Similar smelly bubbles reached the surface of the media swamp here during the 2004 election, when CBS and Dan Rather were unable to verify the authenticity of documents questioning George W. Bush's National Guard service.

I've got to agree completely with Paul Cooper [an earlier commentor], the media's casual approach to the truth seems pandemic. Consider this very article:

"Similar smelly bubbles reached the surface of the media swamp here during the 2004 election, when CBS and Dan Rather were unable to verify the authenticity of documents questioning George W. Bush's National Guard service."

Surely you realize that the reason they were unable to verify the authenticity of the TANG documents was because they were blatant and quite clumsy forgeries. Forgeries almost immediately revealed for what they were by the blogosphere that many in the mainstream media would still like to consider simply "unverified".

And you wonder why so many have lost faith in the media?

Casper -- A national ammunition shortage due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is being felt among Casper area law enforcement agencies.

The shortage has driven up the cost of ammunition -- almost doubling it in some cases -- and meant less ammo is available for training, according to local officials.

I'm the bullet boy for my sporting goods catalog retailer, and I can tell you last year we couldn't get enough 7.62X39MM and now this year it is .223. My distributor for Winchester has told me not to expect any .223 in any military type bullets, some of the 40gr and other varmint types will trickle out. The rep for Federal last week told me they can ship me premium rifle and most shotgun ammo, but not to expect much in .223/5.56, .308, and .40S&W. They have all they can do to meet the demand from the Military, and law enforcement. And this week I get an email from them canceling almost $200,000 in orders for American Eagle .223. One of my distributors also sent me a copy of the email they got from Federal canceling almost a million. Even the reloader/remanufactures are hard hit. The problem seems to be getting the bullets themselves.

When I first got this job I recall another blogger mentioning that he hadn't been posting much because the price of copper had risen so much his day job of selling mining equipment took all his time. The number of mines in operation had dropped in half until last year when copper went to $4 a pound. It cost just under a dollar to mine and produce.

Just last week I also read a business article on how the price of copper, remember it is used to plate the bullet's and to make the brass, is not coming down due to worldwide high demand. China & India are the main culprits followed by the west's high electronic gadget demand. Add to this increased demand for iron/steel, tin and lead. Well you can see where this goes.

On a related note to the price of lead, I took a wingshooting class earlier this summer and there were a couple of the shooters who use to reload, but gave up on 12 & 20 gauge, because of the price of lead. One did still reload his 28gauge because these were still high priced enough to make it worth while. But most of them shot the Federal Estate line.

On a positive note Winchester does seem to have their .22 rimfire plant on line finally, they were down most of last year.

My advice, if you want a varmint round is .22-250 or the .204 Ruger, but this is not the year to get the AR platform in .223.

When we were kids, mangoes were a rare delicacy. Now they're cheap, and you can buy specialized mango-cookware at Kroger. Three cheers for globalization!

University of Wyoming athletic team uniforms have returned to the traditional brown and yellowish-gold of yesteryear, much to the delight of some fans who never really embraced the new color scheme introduced by then-President Philip Dubois in 2000. "Prairie gold" was the term coined for the metallic-tan color that replaced the traditional yellow-gold.

"What's at issue is whether the level of force being used is appropriate for arresting somebody," said Allen Gilbert, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Vermont. "The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable seizures, which means police can't use excessive force when they're taking you into custody."

Supporters of Tasers say they reduce workers' compensation and lost time claims by police by preventing physical confrontations.

To many, the issue isn't whether Tasers should be used, it's how.

In the Houston incident, which occurred April 13, William Lewis, 30, was trying to take his newborn home from Woman's Hospital of Texas because he and his wife felt mistreated by staff.

He was told not to take the baby, and was trying to leave when David Boling, an off-duty police officer working security, shot Lewis with the stun gun as he held the child.

"It's very easy to blame police officers for the inappropriate use of a Taser, but we need to take another step back and look at how it's been introduced to them," said Dalia Hashad, a human rights violations specialist with Amnesty International.

"They're under the impression that it's a bit of a magic tool, that you'll shoot someone with 50,000 volts and they'll be rendered incapable and no harm will be done."

Amnesty International USA has counted 250 cases in the last six years in which people died after being stunned with a Taser, but doesn't track whether the shock caused the deaths, according to Hashad. According to the manufacturer, Taser International Inc., the devices have been listed as a contributing factor in about 12 deaths.

What did you think of the peace rally at Dick Cheney's home in Jackson last Saturday?

Glad they did it, but it won't accomplish much -- 104 votes/33%

Rallies like this bring real change -- 14 votes/4%

Total waste of time -- 202 votes/63%

The corporate State considers that private enterprise in the sphere of production is the most effective and useful instrument in the interest of the nation. In view of the fact that private organization of production is a function of national concern, the organizer of the enterprise is responsible to the State for the direction given to production. State intervention in economic production arises only when private initiative is lacking or insufficient, or when the political interests of the State are involved. This intervention may take the form of control, assistance or direct management.

I will say, John, that I do think what's telling/frightening about your outlook is your assertion that winning automatically means "somebody else loses." That's called zero-sum thinking - the exact kind of thinking that got us into this mess in the first place. We are in the middle of a civil war in Iraq - it's hard to frame the quagmire (not my words - Dick Cheney's) in the conventional terms of us "winning" and someone else "losing" because frankly, I don't hope that the Iraqis lose (while you might). I do, however, think us getting out of Iraq will hurt Osama bin Laden's cause because it's no secret that he's been using the Iraq War as a huge recruiting tool for Al Qaeda.

CHEYENNE -- The Wind River Mushrooms farm at Shoshoni, which shut down temporarily last October, is back in business with legal migrant workers from California, officials said.

The plant shut down last year because of lack of workers.

...

Initially, labor for the farm was supplied by minimum-security inmates from the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton who volunteered for the jobs.

...

The inmate labor didn't work out, apparently, because they weren't dexterous and quick enough in cutting the crimini and portabella mushrooms.

The owners then hired some trained workers from Guatemala to fill the orders for mushrooms. That arrangement ended, Tanner said earlier, when officials from the Department of Homeland Security, which now includes the Immigration and Naturalization Service, started checking the workers' credentials and found some in question.

An elderly Iraqi woman shows two bullets which she says hit her house following an early coalition forces raid in the predominantly Shiite Baghdad suburb of Sadr City. At least 175 people were slaughtered on Tuesday and more than 200 wounded when four suicide truck bombs targeted people from an ancient religious sect in northern Iraq, officials said.(AFP/Wissam al-Okaili)

Regardless of your political convictions this is worth consideration!

This test only has one question, but it's a very important one. By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally. The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in which you will have to make a decision.

You are in Florida --- Miami, to be specific. A recent hurricane has caused massive damage leaving nothing but chaos. This is a flood of biblical proportions. You are a photo journalist working for a major newspaper, and you're there during this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless. You feel this is your time to shoot career-making pictures. Houses, trees and animals are swirling around you testifying to the utter destruction. Nature has unleashed all of its destructive fury.

Suddenly you see a woman in the water. She is fighting for her life, grasping for anything to keep her from being swept away.

You move closer. Somehow, the woman looks familiar. You suddenly realize it is Hillary Clinton! At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to sweep her away. Forever.

You have two choices--you can save the life of Hillary Clinton, or you can shoot a Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting the loss of one of the world's most powerful women.

So here's the question, and please give an honest answer:

Would you select high contrast color film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

What's in a name? It could be merely marketing, a way to put MSU on the map and attract out-of-state undergraduates who may not be exactly sure where Montana is. But it could be much more, enhancing fundraising, attracting top-notch scientists, boosting MSU's reputation in the world of science, or possibly opening new opportunities for the university.

"It's a very powerful designation," MSU President Geoff Gamble said. "It's not just a new slogan. We are the largest researchers in the Yellowstone ecosystem in grants, publications and presentations at scientific conferences. So using the phrase is simply recognition of all the work we're doing."

Over time, though, engineers realized that, with different propellants and advancements in case design technology, the .30-06's 2.494-inch case was longer than it needed to be--a realization that eventually culminated in the development of the .308 Winchester, which produced 2,750 fps in a 2.015-inch case.

Today we have even more and even better propellants, and we know a lot more about how case design influences cartridge performance. Enter the .30 Thompson/Center, which is headstamped and will probably always be known as the .30 TC. The .308 Winchester is essentially a shortened .30-06 case; the .30 TC, in turn, is essentially a shortened .308 Winchester case. It uses the same .473-inch rim and case-head diameter, with minimal taper and similar shoulder angle. The primary difference is a case shortened to 1.920 inches. This makes it relatively short and fat for its length, which, as we now know, considerably enhances ignition and burning efficiency.

The first Icon I toted to the bench was chambered for the new .30 TC. About all this cartridge has going for it is marketing hype. Not that it doesn't have useful ballistics in an efficient package. It just doesn't offer anything the well-established .308 cannot provide.

I think I'll will cut it back some and then neck it down to 6.5 mm and call it the successor to the 6.5mm Alexander. Comming real soon now in a new semi-auto bull pup based on the Ruger Mini-14 action using unabtanium for the reciever. You can pre-deposit for it at "Toad You So Arms"......acceptance of deposit no gurantee of delivery.

Not only is the Saudi government refusing taking concrete action to stop the inflammatory provocation to Sunni terrorist groups - al-Qaida among them - to commit the attacks which are damaging prospects for peace and stability in Iraq. In fact, the Saudis have been the unpunished sponsors of terror in Iraq.

This fact became more clear-cut than ever with the eye-opening L.A. Times report earlier this month, revealing that about 45% of all foreign militants targeting both U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces hailed from Saudi Arabia.

Not only are religious clerics, Saudi banks, and Saudi individuals involved in such activities, according to an interview given by Prince Hassan of Jordan to Al Jazeera earlier this year — members of the Saudi National Security Council have been directly funding Sunni militants in Iraq.

The recent news that the US is considering selling $20 billion worth of weaponry to Saudi Arabia, smacks of short sightedness on the part of Washington. Instead of twisting Saudi Arabia’s arm to stop its sponsorship of terrorism in Iraq, the US is rewarding the regime with a massive arms contract.

It may be true that both countries harbor legitimate concerns about Iran’s growing military might. But by not forcing the Saudis to play ball in Iraq, the US is throwing away the results of four years of hard work and sacrifice in Iraq, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi lives and billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars.

In addition to infuriating the Shiites and encouraging the Sunni militants, the proposed Saudi arms deal has also legitimized Iran’s efforts in southern Iraq. By arming the Saudis, the Iraqi Shiites, whom the US counted on as potential allies, will now see Iran as their only true ally, and increase their military and political cooperation with Tehran.

What the US and the Saudis should also not forget is that Shiite populated areas such as Najaf and Muthana in Iraq border Saudi Arabia.

Some rich man came and raped the land
Nobody caught him
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes
And Jesus people bought them

...

They called it paradise
I don't know why
To call someplace paradise
Kiss it goodbye
-- Eagles The Last Resort

In a recent series, The Denver Post disclosed a patchwork of standards nationwide overseeing preservation of biological evidence. Tens of thousands of DNA specimens have been lost, mishandled or destroyed throughout the country, scuttling justice for victims and prisoners who are blocked from proving their innocence, The Post reported.

So when yesterday I read that the state plans to take DNA samples that will be retained forever, from people accused of speeding or littering or failing to wear a seatbelt, I realised that if this happens, we will have finally reached the point where the only response left to being stopped for even the most minor offence, is to run and if need be to use violence to escape, and to make no apology for that if you are caught. The offences are trivial but the prospect of being DNA sampled upon being accused of a trivial offence, and that being kept on record forever, is something worth getting violent about. Being fingerprinted is bad enough but this is intolerable.

Would you be willing to give up 10 points of IQ for a dramatic and permanent increase in your sex life (with other humans)?

"The great danger of confronting peak oil and global warming isn't that we will sit on our collective asses and do nothing while civilization collapses, but that we will plunge after "solutions" that will make our problems even worse."