Posts from — April 2011

The Pensacola News Journal tells me that Santa Rosa gun law in Senate’s sights

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida House on Tuesday passed a bill that likely will force Santa Rosa County officials to repeal an ordinance that silenced a makeshift gun range on Soundside Drive in Gulf Breeze or face fines up to $5,000.

The bill has strained relations between Santa Rosa County commissioners and freshman lawmaker Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton, who sponsored the legislation and represents a portion of the county.

The legislation, which must still pass the Florida Senate, gives teeth to an existing law that prohibits local governments to pass firearm regulations. The Gaetz bill not only mandates $5,000 fines, it also says those “harmed” by local gun regulations can sue local governments and receive up to $100,000.

The officials in Santa Rosa county think that they were being trashed because Gaetz lives in Okaloosa county. They are wrong.

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So far we have seen the “Ryan un-Plan” that steals money from the Social Security trust fund to give to the oligarchs, but doesn’t actually deal with the deficit.

Then there was Zero’s un-plan that is slightly kinder to the trust fund, but thinks that closing “tax loopholes” is the way to go, without mentioning that the only “loopholes” apt to be closed are those that are useful to the middle class, and doesn’t really show an obvious path to deficit reduction.

Finally there is The People’s Budget which was prepared by the Progressive Caucus in the House. This is a real budget that is serious about fixing things. Of course, Very Serious People don’t want to talk about it because it requires them to share in the pain.

Jobs are the best answer, but no one is interested in creating jobs.

As the BBC reports, it is the 25^th anniversary of one of the worst nuclear disasters in the world: the failure of the number four reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power facility [Чернобыльская АЭС им. В.И.Ленина] near Pripyat, Ukraine. The West found out about the problem from alarms at Swedish nuclear facilities due to the fall out from Chernobyl. The Soviet authorities did not admit the problem for three days.

The BBC put up one of their excellent In Depth sites for the 20^th anniversary that features great slide show that helps you to understand what happened, if not why.

The concrete cap over the destroyed reactor is cracking and must be replaced, but the site is still radioactive and can’t be worked on directly without killing people. There is still a 10-mile exclusion zone around the plant itself.

This is the future for Fukushima Daiichi.

This is via Susie, a Stamford Advocate article: Bridgeport woman arrested for registering son in Norwalk school

NORWALK — A homeless woman from Bridgeport who enrolled her 6-year-old son at a Norwalk elementary school has become the first in the city to be charged with stealing more than $15,000 for the cost of her child’s education.

Tonya McDowell, 33, whose last known address was 66 Priscilla St., Bridgeport, was charged Thursday with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny for allegedly stealing $15,686 from Norwalk schools. She was released after posting a $25,000 bond.

McDowell’s babysitter, Ana Rebecca Marques, was also evicted from her Roodner Court public housing apartment for providing documents to enroll the child at Brookside Elementary School.
…

Mayor Richard Moccia said that he was aware that an investigation was proceeding in the case and that an arrest was possible.

“This now sends a message to other parents that may have been living in other towns and registering their kids with phony addresses,” he said.

People have been presenting this as the mother wanting a better education for her child, which may be true, but what is also true is that her babysitter lives in Norwalk, which mean the child would be dropped off at the babysitter’s house directly from school, rather than the mother having to arrange transportation from a Bridgeport school to Norwalk every school day.

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It is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand, which is similar to the American Veterans Day, in that it began as a remembrance of World War I, and has become more generalized over the years.

“Anzac Day commemorates the involvement of Australian and New Zealand troops in a World War I campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey.”

The Gallipoli Campaign began as a Winston Churchill [then First Lord of the Admiralty] plan that spun out of control and got a lot of people killed on both sides with nothing much changing, but then, that was quite common in World War I.

Peter Weir made a movie, Gallipoli, which, if nothing else, proves that Sergeant Alvin York, and T.E. Lawrence weren’t the only people who fought in World War I.

I was anticipating a rant from a ‘winger neighbor on Tax Day, so I double checked my standard response to anyone down in here in South Fundistan about taxes:

Romans 13:6-7 [KJV]

For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

It doesn’t convince them, of course, but they have to consult their current preacher to find out why they could ignore it.

I happened to see a New York Times article, Professor Cites Bible in Faulting Tax Policies, in the results and checked to see if it would cover the response from the neighbor, but it definitely didn’t.

Susan Pace Hamill is a professor at the University of Alabama law school focusing on tax law, business law, and ethics. In addition to her law degrees, she has a degree in divinity from Samford University, the same program that produced Albert Mohler of Focus on the Family, so you can assume this is not a place noted for teaching “liberation theology”.

The NYT article was covering her contention that “the state and local policy of thirty-one states grossly violates the moral principles of Judeo-Christian ethics” when it comes to taxes. Essentially she argues that the teachings of the New Testament support progressive income taxes, and a moral duty to assist the less fortunate.

You have to wonder why she isn’t a regular guest at Democratic events, or on media shows …

The funniest thing I have read in a long time was John at Eschaton, but them it relates to my life directly.

John’s Clever Wife also rates a smile, although it cuts close for too many people these days.

The Republicants don’t believe in society or the “General Welfare”. They think the Sermon on the Mount is a Commie plot. They think that the raw greed and selfishness contained in the “objectivism” of Alisa Rosenbaum [Ayn Rand] is the only way anyone should conduct themselves, and miss the point that the creed rejects society.

For example, you have Republicant Florida Congresscritter Cliff Stearns of Ocala who added an amendment to the long delayed bill that will pay the medical bills of those who responded to the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11^th. His amendment requires anyone applying to the fund must have their name compared to the FBI’s Terrorist List. He doesn’t want anyone on the Terrorist List to receive Federal money.

This is someone who is allowed to vote on the laws of the United States and he thinks that those who are having health problems associated with working at Ground Zero [the police officers, firefighters, medical personnel, search & rescue people, and construction workers who risked their lives on the possibility that someone might have survived the fall of the Towers] might be terrorists.

The amendment is insulting and insane on its face, and Congress should be ashamed for allowing it to be included in the legislation. Maybe people thought it was necessary to get the bill passed, but sometimes you have to do the right thing, not the politically expedient thing.

Then there is Republicant State Sen. Bruce Casswell of Michigan who wants to make sure that foster children know their place: Foster children would be allowed to get clothing only from second hand stores.

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Scott Hiaasen of the Miami Herald writes that Effort to privatize Florida prisons raises questions of cost

The state agency that oversees these prisons says they will save taxpayers almost $90 million over the next three years. But state financial analysts say they cannot show with any certainty how much money they save over state-run prisons.

At a Senate hearing in February, legislative analyst Byron Brown said differences in how public and private prisons operate and account for expenses “limit the conclusiveness” of any cost comparisons.

“There’s never apples to apples,” Brown told lawmakers.

While the benefits of prison privatization may be hard to see, the problems have been obvious: Over the years, the arrangement has been marred by mismanagement by state monitors , lax contracts, overbilling by prison contractors, a corruption investigation, and a legal loophole that allowed sexual misconduct in private facilities to go unpunished.

I have never seen any reliable facts that privatization has ever saved any jurisdiction a nickel. Medicare Part D was supposed to save money when it was introduced, and after a decade it is 12% more expensive than regular Medicare. School bus service was more expensive beginning the second year after it was privatized, and it eventually had to revert to county control. [There was also the problem of near 12-hour days for some elementary school kids because the private contractor only used half as many buses and drivers.]

The only really reliable facts available are that the people who will probably get the contracts for the prisons are big Republicant political donors, and the whole thing looks like quid pro quo to me.

There have been numerous complaints received regarding the services provided under the current regime and we would like to take the time to respond to these and to help those of you in the outlying areas understand the true situation.

It has been noted that several individuals purporting to be the “Easter Bunny” do not seem to be authentic. Of course they’re not authentic. We don’t do personal appearances or take requests. As the anthropomorphic personification of a blended holiday we are entirely too involved in attempting to fulfill the unreasoned expectations of various groups. Besides which, we noticed that many of the requests came from people with French surnames, and I don’t think it is necessary to remind people what happens to rabbits in France: in Britain bunnies are found in children books; in France in cookbooks. [See also North Korea.]

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Saint George is the patron saint of England, Georgia [the country], Bulgaria, Portugal, Catalonia, and the city of Moscow. Orthodox countries tend to celebrate George on November 23^rd.

PETA condemns George for his senseless slaughter of dragons. The YWCA condemns the condemnation and wants to know when PETA is going to volunteer to be DragonChow™

International Day of the Book UNESCO

It is also the birth and death day of Billy the Bard, who was a great writer in desperate need of a spelling checker.

Master Shakespeare gave all of the best lines to villains supplying low humor to those who have read the Folio, e.g. Arlen Specter quoting Iago, reputedly in support of Clarence Thomas.