Finally, those old Famuly Circus cartoons make sense to me. :-)

The balloon fiesta is the largest portable toilet event in the state. Of course it is.

From today's Washington Post:

Five years after Arab terrorists attacked the United States, only 33 FBI agents have even a limited proficiency in Arabic, and none of them work in the sections of the bureau that coordinate investigations of international terrorism, according to new FBI statistics.

So, it's a problem that the FBI is woefully short of Arab language speakers?  But I thought terrorists come in all sizes and colors.  Isn't this a form of profiling? 

Thomas Sowell has a great column on the abuses of eminent domain, "open space" laws and the like and how they can be (and most often are) used as a tool for the rich.  I've been arguing this kind of thing for a long time now, especially as regards "open space" laws.  The whole idea of building a home some place, and then preventing others from doing the same nearby to protect your view is, to me, the high of hypocrisy.

This is why people are tired of lawyers. Here are the highlights:

• College kid buys "loft bed."
• College kid falls out of loft bed.
• College kid sues citing lack of sticker warning that one could fall and get hurt.
• College kids wins $179,001.

Only in America.  Thankfully, 20 pages and three judges later, the appellate court reversed the decision.

Well, BetOnSports.com finally gave in.  They are ceasing any "US facing operations." Very sad.  Congress, figure it out!  Legalize it, tax it, and leave my sports books alone!

So, the Wiccans (better known as Pagans) are suing the VA, and the ACLU is helping them out.  Now, I rarely agree with the ACLU these days, but on this one, I'm on their side. Turns out that the VA (The Department of Veterans Affairs) allows the families of deceased military personnel to chose from a list of 38 different religious symbols to be engraved on their headstone.  Among these are a number of religions I've never even heard of (SEICHO-NO-IE???).  However, according to the suit, the Wiccans have been petitioning unsuccessfully for years to add their Pentagram to the list of these symbols, and the government will not allow it. This just plain sucks.  These people fought for and in many cases died for our country.  Theirs is not, contrary to popular beleif, a religion of the devil.  It's a religion of nature, practiced by many Americans.  Let them have their symbol, for crying out loud.