Been There, Done That, Got The T-Shirt

Today was a good day for a run--especially with a full bladder. I got to the Yellow (Hmm, foreshadowing?) area about 30 minutes before the start. As I stood waiting while countless beach balls flew all around us, my kidneys went into overdrive or something and I had to go. There was a huge line at the porta-potties so that wasn't going to work. I decided I'd hold it until the finish. Stopping to go along the way would cost me precious time. Yes, precious time. When I wasn't thinking about it I felt fine. The run went well but Doomsday Hill--my slowest mile--reminded me that I like ice cream too much. After crossing the finish line--I timed myself at 1:03:51, two minutes slower than last year--I got my T-shirt and made a bee line to the bathroom. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Yeah, after fourteen consecutive Bloomsdays I'm reaching deep to find something to make each one memorable.

Way Cool

I already know the answer but this video still makes me wonder, "Could I could do that?" Nonetheless, I don't grow tired of watching it. The camera work is great.

I Might Not Need A Shotgun After All

A certain young lady is now a black belt in Taekwondo.

We Will Waterboard You 183 Times Until You Talk

Charles Krauthammer has a bizarre column in today's paper in which he tries to justify the use of torture.

Torture is an impermissible evil. Except under two circumstances. The first is the ticking time bomb. An innocent’s life is at stake. The bad guy you have captured possesses information that could save this life.

and

The second exception to the no-torture rule is the extraction of information from a high-value enemy in possession of high-value information likely to save lives. This case lacks the black-and-white clarity of the ticking time bomb scenario. We know less about the length of the fuse or the nature of the next attack. But we do know the danger is great. We know we must act but have no idea where or how – and we can’t know that until we have information. Catch-22.

What's missing are the references to the laws on torture that permit such exceptions and a list of occurrences where these exceptions were successfully used. Perhaps if his testicles were being crushed he would provide that information so we could save innocent victims from being unlawfully and unnecessarily tortured. And then on June 26 we could raise our glasses and toast all the innocent victims torture has saved.

Here's a different perspective.

A conscience is not the only thing that separates us from the animals. When our moral compass fails us, when we are blinded by rage and a thirst for justice, law brings us back, or merely holds us back, from doing what our basest human instincts tell us is right and proper.

Since 9/11, many people have framed these laws as a mark of our weakness. Our enemies are not bound by any code, so why should we be? Lincoln suspended habeus corpus believing it necessary to save the Union. FDR approved the internment of Japanese-Americans on similar grounds. It doesn’t matter that neither measure was actually instrumental to saving the Republic from destruction; indeed, the evidence shows that they had no such effect. All that matters is that these men acted in good faith.

Looking at this closely, I find the ticking time bomb is not the hypothetical terrorist situation.

Almost There

I picked up everybody's numbers today. We'll haul the bikes to my mom's house, then ride to Riverfront Park where the good folks from the Spokane Bicycle Club will guard our bikes with their lives.

Wait 'Til After You Graduate

Here's a nice compendium of the application of the First Amendment to student speech. The author's conclusion:

Students possess First Amendment rights in the public school setting. However, there is much disagreement and a muddled legal morass as to just how much free-expression rights they possess. School officials obviously must ensure a safe learning environment and an environment that is conducive to education. Students must learn about the enduring values of a constitutional democracy, including the fundamental freedom of expression. If students do not learn and appreciate First Amendment values, there is a danger that these future leaders of the country will not protect those fragile freedoms in schools and elsewhere in society. As Justice Robert Jackson said about schools more than 60 years ago in West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943): “That they are educating the young for citizenship is reason for scrupulous protection of Constitutional freedoms of the individual, if we are not to strangle the free mind at its source and teach youth to discount important principles of our government as mere platitudes.”

There are certainly students who, intentionally or not, push the envelope and put the courts to the test in trying to define the boundaries of free speech in the school setting. I think it's practically impossible, especially given the available technology combined with the students' creativity. Nowadays it's almost as if students have to be told they can practice their right to free speech as long as they shut up.