Section 1.?(1)?A person who enters onto a farm or other
11 property where legitimate agriculture operations are being
12 conducted without the written consent of the owner, or an
13 authorized representative of the owner, commits a felony of the
14 first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083,
15 or s. 775.084, Florida Statutes.

It takes someone of amazing gullibility – or the recipient of generous agriculture industry donations – to believe this sort of thing won’t nicely dovetail into further restrictions on public photography.

The Florida Tribune has more information.  Senator Norman can be reached at norman.jim.web@flsenate.gov

Our own letter to him follows:

Subject: Common Sense requested

Regarding SB 1246:

A first degree felony for photographing a farm, are you kidding me?  This is pandering, sir, plain and simple.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the term “slippery slope.”  Restrictions on farm photography lead to restrictions elsewhere and soon recording the actions of police – and politicians – is also prohibited by law.  And that is most definitely not something we’re going to allow.

Please remember you have a responsibility to your entire district, not just the ones who contribute the most to your campaigns.

I’ve got several problems with that, personally, but there’s one I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere else yet, which is this:

People, generally speaking, will expend the least effort to produce the greatest rewards possible under a given set of circumstances.

Call it rules-lawyering. Call it playing the system. Call it exploitation. Whatever you call it, it’s basic human nature. We want the most stuff for the least work. Which, in this case, means that people who otherwise would never set foot in the direction of a charitable organization will instead show up and do a half-assed job of it. Maybe even quarter-assed.

They won’t care about whatever cause they are working for. All they’ll want is the tax refund, so they’ll do as little as humanly possible to qualify for it. The country will be awash in unmotivated clockwatchers, who will probably wind up doing more harm than good, and getting in the way of those who actually want to serve their communities.

I know there are those who think that once people get involved, they will find reason to do their best to aid their fellow man. Those people are wrong. You can barely get some people to do jobs they actually applied and interviewed for in their chosen career fields. People will wander the sides of roads instead of picking up the trash they were sent there after. People will work on their novels instead of answering the suicide hotline. Do you want to live in a house built by people effectively forced to be there? If so, how far behind schedule are you willing to let the project fall?

The government can’t use results-based qualifiers to determine if the volunteerism was sincere, because there will be people who are properly motivated, who want to put in the time, but who, due to circumstances, physical or mental limitations, and/or the glut of their fellow citizens, simply cannot get the job done. They’d be asking for lawsuits.

You cannot make people be nice. All you can do is annoy them, and make them resent your attempt. “Mandatory volunteerism” of any stripe is doomed to failure from the outset.

A new report to the Connecticut state legislature shows police have used the state’s unique gun seizure law to confiscate more than 1,700 firearms from citizens based on suspicion that the gun owners might harm themselves or others.

The state’s law permits police to seek a warrant for seizing a citizen’s guns based on suspicion of the gun owner’s intentions, before any act of violence or lawbreaking is actually committed.

I don’t know about you, but it is an IMMENSE comfort to me to know that the police in Connecticut can now read minds. How wonderfully crime-free this state must be! I think I will move there right away.

Under the statute, dubbed the “turn in your neighbor” law by opponents, any two police officers or a state prosecutor may seek a warrant, following a specified process of investigation, to confiscate guns from people deemed a risk to harming themselves or others. The vast majority of cases, however, begin when a person – usually a spouse or live-in, according to the OLR report – file a complaint.

Ok, how about a law now to pre-emptively arrest parents before they abuse their children?  How could you tell?  Well, of course if the child complains, they must be at risk of abuse, no?  Of course they’re not just crying about the spanking they received for coloring all over their bedroom walls, or about being grounded due to sneaking cigarettes from Mom’s purse.

And Neighbor Bill, who let his kids trample through your flowerbed and was asked to keep control over them…he’s only complaining to authorities about your guns because he thinks you might blow your thumb off, not because he wants to get back at you for so rudely pointing out his lackadaisical parenting method.  He cares about YOU, man.

“It certainly has not been abused. It may be underutilized,” Ron Pinciaro, co-executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence, told the Waterbury Republican American. “The bottom line from our perspective is, it may very well have saved lives.”

Thanks, Nanny-State!

*Yes, this is a link to a story on Worldnetdaily, which I ordinarily eschew, but the law exists, and it is idiotic in the extreme.

Oh yeah…nanny-staters wasting our time and money with mind-bogglingly moronic legislation:

The Illinois General Assembly bill, also known as HB 4520, was introduced in January by Rep. Ken Dunkin (D- Chicago), who then insisted: “This legislation is not laughable. On the surface it’s like, ‘Oh wow, what is this?’ But it’s becoming more and more of a common problem with people haplessly crossing an intersection and almost killing themselves.”

Oh, yes, Kenny…it IS laughable. You are, in effect, saying that people are now officially too helpless to walk themselves across the street. Does your constituency often enjoy being called stupid? You should go ask them.

Under the proposed law, Illinois residents would get slapped with a misdemeanor and a $25 fine if caught using a cell phone or other wireless device while traversing streets.

Well, THAT should deter them, for sure. I know 25 whole dollars would put a mighty big hole in my, er…daily Starbuck’s fund.

“The secretary headed a task force on driver safety, and this issue came up, and he was intrigued by the idea,” said David Drucker, a spokesman for Secretary of State White’s office. “He’s seen a couple of instances of [walking and texting] himself. Right now, though, he feels that it needs more study.”

I’m going to go out on a limb here in predicting that Secretary of State Jesse White is eleventy million years old, and thinks “texting” is some newfangled method of walking a cat, which as we all know is quite dangerous, hence this vital bit of legislation.

It is just baffling, honestly, that the combination of walking plus pushing little buttons on a small electronic device seems to equal DISASTER! I suppose if gravity had a habit of erratically responding, then yes, it might be something to fret over. Or if people had horny plates and/or actual spikes on their chitinous exoskeletons instead of being quite squishy in most spots, bumping into them could indeed be somewhat hazardous.

No, it’s just the very same overreaction all of our overpaid, underbrained hirelings are prone to, a DNA-level bit of programming that demands they justify their existence no matter how desperate and far-reached the method.

Last August, a train struck and injured a teenager in Elmwood Place, Ohio, as he sent a text message from his cell phone. Oblivious to the train’s horns, he walked around crossing gates. The town’s dumbfounded mayor said that “the kid was apparently just daydreaming.”

I, for one, am glad that individual will not be adding his genetic material to the future of our species, and you should be too.

Let’s face it, people. If you cannot walk and do at least one other thing, sending a text message included, without injuring yourself or others, then you’re urgently needed in the Opposable Thumb Return Department.

Teen hops two six foot fences and ignores numerous warnings at Six Flags, GA and gets the Highlander Loser treatment.  Who wants to bet his parents sue that there was not enough warning that the area under a 50 mph roller coaster was dangerous?

Dickie Scruggs gets 5 years at the Federal Penitentiary and Day Spa.  In my perfect world, he’d have to spend the rest of his life working as a Public Defender, or better yet, as a low ranking attorney in the DA’s office.  Five years in the pokie means he gets three hots and a cot on the taxpayer dime when in reality, he is not a dangerous person.

The Arctic Ice is melting and will be all gone this summer!  Oh NOES!  It’s Global Warm…oh, wait, it a cubic butt ton of undersea volcanoes getting all explodey under the ice.  Move along, nothing to see here.

Local to me, today a new law goes into effect such that if you are driving and talking on the phone, you need to be using a hands free device.  Opponents of the law say that the holding of the phone is not what causes problems, but rather, the fact that a person is talking at all is the distraction.  I wonder if that is the case, why don’t drivers get arrested for talking to their passengers?  What makes a phone call so much more distracting?  Me personally, I have a much easier time staying focused on driving while using a headset than I do while holding a phone.  Not sure why.

————————————

And a final bit of Randomness that has nothing to do with the news, and more to do with gardening at home.  We all know that containers are a great way to grow plants, but attractive clay containers are expensive, and heavy.  Foam or plastic containers may be lightweight, but they are cheap and look like it.  One way to get attractive containers and avoid the weight and the cost is to make your own.

Here’s what you do.  Go to the local crap store and buy two very large identical plastic pots (say, 18″ or more across the top).  Now go to your local building supply store and get a large bag of Portland Cement, NOT Concrete.  For those not in the know, cement is the part of concrete that, when mixed with water, gets hard and binds the gravel in concrete together.  Next, go to the garden store and get a bale or bag of peat moss and a bag of pearlite.

Now, in a tub or wheel barrow, mix equal parts cement, peat moss, and pearlite together.  Add water and stir until the mixture has the consistency of brownie mix (thick, but flowing).  Now, take your plastic pots and cover any drain holes with masking tape.  Then, put a good thick coat of veggie oil all across the inside surface of one pot, and do the same for the outside surface of the other.  Take the pot that has been greased on the inside and fill it about 1/3 full of your “concrete” mixture.  Take the other pot, the one with oil on the outside, and place it inside the first pot.  Push down and watch the concrete mixture rise up the sides.

The goal here is to have enough concrete to fill the inside pot to the top while leaving about an inch or so between the bottoms of the two pots (so the casting will have a base about an inch thick).  Shift the pots around so the sides will all be the same thickness and either place a weight in the pot to keep it in place, or set it on a flat surface and run two perpendicular ropes across the top and anchor the ropes to the ground.  In about 48 hours, you should be able to slide the pots apart (with a little effort and wiggling) and find yourself with a new, very lightweight pot.  Just gently drill a small hole in the bottom for drainage and it’s ready to go.

You can also get creative with this, and using wood forms, you can make box planters of any shape.  I’ve made planters with PVC pipes cast through them where the PVC pipe had small holes drilled every 4-6″ and the holes faced inside the box.  Fashion a standpipe with a hose fitting and you can water the box nice and quick.

Update: Fixed some links

Now I know that Ted and Hazel like to keep a clean house here, so I apologize if I intrude on anyone’s delicate nature. Ya’ll can just go somewhere else for a bit. For the rest of you that have the stomach for it, continue on past the fold.

Ok, just us now.

Your House and mine today shot down yet again a plan to open up the Outer Continental Shelf for petroleum exploration. In fact, the proposal never even made the hell out of committee. I will give you here some of the dumbassery:

“We are kidding ourselves if we think we can drill our way out of these problems,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., said during the bill mark-up session.

Sierra Club lands program director Athan Manuel told a House committee Wednesday that drilling has been unsuccessful in driving costs down.

“The disappointing part about some of the energy policies being promoted (is) that it calls for more drilling when drilling really is the problem. And all we’ve got to show for pretty aggressive (domestic) drilling for the last 35 years is, again, $4 for a gallon of gas,” Manuel said, adding “since the first Arab oil shock in the 1970s, the U.S. has produced almost 90 billion barrels of oil since then, so we’ve tried drilling our way out of the problem and it just hasn’t worked.”

Environment Florida spokeswoman Holly Binns told the Media General news group that offshore drilling has no immediate impact on prices.

“It would take anywhere from seven to 10 years to bring those resources to shore — to have any measurable impact on supply,” Binns said, advocating renewable energy sources.

Well, just to be fair, (like these fuckers deserve it) I guess it will take seven to ten years to drill, then maybe they have a point. But they would be wrong. It doesn’t take seven to ten years to drill a hole in the bottom of the Gulf.

The Flatrock No. 4 (“C” location) infill development well, which commenced drilling on April 9, 2008, is located between the Flatrock No. 1 discovery and the Flatrock No. 2 wells. The No. 4 well has been drilled to 15,315 feet and log-while-drilling tools have indicated hydrocarbon bearing sands in the proven hydrocarbon column in the Rob-L section approximating 135 net feet over a total approximate 246 foot gross interval. The well will be deepened to a proposed total depth of 18,500 feet to evaluate additional targets in the Rob-L and Operc sections.

By my calculations, that means that from drilling to oil was TWO GODDAMNED MONTHS! And That was an American company operating off the coast of Louisiana, you know where Hurricane Katrina caused all the oil platforms to spill a billion barrels of oil all over the Gulf of Mexico. (THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN EITHER, YOU SLACKWIT BASTARDS.)

But you say, sure, in ten feet of water you could do that; but what about out in in deep Gulf waters? That surely would take ten years, easy. Again, you cock-gargling thundercunts, you are wrong. China started drilling Cuban waters in 2006, and now not only pumping oil out of Cuban reserves, fifty fucking miles off of Florida, but are by-damn slant drilling into the oil reserves on OUR SIDE. So not only are the policies of the august body costing Americans daily in higher prices for every single thing in our oil based economy, but their pussified policies are now allowing uncontested theft of our own assets.

And don’t you shitting dare to talk to me about the ‘environmental danger’ of ocean drilling when the TRANSPORT of foreign oil to our shores is the ONLY significant source of oil spills greater than a thousand barrels since the Valdez incident. (More oil bubbles up from the bottom the sea, Jed Clampett style, than has been spilled from any other single source.) But sixty percent, SIXTY PERCENT, of all oil spills come from transporting it, not drilling it. Transporting by ship that is.

We have enough coal to make coal gasification economically feasible. We have enough goal that we could gasify enough to last us for literally hundreds of years. Some say we could get upwards of a trillions barrels of oil just from the Rocky Mountain shale deposits and the tar sands. But even with those two things going full bore, we would still need the light sweet crude from the tits of mother nature for other things besides gasoline for your car. We need that oil for industry, for AvGas, for plastics, etc. Even if we got two hundred reactors up and running so we could all drive around in little electric deathtraps, we would STILL NEED THE GODDAMNED OIL.

So like I said, when it comes time to vote (if we get another chance that means anything) run the bastards out of town on a rail. They ain’t doing OUR work anymore.

Operation Drill Bit

• That’s why we’re rolling out, “Operation Drill Bit”…
• Here’s what we need to do…
• Go to Lowe’s or Home Depot or whatever mom & pop hardware store you like, and buy a drill bit to send to your congressman or woman…
• In fact, buy at least 3…
• One for your Representative in the House
• And one for each of your two United States Senators.
• Tell them you are sick and tired of gas prices, and of watching this great country borrow money from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudi’s
• Click here to find the address for your senators and congressman.
• Click around on their web pages until you find their Washington, D.C. office… Don’t send anything to a local or district office.
• Include the message: IT’S TIME TO DRILL OUR OWN OIL NOW!
• Let’s flood Washington with drill bits to let them know it’s time to drill ANWR, the Gulf of Mexico and other domestic resources.
• We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore!!!

Click here to locate your Senators and Representatives using your zipcode

Big whoop, right?

Each coin will sell for $10, with all of the proceeds going directly to the US Boy Scouts. This, I have a problem with.

Now before I get flamed, let me explain. First off, I was a Boy Scout, way back when, made it to Life Scout, got lots of Merit Badges and Skill Awards, and was the Camp Cook. I loved being in the Scouts and had a blast. Of course, this was also before the Religious Nuts got a hold of the Scouts and decided that politicizing the Scouts for God and Heterosexuality was more important than just giving boys a place to be boys and burn off all their youthful energy.

However, my disappointment with the direction the Scouts have taken aside, using an act of congress to spend money to mint coins, coins that are legal tender, for public sale in order to raise money for a private organization is not what I pay those idiots to do! And that is not even taking into account the attitude that the Scouts are now a defacto religious organization. Even that aside, why is our government asking the Treasury to act as a fund raiser for the US Boy Scouts? Why not the Girl Scouts, or the Boys & Girls Clubs, or Big Brothers & Big Sisters, or etc?

Are the US Boy Scouts that hard up for cash? Do the Girl Scouts get overlooked because Cookie Sales are a better fund raiser than Popcorn and Pizza (or is it because the Girl Scouts got smart and stayed away from politicizing themselves and damaging their public image)? Does an organization serving children need to make it to their first centennial before they get a coin and the millions of dollars it will generate?

What Say You All?

Now S.Amdt. 4720 is a kind of important piece of legislation. It seems that it has enough importance to actually be it’s very own bill. It is the kind of thing that affects every single citizen of the United States, has immediate and long term ramifications, and is long overdue.

S.Amdt. 4720 is about opening up ANWR and coastal areas to petroleum producers. It was voted down. I would like for all of you to know exactly who voted for and against increasing our domestic oil production capabilities. I would like you to ask your Senators, your hirelings, why they decided not to approve it. Perhaps because they felt it was not appropriate to attach it to the Flood Ins. bill. Perhaps they thought it was a grandstand play that offended the sensibilities of their august Senate. Or perhaps they are just congenitally stupid and don’t realize that petroleum is the fuel of our American economy.

Either way, you should probably go ask. In case you don’t know how your particular hireling voted, this list is reprinted here via govtrack.us. (Thanks for the fine work you do over there.)

Alabama
Aye	AL	Sessions, Jefferson [R]
Aye	AL	Shelby, Richard [R]
Alaska
Aye	AK	Murkowski, Lisa [R]
Aye	AK	Stevens, Ted [R]
Arizona
Aye	AZ	Kyl, Jon [R]
No Vote	AZ	McCain, John [R]
Arkansas
Nay	AR	Lincoln, Blanche [D]
Nay	AR	Pryor, Mark [D]
California
Nay	CA	Boxer, Barbara [D]
Nay	CA	Feinstein, Dianne [D]
Colorado
Aye	CO	Allard, Wayne [R]
Nay	CO	Salazar, Ken [D]
Connecticut
Nay	CT	Dodd, Christopher [D]
Nay	CT	Lieberman, Joseph [I]
Delaware
Nay	DE	Biden, Joseph [D]
Nay	DE	Carper, Thomas [D]
Florida
Nay	FL	Martinez, Mel [R]
Nay	FL	Nelson, Bill [D]
Georgia
Aye	GA	Chambliss, C. [R]
Aye	GA	Isakson, John [R]
Hawaii
Nay	HI	Akaka, Daniel [D]
Nay	HI	Inouye, Daniel [D]
Idaho
Aye	ID	Craig, Larry [R]
Aye	ID	Crapo, Michael [R]
Illinois
Nay	IL	Durbin, Richard [D]
Nay	IL	Obama, Barack [D]
Indiana
Aye	IN	Lugar, Richard [R]
Nay	IN	Bayh, B. [D]
Iowa
Aye	IA	Grassley, Charles [R]
Nay	IA	Harkin, Thomas [D]
Kansas
Aye	KS	Brownback, Samuel [R]
Aye	KS	Roberts, Pat [R]
Kentucky
Aye	KY	Bunning, Jim [R]
Aye	KY	McConnell, Mitch [R]
Louisiana
Aye	LA	Landrieu, Mary [D]
Aye	LA	Vitter, David [R]
Maine
Nay	ME	Collins, Susan [R]
Nay	ME	Snowe, Olympia [R]
Maryland
Nay	MD	Cardin, Benjamin [D]
Nay	MD	Mikulski, Barbara [D]
Massachusetts
Nay	MA	Kennedy, Edward [D]
Nay	MA	Kerry, John [D]
Michigan
Nay	MI	Levin, Carl [D]
Nay	MI	Stabenow, Debbie Ann [D]
Minnesota
Nay	MN	Coleman, Norm [R]
Nay	MN	Klobuchar, Amy [D]
Mississippi
Aye	MS	Cochran, Thad [R]
Aye	MS	Wicker, Roger [R]
Missouri
Aye	MO	Bond, Christopher [R]
Nay	MO	McCaskill, Claire [D]
Montana
Nay	MT	Baucus, Max [D]
Nay	MT	Tester, Jon [D]
Nebraska
Aye	NE	Hagel, Charles [R]
Nay	NE	Nelson, Ben [D]
Nevada
Aye	NV	Ensign, John [R]
Nay	NV	Reid, Harry [D]
New Hampshire
Aye	NH	Gregg, Judd [R]
Aye	NH	Sununu, John [R]
New Jersey
Nay	NJ	Lautenberg, Frank [D]
Nay	NJ	Menendez, Robert [D]
New Mexico
Aye	NM	Domenici, Pete [R]
Nay	NM	Bingaman, Jeff [D]
New York
Nay	NY	Clinton, Hillary [D]
Nay	NY	Schumer, Charles [D]
North Carolina
Aye	NC	Burr, Richard [R]
Nay	NC	Dole, Elizabeth [R]
North Dakota
Nay	ND	Conrad, Kent [D]
Nay	ND	Dorgan, Byron [D]
Ohio
Aye	OH	Voinovich, George [R]
Nay	OH	Brown, Sherrod [D]
Oklahoma
Aye	OK	Coburn, Thomas [R]
No Vote	OK	Inhofe, James [R]
Oregon
Nay	OR	Smith, Gordon [R]
Nay	OR	Wyden, Ron [D]
Pennsylvania
Aye	PA	Specter, Arlen [R]
Nay	PA	Casey, Robert [D]
Rhode Island
Nay	RI	Reed, John [D]
Nay	RI	Whitehouse, Sheldon [D]
South Carolina
Aye	SC	DeMint, Jim [R]
Aye	SC	Graham, Lindsey [R]
South Dakota
Aye	SD	Thune, John [R]
Nay	SD	Johnson, Tim [D]
Tennessee
Aye	TN	Alexander, Lamar [R]
Aye	TN	Corker, Bob [R]
Texas
Aye	TX	Cornyn, John [R]
Aye	TX	Hutchison, Kay [R]
Utah
Aye	UT	Bennett, Robert [R]
Aye	UT	Hatch, Orrin [R]
Vermont
Nay	VT	Leahy, Patrick [D]
Nay	VT	Sanders, Bernard [I]
Virginia
Aye	VA	Warner, John [R]
Nay	VA	Webb, Jim [D]
Washington
Nay	WA	Cantwell, Maria [D]
Nay	WA	Murray, Patty [D]
West Virginia
Nay	WV	Byrd, Robert [D]
Nay	WV	Rockefeller, John [D]
Wisconsin
Nay	WI	Feingold, Russell [D]
Nay	WI	Kohl, Herbert [D]
Wyoming
Aye	WY	Barrasso, John [R]
Aye	WY	Enzi, Michael [R]

A soldier or sailor, jarhead, hell even a zoomie, knows that when he signs the Line and raises his hand, he is giving up some of his personal freedoms for the cause of liberty for others. He knows that his government can send him half-way ’round the planet to kill or be killed and that his NOT getting killed requires severe discipline, self reliance, problem solving ability, etc. He knows that he may be away from Little Suzie for months or years at time, yet he takes that responsibility on his shoulders because he understands that what he does today will mean that he and Suzie will have a better life for Little Johnnie and Mary later.

He understands that he will be living a life of austerity. He knows he is going to be standing watch at all hours of the night, eating bland food, and have toilet paper that is only one process removed from the tree.

He knows all these things, but raises his hand anyway.

But I swear on Steel that he never thought his right to jerk off to Miss July was going to be denied him. Let me rephrase that: He never thought he would be serving the same military that banned books. He never thought he was serving for the same country that would limit his right to buy ANY magazine or book or movie or CD or any other print or electronic medium that transfered words or images from the producer to the buyer. He never thought that his country, the same one he is literally ready to die for, would tell him that he can’t take a girly mag, or a Koran, or a Bible, or a freaking Chilton Manual back to the barracks with him. When it comes down to it, banning one is just like banning the others.

The government can tell a soldier that he can not read while standing post; makes sense, he is on duty and has a job to do. The government can make rules concerning displays of “objectionable material” in public spaces; makes sense again, ours is a military of many varied people and at least two different sexes. The government can post orders about the health, welfare and morale of military members that could entail inspections of lockers, barracks, mess halls and galleys, work spaces, and even the soldier himself. This also makes perfect sense because operational concerns are more important than the privacy of a private’s privates.

But to ban the sale of Playboy, Penthouse, etc., magazines that are legal to purchase in these United States, on a military base is senseless. Sure, a soldier can go to the first convenience store outside the gate and buy the same magazines, and even bring them on base if he so desired, as long as he was stationed stateside that is. OUTCONUS, he might not. Instead he might find, gasp, magazines showing actual sex acts! Oh no! The loss of innocence!

I don’t even pretend to think that hardcore porn isn’t available in many forms here in the US, just trying to make a point.

Many times, junior enlisted guys aren’t allowed off post for a variety of reasons, not all of them disciplinary. In many places in the world, NO ONE leaves the base except while on duty. (Which reminds me a of a story… A gunnery sergeant I knew used to be stationed in Moscow with the Embassy. He tells the story about his unit jogging through the streets of Moscow, in winter, wearing only shorts emblazoned with the Corps’ emblem and t-shirts written in Cyrillic…nevermind, thats a story for later.) Often times, the PX (or base exchange or AAFRTS or whateverthehell they are calling it these days) is literally the ONLY way for them to purchase ANY little bits of America while they are far from home.

Here is the bit I love the most bout this story:

“Allowing sale of pornography on military bases has harmed military men and women by escalating the number of violent, sexual crimes, feeding a base addiction, eroding the family as the primary building block of society, and denigrating the moral standing of our troops both here and abroad,” Broun said.

Yeahh, righhhht. Excuse me if I’m gonna have to ask for the source on that one there, Sparky.

Then there’s this little gem:

Broun said he wants to bring the Defense Department into compliance with the intent of the 1997 law “so that taxpayers will not be footing the costs of distributing pornography.”

Exchange officials noted that tax dollars are not used to procure magazines in the system’s largely self-funded operations

But his respone is just precious:

But Broun’s spokesman John Kennedy contended that taxpayer dollars are involved — “used to pay military salaries, so taxpayer money is, in effect, being used to buy these materials,” he said.

As the end consumer, jackass. Remember, these guys pay taxes too.

“It’s not our intent to have an art magazine banned,” Kennedy said. “

Define art.

Kennedy said Broun “is a medical doctor and ‘addictionologist’

AHHHH! Now I get it. it seems Dr. Broun here has a vested interest in this issue. Because I’m sure he isn’t going to just volunteer his office time for the treatment of these poor self-abusing victims of Hugh Hefner et. al.

Case closed. Dr. Broun, your credibility is shot. You stand to financially gain by banning a magazine that won’t even show pink, fer chrissakes. Even if your intent is pure as the driven snow, even if you set up a foundation with your own money, never take donations, and pay for staff out of your own pocket, your motivations will be forever be seen as an attempt to limit free speech and free press. A soldier has three absolutely free things left to him: his sight, his mind, and his pecker. The people who enlist are in the prime of youth and the zenith of health. They are working long days for bad food, bad pay, and sometimes living in housing that would get FEMA sued. Trying to suppress the sexuality of these VOLUNTEERS is tantamount to saying that they are no longer human since they put on the uniform. Got news for ya, Sparky: they are the most human among us.

How long before something else is deemed “objectionable”?

They came for my neighbor’s Penthouse, but I said nothing since I don’t buy it.

Then they came for my neighbor’s Playboy; again I said nothing since I don’t even read the articles.

Then they came for my Anarchist’s Cookbook, my Foxfire, and my Boy Scout manual since they said they were subversive.

Then they came for my Slaughterhouse Five.

Then they came for me.

(Via Zombyboy)