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.