Howard Dean would be a primo president, methinks....
I continue to be amazed by the lack of intelligence in the "intelligence" services. How can they think that "secrets" will remain secret? The truth will out, and sooner rather than later because of the large number of people used by the spy agencies. Herewith a few quotes from Justice Brandeis. --Alan
• The progress of science in furnishing the government with means of espionage is not likely to stop with wire tapping. Ways may some day be developed by which the government, without removing papers from secret drawers, can reproduce them in court, and by which it will be enabled to expose to a jury the most intimate occurrences of the home. Advances in the psychic and related sciences may bring means of exploring unexpressed beliefs, thoughts and emotions. 'That places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer' was said by James Otis of much lesser intrusions than these. 1 To Lord Camden a far slighter intrusion seemed 'subversive of all the comforts of society.' Can it be that the Constitution affords no protection against such invasions of individual security? • Dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928). ========================== • Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman. • Other People's Money—and How Bankers Use It (1914). =================== • Decency, security, and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means -- to declare that the government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal -- would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this court should resolutely set its face. • Dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928). • ===================== http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmstead_v._United_States • Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928), was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the Court reviewed whether the use of wiretapped private telephone conversations, obtained by federal agents without judicial approval and subsequently used as evidence, constituted a violation of the defendant’s rights provided by the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that neither the Fourth Amendment nor the Fifth Amendment rights of the defendant were violated. This decision was later overturned by Katz v. United States in 1967. ======================= Other Brandeis quotes: http://www.brandeis.edu/legacyfund/bio.html http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Brandeis
Very pithy and worth mulling, Alan. Thank you so much for sharing this with us at this time! It is good to read that in our not too distant history, we had people of ethics and decency at the helm. We have some today, of course, but their work is always steeply uphill.
My pleasure. Seeing that Brandeis was in the minority in Olmstead moved me to read up on the case, and it is quite interesting. As has been known to happen in other instances, the dissenters were ultimately vindicated (in Katz). I should hope that Katz would play a big part in Muhtorov [Click].
Talking about insulation under the attic floor, one factor in our case is that there is already some rather patchy blown-in insulation -- presumably asbestos. Removing that to replace it with something better would be a headache.
In our house, the attic (the unfinished two thirds or so of the third floor) is beastly hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter. My room, the finished part, gets warm weeks or even months before the rest of the house and often needs AC even on days you wouldn't otherwise consider hot. In the winter it fluctuates between being uncomfortably cold and overheated because the radiator is at the end of t he line if I understand. It comes on last and cuts off first. The two parts of the third floor are separated by a small landing and the attic door is kept closed.
Just submitted a new quiz, "All Eyes on Engelbert," which is all songs about eyes, looking and seeing. I got the idear from an author challenge, "Well, Nothing to See Here." loony_tunes wanted me to concentrate on the Twelve Houses quiz, but this one was finished, and it seemed silly to delay submitting it, especially as the one on the Twelve Houses need to be rewritten.
The other day I mentioned not being sure I liked jasmine. Well, it might not have been the jasmine, it might have been the Japanese green tea. This afternoon Dad gave me Japanese green with mandarin orange. Again, it wasn't bad, just not quite to my taste. A little, I donno, too herbal? I liked the orange part though. There were two teabags in the packet, so I'll have to use up the second. But then I think I'll go back to plain ol' Earl Gray till I can remember to buy some Celestial Seasonings.
The jasmine tea I've had has always been on an oolong base. But I rarely have tea except with East Asian food, and not always then. I'll always settle for Earl Grey.
There's a huge amount of variation among different types of green tea in Japan. Foreign companies who go mixing it with all sorts of weird things would probably go for the least expensive. Earl Gray should indeed be safe. I have largely reverted to coffee, but I have fond memories of gunpowder tea (Twining's, I think.) --Alan
Howard Dean would be a primo president, methinks....
ReplyDeleteI continue to be amazed by the lack of intelligence in the "intelligence" services. How can they think that "secrets" will remain secret? The truth will out, and sooner rather than later because of the large number of people used by the spy agencies. Herewith a few quotes from Justice Brandeis.
--Alan
• The progress of science in furnishing the government with means of espionage is not likely to stop with wire tapping. Ways may some day be developed by which the government, without removing papers from secret drawers, can reproduce them in court, and by which it will be enabled to expose to a jury the most intimate occurrences of the home. Advances in the psychic and related sciences may bring means of exploring unexpressed beliefs, thoughts and emotions. 'That places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer' was said by James Otis of much lesser intrusions than these. 1 To Lord Camden a far slighter intrusion seemed 'subversive of all the comforts of society.' Can it be that the Constitution affords no protection against such invasions of individual security?
• Dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928).
==========================
• Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.
• Other People's Money—and How Bankers Use It (1914).
===================
• Decency, security, and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means -- to declare that the government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal -- would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this court should resolutely set its face.
• Dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928).
• =====================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmstead_v._United_States
• Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928), was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the Court reviewed whether the use of wiretapped private telephone conversations, obtained by federal agents without judicial approval and subsequently used as evidence, constituted a violation of the defendant’s rights provided by the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that neither the Fourth Amendment nor the Fifth Amendment rights of the defendant were violated. This decision was later overturned by Katz v. United States in 1967.
=======================
Other Brandeis quotes:
http://www.brandeis.edu/legacyfund/bio.html
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Brandeis
Very pithy and worth mulling, Alan. Thank you so much for sharing this with us at this time! It is good to read that in our not too distant history, we had people of ethics and decency at the helm. We have some today, of course, but their work is always steeply uphill.
DeleteI was struck by the name "Olmstead." But this was a 1928 case, clearly distinct from the Olmstead decision famous in disability law.
DeleteThanks, Alan.
DeleteMy pleasure. Seeing that Brandeis was in the minority in Olmstead moved me to read up on the case, and it is quite interesting. As has been known to happen in other instances, the dissenters were ultimately vindicated (in Katz). I should hope that Katz would play a big part in Muhtorov [Click].
Delete--Alan
Talking about insulation under the attic floor, one factor in our case is that there is already some rather patchy blown-in insulation -- presumably asbestos. Removing that to replace it with something better would be a headache.
ReplyDeleteIf asbestos, certainly it should remain in place and undisturbed.
Delete--Alan
In our house, the attic (the unfinished two thirds or so of the third floor) is beastly hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter. My room, the finished part, gets warm weeks or even months before the rest of the house and often needs AC even on days you wouldn't otherwise consider hot. In the winter it fluctuates between being uncomfortably cold and overheated because the radiator is at the end of t he line if I understand. It comes on last and cuts off first. The two parts of the third floor are separated by a small landing and the attic door is kept closed.
ReplyDeleteJust submitted a new quiz, "All Eyes on Engelbert," which is all songs about eyes, looking and seeing. I got the idear from an author challenge, "Well, Nothing to See Here." loony_tunes wanted me to concentrate on the Twelve Houses quiz, but this one was finished, and it seemed silly to delay submitting it, especially as the one on the Twelve Houses need to be rewritten.
ReplyDeleteThe other day I mentioned not being sure I liked jasmine. Well, it might not have been the jasmine, it might have been the Japanese green tea. This afternoon Dad gave me Japanese green with mandarin orange. Again, it wasn't bad, just not quite to my taste. A little, I donno, too herbal? I liked the orange part though. There were two teabags in the packet, so I'll have to use up the second. But then I think I'll go back to plain ol' Earl Gray till I can remember to buy some Celestial Seasonings.
ReplyDeleteThe jasmine tea I've had has always been on an oolong base. But I rarely have tea except with East Asian food, and not always then. I'll always settle for Earl Grey.
DeleteYou can't go wrong with Earl Gray.
DeleteThere's a huge amount of variation among different types of green tea in Japan. Foreign companies who go mixing it with all sorts of weird things would probably go for the least expensive. Earl Gray should indeed be safe. I have largely reverted to coffee, but I have fond memories of gunpowder tea (Twining's, I think.)
Delete--Alan