No, not actual illegal immigrants… just the phrase “illegal alien”. 

A state legislator whose district is home to thousands of Caribbean immigrants wants to ban the term “illegal alien” from the state’s official documents.

“I personally find the word ‘alien’ offensive when applied to individuals, especially to children,” said Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. “An alien to me is someone from out of space.”

She has introduced a bill providing that: “A state agency or official may not use the term ‘illegal alien’ in an official document of the state.” There would be no penalty for using the words.

In Miami-Dade County, Wilson said, “we don’t say ‘alien,’ we say ‘immigrant.’”

Now to be fair, this woman says she doesn’t really have a problem with the word “illegal”, though she prefers the term “undocumented”.  But really, is this a hugely pressing issue in Florida?

As for her dislike of the word… I looked up “alien” on dictionary.com.  Here’s the very first definition:

a resident born in or belonging to another country who has not acquired citizenship by naturalization

Seems fairly straightfoward to me.

The food police are out with another report.

Chain restaurants in the United States are promoting dangerous “X-treme Eating”, a US watchdog has said.

They are serving up “ever-more harmful new creations,” says the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

It says that some individual dishes can exceed 2,000 calories, more than the recommended daily intake for women.

Oh noes!  Whatever shall we do!  Quick, CSPI, save us from ourselves!

Yes, portion sizes have increased.  Yes, there are some decadent damn desserts out there.  But ya know, I’m an adult.  I can handle it.

When Elaine and I go out to eat, we usually split an appetizer and have a main course.  About one in four dinners will result in us eating dessert, usually because we saved room for it.  Is there nutritional information on our menu?  No.  Do I need a nutritional outline to tell me that the chocolate-drizzled peanut butter cheesecake is high in calories?  No.  Nor do I need a helpful guide that tells me the double cheeseburger and large fries is more than 1/3rd of my daily caloric intake. 

So what’s CSPI’s solution?  They want to require chain restaurants to list the nutritional value of food items.  And they praise Mike Bloomberg while they’re at it. 

Frickin’ food fascists.

With four inches of snow on the ground (and more still falling), the boys have reverted back to that old favorite… “Star Wars”.  The frozen woods of Northern Virginia have been transformed into the windswept plains of Hoth. 

Meanwhile, the babies had a very brief nap today (about half the usual time) and spent the first twenty minutes upon waking SCREAMING AT ME FOR NO REASON! 

They might be going to bed a little early, I think.

Or so he claims. 

On a light note, it would be fitting if the guy that brought down an organized religion is the same guy that gave us “Titanic”.  On a more serious note, I’m awfully skeptical.  DNA evidence?  Evidence of what, exactly?

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Okay, I like snow, but not today of all days.  If Elaine’s flight gets cancelled, just ignore that weird sound in the distance.  It’s just me wailing and gnashing my teeth.  Four days I can handle… not sure about five. 

***Update***

Less than an hour before the twins go to bed.  I made it!  And it looks like Elaine’s flight will be on time as well.  I bet school gets cancelled tomorrow though.  They’re absolute weenies when it comes to cancelling school here. 

I thought today was going to be the roughest day of them all, because the twins got up so early and took an incredibly short nap.  Actually though, I only had one moment today where I wanted to lock myself in the bathroom and scream obscenities at the top of my lungs.  Saturday I had at least three. 

Young boys are going to play with toy guns.  It’s hardly a novel concept, but in the Washington, D.C. area, it’s an opinion shocking enough to get space in the Sunday WaPo.

Interestingly, as I type this Andrew is out with his friends Noah, Parker, and Max playing Army.  And I’m completely cool with that.

I can’t believe it, but Dennis Johnson, one of the great Celtics players of the 80’s, has passed away at the age of 52.  Story here

Here’s a nice of Johnson and Bird getting the best of the Pistons.

The new Townhall column is here.

It’s amazing what a motivator a countdown can be.  Normally when the twins are napping I surf the internet, get caught up on my tv shows, goof off in front of the computer, etc. 

Today, since Elaine’s gone for four days I did the dishes, cleaned the living room, showered, wrote my Townhall column, posted a couple things on the blog, answered some (but not all) of my email, and even managed to grab lunch.

I better start slacking.  If I keep this up Elaine will think I can actually take care of things when she’s gone. 

Hot off the presses… the statement by NRA on Jim Zumbo.

***Update***

And Jim Zumbo apologizes again. 

Apparently the new satire comedy show on Fox News (always the place I turn to for satire) got great ratings. 

I didn’t watch.  I have seen a couple clips on YouTube, and thought it was modestly funny.  I didn’t like the female “anchor” that they used, thought many of the gags were kinda simple and obvious, but there were a few chuckle-worthy moments.

I wish them the best, though I’m not sure Fox News is the vehicle I would use for a comedy show. 

I have my first fan site.  Of course it’s kind of depressing to see an empty forum… (hint hint). 

cacfans stands for Cam and Company fans, by the way.  I haven’t changed my name to Cac, though now that I think about it I’m halfway tempted…

Okay, so here’s the story:

In a Houston sports bar, angry and presumably drunk patron starts acting belligerent.  Waitress asks him to leave.  He responds by punching her in the face.  The owner’s son comes to her defense, and the waitress-beater responds by slicing owner’s son in the face with a knife.

Owner’s son runs outside and locks himself in his truck.  Waitress-beater and face-slasher storms outside and breaks the driver’s side window of the truck.  Owner’s son shoots and kills waitress-beater and face-slasher.

And how is this reported in the Houston press?  See for yourself.

- Houston Chronicle:  “Man Shot, Killed After Fight at Northeast Houston Bar

- KRPC-TV:  Bar Patron Killed After Harrassing Waitress

- KHOU:  Barroom Brawl Turns Deadly

- KTRK:  Confrontation At Bar Ends in Fatal Shooting

How about “Man Defends Self, Waitress From Armed Attack”?  Jeez.

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Holy cow.  I mean… really.  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a screed this idiotic.  And this guy’s a former teacher.  I weep for the students he “educated”. 

Where to begin… how about at the beginning!

The NRA is a fascist organization. It is fascist because it promotes the principle of gun ownership as a public policy with the view that guns in every household foster law and order; that is, law and order from the barrel of a gun. A fundamental characteristic of a fascist society is the rule of the populace by force of arms; that is, by guns and not votes.

Uh huh.  So the NRA’s a fascist organization because it promotes responsible gun ownership among civilians?  Dude, that’s the opposite of a fascist organization.  A fascist organization would deny gun ownership among civilians and keep the power in the hands of the government. 

In a democracy the governing of the populace should be its citizens’ dedication to abide by the laws democratically enacted and their delegation of the responsibility for public safety to civilian-controlled police.
 
The promotion of a gun in every household for protection is tantamount to the advocacy of anarchy; that is, every man and woman of a society assumes the responsibility of providing his/her police protection.

In one paragraph the NRA’s gone from being a fascist organization to one that promotes anarchy.  Dude, pick a position and stick to it.  As to the “delegation of the responsibility for public safety”, I’m happy to let the police handle that.  But as the Supreme Court has ruled, you have no individual right to protection by the police.  That means that when a bad guy’s in my house at 3 in the morning, I should call 911 but also be able to defend myself and my family if the police can’t arrive in time.

 An argument used by Caroline and used by every gun lover is that to ban guns would put the populace at the mercy of criminals, who would obtain guns in some fashion. Caroline alleges that a gun ban in Washington D.C. has unarmed its law abiding citizens but allowed its criminal to remain armed. The result is a high rate of criminal activity in DC. The answer to that is that no ban will be effective unless it is national in scope and is diligently enforced.

Like England’s decade-long gun ban?  How’s that workin’ out for ya?  A violent crime rate nearly 5 times that of the United States?  No thanks.

Is there more courage in having a gun or not having one? The ultimate Exemplar of moral and physical courage is the Carpenter. He preached a revolutionary way of life—a way antithetical to orthodoxy—and he did it unarmed. In fact, he left the world this memorable message with regard to arms: He who lives by the sword dies by the sword. Further, that one arms himself with a gun is a manifestation of a readiness to kill and such a stance relative to the life and message of the Galilean reveals a moral and physical weakness. In addition, anyone who arms himself can expect another with whom he deals to arm himself, ad infinitum.

Dude, seriously.  Join a Bible study.  Or at least read Dave Kopel.

How can one believe that when the Founding Fathers wrote the Third Amendment that they had in mind a nation in which 80,000,000 people would be armed and that 20,000 or so citizens a year would die from gunshots fired by others citizens? To believe that is to relegate the Fathers to the status of myopes or worse.

Dude, seriously.  It’s the 2nd Amendment.  And I’ll take the US of A over your gun-free England any day. 

So I stayed up late last night getting caught up on the whole Zumbo mess.  I read his posts, I read the comments from the alleged Brady Campaign myspace site.  I read Tam and Bitter and Michael Bane and Uncle and the rest.  I now feel that I can opine about this in a somewhat informed manner.

The bottom line is Zumbo screwed the pooch.  Seriously.  How do say what he said and remain employable?  In fact, how do you become one of the biggest outdoors writers and feel that way about semi-automatic rifles? 

I’m not even much of a hunter, but I know the AR-15 makes a pretty damn good varmint rifle.  There are a boatload of hunters in the Upper Midwest who use SKS or SKS variants as deer rifles (including one or two game wardens I’ve seen quoted here and there).  I just don’t see how you can be around hunters and firearms for as long as Zumbo’s been and still come to his original conclusion.

But, nevertheless, he did.  Now he’s paying the consequences. 

Let’s see… the blog’s issues with IE7 have been fixed, thanks to Lisa.  I think I’m also going to buy a new skin for the blog.  Something in a Gadsden flag perhaps.

Other news… I have no idea what the proposed Sirius/XM merger means to “Cam and Company”.  I know we’ve had a great partnership with Sirius for almost three years now, and I hope that continues.  I think it’s a little early for any programming decisions to have been made, to be honest. 

Kinda glad I missed out on the Jim Zumbo flap over the weekend.  To be honest, I’m not sure what I think at this point.  I know some are calling for his head on a platter, while others have accepted the apology.  I realize the damage that can be done by an influential writer popping off like that, but I also understand that sometimes people make mistakes.  What’s important is how we rectify those. 

With that, I’m off to do a show. 

This has to be one of the more unique blogs out there.  Taking a look at “The Office” from the perspective of a human resources officer… it’s a fun read.

Yep, it’s IE7 that causes people not to view the blog correctly.  The backup computer I’m using has IE7, which means I can’t even see my own blog. 

I’ll see about getting this fixed.

The Brady Campaign really screwed the pooch this time, naming a Philly-area gun dealer as a shady business when in fact they were cooperating with ATF on a legitimate sting operation. 

Tim Moran, who was working the counter the day of the sting, looked up the Brady Center on the Internet and called to complain. Dennis Henigan, legal director for the group, called him to apologize. The Brady Center relies on public court records to compile its report. Tanner’s was removed from the report, and a correction was posted on the Brady Center’s Web site.

“It’s the first time that this has happened,” Henigan said this week.

But I wonder where the apology is for these gun dealers.  After all, ATF and the US Justice Department said the dealers didn’t break the law… so why is the Brady Campaign calling them “lawbreakers”? 

My computer’s acting screwy, so I’m having to send it in to be repaired.  Probably won’t be blogging much on my backup computer, but in the meantime, please check out the new Townhall column, which can be found here.  And send it on to your friends while you’re at it.

Pretty cool…. Dave Hardy’s 2nd Amendment documentary’s made Hot Air. 

Way to go, Dave!

So Glenn’s interviewed John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting).  Pfft.  Big deal. 

I have Clayton Cramer, author of Armed America on the show tonight.  Maybe I’ll even ask him to play the piano!

Nah, probably not.  But I am looking forward to hearing the story about the book.

Just an FYI that despite the icy conditions, there will be a live Cam and Company tonight. 

Breaking news this morning:  the judge in the lawsuit filed by NRA against the City of New Orleans has held the city’s attorneys in contempt for failing to comply with certain deadlines.  In addition, the judge has ordered the city’s attorneys (read:  the city of New Orleans) to pay the legal fees of the NRA’s attorneys. 

We’ll see if this will force the city to comply.