public good.

Update: Some time it pays to be a Texan. Since the Supreme Court ruling left a door open for local and state laws to restrict the definition of eminent domain, some folks are calling on Governor Rick "Ridin' Dubya's Coattails" Perry to add the condemnation issue to the upcoming special session. They would have to amend the Texas Constitution, but we do that in every election. Perry, however, is saying (through his spokesflunky) that he would consider adding the issue, if the school finance problems were resolved.

C'mon, Kinky! Take a stand on this!

Update 2 (6/28/05): Logan Clements began the necessary paperwork to seize the home of Supreme Court Justice David Souter and build a hotel.

The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."

I don't know about you, but I'm already saving money for a night's stay at "the Lost Liberty Hotel" in Weare, New Hampshire.

We need more entrepreneurs to start buying the homes of Justices Stevens, Kennedy, Ginsberg, and Breyer.

In the United States of Jebus (aka Jesusistan), no one should be surprised to be witnessed to by Jebus' minions. A couple of Druids were pulled over by a volunteer police officer in Greer, South Carolina.

Now, I was all set to do a knee jerk "Lack-of-tolerance-in-the-"turn-the-other-cheek"-crowd" post when I re-read the article.

According to the article, "the officer cited Tony Gainey for driving with a suspended license, not having proper license plates or proof of insurance." We can then assume that the officer spotted the improper license plates and pulled Gainey over. However, Gainey said they were pulled over because of their bumper stickers, which were pagan stickers. During the stop, they reported, he asked about the stickers. After issuing the citations, the Gaineys apparently went home.

A few days later, they received a card from the officer reading: "God is calling you to listen to words from the Baptists. This is clear! If you deny this, then you are pushing away the hand of God and that would not be wise."

Had I received a card like that, I'd be pissed. But I don't know that I would accuse the officer of "promoting his religion during a traffic stop" when the promotion came a few days later.

Having said all of that, I'm not the least bit surprised that a volunteer police officer would do that. The current belief in the US is "Christian = American."