From the Associated Press, via WRAL.com:

First - we have an emotional story:

The cake had been served and the children were jumping up and down in a big, inflatable castle when the birthday party turned to bedlam.

Clarence McGraw’s jaw dropped as he saw the visitors coming, guns drawn. The screaming began.

Children ran everywhere in the courtyard of the low-income apartment complex; adults fell to the ground. Bullets flew. The killers wounded three youngsters, but for reasons police can’t explain, it was 19-year-old McGraw they were after.

As McGraw lay in the center of the green square, the gunmen stood over him and fired again. He was shot 15 to 20 times in all.

The September 15 killing was remarkable in that it took place in the most innocent of settings - the fifth birthday of twin boys. But it was unremarkable in that one of the guns brandished was an AK-47-type rifle - a powerful, rapid-fire weapon that has long been used in Third World conflicts but is increasingly being used in American street fights.

Figures from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, obtained by The Associated Press through public records requests, show a marked increase in the number of AK-type weapons traced and entered into the agency’s computer database because they had been seized or connected to a crime.

The number of such tracings rose even while the federal assault weapons ban was in effect and has continued to climb since its expiration.

Now we establish that they’re scary:

The numbers corroborate what police chiefs around the country have been saying: AKs and other so-called assault weapons are terrorizing their communities and endangering their officers.

Now we have a quote from the Brady Campaign:

A 2004 study by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence concluded the U.S. ban on AKs and other guns was successful, saying in the five years before its passage, assault weapons made up 4.82 percent of ATF crime gun traces, compared with 1.61 percent between 1995 and 2003.

A generalization:

Many politicians, police chiefs and gun control advocates point to the expiration of the assault weapons ban as a reason for the spread of the guns. But many others argue the law was so riddled with loopholes that it had little effect.

And now - the token quote from the NRA.

The National Rifle Association says the focus must be getting criminals off the streets, not more legislation.

“The basic reason why gun control laws fail is that they require the cooperation of a very unlikely source, and that is criminals,” said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam. “Each time you pass a gun control law, the only people that are going to be affected by that law, the only people that are going to follow that law are law-abiding Americans.”

And we close with another attempt at emotional manipulation.

…No arrests have been made. McGraw was buried in a $450 grave against a chain-link fence in a crumbling New Orleans cemetery. The mound of dirt above his casket is littered with rocks and bone fragments and teeth. There was no money for a marker.

Is this what passes for objective journalism in this day and time?

… But I’ll get over it.

According to this article at WRAL.com, the poor poor teachers of Wake County will have to forgo the employer portion of the dental insurance premium.

Here’s a hint! I don’t have dental insurance. And if you keep raising my taxes to pay for a school system that wants more money every time I turn around, I won’t be able to afford to go to the dentist ever for any reason. But, you know, I’m sure that they thought of that. They’ll just raise taxes until I can’t afford to buy food either, and then my teeth will stay in nice pristine shape.

For what my property taxes went up when the school bonds kicked in, I could pay to go to the dentist out of my pocket twice a year like the ADA recommends. This madness has to stop, I can’t afford anymore taxes, I don’t care WHAT sob story you come up with.

Happy Resurrection Day, Ya’ll.

This is sick.  Sick and wrong.

 The sellout crowd, as expected, was packed with light blue, and Carolina quickly turned the RBC Center into a routine night at the Smith Center

I’m trying to suppress my gag reflex.

The whole article is a Tarheel love fest.

Meanwhile, while the hated Tarheels are living it up in our basketball arena, the best that the NCSU faithful can do is cheer for people in orange.

It is a sad, sad, sad, sad, sad day for North Carolina State University athletics.

It seems that there are certain individuals who want to give the School Board the power to tax.

Let me go on the record as unequivocally opposing this action.   We keep pouring more and more money into the public schools for less and less of a return.

Wasn’t the preciousssssssssss lottery supposed to solve all these funding problems anyway?

It’s all nothing but scams to separate people from their money.

He seems to think that North Carolina is stealing South Carolina’s water.

at 22:58 in the video, he accuses us of stealing water.

Of course, South Carolina has filed a suit in the Supreme Court.  It’s not settled yet.  It’s nice to know that the Republican Nominee for President of the United States is impartial and all…

As pointed out by liquicon1 on the Republican Liberty Caucus of North Carolina mailing list

I saw this on Facebook, and there’s not much to say, but it’s utterly despicable.  Protesting at funerals crosses every line.  These nuts have done it to gays, and to soldiers, and now to a murder victim?

The right to free speech doesn’t cover this.  The right to free speech is a right to criticize the government without fear of prosecution or intimidation.  Not to tear people down at funerals.

A controversial church in Kansas known for picketing the funerals of soldiers has posted plans on its Web site and contacted UNC Chapel Hill officials about picketing Carson’s memorial.

The group, Westboro Baptist Church or WBC, writes on its Web site “thank God for another dead college student and God hates American colleges.”

If they have the guts to show up, Governor Easley should have the Highway Patrol and the National Guard meet them to escort them to the border state of their choice.

First, there are neer do wells who want to monitor my own private well to see how much water I’m using…

And now, they want to put a tracking device in my truck???

This totally crosses the line.  There is a point where it is appropriate to talk of revolt.  This is it.

These are the actions of a totalitarian state.  I can’t see any other explanation.  Whatever happened to freedom?

Here’s what the UN has to say about America:

“The authorities claim that the demolition of public housing is not intentionally discriminatory,” Kothari and McDougall said, but the “predominantly African-American residents” will be denied their “internationally recognized human rights” to a home.

Noting that officials promise to replace the demolished housing, the experts complained that “only a portion of the new housing units will be for residents in need of subsidized housing and the remainder will be offered at the market rate.”

ALL homes should be offered at the prevailing market rate, unless the person who actually owns them wants to offer them at a lower rate. It’s the free market at work.

Furthermore, in a free country, the people who live in a place get to decide how it’s run. There wasn’t any allegations of disenfranchising these people and then throwing them out of the taxpayer owned housing in the article, merely that the duly elected representatives of the people of the city of New Orleans voted to rid themselves of a high crime area.

It’s not any of the UN’s business what the people of New Orleans do with New Orleans. In fact, it’s not any of my business. I don’t care how they rebuild. I don’t care IF they rebuild. It’s up to them.

But then again, the UN never seems to be bothered by such petty little details. The UN is the most useless organization on the face of the earth. I would call it evil, but it’s too incompetent to be truly evil.

-But if you want to live below sea level, don’t expect for me to subsidize your flood insurance.

Ilana Mercer has made a post on our foriegn aid policy to Africa that I agree with.

I said pretty much the same thing just a little over a year ago.  

Giving money to dictators helps nobody but the dictator.  Our best course of action is to offer a hand of friendship to all nations that behave in a civilized manner.  The biggest problem in a lot of impoverished countries is corrupt government.  We cannot change that without the use of force.

John McCain is the presumed Republican Presidential Nominee.

McCain-Feingold

McCain-Kennedy

Gang of 14

McCain-Lieberman

Oh, it is to weep. I am sorely tempted to do as Ann Coulter suggested and vote for Hillary. The last thing this country needs is Nixon to China syndrome (or, the 2008 version: Bush to a Deficit syndrome). But since North Carolina’s primary isn’t until May, I can bide my time for another month and cast a primary vote for Ron Paul.

The agendas advanced by both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are totalitarian and vile. I cannot think of a faster way to lose ones freedom than to sell your soul for free health care (as if healthcare fell from the sky).

I do not know what I am going to do. I don’t see any meaningful difference between McCain and the Democratic Party. I don’t see how I can in good conscience vote for McCain. Frankly, I don’t see how I can do anything other than oppose him the same way I oppose Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

I suppose Ronald Reagan said it best:

Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.

That Microsoft deprecated hyperterminal with no suitable replacement in Windows Vista.

You know - the lacking of a lot of these petty little details that Windows XP had readily available to me doesn’t make me happy.   Especially since Windows Explorer has taken to crashing on me quite frequently.  It’s like Windows 98 all over again.

And now, I learn it will be mid-March before the highly touted Service Pack 1 that is supposed to fix a lot of these performance and stability issues will be released.

It’s a good thing that I don’t keep my hammer near my laptop.  There are not words to express my displeasure with Vista.  If I didn’t have programs available only for Windows that I have to have for work, I would have installed Linux on it by now.   If SP1 doesn’t fix it, I’m going to make a copy of WindowsXP Professional for this laptop the last purchase I ever make from Microsoft.

Smacktooth comments:

Thank you very much for the response. I see your assertion clearly.

However, as I see you are somewhat of a constitutionalist, I wonder what place the “necessary and proper clause”, which leaves the door open for a major expansion of Congress’ legislative power, and the “take care clause”, which allows the president to undertake whatever action national policy may require that are not expressly forbidden by the Constitution or public law, fit into your assertion. Based on these portions of the Constitution there is provision for both the Dept. of Education and the National Endowment of the Arts.

I will admit I am quite sympathetic to your concerns of money-sucking government bureaucracy, but I will argue very seriously that these organization’s abolishment is unwarranted. If you allow me to say so, I think streamlining and “cutting-the-fat” would be a proposal where we share more common ground.

I do not wish to appear as though I’m rebutting your entire assertion because we are both sympathetic to a few things here, like limited bureaucracy for instance, but although we may see the National Endowment of the Arts differently I believe it is an important perpetuator of America’s cultural development. I find this to be a hallmark of any civilized nation. As for the Department of Education, I think it is a crucial facilitator in America’s project to make sure all children are able to get the quality education that is their right.

Again, thank you for your generous response to my previous comment.

First - I would like to look at the clauses referenced:

Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;–And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section. 3.He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

It appears to me that these articles of the Constitution are tightly reigned in and would prohibit the Federal Government from establishing authority over Education or the Arts.   It should also be noted that there is nothing in the US Constitution to prohibit the States from doing these things.  Take for example the Arts.  Several years ago, the City of Raleigh commissioned the “Time and Light Tower“.  The project was universally panned when it was finished.  People thought it was an eyesore - an eyesore that reflected the sun into their eyes during the rush hour commute.  The public outrage over spending $50,000.00 of taxpayer money on something that so few people saw any aesthetic benefit from caused the city government to more carefully plan any future art projects so that they would be more beneficial to the public at large.  Because it was done at the city level, the people in charge of spending the public funds had to face the criticism from their constituents every day for a long long time - something that federal officials seldom have to do.  Especially in conjunction with the arts.  If the National Endowment for the Arts spends its money poorly, you have to have an act of congress to fix things, which is not necessarily easy to come by.

Likewise, the same is with the Department of Education.  A federal department will never be responsive to the needs of children.  It is merely a method by which conformity can be impressed upon the nation (or worse in the wrong hands - many totalitarian regimes are fine examples).  Schools should be managed at the local level, parents should be involved in the education of their children, and most importantly, parents should be in control of what their children are learning.  The more diversified the schools are, the more opportunity you have to try new ideas - and some will work, and some won’t, but the ones that do work will spread.

Also, keep in mind that a right to learn does not necessitate a Department of Education and federal funding for schools any more than a right to Free Speech obliges the Federal Government  to buy you airtime on CBS.  Having huge amounts of resources does not necessarily mean that you will have the best education - take for example Frederick Douglass who learned to read even though it was against the law for anybody to teach him.

From the comments on my previous post, smacktooth asks:

 Interesting post, I know a lot of ultra conservatives feel this way. Can you explain the rationale for abolishing the National Endowment of the Arts and the Department of Education please? Thanks.

I will be happy to explain why I feel that way.   First, I will give the general principle behind these feelings, and then I will cite why these two programs are particularly offensive to Conservatives.

The Declaration of Independence says in part the following:

 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Now, the Declaration of Independence is not binding law in the United States, as pointed out by many secularists who chafe at the 4 explicit mentions of the Christian God.   But it is one of the Founding Documents of the United States of America, and as such the principles that it articulates are still held dear by Americans.  And the part I want to point out is the part that says, “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”.

When did Americans (the governed) consent to the US Government?  In 1787, the United States Constitution was drafted.  Through representatives, the American people consented to this government - but only after Ten Amendments were added to it to ensure that the government would not trample their rights.  The Preamble of the Bill of Rights says this:

THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.

The Tenth of these restrictions reads:

 Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Thus, anything not specifically authorized by the Constitution for the Federal Government to do is expressly forbidden for it to do.   There is no authorization in the Constitution for federalized education (or healthcare for that matter), nor is there authorization for the arts.  This is all the Constitution says about the arts:

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

Simply - copyrights.

Now, on to the specific grievances.

For the Department of Education:

•  Many people feel that a bureaucracy at the federal level is too much of a behemoth to effectively educate their children
•  Many people resent federal mandates via their own tax dollars as to how to educate their children
• Many people just plain don’t trust the government
• Federal bans on religious teaching in schools really don’t sit well with the faithful who wish to have their children educated in an environment friendly to their faith.

And for the National Endowments of The Arts.

This is one federal program that probably could have stayed beneath the radar and thus the ire of conservatives for quite a while, where it not for egregious arrogance and stupidity.   In 1989, the National Endowment for the Arts paid $15,000.00 to an artist for his work “Piss Christ“, featuring a crucifix in a jar of urine.  To take money by force of arms (taxes) from the faithful, and spend it on something explicitly blasphemous is beyond contempt.  Ever since then, the National Endowment for the Arts has been in the bullseye of Conservatives.

As an aside, such funding of things that are of entirely subjective value is not appropriate use of taxpayer funds.  Some people really enjoy art.  Other people really enjoy NASCAR.  It’s not fair to fund one groups passtime while expecting all the racing affectionados of the world to have to pay for their entertainment.

And I hope that helps explain why Conservatives are out to get the Department of Education and the National Endowment of the Arts (among other things).   As an aside, it’s not just Conservatives who want to do away with these things, Libertarians are also on board with it.  In many cases, they hate them worse than those who label themselves Conservatives.

Tonight, I watched the documentary on Jesse Helms:  Senator No.

And it’s got me riled up.  Where have the conservatives gone?   Has anybody seriously seen the contenders for President of the United States of America?

I watched the New Hampshire debates on TV the other week.  Ron Paul was the only one who actually thought that entitlement programs were a bad idea and not the federal government’s job.

What happened to abolishing  the National Endowment for the Arts?  What happened to putting an end to the Department of Education?

Is there anybody left with a spine?  Is there anybody left to stand up for the people who don’t WANT the government to run their lives?  Is there anybody left who won’t surrender US sovereignty to anybody who asks for it?  Is there anybody left who believes that firearms are best left in the hands of honest law abiding citizens?

I have a memo to the government:  STAY OUT OF MY HOSPITAL ROOM!.

Don’t the people of this country realize that if you let the government run health care then there will be no area of your life that they can’t stick their grubby little paws in?  You’ll have a punch card to go to McDonalds to make sure you don’t eat too many transfats.  The government already gets to rifle through how you spend all your money because you might be trying to keep some of it.

If we end the entitlements, get the government out of everybody’s business, and just let people live their lives, then it will go a long way to solving a lot of the problems in this country.  End the two bit social engineering schemes.  End it all.  Protect the border, protect the country, and leave us alone.

The only excuse for the government to even exist is to protect the weak from the strong.  Some people have taken that to be a mandate to abuse the strong on behalf of the weak.  But that’s not anymore right.

Charity is an act of an individual.  When a government gives a handout it’s vote buying.

According to this article, President George W. Bush is going to press forward on the Law of the Sea treaty…

What can I say… in his second term, George Bush hasn’t done one thing right.  Can anybody name a conservative cause that he hasn’t betrayed?

The EU is saying that Microsoft must release source code to Windows to allow better functionality for media players…

Which seems to me to beg the question:  What about Apple?

iTunes and the iPod are fairly dominant products in the marketplace, and they didn’t need a court ruling to help them integrate with Windows.

If these guys are really so high and mighty about improving choice for consumers, then perhaps they should take a swipe at DRM, which locks you in to a particular media player (presuming, of course, that you simply don’t hack your way out of the DRM, but that would be violating all sorts of agreements…)

Microsoft paid to develop Windows.  The source code belongs to them.  They are free to do with it as they wish.  If consumers don’t like it, I invite them to switch to Linux.  And in a DRM-free land, it would be quite simple to have your Linux and your multimedia too.

These folks need to face simple facts:  the hackers are smarter than you are.  The only people you’re penalizing are the ones who actually pay you.

All NCSU students should take the Oath.

I have an interesting comment on my post on the Draft that I wanted to respond to:

 I believe that if this country was ever truly in a defensive struggle for its very life, a draft would be unnecessary, because there’d be no shortage of volunteers. And if I’m wrong, then this country doesn’t deserve to survive.

I agree with that statement wholeheartedly.   Which is why I really don’t worry about a draft.   As my thinking goes, in the event that we are threatened, not all able bodied men can go to meet the enemy - some have to stay at home to guard the homefront.  The draft seems like as good a system as any to decide who stays and who goes, presuming, of course, that there are enough Americans left in this country who would rise up to fight.  Which is also why I say that a declaration of war is a necessary prerequisite to a draft.

PS- Iraq is going to turn to shit whether we leave tomorrow, or in ten years. How many more American lives do you want to throw away on a mistake? We left Vietnam with our tail between our legs, and guess what? The “dominoes” didn’t fall, and today we’ve got diplomatic relations with Vietnam, we’re trading with them like crazy, and American tourists visit the country in droves. May Iraq turn out as well in 30 years, as Vietnam did (and, hopefully without anywhere near 58,000 Americans KIA, and a million Iraqi civillians dead at our hands).

This has been the sentiment from every Iraq vet that I have talked to.  Leaving Vietnam was a bloody mess, although they do seem to have recovered from it.  I’d like to think that we can manage to avoid the scene of the Fall of Saigon in Iraq, though.

Something tells me the War of Northern Aggression would have turned out a lot differently if it had been a “volunteers only” conflict.

It would have lasted about a week, and the South would have won.

Yet another example of why these two bit authentication schemed being employed by Microsoft and other large software companies should be avoided at all costs…

As they say - a picture is worth a thousand words…

Linux is the clear winner when it comes to the rights of the consumer. Microsoft’s (and a good number of other large proprietary software vendors) slogans should be “Bend over and take it”.

In other news, I have recently had experience with Windows Vista Business. I hate it. It’s an OS for stupid people. I guess Microsoft finally got tired of being blamed for the stupidity of humanity and designed an OS where it was impossible to do anything without having to confirm your actions. If I didn’t have software applications at work that only worked on Windows, I would have Linux on this Vista system in a hot second. That makes me start to think about Googling possible scenarios to get rid of Vista entirely…