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Because hurricanes and shark attacks aren’t enough, ABC has decided to publicize: Dangerous Currents Stalk Florida Panhandle.

Yes, there are rip currents. Yes, rip currents can be dangerous if you shouldn’t be in the water in the first place.

A group is trying to convince the Walton County commission to provide lifeguards on the beaches. Walton is the county directly to the east of me. The advocates claim, mistakenly, that Walton makes millions of dollars from the tourists and should provide lifeguards.

Walton provides the state-wide colored flag system to warn of water conditions, but they don’t have the money to hire lifeguards. The county is not wealthy and the development along the beaches is new. The people who live in the northern three-quarters of the county are not going to agree to an increase in their taxes to pay for lifeguard service. The people who live on the Gulf know better than to swim when there are rip currents.

I have swum in the Gulf and have been caught in rip currents. Rip currents are a real pain and require a lot of swimming you probably didn’t want to do, but the Gulf is warm salt water and it is not a great feat to float until you are clear of the current and then go back to shore with the waves.

Lifeguards aren’t a replacement for common sense. If there are large red flags on the beach, don’t go into the water.

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Canadian Broadcasting announced the passing of “Long John” Baldry this Thursday in Vancouver from a chest infection. He was 64.

He was a force in British blues and well known enough that the “Rolling Stones” were the opening act for some of his concerts in the 1960s. Elton John was a sideman in one of Baldry’s bands and he influenced many of the greats of British pop music.

He was an acquired taste that was occasionally acerbic, but his music was a lot of fun.

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This is not an isolated incident, but is a continuation of the series of lies that have resulted in the increase in world-wide terrorism. One of the more important groups that realized that the Bush administration lied its way into the Iraq War are the terrorists. The lies have made the propaganda of the terrorists more believable: the terrorists also lie, but they have ample cover because of Bush’s lies.

The Downing Street Minutes make it obvious that Bush wanted a war regardless of the cost, and the Plame case demonstrates the total lack of regard for national security that characterizes these deranged amateurs.

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I would like to make a simple point that seems to be overlooked in all of the “noise” about nominations: the Federal courts are the third branch of government, not an extension of the executive branch.

There is a very definite difference between a President nominating someone to a position in the executive branch, and nominating a judge. The President should be given some leeway in selecting the people who will work for him/her. These are people who will be implementing the policies of the President, so I would restrict objections to competence and criminality.

When it comes to judges the bar should be raised considerably. Federal judges receive lifetime appointments and constitute a force for checking the power of the other two branches. It is reasonable to expect greater degrees of competence for the higher courts than the lower, and the Senate should be an equal partner in the process. The executive and legislative branches should achieve consensus on judges.

The President is elected to head the executive branch only. There are no elections for Federal judges. Read the Constitution, it’s in there.

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While recuperating from a bicycle accident, Vaara at Silt noticed this article at the Beeb: Man shoots postman to get jailed.

William Crutchfield, a 60-year-old electrical contractor with health problems, shot his postman in Snellville, Georgia. After the shooting he drove to the police station and confessed.

He wants a life sentence in prison where they will take care of his medical condition and provide him with the food and shelter he felt he would lose to $90,000 in medical bills.

Crutchfield worked out that shooting the postman would make it a Federal crime and he would go to the much better Federal prison system.

He felt his choices were Federal prison or living on the street. The new bankruptcy law doesn’t seem to be an option.

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