When are government contracts going to stop being issued on a time and material basis? This is getting ridiculous.
Anybody that has spent some time with me (and I think all 3.14 readers have) knows that I don't like laws that protect me from me. I'm fully capable of making my own decisions, thankyouverymuch, and if not, I'll fully capable of facing the consequences for my actions. I'm not going to pawn my irresponsibility off on someone else (you didn't tell me I was going to get hurt, so it's your fault and you should pay the hospital bills).
There are a number of laws/regulations that fall under this. Trans fats. Helmets. Seat belts. Many others that are an even hotter debate (think moral issues). In most cases, I agree with the intents of the law. I'll wear a helmet when I ride a bike or motorcycle even though in Illinois I'm not required to. I'll probably avoid trans fats and eat fresher, less prepared foods, but if I want a trans fat, it's my right as an American to eat it. I've always worn my seatbelt in cars, although I'm often lazy if I'm sitting in the back seat.
That being said, I understand, and appreciate, enforcing laws that are on the books. Over the past few months I have seen several instances of "Seat Belt Checkpoints" setup by local police departments. In two cases (Arlington Heights and Melrose Park) traffic on a major thoroughfare was closed down to one lane in each direction. The one in Melrose Park was also a "sober driver check" so I understand bringing it down to one lane, and it didn't really effect traffic anyway. The one in AH, on the other hand, was done during rush-hour on Northwest Highway (U.S. Route 14) and had traffic backed up for quite a bit in each direction. To add to the idiocy of this method, there was a sign way back, without an officer near it, announcing that it was a "seat belt safety check." Now how stupid do you have to be to not put your seatbelt on at that point? You deserve a ticket.
Contrast this to Mount Prospect. About once a week they setup at the corner of Northwest Highway and Main St./Elmhurst/IL 83. This is a fairly long light if you are on 83 going North or South, especially when a train comes (a regular occurrence during the morning rush). When the light is red, 2-3 officers walk down the street, away from the intersection, looking in people's cars. If you don't have a seatbelt on, the officer takes your license, and tells you that if the light turns green, to pull into the parking lot off to the side. Usually they are done writing the ticket before the light turns green. This doesn't adversely effect traffic and seems to be the much more intelligent way to enforce this law.
Bottom line, if you're gonna have stupid laws and enforce them, please don't be stupid with the enforcement. This means you Arlington Heights.
Yesterday was election day in the state of Illinois. What were we electing? I really don't know, and that's why I didn't vote. I like to be an informed voter and know the topics and candidates before I go. When I tried to do research, I found that unless I lived within the boundaries of the city of Chicago, there was no consolidated list of offices, etc. up for election in my community. Sure, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times have online centers, but I have to wade through every community and category to figure out the candidates.
Take the election "center" from the Tribune. There's a nice drop down that has Mount Prospect in 4 different places, with the library separated from the park district. Then I have to remember that we might have school board elections, and oh yeah, which districts (elementary and high school) do I live in? Hmmm... None of these names match the signs I see on people's lawns. What am I missing?
For major elections (US senate/house, state senate/house, presidential, etc.), both the Trib and Sun-Times have a form where I can submit my address, and it will show me my ballot. It's 2007. Why don't/can't they do this for local elections, too? I know there is more data, but at least they don't have to generate a database of addresses--it's already around from the last election.
Did I miss something? The Daily Herald (Big Picture. Local Focus.) didn't even make it easy...
UPDATE: It never fails, as soon as I post something like this, I find the information I am looking for. The Cook Count Clerk has a site that will show you your ballot. I wonder if there is something similar for surrounding counties?
Although I live in a country that requires the ability to vote electronically, I am happy to state that in Cook County, IL, I still get a choice. I was pleased that when I went to vote this morning I was presented with the option to vote paper. It's not as easy as punching a punch card anymore--it's done with a huge scantron sheet--but at least there is a verifiable paper trail.
I think what made me happier was the number of people, when presented with the option, either firmly chose paper, or asked "is there some sort of paper verification of my vote with the touchscreen?" Now, that being said, there were a lot of lines to draw on the paper scantron sheet. At one point my laziness kicked in and I was wishing for the touchscreen, but I feel more strongly about the need for a paper trail.
Apparently 90 other people in my precinct before me did, too, as the ballot verification machine had a counter on it.
A subject that I have been following a lot lately is private entities attempting to restrict taking photographs of their property from public places. Recently the Union Pacific railroad has banned photography of its trains from station platforms [Chicagoist]. Now I have an issue with this. I believe that the platforms are owned by the municipalities, and therefore public property. Frank and I have been having a conversation about this very issue and he has some interesting commentary as well.
I know that I've linked many of these before, but here are some links to information on the issue, and some "well known" occurances of the issue:
There are many others out there that I will add in when I come across them. This issue isn't going away any time soon, and as long as we keep letting the terrorists win (see Google define: terror) we will keep allowing ourselves to lose freedoms and be subject to assinine laws in the name of "security".
I generally try to stay out of political arguments, but this is just too good to pass up. John Kerry has claimed that many foreign leaders support him, but will not specify who. I found a website that goes through and specifies his support. Each of the foreign leaders was also given a chance to give their thoughts about John Kerry.
Visit it at http://www.foreignleaders4kerry.com.
User Friendly did a cartoon on the outlawing of Master/Slave in LA County. I showed this to one of my cow-orkers that suggested that Illiad should have also changed single to "Relationship Challenged."
I took some time to do a little searching... According to Meriam-Webster's onlilne dictionary, there is no specific mention of black or African-American people in pre Civl Wwar America when looking up master or slave.
As a car entusiast (as well as a computer nut), I feel discriminated against. I am going to sue LA for not forcing a change across the board. For example, in hydraulic brakes on a car there is a master cylinder and a slave cylinder. I can think of many other examples that follow this same principle. Why discriminate against computers?
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