Gonzalez is out.  Now can we please get someone running Justice who will clean up the ATF? And maybe, just maybe, have some respect for people’s constitutional rights?
Gonzalez made me pine for the days of Ashcroft. He was that bad.
Year: 2007
Just a Consultation
I thought I was going in for my crown lengthening today, but it turns out it was just a consultation. The actual procedure is September 12th. There’s some uncertainty as to whether the tooth can be saved, or will have to be yanked and replaced with an implant. Either way, it’s going to be a lot of chair time, and a lot of cash out of my pocket. Argh!
Are We Getting Administrative Registration?
Ryan Horsely thinks it’s a strong possibility. I looked at this:
TF stated its requirements for the planned system: “The Web portal shall support law enforcement activities, a collaborative work environment, remote access to databases and software, surveillance and streaming video applications over an integrated wireless infrastructure encompassing a broad spectrum of wireless devices and a secure e-mail system using iPass Mobile Systems software and products.â€
I’m an IT professional, and to me that’s complete nonsense. I have no idea what they are talking about, and I doubt they do either. Does this mean there’s no reason to worry? I would worry.
Server Switch
Snowflakes in Hell is now running on a new server. I am in the process of consolidating down to a single machine running 24/7 in my house. You will notice there was no down time involved in the switch over. That is because, unlike the Pennsylvania State Police, I know how to upgrade a database without disruption.
Places I Hate: Best Buy
I needed two things. I needed electronic blow off cleaner, and a USB hub.  I go to Best Buy.  The only USB hub they have is 30 dollars. In addition, the very small can of blow off they have, is more than 8 dollars. I can get a big can two pack for 16 dollars, but that’s more than I want.  So I think “Screw Best Buy and their prices!” and I go to Wal Mart, where I get an extra jumbo size blow off cleaner for 4.99, and get my USB hub for 9.99, and they didn’t even try to sell me an overpriced extended warranty.  Capitalism at work.
Best Buy’s prices for computer peripherals, particularly cabling, are way way higher than they ought to be. If you can get it at Wal Mart, or even Radio Shack, do it. Best Buy as a last resort, because they are typically everything except the Best Buy.
WHO Ranking for Health Care
Megan McArdle, writing at her blog’s new location over at the Atlantic, explains why she thinks WHO rankings of health care system quality are off. I’ve always been a fan of her health plan.
Favorite Things Pennsylvania
Tyler Cowen has his list. I would have to add Tastykakes, particularly Butterscotch and Jelly Krimpets. Not the Lemon or Creme filled Krimpets though; those are an abomination in the eyes of god.  It’s a great way to get your morning dose of yummy, Mayor Bloomberg approved trans-fat!
A New Deception
Bryan Miller has a new post up, and makes this claim:
These and other Newark initiatives are important because, although the bulk of illegal handguns traced from crime in the city and across the state were originally purchased out-of-state and trafficked to the Garden State (a conclusion reinforced by data published Monday by ATF, which I will analyze more closely in an upcoming entry, see [URL], it is the case that a significant portion of crime guns recovered in Newark were part of multiple sales made by in-state gun dealers.
No doubt Bryan wishes the data linked to by the ATF supported this, because he’s currently trying to get one-gun-a-month passed in New Jersey (and Pennsylvania too, by the way). But the data does not mention anything about multiple firearms sales. Multiple firearms sales are something that has to be reported to ATF currently (he won’t tell you that part), but they don’t combine that data with the trace request data.
This is an outrage …
… another example of how we shouldn’t worry too much about losing our civil liberties because of the war on terror, because we’ve already lost them fighting the war on drugs. Also, the ACLU draws a lot of people’s ire from time to time, including mine, but they do good work a lot of the time. This is one of those times.
You Know The Government is Testing our Poop Doncha?
If someone were to say that, you might think that they were a paranoid psychotic. Well, it turns out they wouldn’t be.
She plans to start a survey for drugs in the wastewater of at least 40 Oregon communities.
The science behind the testing is simple. Nearly every drug — legal and illicit — that people take leaves the body. That waste goes into toilets and then into wastewater treatment plants.
“Wastewater facilities are wonderful places to understand what humans consume and excrete,” Field said.
I’ll bet guys are lining up to take her on a date! When people are storing urine and feces in jars in their basement, because they really are out to get you, things certainly will have taken a turn for the surreal.