No performance reviews

I looked through every single page of the “personnel file” PNNL sent me.  No performance reviews to be found.  So they don’t want me to be able to show the good stuff about my time there to anyone?  What else could be the motivation?

They did apologize for not sending my personal belongings in a timely fashion.  They said it was because they couldn’t find the key to a filing cabinet and they were “awaiting a locksmith“ (for three weeks?).  I gave the key to my boss when they suspended me and told him what it was for.  And I told him that inside the filing cabinet are keys to “everything else“ which includes some computers and cupboards.  [heavy sigh]  I guess I shouldn’t expect competence from them.

I was sent a travel report to sign so I can get $175 back in out of pocket expenses for the trip I took to Albuquerque back in April.  I was thinking I might have to complain about that.  But they caught it on their own–after three weeks.

Quote of the day–Nicolo Machiavelli

Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred; because he can endure very well being feared whilst he is not hated, which will always be as long as he abstains from the property of his citizens and subjects and from their women. But when it is necessary for him to proceed against the life of someone, he must do it on proper justification and for manifest cause, but above all things he must keep his hands off the property of others, because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony. Besides, pretexts for taking away the property are never wanting; for he who has once begun to live by robbery will always find pretexts for seizing what belongs to others; but reasons for taking life, on the contrary, are more difficult to find and sooner lapse.

It makes him hated above all things, as I have said, to be rapacious, and to be a violator of the property and women of his subjects, from both of which he must abstain. And when neither their property nor honour is touched, the majority of men live content, and he has only to contend with the ambition of a few, whom he can curb with ease in many ways.

Nicolo Machiavelli
The Prince
[In response to the Supreme Court Opinion from yesterday.  Joe]

What did I expect?

I received a FedEx package from PNNL today.  It purported to contain my personnel file.  But neither Barb nor I could find any of my performance reviews in it.  The one thing I really wanted.  I’ll look again tomorrow when I have some more time.  Barb said, “So what did you expect?  Did you really think they would give you what you wanted?“ 

As far as the policy and procedures manual they said one doesn’t really exist.  It’s on line and “access is limited“.  How convenient.  They say, “You didn’t follow the rules.  You’re fired.“  I ask, “What were the rules?“  They answer, “We aren’t telling.“

I had a very, very busy day today.  Daughter Kim was having a convergence of crisis’s and I spent nearly the entire day helping with her problems.  Things are mostly under control now.  She really needs to find better friends.

A very sad day for property rights and liberty

I did not expect this.  I can barely believe it.  This is just so incredibly wrong.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a city can take a person’s home as part of a private development project aimed at boosting tax revenues and revitalizing a local economy, a decision that could have nationwide impact.

By a 5-4 vote, the high court upheld a ruling that New London, Connecticut, can seize the homes and businesses owned by seven families for a private development project that will complement a nearby research facility by the Pfizer Inc. drug company.

The law doesn’t apply here

This posting at The Beagle Express about some activities at the TSA included this quote:

The federal agency in charge of aviation security collected extensive personal information about airline passengers even though Congress forbade it and officials said they wouldn’t do it, . . .

So what else is new?  The FBI used ‘Brady’ records that were supposed to have been destroyed for tracking down ‘suspected terrorists’ who had purchased guns until Ashcroft put a stop to it.  And of course there were politicians and anti-gun bigots that screamed ‘bloody-murder’ at Ashcroft’s action.

And on a more personal note I remember a conversation I had with a couple people where one person was pretty clearly breaking a law (a stupid law, but nevertheless a Federal law) as part of doing his job for a government contract.  He was concerned about doing this.  Before writing up a report where it might get noticed by someone that cared he wanted a company lawyer to review things to make sure he wasn’t going to get in trouble or that the company would take the fall rather than him personally.  A co-worker got more than a little bit annoyed at this position eventually saying, “See this badge?  This means the law doesn’t apply to us.  The people that enforce these laws are the same people that want this work done.”  I was fairly balanced in the discussion prior to that.  Both people had valid points and I helped explore those positions but when “…the law doesn’t apply to us.” came up the issue was settled as far as I was concerned.  Unless there was an exemption in the law for our activities I was the opinion my co-worker needed to be absolutely certain he would not be personally at risk if it ever became an issue.  The co-worker at risk left the company not too long after that and I never found out what happened with his project.

The point is government cannot be trusted to follow it’s own laws and regulations.  Typically there is no penalty for them if they fail to abide by the rules.  And if there is a penalty who is going to enforce the penalty?  If it’s against the rules but there aren’t any ‘teeth’ in the law people will generally ignore it.  That is why we have, as a last resort, the Second Amendment.  As George Washington (I’ll make this the quote of the day tomorrow) said:

Guns rank second in importance only to the Constitution itself.  They are our Liberty Teeth.

It sounds like a great job if you’re gay

From the Philadelphia Daily News.  And still the reports are that airport security hasn’t improved (see also this):

SHE STARTED out very innocently, feeling the small of my back, and then ran her palms over my shoulder blades and neck, then journeyed down my spine, making small talk about the hot weather and the uniqueness of my watch.

Telling me to remove my shoes and belt, her fingers methodically worked over my lower lumbar region, cupping the cheeks of my rump and slowly tracing my thighs and knees. The back of my knees is the most ticklish part of my body, and I bit my lip and swung my arm at her to stop, due to a full bladder.

She quickly ordered me to stare ahead and keep my hands at my side as she signaled that she did not need further restraints on me. I felt her wrists taunt my inner leg and calves and prayed she wouldn’t feel my cardinal sin: not shaving my legs.

She grabbed my waist, and with her palms, traveled around my torso and pressed against my stomach. She traced the circumference of my breasts and squeezed one so hard that if I did have silicone or a baggie of cocaine stashed in there, it surely would have popped. She then ran her hands down my sides so tight she knew I had $1.74 in change in one pocket and a stick of Double Mint in the other.

No, I was not getting a really risque massage, nor was I trying out for the Ellen DeGeneres/Rosie O’Donnell team, I was the lucky recipient of being randomly screened at Philadelphia International Airport.

But the Transportation Security agent went places on me that I believe only my husband will go on our wedding night (me being a devout good Catholic girl, wink, wink) or my gynecologist. After this heavy petting session, all in the name of national security, I felt like I needed a cigarette, but they confiscated all lighters.

So after getting to third base with me, the agent hit a home run with the friend I was traveling with because she was wearing a dress. She got lucky with the security wand that poked and prodded under the dress. My friend was even told to stand with her legs apart and do lunges as the security wand got a bird’s-eye view of the female reproductive system.

Even ignoring the 4th Amendment issues it’s time to rethink the problem.

I give it a 50-50 chance

Some Democrats in eastern Oregon want a pro-gun platform for the state party.

Saying they’re tired of the gun control issue costing them defections to the GOP, Baker County Democrats voted last week to approve a platform resolution in support of gun ownership that they hope the state party will add to its platform.

The adoption came after a spirited debate over the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Chuck Butcher of Baker City, who crafted the county party’s resolution, said he will personally deliver it to the state party platform committee when it meets June 25 at West Linn. 

The local resolution states, in part, “The Democratic Party of Oregon resolves as follows: To recognize and support the right to keep and bear arms in Section 207 of the Oregon State Constitution and the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as an individual right not granted by the government but rather guaranteed by the government.

“In recognition of the tremendous personal responsibility engendered by the right to keep and bear arms, the Democratic Party of Oregon further advocates severe penalties and their enforcement for criminal use or misuse of this right.”

Butcher said he wanted to submit “a clear resolution without a lot of hedging, and frame it in language that could pass overwhelmingly, if the argument is presented correctly.”

They got the part about it being a right recognized rather than granted.  I give them extra credit for that!  But I suspect their chances of getting that, as written, adopted at the state level is asymptotically close to zero.  It’s just not going to happen.  If they weasel word it a WHOLE bunch then maybe 50-50.

Thanks for trying guys.  I know you are on our side and you have to fight the battle but you are going to lose at least the first few rounds.  Keep at it.

As expected lighters get by security

As I and others said at the time the ban on lighters was stupid.  There is no practical way it can be enforced.  The newspapers are talking about the results now:

Last winter, when federal transportation security officials began discussing a ban on cigarette lighters in airline cabins, they warned that the lighters might slip past their screening equipment. Some airport managers were skeptical for the same reason.

Turns out they were right, at least if the recent experience of a handful of Twin Cities air travelers is any indication.

A dozen times in the past several weeks, those passengers sailed past airport screeners with at least one lighter in their carry-on bags.

“They really can be somewhat dangerous on a plane,” said Roth, a former Secret Service agent. “But the ban [also] is like a no-parking sign — if you find a lighter, it gives you an opening to look for something else that isn’t supposed to be in the luggage.”

One of the strongest congressional advocates for the lighter ban was Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who cited shoe bomber Richard Reid’s attempt in December 2002 to blow up a plane using matches.

If Reid had used a lighter, “the FBI said he would have blown up — the shoe bomber would have blown up the airplane,” Dorgan said during a Feb. 15 hearing.

Dorgan spokesman Barry Piatt said his boss “is keeping his eye on” the lighter ban but has indicated no dissatisfaction about its comprehensiveness.

“Nothing works 100 percent,” Piatt said. “That doesn’t mean things aren’t significantly improved. I think he wants to allow them time to work this. I don’t think anyone expected perfection in the first couple of months.”

‘Improved’?  Yeah, right.  They only lighters they are finding are the lighters people forgot about.  Anyone with a room temperature I.Q. can hide one such the screeners won’t find it.  Hence they are taking lighters from people that had no plans to do anything wrong with them.  The only ‘benefit’ to this policy is making some candidates for mental help feel better–and that especially applies to Sen. Dorgan.

As for Roth–Ayn Rand has him pegged.

Quote of the day–Paul Smith

It didn’t make sense!  That’s how I knew it had to be true.

Paul Smith
On a law regarding ammunition.
May 11, 1999
[This logic applies to many government and bureaucracy laws, regulations, and rules.  See, for example, this one from yesterday.]

Gun positive media coverage

From Reno:

Families celebrate Fathers Day at machine gun shoot-out

Everyone has their own way to celebrate Father’s Day, but some families went out of their way to break tradition.

Close to 2,000 people made their way to the Mustang gun range to show their love by firing automatic weapons.

Under Nevada’s open gun laws, it is legal to shoot machine guns. And fathers, sons, and shooting enthusiasts in general, had an opportunity to shoot fully automatic weapons like AK-47s, M-60’s, and Uzi’s.

While it may not be a traditional Fathers Day event, for Matt and Andy Polehman it was all about being together on this special day. “My dad and I have this saying, it doesn’t matter what we do as long as we do it together.”

If you missed Sunday’s shoot, don’t worry, the range will host another one this October.

Thanks for the pointer to this reporting from “The Gun Guys”–who had this to say about the article:

Nothing Says “I Love You” Quite Like A Machine Gun Shoot Out.  Gun Lovers Won’t Rest Until They Can Do This In Their Suburban Backyards.

And I say, “And your point is?”  Admittedly, if you are going to do this in your suburban backyard you should do it in a tunnel or have a particular good backstop and shooting area that makes it impossible for a bullet to leave the range.  And the use of suppressors might be required, but other than that–what’s your point?

Price discrepancy on explosive sniffers

Last Thursday I posted about new explosive detection machines costing $3 Million each.  Here is an article saying they cost only $130K to $150K each.  A much more reasonable price to pay.  I don’t know which is correct but it really doesn’t matter all that much because the most interesting portion of the article is this:

Sniffers are proving to be very sensitive, said Deirdre O’Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the TSA, sometimes indicating “hits” for persons who might have had contact with substances such as fertilizers, which can be used to make explosives.

So far, she said, sniffers haven’t uncovered anyone of interest or suspicion to law enforcement officials. Still, terrorists have lots of weapons that worry the air travel industry and law enforcement agencies. Shoulder-mounted rockets, for example.

This is the problem… The number of false positives far exceeds the number of valid detections and will always be the case.  If the alarm threshold is adjusted such that a reasonable number of false positives are experienced (say 1%) then a well scrubbed explosive device will pass.  If the threshold is set such that nearly any amount of care in explosive device preparation will be caught then the majority of innocent people will be subject to additional searches.  Because of the high cost (time of the screeners as well as the complaints of the innocent) and predominance of hits being false positives (100% so far) the threshold will be adjusted such that the well scrubbed device will pass without detection.  And this scenario doesn’t even include active opponents working against the machines in the days to weeks ahead of the attempt to get an explosive device past the machines.

Hence the explosive detection machines do nothing but provide comfort for those with mental problems (denial in this case) and actually make things less secure because that same money could have been spent on effective security.

Xenia and Snow White

Saturday Barb and I drove Xenia and “Snow White” out past Elk River to the “largest tree in North America east of the Sierra-Cascade divide“ (according to the sign beside the tree).  There Xenia did a photo shoot for a photography contest.  I like #8, duplicated below, the best.

Quote of the day–Maria Cantwell

One thousand letters a day did not represent what the First District wanted.

Congressperson Maria Cantwell
July 16, 1994
Washington State First District
Town Hall Meeting
North Kirkland Community Center
She was responding to a question about why, when most of the 1000 letters, phone calls, and faxes her office was receiving each day about the Brady Bill were opposed to it, she voted for it.

Tagged by the Book Meme

I got tagged by reasonablenut who in tagging me said , “Joe of Boomershoot fame, just because I’m dying to know what kind of shit that guy reads”.

Hmmm… Okay.  I’m not sure it’s all that interesting but here it is:

1. Total Number of Books I Own.  [groan]  The book shelf behind me is full.  The bookshelf to my left is full and overflowing.  The bookshelf were I used to work is full (they still haven’t sent these books to me).  There are boxes in the garage with books in them.  There are books in boxes in my van which I brought back from Richland a few days ago.  There is a stack of books on the nightstand next to our bed.  I have no idea.  Hundreds?  Maybe a thousand?

2. Last Book I Bought.  It’s been a while because I’m so far behind on my book reading.  I think it was a big pile at a used book store.  It included several books on explosives including a couple on detonation theory and practice (which are at my old office at PNNL), American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us Dresden : Tuesday, February 13, 1945 Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War, and probably some others which I forget at the moment.

3. Last Book I Read. The last couple books I completed were probably some on explosives detonation.  I’m currently in the middle of That’s Not What I Meant! (a book on how conversational style makes or breaks relationships),  Emotional Intelligence : Why It Can Matter More Than IQ and the germs book from above.

 4. 5 Books That Meant a Lot to Me.  How about seven?  In no particular order: Stranger in a Strange Land, Atlas Shrugged (this is my son’s favorite book), Atheism the Case Against God, Gun Control: Gateway to Tyranny Death by “Gun Control”, The Rape of Nanking, and Unintended Consequences.

 5. Tag 5 People.  Musings of the Commando KumquatSilens Refero Lamentari, Periodic Journal of my wanderings, and Mindless Bit Spew. Yeah, I’m wimping out with only four.