Scaring Women...

...and men.

Former First Lady Laura Bush has acknowledged that during the 2012 election cycle, there were a few Republican candidates that scared women.

I have some bad news for Mrs. Bush, the scary behavior isn't limited to a few candidates.

It’s not the contraception, everybody thinks it’s about contraception, but what this court case said was young people have the right to engage in sex outside of marriage. Society never gave young people that right, functioning societies don’t do that, they stop it, they punish it, they corral people, they shame people, they do whatever. The institution for the expression of sexuality is marriage and all societies always shepherded young people there, what the Supreme Court said was forget that shepherding, you can’t block that, that’s not to be done.

Folks seeking to ban sex outside of marriage are pretty scary too.  It's a pity that the GOP embraces such idiocy rather than expelling it.  Having one viable political party would really be nice for a change.

The Local School Superintendent

There are two types of school administrators.

There is the type that plans for the future and controls costs.  This is the person that sets money aside for major renovations like a new roof.  They plan for growth by saving money for the new school that will be needed in 10 years.  They control costs by negotiating aggressively with every vendor and every labor resource.

And their districts have what they need.  They are trusted by the local community if a need for a additional funding comes along. 

And then there are the ones that spend it all.  These are the administrators that look at cutting school buses whenever local residents decline to support additional funding.  Their first tactic is to cut the things that inconvenience residents the most instead of economizing to minimize the impact of any cuts on the district.

Now those tactics are being writ large at the federal level due to the minimal reduction to the increase in federal spending by the "sequester".  As was reported elsewhere, the Department of Homeland Security released thousands of illegal immigrants and blamed the sequester.

Yet now we learn that the same agency is looking to hire close to 2,600 new federal employees.  Which leaves the reasonable suspicion that the release of illegal immigrants was more about political posturing than containing a bloated federal bureaucracy.

Quote Of The Day - Constitution Version

I'm totally ripping this off from Robb Allen of Sharp As A Marble.

Senator John McCain, not exactly my favorite Senator*, recently rebuffed Senator Rand Paul by stating:

"American citizens have nothing to fear from their government."

Which leads us to the Quote of the Day:

Wasn't (isn't) the entire point of the Constitution is that we do? 

I would include the Declaration of Independence as well.....



*Mr. McCain of the famed Keating Five.  Also, I once heard him refer to U.S. servicemembers who supported a literal reading of the Constitution as limiting federal power as being in need of "indoctrination".

Nothing like having a sitting U.S. Senator advocate for re-education camps to make your skin crawl.

Glowing In The Dark

What has been the real fallout from the earthquake, tsunami and failure of Fukushima nuclear power plant?  Not nearly as bad as predicted.  Not nearly as bad as was originally feared.

Rather than stand as a warning of the radiation danger posed by nuclear power, in other words, Fukushima has become a reminder that uninformed fears aren’t the same as actual risks.

I should point out that the results indicated were mostly non-zero.  However, the impact of those results is so slight as to warrant comparisons with living in Denver or working as an airline attendant; not exactly the sort of radiation hazards that causes folks to run wildly in a panic.

A sane national energy policy includes nuclear power with as many safety precautions built in as is humanly possible.  It also involves a rational and calm review of the facts.

A Good President

Stolen from Facebook via the Sgt. Grit:

Today in Marine Corps history: 11 March 1778: Marines participated in action when the Continental Navy frigate BOSTON, en route to France, sighted, engaged, and captured the British merchant ship MARTHA. As the drum of the BOSTON beat to arms, John Adams seized a musket and joined the Marines on deck until the frigate's captain, Samuel Tucker, sent him below for safety.

 You have to love a President that not only puts skin in the game, he puts his skin in the game!  I read the biography of John Adams by David McCullough.  I don't recall the above being included.  But I was certainly impressed by John Adams' life and commitment to our American ideals.