Uncategorized

The Ugly History Of “Progressive” Legislation

Bill Quick, in commenting on the recent appeals court ruling in Ohio, notes that the gun-control law in question (and many others of that era) were written for the purpose of keeping minorities unarmed. He’s right. And another dirty little secret is that the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law was implemented to keep them from working (and thus taking jobs away from white men).

This, to me, in addition to being an argument for more exposure of the history of these oppressive laws, is also an argument for sunset provisions in all laws, so that harmful laws that arise from peculiar (and often unjust) circumstances are not perpetuated indefinitely. Requiring sunset for all congressional legislation (including all existing legislation) is one of my top candidates for a new constitutional amendment.

Uncategorized

The Ugly History Of “Progressive” Legislation

Bill Quick, in commenting on the recent appeals court ruling in Ohio, notes that the gun-control law in question (and many others of that era) were written for the purpose of keeping minorities unarmed. He’s right. And another dirty little secret is that the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law was implemented to keep them from working (and thus taking jobs away from white men).

This, to me, in addition to being an argument for more exposure of the history of these oppressive laws, is also an argument for sunset provisions in all laws, so that harmful laws that arise from peculiar (and often unjust) circumstances are not perpetuated indefinitely. Requiring sunset for all congressional legislation (including all existing legislation) is one of my top candidates for a new constitutional amendment.

Uncategorized

The Ugly History Of “Progressive” Legislation

Bill Quick, in commenting on the recent appeals court ruling in Ohio, notes that the gun-control law in question (and many others of that era) were written for the purpose of keeping minorities unarmed. He’s right. And another dirty little secret is that the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law was implemented to keep them from working (and thus taking jobs away from white men).

This, to me, in addition to being an argument for more exposure of the history of these oppressive laws, is also an argument for sunset provisions in all laws, so that harmful laws that arise from peculiar (and often unjust) circumstances are not perpetuated indefinitely. Requiring sunset for all congressional legislation (including all existing legislation) is one of my top candidates for a new constitutional amendment.

Political Commentary

If You Want A Friend In Washington, Get A Dog

For those who were complaining about some peoples’ (including moi) “insensitive” comments about the recent departure of the Clinton canine, here’s an interesting little nugget from Andrew Sullivan’s lunch with Dick Morris.

I also inquired about Buddy. All Dick said was that he had never seen Clinton so much as touch a dog in private. Figures.

Assuming that you believe Dick Morris (I always will, when it comes to his word against that of an admitted perjurer), this is why I had no compunction about Buddy commentary. Like his Wyoming vacation, or tears-on-command at Ron Brown’s funeral, Buddy was a show dog–Clinton probably ran a focus group beforehand to figure out which breed he should get.

I feel bad for Buddy, but he’s in a better place now. It’s hard for me to work up much sympathy for a sociopath.

Political Commentary

“W” Stands For Wisdom

Another great read from Mark Steyn.

…Let’s take it as a given that George W. Bush lacks the intelligence to hold down a really demanding job like columnist at the New York Times or Slate. Let?s take it as read that he’s a stupid man leading the stupid party of a stupid country. Granted all that, his blissful indifference to the hotshots of the International Who’s Who is as brilliant a distillation of global reality as any. Bush couldn’t name the Prime Minister of Hoogivsadamistan, but in the weeks before 11 September, having already spotted his predecessor’s neglect of the matter, his administration was working on new strategies to combat international terrorism. What a chump, eh? Too dumb to be Prime Minister of Canada.

Political Commentary

“W” Stands For Wisdom

Another great read from Mark Steyn.

…Let’s take it as a given that George W. Bush lacks the intelligence to hold down a really demanding job like columnist at the New York Times or Slate. Let?s take it as read that he’s a stupid man leading the stupid party of a stupid country. Granted all that, his blissful indifference to the hotshots of the International Who’s Who is as brilliant a distillation of global reality as any. Bush couldn’t name the Prime Minister of Hoogivsadamistan, but in the weeks before 11 September, having already spotted his predecessor’s neglect of the matter, his administration was working on new strategies to combat international terrorism. What a chump, eh? Too dumb to be Prime Minister of Canada.

Political Commentary

“W” Stands For Wisdom

Another great read from Mark Steyn.

…Let’s take it as a given that George W. Bush lacks the intelligence to hold down a really demanding job like columnist at the New York Times or Slate. Let?s take it as read that he’s a stupid man leading the stupid party of a stupid country. Granted all that, his blissful indifference to the hotshots of the International Who’s Who is as brilliant a distillation of global reality as any. Bush couldn’t name the Prime Minister of Hoogivsadamistan, but in the weeks before 11 September, having already spotted his predecessor’s neglect of the matter, his administration was working on new strategies to combat international terrorism. What a chump, eh? Too dumb to be Prime Minister of Canada.

War Commentary

Ooooohh, Nice Touch

In an article entitled “Harsh conditions await prisoners” in the BBC Online, in which they describe the situation at Guantanamo, I found this little nugget:

They will be allowed to pray according to their faith.

But members of a movement that tried to prevent women working may be disconcerted to find that some of their guards are women.

Uncategorized

XCOR Test Flight Live

Darrin Kagan announced at the top of the hour that CNN will broadcast live the latest test flight of the XCOR EZ-Rocket sometime between 8 and 9 PST (i.e., within the next half hour, though it may be delayed).

[Update 8:53 AM PST]

Apparently they’re sorting out some engine problems, so there’s a flight delay. Still expected to go, though according to announcements. They’ve been taking the opportunity to interview Dick Rutan on other current aviation-related events (i.e., recent military plane crashes). Unfortunately, they’re also covering the “rink-rage” trial. Now there’s a pressing story…

[12:25 PST Update]

Sorry for the delay–I had to run out for a dental appointment. Apparently the burn went well, but they didn’t broadcast it live–CNN thought that Ari’s press conference was more important. I’ve heard that they’ve been showing tape replays of it, however.

And here’s a link to the story at the CNN website.

Space

Dodging Cosmic Bullets, Part Trois

I previously missed this column by Jim Pinkerton at TechCentralStation from December 31st (thanks to Ralph Buttigieg for the link). Though he’s generally a political commentator, he’s a closet space enthusiast (I met him briefly at the Cato conference last spring). This is a general piece about space policy, some of which I agree with (though not his assessment of Dan Goldin), but I cite it because he expends quite a bit of it on the asteroid defense issue.

He claims that it is not a NASA responsibility, but a DoD one. I agree, with the caveat that it shouldn’t even be viewed as planetary defense per se. The DoD should definitely be in charge of defending us against willful agents (i.e., bug-eyed monsters from Zeta Reticula, or Marvin the Martian and his disintegrator ray), but not natural events.

No, the natural terrestrial analogue for asteroid management is flood control, or fire control. Thus, I believe that it should be made the responsibility of the Corps of Engineers. When the populace lies in a flood plain, they build dams to mitigate the danger. When earth lies in the path of potential planet-busting objects, they should land things on them to divert them. Taking NASA out of the picture would have the effect of forcing an emphasis on more practical solutions, rather than “science,” or “international cooperation,” or endless “technology development” that only feeds sandboxes in Huntsville or Hampton.

Also, as Ralph points out, it would provide NASA with some useful and much-needed competition.

This needs to be thrown into the space policy mix with which Sean O’Keefe is grappling right now.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!