Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Get Over It
May 22, 2008
“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” may soon go the way of canon barrages, cavalry charges and bayonet charges. In a ruling today by a US Appellate Court, the military must prove that discharging gays improves both military readiness and unit cohesion.
The military cannot automatically discharge people because they’re gay, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in the case of a decorated flight nurse who sued the Air Force over her dismissal.
The three judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not strike down the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. But they reinstated Maj. Margaret Witt’s lawsuit, saying the Air Force must prove that her dismissal furthered the military’s goals of troop readiness and unit cohesion. Read more
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The Unspoken Reality of Niche Crimes
May 21, 2008
We have gone too far this time in niche laws and micro niche terminology. NFL player Charles Grant, of New Orleans Saints, has been arrested and charged with feticide. That means he is being charged with killing both a woman and her fetus. The laws have gone too far.
Is it more of a crime to kill a woman than it is a pregnant woman? Do we really need an extra crime with different penalties? Do we really need to make up shit just to impress the media? Fact, this idiot was involved in a gunfight, whether he did the actual shooting or not, and this woman is dead. Why do we need so many extra laws when the people who make them have a hard enough time abiding by the ones we had?
The fact is I know what this law is on the book and I dislike it even more than most, extra laws. This law exists for anti-abortion activists who hope and dream of one day charging doctors with murder. These are usually the same people who coincidentally say the government shouldn’t be interfering in people’s lives. Of course they only mean theirs and only when it comes to paying taxes or providing welfare for other people.
Aside from this being a niche law put into effect to satisfy someone’s constituents it also puts us in a very slippery situation. If we are to define a fetus as a person and child in their own right, we must apply the law evenly across the board. Pregnant women who drink or smoke are abusing their children. Pregnant women employed in potentially dangerous environments would be guilty of child endangerment; this includes waitresses who might be around a lot of second hand smoke. Miscarriages for any number of reasons could make a woman guilty of negligent homicide.
Not only are the serious crimes potential landmines, but the ones where the data is questionable could lead to all sorts of legal implications. If a pregnant woman and those they interact with don’t do everything every study says is beneficial they would be guilty of at least neglect or violating the fetus’s human rights and dignity. Imagine telling your boss he must now address your expanding belly as a person because you are both employed here now. Imagine the battle over some women not putting headphones on the bulge to introduce music. Imaging the battle if you play it AC/DC over Bach?
If any of that sounds silly then the entire notion of a law giving legal personhood to a fetus should too.
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The Misguided Notion of Gay Marriage
May 19, 2008
Back from vacation more stressed and less than I was before, but hell what’s a family for anyways if not to complicate your life. Since I last posted the biggest news has undoubtedly been Friday’s revelation that gays can get married in California. This is only partially true of course. Read more
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Food For Thought
May 15, 2008
With everything those crazy Floridans have been pulling I am not sure one message here is a bad thing. Melting Glaciers = What’s The Big Deal - Florida actually sounds pretty good, Of course Floridans being who they are always wanting government intervention to save them from the evils of the world will no doubt demand flood walls built across the entire state. When that is not enough I can see the religious nut jobs finally turning back to prayer rather than the little Dutch boy putting his finger over the leak. I actually can’t wait until they have Christian thinking they can fight the tide of change by sticking their fingers into the dripping holes of dykes.
The next laughable message is for Hillary Clinton. Denial = What I Think - The Facts. Enough said!
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Who’s Watching Me Now… The IRS?
May 15, 2008
While some of you might recognize the lyrics of Rockwell’s super hit of the 80’s and laugh, you should probably think twice about before clicking your next hyperlink. It has recently been reported that for some time now the FBI has been using fake hyperlinks to trap suspected downloaders of illegal porn. While I can appreciate the vigilance of our government and them taking the subject seriously, mass emailing it along with spamming the internet with it is a little too Big Brother for me.
First, I see this as blatant entrapment. Federal law makes it is illegal to attempt to access child pornography, whether you get your hands on it or not. Read more
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