The ERA Is Back

With very little fanfare the ERA has has, once again been brought back up for consideration, albeit renamed the "Womens Equality Amendment", and I find that I am in favour of it, oddly enough. Certainly not because of the added power it places in the hands of the Congress, or the funds which will undoubtedly be misappropriated for its enforcement. No. I find myself in favour of it because it may just solve the same sex marriage issue once and for all.

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

Of course the usual suspects are no doubt already gearing up to fight it, again and I'm sure that any number of talk radio pundits will weigh in on the matter, probably against it.

While I have little faith that the government can or will uphold any amendment (unless it suits some statist goal of theirs) I think this may well be a step in the right direction to solving an issue that is becoming increasingly ugly. Here in Indiana we are currently facing an anti-gay amendment that has been solidly embraced and promoted by the Christian Right as a moral necessity. Despite opposition from major corporations, universities, numerous civil libertarians, just plain folks and rational politicians, (including one of my favourite Libertarians) the amendment is slowly going forward and is likely to become a matter for the mobs to vote on.

An ERA amendment could settle this matter once and for all if passed and we could move on to worrying about bigger things than how our neighbours choose to live. I can't wait to see how this plays out again!

Technorati Tags:
Equal Rights Amendment, Libertarian, Gay Rights

The Worsening Corn Scam

I doubt there are a lot of readers out there who aren't familiar with the Big Government corn scam. The subsidies for corn and corn derived products like HFCS and corn based ethanol aren't news to us, but have you seen the worsening situation that is arising with the incestuous corn industry? The layers of subsidisation are growing deeper and deeper and the corn mega corps are growing wealthier than ever from sucking at the government teat. Meanwhile people in Mexico are literally having the bread taken from their mouths to fill the tax funded corporate ethanol tanks in the US.

We all know about the regular corn subsidies; frequently renewed by politicians looking for the ADM vote. That same subsidised corn is subsidised yet again when the ethanol industry gets hold of it and turns it into liquor...er...fuel, that is. Then it gets heavily taxed at the pump and...well, you get the picture. We get taxed again and again. Government and big business benefit greatly and we see no real benefit. In fact, ethanol is costing us a great deal of money and is going to hit us in the pocket sooner, rather than later.

Corn which would normally find its way into the food supply chain, (as a food or as animal feed) is going to instead be diverted to the ethanol industry. This will lead to shortages in livestock feed and drive up the prices of meat. There may even be shortages of human consumable corn and grain, as farmers shift over to corn which is more suitable for ethanol production and away from table corn.

Look for the impact to spread, too, as more farmers gravitate away from traditional crops such as wheat, cotton and soybeans to get their piece of the ethanol pie. And, lest anyone thought that we would be the only people impacted by this ethanol monster we have only to look south, again. Mexico's presidente' has been forced to impose price caps on tortilla prices. The ethanol industry has managed to create inflation and government interference in the market in one fell swoop.

Ethanol is not even close to being a cure all for our petroleum woes, in fact it may be much worse for us and the economy, in the long run. It's expensive to make, to use and costs more energy to produce than it "saves" and it doesn't even perform as well as fossil fuels (so you have to buy more). Shoot, there isn't even enough land under the plow to meet the government mandated goals. The current ethanol freight train is running roughshod over other, possibly superior technologies, using tax dollars as its fuel and, if those subsidies were removed the ethanol beast would undoubtedly come to a screeching, screaming halt. It cannot survive in a free market.

Perhaps someone should have explained to Mr. Bush and his government that placing all of your eggs in a single basket is a bad idea. A potentially costly one for everyone involved. That would be us, in case you were wondering. The ethanol beast is loose and we're all going to get gored by it.

Technorati Tags:
Politics, Libertarian, Ethanol

Something Good From Bulgaria

Very few good things can come from Europe these days, given their total lack of innovation and their nanny state mentality. My other half and I were looking at the finalists of the Eurovision music "competition" over on YouTube and we were appalled at the complete lack of talent on display. The majority of these "winners" make the American Idol people look like established superstars. Europe should also be reminded that disco died a long time ago and the rest of the world moved on to better things.

Fortunately, not all was lost as we did discover one act from the frontiers of the new Europe that impressed us. The Bulgarian duo of Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov performed a powerhouse song called "Voda" (Water). "Water" is a percussion driven Techno-ish song that is carried by Todorova's unique, strong and well trained vocal talent. Out of everyone we listened to these are the people who deserve to win the contest. If you're a fan of drums (Kirsten?) then you're gonna love this tune, Todorova is one of the finest percussionists I have seen in a long time. The song is available for listening as an MP3 via the website and the video is worth a look or two. Give it a listen! Give it a look! It's one of the few good thing coming out of Europe these days!

Hopefully they'll manage a US tour one of these days. I'd pay to see them!

(On a side note there was the Turkish winner who had a hip hop offering called "Cakkidi" that was really interesting. Especially so since I don't really care for hip hop! Middle Eastern Hip Hop...who'da thunk it? It's kind of catchy.)
Technorati Tags:
Eurovision, Bulgaria, Elitsa Todorova, Cakkidi

Idaho Opts Out Of REAL ID

Idaho's legislature has passed House Joint Memorial 3 and rejected participation in the REAL ID Act, according to the ACLU and the Idaho legislatures bill status site. The battle wasn't a very hard fought one, either. Kudos to the politicians in Idaho who have decided that a national ID card is a bad idea on many different fronts.

On a vote of 19 to 14, the State Senate today approved House Joint Memorial 3. The State House of Representatives had approved the bill unanimously on February 20. While the bill does not require the signature of Idaho Governor Butch Otter, he has also been a vocal critic of the Real ID Act.

The bill states in part that Idaho, "shall enact no legislation nor authorize an appropriation to implement the provisions of the Real ID Act in Idaho, unless such appropriation is used exclusively for the purpose of undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the costs of implementing the Real ID Act or to mount a constitutional challenge to the act by the state Attorney General."

In other REAL ID related news the Arizona Republic is reporting that Arizona's State Senate is set to approve Senate Bill 1152 which says, in plain and easily understandable English that Arizona will not be participating in the REAL ID Act.

“Section 1. Title 28, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 28-336, to read:

28-33628-336. REAL ID act; implementation prohibited

This state shall not participate in the implementation of the REAL ID act of 2005. The department shall not implement the REAL ID act of 2005 and shall report to the governor and the legislature any attempt by agencies or agents of the United States DEPARTMENT of homeland security to secure the implementation of the REAL ID act of 2005 through the operations of that department.”

Sadly, no penalties are mentioned for government entities who attempt to "secure implementation of the REAL ID Act" other than reporting them to the legislature or the government. I think a lengthy prison sentence would be appropriate, perhaps busting rocks out in the desert would be a fitting penalty.

Other states are also poised to join Maine, Arizona and Idaho in striking out against the REAL ID Act.

...Georgia, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. Bills rejecting Real ID have also been introduced in Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and West Virginia, with more expected in the coming weeks.

Sadly, the state of Indiana, of which I am a resident, lacks the fortitude to tell the Federal government that they will not bow down. The Indiana legislature has had to concern themselves with pay raises, anti-gay marriage amendments, lottery privatisation and HPV vaccinations for school aged girls. Keeping the people of Indiana free of a national ID card and increasing their privacy is the farthest thing from their minds. At least there will be some states which refuse and manage to carry the ball. Indiana will (hopefully) ride their coat tails to a REAL ID free country.

Technorati Tags:
REAL ID, Libertarian, Idaho, Indiana, Politics