Nov
3
Deeds v. McDonnell (round 2)
November 3, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
Deeds (D) and McDonnell (R) faced off once before, when they ran for attorney general. For those unfamiliar with Virginia politics, McDonnell won that race. This time Deeds and McDonnell are in a battle for governor. At this point, the odds are against the democratic candidate.
As of October 27, 2009, Deeds was thirteen points behind McDonnell in the polls. If anything could have given Deeds a boost, it should have been President Obama’s campaign appearance at Old Dominion University. The President’s appearance actually made 39% of those polled, less likely to vote for candidate Deeds. Voters seem to be more trusting of McDonnell on the major issues, such as government spending, transportation, and taxes.
Nov
3
Beware the Prison-Industrial Complex
November 3, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
President Eisenhower’s last address to the American people warned them to “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. . . in the councils of government.” He warned that, unchecked, the interests of an industry devoted to war could endanger the liberties and democratic processes of the American people. There is a similar, yet overlooked danger to our liberties as well today. The prison-industrial complex.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania not even a week ago overturned 6500 convictions and prison sentences of juvenile offenders in Luzerne County. No, it was not a “soft on crime” decision that declared imprisonment for juveniles unconstitutional. It declared that virtually every single juvenile to appear before the court in Luzerne County in the last five years had been the victim of the prison-industrial complex. Two judges, Mark Ciaverella and Michael Conhan, have been charged with accepting 2.8 million dollars in bribes from the owners of private prisons in Luzerne County to send some extra business their way. The judges were not only accepting bribes from the owners of the prison, but had convinced the county in 2002 that the current, government-run prison was unsafe, and that they should hire a private firm to do the job. Kids were sent to jail for stealing change from unlocked cars, and shooting out windows with a BB gun, among other minor offenses.
Well, at least they were caught, you might say. That is true. They will hopefully spend just as long, if not longer, in prison than the children they sent away for their own material gain. The children’s records will be expunged. But they cannot get back the months or years of their lives they spent in prison, the terror they likely experienced. The scars will follow them for a long time.
Nov
2
ACS Election Guide
November 2, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
The American Constitution Society has prepared the following Election Guide, which provides a brief summary of the positions of the candidates in tomorrow’s election for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and the House of Delegates (64th District).
As a nonpartisan organization, ACS does not endorse or take a position on any candidate, but we hope this guide will be helpful to you as you make your choices tomorrow.
ACS Election Guide (click to download) (PDF)
Oct
30
Stimulating the Local Economy with My Stomach
October 30, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
At every downturn in the economic cycle, consumers look to save money by cutting back on expenses. I include myself in this group of penny pinchers but I believe I have formed a habit that will outlast any recession. This summer I began to do my weekly shopping at the local farmers market three blocks from my house. What began as a cheap and fast way to get my groceries turned into an exercise in economics.
With the government spending billions of dollars in an effort to end a recession, I decided to do my part. By spending my weekly grocery money at the local farmer’s market I keep my money in the hands of my fellow community members. Farmers who sell their crops to industrial food suppliers earn pennies on the dollar from the products sold containing their crops. In contrast, farmers who sell their crops at farmers markets keep 90 cents of every dollar. The financial hardships that small, organic, and sustainable farmers perpetually endure are often masked in the media by stories of massive government subsidies and the rising cost of crops. Despite the seemingly prosperous status of the farming industry, the media coverage mostly reflects the large industrial farming system that mass-produces meat and other “food” products. These industrial farming operations have taken over our food system and are running small family farms out of business. By spending my grocery money at the farmer’s market, I encourage a healthier, more sustainable food system that also supports my local community.
In addition to keeping my money in my community, buying my food from my local farmers market reduces my carbon footprint. The average American meal travels over 1,500 miles before it reaches the dinner table. And 40% of the fruit in our grocery stores in shipped in from overseas. That is an incredible amount of resources to bring something to my table that can be grown just as well down the street. By simply buying my food from my local farmers market I support a sense of collegiality and partnership with my neighbors that contributes to a healthier, more prosperous community while rejecting the industrial food supply and its reliance on an unsustainable system of growth and transportation.
Oct
26
Copyright Infringement: Worse Than Murder?
October 26, 2009 | | 1 Comment
I am a criminal. I have years of experience with a certain criminal activity. I started in high school on advice from a friend, and pretty soon I found a group of similarly-inclined friends to roll with and we ratcheted up our involvement some more. I learned new techniques in college and avoided the crackdowns happening all around me. I don’t do it anymore, and I’ve never been caught and punished, but I can assure you that if I had been caught, my punishment would have been harsher than if I had kidnapped a child, burned down a house, started a dogfighting ring, or even committed second-degree murder. No joke - it’s that bad.
What am I talking about? File-sharing. Copyright infringement. Piracy. Call it what you want: one way or another it’s about downloading somebody’s property without paying for it. Sixty million Americans are guilty of it, by the way; chances are you’ve done it before, and if you haven’t, your kids probably have BitTorrent chugging along in the other room as we speak (that’s why this page loaded so slowly.) Is it a crime? You’re darn tootin’ it is. Is it wrong? Well…sure, maybe, I guess. Are our laws against it just and effective? Absolutely and emphatically not.
It’s difficult to come up with arguments defending file-sharers that don’t make me, a self-avowed file-sharer, come off as a self-congratulating twit. At the end of the day you’re taking the work product of an artist you love, the very sweat of Beyonce’s brow, without paying for it in return. That’s not something to be proud of. There’s more in play here, though, than that simple characterization reflects. First of all, the record label generally holds the copyright to a recording and makes most of the money from the sale of a CD. If you steal a CD, you’re only taking a dollar or two our of Beyonce’s pocket. Mostly you’re robbing the record company — of course, you’re still robbing them, but they’re less sympathetic targets to be sure. It’s a similar deal with online purchases, say, through iTunes: artists get about ten cents off a 99-cent download. In fact, most artists arguably benefit from piracy: they forego the dollar in royalties for increased exposure to their fanbase and attracting new listeners who aren’t interested enough (yet) to pay to hear them, which can translate into increased ticket sales at concerts and more “star power”. For every Kid Rock or Lars Ulrich who complains about evil file-sharers, there’s a hundred lesser-known artists who couldn’t get their music heard until they started giving it away for free on the internet.
Oct
26
Lies Cannot Drive Out Lies; Only the Truth Can do That
October 26, 2009 | Tagged Add new tag | Leave a Comment
About a month ago Congressman Alan Grayson (a Democrat from the Florida 8th) stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and described the Republican’s idea of health care as “‘Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.” While it would take a stretch of the imagination to say that more than a few Republicans have been interested in helping with the current health care legislation, it takes a fantastic level of cynicism to say that any United States Representative doesn’t care about human life at all and just prefers some folks die quickly.
Nonetheless, many liberals have held Congressman Grayson up as an idol in wake of these outlandish comments. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result and been praised by many (including himself) as a “Congressman with Guts.” I do not think this is because liberals are ideologically disposed to false accusations and name-calling; they are just tired of being called names.
There are those on the far right that have no trouble fitting into the same sentence the odd and often contradictory claims that President Obama is a socialist, a communist, a fascist and a racist. Liberals are tired of the lies that are coming from the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and many others. They are tired of hearing about “death panels” and claims that President Obama was born in Kenya. Apparently Congressman Grayson and his many supporters have decided it is time to fight fire with fire and time to make up crazy lies of their own. While perhaps there is some psychologically rewarding feeling that comes from this strategy, it is fundamentally the wrong path for the progressive message to go down.
Oct
25
Google: Changing Laws Around the World
October 25, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
As both sides of the Google books controversy try to work on a revised settlement before the new November 9th deadline, the effects continue to ripple across the globe: on Monday, the European Commission announced plans to work on revising copyright law in the EU. Citing the need to compete on the digital frontier, Commissioner Viviane Reding stated, “Important digitization efforts have already started all around the globe. Europe should seize this opportunity to take the lead, and to ensure that books digitization takes place on the basis of European copyright law, and in full respect of Europe’s cultural diversity. Europe, with its rich cultural heritage, has most to offer and most to win from books digitization. If we act swiftly, pro-competitive European solutions on books digitization may well be sooner operational than the solutions presently envisaged under the Google Books Settlement in the United States.”
This potential change seems to have been triggered by a growing frustration over the last few months with the terms of the US settlement and unwillingness to let Google monopolize digitization. Google has had a harder time arguing its case under current EU law; the concept of fair use generally doesn’t exist in Europe, and violation of copyright often carries strict liability. So far Google has limited its European scanning to works that are at least 150 years old, to avoid issues with copyright. But the settlement as it currently stands doesn’t address a number of European problems (pdf download), and the European Commission began hearings at the beginning of September to discuss specific grievances.
Oct
21
What’s Height Got to Do with It?
October 21, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
Anyone who has taken the time to stroll around the arms and armor section of an art museum or who has carefully studied the size of a bed in a historical home easily comes to the same conclusion: the average person was a lot shorter in the past than he is now! A suit of armor intended for a fully grown man can often appear adequate for a fifteen-year old boy of today. Interestingly, the reasons for the relatively short statures of our forefathers provide us with a fascinating insight into how we can solve some of the health issues our country faces today.
A recent article in The New York Times discusses the importance of thinking about height in the current healthcare debates.* (Most studies deem a person “short” when they are under average height [5’10” for men and 5’4” for women].) It is practically common knowledge that Americans have gotten bigger in terms of girth. A fact that is not well known is that in comparison to other Western countries, where people are getting taller on average, people in the United States are staying the same height; some studies seem to suggest that Americans may even be getting shorter. Although obesity, i.e. thick waistlines, has been heralded as a major cause of sickness and death in this country, costing around one trillion dollars a year for Medicare, there are also substantial positive correlations between shortness and health problems.
Before any vertically-challenged people start raising their eyebrows, it is important to consider the many similarities between obesity and shortness. Many health issues that are often associated with being overweight are also attributed to being short. Short people are more likely than their taller counterparts to develop heart disease, stroke or diabetes, and short people, on average, do not live as long as those who are of average height or taller.
Oct
16
“Kill Me, or Else You are a Murderer.” - Kafka’s Last Words
October 16, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
Although it has been a crime punishable by up to fourteen years in prison to assist in the suicide of another in England since the passing of the 1961 Suicide Act, it is no secret that violators of the law often go unpunished - even when their role in the suicide is public knowledge. But, until recently, there has been no official word on what distinguishes those cases that are prosecuted from those cases that are not, leaving those who do provide such assistance uncertain of what consequences, if any, will follow.
Clarification was finally delivered thanks to a hard-fought and drawn out legal battle waged by a middle aged woman with multiple sclerosis named Debbie Purdy. Debbie wants to have the option of choosing a quick and painless suicide before her disease has a chance to finish the work it has started. Like many in England who face the same choice, she intends to travel to Switzerland when she is ready, the only country where it is legal to assist both citizens and foreigners with suicide. Her concern, however, is that if she waits until she cannot travel on her own, and her husband helps her get there, that upon returning he might face criminal charges. So she petitioned the courts for an answer.
Finally, after several losses in lower courts, Debbie succeeded in getting the Law Lords to order England’s top Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, to clarify when his office will and when it will not enforce the Suicide Act. In response, Starmer released a statement listing those things that are taken into consideration when determining whether to prosecute a case, such as whether the deceased was terminally ill and had clearly expressed a wish to die, and whether the person assisting was acting out of compassion.
The release of these criteria by Starmer was largely publicized as a relaxation of the law; what is interesting, however, is that the law itself hasn’t changed. In fact, numerous attempts to change the law by members of parliament have failed, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised to block any future attempts to amend the law. All that has happened is that the office charged with enforcing the law has essentially refused to do so in cases where people are acting out of compassion.
This situation is, in some respects, symptomatic of the tension between the right to die movement and societies that are not prepared to discard their inherited moral disapprobation of the very idea of suicide - a moral qualm that isn’t quite as universal and immemorial as many might assume.
The very word “suicide” tends to evoke strong emotional reactions- and for good reason: Too often suicide is sought as an answer to the kind of despair that could equally well be solved with the passage of time coupled with the love and support of family, friends, and, perhaps, mental health professionals. Read more
Oct
15
Pity the Soda Tax
October 15, 2009 | Tagged health care, taxes | Leave a Comment
Amid the general wrack and roil of the debate over healthcare, a dozen smaller dramas have played out. The one I’ll be writing about today seems all but finished, and it proceeded along the rote lines of a typical legislative tragedy. To wit; a good idea is put forward, high-minded politicians dutifully offer it guarded praise, and then a wealthy interest lobby smothers the proposed measure in its crib and everyone goes on like nothing happened.
This time our protagonist was a federal excise tax on soft drinks. That was one of several revenue generators proposed last spring in the early stages of the health-care reform fight. At the time President Obama and several other legislators called it an idea “worth considering,” which is about like describing a potential date as “a really nice person.” We can assume that such tepid praise anticipated the vociferous opposition of the well-heeled beverage lobby, in the face of whose frothy, hammering assault the measure went down like a clubbed seal. It does not appear on the current Senate version of the proposed bill.
Which is a shame, because there are a number of good arguments for it. Many of them were laid out in a short article that two doctors, Kelly Brown and Tom Friedan, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 30. The gist of the doctors’ case was this: First, the evidence linking soft drink consumption to obesity and diabetes is conclusive. Especially telling is the significant increase in consumption of soft drinks by children over the course of the last few decades, and the very strong link between daily consumption of those drinks by children and their risk of obesity. Second, there is good economic evidence that the demand for soda is strongly influenced by price signals. An analysis by the soft drink industry found that increasing the price of soda by 6.8% caused sales to fall by 7.8%. Kelly and Friedan concluded that a penny an ounce excise tax on drinks sweetened with sugar or corn sweeteners, which would reduce consumption by an estimated 13%, would have a positive effect on public health, not to mention raising billions of dollars.
They also pointed out that the relative costs of sweet drinks and fruits and vegetables have changed dramatically in the last 30 years (sodas have gotten cheaper while produce has gotten more expensive), and that beverage companies take advantage of massive advertising budgets and the information asymmetries created by dubious health claims (Vault gives you energy! Sunny D contains vitamin C!) to sell their products to children. Given all that, it seems that a soda tax is a reasonable, even desirable method for both improving health and funding health-care.
Not so! says the beverage industry, along with its hastily astro-turfed “citizens group,” Americans Against Food Taxes. Read more
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