September 2004 Archives

I am from Texas where bigger is always better when it comes to trucks, and bigger is almost always what you get. My mom used to drive a big 4x4 pickup and before that she had another 4x4 truck that was so enormous we called the the “swoopmobile” because parking required the dexterity of a NASCAR driver and lots of Swooping Action®. What is even better is my mom isn’t really a big woman, in fact she’s quite petit, so seeing her behind the wheel brought to mind images of the Wicked Witch of the West on her broom (maybe that’s just me). But today I read about something so incredibly monstrous that I can hardly even believe it isn’t a complete load of crap.

(in case that isn’t clear enough, click here for a better view.)

This is the CXT, the newest super-SUV, from the semi company International Truck and Engine. The CXT is 2 feet taller and 4.5 feet longer than the Hummer H2, weighs twice as much and can haul 5 times the amount. The CXT is also the seventh sign of the apocalypse. Run. Now.

Remember John Gilmore? The guy suing to government for requiring IDs before board planes, trains, and buses is in court and the case just gets better and better. The latest news is that the Justice Department is petitioning the court to hear its rebuttal in secret, and alone (i.e. without the plaintiff’s lawayers even). But don’t worry, a redacted version of their arguments will be made available to the public.

The irony is so thick in this I feel slightly nauseated. One of the main charges made against the government is that any directive to show ID is in fact a secret, and so even its existence is classified. Gilmore’s lawyer called the request an effort to produce “secret court proceedings about secret laws.” And of course he’s exactly right. It’s getting crazy.

See my previous rants about secrecy in the current administration.

One more reason Alan Keyes is a danger to himself and others, not to mention an out-of-control nut job: Keyes called Barack Obama, his opponent in the Illinois Senate race a “socialist and a liar.” Then he went on to say that Jesus would not vote for Obama because of his pro-choice views.

Fine, I grant you Jesus might not approve of abortion (at least in most cases), but I doubt He would appreciate His name being used in a political tirade either. Keyes needs to move back to Maryland and get out of politics in Illinois. Oh, what’s that you say? He doesn’t even live in Illinois yet? You don’t say!

What kind of balls does one have to have to create record budget deficits year after year, and then turn around use the threat of deficits to disparage your opponents? Maybe a better question would be, how dumb do you think we are, Mr. President? (Answer: Sadly, it looks like we are exactly as dumb as you think we are, i.e. very.)

The new congressional estimate is “a sign of the economic growth that is a result of President Bush’s leadership on tax relief,” said Tim Adams, policy director for the Bush campaign. He said Kerry’s budget plans, which include expanding health care programs, mean “higher taxes on all Americans or a budget deficit that is completely out of control.”

And if that isn’t bad enough, the president’s campaign is implying that his tax initiatives are responsible for “lower deficits”. Yeah, lower than the leviathan you created, yet still so large as to have never even been contemplated before now.

“This report underscores that our policies are working to create a stronger economy, more jobs and a lower deficit,” said House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa.

DISCLOSURE: I support lower taxes on principle and I supported the last two major tax cuts. However, overspending in addition has only exacerbated the issue.

Being without the internet at home has left me feeling a little out of touch these days. Television was never my main source of news because it is uniformly of poor quality and because I just don’t care to watch it much. Mainly I read newspapers like the NY Times, LA Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post online, websites like Drudge Report and quite a good number of blogs (personal and not), and subscribe to a ton of magazines (The Economist is my fav new mag). Without the net and my magazines (I let most lapse) my news consumption has dropped precipitously. However, what scraps of news I have been able to gather on my lunch break and when my boss isn’t looking have been really intriguing.

One thing I have noticed more and more of is the mention of the institution of all manner of things “federal”. Much of these changes stem from the findings of the 9/11 Commission as outlined in its final report last month. The Commission report (which I have not read) mentions the need for federal oversight of the civil rights implications of existing and proposed anti-terrorism and intelligence reform laws, for example. Also, the need for “consistent standards to ensure the integrity of both the document and the issuance process” of state identification cards like driver’s licenses, etc. Not to mention the call for the creation of a national intelligence chief to coordinate some 15 spy agencies at the federal level.

Lately, I have been getting a lot of flack for claiming to be a republican. It’s especially hard here in New York City where our Republican mayor maybe be the only person willing to openly state his party affiliation. When I talk to be others about my political beliefs they tell me that I am easily a Democrat and have no business calling myself anything else, unless that something else is a Libertarian. I find it difficult to articulate exactly why I don’t change my affiliation when I am in favor of progressive taxes, publicly financed mass transit, gay marriage, funding for the NEA and other ‘non-productive’ intellectual pursuits (more NASA anyone?), repeal of the PATRIOT Act, etc. But there are a few things that I hold onto as clearly Republican ideals, one of them is a natural skepticism of federal programs. So when I begin hearing about a federal commission on civil rights or what is tantamount to a national ID card I have to stop and think a little.

To be honest, my first reaction to the civil rights oversight board proposal was something along the lines of, “Thank the Lord, we need someone to watch out for John Ashcroft or that crazy will see us submitting to background checks to buy bananas.” After that though my mind started working out the whole scenario. The 9/11 report sees “a board within the executive branch to oversee adherence to the guidelines we recommend and the commitment the government makes to defend our civil liberties.”

We have recommended a great deal of government intervention and strengthening of government power over individual lives, and we think it’s necessary because of the threat, but you have to have some check on that expansion. No one agency can deal with this problem alone.

Lee Hamilton, vice chairman, 9/11 Commission

Do I really trust an office of the federal government to be an effective restraint on itself? The answer is, no. I want to see an independent agency at least, along the lines of the EPA, but without a presidential appointment or at least a super majority in congress for confirmation. The office would need to have real teeth too. If it can do nothing but advise the president and congress then it is useless.

NOTE: The president announced the formation of just such a pointless board this week. It is part of the Justice Department and it can only issue recommendations to the President and Congress. All it’s members are political appointments.

As promised, here is one of the reasons I cannot support the reelection of President Bush: too many secrets.

This administration has developed the nasty habit of stamping anything that moves with a big red CLASSIFIED stamp. In a supposed effort to make sure that terrorists don’t have access to information that would help them plan future attacks the government is classifying documents at an astounding rate: nearly 14.2 million documents were deemed secret and unavailable to the public 2003 — double the number 10 years ago.

In the 60s Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act as an affirmation that the more open the government is to everyone, the easier it will be for citizens to hold officials accountable for their actions, to take advantage of government programs, information, etc. We as citizens have a right to government files and information because the government works on our behalf, so the work of the government belongs to us and so does it’s work product.

But under this administration classification has increased while declassification has decreased dramatically. in 2001, 100 million pages were declassified at a cost the taxpayers of $231. Last year, only 43 million pages were declassified, costing $54 million. At the same time we are spending huge amounts to classify and secure new information — $6.5 billion in 2003, up $2 billion from 2001.

Nearly 4000 people have the authority to classify documents, including members of the Depts. of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency. This leads to increased expenses and less information in the public domain.

The argument that so much information must be secured against disclosure in the cause of greater security is bogus as well. According to the Information Security Oversight Office, part of the US Dept. of Justice, “secrecy guarantees a less-than-optimal outcome” for security efforts.

I read about a case where a man wanted to organize his neighbors in protest against a proposed pipeline construction that might place their property under eminent domain. He tried to get the plans for the pipeline from the engineering office but was told that they were classified for security reasons. He was unable to identify the properties to be impounded by the government and so his protest was effectively quashed. After the project was approved the plans were suddenly unclassified and available on the internet. Clearly this is a misuse of of classification authority.

[via Wired News and OpenTheGovernemnt.org]

Normally I avoid writing posts that deal with what is happening in my personal life. This is partly because my life isn’t that interesting and partly because that is not what this blog is for. I see my blog as a place to muse on bigger issues, as an avenue for me to indulge my occasionally strong urge to write without fear of harsh critique or quality controls, and as a way to inform people in my life about issues I think are important.

But today is a big day for me personally and it has gotten me thinking about my life over the past three years; what they have meat to me and how I am going to miss them. As of about 15 minutes ago my college career is at an end — I submitted my last college assignment, a paper on the state of the internet in China. The paper was late of course, but it is done now and with it a major part of my life. My formal education has ended, at least for the foreseeable future. For the past 22 years the big phases in my life have been predefined by society and family: learn in elementary school to do well in middle school to succeed in high school to get into college. But now it is all about where I want to go.

Katie and I were just talking about how odd it is to walk around the NYU campus now because when we see entering freshman and other students we no longer think of them as our peers. We are outsiders now, whereas three months ago we were insiders, if not fully immersed anymore.

For me seeing the new freshmen reminds me of the day I moved to New York. My memory craps out of me so often that it’s surprising how vividly I remember my first few days here. In particular I remember sitting there and saying to myself, the day will come all too soon when you will remember sitting here and thinking how fast it will all be over. At that point I hadn’t even started and I had hundreds of hours of classwork ahead of me, but I knew it would be over before I realized it and I would regret not taking advantage of everything I could.

Check out the Vice Guide to Everything. It’s hilarious, but definitely NOT FAMILY SAFE.