(Semi) Weekly Whiskey Tango Foxtrot - Vol. III

Ok, ok. So I'm too busy apparently to do a WWTF. So it's been a while. So what? You made it ok...sheesh.

OMG. San Francisco (that bastion of progressiveness) has now deemed it unlawful to throw away food scraps. Under penalty of fine, the unfortunate citizens of that fair town will be forced to separate their trash into 3 groups, 1 for recycling, 1 for food, and 1 for plain ol' trash. The idiocy was complete when I read "Food scraps sent to a landfill decompose fast and turn into methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas". I'm sorry, first the problem was throwing things away that never decomposed; now it's a problem that they decompose too rapidly? Look, if you want to compost, by all means. I'm thrifty enough that I was considering it sometime this year. But a law that forces you to do it is just crossing the line. Let me clarify - a federal law forcing you to do it would be crossing the line; San Fran can have fun with that. It's just another reason to keep it at the bottom of my 'most desirable cities to live in' list.

Oh - and if you're sooooo worried about our effect on the levels of greenhouse gases, take the time to look at a perspective that's always overlooked by the zealots. This link lists greenhouse gas numbers along with human contributions, but includes the Earth's most significant greenhouse gas: water-vapor. Omitting that from reports can change the numbers by as much as 2000%. Seems kinda significant, don't you think?

[sigh] A judge in...waitaminit...San Francisco?!? What a coincidence! Anyway, a judge over there has determined that a convicted terrorist can actually sue one of the lawyers that drafted the legal memos/documents that OK'd the use of the so-called EITs (enhanced interrogation techniques). I had a big blog article all planned out on this whole torture thing but never got around to it. I thought it had died out, but I guess now the embers are being stoked again. This isn't about justifying torture or not, it's about the law. Is he an American citizen? Yes. HOWEVER, the second he was declared an enemy combatant by the state, which he was, he loses any privledges that may have afforded him. He was essentially taken from the field of battle. It was never a police matter; it was always a military matter, and therefore not subject to the same kind of scrutiny that civil matters are.

Iran had their presidential election and it was more of the same, apparently. It wasn't really close, but many are complaining of rigging. They must have learned a thing or two from Florida 2000, since they've apparently arrested the loser. Wouldn't want to be taken to court or anything...

Paul Krugman decided to blame conservatives, most specifically Fox News show hosts, for the recent attack at the Holocause Museum in DC. Idiot. The best line? "Now, for the most part, the likes of Fox News and the R.N.C. haven’t directly incited violence..." So I suppose, in the non-most parts, there have actually been show hosts and RNC peeps that have directly incited violence, hmm? Gee, I didn't really see that show...

Finally, Glenn Beck's Common Sense was released this week. Get it. Read it. Think about it.