Embarrassing Congressman

How do these people get elected?  The quality (intelligence, knowledge, concern for civil liberties, etc.) of representatives of both parties in the House is pathetic.  Here's an example.

S.Ct. Grants Prisoner's Handwritten Petition

I don't imagine this happens very often, but the Supreme Court granted this prisoner's handwritten petition for certiorari.  I applaud the Court for giving opportunities to those who can't afford attorneys.

" Violence Tax" on Guns and Ammo

The latest craziness from the gun-controllers. If re-elected, I wonder if Obama will pick up on this idea from his home base (Chicago).

TIH: 1956, 1973, 1987, 2006

OCT. 23


1956


An anti-Stalinist revolt began in Hungary.

1973

President Richard M. Nixon agreed to turn White House tape recordings requested by the Watergate special prosecutor over to Judge John J. Sirica.

1987

The U.S. Senate rejected the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork, 58-42.

2006

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for his role in the company's collapse.

Great Quote on Media Bias

Daily Email - October 19, 2012





Romney Jokes about Media Bias as Reporters Protect Obama

By Cliff Kincaid
October 19, 2012

"Speaking at the Al Smith dinner, which benefits Catholic humanitarian causes, Mitt Romney took on the press in a joking manner that struck many as truthful. “Now I never suggest that the press is biased,” he said. “I recognize that they have their job to do, and I have my job to do. My job is to lay out a positive vision for the future of the country, and their job is to make sure no one else finds out about it.”

The quip is funny, but the lack of ethics in the media, on  most of both the left and right is not. Romney not only has to beat Obama, but most of the mainstream media. This is a very formidable task.

Mayor Bloomberg Unhappy

NannyYork City Mayor  Bloomberg is unhappy about the Presidential debaters not repudiating the Second Amendment.  Welcome to the "City of the free, and the home of the brave." 

TIH: 1765, 2011

Today in history

1765


The Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York, drew up a declaration of rights and liberties.

2011

In Greece, hundreds of youths smashed and looted stores in central Athens and clashed with riot police during a massive anti-government rally against painful new austerity measures.

Interesting Study on Libertarians

This interesting study misses the point that there are at least 2 types of libertarians:
(1) natural law and rights libertarians (this blogger), and
(2) Ayn Rand libertarians (objectivism).
Type 1 theoretically deals only with the relationship between persons and their governments. Type 2 also covers interpersonal relationships.   Personal altruism has nothing to do with 1.  Being puretype 1. does not influence personal characterisitics such as altruism. I consider myself a pure type 1 who is also altruistic. Other type 1's I know seem altruistic to me.  Altruism comes into play only in interpersonal relationships.  The findings on altruism apply only to Rand libertarians.  I suspect that there are more "libertarians" of type 2 than 1. Of course there may be libertarians who are both 1's and 2's and perhaps other  categories.  An interesting, but flawed study that mixes 2 distinct groups together and misses important points.  Any libertarians out there who care to comment?

Geo. Zimmerman Trial Set: Media Circus Likely

The new trial judge in the Geo. Zimmerman case has set a tentative trial date of June 10. As the linked article states: "A judge Wednesday set June 10 as the date for the biggest murder trial in Seminole County history – Florida v. George Zimmerman. The case, which became a cause célèbre and launched civil rights rallies across the nation, promises to be a major media event." Will it turn out to be a Casey Anthony-type debacle? Will it turn out to be another Rodney King-type situation?  Going back even further,  will it be another Sacco and Vanzetti? I personally don't care whether he is found innocent or guilty, but he is entitled to his rights.  At this point, given the media bias against the defendant, prosecutorial misconduct, and the pressure of potential riots, I really doubt it.

Supreme Court same-sex marriage cases

In  this new term, the Supreme Court will also deal with controversial same-sex marriage issues.

Retired S.Ct. Justice Stevens continues to attack Second Amendment rights.

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens continues his "Feed My Ego" tour and continues to attack the individual right to keep and bear arms established in Heller and reaffirmed in McDonald.  I can't think of any case where a retired Justice campaigned against and individual right from the Bill of Rights.  These are dangerous times for those who love liberty. This is not surprising as Stevens voted against First Amendment rights in the flag-burning cases (Texas v. Johnson and U.S. v. Eichman) and Citizen's United. More left-wing authoritarianism on display.

More on Affirmative Action case (Fisher)

Scotusblog presents are relatively readable summary of the UT-Austin affirmative action case (Fisher).  One of the issues is whether the university's race-conscious admission policies have succeeded in reaching a "critical mass" of minorities in the student body.  Under the Supreme Court's Grutter precedent, the program must be discontinued once the university reaches a "critical mass" of minorities.  As usual, the liberals and conservaitves have largely already indicated how they will vote by their questions and statements at oral argument.  Justice Kagan recused herself. 

Supreme Court to hear 2 drug dog sniffing cases

Drug-detection dogs are important part of law enforcement efforts.  The U.S. Supreme Court will decide 2 cases on this issue. 

Supreme Court preview

The U.S. Supreme Court started its new term a few days ago.  Here's a preview of some of  the big cases they have decided to hear.  The affirmative action and gay rights case are sure to cause controversy no matter how they are decided. I certainly hope they will add a Second Amendment case.  A more complete list of cases accepted for review so far is here.

More campus censorship

Consistent with the left-wing political correctness that dominates most universities, this Prof. went over the line in censoring an anti-Obama comment.http://thefire.org/torch/#14940.  However, on the minority of campuses where the right dominates, there are also restrictions on free speech.  Anyone who thinks most liberals or most conservatives really support the First Amendment, will probably be mistaken.

More on NDAA indefinite detention

This article may help clarify the issues.The issue is not who will or might be detained or how the offense is defined.  The issue is the government's power to detain.  This power includes the power to detain/arrest U.S. Citizens on U.S. soil.  How can a person defend themselves if they are never charged and tried?  Although this might seem like something that is not likely to happen to a truly innocent person, that is not the issue. The government must not even be granted this power.  How will this person who is wrongly detained be able to clear themselves?.  The Pres. has promised never to abuse the law. Do you trust him? How much goes on that the Pres. doesn't even know about, or pretends not to know about.  This is too important to take the risk.  If you are arrested or detained in the U.S. by government, you have certain rights. PERIOD.  

Latest on NDAA lawsuit

The District Court's injunction against the "indefinite detention"  provision was stayed pending further Court of Appeals review. See the first comment below the article. This is another issue crying out for Supreme Court review.  Thanks to Bennett Jones for the link.

Univ. of Cal to pay nearly $1million to settle pepper spray suit.

The cash-strapped Univ. of Calif. has settled a lawsuit against its campus police for nearly $1 million.  I suspect they have a better use for the $, but too many public officials and police executives just view this as a part of the normal cost of doing business. 

Good Article on Domestic Drones & 4th Amend.

This article is a good start.  However, we will proably have to wait for a U.S. Supreme Court decision to finally  settle this.

TIH: 1789, 1981

1789

The first United States Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. (Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.)

1981

Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Source: dallasnewsnewsletters@ahbelo-news.com

Today, we have 3 females on the Court--all liberals.

Obamacare exemptions for AARP

In an earlier post I suggested that we need to look at who gets exemptions from Obamacare.  Haven't found much on this, but it appears that AARP got some.  Given the amount of insurance they sell, this is a significant gap.  If anyone else has anything on this, please post.  I bet you'll find lots of Obama "sympathizers" got exemptions.

Myths About Libertarianism

Although I find Lew Rockwell over the top sometimes, this article on conservative myths about libertarianism is enlightening and is perhaps at least part of what I label "cautious" libertarianism.

More Bad News for Higher Ed

This Walter Williams column suggests that not only have things been watered down,  and students know little, but, academia has become extremely politicized. The National Association of Scholars report on Calif. is here.  The lean to the left was accelerated in the '60's, and when us baby-boomers got into academia it was allover.  The politicization is nothing new to anyone who has been in higher ed as long as I have. Note that I personally abandoned the far left when it became clear that it was hypocritical, authoritarian, deceptive, manipulative and had no real interest in "liberating" people.  It was more interested in manipulating, controlling and buying the votes of  those it was pretending to advocate for.  I put Obama in this category as well as a lot of well-meaning, nurturing and naive people on the left.

TIH: 1755, 1789

1755	John Marshall, the fourth chief justice of the United States, was born in Germantown, Virginia.
1789	Congress passed the First Judiciary Act, which provided for an attorney general and a Supreme Court. Source: dallasnewsnewsletters@ahbelo-news.com

New High Tech and the 4th Amend. decision

Fourth Amendment law is in its relative infancy when it come to high-tech matters.  This summary is  from FLETC., (a good source for anyone interested in law and policing).  While this decision, although it seems sensible, could always be overruled, it is at least a starting point.


"U.S. v. Skinner, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 16920, August 14, 2012
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents suspected that Skinner was driving cross-country in a motorhome with a load of marijuana. The agents obtained a court order that authorized the phone company to release subscriber information, cell site information, GPS real-time location and “ping” data for a pay-as-you-go cell phone owned by Skinner. By continuously “pinging” his phone, the agents learned that Skinner had stopped somewhere near Abilene, Texas where they eventually found his motorhome parked at a truck stop. After Skinner denied the agents request to search the vehicle, an officer walked his drug-dog around the perimeter of the motorhome. The dog alerted to the presence of narcotics and the agents searched the motorhome where they discovered over 1,100 pounds of marijuana.
Skinner argued that the use of the GPS location information emitted from his cell phone was a warrantless search that violated the Fourth Amendment.

The court held that there was no Fourth Amendment violation because Skinner did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the data given off by his voluntarily procured pay-as-you-go cell phone as he traveled on public roadways. If a tool used to transport contraband gives off a signal that can be tracked for location, the police may track the signal. The law cannot be that a criminal is entitled to rely on the expected untrackability of his tools. In addition, although not necessary to a finding that there was no Fourth Amendment violation, the government’s case was strengthened by the fact that the agents sought court orders to obtain information on Skinner’s location because of the GPS capabilities of his cell phone.
Click HERE for the court’s opinion."
*****

Police Corruption in D.C.

Article hot off the presses re the police corruption problem in D.C. Police.
"Samuel Walker, a criminal justice professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska who specializes in police accountability, said he was astonished by the sheer numbers of D.C. police officers arrested and the level of criminality.

The arrests raise questions about the recruiting, the screening, and the disciplinary process, Walker said. Bad conduct appears when there's an absence of accountability and there's a sense that the officers can get away with it, he said.
He found the news particular alarming in light of the fact that the Metropolitan Police Department had enacted a number of reforms after the U.S. Department of Justice investigated allegations police shootings and of excessive use of force.
"That should have taken care of a lot of these things. You have to ask, what has happened?," Walker said.
Lanier said the comparison of the D.C. police department to New Orleans was "ridiculous."
"I am confident that there is not wide-spread corruption across the police department," {P.D. Chief  Cathy] Lanier said. 


It all starts at the top, Cathy. And D.C. thought handguns in people's homes were the problem.

Good Decision Striking Down TX's Voter ID Law

Texas’ new voter ID law was struck down by a 3-judge U.S.District Court panel. Having read the opinion I agree.  Although voter fraud and irregularity are real problems (see “Acorn” and “New Black Panther” cases) and political machines are often notorious for voter fraud, Texas’ law goes too far and is more stringent than laws previously upheld and empirically found to have no effect on voter turn out. See “Pravda’s” article here.  Basically, win-at-any-cost Republican legislatures are trying to overcome “win-at-any-cost” Democratic voter fraud by enacting over-the-top voter ID laws.  The Supreme Court, Crawford v. Marion County Election Board,553 U.S. 181(2008), and other courts have upheld some voter ID laws, but, IMHO this one goes too far.  Two wrongs don’t make a right.

My reasoning:

1.  I trust the Republican-dominated Texas legislature on this issue about as much as I trust Chicago and D.C. City Councils--at least when it comes to fair play.  The Repubs have a strong interest in depressing the low-income and minority votes (these folks tend to vote Democrat)

2. Associated costs are too high, esp relative to other states.(See opinion pp. 4-5, 26-7) Has this become a “poll tax?”  It strikes me that increasing voting participation is a good thing.  There should be minimal  costs, if any to vote.  The government should at least provide the required documents at minimal costs.

3.  Some applicants must go to a Texas DPS Office: As the opinion notes (p. 27):

“The United States submitted unrebutted evidence showing that "81 Texas counties have no [DPS] office, and 34 additional counties have [DPS] offices open two days per week or less." Proposed Findings of Fact by Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. ("U.S. Proposed Findings") Doc. 223 at 6, see also Am. Compl., ECF No. 25 Ex. 7 at 4. This means that in at least one-third of Texas's counties, would-be voters will have to travel out-of-county merely to apply for an EIC. Georgia and Indiana voters face no such burdens. Indeed, Georgia law requires each county to "provide at least one place in the county at which it shall accept applications for and issue [free] Georgia voter identification cards." Ga. Code Ann. ? 21-2-417.1(a). Similarly, every Indiana county has a BMV office that is required by law to disperse "free" photo IDs. See Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Branch Locations and Hours, available online at http://www.in.gov/bmv/2337.htm (last visited August 28, 2012)."

4.  The state of Texas has the legal burden of proof.  In light of the conflicting “empirical” evidence, they have not met that burden. The myth of "social social objectivity” is clearly demonstrated by the inconsistent research results.  Research where the investigator made a good faith effort to conduct unbiased research on hot-button topics is extremely hard to find.

Latest on BATF's "Fast and Furious"

FWIW: Latest government report on BATF's Operation Fast and Furious.  Haven't had a chance to look at it in detail, but it appears to conclude that AG Holder had no prior knowledge.  Hate to sound so cynical, but I am always wary of a government agency that investigates itself and about redacted reports.  I realize there are legitimate reasons for redactions (e.g. protecting informants), but in a highly politicized administration facing a tough re-election campaign, I find it hard to be trusting. Further, as noted on p. 4 of the report, a number of  key witnessess could not be located, refused to cooperate, etc. Perhaps this is an OIG with integrity, I don't know.  Thanks to Henry Schaeffer for the link.  If anyone has time to go through it, please share your impressions, conclusions.

Latest on NDAA

Sorry I haven't had time to dig into the NDAA issue and report thereon.  My apologies to 44.   The start of the semester is always hectic and now I'm working on my Constitution Day Presentation.  Check out this legal decision. FWIW: Note this is a Ron Paul-type libertarian website.  To be on the safe side, if you have time, read the actual opinion.

The American Housing and Economic Collapse

Great article on the causes of the housing collapse in the U.S. which led to the even bigger collapse and our current malaise. Government trying to control things with disastrous consequences. Sometimes ideology blinds politicians and people to the likely consequences of their acts.  Sometimes right- or left-wing political correctness trumps reality and the consequences can be devastating.  Stalin's, Hitler's and Mao's obsession with ideology over reality cost millions of lives.  We need leaders who make some attempt to live in and understand the real word.  Not la-la landers.