Tuesday - February 14, 2012

Stuff This In Your Ballot Box

WASHINGTON – More than 24 million voter-registration records in the United States— about one in eight — are inaccurate, out-of-date or duplicates. Nearly 2.8 million people are registered in two or more states, and perhaps 1.8 million registered voters are dead.

Those estimates, from a report published today by the non-partisan Pew Center on the States, portray a largely paper-based system that is outmoded, expensive and error-prone.

“We have a ramshackle registration system in the U.S. It’s a mess. It’s expensive. There isn’t central control over the process,” said Lawrence Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

And now that you’ve got everyone worked up thinking about the obvious outcome, let’s start the spin control ...

Experts say there’s no evidence that the errors lead to fraud on Election Day. “The perception of the possibility of fraud drives hyper-partisan policymaking,” said David Becker, director of Pew’s election initiatives. But inactive voters do cost money. Inaccurate lists mean wasted money on mailings and extra paper ballots.

Ok, maybe I’m being a bit too harsh. A national data center is the best solution, but my question is who will be in charge of it?

Pew’s solution: create a multi-state data center to give officials voter registrations, motor vehicle records and death certificates from other states, allowing them to spot records that could be removed. That effort is starting this year with Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Husted is asking the U.S. Justice Department for guidance on how to clean up the rolls before the presidential election without violating motor voter. “It undermines voter confidence and creates the potential for voter fraud where people could act and vote on their behalf,” he said.

Ach, crivens, now you went and blew it again. Asking the Justice Department for guidance? Fox guarding the hen house much?

I’ve given quite a lot of thought to this problem over several years. I’ve concluded that the rolls need to be purged on a regular basis. Sure, have your Motor Voter registration. For now. But it’s only good until the week after the next presidential election. At that point the entire country has to re-register, in person, by hand, over the next year. You go to the dentist twice a year, you get your eyes checked every two years, you do your taxes every year, you renew your driver’s license every X years ... so there is no real reason that your voter registration should last forever, other than laziness on the part of the town and county clerks.

Let’s face it, the government knows who you are and where you live. Many, many branches of it. So does Visa. So does the phone company and the power company. In this day and age we have unbelievable amounts of computing power available for very reasonable amounts of money. Set up a national database that can query a dozen or so other databases - that means it can ask them a question and get back just a Yes or No answer - and you can purify the rolls pretty darn quickly. How many thousand town clerks and county clerks are there across the country? Show up at yours with your photo license, your SSN, your military ID, passport, or other government ID, a pay stub, a bank statement, and a credit card bill. Let’s face it, the government already has all this data on you anyway. The clerk puts your name and SSN in the system, and in 3 seconds gets back a list of your addresses and where you are registered to vote and a Yes/No from the criminal databases saying whether your prior convictions allow you to vote or not. And whether or not you are an actual citizen! Of these addresses the one used by your employer, your utility or phone bill, and your credit card zero in on what your primary address is. You agree in writing that this is your primary address, and not only are you registered at that address but all other registrations are canceled.

Then you get your picture taken and are issued a photo voter ID with your name and address on it. There is no charge for any of this, but you have to go there. A roving Flying Squad of registrars visits the nursing homes and the home bound who wish to be voters.

Yes, it’s a lot of work. So what?

Once you have the ID, the next time it needs renewing you just have to show up and have your information verified. If you have moved, or if your appearance is radically different, then you get a new picture and a new card. Big deal.

When Election Fortnight happens - phooey on Election Day, we have too many people - you show up and show your card. It gets scanned to make sure it’s still active, and a poll worker checks to make sure the holder looks like the person in the picture. And the database gets toggled that you have now voted. That’s all there is to it.

Absentee voters? Well, with a fortnight to run the voting in, the qualifications for absenteeism would be greatly tightened. And your ballot would have to be postmarked before the fortnight started. And once your vote was entered, your ID would be toggled to the Voted position for this election.

Come on already. We’re in the second decade of the 21st century. This is the future, George Jetson be damned. Anyone who is eligible to vote ought to be able to walk into any polling station in the nation and vote on the spot in their local election, and then be unable to vote in it again anywhere else. The computing power exists, the heart of the software exists, and all the verification databases already exist. It’s just a matter of putting it all together.

Slightly off topic, but given the low cost of computers, it’s obscene that so many areas still use a paper ballot. You want a physical record of your vote? Really?? Fine. Use your mouse when voting digitally to click the “receipt” button, and an off-the-shelf barcode printer prints you a label. It looks like a bunch of lines with a year printed on it, but it contains your polling station number, your voter number (not your voter ID, just the “I was voter 183 at station 15 at polling center 6182") and which choices you made. If you want proof that your vote is in the system, it’s your duty to get down to the county courthouse and scan your label. Come to think of it, any courthouse in the nation should be able to do it, for voting in the last X years that the system has been running. It’s all digital and that’s all that’s needed.

One in eight active registrations is invalid or inaccurate. At the same time, one in four people who are eligible to vote — at least 51 million potential voters — are not registered.

You do have the right to not vote if you wish. But for those who do wish to vote, a well made validation system for registration that is kept up to date by continual re-registration is the only way to go. I’m beyond tired of hearing those idiots wag on about “disenfranchisement” every November. The solution is clear, and could be implemented for less than the combined cost of a new submarine, a couple of new bombers, yet another nuero scan for great-granny, some free cell phones for Da Poor, some free needles for junkies and some free condoms for junior high students. “Free” as in “paid for by your taxes”. It’s not like we don’t have the money. It just gets spent on everything else.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/14/2012 at 11:10 AM   
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   Thursday - February 09, 2012

Nuckin Futs In La La Land

Los Angeles - The Board of Supervisors this week agreed to raise fines to up to $1,000 for anyone who throws a football or a Frisbee on any beach in Los Angeles County.

In passing the 37-page ordinance on Tuesday, officials sought to outline responsibilities for law enforcement and other public agencies while also providing clarification on beach-goer activities that could potentially disrupt or even injure the public.

The updated rules now prohibit “any person to cast, toss, throw, kick or roll” any object other than a beach ball or volleyball “upon or over any beach” between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Exceptions allow for ball-throwing in predesignated areas, when a person obtains a permit, or playing water polo “in or over the Pacific Ocean”.

That’s one way to balance the budget: make just about anything illegal and then fine the daylights out of the citizens left and right. But it’s for the chiiiiiildren! And for your own good!!!  Sure, because little kids are being maimed for life all the time by Frisbees. Sure. Riiight.

A permit ($$$) for throwing a football only in a predesignated area of public land. Uh huh. What’s next, Free Speech Zones on college campuses? Oh wait. Nevermind.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/09/2012 at 08:35 AM   
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   Wednesday - January 18, 2012

no SOPA for you!

See peeps? This is so much better than living in a tent and pooping on police cars.

SOPA blackout leads co-sponsors to defect

An Internet blackout Wednesday by Wikipedia, Reddit, Mozilla and thousands of other sites against two anti-piracy bills in Congress has started to have its desired effect: Co-sponsors of the legislation have changed sides and other lawmakers have called for more debate before any vote.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — who was a co-sponsor of the PROTECT IP Act — became the latest lawmaker Wednesday to pull his support. In the House, Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), originally a co-sponsor of the Stop Online Piracy Act, pulled his name from the list of sponsors on Tuesday. A spokesman for Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), meanwhile, told the Omaha World-Herald on Wednesday that the congressman is also unable to support SOPA as written.

SOPA is a mess. Perhaps our copyright laws need to be reworked here in the digital age. Perhaps the RIAA - the record companies who are behind this crap (as usual) - need to go take a flying ***k. I don’t know what the answer is, but keep any and all government out of, and away from, the internet seems like a good idea to me. It isn’t theirs; they don’t own it and they don’t have the right to tax it or police it.

OTOH, if we had that vaunted One World Government, this software piracy thing would be a snap to shut down, from the most real level (stolen software) right down to the stupid low level stuff (’fair use’ borrowing of pictures and content). Face it: the ‘net is pretty much an Open Source world: if you don’t want your stuff shared, don’t put it online.

For lots more info about what’s wrong with SOPA, go here, and join an email campaign or two. So far more than a million emails have come in. read more And plenty of web sites big and small have shut down or blacked out for the day. Not me. I’m not in favor of the bills, but I’m not much of a bandwagon jumper-onner. But I do think that whoever the simp was who introduced the legislation ought to be horsewhipped and forced to move to North Korea.

On Twitter, Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, confirmed that all of Wikipedia’s 3.8 million English-language articles will be unavailable from midnight Eastern time tonight until midnight Wednesday. Anyone who visits the site will be redirected to a banner that reads “The Internet must remain free.” Also joining Wikipedia in going black are Reddit, Minecraft, Craigslist, and Boing Boing, among others. Craigslist has posted a message at the top of its city homepages with a link to “help put a stop to this madness” of SOPA and PIPA.

The Obama administration, as well as Congress, seem to be listening to the critics. In a blog post, the White House said it would not support “legislation that reduces freedom of expression ... or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.” And House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a vote would not come up for SOPA until a consensus is reached.

Please read any statements from any government extremely carefully (on this subject and all others, naturally). We are being fed a bucketful of weasel-words and double-talk. Most of government is sold out to big business money. Don’t let them talk you into accepting a spoonful of censorship “for the good of everyone” instead of what looks like a big bowlful now. That spoon will turn out to be bottomless, and their take-over will be incremental but complete. Fight the man, man. Occupy DC.

To help draw attention to the digital censorship issue, here’s a picture I hacked from some famous starlet’s cellphone. (Warning: full NSFW nudity and really dirty sexuality below the fold!)

Posted by Drew458     on 01/18/2012 at 02:37 PM   
Filed Under: • Big Brother • FREEDOM •  
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   Monday - November 07, 2011

We accept cash, gold, silver, and used guns

Oh, I’m still laughing…

Posted by Christopher     on 11/07/2011 at 01:34 PM   
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   Monday - July 04, 2011

4th of July

The same 6th Circuit court that ruled the other day that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (ie no Affirmative Action) was unconstitutional was the same court that ruled that Obamacare was constitutional. They are out of their minds.

Doug Ross writes a short and telling essay on that one in On the Road to Totalitarianism With the Sixth Circuit:

How is the health care industry segregated from other industries to prevent the federal government from encroaching upon every other segment of human activity? The judges spare but a few words on this critical issue, stating “...unlike nearly all other industries, the health care market is governed by federal and state laws requiring institutions to provide services regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.”

In other words, the only “firewall” the judges construct to shield other industries from the Orwellian reach of the government is one made of cardboard. In essence, because the health care market is already regulated, the industry is said to be unique and therefore can be utterly controlled by the central government.

What we are celebrating today is the concept of freedom from oppressive government. And the ONLY way we can have that freedom is with a severely limited government. A government limited both in power and in scope. And while it may look like that limitation is being eroded faster and faster these days - see the Kelo v. New London decision, these two decisions, et al - it’s been going on a long long time. The snowball that started the avalanche was when that pinko FDR put the screws to the Supreme Court and leveraged them into declaring that “regulating” commerce no longer meant the “ensuring or normalizing” that the Founders intended, it meant “empowering the government to stick it’s nose in everywhere”. America died right then and there, and 76 years or so later the corpse continues to fester. And government continues to grow and to take over every single aspect of your life while it bankrupts you and your children’s children’s children.

Overturning that one decision, that one statement, would allow generations of encroaching federal control to be erased. Whatever else the goals of the Tea Party are, this has to be their core. Their raison d’etre. Without that we are but paper tigers growling at the campfire.

And obviously, We The People need a way to quickly throw out corrupt and activist judges, from the bottom right up to the top. Term limits is not sufficient. More and more I am seeing legislation from the bench that follows party doctrine to the letter, and that doctrine is the Progressive one. Communist. Statist. That is so wrong as to be a hanging offense. They have to go.

235 years ago a piece of paper recognized the existence of a revolution that was already ongoing. Today a digital version needs to go viral to act as an alarm clock that wakes up the befuddled masses. It is long past time to press the Reset button.

Happy Freedom Day. Now let’s get real. Let’s roll.

Posted by Drew458     on 07/04/2011 at 11:08 AM   
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   Thursday - June 23, 2011

A Win For Common Sense

A Dutch court acquitted populist politician Geert Wilders of hate speech and discrimination Thursday, ruling that his anti-Islam statements, while offensive to many Muslims, fell within the bounds of legitimate political debate.

Presiding judge Marcel van Oosten said Wilders’ claims that Islam is violent by nature, and his calls to halt Muslim immigration and ban the Muslim holy book, the Quran, must be seen in a wider context of debate over immigration policy.

The court said his public statements could not be directly linked to increased discrimination against Dutch Muslims.

Wilders sat stone-faced while the judge read the ruling, but smiled broadly and shook hands with his lawyers after the verdict was announced. He waved to cheering supporters who hugged each other in the public gallery, and grinned as he left the courtroom.

Wilders, one of the most powerful and popular politicians in the Netherlands, was accused of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims through numerous public statements, and with insulting them by comparing Islam with Naziism.

“I’m incredibly happy with this acquittal on all counts,” Wilders said outside the courtroom.

“It’s not only an acquittal for me, but a victory for freedom of expression in the Netherlands. Fortunately you’re allowed to discuss Islam in public debate and you’re not muzzled in public debate. An enormous burden has fallen from my shoulders,” he said.

Lawyer Ties Prakken, who represented some complainants, was quoted by local media as saying Dutch courts are failing to protect a religious minority from discrimination. With legal avenues in the Netherlands exhausted, she said she’s preparing an appeal to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.

The court found that Wilders’ rhetoric was “on the edge of what is legally permissible” but not illegal.

On the edge? If anything, Wilders’ statements were fairly mild IMO. The Netherlands is suffering from a tsunami of mooseslime immigration, and those new “citizens” are responsible for a huge part of the rapes and violence in that nation. Their anti-Semitic tirades are very similar to Hitler’s in Mein Kampf. Wilders’ film fitna may have been rough, but it pointed out a core truth: the koran is a nasty hate-filled book that incites people to violence. To ignore all this, to stifle it under the oppressive stamp of “hate speech” would be asinine and suicidal. Were he calling for mass deportations, I’d be right with him.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/23/2011 at 07:10 AM   
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   Sunday - March 27, 2011

Wake Up Already

Posted by Drew458     on 03/27/2011 at 07:47 AM   
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   Wednesday - February 23, 2011

Not This Airplane, Not Today

I wonder what the Libyan Air Force oath of allegiance is? Do they swear to protect their constitution or their citizens against all enemies foreign or domestic? Or do they merely swear fealty to old Daffy Gaddafi? Regardless of the words on paper, it sounds like these two pilots answered to a higher calling. Assuming these two survive the revolution, I’d say they’ll be up for a real courageous restraint award. And someone will have to run the new air force, right?

Thousands of Libyans celebrated the liberation of the eastern city of Benghazi from the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who was reported to have sent a plane to bomb them on Wednesday as he clung to power.

The crew bailed out of the aircraft after it took off from the capital Tripoli. It then crash-landed south-west of Benghazi, Libya’s Quryna newspaper cited a military source as saying, averting a fresh tragedy in almost a week of bloodshed.

Tripoli, along with western Libya, is still under Gaddafi’s control and people there said they were too afraid of pro-government militia to go out after Gaddafi threatened violence against protesters in a speech on Tuesday night.

As many as 1,000 people have been killed in since the revolt began around a week ago, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said as world leaders scrambled to evacuate their citizens and disagreed on how to end the turmoil.

A Libyan air force plane crashed near the eastern city of Benghazi after its crew bailed out because they refused to carry out orders to bomb the city, Libya’s Quryna newspaper cited a military source as saying.

Quryna’s online version quoted the source, a colonel at an air base near Benghazi, as saying captain Attia Abdel Salem al Abdali and his number two Ali Omar Gaddafi bailed out of the Russian-made Sukhoi-22 plane and parachuted to earth.

The aircraft, which took off from Tripoli, came down near the city of Ajdabiya, 160 km (100 miles) south-west of Benghazi, the newspaper said.
...
Benghazi-based Quryna is Libya’s most reliable media outlet. It was owned by a media group linked to Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam but since Tripoli lost control over Benghazi it has begun to report openly on events in the city and further afield.

The SU-22 was a mid-70s design Soviet ground attack fighter bomber that started life as the SU-17. Production ended in 1978. The SU-22 was the export version. It could go as fast as Mach 2 but had limited range due to it’s heavy payload capacity. This early swing wing aircraft could carry up to 4000 kg of ordnance on 10 external hardpoints. Most nations that flew this plane have now retired it and turned the old aircraft into ornaments at city parks. Libya is believed to have about 40 39 of these aircraft.
Peru recently retired it’s fleet of 11 SU-22s; the only combat they ever saw was when they “accidentally” attacked a US C-130 transport back in 1992.

... and on a similar note, vis-a-vis the violence in Libya:

Posted by Drew458     on 02/23/2011 at 02:57 PM   
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   Monday - February 21, 2011

On the run: Gaddafi flees Tripoli ! Up to 400 feared dead after dozens killed in overnight clashes

Personally, I hope they hang the bemedaled bastard.  I hope it’s true he’s out of power although who knows who could take his place.
I don’t know if we get this news before you do or not, due to time diff.

On the run: Gaddafi flees Tripoli as protesters set the Libyan parliament building alight and crowds celebrate victory in Benghazi

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 4:35 PM on 21st February 2011

Protesters appear to have taken control of second city Benghazi

Up to 400 feared dead after dozens killed in overnight clashes

Justice minister resigns over ‘excessive use of violence’

Mystery as two Libyan fighter jets land in Malta

David Cameron declares regime response is ‘appalling and unacceptable’

Gaddafi’s son says: ‘We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet’

UN warns that British Government could be guilty of ‘complicity’ in killings (WTF?) huh? Are they nuts? Question is of course rhetorical.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is believed to have fled the capital Tripoli after anti-government demonstrators breached the state television building and set government property alight.

Protesters appear to have gained a foothold in Tripoli as banks and government buildings were looted while demonstrators have claimed they have taken control of the second city Benghazi.

It is thought up to 400 people may have died in the unrest with dozens more reported killed in Tripoli overnight as protests reached the capital for the first time and army units were said to have defected to the opposition.

Scroll down for video report plus tons of late photos.

DAILY MAIL, LATE REPORT, LIBYA

Posted by peiper     on 02/21/2011 at 11:53 AM   
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   Wednesday - February 09, 2011

the lights of europe are going out ….. is anyone listening? not the multi-culturists

One brave man alone I’d say.

I mentioned I was going to try and stay with this, and so I am. He’s worth listening to. Or in this case, reading too.
This court could jail him ya know.  This trial will prove to be as defining a moment in euro history as I can think of.  If he wins, it could open a floodgate of free speech and thought.

Stay Tuned.

English sub titles

Posted by peiper     on 02/09/2011 at 02:20 PM   
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   Friday - February 04, 2011

Worldwide Shakeup

Pakistan dissolves cabinet, downsizes top government

Tens of thousands hit the streets in Yemen, another thugocratic country.

Hundreds of thousands protest in Cairo demanding a new government.

Opposition leader in Uganda threatens to go all Egyptian on yo ass if elections seem rigged.


other thoughts on the situation:

All Arab leaders seek to justify their power, usually either by relying on Islamic law or by using anti-Israel and anti-Western ideology as a pretext to force unity against the outside world and confer political legitimacy. Thus the king of Saudi Arabia calls himself “the defender of Islam’s two holy cities,” while the King of Jordan, on whom Israel dubiously conferred the status of “the guardian of Al-Aqsa,” uses this title to claim legitimacy and to repulse the Muslim Brotherhood, which threatens him. The king of Morocco terms himself one leg of the holy triad of “Allah, homeland, king.”

And secular leaders like Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, the Assads in Syria, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Muammar Gadhafi in Libya, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algeria or Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen, none of whom were genuinely elected, rely on the tradition of “revolution” - that is, the forcible seizure of power - or on hatred of Israel to extract a semblance of support from the people for their warped regimes, which would never stand the test of free elections.

Added to all this are the peace agreements that Egypt and Jordan forged with Israel and the American umbrella that shelters all these illegitimate regimes. Both factors increase hatred of the regime among the masses, who, nourished by Islam, are readily disposed to accept the promises of blood, sweat and tears spouted by preachers who have waited in the wings for their moment of opportunity.

U.S. President George W. Bush was correct to view democratization as the antidote to all these ailments. But President Barack Obama - like Jimmy Carter before him, who supported the shah of Iran and called him an “island of stability,” then turned his back on him and threw him away like a squeezed lemon - erred when he did not have a word to say about democracy to Mubarak, Saleh, Ben Ali and their colleagues. Obama even pledged support for the Arab world in a speech delivered in corrupt Cairo, which was perched atop a volcano about to blow, then hastened to abandon the regimes the moment the flames erupted. His secretary of state behaved the same way.

And here was me, thinking that entire nations were too big to throw under the bus. Guess not. Jimmah II, in spades.




I want to hold onto the thin reed of hope that this sudden avalanche of uprisings is a huge international movement for freedom and a worldwide call for honest government. It’s a thin hope, but if it’s true, and it’s a universal flash mob movement, how come there aren’t millions protesting in Chicago?

Posted by Drew458     on 02/04/2011 at 10:11 AM   
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   Friday - January 14, 2011

sic semper tyrannis?

A few hours ago:

Tunisian President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali fired his government and called an early parliamentary election on Friday in an increasingly frantic effort to quell the worst unrest in his two decades in power.

Authorities declared a state of emergency and an overnight curfew. Gatherings of more than three people were banned and state television warned that “arms will be used” if the orders of the security forces are not obeyed.

The announcements came as police fired teargas and gunshots rang out to disperse crowds in central Tunis demanding the veteran ruler’s immediate resignation despite his promise on Thursday to step down in 2014.

Medical sources and a witness said 12 more people were killed in overnight clashes in the capital and the northeastern town of Ras Jebel.

Before the latest deaths emerged, the official death toll in almost a month of violence was 23, while the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights said it had a list of at least 66 people killed.

The 74-year-old president announced in a television address on Thursday evening that he would not seek a sixth term as expected in 2014, following a month of violent protests against unemployment, repression and corruption.

While Tunisia’s problems are shared by other countries in the region, the latest unrest was sparked when police prevented an unemployed graduate from selling fruit without a license and he set fire to himself, dying shortly afterwards of his burns.

In power since 1987, Ben Ali made sweeping concessions, saying security forces would no longer use live ammunition against protesters and promising freedom of the press and an end to Internet censorship. He also said the prices of sugar, milk and bread would be cut.

On Friday, state television flashed the announcement: “The president has decided to dismiss the government and to hold legislative elections within six months.” It gave no details.

But protests continued in the capital and other cities on Friday. Around 8,000 people rallied outside the interior ministry in central Tunis, chanting “Ben Ali, leave!” and “Ben Ali, assassin!”

After police fired teargas and wielded their truncheons, crowds of youths retreated a little way from the building and started throwing stones at the police, who responded with more tear gas grenades. Reporters also heard gunfire nearby.

Minutes ago:

Tunisian president flees; PM announces he’s taking over

After declaring state of emergency and dismissing entire government, Ben Ali reportedly in France; military closes Tunisian airspace.

Speaking at a press conference Friday, Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said that the country’s president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, had fled the country, reportedly to France. The prime minister added that he was taking over the government.

Following the president’s departure, the Tunisian army seized the airport and closed Tunisian airspace to all traffic.

Tunisia is where Carthage was. It is a small country on the north shore of Africa, west of Libya, east of Algeria, due south of Sardinia, and south west of Sicily. According to Wikipedia:

Today Tunisia has an authoritarian regime. It is an export-oriented country, in the process of liberalizing and privatizing its economy but has rife corruption benefiting the president’s family. The country operates as a nominal republic under the leadership of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who has governed since 1987. The Tunisian economy has averaged 5% GDP growth since the early 1990s. A popular revolution is currently underway.

So let’s see if this revolution gets as far as democracy and capitalism, or if this is another more example of one tinpot dictator replacing another. Tunisia has been an ally in the GWOT so far. No word on whether the insurrection / popular revolution is a call for another islamic republic.

Tunisia is an oil exporting nation, along with fertilizer and some manufacturing. They are one of the most productive nations in Africa, eclipsing Greece, Italy, and Portugal in terms of economic competitiveness, and a 2009 per capita GDP of over $8250.

Liveblog of the situation in Tunisia can be found here, and Al Jazeera is covering this fully. Oh, if only Fox News had an African American subdivision!

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2011 at 01:01 PM   
Filed Under: • Africa • FREEDOM • Politics •  
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   Wednesday - January 12, 2011

2011 Freedom Update: Legislating Common Courtesy

Yes, I can’t stand those lazy bastards either. Getting behind a driver who has barely cleared a porthole in the snow on his windshield can be both frustrating and dangerous. Frustrating, because all the crap blows off his SUV - it’s usually a minivan or a damn Jeep Cherokee - leaving a wake of blown off snow on everyone else as they blast down the highway. And dangerous, especially with the bigger SUVs and trucks, when a great chunk of ice comes flying off the roof and heads right at you at 75mph. So now NJ has passed a law. For your own good. Another one of those laws, like their “move over” law, that legislates common sense and common courtesy. I hate laws like that, and I think they are unconstitutional. But this one twists my soul, because it makes sense, and it really is necessary. I hate that in an unconstitutional law, don’t you?

Judging from the last snowfall, I guess not everyone got the memo — the one from Trenton after years of debate.

That would be the law making New Jersey the first state to impose fines on drivers who don’t clear snow or ice from their vehicles before it flies off and inflicts damage or injury.

Statute 39:4-77.1 finally took effect just in time for the post-Christmas blizzard as well as Friday’s snowfall, but that didn’t stop drivers from carrying several inches of snow on roofs and hoods. As you can see from reader photos taken in such places as Fair Lawn and Woodland Park, drivers and their employers must think this new law is only advisory.

It isn’t. The fine is $25 for the first offense. Subsequent offenses can cost $75 each. They’re higher if your snow causes injury or damage — $200 to $1,500.

Commercial big rig trucks are NOT exempt. Somebody better get up on top of the trailer and brush it off:

… other New Jersey drivers favor the snow ban by a 2-1 ratio, according to a AAA poll. But if truckers, or anyone else, can’t bear to clean up, here’s the best motivation:

“We don’t issue warnings for this violation,” said state police Capt. Frank Davis. “Drivers are expected to comply.”

BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

9 1. Section 1 of P.L.1997, c.124 (C.39:4-77.1) is amended to read as follows:

11 1. a.
(1) Each driver of a motor vehicle operated on a street or highway in this State shall have an affirmative duty to make all reasonable efforts to remove accumulated ice or snow from
exposed surfaces of3 the motor vehicle prior to operation [; this] ,which surfaces shall include, but not be limited to, the hood, trunk, windshield, windows, and roof of the motor vehicle, the
cab of a truck, the top of a trailer or semitrailer being drawn by a motor vehicle, and the top of an intermodal freight container being carried by an intermodal chassis. A person who violates the
provisions of this subsection may be stopped on a street or highway by a law enforcement officer who believes the accumulated ice or snow may pose a threat to persons or property and shall be subject to a fine of not less than $25 or more than $75 for each offense regardless of whether any snow or ice is dislodged from the motor vehicle. No motor vehicle points or automobile insurance eligibility points pursuant to section 26 of P.L.1990, c.8 (C.17:33B-14) shall be assessed for [this offense] a violation of this paragraph.

Did you get that? You don’t even have to be driving around such that any snow is falling off your vehicle. If a cop thinks your vehicle is a danger, you get fined. No ifs, ands, or buts. But at least you can only be fined once per day, and they can’t nail you until it stops snowing:

Every day upon which a violation occurs shall be considered a separate violation, but no person shall be subject to more than one fine for a violation of this paragraph in a period of consecutive hours.

(2) This subsection shall not apply to any driver of a motor vehicle operated during a snow or ice storm that began and continued for the duration of the motor vehicle’s operation or to any operator of a motor vehicle while it is parked.

(3) No fine shall be imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection on the driver of a commercial motor vehicle, as the term is defined in R.S.39:1-1, that is traveling to a location where
equipment or technology that is used to remove snow and ice from commercial motor vehicles is available, provided that the driver has not already passed a location with snow and ice removal equipment or technology after snow or ice shall have accumulated on the exposed surfaces of the commercial motor vehicle.

blah blah blah. This law went into effect in the fall, and it looks like commercial vehicles will have one year to comply. So all the truck stops and weigh stations are going to be getting roof scrubbers I guess. And part of the fine money will go towards grants to provide such things to the truck stops. Read the whole thing if you have the inclination.

Now I think I’ll start pushing Trenton to pass my Mud Flap bill. It would require all vehicles, SUVs and tractor trailer trucks included, to have fenders that extend at least 1.5” out further than the sidewall of their tires (that part already is law, although I think it’s limited to the tread groove area) and mudflaps in the back that are at least 2” wider than the tires AND hang down at least 3” below the center of the wheel, or to within 4” of the pavement, whichever is closer. And they have to be stiff enough or heavy enough to stay in place at 90mph on dry pavement. I utterly HATE getting behind some assmunch oblivion bastard driving his fatpig SUV down the highway, with such aggressive off road tires on it that you can hear them screaming from half a mile away, blasting up thousands of gallons of spew on rainy days.  Get some street tires numbnuts, and cover your damn treads. Jeep drivers are the worst offenders, especially those dimwits in Cherokees (which NEVER go off-road even as far as a gravel driveway in NJ). Every single car in this state has chips in the hood and in the windshield from gravel kicked up by your inconsideration, and I for one am sick of being blinded by the fog you jerk offs leave behind you when you cut me off in wet weather. Cut the spew, or we’ll cut you. Legally that is, via nasty fines and points on your license. And I’ll get the law written like this snow law, so that all a cop has to do is put a ruler up against your car in the parking lot. It won’t even have to be raining. And you’ll get a $200 fine in the mail.

PS - next time you’re out on the highway during a rain storm, pay attention to the trailers on the UPS trucks. They all have this brush arrangement above the wheels, and it does a better job of catching the water and stopping the spew than anything I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure how it works, but it does work quite well. As far as I’ve seen, they are the only ones using this design.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/12/2011 at 10:34 PM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather • FREEDOM • Judges-Courts-Lawyers •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Wednesday - November 24, 2010

free speech in europe … so long as it’s approved

I think this video is one of his best and it is spot on.
There isn’t anything for me to say that would make this any more correct or informative.  But I’m not certain yet that what he sees as an end to the multi-culture nightmare is actually over.  Or for that matter, political correctness.

There is a disturbing thing here I’ve been aware of for awhile and hadn’t thought a lot about till more recently.  It is the willingness of some people, almost always the more liberal and left, to squeal on other people.  Say something critical and say it with distaste in regard to Gypsies, muslims or any group or religion, and there will be some snot nosed wimpy weakling who will happily run to authorities to report your utterance.  Remember the kid in school, there was almost always one boy or girl who ran crying ... teacher,teacher .... Tommy said this or Mary did that.  Well they are all grown up now, they haven’t changed and they seem to prosper here in England.  Not to say we don’t have more then our share in the USA as well.
Not exactly a happy thought.

Posted by peiper     on 11/24/2010 at 03:14 PM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • DIVERSITY BS • EUro-peons • FREEDOM • muslims •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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