Feeling Proud - We’ll Help!

Matt Stoller is a proud American today, he informs everyone. Because he paid his taxes.

I just paid my taxes, and I have to say, I always take pride when I do so.  I don't like having less money to spend, of course, and the complexity of the process is really upsetting.  But I am proud to pay for democracy, and I feel when I do send money to the DC Treasurer and the US Treasury that that is what I am doing.  The right-wing likes to pretend as if taxes are a burden instead of the price of democracy.  And I suppose, if you hate democracy, as the right-wing does, then taxes are the price for paying for something you really don't want.  Personally, I find banking fees, high cable and internet charges, health care costs, and credit card hidden charges much more abrasive than taxes, because with those I'm just being ripped off to pay for someone's summer home.

Ah, yes. Don't ever question the patriotism of the left, but anyone who questions the tax code is unpatriotic, un-American and against democracy.

Interesting double standard. But we here in the Crabitat are feeling exceptionally beneficent tonight, on the day of tax reckoning (even though it is not the actual, legal day of reckoning, that is tomorrow). So we'd personally like to increase Mr. Stoller's joy in the act of his exercise of his duties of citizenship and allow him to pay our taxes as well. That should add to his pride and make him feel even more patriotic!

We're all about spreading joy and happiness here in the Crabitat, after all.

Others with a bit to say about Stoller's "You're all evil and I am holier than you" mindset: Outside The Beltway, Right Wing Nut House, WILLisms, Shot in the Dark, Powerline,

More Details

Well, this is not getting any better as the news comes out about the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech. Apparently, the first shootings occurred in the dormitory. Two hours later the attack on the classroom occurred. Meanwhile, the administration of the college sent emails out notifying people that the first shooting event had occurred.

Um.

Email warnings?

Students bitterly complained that there were no public-address announcements on campus after the first burst of gunfire. Many said the first word they received from the university was an e-mail more than two hours into the rampage — around the time the gunman struck again.

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said authorities believed that the shooting at the dorm was a domestic dispute and mistakenly thought the gunman had fled the campus.

"We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur," he said.

He defended the university's handling of the tragedy, saying: "We can only make decisions based on the information you had on the time. You don't have hours to reflect on it."

Investigators offered no motive for the attack. The gunman's name was not immediately released, and it was not known if he was a student.

The shootings spread panic and confusion on campus. Witnesses reporting students jumping out the windows of a classroom building to escape the gunfire. SWAT team members with helmets, flak jackets and assault rifles swarmed over the campus. Students and faculty members carried out some of the wounded themselves, without waiting for ambulances to arrive. A student used his cell-phone camera to record the sound of shots echoing through the stone classroom building.

The massacre took place at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a coed dormitory that houses 895 people, and continuing at least two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building about a half-mile away, authorities said.

Two people were killed in a dormitory room, and 31 others were killed in the classroom building, including the gunman, police said.

They should have locked that campus down tighter than a drum until they knew the shooter was really gone, arrested or dead. Period. Frankly, those 30 or so additional victims besides the shooter, should not have been exposed to the gunman in the first place. My bet is that someone in the Virginia Tech administration is going to pay dearly for this complete failure of responsibility. (If I had a kid there, I'd pull them out. Now. And I would damn well get a lawyer to recover the tuition costs.)

UPDATE: The AP has just released the texts of all the email alerts the Virginia Tech administration sent out to students and faculty. The emails show exactly how flawed the administration's response in all this was:

• e-mail sent at 9:26 a.m.: (Note: The first incident occurred at 7:15)

Subject: Shooting on campus.

"A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston earlier this morning. Police are on the scene and are investigating.

"The university community is urged to be cautious and are asked to contact Virginia Tech Police if you observe anything suspicious or with information on the case. Contact Virginia Tech Police at 231-6411

"Stay attuned to the http://www.vt.edu. We will post as soon as we have more information."

• 9:15 a.m.: Approximate time of second shooting at Norris Hall.

• e-mail sent at 9:50 a.m.:

Subject: PLease stay put

"A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows"

• third e-mail sent at 10:17 a.m.:

Subject: All Classes Canceled; Stay where you are

"Virginia Tech has canceled all classes. Those on campus are asked to remain where there are, lock their doors and stay away from windows. Persons off campus are asked not to come to campus."

• fourth e-mail sent at 10:53 a.m.:

Subject: Second Shooting Reported; Police have one gunman in custody

"In addition to an earlier shooting today in West Ambler Johnston, there has been a multiple shooting with multiple victims in Norris Hall.

"Police and EMS are on the scene.

"Police have one shooter in custody and as part of routine police procedure, they continue to search for a second shooter.

"All people in university buildings are required to stay inside until further notice.

"All entrances to campus are closed."

The last email finally closing the campus was sent long after the second shooting occurred. In fact, the first email didn't go out until the second shooting had already happened. What's wrong with this picture?

Forward With The Agenda

The media is instantly attempting to advance the agenda of gun control as a result of the shootings at Virginia Tech. ABC News - who admit to having no proof whatsoever that any were used in the shooting rampage - are reporting (with much tut-tutting) on the availability of high-capacity magazines. They are, however, leaving out the fact that Virginia Tech is a so-called "gun free zone". That designation deterred the shooter how? The only people that deterred are the law abiding. I have a carry permit, but I obey the law that says I cannot carry my gun in a park or a school.

Think that law bothers someone who is intent on shooting people? Than you are not playing with a full deck. It has no imapct whatsoever on someone who is bound on this sort of thing. Because the shooter knows - with certainty - that the police will not be able to get there in time to stop him.

I assure the uneducated that I can swap 10-round magazines in the same amount of time as a 15 round one. I might have to carry a few more, but it would not significantly change the rate of fire, no matter what a reporter or a gun control spokesman pontificates. But had an armed citizen with a legal gun been legally allowed to carry his or her weapon, the outcome of this horror might have been completely different. Because the gunman who was carrying illegally in a "gun free zone" might have been badly surprised to find himself in hell a bit earlier than he planned.

The simple fact is that the police CANNOT be there at exactly the second when they are needed the most. Unless you want a police state, that is. I'll pass on that, thank you.

This is some pretty darned shameless agenda-driven exploitation reporting by ABC. Have a bit of decency, you schmucks. 

Shooting Rampage At Virginia Tech

I had a bunch of things to take care of today and have been away from the news. This makes me wish I had stayed away. There has been a shooting rampage by a single gunman at Virginia Tech. At least 32 people are confirmed dead at this time, including the shooter.

Police at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Va., said that the shootings happened at a dormitory and a classroom on opposite sides of the university campus.

"Schools should be places of safety and learning," President Bush said this afternoon from the White House. "When that safety is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom in every American community."

Law enforcement officials tell ABC News they believe there was a single gunman, firing at least two 9mm semi-automatic pistols. They said he may have been wearing a bulletproof vest.

It is unknown at this time if the guns had standard or extended clips, which can fire as many as 30 shots before the gun has to be reloaded.

The gunman, whose identity has not been released, is among the dead. Campus police would not say whether the shooter had killed himself.

"The university was struck today with a tragedy of monumental proportions," said university president Charles Steger. "The university is shocked and horrified that this would befall our campus."

A count by ABC News shows that at least 28 people had been admitted to hospitals, most with gunshot wounds.

18 were at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg, and four of them, in critical condition, were taken into surgery. Some had broken ankles, back and neck injuries after jumping from the buildings where the shootings were happening.

This is absolutely horrible.

The Full Story

I really haven't commented on the recent press frenzy over Paul Wolfowitz and the entire World Bank matter. Something felt wrong about the way it was being reported, but I did not have any way of sorting it out. Well, the Opinion Journal has taken the time to do so, using documents that Wolfowitz demanded be released by the board of the bank. Those papers reveal that this whole frenzy looks like an inside setup.  

The paper trail shows that Mr. Wolfowitz had asked to recuse himself from matters related to his girlfriend, a longtime World Bank employee, before he signed his own employment contract. The bank's general counsel at the time, Roberto Danino, wrote in a May 27, 2005 letter to Mr. Wolfowitz's lawyers:

"First, I would like to acknowledge that Mr. Wolfowitz has disclosed to the Board, through you, that he has a pre-existing relationship with a Bank staff member, and that he proposes to resolve the conflict of interest in relation to Staff Rule 3.01, Paragraph 4.02 by recusing himself from all personnel matters and professional contact related to the staff member." (Our emphasis here and elsewhere.)

That would have settled the matter at any rational institution, given that his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, worked four reporting layers below the president in the bank hierarchy. But the bank board–composed of representatives from donor nations–decided to set up an ethics committee to investigate. And it was the ethics committee that concluded that Ms. Riza's job entailed a "de facto conflict of interest" that could only be resolved by her leaving the bank.

Ms. Riza was on a promotion list at the time, and so the bank's ethicists also proposed that she be compensated for this blow to her career. In a July 22, 2005, ethics committee discussion memo, Mr. Danino noted that "there would be two avenues here for promotion–an 'in situ' promotion to Grade GH for the staff member" and promotion through competitive selection to another position." Or, as an alternative, "The Bank can also decide, as part of settlement of claims, to offer an ad hoc salary increase."

Five days later, on July 27, ethics committee chairman Ad Melkert formally advised Mr. Wolfowitz in a memo that "the potential disruption of the staff member's career prospect will be recognized by an in situ promotion on the basis of her qualifying record . . ." In the same memo, Mr. Melkert recommends "that the President, with the General Counsel, communicates this advice" to the vice president for human resources "so as to implement" it immediately.

And in an August 8 letter, Mr. Melkert advised that the president get this done pronto: "The EC [ethics committee] cannot interact directly with staff member situations, hence Xavier [Coll, the human resources vice president] should act upon your instruction." Only then did Mr. Wolfowitz instruct Mr. Coll on the details of Ms. Riza's new job and pay raise.

This looks like Wolfowitz was pushed into doing what the committee demanded - by the committee chairman - and is now being blamed for doing so. The article also reveals a bit about the inside politics of the bank and the fact that this looks quite a lot like an attempt to stop Wolfowitz's reforms of that institution.

Japanese Toasted Buns

So, imagine you've just sat down on the toilet to answer natures call. Now imagine you smell smoke. Now imagine that you suddenly realize that the toilet is getting pretty, darn warm. Then imagine the fun when you realize your toilet just caught fire! Well, imagine no more: The Japanese have invented the flammable toilet!

The electric bidet accessory of Toto's Z series caught fire in three separate incidents between March 2006 and March 2007, according to company spokeswoman Emi Tanaka. The bidet sent up smoke in 26 other incidents, the company said.

"Fortunately, nobody was using the toilets when the fire broke out and there were no injuries," Tanaka said. "The fire would have been just under your buttocks."

The company will repair 180,000 toilet units manufactured between May 1996 and December 2001 for free, she said. A manufacturing defect is thought to have led to the faulty wiring.

The article notes that the toilet is not sold overseas. We find that comforting.

A Hare Raising Morning Rush Hour

Hungarian motorists got a taste of the Animal Uprising™ today during the morning rush hour. A bunch of belligerent bunny bandits hijacked a truck, then lost control of it (they had trouble working the gearshift) and caused a wreck on the main highway. The resultant major bunny-spill caused authorities to close the highway for several hours.

BUDAPEST, Hungary - Five thousand rabbits blocked a Hungarian highway Monday after the truck that was carrying them crashed.

The animals came free after the truck collided with another vehicle and overturned, police officials said.

The M1 highway — the main road connection between the capitals of Hungary and Austria — was expected to be closed for several hours while authorities tried to gather the loose animals,

Bunnies are terrible drivers, obviously.