Saturday Sessions: Bocelli

Con te Partiro - Bocelli

I told you I have an eclectic taste in music!

Cheers

~Finntann

Little Black Boxes

Funny, it doesn't look black!

White House okays Black Boxes for Vehicles

The White House Office of Management Budget said it has completed a review of the proposal to make so-called vehicle "black boxes" mandatory in all cars and trucks, clearing the way for NHTSA to publish its final regulation.

The agency has made it a priority to work toward a proposed standard that would mandate these devices on all passenger vehicles on the nation's roadways," NHTSA spokeswoman Lynda Tran said.

Already in 92% of Vehicles

NHTSA previously issued a new regulation standardizing data collection for event data recorders in August 2006, took effect for the 2013 model year that started Sept. 1, standardizes the information EDRs collect and makes retrieving the data easier. Devices must record 15 data elements, including vehicle deceleration, in specific formats.

The recorders collect data for the seconds of a crash, including whether the driver is wearing a seatbelt, speed and whether the brakes were applied.

Mandating 100% compliance will cost automakers roughly 24 million to implement.

Its Only a Matter of Time

Given the rapid computerization of everything, exponential increases in memory capacity, and the integration of GPS into automotive computer brains, you know it's only a matter of time before location will be tracked as well. The question then becomes, who owns the data and what does the government have to do to access it? 

When will the first case arise where a motorist is cited for failing to wear a seatbelt after the fact from blackbox data?

Big Brother is Watching

What do you think about that?

I think it's time I bought that '33 Ford three-window coupe I've always wanted.

Cheers!

~Finntann

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121206/AUTO01/212060440/NHTSA-gets-White-House-OK-mandate-vehicle-black-boxes-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Obama's Mouthpieces

By Hugh Farnham

Any strongman worthy of the name needs an army - of mouthpieces.  This demagogue is no different.

Call them Plumbers, Mr. Fix-its, or Mouthpieces; their mission is always the same.  Stanch the flow of blood, divert attention, outright lie, or dole out information late Friday night in drips and drabs.

Fast and Furious

The Administration was funneling illegal arms into Mexico over the past few years to create shocking firearm smuggling statistics, in time to justify signing the UN Small Arms Treaty.  This incendiary truth had to be squelched, and right quick.  Bring in Soros and Media Matters, loyal troops in the War Against Truth.

The Daily Caller unveiled  the DOJ's Public Affairs was working closely with Mark Gertz of Media Matters.  This collusion was for a coordinated barrage of attacks against House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, along with others demanding a full accounting of the whole "F and F" operation.

Consider Obama's amazing hypocrisy in light of the Connecticut  murders, for which the Gunrunner-In-Chief squirted tears on TV.  But no wet eyes for hundreds of Mexicans killed by guns purchased by the ATF using Stimulus Dollars.

Benghazi

The Administration didn't send out some State Department bureaucrat to lie to us, but the UN Ambassador Susan Rice.  She regaled us with stories about the casus belli video and supposed protests going on near the consulate.  Both turned out to be lies.

Now You Try Saying It!

ObamaCare

Spin Doctor Sanjay Gupta - you know of him, the didactic MD on CNN telling you to eat your veggies - made the rounds prior to the Supreme Court ruling with a sky-will-fall horror story if ObamaCare was declared unconstitutional. So it was declared "constitutional" and yes, the sky will still fall.  

This list could go on and on, with an endless line of politicians, actors, and socialites the length of a fat plumber's crack.

So what really is that oral appliance?  It's an Asian Face Slimmer!

Other People's Babies

Global Fertility Replacement Rate = 2.33

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money. 

 Bill Frezza has a slightly different take on a slightly different problem: Entitlement Democracy. The problem with Entitlement Democracy is that you eventually run out of other people's babies.  If you think the current fiscal cliff is bad, just wait:

The aggregate U.S. federal and state unfunded liabilities required to pay for all the entitlements promised by politicians past-namely Social Security, Medicare, and defined-benefit pensions for public employees-now exceed $100 trillion. Tomorrow's workers, including those yet unborn, have no particular kinship to the people who will be feasting on their paychecks.

And it only gets worse, as you can see on the graph above the world as a whole is hovering just above the replacement fertility rate, the United states is hovering just below.

It takes a live birth rate of 2.1 children per woman to maintain a stable population. Birth rates across Southern Europe have plunged below 1.5, and are expected to drop even further as Euro Zone economies continue to contract. Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan are converging on birth rates closer to 1.0, literally halving their population each generation. Even the Black Plague didn't do that
 

Like the Titanic, we are steaming full speed ahead oblivious that we are about to capsize.  Yes, the support pyramid is about to turn upside down.

The fatal flaw in this scheme is the skyrocketing dependency ratio. The number of young people entering the workforce (should they be lucky enough to find jobs) is not growing fast enough to support the exploding population of non-working 60, 70, 80, and 90-somethings.
 

There is no denying it, as Baby Boomers age out of the workforce, the only way to maintain the entitlement status quo is to either increase revenue or increase debt. The cliff we are approaching is far higher than the "fiscal cliff" we approach today, in fact the "fiscal cliff" is more of a bouncy house than a cliff.  The true cliff we are hurtling towards is more like the Grand Canyon.

Bill Frazza's article can be found here:  http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2012/12/10/will_aging_childless_voters_enslave_my_future_grandchildren_100034.html

.And an interesting study on the global implications can be found here:

 

http://www.newgeography.com/files/The%20Rise%20of%20Post-Familialism%20(ISBN9789810738976).pdf

 

READY, SET, GO !!!

 

 

The problem with Entitlement Democracy is you eventually run out of other people's babies.

 

 

Photo: DonVick, Acapulco's La Quebrada Cliff

 

Cheers!

 

~Finntann

Happy New Years !!!

        Spike Jones and the City Slickers - 1948

Times Gone By

Auld Lang Syne

Performed by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, on bagpipes.  Well, it is Scottish after all!  The lyrics most familiar today were penned by Robert Burns, or perhaps edited is better term, for the song predates Burns.

Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne.
 

For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.  Robert Burns 1788

Of course while the Robert Burns version is the most familiar, and while he undoubtedly simplified the song, one is left wondering if it is indeed better compared to earlier versions.

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never thought upon; The flames of love extinguished, and fully past and gone: Is thy sweet heart now grown so cold, that loving breast of thine; That thou canst never once reflect on Old long syne.

On old long syne my Joe, in old long syne, that thou canst never once reflect, on Old long syne.  James Watson 1711
 

Caledonia 

For you Caledonians out there, perhaps a bit more modern, from one of my favorite Scottish performers, Dougie MacLean.  You may be familiar with his most famous work, The Gael was adapted as the main theme of Last of the Mohicans.  This piece is titled Caledonia:

The End of the Drone?

With the supposed capture of another American drone in early December, Con Coughlin declared…

The End of the drone is nigh

“…the drone is no longer the undisputed master of the skies (Con Coughlin) 

He may be jumping the gun a bit, but the longer we use any technology, the greater the odds the bad guys will figure out ways around it or how to defeat it.

And I say good. Why? Because doing anything with impunity makes you lazy and stupid. There is no cheap and easy way to kill people, even people who need killing. There is always a price to be paid. If your force is overwhelming, but the enemy is good at propaganda, your successes will become moral failures as they perform PR jujitsu on you. Like Gary Cooper in High Noon, you’ll soon find the townsfolk have all turned against you.

We lack humility, and wielding a multi-billion dollar sledgehammer has contributed to our lack of imagination. Yes, we must sometimes do violence, but only when absolutely necessary, and we need to do it with eyes wide open, and well aware of all the consequences. 

 May God grant that always and forever we are the most powerful nation on the planet, but may he grant us humility and wisdom to unsheathe the sword only when absolutely necessary.

Saturday Sessions: Campbell

Don't Look Under the Bridge: This One's For Our Resident Troll

Fred August Campbell and The Spur of the Moment Band, I think. although I believe Jimmy Buffet also did a cover.

OBAMACARE...LESS

Let the Repercussions Begin

Employers

Pennsylvania's Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is slashing the hours of 400 adjunct instructors, support staff, and part-time instructors to dodge paying for Obamacare.  "It's kind of a double whammy for us because we are facing a legal requirement [under the new law] to get health care and if the college is reducing our hours, we don't have the money to pay for it," said adjunct biology professor Adam Davis.  On Tuesday, CCAC employees were notified that Obamacare defines full-time employees as those working 30 hours or more per week and that on Dec. 31 temporary part-time employees will be cut back to 25 hours. The move will save an estimated $6 million.  "While it is of course the college’s preference to provide coverage to these positions, there simply are not funds available to do so," said CCAC spokesperson David Hoovler. "Several years of cuts or largely flat funding from our government supporters have led to significant cost reductions by CCAC, leaving little room to trim the college’s budget further."

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Darden Restaurants, Inc., operator of casual dining chains such as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and LongHorn Steakhouse, is doing just that. ObamaCare requires companies to provide “affordable” health insurance to employees working at least 30 hours per week or pay fines of up to $3,000 per employee who instead obtains taxpayer-subsidized insurance on a state exchange. Darden, therefore, is experimenting with limiting most of its employees to 28 hours per week, thus freeing it from the mandate and its accompanying fine.
Pillar Hotels & Resorts this summer began to focus more on hiring part-time workers among its 5,500 employees, after the Supreme Court upheld the health-care overhaul, said Chief Executive Chris Russell. The company has 210 franchise hotels, under the Sheraton, Fairfield Inns, Hampton Inns and Holiday Inns brands.

Kroger: beginning in January, any employee who is not full-time at that point,will be limited to 28 hours per week and all new hires will be subject to the same policy.

Like many franchisees, Robert U. Mayfield, who owns five Dairy Queens in and around Austin, Tex., is always eager to expand and — no surprise — has had his eyes on opening a sixth DQ. But he said concerns about the new federal health care law had persuaded him to hold off.

Doctors

The study, which appears in the medical-education-themed Dec. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, fuels concerns that there will be a shortage of primary-care doctors available when patients need them most.  Researchers surveyed internal medicine residents about their career plans. Of nearly 17,000 third-year residents, only 21.5 percent were planning on a career as an internal medicine doctor.  "This is worrisome," said study author Dr. Colin West, an internist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "In the next decade, we will be 50,000 primary-care physicians short for the needs of the country."

Compounding the likely shortage is health care reform under the Affordable Care Act, which is expected to flood the system with new patients in the coming years.  "We will need even more primary-care physicians as the foundation of care and we are not generating enough," West said. And, in addition to fewer residents choosing internal medicine and more patients having access to health care, many providers are getting older and heading to retirement.

There is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

Welcome to the part-time doctorless world of liberal progressives.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/21/Surprise-PA-College-Slashes-Hours-To-Avoid-Obamacare
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/13160-restaurant-giant-cuts-hours-to-avoid-employer-mandate
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/ccac-obamacare_n_2165383.html
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/12/04/study-foresees-shortage-of-primary-care-doctors

Selling Us Out

FOR SALE $15,000

 

Two For One Deal: Have Twins...Pay One Price

From an upscale home in Chino to a luxury 1-Bedroom apartment in Manhattan, Americans are selling their birthright to anyone with the money to buy.

AsiamChild.com, a Chinese language website advertises the American citizenship to prospective mothers. Packages on the site range from $5,000 to $15,000 and call the expenditure a "worthwhile investment" in order to have an American baby. Aside from citizenship, the website touts other perks American citizens enjoy, including free public education, better loan rates and social welfare during retirement.

The Marmara Manhattan, a Turkish-owned luxury hotel on New York's City Upper East Side, markets birth tourism packages to expectant mothers abroad, luring more than a dozen pregnant guests and their families to the United States to give birth last year alone. "What we offer is simply a one-bedroom suite accommodation for $7,750, plus taxes, for a month, with airport transfer, baby cradle and a gift set for the mother," Marmara Hotel spokeswoman Alexandra Ballantine said. The hotel estimates the total cost of the package at $45,000.

For those with the means to pay, it's a small price to give a child the full benefits of U.S. citizenship, including the ability to travel freely to and from the United States, easy access to a U.S. education and a chance to start a life here.

For the Mothers, it's Understandable

"We found a company on the Internet and decided to go to Austin [Texas] for our child's birth," Turkish mother Selin Burcuoglu told Istanbul's Hurriyet Daily News. "I don't want [my daughter] to deal with visa issues. American citizenship has so many advantages."

A curious global industry has emerged that caters to wealthy foreign women willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to give birth in the United States and get instant U.S. citizenship for their babies. The hefty price is worth it, according to these women, because it paves the way for easy access to American public schools, universities and jobs as the children get older and green cards for the whole family once the child turns 21.

For the Children, it's a Free Ride

Despite the fact that no one in Jennifer's family has been paying taxes to support the University of California system, meet Jennifer, a UC Davis college student born in New York who tells the Sacramento Bee, "I'm Taiwanese more than American." Back in 1989, Jennifer's mother boarded a jet bound for New York, tourist visa in hand. She didn't arrange her travel in order to take in a showing of Cats, however; she was eight months pregnant and the goal was to add a U.S.-passport holder to her family.  In 2004, when Jennifer reached the age of 15, she returned to the United States to take advantage of U.S.-taxpayer subsidized high schools in Idaho, Utah, and now college in California. Understandably, Jennifer — who didn't speak English when she arrived — describes the United States as a "foreign country".   Jennifer's father has since moved to the United States, presumably as a result of chain migration, which allows individuals to sponsor parents and siblings upon turning 21 years of age. Jennifer says she is interested in having kids of her own who will go to college in America.

For the Americans, We Need a New Definition of Treason

“Yes, our business is a sensitive topic, but we have a lot to offer the American culture and economy,” said Katie, a business owner who asked that her last name not be used.  “These women are the economic elite…and they are fueling the economy here.  I take them on shopping trips…one woman bought 15 Coach bags,” said Katie, who said she piles her pregnant clients into her van for the hour and a half drive to Woodbury Commons, an upscale outlet mall in New York where shoppers can indulge in such luxury brands as Prada, Gucci, Dior, and Coach.

15 Coach Bags, that's certainly a worthwhile exchange for an American citizenship.  These people are the scum of the earth,  selling us out to anyone with the  greenbacks to pay.  It is easy to have more respect for a traitor that betrays their country on principal than for one that betrays their country for money. Just who do these a$$holes think are paying for that "free education and social welfare during retirement"?   Harsh words? Perhaps, but as illustrated above, the Devil does indeed wear Prada.

http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/10/28/8511587-born-in-the-usa-birth-tourists-get-instant-us-citizenship-for-their-newborns?lite
http://cis.org/feere/birth-tourism-baby-calls-united-states-foreign-country
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/birth-tourism-maternity-homes-in-us-used-by-foreigners-who-give-birth-so-child-gains-citizenship
http://abcnews.go.com/US/chinese-women-pay-give-birth-california-maternity-mansion/story?id=17862251
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/birth-tourism-industry-markets-us-citizenship-abroad/story?id=10359956
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/17/AR2010071701402.html

Not so Cheery Now, eh?

~Finntann

St. Stephen's Day

 

The St. Stephen's Day Murders

A nice cover of an Elvis Costello/Paddy Maloney Song.  For clarification "that drink made from girders" refers to a rust colored Scottish softdrink "Irn-Bru" that is the number one selling softdrink in Scotland.  It contains Ammonium Ferric Citrate and the taste has been described as everything from indescribable to a close approximation of putting a nine-volt battery on your tongue.


I knew of two sisters whose name it was Christmas
And one was named Dawn of course, the other one was named Eve
I wonder if they grew up hating the season
Of the good will that lasts till the Feast of St. Stephen

For that is the time to eat, drink and be merry
'Til the beer is all spilled and the whiskey is flowed
And the whole family tree you neglected to bury
Are feeding their faces until they explode

 [Chorus:]
There'll be laughter and tears over Tia Marias
Mixed up with that drink made from girders
And it's all we've got left as you draw your last breath
And it's nice for the kids as you've finally got rid of them
In the St Stephen's Day Murders

Uncle is garglin' a heart-breaking air
While the babe in his arms pulls out all that remains of his hair
And we're not drunk enough yet to dare criticize
The great big kipper tie he's about to baptize

His gin-flavoured whispers and kisses of sherry
His best crimble shirt flung out over the shop
While the lights from the Christmas tree blow up the telly
His face closes in like an old cold pork chop

[Alternate Chorus:]
And the carcass of the beast left over from the feast
May still be found haunting the kitchen
And there's life in it yet we may live to regret
When the ones that we poisoned stop twitchin'

[Regular Chorus Repeat]

[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/elvis+costello/st+stephens+day+murders+feat+the+chieftains_20329946.html ]

Merry Christmas

(c) Howard Hudson (2006)

            Christmas is a season of memories and emotions.  Our first recollections of Christmas are generally as a child.  I can remember a blue tricycle with a white seat, scrawny trees with big bulb lights, bayberry candles, and a shiny metallic silver tree skirt, and company, lots and lots of company.  One year I recall an aluminum Christmas tree with a spot light shining on it, a four part plastic wheel casting colored shadows on the wall.  I can remember as a child driving a visiting Aunt absolutely crazy asking “is it Christmas yet?” over and over and over again, every five minutes as the story was told.

            I can remember the first time I was old enough to go to a midnight service.  It was cold, wet, drizzly and in the forties as we walked the blocks to church, meeting my Aunt outside on the granite steps.  I remember the church; it seemed like a grand cathedral at the time, all black, white, and pink marble and row upon row of pews, narrow stained glass windows, flowers and gilding everywhere.  It was filled with people, standing room only, as well as the scent of candle wax and the pungent aroma of incense.  In the back, on a balcony in front of a great stained glass window, the choir sang.  It was a much smaller church some thirty years later when we had my mother’s funeral there.

            I was young when my father died two days after Christmas, young enough that the small parish church still struck a young boy as a grand cathedral.  After that Christmas was always a season of mixed emotions, joyous yes, but there was always something dark lurking in the background.  I can recall my first Christmas as young man spent away from home.  Spent with a young girl who cooked the turkey upside down so it collapsed upon itself, tasted just the same I assured her, comforting her.  There was a period of time I traveled home for Christmas, driving hundreds of miles through all kinds of weather.

            Later, older and married, I moved away… it was actually over Christmas that we moved.  Stopping off to visit family for Christmas on the way, we celebrated with our two small boys in a hotel room, with a poinsettia and foot tall tree from Wal-Mart.  Then it was Christmas at our home, our tree, and our guests.  We had become our parents, buying, wrapping, and hiding presents.  Sneaking them out after midnight when the kids were asleep.  As the children slept we celebrated Christmas ourselves, exchanging gifts next to the tree, a fire crackling on the hearth, maybe a glass of wine or two… things we never dreamed of as children at Christmas.

           Christmas changes for us all.  It turns from waiting eagerly for Santa Claus, vainly trying to stay awake to hear the prancing and pawing of each little hoof to something different.  Christmas becomes a kaleidoscope of memories; a deeper meaning intrudes on our childhood innocence, a spiritual meaning, one of life and death, and sacrifice.  I can recall that midnight mass, a large crèche on the left side of the altar with life size figurines of Mary and Joseph, a little baby, and animals.  As a child they held no greater a place than Santa, Rudolph, and Frosty.  As an adult we look around and wonder, songs of Grandma getting run over by a reindeer, Black Friday, crowded stores, holiday sales, and the perpetual urging to buy, buy, buy.  Take a moment in all this to stop and pause… think about the simpler things in life, the things that are more important.

It's Christmas Eve

The Boar's Head

This is a 15th Century English Macaronic (mixed English & Latin) Carol, and a tradition still celebrated at Queen's College, Oxford.

Silent Night

Oh Holy Night

Merry Christmas To All

~Finntann

SAFETY FIRST

 



Especially this time of the year.

Here's something to keep in mind to get home - and maybe safely.

 With the holidays upon us I would like to share a personal experience with my family & friends about drinking and driving. As you may know some of us have been known to have brushes with the authorities from time to time on the way home after a "social session" out with friends. Well three days ago I was out for an evening with friends and had several cocktails followed by some rather nice red wine. Feeling jolly I still had the sense to know that I may be slightly over the limit. That's when I did something that I've never done before - I took a cab home.
 
 Sure enough on the way home there was a police road block but since it was a cab they waved it past. I arrived home safely without incident. This was a real surprise as I had never driven a cab before, I don't know where I got it and now that it's in my garage I don't know what to do with it................any suggestions ?

Making the Rounds

I received this in an email from a client, and was reading it straight... so the twist at the end had me rolling.  I wish I knew where it came from, because the author certainly deserves recognition.

Remember Checker Cabs?

Cheers!

~Finntann

Saturday Sessions: Christmas

WINTER IS COMING

Ya'll still here?

A few different musical perspectives on winter, today on the winter solstice if we're still around to enjoy it after the Mayan Apocalypse.  I found the Balmorhea piece hauntingly beautiful with striking imagery.  The Celtic Frost video is different, albeit perhaps a bit depressing.  Vivaldi is a perennial favorite, and the final piece by Enya is frankly, just to cheer you all up after the first three.

 

 

 

 



Our Government: Stupid and Industrious

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.  -- George Washington 

Progressives insist that times have changed. We need a more interventionist government, and politicians and activists of all parties frequently employ moralistic arguments and appeals to Christian virtues to make their case. This is a logical misstep.

Charity is a moral virtue God demands of His followers. Progressives commit a category error when trying to apply moral virtues to the congeries of soulless, faceless government bureaucracies.

A corporate entity or government cannot by definition possess virtues.  Only human beings can.

In fact, discussing virtues and morality in the context of government turns the Utilitarianism vs. Deontological ethics debate on its head.

Christianity is a deontological religion. We owe duties to God and to our fellow man.

Utilitarianism, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, is “the view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good.”

Utilitarianism is logically coherent, but it can lead to very immoral acts: Final solutions, euthanasia, telling individuals where to live and what job they will have.

When discussing what the role of government in peoples lives should be, liberals or progressives argue from the deontological point of view (We have a duty to help the poor!), while conservatives and libertarians argue from the Utilitarian corner (Do what works. Stop doing what does not)

This entire discussion on the role of government is premised on a false belief: If government does not dole out mercy, none shall be doled out. This is nonsense. We are a very giving nation, and reasonable arguments can be made that the multi-trillion dollar war on poverty has destroyed our cities and the nuclear family, consigning even more people to a permanent underclass.

So should government be deontological or utilitarian?

Both. Lawmakers and government bureaucrats have a duty not to God nor citizen, but to the US Constitution. That is the only guide to right and wrong in governance. Government at all levels could also use a shot of utilitiarianism, within the framework of constitutionality. Simply put: If it doesn’t work, stop doing it.

German General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord is said to have made the following observation in 1933:

"I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities.

Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious is a menace and must be removed immediately!"

My purpose of this post is not to skewer Obama, but I think he fits in the clever and lazy category. This would not necessarily be a bad thing if he had the experience of a Reagan,  Eisenhower, or Truman.  Good advisors would also help him out, but instead, like the vast majority of the political class, his minions are in the stupid and industrious category, compounding our troubles.

Syria: The Bloodbath is Here

Walter Russell Mead asks a bracing question: Which is Worse? Helping the Syrian Rebels or Doing Nothing?

He starts out by conceding practically everything critics of intervention have been saying, but then he continues…

“However, even if our Syria policy isn't about achieving something good, we should still be thinking about what we can do that reduces the chances of things getting catastrophically worse.”

I have become wary of foreign interventions, but this made me stop and think:

“Aiding the less ugly, less bad guys in the Syrian resistance, and even finding a few actual good guys to support, isn't about installing a pro-American government in post civil war Syria. It’s about minimizing the prospects for a worst-case scenario—by shortening the era of conflict and so, hopefully, reducing the radicalization of the population and limiting the prospects that Syrian society as a whole will descend into all-out chaotic massacres and civil conflict.”

“And it’s about making sure that other people in Syria, unsavory on other grounds as they may be, who don’t like al-Qaeda type groups and don’t want them to establish a permanent presence in the country, have enough guns and ammunition to get their way.”

I don’t know if any of those goals are achievable, but if it screws Iran out of an important ally and cuts them off from the Levant where their Hezbos are stationed, it’s a good thing. I also buy the argument that the longer the conflict drags out, the more radicalized the population becomes, making things unmanageable for perhaps generations.

“This is now all about trying to prevent the worst rather than promoting the best.”

The situation is already out of control. Short of direct intervention, should we try to shape it for the least bad outcome?

Before answering, please read Francois Heisbourg's case for intervention.

Repeal the Bill of Rights

Just look at it... all yellowed with age, obviously an anachronism we would best do without.

The thought occurred to me when responding to a post on another blog in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings.  The comment was “your well regulated militia just shot up another school”.  After all, isn’t getting rid of rights the logical argument in favor of preserving and promulgating the general welfare?  My thought was that my off-hand sarcastic remark really needed more intellectual scrutiny than time and space allowed at the time. 

The First Amendment 

Religion:  Given the large number of wars and other violent acts attributable to disagreements in faith and creed.  Wouldn’t we all be better off if we were all good Protestants?  Think about it, we could all go to church together and sing hymns, pray, and commune together, which would be so much easier when we all believe exactly the same things. 

Speech:  Why should you be able to shoot your mouth off and foster dissent and dissatisfaction?  What good does your freedom of speech do me? Or us?  How are we better off for your right to bad-mouth our president and undocumented immigrants?  Think!  We could end congressional gridlock a heartbeat after they are all required to embrace and utter the same words. 

Assembly:  Just think about it… we won’t have another riot, no more looting, lynching, or malcontents camping in our public spaces. No more union thugs beating up reporters.

Redress:  The government will only and always act in the best interests of the people and their general welfare… what is there to redress? 

The Second Amendment 

Won’t the world be a much better place without guns?  No more shootings, no gun crime.  We don’t need personal arms or even a militia.  We have the government to protect us with its Army, Navy, and Police SWAT teams.  Isn’t it obvious? Isn’t it wonderful? 

The Third Amendment 

Quartering:  Just think about it for a second.  What’s safer than having a soldier billeted in your home?  You won’t need guns when you have your very own soldier.  The 21 billion dollars saved in military housing costs can be used to sponsor a government program to fund birth control and abortions for your daughters.  See?  No risk at all having troops billeted in your home.

The Fourth Amendment 

Search and Seizure:  Face it; the only people who think searches are unreasonable are people with something to hide.  We’d all be a lot safer if we were frisked now and then.  As far as seizure of property goes, isn’t it obvious?  You didn’t make it or build it; you wouldn’t have it if it weren’t for government.  How can the government seize what it already rightfully owns? 

 

The Fifth Amendment

 Due process: Isn't the process what the government says it is?  Double jeopardy?  You're the one that put yourself in jeopardy by committing crimes... why should you get off because of some incompetent prosecutor or police officer?  Eminent domain?  Everyone knows that we'll all be better off with a Walmart than your run down old home. 

 

The Sixth Amendment 

Trial by Jury:  Really?  Don’t we all know that James Holmes of Aurora is guilty?  What is the point of a trial?  What reason lies behind this charade where we call him the suspect and the accused?  Do you think the cops go around arresting innocent people?  If you are doing questionable things, shouldn't you be responsible for proving your innocence?  Why burden the rest of us with the costs of defending you? 

The Seventh Amendment 

Civil Trial by Jury:  You seriously think 12 people chosen at random are qualified to judge?  Hell! We can’t agree on who should win American Idol let alone the effect of the release of Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyl’s into the environment.  12 chemists might be able to come to a reasonable conclusion, but certainly not a jury of your peers.  You’d all be better off if we simply eliminated juries and let the judges decide. 

The Eighth Amendment 

Excessive Bail: Seriously, if you’re guilty until proven innocent, why do you want these criminals wandering the streets before trial? 

Cruel and Unusual Punishment:  Is there any punishment that is really too cruel or too unusual for someone who guns down 20 six and seven year olds?  Get real! 

The Ninth Amendment 

Non-enumerated Rights:  Bwah ha ha ha!  You don’t have any.  See commentary on the 10th below.

The Tenth Amendment 

Powers reserved for the states or to the people:  Well obviously, look around, that one must have been repealed years ago.  We just missed it.
 

It Takes a Big Man to Admit He Made a Mistake

My first thought was that Obama ought to climb into Air Force One, fly to London, abjectly throw himself at the feet of Queen Elizabeth and grovel and beg for readmission into the Commonwealth of Nations, for obviously we made a serious mistake some two hundred years ago, with all this silly talk of rights and freedoms.  What has it gotten us other than pain, suffering, and bloodshed?

But then I thought, perhaps that wasn't going far enough,  maybe we should just sign the entire nation over to the Chinese in exchange for 16 trillion dollars and dissolve the government.  After all, perhaps the English are a bit too... shall we say, "liberal" for our tastes.  The Chinese have, for all these years, demonstrated the effectiveness of a leftist government.  There are alternatives, North Korea and Cuba pop to mind, but frankly, they just don't have the cash.

Wouldn't we all be better off safely ensconced in the loving arms of government,  secure in the knowledge that we could live our lives without thought to consequences?  No one would ever dare offend us or discriminate against us.  We would get fed when we were hungry, medicine when we were sick, and when our time came... we would die patriotically without costing our friends and neighbors too much money.

Dripping With Sarcasm

This post is dedicated to those people that say things like "your militia just shot up another school", "the pro pollution crowd will be disappointed", "One failed attempt at a shoe bomb[ing], and we all take off our shoes at the airport". 

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin
 

SHEEP 

You gave up the Fourth when some nut job tried to set his underwear on fire.

You've called for giving up the First in the name of political correctness and hate speech.

You're willing to give up the Second now!

Why not just go whole hog and give it all up, I'm sure you'll sleep better at night.

The shearings will commence April 15th...get in the barn.

Waiting for Marco

I'll see your African American and raise you a Hispanic

Republicans who criticize Barack Obama's cult of personality are in danger of making the same mistake with Marco Rubio. Don’t get me wrong. By all accounts, he’s a wonderful and intelligent man, and could perhaps make a good president. We don’t know enough about him or his positions yet.

White:  The New Black

When did old and white and male become pejoratives? And why? Why must someone be female, gay, ethnic or non-white to generate any buzz or be considered legitimate? Al Gore, Bill Clinton and The Rolling Stones are all old white men. Have we all lost our minds? Are we in the grip of a collective psychosis? I think so.

White men have dominated Western Civilization for two millennia. I understand the exuberance of seeing others rise to enjoy their God-given equality. I rejoice in it myself and view it as another self-correcting achievement of Western Civilization. But this cultural libertinism smacks of the French Revolution and revenge rather than a celebration of equality. We revel in egalite’ while turning our liberte’ over to the government, and saying to hell with fraternite’. We are twisted.

What Would Dr King Do?

Also, this GOP scramble for higher melanin content is unseemly and transparent, and I say that as I tell you Bobby Jindal is my early favorite for 2016. Not because he’s got that exciting ethnic vibe (Indians aren’t exciting anyway. Too nerdy, family-oriented and underrepresented in the all-important popular culture), but because he’s an extremely intelligent man who has a proven-track record.

So, my fellow conservatives, if you’re going to gush all over Marco Rubio, bring the facts and qualifications, or be prepared to be laughed at by those of us tired of hero worship politics. If your only reason for voting for him is that he is Hispanic, you’re no better than the Obama worshipers you've been vilifying these past years.