Letter to the Editor: Read the Bills Act

Published February 19, 2006
Appleton Post-Crescent

Mandatory bill reading would help in Capitol

To: The Editor,

Much has been written about the problems we have with our Congresscritters in Washington. The usual litany of complaints about low-down, two-faced politicians and lots of stuff about kowtowing to special interests, taking graft from big-time lobbyists (Jack Abramoff, anyone?) and hyper-political correctness.

What's missing is even a hint at a solution. But now there's a new approach advocated by www.downsizedc.org that just might work. It's called the "Read the Bills Act" (RTBA).

Under the provisions of the RTBA, every one of our elected representatives would be required to attend sessions where new bills are read to them in all of their mind-numbing entirety.

The point being, so few bills in Congress are actually read by our representatives and senators.

They get summaries from their staffs. There may be public hearings for some bills, but those are simply face time in front of the cameras for our Washington stars.

If the RTBA actually came to a vote, imagine the dilemma your congressman would face. He simply couldn't admit publicly that he doesn't know what he's voting on.

A "no" vote on the RTBA would be like saying, "I think it's unconscionable for me to be required to know what I'm voting on. That's why I've got all these interns, to read the bills for me!"

Now imagine what it would be like if the RTBA were passed. Enormous omnibus spending bills would be history. Who in his right mind would sit through the reading of 1,000-plus pages by even the most exciting reader?

And if we, the lowly voters, got wind of bills containing subsidies, price supports, earmarks and special-interest sweetheart clauses, it's a lot less likely that they'd be passed. Maybe then we would really no longer have "legislation without representation."

The greatest actor in the world...

...(except for Gary Johnston*) has written a thoughtful commentary on the tragic shooting accident involving Vice President Cheney:

Will they go to court? I would imagine if a guy with a few beers in him shoots you in the face on a hunting trip, how could you turn down that opportunity?

Some day I'd love to see an interview of Baldwin in which the interviewer starts out calling him "Mr. Baldwin." Baldwin says, "You can call me Alec," and the interviewer continues with, "Aw right, Arrec."

* The marionette star of Team America: World Police.

If you can't afford a Bugatti...

...then how about riding a rocket into space? Space Adventures, the only operating space travel agency, plans to build a space port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It will offer the most spectacular "rides" in the world: a jet plane-assisted rocket ride 60 miles above the surface of the earth:

The company said it had already received clearance from the UAE authorities to operate suborbital spaceflights in their air space.

"The close proximity to Dubai, one of the worlds leading luxury tourist destinations, makes (Ras Al-Khaimah) a choice location for spaceflight operations," said Space Adventures president and CEO, Eric Anderson.

"Suborbital flights will offer millions of people the opportunity to experience the greatest adventure available, space travel," Anderson said.

Currently the only operating space tourism agency, Space Adventures first made its name by sending US millionaire Dennis Tito into space in 2001.

Apparently the new space port is budgeted at $250 million. I wonder where the money's coming from? Space Adventures got $20 million from Greg Olson last year to spend eight days aboard the International Space Station; the only others have been just Tito and a South African man who have taken rides into space. The sub-orbital rides are going to cost $100,000 each. How are they going to make any money?

Don't get me wrong, I love the whole idea. It has a flavor of Robert Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold the Moon" to it. But a quarter of a billion dollars? Maybe they'll charge admission to watch the launches. But the rockets are going to be dropped from jet planes, so the "take off" won't be visible. And everybody's seen a jet plane take off.

A theme park, perhaps? T-shirts? Maybe they'll form a film company to make blockbuster science fiction movies. Beats me.

Consensus is not science

I have had occasion to remark that Jerry Pournelle says some very sensible things on anthropogenic global warming. Michael Crichton, too, has reasonable things to say. The same cannot be said, I'm afraid, for the editors of Scientific American.

In response to a letter written by the editor-in-chief of Scientific American, Pournelle has written one of the clearest expositions I've seen yet on why we should not begin immediately to enact the Kyoto protocol recommendations:

...assume that we put the money into reducing CO2 and it turns out the earth isn't warming; we will merely have wasted the money. But suppose it turns out that global warming is real, but it is caused by solar output. We will have spent a great deal of money, but not on ameliorating the effects of global warming: instead it will have been spent on crippling the economies that might generate the funds needed for a crash program to save lives as the Earth warms.

Tampering with the industrial sinews of the world will have real consequences. It may need to be done, but make no mistake, it will be costly. (Unless you believe that command economies are more efficient than markets; I presume that particular economic canard has been laid to rest?)

My new favorite car

Holy cow! 1,001 hp, 0-60 mph in 2.5 sec., 0-250 mph in under a minute, 250-0 mph in 10 seconds with no hands! At top speed the fuel tank will drain in 12 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4!

A funny juxtaposition, that's all

On the Drudge Report today was this interesting headline and this interesting picture of Mrs. Clinton.

Yes, it's puerile and beneath my normal standards. Stipulated.

Victim disarmament

Dr. Mary Ruwart, PhD, writes very clearly with a libertarian view of the issues. She wrote yesterday in the latest issue of 'Liberator Online' about how libertarians view gun control. She explained it in her typically lucid way like this:

Firearms, like fists, can be used for offense or defense. Libertarians would not advocate cutting off a person's access to firearms any more than they would advocate cutting off a person's hands to prevent a brawl.

Most people who advocate gun control do so because they believe it lowers the crime rate. In fact, just the opposite is true. Violent crime (rape, robbery, and homicide) decrease dramatically when states pass laws that permit peaceful citizens to carry concealed weapons. In Orlando, when the police publicized a program to train women in the use of firearms, crime dropped almost 90% without a single woman ever firing a shot! Criminals are looking for an easy mark and avoid "victims" who might be armed. Anyone who doubts this might wish to put a sign on their front lawn saying "This house is a gun-free zone" to experience the consequences firsthand.

Gun control is actually "victim disarmament." It exposes the weakest among us -- women, children, and the elderly -- to greater risk of attack. It denies us the ability to defend ourselves against those who would harm us. Since the courts have ruled that the police have no obligation to protect an individual citizen from attack, we have no legal recourse if they fail to do so. Acting in self-defense, armed citizens kill more criminals each year than police do, yet shoot only one-tenth as many innocent people by mistake. Clearly, armed citizens act as responsibly (if not more so) than trained law enforcers.

Libertarians believe that everyone has the right to self-defense. Our founders did too, which is why they passed the Second Amendment. Consequently, libertarians do not support the victim-disarmament laws collectively known as "gun control."

Why even mention it?

The famous shooting, that is. All I can see is that the news media nabobs are in a major snit about it and that they sure sound like they hope Whittington will die. As Limbaugh said, I'd rather go hunting with the Vice President than riding over a bridge with the senior Senator from Massachussetts.

From a while back but on-target today

Adam Thierrer of the Cato Institute wrote this in July of '02. It's a warning about the potential for each country in the world to impose censorship on the Internet. This anecdote was particularly interesting:

The most prominent example of such international mischief so far has been the efforts by the French courts to force the American-based web portal company Yahoo! to remove, or at least block from the view of French citizens, those portions of its website where Nazi memorabilia was for sale. Although a lower district court in California held last November that the French ruling could not be extraterritorially enforced here in America, former Yahoo! CEO Timothy Koogle, who resides in the United States, could still be convicted, fined $40,000, and face up to five years in prison if he ever sets foot in France in the future. Declining to dismiss the charges against Koogle and Yahoo! the Paris Criminal Court held in February 2002 that the case could go forward and noted that "the French judge is free to adopt his own principles of international criminal jurisdiction to sanction offenses that are completely or partially committed abroad and are likely to threaten national interests" to the extent that "the website's message or contents are made accessible, through the Internet, within French territory."

Under that standard, anything posted anywhere else in the world that was potentially offensive to French "national interests" might be subject to regulation or even criminal penalties by French officials. If such parochial speech controls were enforceable across the globe, "content providers would have no practical choice but to restrict their speech to the lowest common denominator in order to avoid potentially crushing liability," argues Corn-Revere.

This makes the noise over Google and Yahoo censorship in China more understandable.

My kind of guy!

Justice Antonin Scalia is a barn burner of a Supreme Court Justice. In Puerto Rico Scalia delivered a speech opposing the idea of a "living" Constitution. Yes! The story appeared here (quick survey required for access). Here's the full story:

Scalia dismisses 'living Constitution'
2/14/2006, 3:13 p.m. CT
By JONATHAN EWING
The Associated Press

PONCE, Puerto Rico (AP) — People who believe the Constitution would break if it didn't change with society are "idiots," U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says.

In a speech Monday sponsored by the conservative Federalist Society, Scalia defended his long-held belief in sticking to the plain text of the Constitution "as it was originally written and intended."

"Scalia does have a philosophy, it's called originalism," he said. "That's what prevents him from doing the things he would like to do," he told more than 100 politicians and lawyers from this U.S. island territory.

According to his judicial philosophy, he said, there can be no room for personal, political or religious beliefs.

Scalia criticized those who believe in what he called the "living Constitution."

"That's the argument of flexibility and it goes something like this: The Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like a living organism, or it will become brittle and break."

"But you would have to be an idiot to believe that," Scalia said. "The Constitution is not a living organism, it is a legal document. It says something and doesn't say other things."

Proponents of the living constitution want matters to be decided "not by the people, but by the justices of the Supreme Court."

"They are not looking for legal flexibility, they are looking for rigidity, whether it's the right to abortion or the right to homosexual activity, they want that right to be embedded from coast to coast and to be unchangeable," he said.

Scalia was invited to Puerto Rico by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. The organization was founded in 1982 as a debating society by students who believed professors at the top law schools were too liberal. Conservatives and libertarians mainly make up the 35,000 members.

Now, for an adult viewpoint

Patrick Buchanan is the only adult in the room. This column on the stupidity shown by defenders of a free press, and this one on the consequences of the cartoon war, jerked my attention back to what we're trying to accomplish in the Middle East. For someone who has supported the President in his war effort, I found myself blushing at some of the descriptions of Western reaction to the Muslim nations' outrage. I can chalk it up to my counter-culturalist background, but that doesn't excuse me.

Buchanan puts it this way:

All Muslims believe that to depict the face of the prophet or to ridicule him as Salman Rushdie did is a sacrilege. Why did that Danish newspaper do it? Why have conservatives rushed to show solidarity with the European editor-idiots who plastered these mocking cartoons all over Page 1?

"We believe in the First Amendment!" comes the blustery reply.

But just because the First Amendment may protect the right of Nazis to march in Skokie, or Larry Flynt to publish pornography, or Mapplethorpe to publish photos of himself with a bullwhip protruding from his rectum does not mean we stand in solidarity with Nazis, Larry Flynt or Robert Mapplethorpe – or does it?

Conservatives rage in rebuttal that Islamic nations tolerate cartoons, books, billboards and TV shows far more anti-Semitic and anti-Christian than these cartoons were anti-Islamic.

All of which is true, and none of which is relevant. For this is not a debate over double standards. It is a battle for the hearts and minds of Islamic peoples. And if we are to have any hope of winning that battle, we cannot condone insults to what they hold most sacred and dear: their faith.

Malkin on the difference between us and them

Not only does Michelle Malkin have pithy things to say about the Danish cartoon imbroglio, she also reminds us again about the differences between the West and the Muslim world. She reprints the following story from 2002:

215 Dead in Riots Sparked by Miss World
Sunday, November 24, 2002

LAGOS, Nigeria — The regional governor warned rioters would be shot on sight Sunday as hundreds of people fled the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna after four days of religious violence over the Miss World pageant killed 200 people.

The violence among Muslims and Christians began after a newspaper article last week said Islam's founding prophet would have chosen a Miss World contestant for a wife. The pageant was then moved to London and the contestants packed their gear and flew to the British capital.

By late Saturday, the Nigerian Red Cross counted 215 bodies on the streets and in mortuaries throughout Kaduna, 100 miles north of the capital Abuja, said Emmanuel Ijewere, president of the organization. Previous estimates said 100 people killed.

An unknown number of others killed in the riots were believed to have been buried by family members uncounted, Ijewere told The Associated Press.

No new violence was reported Sunday in Kaduna, a Muslim-dominated city with a large Christian minority. Still, hundreds of people recovered what valuables they could from their destroyed homes and fled in cars, buses and on foot.

Those who stayed attended church services and replenished food stocks at markets, where a few meat and vegetable stalls reopened.

The Kaduna governor, Ahmed Makarfi, told state radio that security forces would "shoot on sight" anyone inciting new violence.

Yakubu Ibrahim, 27, returned to find his home in ruins Sunday after taking refuge at a local army barracks for three days.

"I lost everything except my shirt and my pants. I don't even have shoes," said Ibrahim, whose parents and four siblings were missing after the riots.

The fighting began after the Lagos-based ThisDay newspaper published an article on Nov. 16 saying Islam's founding prophet would have approved of the pageant.

Free speech gets more costly

Another excellent article in City Journal, well worth your time, on the efforts of our Congresscritters to extend the provisions of McCain-Feingold to the Internet (emphasis mine):

Recognizing that McCain-Feingold is out of control, liberty-minded Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling introduced the Online Freedom of Speech Act (HR 1606) in the House last April. (Harry Reid has sponsored identical legislation in the Senate, showing that not all Democrats are lost on the issue.) The bill reinforces the Internet’s current regulation-free status by excluding blogs and various other Web communications from campaign-finance strictures. Brought to an expedited vote under special rules that required a two-thirds majority in early November, the bill—opposed strenuously by the campaign-finance reform “movement”—failed. “Today’s action marks a sad day for one of our nation’s most sacred rights: freedom of speech,” reflected House Speaker Dennis Hastert. “The last thing this Congress should be doing is trying to stifle public debate online.”

The House Democrats torpedoed HR 1606, but they had surprising help from about three dozen Republicans. Why did so many normally staunch opponents of campaign-finance speech restrictions shift camp? One possible explanation, perhaps cynical: it’s hard to unseat incumbents, given their advantages of name recognition, free media exposure, and an easier time raising donations. If they can make it harder for their rivals to speak, which campaign-finance rules help them to do, the challenger’s task gets harder still. (Notably, after Congress began campaign-finance restrictions in the seventies, incumbency rates began to rise.) Once in office, some Republicans may suddenly like McCain-Feingold’s power to shield them from criticism—including on the Web.

This is all a great argument for term limits, don't you think? I voted for Feingold primarily for his opposition to the Patriot Act. But it would do well to remember what he said right after McCain-Feingold was passed:

“It is only a beginning. It is a modest reform. . . . There will be other reforms.”

I love stories like this XLI

You really have to wonder whether the public school administrators that, well, adminster and execute "zero tolerance" policies around the country ever have second thoughts; whether they ever consider stepping back and taking a larger perspective view of what they're about to do as prescribed by school policy.

Honor student, Michael Boone, has been suspended for a full year for trying to keep his sister out of trouble:

When his sister, Heavenly, realized she'd inadvertently brought a 2-inch pocketknife to school last week, they both knew she'd never get through the metal detector at Newburgh Free Academy. So Michael says he tried to help his sister out by stashing it under some bushes outside.

But a security guard spotted the 10th-grader ditching the knife. Next thing Michael knew, he was suspended for five days.

At a hearing earlier this week, it got worse: His suspension was continued for a full calendar year.

This paragraph of the story is interesting (emphasis mine):

The Newburgh School District issued a statement yesterday that, while not addressing Boone's case specifically, cited state and federal laws that require the district to suspend any student who brings a weapon to school. The district has a zero-tolerance policy on weapons.

James Taranto at OpinionJournal.com had an interesting speculation about this:

The bit about federal laws requiring the suspension is especially amusing. We don't know if such a law actually exists or not, but wouldn't it be satisfying if the Boone kids sued and took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, and Justice Sam Alito cast the deciding vote striking down this blatant act of congressional overreach?

I couldn't possibly buy one of these! Never!

This site is selling a t-shirt featuring one of the Mohammed cartoons that have so incensed the Islamic people and nations. Here's a story about it.

This is a handy timeline of events since the fateful publication of the cartoons. In developments around the world, cartoon fallout continues.

[And here is a fabulous site with an exhaustive study of graphic depictions of Mohammed throughout history, some of them by Muslims. As Jack Paar used to say, I kid you not!]

The admonitions by Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, are a tad galling:

"The West should treat Islam the way it wants Islam to treat the West and vice versa. They should accept one another as equals," he said.

Respect for other peoples' beliefs is a hallmark of good manners; however, the Western tradition includes freedom of speech. Our view is that we must tolerate those who speak intemperately in order to maintain that fundamental freedom.

Suggesting that Western nations should muzzle the press is about as bare-faced a slap at Western culture as there could be. Freedom is our faith. Seeing slogans like "Stop all anti-Islamic activities... Do not invite disaster," ain't going to make us think any better of Islam. Nope. Not one bit.

Have the Europeans flipped out?

From Victor Davis Hanson, a fine column on the re-awakening of Europe to the threats against it. An excerpt:

So is Europe now finally at the front or will they retreat Madrid-like in the face of the inevitable second round of terrorist bombings and threats to come?

Americans are not confident, but we should remember at least one simple fact: Europe is the embryo of the entire Western military tradition. The new European Union encompasses a population greater than the United States and spans a continent larger than our own territory. It has a greater gross domestic product than that of America and could, in theory, field military forces as disciplined and as well equipped as our own.

It is not the capability but the will power of the Europeans that has been missing in this war so far. But while pundits argue over whether the European demographic crisis, lack of faith, stalled economy, or multiculturalism are at the root of the continent’s impotence, we should never forget that if aroused and pushed, a rearmed and powerful Europe could still be at the side of the United States in joint efforts against the jihadists. And should we ever see a true alliance of such Western powers, the war against the fascists of the Middle East would be simply over in short order.

It's easier to be a Democrat

From the Drudge Report:

KING FUNERAL TURNS POLITICAL: BUSH BASHED BY FORMER PRESIDENT, REVEREND
Tue Feb 07 2006 15:49:48 ET

Today's memorial service for civil rights activist Coretta Scott King -- billed as a "celebration" of her life -- turned suddenly political as one former president took a swipe at the current president, who was also lashed by an outspoken black pastor!

The outspoken Rev. Joseph Lowery, co-founder of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, ripped into President Bush during his short speech, ostensibly about the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.

"She extended Martin's message against poverty, racism and war. She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar. We know now that there were no weapons of mass destruction over there," Lowery said.

The mostly black crowd applauded, then rose to its feet and cheered in a two-minute-long standing ovation.

A closed-circuit television in the mega-church outside Atlanta showed the president smiling uncomfortably.

"But Coretta knew, and we know," Lowery continued, "That there are weapons of misdirection right down here," he said, nodding his head toward the row of presidents past and present. "For war, billions more, but no more for the poor!" The crowd again cheered wildly.

Former President Jimmy Carter later swung at Bush as well, not once but twice. As he talked about the Kings, he said: "It was difficult for them then personally with the civil liberties of both husband and wife violated as they became the target of secret government wiretaps." The crowd cheered as Bush, under fire for a secret wiretapping program he ordered after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, again smiled weakly.

Later, Carter said Hurricane Katrina showed that all are not yet equal in America. Some black leaders have blamed Bush for the poor federal response, and rapper Kayne West said that Bush "hates" black people.

As an added twist...

...turnabout is fair play, right? That's what the publisher of Iran's most popular newspaper, Hamshahri, said today. Here's the story:

IRAN'S largest selling newspaper announced today it was holding a contest on cartoons of the Holocaust in response to the publishing in European papers of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

"It will be an international cartoon contest about the Holocaust," said Farid Mortazavi, the graphics editor for Hamshahri newspaper - which is published by Teheran's conservative municipality.

He said the plan was to turn the tables on the assertion that newspapers can print offensive material in the name of freedom of expression.

"The Western papers printed these sacrilegious cartoons on the pretext of freedom of expression, so let's see if they mean what they say and also print these Holocaust cartoons," he said.

Iran's fiercely anti-Israeli regime is supportive of so-called Holocaust revisionist historians, who maintain the systematic slaughter by the Nazis of mainland Europe's Jews as well as other groups during World War II has been either invented or exaggerated.

So European newspapers re-publish cartoons first printed in Danish newspapers and all Jahannum breaks loose. Now an Iranian newspaper dares those same European papers to publish Holocaust cartoons. I guess this is better than a war.

Jerry Pournelle has this to say about the cultural differences:

You may note that a great number of explicitly anti-Christian works including Peter Blume's Eternal City hang in the New York Museum of Modern Art, and have for decades, and we don't seem to be burning cars in the streets over that. Apparently we need some cultural diversity to teach us the appropriate way to behave when our prophets are blasphemed. Perhaps that will be taught in the diversity lessons in our public schools. How to burn flags, torch embassies, overturn cars and burn them: our youth needs to learn diversity and to learn that no culture is superior to any other. What better way than to learn how to imitate what is going on in Syria and Lebanon? Is this not what diversity is about?

And the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web Today has this observation:

What the Iranian newspaper's stunt should underscore is that the closest counterpart today to the Nazi Party is not those who mock the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him. It is, rather, the radical Islamists who have used that mockery as a pretext for anti-Semitism and incitement of violence.

Wouldn't this just be ducky if a war started over this?

Several countries, including Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Libya, have withdrawn their ambassadors from Denmark. Danish embassies have been burned and Danish citizens have been injured in the rioting in Lebanon and Syria. The Syrians have gone one further, blaming the Danes for the riots:

Syria blamed Denmark for the protests, criticizing the Scandinavian nation for refusing to apologize for the caricatures of Islam's holiest figure.

"(Denmark's) government was able to avoid reaching this point ... simply through an apology" as requested by Arab and Muslim diplomats, state-run daily Al-Thawra said in an editorial Sunday.

Note how many Islamic nations have "state-run" media.

I mentioned war in the headline. I don't want to be alarmist, but why else do nations withdraw their ambassadors?

Victor Davis Hanson has something trenchant to say on the Middle East. Recommended.

Jordanian newspaper editors arrested

More on the Danish cartoon imbroglio: the editors of two Jordanian newspapers have been arrested because they allowed those cartoons to be published. The story contains this interesting sentence:

Any images of the Prophet are banned under Islamic tradition.

I could see such an arrest if there were, indeed, a law against it. But being arrested for breaking a tradition? Is that comparable to those of us in the United States saying "Happy Holidays" now instead of "Merry Christmas"?

The editors are named Jihad Momani and Hisham Khalidi. Mr. Momani published three of the cartoons next to an editorial. According to the story:

Mr Momani's paper, Shihan, had printed three of the cartoons, alongside an editorial questioning whether the angry reaction to them in the Muslim world was justified.

"Muslims of the world be reasonable," wrote Mr Momani.

Apparently they aren't.

I love stories like this XL

Well, my word! Another high school student in trouble for publishing something critical of his high school!

The ACLU has brought suit in federal court against the Hermitage, PA, school district on behalf of Justin Layshock, a 17-year-old senior at Hickory High School. Layshock was suspended for posting a parody of Eric W. Trosch, the school's principal, on myspace.com. Don't bother looking for it; it's been removed.

The school's list of grievances against young Layshock is long:

On Jan. 6, a hearing was held by the school to consider disciplinary action against Justin on charges of disrespect; harassment; gross misbehavior; obscene, vulgar and profane language; and for violating the school's computer policy for using a picture without permission.

At that hearing, the school gave Justin a 10-day, out-of-school suspension and ordered him to finish high school in the Alternative Education Program. He has been told he cannot go to any of his regular classes.

The administration also banned Justin from participating in any school events, including the French tutoring he did for middle school students and attending his own graduation in the spring.

"Is it offensive? Probably. Is it likely to make the principal feel bad? Probably," Justin's lawyer, Witold Walczak, legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said. "But it's done in his own home, and the school has no business, or no authority to punish the student for this."

Does anyone now doubt that our cultures are not equal?

This isn't the last straw; it's just another log on the fire. But at least it's easy to understand.

In Western cultures -- the ones, by the way, that abolished slavery and enshrined the principles of individual rights -- if an artist depicted, say, a Christian crucifix in a jar of urine or Osama bin Laden as Jesus Christ, he would be publicly castigated for poor taste and such. But he would be lionized by the arts community and garner more grants to continue his "work".

We now have the spectacle of Danish editorial cartoonists in hiding for publishing satirical cartoons featuring the likeness of Mohammed. The cartoons can be seen here.

Of course the demonstrations have started. Danish embassies have been picketed and attacked. The Danish government shrugged off the complaints from the country's Muslims at first, but now ambassadors of dozens of Muslim countries are recommending diplomatic action against the Danes.

The Germans have, so far, stood firm in their defense of the newspapers that published the cartoons. Interestingly, the British government has sided with Pakistan and Turkey in condemning the cartoons' publication. This pusillanimous response reminded me of an interesting article on TechCentralStation.com describing recent British government pronunciamentoes as coming from the "Paris Hilton School of Political Science." Shame on the Brits!

In America we've begun wetting our pants every time a rough word is directed at Islam. There are, as I mentioned above, dozens of "Muslim" nations; but dare to suggest that the United States and Western Europe are (or were) "Christian" nations and the Furies of the Habitat of Old Ned are released!

But doesn't this show that Muslims are really different from us? Western culture champions freedom of the press and the freedom of speech and assembly that those Muslim protesters enjoy. Does anyone see a disconnect here? Muslim countries: official state news, no freedom of assembly, speech, or dissent, no equal rights for women, etc. ... Western countries: well, you get the idea.

Recent commentary: the SOTU address

What did you think of the State of the Union address?

(published 6-Feb-2006, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Did you know that the wife of Bill Young (R-FL) wore a t-shirt to the speech, too? She was booted out and called the policeman "an idiot." But on to the evaluation. INSPIRING: Not a thing. GOOD: Bush's follow-up to the Democrats’ cheer that Social Security reform hadn’t been enacted: “every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse." AVERAGE: The "addicted to oil" reference. Reminded me of Eisenhower’s warning about the “military-industrial complex.” If the Republicans would push alternative fuels and if the Democrats would support oil drilling in Alaska, our foreign oil dependence would soon shrink. SUB PAR: "cut the deficit in half by 2009." If it weren't for the fact that Bush never met a spending bill he didn't like, the deficit wouldn't be nearly as high. No vetoes in five years. Sheesh! Nothing INSPIRING but no RASPBERRIES either. Grade: C.

I love stories like this XXXIX

I guess you just can't control the little darlings no matter what you do! A 7th-grader is in trouble for writing an English essay describing his "perfect day". What might that include?

In addition to the president and Winfrey, the boy wrote that violence should be directed at executives of Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart, police and school officials said.

"His perfect day would be to see the destruction of these people," Schools Superintendent David Raiche said.

Since the essay did not include "any detailed, minute-by-minute plan," the boy won't be charged with a felony count of threatening the President.

In an Orwellian side-note to this story, the boy "has been temporarily barred from school, but as a mental health rather than disciplinary precaution."

I love stories like this XXXIV (addendum)

I've been following the Jeff Fraser expulsion story. Fraser is the Carroll High School senior expelled for publishing a "book" critical of the school, its teachers, and its administration. The school is located in Fort Wayne, IN, and I've been checking the Fort Wayne blogs and the Fort Wayne newspaper to keep tabs on Fraser.

Several days ago, Indiana Parley revealed that another blog, Fort Wayne Observed, was going to post "Carroll (The Book): A Student's Guide to Bureaucracy Inaction". That day, Jan. 25th or 26th, I went to Fort Wayne Observed and saw the first four scanned pages of "Carroll". There are a total of 14 pages. Nathan Gotsch, the Fort Wayne Observed blogger, seemed to indicate that he'd post the rest of it soon. I was very interested to see it.

Later posts on Indiana Parley and the Fort Wayne Indiana etc. blogs claimed that Gotsch had, indeed, posted the whole thing. I visited Gotsch's blog with some anticipation, only to find that his blog is gone. The links still work but all you see is the "Blogger" heading. No content. Zilch. And...no explanation. [cue creepy music]

However, Indiana Parley came through with a link to a different site, a PDF scanned copy of the entire book. In addition, I have posted a copy on my web site. Read it for yourself. And here are links to Fort Wayne blogs where you can find "the rest of the story."

http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/
http://indianaparley.blogspot.com/
http://fwmn.blogspot.com/ (as of today, Feb. 1, this link is still coming up empty)
http://fort-wayne.blogspot.com/

What would you pick?

Harris writes some fine pieces for Tech Central Station. Today he has written a fantasy featuring aliens and Mozart. The theme is: what single thing created by man would best represent humanity for eternity? Harris opts for music:

...the aliens want me, and me alone, to decide what human monument will be spared from the otherwise universal destruction awaiting our species and all the cultural objects that we have created in our brief tenure on this obscure planet. For example, the aliens offer me the choice of saving the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Eiffel Tower, the Sistine Chapel, or the Washington Monument, the Empire State Building, or the Taj Mahal. But whatever item I select, it alone will continue to survive, and it alone will remain as evidence of the best that such a bad lot as us could do, despite our bestial failings.

What monument of humanity do I choose?

Without a moment’s hesitation, I respond, “Why, obviously, the opera, The Marriage of Figaro, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”

What would you choose? I'm still pondering. Music is an awfully tempting choice. Monuments, achievements, art works, buildings, conquests, discoveries, inventions...what would it be?

I love stories like this XXXVIII

You can't make this stuff up! All of the middle schools in West Virginia, 157 of them, are planning to supplement their Phy Ed programs with...a video game! Yes, it's true:

Game players move their feet on a special mat to correspond to arrows that scroll on the TV screen. The player must tap the same symbols on the mat at just the right time to do well.

So how much is this costing?

Each school is to receive a game console, at least two dance pads and software at a cost of about $740.

What is the rationale for getting kids to "exercise" by playing a video game?

The game is not meant to replace physical education and health classes. Rather, it is one more option that may appeal to students who often dislike other sports.

"If we can get children to change their behavior at a young age they hopefully will grow up to be healthy, active adults, which would have a positive effect on health care costs," said Carl Callison with Mountain State Blue Cross.

Ooohhh! So it's a public health issue! Right!

Do you wonder why I believe that pretty soon the guvmint will control the production of food to such an extent that it will be illegal to eat a Snickers bar?

Oh, dear!

Conservatives get into the act of overloading email servers, too. After an op-ed piece by Joel Stein appeared in the LA Times, he was email-bombed by loads of putative conservatives, as Deborah Howell was by liberals at the Washington Post.

Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin quickly nominated Stein as "one of the most loathsome people in America." The Irish Pennants (www.irishpennants.com) site slammed him as "slime" but gave credit for honesty, adding:

"At least he is straightforward slime."

Stein said that, despite the fact that his e-mail address was not made public by the paper, he had received some 100 "hate e-mails" by noon.

I love stories like this XXXVII

Dress codes in school news yet again:

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) - A male high school student can wear a skirt to school after the American Civil Liberties Union reached an agreement with school officials.

The ACLU announced the deal Tuesday. It will allow a Hasbrouck Heights School senior to wear a skirt to protest the school's no-shorts policy.

The district's dress code bans shorts between Oct. 1 and April 15, but allows skirts, a policy 17-year-old Michael Coviello believes is discriminatory.

"I'm happy to be able to wear skirts again to bring attention to the fact that the ban on shorts doesn't make sense," Coviello said in a statement.

A few years ago, before my wife and I decided to home school our kids, I attended a series of Neenah Joint School District school board meetings, nine of them, if I remember correctly. One of them featured a high school girl who had been disciplined for wearing a head scarf. The school rule, ostensibly, protects against weapons being stashed in head scarves. The girl, Barbara Polcin, stood up during the public commentary period and talked about her experience and about her hope that Neenah High School would change it's dress code to allow head scarves. The school board, naturally, passed the buck to the principal of Neenah High School.

This is what I wrote in a letter to the editor:

To: The Editor, The Scribe

Your article about Barbara Polcin's appearance before the school board gave an unfortunate impression of Ms. Polcin's mother. You quoted "Polcin's mother of Polcin" as saying, "She stands up for what she believes is right," followed immediately by, "I hope it's a phase she'll eventually grow out of." I cannot believe that Barbara Polcin's mother would wish that her daughter stop standing up for what she belives is right; but that's the impression given in your article.

I attended the school board meeting at which Barbara Polcin spoke with such energy and eloquence about her experiences with the Neenah High School dress code. If I were Ms. Polcin I would wear a bandana to school every day. And every day when I arrived at school I would march directly to the office, remove the bandana, and leave it in their keeping. After school I would retrieve it and put it back on. Perhaps I would go so far as to wear a new bandana every day. Friends could help the cause by wearing bandanas to school, too. Nothing would make a more tangible statement that the school's dress code regarding headwear is picayune, petty, pea-brained, and pettifogging than a huge mound of bandanas piled on the main office desk every morning. To add piquancy to the demonstration the bandanas could be doused with musky perfume to represent the cloying sweetness of the school's concern for student safety.

Gandhi would have called it "civil disobedience."

Sincerely,

Steven W. Erbach

VDH on our oil addiction

Does the debate over our reliance on foreign oil make your head spin? Victor Davis Hanson helps to clear it up in this piece. He shows that the various political factions contribute to our precarious situation: liberal, conservative, libertarian, and religious despot alike. He also prescribes a course of action that would, I think, solve our own oil dependency problem:

If the left would push nuclear power and more drilling, and the right would push more mandatory efficiency standards and alternative fuels, the United States could cut its imports and collapse the world price.

Too bad that this is another political pipe dream. Though I could see conservatives pushing alternative fuels more than I could believe that liberals would push nuclear energy. I do think that gasoline would have to reach $5 a gallon in the U.S. before anything substantive – other than price controls – is done.

The Loony Left shuts down the Washington Post

Last week Deborah Howell, an "ombudsman" for the Washington Post, wrote a column on the Abramoff scandal. In that column she said that Abramoff gave money to Congressmen in both parties. She acknowledges that that was a misstatement. What he did was to direct his clients, the Indian gaming casinos, to give money to members of Congress in both parties. Howell explains:

My mistake set off a firestorm. I heard that I was lying, that Democrats never got a penny of Abramoff-tainted money, that I was trying to say it was a bipartisan scandal, as some Republicans claim.

She quotes some of the more "printable" emails she received out of thousands, so many that the email server at the Post was shut down:

"Yes, the WAPO needs an enema, and Howell should be the first thing that gets medicinally removed."

"You Deborah Howell, stop lying about Democrats getting money from Abramoff. Democrats do not control anything in Washington, so why would he waste money bribing them. Think and do your research, and stop being an idiot."

"This rag must be something that I pulled off a barscreen at a sewage treatment plant. Howell is simply a paid liar. How this creature endures itself is something I don't understand. What a piece of flotsam."

Relax, the Democratic Party is in good hands.

I love stories like this XXXVI

Oh, my God! Iris-scanning at a grade school?

When a parent arrives to pick up their [sic] child at one of three grade schools in the Freehold Borough School District, they'll [sic] need to look into a camera that will take a digital image of their [sic] iris. That photo will establish positive identification to gain entrance into the school.

Funding for the project, more than $369,000, was made possibly by a school safety grant through the National Institute of Justice, a research branch of the U.S.
Department of Justice. "The idea is to improve school safety for the children," said Phil Meara, superintendent, Freehold Borough School District, on Monday. "We had a swipe-card system that operated the doors, but the technology was obsolete."

I have now, officially, seen everything.

I love stories like this XXXV

This is a follow-on to ILSLT XXIV, the Jeff Fraser expulsion story. One of the blogs that contains comments on this affair pointed to this story from the Wall Street Journal from last November. It contains some wonderful examples of school administration bureaucratese in reference to one Laura Iacovacci, a 16-year-old student suspended from Paramus High School in Paramus, N.J., for the heinous crime of blogging unkindly about other students:

Ms. Iacovacci said that when she returned to school, she was called to see the principal, Lina Gudelis, who showed her a fat stack of pages she had printed out from MySpace. Ms. Gudelis suspended Ms. Iacovacci for three more days. She wrote in a letter to Ms. Iacovacci's parents, "Please be advised that should Laura continue to participate in harassing behavior, either verbally or in writing, including websites, she will be suspended and may be transferred out of the classes she shares with the recipient of the harassment."

Ms. Gudelis, the principal, declined to discuss Ms. Iacovacci. But she said it is appropriate for schools to hold students accountable for their online writings. "Unlike a conversation that might take place on an email or on the telephone, these sites are accessible to the public. So, yes, it can be harmful to students when others are posting things about them that are hurtful," she said.

The story quotes Thomas H. Clarke Jr., a San Francisco attorney, who says that

a handful of courts have examined cases in which schools disciplined students for off-campus writings, taking into account factors such as whether the student published threats against the school or other students, and whether the materials were accessed on campus by students or administrators. While some courts have ruled against schools that tried to punish students for their Web sites -- even when the content was vulgar or threatening -- others have decided that online writings can be subject to school restrictions. "The courts are all over the place. Trying to find consistency among all these different rules and opinions is extraordinarily difficult," Mr. Clarke said.

There have been moments in court when the students have triumphed:

Still, some schools have run into trouble in their efforts to rein in student bloggers. New Jersey's Oceanport School District this month paid a $117,500 settlement to 17-year-old Ryan Dwyer after a district court ruled that the school district violated Mr. Dwyer's First Amendment rights by punishing him for a Web site he created in April 2003, which blasted his middle school and some faculty members. Mr. Dwyer wrote on the site, among other things, "MAPLE PLACE IS THE WORST SCHOOL ON THE PLANET!" and "The Principal, Dr. Amato, is not your friend and is a dictator." The site also included a message board where other students could post messages, but Mr. Dwyer warned students against using profanity or threatening language. Within days, though, one student posted a comment that referred to a teacher as "that dirty Jew." Another wrote of the school staff, "we gotta pull the plug on them."

The school suspended Mr. Dwyer, benched him from the baseball team for a month and excluded him from a class trip to Philadelphia. Mr. Dwyer took down the site, but he and his parents sued the Oceanport School District, saying the punishment was a violation of his First Amendment rights. Earlier this year, a district court sided with the Dwyers, ruling that Mr. Dwyer could not be held responsible for other students' comments and that his own postings, if insulting, were not grounds for punishment by the school.

Jeff Fraser was expelled from Carroll High School in Fort Wayne, IN, for writing a satirical "book". I have not yet laid my hands on a copy, electronic or otherwise.

But the school is now catching flak from at least one school board member and a libertarian candidate for the school board. The school board member is Jon Olinger, a member of the Fort Wayne Community Schools Board. He posted a comment on the Indiana Parley blog:

This appears to be a classic case of school administration being devoid of common sense. I don't know what the cause of this infliction is, but NWAC schools does not have a monopoly on it. Ocasionally a decision is taken by school administration, such as this, that makes me wonder...what were you thinking...

They're going through with it!!

Last June my friend, Nick, forwarded me this press release:

For Release Tuesday, June 28 to all other media

Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.

Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.

Well, it looks like they're going ahead with it. This story from ABC News gives the details:

CONCORD, N.H. - Angered by a Supreme Court ruling that gave local governments more power to seize people's homes for economic development, a group of activists is trying to get one of the court's justices evicted from his own home.

The group, led by a California man, wants Justice David Souter's home seized to build an inn called the "Lost Liberty Hotel."

They submitted enough petition signatures only 25 were needed to bring the matter before voters in March. This weekend, they're descending on Souter's hometown, the central New Hampshire town of Weare, population 8,500, to rally for support.

The petition asks whether the town should take Souter's land for development as an inn; whether to set up a trust fund to accept donations for legal expenses; and whether to set up a second trust fund to accept donations to compensate Souter for taking his land.

The matter goes to voters on March 14.

I love stories like this XXXIV

The worthy administrators of Carroll High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, have expelled senior Jeff Fraser for writing a satirical book critical of said administration:

Fraser, a 17-year-old senior and founder of the Allen County Teenage Republicans, wrote a book titled “Carroll” that was modeled after Jon Stewart’s book “America.” The book blasted the administration for its lack of diversity, criticized teachers and their methods and singled out a few students in what was meant to be a satire...

This story caught my eye. Immediately I thought of looking for Fraser's book on-line. A quick Google search for 'Jeff Fraser Carroll' turned up nothing. I located the web site for the Allen County Teenage Republicans, but I wouldn't recommend going there. Lots of links that lead to popup ads, and the Search feature doesn't work. Worse, there's no news about what's happened to Fraser or his book.

I then thought of looking for blogs that might mention Fraser. I found one on BlogSpot: http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/. Blogger Mike Sylvester is a libertarian candidate for the Northwest Allen County School Board and he says he's going to write an editorial on Fraser's predicament. I left a comment asking if he knew where to find a copy of "Carroll."

I then wrote to Kelly Soderlund, the reporter from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette who covered the story.

I finally found the blog for the Allen County Teenage Republicans which is run by Fraser himself. I asked him directly if there was a copy of "Carroll" available on-line. I'm hoping that I'll eventually be able to get my hands on a copy. I'm curious as to what could possibly make the administration expel the kid.

Makes me want to see it

Before I read Lee Harris' review of 'Brokeback Mountain' I figured that I'd never see it. There have been many movies that have gotten terrific reviews that I've never seen. For example, 'Midnight Cowboy' starring Jon Voigt and Dustin Hoffman. I was 16 when it first came out and too young to see it. After that I jokingly refused to see it because I'd been denied because of my age.

But Harris' review of 'Brokeback Mountain' got to me. I don't know if I'll go see it in the theatres, but I won't pass up the opportunity to rent it or check it out from the library when it gets there. I recommend that you read the review, too. It might appeal to you.

Recent commentary: 20 abortion questions for Samuel Alito

What should senators ask Supreme Court candidate Samuel Alito?

(published 16-Jan-2006, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Well, I definitely know what Senators Kennedy, Schumer, Leahy, et al WANT to ask: “Would you vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade?” That’s the zenith of the modern Democrat party’s political firmament. No other issue has nearly the pathos, the passion, the gut-wrenching political fund-raising potential of abortion. Since they won’t ask it directly we’ll be treated to questions about why, o! why would Alito be in favor of strip-searching 10-year-old girls. But that’s only until they can think up some sort of veering approach to THE QUESTION; as if Justice Alito – in the glare of the TV lights and under the bleary-eyed ... um ... bilious ... er ... BALEFUL! That’s it! The baleful gaze of our Congresscritters – will somehow forget where he is and say what he really thinks. Hey! It could happen! I can just see the one-word headline in the tabloids: “OOPS!”

Best commentary in a year

Mark Steyn has written a stupendous piece on the decline of Western civilization for OpinionJournal.com. I am normally a determined optimist. For example, I choose to believe that Iraq has a good chance of becoming a pluralistic democratic state. Oh, I know the smart money says there'll be a civil war as soon as we leave; but I feel that the risk is worth it.

Steyn's essay, however, certainly doesn't leave much room for doubt that Western society, especially Western Europe, is headed for extinction. Why? The birth rate, for one:

...the United States, hover[s] just at replacement rate with 2.07 births per woman. Ireland is 1.87, New Zealand 1.79, Australia 1.76. But Canada's fertility rate is down to 1.5, well below replacement rate; Germany and Austria are at 1.3, the brink of the death spiral; Russia and Italy are at 1.2; Spain 1.1, about half replacement rate. That's to say, Spain's population is halving every generation. By 2050, Italy's population will have fallen by 22%, Bulgaria's by 36%, Estonia's by 52%.

Steyn points out that

As fertility shrivels, societies get older--and Japan and much of Europe are set to get older than any functioning societies have ever been. And we know what comes after old age. These countries are going out of business--unless they can find the will to change their ways. Is that likely? I don't think so. If you look at European election results--most recently in Germany--it's hard not to conclude that, while voters are unhappy with their political establishments, they're unhappy mainly because they resent being asked to reconsider their government benefits and, no matter how unaffordable they may be a generation down the road, they have no intention of seriously reconsidering them. The Scottish executive recently backed down from a proposal to raise the retirement age of Scottish public workers. It's presently 60, which is nice but unaffordable. But the reaction of the average Scots worker is that that's somebody else's problem. The average German worker now puts in 22% fewer hours per year than his American counterpart, and no politician who wishes to remain electorally viable will propose closing the gap in any meaningful way.

Very, very interesting article, well worth your time.

Is it just me or...

...do you think NASA is an enormously bloated and sleep-inducing bureaucracy? This story about the observation of a meteor strike on the moon was very interesting, until I read this:

However, as Nasa plans to return to the Moon by 2020, the agency says it needs to understand what happens after lunar impacts in order to protect astronauts.

2020??!! What's the holdup? Doesn't anyone remember how incredible it was to go from John Kennedy's go-ahead to landing on the moon in just 8 years beginning from scratch? Now the bureaucratic, limp-wristed, hand-wringing, namby-pamby pansies at NASA need 15 years to get back there after all the stupendous progress we've made in space.

"Protect astronauts." Can you imagine how many of the current crop of astronauts would give their eye teeth to go to the moon? Do you think any of them are wetting their pants over being struck by a meteor while on the moon's surface? Sheesh! Double sheesh!!

Just surfing III

Iconico.com is a terrific site for handy web design tools. The webmaster for the site, Nico Westerdale, is also an artist who's come up with a puzzle masquerading as performance art. It's the first phase of the QWERTY project:

[It] consists of a computer connected to a monitor which is placed on a plinth. The computer has the usual 101 keys connected to it, although these keys are not arranged on a keyboard. The keys are connected to the computer by 700 meters of wire. The keys are distributed about the building, attached to the walls and ceilings.

The exhibit was on display some years ago, apparently. I can't seem to pinpoint when it actually existed. But it doesn't matter! The QWERTY project has been virtualized. Go to the site and navigate the rooms and corridors of the building to find the keys of the disconnected keyboard. Type in a message to become part of the performance. Of course, it may take you a few hours just to type a few words...

Front Page Magazine's Top Stories of '05

FrontPageMag.com, David Horowitz's commentary web site, has published two Top Ten lists: the Most Overreported Stories and the Most Underreported Stories of the year. Here are the two lists.

Top Ten Overreported Stories of 2005

10. The Passion of Mary Mapes
9. Tom DeLay's Indictment
8. Jimmy Carter’s Opinion (On Anything)
7. John Roberts’ Federalist Society Membership
6. Jane Fonda’s “Apology”
5. Koran Desecration and “Torture”
4. Wiretapping Terrorists
3. Two Words: Cindy Sheehan
2. Bush’s “Negligence” during Hurricane Katrina
1. The Libby Indictment

Top Ten Underreported Stories of 2005

10. The Economy
9. Bush Gets it on the Border (Sort Of)
8. Academic Freedom on the March
7. Hurricanes Don’t Discriminate by Race
6. Prominent Leftists’ Utter Hypocrisy
5. Able Danger
4. Muslim Rape Spree
3. The Left Throws in the Towel in Iraq
2. The CIA’s War on Bush
1. Shhh…We’re Winning in Iraq

Looking back -- fine commentary

A terrific commentary about how Europeans view Americans, written over a year ago. Something triggered my memory of this lately and I thought I'd dig it up to show you. A sample:

The Secret Weapon of George W. Bush is the nature of a guy who can laugh at himself and knows that his wife is really the better part of himself. The Secret Weapon of George W. Bush is a guy who knows himself well enough to know what's right and wrong without having to take a poll. The Secret Weapon of George W. Bush is the common sense to know that Terrorism is something to be ended, not tolerated as a nuisance.

In last Friday's debate, at the end of the debate the audience of 'undecided' voters , voted clearly their intent by walking to George W. Bush and his lovely wife Laura and waited to have their picture taken. The President and his wife were mobbed, while the other candidate was largely by himself.

The audience of the people of Missouri, simply felt they could walk up to have their hats and t-shirts signed and their hands shook by a guy named George.

Who just happened to be – The President of the United States.

The President has the power, folks

From Townhall.com, this piece by Michael Barone of U. S. News & World Report. In it he supports the President's power and authority to use warrantless wiretaps. Put aside the politics and observe:

...federal courts have ruled that the Fourth Amendment's bar of "unreasonable" searches and seizures limits the president's power to intercept communications without obtaining a warrant. But that doesn't apply to foreign intercepts, as the Supreme Court made clear in a 1972 case, writing, "The instant case requires no judgment on the scope of the president's surveillance power with respect to the activities of foreign powers, within or without this country." The federal courts of appeals for the 5th, 3rd, 9th and 4th Circuits, in cases decided in 1970, 1974, 1977 and 1980, took the same view. In 2002, the special federal court superintending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act wrote, "The Truong court, as did all the other courts to have decided the issue, held that the president did have inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches to obtain foreign intelligence information. ... We take for granted that the president does have that authority and, assuming that is so, FISA could not encroach on the president's constitutional power."

Update – From Justice Byron White's concurrence in the decision of Katz v. United States:

"Wiretapping to protect the security of the Nation has been authorized by successive Presidents. The present Administration would apparently save national security cases from restrictions against wiretapping. We should not require the warrant procedure and the magistrate's judgment if the President of the United States or his chief legal officer, the Attorney General, has considered the requirements of national security and authorized electronic surveillance as reasonable."

Thanks to William Hindman for this find.

Our future is in Iraq

Robert Kaplan occasionally gets published in the LA Times. When he does it's definitely worth your time reading. His latest, a Christmas Eve column, maintains that our future political leaders are right now military officers in Iraq:

If you want to meet the future political leaders of the United States, go to Iraq. I am not referring to the generals, or even the colonels. I mean the junior officers and enlistees in their 20s and 30s. In the decades ahead, they will represent something uncommon in U.S. military history: war veterans with practical experience in democratic governance, learned under the most challenging of conditions. ...

They are not imperialists, if by that we mean that they would support unilaterally invading a country again with a large number of troops. But they are absolutely committed to U.S. success in Iraq, no matter the cost to themselves. And as they trickle out of the service in coming years and rise to prominence in civilian life, the ability of the home front in these difficult days not to pity them, but to sustain them in their mission, could have enormous consequences for the future of American politics.

Well-written and illuminating. Give it a read.

The Best Media Quotes of the Year

Brent Bozell's Media Research Center has a rip-snorting collection of the year's most egregious examples of media bias (I'll let you guess in which direction the bias goes). Here's a choice one. It's the winner of the "Politics of Meaninglessness Award for the Silliest Analysis":

"It’s been 11 days since two African-American teenagers were killed, electrocuted during a police chase, which prompted all of this."

— Anchor Carol Lin after a Nov. 6 CNN Sunday Night story about riots in France. The two teenagers were not Americans, but French citizens of Tunisian heritage.

I love stories like this XXXIII

Reading a Christmas story featuring Santa Claus should be a pretty low-impact assignment for a substitute 1st grade teacher, right? Not in Lickdale, Pennsylvania, it isn't, where Theresa Farrisi made the decision to tell the brutal truth:

Farrisi doesn’t believe in Santa Claus, and she doesn’t think anyone else should, either. She made her feelings clear to the classroom full of 6- and 7-year-olds, some of whom went home crying.

“The teacher stopped reading and told us no one comes down the chimney,” Jamey said, curling into a ball on the couch, bracing her chin on her knees, her voice shrinking away like melting ice cream. “She said our parents buy the presents, not Santa.”

Of course, there's more. You can always rely on the school administrators to come up with some choice bureaucratese in situations like this:

Northern Lebanon School District Superintendent Don L. Bell...said he was aware that several parents have expressed concerns about the incident. He also noted that the handling of Santa Claus isn’t covered in the school code. “We do not have a Santa Claus policy,” he said.

Merry Christmas from your self-righteous teacher, you misguided and misinformed kids!

Recent commentary: The NYT wiretapping story

Should the New York Times have revealed the president's wiretap methods?

(published 26-Dec-2005, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Sure is a convenient plug for New York Times reporter James Risen’s book, “State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration.” They sat on it for 14 months and now, just before the book release, the story comes out. Curiosly the Times did NOT run it before last year’s Presidential election. Kind of puts a different spin on liberal bias in the media. But should they have revealed it? I'm more interested in the larger question “Should our government be doing this sort of thing?” Or, “Will whoever’s the President during the next spectacular terrorist attack on American soil be lynched or not?” While you ponder that one, remember what Dostoevsky said: “Man is tormented by no greater anxiety than to find someone quickly to whom he can hand over that great gift of freedom with which the ill-fated creature is born.”

A libertarian Christmas

These two items come from the latest Advocates for Self-Government newsletter, The Liberator Online. The Advocates are the folks with the famous World's Smallest Political Quiz.

Will the Feds Bust Santa Claus?
by George Getz

When Santa Claus comes to town this week, he'd better watch out -- because the federal government may be making a list of his crimes (and checking it twice), the Libertarian Party warned today.

"Hark the federal agents sing, Santa is guilty of nearly everything," said Libertarian Party press secretary George Getz. "The feds know when Santa's been bad or good -- and he's been bad, for goodness sakes."

Does Santa belong in the slammer? Instead of stuffing stockings, should he be making license plates?

Yes, said Getz, if he's held to the same standards as a typical American. For example:

* Every December 25, the illegal immigrant known as Santa Claus crosses the border into the United States without a passport. He carries concealed contraband, which he sneaks into the country in order to avoid inspection by the U.S. Customs Service. And just what's in all those brightly colored packages tied up with ribbons, anyway? The Drug Czar and Homeland Security want to know.

* Look at how this international fugitive gets around: Santa flies in a custom-built sleigh that hasn't been approved by the FAA. He never files a flight plan. He has no pilot's license. In the dark of night, he rides the skies with just a tiny bioluminescent red light to guide him -- a clear violation of traffic safety regulations.

* Pulling Santa's sleigh: Eight tiny reindeer, a federally protected species being put to hard labor. None of these reindeer have their required shots, and Santa's never bothered to get these genetically- engineered animals registered and licensed. It's no wonder: He keeps them penned outside his workplace in a clear violation of zoning laws.

* But Crooked Claus the Conniving Capitalist harms more than just animals -- he's hurting hard-working American laborers, too. Isn't Santa's Workshop really Santa's Sweatshop, where his non-union employees don't make minimum wage and get no holiday pay? Add the fact that OSHA has never inspected the place, and you have a Third-World elf-exploitation operation that only Kathy Lee Gifford could love.

* No wonder Santa is able to maintain his monopoly over the toy distribution industry: He's cornered the Christmas gift market. Santa dares to give away his products for free in a sinister attempt to crush all competition -- just like Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Antitrust Lawsuit Memo to the feds: Is Santa Claus the Bill Gates of Christmas?

The bottom line, said Getz: "It might be tough sledding for Jolly St. Nick this Christmas if the government decides to prosecute him.

"We're just surprised it hasn't already happened. After all, Santa Claus is everything that politicians aren't: He's popular, reliable, and gives us something for nothing every December 25th -- instead of taking our money every April 15th."
_____________________________________

HOLIDAY POEM

A Liberty Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas,
And all through the land
Libertarians dreamed of the ideals of
Rothbard, Hayek and Rand.

Enchanted by this glorious vision of liberty,
Many yearned for better ways to help their neighbors see
The great benefits that would come if they'd only embrace
A philosophy of freedom for all, whatever country or race.

At our home the stockings and decorations were up,
We'd left Santa some cookies and some milk in a cup.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of Liberty danced in their heads.

I in my Advocates T-shirt, and Mom in her Self-Governor's Cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When outside the window there arose such a clatter
That I leapt from my bed to see what was the matter!

There through the window I saw an amazing sight
That any other time of year would have given me a fright!
A sleigh pulled by reindeer flashing through the sky so quick,
And led by no less than -- Jolly Old St. Nick!

As he roared through the air, heading straight for my abode,
I saw the sled was groaning with a tremendous load
Of packages, treasures, treats and toys --
Gifts for all good men, women, girls and boys!

More rapid than a jet, right toward me they came!
And I heard Old St. Nick call each reindeer by name:
"Now Tolerance! Now Free Enterprise! Now Liberty!
Onward Peace, and Free Speech, and Prosperity!"

He kept calling their names in that manner, and 'twas thus
I realized with a start --"Hey, Santa's one of Us!"

I had always admired this very special man,
Who flew 'round the world without posting an FAA flight plan,
Who crossed national borders with impunity each year,
And never registered his team with the U.S. Department of Reindeer.
Who laughed at licenses and permits and just made his own route,
And ran a safe, clean, happy workshop far from OSHA's obnoxious snout.
Who lived independent and government-free at the icy North Pole,
Far away from taxes, regulations and the dole.

So I tiptoed downstairs to peep into the den,
And try and steal a sight of that jolly old gentleman
Who had brought such joy to millions in so many lands.
Oh, to see him in action, alive, first-hand!

I heard the sleigh touch lightly down upon the roof,
Strange noises from my chimney came... then -- POOF!
There was Santa standing boldly beside our Christmas tree,
Bigger than life in red and white -- an awesome sight to see!

He took a bite of our cookies and said, "Hmmmm -- not bad!"
Then wrote a quick note of thanks to our youngest lad.
Then he reached down into the bulging bag at his side,
And talked aloud as he brought out what was stuffed inside:

"Here's a new computer for Johnny, and it's all set
To take him to the Advocates' Web page on the Internet!
While there he can also subscribe, for free,
To the Liberator Online, the Advocates' email bi-weekly!

"Sally wants to reach libertarians in her home town,
So I've brought her the best outreach tool around!
Operation Politically Homeless (OPH) will do the trick --
She'll find hundreds of new libertarians!" chuckled jolly old St. Nick.

Then he pulled out a vast supply of pocket-sized cards
And I could guess what they were, without trying too hard.
"Here's a few thousand World's Smallest Political Quizzes, too!
That should last them for at least a month or two!

"This family wants to communicate the ideas of freedom clearly,
So here are two fine tape sets which they will treasure dearly:
The Communication Power Pack and The Essence of Political Persuasion
Will make them Master Communicators, no matter what the occasion!"

From his bag he brought forth still more great surprises --
Libertarian T-shirts in all different sizes,
All festooned with neat slogans. Then there were books galore --
By Browne, Bergland, Cloud, Ruwart and so many more!

By now our living room seemed filled to overflowing,
But still Santa kept on going and going.
He scattered audio tapes by the dozen in every empty spot.
"There are so many great Advocates tapes -- they'll like all these a lot!

He was bringing out still more goodies, but I could stand it no more
So I stepped out from hiding and stood by the door.
He smiled at me and winked, and I knew instantly
He'd known I had been there throughout his gift-giving spree.

"I just wanted to thank you --" I began to say.
But he held up his hand and smiled in his jolly way.
"There's no need for thanks! It's a great pleasure to me
To give gifts to people who care so much about liberty!

"The Advocates has made it easy for me and my elves --
In fact, we hardly have any work to do ourselves!
For people who want to see our world freed,
The Advocates has just the products, tools, and services we need.

"If you want to thank me, the best thing you can do
Is to support the Advocates -- and put these great tools to work for you.
Oh, there's one thing more I want to leave. Here --
Keep this Libertarian Communicator magazine handy, so you can order
throughout the year!"

I wanted to say more, but he put his finger to his nose,
Then -- POOF! Straight up through my chimney he rose!
I went to my window, and saw the sleigh rise into the sky,
And as they faded away, I heard Santa cry:

"On, Free Speech! On, Tolerance! On, Liberty!
Our world is yearning to be set free!
One day soon all will see freedom's bright shining light --
Merry Christmas to all! And to all, a Good Night!"

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE ADVOCATES!

If you'd like to see this in formatted form -- including links to the products Santa mentions -- click here.

I love stories like this XXXII

Hello! Mom and Dad! I'm calling from the police station. Now don't get all upset! I just took some of those cool fake $20 bills you made last night to school today. I must've used one by accident to pay for lunch...you're not mad, are you? So, are you gonna come get me? And can Billy come over and play?

I love stories like this XXXI

You can't make this stuff up! 15-year-old boy shoots his father and then burns the house down because he was afraid dad would be upset with his grades.

ADD then and now

Jerry Pournelle had this to say about the use of drugs to, well, drug unruly boys:

...to call attention to the fact that we are using drugs when that may not be the right way to go. It may be the ONLY way with some children, but boys must learn self-discipline, and they do not learn it by being kept "calm" with drugs. This seems self-evident to me. And of course there are incentives for the drug companies to push profitable drugs, and for teachers already faced with discipline problems to turn to recommending drugs as a way out of the hard work that teaching self-control to unruly boys, and particularly to bright unruly boys always is. If drugs had been available when I was a teen I do not believe the Christian Brothers who were responsible for my high school education would have turned to them; but I know that the principal of Capleville Consolidated where I went to grade and middle school after we left Memphis and St. Anne's, would have greeted a way to drug me to calmness with shrieks of joy. Fortunately that alternative wasn't available to her, and a willow switch and then a wooden paddle were the instruments she had the legal authority to apply. Those worked: I learned to control myself in order to avoid pain. It is an ancient learning mechanism designed by Nature (Intelligent or not) and perfected over tens of thousands of years. Of course we all know better now.

I love stories like this XXVIII revisited

Another hidden camera in a boys' john? Yep! This time it was found at Wichita East High School:

An East High freshman faces expulsion for something the district says never should have happened. Monday Charles Rogers discovered a camera in the foyer of the boy’s bathroom. "The camera there period surprised me. It was a little spy camera, I didn't think anything like that was in the bathroom. I didn't think it was the schools, I thought it was a perverted janitor," Charles said.

I love stories like this XXX

You've heard the expression, "Anything goes?" Here are some of the lyrics to the Cole Porter song from the musical of the same name:

In olden days a glimpse of stockings
Was looked on as something shocking.
Now heaven knows
Anything goes.

There aren't any lyrics, as such, to the modern version of "anything goes." And a glimpse of stockings? Well, read this if you dare.

An Aussie gets it right

A clear view of the Iraq war and the political stakes in the U.S. as seen by a professor in Sydney:

You would think the moral of the story would be clearer, i.e. don’t cut and run again. In other words -- having gone into Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003 – don’t leave as soon as the American interest, narrowly defined, has been satisfied. The Taliban is out and there are no al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. Saddam is down and there are no WMDs in Iraq. By some measures, this is all that matters to the American interest. If, however, we are to learn from our recent history in the region, it is imperative that we stay in Afghanistan and Iraq and see them through to democratization, the rule of law, responsible governance, and popular empowerment. Even when our direct, short-term interests are no longer at stake, it’s clear that our long term interests matter too.

Does this seem like 'news' to you?

The Drudge Report headline reads Report: California Unprepared for Tsunami... Does anyone else go, "Well, duh!" at this amazing revelation?

Tsunami waves generated by a large offshore earthquake would threaten at least 1 million coastal residents in California and inundate the nation's largest port complex, according to a new report. The bleak study being released Monday found gaps in the state's readiness to handle a tsunami, including flaws in the existing warning system, lack of evacuation plans by coastal communities, and building codes that don't take into account tsunami-strength surges. In addition, many residents are unaware of the potential danger of tsunami waves and wouldn't know how to respond, the report said.

The next story we'll see will be about the state of unpreparedness of those hapless southern Californians regarding mudslides, forest fires, droughts, heavy rain, and space alien invasions. Of course there'll be the obligatory TV mini-series about a tsunami that wipes out Catalina Island and Redondo Beach.

Just surfing II

Do you like personality profile quizzes? Here's a whole bunch of them: http://www.humanmetrics.com/.

How about Lieberman-Feingold in '08?

A couple of Senate mavericks: Wisconsin's Feingold was the only Senator to vote against the original Patriot Act. Connecticut's Lieberman has just thrown the Democrat party leaders for a loop with his support of the Iraq war:

In the last few days, the senator has riled Democratic activists and politicians here and in his home state with his vigorous defense of President Bush's handling of the Iraq war at a time some Democrats are pressuring the administration to begin a withdrawal.

Mr. Lieberman particularly infuriated his colleagues when he pointed out at a conference here that President Bush would be commander in chief for three more years and said that "it's time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that."

A couple of mavericks in the White House? It could happen!

I love stories like this XXIX

As David George said in his excellent The top 10 reasons public schooling is better than home-schooling: "3) How can children learn to defend themselves unless they have to fight off bullies on a daily basis?" Hurricane Katrina evacuees have been attending high school in Houston for a while now, and things are coming to a boil:

A brawl that began in the Westbury High School cafeteria Wednesday and spilled outdoors capped weeks of growing tension between Houston students and Hurricane Katrina evacuees and resulted in the arrest of 27 students.

The fight Wednesday was sparked, students said, when a girl made a gang sign in or near the cafeteria and a boy loudly cursed New Orleans. It quickly spread to other areas of campus and then outdoors.

Graffiti scrawled on the door of a girls restroom seems to mark the built-up tensions. On the door's center, "New Orleans Takin' Over," is crossed out. Nearby, "H-town forever!" is scrawled. The phrase "Go home" is answered with a crude "no." Profanities litter the door.

Including the New Orleans students, Westbury High School has nearly 2500 kids. My town of little ol' Neenah has a high school with over 2400 kids. That's about 10% of the population in one building three city blocks long.

It got me to thinking about the nature of bureaucracy. A couple of very nice caricatures of bureaucracies and bureaucrats are presented in the movies "Brazil" and "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

School bureaucracies are different than your typical garden-variety bureaucracy because schools truss up ... er ... cage ... um ... process ... ah ... nurture, that's it! Schools nurture our children. But there's still that fiddlin' bureaucracy that is founded on the principles of well-defined turf, finely-defined division of labor, and forms, forms, forms.

Those darned fist-fights in the cafeteria just don't fit the bureaucratic profile and make the bureaucrats look bad. They try their best:

"I feel certain that the administration is going to look into this," [Houston Independent School District Board President Dianne Johnson] said. "We're certainly going to take whatever steps it takes to make sure that students are safe when they attend school."

I think that Neenah High School should be busted up into, say, 10 or 20 mini-schools in that humongous building: specialty schools, tech-ed schools, liberal arts schools, etc. Of course, they'll still be publicly-funded compulsory-attendance zoos, but they'll at least be smaller zoos.

More on illegal immigration: a wall and bounties

Jerry Pournelle's site has an exchange between a letter writer and Jerry himself; suggestions that neither of them think will be tried. First a wall:

Put up a wall / fence / SOMETHING at our southern border. Patrol it, and give the patrols some teeth.

Then offer a bounty:

If we were to offer $2,500 to $5,000 a head for illegal immigrants delivered to the Border Patrol by bounty hunters, no questions asked – we don't mind if they turn in each other – with a very stiff hard labor sentence in a chain gang for repeat offenders, it would cost at most a couple of billion dollars a year, and the more it cost the more successful it would be.

There's more at the site. Are these things worth trying?

I love stories like this XXVIII

Was this vandalism or was it a proper reaction by a child whose privacy was being invaded?

A Jasper County mother says her 8th grade son found a video camera taping in the school bathroom this week. But now, he is the one in trouble. Cindy Champion says her son, Mac Bedor, and a few of his friends took the camera out of the ceiling because they felt it violated their privacy.

[H]igh school principal, Howard Fore, put the camera there...to catch students vandalizing.

County District Attorney, Howard Simms...says cameras in public school bathrooms are legal because schools have more leeway on privacy issues.

I suppose locker rooms are next...

Recent commentary: How about those illegal immigrants?

How should the nation handle illegal immigration?

(published 5-Dec-2005, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Ask the people that hire Central Americans to do yard work. You can't hire an American for even twice as much money who will do even half as much work even half as well. So, an illegal is worth 8 times as much as an American, at least when it comes to yard work. But what to do about them? It was different when Ellis Island was the main entry point. Now they come by boat from Cuba and Haiti, over the Rio Grande from Mexico, and over Niagra Falls from Canada. No, wait! There aren't any illegal immigrants from Canada! Maybe if we shipped all of the illegals to Canada they'd stay there since, clearly, Canada is a very nice place. OK, here’s what to do. All funding for bi-lingual education should be cut off, English declared the official language, and all government business should be conducted in English.

For those of you really worried

Anthro-centric global warming: is it the major cause of the gradual rise in temperatures we've been experiencing or isn't it? I think not. The major cause of the rise is the sun.

People in general don't know about the temperature variations the earth has experienced in the past. For example, did you know that the Vikings established dairy farms in Greenland a thousand years ago or so? We can still see them ... under the ice.

Did you know that the Thames River in London and the Zuyder Zee in Holland used to freeze over in the period known as the "Little Ice Age" during the 17th-19th centuries. The Hudson River in New York used to freeze solid in the 18th century. Good thing, too, or Washington would have had a hell of a time getting his cannons across the river during the Revolutionary War.

If you think that anthro-centric global warming has increased the number and ferocity of hurricanes (as Robert Kennedy, Jr., does) I think you can put your mind at rest. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a report denying that possibility:

NOAA research shows that the tropical multi-decadal signal is causing the increased Atlantic hurricane activity since 1995, and is not related to greenhouse warming.

So cease your ceaseless hand-wringing!

The military propaganda in Iraqi newspapers

I want us to win, unequivocally. Sure, I have second thoughts about why we marched in there in the first place, but make no mistake, I want us to win.

We have been "revealed" to the penetrating gaze of the rest of the world to be as venal, mean, unfair, and crass as any other invading power in history. Nazi Germany had nothing on us in terms of brutality, We're right up there with Stalinist Russia in terms of the murder machine. We're Machiavellian, heartless, morally degraded, rapacious, and cruel.

Tough. I don't care two figs for our "image" over there. I care that we win. If the propaganda doesn't have the desired effect, well then I say we try something else to help us win.

So our slip is showing, so what? So a few more anti-Americans get elected to national office as a result, so what? Are we there to win or not?

I don't even care if our soldiers inject steroids to improve their war-like demeanor. Whaddaya think o' that?

What do I mean by "win?" I mean "utterly destroy the enemy and so demoralize our potential enemies that they're not tempted to poke the snake to see what happens." Don't tread on me!

The finer nuances of how the military should conduct its focus groups or maintain its media image or prosecute its civilian outreach programs are lost on me. Are they winning? is what I care about.

Just surfing I

Have you heard of Yoox.com? Some very ... really ... um ... creative ... er ... photos of women in extremely strange clothes.