Lisa Sink asked a few questions, and deserves credit.
She was assigned the Doyle Campaign Stop in Brookfield, when BagManJim exhaled a great deal of hot air, ranting about the "Oil Companies' Profits."
So she asked a few questions:
Doyle said he did not know at what dollar amount or percentage increase oil profits should be capped, leaving that to Congress to sort out.
"Let them make decent profits," Doyle said.
Jimbo was obviously not prepared for an intelligent discussion.
Doyle did not stake a position on how excess oil profits should be returned to citizens.
THAT would require preparation, as well.
Doyle offered no support for lowering Wisconsin's gas tax of 32.9 cents a gallon, one of the highest in the nation.
How the Hell could he buy off WEAC?
He said he supports eliminating the state's 9% minimum gas markup law among oil terminals, wholesalers and retailers.
Safe position. The Republicans are bought-and-paid-for on this issue, and they control the Legislature.
Thanks, Lisa. You got him good. Don't plan on any free meals on the Governor's Mansion lawn.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
THIS Jackass Is Running for President!
Missed this item when it came out (April 29th...)
I know that money corrupts....I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I’d rather have the clean government." Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ)
McCain joined Feingold (D-AlQuaeda) in the largest single abridgement of Free Speech, of course, and now he tells us he would do it again.
He also doesn't care much for the Second Amendment--
I know that money corrupts....I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I’d rather have the clean government." Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ)
McCain joined Feingold (D-AlQuaeda) in the largest single abridgement of Free Speech, of course, and now he tells us he would do it again.
He also doesn't care much for the Second Amendment--
Monday, May 01, 2006
AB 1020: The "Castle Doctine"
OK. Haul out the keyboard (or pen, if you prefer) and write your Legis-critter--ask them to vote for AB 1020.
Here's a summary:
Under this bill, if a person used defensive force that was intended or likely to
cause death or great bodily harm, the court must presume that the person reasonably
believed that the force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm if: 1) the
individual against whom the force was used was in the process of unlawfully and
forcibly entering (or had already unlawfully and forcefully entered) the residence of
the person who used the force; 2) the person was present in that residence; and 3) the
person knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry was
occurring (or had occurred).
WITHOUT the bill?
In general, a person who uses force in self−defense or in the defense of another
person may not be convicted of a crime stemming from that use of force. This law
applies only when: 1) the amount of force used is reasonable; and 2) the person uses
that force to prevent or stop what he or she reasonably believes is an unlawful
interference with himself or herself or another person (such as the crime of battery).
Current law specifies that a person may use force that is intended or likely to cause
the death of or great bodily harm to another individual only if the person reasonably
believes that using such force is necessary to prevent the imminent death of or great
bodily harm to himself or herself or another person
Which calls for a lot of "if/and/but" thinking in the middle of the night, when split-second decisions are called for.
The good guys:
Introduced by Representatives OWENS, ALBERS, BIES,
GUNDERSON, HAHN, JESKEWITZ, F. LASEE, LOEFFELHOLZ, MURSAU, MUSSER, NASS,
PETROWSKI and VOS, cosponsored by Senators ROESSLER, STEPP and REYNOLDS
Here's a summary:
Under this bill, if a person used defensive force that was intended or likely to
cause death or great bodily harm, the court must presume that the person reasonably
believed that the force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm if: 1) the
individual against whom the force was used was in the process of unlawfully and
forcibly entering (or had already unlawfully and forcefully entered) the residence of
the person who used the force; 2) the person was present in that residence; and 3) the
person knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry was
occurring (or had occurred).
WITHOUT the bill?
In general, a person who uses force in self−defense or in the defense of another
person may not be convicted of a crime stemming from that use of force. This law
applies only when: 1) the amount of force used is reasonable; and 2) the person uses
that force to prevent or stop what he or she reasonably believes is an unlawful
interference with himself or herself or another person (such as the crime of battery).
Current law specifies that a person may use force that is intended or likely to cause
the death of or great bodily harm to another individual only if the person reasonably
believes that using such force is necessary to prevent the imminent death of or great
bodily harm to himself or herself or another person
Which calls for a lot of "if/and/but" thinking in the middle of the night, when split-second decisions are called for.
The good guys:
Introduced by Representatives OWENS, ALBERS, BIES,
GUNDERSON, HAHN, JESKEWITZ, F. LASEE, LOEFFELHOLZ, MURSAU, MUSSER, NASS,
PETROWSKI and VOS, cosponsored by Senators ROESSLER, STEPP and REYNOLDS
Does Mgr. Marini Know What He Is Talking About?
Maybe not.
Marini is (infamously) the Papal liturgist for a good part of the reign of JPII and currently under Benedict XVI. Many people (yours truly included) are of the opinion that the Mgr. will soon have another assignment, perhaps in Manchuria, or Iran.
In any case, here's an article which calls Marini out. Worth reading.
Excerpts:
All of these observations, however, do not really strike at the heart of the matter opined by His Excellency Msgr. Marini. The good Msgr. makes several bold claims regarding the reformed liturgy. He is quoted as saying:
"The reform was a return to the authentic tradition of the church, which is the liturgy of the Fathers. This meant taking away all the duplications that found their way into the liturgy, the encrustations that were superimposed over the centuries. This was a work of cleaning, like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel."
Msgr. Marini emphasized the patristic nature of the reform just a few lines earlier in the same article, but here he says explicitly that, according to his mind, the liturgy carries weight and is authentic principally because it relies on the authentic tradition of the church, which we know through the writings and compositions of the Fathers.
Unfortunately, Msgr. Marini failed to mention that this is a complete fabrication..
And 11 examples of Marini's silliness follow.
Heh.
HT: Shouts in the Piazza
Marini is (infamously) the Papal liturgist for a good part of the reign of JPII and currently under Benedict XVI. Many people (yours truly included) are of the opinion that the Mgr. will soon have another assignment, perhaps in Manchuria, or Iran.
In any case, here's an article which calls Marini out. Worth reading.
Excerpts:
All of these observations, however, do not really strike at the heart of the matter opined by His Excellency Msgr. Marini. The good Msgr. makes several bold claims regarding the reformed liturgy. He is quoted as saying:
"The reform was a return to the authentic tradition of the church, which is the liturgy of the Fathers. This meant taking away all the duplications that found their way into the liturgy, the encrustations that were superimposed over the centuries. This was a work of cleaning, like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel."
Msgr. Marini emphasized the patristic nature of the reform just a few lines earlier in the same article, but here he says explicitly that, according to his mind, the liturgy carries weight and is authentic principally because it relies on the authentic tradition of the church, which we know through the writings and compositions of the Fathers.
Unfortunately, Msgr. Marini failed to mention that this is a complete fabrication..
And 11 examples of Marini's silliness follow.
Heh.
HT: Shouts in the Piazza
Listening to Charlie
Da Godfoddah of Da Blogs ALSO happens to have a morning talk show, and today's had a segment devoted to the International ANSWER Grand March.
One of the most passionate callers, against "amnesty" and most of the other shenanigans of this bunch of marchers, is an American-citizen Mexican immigrant.
Not surprising, exactly--but revealing.
One of the most passionate callers, against "amnesty" and most of the other shenanigans of this bunch of marchers, is an American-citizen Mexican immigrant.
Not surprising, exactly--but revealing.
Smoking and Driving in Arkansas--You're At Risk
Especially if you have a child under the age of 7 in the car:
Two years ago (see Apr. 30, 2004) the California Assembly narrowly defeated a bill that would have banned smoking in cars when kids were present, but now Arkansas has enacted such a bill, applying to cars in which younger (age 7 and below) children are present (Virginia Vickery, "Some in Siloam Springs worry about statewide smoking ban", Benton County Daily Record, Apr. 30). The bill provides for "primary enforcement" of the ban, meaning that police officers can pull over a car in which they observe the offense, rather than just write it up after pulling a car over for other reasons. (Jake Bleed and Michael R. Wickline, "Lighting up with young kids in vehicle banned under bill", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Apr. 8).
Kinda makes you hope that Judy Robson can't read, eh?
HT: Overlawyered
Two years ago (see Apr. 30, 2004) the California Assembly narrowly defeated a bill that would have banned smoking in cars when kids were present, but now Arkansas has enacted such a bill, applying to cars in which younger (age 7 and below) children are present (Virginia Vickery, "Some in Siloam Springs worry about statewide smoking ban", Benton County Daily Record, Apr. 30). The bill provides for "primary enforcement" of the ban, meaning that police officers can pull over a car in which they observe the offense, rather than just write it up after pulling a car over for other reasons. (Jake Bleed and Michael R. Wickline, "Lighting up with young kids in vehicle banned under bill", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Apr. 8).
Kinda makes you hope that Judy Robson can't read, eh?
HT: Overlawyered
Whattaker Chambers' Warning
Thanks to the eminently literate Wigderson, we find the following passage in a Whittaker Chambers review of Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand):
Here occurs a little rub whose effects are just as observable in a free-enterprise system, which is in practice materialist (whatever else it claims or supposes itself to be), as they would be under an atheist socialism, if one were ever to deliver that material abundance that all promise. The rub is that the pursuit of happiness, as an end in itself, tends automatically, and widely, to be replaced by the pursuit of pleasure, with a consequent general softening of the fibers of will, intelligence, spirit.
In other words, it ain't "too much TV" or "not enough of the 3 R's", folks.
Here occurs a little rub whose effects are just as observable in a free-enterprise system, which is in practice materialist (whatever else it claims or supposes itself to be), as they would be under an atheist socialism, if one were ever to deliver that material abundance that all promise. The rub is that the pursuit of happiness, as an end in itself, tends automatically, and widely, to be replaced by the pursuit of pleasure, with a consequent general softening of the fibers of will, intelligence, spirit.
In other words, it ain't "too much TV" or "not enough of the 3 R's", folks.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Carts, Horses, and Airports
To hear some folks tell it, the Wright Brothers are the only reason the US is a First-World economy:
Boomtown Atlanta, home to such international players as Coca-Cola and Home Depot, has Hartsfield, the nation's busiest airport. Chicago, with its international finance markets, has teeming O'Hare. Houston, home to the nation's third-busiest airfield, is headquarters to no fewer than 23 Fortune 500 companies.
Of course, Coca-Cola, Big Oil, and the meatpackers were around a long time before airports existed--but never mind the historical facts...
...a public brawl has erupted over control of Wisconsin's busiest airfield: Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport. The acrimony between Milwaukee County, which runs the airport, and a consortium of business leaders, who support creation of a regional airport authority, has thrown a spotlight on the burgeoning importance of airports as they become ever more critical to businesses with global aspirations.
The critical phrase is in red for your convenience...
There's reason to think about the possibility:
...the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, a leading business lobby group, has for two decades championed proposals for a depoliticized airport authority.
There's only one problem, and that's the maxim that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' YX and MMAC complain that airport expansion will be (maybe, kinda, well,) hampered by the politics of tearing down houses for runways. They also complain that Milwaukee County employees who staff the airport cost a lotta money.
NWA complains, too--but their workforce ain't exactly cheap, and the MSP airport, their home, is a mess compared to Mitchell.
"Regional Authority" smells a LOT like "MMSD." The boys and girls at MMAC better have a plan that does not include their favorite financing vehicle, which is taxation without representation.
Otherwise, their boy Stone (R. Greenfield) may find himself in the same position as that eminently forgettable jerk from Racine who used to occupy the Legislature until he flipped on the Bud Selig Gift.
Boomtown Atlanta, home to such international players as Coca-Cola and Home Depot, has Hartsfield, the nation's busiest airport. Chicago, with its international finance markets, has teeming O'Hare. Houston, home to the nation's third-busiest airfield, is headquarters to no fewer than 23 Fortune 500 companies.
Of course, Coca-Cola, Big Oil, and the meatpackers were around a long time before airports existed--but never mind the historical facts...
...a public brawl has erupted over control of Wisconsin's busiest airfield: Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport. The acrimony between Milwaukee County, which runs the airport, and a consortium of business leaders, who support creation of a regional airport authority, has thrown a spotlight on the burgeoning importance of airports as they become ever more critical to businesses with global aspirations.
The critical phrase is in red for your convenience...
There's reason to think about the possibility:
...the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, a leading business lobby group, has for two decades championed proposals for a depoliticized airport authority.
There's only one problem, and that's the maxim that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' YX and MMAC complain that airport expansion will be (maybe, kinda, well,) hampered by the politics of tearing down houses for runways. They also complain that Milwaukee County employees who staff the airport cost a lotta money.
NWA complains, too--but their workforce ain't exactly cheap, and the MSP airport, their home, is a mess compared to Mitchell.
"Regional Authority" smells a LOT like "MMSD." The boys and girls at MMAC better have a plan that does not include their favorite financing vehicle, which is taxation without representation.
Otherwise, their boy Stone (R. Greenfield) may find himself in the same position as that eminently forgettable jerk from Racine who used to occupy the Legislature until he flipped on the Bud Selig Gift.
Biker Problems
Yah.
You've noticed these groups--hogging up the roadways, deviating in lanes, running stoplights and stopsigns, blocking cars and occasionally harassing pedestrians. I certainly have; it's a wonder that more of them are not flattened by cars or trucks, the way they drive those damn bikes.
And the Milwaukee Police Department deserves a big "thank you" from us for taking them on.
Milwaukee police and members of the bicycle activist group Critical Mass on Saturday gave different versions of the events that led to the arrests of six and ticketing of 21 riders during the group's monthly trek on the city's east side Friday evening.
Riders called it overkill and harassment, saying they purposely stayed on the county's Oak Leaf bike path to avoid confrontation with officers. But police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz described the group as known traffic scofflaws who "came barreling down the path, forcing other cyclists and pedestrians" out of their way.
Not all of the bike riders stayed on the trail, she said.
"They were going into the city streets and then back into the path," she said.
Six riders were arrested, taken to the District 5 police station on N. 4th St. by police vehicle and released later Friday evening, police said. Fifteen others were cited, but not taken to the station. The municipal offenses ranged from riding a bicycle without a city license to disorderly conduct and obstructing police.
Maybe these jerks will learn from the experience, but I doubt it.
You've noticed these groups--hogging up the roadways, deviating in lanes, running stoplights and stopsigns, blocking cars and occasionally harassing pedestrians. I certainly have; it's a wonder that more of them are not flattened by cars or trucks, the way they drive those damn bikes.
And the Milwaukee Police Department deserves a big "thank you" from us for taking them on.
Milwaukee police and members of the bicycle activist group Critical Mass on Saturday gave different versions of the events that led to the arrests of six and ticketing of 21 riders during the group's monthly trek on the city's east side Friday evening.
Riders called it overkill and harassment, saying they purposely stayed on the county's Oak Leaf bike path to avoid confrontation with officers. But police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz described the group as known traffic scofflaws who "came barreling down the path, forcing other cyclists and pedestrians" out of their way.
Not all of the bike riders stayed on the trail, she said.
"They were going into the city streets and then back into the path," she said.
Six riders were arrested, taken to the District 5 police station on N. 4th St. by police vehicle and released later Friday evening, police said. Fifteen others were cited, but not taken to the station. The municipal offenses ranged from riding a bicycle without a city license to disorderly conduct and obstructing police.
Maybe these jerks will learn from the experience, but I doubt it.
More Gummint Records
It didn't take long for the idea of forcing Internet providers to retain records of their users' activities to gain traction in the U.S. Congress.
Last week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a Republican, gave a speech saying that data retention by Internet service providers is an "issue that must be addressed." Child pornography investigations have been "hampered" because data may be routinely deleted, Gonzales warned.
Now, in a demonstration of bipartisan unity, a Democratic member of the Congressional Internet Caucus is preparing to introduce an amendment--perhaps during a U.S. House of Representatives floor vote next week--that would make such data deletion illegal.
Using "child porn" is a good way to get the nose into the tent. But there are implications, too:
Critics of DeGette's proposal have said that, while the justification for Internet surveillance might be protecting children, the data would be accessible to any local or state law enforcement official investigating anything from drug possession to tax evasion. In addition, the one-year retention is a minimum...
Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the free-market Cato Institute, said: "This is an unrestricted grant of authority to the FCC to require surveillance."
"The FCC would be able to tell Internet service providers to monitor our e-mails, monitor our Web surfing, monitor what we post on blogs or chat rooms, and everything else under the sun," said Harper, a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee. "We're seeing a kind of hysteria reminiscent of the McMartin case. The result will be privacy that goes away and doesn't come back when the foolishness is exposed."
As usual, the Gummint kills flies with sledghammers.
Last week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a Republican, gave a speech saying that data retention by Internet service providers is an "issue that must be addressed." Child pornography investigations have been "hampered" because data may be routinely deleted, Gonzales warned.
Now, in a demonstration of bipartisan unity, a Democratic member of the Congressional Internet Caucus is preparing to introduce an amendment--perhaps during a U.S. House of Representatives floor vote next week--that would make such data deletion illegal.
Using "child porn" is a good way to get the nose into the tent. But there are implications, too:
Critics of DeGette's proposal have said that, while the justification for Internet surveillance might be protecting children, the data would be accessible to any local or state law enforcement official investigating anything from drug possession to tax evasion. In addition, the one-year retention is a minimum...
Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the free-market Cato Institute, said: "This is an unrestricted grant of authority to the FCC to require surveillance."
"The FCC would be able to tell Internet service providers to monitor our e-mails, monitor our Web surfing, monitor what we post on blogs or chat rooms, and everything else under the sun," said Harper, a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee. "We're seeing a kind of hysteria reminiscent of the McMartin case. The result will be privacy that goes away and doesn't come back when the foolishness is exposed."
As usual, the Gummint kills flies with sledghammers.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Red China "Super.Proxy.Scanner"? Whassup?
Just because Blogger acted silly in the last hour, went to SANS to check on the 'net.
Here's an interesting little item:
One of our readers has come across an interesting phenomenon in his proxy logs that we're hoping someone can shed some light on. Its not necessarily malicious, its just hinkey.
Imagine reviewing your webserver or proxy logs and seeing requests for a website completely unrelated to your organization, but an IP address in your address block appears in the hostname.
So here is an example URL that might show up in your logs:
http://check.216.109.136.53.v.80.pw1.super.proxy.scanner.i.thu.cn
/Provy_OK.
html running the host command on the above hostname provides:
check.216.109.136.53.v.80.pw1.super.proxy.scanner.i.thu.cn has address 61.135.170.153
Hrm. 216.109.136.53 is a an IP in Hoboken, NJ. Thats about 6800 miles away from the host in China (61.135.170.153).
If you search for the string "super.proxy.scanner" in google you get 3 pages of proxy and web logs showing requests for various URLs that follow the form:
http://check.$ip_address.v.80.(pdx8PCN22mt1pw1).super.proxy.scanner.(i.thu.cnii.9966.org)/Provy_OK.html
All of the hostnames resolve to 61.135.170.153.
All of the logs I could find show this activity only in the March-April 2006 timeframe so relatively new.
We all know that the RedChinese are our friends.
Here's an interesting little item:
One of our readers has come across an interesting phenomenon in his proxy logs that we're hoping someone can shed some light on. Its not necessarily malicious, its just hinkey.
Imagine reviewing your webserver or proxy logs and seeing requests for a website completely unrelated to your organization, but an IP address in your address block appears in the hostname.
So here is an example URL that might show up in your logs:
http://check.216.109.136.53.v.80.pw1.super.proxy.scanner.i.thu.cn
/Provy_OK.
html running the host command on the above hostname provides:
check.216.109.136.53.v.80.pw1.super.proxy.scanner.i.thu.cn has address 61.135.170.153
Hrm. 216.109.136.53 is a an IP in Hoboken, NJ. Thats about 6800 miles away from the host in China (61.135.170.153).
If you search for the string "super.proxy.scanner" in google you get 3 pages of proxy and web logs showing requests for various URLs that follow the form:
http://check.$ip_address.v.80.(pdx8PCN22mt1pw1).super.proxy.scanner.(i.thu.cnii.9966.org)/Provy_OK.html
All of the hostnames resolve to 61.135.170.153.
All of the logs I could find show this activity only in the March-April 2006 timeframe so relatively new.
We all know that the RedChinese are our friends.
The Truth--As Usual, in the Penultimate Graph
From a lawyer-pundit at PowerLine:
By the way, corporations already pay income taxes of around 35%, in addition to all of the property taxes, sales taxes, etc., that they also pay, and when they pay dividends to their shareholders, more taxes are collected. I can still recall my tax professor saying, when I was in law school, that there is no intellectually respectable argument for the existence of the corporate income tax, other than the fact that it provides employment for legions of accountants and lawyers. And endless opportunities, I would add, for mindless demagoguery by Democrats.
Our man Folkbum (not being personally acquainted with private enterprise) still thinks that corporate income taxes are actually paid by "corporations," which proves that an IQ above 115 does not necessarily mean that one has understanding...
But don't expect it to change. Bring up "Fair Tax" in the presence of a CPA and watch the knowing Chesire Cat grin appear. For them, it's the inverse of "I'm personally opposed, but..."; in fact, the CPA's and tax lawyers know without question or doubt, that there will NEVER be a comprehensive tax reform in the USA, unless preceded by an armed revolt.
By the way, corporations already pay income taxes of around 35%, in addition to all of the property taxes, sales taxes, etc., that they also pay, and when they pay dividends to their shareholders, more taxes are collected. I can still recall my tax professor saying, when I was in law school, that there is no intellectually respectable argument for the existence of the corporate income tax, other than the fact that it provides employment for legions of accountants and lawyers. And endless opportunities, I would add, for mindless demagoguery by Democrats.
Our man Folkbum (not being personally acquainted with private enterprise) still thinks that corporate income taxes are actually paid by "corporations," which proves that an IQ above 115 does not necessarily mean that one has understanding...
But don't expect it to change. Bring up "Fair Tax" in the presence of a CPA and watch the knowing Chesire Cat grin appear. For them, it's the inverse of "I'm personally opposed, but..."; in fact, the CPA's and tax lawyers know without question or doubt, that there will NEVER be a comprehensive tax reform in the USA, unless preceded by an armed revolt.
Alternative Warfare by the Religion of Peace
Major Denial-of-Service attack yesterday, affecting the following blogs:
Blogs down:
Instapundit (***Glenn is posting on his back-up site here***)Power Line Captain's Quarters Pundit Guy Chuck Simmins Small Dead Animals Radioblogger Hugh Hewitt IMAO Mountaineer Musings Say Uncle Counterterrorism Blog Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler Castle Arggh! - John DonovanShe Who Will Be Obeyed - Beth DonovanMichael Totten Ticklish Ears Samizdata Theodore's World Patterico Florida CrackerJeff Quinton Overlawyered Blogs4Bush Tim Blair Down with Absolutes Nyominx
Not to mention Malkin.
The attack was created by someone in Saudi Arabia.
The fact that "Overlawyered" also went down hints at the possibility that Bob Habush chipped in to finance the DOS attack...
Blogs down:
Instapundit (***Glenn is posting on his back-up site here***)Power Line Captain's Quarters Pundit Guy Chuck Simmins Small Dead Animals Radioblogger Hugh Hewitt IMAO Mountaineer Musings Say Uncle Counterterrorism Blog Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler Castle Arggh! - John DonovanShe Who Will Be Obeyed - Beth DonovanMichael Totten Ticklish Ears Samizdata Theodore's World Patterico Florida CrackerJeff Quinton Overlawyered Blogs4Bush Tim Blair Down with Absolutes Nyominx
Not to mention Malkin.
The attack was created by someone in Saudi Arabia.
The fact that "Overlawyered" also went down hints at the possibility that Bob Habush chipped in to finance the DOS attack...
Australia's Costly Failure
Via John Lott, another repetition of the truth about gun-control schemes:
The scale of the 1997 gun buyback scheme that followed the 1996 National Agreement on Firearms was unprecedented. About 640,000 guns - 20 per cent of the total stock of firearms - were handed in at a cost of more than $300 million.
If the gun control lobby is correct, then the effect of such a large intervention should show up in Australia's crime statistics.
However, supporters have been unable to show that the buyback scheme altered long-run trends in Australia's crime rates in a way that supports their abolitionist rhetoric. Indeed, the lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of buyback schemes is proportional to the amount of lobbying by the gun control lobby and the Prime Minister's acquiescence to them.
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, firearm-related deaths in Australia have been declining for a some time. From 1991 to 2001, both the firearm-related suicide and homicide rates almost halved. The 1997 buyback scheme had no obvious influence on this trend.
If the buyback had the effect that its supporters claim it did, then firearms accidents should also have declined. They did not; in fact, the number of firearms-related accidental deaths reached a record high of 45 in 2000. There has not been any significant effect on violent crime as a whole. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that neither the attempted murder rate nor the manslaughter rate have changed significantly since 1997, and the number of kidnapping and abductions reached record highs last year.
...
The Australian experience is consistent with international evidence (or lack thereof). There is no evidence that prohibitions and buybacks reduced violent crime in Britain after they were implemented in 1988 and 1997. Following the most recent British interventions, firearm homicides failed to fall and total homicides actually increased.
Milwaukee's Milk-Carton-Mayor has just concluded a nice trip to NYC; reports indicate that the assembled Poobahs of Politics issued the usual laundry-list of "recommendations" for curbing gun-violence. My bet is that it includes 'buyback' vapidities, cost be damned.
Just put it on the MasterCard, like the trackless/feckless trolley. Eventually you'll force the suburbs to pay for it anyway, right?
The scale of the 1997 gun buyback scheme that followed the 1996 National Agreement on Firearms was unprecedented. About 640,000 guns - 20 per cent of the total stock of firearms - were handed in at a cost of more than $300 million.
If the gun control lobby is correct, then the effect of such a large intervention should show up in Australia's crime statistics.
However, supporters have been unable to show that the buyback scheme altered long-run trends in Australia's crime rates in a way that supports their abolitionist rhetoric. Indeed, the lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of buyback schemes is proportional to the amount of lobbying by the gun control lobby and the Prime Minister's acquiescence to them.
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, firearm-related deaths in Australia have been declining for a some time. From 1991 to 2001, both the firearm-related suicide and homicide rates almost halved. The 1997 buyback scheme had no obvious influence on this trend.
If the buyback had the effect that its supporters claim it did, then firearms accidents should also have declined. They did not; in fact, the number of firearms-related accidental deaths reached a record high of 45 in 2000. There has not been any significant effect on violent crime as a whole. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that neither the attempted murder rate nor the manslaughter rate have changed significantly since 1997, and the number of kidnapping and abductions reached record highs last year.
...
The Australian experience is consistent with international evidence (or lack thereof). There is no evidence that prohibitions and buybacks reduced violent crime in Britain after they were implemented in 1988 and 1997. Following the most recent British interventions, firearm homicides failed to fall and total homicides actually increased.
Milwaukee's Milk-Carton-Mayor has just concluded a nice trip to NYC; reports indicate that the assembled Poobahs of Politics issued the usual laundry-list of "recommendations" for curbing gun-violence. My bet is that it includes 'buyback' vapidities, cost be damned.
Just put it on the MasterCard, like the trackless/feckless trolley. Eventually you'll force the suburbs to pay for it anyway, right?
Rush Was Right! But It's Not Good News...
McIlheran figures out where the World's Primordial Pencil-Necked Geek is going, and doesn't like it.
This is not exactly, news, Pat. It's called a "wealth tax." Limbaugh's talked about it a number of times going back several years, and there's little doubt that the concept is in play with the Dimowits.
In addition to sauntering up to you, pointing their guns, and demanding about 30-40% of your income (you're a columnist, not a Grand Editorial Master)--the Dims have long toyed with the concept of grasping another few points from your "other assets"--house, investments, cars...whatever.
And it can be done.
This is not exactly, news, Pat. It's called a "wealth tax." Limbaugh's talked about it a number of times going back several years, and there's little doubt that the concept is in play with the Dimowits.
In addition to sauntering up to you, pointing their guns, and demanding about 30-40% of your income (you're a columnist, not a Grand Editorial Master)--the Dims have long toyed with the concept of grasping another few points from your "other assets"--house, investments, cars...whatever.
And it can be done.
Reading Iraq News in Context
Grim contributes understanding:
[A WaPo story cites]...State Department statistics showing a spike in terrorist attacks in 2005. The spin on this is that it is bad news, and that Iraq represents about a third of all worldwide attacks.
Yes, it would be better if there were fewer terrorist attacks, because everyone simply put down their weapons and stopped fighting us. On the other hand, a rise in terrorist attacks -- if coupled with a sharp drop in other kinds of attacks -- can signal that the enemy has lost the strength to fight in any other way.
In 2003, we saw combat in Iraq featuring armies; in 2004, uprisings in cities and regions across the country, including both a Shi'ite insurgency led by Sadr and an al-Qaeda led insurgency in the west. Neither survived the US military, and in 2005 we saw mostly terrorist attacks and snipers. That's the missing context. That is why a "spike" in terrorist attacks is not a sign of an insurgency waxing in its strength. It is the sign of an insurgency that is losing strength.
The thesis is credible. We hope that it's also correct.
[A WaPo story cites]...State Department statistics showing a spike in terrorist attacks in 2005. The spin on this is that it is bad news, and that Iraq represents about a third of all worldwide attacks.
Yes, it would be better if there were fewer terrorist attacks, because everyone simply put down their weapons and stopped fighting us. On the other hand, a rise in terrorist attacks -- if coupled with a sharp drop in other kinds of attacks -- can signal that the enemy has lost the strength to fight in any other way.
In 2003, we saw combat in Iraq featuring armies; in 2004, uprisings in cities and regions across the country, including both a Shi'ite insurgency led by Sadr and an al-Qaeda led insurgency in the west. Neither survived the US military, and in 2005 we saw mostly terrorist attacks and snipers. That's the missing context. That is why a "spike" in terrorist attacks is not a sign of an insurgency waxing in its strength. It is the sign of an insurgency that is losing strength.
The thesis is credible. We hope that it's also correct.
Public-Owned Porn Cache
The Regents did the right thing--but what OTHER lessons did they learn?
A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor dismissed this month for a felony conviction collected pornographic images on his school computer for a decade, according to documents released Friday.
The UW Board of Regents voted April 7 to dismiss L. Keith Cohen, a 30-year faculty member of the UW-Madison Department of Comparative Literature.
After the arrest, a university technician searched Cohen's UW computer and discovered more than 2,000 pornographic images, according to the regents' decision.
Oh, by the way: is the UW System paying BoyPornPervert a pension?
A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor dismissed this month for a felony conviction collected pornographic images on his school computer for a decade, according to documents released Friday.
The UW Board of Regents voted April 7 to dismiss L. Keith Cohen, a 30-year faculty member of the UW-Madison Department of Comparative Literature.
After the arrest, a university technician searched Cohen's UW computer and discovered more than 2,000 pornographic images, according to the regents' decision.
Oh, by the way: is the UW System paying BoyPornPervert a pension?
Walker Succumbs to "Milwaukee Disease"
Not that anyone with a half-a-brain is surprised:
[Walker] has kept tax increases off the table but pitches some ideas that could spread the county's pain to taxpayers around the state. For example, Walker suggests several options for "devolving" - or shifting - county responsibilities to others.
One Walker idea would have state employees take over for nearly 300 Circuit Court support staff, who cost a total of about $12 million a year in salary and fringe costs.
Another Walker proposal calls for substitution of state employees for nearly 250 county human services intake workers, who conduct interviews to determine eligibility for food stamps, Medicaid and the Wisconsin Works welfare reform program. They cost about $8.3 million a year.
Walker said taxpayers would come out winners because for every dollar paid to county employees, taxpayers also shell out another 70 cents for health, pension and other fringe costs. The state fringe rate is a much lower 41%.
Consider: private enterprise fringe costs run around 30% or less.
But the most ironic comment came from BagManJimbo's flak:
Walker also hasn't done enough yet to cut county costs to justify extra state support, Leistikow said.
Another bloodsucking concept from Scott:
...a regional parks district
Naturally, the AFSCME has its own opinion of this mess:
Richard Abelson, who leads that union, said Walker has unfairly emphasized the 2000-'01 pension deal as the source of the county's money woes. The county executive's failure to offer health plans to county workers that offer incentives for choosing lower-cost plans has bigger financial implications than pension costs, said Abelson, executive director of District Council 48 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
The Walker plan is textbook "default" hard-coded into Milwaukee elected officials. First, you spend a bunch of money--often with full knowledge that you can't afford it. (See MMSD's ridiculous Deep Tunnel, e.g., or the Public Screwels--or the Electric Trolley Toy Bus.)
THEN you wait around a while, so that things become a crisis.
Finally, you go to the Legislature and put the high-heater past them. They're willing; they can't he'p themselves from overspending, either.
Then you bemoan the fact that Wisconsin's State/Local tax burden continues to climb.
[Walker] has kept tax increases off the table but pitches some ideas that could spread the county's pain to taxpayers around the state. For example, Walker suggests several options for "devolving" - or shifting - county responsibilities to others.
One Walker idea would have state employees take over for nearly 300 Circuit Court support staff, who cost a total of about $12 million a year in salary and fringe costs.
Another Walker proposal calls for substitution of state employees for nearly 250 county human services intake workers, who conduct interviews to determine eligibility for food stamps, Medicaid and the Wisconsin Works welfare reform program. They cost about $8.3 million a year.
Walker said taxpayers would come out winners because for every dollar paid to county employees, taxpayers also shell out another 70 cents for health, pension and other fringe costs. The state fringe rate is a much lower 41%.
Consider: private enterprise fringe costs run around 30% or less.
But the most ironic comment came from BagManJimbo's flak:
Walker also hasn't done enough yet to cut county costs to justify extra state support, Leistikow said.
Another bloodsucking concept from Scott:
...a regional parks district
Naturally, the AFSCME has its own opinion of this mess:
Richard Abelson, who leads that union, said Walker has unfairly emphasized the 2000-'01 pension deal as the source of the county's money woes. The county executive's failure to offer health plans to county workers that offer incentives for choosing lower-cost plans has bigger financial implications than pension costs, said Abelson, executive director of District Council 48 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
The Walker plan is textbook "default" hard-coded into Milwaukee elected officials. First, you spend a bunch of money--often with full knowledge that you can't afford it. (See MMSD's ridiculous Deep Tunnel, e.g., or the Public Screwels--or the Electric Trolley Toy Bus.)
THEN you wait around a while, so that things become a crisis.
Finally, you go to the Legislature and put the high-heater past them. They're willing; they can't he'p themselves from overspending, either.
Then you bemoan the fact that Wisconsin's State/Local tax burden continues to climb.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Cdl. Martini, Gay Marriage, Vagina Monologues, and Xoff's Biology
As mentioned earlier in this blog, Cdl. Martini (Friend of Rembert) wandered off the Catholic reservation with remarks on rubbers, AIDS, and abortion. Too bad, but not entirely unexpected; Martini's been nibbling at the edges of The Apple for years.
Magister reports completely, as we have come to expect.
Some key text (and yes, we'll get to Xoff's Incredible Biology, too...)
“So now the Trojan horse has been brought into the city,” says one of the top figures of the congregation, with “L’espresso” open on the table. “At first glance, some of cardinal Martini’s expressions of openness seem good and worthy of endorsing. But they conceal devastating effects.”
“The condom is a false solution,” continues the official of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith. “In the ABC’s of the battle against AIDS – Abstinence, Be faithful, Condom – the first two of these, chastity and marital fidelity, are valid for the Church. But not the third.
“All you have to do is read the Catechism of the Catholic Church to identify the firm points from which Martini departs,” says the official of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith. One of these first points is complete respect for every human life “from conception,” from its very first moments.
That SHOULD ring a bell with Xoff, who states he went to a Catholic high school.
The final document said that “the moment that marks the beginning of the existence of a new human being is represented by the penetration of the spermatozoon into the oocyte.” Benedict XVI visited the congress participants, and told them that “the love of God does not distinguish between the newly conceived child still in his mother’s womb and the baby, or the young person, or the mature or elderly person. He does not distinguish, because in each one of them he sees the imprint of his own image and likeness.
The fact that cardinal Martini ignored all of this in “L’espresso,” and even cleared the way for the use of the oocyte in the first hours after fertilization, maintaining that here “no sign of an individually distinguishable life yet appears,” was seen as an act of surrender to what John Paul II defined as the modern “culture of death.”
Furthermore, Sgreccia [President, Academy for Life and top Vatican bioethicist] reminded Martini that “his theory” on the fertilized oocyte “is not shared by many embryologists.” And in effect, when the National Committee on Bioethics in Italy examined this issue in July of 2005, it was split 26 against 12. With the majority were Sgreccia and other Catholic and secular scholars, all in favor of the inviolability of the fertilized egg from the very first moment. With the minority was Carlo Flamigni, who wanted to add to the final document his own very polemical comments on the Church. The position of this minority is the one that both cardinal Martini and professor Marino expressed in their dialogue in “L’espresso.”
Which is to say that Xoff is not only wrong on Catholicism--he's likely wrong on the biology; a point we made.
And it's not just Catholic "bible-thumpers" who think Martini's lost his way:
There is an editorialist for “Avvenire,” for example, Lucetta Scaraffia, an historian and feminist who has followed bioethics for years: she charges Martini with addressing problems of life and death that are central in our time “with the reductionist and casuist mode of reasoning that has represented the negative stereotype of the Jesuits since Pascal’s time.”
Which reductionism, we might add, is the foundation of the play "The Vagina Monologues," and other strange perversions--such as the fiction of "gay marriage."
And we haven't even gotten to the stubborn fact that a condom is physically incapable of stopping a virus, folks.
Magister reports completely, as we have come to expect.
Some key text (and yes, we'll get to Xoff's Incredible Biology, too...)
“So now the Trojan horse has been brought into the city,” says one of the top figures of the congregation, with “L’espresso” open on the table. “At first glance, some of cardinal Martini’s expressions of openness seem good and worthy of endorsing. But they conceal devastating effects.”
“The condom is a false solution,” continues the official of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith. “In the ABC’s of the battle against AIDS – Abstinence, Be faithful, Condom – the first two of these, chastity and marital fidelity, are valid for the Church. But not the third.
“All you have to do is read the Catechism of the Catholic Church to identify the firm points from which Martini departs,” says the official of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith. One of these first points is complete respect for every human life “from conception,” from its very first moments.
That SHOULD ring a bell with Xoff, who states he went to a Catholic high school.
The final document said that “the moment that marks the beginning of the existence of a new human being is represented by the penetration of the spermatozoon into the oocyte.” Benedict XVI visited the congress participants, and told them that “the love of God does not distinguish between the newly conceived child still in his mother’s womb and the baby, or the young person, or the mature or elderly person. He does not distinguish, because in each one of them he sees the imprint of his own image and likeness.
The fact that cardinal Martini ignored all of this in “L’espresso,” and even cleared the way for the use of the oocyte in the first hours after fertilization, maintaining that here “no sign of an individually distinguishable life yet appears,” was seen as an act of surrender to what John Paul II defined as the modern “culture of death.”
Furthermore, Sgreccia [President, Academy for Life and top Vatican bioethicist] reminded Martini that “his theory” on the fertilized oocyte “is not shared by many embryologists.” And in effect, when the National Committee on Bioethics in Italy examined this issue in July of 2005, it was split 26 against 12. With the majority were Sgreccia and other Catholic and secular scholars, all in favor of the inviolability of the fertilized egg from the very first moment. With the minority was Carlo Flamigni, who wanted to add to the final document his own very polemical comments on the Church. The position of this minority is the one that both cardinal Martini and professor Marino expressed in their dialogue in “L’espresso.”
Which is to say that Xoff is not only wrong on Catholicism--he's likely wrong on the biology; a point we made.
And it's not just Catholic "bible-thumpers" who think Martini's lost his way:
There is an editorialist for “Avvenire,” for example, Lucetta Scaraffia, an historian and feminist who has followed bioethics for years: she charges Martini with addressing problems of life and death that are central in our time “with the reductionist and casuist mode of reasoning that has represented the negative stereotype of the Jesuits since Pascal’s time.”
Which reductionism, we might add, is the foundation of the play "The Vagina Monologues," and other strange perversions--such as the fiction of "gay marriage."
And we haven't even gotten to the stubborn fact that a condom is physically incapable of stopping a virus, folks.
Thinking About Iraq
...or for that matter, the rest of the non-democratic world...
In a review of The White Man's Burden, Roger Bate excerpts an interesting passage:
Easterly demonstrates that nearly all aid programs fail to reach individually set targets:
"A UN summit in 1990, for example, set a goal for the year 2000 of universal primary-school enrollment. (That is now planned for 2015). A previous summit, in 1977, set 1990 as the deadline for realizing the goal of universal access to water and sanitation. (Under the Millennium Development Goals, that target is now 2015). Nobody was held accountable for these missed goals."
The point is the goals will never be hit, or at least not by the policies enacted to reach them.
"Stop wasting our time with summits and frameworks" he says. And he repeatedly drills home the unnerving conclusion that Planners will always fail:
"The West cannot transform the Rest. It is a fantasy to think that the West can change complex societies with very different histories and cultures into some image of itself. The main hope for the poor is for them to be their own Searchers, borrowing ideas and technology from the West when it suits them to do so....Once the West is willing to aid individuals rather than governments, some conundrums that tie foreign aid up in knots are resolved."
Although the book is written about UN-types (and the US "agency" planners and enablers--AID, ExIm, the State Department...) the above little nugget applies to a lot of situations.
Like, for example, Iraq.
In a review of The White Man's Burden, Roger Bate excerpts an interesting passage:
Easterly demonstrates that nearly all aid programs fail to reach individually set targets:
"A UN summit in 1990, for example, set a goal for the year 2000 of universal primary-school enrollment. (That is now planned for 2015). A previous summit, in 1977, set 1990 as the deadline for realizing the goal of universal access to water and sanitation. (Under the Millennium Development Goals, that target is now 2015). Nobody was held accountable for these missed goals."
The point is the goals will never be hit, or at least not by the policies enacted to reach them.
"Stop wasting our time with summits and frameworks" he says. And he repeatedly drills home the unnerving conclusion that Planners will always fail:
"The West cannot transform the Rest. It is a fantasy to think that the West can change complex societies with very different histories and cultures into some image of itself. The main hope for the poor is for them to be their own Searchers, borrowing ideas and technology from the West when it suits them to do so....Once the West is willing to aid individuals rather than governments, some conundrums that tie foreign aid up in knots are resolved."
Although the book is written about UN-types (and the US "agency" planners and enablers--AID, ExIm, the State Department...) the above little nugget applies to a lot of situations.
Like, for example, Iraq.
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