Where's my sledge?

I don't know whether Casey Anthony killed her baby or not, but from more than a thousand miles away, I am inclined to give the jury the benefit of whatever doubt exists. (I think I read in Blackstone that I'm supposed to.)

As to the teevee personages, I find them guilty, en masse, of felonious overuse of the terms "stun," stunned" and "stunning" and sentence them to a non-methaphorical stunning.  
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Independence Day, 1776 and 2011

John Adams wants you to have a good time tomorrow. To Abbie he wrote:

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.


See? You have a Founder's permission to go to the range.


Never mind his "second day."  It's just part of history's ambiguity which keeps otherwise unemployable academics off the streets, harmlessly picking nits.
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Cows ain't born in Saran Wrap, y'know

Getting ready to  grill up that cow part for your Independence Day observance? You might be interested in a report from the range on what it takes to get the critter  from the wide open spaces to  your Weber. It's a Hell of a story. Survival of both horse and man was in doubt.

Jiinglebob has it.

Minnesota, Mon Amour

Minnesota is now a government-free zone, but the policy is not zero-tolerance. The cops are working doing cop things and the prison guards  are guarding.

So far the horror seems pretty much limited to horse racing, "camping," and folks who have to pee along the Interstates.

The taxpayer-financed highway crappers are padlocked, so motorists should carry 16-ounce cups. With lids, per preference.

The conservation cops herded all the campers out of the state parks. This confuses me. I have always looked on camping as a supremely government-independent activity. But, then, I have no experience with the wilderness experience built around the travel trailer, flush toilets nestled in the pines,  electrical meters, and cable  teevee plug-ins.

The Star-Tribune, Minnesota's second most important newspaper (after the St.Cloud Times), decided the interruption of horse racing in Shakopee rated gallons of ink. Maybe they're right. What the Hell else is there to do in Shakopee when the Renaissance Faire isn't in session?

Oh, and road construction is suspended, too, shovels locked up,  leaving thousands of  union road workers with nothing to lean on.

The only remaining question as far as I can see is whether Mrs. Governor Dayton is scrubbing her own commodes in the governor's mansion.

All in all, a tragedy.