Chris Matthews Round the Bend

I used to like TV Commentator Chris Matthews.  Nice kid from Philly, with interesting thoughts.  Usually I didn't agree with him, but I enjoyed him.

Lately, however, he has earned the title of bizarro, as this article suggests.

Also, I think his interviewing technique, where he asks a question and as someone starts to answer he almost reflexively jumps in again, leaves something to be desired.

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Celebrating Success

Success should be celebrated and thus yesterday I took two young ladies out to lunch, because of their success.

This is Dawn Grasso, on the left, and Lynn Casa, on the right.  They both worked for me a little while ago, when I was a full time employee of Dynamics Research Corporation.  I encouraged both of them to get a college degree.  I did it because I think education is both helpful in the marketplace and it is self-fulfilling.

Dawn went first and got a Bachelor's Degree from Phoenix.  (Here is where you education snobs can turn up your noses, but I think there is a lot to be said for distance learning.)  Then Lynn went to school and just this last Saturday got her AA Diploma from Phoenix.

Lynn has already started on the Bachelor's degree, and good on her.

I would like to note that there was support from the family side.  For Dawn, Louis, who used to work for me and now works for MACOM, and for Lynn, Toni, who does contracting, up in New Hampshire.  Even if there is not help with the homework, the support is important.  I know my wife's support was important while I was going to night school to get a Master's Degree while we were stationed in Germany (USC Extension at Bitburg AB).  These non-standard approaches to education are a lot of effort.

Also important is paying for the education and Dynamics Research Corporation, like all good companies, has a program to help employees pay for their education, which they did in both these cases, with my successor, Ron Smits, carrying on the effort after I left.  As I recall, Ron got his Master's Degree from Old Dominion University at night while stationed at Langley Air Force Base, in Hampton, Virginia.

Yes, a reason to Celebrate.

Regards  —  Cliff

A Sad Moment

“The picture was of me, and I sent it”.  Thus spoke Mr Anthony Weiner (R-NY).

Am I the only Republican who is sad about this?  I hope not.

Yes, Rep Weiner is a jerk.  Especially in the Well of the House, when he is trying to make some point.  He is a totally over the top politician.  But, still, it diminishes us all a little when one of those 535 men and women does something stupid, especially something stupid of a sexual nature.

Here is the take from The Washington Post.

There is an Ann Althouse take on the media-story, but, frankly, it is a totally different issue.

As for the Representative, he is now in the hands of his wife and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).  The rest of us should give this a rest for a while and await the outcome of the House Ethics Committee Investigation.

Regards  —  Cliff

McDonald v Chicago—Who Pays?

The law can be complicated, as this ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit shows this mere citizen.

In the case of NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, INC., et al. (Plaintiffs-Appellants) v. CITY OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, and VILLAGE OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS (Defendants-Appellees) it is more like a game official deciding if the ball is dead.  Chicago and Oak Park, IL, argued it was dead in the case of McDonald v. Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 3020 (2010) and the plaintiffs argued it was not and thus they deserved to receive legal fees from the defendants.  It turned on where the case was when the two local governments changed their gun control laws.  A US District Court ruled that since the two entities acted quickly to heal their Constitutional evilerror, the issue had died before it was decided in court, based upon a US Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment DID apply to the States, and cited precedent.

The Seventh Circuit saw it differently.  While the case never went to court, the power of the US Supreme Court was such that both municipalities threw in the towel.

This litigation was over except for the entry of an injunction by the district court. Chicago and Oak Park capitulated, which made the exercise unnecessary.  By the time defendants bowed to the inevitable, plaintiffs had in hand a judgment of the Supreme Court that gave them everything they needed.  If a favorable decision of the Supreme Court does not count as “the necessary judicial imprimatur” on the plaintiffs’ position (Buckhannon, 532 U.S. at 605), what would?

Then there was the appeal.  The Seventh Circuit ruled:

The district court’s decision is reversed, and the cases are remanded for awards of reasonable attorneys’ fees under §1988.

Is this the end?  Probably not, given that it is the courts, which is worse than a bickering couple.  There will always be work for accountants and lawyers.

A hat tip to the Instapundit, and my thanks to Reason:  Hit and Run.

Regards  —  Cliff

D-Day, 67 Years On.

There were a lot of landings conducted by US and British and Canadian forces in World War II.  However, Operation OVERLORD stands out in our minds.  If we had been forced to invade the Japanese homeland, Operation DOWNFALL, the landing on Kyūshū, Operation OLYMPIC, scheduled for 1 November 1945, would have been a greater undertaking.

As it was, Japan surrendered after we dropped two nuclear weapons on Japan, ending the War.

Thus, "D Day", which is a tautology, remains in our mind as the greatest undertaking of World War II.

The 6th of June 1944 was 67 years ago and the success of that landing impacted the map of Europe up until 9 November 1989.  It also created a path along which Dwight David Eisenhower trod to the US Presidency.  While many died on those Normandy beaches, many more survived and went on to live productive lives as America's Greatest Generation.

Thank you to those who went ashore on the 6th of June 1944 and all those others who fought in World War II.

Regards  —  Cliff

Mark Steyn on A Certain Representative

I used to be a registered voter in Orange County, California.  Here is an OpEd by Canadian observer of American Mark Steyn at Orange County Register on Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY).  Best quote:

After the tumult of the First World War, noted Winston Churchill, only the intractability of the Irish Question had emerged unscathed:

"Great Empires have been overturned. The whole map of Europe has been changed," he told the House of Commons.  "But as the deluge subsides and the waters fall short, we see the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone emerging once again."

And so it is on Capitol Hill.

If this were a Republican, I would hope that the Republican leadership and rank and file would have told him to pack up and go home.  But, he is not, so I go with Luke 9:60.

Regards  —  Cliff

Gun Rights

It turns out you can have a constitutional right to bear arms, but if the Government Bureaucracy, which includes the Police, are against you having a gun, they can make it darned difficult for you to own a gun—and in some parts of the world defend yourself against violent criminals.

Remember, the Police do not have a duty to protect you.  Further, their guns are to protect themselves.  In these United States it all seems to work out OK.♠  In Mexico not so much.

The Mexican Constitution apparently has an Article (Article 10) on the right to keep and bear arms.  Wikipedia is a little confusing on this issue, with two different translations of the Article.  As I don't speak or read Spanish I have to rely on the kindness of translators, but here is the link to the Mexican Constitution, which seems to state:

Citizens of the republic may, for their protection, own guns and arms in their homes. Only arms sanctioned by the Army may be owned, and federal law will state the manner in which they can be used (Firearms are prohibited from importation into the Republic without proper licensing and documentation. Foreigners may not pass the border with unlicensed firearms; the commission of such act is a felony, punishable by prison term.).

Here is the quote from the Wikipedia article on gun ownership in Mexico:

The inhabitants of the United Mexican States have a right to arms in their homes, for security and legitimate defense, with the exception of arms prohibited by federal law and those reserved for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, Air Force and National Guard. Federal law will determine the cases, conditions, requirements, and places in which the carrying of arms will be authorized to the inhabitants.

Notwithstanding this right, gun ownership in Mexico is limited, due to the legal impediments to gun ownership.  It ends up the usual thing, the criminals have the guns—and those guns are not all (or mostly) coming from the US.

This from Mr Robert Farago andThe Truth About Guns.  Mr Farago refers to an AP Article in the Denver Post with this quote from a Mexican State Police Chief:

Ramon Almonte, the Guerrero state police chief, said on Monday he will ask the federal congress to make it easier for common citizens to get permits for weapons to defend themselves.

Almonte's brother was killed on Jan. 1 in a rural town in Guerrero by unidentified gunmen. The state has been plagued by such executions.

"When you fight someone and at least you have a 'piece,' the person who is attacking you might think twice," Almonte said. "We cannot go on the way we are."

The drug violence in Mexico is out of control.  When thousands are being shot and killed each year, when individuals are being tortured as a warning to others, there is an indication that the old methods are not working.  It is time to try something new, or maybe something older.  Maybe even give full run to the Constitution.

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Well, except in Arizona, where a SWAT raid on some home resulted in a guy getting shot 60 times.  That is bad Police interaction with a citizen.