The Best Radar Detector Hiding Spot

Uniden has announced they are introducing a GPS/Radar Detector combo. This makes hiding your radar detector a lot easer in places where you can't have them. Unfortunately, laser is making detectors more and more worthless as police convert to them.

I hope this doesn't spur police in places where radar detectors are illegal (like in Virginia, for example) to begin cracking down on windshield mounted GPS devices....It's already illegal to have one on your windshield in many of those states.

Legal Bizzarre: Don't Slander Virginia

Apparently, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, libel and slander only apply if the object of your lies is a woman. Be careful what you say to chaste Virginian belles.

§ 18.2-417. Slander and libel.

Any person who shall falsely utter and speak, or falsely write and publish, of and concerning any female of chaste character, any words derogatory of such female's character for virtue and chastity, or imputing to such female acts not virtuous and chaste, or who shall falsely utter and speak, or falsely write and publish, of and concerning another person, any words which from their usual construction and common acceptation are construed as insults and tend to violence and breach of the peace or shall use grossly insulting language to any female of good character or reputation, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

The defendant shall be entitled to prove upon trial in mitigation of the punishment, the provocation which induced the libelous or slanderous words, or any other fact or circumstance tending to disprove malice, or lessen the criminality of the offense.

(Code 1950, § 18.1-256; 1960, c. 358; 1973, c. 526; 1975, cc. 14, 15.)

But feel free to talk about the dirty ones all you want.

New York Times Get's Caught Lying...Again

The New York Times used be "all the news that's fit to print". Now it's mainly known for a continual stream of serious screw ups, ranging from bad fact checking to the publishing of outright lies.

Today comes word of the latest New York Times slander by way of yet ANOTHER fact-free article. In a blog piece published on the Times' website by the Virginia Heffernan,the NY Times published 'allegations' that Ron Paul is a Neo-Nazi. Where did these allegations come from? Apparently their only source was Bill White, the "Commander of the American National Socialist Workers' Party." The times is apparently so friendly with the American National Socialist Worker's Party, that there was no need to fact check this radical and sweeping allegation. No, instead they allowed it to be printed on their website verbatim.

The NY Times, after feeling the wrath of upset Paul supporters and realizing that the blog post bordered on slander/libel, published this "editor's note" (my emphasis added):

Editors' Note: The post below, which appeared on The Medium on Monday, contained several errors. Stormfront, which describes itself as a "white nationalist" Internet community, did not give money to Ron Paul's presidential campaign; according to Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Paul's campaign, it was Don Black, the founder of Stormfront, who donated $500 to Paul. The post also repeated a string of assertions by Bill White, the commander of the American National Socialist Workers Party, including the allegation that Paul meets regularly "with members of the Stormfront set, American Renaissance, the Institute for Historic Review and others" at a restaurant in Arlington, Va. Paul never attended these dinners, according to Benton, who also says that Paul has never knowingly met Bill White. Norman Singleton, a congressional aide in Paul's office, says that he met Bill White at a dinner gathering of conservatives several years ago, after which Singleton expressed his indignation at the views espoused by White to the organizer of the dinner. The post should not have been published with these unverified assertions and without any response from Paul.

After 290 comments on the story, and this embarrassing story making the rounds on the Internet, the Times has closed the blog to comments. I'm sure it will be accidentally 'removed' from the website soon enough. So what will happen to Virginia Heffernan? My guess is absolutely nothing. I suspect the higher ups at the NY Times support her in her campaign to smear Ron Paul. She will just join the NYTIMES hall-of-fame-er Jayson Blair as the typical NY Times "reporter".

I guess that means Ron Paul is officially in the ridicule (read: smear) stage that Mahatma Gandhi so succinctly outlined: "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win ."

Was Pseudoephedrine Maligned To Make A Corporation Rich?

Jeffrey A. Tucker at the Ludwig von Mises Institute has a fascinating short post about what may be the real reason Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) was moved behind the pharmacy counter as part of the Patriot Act.

Protectionism and My Stuffy Nose

Florida Woman Tasered For Being Loud And Obnoxious

A 35 year old Daytona Beach, Florida woman was Tasered in a Florida Best Buy for being loud, using profanity and exhibiting what police called "passive physical resistance".

Once again, this proves the point that the Taser is no longer being used in place of lethal force. It's being used as a primary tool of force to get people to comply. That would be fine, if people weren't frequently dying from this tool being used.

[Link to video of incident]

Google News Stories of the incident

Does Fox News Suck More Than CNN?

Well, I didn't think it was possible, but I think Fox is taking the lead in sucking. Take a look at this clip, where moron ex-Miss America Gretchen Carlson asks Ron Paul to play a word game.

Here's what she asks him @ 1:36 seconds

"OK...let me ah...do ah..a little kind of a situation with you here. I'm going to say a topic and if you can give me a one word response (sic). IRAQ-Mainstream Media- Immigration-War On Terror" (Watch Carlson's eye's light up after she finishes saying "IRAQ" at 1:43 seconds. It's like she just tied her shoes for the first time. I think she was just proud she could read all those big words, even though she's unable to speak in complete sentences.)

So why does Gretchen want to play the "Let's put a complex issue into one word" game? Perhaps it's because she can only ponder one word at a time. But I suspect it's more because she's been told that one word is the maximum that a Fox News audience member can grasp.

From what I can tell, that's correct.

To see how utterly ridiculous Fox News has become, take a look at this: Fox News Porn. You'd think it would be 'not suitable for work', but it's nothing but actual Fox News clips. Hilarious, but with a serious message - Fox News Sucks.

Australasian Journal of Clinical Environmental Medicine - Complete Bullsh*t ??

- My two second review: Wi-Fi may in fact be bad for your health, but this study is so bad it appears to me to be a hoax.

A few weeks ago the news was abuzz with a story that linked wi-fi radiation with autism. At first I couldn't find the journal that the study was published in, but then a helpful reader pointed me to a PDF version. Originally I had intended to read the study "Wireless Radiation in the Etiology and Treatment of Autism: Clinical Observations and Mechanisms" and provide a layman's analysis of the study's methods and findings.

After reading it, I have to agree with the anonymous commenter to my original post. This study is such a huge steaming pile of pseudoscience. To save you from having to read the 5 pages of overview and pseudoscience blended with garbled scientific mumbo-jumbo, I will provide you with my brief notes:

This study looked at clearing of heavy metals from subjects. Study claims that exposure to heavy metals have been implicated as a cause of autism. Primary subject is diagnosed as autistic, and for the last 7 years has had "...a long history of difficulty in clearing metals...." (Whatever that means. Did they feed him heavy metals and see if he excreted them? How did they know his exposure level? And SEVEN YEARS of exposure?)

The idea was to measure heavy metals excreted in hair, feces and urine and determine if excretion increased in an electromagnetic frequency (EMF) free area. The hypothesis is that EMF causes heavy metals to be trapped in cells, thus leading to toxicity which presents itself symptomatically as autism (??? Nice theory, but why? Oh yes...the Thiomersal debate)

So the researches try to construct an EMF free zone by removing all wireless devices from "the building", requiring cell phones to be turned off (! What about the cell tower's radiation?...oh just wait....), installing EMR filters on electrical circuits and appliances, and (my personal favorite) the application of "...body worn sympathetic resonance technology, energy resonance technology and molecular resonance effect technology" WTF? is THAT?!? I had no idea what that was, so I looked it up.

It would appear that the "sympathetic resonance technology" they refer to is the Qlink, as they use that same phrase in marketing material. What is Qlink you ask? It's a fancy 'high-tech' version of a new-age 'crystal'. It appears at first glance to be, oh, complete and utter pseudoscience. It not only protects you from the dangers of electromagnetic fields, but it will also improve your golf game (I wish I were kidding, because that's freaking funny...My favorite quote from the golf video "No one ever thinks, hey you know what, this might be in my head"...uh ...yeah.)

The "molecular resonance effect technology" appears to be some sort of 'energized water' and something of the sort is patented! Energy resonance technology appears to be....ugh..some other crap I don't have time to wade through.

The bottom line, this study looks to me to be complete BS. It seems to prove nothing, other than the fact that the media will run with a story that they think will sell, regardless of its veracity.

It's a good reminder, that when you read that "A study has linked...blah blah blah" Unless you actually read the study, you never know what kind of morons might have 'conducted' it.

Here's more on this ridiculousness, and if you want to waste your life reading the study, have at it(PDF)

I Hear Whispers of The Polling Crisis

A story in the Associated Press today says that 2007 is likely to be the first year where Americans spent more money on cell phone bills than land line phones. A quote from the article:

"What we're finding is there's a huge move of people giving up their land line service altogether and using cell phones exclusively," said Allyn Hall, consumer research director for market research firm In-Stat.

Yup. I'm one of those people. I know many others. And no one with just a cell phone is being polled. As I mentioned earlier in December, telephone polling, which is pretty much the basis of all the polls you hear or read about, is seriously broken. How will it be fixed? Without a change in federal law allowing pollsters to call cell phones, it's uncertain. What is certain, there will be a shock in 2008 when the mainstream media realizes their polling tools are worthless. To be sure, the biggest gainer in this debacle will be Ron Paul. Whether or not the error is significant enough to win the presidency, I'm not willing to say. But I will say that it will be big enough to make the pollsters worry about their job security.

I can't wait until those "same 10 Ron Paul spammers (i.e. supporters)" spam the voting booths.

Electronic Voting Machines Suck

So says the Ohio Secretary of State according to the New York Times. But then again, who didn't already know that? These machines make 'hacking' an election so easy that changing a 1 to a zero in an Excel spreadsheet is all that is needed. Not that corruption of elections is anything new, but the rush by states to use electronic voting machines left out critical security concerns. Paper receipts would be a start, but so much more needs to be done.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

I'm Sorry, What Was That?

tlhIngan maH!

I just read a news article about Joe Vento, the Philadelphia steak shop owner who's in all sorts of trouble for posting a small sign outside his cheese steak restaurant in Philadelphia that read

This is America, when ordering speak English

The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations is claiming that Vento is discriminating against people who cannot speak English. I did notice that the website for Philadelphia is also only in English, even though they offer short messages to speakers of Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, Cambodian, etc.

Stunningly, there's no Klingon version. Wow. Even Google offers a Klingon version of their search engine. Does this not smack of Klingon anti-love? The tiny, poorly funded Klingon Language Institute even outdoes Philadelphia's web site in offering a (much larger) message to speakers of THIRTY languages, compared to Philadelphia's paltry seven.

As I sit here, late at night thinking about this, I think Mr. Vento should hire a Klingon speaking lawyer to represent him, then have that lawyer speak for him at the Commission's hearings, demanding of course, that a translator be present. All briefs should be filed in Klingon as well.

I would love the see the commission's reaction Mr Vento's lawyer responded to their questions with a beautiful sounding "nuqjatlh? jIyajbe'!"

(By The way - A shout out to the Klingon homies over at bo logh. Very nice)

My Matrix Theory - Circa 1999

Neo is the "one" alright...just not the "one" you think.

"Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem."

- Numbers 18:15

*Written Circa April 1999, this version is mostly unchanged from a version I posted on the Warner Brothers website during the first week of the movie's release. Unfortunately, the original post is gone as the website is no longer there. However, most of my original post was captured on USENET (and thus preserved) by a Polish reader in July 1999. I will clean up/edit this as time permits.

I saw the Matrix a few nights ago...and was amazed. It was a great film, but what I've since found even more amazing is that my view of the symbolism in the film is in the minority (even though to me...it seemed obvious). In fact, I've only found a couple of people on the internet who've posted anything about the perspective I took. So...for your dissection, here is my theory (and don't let me step on your toes if you think this is a Christian film, I mean if a film means that much to your faith, maybe you should recheck your faith):

Neo is the Anti-Christ. Everyone seems to have picked up on the religious symbolism in the film, but it's my opinion that everyone's got it backwards. I think it's easy for people to assume that Neo is a "Christ" figure since he is battling an obvious evil (the machines). The machines are clearly acting in the role of God, as they are creating, nurturing and completely controlling humans in every conceivable way. They control humans to the point that "they" (or more appropriately, "it") has completely and totally created their universe and can completely control everything that happens within it. Sounds a lot like God, doesn't it?

But who is to question the methods of God? Isn't the saying that God moves in mysterious ways? And what if God really was a machine that was sucking out the energy from us? Would that necessarily contradict what we know of God? The amazing trick of this movie is that it stacks the cards against the audience by not portraying God as the 'old man with a beard' most secretly imagine "he" is.....and instead portrays God as something a little less cuddly. At the same time, it presents the story through the eyes and viewpoint of the Anti-Christ

Symbolism

The first event symbolic of the "evil" of Morpheus (and thus, Neo later on) is his offering of the two pills to Neo. He presents Neo with a red and a blue pill. The blue pill represents ignorance. The red pill is the forbidden knowledge (of the matrix). He tells Neo that if he chooses the blue pill, he goes back to his regular life....with nothing changed. Choose the red pill and you will know the truth about the Matrix but there is no going back. To me, this is clearly symbolic of Satan offering humans the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. Playing the role of Satan is Morpheus. And while the Bible does not specify the type of fruit in the Garden of Eden, the most common interpretation is that it's an apple. Most people think of apples as being red, thus the red pill is symbolic of the apple.....and Neo chooses it.

When Neo awakes on the ship, take note of the following dialog:

Neo: Why do my eyes hurt? Morpheus: You've never used them before

A simple line you may have missed, but one that links directly the biblical story of the fall of Adam and Eve. Once Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, the Bible notes that "the eyes of them both were opened" as if for the first time, to realize they were naked. As was Neo.

The next symbolic event is when Morpheus shows Neo the "real" world. It is a burned out shell with blackened skies. Clearly the presentation of the "real" world is hellish. No one would choose to leave the relative sanctuary of the Matrix, even if it's a lie, and live in this "real" world. But that's exactly what Morpheus wants to do....he wants to destroy the Matrix (world) and give them this nightmarish world in exchange. Morpheus states that "no one really knows when the world was changed like this (so it could conceivably be since the beginning of time...and not, say, 30 years ago). He does state that it was "us" that scorched the sky. Could humans have made it that way due to their eviction from the Garden of Eden? Morpheus wants to destroy the Matrix (world) but he cannot do it himself. Like a Christian prophet, he too is waiting for "the chosen one" who will foment the apocalypse. He believes that Neo is the "chosen one"....not Christ, but the Anti-Christ who will battle God (the machine) in hopes of destroying it.

It's important to note that Morpheus is not Satan, but a later follower of him. Morpheus mentions the Satan character later on when he notes:

When the Matrix was first built there was a man born inside that had the ability to change what he wanted, to remake the Matrix as he saw fit....When he died, the Oracle at the temple of Zion prophesied his return and envisioned an end to the war and freedom for our people. That is why there are those of us that have spent our entire lives searching the Matrix, looking for him.

And since Morpheus has been looking for Neo, he must therefore be the second coming of this original "man", i.e. the Anti-Christ figure.

The ship's name, Nebuchadnezzar is symbolic of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon who besieged Jerusalem , destroyed all of its temples and enslaved the Jews - God's chosen people.

On the ship Neo is told by Tank that he and Dozer were born the old fashioned way in Zion. When Neo asks where Zion is, he is told that it's deep within the Earth near its core, where it's still warm. To most people, a "warm" place at the center of the Earth is symbolic of Hell.

But probably the most obvious symbolic confirmation of my theory is when Agent Smith tells Morpheus that the there was an earlier version of the Matrix (this is during Morpheus' capture and subsequent beating). He tells Morpheus that the first Matrix was perfect, but that humans couldn't accept that it was perfect and were always looking for flaws. They (the machine/God) had to redesign the Matrix to include suffering because humans measured their existence by suffering. To me, this is clearly an allusion to the Garden of Eden (the perfect Matrix) and thus the Machine's position as God.

Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was re-designed to this: the peak of your civilization.

In that one section of dialog, it is confirmed that the Machine is God (thus Neo is Anti.) and also explains why God allows suffering to exist in the world following the failure of Eden. Doesn't the reference to 'crops failing' seem oddly out of place?? In such a high-tech setting, Agent smith makes reference to something more akin to an ancient agrarian world. Of course it makes sense if you consider God's curse on Adam during the fall of man "cursed is the ground for thy sake".

Some Other Things To Consider

How would Neo appear to someone in the Matrix? He has supernatural powers and kills others with abandon (especially cops). Would he appear to be "good" person or an "evil" person? A Christ figure or a Satanic figure?

It's interesting that the machine's people are referred to as "agents", since it sounds so similar to "angels", which according to my theory, they are.

When Trinity sees Neo dodge bullets, she tells him that she's never seen anyone move like he does...and that he moves like the Agents.

Trinity: How did you do that?
Neo: Do what?
Trinity: You move like they do . I've never seen anyone move that fast.

Of course Neo can move like they do. He is a 'fallen' agent (angel) and that's why he is more like them and less like the others.

Come on, doesn't Morpheus just *look* evil in his trench coat and sunglasses??

When Tank tells Neo about where Zion is, isn't it interesting that he uses the expletive "God Damn!" for no apparent reason. There are multiple examples of this throughout the movie.
Trinity Says to Neo as he prepares to enter the Matrix to save Morpheus:

No? Let me tell you what I believe. I believe that Morpheus means more to me than he does to you. I believe if you are really serious about rescuing him, you are going to need my help. And since I am the ranking officer on this ship, if you don't like it... I believe you can go to hell. Because you're not going anywhere else. Tank, load us up.

What do you think? I'll have to see the movie some more to see if I can come up with anything else to support my theory. Ecce signum.

Over The Counter Zyrtec Will Finally Be Available To Americans

Finally, 18 years after Canada made the very popular antihistamine Zyrtec over the counter, the FDA has decided Americans are 'adult enough' to buy it without a doctor. Gone are the days when you'd have to smuggle $0.20 Zyrtec from Canada to avoid paying $2.00 for a tablet here in the US.

Of course, the FDA recommended this change the first time back in 2001, but their back room deals with the drug companies kept that from happening.

Sadly, the more you learn about the FDA's prescription regime, the more you realize it's mostly about profit protection for corporations and very little about public safety.

Peon Pulpit Presents: Tips To Save The Environment

I keep seeing all these adds on TV where some famous movie star is telling me how I can save the Earth by brewing my coffee with a gold filter (never mind that it might cause you to have a heart attack...the coffee does taste better), or some such thing. This has inspired me. I've decided it's time for the Peon Pulpit to get in the game. So without further ado, here's the first round of the Peon Pulpit's "Save the Earth!" tips:

Environmental Tip #1

Stop buying DVDs.

Seriously. In 2005, an estimated 1.2 billion DVDs were sold. Now, that's a lot of plastic isn't it? The average DVD by itself weighs 16 grams. So if my math is right, that's:

1,200,000,000 (X) 16 = 19,200,000,000 grams = 42,328,754.3 lbs of plastic.

And that's not even including the packaging material. The case weighs about 65 grams. So again with the math:

1,200,000,000 (X) 65 = 78,000,000,000 grams = 171,960,565 lbs of plastic.

So all in all, DVD sales in 2005 resulted in the use of 214,289,319 pounds of non-biodegradable plastic. Wow, that is a lot of plastic. That of course says nothing about the cost of the printing materials, the number of trees cut to print the paper inserts, fuel to transport them to stores, etc. How much oil is used in that process? How many pollutants are released in the manfacture of a DVD copy of "A River Runs Through It"? What contribution does all that plastic manufacture have on global warming??

Suffice to say, you need to stop buying DVDs. And to think Jennifer Gardner is all worried about bio-degradable paper coffee filters...

Prediction: 2008 Will Be The Year Of The Pollster Crisis

Finally, a prediction of my own. It is simply this: In the next year, pollsters will realize that telephone polls are no longer predictive of reality. What evidence do I base my prediction on? Well, other than my 'gut instinct', I'm basing my prediction on the few items I briefly outlined in this post. Mainly that:

• Telephone polls rely solely on traditional 'wired' telephones. They do not call cellphones or VOIP phones (for various reason, some of which are legal restrictions). Nearly 20% of all Europeans have just a cellphone, and I think the US is not far behind that figure.
• Caller ID is in such widespread use that more than 50% had it in 2004. Today, I'm sure that a much larger percentage has Caller ID, and nearly all cellphone only households have it.

Both of these facts indicate that a large number of people are not being called at all (cellphone-only users) and those people are likely to be younger (as most early adopters of technology are). Another large segment of people are not answering calls from a telephone number they don't recognize, primarily younger people who understand how to use Caller ID to avoid solicitation calls. Which of course begs the question, who does answer the telephone when they see an unknown number or "Number Not Available" on their Caller ID?

These two effects will combine to grossly underestimate the number of young people (15-35) who are being polled.

In the past, the effect of excluding that group might have been muted by the fact that their opinions were largely represented by the public at large. However, the more age-specific the poll issue is, the larger the possibility for a huge error. I think 2008 election is the perfect set up for a 'young vs. old' polling issue to finally bring this error to everyone's attention. We'll see.

FDA realizes Sudafed Replacement Is Snake Oil

The FDA is finally realizing that the drug that is being used to replace pseudoephedrine (Sudafed's active ingredient) in over-the-counter versions is no better than snake oil. After anti-meth laws swept through the US forcing pseudoephedrine products to be moved behind the pharmacy counter, drug companies began offering formulas using phenylephrine as a replacement.

The only problem is, it just doesn't work. Of course, you already knew that back in March.

You can read the FDA's new study here (large PDF)

What Do You Know - Another Anti-Depressant Crazed Mass Murderer

It should be no surprise that the 19 year old mass-murderer Robert Hawkins who killed 8 people as well as himself was taking anti-depressants. Is anyone else seeing a pattern here or is it just me??

Police Taser Deaf Man In His Own Bathroom (For Not Listening)

Can't make that sort of thing up. The Wichita police Tasered a deaf man in his own bathroom (wearing only a towel) for not listening to them (seriously....that was the only reason!)

I guess in the past he would have been shot? Uh-huh.....

Why Valet Parking Is A Really, Really Bad Idea...

As I mentioned in a previous post, valet parking should be avoided at all costs. Unless, that is, you think the convenience is worth handing over one of your most expensive possessions to a high school drop-out-stalker-serial-killer who's name you won't even bother to get.

Of course it's not just the car that's being handed over, but some fools also hand over their house keys (for an hour or more). And almost everyone hands over their registration/insurance information (in the car, of course) which usually contains the owner's home address. If you're lucky, maybe the valet will just do a little joyriding with your car or use it as a taxi. Of course, he might be a really good person, but you'll be leaving that up to chance, won't you?

Now, if you've ever read the back of your valet ticket, you know that if pretty much anything happens to your car, it's not their fault. Here's a few choice lines from a real valet ticket:

"Cars driven by our employees solely at owner's risk. Not responsible for fire or theft."

That pretty much sums up the relationship you have with these people. You pay us to park your car, and YOU, not us, are responsible for anything that goes wrong. Which is (dis) comforting, because while you might take time to park your car in a good, well-lit area or avoid slamming the car into a curb/poll/ and/or parking in someone's private driveway where it might get towed, the valet is more worried about quickly parking your car and getting back to park/pick-up another car to get paid. And as far as theft goes, many valets keep the keys in the parked car or in an unwatched key box. They're not too worried about it of course, because, after all, it's your problem. So if your valet forgets to set the parking brake and your car rolls out into the street, or they accidentally rip up one of your $1000 rims and a $400 tire on a curb, well, that's your "risk" coming back to haunt you.

And it's usually right after something like that happens that you are forced to read your auto insurance policy only to find out that your auto insurance company won't cover damage caused by a valet. "What? my insurance company won't cover my $40,000 BMW just because I let a high school drop-out-stalker-serial-killer guy who had his driver's license revoked for 3 DUIs (and, of course, I don't know his name) drive my car into a wall? Unbelievable!"

So now you're stuck dealing with the super reputable valet "company", who thoughtfully and fortuitously put that liability waver on the back of your claim ticket. More likely than not, the valet company will refuse to pay, either claiming that the damage was there before you arrived (How will you prove it wasn't?), or by claiming that you didn't identify the damage before leaving (if you find after you leave the lot, you're definitely on your own). Seems like a whole lot of risk for a very little 'convenience', doesn't it??

Oh, and if your car has nice rims, always check to see that your spare tire hasn't disappeared while you were eating dinner (Particularly if it's a rental car). It's valuable and easy to steal because people don't even think about it until they have a flat (months or years later). Who would bother to check that??? Well the rental car company will when you return the car...and guess who will get to pay for that?

Yup - you will.

Security Tips For Peons

While I have no formal credentials as a security professional, I would like to offer some security tips that I have learned/collected over the years. Some of these come from reading the local police news blotter, others come from direct experience with crime. So, while going about your life, keep these tips in mind:

In the Home

1. Always keep your exterior doors and windows locked (fairly obvious, you’d think).
2. Learn about lock bumping and why (sadly) it means that most exterior door locks (including deadbolts) are not much better than your flimsy bathroom lock which can be opened with a dime. Then have a locksmith install an bump-proof lock.
   
3. Install a peephole in your exterior door if it doesn’t already have one.
4. Never open your door for someone you are not expecting or do not know. I cannot tell you the sheer number of home invasions that occur because the criminals rang the doorbell and the victims opened the door. Occasionally they will kick in the door or climb in through a broken window, but more often than not, they just knock or ring the doorbell. If it’s a delivery person and you’re not expecting a delivery, don’t open the door. Uniformed person you were not expecting needing to “check” something? A nice old man selling chocolates to buy puppies for the orphaned children of Yugoslavia? Again, DON’T OPEN THE FREAKING DOOR! Read this horrific story if you need more justification as to why opening the door to strangers is a bad idea. But the examples of this problem are everywhere.
   
5. If you have children, never, EVER let them answer the door. Of all the people in your house that should have the responsibility of being the gatekeeper of your home, a child is the least capable to take on that level of responsibility. The additional risk of abduction just adds to the multitude of reasons why children should be taught only adults can open the door if the doorbell rings.
6. Install a security system. A security system can bring you piece of mind when you’re not at home. It can even bring you a discount on your insurance. But most importantly, it can tell you what the %$@#$$ is going on downstairs at 3:18 am when you’re sound asleep in your 2nd or 3rd floor bedroom. Alarm systems don’t have to be expensive or continuously monitored. This wireless system actually works well despite it’s cheesy website (and can even call you for alerts when you’re not at home).
7. Install a keyed lock on your bedroom door and lock it when you sleep. This is critical if you absolutely cannot afford an alarm system. Kwikset makes a very easy to install keyed entry door lock. The point is not to keep someone out indefinitely. It's just to give you enough time to wake up, realize what's going on and 'activate' your plan. Speaking from experience, you never want to wake up with a stranger in your room. If you do, you’re going to wish you had installed that lock. Trust me.
8. Have a plan. This is another no-brainer. Have a phone in your room, and know that after you call 911, you will be waiting the longest 5 minutes (if you're lucky) of your life for the police to arrive. What will you do during that eternal 5 minutes? While we're on the topic of planning, have you ever thought about what you would do in a house fire?
   

In Your Car

1. When you come to a stoplight, never pull up so close to the car in front of you that you cannot drive off to the right or left. This is particularly important if it's late or if the road is mostly empty. Always allow yourself room to drive off should a driver get out of their car for any reason. A broken down car or a carjacking - you'll always be thankful for the room.
2. As in the home, keep your doors locked.
3. Carry Mace in your car (if it's legal where you live). It's always good to have if you find yourself suddenly stranded on the side of the road.
   
4. Carry a cell phone. If you can't afford a regular cell phone, pick up a 'disposable' phone and buy phone cards. For most of the US, I have found that Virgin Mobile has the best overall deal. Get a phone for around $20, and add at least $20 every 90 days, or add $90 dollars in any 72 hour period and those minutes won't expire for 1 year. So for $110 you can have an emergency phone in your car for a year. Don't forget to keep it charged.
5. Avoid valet parking like you would avoid a hemorrhaging Ebola victim. This one has me so fired up, I've given it its own post.
   

Outside

1. Always keep aware of your surroundings. Never jog with headphones...sorry, I know it's why you bought the iPod. But jogging with headphones shows a predator that you're not paying attention.
2. Carry a small can of Mace or pepper spray (if it's legal where you live...and it's not everywhere).
   
3. Be wary of talkative strangers. More often than not, these 'sudden friends' want to sell you something. Either way, you really don't want to be bothered with their sales pitch while you go about your life. Otherwise, you would have called them, right?
   
4. See #4 above, - Carry a cellphone.
   
5. Most importantly, trust your gut instinct. If you feel a situation is getting dicey, NEVER second guess it. Get yourself out of the situation as fast as possible, and prepare for the worst. If everything goes well, people might think you're a bit paranoid. If something goes wrong, you'll be as ready as you can be. I can live with that, and you can too.

In General

1. Get a P.O. Box, and have all your mail sent there. At a minimum, it adds a layer between you and all the people you must correspond with. It's also much more secure than an apartment/house mailbox. Also, many states will allow you to put a P.O. Box on your driver's license as long as your physical address is on file.
2. Use credit cards (like you would a debit, with no balance carried from month to month) instead of debit cards. As I've written about before, debit cards are like the keys to your bank account. Lose control of your debit card and life will suck for you. And while the bank may limit your liability, they're not really good at limiting the serious discomfort you will feel when you find your account has been emptied. Read here for more details.
   

Australasian Journal of Clinical Environmental Medicine ?

Wherefore art thou?

I was planning on doing some research on this Wi-Fi/Autism link to see if I could actually read the study to see how they came to their result. Guess what? I can't find this journal mentioned anywhere. A check of Google left me with little. One site suggested that this site, http://www.acnem.org/ was the publisher of the journal. But I still can't find anything. If you can find time to do a press release, you've had time to put up a website. Until I'm able to find out more on this, I'll assume this is little more than urban legend.

**Update: Thanks to an anonymous reader, a link to the study has been found:
http://www.internalbalance.com/emr-autism-acnem.pdf

***Read the follow-up to this post here

Wi-Fi linked to Autism?

This disturbing study reminds me of a post I did last year about the potential dangers of wireless networking. The study links the increase in the use of wi-fi and cell phones to the increase in autism. Who knows if the science behind the study will hold up.

***Read the follow-up to this post here

A few Lucky Virginians Have Another Nasty Surprise In Store -- Compliments Of The Legislature

After the public outcry over the last 4 months related to the "Abusive Driver's fees" it's fascinating that another provision in the very same transportation funding bill (House Bill 3202) has not come under more public scrutiny.

Starting January 1, 2008, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) and the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) will begin taxing all sorts of activities in the Northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads areas. These taxes will be imposed on residents in the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park, Norfolk, Newport News, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Hampton, Williamsburg and Poquoson and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Isle of Wight, York and James City.

Here are the new taxes and fees (.doc), all of which are in addition to any existing tax on these activities:

• 2% tax on all motor vehicle rentals
• 5% tax on all automotive repairs, including things like oil changes
• $10 fee for your annual vehicle registration
• 1% (of the purchase price) additional fee for your initial vehicle registration
• $10 additional fee for motor vehicle inspection
• 2% additional hotel tax
• A $0.40/$100 of valuation sales tax on all real property sales (this is an tax increase of 500% from the current tax of $1/$1000 of value. No doubt this will help the ailing housing market)

The money will go into a State Treasurer fund (Special Sales and Use Tax Motor Vehicle Repair Fund) and will be doled out to the NVTA or HRTA as 'appropriate'. What does appropriate mean exactly? Well neither Authority is required to follow Virginia procurement guidelines and is free to issue “no-bid” contracts to whomever they wish. I'm sure it will be frequently 'appropriate'.

The Authorities were also given the ability to issue bonds and to obligate your future taxes to the payments on those bonds. And all of this power, in a pseudo public body that is run by appointees. That’s right, the NVTA and the HRTA members are not elected by the public, so you are being taxed without representation.

The only ray of hope in this is that Loudoun County and attorney Robert G. Marshall were just granted a joint appeal by the Virginia Supreme Court in their cases against the NVTA. Hopefully, the VASC will put a halt to this bureaucracy run amok.

The TASER Has Become Just Another Way To Kill People

When the Taser was introduced a few years ago, it was touted as being an alternative to lethal force. Police departments all over the world were sold on the idea that many of the situations where they would normally draw firearms could now be defused with a device that would only incapacitate an aggressive subject. However, in the last few years, it is undeniable that in situations where police officers would never have drawn a firearm they are drawing and using their Tasers.

Take for example the situation with the "Don't taze me bro!" guy. Police would never have felt justified in drawing a handgun on a subject who had no weapon, and was only resisting arrest. Yet they felt free to whip out the Taser and blast away. Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski was electroshocked in the Vancouver airport because he had become unruly (after not being cleared by customs for 8 hours!). He clearly had no knife or firearm as he had been cleared past security checkpoints. Would police 20 years ago have drawn their handguns against this man? Never. Yet they Tased him twice and as a result, he was killed. In Canada alone, at least 17 people have died as a result of being electroshocked by Tasers since 2003. Of course not to be outdone by our northern neighbors, the United States has seen more than 270 Taser related deaths since 2001.

Supporters of the Taser argue that it has saved lives, as subjects are shocked rather than shot. However, a study in Houston Texas showed that the number of people shot did not decrease after Tasers were issued to police. Yet Tasers were used more than 1,000 times. And in 95% of those incidents, the Tasers were "...not used to defuse situations in which suspects wielded weapons and deadly force clearly would have been justified".

The truth is that police are using Tasers in situations where they would have previously used strong-arm tactics to control a subject. Wrestling someone to the ground and cuffing them used to be the way this was handled, now it's become a push button affair with a growing body count. What was sold to the public as an alternative to lethal force has quickly become the primary and routine method of gaining an unwilling subject's cooperation. And for that convenience, local governments and police are apparently more than willing to offer up a few dead citizens.

**Update: Frederick, MD Sheriff's dept killed a man today with a Taser (11/18/2007)

Thinking The Impossible – Could Ron Paul Actually Win?

As hard as it might be to believe, I think the perfect storm is brewing for the 2008 elections. Assuming that the current front runners are the nominees of their respective parties, we’ll end up with a Clinton/Giuliani election. Barring any surprise Vice Presidential nominations, I would predict an easy win for Clinton. Giuliani is going to inspire few republicans to vote. And in spite of Pat Robertson’s deal with Satan, the religious right is going to have a hard time swallowing a vote for Rudy. So Republicans and Democrats alike will assume that Clinton will be a sure thing.

Now suppose, with that mentality, the protest vote comes out in favor of Ron Paul, running as a 3^rd party candidate. Ron Paul would pick up the ‘rabid’ Paul supporters he has now and will surely gain in the coming months. Anti-war democrats will cast a protest vote for Ron Paul, to show their displeasure of Hillary’s hawkish views. Religious right voters will cast a protest vote for Paul to show their displeasure of Rudy’s pro abortion pro gay marriage views. What happens when Ron Paul ends up with all those protest votes? Who knows, but it could be a very interesting election for sure.

Pat Robertson Endorses Rudy Giuliani? Huh??

What's next? Robertson endorsing Satan for VP? At this point I wouldn't be surprised.

When the founder of the Christian Coalition backs a two time divorced, pro-abortion (tax payer funded no less), pro-gay rights presidential candidate with a 'thing' for dressing up in women's clothes, you know something in the world is just not quite right. Perhaps Robertson thought he was selling his soul to this guy instead of Rudy? Isn't he going to be disappointed when he finds out that Rudy can't deliver the goods. But then again, maybe that's not what Pat is looking for.

I'm beginning to believe that Alex Jones might have called it right when he raised suspicions that Pat Robertson and his televangelist friends are not quite what they seem.

WTF is going on at the George Washington University?

Less than a month after hate-speech fliers were posted around campus in the name of a conservative group (but were actually posted by a self proclaimed "anti-hate" group), a bunch of swastikas have shown up around campus, drawn on student's doors. The police have finally arrested someone and guess what? The woman, Sarah Marshak, who complained that someone was drawing the swastikas on her door (ostensibly because she's Jewish) was caught drawing them on her own door! And in another, completely separate incident, another student was caught drawing them on his own door!!! WTF is going on down there? The news keeps reporting that "racial tension is high". Clearly, but why is it self generated? Very bizarre.

BTW, GWU has not yet punished the original hate instigators for the fliers. Surprise, surprise....

Is Schapelle Corby a Victim of Circumstance?

The FBI announced today that they have arrested 18 people in a drug smuggling operation that operated out of JFK airport. During the 2 year investigation, the feds seized 90 pounds of cocaine and 50 pounds of heroin. The drugs were smuggled by airport personnel by placing packages of drugs in passenger's baggage (after security screening) at one airport then removing them at another airport, then returning the bags to the passenger.

This should send shivers down every flyer's spine. What would happen if a package was not picked up for some unforeseen reason? What if you were caught with a few pounds of heroin in your baggage? Would you use the "I have no idea how that got in there!!" line? Do you think anyone would really believe you?

It didn't work for Schapelle Corby who is now serving a 20 year sentence in an Indonesian prison for smuggling 9 lbs of marijuana in her unlocked luggage. Corby has long maintained that she didn't know how the drugs go in there and there's some evidence that she's telling the truth. Even circumstantially, it's hard to fathom he improbability of someone, on a family vacation, smuggling 9 lbs of marijuana into an Muslim country that is well known for its harsh drug laws.

In the United States, the federal government needs to crack down hard on this type of smuggling. IMHO, if an airline/airport employee is caught smuggling ANYTHING in passenger luggage, they deserve life in prison. Not so much for the relatively minor issue of drugs, but the huge potential for terrorism. How closely are they checking the "box of cocaine" to make sure that's what it really is? How much would it take to bribe them to take on a box of unknown origin?

The airline security breach in this case is massive and frightening. And you just know it's still happening somewhere.

The Republican Party: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers?

I've watched most of the Republican debates over the last few weeks and I am just about as confused as the RNC must be right now. Which of these guys is actually a Republican? Or more accurately, "How did all these Democratic candidates get into the Republican debates?" A story in the Politico suggests that Sen. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are the best ticket for the Repubs. Wow. That would be a "good" ticket?. First of all, I am still somewhat astounded that a RINO like Rudy Giuliani is the leader of the pack, considering that he is pro-abortion (favors taxpayer funded abortions no less), is for same-sex unions, and is anti-gun. Overall, he's looks to be somewhat to the left of Hilary Clinton. Am I missing something here? Which "Republicans" are the pollsters calling anyway?

Will Iraq be the big issue in 2008? Survey says:....Yes...well, maybe

A recent Rasmussen poll says that 68% of Americans want to be out of Iraq within a year. Yet all the front runners, both Democrat and Republican, want to be more into Iraq. Hillary and Giuliani are the exact same type of war hawks as Bush, with both of them mirroring his current policies with regard to Iran in their campaign rhetoric. Only three candidates, Ron Paul, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich are suggesting that the whole thing was a huge mistake. And all of them are polling in the single digits.

And how is Giuliani polling so high anyway? The whole thing begs the question that was brought up in the 2004 election. How big an effect are cell phone-only households having on telephone polling. In 2004 the alarm was sounded over the rise of cell phone only households. This caused great consternation for the pollsters as federal law prohibits automated dialing of cell phone numbers (used almost exclusively in telephone polls). In 2004, the error introduced by these people was non-existent: Polls matched actual results. However back then, cell only households made up just 3% of all households. Today 13% of all adults are using only a cell phone or VOIP. More importantly, 33% of 18-29 year olds only have a cell phone. None of these people are being polled. That's a huge concern, specifically for pollsters trying to gauge issues that revolve around a particular age group (elections anyone?). Those opinions might now show up in a telephone poll, but may at the ballot box. In June 2007, the Pew Research Center wrote:

The picture is not entirely positive, however. While the cell-only problem is currently not biasing polls based on the entire population, it may very well be damaging estimates for certain subgroups in which the use of only a cell phone is more common. This concern is particularly relevant for young adults. According to the most recent government estimate, more than 25% of those under age 30 use only a cell phone.

This might help to explain Ron Paul's huge internet support, near total dominance in Republican straw polls, but weak telephone polling. Interestingly enough, Paul has also done very well on text message polls, which would favor a younger more technically savvy audience.

When Does A Horrific Wrong Instantly Become A "eh...it wasn't that bad, really"?

*When you find out your friends did the 'wrong'.

Administrators at The George Washington University, promising expulsion for students who distributed xenophobic posters, suddenly get cold feet when they realize the guilty party wasn't the conservative group they thought it was

On Monday of this week, anti-Islamic posters distributed on The George Washington University campus (complete with university seal and forged signature of a conservative student group) were called hate speech. Today, after the revelation that 7 student members of the liberal Students for Conservativo-Facism Awareness group made and distributed the posters in a smear campaign, the fliers have been downgraded to mere "controversial posters". This, after GW Administrators had initially attacked the conservative Young America's Foundation group and demanded they sign an agreement disavowing any hate speech that might occur at their event (which was the subject of the poster smear tactic). I guess the GW administration had found their criminal and wanted a signed confession.

Now the world waits with bated breath on their very uncomfortable and public response. What's a slap on the wrist between friends?

Scenes From The Upcoming Police State

Wow. This really creeped me out. Someone has developed (and you've no doubt financed) some seriously Orwellian toys to keep track of you. If you haven't seen the movie Brazil yet, I highly recommend it. It looks like it's our future.

Global Hysteria Swarms the Globe Like A Heat Wave

The global warming debate is becoming so hysterical I can barely stand it. An October heat wave is pushing through the mid-Atlantic states causing the Weather channel to call it "Wild Weather". The Drudge Report is calling it "Heatwave in the Heartland". Below that story is a not-so-subtilly placed story about fashion designers having a hard time because "...there is no strong difference between summer and winter any more". Yeah, ok. You go ahead and wear your shorts in February, Beppe.

A quick check of Accuweather shows that the historical high temp for October in Washington, D.C. was 96 degrees in 1941. OMG! Global warming must have started back in at least the 1940's!

My point is that it's been crazy hot before and that can't be blamed on global warming without claiming that global warming began before the huge carbon release of the 1950's.

Additionally, why hasn't anyone pointed the finger at this guy?

Image Courtesy of SOHO (ESA & NASA)

Now, admittedly, I haven't really been keeping up on this issue and maybe some rigorous science has ruled it out. But our Sun has a history of causing global warming and cooling. All without our help. It would seem like good investigative work to rule out the cause of the Earth's last couple of the global climate changes, wouldn't it? Perhaps it's too terrifying to contemplate a global crisis that is unfazed by UN resolutions and business meetings.

There are plenty of reason to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, not the least of which is national security and clean air. However I would hate for scientific principals to be discarded in the race to a 'good end'.

Hypocrites at the Washington Post call out Virginia candidate

I had to laugh when I saw this article in the Washington Post, in which the Post 'outs' a candidate running for the position of Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. The Post has uncovered that the Republican candidate (Gary H. Baise) took "nearly $300,000" in subsidies for an Illinois farm over the last 10 years. All of this was completely legal mind you. It's just that the Post felt there was something inherently shameful with a wealthy individual taking a government subsidy.

So what's funny about that? Well, for starters, I'd bet a large chunk of the wealthy Washington Post elite are taking somewhere between $6,000-$10,000 in government subsidies every single year as well. This subsidy is in the form of the mortgage interest deduction. Sorry but it's true - mortgage interest deduction will be a $100 billion tax-payer funded subsidy by 2009. And not only that, but it's a subsidy that disproportionally benefits the rich over the poor. Year 2003 IRS data shows that taxpayers who had an adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $30,000 received only 9% of the interest deduction subsidy, in spite of filing more than 52% of all tax returns. Yet those having more than $100,000 in AGI claimed 36% of the money. In fact, those making more than $75,000 in AGI claimed more than half of all mortgage interest deductions.

In 2004, the government handed out $89,500,000,000 in mortgage subsidies. 53% of that money (over $48,000,000,000) went to the 11.8% of taxpayers with AGIs over $100,000. And more than 20% of the money (~$18,400,000,000) went to the 2.3% of tax filers with AGIs over $200,000. Some of those people no doubt live in what would typically be called 'mansions'.

Ending this subsidy of course, is not popular. That's because so many benefit from it. But keep that in mind next April 15th. Do you really need that deduction? I'm sure everyone at the Washington Post will keep their pristine hands out of the cookie jar [/sarcasm]

For more info see HERE

Nobel prize winner calls for a halt to water fluoridation

Nobel prize winner Arvid Carlsson (awarded the prize for research into Parkinson's disease) along with about 600 other medical and science professionals calls for the halting of water fluoridation. Looks like the debate is heating up again:

Read/watch the story by clicking here

Professionals sign Fluoride Action Network call to end water fluoridation

Nobel Laureate Dr. Arvid Carlsson, one of 600 signers

American Dental Association guidance on infant formula

Former EPA scientist Bob Carton analyzes National Academy of Sciences report

Centers for Disease Control study cites statistics on fluorosis in children

National Academy of Sciences executive summary, Fluoride in Water

CRS Report for Congress: Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Review of Fluoridation and Regulation Issues

Another Judge Rules Driver Fees Unconstitutional

"An Arlington County General District Court judge has ruled that Virginia's abusive-driver fees are unconstitutional, saying they violate guarantees of equal protection because they apply only to state residents."

The County says they will appeal to the circuit court.

First round won: VA Driver's fees declared unconstitutional

A Henrico judge declared the new VA traffic fines unconstitutional. The ruling only applies to Henrico County, but will be appealed. Of course, this gives every defendant a path to follow.

Running for cover, Kaine & Co. try the Jedi mind trick

Found this gem in a WTOP story this afternoon:

"Some of the widespread alarm over the fees, Kaine and the legislative leaders said, is the result of inaccurate claims on blogs and elsewhere that led people to believe they would pay thousands for traffic violations as minor as improper turn signals"

Huh?? Who was claiming you would "pay thousands"? Of course, once again, the little details slip through our legislator's hands.

In fact, if you were cited for failing to use your turn signal, you would be charged with reckless driving. That's because the Code of Virginia defines it as such. And since it's reckless driving, a publication by the Office of the Executive Secretary for the Supreme Court of Virginia states that the Civil Remedial Fee for failure to signal would be (3) installments of $350 each. While not thousands (who claimed that again?), it is $1,050.00 in addition to whatever court fine you would pay.

I don't think anyone should be scolded by Virginia legislators who *all the sudden* claim they didn't completely understand OR read what they had voted on. If they can't manage to find the time to read what laws they're giving their 'thumbs up' to, maybe they shouldn't be voting at all.

And while the politicians go about trying to deflect blame, it's becoming clearer that the real reason the fines went from "everyone will pay" to just "Virginians will pay" has little to do with the enforcement of the fines. The current talking points are that since Virginia couldn't make out-of-state people pay, they wouldn't even try. Now who is really going to believe that? If they had a 10% voluntary payment rate, that would still be a lot of money, wouldn't it?

I think the real reason is this: Politicians feared a backlash (tourism and truck drivers??) Imagine the negative publicity someone like AAA might generate if they warned drivers about taking a vacation to Virginia (AAA oddly sided *with* the fines...btw, something I might rant about later). Or what if truck drivers staged some type of protest?

Instead, they opted to spring this on the stupid people of Virginia, who are too busy working and paying taxes to notice. I hope our memories are not as short as our Virginia legislator's work day.

Growing support for traffic fine repeal

Looks like there's a growing sense of just how ridiculous these new traffic fine laws are. A story on WTOP this morning notes there is a web petition that currently has 14,000 + 'signatures'. We'll see. At this point I thought everyone would have forgotten about it and gone back to watching their American Gladiators.

Online Petitions:

http://petitiononline.com/va3202/petition.html (14,000 + signatures at the time of this posting)

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/VAtrafficfees/signatures.html (1,000 + signatures at the time of this posting)

Virginia's new (and completely unconstitutional) traffic fine law

Starting this July 1, 2007, the state of Virginia will be imposing new “Civil Remedial Fees" on drivers who get certain types of driving citations (tickets). Money generated from these fines will be used to pay for highway improvements throughout the state. And they're no ordinary fines, they're huge. These new 'fees' will be in addition to any fines that are currently charged. A speeding ticket could now easily cost you more than $3,000 in fines. The infractions, along with the fines are listed here.

Aside from the general shock of how steep the fines are, I was also amazed to learn that these fines will only apply to Virginia residents:

“The civil remedial fees established by this section shall be assessed on any resident of Virginia operating a motor vehicle on the highways of Virginia, including persons to whom Virginia driver's licenses, commercial driver's licenses, or learner's permits have been issued pursuant to this title; and persons operating motor vehicles without licenses or whose license has been revoked or suspended.”

So if you’re from another state and are caught speeding in Virginia, you’re immune to these fines. That just doesn't sound right with me, and I believe the Constitution of the United States bars this type of law being passed.

Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution states that:

The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.

If a citizen from Virginia has a privilege and immunity from some penalty within Virginia, then a citizen of North Carolina (while in the state of Virginia) has that same protection as well. The writers of the Constitution were most likely worried that a state like Virginia might pass laws that only applied to citizens of another state, like Maryland for example. Something like, “

All drivers on the roads of Virginia must pay a highway use fee of $100 per day (*residents of Virginia are exempt).

Imagine the havoc it would create if each state started writing laws that only applied to citizens of other states. Commerce would break down as states retaliated against each other. We would be left with kingdom 'states', rather than a "united" states (the Constitution's authors probably never considered that a state might write laws that ‘stick it’ to only their own people, but that’s what Virginia is going to do).

That's why Article IV Section 2 of the Constitution says that if a citizen of Maryland is exempt from this fine/fee/penalty solely by virtue of the fact that they are a from the state of Maryland, then the state of Virginia has to afford me the same immunity/privilege.

Not content to violate just one part of the Constitution, Virgina has also decided to take on that pesky XIV Amendment. This amendment guarantees, in a nutshell, that no state shall

"...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Yet Virginia is planning to afford protection from this fine to the everyone but residents of Virginia. Imagine if the outcry if the phrase "Virginia resident" were replaced by any other description:

"The civil remedial fees established by this section shall be assessed on any (person of African decent, woman, Puerto Rican, Californian, resident of Richmond, etc) operating a motor vehicle on the highways of Virginia..."

In fact, the Supreme Court has already ruled on a similar issue once before (Hicklin v. Orbeck (No. 77-324)). In this case, an Alaskan law required preferential hiring of Alaskans based on their state of residence. The law was struck down in part because the law violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Art. IV, § 2.

The mystery in all this is not that Virginia Legislators have no idea what the Constitution says. It's why they would not fine everyone. Why would they forgo all that extra money? What about fining other state's residents has them rattled? You can see from the initial versions of this bill that they intended to fine everyone, then suddenly it was Virginians only.

Could it be they foresaw a bigger problem, maybe a federal problem dealing with interstate commerce?

Update: The VA Code Section related to the fees is located here.

Another mass murder, another link to anti-depressants

After the shock of the Virginia Tech shootings wear off, I hope that this nation will take this opportunity to ask this question: How much longer are we going to deny the link between shooting rampages and anti-depressants? The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, was recently on anti-depressants and may have been taking them at the time of the shooting. Surprised? I'm not. As soon as I heard about the shootings, I began to wait for this detail to leak out. Of course there would be a link because, as I noted in a previous article, almost all of them are. Ironically, both shooters graduated from the high school.

It's clearly not enough that the FDA put it's most serious warning on the boxes of serotonin reuptake inhibitors, warning that users were more likely to commit suicide and engage in aggressive behaviors than people who were taking a placebo.

For God's sake! Pull this crap off the market!!