Low Impact Crime

Crime is pretty hard on the environment. Creating, transporting and maintaining a weapon, shooting a handgun or exploding a bomb - these causes a lot of pollution.

So it’s nice to see our local Des Moines metro criminals think about sustainability and go low impact as they do their green crime thing.


A kid armed with a sharp pencil held off authorities for a half-hour at the Polk County juvenile facility today. It was a brilliant move, waving his weapon around and exploiting the rampant fear of getting poked with a pencil lead.







A thug pulled a stick from his sleeve and whacked a man in the face last night, after the man was told to move and refused.





Des Moines police stopped a man who had attempted suicide with his sword. Police confiscated the sword and a spear and battle ax.

An inmate at the Polk County jail has vowed to starve himself unless he is given a vegetarian diet. That’ll teach ‘em.

Rights Boy loves the Earth

Rights Boy sometimes cracks wise at the dire predictions of climate change and the motives of our global prophets. Downright cynical.

But he does believe in conservation, recycling and consuming less instead of more; especially if he can save some money. So he will occasionally give advice on important green issues or solutions.


Rights Boy loves the Earth. Our planet is so-o-o hot.

The core is molten iron around 1,800 degrees F. The crust is mostly silicate rock with a wonderful ability to store vast amounts of heat. The greenhouse effect is the best of all; it keeps the atmosphere and surface warm enough to support human life.

Rights Boy was recently talking to his good friend Andy, who has decided to exploit the Earth’s hotness through geothermal.

Geothermal is a new green technology, used since the time of ancient Rome, which takes advantage of the heat stored in the ground. A steady supply of energy is captured and moved from the Earth to and through the home. Once installed, it uses much less energy, saves ongoing money and reduces pollution compared to conventional furnaces and air conditioners. Andy estimates the pollution reduction equivalent to taking four cars off the road (!!)


This morning I marveled at Andy’s wisdom and selfless act to reduce pollution and save money. So Rights Boy went to the gas station, filled up, dedicated this latest tank to his friend, and turned the thermostat up three degrees when he got home.

Seriously though, Rights Boy thinks geothermal is a good thing. Does anyone else use geothermal and what do you think?

No promotion for you !!

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined again this week in the Des Moines Register; this time ripping into sitting Senators and Representatives who spend all their time running for president and ignoring their day job. You can view the opinion here with comments from other DMR readers. Following is the original unedited version.


I was always taught that voting is an important privilege and responsibility not to be taken lightly. You should be informed and you should vote; if you don’t vote then you don’t have much justification to criticize the outcome. I was thinking about this when Barak Obama came out swinging at Hillary Clinton recently for her vote on an Iran resolution, a vote which he didn’t bother to make at all.

For Senators and Representatives voting is not just a privilege, it is actually their job; to represent the citizens who elected them and pay their salary and endless perks. If they don’t show up for important votes, then they are representing no one, and they are stealing time and money from the taxpayers.

For the third time in this administration, the Senate was required to confirm a new U.S. Attorney General. After the fiasco that was Alberto Gonzales, and with Congress teetering around 15% approval, you would think that every Senator would want to be on record with his or her constituency as participating and voting.

Senators Biden, Clinton, Dodd, McCain and Obama skipped this vote, no doubt because of higher priorities somewhere in Iowa or New Hampshire. All four Democrats said that they opposed the nomination of Mukasey for Attorney General; but apparently not enough to show up and vote against it.

More and more, it seems like the daily operation of the federal government is interfering with the presidential campaigns. Several of the presidential hopefuls collect, but do not earn, a check for a daytime job in Washington and their own State. Chris Dodd is certainly the most transparent; he appears to be settling down in Iowa and has enrolled his daughter in school. A warm welcome to Mr. Dodd and family, but I do wonder what the citizens of Connecticut think about it.

These days, the duration of a presidential campaign is sometime between two and four years, and there are several sitting Senators and Representatives spending all their time and effort in Iowa with presidential aspirations as their only priority. Why we should reward any of these Senators a promotion to U.S. President, when they don’t even do their current jobs?

Ethanol Redux

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined in the Des Moines Sunday Register on ethanol; “A Crime against Humanity,” according to one United Nations official.

Rights Boy had previously posted the unedited version here. His favorite reader, Anonymous, ripped Rights Boy a new one for the opinion.

You can never please Anonymous!

What does privacy mean to you?

The definitive source for all human information, Wikipedia, defined privacy as “the ability of an individual or group to control the flow of information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively…Privacy may be voluntarily sacrificed, normally in exchange for perceived benefits and very often with specific dangers and losses.”

Merriam-Webster is more succinct. Privacy is “the quality or state of being apart from company or observation…freedom from unauthorized intrusion, as in one's right to privacy.”

Not anymore…

Donald Kerr, principal deputy director of national intelligence, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Americans can't expect to have privacy, because people give up so much information online already.

Kerr declared, "Protecting anonymity isn't a fight that can be won,” and privacy now means that “government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information.”

I guess Kerr cannot see the difference between someone choosing to type info into a Google search query, verses the government sifting through one's private records and listening in on phone conversations without the proper warrants.

Our privacy rights are disappearing before our eyes. Between fears of terrorism, cameras and web cams everywhere, shared medical records, or Internet search engines that keep history for two years, there is no privacy. So just give up. And trust the government.

We are frogs in the cooking pot; the water is starting to boil and we don’t even notice.

Meanwhile, A US federal judge has ordered the White House to preserve computer backups of all its e-mail due to pending litigation over missing messages. Apparently the Bush administration has been deleting as much of its electronic history as possible. Some bureaucrat in the White House basement, bless his heart, still believes in privacy!

A crime against humanity

Rights Boy was amused that the Register issued a thistle to United Nations official Jean Ziegler, chiding his grammar, expertise and conclusions for likening ethanol production to a "crime against humanity."

The corporate welfare and subsidies for ethanol production in the United States is probably a crime against taxpayers, but it’s hardly a crime against humanity.

Perhaps now the Register and others will begin to recognize that the United Nations is an organization of politicians - not scientists, not global environmental prophets, not even lobbyists for the Iowa Farm Bureau.

Every UN diplomat and official has his own country’s self-interest, agenda, and product to sell to the rest of us.

So the next time someone from the UN, or the Vatican, or even a Hollywood Academy Award winner tells you that climate change is somehow a crime against the planet caused by human existence, think about it. If he tells you it’s the end of civilization as we know it, we can’t possibly adapt, we should be riddled with guilt and start purchasing carbon offsets, think about his motive and what he is really selling.

Sometimes it’s snake oil.

Irony on Parade

White House spokesperson Dana Perino said that the administration is deeply disappointed with the measures in Pakistan, and agreed in a press conference this week that “it is never reasonable to restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism.”

Rights Boys wonders if Perino knows the definition of irony.

If you care anything about your constitutional rights you are probably ROTFLMAO.

Rights Boy must be so old. He has fond memories of the good old days when the U.S. Justice Departments protected and upheld rights, instead of trampling on them - before the Patriot Act, wiretapping without warrants, suspension of habeas corpus and unlawful search and seizure – just to name a few.

At least General Muschariff is honest that he has suspended citizens’ rights instead of acting like the people never had them.

First in the Nation in Weird

Most of the time, Iowans are normal, boring, middle-of-the-road farmers, bankers and insurance agents.

But when that special time comes around for Iowa’s ‘first in the nation’ presidential candidate selection, when the spotlight is on, Iowa proves that it is also first in the nation in weirdness. Odd news from Iowa has been so plentiful lately that we have been a regular feature on Fark.com and apparently under consideration for our own coveted weird ‘Iowa’ logo. We have finally made it.

The great pumpkin tax – Just in time for Halloween, Iowa started taxing pumpkins, deciding that they were decorations and not food. Forms were available at grocery stores and pumpkin patches where you could swear to the State that you were going to eat that pumpkin instead of making a Jack-o-Lantern and thus avoid the sales tax.

Boys with toys – A man was arrested in Cedar Rapids after a government agent allegedly found him in an office building restroom with his pants down lying next to an inflatable, anatomically correct doll. Everyone hoped that the doll was of legal age and didn’t have any communicable diseases.



Propping up the mammary industry – $200 or the best offer; a woman who doesn't want her breast milk to go to waste has taken out a newspaper ad in hopes of selling it.









Man’s best friend – Apparently deciding he’d had enough, a dog on a hunting trip pulled a Dick Cheney and blasted a man with a shotgun at close range. ‘Wufff! You go chase that damn duck!’

Stay tuned for more...

The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy

No one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words "no" and "not" employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights.
– Edmund A. Opitz


A recent letter to the DM Register by associate professor Kevin Gannon (“Civics quiz leans sharply to the right”) left Rights Boy wondering about his qualifications to teach history. See his letter at :

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/OPINION04/710230360/1035/OPINION

I agree with Gannon on the need for more civic literacy in our country. It is a sad fact that immigrants who have studied to become American citizens tend to have a better understanding of U.S. history than a typical high school graduate.

But Gannon’s assertion that teaching the principles of “limited government” and a “free-market economy” is part of a vast right-wing conspiracy against academic freedom is absurd and shockingly ignorant coming from a college professor.

America was not founded on the principles of big government and socialist economics. Our Founding Fathers preached that “less is best” regarding government, and its citizens are owed little more than common protection and the opportunity to succeed through hard work.

Unfortunately, through a number of so-called populist or progressive moves, clearly unconstitutional, by both liberals and conservatives, we now have a massive federal government that domestically does very little other than redistributes wealth. The government provides welfare to every special group that you can think of: corporations, farmers, illegal immigrants, even the so-called “poor” that own a house and two cars yet cannot afford health insurance.

Gannon’s contention that right-wing groups are against academic freedom doesn’t match reality. Rights Boy's observation is that conservatives simply want a more comprehensive curriculum than the narrow, cookie-cutter, politically correct socialist nonsense that Gannon teaches.

More Scary Stuff !

Rights Boy loves Halloween !! You might expect that from someone who lives behind a mask.

Rights Boy used to go overboard at Halloween and scare the neighborhood kids on Beggar's Night with spooky music, candles, severed heads and other body parts. Sometimes little kids would run away from the door crying as their parents laughed in the background. Good times...

For some reason the kids don't come around anymore. I don't get it.

These are a few pictures of Rights Boy's yard art from a recent Halloween.

What do you do for Halloween? Do you dress up? Click on 'comment' below and let me know.

Be scared. Be very scared…

Which of these three is the scariest?

A Hillary Jack-O-Lantern?

A Spiral Compact Florescent Light bulb?

Or Mike Gravel?

The correct answer is the Compact Florescent Light bulb!

Compact Florescent Light bulbs (CFLs) use about 75 percent less energy and are supposed to last up to 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs, with a savings of $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime.

CFLs are often touted as ‘saving the environment’ and the product is pushed extensively by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.)

Ironically CFLs are one of the most environmentally unfriendly products you can use. If you improperly dispose of a CFL or break the bulb, they may release mercury and vapors which are harmful to human and ecological health. You do NOT want to meet a thug in the back alley wielding a Compact Florescent Light bulb (CFL) as a weapon.

And woe unto you if you happen to break one in your house! I think if Rights Boy breaks one of these at home, he’ll just sell the house rather than clean up the environment.

Following is a summary of instructions from the EPA if this happens:

1. Have the following items ready for the cleanup:

ziplock bags (4-5)
trash bags (2 to 6 mm thick)
rubber, nitrile or latex gloves
paper towels
cardboard or squeegee
eyedropper
duct tape
shaving cream and small paint brush
flashlight
powdered sulfur (optional)

2. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.

3. Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a sealed plastic bag. Use disposable gloves - do not use bare hands.

4. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the plastic bag. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

5. Place all cleanup materials in a second plastic bag and seal it.

6. Check to see if your state prohibits trash disposal of CLFs. (If your state prohibits, you are SOL…)

7. Place the sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash container or in another outdoor protected area for the next normal trash disposal.
8. Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.

9. If a fluorescent bulb breaks on a rug or carpet, first remove all materials you can without using a vacuum cleaner. Sticky tape (such as duct tape) can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.

10 .If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag or vacuum debris in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash or protected outdoor location for normal disposal.

11. CFLs contain mercury sealed within the glass tubing. If the broken CFL releases mercury, have everyone else leave the area; don't let anyone walk through the mercury on their way out. Make sure all pets are removed from the area. Open all windows and doors to the outside; shut all doors to other parts of the house. DO NOT allow children to help you clean up the spill.

12. If a mercury spill occurs on carpet, curtains, upholstery or other absorbent surfaces, these contaminated items should be thrown away in accordance with the disposal means outlined below. Only cut and remove the affected portion of the contaminated carpet for disposal.

13. Locate visible mercury beads. Use a squeegee or cardboard to gather mercury beads. Use slow sweeping motions to keep mercury from becoming uncontrollable. Take a flashlight, hold it at a low angle close to the floor in a darkened room and look for additional glistening beads of mercury that may be sticking to the surface or in small cracked areas of the surface. Note: Mercury can move surprising distances on hard-flat surfaces, so be sure to inspect the entire room when "searching."

14. Use the eyedropper to collect or draw up the mercury beads. Slowly and carefully squeeze mercury onto a damp paper towel. Place the paper towel in a zip lock bag and secure. Make sure to label the bag as directed by your local health or fire department.

15. After you remove larger beads, put shaving cream on top of small paint brush and gently "dot" the affected area to pick up smaller hard-to-see beads. Alternatively, use duct tape to collect smaller hard-to-see beads. Place the paint brush or duct tape in a zip lock bag and secure. Make sure to label the bag as directed by your local health or fire department.

16. OPTIONAL STEP: It is OPTIONAL to use commercially available powdered sulfur to absorb the beads that are too small to see. The sulfur does two things: (1) it makes the mercury easier to see since there may be a color change from yellow to brown and (2) it binds the mercury so that it can be easily removed and suppresses the vapor of any missing mercury. Where to get commercialized sulfur? It may be supplied as mercury vapor absorbent in mercury spill kits, which can be purchased from laboratory, chemical supply and hazardous materials response supply manufacturers. Note: Powdered sulfur may stain fabrics a dark color. When using powdered sulfur, do not breathe in the powder as it can be moderately toxic. Additionally, users should read and understand product information before use.

17. If you choose not to use this option, you may want to request the services of a contractor who has monitoring equipment to screen for mercury vapors. Consult your local environmental or health agency to inquire about contractors in your area. Place all materials used with the cleanup, including gloves, in a trash bag. Place all mercury beads and objects into the trash bag. Secure trash bag and label it as directed by your local health or fire department.

18. Contact your local health department, municipal waste authority or your local fire department for proper disposal in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

19. Remember to keep the area well ventilated to the outside (i.e., windows open and fans in exterior windows running) for at least 24 hours after your successful cleanup. Continue to keep pets and children out of cleanup area. If sickness occurs, seek medical attention immediately.

Pretty scary…

Who is your candidate?

Having a hard time choosing a candidate? That wouldn’t be too surprising given the flip-flopping and pandering that goes on every day in Iowa.

Here is a website that asks about various issues and their importance to you and then matches your answers with ALL of the candidates. It takes into consideration the history and record of the candidate, not necessarily what they are saying this week.

Rights Boy found this to be very interesting. It did NOT select Ron Paul as Rights Boy’s candidate. (He came in third.)

It only takes a couple of minutes. Who is YOUR candidate?


http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460


A tip of the hat to Bill Scott for the link.

Your Papers, Old Man ?? Part 2

Last Friday, Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined about a recent traffic safety checkpoint in the Urbandale Register. He lamented about the chipping away at privacy, due process and protection from unreasonable search, all in the name of education or security. He also questioned the purpose and goal of this event as well as the cost, suggesting that it was a huge waste of taxpayer dollars.

Several Register readers agreed with Mike; you can read the letter online with comments by other Des Moines Register readers here.

By some strange coincidence, at 2:30 Friday afternoon, the Central Iowa Traffic Safety Task Force released the results of the checkpoint. You can find a summary of the results here.

After advertising this event as “more about education than enforcement,” the results showed the true purpose - 192 vehicles were stopped and 179 citations were issued. Some of the citations were stunningly trivial, such as not enough air in a tire. If this had been truly about education, they would have issued more warnings instead of citations.

This whole thing has demonstrated to Rights Boy that we are one step closer to a Police State, right here in little ol’ Iowa. What kind of priority is it to pull 40 officers off the street, keep them from doing something useful, dress them up in SWAT gear, and without any probable cause, pull vehicles over and intimidate drivers. Many Register readers weighed in after the results were published. Read those comments here.

What a country! I feel so much safer now.

Where are your papers, old man ??

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opines about a recent traffic safety checkpoint in the Urbandale Register this morning. You can read the letter below and online with comments by other Des Moines Register readers here.


On Sept. 21, eastbound traffic on Hickman Road was subjected to a "traffic safety checkpoint" with traffic reduced to one lane, drivers randomly stopped, vehicles inspected, and licenses and registrations examined.

It was pretty high-profile, too - collaboration between the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau, Central Iowa Traffic Safety Task Force and Urbandale, Clive and Windsor Heights police departments.

While it is quite legal in Iowa to set up a checkpoint and stop citizens without cause, request their papers and inspect and search their cars, it still bothers me. It reminds me how easily today we accept without question the chipping away at privacy, due process, protection from unreasonable search to name a few - all in the name of education or security or terrorists or whatever.What was the purpose or goal of this event and how much did the whole thing cost? What were the expected outcomes and did the event achieve its objectives? Because from my perspective watching, it looked like a huge waste of taxpayer money and took valuable public safety personnel off the streets.

We have a great police department in Urbandale as I'm sure there are in the surrounding communities. But I think it has more important things to do. As far as the Traffic Safety Bureau and Traffic Safety Task Force - if this is what these groups spend their time dreaming up, they should be dismantled and save the taxpayers some money.

Roundup on Domestic Spying – It’s for your own good. Really, it is.

Fourth Amendment, U.S. Constitution – Search and Seizure

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.


The assault on our Fourth Amendment rights by the federal government continues. Oversight of domestic spying by FISA is being gutted, the large telcos are jockeying for legal protection from customers, and now, Big Brother is in your pocket – even if you never make a call.

The new Protect America Act as described by various officials including the President and former Attorney General “permits the collection of foreign-to-foreign calls and doesn’t implicate Americans.”

What they don’t emphasize is that the law also allows the government to collect foreign to domestic calls and domestic to domestic calls – any communications that are “directed at” or even “concerning” someone overseas may be collected, even when one party to the communication is an American. How can they help but sweep up American calls and emails? (The ACLU FISA fact sheet is here.)


Meanwhile, a federal court in Massachusetts has ruled that an individual's past movements were not protected under the Fourth Amendment. The government doesn't need probable cause to obtain a warrant allowing it to use a person's cell phone to track his past movements.

Jennifer Granick of the Electronic Frontier Foundation reflects, "The idea is that the government is using this information, that most people don't know their cell phone transmits, in order to track you, and they are arguing for an extremely low standard under this complicated statutory regime," Granick said. "Most people probably consider this information to be very private -- where you travel and where you've been."

Not anymore…

And your poor cell phone company and Internet Service Provider – they are breaking the law, breaking their contract with customers and violating your privacy. Will they stand up for the rights of their customers? Of course not. Their lobbyists are descending on Washington to demand amnesty from all future liabilities, as well as al legal liability for past complicity in spying on ordinary Americans.

Aziz Haq of the Nation puts it well.

Granting amnesty to telecoms would signal Congressional acquiescence in an illegal course of conduct. It would send a loud message to other businesses and individuals: Don't worry if the executive branch comes to you secretly and demands that you violate the law or impinge on basic liberties. We'll bail you out. And it would stymie lawsuits that not only serve accountability, but also provide paths to illuminate what harm has been done to our rights.

What do you think?

Is the Fourth Amendment’s “probable cause” just another quaint concept?

Is it worth throwing out the Fourth Amendment to feel secure in the 21st Century?

Is Rights Boy just paranoid in his old age?

The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms

Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.


The Supreme Court is back from spring/summer vacation. Among the many interesting cases that it should review this fall is Parker v. District of Columbia, an appeal of a lower court ruling striking down Washington, D.C.’s ban on handguns.

The District of Columbia’s city council began banning handguns in 1976 and today bans ALL functional firearms. The lawsuit brought by six D.C. residents overturned the ban on appeal as a violation of the Second Amendment’s “right of the people to keep and bear arms.”

D.C., of course, is not a state. It is part of the federal government. The Constitution expressly grants to the U.S. Congress plenary legislative power over all matters whatsoever in the Nation's Capital. It is hard to see how a Second Amendment that binds the Congress would not apply to the District.

This is the first time the Supreme Court will be revisiting the Second Amendment since 1939. The Court has the opportunity to finally answer the central question: Does the right to keep and bear arms belong to us as individuals, or does the Constitution merely recognize the collective right of states to arm the members of their militias?

What do you think? Should your city council be able to restrict you from keeping a handgun, loaded or empty, in your home for the protection of yourself and loved ones?

Or do gun bans work, decrease violent crime, and this should override any consideration for individual rights?

Global Warming: How long can you tread water?

This week’s global warming predictions included oceans rising by one meter (about 39 inches) in the next 50 to 150 years, regardless of any future actions to curb greenhouse gases.

Thankfully, down from earlier predictions of 30 feet and more!!

The article is accompanied by this picture. (If not with the article anymore, go here and look for the article Rising Sea Waters To Wash Away US History.)

Apparently the rise of one meter will drown the Statue of Liberty and New York City will fight some sort of Armageddon lightning storm.

Between the global warming, terrorists, illegal aliens, obesity and "the gays," Rights Boy is getting scared shitless.

What else should we be scared of?

When onions are outlawed, only outlaws will have Onions

A Des Moines man, James Izzolena, went to jail this week for throwing an onion and beaning his wife, Nicole, in the back of the head.

“It made my head hurt,” Nicole told police.

Izzolena admitted throwing the onion and was charged with domestic assault causing injury. He is being held without bond.

This reminded Rights Boy of an incident many years ago when he was suspected of something similar. He had just returned from the market and was unloading groceries. The Rights Wife was napping on a couch and their son, Lil’ Mike, three years old at the time, decided to start playing with a bedroom telephone. Within minutes, three policemen were pounding at the door and Rights Boy rushed to answer it.

“We got a 911 call from here that went silent,” they stated demandingly.

Rights Boy laughed and said it must have been Lil’ Mike playing with the phone; 911 was speed-dial 1. But Rights Boy answered the door with a bag of onions in his hand, so the police had to come in, check around, wake up the Rights Wife and make sure he wasn’t in there bludgeoning everybody with the onions.

Back to Mr. Izzolena, because of this charge, he will no longer be able to own a gun! (The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, 1996) That’s quite a right to give up for throwing an onion.

Oh, well. The Chicago Cubs need a closer. Maybe Izzolena could apply.

Happy Constitution Day!

Put 220 candles on the U.S. Constitution’s birthday cake. Our great political experiment in freedom and democracy is alive and well in the 21st century.

It is important for everyone to occasionally review this great document. My favorite online reference is the U.S. National Archives here in a great series called the Charters for Freedom.

Another great resource is the USConstitution.net which includes background information on our government and age-appropriate teaching materials.

Our founding fathers were pretty inspired. Read the Constitution today!

Monday is Constitution Day

This coming Monday September 17 is Constitution Day, a great day to think about the rights and freedoms we enjoy in America. Next week, public schools all over the country are legally required to teach something, anything, about the U.S. Constitution.

The recent survey by the First Amendment Center illustrates how Americans view the Constitution and our rights. Among the results:

- 55% believe the Constitution established a Christian nation. (75% among Republicans and evangelicals)

- 50% support using the Bible as a text in history class.

- 28% say constitutional protection of religion does not extend to extreme or fringe groups

- 74% would ban students from wearing a T-shirt with a message or picture that might be offensive

- 42% would ban musicians from singing lyrics with an offensive message

- 34% say the press has too much freedom

- 37% believe the press should not be allowed to freely criticize the U.S military about its strategy and performance

Gene Policinski, vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center commented, “To me the results of this year’s survey endorse the idea of more and better education for young people — our nation’s future leaders — about our basic freedoms.”

Rights Boy couldn’t agree more.

PATRIOT Act Smackdown

Just 45 days after the September 11 attacks, with virtually no debate, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, giving the government the power to access your medical records, tax records, information about the books you buy or borrow without probable cause, and the power to break into your home and conduct secret searches without telling you for weeks, months, or indefinitely.


On Thursday, a federal judge declared a key part of the USA Patriot unconstitutional sighting the need for more judicial oversight. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero stated, “The Constitution was designed so that the dangers of any given moment could never justify discarding fundamental individual liberties,” adding that the PATRIOT Act made possible “far-reaching invasions of liberty.”

Judge Marrero immediately stayed the effect of his ruling, allowing the government time to appeal.

Oh, well.

Speedy Gonzales Takes Off

It is a rare person that can make John Ashcroft look good, but Alberto Gonzales has been up for the challenge since day one.


Now, as Gonzales - the Attorney General of the United States, the head of the Justice Department, the chief law enforcer of the land – resigns, let us humbly summarize the Alberto Gonzales Record:

• Expanded secret domestic spying over the Justice Department’s protest
• Expanded executive powers to conduct unconstitutional warrantless wiretaps of U.S. citizens
• Thought the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war was ‘quaint’
• Stated that pornography is a greater threat to the U.S. than terrorism
• Turned U.S. Justice Department from a legal into a political organization
• Lied to Congress under oath on numerous topics
  

All in just two short years. President Bush’s bench is getting pretty weak… Who should be the next AG?

Can you think of any other Alberto achievements?

Ron Paul is Gaining in Las Vegas

The Huffington Post offers some interesting statistics on the presidential candidates - how many Cyberspace friends and buddies they have, the Las Vegas odds of winning his/her party’s nomination and more. Here.



Good News! Ron Paul has skyrocketed at the gambling windows. He is now up to 3.1% ! This puts him ahead of Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback, Tommy Thompson, Duncan Hunter, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel and Christopher Dodd.

Go Ron Paul!


HuffPo also has a fun database that allows you to peek at your neighbors' political contributions here.

Hurray for the Free Market - Special Poop Edition

Rights Boy has been at his Fortress of Rightitude on a vacation vision quest. So much happened while he was gone. So today Rights Boy pays tribute to capitalism and the free market, locally and around the world, with a Special Poop Edition.

Advertising is everything on RAGBRAI. “See Cuddles Poop” beckoned the sign. "You may have to stay here awhile to actually see that, but it's guaranteed to happen." said owner Elizabeth Bixby.



And free enterprise is alive and well in China, where panda poop is made into souvenir bookmarks, picture frames and statues. "They don't smell too bad because 70 percent of the dung is just remains of the bamboo that the pandas are unable to digest," reports an official of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base.








Environmentalists are getting in on the action. The Earth Times reports on Kopi luwak, an Indonesian coffee delicacy, $600 per pound, which comes from the poop of wild civets.




With mottos like “We will remove the DOO for You!” Pet Butler provides franchises across Iowa and the USA to pick up and dispose poop. The mission statement just about says it all.



Do you have a good story on any aspect of the poop market? New poop technology? A Green use?


Please leave a comment. No one has ever accused Rights Boy of being mature.

It was the upper thigh ! !

A fun weekend, indeed.


The running of the Bulls in Pamplona was fantastic this year. Brothers Michael and Laurence Lenahan are simultaneously gored in the ass by one very efficient bull.





In Chongqing China, a public restroom with four stories and more than 1,000 toilets debuted. Rights Boys has been staring at this picture for hours and is still unsure how these toilets are used.





Also from China, the world's tallest man meets the world's shortest man.










Finally, Rights Boy is starting to get infatuated with the new Edna Turnblad...

Live Earth – Attacking Climate Change One Gyration at a Time

Five favorite moments from Live Earth, the seven-continent, 24-hour aging-rocker orgy to raise awareness on global warming:


1. Madonna yelling, 'If you want to save the planet, I want you to start jumping up and down. Come on, mother-[bleepers]! Let me see you jump!" (Madonna owns nine homes and has a "carbon footprint" nearly 100 times larger than the norm.)


2. The demonstration on how to wrap gifts in old potato-chip bags


3. The hundreds of iPhone advertisements


4. Supermodel Petra Nemcova blaming earthquakes on global warming


5. The many public service announcements that buying digital music is more environment friendly than CDs. (Al Gore is on the Board at Apple, the largest digital music retailer…)

The most conservative assessment of the flights taken by the superstars is 222,623.63 miles between them - nearly nine times the circumference of the world. The true environmental cost, as they transported their technicians, dancers and support staff, is likely to be far higher.

The total carbon footprint of the event, taking into account the artists’ and spectators’ travel to the concert, and the energy consumption on the day, is likely to be at least 31,500 tons of carbon emissions, according to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com. Throw in the television audience and it comes to a staggering 74,500 tons. The concert will also generate some 1,025 tons of waste at the concert stadiums - much of which will go directly into landfill sites.

Next time, let’s have a multi-continent, 24-hour event, featuring large empty stadiums, no performers, no spectators, no SUVs or big limos, and fly nobody anywhere. No carbon footprint, no new crap for landfills.

Des Moines – It’s a Good Thing

Rights Boy’s good friend Paul Chastain visited central Iowa over the Independence Day holiday. Paul grew up in Des Moines but has lived in Texas for a number of years. After a few days here, he reflected on how Des Moines had changed over the last 30 years.

“The downtown is really built up, although the Ruan Center is still the same old rusty building,” he remarked. “The new walking bridges over the freeway are really cool and the bike trails are everywhere and are just world class.”

On Friday night we went to an I-Cubs game in one of the best minor league ballparks in the country. The I-Cubs won and there was a great fireworks show afterward.

What Paul said is so true; and it took someone that had been away for awhile to remind Rights Boy what a good thing we have here. Central Iowa is a wonderful place to live and a great place to grow up, work or retire.

Which brings me to Project Destiny; the tax scheme that raises sales tax by 17%, promises to reduce property taxes, and invest in all of the “cultural amenities” that we are missing here in central Iowa. The latest arguments I heard from the “Yes to Destiny” crowd were 1) People leave Iowa and move to the west coast because of the bike trails, and 2) How will we ever be like Denver without more investment?

These people are getting desperate with their arguments. I don’t want Des Moines to be Denver or Los Angeles. I love the way the Metro area is right now. I want to enjoy it the way it is for awhile without an additional tax burden.

Rights Boy will be voting NO new tax. However you feel, don’t forget to vote tomorrow. Don’t assume your vote is not important.

Scooter est libre !

Convicted of perjury, obstructing a federal investigation and lying to FBI agents, Scooter Libby breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when his sentence was commuted by President Bush.

No real surprise here. Cheney was never going to let his designated fall guy go to jail. Bush had promised before “not to intervene until Libby had exhausted his appeals.”

"With the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent," Bush said, "I believe it is now important to react to that decision…I respect the jury's verdict, but…"

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who prosecuted Libby, reacted, “It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. "

The Constitution gives the President the power of clemency to be used when he deems it to be warranted.

Lots happened this last weekend!

Your government at work. President Bush stuck his fishing boat against the rocks this weekend. Luckily, divers from the Secret Service where there to free the Command Guy.




Beautiful! Patriotic! An artist turns a 700-pound block of Land O' Lakes cheddar cheese into a replica of Mount Rushmore.




Not the CornCobs. Des Moines' new NBA-affiliated minor-league basketball franchise will be known as the Iowa Energy.

No to Destiny. Opponents of a proposal to raise the sales tax in Dallas, Polk and Warren counties outnumber supporters nearly 2 to 1 among likely voters in a special election on July 10.

Paris est libre!

Rights Boy invites everyone to take pause and remember the day Paris was freed.

“The news that made the whole free world catch its breath last week was the news that Paris was free. It was one of the great days of all time.” -- Time Magazine

Read the whole article here.

Ron Paul – Iowa Rally on Saturday, June 30

Congressman Ron Paul is coming to Des Moines, Iowa Saturday, June 30th to hold a rally, where he will share his message of freedom, peace and prosperity. Rights Boy will be there too! Come out to show your support.

Details about the event can be found here.

RSVP for the Rally today!

Ten reasons to vote for Ron Paul in 2008:

He has never voted to raise taxes.

He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.

He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.

He has never voted to raise congressional pay.

He has never taken a government-paid junket.

He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

He voted against the Patriot Act.

He voted against regulating the Internet.

He voted against the Iraq war.

He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.

He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

OK, that was 11 reasons; all pretty good ones.

What does sales tax mean to Register?

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined on the Destiny sales tax in the DM Register on Saturday. You can read the opinion and comments by other Register readers here.

The unedited version follows.

Practically on a daily basis, The Des Moines Register prints yet another article supporting the Yes to Destiny tax scheme. You people need to move this stuff to the opinion page because it’s not news and by now everyone certainly understands your position on the issue.

I will give the Register credit though for continuing to push Destiny so publicly. Seems like the rest of the Greater Des Moines Tax Partnership has disappeared; sort of like a bunch of weasels hunkered down in their holes. I think they know what’s going to happen on July 10 when Destiny is brutally defeated, and they don’t want to be so publicly associated with it.

It would be interesting to see specifically what the Register gets out of Destiny. How much property tax relief does the newspaper and the others in the Partnership anticipate for themselves? On the other side, it looks like you and the partners are at most marginally affected by a 17% sales tax increase, since none of you make any significant retail purchases.

I know the Register is a private business, but as much as it preaches about open records and transparency and everybody’s right to know, you should set the example - lay your cards on the table and disclose financially what you have to gain from this new tax.

Vote NO to Destiny. Demand more accountability from government.

Melting Pot or Salad Bar?

Recently, Rights Wife pointed out an interested study on cultural diversity in the world from Catherine Love, associate vice provost at UConn. Love describes what the earth population would look like if it were reduced proportionally to 100 people,

Of the 100, there would be 61 Asians, 12 Europeans, 14 North and South Americans, 13 Africans and one from Australia and its environs. Half of the population would be males, half females, and 67 percent would be something other than Christian. Ten homosexuals would be scattered among the 100. Seventy percent would have no bank account; 75 percent would not have a roof over their heads or a bed to sleep in; and 41 percent would have no basic sanitation. “The miniature earth study is a powerful tool to help people understand that here in the United States, we’re only a small slice of the planet,” Love said.

According to the U.S. Census, if we reduced Iowa to 100 people, there would be 49 males and 51 females, 94 would be white, 3 Hispanic, 2 black, 1 Asian. 57 percent would be Christian, 42 non-religious , and 1 very confused combination Quaker - Jew - Mormon - Unitarian.

We would all do well in Iowa and America to remember this occasionally.

Wherefore art thou, Rights Boy?

Over the last few months there have been many rumors about Rights Boy. Some think he was picked up by the FBI and shipped off to Guantanamo Bay. Others say he was taken to a secret CIA prison in Eastern Europe and subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques. Yet others ponder if he was on an extended vacation.

The good news is Rights Boy is back! With a vengeance, a new focus, and new website!

I encourage you to get into the habit of visiting the Rights Boy site daily. Perhaps you can visit after your morning meditation or in the evening before vespers. But please visit.

Rights Boy will continue to write about national issues as well as the Iowa scene. He will also introduce guest bloggers on the site. The newsletter will soon be revamped and reintroduced. Please tell all of your friends about the new site. Rights Boy is really the only one looking out for you.

Lookin' Good!

Rights Boy can't wait for the release of Hairspray this summer. He might actually break down and go to the theater and feed the beast.

All I can say is: John Travolta - Lookin' Good!

Oh, Crap!

I just noticed that I received a call from “WEST BANK” this morning and there was no audio message. I really hate that.

I’m afraid now that some bureaucrat in the Department of Homeland Security, as he reviews my call records, will wonder who is calling me from Palestine and what that blank message means. I will probably be wiretapped and added to several watch lists!

I love the PATRIOT Act. I feel so safe and secure.

A Radical Activist. With Signage!

Rights Boy says "YES to 'Vote NO Tax' Yard Signs!" Here's mine. Looks good.

Vote NO on Destiny. Demand more accountability from government.

NO to Destiny

Interesting article in the DM Register this morning about a flyer mailed by a consultant of the Greater Des Moines Partnership stating that “Yes to Destiny” will “cut our taxes and send the message to the politicians you have had enough of spiraling property taxes." It leaves out the fact that "Yes to Destiny" is a proposed 16.7 percent sales-tax increase.

I ordered my “Vote NO” yard sign yesterday. Go to http://www.nolocaloption.com to get one for your yard.

Vote NO on Destiny. Demand more accountability from government.

Resistance is Futile - It is your Destiny

Destiny is defined as a course of events that is unchangeable and will inevitably happen in the future. What hubris to name a proposed tax increase Project Destiny; as if it is the unwavering fate of local taxpayers is to shell out $750 million dollars for this latest government spending slight-of-hand.

Raising taxes should require a compelling need and a clear benefit to the public. Project Destiny fails this and in fact represents government at its worst. First identify how much can be raised and then start the haggling over how to spend it. If we are not careful, it will end up funding more corporate welfare, loans to county supervisors, and bonuses to other CIETCs.

The Greater Des Moines Partnership, a private economic development group, not even a part of the government, is largely behind this push for this new tax. Its "Yes to Destiny" marketing campaign actually makes the Orwellian claim that this is a way to lower the tax burden. What nonsense. The only way to lower the tax burden is to lower government spending.

The public trust in government's stewardship of our money and our assets is at an all time low. Why should taxpayers say yes to an additional $750 million when local government cannot figure out how to shut down the spending at CIETC to this day?

Vote no on Destiny. Demand more accountability from government.