evolution

Couple arrested after performing fatal liposuction in basement?

FRAMINGHAM, Massachusetts (AP) — A couple who authorities say performed liposuction in the basement of a home has been charged with practicing medicine without a license after the female patient died.

Luiz Carlos Ribeiro, 49, a native of Brazil, and his wife, Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro, also 49, were arraigned in district court on Monday following the death of a 24-year-old woman Sunday.

The Ribeiros pleaded not guilty. Ribeiro was ordered held on $250,000 cash bail. His wife was held on $50,000 cash bail. Both were ordered to surrender their passports.

Is there some kind of underground economy in black-market liposuction these days?

Tomorrow’s primary day, and as usual around here, I’ll be synthesizing media reports for your viewing pleasure (or your viewing frustration, depending on how it goes).

The primarirs of broadest interest are of course the Board of Education primaries, which Kansas SecState Ron Thornburgh (who is himself in the Republican primary for his job against freakish State Sen. Kay O’Connor) says most people don’t plan to show up for.

UPDATE: Here’s the new SurveyUSA poll by KWCH-TV of Wichita. We talked about its two earlier versions here and here. Tracking are holding steady, which is not encouraging: 71% support teaching of “alternatives” to evolution. I didn’t even bother going over the breakdowns by race, age, etc.

UPDATE’s TWIN BROTHER: Whatever happens tomorrow, at least Kansas doesn’t have this thing in its borders.

Hello again folks, and welcome to RINO Sightings, the collected thoughts of the Raging RINO blogging community. RINO, of course, stands not for its usual meaning (Republicans In Name Only) but for Republicans and Independents Not Overdosed (on party Kool-aid). We’re conservatives, libertarians (and some liberals) who are sick of politics as usual and are advocating for something new.

Politics isn’t all I’m sick of. I had a hard time coming up with a clever title for this post, and so I sat down to read the posts that comprise it — these, together with the constant news reports, leave one without a lot of things to be happy about. These are dark days indeed, for everyone.

The Commissar asks: Is it time to bail out of Iraq? With sectarian violence prevalent and growing there, it’s perhaps time to consider it. He offers some suggestions on how to salvage some chance of peace there.

The situation involving Israel, Lebanon, and Hezbollah continues to dominate the headlines — and spawn hordes of idiotic commentary. Mark Coffey pounces on one such example. As far as I can see, there’s only two outcomes for Israel — restrained by themselves and the “international community” (what a joke that is) and look weak to their enemies, or go all-out after Hezbollah and be condemned daily in the media or accused (falsely) of genocide.

Dan Melson of Searchlight Crusade takes a look at the Middle East as well, wondering what good will come out of an action that doesn’t eradicate Hezbollah. The answer, of course, is that there will be little or none. Even if Israel had the will to follow through and attempt to drive out Hezbollah, the Israelis would be buried under the weight of the resolutions that would be rushed to the UN (the tinpot dictator’s friend).

Ah, yes, another third rail of American politics — illegal immigration. Digger watched Morgan Spurlock’s latest agitprop-umentary so you don’t have to.

Still another one: stem-cell research. Barry Campbell of enrevanche penned a letter to the President (this is the second of two) demanding an explanation of his veto of the stem-cell bill. I want one too, and I want him to answer this: Why did he veto that, and yet allow every free-spending, pork-laden piece of crap that crossed his desk before that to become law?

Don’t forget gas prices: Jane Novak, implacable foe of the forces of oppression in Yemen, takes note of some disturbing reports concerning gas prices — and the fact that French-based Total seems to be selling itself gas for far less than those prices. Prediction: Total will make money no matter what happens.

And now gay marriage: A two-pack on this one, with a guest appearance — aTypical Joe arguing for, Kansas Guild of Bloggers founder Lyn Perry arguing against. Careful: they’ve hosted each other’s responses, so Joe’s article is at Lyn’s blog, and Lyn’s response is at Joe’s. I understand this won’t be the last of it, and it’s a rare sight in this medium when such discussions remain civil, but this one has. My position is that it’s a legal contract between two consenting adults and therefore should not be interfered in by government, but as we’ll see next, that hasn’t stopped them.

Lately I’ve had my dander up over issues of personal responsibility and the government subversion thereof, and I mentioned the various organs of the Kansas City metropolitan area considering pit bull bans. Eric Scheie of Classical Values, proud pit bull owner, took that ball and ran with it. That’s government logic for you: dogs kept in squalid conditions by people and mistreated by people go and menace people — must be the breed.

Cody Herche of Legal Redux asks in the light of the Floyd Landis doping allegations: Is cycling dead? Several of the most widely-known riders were kicked out before the race even started due to doping. French authorities tried to pin such things on Lance Armstrong for years. And now, the new champ is under a cloud. As Cody says, it’s possible cycling will make it — but I doubt it.

Sometimes you need to escape the madness, and at least one Raging RINO — “BloodSpite” of Techography — found it at work on St. Lucie. Hell of a way to make a living. He wrote me that he was “tired of politics just now”. You and me both.

Some people can’t even escape it through work. Veteran writer Don Surber sat through the West Virginia GOP convention and lived to tell the tale. I used to work at the Kansas State Capitol, and I had to sit through House committee proceedings where abortion was a frequent topic. After about the fifth time this was brought up by some moonbat/wingut (take your pick) I wanted to jam a flathead screwdriver into my own brain. Don’s skull appears to have emerged intact.

Following every dark day, however, is a sunrise: It’s almost primary day here in Kansas, which means that certain Creationist board members, having supported a movement that has now been discredited in every manner possible, will hopefully be tossed out on their asses. Pigilito found the IDers desperately pressing forward anyway. He found some of them doing word combinatorics on biology journals to attempt to show that various articles bolster their case. Pigilito did the reading; once again, we see IDers with all sizzle and no steak.

Finally, we’re going to give a link to Below the Beltway, whose hosting nightmare cost him his submission post for this week.

We’ll see you back here on 18 September.

UPDATE: The news doesn’t get much better when you check out this round-up of pictures, news, and opinion at DANEgerus.

The only way it could have been better is if they had brought it to my apartment.

And I don’t care if they are hippies. If it’s good, I’ll eat it.

Next time, I’m going to get the elk.

Which, if you’re a Kansan, you already know if you managed to get out of bed yesterday.

I was thinking earlier today at the grocery store about how strange it was — there are a lot of subtle things that I think could be improved in the Kansas school system to make it more efficient. But we’re not arguing about those subtle things. We’re arguing about who gets what money, how much to take from the citizens to give it to them, and who’s teaching what.

I reiterate my disgust at all three branches of our government as well as the Board of Education (which will hopefully be replacing some of its members very soon).

Remember, I am hosting next week’s RINO Sightings, the fifty-fifth edition. Submission information should be in your e-mail inbox. Alternatively, you can use my contact form.

I’ll keep the lines open until 10:00 tomorrow (Sunday) night.

That simple sentence should have been an Eleventh Amendment of the Bill of Rights. I had thought that the first ten Amendments had spelled that out quite clearly, but apparently it hasn’t:

Local resident, Keith Klassen says the flag is a slap in the face to the conservative community of Meade. “To me it’s just like running up a Nazi flag in a Jewish neighborhood. I can’t walk into that establishment with that flag flying because to me that’s saying that I support what the flag stands for and I don’t,” says Klassen.

Knight says it’s not meant to be a gay pride symbol but he doesn’t mind if that’s how it’s taken. “Any gay or lesbian people that do stop by will be treated with the best service I can give you,” says Knight.

But despite the local ridicule and loss of business, Knight is determined to stand his ground. “When this rainbow flag shreds, I will buy another one, and another one, and another one – just like my American flag, I’ll buy another one.”

Knight says his son gave him the flag after a trip to Dorothy’s house, a museum about the Wizard of Oz. The flag reminded the boy of “somewhere over the rainbow.”

I’m sick, sick, sick of this shit.

Who was it around here that was on the hobby horse of intentionalism and the meaning of words and symbols? Oh yeah — that was me. Sometimes a picture of an ice cream cone is just a picture of an ice cream cone, sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon, and sometimes a rainbow flag is just a rainbow flag.

In fact, I am more inclined to come down hard on those who would complain about this because in addition to the situations in those other two cases — in which symbols were displayed on items produced well within legal parameters and marketed to willing customers — the symbol was displayed on privately-owned property.

As for the clown comparing the rainbow to the Nazi standard, I’d imagine there are a lot of people of a certain age that, if they were still physically able, would punch this guy in the face. What’s a few million dead or starving Jews when there are GAY people running around! (Never mind that they’re not “running around” at this establishment.)

[inherited from: Dr. Paul.]