Musings on Dark Matter

Most of you know me to be a hard Sci-Fi fan. I haven’t talked about Sci-Fi subjects here in a while so I’m going to take a detour away from politics for a bit and talk about something completely different. If Sci-Fi isn’t your thing, feel free to skip along to the next post, I won’t mind. I'll be back to politics and malfeasance of elected officials soon enough.....

Like most amateur writers, deep down, I've toyed with the idea of writing the next great Sci-Fi novel. Most Sci-Fi revolves around some unique scientific hook. Some revolve around more than one such as Niven's Known Space Series does. A Dysonian ring world, a species that had the ability to psychically enslave an entire galaxy, a species that stumbled upon advanced technology developed by a prior race before it had evolved a means of self-control. Niven was nothing if not prolific for sure. But since the series grew out of multiple stories that kind of grew together as time went on, that is not all that surprising.

Anyway I had a thought about dark energy and/or dark matter that you might find interesting as such a possible hook. Or it might be something so pitifully obvious to everyone else that I'll sound like an idiot. I'm just going to have to gamble on that. =D.

Now I'm certainly not a cosmologist by any stretch of the imagination, hell I can hardly add 2+2 without a calculator, so abstract math involving 11 dimensional vibrating strings is WAY beyond my comprehension. But the thought occurred to me that most of the contenders for a "theory of everything" generally involve the possibility of "Multiverses" of one sort or another with differing physical constants for each, with each multiverse being basically a closed system unto itself.

But what if they aren’t closed? What if under certain circumstances they can "leak" or bleed over onto multiverses whose physical constants are very close in value to each other. Since Multiverses exist outside a frame of reference for “place”, for all intents and purposes, they are all basically superimposed upon our own. For instance a universe whose physical constants are exactly the same except the value of pi, or the Planck constant, or one of the other physical constants is say, one part per one hundred billion billion different (I’m picking a number out of my arse obviously to make a point), close enough that gravity waves in one multiverse are very near resonance with our own and the dark energy/matter are really the beat pattern caused by the slight difference in frequency. What if, instead of there being an infinite number of permutations for the physical constants, there is instead a fundamental “graininess” or “quanta” at this level of abstraction, just like there is in quantum physics, possibly they might even be linked somehow? Suppose that there is a fundamental “quanta” for the stepwise differences between the constants in each universe. That would mean that there could still be an infinite number of universes, but that there are well defined energy gaps between each. If so, it might be possible to jump those gaps, the same way it is possible to make photons jump from one quantum energy state to the next. If that were the case, then dark energy or dark matter might be the manifestation of such leakage into our universe. That would help explain why it is so difficult to account for them in the standard model.

Now, what if the leakage isn’t halted/reversed the leakage will accelerate until the gravity waves reinforce each other and go into amplification. I have read that one theory of the big bang is that it was actually caused by two universes merging and such mergers are fundamentally unpredictable and could statistically happen at any time. Suppose such leakage over time causes such a merging? But that leakage also happens to make it possible to communicate, or even pass from one universe to another. Would we as a race be able to forego such a window into another universe, even if we know we might very well not only destroy our own but every other one as well? What if another race won't?

Clearly there is a lot more needed to make this into a true Sci-Fi story, at this point it isn’t even a proper outline. Just a whole bunch of “what if”….

Candidate Questionnaire: A lackluster response from the candidates

I sent questionnaires to nine of the 11 council candidates, and despite assurances from a couple of them that they would get right back to me with answers, only one has actually bothered to respond. That candidate is Andy Neill. I know I promised to publish the responses two days ago, but I was delaying hoping that like campaign finance reports, the other candidates were "just a little slow in filing the paperwork". Alas, that does not appear to be the case. Here is his response:

1. What is your position on Revenue Caps such as the recently gutted Prop1/Prop2 caps? Are they a good idea or a bad idea? Why?

I am a fan of Revenue Caps and I believe they are a great idea for several reasons most notably, that governments on principle should not be designed to operate at a hefty surplus of tax revenue. Fiscal responsibility among our municipalities will only come about when we adopt a “cost neutral” mindset of taxing and spending.

2. What is your position on appraisal caps? Good? Bad? Why?

I am also a fan of property appraisal caps as the majority of our citizens are living on fixed budgets, and tax appraisals caps allow people to plan down the road instead of wondering “This neighborhood is great, but can my family and I afford to live her next year ?”. I also believe this is a big issue with our Senior Citizen population who need to have some ability to plan and budget without having the shock of an exorbitant tax bill that could send them into a potentially bad situation. Affordable and stable housing is a HUGE issue as we look to accommodate the “Aging of America” with common sense and sound planning.

3. What is your position on the City of Houston's recent spate of "annexation for specific purpose" deals? Should areas to be annexed have a legal say in whether they are annexed or not? Should the city be able to "annex" an area and gain population headcount and sales tax revenue without giving those residents a vote?

I believe that the City should never be the one to instigate an annexation plan. I believe another town or municipality should be the catalyst for such an action, with a majority vote of said town’s residents on board prior to that being done.

4. The city currently appoints half of the METRO board. The county only appoints two of the ten. The remaining three are appointed by the "minor cities" such as Bellaire, West University, Huntwick etc. METRO's board has both taxation and condemnation authority but is not directly answerable to the voter. Is that the way it should be? or should the METRO board be an elected entity?

I would offer that some kind of pressure needs to be brought to bear on METRO in general. There seems to be too much red tape, and sluggishness in completing projects in a timely manner. I am also a big critic of the lack of enforcement of non-paying citizens riding the METRORAIL. As a downtown resident I have been on the rail more times than I can count, and I have NEVER seen an Usher, Guard, or Attendant ask to see my ticket or anyone else’s for that matter. I can only imagine how much revenue we are letting walk through the sliding doors of the rail cars everyday. Whether we add more localized controls by allowing voting for more members is the answer or not, I am not sure. I would be willing to try that or look at other creative ways to apply pressure and make the board more accountable.

5. HPD is faced with a massive manpower shortage. Recent statistics show that you are three times more likely to be murdered in Houston than in New York City. How would you address that?

I am on record on asking for the resignation of Police Chief Hurtt, and that is a cause that I would gladly champion as a member of Houston City Council. I would use the bully pulpit that this role provides to beat the drum for a resignation, as I believe we could see our crime rates come down with new leadership. I would defer to a new Police Chief’s creative problem solving, and law enforcement know-how to solve some of our persistent violent crime problems. I have never been a Police Officer nor have I been involved with Law Enforcement, but I would offer that a dynamic leader with fresh and creative policing methods (leveraging the latest technology, neighborhood watch programs, and more of a uniformed presence) could help us on our way.

6. Given the above situation, do you feel that now is the proper time for HPD to be cracking down on overtime abuse?

I feel very deeply for the HPD officers who are tasked with performing more duties for more hours per day because the city just doesn’t have the man power. I think the abuse of the overtime program is a sign of lack of respect towards the HPD power structure. The officers in question (again it’s a slim minority) feel no pressure not to violate the overtime boundaries because either no one is “minding the store” (i.e. there is not enough management oversight); or they do not fear being fired because there is such a dearth of officers in uniform.

7. What is your position on HPD's chase policy?

I believe in giving the police officers all the tools and training they need and then letting them proceed as their professional experience dictates. I believe Politicians should stay out of micromanaging the police on the street and focus on the Leadership’s accountability for crime as a whole.

8. What is your position on the city's sanctuary policy?

I believe in law and order first and foremost. If an illegal alien commits a crime, they should be turned over to the Federal entities to be dealt with according to our Federal policies and our Federal laws. If our Federal entities such as ICE (immigration and customs) do not respond or follow their own procedures, then we as citizens need to be made aware of the issues. Our HPD officers should not be afraid to ask questions of suspects, and there should be an ironclad process in place to have to hand illegal immigrants over to Federal authorities for processing. I am not a proponent of large citywide sweeps and round-ups (i.e. raiding day labor camps, construction sites, office complexes, etc.) but rather clearing out our jails and prisons of existing proven “criminal aliens” of which there are many. So in sum, I would rather spend our resources solving the illegal immigrant issue by dealing with those that come into our criminal justice system via their own misdeeds.

9. What is your position on HPD's TASER policy?

Again, I believe in giving the police officers all the tools and training they need and then letting them proceed as their professional experience dictates. I believe Politicians should stay out of micromanaging the police on the street and focus on the Leadership’s accountability for crime as a whole

10. In the wake of both TS Allison as well as 9/11/01, the city's communications systems have been cited as a major problem. The city cannot effectively communicate with police, fire, ambulance and other emergency personnel. The radio systems are old and falling apart and uncoordinated. The 911 call center has had repeated system failures. To date, little has been done beyond studying the problem. What would you do to fix this debacle?

This appears to be a serious problem, especially since we also live in the era of Homeland Security and Terrorism. I would encourage our City to get serious with an integrated communication plan, and upgrade the hardware and systems necessary to do the job. If outsourcing this task is the most cost effective way to obtain the latest and greatest technology and subject matter expertise to do this, then City should seriously consider it.

11. The city constantly complains that they do not have enough money to adequately staff and train HPD and HFD. The Mayor has canceled an entire HPD academy class and canceled the HPD overtime program in the Gulfton area. But yet the city continues to fund day labor sites, downtown real estate development, and is even funding an Afro-American History Museum. Many people are asking "Why is it that the city can afford to spend money on these things, but cannot adequately fund police and fire protection?" What is your position on this? Should the city focus on funding adequate police and fire protection first before spending money on programs that some people question the appropriateness of the city funding them to begin with? Is the current situation showing proper priorities? How would you change it?

My priorities are little bit different than the Mayor’s in that I believe that government’s primary responsibility is to protect it’s citizens. Everything else in the aforementioned question should be further down the priority list. However, I do believe that there are some complications that come into play such as: the availability for Federal funding for special or pet projects; availability of matching funds provided by private entities that would partner with the City to complete some of these pet projects; and the honoring of previous commitments made to the community. If the city promised the community a museum, labor center, etc.., several years ago during the CIP (capitol improvement project) process; the city needs to keep their word. If the question is “all things being equal” would I rather spend money on Law Enforcement or Fire Response teams verses financing other pet projects; then I would choose law enforcement and fire protection.

12. How well has the current police chief done his job?

I am on record on asking for the resignation of Police Chief Hurtt, and that is a cause that I would gladly champion as a member of Houston City Council.

13. How well has the mayor done his job?

I believe Mayor White should be viewed favorably for his deeds and his intent. I find my biggest point of contention is his refusal to acknowledge the flat-out lack of leadership provided by our current Police Chief, and the Head of HISD – where there is over a 40% dropout rate for student entering the 9^th grade onwards. Mayor White seems to be consistent in his approach and his policies that he has put forth in past years on the job, so I do not fault him for his core beliefs since the people of Houston have consistently voiced their pleasure by re-electing him. In sum, I would just offer that I have different core beliefs than he does and would be quick on the trigger to jettison poor leaders in critical areas such as law enforcement and education.

14. Has the mayor overstepped his authority in attempting to impose pollution controls on industries that are not within the CoH? Is this a proper subject for the city to address or is this a federal issue?

I believe there are enough agencies and regulatory bodies that these employers have to deal with and whose policies they must adhere to already: OSHA, EPA, TCEQ, etc.. The Mayor in my opinion is not looking to police air quality as much as he is looking for a new revenue stream for the city. It is my contention that the City would essentially be looking to “double dip” and fine employers whom they believe are violating State laws, where these employers already face fines and sanctions from the State presently.

I want to thank Andy for his very timely response.

Retreat? HELL NO!

Today is a very good day for Texans. Beginning Sept 1, 2007, if someone breaks into your house or car or accosts you on the street, you no longer have a legal obligation to retreat before you may use lethal force to defend yourself. And if you DO find the need to defend yourself in such a situation, you no longer have to worry that the 350 lb repeat felon's family will sue you for every penny you have for "brutally murdering the harmless little boy" as I am sure the tearful grandmother (the only parent the miscreant probably had, gawd only knows where the mother or father are assuming anyone even knows who the father is to begin with.) will profess on the 10 o'clock news with Quannel the Tenth standing by her side in his silk suit and with his hummer in the background....

You don't have to worry about being sued because if you do use lethal force in self defense then you are immune from civil liability for your actions. Generally speaking, the miscreant's mere presence in your house or car is generally enough of an affirmative defense to show self-defense unless other evidence contradicts your story, such as bullet entry wounds in his back, or pools of blood outside your home, duct tape around his wrists, etc. This is not a "get out of jail free" card, or a license to kill like 007's, there DOES need to be a consistent evidentiary story that shows a threat. If the guy is running away, you might have a hard time proving a threat. The DA WILL STILL be looking closely at these shootings to make sure you aren't just shooting people because you can. This is not a "blood in the streets" law as I'm sure the Brady Campaign will try to make it out to be, just like they tried to do with CCW.

This was the first bill of this session signed into law by Perry. Perry has not been terribly consistent, nor conservative in this term of office, let's hope that this is a sign that he is getting his priorities back in order, but I'm not really holding my breath on that......

Clarification: In Texas, the law of the land has been for some time that you were authorized to use deadly force if a "reasonable man" felt threatened without first retreating. Most of this bill is redundant, however the civil liability issue is a very big deal and is a very welcome addition.

HB 1185: A shell game played with taxpayer money

This bill would allow colleges and universities in the State of Texas to sell off facilities, bought and paid for by taxpayer monies to private real estate investment trusts (REIT) that would in turn lease those facilities BACK to the college/university. In this manner, the colleges get an up front payment, but then they are on the hook to pay rent in perpetuity for use of facilities that You and I paid for. This will be a net loss in revenue for the colleges because they must pay whatever rent that the REIT decides they must pay. Additionally, I suspect that many of the board of trustees will find ways to be a part of those REITs, thereby ensuring a perpetual income stream for themselves. Taking a publicly built road and selling it to a toll road operator is wrong, and this is doing the exact same thing to our colleges and universities. They will be charging a toll on the use of those facilities that the public bought and paid for. Make sure you write your State Senators and Representatives and make sure this bill does not see the light of day.

An Apology...

Rodney Ellis and Senfronia Thompson want an apology. Ok, here it is:

I am sorry that your names are remotely connected with Houston, Texas, and humanity as a whole. I'm sorry that your constituents were stupid enough to elect you. I'm sorry that you are still wasting oxygen.

How's that for a sincere apology?

Border Patrol fired upon from Mexico

Tuesday, two Border Patrol agents investigating four bundles of marijuana, totaling over 300 pounds, piled on the banks of the Rio Grande near Donna Texas were fired upon by smugglers firing from the Mexican side of the border. The agents were able to find cover and return fire. It is unknown if anyone was injured on the Mexican side (Border patrol needs to send their agents back to the range for more practice if you ask me.) This is on the heels of a similar shootout back on January 17th in the same area. I wonder if Johnny Sutton is going to prosecute these guys too....

The North American Union: Coming to a country near YOU!

There have been rumors for a long time that President Bush secretly lusts to form a "North American Union" with Mexico and Canada, and possibly other Latin American countries. Most people, myself included, while admitting his actions (or lack of same in some cases) do indeed seem to reinforce that notion, have usually dismissed the rumors as "the call of the barking moonbat". I'm not so sure we can do so anymore. Judicial Watch has uncovered through FIOA requests, an implementation memo from DHS head, Michael Chertov, dated September 22, 2005, on implementing the "Security Prosperity Partnership". Ladies and gentlemen, our government is selling out our very sovereignty. THIS MUST STOP.

Fun with internet logs...

I don't know what, if anything, this means, but it is certainly intriguing. I got hits from both Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Labs today. One was looking for uses of Waspalloy, the other was reading my "Next" review.... so obviously there was no pattern. It's curious the things you find in your visitor logs...... like the guy in Tehran the other day trying to learn how to build a TATP bomb....

Council Candidate Questions

The other day I asked for suggestions for questions to include in a questionnaire to the City Council Candidates. I have sent the questions off to the candidates this morning. The questions are as follows:

1. What is your position on Revenue Caps such as the recently gutted Prop1/Prop2 caps? Are they a good idea or a bad idea? Why?

2. What is your position on appraisal caps? Good? Bad? Why?

3. What is your position on the City of Houston's recent spate of "annexation for specific purpose" deals? Should areas to be annexed have a legal say in whether they are annexed or not? Should the city be able to "annex" an area and gain population headcount and sales tax revenue without giving those residents a vote?

4. The city currently appoints half of the METRO board. The county only appoints two of the ten. The remaining three are appointed by the "minor cities" such as Bellaire, West University, Huntwick etc. METRO's board has both taxation and condemnation authority but is not directly answerable to the voter. Is that the way it should be? or should the METRO board be an elected entity?

5. HPD is faced with a massive manpower shortage. Recent statistics show that you are three times more likely to be murdered in Houston than in New York City. How would you address that?

6. Given the above situation, do you feel that now is the proper time for HPD to be cracking down on overtime abuse?

7. What is your position on HPD's chase policy?

8. What is your position on the city's sanctuary policy?

9. What is your position on HPD's TASER policy?

10. In the wake of both TS Allison as well as 9/11/01, the city's communications systems have been cited as a major problem. The city cannot effectively communicate with police, fire, ambulance and other emergency personnel. The radio systems are old and falling apart and uncoordinated. The 911 call center has had repeated system failures. To date, little has been done beyond studying the problem. What would you do to fix this debacle?

11. The city constantly complains that they do not have enough money to adequately staff and train HPD and HFD. The Mayor has canceled an entire HPD academy class and canceled the HPD overtime program in the Gulfton area. But yet the city continues to fund day labor sites, downtown real estate development, and is even funding an Afro-American History Museum. Many people are asking "Why is it that the city can afford to spend money on these things, but cannot adequately fund police and fire protection?" What is your position on this? Should the city focus on funding adequate police and fire protection first before spending money on programs that some people question the appropriateness of the city funding them to begin with? Is the current situation showing proper priorities? How would you change it?

12. How well has the current police chief done his job?

13. How well has the mayor done his job?

14. Has the mayor overstepped his authority in attempting to impose pollution controls on industries that are not within the CoH? Is this a proper subject for the city to address or is this a federal issue?


I sent these questions to nine of the 11 candidates that I have been able to to find contact information for. The other two I have been unable to find contact information. Those two are: Anthony Dutrow and Alfred Molison. If anyone knows how to contact them I would be happy to include them in the roundup as well.

What's for dinner.....

Beef, It's what's for dinner.....

Sunshine Week: Adventures in Public Information Openness

This week is "Sunshine Week", a nationwide initiative to draw attention to openness in government. Alas, it has been mighty cloudy this week, and I'm NOT talking about all the rain we've been having either.

First we had that Mental Giant in Roanoak Va. I blogged about that abused the Open Records requests by publishing information that in any logical world should be shielded from public disclosure. In an ideal world, such information would not even be collected by the government. This idiot did not break a law in doing what he did, but there is a difference between right and wrong and what the law allows. He clearly does not understand the difference.

Closer to home, Fred Blanton is trying to force the NHMCCD Foundation to disclose just how much of it's funding and support derives from taxpayer monies. But of course, the Foundation has hired Bracewell & Giuliani (yes, THAT Giuliani!) to represent them. They have sent this missive off to the AG trying to prevent anyone from looking too close at their finances.

It would appear that the NHMCCD board uses the foundation monies as a virtual slush fund to pay for things that it would be illegal for the board to spend money on itself. But since most of the employees, overhead, and money is suspected to come from NHMCCD and other public funds, it only adds a level of obfuscation to the already murky level of illegality. If and when the information becomes available, I'll pass it on. Fred's suspicions come from the following issues:
The foundation receives money from NHMCCD
The foundation receives money from Aldine ISD
The foundation receives facilities and office space from NHMCCD
The foundation payroll is paid by NHMCCD
Utilities, Internet, phone, HVAC, janitorial services to the foundation are supplied by NHMCCD
The foundation receives funding from other entities, such as the East Montgomery County Improvement District
The foundation's accounting services paid are for by NHMCCD
Additionally it is suspected that NHMCCD supplies in-house legal counsel for the foundation, and that the foundation may have received state and federal grants as well. Therefore:

Section 552.003 1 (A)(xii) describes the following that are subject to TXPIA requests:

(xii) the part, section, or portion of an organization, corporation, commission, committee, institution, or agency that spends or that is supported in whole or in part by public funds;

It certainly sounds like the foundation fits the definition as being subject to TXPIA requests to me.....

In the matter of the Andy Taylor's billing records however, there may well be a chink in the armor. When Fred sent a follow up TXPIA request stating that he thought that the redactions were illegal, they requested an opinion from the Attorney General as to whether they could redact the information. Mind you, they didn't do this BEFORE they redacted the information which in of itself is a violation, but the NHMCCD made another fatal mistake, they were required to either answer Fred or seek an AG opinion and notify Fred of them doing so by March 12th, it would appear that they may have fiddle-farted around, waited until the last minute (as usual) and missed that deadline and filed it late. Therefore, NHMCCD may have forfeited the right to contest such disclosure. The jury is still out on that one since they MAY have made the filing to the AG's office in time, but if you note the postmark on the envelope, you'll note it was not postmarked to Fred until the 13th. How that will sort out legally is unclear. If I learn more, I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, METRO's ever present thorn in their side, Tom Bazan, is trying desperately to obtain METRO's National Transit Database report for Fiscal Year 2006, as well as the Fiscal Year 2006 financial statements which are required to prepare the NTD report. These documents are historically available by the end of January of each year. METRO claims they did not have the information to produce it, however Tom knew different. He knew that the NTD report had already been made to the Feds, which meant that both reports were in existence. He called them on the carpet on it and sicced the Harris County DA's office on them. Suddenly a letter appears from METRO's legal beagles that yes the data existed in a proprietary database but that the actual written NTD report was still buried somewhere in the bowels of KPMG until just a couple days ago and that Lo and Behold! Saint's Be Praised! The NTD document is suddenly available for review.... only 3 months late. But still no joy on the FY2006 Financial report, which MUST have been complete in order to generate the NTD report.... it is still apparently stuck somewhere in the vicinity of KPMG's ascending colon, or so METRO says.... Apparently the Harris County DA's office is only partially effective as a bureaucratic laxative.

(I'd post links to the PDF files Tom emailed me, but blogger does not allow me to upload PDF's that I am aware of and Tom doesn't host them anywhere that I am aware of. I'd be happy to forward them to anyone who asks however.)

UPDATE: Seems that the district is claiming that they are prevented from disclosing the details of Andy Taylor's billing records because they pertain to ongoing litigation that the district and Fred Blanton are party to. But there is one problem with that, the district is not party to the litigation. The litigation is comprised of ethics complaints against the acts of individuals, empowed by the Board members, not the district itself. Why is it then that the district is paying the legal bills of the individuals? Even if that WERE the case, how does that apply to the "Public Relations" work? Last time I checked, someone doing public relations work is not entitled to invoke attorney client privilege since the person is not acting as an attorney. You'll note that the above linked letter was dated on March 13, this is also past the deadline and they admit that they forgot to send it with the original package IN THE LETTER.

Advice to a would be rapist....

When you are busy raping a woman, don't answer the cell phone when your wife calls to ask where you are and what you are doing.....

What is wrong with CCW lisences being a public record

In Roanoak Va. a real mental giant published the entire New River Valley Virginia CCW permit holders list, complete with addresses, phone numbers, in the Roanoak Times. Included in the list were women who carried weapons to protect themselves from abusive ex's, like this woman who wrote:

"I've moved twice to get away from a violent ex. Now I have to move again. I really appreciate you publishing my address. Gee, thanks."

They've also given criminals a shopping list of places to go to obtain stolen weapons. While I understand the need to do background checks to purchase weapons, this is the very problem that generating such a paper trail opens up. Now anyone, including the government itself, who wants to take your gun away from you knows where they are.

Suggestions please!

I am in the process of formulating a list of questions to ask of the candidates that have entered the city council race for Shelly Sekula-Gibb's old seat. I have a few issues that I want to touch upon, but I'm throwing it open to you, my readers (both of you!), to suggest things you'd like to see asked and answered by those who would represent the voters on City Council.

Issues I plan on touching on:

• Revenue Caps
• Appraisal Caps
• "Annexation for specific purpose" agreements
• The METRO board's unelected status and it's power to tax and condemn property.
• HPD manpower and how it should be addressed.
• The HPD police chief and how the candidate thinks he has done his job.
• The mayor and how he has done his job.
• Spending priorities by the COH
• Houston's failure to implement an integrated and coordinated communications system for emergency communications.
• HPD's chase policy
• HPD's TASER policy
• HPD' overtime crackdown
• Mayor White's attempt to impose pollution controls on plants outside the CoH.
• The City's sanctuary policies.
• How to address the CoH's burgeoning crime problem

Anything you would like to see asked?

The 2nd Amendment and Human Rights

In the court's ruling today, the court touched on something that most of us instinctively understood, but probably haven't examined in detail in some time. That is the concept of inherent rights and how they interact with the constitution.

Most people think that the constitution gives them rights but that is not true. The constitution recognizes rights that predate human government. In fact, if you think about it, the amendments are out of order, the 2nd amendment protects a right that even predates human speech, that is the right to be armed.

One of the very first tools that humans ever made was a sharpened stick. That stick is the predecessor of every weapon mankind has ever built. In fact tool use is widely thought to have been a catalyst for our species to have developed speech, culture, and intelligence as it is generally accepted.

That stick allowed us to protect our young from predators. It allowed us to hunt for food and ensure our young had enough food to eat. It allowed us to threaten each other and therefore caused us to form armed cooperative groups as a means to protect ourselves and therefore formed the tribe or clan. These clans then forced us to learn to communicate with each other. These tribes then were forced to confront the realities of group dynamics and that lead to the first faltering steps towards local government. Tribes fought each other for land and resources and made them learn the concept of state, and national government. Weapons allowed nations to overthrow governments that abused their power and the rights of the people. Weapons allowed the people to protect themselves from the lawless and the evil among us.

Mankind owes it's very existance as a thinking, philosophical being to weapons. Weapons made us what we are, they are mankind's birthright. Only a fool thinks they are unnecessary to society. Society would not, COULD not exist without them. The constitution did not give us the right to be armed, being armed gave us the right to govern ourselves.

Chimps are just now learning to make weapons. Conceivably in a few hundred thousand years, Chimps may find themselves in much the same place humans are now, assuming we will not interfere and accelerate the process somehow, which is probably unlikely given our inability to control our urge to tinker with stuff which is itself an outgrowth of our tool use.

...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed....

At least not in Washington DC.... Today is a VERY momentous day. The United States Court of Appeals For the District Of Columbia Circuit essentially gutted the DC gun ban in it's ruling today. The court ruled that like the 5th circuit before it, it interprets the 2nd amendment to the US Constitution to be an individual right, and that the government may regulate the carrying of arms under certain circumstances, it may not DENY an otherwise lawful citizen from owning such a weapon. Therefore the DC gun ban is summarily struck down. Now the District of Columbia can either accept the ruling, or appeal it to the Supreme Court. Anyone care to bet which they do?

hat tip Clayton Cramer

Banco de America Boycott Update

It is worse than we ever suspected...

Chris Baker posted a link to the Bank of America Boycott list of banks that accept the Matricula Consular card for banking purposes. The list is quite long and includes virtually every major bank and a number of smaller ones including the bank I have used for some time. I have to tell you this is quite disheartening.

Misleading headline (and bill name) of the year.

The Chronicle published an AP story that touted "House votes to make unions easier to form" and supposedly the bill does this by removing the ability of a employer to require a secret ballot of workers as to whether they want to be unionized or not. Now a secret ballot is just that, Secret. What is really galling is that they are calling this the "Employee Free Choice Act". there is nothing here about assuring an employee's freedom of choice, it is all about REMOVING the freedom to chose whether they want to unionize or not. If this passes, it would only take one or two people to force every employee there to join the union. That is blackmail. That is wrong. I urge the Senate to kill this.

Obviously Dr. Ruth doesn't work there....

A fortune cookie fortune I got this afternoon makes me think these people are getting just a tad personal....


Then again, they may just have a side biz catering to that very thing......

Come and take it!

Let's not forget what it was all for shall we?

NHMCCD Board retreats!

Last month, I posted a story about an attempt to circumvent the Texas Open Meetings Act by the NHMCCD board. The attempt failed not because someone realized they were violating the law or that what they were doing was wrong. No, it failed because the board collectively could not agree on a date and time to break the law. Well, now they have set a date. The date is March 2, 2007. Not only are they going on a retreat to discuss district business, they are renting a meeting room and having it catered at the Wyndham Greenspoint Hotel instead of using the district's own perfectly acceptable meeting rooms. The notice of this meeting went up here and here on an obscure part of the district website February 27th. To be legal, open meeting notices must be posted 30 days in advance, not 3 (NOTE: Someone just emailed me saying that the notification time is 10 days unless it is deemed an emergency, not 30. I'm not sure if that is right or not, but even then, 3 days isn't 10). Here is the text of the two notices, Please note the date:

N O T I C E

February 27, 2007

The Board of Trustees of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District will hold a retreat at 9:00 a.m., on Friday, March 2, 2007, in the Campobello Room of the Wyndham Greenspoint Hotel, 12400 Greenspoint Drive, Houston, TX. No deliberations or actions will take place. The Board will go into closed session under the following provisions of the Sections 551.001, et seq., Texas Government.

Section 551.074 - Personnel Matters

NORTH HARRIS MONTGOMERY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

By __________________________________

John E. Pickelman, Ph.D.

Chancellor

and the second one:

N O T I C E

February 27, 2007

The Board of Trustees of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District will hold a workshop meeting at 12:00 p.m., on Friday, March 2, 2007 in the Campobello Room of the Wyndham Greenspoint Hotel, 12400 Greenspoint Drive, Houston, TX for the purpose of reviewing current facility needs and options. No deliberations or actions will take place.

NORTH HARRIS MONTGOMERY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

By ________________________________

John E. Pickelman, Ph.D.

Chancellor

This is a clear violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. There was not adequate notice (I verified when the documents were created in Word. They were created on the morning of Feb 19th, 2007. They did not even exist 30 days ago.). The claim that nothing substantial will be discussed is irrelevant even if true. If the business of the district is discussed, it must be an open meeting. How much money is this costing? Who is paying for it? The scuttlebut I'm hearing is that Pickelman wanted to hold this "retreat" at an out of town resort but that one of the recently elected board members that was elected under the banner of reform insisted that if he had to travel more than 45 minutes to get there he was not coming.