This is something I should have done a long time ago, but I finally heeded Ian’s suggestion that I should buy the A Nero Wolfe Mystery set.

They got delivered to my Dad’s house, so I picked them up this weekend. I was in the middle of Season 2.0 of Battlestar: Galactica, but I’d left those here at my apartment, so I decided I’d watch an episode or two of the Nero Wolfe thing while I was away… I’ve come home, taken Galactica out of the DVD player (okay, Xbox 360), and settled in for another episode of Nero Wolfe. I’m loving this, though I have to admit there’s a twinge of depression every time I switch disks, because there’s only a certain number of hours of video in this set, and it’s not like they’re making any more (and even if they were, there’d still be a limit, since Rex Stout is, sadly, dead and, therefore, not writing more Wolfe novels).

[Update: I definitely think I need to start dressing like Archie -- I like the hats, especially.]

First, Randy Cassingham from This is True lets us know that someone mentioned in one of his stories has written to complain.

I’ve been a long time subscriber to This is True, and I thoroughly enjoy it, but my favorite part is reading Randy’s responses to various idiots who’ve e-mailed him.

Second, William Stewart has a good article up about all of the good things that Robert C. Byrd has done for the state of West Virginia. I think it’s important that we all remember that Byrd and his party-mates have done a lot to make West Virginia the state that it is today, so I certainly recommend that you go read.

If anyone else is feeling as much in need of a good joke as I was this morning, Bill of INDCJournal has a good one from Drew Carey.

So, what now?

You know, I’ve read Save the Internet, and I’m finding it very, very difficult to believe that their predictions about the potential effects of the fact that the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 without the Net Neutrality Amendment attached. Even without having ever read any of the arguments against the amendment, I keep having Deja Vu every time I read anything on that site.

A while back, Florida passed a law that many called the “Shoot First” law. It essentially said that if you’re in a place that you had every right to be, and someone attacks you, you don’t have to wait until you have no other option — you may defend yourself without running away. Detractors of this law were adamant that it would turn Florida into a modern-day “Wild West”, where there were constant shoot-outs and the police would be powerless to stop them because of this law that said it was okay.

Now, maybe the Save The Internet people are right. Maybe this is a very bad thing… I’m just not seeing any real evidence for that stance that doesn’t remind me of the frantic “Wild West!” screaming that I heard from gun grabbers when Florida’s law was passed, and having not been convinced that government regulation is necessary in this case, I have to go with my gut, which, as always, says: “More freedom is good.”

I am open-minded on the issue, though, and if someone would like to try to educate me, they’re more than welcome to argue the point.

Evil is taking advantage of people’s weaknesses.

Like this and this. It’s like they KNOW they can force people to buy two new copies of a movie that many of them already own, and they’re milking it for all it’s worth.

Of course, people like me subsidize entertainment for pirates, so I hope you people appreciate it!