Monthly Archives: May 2009
Don't Say "Cheese" at the DMV
If you are going to renew your license at the DMV in Virginia (or Arkansas, Indiana, and Nevada), don’t smile when your picture is being taken. Why, you ask? Well, the reason is that the DMV uses a specific software that is designed to detect identity theft, and if you smile, it creates more difficulties to distinguish your image. The DMV now requires a neutral look with no smile. Virginia is the most stringent, where they want you to think of the DMV experience as being one with your ex or a confrontation with your nemesis (in a professional format). Gee, I don’t think I have smiled once at the DMV, since it is like a confrontation with my nemesis or comparable to torture.
**H/T to CNet News
Obama Nominates Sonia Sotomayor to Supreme Court
President Obama announced today that he will be appointing Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. With Sotomayor’s nomination, there has been a flurry of questions surrounding her nomination, including lots of dissent. Will she be an activist judge or a judge that seeks to uphold the Constitution?
Let’s look at some recent statements that might lend some light into her view of interpreting the law from a speech that she made to La Raza in October 2001.
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”
From a Duke University panel discussion in February 2005.
“All of the legal defense funds out there, they’re looking for people with Court of Appeals experience. Because it is — Court of Appeals is where policy is made. And I know, and I know, that this is on tape, and I should never say that. Because we don’t ‘make law,’ I know. [Laughter from audience] Okay, I know. I know. I’m not promoting it, and I’m not advocating it. I’m, you know. [More laughter] Having said that, the Court of Appeals is where, before the Supreme Court makes the final decision, the law is percolating. Its interpretation, its application.
Jeffrey Rosen of The New Republic even discussed why Sotomayor might not be a good choice for this position. While many law clerks praised her work, there were a few who cited that she often made oversight onto particular details involving some high-profile cases.
Some former clerks and prosecutors expressed concerns about her command of technical legal details: In 2001, for example, a conservative colleague, Ralph Winter, included an unusual footnote in a case suggesting that an earlier opinion by Sotomayor might have inadvertently misstated the law in a way that misled litigants. The most controversial case in which Sotomayor participated is Ricci v. DeStefano, the explosive case involving affirmative action in the New Haven fire department, which is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court. A panel including Sotomayor ruled against the firefighters in a perfunctory unpublished opinion. This provoked Judge Cabranes, a fellow Clinton appointee, to object to the panel’s opinion that contained “no reference whatsoever to the constitutional issues at the core of this case.” (The extent of Sotomayor’s involvement in the opinion itself is not publicly known.)
I thought Obama was seeking someone with a strong judicial background. I guess strong judicial background is someone who thinks the Courtrooms of America establish policy. Someone better inform Congress that they are out of business if this is the case.
The Official Endorsements of Crystal Clear Conservative
With the Republican State Convention coming up later this week, I have decided to throw my official endorsements online, even though many can guess who I will be supporting.
For Governor, of course, this is a no-brainer, as I will be supporting Bob McDonnell. McDonnell has a solid energy plan, job creation plan, and more will be released over time. McDonnell will make a great Governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and you can read more on his website.
For Lieutenant Governor, Bill Bolling will no doubt be receiving my support. Bolling’s proven record of looking out for families by working to promote school choice, working to strengthen Virginia’s economy, and ensuring that Virginia will become a national leader in energy production. Bolling is a devoted public servant, who works tirelessly to ensure Virginia is a better place to own and operate a business and raise a family. I look forward to working hard for the McDonnell/Bolling ticket this year, and if you would like to learn more about Bolling and his record, check out his website.
For Attorney General, I will be supporting Ken Cuccinelli. I assisted Cuccinelli’s campaign when he ran for State Senate in 2007, and there is no doubt, he is a devoted public servant, who has always worked hard for his district and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Cuccinelli will work hard to protect and defend the Virginia and United States Constitution, and he has a solid legislative record that will be beneficial to the Office of Attorney General. Cuccinelli has a solid track record on working with issues on life, liberty, and property. No doubt, he has received my support, and I hope he can receive your support as well.
Overall, these are the official endorsements of Crystal Clear Conservative. On Friday, look forward to many Tweets (you can find me here), video clips(Do you like YouTube?), and blog posts throughout the weekend.
Humor in Social Networking
Here’s some funny new media stuff for your enjoyment. As social networking is gaining in popularity, there are always little quirks that either might be annoying. This video talks about Facebook Chat. Now, I like to partake in a Facebook chat (personally, I am a Google Chat fan) from time to time, but at times, they can be mildly annoying, especially when working on a project. This clip might speak for someone who hates the chat mechanism on Facebook. Enjoy!
Hasta La Vista, Arnold!
Californians are mad at the current budget situation in their state, and they have every right to be. After all, their governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has promised to cut spending and eliminate the car tax. Well, spending is out of control and the car tax is back. The state is on the brink of going broke, and Reason.tv exposes how California’s current situation could impact America, especially with a tax and spend President in the Oval Office.
Recap of the Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals Game
On Friday evening, I had the opportunity to attend the Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals game at Nationals Park. It was a beautiful evening, and it was awesome taking in the game from the first base line with my good friend, Nikhil. The O’s handed a 4-2 defeat in 12 innings to the Nats.
Here are the tweets from the game from Twitter.
# Nats are up bottom of the 12th, Adam Dunn up to bat. Struck ouuut! J. Willingham. Out. R. Belliard up. O’s win! O’s win!!
# Baez safe at 1st, Brian Roberts up at bat and doubled, Adam Jones up and hits a double. 4-2 O’s way to represent the 410.
# R. Zimmerman out at first. Top of the 12th, tied at 2-2, Wigginton up at bat for the O’s, popfly caught in right field. Izturis out at 1st
# Top of 11th inning. O’s have 3 outs, now the Nats are up to bat in the bottom. Guzman up at bat, singles out, N. Johnson up and pop flyout
# Nats up bottom of 10th. Josh Bard up. Out at 1st. Justin Maxwell up and he’s walked. Austin Kearns is pitch hitting. Out at 1st.
# 10th inning: O’s have runners on 1st and 2nd, Adam Jones up to bat and was walked. Nick Markakis up to bat, struck out.
# Melvin Mora hits a single, Reimold fouled out, and Ty Wigginton pop flys out. Now, onto the Nats, R. Zimmerman up to bat, out at first.
# 8th inning. O’s have dropped three, now the Nats are up to bat. Willie Harris is pinch hitting. Out. Guzman is up now. Out at first.
# 7th Inning Stretch. Take me out to ballgame! C’mon O’s! C’mon O’s!
# Adam Dunn now up to bat for the Nats. Walked. Josh Willingham up to bat, struck out.
# Bottom of the 6th, Guzman up to bat and singles, Ryan Zimmerman up to bat, singles. Safe at first, not at second though.
# Justin Maxwell out, Zimmermann strikes out. Top of 6th, Markakis up to bat and out he goes. Aubrey Huff out, Mora out, Reimold singles.
# O’s now up to bat. 1 out. Rich Hill up to bat, now out. Brian Roberts hits a single. Not enough, as Adam Jones hit a fly. Out
# Adam Dunn up to bat for the Nats. Game is 2-2! Josh Willingham up to bat. Single. Willingham tried to steal 2nd, got picked off.
# For the Nats, Nick Johnson up to bat, hits line drive into right field. Single. Ryan Zimmermann hits a homerun!
# 4th inning: Melvin Mora up to bat for the O’s. He’s out! Chad Moeller out. Nats up to bat!
# Nick Markakis up to bat, pop fly, 3rd out!
# In the 3rd Inning, one out for the O’s, Rich Hill up to bat…now, two outs, Brian Roberts hit a double, Adam Jones hit a single.
# O’s get a homerun by a rookie Nolan Reimold. Go #O’s!
# Markakis is up to bat with O’s. 2 strikes, out on a fly. Caught by Maryland grad, Justin Maxwell, alma mater of @nikhil28. Yeah #terps!
# Roberts up to bat! Strike one, Adam Dunn caught ball, 1st out O’s.
Good game O’s…Way to represent the AL East
Is California the "new France"?
Just watch Cato Institute’s Dan Mitchell criticize California for the tax-and-spend ways and referred to them as the new France. What do you think?
H/T Cato @ Liberty
"Audit the Fed" Legislation Gaining Traction in Congress
“Audit the Fed” (H.R. 1207) Legislation has been gaining some popularity and momentum in the House recently, and it has also received some support from across the aisle. Rep. Tom Perriello (D- VA 5th) has signed onto this legislation, which has been introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) to make the Federal Reserve more accountable and transparent. Perriello also joins other Virginia Congressmen, including: Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA 4th), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA 6th), and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA 1st) in supporting this legislation.
H.R. 1207 will amend section 714 of Title 31 of the U.S. Code to remove the restrictions on how the GAO can audit the Federal Reserve. Once these restrictions are removed, all of the Federal Reserve interactions would be open to Congressional oversight.
Hopefully, once this legislation is passed, we will be one step closer to ending the Federal Reserve once and for all.
**Cross Posted at Virginia News Platoon
Muldoon Web of Lies–Part Three
It was my intention to end the Muldoon Web of Lies series after the second part. However, #15 of Lieutenant Governor candidate Patrick Muldoon’s 30 reasons to “annoy a delegate with crazy rants” e-mail deserved some clarification.
Muldoon claims in his e-mail:
As many of you know, during the 2007 General Assembly session, House Bill 2035 was passed requiring that 12 year-olds girls be vaccinated for the sexually transmitted disease Human papillomavirus (HPV).
This legislation was a gross infringement on parental rights and put Virginia’s young girls at great risk by mandating an unproven vaccination for an STD that they have no chance of contracting in the classroom.
This legislation was the result of an aggressive multimillion dollar advertising campaign by Merck and other pharmaceutical companies.
In fact, House Bill 2035 mandates that 12 year-olds receive an STD vaccine that wasn’t even proven effective for their age group, unless their parents affirmatively opt out. Just try telling your pediatrician that you don’t want your middle schooler vaccinated … and get ready for an earful thanks to the mandate and Merck’s multimillion-dollar saturation advertising, PR and “physician education” campaign, which included funding for Bill Bolling’s “End Cervical Cancer in our Lifetime” effort.
I believe parental rights needs to be protected and mandating an untested STD vaccination for 12 year-old girls is not looking out for Virginia families. While I support the effort to end cervical cancer, I do not believe that forcing an unproven vaccine on young girls is the solution.
I will fight for Virginia’s parents and children, by seeking to repeal the STD vaccine mandate for young girls. And I will promote abstinence and monogamy, not the so called “safe sex” agenda.
Well, let’s look at the real truth. First, Bill Bolling does not, has not, and will not support mandatory vaccinations for HPV for anyone. Second, the program that Bolling participated in was a bipartisan national program that encouraged women to visit their doctors, and attempted to educate them about the link between HPV and cancer. The program recommended abstinence as the best method of avoiding HPV, and the vaccine only in terms of consultation with a doctor.
As for the “mandatory vaccine” claim, the State Senate passed legislation that added the HPV vaccine to the list of required vaccinations before a child enters school, but the opt-out basically neutralizes it.
