Lawyers for the towns of Chattanooga and Red Bank (where a similar system is deployed) write, “[Drivers] are not entitled to a trial by jury, a presumption of innocence or a heightened burden of proof.”

That’s typical for civil offenses, which bear a lower burden of proof. But its atypical for traffic violations, which often carry a presumption of innocence and allow citizens to request a trial by jury. The shift is likely due to the light penalty associated with the ticket, but it’s worrisome because that penalty could be bumped at some point to a full moving violation.

See, this is a prime example of why I favor strict limits on government, and police power. Scope creep.

Simple truth: I’ve never in my life met anyone (who is older than a toddler) who is a law abiding citizen. They don’t exist. Everyone has broken some law, at some time, even if its only going 36 in a 35 zone. So being a hardass in preservation of your rights in any encounter with the police is the intelligent thing to do. (Even if the practical effect is to make your own life miserable).

So, this morning, I go to feed the birds. I notice Harley macaw is acting “snappy”. Thats when I suspect that he will try biting my fingers through the bars when I go to put food in his bowl. To solve the problem, I normally open his cage door, and reach in to put his food directly into the bowl. Often times I have to push him a bit to the side to get the food into the bowl. He doesn’t bite when I do this, because its not a game.

Anyway, this morning, I reach in there, and he hops up on my arm! What a nice way to start a morning, giving a head scratch to my favorite bird, and snuffling the feathers on top of his head. I love the smell of macaw. It used to bother me back when I first got him. Now it raises fond thoughts.

Normally, Harley rates food over attention from me, so its always nice when that isn’t the case.

A friends 9 year old daughter watched Star Wars for the first time the other night. During the famous trash compactor scene, she came up with a profoundly insightful question.

Katie had the line of the night during the garbage-chute scene: “Who would throw away a one-eyed octopus?”

Kermit playing

Originally uploaded by The_Gut.

Just adding a spot of color. Kermit playing on the play stand.

So here I am, sitting here in my living room. Kiwi is the only bird out. She is playing on her cage, which is right next to my chair.

Kiwi is playing on the other side of the top of her cage. So, suddenly she walks over to my side, poops on me, then walks back to where she is playing, and goes back to it.

Parrots.

Taking widely varying routes, they are arriving at similar conclusions: little or no educational benefit is found. Worse, computers seem to have further separated children in low-income households, whose test scores often decline after the machine arrives, from their more privileged counterparts. Abroad, researchers found that children in Romanian households who won a $300 voucher to help them buy computers received significantly lower school grades in math, English and Romanian. Stateside, students in a North Carolina study posted significantly lower math test scores after the first broadband provider showed up in their neighborhood, and significantly lower reading scores as well when the number of broadband providers increased. And a Texas study found that ‘there was no evidence linking technology immersion with student self-directed learning or their general satisfaction with schoolwork.’”

From http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/business/11digi.html

Well DUH. I work with computers for a living. If I had kids, they wouldn’t be allowed on computers until 10 years old, at the earliest. ANYTHING a kid can be doing is time better spent than sitting at a computer. Computers are tools. They are easy to learn tools. Don’t learn them before you have a need to learn them.

Well the massive work project is winding down. We went live tuesday – with a partial group of folks at work. Weds everyone was there. So, this means I’ve actually got some time to let the birds out this weekend. For the past 4-5 weeks they have been seriously shorted on their out time.

And it means I’ve got three super sticky cockleburs. Not to mention that it looks like Harley has totally “forgotten” what he is not allowed to mess with. (In all fairness, he never does have a solid grasp of this – or at least, he sure doesn’t act like it.) So when he isn’t on me, I have to go get him every 3 minutes or so to get him away from whatever he is messing with.

At least I’ve managed to get Kermit to playing on the tree stand. And Kiwi is playing with Kermits toys in Kermits cage.

For the next five minutes, anyway.

I swear, Macaws are living embodiments of destructive chaos.

So, I gave max dog a chew today – not something I do very often. And, after chewing on it for quite a while, he decided that he needed to be hidden, for whatever reason.

After scoping out various spots around the room, he decided to hide it under the pillow on the bed. Which I was using, because I was reading. He spent literally five minutes shoving it up under the pillow, and then stuffing a sheet up against the pillow. I even told him I would guard the damn thing, if he would just quit smacking my head with his. So he finally gets it hidden.

Then, he goes and gets a long drink of water.

After which, he comes back, and gets the treat out and goes back to chewing it!

Dogs.

I love those bird days when all of the birds have been out long enough that they all get tired and go back into their cages for a nap.

This doesn’t happen as often as I would like.

Good move – laws should be very clear about what they are outlawing. They need to have a bright, clear line about what is illegal, and what is not.

Supreme Court Deals Blow to “Honest Services” Law

The Supreme Court sided with former Enron CEO and smartest-guy-in-the-room Jeffrey Skilling and media mogul Conrad Black on Thursday by ruling against a fraud law commonly used to go after white-collar criminals. The “honest services” law, which the Court determined to be excessively vague, allows prosecutors to file suit against executives who don’t act in companies’ best interests. The law was critical in targeting former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (whose own trial has been keeping Chicagoans entertained since June 3), lobbyist Jack Abramoff (now employed at a kosher Baltimore pizzeria) and former New York State Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, who was indicted last January. Now, there’s concern that today’s ruling could overturn convictions and make it harder to file fraud cases. Writing for the majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ruled that Skilling’s “honest services” conviction was flawed (he’s serving a 24-year sentence for duping investors about Enron’s financial health) and that the law should only be limited to “schemes involving bribery and kickbacks.” The Court also challenged the conviction of Conrad Black, who was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison in 2007 for allegedly stealing millions from the Hollinger International Inc. media company through insider dealings. Both cases will be sent back to appeals court, but the ruling won’t necessarily overturn their convictions. Despite the victory over “honest services,” the Supreme Court disagreed with the second part of Skilling’s argument—that bad media coverage had prevented him from getting a fair trial in Enron’s home city of Houston.

Okay, I’m not a fashion plate, by any means. I’m pretty much an anti-fashion plate.

BUT, even I know that cowboy boots are not to be worn with shorts of any kind. Or anything other than long pants – except in the bedroom, where it is acceptable to wear only cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, with nothing else. But, no spurs.