Random thoughts

Ride report 120115

2012-01-15T22:36:00.000-05:00

The Big Money Rally has been going for three days, and since the weather was very clear (albeit somewhat crisp), I headed out to bag a few bonii. As you can see, the bike was reporting the chill in the air -- the icing warning (the snowflake above the odometer) didn't stop flashing for the entire 7 1/2 hour ride.

I was wearing my usual riding gear, plus a Gerbing's heated jacket and trouser combination, my usual winter Gerbing's heated gloves, and a wool balaclava from Aerostich. The heated gear, plus the grip heater and saddle heater made the trip a wonder. I felt a little chill on my ankles (I wasn't wearing the heated socks, today, which I'll add for the next chilly ride), but other than that I was really comfortable.

Those are my beady little eyes, peering out from my helmet.

I knew I wanted to head to southern Maryland, so off I went. The Big Money Rally has a whole set of bonii locations for the first "phase" (12 January through about 1 April 2012). The bonii include National Parks and selected U.S. Post Offices. The National Park units must have the word "park" in their name, so I was off to Oxon Cove Park in Maryland, which is one of the closer units that fit the criteria. Oxon Cove Park contains Oxon Hill Farm, which is a real demonstration farm. It's been YEARS since I've been there -- it'll have to wait a little longer for a re-visit, when I have a bit more time on the clock and the mercury is a bit higher in the sight glass.

Part of the challenge with photo bonii is getting the shot composed just right. I don't have the right hangars for the rally "flag" yet, so I improvised by using the bike as a prop. This was my first bonus location for this rally. As you can see, the parking lot was completely empty on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

The next stop was Fort Foote, one of the U.S. Civil War forts that ringed Washington, DC.

And from Fort Foote, I was on to Fort Washington. Fort Washington is another place I've haven't visited in years...perhaps later this year.

As I mentioned earlier, in addition to U.S. National Park Service units (that have "park" in their name or official signage), selected U.S. Post Offices are on the bonii list. My next stop was the post office just outside Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division.

And, here I am, again, peering out of my helmet, in the bright winter sun.

Since I was in the area, I stopped off at Smallwood State Park to bag a geocache.

The U.S. Post Office in Nanjemoy, MD is pretty small, as most of the rural post offices are.

One of the reasons I enjoy these Grand Tours so much is that they, like geocaching, cause me to go places I wouldn't otherwise have visited. I spent a lot of time rolling through some amazing places in rural Maryland this afternoon. While I saw only two other motorcycles (both dirt bikes), I saw quite a few young people out either walking along or playing basketball.

The U.S. Post Office in Welcome, MD shares a building with what appeared to me to be a residence.

I just couldn't pass this one up. Apehanger's Bar & Grill in Bel Alton, MD has a LOT of motorcycle parking. When I'm by here in better weather, the bikes are stacked up like cord wood. Today, there was only one, lonely BMW R1200RT out front. The other motorcycle parking spots had cages in them. Apehanger's is, I've learned, for sale. There's one heckuva investment opportunity for someone, waiting in Bel Alton.

Piney Point is a very interesting spot...I've never been in that area, before, but want to go back and explore more when time permits. For now, though, I've "bagged" their local post office.

As I rolled out of Piney Point, I was getting hungry, and the sun was heading down, so I turned northward to return to the barn. I headed for what was to be the last U.S. Post Office of the day, in California, MD.

There's a serviceable, but not great, Mexican restaurant near the post office, so I parked the bike and grabbed a bite to eat before heading north.

So far this year, I've been able to ride on two weekends. It was chilly both times, but the weather was otherwise excellent. It's great to get out to ride, and to practice rally skills (e.g., route planning, bonii searching, timed stops). Here's hoping the weather holds out reasonably well the rest of winter!

Butt Lite 6IX

2012-01-12T20:06:00.000-05:00

Butt Lite 6IX closed for new registrants today. I realized, as I was starting this post, that I hadn't blogged that (a) I was interested in participating in Butt Lite 6IX, (b) that I had registered, and (c) that I have a slot.

So, here's that post:

(a) yes
(b) yes
(c) YES!

I have the next few months to train...I have a slot in this year's Cape Fear 1000, and want to run the Minuteman 1000. I wanted to run the Mason Dixon 20-20 "Mountain Do Do", but Joe's graduation ceremony is that weekend, so I'm off to a nice family occasion!

2012 Cape Fear 1000

2012-01-06T22:39:00.000-05:00

The Coastal Carolina Rally Crewe runs the Cape Fear 1000 every year in April. It's two concurrent long-distance endurance rallies: a 29 hour version and a 10-hour mini-rally.

This year's (2012) 29-hour version starts at 1000 Eastern Time on Friday, 20 April 2012 in each of three locations:

Arcadia, FL
Jamestown, NY
Paris, TN

Each rider in the 29-hour rally must be at the rally HQ not later than 1500 Eastern Time on Saturday, 21 April 2012.

There is a mandatory 4-hour rest stop (which can be extended to six hours for additional points), so the rally involves a maximum of 25 hours in the saddle. For those who ride a consistent 50 mph over long distances (which includes fuel stops, bio-breaks, snack stops, stretch breaks, flower-sniffing, and bonus-location-finding), that's about 1250 miles.

The reward at the end is satisfaction for a safe and fun ride and a BBQ dinner on Saturday evening.

The 2012 Cape Fear 1000 opened for registration this morning at 0100 EST. One of my riding buddies registered at 0107 and found all of the slots except Jamestown, NY already closed. I slept in a little longer than I should have, but found a slot when I logged on about 0200. So, I'm all set for the first LD rally of the year.

Here's the distribution of bikes registered in this year's rally:

BMW 47

Harley-Davidson 6

Honda 41

Kawasaki 13

Suzuki 6

Triumph 1

Victory 1

Yamaha 10

Total 125

Total w PAX 142

There's a lot of prep work that needs to be done over the next three months -- additional farkling (new camera to install, sort out audio improvements (time for SiriusXM?), improve the mount for the traffic service, and so on), practice runs, practice planning sessions, 24000 mile check, new tires, ....

Last ride of 2011?

2011-12-18T18:05:00.001-05:00

It's always hard to tell when the last of some things happens. I'm guessing, that because of scheduling and weather, that today's all-too-short ride may have been the last ride of the year.

The Void 2011

2011-10-09T16:21:00.001-04:00

And...that's a wrap, until the Cape Fear rally in April 2012....

The Void 2011 -- Ride report

2011-10-09T09:10:00.001-04:00

What a great ride!

I completed The Void yesterday afternoon. I started in Lebanon, PA at 0900 Friday, and finished at about 1330 on Saturday.

A few thoughts:

I learned a lot from the MD 20/20, and didn't make those mistakes this time around...I made some new ones, but nothing serious.
I still plan too aggressively...I need to give myself more time -- at least 10 minutes. The good news is that my plans always include bail-outs. The bad news is that I usually need them. Fuel stops are under five minutes, and most bonus locations are quick, but they aren't free.
I had almost everything I needed. I forgot the road food at home, so needed to stop by the store Thursday evening. Not a big problem, but a distraction anyway. I needed stamps, so needed to stop at a post office on the way...took just a few minutes, but every minute counts.
I need to think about traffic light density and construction zones -- these two factors destroy a timeline. U.S. 13 in Delaware comes to mind as a perfect example of a time-robbing route. Just because it says 45 MPH or 55 MPH on a sign, doesn't make it so.
I had never done a rest bonus at the host hotel. I learned how to stop the clock quicker than I did last night. This cost me a big double bonus in North Carolina this morning. An extra half hour would have really helped.
I made a few wrong turns, based on either my interpretation of really good signage, or signage that just wasn't clear enough. Either way, I was able to recover very quickly, so didn't lose any time.
Choices. I went for a 999 multi in Delaware on Friday; that decision slowed me up enough to ensure I couldn't make it back to Lynchburg in enough time to do the difficult "Multi-N" loop in Virginia (which is what the winning rider did).
I had fun. I had a lot of fun. I learned a lot about myself, about my motorcycle, and about motorcycle riding.

And now, on to the narrative:

I started in Lebanon, Pennsylvania on Friday morning. The start window ran from 0850 to 0910; I spent a few minutes unsuccessfully riding to the Lebanon Post Office (which I didn't locate), then rode to the Rite Aid downtown (at which I'd seen another rider earlier). One candy bar and a good receipt (to start the clock) later, I was ready to place the telephone call that let the Rally Masters know that I'd started the clock.

Note to self: these large chain drug stores are nearly everywhere (except in small towns where you want to buy sun screen because you're getting baked behind your helmet visor, but that's another story), and they have good receipts (meaning: the city, state, date, and time are on the receipt).

I had planned to pick up a two-bonus multi in PA and DE first, so I was off to find a cemetery in Bristol, PA. It was a beautiful morning, and the road conditions were really good.

Here's what I was searching for in Bristol:

This poor gal was killed in an automobile collision, and had more than a few visitors on Friday to pay their respects.

From Bristol, I was off to Dover, Delaware to visit the Governor's House. Pretty nice place.

As I alluded to earlier, I spent a lot of time navigating the streets and highways of Delaware...nice place, but very time-consuming.

The combination of Bristol, PA and Dover, DE (in any order, and with no other bonii in between) was worth 999 points (333 + 333 + 333 for the combination)

From Dover, I needed to travel just a short distance up the road to Smyrna, Delaware, to take a picture of a water tower. Very conveniently (for me), the water tower was adjacent to a Sheetz (and I needed fuel):

Smyrna was worth 111 points.

From Smyrna, I traveled north to Newark ("New Ark", as opposed to "Nurk", which is some other place, at another exit):

The Peoples Plaza get their own giant advertising sign, in the form of a water tower, which was worth 222 points to me.

Having spent A LOT OF TIME in Delaware, it was time to head north again to Pennsylvania. More time slogging along roads that had some construction and A LOT of traffic lights.

For 999 points, I went to Bernville, Pennsylvania, to visit the Kirkhoff Funeral Home (the site of the former Penn Valley Hotel):

My last stop in Pennsylvania was in Selinsgrove, for 1111 points:

There was a big traffic delay, so I just pulled over to the side of the road, jumped off the bike, and snapped the picture. As you might be able to see, it was getting late in the day when I made this stop. The traffic snarl around Selinsgrove added more delay to the plan. By now, I'm far enough behind on the plan that I abandoned the stop in Gettysburg (Devil's Den) which I'd been looking forward to all day. So, I'm now off to Virginia (via Maryland and West Virginia) to do the required odometer check in Lynchburg. My GPS told me that I'd be there right before midnight, and after a long ride, that's exactly where and when I ended up.

The odometer check was a ~15 mile route around a part of Lynchburg. That took about 30 minutes and was worth 1 point.

I stopped the clock at the rally hotel (the Quality Inn in Lynchburg) to begin the mandatory three-hour rest stop (which was worth 2000 points, plus 2000 points because every bonus after the odometer check was doubled(!)).

I got some good sleep in Lynchburg, then it was time to mount up again and head out. I'd dumped the massive 6672 point bonus (1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 6666 for the combination), so did a quick-replan. I planned to go to Kingsport, TN then Danbury, NC then back to Lynchburg (the fellow who placed second ran that route, but went to Danbury before Kingsport).

This is what (888 x 2) points looks like in Kingsport, TN:

This is one of the places to which I intend to return. I like river towns a lot, and Kingsport has a lot of appeal in that regard. It looks like they have good BBQ, as well, which is another good reason to return.

Next stop was in Abingdon, Virginia, for (111 x 2) points:

Abingdon is another place that I want to visit again.

Further up the road was Crockett, Virginia, where I aroused the attention of the person staffing the post office while I was earning (333 x 2) points:

She was wondering why so many people on motorcycles were running around her post office, taking pictures. By this time, I had been worried enough about getting caught on rural roads, in Virginia, on a beautiful fall Saturday, that I'd abandoned the Danbury, NC bonus (which would have been worth 777 x 2 points), so I chatted with the post office lady for a bit, explaining what we had been doing around her post office.

With Danbury off the plan, I now had enough time to stop for a bite to eat (which I did). Then, just for fun, I stopped off at Hiwassee, Virginia (for a whopping (6 x 2) points:

One of the many high points of this rally was seeing a very large black bear on a very small country road coming out of Hiwassee. The bear saw me about the time I saw it, and stood up on its hind legs. It looked at me for a split second, then went back down on all fours to amble a few paces, then stood up again. I was moving pretty slowly at the time (and as quietly as a motorcycle will allow), but the bear though better of a bear-motorcycle encounter, and ran through the brush downhill.

The road out of Hiwassee was beautiful -- another must-do visit in the future.

Also on a lark, I stopped by Bedford, Virginia, for my last stop (also worth 6 x 2 points).

Bedford is a charming town...on the list for revisits.

I finished 9th out of a field of 23 who started in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and learned lot. Now, it's off to the Cape Fear 1000 in April, 2012!

Many thanks to Scott LaShier and Gary Stipe (and a lot of others) who planned and executed yet another great The Void!

The Void start

2011-10-07T07:21:00.001-04:00

Well, it's nice and quiet in Lebanon, PA this morning...I saw three RTs, one LT, and one Wing in the parking lot this morning....

2011 The Void

2011-10-06T12:46:00.001-04:00

The rally packet arrived Tuesday evening, and I'm planning my ride. It should be a nice ride -- the weather sure is cooperating.

Packing light?

2011-07-22T06:53:00.001-04:00

One of the major advantages to backpacking is that it forces you to pack light. There are a few extra things here to support the front end and back end of this hike, but we were able to carry everything in one trip to the terminal.

Location : 7100-7102 Elm Rd, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), Baltimore, MD 21240,
Posted via Blogaway

Underway

2011-07-22T06:48:00.001-04:00

On the tarmac at BWI...underway to CLT in a few minutes....

Location : 7100-7102 Elm Rd, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), Baltimore, MD 21240,
Posted via Blogaway

The Void

2011-06-01T06:54:00.000-04:00

Registration opened today for The Void, October's motorcycle endurance rally in the mid-Atlantic and southern states.

2011 Mason Dixon 20-20 Motorcycle Rally Ride Report

2011-05-30T19:00:00.000-04:00

This is my ride report for the 2011 Mason Dixon 20-20 Motorcycle Rally that was run on Saturday and Sunday, 28-29 May 2011. This was my first long rally; I'd ridden the 500 mile / 10 hour Rally The Void mini-rally last October. Based on that experience, I was looking forward to "getting off the porch and running with the big dogs".

Chronology

Prelude -- registration opened LONG ago...in January, as I recall. I signed up, and anticipated the day when the bonii list would be delivered to my email inbox. The list was originally promised on Friday, 20 May...giving us a week to stew over our routes. As it happened, though, the bonii list was released early, giving us even more time to agonize over potential routes.

Buford, WY (the Ames Memorial) was the obvious sucker's bonus, and I initially discounted Indianapolis (on the weekend of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, no less) as a sucker's bonus. So, I planned a clockwise route: Hagerstown -> Flight 94 Memorial -> Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery -> Easton -> Manhattan -> Brooklyn –> Arlington –> North Carolina (with the three-hour mandatory rest bonus spent at home on the way) -> Hagerstown. I spent a day or two tweaking that route and convincing myself that it was doable. Mission accomplished!

Chatter on the email list had me rethinking the Indianapolis ride, so I did a re-plan with an anti-clockwise rotation: Hagerstown -> Arlington -> Brooklyn -> Manhattan -> Easton -> Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery -> Indianapolis -> Flight 93 Memorial -> Hagerstown (with a few other bonii in between). That’s essentially the route I rode.

I got a late start from the house, because I hadn’t completely packed the bike earlier in the week, programmed the two GPS receivers, and so on. Riding north on I-270 on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend isn’t the brightest thing to do, and it got worse as the day wore on. That was the first rookie mistake of the trip, because it pushed the schedule to the right so I had to quickly (a) check into the hotel, (b) get gift cards at TARGET to be used as a donation, (c) get the required six-pack of a beverage of choice, (d) check into the rally with (b) and (c) in hand, and (e) run the odometer check (15.n miles, where n = 3, 6, or whatever, depending upon the bike / tires / …). All that, and don’t be late to dinner at 1800!

Valley Wine & Spirits is the closest adult beverage dispenser to the Rally HQ hotel, so it was on the mandatory stop list.

Friday’s dinner was awesome. We had catered Mexican food – a build-your-own taco salad, with chicken and beef. Needless to say, there was good Mexican beer to go with the chow.

A mandatory first-time rider’s meeting started at 2000 and ran until about 2130. I was beat, so I set myself up for the second rookie mistake of the trip by not making sure my fuel tank was topped off before Saturday’s departure. More on that, later.

We arrived at the 0500 rider's meeting with our helmets; we had already staged our motorcycles on a very long line (~70 motorcycles) in the parking lot behind the hotel. Why did we need helmets at a rider's meeting, you ask? Rick had a treat for us: a Le Mans start. We lined our helmets up along another line in front of our bikes, and we lined up even further forward. On command, everyone walked briskly (ran?) to their helmets, then on to their bikes. Engines roared (okay, these bikes don't "roar"; many sound more like sewing machines) to life, and individual riders found their way to their selected route.

Many of the riders heading south to Arlington County, VA took the same route out of the parking lot. Individual riding styles caused the pack to thin out quickly, as each rider hit his or her stride. The weather was perfect -- the roads had dried out from the thunderstorms that had swept through the area on Friday evening (right around our dinnertime). The temperature was very pleasant, matching well with the light clothes I was wearing under my riding gear. I expected the temperatures to rise as the day went on, and planned to be uncomfortably hot by the afternoon.

I stopped for fuel about halfway to Arlington -- one of several unforced errors during the rally. As I mentioned earlier, I started for Hagerstown late on Friday, and wound up in a typical I-270 ~~freeway~~ parking lot. It took about an hour more to get to Hagerstown than it should have. That delay made getting fuel before the odometer check problematic, and I didn't get fuel after the mandatory first-time Mason Dixon 20-20 rider's meeting (which ended about 2130) because I was beat and there isn’t a fuel station anywhere close (that I could find). So, I took that extra fuel stop and chewed up a lot of time (ten minutes or more!) getting through neighborhoods and traffic lights on the way to the station. Fueled up, I continued south on I-270. Traffic was flowing very well and visibility was great: all-in-all a great ride.

My route took me south on I-270 to I-495, then to the Clara Barton Parkway. Even with living in northern Virginia for more than 20 years, I haven't spent much time on that road. I continued south to the turn onto Key Bridge, and made another unforced error (and one that I have made before, in a cage!). I turned onto the Whitehurst Freeway, instead of waiting another block to turn on U.S. 29S (the Key Bridge) to Rosslyn. That error ensured that I spent probably 10 minutes goofing off in DC on the way to I-66. I got through picturesque downtown Rosslyn okay, and made it to the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, where there were a number of other riders getting their photographs. I knew the photograph that I wanted, and walked briskly to the memorial to set it up. I knew I had to have three things in the frame: the memorial, the Washington Monument, and my rally flag.

From personal experience, I knew there was another critical stop to make at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial: the portable facilities between the memorial and the Netherlands Carillon. Feeling much better after that stop, it was time to head east on VA 110 to pick up I-395 northbound. That transition was trouble-free, and off I went to pick up DC 295 / MD 295 on the way to I-895. It was interesting to ride the Baltimore Washington Parkway, since that’s my usual route to and from work – the traffic was certainly different on Saturday than it is during the week.

On my way to I-895, I was nervous about getting the EZPass to work correctly; I keep the "puck" in a clear pocket on my left sleeve. Previously, I had hit-or-miss performance with the puck in my pocket. I experimented a while with placement, taking to waving the puck at the first few toll booths as I rode north.

Clearing the I-895 tool booth, I was off through the tunnel, heading north to Havre de Grace, MD. Riders that finished higher than me in the final standings skipped these MD and NJ bonii, so it was definitely a tradeoff between getting some points early and getting through Manhattan before the day wore on. It was nice to get off the bike for a few minutes to get the photo, though. I learned that the medium binder clips just aren't good enough -- the large size are needed to clip anything on to the usual roadside historical marker (later, I learned another invaluable trick: clip the flag to a clipboard, and lay the clipboard up against whatever needs to be photographed). I put my flag on the tall grass in front of the sign, and got the needed shot.

I took a wrong turn out of that location, another rookie mistake, which cost me a few more minutes as I headed back to the highway. Crossing the bridge into Delaware, I picked up I-95 north again (and more toll stops).

I picked up the NJ Turnpike just off the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I usually take I-295 (from my days of traveling to and from Moorestown, NJ), but figured that my best time could be had on the turnpike. I left the turnpike to travel to Holmdel, NJ to get a photograph of a transistor-shaped water tower. From there, I headed north on the Garden State Parkway to get to Staten Island.

Crossing Staten Island, led me to the New Utrecht Avenue Station on the BMT Sea Beach Line and BMT West End Line in the Bensonhurst neighborhood in Brooklyn. This station is where the chase in The French Connection ends, so it wound up on our bonii list. I had to find the correct entrance amid all the usual construction, then park the bike to get the shot. There was another rider there at the same time, so we exchanged a few words as we got our photographs. He was checking the oil level in his Kawasaki as I was getting ready to leave, so I made sure he was good to go. Leaving Bensonhurst, he went one way, and I went another, but we both wound up in a big accident scene. He scooted between two cars and made a right turn; I followed closely behind. We rode around the wreck successfully, and entered the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to get to Manhattan.

I got to Battery Park just fine, and pulled up in a bus loading zone; I knew I wasn’t going to be there long, and jumped off the bike to get the required photograph. The object in the background is a sculpture that had been at the World Trade Center; it was severely damaged in the collapse of the two towers, and is now on display in Battery Park.

Another thing I didn’t plan well enough was my route from Battery Park to the Holland Tunnel. Traffic was bad and getting worse, and GPS reception in lower Manhattan is always bad. I bumbled my way north on the island, though, and managed to get on 12th Avenue. The traffic getting into and through the Holland Tunnel was miserable, and the tunnel was pretty warm. My oil-cooled bike thought it was pretty warm while idling in the tunnel, as well…I kept one eye on the traffic and the other on the temperature gauge. It was good to see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it was New Jersey(!).

By now, I’m about an hour behind where I should have been to make the back end of the trip manageable, so I’m busy thinking about shedding some bonii as I ride along.

Leaving New York in the rearview mirror, I was off to Easton, PA to have my picture taken with Jim Owen and to purchase a food item from Fat Daddy’s Southern Bar-B-Q. I was happy to get off the bike for a few minutes, but managed to spend a lot more time there than I should have. Instead of getting something to throw in the tank bag so I could continue to roll west (another rookie mistake, motivated by saddle-induced soreness), I got a little potato salad and a little cole slaw, and ate them in the parking lot while giving my sitting apparatus a little rest from the saddle. It was nice to chat a bit with Jim; he was with us on Friday evening and at the scoring table and dinner on Sunday.

From Easton, I rode to the Indiantown Gap National Cemetery to visit Jim Young’s gravesite. Jim died near Paradox, CO during the Thin Air TT rally in July, 2001.

The cemetery is beautiful; I’m looking forward to returning to visit when I have a little more time.

It started to rain a bit as I was pulling out of the cemetery, and I needed fuel. I also needed to get another of the wildcard bonii: a $2 scratcher lottery ticket (had to be from MD, PA, or WV). There’s a gas station just down the road from the cemetery, so that was the logical place to stop to get both jobs done.

The rain doesn’t look like it’s going to be a major problem.

Major decision point. I’m far enough off my plan now, that I need to make some quick decisions. The fellow who was with me at Fat Daddy’s was on to Reading, PA – I’d decided against Reading early in the planning process because I didn’t think it offered enough points for the time and distance required. I had planned to pick up three locations to the north, up U.S. 22. With time problems, I decided to shed the U.S. 22 locations and head west. That turned out to be a good decision for at least two reasons – U.S. 22 was far more likely to be critter-ridden that the Interstate (the VAST number of road-kill on the PA Interstates is a caution flag) and I was to be riding on U.S. 22 during “critter time”, and it turns out that the extra time on U.S. 22 would have really cramped my ability to finish before the deadline. What I didn’t do, though, as part of the replanning effort, was to realize that I should have picked up the Flight 93 site on Saturday (since I rode right past it while heading to Indianapolis) – yet another rookie mistake. I had half of the re-planning effort thought out in advance, but didn’t work all the details. That mistake cost me points at the scoring table.

So, mistakes aside (and a longer meal stop than I should have taken at a rest area on the PA Turnpike), I’m on to the John & Annie Glenn Historic Site in New Concord, OH to take a photograph of their sign. Two other bonus seekers ride up as I’m finishing my little photo op. You can just make out the reflective material on their riding clothes in this shot.

Now, as you can tell, it’s pretty dark. I’m okay for a few more hours of riding, but the skies are threatening. I work the numbers in my head as I ride, and elect to stop in Springfield, OH just as the skies are really looking bad. As it happens, another rider was caught in that storm and wound up with a tank-slapper, going down in the freeway. I understand he was banged up a bit, but otherwise okay.

I snagged a room at a hotel right around midnight and bagged just under three hours of sleep. I woke up fine, and headed downstairs to check out, only to find the lobby area locked. Ugh. I walked around to the front door to see what the issue was – as soon as I left the hotel to make the turn to the front door, I was confronted with the gas station across the street being completely full of cars and people. No one was getting gas (at this, the only gas station open as far as I could see) – they were all at the gas station to party at 0300!

After staring at this spectacle for a few minutes, the guy at the front desk let me in. He wasn’t quick enough in locking the door behind me, and some party-goers came in to use the facilities (which concerned the night manager greatly). I was anxious to get out of there as quickly as possible, so didn’t spend too much time chit-chatting. My rest bonus had started at the party-goer-ridden gas station across the street, and I needed fuel for the next leg, so I shoe-horned my bike between a car and the pump and managed to get a tank-full. In my amazement at the crowd,I managed to miss getting the required photograph of the pump to satisfy the fuel log requirement, costing me 5 points at the scoring table. Five points at this rally was huge. Oh, well…another rookie mistake.

I’ve got a long, long slog now to Indianapolis, where I’m to take a picture of a driver’s statue in Brownsburg, IN. There was another rider there at the same time I was…always nice to have a little company at a bonus stop.

From there, I had to get to Speedway, IN to grab another photo. As it would turn out, the approach from Brownsburg was probably the only reasonable way to get into Speedway, since the cars were already lined up for miles to the east to get into infield parking. What a zoo! Anyway, I get to the appointed location, jump off the bike (there’s another rider there, as well, looking for the right thing to take a picture of), and start hunting. The RM had sent a text that I didn’t get until MUCH too late, telling us that the description of the location changed from museum (which is really in the infield) to administration building (which is where I was). So, I spent a half-hour trying to finagle my way onto the infield (to no avail), then had to bail to get back to the Flight 93 memorial and on to Hagerstown before the deadline. Yet another rookie mistake.

So, I’m on my way back east, having experienced Indianapolis on race day (which is awesome), and I’m riding into the rising sun. What a beautiful sight! I’m a bit hungry, so I stop (again, for longer than I should have) for a bite at a rest stop.

After riding all morning, I arrived at the Flight 93 National Memorial, where I snapped this picture.

Two well-laden touring bikes passed me on their way in, slowing down to make sure I was okay. What a nice riding community, these long-distance touring folks are. At first glance, I thought they might be on the rally, but then noticed they had dry bags, so were out camping as they rode along.

By this time, I’m running against the clock, knowing that I’m going to lose more points at the scoring table because I’m going to bust the 1400 end time. Upon rounding the corner to the finish line, I stopped and hopped off the bike long enough to put my sponsor decal and rally flag on my bike (both were bonus points – the decal was pre-announced, and the rally flag (because it had a checkered flag on it) was a wild-card bonus).

I ended up coming in 14 minutes late (for a 14(!) point penalty). Again, oh well.

Here’s my bike as it looked when I crossed the finish line, rally flag and all.So, for about 1598 miles over 29.5 hours in the saddle, I sat here…and twisted that.

Epilogue. I was, characteristically, the last bike out of the hotel’s parking lot on Monday, taking advantage of the standard noon checkout. I’d taken advantage of a slow morning to indulge in my other scavenger hunt hobby, geocaching, in the area around the mall. While hiking around, I came upon the site of the Saturday evening skills tests, with the target times chalked onto the pavement.

With the rally over, I was left with the decision about the route home. Rick had announced, the night before, that the theme of the 2012 Mason Dixon 20-20 would be Mountain Do Do (sp?). That inspired me to ride west to Cumberland (where I tested my bike’s ability to find a Dairy Queen for a celebratory Blizzard™).

After dessert, I rode south to Moorefield to let the RT off the leash in the sweepers and twisties so common in West Virginia. Just north of Moorefield, I headed east on the infamous Corridor H (the freeway from nowhere – Virginia hasn’t lobbied / won’t lobby to get it connected to I-81 in the vicinity of Strasburg to, largely, nowhere. Senator Byrd died just a few miles too soon to fully realize this tourism boon, though I’m sure that the easternmost counties do benefit from the old guy’s fondness of spending other people’s money. The old WV 55 is still there, and is a great ride. I was still a bit sore from the ride to and from Indianapolis, though, so I took the more direct route when it was available (see, maybe the old unreconstructed southern Democrat was on to something…). I continued on VA 55 after crossing the state line, all the way to just shy of The Plains, where I picked up I-66 eastbound. Ahhh, the slab again. Traffic was remarkably light, so the rest of the trip back to Fairfax County was uneventful (but very hot and humid – the thermometer on the bike registered north of 95 deg F as I was rolling east on I-66).

Unforced errors. Made far, far too many. Practice will help with some of this. A more comfortable saddle will help, as well.

Bottom line: great experience, tremendous fun, very safe (no situations at all -- nothing hit me, and I didn't hit anything (though I did have a close call with something that looked like a small rat or large mouse that tried to charge across a road in front of my bike after I left the Flight 93 National Memorial)), somewhat sore (the IBA doesn't call it a "bunburner" for nothing), lots of good experience and many lessons-learned.

What didn't work well. Getting fuel early spent critical time early in the run. Wrong turn onto the Whitehurst Freeway -- spent at least five minutes goofing off in DC on my way to the memorial. Bad turn out of Havre de Grace.

What worked reasonably well:

Planning – I had a decent plan that, if I’d ridden it, would have turned out pretty good. Major problem: not leaving enough time in the plan for fuel and bonus stops.
Routing – decent routing. I came up with a way of figuring out how much of any given route is taken up with specific types of roads, which is a useful thing to know. Also, I learned how to compare the results of MapSource routing and the routing computed by my GPS receiver. MapSource allows you to tinker with the speeds for different classes of roads – the GPS receiver uses whatever the posted speed limit is to compute the route. These are wildly different results, and it’s useful to understand why.
Options – bailout. Work them out in advance, write them down, and put them on the tank bag. Worked great for me, except I hadn’t thought through the implications of one of my bailout plans.

Additional points of enjoyment:

Environment – this is a beautiful country. It’s even more beautiful on the back of a nice bike.
Weather – weather was really good for me. There were a few spots of rain, heavy at times, but never to the soaking point or to a point where I felt unsafe. Following my intuition in Springfield, OH saved me a drenching (or worse). The area I rode through had really nasty weather just a few days before (lots of tornado warnings / watches), but things were generally pleasant for the ride.
Great gear – great helmet, great riding clothes, great boots. Made for a comfortable ride (aside from the stock saddle discomfort).
Food and water – brought the right amount and type of food in Chez Tankbag, and bought a 3 liter water bladder that I wore as a backpack, which worked great. A bit tight to get the bite valve up under the chin protector on the helmet, but doable.

Other things I learned:

Pennsylvania ought to change from the “Keystone State” to the “Road-Kill State”. Seriously. I don’t know where all the buzzards are; there’s enough road-kill on the Interstate highways of PA to do a remake of Hitchcock’s The Birds.
Endurance rallying is truly a mix of skills – route planning, efficient and safe riding, reading comprehension, …
I have too much patience for some things.
Re-read the IBA list-of-things-to-bring. I brought everything I needed, without bringing too much stuff I didn’t.
Practice. Practice making bonus stops. Practice making fuel stops. Figure out what the average time is, and factor that into the plan.
Packing. Keep things exactly where they belong all the time. The wallet goes in a pocket. Two sets of keys. Spare cash for when the credit card stops working. Camera in the same location each time. Rally flag in the same location each time. And so on….
The Droid doesn’t like being hooked up to the bike in the tank bag on hot days. It doesn’t like being out in its carrier, either, because of overheating. No real, practical solution to this problem. Using the Droid as a cheap substitute for a Spot doesn’t work for me.

Bottom line. Great rally, put on by great people, ridden by great riders. Awesome experience – can’t wait until next year.

I’m inspired to run The Void in October, Cape Fear next April, the MD20-20 next May, and the Butt Lite next summer.

Beast in the East

2011-05-30T09:27:00.000-04:00

I learned, last night, that the Beast in the East registration is open until 1 June 2011 (the same day that The Void registration opens). The BitE is a multi-day rally, run from 15 August 2011 through 19 August 2011.

With hiking around Mt Rainier and taking a long ride to Canada and back this summer, my dance card is already full. I've given more than a passing thought of the fun and challenge of the BitE (and the two non-draw IBR 2013 spots, with one as no fee(!)), though, and will be looking for ride reports when folks get back.

Mason Dixon 20-20

2011-05-22T12:43:00.001-04:00

I've taken a few more passes through the boni list, trying to see if i can develop a route that allows me to finish within the 1666 mile cap, finish within 29:30 riding hours, maximize the number of boni points, maintain some mileage and time margin, and have fun. I struggled a bit with a candidate route, and ended up cutting two locations because they provided too little in the way of points/mile and points/minute. So, i now have a route that both fits within the mileage cap and the time limit without having to run hot for too many miles.

At rally end, there's an event that adjusts scores by plus or minus 30 points, which is a huge swing. I've been practicing my ride slow skills, and working on maneuverability at slow speeds, just in case that's on the [unpublished] syllabus.

I'm sure i'll fuss with this route a bit more, but it's looking doable.

Location : 1049 Rhue Hollow Rd, Roseland, VA 22967,
Posted via Blogaway

Mason Dixon 20-20 Motorcycle Rally

2011-05-17T20:08:00.002-04:00

The boni locations / points listing came out this afternoon -- one day earlier than advertised! I'm going through it right now to see what kinds of delights the Rally Bubbas have in store for us. This will be my first MD 20-20; I'm looking forward to it quite a lot.

I plan to write about both planning and riding, so stay tuned!

Abnormal Use: Star Wars Prequels Unreasonably Dangerous and Defective, South Carolina Federal Court Finds

2011-04-04T22:29:00.000-04:00

Millions would agree!

Abnormal Use: Star Wars Prequels Unreasonably Dangerous and Defective, South Carolina Federal Court Finds

Maine's Labor Mural Disappears Over Weekend

2011-04-04T20:58:00.000-04:00

Maine's Labor Mural Disappears Over Weekend:

"Controversy surrounds a mural depicting labor history of Maine. Gov. Paul LePage ordered the mural removed from a lobby of the state's Department of Labor, saying it made business interests uncomfortable. Well, the 36-foot mural vanished over the weekend."

I'd like to add to the controversy by asking why the U.S. taxpayer paid $60,000 for this mural in the first place.

While not being surprised at the usual snarky reporting from Maine Public Radio and National Public (?) Radio, I'm disappointed that the obvious question wasn't raised: Why are the taxpayers of this great country paying for artwork for state buildings? If the good people of Maine want artwork for their buildings, they ought to pay the freight and not rely on money extorted from the U.S. taxpayer.

Supervisors delay Springfield Mall redevelopment | William C. Flook | Local | Washington Examiner

2011-04-03T22:25:00.000-04:00

"Eclipsed by better-regarded shopping centers in Tysons Corner, the mall garnered an undesirable reputation as a symbol of suburban decay."

Springfield Mall is in terrible shape, as are many suburban malls across the country. Springfield Mall reflects its neighborhood...perhaps this redevelopment (razing?) will help not only rid the county of this eyesore but put some pressure on improving the neighborhood.

Supervisors delay Springfield Mall redevelopment | William C. Flook | Local | Washington Examiner

What happened to the antiwar movement? Cindy Sheehan hits 'hypocrisy' of Left, Democratic allies. | Byron York | Beltway Confidential | Washington Examiner

2011-04-03T07:56:00.000-04:00

What happened to the antiwar movement? Cindy Sheehan hits 'hypocrisy' of Left, Democratic allies. | Byron York | Beltway Confidential | Washington Examiner

And the campaign begins....

2011-03-08T22:09:00.000-05:00

2011-02-07T22:10:00.001-05:00

More opportunities for big budget reductions at DoE....

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/114549/

I'm Part Of An "Outgroup" -- Send Money

2011-02-07T21:56:00.001-05:00

Either this problem is getting worse, or I'm much more sensitive to it....

http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2011/02/im-part-of-outgroup-send-money.html

REGULATED PROFESSIONS: CAT GROOMERS AND LAWYERS….

2011-02-07T21:42:00.001-05:00

Yet another good target for deregulation...reduce job-inhibiting regulation, barriers to free trade, AND unproductive state bureaucracy.

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/114579/

Open Letter to U.S. Senator Kay Hagan

2011-02-05T10:49:00.000-05:00

http://cafehayek.com/2011/02/open-letter-to-u-s-senator-kay-hagan.html

FELIX SALMON: The US won’t default, even if the debt ceiling stays. In any given month, the go…

2011-01-15T10:49:00.001-05:00

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/113218/

Sent to you via Google Reader

Jeffery W Wilson

Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt… — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

2011-01-13T22:25:00.000-05:00

Veronique de Rugy has an excellent article in The American today concerning the impending debt limit discussion and debate (the limit may be reached as early as late March). We need to have a serious, adults-only discussion on the debt ceiling, and what we're going to do as a country about spending. We have a spending problem that must be fixed.

As always, I recommend reading the whole thing....

Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt… — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

Federal government to lift restrictions on guns in national parks - washingtonpost.com

2011-01-11T23:03:00.000-05:00

Federal government to lift restrictions on guns in national parks - washingtonpost.com

Ed O'Keefe,

It's been nearly 11 months since this piece was published...I wonder if you'd take the time to revisit the predictions of the folks you quote to see how they turned out.

National parks hosted about 275 million visitors in 2008, the agency said. There were 3,760 reported major crimes, including five homicides and 37 rapes. The agency does not note which crimes involve firearms. Crime is down across the system's parks, according to the statistics.
Bill Wade, president of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, said that could change Monday.
"Visitors are going to go to national parks with an increased amount of suspicions and weariness and concern," Wade said. Worse, he said, the new law will erase the park system's reputation as a place of solitude and safety.
"People go to national parks to get away from things that they face in their everyday living, where they live and work. Now I think that social dynamic is really going to change," Wade said.

Is there any evidence that visitors are experiencing increased suspicions, wariness, and concern? Did the "social dynamic" really change?

Scot McElveen, president of the Association of National Park Rangers, said that the new law violates the Park Service's original mission to serve as a preserve for the United States' natural resources and wildlife.
"Our tens of thousands of years of collective experience in operating and managing parks leads us to believe that allowing loaded, readily accessible firearms in parks is one that will lead to lessened preservation of park resources," McElveen said.
Critics are also concerned about the possibility of an increase in illegal hunting and poaching.
"There are a group of folks that will never break the law, no matter what, because they believe the law and want to keep their weapons," McElveen said. "But there's also a group in the middle that can be tempted by opportunity when they think that no one's around and no one will find out."

The National Park Service must keep extensive records regarding poaching, along with other crime statistics. What are they seeing in the way of increased crime? And how about these "group in the middle" folks whose moral compass is so skewed that they will be tempted to use that firearm they have along for protection just because they can?

Tucson Shootings Revive Calls For Tougher Gun Laws : NPR

2011-01-11T20:40:00.000-05:00

Tucson Shootings Revive Calls For Tougher Gun Laws : NPR:

"That issue has all but disappeared from the debate in Congress."
Yep. "Tougher Gun Laws", formerly known as gun control, is (a) at least temporarily recognized as a third rail (c.f., the 1994 mid-term elections) and (b) completely ineffective in deterring crime. The shooter (er, alleged shooter) may have been impaired in some way (we'll know more as soon as the alleged shooter enters a plea in U.S. v. Loughner, 11-mj-00035, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona (Phoenix)); this impairment is likely the cause of the shooting, not the presence or absence of gun control legislation.

"In recent years, new federal laws have allowed guns in the national parks."

Yes, and the media was filled with hand-wringing over the bloodshed that was imminent in the National Parks. Park Rangers predicted a tide of lawlessness, both in terms of human-on-human carnage and an increase in poaching. The media has been strangely silent in reporting on the problems that have arisen since the Reagan (!) era regulation (not legislation) was initially overturned by further regulation in the final days of the Bush administration, then overturned by legislation once it became clear that the Obama administration was going to try to put that toothpaste back into the tube.

""Just to show you ... the climate in D.C. about this before this incident, my staff and I couldn't get a hearing on closing the gun-show loophole," [Rep Mike Quigley (D-IL)] said."

The so-called "gun-show loophole" isn't worth a hearing, because it isn't a problem. Virginians endure hearings nearly every year on this non-issue, because it's a great platform for grandstanding by politicians.

"But lawmakers may only be reflecting public opinion. A Gallup Poll released in October found that 44 percent of Americans thought gun laws should be stricter. Compare that to 2000, when 62 percent wanted stricter gun laws, and 1990, when the number favoring stricter gun laws was 78 percent."

Said without a hint of irony, it seems. If our elected representatives ("lawmakers") are truly representative, wouldn't they "reflect public opinion"? Or do we expect them to "know better" than the electorate?

"Based on what we know so far, the system that is supposed to protect us from dangerous and deranged people has failed once again," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

Which "system" is that? We don't have a "system" that is supposed to protect us from dangerous and deranged people, so it's not reasonable to assert that it "has failed once again". Mayor Bloomberg isn't a lawyer, so it's probably natural that he wouldn't be familiar with the expectations that a citizen should have regarding police protection.

See, for example:

Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005)

DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, 489 U.S. 189 (1989) ("Poor Joshua!")

Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Peter King of New York announced Tuesday that he plans to introduce legislation banning anyone from carrying a loaded gun within 1,000 feet of a federal official — from the president down to a member of Congress.

Sigh. Yet another attempt to make the federal criminal code even larger than it already is, and a complete failure to recognize that this law WOULD HAVE MADE NO DIFFERENCE in this last weekend's tragedy, because the alleged shooter couldn't have cared less about federal law (or state or local law, for that matter). The rest of us are faced with contemplating how average citizens are supposed to know if a federal official is nearby -- will they now be required to wear readily-identifiable clothing, much like hunters wear during hunting season?

"This legislation, I believe, is essential," he said. "I always believe if we can take a horrible tragedy and attempt to get something good out of it, then all is not lost."

Rahm would be proud of you, Rep King. Real proud.

Knox says efforts should be focused on preventing people with mental illnesses from obtaining firearms. And that may be one area where gun control opponents and backers can find some common ground.

Well, that sounds good until you start to define "mental illness" and who gets to determine if you're "mentally ill". We had that debate in Virginia a few years back, and it's a much thornier issue than it appears at first blush.

Report: Sales Of Glocks, Other Handguns, Have Surged Since Arizona Rampage : The Two-Way : NPR

2011-01-11T20:00:00.000-05:00

Report: Sales Of Glocks, Other Handguns, Have Surged Since Arizona Rampage : The Two-Way : NPR

Unsurprising: perceptions of a shortage caused by fevered reports on NPR suggesting additional gun control and knee-jerk showboating by Members of Congress (c.f., Rep Pete King (R-NY) and Rep James E. Clyburn (D-SC) ) cause an increase in demand.

Demand for firearms soared as the Obama administration began, in anticipation of the Democrat-controlled Congress and Democrat administration. Prices on scary black guns reflected demand, and waiting lines grew. The pent-up demand for long guns has since returned to equilibrium, but now we're seeing what I suspect will be a short-term spike in demand for handguns.

Honorific resolutions

2010-12-23T18:35:00.000-05:00

An open letter to Representative Connelly.

The Honorable Gerry Connelly

424 Cannon House Office Building

United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Connelly:

I am a resident of Virginia's 11th Congressional District, and ask for your support for a House rule to ban, during the 112th Congress, honorific or celebratory resolutions. These symbolic acts of Congress are a frivolous waste of taxpayer resources, and distract lawmakers from more important pursuits, such as the careful analysis of staff-generated legislation.

I'm aware that many believe these small acts are important for the self esteem of constituents and special interest groups, but its unreasonable to expect taxpayers to expend scarce resources (such as your time and the time of your staff) on such matters.

Congressman Cantor's proposal to ban honorific legislation, reported by the Los Angeles Times on 25 November 2010, deserves your support as we work as a country to bring our budget under control.

Thank you for your time; I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Respectfully,

Jeffery W. Wilson

The debt ceiling debate

2010-11-06T10:58:00.001-04:00

“New Stimulus Plan Without Congressional Approval” « The Volokh Conspiracy

The debate over raising the debt ceiling will be interesting and intense. I hope we can have the debate in the context of the kind of crony capitalism that has characterized the economic situation in which we find ourselves.

Pay attention to the way in which the federal government (using tax dollars and funds borrowed on behalf of taxpayers) pick winners and losers in the marketplace. Don't get distracted by partisan arguments -- increasing the "size of government" (more properly, the size of its resource base) allows both parties to direct resources to their allies.

Location : Address not available
Posted via Blogaway

Fall day in the Northern Neck of Virginia

2010-10-01T23:51:00.002-04:00

What a great day for a ride, and what a great place for it!

Location: Kinsale, VA
Posted via Blogaway

Aviation

2010-07-24T11:27:00.003-04:00

I used to travel for business. A lot. I don't travel much anymore, and i don't really miss it. The hassle of the traveling public, the living out of a suitcase, driving automatic transmissions, eating restaurant food routinely...all activities that i don't miss.

I do enjoy leisure travel...there's a different feel to travel when I'm off the clock. The press of fellow travelers is a bit unnerving...you just can't tell what people will do or say when crowded into such a small place. I've always thought that people are at their worst when (a) traveling, particularly by air, and (b) driving on the outer loop or Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

For the hundreds of flights and thousands of hours I've spent in the skies above this planet, I remember some of the flights i took as a kid in the 1960's the best. The guy who, when waking, launched his meal into his lap. The guy who gave me some of the sagest wisdom a guy could give a young boy about adventures with women. The first jet flight (Boeing 707) I'd ever taken, from McChord Air Force Base to Elmendorf Air Force Base (culminating with an Air Force band welcome on arrival).

Location : 3900 University Lake Dr, Anchorage, AK 99508,

Posted via Blogaway

Haze

2010-07-24T11:27:00.001-04:00

The skies above Northern Virginia take on a whiteish haze every summer, and this year is no exception.

Location : 3900 University Lake Dr, Anchorage, AK 99508,

Posted via Blogaway

Condescension…a winning strategy?

2010-02-07T09:44:00.001-05:00

Gerard Alexander has a nice opinion piece in this morning’s Washington Post.

Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots. But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct, self-evident, and based on fact and reason, while conservative positions are not just wrong but illegitimate, ideological and unworthy of serious consideration. Indeed, all the appeals to bipartisanship notwithstanding, President Obama and other leading liberal voices have joined in a chorus of intellectual condescension.

We’ve seen this before, of course…history repeats itself. The overreaching of the present legislative majority, though, and the acute tone deafness of the present administration, have exacerbated the situation. Let’s not leave the bloggers off the hook, either. While I can’t stomach more than a few minutes of the Daily Kos (which bravely carries the tag line “State of the Nation”) or the Huffington Post at a time; a browse of their comments section reveals the maturity and tenor of the discussion among the left’s cognoscenti.

I highly recommend reading the entire column….

Oral arguments set for McDonald v. Chicago

2009-12-01T22:45:00.001-05:00

From David Kopel at Volokh Conspiracy: oral arguments in McDonald v. Chicago are set for 1000, Tuesday, 2 March 2010.

Expect to have local law school students, 2A supporters, and civil libertarians camping out on 1st Street, NE waiting for the doors to open. It's chilly here in early March, so camping out on the sidewalk is a sign of real interest and passion. There really isn't anywhere to get food nearby, and there isn't a place to stow your camping gear when you finally get in the door, so there are some logistics-related challenges.

I thought briefly about heading down to witness Heller v. District of Columbia first-hand last year, and I'll probably consider trying to see this case. The audio recording was good, but I would really appreciate getting the total experience. Hearing Alan Gura arguing to overturn the Slaughter-House Cases would be well worth the early morning chill.

McDonald v. Chicago oral argument scheduled

2009-12-01T22:42:00.001-05:00

From David Kopel at Volokh Conspiracy: oral arguments in McDonald v. Chicago are set for 1000, Tuesday, 2 March 2010.

Shooting stars

2009-11-27T19:00:00.001-05:00

I just looked up and out the window (which looks north, to the Blue Ridge Mountains), and saw what must have been a pretty big meteor moving from east to west. It’s very dark here, and the leaves are off the trees, which gives a good view for very bright objects.

Jeffrey S. Flier, Dean of Harvard Medical School speaks out

2009-11-24T20:15:00.001-05:00

In a WSJ opinion piece last week, the Dean of Harvard Medical School gives the current health care debate a failing grade.

Our health-care system suffers from problems of cost, access and quality, and needs major reform. Tax policy drives employment-based insurance; this begets overinsurance and drives costs upward while creating inequities for the unemployed and self-employed. A regulatory morass limits innovation. And deep flaws in Medicare and Medicaid drive spending without optimizing care.

Speeches and news reports can lead you to believe that proposed congressional legislation would tackle the problems of cost, access and quality. But that's not true. The various bills do deal with access by expanding Medicaid and mandating subsidized insurance at substantial cost—and thus addresses an important social goal. However, there are no provisions to substantively control the growth of costs or raise the quality of care. So the overall effort will fail to qualify as reform.

…

So the majority of our representatives may congratulate themselves on reducing the number of uninsured, while quietly understanding this can only be the first step of a multiyear process to more drastically change the organization and funding of health care in America. I have met many people for whom this strategy is conscious and explicit.

H/T to Jonathan Adler at Volokh.com. As Professor Adler suggests, I recommend reading the whole piece.

McDonald v. Chicago amici briefs

2009-11-23T20:33:00.001-05:00

David Kopel has provided links to some of the amici briefs over at the Volokh Conspiracy.

Cato

Academics

Congressional (58 Senators, 251 Representatives: a solid bipartisan majority by any measure)

Institute for Justice

Kopel

These briefs are very accessible, and provide important insight into the meaning and interpretation of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Applebees

2009-11-12T19:58:00.001-05:00

Applebees had a Veteran's Day offer going yesterday, so I stopped by the Columbia, MD location last night after work. I hadn't anticipated the crowd -- the line was out the door, and the wait must have been at least an hour. I tried the Alexandria, VA location. (also on the way home) and it was the same story.

Couple Sues AARP Over Health Plan Marketing

2009-11-10T21:43:00.001-05:00

From The Blog of Legal Times comes a story about Texas couple James and Allison Halpern who are suing AARP in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging deceptive marketing of health insurance.

AARP is an insurance company that has also developed a knack for lobbying. AARP has also turned out to be an effective special interest group in the so-called “Health Reform” effort (which has now morphed into “Health Insurance Reform”, after AARP and the AMA figured out how to shift the debate from cost control to insurance).

John Allen Muhammad

2009-11-10T21:33:00.001-05:00

Convicted terrorist, murderer, and conspirator John Allen [Williams] Muhammad should have reached the end of the line by the time I press “Publish” on this post. I was living in the DC area at the time, and recall the fear and disruption that spread across the region during this period. I remember watching the news in the evening, as each new shooting was reported.

He, and his accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, murdered people in California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Maryland, DC, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was widely reported after the two were caught in Maryland (where most of the killings occurred), that Maryland and DC worked out a deal with Virginia to have them tried here because there was a possibility for the death penalty as a result of the terrorism charge (Muhammad was later convicted of six murders in Maryland, and received six consecutive life terms without possibility of parole). Muhammad earned lethal injection for killing Dean H. Meyers in Manassas, Virginia, while Malvo received life without possibility of parole.

Fwd: The Wall

2009-11-09T22:31:00.001-05:00

Twenty years ago, the wall came down.

We have a whole generation, now, who have no direct knowledge of Soviet-style communism. Someday, perhaps, someone will be able to say the same about Cuba.

Are Lawyers A Productive Part of Society?

2009-10-06T23:34:00.000-04:00

Thoughtful words from Justice Antonin Scalia, courtesy of Paul Cassell at the VC: Are Lawyers A Productive Part of Society?

David Kopel on incorporation

2009-10-06T22:00:00.001-04:00

Travel put me a bit behind, so here's a belated link to David Kopel's blog entry at the Volokh Conspiracy yesterday, regarding the issue of incorporation of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution against the states. Incorporation is the central issue behind McDonald v. Chicago, and very important case that will be heard during this session of the U.S. Supreme Court.

I heartily recommend both the short version and the long version, at: Want to do it the easy way, or the hard way?

Nina Totenberg’s report re McDonald v. Chicago today

2009-09-30T20:53:00.001-04:00

I’ll spare readers my usual quibbles with Nina. What I’m particularly pleased about, in this afternoon’s report, is the phone interview with chief conspirator Prof Eugene Volokh of UCLA Law School. He was a nice counterpoint to the fellow from Brady, Paul Helmke.

Note the DC = federal enclave connection. That must have caused some tooth-grinding at the Wilson Building (and with the DC voting rights crowd). DC tried playing on both sides of that fence in 2008, between the proposed voting rights legislation and their claim in District of Columbia v. Heller.

Note also the subtle suggestion that Circuit Court Judge Easterbrook (a Reagan appointee) sided with Chicago; I read his decision in McDonald as being consistent with District of Columbia v. Heller, in that 2A incorporation has not been decided [yet] by the U.S. Supreme Court. We’ll know by June 2010 where this issue stands.

McDonald v. Chicago goes to the Supremes

2009-09-30T20:37:00.001-04:00

The U.S. Supreme Court granted the plaintiff’s petition for certiorari today, so the case will be heard in the next term. Alan Gura, the attorney who successfully argued District of Columbia v. Heller, will be making another appearance before the court to argue this case.

More facts on the case here.

ACORN et. al v. Breitbart.com et. al

2009-09-23T23:56:00.001-04:00

The long-awaited civil complaint in the latest ACORN scandal was filed in the Baltimore City Circuit Court today (thanks to Politico for posting the complaint). If this goes much further, expect the legal defense fund to start up pretty quickly.

There’s some nice analysis in the comment threads at Volokh.com.

More great analysis on this saga over at Popehat. My favorite quote?

“Moreover, the suit will allow the defendants — if they don’t get out on a motion to dismiss — to use the discovery process to rampage through ACORN’s records in an effort to prove that any reputational harm to ACORN was a result of ACORN’s actual bad behavior being revealed. Does ACORN really want to roll the dice and count on getting a judge who won’t let the defendants delve deeply into their practices and into the bases for their reputation?”

I feel sorry for the two young filmmakers for having to deal with the legal hassle, but their support network must be huge, so they’ll get through this just fine. The Google search phrase <o'keefe legal defense fund> serves up about 26,400 hits, so the game is on.

Changes

2009-09-08T20:21:00.001-04:00

After 31 years of military and public service, I started work in the private sector this morning. The last private sector job I had was in 1977 as a computer programmer while I was in college.

Some things are the same, and some are different, but I appreciate both. I had some great time off this summer to really be retired and to enjoy a lot of great time with my kids and my wife, and I was able to get Lorraine packed off on her business trip with everything she needs.

I’ll be working with a lot of old (and new) friends in my new job, and will be able to continue to work to solve the problems to which I’ve devoted the past 16 years of my life. I’m also back in an industrial facility, where real products roll off an assembly line, which I’ve missed since leaving Pomona in the late 80’s. It’s nice to be able to walk from my office to see people working with their hands to build mechanical and electronic assemblies.

Office of Thrift Supervision on AIG

2009-03-17T21:38:00.001-04:00

Scott M. Polakoff, Senior Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, Office of Thrift Supervision testified before the U.S. Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on 5 March 2009. For whatever reason, his testimony didn't get much play in the so-called mainstream media. I prefer to think that because his easy-to-read and easy-to-follow testimony is so far from the "failure of government regulation" narrative, that the only alternative is to bury the story.

Congress is burying the story, also. The very committee before which Mr Polakoff testified flat-out dropped the ball, either from inattention, incompetence, or, most likely, by letting political and other concerns outweigh the public benefit.

"Consistent with changing business practices and how conglomerates then were managed, in late 2003 OTS embraced a more enterprise-wide approach to supervising conglomerates. This shift aligned well with core supervisory principles adopted by the Basel Committee and with requirements adopted by European Union (EU) regulators that took effect in 2005, which required supplementary regulatory supervision at the conglomerate level. OTS was recognized as an equivalent regulator for the purposes of AIG consolidated supervision within the EU, a process that was finalized with a determination of equivalence by the French regulator, Commission Bancaire."

So, how do individuals in the Congress (such as the grandstanding Sherrod Brown (D-OH), member of the very same U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee) conclude that AIG was unregulated?

“At AIG, it was not enough to insure lives or property or health,” Brown said today at the hearing. “A largely unregulated corner of the company decided it would make enormous bets on exotic financial arrangements—providing insurance where there were no actuarial tables and almost no actual experience. You would think that such a colossal miscalculation would lead to contrition. In the world of Wall Street, you would be wrong.”

Senator Brown, AIGFP didn't, actually, live in "a largely unregulated corner of the company", according to the testimony of the U.S. agency charged with supervision and regulation. But you already knew that, based on Mr Polokoff's testimony 12 days earlier. Also, actuarial tables are appropriate for life insurance, not for other forms of insurance (such as credit default swaps).

Also, Senator Brown, I wouldn't "think that such a colossal miscalculation would lead to contrition", I would think that such a colossal miscalculation would lead to reorganization of the company under U.S. bankruptcy laws. Why didn't we take that step? It sure would have saved a lot of money. In the end, we're going to wind up reorganizing AIG anyway, it'll just be after a previously unbelievable amount of taxpayer wealth has been squandered by a profligate administration and congress.

Nunchaku

2009-03-04T23:40:00.001-05:00

I can't help but think of Rainn Wilson's character Dwight Schrute in NBC's The Office, whenever I hear about nunchaku.

Eugene Volokh brings us, today, the story of Maloney v. Cuomo, a Second Amendment case concerning the state of New York's 1974 ban on nunchaku. Mr. Maloney, the petitioner in this case, seeks to appeal his case to the SCOTUS, which provides an opportunity to incorporate the 14th Amendment against the states.

Interesting reading...start here:

The Volokh Conspiracy - Kirkland & Ellis Will Ask Supreme Court To Consider Incorporation of Second Amendment, in the Second Circuit's Nunchaku Case:

Personal and economic freedom in the United States: a study

2009-03-02T23:25:00.001-05:00

Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Jonathan Adler posts a link to Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom, recently published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University (here in Northern Virginia).

See the data behind the study here.

I'm heartened that Virginia ranks [relatively] high on personal freedom (relative, that is, to many other states) and also relatively high on economic freedom.

Passenger rail economics (and subsidies)

2009-02-25T23:24:00.001-05:00

Over at Cato @ Liberty, a piece on Crédit Mobilier as a Model for High-Speed Rail.

Why, if we have such large subsidies for Amtrak, do we think that high-speed rail is affordable? What's changed?

Priorities and their constituencies

2009-02-25T22:57:00.001-05:00

Use of sloppy, imprecise language and [intentional] misreading of the U.S. Constitution are favorite gripe of mine, particularly when the abuse of the Constitution is at the hands of our representatives in the Congress.

During yesterday's NPR story on the repeal of the Congress' "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly opened the piece with:

For those anxious for the Clinton-era law that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military to be repealed, the wait may be longer than expected.

Longer than expected? Why's that?

While he was on the campaign trail, President Obama promised to work to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." And in January, on the eve of becoming White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs reiterated that Obama would repeal the law.

But Obama can't simply sign an executive order to overturn the law — he has to persuade Congress to change it.

If Robert Gibbs really reiterated that [President] Obama would "repeal the law", I'm hoping that now Mr. Gibbs is in the White House, he has a better grip on the executive powers given to the president by Article II of the U.S. Constitution [hint: the president has no power to repeal a law].

That [obvious] fact aside, why does the 111th Congress need any persuasion?

And Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), who chairs the Armed Services Committee, says he does not expect the issue to be an early priority for lawmakers.
"I'm going to be working with colleagues to see how much support there is for it," Levin says. "And where along the process we can take that issue up. I just don't think we can give that a high priority, given the situation that we face," like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the economic meltdown.

That's rich. The Congress is spending time on the so-called District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act (S. 160 and H.R. 157), including a procedural vote today in the Senate. Given the fact the DC House Voting Rights Act has NOTHING to do with either the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the over-hyped, crisis du jour, "economic meltdown", Sen Levin's explanation seems oddly incomplete.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), who is sponsoring legislation as early as next week in the House to lift the ban, says it's a significant priority, but not necessarily while Congress is "triaging the effects of very bad tax policy from the Bush administration," and "people are losing their homes and their jobs."

I'd ask Rep. Tauscher why, if "Congress is 'triaging the effects of very bad tax policy from the Bush administration'", the Congress has time to spend on arguably unconstitional legislation that will likely tie up the federal courts.

Also, I hasten to remind readers that the U.S. Constitution contains the following passage:

"Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
...." -- U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8.

Constitutionally speaking, the tax policy to which Rep. Tauscher (D-CA) refers is tax law, passed by the U.S. Congress. Blaming bad tax law off on the administration does real damage to our citizen's understanding of their constitution, and causes people like me to question if our representatives have read the document lately. Note: the venerable Sen. Byrd (D-WV) is known to carry a pocket version of the U.S. Constitution wherever he goes.

Secretary Gates is then quoted:

" 'Don't ask, don't tell' is law — it is a political decision," Gates says. "And if the law changes, we will comply with the law."

Yep. It's a political decision, made by the U.S. Congress, in accordance with Article I of our constitution. The Congress needs nothing from the administration to change this law.

And Tauscher says the argument about igniting a controversial debate is nonsense.
"I would only say that it is always the right time to right a wrong," she says. "And this has been a very big wrong."
The congresswoman calls repealing the law "the last big piece of civil rights legislation left."
Tauscher plans to introduce the legislation, but she's still waiting to see when the Obama White House will start fighting to allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. armed forces.

Okay, this is really too much. The administration is unneeded in this discussion, since we're talking about legislation, not regulation. Rep. Tauscher is waiting for the administration to "start fighting"? With what, and with whom? The U.S. Congress? Come on. The Congress is stalling, and it ought to fess up on the issue, instead of generating a smoke screen behind which it can hide.

“America is ready to get rid of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. All that is required is leadership.” -- President Barack Obama, in a speech to the Human Rights Campaign in November 2007

Actually, all that is required is legislation, and the 111th Congress certainly has proven their ability to pass legislation. So, Rep. Tauscher, let's see some of that leadership that the people in your district sent you to Washington, D.C. to demonstrate. Let the debate begin.

Maureen Dowd on crisis management

2009-02-22T18:54:00.001-05:00

Maureen Dowd's column in the New York edition of today's NYT focuses on the administration's approach to describing (and managing) our present economic state of affairs. She makes some interesting (and comment-worthy) points.

In reference to [former] President Bill Clinton's suggestions regarding President Obama's engagement with the American people (and, for that matter, people outside of America whom we expect to loan us a HUGE amount of cash):

Instead, he implies, the president’s warnings of calamity, designed to gin up support for borrowing and printing trillions to shore up the sagging economy, might actually be dragging down our already sagging self-esteem.

It's less self-esteem than it is perception and confidence. We make decisions based on perceptions of the future. Given a choice between saving, investing [speculating?] in the market (equities or bonds), paying down the mortgage [cost avoidance], or spending, we consciously or unconsciously select between those alternatives based on what we think [feel?] will happen. The alarmist drum-beat of late appears to be a cynical attempt to defuse opposition to the $US 8,000,000,000.00+ deficit spending bill.

It’s hard to muster moxie with stocks shriveling, Chris Dodd talking nationalization, and Paul Volcker making Chicken Little sound cheery — “I don’t remember any time, maybe even in the Great Depression,” he said, “when things went down quite so fast, quite so uniformly around the world.”

Yes, the market has retreated. That's what a market correction does - the market was overpriced for a long time, propped up by massive government intervention and misregulation (e.g., unprecedented and artificially-low interest rates, loan guarantees, nationalized financial institutions, bail-outs). The market will stop dropping as soon as assets are perceived to be priced correctly - no sooner, and no later. Hand-wringing (by politicians or columnists) isn't helpful.

We dutifully cut back on Starbucks macchiatos, designer water and even Girl Scout cookies, but we keep hurtling down.

Strangely tone-deaf for Maureen Dowd. The complaint in the MSM (and amplified by the administration and the Congress) is that AMERICANS ARE HURTING! It isn't about fewer caffè lattes, or drinking [heaven forbid!] tap water, it's about all the people being thrown out of their homes by craven bankers. Isn't it?

Many Americans lost a paper fortune when the equity market's valuation fell. Some of that fortune will come back, and some won't.

Many Americans are now structurally or cyclically unemployed. Individuals in real estate, housing, and related industries will need to shift industries, at least temporarily.

Many Americans lost another paper fortune if they owned a home (particularly in the big housing bubble states: California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado). People who thought that the tremendous run-up in housing prices was sustainable were foolishly delusional. Remember, we even had cable television programs dedicated to house flipping (note: this show is still running new episodes! What's with that?). What were people thinking? I can't know what they were thinking then, but now they're thinking about getting bailed out.

Two words come to mind: moral hazard.

While W. and Dick conjured an alternative reality about Iraq, our avaricious bankers created an alternative reality about our financial system. Now our busted trust is not so easily fixed.

Aha. The obligatory shot at President Bush and Vice President Cheney. BDS is tough to cure. Did "avaricious bankers" really create an alternative reality about our financial system? Did these "avaricious bankers" force us to think that a 100% increase in the value of a home over a period of just a few years was at all realistic or sustainable? I'm inclined to believe that it is the avaricious consumer who ran those home prices up, then vacuumed home equity out as quickly as possible, who is responsible for this mess as the interventionist and over-regulatory policies of our government.

In an Associated Press article headlined “Obama Plans Eclipsing New Deal Spending,” the Rutgers University political science professor Ross Baker notes, “Not surprisingly, people are wary of some very expensive proposals with no guarantee of success or even a high probability of how well they’ll work.”

Wariness = uncertainty, which leads to sitting on the economic sidelines. Note that savings rates have increased significantly -- that, and chipping away at the mountain of credit card debt racked up by profligate Americans, is a good thing. [Note: at the end of 2008, consumer credit outstanding was a whopping $US 2,596,000,000,000.00].

In The Times, Eric Dash reported that Wall Street is losing confidence in Washington’s vague and shifting plans, sending shares of bank companies plunging to new lows on Friday.

"Washington" = the administration + the Congress. "Washington" doesn't have plans; the administration and the Congress, on the other hand, have plans and interventionist policies. Shares of banks and bank holding companies are heading down to their real valuation. The sooner we get there, the better. Let's rip the metaphorical bandage off all at once, instead of prolonging the damage.

He spoke for those who want a pound of flesh. With the Wall Street bailout, Mr. Obama at least gave bankers a bit of the belt, and capped their pay. But homebuyers who wanted more than they could afford seem to be getting a free ride.

More moral hazard. Why on earth should we think that the federal government should be in the pay-setting business? This is poor political theater, and even worse public policy. The federal government has no business attempting to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. And while I'm at it, since professional sports teams are often subsidized by the public, shouldn't we cap those salaries?

Yet Obama is oozing empathy compared with his attorney general, who last week called us “a nation of cowards” about race.

I've ignored the AG Holder remarks -- he's stepping on the administration's news cycle (and message).

We need leaders to help us through our crises, not provide us with crude evaluations of our character. And we don’t need sermons from liberal virtuecrats, anymore than from conservative virtuecrats.

I agree.

In the middle of all the Heimlich maneuvers required now — for the economy, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, health care, the environment and education — we don’t need a Jackson/Sharpton-style lecture on race. Barack Obama’s election was supposed to get us past that.

Whether or not we need a Jackson/Sharpton-style lecture, we're going to get it [routinely]. Witness the frivolous discussion over the NY Post cartoon this week (which also stepped all over the administration's message and killed another news cycle -- I wonder what would happen if President Obama told Reverend Sharpton to simply shut up).

Terminology, and why it matters (Part 2)

2009-02-18T21:51:00.001-05:00

Advice, from Copious Dissent, regarding words and phrases that we need to strike from our daily discourse. Well worth reading and sharing with others....

Copious Dissent - Your Daily Dose of Liberty

Terminology, and why it matters....

2009-02-18T21:00:00.001-05:00

I watch The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer many nights for several reasons: the analysis is generally more thoughtful, and individual segments are longer, providing more context. There is a distinct leftist bent to the coverage, but it's not the shallow and superficial coverage available from the so-called broadcast networks or the shrill shoutfest at cable outlets such as MSNBC or CNN.

I had a few minutes, earlier this evening, to send a short note to the folks at The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, which I'll share here:

Selection of terminology is important to clearly and concisely explain complex subjects, such as the economic situation facing our country (and the world). I'm bothered by a selection of terminology that obscures, intentionally or not, the source of the treasure that will be spent. For instance, one of tonight's stories has the following lede on your web site:

"Nine weeks after automakers made their first plea to Congress for emergency aid, General Motors and Chrysler submitted new restructuring strategies and requests for additional federal funds that could bring the government's total tab to $39 billion."

Use of the term "federal funds" obscures the fact that funding will come from two sources: taxpayers and bondholders. While bondholders are important, and have a critical stake in the problem, taxpayers will bear the full brunt of any decisions made to "stimulate" the economy. Additionally, the phrase "government's total tab" can easily be interpreted by inattentive citizens as being somehow different from "taxpayer's total tab". Using the more accurate phrase will help avoid misinterpretation, and continue to remind taxpayers that they (and not "the government") are picking up the tab here, and are accountable for the decisions made by their elected representatives.

By the way, "bailing out" General Motors and Chrysler is a bad economics and bad public policy. It was a bad idea in December, and it's a bad idea now. Taxpayer intervention in market forces that are trying to establish the fair value of these companies will postpone (and increase the cost) of the inevitable.

Nelson County, VA

2009-02-08T15:54:00.000-05:00

Two beautiful days in Nelson County, this weekend. The pond was still frozen from the last few weeks of chilly weather, but I was able to break the ice up this afternoon, to give the fish a break (and a little O2).

Why the Size of Government Matters

2009-01-31T17:55:00.001-05:00

Ilya Somin evaluates the relative merits of larger government and smaller government, and addresses the quantity and quality issue discussed by President Obama during his inaugural address.

"Quantity has a quality all its own", but that's not an argument for a larger, more muscular government.

The Volokh Conspiracy - Why the Size of Government Matters:

So, whatever happened to the last big infrastructure bill?

2009-01-27T22:32:00.001-05:00

Remember the infrastructure bill that was rushed through the Congress in response to the I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota? Ilya Somin, over at the Volokh Conspiracy wonders (as do I)...read more at:

The Volokh Conspiracy - -#1233088443#1233088443

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

2009-01-27T21:03:00.001-05:00

The on-again, off-again Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the so-called stimulus package (H.R. 1) was posted on the CBO Director's blog today.

Assuming enactment in mid-February, CBO estimates that the bill would increase outlays by $92 billion during the remaining several months of fiscal year 2009, by $225 billion in fiscal year 2010 (which begins on October 1), by $159 billion in 2011, and by a total of $604 billion over the 2009-2019 period. That spending includes outlays from discretionary appropriations in Division A of the bill and direct spending resulting from Division B.

How do you spend $92B intelligently in only six months (the time remaining in this fiscal year)? Didn't we just have an acrimonious debate about spending incident to the Iraq War? I may be missing something important here, but it seems to me that the folks who were so concerned about wasteful spending and contracting abuses in the past are getting ready to open the floodgates.

In addition, CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that enacting the provisions in Division B would reduce revenues by $76 billion in fiscal year 2009, by $131 billion in fiscal year 2010, and by a net of $212 billion over the 2009-2019 period.
In combining the spending and revenue effects of H.R. 1, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase federal budget deficits by $169 billion over the remaining months of fiscal year 2009, by $356 billion in 2010, by $174 billion in 2011, and by $816 billion over the 2009-2019 period.

Outlays increase. Income decreases. We eat the difference. Ugh.

But wait, it gets better!

The budgetary impact of the bill stems primarily from three types of transactions: Direct payments to individuals (such as unemployment benefits), reductions in federal taxes, and purchases of goods and services (either by the federal government directly or indirectly via grants to states and local governments). CBO estimates that impacts from the first two categories of transactions would occur fairly rapidly. In the third category, CBO estimates slower rates of spending than historical full-year spending rates in 2009 for a number of reasons:

The bill’s enactment would likely occur nearly half way through the fiscal year.
Previous experience suggests that agencies have difficulty rapidly expanding existing programs while maintaining current services; the funding in H.R. 1 for some programs is substantially greater than the usual annual funding for those activities.
Spending can be delayed by necessary lags for planning, soliciting bids, entering contracts, and conducting regulatory or environmental reviews.
Agencies face additional challenges in spending funds for new programs quickly because of the time necessary to develop procedures and criteria, issue regulations, and review plans and proposals before money can be distributed.

Frequently in the past, in all types of federal programs, a noticeable lag has occurred between sharp increases in funding and resulting increases in outlays. Based on such experiences, CBO expects that federal agencies, states, and other recipients of funding would find it difficult to properly manage and oversee a rapid expansion of existing programs so as to spend added funds quickly as they expend their normal resources. The seasonal nature of some spending also affects the speed at which activities can be conducted; for example, major school repairs are generally scheduled during the summer to avoid disrupting classes.

In short, there's no way this money will be spent without waste -- perhaps a LOT of waste.

Read all about it, here:

Director’s Blog » Blog Archive » American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Guantánamo

2009-01-25T22:17:00.001-05:00

Two interesting posts, recently, on the subject of Guantánamo and the ordered closing, here and here.

America passes a milestone! « Fabius Maximus

2009-01-21T22:00:00.001-05:00

Ugh. According to the folks at Contrary Investor, there are more people employed by government than are employed in the manufacturing and construction industries.

America passes a milestone! « Fabius Maximus

Coal Harbour, BC

2008-12-26T21:23:00.000-05:00

We had a nice breakfast at the Best Western in Campbell River this morning, then headed into town. We found a good parking lot (meaning: off the street, not too snowy, and a place I didn't have to back into / out of so I wouldn't get stuck), then we hiked around town for an hour or so. There wasn't much open (Boxing Day), but it was nice anyway.

It had been snowing since breakfast, and there was a couple of inches on the ground when we left town. The road north was in pretty good shape, though there were patches of ice from time to time.

We arrived in Port Hardy about 1500, and scoped out the town. Between seasonal closings (most of the hotels in town looked closed for the season) and Boxing Day closures, there wasn't much open.

Lorraine called around to find us a great place to stay -- we wound up at a bed and breakfast in Coal Harbour, BC, not too far from Port Hardy. After we checked in, we headed back to Port Hardy to get a bite to eat. We stopped to see if we could grab a geocache outside of town, but it was snowed in. Ugh.

Lorraine had spied a sports bar when we were in town in the afternoon, so we headed back there to see what they had to eat. The bar was, indeed, open, but they hadn't received their food shipment because of the weather, so all they had was booze. Time for Plan B, which turned out to be a convenience store (again). The Subway was open, but we couldn't go back to Virginia and report that we had a Subway dinner while north of 50 deg.

The convenience store had frozen dinners, and we got a few other things while we were there.

Campbell River, BC

2008-12-25T23:36:00.000-05:00

2033 PST Thursday, 25 December 2008

We took a nice, leisurely drive from Vancouver to the West Vancouver ferry terminal this afternoon. The scenery was terrific, and the skies cleared enough to give us a few glimpses of the mountains north of the city.

We took the 1500 ferry to Nanaimo, arriving just before 1700. We headed directly north, along the coast, to Campbell River. We got a room at the Best Western Austrian Chalet after scoping out the town to see if there was ANY place open for dinner (there wasn't). After we checked in to the hotel, we went back south about 3 km to the 7-11 to see if we could get something edible. The 7-11 had a Pizza Hut Express in it, but we decided to get something that we could make on the stove in our motel room, instead. We'll find a pizza place tomorrow, in Port Hardy.

The roads were in good shape today; there were a few icy spots, but in general everything was fine.

We'll be heading north, tomorrow, to Port Hardy.

Vancouver, BC (part 2)

2008-12-25T12:55:00.001-05:00

0954 PST Thursday, 25 December 2009

We got up about 0900, and we're ready to head out for breakfast. It looks pretty chilly on the street, but we're all bundled up and ready for a hike.

Vancouver, BC

2008-12-25T12:54:00.001-05:00

2334 PST, Wednesday, 24 December 2008

We arrived in Seattle a little after 1800, and got through the rental car check-in process and on the road about 1920. After an uneventful drive north, we arrived in Vancouver a little after 2300.

We're staying at the Hotel Le Soleil, and we're blown away by the quality. We got a GREAT deal through hotels.com, and are in a two-room suite on the 12th floor, with a great view.

On the road (well, in the air) again

2008-12-24T15:53:00.001-05:00

1330 EST Wednesday, 24 December 2008.

Lorraine and I did the car / train / aircraft thing this morning. We had our timing just right, leaving the house in time to park at the office at 0830, then arriving at Union Station in time for the 0930 MARC train to BWI. Our flight from BWI was delayed somewhat by weather in Chicago, but we left okay at about 1310 EST.

Today was my first experience with MARC. It's okay -- it's like Greyhound on rails: no frills, drab colors, but it gets you from A to B.

BWI is pretty nice these days. I first flew through BWI in the summer of 1977, on my way to pick up USS VOGE (FF 1047) in Naples, Italy. BWI, like Dulles International, was much smaller in those days, and seemed pretty remote to me. Airline traffic is much higher now, especially with Southwest operating from BWI as a hub, and the area around the airport has grown significantly.

Air travel has changed in subtle ways since the days I was on the road about 50% of the time. Flights are more full, airlines charge for everything (luggage? pillows? blankets? snacks?), and security is MUCH tighter.

Continued lack of consumer credit...er, what?

2008-12-17T23:00:00.001-05:00

Imagine my surprise to learn this evening that there is a lack of consumer credit, and this lack of consumer credit means that Chrysler LLC is taking at least a month off. My surprise is a result of the seemingly endless stream of credit card offers I receive, along with assurances from my credit union (the best in the world, for my money) that auto loans are available for as low as 3.75% APR.

So, which is it? Continued lack of consumer credit, or continued consumer apathy about Chrysler vehicles?

Are people with decent credit ratings now being shown the door? Really?

I'd really appreciate it if someone would do a credible study to determine exactly WHO can't get credit in this environment, because I live in such an insular community that I don't know anyone in that condition.

Timetables

2008-12-12T20:07:00.001-05:00

Senator Chris Dodd, from 6 September 2007:

"I cannot and will not support any measure that does not have a firm and enforceable deadline to complete the redeployment of combat troops from Iraq. Only then will Congress be able to send a clear message to the President that we are changing course in Iraq, and a message to the Iraqis that they need to get their political house in order."

Here we are just over a year later, and for some reason, asking the "Big Three" and their union, the UAW, for a concrete timetable (and associated commitment), is unreasonable and unattainable. Amazing.

Zima

2008-12-09T20:51:00.001-05:00

Wow...I just learned that MillerCoors (?) announced, in October 2008, that it has killed the Zima brand of "alcopop". Just like those television shows that run for years that I just can't bring myself to watch, I've seen Zima on store shelves for lo these past 15 years without ever bothering to see how [bad] it tastes. And now, I've lost my opportunity.

Justice

2008-12-07T11:36:00.001-05:00

Voters in Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District have sent William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson home after nine terms in Congress. I've been watching this race carefully to see if Rep Jefferson would pull a "Marion Barry", and get reelected despite the lack of plausible explanation for the $90K in his freezer, the 16-count indictment, or the impending trial. He didn't.

Anh "Joseph" Cao is now the first Vietnamese-American elected to the Congress. Good for him, good for the voters in 2LA, and good for the American public.

I'm looking forward to the trial, as I'm sure William Jefferson is.

Chilly weather

2008-12-07T10:16:00.001-05:00

It's 34 degrees F at the moment, but we have quite a breeze blowing through North Springfield, so the wind chill-adjusted temperature is about 21 degrees F. Brrr. I have at least one outside chore today, that may be postponed: tuning a 6m vertical antenna for next Saturday's 6m test in Fairfax County. I don't like the idea of "just in time" tuning for a test, but I don't like freezing (literally) while trying to do the job, either.

Thanksgiving holiday 2008

2008-11-30T10:15:00.001-05:00

We had another great Thanksgiving holiday this year.

Lorraine and I went to the Fairfax County Civilian Police Academy graduation on Saturday morning; Lorraine was on travel for the graduation day for our class, so this was a "make up" opportunity. Lorraine had an opportunity to fire the Sig Sauer 9mm pistol and the Remington 870P shotgun. We both had an opportunity to drive a high-speed precision driving course (this was significantly different than the driving opportunity for our CPA class). The driving course was a blast. We stayed for the "pot luck" lunch, which was also great.

Emily and Joe traveled to Virginia, arriving late Saturday afternoon. We stayed in Fairfax County until Tuesday late afternoon, then headed to Nelson County for the holiday.

Cindy and Paul joined us from Maine, Joe came from Washington, DC, and Hank and Nate drove from Maryland to join us at Rhue Hollow.

This year's Thanksgiving Day hike was to the top of Crabtree Falls. The weather was just about perfect.

Em, Joe, and I returned to Fairfax County last night, so they could catch their flight from Washington's National Airport this morning.

Thanksgiving, 2008

2008-11-27T18:03:00.001-05:00

Like last year, we took some time during Thanksgiving Day to take a nice hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This year's hike was to the top of Crabtree Falls, here in Nelson County.

Cindy, Paul, and Joe Fortier, Emily and Joe Wilson, and Lorraine and I were the hikers this year. It was a beautiful, clear, and somewhat crisp day for hiking -- just the kind I like.

Winter preparations

2008-11-27T17:59:00.001-05:00

Along with all of the other things to think about when winter comes, we put firewood near the top. Joe, Paul Fortier, and I spent some quality time Wednesday laying in big stack of split firewood.

Mason Law Federalist Society and American Constitution Society Symposium

2008-11-11T19:27:00.002-05:00

The Federalist Society at George Mason University's School of Law and the American Constitution Society are sponsoring a symposium at 1700 -- 2000 on Wednesday, 19 November 2008, on the subject of District of Columbia v. Heller. I'm a fan of several of the panelists, so I recommend folks go if they can afford the time. The price is right: free.

Antenna repairs

2008-10-11T21:50:00.001-04:00

The Cobra Ultralite Jr that's been way up in the maple trees in the back yard for the past few years needed a little repair today, so after the Marine Corps Marathon meeting at the Armed Forces Retirement Home this morning, I headed to Ham Radio Outlet to get a new slingshot.

It looks like squirrels chewed through one of the support lines -- that line was through a crook in one of the trees that I think also contained a squirrel's nest.

After about an hour of fussing around getting the new line in the tree, I had things back to better than they were when I did the installation the first time.

So, the good news is that the HF antenna is back up, and appears to be working just fine. The bad news is that we're still at the sunspot minimum, and propagation is TERRIBLE. Well, if history is any indication, it (and the stock market, for that matter) will get better.

Rhue Hollow on the air

2008-10-05T15:23:00.001-04:00

I spent some time yesterday hanging an Alpha Delta DX-OCF (apparently not marketed by Alpha Delta anymore) in the trees to the north of the house on Rhue Hollow.

The center of the antenna is at about 35 feet, a bit higher than the spec value of 30 feet. The ends of the antenna are at about the spec value of 8 feet. One is a bit close to the rear deck pilings, so a tuner will be required to reduce SWR.

It's a pretty nice installation; I'm hoping that as Cycle 24 gears up, I'll have good experiences with that antenna.

I'm using an FT-897D, with LDG AT-897 tuner. I connect the rig to the laptop, and run Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) and the full DxLab suite for both computer control of the rig and for logging.

I participated in the California QSO Party this weekend, but with all the station set-up (and a LOT of noise), I made only one CA contact. I made a contact with an operator in Ohio, and another operator in the Azores.

Timetable for withdrawal...from Chicago?

2008-09-05T00:27:00.000-04:00

From the local CBS affiliate in Chicago comes a story about the summer death toll in Chicago being nearly twice the American death toll over the same period in Iraq.

What's up with this? Banning the lawful possession of firearms doesn't prevent firearm use by criminals? Huh?

Why is the storied Chicago political machine having trouble with crime control in the home town?

Phil Spector: another entertainer endorses Obama

2008-07-29T23:27:00.000-04:00

The LA Times calls Phil Spector's endorsement of Barack Obama "dubious"...I'm inclined to think that Phil's endorsement is genuine and heartfelt. Perhaps the election is keeping Phil's mind off the tedious business of being tried (again) for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson.

Barack Obama endorsement...and, be careful what you ask for....

2008-07-29T23:16:00.000-04:00

Convicted (and subsequently executed) kidnapper and murderer (okay, he was a "participant" -- the guy who actually did the deed with a claw hammer got life in prison -- Bishop's conviction was for felony murder under Mississippi law) Dale Leo Bishop endorsed presidential hopeful Barack Obama before his execution on Wednesday, 23 July 2008.

In the "be careful what you ask for" category, "Bishop, who was mentally ill [a fact disputed in his appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court], asked a judge for the death penalty after he was convicted." ...and so, he got satisfaction, nearly ten years after the crime of which he was convicted.

Heller and voting rights

2008-07-03T01:16:00.000-04:00

Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, commenter Mikeyes has drawn an interesting parallel between Heller and voting rights. Worth thinking about as Heller litigation rages on....

San Francisco Housing Authority suit

2008-06-27T21:13:00.000-04:00

NRA, CCRKBA, and the California Rifle and Pistol Association filed suit yesterday (it's a challenge to keep up with the filings) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco Division) seeking to overturn a public housing gun ban within the City and County of San Francisco. Nicely done. The plantiff is a homosexual man, living in public housing, and argues that the Second Amendment should be incorporated against the states.

More at: NRA-ILA :: Legislation

Heller FAQ

2008-06-26T23:09:00.000-04:00

Bart DePalma over at Citizen Pamphleteer put together a very nice FAQ, complete with cites and quotes: Citizen Pamphleteer: The Second Amendment Is Returned To The Bill Of Rights

First DC, now Chicago....

2008-06-26T22:22:00.000-04:00

Now that District of Columbia v. Heller is decided, it's time to head west to The Windy City. Alan Gura, of Gura & Possessky, P.L.L.C, has launched ChicagoGunCase.com. Visit early and often, and lend your support to incorporation of the Second Amendment against the States.

MoveOn.org: Selfishness in Action

2008-06-26T21:41:00.000-04:00

Perfectly shameful.

The folks at MoveOn.org trot out the dewey-eyed new mom and cute kid, then get her to read a plea to not call her son to national (read: military) service. Why is this unbelievably selfish (and isolationist) message at all appropriate?

"So, John McCain, when you said you would stay in Iraq for 100 years, were you counting on Alex?"

Why not? If not "Alex", whom?

Springfield Mall

2008-06-08T14:59:00.002-04:00

I had occasion to visit Springfield Mall (N.B.: the web site is seriously misleading: 200 stores and eateries? Where?) the other day (I had mistakenly presumed that Springfield Mall would be vacant on the Saturday before Memorial Day -- the mall was, but the DMV office, my sole reason for visiting the mall, wasn't). With the line for the mall's DMV office stretching out the door (out the DMV's door, and nearly out the mall's door!), I took the opportunity to do a little shopping while the line got a bit shorter.

Springfield Mall has come on hard times -- really hard times. I don't shop there, but I don't really shop at any malls (competition is better on the World Wide Web, and I don't have to deal with traffic, parking, ....). Much of what I buy comes to me from on-line retailers; the rest comes from speciality retailers who aren't mall denizens (Best Buy, Borders, Petsmart, ...).

On a lark, I did a little on-line searching this afternoon to see if anyone else has noticed the sharp decline at Springfield Mall and lo, other people have. In fact, there's been some real discussion about redeveloping Springfield Mall. As recently as last November, Vornado Realty Trust (who also owns the Charles E Smith brand) announced a fall 2010 opening for at least a portion of the redeveloped mall (more recent news here). Since fall 2010 is only two years away, I'm surprised there's no evidence of construction. Surprisingly (and suspiciously), there's nary a peep about this Springfield Mall redevelopment at Vornado's web site.

DMA Choice Home

2008-05-26T20:54:00.000-04:00

While I was researching "opt-out" capabilities, I ran across the one run by the Direct Marketing Association to cut down on "direct mail" AKA "junk mail":

DMA Choice Home

CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY - Fairfax County, Virginia

2008-05-26T20:45:00.000-04:00

Lorraine and I attended the Fairfax County Citizens Police Academy this spring -- this was time well spent. We learned a little about nearly every facet of Fairfax County law enforcement: training (at the Academy), traffic, patrol, call center operations, animal control, gangs, major crimes, narcotics, financial crimes, explosive ordnance disposal, canine, neighborhood patrols (bikes!), crime analysis, and the Adult Detention Center (which was offered by the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office).

If you're a resident of Fairfax County, this is 35 hours (or so) that will be spent wisely: CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY - Fairfax County, Virginia.

OptOutPrescreen.com

2008-05-26T19:52:00.000-04:00

One of the [many!] things I learned at the Fairfax County Citizen Police Academy was the existence of an "opt-out" program for pre-screened credit card offers (a significant source of credit card fraud and identity theft).

The program appears to be a lot like the national "do not call" list, only it helps protect your identity / credit score.

OptOutPrescreen.com

Urban camping

2008-03-17T18:16:00.002-04:00

The homeless in our nation's capital aren't the only people [intentionally] sleeping on the streets tonight. Individuals hopeful for a seat during tomorrow's District of Columbia v. Heller oral arguments are camped out in front of the Supreme Court. The line started about 40 hours before the event, and it appears that the line is now at capacity. Temperatures will be near freezing again tonight, but an event like this is probably worth the privation, particularly for someone whom is younger than their mid-20s.

I do hope that someone offers to take Angela A., 19-year-old GWU sophomore, shooting. The NRA range isn't far away (City of Fairfax), and is a very nice range. I'll bet she gets at least one offer as a result of this week's line-sitting.

The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times : Camp SCOTUS: "http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/895477/27189428"

Mann Act test?

2008-03-10T20:38:00.000-04:00

If New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer is, as has been supposed (and reported by the New York Times today), the soon-to-be notorious Client-9, can we expect he will be charged with violation of 18 USC §2421, the venerable Mann Act?

US CODE: Title 18,2421. Transportation generally

Comedy writers across this great land are working overtime to scribble quips about this case.

Washington Post editorial re: Heller

2008-03-01T15:28:00.000-05:00

I didn't see this until now -- I'm not a regular reader (meaning: I haven't sought out a Washington Post to read in more than 10 years), so it takes a pointer and a nudge to get me to check something out on washingtonpost.com.

As predicted, District of Columbia v. Heller is causing people to go off the deep end. This editorial is a case in point.

A bipartisan majority in both houses of the U.S. Congress weigh in on the side of Mr Heller in his complaint against the District of Columbia. As our editorial writer observes, the Solicitor General weighs in (sort of) on both sides of the argument: 2A is an individual right (consistent with the plain-language reading of the constitution), but don't use strict scrutiny when applying the law (inexplicable concern that can only have been politically motivated: there's nothing in the facts or the law that would cause the SG's concerns to be valid).

So, when the VP joined in the amicus curiae brief submitted by the congressional majority, the Washington Post cries foul? "...irresponsible, selfish and unnecessary."? What's all this about? "Irresponsible" because the Washington Post editorial staff doesn't agree with the majority in the U.S. Congress? "Selfish"? "Unnecessary"? It's almost too bad these editorials aren't longer, so we can better understand the logic used to justify the language.

Anyway, this is a "drive by" on the VP -- nothing more, nothing less. Another reason to get my news from other sources.

Mr. Cheney's Government - washingtonpost.com