Bravo!

Kansas has a reputation. We have the nutcase Phelps family living in Topeka. We have a state board of education that bounces from endorsing science in the classroom in the form of teaching evolution, to saying that teachers have to give equal time to the concept that some invisible, omnipotent entity created the earth in six days. But every once in a while Kansas gets shit EXACTLY right. The Kansas Supreme Court did that in a ruling regarding the power of a police officer to search a vehicle that has been pulled over. The Kansas Supreme Court struck down a law allowing police to search for evidence of any crime in a traffic stop, rather than only evidence to support the crime for which the stop was made. So, if you are pulled over in Kansas for a taillight out, and the cops asks if he can search your vehicle... ask him to show you a warrant, or tell him he's free to stare at your taillight all he wants.

I Got Whiplash, It Changed So Fast

The big news today was the death of actress Farrah Fawcett after a long.... Wait, we interrupt this story for a new Big News story of the day. Michael Jackson dead at age 50. If you've come here looking for a glowing review of Michael's career, go elsewhere. I won't go into his multitude of legal problems, or his addiction to disfiguring surgery. Nope. I'll stick to his music. The King of Pop. As in Pop Music. Popular music. Music especially for the mass consumption of teenagers. Young teens in particular. To me his music is the equivalent of sweet and low instead of sugar. Margarine instead of butter. A veggie burger instead of an all beef hamburger. Michael Jackson has a place in music history, of that I am certain. But I'll leave it to the movers and shakers who mold the minds of the music buying public to let you know what that place is... because for the most part, I don't agree with them. Rest in peace Michael Jackson. Oh, and to the other pop icon who somehow became a footnote on this day... Rest in peace Farrah Fawcett.

You Look Like You Need A Lesson

The last of a five part interview that Radley Balko gave to The Atlantic is good reading. At least if you really believe in the concept of freedom and liberty. If you enjoy that, the links to parts one through four are at the top of the part five interview. And of course, you can read Radley Balko's daily posts on his blog, a personal favorite of mine, The Agitator.

A Grumbling Old Fart Public Service Announcement

Never let it be said that I don't care for my readers, all 3 of you. With that in mind, I'd like to pass on a little bit of wisdom from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. They did a study and found... ::drumroll:: The smoke from marijuana can cause cancer. I shit you not. Seriously, dude. Well, rather than wait around for this fucktard of an excuse for a government agency to spend millions more of the California taxpayers dollars, I figured I'd let my readers know a few other things that cause cancer. The smoke or fumes from ANYTHING on fire, or burning. Trees? Yep, and those bastards are everywhere! Charcoal? Youbetcha. The American Royal is like a playground for various sarcoma's, not to mention fat ass cooks! Grass? All kinds! Fossil Fuels? Uh, duh. Breath deeply out there on the interstates! If it is burning, it WILL emit fumes or smoke that if inhaled has the potential to cause some of your cells to go haywire and have your doctor give you instant bald treatment. Not that being bald is a bad thing. Oh, one other thing. The Sun is burning. Yes, it causes cancer too. You're fucked no matter what. Seriously, dude. If you don't believe, just read the bottom of the story I linked to above... you'll see these other cancer causing items that California requires warning labels on: Dental fillings - wooohooo! Gas pumps - Fossil fuel delivery Ceramics - What???? Aspirin - But I'll die from this headache! Cigarettes - REALLY? I'm SHOCKED! Car batteries - There goes the electric car business! Crystals - Well, at least all the hippies will die. Oh wait, they already have cancer from MJ Jewelry - Even worse if it's jewelry with crystals!! Potato chips - Oh SHIT French fries - I'm dead!

The More Things Change...

The more they stay the same. Back when GWB was in the White House, different watchdog organization's wanted access to the White House visitor logs that are maintained by the Secret Service. They wanted access to these visitor logs to see who was granted access to the office of the president, since this access can be used to influence the President in his decision making, or influence the advisers to the President. In 2006, a group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sought the records of visits by nine specific people to the White House. All nine people were religious leaders. The Bush administration denied the request, and CREW took it to court. In 2007, the federal judge told the Bush administration to turn over the records, that they were not protected by presidential communication privilege. The judge made the same ruling again in early 2008, stating that a simple list of visitors is not "communication" if it doesn't include topics discussed. The Bush administration NEVER released the records. Now we have MSNBC making the same type of request of the Obama administration. MSNBC has requested a simple list of visitors to the White House since January 20, 2009. They do not want transcripts or synopsis of conversations. All they have asked for is the name/city/state/country of all visitors. One of the hallmarks of the Obama campaign was transparency. If elected, Mr. Obama would usher in a new era of transparency that had been trampled by the previous administration. After the election, President Obama even went so far as to put THIS PAGE up on the Official White House website: "Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public." The Obama administration is claiming the same exact bullshit reason for denying the request the Bush administration claimed. The SAME EXACT bullshit a federal judge ruled against. Twice. Meet the new idiot. Same as the old idiot. And for some comedy gold... go read what the democrats said about GWB in the comments on The Huffington Post when Bush and Cheney claimed exec.priv. Pot... meet kettle.

Oh My Freakin* GOD!

First thing is, "Freakin" above should be fucking, but I don't like putting curse words in the titles of posts because a lot of web filtering software only picks up on the words in a post title... and I don't really need my company choosing to block my own blog because of language. OK, now that we have that taken care of, lets get to the story. Mrs. Old Fart has been a resident of the Kansas City area for 20+ years. I'm a newbie at just seven years. My travels in this area are fairly limited. I stick mostly to the south and west of the metro, with daily excursions into the northland for work. Once or twice a month I might even hit the southeast portion of the 435 loop. Until today I had never been south of Gardner Kansas. I had always thought there was nothing there. Well, I was right... sort of. There is nothing worth doing south of Gardner... unless you are looking to eat. Seven years ago, upon my arrival, I was thrust into a new culinary world. The world of BBQ. REAL BBQ. Not the northeastern United States version of BBQ, but honest to doG smoked meats, cooked for long periods of time over low heat. Oh, and the sauces!!! Holy smokes. Sweet BBQ sauces. Spicy BBQ sauces. BBQ sauces that were both and more! Well, I decided I needed to find the BEST ribs. I went to a lot of the BBQ joints. Not all of them (that is impossible to do!), but enough to make an informed decision during the last seven years. My pick has always been BB's Lawnside. No contest. It was one of the first BBQ joints I was taken to, and I loved it. The live music (blues), the atmosphere (shack with picnic tables), and the ribs (I love 'em) were just awesome. But. Mrs. Old Fart has been telling me for seven years that there were BETTER ribs. But they were an hour south in a place that isn't open on my normal days off from work (sunday and monday). I knew they had to be good ribs, because Mrs. O.F. doesn't really like pork. Well, except bacon. But bacon really isn't pork... it's heaven fried in a pan. Today, after seven years, we made the very boring 65 minute drive to Williamsburg Kansas. The picture above is a slab of ribs from Guy & Mae's Tavern in Williamsburg. If you've never been... you MUST go. The ribs are to die for. I'm not kidding. They come unsauced wrapped in aluminium foil that is on top of newspaper. Even without sauce the ribs are the most tender piece of meat I've ever had. They fall of the bone. Seriously... you pick up a rib by the bone, and that's all you're gonna be left holding is THE BONE. So grab on tight. But the sauce. It COMPLETES the ribs. Mmmmmmm. The sauce is awesome. Just enough kick so that a pussy like me doesn't complain that it's too damn spicy, yet not so sweet as to make you think it could be used as frosting on birthday cake. BB's Lawnside no longer holds the "Best BBQ Rib" category in my book. It's not even close. Guy & Mae's Tavern 119 W. William St. Williamsburg, KS (785) 746-8830 Open 11am to Midnight Tuesday - Saturday Take I-35 south to the Willaimsburg exit (about an hour south of Olathe) Turn left at end of exit. At first stop sign, turn left on Williams St. G&M's is on the right side. You're Welcome! We ate a slab there, and I have a half slab with a side of sauce in my kitchen chill box! HELL YEAH!

Sarcasm... A Free Service I Offer.

The post about the chihuahua and the miniature dachshund getting shot by police was a little close to home for me. I grew up having both breeds as pets. When I was in elementary school, my family had a chihuahua. Chi Chi. Chi Chi was a normal chihuahua. Hyper, easily agitated, and yippy. Chi Chi didn't like to be messed with. Sure, you could pat her, but if you got rough with her, she had no problem getting mean. One of my brothers actually used to pick on her. Well, she waited until the perfect opportunity presented itself, and then got her revenge. My brother was poking her and tossing her around... and growling at her with his face just inches from hers. She latched onto his nose and ripped it open. Given the vicious nature of this killing machine, it was a miracle he survived the attack. But he carries the 1/2" scar on the side of his nose as a reminder that life is too short to not shoot at the first growl. My father (generally he is the anonymous poster on this blog, because you can't shoot old dogs who can't work computers) has had miniature dachshunds most of my life. A few years back, Mrs. Old Fart and myself took one of our greyhounds to visit my family down south. We put our dog in their fenced back yard and then the mini-dachshunds were released. I was worried the GH might go after them, since they are small targets... but my worries were soon relieved by the screams of my greyhound as eight or nine 10 pound vicious killers flung themselves onto the intruders legs... growling and biting. The greyhound survived by shear luck, but because I had forgotten to pack a gun to protect us from these vicious killers, she did require a couple of stitches. I know that if I'd had a Glock with me, we could have avoided even those. So, those are my stories of surviving killer dog attacks. I wonder if the police shoot cats? They can give you a nasty scratch!

Nope, not dead yet... only because I don't bark!

Good to be back! I've missed every one of you readers. Ok, really I didn't miss any of you, but I figured it would make you feel better about yourself if I said that. I took a little hiatus from blogging, but I'm back now... so deal with it. Here are some random items for you to digest. Blue Ash Ohio police officers were so in fear for their lives from a loose dog, that after they cornered the dog on the owners front porch they shot it. I'm glad the world is safe from that FIVE POUND CHIHUAHUA. Seriously. They shot a five pound dog. Exactly how is a five pound dog deserving of being shot. Even if it bit the fucking cop, which it did (GOOD FOR THE DOG!), get a box or something and put it over the dog... why reach for the .45 caliber sidearm? Because cops are trained to shoot first. That's why. Not to be out done, a police officer in Danville Virginia shot and killed an 11 year old, 12 pound miniature dachshund. The officer was in fear for his life because as he was walking back to his vehicle after serving a warrant at a neighbors home, the fierce killing machine came charging up behind him growling with its teeth bared. Luckily the officer only had to shoot the monster once to get the kill. Who knows what severe life threatening injuries this officer would have incurred had he not reacted with gunfire to the TWELVE POUND threat to his life. What the fuck is wrong with the police? Are they going to shoot a 5 year old kid weighing 65 pounds if the kid runs at a cop with a rock, and claim self defense? Would you the public stand for it? And finally, on a lighter note... Mrs. Old Fart and myself are getting all Nashvillized with our concert choices this year. We'll be going to see Toby Keith with Trace Adkins July 31st, and then Keith Urban with Taylor Swift on August 8th. YEEEEHAWWW