December 2010

Atlanta sees their first white Christmas since 1882

As the country and most of world experiences below average temperatures and record snow falls, the wingnuts are starting their annual cry of “global warming is a lie!” This piece in the New York Times sparked this year’s season of denial:

THE earth continues to get warmer, yet it’s feeling a lot colder outside. Over the past few weeks, subzero temperatures in Poland claimed 66 lives; snow arrived in Seattle well before the winter solstice, and fell heavily enough in Minneapolis to make the roof of the Metrodome collapse; and last week blizzards closed Europe’s busiest airports in London and Frankfurt for days, stranding holiday travelers. The snow and record cold have invaded the Eastern United States, with more bad weather predicted.

This is how the GOP cuts government spending:

For a guy who insists that federal bureaucrats make too much money, incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor sure doesn't mind handing out handsome government raises of his own.

Cantor, the Virginia Republican who has led the GOP charge this year to freeze federal salaries, has boosted his congressional office's payroll by 81 percent since coming to Congress in 2001 – about 8 percent per year through 2009. When he became minority whip last year, the office's personnel expenses went up by at least 16 percent.

And how about a Tea Bagger darlings?

_ Firebrand Republican Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has for months pushed legislation to freeze what she calls "unconscionable" federal salaries. Meanwhile, her own payroll jumped 16 percent between 2007, when she came to Congress, and 2009.

If you are one of those Tea Baggers that believe in people like Bachmann then I got some ocean front property in Utah to sell you. You really need to wake up and realize that you are being made a total fool of.

For years law enforcement used court orders to obtain the emails of suspects. Court orders are much simpler to get than an actual warrant. Well that practice is coming to an end:

The government must obtain a court warrant to require internet service providers to turn over stored e-mail to the authorities, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was the first time an appellate court said Americans had that Fourth Amendment protection.

“The government may not compel a commercial ISP to turn over the contents of a subscriber’s e-mails without first obtaining a warrant based on probable cause” (.pdf), the appeals court ruled. The decision — one stop short of the Supreme Court — covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee

My favorite part of the decision:

“The Fourth Amendment must keep pace with the inexorable march of technological progress, or its guarantees will wither and perish,” the court ruled.

Unless you are George Bush.

Can’t say I’m surprised by this:

A federal judge in Virginia ruled Monday that the individual mandate contained in the health care law passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama this year is unconstitutional.

The judge found in favor of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who brought this suit separately from the other state Attorney Generals suing the federal government over the law.

I personally have been against these mandates since their inception. Requiring the people to purchase a product from a company really seems to go against everything this country stands for. I know some try to use the “auto insurance” example, but that doesn’t fair. You can choose not to drive, but choosing not to live – well that is also illegal.