COMensarations

Greenpeace Wants War….

....With Iran!

As found at Instapundit:

My two cents of logic.

Premises:

1. As oil prices rise higher, more and more sustainable energy solutions become financially viable.

2. Sustainable energy helps cool the earth thus solving the problem of global warming and saving the planet.

3. Greenpeace supports saving the earth.

4. Any attack on Iran would cause the price of oil to spike.

Conclusion: Greenpeace supports an attack on Iran (at least in concept).

Is this logic inescapable?

Where’s my Wff N Proof??!?!??!???

Monday, June 30, 2008

The ‘Danger’ to Democracy — Part 3

What is really damaging—downright dangerous—to democracy.

So....

...what is a more serious ‘danger to Democracy’ than the musings of one religious leader, e.g., Dobson, or another, e.g., Wright?

There are quite a few of them, if you think about it. I’ll mention two of those I consider more dangerous than others, as they tend to be root-causes of so many other dangers.

In my opinion, one of these REAL dangers is that neither Dr. Dobson nor Reverend Wright, or any of those how identify with them, listen to each other.

In his speech of 28 Jun 2006, Senator Obama calls upon everyone to engage in a dialogue about the role of religious belief in making policy. Whether or not he is being honest about engaging others in dialogue about this remains to be seen. But that’s beside the point I’m attempting.

The truth of the matter is that when people no longer listen to each other in the exchange of ideas, they are then ‘telling’ each other. It becomes a one-way communication. Not a dialogue. And, if they realize the the other party in the dialogue is not listening either, then they tend to be come angry. And from there, thinks go down hill. And we end up with 60 vehicles in vandalized with anti-Obama and racist spray-paint jobs....or worse....bullet-riddled cars ....or much worse....people.

Another REAL ‘danger to democracy’ is someone saying that someone else’s voice should NOT be heard. It’s called ‘intolerance’ and it has been a serious problem of human nature for as long as people can recollect.

Anytime someone says that someone else’s honestly held views should not be heard they are tearing at the very fabric of democracy. And once the fabric is torn enough, on the other side you find totalitarianism.

UPDATE As I Was Saying.... 301221 Jun 08: No sooner do I post this and within a few hours here is evidence of what I was talking about immediately above.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

The ‘Danger’ to Democracy — Part 2

Dr. ‘Focus on the Family’ Dobson vs. Senator ‘Change We Can Believe In’ Obama, via My Neighbor; a fisking.

I’ll preface this item with the honest statement, “I don’t pay much attention to the ‘good doctor’ Dobson”; evangelical christian that he is alleged to be. I haven’t read anything he’s written in the last 18+ years, i.e., ever since I became a REAL christian; January 1990. That is up until THIS business came up.

I’ve got too many other thinks on my mind to spend too much time following other real believers in Christ very closely. I figure that if they’re reading the same book and following it pretty much the way I understand English, they’re on the right track. Therefore they don’t need much from me in the way of ‘guidance’.

So that being said, when I scanned Saturday’s topics in the Pueblo Chieftain, I noticed a headlines that ALWAYS catches my attention.

Dobson’s rhetoric is damaging to democracy

You can read the article here, while its available without charge.

[Note: I think it reprehensible that the Pueblo Chieftain buries thinks and requires you pay for them, if you didn’t catch it within so many days. Some of our political issues go WAAAAAAY back; think WATER and/or SDS. Well beyond free access to an important article in the Pueblo Chieftain, by THEIR ‘lights’. And I consider this money-grubbing on their part as anathema to democracy. Much more so than Christian Piatt’s opinion about the ‘good doctor’ Dobson’s Freedom of Expression.]

Whenever I see someone saying something is damaging ‘democracy’, specifically the one US established, I pay closer attention. I do this because about 38 years ago, I swore to defend our democracy, when, in 1970, I raised my right hand and took an oath to defend it against ALL enemies; foreign AND domestic. During the course of the time spent in service, I nearly died several times. So, you can understand that I take this sort of think rather seriously.

The headlines proclaimed that the ‘good doctor’ Dobson might be an ‘enemy’ of the domestic persuasion. The thought intrigued me. Sort of what we call in the Army a yellow smoke-grenade....a visual ‘heads-up’ warning if you will. Or even if you won’t. Therefore, between bouts of doing code and/or database design, I decided to take a look at the article. And....having read it....I decided it was worthy of fisking,

So....here goes.....

MORE...

Saturday, June 28, 2008

The ‘Danger’ to Democracy — Part 1

Sometimes, you have to ‘die’ to actually live.

Long ago and far away, in a life where I wore a ‘green suit’ every day. I came upon a truism.

You haven’t lived until you’ve almost died.

I encountered the truth of this on several occasions. Things that included plummeting out of a black-night sky with a malfunctioning parachute, getting into a ‘snit’ with an 18-wheeler on I25 one winter night, almost being crushed by an Army jeep, that I had—moments before—been riding in. Simple stuff like that there.

What’s my point, here?

Life is not what most of us expect of it.

And today....I read an article that brought all of that, and past experiences, together.

Tomorrow.....I’ll post my response to that article.

Begin thinking.....NOW......

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Another Hollywood ‘Failure’

Great reviews for Stop Loss, but....

....the general public just don’t buy it.

I’m told #7 Stop-Loss opened to only $1.6 million Friday from just 1,291 plays and should eke out $4+M. Although the drama from MTV Films was the best-reviewed movie opening this weekend, Paramount wasn’t expecting much because no Iraq war-themed movie has yet to perform at the box office.”—Commentor

So. What did you expect? From another anti-American POS.

As for the concept behind the film....

...that once you’ve sworn to lay down your very life to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies—foreign and domestic—you’re ‘out’ when your ETS arrives?

How dense are you anyway?

Once you’ve shown you’ve got more courage than those who never took that oath, why should US forget?

On another note....were you, or your parents or friends, asleep during Gulf War 1? They used Stop Loss then.

As for me. I know I could be called back at ANY time, if the government felt I had something they needed. And I’m quite prepared to do it, should they send that call. In my case it is not called “Stop Loss”. Rather, it is called ‘Operation CERTAIN SAGE’. I even practiced it once.

As one sergeant I knew would put it, “Shut up and soldier.”

“‘It’s not looking good, a studio source told me before the weekend. ‘No one wants to see Iraq war movies. No matter what we put out there in terms of great cast or trailers, people were completely turned off. It’s a function of the marketplace not being ready to address this conflict in a dramatic way because the war itself is something that’s unresolved yet. It’s a shame because it’s a good movie that’s just ahead of its time.’—Commentor, citing some studio shill

Oh. Great. Another studio hack with his evasions and obfuscations.

The only reason this movie, like so many others of its ilk, is ‘failing’ is because it is, as they are, nothing more than anti-American propaganda. And SHAME on Paramount and other such studios and their staffs and management for attempting such.

If they hate America so much, let them practice their craft in Communist China.

Either that or take the pledge to become a Muslim. [Note: I’d really like to see what they’d think of being ‘cut off’ from all those Hollywood starlet bimbos by Sharia law.]

Personally? I don’t see this as a ‘failure’. I see it as a re-affirmation that Americans still love their lives and their country and are not as stupid as Hollywood and other such propagandists would like to believe. It reminds me of Lord of the Rings, wherein Gandalf comments, that the men of the West are not as weak as Sauron would like to think. That there is still strenght. And Sauron—or his latter-day ilk—fear this.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Turn Your Living Room Into a HAZMAT Incident Site

The unintended consequences of going for the new Compact Florescent Light (CFL) bulbs

An interesting article in the Chieftain today. It’s all about what are the immediate and long-term actions to take in the event that you or your child or your idiot cat knock-over a lamp and cause a CFL bulb to break.

The story is not very pretty. And certainly not something that we hear from all these people pushing these wonders of modern technology on us.

The upshot is that once the bulb breaks, you’ve turned that room into a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) site. You have to evacuate all children and animals from the area. Open all windows and doors to ventilate the mercury vapor. Clean the area of all shards and, if you’ve got a $5000 oriental rug there, cut out the affected portion and dispose of it. Won’t THAT look nice. Better buy a larger end-table to cover the missing piece.

If you were foolish enough to use your $300 vacuum cleaner to clean up the shards, you have to trash it and buy a new one.

That mercury is nasty stuff.

Maybe Congress should have been a bit more careful about passing that legislation requiring us to move to this technology.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

No More ‘Magic’?

L’esprit Gallic comes in a $35B shoe size

Seems that only a few days after the US Department of Defense announced a deal to buy the [European] Airbus mid-air refueling tanker—over the [US] Boeing offering—the French Foreign Minister, Mssr. Bernard Kouchner, is determined to queer the deal.

In an interview about his concept of the ‘new’ [Note: What a misnomer....] diplomacy he said....

Asked whether the United States could repair the damage it has suffered to its reputation during the Bush presidency and especially since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Kouchner replied, “It will never be as it was before.”

“I think the magic is over,” he continued, in what amounted to a sober assessment from one of the strongest supporters in France of the United States.

If he’s supposed to be of the ‘strongest supporters’, I’m a member of Densa. This is just the sameo-sameo for the French. There is nothing ‘new’ here, except the speaker and the signage behind him. The French have always been and, apparently, always will be for themselves first and everyone else can go to blazes. As a case in point, I will remind the reader that up until the French realized that Iran could very well have a nuclear weapon in the near future, they were adamantly opposed to doing anything to stop that weapons program. Now that they see the truth of the matter, they finally decided that maybe....just MAYBE....US is right about Iran. And maybe Iran might give such a device to some of those ‘youths’ who’ve been burning cars and shooting police in and around their beloved Paris. Oops!

In truth, all the good foreign minister of France is doing is practicing the usual spirit of the Galls. And, as usual, it tends to be bilious. I’m reminded of the famous axiom....

Never give money to a bad debtor. He will despise you

I would hope that the recently inked defense contract over the purchase of $35 billion in aircraft is revocable. This will give the good foreign minister of France something to ‘chew on’, i.e., foot in mouth.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Hypocrisy In Legal Education?

Why does Professor Glenn Reynolds care?

It seems odd to me that someone who supports the legalization of prostitution should even mention that Governor Spitzer (D-NY) has been caught in a prostitution ring scandal.

After all, if one supports the idea of legalizing prostitution, most people would think that the only thing that would cross that person’s mind upon hearing this sort of report would be, “Too bad for the guy. If only we had legalized prostitution earlier, he wouldn’t be put through this public pillory.”

Rather, the good professor of law at the University of Tennessee points out the, as probably most Democrats see it, little peccadillo.

Maybe he anticipated the interesting convolutions of other Democrats running for office this year....that DOES seem to be what’s happening.

UPDATE From Various Perspectives [101452 Mar 08]:

From the perspective of moral issues, I tend to believe as I understand former President Harry S. Truman believed, when he reputedly said, “He broke his promise to his wife. Why should I expect him to keep his promise to me?” This, when firing one of his cabinet members for adultery.

Or as some Wag said, around 2000 years ago, “If you are not faithful in the small things, how can you be faithful in the big things?” [Note: See the parable of the ‘talents’.] You know.... If you can’t keep a promise to your wife, how can we expect you to keep a promise—to uphold your state Constitution and perform your duties of office—to the rest of us?

From a political perspective, the Instapundit is reporting some interesting doings amongst the various political candidates who were once happy to associate with the Governor of New York.

From the legal perspective, something the professor knows more about than I, Spitzer is in deep do-do; this is a violation of the Mann Act of 1910; interstate commerce in human traffick. I guess if it were legalized, as the professor wants, the federal government could regulate and tax it.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Caucuses and Churches and Change….Oh MY! (Part 2)

Part 2 of a comparison of political caucuses and churchs and change. This part on dealing with a ‘situation’.

“Church is much the same in its current desire to welcome hordes of now-distant young folks into their communities of faith. It misses the energy of young children, the creativity of youth and the hope found in the presence of young families.”—My Neighbor

I guess it IS like with politics; church that is. At least compared and contrasted with the above. It all depends on the ‘church’.

The point here being that our church in Littleton was not quite like my neighbor’s party caucus. There’s pretty good representation of all age groups there. And things don’t seem quite as raucous a caucus.

The problems begin, however, when they actually come. You walk in one morning, ready to enjoy your Sunday morning cup of coffee, and the pot is dry. You’d munch on a doughnut as a meager substitute, but some scrawny little punk just ran off with the last Danish. You head to the sanctuary to find your favorite seat, only to find it filled, and what in the world is the racket coming from the front of the room?

“Since when do we have guitars in worship? Who approved that anyway?

You head indignantly to the next leadership meeting to air your concerns, but you have been bumped down the docket so the new associate minister can talk to the group about a youth mission project. The seemingly benign conversation degrades into a more passionate argument about the overall mission of the church, and before you can get in your two cents’ worth, the youth choir starts warming up nearby.”—My Neighbor

I don’t think I’ve ever gone to the leadership of any church I’ve attended in the last 40 years, i.e., 1968, when I’d been ‘confirmed’. Even with ‘indignation’. Sometimes with concern. But never with ‘indignation’.

“Dejected, you take a handful of aspirin and ask yourself where the good old days went, and why it was that you wanted all this new blood in your church in the first place.”—My Neighbor

I don’t ask where the ‘good old days’ have gone, if I become gravely concerned about a particular ‘church’. If I find it is going against what I know to be the truth of a matter, I pray. And I ask guidance from a source superior to all others and I act accordingly. When advised to, I don’t go back to that place. I don’t get angry because people didn’t do what I thought they should. I just leave them to their own devices....whatever they may be. No anger involved whatsoever. Nor any headaches. Neither are called for. Sorrow may be called for. Certainly prayer for their sakes.

After all....it’s not MY problem. Rather, as I understand it, it is theirs.

More later....on coping with ‘change’.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Hiding My Light

It happened again today. Someone made some crack about “and don’t let them know what your IQ is.”

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF HAVING TO HIDE MY IQ AND MY EDUCATION AS IF I BOUGHT THEM ON THE BLACK MARKET!

I am sick and tired of hearing that you can’t discriminate against the handicapped, but it’s okay to discriminate against me, because I’m smart. I have to eat, too.

What is all this? Part of the “dumbing down” I keep hearing about? Why isn’t there some sort of law saying that you will hire the most talented and the most qualified, especially in schools and colleges?

Dumbing Down Example 1: Years ago I was hoping to get a job in the local school district as a school librarian. I had gotten a Master’s in Library Science. I had the Professional Teacher Education credits on my undergraduate degree. I had the state certification. I had two years teaching experience and three years library experience. I did some substituting while I looked for work. One day I substituted for a high school librarian. Someone in the school told me he’d been put into the position the previous year. He had the minimum qualifications for the position: an undergraduate teaching degree and 9 hours of library/ed media coursework. I had about 75 hours of coursework in library/ed media (a master’s and an undergraduate minor). When the librarian had retired the administration said to him,”You’ve taken some classes, are you interested?” He had to take one class that summer, and he was in, because the teacher’s union made the schools take minimally qualified teachers who were already on the payroll over better qualified people who weren’t. I went to work in private industry in another city. So much for schools advertising they hire the “best qualified” people. And a generation later they wonder why so many students have to take remedial classes in college.

Dumbing Down Example 2: When I finished my Master’s, you wouldn’t be considered for a professional position in a college or university library unless you had a second Master’s (the “subject master’s”) or a doctorate. Now I’m looking for work again, and I see college and university jobs advertised that don’t even mention a second advanced degree. What happened? Have colleges and universities reduced their standards, right when there are more people than ever obtaining advanced degrees? Was this done to accommodate the Ward Churchills of academia?

Dumbing Down Example 3: One of our City Council members works as a recruiter at a local college. Yet this person’s bio on the City’s web site says nothing about education at all. This person keeps talking about the importance of education for young people, yet doesn’t talk about his own at all. Has it gotten so bad that someone who works for a college won’t mention his education out of fear of … what? “Acting white?” Not being a “common” man?

Dumbing Down Example 4: A young friend with a master’s degree has mentioned, on more than one occasion, the difficulty he and his wife are having finding “like minded” individuals in this City to be friends with. He means young couples in their late twenties/early thirties with good educations, smarts, and a willingness to do something socially besides discuss what happened on this week’s “American Idol.”

Has there been some cultural paradigm shift, that we outsource professional work to foreign countries, and import professionals from them to do work that has to be done here (doctors, for example) because we simply don’t value education and brains the way we used to?

Or did I fall down the wrong rabbit hole?

Monday, February 11, 2008

Caucuses and Churches and Change….Oh MY! (Part 1)

The other day there was an interesting article in the Chieftain. Another item by my neighbor.

In many ways, I was very happy to see it.

In other ways, it inspired me to comment...here…

“I took part in my precinct’s caucus on Tuesday, which was a first for me. It was crowded, brimming with energy, and sometimes bordering on chaotic.”—My Neighbor

I’m happy to hear this. It seems to be something sweeping the country; this increase in people attending caucuses. In our own, the party across the proverbial aisle from his party, we had an 800% increase in attendees. The vast majority being people like my neighbor who had never before attended such a gathering.

“As many have read by now, there was an eclectic blend of seasoned veterans and newbies, all trying to learn how to work a pretty confusing political system together. In a lot of ways, it was a metaphor for what the church is going through as well.”—My Neighbor

Indeed, we, the distaff and I—as co-chairs of our precinct—spent a LOT of time explaining the processes of the caucus AND the forthcoming County Assembly.

“The experienced members of the caucus were thrilled to see such an unprecedented number of people turn out, and to see so many younger folks excited to take part. You could feel the energy in the air, and it was all smiles, at least for a little while.”—My Neighbor

Not quite as many younger folks amongst us so-called ‘conservatives’.

On the other hand, there were all smiles pretty much throughout the activity.

“As generally is the case, the glow waned as we got down to business. Like many church denominations, the caucus process has layers upon layers of processes and policies, some of which might seem arcane or even pointless to the untrained eye. However, the veterans in the group began to navigate the procedural waters with ease, only to be hung up, time and again, by the naive, inquisitive, and probably annoying, newcomers.”—My Neighbor

Ah....

One of my favorite sayings is, “There are advantages and disadvantages to every position one can take, or find themselves in.”

Not much annoyance at our event. Just people asking occasional questions and getting answers from the ‘veterans’.

“We were much like preschool children, with our hands in everything, asking “What’s this?” and “Why do you do it that way?” Though the inclination is to answer the 20th question with a resolute “Because I said so,” the leaders summoned the patience and tried over and over to bring us up to speed.

What began as a jubilant celebration of political activism turned into an hours-long marathon of deciphering rules, deliberating about the appointment of delegates, a few phone calls and appeals to the local party representative.

By the time we finished, no one was entirely satisfied with what we had accomplished, and everyone looked tired and beleaguered.”—My Neighbor

Wowzers!

More to follow.....