In Search of Clear Focus

I’m hardly the first person to have these thoughts, but they were meaningful to me today, so I don’t really care if I’m late to the game in writing them.

Like many people, I have watched the erosion of privacy and the increase in government secrecy with some healthy skepticism.  A high school reading of Orwell’s 1984 has stuck with me over the years and has been no small part of my feelings of consternation.  The notion of Big Brother watching over you, the Though Police, and the Two Minutes Hate are not hard to forget and something we should be working to avoid to avoid.

I recently picked up a copy of 1984 from the library and started in on it again.  While the main themes are as I remember, I was struck today by a specific quote from the first chapter that rang so true for me.  The three slogans from the Ministry of Truth are bad enough:

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

I feel like I could write quite the diatribe on those alone in the context of the Global War on Terror, but they weren’t what stopped me reading and had me staring out the bus window for a while, depressed:

… an attack so exagerated and perverse that a child should have been able to see through it, and yet just plausible enough to fill one with an alarmed feeling that other people, less level-headed than oneself, might be taking in by it.

If that doesn’t perfectly describe our current level of political discourse in this country, I don’t know what does.  It seems like every debate and campaign quickly devolves to the level described by that quote.  I can cite instances from the Iraq war debate, discussion of illegal immigrants, the 2004 elections, and the Democratic party’s 2008 nomination battle.

The Hate needs to end; I just don’t know how it ever will.

It’s actually hard to believe that there aren’t already restrictions on the number of times a person can take and fail the tests at DMV. It does help me to understand why some many of the drivers out there can’t seem to follow the basic rules of the road, however. Is it too much to hope for that this will pass both houses and make it into law?

Clipped from www.washingtonpost.com

Bill Targets Frequent Test-Takers at DMV

Tens of thousands of Virginians fail the tests multiple times. One applicant failed the written test 80 times last year. Another failed the behind-the-wheel test 10 times.

In a little-known problem just coming to light, state officials believe the excessive test-takers are trying to get a driver’s education class at the state’s expense. On Thursday, the Virginia Senate is scheduled to take up a House-passed measure cracking down on the test-takers, who clog the already-long lines at DMV offices.

Instead of taking a class that can cost hundreds of dollars, they keeping coming back to the DMV to use the tests as a cheap way to learn.

The proposal before the General Assembly would restrict applicants from taking more than three written or behind-the-wheel tests in three months. Those who fail three times would be required to complete a class at a driver training school before taking another test.

It seems that this is not the week for me to just be getting where I’m going without a little bit of effort.  Saturday, I had lots fun trying to get to the Bethesda Photowalk.  Last night getting to the polls and home proved to be a lot more work than normal.

I left work a half-hour earlier than normal, catching the early bus out of Crystal City.  Normally, this bus hits a little bit of traffic on 66 west, but it usually moves along.  Not yesterday.  Like so much of the region, ice was causing major delays.  Over the span of what is normally a 20 minute segment of the bus route, I managed to complete a Sudoku puzzle, write out a task list for the next day, and take a nap. Refreshed after my nap, I settled in for the second half of the bus ride.

This part was no better, as the driver inexplicably choose not to use the express lanes on the Dulles Toll Road, instead opting for the heavily congested toll lanes.  As we sat in traffic while the express lanes screamed by, there were quite a few looks thrown about the bus.  I sent a text to my wife letting her know that I was going to be late.  I only just refrained from calling the bus driver an idiot in the message.

Turns out, that was a good omission, as the express lanes soon came to a complete stop.  An accident on an icy overpass has completely stopped those lane.  With no possible exit, the folks there were trapped for quite a while.  We slowly puttered along and eventually made the bus depot.  My leaving 30 minutes early had landed my less than 10 minutes ahead of my normal schedule.  And that was before seeing my car.

There’s a really cool look to glass when ice has frozen over it.  It gets a nice mottled look that is exceptionally pretty, when you don’t have to look through it and drive.  Unfortunately, that what I had to do, so out came the ice scraper and five to ten minutes later, I was finally heading to vote.

The trip was uneventful (though I passed a few more accidents) and the polling place was fairly efficient.  [Big thanks to the folks who brought the doughnuts for all the voters, by the way!]  With about two hours to go before close there were ~480 votes in the Democratic primary and ~240 in the Republican.  I was somewhat surprised at the 2:1 margin, but that margin held up statewide in Virginia.  Even more impressive to me were the 973,221 voters in the Democratic primary (based on vote totals from the Washington Post, with 99% of precincts reporting).  Almost one million voters in a primary with no local implications has to say something about the frustrations of a large group of people with the status quo.

Update: A little article from the Post on the ice and traffic yesterday.  Just in case anyone thought I was exaggerating.

After what seems like a long wait, it’s finally time to vote in Virginia’s primary election.  It’s nice to actually be relevant for once, though I really wish the primary season wasn’t so far removed from the conventions and general election cycle.  Yes, I realize that those first two sentences reflect conflicting ideas on the timing of this primary, but that’s a pretty fair representation of my thoughts right now. Anyway, I decided to hit the polls on my way home from work, because the 6:00 AM opening is after my usual departure for the office.  I’m going to hop on the early bus home, and try and beat the post-work rush.

Being in Virginia, I can choose which party’s primary I vote in on the spot, with no party registration required.  I’ll vote in the Democratic primary, as I tend to lean a little more to the left.  One of my staunch Republican co-workers decided that he, too, would vote in the Democratic primary.  He wanted to vote for Clinton, with the thought that she’d be the easier candidate for the Republican nominee to defeat.  He was all set to do this, until he found out that he would have to state out loud that he was voting in the Democratic primary, and he felt like that act alone would sully him; not intentionally trying to select what he thought was a poor candidate for the opposing party.  He ended up voting for a Republican.

That planned of gaming of the system makes me understand why many state parties require registration to vote in their primaries. I just hope that behavior is few and far between.  If I were to vote in the Republican primary this cycle, I would vote for the candidate I thought would make the best president, not the easiest mark (unless they were the same;).  I would rather have two good options in November than have to worry about getting stuck with a poor choice if the election didn’t go my way.

So, I will head to the polls later today and cast a vote for Obama.  I appreciate his energy and enthusiasm and worry about Clinton’s polarizing nature.  Also, the few articles I’ve read about Obama’s economic plans make me feel that he has some good advisers, which neutralizes the concerns about lack of experience.  Hopefully, he’s a good choice; it’s just so hard to tell this early in the process.

I’ve expressed my desire for a smoking ban in Virginia before, but this guy has a unique way to try and force the issue through the courts.  He’s suing restaraunts to force them to go smoke free under the Americans with Disabilities Act based on his coronary artery disease.

Details from the Washington Post:

Bogden is the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against four local restaurants in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. The suit seeks to require the restaurants to become smoke-free, arguing that they must accommodate Bogden’s disability, coronary artery disease, and eliminate secondhand smoke so he can eat at them. Each of the restaurants allows smoking in designated areas.

Lawyers said that it’s rare to ask a judge to intervene in the debate over smoking in restaurants and bars and that the suit is unusual because Bogden is not seeking monetary damages beyond his court costs. After his doctor warned him to avoid secondhand smoke, all Bogden wants is an order requiring the restaurants to ban smoking.

Asked why he doesn’t eat at smoke-free restaurants, Bogden, who filed his claim under the Americans With Disabilities Act, said those establishments are hard to find.

“And I shouldn’t have to do that,” he said. “The ADA says restaurants can’t discriminate against a person with a disability.”

I find myself completely torn on this story.  I love the thought of a VA smoking ban, but I hate the misuse of the courts and the ADA to try and bring it about.  I disapprove when big companies, patent trolls, and anyone else abuse the legal process, so I can’t just commend the guy for doing the same.

That being said, if he’s successful, I will definitely celebrate the end result.  I went to dinner last week with my wife and 15-month-old daughter at Ruby Tuesdays.  They had a bar where smoking was allowed and non-smoking sections for dining.  We requested non-smoking and were taken to a booth on one side of the restaurant.  We didn’t even sit down because the smoke from the bar was so strong (and from only two people, at that).  We shifted to the other side of the restaurant, which worked well until a woman came at sat at the bar and lit up.  The last half of our meal was disturbed by nasty smelling cigarette smoke.  There was no way to get away from it.

Now, we’re on a budget and limited in dining choices by our daughter’s desire to try and communicate using her outside voice at random times.  So, we’re not frequenting the highest class of restaurants out there.  Certainly not places that are installing separate ventilation for smoking and non-smoking customers.  Outside of the mall food court, few options present themselves for a family meal out without someone else’s smoking becoming an issue.

I can’t imagine that the lawsuit will be successful, if even allowed to proceed.  I am hopeful, however, that a split legislature and a strong governor may help a smoking ban actually get codified in law.

 Near the end of his Nobel acceptance speech the other day, Al Gore had this thought provoking statement:

And most important of all, we need to put a price on carbon – with a CO2 tax that is then rebated back to the people, progressively, according to the laws of each nation, in ways that shift the burden of taxation from employment to pollution. This is by far the most effective and simplest way to accelerate solutions to this crisis.

Let me start by saying that I am not an economist, so I can’t even begin to tell whether this is feasible or not. To me, though, this is a singularly interesting idea. What would be the effect of eliminating income tax and instituting a pollution tax?

I imagine that the prices of all goods would increase to cover the costs of the pollution tax to the manufacturers. Those producers with lower emissions would be able to offer lower priced goods and have an economic advantage over their competitor. This should force others to find ways to reduce their greenhouse emissions to stay competitive. So that side of things passes the sniff test for me.

What I am simply not smart enough to understand is what would the affect be on the consumer? In the short term, I imagine the that this would be hardest on those making the least amount of money. They pay a relatively small percentage of their income in taxes and I would imagine the increase in costs would more than wipe away their ‘increased’ income. Over time, would this correct itself? Would the progressive rebate back to the people ease this burden?

I might have to find a way to submit this as a question to the folks at Freakonomics…

Hat tip to Raising Kaine.

I was going to write about something not at all important, but I was listening to the news on the way to my bus and I heard an update on a local story. Recently, a 14-year-old kid in D.C. was shot and killed by an off duty, out of uniform police officer. Now an autopsy has more information about the victim’s death. A couple of worrisome items from the Washington Post article:

The 14-year-old killed last month in a confrontation with D.C. police died of a gunshot wound to the back of his head, according to a newly obtained autopsy report.

The report also notes numerous unexplained cuts and bruises from blunt force trauma on the body of DeOnt¿ Rawlings, especially the left side of his face, shoulder and back. The report offers no conclusions about police conduct or what caused the injuries.

According to police, Officer James Haskel asked fellow officer and friend Anthony Clay to help him find a minibike that Haskel believed had been stolen from his home in Southeast. Off duty and out of uniform, the officers went looking for the minibike in Haskel’s sport-utility vehicle and found DeOnt¿ riding it on nearby Atlantic Street SE, police have said. DeOnt¿ shot at the officer, police said, and Haskel got out of the SUV, pursued the youth on foot and shot him.

The autopsy report, dated Sept. 27, describes DeOnt¿ as 5-foot-2 and 102 pounds. It includes a toxicology analysis that found no traces of drugs or alcohol in his blood.

The report notes that the youth’s hands and fingers had no obvious gunshot residue, powder or soot. Police have said they did not perform gunshot residue tests because they are unreliable.

Add in the fact that no one has been able to locate the gun that Rawlings allegedly used to fire on the officers, and my unease grows. Now, if there’s one thing that should be learned from the Duke Lacrosse case in Durham, NC, it’s that you shouldn’t jump to conclusions based on the early evidence that comes out in the media. This is especially true when issues of race, power, and socio-economic class are involved.

It is that last aspect that taints this case. Courtland Milloy wrote an interesting column a few weeks ago, right after Rawlings was killed, detailing the class conflict in the neighborhood were this all occurred. It was a perspective not found in any of the news articles I’ve read about the incident. It gives the situation context, which somewhat mellows my initial harsh thoughts about the officers. However, this one paragraph

Homeowners James Haskel and Anthony Clay — both off-duty D.C. police officers, both armed with department-issued 9mm Glocks — went looking for the stolen minibike about 7 p.m. Sept. 17, police have said. They said they spotted DeOnte Rawlings on the bike, and Haskel confronted him. Shots were fired. Haskel said he was fired on first. When the smoke cleared, DeOnte lay dead. Clay had not drawn his weapon.

when put together with the autopsy report gives me great consternation. Why didn’t the second officer ever even draw his gun? Was it because he didn’t feel threatened or did he not react properly? According to Haskel, how long between Rawlings shots and his own? Enough time for Rawlings to turn his back and get shot in the back of the head? Was Rawlings still a threat when Haskel shot him? How was the trajectory of the bullet into Rawlings head “slightly upward” as the autopsy found? The kid was only 5′ 2″… Without passing judgment too early, these are just a few of the questions I would like answers to before I can feel more at ease with the police officers’ actions.

I was going to write about the new driver fees in Virginia, but I ran into two articles on the Post this morning that really drew my attention. With a daughter now, I’m more worried than ever about increasingly young people involved in sexual activity. I might stop worrying about it in 20 years, but only if I don’t have another daughter. The articles discuss the trends in the use of the emergency contraceptive Plan B in the first year since prescriptions were no longer required for those over 18 and the trends in teen sexual activity and birthrates.

Read more »

One of the interesting aspects of blogging is seeing what others are writing about. I stroll by Technorati every once in a while and look in the tag cloud to see what’s popular at the moment. When I saw the name of Chris Benoit, a professional wrestler, I was a little surprised, especially at the relative number of posts. I took a look and saw why everyone was posting, then found an article on the Washington post with details of the death of Chris Benoit and family. The disturbing info:

Read more »

I often wonder what life will be like for my daughter, considering the drastic differences in the world in the 20+ years since I was growing up. My interest got piqued once again as the Supreme Court ruled to limit student speech and Al Gore is accused of hurting the children with fear mongering about the environment. My expanded thoughts after the jump.

Read more »