Section 2 of 21st amendment deleted

"The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited."

The 21st amendment couldn't be clearer. It is specific to alcohol and specific to state vs federal context.

I like the result of today's 5-4 decision, because I would prefer the freest possible flow of commerce between the states. But the cost was yet another judicial revision to the constitution. Maybe we should make reading a prerequisite for appointment to the courts.

http://www.heartbone.com/no_thugs/constitution.htm

The entitlement society

Leon Panetta wrote an opinion piece for the Monterey Herald this weekend under the title, "Where is the battle for ideas?" He suggested framing the left vs right debate in terms of five dualities, such as "Protect 'Guaranteed Benefits' vs. 'Private Accounts' for social security. As long as promised benefits grow faster than GNP grows, there WILL be an (unhappy) end to this short-sightedness.

His dualities are derivative, derivative of more fundamental conflicts such as "the entitlement society" vs the sans-safety net societies of Eastern Europe and China. Or such as free markets vs mercantilism (government-subsidized business). Or government bureaucracy vs entrepreneurialism, of either profit or nonprofit kind. Or the relative power of the judiciary and legislature.

Panetta's dualities assume away all the important questions about our governance, particularly those that will determine our national competitiveness four decades hence.

Keyword test

Let's check out how well keywords are found. eDrama Learning is the company I founded in 1998 to build an (emotion and) conversation simulator. We designed about 20 characters that represent customer service challenges and present those characters to the learner. The learner types what s/he wants to say to the character (customer), who replies with both text and body language and facial expression showing emotion. Some customers are pretty nice, but most are difficult in some specific way.

The technology is for sale, by the way; I've moved on to other things. eDrama is trademarked in the area of training and education.