The above is a fragment of Senator Dodd‘s argument against retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that colluded with the U.S. Government in illegal, unwarranted surveillance in obvious contradiction of both the FISA act and the 4th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He puts it far better than I could. It’s a shame this man won’t be on the ballot for president this November. At least, unlike the presumptive Democratic candidate, he’s still fighting the good fight.
Category Archives: Pedantry
A view from the side
Had a little fun with the Side View Generator today. I wasn’t exactly flattered by some of the transformations (Fitzgerald turns into Deep Throat), but was greatly amused by others. I ran a couple for some frequent commenters. Are you “vulgar?” Or “sprain?” How about “est rus” or “lard” or “porno?”
A personal favorite was the transformation of “Jimbo” into “ninja.” Right on.
Progressive Conservatism
So I was poking around on Prairie Flounder‘s site, and ran into a comment by the Progressive Conservative. Being somewhat libertarian-minded and socially progressive, as well as loving a good oxymoron, this piqued my interest. I followed him back to The Big Stick, a blog espousing a back-to-Teddy-Roosevelt variety of Republicanism that seems to be enjoying a renaissance of sorts these days.
Did you know that to be a proper conservative these days you’re expected to hold four separate, contradictory opinions on the value of human life? You are to be pro life in the womb, pro death penalty, anti assisted-suicide, and pro war. The precise opposite holds true for progressives. You are expected to be pro abortion (pro choice is a euphemism, let’s face it) , anti death penalty, pro assisted-suicide, and anti-war. This is why when Bill Bennett brings up the abortion issue as something that needs to be talked about in the Obama vs. McCain choice coming up in November, I cannot help but chuckle. It’s a wedge issue, something career politicians dust off every couple of years to drag the rubes into the polls. The Republicans won’t get rid of Roe vs. Wade. It’s against their interest, because the existence of that precedent keeps a lot of people punching that “R” on their ballots.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Democrats would have you think they’re against global warming, particularly with their former front-man and recent Nobel laureate Al Gore leading the charge. Do you know who was in charge of nixing every new nuclear power plant for eight years while vice president? Same guy. Thank him for all the brand-spanking-new coal-burning power plants belching greenhouse gasses into the sky. I think we are currently living in a golden age of political absurdity, where the environmental conservationists rape the land and those religiously convinced that every life has an immeasurable sacred value promote slaughter. Maybe we just need more progressive conservatives. Or maybe some conservative progressives.
The cost of a vote
How much does it cost to buy a vote in the national legislature that could potentially save your business billions of dollars in legal liability for you willfull, illegal actions over a period of several years? Well, it varies depending on the legislator, but for Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T to get retroactive immunity for their role in placing what amounts to millions of unwarranted wiretaps on United States citizens it averaged $9,659 each.
That was how much, on average, a Democrat that voted against the March 14th immunity but turned around to support the June 20th immunity received from political action committees run by these telcos. To be fair, the 129 U.S. representatives that voted against immunity averaged $4,180 in contributions each since the beginning of the year, but that five grand apparently represents the value of your privacy, citizen.
Take a look for yourself. How much did you rep cost? Nancy Pelosi costs about $24,000 to win over. John Murtha of Pennsylvania (former contender for the majority leader position) came in cheap at a mere $5,000. Wonder how that is.
Please note that these numbers are just the campaign contributions, and does not reflect other money spent on lobbyists. There’s a slim chance that the Senate won’t just turn around and show their ass on this. Again. Where do your representative and senators stand?
Be Cool
No, bee cool. Not something I’m particularly into, but I’ve noticed a fair number of honey bees in my back yard, milling around my vegetable garden and groundcover (which happens to have a continuous dusting of little purple flowers). Bees have been in a lot of trouble lately. Buzz buzz.
Bill of Rights on its Last Leg
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
This, the fourth amendment to the constitution of the United States of America, was formally proposed on September 25, 1789 as part of a package of enumerated rights and restrictions on the federal government’s powers that smoothed over a number of concerns that the various states had regarding the increased powers being delegated to the central government. Without these limitations, there was great concern that the federal government might inexorably grow into a tyranny of one form or another. It was ratified on December 15, 1791 after a great deal of debate, along with nine others that were felt to be similarly important.
Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill, H.R. 6304, which will effectively grant immunity to large corporations that actively aided the government in flagrantly violating this fundamental underlying principle of our legal system. The House of Representative is now officially in collusion with the U.S. Senate in turning not only turning a blind eye to the transgressions of the executive branch (as has been customary for decades), but in actively assisting in those transgressions by promising protection from legal repercussions to the direct agents of said transgressions.
Earlier this year I was disappointed when the U.S. Senate pushed a similar measure through over Chris Dodd’s attempt to filibuster, and heartened when it was soundly blocked by the House of Representatives. What changed here? Presumably when H.R. 6304 goes to the Senate, the same dance will be repeated, with the same results (cloture and passage over Dodd’s objections), and the President will sign it. What recourse does this leave?
By my count, we’ve got the following left:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.- No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
One out of ten isn’t so bad, is it? Or should I straighten out my guest room for company?
Full text of H.R. 6304 (PDF)
EFF Analysis of the bill (PDF)
The yeas and nays
*edit: Dive Into Mark posted a great, concise quote regarding the types of recourse available to the people.
Regarding Purity
Sometimes the Internet does me proud.
- An xkcd cartoon that got my dander up a bit last week, but not so much that I actually felt like posting about it
- Somebody on Digg that said what I was thinking but didn’t feel like saying
- Somebody else putting it to stick-figures (apparently independently)
Unraveling Fabric
Well, they finally did it. The pervasive homosexual conspiracy has finally driven a stake through the heart of all that holds western civilization together. Gays have gotten married. Legally. In California. As was widely predicted by folks like the Family Research Council, John Hagee, and the 700 Club, the underpinnings of our culture have been visciously attacked, undermined by sinful hedonists.
This morning I sat on my front porch, shotgun at my side, cradling my terrified son in my arms as Californians everywhere lost all sense of public decency, respect for law and order, and even the value of human life. Roving gangs of disillusioned youths set fire to houses, bad-mouthed their parents, spoke openly of having any random number of daddies or mommies (but seldom both), and are having wanton butt-sex on the streets. Oh, the horror. To think that all of this came from an irrational desire by committed same-sex couples to have visitation rights at hospitals, inheritance rights, health care, and tax protection equal to their God-fearing, honest, righteous, serial-divorcing, wife-beating, child-neglecting heterosexual neighbors. So selfish.
Where were you when we needed you most, Westboro Baptist Church? Off protesting a dead soldier when there was real work to be done?
I leave you with a prediction from H.P. Lovecraft regarding this terrible turn of political events:
The time would be easy to know, for then mankind would have become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and reveling in joy. Then the liberated Old Ones would teach them new ways to shout and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and all the earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom.
Oh wait, that was the return of the Mighty Cthulhu. Never mind.
Wordle
Ran into something interesting on Infosthetics this evening, a little brew-your-own word cloud tool named Wordle. Many of you may have seen “tag clouds” or “heat maps” on folks blogs, showing frequently-used tags in larger text than the more rarely-used ones. My gallery has one of sorts built in, with the text size scaled logarithmically. A better example of how programmatic word cloud generation falls apart in practical use is over at Anime なの, where the nature of rabid anime fandom tilts the scale towards only a couple titles at a time, obscuring the cloud’s purpose and reducing its usefulness.
Wordle makes it oh-so-much prettier, though, and can handle an alarmingly large amount of text. The image above is the entire 4th Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide, with common words (i.e. “the,” “and,” “or”) removed. There are several typefaces available, a handful of color schemes, and it’s just plain fun to tinker with.
Kucinich
Gotta hand it to Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. The man’s got no quit in him. Yesterday he spent over four hours on the floor of the US House of Representatives calling for the impeachment and removal from office of George W. Bush.
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the
following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in
the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its
impeachment against President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors.In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power.
Summary of all 35 counts follows (link to PDF of full resolution with details)
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