Random Remarks

On Clinton's book: He admits he lies. We knew he lied. Where's the story? There are only a limited number of headlines available to report this and they've all been used. Move on, there's nothing to see here.

On the Hiibel decision: Earlier this week the Supreme Court ruled that people are obligated to identify themselves to the police and can be arrested if they fail to do so. They're not required to show identification, but must at least tell their name to the officer if stopped and questioned, even if the cops don't have probable cause. I'm not sure where the incentive not to lie is, but that's another issue. The issue in this case is whether such identification violates our Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. Barbara Babcock at Slate sees a slippery slope from their to the right to demand identification ala Nazi Germany, but Will Buade and Dahlia Lithwick disagree. While I agree that supplying my names isn't that big of a deal in that it's almost public information anyways, I see the slipper slope and agree with Will that the Court will have to revisit this later to finish the job. Thus, I'm not opposed to having to show my identification but it does seem to go against the concept that I'm innocent until proven guilty, or that the police can't bother me unless they have proof that I've done something wrong.

On Walmart: Go ladies. Good luck.

On the hostages in the Saudi Arabia: Something tells me that if we took some action against SA for every foreign hostage kidnapped and/or executed in their country, they'd figure out how to solve the problem. I'm not talking about some rogue military action, but something economic or social. For example, for every hostage kidnapped we'd send home 1000 of their students studying in America for every day the hostage is held. For every execution, we'd stop importing or exporting something important. Yeah, it might hurt in the short term, but it'd at least look like we're doing something and would more than likely lead to some solution sooner rather than later.