Environmental Progress

So, apparently we now pay corporations and corrupt foreign governments to beat people and burn them alive in their homes, so that we can re-purpose the arable land they own towards trees and away from the food production they so desperately need.

But you know, global warming, so I guess that makes it all okay.

Funny How That Works

You know how we desperately needed the Patriot Act passed, so that law enforcement officers could act to protect us from the big, bad terrorists without bothering with little things like warrants ahead of time?

Via New York magazine, here's what they are using that new-found power for:
Funny how that works, isn't it?

Unbelievable

Via Radley Balko comes this unbelievable story that can only be summarized as follows:

1. Cop has suspect for fraudulent charges on her husband's credit card.
2. Cop stages a takedown of the alleged perpetrator with fellow officers.
3. Cop uses police truck to push the suspect and his car into fellow officers.
4. Fellow officers respond with deadly force against the suspect.
5. Cop lies in sworn statement, claiming suspect tried to run over fellow officers.
6. Video surfaces showing the story to be bald-faced lie.
7. Attempted murder charges dropped. Man still charged with "eluding" the police.
8. Officer will receive no punishment. Police department sees nothing wrong.

I'm pretty sure that if I rammed a car through a line of police, the police then shot the driver of that vehicle, and then I lied about my actions under oath afterward, you'd never see me again. But for a police officer? Don't worry! Her friends have done a thorough investigation and decided she's squeaky clean.

Nothing to see here, move along!

Armed Federal Marshals Raid Gibson Guitars

Hostage situation? Employee gone postal? Nope, the government was concerned with the type of wood being used in Gibson's guitars, which Gibson claims are licensed and imported appropriately from India. Gibson was raided two years ago for the same reason, and had their wood confiscated then too. No charges have ever been filed.

I guess that's what you get for manufacturing something in the US instead of India in the first place. I'm sure any companies who haven't learned that lesson already are taking note now.

Gibson's CEO explains his frustration on camera with this continued harassment and lack of due process here.

CBO Projections

I saw a chart of CBO-projected government spending/revenue to 2021 in a meeting the other day, and the numbers are so hilarious that I wonder if anyone actually buys this stuff. I've taken the liberty of adding some of my own commentary:

I particularly like the fact that even after all of their rosy predictions about revenue, they still show the US running a massive deficit for the next ten years. At least we agree on that much, I guess.

Public Education: Trying Desparately to Hold Children Back

Cato makes a stunning catch when reviewing a Wired piece about Khan academy:

Even if Khan is truly liberating students to advance at their own pace, it’s not clear that the schools will be able to cope. The very concept of grade levels implies groups of students moving along together at an even pace. So what happens when, using Khan Academy, you wind up with a kid in fifth grade who has mastered high school trigonometry and physics—but is still functioning like a regular 10-year-old when it comes to writing, history, and social studies? Khan’s programmer, Ben Kamens, has heard from teachers who’ve seen Khan Academy presentations and loved the idea but wondered whether they could modify it “to stop students from becoming this advanced.”

Thats our public education system for you in a nutshell. Perhaps "No Child Left Behind" should be changed to "No Child Moves Ahead".

How Speedy Is Speedy?

This being Independence Day weekend and all, it seems like the perfect time to talk about the sixth amendment to the constitution, including, among other things, your right to a speedy trial. The Mississippi Supreme Court recently came to the conclusion that being incarcerated for two years prior to the state allowing you to go to trial does not violate your right to a speedy trial.

It appears that, like the 4th amendment, the 6th amendment is just so much paper; a bothersome relic of the past with no real teeth in today's world. What makes a seizure "reasonable"? If the government says it is! What makes a trial "speedy"? If the government says it is!