Ron Price makes good on "enemies list" threat - Lashes out with "silly" lawsuit - Openly violates oath - The Knight Shift expected as next to be hit

Ron Price, disgraced member of the Rockingham County Board of Education ("I don't have anyone to hold my Bible for me" he lamented meekly when he was sworn-in this past December), has filed a lawsuit against fellow former school board candidate Richard Moore and Moore's wife Debbie in retaliation for the Moores trying to hold Price accountable for his stealing campaign signs on the night before last November's election.

Here's the story that's being reported in today's Reidsville Review.

In filing this suit, Ron Price is grievously breaking the law - and subsequently is violating the oath he took when he was sworn-in to serve on the Board of Education - by attempting to "punish" others for practicing their rights under the Constitution.

And good money sez that The Knight Shift blog and Yours Truly will be getting hit soon too, as the supposedly "Christian" Price lashes out against those on his "enemies list".

If you've been reading this blog for awhile now, you know the details. Here's the first post about it along with my open letter calling for Price to step aside, on the grounds that he was no longer morally fit to serve on the school board. If you look through the archives from November 2006 through today you'll find several items relating to what Price calls as "the sign incident" (unlike Ron Price, I haven't "scrubbed" anything about this from my blog). You'll also see that I couldn't help but openly mock Price and his insistence on being on the board ("The Rockingham County Star Chamber" and the "But Mommy..." graphic most come to mind).

Price's lawsuit against Moore mentions "several other Defendants to be named at a later date". Because of that and in realizing that I did wind up having a somewhat prominent role in taking Price to task in public for his stealing ways, I'm more than expecting to be next to get slapped with a lawsuit...

...because after reading through the suit that Price has filed against the Moores, I wouldn't put anything past Ron Price (Richard Moore currently has all 8 pages of the lawsuit up on his site for public viewing). Among other things Price is suing Richard Moore for wearing a t-shirt to a school board meeting, for having criminal charges filed against Price (even though Ron Price admitted on live televison on the night of the election that he had stolen the signs), and for assisting with the petition drive - that was signed by I don't know how many Rockingham County citizens but it was several hundred at the very least - to have the State Board of Education look into Price's suitability to serve on the board.

If there weren't grounds enough to petition for Price's removal from the Rockingham County Board of Education, there sure are now. Ron Price is now openly attempting to deprive others of their First Amendment rights: namely, the right to free speech and the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances".

Now, what kind of example of citizenship does Ron Price possibly think he is setting for the children of Rockingham County by acting as if the Constitution is not much more than a mere piece of paper?

How does "conservative Christian" Ron Price reconcile this lawsuit - which in the past few days several people have told me is "silly" and "the most bizarre thing I've ever read" - with 1st Corinthians chapter 6? If we as believers are instructed not to sue each other, how much more are we not to file frivolous suits against anyone else? We are supposed to be establishing a good witness for Christ with all of our actions. Throughout this entire matter, from the moment he chose to steal the signs, Ron Price has acted as anything but a Christian... and much less a "conservative" one.

What I would especially like to know is this: every day, school teachers throughout the country have to put up with a lot worse in their own classrooms than anything that Price has "suffered". How dare Ron Price expect us to have any more sympathy for him when those teachers have done nothing wrong and Price has done nothing right throughout this situation?

If Ron Price can't take the heat, he shouldn't have run for the seat in the first place. Price definitely shouldn't have broken the law - of God if not of man - by taking what was not his.

There's more that I could say about this... and there is likely going to be a lot more that I will be saying... but for sake of brevity and because I lack the time this morning, I'm going to hold off on those thoughts for the time being. I've little doubt that a deputy sheriff will be arriving at my doorstep in the near future with my own lawsuit, and when that happens I'll scan and post the pages of that for your mirth and merriment.

In the meantime, I have this message to Ron Price. Ron, if you are reading this, I have but one thing to say to you, in addition to how much more I and many others are laughing at you for this latest stunt...

To quote the great philosopher Thanos: "Come and get me!"

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New product: The "Shoot Them Both" Anti-Republican/Democrat t-shirt

Want to show the world how honked-off you are at both the major political parties? Have we got the shirt for you!

The "Shoot Them Both" Anti-Republican/Democrat t-shirt! Let everyone know that you don't fall for the two-party fraud. Make a bold statement about your independent streak! Let's face it: we all know the system is headed toward collapse because of the criminal conspiracy that is "bipartisan politics". Show everyone that you're ahead of the curve by wearing this shirt (and even if you don't wear this shirt, show it to everyone anyway, however you can).

$14.99 through CafePress, click here to order.

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AMC is running PSYCHO II right now

Funny story about that movie...

It was like early 1987 or so and one day at the video store my sister and I rented Psycho II (actually we got Mom to rent it and she said the original Psycho was a good movie but they didn't have that one). So Anita and I popped it in the VCR and watched it. Even without seeing the original, I was able to understand Psycho II pretty well.

So the movie ends and Anita and I are getting up from the floor and walking down the hallway and just as she's passing by the bathroom I point and scream out "BLOOD'S COMING OUT OF THE TOILET!!"

My sister screamed like you wouldn't believe. To this day, I don't think she's ever forgiven me for how bad I scared her like that.

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It was late and I was hungry ...

Working late on a few things, and I had to go out for a bit. This was like at midnight. And I was feeling both that I needed a good nighttime drive, and that I was feeling hungry. How many places for good food are open at this time of night though?

So 20 minutes out from home, just before 1 a.m., I stopped by Sandy's Subs and Italian Grill at Elon. This was a place I loved to eat at when I was a student at Elon. Well, Thursday through Saturday nights they're open 'til 4 a.m. I got a foot-long ham and cheese and brought it back home. And it was dee-licious!

Sandy's Subs is on Haggard Avenue not far from campus (if you're on Williamson Avenue coming through from the direction of I-40, turn left and it's just a short distance on the left, near the Domino's Pizza). Well worth checking out if you're ever in the area.

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Making martial law easier

You know what? At this point, I'm starting to just not care anymore. America seems so hell-bent on its own destruction that nothing your or I can do would do anything to stem it. I don't even know if anyone can make the case that this country is worth defending anymore, because what is there to defend? So much has been taken away already.

The American Conservative has a sobering article about how much easier it has become for President Bush... or any ensuing president... to declare martial law. And how it seems that our elected officials are completely indifferent to it. And the likelihood of this new power to be abused.

And it will be abused, no doubt about it. Politicians can not resist using power, if they know that they can get away with it. And there is really nothing left to stop them from doing it (Fred Reed writes about this better than I can).

It's funny: President Bush has done things to the Constitution that, if Clinton had done this 8 or 9 years ago, the "conservative Republicans" would be ready to storm Washington with torches and pitchforks. But these same people turn a blind eye to Bush or anyone else claiming to be a "good Christian" (see Chuck Baldwin's new article for an especially good read about that).

Some people cheer for "our President" getting this new power now. How joyful will they be when the next president, or the one after that, uses the powers they gave this current one to come after them. And it will happen. It is the nature of the beast that is unregenerate human nature.

This is why I have come to believe that widespread gun ownership is vital for the survival of liberty in this country. It's so you will be able to kill them when they follow their orders and come for you.

Call me a kook if you like, but I just know from history how these things tend to wind up...

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Three words

Falwell v. Flynt.

To whom it may concern:

Bring it on.

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Latest LOST theory (about the lists)

Okay so we've heard that of the castaways that the Others took at the end of last season, that Jack "wasn't even on Jacob's list". That means that Kate and Sawyer were on the list, with Hurley only there to be sent back to the castaways' camp to tell them not to come looking for their friends.

Then last night we find out that Sun conceived on the island, with Jin, and it was because the island gives men five times the sperm count than they would have anywhere else, so Jin's impotence was cured (chalk it up to another healing miracle that the island did).

Did Ben have Kate and Sawyer taken and put in the circumstances of their imprisonment, for the sole purpose of having them come together sexually, as another experiment by the Others? Juliet did say something in her report to Ben about how she was going to attempt taking a sample from Kate soon... so is Kate pregnant now?

Are "the lists" made up of those the Others think are genetically ideal for something?

It sort of makes sense. I've been trying to figure out why Kate and Sawyer would be on "Jacob's list" but not Jack, and what those two would have in common, and that's the only thing that really comes to mind.

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I've only got one thing to say at the moment

It's too dark in here.

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Live blogging about tonight's LOST

10:17 PM EST: In this first act we have learned two things. One is that some people die on this island. The other is that some people don't stay dead on this island.

10:26 PM EST: Jin knows kung-fu. So far, good episode.

10:40 PM EST: Well, now we know where all that stuff went to when the ladies visited The Staff, right?

10:51 PM EST: This last act epitomizes everything that makes Lost the best show on television right now, and perhaps one of the best ever. So much mixture of joy and grief in just the last two minutes of it... wow.

It was enough to make me momentarily forget about the "five times" thing: holy crap!!

11:01 PM EST: The whole episode, especially the last five minutes, is best summed up by the very last thing said in the episode, by Hurley:

"What?"

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Something screwy going on...

Seems to be some gremlins in Blogger's works tonight. This is more or less a test post. Gonna see if it works and hope they'll fix it soon.

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The Rebellion Begins: New U.S. ORDER OF THE PHOENIX trailer

Hot on the heels of comes the domestic trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix... in awesome Quicktime!

See that pic up there? That's from the scene that the Potter fans have been slobbering to see the most in this film: the scene where Fred and George basically tell Umbridge that she can shove her damned rules straight up her ass, before unleashing indescribable mayhem as they flee Hogwarts.

Two things I hope we have learned from the Harry Potter books. Number One: Do not fear death (a lesson I think the books have done beautifully). Number Two: Government f**ks everything up so bad that you... yes you... have to do it yourself. From the looks of this trailer, the Order of the Phoenix movie might do a handsome job of making that point loud and clear for everyone watching it.

And gotta love the tagline: "The rebellion begins".

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Rumor: BioWare making a NEW Star Wars MMORPG...

...and it might be set 4,000 years before the time of the movies.

Here's the story at TheForce.net and it's breaking out in quite a few other outlets right now too. The full scoop is that, allegedly, BioWare is creating a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG for short) based upon Knights of the Old Republic, their 2003 smash hit which is widely hailed as the best Star Wars game of the past several years. Knights of the Old Republic broke away from the traditional "Rebels versus Empire" motif of just about every previous Star Wars game and went into bold new territory: a time four millennia before the rise of Emperor Palpatine.

I loved Knights of the Old Republic (it equals TIE Fighter as my all-time favorite Star Wars game). It's an extremely beautiful and well-crafted game. And it's setting in Star Wars history is lush with untapped potential.

I hope BioWare is really doing this. Heck, I hope BioWare is making any Star Wars MMORPG. The already-existing one, Star Wars Galaxies, has devolved into a glorious mess because of incompetence on Sony Online Entertainment's part. Star Wars deserves better than that. Maybe BioWare will be the company that finally does this right.

How's that for a story, ya meatbags?

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Is it really good news when the Dow breaks 13,000?

Once upon a time, this may have been news of interest to the average American. Today, I doubt there are very many barber shops across the country that this is going to come up in as a topic of discussion.

If America still had the manufacturing infrastructure that it possessed 20 or 30 years ago, I could see this as cause for celebration. But as I'm seeing a lot more layoffs and plant closings (usually to relocate overseas where the employment is cheaper) I have to wonder how much of this "profit" is coming at a cost to the middle class. Curious, that it seems there is a correlation between the number of workers who lose their jobs in this country to how their respective former companies seem to only gain financially.

A robust economy cannot be long sustained when its foundation is primarily service industry.

Among the things that are ruining the United States economically are rising debt brought on by easy credit, and the delusion that we can have employment that is both good and cheap. That last one has driven too many companies to either relocate their manufacturing overseas, or to hire illegals at lower wages.

Eventually, the lust for more material goods and the lack of a strong domestic (and legal) workforce are going to collide. And it won't be pretty when they do... even if the Dow were to reach fifteen or twenty thousand along the way.

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LOST tonight promises to continue the streak

I'm hearing extremely good word about Lost tonight. This week's episode, titled "D.O.C." (for "date of conception") looks to be dealing with two big things. First, the woman parachutist who fell from the sky in last week's show and was found by Desmond, Charlie, Jin and Hurley (she seems to have been looking for Desmond because she had the photo of him and Penny among her effects). Second, this is going to be a "Sun and Jin"-centric episode and it's fairly well known that the thing about Jin's pregnancy - and how no pregnant woman lives long enough to come to term on this island - is going to be the driving plot of tonight's show. But what's really got me stoked is that, apparently, tonight's episode sees the return of Mikhail a.k.a. "Patchy" (played by Andrew Divoff) who didn't die when Locke through him through the fence after all.

Speaking of Lost, I've heard some weird rumors in the past few days about Jacob and who will be playing him when we finally get to see him. This past weekend the story was that Ron Perlman would be Jacob, but the producers shot that one down (though it looks like Perlman might have some kind of role on Lost yet). Then on Monday I heard that Angus Scrimm (the "Tall Man" from the Phantasm movies) is going to be Jacob. Me? I've thought for awhile that when we finally meet Jacob that it'll be Peter Coyote playing him, since Coyote does the narration of all the Lost "retrospective" shows. But I gotta say: Angus Scrimm as Jacob would be pretty wicked cool.

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Astronomers discover the planet Krypton!

The first extra-solar Earth-like planet - complete with warm temperatures and liquid water on the surface - has been discovered by astronomers.

It orbits a red star and is 12,000 miles in diameter as opposed to Earth's 8,000 miles... meaning that it has heavier gravity than Earth.

Just like the planet Krypton!

In other news, scientists have discovered kryptonite deep inside a Serbian mine.

This has all put me in the mood to watch Superman Returns later tonight.

Seriously though, the planet is about 20 light years away... which is just around the corner so far as cosmic distances go (though getting there is a little problematic). Maybe Project Daedalus can be brought out of mothballs and sent off to investigate.

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The international trailer for HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

The movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is supposed to be the shortest of the film adaptations to date. You wouldn't believe that after watching this trailer, because it looks like the most epic by far of the series...

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Politicians exploiting Virginia Tech in the name of mental illness

"President Bush says he has directed federal officials to conduct a national inquiry into how to prevent violence by dangerously unstable people."

He can start with those who want the war in Iraq because as Einstein put it: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

For me, the red flags started going up yesterday when Senator Charles Schumer from New York said that he wanted mental health workers to report to the federal government on who is "mentally ill" for the express purpose of the feds denying them the right to own a gun.

For one thing, this is a knee-jerk reaction. For another, the existing gun laws are adequate already... maybe too adequate. For yet another, no matter how much law gets passed, eventually someone is going to break it and cause something like the incident at Virginia Tech to happen. Sorry to say this, but there can be no guarantees in life and you certainly can't expect... and shouldn't even want... the government to try to protect you from everything.

But most of all: should we really want politicians to be the ones defining what "mental illness" is? Seung-Hui Cho certainly had problems that should have discouraged him from having ready access to firearms. But I've come to know many people who although they have to take anti-depressants and other medication to function day to day, they are as healthy and fit as you or me (okay, I'll admit that some have questioned my own soundness especially after my first school board campaign commercial, but I digress...). A lot of these people show much more sense and compassion than many who have never had to take medications for depression and other conditions. Are they going to be denied a permit to have a gun for self-defense because just on the basis of being prescribed these drugs, the government declares them "mentally unfit"?

And if so, then where will it stop? Where can it stop? Because if government has the power to deny a basic right because it has the authority to declare someone a "mental invalid", then there is nothing to keep it from defining that condition in any way that it sees fit. Would political dissent be grounds for branding someone mentally unstable? Hell, there are apparent cases where dissenters have been denied the right to travel in this country: why wouldn't the federal government stop there and insist that they not be allowed the means of self-defense, either, because it declares these people's "behavior" to be symptomatic of mental illness?

What Bush and Schumer and too many other politicians are suggesting in the wake of the Virginia Tech slayings, is a potential start on the road to the gulags. Remember how back in the day in America we heard about how dissidents were declared "mentally ill" and sent off to Siberia for "treatment" for the next forty years? Apart from physical relocation (for now), how was that different from what a lot of politicians here are wanting?

Think that federal government wouldn't ever practice such gross abuse? Remember: President Bush wants mandatory mental health screening of every schoolchild in America... to say nothing of his wanting to medicate them against the wishes of the children's parents and physicians. This was apparently being promoted at the behest of the pharmaceutical industry: the same industry that talked Governor Rick Perry into mandating an uncertain cancer vaccine on every girl in Texas. That came soon after after the vaccine's manufacturer Merck gave Perry a substantial political contribution. If they can sell out principles for money, they can sell them out for power, too.

It's like this: if the government can declare huge portions of the population "mentally unfit" to own firearms, then there is nothing preventing the government from defining "mental illness" in whatever way it believes necessary. Anyone and everyone can be deemed mentally "unsound" for the most ridiculous of reasons. Inevitably, a person will have to produce official documentation showing that he or she is sane, instead of it being determined that they are unhealthy based on prior behavior. So it will be that only the "super sane" will be authorized to own firearms by the government. Anyone want to take a guess at how many of those there will be?

Well, it won't be very many. And they will be far too few in numbers to be an adequate bulwark against the government deciding that it needs even more power.

Tell me again how this doesn't sound like we're headed to Siberia, comrade.

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