It turns out that Thursdays post was somewhat inaccurate. Tommy Chong was fined $100,000---a combination of the $20+ thousand seized during the raid and an extra $75,000 on top of that. And of course the nine months in jail, that hasn't changed. You can help by visiting: Free Tommy Chong! where you can find out where to send a contribution to his defense, and electronically register your disgust with congress...automatically!

Lots to say today, on the anniversary of 9/11. Please look at this column by
Timothy Lynch at Cato, which has detailed all the rights you've had stripped away by the so-called "Patriot Act". Our representative voted against it, but our senator, like every single one save Russ Feingold, voted for it. As was reported in many news sources, none of them read it first. If you feel inconvenienced at the airport, be glad if that's all that happens to you. Hope your name isn't Haddad.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Tommy Chong, who played one half of the dope-smoking
duo in Cheech and Chong movies, was sentenced to nine months in federal
prison and fined $20,000 on Thursday for selling bongs and other drug
paraphernalia over the Internet.

That's where your tax dollars are going, to arrest dangerous people like Tommy Chong. Of course, Ashcroft also likes to persecute sick people who use cannabis legally to treat cancer, consistent with the laws of California. At least we can still drink---and we're going to want to.

Yesterday I read "The Rage and The Pride" by Orianna Fallaci. Well worth buying, it tells the story of 9/11 not just from the viewpoint of a New York resident, but the long view over time of a journalist who has witnessed crimes of the islamofascists up close for many years, in many lands. Pretty shocking in places. No punches pulled, you'll have a hard time forgetting this one, and you should. The war against these people is going to go on for quite a while.

Fine article in the Wall Street Journal Online this morning:

What Iraqis Really Think
We asked them. What they told us is largely reassuring.

BY KARL ZINSMEISTER
Wednesday, September 10, 2003 12:01 a.m. EDT

Some bad news, even though we knew it was coming:

Warren Zevon, 56, dead after a long illness
From MSNBC via Virginia Postrel

One of the most interesting songwriters around, Warren was a real treat to hear in concert. He generally toured alone, and entertained the audience with piano and guitar. He didn't usually sing about love. "Roland Headless Thompson Gunner" was more like it. Rick Derringer made "Lawyers Guns and Money" a hit, as Linda Ronstadt did with "Poor Poor Pitiful Me". In my opinion, "Stand in the Fire", recorded live but WITH a band, was his best album. Unless somebody has made an MP3 copy, it's only available on cassette or vinyl, which is a real crime. The album includes "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" and "Jeanie Needs A Shooter" along with his better-known tunes. I hear that some of his albums are going to be re-released, and hopefully Stand in the Fire will be among them. Zevon's sense of humor permeated his music, and I think that's what really set it apart from the mainstream---he always reminded me of a perky, happy Tom Waits. Warren Zevon was a real character who will be long remembered.

Man flies 'cargo class' to save cash---MSNBC

Now everyone will do it....

WALL STREET JOURNAL, CONGRESSMAN CORNYN MOCKS TERRORISTS, SAYS "COME GET US YOU PUSSIES!"

The normally staid Wall Street Journal shocked readers today by publishing what can only be described as a Taunting Dare to terrorists world wide, an invitation; nay, a blueprint for action, which, if followed, could shut down the government for up to four years.

"...Under the majority quorum requirement, terrorists could shut Congress down by killing or incapacitating a sufficient number of representatives or senators.

Our ability to ensure Congress would be able to continue to function under the current constitutional restrictions is woefully limited. States have power to allow their governors to appoint senators in cases of vacancies, and 48 states have elected to do so. But the Constitution provides no immediate mechanism for filling vacancies in the House, nor for redressing the problem of large numbers of members in either chamber being incapacitated."

The Justice Department is said to be considering legal action against the WSJ as well as the Congressman. "What will happen now that terrorists have a clear roadmap on how to put our government out of commission?" asked a highly-placed source, "If they know that just by knocking off a couple hundred Representatives, who incidentally meet at a well-known location DAILY during certain seasons, will they hesitate to act?" he then added, "Yah Boo! Your Grandma eats sausage biscuits and LIKES it!"

President Bush had only a short comment, as it was a busy day: "I just dare the terrorists to try to take advantage of us in our weakest link. No, I double dare them!"

Ok, so there were two things that were bothering me recently that I wanted to write about. Here's the first:

Anarchist Web Site Lands Man in Jail
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A federal judge sentenced a man to a year in prison Monday for creating an anarchist Web site with links to sites on how to build bombs.

Every time I get to thinking that we're NOT REALLY living in a police state, something like this comes along to convince me I'm wrong. The reason that the 20-year-old Sherman Austin plea bargained was that he was threatened with a 20 YEAR SENTENCE by the feds for being a terrorist. Of course, he never actually BUILT a bomb, or even told anyone how to do it---he just gave links to places that did. Here's some more of his punishment:

Austin must also pay a $2,000 fine and is barred for three years from using a computer without approval. Wilson said he also may not associate with anyone from a group that "espouses physical force as a means of change."

I guess that would keep him out of the Republican and Democratic parties BOTH, now wouldn't it?
Also, don't libraries have books on chemistry? Does that mean you'd get 20 years for linking to a library? Does Amazon have books like that? How about tv shows like McGyver (sp?) where the lead character was always building neat bomb thingies out of table scraps? Would you get 20 years for linking to TV Guide? I suppose we'll find out, won't we?

It's about time to go to Port Watson.

The other thing that was bugging me, somewhat more trivial, was the hiding Arnold the S man is getting from Democrats over an interview where he admits to smoking pot and participating in group sex. It's ok for the president, but not a governor, is that the message? I mean, I thought Dems were supposed to be FOR those things, or at least the privacy to do so in your own home. There's just no pleasing some people.

You can fight Evil this weekend (or on any weekday) from the comfort of your own home or office, simply by going to Day by Day, a real funny comic strip by Chris Muir. What you do is, first read the comic strips, and then give him a dollar. That's the clever bit.