Many say that congress has important unfinished business as they adjourn and go home for the holidays. Congress just left to start their two weeks off for Thanksgiving holidays. Afterwards they can come back and get to work. At least until the Christmas recess starts.
Congress gets two weeks off for Thanksgiving. How many days did your employer give you off?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Barry Bonds and Martha Stewart
The government arrested Barry Bonds on charges, and he potentially faces 30 years in prison. The case centers around his use of drugs, but that is not what he is arrested for. Instead of being accused of using drugs, he is accused to not telling the truth.
This is I suppose much like the case of Martha Stewart. She was not convicted of insider trader. She was convicted of lying about her trading activities.
I find this trend of prosecutors to be disturbing. If Barry Bonds committed a "real" crime, and there is a need to punish him, then I think they should pursue the underlying crime, not the lying about the crime. If there is no underlying crime, then how can he be convicted of lying about the crime?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say that perjury should not be a crime. It is a crime and should be a crime. What I am suggesting is that if a prosecutor cannot get enough evidence to substantiate that the crime occurred and he can't prosecute the actual underlying crime, then he should not use a secondary offense of perjury to attack the same suspect.
This is I suppose much like the case of Martha Stewart. She was not convicted of insider trader. She was convicted of lying about her trading activities.
I find this trend of prosecutors to be disturbing. If Barry Bonds committed a "real" crime, and there is a need to punish him, then I think they should pursue the underlying crime, not the lying about the crime. If there is no underlying crime, then how can he be convicted of lying about the crime?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say that perjury should not be a crime. It is a crime and should be a crime. What I am suggesting is that if a prosecutor cannot get enough evidence to substantiate that the crime occurred and he can't prosecute the actual underlying crime, then he should not use a secondary offense of perjury to attack the same suspect.
Friday, September 14, 2007
September 11th
I had a Friend of mine who does not get out much ask me if there would be activities concerning the 9-11 events of past. I replied that I was sure that people would hold vigils, visit memorials, make speeches, and otherwise give power to the terrorists.
In other countries where terrorism is a regular occurrence, if a bus is bombed, another bus picks up passengers at the same stop the next day. If a store is blown up, it is rebuilt and sells it's wares again. In contrast, here when a building in New York was destroyed, we leveled the ground and put up a memorial to the might of the terrorists.
By January, three months later, more people had died on our highways than in all of the 9-11 events. Did we as a nation give them a second glance? No. But we are still showing the terrorists how they shook us, even though years have passed.
A few, a very few letters with Anthrax were found and the mail system was practically shut down and then reworked in Washington, DC. In the same year thousands died from the flu, but did it make top news week after week?
Giving 9-11 attention empowers the terrorists. Changing our way of life empowers the terrorists. The way to defeat the terrorists is to just go on and continue life as if nothing happened.
In other countries where terrorism is a regular occurrence, if a bus is bombed, another bus picks up passengers at the same stop the next day. If a store is blown up, it is rebuilt and sells it's wares again. In contrast, here when a building in New York was destroyed, we leveled the ground and put up a memorial to the might of the terrorists.
By January, three months later, more people had died on our highways than in all of the 9-11 events. Did we as a nation give them a second glance? No. But we are still showing the terrorists how they shook us, even though years have passed.
A few, a very few letters with Anthrax were found and the mail system was practically shut down and then reworked in Washington, DC. In the same year thousands died from the flu, but did it make top news week after week?
Giving 9-11 attention empowers the terrorists. Changing our way of life empowers the terrorists. The way to defeat the terrorists is to just go on and continue life as if nothing happened.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Candy Guns
A five year old was suspended for bringing a candy filled water gun to school in Prince George's county Maryland. The school has a policy against students bringing to school weapons, instruments that can be used as weapons or instruments that look like weapons. The school argues that the candy dispenser looked like a weapon.
I have to wonder if the person handling the suspension is purely administrative, or if they are also responsible within the school system for helping form young minds and aid them in making judgements. This did not look like a gun, this looked like a toy filled with candy.
If this person involved in processing the suspension is a teacher I think they should be removed for incompetence. If the teacher cannot tell the difference between a brightly colored candy dispenser and a real weapon then they have no business helping to shape young minds.
I have to wonder if the person handling the suspension is purely administrative, or if they are also responsible within the school system for helping form young minds and aid them in making judgements. This did not look like a gun, this looked like a toy filled with candy.
If this person involved in processing the suspension is a teacher I think they should be removed for incompetence. If the teacher cannot tell the difference between a brightly colored candy dispenser and a real weapon then they have no business helping to shape young minds.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Waxman P2P Reforms Favor Terrorists
Rep. Waxman (D) has publicly announced that he thinks that P2P software is a threat to National Security. He seems to base this on the idea that P2P software, like Limewire, can globally share files stored on a computer and make them available to anyone anywhere in the world.
Interestingly enough, Waxman does not fault government agencies for storing classified documents on computers with shared drives, nor does he blame the problem on government employees who either do not understand security polices or do not follow them. Frankly, Waxman appears to be totally clueless concerning P2P technology.
Terrorists worldwide have nothing to fear as long as men like Waxman stand up and do the useless while completely avoiding the necessary.
Interestingly enough, Waxman does not fault government agencies for storing classified documents on computers with shared drives, nor does he blame the problem on government employees who either do not understand security polices or do not follow them. Frankly, Waxman appears to be totally clueless concerning P2P technology.
Terrorists worldwide have nothing to fear as long as men like Waxman stand up and do the useless while completely avoiding the necessary.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Minimum wage increase
I've concluded I like McDonald's breakfast over Burger King. I like eating with a knife and fork rather than only having a sandwich, and I prefer the McDonald's taste. I'd rather have my meal in a regular restaurant, but McDonald's is about half the price. To be blunt, I enjoy riding the backs of those who make minimum wage.
I don't make minimum wage. I haven't for decades. I often interact with this odd group of people. As of late, they seem to look at me strangely as if I am demented. I feel tempted to remind them I am not the one making minimum wage.
Today my breakfast was $4.89 with tax, beverage, and pancakes added on. Having grown up when minimum wage was in the two dollar range, I learned to make change working at McDonald's before the advent of the electronic cash register. I handed the cashier a five dollar bill, a dime, and four pennies which made her look at the change in an odd way, then look at me in an even odder fashion. Obviously she felt I was demented, possibly dropped on my head when I was younger. Entering the cash received into her keyboard the register then spit out two dimes and a nickle which the cashier handed to me saying "It was $4.89". Somehow she felt she had to admonish me for having not known how to give her the correct change in the first place.
I replied saying, "Yes, I know. I was anticipating a quarter in return." Somehow she caught on and took the two dimes and a nickle back and gave me a quarter.
News reports this morning indicate that for many people today's minimum wage hike is the first raise they have had in ten years. I don't have sympathy for them. I don't believe in minimum wage's purpose to be to provide a living wage for people. If they want more money then they should learn to do something more than minimum work and they will move up to more than minimum wage.
I don't make minimum wage. I haven't for decades. I often interact with this odd group of people. As of late, they seem to look at me strangely as if I am demented. I feel tempted to remind them I am not the one making minimum wage.
Today my breakfast was $4.89 with tax, beverage, and pancakes added on. Having grown up when minimum wage was in the two dollar range, I learned to make change working at McDonald's before the advent of the electronic cash register. I handed the cashier a five dollar bill, a dime, and four pennies which made her look at the change in an odd way, then look at me in an even odder fashion. Obviously she felt I was demented, possibly dropped on my head when I was younger. Entering the cash received into her keyboard the register then spit out two dimes and a nickle which the cashier handed to me saying "It was $4.89". Somehow she felt she had to admonish me for having not known how to give her the correct change in the first place.
I replied saying, "Yes, I know. I was anticipating a quarter in return." Somehow she caught on and took the two dimes and a nickle back and gave me a quarter.
News reports this morning indicate that for many people today's minimum wage hike is the first raise they have had in ten years. I don't have sympathy for them. I don't believe in minimum wage's purpose to be to provide a living wage for people. If they want more money then they should learn to do something more than minimum work and they will move up to more than minimum wage.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Geneva Convention defied
I enjoyed watching Hogan's Heroes, a TV show about a group of prisoners in a Nazi prison camp during WWII. The prisoners lived a hard life in substandard conditions, but the Nazis treated them fairly. They received Red Cross packages, mail, and Colonel Hogan was given respect from Shultz and Klink under the rules of the Geneva convention.
This was not reality TV, it was a comedy on a set. Is the US implementation of the Geneva Convention in current times a reality show, or is it a comedy of errors?
Bush has repeatedly made the claim that the enemy combatants detained are not eligible for the rights of the Geneva Convention. This shows a lack of respect for the soldiers of the US Army. We certainly want our soldiers to be treated well if captured. I'm convinced the American soldiers themselves want to have the Geneva convention applied to them.
If we ignore international law, or for that matter, international ethics, just what freedom are we fighting for?
Today Bush published documents to give US polices a veneer of alignment with prisoner treatment policies the Supreme Court has required. Still human rights groups are not convinced that Bush is in the right place here. And still Bush is saying he will not allow visits by the Red Cross, even sham visits like on Hogan's Heroes. Nor will he allow the detainees to contact their families.
Maybe for an encore Bush can kill off all of the Indians and take their land.
This was not reality TV, it was a comedy on a set. Is the US implementation of the Geneva Convention in current times a reality show, or is it a comedy of errors?
Bush has repeatedly made the claim that the enemy combatants detained are not eligible for the rights of the Geneva Convention. This shows a lack of respect for the soldiers of the US Army. We certainly want our soldiers to be treated well if captured. I'm convinced the American soldiers themselves want to have the Geneva convention applied to them.
If we ignore international law, or for that matter, international ethics, just what freedom are we fighting for?
Today Bush published documents to give US polices a veneer of alignment with prisoner treatment policies the Supreme Court has required. Still human rights groups are not convinced that Bush is in the right place here. And still Bush is saying he will not allow visits by the Red Cross, even sham visits like on Hogan's Heroes. Nor will he allow the detainees to contact their families.
Maybe for an encore Bush can kill off all of the Indians and take their land.
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