From Hemisphere: When I was in law school, one of the property law professors (not mine) had a take home exam with a single question: "Who owns the moon?" I think this would be a failing answer. W
[April 22, 2000]
I think this CNN clip about the re-assimilation center awaiting Elian in Havana is the one Jason was looking for. Makes my head spin, too. W
I've heard a lot of wailing from people who think that this morning's armed raid was the right thing to do. Except in cases of imminent physical danger, I cannot agree that a nighttime raid by federal paramilitary forces is ever the proper solution for a custody dispute. The only physical danger present was from the gun-toting, tear-gas-throwing government agents storming into the house. All this talk about the government being "forced into" this action by Elian's Miami kin is sheer nonsense - the government painted itself into a corner with its own mismagement of the situtation.
And to the "rule of law" crowd, unmoved by the irony of the Clinton administration waving that banner, let me point out that no federal statute that I can find authorizes the Attorney General to use armed intervention to resolve a custody dispute, which is exactly what they did. The only statute which relates to this child's situation is Title 8, Section 1226 of the U.S. Code which authorizes arrest and detainment of an alien awaiting an admissibility determination (which Elian is). Not even this disingenuous administration pretends that they acted under that statute. W
Let's ask the child psychologists: is it more emotionally scarring to be separated from your father for several months while staying with your great-uncle, or having 20 federal agents in riot gear break in and snatch you away at gunpoint in the middle of the night?
As agents threatened "give me the boy or I'll shoot you", Elian cowered in terror. Before they whisked him away in the van, he could be heard screaming in Spanish, "Help me! Help me! Don't take me away!"
Thank you, Ms. Reno, for showing Castro what America means by the "rule of law." You must be so proud. W
Happy Earth Day! This event first occurred in 1970, where concerned environmentalists rallied to raise awareness of the environmental problems they saw all around them, such as the coming Ice Age:
The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.
Find out who said this along with plenty of other whoppers from eco-doomsayers in the last thirty years.
Even though I've linked this before, it's worth a second look: climate scientists have no clue why their computer models can't accurately predict atmospheric temperatures. Look especially for the words "we don't fully understand," "substantial disparity," and "canot be fully explained." Apparently, the panel was only able to conclude with certainty that the Earth is still round. W
[April 21, 2000]
Hey, it looks like Lyn was right! Here's another blast from the Anti-Gore Media. Can you imagine what those wily journalists would do if they decided they were going to actually vote for Gore? W
Even Barbie is a liberal. Well, maybe she thinks political science is hard, too. W
[April 20, 2000]
Too good to be true: While I was tinkering with my Blogger template, LaunchCast spit out, totally at random, Jimmy Buffet's Everybody's Got a Cousin in Miami. I'm still mopping up where I peed the floor laughing. W
Jenn, I couldn't fit your answer into this space. You'll find it as the latest entry in the Ministry. Enjoy! W
Reader Tod of dnadot (probably often confused with dandot.com) says: "I just discovered the WOIFM weblog and I love it. Naturally." Gee, Tod, you're making me blush. W
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit ruled that Elian Gonzalez cannot be deported until a final ruling is made on his legal appeal to have his asylum petition heard. The court's complete ruling is online and contains a very interesting proposition. In a nutshell, the court expresses doubt that the INS is correct when it argues that Elian, as a minor, cannot petition for asylum on his own behalf:
Plaintiff appears to come within the meaning of "[a]ny alien."[8] See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(3). And the statute plainly says that such an alien "may apply for asylum." We, therefore, question the proposition that, as a matter of law, Plaintiff (unless his father consents) cannot exercise the statutory right to apply for asylum. . . and it appears that never have INS officials attempted to interview Plaintiff about his own wishes.
In other words, this court feels that Congress may have intended to allow minors to petition for asylum for themselves, or at least not intended to absolutely prohibit it. W
A random stranger with a knife attacked and killed an 8-year-old boy in his front yard while his 80-year-old grandmother watched helplessly. The grandmother was injured and a 51-year-old woman who was just passing by was also seriously injured trying to stop the stabbing. Both women were unarmed. W
[April 18, 2000]
If I mention Riothero without linking to it, will Mark be upset? W
Does anyone else sense the workings of Jorn in this mess? Or is it more of Dave chewing off his own leg to escape a trap that isn't closed? W
I was walking in a non-threatening way up to the barricade as a delegate of the planet and a delegate of the ecosystem. I was attacked by the system of power.
Which planet? This fella claims to represent the Student Alliance to Reform Corporations, whose mission statement says a lot about what they're against, but not a whit about what they're for. I suspect that the real agenda is demolation rather than transformation. What role, if any, does this group see for the positive changes commerce can bring? W
Reader Greg, who identified himself as a Democrat (although seemingly a moderate one) offered up a link to the New Republic's analysis of why Gore has so few viable veep options. I guess the Dems are worse off than I thought. W
I have no idea how Jenn thinks racial quotas are the answer to inequal allocation of education funds. The true answer is to divorce school funding from local property taxes and inject market solutions by making education funding portable. Schools that have to perform in order to get funds will find themselves actually educating instead of babysitting their students, and since it costs half as much to educate a child in a private school than in public school, for laregely better results, the additional resources freed up will be astonishing. We might actually be able to provide each student a computer for free. Yes, each and every. W
No, Jess, I couldn't find one, but I found one almost as condescending without even breaking a sweat. But my point wasn't the journalistic integrity, or lack thereof, at the Post. Rather, it was how that op-ed reflected pretty accurately my estimate of local public opinion regarding the protesters that were here. That public consensus, as I understood it: even if there were some who knew what they were talking about, the most visible protestors were also the most clueless. W
Do you link to WOIFM? Do you have an outdated link? Do you want to tell me what an asshole I am? W
In response to my question about Governor Ryan below, reader Greg (who aspires to be D.C.'s second weblogging lawyer, once he gets to D.C.) gives three reasons:
I wasn't aware of the scandal investigation, which would seem to nail it home. The lukewarm personality surely wouldn't help, but a strong political machine on the state level sure would, and a bore at the bottom of the ticket is less fatal than the Democrats' bore at the top, so I think that might be a wash. Finally, I doubt the death penalty issue would really have much impact at all - I think G.W. would like to talk about being tough on crime, and the kind of folks who feel strongly about the death penalty either way already know who they're going to vote for. W
Although I didn't make it downtown to see the teargassing for myself, I've noticed that local opinion about the IMF/World Bank protesters is pretty low. The common folk and the media alike, even the liberal rags, ridicule them as empty-headed rich kids who have no idea what they are protesting and no concept of what the IMF and World Bank actually do.
Monday morning I was listening to the morning DJ lambaste the protestors when, perhaps for comic relief, one of them called in. She said that she couldn't attend Mondays rio... um, protests because her "parents wouldn't let her." How's that for fighting authority? She might have actually gone anyway, except they threatened to take her car away. I wonder what kind of car she drives. After this, the morning crew naturally started asking her what she was protesting about. She gave the example of "a road being built through a rainforest..." What country, you ask? She didn't know. (I would have at least guessed Brazil.) She never did get a chance to explain exactly what the IMF had to do with paving the rainforest. W
[April 17, 2000]
Just another sad tale which absolutely convinces me of the need to impose background checks and waiting periods for buyers of batteries. And why, I ask you, weren't those batteries locked away? W
Frequent reader Sean of The American Mind has an article this week on Enter Stage Right, alleging that Congressional Republicans have failed to protect Elian Gonzalez. I don't talk a lot about Elian... but Sean does. W
As the next bandwagon rolls by, let me hop right on it. I've got myself a voicemail number (actually got a Ureach number months ago, but never used it) at eVoice, a subsidiary of Nokia, which makes me happy, especially when their stock goes up. If you want to call and tell me what a paranoid right-wing freak I am, dial 1.800.222.6000, and go to mailbox 703-312-001. If you want to compliment me extravagantly, I'd prefer you do it on the web. W
[April 16, 2000]
From Hemisphere: When I was in law school, one of the property law professors (not mine) had a take home exam with a single question: "Who owns the moon?" I think this would be a failing answer. W