The Irony is Intoxicating

I think the headline says it all.

Mont. Judge Robert E. Lee: On DUI task force, arrested for DUI 

(AP) HELENA, Mont. - A Montana justice of the peace set to preside over a DUI court later this year has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs after authorities said he stumbled sweating and disoriented into a police station.

The misdemeanor charge filed Thursday against Robert E. Lee is the latest in a string of DUI incidents involving high-profile officials as Montana lawmakers consider stricter laws aimed at changing attitudes of acceptance toward driving under the influence.

Lee, 66, is charged with driving while under the influence of methadone, a synthetic narcotic used to relieve pain or prevent withdrawal symptoms from drug addiction. He denied the charges Friday in a phone interview with The Associated Press, but declined to speak about the allegations in detail.

For more on the story, go here...

A Clarion Call

Sometimes you see something so inspiring, so thought-provoking, and just so darn true, that you have to pass the message along. You know - to help that seed of an idea grow.

This is my effort to do that.

If watching this video makes you think, if it makes you angry at the gradual whittling away of  your constitutional rights, and above all - if it inspires you to action then please, copy the embedding code and post it on your blog, web page, or whatever.

If, on the other hand, it offends you - then look in the mirror and ask yourself why.

Her name is Ann Barnhardt, and she needs our support.

 Part 1

Part 2

Kudos to Gates of Vienna , where I first saw this amazing video. Pop over there and see and read more amazing and thought-provoking things.

One of The Coolest Things Ever

I found this on CBS.com's site, and I was mesmerised.

Side Bar

I have not had the strength nor the inclination to post anything new in the last several days, thanks to a particularly nasty bout with an intestinal flu.  Without going into detail (which I am quite certain is unnecessary, anyway), it was awful.  I have regained some strength - at least enough to give a tinker's damn - to update the blog a bit.

But only just...

Here's something that caught my attention that merits posting. Only one word comes to mind: graft.

State lawmaker’s employer is building a courthouse he helped fund (courtesy BluegrassPolitics)

State Rep. John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty

FRANKFORT — In 2006, state Rep. John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty, helped authorize $13 million in the state budget to build a new Rowan County Judicial Center in Morehead.

In 2008, local construction company Packs’ Inc. was assigned to manage the project, in partnership with Alliance Corp. of Glasgow. Also in 2008, Stacy first disclosed he was employed by Packs’ in a paid job that he held for at least the next three years and may still hold, according to his annual legislative financial disclosures.

Stacy declined Tuesday to talk about his work for Packs’ or his involvement in the judicial center, which is expected to be completed this summer.

“We’re not gonna discuss this,” Stacy said outside the Kentucky House chamber.

Packs’ President A. Keith Pack also declined to comment on Stacy or the project.

Kentucky legislators may own and work for companies that construct the projects they help put in the state budget, as long as they don’t hold an unfair advantage over competitors, said Anthony Wilhoit, executive director of the Legislative Ethics Commission.

But ethics watchdog Common Cause of Kentucky said the practice looks “very bad” and should be avoided.