Becky and I were invited to a meet & greet fundraiser for Jack Jordan at the home of Carol & John Zeglis last week. Carol and John are always wonderful hosts and make everyone welcome. There were a lot of new faces there, but it was still a comfortable setting.
Jack Jordan
Jack and his wife, Hope, were very personable. He has the basic Republican positions, but with a strong “anti-politician” message. One of his issues is term limits and he has promised no more than three terms. I wish I could believe in that… I want to believe in that… It seems though, that those that run for political office quickly become politicians. The number of incumbent politicians that believe in term limits is significantly less than those using that platform plank in their first run for office.
Anyone that knows me is aware of my disdain for Daylight Savings Time (DST). I humbly request that you take my grumblings with a grain of salt the next few weeks as I adjust. I am generally a fan of Benjamin Franklin and like to carry his likeness with me at all times, but when I found out that it was his writing of An Economical Projectin 1784 that fostered DST, my respect for him dropped considerably! Honestly though, he would probably be quite amused that his tongue-in-cheek treatise based on his desire to stay up late and sleep until noon was adopted as international policy!
When you change your clocks, check your smoke detectors as well.
So, can we make lemonade from lemons here? The time change is a good time to check your smoke detectors. This is promoted by fire departments across the United States. First, minimally, go around and press the test button to be sure they’re working. Best would be to go ahead and change the batteries. Even the hardwired detectors often have battery back-ups. If the battery died while you were on vacation, you might not have heard that annoying chirp. Also, someone may have robbed the detector of its battery for a use they considered more of an emergency at that time. This is ALWAYS a bad idea! Drag your lazy butt to the store if the TV remote needs a new battery!
Second, review your smoke detector locations. If you have an older home, you may not have smoke detectors located to meet current codes and recommended standards. Check with your local building inspector for code requirements in your area. Check with your insurance company for their minimum standards which could be different. If you are adding smoke detectors, be sure and review the types available. Ionization smoke detectors are the most popular, mainly due to price. These economical units are reliable, but may not detect a slow, smoldering fire quickly. A photoelectic smoke detector uses a beam of light that is refracted when smoke is present. This is generally considered a better detector, but is also more expensive. You can find a well written comparison of the two here.
Third, consider adding carbon monoxide detectors. These devices give you another form of protection against unsafe air conditions.
Fourth, review your escape plan. The lives of you and your family may depend on it. Cool heads are rare in a fire, so make up for this by having an easy to follow plan that everyone in the family knows and understands. There is a good template on developing a fire escape plan here.
Lest you think I’m softening my position on DST, it is recommended that you check your smoke detectors once a year. It would be much better to do this on a once a year holiday such as Valentine’s Day (to protect your lover) or the 4th of July (because fireworks are fire hazards) or Christmas (you have the ladder out to put the star on the tree anyway). DST causes you to change the clocks twice a year, which will undoubtedly lead to confusion for some. But since the firemen have chosen the Spring DST clock change for this, there’s no sense bucking city hall… You’re already late! Check your smoke detectors now.
Ed. Note: Fire Chief Andrew made a good point in the comments: One additional item to mention comes from the NFPA website. “Having a smoke alarm cuts your risk of dying in a fire NEARLY IN HALF. Test yours today”
I am somewhat frustrated by the gibberish that is coming from Washington. Be it Health Care Reform, the so called “stimulus” packages or even just the general budgets. Many would say it has always been like that and I have read some accounts that discussed arguments over bills that nearly came to blows in the 1800’s. There are other records that belie that though. The Homestead Act of 1862 is one such example. Could such a sweeping document be created and passed in such a succinct form today? I think not.
First, if you look at that document (here), which basically opened the West to settlement, it is only two pages long! I would wager that President Lincoln didn’t sign his name to it with 15 different give-away pens either…
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.
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.
