You may have read about physicist Stephen Hawking’s statement concerning the existence of Heaven. In an interview with the Guardian, he addresses the idea of Heaven this way, "I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark,"
So, according to him, half the world is scared of the dark?
Hardly.
My first reaction to his statement, as a Christian, is sadness. I can understand his outlook, though. His remarks sound bitter. I feel certain that he didn’t ask to be stricken with ALS in his youth. Similarly, children with cancer didn’t ask for it, nor has anyone else who has experienced a debilitating illness.
Life isn’t fair. That phrase should be tattooed on your forehead in reverse at age 3 so you can see it in the mirror every morning. I can think of few people who have a charmed life, where everything always goes their way, their spouse is exceptionally attractive and all their children are above average.
As a famous scientist, Hawking’s words carry weight. There are many in the scientific community who agree with him, and I don’t have a problem with their personal beliefs. All of us are free to believe anything we choose to believe and also to look at life any way we wish.
Hawking is free to express his faith, as he has done. He is convinced there is nothing beyond this physical life. We are nothing more than computers that wear out and are then discarded.
I don’t happen to agree with him, but that’s just me.
I understand that scientists live in a world of measurement. They live and die, in a professional sense, by how they measure the world. Accuracy is their Holy Grail, and if something cannot be quantified, they don’t concern themselves with it. There’s nothing wrong with that attitude, that’s why they make the big bucks.
Humans are the most inquisitive organisms on Earth. That curiosity has led us to discover things that, not so long ago, would’ve been considered magic. Great strides were made in the previous century due to it: we now live longer, better, and more productive lives than at any time before. We seem to be doing a good job of subduing this Earth and using it to better ourselves, just as we’re supposed to.
But it seems as though Dr. Hawking’s curiosity stops at a certain point. He seems willing to go where no mind has gone before, only to coast to a stop intellectually. Maybe that’s all the fuel he has left. Perhaps the toll his disease has taken on him is too great for him to continue any further. That’s perfectly understandable.
However, his blanket statement that there is no Heaven and that those who believe there is are childlike, sounds to me like someone who has closed his mind. I always thought the thing that separated brilliance from averageness was an open mind. That quality that was willing to consider possibilities that no one else has considered.
Now, the notion or idea of life beyond this corporeal one isn’t new by any means; it’s been around for thousands of years and is inextricably woven into the fabric of humanity. There’s just no getting away from it. It’s so firmly fixed in every society that it cannot be ignored.
It’s like growing up in Alabama. You simply cannot ignore the rivalry between Alabama and Auburn – you have to take one side or the other.
The afterlife is like that too. Either you believe in it or you don’t.
Going back to scientists and measurement for a moment, there is no physical proof of life after death. This reality is all there is to most scientists because there’s nothing to measure, no physicality to spirit, nothing to quantify, there’s no “there” there.
How do you measure you?
Surely, you exist. Of that, there is no doubt. But what part of you is you? Where do you stop and your body begin? Are you nothing more than neural firings inside a mass of tissue? What is it that animates your body? What is your spirit?
These are the questions that scientists have no answer to, as far as I can tell. That doesn’t bother me in the least.
Could it be that we’re not meant to know certain things? Is there a line beyond which we cannot go? It seems that way to me.
And that’s where faith enters. Christianity teaches that faith is believing in what you can’t see, feel, or touch. Heaven would fall into that category.
Personally, I can’t find anything wrong with believing in Heaven. Or goodness. Or mercy, or forgiveness. Nor any of the other things that Jesus instructed us to seek in this life. And I don’t have any problem with anyone that doesn’t believe in them, or Him.
You are free.
I choose to Believe, with a capital “B.” Not because of what I’ve been taught, but because of what I’ve experienced, which has led me to question virtually everything, kinda like a scientist. That’s what faith is all about.
Your free choice.
Someone I didn’t know made an interesting comment to me several days ago. He pointed to my crucifix and asked if that meant anything to me. Being the good-natured dude that I am, I answered him that yes, it did indeed mean something to me. For a long time, I had resisted calling myself a Christian. But after years of searching, I had come to the conclusion that I was, indeed, a follower of Christ. (Whether He agrees or not remains to be seen, but I prefer to do little things, like always trying to follow the Golden Rule and be as patient as I can with my fellow man and hope for The Best, IYKWIMAITTYD.) I also told him that I didn’t care what others believed as long as they weren’t trying to kill me.
I also told him that I thought it was the right time to make a choice, at which time he walked away, seemingly satisfied with my answer.
I should note that this happened in a bar.
But I digress.
Dr. Hawking is allowed his opinion on matters of faith. I’ll listen to what he has to say and measure his words against my experience and make my own decision as to the accuracy of his view, as I hope he would do with me.
Maybe he’ll open his mind just a bit farther. Who know what he might discover?
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
My God, it’s Full of Waivers
Remember this statement by former progressive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi?
Well, here we are a year or so later and we’re finding out what’s in it. As we conservatives suspected, it contains many things, all of them bad.
In the era immediately preceding the passage of the government takeover of one-sixth of our economy, we knew we had a problem; health care costs were rising at a rapid rate. This came as a surprise to absolutely no one.
If you’re a Baby Boomer, you know it. You’ve been reminded of it ever since you were small. You’ve been analyzed and demographed since before you were born, and subjected to every form and nuance of advertising known to man. Certain folk who are Paid to Know Things probably know more about you than you do.
We were young and hip before being young and hip was cool. We were rebellious and raucous. We wanted Free Love and freedom from The Man. Our heroes were transmogrified from real life people who did real heroic-type things in real life to celluloid anti-heroes with some dark angst simmering underneath, ala James Dean.
“Do what you feel” became our mantra. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers proudly trucked their way across the pages of Rolling Stone Magazine, where the classified ads largely consisted of people who were trying to get one million other people to send them just one dollar. The Woodstock Nation was a unified block of free-spirited individuals who chose to separate themselves from the stodginess of their parents’ straight world and do their own thing by dressing, speaking, and acting alike.
We were oh so different from out parents except for one teeny, tiny little thing: we got old. And there were a lot of us that did that at the same time. Now, we’re starting to retire in record numbers, just as we did everything else in record numbers. And somehow, the government entitlements that were put in place before us, that we were told would always be there for us, like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, weren’t prepared for us. It’s almost like there were no Boomers elected to office anywhere.
How could anyone not have anticipated that health care costs would rise in proportion to the population of said Boomers? Did someone repeal the law of supply and demand and did I miss the memo?
This national event (the retirement of vast numbers of Baby Boomers) gave certain politicians of the far-left, control-freak variety a golden opportunity to implement one of their fondest desires – Universal Health Care. While that’s a noble sounding goal, that everyone should have access to quality health care for free, as soon as that idea becomes more than printed words on a page, it self-destructs like the tape at the beginning of Mission Impossible.
Ask someone from Britain or Canada how their government-sponsored and massively expensive health care system works and you’ll hear tales heretofore unheard of here in America. Long waits to see doctors, inefficient, sleepy-eyed, bureaucrats deciding who gets what treatment when and unnecessary deaths due to a myriad of conflagrations unique to a large and unmanageable government program, many times peopled by union members.
The fact that foreign dignitaries from these lands that boast of free health care for all come here to America for their treatment speaks volumes.
And the volumes say, “It’s a nice idea, but it doesn’t work.”
But that little fact of political and medical life didn’t dissuade the progressives in Congress from rubbing their little paws together with glee upon the immaculation of Barack Obama. They knew the time was at hand to move forward with their Grand Plan to control the American people through their health.
Ignoring such national trivialities as a housing market meltdown and the rapidly rising unemployment rate, they gathered behind closed doors without their Republican counterparts to discuss their plans. In the dead of night and against the will of a clear majority of the country, ObamaCare became law.
Over two thousand pages of legalistic mumbo-jumbo that no one bothered to read was passed over the protestations of a nation. One progressive legislator after another was questioned about the bill. Not one of them could give a clear-cut answer. Deals were cut with representatives in smoke-filled rooms (we’re left to guess as to the origin of that smoke, since little in the bill makes sense, Baby Boomers and all that).
Fast-forward to today and we get a better picture of what’s in it.
Waivers. Lots of them. Distributed to many groups who supported the bill and have since discovered how much it costs them.
Over 1300 waivers to date, with more on the way. And lots of them in Nancy Pelosi’s district.
If you don’t see anything wrong with the issuance of waivers (read exemptions) for a new law in America, then it’s time to introduce you to something you may have heard about: The Constitution.
This mysterious document speaks in an ancient language about obscure ideas. One of these arcane notions is that a law applies to everyone equally. Amazingly, this apparently outdated concept even has a name – The Equal Protection Clause.
Just think of a law that everyone must follow. I laugh in its general direction.
It’s not the Chicago Way.
The Chicago Way of Politics is to pick and choose winners and losers based on your loyalty to those in power. Support me and I’ll grant you a favor. All you need do is kiss my ring, or my ass, either one will do. Cross me and I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.
Thank you, Godfather, for only cutting off one of my fingers. I’ll never speak ill of you, your family, your pets or your taste in fashion again.
Far be it from me to expect all the lawyers in Washington who write these laws to be familiar with the country’s legal foundational document, much less any restrictions that could be placed on them. They can certainly do as they please.
Nancy Pelosi’s word’s return, “We have to pass the bill so that you can, uh, find out what’s in it.”
To which Dave Bowman in 2001 replies, “The thing's hollow, it goes on forever, and, oh my God, it's full of waivers!"
Well, here we are a year or so later and we’re finding out what’s in it. As we conservatives suspected, it contains many things, all of them bad.
In the era immediately preceding the passage of the government takeover of one-sixth of our economy, we knew we had a problem; health care costs were rising at a rapid rate. This came as a surprise to absolutely no one.
If you’re a Baby Boomer, you know it. You’ve been reminded of it ever since you were small. You’ve been analyzed and demographed since before you were born, and subjected to every form and nuance of advertising known to man. Certain folk who are Paid to Know Things probably know more about you than you do.
We were young and hip before being young and hip was cool. We were rebellious and raucous. We wanted Free Love and freedom from The Man. Our heroes were transmogrified from real life people who did real heroic-type things in real life to celluloid anti-heroes with some dark angst simmering underneath, ala James Dean.
“Do what you feel” became our mantra. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers proudly trucked their way across the pages of Rolling Stone Magazine, where the classified ads largely consisted of people who were trying to get one million other people to send them just one dollar. The Woodstock Nation was a unified block of free-spirited individuals who chose to separate themselves from the stodginess of their parents’ straight world and do their own thing by dressing, speaking, and acting alike.
We were oh so different from out parents except for one teeny, tiny little thing: we got old. And there were a lot of us that did that at the same time. Now, we’re starting to retire in record numbers, just as we did everything else in record numbers. And somehow, the government entitlements that were put in place before us, that we were told would always be there for us, like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, weren’t prepared for us. It’s almost like there were no Boomers elected to office anywhere.
How could anyone not have anticipated that health care costs would rise in proportion to the population of said Boomers? Did someone repeal the law of supply and demand and did I miss the memo?
This national event (the retirement of vast numbers of Baby Boomers) gave certain politicians of the far-left, control-freak variety a golden opportunity to implement one of their fondest desires – Universal Health Care. While that’s a noble sounding goal, that everyone should have access to quality health care for free, as soon as that idea becomes more than printed words on a page, it self-destructs like the tape at the beginning of Mission Impossible.
Ask someone from Britain or Canada how their government-sponsored and massively expensive health care system works and you’ll hear tales heretofore unheard of here in America. Long waits to see doctors, inefficient, sleepy-eyed, bureaucrats deciding who gets what treatment when and unnecessary deaths due to a myriad of conflagrations unique to a large and unmanageable government program, many times peopled by union members.
The fact that foreign dignitaries from these lands that boast of free health care for all come here to America for their treatment speaks volumes.
And the volumes say, “It’s a nice idea, but it doesn’t work.”
But that little fact of political and medical life didn’t dissuade the progressives in Congress from rubbing their little paws together with glee upon the immaculation of Barack Obama. They knew the time was at hand to move forward with their Grand Plan to control the American people through their health.
Ignoring such national trivialities as a housing market meltdown and the rapidly rising unemployment rate, they gathered behind closed doors without their Republican counterparts to discuss their plans. In the dead of night and against the will of a clear majority of the country, ObamaCare became law.
Over two thousand pages of legalistic mumbo-jumbo that no one bothered to read was passed over the protestations of a nation. One progressive legislator after another was questioned about the bill. Not one of them could give a clear-cut answer. Deals were cut with representatives in smoke-filled rooms (we’re left to guess as to the origin of that smoke, since little in the bill makes sense, Baby Boomers and all that).
Fast-forward to today and we get a better picture of what’s in it.
Waivers. Lots of them. Distributed to many groups who supported the bill and have since discovered how much it costs them.
Over 1300 waivers to date, with more on the way. And lots of them in Nancy Pelosi’s district.
If you don’t see anything wrong with the issuance of waivers (read exemptions) for a new law in America, then it’s time to introduce you to something you may have heard about: The Constitution.
This mysterious document speaks in an ancient language about obscure ideas. One of these arcane notions is that a law applies to everyone equally. Amazingly, this apparently outdated concept even has a name – The Equal Protection Clause.
Just think of a law that everyone must follow. I laugh in its general direction.
It’s not the Chicago Way.
The Chicago Way of Politics is to pick and choose winners and losers based on your loyalty to those in power. Support me and I’ll grant you a favor. All you need do is kiss my ring, or my ass, either one will do. Cross me and I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.
Thank you, Godfather, for only cutting off one of my fingers. I’ll never speak ill of you, your family, your pets or your taste in fashion again.
Far be it from me to expect all the lawyers in Washington who write these laws to be familiar with the country’s legal foundational document, much less any restrictions that could be placed on them. They can certainly do as they please.
Nancy Pelosi’s word’s return, “We have to pass the bill so that you can, uh, find out what’s in it.”
To which Dave Bowman in 2001 replies, “The thing's hollow, it goes on forever, and, oh my God, it's full of waivers!"
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sports in Space? Why Not?
Growing up, I had dreams of becoming an astronaut. If you’re of a certain age, you probably had those same dreams, too. You looked up to those magnificent men in their flying machines and wanted to be one of them.
You knew you had to do: study the hard sciences, be disciplined physically, emotionally, and mentally, be the best person you could become and then, maybe, you could join the ranks of the most technically advanced pioneers the world has ever known. Shepard, Glenn, Armstrong, Aldrin, and many others were names you knew and revered.
You wanted to be like them and boldly go where no one had ever gone before.
Today’s final launch of Shuttle Endeavor is sad for many reasons, not the least among them is the fact that we’ve seemingly lost our national zeal for exploration. Not us as a people, or a race. Humans have an inner thirst for new and untried things to do and places to explore.
That was once an integral part of what made us Americans. We did new things. We proposed new ideas and new ways of doing them. We had leadership that embraced true technological progress, progress that resulted in the greatest elevation of mankind the world has ever known. The technological advancements from our space program gave us new products and innovative ways of looking at the world. Satellites, computers and Tang were but small part of the Space Age. Science fiction became facts of everyday life.
Alas, we no longer have that type of leadership in Washington today. It’s not that our national quest for adventure has waned; those we send to Washington today seem more enamored with petty things through which to gain power and control, not a grand vision of mankind elevated. We are diminished as a result of sending such small-minded people to act on our behalf.
Speaking of our space program in the past tense is depressing as hell.
We must now depend on our biggest competitor for our access to low Earth orbit. Russia will now assume the duties that we once did, servicing the Space Station that we developed, financed and put into orbit. They recently raised their price for their services, unsurprisingly. A lack of competition will do that.
So, while we ponder our next national move towards space, what will we do in the meantime? The moon is still waiting to be explored, as is Mars. We have the technology (to coin a phrase), but not the foresight or political will to continue our trek to the stars.
I have an idea.
Let’s create a sport for space. SpaceSport, we’ll call it for now. There could even be more than one of them.
It’s new, exciting, and would generate quite a bit of money and open up low Earth orbit to fans as space tourists. This would be all kinds of good.
And, it’s doable without any government money.
Just think of the possibilities. A worldwide television market. Merchandising on a truly grand scale. A permanent, private presence in space. Technological innovations that would truly make space flight as routine and inexpensive as jet travel. There’s more, the only limit would be our imagination.
Already, several private companies are poised to capitalize on space tourism with short-duration flights. Elon Musk, Sir Richard Branson, Burt Rutan and others are leading the way in the privatization of space. Expectations are that businesses will start offering rides within a couple of years, perhaps sooner.
What could accelerate that better than SpaceSport? The absence of gravity will present its own challenge. Initial plans could be for a small, well-cushioned court for the players, a uniform with strategically placed patches of Velcro with which to remain stationary if desired (or maybe stay attached to a fellow player). A ball similar to a soft type of kickball could be used (although there’s no weight in space, there’s still mass – if you hit your head on something, it still hurts). Perhaps a large cylindrical tube with round goals at either end into which a ball could be thrown or banked to score. TV cameras could be placed in players’ helmets to show the action. Advancements in virtual reality could enable fans to see what players see, much like in-car cameras in motorsports, only better. The market for video games alone would be enormous. Possibilities abound.
Eventually, there could even be an arena with live spectators, who knows?
This could be the next step in space travel and exploration – sports.
You knew you had to do: study the hard sciences, be disciplined physically, emotionally, and mentally, be the best person you could become and then, maybe, you could join the ranks of the most technically advanced pioneers the world has ever known. Shepard, Glenn, Armstrong, Aldrin, and many others were names you knew and revered.
You wanted to be like them and boldly go where no one had ever gone before.
Today’s final launch of Shuttle Endeavor is sad for many reasons, not the least among them is the fact that we’ve seemingly lost our national zeal for exploration. Not us as a people, or a race. Humans have an inner thirst for new and untried things to do and places to explore.
That was once an integral part of what made us Americans. We did new things. We proposed new ideas and new ways of doing them. We had leadership that embraced true technological progress, progress that resulted in the greatest elevation of mankind the world has ever known. The technological advancements from our space program gave us new products and innovative ways of looking at the world. Satellites, computers and Tang were but small part of the Space Age. Science fiction became facts of everyday life.
Alas, we no longer have that type of leadership in Washington today. It’s not that our national quest for adventure has waned; those we send to Washington today seem more enamored with petty things through which to gain power and control, not a grand vision of mankind elevated. We are diminished as a result of sending such small-minded people to act on our behalf.
Speaking of our space program in the past tense is depressing as hell.
We must now depend on our biggest competitor for our access to low Earth orbit. Russia will now assume the duties that we once did, servicing the Space Station that we developed, financed and put into orbit. They recently raised their price for their services, unsurprisingly. A lack of competition will do that.
So, while we ponder our next national move towards space, what will we do in the meantime? The moon is still waiting to be explored, as is Mars. We have the technology (to coin a phrase), but not the foresight or political will to continue our trek to the stars.
I have an idea.
Let’s create a sport for space. SpaceSport, we’ll call it for now. There could even be more than one of them.
It’s new, exciting, and would generate quite a bit of money and open up low Earth orbit to fans as space tourists. This would be all kinds of good.
And, it’s doable without any government money.
Just think of the possibilities. A worldwide television market. Merchandising on a truly grand scale. A permanent, private presence in space. Technological innovations that would truly make space flight as routine and inexpensive as jet travel. There’s more, the only limit would be our imagination.
Already, several private companies are poised to capitalize on space tourism with short-duration flights. Elon Musk, Sir Richard Branson, Burt Rutan and others are leading the way in the privatization of space. Expectations are that businesses will start offering rides within a couple of years, perhaps sooner.
What could accelerate that better than SpaceSport? The absence of gravity will present its own challenge. Initial plans could be for a small, well-cushioned court for the players, a uniform with strategically placed patches of Velcro with which to remain stationary if desired (or maybe stay attached to a fellow player). A ball similar to a soft type of kickball could be used (although there’s no weight in space, there’s still mass – if you hit your head on something, it still hurts). Perhaps a large cylindrical tube with round goals at either end into which a ball could be thrown or banked to score. TV cameras could be placed in players’ helmets to show the action. Advancements in virtual reality could enable fans to see what players see, much like in-car cameras in motorsports, only better. The market for video games alone would be enormous. Possibilities abound.
Eventually, there could even be an arena with live spectators, who knows?
This could be the next step in space travel and exploration – sports.
Friday, May 13, 2011
A Tale of Two Flag Burnings - A Watershed Moment for America
Something happened Wednesday that you should know about. Before I show y’all the videos, I need to relate the whole story to you as best I know it.
It began when a Columbian student enrolled in Louisiana State University, upset at the death of Osama bin Laden, decided to protest the United States early on May 2 by defacing the LSU War Memorial, cutting down the American and LSU flags and setting fire to the American flag. From Gateway Pundit.
He is shown here shortly after his arrest.
This incident prompted graduate student Benjamin Haas to stage his own protest of Eslava’s arrest by attempting to burn yet another American flag.
This is what Haas had planned to say during his protest (from lsureville.com),
Haas seems oblivious to the facts surrounding Eslava’s arrest. Eslava did not burn his own flag. He was arrested for destruction of property, vandalism, arson, and theft. Due process was carried out in accordance with the law. Note that Haas wants to “define due process.” He needn't worry his pretty little head about that: wiser souls have already done that for him.
His concern for suspected terrorists is oh so compassionate. Too bad he doesn’t hold such compassion for the innocent victims of terrorism.
As a staunch Alabama fan, I’m contractually obligated to say, “Is this what they teach at LSU?”
Anyway, in a massive show of patriotism and non-violence by the student body and others, Haas’ protest didn’t quite go as planned, as the following video shows.
Bill Ayers was unavailable for comment.
This is a watershed moment for the country. This demonstration shows just how badly outnumbered the radical left is, despite their seeming prevalence on the major news outlets of the MSM and in academia. I detect one of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals being revealed, “Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.”
As the videos show, the crowd of counter-protesters was vast, vocal and raucous. And also non-violent. And indicative of the left’s true numbers.
They're also aware of their rights. (language warning)
This is all kinds of good. The Formerly-Silent Majority has found its voice, thanks in no small part to the Tea Party movement. Personally, I’d like to see more of this type of protest where the radical left is shouted down as the poseur hypocrites that they are. If they’re so disillusioned with the US that they feel moved to protest yet they take full advantage of the freedoms and opportunities that abound here, then they should be shouted down, loudly and non-violently. If they find America not to their liking, they are free to leave us in peace and relocate to another country that’s more in line with their decidedly anti-American views.
Remember that it was Socrates who originally said, “America, Love It or Leave It.”
Or words to that effect.
Note: This should have been posted yesterday, but got eaten by the Interwebs.
It began when a Columbian student enrolled in Louisiana State University, upset at the death of Osama bin Laden, decided to protest the United States early on May 2 by defacing the LSU War Memorial, cutting down the American and LSU flags and setting fire to the American flag. From Gateway Pundit.
An LSU student wanted as a suspect in connection with the damage of the school’s war memorial, which included the burning of an American flag, has turned himself in to school police, according to the university.
Isaac Eslava, 23, a resident of Baton Rouge was being sought for two counts of simple damage to property, one count of arson, one count of theft and one count of resisting an officer.
Eslava holds dual citizenship for the United States and Colombia. During the early morning hours of May 2, the LSU War Memorial was damaged. The flag mast rope was cut down, the United States flag set afire and the LSU flag stolen. An LSU staff member alerted LSU Police, who responded to the area. LSU Police located the suspect nearby, but was unable to detain him.
During this initial response, police recovered a stolen vehicle, which was used by the suspect. The LSU flag was recovered from inside of the vehicle along with drug paraphernalia, a clothing item belonging to the suspect, and red and black spray paint.
LSU Police Detectives later identified the suspect and recovered the knife suspected to have been used to cut the rope. The knife still had flag mast rope fibers along the blade. Detectives also learned that on the same morning The Venue Apartments located north of campus were vandalized by graffiti using red and black spray paint and were able to connect the suspect to the crime.
He is shown here shortly after his arrest.
This incident prompted graduate student Benjamin Haas to stage his own protest of Eslava’s arrest by attempting to burn yet another American flag.
This is what Haas had planned to say during his protest (from lsureville.com),
"I initially began this flag burning protest to define due process for students and suspected terrorists alike, to call on LSU and universities across the country to defend basic human rights and avoid putting students into the criminal justice system when it can be taken care of internally," the pre-written text of Haas's speech read. "In the name of peace, there will be no flag burning today. This country and the flag that flies over it stands for freedom, democracy, love, peace and the ability to question our government.”
Haas seems oblivious to the facts surrounding Eslava’s arrest. Eslava did not burn his own flag. He was arrested for destruction of property, vandalism, arson, and theft. Due process was carried out in accordance with the law. Note that Haas wants to “define due process.” He needn't worry his pretty little head about that: wiser souls have already done that for him.
His concern for suspected terrorists is oh so compassionate. Too bad he doesn’t hold such compassion for the innocent victims of terrorism.
As a staunch Alabama fan, I’m contractually obligated to say, “Is this what they teach at LSU?”
Anyway, in a massive show of patriotism and non-violence by the student body and others, Haas’ protest didn’t quite go as planned, as the following video shows.
Bill Ayers was unavailable for comment.
This is a watershed moment for the country. This demonstration shows just how badly outnumbered the radical left is, despite their seeming prevalence on the major news outlets of the MSM and in academia. I detect one of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals being revealed, “Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.”
As the videos show, the crowd of counter-protesters was vast, vocal and raucous. And also non-violent. And indicative of the left’s true numbers.
They're also aware of their rights. (language warning)
This is all kinds of good. The Formerly-Silent Majority has found its voice, thanks in no small part to the Tea Party movement. Personally, I’d like to see more of this type of protest where the radical left is shouted down as the poseur hypocrites that they are. If they’re so disillusioned with the US that they feel moved to protest yet they take full advantage of the freedoms and opportunities that abound here, then they should be shouted down, loudly and non-violently. If they find America not to their liking, they are free to leave us in peace and relocate to another country that’s more in line with their decidedly anti-American views.
Remember that it was Socrates who originally said, “America, Love It or Leave It.”
Or words to that effect.
Note: This should have been posted yesterday, but got eaten by the Interwebs.
Friday Bits of Tid - Friday the 13th Edition
Today's Piece of Helpful Advice:
If you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.
Forgive me for the lateness of my post today, but Blogger has been down until just now. Ann Althouse hardest hit.
Anyway, it's Friday the 13th. As the comic character Pogo used to say, the only day that would be worse would be Friday the 26th. Twice as bad.
Let us tid with caution.
Big Brother is watching your kid eat lunch.
Dangerous Hair.
Paper Escher. (via David Thompson)
Lego Escher.
Dangerous Grandma.
This is just the thing to go along with your President Obama Commemorative Plate: an Obama Seal Team 6 Action Figure. Teleprompter sold separately.
I truly thought border collies were smarter than this.
And finally, OBL's funeral at sea. (shamelessly stolen from Ace of Spades HQ)
Have a good 'un, y'all.
If you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.
Forgive me for the lateness of my post today, but Blogger has been down until just now. Ann Althouse hardest hit.
Anyway, it's Friday the 13th. As the comic character Pogo used to say, the only day that would be worse would be Friday the 26th. Twice as bad.
Let us tid with caution.
Big Brother is watching your kid eat lunch.
Dangerous Hair.
Paper Escher. (via David Thompson)
Lego Escher.
Dangerous Grandma.
This is just the thing to go along with your President Obama Commemorative Plate: an Obama Seal Team 6 Action Figure. Teleprompter sold separately.
I truly thought border collies were smarter than this.
And finally, OBL's funeral at sea. (shamelessly stolen from Ace of Spades HQ)
Have a good 'un, y'all.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Obama’s Political Cowboy Poetry
Ignoring a seriously depressed economy, four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline and a ten percent inflation rate, President Obama took to the campaign trail in Texas yesterday to talk up immigration reform and talk down to Republicans, conservatives, and anyone else who dares to think that we should actually enforce our existing immigration laws.
Here’s a sample:
No, Mr. President, that’s smug condescension on your part, which I guess passes for politics to you. We’re still waiting for you to get serious about enforcement. We wonder why you aren’t stopping the flood of illegals across our Mexican border. We wonder why you’re intent upon suing the state of Arizona to stop their recently passed illegal immigration law that closely mirrors the federal law you refuse to enforce. Jake Tapper does a bit of fact-checking Obama's speech here.
We wonder why there are signs like this anywhere in America.
(H/T to Great Satan Inc.)
We wonder why we tolerate the environmental destruction that those illegals cause. Why aren’t the greenies outraged at the 225 tons of trash they left behind in 2010? The 13.5 tons of tires? The 77 vehicles abandoned and removed?
How about the fact that Phoenix, AZ is now one of the world’s most dangerous cities due to the high and rising number of kidnappings by drug cartels? Janet Napolitano recently stated that the Mexican border is safe. I guess since she can’t see it from her office window in Washington, she thinks it is. Pinal County Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu begs to disagree, in front of a Congressional committee no less.
Not to mention the potential for terrorists to cross into America unnoticed. This alone should be sufficient cause to secure our southern border, especially now that known terrorist groups are established in Mexican border towns.
President Obama is more than happy to confuse legal and illegal immigration for political purposes, and he’s not alone in using that tactic.
Fox News notes,
Those are legal immigrants, with whom no one has a beef. If you want to come to America and do so through our traditional (and legal) method of application, then we welcome you as we always have. It’s those who enter this country illegally without regard for our laws that we’re concerned about. Illegals working under cover and for less wages impact our economy negatively, displacing American workers. It’s no coincidence that Mexico’s second greatest source of national income (behind oil revenues) is from illegals in America. Count in the states that strangely give public benefits to illegals and the costs outweigh any benefits.
We don’t need immigration reform. We already have a pathway to citizenship, but to hear the President and many others speak, we don’t.
And if the Democrats or Obama thought for a minute that any of these illegals they want to give amnesty to might vote Republican, they’d be the first ones to close the Mexican border.
You can hang your ten-gallon hat on that, pardner.
Here’s a sample:
The president said “we have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I suspect there will be those who will try to move the goal posts one more time. They’ll say we need to triple the border patrol. Or quadruple the border patrol. They’ll say we need a higher fence to support reform. Maybe they’ll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat. They’ll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That’s politics.”
No, Mr. President, that’s smug condescension on your part, which I guess passes for politics to you. We’re still waiting for you to get serious about enforcement. We wonder why you aren’t stopping the flood of illegals across our Mexican border. We wonder why you’re intent upon suing the state of Arizona to stop their recently passed illegal immigration law that closely mirrors the federal law you refuse to enforce. Jake Tapper does a bit of fact-checking Obama's speech here.
We wonder why there are signs like this anywhere in America.
We wonder why we tolerate the environmental destruction that those illegals cause. Why aren’t the greenies outraged at the 225 tons of trash they left behind in 2010? The 13.5 tons of tires? The 77 vehicles abandoned and removed?
How about the fact that Phoenix, AZ is now one of the world’s most dangerous cities due to the high and rising number of kidnappings by drug cartels? Janet Napolitano recently stated that the Mexican border is safe. I guess since she can’t see it from her office window in Washington, she thinks it is. Pinal County Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu begs to disagree, in front of a Congressional committee no less.
Not to mention the potential for terrorists to cross into America unnoticed. This alone should be sufficient cause to secure our southern border, especially now that known terrorist groups are established in Mexican border towns.
President Obama is more than happy to confuse legal and illegal immigration for political purposes, and he’s not alone in using that tactic.
Fox News notes,
“…Obama is pitching his immigration argument to the larger public, refining it in a way that goes to Americans' pocketbook concerns. White House officials say Obama will emphasize the economic value of reforming immigration laws, noting that immigrants account for a substantial share of business start-ups and patent applications, among other things -- activities that create jobs for everyone.”
Those are legal immigrants, with whom no one has a beef. If you want to come to America and do so through our traditional (and legal) method of application, then we welcome you as we always have. It’s those who enter this country illegally without regard for our laws that we’re concerned about. Illegals working under cover and for less wages impact our economy negatively, displacing American workers. It’s no coincidence that Mexico’s second greatest source of national income (behind oil revenues) is from illegals in America. Count in the states that strangely give public benefits to illegals and the costs outweigh any benefits.
We don’t need immigration reform. We already have a pathway to citizenship, but to hear the President and many others speak, we don’t.
And if the Democrats or Obama thought for a minute that any of these illegals they want to give amnesty to might vote Republican, they’d be the first ones to close the Mexican border.
You can hang your ten-gallon hat on that, pardner.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Obama in the Economic Shadow of Carter
There’s a wonderfully optimistic post over at Politico today: President Obama dashes 'Jimmy Carter' label. It’s optimistic only if you’re a far-left, progressive Democrat. (h/t to Instapundit)
This article gleefully reports that Obama’s approval numbers show a 12-point uptick in his popularity in the wake of the successful bin Laden operation. Noticeably absent is any mention of George Bush, whose policies Obama continued and to whom Obama owes his singular political success.
The author is saying, essentially, that the 2012 presidential election has already been decided in Obama’s favor and that Republicans may as well start waving the white flag of surrender.
Not so fast there, Sunshine. The folks over at CNBC are showing only a three point overall bump from his pre-raid approval numbers. That’s notable because they’re not a stronghold of conservative thought.
As the euphoria of bin Laden’s demise slowly wears off, we’re returning to the reality of an American economy on life support. Last Friday’s new unemployment numbers are but one indicator that Happy Obama and his Merry Economy Wrecking Crew are still busy doing their best to strangle the private sector and drive our federal debt to unprecedented and unsustainable levels.
Perhaps they need a few reminders that we still have all the wonderfulness of Jimmy Carter II in the White House.
The nation’s unemployment numbers rose back up to nine percent. Understand that this number is somewhat misleading due to the way the numbers are obtained. Those who have been out of work the longest aren’t counted. If you aren’t actively collecting state unemployment money, you’re not considered unemployed. As people exhaust their benefits after two years, they are simply no longer counted.
Similarly, the price of groceries and gasoline isn’t figured into the inflation index. It’s almost as the prime drivers of unemployment and inflation aren’t counted. Hmm, wouldn’t that make the numbers appear to be better than they actually are?
Why yes, yes they would.
It’s funny how the progressive, anti-American left seizes onto just one victory by their little hero and it’s game over for the Republicans. Until that event, Obama was on the express elevator to the bottom of popularity as his policies (along with those of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in the previous Congress, don't forget) chug along as planned. A drastic erosion of our standard of living will do that to a president.
Granted, taking out bin Laden was a feather in Obama’s cap. But how is that helping the growing number of Americans struggling to purchase gas, or groceries, or find a job? The answer is it can’t and it won’t. But you knew that already.
That doesn’t stop the wishful thinkers on the left from crowing from the barn roof that Obama is invincible and that all the GOP candidates should just go back home where they belong and let Obama work his magic for another four years.
Sorry, but we can’t take four more years of Obama. The first two have already been quite enough, thank you. How much longer can we continue our downward slide toward the gaping maw of the economic Sarlacc? How many more of your friends and family will lose their jobs? Their homes? Their self-sufficiency and sense of worth?
Almost everyone I know has lost either a job, or a home or both. Before you say I need a better circle of friends, understand that I know machinists, salesfolk, engineers, business owners, nurses, and degreed professionals of various backgrounds. They’re all hurting.
This economy and the policies that caused it are responsible for the greatest waste of intellectual capital this country has ever seen. Why should a degreed software engineer be forced to unload trucks for a living? That’s not me, BTW, but my situation is no different. The waste isn’t confined to one sector of the economy, it’s everywhere you look.
People want to work, preferably in their chosen field. In America, we once had that opportunity, but efforts to engineer our society have resulted in big policy decisions at the national level that have done little to expand our economy, still the world’s largest. I point to NAFTA as the beginning of these destructive policies, and they continue to this day.
Do you really think that Obama’s illegal moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf isn’t contributing to high gas prices? If you think that, then I don’t know what to say to you. Your grasp of economics is tenuous at best. Get thee to the Interwebs and start educating yourself on the wonderfully simple Law of Supply and Demand. In five minutes, you’ll know more than all the president’s current economic advisors combined.
But if you see the economic truth, then you also see that it’s not the free market that’s causing our malaise. It’s a direct result of policy stifling that market. Our economy is being engineered by people who don’t know what they’re doing, unless, of course, they’re intent upon ruining it.
We grew to become the world’s largest economy precisely because we were free. This is called “organic growth” and led us to the top of the world in economic growth, technical innovation, and prosperity. There was diversity in the job market, and even if you didn’t have a college degree, you could still make a respectable living with your hands.
But in the mid-nineties, someone somewhere in Washington decided that we, as a nation, were to move to a “service oriented” economy. This simple decision was the beginning of the end of our free market. Have you noticed how many economic bubbles have formed and burst since then?
Ask yourself why anyone would want to suppress a vibrant, free market for any reason other than to cripple it. Any effort or policy that deviates from the principle of freedom doesn’t improve a free market economy. That’s why it’s called what it’s called.
The current president looks with wonder upon this nation and its economy. Having no experience in the business world, and surrounding himself with like-minded people, he is captaining the Titanic, hereafter renamed the Jimmy Carter. Brave and bold, full of himself, enjoying the view from the bridge while heading straight towards the iceberg. Even when the ship strikes it, the captain isn’t worried because he’s been assured that he’s at the helm of the most advanced ship ever to ply the seas. After all, it’s unsinkable, isn’t it?
And that’s a best-case scenario giving the president the benefit of the doubt. All of the benefit.
In a worst-case scenario, our economic demise is being planned and guided by someone with a track record of destroying entire countries’ economies and America would be the trophy he’d most like to mount over the fireplace.
Not that I’m into conspiracy theories, but I keep asking myself, as do many, if Obama were purposely destroying our economy, what would he be doing differently?
This period of history makes Jimmy Carter look positively stellar by comparison. There isn’t one traditional economic indicator showing us emerging from a very deep recession. Obama’s policies are directly to blame. I don’t employ the double standard the Progressive Pravda uses that pins the blame only on Republican presidents when the economy heads south. Obama owns this economy. There are no two ways about it.
We’ve reached the tipping point. Our federal government has grown so big and influential (in a negative way) that it now controls our economy. New laws and regulations, regardless of their intentions, are having a downward pull on us that’s rapidly exceeding the force of gravity.
Knowing what the problem is will go a long way towards fixing it. The solution is simple, but not easy: we need a reduction in government away from central command and control. It’s been tried before and has failed every time.
What’s needed is a change in the national mindset. A smaller, weaker government should be demanded by the American people. And when I say weak, I don’t mean that in a militaristic way. I mean that in the way that we shouldn’t be struggling under counterproductive rules, red tape and high tax rates. Washington is simply too big, too powerful and economically damaging to continue upon its current path. We have to rein it in if we are to ever have a hope of being the country we could be, where each person has the opportunity to set his or her own course through life, secure in the knowledge that some bureaucrat somewhere far away isn’t busy concocting ways to justify his salary by making up rules as fast as possible, rules that restrict the creation of wealth and prosperity.
In other words, it’s time for some change, only this time, the positive kind.
This article gleefully reports that Obama’s approval numbers show a 12-point uptick in his popularity in the wake of the successful bin Laden operation. Noticeably absent is any mention of George Bush, whose policies Obama continued and to whom Obama owes his singular political success.
The author is saying, essentially, that the 2012 presidential election has already been decided in Obama’s favor and that Republicans may as well start waving the white flag of surrender.
Not so fast there, Sunshine. The folks over at CNBC are showing only a three point overall bump from his pre-raid approval numbers. That’s notable because they’re not a stronghold of conservative thought.
As the euphoria of bin Laden’s demise slowly wears off, we’re returning to the reality of an American economy on life support. Last Friday’s new unemployment numbers are but one indicator that Happy Obama and his Merry Economy Wrecking Crew are still busy doing their best to strangle the private sector and drive our federal debt to unprecedented and unsustainable levels.
Perhaps they need a few reminders that we still have all the wonderfulness of Jimmy Carter II in the White House.
The nation’s unemployment numbers rose back up to nine percent. Understand that this number is somewhat misleading due to the way the numbers are obtained. Those who have been out of work the longest aren’t counted. If you aren’t actively collecting state unemployment money, you’re not considered unemployed. As people exhaust their benefits after two years, they are simply no longer counted.
Similarly, the price of groceries and gasoline isn’t figured into the inflation index. It’s almost as the prime drivers of unemployment and inflation aren’t counted. Hmm, wouldn’t that make the numbers appear to be better than they actually are?
Why yes, yes they would.
It’s funny how the progressive, anti-American left seizes onto just one victory by their little hero and it’s game over for the Republicans. Until that event, Obama was on the express elevator to the bottom of popularity as his policies (along with those of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in the previous Congress, don't forget) chug along as planned. A drastic erosion of our standard of living will do that to a president.
Granted, taking out bin Laden was a feather in Obama’s cap. But how is that helping the growing number of Americans struggling to purchase gas, or groceries, or find a job? The answer is it can’t and it won’t. But you knew that already.
That doesn’t stop the wishful thinkers on the left from crowing from the barn roof that Obama is invincible and that all the GOP candidates should just go back home where they belong and let Obama work his magic for another four years.
Sorry, but we can’t take four more years of Obama. The first two have already been quite enough, thank you. How much longer can we continue our downward slide toward the gaping maw of the economic Sarlacc? How many more of your friends and family will lose their jobs? Their homes? Their self-sufficiency and sense of worth?
Almost everyone I know has lost either a job, or a home or both. Before you say I need a better circle of friends, understand that I know machinists, salesfolk, engineers, business owners, nurses, and degreed professionals of various backgrounds. They’re all hurting.
This economy and the policies that caused it are responsible for the greatest waste of intellectual capital this country has ever seen. Why should a degreed software engineer be forced to unload trucks for a living? That’s not me, BTW, but my situation is no different. The waste isn’t confined to one sector of the economy, it’s everywhere you look.
People want to work, preferably in their chosen field. In America, we once had that opportunity, but efforts to engineer our society have resulted in big policy decisions at the national level that have done little to expand our economy, still the world’s largest. I point to NAFTA as the beginning of these destructive policies, and they continue to this day.
Do you really think that Obama’s illegal moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf isn’t contributing to high gas prices? If you think that, then I don’t know what to say to you. Your grasp of economics is tenuous at best. Get thee to the Interwebs and start educating yourself on the wonderfully simple Law of Supply and Demand. In five minutes, you’ll know more than all the president’s current economic advisors combined.
But if you see the economic truth, then you also see that it’s not the free market that’s causing our malaise. It’s a direct result of policy stifling that market. Our economy is being engineered by people who don’t know what they’re doing, unless, of course, they’re intent upon ruining it.
We grew to become the world’s largest economy precisely because we were free. This is called “organic growth” and led us to the top of the world in economic growth, technical innovation, and prosperity. There was diversity in the job market, and even if you didn’t have a college degree, you could still make a respectable living with your hands.
But in the mid-nineties, someone somewhere in Washington decided that we, as a nation, were to move to a “service oriented” economy. This simple decision was the beginning of the end of our free market. Have you noticed how many economic bubbles have formed and burst since then?
Ask yourself why anyone would want to suppress a vibrant, free market for any reason other than to cripple it. Any effort or policy that deviates from the principle of freedom doesn’t improve a free market economy. That’s why it’s called what it’s called.
The current president looks with wonder upon this nation and its economy. Having no experience in the business world, and surrounding himself with like-minded people, he is captaining the Titanic, hereafter renamed the Jimmy Carter. Brave and bold, full of himself, enjoying the view from the bridge while heading straight towards the iceberg. Even when the ship strikes it, the captain isn’t worried because he’s been assured that he’s at the helm of the most advanced ship ever to ply the seas. After all, it’s unsinkable, isn’t it?
And that’s a best-case scenario giving the president the benefit of the doubt. All of the benefit.
In a worst-case scenario, our economic demise is being planned and guided by someone with a track record of destroying entire countries’ economies and America would be the trophy he’d most like to mount over the fireplace.
Not that I’m into conspiracy theories, but I keep asking myself, as do many, if Obama were purposely destroying our economy, what would he be doing differently?
This period of history makes Jimmy Carter look positively stellar by comparison. There isn’t one traditional economic indicator showing us emerging from a very deep recession. Obama’s policies are directly to blame. I don’t employ the double standard the Progressive Pravda uses that pins the blame only on Republican presidents when the economy heads south. Obama owns this economy. There are no two ways about it.
We’ve reached the tipping point. Our federal government has grown so big and influential (in a negative way) that it now controls our economy. New laws and regulations, regardless of their intentions, are having a downward pull on us that’s rapidly exceeding the force of gravity.
Knowing what the problem is will go a long way towards fixing it. The solution is simple, but not easy: we need a reduction in government away from central command and control. It’s been tried before and has failed every time.
What’s needed is a change in the national mindset. A smaller, weaker government should be demanded by the American people. And when I say weak, I don’t mean that in a militaristic way. I mean that in the way that we shouldn’t be struggling under counterproductive rules, red tape and high tax rates. Washington is simply too big, too powerful and economically damaging to continue upon its current path. We have to rein it in if we are to ever have a hope of being the country we could be, where each person has the opportunity to set his or her own course through life, secure in the knowledge that some bureaucrat somewhere far away isn’t busy concocting ways to justify his salary by making up rules as fast as possible, rules that restrict the creation of wealth and prosperity.
In other words, it’s time for some change, only this time, the positive kind.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Bin Laden’s Death and Postmodernism
We knew this was coming. Not bin Leaden’s ultimate demise, but the unfortunate and all-too-predictable reaction from the usual subjects concerning his death. The last bubbles had hardly surfaced before some people started their America-bashing, claiming that we were the big, bad bullies for personally arranging Osama’s final dinner date with those 72 sturgeons. Even in countries that have experienced their own attacks at the direction of that animal, they strove mightily to establish their position on the highest moral ground by claiming that OBL’s death was illegal, immoral, and fattening. It even violated some international law.
I call bullshit, as you probably have too.
I’m terribly sorry to anyone who may be offended by my joy over the death of bin Leaden, but I'm not apologizing to anyone for it. We needed it. The world needed it. Nothing brightens my day like knowing the world has one less practitioner of evil in it. The birds sing a little sweeter at the thought that my five-year-old granddaughter doesn’t have to live in fear of him, and that one day, she’ll ask me who that bad man was. I’ll tell her and give her all the details I think she can handle.
The most important lesson I want to give her is that there are good people and there are bad people in this world. Good people do good things and bad people do bad things. Killing people is a bad thing, but killing a bad person is a good thing because it stops them from doing bad things to good people.
It really is just that simple. What surprises me is there are big people who can’t grasp that simple concept. And a few of them proudly proclaimed their misguided beliefs in the wake of bin Leaden’s death.
At which point I wondered, “What part of good and evil do you not understand?”
Amidst the moral universe in which we live, there are seemingly as many beliefs as there are stars in the evening sky. Well, maybe not that many, but there are an awful lot of them, and a lot of them are awful.
Bigfoot. Space aliens. The Loch Ness Monster. Keynesian economics. Political correctness. Multiculturalism, where all cultures are equally good. We need to spend money to keep from going bankrupt.
All popular beliefs and all of them wrong.
Yet there is one Big Wrong Belief that acts like an umbrella covering all the other ones from the cleansing rain of reality. You may have heard of it. It goes by the name of Postmodernism.
Sounds trendy, huh? Want to prove to your friends that you are terminally hip? Just say that you’ve been studying up on the latest philosophical craze, postmodernism. Your friends will be amazed.
Unless they know what it is. Then, what your friends will marvel at is your intellectual shallowness and infantile need for approval, not to mention your self-esteem issues for falling for the oldest trick in the book, in addition to being just plain stupid.
For the uninitiated, postmodernism is the basic belief that there is no such thing as good or evil. Following that, no decision you make or action you take is wrong. So, to coin a phrase, just do it. It’s all good. Nothing matters and what if it did?
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Since there’s no right or wrong, you’re free to live life on your own terms without that stodgy old thing called morals that the lesser humans babble on about. You’re a true intellectual, yes you are. You can now move on to other things, like splitting those pesky atoms with your mind and putting all those scientists at CERN to shame.
Silly humans.
If you’re not up to speed on this concept, do yourself a favor and search out a few articles on it. If you have any experience at all in the real world, you will rightly question anyone who buys into postmodernism. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it’s just codified insanity. The scary part about it is, there are a lot of folks who believe it, and too many of them hold political office. Cass Sunstein springs immediately to mind.
If you believe in PoMo, you are actively disengaging your own conscience. Control freaks like Sunstein have no problem with the idea of controlling other people because of it. All they need to do is point to how popular PoMo is (in certain circles) and voila! No need for any explanation and certainly no need to answer the questions that inevitably arise when you find out that there is someone in Washington whose fondest desire is to “nudge” you into a certain behavior.
Nor is there any need to explain the oft-cited stratospheric certitude that “One death diminishes us all.” Really? Bin Laden’s death diminished us? In what way? We killed a mass murderer. We killed someone who encouraged others to kill us for the crime of being non-muslim. We killed someone who hated us for breathing. Sorry, but out here in the real world, we must occasionally kill rabid animals for everyone's safety.
And we’re the ones who were wrong to kill him? Some of these fake bleeding hearts wanted him arrested and tried for his crimes. The idiocy of that proposal defies all logic and probably a few laws of physics, too.. While we’re playing mind games, let’s imagine for a moment what would have happened had we held the World’s Biggest Show Trial for bin Laden. He would’ve had the stage for his beliefs, the trial likely would've lasted for many years forcing the survivors of 9/11 to relive that horrible day over and over, there would be terror attacks and millions of dollars spent on security, the defense would have presented all manner of excuses for his behavior and would have retired after their books were published. It would’ve been a debacle of global proportions, just like OBL would have wanted it.
So, thanks once again to Seal Team 6, wherever and whoever you may be. You did the world a favor, and we owe you our gratitude.
As for the America bashers here and abroad, take your moral relativism and shove it, along with your stupid beliefs.
I call bullshit, as you probably have too.
I’m terribly sorry to anyone who may be offended by my joy over the death of bin Leaden, but I'm not apologizing to anyone for it. We needed it. The world needed it. Nothing brightens my day like knowing the world has one less practitioner of evil in it. The birds sing a little sweeter at the thought that my five-year-old granddaughter doesn’t have to live in fear of him, and that one day, she’ll ask me who that bad man was. I’ll tell her and give her all the details I think she can handle.
The most important lesson I want to give her is that there are good people and there are bad people in this world. Good people do good things and bad people do bad things. Killing people is a bad thing, but killing a bad person is a good thing because it stops them from doing bad things to good people.
It really is just that simple. What surprises me is there are big people who can’t grasp that simple concept. And a few of them proudly proclaimed their misguided beliefs in the wake of bin Leaden’s death.
At which point I wondered, “What part of good and evil do you not understand?”
Amidst the moral universe in which we live, there are seemingly as many beliefs as there are stars in the evening sky. Well, maybe not that many, but there are an awful lot of them, and a lot of them are awful.
Bigfoot. Space aliens. The Loch Ness Monster. Keynesian economics. Political correctness. Multiculturalism, where all cultures are equally good. We need to spend money to keep from going bankrupt.
All popular beliefs and all of them wrong.
Yet there is one Big Wrong Belief that acts like an umbrella covering all the other ones from the cleansing rain of reality. You may have heard of it. It goes by the name of Postmodernism.
Sounds trendy, huh? Want to prove to your friends that you are terminally hip? Just say that you’ve been studying up on the latest philosophical craze, postmodernism. Your friends will be amazed.
Unless they know what it is. Then, what your friends will marvel at is your intellectual shallowness and infantile need for approval, not to mention your self-esteem issues for falling for the oldest trick in the book, in addition to being just plain stupid.
For the uninitiated, postmodernism is the basic belief that there is no such thing as good or evil. Following that, no decision you make or action you take is wrong. So, to coin a phrase, just do it. It’s all good. Nothing matters and what if it did?
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Since there’s no right or wrong, you’re free to live life on your own terms without that stodgy old thing called morals that the lesser humans babble on about. You’re a true intellectual, yes you are. You can now move on to other things, like splitting those pesky atoms with your mind and putting all those scientists at CERN to shame.
Silly humans.
If you’re not up to speed on this concept, do yourself a favor and search out a few articles on it. If you have any experience at all in the real world, you will rightly question anyone who buys into postmodernism. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it’s just codified insanity. The scary part about it is, there are a lot of folks who believe it, and too many of them hold political office. Cass Sunstein springs immediately to mind.
If you believe in PoMo, you are actively disengaging your own conscience. Control freaks like Sunstein have no problem with the idea of controlling other people because of it. All they need to do is point to how popular PoMo is (in certain circles) and voila! No need for any explanation and certainly no need to answer the questions that inevitably arise when you find out that there is someone in Washington whose fondest desire is to “nudge” you into a certain behavior.
Nor is there any need to explain the oft-cited stratospheric certitude that “One death diminishes us all.” Really? Bin Laden’s death diminished us? In what way? We killed a mass murderer. We killed someone who encouraged others to kill us for the crime of being non-muslim. We killed someone who hated us for breathing. Sorry, but out here in the real world, we must occasionally kill rabid animals for everyone's safety.
And we’re the ones who were wrong to kill him? Some of these fake bleeding hearts wanted him arrested and tried for his crimes. The idiocy of that proposal defies all logic and probably a few laws of physics, too.. While we’re playing mind games, let’s imagine for a moment what would have happened had we held the World’s Biggest Show Trial for bin Laden. He would’ve had the stage for his beliefs, the trial likely would've lasted for many years forcing the survivors of 9/11 to relive that horrible day over and over, there would be terror attacks and millions of dollars spent on security, the defense would have presented all manner of excuses for his behavior and would have retired after their books were published. It would’ve been a debacle of global proportions, just like OBL would have wanted it.
So, thanks once again to Seal Team 6, wherever and whoever you may be. You did the world a favor, and we owe you our gratitude.
As for the America bashers here and abroad, take your moral relativism and shove it, along with your stupid beliefs.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Friday Bits of Tid - Muthahood Edition
Yo, yo, yo, y'all. It's been a pretty good week, all things considered. Our economy is still on life support, gas prices are through the roof and you think you're getting stronger because you can now lift one bag of groceries that costs $75 where you couldn't do that last year.
Still, all that pales, for a while at least, next to the news that we took out the world's most wanted man. The daring raid proved that even though we elected the worst president in recent memory, he still managed to do something right.
There's a first time for everything.
Let us tid with vim and vigor.
Are you in the market for a car? Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is for sale. The tires should be in really good shape.
Imagine for a moment that you're on a beach in Hawaii with your family. You ask a stranger to take a picture. You then discover the guy you asked is your long-lost half brother.
Fryer grease rustlers.
It seems you just can't trust drug dealers anymore. Man calls 911 after being shortchanged in crack deal. What is this world coming to?
Move over, Samuel Adams. The Father of our Country also had a beer recipe. You can taste it at a Manhattan bar called Rattle and Hum on May 18.
From the sidebar over at Ace's Place comes this video of a poor, bacon-deprived dog who can talk...
Holy advice in the grocery store.
And finally, this is for all the Mutha's out there.
Word, yo.
Also, if you don't mind, could you take a minute and say a prayer for a very good friend of mine who's in the hospital fighting for his life? Just a small one for his comfort, wisdom for his doctors, and strength for his family and friends. Many thanks.
Still, all that pales, for a while at least, next to the news that we took out the world's most wanted man. The daring raid proved that even though we elected the worst president in recent memory, he still managed to do something right.
There's a first time for everything.
Let us tid with vim and vigor.
Are you in the market for a car? Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is for sale. The tires should be in really good shape.
Imagine for a moment that you're on a beach in Hawaii with your family. You ask a stranger to take a picture. You then discover the guy you asked is your long-lost half brother.
Fryer grease rustlers.
It seems you just can't trust drug dealers anymore. Man calls 911 after being shortchanged in crack deal. What is this world coming to?
Move over, Samuel Adams. The Father of our Country also had a beer recipe. You can taste it at a Manhattan bar called Rattle and Hum on May 18.
From the sidebar over at Ace's Place comes this video of a poor, bacon-deprived dog who can talk...
Holy advice in the grocery store.
And finally, this is for all the Mutha's out there.
Word, yo.
Also, if you don't mind, could you take a minute and say a prayer for a very good friend of mine who's in the hospital fighting for his life? Just a small one for his comfort, wisdom for his doctors, and strength for his family and friends. Many thanks.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Obama Administration Seeks to Tax and Track Drivers with GPS Box
While the White House continues to change its story on the successful operation that took out OBL, this administration’s efforts to raise taxes and infringe upon your privacy proceed apace.
You’re gonna love this.
Under this plan, a study group would be established that would evaluate the feasibility of taxing drivers using the number of miles driven. And you’ll never guess how they plan to do it. Go on, guess. I’ll wait.
If you guessed they want to put a GPS device on your vehicle to track where you’ve been and when, then, Don Pardo, tell them what they’ve won!
Never mind that we’re already taxed for each mile we drive. That’s done through the taxes that the federal government and state and local municipalities impose on every gallon of gas we buy. Now, they want to install a GPS device in order to track the number of miles you drive. And if you think that’s all the information that will be gleaned from that little black box in your car, then, by all means, let them install one on your vehicle.
I’d rather not.
It’s crystal clear to me why the feds want to do this, as it should be to you. This is yet another of the ways the hoax of man-made global warming is being used as a political tool for the government to remove your Constitutional freedom of movement and your God-given right to privacy.
Pardon me, but I don’t remember telling any of my elected representatives that I wanted this done. And I can’t find anything horribly deficient with the current method of taxation. They seem to be able to collect a fair amount of money from us every day. What’s really funny is how this administration points to the eight cents of profit that the big, eeevilll oil companies make on every gallon as if that number is somehow outrageously high, but neglect to tell you how much money they make from that sale: an average of forty-one cents per gallon. And that’s without any of the overhead that the big, eeevilll oil companies incur in bringing that product to you.
So, pardon me once again. I fail to grasp why this is even being considered.
I can do some educated guessing, though. I can recall a time when we had enough money for what’s now called “infrastructure maintenance.” Of course, that was before the era of big public sector unions and their leech-like effect upon taxpayers. Where once we didn’t have the financial burden of paying outrageous union benefits with our tax monies, increasingly we’re seeing the decidedly negative impact of these union contracts as our roads and bridges fall into disrepair because of the sky-high benefits that the unions have extracted from the pockets of taxpayers. We used to pay taxes for road repair, but now all that money is going to fund lavish lifestyles for union members.
And I seem to recall all of the Stimulus money that was promised to trickle down to the local level in the form of infrastructure spending to do what used to be done with transportation tax money. Funny, I haven’t seen one new road or bridge being built, or even a road being repaved with any of that $800B dollars I was told about, have you?
I can also guess that someone in a cubicle somewhere in the bowels of the Transportation Department crunched the numbers on the reduced amount of tax revenue the government would realize as a result of encouraging us to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles and use public transportation and other modes of getting around.
So, why not just raise the gas tax? Why go through the trouble and expense of outfitting every vehicle in the US with a GPS device to track our driving habits? I wonder who would benefit from the contract for such an expensive undertaking. GE maybe? Or another of Obama’s corporate cronies with strong union ties? The public-sector unions who would doubtless people the new departments(s) required for this massive new program and their Democrat supporters?
Regardless of who benefits, this is an idea that should be squashed right now. There is no compelling need for this at all. Our travels are our private business and no one else’s. And we're taxed enough already.
This administration just might find a bit of resistance to this program.
Just a bit.
You’re gonna love this.
Under this plan, a study group would be established that would evaluate the feasibility of taxing drivers using the number of miles driven. And you’ll never guess how they plan to do it. Go on, guess. I’ll wait.
If you guessed they want to put a GPS device on your vehicle to track where you’ve been and when, then, Don Pardo, tell them what they’ve won!
Never mind that we’re already taxed for each mile we drive. That’s done through the taxes that the federal government and state and local municipalities impose on every gallon of gas we buy. Now, they want to install a GPS device in order to track the number of miles you drive. And if you think that’s all the information that will be gleaned from that little black box in your car, then, by all means, let them install one on your vehicle.
I’d rather not.
It’s crystal clear to me why the feds want to do this, as it should be to you. This is yet another of the ways the hoax of man-made global warming is being used as a political tool for the government to remove your Constitutional freedom of movement and your God-given right to privacy.
Pardon me, but I don’t remember telling any of my elected representatives that I wanted this done. And I can’t find anything horribly deficient with the current method of taxation. They seem to be able to collect a fair amount of money from us every day. What’s really funny is how this administration points to the eight cents of profit that the big, eeevilll oil companies make on every gallon as if that number is somehow outrageously high, but neglect to tell you how much money they make from that sale: an average of forty-one cents per gallon. And that’s without any of the overhead that the big, eeevilll oil companies incur in bringing that product to you.
So, pardon me once again. I fail to grasp why this is even being considered.
I can do some educated guessing, though. I can recall a time when we had enough money for what’s now called “infrastructure maintenance.” Of course, that was before the era of big public sector unions and their leech-like effect upon taxpayers. Where once we didn’t have the financial burden of paying outrageous union benefits with our tax monies, increasingly we’re seeing the decidedly negative impact of these union contracts as our roads and bridges fall into disrepair because of the sky-high benefits that the unions have extracted from the pockets of taxpayers. We used to pay taxes for road repair, but now all that money is going to fund lavish lifestyles for union members.
And I seem to recall all of the Stimulus money that was promised to trickle down to the local level in the form of infrastructure spending to do what used to be done with transportation tax money. Funny, I haven’t seen one new road or bridge being built, or even a road being repaved with any of that $800B dollars I was told about, have you?
I can also guess that someone in a cubicle somewhere in the bowels of the Transportation Department crunched the numbers on the reduced amount of tax revenue the government would realize as a result of encouraging us to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles and use public transportation and other modes of getting around.
So, why not just raise the gas tax? Why go through the trouble and expense of outfitting every vehicle in the US with a GPS device to track our driving habits? I wonder who would benefit from the contract for such an expensive undertaking. GE maybe? Or another of Obama’s corporate cronies with strong union ties? The public-sector unions who would doubtless people the new departments(s) required for this massive new program and their Democrat supporters?
Regardless of who benefits, this is an idea that should be squashed right now. There is no compelling need for this at all. Our travels are our private business and no one else’s. And we're taxed enough already.
This administration just might find a bit of resistance to this program.
Just a bit.
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