Missed it by THAT much!

I was tooling through the internet and saw this Joy-Ann Reid piece attempting to educate Rand Paul on voting issues. I found it quite amusing actually. I thought i'd actually take a look at what she said and see if it made any sense. Here's what I came up with.

 if it’s evidence you want that voter-ID laws preclude African Americans from voting? Well then, here we go.

Cool. Actual evidence. That's great. A liberal founding their argument on objective evidence. Now we have the basis for an actual debate.

Up to 25% of African-American adults don’t have a photo ID.

That is an interesting fact. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to quote an actual, you know, study that establishes that or any of the statistics she elucidates. Kinda hard to debate without actual, you know - facts. I thought i'd help her a out a bit though and try and see where she got all those interesting sounding statistics. I did find this study about Wisconsin voters and drivers licenses. It was based on data from 13 years ago in a state not necessarily known for it's minority population, but other than that I guess it's good. However, this article cites numerous studies done in the last eight years that say that voter suppression due to lack of ID is a myth. But don't let the facts get in the way of a good argument Ms. Reid.

Now Ms. Reid had this to say about long lines at early voting locations:

Some of the worst lines were on the Saturday before Election Day, which also happened to have the highest minority turnout. And that led Dartmouth researchers to declare that the cuts to early voting disproportionately affected minority voters.

Anecdotal in Virginia in the last election I recall long lines effecting everyone, not just African Americans during normal voting. Once again, Ms. Reid did not cite the specific study, so I was left to do a little research to try to figure out what exactly she was was talking about. I finally came up with this study by Dartmouth. Interestingly, it appears to make no such conclusions. In fact it says this:

 One interesting question is the extent to which long lines at early voting stations, in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and elsewhere, led some voters to abandon their plans to vote early. To the best of our knowledge, there is at the time of this paper’s writing no data that bears directly on this question.

 Ms. Reid disassociates a bit from there. There were a few jewels in there that did get me chortling a bit. This:

Black adults are four times more likely than white adults to be disenfranchised due to a felony conviction—laws that happen to be a vestige of post-Civil War era, when many states tailored felony disenfranchisement laws to get around the 15th Amendment.

So blacks are being thrown in jail now so they can't vote? Do you actually want to make that argument? I suspect that poverty and drugs might have more to do with all those felony convictions than voting rights. She did miss one obvious followup argument when she said this:

In our old friend, Florida, 23% of black adults cannot vote due to a felony conviction.

She could have pointed out that if Zimmerman had let Trayvon continue to pound his head into the concrete and been apprehended by the police that showed up 20 minutes later, he probably would have been convicted of a felony assault and lost his right to vote, just like the <Democrats> did to backs after the civil war.

I think it's safe to say that Ms Reid should probably leave real debates to the professionals. I admit that I am not one, but I did drive by a Holiday Inn on my way to work this morning.

I like where this is going...

As an admitted Horologist (click on the link - it's not what you initially thought - yes you did think that!) I think this watch (H/T Gizmag) is moving the technology in the right direction. I like the idea of a traditional, honest to God, precision movement combined with smartphone connectivity. The 41 megapixel camera is probably a bit too much though. Here's a workable goal - a watch, with bluetooth connectivity, that has a normal sweep dial, that lights up or vibrates when my phone rings. I would also love to have a configurable 'other' dial / display on there too. Say it could show temp, altimeter, or tide chart or something. Maybe even caller ID when the phone rings. Oh - and is available for less than $70. Is that asking too much? <sigh> Probably....

SWAT Crazy!

I read with interest this article about a SWAT team in Texas (H/T Instapundit) going after an organic farm, on a dubious tip about MJ growing, but justified by an administrative code violation. What caught my eye in there was a reference to a similar raid in Manassas Park, VA against the Rack-N-Roll. I did remember that raid as it was in the news quite a bit at the time, and I used to drive past there almost daily.

Now, as a point of reference here is how I viewed that place before I did some research. The strip mall in question is on a major north / south thoroughfare for Manassas. If you are a commuter that works either in Fairfax or DC and live in Manassas or points west, you have two choices to get there. One is to go through Manassas and jump on I-66 at Rt. 234, the other is to take Rt. 28 through Manassas and join I-66 in Centreville. Notably, the Rt. 28 route is usually to shortest on Google map routing. If you choose this route (and an ever increasing number do) it will take you past the Rack-N-Roll in Manassas Park on Rt. 28.

Ok - so much for geographic context. My impression at the time of the raid from the news accounts was 'good end to bad rubbish'. The news reports talked about pole dancers and naked women, drunken brawls, etc., etc. That was my impression. So I took another look at it given this article, thinking that perhaps I misjudged it a bit. As you would expect, the back story is a bit more seedy than you would expect. This web site notes that the naked dancing women meme was a result of a City Planner, cum DJ, at the club encouraging teenage girls to show their boobs and then taking pictures of them; then turning around and acting as an informant to the police. Notably, I don't think anyone was charged with a crime for that. That being said, the owners of the club can't exactly be said to be innocent babes to those shenanigans, as that particular DJ probably pulled in a good crowd and the booze and profits were great (for a time).

How do things stand there today, given that all this happened almost 10 years ago?. There is a 'family fun center' (sans alcohol?) where the Rack-N-Roll used to be. There is a thriving 'Pollo al Brasa' place out front. Down to the right of the strip mall is a couple of ethnic (south american) places and a Radio Shack. The only establishment I have frequented there is predictably, the Radio Shack. I will admit, that I got a feeling that there was more going on at the food places than just eating. Since I was trying to track down some obtuse parts, I choose to ignore the atmosphere and go about my business. So, whatever the raid attempted to do, I suspect that all it did was really replace one borderline seedy place with other, perhaps more sinister enterprises.

My main point to all this is not really about a strip mall in Manassas Park. No, my concern is really about the explosion of SWAT capabilities in the US in a post 9/11 world. The presence of such units gives us a level of comfort that should bands of armed terrorist ever launch attacks in such defenseless locations as Manassas Park, we will have an equal and overwhelming force to counter them. The problem with such units is of course that if you have them, you will look for opportunities to use them. When such overreactions start to become more and more common, your average citizen begins to look on these teams, and by extension the common patrol officers, not as nice civic minded guys and gals, but as potential adversaries. This is not the way a democracy should function.

What is the solution? I am thinking that it is up to the local government to place appropriate leashes on such units. Funding for them should be proportional to their actual tasking - which is to say rare - extremely rare. I would think that the such teams should be 'virtual', i.e. not permanent fixtures, but additional duty for normal patrolman, with a rotating membership. This way elite military mindsets will not get a chance to get fixated. Call outs should be explicitly triggered only by a judge where the activating entity has the responsibility (and liability) of justifying why such overwhelming force is necessary. Such a ruling and proceedings should be open to the public after the raid is completed. In this way there is accountability for such actions.

On a federal level I would like to see the same types of accountability. The Posse Comitatus Act would seem to demand such compliance. Sadly, it seems that the current administration's actions, and willful judicial blindness ensures only selective adherence to power limiting laws. I fear there really isn't a solution to this, excepting the electorate miraculously gaining enough awareness to trigger a change in attitude of their servants in Congress.

Ewww! A Hair!

So somebody puts a McNugget under a microscope and finds 'hair like structures' (H/T Drudge)? Just engaging a little critical thinking here... maybe, just maybe a hair fell into the cooking oil and no need for a congressional investigation? If things like bugs, hair, and, er, secretions in your food freak you out, then I suggest you steer clear of food that you didn't prepare yourself. Or perhaps stop eating altogether. As this FDA document suggest, there is an 'acceptable' level of yucky stuff in almost everything you eat. Examples:

• BROCCOLI, FROZEN: 
• Average of 60 or more aphids and/or thrips and/or mites per 100 grams
• CONDIMENTAL SEEDS OTHER THAN FENNEL SEEDS AND SESAME SEEDS
• Average of 3 mg or more of mammalian excreta per pound
• MACARONI AND NOODLE PRODUCTS
• Average of 225 insect fragments or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples
• Average of 4.5 rodent hairs or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples
• OREGANO, CRUSHED
• Average of 300 or more insect fragments per 10 grams
• Average of 2 or more rodent hairs per 10 grams

Lets face it. We are only 1 of an estimated 8.7 million species on this planet. Our only hope for survival is to eat the rest of them. That being said, chicken nuggets are a horrible choice for a food if you are going paleo. Be a real animal and cook a steak - they cost about the same as a 'value' meal and I guarantee you will fill fuller.

Good for the Goose

I noted with interest this article about how a federal appeals court said that the NRC is in violation of federal law for not making a decision about going ahead with construction of the Yucca Mountains nuclear waste storage facility. Now with a causal read of this article you would think 'Yea! The Obama administration got their comeuppance in court!' and move along. For me a key point is buried there in the middle of the article. What Energy Secretary Moniz, perhaps the goofiest looking of all the Obama appointees, had to say about it caught my eye. Just so we know who we are talking about, here's a picture:

Yeah - he's that guy. I have a whole series of pictures of Obama's cabinet i'm working on that i'll get around to putting out someday. Anyway, here's the quote:

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said the Energy Department was not a party to the lawsuit, but he characterized the Yucca Mountain project as "a complete stalemate." He said he saw no evidence of that changing.

"Currently we do not have funding," he told reporters at a clean energy conference Tuesday in Las Vegas. 

So follow my logic here. He is saying that if a law is passed by Congress, and there is no explicit funding for it's implementation, then the administration's hands are tied. This is actually a good thing for those opposed to Obamacare. If Congress, and specifically the house, stands their ground and provides no funds for Obamacare, explicitly mentioning that exclusion in every funding bill, then the administration, based of this observation by the Energy Secretary, cannot move forward with any Obamacare implementation.

Yeah - I know. the Energy Secretary really has no weight in these matters. Especially Moniz, who I view as kinda of the Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali of this administration. That brings up an interesting question - if he is the 'Raj' character from Big Bang, who would Obama be? Duh - Penny!

Rodeo and Rodeo Drive

So a lot has been made in the news about the rodeo clown who put on a Obama mask and the crowd's reaction to it. I must admit it has probably been too long since I've been to a rodeo. Call it one more thing I have sacrificed by living too close to the DC beltway. So I guess it's possible that rodeos have descended into a place where racist gather - sort of a modern day 'KKK' ad-hoc gathering - but I fail to see how that is possible. I mean looking at the article, there were democrats at the rodeo, and democrats would never be found at a KKK rally, right? Well perhaps i'm wrong.

No, I don't think that's what happened here. The parallel that all right thinking people are supposed to draw is that a rodeo clown with a Obama mask is equivalent to when Ted Danson appeared in black face at the Friars Club with Whoopie Goldberg:

www.bet.com

That was obviously racist too. Or not - even Whoopie thought it was funny (at the time). I guess America wasn't post racial enough. No, this is about rednecks mocking the greatest president ever. Since rednecks are all racist, this rodeo explosion is all about racism. No - I don't get it either.

In other news Oprah sees imagined racism in Switzerland, when a salesgirl tries to steer her toward a cheaper handbag. Now I will admit, being a guy, I don't get the 'style' thing in women's handbags. But then, I've had the same wallet for 10 years and will probably only replace it when it literally falls apart. A fashion maven I'm not. Thus, I applaud the sales girl there for snubbing the obviously overpriced handbag (designed by a white women by the way). However, to equate that experience to say blacks being made to drink at a different water fountain is sheer nonsense. The 'offense' here is that the clerk didn't recognize her a someone having more money than God, not her denigration due to her skin color.

Let's assume for a minute that the Swiss clerk was being racist. What does a European's attitude have to do with racism in the United States? To answer that question I have to relate a story where I, an average white guy, also experienced racism is Switzerland. Brace yourselves, this is going to get ugly...

I was working on a system in that was having problems and I was tasked to go to Switzerland to diagnose the issue. This was my first (and only thank God) business trip abroad and occurred about 20 years ago. I was riding up the elevator to the office the equipment was located in, when I noticed this lady staring at me. Finally, the lady asked in very heavily accented English me if I had had a skin condition. I was flabbergasted! I stuttered and told her no, that's just the way my skin looked, and the 'spots' that I had were called 'freckles'. Apparently this particular women had never seen freckles and was distressed by having to be in such close quarters with someone afflicted with my 'condition'. To say that experience scared me for life would be an understatement (not!).

So you see, I have experienced racism. It wasn't in the US, it wasn't a US person, I wasn't black, and it wasn't by a redneck. Oh - and it didn't happen in this decade or even this century. And yet, like Oprah, or the as yet unnamed people who were offended by the rodeo clown, I too can claim to have experienced racism. Now doesn't everyone feel better about that? No - me either - but perhaps I just don't have the right historical context. After all, it's not like both my parents and their parents didn't have to claw their way up from the very poorest situations. Oh wait - they did!

To me, the real tragedy is the stupidly that continues to be demonstrated in this day and age. Black churchmen urging their congregations to vote for the black candidate because of his skin color is stupid. Something like 90% of Black voters pulling the lever for a man because he is 1/2 black (twice!) is stupid. Black only caucuses in Congress are stupid. A justice department that refuses to investigate black on white crime obviously motivated by skin color differences is stupid. There is plenty of stupidity in the US, I just don't think it's where most people of color really want to look.

UPDATE:
Speaking of clowns in mask - here's the Sec of Defense in a Biden mask - I am deeply offended:

Ack!

Due to technical difficulties (no power supply for my laptop) won't be able to blog until Monday - more free ice cream then. Have a fabulous weekend!