Independents

I have to say, the fact that there are now two Independents in the US Senate is encouraging to me. I have always been anti-two party system and the fact these two have been able to run without national party support is a good sign. I don't know whether such independence can endure or even expand, but I for one hope it does. We need more people who are not quite conservative or liberal, or too conservative or liberal for the two national parties to run more. People in this country want more, and independents and 3rd parties are a way to give people more.

Oh Ann Coulter......again

You know, I think for one year, I would like to see the world the way Ann Coulter does. I really don't know how she has such pent up aggression and hate for the other side. She lives to argue and take character shots. People talk about what is wrong with this country? It is not the liberal media, it is people like her and Rush who insist on trying to polarize this country even more than it is.

Also, check out this website. I wonder if he could actually win? I would vote for him, just for the cabinet.

Goodbye Nancy

The democrats took back the house. They may or may not take back the Senate (ok, they won't). No matter what happens, Nancy Johnson is no longer in congress.

Chris Murphy, please do a good job.

To all newly elected congresspersons and senators (or relected ones): Work with the opposing party. Listen to you constituents, not your largest campaign contributors. Do what is best for the American people, not what is politically expedient. Listen, compromise, and realize there is more that unites us than divides us.

Ann Coulter

Oh how she boils my blood sometimes. I'm really glad to know that every Republican or Conservative I know dismisses her as being as crazy as the people she accuses of being crazy in this column. She seems to imply that focusing on anything but the War on Terror and the War in Iraq would be absolutely insane. There are other things in this country we need to be concerned with. Least of all is budget management which seems to be pretty low on the priority of the fiscally responsible Republican Party. Yeah, we are in a war, but we have been in a couple and I don't seem to remember having such a huge disparity in spending and income during those wars. You know why? Because in order to pay for those wars, the government raised taxes, especially the estate tax in order to pay for those wars. Previous leaders of our country understood that everyone has to give a little bit more in a time of war.

Wrong Voting Precinct?

Oh Ann Coulter, how we love you.

What rule of civil procedure am I?

As a law student, I am obligated to take this quiz.

Which Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Are You?

YOU ARE RULE 11!You were designed to make sure that attorneys in federal cases make reasonable inquiries into fact and law before submitting pleadings, motions, or other papers. You were a real hardass in 1983, when you snuffed out all legal creativity from federal proceedings and embarassed well-meaning but overzealous attorneys. You loosened up a bit in 1993, when you began allowing plaintiffs to make allegations in their complaints that are likely to have evidenciary support after discovery, and when you allowed a 21 day period for the erring attorney to withdraw the errant motion. Sure, you certainly won't get any brownie points for being outgoing, but you keep things on the up and up. It's pretty clear that the whole operation would fall apart without you around.
Take this quiz!








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Environmental Economics

See previous post.

Now we even have a leading British Government Economist saying that it makes good economic sense to protect the environment and take measure to prevent climate change.

He predicts that if we do not prevent global climate change, world economic growth will begin to slow considerably. While he concedes that it is not certain that this will happen, he finds the economic risks far outweigh the uncertainty. He believes there is a need for the world governments to set regulations to encourage a move away from a carbon based economy through taxes or carbon trading. He also believes this can be done for as little as 1% of the global economic output and will create enormous opportunity for investment, not kill investment like some say.

In my view, there is a more pressing economic risk of staying depending on carbon based fuels, specifically oil: China and the rest of Asia is continuing to develop and increasing their demand for oil. As that demand increases, the price of oil increases. As our economy is do dependent on oil, that any increase in the price has a significant impact on spending, travel, transportation, and many other facets of our economy. The sooner we get off our dependence on oil, the better economic position we will be in when the price of oil really goes through the roof.

Abortion? Not in Nicaragua.

Eeek! Nicaragua has joined 2 other Latin American Countries as being the only countries in the Western Hemisphere that completely ban abortion. No exception. Not even for rape or incest. Glad to know we are SO much more progressive than these countries...a complete ban could NEVER happen here.

Private Police Force

I LOVE these guys. They provide a bit of entertainment, though their views a little ummm......scary.

Talk to the bush because the Bush ain't listening.

This is good. To be honest, I watched this first thing in the morning and didn't realize the analogy for like half the video.

Ok, where does a 13 year old get an AK-47?

Parent's using children as weapons and now 13 year olds bringing AK-47s and Bombs into school.

Now my question: Where does a 13 year old get an AK-47? His parents had one. Why? Because they need to protect themselves from skunks.

There is no reason an AK-47 should be anywhere a 13 year old boy (or girl) could reach it. For that matter there shouldn't be any reason a 13 year old has access to any sort of weapon unless properly supervised by a parent. I am not against hunting, I am against guns in the hands of kids without proper adult supervision. I also do not think there is any reason why anyone should have an AK-47!

Since everyone is posting about N. Korea

I will share something scary a bit closer home.

This is very disturbing.

Palestine in Civil War?

Hmmm.....two factions of the government fighting against each other.....sounds kinda like a certain other middle eastern country.

Gas Prices

I am making the prediction now: Within 6 months of the 2006 Congressional election, gas prices will begin to creep back up to where they are.

I guess I am far to cynical, and maybe have too much faith in the power of those in power, but I think oil companies and oil producing countries would be far happier with Republicans in control than with Democrats in control of this country so they are artificially lowering prices to give the Republicans a bump before election time.

Guess it is time for more Dork nights and online gaming...

Why must school prevent me from posting anything than this? How I would love to go off on the "spoiled brat" tax and election reform...

Crumbling Camden

So, as some of you may or may not know, Sunny Camden, NJ is currently trying to redevelop itself. While this is a wonderful idea and much needed it is not very simple and the people in charge of it continue to make things worse instead of better.

They are trying so hard to get businesses into the city (which is necessary) that they are giving incredible tax breaks and abatements for businesses that they cannot afford to do the same for residents. They are trying to redevelop a large residential area of the city, giving new houses to residents who already live there. However, they aren't given a property tax break to those who stay, so they will soon be taxed out of the area.

Recently, they also started condemning properties to do building and promising to reimburse owners. Not only are they condemning unprofitable businesses, but also some of the few profitable businesses in the city, and are apparently having trouble doing the actual work or reimbursing or assisting those businesses that have to relocate.

I am all for redevelopment, but not at the expense of people who already live and do business in the city.

Terror and US Foreign Policy

Thank you to Geoff over at American Entropy for this one. He gives a good intro, so I will just link the Q&A with Michael Scheuer from Harper's.

It is always an argument I get into with my more conservative friends; whether US Foreign policy, especially in the middle east, only increases support for terrorist organizations. Here is a pretty conservative CIA guy saying it does.

Sorry!

I have been in the process of moving and trying to get internet so have not been able to post. I hope to be back up fairly regularly soon, but I am back at Law School and might not have as much time. So keep checking back and see what I got.

-PV

I cannot believe I am quoting Ann Coulter!

But I am. It is her column from last week. I am a little behind, but it takes me a few days to build up the joy and happiness I need to have so that when I read Ann Coulter I don't do something very bad. But last week, she actually said something I agree with:

"When you vote Democratic, you're saying NO to mindless patriotism. "

Now she says that as it is a bad thing. She thinks we should be mindlessly patriotic, which scares me. I would like to remind her what mindless patriotism gave us: Nazi Germany, WWII Era Japan, the USSR, and North Korea to name a few. Mindless patriotism is what most often puts dictators in power.

So please, whether you vote Democrat, Republican, Green, Working Families, or Right to Life; Say NO to mindless patriotism!

Posner Weighs in

Judge Posner has a lot to say about counter-terrorism methods in the US. For those of you who don't know, Judge Posner is a sitting judge on the 7th Circuit United States Court of Appeals.

Basically Judge Posner is recommending that the US create a counter-terrorism unit similar to Britain's MI-5. Because MI-5's main responsibility is counter-terrorism, not crime prevention, and they can hold a suspect for 28 days w/o a judicial hearing, Judge Posner believes they are more effective against terrorism. The FBI can hold a suspect for more than 48 hours, but only in extraordinary circumstances.

While I do not agree with everything Judge Posner says, the idea of allowing authorities to hold a terror suspect for an extended period of time may have some merit (I can just see the entire left side of the political spectrum calling for me head right now). I do not mean indefinitely, but a period of time similar to Britain. Again, this would ONLY be for terrorist activity, activity that is very hard to prove unless something has actually happened, hence the difficulty under our legal system. I would also want to include some heavy civil sanctions against the detaining agency for wrongful detainment. We do not want the federal government picking up Muslims off the street just to try and pump them for information when the Feds have no reason to believe they are involved in terrorism. Stiff civil penalties would help alleviate the chances of this happening (though admittedly, not eliminate). However, as most people know, theory and practice are two different things. While in theory it may not be so bad, I would be fearful that we would start having people disappear into black vans on the street. The authorization to do this would have to be clear and unambiguous with significant monitoring and oversight. While I am not saying we should start doing this tomorrow to prevent terrorism, it is something we might want to have serious conversation between the opposing sides beyond, "You are wrong, we are right."

As I mentioned above, there are a lot of things I don't agree with Judge Posner on. One in particular is the end of his column where he appears to be saying that we should presume Muslim Americans are intent on attacking us until proven otherwise. That is a scary thing to imply. Maybe it is just me, but thoughts like that lead to things like the Japanese Internment camps and what happened in The Siege. Yes we need to balance civil liberties and protection from terrorism, but as soon as we start making people think all Muslims are terrorist we start breeding mistrust and hate which in turn would create more terrorists.