It is getting to be time to practice for that decennial abstract art competition known as reapportionment. Every ten years, following the publication of the Census, states begin redrawing the lines for their Congressional districts.

The GOP is already practicing with their Redistricting Majority Project, which, of course, doesn’t mean they are planning to win with a pencil what they can’t win with a ballot box. [Yeah, right…]

I have previously highlighted the GOP cartography in Florida, which results in the minority party in the state having 65% of the seats in both houses of the state legislature, and the majority of Florida’s Congresscritters.

Fair Districts Florida has managed to get two amendments on the Florida ballot to address these issues. Amendment 5 deals with state districts, and Amendment 6 deals with Congressional districts. They are simple and straight-forward stating that political considerations should be removed from the process.

As Fred Grimm noted in the Miami Herald the Republicans in the legislature are working on their own amendment to gut what the citizens have proposed.

The current problem in Florida is that most of those who represent the people in the state are elected in party primaries, not in the general election. This results in the party activists having inordinate power in how the state is governed. The majority of voters are locked out of the process because the state has closed primaries.

If you are a Florida voter, you should vote “yes” on Amendments 5 & 6 and tell the politicians to put away their crayons.

Etymology of privilege:

1154 (recorded earlier in O.E., but as a Latin word), from O.Fr. privilege (12c.), from L. privilegium “law applying to one person,” later “privilege,” from privus “individual” + lex (gen. legis) “law.”

From CBS and CNet: Police Said Close to Expanding iPhone Prototype Probe

One reason for an expanded investigation is obvious: law enforcement wants to learn who found the so-called 4G prototype and offered it for sale. California law makes it a crime for someone to find lost property but not return it.

Josh Topolsky, Engadget’s editor-in-chief, said police haven’t contacted anyone in his organization as of Monday evening. Engadget had communicated with the person who found the iPhone prototype, reportedly in a Redwood City, Calif., bar in San Mateo County, and posted a handful of photographs on April 17.

Apple sells the iPhone 3G S for $199. When I was in law enforcement $250 [it was a long time ago, so the limit is probably much higher now] was the minimum value for a felony, so we are looking at petit larceny, a misdemeanor. In this case the property was returned to Apple after it was “advertised” and they identified themselves as the owner.

Why are warrants being sought and issued, doors being smashed, personal property being seized for such an insignificant matter? Is San Mateo so crime free that their police department has nothing better to do?

This smells an awful lot like the San Mateo Police Department is now working for Apple. Does Steve Jobs have his own laws?