Delinquent Deer Dance On Dogs

There appears to be a gang of juvenile delinquent deer terrorizing Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. In one case, the deadly deer tripped the fandango on a blind dog. 

 Police said a deer attacked a dog in Mount Lebanon early Tuesday morning.

Neighbors said they found the dog after a doe attacked a blind terrier mix .

Police said the dog, whose owners weren't home at the time, couldn't run, because he was held in the yard with an invisible, electric fence.

The dog required surgery. In another incident, the deer performed a mambo on a man's beagle.

(KDKA) MT. LEBANON A report Tuesday about a deer attacking a blind dog in Mt. Lebanon is not the first of its kind in our area.

Mike Larkin of Bethel Park told KDKA that he was stunned to see a deer chasing his 7 year-old beagle named Bailey in a wooded area behind his home.

"We were scared because we never had problems with deer before," said Larkin. "There's plenty of deer around here. They usually don't come into the yard."

But that shock quickly turned to worry when he realized Bailey had been hurt after the deer stomped on his dog.

"She laid on the coach and hadn't got up for two hours and was breathing really heavy," said Larkin. "And we were really concerned about some broken bones and internal injuries."

Deer attacks on pets are not surprising for Beth Fife, a conservation officer for Allegheny County.

"Right now the deer are having their fawns," said Fife. "What they don't realize is when they let their dogs out or let their kids out, mom becomes mom. She's going to protect that baby no matter what."

Oh, sure, blame it on motherhood. We here at Blue Crab Boulevard know what it's really about. The Animal Uprising™ is trying extortion to get man's best friend to switch sides. They're sending deer enforcers in to "convince" the dogs to come over to the dark side. We demand that law enforcement prosecute the offending deer for a hate crime. Attacking a handicapped dog merits special punishment!

He’s In

Fred Thompson has told USA Today that he is going to get in the race. He's planning to run a very, very media - and new media - savvy campaign.

STAMFORD, Conn. — Politician-turned-actor Fred Thompson has been coy with audiences as he flirts with a bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

In an interview with USA TODAY, however, the former Tennessee senator not only makes it clear that he plans to run, he describes how he aims to do it. He's planning an unconventional campaign using blogs, video posts and other Internet innovations to reach voters repelled by politics-as-usual in both parties.

"I can't remember exactly the point that I said, 'I'm going to do this,' " Thompson says, his 6-foot, 6-inch frame sprawled comfortably across a couch in a hotel suite. "But when I did, the thing that occurred to me: 'I'm going to tell people that I am thinking about it and see what kind of reaction I get to it.' " ……

……."I feel some of the same feelings that I felt in the latter part of that '94 campaign about what is going on in the country today — only greater," says Thompson, citing public cynicism toward the Republican president and the new Democrat-controlled Congress. "You can't drive the truck all the way across the country, but since '94 other opportunities have opened up in terms of ways to communicate."

A candidate could use the Internet "to cut through the clutter and go right to the people," he says.

And the truck, now parked at his mother's home in Franklin, Tenn.? "You might drive it a few places."

And if you want to see just how devastatingly effective he can be in the new media look no further than this. Any candidate from either party who didn't just get a chill when they heard he's in has some very bad advisers. Thompson will be a very, very powerful contender.

UPDATE: Others:  Townhall.com, Scared Monkeys, The Gun Toting Liberal, Professor Bainbridge, Tammy Bruce, Riehl World View, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, CJR, Gay Patriot, QandO, The American Mind, Heading Right, Mark in Mexico, Confederate Yankee, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, State of the Day, Cliff Schecter, Babalu Blog, Central Sanity, Wizbang,

Just A Wee Bit Confused

A German woman is claiming she mistook a subway entrance for the entrance to a parking structure. She drove her car right on in and promptly got it stuck on the stairs.

The 52-year-old drove her Volkswagen Beetle across the pavement in central Duesseldorf and into the entrance where it ground to a halt about five steps down, police said.

Police estimated the damage at around 1,500 euros ($2,000).

The story about thinking it was a parking lot is made up, of course. She actually got a bit confused. She was trying to help the environment by taking mass transit. Unfortunately, she didn't quite grasp the concept that she should take mass transit instead of, not with, her car.

Thompson In?

The Politico is reporting that Fred Thompson is in the race for the Republican presidential nomination and will formally announce in July. This may or may not be accurate (I know that The Politico has had to withdraw or correct at least one big scoop). Something appears to be afoot, however. Thompson has started to fundraise by all accounts and appears likely to at least announce an exploratory committee soon.

Fred Dalton Thompson is planning to enter the presidential race over the Fourth of July holiday, announcing that week that he has already raised several million dollars and is being backed by insiders from the past three Republican administrations, Thompson advisers told The Politico.
 
Thompson, the "Law and Order" star and former U.S. senator from Tennessee, has been publicly coy, even as people close to him have been furiously preparing for a late entry into the wide-open contest.  But the advisers said Thompson dropped all pretenses on Tuesday afternoon during a conference call with more than 100 potential donors, each of whom was urged to raise about $50,000.
 
Thompson's formal announcement is planned for Nashville. Organizers say the red pickup truck that was a hallmark of Thompson's first Senate race will begin showing up in Iowa and New Hampshire as an emblem of what they consider his folksy, populist appeal.

Oddly, I was just reading a Newsweek magazine while waiting for my daughter in the dentist's office. They reported that the red pickup was sitting in Thompson's driveway with peeling paint. Their spin was that local political prognosticators were watching that truck to see if it suddenly underwent a facelift. (I can't find that article online, I was reading the print edition.)

UPDATE: NRO says that The Politico is wrong - there will NOT be a formal announcement on July 4th.

Just talked to a Thompson source I'll call "TA3" (Thompson Associate 3). Much more coming shortly, but the first word was, there will not be a presidential announcement from Fred Thompson on July 4.

(The Politico got it wrong, it appears.)

TA3: "There will be no July 4 announcement… There was some discussion of a June 4 beginning of fundraising; that's the date checks will be collected. I suspect that's where there was some confusion."

The forthcoming announcement will be that Thompson is "testing the waters." While Thompson is in that not-quite-announced-candidate stage, he will be able to complete previously committed paid appearances and speeches and continue work his work on ABC radio and filling in for Paul Harvey. He is not lining up additional paid speeches or appearances.

National Health, International Disgrace

Britain's socialized medical scheme, which has admitted it will ration health care, is already doing so it seems. They are denying nursing home care to a very ill veteran of the Second World War. Eric Friar served in the Royal Air Force during Britain's darkest hour. Or maybe its second darkest hour now.

At the age of 90, Second World War hero Eric Friar can barely walk or see and suffers from bowel cancer, shingles and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

He has been diagnosed with bladder and colon cancer and is currently recovering in hospital from a bout of pneumonia and an MRSA infection.

Yet despite this list of ailments, the former RAF navigator has been told he is not sick enough for the NHS to pay for a nursing home place.

It means Mr Friar and his wife Norma face a bill of £600 a week for the care he needs - a sum the elderly couple cannot afford.

Because they have carefully saved money through the years, they qualify for only a tiny amount of NHS help towards the cost.

Until now, 78-year-old Mrs Friar has battled to care for her husband, but she has now become weakened by osteoporosis and cannot carry on.

Mr Friar cannot eat unaided, requires a catheter and continence pads, and has trouble sleeping because he is in constant discomfort.

Yet his local NHS trust classes his disabilities only as "moderate", leaving him ineligible for state-funded nursing home care.

"How bad has he got to be?" Mrs Friar asked yesterday. "We have never asked for anything in our lives. I'm angry - really angry.

"The NHS will pay £40 a week towards his care. It's an awful lot left for us to pay.

"This is Blair's way of helping the aged, is it? It makes me sick.

"My husband is a very proud man. We have never asked for anything and worked hard all our lives. Now, at the time we need help the most, we are being slapped in the face."

Despite the overwhelming evidence that socialized medicine does not work, our American presidential candidates from the Democratic party want to bring it to this country. Still think it's a good idea?

Better not grow old, then.

Tin Ear, Dead Silence

Ed Morrisey points out a sudden lack of interest by essentially all of the major media in reporting on Hillary! Clinton's latest exercise in tin-ear political speech. That would be her excursion into socialist-speak yesterday.

This kind of rhetoric isn't new for Hillary. She has promoted collectivist economics for two decades now. Her effort to nationalize health care reflected the same kind of thinking, and this statement shows that she hasn't learned much from that debacle. Almost three years ago, she promised that she would "take things away from [Americans] for the common good," back when the economy had just started its latest expansion. That's collectivism, and it's not limited to Hillary among Democratic candidates.

However, what I find most interesting about this statement is the complete lack of coverage it received in today's newspapers. She made the statement in the early afternoon, and it was meant to be part of a major series of speeches on economic policy. Yet, none of the major newspapers covered it in their political or national sections today.

Ed rather suspects it is the newspapers having a better ear for what Hillary! said and how it would play with the American Public. Are they protecting her? Probably. Will it work? Nope:

It’s called “Shared Prosperity.”

Says it all, doesn’t it?

Flashback: “Many of you are well enough off that … the tax cuts may have helped you,” Sen. Clinton said. “We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.” — Senator Hillary Clinton, June 28, 2004

Politicians are really going to have to get a lot more internet savvy. These things are forever now and can't just be swept under the rug.

UPDATE: Sisu has t-shirts!

Message To McConnell

John Hawkins over at Right Wing News ran an admittedly unscientific poll to take the temperature of the right side of the blogosphere over the proposed "compromise" immigration reform plan the Senate came up with. (I was asked to participate, but didn't get the response back to him in time - I'm still digging out from under a backlog from my vacation). Some of the important questions and answers:

4) Mitch McConnell said the following about the immigration bill in
the Senate, "I don't think there's a single member of either party
next year who is going to fail to be re-elected over this issue." Do
you think he's right?

Yes: 4 (8%)
No: 45 (92%)

5) Do you believe that the bill in the Senate would, if passed, secure
the border and stop the influx of significant numbers of illegal
aliens into the United States?

Yes: (0%)
No: 49 (100%)

6) Do you think the bill in the Senate provides amnesty to illegal aliens?

Yes: 45 (90%)
No: 5 (10%)

It might be a good idea for Senators up for reelection in 2008 to keep these numbers in mind. From either party.

Denver Post Calls For Firing Ward Churchill

The Denver Post recounts the long, drawn-out due process that has been given to Ward Churchill, the much-reviled ethnic studies professor from the University of Colorado. They say it is time to fire Churchill, which has been recommended by several committees and university officials.

More than two years have passed since the waves of controversy first started lapping at Ward Churchill, the embattled University of Colorado professor. In that same time, other recognizable names tied to CU - Betsy Hoffman, Gary Barnett - have been relegated to history.

Yet Churchill remains.

That's because the ethnic studies professor has been given the appropriate due process - and then some.

It's never been easy to fire a tenured professor, which is good, but that time has come for Churchill.

A majority of CU's research misconduct committee called for his dismissal last year. CU's interim chancellor at the time, Phil DiStefano, agreed, handing the controversial professor his walking papers - a decision Churchill promptly appealed.

Now CU president Hank Brown also says Churchill should be fired. Not for his controversial rants or unpopular speech, mind you, but for academic misconduct.

"Professor Churchill's conduct has clearly violated the University's policies on academic freedom and is inimical to the University's core academic mission," Brown wrote in a 10-page letter to Patricia Hayes, chairwoman of CU's governing Board of Regents. "The University cannot disregard allegations of serious research misconduct simply because the allegations were made against a professor whose comments have attracted a high degree of public attention."

Churchill's shoddy scholarship first came to light publicly after he gained notoriety for a controversial essay in which he likened some Sept. 11 victims to "little Eichmanns."

Two very thorough peer reviews of his research and academic work found academic misconduct. The first investigatory group concluded that he intentionally falsified research, plagiarized and ghost-wrote articles that he later used as references to prop up his own research. (Emphasis added)

As offensive as his rants have been, the reason for his firing has nothing to do with those. It has everything to do with what would not be acceptable in a college student, much less a tenured college professor. That is why it is past time to show him the door. Churchill says he'll sue if he is fired. Good. Then all of his misconduct will become public record, won't it?

Tough, Lucky Or Both

A Colorado man who lost a leg last October in an accident involving a tractor trailer returned home to find a gun-wielding burglar inside his home. So he whacked on the burglar with one of his crutches. Whereupon the juvenile Dillinger shot him in the chest.

But the bullet was partially deflected by a cell phone.

Roger Baxter survived the Tuesday incident after a cell phone apparently slowed a bullet to his chest.

"I just got it programmed," Baxter said of the phone.

Baxter lost his right leg after being hit by a tractor-trailer in October. He was returning from getting a haircut when he discovered the man with a gun inside his house.

"He was pointing it at me," Baxter told KDVR-TV. "He kept coming toward me and he got within 5 foot of me and that's when I hauled off and hit him with one of my crutches."

Baxter is either very tough or very lucky. Though I suspect it's both.

"It's not my time," said Baxter, a Vietnam veteran. "I went head to head against a semi back in October and today I went up against a 9 mm and I'm here. I'm just a tough old bird."

Good luck, Mr. Baxter and a speedy recovery.

Openly Advocating Socialism

To heck with the 'L' words, leftist or liberal. Hillary! Clinton is openly advocating socialism as the next big thing in America:

Socialism - Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
("socialism." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 29 May. 2007. http://www.answers.com/topic/socialism)

That's what Hillary appears to be advocating:

Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic vision Tuesday, saying it's time to replace an "on your own" society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity.

The Democratic senator said what the Bush administration touts as an "ownership society" really is an "on your own" society that has widened the gap between rich and poor.

"I prefer a 'we're all in it together' society," she said. "I believe our government can once again work for all Americans. It can promote the great American tradition of opportunity for all and special privileges for none."

Opportunity for all is not equal with a "we're all in it together", at least as being in it together is defined by Hillary and the left.

Well, she's out in the open, anyway. Jim also links Sister Toldjah with a very, very telling quote from Hillary! from a few years ago:

It’s called “Shared Prosperity.”

Says it all, doesn’t it?

Flashback: “Many of you are well enough off that … the tax cuts may have helped you,” Sen. Clinton said. “We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.” — Senator Hillary Clinton, June 28, 2004

She will take things away from you. Kind of says it all, doesn't it?

Hot Dog!

No, really, we mean hot, fresh, steaming dog. On a platter!

LONDON (AFP) - A British artist ate a corgi dog, famous for being Queen Elizabeth II's favourite breed, in protest Tuesday after a group including her husband Prince Philip allegedly killed a fox earlier this year.

Mark McGowan, who has previously eaten a swan as part of a performance art show, tucked into the dog alongside Yoko Ono, the widow of ex-Beatle John Lennon, live on a London radio station.

"I know some people will find this offensive and tasteless but I am doing this to raise awareness about the RSPCA's inability to prosecute Prince Philip and his friends shooting a fox earlier this year, letting it struggle for life for five minutes and then beating it to death with a stick," he said.

The RSPCA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is in charge of handing over evidence to British prosecutors in cases where they believe acts of cruelty to animals have been committed.

They said they found "no evidence" that any offence had taken place in January, when the incident took place.

Mind you, the RSPCA, which is not exactly over in the far right camp, found absolutely no evidence that what McGowan is protesting actually happened. But the story actually gets better:

McGowan said the dog, which died at a breeding farm, tasted "really, really disgusting," and added that Ono "looked a bit strange" as she also tasted the dog. (UPDATE, June 8, 2007. This part of the story is false - Ono was not present and did not sample McGowan's corgi. See follow up post here. My apologies to Yoko Ono and to readers. AFP has issued a correction and sent a formal apology to Ono.)

We hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but we think McGowan should know that the corgi (named Benji our informants tell us) actually died from a rare disease: Extremely Gullible Artist Disease. EGAD is highly contagious to humans and cause victims to crave dog meat at odd hours of the day and night. Hmmmm. It may already be too late for McGowan. But we here at Blue Crab Boulevard are here to help! We're sending a case of Chef Gaius' Super Corgi Sauce™ to McGowan. Formulated from the finest snail darter extract with just a hint of spotted owl squeezings*, McGowan will soon find he can indulge his craving for dog meat while enjoying it! (The case of sauce is shipping collect, Mr. McGowan. £75 should about cover it).

*Please note, Chef Gaius' Kitchens, Ltd. is a responsible, Gaia-friendly purveyor of fine condiments. No spotted owls are harmed during preparation of the Super Corgi Sauce™. We are proud participants in the Spotted Owl Squeeze and Release Program©.

Philly Has No Eagles

We regret to inform our readers that the Philadelphia eagles have left the city. No, no, no. Not those guys. The eagles - as in bald eagles.

PHILADELPHIA - A bald eagle nest at the old Philadelphia Navy Yard has failed, but birdwatchers are holding out hope that the first pair of bald eagles spotted in the city in more than 200 years will nest again next year.

After the nest was spotted in February, state officials began keeping a close eye on the eagles in hopes that they would breed. But birdwatchers and state officials say the eagles haven't been spotted since April.

"We believe it is failed and that the birds are gone," said Debbie Beer, a birder who spotted the eagles in February and has been helping the state to monitor them. "I'm hoping that they come back next year and nest again."

Beer last spotted the birds on April 5.

Dan Brauning, wildlife diversity supervisor for the state Game Commission, said the birds could still be nearby.

We here at Blue Crab Boulevard know exactly what happened to the eagles. The Lions ate them.

Belated Memorial Day Link

I really should read my email more regularly. Bruce Webster from And Still I Persist sent along a link to his Memorial Day post. It's worth the read.

Hey! Al Gore Has A New Book Out!

Many thanks to intrepid new media photojournalist Zombie for this picture. More importantly, please, please, please check out the documentation he has of the blatant, over-the-top hypocrisy of Gorezilla's ardent sycophants. The parking lot full of incredibly expensive, incredibly un-fuel efficient SUVs shows exactly the insanity of the true believers in the First Church of the Presumptuous Assumption of Global Warming®™¥€. The evidently prosperous, aging hippies with the Che bag are real nice, too. (And do NOT miss the photographic evidence that Gorezilla has tentacles.)

UPDATE: Don Surber reports that Al Gore's appearance at George Washington University drew hecklers. As Don points out, when Gore is heckled it's labeled an "assault on reason". When the left heckles it's called patriotic dissent.

But, gee, Wally, I thought the left told us dissent is patriotic.

It’s that damned unregulated rock-n-roll lyrics that are putting these thoughts in the heads of people that they enjoy the same rights as the Fortunate Ones who are Senator’s Sons.

Which, of course, is a perfect invocation of that old Creedence Clearwater Revival tune Fortunate Son penned by John Fogarty (along with a reference to Al and Tipper's attempt to ban offensive rock and roll lyrics that the left conveniently forgets in its fawning over the Gorezilla):

Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooh, theyre red, white and blue.
And when the band plays hail to the chief,
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, lord,

It aint me, it aint me, I aint no senators son, son.
It aint me, it aint me; I aint no fortunate one, no,

I wonder how many SUVs attended the George Washington University event?

More Animal Terrorism

Not the Animal Uprising™, either. This is terrorism visited on the animals by "animal rights activists". They purposely broke down fences and walls meant to keep wild boars that do not get along well apart. The result was the death of a number of the animals.

Animal rights extremists have been accused of attacking a farm belonging to Peter Gott, who uses free range and organic methods and is also a mentor to Jamie Oliver.

Fences that were used to keep rare breeds apart were cut and ancient stone walls were broken down to encourage the wild boar to escape.

Mr Gott said: "We are a very welfare-friendly operation but certain species do not always get on well together.

"Two saddleback boars and a wild boar fought and crushed four piglets to death.

"One sow has died and one sow who was due to give birth is so badly injured that we do not expect her unborn piglets to survive."

Mr Gott added: "How this can be described as animal rights I don't know." Sillfield Farm near Kendal, Cumbria was attacked in the early hours of Friday.

The terrorists - not "activists" - also attacked a nearby pub that buys boars from the farm. Which demonstrates yet again that the perpetrators of these activities are not motivated by love of animals but by loathing of fellow humans.