Wednesday, January 07, 2004

Talking Out of his Arse

Greg Ransom asks, “How dumb are these people?," in response to this Nicholas Kristof column published in the New York Times. Nick begins his column with this statement,

"Religion may preach peace and tolerance, yet it’s hard to think of anything that — because of human malpractice — has been more linked to violence and malice around the world.

Greg repsonds to Kristof’s assertion with this statement,

"No, Nic, it isn’t hard—think SOCIALISM."

Unfortunately, I think Kristof can’t “think socialism” because he’s swallowed too much of it.  Say, hook, line, sinker and the pole too.

If you’re interested in a review of this topic, you know, religion is the root cause of the majority of killing, read this, and the entire comment thread associated.  This, ends with the statement,

"Religion is the biggest killer of all time The statement is the same as saying Science is wrong - it produces atom bombs But you see the gun is neither good nor bad - it is a wonderful opportunity that is so easely (sic) abused because of peoples ignorance. Knowledge and wisdom is the key. Science is for desribing and understandign (sic) the Material World. Religion is for describing and understanding the Spiritual World."

Question, don’t accept and stand on your own two feet.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/07 at 12:24 PM
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Quote on Democracy

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.”

“The average age of the world’s greatest civilization has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence. From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back into bondage."

-An observation by the Scottish Historian Professor Alexander Tyler, circa 1787, on the decline and fall of the Athenian Republic.

Via Allisonlives.com.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/07 at 08:16 AM
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Taliban Embraces Spin

Taking a page from the playbook of Western politicians, the Taliban has apologized for killing children in a botched bombing.  From the Taliban’s mouth piece,

""It was a mistake by our mujahideen (holy warriors),” senior Taliban commander Mullah Sabir Momin said by satellite telephone on Wednesday.

“We wanted to target the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) office in the city, but because of a small mistake, this plan failed,” he told Reuters.

I wonder why it was a Reuters journalist?

Via Google News.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/07 at 07:49 AM
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Smoke Em if you Got Em

Russell Whitaker relates a story of an offended non-smoker whining about Asian smokers outside of a Target store.  The non-smoker, when Russell spoke to him about his uncivility, wanted to beat Russell’s ass.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/07 at 07:41 AM
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Um, Shouldn't Accountability Start a Bit Lower Down the Chain?

Glenn Reynolds points to a New York Times article referencing NGOs, and oversight of them, entitled “Asking the Do-Gooders to Prove They Do Good, and posts a quote from one Coralie Bryant, a Columbia University professor who states this,

""Accountability is the central issue of our time,"

Oh that accountability actually was the central issue of our time.  But it is not.  Accountability is increasingly on the wane and the reason for this waning is that no longer do a large percentage of individuals accept accountability.  Relieved of this burden by the culture of relativism, the nanny state and repressed memories, blame is always passed on to something or someone else.  It is never anyone’s fault, unless you’re a terrorist I guess.  If accountability was the central issue of our time, or if there is a desire for accountability to be the central issue of our time, it has to start with the individual, not a corporation or an NGO.  Corporations and NGOs running amuck, with little oversight, are simply the chickens coming home to roost in a big way and shitting all over themselves.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/07 at 06:56 AM
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Tuesday, January 06, 2004

Sheesh

The local paper, for me anyway, The Grand Rapids Press, ran its first feature on blogging today.  It’s not online.  Imagine.  But, they did publish an address for blogs, or, more specifically, “Michigan-related blogs,” that the paper, or should I say mlive.com, is aware of.  I submitted my domain name.  I’ll see what happens. 

Actually though, I did stumble onto something I wanted to share.  I went to a site named The Bunker. There I found this. This, is a letter from Noam Chomsky to a, "Democratic Delegate from Saginaw, MI," whom wrote to Chomsky, petitioning for advice.  The “Delegate’s” letter can be viewed in the comments.  Oh, read the following comments also.

Sheesh.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/06 at 07:41 PM
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Public Education Sinecurist Quote

"We expect parents to work in the best interest of the kids. We’re working in the best interest of the teachers." – Hudson (Ohio) Education Association President David Spohn. (October 9 Akron Beacon Journal)”

Via Alan K. Henderson who links to The 2003 EIA Public Education Quotes of the Year.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/06 at 08:10 AM
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Red Fire Engines

Roderick T. Long responds to criticism from Robert Theron Brockman II in regards to Adam Smith.  Long’s post is entitled "Was Adam Smith Too Optimistic?"

Posted by John Venlet on 01/06 at 08:03 AM
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Zell Miller on Democrat Presidential Candidates

Zell Miller, in the Wall Street Journal commenting on Al Sharpton.

"Al Sharpton did a pretty good impression of the “Godfather of Soul.” Of course, the rotund reverend has long been the “Godfather of Con.” He’s slick as a peeled onion. In just one short primary season, his timid fellow candidates and the even more timid media have erased the criminal Tawana Brawley shakedown. They’ve given this trickster who has never been elected dogcatcher a legitimacy he does not deserve: their Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval as a bona fide presidential candidate. So, get ready to start counting Rev. Sharpton’s delegates. They will be impossible to ignore on national TV when the Democrats take center stage in Boston. Memo to Democratic Chairman Terry McAwful: It’s called “reaping what you sow.”

If you think this could not possibly happen, consider that not-too-distant history. Take the Georgia primary in 1988. Georgia’s senior U.S. senator, governor, House speaker and largest newspaper endorsed Al Gore. Mr. Gore was running right of center, warning that a vote for Michael Dukakis would spell defeat for the Democrats. But Jesse Jackson won Georgia with 40%. Al Gore got 32% and Mr. Dukakis, who later would carry 10 states as the nominee, got 16%."

Miller also takes a poke at Kerry, Dean and Democrat anger.

Via Cold Fury.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/06 at 07:32 AM
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Follow Up

Yesterday, in a post I titled "Swedish Meatballs," I pointed to a piece written by Allan Carlson which deconstructed the myth of the success of Sweden’s socialist tendencies with an emphasis on the failure of child welfare laws.  Today, Skip Oliva, at The Rule of Reason, links to and comments on this post by John Holzmann which looks at H.R. 3139. H.R. 3139 is being molded in Congress as the “Youth Worker Protection Act.” Has a nice socialist ring to it doesn’t it?  Anyway, here’s the first paragraph from Holzmann’s post.

"There is a a horrible new bill before the House of Representatives titled the “Youth Worker Protection Act,” HR3139. If it makes its way through Congress, I believe we’re about to see virtually all students under 18 become wholly unemployable."

If you still cling to the illusion that the U.S. is not becoming socialist, take the time to read Carlson’s piece and the posts on H.R. 3139.

Permalinks at The Rule of Reason are currently not functional.  Scroll down to Skip Oliva’s post entitled "Stopping Child Labor Before it Starts."

Posted by John Venlet on 01/06 at 07:09 AM
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Fret, Guitar, Logic

Billy Beck has an informative post up entitled “Vantage on Vintage" which, if you have any interest in the guitar market, especially pricey guitars, you may find interesting.  Billy knows a thing or five about guitars, having had one in his hands for many years of his life, he still plays now, and his father was a guitar man also.

I don’t play, but when I look at the guitars that Billy links to in this piece, if I had some extra change lying around, I’d buy just to hang one of those works of art on my wall.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/06 at 06:44 AM
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Monday, January 05, 2004

Class, May I Have Your Attention Please

Mike S. Adams, an associate professor at UNC-Wilmington, shares his class policies for clueless students and for professors and teachers who are clueless as how to manage said students.

An essay topic, suggested by Adams, for students who are unable to comply with Adams’ class policy.

"The Death of Civility at the Postmodern University."

Read his list of helpful suggestions for students who may, in all probability, be unable to formulate an essay based on the suggested topic.

Via Townhall.com.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/05 at 01:48 PM
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Good for the Burn Barrel

Both Virginia Postrel and Skip Oliva take a match to Gregg Easterbrook’s new book "The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse," which chastises us for buying the best rather than giving it away.  I wonder if Easterbrook is banking his fee for this book or giving it away since he earns his regular pay as a columnist?

Posted by John Venlet on 01/05 at 10:53 AM
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Grow Up

Arthur Silber correctly points out the childish reasoning of a BrothersJudd.com post entitled “Why God Made Closets" which comments on an article regarding homosexuality entitled “Before the Deluge," published in Christianity Today and penned by Andy Crouch.  Arthur’s comments, regarding the Judd brothers’ post rightly mocks their musings and I as read the Judd post, I wondered, in regards to this comment of the Judd brothers, ”...so long as you have the sense of shame to keep it hidden from God and the rest of us." whether they still accept as fact that you’ll go blind if you masturbate.

Crouch’s musings, which, fortunately, don’t look at sex as a closet or shameful activity, also bear scrutiny.  Especially, this,

"Some of us have been delivered by him out of the worst that sin can do. I have had the privilege of being friends with those who lived for years as gays and lesbians, who were adulterers, who were cross-dressers, who were consumed by pornography or obsessed with their own attractiveness—and who now joyfully live a different life thanks to Christ."

which, as it is written, can be interpreted as meaning sexual sins are the worst, specifically, homosexuality sins.  Which is so much claptrap I hesitate even to mention it.

Sex, sex, sex.  Homo, hetero, lesbo what have you, all sides in this debate, while trying to shoot down prejudices associated with sexual orientation, invariably end up shooting themselves in the foot.  The Christians by condemning sexuality of almost all kinds, the homosexuals by their indecision.  Meaning, in some instances they bear the term homo as if it is a Star of David, forced to be worn, in other instances, they flaunt their sexual orientation with the same proclivity of Vegas showgirls.  Does either side really understand that sex and sexual orientation are private, individual decisions?  If they did understand this, this wouldn’t even be an issue.  Each side would be better off if they would just shut up and keep their noses out of each others bedrooms and closets.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/05 at 09:59 AM
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Swedish Meatballs

The only good thing to come out of Sweden, into the U.S., is Swedish meatballs, and even those are of dubious quality.  In a very interesting read, Allan Carlson details the failure of Sweden’s socialist welfare state, a state of affairs that U.S. politicos are bent on pursuing even though the evidence from Sweden already shows the futility of this path which leads to the cliffs from which lemmings proverbially throw themselves.  Carlson offers a solution in his piece, which I heartily approve of.

"The agenda here is simple, radical and pragmatically anti-bureaucratic:

1. end state-mandated and state-controlled education, leaving the training and rearing of children up to their own parents or legal guardians;
2. abolish child-labor laws, again reasoning that parents or guardians are the best judges of their children’s interests and welfare, vastly better than any combination of state bureaucrats;
3. and dismantle the Social Security system, leaving protection or security in old age to be provided, once again, by individuals and their families."

Carlson then points to the Amish as an example of individuals succeeding without the state, with the caveat "that relatively few contemporary Americans would choose to live like the Amish, given a true freedom of choice." But embracing individual success and self reliance would not entail people living like the Amish.  And, more importantly, pointing to the Amish as an example for success actually does more harm than good when attempting to enlighten people to be self reliant, since many individuals look at the Amish simply as sturdy, backwards folk who thump Bibles, rule patriarchily and are in bed at sundown.  So using the Amish as an example is more of a disservice than an incentive when encouraging individuals to live free or die.

Socialism, the welfare state, unfortunately, is alive and well here in the U.S.  Like a python it is entwining itself around us, sucking us in to be digested one by one.

Via Astropolis.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/05 at 09:14 AM
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