Democrats Jump to Fix Problems
March 31, 2008
I call it the “we-have-to-do-something” disease. A tragic event occurs – or almost occurs – and everyone screams that the government should do something to solve the problem or prevent it from occurring again. It’s happening in Connecticut in reaction to a few tragic car accidents where teens were driving too damn fast, it happened in 1933 with FDR’s National Industrial Recovery Act, and it happened in 1982 when the Democrats rearranged their nominating procedures. Read more
Recycling Gone Mad
March 31, 2008
Why does the government make things so difficult? By definition – since we’re talking about the government after all – this is a rhetorical question, but some people are so confused about recycling rules that they have simply given up; hiding plastics of all sorts inside of paper bags in the regular trash cans.
I have not figured out why plastic containers marked with a #3 or #7 should not be recycled, but what has been a real hassle for me is Connecticut’s Bottle Bill. Why can I place newspaper, corrugated cardboard, soup cans and my empty Low-Fat Jiff Peanut Butter containers in the blue bin, but my Caffeine-Free Pepsi cans and bottles of Stella must be brought back to a store that sells the stuff so I can get my nickel back?
We’re not talking about the federal tax code, just recycling some bottles and cans. So with all of the technology advancements we’ve had in the past decade, why can’t we just toss the bottles into the blue bins? Read more
“Speak English” Signs OK for Cheesesteak Shop
March 20, 2008
Although using English phrases it’s still not good form in Venezuela, Philadelphia cheesesteak shop owner Joe Vento has received the blessing of the Human Relations panel to leave up signs that reminds patrons that they are in America, and should speak English when ordering. Somehow, the panel only voted 2 to 1 in favor of Joe. Read more
District of Columbia v. Heller Transcripts and Audio
March 18, 2008
For those interested, I’m providing links directly to the written transcript and some audio files as well. Walter E. Dillinger speaks before the court for the petitioners , including the city of Washington D.C., at the very beginning of the argument. Within a minute or two, Chief Justice Roberts throws Dillinger off his game and he never seems to recover. Maybe Dillinger never had a game plan.
Quite honestly, this is the first Supreme Court transcript I can ever remember listening to or reading from. That said, it seemed like Dillinger came into the court knowing that he was fighting a loosing battle from the getgo. You could just tell that he wanted to say guns are just evil, and we should not have them. Read more
Supreme Court Hears Heller Case – 10 a.m. ET Today
March 18, 2008
For those who are interested, the Supremes are hearing arguments today in the case of Heller v. D.C. Michelle Malkin posted a few excellent background links. To be clear, the case will not be ruled on today, it’s just oral arguments at the court. Although the decision will not settle the situation across the country, this particular case will be unique. It’s really the first time since 1939 in U.S. v. Miller that the Supremes will directly address the scope of the 2nd Amendment.
Here’s some background from Wiki:
In 2003, six residents of Washington, D.C. (Shelly Parker, Tom Palmer, Gillian St. Lawrence, Tracey Ambeau, George Lyon and Dick Heller) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging the constitutionality of provisions of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975, a local law enacted pursuant to District of Columbia home rule. The law limited the ability of residents to own side arms, excluding those grandfathered in by registration prior to 1975. This law restricts residents, except active and retired law enforcement officers, from owning handguns. The law also requires that all firearms including rifles and shotguns be kept “unloaded, disassembled, or bound by a trigger lock.” The District Court dismissed the lawsuit.
For those interested, it looks like SCOTUSblog will live blog the even and they may will use Cover It Live – Obama is on right now, so that will take precedence most likely.
