Rants
USPS Rant
Our old P.O. Box 88
Well it was a tough decision, but we’re dropping our Post Office Box. Easterday Construction has had P.O. Box 88 as long as I can remember and possibly since before I was born! We have some old letterhead that goes back to before any elaborate addresses were even required in Culver. Our office was in the State Exchange Bank Building and the lumber yard was on Slate Street. Apparently that’s all the Culver postman needed to know at that time!
For years and years, our mailing address was P.O. Box 88 and our delivery address was “The Corner of Lake Shore Drive & Slate Street”. Then when 911 service came around the Town assigned us a street number. 402 North Slate Street… never mind that we’re on the west side of the street and all the other numbers on the west side of the street are odd.
Francis Ellert in the General Assembly
Culver Citizen article announcing Francis Ellert's candidacy 12-10-09
I had lunch with Francis last Friday. I’ve been friends with Francis for more than a decade now. We met when we served on the Culver Chamber of Commerce Board together. He is someone I respect and we meet on occasion to attempt to solve the world’s problems… or at least to discuss how they’re currently affecting us.
Well, Francis has stepped up and is taking it to the next level. He has made the choice to get politically involved and actually do something about it. He has announced that he is running for the District 17 State Representative position. Not that he hasn’t been involved before now. He has served on many boards such as the Chamber Board where I met him. He’s well known in the community and I think he has an excellent shot at this.
I’m pretty stoked about the possibility of having someone of Francis’s quality representing us in the General Assembly. He has a good head on his shoulders and and he’s not afraid to take on a challenge. Plus, the main thing I like about Francis is that I know he will listen. I am constantly frustrated by politicians that make decisions for us without understanding the issues. How hard is it to ask those that it will affect? I trust Francis to make informed decisions. I also trust him to have the humility to accept it when I bust his chops if he slips up on this! Ha!
Best wishes for a successful campaign, Francis! I think we would all benefit from your success in this endeavor.
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Update: WTCA Radio has some good background information on Francis on a web page here.
Outtakes from yesterday’s hearing on Capital Hill
SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-S.C): Can you give me a case in United States history where a enemy combatant caught on a battlefield was tried in civilian court?
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don’t know. I’d have to look at that. I think that, you know, the determination I’ve made —
GRAHAM: We’re making history here, Mr. Attorney General. I’ll answer it for you. The answer is no.
HOLDER: Well, I think —
GRAHAM: The Ghailani case — he was indicted for the Cole bombing before 9/11. And I didn’t object to it going into federal court. But I’m telling you right now. We’re making history and we’re making bad history. And let me tell you why.
—————-
GRAHAM: If bin Laden were caught tomorrow, would it be the position of this administration that he would be brought to justice?
HOLDER: He would certainly be brought to justice, absolutely.
GRAHAM: Where would you try him?
HOLDER: Well, we’d go through our protocol. And we’d make the determination about where he should appropriately be tried. […]
GRAHAM: If we captured bin Laden tomorrow, would he be entitled to Miranda warnings at the moment of capture?
HOLDER: Again I’m not — that all depends. I mean, the notion that we —
GRAHAM: Well, it does not depend. If you’re going to prosecute anybody in civilian court, our law is clear that the moment custodial interrogation occurs the defendant, the criminal defendant, is entitled to a lawyer and to be informed of their right to remain silent.
The big problem I have is that you’re criminalizing the war, that if we caught bin Laden tomorrow, we’d have mixed theories and we couldn’t turn him over — to the CIA, the FBI or military intelligence — for an interrogation on the battlefield, because now we’re saying that he is subject to criminal court in the United States. And you’re confusing the people fighting this war.
Watch the an extended clip of this exchange on YouTube here.
Airport Security Tip
Since I was a teenager, possibly even younger since I was in Cub Scouts, I have carried a pocket knife. Something unthinkable for kids today. Did you see the recent story about the
Eagle Scout that was kicked out of school for having a pocket knife (Weapon! Zero Tolerance you know!) at school? In a box… In a locked car… In the parking lot… If you want to read the AP story, it is here. But this is to be a “Tip” not a “Rant” and once again, I’ve digressed.
Anyway, my knife is one of the small multi-purpose ones. It’s so dull it can hardly be called a knife, but it is ocassionally useful on site visits and around the house. I know better than to take it to the airport, but in the rush of getting ready last week, I transferred it from pants pocket to pants pocket as I always do when dressing and didn’t give it a second thought. That is until I was emptying my pockets in the security line at the airport.
This was at South Bend Airport and fortunately I was early for my flight. There was no one else in the line with me and the TSA personnel were sympathetic, but said there was nothing they could do. They suggested I take it out and put it in my checked bag… I wasn’t checking a bag. They suggested that I take it out to my car… I was dropped off at the airport, i.e. no car. They suggested I call someone… It had been 20 minutes since I was dropped off and there was no one close I could call.
As I’m standing there in my stocking feet, my computer, computer case, shoes and coat already down the conveyor belt, a possible solution came to me. I retrieved all my things and got out of line. (Fortunately there was only one person behind me and he seemed to be more amused than upset.) I went back out of the security check area and went over to the car rental counters. I picked the one with no one waiting, Hertz, and asked the attendant, “Do you have a Lost & Found box?” 
She was very helpful and said yes as she started to walk and get it when I explained, “I didn’t lose anything. (yet) I want to put something in it!” I explained that even if I ended up not being able to claim it from their lost & found, there was at least a chance that I could get it back. With TSA, it was going to be a 100% certainty that it was gone. She was extremely nice, let me put a note on it and put in in the lost & found for me. On my return trip, I retrieved it.
Okay, this may not be a great tip and it may have limited applications, but I thought it was worth passing along. It would never work in one of the larger airports at the point that I discovered my error, but it worked for me this time!
Constitution Day
Today is Constitution Day! The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 by thirty-nine brave men. Constitution Day is not something you hear about too much, but if you’re interested, there is information here and here.
Did you hear anything about it today? I guess it’s not too surprising that Constitution Day is not something celebrated. The Constitution seems to be largely ignored lately, most obviously by representatives of the three branches of the Federal Government. It’s not an overly large document. It’s about 19 pages long in this PDF here. Take a moment to read it. It’s really quite elegant. What do you think? Should we all mail a copy to those representing us in the government? If they took the time to read it, they might be shocked at the limits of their power.
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