Negative Railroad A Collection of Breaks in the Line

A New Jersey gunmaker is developing a handgun designed for use by people unable to grip an ordinary pistol.

In a startling act of good sense, Louisiana voters have rejected 9-term incumbent US Representative William Jefferson (D) in a run-off election. Jefferson made national headlines when he was found to be storing $90,000 in cash in his freezer, that being bribe money he accepted in an FBI sting. It seems that the new post-Katrina New Orleans might not be so tolerant of the culture of corruption.

The Berg v. Obama suit is not the only challenge to Barry’s ascendancy:

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider Friday whether to take up a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship, a continuation of a New Jersey case embraced by some opponents of Obama's election.

In Iraq, coalition forces defeated the Iraqi military quickly and decisively. Saddam lost control of his nation. This was the “mission accomplished” that the lefties willfully misunderstood. We won the war, but winning the peace did not come so easily.

Barack Obama defeated John McCain. It was perhaps not quick, but in combination with gains in the Senate, it was a decisive victory for Democrats. Now the Dems have to manage the aftermath of their win.

And McCain left a bomb for them. Sarah Palin.

With East African piracy at the top of recent headlines, the BBC looks into how the bad guys collect their booty. Aside from the spy-movie intrigue, two thoughts come to mind.

1) Piracy is a textbook example of order without law. In the absence of government, people need not devolve into chaos:

"No matter what process is taken, they always go through a middleman," advises BBC Somali service analyst Said Musa. "And trust is at the heart of everything."

In 2005, the US Supreme Court ruled that police have no Constitutional duty to protect us. The facts of the case involved, “the failure of the police to respond to a woman's pleas for help after her estranged husband violated a protective order by kidnapping their three young daughters, whom he eventually killed.”

Charles Krauthammer rediscovers the foundation of economics:

In the old days -- from the Venetian Republic to, oh, the Bear Stearns rescue -- if you wanted to get rich, you did it the Warren Buffett way: You learned to read balance sheets. Today you learn to read political tea leaves. You don't anticipate Intel's third-quarter earnings; instead, you guess what side of the bed Henry Paulson will wake up on tomorrow.

Thursday, November 27, 2008
21:58 Mecca time, 18:58 GMT

Iraq parliament approves US pact

From a press release by the Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC):

NCRC volunteers have identified over 500 North Minneapolis residents who received adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) in 2007 or are currently delinquent on their mortgage payments. On Monday December 1st- Thursday December 4th from 5pm-7pm we will be going out in groups of 2 to visit these residents to make sure they know they may be able to get a loan modification by working with a foreclosure prevention counselor at one of several local agencies. The counseling is free of charge.

…they re-arranged the American landscape, creating suburbs, transforming manufacturing districts, robbing small towns of their vitality and linking formerly distinct cities in a series of metropolitan corridors…

With the price of gasoline down to pre-Katrina levels, I’m not hearing so much about the evils of “big oil”. When the price goes up again, folks will resume their mutterings of envy and victimhood. Complaining about the price of gas is standard American small-talk, much like complaining about the weather.

I don’t get it.

Those of us in the dwindling minority who believe the US Constitution is law which must be obeyed are waiting (in vain?) for Obama to prove his birth qualifications to hold the office of President. Hawai’ian officials, “have personally verified that the health department holds Obama's original birth certificate.” But those officials are mum on what the document says. His genuine long-form birth certificate exists. So, why doesn’t Barry let anyone see it?

Meanwhile, that danged Constitution presents an obstacle to Barry’s pick for Secretary of State:

Futurists used to be more optimistic:

It's my business to help Canadians understand and adapt to a future that is different from the past. I am a 21st-century city planner.

Along with fellow futurists, I advocate less vehicle travel, more cycling and transit use, smaller cars and sensible energy consumption. The terms "eco-density," "high-occupancy vehicles" and "environmental footprint" are common currency.

It has become common wisdom that greed on Wall Street is a primary culprit, if not the sole culprit, for current financial instability. Those investment bankers have figured out how to get politicians to make main street pay for their overindulgence. And it isn’t fair that we all suffer for their greed.

The population of New Orleans is half its 1960 peak. Post-Katrina resettlement has slowed to “a trickle”. Some neighborhoods have regained full vitality, while others wither and some are, for all intents, dead. With a stable population, now the people and their government must decide how to address depleted and abandoned areas.

Although our governments have chosen to not name any official day marking the end of this war, we the people have taken it upon ourselves to commemorate November 22, 2008 as the day of victory over the forces of tyranny, oppression and terror in Iraq.

As Congress considers throwing your money at General Motors, a fact oft mentioned in bailout or bankruptcy discussions is that labor costs GM something more than $70 per hour. The relevant idea beneath the talk is that labor is too expensive compared to GM’s competitors. A less-relevant idea beneath repeating the talking point is that autoworkers make too much compared to labor in other industries.

Barack Obama likes mediocre pizza. A reviewer for Slice (a pizza blog) had this experience:

Americans have long had the right to put their candidates and their ideas to a vote. Now there seems to be a sense that your rights have been trampled on if you don't win.

That’s Thomas Sowell, in a reaction to the backlash after California rejected gay marriage.

Minnesota Public Radio has posted images of challenged ballots in the State’s Senate election. Listed with each picture is an explanation of who challenged, and why. Each also has a poll question where you can weigh on on how you would judge the voter’s intent.