It seems that death sentences are getting so frequent in China that the need for a mobile death chamber became apparent. Thus the Chinese Death Van can now bring a state execution to your doorstop. Seems like the only thing missing is a satellite uplink capability to share the death with the world.

Isn’t it great that our cell phones, iPods, networking gear, and seemingly 90% of the crap we buy help pay for Death Vans? Man, China rules. Then again, maybe I’m just bummed that we didn’t think of it first.

Remember how Bill Clinton conveniently bombed Kosovo on the eve of his impeachment proceedings? Pure coincidence, right? For some reason the bombing of Abu Zarqawi brings that previous incident to mind. Right as the massacre at Haditha is blowing up in the face of the U.S. military, we bag a big terrorist.

I think we can all agree that Zarqawi was a murderous scumbag who deserved to catch a 500 pound bomb. That’s not the issue, here. The issue is timing – Zarqawi gets picked off right when we desperately needed good news about Iraq. Pure coindicence, right?

Maybe not. Some military officals are now claiming we could have gotten Zarqawi long ago:

“Here we had targets, we had opportunities, we had a country willing to support casualties, or risk casualties after 9/11 and we still didn’t do it,� said Michael O’Hanlon, military analyst with the Brookings Institution.

[ … ]

Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.

So, if we’ve had this thug in our sights for four years now – four years in which he carried out more terrorist attacks – why did we wait until now to nail him? Could it be we let him continue his killing spree to prop up our justification for war?

Nah. It must be coincidence.

As I mentioned several times here on MT.Net, I have admired the work the NSA has done in keeping our nation’s secrets while searching for those of other nations.

The key phrase in that last sentence is, of course, other nations. The NSA of which I was a part didn’t spy on Americans. In the acronym-happy military vernacular, that would be a CEM: a Career-Ending Move. We were proud to respect our nation’s cherished Fourth Amendment while providing early warning of threats to our country.

I used to respect Gen. Michael Hayden, DIRNSA, too. He had a tough job retooling the NSA to match the dramatically changing communications landscape caused by the explosive rise of the Internet. Overall he was successful, too. But I no longer respect Gen. Hayden, as he was far too willing to take the Fourth Amendment and USSID 18 – the laws which govern unreasonable search and seizures – and feed them to the shredders. Hayden has dodged questions on domestic spying before (full transcript here), which doesn’t instill confidence that he’ll keep the NSA focused on the real, external threats.

Imagine my dismay to read USA Today’s story that major phone companies willingly forked over calling records to NSA without a warrant. This is clearly a violation of the Fourth Amendment, USSID 18, and the spirit of NSA’s charter.

I expected this kind of behavior from the communist countries I used to oppose when I wore a uniform. I didn’t expect it from my own country

You remember the one, right? The “land of the free?”

I voted this morning in the primary, though as a voter listed as “unaffiliated,” I was handed just the nonpartisan ballot. I thought about returning to get a party ballot, but decided to go with what I had. The main reason was that the election officials were in a lengthy conversation with a tall, African-American gentleman at the time.

“I’m just checking the ‘no electioneering’ signs,” he said. I took that to mean he was an election official. This polling place has two entrances, only one of which had a “no campaigning” sign near the door. He was trying to determine which door most voters came through. It became obvious to me by his lack of familiarity that he “ain’t from around here.”

By now the talk had moved outside to the only “no campaigning” sign. I tried to slip by the group but one election official wheeled around right as I was walking behind her, smacking right into me.

I was a sitting duck. Here I was: a well-dressed, affluent, young white guy. Like dangling a steak before a hungry lion.

Out went his hand. “Vernon Robinson. I want to be your Congressman.”

“Hi Vernon. Nice to meet you,” I answered absent-mindedly, still heading to my car.

A beat or two later I remembered who he is: the self-described “black Jesse Helms,” a contradiction if I’ve ever heard one. His anti-gay, anti-immigrant campaign themes appeal to hotheads, a seemingly desperate attempt to get votes. Hell, anyone who would call themselves the “black Jesse Helms” would do anything to get elected. Now that thing I noticed earlier with his voice – that slightly slimy, used-car-salesman tone of some politicans – began to make sense.

As I drove off I actually kind of felt sorry that he’d made the long trip out from Winston-Salem (he doesn’t even live in the 13th congressional district in which he’s running – he has a habit of doing that) and all he had to talk to were the election officials.

Well, them, and this one well-dressed, affluent, young white guy who happens to blog.

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Man, I miss the Constitution. It used to totally rule. Literally.

I can’t wait to vote these crooks out of office.

Influential lefty political blogger Markos “Kos” Moulitsas Zúniga of DailyKOS fame has added a stop in Raleigh to his national book tour. Kos will visit Quail Ridge Books on Friday, May 12th at 7:30 PM to tout his new book, Crashing The Gate, which is a sober look at today’s Democratic Party and how it could be improved.

I’m out of town that weekend, but I’d be front-and-center if I was here. For a political junkie like me, it should be a very interesting talk.

For once I have to side with George Bush, hard as it sometimes is. The deal allowing Dubai to run U.S. ports isn’t a threat to security. The controversy is nothing more than a few idiot Congressmembers grandstanding to the media in an effort to show they’re tough on security.

I visited Dubai during one of my naval deployments. It is the Las Vegas of the Middle East: a Westerner could feel right at home there. Dubai knows its future depends on doing business with the West.

Today’s weather promised to be mild, so after breakfast we packed up into the car and explored a new park in our neighborhood: Horseshoe Farm Park. Horseshoe Farm Park gets its name from the bend in the Neuse River which surrounds the park on three sides. We’d heard about it in the news lately but decided to see for ourselves what it was all about.

The park has been in the news because of controversy in determining what to do with it. The city is currently working through a master plan for the park, which is where the controversy lies.

Members of the Horseshoe Farm Park Master Plan Committee were tasked with coming up with the best use of the property. They were obstensibly supposed to do this with the public’s best interest at heart. Instead, they got a push in a developer-friendly direction when they were nudged to make it an “active” park: with ballfields, tennis and basketball courts, a dog park and a gynmasium. This put local activists in a snit, who then proceeded to push their vision of the park as a nature preserve . Throughout the planning process, public comment on the park has always strongly favored this natural approach.

Some have questioned why Raleigh first pitched this park as a nature preserve, then changed course and pitched an active park to the planning committee, only acquiescing when the public let its nature park preference be known. I think the answer came this week when Raleigh revealed the gift from Dr. Annie Louis Wilkerson, a wealthy obstetrician who left her 155 acres to the city with the stipulation that it remain a nature park. Most importantly to the Horseshoe Farm park saga, Dr. Wilkerson’s deal hinged on the City of Raleigh keeping it a strict secret. Members of the Parks and Rec advisory board weren’t even aware of the gift.

The city (or at least some in the city) has known about Dr. Wilkerson’s gift for almost a decade. The question they have to grapple with is this: does Raleigh need a 155-acre nature preserve less than five miles from a 140-acre nature preserve?

Not having been to Wilkerson park (because it’s not yet open), I can’t say what it has to offer. On the other hand, Horseshoe Farm with its rolling pasture area, open hay barn, wooded trails near the riverbank, and abundant wildlife, seems perfect just the way it is. Try as I might, I just could not picture gyms, tennis courts, or any other urban-oriented buildings going there. I love playing sports, but there are plenty of places for that stuff. Horseshoe Farm Park isn’t it.

The park’s planning committee meets again at 7 PM Wednesday night, March 1st at Durant Nature Park to continue hammering out the park’s future. Among the audience will be Kelly or me – two happy converts to the “nature park” cause.

Links:
City of Raleigh: Horseshoe Farm Park Planning Committee
Friends of Horseshoe Farm Park
Indy: Battle over Horseshoe Farm Park heats up
Indy Blog: A Big win at Horseshoe Farm Park
N&O: Tennis, gym, dog park nixed
N&O: Two park planning committee members resign, spur email war
Durant Nature Park: site of March 1st committee meeting

Let me add my voice to the growing crowd saying Jim Black must go. More and more it looks like he’s had some, uh, serious “ethical lapses” if not downright broken the law.

Black should step aside and the rest of our representatives should own up to any of their own shady dealings. We need – no demand – clean politics. The days of the good ‘ol boy network are over.