Slippery Jurisprudence

Some interesting comments on Scalia's dissent in McCreary:

Scalia is engaged in a slippery bit of rhetoric here, but his central argument is simply wrong. The notion that preventing the government from ordering displays honoring or endorsing a particular religious viewpoint would mean that "there could be no religion in the public forum at all" is absurd on the face of it. The issue is not what "one" may express, as he put it, in the public square, it is what government may officially declare in the public square. Individuals, including political leaders, are and will remain free to acknowledge God and their religious faith in the public square, as they do literally thousands of times every day around this country. This has precisely nothing to do with the issue in the McCreary case, and Scalia's pretense that it does is just so much overblown rhetoric.

Application submitted to NH city council to condemn Justice Souter's house for hotel...

"This is not a prank.."
http://www.freestarmedia.com/hotellostliberty2.html

A betrayed Republican quits

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/06/26/ed.col.chaney.0626.html

Major League Baseball ownership

Bush Pioneers buying baseball teams: good.
George Soros buying baseball teams: doubleplusungood.

The Armstrong Williams News Hour

Oh. So that's what they're up to.

If you liked the fake government news videos that ended up on local stations - or thrilled to the “journalism” of Armstrong Williams and other columnists who were covertly paid to promote administration policies - you’ll love the brave new world this crowd envisions for public TV and radio.

Tom follows up.

And it's even longer than the last one.

See, what I said was the truth. If you support, defend, or explain away the works of evil men, you are yourself evil.

But I do realize that there are a whole lot of people out there who not only believe that George W. Bush is not evil, but that his political opponents are. And, therefore, they believe that, at the very least, they themselves are not evil.

I'll accept that. Up to a point. There are, however, a few things to consider.

Eurolefties fund Iraq insurgency

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050623/23euroleft.htm

Tom Smith's mad as hell...

...and he isn't going to take it any more!

Here's What You Need to Know About Gitmo

http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/lileks062205.html

Prewar British Memo Says War Decision Wasn't Made

The so-called "Smoking Gun" Downing Street memo really has very little bite to it and is certainly not official considering it is the opinion of one anonymous source. And still so many anti-Bush anti-Iraq war anti-everything use it as proof we've been lied to. The facts don't bear that out. But, don't let the facts get in the way of opinion.

This other memo covered by the New York Times, certainly not an official or unofficial arm of the Republican party, even flys in the face of that "smoking gun" memo. Why aren't those critics mentioning this memo? Oh, yeah. It doesn't suit their purposes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/politics/13downing.html?

Durbin on Guantanamo

Bilmon comments at length on Richard Durbin's speech to the Senate.

Cheap Reparations

http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/06/14/lynching/

Step by Step

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006812

A roundup of the past three weeks' good news from Iraq.

Howard and Hillary sing the same tune

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/318288p-272071c.html

Republicans Target Elmo and Sesame Street for Destruction

Are we over-reaching yet?

Pocket PC Thoughts :: Mobile

This is cool. It allows you to remotely manage your PPC desktop from your PC.

Chairman silences Democrats at a hearing on the Patriot Act

read and watch here

Particularly shameful acts of the majority Republican during this morning’s Judiciary Committee Hearing:

1. The most egregious abuse was that the Chairman clearly violated the Rules of the House by adjourning the hearing based solely on his own authority. In order to end a hearing, the Chair must make a Unanimous Consent request or a motion to adjourn. Mr. Sensenbrenner did neither. Additionally, he adjourned the hearing based solely on his own authority while Mr. Nadler was attempting to raise a point of order (arguably to highlight this fact), which constitutes a clear abuse of House Rules. Subject to our discretion, this could constitute a privilege to be raised on the House floor. It can also be argued that this violation was particularly egregious given that this was the Minority’s day of hearings. (begins at 1:51:00 on video)

2. After the Chairman illegally adjourned the hearing, the Majority then attempted to cut the microphone of Mr. Nadler who was attempting to raise a point of order about the adjournment. (begins at 1:52:25 on video)

3. The Chairman refused on numerous occasions to recognize Members attempting to raise Points of Order or Points of Personal Privilege. For example, he refused to recognize both Ms. Jackson-Lee and Ms. Wasserman-Schultz at the very beginning of the hearing. (begins at 17:45 on video or 19:15)

4. During the hearing, the Chairman clearly referred to comments that had just been made by Ms. Jackson-Lee, calling them “irresponsible.”

5. The Chair gave one of the witnesses an order for information he wanted submitted to the Committee and gave a deadline of one week even though other witnesses in previous hearings have not been given such deadlines. (begins at 1:50:45 on video)

6. The Chairman at the beginning of the hearing read a list of Members – calling them by name – who signed the letter requesting an additional day of hearings but were not present at that moment at the hearing. The Rules of the House clearly state that Members cannot be disparaged on the record by name. Additionally, a number of the Members so disparaged were present at that moment and some had been present from before the hearing even began. (begins 5:30 on video)

7. The Chairman instituted a policy of cutting off witnesses responding to questions by Members in mid-sentence. Additionally, he would not let witnesses answer questions that were posed to them by Members before the Member’s five minutes ended (begins at 1:32:30 on video). While not a violation of the Rules, these actions clearly violated the Traditions and Practices of the House Judiciary Committee. Chairman Sessenbrenner usually allows witnesses to finish their sentences – and usually their broader point – before moving to the next Member. In addition, the usual practice is to allow witnesses to briefly respond to questions posed to them, even if the five minutes of the Member expired before they began to answer (begins at 1:47:00 on video).

8. The Chairman also suggested that he might strike from the record any testimony that was not directly related to the 16 expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act. At no time has it ever been suggested or threatened that a witnesses testimony (or a Member’s statements) would be stricken from the record. Additionally, in previous hearings, the Majority’s witnesses, as well the Majority Members have made statements that were technically outside the bounds of the hearing topic.

Systm

SPIELBERG SLAMS HOLLYWOOD FOR FAILING KERRY

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/spielberg%20slams%20hollywood%20for%20failing%20kerry

Waaahhh!! Boo hoo !!!

Personally, any time Hollywood opens its collective mouth on anything, that's a turn-off for me. They don't represent reality and have no more an informed an opinion as the person on the street does.

Dean's World! Party On!

(With apologies to Dana Carvey and Mike Myer's wonderful skit and the Deans World blog)

Announcer: "And now on CATV 11, we present the Chairman of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean."
Intro: "Dean's World! Dean's World! Party on! Party on!" (Camera zooms in and out wildly)
Dean: "Hi everyone! I'm Howard Dean and with me is the most excellent dude, Ted Kennedy. Party on, Ted!"
Ted: "Party on, Howie!"
Dean: "Cool! OK!" (winks) "Today we're going to talk about those really mean guys, and you know who I mean: The Republicans!"
Ted: "They're so totally uncool it makes me want to hurl!"
Dean: "Hey, Ted, cool it - did you take your meds today? We don't have the bucks for clean-up if you hurl, dude."
Ted: "But what about all those guys runnin' around gettin' bling-bling for us?"
Dean: "You mean the fundraisers? Gone, dude. Most heinous..not to say totally bogus!"
Ted: "No way!"
Dean: "Way!."
Dean: "But that's not why we're here...we're hear to talk with our man Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico, and a really cool dude. Did you know he's Hispanic?"
Ted: "Really. Woww. Like, where'd he get the name Richardson, then?"
Dean: "Dunno. Maybe an evil Republican snuck into the hospital when he was a little baby and switched name caards around or somethin'."
Ted: "Bogus! Yeah, that's just the sorta thing those bastards would do (hic)."
Dean: "Yeah....so, anyway, come on in Bill!"
Dean and Ted: "Dean's World! Party on!" (in chorus)
Bill: "Hi, fellows!"
Dean and Ted: "You're not worthy! You're not worthy!" (in chorus)
Bill: "Don't you mean, 'we're not worthy'?"
Dean: "No dude, we're worthy, OK? But we heard you're not like on the ticket and saying you don't go along with what we're telling the folks. Uncool, bud."
Bill: "Well I'd hope you'd understand that I serve all people of the state of New Mexico and, as such, I don't think it's fair to characterize all Republicans as 'white, Christians who've never worked a day in their lives'."
Dean: "But it's true, Bill-o-mine! And it's my Party so I can say it, dude, and you guys are supposed to live it and keep in line!"
Ted: "Most excellent, Howie!" (high fives Dean)
Dean: "Party on, Ted!"
Bill: "But many of my friends and colleagues are Republicans and I wouldn't characterize them all as rich white Christians. We can't keep demonizing them, we have to have a positive message that appeals to the voters."
Dean: "Ummm...Bill? Did you ever run for President?"
Bill: "No I haven't"
Dean: "Well I did and everytime I asked folks to challenge the Man, dude, they yelled and roared. So, like, I must be right!"
Bill: "Howard, those crowds were your most fervent followers. Of course they did! But that doesn't reflect America."
Dean: "Yeah, like you'll know what works for the Party ... when monkeys fly outta my butt!" (high fives Ted)
Ted: "Maybe Bills like, umm, a spy or something, Howie! Oh, man, I feel dizzy"
Dean: "Maybe, Ted. And you're dizzy 'cause of what was in that empty bottle of Scotch!"
Bill: "Fellows, I'm no traitor to the Party! I just think we're on the wrong message!"
Dean: "Yeah (snicker), right. "
Dean: "We're out of time tonight, but next week we'll yell at Joe Biden who's also saying most heinous things about our speeches. And then we'll speak with that very cool lady, Nancy Pelosi. She doesn't give us any crap."
Ted: "No sir, Howie!"
Dean: "We'll see you later...remember, 'GOP Not for Me!' 'GOP Not for Me!'"
Ted: "Party on, dude!"
Dean: "Party on, Ted! "
Dean and Ted: "Dean's World! Party on!" (in chorus)
Announcer: "This has been a production of CATV 11. Stay tuned for 'We're better, we're smarter, and gosh-darn it people like us!' featuring Al Franken.

Gotta love Texas...

"Hey, queers, clear out!"

Seattle Sound Transit .... What a Boondoggle

It's stories like this that get one to realize that the local area is so blind to common sense and economics in pursuit of mass transit that the monorail program and other pie-in-the-sky transit programs should be cancelled forthwith. Regarding the Sounder train....

From the Seattle Times:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002315528_soundernorth06m.html

Despite those tweaks, weekday ridership remained flat. Just 97,000 one-way passengers took the train last year — and 20,000 of them weren't weekday commuters, but sports fans on special trains bound for weekend football and baseball games.

Operating expenses per passenger topped $40 per one-way trip.

As P.J. O'Rourke once said about the S&L bailout, "What the fuck! What the fucking fuck!" OK, let's do the math. Each rider pays $3, with no discounts, for a one-way fare. This leaves the shortfall at roughly $37 per trip.

So I'm Joe Commuter and use the Sounder ..ohhh.. let's say 40 weeks a year. Thats 200 days or 400 rides. The government will lose, in one year, about $14,500 on just me(!).

And that's just from operating expenses. Capital costs over the last 18 months have been $385 million dollars. Using their own numbers of 97,000 trips per year for 18 months (that's how long it's operated) , that's $385,000,000 divided by 145,500 = roughly $2,650 more per rider.

But wait, it get's better. Only 160 people a day are considered commuters. Assuming that number is good for 50 weeks a year for 18 months and all commuters go roundtrip, that's 24,000 trips. If the gross cost is $40 per trip using the 145,500 number, then the operating cost per commuter per ride is about $242(!!!).

So, the average cost for 40 weeks of commuting by a single commuter is about $97000. And this is before taking capital costs into consideration.

Even you, my fine dyed-in-the-wool liberal buddies, have to see that this is insane. For that amount, why not just buy each commuter a new electric or biodiesel car each year? It'll protect the environment and save about 60% in costs!

What will our Senate get done?

http://www.joplinglobe.com/story.php?story_id=190471&c=96

Win Ben Stein's Marbles

Because he's obviously lost them.

(Title shamelessly swiped from cpk.)

(Update: I have no idea where that link was actually supposed to point. Sorry.)