Saturday, January 24, 2009

Drug War is morally bankrupt and fiscally irresponsible. No longer defensible.

Here's a very well-written and well reasoned article about the damage caused by the Drug War.

The article's point is that innocent people are dying and we are losing our Constitutional rights in the name of fighting some War against our own citizens.

We are seriously off track and the fiscal damage this causes is immeasurable.

The story of the 80 year old man who was shot by police when he tried to get undercover officers acting like drug dealers to leave his property makes my blood boil. If anyone other than the police did something like this, they'd be charged with murder.

Making it worse was the governor of Florida saying it was practically necessary that the old man die to fight drugs.

That's insane. We have lost our way and we are in danger of losing every right our forefathers fought to give us if we continue on this path to making America a police state.

The Drug War is un-American because it guts our freedoms. The Drug War is fiscally irresponsible because of the direct cost to the treasury. The Drug War undermines our economic productivity when we incarcerate so many and make them dependents on the public rather than contributors..

This madness must stop. Getting high is not worse than killing innocents and taking away our rights.

Legalization is the lesser of two evils now.

Friday, January 23, 2009

New entry into the electric car frenzy--Shelby.

Here's another entry into the electric car free for all that's on the horizon.

If the specs hold up (in regards to the charging time and range), this could be the next evolution of vehicles.

Bragging by electric car companies is at a fever pitch, but none of them have truly delivered.

I suspect what we're hearing is entrepreneur-speak--ignoring the obstacles, costs, and problems in favor of the promise.

We'll see.

If we could just get an electric car that has at least a 200 mile range, can be charged in less than 45 minutes, that costs less than $30,000, and that can reach 80 miles an hour, then we'll be in the game.

Much of the shift to electric cars depends on energy storage and fast-charging capabilities. Without those two variables nailed down, electric cars will remain out of reach for the buying public.

English-only ballot initiative loses in Nashville!

Nashville voted down a ballot measure requiring all government business to be conducted in English.

All I can say is: Thank God!

The South already has a reputation and history of bigotry. Why must this stuff constantly pop up to remind everyone of the backwardness of many people here?

Here's the utter hypocrisy of the measure.

It was proposed by a Republican, someone who trumpets fiscal restraint. But, the measure cost the city over $350,000.00, just to put it to a vote. Also, if enacted, the cost of changing the government to an English only system would have put a greater burden on the city's coffers. Revenue is down and we can ill-afford such a ludicrous expense for a bigoted law.

The politician who advocated this measure, Eric Crafton, attempted to make good on a campaign promise. That promise, having at its heart an anti-immigrant animus, will haunt Republicans.

Some even argued, an I agree with them, that the measure violated the Constitution and possibly anti-discrimination law. If true, then it shows the sponsor as a bigot. Republicans are already fighting for their political lives with Hispanics and then bozos like Crafton do stupid things like this. Chip Saltsman made the mistake of sending out a CD containing an insensitively title song while running for the chair of the RNC, so it seems that Tennessee Republicans are a font of bigotry and stupidity.

For far too long the Republican party has relied upon pretexts and code words to signal their constituents of the racist aspects of their agenda without having the balls to openly proclaim their true feelings. It high time they get called on the carpet for this stuff.

Thank God this measure didn't pass.

Those of you who know me understand my irritation with politicians who use code and offer pretexts for doing things that they wouldn't openly do because of the public outrage.

Crafton pushed an initiative that was bigoted in its purpose and the consequences should fall directly on his head for it.

Dare we say "Turning the Corner" on science education in schools?

In Texas, that bastion of fuzzy-headed liberalism, a school board finally came down on the side of good science and shot creationism in the face.

It's a sad day when creationist, who claim to be Christians, resort to misprepresentation and outright lying to push their agenda.

Maybe now the ridiculous political religious agendas that have undermined our education system will be consigned to history.

We'll see.