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Last week we had a burglary at our home and a lot of stuff was stolen including several firearms. We live in the Sun Valley area just north of Burbank, California. The break in occurred at noon, when my wife had stepped out for about an hour. A few of the stolen firearms were collectibles-- primo and very desirable, should the thieves have any clue what they got. This is what was stolen: Smith & Wesson model 3420 Airlight .38 hammerless S/N CEZ8580 Smith & Wesson model 686 .357 7-rd cyl. S/N CEY947 Springfield M1 Garand S/N 1881921 Colt Govt....

Title pretty much asks it all. My circle of friends has always been predominantly artists of various stripes-- painters, writers, filmmakers, musicians, actors, sculptors. Some of them make a living on their art, some of them work for other artists or teach, some have a "regular" job but consider themselves to be an artist first and foremost. ALL are liberals-- and I'm talking at least a hundred friends and acquaintances, here. I was a liberal at one time too (and I guess back then I also considered myself to be an artist (filmmaker)). But, now, I work in the film...

I made this short movie for a birthday party / film festival where the assignment was to make a film to show at the party that was somehow autobiographical. Well-- this movie describes my life pretty well. 4 minutes long-- enjoy and let me know if you liked it. Rate it on YouTube for bonus freeper points. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qadKJzBx_uw

I have a very good friend from Caracas who moved away a few years ago. Her family still lives in Caracas and visits frequently, so she has very good knowledge of the culture and events there. I emailed her this question after hearing (unbelievably) that there are some Americans who are making excuses for the RCTV takeover. My email: Something I wanted to talk to you about last night but didn't get around to-- Was there any legitimate reason for Chavez to take RCTV off the air? Did RCTV actively call for insurrection, coup d'etat, assasination? Some apologists for the...

Before I look for a CPA to give me the law, I just thought I'd ask here for a quick, general response: Can you apply a deduction to this year's return that you did not take on last year's return? My specific case is this: Just found out that you can choose to deduct EITHER the total sales tax you paid OR the amount of state income tax you paid. I built a house in 2005 and paid an enormous amount in sales tax (I built in the state of washington where everything is slapped with a sales tax, but...

If reports are true that Chelsea Clinton and her boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky are considering marriage, the father of the groom won't be able to attend the wedding until he is released from prison in November 2008. Ed Mezvinsky, a former Iowa Congressman, is serving a seven-year sentence for fraud after getting caught up in a series of Nigerian e-mail scams.

This is the text of an email I sent to my best, uber-liberal friend. Dear, Xxx: You sent an email to me several weeks ago telling me why Prop. 90 was a bad idea. I ask you to read this as a response: Over forty years ago my dad and a business parter named Otis Thompson (not the real name, FReepers) bought a piece of property in Port Townsend to use as a fuel storage lot. It happened that this property was located on a prime piece of waterfront real estate on the point near downtown. After they went out...

St. Crispen's Day Speech William Shakespeare, 1599 Enter the KING WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day! KING. What's he that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin; If we are mark'd to die, we are enow To do our country loss; and if to live, The fewer men, the greater share of honour. God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more. By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; It yearns me...

William T. Love came to 1890s Niagara Falls, New York, with hugely ambitious plans. The landowner and entrepreneur envisioned the creation of an enormous utopian metropolis. His city would be home to enviable industry, and housing for more than a million people. Thousands of acres would become "the most extensive and beautiful [park] in the world". He planned to power the city using hydroelectric dams on a new 11-kilometer canal between the upper and lower Niagara Rivers. Within a year, however, Love's plans failed, and would quickly have been forgotten if it weren't for one problem. The one part of...

My ultra-liberal friend sent a big email list of people and me this missive from Robert Redford, urging people in California to vote against Prop 90 based on concerns for how the law might impact the government's ability to protect the environment. Here is what was sent to me: "We had no idea." You're going to hear that a lot if Proposition 90 passes next month. Millions of people are going to wake up the morning after Election Day and wish they'd read the fine print. Please don't be one of them. Prop 90 is the single most dangerous threat...

My wife and I are infrequent cell-phone gabbers, but we have them just in case. Our current plan with T-Mobile is about $60 per month. We're trying to cut out all of our budgetary waste-- and one way of saving money might be to switch to prepaid phones. Tracfone has a deal where you get a phone and 450 minutes that are good for one year for $99. This would save us about $520 a year on our cell-phone bill. Anybody here use Tracfone? Does it suck? Is it great?

My sister is 43 years old, lives in a very small town about 1,000 miles away in our home town. We have relatives in the town as well. She has a 4 year old son (no father) and has fallen for a man there who is a JW. They are seriously talking of marriage and she seems to be well on the road to adopting his religion. We were raised Catholic, but she hasn't set foot in a church in years, as far as I know. I know little to nothing of JW, other than the usual bad rap it...

There's a general uproar from the moonbats over the upcoming ABC miniseries-- and what seems to be the main crux of the problem to them is how the film portrays an aborted raid on Bin Laden's camp in Afghanistan. Bergler, Ben-Veniste et.al say this raid never actually happened-- it is a fabrication. Others have defended the film by saying that this raid was a composite of various failures. My questions are these: -Did this raid (as portrayed in the film) never happen? -What were the actual opportunities to capture/kill Bin Laden that the Clinton administration squandered? -Would it be more...

Hey guys-- I have need of advice for a pretty simple financial question: I have a regular mortgage for my house at 4.75%-- which is great, don't want to touch it. But I have a line of credit (I used to finish construction of a 2nd home) for $75K on an adjustable which is now at 8.15%. I am just nearing the 6 mo. point on this loan where I will not incur a penalty for early payoff and am considering refinancing this one into a fixed. Am I going to save money? What are the realistic rates for fixed...

I don't usually post anecdotal cases of liberal dementia-- mainly because they are not constructive or informative excepting in that it gives us something to snicker over. But, this one is sticking in my brain a bit, so I want to mention it. Last Saturday evening I accompanied my wife to her book club meeting. Once a year they invite the husbands to attend and after they talk about the book for a few moments, it becomes a dinner party. About twenty guests, all in their 40's to 60's (except for me, I'm still 39 until September 15th!!!) And all...

SCI FI Channel is about to give the world a wake-up call. It's about the next mass extinction, a coming disaster that will wipe out life on Earth and destroy the human race. Counting down to doomsday, SCI FI reveals the top 10 ways the world can end tomorrow — and the solutions to avert them. Using CGI and cutting-edge special effects, we'll bring each terrifying scenario to life. Massive volcanic eruptions, global pandemics, asteroid impacts … viewers will witness vivid simulations of these and other nightmarish catastrophes, brought to life by the knowledge and imagination of the world's leading...

http://www.pfadvice.com/2006/06/21/creative-job-commute-helper/ Creative Job - Commute Helper Sometimes I’m amazed at the creativity of some people who earn a good living filling needs that anyone could do. I was at a gathering today when I struck up a conversation with a man who described his job as a “commute helper.” “OK, what exactly is a commute helper?” I asked “I help people have a smooth and quick commute,” he replied. “How do you do that?” I asked “I sit in their car, ” he said with a smile. This is what happened. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area,...

I have an uber-leftist friend who sends me liberal crap several times a day. A recent jag of his is how the new Iraqi constitution is going to make women less free in Iraq than they were under Saddam. The thing that enrages me is that there appears to be a point behind this statement. Admitedly, I have not done my due diligence and uncovered every aspect of the truth behind this new constitution, but I have heard some distressing things, especially from people who are NOT far-left nut cases. I don't understand why America cannot impose a constitution upon...

It seems like our consumer electronics world thrives on the consatnt churn of formats and the march up the ladder to perfection. It seems that CE nirvanna will be achieved soon when most homes own a Hi-Def television or two, digital cable and can buy or rent all the Hi-Def films one could possibly want. What happens then? Does the CE industry enter a stage of petrification? How can you make the home theater experience better than what is now (or very soon will be) available at a fairly reasonable price?

I found this while trolling thru DU. Someone started an almost respectable thread about how gun control shouldn't be a Democrat plank. Predictably, many lunatics pig-piled, but the exchange that caught my eye was the one started by Magic Rat-- scroll down to the 8th reply to see the silliness... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2795194#2796208