December 18, 2004

This commentary’s views and opinions are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ANYONE else, including TPoL, RRND, FND, or TLE. If you haven’t already, your shopping days before Christmas are definitely getting limited - think about the gifts you’d get some of the people in today’s news!

Rumsfeld gets beat on by GOP congress-critturs
Trent Lott and other Republican congressmen have recently been critical of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, following last week’s press flap about lack of armor for troops in Iraq. Although not calling for his resignation, Lott and others have said that change is necessary at the Department of Defense.

Rumsfeld supporters are criticizing GOP leaders for playing into Democratic hands in this reversal of roles. I wonder if the White House doesn’t have its fingers in the pie, somehow, although this seems to be a particularly juicy piece of cannibalism. Perhaps Mr. Rumsfeld needs a nice suit of anti-Congress armor himself (actually, couldn’t we ALL use one of those?).

Smut took center stage in 2004
CNN
In the home stretch of 2004, the Federal Communications Commission, the official enforcer of the nation's anti-smut standards, has so far received more than a million complaints about public radio and television programming. That's a record and so is the close to $8 million in fines levied, half of them against Clear Channel Communications and Viacom. The numbers suggest a few things: the minds of entertainment industry honchos are getting a whole lot dirtier, Americans are fed up, and indecency watchdogs in Washington, D.C. are writing tickets faster than a traffic cop on a quota.

The table of filings and actions (“Smut Scorecard” in CNN Jargon) is interesting; the 1.1 million is up from 200,000 in 2003 and from only 110 (not 110,000) in 2000. It seems to me that far too many people are complaining to the wrong place - and using a pen instead of their remote controls; the only people that the networks and broadcasters really pay attention to is the advertisers, so people who don’t like what is being broadcast need to stop buying the products advertised, and stop patronizing the advertisers - that will do the job faster than any guvmint burro-rats. Also, add this to the Christmas list for all these complainers - new batteries for their remote, and a sticker that says “IF YOU DON’T LIKE WHAT YOU’RE WATCHING - PRESS THE OFF BUTTON.”

CA: Gunman opens fire at Crystal Cathedral
A gunman opened fire in the complex housing the world-famous Crystal Cathedral on Thursday, but no one was hit and children in a church day-care center were rushed to safety, police said. A police SWAT team quickly surrounded the gleaming glass-and-steel cathedral and its surrounding buildings, and a police spokesman said the gunman was holed up inside an office. [Later news stories reported that the police entered the building at dawn to find a longtime (perhaps former) employee dead at his own hand in the office.]

The famous tele-evangelist’s complex in southern California is an odd place for an attack like this, but it should not come as a surprise that churches in the USA will become targets once again, with the worldwide rise in attacks on Christians and Jews. The Crystal Cathedral (and all houses of worship) should be protected by those in them, and not depend on police for “after-the-fact” protection - I can find nothing in the Bible that prohibits those who meet in a synagogue or temple from being armed and ready to protect themselves: in fact, the Temple in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day DID have armed guards (not Roman troops/police), as the Vatican does today. And there is much scripture which does make it clear that people have a right to defend themselves both individually and corporately as a congregation or other group. In addition, if the people working and worshipping had been armed and it a publicly-known thing, it is likely this tragedy would never have happened. For Christmas, may I suggest the worshippers at Crystal Cathedral obtain decent weapons and defensive training as gifts. Literally, gifts that keep on giving.

Barlow challenges luggage search at airport (sound only - blurb is below. )
NPR
After a search of his checked bags last year at the San Francisco Airport resulted in misdemeanor drug charges, activist John Perry Barlow has fought in court to have the evidence thrown out, arguing it was seized in an illegal and unnecessary search.

I tried to find a lengthier discussion of this story, but only found a bunch of blogs, including John’s own blog. He is with the Electronic Freedom Foundation, and so this “coincidental discovery” of “recreational pharma” is interesting just because of that. He is, it appears, challenging the entire idea of searching checked baggage, however. And on a morning music show (on Friday, on national “K-LOVE - a religious radio station), there was an extensive discussion of a similar thing - one of the hosts told about a friend who normally puts small amounts of her favorite shampoo, conditioner, skin lotion, and hand cream in little containers to travel with, so she doesn’t take up all her luggage (and so the normal bottles don’t leak all over, too, I’m sure). On her last trip, she opened her luggage at her destination to find ALL of these little containers gone. Apparently it is now a violation of TSA regulations to repackage commercial products and transport them, and they simply steal them when found, together with any pills not in original packages. (Of course, it has been a violation of federal law for years to put prescription drugs in other containers.) Sadly, instead of complaining that this theft is wrong and this kind of tyranny must be stopped, the radio host simply said she’d have to buy the small “sample” or “travel-size” containers from now on. A gift the American people REALLY need this Christmas is NOT travel-size containers, though, but a SPINE.

Bush prepares for possible GPS shutdown
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Bush has ordered plans for temporarily disabling the U.S. network of global positioning satellites during a national crisis to prevent terrorists from using the navigational technology, the White House said Wednesday. Any shutdown of the network inside the United States would come under only the most remarkable circumstances, said a Bush administration official who spoke to a small group of reporters at the White House on condition of anonymity. The GPs system is vital to commercial aviation and marine shipping.

And a whole lot more - you betcha! This should be viewed very much with alarm, because this technology, like the internet, is much too important to be left to a whim of a would-be dictator,and the risk would be far greater that someone sabotage and use the shutdown, than that the system itself be used by terrorists. As soon decree that a nationwide blackout system or taking down all highway signs (a la WW2 Britain) be established, to prevent terrorists from finding their way. (Thanks to friend Foster for this one.)

This could become a crucial problem in the event of an actual invasion of the US, however, with fighting in the US, where the GPs system could NOT be shutdown without seriously compromising the ability of US forces to fight. To say nothing of the increasing dependence of pilots (both private and commercial as well as military), emergency response fire and medical, and even farmers and ranchers on GPs Not just for this reason, a good many members of the Bush administration have a need for a special Christmas gift - some basic common sense. For the American people as a whole, a nice Christmas gift would be an idea of an acquaintance and favorite author of mine, John Ringo, for a ground-based GPs system which doesn’t depend on 100-million dollar satellites to work (he has copyrighted the idea, and I suspect, is patenting it, as well).

Mama's Note: I think there has been one of those for quite a long time now. It's called a "map", and it is wonderful indeed for those who take the time and trouble to learn how to use them. Now, that's not going to help airplanes or ships at sea much, but it does seem that they managed to survive without the GPs for a long time and could learn to do so again in a pinch.

Maybe it's like the deal with kids and calculators. They need to learn the paper and pencil calculation first, then use the machine for speed and verification. Some things are too important to turn over to a machine totally. The machine just might not work one day. I don't think it's a good idea for government to have control of this GPs thing, any more than other parts of our life, but since they do it might be a good idea if at least some of these folks dig out the books and figure out how they might function without it.

Bush promoting social insecurity privatization plan
AOL
President Bush said Thursday the Social Security investment accounts he is proposing would have rules to prevent workers from gambling away their retirement money. He appealed for congressional action to shore up the system and said lawmakers supporting him wouldn't be risking their seats.

Will they attach so many strings to prevent “abuse” that it is just as bad as the current SS system? That might be impossible, considering how bad the system is. Consider my mother, who died at 64, a year short of retirement: she had paid into Social Security since she started working as a tutor in 1949 - probably $100,000 at least - and collected exactly ZERO. My father, now retired, has the same house, mostly the same bills (utilities, mortgage, car, etc.) and ½ the income on which they had planned. Even rules to prevent someone from betting that MicroSoft is going to take over the world next week and triple their stock value can’t be as bad as that. A later news item points out that the Congressional Budget Office is poo-poohing the plan (see next news item).

CBO raps Bush Social Security plan
Washington Times
"The White House plan to partially privatize Social Security, as made public thus far, will not cure the system's funding gap, and could make it worse with the retirement of baby boomers, Congress' chief budget watchdog said yesterday. But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, director of the Congressional Budget Office, said he is optimistic the administration will propose the adjustments in benefits needed to put the retirement system on a sound footing, in an interview with editors and reporters at The Washington Times. 'If you take the payroll tax devoted to the traditional program and divert it into private accounts, you've widened the gap' between revenues and outlays that already was set to grow explosively by trillions of dollars starting in 2019, in the midst of the retirement of baby boomers, he said." (12/16/04)

They obviously know who butters their bread! Can I suggest a Christmas gift of a good basic primer on “conflict of interest.”

Mama's Note: Read the whole story about Social Security here. Look at some of the many past articles about this too. The truth has been available for many years, but most people don't have a clue about it.

MD: Apology after arrest of 10-year-old for bringing a pair of scissors to school in her backpack
Various
The police chief and the head of the city's schools apologized Monday to the mother of a 10-year-old girl who was arrested and handcuffed after she brought a pair of scissors to school (the original story) in her backpack. Although officers were following protocol when they drove the girl to a police station with her hands cuffed in front of her, discretion will be used in future cases involving young children, Police Chief Sylvester Johnson said.

Well, well. From one prison to another - but everything is okay: the chief APOLOGIZED for “any” trauma the girl may have suffered. Sometimes you wish that the USA had seppiku - a ritual disembowlment by both the superintendent and the police chief might START to make up for it - if nothing else so that they won’t do it to some other child. I don’t suppose a gift of a suitable knife for the chief and the administrator would be appreciated properly.

Post office is sneaking pix of you (go about 1/4 way down the page)
EPIC
The Electronic Privacy Information Center have uncovered the fact that everyone who uses a post office kiosk gets her or his picture snapped and retained for 30 days. If the picture can't be taken (because the camera is covered, say), the transaction fails. EPIC FOIA Request Shows Postal Machines Take, Store Photos. Documents (pdf 1.9 MB) obtained by EPIC under the Freedom of Information Act show that new Postal Service self-service postage machines take portrait-style photographs of customers and retain them for 30 days on a Windows XP platform. One document reads, "Camera required by FAA. Privacy Office is requiring a notice for customers, advising that photograph may be taken during the transaction." For more information, see the EPIC Postal Service Privacy Page. (Dec. 9)

I admit I haven’t tried sticking a Simon Says ™ sticker over the little camera lens to see if the transaction won’t work, but this does puzzle me - what on earth is making them do it? Strictly for the power of it, I suspect. No one preparing a letter bomb or package is going to use one of these things without a disguise, and anyone with any brains at all can spoof the system easily. So it is not protecting against terrorists - and probably not against kids trying to feed slugs in (to get free stamps? Please!), so it must be for the sheer power of being Big Brother. May I suggest a gift to each post office of some nice Simon Says stickers: “Simon says: this machine is taking pictures of you. Smile pretty!”
By the way, for a fun selection of mischief, be sure to visit www.simonjester.org for lots of Simon Says ™ stickers, posters, and Burma-shave style signs.

Mama's Note: The best way to fight this thing would be to refuse to use the machines at all. I never have, actually. I used to buy a roll of stamps once in a great while, but I use so few of them that I buy them a couple at a time now at our local grocery store. If you don't use a lot of them, see if you can find them somewhere like that. You already know that you are captured on video tape if you go to the post office, don't you? You can look into remailer services if you want to avoid that altogether, but I don't know that it is worth bothering with. You are video taped in almost every store and business now, which helps if someone snatches your purse or picks your pocket, but not much else.

Major League Baseball: No welfare check, no team
Washington Times
"Major League Baseball executives yesterday said the District's new requirement to include private financing to pay for half of a proposed baseball stadium in Southeast is 'wholly unacceptable' and promised to move the Washington Nationals elsewhere if the measure is not corrected. 'The legislation approved by the District of Columbia City Council [Tuesday] does not reflect the agreement we signed and relied upon after being invited by District leaders to consider Washington as a home for Major League Baseball,' said Bob DuPuy, MLB president. 'The legislation is inconsistent with our carefully negotiated agreement and is wholly unacceptable to Major League Baseball.'" (12/16/04)

Too bad - so very sad. The amazing this is that the council, past masters at wasting tax money, had the guts to do this - an attaboy is deserved. As for a Christmas gift, perhaps the Mayor could be given a subscription to one of those on-line fantasy baseball team ownerships. Let’s end baseball welfare NOW!

Pro gun prof denied free speech?
CNS News
"The issues of gun control and free speech dominate a lawsuit filed by an Oklahoma University geology professor who used a blunt sexual comparison to criticize a pro-gun control newspaper column and later was demoted for that and other perceived transgressions. The letter that geology professor David Deming wrote to the editor of the Oklahoma Daily newspaper in February 2000 argued that the owner of an unregistered gun was no more likely to become a murderer than a woman who had not registered her sex organ was to becoming a prostitute. The letter prompted 25 charges of sexual harassment against Deming, filed 'by people I had never met,' he stated in a subsequent column." (12/13/04)

I suppose if he had included the line “… or a man who doesn’t register HIS sex-organs is likely to become a rapist or a pimp” he wouldn’t have been charged, since he was being fair to both sexes? I hope that he is also suing those 25 idiot who filed the charges. For Christmas, perhaps OU could be given a few thousand copies of the state and federal constitution with the section on “freedom of speech” and RKBA highlighted.

Comment of the Day
“Spending billions of dollars on programs making all airline passengers remove their shoes at airports or giving chemical protection suits to firefighters in remote areas of the country does not add any real value to fighting terrorism.” -Jay Grant, director of the Port Security Council of America (a bureaucrat and elected chief of a bunch of bureaucrats, in other words) Even the buro-rats get it! Time to ask Congress to end this farce.

Nathan Barton is writing from the West, where there is a lower tolerance, but still TOO MUCH tolerance, for bureaucratic stupidity. One reason why he is a libertarian - excessive government is hazardous - for your pocketbook, your privacy, and your freedom. See Nathan's own blog, Liberty's Outpost.

To Read previous Commentaries, go to the archives page and click onto the day link. The commentaries are linked from the daily front pages.

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