Ryminate

Nations who have not yet adopted the Metric system

Australian Subsidization of Startups

Today I received an email from a good friend in Australia.  He just quit his job to start his own company.   I was shocked at the support he is receiving from the Australian government to take the entrepreneurial "leap."  Through a program called the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS), my friend attended a free 6 week small business management course, will receive a government grant of $200 per week for up to 12 months while he gets his business of the ground, and will be assigned a business mentor.  What a deal!

NEIS claims that while around 75 per cent of all small businesses fail in their first year, "only 25 per cent of NEIS projects meet a similar fate, thanks to their intensive grounding in business management issues."

Just imagine if their were similar programs put into place here in the U.S..  Talk about stimulating an economy!  Perhaps there are such programs out there, but I've never come across one.

Proportional government

"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there is without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions form their fetters."        -Edmund Burke

            

Capital Punishment

To be completely honest, I have never made a close examination of the issue of capital punishment that resulted in a determination as to where I stand personally; however, I followed the Tookie Williams case over the past few weeks, which has really had the cogs in my brain turning.  I don't know what it was about the Williams case that was any different from other death penalty cases in the news, but this time the I was struck.

The death penalty row process is deeply troubling to me.  From a practical standpoint it doesn't make sense; it is ineffecient, extremely expensive, and ineffective at discouraging crime.  Also, because it is managed by humans, it is subject to human error.  Thankfully, advances in forensic science can now limit mistakes even moreso than in years past, but mistakes are still possible.  For those that believe that mistakes do inevitably occur, capital punishment must be considered in terms of whether we as humans are comfortable taking the life of another human using a system that does not perfectly eliminate false positive verdicts.  Such a thought is a bit unnerving to me.

While I won't delve too deeply into the moral considerations, it seems that those considerations as opposed to practical considerations are what keep the death penalty going in many states.  Some take a stand on capital punishment because their moral compass (oftentimes their faith) is either for or against the practice.  Others have come to their own conclusions.  The following is the the LDS Church's position on capital punishment:

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regards the question of whether and in what circumstances the state should impose capital punishment as a matter to be decided solely by the prescribed processes of civil law. We neither promote nor oppose capital punishment."

That isn't too helpful to me, but I appreciate the opportunity to think.  While I reserve the right to continue to weigh this subject in my mind, at this time I'd say I'mm against capital punishment (I'll try that belief on for a while until it feels like it doesn't fit).  I don't see who it benefits.  Perhaps it provides closure to the victim's families.  I can't say that I can even begin to understand what they have been through, or how they feel, but I don't see how seeing the perpetrator put to death would alleviate the pain.

Why not just keep the death row inmates in prison for the rest of their lives?  It is less expensive than going through with the actual penalty, plus you don't risk the possibility of acting immorally by taking another's life.  That is unless one believes there is morally an affirmative duty to take the life of someone who our justice system deems as deserving. 

Instead of going any further into morality, natural law, etc. I'll end it at that, for now.

Lawmaker Quits After He Pleads Guilty to Bribes

Lawmaker Quits After He Pleads Guilty to Bribes

"Representative Randy Cunningham, a Republican from San Diego, resigned from Congress on Monday, hours after pleading guilty to taking at least $2.4 million in bribes to help friends and campaign contributors win military contracts."  - NY Times

This is really a tragic story, one that we seem to see too often these days.  Here is a man who was a highly decorated Navy fighter pilot in Vietnam, and at least at one time a dedicated public servant, and now he has fallen.

Despite the tragedy of Cunningham, I genuinely respect his courage in stepping up and facing his wrongdoing head on.  He stated today, "The truth is, I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office," "I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions and, most importantly, the trust of my friends and family."  Here, there is no rationalization, no attorney speaking on his behalf, no half-hearted claim of innocence--just honesty, shame, and regret. 

So often today "indiscretions" are denied, a protracted legal battle begins, and eventually there is a qualified admission of guilt.  I could provide a long list of who have taken this latter route, but I'll leave such identifications up to you.

Finally, I hope there is some accountability for those  DoD contractors who paid the bribes.  I certainly didn't see their names published on the front page of the Times.  Let's hope that justice falls evenly to them as well.

Law School Political Diversity?

David Horowitz has published a study (Representation of Political Perspectives in Law and Journalism Faculties) (with Joseph Light at the Center for the Student {Ed.: Sic} of Popular Culture) showing that Democrats outnumber Republicans 8:1 on the faculties of 10 elite law schools (and 9 journalism schools).  The study examined the political party registrations of law faculty at these 10 law schools:

Political Party Registrations of Law School Faculty
School	Democrats	Republicans	D/R Ratio
Columbia	46	2	23:1
Harvard	45	7	7:1
NYU	68	5	14:1
Northwestern	29	7	4:1
Stanford	28	1	28:1
Cal-Berkeley	55	6	9:1
Chicago	56	8	7:1
Penn	27	8	3:1
USC	30	4	8:1
Yale	46	5	9:1
Total	430	53	8:1

I couldn't tell you exactly what the ratio is at DU; however,  I would guess we are comparable to Columbia (I wish I could say that more often!). 

Politics Test

Today I took a politics test to see whether it would peg me as a Republican or Democrat.  There is a pretty interesting one available at OKCupid.  It pegged me as a moderate Democrat.  Following the OKCupid test I took another test developed by the Pew Research Center, and the results were quite different--much more conservative. 

Also, I noticed that the OKCupid test labels test takers Democrats over Republicans by a ratio of 2:1.  Either people who take this particular online political test are disproportionately Democrat, or the test is skewed that way.

Let me know if you think either test accurately represents your political mindset.

The OKCupid results are below.

Profile Social Liberal (63% permissive) and an... Economic Moderate (43% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist

Joke Of The Day

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the President his daily briefing on Iraq.   

He concludes by saying:  "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed." 

"OH NO!" the President exclaims.  "That's terrible!" 

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands. 

Finally, President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"