http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/24/AR2009072403632.html?hpid=moreheadlines
While we're going deeper and deeper into debt, we must stop this strange policy of not supporting drug abusers. After all: they're entitled to indulge in their risky, filthy habits at our expense. It's their lifestyle choice.
Meanwhile, parents who use HIV and hepatitis plagues as a good pretext to scare their kids off of using drugs will have to find some other reason, since Big G has taken care of this issue by supporting the drug users.
What kind of "war on drugs" are we fighting here?
What's next?
A government program to confiscate your car and sell the proceeds for drug users who don't have enough cash for their fix?
A government program to force people into the sex trade in order to raise money for AIDS awareness programs?
A government program to use eminent domain to seize houses and turn them into meth labs?
Why do they even bother to make drugs illegal if they're condoning their use under the table by providing tax-supported needle exchange?
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Using the First Ammendment for government inculcation
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/wisconsin.book.row/index.html
This case is interesting for a number of reasons. On the one hand, I think of myself as conservative (more so than the GOP, who should replace their elephant with a rhinoceros) but on the other hand, things like book-burnings fill me with a kind of horror. On the third hand of our freakishly nightmarish world, the original request to have sexually explicit books removed from young-adult to the adult section seems quite reasonable (except adults probably wouldn't read them, but that's not the library's fault).
It is, though, an example where a government institution, which should be respecting and promulgating the standards of the local community is, instead, trying to replace the standards of the local community with a new set of standards espoused by the federal government, and the people in the community are just supposed to suck up the kool aid. They have been doing this with public schools for a long, long time. Libraries too? I did not know that. Should have guessed, though.
Is this a case in which the library is trying to bring a culture of refinement and sophistication to a community of backward country clods? Maybe. Or maybe they're trying to carry on the government's caste-system building strategy to every part of the nation, inculcating their system of acknowledging some people as Protecteds and others as little people. I do believe that if a bunch of Protecteds got ornery with the library, Big G would step up and start doling out some sensitivity training for the library staff.
One interesting quote: "The demand to move the books was always going to be problematic because no authority has determined that any of the titles are pornographic or obscene," Tyree said.
As usual, one must find an "authority" to make judgments: little people are not qualified. What kind of system does this sound like?
This case is interesting for a number of reasons. On the one hand, I think of myself as conservative (more so than the GOP, who should replace their elephant with a rhinoceros) but on the other hand, things like book-burnings fill me with a kind of horror. On the third hand of our freakishly nightmarish world, the original request to have sexually explicit books removed from young-adult to the adult section seems quite reasonable (except adults probably wouldn't read them, but that's not the library's fault).
It is, though, an example where a government institution, which should be respecting and promulgating the standards of the local community is, instead, trying to replace the standards of the local community with a new set of standards espoused by the federal government, and the people in the community are just supposed to suck up the kool aid. They have been doing this with public schools for a long, long time. Libraries too? I did not know that. Should have guessed, though.
Is this a case in which the library is trying to bring a culture of refinement and sophistication to a community of backward country clods? Maybe. Or maybe they're trying to carry on the government's caste-system building strategy to every part of the nation, inculcating their system of acknowledging some people as Protecteds and others as little people. I do believe that if a bunch of Protecteds got ornery with the library, Big G would step up and start doling out some sensitivity training for the library staff.
One interesting quote: "The demand to move the books was always going to be problematic because no authority has determined that any of the titles are pornographic or obscene," Tyree said.
As usual, one must find an "authority" to make judgments: little people are not qualified. What kind of system does this sound like?
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
the real underground cinema
http://issuesviews.blogspot.com/2008/09/racial-disconnects-and-double-standards.html
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Aphorism of the day
When you are completely convinced that you know what you are doing, re-read the instructions.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Escort him out
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=103918
Glad we're finally getting some traction on the eligibility thing. The Keyes video is excellent. The man raises some excellent points and he doesn't mince his words. He means what he says and he says what we all want to say.
Glad we're finally getting some traction on the eligibility thing. The Keyes video is excellent. The man raises some excellent points and he doesn't mince his words. He means what he says and he says what we all want to say.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Who represents me?
We live in what we call a representative democracy. That is, we have people in government to represent us. In theory, we vote for them and they do what we want. What goes along with this is the idea that the authority of a government to govern derives from the consent of the people to be governed.
I have not felt represented in a long time. What I see around me is disturbing. What they pass for legislation these days is appalling. So, should I call my congresswoman? Congress is part of the problem! They don't care if I vote for them or not. They seem to be immune to criticism. Once they're ensconced in their positions that are ironically called "public service," they disdain any real contact with the citizens and blithely accelerate the degradation of our country into tyranny.
So, what is the option? Well, if their authority rests with our consent to be governed, why don't we simply...withdraw our consent?
I withdraw my consent to be governed by this lot. Go ahead. Say it. Do it. Without your consent, they have no authority and cannot make you abide by their laws. Their enforcement then resides only in brute force: they can put a gun to your head, but in doing so, they must renounce all pretense of being a representational democracy.
I have not felt represented in a long time. What I see around me is disturbing. What they pass for legislation these days is appalling. So, should I call my congresswoman? Congress is part of the problem! They don't care if I vote for them or not. They seem to be immune to criticism. Once they're ensconced in their positions that are ironically called "public service," they disdain any real contact with the citizens and blithely accelerate the degradation of our country into tyranny.
So, what is the option? Well, if their authority rests with our consent to be governed, why don't we simply...withdraw our consent?
I withdraw my consent to be governed by this lot. Go ahead. Say it. Do it. Without your consent, they have no authority and cannot make you abide by their laws. Their enforcement then resides only in brute force: they can put a gun to your head, but in doing so, they must renounce all pretense of being a representational democracy.
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