Category: Legislation

The Romeike Misdirection

April 25th, 2013 · · Family, Legislation, Politics, School No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

So, I happened across a post about the Romeike family and how they are being forced to defend their religion and prove persecution in their home country of Germany so they can have asylum here in the United States. Countless hours have been logged by some religious law club in an attempt to argue in favor of these poor folks being granted asylum so that they do not have to endure the continued persecution which the German government heaps upon them.

As an United States citizen I was appalled that our government would even think about not granting asylum to these people who are being persecuted for their religion. Our constitution has enshrined in it the very ideal that religion is something we should all be allowed to practice (or not) in any form reasonably (unless you’re Muslim, because they’re bad). These people should be taken in, given freedom as we take it for granted, and enjoy their lives. We all deserve freedom no matter what our country of origin.

Then I did some background checking.

The only article I could find with supposedly first-hand information was written with 90% composition by their primary lawyer. Obviously that was biased as can be. This family claimed religious persecution, was granted temporary asylum, and this court proceeding is to determine if they can stay permanently. In the article I found it is laid out that the family didn’t like some of what their kids were hearing in the state run school, and so pulled them out. In the US – no big deal. In Germany – big deal. All children are required to attend school up to a defined level in Germany. This is a good requirement I feel. However Germany was about to put the parents in jail for not sending their children to school.

I can imagine ‘Oh those poor people. They must send their child to a state school. If only (insert religion) was allowed to have a school then this could be avoided.’ Great news! There are many church schools in Germany which are acceptable to the state since they meet the minimum education guidelines. I do not know if the family chooses to not like any of the religious schools or if the cost is prohibitive however there are other options the family could choose from if they had the desire.

This then leads into people screaming religious persecution and an attack on the right to raise your kid how you feel is best. No, this is a law passed to ensure a country is not populated by uneducated morons. Germany has a long history and much different circumstances than the US. Their laws are different for many reasons. This does not mean your religion is being persecuted, it means you don’t like something and threw a fit. Frankly, I don’t like the district my kids are enduring. I would love to send my children to a private school so they could actually learn, however this is waaaaaay too expensive locally – because I’m not Roman Catholic. Mother Church has decided that since I am not of their faith we must pay more than double the cost of Catholics. Perhaps I should seek asylum somewhere.

This is not a case of religious persecution. End of story. These folks should be shipped back to Germany post-haste.

Make a Difference in Election 2012

November 5th, 2012 · · Illinois, Legislation, Politics No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

My friends in Illinois,

Obama has won Illinois. Neither he nor Romney spent any money here because of the lopsided polls. Chicago, East STL, Peoria, and others have decided for you. I tell you this not because I support Obama, but to appeal to your logic.

A vote for Romney is pointless in this election. You may be doing it to spite the D or whatever, but it won’t actually do anything. What I ask you to consider is voting for Gary Johnson – a Libertarian. Why? A number of reasons, but I will attempt to keep this a reasonable post. Libertarians believe in liberty. More specifically they believe in personal choice. What people do, so long as it does not harm others, is your own business. (my interpretation)

Gary Johnson is polling at 4% when included alongside the D and R candidates. With your help he could reach the magical 5% number that the D and R established to get federal money (yup, you fund the candidates like it or not) and most importantly ballot access. Ballot access means that the Libertarian party will be allowed special privileges like the D and R instead of having to fight, get petitions with signatures, and be denied the ability to participate in debates. This also means that the D and R might have to take a stand on issues instead of mostly agreeing without taking a definitive stand.

In the end, I don’t know that my plea will make a difference, but I am hoping that you will make a difference. This election cycle goes to the D in Illinois. However you can use the vote you might have cast in spite, out of tradition, or whatever reason you had and use it to allow another party to have a say in politics and provoke some change. I ask you to cast a vote for a truly different candidate and spur our political system to what it can be – greatness.

Sincerely,
Me

 

 

Home Rule Revocation – It Begins

June 29th, 2012 · · Illinois, Legislation, Mount Vernon, Politics No comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

So, there was a petition turned in to the City Clerk this past Tuesday to put the question of whether Mount Vernon, IL should revoke Home Rule according to the Register-News. In that article I noticed something that struck me as peculiar:

The petition was presented to the City Clerk’s office Tuesday. Mayor Mary Jane Chesley said the petition will be reviewed by the city council to make sure it met all legal requirements before it will can put on the ballot for a vote by Mt. Vernon residents.

Now, I may be very mistaken, but I believe that the City Clerk certifies the petition, not the City Council.

However, I have been wrong before, and likely will be again. To that end I sent the following email to Mayor Chesley and all of City Council:

Mayor and Council,

I was reading about the guy who submitted the ‘revoke home rule’ petition and something caught my eye. As I understand it, the question should go on the ballot when certified by the city clerk. Why is council reviewing it?

If it’s just a cursory review I understand, but the city clerk is the one who certifies the petition.

I’d appreciate your help in understanding.

Please know I am not associated with this guy, nor do I know him to my knowledge. I am only trying to gain a correct perspective in this matter and would appreciate your guidance.

Thank you for your time!

I am anxious for their reply as I really would like to know if my understanding is correct about how this process works. Whether or not the petition works, governmental bureaucratic red-tape intrigues me.

Blu-ray, Linux, and Digital Restrictions

June 27th, 2012 · · Family, Legislation, Technology No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

At my house we use Linux as our operating system almost exclusively. The only exceptions to this rule are our iPhones and an iPod Touch. Otherwise it’s all Linux on the laptops, tablets, server, GoogleTV, and firewall. Linux is simple, free, and generally as useful as Mac OSX or Windows. Occasionally there are hiccups with specific tasks such as moving music to the iPhone since Apple locks them down, but this is usually overcome within a week after any iOS update.

Recently I have begun ripping our DVD collection into digital format. My ultimate goal is to have all of our legally purchased movie titles available via GoogleTV on a portable drive. With this accomplished, we will be able to watch most of what we own without having to track down the disc and load it into the DVD/BD player. I will not pretend that this is anything but laziness, but for niceness-sake I’ll call it  convenience. Another bonus with having everything digital in addition to on disc is that we can watch it on the laptops, tablets, or even iPhones without paying again for something we already bought.

The best selling point for me in doing this other than convenience  is that we don’t have to worry about the discs becoming scratched or hazy over time. If you don’t have kids, please believe me when I say we have lost hundreds of dollars in DVDs from kids leaving discs out, dropping them, and occasionally using them as shuriken in battle. Frankly I should have been ripping our DVD purchases since we had our first player, but I did not realize how much we lose in scratched DVDs.

The backup copies of these discs are not high-quality. I am only ripping them so that we have a backup that can be used on the network or in case the physical disc meets an untimely demise. Seriously. I’m not illegally copying anything I don’t own nor am I illegally downloading the same. According to my understanding of copyright exceptions I am making a backup/archival copy of a work that I purchased legally at retail which is considered fair use, but I am not a lawyer and you should check with one before considering doing this yourself should you have concerns.

I tell you these things to tell you this – playing Blu-ray discs (BD) on Linux is very difficult and convoluted. It borders on impossible for most mortals to accomplish. I have found several loopholes and processes (and it IS a process) to play BD movies on Linux, but frankly they are all a PITA (google it). The time v  convenience is just not there for me to bother setting this up and/or attempting to rip the movies for backup.

Why might this be you ask? This is because of the movie industry using a somewhat complicated scheme (algorithm) to attempt to curb people illegally copying or stealing their work. The problem is that those who want to steal these works and distribute them can do so easily with just a little searching and clicking around the WWW. I won’t link to such things, but I found several easy ways to do so when I googled ‘copy blu ray’ a few minutes ago. The scheme by the MPAA does little to nothing except cause problems for those of us who buy movies legally. We are the people not breaking the law, and so we won’t go copy or distribute these works illegally. If one wanted to steal these works there are many, many sites where you can download the BD quality versions of most movies already. Their scheme does nothing to stop criminals.

So my choices are to sit by and wait for someone to crack BD encryption (DVD has been busted for a long time), go rent the DVD to make my backup copy, or put up with purchasing these works over and over because the MPAA wants to make more money. Well, I’ll only say that one of those options sounds somewhat reasonable, and I’m not waiting around.

An observation about downtown Mount Vernon, TIF, and The Rex

June 19th, 2012 · · Illinois, Legislation, Mount Vernon, Politics No comments - Tags: , , , , ,

“Consequently, he has no conflict of interest so he will be voting on these this evening.” – David Wood in 2011

Right, because I have no interest in properties/partnerships my wife is involved in either. Keep enjoying that TIF money and the benefits of it while you complain about how downtown looks (over 3/4 of the way down). In fairness, I am not sure the TIF is still active for The Rex, but wouldn’t it be ironic if the tax funds that could pay for downtown upkeep were being repaid to the current owner or providing other services? Seems to me that it would be ironic, but since Councilman Wood won’t answer my emails I can’t be sure.

Also, thanks for not answering my simple, polite email asking who owns the building where your office is – “The Rex”. Always good to know that a (future) mayoral candidate is responsive to the public. I believe I ticked you off with our previous exchange regarding the afternoon meetings and passing of taxes at those meetings, but there were no hard feelings on my part. I can only guess that there were/are on your part due to your lack of reply.

Yeah, I know, I’m standing behind the Internet posting stuff on my blog, blah, blah, blah… If you want to comment, feel free. Hell, I’ll even help you start your own danvoylessucks.com or let you make a guest post in retort if you desire. Ignoring emails after you claim to be available is kind of bogus though.