the frig blig

Teachers in the Harrold school district in Texas are to be allowed to carry concealed firearms when the new school term opens this month. — BBC News

If I was a student in Harrold I’d sure as hell want to pack my own heat to defend myself against the bastards and even the odds. It’s your right according to the second amendment to the U.S. constitution… oh right, you’re not a citizen until you’re 21 in this country…dang!

The U.S. Supreme Court just announced that, by a 5-4 vote, the right of prisoners to demand a court hearing to judge the legality of their imprisonment has been reaffirmed — overturning the Bush administration’s repeated attempts to kill it. This, on Bush senior’s birthday of all days!

I’m no lawyer but I believe this right is covered by the 6th amendment to the U.S. constitution? Which is, lest we forget, a living document as today’s news illustrates. There are plenty of folks who certainly didn’t forget, behind bars for years and still waiting for their day in court.

Freedom 1, Bush 0 (at least for now)… and Congress wasn’t even involved.

If elected president, Senator John McCain would reserve the right to run his own warrantless wiretapping program against Americans, based on the theory that the president’s wartime powers trump federal criminal statutes and court oversight, according to a statement released by his campaign Monday.

That’s the lead from Ryan Singel’s story in the June 3 issue of Wired.com.

What is Obama’s position on warrantless wiretapping? The following is from the Council on Foreign Relations‘ website:

Sen. Obama’s response to the NSA spying controversy was mixed. On one hand, he opposed the nomination of former NSA chief Michael Hayden to the position of CIA director because of his role in the warrantless wiretapping program and said that he disapproved of Bush’s avoidance of FISA oversight in the NSA eavesdropping efforts. But on the other hand, like Clinton, Dodd, and Biden, he did not join in Sen. Feingold’s efforts to censure Bush over the warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens.

The current issue of Eat The State contains a very plausible explanation for Hillary Clinton’s continued attacks on Democratic candidate Obama, in the face of impending defeat; to wit: she knows she can’t win this nomination, so she’s attempting to help McCain win the November election in order to run against him (McCain) in 2012. This makes perfect sense for a politician as ambitious as Clinton. Of course, should McCain end up with the presidency in 2008, Clinton may very well end up facing Obama again in the race for the Democratic candidate in 2012.

But the relevant point here is that she doesn’t give a damn about her party (much less, the citizens), she only gives a damn about Ms. Clinton. Surprise, surprise.

Perhaps you’re familiar with the old interrogation strategy called ‘good cop/bad cop’. Basically it works like this: when a pair of police officers (they always work in pairs) find a victim criminal but no evidence, one of the cops plays the ‘bad’ role in order to scare or beat him into confessing. If after an extended period that doesn’t work, the ‘bad’ cop takes a break and the cop playing the ‘good’ role sidles up to the prisoner individual and says, “hey, you look like a decent fellow…tell you what, if you run now I’ll tell my partner you got away, by the time he returns you’ll be safe.” When the sucker relieved citizen thanks him and starts running, the ‘good’ cop counts three seconds, removes his pistol and shoots him in the back ‘trying to escape’.

I was reminded of this strategy when a young woman rang my doorbell this morning looking to “register democrats to vote.” It’s so sad that so many young impressionable folks think the Democrats are the good cops and will save them from the bad cops. When in fact both political parties in this country are paid by the same bosses.

S and I went to see Dalai Lama yesterday at the football stadium with 50,000 other intrepid souls on a beautiful sunny spring afternoon. After an hour of introductions followed by introductions, he took the microphone. A few things he said included:

Men are bigger troublemakers than women.
The concept of war is outdated.
We need inner disarmament.
The more you forget about others, the more you will suffer.

In his newspaper column yesterday, Anthony Robinson discussed the age-old debate of whether more compassion is, in fact, a good thing. Or does it just encourage bad guys to feel free to do more evil without suffering consequences?

I believe that teaching and practicing compassion reduces the number of evildoers. I also believe this is not a black-and-white issue; sometimes hitting back or restraining the bully is appropriate behavior, rather than turning the other cheek. But I would feel safer in a world where compassion is the norm and fists are used as a last resort, rather than one of the first. And I find living examples of compassion inspiring and joyful.

Who is Elaine Chao? Current U.S. Secretary of Labor, head of the federal agency responsible for protecting workers’ rights. What is she known for? How about the following, for starters:

* Under her watch, MSHA cut roughly 100 safety officers from its ranks, even though mining activity from 2002 to 2006 increased by 9 percent nationally.
* Due to the severe cutbacks in staff needed to adequately inspect the nation’s 731 underground coal mines, in 2006 alone MSHA failed to conduct mine inspections required by law at 107 mines.
* Elaine’s MSHA did not impose fines on nearly 4,000 violations of federal mine safety and health laws, including a mine violation responsible for the death of a Kentucky miner.
* When President Bush proposed changes to a law guaranteeing workers overtime pay, Elaine became a mouthpiece for the proposal that, if passed, would strip 8 million workers of their overtime pay.
* While advocating for Bush’s new overtime rules, Elaine’s Labor Department gave businesses advice on how to avoid paying overtime by manipulating workers’ hourly wages and salary thresholds.
* Soon after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, instead of quickly trying to help displaced workers find new jobs, Elaine backed President Bush’s suspension of Davis-Bacon, a wage law that requires federal contractors to pay the local prevailing wage.
* It took the DOL an incredible seven years to help Cold War-era nuclear facility workers exposed to radiation. The DOL mismanaged the Rocky Flats compensation program and initially denied them the compensation and medical coverage they deserved.
* Elaine opposed closing the pay gap between federal and private sector workers, saying it would be “unwise.” Yet she remained silent when President Bush raised her own pay.
* When Congress investigated the West Virginia Sago Mine explosion that killed 12 people, top Labor Department officials refused to fully cooperate — acting assistant secretary for mine safety and health David G. Dye, along with the administrator of coal mine safety and health Ray McKinney both walked out of a January 2006 hearing by a Senate subcommittee, claiming they were “too busy with their duties to stay.”
* Diacetyl, a chemical flavoring added to many types of food, has been linked to the lung disease often called “popcorn lung.” Yet when public health officials and unions sent a letter to Elaine urging her to set a standard to protect workers from exposure, it went unanswered. OSHA neglected to do its job – shield workers from conditions that can cause physical harm or even kill them.
* According to the Department of Labor’s own Inspector General report, the High Growth Job Initiative at the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration awarded 87 percent of $271 million in grants without any competition, violating the agency’s own procedures in the process.
* Elaine’s office has high staff turnover – she’s gone through four public affairs chiefs, two deputy assistant secretaries, and four press secretaries since heading the Department of Labor.
* Elaine used taxpayer funds to line the walls of the Labor Department with 58 pictures of herself, embroider her name on lanyards and fleece blankets distributed at conferences, and hand out Elaine-themed gold-colored coins at public events.

That’s just a sampling of the many shameful tidbits documented on the website ShameOnElaine.org. Sorry about spreading more bad news folks, but this woman adversely affects millions of citizens’ lives. She needs to resign — yesterday.

From Vincent Chow dot Net