Congressional Herp Derp

March 27, 2012 7:56 am

On March 26, 2012, the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform held a hearing titled "TSA Oversight Part III: Effective Security or Security Theater?"

Leading security expert, TSA critic, and coiner of the phrase "security theater," Bruce Schneier had been formally invited by the committee to provide testimony.  On Friday, Schneier was informed that his invitation had been revoked by request of the TSA.  Supposedly the TSA objected to his testimony on grounds that he is currently involved in a legal suit against the TSA and this somehow disqualifies his testimony.

Well, surely wanting a fair and reasoned hearing the committee found some other security expert to provide testimony, right?

Wrong.

Here is the entire witness list of the day's hearing:

Assistant Administrator for Security Operations
Transportation Security Administration
Assistant Administrator for Intelligence and Analysis
Transportation Security Administration
Director, Homeland Security Program
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, Security & Stewardship, U.S. Coast Guard
The fist three witnesses having direct interest in not only maintaining the status quo but expanding the program.  And the fourth not having any obvious reason to be involved in a hearing on airline security.
Not one witness allowed to testify in a manner that might expose the ineptness of the program or support the protection of civil rights over theater.

Good Business

March 26, 2012 4:56 pm

I recently started reading a series published by BenBella. I discovered that the third book in the series (Lady of Mercy by Michelle Sagara West) was missing thirty pages! I was confused by the jump in narrative until I noticed the page numbers. So, that was pretty weird. I emailed the publisher, though, explaining the situation and got an email back the next business day apologizing and asking where a new copy could be sent. I got my new book in the mail today, so I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. I wasn't sure I would actually get a response at all from them, but I got a very prompt one and a replacement. Very nice.

The Death of "Due Process of Law"

March 23, 2012 10:56 am

On September 30, 2011, on orders from President Obama, U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki was assassinated in Yemen.  At the time, many people expressed concern over the assassination of a U.S. citizen--the assassination of someone born in New Mexico and educated in Colorado (B.S.), California (M.A.), and Washington D.C (incomplete Ph.D.).  And many people defended the action, justifying it on the basis that he was aiding and abetting terrorists.

al-Awlaki had never been tried or convicted of any crime in any U.S. court.

Up until this point, in the United States we followed the law set forth in the Constitution.  The Fifth Amendment states:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

The key phrase I'd like to emphasize is, "No person shall be...deprived of life...without due process of law."

"Due process of law" is a critical concept in the functioning of any society that claims to hold itself to the rule of law.  According to Wikipedia's article on the "Due Process Clause":

The Supreme Court of the United States interprets the Clauses as providing four protections: procedural due process (in civil and criminal proceedings), substantive due process, a prohibition against vague laws, and as the vehicle for the incorporation of the Bill of Rights.

And quoting from the article on "Substantive Due Process":

[Procedural due process] aims to protect individuals from the coercive power of government by ensuring that adjudication processes under valid laws are fair and impartial (e.g., the right to sufficient notice, the right to an impartial arbiter, the right to give testimony and admit relevant evidence at hearings, etc.).

[Substantive due process] aims to protect individuals against majoritarian policy enactments which exceed the limits of governmental authority—that is, courts find the majority's enactment is not law, and cannot be enforced as such, regardless of how fair the process of enforcement actually is.

On March 5, 2012 Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech at Northwestern University Law School in Chicago.  In this speech he defended the administration's actions and discussed how they unilaterally redefined the meaning of "due process of law":

Some have argued that the President is required to get permission from a federal court before taking action against a United States citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or associated forces. This is simply not accurate. 'Due process' and 'judicial process' are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security. The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process.

I don't know how anyone can reconcile his statements with the above discussion on the definition of "due process of law."

It appears to be the exact same type of word games that the Bush administration played in order to permanently incarcerate people at Guantanamo Bay without trials.  By simply calling them "enemy combatants" instead of "prisoners of war" or "criminals" they made a linguistic end-run around both the U.S. Constitution and the Geneva Conventions.  The same way that torture was illegally used by calling it "enhanced interrogation."

Using these kinds of language tricks one can get away with anything and the rule of law collapses.

I'm concerned for our future when our rights can simply be redefined away.

Have Mercy

March 15, 2012 7:21 pm

Recently, Heather has taken to screaming fits when we try to put her to sleep. 

Often, we can get her to sleep and then after anywhere from 0-30 minutes she'll wake up crying and then screaming and nothing seems to calm her down.  She acts likes she's just in horrible discomfort.  And this will continue for what feels like forever, but is usually more like up to 30 minutes.

Last night this went on and off for about 3.5 hours before she finally stayed asleep for a few hours.

We've tried all our normal soothing techniques as well as feeding her and administering Colic Calm.  There doesn't seem to be any strong correlation between any of these actions and her eventual calming down.

Usually, once it passes, she's in a really good mood like nothing ever happened.  And this change can happen in a matter of minutes.

Anyone have any bright ideas about what she could be so upset about?  Or magic ways to help soothe her?

Yep.

March 8, 2012 4:14 pm

One of my cub scouts tried to convince me last night that the earth is made of water. He was very adamant about it, so I felt I had to be equally adamant about how very wrong he was. I'm not at all sure I convinced him, though.