EckerNet.Com

Sadely, our personal property rights, already battered by the smoking ban, just took another big hit today. A BIG hit.

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people’s homes and businesses — even against their will — for private economic development.

Basically, now they can claim your property whenever they want. Just claim it’s for public use and no problem. Not even the restriction that they are reducing blight.

City : Heh, nice land…I bet we could build a nice public mall here.

Resident : But my family has lived her for generations!!

City : We’ll give you 100K for it?

Resident: NO!

City : Too bad. Be out by Thursday.

That sound you hear is your rights being washed out to sea.

So what stops them from doing the same thing Mugabe is doing in Zimbabwe?? If it’s no longer to eliminate blight, how is it fundamentally different than what Mugabe is being globally criticized for doing? Yes, we’re reimbursing the residents but they still lose their land….with little or no legal recourse.

Essentially you don’t own land anymore. The government is just allowing you to pay taxes on it until they need it.

If you’ve ever wondered why people fight so hard for the Second Amendment, this is why. When the government abuses their power, the people need the tools to take back that power. Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far.

It’s worth noting that churches don’t pay property taxes so razing them for commercial development would also be in the public good for a city. Not saying it’s gonna happen. Not saying anyone has even thought about proposing that. Just pointing out how great the potential for the abuse of power is here.

Now is your cue to pick up your phone and call your representatives and senators. This shouldn’t even be a left/right issue…although looking at how the SCOTUS voted on party lined it sure seems to be. Keep that in mind who’s trashing your rights next time there is an opening on the Supreme Court.

Some rather unfortunate comments by Senator Carl Levin (D- Mich) today in the Senate.

He called for Iraqis to not keep putting off a vote on the drafting of a constitution. “Failure to adopt a constitution … shows a lack of will,” he said.

Lack of will?? Excuse me?? You are saying this about the same people that were overwhelmingly willing to risk their own lives, and that of their family, just to vote? But we shouldn’t be surprised by Levin’s remakrs. This is coming from a senior member of a party who bitches if they have to wait more than 15 minutes at a polling place.

“We must demonstrate to the Iraqis that our willingness to bear the burden…has limits,” Levin said.

So sad. Especially since it’s was the Democrats own crown jewel who said “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty” – JFK.

The Democrats love to invoke the memory of JFK for their own purposes. Both Clinton and Kerry claim to idolize the man. Yet when it comes to his ideals, they get tossed out the window. Why?? Well Kennedy at least had some balls. Which is more than I can say for most of his current political brothers.

Instead, it’s the Republicans in the room who best understands the words and intent behind JFKs words.

Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Virgina, praised President Bush for “steady and unflinching resolve. “Our great nation has an enormous capacity for sacrifice and hardship when we understand the cause is just,” he said.

What happened to yesterday’s Democrats?

Deer Sir,

I waunt to apply for the secritary job what I saw in the paper. I can Type real quik wit one finggar and do sum a counting.

I think I am good on the phone and no I am a pepole person, Pepole really seam to respond to me well.

I´m lookin for a Jobb as a secritary but it musent be to complicaited.

I no my spelling is not to good but find that I Offen can get a job thru my persinalety. My salerery is open so we can discus wat you want to pay me and wat you think that I am werth,

I can start imeditely. Thank you in advanse fore yore anser.

hopifuly Yore best aplicant so farr.

Sinseerly,

Peggy May Starlings

PS : Because my resimay is a bit short - below is a pickture of me taken at my last jobb. Link Here. NSFW

Employer’s Response in the Extended Entry
(more…)

It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, when a couple days after I point out the flaws in a companies product I see a slew of hits from that companies domain.

It allows me to imagine that in some boardroom somewhere high-priced executives are trying to decide how much they would should try to bribe me with.

For convenience sake, my integrity can be bought for the following rates:
Corporations : $1500 per day
Mom&Pop stores : $150 per day
Major governments : $2500 per day
Minor governments (Switzerland, France, Jamaica, etc) : $3500 per day
Individuals : $100 to $1000 per day
Porn Stars : $10 per day

So 20% of the public thinks that prisoners are mistreated at Gitmo. Not alot but still a significant number

Not sure how they can say that seeing as they’ve never been there or seen first hand account that anything bad is happening. Probably from listening to Durbin who also is obviously off his rocker.

And then there is this…a local Minnesotan who has actually been there. You know someone with first hand information. Someone who isn’t taking thigs out of context because he IS the context. Surprise surprise…prisoners are treated well…so well some of them don’t want to leave. Which is surprising considering according to some, they are at the mercy of Nazi-like treatment.

But Gitmo is still inhumane right…after all they don’t get trials before they have are admitted to this vacation spot. Wrong.

RightWingNews put together a list of people who are ruining this country. Interesting read, although I wonder how different the list would be if you asked the same people again in a month. At least three of the nominees are likely due to recent events rather than overall agenda.

The Elder opines that in addition to a national list, a list should be created of who is ruining Minnesota. Mitch agrees…so much that he completely steals the idea and puts it up on his blog asking for contributions.

Now I’m nobodys monkey, so I’m not gonna play to that fiddle. And besides, considering the powers that be, I doubt this Young Jedi’s contributions would be taken seriously.

For example, here are some people I think are “ruining” Minnesota:

The Fraters - Under their leadership Minnesota lost the quarter battle-royale, resulting in loss of morale and the fact that we have to listen to Colorado toot it’s horn for a long long time.

Cathy in the Wright - Leaving Kevin unsupervised while she left on vacation placed the entire state in grave danger.

Sandy - For leading a campaign of world domination that would leave Minnesota run by people whose brains have shutdown and possibly not restarted.

Marcus - His campaign to lift the ban on smoking will only increase the problem of global warming, thereby dooming all of Minnesota to weather that would make the state more habitable.

Nihilist - His wild hip-girating Elvis impersonations can only lead to a decay of morals in our children.

Mitch Berg - His constant references to his North Dakota roots as opposed to the rest of us Minnesotans discourages a sense of community.

Kathy of Cake Eater fame - Fails the Minnesota Nice test

Hugh Hewitt - Nobody that drives a snowmobile like that can be good for Minnesota, seriously.

Sisyphus - His serious lack of conviction is demonstrated by the fact that he still hasn’t staged a coup of Nihilist in Golfpants

Bogus Doug - His avid love of wine smacks of elitism.

So there you guy….a whole list of people who are ruining Minnesota. Fortuanately, they are also pretty decent people…who get better with beer.

American jobs at the expense of American lives

Buy America Provision Delayed Body Armor For Troops, Pentagon Official Say: Had the Pentagon not been restricted by legislative provisions requiring U.S.-only content on certain defense products, the military could have delivered body armor to the troops more rapidly, according to a senior Pentagon official. When production of body armor bottlenecked in the early months of combat operations in Iraq, the Pentagon attempted to find a new supplier of a critical backing material to supplement production from the U.S. company, Honeywell. While the best alternative was found to be a foreign firm called Dutch State Mines, a congressional provision called the Berry Amendment prevented the Pentagon from buying directly from the company. According to Suzanne Patrick, the deputy undersecretary of defense for Industrial Policy, that added several months� delay to the Pentagon�s efforts to ramp up production of body armor. The Pentagon in this case could have sought a waiver to the Berry Amendment, or argued that body armor was not subject to that provision, but the department decided against that route, according to Patrick. �Maybe the time it would have taken to mount the Berry waiver would have been more than three months, so we wouldn�t have gained anything,� she suggested. (Defense Daily)

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it again and again, this type of feel good legislation just doesn�t work and in the end hurts us more than helps. The defense industry is not something you can coddle here at home. It�s international. Trying to build up walls around us will do exactly what you are trying to prevent.

Sure you want national security by using only home-grown providers. What if those providers can�t provide it fast enough. Are you going to buy enough every year to make it cost effective to widen our domestic industrial base?? No, far too expensive. Instead it makes far more sense to use existing foreign production capacity. In the end we have a domestic company operating at peak capacity, while we still have the ability to ramp up production if we need by using foreign suppliers.

American jobs? If we�re not allowed to use foreign suppliers, you think foreign countries are going to use US suppliers?? Why should they use us when they get nothing in return but a cold shoulder?? And like I said, are we going to consistently purchase enough each year to keep domestic suppliers busy? Most likely not. Budgets rise and fall. Only through diversifying can companies establish a relatively constant income.

So next time you wrap yourself up in your flag and hold a Buy American provision on high like so many commandments, try thinking beyond your own immediate personal political future. Such as the future of those soldiers on the ground whose lives could be put in jeopardy. Or those American employees whose jobs are at risk.

Buying a used car?? Harvey has some great ideas on what to look out for.

The Powerline guys have a copy of Kerry’s Form 180

Ryan at Rambling Rhodes has got a Cluepon for you to provide to your slower readers. And well, we’ve all been in that situation.

Courtesy of John Hawkins, finally a Che T-Shirt I could war.

Parts of the female brain shutdown during orgasm. Scientists still trying to figure out when they turn back on. LOL, that should be worth a hatemail or two from the MAWB Squad (love ya gals!).

Former (thank goodness!) President Clinton reportedly boinking yet another person besides his wife. Drudge is there…..and by there I mean reporting it…not actually there watching them.

As you may know, after my sister graduated from college this spring she moved in with me until she gets on her feet.

Of course, when graduating college these days it is customary to hold a kegger at a nearby bar. Tales of my grad party at D.B’s in St. Cloud are still a legend in excess. However, despite the monstrous drunken fun that can result my sister decided to opt out. Instead she has settled on the wonderfully convenient option of simply hosting a kegger….hosting it at my house.

To be fair since it’s at my place and I had a birthday recently, she is allowing me to invite people as well. But it is clearly her party, and it is quite clearly my place that will become the latest SuperFund site.

In any case that joyous event is today.

So I’m sitting in my backyard, sipping a gin&tonic, throwing a ball for my dog, and occasionally doing some of the research I’ve been meaning to get to. All this has served to distract me quite nicely from the fact that in just a few hours various people of which I have little knowledge are going to invade my home in the search for free beer and food (mostly beer).

This pursuit is likely to last well into the early morning hours….at which time my sister’s non-existant damage deposit will be forfeit.

As a result, I have the following conclusions:
Chance that I will become inebriated as a coping method : 95%
Chance of further coherent postings today : 0.5%
Chance of drunken rambling postings in the early morning : 25%
Chance of any coherent postings for the rest of the weekend : 2%

That is all…see you on the other side of sober!