Open Threads

The party that brought you the outrage over the inability of their members to vote properly in the 2000 election are now doing their best to scuttle election reform and then to blame it on the Republicans.

It seems our friends the Democrats are objecting to a provision (one they previously agreed to in December) offered by Sen. Kit Bond that would “require first- time voters who register by mail to present proof of identity, like a driver’s license, utility bill or pay stub, before being allowed to vote.”

This is just an awful idea to the lead race-baiters in the party of the Jackass, who never miss a chance to demagogue the poor, the downtrodden, and the non-white. “Senator Schumer said that the requirement for a photo identification would mean that millions of New Yorkers, particularly Hispanics, blacks, immigrants and older people, would not be allowed to vote.”

This is what passes as discrimination to modern Democrats. Not permitting the type of voter fraud that ran rampant in past years is now discrimination.

The party that brought youPost + Comments

In a moment of thoughtful and careful analysis that is typical of yours truly, I commented:

In a further attempt to prove that they are a bunch of lawless twits who run the Olympics like a bunch of backdealing used car salesmen, the IOC has stripped several cross country skiiers of their gold medals for allegedly using a drug that IS NOT ON THE BANNED LIST OF SUBSTANCES. Yes, it may have similar properties, but it is not banned.

Blogger Lawrence (Matt) Haws responds, shedding some light on the issue:

The three skiers recently stripped of their medals tested positive for NESP, which, though not specifically named on the list of banned substances, is covered by the phrase “and related substances.”

NESP is a variation of the banned substance EPO, which is used for kidney patients and boosts red blood cell counts (thereby transporting more oxygen throughout the blood stream and increasing one’s endurance). Before the games, NESP was thought to be undetectable by doping tests. But tests are getting better and testers are getting more tricky. These cheaters were caught by surprise tests conducted during non-competition days when its fleeting presence can still be detected. They were allowed to keep medals they won earlier in the SLC games because the IOC can’t prove they took NESP before the day they were tested, though they probably did. Tests conducted after competition won’t disclose NESP’s presence, but its chemical effects still unfairly advantage cheaters over clean athletes.

There’s a legal maxim that says you shouldn’t be allowed to do something indirectly if you can’t do it directly; hence the “and related substance” phraseology. Assuming the skiers aren’t kidney patients, they had no business taking the drug and deserve to lose their medals. But that doesn’t negate the truthfullness of your description of the IOC as a bunch of lawless twits (they are).

This led me to a question. One of the things I always thought applied to the United States was that everything was legal unless explicitly legislated otherwise. IE, that would be why the Bill of Rights reads the way it does- Congress shall make no law…

Am I way off base here?

Mr. Haws responds:

As far as “Congress shall make no law…,” you’re referring to the establishment clause of the 1st Am. As you know, in the U.S. (and practically every other country in the world) legal ‘right and wrong’ is defined by both statutes and case law. To be guilty of violating a criminal law, you must have violated a statute passed by a legislative authority. The legal maxim I mentioned applies more to contracts and tort law, which are also decided by a trier of fact (judge or jury), but based on earlier decisions regarding similar issues and circumstances. You might wonder why NESP isn’t simply placed on the list if the IOC wants the substance to be banned. Well, variations of drugs are developed almost daily. A slight change in chemical composition may constitute a “new drug” yet still produce a similar effect as others. It would be a difficult task to add every new variation of a drug to the list. Therefore, they use the phrase “and related substances.”

Makes sense to me. Interesting how the United States legal system is very much related to the way we communicate (Explicit/implicit, low-context/high context). Sapir-Whorf, anyone?

In a moment of thoughtfulPost + Comments

MommaBare sent me an email (sorry I missed it at first, but you somehow got caught by my newly installed junk mail filter) stating that copies of the Daniel Pearl execution video might be up for bids to the highest bidder.

As disgusting as that may seem, the truth is probably worse. I doubt anyone will have to pay for it. Those scummy Islamo-fascist jew-haters will probably give out copies for free to the mosques and madrassas where they train the parasites. Islam, the Peaceful Religion.

MommaBare sent me an emailPost + Comments

Fritz Hollings appears to have lost his mind. I saw him ranting and raving at some press conference yesterday (the topic of which escapes me- I was in a robitussin and fever induced haze), but unless I was hallucinating from the meds, he was accusing Bush of causing the September 11th attacks through off-shore bank deregulation or something or other. Larry Lindsey was targeted for some of Senator Hollings bile as well. If anyone has a copy of that conference, or knows what the HELL was going on, please email me. Mr. Hollings seems to fancy himself as the Senate’s Oliver Stone.

*** Update ***

William Quick has some comments on this.

Fritz Hollings appears to havePost + Comments

Seems like I have missed a lot in the last few days when I was brought to my knees by some awful flu. A quick recap, and then on to some original posts:

A.) Lileks is a genius, but you already knew that if you have come here before. I love Mr. Lileks, and this takedown of some jackass Eurotrash writer is one of the most linked things in the history of the web. It is a must-read.

B.) Ken Layne is a genius, and should be the new editor of Slate. This point-by-point factual evisceration of the scummy recording industry is simply more proof of the obvious need for him to be a top editor of something.

BTW- Thanks for all the get well e-mails.

Seems like I have missedPost + Comments

I am still ill. I really got hammered this time. I should be up and bout tomorrow. I hope.

I am still ill.Post + Comments

From the Insolvent Republic of Blogistan comes this link to a truly bizarre anti-Apolo Ohno flash video

All your base are belong to us, anyone?

From the Insolvent Republic ofPost + Comments