I tune into Neil Boortz for a few minutes this morning, and listen to him talk about looting. Boortz says he hears rumors of something going on in Florida. These rumors, by Boortz’s own admission, haven’t been confirmed by any news media reports, but they “make sense.” So like any responsible person would, he passes along the story that people have traveled to Naples, Florida, specifically so they can loot after the hurricane.
Quite a problem, or at least quite a rumor of a problem. The solution? Boortz advocates that anytime a region is declared a disaster area, the laws should be loosened allowing people to use deadly force not only when their life is in danger, but also when they feel property is threatened. Trespassing, on its face, is enough to trigger a reasonable suspicion of threat to property. So if you see a trespasser, you can shoot him or her, no questions asked.
Not only that, but Boortz wished aloud that sometime during this hurricane, he would hear of a looter being killed.
So now property is worth more than human life. It’s so refreshing to hear talk radio promoting moral values, isn’t it?

Over the weekend I upgraded to Miovable Type 3.2.
Although my eyes start to glaze over when I see terms like MySQL and php, the worst part of it was actually the simple act of transferring the files to the server where the website is located.
Note to self: figure out how to transfer more than one folder at a time using the file transfer program. Yeah, that didn’t take very long–only an hour or two. What a pain. Hopefully everything works.

Why does Brent Scowcroft hate freedom?

Because every newspaper should have the right to regurgitate White House talking points in its unsigned editorials.

Novak:

George W. Bush’s agents have convinced conservative Republican senators who were heartsick over his nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court that they must support her to save his presidency. But that does not guarantee her confirmation. Ahead are hearings of unspeakable ugliness that can be prevented only if Democratic senators exercise unaccustomed restraint.
. . .
Officials charged with winning Miers’ confirmation told me neither of these issues is troublesome, but in fact they suggest incompetence and neglect by the White House. To permit a conference call with scores of participants hearing close associates of the nominee predict her vote on abortion is incompetent. To nominate somebody implicated in a state lottery dispute in the past without carefully considering the consequences goes beyond incompetence to arrogant neglect.

“Unspeakable ugliness,” coupled with what we heard yesterday about Miers’ “incomplete” questionnaire suggest we have a nominee who, to put it nicely, isn’t ready for prime time. We’re seeing a lot of that these days. So much so that confirmation votes now are apparently being pitched by the White House itself as loyalty votes rather than affirmations of the merits of the candidates.