I keep seeing leftists justifying the passage of cap-and-trade, a ~1500 page bill nobody had time to read, by saying “Well, nobody read the PATRIOT Act before they passed that!”

That’s the state of politics in our country, folks. Two wrongs now equal a right.

Michael Jackson is dead.

Me, calling The Inconvenience: “Michael Jackson is dead.”
TI: “Huh. That was a quick three.”
Me: “Whut?”
TI: “They always die in threes. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson.”
Me: “Farrah Fawcett is dead!?!?!”
TI: “Yup. All other celebrities: You may now breathe a sigh of relief. You’re safe for now.”

I was just reading a CNN biography of Neda Agha-Soltan, and thought this passage was worth noting:

A friend of hers interprets the fact that her body was released so quickly as a tacit acknowledgment by the government that the killing was carried out by government forces. That theory is supported by the fact that Iran’s strict gun-control laws mean private citizens cannot carry firearms, the friend said.

Governments do not fear disarmed people.

I received the following message from a good friend of mine earlier, and felt it was important to pass it along. Please redistribute generously – link here, repost, copy and paste to email, hang it up at the grocery store – this is a great idea, and needs to be spread far and wide.

Incidentally, my congressman – Walt Minnick – is one of the Blue Dogs, so I started my work on this effort by calling his DC office today. I plan to make more calls tomorrow.

Patriots,

We’ve got a country to save.  We wont be able to fight everything and win, but we can’t let what happened with the $787 Billion stimulus pork ‘n waste package happen again.  But unless we mobilize now, it will.

The Markey-Waxman “Cap-and-trade” Energy Tax bill, in the current form being considered by the House Energy and Commerce committee, would, according to the Heritage Foundation, have the following catastrophic effects by 2035:

1. Reduce aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) by $9.6 trillion annually;

2. Destroy 1,105,000 American jobs per year on average, with peak years seeing unemployment rise by over 2,479,000 jobs;

3. Raise electricity rates 90 percent after adjusting for inflation;

4. Raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 74 percent;

5. Raise residential natural gas prices by 55 percent;

6. Raise an average family’s annual energy bill by $1,500 annually; and

7. Increase inflation-adjusted federal debt by 26 percent, or $29,150 additional federal debt per person, again after adjusting for inflation.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants the U.S. House to vote at the end of this week on the Waxman-Markey National Energy Tax (House Bill 2454).  We must kill the bill there, in the House of Representatives, before it reaches the Senate where it could passes with near certainty before being signed into law by the President.

We can’t settle for calling our own representatives–especially if where you live, your Congressional Representative is a far-Left Liberal.  We can’t hope it’ll be good enough if every single Republican in the House of Representatives votes against Waxman-Markey because Democrats have the majority.

We must target Democrats in order to stop this thing, but not just Any Democrats.  Democrats that are moderate-to-moderately Conservative.  Fortunately, they already identified themselves by forming the Blue Dog Coalition.

According to Wikipedia, their ideology (largely born out of the necessity to get votes in conservative regions like Texas and other southern states, and states in the heartland like Indiana), “the Blue Dog Coalition is often involved in finding a compromise between liberal and conservative positions. The Blue Dogs are viewed by some as a continuation of the socially conservative wing of the Democratic party prominent during the presidency of Harry S Truman.[citation needed] However, the only stated policy position of the Blue Dogs is fiscal conservatism…

“Despite the Blue Dogs’ differing degrees of economic and social conservatism, they generally work to promote positions within the House of Representatives that bridge the gap between center-right and left-wing politics. Blue Dogs are an important swing vote on spending bills and as a result have gained influence in Congress out of proportion to their numbers. They are frequently sought after to broker compromises between the Democratic and Republican leadership, generally lending a more conservative character to US politics.”

Here is a complete list of those sitting Representatives in the House, and their telephone numbers.  We need to call ‘em up, ASAP, and tell them to vote NO on H.R. 2454.

All numbers, area code 202:

* Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-AL), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration
225-2801
* Baron Hill (IN-9), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy
225-5315
* Charlie Melancon (LA-3), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications
225-4031
* Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip
225-6401

* Jason Altmire (PA-4), 225-2565
* Mike Arcuri (NY-24), 225-3665
* John Barrow (GA-12),  225-2823
* Marion Berry (AR-1), 225-4076
* Sanford Bishop (GA-2), 225-3631
* Dan Boren (OK-2), 225-2701
* Leonard Boswell (IA-3), 225-3806
* Allen Boyd (FL-2), 225-5235
* Bobby Bright (AL-2), 225-2901
* Christopher Carney (PA-10), 225-3731
* Ben Chandler (KY-6), 225-4706
* Travis Childers (MS-1), 225-4306
* Jim Cooper (TN-5), 225-4311
* Henry Cuellar (TX-28), 225-1640
* Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3), 225-5406
* Lincoln Davis (TN-4), 225-6831
* Joe Donnelly (IN-2), 225-3915
* Brad Ellsworth (IN-8), 225-4636
* Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8), 225-2542
* Bart Gordon (TN-6), 225-4231
* Parker Griffith (AL-5), 225-4801
* Tim Holden (PA-17), 225-5546
* Frank Kratovil (MD-1), 225-5311
* Jim Marshall (GA-8), 225-6531
* Jim Matheson (UT-2), 225-3011
* Mike McIntyre (NC-7), 225-2731
* Mike Michaud (ME-2), 225-6306
* Walt Minnick (ID-1), 225-6611
* Harry Mitchell (AZ-5), 225-2190
* Dennis Moore (KS-3), 225-2865
* Patrick Murphy (PA-8), 225-4276
* Glenn Nye (VA-2), 225-4215
* Collin Peterson (MN-7), 225-2165
* Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL), 225-2611
* Mike Ross (AR-4), 225-3772
* John Salazar (CO-3), 225-4761
* Loretta Sanchez (CA-47), 225-2965
* David Scott (GA-13), 225-2939
* Zack Space (OH-18), 225-6265
* John Tanner (TN-8), 225-4714
* Gene Taylor (MS-4), 225-5772
* Charlie Wilson (OH-6), 225-5705
* Melissa Bean (IL-8), 225-3711
* Mike Thompson (CA-1), 225-3311
* Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), 225-6131
* Jim Costa (CA-20), 225-3341
* Adam Schiff (CA-29), 225-4176
* Jane Harman (CA-36), 225-8220
* Joe Baca (CA-43), 225-2823

It would take a little over three hours to call of these numbers straight through, so feel free to break it up.  Just be sure to call as many as you can as soon as you can, especially the numbers at the top!

Feel free to modify this script to suit what feels comfortable to you.  It runs about a minute and 42 seconds.

“Good morning,

My name is <NAME> and I’m calling about the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade bill that the Speaker of the House is urging a vote on as soon as possible, an issue that affects all Americans and not just those in your district.  Like those Americans, I care deeply about the environment and being responsible as we try to re-grow our prosperity in this country, but I strongly feel this bill is the wrong way to do it.

According to credible economists and their peer-reviewed academic research, this piece of legislation will kick our economy while it’s down.  At a time when we should be doing everything we can to make this the best place in the world for people to come and start a business, and create jobs, we’re going to make energy so incredibly expensive that they can’t afford to hire anyone.  And for families already struggling–whether by having to string together two-part time jobs or get by on unemployment–they will see their gasoline, heating and electricity bills shoot through the roof.

I know the sponsors of this bill have said otherwise, but I am telling you, I know other wise.  And I am also telling Representative <NAME> to vote against this legislation.  There aren’t too many issues more important than this one, and I’m afraid that how each Representative votes on this bill will matter to me and everyone that I know when it’s time for us to vote during the mid-term elections next November, 2010.

Thank you for your time.”

And for good measure, give Republican House minotiry leader John Boehner’s office at a call at (202) 225-6205 to reinforce, and remind his staffer that we’re out here, watching, and that we wont tolerate any give from the party in the House on this bill.  Remind his staffer that his and their re-election counts on standing strong against this bill.

I truly hope that you’ll join me in my mission to stop this madness, and tell everyone you know to help you too.

Thank you for your time.
- Dairenn Lombard
Los Angeles

Dairenn, I really appreciate your work in putting this together. You are a friend of liberty… now MOVE OUT OF CALIFORNIA! :)

Son’s Death Has Iranian Family Asking Why
…
At the crack of dawn, his father began searching at police stations, then hospitals and then the morgue.

Upon learning of his son’s death, the elder Mr. Alipour was told the family had to pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a “bullet fee”—a fee for the bullet used by security forces—before taking the body back, relatives said.
…

You know, I think this picture sums it up nicely:

Swing, Khamenei.

And, in doing so, I am engaging in an act that has been banned by the government of Iran.

Neda is the woman – a philosophy student, only three years older than myself – who was murdered in Tehran in the protests over the fraudulent Iranian elections.

I believe this incident, more than any other single act, has now ensured that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and their Basij thugs are not only going to be deposed, but also dispatched in particularly nasty ways.

May they reap what they sow.

Sorry about the PGB outage. PSA: If you switch your web hosting to monthly billing, they tend to appreciate if you, you know, pay them monthly. Ahem.

As an aside, I need to give a plug for Dreamhost. For whatever reason, the web panel didn’t like me much when I was trying to log in to re-up my account, so I emailed for help. I received a reply in less than ten minutes, sent them the information they needed, and received a second reply within ten minutes. First email to problem solved: 18 minutes. Quite impressive.

The Girl Child and I are back in Idaho, swine-flu free (thus far anyway). Thanks for all your well-wishes. Regarding the masks-on-the-airplane thing: I was aware of the airborne nature of the flu, but figured I’d a) give myself a barrier between stray sneezes/coughs and b) protect myself from myself, because I’m HORRIBLE about touching my face all the time. It’s a moot point, though, because I forgot I had the stupid thing. I did wash my hands A LOT.

Anyway, Feliz Cinco de Quatro. I am so glad we have a president soooooooooo much smarter than GWB, aren’t you?

Well, we’re alive and well and holed up in the sticks of Californiastan. (My folks live in the country, thank goodness.) We shipped The Sister home on schedule on Tuesday, but The Girl Child and I aren’t due to leave until next Monday. I’m kind of thinking since we haven’t gotten on a plane yet, we won’t be getting on one at all. I can wear a surgical mask, but the kiddo can’t. And since my folks are planning on heading Idaho-way fairly soon, we may just stick around and drive.

I’m more than a little distressed by the whole thing – I didn’t want to rush home via plane and expose us to something we didn’t yet know the extent of, but obviously the longer I wait the more it’s likely to spread. I don’t want to be stuck here any longer than we have to be, but I also don’t care to engage in air travel. People are stupid.

Ammo situation sucks here, by the way. The best Wal-Mart could come up with in the way of .22LR was 50 rounds of CCI for $6.50 or something like that. K-Mart had nothin’. One of the local gun shops had half-bricks for $15. My dad finally believes me that reloading supplies can’t be had, either.

Oh, and for the record, the fam already owns land up in north Idaho and is working on long-term relocation. I just hope it happens sooner rather than later.

Anyway, I don’t have anything really substantive to post, just wanted to let everyone know we’re well. Kind of stuck, but well. Grump, grump, grump.

Quotes from the public school strip-search case oral arguments:

JUSTICE SCALIA:  Any contraband, like the
15 black marker pencil that — that astounded me.  That was
16 contraband in that school, wasn’t it, a black marker
17 pencil?
18             MR. WRIGHT:  Well, for sniffing.
19             JUSTICE SCALIA:  Oh, is that what they do?
20             MR. WRIGHT:  It’s a permanent marker.
21             JUSTICE SCALIA:  They sniff them?
22             MR. WRIGHT:  Well, that’s the — I mean, I’m
23 a school lawyer.  That’s what kids do, Your Honor,
24 unfortunately, Your Honor.  But -
25             JUSTICE SCALIA:  Really?

…

JUSTICE SOUTER:  But you are — you are
4 saying basically there is — there is no general
5 understanding that people carry ibuprofen in — in their
6 undergarments.

…

JUSTICE BREYER:   So what am I supposed to
2 do?   In my experience when I was 8 or 10 or 12 years
3 old, you know, we did take our clothes off once a day,
4 we changed for gym, okay?    And in my experience, too,
5 people did sometimes stick things in my underwear -
6              (Laughter.)
7              JUSTICE BREYER:   Or not my underwear.
8 Whatever.   Whatever.  I was the one who did it?    I don’t
9 know.   I mean, I don’t think it’s beyond human
10 experience, not beyond human experience.

—————

And a not so fun one:

JUSTICE SOUTER:        You — you say that the -
18 the point of my question, this is what I’d like you to
19 focus on — you’re entirely right, I would accept that
20 argument and I think that argument is entirely right, if
21 the stakes are lower.    If the risk of a mistake is going
22 to be less traumatic.    In the hypo that I gave, the risk
23 of the mistake may well be violent sickness or death.
24 And the thought process in the principal’s mind is, the
25 reasonableness analysis in the principal’s mind is
1 better embarrassment than violent sickness or death.
2 What’s wrong with that reasoning under the Fourth
3 Amendment?

For the SHIRE! CHILDREN!

Strip searching students illegal? Supreme Court not so sure
Justices appear unconvinced that the searches should be declared out of bounds. A 13-year-old honors student in Arizona was strip searched in a hunt for drugs.

By David G. Savage
11:06 AM PDT, April 21, 2009

Reporting from Washington — The Supreme Court gave a skeptical hearing today to lawyers who were urging a rule against strip searching students at school.

Instead, most of the justices voiced concern that students could hide dangerous drugs such as crack cocaine or heroin in their clothes.

The case before the court concerns a 13-year-old Arizona girl who was strip searched in a nurse’s office after a school friend said the girl, Savana Redding, had brought white pills to school. The pills were extra-strength ibuprofen, which is commonly taken for headaches and cramps.

Last year, a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the strip search of Savana Redding was unreasonable and unconstitutional since the pills were ibuprofen. And the court held that the school officials who ordered the search were liable for damages.

But in their comments and questions, most of the justices signaled they are inclined to overturn that decision.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the school officials should be shielded from being sued since the law governing school searches had not been clear. In the past, the court has said public officials cannot be held liable for damages unless they violate a “clearly established” right.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, though a swing vote on many issues, has voted regularly to give police and school officials greater leeway to search for drugs.

He objected when Adam Wolf, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer for Redding, argued that the strip search was unreasonable because there was no evidence she was hiding anything in her underwear.

“Is the nature of drug irrelevant?” he asked. “What if it was meth to be consumed at noon?”

Wolf insisted that, even in this instance, school officials would not have reasonable grounds for strip searching a 13-year-old honors student. There was no reason to think she had pills in her underwear, he said.

That reply did not appear to persuade Justice Stephen G. Breyer. It is “a logical thing” for adolescents to hide things, he said. A student might stick something “in their underwear,” he added, provoking laughter when he said that this had happened to him at school. “It’s not beyond human experience.”

For a moment, Justice David H. Souter tried to put himself in the mind of the vice principal who ordered the strip search of Savana Redding. The year before, a middle-school student had become violently ill after taking mysterious pills at school. The official may have feared a repeat.

“Better embarrassment [of one student] than the risk of violent sickness and death,” Souter said.

A lawyer for the Safford Unified School District urged the justices to rule that school officials have broad authority to search students. The vice principal in this case had been told some students had pills, and they were to be passed around at lunchtime. Based on that report, “he was entitled to search any place where contraband might reasonably be found,” said Matthew Wright, district’s lawyer.

What about a “body cavity search?” asked Justice Antonin Scalia.

Wright replied that no school official would undertake such a search, but he insisted it would be legal.

Wolf, the ACLU lawyer, said it would “send shudders down the spine” of children across the nation if the high court approves strip searches at school.

A Justice Department lawyer urged the justices to say that strip searches are out of bounds unless officials have strong, clear evidence that a student is hiding something dangerous in his or her underwear.

The tone of the argument gave little hint the justices will set such a limit, however.

A ruling in the case of Safford School District vs. Redding will be issued by late June.

david.savage@latimes.com

At least it sounds like Scalia might have his head on straight… Though it sounds like the left wing of the court is going to bat for liberty on this one about as much as they did in Kelo v. New London. Assholes. (Not that Roberts is doing any better, but I wanted to point that out just in case anybody still believes liberals give a damn about civil liberties.)

You know, when I was just a wee baby libertarian (senior in high school), I had to argue a mock case in government class. It was about the power of school officials to search personal belongings on suspicion of drugs/paraphanelia. I could not fathom then, and cannot fathom now, how it has come to pass that we have granted school officials police powers.

I also find it ironic they can have these type of police powers and yet not be permitted to carry firearms in defense of themselves or their students, which isn’t even a police power.

I don’t even know what to say anymore. I am about ready to quit this whole damn country. How is Costa Rica doing these days? I hear the Canadians messed with some pirates, so maybe I should head north.

Man, I hope Scalia dissents.