...and sausage bingo on tuesdays?

An occurrence on state street

There was shooting on State Street this week.

Lots of people are talking about it. Lots of people have opinions about it. Lots of people have plans, and ideas, and solutions they want to share.

I'm not one of those people.

I've got no idea what's going on, or why, or how we can fix, or if we need to fix it.

I just know i feel concerned.

Sure, one shooting in the past... what? 10 years? still makes it a pretty safe place. But that seems like we're trying to excuse it away. Like we're saying "ignore that kid over there throwing a tantrum, he's just going through a phase."

God damn it, state street is the soul of Madison. And if something is going wrong there, then something is going wrong with Madison in general.

And... I dont' think it's right to isolate this incident and sweep it away. There has been a growing uneasiness, increased muggings, and a loss of safety in general down on state street. I don't want to take the alarmist attitude, I still feel safe on State Street. Even alone, even late at night. But i want it to stay that way. For everyone.

I'm rambling in the wrong direction.
If you haven't heard about the shooting, it's not being covered well, check out these links.
I tried to get a few different view points.

Prosecutors say man admits fault in Madison fatal shooting


$100K bail set in State St. killing: Reduced charge likely in shooting


Guardian Angel weighs in on State Street shooting


MadCity Talkers: Vicki McKenna on the State Street shooting


Prosecutor: Man Accused In State Street Shooting Was Off Medication: Suspect Held On $100K Bond


Police Investigate After Man Fatally Shot On State Street: Suspect Held In Police Custody


We were down on state street this weekend, and Sarah noticed they little notecard sized pieces of paper taped with yarn fluttering on a few different polls and signs.

I'm no sure what they mean even, but for some reason they gave me chills.

National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive

I heard a little snippet about the "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive" the other day. It sounded scary.

So like all scary things that I only know a little bit about, I took it to Google.

I usually get more hits than I know what to do with. Normally, no matter how obscure the search, i have to sort through the wealth of results to find the ones that are useful. So I was a little surprised that when i did a google news search, I only received 5 hits. One of the hits was the actually directive itself on Whitehouse.gov.

I'll put the links along with a couple quotes from each article, below, and you can do your own research.

In short, on May 9^th the President signed an executive order. That means it didn't go through congress, and that no one else had to approve it. The order essentially says that in case of an emergency the President will assume the powers (the executive order itself uses the term “coordinate”) of the executive, judiciary and legislative branches.

The term “emergency” is defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.”

Which is vague enough that it could be anything from a terrorist attack, to the outbreak of a virus, to a hurricane.

From what I can gather the “state of emergency” will last at least 30 days, or until the emergency is declared over..... by the President.

That worries me a little bit.

What worries me the most is that no one seems to be talking about it.

Is it really harmless and I'm worried about nothing?

Or is this something that is flying beneath the radar but that we need to start looking at?

I don't know, but here's my effort to at least get the word out a little.

Here are the articles that I found.

Bush grants presidency extraordinary powers
Directive for emergencies apparently gives authority without congressional oversight

“The "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive" was signed May 9.”

“The directive establishes under the office of the president a new national continuity coordinator whose job is to make plans for "National Essential Functions" of all federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, as well as private sector organizations to continue functioning under the president's directives in the event of a national emergency.

"Catastrophic emergency" is loosely defined as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions."

“Corsi says the president can assume the power to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over. “

“The directive also makes no reference to Congress and its language appears to negate any requirement that the president submit to Congress a determination that a national emergency exists.

It suggests instead that the powers of the directive can be implemented without any congressional approval or oversight.”

Bush makes power grab

“President Bush, without so much as issuing a press statement, on May 9 signed a directive that granted near dictatorial powers to the office of the president in the event of a national emergency declared by the president. “

When the president determines a catastrophic emergency has occurred, the president can take over all government functions and direct all private sector activities to ensure we will emerge from the emergency with an "enduring constitutional government."

Translated into layman's terms, when the president determines a national emergency has occurred, the president can declare to the office of the presidency powers usually assumed by dictators to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over.”

New presidential directive gives Bush dictatorial power

National Security & Homeland Security Presidential Directive establishes "National Continuity Policy"

“The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, signed on May 9, 2007 declares that in the event of a "catastrophic event", George W. Bush can become what is best described as "a dictator"

“This directive, completely unnoticed by the media, and given no scrutiny by Congress, literally gives the White House unprecedented dictatorial power over the government and the country, bypassing the US Congress and obliterating the separation of powers. The directive also placed the Secretary of Homeland Security in charge of domestic "security".”

“The directive defines a “Catastrophic Emergency” as the following.

"Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;

So what does this mean? This is entirely subjective and doesn’t provide any real concrete definition of what such an emergency would entail. Assuming that it means a disaster on the scale of the 9/11 attacks or Katrina, there is no question that the United States at some point in time will experience an emergency on par with either of those events. When one of those events takes place, the President will be a dictator in charge of ensuring a working constitutional government.”

National Continuity Implementation Plan: great idea but compromising timescales?

“The Directive slipped out relatively unnoticed by the mainstream media, yet it has important and positive implications for the future resiliency of public sector operations in the United States. “

(here's the directive itself on the whitehouse homepage)

National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html

NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51

HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/HSPD-20

little slice of...

as usual... there's no point to this blog.

you know who writes an interesting blog though?
She does. Watch out though, the song that loads up on her profile is probably going to make to jump a bit.


if you're still reading. here's my little nugget of happiness.


I skipped church for this little slice of heaven. My wife and daughter went to church, I walked down to a park instead. I read a book (about Egyptian Myths), drank some coffee (made from screaming monkeys) and enjoyed the sun.

I didn't feel guilty, I should have, I need the church'ing worse than either of those two angels.

But the sunshine and the coffee and the 4000 year old myths were calling. And what are you gonna do?

I've got nuttin'

I've got nothing worth-while to say.

Go read someone elses blog.

...but i did make a promise to myself to post more. and the last time i brok a promise to myself i beat me with a sock full of wet hamster droppings while chanting "pickles are not peoples" until i was a quivering, sobbing mass in the corner....

so.....

how about a caption contest!?!?!?!

Here's the picture



Here are the caption ideas thus far
1) wat? this bukkit? nope, iz mine
2) right now. i'm poop'n in ur bukkit
3) dis iz mah bukkit git your own

Pick one, or suggest your own :)

If you're not familiar with the whole "bukkit" thing go here

no gas on May 15th?

no gas on May 15th?

I'm not sure I can participate... the wife whipped up a delicious fresh salad last night, and in my advanced age, greens are starting to have an entirely different affect on me....

oh... you meant like gas for the car?

well why didn't you say so in the first place?

Seriously though, if I don't buy gas today, it will be purely coincidence. I love our earth, I despise big oil, I hug trees occasional (I still refuse to wear sandals though, can I still be in the club?).

I read the emails.
I feel the frustration,
I weep a little every time I fill up the car.
...but I also know how meaningless the gesture is.

The best analogy I've heard is that it's like someone trying to strike back at McDonalds by saying "I'm not going to get a Mcgriddle-grease-and-egg-bacon-sandwich for breakfast today.... But I'll probably stop by and get a quarter-double-super-sized-happy-meal-with-extra-mayo for lunch" You wouldn't hurt McDonalds doing that, they'd just smile and as if you want fries with it. At the end of the day, they've still got you money.

If the entire nation decided to avoid getting gas on May 15th, but then got gas on May 16th instead, the effect would be null. Sorry.
At the end of the week they've still got you money.

But...
If the same number of people cited in the original email about May 15th (The email said there are 73,000,000 internet users they were hoping to reach, a more realistic number is actually 205,000,000 internet users) made an effort to use a gallon less of gas each month, the impact would be profound.

One gallon is about what.... 20 miles? Maybe a lot less or a little more depending on what you drive. So if you could figure out how to drive that amount less, it would make an honest difference. And ironically, it would be even easier for the gas guzzlers. If you've got a big ol' truck that gets like 9 miles to the gallon, all you've got to do is drive 9 miles less each month. That's like biking to work 2-3 days out of a month.

Now if you're on one of those mopeds that gets around 90 miles to the gallon... you're screwed :)

I'm not a motivator...
I'm the last person that will ever start an internet movement.
But maybe if this floats around a bit it will wind up in the hands of someone who can really spread the word.
So pass it around... if you feel like it.

The problem, I think, is that it's easy for people to say "I won't get gas on the 15th" so it's an appealing idea. Having an effect by actually doing less in the day, instead of more. ("Change the world by being lazy" ...wouldn't that be nice?) But the idea that might actually make a difference takes some effort, so it probably doesn't stand a chance of catching on.