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3rdragonMy alarm is an unusual beastie, in that it sometimes emits a really annoying beep along with the radio when it wakes me up. Sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't, I usually catch a bit of the morning news, and sometimes listen to it because I like to be at least vaguely informed . . .
This morning while listening to the radio, I caught, " . . . a bill expected to pass today that will grant retroactive immunity to telephone companies that [aided President Bush in wiretapping]" (I've forgotten the exact wording they used for the last bit, but that was the sense of it). Now, quite aside from my feelings on wiretapping, am I the only person who's actually read the US Constitution?
Because Article 1, Section 9 (Limits on Congress) clearly states, "No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed." And "retroactive immunity" really sounds to me an awful lot like retroactively changing legal consequences.
I had more to say on that, but the much greater rant about presenter-guy has rather taken the wind out of my sails on this issue.
Just to highlight the power of positive thinking in computer lab work, I will point out that this morning I had a group come in and ask for help with video editing. I told them right up front that I have next to no experience with video editing and using a Mini DV Deck (I had, in fact, only done it twice: once in 10th grade and once in consultant training at the beginning of this past year, and had never actually used a Mini DV Deck (I didn't tell them that)), but that I would help as much as I could, and they told me that that was more than they had and would be grateful for any assistance I could provide. And I got them hooked up and importing video with nary a hitch. I really prefer this sort of interaction.
This morning while listening to the radio, I caught, " . . . a bill expected to pass today that will grant retroactive immunity to telephone companies that [aided President Bush in wiretapping]" (I've forgotten the exact wording they used for the last bit, but that was the sense of it). Now, quite aside from my feelings on wiretapping, am I the only person who's actually read the US Constitution?
Because Article 1, Section 9 (Limits on Congress) clearly states, "No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed." And "retroactive immunity" really sounds to me an awful lot like retroactively changing legal consequences.
I had more to say on that, but the much greater rant about presenter-guy has rather taken the wind out of my sails on this issue.
Just to highlight the power of positive thinking in computer lab work, I will point out that this morning I had a group come in and ask for help with video editing. I told them right up front that I have next to no experience with video editing and using a Mini DV Deck (I had, in fact, only done it twice: once in 10th grade and once in consultant training at the beginning of this past year, and had never actually used a Mini DV Deck (I didn't tell them that)), but that I would help as much as I could, and they told me that that was more than they had and would be grateful for any assistance I could provide. And I got them hooked up and importing video with nary a hitch. I really prefer this sort of interaction.
