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Where I’ve Been – Travel Brain
46 cities in 11 countriesAsiaSouth Korea: SeoulThailand: BangkokThailand: Chiang MaiEuropeBelgium: BrusselsFrance: Le HavreFrance: NiceFrance: ParisGermany: BerlinGermany: DresdenGermany: ErlangenGermany: Frankfurt am MainGermany: HardheimGermany: MarktheidenfeldGermany: MunichGermany: NurnbergGermany: TauberbischofsheimGermany: WertheimHoly See (Vatican City): Vatican CityItaly: RomeItaly: VeniceLuxembourg: LuxembourgNetherlands: AmsterdamUnited Kingdom: LondonNorth AmericaUnited States: Ann ArborUnited States: AnnistonUnited States: AustinUnited States: CelinaUnited States: CherokeeUnited States: ClevelandUnited States: ColumbusUnited States: GettysburgUnited States: JasperUnited States: MandanUnited States: MetairieUnited States: MiamiUnited States: NashvilleUnited States: New OrleansUnited States: Oil CityUnited States: PittsburghUnited States: RedmondUnited States: RestonUnited States: San FranciscoUnited States: San JoseUnited States: SeattleUnited States: ShermanUnited States: Washington
Outsourcing Of A Different Color
So, who owns the road you’re driving on? (That’s a sort of rhetorical question. I hope you’re not driving while you’re reading this.)
Most of the time, you’d think it was the state or municipality where you’re driving. If you’re on the Indiana Toll Road, also known as I-80/I-90, well, you’d be wrong. An Australian-Spanish partnership recently paid $3.8 billion to lease the route from Indiana. The same group last year bought a 99-year lease on the eight-mile Chicago Skyway for $1.83 billion.
As far as I can tell, the government is still responsible for upkeep (snow plowing, maintanance, etc. So what’s the benefit? The governments receive immediate cash for other projects. But they lose the ongoing income that the tolls would provide. Granted, the federal highway fund is projected to be empty in about 5 years, so states are looking for ways to raise highway funds. But is this fiscally safe?
Orange County, California built a road in 1995 in conjunction with a French company. When OC realized they needed to expand their roads, they were blocked by the terms of the lease, so they had to buy out the lease. For $207.5 million.
This Fox News article goes into great detail. I’m not convinced outsourcing roads to a foreign company is the right thing to do. Libertarians often talk of private companies building roads and outsourcing other government functions. It’s probably not a bad idea, but let’s be careful how it’s done.
What A Coinkidink!
Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.
From an historical standpoint alone, this is pretty interesting news. Imagine touching something that’s 1600 years old. It’s rare enough to see something more than about a hundred years old. But this book is over 16 centuries old!
This tidbit in the article really caught my attention:
The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations’ attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.
Each night at bedtime, we read some Biblical passage to our kids. It might be a story from one of several kids’ Bibles; we’ve also read out way through the Gospels in The Message. Tonight, in light of the article about the Psalm book being found, I elected to read Psalm 83. The imagery I found there astounded me. Read Psalm 83 below, from the New International Version, courtesy of BibleGateway.com.
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not keep silent;
be not quiet, O God, be not still.2 See how your enemies are astir,
how your foes rear their heads.3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
that the name of Israel be remembered no more.”5 With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you-6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,7 Gebal, [a] Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre.8 Even Assyria has joined them
to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.
Selah9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,10 who perished at Endor
and became like refuse on the ground.11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,12 who said, “Let us take possession
of the pasturelands of God.”13 Make them like tumbleweed, O my God,
like chaff before the wind.14 As fire consumes the forest
or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.16 Cover their faces with shame
so that men will seek your name, O LORD.17 May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
may they perish in disgrace.18 Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
When you compare that text with current events in the Middle East, you have to feel a sense of awe at the “coincidence.” Look at verses 4-5: “…[L]et us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.” With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you.” Which is exactly what’s happening there today. Numerous groups and nations are actively warring against Israel, including the “Ishmaelites,” the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son from Hagar (Sarah’s maidservant). One of Ishmael’s descendants was the prophet Mohammad.
Verse 14 could make you nervous, if you dwelt on the idea that Israel has nuclear capability.
Interesting ideas, eh?
A Musical Tribute
I like music in general. There’s not much I won’t listen to. As a rule though, I don’t seek out country music. I’ll listen to it, and I enjoy a lot of the stuff I listen to. But I’m not familiar with the genre.
I do know though that Trace Adkins has been around for a while, and what I’ve heard of his music, I like. I found a new one (to me) recently. Says Adkins of the song:
‘Arlington’ allows me to express a deep reverence and respect and to pay homage to veterans without making a political statement.
It’s good stuff. Take a look, and listen to the words.
BTW, if you use WordPress, and are having trouble getting YouTube videos to embed correctly, try this link.
What Next? Change The Name?
This is going beyond silly.
A federal lawsuit was filed against a city last year, and will proceed to trial in November. The lawsuit alleges that because the city’s logo includes three crosses, the city is promoting religion violating the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
The lawsuit also claims that by requiring prospective employees to sign their application, which includes the city logo, which includes three crosses, the city is in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. I would assume the plaintiffs are claiming damages under Title VII, which prohibits discrimination in employment in any business on the basis of religion, among other things.
You’ll note I’ve so far refrained from pointing on the name of the city. I’ve done so because the crosses are not just thrown on the logo for fun. They’re part of the history of the city, going back to the 18th century. In fact, they’re even part of the name of the city: Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Sigh. Are they going to force the city to change its name as well?
One Way To Get Out The Vote
Mark Osterloh believes a chance to win $1,000,000 will get Arizona residents out to the polls. In 2004, voter turnout was about 77% of all registered voters in Arizona. In 2002, when Osterloh ran for governor, it was 56%. Osterloh thinks the shot at a million bucks will get more people out to vote. He might run up against federal or state laws. One federal statute prohibits
making or offering to make “an expenditure to any person, either to vote or withhold his vote, or to vote for or against any candidate; and whoever solicits, accepts, or receives any such expenditure in consideration of his vote or the withholding of his vote.”
There is a similar state law already in place as well. But Osterloh and the former state solicitor general who helped him write the initiative both say their idea is not in conflict with the intent of existing laws.
It’s a neat idea, sort of, but do we really want people coming out to vote just for a chance at money? It suggests to me that they won’t be well informed voters, and that could cause much more harm than good.
Fat wash manuring
AKA fun with anagrams.
Hope all you lexophiles enjoy it.
Of Dark and Stormy Nights
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton wrote a book in 1830 entitled Paul Clifford. It began thusly:
“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents–except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”
Snoopy kept trying to write a novel beginning with those same seven words; they’ve become famous, or infamous, or at least synonymous with bad writing. Since 1982 the English Department at San Jose State University has run an annual contest in honor of Mr Bulwer-Lytton to find the worst opening fiction sentence. The results for the 2006 edition of the BLFC are in. Read them and weep. Or chortle even, over the raw talent exhibited by the winners.
Eye In The Sky
A few days ago, someone posted to my military unit’s alumni site that Google Earth had updated a lot of it’s foreign sat imagery. They posted coordinates to our old missile site (now defunct). Thought that was pretty cool, then I wondered…
In 2001, I went on a 2-week missions trip to Northern Thailand, to help build a church in a very remote village.
How remote? In Google Earth, enter the following coordinates: 20° 3’5.71″N 99°38’13.81″E. The white building is the church I helped build!
Here’s a Google Map link to the same location. I just found the whole idea that something I helped build is visible like that to be very cool.
For all you scanner rats
This link should open a streaming audio feed for you for SW Ohio. Information page is found here.
You Might Not Be On Camera
Girard, Ohio is using cameras to enforce speed laws on State Route 422. Thursday, Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge John Stuard ruled against the city in a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 1,500 drivers. He based his ruling on the idea that the speed violations are handled by the city as a civil complaint, not criminal, which decriminalizes conduct that the state has said is criminal. It sounds confusing, but what he’s saying is that a city can’t make something legal that the state has made illegal. The state of Ohio has a system for dealing with speed offenses, in § 4511.21 of the Ohio Revised Code. The ORC sets down certain penalties for speed offenses, including a points system where multiple speed violations can result in the loss of of your driving privileges.
Where I think this will get interesting is how it will apply to red-light cameras. § 4511.12 of the ORC covers traffic control devices, and the penalties associated with them. I think Ohio cities that are using cameras to catch red-light offenders (those who run red lights) are going to run into the same problem. Most cities treat such offenses as civil offenses, which lowers the burden of proof. The city doesn’t have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were operating your car. They only have to show that it was driven through a red light.
The Akron B-J article points out that the Girard case is a bit similar to a case in Akron, although a federal judge ruled opposite Judge Stuard. U.S. District Judge David Dowd Jr. felt that Ohio’s home-rule provisions allowed such action. Several cities in the state have red-light cameras, and the state Legislature was examining the topic. It should be interesting to see how this ruling affects the legislation and the overall use of cameras.
My main complaint about the cameras is that part of the civil fine goes to the company. I’d have less of an issue if the entire fine went to the city, I think. It just feels like the cities are out-sourcing law enforcement duties. It’s in the financial interests of the companies involved to have as many citations issued as possible, since that’s how they make their money. The city isn’t in the law-enforcement “business” to make money, but rather to protect the public. It feels like a conflict of interest, which many camera opponents have been saying for a while now.
Time will tell.
Raven’s Beak on Flickr
