Author: matthew

The Federal Government, in 2005, signed into law the “Real ID Act“. Among other things, it aims to enforce a uniform standard of licensing among all states, require all state databases to make information available to all other states with Real ID, revoke local legislation prohibiting physical borders upon national borders, and make some changes regarding immigration.

They extended the compliance date to December of 2009, IMHO, in an attempt to allow voters time to forget who voted for it and grow to accept it as fact rather than fight it. That said, there are a number of states which have passed resolutions of non-compliance with Real ID.

What do you think of this Real ID law? Is a federal ID system — which, I think, is what this amounts to — a good idea? Why or why not?

Conversation had with the CEO of a company I used to work for, after I submitted my resignation several years ago:

Him: “We really value your contributions to our company. As you know, we had plans to leverage your skills for some important future projects. Why are you leaving?

Me: “Your flagship product has no buyers. You are living on rapidly-dwindling venture capital. Your only regular income comes from one contract for one small device you aren’t focusing on. You are living on co-marketing deals as you can make them, which we both know is not real income. You plan to terminate one of my co-workers because she’s now a mother, and you want to get rid of the other one because you don’t like his political ideology. The company is circling the drain and I’d really rather not go down with it.”

Him: “Oh, you can’t tell anybody that’s why you’re leaving,” he replied. “How would that look? Now tell me, what is your REAL reason for leaving?”

Me: “Uhh… I have a better opportunity with a large company?”

Him: “That’s my boy.”

I woke up, I got out of bed, and threw a comb across my head. Went to the shower like I usually do, got out, put in my contact lenses, and prepared for another day. Had a great time flying my model airplanes with my neighbor for a couple of hours.

Strangely, though, I had some trouble reading the dials on my car. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I just couldn’t quite focus. Very weird.

Got home, had a great dinner with some friends. Tried to read a book… and had trouble focusing again. So strange. I spoke about the odd focus/double-vision thing with my friends, and we got started chatting long into the night about health problems we’ve had in the past, or those which people we know have had.

Wrapped up the conversation around 11:30PM. Went upstairs, took out contacts. The right one had a strange wrinkle in it and looked thicker than usual. Took out the left one… and noticed there were TWO contacts, side-by-side, stuck together.

Yep. I’d put in a fresh set of contacts on top of my first set. In both eyes.

Life’s like that a lot. You think of all these outlandish explanations for something until you figure out the real explanation is far simpler.

In a recent discussion on another thread, Sammy G asked me the following question:

Matt, I’m wondering if you could reply with which ‘few’ inalienable rights of human beings you think are in the Bill Of Rights. I would also like to know which ‘many’ inalienable rights you feel are the greater domain of rights not listed in the Bill of Rights. I’m curious, because I see the United Nations declaration as legal overkill and out of scope with what I would consider basic human rights.

I’ll start with the three basic rights established by John Locke: “Life, Liberty, and Estate (property)”. Thomas Jefferson revised this, without explanation in his lifetime, to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. The French phrase “liberté, égalité, fraternité” (liberty, equality, fraternity) is comparable, and the Canadian phrase “peace, order and good government” expresses similar sentiments. I’ll combine the basic rights from three Western founding documents:

• Life: You should not have your life and livelihood taken from you.
• Liberty: You should be free to make whatever decisions you will where it does not infringe on the rights of others.
• Property: You should not be deprived of your possessions.
• Equality: You should not have more or fewer rights than any other person.
• Fraternity: You should be free to associate with whom you will, where you will, and how you will.
• Peace: You should not have violence done against you.
• Order: You should have input on, and recourse through, agreed-upon societal rules.
• Good Government: You should have a government which represents the will of the people.

I do not think these rights represent “nature” in any real sense. Nature is brutal, survival is difficult, and rule by the strongest is often the case. Human rights are those we can agree on which we should work to preserve as ethical ideals which lead to amiable cooperation with one another. The US Constitution obviously has some flaws in preserving certain rights. For instance, slaves were considered property, which conflicts with Liberty and Equality. Over time, however, we have made some improvements.

According to the US Constitution, any rights which are not specifically granted to the government by it are reserved to the People or the States (Amendment IX). The Bill of Rights only enumerated rights which were particularly sensitive to the People at the time at which it was passed. These rights are:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants 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.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

The Bill of Rights does not nearly cover all the rights we, as human beings, expect as a result of the basic rights I enumerated above. One institution which has been responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses is the corporation. Here are just a few examples of what I consider some of the more egregious abuses of power which have deprived us of some human rights here in the USA:

1. Life:
   • The recent innovation of “no knock warrants” have resulted in the taking of life from citizens by police officers recently. We conducted 50,000 of these last year, up from 3,000 just 25 years ago.
   • The rise of H1B and outsourcing have deprived many Americans of their livelihood, not due to inexorable technical progress, but due to bureaucratic loopholes and rampant abuse of the system by corporations focused solely on profits.
   • The death penalty remains a violation of this human right.
   • We have tortured at least 46 detainees to death in our conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
   • Our inability to come up with a reasonable solution with Mexico has resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 people in the past ten years along the US/Mexico border. While I acknowledge many or most of these deaths are a result of attempts to cross the border illegally, that is a symptom of the problem, not the cause.
2. Liberty:
   • The US “war on drugs” is a blight. It deprives people of the right to make choices regarding their own bodies which do not harm anybody else. While we should strictly regulate certain substances which are known to cause widespread harm when used unwisely — like alcohol — forbidding the use of some substances entirely increases the risk of violence and the probability of a user being deprived of liberty. No, I’ve never done any form of drugs in my life (not even alcohol, unless you count a tablespoon taste here and there or NyQuil), so I’m not trying to justify my own behavior here.
   • Direct interference in national sovereignty of other nations by our government (vis: Chile, 1973. Iraq, 2003. Nicaragua, 1980.)
   • Free-speech zones. I’ve talked about this before, and it still makes me angry as one of the most egregious abuses of the First Amendment by corporations (such as the LDS church regarding General Conference protesters) and presidential visits.
   • SLAPP lawsuits
   • We imprison more people than any other nation on the planet, most of them black.
3. Property:
   • Once again, as a result of the so-called War on Drugs, US police departments routinely steal property without a criminal conviction. Luckily, several states have passed laws against the sale of assets without a conviction.
   • It’s become common practice to condemn otherwise habitable residences and businesses — abuse eminent domain — in urban areas in order to appropriate space for well-moneyed corporate real-estate interests. This is a symptom of the uber-citizen status of corporations.
4. Equality:
   • Corporations are uber-citizens.
   • Multinational Corporations are above the law, in that they can, like Halliburton, move their headquarters and operations to areas where they can dodge laws designed to ensure equality.
   • Blacks represent only 13% of the US population, but 65% of the prison population. What possible explanation is there for this fact other than police bias? (Note: Statistics vary by state, some are as low as 12% population with 44% incarceration.)
   • Gay partners are denied common spousal rights. They can be turned away from hospital visits to their partner due to not being “family”. They have no rights regarding property upon the death of their partners. They cannot collect social security benefits for their partners. There are more, but these need to be addressed. I see this as a human rights issue.

There are a lot more items to address in the following categories, but I ran out of time to take care of them all. Perhaps others can fill in the blanks or I can cover them. Suffice to say, yes, a great number of our rights are being unnecessarily abridged.

5. Fraternity:
6. Peace:
7. Order:
8. Good Government:

Sorry that this blog entry is just not complete… I got really depressed after starting to list so many, and kind of gave up.

The Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen, golfers and tourists in general to take extra precautions and keep alert for alligators while in : Alachua, Marion, Lake, Collier, Lee, Seminole, Osceola, Polk, Brevard, Putnam and Orange counties.

They advise people to wear noise-producing devices such as little bells on their shoes or clothing to alert but not startle the alligators unexpectedly.They also advise the carrying of pepper spray in case of an encounter with an alligator.

It is also a good idea to watch for fresh signs of alligator activity. People should learn to recognize the difference between small young alligator and large adult alligator droppings.

Young alligator droppings are smaller and contain fish bones and possibly bird feathers. Adult alligator droppings have little bells in them and smell like pepper spray.

So here it is. April 27th, 2007. Thirty-four years ago today at, if I recall correctly, around 10:00 PM, I was born in a small hospital in Charleston, West Virginia. These days, the sleepy community of my birth is now a bustling city with massive suburban sprawl slowly engulfing the surrounding small towns. What used to be a “long way” out of town is now part of town, and where there used to be long stretches of nearly-impassable dirt road to reach my relatives, there are now four-lane highways and paved asphalt.

On my birthday:

• Kansas City Royals pitcher Steve Busby pitches a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers, 3-0
• An article was published entitled “Space Shuttle: Despite Doubters, Project Will Probably Fly“, by Constance Holden in Science Magazine. Today, we are considering retiring the Space Shuttle in favor of cheaper, safer launch methods.
• Elvis Presley recorded his concert CD, “Shining in Portland”, about a half hour after my birth. He was still relatively slender and healthy at this time; four years later, at the age of forty-two, he died of a massive drug overdose and weighed 350 pounds.
• Reminders were published in California papers that the following Sunday would begin the state-wide trial of a new idea called “Daylight Saving Time”. Two years later, this became a national standard.

But current events for today are:

• Massive fires sweep across drought-stricken southeastern USA, particularly Georgia and Alabama
• Russian helicopter crashes in Chechnya, 17 dead
• Jack Valenti, former head of the MPAA died yesterday.
• Dick Cheney’s visit to Utah on Thursday draws fire from protesters. He spoke at Brigham Young University’s commencement after a meeting with the Regents of the university, who are the Presidency of the LDS church.

So on this Friday, kick back, have a brew (or a soda), and enjoy the last days of spring before summer kicks into full gear. And wish me a happy birthday 🙂

So here’s my site of the week: http://www.urbandictionary.com/ . (Warning: Some definitions and/or terms contain some foul language.) The focus of the site is define words and phrases as they are commonly used in American vernacular. Here are some particular favorites of mine:

floordrobe: A form of storage for clothing which requires no hangers, drawers, doors or effort. Simply drop on the floor and you have a floordrobe.

Man Crush: When a straight man has a “crush” on another man, not sexual but kind of idolizing him. Many straight men end up having man crushes on Johnny Depp (I don’t blame them).

BiPodding: Sharing a single set of headphones attached to one iPod. One person holds the iPod and takes the left earbud, the other takes the right earbud. Can be performed while moving.

They biPodded down the street; Jane had the left ear-piece, Sarah the right.

Scientists propose hypotheses. If a hypothesis does not fit the facts, scientists change the hypothesis. Apologists know their hypotheses are correct. If a hypothesis does not fit the facts, apologists change the facts.” — Matthew P. Barnson

Those who know me well know that I despise apologetics. I think they are deceptive, disputing any finding contrary to their foregone conclusion. Scientists may argue in favor of their conclusions, but there’s an important distinction: a scientist must be willing to admit he’s wrong. An apologist cannot.

As I broaden my intellectual horizons with age, I’m coming to realize that this kind of foregone-conclusion argumentation is not exclusive to the religious field. In politics, it is “partisanship”. In corporations, it is often “public relations” oriented towards a we-never-admit-fault mentality. And if you are on the other side of an apologist’s argument, even if you are arguing a scientific view, you can be called a “polemicist“, the inverse of an apologist.

It’s a funny sort of conundrum to me: as our knowledge grows, so too does the stable of “facts” we can call upon to support any position. If we ignore — or are ignorant of — just a few, we can justify heinous positions with ease. And yet no one person can hope to be a repository of the whole of humanity’s knowledge.

But wouldn’t it be neat if one could?

I’m sure many of you have already caught it. There is a flu variant — a virus — sweeping the nation right now, with symptoms of a high fever, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, occasionally with a racking cough. My doctor has treated dozens of cases in just the past week, and I’m hearing reports from newscasters about them having to take a day off or two due to it as well.

It’s profoundly unpleasant to have, and to clean up after.

Anyway, 3 of our kids got it, and so did I. I had the presence of mind to basically live on Pepto-Bismol for three days, so I avoided the most disgusting side-effects, but I still got the hacking cough. So did my son, Zack.

Well, he didn’t get better. In fact, he seemed to get worse after the gastrointestinal side-effects wore off, with a temperature of just over 103 degrees and lethargy, along with night sweats and lack of appetite. Last night, he complained of intense pain in his right side beneath his armpit. We took him to the doctor today, of course. Emergency room care, for anything other than imminent death, has always proven worse for my family than waiting for daylight to see our family practitioner… but that’s another story which involves scary, ancient abortion doctors willing to work Sundays, a miscarriage, and massive hemorrhaging during Choir Practice.

Anyway, he seemed fine to our doctor, and other than not being quite his usual peppy self, OK to us too. He didn’t hear anything unusual in his lungs, and the sensitivity Zack complained about earlier seemed to be mostly gone. Regardless, he suggested we take an X-Ray to be sure…

…and found that Zack’s right lung was heavily consolidated from pneumonia.

Anyway, after hours of tests, forms, talking, buying lunch at Arby’s, more forms, more blood samples, and an IV drip of antibiotic, we finally got back home and I could head off to work. He’ll be heading into the hospital for the next two days, and then will have a follow-up with our doctor on Friday to make sure it’s clearing up, when he will received a prescription for a second type of antibiotic for the next week or so. We’ll also know the results of the tuberculosis test at that point. Although rare in the US, the number of drug-resistant strains of TB are rising, as are the number of infections as a result.

Public-health education played a large part in reducing infection rates from tuberculosis in the 1800s. If a new drug-resistant strain of TB became widespread in the US as it has in some other countries, I wonder how we’d respond?

Think you’ve had a bad time on eBay? Try dealing with this guy’s feedback. Most excellent, nice to see a sense of humor on eBay!

Check out his general replies to feedback as well. I wonder how many sellers bother to read? I laughed hard at them!