Concealed Hedgehog Law Needed

From MSNBC On Line

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A New Zealand man accused of assault with prickly weapon — a hedgehog — has been fined by a court and ordered to pay most of his fine to his teenage victim.

Whakatane District Court was told Thursday that William Singalargh picked up the hedgehog and threw it several yards to hit a 15-year-old boy in the North Island east coast town of Whakatane on Feb. 9.

Police told the court the creature had hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks. The teen did not need medical treatment.

Singalargh was convicted of common assault and offensive behavior following a defended hearing. He had pleaded innocent to the charges.

He was fined a total of $545 and ordered to pay $389 to his victim.

The more serious charge of assault with a weapon, namely a hedgehog, was dropped. The maximum penalty for that charge is five years in prison.

It remained unclear whether the hedgehog was dead or alive at the time of the attack, but Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins said earlier that it was dead when collected as evidence.

While using a hedgehog as a weapon in an assault is uncommon, Jenkins said people often got charged with assault for throwing things at other people.

Bob Dole Nails McClellan

Bob Dole nails it on the feckless weasel, Scott McClellan over at Politico.

Dole is really out of the limelight and public life and responded like a ticked off citizen who sees through the sliminess of McClellan.

“There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues,” Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. “No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique.”

In my nearly 36 years of public service I’ve known of a few like you,” Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate. “No doubt you will ‘clean up’ as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, ‘Biting The Hand That Fed Me.’ Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years”

Dole assures McClellan that he won’t read the book — “because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job”

“That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively,” Dole concludes. “You’re a hot ticket now but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?”

He signs the email simply: “BOB DOLE”

Nothing further needs to be said. Bob Dole said it all.

Required Reading

In today’s op-ed section, The Wall Street Journal has a fine piece showing what happens when politicos get addicted to raising taxes. The black hole is, of course, Michigan.

It’s no fun to kick a state when it’s down – especially when the local politicians are doing a fine job of it – but the latest news of Michigan’s deepening budget woe is a national warning of what happens when you raise taxes in a weak economy. (Any emphasis mine.)

Officials in Lansing reported this month that the state faces a revenue shortfall between $350 million and $550 million next budget year. This is a major embarrassment for Governor Jennifer Granholm, the second-term Democrat who shut down the state government last year until the Legislature approved Michigan’s biggest tax hike in a generation. Her tax plan raised the state income tax rate to 4.35% from 3.9%, and increased the state’s tax on gross business receipts by 22%. Ms. Granholm argued that these new taxes would raise some $1.3 billion in new revenue that could be “invested” in social spending and new businesses and lead to a Michigan renaissance.

Not quite. Six months later one-third of the expected revenues have vanished as the state’s economy continues to struggle. Income tax collections are falling behind estimates, as are property tax receipts and those from the state’s transaction tax on home sales.[...]

Politicians don’t seem to understand that people and their personal capital are mobile and dynamic. After awhile, people just get fed up and leave. Michigan is a case in point.

he tax hikes have done nothing but accelerate the departures of families and businesses. Michigan ranks fourth of the 50 states in declining home values, and these days about two families leave for every family that moves in. Making matters worse is that property taxes are continuing to rise by the rate of overall inflation, while home values fall. Michigan natives grumble that the only reason more people aren’t blazing a path out of the state is they can’t sell their homes. Research by former Comerica economist David Littmann finds that about the only industry still growing in Michigan is government. Ms. Granholm’s $44.8 billion budget this year further fattened agency payrolls.

There’s another national lesson from the Granholm tax dud. If Democrats believe that anger over the economy and high gas prices have put voters in a receptive mood for higher taxes, they should visit the Wolverine State.

Just a few weeks ago taxpayer advocates collected enough signatures in suburban Detroit for a ballot initiative to recall powerful Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, who was one of last year’s tax-hike ringleaders. Voters seem to think there would be rough justice if for once politicians, rather than workers, lose their jobs from higher taxes.

The sad part is, even if Dillon did get recalled, he would be replaced by someone equally inept and stupid.

A Little Airstike Love for Everyone

Our buddies from England call one in.

God, I miss combat strike runs.

Denny Crane for President

Check out the link on the left side. My main man!!

A Huge HT to The Ol’ Broad

Back at the Home Base

Back at the home base after four fun-filled days in Hong Kong and Shenzen.

I still can’t believe that Bush went to Saudi Arabia to ask them to increase production. That is not only humiliating to us as a country but it isn’t playing very well in the rest of the world, either. I mean, it’s not like we don’t have any that we can get at fairly easily.

On the flight back, I watched some of the Spanish Inquisition testimony by the oil execs in front of The Senate the most stupid people I have ever seen. Honest to God, how do those people keep getting re-elected?

Well, it’s not going to be my problem in less then two months. I signed a lease for office space which commences on August 1. For housing, I placed a deposit as an option on a place I really liked. Two of my partners also signed a lease in the same building. Refurbishment of the office is being handled by an old friend who runs a construction business in Hong Kong and Shenzen.

We also signed all the documents for the Joint Venture which will be ready on June 10th. At that time, we’ll be able to open bank accounts, issue shares and we’ll have to start to earn a living. As soon as the funds clear in June, I’ll be ready to go. I’m not into a formal timetable yet, only that it will be between June 12 and August 1.

Time for a little beer and some pizza.

The AB is Packed and Ready

Deals done, things signed, time to blog but not yet time enough to blog. On my way back in a little bit. Packing the room and, as usual, trying not to forget anything. Back in 24.

Theme of first post…Bush went and begged the Saudis for oil? WTF? Note to dipshits in Congress. WE can be oil sufficient if you could only grow some brains. Do the words “Anwar”, “North Dakota”, “New Refineries”. and “Fuck You, We’re America” mean anything to you traitors? I guess not.

Other theme….in the spirit of Memorial Day…………We Fought For This? (see: Google Obama)

We have over 400,000,000 in the USA as the pinnacle of freedom for its citizens and the rest of of the world and we end up with another Clinton, a McCain and the intellectual popsicle of Obama? To quote what I heard in Hong Kong on way too many occasions…..”Is that the best America can do?”.

More later when I get over the jet lag.

Note to Pelosi, Kohl, Feingold and everyone else in Congress. Thank you very little for destroying our country. Thanks even less to everyone who voted those assclowns into office.

I signed some leases on the trip..I’m gone.

To all my fellow Vets……… as we all know…..we’ve been sold down the river by Congress. We served for this shit?

I for one am praying for the painful death of Ted Kennedy. Fuck him…what did he ever do for us and for the country? I always pray for the painless death of my honorable enemies, but Ted Kenndy has been a dishonerable enemy of the armed forces and the US for a long time. I’d be happy to put two in his ear to ease his suffering.

I’ll be at the Elm Grove, WI, Memorial Day Parade on Memorial Day. My last. It’s killing me but I know when to fold JJ vs. AA.

Thanks to all my men and women in arms…it was a hell of a ride.

Down For Awhile

Going to be down for awhile here at the Mighty Asian Badger Blog.

The reason is, I’m going to Asia tomorrow for awhile. I may comment on some stuff but no time to blog. Especially since I have to endure the flight across the Pacific with no inhaled nicotine. I’ll be back next Sunday for more lunatic rants high quality posts when I get over the jet lag.

Obama Is a Whiny Little Brat

It’s all over the news…here’s one report.

Sorry Barry, it’s not all about you. Besides, if you think you can negotiate with Islamofacists, you are the one who’s naive and irresponsible.

McCain actually had the best summary.

[...]“In response, the McCain campaign said in a statement, “It was remarkable to see Barack Obama’s hysterical diatribe in response to a speech in which his name wasn’t even mentioned. These are serious issues that deserve a serious debate, not the same tired partisan rants we heard today from Senator Obama.”

To Whom Are These Morons Accountable?

From the local rag today.

Village of Pewaukee – Although not without opposition, Waukesha County Technical College trustees have given administrators the go-ahead to boost property taxes more than $2 million next year.

WTF is this all about? As the article points out, this amounts to a 3.8% tax increase, which is in violation of the state-imposed caps. But guess what? Technical colleges are EXEMPT from the caps.

(Thomas) Neill, who is the City of Waukesha clerk and treasurer, noted that state-imposed tax caps currently limit the city to 2% property tax increases annually. Although other local governments live under tax caps, too, the state’s technical colleges are exempt.

So let me see if I have this straight. There’s an APPOINTED Board of asshats Trustees who are, in essence, accountable to no one and they have the power to raise taxes without state limitations? Oh yeah, not that this state isn’t a tax hellhole.

If the courses at WCTC are in such demand, why not pass along the costs to the students in the form of a tuition increase? Too hard for you clowns (with the exception of Mr.Neill and Ms. Soto-Ryan, who voted against the increase) to understand?

Well, let’s see who’s on the board. A simple search reveals the following:

Hmmm…not a lot of intellectual firepower there. And looks who pops up? Mike Jakus. We ran him out of the Brookfield Common Council a few years ago. But Mike just can’t stop raising taxes. Looks like Mike learned it’s better to be appointed rather than have to answer to those pesky voters.

I have an idea. Let’s put this increase to a vote via a referendum in the affected counties. I mean what the hell, it’s only OUR money they’re trying to steal.