Michele Bachmann will refuse to answer census questions

June 19, 2009 – 11:10 am

The honorable representative Michele Bachmann has publicly stated that she will refuse to answer most questions on the upcoming 2010 census.(Dinan 2009)

Michelle Bachmann is reported to have stated:

I know for my family the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home. We won’t be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn’t require any information beyond that

According to the Washington Times, U.S. Census Bureau spokesperson Shelly Lowe indicated that, as paraphrased by a possibly sloppy Washington Times journalist, that “…a portion of the U.S. legal code that says anyone over 18 years of age who refuses to answer ‘any of the questions’ on the census can be fined up to $5,000.”

U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann

U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann

However, section 221 of Title 13, chapter 7, subchapter II states:

      (a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or
    willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any
    other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce
    or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the
    Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his
    knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in
    connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I,
    II, IV, and V of chapter 5 of this title, applying to himself or to
    the family to which he belongs or is related, or to the farm or
    farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall be fined not
    more than $100.
      (b) Whoever, when answering questions described in subsection (a)
    of this section, and under the conditions or circumstances
    described in such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is
    false, shall be fined not more than $500.
      (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no person
    shall be compelled to disclose information relative to his
    religious beliefs or to membership in a religious body.

However, the law is complex. It would be interesting and better quality journalism if Stephen Dinan had bothered to cite the portion of U.S. code sent to him by Shelly Lowe of the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to this press release, Shelly Lowe can be contacted at :

Shelly Lowe
Public Information Office
301-763-3691
e-mail: pio [at] cen[remove]sus.gov

Sources

See also

Expensive bicycles

May 25, 2009 – 11:16 am

Minneapolis, architects of the free yellow bicycle program, is back at it again with a new bicycle sharing program. You might recall that the yellow bicycle program ended in failure with many of the bicycles thrown into the Mississippi.

This time, however, things will be different. The bicycles will be much more expensive.

At a total cost of $3,350,000 for 1000 bicycles, that works out to $3,350 per bicycle. This excludes the estimated $200,000 annual operating cost–that is, $200 per bicycle per year. Read the rest of this entry »

Do we really want to emulate Spain

May 21, 2009 – 9:42 pm

The honorable U.S. representative Michele Bachmann speaks to the idea of emulating Spain: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time for pit bull registration in Minneapolis

May 6, 2009 – 7:09 am

Another girl was attacked by a pit bull in Minneapolis.(Muehlhausen 2009) You don’t need a peer reviewed scientific journal to know that pit bulls are dangerous dogs. They make excellent weapons, and in many cities, people are buying and training pit bulls for exactly this purpose.

Of course, a pit bull trained by the right person can be a loving family pet.  And any dog can be a dangerous dog.  But even well trained pit bulls are potentially more dangerous than other dogs.  For example, they have very strong jaws and sharper teeth than say an English Springer Spaniel.  Pound for pound, a pit bull is a tough dog even when well trained and acclimated to small children.  Sadly, as the video below shows, even family dogs can turn on family members.

Consequently, it is time for pit bull registration. Individuals are required to register hand gun purchases with the police, why not pit bulls? Read the rest of this entry »

NBC Vaccine propaganda

May 1, 2009 – 10:18 pm

I didn’t watch this episode, or any episode, of Law and Order, but was tipped off by a friend who watched it. Read the rest of this entry »

Danni Hulme-Lowe $94K in debt with communications degree

May 1, 2009 – 12:39 am

Comes now Dani Hulme-Lowe[1]:

[Newlywed and recent college graduate] Danni Hulme-Lowe lives in her in-laws’ basement in Woodbury with no plans to move out soon.

With $94,000 in undergraduate student loans, nearly every dollar earned as a school portrait photographer goes to her $1,000 monthly loan payments. Money that could buy the young couple a house is tied up with Hulme-Lowe’s loans.

Is her communications degree from Concordia University in St. Paul worth it? The 25-year-old has her doubts.(McGuire 2009)

Concordia is a private (read: expensive) school in St. Paul.  A degree in communications is a fast ticket to becoming a school portrait photographer.

What can you say? Read the rest of this entry »

Wow: Press conference on whitehouse’s youtube channel

April 29, 2009 – 11:02 pm

Probably old news, but the Whitehouse has a youtube channel.  And it looks like comments are enabled on some of the videos. Unbelievable.

I better not tell my mother.  My mother was a liberal for many years, until very recently.  For some reason she’s recently found something that resonates with her conservatism. Sadly, it’s a neo-conservatism, which, as Bush demonstrated, isn’t really much better than liberalism. Read the rest of this entry »

Evolution Engineered has moved; Richard Sternberg blogging

April 29, 2009 – 12:11 am

Evolution engineered has moved. It’s new home can be found at http://evolutionengineered.com.

And, JJS P. Eng. has an interesting post up right now on a post at Evolution News & Views by Richard Sternberg.  Yes, the Richard von Sternberg so harassed by Smithsonian scientists during the Sternberg peer review controversy, as documented by National Public Radio and the documentary film Expelled.

I won’t give away the Richard Sternberg blog post (see sources for link) but I do recommend that you read it–it is worth a read.

Sources

Conspiracy fodder alert: swine, avian, and human flu virus not bioterrorism

April 27, 2009 – 9:51 am

Shoddy journalism is conspiracy fodder.

In California, there are still seven confirmed cases of the new swine flu, which also contains elements of avian and human flu strains, said Dr. Gilbert Chavez, deputy director of the state’s center for infectious diseases. The sample sent from the Fair Oaks student is the only one submitted by the state that is pending at CDC labs now, he said.(Dahlberg Garza 2009)

But fear not:

John Brennan, White House homeland-security adviser, said there is “no evidence whatsoever” of bioterrorism.(Allen & Brown 2009)

Yes, aside from isolated mid-article statements that the flu is contains elements of swine, avian, and human flu,(Dahlberg Garza 2009) and a generic denial,(Allen & Brown 2009) there is no evidence whatsoever. Read the rest of this entry »

Evolution only discrimination challenged in the courts: ICR v. Paredes

April 21, 2009 – 3:36 am

Raymund Paredes, commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) , is being sued both in his official capacity and individually for allegedly violating the constitutional rights of the Institute for Creation research (ICR) graduate school.  The ICR graduate school teaches biology from a creationist perspective, and recently sought the authority to grant masters in science education degrees in the state of Texas. Read the rest of this entry »