The Daily Flier

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 -- JUSTICE WRONG AGAIN -- by Sandra Rout

In April, 2007, a 24-year-old man named Michael Jacoby was drunk while driving his car in Timonium, a suburb to the north of Baltimore. As a light turned yellow, Jacoby attempted to make a left turn; he hit a motorcycle and killed the passenger on the back, a 20-year-old young lady named Jessica Vetter. Yesterday, the girl's father appeared at the sentencing hearing for Jacoby, and asked Baltimore County Judge Robert Dugan not to send Jacoby to prison. The judge duly agreed to this request. So now Jacoby, who got drunk and killed someone, does not have to do a day in prison. I have no problem with the father, and in fact applaud Mr. Vetter for his ability to forgive, but are prison sentences now decided by the victims or their survivors? That is not how our system is supposed to work. Drunk drivers are a scourge, and let's face it, if they kill someone it amounts to premeditated murder, because they willingly made the decision to drink and then to drive, knowing before they started drinking what the consequences could be. Does the word travesty come to mind?

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 -- AND YOU THOUGHT ZIMBABWE WAS BAD -- by Sandra Rout

Equatorial Guinea is a small country in Africa with a population of less than one million and a total size which is about the same as the state of Maryland. The president of the country is Teodoro Obiang, a sleazeball who murdered his uncle in a 1979 coup and who has discouraged any kind of political opposition since. In a supposedly-free democratic election just this May, Obiang captured 99% of the vote. Can you really believe that in a fair, democratic election that any candidate can win 99% of the vote? I would venture a guess to say that if God himself ran for office in the USA, he would not get anything resembling that number. A lot of oil has been found off the coast of Equatorial Guinea in the past 20 years or so, and that has meant an income of big bucks for the country. The only citizen to benefit, though, has been Teodoro Obiang, who reportedly has personal bank accounts worth billions of dollars in the USA. The situation is so bad in the country that Mr. Obiang cannot trust even one of his own as personal security; for that purpose he employs a group of mercenaries from Morocco. The bottom line is that Mr. Mugabe of Zimbabwe looks like a saint next to Obiang, yet we all are ready to nail Mugabe to the wall and just let Obiang do his thing. Of course, because they have a lot of oil, Equatorial Guinea and Teodoro Obiang can do no wrong in the eyes of our own government. Is that not just a tad wrong?

Monday, July 21, 2008 -- IRAQ AND THE NEW PRESIDENT -- by Richard Mack

John McCain has been berating Barack Obama for his Iraq policies, in a nutshell saying that Mr. Obama just does not get it. Well, I get it, Mr. McCain, let me recap the situation. Since we invaded Iraq in 2003, more than 1.3-million Iraqis have been killed in fighting, and a large proportion of those people were women and children. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that at least five million Iraqi citizens have been displaced because of the war, and more than two million of those people have fled the country. Now, our State Department and UNHCR are devising a plan to evacuate Palestinian refugees in Iraq to, of all places, Sudan -- which has to be one of the most violent places on our planet. Talk about out of the frying pan. Mr. McCain, the evidence is overwhelming that the USA and the United Kingdom between them deliberately misled the rest of the world to justify the invasion of Iraq. We won't even mention the billions of dollars paying for the war that are really just being flushed down the toilet in these tough economic times. In your view, though, Mr. Obama does not get it? In other words, you think that Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair were correct, in spite of all the proof that they were not. You do not deserve to be President of our country, Mr. McCain, and I sincerely hope and pray that the polls which show you being soundly defeated in November are correct.

Sunday, July 20, 2008 -- MORE PRIVACY GONE -- by Richard Mack

Miami International Airport, and about 12 other airports nationwide, have begun using whole-body imaging machines in the quest to tighten security. That sounds remarkably like an electronic version of a strip search, and the question is just how much more freedom are Americans prepared to forsake in the name of safety? It should be remembered that none of these rather extreme measures can guarantee that terrorists cannot take over an airplane -- there is no security measure that can do that, even if we all did have to strip naked for boarding and flying. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution protects us against unreasonable searches, and to me this seems perilously close to being unreasonable.

Saturday, July 19, 2008 -- IS THIS TOO FAR? -- by Richard Mack

A new law went into effect in Maryland this month, which stipulates that students with disabilities can no longer be denied the right to compete against or with able-bodied peers. On the face of it, this sounds like a good thing. But dig a little deeper, and think about it a little, and all manner of problems arise. For instance, the law forces schools to make equipment and facilities equally available, which could cost a fortune in alterations to locker rooms, sports fields and stadiums. More worrisome than that -- what happens when someone gets badly hurt? Imagine a wheelchair hurtling around a basketball court, and imagine all the things that can go wrong. I can foresee athletes, disabled or otherwise, suing for huge sums of money. What if the parents of the disabled child are able to afford a "bionic" leg for an amputee, is that competing on a level footing also? How about if the amputee has two such legs? Still fair? What if the disabled athlete has to take drugs which are banned for use by other athletes? Still fair? I can see a law which allows participation on level ground -- no special facilities, no special "bionic" equipment, no passes on drug laws, and which addresses the fact of who pays for what when injuries occur. This law seems grossly unfair to the other 99% of the population, though.

Friday, July 18, 2008 -- EBAY TIGHTENS THE NOOSE -- by Sandra Rout

eBay is moving forward with its apparent policy of trying to force small sellers from doing business on their site. As of today, they are forcing smaller sellers to either offer PayPal for settlement of sales, or offer their own merchant credit card acceptance. Of course, Joe Blow who is trying to sell an odd item or two will not find it profitable (or even desirable) to set up his own ecommerce web site, so therefore Mr. Blow is forced to accept PayPal and its very high transaction fees. It gets worse, though; the following is an exact quote of eBay language when sellers are listing items, "Some payments may be held in your account to ensure smooth transactions. PayPal will release the hold after 21 days without a buyer dispute, claim, chargeback or other action. The hold may be released earlier if either of the following occurs: -- the Buyer leaves positive Feedback, or 3 days after PayPal confirms item delivery". So if you are a small business owner selling $100 items on eBay, PayPal now has the right to hold each $100 sale for 21 days, and there is nothing you can do about it. If your small business sells 100 such items over a three-week period, PayPal could constantly be sitting on $10,000 of your money, and that of course can be a severe hardship for many small businesses. And what other business will deliver goods before being able to see the hard cash?

Thursday, July 17, 2008 -- MORE EVIDENCE OF EPA WRONGDOING -- by Sandra Rout

Last Friday I pointed out a suspicious set of circumstances which suggested that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was being manipulated by the White House. I have more for you today. Scientists who work for the EPA yesterday released a 149-page report which demonstrates the risks that climate change poses to human health, and to the supplies of food, water and energy on which populations depend. The report makes it crystal clear that global warming not only threatens human health and welfare, but it is already having an adverse effect on human health and welfare today. EPA chief Stephen Johnson, however -- a member of the Bush administration -- has declined to take immediate steps, instead declaring a 120-day period for public comment. It therefore seems that no action will be taken before President Bush leaves office, and that is yet another woeful performance by our leader.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 -- THE POLITICS OF OIL -- by Sandra Rout

President Bush is taking advantage of the oil-price fiasco by blaming the Democrats for the ban on coastal oil drilling (even though it was his father, the first President Bush, who signed the original executive order banning such activities). By all expert accounts, the offshore oil that we may or may not have will make little difference to the oil price in the long run, and in any case it will take years before we saw the first drop of oil produced. It would be much more impressive if President Bush would sign an executive order mandating that we, one, speed up the pursuit of ways to reduce our oil consumption, and two, find ways as a nation to reduce our energy usage. The current posturing by the President is really just misleading the American people, and if Mr. Bush really did care about the price of gas the first thing he could concentrate on finding a way out of the mess in the Middle East.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 -- DON'T BE DUPED -- by Richard Mack

With gas prices still rising, many people are looking for ways to make the gas dollar go further. Sales for the Motoflow Magnet have been picking up, so I decided to look into it to see what was claimed, and how it works. The Motoflow is essentially a magnet that attaches to your fuel line. After your gas runs by it, it is supposed to "produce molecules that combine more efficiently with oxygen". The benefits of this, it is claimed, include improved gas mileage and less pollution from your emissions. This little wonder magnet sells for about £55 in the UK (the equivalent of $110). Well, think about it this way. If all it took to improve fuel efficiency was to run it by a magnet, don't you think that the engineers who work for the refineries would have discovered this by now? Wouldn't all the refineries be processing their gasoline this way? Of course they would; but they don't. That is all the proof you need that this is a scam, and you should avoid it like the plague. In any case, what sane person will fork out $110 for a small magnet? What the Motoflow will do is this -- next time you take your car into the shop, and the mechanic sees the magnet on your fuel line, he will know he has found a sucker that will pay for all kinds of unnecessary work that he recommends.

Monday, July 14, 2008 -- DO YOU BELIEVE? -- by Richard Mack

Do you believe in black magic, voodoo and similar things? Ask Zenaida Denizac what she thinks. Denizac lives in Deltona, Florida, and serves as president of the Volusia County Hispanic Association. She has, over the past few months, received several anonymous letters criticizing her work in that position; on Saturday afternoon she found a voodoo doll -- complete with her photograph attached, and several pins stuck in vital areas -- propped up against her mailbox. Voodoo, of course, has its roots in Africa, and is widely believed in by the people of Haiti. Many citizens of that country have sought work in surrounding nations, including Cuba. That may explain the connection between Ms. Denizac -- born in Puerto Rico -- and the voodoo believers. There are many Cubans living in south Florida, and evidently some of them believe they can put a hex on the lady. Personally, I don't think you need to worry too much about the voodoo, Ms. Denizac; what bothers me is what happens next when the voodoo does not work.

Sunday, July 13, 2008 -- MORAL HYPOCRISY -- by Richard Mack

A psychologist at Northeastern University, David DeSteno, recently conducted an interesting experiment. He asked for volunteers without explaining what the experiment was, and then randomly divided the volunteers into two groups. As each person in the first group showed up at his office, they were told that there were two experiments left, which involved doing one of two tasks on a computer -- the first one was very easy, and would take about 10 minutes to complete. The second task was much more complicated and would take at least 45 minutes to complete. You and the next volunteer, arriving in 10 minutes, would each be doing one of those tasks. Since you were there before the other person, you could decide which task to do, and the other person would never know. Surprise, surprise -- nearly 80% of the volunteers chose the easy task. With the second group, the volunteers had the same two tasks explained, and then asked to decide which was fairer -- delegating the two tasks themselves, or allowing the computer to do it. Virtually 100% of these volunteers proclaimed that it would be wrong to choose the easy task for themselves. So, what it boils down to is this -- a very large percentage of us are moral hypocrites. We convince ourselves that we are acting virtuously, even when we do something which we would condemn in others. That is something which all of us can work on.

Saturday, July 12, 2008 -- THE GAS PRICE AND IRAN -- by Sandra Rout

Oil is currently trading at around $145 per barrel, which is translating to a gas price of around $4.10 a gallon for most of the USA. Analysts like Christopher Ruppel at Execution LLC, a Hong Kong based investment company, say that if a war breaks out between Iran and Israel/USA, the barrel price will immediately jump to $200, and may not take long at all to reach $250. That means we will almost immediately begin paying around $5.70 a gallon, and that pretty soon we could see gas prices of in excess of $7 a gallon. Apart from the pain involved for us as individuals every time we fill the tank, do you realize what jumps like that will do to the economy in general? Prices for things like fruit, vegetables and milk will rocket upwards, and pretty soon many other consumer products will see considerable price rises too. So, without even considering all the other political factors, do you really think we can afford a war like this?

Friday, July 11, 2008 -- THE GAMES YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT -- by Sandra Rout

Five years ago the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculated that a human life in America was worth $7.8-million. They recently revised that figure to $6.9-million, a drop of nearly $900,000. So what, you say? Let me explain why it matters, and why I believe that this is a case of American politics at its best. Say, for example, the government considers a bill which restricts pollution. It is figured out that the bill will cost $18-billion to enforce, but that 2,500 lives would be saved by it. At the old figure of $7.8-million per life, the benefits of savings those lives outweigh the cost. At the new figure of $6.9-million per life, however, the bill would cost more to enforce than the lives it would save, so there is less chance of it passing into law. Now, Mr. Bush and his administration want to avoid tougher environmental laws, so it certainly suits them that the value of a life is dropping. I smell a big, stinky political rat.

Thursday, July 10, 2008 -- QUESTIONS FOR OBAMA -- by Richard Mack

On Monday I posed a few questions about John McCain that need to be answered before we go to the polls (or, at least, we have to decide which way we think he will go). As promised, here are some questions for Barack Obama. Firstly, as a liberal, why is Mr. Obama in favor of the death penalty? That makes him sound as Republican as George Bush and John McCain. Secondly, why does Mr. Obama have such a lukewarm stance on abortion? For example, he believes that "mental distress" should not be grounds for late-term abortions. Thirdly, why is Mr. Obama a gun rights advocate? He applauded the recent decision by the Supreme Court to overturn a Washington DC ordinance which banned handgun ownership in the city. And here is the big stinger -- throughout the race against Ms. Clinton for the Democratic nomination, Obama said time and time again that if he was elected President he would impose a rigid and rapid timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq; now he is saying that the troops should be withdrawn as conditions on the ground permit, which is a major-league shift in his position. We need to clearly understand what you are going to do before we commit to vote for you, Mr. Obama.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 -- THE FOURTH AMENDMENT -- by Richard Mack

Here is the exact wording of the fourth amendment to our US Constitution: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Today our Senate will vote on an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with a few small amendments intended to grant immunity to telecommunications corporations that assisted the government in the warrantless wiretapping it has done since 2001. I have to say that seeing that Democrats have control of the Senate, it is an indictment of their lack of guts that they would vote for this. And they will. Benjamin Franklin once said, "Those who can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Our Senate and Congress evidently want us to live in fear forever, and that, frankly is un-American. Shame on our elected representatives, no matter their political party, in Washington DC.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008 -- IS OBAMA SOFT? -- by Richard Mack

You have all heard John McCain saying that his Presidential opponent Barack Obama is too soft on Iran, that we cannot talk to them as Mr. Obama wants to do. Now, let me throw these facts out, and you decide who is soft. In 2001, the first year of the epic Bush journey as our trusted leader, the USA exported a total of just $8.3-million in goods to Iran. After the tragic events of 9/11, in his 2002 "State of the Nation" address, Mr. Bush called Iran part of an axis of evil; but since then, the USA has exported nearly $550-million worth of goods to Iran, close to $150-million in 2007. So evidently the Republican theory is that we cannot publicly talk to Iran, but we can quietly do business with them because the almighty dollar is involved. Personally, I don't care whether American companies do business in Iran or not; but the Republican stance is the very definition of hypocrisy.

Monday, July 7, 2008 -- QUESTIONS FOR McCAIN -- by Richard Mack

I spent a large part of Sunday reading up what John McCain and Barack Obama have been saying on the campaign trail. Today I have some questions that Mr. McCain needs to answer (I will ask other questions of Mr. Obama in a day or two). Firstly, Mr. McCain, you say that you will balance the budget AND cut everyone's taxes. You say that one way to do that is to cut domestic programs. That all seems very ambitious, and frankly quite incredible. You need to be more specific, or you need to stop making promises you have no hope of keeping. In the next breath, you say you will be staying in Iraq and increasing military spending. You will pay for that spending with -- get this -- domestic program cuts. Hmmm. That is wearing thin real fast. Moving on, let us have a look at health coverage. You say, rather glibly, that you want to move in the direction of people dealing directly with health care insurance providers. You sir, of course, have had full government-backed health coverage all your life, and I truly believe you have no idea what the average Joe goes through dealing directly, which is a very complicated business indeed. You say you want straight talk, but frankly this is all very insulting to anyone with half a brain.

Sunday, July 6, 2008 -- MORE WACKY LAWS -- by Sandra Rout

The silly sex laws that I told you about yesterday got me thinking about what other dumb laws we have in this great nation. Here are some of them. If you are planning to spend a few days in Virginia Beach this summer, don't make the mistake of driving up or down Atlantic Avenue more than once in any 30-minute period; it could get you arrested. And before you visit, you better check whether your walking stick is legal -- many types are not in the resort town. In Dunn, North Carolina, there is a law which prohibits people from throwing rocks at any street in the city. In Alaska it is illegal to push a live moose out of a moving airplane. In California it is illegal to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool; another law states that it is illegal for animals to mate publicly within 500 yards of a tavern, school or place of worship. In Iowa, a kiss may not last more than five minutes. In Louisiana, you may not rob a bank and then shoot a water pistol at the teller. In South Dakota the law says you may not fall asleep inside a cheese factory, and in Texas you risk going to jail if you carry a concealed ice-cream cone (that one is particularly rich when you consider that the law in Texas allows you to shoot any stranger on your property and to ask questions later). In Globe, Arizona, it is illegal for anyone who is not a Native American to play cards with a Native American. And get this, Gloria -- in Tucson, Arizona, women are not allowed to wear pants. If you like fishing, and are planning a visit to Chicago, I had better warn you of this -- it is illegal to fish in your pajamas. Finally, if you happen to visit Baltimore, do not take your pet lion into the theatre with you, because that is specifically banned by city ordinance.

Saturday, July 5, 2008 -- THE MIDDLE AGES -- by Sandra Rout

Even though it is now 2008, we still have some wacky sex-related laws on the books in our country. Did you know, for instance, that in Willowdale, Oregon, it is illegal for husbands to "talk dirty" while having sex with their wives? I am not joking, that is a law. Or, how about a trip to our nation's capital, Washington DC, where it is illegal to have sex in any position other than the missionary one. The NRA is probably up in arms over the law in Connorsville, Wisconsin, that says a man cannot fire a weapon while his wife is having an orgasm. Sex between unmarried couples is still illegal in Georgia and Virginia, and in 18 states oral sex is illegal. The state of Washington is a little more progressive -- there it legal for a man to have sex with an animal, as long as the animal weighs less than 40 pounds. The strangest law of all, perhaps, is in Florida, which somehow felt the need to pass legislation which bars anyone from having sex with a porcupine. You can romance a goat, even one that you have set ablaze, in Florida, but leave the porcupines alone in the Sunshine state.

Friday, July 4, 2008 -- WE LOVE YOU, AMERICA -- by Richard Mack

I spend much of the year criticizing things in America, so I think it is only fitting that on our national birthday I should say, in a clear voice, that I love our country, and I know that the great majority of people that live here do too. My words about politics, business and the like are only intended to make things better -- and even though we live in the best country in the world, we can always make it better. We made our declaration of independence 232 years ago, and in spite of what the terrorists and assorted extremists around the world say to the contrary, we will still be independent and strong in another 232 years. So, happy birthday, America, land that we love.

Thursday, July 3, 2008 -- WHY THEY DON'T NEED YOUR SUPPORT -- by Richard Mack

The American Family Association (AFA), an organization founded by Donald Wildmon in 1977, is often to be found fighting the entertainment industry, which it blames for contributing to a host of problems in America, including the rise in teen pregnancies, promoting pre-marital sex, and the promotion of abortion, amongst many other things. Wildmon is an ordained United Methodist minister, and his crusade started while watching TV one night, and finding nothing but "cursing, adultery and violence" being aired. The AFA claims victories such as forcing Disney/ABC to cancel Ellen, which in their words was "pro-homosexual"; its support of Alabama Judge Roy Moore, who refused to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom; and cleaning up the Howard Stern radio show. It could be argued that none of those things happened because of the AFA, but that is another matter. Now the AFA is organizing a boycott of McDonald's, mainly because Vice President Richard Ellis decided to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). Using the AFA yardstick, people like Edward Albee, Horatio Alger, Jr., Francis Bacon, Leonard Bernstein, Truman Capote, Isadora Duncan, Tchaikovsky, and Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria -- amongst many others -- are bad people, simply because of their sexual orientation. This bigotry in America is despicable, and groups that promote it should be avoided like the plague.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 -- RACIAL DOUBLE STANDARD -- by Richard Mack

Picture it -- Garth Brooks (a white country music star) is asked to sing the The Star-Spangled Banner (the USA national anthem) at the Super Bowl, but instead of singing it he changes the words to reflect the achievements of whites in America. Do you think the NAACP and other black groups would have anything to say about that? Do you think that there would be charges of racism? So why is it okay for jazz singer Rene Marie to be asked to sing the national anthem when Denver mayor John Hickenlooper gave his State of The City speech, and then she -- without prior notice or permission -- sings instead the words of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing? Ms. Marie may say now that no racism was intended, and perhaps it was not -- who knows? -- but perception is usually reality, and many people, both white and black, view the performance as racist. We black folk cannot be complaining about racism when we commit the same errors ourselves.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 -- VIGILANTE JUSTICE -- by Sandra Rout

On Friday a police officer from Prince George's County Police Department, Richard Findley, was killed in the line of duty when he was run over by an automobile while trying to make an arrest. That was a horrible thing to happen, any way you look at it. On Saturday, police arrested 19-year-old Ronnie White and charged him in connection with that crime. On Sunday morning White was found dead in his cell at the PGC Detention Center, apparently having been strangled. The Medical Examiner says White was murdered, and the problem is that only correctional officers had access to White -- he was being held in a cell away from any other prisoners. Since it is virtually impossible for anyone to strangle himself to death, it can only mean White was murdered by somebody in the system. And that is just as horrible as the death of Officer Findley. There is no place for vigilante justice in our country, and if that perverted form of justice is carried out by anyone connected to the law enforcement system, it is even more disgusting. Let us pray this does not get swept under the rug, and that somebody is held accountable.

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