Author: Robert Zimmerman

Egypt raids the offices of seventeen human rights organizations

5:34 pm

How’s that Arab spring working out for you? Egypt today raided the offices of seventeen human rights organizations.

Egyptian soldiers and black-clad police officers swept into offices, interrogated workers and seized computers across the country. Those targeted included U.S. groups the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and Freedom House, which are funded by Congress to monitor elections and promote democracy overseas.

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New Rasmussen poll shows Romney beating Obama 45%-39%

10:49 am

A new Rasmussen poll shows Romney beating Obama 45%-39%.

What is more significant about the poll is how poorly Obama stacks up against every other possible candidate. Though he leads all the others, in no case does he get more than 48% of the vote. Even against a non-entity like Gary Johnson Obama only leads 42% to 27%. These numbers suggest that no matter who runs against Obama, the man is toast.

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Top 10 Worst Federal Rules of 2011

10:19 am

The top ten worst federal rules of 2011.

All are crippling, but this one is plain stupid:

4. The Equine Equality Rule. As of March 15 (the Ides of March, no less), hotels, restaurants, airlines, and the like became obliged to modify “policies, practices, or procedures” to accommodate miniature horses as service animals. According to the Department of Justice, which administers the rule, miniature horses are a “viable alternative” to dogs for individuals with allergies or for observant Muslims and others whose religious beliefs preclude canine accompaniment.

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China issues a white paper on space, outlining its future goals

9:46 am

China today issued a white paper on space, outlining its future goals. In addition to additional launches of its manned Shenzhou manned capsule,

China also plans to launch space laboratories, manned spaceship and space freighters, and will start a research on the preliminary plan for a human landing on the moon, the document said.

As an important part of deep-space exploration, the country’s lunar probe projects follow the idea of “three steps” — orbiting, landing and returning. In next five years, the country plans to launch orbiters for lunar soft landing, roving and surveying to implement the second stage of lunar exploration, then it will start the third-stage project of sampling the moon’s surface matters and get those samples back to Earth, the white paper said.

You can download the full white paper here [pdf]. Hat tip to Spaceref.com.

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The Obama Nation: Even More Debt And Even More Store Closings

10:50 am

A nation in economic collapse.

During “the Obama Nation”, the federal government has already accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office. Of course the Bush administration was nearly as bad at piling up government debt. Between Bush and Obama (with a big helping hand from the Federal Reserve), they have done a pretty good job of wiping out the financial future of the United States. If there are future generations of Americans, they will look back and curse those that did this to them. It is absolutely immoral to steal trillions of dollars from future generations. Unfortunately, there are very, very few members of Congress that are even objecting to this madness.

The article’s listing of store closings is also quite frightening, suggesting that the economic situation of the nation is far worse than has been reported.

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Arizona’s ethnic studies program have been ruled illegal

10:42 am

An Arizona court has ruled that Arizona’s ethnic studies program are illegal.

Kowal’s ruling, first reported by The Arizona Daily Star, said the district’s Mexican-American Studies program violated state law by having one or more classes designed primarily for one ethnic group, promoting racial resentment and advocating ethnic solidarity instead of treating students as individuals. The judge, who found grounds to withhold 10 percent of the district’s monthly state aid until it comes into compliance, said the law permits the objective instruction about the oppression of people that may result in racial resentment or ethnic solidarity.

“However, teaching oppression objectively is quite different than actively presenting material in a biased, political and emotionally charged manner, which is what occurred in (Mexican-American Studies) classes,” Kowal wrote. The judge said such teaching promotes activism against white people, promotes racial resentment and advocates ethnic solidarity.

This is not a First Amendment issue. The Arizona state legislature, elected by the citizens, passed a rule stating that ethnic studies programs cannot focus on only one ethnic group. The Tucson school system cannot therefore expect funding from the state if it chooses not to obey that legislation.

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The Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled that refusing to open your door does not allow the police to enter without a warrant

10:05 am

Stating the obvious: The Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled that just because you refuse to open your door to the police does not give them the right to break it down, without a warrant.

The Constitution is very plain about this, and that the police and prosecutors don’t understand it is very disturbing. Just because they want to enter does not give them the right to do it. Only if the police have reasonable cause they can get a warrant from a judge, but they need that warrant before entering.

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Slow news

3:03 pm

Tis a slow news day, at least to me. Nothing that is coming over the wire has inspired me. However, if any of you has seen something that has made you excited, please feel free to post it here, as a comment.

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Newfound treasures at an archeological dig in Panama have provided scientists with the best clues yet about an unnamed tribal culture that had trived in the centuries just prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.

8:23 pm

Newfound treasures at an archeological dig in Panama have provided scientists with the best clues yet about an unnamed tribal culture that had thrived in the centuries just prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.

The most recent dig, in early 2011, uncovered a similarly adorned chief in a multilevel burial pit once sheltered by a wooden roof. Surrounding this golden chief are at least 25 carefully arranged bodies, making the assemblage the largest of the six El Caño burials revealed to date. … Among the corpses golden attire for a child, possibly the chief’s son: tiny gold plates, bracelets, earrings, and a necklace of semiprecious stones. At the bottom of the pit, the chief himself was supported by a sort of platform created from the tight arrangement of 15 bodies. Mayo believes those individuals could be war captives or slaves who were sacrificed or committed suicide.

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