Signal 46

I promise. I’ve just been super busy with work and taking some online courses in an attempt to: a.) obtain my BS in Technical Management before the money expires in 2013, and b.) obtain as much of that money before it expires in 2013. Hahaha. Too bad I actually have to take classes to get it.

I was answering Patrick’s Saturday Six and one of the questions was regarding the most text messages you’ve used. So I went to my Verizon account online and pulled the bills. I stuck all the numbers in a spreadsheet just so I could see which number was higher. I also stuck the number of minutes used, and the number of kilobytes (KB) used on my data plan. MS Excel has a handy graphing function so I thought I’d just look and see how the numbers correlate to each other. I snagged a screenshot:

It’s interesting to note that of the minutes used, only 450 are ‘anytime’ minutes. I rarely go over the 450 minutes. For the last two years I’ve had 2000 minutes as an ‘overdraft’ I got when I renewed my contract with Verizon. There are still nearly 700 minutes in that minute bank.  They’ll be gone in January unless they give me 2000 more when I renew. There were two months I used only 150 of the 450 minutes…most everything else is ‘IN’ or ‘Mobile to Mobile’ as they’re calling it now.  Other stuff I noticed:

• I used the most data usage (72 MB) in December, though I am not sure why.
• I texted and talked a lot in June. Lots of ‘personal’ stuff occurring at that point.
• Last month was the least talkative, both text-wise and voice-wise.
• My lowest data usage was in April. Not sure why, either. It was lower than the others by a good bit.

I wonder if my usage is typical? This doesn’t include my work phone, which I tend to use a lot during the day if I am calling non-Verizon numbers. That was pretty high in June and part of July. Does anyone else ever look at their usage?

It’s sad that it even had to go as high as a federal district court, but thankfully common sense and reason prevailed  – where such common sense is often absent from people when religion is involved – and found that the religiously centered ‘I Believe’ plate violated the separation of church and state provided by the Constitution.

In a summary judgment, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie said the plate was based on a discriminatory law. “Such a law amounts to state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular,” Currie said.

The irony is that a religious group supporting the separation of church and state are the ones that filed the suit that brought the case to the federal court. I know that it sounds crazy that a religious group supports that, but I’m a fan of whatever it takes to keep this sort of debauchery from happening. I wrote on this back in 2008 when the Post & Courier reported on the plate initially coming out, but I can’t find my article. Ooops. I remember being surprised (though I shouldn’t have been) that both houses of the legislature passed it unanimously and the potted plant of a lieutenant governor supported it.

The fact that all these elected officials could actually vote for this when any sane person could see that it was a clear violation of church and state should speak to the caliber of people elected in this state. They were either stupid, or just so afraid of voting against (the right thing to do). They risked offending less constituents by going along with the whole idea than they did by saying “Wait…hold up…remember that Constitution thing…?”

The “I Believe” Act had its genesis in Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer’s desire to do here what had been unsuccessful in the state of Florida–to gain legislative approval of a specialty plate promoting the majority religion: Christianity. Whether motivated by sincerely held Christian beliefs or an effort to purchase political capital with religious coin, the result is the same. The statute is clearly unconstitutional and defense of its implementation has embroiled the state in unnecessary (and expensive) litigation.

Proponents of the plate will be upset because they will likely feel that this is an attack on Christianity. I somehow believe (no pun intended) that Christianity has managed to survive thousands of years without a license plate…and for the majority of that time there were no cars to which you could attach said plate. Oh wait…I was right..the potted plant:

“I could say that this is yet another example of judicial activism, of federal judges out of control,” Bauer said. “My instincts tell me that it’s even deeper than that. I think it’s another attack on Christianity, and I’m not going to sit by and watch this one happen.”

Bauer insisted that the specialty plate “reflects core values that are meaningful to our society” and that displaying the plate is a matter of free speech and expression.

“I don’t understand why witnessing for fundamental, enduring values is controversial or threatening,” he said.

Lynn has rejected the claim that the lawsuit infringes on free expression.

I guess he can’t see that the constitution is pretty clear on the fact that the state cannot express preference for any one religion over others, and that by the state issuing the state-issued and state-required plates that they are, in effect, exhibiting preference. According to the P&C’s article (see link at bottom), he is planning on having the AG appeal the decision. More of yours (and my) tax dollars being flushed down the drain in Columbia.

Anyone who can’t see that needs their head examined…or to be removed from office.

You can read the entire ruling here: SC District Court Site (PDF). The Post & Courier has their article here.

A California teen (I like CA, but am not surprised at all the origin of this story) got stopped by a police officer for doing 62 in a 40. Mommy and stepdaddy went to fight it in court because of the GPS unit they installed in their kid’s car stated he was going 45 in nearly the same location.

The court decided sided with law enforcement based on mathematics. Given the distance between the two points that the GPS unit recorded the speed and location (one of which was at a stop light), as well as the speed the officer clocked him at they decided the kid had to have exceeded the speed limit. The best part is that the GPS unit actually gave the court more information to uphold the ticket.

[Sonoma County (CA) court commissioner] Bonilla ruled the GPS data confirmed the prosecution’s contention that Malone had to have exceeded the speed limit.

“The mathematics confirm this,” she wrote.

Priceless.  It’s been a two-year battle over $190.00.  So the kid will have to pay the money – not really. Mommy is going to pay it. So the kid learns no responsibility in this situation. The irony is that his stepfather is a retired Lt with a local sheriff’s office. Um…what? And their attorney actually questioned the accuracy of the radar…um, what?  A link to the kid’s MySpace (where he lies and states he’s 23) shows he’s spoiled…no surprises, really.

Via /. , Press Democrat

So Jamie and I got two kittens from the Charleston Animal Society last weekend. It was the weekend they were waiving the adoption fee for adult cats. We didn’t go until Sunday, and there was only one adult left. The staff there was most helpful and very kind. We fell in love with two kittens so we went and got them. They’re litter mates – sisters – and they are happily attached. One is named Izzy, and the other Ashley. I call her Trashley. Just because I think it’s funny, and I can. Right now Izzy is in Jamie’s ‘inbox’ on his desk, and (tr)Ashley is sitting in front of my monitors completely enthralled by the cursor, the mouse, anything that moves. Here’s a few shots of her that I got. I blame (but not a bad blame!)  Janet from Kittens on the Keyboard for inspiring me to keep a camera handy whenever the kitties are doing something silly.

Chris, there's something on your monitor there. See it?

Don't worries, I gots it for you.

They’re so silly…hehe.