piece of shep

1937-2008

He was one of my favorite comedians.  I loved his comedy shows, his books, and his performances in movies.  He truly was a legend.  He will be missed.

Woke up this morning to some interesting news. Well, interesting if you live in Missouri.

Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation on Tuesday allowing Missourians to fatally shoot intruders without fear of prosecution or lawsuits.

Not all too surprising really. We, in Missouri, like our guns, even when we don’t like them. (I’m referring to our state legislature passing a concealed weapons law allowing people to carry with a permit even though the voters said no).

The measure spells out that people are not required to retreat from an intruder and can use deadly force once the person illegally enters their home, vehicle or other dwelling, including a tent. The bill provides an absolute defense against being charged or sued for using such force.

Why do I foresee a lot of drunk camping/hunting accidents/murders involving rednecks? I mean really, a tent? Does that happen often? Someone breaks into your tent to steal all your valuables? “Well officer, he did try to take my hundred-dollar Coleman lantern. That’s worth more than my trailer. And it’s a double wide.”

Under the old law, deadly force was justified only if people believed it necessary to protect themselves or others from death or serious injury.

Wasn’t that reasonable enough? Now all they have to do is come on to your property? Why do I think Blunt had one too many door to door salesmen or Mormons show up at his door? I can probably think of a few people that I wouldn’t mind inviting over and have myself protected under this new law. I know what you’re thinking, if I invited them, then I’m not protected under this law. Well, how are you going to find that out if they’re spread out over my lawn? (No, I’m not being serious, but I can’t wait until someone actually does claim this).

The measure also gets rid of a state law requiring people to obtain permits from their local sheriffs before they can get a handgun.

Sweet. Now it’s even easier for people to have guns without telling anyone. Gun Control in Missouri is an oxymoron. And don’t give me the crap about owning more guns makes crime rates drop. In Missouri it hasn’t.

Via StLToday.com

A literary legend has passed. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. died last night. He was 84 years old. Slaughterhouse-Five, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Breakfast of Champions were my favorite books by Mr. Vonnegut. I happened to be re-reading Breakfast of Champions this week. Such a great book. Rest in peace to a great writer. He was such a great satirist influencing countless authors around the world, including another favorite of mine, Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club. His book, Slaughterhouse-Five is considered by many people to be the best anti-war book ever written and has won many awards.

GOODBYE BLUE MONDAY!

From the NYT:

Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like “Slaughterhouse-Five,� “Cat’s Cradle� and “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater� caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died last night in Manhattan.

Mr. Vonnegut suffered irreversible brain injuries as a result of a fall several weeks ago, according to his wife, Jill Krementz.

Like Mark Twain, Mr. Vonnegut used humor to tackle the basic questions of human existence: Why are we in this world? Is there a presiding figure to make sense of all this, a god who in the end, despite making people suffer, wishes them well?

I was browsing my stats and noticed an incoming link to my theme. Always curious as to what kind of sites used my theme I checked it out. I won’t provide the link here because the site I found was disgusting. The site is supposed to be an alternative “news” site but really was nothing more than a racist and bigoted site that talks about “niggers”, “kikes”, “evil Methodists”, and “fags.” Reading the titles of these posts made me want to throw up, and the actual posts and comments were worse. I guess the drawback to releasing a theme is you have no say in what kind of site decides to use it. I, for one, am disgusted by it’s use on this hate speech site.

EDIT: Just an update, I contacted the site’s host, DreamHost and they said they support free speech. This is understandable. I, however, doubt it has anything to do with free speech and more to do with them making money from a client. That’s just how DH operates. Even if the hate speech can incite hate crimes (which, if you look at the wikipedia entry posted in the comments by Mike, actually has happened). This lead me to post some terms in which I explain I have no affiliation with the content on sites using my theme. Kind of an obvious thing, but I just want to cover my bases.

I’m not really a fan of opera music but I was reading the newspaper today and read an article about a pioneering opera singer passing away. He was Robert K. McFerrin Sr. Many may recognize the last name, as his son, Bobby McFerrin, had success with the hit song Don’t Worry, Be Happy. He was a St. Louis native.

Robert K. McFerrin Sr., an opera singer from St. Louis who performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, died Friday (Nov. 24, 2006) at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital of a heart attack. He was 85 and lived in Creve Coeur.

Mr. McFerrin was born in Marianna, Ark., the seventh of eight children. He began singing at his father’s church as a boy and continued to pursue music as a student at Sumner High School. Read more…