I'll Take Potpourri for 50 Alex

I was watching the tube last evening and Fox contributor Jeanine Pirro was giving her views on the recent publishing of the names and addresses of gun permit holders (along with an interactive map of their houses) by the Journal News in NY State. Now, she was an assistant DA, District Attorney and judge in Westchester County, so she knows the area. But one thing she said really struck me: She said she had participated one way or another in the prosecution of 40,000 gun crimes in her thirty years of service, and in all that time she saw one murder case in which a LEGAL gun was used. One in thirty years! And this arrogant, self-important rag of a newspaper had the gonads to invade the privacy of law abiding citizens and potentially put their lives and property at risk? This is an outrage and every effort should be made to prosecute these people. The law states that F.O.I.A. requests cannot be used for commercial purposes and/or financial gain. This was an obvious attempt to garner attention and increase circulation for a dying newspaper. Let's hope the present DA will do the right thing (http://www.westchesterda.net/).

Recognize this? Of course you do. The E.P.A. has been pushing the compact fluorescent (CFL) for years. My house is full of them. As you know the traditional incandescent bulb uses most of its energy for heat rather than light, so it's very inefficient. CFLs and LEDs use much less energy (that's why I got 'em, I'm a cheap bastard). But LEDs are very expensive and CFLs have a very nasty heavy metal called mercury. In fact, it's so nasty when these things die we are supposed to bring them to a recycling center rather than just tossing them in the garbage. So, if I understand this correctly, the EPA mandates that we can't have but x parts per billion of mercury in our drinking water and air, at a cost of billions upon billions to taxpayers and industry, but it's ok to have enough of this deadly neuro-toxin in your home, in a fragile glass tube, around your children, family and friends to make you a Depends® coupon clipper for life. And this is good regulation?  

There's an excellent piece in the Irish Examiner Rush Limbo mentioned yesterday I think is worth a look. The author talks about the "low information voter" and Republican's inability to reach this (and it kills me to say this) very important voting bloc. When I read it I swear she described to a T a guy I know. He's an otherwise intelligent human being but doesn't like politics, big into sports, watches John Stewart regularly to tell him what to think, and votes Democrat religiously. If I try to engage him on politics he shuts down immediately and says "you believe what you want to believe and leave me alone". How does one connect with people like this? These are not morons, they're disengaged and therefore vulnerable to class warfare arguments and most of the other bullshit the Democrats throw against the wall. I'm at a loss. As the saying goes, they know just enough to be dangerous AND THEY VOTE!