Nixon Library Expands, Moves Archives

The Nixon Library reports that due to an addition to the library's Yorba Linda, California campus, documents and audio-visual materials currently stored at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland will be moved to the library proper in 2010. Copies of all publicly-available audio tapes will be available at the library campus, the National Archives, and online.

Updated July 29, 2020.

Amazon Kindle 2

The second generation Kindle will ship at the end of February, 2009. From looking at the pictures released by Amazon, the Kindle 2 is not only thinner than the original (about the width of a #2 pencil), but it is sleeker. With rounded edges and better placement of page buttons, the device should store easier, without inadvertent page turns. Amazon is accepting pre-orders now.

We have the original Kindle, and it is an amazing device. The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times are delivered wirelessly each morning, and old issues are disposed of with the click of a button rather than a trip to the recycling container, making the Kindle as environmentally-friendly as possible. And there are so many free and inexpensive books available that it would take several lifetimes for the average reader to get through them all.

This is not a marketing blog and not designed to make a profit from affiliate links, but if you are considering an electronic reading device, the Kindle is worth your consideration.

Kindle 2: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)

Indiana Court Takes on Prisoner Education Credit Time

In Stevens v. State of Indiana, No.90A05-0802-PC-90, the Indiana Court of Appeals addressed time credit given to prisoners who earn a high school diploma while incarcerated. Stevens had completed a high school diploma through Continental Academy, and he applied for educational credit time with the Indiana Department of Corrections. The application was denied, and Stevens appealed to the trial court, which denied his petition for review without a hearing.

Significantly, there was no documentation submitted by either Stevens or the State that said why Stevens was denied credit time. The Court indicated that prisoners should be told why they were denied credit, and it remanded to the trial court for a finding as to whether Continental Academy "maintains standards of instruction substantially equivalent to those of public high schools" located in Indiana.
 
This is an important case because it protects prisoners from arbitrary denial of privileges granted to them by the state legislature. If the General Assembly has gone to the trouble of allowing a prisoner to earn credit time for achieving a high school diploma, an explanation of denial of credit must be given. Otherwise, the incentive to earn a diploma is erased, and it makes it too easy for corrections officials to deny this and other privileges without accountability.

George Will Gets One Right

In his September 23, 2008 Washington Post column, George Will rightly points out that the "bailout" goes against conservative principles. The Republicans, according to Will, are "conducting the most leftist administration in American history."

Neither of the old parties' Presidential candidates is ready to assume that office, he continues:

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?

Heller's Rights Further Trampled

A machine gun, really?

The plaintiff in the recent D.C. handgun case before the Supreme Court, Dick Heller, reportedly has had his application for a handgun permit for his semi-automatic handgun rejected. The weapon has a bottom-loading magazine that holds seven rounds, and the D.C. police groups these types of weapons with machine guns, which are prohibited.

It sounds like the D.C. powers not only could use firearms training, but they also need to learn about firearms themselves and exactly how and why they are used for self-defense. In fact, it would be good policy for lawmakers to educate themselves about proposed legislation prior to enacting it in all cases. The people should not allow legislators to take rights away that the lawmakers do not fully understand. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is also evil when it cripples a society designed to be free.

Congress Considering Gas Tax Increase

There will be no gas tax holiday anytime soon. It appears that we're not going to have to worry about not paying the 18.4 cent gasoline tax for quite awhile, especially if either of the old party candidates is elected this fall. In fact, according to the Associated Press, Congress is considering raising the tax to 24.3 cents per gallon.

2008 Migrant Death Count

reprint from Center for Latin American and Border Studies, NMSU

In a grim disclosure, Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) recently released its count of the number of Mexican migrants who died struggling to reach El Norte in 2008 so far. Until June 9, the SRE documented the deaths of 117 migrants who perished while attempting to cross the Mexico-US border.

According to the SRE, most of the deaths, or 72 to be precise, were registered in the state of Texas. The McAllen area of the Lone Star State proved to be the deadliest point for would-be border crossers, with 26 undocumented Mexicans losing their lives in the zone. Additionally, 14 migrants died in the El Paso area and 4 around Eagle Pass.

Nonetheless, the dangerous terrain surrounding Tucson, Arizona, was the deadliest single zone for migrants, claiming 40 lives during the first half of the year. The Arizona numbers suggest migrant deaths could be on a downswing in comparison to the last two years. Still, it's important to note the reported deaths were registered before some of the hottest days of the year pound the border region.

The US Border Patrol's Tucson Sector reported 204 migrant deaths during the 2007 fiscal year that ended on September 30 of last year. The death toll represented a 21 percent increase from fiscal year 2006, when 165 deaths were registered. However, the Tucson-based Human Rights Coalition reported a higher death toll for the region than did the Border Patrol. The immigrant rights group cited 237 deaths for FY 2007, a number 32 higher than in FY 2006, when the coalition documented 205 deaths.

In 2007, 409 Mexican migrants died in the entire Mexico-US border region, according to the SRE. Official Mexican migrant death statistics for this year report most victims were individuals in the 18 to 45-year-old age category, with the death of one minor recorded.

Since 2001, the SRE has tallied the deaths of 2,956 Mexican migrants in the northern borderlands. The federal agency has identified the main causes of death as dehydration (1062), drowning (583) and vehicle accidents (247). In terms of geographic origin, ill-fated migrants from the states of Mexico, Guanajuato and Mexico City topped the list ofvictims.

Sources: La Jornada, July 6, 2008. Frontera/SUN, December 31, 2007.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico

For a free electronic subscription email
fnsnews@nmsu.edu

Child Protective Services Gone Wild

The taking of hundreds of children from an alleged polygamist "compound" in Texas is not an isolated incident. Government agencies in other states exercise extra-constitutional authority to remove children from their homes under the guise of protecting children. Because of the nature of the agencies -- no one wants a truly abused child to be left in or returned to an abusive situation -- it is difficult to question this authority. But the taking of children from their homes by the government is an issue that deserves scrutiny.

In 2004 in Indiana, for example, according to this Indianapolis Star article (pdf) from 2006, the state's Child Protective Services removed 7,689 children from their homes and returned just 605. With 7000 children placed into foster care each year, it's no wonder that the state is over-extended in just this area alone.

Questions need to be raised. In a principally rural state with just 1.5 million children under the age of 18, are 7000 truly in abusive domestic situations? How much evidence is required to take a child? Many parents spend thousands of dollars and hours of court time to regain custody of children who were improvidently taken. Where is the balance?

Analyzing Voter Registration as a Factor of Low Turnout at the Polls

A recent paper from Princeton University explores how difficult it is to factor voter registration into turnout at the polls. It appears to be a step to help researchers learn how turnout can be increased. The author cites several reasons for low and inaccurate voter registration, including the mobility of Americans; every time you move, you have to figure out how to register, where to do it, and then actually register.

The paper concludes that the group of eligible voters that needs the most attention is youth. Younger voters move more frequently, attend school away from home, and enter military service. These factors contribute to a low youth vote registration. The paper is available here.