Dead at 91, and we have lost a premier defender of the English language as a vehicle for the exchange of rational thought.
Or, as Wiki says, an old-school journalist with a "fierce belief that degrading the language was damaging the nation."
RIP.
.
Sep 15, 2010
Kansas Concealed Carry, Concealed Meaning
It's probably wrong to come down too hard on the New Kansas. Jayhawks had pretty much solved the Sibelius problem even before shipping her off to be one of His Obamaness's unicorn herders. It has become shall-issue, and the new law seems reasonable enough.*
However, as I was digging through some administrative rules on concealed carry around the nation, I ran across this from the Kansas attorney general:
The Concealed Carry Unit (Unit) of the Attorney General’s Office (AG) is tasked with the administration, interpretation and to a quasi degree, enforcement of the KPFPA. (Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act.)
How does a cop or prosecutor enforce a law to a "quasi" degree? That kind of language from people with the power to toss me in jail makes me think of Kafka's prisoner.
But maybe the law clerk who wrote it was just having a bad day. Or maybe it was a warning to other law enforcement agencies that they would have to do the heavy lifting. Still, quasi makes me queasy.
---
*At least reasonable enough so long as we are stuck with the notion that it is okay to require a permit to exercise Constitutional rights.
The Concealed Carry Unit (Unit) of the Attorney General’s Office (AG) is tasked with the administration, interpretation and to a quasi degree, enforcement of the KPFPA. (Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act.)
How does a cop or prosecutor enforce a law to a "quasi" degree? That kind of language from people with the power to toss me in jail makes me think of Kafka's prisoner.
But maybe the law clerk who wrote it was just having a bad day. Or maybe it was a warning to other law enforcement agencies that they would have to do the heavy lifting. Still, quasi makes me queasy.
---
*At least reasonable enough so long as we are stuck with the notion that it is okay to require a permit to exercise Constitutional rights.
Sep 14, 2010
The Naked and the Dread
At first glance you might think the Transportation Security Administration has decided there's something infinitely creepy about having a guy look through your clothes, at your short hairs, bumps, and dangles. Suspend that visionary idea. It may be that the new full body scanner software is just cheaper.
Ostensibly stung by criticism of naked scans of your daughter as you and the family fly to Grandma's for Thanksgiving, TSA is touting a new experiment in body-scanner software. The gizmo substitutes a clothed generic avatar. It highlights a general body area where there might be contraband. Then comes the frisk.
But a TSA spokesman makes much of the cost savings. The government will not have to go to the expense of having an employee in an isolated room look at your nakedness. That's the TSA sop to citizens bitterly clinging to the notion that it's wrong to have their privates on public display at the check-in line.
But:
The upgrades don’t resolve privacy questions, said Rotenberg, whose Washington-based group objects to the use of the devices as a primary screening tool. The agency may someday decide it wanted to record passenger images or link scan results to traveler names, he said.
Coffee break at 612 South 12th Street in Arlington: "Hey, Art, ya wanna look at some naked people? How 'bout some of them wise-ass blog people always giving us crap? We can use the HD upgrade and make a list of the shorties and flatties and ...".
Ostensibly stung by criticism of naked scans of your daughter as you and the family fly to Grandma's for Thanksgiving, TSA is touting a new experiment in body-scanner software. The gizmo substitutes a clothed generic avatar. It highlights a general body area where there might be contraband. Then comes the frisk.
But a TSA spokesman makes much of the cost savings. The government will not have to go to the expense of having an employee in an isolated room look at your nakedness. That's the TSA sop to citizens bitterly clinging to the notion that it's wrong to have their privates on public display at the check-in line.
But:
The upgrades don’t resolve privacy questions, said Rotenberg, whose Washington-based group objects to the use of the devices as a primary screening tool. The agency may someday decide it wanted to record passenger images or link scan results to traveler names, he said.
Coffee break at 612 South 12th Street in Arlington: "Hey, Art, ya wanna look at some naked people? How 'bout some of them wise-ass blog people always giving us crap? We can use the HD upgrade and make a list of the shorties and flatties and ...".
Sep 13, 2010
Open Carry - Oooops
We're relatively laid back about firearms in western Iowa, but we're not immune to the "OMG, he has a gun" mindset.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office says it received a report shortly after 6:00 p.m. Friday of a man carrying a handgun in his pocket at the Quick Spot in Everly. Several witnesses reported seeing the gun.
There's much unreported about the man and the circumstances, but it's a good reminder that letting your thing stick out is going to result in phone calls and perhaps flashing blue lights and a ride to jail..
Iowa law is somewhat unclear on open carry, but it seems to be perfectly legal outside incorporated towns and almost universally illegal in them. Open carry by CCW holders in towns is especially iffy. We are may-issue until January 1, and at least one sheriff has said that -- under the current law, anyway -- he would jerk the permit of any holder openly carrying inside city limits.
EDIT: Carrying in cars on the road is pretty clear. If you have a CCW, okay. If not the handgun must be unloaded and cased. (Usual disclaimer that I'm no lawyer and the information is for general information only.)
This fellow shows up clean in the courts database except for two traffic violations, one in 2000, again in 2009. Both are for driving with no license. Possibly no license issued, possibly just didn't have it with him.
.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office says it received a report shortly after 6:00 p.m. Friday of a man carrying a handgun in his pocket at the Quick Spot in Everly. Several witnesses reported seeing the gun.
There's much unreported about the man and the circumstances, but it's a good reminder that letting your thing stick out is going to result in phone calls and perhaps flashing blue lights and a ride to jail..
Iowa law is somewhat unclear on open carry, but it seems to be perfectly legal outside incorporated towns and almost universally illegal in them. Open carry by CCW holders in towns is especially iffy. We are may-issue until January 1, and at least one sheriff has said that -- under the current law, anyway -- he would jerk the permit of any holder openly carrying inside city limits.
EDIT: Carrying in cars on the road is pretty clear. If you have a CCW, okay. If not the handgun must be unloaded and cased. (Usual disclaimer that I'm no lawyer and the information is for general information only.)
This fellow shows up clean in the courts database except for two traffic violations, one in 2000, again in 2009. Both are for driving with no license. Possibly no license issued, possibly just didn't have it with him.
.
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