Archive: June, 2007

I’m sorry, you can’t have freedom of the press. It might be inconvenient to the Feds.

Apparently Bush’s administration has problems with all sorts of news/information dissemination (reported on by CNet here). Not only is a vast amount of information missing from their emails and other communication, but there is opposition to a recently proposed law to shield the press in responsible reporting.

The argument I believe they are using is that too much protection is afforded to the press. In REAL national security matters, I agree. There are reasons I could see for the shield to not apply. Fortunately, the constitution framers thought about this when they created this amazing idea of “checks and balances”.

Unfortunately, under the “George-Bush-States-of-America” these systems of balance have been forgotten.  How many signing-statements is W up to these days? How many times has he acted in direct defiance of the very legislation he signs? How well-planned is his withdrawal from Iraq?

Now, I agree that everyone in power gets knocked, and Klinton wasn’t any better with his “Executive Orders”. I just think that W is going waaaaaaaaaaay too far during his presidency.

Resume “training”

Tuesday and Wednesday, our last group to leave First Cellular/Alltel went through Spherion’s “Carrer Continuance” training/class.

I will admit that I had pretty low expectations. To be frank, I expected the same Resume 101 garbage that has been force-fed to us since high school. This was nothing like that. We were shown several different additions to make on our resume to make it more interesting, informative, and able to stand out.

Our presenter, Mr. Meyers, was not the boring guy I expected. His presentation was informative. A lot of the information presented was new to me and also common-sensical. Several things he informed us of had us slapping our foreheads in a “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that” manner.

Guess that’ll teach me to be more open-minded.

Hyundai windows suck

Don’t misunderstand my point, our Sonata has been the best mechanical car that we have owned. Unfortunately, their power window mechanisms suck.

Shortly after we bought the car, the rear passenger window stopped working. No big deal, we had it fixed. Now, both front window mechanisms have stopped working. The estimated cost of repairing both of them is over $400.

I know that parts wear out over time, but I have never heard of a car having this many issues with the power windows.

I emailed and called Hyundai USA to no avail. I can’t blame them since it is out of warranty, but they could have offered something given 3 of our windows have had issues.

Perhaps I’m expecting too much.

Dan’s Twitter Updates for 2007-06-22

  • Touring wineries. In Albion. #

Our ever-evolving communist-States of America

I’m sure I will be a first-round pickup for this post, if I’m not already.

A principal from Des Moines, Iowa was denied her constitutional right against “unreasonable search and seizure” by the Transportation Safety Administration. As a general rule, I accept x-ray scans as reasonable. This situation makes me reconsider my stance though.

This woman was returning with some students from a class trip in California when a dulled sandwich knife was noticed in one of her carry-on containers. The TSA confiscated the “weapon” and advised the woman of several “facts”:

  1. The woman will now be placed on a “terrorist watch list” (probably leading to more illegal acts by our government to spy on her and her contacts)
  2. She will be fined $500
  3. Her knife was confiscated
  4. She had no constitutional rights since she was not arrested

I can’t really protest the list. Lists are universal and everywhere, although it sounds like profiling which is illegal according to case law, I believe. Either way, a list is a list and everyone has one of some type.

The fine seems excessive and wrong. Not only was the incident unintentional, but it was also stopped before she got on the plane. She didn’t carry any weapon onto a plane, it was stopped well before she reached the plane. What was she guilty of, making a mistake? Does she get a trial?

Why was the woman not given a receipt for the knife that was stolen from her by the TSA staff? Are they now allowed to steal from people with no recourse?

Perhaps someone can point out the fault in my logic, but I do not recall anywhere in the United States Constitution where the Constitution is suspended in airports. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution ensures citizens’ right to “be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” The amendment goes on to set forth the conditions under which a warrant may be issued: “no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

It seems to me that this was definitely unreasonable seizure, and the use of x-ray technology in this case makes me think that it is unreasonable search since it removes my being secure in my person, effects, and “papers”. I also think that “papers” could be expanded in today’s world to include laptops, cellular phones, etc.

Am I off my rocker on this? Yes, Dave, I know you’ll have a large rebuttal.