Yes We Can - keep our guns

In District of Columbia v. Heller the U. S. Supreme Court finally, after 217 years, weighed in on whether Amendment II of the U. S. Constitution granted an individual right to keep and bear arms. Surprisingly, the decision was a narrow 5-4 majority in favor of Heller which recognized the individual right. It is hard to understand how it could have been otherwise. The Bill of Rights is a laundry list of individual rights, enacted in order to limit governmental authority.

Justice Stephens, in the dissent, wrote that the majority, "would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made the decision to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian use of weapons." This is, in my opinion, exactly backwards. The purpose of Amendment II is to limit the tools of government against the individual.

I am no Constitutional scholar, but I can read, and it is sometimes hard for me to understand the contortions the Court must go through in order to reach a decision that fits the justices' individual prejudices. Today is a good day for those of us who believe that the Constitution means what it says rather than having some obscure meaning that is hidden somewhere just out of sight of the rational mind.

Below are the first ten amendments of the U. S. Constitution:

Bill of Rights

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Things that make you say WTF

According to the Pew Forum on religion and public life, 21% of atheists believe in God, 55% of agnostics believe in God. Do these people not know what atheist and agnostic mean? I can see where a small percentage of agnostics might believe in God, but not 55%, and atheist means, according to Webster's online dictionary, Someone who denies the existence of god. Is this just another example of American ignorance?

Elitism

Maureen Dowd has a column I really enjoyed this morning. The very idea that Rove, Dubya, Rush Limbaugh, et. al. dare to suggest that Obama is "elite" without taking a good look in the mirror is laughable.

Hezbollah planning an attack?

This ABC News item is rather scary. Hezbollah, with the blessing of Tehran, is planning a large scale attack against a western target, probably Canada or South America. This group is well organized and financed, as they have the support of the Iranian theocracy. Hopefully, the intelligence services involved will be able to foil these plots.

"Hezbollah would not carry out an attack in the west, or wherever this attack is going to occur, without approval from Tehran," said Baer, the former CIA intelligence officer.

Baer says his Hezbollah contacts told him an attack against the US was unlikely because Iran and Hezbollah did not want to give the Bush administration an excuse to attack.

If this statement is true, then we should all be glad that President Bush has such an unpopular foreign policy. It seems very effective in this instance.

Futurism

Dr. Robin Hansen has an excellent article on change (the kind Senator Obama talks about, not the stuff in your pocket.) The basic theory is that world changing events occur more and more frequently. The pace of change is logarithmic (see the graph above), basically meaning significant events occur in half the time that the previous significant change occurred. The article is very interesting and not so technical that we can't all understand it. It also links to some other notable articles on the same premise.

These events are called singularities, and two of note are the invention of agriculture and the industrial revolution. The economic implications of singularities are also discussed. Dr. Hansen theorizes that the next singularity will come with the perfection of intelligent machines (those that are capable of thought and learning.)

There are many more graphs showing logarithmic progress in things like computing speed, internet use, U.S. war deaths, etc. It is very interesting.

Is warming bad?

Cousin Mark goes to the trouble of reading the IPCC report so we don't have to. I looked up site after site and graph after graph on the points made in the report. For every claim made there is a counter claim. The statistics can be interpreted in many ways. But, let's suppose that all of the global warming enthusiasts are right and we are entering a significantly warmer period; is this a bad thing?

One of the many things that is constantly brought up is increased drought due to warming; this makes no sense. If the planet warms then that should cause melting of glaciers and the polar ice caps. If that occurs what is the impact? The impact is to release more water. Therefore, a warm period should be a wetter period. Glacial periods are the truly dry periods with low biomass; fewer plants and therefore fewer animals. Interglacial periods are the periods of plenty on the Earth. The Mesozaic era, the dinosaur period, was a time of a warmer planet than what we are in now, or likely to be in, even in the worst case scenarios. This period lasted some 180 million years and was a time of tremendous abundance in flora and fauna.

The only real problem that warming presents is a disruption of the status quo. Flooding of some low lying coastal areas, and perhaps inundation of some low elevation islands, like the Maldives. This is problematic for the people in the affected areas, but on a global issue we have to consider the impact on the human species, not individual humans.

So though I'm skeptical of global warming as a long term problem. I think we should hope for warming as opposed to cooling, which is what sunspot activity would predict.

Le Regime Cowboy

Maureen Dowd is one of my favorite columnists. She has an amusing column in today's NY Times about Dubya's visit to Paris. Apparently the French feel that the 2008 Presidential election has already been decided in the Democratic primary. How could the Americans possibly elect the boring old man McCain? I'm afraid we Democrats may find out, but I sure hope not.

Global Warming - A Real Concern

I thought I would post the summary points from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report (see below), just to highlight items that concern me and apparently many millions of people.

Even though I am skeptical of the future predictions of climate based on global warming science, I believe humans are altering the atmosphere (the numbers indicated below are inescapable), and governments should take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• Eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank among the 12 warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature (since 1850).
• Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely (90%+ probability) due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.
• The average temperature of the global ocean has increased to depths of at least 3000 m and that the ocean has been absorbing more than 80% of the heat added to the climate system. Such warming causes seawater to expand, contributing to sea level rise.
• Mountain glaciers and snow cover have declined on average in both hemispheres. Widespread decreases in glaciers and ice caps have contributed to sea level rise
• Global average sea level rose at an average rate of 1.8 mm per year over 1961 to 2003. The rate was faster over 1993 to 2003, about 3.1 mm per year.
• Average Arctic temperatures increased at almost twice the global average rate in the past 100 years.
• More intense and longer droughts have been observed over wider areas since the 1970s, particularly in the tropics and subtropics.
• Widespread changes in extreme temperatures have been observed over the last 50 years. Cold days, cold nights and frost have become less frequent, while hot days, hot nights, and heat waves have become more frequent
• The global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased from a pre-industrial value of about 280 ppm to 379 ppm in 2005. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide in 2005 exceeds by far the natural range over the last 650,000 years (180 to 300 ppm) as determined from ice cores.
• The primary source of the increased atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide since the pre-industrial period results from fossil fuel use, with land use change providing another significant but smaller contribution. Annual fossil carbon dioxide emissions increased from an average of 23.5 Gt CO2 per year in the 1990s, to 26.4 Gt CO2 per year in 2000-2005.
• The global atmospheric concentration of methane has increased from a pre-industrial value of about 715 ppb to 1732 ppb in the early 1990s, and is 1774 ppb in 2005.
• The combined radiative forcing due to increases in carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide is +2.30 W/m2, and its rate of increase during the industrial era is very likely to have been unprecedented in more than 10,000 years.

Global warming and the cost of gasoline

The whole climate change discussion strikes me as unbalanced. I have a hard time believing what is screamed by the media because they are parroting the environmental activists groups and, of course, Al Gore. The environmentalists are more anti-corporation and anti-free markets than they are truly environmental. The case of biofuels fairly proves that. So, it is virtually impossible to trust anything that is said by those groups or Al Gore (Manbearpig). These people provide the definition of "hidden agenda." But, they have had a stranglehold on the discussion to this point.

John Coleman, the founder of the Weather Channel, has some strong words on the subject. This article is well worth reading so that you get some balance on the subject. His point is that CO2 is not the enemy, and the "science" proving that it is, is highly questionable.

It seems to me that a wait and see attitude is by far the better response than destroying the world's economy in a silly effort to reduce carbon by 10% or 20% or whatever the number is today. The planet has cooled over the last ten years but the warming fanatics think we should ignore that; One even commented that the cooling was masking the warming trend. (That individual should get the Orwell award for double speak.) It is about the same as saying that the high gas prices are masking a downward trend in the price of fuel.

Talk about bitterly clinging!

Obama has a Muslim background?

I thought this had been put to rest. Someone forgot to tell Senator Obama's brother that he has never had anything do do with Islam.

Barack Obama's half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background.

And what about those of us who are gentiles? Will he not make a good president for us?

Al Franken Decade

The 1980's were the Al Franken Decade. At least that is what Al Franken declared on Weekend Update in late 1979. But now Franken expects the voters of Minnesota to make the 2000's the Al Franken decade, and elect him to the U.S. Senate. Seems a bit weird, but these freaky Swedish-Germans did elect a former professional wrestler to be their Governor.

There was a time when Al Franken was funny; like in "Trading Places" when he was working with Tom Davis as Franken and Davis. He hasn't been funny in quite a while. He has just been another angry liberal. But who knows, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has nominated him their candidate for the Senate seat now held by Norm Coleman. Coleman should be in trouble as a Bush Republican, but the Democrats may have found one of the few candidates that can't beat a Republican this year. And the Republicans are already digging up every controversial comedy sketch he ever wrote, and there are a lot of them.

This one should be fun to watch; unless you live in Minnesota and are in danger of being represented by this nimrod.

Ruination

The Texas hill country is truly one of the most beautiful areas of Texas. Geographically it is roughly the area defined by the Edwards Plateau. The scenery is lovely, the people are friendly and the activities available are wide and varied. Everything from wineries to dude ranches. Fredericksburg is the central location within what would be considered the hill country. Fredericksburg is a German community settled in the late 1840's. The German influence is still strong; names like Klein, Schwertner, Weinheimer, Ersch, Knopp, Loeffler and even Jacoby are still common in the area. There are beautiful rivers like the Guadalupe, the Pedernales, the Frio, the Sabinal, the Medina and the Llano (one can see a bit of the Spanish influence there.) These rivers are lined with large cypress, oak, pecan and elm trees.

It has long been a well kept secret from non-Texans. That has ended. The New York Times puts the hill country as the number one vacation spot for the summer of 2008. Fredericksburg was already nothing more than a tourist spot. Now the rest of the region is in danger of becoming something quite not authentic. But know that you will always be made to feel welcome. This is a happy circumstance for the region economically, but there is always a lot lost in translation.

Hat tip to the Lady from Ipenema.

Warming is good

I am not a climatologist, but then hardly anyone else screaming about global warming is either. It seems obvious to me that warming is a net positive for humans. As the planet warms more areas become arable. The reduction in glaciation and the ice caps frees more water to the water cycle.

History teaches that the ice ages are droughty times which are hard on animal populations (including man) and the warm eras are times of great abundance. This is why I don't understand all of the current doom and gloom over potential warming. Unfortunately, it appears that the warming fear mongers are wrong and we are actually entering a cooling period.

This article in the Financial Post argues for the positive influence of CO2. I am not at all sure about the effects of carbon, but it does seem that high carbon levels follow warming, not the other way around.

Hillary & Misogyny

The New York Times has an interesting editorial by Judith Warner which discusses the level of misogyny/sexism directed at Hillary during the Democratic primary campaign. It is an interesting read and also compares the situation with Hillary to "Sex and the City." (P.S. I may be one of the few men who plans to see that movie, but I really enjoyed the series!).


The editorial also has some good points about how it seems to be acceptable in today's culture to be sexist, and make abusive sexist comments, but racist and ethnic comments are taboo.

Cousin Mark

I have invited Cousin Mark to blog here with me. He should provide some balance to my political views which are unfailingly right wing.

Mark's mother and my mother are sisters. We both grew up in religious homes of Republican orientation. Somewhere along the way I went wrong on religion and Mark went wrong on politics. The family just kind of looks at him and shakes their heads. They talk about us heathens as well. I'm not saying we are black sheep, but perhaps there is more dark fiber in our fleece than some would like.

But on the positive side of things we are both Aggies, so we can't be all bad.

BDS

Cousin Mark comments that President Clinton (that would be Bill, not Hillary) seems deranged these days. Perhaps that is just the ultimate manifestation of the BDS (Bush derangement syndrome) that the ultra lefties have suffered from for almost eight years.

Congratulations Senator Obama

While it is obvious I'm not a fan of the Senator from Illinois, I see clearly the significance of his likely nomination as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency.

It is wonderful to see that America has advanced to the stage where a black man can be a serious contender for the highest office. And he is indeed a serious candidate. Previous candidacies by Jesse Jackson and Al Shaprton were not truly serious. Those two represented black America only. Senator Obama, despite attempts by the Clintons to prove otherwise, is a candidate for all Americans.

I do not wish to see this man elected, but his nomination will make it possible for a black man or a woman, thank you Senator Clinton, to vie for the office in the future without the question constantly arising about race and/or gender. There are some good candidates ideologically nearer the center who may be more willing to enter future races thanks to the Democratic primary this year.

Congratulations Senator Obama.

Cry baby

Father Pfleger who is the latest person to be caught up in the Trinity United COC debacle trots out the dumbest canard that the left has adopted in years. "This is a dangerous time in America, the freest country in the world," Pfleger says, "where you have to whisper your thoughts." This is right up there with the Dixie Chicks bullshit. No one has to whisper their thoughts. Read the blogs, watch cable news, read a newspaper; no one is whispering their thoughts. They are out there for everyone to hear and see. That is the problem he has. He said things that were widely condemned by the American public and he perceives that as some form of censorship. We are all entitled to say whatever we wish. Conversely everyone else is welcome to tell us we are ugly, racist, fools, etc. That is not censorship and it is not unAmerican, it is the epitome of free speech.

I am sick and tired of having people who say things that they then learn are unpopular, then demanding that everyone else shut up because disagreement is tantamount to censorship. And you know what; these people are always, ALWAYS, some dumbass liberals. They are so accustomed to silencing others by playing the political correctness card that when it is used on them they are shocked, shocked I say, to learn what it is like to be called on an unpopular opinion.

End of rant.

The topic of service to one's country

This is the topic of Senator Obama's commencement address to the 2008 graduates of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Senator Obama was subbing for Senator Kennedy who, obviously, could not make the address.

Obama makes the point that he took a job as a community organizer when he graduated Columbia, rather than pursuing the big bucks on Wall Street. Personally, I don't know what a community organizer is; the image I get is of a paid rabble rouser. He was paid only $12,000 plus $2,000 for a beat up old car. He goes on to describe the value of public service and the many opportunities available. Oddly, he doesn't mention one obvious line of service.

When I hear the term service to one's country the first thought I have is of military service. Senator Obama did not mention it as a course of service to one's country. I am sure that Senator Kennedy would feel quite comfortable with military service, as his brother Joe was killed in WWII and Jack was seriously wounded. President Kennedy was a true war hero. I don't think the words, "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," were a call to community organizing.

A man who is running for Commander in Chief should not be comfortable with ignoring the value of military service.

Pointless

Senator Obama resigned from Trinity United Church of Christ on Saturday. He said he felt he was a burden to other church members, and he could no longer allow inflammatory things said in the church to be imputed to him.

This is some major portion of 20 years too late. He sat in a church where racist hate speech was delivered on a regular basis. The congregation clapped, cheered, amen'ed and hallelujah'ed this speech while he sat there (I suspect at least smiling.) His rejection of this, to me, bizarre hatred of white America comes quite a bit too late to be accepted as legitimate.

Globalization is helpful

The globalization of our economy is helping to buffer the impact of the current economic downturn. A portion of our problem is the weak dollar. I have heard that 30% of the cost of oil is due to the dollars weakness. (That sounds about right.) The weakness of the dollar is perhaps our biggest problem. Fortunately, the fact that our economy is tied to the global economy keeps our national economy from totally going in the tank. The world's economies are highly dependent upon one another and as long as there is strength somewhere, that helps to support the rest of the world.

Susan Sarandon to leave U.S.

If you don't really like any of the Presidential candidates, then here is a reason to vote for Senator McCain.

Of course, we've been hearing celebrities say for years that if they don't get their way they will leave the country. They never have the courage of their convictions. But if Susan Sarandon would take her (and her husband's) whining elsewhere, it would be worth a vote for McCain.

Republicans should become Republicans

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has good advice for the Republican Party; start being Republicans. There is no reason to vote the Republican Party back into power if all they will do is act like they have for the past few years. If we want tax and spend government, we can elect the Democrats who, since FDR, have been the party of big government. There is no good reason to elect Republicans to do work that the Democrats are more competent to do.

Standing at the border and screaming "Mexican go home" or picketing abortion clinics is just not any reason to vote for the Republican Party. The first issue is a sure-fire loser and the second is not really one that grips the majority of Americans. The Republicans have come to stand for nothing of any importance.

The Republicans were not elected in 1994 in order to support the more liberal urges of President Clinton, though aside from his wife's health plan he didn't demonstrate a lot of liberalism. They were elected to bring discipline to our national government. And, they succeeded for a time. Unfortunately, they came to love power for the sake of power, rather than using it in order to effect a more responsible form of government. The final straw was the incredibly expensive expansion of Medicare with the addition of Part D. I am happy to know that my parents and their peers are well taken care of, but it saddens me to know that my son, and his children, will still be paying for it after my parents are long dead.

I found this statement of Senator Coburn's to be quite pointed: "Spending other people's money is not compassionate."

Compassion is sacrificing willingly in order to aid another. Tax and spend is not compassion. It is coercion, and a binding of golden chains.

End of rant.

Everybody is against Hillary

President Clinton is sure there is some sort of conspiracy to keep Hillary from winning the nomination. He claims she is the one that is electable in a general election, inferring that Senator Obama cannot win.

The Clinton "win at all cost" play book is only hurting the party in the long run. But then, it is not about the Democrat's winning, it is about Hillary winning. I can't say I will be saddened when these two exit stage right.

Gone floatin'

That's what I'm going to be doing for the next couple of days. Floating down the Llano River on a tube or a kayak, having a beer or two, eating some good food and swapping stories with my extended family.

Climate change

Now we are affecting the climate of Jupiter.

Would someone please alert Al Gore!

Hillary is a woman?

Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Indira Ghandi, Benazir Bhutto; what do they have in common? Obviously they are all women, and they are all women who rose to the top of the government in their respective countries. Peggy Noonan in her incomparable way discusses the difference between the first three of these women and Senator Clinton. Her bottom line is that they didn't make their femininity an excuse. They played the game with the big boys and won.

What Ms. Noonan doesn't say, that seems evident, is that Ms. Clinton belongs to the party of the victim. Of course she didn't lose the nomination because Senator Obama was a better campaigner, or because people didn't like her ideas, or because the voters just don't trust her. No, she lost the nomination because she is a woman and misogynists just would never stand for a woman being the nominee. She is the victim.

If she had won the nomination we would be hearing that racism is the reason that Senator Obama didn't win the nomination. He would have been the victim.

These people, meaning the liberals (damnit, I keep forgetting they are progressives now,) are not adults. They are two year olds. It is never their fault that things don't work out. Someone or something else is to blame. And by God, something should be done about it. Americans are such narrow minded, bigoted, misogynists that they just can't see what is best for them. Puhleeze!!

End of rant.

Texas overstepped

The Court of Appeals finds that Child Protective Services overstepped in seizing all of the children from the YFZ Ranch. Apparently, there has to be some sort of factual basis before children can be taken from their parents. Anyone who has ever dealt with CPS knows that CPS will be shocked and more than likely try to ignore the Court.

It will be interesting to see how CPS reacts to a Court order.

Buy a car get a gun

This is a great idea.

I recall that a Colorado bank used to give away deer rifles when a CD was purchased. (No, not a music CD, a certificate of deposit.) This bank did a great business on time deposits. I wonder what happened to that program. Even Michael Moore got one, though I doubt he passed the necessary background check. (The background check excludes gun ownership by dirty, socialist, hippies.)

Senate selection in Mass

Sometimes political maneuvers end up biting you in the end.

In 2004, since Senator Kerry was soon to be President Kerry (God saved us), and the Governor was a damned Republican (Romney), the Massachusetts legislature changed the method for filling a vacated Senate seat. Previously, as is the case in most states, a vacant seat would be filled by a gubernatorial appointment until the expiration of the term. The change calls for a special election to fill the seat.

Now the possibility of Senator Kennedy resigning or dying leaves the seat somewhat at risk, not much, but the Senator cannot direct his successor. He would like for his wife to have the seat, but she will have to stand for election, elected not selected.

Too smart by half.

Senator Kennedy has cancer

Sadly the prognosis for Senator Edward Kennedy is not good. This likely spells the end to what might have been an incredible political dynasty. This family has been tragically doomed with the exception of Edward. He has been a constant and steady voice for the liberal faction of the Democratic Party. The loss of Joe, then Jack and then Bobby left Teddy the bearer of the family's, specifically Joseph Kennedy's, expected destiny. He has fulfilled his role admirably, while not being the charismatic personality of his older brothers.

Our Republican Democracy cannot function without the tension between opposing points of view. Senator Kennedy has reliably upheld the liberal side of the argument. It is sad to hear of the debilitation of one who has contributed so much to our history.

Frontier America

In today's WSJ online Michael Malone has a very interesting essay. His theory is that the new American Frontier is one of technology, and that technology will create a nation of entrepreneurs.

This certainly seems plausible. The internet has penetrated the market faster than television did. It enables anyone, anywhere to work with anyone, anywhere else. Communications are rapid and global. The millennial generation and those following it for the most part do not anticipate having an employer. One of his observations is that 20% of Intel employees have never met their boss face to face and 10% of them never expect to. Surveys of other technology companies show those numbers to be on the low side.

For many of us the commute has already been reduced so that it is now from the kitchen to the spare bedroom, which is now an office. Business is transacted with other people all over the world with no more than telephone and email exchanges. This revolutionizes business and forces corporate America to scramble to adjust. Talented people will go to work for the competitor if you tell them they must show up at an office in Dallas at 8 A.M. and work until 5:00 P.M., when their preference is to work from home in Happy, Texas from 10:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. Entrepreneurs and small companies are nimble and can adjust, large corporations have structure which is more difficult to alter.

The future looks very different than the present, but it is a bright and interesting one.

Obama appeals to the FAR left

For the Bolshevik-constructivist, skate-punk crowd, he is the one they've been waiting for.

Not exactly a group to which one would expect an American presidential candidate to hold appeal. Apparently I am not the only one that gets a strong whiff of socialism off of the Obama campaign. I cannot believe that there is even an outside chance that voters will elect someone who is so comfortable with Marxist principles. And I know he would disavow Marxism, but the things he says are filled with Marxist-socialist ideals.

The article the quote comes from discusses the iconography of Obama. It is quite interesting.

Just say no to the border fence

If the people who live on the border and are most affected by illegal immigration think the border fence is a bad idea, shouldn't we perhaps listen to them?

The Texas Border Coalition, which is chaired by the Mayor of Eagle Pass, has filed a lawsuit to stop construction of the fence. Mayor Foster says it is "an antiquated solution to a 21st century problem."

Forget some things

Roger von Oech over at Creative Thinking has an interesting post on the art of forgetting.

One of the major obstacles to making change in business is "tribal custom."* Tribal custom is what keeps employees doing redundant, inefficient or useless tasks because "that is the way we have always done it." If only we could manage to attain some creative forgetting, processes could be tested and improved.

*A term I will attribute to Jack Duffy until corrected.

Vietiraq

The left has been squalling about the Iraq war since before it began. It took them about two seconds to start screaming it is another Vietnam.

This seems to be because they are a bunch of babyboomers, stuck in the 1960's and unable to see anything without fond memories of how they stopped the war in Vietnam. It has to be Vietnam all over again or the U.S. might actually achieve its goal.

But now Senator McCain is being accused of reliving the Vietnam War and it is just awful.

According to Dan Amira of the NYMag :

A 71-year-old who is still reliving the Vietnam War in his mind? That’s not scary at all!

What is scary is how this generation is incapable of growing up and moving on.

End of rant.

Racism emerging

Bonnie Erbe spends some time analyzing her thoughts on race and the 2008 Presidential race. Her opinion is much the same as mine.

More global warming insanity

The polar bear is listed as a threatened species. This despite the fact that polar bear numbers have increased from roughly 12,000 in the 1960's to approximately 25,000 now. This is a direct surrender to the global warming cultists and environmental warriors.

I have no issue with polar bears as long as they stay where they belong and I stay down here in Texas. But it is difficult to see how a species that is growing in population is threatened. This is a fine example of disregarding facts in order to promote a political cause supposedly based in science.

A pox on the Algoreans.

McCain and the Hispanic vote

Senator McCain is well positioned to garner a significant part of the Hispanic vote. He has spent his entire career connecting with the Hispanic community in Arizona. According to Ruben Navarette he is well respected. He got 70% of their vote in his last election.

He also benefits from being on the sane side of immigration arguments. He has never endorsed the Republican party's stupid and suicidal positions on immigration. Clearly he knows the Hispanics for what they are; an honest, hard-working, family oriented culture.

Additionally, there is an antipathy by Hispanics to blacks. The Republicans managed to nominate the one candidate that moderate Hispanics don't mind fleeing the Democratic nominee to vote for.

Taxation without representation

I am guest blogging at Zane Safrit's place. Check out his blog. He provides great information and links for small businesses. Zane is a truly good guy and it is a pleasure to work with him. My posts there will be more business related, commentary on health care, accounting and taxes.

This morning I posted a graph showing historical tax levels as a percent of GDP. Zane's question was:

So, you're saying:
A. there's no value-added experience from the taxes we pay, or
B. we're not getting our money's worth,
or...
C. we have taxation without representation.
D. All of the above.

My response was that we're not getting our money's worth as entitlements will eventually eat the whole economy if not changed.

Upon further reflection I would add that we are getting close to taxation without representation. Tax law has been simplified by removing large numbers of taxpayers from the tax roles. Nearly 50% of earners pay no taxes because their income does not reach a taxable level.

If 50% or more of the citizenry does not pay taxes but still enjoys the benefit of government, then they can vote themselves benefits at the expense of someone else. There is no end to the things I might like to have if someone else is paying for them. If the majority can vote themselves benefits at the expense of the minority (the taxpayers) then perhaps that is taxation without representation.

ADDED: James Carville (in reference to downscale urban and rural Democrats) says; “people that look to the federal government to soften the harder edges of capitalism.” I like that. Hard edged capitalism can certainly cause hardship on a micro level.

Pleasant Monday

No rant today; well yet anyway.

I spent the morning helping my Daddy vaccinate heifers. The weather was cooperative, cool and overcast, so the cattle were fairly cooperative. We only had to chase a couple of them. They were late to the party and didn't really act like they wanted to come into the pen. I got more exercise than I am accustomed to, running across the pasture to head them off. Other than that it went smoothly and we were done in less than two hours.

The spring so far has been kind, but if it doesn't rain soon the kindness will be over. Damn Al Gore and his pet, Global Warming.

Speaking of global warming; I did hear John McCain declaring the debate over and declaring humans responsible. I guess the fact that the climate has actually cooled is not "true" evidence. So much for the wisdom that comes with age. Of course, there is the very small possibility that he is taking the politically smart path of least resistance... Nah, that can't be it.

I think I will make the link of the day the kid who imitates President Bush talking about global warming. If you haven't watched this video do so, it is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

Racism and the election

Here is my prediction for the November election; McCain in a landslide. The reason; pure and simple racism.

If this election breaks down like 2000 and 2004, then the margins are very tight. Democrats will vote for Obama, Republicans will vote for McCain and swing-voters will vote against Obama for one or all of three reasons. He is very liberal, he is black and he has a Muslim name. The first of those reasons is the only one that should count, but I don't believe that will be the case.

While overt racism is not rampant in this country anymore, there are certainly many people, especially older voters, who still have strong racist tendencies. And as I noted in my previous post, we are all symbolic racists unless we are black.

Whether we admit it or not, and most have no problem admitting it, the past 20+ years of Islamist terrorism have given us a distrust of Muslims. Having the name Barack Hussein Obama is certainly not a plus for a candidate at this point in U.S. history.

In the past two Presidential elections a movement of one percent in many states would have created overwhelming electoral majorities. It is my opinion, based on nothing but having lived in this country all my life, that there is much more than one percent that will vote against Senator Obama out of racist feelings.

This is my opinion, and everyone is welcome to point out how wrong I was if Obama wins in November.

Symbolic Racism

This campaign season brings a plethora of new knowledge. First, we were exposed to low-information signaling, now we are confronted with symbolic racism.

I love this one. It is such a tidy little theory. As near as I can determine, (and I searched a university library database and found only three scholarly references to the term,) the theory of symbolic racism is that all blame for black poverty, failure to attain average educational levels and even infant mortality is due to discrimination. None of these things can be legitimately tied to despair, lack of effort or even health issues. Symbolic racism is therefore simply the rejection of the idea that, in any instance that blacks do not attain the average it is discrimination at work. You must believe that discrimination is always at work.

So if you believe, as apparently Bill Cosby does, that blacks are somewhat responsible for themselves you are a racist. What a demeaning thought, that if you are black, you can never be responsible for your own life. All references I found made the point that symbolic racism is very subtle and white people do not realize they are racist, but they are.

This whole theory strikes me as social scientists assuming a theory, and when not able to find support for the theory, they created an explanation that is squishy enough that it can neither be confirmed nor denied.

Wow!

A water bottle that can purify water immediately, weighs 1.5 pounds (less than a kilo) and is good for up to 1,500 gallons of water. This appears to be a huge advance for, not only the military, but public health.

Women don't vote monolithically

Kathleen Parker has an interesting take on the feminists position on Senator Clinton's nomination. It is her opinion that:

What they clearly don't want is a woman president just because she's a woman. If Clinton loses, it won't be because women betrayed her.

She even makes the odd statement that, "Obama is, for certain, the more feminine of the two." It is hard to imagine that Senator Obama would find that a complimentary assessment.

I would like the progressives to remember these comments when people vote for McCain rather than Obama. It may just be that many people consider him to be a better candidate, not because of racism.

I read one waggish comment to the effect that "I have no problem voting for a black man for President, but Colin Powell is not running."

Hillary... again

How much can you pander without looking totally ridiculous? If the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the mechanism to break up OPEC, why hasn't it been done in the past 12 years? This is just ridiculous.

Et tu Hillary

I have never doubted that Senator Clinton was an intelligent woman; until now. Her gas tax holiday, which Sen. McCain also verbally supports, is just plain stupid.

I know Americans are largely economically illiterate, but the way to reduce the price of gasoline is not to increase demand through artificially lowering prices; they will pop right back up. And to state, "I am not going to put in my lot with economists" is really nutty. She wants to be President but if economists disagree with an idea she will just ignore them. That is like ignoring your doctor because you don't like what he tells you.

Read the whole article here.

Let's not pile on Michelle Obama

It was suggested that I comment on Michelle Obama's college thesis. There is an email circulating that has some fairly inflammatory comments ascribed to her.

I read (so you don't have to, though it's not bad writing for an undergraduate) her undergraduate thesis from Princeton entitled "Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community." There is nothing remarkable about her thesis. She was doing an analysis of the affect that being black at Princeton might have as you relate to the Black community. The quotes cited in the email do exist but they are pulled wholly out of context. The most outrageous quote is "...Blacks must join in solidarity to combat a White oppressor." The context is important, she is referring to the Black Power Movement of the 1970's and the entire quote is; "It is possible that Black individuals chose to or felt pressured to come together with other Blacks on campus because of the belief that Blacks must join in solidarity to combat a White oppressor." She goes on to state that the situation (in 1985) is different and Black students are more integrated into campus life.

She clearly identifies with the "Black" community in preference to the "White" community, but who can blame her for that. She was a minority student at an Ivy League University.

Is it getting warm in here?

The Telegraph is publishing doubts about global warming. It seems, from my reading, that global warming is a more widely accepted theory in the UK. So, this took some fortitude.

Globalization is good

This Newsweek article by Fareed Zakaria, though lengthy, touches on many areas of importance, especially to us insular Americans.

The bottom line is that globalization makes other countries wealthier. This can only be good for all of us, as a nation with a functioning economy is less likely to engage in aggression or punitive trade habits, as those activities would damage the economy. (America is the apparent exception to this.)

America, and Americans, needs to accustom itself to being one among equals rather than the dominant hyper-power that it was for the last 20 years of the 20th century.

Take a deep breath, gains some perspective and realize that things are actually pretty good. And they look to get better. The future outlook for the world is rosier than it has ever been.

The commencement speech you wouldn't mind hearing

Even if you don't agree with P.J. O'Rourke's advice, this would not be the boring commencement speech we've all heard over and over.

Go. Read. Laugh a little.

Whither the Democratic voter

According to Rasmussen Reports: "Fifty-six percent (56%) (of likely voters surveyed) say it’s at least somewhat likely that Obama 'shares some of Pastor Wright’s controversial views about the United States'.” Even worse for the Senator is that 48% of Democrats and 49% of independents agree with that statement. Add to that the 81% who have an unfavorable opinion of the Rev. Wright and Senator Obama has a huge problem to overcome.

The problem becomes one of what can the Democratic Party do and more importantly the voters? Democrats are not likely to turn to Senator McCain, but they are having huge doubts about Obama now. Do they grit their teeth and vote for Obama or stay home? Of course it is a long ways to November and time tends to mellow distaste. We will certainly here more negatives about McCain once the nominating process is complete.

Rev. Wright is a racist, pure and simple

The Reverend Wright and Senator Obama have to deal with being black in American in very different ways. The Rev. Wright can very comfortably remain within his black identity and preach black isolation and hatred for whites. Sen. Obama must find a way to reconcile his identification with American blacks and the other 88% of the country who he needs in order to be elected.

I do not envy the Senator his position. He, no doubt, aligned himself with Trinity Church and the Rev. Wright in order to fit in his community and further his political career in Chicago. This served him well when he was a local politician and state senator, but now that he is running for a national office what benefitted him then is now a detriment. He has had to distance himself strongly from the Rev. Wright, but this has alienated some of the black community who supported him.

There is perhaps a positive in this brouhaha in that the discussion of race in America will now not be one sided. The past few decades have seen a racial discussion that basically devolved to “it is all whiteys fault and we have no responsibility for division.” Now the discussion has fallen down to the black community to sort out. Anyone who argues that the Rev. Wright’s views are not racist is promoting an agenda that does not hold up to argument. Making statements that the U.S. government is responsible for AIDS in order to kill blacks, that we are a terrorist nation, and that Louis Farrakhan is one of the great voices of the 20^th and 21^st century is just crazy. Then top that with the whole commentary about black brain physiology being different from Caucasians and Asians and you have certifiable bigotry.

This man is speaking from a place that is just not acceptable, and that he got cheers from the crowd at the National Press Club is disturbing. I am not saying that there is not racism in this country, clearly there is, but we rarely here it so openly displayed as we do when the Rev. Wright speaks. His speech sounded like the black version of a KKK rally. I know racist individuals, but I cannot think of ever encountering a single racial institution or having ever heard racism expressed in an open forum. I guess that makes the redneck Texan less of a bigot than the good Dr. of Divinity from Chicago.

I only hope that this is an opportunity for a real discussion about race in America.

End of rant.

No recession, yet

The U.S. economy grew at 0.6% in the first quarter, matching the fourth quarter of 2007. This is an anemic growth rate. Despite all of the negatives dragging on the economy (housing deflation, high fuel costs, high food costs) we have still not entered into a period of contraction.

It would be nice to see some positive economic news that might signal a return to a period of higher growth. But it is hard to see any.

Locally, the economy still bustles. High oil prices are good for west Texas, and despite the high costs of fuel and fertilizer, high prices for crops is also a boon to our region. If we have a year of rain even close to 2007 this should be a good year for the farmer. With the added benefit of perhaps being able to get the wheat crop out before it rots in the field (2007's good crop largely spoiled in the field due to excess moisture.)

ID to vote is ok

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Indiana law requiring identification in order to vote. Crawford v. Marion County Election Board was decided by a 6-3 majority. If you follow the court you know who the dissenting justices were (Breyer, Souter and Ginsburg.) It is now legal for the states to pass a statute requiring positive identification in order to cast a ballot. The purpose is to discourage voter fraud. Oddly this is a measure supported by Republicans, and vilified by Democrats. It does not seem onerous to require identification to vote, when you must have it to write a check, drive a car, buy a drink or board a plane. Remember, it is not necessary to be a citizen to have a drivers license, so ID is not dispositive of the right to vote. It merely verifies that the voter's name is the same as that on the registration.

I think the real problem the Democratic Party has with this is that it makes it much more difficult to commit vote fraud. That is the same problem the Party has with electronic voting machines. There is a complaint that the machines can be manipulated, but no one ever demonstrates how to do so in a way that is not obvious. I might be wrong about this, a highly doubtful possibility, but in actual cases of proven voter fraud, it is about 90% likely the fraud advantages a Democrat. (I am not talking about the constant accusations by Democrats that Republicans commit fraud, which never prove out, but actual litigated and proven cases.)

It is about time some action be taken to clean up the voting process. Election fraud is not a problem in many areas, but where it is a problem, it is huge. Districts where more votes are cast than there are residents of voting age, double voting in New York and Florida by retirees, etc.

Vote fraud has been with us since the country began and, I am sure, will continue, but photo identification is a step in the right direction.

Don't drink and zoo

Proof that different countries have different mores. I like a drink, but it has never occurred to me to go to the zoo drunk.

Maybe Stephen Colbert is right.

Rev. Wright speaks out

Reverend Jeremiah Wright in response to this question, “You have said that the media have taken you out of context. Can you explain what you meant in a sermon shortly after 9/11 when you said the United States had brought the terrorist attacks on itself? Quote, "America's chickens are coming home to roost."

Rev. Wright: “You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you. Those are biblical principles, not Jeremiah Wright bombastic, divisive principles.”

This answer has no context because the Reverend provided no context. He cited the Golden Rule and then said this. Obviously he considers the U.S. to be a terrorist nation. What terrorism is he referring to? The man gets a free ride on questions because he is self-centered, egomaniacal and most importantly, speaking from the black tradition. What a load of bullshit. It is easy to see someone’s true nature by observing their denials. These are exactly bombastic, divisive principles.

This man is working very hard to undermine the candidacy of Senator Obama. What motivates him is hard to discern, but surely he knows poking his finger in the eye of non-black Americans is not helpful to his parishioner. The man is another Sharpton.

The entire transcript of his speech at the National Press Club is available here.

End of rant.

How high is too high

In an interview with FoxNews', Chris Wallace, Senator Obama said, "I don’t get too high when I’m high." Rarely do you hear a frank discussion of drug use, and this is certainly not such a discussion either. He was talking about emotional highs and lows. But this is just the kind of comment than can be taken out of context and used improperly. It won't surprise me when this starts being emailed around the world as proof that he is a drug user. Just like the canards that he took his oath on a Quran and that he is a Muslim.

Evil Texans

Why do I hate so much on people from NYC and California? Here is the explanation for NYC. Michael Hirsh condescends to my whole cultural base and world view. We have a “rather savage, unsophisticated set of mores.” The nation has lost the balance that is brought by “a more diplomatic, communitarian Yankee sensibility.” “On foreign policy, the realism and internationalism of the Eastern elitist tradition once kept the Southern-frontier warrior culture and Wilsonian messianism in check. Now the latter two, in toxic combination, have taken over our national dialogue, and the Easterners are running for the hills.” And of course we Texans are the worst; “In Texas in particular, Lieven writes, we can see "the mingling of the Southern and Western traditions" that made its first appearance during Jackson's presidency, and which today so defines our current politics, culture, and foreign policy.”

You see the Eastern elites world view is correct, and those of us who hold other views are just plain wrong and rapidly destroying the whole country and the world. Never mind that the awful Scots-Irish point of view has been transcendent for the past three decades.

You will note the Southernization of our national politics at the hands of the GOP. This despite that fact that the last three Democratic Presidents have been Johnson (Texas), Carter (Georgia) and Clinton (Arkansas), but it is the GOP that has Southernized national politics.

I certainly do not agree with everything that the national GOP stands for or does, but I am proud of my ancestry and of being a Texan. And I do take it as an insult when some jackass at “Newsweek” assumes he is superior and more sophisticated because my views differ from his. Just one more example of elitism and condescension toward those of us who just don’t realize we are stupid and should listen to our betters, because they will look out for us and make sure we don’t stupidly do something in our own interests.

End of rant.

(Emphasis added.)

I read articles from "The Guardian", "The Times", "Financial Times" and sometimes "The Sun", as well as the occasional piece from Australia, because it is nice to get a perspective of America from the outside. (Cousin Mark is in shock I'm sure.)

This opinion piece in todays "Times" is interesting in that it rings true. I definitely agree that for all the many flaws of the Republican party the primary produced the only electable candidate in John McCain. He is not a right-wing conservative, he doesn't have the baggage of the lunatic religious right and he is on the sane side of the immigration issue.

Go. Read.

We're all bitter now

It seems what Senator Obama really meant by his “bitter” comment was that small town American’s who are falling behind economically do not vote their economic interest when they vote Republican; they are hewing more closely to cultural issues.

I will accept that. All he needs to do now is explain why the wealthy in Manhattan and Hollywood support Democrats who do not share their economic interests. Could it be that they find cultural issues more important? But of course they are so much more intelligent.

Elitist!

How McCain was selected

We all came together…Republicans came together; "the Mexican haters, the Muslim haters ,and the oil executives, and the gun nuts, and the gay bashers, and the home schoolers, and the clinic bombers and we put aside our differences,... all except for the Ron Paul nuts." (Profanity)

It's the little things that count

Low-information signaling is the use of minor cues to form impressions about political candidates. Joe Klein of Time dismisses these as “stupid things”, but he is dismissing the actual importance of this signaling. Low-information signaling is the actual information that leaks through to the public around the framing the candidate and his campaign create. His examples of stupid things are whether you know how to roll a bowling ball or wear an American flag pin. All of the references he uses are to perceptions of recent Democratic presidential candidates; Dukakis in a tankers helmet, John Kerry wind surfing and Bill Clinton eating junk food at McDonalds. I suspect we all get an image of the three of them when we read that and the only positive one is that Clinton is a regular guy.

Journalists like to dismiss this type of evaluation as unimportant because it is not issue oriented. Samuel Popkin, a political scientist, in “The Reasoning Voter”, implies that low-information signaling is an important part of a broader definition of issues. Voters look to this information to determine if the candidate is someone they like. The elites like to dismiss the importance of the average voter looking at a candidate and making a mental note of whether this is a person they would like to sit down and have a beer with. In the three examples above it seems the answer is two no's and a yes. It would be embarrassing to be seen with Dukakis, Kerry is just not average enough to relate too and Clinton would be fun to drink beer with.

The low-information signaling is used to square the candidate’s public persona with what seems to be his/her real personality. This is why Senator Obama is having a difficult time shaking the Rev. Wright controversy and his comment about the bitter small town folk. These two things do not square at all with what he says from the campaign hustings, but when aligned with other low-information signals they have a ring of truth that someone is trying to obscure.

This is not something that any of us is immune to. It is likely (about a 75% probability) that the party affiliation will determine our eventual vote, but in the primary these signals come into play. How else can Senator Clinton’s loss of the nomination be explained? She is, based on resume, the better candidate, but almost no one sees her personality as aligned with her official persona. This is what has hurt her. The “sniper fire in Bosnia” comments openly exposed what had been low-information signaling. People just do not trust her.

Beware the penis snatcher

Forget about climate change, food shortages, high fuel costs and the election; this is important. What if it spreads beyond the Congo? Every man should be concerned about this. And is someone stockpiling penises? Imagine the ramifications. What if a sorcerer attains a large penis advantage? Something will have to be done about the penis gap!

Frankenstein food is good for you

Genetically modified (GM) crops are the answer to much of the world hunger problem. According to Paul Driessen quoting Norman Bourlag, the only way to feed the world’s population is through chemical fertilizers and genetically modified crops.

"If we only use organic fertilisers and natural methods on arable land, we can only feed four billion people," Driessen's editorial quotes Borlaug as saying.

This is too important an issue to be left in the hands of anti-progress environmentalist groups. Crops and livestock have been genetically engineered for millennia. Prior to the use of modern genetic techniques modification was accomplished by selective breeding. Positive characteristics were selected and plants and animals carrying those characteristics were bred, while inferior specimens were culled.

The modern GM crops are simply modified using a different methodology. This speeds up the process and is more precise than selective breeding. It is also less, not more, likely to create an undesirable mutation. It is hard for me to fathom the fear of GM foods unless it is the fear of disastrous mutation.

The EU needs to wake up and allow their farmers to help in feeding the world. U.S. farm policy is awful, but it looks like high intelligence compared to EU policies. EU farmers should be allowed to grow GM crops.

End of rant.

Hungry? drink ethanol

The result of stupid energy policy is starvation for poor third-worlders.

The U.S. is paying large subsidies for ethanol, which means that the price of corn has more than doubled as demand has increased. Crop land that can be planted in corn is being switched from other crops. Corn used for food and feed is being used to make ethanol. Grains that could be used for food and feed are not being grown in deference to ethanol. It is almost criminal what Congress has done in support of a dubious fuel.

One gallon of ethanol requires 1.35 gallons of fossil fuel to produce; that is the fuel used to plant, cultivate, harvest and manufacture. Not a lot of gain there. On top of that the carbon footprint of ethanol production may be greater than that of gasoline; the science is far from conclusive either way. What is environmentally sound about this practice? It is merely a case of farmers gaining money, and environmentalists getting warm fuzzies, at the expense of everyone else in this country, and now it appears, the rest of the world.

It is time to revisit a stupid energy plan. Ethanol subsidies should be eliminated. Let the market determine if this is a viable fuel option.

End of rant.

To the four winds

This afternoon I met, on Highway 83 moving south, three buses, escorted by three Texas DPS troopers and three ambulances. Three buses will hold somewhere between 70 and 110 passengers. It appears Tom Green County has emptied the Coliseum and transferred the children of the YFZ Ranch all over the state of Texas.

Jimmy

King Abdullah II shows the expression any reasonable man would if he had to listen to President Carter maunder on. I bet his appointment secretary is in deep shit for this one.

San Jacinto Day

Today is a significant day in Texas and American history. On this day in 1836 Sam Houston's Texians caught Santa Anna's Mexican army literally sleeping; they were at afternoon siesta when the attack came. Santa Anna was said to be entertaining Emily Morgan, the Yellow Rose of Texas, in his tent. The Texians suffered two killed while several hundred Mexicans were killed, and Santa Anna was captured. Since he was the dictator of Mexico, Houston forced him to recognize Texas' independence in return for his release. Thus was born the Republic of Texas.

This event led eventually to the Mexican War. Texas was annexed into the United States in 1845 and Mexico did not recognize Texan sovereignty. This led to the conflict in 1846-1848. As settlement for the war the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo led to the Mexican Cession. The Mexican Cession added approximately a third to the size of the then United States; added territory included California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, parts of Texas, Colorado, Utah and Idaho.

The events of April 21, 1836 truly had long range affects both for the U.S. and Mexico, and all because Santa Anna did not prepare to defend his army.

Big empty

The weekend was spent in suburban Rule, Texas. The denizens refer to the area as the big empty. If you've ever been there it's not hard to see why. It is possible to see for several miles in any given direction, and the wind does blow a little bit. This is the southern plains and there is not much to see but wheat, oats and cotton; for miles in any direction. This is farm country and the people do definitely cling to their guns, religion and antipathy to others. This is America. The America that Woody Guthrie was writing about in "This Land is Your Land."

It is not a world for the faint of heart. If you live in the city it is almost impossible to imagine how wide open the country is. There are birds, snakes and coyotes, but trees are rather scarce. The saying when a blue norther is blowing is that, "there's nothing between here and the arctic circle but a barbed wire fence, and it has blown down."

San Angelo is overwhelmed

I made the mistake of going to the county library this morning. I didn't think about what was going on at the courthouse; the library is just across the street south of the courthouse. Parking was at a premium as there were 14 broadcast trucks parked around the courthouse, plus many additional vans from radio and television news services.

Today was the day that the hearings for all of the 400 plus FLDS children were held. Each child is represented by an attorney serving as ad litum. The task of the ad litum is to represent the child's best interest. There can be nothing easy about recommending to the court that the child is better off back in the home they have known, or in the state's foster care system.

The FLDS is completely foreign to the common west Texas resident. The attorney generals of Utah and Arizona have prepared a primer that helps we "gentiles" to understand the FLDS society.

This is a rare instance when I don't have an opinion on what is going on. On the one hand it seems that there may be some abuse (underage pregnancy seems to make this clear), on the other hand this sect has a totally different culture than mainstream America. A hundred years ago it was not rare, perhaps uncommon, but not unheard of, for young teenage women to enter into marriage and bear children. I may be wrong, but from my reading of history, it was fairly common for women from 14 and up to marry and have families in Appalachia, up to the early part of the 20th century. The age of consent in Canada was 14 years until February 28th of THIS year (it is now 16). I can see where there might be difference of opinion based on religious beliefs.

All I can finally say is that I hope our legal system ends up doing the thing that is best for these children; whether that is returning them to the ranch in Eldorado or placing them in permanent custody of the State of Texas.

Careful who you associate with

Should we judge a candidate for high office by the company he/she keeps? Cousin Mark observes:

It does some (sic) strange to me that Obama has to take responsibility for anything anyone he's ever met has said.

There is some unfairness here. He is being smeared with his association with William Ayers, who as a member of the Weather Underground was a domestic terrorist, though it seems the association is tangential. They served on a board of directors together.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is an entirely different issue. There is clearly a close association between the Senator and the Reverend. Senator Obama was a member of the Reverend’s church for twenty years. It seems fair to wonder how the Senator could continue this association given the inflammatory things said in that church. Cousin Mark and I have both disassociated ourselves from religion that we find objectionable. This does not make us better than Senator Obama, but it begs the question why didn’t he leave this church and join another?

In an election the candidate needs to nuance his message for various audiences, this makes it difficult to know the real truth about character. That is why we have to look at the people that the candidate associates with. This is not unfair; it is the only way to get a true gauge of the person’s true self. It applies across the board, to left, right and center.

All I can say is that I might not have raised the issue with Rev. Wright himself, but I would not have been back in that church if he were preaching values I did not share. Life is too short to listen to objectionable crap every Sunday. I even bet there are many black churches in Chicago where the minister does not preach hatred of American, whites and western culture. That is why this issue won’t die. People just don’t understand how a person could continue to support, spiritually and monetarily, a man with whom he disagrees.

Obama again

It seems that, as Cousin Mark says, I am picking on Obama, but I am really trying hard to like him. But it seems that he is serving as an empty vessel into which everyone is pouring their hopes. The flaw here is that the vessel has begun speaking his mind, if only when he thinks that only sympathetic souls are listening. It is beginning to look like the Democrats are, again, going to nominate an unelectable individual; see McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis.

Senator Obama is an earnest idealist, but history does not bear out his speaking points. He has NEVER acted in a bipartisan manner in the Senate. His voting record is highly liberal, or I guess I’m supposed to say progressive since liberal is a dirty word; he is arrogant and can’t hide it; he is elitist; he is tainted by the Chicago political machine; he associates himself with a racist black theology (and he is not even authentically an American black). All of this adds up to the core Democrat vote in November and not much of the persuadable electorate; that damnable mid 40% level.

It is hard to imagine Senator McCain, with his long history in the public eye, ever producing anywhere near the negatives that Senator Obama is piling up.

I thought the Democrats would nominate Senator Clinton with her negatives of almost 50, (truly a disaster) but they may actually make a worse decision. Let us all hope that Senator Obama proves to be a better candidate than he looks to be today.

Kudos to the Texas bar

Lawyers are easily maligned, I certainly do my fair share. But as the courts, social services and legal community here in San Angelo (and more particularly Eldorado) are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cases presented by the children of the FLDS, attorneys from all over the state are volunteering to do pro bono work on the behalf of the children.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have offered their services in these cases; you are a credit to your profession.

Taxes

Someone asked why I included Megan McArdle in my blogroll, as she didn't seem to fit. Read her "Taxes Revolt" and perhaps it will be clear. That plus she is the tallest economics blogger out there. So, she is a woman I can look up to.

Hillary appears human

In this video Senator Clinton actually looks quite natural. To me most things she does appear calculated but this one looks very normal for her. And I say; good for her! She would do better if she appeared to be more like an average American instead of some annoying policy wonk and scold.

The food crisis

This article, by George Monbiot in the Guardian (a British rag), raises some interesting issues about the impending food crisis in the undeveloped parts of the world. He points out the obvious:

The World Bank points out that "the grain required to fill the tank of a sports utility vehicle with ethanol ... could feed one person for a year."

It is obvious, at least it is to me, that diverting food products to fuel is highly inefficient (it takes 1.3 gallons of fossil based fuel to create a gallon of biofuel) and, on top of driving up food costs, creates grain shortages in the parts of the world most dependent on grain for food.

Mr. Monbiot also suggests that the feeding of grain to animals is inefficient and adds to the shortage. This is no doubt correct, though I would question his conversion rate for beef animals. He cites a rate of some 8:1 and from what I remember from my animal science education, it was close to 3:1 thirty years ago, surely it is somewhat improved now. But it is not just meat production that requires grain. Dairy is perhaps the area where an 8:1 conversion rate applies, and even vegetarians (though not vegans) like milk and cheese.

He is not condoning a vegan lifestyle as it is clearly not a healthy route. Humans have not developed as vegans. Meat has been a part of the species diet for 500,000 years, so it is unlikely that the human omnivore can successfully convert to a vegan in even a few generations.

Of course we can eat range fed beef. This takes no grain production from the human food chain. Mr. Monbiot takes issue with this, as bovine flatulence and belching add, by his citation, 18% of the carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and he is apparently a global warming enthusiast. Range fed beef would be a good trade off as it not only does not use grain stocks, but it is less fatty and therefore should not contribute as heavily to coronary artery disease.

I don't have a solution for a potential food shortage, but I cannot fathom why we would convert food to fuel when there is still a highly adequate supply of fossil fuels. Seeking alternative energy sources is good and should be done, but not at the expense of people who need grain just to survive. Biofuel is not an energy plan, it is just feel good activity for people who don't think through the whole system.

We are not worthy

“And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” Thus spake Lord Obama in reference to people who live in small towns.

The arrogance and condescension in that comment is breathtaking. First of all, how the hell would he know what it is like to live in a small town; he being of Chicago. Secondly, I assure you, having always lived in small towns, that the people living there are not in some way inferior, backwards rubes, as his comment implies. The mix of ignorance to sophistication is roughly the same as a metropolitan area. But interaction exists. In a city you can cling to your own group, in a small town you must mingle with others. To me that is a positive.

But what would I know. I bitterly cling to my guns and antipathy for people who aren’t like me.

Asshole.

End of rant.

EJ knows all

Anyone who didn't vote for Senator Clinton is a misogynist. God forbid you have a political difference with her, it is all because she is a woman.

And I am a big fan of Elton John (for real) but who cares what some Brit has to say about our election?

Howdy

My cousin Mark, who I dearly love, says he has pointed my blog out to some of his NJ friends. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess they will not agree with me on any political position I take.

Welcome to you all, and please keep reading and commenting. Contrary to some opinion I do like a good discussion, and I try not to be dismissive of any wrong headed ideas that may originate in the stagnating, liberal (oops, I mean progressive) part of these United States.

Since y'all don't really know me, I do have a highly developed sense of humor, so you can't take everything written here as a strongly held belief. But please, call me on anything you find flagrantly middle American (or as I prefer to call it common sense.) That would be things like the Constitution actually meaning what is written there, the right to keep what you have rightfully earned, the belief that the federal government is not actually looking out for my best interests (I am a middle aged, white, male; so I do realize that I represent everything that this country was founded to stand against), and a strongly held belief that western culture is a good thing.

And for those specific readers: you need to know how brave Mark is to admit at our family gatherings that he voted for Bill Clinton (TWICE!) and that he is currently a supporter of Barack Obama. We still love him, but are not sure why he is not in counseling for his disorder.

Wildflowers

The drive from Bellville to La Grange on highway 159 is well worth the trip right now. That is the area with the best wildflower show that I saw on my trip. There are fields of pure pink!

For those of you who are not Texans or in Texas all I can say is; I'm sorry.

Crazy Mormons

Since all of these unfortunate children, 416 at the last count, have been brought to my hometown for shelter I guess I should comment. But what can be said. This "church", the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS), appear to violate state and federal law at every turn.

A sub-cult of a cult is still a cult? I think that the answer is yes. I am sure that most of these women and children just wonder what the hell is happening to them. They have been jerked out of what is their normal life and dropped in the middle of modern America. Culture shock will most assuredly ensue.

I am doubtful that any organization like CPS can help, since they usually work ad hoc and right now they are in the spot light. My prediction is no good will come of this for these children. They will be saved from abuse by their "church" and treated to abuse at the hands of the wonderful foster system they are soon to encounter. I am not saying foster parents are abusive but benign neglect is about the best that can expected.

Rosie come on!

I'm a big fan of Rosie O'Donnell but if she is scared of Elizabeth Hasselbeck I'm done with her. What a wimpy thing to say!

Rosie is brave in her stance against guns and as a Truther, but this is just weird. I guess she figured big old Elizabeth was gonna hurt her with her scary Republican words.

Texas wildflowers

The wildflowers are beautiful in the Brenham area. Our drive today took us from Bryan to Columbus and I went down the back roads. The bluebonnets and indian paint brush are glorious. Well worth a drive down Highway 50 or 109 to see them.

I wish I had a camera with me so some pictures could be posted, but I didn't remember.

Spring

Today was a nice day for a drive across Texas. The sun is shining and the temperatures are in the low 80's.

I drove from San Angelo to College Station across the center of the state. Spring has been kind. Everywhere is green. The wildflowers are scarce until you get East of Austin. The fall and winter were to dry to produce many flowers.

Tomorrow I will be traveling across the original settlement areas of Texas; Brazos, Washington and Austin Counties. This is part of the area settled with the first land grants. The wildflowers should be more prolific in that area of the state.

Golden chains bind us

We are reliant on the government for too much. Live to 62, you get a check every month. Live to 65 you get free or damn near free, healthcare for life. What is magical about attaining a certain age?

We have a social contract that provides benefits for reaching a certain age, or being disabled, or just being to stupid or lazy to be productive. What we need to ask ourselves as a country is can we afford to be so generous.

When social security was created 65 was old age. Now it is common. Just think about this: 1/3 of all the people who have EVER, in the history of humans, attained the age of 65 are alive today!

Is this a tenable situation? How can we possibly pay for such largesse? Already the “rich” pay all of the taxes. We have politicians demagoguing this and saying the rich need to pay their fair share. Anyone can access IRS statistics that show that the top 1% of taxpayers pay 40% of taxes. Those tax filers making over $75,000 comprise 5.4% of tax filers yet they pay 78.4% of income taxes. This is just over 5% paying almost 80% of the bill! Tax cuts for the rich my ass, who else are you going to give tax cuts too? And since when does $75,000 make you rich? Just how much more can you bleed from the most productive part of society?

The lowest 40% of tax filers actually receive a net positive tax payment from the Treasury (due to child tax credit and earned income credits). The lowest 50% pay less than 2% of the taxes. You can only soak the rich for so much before they rebel.

The golden chains must be broken. There is no way to support social payments (social security and Medicare) going forward. These programs have got to be significantly modified. The answer to federal deficits is not more taxes, it is less spending. And less spending means significantly changing the entitlement system.

End of rant.

Fat girls rule

Chloe Marshall, a plus size, size 16, girl has reached the finals of the Miss England contest. She says, "All I wanted to do by entering this pageant was to send a message out to young girls that it is fine NOT to be a size zero."

Not everyone is impressed. This is an interesting rant against fat girls.

Climate change is upon us!

Climate change is happening. That is a statement of the obvious. The Earth’s climate changes continuously. Geologically speaking the changes are cyclical and very rapid. Temperatures have been warmer over the past two decades than they were in the 1970’s. The real questions are: Is warming actually going to continue? Is climate change significantly effected by human activity?

Though Vice-President Gore has declared the debate closed, it does not appear he has the authority to do so. The climatologists are certainly still debating the issue. Climate is certainly a complex system and it is difficult to make accurate predictions. Lacking the science background, as does VP Gore, it is hard for me to make a judgment about what is good science versus junk science. Some cited information is clearly junk and that is easy to discount.

What appears to be fact is that the most important factor to the Earth’s climate is the sun. It is the engine that drives the weather. David Archibald makes a good argument that the climate change we need to be concerned about is cooling. Warming is not a negative, in that it puts more water in the atmosphere (melting ice) and creates longer growing seasons. That translates to more food for the population. Human population reacts to climate the same as any other animal population does; it grows or shrinks according to whether the climate is beneficial or non-beneficial. Cooling causes shortened growing seasons and locks water vapor up in ice. Cool periods are more likely to create drought and desertification than warm periods.

The sunspot cycle we are entering, according to Mr. Archibald, is one that triggers cooling and glaciation. There is not anything we can do about the warming or the cooling in actual fact. All that we can do as a species is what we have always done; react. Mr. Archibald argues that carbon loading of the atmosphere would actually temper the affect of the cooling period.

The problem with trying to close the debate and declare your side has won is that it does not allow for skepticism, which is at the very core of real science. Any peer reviewed paper should be open to discussion, dissection, argument and refutation. What the global warming alarmist do is try to make an end run on the scientific debate.

The application of Occam’s razor would point to the sun as the most likely source of planetary heating and cooling. Climate is clearly a highly chaotic and complex system. The more complicated the explanation for temperature variation the more scientific it looks, but that does not necessarily add any validity to the final conclusion.

Ask yourself this basic question: Do I trust a weather forecast for 30 days from now? If you answer no, then how can you possibly trust ANY climate forecast for 100 years from now?

For a balanced view of the debate go to Climate Debate Daily.

Warner Brothers or Disney

Warner Brother or Disney; it is a question that has vexed generations.

There has never been a better cartoon character than Bugs Bunny. That rascally rabbit is the funniest character extant. He works on so many levels. Bugs is funny to a kid of four, he is funny to a teenager and then there is a whole other level for the adult viewer. Probably a large part of the appeal for me personally is the basic smart ass attitude. I can relate. Classic: “This aint Pismo Beach, I must have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque.” That makes me laugh every time. And of course the phrase that has almost become a part of normal discourse; “what a maroon!”

The rest of the stable; Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, these are classic characters. Again, Foghorn Leghorn appeals strongly to me, for the same reason that Bugs Bunny does.

Warner Brothers – Looney Tunes are edgier than Disney. They are not necessarily politically correct and some of the classic shorts are not available because they might offend the sensibility of some victim group, but they are damn funny.

Disney gives us Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Chip and Dale. Of this stable of characters the only ones who ever elicit a belly laugh are Goofy and Chip and Dale. The exaggerated politeness of Chip and Dale while they create mischief is a howl.

Disney is like “Father Knows Best” and Warner Brothers is like “Married with Children”. There is nothing to offend in a Disney cartoon and therefore not much of an edge. Looney Tunes thrive on pushing right up to the edge of acceptable. For example: Bugs walking past a phone booth and answering the ringing phone. It is a radio quiz show with a question like what is 234,238 times 437, he rattles off 1,266,806 immediately. The caller asks how he could do that. The response, “if there is one thing we rabbits can do it is multiply.” Now that is funny. This from a 1954 cartoon!

Count me solidly in the Warner Brothers corner. Even at my age I watch those shorts and laugh along with Bugs.

Voluntary taxes

Senator Harry Reid claims that taxes are voluntary, and that we don’t have employers collect taxes for the government.

Well knock me over with a feather; I’ve been preparing tax returns all these years under the impression that we were forced by government coercion to pay. And I seem to recall my last employer collecting federal income tax, social security tax and Medicare tax out of my pay and forwarding it to the U.S. Treasury. I guess I have just been one confused Aggie all this time.

Would someone out there volunteer to skip paying taxes this year based on Sen. Reid’s claim? Let me know how that works out for you.

Dim bulb from Searchlight indeed!