Hit piece journalism:
The first linked piece is by the eminent Thomas Sowell, who covers the fact that there are "experts" that likely have no bias beyond "that is what they think". But, given the broad range of opinions, a "supporting expert" can usually be found for virtually any position.
The 2nd aspect is that "money talks" ... private money, corporate money, and CERTAINLY Government money as well ... since the government has the deepest pockets of all, and it has a gigantic role in educational institutions where ALL of the PHDs are trained and must pass muster if they want to achieve that degree.
Is the discussion of "Human Caused Global Warming" biased? Well, certainly!! There is money on both sides, their are interests on both sides. I for one prefer a few inches more ocean level and some higher temperatures to mile thick ice sheets covering most of the food growing area on earth.
That is my personal bias, but unfortunately given the historic scientific record, I'm pretty sure that in the next thousand years or so, and possibly AT ANY TIME, we will slip back into an ice age no matter what I or the rest of mankind might prefer. Why? Because as best we know, climate has generally been much cooler and more volatile than what we have seen the last 10K years or so, and "regression to the mean" is a common phenomenon.
Given that ANY view on climate is likely to be biased, I like to search out information when I can on BOTH sides.
Here is some data that would indicate that even though the experts are always telling us to believe THEM rather than our lying eyes (and shivering bodies), there may be something to snow in May, shivering cold the last week of July, and plenty of snow and cold in Nov-Dec. http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/2013-one-of-the-ten-coldest-years-in-us-history-with-the-largest-drop-in-temperature/
Do you think NOAA has a bias? How good would it look for BO, "leading scientists", NASA, etc if it came to light that their claims of "settled science" had a lot more to do with "settled politics" than anything else? Nah, no reason at all for them to have a bias, right?
Naturally, the claim will be "that is WEATHER" ... usually accompanied with things like one being a "foolish denier", or some other crack about lack of intelligence, being a rube for the oil companies, etc, etc.
So here we have an exhibit from last summer dealing with a significant number of climate researches trapped in the ice at the NORTH Pole ... which BTW had been predicted in '08 to be "Ice Free" by '13, but instead the ice EXPANDED significantly http://bilber99.blogspot.com/2013/09/ipcc.html
Now, with nature providing no shortage of irony, we have climate scientists trapped in the ice at the SOUTH pole ... http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blizzard-stops-latest-rescue-bid-for-ship-trapped-at-antarctica/
Ok, North America is cold, BOTH poles, SO WHAT! Right?
Well yes, I listen to NPR, I certainly KNOW that record hot temps, lack of cold temps and anything that can be called "changeable weather" is PROOF of Global Warming ... and anything that is record cold, early / late snow, etc, etc is "just weather". Oh, and anyone that doesn't agree with that is certainly either poorly educated, just stupid, or "under the influence of big oil".
We also happen to have the 112 year Mideast snow anomaly http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blizzard-stops-latest-rescue-bid-for-ship-trapped-at-antarctica/
Is any of this "proof"? Certainly not. IT IS DATA! However when people come up with labels like "Denier", and start going to great lengths to call the other guy "corrupt", I tend to smell a rat. Name people you know that are immune to corruption? If you named any, I'd suggest you look a little harder. We are ALL very prone to corruption.
Most people don't like to be called stupid ( for some reason, I rather like it, but I know that is an odd predilection). Most people like to feel that the "powers that be" have some reasonably correct handle on what is going on ... again, I don't, and I have been told this all means that I'm an "iconoclast". I've always assumed that "the experts" each know everything about nothing ... while I like to know nothing about everything! Clearly a FAR superior position!
My advice in 2014 is the same as my advice in any year. Don't believe in ANY currently breathing human. Love them, forgive them, but DON'T believe in them. They are NOT reliable! That goes quadruple for me, and unfortunately includes yourself, ESPECIALLY yourself. We are HORRIBLE at even coming close to the truth about ourselves.
Look for what is OLD. What has stood the test of time, and try your best to understand WHY it has done so ... but realize that it is way more important to know it HAS survived rather than to understand why. That is likely impossible in any case! But that is actually really good news!
Happy New Year!
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Redemption, But Not By the State
A liberal mugged by reality | Power Line:
The picture of prominent MN Democrat Mark Andrew in the linked article is a strong reminder that outsourcing good works to the state may make a lot of well off folks feel better about themselves, it does nothing to heal the souls of their adopted wards.
I find the following paragraph quite haunting:
No matter how much of other folks money and time Mark and his cohorts spend trying "to find a way for them to get in a place where they can turn their lives around", the issue is not a place, but a person. The person of Jesus Christ.
Apart from Christ, there is no redemption, only further sorrow and violence. Were that not the case, the policies of the left would have made this into heaven on earth trillions of dollars ago.
'via Blog this'
The picture of prominent MN Democrat Mark Andrew in the linked article is a strong reminder that outsourcing good works to the state may make a lot of well off folks feel better about themselves, it does nothing to heal the souls of their adopted wards.
I find the following paragraph quite haunting:
“They’re damaged kids, and maybe they’re too far gone, but I think there’s redemption for everybody,” he said. “So we’ll try to find a way for them to get in a place where they can turn their lives around.” Prison would be perfect.Indeed Mark, as are you, I, and "every one" in the words of Tiny Tim. Which is precisely why Christ came to the world to provide that redemption on the first Christmas, and died on a cross between two "damaged kids" that had "gone too far". One of the thieves beside him found that redemption, right there on his cross.
No matter how much of other folks money and time Mark and his cohorts spend trying "to find a way for them to get in a place where they can turn their lives around", the issue is not a place, but a person. The person of Jesus Christ.
Apart from Christ, there is no redemption, only further sorrow and violence. Were that not the case, the policies of the left would have made this into heaven on earth trillions of dollars ago.
'via Blog this'
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Bowing to Pressure, A&E Cancels Duck Dynasty
Bowing to Pressure, A&E Revokes Suspension of ‘Duck Dynasty’ Star - NYTimes.com:
Oh wait, that would a case of "moral turpitude" ... er, what???
MUST the NYT tell it's readers what to think? Are they completely unable to think for themselves?
"A&E Revokes Suspension of 'Duck Dynasty' Star" would be news, the current headline is commentary.
I can only assume A&E "Bowed to pressure" from gay groups at the time they suspended Phil, but thanks to the web, we can actually see the article reporting the suspension thought that suspending him required no commentary.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/business/media/phil-robertson-suspended-from-duck-dynasty.html
But reinstatement required that the NYT readers be told from liberal central how they should feel about it!
'via Blog this
Oh wait, that would a case of "moral turpitude" ... er, what???
MUST the NYT tell it's readers what to think? Are they completely unable to think for themselves?
"A&E Revokes Suspension of 'Duck Dynasty' Star" would be news, the current headline is commentary.
I can only assume A&E "Bowed to pressure" from gay groups at the time they suspended Phil, but thanks to the web, we can actually see the article reporting the suspension thought that suspending him required no commentary.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/business/media/phil-robertson-suspended-from-duck-dynasty.html
But reinstatement required that the NYT readers be told from liberal central how they should feel about it!
'via Blog this
Forgiveness, WWYD, Merry Christmas
Lutheran Hour Ministries :: Daily Devotions:
The fad of the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets has receded a lot, but the real question is often What Would YOU Do?
The linked is an excellent devotion based on a possibly apocryphal, but never the less very gripping story of a concentration camp Jewish Survivor hearing the confession of a German Soldier, and being asked to forgive him. The story and the devotion are both very worthy of being added to your life memory.
A number of things hit me hard (again) relative to the tale:
A somewhat short end of the year sermon. All of us die, and none of us KNOW what lies beyond, it is ALWAYS a "leap of faith". For the largely Godless West, it is primarily a faith of one of the following:
I spent a lot of time and study in consideration. Raised a Baptist, a stint as an agnostic by education, Lutheran by compromise (would probably be a Catholic if it was only me choosing).
Don't be confused here ... that is COMPLETELY different from current Muslims flying planes into buildings with "Allah" on their lips. They believe in Allah by FAITH ... which we ALL live by, and which we are ALL going to die by a very short period and accept the eternal results.
However the terrorists didn't found a new religion on what we would have known to be a lie as the Disciples did, accept horrible deaths, usually on crosses, because they would not admit to what they knew to be a lie, and had complete confidence that none of the other Disciples that would have had to be involved in the hoax would either!
The deaths of the disciples are profound evidence for the resurrection of Christ!
I have rambled beyond my usual blogging limits. Perhaps it is the fact of my Mom's first Christmas in Heaven just past. Perhaps it is the recent Duck Dynasty flap and Phil Robertson sharing his faith (much more concisely). Most likely it is just wanting to avoid moving around this AM!
In any case, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
'via Blog this'
The fad of the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets has receded a lot, but the real question is often What Would YOU Do?
The linked is an excellent devotion based on a possibly apocryphal, but never the less very gripping story of a concentration camp Jewish Survivor hearing the confession of a German Soldier, and being asked to forgive him. The story and the devotion are both very worthy of being added to your life memory.
A number of things hit me hard (again) relative to the tale:
- When Christ forgives those that crucified him, he forgives ME. Humans see sin as having a "scope". Burning down a house full of Jews is much greater in our minds than lusting after a woman in the mall, having too much to drink, or enjoying the misfortune of someone we consider an "enemy", or just "too big for their britches". It isn't -- sin is sin.
- This column soft-pedals what I find to be one of the most chilling parts of the Bible: 14"For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15"But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
I don't find those verses comforting at all. In fact, in those fortunately rare late night times when thoughts of the personal final exit intrude unpleasantly, this is way up there are on my "are you ready?" list. I have no doubts I deserve Hell, I have very little doubt in Christ's ability to save me, I still retain significant doubt in the adequacy of my ability to forgive!
- The "device" I use to calm and drift back off to slumber, besides a prayer to grant me the ability to forgive as I have been told to do, is to "let God judge". I don't have any theological background for this to really be acceptable, so take it with a grain of salt.
The idea is that God is sovereign, and do **I** really want "person x" to burn in hell for eternity? No, that seems excessive to me, so, I pray to leave judgement up to God, and to trust in him to do what is right, up to and including eternal punishment. I find it also cures my "how COULD God send someone to eternal punishment"? It lets me reflect on my weak human willingness to somehow even conceive that **I** could somehow "judge" the action of an infinite and sovereign God! He can judge and punish absolutely any way he wants, and my opinion as to such is beyond irrelevancy!
My role is to have faith in his goodness and grace, which OUGHT to be supremely easy given that God was willing to take human form and humble himself to ultimate suffering on the Cross for the chief of sinners, ME -- but in my most human condition of frailty and hubris combined, what ought, sometimes is not!
A somewhat short end of the year sermon. All of us die, and none of us KNOW what lies beyond, it is ALWAYS a "leap of faith". For the largely Godless West, it is primarily a faith of one of the following:
- There is no God, so there is NOTHING beyond
- There is some power, but it is benevolent, so I'm OK
- There is a God, but since there are so many religions, as long as I believe what I believe "sincerely", I'm OK
- I don't think about it much, but I'm definitely better than most people, so either I'll have a lot of company in Hell, or I'm going to do pretty well
I spent a lot of time and study in consideration. Raised a Baptist, a stint as an agnostic by education, Lutheran by compromise (would probably be a Catholic if it was only me choosing).
- The easiest and the hardest choice is the God or no God.
I gave the no God a good try ... for me the problems came down to the Goldilocks Universe and the absolute unprovability of our origin / existence. We have no idea what the base of "matter" is ... once we got to quantum, we started LITERALLY "grasping at strings", as in "String Theory". Right now we are chasing our tail, and our current science is based on what we see in what we believe to be the "current SpaceTime", but to be a true scientist / atheist means accepting that there are something akin to 10 to the 500th UNIVERSES, ALL that has happened, is happening, or could be happening has ALWAYS been happening, is currently happening and ALWAYS WILL be happening.
Next to that, I find the idea that either everything we think we see **IS** the infinite and all powerful God, or was created by him for some purpose, to be infinitely easier to have faith in. The Jewish and Christian teachings that we walk by FAITH are most certainly true. We have no choice whatsoever in the faith part, the only question is "IN WHAT"? Do you want to have a positive belief or a negative (NOT GOD!) belief?
You DO have faith, the question is just "In what?".
- Once #1 is out of the way, you are either "done" relative to God, or you need to decide HOW?
To me, that is a much easier path given the history of mankind. I look at existing cultures, and up to the 20th Century, Western Judeo Christianity was such a big winner that there isn't even any real competition.
Muslim? Not hard to decide if I want to follow a branch off the Bible tree whose favorite wife was a 9 year old girl and believes that people that refuse to join their religion on earth ought to be killed.
Buddhist, Hindu, etc? They don't look very successful in THIS WORLD, I'm having a hard time thinking that they will do well in the next. Worshiping cows, figuring that there really is no need to help anyone unless you want to work on your "karma", etc.
Don't be confused here ... that is COMPLETELY different from current Muslims flying planes into buildings with "Allah" on their lips. They believe in Allah by FAITH ... which we ALL live by, and which we are ALL going to die by a very short period and accept the eternal results.
However the terrorists didn't found a new religion on what we would have known to be a lie as the Disciples did, accept horrible deaths, usually on crosses, because they would not admit to what they knew to be a lie, and had complete confidence that none of the other Disciples that would have had to be involved in the hoax would either!
The deaths of the disciples are profound evidence for the resurrection of Christ!
Next to the Resurrection of Christ being a hoax, 9-11 being an "Inside Job" is very very easy to believe. I find the "Truther" perspective to be almost as much a sign of cluelessness as the multi symbolic "Coexist" bumper stickers! (if they JUST had a crescent with a star, they would make a LITTLE sense)!
I have rambled beyond my usual blogging limits. Perhaps it is the fact of my Mom's first Christmas in Heaven just past. Perhaps it is the recent Duck Dynasty flap and Phil Robertson sharing his faith (much more concisely). Most likely it is just wanting to avoid moving around this AM!
In any case, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
'via Blog this'
Friday, December 27, 2013
Removing the Life From Life
Mark Steyn: Inequality far worse than economic | work, one, health - Opinion - The Orange County Register:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/12/millennial_narcissism_helicopter_parents_are_college_students_bigger_problem.html
The one area of the Steyn column I wish he would have addressed a bit more is that nobody on either side of the political spectrum has any handle at all on what it is that is going to provide people with work, let alone meaning in their lives in the future.
Which is my answer to the "helicopter parent" article. Maybe parents being TOO involved is some SMALL part of the problem, but I'd argue that "having no THERE there" relative to life in the US is the BIG problem.
So why is it again that "children" ought to finally get out of school by say 26, 30 or so? Certainly not to make money! Money after all is BAAAD! Have kids? Are you crazy? Didn't you know that "the planet has a fever"? It can't sustain the people we have, and the tempratures are getting crazy hot. We have 5 days of single digit highs predicted here, including one negative high ... oh wait, strike that, this is WEATHER not CLIMATE! It is high temps that are climate, I get so confused.
It seems odd that when one takes the idea of children and a better life for their children away, there seems to be a reduction in life purpose? Oh, you could go join the monastery / convent ... oh wait, God died, this is ALL there is ... so better have as much fun as you can! So why is this guys patient crying?
Well, maybe because our children are going to have to pay off a gigantic debt, they were tax slaves before they were conceived. We are the first generation in a long time who did our best to ENSURE that our kids would NOT be better off, so we could have a cushier retirement and not pay for it! The lamest generation followed the greatest.
Deciding not to reproduce may be good for the planet, but from an evolutionary standpoint I think it is at least questionable. Well, at least there will be Muslims, Mormons, and lots of people in 3rd world hell holes to enjoy our passing.
In case you didn't pick it up, my idea is "faith, family, economic expansion including fusion and space travel". I'm just a Neanderthal!
'via Blog this'
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/12/millennial_narcissism_helicopter_parents_are_college_students_bigger_problem.html
The one area of the Steyn column I wish he would have addressed a bit more is that nobody on either side of the political spectrum has any handle at all on what it is that is going to provide people with work, let alone meaning in their lives in the future.
Which is my answer to the "helicopter parent" article. Maybe parents being TOO involved is some SMALL part of the problem, but I'd argue that "having no THERE there" relative to life in the US is the BIG problem.
So why is it again that "children" ought to finally get out of school by say 26, 30 or so? Certainly not to make money! Money after all is BAAAD! Have kids? Are you crazy? Didn't you know that "the planet has a fever"? It can't sustain the people we have, and the tempratures are getting crazy hot. We have 5 days of single digit highs predicted here, including one negative high ... oh wait, strike that, this is WEATHER not CLIMATE! It is high temps that are climate, I get so confused.
It seems odd that when one takes the idea of children and a better life for their children away, there seems to be a reduction in life purpose? Oh, you could go join the monastery / convent ... oh wait, God died, this is ALL there is ... so better have as much fun as you can! So why is this guys patient crying?
Well, maybe because our children are going to have to pay off a gigantic debt, they were tax slaves before they were conceived. We are the first generation in a long time who did our best to ENSURE that our kids would NOT be better off, so we could have a cushier retirement and not pay for it! The lamest generation followed the greatest.
Deciding not to reproduce may be good for the planet, but from an evolutionary standpoint I think it is at least questionable. Well, at least there will be Muslims, Mormons, and lots of people in 3rd world hell holes to enjoy our passing.
In case you didn't pick it up, my idea is "faith, family, economic expansion including fusion and space travel". I'm just a Neanderthal!
'via Blog this'
Gender Neutral Bathrooms, Flies of Summer
Gender-neutral bathrooms: All bathrooms should be open to all users.:
I've been wondering what the next frontier after "gay marriage" would be. We know there has to be one, since there can't be a "progressive" movement unless "progress" is being made.
One of my picks has always been just the further sorting out of "bi-sexual marriage" as in exactly how DOES one deal with "transgender / gender free / androgynous / queer". BTW, Slate uses the term "queer" in the first sentence, so if that is decided to be a terrible slur in 30 years and I'm a famous food network personality, it really WAS an approved word when I used it here!
Of course, so was the "N-word" when Paula Deen last used it, but little details like that make no difference to the PC police. The only choice if you want to be "safe" is to ALWAYS agree with the "progressives" or remain COMPLETELY silent ... and with the current level of surveillance, I'd say you better just "get your mind right".
The logic in this article gives a good insight into the minds of "progressives'.
A minority that "feels uncomfortable" is identified. It is verified that they have no current cultural norms or any transcendent religious thought basis for their group identification. As a group they are identified purely by a physical or behavioral choice. Science may or may not be able to identify if there is actually a physical (eg genetic) origin of their identification, but as in the case of proving there are not space aliens, (or pretty much ANY negative), "it can't be ruled out"!
If you are a "progressive", since people feel strongly about this and it "can't be ruled out", ergo it must exist! Therefore it is a FACT that "these people were MADE THIS WAY" ... apparently by randomness, since there is no God. "Randomness is good, randomness is great, we honor it's "logic". Consider how "foolish" believing in an actual multiple millennium old religion is compared to this "logic".
Certainly pedophiles could be chosen as well (and might be next). The test is, "Can anyone say anything of this group that could NOT be said of gays"? So, the big comeback: "Do you REALLY think that ANYONE would CHOOSE to have sex with children given the legal and cultural taboos? You would have to be CRAZY to believe that!! They MUST have an inherent "desire/drive" that they CAN'T change (or even control)!!!!" (we don't really want to follow the way this logic works, retching could ensue ... animals? rape? cannibalism? "That cannibal had to know people would be offended, he MUST have been "made that way"!"
Note, this is NOT like being black. It is obvious that you don't "choose to be black", nature has already exposed the genetic links quite clearly. Note also the difference with alcoholism. There seems to be very clear genetic markers, but nobody is saying that we need to recognize the alcoholic lifestyle as being "equal or superior to the sober lifestyle".
Human kind as all sorts of innate drives and desires that are at least extremely difficult to control. So for 10's of thousands of years religions and cultures developed to encourage the drives deemed to be adaptive, and inhibit the ones which are not. Monogamy makes for a nice time tested way of both procreating and socializing the young. Gay, not so much. Moderate drinking or abstaining, pretty adaptive, alcoholic, not so much.
Of course, there is a lot of diversity. Winston Churchill was at least borderline alcoholic as have been many great authors and other artists. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of examples of other unusual appetites in great leaders, artists, entertainers and such. If you are of superior intellect, stamina, fortitude, musical ability, or some other positive, you MAY be able to do quite well going against the grain of society and be extremely successful. The list is WAY too long to even start when you talk drugs, alcohol, sexuality, etc, but everyone knows it to be true. FOR EXCEPTIONAL CASES ... which may, BTW be also related to them being exceptional -- where there are great abilities, there are great deficits.
But guess what. There aren't a lot of Churchills, Hemmingways, or even Elton Johns. The structures of morality and culture are for the MASSES ... the average, and especially the below average, which naturally doesn't sit well with the "we are all the same" folks. Yup, you and Jeffery Dahmer can be "the same" all you want. As for me, Viva La Difference!
"Progressives" can't stand this, because they want absolute equality, and if human nature itself is flawed and not infinitely malleable, then their whole project is doomed. Things like making "gay good" and then making it "equal or better with heterosexual" are projects that they MUST be able to carry out. They have to crank up the sanctions to a level where essentially nobody dare open their mouth to say anything other than what their progrom demands. If it causes the need for repression of the folks that aren't "getting their mind right", that is just a price to be paid. They KNOW that what they are doing is RIGHT, so people that don't agree have to be "handled".
"Progressivism" is wonderful because "progress" NEVER stops! You may be thinking to yourself that gender neutral bathrooms will never become law". Well, in CA schools, they already have ! http://calwatchdog.com/2013/08/13/gov-brown-signs-gender-bathroom-bill/
As they say, as CA goes, so goes the nation. I didn't even know the meaning of "gay" until I was out of HS, and then I pretty much couldn't believe it. Of course by the late '70s, it was running wild in CA, and then they were dying like flies from AIDs. One would have STILL thought -- "OK, this was a short term blip, and while it may continue on in whacked out CA, the rest of the country has seen where this easily leads". That was just "gay", I would have never imagined anything like gay "marriage".
I dropped my subscription to Time in the early '90s when they had a sympathetic report on the plight of a poor teacher that was a member of NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) and it was likely going to cost him his job. Hey, it's not like he declared himself a Christian or quoted the Bible or anything! THAT would be a legitimate cause for dismissal!
The basis of human culture and development is the idea of social norms that are largely passed on to the next generation so we feel that we are part of a meaningful chain of creation with a purpose. Keep changing up the culture so that one generation can no longer hardly identify if the next is even human, and man becomes as Burke said, "Like the flies of summer".
Only it is worse than that! We are NOT flies! Flies need no meaning, they procreate with a vengeance as long as there is food. Not so man. As we see in Europe and the European origin population of the US, man ceases to continue the species when there is no longer any vision of the next generation following a religious and cultural order. We need more than to just pass on our genes. We seek to propagate the hopes, dreams, morals and soul of our civilization!
When that is destroyed, then we perish. Why even have a higher brain that engenders a religion for the hope of eternal life and a culture that is more than a continuation of mere gene pool?
The point is, there is no reason to do so. There is GOOD reason that he Chinese are still thinking expansion, and we are focused on transfer of wealth to the elderly as we pass into the ash heap of history.
'via Blog this'
I've been wondering what the next frontier after "gay marriage" would be. We know there has to be one, since there can't be a "progressive" movement unless "progress" is being made.
One of my picks has always been just the further sorting out of "bi-sexual marriage" as in exactly how DOES one deal with "transgender / gender free / androgynous / queer". BTW, Slate uses the term "queer" in the first sentence, so if that is decided to be a terrible slur in 30 years and I'm a famous food network personality, it really WAS an approved word when I used it here!
Of course, so was the "N-word" when Paula Deen last used it, but little details like that make no difference to the PC police. The only choice if you want to be "safe" is to ALWAYS agree with the "progressives" or remain COMPLETELY silent ... and with the current level of surveillance, I'd say you better just "get your mind right".
The logic in this article gives a good insight into the minds of "progressives'.
A minority that "feels uncomfortable" is identified. It is verified that they have no current cultural norms or any transcendent religious thought basis for their group identification. As a group they are identified purely by a physical or behavioral choice. Science may or may not be able to identify if there is actually a physical (eg genetic) origin of their identification, but as in the case of proving there are not space aliens, (or pretty much ANY negative), "it can't be ruled out"!
If you are a "progressive", since people feel strongly about this and it "can't be ruled out", ergo it must exist! Therefore it is a FACT that "these people were MADE THIS WAY" ... apparently by randomness, since there is no God. "Randomness is good, randomness is great, we honor it's "logic". Consider how "foolish" believing in an actual multiple millennium old religion is compared to this "logic".
Certainly pedophiles could be chosen as well (and might be next). The test is, "Can anyone say anything of this group that could NOT be said of gays"? So, the big comeback: "Do you REALLY think that ANYONE would CHOOSE to have sex with children given the legal and cultural taboos? You would have to be CRAZY to believe that!! They MUST have an inherent "desire/drive" that they CAN'T change (or even control)!!!!" (we don't really want to follow the way this logic works, retching could ensue ... animals? rape? cannibalism? "That cannibal had to know people would be offended, he MUST have been "made that way"!"
Note, this is NOT like being black. It is obvious that you don't "choose to be black", nature has already exposed the genetic links quite clearly. Note also the difference with alcoholism. There seems to be very clear genetic markers, but nobody is saying that we need to recognize the alcoholic lifestyle as being "equal or superior to the sober lifestyle".
Human kind as all sorts of innate drives and desires that are at least extremely difficult to control. So for 10's of thousands of years religions and cultures developed to encourage the drives deemed to be adaptive, and inhibit the ones which are not. Monogamy makes for a nice time tested way of both procreating and socializing the young. Gay, not so much. Moderate drinking or abstaining, pretty adaptive, alcoholic, not so much.
Of course, there is a lot of diversity. Winston Churchill was at least borderline alcoholic as have been many great authors and other artists. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of examples of other unusual appetites in great leaders, artists, entertainers and such. If you are of superior intellect, stamina, fortitude, musical ability, or some other positive, you MAY be able to do quite well going against the grain of society and be extremely successful. The list is WAY too long to even start when you talk drugs, alcohol, sexuality, etc, but everyone knows it to be true. FOR EXCEPTIONAL CASES ... which may, BTW be also related to them being exceptional -- where there are great abilities, there are great deficits.
But guess what. There aren't a lot of Churchills, Hemmingways, or even Elton Johns. The structures of morality and culture are for the MASSES ... the average, and especially the below average, which naturally doesn't sit well with the "we are all the same" folks. Yup, you and Jeffery Dahmer can be "the same" all you want. As for me, Viva La Difference!
"Progressives" can't stand this, because they want absolute equality, and if human nature itself is flawed and not infinitely malleable, then their whole project is doomed. Things like making "gay good" and then making it "equal or better with heterosexual" are projects that they MUST be able to carry out. They have to crank up the sanctions to a level where essentially nobody dare open their mouth to say anything other than what their progrom demands. If it causes the need for repression of the folks that aren't "getting their mind right", that is just a price to be paid. They KNOW that what they are doing is RIGHT, so people that don't agree have to be "handled".
"Progressivism" is wonderful because "progress" NEVER stops! You may be thinking to yourself that gender neutral bathrooms will never become law". Well, in CA schools, they already have ! http://calwatchdog.com/2013/08/13/gov-brown-signs-gender-bathroom-bill/
As they say, as CA goes, so goes the nation. I didn't even know the meaning of "gay" until I was out of HS, and then I pretty much couldn't believe it. Of course by the late '70s, it was running wild in CA, and then they were dying like flies from AIDs. One would have STILL thought -- "OK, this was a short term blip, and while it may continue on in whacked out CA, the rest of the country has seen where this easily leads". That was just "gay", I would have never imagined anything like gay "marriage".
I dropped my subscription to Time in the early '90s when they had a sympathetic report on the plight of a poor teacher that was a member of NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) and it was likely going to cost him his job. Hey, it's not like he declared himself a Christian or quoted the Bible or anything! THAT would be a legitimate cause for dismissal!
The basis of human culture and development is the idea of social norms that are largely passed on to the next generation so we feel that we are part of a meaningful chain of creation with a purpose. Keep changing up the culture so that one generation can no longer hardly identify if the next is even human, and man becomes as Burke said, "Like the flies of summer".
Only it is worse than that! We are NOT flies! Flies need no meaning, they procreate with a vengeance as long as there is food. Not so man. As we see in Europe and the European origin population of the US, man ceases to continue the species when there is no longer any vision of the next generation following a religious and cultural order. We need more than to just pass on our genes. We seek to propagate the hopes, dreams, morals and soul of our civilization!
When that is destroyed, then we perish. Why even have a higher brain that engenders a religion for the hope of eternal life and a culture that is more than a continuation of mere gene pool?
The point is, there is no reason to do so. There is GOOD reason that he Chinese are still thinking expansion, and we are focused on transfer of wealth to the elderly as we pass into the ash heap of history.
'via Blog this'
Utopia Past
Surviving Life in a ‘70s Sex Commune - The Daily Beast:
It isn't like pretty much every "progressive" idea hasn't been tried in the past. "free love", "communal sharing / no property", "legal drugs", "no work", "gay marriage" and on and on forever.
It is a lot like how many species have been tried on the planet and have gone extinct. The religious / cultural structures that survived the test of time were the ones that had advantages.
No reason that one would expect people that don't understand history and believe that having more data somehow makes them more wise to understand what that means though.
'via Blog this'
It isn't like pretty much every "progressive" idea hasn't been tried in the past. "free love", "communal sharing / no property", "legal drugs", "no work", "gay marriage" and on and on forever.
It is a lot like how many species have been tried on the planet and have gone extinct. The religious / cultural structures that survived the test of time were the ones that had advantages.
No reason that one would expect people that don't understand history and believe that having more data somehow makes them more wise to understand what that means though.
'via Blog this'
Lack of Media Advice for Democrats
How the Democrats React When They Are In Trouble | Power Line:
One of the hard things for us humans is to notice the absence of something. It may be why I'm always hunting for the "inorganic" isle at the grocery store, we Mooses are oppositely abled.
When the Republicans had bad poll numbers for attempting to head off the disaster of BOcare with the shutdown, the media was afire with great pronouncements and advice: "The End of the Republican Party"?", "Pass BO's programs or cease to exist, "Support gay marriage", "Support Abortion" ... in other words, when Republican polls are down, they clearly need to be more like Democrats! If we could FINALLY just all be of one political party, then this HORRID "partisanship" would finally be put to rest.
But oh, the silence and lack of focus when the shoe is on the other foot.
The "progressive" movement, like Communism and Fascism, really has only two choices:
1). Repeal Reality
2). Kill the Opposition
The REAL problem as the USSR found out is that it has to be world wide. As long as SOME country is willing to do what it takes to compete ... which means a level of economic freedom greater than what "progressives" will allow, even if you kill or incarcerate all your own people that refuse to bow to your progroms, competitive reality will eventually make you toast.
China is very scary ... politically repressive, but allowing personal/business wealth creation, and allowing at least significant religious freedom. I need to take time to study the nuts and bolts of their model more. I have a deep and abiding unease in their level of state control, but when faced with Mob Rule, which I ALSO have a HUGE concern over.
What is the "lesser of two weevils"?
'via Blog this'
One of the hard things for us humans is to notice the absence of something. It may be why I'm always hunting for the "inorganic" isle at the grocery store, we Mooses are oppositely abled.
When the Republicans had bad poll numbers for attempting to head off the disaster of BOcare with the shutdown, the media was afire with great pronouncements and advice: "The End of the Republican Party"?", "Pass BO's programs or cease to exist, "Support gay marriage", "Support Abortion" ... in other words, when Republican polls are down, they clearly need to be more like Democrats! If we could FINALLY just all be of one political party, then this HORRID "partisanship" would finally be put to rest.
But oh, the silence and lack of focus when the shoe is on the other foot.
The "progressive" movement, like Communism and Fascism, really has only two choices:
1). Repeal Reality
2). Kill the Opposition
The REAL problem as the USSR found out is that it has to be world wide. As long as SOME country is willing to do what it takes to compete ... which means a level of economic freedom greater than what "progressives" will allow, even if you kill or incarcerate all your own people that refuse to bow to your progroms, competitive reality will eventually make you toast.
China is very scary ... politically repressive, but allowing personal/business wealth creation, and allowing at least significant religious freedom. I need to take time to study the nuts and bolts of their model more. I have a deep and abiding unease in their level of state control, but when faced with Mob Rule, which I ALSO have a HUGE concern over.
What is the "lesser of two weevils"?
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Pleasant Seasonal Speech, Author, NPR Contributor!
Good Grief and Great Tits by Dan Savage - Seattle Features - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper:
I'm guessing that there won't be any outcry over this speech. The title might be offensive to some women, but this is about Sarah Palin, so deserving of any hatred that can be heaped on her.
Here we have some seasonal respect for the birth of Emanuel, "God with us" the Holy Savior of the Christian world:
She bought a gun for her husband! After Sandy Hook! How callous!!! My wife actually bought me one last year as well. We even drove in a car to our 17 year old nieces funeral after she had been killed in another car. We actually don't see inanimate objects as somehow "causal", and we believe in a religion that has been around for over 2000 years and has billions of adherents. Like Sarah. But we tend to turn the other cheek, so there will be no outcry here.
At least he is consistent, he also called HS kids that that got up and walked out of him talking about "bullshit in the bible",
We live in a country where BO can have this guy as a leader of an anti-bullying campaign no less, but he is bullying Christian teens from the podium. I guess it works for someone that makes disparaging remarks about the SCOTUS while they are right in front of him doing him the courtesy of attending his "Imaginary State of the Union".
Dan has this erudite and cultured holiday imagery to help us see how loving the world would be if we only abandoned the "bullshit bible" and followed Dan's wisdom instead:
Christians are obviously "rubes" to not see the light of Dan's wisdom. He closes with this wonderful seasons greeting for Sarah. Why is it again that our society has gotten so "coarse and uncivil"? Oh, right, it is the Christians and Duck Dynastayt sorts!
Got that? "Gay Marriage", legal nowhere until April Fools Day 2001 in the NETHERlands unless you count Roman emperor Nero, is now completely "mainstream " ... and you will be MADE to agree!
Nero to April Fools Day 2001 in the NETHERlands! One really and truly can't make this stuff up!
Speech like Dan's is speech that our country embraces. Speech like Phil Robertson quoting the Bible needs to be curtailed!
I'm so thankful Christ is Lord and Judge!!
'via Blog this'
I'm guessing that there won't be any outcry over this speech. The title might be offensive to some women, but this is about Sarah Palin, so deserving of any hatred that can be heaped on her.
Here we have some seasonal respect for the birth of Emanuel, "God with us" the Holy Savior of the Christian world:
Okay, I have to put the book down. I'm five pages into Good Tidings and Great Joy and... Jesus Fucking Christ... I have got to put down this toxic little shitstain of a book. I'm going to go wash my eyes out with hydrogen peroxide. Be right back.What extreme act did Sarah comment on in the book to bring on this diatribe?
She bought a gun for her husband! After Sandy Hook! How callous!!! My wife actually bought me one last year as well. We even drove in a car to our 17 year old nieces funeral after she had been killed in another car. We actually don't see inanimate objects as somehow "causal", and we believe in a religion that has been around for over 2000 years and has billions of adherents. Like Sarah. But we tend to turn the other cheek, so there will be no outcry here.
At least he is consistent, he also called HS kids that that got up and walked out of him talking about "bullshit in the bible",
After many students walked out of the speech, one of whom appeared to be crying, Savage said, “It’s funny, as someone who’s on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the bible, how pansy-assed some people react when you push back.”
We live in a country where BO can have this guy as a leader of an anti-bullying campaign no less, but he is bullying Christian teens from the podium. I guess it works for someone that makes disparaging remarks about the SCOTUS while they are right in front of him doing him the courtesy of attending his "Imaginary State of the Union".
Dan has this erudite and cultured holiday imagery to help us see how loving the world would be if we only abandoned the "bullshit bible" and followed Dan's wisdom instead:
Sarah Palin is a shit-talking pimp who makes money playing to the carefully cultivated persecution complexes of conservative Christian rubes who wouldn't know what religious persecution was if it sat on their faces and shit in their mouths. (Maybe that's not an either/or.)
Christians are obviously "rubes" to not see the light of Dan's wisdom. He closes with this wonderful seasons greeting for Sarah. Why is it again that our society has gotten so "coarse and uncivil"? Oh, right, it is the Christians and Duck Dynastayt sorts!
"So happy fucking holidays to you, Sarah. I hope you choke on a cinnamon bun."Isn't that cheery? Isn't that "civil"? Naturally Dan only uses such speech against the people that DESERVE to have it used against them! Which is why there is no outcry about him showing up on NPR, major magazines, tv shows or the President's anti-bullying crusade!
Got that? "Gay Marriage", legal nowhere until April Fools Day 2001 in the NETHERlands unless you count Roman emperor Nero, is now completely "mainstream " ... and you will be MADE to agree!
Nero to April Fools Day 2001 in the NETHERlands! One really and truly can't make this stuff up!
Speech like Dan's is speech that our country embraces. Speech like Phil Robertson quoting the Bible needs to be curtailed!
I'm so thankful Christ is Lord and Judge!!
'via Blog this'
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Fusing Wealth
George F. Will: The fusion in our future - The Washington Post:
An excellent article in the potential for fusion energy.
Unlike controlling planetary climate, eliminating "income inequality", or making big government an efficient friend of the people, fusion energy is likely within our grasp. The sun is doing it all the time, the problem is "just a small matter of scale". Can energy producing fusion be done at a VERY reduced scale.
The sun is the size of 1 million earths (10**6), the earth's volume is 10 ** 12 cubic meters, and a rail tank car is like 100 cubic meters.
So it is like a 10 to the 16th miniaturization problem, so not hard to see why it is difficult.
Will makes the point of potentially $30B to do it so it "MUST" be done by government. Interesting. I'm not saying that there is anything "wrong" at all with Gates and Buffet spending their $100B or so on medical advances for the poor (that is the beauty of private wealth, it is THEIRS), but it makes one wonder.
Cheap, clean unlimited energy for everyone on earth for maybe 1/3 of their combined fortunes? Who would you rather have overseeing the project? Gates and Buffet or the guys that brought you Healthcare.gov??
'via Blog this'
An excellent article in the potential for fusion energy.
Unlike controlling planetary climate, eliminating "income inequality", or making big government an efficient friend of the people, fusion energy is likely within our grasp. The sun is doing it all the time, the problem is "just a small matter of scale". Can energy producing fusion be done at a VERY reduced scale.
The sun is the size of 1 million earths (10**6), the earth's volume is 10 ** 12 cubic meters, and a rail tank car is like 100 cubic meters.
So it is like a 10 to the 16th miniaturization problem, so not hard to see why it is difficult.
Will makes the point of potentially $30B to do it so it "MUST" be done by government. Interesting. I'm not saying that there is anything "wrong" at all with Gates and Buffet spending their $100B or so on medical advances for the poor (that is the beauty of private wealth, it is THEIRS), but it makes one wonder.
Cheap, clean unlimited energy for everyone on earth for maybe 1/3 of their combined fortunes? Who would you rather have overseeing the project? Gates and Buffet or the guys that brought you Healthcare.gov??
'via Blog this'
BO Executive Order Crushes Gravity
Crush GOP obstruction, and reduce inequality now! - Salon.com:
First, the Shakespeare quote that we all need to constantly remember:
Glendower: I can summon spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, So can I or so can any man;
But will they come when you do summon them?
"Progressiveism" is a fundamental fallacy. It is built on the incorrect idea that "change = progress = better". It confuses ends with means, so has the unfortunate effect of often creating the opposite of what it's stated objectives are. Anti-poverty plans create more of it, "jobs" plans cause greater unemployment, attempts to improve healthcare make it worse, more expensive, and less available.
As the Shakespeare quote would indicate, the knowledge of this very human of failings has been well covered since antiquity ... the Bible, Greek Mythology, standard children s tales for ages have warned us that it is oh so human in our hubris for our reach to exceed our grasp ... and then we fall.
"Killing the goose that laid the golden eggs" is the standard lefty response to "inequality". Better to have all the masses in cinder block mausoleums and only the goodhearted Politburo running around in the high quality Zil limos (GM Suburbans here). At least it "reduces inequality". Beside, everyone is so happy after they stand in line for three hours and get a bar of soap ... they feel like they always imagined Bill Gates felt as they look at the poor fools still in line when the soap ran out.
Our human ability to "crush" is so petty. Hitler did a fine job of it for awhile, Stalin and the USSR in general certainly did a tremendous job on the Russian spirit, and then the US had our day. We once thought that "freedom" was a great idea for most of the planet, now we have a hard time letting our own people quote scripture.
Now China and likely based on population and the Arab world, will do their share of "crushing". I'd say that BO has already done a hell of a job of crushing the "colonial powers", but it is sort of cheating when the major one is so stupid they elect you to be their "leader". Oh, the joy of the "crush". It is a lefty approximation of what used to be the "Christmas Spirit". Before that became offensive.
But they won't crush Christianity, since Jesus has declared that his church will stand. They won't actually crush any of the laws of physics nor human nature either in the end. Certainly such foolishness as the idea that just raising a minimum wage is helpful will do a lot of harm, but there is no way to convince people that are that far gone other than by horrible destructive results. So be it. This planet needs a new ice age to freshen things up, and I'm guessing it is coming a lot sooner than expected.
'via Blog this'
First, the Shakespeare quote that we all need to constantly remember:
Glendower: I can summon spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, So can I or so can any man;
But will they come when you do summon them?
"Progressiveism" is a fundamental fallacy. It is built on the incorrect idea that "change = progress = better". It confuses ends with means, so has the unfortunate effect of often creating the opposite of what it's stated objectives are. Anti-poverty plans create more of it, "jobs" plans cause greater unemployment, attempts to improve healthcare make it worse, more expensive, and less available.
As the Shakespeare quote would indicate, the knowledge of this very human of failings has been well covered since antiquity ... the Bible, Greek Mythology, standard children s tales for ages have warned us that it is oh so human in our hubris for our reach to exceed our grasp ... and then we fall.
"Killing the goose that laid the golden eggs" is the standard lefty response to "inequality". Better to have all the masses in cinder block mausoleums and only the goodhearted Politburo running around in the high quality Zil limos (GM Suburbans here). At least it "reduces inequality". Beside, everyone is so happy after they stand in line for three hours and get a bar of soap ... they feel like they always imagined Bill Gates felt as they look at the poor fools still in line when the soap ran out.
Our human ability to "crush" is so petty. Hitler did a fine job of it for awhile, Stalin and the USSR in general certainly did a tremendous job on the Russian spirit, and then the US had our day. We once thought that "freedom" was a great idea for most of the planet, now we have a hard time letting our own people quote scripture.
Now China and likely based on population and the Arab world, will do their share of "crushing". I'd say that BO has already done a hell of a job of crushing the "colonial powers", but it is sort of cheating when the major one is so stupid they elect you to be their "leader". Oh, the joy of the "crush". It is a lefty approximation of what used to be the "Christmas Spirit". Before that became offensive.
But they won't crush Christianity, since Jesus has declared that his church will stand. They won't actually crush any of the laws of physics nor human nature either in the end. Certainly such foolishness as the idea that just raising a minimum wage is helpful will do a lot of harm, but there is no way to convince people that are that far gone other than by horrible destructive results. So be it. This planet needs a new ice age to freshen things up, and I'm guessing it is coming a lot sooner than expected.
'via Blog this'
Putting Christianity In the Closet
The Age of Intolerance | National Review Online:
I hadn't thought of it, but it is very true. In the modern US you are forced to celebrate homosexuality, but increasingly Christianity must be put in the closet!
'via Blog this'
I hadn't thought of it, but it is very true. In the modern US you are forced to celebrate homosexuality, but increasingly Christianity must be put in the closet!
'via Blog this'
There is no Excuse for Your Life
‘Duck Dynasty’ and Quackery - NYTimes.com:
He provides a great example of the totalitarian viewpoint. You have no right to see things from your own perspective and life experience. Your life is invalid. You MUST take the perspective that the State pounds into your head ... on gays, on race, on the environment, on guns, on religion, on EVERYTHING. What the hell part of "totalitarian" is that you are missing??? We are going to try VERY hard to get people to only think what they are told, but if we fail with the "kind way", it is clear that "other measures" will be needed.
Humans live in myth ... the myth that we have control of our lives, that our loved ones will be there tomorrow, that we will get up in the morning, that we are somehow "secure" in this life. Our myths are always erased sooner or later, often only for us to attempt to reinstate a new myth to replace the old.
So we find some religion that we cling to, that we believe to be true by faith. In my case, it is Christianity, in other cases it is "social justice", or even the abiding faith that this is only a big random crap shoot with no meaning beyond pleasure. Christianity has the distinct advantage of not being disprovable until after death. "Social justice" is not happening in this mortal coil, and even the most excited adherent will eventually figure that out ... or as they lay dying, they will realize that their pursuit doesn't provide them much comfort. Likewise pleasure ... it gets tougher to get your "kicks" with a walker. and on it goes.
Our world views, our "myths" are usually pretty easy to spot. Blow is certain that the current US tumble to totalitarian control of everything including our thoughts, to the exclusion of our personal life story is "reality", and having a personal viewpoint that might even include Christ, like Phil Robertson is "staggering ignorance", that "conjures insidious mythology".
The 2nd amendment is all that really remains to block Blow's myth coming true and guys like Phil and I being "re-educated" to think as he does -- or get an early entrance to eternity to find out the REAL big picture.
'via Blog this'
It’s impossible to know if Robertson recognizes the historical resonance and logical improbability of his comments. But that’s not an excuse.It may be impossible to know in the case of Robertson, but we can be absolutely certain that Blow has no clue. I think we are all ignorant, so I give him an excuse there. Eternally though, he doesn't have one, so I hope he is right on that front.
He provides a great example of the totalitarian viewpoint. You have no right to see things from your own perspective and life experience. Your life is invalid. You MUST take the perspective that the State pounds into your head ... on gays, on race, on the environment, on guns, on religion, on EVERYTHING. What the hell part of "totalitarian" is that you are missing??? We are going to try VERY hard to get people to only think what they are told, but if we fail with the "kind way", it is clear that "other measures" will be needed.
Robertson’s comments conjure the insidious mythology of historical Southern fiction, that of contented slave and benevolent master, of the oppressed and the oppressors gleefully abiding the oppression, happily accepting their wildly variant social stations. This mythology posits that there were two waves of ruination for Southern culture, the Civil War and the civil rights movement, that made blacks get upset and things go downhill.The world indeed is host to a number of "insidious mythologies". We are just scratching the surface on the fiction of the recent "if you like your policy you can keep it" mythology. Our soaring debt shows the mythology of FICA and Medicare. It is a long list. Something like 90% of our country at least mostly believes in the "benevolent federal master", with the "contented ever nearer to slaves" willingly giving up more of their freedoms day by day for "security".
Humans live in myth ... the myth that we have control of our lives, that our loved ones will be there tomorrow, that we will get up in the morning, that we are somehow "secure" in this life. Our myths are always erased sooner or later, often only for us to attempt to reinstate a new myth to replace the old.
So we find some religion that we cling to, that we believe to be true by faith. In my case, it is Christianity, in other cases it is "social justice", or even the abiding faith that this is only a big random crap shoot with no meaning beyond pleasure. Christianity has the distinct advantage of not being disprovable until after death. "Social justice" is not happening in this mortal coil, and even the most excited adherent will eventually figure that out ... or as they lay dying, they will realize that their pursuit doesn't provide them much comfort. Likewise pleasure ... it gets tougher to get your "kicks" with a walker. and on it goes.
Our world views, our "myths" are usually pretty easy to spot. Blow is certain that the current US tumble to totalitarian control of everything including our thoughts, to the exclusion of our personal life story is "reality", and having a personal viewpoint that might even include Christ, like Phil Robertson is "staggering ignorance", that "conjures insidious mythology".
The 2nd amendment is all that really remains to block Blow's myth coming true and guys like Phil and I being "re-educated" to think as he does -- or get an early entrance to eternity to find out the REAL big picture.
'via Blog this'
You Will Be Made to Care!
A&E fowls up 'Duck' flap: Column:
Excellent column, well worth the read.
I am reminded of "Cool Hand Luke" and the "What we have here is a failure to communicate". DD has apparently messed with the "man with no eyes".
The ratchet of totalitarianism tightens slowly but inexorably once the restriction of LIMITED government has been lifted.
It is true that DD is not a 1st amendment issue. YET. However the action of A&E and the broad set of "liberal" groups that would never watch the show, but now demand one of it's key guys be removed for quoting from the Bible shows that our culture has become very willing to censor free speech and thought to the degree possible. When the Rule of Law has been replaced by Rule of Mob as it has been here, the heavy hand of the state is not far behind the mob.
Christians are told to "turn the channel if you don't like it" ... but of course the popular culture is oppressive, inculcated in the public and advanced education and entertainment / "news". We are soaking in it ... and have as much choice to "turn it off" as we do to stop breathing. We could withdraw like the Amish, but otherwise our options are few to none.
Consider the opposite case. How likely is it that a gay will forced to read GQ or watch DD?? Turning the channel is a totally easy option there, but not good enough in this case. People must be forced to see it the gay way.
The term "liberal" is such a classic example of Orwellian double speak. One would believe that a "liberal" would be defending the speech wherever, ESPECIALLY "unpopular speech". At one time the ACLU would even defend Nazis ... although, Nazis are a lot closer to current "liberals" than DD!
"NOT liberal", or "controlling" or "fascist" is a much more accurate term for today's "liberals" and "progressives". You will be made to get your mind right ... even lip service is not sufficient. You MUST see the world their way!
'via Blog this'
Excellent column, well worth the read.
I am reminded of "Cool Hand Luke" and the "What we have here is a failure to communicate". DD has apparently messed with the "man with no eyes".
The ratchet of totalitarianism tightens slowly but inexorably once the restriction of LIMITED government has been lifted.
It is true that DD is not a 1st amendment issue. YET. However the action of A&E and the broad set of "liberal" groups that would never watch the show, but now demand one of it's key guys be removed for quoting from the Bible shows that our culture has become very willing to censor free speech and thought to the degree possible. When the Rule of Law has been replaced by Rule of Mob as it has been here, the heavy hand of the state is not far behind the mob.
Christians are told to "turn the channel if you don't like it" ... but of course the popular culture is oppressive, inculcated in the public and advanced education and entertainment / "news". We are soaking in it ... and have as much choice to "turn it off" as we do to stop breathing. We could withdraw like the Amish, but otherwise our options are few to none.
Consider the opposite case. How likely is it that a gay will forced to read GQ or watch DD?? Turning the channel is a totally easy option there, but not good enough in this case. People must be forced to see it the gay way.
The term "liberal" is such a classic example of Orwellian double speak. One would believe that a "liberal" would be defending the speech wherever, ESPECIALLY "unpopular speech". At one time the ACLU would even defend Nazis ... although, Nazis are a lot closer to current "liberals" than DD!
"NOT liberal", or "controlling" or "fascist" is a much more accurate term for today's "liberals" and "progressives". You will be made to get your mind right ... even lip service is not sufficient. You MUST see the world their way!
'via Blog this'
Friday, December 20, 2013
BOCare: Less is More
Utter Chaos: White House Exempts Millions From Obamacare's Insurance Mandate, 'Unaffordable' Exchanges - Forbes:
Great column.
No surprise here, more people lost their insurance than have gotten insurance so far under BOcare.
Now we have The Great and Powerful BO admitting that BOcare policies are "unaffordable". Sooo, we have the exemptions that Republicans wanted, but BO considered to be non-negotiable so shut down the government.
'via Blog this'
Great column.
No surprise here, more people lost their insurance than have gotten insurance so far under BOcare.
Here’s how we got to where we are. As many as six million Americans who purchase health coverage on their own have seen their plans canceled, because they don’t comply with Obamacare’s newly-imposed regulations. On the other hand, the bungled rollout of the law’s healthcare.gov website has meant that only tens of thousands of Americans have been able to enroll in new coverage under the law. This means that by January 1, 2014, less people will have health coverage under Obamacare than before.
Now we have The Great and Powerful BO admitting that BOcare policies are "unaffordable". Sooo, we have the exemptions that Republicans wanted, but BO considered to be non-negotiable so shut down the government.
Last night, in a stunning reversal, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Americans who have had their plans canceled will be exempt from enrolling in the exchanges, “because some consumers were finding other coverage options to be more expensive than their cancelled plans or policies.”We have a president that shut down the government rather than do an extension LEGALLY under the Constitution, **BUT ... AMAZINGLY*** he now does it ILLEGALLY on his own. I guess he really is King BO since 90% of the media could care less.
'via Blog this'
The Myth of Reagan's "Welfare Queen"
The Welfare Queen: Reagan Vindicated Again | Power Line:
As the link points out, she WAS of course factual, but that isn't what the narrative of the myth says, so it will live on rather than the truth.
It is like Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.he left hated Nixon, Chambers and of course McCarthy for convicting an "innocent man". The evidence was pretty irrefutable even then, but with the fall of the USSR, the KGB files were opened and we got to see the verification of his status from that side.
The myth of Hiss being innocent is still what lives on for the left.
I would be completely unsurprised to see the planet slip into the next ice age in the next few hundred years with the GW rebranded as "Climate Change" folks watching the plants die and the snow pile up into continental glaciers while billions die, lamenting it was "human caused". Snow covered solar panels and frozen wind turbines will be a fitting monument to human hubris.
Myth, belief and faith are marvelous ways for humans to deal with the ultimate questions of meaning and eternity which are unanswerable scientifically. They have drawn man together in working social units for millennia, and in the case of Western Civilization, created a Judaeo Christian motivated culture that once conquered the "world" .. the human part at least, and went a long way toward blunting the harshness of the "natural" life for a couple hundred years.
Our brains only work on stories/myth. If we give up transcendent myth, then we become slaves to earthly myth with predictable disastrous results.
'via Blog this'
As the link points out, she WAS of course factual, but that isn't what the narrative of the myth says, so it will live on rather than the truth.
It is like Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.he left hated Nixon, Chambers and of course McCarthy for convicting an "innocent man". The evidence was pretty irrefutable even then, but with the fall of the USSR, the KGB files were opened and we got to see the verification of his status from that side.
The myth of Hiss being innocent is still what lives on for the left.
I would be completely unsurprised to see the planet slip into the next ice age in the next few hundred years with the GW rebranded as "Climate Change" folks watching the plants die and the snow pile up into continental glaciers while billions die, lamenting it was "human caused". Snow covered solar panels and frozen wind turbines will be a fitting monument to human hubris.
Myth, belief and faith are marvelous ways for humans to deal with the ultimate questions of meaning and eternity which are unanswerable scientifically. They have drawn man together in working social units for millennia, and in the case of Western Civilization, created a Judaeo Christian motivated culture that once conquered the "world" .. the human part at least, and went a long way toward blunting the harshness of the "natural" life for a couple hundred years.
Our brains only work on stories/myth. If we give up transcendent myth, then we become slaves to earthly myth with predictable disastrous results.
'via Blog this'
An Inconvenient Shooting
The highly inconvenient Arapahoe High School shooter | Human Events:
I was pleasantly surprised Sunday to see this as the banner headline on CNN:
I was very glad to see CNN request prayer for this young woman clinging to life in a coma, I'm afraid I have more imagination of the horror for her family than I would like, but the depth of the anguish gives new meaning to tragedy for those that love her.
But why? Don't they usually demand further gun control? Don't they usually delve deeply into the potential motivations of the shooter?
The linked Human Events article covers the details, but essentially the MSM is at a loss to know what to say:
'via Blog this'
I was pleasantly surprised Sunday to see this as the banner headline on CNN:
I was very glad to see CNN request prayer for this young woman clinging to life in a coma, I'm afraid I have more imagination of the horror for her family than I would like, but the depth of the anguish gives new meaning to tragedy for those that love her.
But why? Don't they usually demand further gun control? Don't they usually delve deeply into the potential motivations of the shooter?
The linked Human Events article covers the details, but essentially the MSM is at a loss to know what to say:
- It happened in Colorado. They just passed hugely draconian gun control laws. Why did they not work? Clearly not a question that the MSM thinks you need to even think about.
- The shooter used a shotgun ... the "good gun", endorsed by no less than VP Joe Biden. Nuff said.
- There only being a single victim is most probably because the school had an armed deputized officer on site who correctly and courageously ran to the gunfire and forced the shooters hand. Likely to see any thanks for a job well done? NOPE ... this is what the NRA suggested after Sandy Hook last year and was duly castigated for being "insane, unreasonable, ridiculous, etc".
"We learned from this" is something that never happens to the MSM nor the left in general! Let's face it, when you lack the humility to acknowledge there is a God that is WAY superior to your intelligence, "I screwed up" isn't really in your vocabulary. Their agenda is absolutely fixed and it makes no difference how many die until they get the Power and CONTROL that they want! - It appears that the shooter was a very argumentative left leaning sort. Certainly NOT the kind of thing that one wants splashed all over the media. Now if on the other hand the student had been RIGHT leaning?
'via Blog this'
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Hating Jesus in Cammo
Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Gives Drew Magary a Tour:
The link is the infamous GQ article. As amazing as this may seem given my fashion propensity, I believe this to be the only GQ article I've ever read! It is very innocuous, has a goodly number of F-bombs (by the columnist), but it of course has the couple "offending comments" that are now exploding the real haters heads.
Phil goes WAY out there in terms of the modern thought police and earthily declares his sexual preference for female vs male anatomy, then paraphrases the bible on a NUMBER of sins that include homosexual sex.
Let's be clear, this isn't about DD and Gays AT ALL!
Keith Ellison is considered a MN national treasure because he is the first Muslim in the US House. NOBODY is going to have an interview with Keith quoting the Quran and get him to either declare he doesn't agree with his own Holy Scripture on homosexuality, role of women, how to deal with Christians, Sharia Law, and on and on. Why? Because it isn't RELIGION that Satan and the left hates, it it is JESUS!
Go look around for an actual Muslim religious authority that condemns 9-11. You can't find one since they would no longer be a Muslim religious authority! But nobody cares because there isn't a lefty organization in the US that even cares at all about the facts on the Muslim views on terrorism, women, gays, etc!
You can't get the media elite as worked up about attempts to apply Sharia Law in areas of US cities AT ALL, but they will now go COMPLETELY NUTS over a beard duck hunter from the LA backwoods that prefers women to men for sex and quotes the bible!
Again, the reason is simple. Once one leaves JESUS behind, all sorts of zealotry is completely allowable and even encouraged ... from Sharia to Veganism to Greenism to Black Supremicy, etc.
As Phil points out, Christ provides ETERNAL and REAL freedom ... but that isn't what man wants. Once Christ is rejected, man will seek his own bondage -- in Satism, Political Correctness, Environmentalism, greed, lust, addictions, etc
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation: that Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
'via Blog this'
The link is the infamous GQ article. As amazing as this may seem given my fashion propensity, I believe this to be the only GQ article I've ever read! It is very innocuous, has a goodly number of F-bombs (by the columnist), but it of course has the couple "offending comments" that are now exploding the real haters heads.
Phil goes WAY out there in terms of the modern thought police and earthily declares his sexual preference for female vs male anatomy, then paraphrases the bible on a NUMBER of sins that include homosexual sex.
“Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”I await the outcry from the idolaters, the greedy, the drunkards, the swindlers ... but never mind.
Let's be clear, this isn't about DD and Gays AT ALL!
Keith Ellison is considered a MN national treasure because he is the first Muslim in the US House. NOBODY is going to have an interview with Keith quoting the Quran and get him to either declare he doesn't agree with his own Holy Scripture on homosexuality, role of women, how to deal with Christians, Sharia Law, and on and on. Why? Because it isn't RELIGION that Satan and the left hates, it it is JESUS!
Go look around for an actual Muslim religious authority that condemns 9-11. You can't find one since they would no longer be a Muslim religious authority! But nobody cares because there isn't a lefty organization in the US that even cares at all about the facts on the Muslim views on terrorism, women, gays, etc!
You can't get the media elite as worked up about attempts to apply Sharia Law in areas of US cities AT ALL, but they will now go COMPLETELY NUTS over a beard duck hunter from the LA backwoods that prefers women to men for sex and quotes the bible!
Again, the reason is simple. Once one leaves JESUS behind, all sorts of zealotry is completely allowable and even encouraged ... from Sharia to Veganism to Greenism to Black Supremicy, etc.
As Phil points out, Christ provides ETERNAL and REAL freedom ... but that isn't what man wants. Once Christ is rejected, man will seek his own bondage -- in Satism, Political Correctness, Environmentalism, greed, lust, addictions, etc
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation: that Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Strip Search Diplomacy
Arrest, strip-search of Indian diplomat in New York triggers uproar - CNN.com:
I'm thinking that this is another one of the breakthroughs of the BO presidency that is going to be a huge boon to everyone on the planet just getting along!
I thought NYC had a BIG problem with Diplomatic Immunity due to the UN being there ... everything from rape, to parking tickets and unpaid bills, but WAIT, this is the age of BO! What is the sin that gets even a Foreign Diplomat arrested and strip searched!!
No doubt people from other countries will see the logic of this and realize that even Diplomatic Immunity has limits! If a US Diplomat breaks a similar level of cultural taboo in a foreign nation, the privileges of Diplomatic Immunity will be summarily revoked, and they will be punished accordingly.
Why, in an Arab nation, I'm CERTAIN we would be JUST FINE with a US diplomat being caught in gay sex being either burned, stoned or thrown from a "high place". After all, that is something that THEY find to be "moral issue", so certainly we would have no problem respecting that!
THE HORROR! How could someone from India even THINK that they would get away with paying someone the kind of wages that they would pay them at home in India in this country! FOR SHAME! Clearly we have a COMPLETE AND TOTAL RIGHT to force our most sacred of laws on even foreign diplomats!
Hard to imagine anyone not seeing the brilliance of BO on this one.
'via Blog this'
I'm thinking that this is another one of the breakthroughs of the BO presidency that is going to be a huge boon to everyone on the planet just getting along!
I thought NYC had a BIG problem with Diplomatic Immunity due to the UN being there ... everything from rape, to parking tickets and unpaid bills, but WAIT, this is the age of BO! What is the sin that gets even a Foreign Diplomat arrested and strip searched!!
But Bharara said Khobragade's treatment was justified. He cited an 11-page complaint that alleged she had promised in the visa application under which her housekeeper moved from India to the United States to pay her at least $9.75 per hour, the minimum wage in New York, and to require that she work no more than 40 hours per week.But the complaint alleges that Khobragade then had the housekeeper, who has been identified as Sangeeta Richard, sign a second contract, which paid her less than $3.31 per hour and required that she work much longer hours.Ah, she brought someone in and paid them less than the the NYC minimum wage!! Obviously, "the moral issue of our time" (income inequality) has been violated, and the perpetrator MUST be punished!!!
No doubt people from other countries will see the logic of this and realize that even Diplomatic Immunity has limits! If a US Diplomat breaks a similar level of cultural taboo in a foreign nation, the privileges of Diplomatic Immunity will be summarily revoked, and they will be punished accordingly.
Why, in an Arab nation, I'm CERTAIN we would be JUST FINE with a US diplomat being caught in gay sex being either burned, stoned or thrown from a "high place". After all, that is something that THEY find to be "moral issue", so certainly we would have no problem respecting that!
THE HORROR! How could someone from India even THINK that they would get away with paying someone the kind of wages that they would pay them at home in India in this country! FOR SHAME! Clearly we have a COMPLETE AND TOTAL RIGHT to force our most sacred of laws on even foreign diplomats!
Hard to imagine anyone not seeing the brilliance of BO on this one.
'via Blog this'
Monday, December 16, 2013
The Defining Challenge of our Age!
Why Inequality Matters - NYTimes.com:
Both BO and Paul Krugman are convinced that Income Inequality is the "Defining Challenge of our Age". I'm not going to go look for links to quote today, but I bet that pretty much the exact same thing has been uttered over "Global Warming", "Racism", "Gun Violence" and maybe even "Intolerance" .. as "Challenge of the Age".
It is the age of "crisis" for sure, but still it is interesting to see that "hunger", "refugees", "epidemic" or "war" were not on that list. There are a lot worse lists of challenge that could be easily had.
Note also that "inequality" has replaced "poverty". In a world where most of the poor have smartphones, cars, cable, big screen TVs, video games, etc, and are bothered by obesity rather than hunger, it was time for re-branding. So much as "Global Warming" was re-branded to "Climate Change" as things began to cool (see first snow in Mideast in 112 years), "poverty" was due for an " upgrade" ... as in "Poverty 2.0, Income Inequality".
One thing REALLY nice about "inequality" is that it will still work out when ALL the "bottom quintile" have 2K Sq ft living space, two baths, a health-club membership, free medical, dental, a yearly vacation to a warmer climate (needed due to "Climate Change"), free education, two late model cars, guaranteed retirement income, and a minimum of $100K in investments ... and so on.
Why? Because as long as Paul Krugman and BO are around making what they make, with the lifestyle they have, there will STILL be "inequality"! What is more, even if all the "poor" all have their very own "Inequality Force One", there will STILL be "inequality".
The sad part however is that LONG before we are faced with that "crisis", the actions that BO and Krugman applaud will return us to where food, clothing, shelter and any prospects for a life other than total despair again become the issue of the day. At that point, they MAY realize that people and nations have MUCH more pressing problems than taking money from one persons pocket and putting it in anothers, which is 80% of what our current "government" ( Federal Mafia?) does. Zero remains zero, as long as there is economic progress, economic inequality gets "worse".
Uninterestingly to anyone that has a basic understanding of reality, the more "redistribution" that as been done, the worse the "inequality" has gotten! But this never was about helping anyone, it was and is about acquiring more power for the ruling Democrat Party
'via Blog this'
Both BO and Paul Krugman are convinced that Income Inequality is the "Defining Challenge of our Age". I'm not going to go look for links to quote today, but I bet that pretty much the exact same thing has been uttered over "Global Warming", "Racism", "Gun Violence" and maybe even "Intolerance" .. as "Challenge of the Age".
It is the age of "crisis" for sure, but still it is interesting to see that "hunger", "refugees", "epidemic" or "war" were not on that list. There are a lot worse lists of challenge that could be easily had.
Note also that "inequality" has replaced "poverty". In a world where most of the poor have smartphones, cars, cable, big screen TVs, video games, etc, and are bothered by obesity rather than hunger, it was time for re-branding. So much as "Global Warming" was re-branded to "Climate Change" as things began to cool (see first snow in Mideast in 112 years), "poverty" was due for an " upgrade" ... as in "Poverty 2.0, Income Inequality".
One thing REALLY nice about "inequality" is that it will still work out when ALL the "bottom quintile" have 2K Sq ft living space, two baths, a health-club membership, free medical, dental, a yearly vacation to a warmer climate (needed due to "Climate Change"), free education, two late model cars, guaranteed retirement income, and a minimum of $100K in investments ... and so on.
Why? Because as long as Paul Krugman and BO are around making what they make, with the lifestyle they have, there will STILL be "inequality"! What is more, even if all the "poor" all have their very own "Inequality Force One", there will STILL be "inequality".
The sad part however is that LONG before we are faced with that "crisis", the actions that BO and Krugman applaud will return us to where food, clothing, shelter and any prospects for a life other than total despair again become the issue of the day. At that point, they MAY realize that people and nations have MUCH more pressing problems than taking money from one persons pocket and putting it in anothers, which is 80% of what our current "government" ( Federal Mafia?) does. Zero remains zero, as long as there is economic progress, economic inequality gets "worse".
Uninterestingly to anyone that has a basic understanding of reality, the more "redistribution" that as been done, the worse the "inequality" has gotten! But this never was about helping anyone, it was and is about acquiring more power for the ruling Democrat Party
'via Blog this'
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Shooter Socialist, Never MInd
Denver Post Shamefully Omits Key Detail About Arapahoe High Shooter | Independent Journal Review:
I'm NOT saying that this is definitely true ... in fact I could not care less what his political leanings were. The fact is he did a despicable thing I guess "fortunately" with a shotgun based on the willingness of the left to go nuts had it been an AR.
EVENTUALLY there WILL be a shooter that can SOMEHOW be identified as "right wing" ... maybe by Facebook, some rally they attended, their church, etc. For this the media salivates and just about every time they jump the gun and claim that the shooter was "associated with Sarah Palin (Tucson), "With the Tea Party" (Aurora), or "Has to be Right Wing, it is Hitler's B-day" (Boston, was a bombing, not a shooting, but being left means you always have Hope for SOME things!)
But alas for the left, all the shooters so far have been either "left leaning", or so incoherent one could not figure out much of anything about them except how disturbed they were.
It is a sad state of affairs when one feels"glad it wasn't an AR or a pistol", but in fact are very sad because had it been, the poor 15 year old girl would have been much more likely to survive since there is nothing much more deadly than a shotgun at close range. If it HAD been an AR however, we TOTALLY know what the media would be saying even with only 1 dead (the shooter) and one critical.
The left has a dilemma though. They want to collect guns, but they are pretty sure that if they come for all the duck guns and fancy over and under Brownings out there, it isn't going to go well with the electorate!
So the strategy is "divide and conquer". Go for the fairly small set (still millions) of AR owners, then the pistol owners (larger, but still smaller than shotgun). So they demonize ARs and pistols and Slow Joe talks about "buy a double barrel and shoot it off on the balcony". Naturally his advice is tactically idiotic and illegal in nearly every moderately urban neighborhood, but never mind, he is a Democrat. What would you expect?
The left controls the narrative, so shotgun killings by folks that might mean left are not that big a deal. AR killings are HUGE ... the more killed the better, that fits the narrative.
The narrative is CRITICAL, it is how the 90%+ think, because that is the story they are fed. We hear very little about first snowfall in 112 years in the Mideast, because that doesn't fit the Global Warming narrative.
Much like "follow the money", "follow the narrative" (and then THNK FOR YOURSELF!) is excellent advice!
'via Blog this'
I'm NOT saying that this is definitely true ... in fact I could not care less what his political leanings were. The fact is he did a despicable thing I guess "fortunately" with a shotgun based on the willingness of the left to go nuts had it been an AR.
EVENTUALLY there WILL be a shooter that can SOMEHOW be identified as "right wing" ... maybe by Facebook, some rally they attended, their church, etc. For this the media salivates and just about every time they jump the gun and claim that the shooter was "associated with Sarah Palin (Tucson), "With the Tea Party" (Aurora), or "Has to be Right Wing, it is Hitler's B-day" (Boston, was a bombing, not a shooting, but being left means you always have Hope for SOME things!)
But alas for the left, all the shooters so far have been either "left leaning", or so incoherent one could not figure out much of anything about them except how disturbed they were.
It is a sad state of affairs when one feels"glad it wasn't an AR or a pistol", but in fact are very sad because had it been, the poor 15 year old girl would have been much more likely to survive since there is nothing much more deadly than a shotgun at close range. If it HAD been an AR however, we TOTALLY know what the media would be saying even with only 1 dead (the shooter) and one critical.
The left has a dilemma though. They want to collect guns, but they are pretty sure that if they come for all the duck guns and fancy over and under Brownings out there, it isn't going to go well with the electorate!
So the strategy is "divide and conquer". Go for the fairly small set (still millions) of AR owners, then the pistol owners (larger, but still smaller than shotgun). So they demonize ARs and pistols and Slow Joe talks about "buy a double barrel and shoot it off on the balcony". Naturally his advice is tactically idiotic and illegal in nearly every moderately urban neighborhood, but never mind, he is a Democrat. What would you expect?
The left controls the narrative, so shotgun killings by folks that might mean left are not that big a deal. AR killings are HUGE ... the more killed the better, that fits the narrative.
The narrative is CRITICAL, it is how the 90%+ think, because that is the story they are fed. We hear very little about first snowfall in 112 years in the Mideast, because that doesn't fit the Global Warming narrative.
Much like "follow the money", "follow the narrative" (and then THNK FOR YOURSELF!) is excellent advice!
'via Blog this'
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Snow in Bethlehem, Egypt, First in 112 Years
Mideast Storm Dumps Snow on Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah - Bloomberg:
There seems to be some colder weather in the Mideast as well. As one of the Jerusalem folks said:
Lots of great pictures here http://news.yahoo.com/photos/snowstorms-in-syria-slideshow/
This is the first snow in Egypt in 112 years. I'm absolutely certain that if this was a 112 year heat record somewhere it would NOT be covered as "global warming". Right?
'via Blog this'
There seems to be some colder weather in the Mideast as well. As one of the Jerusalem folks said:
“Jerusalem has never seen anything like this,” Ya’alon said on a visit to the regional Home Front Command center.Again, as I would say if it was record heat that has "never been seen", never is a very very long time ... Jerusalem has been BOTH much hotter and much colder than this event!
Lots of great pictures here http://news.yahoo.com/photos/snowstorms-in-syria-slideshow/
This is the first snow in Egypt in 112 years. I'm absolutely certain that if this was a 112 year heat record somewhere it would NOT be covered as "global warming". Right?
'via Blog this'
Attacked by Average Person of Indeterminate Sex and Race
Racial Profiling Comes to Minnesota | Power Line:
Seems that many of the crimes around the U of M are allegedly being carried out by what are no doubt erroneously described as "young black males". Oh for shame. That supposedly educated people in a supposedly advanced progressive state like MN would be so biased as to describe a perpetrator in such an obvious racist and sexist manner!
I'm thinking that in the tradition of George Zimmerman, "White Hispanic", many of these perpetrators are likely "Black Hispanics", or "Black Whites", or ideally "Average Persons of Indeterminate Sex and Race"!
I believe that the universal description ought to be "Average Person of Indeterminate Sex and Race" ... for Shaquille O'Neil, Danny Devito, Michelle Obama or Laura Bush. We are all really the same when one thinks about it ... at least in a modern "progressive" sort of way.
We live in a country where "equality of result" is possibly our last remaining value, let's celebrate it!
I can hear the nightly news now "Police are looking for an Average Person of Indeterminate Sex and Race who raped and killed another Average Person of Indeterminate Sex and Race in the U of M DinkyTown area last evening. If you have information about this crime, pleased contact police."
Eventually, we will all be "just people" in a race free, gender free and sexual orientation free world. (no doubt ageist, spiecist, sizeist, etc will be conquered as well) So it will be plainly and simply "One person raped and killed another person last night".
At that point, we can all feel really good about ourselves ... well, maybe except for the dead person and those that care about them, but on balance it will be a far more just world, so we can all feel just a bit smug about that!
'via Blog this'
Seems that many of the crimes around the U of M are allegedly being carried out by what are no doubt erroneously described as "young black males". Oh for shame. That supposedly educated people in a supposedly advanced progressive state like MN would be so biased as to describe a perpetrator in such an obvious racist and sexist manner!
I'm thinking that in the tradition of George Zimmerman, "White Hispanic", many of these perpetrators are likely "Black Hispanics", or "Black Whites", or ideally "Average Persons of Indeterminate Sex and Race"!
I believe that the universal description ought to be "Average Person of Indeterminate Sex and Race" ... for Shaquille O'Neil, Danny Devito, Michelle Obama or Laura Bush. We are all really the same when one thinks about it ... at least in a modern "progressive" sort of way.
We live in a country where "equality of result" is possibly our last remaining value, let's celebrate it!
I can hear the nightly news now "Police are looking for an Average Person of Indeterminate Sex and Race who raped and killed another Average Person of Indeterminate Sex and Race in the U of M DinkyTown area last evening. If you have information about this crime, pleased contact police."
Eventually, we will all be "just people" in a race free, gender free and sexual orientation free world. (no doubt ageist, spiecist, sizeist, etc will be conquered as well) So it will be plainly and simply "One person raped and killed another person last night".
At that point, we can all feel really good about ourselves ... well, maybe except for the dead person and those that care about them, but on balance it will be a far more just world, so we can all feel just a bit smug about that!
'via Blog this'
Hard Facts of Soft Landing
Chinese spacecraft lands on moon - CNN.com:
So China takes another step on achieving what those of us young in the 60's were almost universally enamored with, the race to put a man on the moon.
Unlike the US in those days however, China has a plan for the moon. They seek to "exploit" it for energy, manufacturing and possibly military purposes.
"Exploit" ... I might have just went with "use", but I purposely put in the "dirty word". It isn't a dirty word, it is the essence of humanities march up from the muck. Our large brains allow us to "exploit" our situation to greater advantage than others. Alas, they also allow us to chew our cud and contemplate our navels.
I still believe that China's big weakness is lack of freedom, **BUT**, I realize that is totally a "hope and belief" vs some supposed guarantee of history. I BELIEVE that freedom will defeat tyranny, and that that faith in God will defeat faith in Man (government, government systems), but even very solid historical evidence gives no guarantee for the future. Sadly there is no time limit ... it may be true, but it may be a thousand years in coming again once the light of America is fully snuffed.
China has used technology to "lengthen the leash" on their people. If one thinks of the old USSR as an actual prison with walls, guards and locks (the Berlin Wall makes that analogy pretty easy), China is more like a bunch of folks running around with ankle monitors.
The USSR was not able to control radio and the onslaught of Internet technology, so the people in their prison became too aware that they were in a prison. China is a different culture, more prone to following central authority, AND more interested in the idea of being "the greatest on earth" ... "Chinese Exceptionalism". Not BO American Exceptionalism
Why is China doing this? I'd argue that there is a natural part of human nature that seeks to expand, grow, learn, become, lead ... "be exceptional". However, it needs to be NURTURED ... there needs to be training to see what is uniquely special about your family, community, culture and nation.
The US used to have that in spades. God, Family, Community, Country. We were a Christian Nation, "Under God", proud of our heritage, liberty, personal responsibility and self-reliance.
No more. We sold the soul of America for "security". We sold the desire to grow and expand for "sustainability". We sold our spirit to "multiculturalism" and "pluralism".
So we see one more sign that the world has a new leading nation. A new nation that will set the model for mankind going forward. BO has won another victory in achieving the dreams that he received from his father. The dream of seeing the "colonial powers" (including America) brought down to or below the level of his tribe and country (Luo and Kenya).
I strongly suspect that our landing will not be soft, and the depths to which we fall will defy even my rather dark imagination.
'via Blog this'
So China takes another step on achieving what those of us young in the 60's were almost universally enamored with, the race to put a man on the moon.
Unlike the US in those days however, China has a plan for the moon. They seek to "exploit" it for energy, manufacturing and possibly military purposes.
"Exploit" ... I might have just went with "use", but I purposely put in the "dirty word". It isn't a dirty word, it is the essence of humanities march up from the muck. Our large brains allow us to "exploit" our situation to greater advantage than others. Alas, they also allow us to chew our cud and contemplate our navels.
I still believe that China's big weakness is lack of freedom, **BUT**, I realize that is totally a "hope and belief" vs some supposed guarantee of history. I BELIEVE that freedom will defeat tyranny, and that that faith in God will defeat faith in Man (government, government systems), but even very solid historical evidence gives no guarantee for the future. Sadly there is no time limit ... it may be true, but it may be a thousand years in coming again once the light of America is fully snuffed.
China has used technology to "lengthen the leash" on their people. If one thinks of the old USSR as an actual prison with walls, guards and locks (the Berlin Wall makes that analogy pretty easy), China is more like a bunch of folks running around with ankle monitors.
The USSR was not able to control radio and the onslaught of Internet technology, so the people in their prison became too aware that they were in a prison. China is a different culture, more prone to following central authority, AND more interested in the idea of being "the greatest on earth" ... "Chinese Exceptionalism". Not BO American Exceptionalism
"I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. "The Chinese are on to the OLD kind of American Exceptionalism ... the TJR, JFK, Reagan sort. The kind that took us to the moon and defeated the USSR. Can that work with a modified Communist framework of greater economic freedom but still centralized planners holding the keys to the "ankle monitors"? I guess we are going to sit back and see.
Why is China doing this? I'd argue that there is a natural part of human nature that seeks to expand, grow, learn, become, lead ... "be exceptional". However, it needs to be NURTURED ... there needs to be training to see what is uniquely special about your family, community, culture and nation.
The US used to have that in spades. God, Family, Community, Country. We were a Christian Nation, "Under God", proud of our heritage, liberty, personal responsibility and self-reliance.
No more. We sold the soul of America for "security". We sold the desire to grow and expand for "sustainability". We sold our spirit to "multiculturalism" and "pluralism".
So we see one more sign that the world has a new leading nation. A new nation that will set the model for mankind going forward. BO has won another victory in achieving the dreams that he received from his father. The dream of seeing the "colonial powers" (including America) brought down to or below the level of his tribe and country (Luo and Kenya).
I strongly suspect that our landing will not be soft, and the depths to which we fall will defy even my rather dark imagination.
'via Blog this'
Appalling Error of Thought on "Poor"
The Appalling Stance of Rand Paul - NYTimes.com:
The error is that Rand Paul is commenting on ALL HUMANS ... himself, Charles Blow, me, you, EVERYONE ... NOT on "the poor". Conservatives have met the poor and they is us (to paraphrase Pogo) ... we are ALL poor in one or more ways. Poor in spirit, poor in intelligence, poor in knowledge, poor in motivation, poor in wisdom ... the list is endless.
The world we live in provides us various motivations, some of them relatively gentle, some of them very harsh. A moment of inattention on the wrong road in the wrong conditions can be fatal ... without a 26 week recovery period, nor any chance for a do-over. Many things can impact our lives which make our road infinitely harder ... Charles Krauthammer is paralyzed and in a wheelchair, yet he is independent because while he is "poor in physical capability", he is strong in mind and motivation.
Blow (author of column) compounds his error of thought by name calling. Conservatives can have no heart if they disagree on the best methods for the motivation of ALL.
Humans ALL need the threat of the "lump of coal" to provide us with motivational assist from time to time, lest we become a "poor nation" as opposed to a "nation with some poor".
'via Blog this'
Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said Sunday on Fox News: “I do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they’re paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers.”
This statement strikes at the heart — were a heart to exist — of the divide between conservatives and liberals about whether the social safety net provides temporary help for those who hit hard times or functions as a kind of glue to keep them stuck there.The whole column is covered right there ... although it drones on.
The error is that Rand Paul is commenting on ALL HUMANS ... himself, Charles Blow, me, you, EVERYONE ... NOT on "the poor". Conservatives have met the poor and they is us (to paraphrase Pogo) ... we are ALL poor in one or more ways. Poor in spirit, poor in intelligence, poor in knowledge, poor in motivation, poor in wisdom ... the list is endless.
The world we live in provides us various motivations, some of them relatively gentle, some of them very harsh. A moment of inattention on the wrong road in the wrong conditions can be fatal ... without a 26 week recovery period, nor any chance for a do-over. Many things can impact our lives which make our road infinitely harder ... Charles Krauthammer is paralyzed and in a wheelchair, yet he is independent because while he is "poor in physical capability", he is strong in mind and motivation.
Blow (author of column) compounds his error of thought by name calling. Conservatives can have no heart if they disagree on the best methods for the motivation of ALL.
Humans ALL need the threat of the "lump of coal" to provide us with motivational assist from time to time, lest we become a "poor nation" as opposed to a "nation with some poor".
'via Blog this'
Friday, December 13, 2013
Would You Die for a Couple Million?
Why Most Rich 1 Percenters Would Give Anything To Be Among The 99% - Forbes:
Modern man has a lot of trouble with the obvious. The 99% would rarely be willing to change position with the vast majority of the 1%, but the vast majority of the 1% would exchange places with the 99% in a heartbeat.
Why? The 1% are mostly at advanced age, and most of the 99% are young.
What is youth worth? As for all of history, far far more than the young will realize until it is FAR too late for them as well!
'via Blog this'
Modern man has a lot of trouble with the obvious. The 99% would rarely be willing to change position with the vast majority of the 1%, but the vast majority of the 1% would exchange places with the 99% in a heartbeat.
Why? The 1% are mostly at advanced age, and most of the 99% are young.
What is youth worth? As for all of history, far far more than the young will realize until it is FAR too late for them as well!
'via Blog this'
The Passive Agressive Presidency
Charles Krauthammer: Obama the oblivious - The Washington Post:
Good one by Charles. BO is only oblivious to things that are not about HIM!
He gets VERY excited whenever he "pivots" to a new running "squirrel" (new topic), just like your family pet. Then the squirrel runs up a tree, or like Garfield, he delegates catching the squirrel to "Odie" ... then forgets all about it.
He will return later to blame others for things not coming out as everyone wanted them to, or as he promised them to ... but of course that will not be HIS fault in the least!
'via Blog this'
Good one by Charles. BO is only oblivious to things that are not about HIM!
He gets VERY excited whenever he "pivots" to a new running "squirrel" (new topic), just like your family pet. Then the squirrel runs up a tree, or like Garfield, he delegates catching the squirrel to "Odie" ... then forgets all about it.
He will return later to blame others for things not coming out as everyone wanted them to, or as he promised them to ... but of course that will not be HIS fault in the least!
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
W Disses Mandela
He Didn’t Bow!! | Power Line:
Please just consider for a second or two W taking a laughing smiling "selfie" with a blonde at Mandela's funeral. (never mind she is the leader of Denmark, this was NOT a "state action"!)
First it is is a great disservice to a solid President and decent man to even SUGGEST the idea of W behaving like BO! It would NEVER happen!!
In an alternative universe where something like that did happen with W, the media would be completely APOCALYPTIC!!! Oh, the embarrassment to the nation! Oh the RACISM! Oh the horror of our "appointed president" showing his incompetence, immaturity, selfishness, lack of respect, lack of decorum ..." and the list would go on.
In a lot of other situations I would cut a president some slack ... out at a sporting or other event, on the golf course, etc, but this was a STATE FUNERAL for God's sake. How could he POSSIBLY think that was appropriate behavior. But of course, we know ... he is a narcissist, and what he wants to do is what counts!
Naturally, the next time such a thing happens in a supposedly completely off-camera setting and is captured by the MSM, it will be a significant news story. Because as Cronkite used to say "and that's the way it is".
Now that you have your imagination warmed up, just think of what China, North Korea, Putin, Arab leaders ... and on and on think when they see this. The international stage, like nature, abhors a vacuum!! China is landing on the moon and flexing it's muscles over the contested islands. We have just handed the Ukraine to Putin. We have just capitulation in Syria and Iran. This is the greatest opportunity for our enemies to give us a large and unpleasant surprise, and the leaders of the formerly great powers, the UK and the US are behaving like poorly raised teenagers!! What a Christmas present to the bad guys!
Seeing something like that is so unbelievable that in makes me wonder if I'm really still sane or just imagining it!
'via Blog this'
Please just consider for a second or two W taking a laughing smiling "selfie" with a blonde at Mandela's funeral. (never mind she is the leader of Denmark, this was NOT a "state action"!)
First it is is a great disservice to a solid President and decent man to even SUGGEST the idea of W behaving like BO! It would NEVER happen!!
In an alternative universe where something like that did happen with W, the media would be completely APOCALYPTIC!!! Oh, the embarrassment to the nation! Oh the RACISM! Oh the horror of our "appointed president" showing his incompetence, immaturity, selfishness, lack of respect, lack of decorum ..." and the list would go on.
In a lot of other situations I would cut a president some slack ... out at a sporting or other event, on the golf course, etc, but this was a STATE FUNERAL for God's sake. How could he POSSIBLY think that was appropriate behavior. But of course, we know ... he is a narcissist, and what he wants to do is what counts!
Naturally, the next time such a thing happens in a supposedly completely off-camera setting and is captured by the MSM, it will be a significant news story. Because as Cronkite used to say "and that's the way it is".
Now that you have your imagination warmed up, just think of what China, North Korea, Putin, Arab leaders ... and on and on think when they see this. The international stage, like nature, abhors a vacuum!! China is landing on the moon and flexing it's muscles over the contested islands. We have just handed the Ukraine to Putin. We have just capitulation in Syria and Iran. This is the greatest opportunity for our enemies to give us a large and unpleasant surprise, and the leaders of the formerly great powers, the UK and the US are behaving like poorly raised teenagers!! What a Christmas present to the bad guys!
Seeing something like that is so unbelievable that in makes me wonder if I'm really still sane or just imagining it!
'via Blog this'
The Big Lie, Benghazi Edition
FITTON: A closer look at the Benghazi lie - Washington Times:
You can read through it if you want the sordid details, but the punchline is there is a lot of stuff they are STILL withholding. Keeping a nation apathetic is an important factor on the road to serfdom, so BO and the MSM do their best, and in a nation mostly bent on personal gratification, it isn't all that hard.
"The Big Lie" has been useful Statist Propaganda forever, but it is especially rich that the specific definition is from that Poster Child for Statists , Adolf himself!
One of the many uses of this technique is the BO "The most transparent administration in history". Which along with many of his other statements was never even remotely intended. ("If you like your health insurance you can keep it.")
So the photos that have been wrested from the State Department plainly show what we all know, BO and Hilly-Billy were completely lying about the "mobs all excited by YouTube". The maker of that film never the less remains incarcerated. Welcome to the Gulag.
'via Blog this'
You can read through it if you want the sordid details, but the punchline is there is a lot of stuff they are STILL withholding. Keeping a nation apathetic is an important factor on the road to serfdom, so BO and the MSM do their best, and in a nation mostly bent on personal gratification, it isn't all that hard.
"The Big Lie" has been useful Statist Propaganda forever, but it is especially rich that the specific definition is from that Poster Child for Statists , Adolf himself!
One of the many uses of this technique is the BO "The most transparent administration in history". Which along with many of his other statements was never even remotely intended. ("If you like your health insurance you can keep it.")
So the photos that have been wrested from the State Department plainly show what we all know, BO and Hilly-Billy were completely lying about the "mobs all excited by YouTube". The maker of that film never the less remains incarcerated. Welcome to the Gulag.
'via Blog this'
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Barry Sleeps on the Couch
Barack's 'Selfie' At The Mandela Funeral Makes Michelle The Angriest You've Ever Seen | Independent Journal Review:
Michelle may be liberal on SOME issues!
'via Blog this'
Michelle may be liberal on SOME issues!
'via Blog this'
Coldest In 18 Years
Earliest Subzero Temps Since ’95; More Bitter Cold And Snow Coming « CBS Chicago:
As I'll say over and over, 18 years isn't "Climate", neither is 40 or 50. One certainly has to be over 100 years to talk about Climate vs weather and weather patterns. It was cold (and hot, it was very extreme) in the 1930s. The 60's and 70's were pretty cold winters at least in the upper midwest ... the snowmobile craze really took off and we had some of our deepest snows and coldest winters.
In WI, the coldest temperature recorded was -55 in Feb in '96. This link shows the coldest temperatures recorded by state.
Historically, "the weather" was the safest most non-controversial topic one could talk about. It is a strong sign of the politicization and coarseness of our culture that even the weather has now become a controversial political topic that various media outlets will align their reporting of hot temps or cold temps around!
Enjoy the cold! Go ahead and mention that it is cold and say Merry Christmas! Our society needs to ratchet it's Political Correctness fussiness down a WHOLE BUNCH of notches!
'via Blog this'
As I'll say over and over, 18 years isn't "Climate", neither is 40 or 50. One certainly has to be over 100 years to talk about Climate vs weather and weather patterns. It was cold (and hot, it was very extreme) in the 1930s. The 60's and 70's were pretty cold winters at least in the upper midwest ... the snowmobile craze really took off and we had some of our deepest snows and coldest winters.
In WI, the coldest temperature recorded was -55 in Feb in '96. This link shows the coldest temperatures recorded by state.
Historically, "the weather" was the safest most non-controversial topic one could talk about. It is a strong sign of the politicization and coarseness of our culture that even the weather has now become a controversial political topic that various media outlets will align their reporting of hot temps or cold temps around!
Enjoy the cold! Go ahead and mention that it is cold and say Merry Christmas! Our society needs to ratchet it's Political Correctness fussiness down a WHOLE BUNCH of notches!
'via Blog this'
Coldest In 18 Years
Earliest Subzero Temps Since ’95; More Bitter Cold And Snow Coming « CBS Chicago:
As I'll say over and over, 18 years isn't "Climate", neither is 40 or 50. One certainly has to be over 100 years to talk about Climate vs weather and weather patterns. It was cold (and hot, it was very extreme) in the 1930s. The 60's and 70's were pretty cold winters at least in the upper midwest ... the snowmobile craze really took off and we had some of our deepest snows and coldest winters.
In WI, the coldest temperature recorded was -55 in Feb in '96. This link shows the coldest temperatures recorded by state.
Historically, "the weather" was the safest most non-controversial topic one could talk about. It is a strong sign of the politicization and coarseness of our culture that even the weather has now become a controversial political topic that various media outlets will align their reporting of hot temps or cold temps around!
Enjoy the cold! Go ahead and mention that it is cold and say Merry Christmas! Our society needs to ratchet it's Political Correctness fussiness down a WHOLE BUNCH of notches!
'via Blog this'
As I'll say over and over, 18 years isn't "Climate", neither is 40 or 50. One certainly has to be over 100 years to talk about Climate vs weather and weather patterns. It was cold (and hot, it was very extreme) in the 1930s. The 60's and 70's were pretty cold winters at least in the upper midwest ... the snowmobile craze really took off and we had some of our deepest snows and coldest winters.
In WI, the coldest temperature recorded was -55 in Feb in '96. This link shows the coldest temperatures recorded by state.
Historically, "the weather" was the safest most non-controversial topic one could talk about. It is a strong sign of the politicization and coarseness of our culture that even the weather has now become a controversial political topic that various media outlets will align their reporting of hot temps or cold temps around!
Enjoy the cold! Go ahead and mention that it is cold and say Merry Christmas! Our society needs to ratchet it's Political Correctness fussiness down a WHOLE BUNCH of notches!
'via Blog this'
God Loves BOcare
In Government We Trust: The Progressive Religion - Derek Hunter - Page 1:
Nothing new here to longer term MooseTracks readers, just a new case of the same old "Liberalism as Religion".
Ed Schultz and Chris "Kneepad" Mathews channeling God and "morality" on BOcare is especially rich. Suddenly the man upstairs has decided to embrace Democrats, turn a blink eye to 10's of millions of aborted babies crying out in pain, to wholly embrace the outsource of human care and charity to Big Government. I'm sure God was and is equally thrilled with the Godless USSR, Nazi Germany, China, Cuba, etc.
Pretty decent article, a teaser:
Nothing new here to longer term MooseTracks readers, just a new case of the same old "Liberalism as Religion".
Ed Schultz and Chris "Kneepad" Mathews channeling God and "morality" on BOcare is especially rich. Suddenly the man upstairs has decided to embrace Democrats, turn a blink eye to 10's of millions of aborted babies crying out in pain, to wholly embrace the outsource of human care and charity to Big Government. I'm sure God was and is equally thrilled with the Godless USSR, Nazi Germany, China, Cuba, etc.
Pretty decent article, a teaser:
In nearly every way government has replaced religion in the progressive sphere. It is the grantor of rights, the arbiter of morality, the moderator of justice, the compass of true north. Government is the religion, and the agenda is God.
Any act done in service to the agenda is justified; the end is what matters, the means are irrelevant. That’s how you rationalize selling big lies, known lies, to a public wanting to believe your snake oil is the cure for what ails them.'via Blog this'
Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded
Coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth in Antarctica: -94.7C (-135.8F) | World news | theguardian.com:
135F ... enough to make one say Brrrrrr!
Does it mean that the planet is cooling, warming, or staying the same?
None of the above, it is DATA, data is how we LEARN ... provided that our minds aren't so clouded by some belief. ("Settled Science" is NEVER science, and always belief)
Those with the belief of Global Warming however will try to minimize the fact of this data while they have and will heavily publicize every warm temperature recorded to the maximum extent they can.
Ignoring one set of data and focusing on another is propaganda, and when it creeps into what was formerly science, it is a good "Canary in the Coal Mine" warning of the road to tyranny. (See Lysenko, Mengele)
Those names should justifiably make you feel even colder, as should the very idea of Science being used in the service of propaganda.
'via Blog this'
135F ... enough to make one say Brrrrrr!
Does it mean that the planet is cooling, warming, or staying the same?
None of the above, it is DATA, data is how we LEARN ... provided that our minds aren't so clouded by some belief. ("Settled Science" is NEVER science, and always belief)
Those with the belief of Global Warming however will try to minimize the fact of this data while they have and will heavily publicize every warm temperature recorded to the maximum extent they can.
Ignoring one set of data and focusing on another is propaganda, and when it creeps into what was formerly science, it is a good "Canary in the Coal Mine" warning of the road to tyranny. (See Lysenko, Mengele)
Those names should justifiably make you feel even colder, as should the very idea of Science being used in the service of propaganda.
'via Blog this'
Monday, December 09, 2013
The Myth of the Independent Press
America's economic mobility myth - Dec. 9, 2013:
One of the things that was formerly unique about America was that we had an independent press. When a Republican is in the WH we still do! But clearly not with BO, so much like Pravda in the days of the old USSR, when our "Dear Leader" decides to "pivot" to "income inequality", our lapdog MSM tries to help him as much as they can.
So CNN proudly tells us that US mobility is a "Myth". Meanwhile, the NYTs says "Location Matters"
The Times article gives one a lot more ability to do some figuring on your own. A few elements seem to jump out ... the deep south is worse for mobility, some parts of the US are just as good or better than even the supposed leader ... Denmark. In looking at the map and areas like North Dakota, it seems that exploiting natural resources is very helpful ... which likely goes a long way to explaining Canada.
One can quickly figure out it is quite complicated if the US and Britain share poor numbers, since Britain is more socialist than the US, yet their numbers are WORSE! Broken homes, certainly are a factor, but how about "once great nations in decline"? Britain and the US certainly fit that, Denmark never was great. France probably BELIEVES they are still both "great and exceptional", but .41 isn't really much better than the US and England.
So CNN does the BO "public service" by declaring mobility a "myth", but look a little closer at the NYTs article. They set the bar REALLY high ... from the BOTTOM 5th to the TOP 5th! That truly is the old Horatio Alger "Rags to Riches" story ... an AMAZING 35% chance to clear that HIGH bar if you happen to come from Williston or Dickinson ND!!
We really have no clue where CNN's "class mobility" is at. Bottom 5th to top would certainly cover that, but I'd think that just moving out of the bottom 5th would as well.
A look at the map in the NYTs article gives the lie to the CNN basic assertion that "a lot more redistribution, especially to education will fix this". I'm certain BO and his patron teachers union whole heartedly agree, but does anyone really believe that schools in Williston or Dickinson ND are THAT much better? Let alone that ND has the kind a redistributive tax policy that makes this kind of success happen????
'via Blog this'
One of the things that was formerly unique about America was that we had an independent press. When a Republican is in the WH we still do! But clearly not with BO, so much like Pravda in the days of the old USSR, when our "Dear Leader" decides to "pivot" to "income inequality", our lapdog MSM tries to help him as much as they can.
So CNN proudly tells us that US mobility is a "Myth". Meanwhile, the NYTs says "Location Matters"
The Times article gives one a lot more ability to do some figuring on your own. A few elements seem to jump out ... the deep south is worse for mobility, some parts of the US are just as good or better than even the supposed leader ... Denmark. In looking at the map and areas like North Dakota, it seems that exploiting natural resources is very helpful ... which likely goes a long way to explaining Canada.
One can quickly figure out it is quite complicated if the US and Britain share poor numbers, since Britain is more socialist than the US, yet their numbers are WORSE! Broken homes, certainly are a factor, but how about "once great nations in decline"? Britain and the US certainly fit that, Denmark never was great. France probably BELIEVES they are still both "great and exceptional", but .41 isn't really much better than the US and England.
So CNN does the BO "public service" by declaring mobility a "myth", but look a little closer at the NYTs article. They set the bar REALLY high ... from the BOTTOM 5th to the TOP 5th! That truly is the old Horatio Alger "Rags to Riches" story ... an AMAZING 35% chance to clear that HIGH bar if you happen to come from Williston or Dickinson ND!!
We really have no clue where CNN's "class mobility" is at. Bottom 5th to top would certainly cover that, but I'd think that just moving out of the bottom 5th would as well.
A look at the map in the NYTs article gives the lie to the CNN basic assertion that "a lot more redistribution, especially to education will fix this". I'm certain BO and his patron teachers union whole heartedly agree, but does anyone really believe that schools in Williston or Dickinson ND are THAT much better? Let alone that ND has the kind a redistributive tax policy that makes this kind of success happen????
'via Blog this'
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