When Hooters Becomes Shooters

Come on, people. Can we not reach for our guns at the tiniest provocation? Can we stop doing shit like this?

1 killed, 1 hurt in Hooters shooting

Police say man opened fire at restaurant after argument about bill

An argument over a restaurant tab led to an early-morning shooting Saturday that killed a customer, wounded an assistant manager and temporarily shut down a West Knoxville Hooters, authorities said.

Stacey Sherman, 35, of Applegate, Mich., died Saturday afternoon at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville Police Department Lt. Doug Stiles said. The shots started as Sherman stepped out of the Hooters, 8050 Kingston Pike, just before 1 a.m.

Assistant manager Kris Key, 25, also suffered gunshot wounds. He remained in the hospital Saturday night, a company official said.

Police continued to search for the gunman, whom Key had ordered out of the restaurant after an argument over his bill. Police said they're not sure of his name.

Key had waived the man's tab just before asking him to leave. The man, who was by himself, walked out, pulled a .40-caliber gun from a backpack and started shooting into the restaurant, then ran away, Stiles said.

Cue the right-wing morons clamoring to allow guns into restaurants so they can all be the hero. Hey, it works in the movies!

Yeah, I know. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. But as long as people are unhinhged psychodoodles ready to fly off the handle and discharge their weapons at the first little irritation instead of resolving disputes rationally, I don’t think we should be giving them deadly weapons.

Just sayin'.

They're Baaaack!

Following up on this post from earlier in the month, I thought I'd show you the mail we received at the Beale house yesterday.

Yep, all catalogs.

It was the same the day before and it will be the same today. This deluge was bad enough before Christmas, but now all the crap I didn't buy the first time around is on sale, so retailers feel compelled to make that final push.

I never buy from catalogs anymore but I do buy online, which I guess is the same thing from the retailer's perspective. But I'm seriously reconsidering these online purchases, knowing that it will only result in another deluge of catalogs four or five times a year.

If a person buys stuff online, shouldn't they be able to opt out of receiving catalogs from that retailer?

Belt-And-Suspenders Elections

[UPDATE]:

It gets worse. According to an advisory posted by the Metro Election Commission, the laptops contained full social security numbers, not just the last four digits.

Thanks a lot, idiots.

---------------------------------

Oh, great:

Thieves nab Nashville voter rolls

Laptop has data on about 337,000 people

By JENNIFER BROOKS
Staff Writer

Thieves broke in to the Davidson County Election Commission offices over the Christmas holiday and made off with computers containing the names and identifying information of every voter in Nashville.

The missing laptop contained names, addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of about 337,000 voters' Social Security numbers. It's the same information that candidates buy from the county when they're putting together mailing lists, said county Election Administrator Ray Barrett.

This is disturbing, to say the least.

If I recall correctly, Davidson County now uses the ES&S iVotronic voting machine, which has a history of problems and, inexplicably, does not provide a paper trail, which makes a manual recount impossible. Why, oh why, did anyone think this was a good idea? Why completely eliminate the option of a manual recount when recent history has shown us how important that can be?

And then there’s this new report:

They found that the ES&S tabulation system and the voting machine firmware were rife with basic buffer overflow vulnerabilities that would allow an attacker to easily take control of the systems and "exercise complete control over the results reported by the entire county election system."

Oh, even more great. So now thieves have stolen a computer that lists every registered voter, and I'm pretty sure it also lists what party they voted for; at least, back when I was a campaign volunteer, that's what the information contained. And we have new voting machines that have proven to be hackable.

You see where I’m going with this?

Yeah, the thieves probably just wanted computers. After all, they also broke into the Water Department offices next-door. But who knows? There’s been enough fishiness to breed doubt. We’re trusting the integrity of our elections to .. what? The goodwill of crooks?

The point is, whether this was just a case of thieves wanting computers or if someone let G. Gordon Liddy off his leash to reenact the Watergate burglary, we don’t have a backup! When we walk into the voting booth in February (or next November) we will have to take on faith that everything is going to be hunky-dory and no human is ever tempted to do something illegal and manipulate the transfer of power in America.

Yeah, right.

Would someone please remind me why we thought it was a good idea to have election machines that do NOT provide a paper receipt? Something I can look at in my hand and say, “yup, that’s how I voted.” And then allow me to deposit that piece of paper in a secure box, so if the election is disputed, or too close to call, or someone alleges dead people are voting, or any one of a number of things happens, we can go back and check something other than an easily manipulated computer hard drive?

You know, a back-up? Do we no longer believe in back-up plans in this country?

My dad used to say he was “a belt-and-suspenders man.” He checked and double-checked everything. He didn’t do anything without having a back-up in case plan A didn’t work. We sometimes called him a pain in the ass but you know what? Important stuff didn’t fall through the cracks.

I want a belt-and-suspenders election. Something this important deserves a back-up. I simply do not get the arguments against this.

Bhutto Assassinated

I’m stunned at the news that former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated after a rally today. I haven’t even formed a coherent thought about this tragic news, except I feel that a blog post on the latest American political follies would be banal, maybe even a little tacky.

I am reminded that the world is a dangerous place, and that our greatest allies in the “War On Terror” are leaders of dangerous, unstable countries.

I am grateful to live in a country where we do not need to assassinate our opposition leaders, but instead let the rule of law and democratic process guide our transfers of power. And yet, this country is no stranger to political assassinations: both Kennedies and Martin Luther King Jr. come to mind. Love of power, greed and violence are universal human failings.

I am reminded that there are those who will inevitably try to capitalize on tragedy to further their own agenda. The State Department’s premature statement that “this has all the earmarks of Muslim extremists, possibly Al Qaeda” was one such instance.

I am reminded that there is no end to truly stupid punditry. Joe Scarborough’s remark that "Rudy Giuliani will no doubt be helped by this horrible situation," is such an example.

Mostly I just want to know: whatever happened to peace on earth?

The Morality of Taxes

Yesterday’s New York Times had a must-read article on the work of Susan Pace Hamill, a Biblical scholar and tax professor at the University of Alabama Law School. For those of us who have long been perplexed at the bizarre alliance between the Religious Right and the Grover Norquist anti-tax crowd, this article is vindication of sorts:

Professor Hamill asserted that 18 states seriously violate biblical principles in the way they tax and spend. She calls Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas “the sinful six” because they require the poor to pay a much larger share of their income than the rich while doing little to help the poor improve their lot.

The worst violator, in her view, is her own state of Alabama, which taxes its poor more than twice as heavily as its rich, while holding a tight rein on education spending.

The poorest fifth of Alabama families, with incomes under $13,000, pay state and local taxes that take almost 11 cents out of each dollar. The richest 1 percent, who make $229,000 or more, pay less than 4 cents out of each dollar they earn, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, an advocacy group whose numbers are generally considered trustworthy even by many of its opponents.

I have never understood how the righteous Christians of the GOP have been able to walk hand in hand with the Americans For Tax Reform crowd and not felt the tiniest tweak of conscience. It’s always struck me as terribly hypocritical to claim to be a Christian following the commands of Jesus Christ while completely ignoring what the Bible says about taking care of the poor. And yet, Gary Bauer and Tony Perkins have no problem making room in their Values Voters club for the rabidly anti-tax Club For Growth. It makes no sense.

The basic Christian ethic is this: help your neighbor. That’s it. We may disagree on how that ethic becomes public policy, but we should at least agree on that basic point.

This is where taxation comes in. For people of faith, a more equitable tax structure that asks the wealthy and corporations to contribute more fairly and create revenue for social programs is Biblical. Not this feel-good, conscience easing "tough love" taxation of the Reagan and Bush years. The poor should not pay 11 cents on every dollar while the rich pay just four cents. That is immoral and un-Christian.

Says Professor Hamill:

“The Bible commands that the law promote justice because human beings are not good enough to promote justice individually on their own,” she said. “To assume that voluntary charity will raise enough revenues to meet this standard is to deny the sin of greed.”

Ah yes, “human beings are not good enough” should be a concept familiar to most evangelicals. Perhaps you are more familiar with the concept phrased thusly: “we are all sinners.”

If you listen to the Righteous Righties and President Bush, we are supposedly a “Christian nation” founded on “Biblical principles.” If you believe that, then you need to kick Grover Norquist and Pat Toomey to the curb, repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, raise taxes on corporations and invest that revenue in social programs that benefit the poor. That is Christian public policy, not this phony IGMY (I Got Mine Y’all) policy we’ve seen in the Bush years.

Ron Paul Doesn’t Believe In Evolution

OK, now I feel completely justified in mercilessly mocking the followers of Ron Paul. The doctor doesn’t believe in evolution? For real? Or is he just pandering to the Bible thumpers in his district? Either way, it’s not looking good for this so-called “maverick straight-shooter.” Y’all are idiots.


Via Carpetbagger Report, we have a transcript:

Audience member: I saw you in one of the earlier debates, all of the candidates were asked if they believe the theory of evolution to be true and they had a show of hands, but I didn’t see which way you voted, and I was wondering if you believe it to be true, and should it be taught in our schools.

Paul: First, I thought it was a very inappropriate question, you know, for the presidency to be decided on a scientific matter. And I, um, I think it’s a theory, theory of evolution, and I don’t accept it, you know, as a theory…. I just don’t think we’re at a point where anybody has absolute proof, on either side.

(h/t, Digby).

Eric Volz Is Finally Free

Eric Volz is on his way home. Read the saga here.

12 Days Of Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone! Brought to you by the Indiana University Men's A Cappella Group:

Leonard Who?

Poor Fred Thompson. Maybe he needs another nap.

When approached by an Iowa rancher about Native American issues, specifically disappointment about President Clinton’s failure to pardon Leonard Peltier and the poor conditions on Iowa’s Native American reservations, Thompson gave a pat, aw-shucks response:

Seeming a little overwhelmed by the breadth of the man's concerns, Thompson responded by saying he'd "look into" it: "You've raised my consciousness level on some things that I'll look into,” he said. “I can't give you a lot of answers to what you're talking about in old treaties and Leonard Peltier."

One little problem. As Michelle Cottle at TNR’s The Plank notes:

And, not to pick on poor ol' Fred, but I would expect him to have a smidge more info and be able to wing it better than most seeing as how he appeared in "Thunderheart," the 1992 fictionalized account of Peltier's saga.

Wait! Do we think this somehow means that Thompson's acting background doesn't qualify to run the country?! Next thing you're going to tell me is that Val Kilmer isn't fit to be head of the FBI.

Hilarious.

GOP apologists (cough*coughBillHobbscough*cough) note that Thompson appears briefly in the film, and it’s not an actual Peltier biopic. But for crying out loud, Thompson also appeared in Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, and much more recently, too. That experience didn’t give him a modicum of understanding of Native American frustration with the U.S. government? No background on the Treaty of Fort Laramie?

I guess, as Kleinheider noted, Thompson isn’t “a method actor.”

Being Libertarian Means Never Having To Return The Money

[UPDATE]:

In comments, Chris Lawton links to a YouTube clip of Paul's appearance on Neil Cavuto last night. Paul does say: "I don't endorse anything that [Don Black] endorses and that [Stormfront] endorses."

That's a positive sign, and one I'm glad to promote here.

But I find his argument that he won't return the money because then it would go to a bad cause incredibly lame and disingenuous.

-------------------------------

Ron Paul is keeping the money from white supremacist/Stormfront creep Don Black:

Paul Keeps White Supremacist Donation

By BRIAN SKOLOFF
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has received a $500 campaign donation from a white supremacist, and the Texas congressman doesn't plan to return it, an aide said Wednesday.

Don Black, of West Palm Beach, recently made the donation, according to campaign filings. He runs a Web site called Stormfront with the motto, "White Pride World Wide." The site welcomes postings to the "Stormfront White Nationalist Community."

"Dr. Paul stands for freedom, peace, prosperity and inalienable rights. If someone with small ideologies happens to contribute money to Ron, thinking he can influence Ron in any way, he's wasted his money," Paul spokesman Jesse Benton said. "Ron is going to take the money and try to spread the message of freedom.

"And that's $500 less that this guy has to do whatever it is that he does," Benton added.

Gee, could the Congressman at least denounce Stormfront’s endorsement? The one heard here? (Lady Celtic, you almost made sense until the “Jew media” part).

So after months of speculation and disavowals from supporters that Ron Paul isn’t a racist, the campaign decides it’s more important to keep $500 from former KKK Grand Wizard Don Black than proving he's not racist by returning white supremacist money.

Geez, and here I thought he was raking in the internet money hand over fist. The campaign must really be hard up for cash.

I agree with Atrios that some of the stupidest “scandals” are the ones involving so-called “dirty donors,” and certainly $500 isn’t going to influence a candidate. But that’s not the point here. Paul has been dogged by allegations he holds racist beliefs for over a decade. He wrote some really nutty things about African Americans back in 1992. So accepting money from an unabashed white supremacist really doesn’t strike the right “big tent” note.

And speaking of big tents, the GOP is ecstatic about this, even touting the news on the gopusa.com wesbite. Ron Paul terrifies the crap out of them. But while they may be comforted to find a candidate that makes the rest of the GOP look positively diverse by comparison, the joke is that for all his Libertarian talk, Ron Paul was and remains ... a Republican.