Self-Recording Police?

No-brainer! Yes!, I say. Federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin (HT: Instapundit) agrees: she required that stop-and-frisk encounters be recorded in parts of NYC with high incidences of such encounters.

1. The Reason article notes that such recordings are a win-win which deters both police abuse and false accusations by unscrupulous citizens. It has plausible suggestions for fine-tuning the policy.

2. It's too bad that this had to be imposed by a federal magistrate, rather than by the mayor or city council. I'm guessing that the elected officials are deterred by the clout of police unions.

Mars, Etc.

1. Congratulations to NASA and especially the Curiosity team. Best wishes for a successful mission.

2. Osteporosis is a problem in space which could limit long stays like interplanetary voyages. Rotationally induced gravity is a brute-force, very expensive solution.

Somewhere it is claimed that we went to the Moon fifty years too soon: Apollo was a tour de force that happened decades before sustainable technology evolved. Do the biological sciences also need to evolve before humans can take up (semi-)permanent, reversible residence in zero/low gravity?

Where Are My Manners?

Congratulations to SpaceX for the first visit of a private craft to the International Space Station.

May an off-earth economy become profitable, and then self-sustaining.

An Intellectual Framework for the Tea Party Movement

Angelo Codevilla has supplied it. (HT: Daily Pundit)

Especially important is that he is aware of the danger that one form of Big Government will be replaced by another. (Yes, I'm talking about the "compassionate conservatives" and the theocrats.) And he has no illusions about the Republican Party as a defender of individual sovereignty.

Conservative/libertarian candidates for major offices should invite Codevilla to their brain trusts immediately.

Codevilla's piece helps to structure and focus the anger and dissatisfaction of Tea Partiers and likeminded people. It is an important article.

Addendum 20100718. Codevilla on Palin vis a vis Quayle and Obama.

Bravo, Fred Bright, Georgia DA

He decided that there is not sufficient evidence to prosecute the tacky Ben Roethlisberger. "We do not prosecute morals. We prosecute crimes." Like I said:

That saying should be posted on the wall of every prosecutor in the country. And every on the wall of “activist” zealot, for that matter.

Whether he seeks higher office, remains in law enforcement, or enters private practice, I wish Mr. Bright well in his future endeavors.

Bravo.

Addendum 20100418. Unfortunately, not everyone involved in the case was as professional as Bright: Cop who investigated Roethlisberger forced to resign.