News and Commentary

Among the perks of some government jobs is the free use of a car. These government-issued vehicles are supposed to be used for purposes related to jobs but many employees use the vehicles for private purposes. To keep track of the proper use of the vehicles, GPS devices are sometimes installed to track the vehicle’s movement. This policy may seem reasonable to tax payers but to employees and unions GPS devices are considered “intrusive Big Brother technology”. Teamsters are negotiating contracts to “protect” workers from “being spied upon”. Is it “sneaky” and improper “spying” to use GPS devices to learn that some government employees used vehicles to visit gyms, restaurants, friends, go out on dates, etc. all on government time and at tax payer expense? These are actual examples of discovered abuses.

Long ago California adopted the California Protective Act doctrine which enables prosecutors to charge criminals with murder if someone is killed in the commission of a crime, whether it is robbery, assault or something else. Recently one of three people was killed during a home break-in and the other two were indicted for murder under this doctrine. Since all three were black, the police and prosecutor are being charged with racism for bringing charges in this case. The Rev. Amos Brown, head of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP, said the case “demonstrates the legal system is racist”.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals demonstrates once again why it is the court most reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for setting national fuel economy and pollution standards in vehicles and recently did so for sport utility vehicles, pick-up trucks and vans. However the court believes it knows better than the EPA and said the standards were not strict enough; the 9th Ciruit Court ordered the agency to develop new standards because the issued standards did not address “greenhouse gas emissions” in setting the new standards. Attorney General ‘Moonbeam’ said this was a “rebuke for the administration and its failed energy policy”.

Law suits have been filed against a northern California City and police department by current and former employees who accused the department of creating a “hostile work environment for women and lesbians” because “male workers considered policing ‘men’s work’. This is interesting on two levels; not only should people be careful to not differentiate verbally about gender, but the plaintiffs evidently distinguish between ‘women’ and ‘lesbians’; is this not itself discrimination?

By all liberal news media accounts, Hillary Clinton redeemed herself in the last Democrat contender debate. She not only did not ‘waffle’ and play the ‘don’t pick on me because I am a woman card’, she regained her famous assertedness. Looking for all the world as a man from the waist down in her black pants (which was the uniform of the day for all the candidates on stage); Hillary went right for - not the ‘jugular’ - but for another part of the male anatomy for which Hillary is famous for breaking.

The new discovery of a previously unknown dinosaur “flabbergasted” paleontologists. Named ‘Nigersaurus tarqueti’, the new creature has a mouth shaped like a “vacuum intake slot” but with hundreds of tiny sharp teeth to grind food. Speculation is rife that this monster may be the ancestor of the first Democrat.

There is a great deal being said about granting driver licenses to illegal immigrants after New York governor Spitzer and Senator Hillary Clinton first came out for and then against driver licenses for illegal immigrants. Therefore it is particularly interesting to note that in Mexico only legal residents can get a driver license. All 31 of Mexico’s states require foreigners to have a valid visa to get a license. Alejandro Ruiz, Director of Education of the Mexican Automobile Association said “When it comes to foreigners, we are a little more strict here.” Why can’t the United States have laws regarding illegal immigrants comparable to those in Mexico?

If you wonder why oil prices are up, the reason is just supply and demand. Countries like China and India are consuming increasing amounts of oil. Subsidies to consumers in these countries, and in Iran as well as other oil-producing countries, have allowed oil usage to increase at a great pace and world demand for this year alone has risen about 500,000 barrels a day. Estimates are that in a few years US consumption, now at 86 million barrels a day, will be about 93 million barrels a day. Until the law of supply and demand is repealed, or America wises up and permits extended oil drilling and coal-to-oil conversion, gasoline prices will continue to rise.

Word ‘on the street’ is that Iran has reduced the number of arms and deadly weapons sent to Iraq. Less commonly mentioned, however, is that shipments are now being diverted by Iran to Afghanistan to bolster the Taliban. So the issue should not be whether Iran supports terrorists in Iraq, it should be that Iran supports terrorists, period.