the American fatso

Recent studies showing that a "few extra pounds" do not contribute to increased mortality were not talking about obesity. If this trend continues, the Social Security and Medicare crises will fix themselves.

Sons of Gods

A brief snippet of a W.H. Auden poem I admire:

 The sons of Hermes love to play
 And only do their best when they
      Are told they oughtn’t;
 Apollo’s children never shrink
 From boring jobs but have to think
      Their work important.

Hermes or Apollo? I know from which I come....

Global Incident Map

On the link bar to the left you'll see a new addition entitled "Global Incident Map", which shows security-related issues around the globe (mostly terrorism related). Today's pretty quiet compared to normal; generally there's at least half again as much stuff going on.

200 Lashes

I've met some pretty disgusting flavors of Christianity in my time, growing up near CBN in Pat Robertson's stronghold of Virginia Beach, but even at the nastiest "kicking heathen ass" (this is a real quote) flavor of Christianity, even the most idiotic Old Testament Pseudo-Christians who haven't clued in that Jesus's message wasn't "an eye for an eye", wouldn't sentence a rape victim to six months in prison & two hundred lashes. Even the most moronic "she was asking for it" dim-wit would consider that her offense, riding in a car with someone she wasn't married to, had already been amply punished by the rape that ensued.

The center of Saudi Arabia isn't some backwater where no-one knows what Islam is supposed to mean; this's the center of the freakin' religion. Imagine the Pope or the Ecumenical Patriarch calling such a thing just -- it just boggles the mind. My mind has now been made up -- I was ready for all manner of arguments in favor of "moderate" Islam, but upon seeing this, while I don't know what justice is, it's obvious that Islam is far removed from anything remotely just.

Honestly, if it weren't for all the innocents who'd suffer, I'd say just nuke Mecca and wipe Islam off the face of the Earth. It's a disease.

Poor getting Richer, Rich getting Poorer

I know that a bunch of folks are apopleptic(sp?) about Bush Jr.'s affect on the economy, how he's ruining lives, etc., but the latest treasury data shows just the opposite affect during the last 9 years (an implied nod to Clinton too). "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer" isn't born out by the tax data. It's more like "the poor get richer, the middle gets richer, some of the rich get richer, and the really rich get poorer", as shown in the chart below.

If you were to ask my opinion, I'd guess that it's because the rich make their money via investment, aka putting their dollars at risk, rather than labor. Anyway, here's the chart -- note that this's median income, not mean income, which is much better news than if it were the converse.



UPDATE: should have checked the data better, the originating article isn't substantiated.

uncivilized

I know the Texan contingent is going to jump down my throat with swords and axes, but it's the week before Thanksgiving and it's 82 degrees outside. That's just not civilized -- this should be baking weather!

mrrr

UPDATE: it's now a very civilized 59 degrees!

New House

Moving to Livermore, CA. Two major terrain features from San Francisco, and a blue-******* ***** of a commute, but a very nice area in general: one of the few affordable places in the region that isn't completely covered over with foundations.

Not a fan of the landscaping, but otherwise it's a nice place with plenty of room to be ensconced for the forseeable future, which, at California real-estate prices, really means the foreseeable forever....


View Larger Map

Walter Williams Smacks It Outta The Park (again)

Congressional Constitutional Contempt

Here's the oath of office administered to members of the House and Senate: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God." A similar oath is sworn to by the president and federal judges.

In each new Congress since 1995, Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., has introduced the Enumerated Powers Act (HR 1359). The Act, which has yet to be enacted into law, reads: "Each Act of Congress shall contain a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that Act. The failure to comply with this section shall give rise to a point of order in either House of Congress. The availability of this point of order does not affect any other available relief."

Simply put, if enacted, the Enumerated Powers Act would require Congress to specify the basis of authority in the U.S. Constitution for the enactment of laws and other congressional actions. HR 1359 has 28 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives.

When Shadegg introduced the Enumerated Powers Act, he explained that the Constitution gives the federal government great, but limited, powers. Its framers granted Congress, as the central mechanism for protecting liberty, specific rather than general powers. The Constitution gives Congress 18 specific enumerated powers, spelled out mostly in Article 1, Section 8. The framers reinforced that enumeration by the 10th Amendment, which reads: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people."

Just a few of the numerous statements by our founders demonstrate that their vision and the vision of Shadegg's Enumerated Powers Act are one and the same. James Madison, in explaining the Constitution in Federalist Paper No. 45, said, "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce."

Regarding the "general welfare" clause so often used as a justification for bigger government, Thomas Jefferson said, "Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated." James Madison said, "If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the general welfare, the government is no longer a limited one possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one subject to particular exceptions."

Congressmen, openly refusing to live up to their oath of office, exhibit their deep contempt for our Constitution. The question I've not been able to answer satisfactorily is whether that contempt simply mirrors a similar contempt held by most of the American people. I'm sure that if founders such as James Madison, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson were campaigning for the 2008 presidential elections, expressing their vision of the federal government's role, today's Americans would run them out of town on a rail. Does that hostility reflect constitutional ignorance whereby the average American thinks the Constitution authorizes Congress to do anything upon which they can get a majority vote or anything that's a good idea? Or, are Americans contemptuous of the constitutional limitations placed on the federal government?

I salute the bravery of Rep. Shadegg and the 28 co-sponsors of the Enumerated Powers Act. They have a monumental struggle. Congress is not alone in its constitutional contempt, but is joined by the White House and particularly the constitutionally derelict U.S. Supreme Court.

Nuff Said: Stock Mania on Bernanke

Hillary Clinton, Keeping It Real in 08