Bungle in the Jungle
So Washington State can have a blanket primary but California can't? California's blanket (or "jungle") primary law went down to a 7-2 U.S. Supreme Court defeat in 2000, yet a District Court judge decided this week that because there was no history of requiring voters to register by party in Washington, the primary system in that state could stand. Hmm. California has told people they had to register by party in the past, so a blanket primary now is unconstitutional. Washington state lets people register with affiliating themselves, so a blanket primary is fine for them.
But the two factors in this decision were a) whether the state parties were unduly burdened by people who weren't party members voting in their primaries and b) whether the state had a compelling interest in keeping the primaries as open as possible. The parties worry about people from other parties voting strategically in their primary for the least viable candidate. But isn't that just as likely in one state as they other? And on the second point, why would the state have a compelling interest to keep primaries open in Washington but not in California? Yes, California's system was closed tighter than Washington's had been. But if blanket primaries are a good idea for any state, wouldn't that mean that California needs that kind of openness even more that Washington, whose primaries were fairly open to begin with? This seems to suggest that when it comes to election law, a state is even more bound by precedent than a court is.
Incidentally, I'm inclined to agree with the three parties (Republicans, Democrats, an Libertarians) that a blanket primary does in fact infringe on their right to freedom of association. There's a strong argument that no state should be allowed to have a blanket primary. The fact that the District Court judge relied so heavily on past registration practices, however, seems to have produced a troubling contradiction.
Saturday, March 30, 2002
Strung Up By His Own Bowtie
Washington, DC's Inspector General has reported on a multitude of ethics violations made by Mayor Anthony Williams and his staff. Raising campaign money in government buildings and using government resources, it is alleged. The mayor has denied wrongdoing, of course, going so far as to include in his public statement the phrase that, in Washington, is generally regarded as a veiled admission of guilt: "Because of insufficient management oversight, mistakes were made." The passive voice to the rescue again. We had a corrupt mayor before, of course. But at least he had some personality.
Washington, DC's Inspector General has reported on a multitude of ethics violations made by Mayor Anthony Williams and his staff. Raising campaign money in government buildings and using government resources, it is alleged. The mayor has denied wrongdoing, of course, going so far as to include in his public statement the phrase that, in Washington, is generally regarded as a veiled admission of guilt: "Because of insufficient management oversight, mistakes were made." The passive voice to the rescue again. We had a corrupt mayor before, of course. But at least he had some personality.
Friday, March 29, 2002
The End of a Long, Crooked Path
It's hardly surprising that Yasser Arafat has ended up pinned down in his headquarters and surrounded by the Israeli military, waiting to become a martyr. What is surprising that it didn't happen ten years ago - and that before the end came, he had received and rejected an offer of a sovereign Palestinian state. Followers of Said and Chomsky should ask themselves if the Palestinians, or any Arab League members, ever made an equivalent offer of compromise toward Israel.
It's hardly surprising that Yasser Arafat has ended up pinned down in his headquarters and surrounded by the Israeli military, waiting to become a martyr. What is surprising that it didn't happen ten years ago - and that before the end came, he had received and rejected an offer of a sovereign Palestinian state. Followers of Said and Chomsky should ask themselves if the Palestinians, or any Arab League members, ever made an equivalent offer of compromise toward Israel.
Worm Parking Only
James Lileks' Bleat today on his daughter's early mastery of counting and language led him to a critical appraisal of Sesame Street which was right on target:
"Thank Sesame Street? No. We just watch the Elmo and Count portion. Most of Sesame Street bugs me and bores her. The theme annoys me. Big Bird annoys me. The location segments appear to be set in this Serpico-era New York where kids have to get tetanus shots before they touch any of the playground equipment, and the parents all look like it’s 1974. (Possibly because the film is old, and it is 1974.) It’s often smug and self-righteous - today, for example, there was this worm who was about to take the worm subway. The human person was praising the worm for taking the worm subway instead of driving a car, and said 'when you drove the worm car you were stuck in traffic, and you couldn’t find a parking spot! I’ll bet you’re so much happier now that you have the worm subway.' Jebus."
Even by the 1980s I had begun to think that the live-action shots of kids running around on the playground looked disturbingly gritty and dated. As if all of the featured children were from some unusually rough public housing project and had to be sent to the public park where they filmed part of Sesame Street to keep them away from the dealers and pimps in the hallways. That, combined with the PC indoctrination, make Thunder Cats seem like a viable viewing alternative.
James Lileks' Bleat today on his daughter's early mastery of counting and language led him to a critical appraisal of Sesame Street which was right on target:
"Thank Sesame Street? No. We just watch the Elmo and Count portion. Most of Sesame Street bugs me and bores her. The theme annoys me. Big Bird annoys me. The location segments appear to be set in this Serpico-era New York where kids have to get tetanus shots before they touch any of the playground equipment, and the parents all look like it’s 1974. (Possibly because the film is old, and it is 1974.) It’s often smug and self-righteous - today, for example, there was this worm who was about to take the worm subway. The human person was praising the worm for taking the worm subway instead of driving a car, and said 'when you drove the worm car you were stuck in traffic, and you couldn’t find a parking spot! I’ll bet you’re so much happier now that you have the worm subway.' Jebus."
Even by the 1980s I had begun to think that the live-action shots of kids running around on the playground looked disturbingly gritty and dated. As if all of the featured children were from some unusually rough public housing project and had to be sent to the public park where they filmed part of Sesame Street to keep them away from the dealers and pimps in the hallways. That, combined with the PC indoctrination, make Thunder Cats seem like a viable viewing alternative.
I Assume Revealing jpgs Are Still Allowed
Declan McCullagh of Wired News and the Politech mailing list alerts us that some unconstitutional chicanery is going on in the Northwest. The State of Washington's legislature has decided to outlaw posting the personal information (address, phone number, social security number) of law enforcement officers online. You can still post any other Washingtonian's personal information, but cops are a protected species. They already get to tear up their speeding tickets, now this?
For residents or those planning trips to the Evergreen State, you'll need the right apparel to comply with the spirit if the law.
Declan McCullagh of Wired News and the Politech mailing list alerts us that some unconstitutional chicanery is going on in the Northwest. The State of Washington's legislature has decided to outlaw posting the personal information (address, phone number, social security number) of law enforcement officers online. You can still post any other Washingtonian's personal information, but cops are a protected species. They already get to tear up their speeding tickets, now this?
For residents or those planning trips to the Evergreen State, you'll need the right apparel to comply with the spirit if the law.
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Stop Building that Soylent Green Factory
Today the New York Times editorial page alerted readers to a trend demographers have observed for several years, namely that the rate of global population growth is slowing dramatically and falling well below the alarming estimates made in previous decades - the most famous of which was Paul Ehrlich’s hilariously wrongheaded book The Population Bomb.
The story of the Third World population explosion that didn’t happen is an important one. For people who think modern civilization is inherently unsustainable, it is a reminder that not every trend we see today will continue at the same rate 50 years into the future. When Ehrlich was writing his breathless predictions of doom, there was some reason to be nervous if you assumed the then-current reproduction rates would continue forever. A wealthier, more urbanized, and more technologically advanced tomorrow stopped the increase, however, and solved the problem (at least into the foreseeable future).
One other thought - the NYT warns world leaders against letting this good news make them complacent:
“But further gains will be difficult. … A woman of 25 with two children needs a steady supply of contraception for the rest of her reproductive life if she is not to have another.”
Must not be very many Catholics on the NYT editorial board. Too bad, because there are a lot of them in the Third World.
Today the New York Times editorial page alerted readers to a trend demographers have observed for several years, namely that the rate of global population growth is slowing dramatically and falling well below the alarming estimates made in previous decades - the most famous of which was Paul Ehrlich’s hilariously wrongheaded book The Population Bomb.
The story of the Third World population explosion that didn’t happen is an important one. For people who think modern civilization is inherently unsustainable, it is a reminder that not every trend we see today will continue at the same rate 50 years into the future. When Ehrlich was writing his breathless predictions of doom, there was some reason to be nervous if you assumed the then-current reproduction rates would continue forever. A wealthier, more urbanized, and more technologically advanced tomorrow stopped the increase, however, and solved the problem (at least into the foreseeable future).
One other thought - the NYT warns world leaders against letting this good news make them complacent:
“But further gains will be difficult. … A woman of 25 with two children needs a steady supply of contraception for the rest of her reproductive life if she is not to have another.”
Must not be very many Catholics on the NYT editorial board. Too bad, because there are a lot of them in the Third World.
Don't Blame Me, I Voted for the Existentialist Libertarian Druid
Thanks to Marc Webster for this one too:
The conventional knowledge about California's upcoming gubernatorial election is that having beaten the moderate-to-liberal Richard Riordan in the Republican primary, nominee Bill Simon, Jr. has too conservative a reputation to have a chance of unseating Gov. Gray Davis. Perhaps, but there's a new wrinkle in the story: the Libertarian party's nominee for Governor and self-described existentialist libertarian Druid, Gary Copeland. Like any true libertarian, he's done a lot of drugs - including LSD. The experience expanded his mind so much he decided to run for a major elected office in the U.S. as a third party candidate. Naturally he gets some flak for being outspoken about his Druidry, but he doesn't mind: "'It doesn’t bother me at all,' says Copeland. 'It’s not an issue with me. It’s their issue, not mine. When people speak, they speak for who they are. . . . It’s my path to serve, and I’m doing that. I know not everyone’s going to agree, but that’s okay.'" Right on, dude. Another charming fact - his address is 5 Moccasin Trail, Trabuco Canyon, CA. Sounds like a peaceful place to live.
Thanks to Marc Webster for this one too:
The conventional knowledge about California's upcoming gubernatorial election is that having beaten the moderate-to-liberal Richard Riordan in the Republican primary, nominee Bill Simon, Jr. has too conservative a reputation to have a chance of unseating Gov. Gray Davis. Perhaps, but there's a new wrinkle in the story: the Libertarian party's nominee for Governor and self-described existentialist libertarian Druid, Gary Copeland. Like any true libertarian, he's done a lot of drugs - including LSD. The experience expanded his mind so much he decided to run for a major elected office in the U.S. as a third party candidate. Naturally he gets some flak for being outspoken about his Druidry, but he doesn't mind: "'It doesn’t bother me at all,' says Copeland. 'It’s not an issue with me. It’s their issue, not mine. When people speak, they speak for who they are. . . . It’s my path to serve, and I’m doing that. I know not everyone’s going to agree, but that’s okay.'" Right on, dude. Another charming fact - his address is 5 Moccasin Trail, Trabuco Canyon, CA. Sounds like a peaceful place to live.
This Just In: Whitman Ineffective, Grass Still Green
The Nation's David Corn has a column on Mother Jones' website lamenting the lack of influence EPA Administrator Christie Whitman seems to have in the White House. The Administration says she has broad authority to address environmental issues, but she's constantly being undermined by Bush's domestic policy team. Well, yeah. Does this surprise anyone? If it were up to Bush and Cheney there probably wouldn't even be an EPA. They think energy, for example, should be cheap and plentiful rather than tightly regulated and assiduously conserved. People in the White House don't really agree with a lot of what the EPA does, so why should anyone be shocked when they cut the Agency's enforcement budget or contradict Whitman's public statements? Yes, it's probably no fun being EPA chief in a conservative administration. But it's also no fun being a taxpayer in a Liberal one.
The Nation's David Corn has a column on Mother Jones' website lamenting the lack of influence EPA Administrator Christie Whitman seems to have in the White House. The Administration says she has broad authority to address environmental issues, but she's constantly being undermined by Bush's domestic policy team. Well, yeah. Does this surprise anyone? If it were up to Bush and Cheney there probably wouldn't even be an EPA. They think energy, for example, should be cheap and plentiful rather than tightly regulated and assiduously conserved. People in the White House don't really agree with a lot of what the EPA does, so why should anyone be shocked when they cut the Agency's enforcement budget or contradict Whitman's public statements? Yes, it's probably no fun being EPA chief in a conservative administration. But it's also no fun being a taxpayer in a Liberal one.
Public Schools are SOL
Virginia is expanding their statewide assessment (the SOL, or Standards of Learning test) for public school kids - now every student in grades 3 through 8 will be tested every year. This is, in part, an attempt to comply with the test-crazy federal education bill (the "No Child Left Behind Act") that recently became law. Tests are fine, but the question should be what schools do once they have the results. If scores are low, by whatever measure, what exactly is going to happen? Teachers unions say you can't punish schools for low scores by withholding funding - they're the ones who need the most help. They should get extra money! What should be done for exemplary schools? Why, they should get some kind of reward ... maybe grant money to expand their efforts and teach other schools their strategies. I'm beginning to see a pattern. To give credit, the Bush education bill didn't give into this line of argument entirely. The requirements of the reform, in fact, may force schools across the country to fire thousand of teachers who, according to new the standards, are no longer qualified to teach. Which reminds me, didn't the Gingrich of 1994 say that the Republican Revolution was going to abolish the Department of Education?
Virginia is expanding their statewide assessment (the SOL, or Standards of Learning test) for public school kids - now every student in grades 3 through 8 will be tested every year. This is, in part, an attempt to comply with the test-crazy federal education bill (the "No Child Left Behind Act") that recently became law. Tests are fine, but the question should be what schools do once they have the results. If scores are low, by whatever measure, what exactly is going to happen? Teachers unions say you can't punish schools for low scores by withholding funding - they're the ones who need the most help. They should get extra money! What should be done for exemplary schools? Why, they should get some kind of reward ... maybe grant money to expand their efforts and teach other schools their strategies. I'm beginning to see a pattern. To give credit, the Bush education bill didn't give into this line of argument entirely. The requirements of the reform, in fact, may force schools across the country to fire thousand of teachers who, according to new the standards, are no longer qualified to teach. Which reminds me, didn't the Gingrich of 1994 say that the Republican Revolution was going to abolish the Department of Education?
Panda Assault!
The curators at the National Zoo here in Washington aren't calling it attempted rape, but the details do seem to point in that direction. On Sunday morning, Tian Tian made his move on the zoo's female panda, Mei Xiang, and was swiftly rebuffed. She spent the next day and a half huddled nervously in her favorite tree trying to keep away from the brute.
Now I'm as saddened at this development as anyone, but let's not forget these pandas are only here on a 10-year lease from China. We're paying the Reds a million dollars a year each for these things, and if we don't gets some heart-meltingly cute cubs out of the pair, we'll simply be out of luck. This calls for some serious romantic therapy.
The curators at the National Zoo here in Washington aren't calling it attempted rape, but the details do seem to point in that direction. On Sunday morning, Tian Tian made his move on the zoo's female panda, Mei Xiang, and was swiftly rebuffed. She spent the next day and a half huddled nervously in her favorite tree trying to keep away from the brute.
Now I'm as saddened at this development as anyone, but let's not forget these pandas are only here on a 10-year lease from China. We're paying the Reds a million dollars a year each for these things, and if we don't gets some heart-meltingly cute cubs out of the pair, we'll simply be out of luck. This calls for some serious romantic therapy.