Shall Not Be Questioned » Government

Helicopter Government

Bitter — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:18:34 +0000

Forget helicopter parents mentioned in the post over teens who no longer desire the independence that comes with driving, this is a case of government gone mad with control over how you parent your children.

The Department of Labor has proposed new rules that would restrict children under the age of 16 from working on a farm or ranch. The list of tasks youth would not be allowed to do is astonishing to me. For example, milking cows would not be allowed, and neither would building a fence. One item that stood out to me was that no youth under the age of 16 would be allowed to use a tool that was powered by any source other than hand or foot power. That would eliminate youth using flashlights, garden hoses (because hoses are powered by water) battery operated screwdrivers, etc.

The mother who wrote this (a fifth-generation hog farmer in Missouri) notes that she cares about the safety of her children far more than any federal bureaucrat in DC, and she, as a mother, should be trusted to keep her children safe.

I spent my high school years in a small town where the biggest paper of the year had huge pictures of all the kids who won ribbons at the county fair with the animals they raised. Sometimes, that required work and tools that the Department of Labor would now ban. Those kids raised those animals, contributed to all of the work that goes into caring for them, and many times would get to enjoy the fruits of their labor with the reward of feeding their families. It seems like some bureaucrat in DC isn’t a fan of such a way of life. As much as the left complains about big corporations and not having family-run farms, they sure seem to be in a hurry to destroy what is left of that culture.

Holder Recommits the Obama Administration to More Gun Control

Sebastian — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:43:54 +0000

Holder has been known for getting the Administration into hot water by pushing a gun control agenda publicly (as opposed to the Administration’s actual strategy, which is to push it behind the scenes). Chris Cox, NRA-ILA’s Chief Lobbyist, points out what Holder has recently been saying, but I wanted to present the full video of the actual statement. If you’ve just eaten, I apologize, for the poor, and shameless dramatic acting here by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) is liable to make your stomach churn:

I do have to note that Issa is quite the fisherman rhetorically. After Connolly is finished his sorry display of dramatic acting, Issa casts the bait out there, and with the help of Connolly, Holder takes it hook, line and sinker. Issa asked the Administration to present to Congress the package of gun control it wants. I can promise you during the election year, this will not be forthcoming. In fact, Connolly should probably be happy Rahm is now mayor of Chicago. Getting confronted in the Congressional showers by a naked Rahm would be the least of Connolly’s problems with the now former Chief of Staff, given that he helped Issa bait Holder, and was probably too dumb to realize it.

We would dearly love to have the Administration on public record as pushing gun control heading into the 2012 election. That would make my job as a volunteer a lot easier, not to mention the folks back in Fairfax.

On Ginsburg’s Statement to Egypt

Sebastian — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:25:41 +0000

When I heard of Justice Ginsburg’s statement before an Egyptian audience today, I have to admit I just couldn’t work up the amount of outage as many on the right. Many folks fail to consider that a good part of our constitution is strictly mechanical, and represents compromises brought about by folks who were facing the daunting task of bringing 13 separate sovereigns together into some kind of national Republic. Much of the mechanics of the US constitution doesn’t translate into the political cultures of other countries, even if the overarching principles are worth studying (for which I would include to RKBA to be among those principles).

Eugene Volokh also sticks up for Justice Ginsburg:

And it might well be that Egypt might be well-served by a very different approach than the U.S. Constitutions — for instance, with regard to relations between the federal government and more local governments, with regard to whether to have a Presidential system or a parliamentary system, with regard to how hard the constitution would be to amend, with regard to how judges are selected and how long they serve, with regard to how the President is selected, with regard to the relationship between the two chambers of the legislature, with regard to whether all executive officials work for the President or whether some are independently elected or selected, with regard to just how to craft the criminal justice system, and so on. (And here I just speak of the big picture questions, and not more specific details.) Remember that even our own states’ constitutions differ in many respects, especially with regard to separation of powers and the selection and tenure of judges, from the U.S. Constitution. Again, that the constitutional text, coupled with a wide range of extratextual political and legal practices, has worked well for us over 200+ years doesn’t tell us that it would work well for Egypt for the coming years.

I tend to agree, and with the rest of his argument. I certainly have many disagreements with Justice Ginsburg’s interpretations of the U.S. Constitution, but in many ways the US Constitution reflects the unique circumstances of this country’s founding, and continuing political struggles, that is not necessarily reflective of the political struggles in other countries. To be sure, it outlines many guarantees I believe are universal, but most of the constitution revolves around structural components which are arguably suited to our culture, but perhaps not others. It would, for instance, be difficult to imagine the French arguing over the meaning of interstate commerce, to the extent Americans do today, and have done since the founding.

Chainsaw Ripping Through the Door

Sebastian — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:57:03 +0000

I read about this wrong house raid incident last night, and I have to agree with SayUncle on this one:

Using a chainsaw seems to me to be unnecessarily dangerous and doesn’t lend itself to stealth. Also, if I were sitting around my house and I saw and heard a chainsaw coming through the door, my first thought will not be it’s the police and I should cooperate.

Yeah, I would not think someone chainsawing my door is the cops. Then again, it would have to be an awfully stupid prowler too, considering how much noise that makes.

No related posts.

Proof that F&F Was a Plot to Bring About Gun Control

Sebastian — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:34:05 +0000

Dave Hardy links to the smoking gun at the Arizona star. Essentially F&F was concocted by the same people behind the Assault Weapons Ban in the 1990s. The smoking quote:

In an April 2010 e-mail to a colleague, Burke predicted that the operation would have a huge public impact: “It’s going to bring a lot of attention to straw purchasers of assault weapons,” he wrote. “Some of these weapons bought by these clowns in Arizona have been directly traced to murders of elected officials in Mexico by the cartels, so Katie-bar-the-door when we unveil this baby.”

So the response was to traffic more guns, and rack up more dead bodies, then hopefully the American people would wake up and ban these dangerous guns? This guy needs to go to jail.

Extinct Species are Better than Hunting

Bitter — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:20:24 +0000

This video is a must watch from CBS on the economics of saving endangered species through hunting. Though a couple of the questions are a bit over the top (how do you kill something you love?), it’s overwhelmingly fair. And yes, the animal rights activist argues that she’d rather see a species struggle to survive than be raised in the United States and potentially hunted once the numbers are high enough.

The rule the mention that will basically slash the numbers of near-extinct animals to almost nil can be found here and has a bit of history to it. Consider this from the background information from the Fish & Wildlife Service:

With the exception of reintroduced animals, no sightings of the scimitar-horned oryx have been reported since the late 1980s. …

Based on a 2010 census of its members, the Exotic Wildlife Association (EWA) estimates there are 11,032 scimitar-horned oryx, 5,112 addax, and 894 dama gazelle on EWA member ranches.

Just on member ranches, there are more than 11,000 animals of a species that hasn’t been see on its original home turf in North Africa in 30 years. Yet, it’s not acceptable that these animals are raised and thrive in a new land according to an activist who purportedly wants the species to live.

I asked someone who knows animal issues and the federal government if this falls squarely on the Obama Administration. I was told yes and no. As it was explained to me, while the Fish & Wildlife Service was forced into the position by the courts, the Administration could have fixed the flaws in the original rule that allowed the hunts to take place. They didn’t, so now the hunts are ending.

As I’ve grown so fond of saying in recent years, elections have consequences. For these 11,000 scimitar-horned oryx, it’s pretty much a death sentence with possible extinction of the species. For hunters, it’s access to unique hunting opportunities where the profits will go back into recovering the species for future generations. For gun owners in general, well, it’s just another door closing on one the traditions for some in our community.

This Can Never Be Good

Sebastian — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:20:10 +0000

Jim Geraghty takes a look at Newt’s contract from Freddie Mac, a subject of current controversy. But what interests me, particularly, is the opening line from one of his readers:

I worked at Freddie as a consultant during the same timeframe that Newt was there. I can tell you that the place was creepy with consultants of all ilk. The semi-circle drive in front of the main building was logged jammed with Lincoln Towncars come 4:30 pm every day. I’ve stood in line with Paul Begala waiting to get a coffee at the Starbucks in the Freddie lobby. Freddie at its height was a multi-trillion-dollar company that had only about 6,000 employees. Everyone else was a consultant or contractor.

There’s no way this is the situation and there’s not an awful lot of fleecing going on.

No related posts.

SOTU Summarized

Sebastian — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:27:59 +0000

Hey, aren’t I awesome? I killed Bin-Laden. Congress sucks because they won’t work with me. You kind of suck too, by the way. The rich, they also totally suck because they aren’t paying as much as Warren Buffet’s secretary. What we really need is a government program, and if you put that on my desk, I’ll sign the shit out of it right now. Not everything is bad, because Master Lock kicks ass. If you think things are bad today, it’s because we don’t work together like Navy Seals do. Did I mention I killed Bin-Laden? Goodnight capitalist pigs.

- Barack Obama

Tweet the SOTU

Sebastian — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:17:52 +0000

Sean has a few pertinent questions he’s trying to get in front of the Administration during the SOTU, including convenient links for helping get the word out across Twitter.

Another Gun Running Scandal for ATF?

Sebastian — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:37:28 +0000

The LA Times is reporting there appears to be yet another gun running scandal involving ATF. This one is called White Gun. Some of the details of the investigation are startling:

According to the ATF documents, Guzman Patino told the undercover agent that “if he would bring them a tank, they would buy it.” He boasted he had “$15 million to spend on firearms and not to worry about the money.” He wanted “the biggest and most extravagant firearms available.”

The two met again outside a Phoenix restaurant, and the undercover agent showed Guzman Patino five weapons in the trunk of his vehicle, including a Bushmaster rifle and a Ramo .50 heavy machine gun. The undercover agent said he could get that kind of firepower for the Sinaloans.

Can someone from the other side explain to me how you’re going to keep an organization with a 15 million dollar arms budget disarmed?

The same undercover agent met the pair in February 2010 at a Phoenix warehouse. David Diaz-Sosa and Jorge DeJesus-Casteneda brought 11 pounds of crystal methamphetamine to trade for weapons. The undercover agent showed them shoulder-launched missiles, rocket launchers and grenades before ATF agents moved in and arrested them.

All of which you can surely buy at US gun shows. In ATF’s defense, it would seem that the guns lost in White Gun were accidentally lost, rather than deliberately lost, so this can at least be chalked up to incompetence, rather than malice.