Monthly Archives: June 2005

Federal Election Commission Rulemaking

This entry was posted in Campaign Finance on by

Well, there certainly has been a lot of electrons spilt over some proposed rulemaking by the FEC. You can find many, many more without looking very hard.
An excellent evaluation of the whole fiasco comes from the Coyote Blog:

I have come to the conclusion that arguing over who gets the media exemption is like arguing about whether a Native American in 1960’s Alabama should use the white or the colored-only bathroom: It is an obscene discussion and is missing the whole point, that the facilities shouldn’t be segregated in the first place.

Typical responses to the proposed rulemaking in the blogosphere come from

While this is too pleasing an activity to apply to the folks on the FEC the sentiment is right on.
If the FEC makes a ruling inappropriate to free individuals or unconstitutional (not necessarily the same thing) and it is likely that they will as they are a creature of the federal government then, rather than be cowed by these twits, we should all simply ignore them. Yea, there will be allegations, subpoenas, cease and desist orders, prehaps even arrests and court cases, etc., as federal thugs swoop down on free speaking individuals. There are, though, lots of us and even the feds can’t build jails very fast.
That this kind of stuff is even possible makes a telling case that the folks at the top have access to too much of our treasure and are either feeling threatened or believe they can get even more but need to cut off uncontrolled channels of potential challenge. It is long past time to take back control of our own wealth.

Friday Ark

This entry was posted in Friday Ark on by

Cats, Dogs, Spiders and ? every Friday.
We’ll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals as I see them (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles).
Leave a comment or trackback to this post or email Modulator and we’ll add yours to the list. Check back regularly for updates throughout the day on Fridays and somewhat less frequently over the weekend.
Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey’s Musings.
Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and will be hosted this week by Enrevanche.
And, check out Laurence’s fine graphical analysis of Friday Ark boardings.
Arkive editions of the Friday Ark.
Cats

InvertebratesDogsBirdsOther VertebratesDidn’t Make ItExceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)

Textbooks I Won’t be Buying

This entry was posted in Democrats Education Government Regulation Technology on by

Here is a good example of why legislative sessions should be reduced(Free Reg) to, say, a week if not completely eliminated:

Maybe Democrats in the state Assembly should just go ahead and write textbooks for California’s students. They’re so confident they know what constitutes a good one.
For instance, who knew that making a textbook longer than 200 pages was such a bad idea that there needs to be a law against it?

These folks have way too much time on their hands.
The bill’s sponser has been bashed a bunch but remember that 42 (mostly democrat) of the 70 representatives voted for this. That Californians elected 42 such bright people to rule their lives is a pretty good indicator that the eduction system there is broken.
Part of the alleged justification:

Textbooks are too laden with print supplemental materials, and too uninteresting in style. In the 21st century, the information age, information changes more rapidly than books can be printed. Educated, informed citizens of the 21st century will have to rely on technology and media for information. Textbooks should provide an overview of the critical questions and issues of a subject, and then become a roadmap to guide students to other means and sources of information.

To which I say, BS.
I’m long out of school and use the internet extensively to research areas in many subjects. Much, I’d expect, as a K-12 student might do once they’ve reached a certain level of competence. I also buy 2-4 high school/college survey textbooks a year (plus 20-30 volumes of more in depth material) for my own library. No 200 page textbook can cover the breadth and depth needed for any survey course even to provide the minimal requirements noted above.
Even if you reduce the range of focus 200 pages is still rediculous. For instance, if you are studying 13th-14th century world economic systems an excellent overview with references to a lot of primary material (much not available on the net) is Abu-Lughod’s Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350. It has just over 450 pages. Sure, you can find this subject reduced to a paragraph, a few pages, or a chapter or two but whatever chunk you prefer will be in a volume that should take more than 200 pages to be meaningful….unless its volume N of a series.
Via The Carnival of Education: Week 17.

Drug War Killers

This entry was posted in Drug Laws on by

A guaranteed result of prohibitions is inconsistent product quality which sometimes can have deadly results:

Seven people have died in Portland from apparent heroin overdoses in the past week, prompting police to warn users that a recent shipment of the drug might be more powerful than usual or possibly poisoned.
“We’re not fans of heroin use,” said Sgt. Brian Schmautz, a Portland police spokesman. “But obviously, the last thing we want is to have people dropping dead from this stuff.”

Well, it is not at all clear that this is not what the perpetrators of the drug war want.
Product quality related deaths can be eliminated simply by ending the prohibition. Then the marketplace would develop sets of branded products with identifiable quality perhaps tested by something comparable to Underwriters Laboratory. Sure, someone could still overdose but it would no longer be accidental but rather, as with alcohol, the user would have to make a stupid decision to consume large quantities.
Blame for these deaths must be placed on those who legislate for and enforce the drug prohibitions.