Rand Paul’s huge gaffe on the civil rights act exacerbates why I find the libertarian platform untenable; they are for, generally, doing nothing.
Continue reading “We’re Not a Set-It-And-Forget-It Republic, Folks”
Apr 08 2010
Party of No
I like a good political rally. As an independent moderate, I enjoy listening to both sides and coming to my own conclusions on where the truth is in all the politics. I’ve been known to make solid, impassioned arguments solely for the opportunity to hear myself talk sometimes, even. Rhetoric can be good, clean fun.
This is how the Tea Party movement began in this country; a group of people got together as way to protest what they felt like was wasteful government spending on bail outs and special deals. Fun. Some people even dressed up in little colonial costumes and read from scrolls. Nice.
Mar 25 2010
Say No to Socialism
I found this on Facebook, and can’t find a source to attribute it to. Still, it’s is good.
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power utility regulated by the US Department of Energy (DOE). I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the federal communications commission (FCC) regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) . I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation (DOT), possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and of a quantity regulated and certified by the State Bureau of Weights and Measures, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service (USPS) and drop the kids off at the public school .
After work I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to a house which has not burned down in my absence because of state and local building codes and fire marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet, which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.
Feb 24 2010
Like a Phoenix From the Ashes
Like a phoenix from the ashes, I rise again to blog…
…Renewed in spirit, and with fresh new opinions to opine…
…Unashamed of even the most poorly-researched commentary…
…and unafraid of being lampooned, harassed, technologically abused, and left for dead.
Here’s a quick smattering of topics to get us up to speed:
Politics:
Congress now has a “jobs agenda” instead of a “jobs bill.” Switching from an actual bill to an agenda seems to mean it will be even less likely that anything actually gets done in congress. Is there a negative approval rating? That’s seems to be what they are heading for. People were harassing Obama that he got very little of his ambitious agenda done in his first year, but I would definitely say Congress gets the prize for completely wasting its time working on mondo-legislation that will be forever gridlocked. My solution? Congress needs to focus on incremental, consensus change. Get what you can get, because it will be better than getting nothing at all.
Religion:
Lately I’ve been reading a biography of Brigham Young. So far, I’m at 1848, right after he’s entered the Salt Lake Valley for the 2nd time. Here are few things I didn’t know I never wanted to didn’t realize:
- Brigham came from a very poor family
- He was one of the most ardent protectors of Joseph Smith, oftentimes threatening and exposing apostate church members who were seeking to harm him.
- He served only one mission to England, which was less than 18 months, and still baptized and gathered over 8000 converts. The message was not well received in London, but was best received in the British countryside among the working class.
- Brigham left Winter Quarters shooting directly for the Great Basin, in spite of others who made strong cases for California or Oregon. It wasn’t quite the ‘wandering children of Israel with miraculous discovery of the Salt Lake Valley’ portrait that has oft been painted.
- After Brigham got to the Valley, he basically turned back around and went directly back to Winter Quarters. I wasn’t sure I knew that. He left most of the men of the initial 1847 company there to start planting winter crops, and his thoughts then turned exclusively on initiating the massive migration the following spring.
- I’m surprised how poor of a writer he was. All of the direct quotes from his diary are extremely poor in grammar and spelling, while things like “Journal of Discourses” are just replete with flowery language. He must have been a much better orator than he was writer, and he certainly had some help committing it to paper later.
American Idol:
I’m not going to be able to watch the Top 12 Boys and Girls until Thursday… so stay tuned for a massive blog on Thursday.
Jan 27 2010
Popularity Contest
Facebook’s most ‘popular’ pages are as follows:
In what universe is Vin Diesel more popular than Barack Obama? For reals? I can understand Michael Jackson being #1… but Vin Diesel as #3? I’m surprised…
This is a throwback to high school. For most people who aren’t caught up in the high school experience, on the surface it seems like one big popularity contest after another. Hallway politics, assembly attention-getters, sports stars, and cheerleaders… it all seems so important when you’re in it, but it’s not really. True talent is rarely recognized except by some teachers who truly reach out and mentor their students.
You have to leave high school to ever realize that popularity is irrelevant.
…Kind of. Just ask Barack about the importance of popularity.
This reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite movies: Little Miss Sunshine. I’m afraid this quote won’t really make sense out of context, and you’ll have to pardon all the asterisks… but it’s one of the BEST moments of the film.
You know what? **** beauty contests. Life is one ***ing beauty contest after another. School, then college, then work… **** that. And **** the Air Force Academy. If I want to fly, I’ll find a way to fly. You do what you love, and **** the rest.
Jul 16 2009
Random Thoughts
Just a few random thoughts for today… along with this random picture:
This is me trying to carve a turkey last November while also trying to keep others from picking the skin.
Apr 15 2009
The Presidential Dog
It’s official. The Obamas have settled on a Portuguese water dog as their new presidential pet. They are going to call him Bo.
First of all, I want to complain about the name Bo. It’s not as fun as the name “Socks” or as quaint as the name “Barney.” It’s not as friendly as the name “Buddy” or as dainty as the name “Millie.” It is a very bland, plain name where WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I’m good with that. I think, in a way, Obama himself is “Bo.” So far, he’s worked hard to deliver the leadership he promised during his campaign.
This dog is definitely a democrat, though, being a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy to the Obamas, even before they won the election.
But I have a real problem with Mr. Bo.
Mar 12 2009
At the Cost of Our Ideals
On this season of Fox’s “24″, Jack Bauer continues to be pummeled for his insistence that torture is a viable mechanism to get vital information out of a terrorist, especially when the timeliness of that information is critical to preventing a terrorist attack.
In last week’s episode, the White House was attacked and the President is taken hostage, all because they chose to stick by their ‘ideals’ rather than continuing a torturous interrogation of a key player who was about to give up the location of the imminent attack.
Characters in high ranking government positions are being forced to ask themselves the question, “Does this betray our American ideals?” and “At what cost of life and property do we hold onto our ‘ideals’?”
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