The FBI and the Congressman
May 31, 2006
A bunch of members of Congress are complaining about the FBI raiding a fellow member’s office and seizing a whole host of documents.
In yesterday’s court filing, the government argued that law enforcement authorities should not be barred from conducting searches of congressional offices simply because they contain legislative materials — such as committee reports, internal memos and drafts of bills — that are protected under the “Speech or Debate” clause. “If his argument is accepted by this court, members of Congress and their staffs would be able to create search-free zones wherever they go by bringing along some legislative materials,”
I really don’t have any problem with the FBI performing a raid on a congressman’s office. The idea that congressmen are above the law is repugnant. The fact that so many members of congress are lambasting the president and the FBI for this is disturbing. I can’t help but think that they are worried because they have damning evidence within their own offices.
New Stake Center
May 30, 2006
The Bend Stake has had a new stake center built and it’s really beautiful. I got to walk through it this evening and I’m just amazed at how nice it is. One other item of note is that it’s REALLY big, especially when you consider the two other church buildings we have here in Bend. The one that my ward meets at is down on the corner of Tekampe and Knott roads, and it’s only half a building. Apparently, there was a bunch of local opposition when we were trying to build that building, so we couldn’t build it as big as we were hoping. In fact, it looks like it’s only half of the building that it was designed to be. I honestly don’t mind because we now have three buildings in Bend to support our four wards and one branch, which is more than enough real estate to last us another 15 years.
One relatively local building that I’ve seen that is pretty unique is the one that houses the Sisters Branch, which is part of the Redmond Stake. While my church building is about half the normal size, the Sisters Branch building is only half of THAT. In fact, it’s probably only about 75 to 100 feet long. It’s tiny! Melanie and I were thinking that it would be kind of fun to move into such a small ward/branch, and increase the membership by 6-7 people in one fell swoop. We already have some friends in that branch who moved there with their 6 kids, so it would be kind of fun going there.
Showing ID
May 19, 2006
Should voters be required to show photo I.D. before they can cast their ballots?
An amendment to the immigration bill being debated in the U.S. Senate would make it mandatory for all voters to present photo identification before casting ballots in a federal election by Jan. 1, 2008.
Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., introduced the amendment (S.A. 4021) to The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S.B. 2611).
… and …
(a) IN GENERAL.–Notwithstanding the requirements of section 303(b), each State shall require individuals casting ballots in an election for Federal office in person to present before voting a current valid photo identification which is issued by a governmental entity and which meets the requirements of section 7212 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (49 U.S.C. 30301 note).”
I really don’t have any problem with requiring it. In fact, I expect that it should be required. I mean, it’s required for a lot of different things, and requiring it to be shown at the time of taking part in crucial elections just seems like such a no-brainer.
Polarity Reversal
May 12, 2006
There’s some talk that the Earth could be experiencing a polarity reversal in the magnetic field. That’s kinda interesting. I wonder how long it will be before the Bush administration and its environmental policies are blamed for it.
