The advertising above is just a source of revenue. If the ads get offensive enough, I may drop them.
Clayton Cramer's BLOG |
|
|
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 ran for Idaho state senate in 2008--didn't win I've written a number of history books, as well as scholarly and popular articles, (see my web page). Relocating to Boise? Use my realtor, neighbor, and friend, Cindy Smith csmith@1realtyone.com.
Magazines for cheap!
PayPal members: to make a contribution
Email me at blogmail at claytoncramer dot com. Sorry to be so indirect, but all spambots must die! But they haven't died yet! Include the word spamIamnot in your subject line to make sure that my spam blocker lets you through. |
Friday, August 04, 2006
Washington Attorney-General's Office Responded To My Concerns I emailed the Washington State A-G a few days ago because I saw a security hole in how a local police department renewed my Washington Concealed Pistol License. I received an email the next day from an Assistant A-G, and a phone call today from the guy who runs Washington's firearms licensing programs. I won't identify the nature of the security hole, but it appears to be a flaw in how a particular clerk did her job--not a statewide hole, and not a problem with the procedures that the state teaches the agencies to perform. Because issuance of a CPL to an unqualified person could potentially allow a no waiting period transfer of a handgun, this was a subject of great concern to them. I'm pleased at how rapidly they responded. Global Warming: The Latest Convert If this isn't enough to make the media reconsider its one sided coverage of the issue, what will? Although the recent heat wave have not convinced Michaels that "global warming" is a severe problem, it was apparently enough to make a "convert" out of conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson.Note to Rev. Robertson: a single climate event isn't much in the way of evidence. Other parts of the article pointed out that we've had it warmer: (CNSNews.com) - People sweltering from a heat wave in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. might find cold comfort in the fact that the temperatures of the past few days are not the hottest on record. That "honor" belongs to a summer 76 years ago -- decades before the controversy over "man-made global warming" began. Labels: global warming Another Great Idea Down The Tubes My agent tells me that there has been one successful book about a house building project--Tracy Kidder's House, and that's bcause Kidder had a huge fan base. So I guess I'll resume writing history books. Labels: house project Thursday, August 03, 2006
Alternative Strategies For Dealing With Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) The paperwork arrived in preparation for next week's titration CPAP study (in which I would be instrumented up again, and try to sleep why they adjust the positive air pressure into my nose), and the more I looked at the enormous amount of money that my insurer and I would be paying for something that almost half the users can't adjust to well enough to use--the more I asked myself, "What's the alternative?" It turns out that the total bill on this is going to be about $2300, of which I would be paying about $700--plus $2100 for the titration CPAP study. (Yes, you can buy the CPAP machine on the web for well less than half that amount--but you need a prescription, and I am beginning to wonder if sleep disorder medicine is a new form of owning a money printing machine.) It turns out that while CPAP is indeed the gold standard for dealing with OSA, it isn't the only solution, and some of the other methods are both cheaper and more likely to work. For exampe: losing weight. Now, I've mentioned that some people report that use of CPAP energizes them so much that they are able to lose weight--to the point of no longer needing the CPAP. But also, losing weight can so much improve OSA that the CPAP isn't needed. For example, this case: When Mr. SH was referred to the Arkansas Sleep Disorders Diagnostic Center in late 1999, he presented with complaints of loud snoring and witnessed apnea. He rated himself as severely sleepy on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. At 70 inches and 233 pounds, he had a body mass index of 33.5.This guy was an inch shorter and a few pounds heavier than me, with somewhat more severe apnea (as measured by oxygen saturation). While not the only cause, excess fat around the breathing passages is a factor, and even if weight loss doesn't solve the problem by itself, it can moderate OSA: Treatment of obesity is important in all obstructive sleep apnea patients. Rarely weight loss alone may be curative (less than 3%). Moderate weight loss, nonetheless, may significantly improve OSAS or snoring. In severe apnea, definitive treatment (medical or surgical) is necessary in conjunction with weight loss. Weight control, as a part of therapy, is important since weight gain is associated with worsening or recurrence of OSAS.Of course, since there may be a feedback loop involved in this--you gain some weight, reduces airflow during the night, which means that you lack the energy to get more exercise, so you gain more weight--breaking the feedback loop might be a worthwhile effort. It's cheaper, less likely to have "compliance" problems, and it is a good idea, anyway. It turns out that there's another approach that I am going to start using (along with following my wife's Spartan Weight Watchers diet): Breathe Right strips. You may be aware that they are sold for snoring, and quite specifically, not for sleep apnea. But it turns out that they not only have been clinically demonstrated to reduce snoring, but to reduce sleep apnea problems as well: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Mainz School of Medicine, Germany.However, this study is directly contradicted by a study done two years earlier, also in Germany. It's $5.99 for a box of 12. I'm going to give it a try, along with experimenting with sleeping on my side (also a technique that reduces OSA). It's cheap, and even if it only gives a 5% improvement in sleep quality and oxygenation of my blood, that might be enough to break the current feedback loop that it is making it difficult to lose some more weight. The Right To Molest The ACLU hasn't gotten involved in this case...yet: A suburban Cleveland man accused of sexually assaulting nine disabled boys told a judge Wednesday that his apartment was a religious sanctuary where smoking marijuana and having sex with children are sacred rituals protected by civil rights laws.Apparently each count qualifies for life in prison (Ohio isn't California), so I suspect that the ACLU is going to have to turn pedophilia into a constitutional right for this guy. Senate Wakes Up: Votes To Build Fence Finally! Constitutent pressure finally had an impact: The Senate did an abrupt about-face yesterday, voting overwhelmingly to begin paying for 370 miles of fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, just three weeks after voting against the same spending.This is good news, not just with respect to the fence, but because it shows that something with overwhelming support from the people can beat corporate interests. Another interesting tidbit in that article: This week, the president reached his goal of assigning 6,000 Guard troops to the border states by Aug. 1. Still, of the 6,340 troops assigned as of yesterday, only 2,675 troops, or 42 percent, were "forward deployed." The rest are at joint task force headquarters, in training or in transit.Duh! Of course it had an impact! Wednesday, August 02, 2006
George Washington, Deist? There has been an energetic discussion of the religious beliefs of the Framers going on in the H-OIEAHC mailing list (Electronic Association in Early American Studies). I've been poking holes in the claim that the Framers of the Republic were mostly Deists--and those defending the other position have been trying to prove their claim that Christians might have been a majority of the population, but certainly not of the leaders who created our Republic. George Washington often gets claimed as a Deist, and I will agree that many of his public statements are sufficiently general that they could fit either a Christian or Deist world view. But one contributor to the H-OIEAHC list (who I know is neither a Christian nor a conservative) points out: It would be rather tough to establish that Washington was a Deist. HeYup. Washington's involvement with a particular church isn't overwhelming evidence, since he might well have been just going along with the majority for social or political reasons, but this "Prayer Journal" is pretty explicit about his beliefs: Christian, not Deist. UPDATE: There is some serious question about whether Washington wrote this or not. A Market Opportunity There is a desperate need for a reliable and secure operating system for PCs that is easy to use. Yes, there's Linux, but for the average PC user, it isn't quite there yet on the "easy to use" part. I'm using SuSE Linux, and the entire RPM scheme for installing updates just isn't quite as simple as the various install utilities used under Windows. I haven't found a video player for SuSE Linux that works as seamlessly as the various players that Windows has. I'm on an anti-Windows kick right now because I just had to reinstall Windows XP on my wife's PC. I bought this for her in late December. She doesn't download music, or programs, or open email attachments. It has Norton Antivirus installed on it. We haven't installed anything except OpenOffice on it--and yet it reached a point in a little over six months where Windows would no longer boot, and I had to reinstall. Microsoft is a terribly arrogant operation about its expertise--and as near as I can tell, it is an arrogance that is not justified by the quality of their operating systems. UPDATE: This Letterman clip really captures the nature of the problem. Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Unitarianism/Universalism There used to be a joke that the KKK wouldn't burn a cross on a Unitarian's lawn--they would burn a question mark. If you don't understand this--well, let me quote from the Unitarian Universalist Association web site: Our history has carried us from liberal Christian views about Jesus and human nature to a rich pluralism that includes theist and atheist, agnostic and humanist, pagan, Christian, Jew, and Buddhist. As our history continues to evolve and unfold, we invite you to join us by choosing our free faith.You know, I would probably be considered theologically a bit liberal by the pastor at the church I currently attend, so I don't really feel that there's anything wrong with a broad diversity of viewpoints in a religious body. But "theist and atheist" are two directly contradictory perspectives; "pagan" and "Christian" are directly incompatible, as are "pagan" and "Jew," and so are "Christian" and "Buddhist" or "Jew" and "Buddhist." Unitarian/Universalism is a bit beyond religiously diverse. The Tragedy in Qana EU Referendum is pointing out some inconsistencies in the video that journalists are showing of it that suggest a staged event: Nevertheless, there seems a certain discrepancy in this sequence as it purports to show the body being removed from the collapsed building. "Green Helmet" is all kitted up and we see him photographed in all manner of poses, carrying her. But we also see him without his helmet and kit, putting her in the ambulance.EU Referendum also point out that there seems to be one "rescue worker" who appears at an astonishing number of Israeli atrocities--some going back ten years. Who is this man? And how much of this is staged? Israel Insider asks some questions about what really happened at Qana: Thus there was an unexplained 7 to 8 hour gap between the time of the helicopter strike and the building collapse. Brigadier General Amir Eshel, Head of the Air Force Headquarters, in a press briefing, told journalists that "the attack on the structure in the Qana village took place between midnight and one in the morning. The gap between the timing of the collapse of the building and the time of the strike on it is unclear." 9th Circuit Liberals Affirm That Free Speech Is Not Protected If It Offends Homosexuals Back in April, I mentioned the decision Harper v. Poway Unified School District (9th Cir. 2006) by archliberal Judge Reinhardt that speech that offends homosexuals is not protected by the First Amendment. The argument is that the psychological damage done by wearing a T-shirt that quotes the Bible is outside the realm of free speech protected by the Tinker decision (in which the Supreme Court ruled that a school district that banned the wearing of black armbands as a Vietnam War protest had violated the right of free speech). Now, I think that schools should have the authority to regulate speech. It isn't very easy to teach a class if one of the students keeps jumping up and singing while the teacher is trying to teach. There are certainly offensive T-shirts that don't belong in a classroom. But the real issue in Harper is whether the school district is going to discriminate based on viewpoint. It had long been the position of liberals that the government must remain viewpoint neutral when regulating or subsidizing speech. It was perfectly fine to require speakers on campus to get approval, as long as all points of view were given an equal shot. In this case, the school district was not viewpoint neutral. It allowed--even encouraged pro-homosexual materials and speech on a Day of Silence--but when Harper wore a T-shirt that expressed the opposite point of view: "Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned" on the front and "Homosexuality Is Shameful 'Romans 1:27'" on the back--he was in trouble. I have some serious problems with the liberal position of Tinker, but at least a consistent liberal position that the solution to bad ideas being expressed is to express more ideas makes some sense. Deciding that some points of view are legitimate, but others are not, isn't liberal in the least. While I would be more inclined to trust to the good sense of legislators and bureaucrats than liberals were prepared to do in Tinker, seeing the behavior of the Poway Unified School District tends to argue for requiring the government be viewpoint neutral. There was a request from one of the 9th Circuit's judges for an en banc rehearing of Harper v. Poway Unified School District. An en banc hearing means that a larger panel of appellate court judges rehears the case. This requires a majority of the judges to agree to rehear the case. There weren't enough judges willing to do so--and these concurring opinions on why not really tell me a lot about how liberalism is morphing into gay totalitarianism. Judge Reinhardt is again defending why some ideas are so offensive that they can't be allowed in a school: Advising a young high school or grade school student while he is in class that he and other gays and lesbians are shameful, and that God disapproves of him, is not simply "unpleasant and offensive." It strikes at the very core of the young student’s dignity and self-worth.If you are wondering why Reinhardt thinks that this is enough reason to ban a T-shirt that offends homosexuals--but a "BusHitler" or "Republicans eat their young" T-shirt would be okay--well, the decision he wrote last April explained that minorities have a right not to be verbally attacked. Majorities, by implication, don't enjoy that same right. Judge Gould goes even farther: Hate speech, whether in the form of a burning cross, or in the form of a call for genocide, or in the form of a tee shirt misusing biblical text to hold gay students to scorn, need not under Supreme Court decisions be given the full protection of the First Amendment in the context of the school environment, where administrators have a duty to protect students from physical or psychological harms.Not only is Judge Gould calling it "hate speech" (which would make the Bible hate speech), but he goes on to claim that this is "misusing biblical text." I guess Judge Gould believes that federal judges have the authority to impose their understanding of the Bible on others. How liberal of him. At least he didn't decide that Harper needed burning at the stake, but that may well come. This is the core problem of liberalism: it claims to be in favor of unlimited free speech, even when that speech offends others: black armbands to protest the war in Vietnam in a high school as in Tinker; the F-word on a jacket, as in Cohen v. California (1971); virtual child pornography, as in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002). But when a case comes before them that offends their pet group, suddenly free speech has limits. Liberalism: a bankrupt set of doctrines that needs to go away. Perhaps we can use Judge Reinhardt's Constitutional rights construction kit to assemble a "right to not be offended by liberal hypocrisy" so that the government can ban it. (I'm joking, of course. I'm no liberal; political speech is protected by the First Amendment.) Monday, July 31, 2006
Obstructive Sleep Apnea I saw the sleep doctor last week about the results of the polysomnography study. I stopped breathing (meaning, the chest was moving but no air was moving in and out) almost once a minute, and my blood oxygen level dropped as low as 78% at one point--and averaged below the 90% level that is considered healthy. To hear him tell it, using a C-PAP (a positive air pressure mask) will not only stop the snoring, but probably dramatically improve the quality of my sleep, as well as improve my daytime energy levels and ability to concentrate. One of my readers, a longtime friend who had much less severe obstructive sleep apnea, tells me that his first night using a C-PAP was like a religious experience, because of how much better he felt. He also shortly thereafter lost thirty pounds--and no longer needed the C-PAP. Excess weight--and I am definitely carrying about thirty pounds that are resisting leaving--is certainly a factor in causing obstructive sleep apnea--but it is also a symptom of it, so this may be a feedback loop problem. Gain some weight; the extra fat around the breathing passages makes it hard to sleep well; you don't sleep well, so you don't have the energy to burn the calories. I wouldn't be surprised if the reduced oxygen also slows metabolism for the same reason that reduced caloric input slows metabolism. The doctor did admit that because I don't seem to have much a problem with daytime sleepiness (at least most days), I may be one of those people with obstructive sleep apnea who is otherwise asyptomatic. I will be curious to see what the results are. I have to go in for something called a C-PAP titration test, where they hook up just about all the same unpleasant monitoring gadgets, but I wear a C-PAP mask, and they adjust the air pressure until everything is optimum. I keep having this hope that I will get the same benefit from this as several of my readers. If so, I'll be writing two books a year, putting up dozens of blog entries a day, and making my employer very happy with me as well. I've Always Wanted To Make A Short Like This Think about it: how long would the average teen slasher movie be if the bad guy was breaking into the average Idaho home, instead of Hollywood's vision of what an average home should be? It would be like this video, which is an ad for a gun store in Utah. (I found this link over at Arms and the Law.) Understanding The Religion of the Framers and Establishment Clause Intent Here's an interesting letter from a member of the Continental Congress that shows what was considered acceptable use of public funds in 1787: Charles Thomson to John EttweinThere are many examples of the Continental Congress authorizing the use of funds to teach Christianity and to build churches, such as this case in 1775: Capt. White Eyes, a Delaware chief, who came down with the Commissioners for Indian Affairs in the middle department, being introduced to Congress, the President addressed him in the following manner:And this case in 1784: Resolved, That Congress are highly pleased with the readiness expressed by the Indians to receive a Missionary among them and being desirous to embrace every opportunity of diffusing Postponed. the benign precepts of Christianity among those nations the--is hereby authorised to cause a church to be built in place of that which was destroyed during the war, and to engage Mr Saml Kirkland as a Missionary among the Indians. A lot of people want to think of Benjamin Franklin as the first of those freethinking Deist sorts. I've always been skeptical of such claims--and this letter from him in 1778, when he was ambassador to France--suggests that it wasn't Deism that he wanted promoted first and foremost: Gentlemen: Whereas this religious society, commonly called the Moravian Brethren, have established a mission on the northern part of the Labrador coast for the good purposes of civilizing and converting to christianity the barbarians who live there, and by that means putting an end to their custom of plundering and murdering the people of our fishing vessels and others passing in those seas; and whereas those missionaries and their families depend for subsistence in that unfertile country on the supplies annually sent them, and on the friendship of the natives, which is maintained by little presents of iron ware, all furnished by charitable subscriptions in England; the interruption of which supplies might hazard the loss of those pious missionaries and ruin an enterprise beneficial to humanity: I do therefore hereby certify that the sloop Good Intent, burden about 75 tons, Capt. Francis Mugford, carrying in the present voyage about 5,000 bricks for building chimneys, with provisions and necessaries for the missionaries and their assistants and some ironmongery and tinware for the Indians....Of late, I have been seeing John Adams added to the list of Deists--in spite of his regular attendance at Congregationalist churches in Massachusetts--and this astonishing Inaugural Address to Congress in 1797 that includes this: [A]nd, with humble reverence, I feel it to be my duty to add, if a veneration for the religion of a people who profess and call themselves Christians, and a fixed resolution to consider a decent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for the public service; can enable me, in any degree, to comply with your wishes, it shall be my strenuous endeavor, that this sagacious injunction of the two Houses shall not be without effect. How Mel Gibson's Drunken Tirade Can Become Politically Correct In case you haven't been following this, Mel Gibson is in a heap of trouble in Hollywood: One media expert said Gibson irreparably damaged his career with his "crazy" behavior following his arrest by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies in Malibu early Friday. Charges of anti-Semitism were also leveled against the actor-director with the release of his 2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ."I am very disappointed, first that Mel got drunk--since he freely acknowledges a history of alcohol problems--and secondly that he has these weird ideas floating around, just waiting to come to the surface when the alcohol removes enough of his self-control to let this idiocy drip out. There's a lot of wars being fought around the planet right now--and there's only one of them that has Jews in it. There is a religious group that seems to be overrepresented among combatants, however: in India; in Chechnya; in Iraq; in Palestine; in Indonesia; in the Philipines; in Europe; in the U.S.; in Canada. But it isn't Jews! However, it's not too late for Mel Gibson to redeem himself with Hollywood. All he has to do is become a Muslim, and suddenly, Hollywood will be falling all over itself to make excuses for Mel "simply being authentic." Untreated Mental Illness I'm sure that you are aware of the attack on a Jewish community center in Seattle by a Muslim with a handgun. There are gobs of angles to this, and different bloggers, like the blind men describing an elephant, are grabbing hold of the story to emphasize what they think is important. I'm sure that the gun control advocates will grab hold of this detail from the story: The law-enforcement source said Haq had a license to carry a concealed weapon, though not the weapon that was used in the shootings.I wonder if the reporter actually was told this by a "law-enforcement source," because a Washington State concealed pistol license (CPL) does not identify any particular pistol on it. I just renewed my Washington CPL on Friday. Neither the CPL that I was renewing, nor the form that I filled out, asked anything about what gun I would be carrying. Different River emphasizes that this was a Muslim attacking Jews, as does Michelle Malkin--who also points out that this isn't exactly news anymore. Patterico points out that the Los Angeles Times claims in a headline that the shooter's motivations are a "mystery," while the actual news story says: Haq reportedly shouted about his anger toward Jews, toward Israel and its war in Lebanon, and toward U.S. policy in Iraq.Oh yes, that's very mysterious! This news account, again quoting one of those mysterious and unnamed sources: Police identified the suspect as Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, who until recently had lived in Everett, Wash. A law-enforcement source said Haq apparently has a history of mental illness. Haq, described as a studious loner, was raised in the Tri-Cities area and his family has close ties to the local Muslim community center. Court records show Haq has a charge of lewd conduct pending against him in Benton County.Well, I can't claim to be surprised. While mentally ill people are almost always the greatest hazard to themselves, I've blogged repeatedly about previous mass murders where the killer had a history of mental illness--and in spite of clear evidence that this person's mental problems made them a serious hazard to others, they were not hospitalized, because of this horrible public policy decision of the 1970s to err on the side of letting mentally ill people sleep in the streets, until they die of tuberculosis, pneumonia, or freezing to death. A Cure For Alzheimer's? Different River mentioned this article from an Australian newspaper, the Herald-Sun: IN a world first, Melbourne scientists have developed a once-a-day pill that they claim may cure Alzheimer's disease. Human trials of the drug start next month.This is in the "Wow!" category, as far as I'm concerned. I've seen two people I know decline into Alzheimer's, and it makes almost any other cause of death seem humane by comparison. "Crime of Love" From the nation where "crop circles" are taken seriously, a new bizarre euphemism for barbarism: Ali is one of an estimated 3 million women and girls who suffer female genital mutilation (FGM) each year.I suppose that we should be glad that at least the British government is trying to do something to stop it, and the multicultural fetishists haven't won the battle to define everything unWestern as at least morally equivalent--or even morally superior. Sunday, July 30, 2006
That Truck Convoy I mentioned last Thursday that I wished that I could read Arabic--some of the untranslated documents captured in Iraq have "interesting" summaries. Captain's Quarters has translated at least one of those documents--it appears to be an intelligence report from an Iraqi opponent of Saddam Hussein about a 50 truck convoy that went to Syria about a week before the Coalition invaded. I've never believed that the Bush Administration was lying about the WMDs. I was prepared to believe that their actions in administering occupied Iraq showed little intelligence--and their unwillingness to make use of these materials suggests to me that they lack the intelligence to win the propaganda war. Or alternatively, they just enjoy looking either stupid or dishonest to the people of the U.S. Back Home Again It has been a busy few days. I think that I am just about done editing the manuscript of Armed America into final form. (My wife is going to take a crack at it tomorrow.) I drove up to Moscow Friday morning to help my daughter and son-in-law move to Boise--and to renew my Washington State carry permit. (I believe that I have identified a significant flaw in the renewal procedure--which I will inform the Washington Attorney-General about, but I won't identify publicly.) As painful as it is to give up on selling our old house in Boise, the house market here has pretty evaporated, due to a combination of an oversupply of brand new homes in the $300,000 to $500,000 range and high mortgage rates, so my daughter and son-in-law have moved in instead. There are some reasons to think the market will be a bit healthier next summer, what with reports of a 250,000 seat NASCAR track and associated developments going in east of Boise, and I expect lower mortgage rates next year. There still seems to be vast swarms of Californians moving into the area, with bargains available on one way U-Hauls to California from here. Speaking of U-Haul--I drove something downright bizarre while helping with the move--a U-Haul moving truck that was in excellent condition! It had 8000 miles on it, gobs of torque, and the air conditioning worked! The weather has been cooling down, but the forest fires burning up near Hells Canyon have made local air quality ugly. I'm hoping that the Forest Service can get this under control soon. Those fires have been causing some unpleasant losses of power as well--lots of chances for the backup generator to get tested. We were off-grid for about two hours last night. |
