Clearly, this kid doesn't know what he's talking about:

"Are you kidding? This is silly," says Zack Bartell, 12, who was taking a dirt-bike riding lesson at School for Dirt's track next to Kawasaki Motors' U.S. headquarters here. "There's no way I'm going to stick a motorcycle part in my mouth."
Shut up, Zack.  You're just some stupid kid.  Listen ( Read more... )

Bailout plan fails in House, Dow loses its shit

• I was wrong: Americans are driving less, to the tune of 11 billion miles in March compared to last year.  And mileage dropped another 4.5 billion in April vs. a year ago.
• The current markup in gas prices includes speculation that hurricane season (which began June 1) may disrupt supplies, but it could go even higher if another Big One hits the Gulf.
• ( Read more... )

I had no idea that New Zealand had decriminalized prostitution.  And it seems to be working well so far:

The number of sex workers in New Zealand does not appear to have increased since legislation decriminalising prostitution became law, according to a new report ( Read more... )

From Nick Gillespie on Hit & Run, in reference to Congressional proposals to regulate college textbooks:

We can stipulate that college textbooks cost too much, that publishers are sons of bitches who don't care a goddamn stitch about learnin', that colleges and universities are subsidy-sucking sinkholes that don't give a rat's ass about anything ( Read more... )

You'd think a bill prohibiting restaurants from serving fat people would have to be a joke, but it isn't:

Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity ( Read more... )

New Jersey has just become a lot more civilized:

New Jersey is preparing to scrap the death penalty next week, becoming the first U.S. state to legislatively abolish capital punishment since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976 ( Read more... )

Via CNET comes news of the disturbingly rushed passage of Yet Another Internet Porn Bill:

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill saying that anyone offering an open Wi-Fi connection to the public must report illegal images including "obscene" cartoons and drawings--or face fines of up to $300,000 ( Read more... )

The Bill of Rights Under Bush: A Timeline

Not recommended reading if you're in a good mood and would like to remain that way.

Last blogger sent to Gitmo (link courtesy msginnyo), please turn out the lights.  I'd probably get waterboarded for my last five entries alone.  Granted, this only establishes a committee to explore methods by which "violent radicalization" may be identified and flushed out, so the only real cost of this bill might be another waste of your tax dollars.  ( Read more... )