Category: politics/law

The Heritage Foundation has published a list of the “earmarks” included in the spending bill passed over the weekend.

Some highlights:

$3,000,000 – Center for Grape Genetics, Geneva, New York
$3,000,000 – Grape Genomics Research Center, Davis, California
$25,000 – Develop curriculum to study mariachi music, Clark County School District, Nevada
$150,000 – Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program, Lady B Ranch, California
$99,000 – Train students in the motorsports industry, Patrick Henry Community College
$1,500,000 – Transport naturally chilled water from Lake Ontario to Lake Onondaga
$100,000 – “No Workshops, No Jumpshots,” Virginia
$1,750,000 – Parents Anonymous
$470,000 – Swine and other animal waste management research, North Carolina
$300,000 – Wool research

…And the list goes on and on.

We should be very proud that Congress is working so hard for us.

Perhaps more alarmingly, the same bill also included a clause allowing hospitals and insurance companies to refuse to perform abortions. Even though many states already have laws allowing individual doctors to refuse, they felt it was important to allow entire institutions to decline. I believe that individual doctors should always have the right to not participate, and that there should be some protection for religious hospitals to not have to offer abortions (although perhaps not those receiving government money, which probably leaves very few). However, this clause (the wording of which I am afraid I cannot find) goes way beyond that. According to Salon, the Senate will hold a vote to repeal the clause in April. One can only hope that, on its own, support for the measure will wane.

Anyone who saw last Thursday(?)’s Daily Show probably already knows about this, but I just saw it, and it was so weird I had to look into it. Apparently, back in September, students at Pitt and IUP were approached by “student-aged” people asking them to sign petitions supporting things like medical marijuana reform. Those who did received new voter registration cards in the mail a few days later, informing them that their registration had been changed to Republican. In a PA primary, this would make a differnce. Unless the students’ addresses have changed, though, it wouldn’t affect them at all. So what’s the point? Apparently no one knows. But here are two articles about it:

http://www.observer-reporter.com/283941907422030.bsp

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_5550.shtml

Here’s an equally ancient article about dirty tricks in general:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12514-2004Oct30.html

In more recent news, Kerry has said that he & his people will be “participating” in the Ohio recount. Keith Olbermann has more.

And, finally, a far cry from the $1 grilled cheese sandwiches sold at Phish shows, GoldenPalace.com has bought a sandwich bearing the image of the Virgin Mary. For $28,000.

While I’m very happy that Ashcroft is resigning (although I’m a little worried that his replacement will be even worse), I’m very unhappy to hear that Colin Powell is as well. I’m not surprised, and in some way his resignation allows me to hold onto a little bit of respect for him, but he’s seemed like one of the good guys, perhaps one of the only good guys. And, of course, I’m scared to find out who Bush will appoint instead.

I am far from convinced that any significant amount of vote fraud occurred last Tuesday. I’m closer to being convinced that some insignificant (IE, not result-altering) fraud occurred, and that some of those electronic voting machines experienced a few, erm, glitches. Either way, it seems highly unlikely that anything will happen in the next couple of weeks to change the outcome of the election. I’m not even sure, at this point, discovering that much fraud would be a good thing. Sure, Kerry supporters (and former Gore supporters) would feel a bit vindicated, but the effect on voter morale in our already polarized nation might be nearly as damaging as another 4 years of W.

That said, if you’re having trouble letting go, there has been some talk about investigations and recounts. This site urging readers to ACT NOW (!) TO UNHIJACK THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION looks like it could easily be the work of some left-wingers who just can come to grips with reality, but Keith Olbermann of MSNBC has been talking on his blog about the possibility of/need for a closer look.

As Olbermann writes, we do have a need for “a resolution of both DemocratsÂ’ doubts about the legitimacy of the election, and RepublicansÂ’ resentment that there are doubts”. I’m disappointed that this kind of investigation wasn’t automatic on the part of the press — instead we’re right back to hearing about Scott Peterson.

http://www.sorryeverybody.com/

“Some of us — hopefully most of us — are trying to understand and appreciate the effect our recent election will have on you, the citizens of the rest of the world. As our so-called leaders redouble their efforts to screw you over, please remember that some of us — hopefully most of us — are truly, truly sorry. And we’ll say we’re sorry, even on the behalf of the ones who aren’t.”

Cute site.

I’ve been feeling pretty devastated about the outcome of the election, but this guy took it a little too far. It doesn’t seem like a very effective way of protesting, but it is interesting that he was able to get into a supposedly secure area. Nice to see that Bush is keeping us so safe.

So we’ve known now for nearly 24 hours that it was completely over. I’m still in a little bit of shock. I was never convinced that John Kerry was going to win, but I’m surprised that it wasn’t closer.

I could rant for hours, I think, but I need to get to class. More later.