EPA Lead Based Paint Rule Effects Many Homeowners

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rule related to lead based paint in homes older than 1978. If you remodel your property and effect an area of lead-based paint greater than six square feet, you could be subject to a daily fine by the EPA. The government requires that you hire a certified remodeling company to do that work. However, the EPA does not have any instructors so there are no certified workers.

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For Liberty:

How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered the Withered Tree of Liberty

As the 2007-08 presidential campaign cycle offered up the usual slate of Washington insiders, Ron Paul, an obscure Congressman from Texas brought an alternative voice that challenged the political establishment.
Advocating a philosophy of sound money, a non-interventionist foreign policy, strict Constitutionalism, and individual liberty, Dr. Paul inspired a unique grassroots movement unmatched in American history - the repercussions of which continue to reverberate today and into the future of the American psyche.

For Liberty: How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered the Withered Tree of Liberty follows this historic campaign from the perspective of grassroots activists, and showcases the unique, often bizarre, yet groundbreaking projects they undertook as they brushed aside traditional campaign methodology.

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Racial Profiling and Arizona's Immigration Law

On April 23, 2010, Arizona enacted Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, SB-1070. Advocates for open borders decry the law as a violation of the civil rights of brown people. They contend that the law will lead to illegal racial profiling—an alleged civil rights violation.

Racial profiling is a touchy subject. It is a frequent complaint of Latinos as law enforcement agencies crack down against the wave of illegal aliens residing in the United States. Similarly, Muslim terrorists use that objection against strutiny.

Yet, it is true that the vast majority of illegal aliens migrate here from Mexico and Central America. Similarly, radical Islam is clearly a threat to the peace. Nevertheless, law enforcement must learn to effectively guard the borders, and intercept Jihadists, without some illegally profiling Americans.

Racial profiling is a civil rights violation. But the Arizona law does not permit racial profiling. In fact, it states, "This section shall be implemented in a manner consistent with federal laws regulating immigration, protecting the civil rights of all persons and respecting the privileges and immunities of united states citizens." This post looks closer at the issue of racial profiling.

In 2006, US Airways removed six suspicious Muslim men (Imams) from a flight citing worry they might be 9/11 hijackers. The Muslims later sued and recovered an undisclosed sum of money from the airline.

"Driving While Black" is a word play on the crime of "driving while intoxicated." The phrase implies police officers stop drivers for trivial issues based on the sole fact the officer is suspicious of the person because he or she is black. It happens so often, DWB has been absorbed into the social lexicon. Some black people attribute improper motives to officers anytime he makes an investigatory stop.

On July 16, 2009, we saw a good example of the stereotypical African-American viewpoint. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was a Harvard University professor returning home from a trip. He was arrested at his home. The thing is, Gates knew Obama. Without waiting for an investigation of the facts, President Obama reacted by stereotyping the arresting officer with a DWB motive. Obama said the police behaved “stupidly.” It turned out one of Gates' neighbors called the police about a possible breaking and entering of Gates' residence.

There are Constitutional issues that come into play when law enforcement actually does engage in racial profiling.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to be safe from unreasonable search and seizure without probable cause. Since the majority of people of all races are law-abiding citizens, a person's racial profile by itself cannot constitute probable cause. It is unconstitutional to stop and question a person because he or she is a particular race. Still, race can be a common sense factor. The issue of when a racial profile legitimately becomes relevant to a police investigation is a tricky legal question.

The U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division issued guidance Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies (Jun 2003).

It summarizes the federal law on racial profiling as follows:

Federal courts repeatedly have held that any general policy of "utiliz[ing] impermissible racial classifications in determining whom to stop, detain, and search" would violate the Equal Protection Clause. Chavez v. Illinois State Police, 251 F.3d 612, 635 (7th Cir. 2001). As the Sixth Circuit has explained, "[i]f law enforcement adopts a policy, employs a practice, or in a given situation takes steps to initiate an investigation of a citizen based solelyupon that citizen's race, without more, then a violation of the Equal Protection Clause has occurred." United States v. Avery, 137 F.3d 343, 355 (6th Cir. 1997). "A person cannot become the target of a police investigation solely on the basis of skin color. Such selective law enforcement is forbidden." Id. at 354.

Interestingly, the federal guideline does allow racial profiling when it makes “common sense” to consider race. The guidance cites as an example, a criminal enterprise involving a group of people made up of a certain race. (See Section I(B).) In that circumstance, racial characteristics are properly considered. Obviously, the same is true if the police are pursing a person whose description includes racial characteristics.

Even more interesting, the federal guidance on racial profiling contains a “Section II” that addresses the issue of racial profiling relative to terrorism and immigration enforcement. That Section cites with approval this quotation by the Supreme Court: "It is 'obvious and unarguable' that no governmental interest is more compelling than the security of the Nation." Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280, 307 (1981) (quoting Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U.S. 500, 509 (1964)). The guidance states:

Federal law enforcement officers who are protecting national security or preventing catastrophic events (as well as airport security screeners) may consider race, ethnicity, and other relevant factors to the extent permitted by our laws and the Constitution. Similarly, because enforcement of the laws protecting the Nation's borders may necessarily involve a consideration of a person's alienage in certain circumstances, the use of race or ethnicity in such circumstances is properly governed by existing statutory and constitutional standards. See, e.g., United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 886-87 (1975).

The federal guidance in Section II sums up the issue as follows: “the legality of particular, race-sensitive actions taken by Federal law enforcement officials in the context of national security and border integrity will depend to a large extent on the circumstances at hand.”

In 2005, the Supreme Court specifically authorized law enforcement to question a detained individual about her immigration status. The woman was stopped when police executed a search warrant of a house containing guns and drugs for an illegal alien gang. The police asked the woman about her immigration status. She sued the police alleging the questions violated her Fourth Amendment right. However, the Supreme Court rejected that argument. It said the police questioning while she was lawfully in custody did not violate her rights, as long as the interrogation did not lengthen the time of the custodial arrest. The Supreme Court stated, “[E]ven when officers have no basis for suspecting a particular individual, they may generally ask questions of that individual; ask to examine the individual’s identification; and request consent to search his or her luggage.” Mueler v. Mena, 544 U.S. 93 (2005). Thus, alleged racial profiling before questioning an individual already in police custody violates nobody's rights.

The Arizona law offers even more protection. It requires both "lawful contact" and "reasonable suspicion . . . that the person is an alien." What constitutes reasonable suspicion? That is where it will get really tricky.

In Estrada v. State of Rhode Island, No. 09-1149 (1st Cir. Feb. 4, 2010), the First Circuit rejected an ACLU lawsuit against police. The ACLU alleged the police lacked reasonable suspicion. However, the Circuit Court upheld dismissal of the ACLU damages case. It ruled that the police officer's suspicion was reasonable when he stopped a Van with fifteen Hispanic people, most of whom lacked identification.

Technorati Tags: Support, Our, Law, Enforcement, and, Safe, Neighborhoods, Act, text, racial, profile, civil, rights, arizona, police, immigration, illegal, alient, undocumented

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Dodd's Bill is TARP II--It Guts the Constitution

The Senate financial reform bill permanently enshrines unlimited generational theft bailout power in the Executive Branch.

It's a law even worse than TARP. If enacted and allowed to stand by the Supreme Court, the financial regulatory reform bill would cede a huge amount of power to the Executive Branch and the unelected Federal Reserve. It is as murderous to the Constitution as the five dead victims of David Berkowitz, Son-of-Sam. Call it Tarp II. A delusional Democrat Congress is about to enact it.

This week the Senate takes up Senator Dodd’s 1,408-page bill, S. 3217, Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, a bill now being rammed through Congress on a fast track.

Like all the other giant bills enacted into law by this Congress, it is doubtful that our elected representatives will have bothered to read the text. Even less likely is the probability our Senators will carefully consider consequence of enacting this sweeping new law--assuming they even care about the Constitution.

Essentially, Dodd's massive bill creates bureaucracies (called Panels or Commissions) that will have enormous power over banks, and other loosely defined "financial" companies. In Section 203(b), the bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to order into receivership any financial firm that the Secretary finds is “in danger of default,” and whose failure would have “serious adverse effects on financial stability.”

Receivership is like a death sentence for a financial company. A firm in receivership ceases to exist independently. Its operations are all controlled by the receiver, or in the new law's vernacular, a government “Corporation.”

The Secretary of Treasury's decision to kill a bank or financial company under this proposed law is subject to a very limited review by the Third Circuit Court of Appeal. However, even that court is hamstrung by the law. No matter how egregious the circumstance, the federal Court is not permitted to order a halt to the Secretary through court order or injunction.

Under an ominously titled, “ORDERLY LIQUIDATION AUTHORITY PANEL” section, the proposed law states:

The determination of the Panel . . . shall be final, and shall be subject to appeal only in accordance with paragraph (2). The decision shall not be subject to any stay or injunction pending appeal.

Section 202(b)(1)(B). Paragraph (2) states, “For an appeal taken under this subparagraph, review shall be limited to whether the determination of the Secretary that a covered financial company is in default or in danger of default is supported by substantial evidence.” Section 202(2)(A)(iv).

The substantial evidence standard means that the court cannot reverse discretionary decisions by the Secretary, including decisions made primarily for political purposes, cronyism, vindictiveness, bribery, or otherwise in bad faith. Both of the two elements required can be established by expert testimony. Thus, all the Secretary will need before killing any financial firm is a hired gun willing to opine the company is in financial trouble and a threat to the economy.

As bad as all that might be, what should be really troubling to any freedom loving American is an authorization of permanent generational theft bailout power with the Executive Branch.

The law would permit the Treasury Secretary and the President to guarantee unlimited amount of federal debt for purposes of saving the country from what the Administration considers a “liquidity event.” When the Administration determines the United States is in financial jeopardy (such as the financial hysteria of 2008 when TARP was passed) the Executive Branch is authorized by this proposed law to undertake extreme measures. At least with TARP, it was Congress that was forced to approve the appropriation of $700 Billion. That is no longer needed under this law.

Under the “EMERGENCY FINANCIAL STABILIZATION” Section, Congress has only a perfunctory oversight of the Executive Branch in the event of a liquidity event. Dodd's would-be law gives the Senate and House only five days to act by joint resolution to block a bailout Order by the President and the Secretary of Treasury. The amount of the bailout is unlimited.

[T]he Secretary (in consultation with the President) shall determine the maximum amount of debt outstanding that the Corporation may guarantee under this section, and the President may transmit to Congress a written report on the plan of the Corporation to exercise the authority under this section to issue guarantees up to that maximum amount. Upon the expiration of the 5-calendar-day period beginning on the date on which Congress receives the report on the plan of the Corporation, the Corporation may exercise the authority under this section to issue guarantees up to that specified maximum amount, unless there is enacted, within that 5-calendar-day period, a joint resolution disapproving such report.

Section 1155(c).

The law also strips the minority party in Congress of many procedural rules allowing for an easier time ramming through approval or disapproval of executive action.

“Debate on the joint resolution, and on all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 10 hours, which shall be divided equally between the majority and minority leaders or their designees. A motion further to limit debate is in order and not debatable.”

Section 1155(d)(2)(C)(ii).

What this law amounts to is a massive concession of Congressional power to the Executive Branch. By giving the Executive Branch power to create federal debt, the law delegates the Congressional purse strings to the Executive Branch. That is an impermissible delegation of authority under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; . . . .

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

Powers of Congress.

Like TARP, this TARP II law potentially transfers vast sums of money to the Executive Branch of government. Notice that I'm not even talking about the $50 Billion slush fund it enacts. If our representatives pass this new crap sandwich, then Congress becomes even weaker and the Executive a tyrannical power. Pray Congress develops the backbone to resist this new grab by the Executive for new political power.

Technorati Tags: Restoring, American, Financial, Stability, Act, of, 2010, analysis, article, I, section, 8, unconstitutional, executive, power, bailout, debt

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The Irony of Government Regulation

China wins again.

On April 23, 2010, the Consumer Protection Safety Commission (CPSC) unanimously voted that four "firewalled" testing laboratories are sufficiently independent to insure safety for Americans from dangerous lead in toys. Three of the four laboratories are located overseas, two in China and one in Thailand. CSPC April 23, 2010 Release.

On the same day, CPSC granted Mattel, a big Chinese toy importer, the right to test toys it imports in the company's own laboratories. Mattel Gets Pass on Independent Toy Safety Checks, Yahoo News (Apr. 23, 2010).

Meanwhile, small American toy manufacturers are going out of business. I wrote about the job-killing, do-gooder Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 here, How Corporatism Works.

In 2008, the Democrat Congress enacted the legislation, which was signed into law by big government Republican George W. Bush. The 2008 law created a federal agency called the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC is charged with regulating toys to keep America's kids safe.

The CPSC has jurisdiction over more than 15,000 kinds of consumer products used in and around the home, in sports, recreation and schools. South Carolina lawyer, Inez Tenebaum, is the Chairman of the agency. This agency is involved in regulating safety for many products used in American homes.

The history of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 makes the April 23, 2010, decisions by the CPSC a cruel irony.

The 2007 massive toy recalls by Mattel and Fisher-Price for imported Chinese toys followed disclosures the companies were importing Chinese made toys that contained lead paint. The recalls led Congress to give CPSC the tough new law enforcement power, including power to levy heavy fines.

On July 5, 2009, the CPSC flexed its new muscle. Mattel and Fisher-Price, Americas two largest foreign toy importers, were fined $2.3M for noncompliance with the federal law regulating lead-based paint in toys. The July 2009 Press Release from the CPSC, stated Mattel, and Fisher-Price, imported two million non-compliant toys from overseas. In that July 2009 Release, CPSC stated the companies, “knowingly (as defined in the Consumer Product Safety Act) imported and sold children’s toys with paints or other surface coatings that contained lead levels that violated a 30-year-old federal law.”

The idea of the law, like any do-gooder moral legislation, is good. The law sought to protect kids from toxic toys.

The problem, however, was the unintended consequence. It killed American jobs. Eventually, if the CPSC continues to act as it did on April 23, the only companies which will be able to comply with its regulation will be the largest corporations with powerful law firms, lobbyists, and government connections who can wine and dine or bribe the regulators and the politicians for whom the regulators dance.

This is always the problem with federal government regulation. It is never worth the cost of its unintended consequence. Here, we have a well-intentioned law that is a perfect example of how regulation burdens small businesses and kills jobs in America.

The time is fast running out for America to choose between continuing a regulated economy verses accepting risk the free market will winnow out the dangerous products without a bunch of government agents sticking their noses in everything we do.

Technorati Tags: mattel, laboratory, testing, consumer, product, protection, commission, jobs, small, business

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Free Speech About Science Act

The FDA and FTC (Federal Trade Commission) are enforcing new regulations that stifle the ability of small natural food companies to market foods which talk about scientific research findings on health benefits.

One company, Diamond Foods, which markets walnut products, has received a stern warning letter from the FDA.

Because of these intended uses, your walnut products are drugs within the meaning of section 201 (g)(1)(B) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 321(g)(B)]. Your walnut products are also new drugs under section 201(p) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 321(p)] because they are not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced conditions. Therefore, under section 505(a) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 355(a)], they may not be legally marketed with the above claims in the United States without an approved new drug application.

See FDA Warning Letter to Diamond Foods.

The FTC and FDA aggressively attack small businesses with overbearing regulations. FDA Guidance on Scientific Claims (citing FDA Regulation, 21 CFR 101.14(c)). This another example of the federal nanny state squelching competition by small health food companies.

The real beneficiary of this meddling federal bureaucracy is the big pharma. The small food companies have no chance of paying for the type of studies required by the government of pharmaceutical research. The government is just restricting speech by competitors of the drug company industry. The government meddling keeps folks from trying natural remedies and breaking free of the American sick care system.

Meanwhile, disease-promoting processed foods such as those marketed by Frito-Lay, which has the lobbying clout needed to influence federal regulators and pols, are protected by the federal government.

On March 23, 2010, a bipartisan bill was introduced into the House of Representatives called the H.R. 4913: Free Speech About Science Act of 2010. Contact your representatives and ask them to co-sponsor this freedom law.

Technorati Tags: corporatism, federal, food, and, drug, regulation, natural, foods, freedom, of, speech, regulation, guidance, warning, letter, diamond, food

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Iceland Volcano Hurts Animals and Farmers

We read a lot about the inconvenienced passengers, airline losses, and a slow down of parts for manufacturing because of the volcano eruption in Iceland. We don't often think about the poor animals and farmers who live in the shadow of the ash.

More great photos linked here.

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Happy Human Ingenuity Day

Since the early 1970s, we have declared April 22 "Earth Day." I wore the green arm band in middle school back then. However, environmental regulation, while great in modesty, has become increasingly destructive to the principle of private property rights and threatens our liberty through a devastating loss of American jobs. We need some jobs back. What better way to celebrate American jobs than "Human Ingenuity Day?" Therefore, we declare today a new day.

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Tea Party Infiltrator Caught

I wrote about the Tea Party infiltrators here. In the image below, protesters identify one of the agents provocateur.

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Shot Heard Round World Anniversary

Today, in 1775, the American Revolution began with the battles of Lexington and Concord. It was the ’shot heard ’round the world.’

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Lovely Home For Sale

We are selling out lovely home in Taylors, South Carolina. Here are some pictures. If you want a tour, contact Kary Galloway, our agent.

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Obama's Ninth Circuit Appointee Endorses Reparations

President Obama has nominated Goodwin Liu as a federal Circuit Court Judge to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Circuit Courts are federal courts which interpret appeals on legal issues like the Constitution and other federal laws. Circuit Courts are just below the Supreme Court in the hierarchy of federal courts. There are twelve Circuit Courts across the nation. The Ninth Circuit has jurisdiction over appeals over all of the western states from Arizona to Wyoming to the Pacific Ocean to Alaska.

Liu, who is now only 39 years old, is young and could serve many years if appointed. He is ardently liberal, and as a lifetime appointee to the Ninth Circuit, would poison that court for years. Presently, he lacks sufficient experience for a U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) appointment. However, a few years of the Ninth Circuit experience would set up Liu nicely for appointment to the SCOTUS during Obama's second term as President--if President Obama is elected again.

The big fly in Liu's ointment now is that he has run into major problems at his confirmation hearing before the United States Senate. Obama's appointments will only be allowed to sit on the courts to which the President appoints them with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. Liu lied by omission many times over on his Senate questionnaire.

Conservative Blogs (but not the mainstream media) have documented the fact Liu was guilty of omitting many incendiary and controversial remarks from his list of published works. Republican Senators are asking questions, and Liu's nomination is in trouble as the political backlash against such a liberal appointment grows louder.

Here is a 2008 clip, as shown on FOX's O'Reilly show, in when Liu was sitting on a Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) panel entitled “Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North“. The film was made by a New England woman, Katrina Browne, whose ancestors were the largest slave-traders in U.S. history.

In the clip embeddeed below, watch Liu respond to the comment of James. A Joseph, a Clinton-appointed Ambassador to South Africa, who argued ”racial reconciliation” will only happen when reparations are made. Liu forgot to mention this one on his questionnaire.



Technorati Tags: Goodwin, Liu, Ninth, Circuit, Court, of, Appeals, Nominee, Obama, Misrepresentation, Omissions, Reparations

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South Carolina School Grades Published

On April 16, 2010, South Carolina schools, based on objective testing required by the federal No Child Left Behind statute, received its 2009 State Report Card a few weeks ago. The results were not what we hoped for and scores have fallen across the State. The Superintendent, Jim Rex, blamed the decrease on budget cuts. See Press Release (Apr. 16, 2010).

More locally, Greenville County School District received the District Report Card. Wade Hampton High School was an apparent exception to the trend scoring an overall "Excellent" (see above). Excellent was the highest mark allowed and not many schools achieved it. You can go to the Wade Hampton Report Card 2009 (Mar. 25, 2010) by clicking on the link.

The Greenville County School District Press Release (2010) decided to publish rankings as the first page of on the District Website. Here is a link to the published District results. That is an interesting decision. Immediately below is a screen cap of that published ranking:



Note that Wade Hampton was ranked 7th of 106 High Schools in this District in parental rankings.

Below are additional images from the Wade Hampton Report Card linked above.



. . . .


Technorati Tags: Wade, Hampton, High, School, 2009, School, Report, Card, Greenville, County, School, District, South, Carolina

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Message Bible: Psalm 51

The Message Bible translates Hebrew and Greek, the original language in which the Bible was written, into modern English, American-style.

Psalms are essentially prayers. The Message translation makes it easy for us to articulate the prayers in language we are comfortable with.

Psalm 51, which I blogged about here, is about David's prayer to God asking for a fresh start after David committed murder.

Make a fresh start in me

God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the
chaos of my life.

Don't throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.

Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!

Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.

Commute my death sentence, God,
my salvation God,
and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.

Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I'll let loose with your praise.

Psalm 51:10-15 The Message

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Fort Sumter--April 12, 1861

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Tea Party Agent Provocateur

On the day the House voted to pass ObamaCare, a large crowd gathered in Washington to protest the loss of freedom. The Congressional Black Caucus, instead of using tunnels to cross from their offices to the House, decided to walk through the protesters. They believed the protesters, mostly Caucasians, were racists and expected racial slurs. The staffers had their video cameras rolling.

The problem was nobody acted out except to yell at a group of idiots who were killing our liberties.

Nevertheless, some in the group slandered protesters and alleged slurs were shouted. There is no evidence it really happened . . . just the allegation.

Now, Tea Party protesters are gathering across the nation on or around April 15, for more protests. The left has been preparing agents provocateur to mix in with the crowd and act out with a goal of undermining the conservative, constitution-driven movement. The image below is a flyer was published by Jason Levin (pictured to the left above), a liberal who has been caught organizing this effort.

Traditionally, an agent provocateur is a person employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act. More generally, the term may refer to a person or group that seeks to discredit or harm others by making it appear the group committed a wrong.

If you go to a Tea Party protest and see somebody acting out what should you do? First, you should talk to the person and discourage the bad behavior. If it continues, see if the person will self-identify. Also, try to capture video of the person (that should not be hard since he wants attention) so he or she can be identified and then exposed. The chances are very high that anyone acting out or carrying a ridiculous sign will be an agent provocateur.

The left tactic is straight out of the book Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky (right). Alinsky is a Chicago politician whose tactics are used by Barack Obama. In Alinsky's day, he organized alleged supporters of Richard Nixon to appear with signs making his supporters look like Klansmen or otherwise intolerant people. Nixon was a price control President who deserved his fate. Still, we can learn from the tactics of Alinsky . . . and now the Obama's progressives.



Technorati Tags: tea, party, agent, provocateur, slander, demean, undermine, movement, alinsky

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Spring Game--Dread the Cocks

On April 10, the Gamecocks football team held their annual Spring Game. It was garnet verses white. I would estimate the crowd at approximately 25,000. It filled the entire west side, lower stands, and about half of the east side, lower.

The festivities began at 3:45 when Steve Spurrier, the Head Ball Coach, attempted to introduce the players who won awards for performance in the spring football practices. Unfortunately, our esteemed Athletic Director did not see fit to provide a decent sound system and many of Spurrier's remarks were lost as his microphone transmissions were frequently jammed.

The crowd, which was set on having a good time, ignored the problem and cheered heartily at Spurrier and the players.

The Spring Game did not operate under the normal football rules. First, the game did not have quarters . . . it had 12 minute periods, sort of like hockey. The reason being the last play of the fourth quarter in last year's spring game. On that play, the game ended on a really, really sour note when Dion LeCorn, then a starting slot receiver, broke his leg as he tried to score a touchdown into the north endzone. LeCorn is back this year, but he missed pretty much the entire 2009 season while recovering from that injury.

The other difference were limitations imposed on the defense--no blitzing and limited coverages, mostly a two deep zone. Those limitations made it easier on the quarterbacks to pass the ball.

Five quarterbacks saw playing action. Steven Garcia, the starter played adquately. He had a touchdown pass and an interception which was not his fault. The pass that was intercepted bounced off the chest of his receiver and into the arms of a defensive back. Garcia did also have a fumble, which was clearly his responsibility, but he jumped on it before the defense could create a turnover. Like the other quarterbacks, his favorite targets were tight ends, who were open over the middle, often for decent gains.

The probable backup quarterback, true freshman Conor Shaw, also played well. He completed a touchdown drive and did not throw any interceptions. Shaw, like Garcia, threw a good many passes to tight ends.

Speaking of tight ends, Justice Cunningham was outstanding. First, as the microphone hiccupped, he was given the award as the best blocker in the spring. That is the best blocker on the team, including the offensive linemen. After that announcement, Cunningham went out on the field and proved he is also one of the best receivers. His performance has to make Weslye Saunders (starter) and Patrick Demarco (FB/TE) concerned about playing time in the real games this fall.

The biggest disappointment offensively in the game was the Dread Cock formation. Stephon Gilmore, hair hanging out of the back, had two plays and two pass attempts. The second was a poorly thrown pass, probably one of the least pretty passes of the day, which was intercepted. That really made fans groan because everyone wanted to see Gilmore and defensive lineman, Melvin Ingram, the fullback in the Dread Cock, run the ball a bit. This was the same formation used by Spurrier with great effect against the shell-shocked 2009 Clemson defense.

The defense played the entire game very short-handed at the linebacker and defensive line positions. Without the capability of blitzing, it had a great deal of difficulty putting any pressure on the passers. That said, Devon Taylor did manage to use his exceptional speed to create sacks. Offensive tackle Singleton had a lot of trouble keeping Taylor out of the backfield. Thus, except when Taylor was in the game, Gamecock passers had an unrealistic amount of time to scan the field and find receivers. You can bet there is no way the Southern Miss defense gives our QBs so much time to survey the field.

Secondly, the walkon linebackers gave a good effort, but they had no chance covering the tight ends. That weakness was the most likely reason Gamecock QBs could drop passes over the middle against the cover two defense.

One final observation: A lot of the Gamecock players love the dreadlocks style. It is a cool look, you have to admit.

The 2010 season hangs in the balance. It depends upon the effort by the players to condition for the season and drill. NCAA rules prohibit coaches from supervising the summer program and a lot will fall upon the very broad shoulders of Strength Coach, Craig Fitzgerald. If the Gamecock players commit to Fitz's program, and outwork the other SEC football teams, 2010 could be another decent year for the Gamecocks.

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Is Thar Gold In Them Vaults

International Business Times (Apr. 8, 2010) (IBT) has an article about the possibility bankers are short selling gold and silver. The bankers sell certificates to consumers assuring the buyers they will physically hold the buyers gold or silver in the bank vaults.

However, King World News (Apr. 7, 2010) has published interviews of Harvey & Lenny Organ & Adrian Douglas on the Internet. The interviews provide eye witness testimony of Lenny Organ's visit to ScotiaMocatta (Canada's only bullion bank vault). Organ suggests there is not nearly enough gold and silver in the vault to meet the demand of certificate holders.

The IBT article characterized Organ's revelation as follows:

Considering that the Royal Mint of Canada sold over $1 billion worth of gold in 2008 alone and many purchasers choose the convenience of vault storage and a paper certificate over physical delivery, the amount of gold stored in the vault appeared by Lenny to be exceptionally low.

All this brings to mind the fact that the United States mint was last audited by accounting firm KPMG in 2005. Last year, Federal Reserve Chairman assured Congress in hearings that the Fed has possession of the gold it lists in its balance sheet. However, some allege KPMG only audited the mint's financial statements and they never saw any physical gold or even went to Fort Knox. The Fed disagrees strenuously, but some people believe that the last real physical inspection of Fort Knox and other vaults holding the U.S. gold reserves took place in 1954.

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Political Cartoon

More cartoons are at the antiantiunderground web site.

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"Net Neutrality": A New Area of Federal Regulation

Yesterday, a federal appeals court slapped down the Federal Communications Commission's attempt to regulate Comcast, and Internet Service Provider. The Court ruled that the FCC did not have legal authority from Congress. This post considers net neutrality and why this issue is important.

On September 23, 2005, the FCC, under the alleged "ancillary jurisdiction" of section 230(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, issued a nonbinding, broadband policy statement. The FCC statement purports to help preserve consumers "entitlement" to Internet content, applications, devices, and competition.

Neutrality proponents claim that telecom companies, who now control consumer access to the Internet pipes, might try to control the pipeline at its source and limit competition or suppress potentially competing content.

One reason net neutrality is an issue we should be concerned about is because President Obama is a net neutrality backer. When a Senator, Obama cosponsored the Internet Freedom Preservation Act when it was introduced in the Senate. His appointment to head the FCC, Julius Genachowski, is a strong proponent of net neutrality. In a worst case scenario, net neutrality rules could be abused by the federal agency to affect speakers that the Administration opposed.

The FCC attempted to use its muscle to regulate Comcast for alleged violations of the FCC broadband Internet policy. The FCC alleged Comcast violated broadband principles by blocking or slowing a peer-sharing Web site, Bit Torrent. However, as noted above, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the FCC lacked proper statutory authority to regulate Comcast. Until Congress issues a law giving the FCC power to regulate the Internet, it appears to have no regulatory authority over it.

There are several bills floating around Congress that would seek to empower the FCC to issue regulations and put the government into the middle of the Internet. Without regulation, pornography and gambling have proliferated.

However, is giving the FCC power over net neutrality wise?

Porn and gambling are immoral, but there are criminal laws that can be used against those who publish in violation of local decency standards.

The Internet remains one of the last frontiers in America that is regulation free. The freedom from federal regulation has arguably created perhaps the most vibrant area economic growth left in the United States economy. Federal regulation would definitely suppress the vibrancy, and likely result in advantages for the largest and most influential corporations.

Below is a video that gives a good overview of the net neutrality issue.



Technorati Tags: net, neutrality, fcc, regulation, communications, act,

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Contract from America

One of the Tea Party organizations has put together a web site aimed at conveying what America wants to the Republicans.

The Republicans have talked about the need for a new "Contract With America," similar to that used for national Republican House of Representatives campaigns in 1994.

Perceiving the mood in America as one revolted by the current Congress' progressive legislation which is rapidly enriching the federal government to the expense of the private sector, Republicans have talked of a new contract. Frank Luntz, a heavy contributor to the 1994 Contract With America, is at work on a new document similar in scope. See Samuel P. Jacobs story. The Daily Beast (Oct. 9, 2009).

Tea Party Patriots, a group sponsored by Dick Armey's Freedom Works and others, has a website designed to figure out what America wants in the new Repubican document.

The Contract from America is a grassroots-generated, crowd-sourced, bottom-up call for real economic conservative and good governance reform in Congress.

The Contract from America initiative was developed within the decentralized tea party and 912 movements. Ryan Hecker, a Houston Tea Party Society activist, developed the concept of creating a grassroots-generated call for reform prior to the April 15, 2009 Tax Day Tea Party rallies.

I just voted for auditing the Federal Reserve, putting a sunset on all federal Regulations, repealing federal taxes, and protection of the Constitution. What issues do you prioritize?

Technorati Tags: contract, from, america, tea, party, patriots, republicans

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Opening Day

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Steve Dore's New Freedom Song

We're Not Going to Take Anymore

Sixty-four year-old San Jose, California, singer-songwriter Steve Dore cuts loose with another freedom song. In his younger days, his band, The Blend out of New England, opened for groups like The Who, ZZ Top, Hall and Oates, Charlie Daniels.

Now he is a liberty singer. You can listen to more Dore tunes at his Youtube site, Ron Paul Songs.

Technorati Tags: Steve, Dore, Liberty, Music, We're, Not, Going, to, Take, Anymore

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