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Clayton Cramer's BLOG |
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Clayton's commentary on news and events of the day. Broadly speaking, I'm a conservative with libertarian sympathies (getting more conservative as my children get older).
 Never forget! I'm running for Idaho state senate I've written a number of history books, as well as scholarly and popular articles, (see my web page).
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Friday, October 24, 2003
The ACLU and The Schiavo Case This news story reports that the ACLU has taken sides: For months, the ACLU resisted meddling in the dispute that has pitted a husband against his in-laws, believing that the courts were following the long-held legal right of an individual to refuse extraordinary medical measures, even if it hastens their death.Wait a minute! The reason that this is a dispute is that Terri Schiavo hasn't refused extraordinary medical measures; her husband has made that decison for her, with no convincing evidence (such as a living will) that this is Terri's choice. What's driving ACLU's interest in this matter? They aren't consistently pro-death; they oppose the death penalty, but support partial-birth abortions. Ah, but perhaps a little later in the story we see another motivation: "We wonder if we'll see a domino effect," said Schneider, a Broward County elderlaw attorney. "If a party doesn't like what a court does, they'll say, `Let's just go to the governor's office.' "But Terri's family didn't just go to the governor; they went to the Legislature, which is supposed to represent the will of the people. I can see why the ACLU would be upset about that. I can see another reason why the ACLU is so intent on seeing Terri starve to death. Unlike all of the people that the ACLU wants to keep alive, Terri Schiavo hasn't been convicted of murder. Fish on Prozac I've had friends suggest Prozac might do our dog some good, but this story about Prozac showing up in fish is a sobering reminder of how many people in Texas must be taking it, for enough to get through the water treatment plant in detectible quantities: According to a study by a Baylor University toxicologist, fluoxetine -- the active ingredient in the antidepressant Prozac -- is making its way to a lake in the Dallas area and into the tissue of the fresh water blue gill fish.Of course, for those suffering from depression, there's always the Niagra treatment: TORONTO (Reuters) - The man who survived the plunge into the "giant tunnel" of Niagara Falls said on Wednesday that life was worth living again, even though he will face police charges for performing the stunt. Another of Those Incidents That Gun Control Advocates Say Don't Happen Very Often From Detroit--a drive-by shooting by a good guy: A man was beating a 16-year-old girl with a pipe Wednesday morning on Detroit's west side.And another one, in New Orleans: A Boutte woman shot a man twice in the chest after he allegedly tried to force her to give up her Jeep Cherokee on Thursday afternoon in the Warehouse District, the New Orleans Police Department said. Okay, They Aren't Episcopalians I guess the Russian Orthodox Church isn't going down the same road as the American Episcopalian Church: A priest has been sacked, his church bulldozed and the wreckage burnt after he allowed the building to be used for a gay marriage last month.What? They didn't sow salt into the soil, and sell the priest's family into slavery? There's a Message Here, I Think--But What Message? This seems to be a serious news story, but you never can tell: Lightning strikes Jesus on Gibson's Christ film setOf course, lightning is more associated with Zeus than with the God of the Old Testament. Atheists Who Think They Are Going to Heaven? Barna Research has recently released a survey that just astonishes me. Much of what it found wasn't startling: 81% of Americans believe that there is life after death; 79% believe that “every person has a soul that will live forever, either in God’s presence or absence.” The survey also reveals that a fair number of people hold what, at best, could be considered an eclectic belief system: among born again Christians - who believe that they will experience eternal existence in Heaven solely because they have confessed their sins to God and are depending upon Jesus Christ to spare them from eternal punishment or rejection - 10% believe that people are reincarnated after death, 29% claim it is possible to communicate with the dead, and 50% contend that a person can earn salvation based upon good works.Okay, for those that want to believe that born again Christians are a spectacularly ignorant lot--who don't even know what their own faith teaches--explain this bizarre result: Many of those who describe themselves as either atheistic or agnostic also harbor contradictions in their thinking. “Half of all atheists and agnostics say that every person has a soul, that Heaven and Hell exist, and that there is life after death. One out of every eight atheists and agnostics even believe that accepting Jesus Christ as savior probably makes life after death possible. These contradictions are further evidence that many Americans adopt simplistic views of life and the afterlife based upon ideas drawn from disparate sources, such as movies, music and novels, without carefully considering those beliefs. Consequently, the labels attached to people – whether it be ‘born again’ or ‘atheist’ may not give us as much insight into the person’s beliefs as we might assume.” Thursday, October 23, 2003
The IRS Doesn't Check Those Tax Returns Very Carefully, I Guess I do my best to be completely accurate and truthful on my tax returns, both because I don't want to get in trouble, and because honesty is the right thing to do. The IRS audited me once, but they didn't enjoy the experience--and they were very impressed that I had receipts for my business that totaled to the penny for the expenses that I had claimed. You should have heard the excuses coming from the torture chamber next to mine. Being completely honest doesn't mean, of course, that you have to go out of your way to give the government any more money than they are legally entitled to, however. Reading this story, however, suggests that getting in trouble has to be one of the lesser reasons for filing honest returns--you might almost get the impression that no one is checking outrageous tax returns very carefully: RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A tax preparer was sentenced Thursday to 13 years in prison and his daughter received just over three years for filing a false income tax return claiming nonexistent slavery reparations.Wait a minute: she filed a tax return that caused IRS to send her a half million dollar refund? Wouldn't a refund that large cause someone at IRS to stop for a second, check the arithmetic, make sure that the return was plausible before issuing a check? Unless you make millions of dollars a year, a $500,000 refund is...unlikely to be legitimate, because it's going to be way more than would have been withheld from a paycheck. Crystal, of course, went hog-wild and pig-crazy, as the saying goes: The daughter had spent the money in eight days, buying a $40,000 Mercedes Benz, paying off student loans and helping her brother pay for his first year at Virginia Tech. Prosecutors say only about half the money has been recovered.Ah, so that's why she only had to pay half of it back. That's so reassuring. So how did this get through? Crystal Foster collapsed on the floor after she was sentenced, screaming and crying for her children. Her attorney, David Lassiter, had pleaded for leniency, claiming his client was under her father's control.Another article suggests that the government didn't even try to stop this at one time: But the government has also begun quietly cracking down on filers of false claims after years of looking the other way.I can somewhat understand the argument for slavery reparations. I've blogged before about the serious problems with it--but this is just fraud. Any Suggestions for Where to Submit This Next? I've got an article put together about the factual accuracy problems with the Lawrence decision, but I am at something of a loss as to where to submit it. I've made repeated efforts with National Review Online, but I am beginning to wonder if they are afraid to offend their readership, who I suspect would largely like the whole controversy about sodomy laws to go away. Are there any conservative popular political magazines left? Wednesday, October 22, 2003
The Partial Birth Abortion Ban A few years back, Professor Glenn Reynolds made the point that a federal ban on partial-birth abortion was breaking a core doctrine of federalism--that the states are primarily responsible for exercise of police powers. Federal authority extends only to laws that affect interstate commerce. Over the last few years, we've had a number of examples of Congress attempting to criminalize actions that were entirely within the authority of the states, and getting their noses rapped by the Supreme Court for the attempt: the Gun-Free Safe School Zones Act being one example. The partial-birth abortion ban is in this same category. I see no problem with states passing such bans. My state, Idaho, already has a partial-birth abortion ban, Idaho Code sec. 18-613. If the federal ban is to be believed, 26 other states have already done so. If the other 23 states are unwilling to ban partial-birth abortion, I would guess that the limiting factor is a lack of popular will. I find it interestng that the federal ban uses the language, "Any physician who, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce..." to criminalize performing a partial-birth abortion. I suppose that a doctor might be able to protect himself by only performing such procedures for residents of his own state, and make an argument that prosecution under those conditions isn't "interstate or foreign commerce." But if you look at a montrosity such as Wickard v. Filburn (1942), a doctor who performs an abortion for a resident of the same state is altering the economics of abortion on a national scale. It would not bother me if the pro-partial birth abortion crowd used a suit to finally destroy the absurd argument of Wickard v. Filburn (1942). I can see one possible rationale for a federal statute on this matter: argue by analogy to the various federal civil rights laws, and make the claim that this is a protection of the rights of a fetus guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The pro-partial birth abortion crowd would then to have to argue either that a fetus is about to be born isn't a person, or create a precedent that endangers the federal civil rights laws. That could be very, very interesting. Labels: abortion John Muhummad, Richard Reid, and Interesting Connections Make sure you read Mark Steyn's column in the Chicago Sun-Times. It contains a number of startling pieces of information. Remember last year, when some bloggers (myself included) suggested that the accused Washington snipers might well be part of an al-Qaeda terrorist group? nteresting item from the London Evening Standard last week:Steyn also points to some interesting coincidences, such as a Saudi cabinet minister staying in the same hotel as some of the 9/11 hijackers--on the night of 09/10. Here's another coincidence: The guy who heads up the organization that certifies Muslim chaplains for the U.S. military was arrested at Dulles Airport last month and charged with illegally accepting money from Libya. The month before that, Abdurahman Alamoudi was caught by the British trying to smuggle some $340,000 into Syria.Well, fancy that! Steyn also points out something that seems to have received very little attention, and might explain quite a bit about another disturbing situation that has developed. The Saudis apparently fund: he pro-Saudi Middle East Institute, whose "adjunct scholar" is one Joseph C. Wilson IV. Remember him? He's the fellow at the center of the Bob-Novak-published-the-name-of-my-CIA-wife scandal. The agency sent him to look into the European intelligence stories about Saddam Hussein trying to buy uranium in Africa. He went to Niger, drank mint tea with government flacks, and then wrote a big whiny piece in the New York Times after the White House declined to accept his assurances there was nothing going on. He was never an intelligence specialist, he's no longer a "career diplomat," but he is, like so many other retired ambassadors, on the House of Saud's payroll. And the Saudis were vehemently opposed to war with Saddam.Read the whole thing. It's very disturbing. Labels: terrorism Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Pulling the Plug This case in Florida really bugs me. If someone is truly beyond saving, and has left a clear statement that they would rather die than continue living in either suffering or an irreversible coma, then I would say, "Go ahead and abide by their wishes." It still disturbs me--people who were irreversible have occasionally shocked doctors by coming out of it. This case in Florida isn't so clear-cut. What I find interesting about it is the arguments advanced by one of the Florida legislators who argued against a change in the law: "I do not believe the governor of Florida should be making a decision of life and death rather than the next of kin," said Sen. Steven Geller.Can you imagine how differently the lines might be drawn on this struggle if the husband were arguing--as some men argued just a few decades ago, "What I do to my woman is between her and me--the government needs to stay out of our arguments!" You can imagine the reaction if the question involved the level of violence used by a parent "disciplining" a child. Part of why the government plays an active (sometimes overactive) role in childrearing is the assumption--depressingly often correct--that someone dispassionate needs to intervene on behalf of a child or a wife who lacks the strength to deal with abuse. It has often been the left end of the political spectrum that has advanced these arguments, and within reason (reason being in short supply among some political activists), they don't get any argument from me. Yet if his wife, who didn't leave a living will, is actually in a vegetative state, she is even less able to look out for her own interests than most children, and all abused wives. So why is there this willingness to trust her husband on this over the government? Christianity and the Civil Rights Movement A friend pointed me to this review of A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow from Atlantic Monthly: Chappell's is one of the three or four most important books on the civil-rights movement, but because its conclusions will unsettle, or at least irritate, much of its natural constituency, it will surely fail to gain the attention it deserves. This unusually sophisticated and subtle study takes an unconventional and imaginative approach by examining both sides in the struggle: Chappell asks what strengthened those who fought segregation in the South and what weakened their enemies. His answer in both cases is evangelical Christianity. He argues persuasively that revivalism engendered the civil-rights movement's solidarity, leadership, world view, and rhetoric. Inspired by what he characterizes as this "illiberal" faith, southern black activists led what was at heart a religious movement with political dimensions. Although previous historians have noted this, Chappell, a liberal atheist, goes further, contending, again convincingly, that the ethos of the southern black movement—its pessimistic view of human nature, together with its ultimately redemptive faith—was not merely different from but in essential ways antithetical to northerners' tepid liberalism.Well worth reading. There are some parallels to the antebellum period. The development of evangelical Christianity in the period before the Civil War blunted the evolutionary white supremacist theories that were then in vogue among intellectuals and scientists--a point that I have made recently in my Constitutional History class. The Leopard's Spots, published in 1960, makes the point that the evolutionary/phrenological/scientific crowd pushing for the idea of black genetic inferiority took great delight in attacking the literal inerrancy of the Bible and its Genesis account--which would imply that all men are brothers--and this pushed a lot of slave owners into the weird position of refusing to accept a doctrine that would have allowed them to more easily justify their status as owners of other people. Monday, October 20, 2003
Optical Odds & Ends (Yes, I Am Emptying My Closets) I have a number of pieces of optical glass that probably cost the taxpayers of the 1970s truly amazing amounts of money. (These came out a TRW trash can in Southern California many years ago, and have been wandering around my closet ever since.) I'm sure that all were rejected for not being within some absurd military specification--but if you have any interest in optical experimentation, you might find them worth buying. Make me an offer on these items (plus shipping). They didn't cost me anything, so almost any offer that justifies the time to find a box and to go over to the UPS store should persuade me. I have three of these concave/convex lenses. They are about 6.75" diameter, focal length about 34". They look like they might be a cemented doublet. They could probably be made into a pair of low quality, wide field binoculars (or use all three for your alien friends with trinocular vision). I suspect that you could make an interesting but slow solar oven from all three focused at the same point. 
The two pictures below are of 2 5/8" diameter concave mirror blanks, well polished. I suspect that they were intended to be a Cassegrain primary mirrors--note the hole through the middle. I have two of them. 
There are several strangely shaped prisms, nicely polished, and big enough to hurt you if you dropped them on your bare feet. I have no idea what these were intended for, but they make interesting paperweights. Here's the first one: 
Here's the second one: 
Here's the third one--so weird that it takes two pictures to convey its shape: 
For Sale: Various Electronic Odds and Ends Motorola Vanguard 65 IDSL Routers I've got a couple Motorola Vanguard Model 65 IDSL routers ("Premium Model," which I think means it includes data compression to get effective 200 kilobits/second). The first one was installed and in service for a bit more than a year; the second one was in service as a replacement for a couple of months. (QWEST hasn't the faintest idea how to debug IDSL problems; they just sound out a new router to see if that solves the problem or not.) I know that the second one works perfectly, and I suspect that the first one works perfectly as well. Whatever was wrong with the first one was wrong with the second one--and the second one's problems went away after a couple weeks, suggesting that the problem was upstream of these routers. I don't need them anymore--I'm on cable modem now. I would be very happy to get $30 each for them (I see them being offered for $88 used, and they cost about $300 new), but I'm willing to listen to reasonable offers. Dazzle Digital Video Creator II Card This is a PCI slot video capture card with some okay looking video manipulation software bundled in. I coulnd't get it to work with the PCs that I have, but you may have better luck than I have had. $10 plus shipping? Intel Faxmodem Card I also have an Intel Internal Faxmodem card for PCs--14,400 bps for both modem and FAX. If you'll pay for the shipping, or are willing to pick it up in Boise, you can have it for free. Non-Discretionary Concealed Weapon Permit Issuance Progress For those who fret that we are losing the battle over gun rights--and yes, there are those who think we are--take a look at this map that I found here. 
It shows the progress we've made on non-discretionary concealed weapon permit issuance over the last 20 years. If this map isn't changing--blame your browser, and click on the link above. Punish Him? No, Hire Him The college student who smuggled box cutters, modeling clay made to look like plastic explosive, and bleach, aboard airliners is going to be charged. Strictly speaking, he broke the law by smuggling the box cutters aboard an airliner--but there was no criminal intent involved. He was demonstrating that TSA still isn't doing its job very well. Remember, he gave advance warning to TSA that he was going to attempt this, and where--and he still got through. I think instead of charging him, TSA should have quietly hired this guy to check their capabilities. Really Interesting Article About Laser Weapon Development This is from the Oakland Tribune, and points out that laser weapons have enormous potential, not only as offensive weapons, but even more so for battlefield defense: the capability to destroy mortar and artillery shells in flight, for example. The article emphasizes the speed and invunerability to gravity of a laser beam. If you haven't done much long-range shooting, I don't think you'll realize how significant these advantages are. No problems of calculating bullet drop; no worries about wind causing a bullet to miss its target; no questions about identifying the range of your target--you just sight and fire; no problems about a moving target. Unlike a conventional bullet, which can take one to two seconds to reach a target one thousand meters away, the laser beam arrives instantaneously. The U.S. is already the only military hyperpower. If the current research can get solid state lasers down to the required size, weight, and power consumption requirements, the U.S. advantage in laser technology will widen the gap even more. Interestingly enough, some of the people doing this research gained much of their knowledge from attempts at getting fusion power to work--another reminder that sometimes the gains you get from research aren't the gains that you were expecting. |
