Frozen Chicken Brings Down Cafe Thief

CANBERRA (Reuters) – A thief who used a frozen chicken as a tool to break into a cafe was caught after he cut his wrist and was forced to phone an ambulance, Australian police said Wednesday.

The man stole the chicken during an earlier break-in at a butcher’s shop/ at Macksville, north of Sydney, but came off second best when he tried to use the frozen bird and some rocks to break into a cafe, slashing open his wrist.

"You are one dumb thief!"

“He thought he was dying,” a police spokesman who would not be named told Reuters from Macksville police headquarters.

The 20-year-old man dialed an emergency 000 number to call an ambulance and was arrested shortly after being treated by paramedics, he said.

The man was charged with breaking-and-entering and was due to face a local court in nearby Kempsey later Wednesday.

Activists, Ringling Bros., square off over elephants

Activists allege Ringling Bros. Circus Cruel to Elephants

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Circus elephants had their day in court Wednesday as animal advocates argued that the legendary Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey abused the pachyderms that perform in its shows.

A former employee of the circus group teamed up with advocates to file the lawsuit more than eight years ago, alleging that the elephants were trained using sharp hooks and chained up for days.

Attorney Katherine Meyer, who is representing the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), rattled a heavy chain in the courtroom as the trial got under way.

Meyer brandished a sharp bullhook, an implement that she said was “routinely used to discipline, correct and punish” the circus’ Asian elephants, which are on the endangered species list and which environmental conservation group WWF says faces extinction in the wild.

What will we do when the activists close down the circus?

Meyer accused the circus group and its parent company, Feld Entertainment, of subjecting the elephants to long train trips as they travel across the United States for perform.

During the trips the pachyderms are chained up for more than 24 hours and have to stand in their own waste, she said.

Defense attorney John Simpson called the lawsuit against the circus “an assault on an American institution.”  (Read more.)

The Future of Ringling Brothers?

Obama hits stimulus critics, cites voter support

Senate Critical of Obama Stimulus; Too Much Spending Says GOP

(AP)–Polite yet pointed, President Barack Obama pushed back against Republican critics of the economic stimulus legislation making its way through Congress on Wednesday at the same time he reached across party lines to consider changes in the bill.

“Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the essential,” Obama said as Senate Republicans stepped up their criticism of the bill’s spending and pressed for additional tax cuts and relief for homeowners. He warned that failure to act quickly “will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession.”

Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama’s signature by the end of next week, and they concede privately they will have to accept some spending reductions along the way.

“There’s no pork in this bill, there’s no pork in this bill”… I know he’s lying!  Hey look at his nose! It’s changing.  It’s growing!  It’s Obama-nocchio!

“This bill needs to be cut down,” Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on the Senate floor. He cited $524 million for a State Department program that he said envisions creating 388 jobs. “That comes to $1.35 million per job,” he added. (More.)

Post Office $384 Million in the Red…get ready for a 2-cent hike

WASHINGTON (AP)—The Postal Service had a $384 million loss in the October-December period, usually a profitable time for the agency because of holiday cards, gifts and catalogs.But the worsening recession pushed mail volume down by 5.2 billion pieces compared to the same period a year earlier.

It was the eighth consecutive quarter that mail volume fell by increasing amounts. Without an economic recovery, mail volume for the year could be down 12 million to 15 million items, the post office said.

The post office lost $2.8 billion last fiscal year and if current trends continue the loss could be much greater this year.

Always in the red.

A rate increase is scheduled to take effect in May, but the amount has not yet been announced. Because rates are tied to inflation a 2-cent increase in the 42-cent first-class price is likely. Officials could seek a higher rate, citing the extraordinary economic conditions, but they are concerned that could lead to even greater declines in business.

Preliminary results for the first quarter of the fiscal year—October through December—were presented to the postal board of governors Wednesday.

They showed operating revenue of $19.1 billion, a decrease of $1.3 billion compared to the same period last year, and operating expenses of $19.5 billion, a reduction of approximately $200 million.

President Signs SCHIP Program Bill… ‘Obama Era’ Of Irresponsible Government Begins

How long will Sven-bama be able to hypnotize Americans?

President Obama continually repeats a mantra that his administration will spend money more responsibly.  If this is exhibit A, then hold on to your wallets.  Today the president signed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP, into law.  This expands the SCHIP program by more than $115 billion dollars.

There is never a right time to do this–but this is precisely the wrong time.  This is nothing more than an expansion of government power.  SCHIP is a fiscally irresponsible scheme that vastly expands the program which is largely unnecessary to begin with.

The new bill includes kids in families of four earning up to $80,000 per year. But the Congressional Budget Office reports that 77 percent of such children already have private health insurance, according to Michael F. Cannon, director of health-policy studies at the Cato Institute, a free-market think tank.

In short, this expansion is unnecessary and redundant.  Read why the bill is harmful here, and you can read the President’s happy version here.

California Court to hear Prop 8 case next month…uh, didn’t we just hear that case? Wasn’t it called an election?

CA High Court to hear Prop. 8 case next month

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s highest court will hear oral arguments early next month in legal challenges to the state’s voter-approved same-sex marriage ban.

The state Supreme Court has scheduled a March 5 hearing date for oral arguments in a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8.

Gay couples, several local governments and Attorney General Jerry Brown maintain the ballot initiative, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, is unconstitutional.  (It would have only been constitutional had it failed.)

If it opts to uphold the measure, the court has said it will also decide whether the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed when gay marriage was legal in California are valid.

After hearing arguments, the court’s seven justices will have 90 days in which to issue a ruling. (Gee, I wonder how the stacked court will rule.)

Not much good goes on inside the bald dome of Attorney General Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown

B.S. Report–Regardless of where you stand on the issue of same-sex marriage, there is something very wrong with California’s ballot initiative process if, every time you vote against the prevailing liberal agenda, the vote is disallowed by the courts.

Why don’t we just stop pretending to have free elections and simply submit initiatives directly to this elite, small select bunch of super humans:  judges.  They’re obviously the only ones with brains so nuanced as to be able to decide such complex issues.

We’re constantly told by the radical left that the conservative right is intolerant and that we need to respect the rule of law.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is only the left that doesn’t respect the rule of law. Only the left actively tries to challenge and overturn elections.

Go back to the 2000 presidential race.  Who was it who took the case to court?  Vice-President Al Gore, of course.  Richard Nixon had the chance to challenge the crooked presidential election of 1960 when John F. Kennedy’s daddy and the mob conspired to steal Illinois and the presidency.  Nixon never did challenge because he felt doing so would be harmful to the country.

Today’s liberals don’t care about the damage they do to the country, the court system or the rule of law.  They are too self-absorbed to worry about anyone but themselves.  They don’t care that others may disagree with their views.  That simply means that others must be wrong; and not only wrong, but evil.

The left was shocked that Proposition 8 passed.  They did everything they could to defeat it:  they demonized groups and individuals that supported traditional marriage.

The Attorney General, Jerry Brown, even went so far as to dishonestly change the name of the initiative to the anti-gay marriage initiative from the defense of marriage initiative.  Yet, with all that, the initiative still passed.  But the radical left persists in trying to defeat the will of the people.

When they do disallow this vote and rule the initiative unconstitutional, it will probably head back to the ballot in a somewhat altered form.

Eventually, no matter how many attempts it takes, there will be enough people to support same-sex marriage.  Only then, when that vote passes will we be told that the people have spoken and the vote must be respected.  What a bunch of hypocrites.

Utah Legislature Considering “Tracking” Bar Customers…Governor Says, “NO”

Utah Governor Won’t Support Tracking Bar Customers

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A proposal to create a statewide database to track patrons’ visits to bars has come under fire, criticized because it would harm Utah’s image at a time when it is increasingly seeking to boost tourism and modernize its liquor laws.

Gov. Jon Huntsman told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that he’s in favor of scanning driver’s licenses to keep minors out of bars, but he said government shouldn’t get into the business of keeping tabs on who drinks and where.

He said doing so would make Utah, which already has some of the nation’s strictest and quirkiest liquor laws, appear even more unfriendly to tourists.

“I think that would enhance the oddness of our laws,” Huntsman said. “I think that for most people that is a rather frightening, almost Orwellian, proposition.”  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–I understand that the Utah state legislature is also considering tracking all adults.  In fact, upon your 18th birthday they’ve decided to fit you with one of these:

It’s a beautiful designer “tracking” collar just like the one you put on “Spot.”  Only this one is permanent.  You’re even allowed to pick your color.  Utah’s new state motto is going to be:  “We know where you are, don’t even think of committing any mischief.”  The legislature believes that their new policy will attract tourists in droves!

Endangered Fox Population Booms…Great news! They Taste Like Chicken And Their Fur Makes Great Gloves!

Endangered Catalina Island fox population booms!

AVALON, Calif. (AP) — A decade after they were nearly wiped out by disease, the distinct wild foxes on Santa Catalina Island have made a huge recovery.

The Catalina Island fox, a subspecies of 5-pound foxes unique to the island 22 miles off the Southern California coast, topped out at 784 in a recent count, biologists said Tuesday. That’s up from just 100 or so in 1999, when the population dwindled after an outbreak of canine distemper virus. The island once had about 1,300 of the foxes.

“These numbers are fantastic news,” said Julie King, senior wildlife biologist for the Catalina Island Conservancy.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put the animals on the endangered species list in 2004.

King said a dry year in 2007 followed by a wet 2008 was beneficial for the foxes.

The 2007 drought killed off many mule deer. The foxes grew fat off the carcasses and had large litters in the 2008 breeding season. Then last year’s heavier rain made the rodent population explode, providing a good food source for the young.

“The mice were convenient to-go packages of protein for females to retrieve and feed to their pups,” King said.

Soon, they'll be so many that they'll be asking us to hunt them again! Yeah, right.

When the population fell to its 1999 low, the conservancy and the Institute for Wildlife Studies started a $2 million recovery program that included captive breeding and vaccinations.

“For a small conservancy to bring a species back from the brink of extinction to a stabilized, growing population in less than 10 years is no small feat,” said Carlos de la Rosa, the conservancy’s chief conservation and education officer.

Freedom Quote Of The Day

“The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.”

–Thomas Jefferson

Finally, A Sheriff With A Clue…He’ll Probably Get Fired

Arizona Sheriff Houses Illegals Separately From Other Prisoners

"Toughest Sheriff in America."

PHOENIX (AP) — The self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff in America” has announced plans to keep illegal immigrants separate from the rest of the inmate population at tents in Phoenix that house prisoners.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he plans to personally accompany about 200 inmates – along with members of the media – from an area jail to Tent City on Wednesday afternoon.

“This is a population of criminals more adept perhaps at escape,” Arpaio said in a news release. “But this is a fence they won’t want to scale because they risk receiving quite a shock, literally,” he said, referring to the electric fence that surrounds the area.

Arpaio said housing the illegal immigrants separately would save money, although he did not explain how other than to say it’s cheaper to house inmates in tents than at traditional jails.

He also said the move will be more convenient for consulate officials visiting foreign inmates and for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents charged with deporting the inmates after they have served sentences in county jails.

Aside from their residency status, he said the inmates will be treated just like everyone else housed in the tents.

A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment.

Arpaio’s announcement has appalled some officials in the area. (Read more.)

B.S. Report–Of course this appalls some officials–their goal is to destroy the United States.  Good luck Sheriff Joe, many of us are behind you all the way!