Made In America?

Now the list of imports seems to have grown. Instead of our laws made in the US, could they beMade in Jamaica?. I'm opposed to the death penality in most cases. I can make exceptions for perpetrators of particularly heinous crimes like the DC Sniper, child molesters, mass murderers and treason. I may even agree with the ruling in Roper v Simmons, however, the law used by the Courts must be US law, the US Constitution. I'm editing this a bit. After presuming that the esteemed justices took an oath to defend the constitution, I looked up their oath. Apparently they don't swear to abide by the very constitution that placed them in office:

"I, [NAME], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as [TITLE] under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.''

So, none of them swore to look at US Law. We can be adjudicated by the law of Ghana if it suits the judges.

Political Correctness Run Amok

Interesting to read Tongue Tied from time to time just to see how far we are moving into the tyranny of political correctness. At a time when we hear constantly about freedom of speech, some of actually seem to be going the other way in the name of diversity, multiculturalism and freedom. I'm not offended by religious holidays for religions that are not mine. I accept and respect the holidays and the rights of those who choose to believe, to celebrate them. I fail to understand the tyranny of the secular, anti-christian element. Deciding to make Easter a non-secular holiday and dropping all references to "Easter" in the name of multiculturalism is a direct assault of freedom of speech and worship (or not to worship). The very laughable accusations of racism in a community development film because it had white developers and black community leaders is a sign of low intelligence. At least the NAACP Chapter found it OK. I am absolutely amazed by the total intolerance by those who are preaching tolerance.

The Claremont Institute: What Happened to "We the People"?

The Claremont Institute: What Happened to "We the People"? says it all. US judges decide cases on US law, not international law, un-signed treaties, and their own proclivities. If you want to adjudicate based on international law, try the World Court.

Still the Best time of the Year for Sports

The NCAA did something that usually takes a governor and and act of Congress to effect. They scheduled UNC-Charlotte and NC State in the opening round. The big schools usually don't want to schedule in-state smaller schools because, as UNC-C did in 2000, the big school (NCSU) might get a whipping. Bad for recruiting to give the little guys exposure, and heaven forebid, a win. Figured UNC-C would bring on the AA game. The first 10 minutes looked that way. Great game and now we get to see if UConn is as sluggish as they looked in the first game.

Great basketball win or lose, so far.

Life and Death Decisions

I've paid very little attention to the Terry Shaivo happenings. Such decisions are best left up to the person and the family. However, the histrionics by the Senate and media really makes me wonder. Thirty years ago my father made me promise several times that I wouldn't allow "them" to use any special life support. He was dying from cancer and the pain was unbearable. We didn't insist that the hospital take any extroadinary measures. We just made sure that the pain medication was adequate. Recently, my mother underwent surgery for cancer. She wanted the same promise: if anything bad happens, no extroadinary efforts to keep her alive. At 85, the decision should be hers. The Shaivo affair is not quite as cut-and-dried. But with the reaction to this, would I have been able to keep the word my mother made me give? Would the Congress interfere with that, very personal, decision made by my mother?

Portent of things to Come?

Back in the dark ages when the Alaskan North Slope was opened, the cry was that we would destroy the area. But according to the DOI Central Caribou Herd Grows to Record Numbers on Alaska's North Slope. We are now hearing that opening ANWAR will do the same. Wonder if the prognosticators will be as right this time?

NY Post-Buying Reform

New York Post Online Edition: postopinion gives a rather fascinating account of the way we ended up with campaign finance reform. No matter which side of the last election you were on, the reform seems to have created more annoyance and problems than it solved.

Not only did the result mean the hideous ads from 521's, it also means that if I "buy" my favorite candidate by giving $1 more than the limit, we got problems. This is the small frye. The big fish found ways and ways and ways around the law. I can't use my political "speech" to support my favorite candidate above $2000, but George Soros can spend millions of his pocket change to support his favorite? Hmm..

The Causes and Prevention of Cancer

The Causes and Prevention of Cancer A good thing to remember when you hear about all the evil chemicals.

Academic Freedom Again

Don't Worry Your Pretty Little Head - The pseudo-feminist show trial of Larry Summers. By William�Saletan has resulted in a faculty vote of "no confidence." This will probably result in Summers' resignation. His sin? Speaking his mind at a conference. In the name of academic freedom, they jumped on him for daring to hypothesize (with facts, no less) on why there are fewer women in high academic science and engineering postions than men. The response from these highly educated, trained researchers was an all-out attack. Summers wasn't attacked by presentation of facts that disputed his claims, it was just personal. His discussion was also in terms of recognizing a "problem" and finding "solutions." These highly educated, trained research folks simply turned on him like a pack of dogs for saying something unpopular and contrary to their prevaling wishes.

Compare and contrast the Summers saga with that of Ward Churchill. Mr. Churchill gets emphatic defense from academe. Guess academic freedom means the freedom not to stray an inch from the left's social agenda.

Not Sure I Understand

The New York Times > Washington > U.S. Military Says 26 Inmate Deaths May Be Homicide covers an announcement by DOD concerning investigations closed and recommended for trial or pending. Being the NYT Abu Ghraib is mentioned three times. The article has standard quotes from Human Rights groups deploring systematic American human rights abuses. Makes one wonder if the Times is looking for another award for "uncovering" a story announced by DOD. This was the case with the Abu Ghraib mess. The Times had award-winning reports (constantly) that uncovered something the military had announced months before. Any deaths or abuse should be thoroughly investigated, as they appear to be. Commanders at all levels should be held accountable for putting command emphasis on prisoner treatment to ensure it doesn't happen. But it does seem that the military is doing the right thing by investigating all instances and preferring charges where appropriate. Doesn't look like any coverup of systematic abuse to me. If it was, I wouldn't be writing this.

Semper Fi

Marines snub UAW olive branch - 03/15/05

I've nothing against the UAW and have looked hard at American cars when I was in the market. However, the UAW went overboard on this one. The leadership allowed politics (not even reflecting that of a good part of their membership) outweigh common sense in this one. According to the article, after a rash of criticism, the UAW backed down. But I really like the Marines' response "You either support us or you don't" and then find another place to park. Imagine letting your short-sighted political beliefs cause you to take it out on a group of folks who have, or probably will, spend some time in Iraq or Afghanistan. Worse yet, if a goodly number of them have done that.

Overblown as an issue of who the UAW allows to use their property. It is their right to decide who and what to allow on it. However, the blatant political stance does them no good at all.

Well done, Marines, for sticking to your guns. Instead of the Dakota I was looking at, the next one may well say "Toyota," "Nissan," or "Honda" on the back.

Microsoft Strikes Again

Tonight was a family affair in computer learning. My daughter spent hours Sunday transcribing 3x5 card notes into an outline for an English paper. She used the iMACs graciously provided by Henrico County. Problem with the iMACs is that the county schools do not allow addition of printer drivers for printers one might have at home. Printing is accomplished by copying the text into an email, sending the email and copying the text into a word processor on a Windows-based machine. This time, Word wouldn't allow selective indents in an outline format. You couln't even copy text and paste it into Word Perfect. It turned into a family (me, wife, daughter) trying all kinds reformatting to get it to work. Just before retyping the thing we found a solution: MS word saved as ASCII DOS, open in Word Perfect, selectively indent each line (not quite as long as retyping).

I switched to Word because everyone else had. I've cussed every version because it does what it wants today no matter what you tell it to do. Hours are spent doing useless work on formats or just fixing problems. If it weren't for sending stuff to others and the need of doing it in Word, I would have never left Word Perfect. (Still keep it around for real work).

Microsoft isn't bashful when it comes to charging a bundle for its products. It looks like with that cost they could add a little value for folks who want to do more than write a memo and do it easily.

Double cannister and double grape to the coders of Word. Here's hoping they have to use their product for years of non-productive no fixes.

Electric Cars

NPR had an interesting "green" piece on the demise of the last of GM's EV1 electric cars. According to the piece, folks who worked on the project and were electric car fanatics weren't allowed on the lot as the last fifty cars were being packed up to be crushed. Lots of heart-wrenching stuff about how they don't pollute and how popular they are and how wonderful for the environment. The piece ended with the last car into the gate was (gasp) a HUMMER.

GM (according to NPR) spent a billion developing the cars. The cars have 2000(?) unique parts. The cars went about 140 miles on a charge. If kept on the road, GM would be responsible for keeping up a supply of spare parts for 50 of these cars. Seven makers jumped onto the electric car bandwagon and all have jumped off.

Electric cars may reduce pollution from automobiles, but, for me, the jury is out on whether there is an overall pollution reduction. The electriciy has to be made somewhere, using fuels that would otherwise go to the cars. We've heard a great deal lately about how ghastly bad the power plants are. Hybrids seem to be better for those who want to reduce cost of fuel and save the planet. The electric car didn't fail because of some diabolical scheme by GM, Ford and the others. It failed because of the inconvenience, expense and the plain fact that people just didn't want them. I'm willing to bet a bunch that if there was a real demand for the beasts, GM and the others would be making them. It's ECON 101.

The Malaria Clock -- A Geen Legacy Of Death

The Malaria Clock -- A Geen Legacy Of Death. Again from Junkscience.com. Ban DDT? Why not, the ban has resulted in millions of deaths.

The cost of no Results

JunkScience.com -- Kyoto Count Up! Check in on Junkscience.com's Kyoto clock. Another case of a real need to save the planet from the enviro-elitists.

Saving the Planet?

Application of the Wetlands Law is at best confusing. At worst, it is a nightmare for anyone trying to live and use "logic" to comply. As can be seen in the article, your ability to comply is based on how the Corps of Engineers elects to apply the rule, who in the Corps looks at it, when they look at it and which office looks at it. Application of the "interstate molecule" ruling is not only outrageously rediculous but can make criminals of us all. After all, my backyard has a thin layer of topsoil over clay. Except during the drought of a couple of years ago, it is wet and sloppy most of the year. It drains to the storm drain. Should I be worried about may actions in this "wetland?" The only positive part is I can tell my wife that fixing the problem (a couple of loads of topsoil) would violate environmental laws.

We need saving from the environmental zealots more than the environment needs saving from some farmer who is 64 miles from the nearest navigible water.

A bit more of the grape to the Corps of Engineers.

How to Keep a Story in the Headlines

Sgrena's Demand for answers from the Italian government makes one wonder. No one was notified that this "journalist" was being "released." The car didn't stop at a checkpoint.

Go outside during the day and then during the night. Look at oncoming cars and see how many faces you can clearly identify as they come toward you. Now, put yourself into the position of troops at a roadblock on a road known for IED's and suicide drivers with orders to fire on any vehicle that tries to run the roadblock.

The answers that should be demanded are why she thought she was above simply stopping at the checkpoint.

The Precautionary Principle and Chemophobia

The Great Experiment is a cute article on perfluorooctane sulfate (PFOS) and perfluorooctane acetate (PFOA), flame retardents that show up in blood samples almost everywhere. Although there is no proof that these do any harm, the author of this scary, chemophobic piece woud like us to believe that we should be worried about these. According to this article, there is no scientific evidence, even among workers who make these chemicals, that there is any recognized harm. This terrify-you piece is based on the precautionary principle which says you must prove zero harm, which is impossible so we can ban the chemicals we decide we don't like. Which is worse: the chemical that no one has proof of any harm or the deaths, disfigurement and suffer that would be caused by the removal of the flame retardants from use?

UAW vs. USMC

According to the Detroit News (found on Michelle Malkin) the UAW didn't want Marine Reservists parking in their parking lot, next door to the reserve center, if they drove foreign cars or had pro-Bush stickers on them. The active component commander decided that no Marines would park there, even after the President of the UAW (a former Marine) reversed the decision. I'm glad the Marines stick to their guns.

The UAW wants to play politics with a group of volunteers who have, or probably soon will be in the Iraq combat zone. The leftists running that particular segment of the UAW mistakenly want to make some political point with a group of folks who, at best, give up time with their families, get a lot of heat on the job for being "military" and, at worst, get to vacation for a year in Iraq. I know some UAW folks and they are not like the leadership. Maybe it's about time they look for leadership that respects the values of the membership.

The bit about "foreign cars" is a political point made by those who believe that the public can't read the stickers on their cars. My Chevy Impala (the quintessential American car) is a foreign car. It's made in Canada. The Toyota Camry was made in the US. My Isuzu was made in Indiana. So, tell me what makes a car foreign.

Double cannister to the UAW. Semper Fi, Marines.

Richmond Potholes

According to the WRVA afternoon talk show, the Richmond City Council will propose a policy of fixing potholes within 48 hours of notice that one exists. A caller said that it couldn't be done because of available manpower and other work the crews have to do. I have no real good idea of how long it takes to patch a pothole. However, it would seem that 48 hours is awfully ambitious given that you have to schedule the work, ensure that materials are available and actually fix the darned things. The illustrious host of afternoon talk went off with great sarcasm about the callers response. For a simpleton like me, it would seem that the City would be better off setting a realistic goal, ensuring that resources are committed and then trying to improve on their performance rather than setting an unrealistic goal. A bit more of the grape to the City Council for announcing an impossible goal and a charge of double cannister followed by a bit more of the grape to our talk show host who can't seem to walk through a simple process.