Voter Suppression in Tennessee?

Seems some Democrats may actually believe the only way Republicans win elections is "voter suppression." Jason Howerton tattled on one last week:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/12/im-going-to-cut-you-off-right-there-cnn-anchor-calls-out-ousted-colorado-democrat-for-blaming-recall-on-voter-suppression/

Tehee! But seriously...in Tennessee, what's calling itself the Green Party is locking horns with the Tea Party, filing a ludicrous lawsuit against the state for daring to demand that voters present photo ID.

Although this web site does not like to support the notion that photo ID proves any dang thing, this web site is also skeptical about the idea that asking for photo ID has anything to do with voter suppression. This web site will therefore propose that, instead of quibbling with the Greens, Tennessee Tea Parties take some practical steps to prevent voter suppression:

1. The Green Party spokesman who filed the suit claimed to be concerned about "minority" voters. The Tea Parties I know have tried to make sure the material they hand out and endorse Looks Like America, which is good. Not only do we want U.S. citizens from "minority" backgrounds to vote, we sometimes encourage them to vote for people from backgrounds similar to their own. The rubber hits the road when non-drivers who don't just stop at their polling place as they walk home from work want to go and vote. You know your neighborhood. How many car and van pools does your community need? Since some people don't like to be the only one in a group who looks the way they look, can you organize ethnically mixed car pools? Car pools should also Look Like America.

2. The Green Party spokesman also claimed to be concerned about students. There are two distinct problems with Tennessee students who don't vote in Tennessee elections.

(a) Some students don't have drivers' licenses, state identity cards, or the money to pay for either, because they are young and poor. If student labor programs pay them half the minimum hourly wage and transfer their wages directly to their tuition accounts, it's possible for students not to have ten dollars. These students will need state ID in order to get decent summer jobs and pay for any part of their education anyway, so it's a real public service to help them get these cards. Adults in Tennessee should use some time and money to help young Tennesseans become voters and taxpayers.

(b) Some other students at the state college closest to Gray, East Tennessee State University, don't have Tennessee ID's because they are not Tennesseans. Tennessee has a combination of accredited but not terribly tough state colleges, low in-state tuition, and easy in-state residency requirements that attracts many students who aren't even from contiguous states. These people can show Tennessee rent receipts, but have Virginia, North Carolina, or other state drivers' licenses, because they live and vote in other states when they're not taking classes at E.T.S.U. Their home states are within an hour's drive; they can go home to vote in between classes. They are precisely the demographic group voter ID laws are intended to prevent from voting more than once in the same election.

While these part-time Tennesseans are wary about mentioning to E.T.S.U. staff that they vote and own property in other states, they may be easier to identify in political groups or other off-campus activities. Their loyalty to the candidates or party of their choice is commendable. This loyalty can be put to legitimate use. Tea Parties in contiguous states might want to work out ways to ensure that students have other, legal things to do with their energy after voting once. Maybe the students would like to drive for car pools or host election day parties.

3. The Green Party spokesman also expressed concern about "elderly" voters. Presumably he meant voters with physical disabilities...he could hardly have meant 78-year-olds like Grandma Bonnie Peters, or 87-year-olds like Oogesti, who are still driving Republicans to the polls. In most states it's easy for anyone with confirmation of a permanent disability to get an absentee ballot by mail. I'm not sure why people whose disabilities are only temporary wouldn't have photo ID, but it might be a good idea for supporters of photo ID laws to find out more about how various kinds of disabilities affect the voters you know. Is photo ID a problem for any of your friends? What are their difficulties, and what can your Tea Party do to help?

4. Finally, the Green Party spokesman claimed that there are three counties in Tennessee that don't even have DMV headquarters. If this is true, which counties are those, and how do the people who live there get drivers' licenses? How can they help people who don't drive, but who would like to vote, to ensure that these counties are fairly represented in elections?

Where's the Humanity?

Warning: reading this article may trigger extreme emotional reactions. If you have a mood disorder, please go to the right side of the page now and click on a different story:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/30/heart-wrenching-video-shows-starving-dog-burying-her-11-puppies-after-man-left-them-to-die-in-his-yard/

A comment I'm posting here, because it's long, has to do with animal behavior. Dogs and cats react to the loss of puppies and kittens in a variety of ways. Sometimes their reactions have something to do with the cause of death. A malnourished mother animal whose babies are close to starvation may indeed eat a baby (yes, this has been documented in humans). A mother animal who's about to die from starvation may no longer have the strength to digest a meal, and may refuse to eat a starving baby animal for that reason. A kitten or puppy who's died from one of the infectious conditions animals can smell (humans can learn to recognize most of the odors too) may be buried in order to improve the atmosphere. Kittens are prone to bacterial enteritis, which usually causes painful death; mother cats recognizing this disease will stop feeding or grooming sick kittens, but will check on them from time to time and resume caring for them if the kittens do fight off the disease. And when a tame animal mother doesn't know what to do for her babies, she's likely to bring them to her humans and see whether the humans can help.

Father dogs and cats have a poorer record than mothers. Father cats have been known to kill and eat healthy kittens, apparently in the hope that the mother will be interested in starting a new litter. On the other hand some dogs and social cats can be described as good fathers who help the mothers feed and protect their babies...but they're a minority. Most father dogs and cats just ignore their mates and offspring.

Do animals ever choose abortion? I've seen cats mate, appear to be pregnant, then mate again and appear to have terminated the pregnancy. I'm not sure whether the spontaneous abortions trigger the renewed interest in sex or vice versa, but I've seen otherwise healthy cats do this and stay sexually active and baby-free all through the year.

Now, about the alleged humans in this story. Why would someone choose to starve a dog instead of selling it, putting it in a shelter, or shooting it? Probably because he's a sociopath, although I've heard of other possibilities. According to local legend a Scott County man once inherited a few acres of flat, arable land on the condition that he keep a few cows on the land as long as the cows lived. The will specified that he keep the cows, but did not specifically mention feeding them. So he let the cows eat all the grass in their pasture in autumn, and then instead of leading them to a fresh pasture or buying hay in winter, he let them starve, and then according to the terms of the bequest he was free to plough the land in spring. But people knew what he'd done, and despised him.

I'm more concerned about the Humane Society...not to mention the emotional reaction about how "he shouldn't be allowed to keep another animal." How, apart from confining him to an institution (which is probably a better idea since he's probably a sociopath), can he be prevented from keeping another animal? More background checks, more difficulties for those who want to keep pets, perhaps more restrictions on people interacting with wild or feral animals outdoors? Don't fall for it, Gentle Readers...

But why did the Humane Society ignore a case that's right up what's still believed to be their alley? One likely explanation: because today's Humane Society has been taken over by those who want to destroy domestic animals, "humanely," as distinct from those who want to help animals find loving homes. I suppose some sort of bureaucratic glitch might supply an excuse, and the glitch might actually exist, but the Humane Society's failure to intervene in a clear case of animal abuse fits into a pattern that's more ominous than basic bureaucratic inefficiency.

Ashton Kutcher Defines Sexiness

Jason Howerton reveals what Ashton Kutcher considers sexy:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/13/famous-actor-reveals-real-name-gives-incredibly-insightful-speech-about-hard-work-and-generosity-at-teen-choice-awards/

Neighborly Motorist Gets a Nice Surprise

Jason Howerton reports on the music fans who stopped on the way to a concert to offer help to a stranded cyclist...who turned out to be the star of the show:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/15/dave-matthews-band-fan-gets-huge-surprise-on-her-way-to-concert-we-couldnt-believe-it/

In this context I might as well share an update about my car-free life. Last week, after reading this post, I commented that God had given us "Modern Conveniences" and the common sense to use them judiciously not wastefully. I don't know whether anyone else even thought of the historical point I had in mind. Crossing the Rocky Mountains in high summer is still an adventure. It used to be such an adventure that a whole genre of adventure stories were based on the reminiscences of the few humans who'd survived it.

As we--individuals, nations, the whole world--start to look ahead and see an end to the petroleum reserves that twentieth-century American culture was based on wasting, we start to anticipate a crisis and think about ways to avoid one. Require all motor fuel to contain some ethanol? Destroy the bedrock that's holding us up above sea level in order to get at more gas? Drive a "hybrid" car, feel good about yourself because some small part of its energy consumption comes from sunshine, then spend a lot of time having it towed by heavy diesel-burning trucks because the new technology in its engine is not all that reliable yet? What about...wow, radical!...just not driving when we can walk?

Radical though it is, that last option happens to appeal to me; I'm active and healthy enough not to mind walking, and I also happen to have an astigmatism that causes me to hate driving. And yes, I do expect that, if and when you're driving in the same direction I'm going, and you see me walking, and you want me to consider you a friend, you'll offer to share your car. I ask people to drive only when there's some special reason why it's necessary. I'd prefer that more people overcame prejudices and walked across town, as I do--it'd make the roads safer, it'd make our business district livelier, it'd help a lot of us fight obesity and hypertension--but I don't argue with anybody's claim that they need a car to make any given trip. If you're going to convert that pint of petroleum reserves into carbon monoxide, though, you could at least share the benefits of it. I don't like breathing fumes.

Personally, I don't promise any benefits to those who share their vehicles with me. I don't even promise I'll accept a ride with just anybody. What I'm likely to do for people who've given me a lift depends on a lot of things: how much time and aggravation they've saved me, how far we've gone, how annoying their conversation has been, whether I have any pocket money, whether I can honestly say anything nice about their business on this web site and (if so) what they want to have said. I don't even know what I'd like to do for you until the end of the trip.

So let's just remind everybody of what the Bible says about the general idea of being hospitable rather than paranoid, even toward total strangers. "Some have received angels."

Somebody will now ask, "Do you consider yourself an angel? What about this and that other person I often see walking when I'm driving--are they angels?" Probably not. The word "angel" originally meant a message from God, and now means the bearer of such a message. Any of your neighbors--even the spooky old character who stands under the bridge waving leaves at passers-by--could potentially serve as an angel, but it's not likely. But you never know what good results may come from doing the right thing. You might share your car with a pop star you wouldn't have dared to ask for a free autograph.

Statistically, when people share their cars, or their homes or their leisure hours, the most likely probability is that they'll get into boring awkward conversations...but despite the emotional effect of TV news shows that call most attention to the least commonplace events, we're more likely to meet someone famous than we are to pick up a carjacker.

Yet Another Private Gun Owner Prevents Crime

Jason Howerton reports:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/01/dont-mess-with-a-mans-family-armed-texas-dad-takes-on-three-home-intruders/

PK comments: This is as good a place as any to thank the real-world friend who got me a copy of Glenn Beck's Control. John Lott's help with the book shows...I never would have thought I'd sit down and read a whole 200-page book about guns, in view of my previous knowledge consisting mainly of (1) "Always handle guns as if they're loaded" and (2) "Any person who takes me out shooting can be sure he or she won't have the lowest score in the group," but here I am, doing just that.

Control is basically a reference book for defenders of the Second Amendment. Not many Beck-style wisecracks, although there are some; mostly it's just data, organized by the anti-gun cliches the data can be used to refute. Nevertheless some stories in this book, including one I remember reading fifteen years ago, may make you cry. Even if you've read or heard them before.

If you read Control you will have an even more vivid mental picture than you got from (as I recall) Arianna Huffington's How to Overthrow the Government...the Mississippi school shooting that didn't reach "massacre" proportions. Drugged-out high school boy steals rifle (by killing the owner with a knife), goes to high school, fires several times, sees all the kids playing dead. Does not take time to notice that only nine have actually been hit. (Two of the nine died.) Meanwhile, down the street at the junior high school, the vice-principal hears shots, goes out to parking lot, removes own pistol from own vehicle. High school boy leaves high school, drives to junior high school. There, Vice-Principal Joel Myrick greets him with the question "Why are you shooting at my kids?"--holding the pistol to the boy's car window. Boy becomes nervous and huddles in car until removed by police.

Beautiful story. We need more people like that.

And this is also as good a place as any to mention that, if you're going to get seriously into guns, not just as museum pieces but as loaded weapons you carry around for protection, you had better be as brave as Mr. Ortiz, or Vice-Principal Myrick. If you're not ready to put yourself in the way of a homicidal maniac with a gun, keep practicing, but keep your guns and ammunition in separate places and out of sight.

This web site distrusts efforts to formalize policies about who should and shouldn't be carrying loaded weapons, because there's no way a policy could get access to the right information. It's a question of skill (which can be formally assessed) and character (which cannot). This web site sincerely hopes that all our readers have the right sort of character. If you don't, or if you don't have adequate skills, please save our burdened economy an extra expense and disarm yourselves.

A Challenge for Conservative Christians

For conservative Christians, here is your moral challenge of the day: Read Jason Howerton's reports, with screenshots, about Alec Baldwin's anti-conservative rants. (Warning: profanity, vulgarity, and threats of violence seem to be this guy's native language.) Now remember how the left-leaning media have flapped and squawked every time they heard that Mel Gibson lost his cool. Now try to write blog posts, tweets, etc., that treat Baldwin exactly the same way you treat Gibson.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/28/im-gonna-find-you-and-im-gonna-fk-you-up-alec-baldwins-profane-twitter-meltdown/

I know how hard it is, considering that the vaguely conservative actor also happens to be the more attractive man. But try.

Police Fail to Defend Home Owners

If you were considering buying a house in Florida or California, be warned: Police in these states won't even back you up if you defend your home from burglars.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/25/84-year-old-fl-gun-owner-shoots-at-robber-after-several-warnings-now-police-are-investigating-him-for-a-possible-crime/

Oh that poor, pitiful thief...now nobody could have expected him to drop the stolen goods and run before anybody shot at him, could they?

Permit Needed for Free Haircuts?

Jason Howerton reports on yet another bad thing happening to a nice senior citizen...this time, an attempt to stop him giving homeless men free haircuts.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/13/82-year-old-barber-will-be-allowed-to-keep-giving-free-haircuts-in-exchange-for-hugs-despite-permit-threats-from-city-officials/