gdp's Comments

Sinclair News : Romney Clinches GOP Nomination With Texas Primary Win

Wed, 30 May 2012 22:37:45 +0000

It's true that electronic voting machines can be rigged. It's also true that paper ballot elections can be run dishonestly. Literally "stuffing the ballot box" can an does happen, as can the opposite, omitting ballots or entire boxes from the count. Voting machines (the mechanical kind) were originally introduced largely to deal with the weaknesses of a paper ballot system. I think that mechanical "lever" voting machines, and not paper ballots, are the "gold standard" in tamper-resistant voting technology. With today's advances in metallurgy and composite materials, they can be made to be more reliable than the models that were used until recently, which unfortunately are no longer being made.

Sinclair News : Ex Rutgers Student Found Guilty of Hate Crimes

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 03:11:56 +0000

Absolutely spot on. Glad to hear someone say it.

Sinclair News : OBAMA Eligible For GA Ballot: A Perfect Example Why NOT to Believe Everything You Get in Your Inbox

Sun, 5 Feb 2012 13:06:32 +0000

According to the judge's opinion, he would have issued a default judgement against Obama, meaning that Obama would have been off the Georgia ballot, except for the fact that the plaintiffs specifically ASKED FOR A DECISION ON THE MERITS instead. The judge did not believe the case against Obama had been proven, so he ruled "on the merits" that Obama's name could stay on the ballot. If Taitz and her clients had taken the default judgement, Obama would be OFF the ballot. Maybe an appeal could have got him back on, maybe not, but it would have been a significant victory, one the Obama camp could not ignore. You have to wonder what is really going on.

Breitbart.com : Brains of addicts are inherently abnormal: study

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 13:33:35 +0000

"Abnormalities" is a loaded word that really shouldn't be used in this context. Yes, people who become addicts are usually people who had certain predispositions that led them to become addicts. That shouldn't be a surprise. Nor should the fact that it may be possible to identify those predispositions with certain differences in brain structure. But they are still just differences, not abnormalities, as evidenced by the fact that their siblings with those same brain differences did not become addicts. Scientists need to abandon the notion that any trait that's not what they would consider ideal is "abnormal".

Breitbart.com : Orthodox Israeli charged with insulting woman soldier

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:54:27 +0000

Yeah, just speaking and asking her to move should be OK. I guess it's a question of how insistent, and how disturbing to the rest of the bus, he became. Enforced segregation on a public bus line can't be tolerated. But maybe these buses should be redesignated as "private" buses for members of Haredi congregations. One synagogue could be the official operator of the bus for its members. A sign in the bus window would explain that, and also explain that, as a courtesy, they will allow non-members to ride their private bus, provided they make a small contribution towards the operating expense (i.e. pay a fare) and respect the customs of the people running it (i.e. modest dress and separation of men and women). This solution might work in Brooklyn too, where a privately-owned "public" bus line, known as the B110, has had the same issue come up.

The Heritage Foundry : Obama Couldn't Wait: His New Christmas Tree Tax

Wed, 9 Nov 2011 02:46:12 +0000

This is insane. If the growers or sellers of Christmas trees want to advertise, they can. They don't need a Federal board to "promote" the industry. In fact, I don't think it is the Federal government's job to promote any particular industry, so the Commodity Promotion etc. Act ought to be repealed. I guess some may be glad that the board is called the "Christmas Tree" promotion board, and not "Holiday Tree" whatever. But that is hardly a valid reason for implementing this.

Big Government : Shock Photos: Candidate Obama Appeared And Marched With New Black Panther Party in 2007

Mon, 3 Oct 2011 23:07:37 +0000

Why does this New Black Panther leader use the name Malik Shabazz? That, of course, was the name adopted by the former Malcolm X when he realized that his previous Nation of Islam-inspired idea that all white men were "devils" was just plain wrong, and that people of ALL colors deserved respect and equality. But the ideas of this Malik Zulu Shabazz seem closer to those of the NOI's Malcolm than to those of the post-Hajj Malik Shabazz, so I repeat, why does he use the name?

Breitbart.com : Kuwait court jails tweeter for insulting Shiites

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:12:17 +0000

This is the government we fought "Desert Storm" to reinstall back in the 1990s. Is the U.S. uttering even one word of protest against it perpetrating this kind of despotism? John Quincy Adams once said of the United States, "She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." Today's U.S. government honors neither half of that formula.

Breitbart.com : Egypt military quizzes activist after \'defamation\'

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 02:23:37 +0000

The United States should tell Morsi and his cronies that we will have no tolerance for his "no tolerance for insults" policies. If he wants continued support from the West (without which I don't think he would have achieved his current position), he must release Mahfuz immediately. (Of course, if we don't admit giving him support in the first place, it is hard to publicly threaten to withdraw that support. But a clear message sent privately might do some good.)

Breitbart.com : New York police deny Strauss-Kahn DNA report

Tue, 24 May 2011 22:46:12 +0000

It's not the history of the maid that the defense team should be looking at, but that of her supervisor(s). Specifically, who told her that the suite Strauss-Kahn was in was empty, and that she should go in and clean it? How and why did she come to be told that? She has said that she WAS told that. I think Strauss-Kahn was likely expecting someone else - a prostitute, to be blunt about it - but someone arranged to have the call girl cancelled, and to have the real hotel maid sent in instead. The result, as intended, was this "assault" and the end of Strauss-Kahn's career. From the maid's perspective, it WAS an assault, but from Strauss-Kahn's, it wasn't (because he thought the maid was a hooker). So they should focus on who sent the maid, not on the maid herself.

Breitbart.com : French vegans in dock over baby\'s death

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:33:31 +0000

Well, my brother is a vegetarian (though not a vegan), and he is definitely not skinny! (Then again, neither am I, and I'm not a vegetarian.)

Breitbart.com : NH farmer wins early release after gun sentence

Thu, 3 Feb 2011 12:30:11 +0000

Yes, that is what I originally thought. That is why I was surprised to see the following sentence:

"As God is my witness and on the honor of my family and friends in this room today, I did not point or wave a firearm at Christine Harris," Bird said, voice quavering with emotion.

It seems Bird is not actually the proud self-defense advocate his supporters make him out to be.

Breitbart.com : NH farmer wins early release after gun sentence

Thu, 3 Feb 2011 01:06:09 +0000

If he didn't point the gun at the Ms. Harris, why would he not testify at the trial and say so? That he was convicted apparently means it was proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" that he did do so. Now, maybe he didn't deserve three years even if he did do that, but this is a case where the facts are in dispute, not a case that is only about whether the law should be what is is.

Information Clearing House - News you won't find on CNN : The Enumerated Rights Are Hanging By A Thread : Information Cle

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 09:27:41 +0000

So you are saying success is less likely when defending the basic legal rights that all Americans once agreed on, than it is defending "newer rights" that many openly disagree with? Somehow, I don't think so.

Breitbart.tv : Liberal Star Blogger Ezra Klein: Constitution 'Has No Binding Power on Anything'; Confusing Because

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:55:08 +0000

What he actually said is that the reading aloud of the Constitution has no binding power, not that the Constitution itself has no such power - and he's right. Being written over 100 years ago does not automatically make it confusing. Being written over 200 years ago makes it pretty likely that parts will be confusing - as indeed some parts are. How many people know what letters of marque and reprisal are? Does the rule against "work[ing] corruption of blood" mean that traitors should not be executed by lethal injection, which would literally "corrupt their blood"? I'm sure I could come up with lots more examples. Were the framers using "Black English" when they said that the President should "take care that the laws be faithfully executed"? Yes, I want the Constitution to be followed. I also want the headline writers at Breitbart to stop deliberately misrepresenting the meaning of what people say.

Breitbart.com : US press should fear being targeted: Assange

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:50:15 +0000

The first amendment has nothing to do with citizenship. In fact, the word "citizen" does not appear anywhere in the Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments to the Constitution). Anyone in the United States is protected by it. But since Assange is not in the U.S., and doesn't plan to be, the issue is moot.

SUBWAYblogger.com : New NYC Subway Map: Keep it or KICK it?

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:54:09 +0000

I like this map a lot. But the different shades of each trunk line's color for each service that is part of it should be dropped - the map lines for the 4, 5, and 6 should be the same shade of green, for example. It is silly for the MTA to complain about geographical inaccuracy - after all, they once had the Vignelli map as their official map. I didn't care for that, but the KICK map seems like a good compromise. Jabbour has explained how he strikes the balance between geography and clarity, and his approach makes sense. Plus I like the indication of where you can't transfer to the other direction, something the current map lacks. Is the full KICK Map available online? It doesn't seem to be. I realize that KICK is a commercial firm, and I see that they are selling interactive versions of the map for use on the iPhone and similar gadgets. Fine. But wouldn't making a static version of the full map freely available, while he is trying to build support for his map at the MTA (and with the public), help rather than hurt him?

WNYT.com : WNYT.com - Bridge building big business

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:46:40 +0000

Great! I had noticed that the abutments for the new bridge appear to be ready, so I was wondering when it was going to arrive - I knew about the plan to install the pre-built bridge. It looks like this whole project is proceeding ahead of the original schedule, so congratulations to those responsible. We really need this bridge down here, the old one is in awful shape.

Breitbart.com : LA cardinal: Nazism in Arizona immigration bill

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 22:28:03 +0000

The Cardinal is basically correct, setting up a system where people need "papers" to walk the streets is something I find disturbing. The nation will have to make a choice between two paths in order to deal with the problem of "illegal immigration": 1) Make the policy of "open borders" official. If this was done, those who are now considered illegal would no longer have to fear exposure, and so would no longer have to accept substandard wages and working conditions that end up driving the "standard" down even for those here legally. The result would be that the downward pressure on wages would be largely eliminated, while maintaining the freedoms that Americans expect and are justly proud of. or 2) Fully implement a system of biometric IDs, probably linked to a central database, which would be checked whenever people engaged in any significant transaction. If this was implemented consistently, then yes, we could make it essentially impossible to live here without the proper documents. But we would be sacrificing the freedoms that make America great - that is not the kind of country I would want to live in. Face it, people, these are really the only two choices. I do not understand how it is that some of the people who complain the loudest about Real ID, etc. are also the people who complain loudest about illegal/undocumented immigrants. The fact is, we are going to have one or the other, there is just no way around it. If there were a referendum on which path the U.S. should take, I know which way I would vote.