Psychopolitik 2.0

interesting shit at times:

A tape of a speech given earlier this month by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has drawn the ire of LGBT civil rights activists who worry the landmark high court ruling on sodomy could be revisited.

Scalia rarely speaks to the media and seldom allows the press into speeches he gives but a recording of a March 8 address at the University of Freiberg in Switzerland was obtained by CNN.

In one portion of the speech to law students at the university Scalia brings up the issue of homosexuality.

“Question comes up: is there a constitutional right to homosexual conduct? Not a hard question for me. It’s absolutely clear that nobody ever thought when the Bill of Rights was adopted that it gave a right to homosexual conduct. Homosexual conduct was criminal for 200 years in every state. Easy question.”

Now, let’s leave aside for the moment how obviously absurd it would be to attempt to enforce laws against homosexual “conduct”, make this at least somewhat of a challenge. By Scalia’s reasoning, what is “Constitutional” is whatever is in the Bill of Rights explicitly — if it doesn’t say we have a right, then we don’t. Sounds simple. After all, Scalia is regarded as a “strict constructionist”, right?

Take a look at the 9th and 10th amendments, then read that last part again. You may laugh now.

We have rights that are not listed in the Constitution. The Constitution itself says so. Why were there anti-gay laws then? Two reasons: 1) at the time it was assumed that only the US congress was bound by the Bill of Rights & not the states, and 2) typical human hypocrisy (we had slavery for many of those years too, don’t be dumb).

Rulings supporting gay rights are in line with the Constitution not because of some line that says so, but because there are no lines authorizing the construction of an apparatus to enforce otherwise. Why do I, some dude with a blog, know that but someone on the Supreme Court doesn’t?

tags: homosexuality, gay+rights, US+politics, US+Supreme+Court, US+Constitution, Antonin+Scalia]]>

To summarize: 1) the solution to illegal immigration is to toss the current hypocritical & prejudiced quota system for the legal kind. 2) People screaming “they took our jobs!” need to realize they’re confusing race with economics & labor relations. 3) It’d be nice if immigrants learned the language, & occasionally responded when one of us said “hello”. Cultural isolation is a part of immigration that is beyond the capability of law to address.

***updated March 30th @ 5:14 PM EST*** Robot Economist of Freedom Democrats gets more in-depth on it, w/ this gem about those goofy quotas:

Politicians appear to be preoccupied with the fate of American’s with a high school degree or less to notice the high demand for individuals with graduate-level education [...] No one worries about the threat of immigrants with MBAs because they end up creating starting firms and hiring employees. Bill Gates’s low-key visit to Capitol Hill last two weeks ago to lobby for an increase in the H-1B visa quota (currently 65,000) is emblematic of Washington’s political blindness.

tags: Immigration, US+politics]]>

relatively good news:

The Federal Election Commission decided Monday that the nation’s new campaign finance law will not apply to most political activity on the Internet.

In a 6-0 vote, the commission decided to regulate only paid political ads placed on another person’s Web site.

The decision means that bloggers and online publications will not be covered by provisions of the new election law. Internet bloggers and individuals will therefore be able to use the Internet to attack or support federal candidates without running afoul of campaign spending and contribution limits.

On the other hand: isn’t it sad as hell that this is the extent of a victory for our rights? Why did it have to come to a government commission to realize that people can say whatever they want online? How exactly is them even having a say in matters like this compatible with the 1st Amendment?

In the immediate term this is good because our views won’t be scrutinized, but for the big picture this isn’t a victory moreso than a pause. They could change their minds at a whim, & even more “reform” is being discussed all the time. We have to stay alert.

tags: blogging, “Campaign+Finance+Reform”, Federal+Election+Commission, US+politics, US+Constitution]]>

tags: blogging]]>

that squeaky wheel has been greased:

Senior Muslim clerics said Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity should be killed regardless of whether a court decides to free him. Abdul Rahman, a 41-year-old former medical aid worker, faces the death penalty for becoming a Christian under Afghanistan’s Islamic laws.

His trial, which began last week, has caused an international outcry. U.S. President Bush said Wednesday he was “deeply troubled” by the case and expects the country to “honor the universal principle of freedom.” Diplomats say the Afghan government is searching for a way to drop the case, and on Wednesday authorities said Rahman is suspected of being mentally ill and would undergo psychological examinations to see whether he is fit to stand trial.

As if we needed yet another example of why it’s foolish to assume that democracy is always synonymous with liberalism…

Funny thing is, if it weren’t for our messianic interpretation of this entire “war on terror”, this wouldn’t even be news. Since it was assumed that we had to somehow rebuild their government, Afghans being Afghans is chalked up as a PR failure on our part rather than a simple act of people that haven’t “figured it out” yet.

tags: Afghanistan]]>

BAR?

Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said Wednesday. The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commission’s Carolyn Beck.

Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkenness, Beck said. The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car.

Not only do we have the standard violation of tossing out the distinction between public state property & a private establishment, on top of the obvious absurdity of arresting people for being drunk in a place designed for that purpose, we have people being assumed guilty. Not even assumed guilty until proven innocent, just plain assumed GUILTY. You drunk? Then they assume you’re going to try to drive home.

Suppose someone is drunk at a bar that’s only a few doors down from where they live? Then what? I’ve been to places where people live so close to their favorite drinking hole that they just walk there & back, so there’s no chance whatsoever of them driving drunk from there, what do you say to those people?

tags: US+politics, Texas, Bars, Drinking]]>

I’ve a bridge to sell him:

President Bush said Tuesday the decision about when to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq will fall to future presidents and Iraqi leaders, suggesting that U.S. involvement will continue at least through 2008.

Acknowledging the public’s growing unease with the war – and election-year skittishness among fellow Republicans – the president nonetheless vowed to keep U.S. soldiers in the fight.

“If I didn’t believe we could succeed, I wouldn’t be there. I wouldn’t put those kids there,” Bush declared. (emphasis mine)

This is symptomatic of a mental state common among Republican loyalists: Pseudo-Patriotic Reality Displacement Syndrome. In laymen’s terms, it’s when someone sees saying of the US that something cannot be accomplished and/or is not worth doing as being a slight against the entire idea of the country. For Bush & others afflicted with this condition, “If I didn’t believe we could succeed” doesn’t refer to belief that the US can through force turn Iraq into a stable, relatively liberal state — which no one in their right mind seriously believes we can do — but to common cliche of american “can-do” attitude — in essence, to say that the war in Iraq is a waste of time, money, & most importantly lives sounds to their ears something like when you tell a small child that there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. The idea that one can say “yeah, hooray for the US and all that, this war is still pointless” is beyond their comprehension.

He also stood by embattled Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. “I don’t believe he should resign. He’s done a fine job. Every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy,” he said. (emphasis mine)

The part of the equation missing here is “what information was used to come to the conclusions written on the paper?” Just like the adage that there are no stupid questions is false, so is the one that there are no stupid plans until they’ve been implemented. The statement that “every war plan looks good on paper”, taken to its logical conclusion, would mean that planning for any military operation is futile, as apparently no analysis could be made other than to just charge out there and do it.

The key problem with US military strategy — besides its unnecessary bigness, that is — is that it’s strong but in a very balls-first way. We’re rather good at flashy explosions & fighter jets swarming like you’d see in some Hollywood big-budget blockbuster, but terrible at the cerebrel, “know your opponent & environment” stuff that doesn’t fetch ratings for Fox News. That’s how we got the current situation: Shock & Awe had its moment, now we’re being bled dry by that old standby Stick&Move.

tags: Bush, Iraq+War, Rumsfeld, US+military+strategy]]>

Predictable B.S.:

President George W. Bush, speaking as the conflict in Iraq enters its fourth year, said the terrorists who destroyed a Shiite shrine last month won’t succeed in sparking a civil war or thwarting democracy there.

Bush said today that he remains optimistic about the outcome of the war that defines his presidency, even though people in the U.S. are seeing “horrific images” from the recent sectarian violence.

“I understand how Americans have had their confidence shaken,” Bush told the City Club in Cleveland, a day after Iraq’s former prime minister said his country is in the midst of a civil war and edging toward a “point of no return.”

This is garbage, but not for the usual reason. We all know based on his conduct at home that Bush’s definition of “democracy” is not incompatible with sectarian conflict — one could argue it endorses it. Think about it: the elections in Iraq went overwhelmingly along religious & ethnic lines, neither the Sunni or Shia, nor the Kurds crossed their cultural divides. Bush pretty much got elected & re-elected along the same lines, the majority of his support coming from people who see themselves not as individuals but as a culture at constant war with “outsiders”.

Of course, the difference is ours use smear campaigns while they use bombs, but that’s to be expected considering the territory. Point is, in an environment without a unifying influence one cannot portray democracy & civil conflict as inherently opposed. They basically voted for civil war.

tags: Bush, Iraq]]>

You could’ve wrote this one before the hurricane even showed up…

How many contractors does it take to haul a pile of tree branches? If it’s government work, at least four: a contractor, his subcontractor, the subcontractor’s subcontractor, and finally, the local man with a truck and chainsaw.

If the job is patching a leaking roof, the answer may be five contractors, or even six. At the bottom tier is a Spanish-speaking crew earning less than 10 cents for every square foot of blue tarp installed. At the top, the prime contractor bills the government 15 times as much for the same job.

One of many examples of why people shouldn’t bother with government: their impersonal nature encourages Endless Middlemen Syndrome. Rather than go directly to the source, as a normal person would do themself, government buerecrats think the more delegation involved in a task the more effectively it gets done — the exact opposite of common sense. This is how you get huge bills for what amounts to having a crew of illegal immigrants do it for peanuts while some guy watches & counts his money.

One more thing:

…each week, many more millions are paid to contractors who get a cut of the profits from a job performed by someone else. In instances reviewed by The Washington Post, the difference between the job’s actual price and the fee charged to taxpayers ranged from 40 percent to as high as 1,700 percent.

Consider the task of cleaning up storm debris. Just after the hurricane, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded contracts for removing 62 million cubic yards of debris to four companies: Ashbritt Inc., Ceres Environmental Services Inc., Environmental Chemical Corp. and Phillips and Jordan Inc.

Anyone want to guess who those companies are associated with?

tags: New+Orleans, Hurricane+Katrina]]>

TIME article about why the Playstation 3 is taking forever to launch:

In anticipation of the PlayStation 3’s worldwide release, Sony promises a manufacturing schedule of one million PlayStations 3’s per month. But reports suggest that the cause of the delay is the Blu-Ray disc drive at the heart of the console. Blu-Ray was designed by Sony