Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent

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Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent

September 27, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Department of Justice | June 24, 2004

The average professional in this country wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, eats dinner, and then goes to sleep, unaware that he or she has likely committed several federal crimes that day. Why? The answer lies in the very nature of modern federal criminal laws, which have exploded in number but also become impossibly broad and vague.

In Three Felonies a Day, Harvey A. Silverglate reveals how federal criminal laws have become dangerously disconnected from the English common law tradition and how prosecutors can pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, for even the most seemingly innocuous behavior.

The volume of federal crimes in recent decades has increased well beyond the statute books and into the morass of the Code of Federal Regulations, handing federal prosecutors an additional trove of vague and exceedingly complex and technical prohibitions to stick on their hapless targets.

The dangers spelled out in Three Felonies a Day do not apply solely to “white collar criminals,” state and local politicians, and professionals. No social class or profession is safe from this troubling form of social control by the executive branch, and nothing less than the integrity of our constitutional democracy hangs in the balance.

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Mens rea

Have you been certified to do that work?

15 USC 4301: Definitions Text contains those laws in effect on February 9, 2025: From Title 15-COMMERCE AND TRADECHAPTER 69-COOPERATIVE RESEARCH

See Also: Cato Institute

Credegrees

Tennis Court Lighting

September 26, 2025
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Report

September 26, 2025
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Solar Panels on King’s College Chapel Roof

September 26, 2025
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“…The solar panels will populate the gothic chapel roof, producing an approximate 105,000 kWh of energy a year – enough to run the chapel’s electricity, and saving around £20,000 in energy bills per year. The college confirmed that any excess energy would be sold off to the national grid.

King’s College Announcement

Solar Panels on King’s College Chapel Roof

Solar panels perform better when listening to music:

A 2013 study by researchers at Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London showed that solar panels actually work better when exposed to music, of multiple genres. Scientists at the university proved that when exposed to high pitched sounds, like those found in rock and pop music, the solar cells’ power output increased by up to 40 percent. Classical music was also found to increase the solar cells’ energy production, but slightly less so than rock and pop, as it generally plays at a lower pitch than pop and rock. Whether they know it or not, British band Coldplay are just one of the artists benefitting from this research. During their 2021 tour, they installed solar photovoltaic panels in the build-up to each show, “behind the stage, around the stadium and where possible in the outer concourses”…

BS 7671 Requirements for Electrical Installations

The Major Differences in Electrical Standards Between the U.S. and Europe

Representative Calculation: (WAG)

To determine how much electrical power and lighting 12 kilowatts (kW) will provide for an educational facility, we need to consider the following factors:

    1. Power Distribution: How the 12 kW will be distributed across different electrical needs such as lighting, computers, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), and other equipment.
    2. Lighting Requirements: The specific lighting requirements per square foot or room, which can vary based on the type of facility (classrooms, libraries, laboratories, etc.).
    3. Efficiency of Lighting: The type of lighting used (e.g., LED, fluorescent, incandescent) as this affects the power consumption and lighting output.

We start with lighting.

    1. Lighting Efficiency:
      • LED lights are highly efficient, typically around 100 lumens per watt.
      • Fluorescent lights are less efficient, around 60-70 lumens per watt.
    2. Lighting Power Calculation:
      • 12 kW (12,000 watts) of LED lighting at 100 lumens per watt would provide: 12,000 watts×100 lumens/watt=1,200,000 lumens
    3. Illumination Requirements:
      • Classroom: Approximately 300-500 lux (lumens per square meter).
      • Library or laboratory: Approximately 500-750 lux.
    4. Area Coverage:
      • If we target 500 lux (which is 500 lumens per square meter), we can calculate the area covered by the lighting: (1,200,000 lumens)/ 500 lux=2,400 square meters

Now we need to allocate power to other loads.

    1. Lighting: Assuming 50% of the 12 kW goes to lighting:
      • Lighting Power: 6 kW (6,000 watts)
      • Using the previous calculation: 6,000 watts×100 lumens/watt=600,000 lumens
      • Area Coverage for lighting (at 500 lux): (600,000 lumens)/500 lux=1,200 square meters
    2. Other Electrical Needs:
      • Computers and equipment: Typically, a computer lab might use around 100 watts per computer.
      • HVAC: This can vary widely, but let’s assume 4 kW is allocated for HVAC and other systems.

Breakdown:

    • Lighting: 6 kW
    • Computers/Equipment: 2 kW (e.g., 20 computers at 100 watts each)
    • HVAC and other systems: 4 kW

Summary

    • Lighting: 12 kW can provide efficient LED lighting for approximately 1,200 square meters at 500 lux.
    • General Use: When distributed, 12 kW can cover lighting, a computer lab with 20 computers, and basic HVAC needs for a small to medium-sized educational facility.

The exact capacity will vary based on specific facility needs and equipment efficiency.

 

 

Audio Standards

September 26, 2025
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“A Dance to the Music of Time” 1640 Nicolas Poussin

 

 

“The voice of the intellect is a soft one,

but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing.”

— Sigmund Freud

 

The education industry provides a large market for occupancy classes — athletic stadiums, student assembly spaces, performance theaters, large lecture halls– that depend upon effective audio systems*.   To an unexpected degree the structural engineering, specification of materials and electrical system design and operation is informed by acoustical considerations.  So does the integration of fire safety and mass notification systems into normal state enterprises so it is wise to follow and, ideally, participate in leading practice discovery and promulgation of audio standards.

The Audio Engineering Society — one of the first names in this space — has a due process platform that welcomes public participation.   All of its standards open for public comment completed their revision cycle mid-November as can be seen on its standards development landing page below:

AES Standards Development

Note that AES permits access to those revision even after the comment deadline.  You are encouraged to communicate directly with the Direct communication with the standards staff at Audio Engineering Society International Headquarters, 551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1225, New York NY 10176,  Tel: +1 212 661 8528

We keep the AES suite on the standing agenda of our periodic Lively Arts teleconference.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.

This facility class is one of most complex occupancy classes in education facilities industry so we also collaborate with experts active in the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee. Much of the AES suite references, and borrows from, International Electrotechnical Commission system integration and interoperability standards.   The IEEE E&H committee meets online again four times monthly in European and American time zones.  The meeting dates are available on the IEEE E&H website

Media production audio visual

Issue: [19-23]

Category: Electrical, Academic,  Athletics, Fire Safety, Public Safety, #WiseCampus

Contact: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey

*Mass notification systems are governed by NFPA 72 and, while life safety wiring is separate from other wiring, the management of these systems involve coordination between workgroups with different business objectives and training.


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Archive / Audio Engineering Society

 

Eagles’ Nest

September 25, 2025
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International Plumbing Code

September 24, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com

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The International Plumbing Code (IPC) is developed to harmonize with the full span of ICC’s family of building codes.  The IPC sets minimum regulations for plumbing systems and components to protect life, health and safety of building occupants and the public. The IPC is available for adoption by jurisdictions ranging from states to towns, and is currently adopted on the state or local level in 35 states in the U.S, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

CLICK HERE for the 2021 Public Access Edition 

SOURCE: CLICK ON IMAGE | Contact ICC for most recent IPC adoption map

 

The IPC is developed in the ICC Group A Code development framework and concluded its revision cycle in late 2021 under the circumstances of the pandemic.  The 2023 International Plumbing Code revision cycle will not begin until early 2023 but it is never too soon to understand the issues from previous revision cycles to enlighten approaches to the forthcoming Group A revision cycle.   The complete monograph of the Group A Codes is linked below, with comments on IPC proposals starting on Page 1417 of this 1613 page document:

2021 IPC | Group A Public Comment Monograph

Because transgender issues are on the agenda of many facility managers we direct you to Page 1424 of the rather large document linked above.

As always, we persist in encouraging education industry facility managers (especially those with operations and maintenance data) to participate in the ICC code development process.  You may do so by CLICKING HERE.

Real asset managers for school districts, colleges, universities and technical schools in the Las Vegas region should take advantage of the opportunity to observe the ICC code-development process during the upcoming ICC Annual Conference in Las Vegas, October 20-23 during which time the Group B c Public Comment Hearings will take place.  Even though the IPC has moved farther along the ICC code development process it is still enlightening to observe how it work.   The Group B Hearings are usually webcast — and we will signal the link to the webcast when it becomes available — but the experience of seeing how building codes are determined is enlightening when you can watch it live and on site.

Issue: [16-133]

Category: Plumbing, Water, Mechanical

Colleagues: Eric Albert, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

#StandardsNewMexico

 


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