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 11:02 AM, Oct 17, 2011 • By MICHAEL WARRENA new poll by Rasmussen shows only 44 percent of Americans think cameras at traffic intersections are a good idea, while another 44 percent don't think they are a good idea. But those surveyed are much more supportive of surveillance cameras in police cars and in public spaces:
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 86% of American Adults believe it’s a good idea for police cars to use surveillance cameras to monitor what happens when officers approach and apprehend suspects. Only 10% don’t like the idea....
A majority (66%) also thinks there should be surveillance cameras in all major public spaces such as train stations, parks and sports stadiums. This idea draws opposition from 23% of adults, while 11% are undecided.
In the August 1 issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Jonathan V. Last explained how municipalities across the country are dismantling their red light cameras amid widespread public opposition:
Last March the city council in San Bernardino voted 5-0 to kill their red-light camera system. Since the cameras were installed in 2005, the program had brought them little but grief. In 2008, the city was caught shortening the timing of yellow lights in order to gin up more citations. Later that year a California appellate court ruled that the city’s contract with the red-light camera service American Traffic Solutions (ATS) was in violation of state law. And in 2010, a county court ruled that images from red-light cameras were inadmissible hearsay. The cameras were such a debacle for San Bernardino that in the end the city paid ATS $110,000 to get out of a contract that would have kept the cameras in place until 2014.
It sounds like an extraordinary story: a city, in the middle of a recession, paying a vendor to cancel a contract that is supposed to produce revenue. But it turns out that San Bernardino isn’t extraordinary at all. Across California and the rest of the country, cities and towns are dismantling their red-light camera regimes. And it’s this larger story that’s remarkable, because it shows that even at this late date, the people can, from time to time, still hold their governments to account.
Like many cultural plagues, the red-light camera originated in Europe. Invented by a Dutch race-car driver, Maurice Gatsonides, red-light cameras were installed by European municipalities throughout the 1980s to ticket drivers without the necessity of using actual police. In 1993 the sickness crossed the Atlantic, and New York City permanently installed cameras of its own.
Read the whole thing here.
9:44 AM, Jun 28, 2011 • By EMILY SCHULTHEISJonathan V. Last reviewed George Weigel's latest biography of Pope John Paul II , The End and the Beginning, for our summer books issue. Weigel's newest volume sheds light on the last years of the beloved figure, providing touching stories as well as fascinating new information about the Pope's handling of the Cold War:
Read more... A local celebrity aims to oust a freshman Democrat in New Jersey. Mar 8, 2010, Vol. 15, No. 24 • By JONATHAN V. LAST
Jon Runyan is no-nonsense. Just what you would expect of a former NFL offensive lineman. When he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2000, he didn’t take up the celebrity life. He bought a 23-acre farm in nearby Mount Laurel, New Jersey. When a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter came calling and asked him what he planned to do with the cows on his land, Runyan replied: “I’m going to raise them as beef cows and have them slaughtered.”
Read more... Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller go old school; the Oscars give it up for the ugly and the unhappy; and "The Passion" might be bigger than you think.11:00 PM, Mar 4, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTAS THE BRIGHT LIGHTS in Hollywood have run out of ideas for movies, they've made a habit of turning to other artistic mediums for source material. One time-honored tradition--pinching the theater--has come back in vogue ("Chicago"), but the multiplex is a monster which needs constant feeding. So America's highest-paid artists have been forced to look elsewhere.
Read more... Ralph Nader says that Rep. John Conyers is going to be filing a request for impeachment. Is the Impeach Bush movement gathering steam?11:00 PM, Feb 26, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTTHE POLITICAL WORLD spent this past week analyzing Ralph Nader's decision to run for president, but lost was this nugget from Sunday's "Meet the Press" appearance:
TIM RUSSERT: In terms of what you stand for, this is what you said in July of last year about George Bush: "Mr. Bush was not only 'beatable but impeachable,' for deceptions and prevarications on national security matters . . ." Will part of your platform be the impeachment of George Bush?
Read more... General Wesley Clark leaves the race and takes his amazing résumé with him.6:40 AM, Feb 11, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTWHEN WESLEY CLARK formally bows out of the race later today, it's won't be because, as his son has recently charged, the media did him in. It will be because the man, by some accounts a decent fellow who served his country well, was not ready for prime time.
Read more... Some Deaniacs jump ship, while others spin conspiracy theories. Still others see victory close at hand.11:00 PM, Feb 4, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTON THE EVE of the 1996 election, I had a long conversation with a friend on the Dole campaign who was traveling with the candidate as he made his last-minute hopscotch across the country. I had just offered him condolences on the race when he corrected me. Speaking from an airport pay phone in the wee hours of the morning, he explained that Bob Dole didn't just have a chance to win, but was assured of it.
Read more... Animal rights, Dick Gephardt, Howard Dean, and more.11:00 PM, Feb 1, 2004 • By THE DAILY STANDARD welcomes letters to the editor. Letters will be edited for length and clarity and must include the writer's name, city, and state.
*1*
Regarding kosher meat, Larry Miller writes in his article Moo, "Cows are raised well, butchers are taught to slaughter in the most painless way possible, and it's forbidden for the animal to be scared beforehand. And there are always rabbis to check.
Read more... John Edwards is a Clinton-style golden boy. What does it look like when he has a bad day?2:55 PM, Jan 23, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTRead more... At the debate there are signs that the Deaniacs are preparing for the worst.1:40 AM, Jan 23, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTManchester, New Hampshire, Thursday, January 22
THE RESIDENTS of Deanworld, once merrily engaged in permanent offense, have gone into the bunker. After a pre-debate rally tonight, busloads of Deaniacs converged on Jillian's, a hip bar/pool hall/arcade on the west side of town. With Klieg lights carving up the night sky, the Deaniacs are excited for tonight's showdown, hoping that Howard Dean will stop the bleeding and perhaps even start the turnaround.
Read more... Celebrating Roe v. Wade, the general explains what he really thinks about abortion.2:30 PM, Jan 22, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTBedford, New Hampshire
WESLEY CLARK CELEBRATED the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade today by appearing at a breakfast fundraiser sponsored by the Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Action Fund. During a brief set of remarks he declared that "no one has a right to come between a woman, her doctor, her family, and her God."
Read more... John Kerry comes back from the dead, John Edwards shines, and Wesley Clark calls for regime change in the Middle East.1:30 AM, Jan 21, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTManchester, New Hampshire, Tuesday, January 20
Read more... Watching the Iowa returns in New Hampshire with Wesley Clark, the Kerry camp, and the Deaniacs.1:40 AM, Jan 20, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTManchester, New Hampshire
Read more... From the January 9, 2004 Wall Street Journal: Peter Biskind's "Down and Dirty Pictures" tells all about Miramax and the American indie scene.11:00 PM, Jan 15, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTFOR A LONG TIME, it was "the movies" that people went to see. Then it was "films." And then "indie films." For a certain segment of the movie-going audience--and for critics stuck reviewing "Waterworld"--the indies were a godsend: highbrow fare that proved how much could be done with a literary script, unknown actors and a low budget.
Read more... Howard Dean, the Blog for America, and the candidacy of the self.11:00 PM, Jan 8, 2004 • By JONATHAN V. LASTIT HAS BEEN WIDELY OBSERVED that Dean for President--or, as the partisans call it, "Dean for America"--isn't so much a political campaign as a movement. But if that's true of the Deaniacs in general, it's doubly true of their virtual selves. The online Dean world isn't so much a virtual community as a cult.
Read more...
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