Olive King

Who ever knew that olive oil had so many uses? I stumbled upon this website while searching for salad dressing info. It lists about 50 (and counting) uses for olive oil. I'm not sure I'd want to try some of these, but interesting nonetheless.

The Decline of Conversation...

Enjoyed this...

Remember this woman?

She is of course, Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female supreme court justice in US history. Reagan nominated her back when being republican didn't mean being an ignorant moron following self-interest rather than the good of the country and world. If you recall she recently retired. (full bio here)

Why am I bringing this up today? Well, for years she was a "swing" vote in the supreme court on many 5-4 votes, including the unconstitutionality of Florida's recount in 2000. She was widely considered a moderate conservative but showed no hesitation to go contrary to that when she felt the law supported it.

Just this week, the Supreme court handed down it's first 5-4 split since she left office and was replaced by Samuel Alito. The case was focused on protection for government whistleblower protection, and subsequently on protection speaking as a government employee, or as a US citizen. You can view the majority ruling and dissenting opinions here. In essence the protections for government whistleblowers exposing wrongdoings and corruption were stripped away in a crushing blow for anyone who doesn't support government wrongdoing. In an era of increasingly corrupt government, the court has bafflingly empowered those who would abuse their power. This is just yet another scarey action backed by the Bush administration and the Bush judges on the court.

It is simply ridiculous that the government, which employs millions of Americans, would have no protection for those who uncover wrongdoing. Basically if I see that my boss is using FEMA money to go on vacation, or I'm a police officer with knowledge of police corruption, I can still be fired or reprimanded for exposing the issues. Simply ridiculous, and basically a punched ticket to create rampant government corruption.

How can anyone publically support this or think it is a good idea? Of course Bush is claiming this will help the government work "more efficiently" because it won't be subject to frivilous lawsuits from fired employees. I'm claiming the behind closed doors corruption and slippery government will only get worse.

The more this administration continues on the more disgusted I become with our political system. The worse part is that no one is DOING anything about it. Bush is already challenging the authority of hundreds of laws with his interpretation statements (found here), basically ignoring whatever he wants. Now, government officials (many of his buddies) get a boost in their attempts to do whatever they want to work the system to their advantage. Simply disgusting. Where and when will it end?

And so, on days like this I wish Sandra Day O'Connor was still around to make this case fall the other way. This is the first ruling, likely of many, that will define the court and the country in the years to come.